Williams Broadcasting

What a Race at Airborne!

Wendy — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:24:34 +0000

Around the Track..what a race at Airborne over the weekend..it’s the 2^nd time the outcome has been decided by less then a 10^th of a second in the first 4 American Canadian Tour events..that gives you an indication of the quality of racing and the parity of the competition!

The car counts continue to build at Wiscasset Speedway..great news for the new owners, Richard & Vanessa Jordon..and more and more fans are coming and enjoying the rotating divisions!

Voting takes place tomorrow for the Nascar Hall of Fame Class of 2013..there are 25 nominees made up of 14 drivers including familiar names like Benny Parsons & Dale Jarrett, both former Cup Champions & Fireball Roberts along with Team owners Richard Childress & Rick Hendrick..track owners Bruton Smith & Clay Earles and engine builders like Maurice Petty who oversaw the reign of the “King’, winning 7 Cup titles with 198 wins as the head engine builder for Richard Petty!

Race Weekend Headlines

Wendy — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:50:39 +0000

Here are the weekend headlines: Jimmie Johnson is building an argument for being one of the greatest ever..now 5-time has the most All-Star wins, breaking a tie with two icons, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Sr. with Saturday nights victory..

Ed Carpenter stunned the IZOD Indy car world by grabbing the pole for Next Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 with rookie Carlos Munoz and Marco Andretti joining him on the front row!

8 time ACT Champion Brian Hoar engineered an epic last lap pass of points leader Jimmy Hebert to win Saturday’s Airborne 100 in a photo finish with Wayne Helliwell Jr. rounding out the podium..

And veteran Patrick Laperle edged points leader Joey Doyron to win the inaugural PASS Frameco 150 Saturday night from the Autodrome Chaudier in Quebec the first leg of the triple crown series that carries a total purse of $135,000!

John

Sprint All Star Challenge

Wendy — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:48:00 +0000

Nobody will get any closer to the “Chase” this weekend, but somebody will get a lot richer when the final 10 lap drag race is over in Saturday night’s Annual prime time extravaganza called the Sprint All Star Challenge..90 laps, 5 segments and over $3 Million to the winner..Jimmie Johnson is the defending champ..5 time has three allstar wins, tied with teamate Jeff Gordon for the most in the 27 year history of the race..

It’s qualifying weekend for the Indianapolis 500..Pole day Saturday and Bump Day Sunday…40 horsepower will be added to the 2.2 liter V-6 engines for practice and qualifying through Sunday..

And here in New England and Canada there is plenty of action with the American Canadian Tour off to Airborne Speedway in Plattsburg for Saturday’s Airborne 100..and the Pro Allstar Series is in Quebec for the kick-off to the Triple Crown Series from the Autodrome Chaudiere in Saturday’s Frameco150..

Beechridge, Spud Speedway & Speedway 660 have their season openers this weekend as well & we’ll cover it all!

John

Kyle Busch

Wendy — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:31:13 +0000

My profile this week..Kyle Busch seems to have re-couped his focus and is solidly in contention for that elusive first Sprint Cup Championship and frankly at 28 years of age it’s time to make that mark in the only major nascar series he has failed to dominate!

Although statistically Busch, who drives the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, has already had a career in the Cup series that would be the envy of just about any driver with 30 victories in less then ten full seasons, hoisting that championship trophy would complete what has already been a dominating career!

His talent is undeniable..and with 119 total wins in the three major divsions of nascar, ioncluding a record 61 Nationwide Series wins and 30 Camping World Truck Series wins, he is second only to the King, Richard Petty, all time!

The Chase!

Wendy — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:13:34 +0000

The Chase changes everything & right now Matt Kenseth would be the top seed in the Sprint Cup based on 3 wins..but Johnson is clearly the best overall with a 44 point spread over the resurgent Carl Edwards with Kenseth, Junior & Clint Bowyer rounding out the top five..the big mover this week? Jeff Gordon, up two spots to 12!

Regan Smith is 28 points up on Sam Hornish in the Nationwide Series with Matt Crafton 13 points in front of Johnny Sauter in the Camping World Truck Series..

Waiting on the Indy 500, Takuma Sato is the Indy Car Series front runner & Seabastian Vettel’s lead is down to 4 over the veteran Kimi Raikkonen in Formula 1..

And here in New England Jimmy Hebert has a slim 3 point edge over 8 time champion Brian Hoar in the American Canadian Tour with reigning champion Wayne Helliwell Jr. 18 points back..and Joey Doiron has a 4 point edge over Cassius Clark in the Pro All Star Series with DJ Shaw 16 points back in 3^rd.. John

Kurt Busch in and Indy Car!!

Wendy — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:07:50 +0000

Around the track..Kurt Busch in an Indy car? Could be.. he’s testing the waters with Andretti Motorsports for a possible race later in the year..Busch hit 218 mph plus in a rookie test at Indianapolis lasy week!

Kasy Kahne thinks that Kyle Busch owes him an apology after Busch slid up the track and may have caused Kahne No. 5 Chevy to wobble and slap the wall while the two were dueling for the lead in Saturday’s Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington, although video of the incident is not conclusive & shows no contact..

And finally, who’s a lock for the Chase at the All-Star break? Well Jimmie Johnson has what amounts to a one race lead over Carl Edwards at 44 points..the No. 48 team is in and a heavy favorite for title No. 6..after that my picks are Kenseth leading with 3 wins, yup Junior very consistent & Kyle Busch on the merit of two wins, he gets a wild card no matter what..

Matt Kenseth

Wendy — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:37:15 +0000

Welcome back to Monday’s headlines in the world of motorsports racing..most of the action across New England was put on hold over the weekend due to Mother Nature…

But in Darlington, the resilient Matt Kenseth drove his Joe Gibbs Toyota to victory in Saturday night’s prime time Bojangles Southern 500, passing Kyle Busch after his teammate had dominated the race for most of the evening, leading 265 laps, until he cut a tire and faded to a sixth place finish…Denny Hamlin’s return from a back injury couldn’t have been better, finishing second with Jeff Gordon grabbing third in his 700^th consecutive Sprint Cup start with Jimmie Johnson 4^th followed by Kevin Harvick..

In Friday’s Nationwide VFW Help A Hero 200 Kyle Busch dominated, winning a series high 5^th race of the season….

And in Barcelona Fernando Alonso bested Kimi Raikkonen and teammate Felipe Massa in the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix for his second win of the season..

John

Darlington Raceway this weekend!

Wendy — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:09:46 +0000

Back to South Carolina’s legendary Darlington Raceway where the first ever 500 mile race in Nascar history was run. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in wins with 7..Kasey Kahne has won 4 times from the pole..Hendrick motorsports has tallied 14 wins at Darlington’s high banked, just under 1.5 mile asphalt oval, the most of any team..and it’s prime time racing..tonight the Nationwide VFW Sports Clips Help a Hero 200 & Saturday evening, the Sprint Cup BoJangles Southern 500!

Sebastion Vettel leads the Formula 1 Series back into action this weekend in Barcelona for the running of the Spanish Grand Prix..and in regional touring news, the lightening fast Whelen Modified Series returns to the quarter mile oval at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, New Hampshire for Saturday’s Town Fair Tire Whitcomb 200..

And local tracks all across New England are up & running with great divisional racing & we’ll cover it all so stay tuned!…John

Penalties Slashed

Wendy — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:26:18 +0000

How often does that happen? Perhaps given the fact that chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook reduced the Penske racing penalties to both Joey Logano & Cup Champion Brad Keselowski, the Appeals Panel, on Wednesday, dramatically slashed penalties levied against Joe Gibbs Racing and the No. 20 team of Matt Kenseth.

In the ruling Kenseth’s loss of 50 championship points was reduced to 12 and all other penalties were dropped & that means Kenseth’s win in Kansas will count toward the total if he qualifies for the Chase and the ruling also allows the victory to apply toward wild card eligibility!

The key is the points & wins..Kenseth had dropped out of the top 12 after the penalties were levied and the loss of the win could have been significant in terms of his positioning in the chase had he recovered and moved back inside the top 10..now Kenseth has moved back to 4^th in the standings 66 points back of Jimmie Johnson..

John

Jimmie Johnson

Wendy — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:51:53 +0000

A quick overview of points..Jimmie Johnson with 2 wins, 5 top 5’s & 7 top 10’s in 10 starts is 41 points up on Carl Edwards in the Sprint Cup..Regan Smith has taken over the lead from Sam Hornish in the Nationwide Series after his big win at Talladega..and Mat Crafton is 13 points up on Johnny Sauter & Jeb Burton in the Camping World Truck Series..

Sebastian Vettel has a 10 point edge over Kimi Raikkonen in Formula 1 & Takuma Sato is the new leader in the IZOD Indy Car Series, 13 points up on Marco Andretti..

And here in New England, Jimmy Hebert has a slight edge of just 3 points over Brian Hoar in the American Canadian Tour & Joey Doiron has moved into first place, 4 points up on Cassius Clark in the Pro All Star Series..

And finally penalties have been reduced for Penske Racing, more on that coming up on Thursday..