Racing-Recap June 3

Dover International Speedway and the Belle Isle (Detroit) Street Circuit were the hosts of this weekend's races.

NASCAR
The annual triple races (NASCAR Truck, Nationwide & Cup) were held over the weekend at Dover.  In the Truck race, it looked to be Darrell Wallace, Jr. out front all day, but late caution periods and track adjustments helped Kyle Busch take the victory in the Lucas Oil 200.  In the Nationwide race held on Saturday, Kyle Busch was dominating for majority of the race, but Joey Logano beat him off pit road on the final caution, leading the last 36 laps en route to checkered flag.

The Cup race was entirely different.  In a tale of two halves, the first half was dominated by Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Kyle Busch (led 150 laps), Matt Kenseth & Denny Hamlin and Toyota manufacturing machines.  On Lap 161, Kenseth blew his engine and made that strong left-hand turn into the garage, finishing 40th.  The 2nd half of the race was different.  Jimmie Johnson found himself a lap down early in the race, but thanks to cautions, he found himself leading the race on Lap 206, and from there looked to be the strongest car of the day.  An incident involving Denny Hamlin hitting the wall with 20 laps to go shaped up what could be an easy finish for the #48 Lowe's machine.  Instead, Johnson jumped the restart over Juan Pablo Montoya and was black-flagged for the incident, forcing him to perform a drive-thru penalty.  Montoya led until 3 laps to go when Tony Stewart (struggled early, then car got better) passed him for the lead and wins his first race of 2013.  This race helped Tony Stewart's chances on the Chase for the Championship.  A dismal first 1/3 of the season due to wrecks and incidents and now a win makes Stewart's hopes a little better due to wildcard entry in the points system.  Jimmie Johnson is still the points leader by 30 over Carl Edwards and 40 over Clint Bowyer.   Denny Hamlin (who missed 4 races due to injury) has his chase hopes diminished due to wrecking and finishing 34th. 

The NASCAR Cup Series now heads 3 hours north of Dover to Pocono Raceway next weekend.  The Nationwide Series goes to Rusty Wallace's owned Iowa Speedway and the Truck series heads to Texas Motor Speedway, all next week.


INDYCAR
The IZOD IndyCar series makes history again, hosting a first double-header weekend ever in the series at Belle Isle Raceway in Detroit.  During the week, it was learned that Dale Coyne Racing signed Mike Conway to drive the #18 car in both races, replacing Ana Beatriz.  Also, Panther Racing terminated J.R. Hildebrand's contract and signing Ryan Briscoe for the races as well.

Race 1 held Saturday turned out to be a clean race, except for minor incidents involving A.J. Allmendinger (crashed on Lap 1) and Sebastian Saavedra (crashed on Lap 34).  Dario Franchitti originally won the pole, but was hit with a 10-grid penalty for engine change left E.J. Viso & Mike Conway to start on the front row.  Conway went out and led 47 of 70 laps en route to his first IndyCar victory in 2 years!  Remember, Mike Conway does not race on ovals anymore, so he will be a part-time driver, focusing on street and road courses, so his championship chances are slim.

Race 2 was an entirely different story.  In the first race, drivers relaxed, no temper flares and took care of their cars easier---not in the 2nd race.  Right out of the gate, Allmendinger crashed again on Lap 1.  Then there were incidents involving Simona de Silvestro & Takuma Sato.  On Lap 28 during a restart, there was an incident in which Sebastien Bourdais got into the back of Will Power and started a chain reaction involving multiple drivers (Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves, James Hinchcliffe, E.J. Viso, Ryan Briscoe) which saw tempers heat up and a lengthy caution.  After that incident, it was clean and green the rest of the way.  Another shocking winner in Simon Pagenaud (first-ever in IndyCar) and James Jakes finished 2nd, Conway 3rd. 

Very exciting weekend, especially with the new track layout (2.36 miles) and an upgrade from last year's dismal race.  There will be more action in Detroit for years to come.  Next Saturday night, the series heads to Texas for 228 laps (342 miles) under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway.  Race coverage is on ABC.