B2 Commonwealth Journal Thursday,April 19, 2012 Somerset, Kentucky Page Designed and Edited by Steve Cornelius; sports@somerset-kentucky_com

Four Turns ll"acks on Tap 1BACK ON TOP Greg Biffle has led the SPRINT CUP SERIES Spri nt Cup Se ries poi nl stan dings for ---Race: SIP 400 five eo nsec uti VB weeks in 2a 12. Prior Track: Kansas Speedway to tIlis stint at the top, Biffle had led .exas-Sized Win location:. Kansas City, Kan. the series stan dings fa r on lyon e Greg Biffle wins in Texas, retains lead in championship standings When: Saturday, April 14 week - ttle week 01 June 26, 2005. TV: FOX (12: 30 p. m, EST) Thai season, Biffle spent all but one By M.ATTTALIAFERRO I Layo ul: 1.5 -rnl Ie tri "oval Bankingrrurns: 15 degrees wee kin the to p 5 in the point stand- Athlol) Sports Racing Editor BankingITri-Oval: 10.4 degrees ings (after a. 25th in the Daytona 500) Banki nglB ackstretch: 5 deg rees and finished second to Tony Stewart The NASCAR Sprint Cup poim 2011 Winners: Brad Keselowski and Jim- in the Ii na I stand ing s. stand ings have always been marc mie Johnson consistency-based than win-centric. 2 RECORD SffiER The Samsung Mo- Crew I:hief's Take: "The thing abolll Kansas bile 500 set two Texas Motor Speed- This season alone, two-time race that make 5i t al ittle d ifle rent is the pavemen t, way record s. Th e race had til e lewest w inner TOllY Stewart found himsel f aMh ow tile su nace has started to wear out, cautio ns (two) an d was the fastest third in the standings behind winless which is a go nd thin g! for us when we're rae- (average speed: 160.577) in tile 23 drivers Greg Biffle and Dale Earn- ing. Of cou rse, Ih ey 'ra go ing to repave 111e Cup races hetd at TMS.ln tact, the hardt Jr. place after this race, so we should enjoy it eve nt had the fastest avera ge spe ad Bi me and Earnhardt - both sad- while we' VB got it As with many 01 tile circu it's 01 any race sin ce the AMP Energ y died with winless sk ids of 49 or 1.5- aM z-mne ovals, bump stops on the Juice 500 at Tall8dega Su pers peed- more races - had employed the sh GC ks play an im portent role at Kansas. A way in October 2010. tTied and true "top-10 'em to death" team musl find an optimal settng for the bump stops or the car will be negaUvely affected by method in 2012, each with four in 3 MaVIN' ON UP When Jimmie John- being 100 low - wh ich d rags the splitier and s.ix races. son led 112 laps at Martinsville affects handli n9 - or too hig h - which gets Speedway on ApMI.1, he passed Tony !-1owever, Bime separated hirnsel f air unde r the car and resulls ina lack of front- Stewart for 12U1 on NAS CAR's all-Ii m e at Texas Motor Speedway on Satur- end downforee." laps led list..Jo hnson has led a tota I 01 day evening, scoring bisfirsl Cup , I 12,.471 laps in 370 career Cup sta.rt8. Series victory since October 20 lOin Race: NASCAR Na.tionwide Series2 5 0 Stewart, in 471 starts, has be en on the Samsung Mobil.e 500. Trac'k: Richmond International Raceway point for 12,280 laps. Johnson is 116 '1t certainly doesn't hurt," Biffle Wh en :fKyle Busch and Kevin Harvi ck ENOUGH In an interview on "Wind ''To win lIke this and put H bunch of ,", '"1' Tunnel wilh Dave Despain," Phoenix ground on lhe guys - all the cars Raee: SFP 250 Racing team owner James Finch told behind uS - that certainly makes a Track: Kansas Speedway Despain Ihal his single"car team statement, I think, tor all the people When: Saturday, April 21 may have problems running the en" tbat were wondering if tbis was kind TV: SPEED (1:30 p.m. EST) Ii re season wi'tIl Ku rt Busch be hind of a fluke that we were still lead ing 2011 Winner: Clin! Bowyer the wheel. "There's a Question," the points this far in" ASP. Inc. Finch said. "We're off and running Biffle assumed the points tead fol- Greg Biffle celebrates his win in the Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. and trying. We're talkingl to some lowing the third race of the season, Kansas Speedwa.y people and going from there. We're which marked his third consecutive Matt Kenseth rounded Olli. the rop 5. The other slorylines of the It was 2001, and Jeff Gordon was rolling. head ad to Kan sas til is wee ke nd and [hird-place fin ish. The strong early"season pelform- evening were a lack of cautions hopefullY get in the top 10 there and Well on his way 10 a fourth Winston Cup titl e, On Salmday, Biffle had to hold off !loce of Michael Wl1.ltrip Racing's lhroughoul lhe 500-mile racc. Only Gordon and his No. 2~ HeMrick Motorsports then come back to Talladega and adetem1ined Jimmie Johnson, who three cars continued. Martin, who is two yellow flags - both for debris team Jed 53 laps in the .inaugural' race al have a. rea lIy good run. " now has only two wi.lls i"n the las! 50 splittiJ.1g drivi"l1g duties i.11lhe No. 55 on the track - marred an otherwise Kansas Speedway in the Protection One 400. races - a relative stat, yet one that Toyota with Brian Vickers, notched spolless event thai lasted j list over Sprint Cup Standings Gordon and Rusty WalIace, WilD Iad 117 opens eyes when it's thc five-time the team's second lOp 5 and fourth three hO'll"s. The strength of Ihe laps, were in a dogfight for the lead with jus! DRIVER (WINS) POINTS BEHIND champion. top !O this year. Marlin Truex .Ir. Tex:as wind also grabbed the dri vers' under 50 laps to gO,b u! a cau~on brought tile 1. Greg Biffle 273 Johnson led a race"high 156 laps, tamed heads once agai.n with a attention. field, to pit road. On exit, Wallace was busted 2. Matt Ken~eth.(1) 254 -1,9 but was beat by Biffle's sJidejob ex- six:th-place show ing, his fi fth top 10 "The wind was a IlUge faCIOr.," 10r speedin9 and sent to the end ollfle longest 3. Dale Earnhardl Jr. 254 -19 iting Turn 4 wilh 31 laps to go. John- in the No. 56 NAPA Toyola. Truex Biffle said. "The wind was blowing line for the restart.. 4. Martin Truex Jr. 253 -20 Rjcky Rudd, in the No. 28 Havoline Ford, as- son eventually skated up and into sits fOllrth in the po lilt standings. you all over lhe place. I was swat- 5. Kevin Harvick 249 ·24 sumed Ihe lead and led 14 laps until Gordon the wall while IJ'ying 10 catch Bif- "The teamwork I'rn feel.ing right ting flies all l1igl1tlong. The wind 6. [Jenny Hamlin (1) 242 ·31 and Mark Martin got by him with 23 laps re· fle's No. j 6 Ford, and limped to a now at MWR is second to none I.'ve was blowing the car back and forth 7. Tony Stewart (2) 234 "39 maining iust prior toa vicious wreck by Dale ever been at," Martin said. "Martin and over ... that could be a factor 8. Jimmie Johnson 233 -40 second-placefini sh, 325-seconds in Jarrett that briefty knoc~ed him unconsc ious. 9. Ryan Newman (1) 225 -48 behind the race winner. Truex Jr., is really, really engaged, why there was no accidents. You Gordon held 0n fro m Ihere, beating Ryan 1O. Clinl Bowyer 219 -54 "The last two or three runs the 16 and he's working hal"d 10 help the would think that would cause onc. Newman, in his sixth cafelll start, by .413 sec" A I:HASfFOfl THE SPR lilT CUP A and I were pretty eqlml, nm(nillg) whole program. Well, il made it so you couldn't re- oMs. 11. Ca~ Edwa rds 215 -58 pretty similar lap times." Johnson "We're racing three cars to put ally race side by side with a guy. 12. Paul Menard 192 -81 said. "I J list got tangled lip in some two in the Chase for sure and win "I wouldn't run up on a guy com· Athlon Fantasy Stall 13. Joey Logano 192 -81 lapped traffic and (Hi-me) madc a races and ITy \0 go toe-lo-Ioe with ing off lhe corner likc I normally Looking at Checkers: Greg mille's B.3-place 14. Kyle Buscch 184 -89 great move and got by me. And then the likes of Hendrick Rnd ROllsh and wou.ld. I'd leave more room because 15. Brad K&selowski (1) average fin ish atKa nsas makes fo r a good 183 -90 I was pacing him from there and Lhose guys Thai's a tall order for I wasn't sure when the wind was 16. Jeff Burton 179 -94 bacHo·back a rgument d.idn't have anything left to go get right now. I'm very pl"oud of the re- goi'ng to blow my car one way or an- 17. Jet! Gordon 1'77 ·96 Pre tty SoIid P·ick: And' jud gi~9 by Kansas hi~m. ItTied and ran 0111 ofgrip going sults we're getting. II's coming from ot11er. I was cautious wben I was stats, Jimm ieJo hnson 0nee agai fi nish 18. Juan Pan I0 Montoya 174 ·99 may n a lot of good attitudes and hard· around (0 ther) cars, all d Ith i nk prob. 19. AJ Allmendinger 172 -101 into Turn J and drilled the fence." second to Billie. Good Sleeper Pick: Might Ma~k 20. Mark Martin no ·103 Mark Martin, .Jeff Gordon and working people." ably everybody else was tonight." Martin give MWR its firsl win of Nafionwide Standings the 2012 seaso n? • Kasey Kahne won the Good Sam Roadside News & Notes In the Cup Series' final race at the track in the Runs on Seven CyUnders: DRIVER (WINS) POINTS BEHIND Assistance 200 at Rockingham Speedway on Sandhills of North Carolinae.ight years ago, Martin Truex Jr; has 1. Elliott Sadler (2) 247 Sunday in NASCAR'sfirstlri p back to 1M trac k it Matt Kenseth edged Kahne in the Subway 400 been a su rprise th us 2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2) 243 ·4 left in 2004. by ..01 seconds. far. Howe ve I, he has zero lop 1Os 3. Austin Dillon 227 -20 Kahne pulled triple duty last weekend, finishing seventh (Cup • Turner Motorsports will make its Sprint Cup Series debut 4. Sam Hornish Jr. 193 ·54 In seven Kansas 5. Michae'l Annett 183 ·64 Series) and third (Nationwide) atTexas Motor Speedway. He in July's Cok.eZero 400 at Daytona International' Speedway. starts. 6. Cole Whitt 182 "65 then led the final 46 laps of tile 200-lap Camping World Truck NASCAR veteran Bill Elliott will man the No. 50 Walmart In si der Tip: Biffle, 7. Trevor Bayne 1.80 "67 Series race at "Tile Rock" in his Turner Motorsports Chevy Chevy. Johnson.J elf Gordon all d 8. Taylor Malsam 163 -84 to notch the win. It was Kahne's fourth career Truck Series Longtime Turner Motorsports Grew chiel trent Owens will sit Tony Stewart each have 9. JusUn Aligai er 163 -84 two wi ns here. win in five starts .. atop the pit box. 10. Mike Bliss 147 ·100 Ilth'oft Sports IIorsepol/Ifer Rankings

DRIVER (WINS) POINTS 1. Greg Biffl e Cemented his status as the points Ileader with an impressive win in Texas. BIffle has yet 10 finish worse 1. 11mothy Peters 12t than 13th this season, and is looki ng fOlWard to Kansas - 0 ne of his tlest tracks - th is weaken d. 2. Justin Lofta n 115 -6 2. Jimmie Johnson Joins Biffle and the two Juniors - Dale Earnhardt and Martin Truex - as tile only drivers on the 3. Ty Dillon 114 ·7 circuit w.itll five top lOs In seven races. Kansas will most likely make six. 4. James Buescher 111 ·1,0 3. Tony Stewart How does Stewart - who won at the 1.S-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the 2-mile Auto Club 5. Parker Ktigerman tOl ·20 Speedway - tank to the tune of 24th at the 1.5"mile Texas Motor Speedway? 6. Nelson Piquet Jr. 100 -21 - -- 4. Matt Kenselh fJs steady as they com e, Kensetll moves Into a tie for second with a eertain Most Popula r Driver after 7. Jaso n White 94 -27 8. John King (1) 93 -28 a Iifth at TMS. Of cou rse, Kenseth 's 0 al'lona 500 win Irum ps Ju nior's ... uh, zero wi ns, In 136 races. 9. Ron Hornaday 90 -31 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. OK, so he hasn'l won in a, long, long time. BulJunior iis averaging an a.t-place finish, which 1O. David Starr 84 -37 is second best in the series" Still, it reatly is lime 10 break that winless streak and move on. 6. Martin Truex Jr. Truex Ms averaged a 26.3-place finish at Kansas with zero top lOs. If he brings it home eighth or ..," better like he has in five 01seven races solar Ihis year, we're all on board . 7. Kevin Harvick Harvick's only Mish outside of tfle top 11 in any Single race was a 19th at Martinsville. He's been MARTIN TRUEX JR. On tile strengtll of awfully quiet lor running so well. Maybe Baby Otis has him Ihrown off his typical smack-talking ways. five top·10 runs - including four straight of eighth or better - Truex 8. Carl Edwards Edwards' fitttl- 10 11th"place finishes are fine, but after seven races he still has naIled a .Iap.Allow me . has climbed 10 lourth in tile Sprint to repeat lila!: Through seven races in 2012, Carl Edwards has nolled a single, compettlive lap. -- --- Cup pOi,nt standings, his highe,sl 9. Denny Hamlin Hamlin's 12th "place run at Texas is far from cringe·wortI1Y,bul he's finished between 11th and 20tll career Cup ranking. in all three big intermediate track races this year. That's not going to work. ~ REGAN SMITH" JAMIE MI:- 1.-----O. Jeff Gordo n A clean fOllrthin Texas. Is the rotten luck. behind him? MURRAY AND KASEY KAHNE fl. Brad Keselowski Mechanical rssues beginning to plague Penske's Dodge camp. Kes is good fOI a couple more wins, tIlough. Mark Martin, who has partici- 112. Mark Martin II he raced every wee k, Marti n would rank in the to p son Ih is list ~ pated in 11010fewer races Ihan Smith, McMurray and Kahne, leads 13. Ryan Newman When not finishing in the top 12, Newman finishes 21sl. Seriously. It's happened three times. t11emall in ~he point standings. 14. Clin! Bowyer Still working out some kinKS, but all things considered, this new bunch is holding its own. 15. Kasey Kahne See, w'hen there are no cautions fOI wre cks, Kasey can drive his Chevy 10 a top·1 0 showin g. Compiled and wrrlten by Mati Taliaferro. Jusl off the, lead pack: Follow Matt on Twitter @MattTaJialerro or .Kyle Busch, .Joey logano, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Juan Pablo Monloya email [email protected]

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