Kasey Kahne Racing Recap
Cody Darrah scored his first win at Kasey Kahne Racing driving the #91 Great Clips/Sage Fruit Maxim on Saturday night at Castrol Raceway. Darrah held off 20-time champion Steve Kinser and KKR teammate Brad Sweet for the second World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory of his career. In the process, Darrah also won the overall Oil City Cup title.

Darrah had to work for the win as he started 12th when the 35-lap main event took the green flag. From the start it was obvious that Darrah had one of the top cars in the field as he sliced and diced his way to the front. Kinser started from the pole position and led the first 20 circuits until Donny Schatz muscled around him to take the lead in lapped traffic.
Schatz continued to pace the field until a late race red flag ended up being his downfall. As the cars tried to slow down, Schatz tangled with a lapped car, which sent the four-time champion to the work area. With Schatz off the track temporarily, Darrah assumed the lead and never looked back. Throughout the two green-white-checkered attempts, Darrah held on and even ran away from the back on the second one. Teammate Sweet worked his way around Kinser for second.
"If I would have been the boss, I would have fired me a long time ago," Darrah said as he high-fived his crew in front of his #91 Great Clips Maxim. "We've been through a lot this year and this victory makes it all worth it. There are a ton of people to thank but first and foremost I have to thank Kasey (Kahne) for sticking by me and keeping a ride for me after I got injured last year and through all the things we've been through this year. I watched Steve (Kinser) on a few of those restarts and kind of learned a few things. We had an awesome car tonight. This feels amazing and I am so happy to be back in Victory Lane. I have to thank Great Clips too for sticking with me."
On Friday night, Cody qualified eighth, finished second in his heat, eighth in the dash and eighth in the A-main event. Cody is currently eighth in the point standings.

GASTONIA, NC (August 27) Ron Parker had one goal when he came to Carolina Speedway Friday night for the final NDRA Road Show presented by Heintz Performance event of the season.
We came here to win the race, if we do that the points will take care of themselves, Parker told the crowd after he set fast time in qualifying over the field.
Parker's word rang true throughout the 40 lap event. He grabbed the early lead as the field stormed into turn one for the start of the main event with Jeff Smith, Anthony Sanders and Steve Hendren in hot pursuit.
The first of several cautions flew on lap three when Jonathan Edwards got crossed up in turn one collecting Jimmy Schiltz. As the field went back green Sanders hopes of a win took a shot when the Spartanburg, SC resident looped his mount in turn two to bring out the second caution.
As the field fired off Smith began to put some heat on the Belwood, NC native for the lead. Smith looked under Parker off every corner and pulled even several times off turn four until the field slowed again on lap ten for the most serious incident of the night that saw Gib Gibbons jump up on top of the wall, narrowly missing a back stretch billboard. Gibbons was done for the night.
On the restart Hendren made a strong inside move to take second from Smith. As these two raced for the runner-up spot Parker quickly darted away from the field. A pair of drivers, Matt Long and Sanders were on a mission from deep in the field. Sanders recovered from his earlier spin to charge back into the top ten on lap 15 as Long joined the top five from his 15th place starting position a few laps later.
Smith's hopes of a win vanished late in the event when he slowed with mechanical problems but up front it was all Parker as he streaked to the $2,000 victory and the Heintz Performance Road Show championship.
Hendren took second with Long third, Dennis Rambo Franklin fourth and Sanders fifth. Sixth through tenth went to; Timbo Mangum, Schiltz, Greg Barker, Donnie Austin and Pat Lindsey.
Hednren's second place run moved him to runner-up in the points. Franklin ended up third with Zack Mitchell fourth and Sanders fifth.

08/25/11 (B Squared Motorsports PR) – The annual stop at the Wilmot Raceway during the Kenosha County Fair was the next event on Bill Balog’s 2011 tour; the night began with Bill turning a lap time of 14.100 seconds which was fast enough for 5th quick out of the 36 cars. Just as heat race action was set to begin, a light rain shower moved in, which prolonged the start of racing action for about 2 hours. Finally getting the racing action under way, Bill was set to start 5th in the 1st of 4 heats. With the track still very greasy & narrow, track position was very important. Once the race was green, Bill maintained track position until lap 2 when he drifted high in turn 1 & fell back to 8th after losing all traction on the high side of the speedway. He spent the rest of the 10 lapper making up ground & would end up bringing home a 6th place finish, which meant he was headed to the 15 lap B-main. He would take the green from position #2 in the B, & quickly jumped out to the lead. He went on to lead every lap & claim his 1st B-main win of the 2011 season, which was good enough to move on to the 36 lap main event where he would start 11th. As the field was rolling to the green flag, the front row starters decided to do a jack rabbit start which in turn caused the rest of the field to take evasive action & resulted in some front end damage on the 17B as Bill inadvertly got in the back of the 02. As the yellow was displayed for a spinning car, Bill rolled to the work area & the crew checked the car over & pulled the nose wing back forward & sent him back out to join the tail of the field. With only one direction to go, Bill was set to get to work & began his march through the field. He soon was in the top 15, then top 10 & worked his way all the way in to the top 5 before more mechanical gremlins forced him pit side which resulted in a 18th place finish. After the crew checked things over it was discovered that all the rear brake rotor bolts had been sheared off resulting in a los off brakes for Bill & the Gleason Racing 17B.
A rare Sunday night show was next up, which took place at the LaSalle Speedway in LaSalle, IL for the Bill Waite Jr. Memorial. 35 Bumper to Bumper IRA sprinters check in for the event, once again Bill was able to wheel the Gleason Racing 17B to a 5th place qualifying result with a lap time of 11.419 seconds. By virtue of the qualifying result, Bill would once again start 5th in the 1st 10 lap heat race. As the field headed down the back stretch for lap 1, chaos broke out as cars were spinning, Bill was able to get the car slowed in time but was then ran over by the 2w which resulted in a flat RR tire. The red flag was displayed as the 2w ended up flipping, Bill headed to the work area & the crew got to work on changing the tire & checking everything else over. They were able get the car fixed & Bill rejoined the field at the tail. He needed a top 4 finish to move on to the feature, by the time the checkers flew, he had worked his way in to 2nd place, which locked him in the main event. He rolled the Gleason Equipment 17B from the 5th position for the 30 lapper. As the track slicked off, the drivers had hard time with the handle on their cars which resulted in the 1st of many caution periods on lap 2. At that point Bill was sitting in the 6th position; the field was able to go 3 more laps before another yellow this time of the 4B. Bill had worked his way in to 4th by the time a red flag was displayed on lap 8. There were 6 more yellows/reds before the field could complete 10 laps, which resulted in officials shortening the race to 20 laps. Once they were able to get racing, Bill quickly moved in to 2nd & had his eyes on the leader. It didn’t take long & he soon caught the leader & over took him exiting turn 4. Bill would complete the rest of the race unchallenged & go on to claim the checkered flag for his 10th win of the year & 25 of his short IRA career.
This week, Bill will have his B Squared Motorsports entry at the Oshkosh Speedzone in Oshkosh, WI on Friday, August 26th. Bill & the team did capture the last IRA event at the track in June. Saturday is an off day for Bill & the IRA.

To keep up on all the latest news regarding the team be sure to visit the team website at www.b2motorsports.com. You can also follow the team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bsquaredmotorsports or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bsqdmotorsports.

Sponsorship for the 2011 season comes from the following companies: Buesser Concrete, Hoeft Builders, Hepfner Racing Products & HRP Wings, Diversified Machine Inc., XYZ Machining Inc., Allstar Performance, K&N Engineering, Astro Titanium, Super Shox, BLZ, FK Rod Ends, B Squared Visual Solutions, Weld Racing, Outerwears Inc., Race Gear X, Gleason Racing Equipment, Maxim Chassis, Competition Driveline, Saldana Racing Products, Fibrestar Industries, A&E Collision and Service, and Xtreme Stainless, LLC.

Bark River is the longest and fastest track in all of short course. While Crandon might carry more fame, Bark River hosted what is surely the fastest and most dramatic racing of the season. 15 Pro-lights took the track for Rounds 7 & 8 or the 2011 season. Absent from the podium, but not the battle was the #44 AMSOIL Nissan Frontier of Brad Lovell.

“Bark River is my favorite track for a reason, the speed is amazing,” comments driver Brad Lovell, “We are hitting jumps at over 75 mph and drifting through turns where the truck is airborne at the apex. We are clearing 150 ft on the big jump. Everything about Bark River is a fine line.” The view of Bark River from the driver set is much different from that in the bleachers and fans enjoyed door banging action packed racing all weekend long.

Lovell qualified 4th on Friday in a competitive group of evenly matched trucks and got a good start in Saturday’s race. Unfortunately, slippery track conditions caused Lovell to spin off a step-up jump and let the majority of the field by. Undeterred, Lovell fought his way through the pack before finishing 6th. “It’s a big disappointment to make an error after my crew and sponsors have done so much to get me a great truck. All I could do was fight through the pack and try and regain position. A few more laps were all we needed.”

Fortunately, the 6th place finish on Saturday gave Lovell pole position on Sunday. Selection of lanes was critical and while test laps showed the left lane to be the choice, the race would prove the right far better. In the first lap Lovell was jumped by two trucks and ran hard in 3rd until the mandatory caution. CJ Greaves then cut in front of #44 leaving Lovell in 4th. Adding insult to injury, Brad was spun out by a fellow competitor within sight of the finish line and ended in 7th. Brad adds, “While the results were not at all what we wanted the team did a great job and we moved up to 6th in points. There is no doubt that this is the most high-dollar competitive racing we have done. A lot of things are working great on the truck – the tires, drive train, and power plant. We need to break into the last 5% of performance though. We will tear down the truck and test some new ideas before Crandon.”

Lovell Racing has a short stint in Colorado before heading east for the biggest and brightest off-road event this side of Baja – Fall Crandon. Including makeup races from the spring, the Pro-Lights will race 3 times starting Friday while Pro-2’s & 4’s will race an astounding 4 times during the weekend. Starting Friday Sept 2nd, the 42nd running at Crandon will not disappoint.

Lovell Racing wishes to thank all of 2011 sponsors and volunteer crew members including AMSOIL, BFGoodrich Tires, Torchmate CNC Cutting Systems, Nissan, Spidertrax, 4 Wheel Parts, Trail Ready, Fox Racing Shox, Powertank, Aeroquip, Howe, Eibach, Proformance Unlimited, FK Rod Ends, Warn, Dynotech, Motive Gear, and Robinson Construction.

Follow Brad on Facebook (Lovell Racing) and watch Crandon action live at AMSOILRacing.com or Usacracing.com

8-16-11
The Menzies Motorsports team set up camp in Bark River, MI ready to pick up right where they left off in Charlotte, with some more wins. Friday morning started out with practice for all classes and after the Pro Lights, Pro 2’s and Pro 4’s were off the track it was the Menzies team that had some of the fastest lap times. Practice lead right into qualifying where once again the Menzies Motorsports drivers would set the pace. Bryce and Ricky both qualified 1st for Saturday’s race and Luke was not far behind and would be starting 3rd.

Pro Light-

With solid practice and qualifying giving Luke the extra confidence he needed going into Saturday’s race, teammates and fans were on their feet as the pace truck pulled off the track and the Pro Lights went full speed into the green flag. Luke found himself coming out of turn one behindmore trucks then going into it, but he quickly found his lines and right away started to make up those lost positions. After the mandatory yellow Luke was battling for third place with 2010 Champion Casey Currie. Johnson and Currie both were fighting hard but it was Luke that came out with the third place finish as he passed Casey with only a few laps to go and held his ground all the way to the end. "I'm so excited to be up here. We've worked awful long and hard to make this happen, so it's about time," said Luke Johnson. "My dad (Ricky Johnson) was about to cry when I got out of the truck ... he was so proud of me."

Sunday’s Pro Light race had a different plan for Luke as the race got underway the #14 Pro Light was making his way up towards the frontwhen he came over the back Red Bull jump and landed with a flat tire. Luke quickly pulled into the hot pits to get the flat changed and made his way back around the track to catch the group in time for the mandatory yellow. Luke started coming up from the back and made his way to the middle where he crossed the checkered flag, only to be told after the finish that he was a lap down.

Pro 2wd

Bryce Menzies who is quickly building a big fan base in the TORC series was the fastest truck during practice and qualifying and started on the pole for Saturday’s race next to Marty Hart.  As crew chief Chris Faulkner called out the green flag, Bryce was battling to take the first place position away from Marty by turn 2. The trucks were pushing speeds of 90 as Bryce waited for Hart tomake just one little mistake so he could take the lead. It wasn’t till after the Mandatory yellow that Bryce was flying over Marty and taking the lead. Fans cheered as Bryce pulled away from Hart, took his lead straight to the top of the podium for his 2nd win in a row and also walked away with his 3rd Oakley Bomb Award for fastest lap. "We qualified 1st and started up front, but Marty got out ahead of us," said Menzies of the holeshot-pulling Hart. "We pulled a little ballsy move to get out front of him and were able to close up the points with Rob.

Pro 2’s round 8 had the bleachers and grass hill filled with fans waiting to see if Bryce would be able to pull off another win. Starting in the back after the invert Bryce knew he would have to drive a clean race and stick to his lines in order to make his way back up to the front. The #7 Menzies/Red Bull truck was proving its strength as Bryce quickly made his way to 3rd position and was soon battling to not only take over second place but gain the lead. As Marty Hart and Chad Hord battled out front theysoon found themselves coming to a quick stop as contact was made and they were both tangled up right in the middle of cemetery turn. Spotter Charlie Schlieve quickly called out for Bryce to take the inside line but it was to late and the #7 truck had made contact with Hart and Hord. After Bryce was turned around and started going again it was clear that there was significant damage to the truck. Bryce made his way to the hot pit where his crew quickly went to work trying to fix the damage and get Bryce back out on the track, but as luck would have it Bryce was not able to finish the race.

Pro 4x4’s

As the 8 Pro 4 trucks followed the pace truck around the track to the green for round 7 Ricky was starting first next to Scott Douglas. It wasn’t before long that Ricky Johnson and Johnny Greaves were racing for the lead position. Ricky held his lines till the mandatory yellow and on the restart would be next Greaves. Both trucks soared over the Red Bull jump but as Ricky landed you could see smoke coming from the rear of the truck. He continued to battle with Johnny for a few more turns before pulling off of the track due to a broken shock.

Starting round 8 in the back, everyone knew that this would be the race to watch. Fans lined the fence to cheer for their favorite driver and boo at the competition. Once again by the end of lap one Ricky had passed over half of the class and had made his way to 3rd place where he battled to catch up to leader Scott Douglas and second place Johnny Greaves. The restart flag dropped and Douglas was in the hot pits, which brought therace down to the wire between Johnson and Greaves. As Johnson raced behind Greaves he knew that at any moment Johnny could make a mistake and give theposition away. It wasn’t until the last turn of the last lap where Ricky and Johnny went for the same line and Johnny ended up facing the wall, not onlygiving away first place but wasn’t able to get his truck to the finish. Ricky crossed the finished line in first place with the Jenkins brothers right behind him.  "I honestly didn't think I took him (Greaves) out. I thought he was going to be right there with me at the finish line," said Johnson on the podium.

Bryce will hope to continue his battle with injured driver Rob MacCachren in Crandon. “We know Rob is hurt, but coming into Crandon he his going to be coming in swinging and I am looking forward to picking up where we left off.” Said Bryce Menzies. Next up for the Menzies Motorsports team is Crandon where they will race 3 rounds and also compete in the Challenge Cup where Pro 2’s will go head to head with Pro 4’s to see who can come out on top. For all the latest photos, videos and apparel be sure to check out www.menziesmotorsports.com

On Friday August 12th the A&A Motorsports #92 headed to Chico CA for a 410 points race.  With a low car count officials scratched qualifying and used a duel heat race ASCS passing point format to line up the A main event.  After the two heat races Andy was 2nd overall in points and when the top 6 re-drew for the front three rows of the A main event team member Scott Van DenBroeke drew the #1 pill to put Andy on the pole.  At the waiving of the green flag it was clear Andy was way to loose and quickly dropped to 3rd place, he would be able to hold his position and finish in the 3rd spot, and gain 1 point on Tyler Wolf.  With two races left Andy is only 2 points behind Tyler Wolf, it is looking to be a exciting last couple of races for the 410 Silver Dollar Speedway Championship.

On Saturday August 13th the F&F X1 was in Placerville CA for a 360 points race.  Andy was fast time, 4th in his heat race and with an 8 pill drawn he would start 8th in the A main event, Andy used every groove the track had and made his way to the lead by lap 14 he would keep the lead for the rest of the race for his 3rd point race victory at Placerville, the 8th win in the F&F X1 and his 11th win for the 2011 season. This win keeps Andy and the F&F X1 in the point lead.

This upcoming weekend Friday August 19th the A&A Motorsports #92 heads to Chico CA for a 410 points race and on Saturday August 20th Andy and the F&F X1 is back in Placerville CA for a 360 points race. 

Quick Reminder Friday night in Chico is kids bike night, so don't forget the bicycles!

Parker Motorsports scores their 20th victory for 2011 after taking the 39th annual Shrine
100 Crate Victory at Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, NC.

(BRASSTOWN, NORTH CAROLINA)  Brasstown, North Carolina native Ray Cook racked up his fourth victory of the 2011 racing season on Friday night, August 5 at the Boyd's Speedway in Ringgold, Georgia!  After timing in second fastest in his group during Southern Regional Racing Series (SRRS) qualifying, Ray rolled off fifth on the grid in the 40-lap feature event.  The popular driver known as the "Tarheel Tiger" methodically worked his way to the front of the field and eventually grabbed the top spot away from Dale McDowell in lapped traffic with only ten circuits remaining.  Ray went on to cash the $3,000 win over McDowell, Josh Putnam, Ronnie Johnson, and William Thomas!

A day earlier, the #53 D&R Motorsports team found themselves in the pit area at the North Georgia Speedway in Chatsworth, Georgia for the unsanctioned 'Top Dog 50.'  Ray laid down the fastest lap during the qualifying session to earn the pole position for the $5,000 to win main event.  During the course of the 50-lap affair, Ray ran second for most of the race behind eventual winner Dale McDowell, but Ronnie Johnson slipped by Cook on the final circuit - knocking him back to third at the checkers.  Saturday's $5,000 to win Southern All Stars Dirt Racing Series (SAS) showdown at the Cleveland (TN) Speedway was then rained-out.  Full results can be viewed online at www.dirtondirt.com.

“That is the best our car has been for awhile now, so I am pretty pumped to get to Florence this weekend,” exclaimed Cook recently.  “We were just a little off at North Georgia, but we ran second most of the race until (Ronnie) Johnson went by us at the end.  Then at Boyd’s, our car was real maneuverable and I was able to get up to Dale (McDowell) and eventually passed him in lapped traffic for the win.  I just have to thank the entire D&R Motorsports team and all of our great sponsors for all of their support!”

Ray and the D&R Motorsports team now have their sights set on the huge ‘North/South 100’ weekend at the venerable Florence Speedway in Union, Kentucky on August 12-13.  The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will once again sanction the crown jewel event and the cameras of the SPEED Channel will be on the grounds to capture all of the action.  Qualifying will take place on Friday night, while the heat races, consolation events, and the $50,000 to win ‘North/South 100’ are all scheduled for Saturday evening.  Additional information can be viewed online by clicking on www.lucasdirt.com.

Ray Cook would like to thank all of his supporters including:  Rockstar Energy Drink, Makita Industrial Power Tools, D&R Motorsports, Hicks & Ingle Company, MasterSbilt Race Cars, Race Engine Design, PPM Racing Products, A+ Moving and Storage Company, K&N Filters, PRC Racing, Real Racing Wheels, Bill Elliott Racing, James Cook Construction, American Race Tire, Bert Transmissions, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Chizmark & Larson Insurance Agency, DBR Starters, Delph Communications, Demon Carburetors, Eibach Springs, FK Rod Ends, Frankland Racing Supply, GW Performance, Integra Shocks, ISC Racers Tape, JB Performance, Mason Racin', MSD Ignition, Peterson Fluid Systems, Schaeffer’s Racing Oil, Scott Performance Wire, Stealth Carburetors, Sweet Mfg., T&D Machine, Turbo Start Batteries, VP Racing Fuels, Wiles Driveshafts, and Wilwood.

For the latest news and schedule information concerning the #53 team, feel free to visit their official Internet home at www.raycook53.com.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Philip Morris has been through enough championship battles to have the process down to a science. But this year has been a little more difficult to get a grasp on what it’s going to take to win the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship.

“It may just take winning every race the rest of the year,” joked Morris.

At the rate the top contenders are rattling off victories, he may not be far off.

The Ruckersville, Va., driver swept the Late Model Division features last Saturday at South Boston (Va.) Speedway. It gave Morris, a three-time national champion, his fifth win in his last eight starts and 14 wins in 21 starts overall.

Up the road, Lee Pulliam ran his win streak to five with a victory in the first of two Late Model features at Motor Mile Speedway at Radford, Va., Saturday. After an eighth in the second feature, the Semora, N.C., driver has 13 wins in 22 starts.

And they’re both chasing defending national champion Keith Rocco.

The Wallingford, Conn., driver swept the Modified division races at the three Connecticut tracks – Thompson International Speedway on Thursday, Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday and Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday – for the second time this season. He has won 10 of his last 12 races, including a spot start at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H., and has 19 wins in 33 races.

“Lately, it’s starting to feel like it was last year,” said Rocco.

Rocco has 733 points, putting him ahead of Morris with 712 and Pulliam with 709.

NATIONAL TOP 500 | STATE/PROVINCE TOP 20

A driver’s best 18 results through Sept. 18 are counted toward their state and national points totals, and the champions are decided on overall points total. Once a driver reaches 18 starts, their total increases incrementally as they replace some poorer runs with better results.

Under the points structure for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, the race winner receives two points for every car in the event up to 20 cars. Second place receives two fewer points, and so on through the field. Race winners receive an additional five bonus points. For example, if 20 cars are in the field, the winner receives 45 points, second place 38 and third, 36. If there are 15 cars, the winner receives 35 points, second 28 and third, 26.

Of Rocco’s 19 wins, nine have produced a maximum number of points (45). Morris has eight of his 14 wins and Pulliam five of his 13.

With the division not racing this weekend at South Boston, Morris will take his Late Model to Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., Saturday, where CE Falk III has used a strong run to move to fourth in the national standings. Falk has four wins in a row at the track, including a sweep of the double features last Saturday. Pulliam said he is still deciding between running Langley or Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., this Saturday.

Combined with Frank Deiny Jr.’s win in the second Late Model feature at Motor Mile, the top five drivers in the nation won nine of their 11 starts last weekend.

“A lot of it is the people you surround yourself with,” Rocco said. “A lot of this gets done in the shop – a lot of prep to make the cars as good as they are.”

Rocco credits crew chief Shane Hopkins for taking the lead on prepping his Thompson car, allowing Rocco to focus on getting his Modified ready for Stafford and Waterford. It’s helped them rebound from a couple of accidents that have nearly totaled his cars this season, and get back to winning.

Likewise, Morris has leaned on H.C. Sellers. Sellers, the brother of 2005 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion Peyton Sellers, keeps and prepares Morris’ car out of his shop in Danville, Va.

“It’s a load off, no question,” Morris said. “The points deal is always a heavy load on your mind. It’s nice to get in the car and worry about winning races, rather than getting in and worrying about something breaking or falling off.

“The car is just so good. Even when we miss, we’re still competitive.”

Nate Monteith (New Kingsport (Tenn.) Speedway and Motor Mile) is sixth in the national standings, followed by Ryan Preece (Stafford, Thompson and Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway), Brandon Davis (Toyota Speedway at Irwindale (Calif.)), Bill Leighton Jr. (Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa, I-80 Speedway in Omaha, Neb., and Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb.) and Lee Tissot (New Kingsport and Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway).

Track, state and provincial champions and the top-three finishers in the national standings earn invitations to the 2011 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards Banquet at the Charlotte Convention Center at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Friday, Dec. 9.