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News and Views from Drew Patey and Buddy Judy
June 22, 2009
Road Course Racing - California Style
The Sprint Cup teams traveled to Northern California this past week to compete on the road course at the Infineon Raceway. Brian Vickers laid down the quickest lap on Friday to take the pole but in the 110 lap contest it was pit strategy that win or loose the race. Kasey Kahne had the best strategy and worked his way to first place with around 40 laps to go and held on to win the race. Yes, Kasey Kahne, Oh, you didn't know he was a road racers, well either did he until he won on Sunday. This was the first road course win for the Budweiser Dodge and the Richard Petty Racing driver. It was great to see The King - Richard Petty back in Victory Lane. With the race coming down to a green-white-checkered finish Kahne held off Safety-Kleen's Tony Stewart, Australian - Marcus Ambrose, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin, who rounded out the top 5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr was on his way to a top 10 finish but got caught up in a wreck and finished 26th. While Safety-Kleen's Robby Gordon was competing for the win late in the race when he also got into a tangle late in the race and finished in 36th. With the second place finish Tony Stewart extended his series point lead to 84 points over Jeff Gordon with Jimmie Johnson in third place. Special thanks to Rick, Brandon, Bryan and Dan "the cab driver'' for all the help at Infineon. ( Do you need a CDL to drive a golf cart? ) We are happy to announce that the branch in Rohnert Park is now in possession of the Drew-Kleen Award for the best and cleanest Recycling Center at a track in North America. The SK winners of this award will be attending the Petty Driving Experience in Las Vegas this fall - Great Job guys. Also, a special shout out to Rudy George and Frank Kendrick and their Northern California sales staff for organizing a great weekend outing for the SK customers in Napa and at the track this weekend. It was great to hear that the customers had a great time on Saturday and they saw a real exciting race on Sunday. The teams head to Loudon, New Hampshire next week as the Sprint Cup season approaches the half way point in the season.
Edwards Wins for First Time in Milwaukee
Carl Edwards won his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the season at the Milwaukee Mile on Saturday night. Edwards had to start in the back of the pack since he didn't practice his car because he was in Sonoma with his Cup team. When practice was over in Sonoma it was off to Milwaukee and by lap 206 the Roush Fenway driver passed Kyle Busch and drove away to the win. Busch ended up second place after leading 80 laps and was clearly disappointed after the race. Safety-Kleen's Brad Keselowski was able to to get around Eric Darnell on the last lap to take third. Carl Edwards is now within 127 points of series leader Busch. Safety-Kleen's Steve Biersack worked at the track all weekend servicing the NASCAR teams and we all appreciate his help - especially in the rain of Friday. The Nationwide teams travel to Loudon, NH for next weekends contest.
Safety-Kleen's Hornaday Wins Truck Race
What happens when you lead 180 of 200 laps - answer - you win. That's what Safety-Kleen's Ron Hornaday did at the Camping World NASCAR Truck race in Milwaukee on Saturday. The race was postponed from Friday night after heavy rain struck the Milwaukee area. Hornaday took control of the race early and dominated to the end. Dennis Setzer finished second with Brian Scott finishing third with a broken right wrist from a wreck in Michigan last weekend. Safety-Kleen's Todd Bodine came to the checkered flag in fourth and James Buescher rounded out the top five. With the win Hornaday takes the points lead from Matt Crafton who finished 16th. The Truck teams are now off to Memphis next weekend where we are sure there will be an Elvis sighting at the track.
Dario Franchitti Beats Briscoe in Iowa
Dario Franchitti won his second IndyCar race of the season this weekend at Iowa Speedway beating the Penske Safety-Kleen car driven by Ryan Briscoe. Briscoe had the strongest car all race but came up short as Franchitti passed the Penske car in the closing laps. Andretti Green's Hideki Mutoh took third ahead of Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon in fifth. The race got off to a wild start as EJ Viso spun into the wall and Robert Doornbos slid into Ryan Hunter-Reay on the first lap. Danica Patrick and Helio Castroneves finished one lap down and were never in contention. The Indy Cars head to Richmond next weekend for another short track race.
Red Bull Wins at Silverstone
Sebastian Vettel driving for Red Bull Racing F1 car drove away with the British Grand Prix to win at Silverstone on Sunday. Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello came home second and third. Championship leader Jenson Button had a bad race weekend and ended up crossing the finish line in sixth place. Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton also had a difficult afternoon, starting from 19th, he ended up spining and finishing down the list. Hamilton's teammate Heikki Kovalainen failed to finish the Grand Prix after being hit by Sébastien Bourdais.
Megenbier Makes it Two in a Row at the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
leadLexington, OH (June 21, 2009) –After a DNF in Round 2 of the SCCA Pro Racing Volkswagen JettaTDI Cup season, Timmy Megenbierhas been a driver on a mission. Today, he claimed his second-consecutive victory of the season in Round 4 of the season afterleading 13 of 17 laps at Lexington, Ohio’s Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Pole sitter Devin Cates led the field into the first turn on lapone, but went off course in the second turn, opening the door for the second and third place starters, Joey Atterburyand Timmy Megenbierto advance their positions. Atterburyand Megenbierbattled for the remainder of the race with Megenbiertaking the lead on lap five. He held on for the remainder of the race to take his second and second-consecutive victory of the young season. Megenbier’swin moves him into the Championship lead. Safety-Kleen Motorsports is proud to support the JettaTDI Cup Series and their use of “clean diesel”. www.vwmotorsportusa.com
Pruett Takes Ganassi to Victory Lane at The Mid Ohio
Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas drove their Chip Ganassi Grand Am sports car to victory in Saturday's Grand Am race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The defending champion team dominated the second half of the race but had to battle back from one lap down after a penalty for a pit road violation and contact with a car on the track. The team of Zonta and Jonsson raced to second while Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty placed third. Pruett and Rojas are now the points leader by 11 points ahead of Gurney and Fogarty. Max Angelelli and Brian Frisselle entered the event with a share of the lead, but are now third, 12 points behind. Safety-Kleen's Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas placed fourth in the Penske Racing Porsche Riley, and are now fourth in the points, 13 points behind. Thanks to Keith and the crew from the Kent, OH branch for servicing the track this weekend. Now off to Daytona for the Grand Am teams in two weeks.
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