NASCAR Sprint Cup - Race 16 of 36 - SONOMA - Infineon Raceway - Toyota/Save Mart 350

[kup]

Lap 68 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 4:
The cars are moving on the track as cleanup is just about finished.
Marcos Ambrose will lead the field to green, followed by Tony Stewart.
#26 Boris Said pits. #5 Mark Martin pits. #7 Robby Gordon pits.
All they want make it to the end (with no more pit-stops).



Racing has resumed following a multi-car wreck after a restart that led to a red flag at Infineon. #47 Marcos Ambrose restarts in the lead with #48 Jimmie Johnson close behind.

Top 10 Live as of Lap 72
1 Marcos Ambrose
2 Jimmie Johnson
3 Kevin Harvick
4 Tony Stewart
5 Jeff Gordon

6 Mattias Ekstrom
7 Juan Pablo Montoya
8 Kurt Busch
9 Kasey Kahne
10 Clint Bowyer

[kup]

In a bit of late-race strategy, leader Marcos Ambrose pitted one lap after Jimmie Johnson and came out of the pits ahead of the 48. Green stops produce new leaders.

Top 10 Live as of Lap 82

1 Boris Said
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3 Scott Speed
4 Elliott Sadler
5 Brad Keselowski
6 Robby Gordon
7 Mark Martin
8 Greg Biffle
9 Marcos Ambrose
10 Jimmie Johnson

11 Kevin Harvick
12 Jeff Gordon
14 Kurt Busch
15 Tony Stewart
16 Mattias Ekstrom

18 Kasey Kahne
22 Jan Magnussen
26 Juan Pablo Montoya

35 Denny Hamlin
42 Kyle Busch

Lap 85 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 5:
#20 Joey Logano slides off track, dumps the clutch and comes to a stop after #42 Juan Montoya runs into the No. 20.
#26 Boris Said continues to run a clean, smart race.

Lap 86 -- Joey Logano caps off a rough day for JGR drivers as he drops to 31st.
Jimmie Johnson moves into 7th as Marcos Ambrose finds the 5th spot.

[kup]

Lap 89 -- LEAD CHANGE: #47 Marcos Ambrose takes advantage of #26 Said's mistake, earns the lead and battles with #48 Jimmie Johnson.
#7 Robby Gordon and #12 Brad Keselowski are playing rough and racing into each other through the turns.

Lap 91 -- An aggressive #7 Robby Gordon has banged and raced his way into 3rd.

Lap 92 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 6:
#83 Mattias Ekstrom gets spun out by #12 Brad Keselowski through the turns at Infineon.
David Gilliland and #99 Carl Edwards connect with each other as well.

[kup]

Johnson wins at Sonoma
Marcos Ambrose's loss at Infineon Raceway was Jimmie Johnson's gain.
Johnson inherited the lead under caution when Ambrose failed to maintain speed, and pulled away on the final restart for his first victory on a road course.
Ambrose finished sixth.

Top 10 Live as of Lap 110
1 Jimmie Johnson
2 Robby Gordon
3 Kevin Harvick
4 Kasey Kahne
5 Jeff Gordon
6 Marcos Ambrose
7 Greg Biffle
8 Boris Said
9 Tony Stewart
10 Juan Pablo Montoya

Lap 110 -- CHECKERED FLAG:
#48 Jimmie Johnson takes the checkers and earns his 4th win of the season and his 1st on a road course in the Cup Series.
#7 Robby Gordon holds off #29 Kevin Harvick for 2nd.
#47 Marcos Ambrose winds up 6th after making a mistake he won't forget anytime soon.

Lap 106 -- GREEN FLAG:
Jimmie Johnson catches a huge break and gets off to a good start under green.
Robby Gordon moves into second.
Marcos Ambrose and Kurt Busch find the grass but save their cars then Ambrose runs into Burton.

Lap 105 -- LEAD CHANGE: Drivers are supposed to maintain caution speed and NASCAR officials have reminded Marcos Ambrose and team of that.
Jimmie Johnson will lead the field as Ambrose is forced to restart in 7th.

Lap 104 -- Marcos Ambrose turned his engine off on the track and then returned to the front of the field in an apparent attempt to save fuel.
His car would not start initially and he has now lost position on Johnson in what appears to be a huge mistake.

11 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
12 Jan Magnussen

18 Scott Speed
21 Mattias Ekstrom

34 Denny Hamlin
36 Sam Hornish Jr.
39 Kyle Busch

[kup]

Вычеркнуть это
Потеря (потерь) Маркоса Эмброуза на Infineon Raceway была выгодой (выгод) для Джимми Джонсона.
№48 унаследовал лидерство под коушеном когда №47 не смог поддержать скорость (за пейс-каром - ошибся заглушив мотор) и затем №48 отъехал на последнем рестарте за его первой победой на дорожной трассе. №47 финишировал 6-м.


Выиграл бы №48 даже если бы №47 удержал лидерство на последнем рестарте?


Toyota/Save Mart 350 | Sonoma


Error costs Ambrose shot at first Cup win
Engine fails to re-fire in fuel-saving maneuver, dropping him from lead.
Looking for momentum


Short-track race mentality takes over
Damaged cars, upset drivers dominate scenery at Sonoma.
Post-Race Reactions


Victory Lane: Happy to be off road schnide
Johnson talks about the work and improvement team has made to get better on road courses.
Press Pass: Johnson


Final Laps: Johnson benefits from gaffe
Ambrose cuts motor trying to conserve fuel, car won't refire, fails to maintain caution speed.
SPEED 'Fan Finish'

Swedish driver Mattias Ekstrom, filling in for sidelined Red Bull regular Brian Vickers, had the No. 83 car in position for a surprise top-10 finish until Brad Keselowski sent him sailing through the grass. The European touring-car driver, courteous to a fault in his maiden NASCAR voyage, seemed stunned by the treatment.

"I thought he was supposed to be fair when you're side-by-side," Ekstrom told his crew over the radio. "I guess I missed something."

He missed the memo that road courses at NASCAR's premier level have become what short tracks used to be, venues that generate action so unendingly aggressive that drivers seem ready to take swings at one another behind the grandstand after the race.

[kup]

http://racing-reference.info/race/2010-16/W

В этой гонке стартовали целых аж 5 ! пилотов иного гражданства чем США.

Целых 3 Европейца - может это рекорд ?

Они финишировали на местах:
6й - №47 Marcos Ambrose - Австралия
10й - №42 Juan Pablo Montoya - Колумбия
12й - №09 Jan Magnussen - Дания
21й - №83 Mattias Ekstrom - Швеция
43й - №13 Max Papis - Италия

Пилоты не США: 2 в Топ-10 + 3 в Топ-15

Могло быть ещё ... если бы пилот №12 не развернул №83 в конце гонки.

[kup]

Mark Martin made his first Cup start in 1981, "but it is a different day and age now ... there is a lot of pressure on these guys," he said.

"If you drove for somebody and you wrecked as many cars as you wreck today, you wouldn't keep a job. The teams could not justify it. They didn't have the manpower, they didn't have the money, they could not repair these cars and get them back out there," Martin added.

Tony Stewart agreed with Martin's take on the generational gap.

NASCAR's preseason mantra that harkens to the old days -- have at it, boys -- has replaced another popular racing axiom this year, according to Stewart.

"There's a phrase we use all the time -- give and take. There is a lot more taking anymore than there is giving," he said. "It is getting worse and it is probably going to get worse before it gets better."

Jeff Burton said, "The question is now what are the drivers going to do about it? That's the negative to the, 'Have at it, boys' philosophy."

Jimmie Johnson
"I think after a season of cars that are very tough to pass, you kind of run into a routine of the same guy being a pain in the butt. Then you're like, well, the hell with them. Then it starts. And I think we're at that point now."

Martin said, "That is what equal cars, double-file restarts and all that stuff, that is what it brings you to do."

Regardless of the reason -- boys being boys, paybacks, double-file restarts, pressure as the Chase looms -- Stewart says there is a time and place. Just like in the old days.

"You just don't see as much of that as you used to and that was the way it used to fix itself and in my opinion, that is what it needs to get back to again."