I don’t know about you but I really dig the races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and yes, I still called it that even after they sold the naming rights to the joint to the big box do-it-yourself company Lowes and re-named the faous racetrack to Lowes Motor Speedway. Call me ‘old school’ if you want but I just couldn’t do it, just like the calling the summer Daytona race anything other than the Firecracker 400.
So look who is on the pole for today’s race, none other than Smoke himself, Tony Stewart. Who created that nickname anywayy? Smoke. Was it Winston before they were forced out of sponsoring racing by the Government? Or did he just make it up by himself? Hmm, correct me if I’m wrong, but if you make up your own nickname, i doesn’t really count, or does it?
My pick to win today is the 48, I know, I know, but statistically he’s great here. My darkhorse for the race is the 5 of Mark Martin. I expect good runs from the 14, 24, 29 and the 99. If one of the other Chase contenders win it’ll be because of fuel mileage.
Anyway, enough said. Starting line-up is on the other side – I’ll see you there, in the comments of course!
***
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Office Depot | 191.959 | 28.131 | Leader |
| 2 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Fluidmaster | 191.918 | 28.137 | -0.006 |
| 3 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac “Now Hiring” | 191.870 | 28.144 | -0.013 |
| 4 | 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Best Buy | 191.768 | 28.159 | -0.028 |
| 5 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M “Give Kids A Smile” | 191.741 | 28.163 | -0.032 |
| 6 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Cookies for Kids’ Cancer | 191.585 | 28.186 | -0.055 |
| 7 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | CertainTeed / Menards | 191.462 | 28.204 | -0.073 |
| 8 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | Red Bull | 191.394 | 28.214 | -0.083 |
| 9 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s / Chevy 100th Anniversay | 191.340 | 28.222 | -0.091 |
| 10 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 191.259 | 28.234 | -0.103 |
| 11 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS Freight | 191.002 | 28.272 | -0.141 |
| 12 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Stanley / Bostitch | 191.002 | 28.272 | -0.141 |
| 13 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com / Chevy 100th Anniversary | 190.900 | 28.287 | -0.156 |
| 14 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches | 190.894 | 28.288 | -0.157 |
| 15 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Amp Energy / National Guard / Chevy 100th Anniversary | 190.833 | 28.297 | -0.166 |
| 16 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 190.820 | 28.299 | -0.168 |
| 17 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Express | 190.799 | 28.302 | -0.171 |
| 18 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 190.638 | 28.326 | -0.195 |
| 19 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Cheerios / Hamburger Helper | 190.611 | 28.330 | -0.199 |
| 20 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Pennzoil Ultra | 190.570 | 28.336 | -0.205 |
| 21 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 190.429 | 28.357 | -0.226 |
| 22 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Lance Snacks / Tom’s Snacks | 190.255 | 28.383 | -0.252 |
| 23 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger / Chevy 100th Anniversay | 190.007 | 28.420 | -0.289 |
| 24 | 13 | Casey Mears | Toyota | GEICO | 189.727 | 28.462 | -0.331 |
| 25 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M’s | 189.540 | 28.490 | -0.359 |
| 26 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 189.520 | 28.493 | -0.362 |
| 27 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Arctic Cat | 189.401 | 28.511 | -0.380 |
| 28 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 189.082 | 28.559 | -0.428 |
| 29 | 00 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 188.923 | 28.583 | -0.452 |
| 30 | 51 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | Thank A Teacher Today / Security Benefit | 188.851 | 28.594 | -0.463 |
| 31 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 188.772 | 28.606 | -0.475 |
| 32 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 188.725 | 28.613 | -0.482 |
| 33 | 34 | David Gilliland | Ford | Tastykake | 188.600 | 28.632 | -0.501 |
| 34 | 55 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | Ingersoll Rand | 188.271 | 28.682 | -0.551 |
| 35 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Golden Corral | 188.239 | 28.687 | -0.556 |
| 36 | 30 | David Stremme | Chevrolet | Red Rocks Cafe / Inception Motorsports | 187.918 | 28.736 | -0.605 |
| 37 | 66 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | HP Racing LLC | 187.454 | 28.807 | -0.676 |
| 38 | 38 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | Long John Silver’s | 187.383 | 28.818 | -0.687 |
| 39 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AMFMEnergy.com / Pellet & Wood Stoves | 187.311 | 28.829 | -0.698 |
| 40 | 277 | Andy Lally* | Ford | HOD | 186.657 | 28.930 | -0.799 |
| 41 | 71 | Hermie Sadler+ | Ford | Susan G. Komen for the Cure | 185.676 | 29.083 | -0.952 |
| 42 | 32 | Mike Bliss+ | Ford | Street King | 185.440 | 29.120 | -0.989 |
| 43 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | Speed Energy / Harris Teeter | 186.303 | 28.985 | -0.854 |
| Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 44 | 135 | Geoffrey Bodine | Chevrolet | Luke & Associates | 186.245 | 28.994 | -0.863 |
| 45 | 46 | Scott Speed | Ford | www. order greenstuff.com |
186.207 | 29.000 | -0.869 |
| 46 | 37 | Josh Wise | Ford | Max Q Motorsports | 185.382 | 29.129 | -0.998 |
* Denotes Rookie
