AUTO RACING
Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com
Monday, May 26, 2014 • Page B3
NASCAR SPRINT CUP: COCA-COLA 600
Johnson captures first win of year By PETE IACOBELLI The Associated Press CONCORD, N.C. – Defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson passed Matt Kenseth with nine laps to go and won the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night for his first victory of the season. Johnson was dominant at Charlotte Motor Speedway, winning the pole Thursday night and leading 165 of 400 laps in NASCAR’s longest race. Kevin Harvick was second,
followed by Kenseth and Carl Edwards. Jamie McMurray, the All-Star race winner last weekend at the track, was fifth. Kurt Busch’s attempt at motorsports history ended with 129 laps to go when he blew an engine. Busch finished sixth in the Indianapolis 500, but could not complete the 600. Johnson broke a tie with Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison for Cup victories at the track with seven. It was Johnson’s fourth triumph in the
600, each year the most grueling test for NASCAR drivers, and his 67th overall victory. Whenever Johnson fell behind it wasn’t long before he got back on top, leading 10 times during the race. The final push came when he swept past Kenseth in Turn 4 and was never pressured the rest of the way. Johnson broke a 13-race winless streak that seemed more of a concern for others than for the six-time champion. Still, he was happy to celebrate in Victory Lane once
again – and give competitors something to think about. “They know we are awake,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, the 48 is heading that way and we can give other people something to think about.” Harvick had won two of the past three 600s and led 100 laps this time. He fell back in the latter stages as he dealt with car problems and could not get back to the front. “We needed a 700-mile race to get back to where we needed to be,” Harvick said.
AP photo
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban waves the green flag to start the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.
INDIANAPOLIS 500 SCENE
Nabors sings for final time; fan shot, killed By RICK CALLAHAN The Associated Press
AP photo
Kurt Busch relaxes on stage after arriving from Indianapolis before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Busch finished sixth in the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the day.
THE DOUBLE
Blown engine foils Busch Bid for history ends at Charlotte after taking 6th at Indy The ASSOCIATED PRESS CONCORD, N.C. – Kurt Busch’s moonlighting gig at Indy was a smashing success. His day job in NASCAR was a bust, courtesy of a blown engine, sending his bid to complete “The Double” up in smoke. Busch was game for completing all 1,100 miles of the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day. His desire willing but his car parts weak, Busch’s run at racing history ended late Sunday not because of a wreck or weather, but a faulty engine that left his No. 41 Chevrolet a smoky, steaming mess. Months spent training like a cadet and crisscrossing the country for the doubleheader ended in an empty garage at Charlotte Motor Speedway. His race came to a halt about six hours after Busch starred in Indianapolis, driving his backup car to a sensational sixth-place finish. “I can’t let what happened here dampen the mood on what happened up in Indianapolis,” he said. Busch completed about 907 miles in his quest to join Tony Stewart as the only
other driver to complete the back-to-back races. “The Double” has been attempted by just three drivers, the last being Robby Gordon in 2004. Only Stewart in 2001 successfully completed the two races, finishing sixth at Indy and third at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch qualified 28th for the Coca-Cola 600 but had to start the 400-lap race at the rear of the field because he didn’t make it to the track in time for the driver’s meeting. He arrived at the track via helicopter about an hour before the start of the Sprint Cup race. His car was a problem from the start, and he spent a chunk of the race a lap down. Once his engine blew, his shot was over. “It acted like it swallowed three cylinders all at once,” he said. “It’s kind of a shame. It symbolizes how tough it has been for (my NASCAR) team. I thought it was great racing in traffic. The feel of the stock car right after driving the IndyCar is a feeling I’ll never forget.” The first leg of Busch’s racing doubleheader put the sport on notice he can handle any type of car. The NASCAR
champion-turned-Indy rookie made it look easy at the Brickyard. He stepped out of the IndyCar, raised his arms in triumph, and hugged his girlfriend. His crew squeezed their way toward him down the slender Indianapolis Motor Speedway pit road for fist bumps and well wishes. His face red, throat dry, and hair slicked in sweat, Busch tossed his helmet in the No. 26. With 500 miles down and 600 ahead, he was still dressed in his firesuit when he took a seat in the back of an Indiana State Trooper’s car and pulled out of the garage at 3:30 p.m., bound for his flight to North Carolina. Once in the air on the Cessna Citation X that took him to Charlotte Motor Speedway, his girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll, tweeted a photo of Busch and her 9-yearold son, Houston, asleep on the plane. Busch landed at about 4:50 p.m., after a 47-minute ride. Busch, who changed into his NASCAR firesuit on the trip, had his blood pressure checked and intravenous fluids administered by the doctor and nurse aboard the Cessna.
INDIANAPOLIS – Jim Nabors’ final performance of “Back Home Again In Indiana” at the Indianapolis 500 left some race fans mourning the end of a long-running race tradition. The swan song from the 83-year-old Nabors was a touching moment for Cindy Fiddler, a 58-year-old from Houston who was attending her first race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. She said she’s always looked forward to the song and Nabors’ deep voice as he crooned the ode to Indiana. “It’s really sad because it’s like a tradition that’s now died, it’s gone,” she said. Fiddler said whoever is chosen to succeed the man best-known as TV’s Gomer Pyle in singing “Back Home” needs to be talented singer who means something both to Indiana and to race fans. Nabors, who first performed the song in 1972, received a roaring appreciation from the crowd after he performed the song for a final time Sunday. He then stood by Mari Hulman George’s side as they spoke in unison, “Lady and gentlemen, start your engines!” Bob Curtner, an 82-year-old from Sidney, Ohio, who attended his first Indy 500 in the late 1940s, said he’ll miss Nabors’ distinctive baritone rendition. “That’s going to be very sad when he’s not here anymore to sing that because everybody waits for that to happen, it’s just before the race starts. I just like to hear him sing. I don’t know who they’re going to find to replace him,” he said. This year’s race weekend was marred by violence, with the fatal shooting early Saturday of a 25-year-old man in one of several parking lots near the speedway where for decades thousands of fans have camped out and partied on race weekend. Early Sunday, the same sprawling lot was the scene of a robbery and shooting that left two men injured.
AP photo
Jim Nabors waves to fans after singing “Back Home Again in Indiana” for the final time before the start of the Indianapolis 500. The fatal shooting was unusual, Indiana State Police Sgt. Brian Olehy said. In 2012, a fan was hospitalized after he was shot in the chest after an apparent altercation across from the speedway. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was tapped to wave the green flag starting the race and took time to meet with drivers and rapper/actor Ice-T. He declined to answer any questions Sunday about the NBA owners’ upcoming vote to oust Donald Sterling as the Los Angeles Clippers’ owner over his racist comments. Cuban said he’d been asked twice before to wave the green flag, and was able to take part this year only because the Mavericks are out of the NBA playoffs. “I told them this case hinged on Dallas not making it any further in the playoffs,” he said. “So it’s unfortunate that I’m here, but I’m also really excited to wave the flag.” Ice-T and his wife, Coco Austin, joined Cuban on the red carpet walk. Ice-T said he’s been to the Indy 500 before, but is still amazed by the size of the track and roar of the cars once the race begins.
Andretti Autosport boasts 3 of top 4 finishers • INDIANAPOLIS 500 Continued from page B1 “It was a great fight,” he smiled. “I tell you what, I was having a great time. Unfortunately second. It’s good, but second [stinks], you know what I mean?” Marco Andretti finished third and Carlos Munoz was fourth as Andretti Autosport had three cars in the top four, as well as the winner. Kurt Busch, also in a Honda for Andretti, was sixth in his first race of the day. He left immediately after the race to fly to North Carolina for Sunday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race, where he failed to run 600 miles because of a blown engine in his bid to become the second driver to complete the 1,100-mile Double in one day. Three other drivers have tried, but only Tony Stewart in 2001 pulled it off. Stewart was sixth at Indy and third at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “All in all, I’m very pleased. I cannot believe the execution of this team,” Busch said before
hustling away for a helicopter ride to his waiting plane. “I tried to enjoy it. My throat’s real dry because I was smiling the whole time and the fresh air was coming in my mouth.” Marco Andretti appeared to have a shot at the win, but after the final restart he never could mix it up with Hunter-Reay and Castroneves as the two leaders swapped position four times in the final five laps. So certain his son would be a contender for the victory Sunday, Michael Andretti was just as thrilled with Hunter-Reay’s win. “Ryan’s just been a huge part of our team, a great guy, a friend,” said Michael Andretti, who won for the third time as a team owner. “To have him get a win here is awesome, he deserves it, he deserves to have his face on that trophy. If it couldn’t be Marco, he’s the next guy I wanted.” A year ago, Hunter-Reay was passed for the lead with three laps remaining and went on to finish third as the race finished under caution. He was leading
Sunday and had control of the race until Townsend Bell’s crash brought out the red flag. Hunter-Reay figured his chances were over. “I can’t get a break,” he lamented on his team radio. But after swapping the lead with Castroneves three times, including a dramatic inside move in Turn 3, Hunter-Reay made the final and decisive pass as the two cars took the white flag. “At the end of the day there’s stupid and bravery, and I think we were right there on the edge, both of us,” Castroneves said. “I’m glad we both come out in a good way. I’m sad it did not come out the way I wanted.” He added: “For several years the series [had] a foreigner up front. It’s great to see American drivers succeed.” The race went a record 150 laps without a caution as the pace zipped along and Busch at one point had no worries at all about getting to North Carolina in time for NASCAR’s longest event of the year. Then a Charlie Kimball spin brought out the
first yellow, a crash by Scott Dixon led to a second caution and a risky three-wide move on the next restart caused pole-sitter Ed Carpenter and James Hinchcliffe to wreck. Carpenter was livid, calling out Hinchcliffe for an “amateur” move. “The moment when Hinch decided to make it three-wide was more than any of us could handle,” Carpenter said. “Let’s just say it was good thing he already had a concussion last week.” Hinchcliffe, cleared to drive last weekend after suffering a concussion two weeks ago in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, took the blame. “I was the last guy on the scene,” he said. “I have to take the blame, for sure. I feel really bad for [Carpenter] because he had a great month and was doing a great job.” The race resumed and Hunter-Reay was in control until the fourth and final caution, which AP photo led IndyCar to throw a rare red flag to allow the drivers a chance Ryan Hunter-Reay lifts his son, Ryden, after Hunter-Reay won the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. to race to the finish.