RCR Post Race Report — Infineon Raceway and Winchester Speedway

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

RACE: Save Mart 350

TRACK: Infineon Raceway

DATE: June 26, 2011

 

Race Highlights:

  • RCR teammates finished fourth (Clint Bowyer), ninth (Kevin Harvick), 17th (Paul Menard)  and 21st (Jeff Burton).
  • RCR teammates are second (Harvick), eighth (Bowyer), 17th (Menard) and 24th (Burton) in the Sprint Cup Series point standings following Sunday’s race at Infineon Raceway.
  • Bowyer has back-to-back top-10 finishes on NASCAR’s senior circuit

  • Bowyer earned a bonus point by leading one time on lap 51

  • Bowyer spent 96 of 110 laps running in the top 15

  • Bowyer’s 8.2 average running position was second only to eventual race winner Kurt Busch

    Menard logged his career-best start of third and finish of 17th in this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Infineon Raceway.

  • Menard has completed each of his four contested NSCS races at Infineon.
  • Burton was the race’s best Closer – gaining the most positions in the final 10 percent of the race with six.
  • Harvick continues his streak of running at the end of all races contested (11) and finishing on the lead lap at Infineon Raceway with the lone exception being the 2005 event when he finished one lap down.
  • Harvick has earned back-to-back top-10 finishes at Infineon Raceway.
  • Kurt Busch scored the win and was followed to the line by Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Bowyer and Marcos Ambrose.

2011 CC Team Icon 27 NSCS Menards

The No. 27 Duracell/Menards Chevrolet Team Finishes 17th at Infineon

A strong qualifying effort on Friday afternoon put Paul Menard and the Duracell/Menards team in the third position for the start of the Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway, marking his career-best start at the Sonoma, Calif.-based facility. Damage to the front fenders resulted in handling issues that plagued the No. 27 Impala early in the 110-lap race and Menard quickly slipped backwards. The Slugger Labbe-led team made air pressure adjustments during each of Sunday’s five pit stops in order to neutralize the tight condition that the Eau Claire, Wis., native was battling and improve his drive off of the turns. Spending the majority of his day in the top 20, Menard worked his way quietly around the 1.99-mile track in an effort to bring home a top-15 finish. Running 16th on lap 105, and in typical road-course racing fashion, contact with a competitor resulted in him being shuffled back three positions to 19th only two laps later. In the closing laps, he climbed back to a 17th-place result.

Start – 3 Finish – 17 Laps Led – 0 Points – 17

PAUL MENARD QUOTE:

“Obviously, this wasn’t the result that we had hoped to have at Infineon Raceway, but we still fared better than some and our average finish didn’t gain or lose us much in the way of points. The Duracell/Menards team worked hard all weekend, but now we’ll turn our attention towards heading back to Daytona next week.”

29 Rheem CC

Harvick, No. 29 Rheem Tankless Water Heater Team Score Hard Fought Ninth-Place Effort in Sonoma

 

With Rheem Tankless Water Heaters as the primary sponsor for the first of four races in 2011, Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Rheem Tankless Chevrolet team salvaged a ninth-place finish in Sunday’s Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway after battling a loose-handing race car and sustaining damage in a mid-race wreck. Harvick started the race from 26th position and reported a loose-handling condition as he moved inside the top 20 and up to the 17th spot before coming down pit road at lap 18 for fresh tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment under caution. Harvick worked his way into the top 15 after the field took the green flag, but as the caution flag waved at lap 32, he told crew chief Gil Martin that he needed a bigger adjustment to help tighten up the No. 29 Chevrolet. The team pitted again on lap 34 for more changes. On lap 37, Harvick got caught up in a wreck in Turn 11 and the No. 29 Rheem Tankless Water Heater Chevrolet sustained damage. The team pitted twice for repairs, changing the sway bar and making additional adjustments to improve the car’s handling. The No. 29 Rheem Tankless Water Heater Chevrolet team continued to work on the car on subsequent pit stops when Martin elected to try a different pit strategy than most of the field and put Harvick on fresher tires at the end of the race. As the strategy played out, Harvick led five laps before pitting for the final time at lap 88. Harvick took the green flag in the 13th position at lap 91 and worked his way up to seventh before slipping back to 10th with eight laps to go. In the closing laps, he was able to pick up one more spot and crossed the start/finish line in the ninth position.

Start – 26                      Finish – 9                     Laps Led – 5                   Points – 2

KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:

“It was all strategy. We got up to about 14th or 15th and just kind of stalled. The car was really loose. Then, we got in a little wreck and tore it up even worse. As the run would go on, we would just get so loose. The car has a lot of damage on it. A lot of credit goes to the Rheem crew for getting it fixed and for the strategy. It was the best ninth-place finish I can ever remember.”

 

 

2011 CC Team Logo NSCS 31 CAT

Burton Bounces Back from Late-Race Spin for Respectable Finish

Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Caterpillar team dealt with an ill-handling race car throughout the Save Mart 350 and had to settle for a 21st-place finish at Infineon Raceway. Burton qualified the No. 31 Chevrolet in the 25th position for Sunday’s 110-lap race on the 12-turn, 1.99-mile road course in northern California’s Sonoma Valley. Burton mentioned early on in the race that the car was loose in some areas and tight in others, with an overall lack of rear grip. Crew chief Todd Berrier called for chassis and tire air pressure adjustments to remedy the situation but the fix was only temporary each time. Near the race’s halfway point, Burton commented that the Cat Chevy was turning better but still lacked rear grip. He ran as high as 17th on lap 70 but continued work, during stops under caution as well as the green flag, proved unsuccessful. Burton was running 25th on lap 92 when contact from driver Boris Said in the No. 51 Chevrolet caused the No. 31 to spin out. Returning to the track in the 32nd position, Burton passed a number of drivers and took advantage of others spinning to get back to the 21st position before the checkered flag waved.

 

Start – 25                       Finish – 21                   Laps Led – 0              Points – 24

JEFF BURTON QUOTE:

“We never were able to get a hold of the handling on the Caterpillar Chevy today. Todd (Berrier, crew chief) made a number of changes to the setup and we would run well for a couple of laps but then rear grip would just disappear again. It’s been a difficult season so far but we’re not a team that gives up.”

 

 

2011 CC Team Logo NSCS 33 Cheerios 150 px

 

No. 33 Team Gains Two Positions in Point Standings with Top-Five Finish in Sonoma

Clint Bowyer and the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet team spent 96 of 110 laps running in the top 15 en route to their third top-five finish of the 2011 season, finishing fourth in the Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. Starting from the ninth position after Friday’s qualifying session, the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet posted top-five speeds in both practice sessions on Saturday in preparation for the 218-mile affair in the heart of California’s “Wine Country.” On Sunday, Bowyer started the event with a fast car, picking off multiple competitors on the track while giving feedback to crew chief Shane Wilson that the car was just a little loose, especially on long runs under green-flag conditions. After entering the top five on lap 42, the caution flag came out and Wilson called for Bowyer, running in second place at the time, to keep the No. 33 Chevrolet on track and not come down pit road for service to maintain track position. The strategy paid off as Bowyer took over the lead on the next restart, earning a championship driver point in the process. The four-time Sprint Cup Series race winner would continue to run in the top five until lap-74, green-flag pit sops shuffled the running order as many competitors decided to not pit until the last moment. Bowyer’s Impala became very loose and under the final caution flag with 22 laps to go, he brought his red and yellow machine down pit road to the attention of the “Helping Hands” pit crew one last time for track bar and air pressure adjustments. The Emporia, Kan., native restarted 19th for the final green-flag run of the day and went on a tear through the field, gaining 15 positions over the last 19 laps while securing the fourth-place finish, his eighth top-10 of the season and second in as many weeks. With the solid performance, Bowyer also gained two spots in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings. He now sits eighth in points, 77 markers out of first.

Start – 9th Finish – 4th Laps Led – 1 Points – 8th

CLINT BOWYER QUOTE:

Well, we didn’t really weather the storm, but it was a lot of fun out there. Sonoma is a heck of a place race. It’s always fun to race in front of a great crowd like this. Our Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet was pretty good all weekend long. It was about a second-to fifth-place car all weekend so fourth is a good finish for us.”

 

 

ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards

RACE: Winchester 200 presented by Federated Auto Parts

TRACK: Winchester Speedway

DATE: June 25, 2011

Race Highlights:

  • RCR teammates finished fourth (Ty Dillon) and 11th (Tim George Jr.).
  • Dillon’s fourth-place finish marks his seventh top-five finish of the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season.
  • Dillon remains the ARCA Racing Series point leader with a 245 point lead over Frank Kimmel.
  • George started eighth and ran as high as second during the 200-lap affair.
  • With his 11th-place finish, George moved up one position, to six, in the series’ driver point standings.
  • Dakoda Armstrong won by 0.9 seconds over Chris Buescher, Chad Hackenbracht, Dillon and Tom Hessert.
  • The next ARCA Racing Series event is the Hantz Group 200 at Berlin Raceway on Saturday, July 9. Tune into ARCARacing.com for living timing and scoring of the 100-mile event.
        • 2011 CC Team Logos ARS 31 RCR

Tim George Jr., No. 31 Applebee’s/Potomac Family Dining Group Team Finish 11th at Winchester Speedway

 

 

Tim George Jr., drove his No. 31 Applebee’s/Potomac Family Dining Group Chevrolet to an 11th-place finish despite having a flat tire and going laps down to the leader in the late stages of the Winchester 200 presented by Federated Auto Parts on Saturday night. George started the 200-lap event from the eighth starting position and moved into sixth by lap 34. The red flag was displayed on lap 37 for debris from a multi-car incident in turn one. Racing resumed on lap 44, and the New York, N.Y., native began marching his way into the top five despite a loose-handling car. The Gere Kennon-led team was called to pit road on the next caution on lap 92 to alleviate the loose conditions on the No. 31 racer. The Applebee’s pit crew went to work and gave George four fresh Hoosier tires, a track bar adjustment and packed the RCR entry full of fuel. Quick work by the team allowed George to restart second when the green flag was waved on lap 97. Unfortunately, the Applebee’s Chevy suffered a flat tire on lap 146 and made contact with the wall. The No. 31 Chevy was brought to pit road for tires, but was caught speeding and returned to pit road the following lap to serve a pass-through penalty. George pitted under green on lap 155 to remedy handling issues from grazing the wall 10 laps earlier. He rejoined racing on lap 167, 13 laps down as the caution flag was displayed. George restarted 15th on lap 173 and even with poor handling continuing to plague his black and red car, he drove the No. 31 Applebee’s/Potomac Family Dining Group home to an 11th-place finish despite being 15 laps down.

 

Start – 8 Finish – 11 Laps Led – 0 Point Position – 6

 

TIM GEORGE JR QUOTE:

“It was looking like a good night for the Applebee’s Chevrolet until the tire issue sent us into the wall, damaging the right side which knocked the steering out of whack. Gere (Kennon, crew chief) and the guys gave me another fast car and great pit work. We were really good on long runs. It kind of spoiled our run of top-five finishes, but we’ll go get another one at Berlin in two weeks.”

 

2011 CC Team Logos ARS 41 RCR 150 px

Ty Dillon Increase his Points Lead with a Top-Five Finish at Winchester Speedway

 

Ty Dillon and the No. 41 Richard Childress Racing team rallied to a fourth-place finish after battling a loose-handling car late in Saturday night’s Winchester 200 presented by Federated Auto Parts. Blue skies and sunshine greeted the Welcome, N.C.-based team Saturday morning for practice and qualifying with the 200-lap main event to follow. Dillon started the race from the outside pole and quickly gained the lead on the first lap, then settled back into second for a majority of the race. The six-time ARCA Racing Series winner made his first trip to pit road during the lap-92 caution for four fresh Hoosier tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment. Miscommunication during the ensuing stop left Dillon restarting fourth on lap 97. Dillon charged forward and, 11 laps later, was scored in the second position. The Lexington, N.C., native resumed the race lead when the leader cut a right front tire on lap 162. The caution flag was displayed on lap 167 when the Scott Naset-led team was called to pit road for right side tires and fuel. Dillon drove off with the lead on the lap 173 restart, but the two-tire stop left Dillon with older left-side tires, forcing him to bottom out around the half-mile speedway and leaving the No. 41 RCR Chevy defenseless against the fresher tires behind him. Dillon lost the lead with 10 laps to go in the 200-lap affair but held on to his loose-handling racer to finish fourth for his 10th career top-five ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards finish.

 

Start – 2 Finish – 4 Laps Led – 29 Points Position – 1 (leads by 245 points)

 

TY DILLON QUOTE:

“We qualified well and got some points and led some laps, so I’m happy. I just like winning so it’s a little disappointing. It’s alright we’ll be back at the next race and try again. I had a lot of fun racing with the No. 17. We raced each other clean and that’s hard to do at a track like this. It’s just unfortunate that we led laps there at the end and couldn’t bring it home.”

 

RCR PR