McDreamy gains credibility with podium finish
January 31, 2011
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP)—It was no fluke when Patrick Dempsey led lapsovernight in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The actor best known as McDreamy from his role as Dr. Derek Shepherd on“Grey’s Anatomy” has worked hard at his racing career.
The validation came last weekend when Dempsey led his first laps in theGrand-Am Series and helped his race team earn its first podium with athird-place finish Sunday in the prestigious sports car race.
It capped a full weekend of Dempsey juggling both his jobs. He flew fromDaytona on Friday to Park City, Utah, for the screening of his film “Flypaper”at the Sundance Film Festival.
In his champagne-soaked firesuit Sunday, Dempsey could hardly contain hisemotions from participating in such a successful weekend.
Top 20 Countdown: No. 10 Clint Bowyer (Yahoo! Sports)
January 31, 2011
Editor’s note: Yahoo! Sports is counting down the top 20 drivers of the 2011 season. The order was determined by a survey, which asked five NASCAR journalists – Jay Busbee and Jay Hart (Yahoo! Sports), Jenna Fryer (Associated Press), Dustin Long (Landmark Newspapers) and Nate Ryan (USA Today) – to predict the final standings for the 2011 season. The countdown will conclude on Feb. 11 with the unveiling of the No. 1 driver.
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(Getty Images) 2010 statistics Finish Poles Wins Top 5 Top 10 10 0 2 7 18 The countdownNo. 20: David Reutimann | Career statsNo. 19: Kasey Kahne | Career statsNo. 18: Mark Martin | Career statsNo. 17: Ryan Newman | Career statsNo. 16: Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Career statsNo. 14 (tie): Joey Logano | Career statsNo. 14 (tie): Jeff Burton | Career statsNo. 13: Jamie McMurray | Career statsNo. 12: Kurt Busch | Career statsNo. 11: Juan Pablo Montoya | Career statsNo. 10: Clint Bowyer | Career statsNo. 9: Revealed Feb. 1
2010 finish: 10th
Our 2011 predictions:• Jay Busbee: 8th• Jay Hart: 13th• Jenna Fryer: 10th• Dustin Long: 11th• Nate Ryan: 11th
Outlook for 2011: For a brief moment, Clint Bowyer was smack dab in the middle of the 2010 championship hunt. Though he was the second-to-last qualifier for the Chase, his win in the playoff’s first race vaulted him from 11th to second, and had him sitting behind only Denny Hamlin. All looked bright for the man from Emporia, Kan.
And then the hammer of NASCAR came down. Violations discovered in Bowyer’s car led NASCAR to levy a 150-point penalty against the No. 33 team, effectively dooming his hopes for any kind of title run. Bowyer protested his innocence – and the fact that he went on to win later in the Chase seemed to bolster his case – but the ruling held.
It was an ugly stain on what was unquestionably Bowyer’s best season of his five-year Sprint Cup career – two wins, seven top-five finishes, 18 top-10s. And while Bowyer had his problems qualifying – he failed to capture a pole and averaged a starting position of only 14.9 – he nonetheless ran better the longer the year went on. Over a stretch of 11 races that ran from Bristol in August to Texas in November, he posted seven finishes in the top seven. And no one, other than Carl Edwards, won as many races in the Chase as Bowyer.
Like Edwards, Bowyer seems poised for a breakout season. He has exactly the kind of personality that could make him a NASCAR superstar: He’s at ease in front of the cameras while still able to retain some measure of humanity. The 2011 season could very well be the year that Bowyer steps up to NASCAR’s top echelon.
What you need to know: Bowyer has had issues with his crews before, but after undergoing a complete crew switch (in the middle of the Chase) with teammate Kevin Harvick, Bowyer nonetheless won at Talladega the following week. (Harvick, meanwhile, ran well but didn’t win any races in the Chase.)
Flexibility under duress is a necessary attribute for a championship driver, as is the ability to coordinate every element of your crew, and Bowyer showed late in the year that he could do both. Everything’s in place for a fine 2011 … as long as Bowyer makes sure to play by the rules.
Ganassi sweeps top spots in Rolex 24 at Daytona (PA SportsTicker)
January 31, 2011
By MARK LONG AP Sports Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP)—Chip Ganassi stood to the side and watched his drivers douse each other with champagne, kiss the Rolex 24 at Daytona trophy and parade around Victory Lane with flags draped on their backs.
Ganassi’s celebration was much more subdued.
Has he grown accustomed to all this winning? No chance. The owner simply knows who deserves credit for the unprecedented “Ganassi Slam.”
“I don’t drive the cars, I don’t change the tires, I don’t work on the engines,” Ganassi said. “There’s a lot of great competitors that it takes to make up a team. I’m just the guy that gets to stand up here and talk about it.”
Few car owners have done that as often as Ganassi in recent months – at least on racing’s biggest stages.
Three-time and defending Grand-Am Series champion Scott Pruett drove the last leg of the Rolex 24 on Sunday and held off Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon during a frantic, one-lap sprint.
Pruett got a smooth restart on a green-white-checker finish and a little help from slower traffic to pull away from Dixon and third-place finisher Joao Barbosa in the Daytona Prototype class.
Andy Lally led TRG Racing to victory in the Grand Touring class. The team drove the final 17 hours without a clutch, but still finished two laps ahead of the next closest car.
Pruett, meanwhile, won by 2.42 seconds. He earned his 32nd victory in the series and his fourth Rolex 24 (1994, 2007, 2008). This one could be his most meaningful.
It surely was for Ganassi, who became the only car owner to win the four biggest races in the United States during a 12-month period. His drivers won the Daytona 500 (Jamie McMurray), the Indianapolis 500 (Dario Franchitti) and the Brickyard 400 (McMurray) last year.
“It’s the guys that do all the work,” Ganassi said.
Hard to argue after the prestigious, twice-around-the-clock endurance race at Daytona International Speedway.
Pruett and co-drivers Memo Rojas, Joey Hand and Graham Rahal overcame several setbacks to get Ganassi back to Victory Lane in the Rolex 24 after consecutive runner-up finishes. It was Ganassi’s fourth win in the season-opening event.
“There’s a lot of should’ve, would’ve, could’ve,” said Pruett, who teamed with Rojas to win nine of 12 races in the series last year but not the biggest one on the schedule. “I was right there the last two years. … I lived it. Chip as well. We lived it the last two years. So it’s certainly nice to be back in Victory Lane. At the end of the day, it’s exciting for our team to have a 1-2 finish. That’s how you one-up what you do here. I think that’s absolutely amazing.”
Pruett used pit strategy to get his No. 01 BMW Riley ahead of the other Ganassi entry in the final hour and stayed out front down the stretch.
The car went down two laps Saturday because of a gear box issue and fell as low as 18th in the class before getting back to the front. Even then, it was short-lived.
Hand hit a tire on pit road and received a drive-through penalty that included a 30-second stop. He dropped 51 seconds behind the lead pack, but made up 30 seconds under green-flag conditions.
Pruett took over from there, driving the final 110 minutes. He made up the rest of the ground by pitting earlier than the others on the lead lap and taking advantage of new tires.
“Obviously, all of us were a little disappointed with that (penalty), but you can’t think about it,” Pruett said. “You’ve got to keep focusing on getting to Victory Lane. The thing all these drivers did up here is keep the car absolutely immaculate.
“If you look at that car, there may be a few scratches, but that’s what it takes to win and be in contention for this race. Our car’s not beat up, it’s not tore up, it’s not banged up. It’s still a strong piece.”
It certainly was too fast for the No. 02 Ganassi entry, the one with the star-studded lineup of Dixon, Franchitti, McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya.
The No. 02 team faded late as track temperature rose, and the four drivers were clearly disappointed with the second-place finish.
“You can’t go home being happy knowing that you had a chance,” Montoya said.
Nonetheless, they celebrated with Ganassi.
“It’s really quite amazing what Chip’s done,” McMurray said. “From a team side of it, it’s really amazing for not only this group, but just the whole organization what he’s been able to accomplish. It’s incredible.”
Ganassi sweeps top 2 spots in Rolex 24 at Daytona
January 30, 2011
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (AP)—Car owner Chip Ganassi is back in Victory Lane atAmerica’s most prestigious road race.
Defending Grand-Am Series champion Scott Pruett drove the last leg in theRolex 24 at Daytona and held off Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon on a finalrestart.
Yep, America’s longest endurance race came down to a one-lap sprint.
Pruett pulled away from Dixon and third-place finisher Joao Barbosa afterthe green-white restart and won the Daytona Prototype class by 2.42 seconds.Pruett and co-drivers Memo Rojas, Graham Rahal and Joey Hand celebrated withGanassi in Victory Lane. They received electric guitars and Rolex watches.
“This was unbelievable,” Pruett said. “Our car ran and ran and ran. Thisis just awesome, truly awesome, to have a 1-2 finish is just incredible.”
It’s Ganassi’s fourth victory in the 24-hour race. This one fills the smallvoid created last season when Ganassi’s primary car finished second in thetwice-around-the-clock endurance race. That failure became glaring after Ganassidrivers won the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400.
Ganassi now is the only car owner to win the four biggest races in theUnited States during a 12-month period.
Pruett used pit strategy to get ahead of the other Ganassi entry in thefinal hour and stayed out front down the stretch. He ended up racing 721 lapsand more than 2,566 miles, and overcame several setbacks.
The last one looked like it might doom the car.
Hand, who consistently put down the fastest laps of the event, drove to thefront of the field. But he received a drive-through penalty that included a30-second stop after hitting a tire on pit road. He dropped 51 seconds behindthe lead pack, but made up 30 seconds under green-flag conditions.
He turned the wheel over to Pruett for the final 110 minutes, and Pruettmade up the rest of the ground by pitting a little earlier than the otherGanassi car and taking advantage of new tires.
The No. 02 team, Ganassi’s star-studded team that included Dixon, DarioFranchitti, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray, finished second. ActionExpress, the defending race winners, finished third with Joao Barbosa behind thewheel.
Andy Lally led TRG Racing to a victory in the Grand Touring class, beatingthe Paul Miller Racing entry by two laps. Lally claimed the pole position butstarted in the back of the pack after failing post-qualifying inspection. Theteam, with Steven Bertheau, Brendan Gaughan, Wolf Henzler and Spencer Pumpellysharing the seat, drove the final 17 hours without a clutch.
Patrick Dempsey’s team finished third in the GT class, giving the “Grey’sAnatomy” star one of his more memorable weekends.
Dempsey drove the No. 40 Mazda into the lead Sunday morning, but co-driverTom Long spun on his own with just under six hours remaining in the race. Longwas unable to get the car restarted after a pit stop, and the Dempsey Racing carfell four laps down.
It was the first time “McDreamy” has ever led a race at this level. Itcame two days after he appeared at the Sundance Film Festival for the premier ofhis new film “Flypaper.” He produced the film and said it got strong reviews.
His race made the weekend even more special, and Dempsey was in tearstalking about his third-place finish.
Dream run for ‘McDreamy’ comes to end at Daytona
January 30, 2011
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP)—Patrick Dempsey’s bid to win the most prestigiousroad race in America came to a close early Sunday when his car went off thecourse while leading its class in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Dempsey, the “Grey’s Anatomy” star, brought two entries to thetwice-around-the-clock endurance race at Daytona International Speedway, anddrove the No. 40 Mazda into the lead of the Grand Touring class Sunday morning.
Tom Long was behind the wheel when he spun on his own with just under sixhours remaining in the race. Long was unable to get the car restarted after apit stop, and the Dempsey Racing team fell four laps down.
It was the first time Dempsey has ever led a race at this level.
The weekend wasn’t a complete loss for “McDreamy,” though. He attended theSundance Film Festival on Friday for the premier of his new film “Flypaper”and said it got strong reviews. He also produced the film.
Dempsey said after Saturday’s driving stint that the trip from Daytona toPark City, Utah, and back to the track had left him exhausted, but thought theeffort to participate in both events was worth the energy.
“It went really well. The screening was phenomenal. The response was hugeright from the beginning,” Dempsey said. “So on that side of things, Icouldn’t ask for a better response to the movie. It’s the first time I’veproduced a movie and for it to be received that strongly was a really goodthing.
“We paid for it a little (Saturday) with some fatigue, but we’ll be good.”
Meanwhile, the Chip Ganassi Racing teams remained in control of the DaytonaPrototype class and appeared poised to battle each other for the overall title.
Juan Pablo Montoya powered past teammate Memo Rojas on a restart to put theNo. 02 BMW Riley out front, continuing a trend of the two Ganassi entriescontrolling the front of the field.
Early morning fog led to a nearly three-hour period under yellow—the mostsignificant delay in the event since a red flag for heavy rain stretched almostthree hours in 2004—and the Ganassi cars wasted no time jumping out front whenracing resumed around 8 a.m.
Three-time Rolex winner Scott Pruett passed Buddy Rice to put Ganassi’s No.01 back into the lead with a little over seven hours remaining. Dario Franchittithen worked Ganassi’s No. 02 into second place.
It was another comeback for the No. 02 entry, which suffered two blown rightrear tires in the early stages of the twice around-the-clock endurance race.
Then while leading, Montoya struck debris entering the pits overnight andthe car had to go to the garage to change the front end. The team lost two lapswhile completing the work.
Jason Bowles wins NASCAR All-Star Showdown
January 30, 2011
IRWINDALE, Calif. (AP)—Jason Bowles won the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown on Saturday night, beating Canadian D.J. Kennington by 0.501 seconds on the half-mile track.
Bowles, the 2009 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion from Ontario, Calif., took the lead on the final restart in the 225-lap race that was slowed by 11 cautions.
Kennington, the 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series champion, gave Toyota a sweep of the top two spots in his first start at Irwindale.
Jonathon Gomez was third, followed by Luis Martinez Jr., Johnny Borneman, action sports star Travis Pastrana, Derek Thorn, Travis Motley, Moses Smith and NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Steve Wallace.
Earlier, Sean Woodside won the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model race, holding off Nick Joanides in a green-white-checkered finish.
Jason Bowles wins NASCAR All-Star Showdown (PA SportsTicker)
January 30, 2011
IRWINDALE, CALIF. (AP) —Jason Bowles won the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown on Saturday night, beating Canadian D.J. Kennington by 0.501 seconds on the half-mile track.
Bowles, the 2009 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion from Ontario, Calif., took the lead on the final restart in the 225-lap race that was slowed by 11 cautions.
Kennington, the 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series champion, gave Toyota a sweep of the top two spots in his first start at Irwindale.
Jonathon Gomez was third, followed by Luis Martinez Jr., Johnny Borneman, action sports star Travis Pastrana, Derek Thorn, Travis Motley, Moses Smith and NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Steve Wallace.
Earlier, Sean Woodside won the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model race, holding off Nick Joanides in a green-white-checkered finish.
Heavily favored Ganassi teams regroup in Rolex 24
January 30, 2011
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP)—The two Chip Ganassi Racing entries rallied fromearly issues and an unusually aggressive pace to get back in contention in theRolex 24 at Daytona.
Both the No. 01 and No. 02 BMW Riley cars fell to the back of the DaytonaPrototype class because of problems just shy of the one hour mark in thetwice-round-the-clock race that began Saturday afternoon.
The first problem hit the No. 02 when Scott Dixon blew a right rear tire.Shortly after, Scott Pruett took the No. 01 to pit road to change the gear box.
Despite the setbacks, nobody seemed worried.
“If that’s our biggest problem, we’re going to have a pretty smooth race,”Dixon said. “It doesn’t change anything. It’s 24 hours. There’s still a longways to go.”
Dixon was spot on with his assessment.
Both Ganassi cars moved through the field at Daytona International Speedway,even after a second blown tire on the No. 02 while Dario Franchitti was driving.Memo Rojas took the No. 01 to the lead, and Juan Pablo Montoya drove the No. 02from 12th to first as the race rolled toward Sunday morning.
Winners of three straight Rolex races from 2006-08, Ganassi is trying to getback to Victory Lane in the prestigious endurance race after consecutivesecond-place finishes.
It helped that two of the team’s top challengers—SunTrust Racing andGainsco/Bob Stallings Racing—both had problems just as the Ganassi cars begantheir rally.
Five-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson warned the Gainsco team about brakeproblems after his second-leg stint, and he was in the middle of his post-drivenews conference when he saw on a television monitor the car being worked on inthe garage.
“Did we get a yellow? I hope? No? Oh,” he said.
A second mechanical problem while Jon Fogarty was driving dropped theGainsco team 28 laps behind the leader.
The SunTrust team had to pit for repairs after contact with both Fogarty andMontoya.
But with so much time remaining, the race was still wide open despite theaggressive early start that led to a track full of debris and had veterandrivers openly wondering why teams were pushing so hard in the starting stagesof an endurance race.
“Absolute madness,” a bewildered Franchitti said. “There’s someaggressive driving out there, huh?”
That was an understatement.
Drivers set a furious pace from the drop of the green flag in an unusuallywarm temperatures. It created numerous spins, several accidents and overshadowedthe early struggles of the heavily favored Ganassi teams.
It also had many worried that the pace would only pick up once night fell.
“I’m 100 percent convinced people will go faster because of the heat,”said Max Angelelli of SunTrust Racing. “It’s going to be cooler, cars gofaster, you have fresh drivers. It’s going to be faster than this for sure.”
Drivers had differing opinions as to why teams were risking so much when theidea is to still be running at the end of the race.
“Nobody’s leaving any margin,” Franchitti said. “Even the experiencedguys who know what they’re doing, some of them aren’t leaving a margin foranything. And then there’s some guys who don’t know what they’re doing andthey’re just hanging on out there and they’re creating some of accidents, too.
“Everything’s coming at you pretty quickly, so you have to leave yourselfsomewhere to go in case somebody does something crazy in front of you. There’sbits of car lying everywhere. Already, two hours in, there’s more car on thetrack than I’ve ever since. It’s been very intense.”
Pruett, a three-time winner of the prestigious road race, said the pace feltlike the end of the race.
“It seems like it’s more reminiscent of the last two hours of the 24instead of the first three hours of the 24. People are driving crazy,” Pruettsaid. A lot of drivers are trying to prove themselves, a lot of guys think theycan win it in the first couple of stints. So you’re seeing guys run reallyaggressive for no good reason.”
Johnson, on one of only three three-driver teams, was looking forward toextended driving time in later stints, but was still adapting to the nuances ofboth a non-NASCAR race and the hectic pace of this one.
“It is so hard to not turn someone around and get rid of them. With the Cupcar, you can do that easily. With these cars, it will end your day,” he said.“I had to stop myself a few times. After two or three times getting chopped, Ithought, `Man, if you were in a Cup car, you’d be sitting there backed in rightnow.’
“If Kevin Harvick was in one of these, I think he’d just run them over.”
Aggressive pace stumps veteran drivers in Rolex 24 (PA SportsTicker)
January 30, 2011
By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP)—An aggressive early pace at the Rolex 24 at Daytona led to a track full of debris, a rough start for the favorites and led veteran drivers openly wondering why teams were pushing so hard in the starting stages of an endurance race.
“Absolute madness,” a bewildered Dario Franchitti said. “There’s some aggressive driving out there, huh?”
That was an understatement.
The twice-around-the-clock race began in unusually warm temperatures at Daytona International Speedway, where drivers set a furious pace from the drop of the green flag Saturday. It created numerous spins, several accidents and overshadowed the early struggles of the heavily favored Chip Ganassi Racing teams.
It also had many worried that the pace would only pick up once night fell.
“I’m 100 percent convinced people will go faster because of the heat,” said Max Angelelli of SunTrust Racing. “It’s going to be cooler, cars go faster, you have fresh drivers. It’s going to be faster than this for sure.”
Drivers had differing opinions as to why teams were risking so much when the idea is to still be running at the end of the race.
“Nobody’s leaving any margin,” Franchitti said. “Even the experienced guys who know what they’re doing, some of them aren’t leaving a margin for anything. And then there’s some guys who don’t know what they’re doing and they’re just hanging on out there and they’re creating some of accidents, too.
“Everything’s coming at you pretty quickly, so you have to leave yourself somewhere to go in case somebody does something crazy in front of you. There’s bits of car lying everywhere. Already, two hours in, there’s more car on the track than I’ve ever since. It’s been very intense.”
Scott Pruett, a three-time winner of the prestigious road race, said the pace felt like the end of the race.
“It seems like it’s more reminiscent of the last two hours of the 24 instead of the first three hours of the 24. People are driving crazy,” Pruett said. A lot of drivers are trying to prove themselves, a lot of guys think they can win it in the first couple of stints. So you’re seeing guys run really aggressive for no good reason.”
It could play right into the hands of the Ganassi teams, which had problems before the first hour was even complete.
Scott Dixon had the first issue in the No. 02 BMW Riley, which blew a right rear tire that put the team a lap down because of the change. After he handed off driving duties to Franchitti, the car again blew the same tire.
The tire issues dropped the No. 02 to 17th in the Daytona Prototype class, but Juan Pablo Montoya had cracked the top 10 during his driving stint. Nobody at Ganassi seemed worried about the No. 02 getting back into the race.
“If that’s our biggest problem, we’re going to have a pretty smooth race,” Dixon said. “It doesn’t change anything. It’s 24 hours. There’s still a long ways to go.”
The No. 01 had to stop right after Dixon’s tire problem to change the gear box. Pruett had to wait inside the car as it took nearly double the time – more than four minutes – to make the change. But Pruett drove a double stint, got the car back on the lead lap, and by the time Memo Rojas took over, the No. 01 had cracked the top five.
Rojas had worked his way into the lead with 19 hours remaining.
“We just worked our way right back to the front after losing a lap. It’s just superb,” Pruett said. “I’m being very cautious and we’re running incredibly fast times. We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing.”
Five-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson drove the second stint for Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing and had the car in eighth when he turned it over to Jon Fogarty. But Johnson knew the car was struggling with a brake issue, and figured they’d have to go in for a lengthy repair whenever a caution fell.
As he was explaining the issue, he saw the No. 99 being repaired.
“Did we get a yellow? I hope? No? Oh,” he said.
Johnson, on one of only three three-driver teams, was looking forward to extended driving time in later stints, but was still adapting to the nuances of both a non-NASCAR race and the hectic pace of this one.
“It is so hard to not turn someone around and get rid of them. With the Cup car, you can do that easily. With these cars, it will end your day,” he said. “I had to stop myself a few times. After two or three times getting chopped, I thought, `Man, if you were in a Cup car, you’d be sitting there backed in right now.’
“If Kevin Harvick was in one of these, I think he’d just run them over.”
Daytona’s 24-hour endurance race begins
January 29, 2011
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (AP)—The 24 Hours at Daytona is under way, with ChipGanassi’s star-studded teams trying to take the owner back to Victory Lane inthe prestigious, twice-around-the-clock endurance race.
Jorg Bergmeister, driving for Flying Lizard Motorsports, started from thepole and led the 18-car field to the green flag in the Daytona Prototype class.
Ganassi’s two cars were close behind with Scott Pruett and Scott Dixondriving the first stints. Those teams also include NASCAR stars Juan PabloMontoya and Jamie McMurray, as well as open-wheel drivers Dario Franchitti andGraham Rahal.
Pruett has won the DP class a record three times, but finished second lastyear behind an upstart team anchored by Joao Barbosa and Terry Borcheller.
