Chevrolet Dominates Road Course Weekend In NASCAR

June 18, 2014: Austin Dillon during practice at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, CA. (HHP/Harold Hinson) Photo from Team Chevy Facebook page

On a rare weekend when both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series in NASCAR conduct road races at two different locations, Chevrolet proved it’s dominance in the sport by claiming the win on Saturday at Road America then capturing six out of the top seven spots in the Sprint Cup race at Sonoma.

Brendan Gaughan takes bowtie to victory lane in Nationwide series on Saturday. Photo from Team Chevy Facebook page

Saturday’s wet race at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin saw Brendan Gaughan claimed the victory by leading only eight of the race’s 53-laps in his Chevy Camaro. Chevrolets finished in six of the top ten spots leaving one Ford, one Dodge and two Toyotas to round out the top ten. Chevrolet was the overwhelming favorite for the race having qualified 20-cars in the 38-car field. Ford placed six entrants with four Dodges and eight Toyotas.

The race was held under unfamiliar conditions as the nationwide cars all ran rain tires for only the third time in the series history. Sam Hornish Jr. led early in the race and appeared to be the fastest car until the course began to dry out when another driver with open wheel experience took over the race. Alex Tagliani led the next 19-laps before running out of gas on the next to last lap, turning the lead over to Gaughan setting up a green-white-checkered finish.

When the green flag waved on the overtime session, Gaughan lost the lead to rookie Chase Elliot, also driving a Chevy Camaro. Elliot’s famous father, NASCAR Champion Bill Elliot, is known for driving a Fords to victory in NASCAR’s top series.

The 18-year-old Elliot appeared to be heading to victory when Gaughan managed to reign in his car and got back around Elliot, retaking the lead with just over a lap to go. Tagliani, who had refueled his car, mounted a late charge from the middle of the pack to challenge for the lead.

“I booted this race twice, and thank you to these boys right here,” Gaughan praised his crew at the end of the race. “They still believed in me.”

Gaughan crosses the finish line. Photo from NASCAR.com

Results from Gardner Denver 200 Fired up By Johnsonville at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin:

#62 Brendan Gaughan-Chevrolet
#22 Alex Tagliani-Ford
#23 Kevin O’Connell-Chevrolet
#9 Chase Elliott-Chevrolet
#28 J.J. Yeley-Dodge
#51 Jeremy Clements-Chevrolet
#55 Andy Lally-Chevrolet
#01 Landon Cassill-Chevrolet
#11 Elliott Sadler-Toyota
#19 Mike Bliss-Toyota
#40 Matt DiBenedetto-Chevrolet
#54 Sam Hornish Jr-Toyota
#7 Regan Smith-Chevrolet
#20 Kenny Habul-Toyota
#44 Carlos Contreras-Toyota
#2 Brian Scott-Chevrolet
#99 James Buescher-Toyota
#60 Chris Buescher-Ford
#3 Ty Dillon-Chevrolet
#14 Eric McClure-Toyota
#16 Ryan Reed-Ford
#39 Ryan Sieg-Chevrolet
#4 Jeffrey Earnhardt-Chevrolet
#31 Justin Marks-Chevrolet
#43 Dakoda Armstrong-Ford
#42 Dylan Kwasniewski-Chevrolet
#6 Trevor Bayne-Ford
#17 Tanner Berryhill-Dodge
#74 Bobby Reuse-Chevrolet
#52 Joey Gase-Chevrolet
#76 Tommy Joe Martins-Dodge
#87 Stanton Barrett-Ford
#70 Derrike Cope-Chevrolet
#46 Ryan Ellis-Chevrolet
#15 Carl Long-Chevrolet
#10 Jeff Green-Toyota
#79 Tim Schendel-Chevrolet
#93 Kevin Lepage-Dodge

22 June 2014: Jamie McMurray during the Sprint Cup Series Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, CA. (HHP/Rusty Jarrett) Photo from Team Chevy Facebook page

NASCAR Sprint Cup Race at Sonoma Raceway

Carl Edwards may have put his Ford into victory lane on Sunday but it was due largely in part to the calls made in from the pit box rather than having a dominant car. Using only two pit stops, Edwards managed to nurse his car to the win despite complaining about struggling to get speed out of the car. On lap 70 (of 110) Edwards was in 28th place, potentially saved by a caution. He crept up on the leaders and eventually took over the lead on lap 85 and held it for the remainder of the race.

June 18, 2014: Jeff Gordon during practice at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, CA. (HHP/Harold Hinson) Photo from Team Chevy Facebook page

Despite the win by Ford, Chevrolet cars took the next six places with Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson finishing second through seventh respectively. Gordon mounted a late race charge to the front but ran out of laps.

Dale Earnhardt Jr had never finished in the top ten at Sonoma before this event. Jr’s car got stronger as the day went on and many thought that he might charge to the front before the end of the race. Alas, it was not to be.

22 June 2014: Dale Earnhardt Jr. during the Sprint Cup Series Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, CA. (HHP/Rusty Jarrett ) Photo from Team Chevy Facebook page

McMurray, the pole winner, led the first nine-laps and appeared to have a race-winning car but failed to make the most of that track position. At the end of the race McMurray said that he was “mad at the fourth-place finish.” We were too considering his Chevrolet seemed very capable of winning the race.

Paul Menard continues to turn in unexpected results as he backed up last week’s top five finish with another one this week. It’s the first time in his cup career that he has posted top five finishes back-to-back. To date, Menard has earned the only top five finishes for the RCR team.

Kasey Kahne complained about the slow pit times but on a track where making up positions is difficult, he still managed to pull out a solid sixth place finish. Jimmie Johnson had another consistent race, even leading a lap to extend his streak of leading a lap to seven straight races. Always a threat, the 48 team ran in second position as late as lap 70 but lost a few spots and was running in fourth by lap 80. Johnson’s tires were falling off and he lost a spot for every 10 laps to the end. Crewchief Kanaus said over the radio that they should have pitted for tires. Look for the 48 team to do a three pit stop rotation next time.

20 June 2014: Kyle Larson during Sprint Cup Series practice at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, CA. (HHP/Rusty Jarrett ) Photo from Team Chevy Facebook page

Ryan Newman also had a noteworthy race for Chevrolet by finishing in 11th place. Newman moved up to 8th in the point’s standings – a three position jump – which earns him a provisional spot in the Chase at this time. No other driver had this large of a position change of the top ten drivers.

Top 15 race results from the Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway: