NASCAR BLOG

Jeff Gordon, the four time champion, racing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in his No 24 Chevrolet made a contact with racer Matt Kenseth’s car just four laps before the finish of the race and the impact was such that both the racers had to withdraw from the UAW-Dodge 400 race. Jeff Gordon was not worried of the contact with another car, but raised his concerns over the minimal protection given on the curved portion of the backstretch inside wall onto which his car collided. He says that, but for his safety racecar, he would have sustained major injuries and was thankful to his team mechanics for developing such a safe racecar.

Gordon hit the back end of Kenseth’s car and his car spun and went on to hit the wall at an area that was devoid of Steel and Foam Energy Reduction or SAFER which is provided along the walls of the racetrack to absorb the impact. Gordon said that he would talk to the track owner and general manager about the poor safety standards of the track and insisted that the SAFER should be provided both outside as well as inside the wall barriers. The track spokesperson said that the track authorities will make the necessary changes as per the recommendations of NASCAR.

Carl Edwards gave a race winning performance in the Auto club 500 held in Fontana, California. Jack Roush the co-owner of the team said he was expecting this victory of Edward’s. This is Edwards’s eighth victory for the cup and he has reached the top performance of his game. In 2005, during the first season of Edwards in the cup, he won four races and came to the third position in points. With this win in Auto Club 500, it is for sure that the Hendrick Motor sport is still having competition, from a Sprint Cup race team. Edwards gained his lead when 13 more laps were remaining and was able to finish before Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon the Hendrick team mates.

In the last season Johnson and Gordon reached the 1st and 2nd position. The Hendricks is using the Car of Tomorrow and they will use this car for the entire race schedule of the sprint cup 2008. After coming out of the final pit stop, he overtook McMurray, Gordon and Johnson. Edwards and Johnson raced side by side for more than two laps and finally Edwards was able to nose ahead and move away from Johnson’s Cheverlot. Edwards later said that he enjoyed racing with Jimmie as he is a very good competitor.