Breitzman takes a well deserved burnout.

Chris Darling (14) took a record 5th straight pole with a lap of 28.007 seconds.  However, Shawn Breitzman (46) had the dominant car as he led 58 laps en route to victory.  The race started off with a bang as only 9 laps in, contact between Shawn Becher (07) and Randy James (99) send both Becher and James to the wall and brought out the first caution.  About 9 laps later, James’s motor let go bringing out the 2nd caution of the night.  Other than two more cautions, the rest of the race went green, and every time green flag pit stops came around, the lead rotated through the top four cars of Breitzman, Brett Black (29), Wade Kilpatrick (2), and Jon Pharis (53).  With each successive round of pit stops, Breitzman’s lead grew.  A late caution bunched the field up for a 2 lap shootout, but nobody had anything for Breitzman as he cruised to the checkers.

The biggest movers on the night were Breitzman and Black, who both picked up 7 spots throughout the event.  The biggest losers were James and Johnny Williams (44), who both lost 6 spots due to early retirement.  The Chase for the Cup is set.  Breitzman, Darling, Black, Williams, James, Tim Phillips (55), Chad Lantz (16), Becher, and Greg Netherwood (80) are the record nine drivers to qualify for the Chase this season.  They will duke it out for the title in the last 6 weeks of the season.  The first Race in the Chase will be at history Martinsville Speedway!

Brett Black (29) edges Chad Lantz (16) by .009 seconds at the line!

Huey puts on a smokeshow after taking the checkers in Fort Worth.

Chris Darling (14) set a new track record with his pole winning lap of 27.738 seconds.  The Dickies 175 got off to a clean start, but 8 laps in, Tim Phillips (55) self spun and brought out the first caution.  About 10 laps later, Phillips spun again bringing out another caution, and 5 laps after that, his engine blew, but he got off the track fast enough to not bring out a caution.  Green flag pit stops were about to start when Brett Black (29) lost a motor, bringing out the 3rd caution of the night.  That seemed to be the order of the night, a nice green run followed by a yellow right around pit stop time.  The yellows became a little more frequent towards the end of the race as drivers vied for position.  With about 25 laps to go, contact between Wade Kilpatrick (2) and Greg Netherwood (80) sent Netherwood into the outside wall in turn 3.  After the crew was done working on his car, he returned to the track, but the #80 looked like a modified/compact job.  With 6 laps to go, contact between Darling and Kilpatrick sent Darling to the outside wall in turn 4.  This also set up a 2 lap shootout for the win.  Randy James (99) was able to hold off Kilpatrick for the win.

The biggest mover on the night was Chris Swett (28) who picked up 4 places en route to a 6th place finish.  The biggest loser on the night is a toss up between Phillips, who lost 9 spots due to engine failure and Steve Kelley (12) who fell alseep 10 minutes before qualifying!  Notably absent tonight was Jon Pharis (53).  By not showing up, he guaranteed that he will not get a spot in the Chase.  As of right now, a record 9 drivers are locked into the Chase, with only 1 race left to go.  I think it is safe to say that we will have 9 Chasers this season!  Next week the series heads to Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Black burns ‘em down after leading the field to the chekers.

Jon Doble is able to save 1/4 lap of fuel and come home with the win.

And Pharis made his return to the track count.

Chris Darling (14) took the pole for the Kansas 140 with a lap of 29.978 seconds.  Early in the race it was pretty evident that his car was good, and so were the cars of Jon Pharis (53) and Greg Netherwood (80) as the three of them broke away from the pack.  The race stayed green through the first set of pit stops, but shortly thereafter one of only two cautions flew, as Tim Phillips (55) was trying to slow down on the apron in turn three and the car came out from under him.  He would spin again in turn two after taking the caution.  The race went green again for about 4 laps when Shawn Breitzman (46) did a double 360 coming out of turn two, bringing out the only other caution of the night.  From there it was clear sailing.  Early in each of the green flag runs, Darling’s car was faster, and he’d stretch out his lead, but about halfway through a fuel run it would fade away pretty badly, and Netherwood would then take over.  Towards the end of a run, Pharis’s car would shine, and he’d pull away.  During the last 15 laps of the race, Netherwood tried valliantly to pass Pharis, even going down on the apron on the frontstretch once, but try as he might, he could not overtake Pharis.  Pharis was able to make his return to the track count.  However it is going to take some heroics and good luck for Pharis to make the Chase as he is currently 58 points outside of the 400 point cutoff.

The biggest mover on the night was Netherwood, picking up 5 spots en route to a 2nd place finish.  The biggest loser on the night was Breitzman, losing 6 positions due to retiring shortly after the halfway point in the race.  With only 2 races left until the start of the Chase, we still have 9 drivers inside the 400 point cutoff, being led by Darling.  If Pharis is somehow able to make the Chase, we’ll have a record 10 drivers participating in the final leg of the season.  The series visits Texas Motor Speedway next week.  The last race before the Chase is Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

From Pole to Winner’s Circle, again

For the second week in a row, Chris Darling (14) snagged the pole and the win.  Incidentally it was also the 2nd week in a row that Shawn Breitzman (46) dominated the race but came up short in the end.  Darling’s Q lap of 22.688 was almost one tenth faster than Breitzman’s Q lap.  The race got off to a smooth start, but an early self-spin by Darling drew the caution for the first of only 6 times in the event.  Caution laps consumed only 18 of the event’s 140 scheduled laps.  The only other self-spin on the night was by Tim Phillips (55).  The first contact incident of the night was between Mike Meola (17) and Randy James (99).  Meola’s machine flew into the outside wall pretty hard, and the crew did a lot of work to get him back out on the track.  The final caution flew with 20 laps to go when James got loose coming off of turn two and Darling didn’t have anywhere to go, so he inadvertently and unintentionally nudged the 99 out of his way and into the inside wall and a big spin.  When the race went green again, Darling only had to hang onto the lead, and that is exactly what he did.

Top movers on the night were Breitzman, Wade Kilpatrick (2), and Phillips, each picking up 3 spots throughout the race.  The biggest loser on the night was Meola, who lost 7 spots after retiring just past halfway due to damage caused by his early escapade with the outside wall.  Next week the series visits Kansas.  See you there!

Shawn Becher takes the final yellow in Thursday’s Zen Joltis 150, grabbing the win and breaking Jon Doble’s chokehold on the Mega Quad Oval.

Chris Darling wins after almost dominating the race.

The Chevy Rock and Roll 140 at Richmond Int’l Raceway was a sort of a clash of titans, if you will.  The race was dominated by two drivers: Shawn Breitzman (46) and Chris Darling (14).  Darling took the pole with a lap of 21.600, but dropped to 2nd very quickly in the race as his car did not handle well on fresh tires.  Early contact with Randy James (99) sent Darling spinning, but he did not hit anything.  Short track races are famous for having lots of cautions, and this race was no exception.  The yellow flew 10 times for 50 of the race’s 140 laps.  Most of the yellows were due to minor contact incidents, but there were a few self spins.  A spin near the end of the race set up a 7 lap shootout in which Darling led the field to the flag followed by Breitzman, Greg Netherwood (80), Chad Lantz (16), and Shawn Becher (07).  Darling and Breitzman tore away from the field battling it out for the win.  Meanwhile Lantz and Becher were duking it out for 4th place.  This allowed Netherwood to relax as he knew he couldn’t push his car too hard, but he had 3rd spot locked up.  As the top 5 took the checkered flag, both Lantz and Becher got loose off of turn 4 and spun down into the grass at the same time.

The biggest movers on the night were Breitzman, Netherwood, Lantz, and Tim Phillips (55) who all gained 3 spots on their starting positions.  The biggest loser on the night was James, who lost 7 spots after parking it at the halfway point of the race.  Next week the Cup Series goes to the Monster Mile for the Dover 140.

Chris Swett crosses the stripe ahead of Brett Black and Chad Lantz to pick up LNR career win number two Thursday night at OR4C.