Notes - Samsung 500 at Texas
Tags: jeff burton, clint bowyer, greg biffle, dale earnhardt jr, ryan newman, denny hamlin, sam hornish jr, matt kenseth, jamie mcmurray, david reutimann
-Dale Jr. had a decent finish, but couldn't do better than 12th. “It was frustrating,” Earnhardt said. “We just chased the handling of the car all day, we had it too tight there at the end.”
-Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin touched coming out of turn 4 on the last lap. Bowyer, who was going for a top-5 finish, hit the wall, but was able to save the car and finished 10th. “Clint just pinched me up there on the final lap,” Hamlin said. “I had to turn left or I’d have gone into the wall. There was no place to go.”
“(Hamlin’s car) clipped us in the right rear, and that was it,” Bowyer said.
-Ryan Newman failed the postrace inspection Sunday. It was determined that the right rear of the car was too high. NASCAR will announce any resulting penalties this week.
-Jamie McMurray finished 14th, and is now well inside the top-35 in points (26th). This is second five-position jump in the points after finishing eighth at Martinsville.
-Sam Hornish Jr. moved up two spots to 34th and is guaranteed a spot in Saturday's race at Phoenix International Raceway.
-Hornish's gain is Mayfield's loss, the two drivers switched places with Jeremy Mayfield falling out of the top 35.
-David Reutimann finished 41st. He dropped another spot to 38th in points, and will have to qualify on time again at Phoenix.
-Greg Biffle took the biggest hit in the point standings. He lost six spots (to 9th) in the standings after starting the race 16th, and finishing 39th, 27 laps down (mechanical problems).
-Jeff Burton maintains his points lead after finishing sixth.
-Matt Kenseth decided to not pit for fresh tires during the final caution, and was passed shortly after green by Jeff Burton and Tony Stewart, and finished ninth.
"When you're the first one on old tires and everybody's got new tires behind you, they're going to eat your lunch," Kenseth said. "It was a 50-50 call, and we were right in the middle, and we tried it and it didn't work."
-Denny Hamlin's postrace interview session on pit road lasted just 41 seconds before he nearly passed out from dehydration, and was taken to the infield care center. "I'm feeling much better now," Hamlin said at the center. "It really hit me when I got out of the car. I was dizzy and just needed to sit down."
Comments (1)Martinsville Speedway: pre-race notes (3/28/08)
Tags: jeff gordon, kyle petty, greg biffle, chip ganassi racing, elliott sadler, denny hamlin, roush racing, joe nemechek, david reutimann, dennis setzer
Friday's qualifying saw Jeff Gordon win the poll for the race with a speed of 96.288mph. Also on the front row is Denny Hamlin.
Kyle Petty, John Andretti, Tony Raines, and Joe Nemechek did not qualify for the race.
NASCAR has said no to David Reutimann, 26th in the points, on points swap with #44 car that is 34th place in the points. NASCAR is only going to do a point swap if a merger occurs.
Elliott Sadler says he does not know how he injured his back. He expects to race on Sunday, but if he can't go, Dennis Setzer (practiced Sadler's Cup car at Martinsville) will most likely be his replacement.
Greg Biffle says that he is 90% sure that he is going to stay at Roush. "We're really just in the fine-tune negotiations [stage]," Biffle said. "I think we're coming along fairly well. It hasn't been a top priority, but we've been communicating back and forth about what we'd like to see in a contract -- appearances and the way it's structured and different things.
TUMS announced today that it will be the sponsor of Martinville Speedway's October 19, 2008 Sprint Cup series race – The TUMS QuikPak 500. In addition to the TUMS QuikPak 500 at Martinsville Speedway, TUMS will serve as an associate sponsor of the No. 40 and 41 Dodges for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates throughout the 2008 season. The TUMS logo will appear on the B-post and rear quarter panel.
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