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    From The Marbles
    • Air Titan was no match for the rain at Pocono Friday. (Getty)

      Thanks to steady rain all day, the only on-track activity to talk about at Pocono on Friday was Sunday's Dover restart, which saw Jimmie Johnson get penalized -- and lose any shot at a win -- for jumping it with less than 20 laps to go.

      Johnson had the dominant car that day, leading 147 laps. But Montoya was the leader at the time of the restart and Johnson accelerated before he did, beating Montoya and the rest of the field to the start/finish line.

      There was no dominant car Friday at Pocono. No one got on track and all activity was officially canceled just after 2 p.m. Eastern. That means the field is set by owner points and Johnson will lead the field to green on Sunday with Carl Edwards next to him. Yes, it's probably safe to say that Johnson isn't going to be overanxious to hit the gas at the drop of the green.

      "I really believe that in the restart zone to the start-finish line that Juan (Pablo Montoya) just didn’t go and in my opinion, I think he played it right," Johnson said.

      Read More »from As the rain fell Friday at Pocono, restarts reigned
    • SLOW DOWN, JIMMIE! SLOW DOWN! (Getty)

      Throughout the week you can send us your best questions, jokes, rants and just plain miscellaneous thoughts to happyhourmailbag@yahoo.com or @NickBromberg. We'll post them here, have a good time and everyone's happy. Right? Oh who are we kidding, this is NASCAR. No one is ever happy.

      Before we start this week's mailbag, this is one hell of a summer weekend of motorsports coming up. And it's structured perfectly if you need to get stuff done around the house. Friday night's the Truck Series race and then Saturday night we've got the Nationwide Series and the IndyCar Series at the same time, allowing all day to get your errands and tasks done. And then of course, we've got the PARTY IN THE POCONOS!!!!!! WOOOOO!!!!!!

      I always hear the same thing about JJ/Chad and the "Evil Empire" that is Hendrick motorsports. I cant tell you how many times I have had to hear and put up with the whole "NASCAR is Set Up" so that JJ will win! Well I hope this finally shuts them up! The fact is that JPM

      Read More »from Happy Hour: Dover, and, yes, Danica
    • Tony Stewart: Juice and Tracy Anderson devotee (Getty)

      Welcome to Warped Wednesday. On this, we'll put out the rush to judgment mat, go a little too far and have a little fun. Will it be funny? Sometimes. Will it be crazy and largely unbelievable? Probably. Will not everyone get it? Definitely.

      Not only was Sunday's win at Dover a potential turning point for Tony Stewart and Stewart-Haas Racing, it was proof for Stewart that his new health routines have started to take effect on the track as well.

      Inspired by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Stewart has started a juice fast diet during the week to help with his performance. Instead of eating food that he would normally eat and drinking that wonderful Schlitz beer, Smoke has started using his juicing machine and blender almost exclusively.

      Steak and potatoes? How about kiwi-melon juice. Pepperoni pizza? Now it's a smoothie with luscious ice, spinach, cucumbers, celery, asparagus and a hint of cilantro for some zest.

      On the fitness side, Stewart took his inspiration from a celebrity outside of NASCAR.

      Read More »from Warped Wednesday: Tony Stewart attributes Dover win to juice diet and new workout regimen
    • Paul Wolfe and Brad Keselowski. (Getty)

      Brad Keselowski was penalized six points and crew chief Paul Wolfe was fined $25,000 and put on probation until December 31 after the No. 2 car failed post-race inspection at Dover when the right front of the car was found to be too low.

      :The No. 2 car was found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-12.8.1B (the car failed to meet the minimum front car heights during post-race inspection) of the 2013 rule book," a NASCAR release said.

      It was the same penalty that Martin Truex Jr. received after the right front of his car was found to be too low after Texas in April. Both penalties were attributed by the teams to parts failures and Penske Racing said in a statement that it would not appeal Keselowski's penalty.

      The penalty, which also includes six owner's points as well, drops Keselowski from 8th to 10th in the standings.

      Read More »from Brad Keselowski docked six points for post-race Dover violation
    • It's time for Power Rankings! After every race, we'll opine about who we think is at the top of the Sprint Cup heap and how and why they got there. Remember, this isn't scientific, as our formula is the perfect blend of analytics and bias against your favorite driver. So let's get on with it, shall we?

      1. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 1): Face it, when Jimmie bolted away on that final restart you immediately and briefly thought "well, this race is over." And if you didn't, you're a liar. But there was the (rightful) penalty and Johnson ended up 17th. Does Johnson win the race if he gives back that position to Montoya? Probably. But ifs and buts are candy and nuts and blah blah blah. What we need is a driver to step up and challenge Vader for the top spot in them here power rankings and it's just not happening.

      2. Kevin Harvick (LW: 4): Hola, Kevin. Thanks for taking the No. 2 spot this week. Your run at Dover wasn't striking, but thanks to qualifying seventh, you ran in and around the top 10 all

      Read More »from Power Rankings: Are there penalties in these?
    • The followup to AJ Allmendinger's strong performance at the Indianapolis 500 didn't go very well.

      In the IndyCar Series' first dual race weekend of the season, Allmendinger failed to complete the first lap in each race at Detroit's Belle Isle street circuit.

      On Saturday, Allmendinger's car launched over Scott Dixon's as he made a move to the inside going into turn four under braking. After flying over Dixon's car, Allmendinger's car came to rest in the tire barrier on the outside of the turn.

      Sunday, he didn't make it to turn four. As he exited turn two on the first lap, his car got loose and when he corrected it, it slammed into the outside wall and snapped the right-front suspension.

      Saturday was Allmendinger's fifth race in an IndyCar for Penske Racing after coming over from NASCAR. Allmendinger joined Penske's No. 22 Sprint Cup team at the beginning of 2012 but didn't race again for the team after testing positive for a stimulant following the Kentucky race. A five-time winner in

      Read More »from AJ Allmendinger completed less than a lap in the IndyCar dual races at Detroit
    • If Ryan Newman wanted to send David Gilliland a message, consider that message delivered. However, it wasn't delivered optimally.

      Newman tagged Gilliland in the left rear as the two were exiting turn two on lap 300 of Sunday's race at Dover, and the bump sent Gilliland into the wall on the backstretch. However, Gilliland bounced off the wall and careened towards the inside of the track and collected Newman as he slammed into the inside wall.

      The two cars came to a rest near each other and Gilliland climbed out first and ambled over to Newman's car, where the two drivers had an animated conversation while Newman unbuckled from his car and took off his helmet. Once Newman was out of the car, the discussion continued until it was clear that the two were going to agree to disagree and Gilliland tossed his HANS device towards his car and walked off.

      Newman declined to be interviewed after exiting the infield care center. Gilliland's point of view? Well, he was pretty straightforward saying

      Read More »from Craziest Moment: Ryan Newman spins David Gilliland and gets himself collected
    • After starting in three of the top four starting positions, it was no surprise that Joe Gibbs Racing was strong throughout Sunday's race at Dover. After all, JGR has the most wins and has led significantly more laps than any other team in the Sprint Cup Series.

      But that performance has come with a tradeoff that has become unsurprising as well. Yes, you guessed it, engine woes.

      Sunday, the engine gremlins felled Matt Kenseth's car. Kenseth was leading when smoke started to trail from his exhaust. Soon after, his day was over.

      "Man it's disappointing. I feel like JGR is three of the strongest teams in the garage -- it seems like we have the best cars out there, equal to the best cars," Kenseth said. "But you have to finish these things, obviously. There's been some issues in that department. I've got a lot of faith in those guys, they'll get it figured out."

      Kenseth also suffered an engine failure while leading during the Daytona 500 and teammate Kyle Busch's engine expired 257 laps

      Read More »from Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. both suffer engine failures at Dover
    • Tony Stewart swung past Juan Pablo Montoya on the high side with three laps to go and won the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover after Jimmie Johnson was penalized for jumping the race's final restart.

      Where the heck did Stewart, a driver who has been struggling all season, come from? We'll get to that in a moment. First, that fateful restart.

      After Montoya beat Johnson out of the pits before that last restart with 19 laps to go, he was the race leader and chose the high line coming to the green flag. Johnson on the inside, sprinted ahead as the two drove through the restart box that demarcates the zone where the leader is supposed to accelerate through the green flag.

      By the time the two got to the start/finish line, Johnson was multiple car lengths ahead of Montoya. Did Montoya spin his tires? Did Johnson jump the restart? Even if Montoya did the former, NASCAR ruled that Johnson did the latter, and he was forced to pit for a pass-through penalty from the race lead with 16

      Read More »from Tony Stewart capitalizes on Jimmie Johnson’s restart penalty to win at Dover
    • No, that's not supposed to happen.

      During Saturday's Nationwide Series 5 Hour Energy 200 at Dover, Parker Kligerman left his pit during the first pit stop of the day with the jack still underneath the bottom of his car. And, almost incredibly, the jack stayed underneath Kligerman's car for an entire lap before he made it back to his pit stall so his crew could remove it.

      However, as Kligerman was exiting the pits, it hit front tire changer Mark Armstrong in the right lower leg. Armstrong couldn't continue and the team was forced to find a replacement.

      Kligerman was also penalized for removing equipment from the pit box and was forced to start at the back of the field for the ensuing restart. He finished 11th.

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