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| Edwards at MIS practice June 2012 Photo – Drew Hallowell/Getty Images |
In the rolling Irish Hills of Michigan, there are some meaningful memories of racing and winning for Sprint Cup driver, Carl Edwards. A win this weekend would add to those memories and significance of Michigan International Speedway to his career and his team. Continue reading →
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| Photo- Getty Images
this weekend for the Pure Michigan 400.
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Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen was a game changer for several Chase contenders with a wild finish in the Finger Lakes 355. The competition continues to get more intense as the Sprint Cup teams head to the “Irish Hills” of Michigan for the upcoming weekend.
The Pure Michigan 400 is seventh of the ten races to the Chase to determine who’s in and who’s out to compete for the 2012 Sprint Cup title. Using the previous six races for analysis, this discussion will review who is fizzling on the backstretch, which drivers’ bubble is about to burst and who is cranking it up with their game on.
Fizzling on the Backstretch
Although Denny Hamlin has secured his spot in the Chase with two wins so far this season, his performance in the Race to the Chase’s first six events present plenty of room for improvement. His 34th-place finish at Watkins Glen drops his points position down two spots to 10th-place. In the last six races, Hamlin has two top-fives and one top-ten finish, but also includes a 25th-place finish and two finishes outside the top-25, giving him the worst average finish of the top-ten contenders at 17th. Wins will improve his Chase starting position, but he’ll need to find consistent top-three/top-five performances to compete for the championship.
Dale Earnhardt Jr’s 28th-place finish gives him two consecutive races outside the top-25 and lowers his average finish to 15th along with fellow top-ten contender Matt Kenseth. Dale Jr also lost the points lead and three spots placing him currently 4th in the standings. Kenseth actually finished 8th at Watkins Glen and is moving in a positive direction. However, both Dale Jr and Kenseth will need to improve their performances, and another win would be the boost they need going into the Chase. Dale Jr. won the June Michigan race and Kenseth has two previous wins at the “Irish Hills” track.
In the wild card chase, his average finish, now at 20th, continues to haunt Joey Logano, along with a current points position of 18th, the lowest – on both counts – of all wild card contenders. What Logano has in his favor is one win; another win would give him a wild card spot, but he also needs to improve his performance to truly be a contender for a title.
Bubbles about to Burst
The most obvious stat to plague top-ten contender Kevin Harvick is the goose egg that sits in his win column. That along with his current points position of ninth currently puts him at the bottom of the top-ten list for the start of the Chase races in September. Harvick has only one top-ten result in the last six races and his average finish is 14th. Although his average finish is one position better than Kenseth and Dale Jr, and three positions better than Denny Hamlin’s, Harvick’s lack of wins and continued top-15 average will keep him out of real contention for the championship.
In the same boat with Harvick is his RCR teammate Paul Menard, with a slightly better average finish of 13th. Menard is performing respectably as a wild card contender – ahead of top-ten contenders Hamlin, Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr and Harvick – but also without any wins to his credit. Right now, wild card contenders need at least two wins to gain the final wild card spot for the Chase. For Menard, that means he needs to win two of the next four races to have any shot at contending for a title in the Chase.
Count Carl Edwards in the same boat with Menard when it comes to needing two wins to contend as a wild card. Along with no wins for the season, hurting Edwards is his average finish of 16th in the past six races. His current performance is only slightly better than Hamlin’s and four positions better than Logano’s. But Logano can win the wild card with one win in the next four races versus Edwards need for two wins to earn a spot in the Chase. Edwards best shot at a win is at Michigan where he currently has two career wins. But one win will not be enough to get the wild card or contend for a championship.
Cranking it up – Game on
Proving that finishing outside the top-ten any given week will have an impact, Kasey Kahne’s 13th place finish at Watkins Glen, puts Brad Keselowski at the top of the championship contenders list this week. Keselowski’s wild finish, second to Ambrose, is an image to keep in mind of his intensity in competing for his first Sprint Cup title. Also, known as, Bad Brad, he is the only contender with a top-five average finish in the last six races.
Make no mistake, Kasey Kahne’s performance has been stellar in the Race to the Chase and with two wins and 11th-place in the point standings, he securely holds the #1 wild card spot. With the exception of Keselowski, Kahne is out performing all other top-ten contenders.
Although Jeff Gordon lost the wild card spot this week with a 21st place finish, his performance up to that point, has been exactly what he needs to build team confidence to contend for his fifth title. In the last six races, Gordon has the third best performance with an average finish of 8th, but sits 15th in the point standings and only another win will keep him in Chase contention.
Current #2 wild card holder, Ryan Newman sits 13th in the points race, and along with Kyle Busch at 14th they along with Gordon all have one win to their credit. Also stepping up with a win this past weekend is Marcos Ambrose, sitting at 16th in the point standings. Another win from any of these wild card contenders – along with Logano – puts them ahead of the rest and maintains the pressure for more wins to keep the final wild card spot in the Chase.
Jimmie Johnson currently holds the number one position in points and with three wins, he’ll keep that spot when the Chase begins. But he’ll need to step up his performance to contend for his sixth championship once the Chase begins. Currently out-performing the five-time champion in the last six races are Keselowski, Kahne, Gordon and Martin Truex Jr who is currently 6th in points. But in the last six races, Johnson’s average finish is at 11th behind Truex Jr at 10th. Truex’s performance is impressive, considering he has yet to win this season. But Johnson is coming on strong with his Watkins Glen finish of 3rd versus Truex’s finish of 10th. To continue to compete head to head with the champ, Truex will need to step up his game with wins and top-three/top-five finishes – top-tens will not be enough.
Clint Bowyer and Greg Biffle both stepped up this week with 4th and 6th place finishes, respectively at Watkins Glen. Bowyer moved up three positions to 7th-place in the points and Biffle now sits in second. Continuing to build momentum going into the Chase will only help them – of course, wins will help the most.
Checkered Flag – Week Six in the Race to the Chase at Watkins Glen
Not mentioned yet this week is Tony Stewart, who finished 19th at Watkins Glen and sits 8th in the points. With highs and lows over the last six races, only time will tell if Tony will repeat his historic championship performance of 2011.
Building momentum over the next four Race to the Chase events will be important for every team. Fans can expect lots of action as teams race for their Chase position and championship contention.
Next up is the fast track of Michigan International Speedway. What shake ups will fans see this week?
Sound off and give us your analysis and predictions in the comment section below.
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| Photo- Getty Images |
Since NASCAR didn’t throw the yellow-flag, Kyle Busch wasn’t able to go to victory lane. Busch was the leader taking the white flag and when he went down into turn one, he slipped in the oil laid down by the No.47 car. Then Busch continued to slip in the oil and eventually got turned by Brad Keselowski.
After that incident, Keselowski was leading followed by Ambrose. Both cars continued to slip around and eventually Ambrose got past Keselowski for the victory.
Both Ambrose and Keselowski commented after the race about the last lap with both saying “That’s the way racing should be.” This race was by far the best one of the season and fans saw some of the best racing ever today. The oil factor on the last lap proved once again that NASCAR drivers are the best race car drivers in the world.
The race started out exciting when Kyle Busch challenged pole sitter Juan Pablo Montoya for the lead and Busch went on to lead lap one. Also on lap one, we saw Brian Vickers head to the garage with engine issues and he did not return to the race.
On lap nine, we saw our first spin of the day when David Ragan got into Boris Said and Said spun around. Remember last year when it was Said getting into David Ragan on the last lap, sending Ragan hard into the barrier and starting a big crash in turn two. When Ragan hit Said in today’s race, it may have been some payback.
The first caution of the day came out on lap 26 when Jamie McMurray cut down a tire while entering the backstretch and hit the wall hard. Under the caution, Kurt Busch had an issue with his tire and when he entered turn six, Busch spun around and his tire popped off. Busch then went to the garage. Many of the leading cars made pit stops under this caution.
Trouble for wild card contender Joey Logano began on lap thirty when Logano went behind the wall, he eventually did make it back on track though.
On lap 32, pole-sitter Juan Pablo Montoya went behind the wall with some sort of engine issue.
On lap 39, Marcos Ambrose took the lead for the first time from Brad Keselowski. Keselowski would eventually retake the lead on lap 47 when Ambrose made his pit stop.
Just after halfway; Keselowski was the leader followed by Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart.
The next yellow flag flew on lap 58 when Denny Hamlin blew his engine. This is the third straight race at Watkins Glen where Hamlin has failed to finish and the sixth straight road course race where Hamlin had issues. After the race, Hamlin fell back to tenth in points and is only 40 points ahead of eleventh place Kasey Kahne.
Trouble for Jason Leffler struck on lap 65 when he blew his engine on the backstretch.
The final yellow-flag of the day flew with 20 laps to go when Tony Stewart spun out and hit the wall while running in second. Stewart got loose all by himself exiting the final turn of the course and hit the inside wall just before pit road.
Point’s leader Dale Earnhardt Jr had issues with seven laps to go when he spun out in turn five. Earnhardt Jr lost a ton of positions and no caution flag flew. That incident lost Earnhardt Jr the points lead but going into Michigan next weekend, Earnhardt Jr could easily get it back.
Bobby Labonte in the No.47 started leaking oil on the track with two laps to go, NASCAR saw the oil but they didn’t think it was enough to throw a caution so they let the leaders race back to the finish.
Taking the white flag was leader Kyle Busch followed by Keselowski and Ambrose. Busch started to slip around heading down hill into turn one and that allowed Keselowski to catch him. By the time they were in turn two Keselowski was there and going up the esses Keselowski got into Busch spinning him out.
Keselowski did apologize to Kyle Busch over twitter following the race. That wreck cost Busch a race everyone thought he had won. Busch did manage to get going again and finish in the seventh position.
After Busch was out of the way, Keselowski was the leader followed by Ambrose who was close in tow. Going into the inner loop, both Keselowski and Ambrose started to slip in the oil and both ran off course in the inner loop but managed to stay close to each other entering turn five.
Keselowski made a big slip in the oil exiting turn five and he got loose enough where Ambrose could pass him for the lead. Ambrose managed to clear him and they went off into turn six.
In turn six, Ambrose got loose and slid off into the run-off area and Keselowski closed the gap. They were side by side going into turn seven but Keselowski slipped on the exit of the corner and Ambrose powered to the lead and crossed the finish line first.
The wrecking wasn’t done though; last week’s winner Jeff Gordon slipped in the oil and spun around in turn seven, hitting the inside wall before pit road. Gordon did re-fire and ended up with a 21st-place finish and no longer in the second wild card spot.
Many fans say that was the craziest last lap seen in years and it can’t be argued.
Ambrose pulled into victory lane for the second straight year at the Glen and celebrated just as much.
A huge point’s shakeup occurred following today’s race and Earnhardt Jr is no longer atop the point standings. Jimmie Johnson is now the points leader; he is up on second place Greg Biffle by only one point. Kenseth is third down by a mere two points to Johnson and Earnhardt Jr is fourth.
A second place finish by Keselowski earned him a new points position of fifth. Clint Bowyer jumped up to seventh in the points and Denny Hamlin took a plunge down to tenth. Kasey Kahne moved up to eleventh in points and he still holds the first wild card position. Ryan Newman is the new man in the second wild card position.
Kyle Busch is only six points behind Newman. Gordon has fallen to fifteenth in the standings and will likely need a win to move up. Logano will need another win or possibly two to make the chase as well.
With the win, Ambrose is now in wild card contention and will likely need another win to have a shot at making the chase.
For not being a road course expert, Sam Hornish Jr had a great run and finished fifth. Brad Keselowski came up short all weekend at Watkins Glen by finishing second in both races at the Glen this weekend.
A wild one at the Glen gave Ambrose his second career win and some hope at making it into the chase. The wild card drama will continue next week at Michigan, tune in to see who can capture victory.
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STATUS
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1
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5
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9
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Ford
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Stanley
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47/1
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90
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Running
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2
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4
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2
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Dodge
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Miller Lite
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43/1
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90
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Running
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3
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3
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48
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Chevrolet
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Lowe’s Cortez Silver
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41/0
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90
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Running
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4
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8
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15
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Toyota
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5-hour Energy
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40/0
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90
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Running
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5
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17
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22
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Dodge
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Shell / Pennzoil
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0
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90
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Running
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6
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15
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16
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Ford
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3M
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38/0
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90
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Running
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7
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2
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18
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Toyota
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M&M’s
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39/2
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90
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Running
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8
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24
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17
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Ford
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Ford EcoBoost
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36/0
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90
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Running
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9
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13
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78
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Chevrolet
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Furniture Row / Farm American
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35/0
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90
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Running
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10
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9
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56
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Toyota
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NAPA Auto Parts
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34/0
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90
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Running
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11
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6
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39
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Chevrolet
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U.S. Army
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33/0
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90
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Running
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12
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22
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27
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Chevrolet
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Menards / Rheem
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32/0
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90
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Running
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13
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20
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5
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Chevrolet
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Farmers Insurance
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31/0
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90
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Running
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14
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18
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99
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Ford
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Fastenal
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31/1
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90
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Running
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15
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19
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29
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Chevrolet
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Budweiser
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29/0
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90
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Running
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16
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30
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13
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Ford
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GEICO
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28/0
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90
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Running
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17
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21
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195
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Ford
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TWD
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27/0
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90
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Running
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18
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29
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43
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Ford
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Smithfield
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26/0
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90
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Running
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19
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7
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14
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Chevrolet
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Office Depot / Mobil 1
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25/0
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90
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Running
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20
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34
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38
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Ford
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ModSpace
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24/0
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90
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Running
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21
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12
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24
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Chevrolet
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Drive to End Hunger
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23/0
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90
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Running
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22
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32
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34
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Ford
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Scorpion Coatings / Al’s Liners
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22/0
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90
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Running
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23
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35
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83
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Toyota
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Burger King / Dr Pepper
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21/0
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90
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Running
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24
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42
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93
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Toyota
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Burger King / Dr Pepper
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20/0
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90
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Running
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25
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25
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32
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Ford
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HendrickCars.com
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19/0
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90
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Running
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26
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39
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33
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Chevrolet
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Little Joes A
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18/0
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90
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Running
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27
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26
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47
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Toyota
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Miller Welders / Freightliner
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17/0
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90
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Running
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28
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16
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88
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Chevrolet
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National Guard / Diet Mountain Dew
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16/0
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89
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Running
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29
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36
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87
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Toyota
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Genny Light / AM-FM Energy
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0
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88
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Running
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30
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28
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31
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Chevrolet
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Caterpillar
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14/0
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84
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Running
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31
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27
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51
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Chevrolet
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Phoenix Construction Services
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13/0
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81
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Running
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32
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14
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20
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Toyota
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The Home Depot
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12/0
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71
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Running
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33
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1
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42
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Chevrolet
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Target
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12/1
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63
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Accident
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34
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23
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11
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Toyota
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FedEx Freight
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10/0
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57
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Engine
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35
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41
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249
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Toyota
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America Israel Racing
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0
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42
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Engine
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36
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31
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36
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Chevrolet
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Tommy Baldwin Racing
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8/0
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41
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Susp.
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37
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11
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98
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Ford
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TRAQM.com
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7/0
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30
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Rear Gear
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38
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38
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26
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Ford
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MDS Transport
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6/0
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25
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Electrical
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39
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10
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1
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Chevrolet
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McDonald’s
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5/0
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24
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Accident
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40
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37
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10
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Chevrolet
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Tommy Baldwin Racing
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4/0
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15
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Brakes
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41
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40
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119
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Toyota
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Plinker Tactical
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3/0
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5
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Brakes
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42
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43
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30
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Patrick Long
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Toyota
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Inception Motorsports
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2/0
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2
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Brakes
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43
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33
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55
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Toyota
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My Classic Garage
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1/0
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0
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Engine
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