$1 million can make people do a lot of crazy things. Saturday night, it made NASCAR’s best do just that. Among a slew of crashes and exciting racing over the final laps, Kurt Busch and the No. 2 Miller Lite Vortex Dodge emerged victorious, beating out Martin Truex Jr. and a hard-charging Joey Logano for his first victory in NASCAR’s premier event.
“This is huge,” Busch said. “These are one of the big marquee events….this, Daytona, the 600 and Indy. Just to be able to do it in front of the Penske Racing organization. This is phenomenal.”
Jimmie Johnson dominated most of the night, leading 56 of the 100 laps, but was beat off pit road by Denny Hamlin after the mandatory four-tire stop before the final 10-lap segment. That’s when the madness began. Hamlin and Johnson, now in second and third, respectively, were coming off turn four when Johnson spun down into the infield.
“I knew I had to clear the No. 11 on the outside of me so I just kept my foot in it,” Johnson said of the incident with Hamlin. “I could feel them on the outside of me kind of pulling the back end of my car around but I said, ‘the hell with it, it’s the All-Star race.’ I kept my foot on the floor and hoped that I made it off the turn and I didn’t. It turned around on me.”
On lap 94, perhaps the most controversial accident of the night happened. With Hamlin in the lead and Kyle Busch following closely in second, Busch appeared to be headed for the lead on a good run out of turn two. But his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate blocked him, forcing Busch into the wall and out of contention. As Busch and Hamlin collided, Kurt Busch flew past both and into the lead for the final time.
The night was virtually accident-free before the final segment. But just as the 10-lap final segment began, a multi-car wreck exploded on the front stretch, collecting seven cars before a green flag lap was completed. Because a green flag lap had not been completed, the cars restarted in the same order with Hamlin leading.
Kurt took the first 50-lap segment with a pass of his brother Kyle on lap 49. Johnson won the second segment by a wide margin, followed by Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin and Hamlin.
The third segment was a near mirror-image of the second, as Johnson came home first again, followed by Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Martin and Kyle Busch.
By virtue of rain showers on Friday, Kurt Busch won the pole for Saturday’s All-Star event. Saturday night, he was covered by a shower of Miller Lite in victory lane. Most people might put $1 million into savings. But how will Kurt Busch celebrate?
“I don’t know. A million Miller Lites!”
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Truex wins Showdown
Martin Truex Jr. won the Sprint Showdown while Greg Biffle finished second Saturday night. The top two finishers in the 29-car field will advance to the All-Star race at 9 p.m.
Fast-moving Juan Montoya and Regan Smith were involved in the evening's first caution when the two made contact heading into turn one. Montoya had moved up to fourth and looked as if he was threatening for the lead and a spot in the All-Star race.
After the Montoya-Smith caution just before the end of the first segment, leaders David Ragan and Biffle opted not to pit and take on tires, which looked like it might be costly.
"I thought we were a sitting duck," Biffle said.
After Ragan was involved in a brush-up with David Gilliland, Truex and Biffle moved to the front and never looked back. Biffle led the first 12 laps of the second segment while Truex led the final eight laps.
"It was a good run for us, we made some good adjustments on that pit stop that helped us a lot," Truex said. "We're excited to be in the field tonight. I think our car is pretty good, we've got some things we're going to work on. Excited to be in this race, its a lot of fun not racing for points."
The All-Star race is slated to start at 9:10 p.m.
Fast-moving Juan Montoya and Regan Smith were involved in the evening's first caution when the two made contact heading into turn one. Montoya had moved up to fourth and looked as if he was threatening for the lead and a spot in the All-Star race.
After the Montoya-Smith caution just before the end of the first segment, leaders David Ragan and Biffle opted not to pit and take on tires, which looked like it might be costly.
"I thought we were a sitting duck," Biffle said.
After Ragan was involved in a brush-up with David Gilliland, Truex and Biffle moved to the front and never looked back. Biffle led the first 12 laps of the second segment while Truex led the final eight laps.
"It was a good run for us, we made some good adjustments on that pit stop that helped us a lot," Truex said. "We're excited to be in the field tonight. I think our car is pretty good, we've got some things we're going to work on. Excited to be in this race, its a lot of fun not racing for points."
The All-Star race is slated to start at 9:10 p.m.
Childress and Harvick announce contract extension
Richard Childress Racing Team owner and driver Kevin Harvick announced a multi-year contract extension for Harvick to continue driving the No. 29 Chevrolet.
"We are very excited to have Kevin back," Childress said. "He has written a lot of history for RCR."
Harvick struggles in 2009 and there was speculation about a possible movement away from RCR. 2010 has been a turnaround season for Harvick, as he finds himself leading the points heading into tonight's All-Star race.
"I think for us," Harvick said. "It was great to put away all of the questions that I knew there were"
"The last time we were doing this, I didn't do things very well. I think that, this time, I did things the right way."
Terms of the contract were not disclosed and a sponsor will be determined at a later date.
Friday, May 21, 2010
49ers home and away A-10 games identified
The A-10 athletic directors, men's and women's basketball coaches and conference staff concluded four days of meetings in Virginia today.
Highlights included the reconfirmation of the format for the 2010-11 A-10 Men's Basketball Championship as well as the approval of the 2010 A-10 men's regular season basketball schedule.
Charlotte will remain partners in conference play with George Washington, Xavier and Richmond and will play each team twice in 2010-11. Charlotte will play Dayton, Fordham, UMass, La Salle and Saint Joseph's at home while traveling on the road to play Rhode Island, Duquesne, Temple, Saint Louis and St. Bonaventure.
"The meetings were very productive and a healthy exchange of meaningful ideas and viewpoints," says A-10 commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade.
"I look forward to working with John McCutcheon, our new chair of the executive committee, and thank Jack Kvancz for his outstanding leadership and work over the past two years."
The finals of the 35th annual A-10 Men's Basketball Championship will be played on Sunday, Mar. 13, and televised live at 1:00 p.m. on CBS for the second consecutive year. Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. will once again play as the host site for the tournament.
The complete conference schedule with dates and times will be announced at a later date.
Highlights included the reconfirmation of the format for the 2010-11 A-10 Men's Basketball Championship as well as the approval of the 2010 A-10 men's regular season basketball schedule.
Charlotte will remain partners in conference play with George Washington, Xavier and Richmond and will play each team twice in 2010-11. Charlotte will play Dayton, Fordham, UMass, La Salle and Saint Joseph's at home while traveling on the road to play Rhode Island, Duquesne, Temple, Saint Louis and St. Bonaventure.
"The meetings were very productive and a healthy exchange of meaningful ideas and viewpoints," says A-10 commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade.
"I look forward to working with John McCutcheon, our new chair of the executive committee, and thank Jack Kvancz for his outstanding leadership and work over the past two years."
The finals of the 35th annual A-10 Men's Basketball Championship will be played on Sunday, Mar. 13, and televised live at 1:00 p.m. on CBS for the second consecutive year. Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. will once again play as the host site for the tournament.
The complete conference schedule with dates and times will be announced at a later date.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tar Heels end Charlotte's streak
“We haven’t had a game like this in a long time. We just weren’t very good and they were better.”
Those were the words of Charlotte 49er head baseball coach Loren Hibbs following Wednesday’s 5-0 shutout loss at the hands of the North Carolina Tar Heels. Charlotte behind the 8-ball early, and didn’t threaten the Tar Heel lead until late in the eighth inning.
Charlotte (29-10) entered the game ranked seventh in Division I with 9.4 runs per game and had a +4.1 scoring margin, good for ninth in the country.
The Tar Heels (27-17) broke open the scoring in the top half of the first when Ryan Wierzbicki singled to left field to bring in lead off man Mike Cavasinni. The single was the 52nd hit of the season for Wierzbicki, which lands him second on the squad only behind left fielder Ben Bunting.
“Right now everybody’s mad, everybody’s upset and we got people, myself included that are doing things we don’t normally do,” Hibbs said. “We need to regroup and we need to be ready for Temple this weekend.”
Wierzbicki factored in on UNC’s next run as well when he scored on a Ryan Graepel sacrifice single through the left side to make the score 2-0 in the fourth.
The Tar Heels extended their lead to three in the sixth inning when Seth Baldwin ripped a 2-2 John Hamilton pitch off the left-center warning track for an RBI triple, bringing across Graepel from first to put Charlotte in its biggest hole of the night.
Charlotte finally got a runner in scoring position in the bottom half of the seventh when Tar Heel shortstop Graepel bobbled a Corey Shaylor grounder, allowing Shaylor to reach first. Shaylor advanced to second on a wild pitch, but the Niners failed to capitalize when Zane Williams popped up to shallow left field to end the inning.
The Niners threatened again in the eighth when Justin Wilson and Shane Brown reached second and third respectively, but again, Charlotte failed to capitalize. In seemingly ideal position to get on the scoreboard, junior first baseman Ryan Rivers strung out a 10-pitch at-bat, but eventually struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Tar Heels added two more runs in the ninth to cap off the scoring at 5-0 and send Charlotte to its first home loss since an 8-2 defeat at the hands of Austin Peay on March 13. The 17-game winning streak for Charlotte tied the 07-08 squad for the longest in program history. This season’s 17-game winning streak was the longest not spanning two seasons.
Justin Wilson led the way at the plate for Charlotte, going 2-for-3 and a walk, but Charlotte scattered seven hits across the board and never really threatened North Carolina’s lead.
“They’re very athletic, they play good defense and they pitch,” Hibbs said. “It was just one of those deals where they were better than we were. I’m not going to sugar coat it. We like our guys, I thought the effort was there. They were better than we were tonight.”
Chris Munnelly (2-1) picked up the win for the Tar Heels. Munnelly scattered four hits and struck out five Charlotte batters across six stellar innings in the winning effort. The 49ers’ high-scoring offense was shut out for just the second time this season and was held below 10 runs for the fourth straight game.
Tim Lysaught (4-3) took the loss for Charlotte, striking out five in just three innings of work and allowing just one run. For the night, Charlotte used seven pitchers compared to just two for the Tar Heels and allowed 11 hits compared to seven for the Tar Heels.
With the win, the Tar Heels moved to 30-6-1 against Charlotte and haven’t lost to the Niners in Charlotte since the 1992 campaign.
Charlotte hosts Temple on Friday at 6 p.m. to resume A-10 play.
Those were the words of Charlotte 49er head baseball coach Loren Hibbs following Wednesday’s 5-0 shutout loss at the hands of the North Carolina Tar Heels. Charlotte behind the 8-ball early, and didn’t threaten the Tar Heel lead until late in the eighth inning.
Charlotte (29-10) entered the game ranked seventh in Division I with 9.4 runs per game and had a +4.1 scoring margin, good for ninth in the country.
The Tar Heels (27-17) broke open the scoring in the top half of the first when Ryan Wierzbicki singled to left field to bring in lead off man Mike Cavasinni. The single was the 52nd hit of the season for Wierzbicki, which lands him second on the squad only behind left fielder Ben Bunting.
“Right now everybody’s mad, everybody’s upset and we got people, myself included that are doing things we don’t normally do,” Hibbs said. “We need to regroup and we need to be ready for Temple this weekend.”
Wierzbicki factored in on UNC’s next run as well when he scored on a Ryan Graepel sacrifice single through the left side to make the score 2-0 in the fourth.
The Tar Heels extended their lead to three in the sixth inning when Seth Baldwin ripped a 2-2 John Hamilton pitch off the left-center warning track for an RBI triple, bringing across Graepel from first to put Charlotte in its biggest hole of the night.
Charlotte finally got a runner in scoring position in the bottom half of the seventh when Tar Heel shortstop Graepel bobbled a Corey Shaylor grounder, allowing Shaylor to reach first. Shaylor advanced to second on a wild pitch, but the Niners failed to capitalize when Zane Williams popped up to shallow left field to end the inning.
The Niners threatened again in the eighth when Justin Wilson and Shane Brown reached second and third respectively, but again, Charlotte failed to capitalize. In seemingly ideal position to get on the scoreboard, junior first baseman Ryan Rivers strung out a 10-pitch at-bat, but eventually struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Tar Heels added two more runs in the ninth to cap off the scoring at 5-0 and send Charlotte to its first home loss since an 8-2 defeat at the hands of Austin Peay on March 13. The 17-game winning streak for Charlotte tied the 07-08 squad for the longest in program history. This season’s 17-game winning streak was the longest not spanning two seasons.
Justin Wilson led the way at the plate for Charlotte, going 2-for-3 and a walk, but Charlotte scattered seven hits across the board and never really threatened North Carolina’s lead.
“They’re very athletic, they play good defense and they pitch,” Hibbs said. “It was just one of those deals where they were better than we were. I’m not going to sugar coat it. We like our guys, I thought the effort was there. They were better than we were tonight.”
Chris Munnelly (2-1) picked up the win for the Tar Heels. Munnelly scattered four hits and struck out five Charlotte batters across six stellar innings in the winning effort. The 49ers’ high-scoring offense was shut out for just the second time this season and was held below 10 runs for the fourth straight game.
Tim Lysaught (4-3) took the loss for Charlotte, striking out five in just three innings of work and allowing just one run. For the night, Charlotte used seven pitchers compared to just two for the Tar Heels and allowed 11 hits compared to seven for the Tar Heels.
With the win, the Tar Heels moved to 30-6-1 against Charlotte and haven’t lost to the Niners in Charlotte since the 1992 campaign.
Charlotte hosts Temple on Friday at 6 p.m. to resume A-10 play.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Major Coaching Hire
The Charlotte 49ers have selected former Ohio State assistant coach Alan Major to replace Bobby Lutz as the ninth head coach in program history. It will be the first head coaching position for Major, as the Purdue alum spent the prior six seasons at Ohio State under Thad Matta. terms of the contract have yet to be disclosed.
After 218 victories, the most in program history and a 12-year tenure as head coach, Bobby Lutz was fired on Mar. 15.
the Buckeyes won 156 games during Major's tenure with the team and were national runners up to the Florida Gators in 2007. Major was also instrumental in the recruitment of National Player of the Year Evan Turner. The Buckeyes finished 29-8 and received a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Tennessee in the Sweet 16.
Major spent three season under Matta at Xavier before heading to Columbus. Under Matta and Major, the Musketeers won 78 games and made three trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Major, who focuses on strong frontcourt play, coached the likes of Greg Oden and David West, the 2003 Associated Press Player of the Year. Major graduated from Purdue in 1992 with a Bachelor's degree in Education and obtained a Master's degree in Education with a concentration in Physical Education while at Cal Lutheran.
Major will take over a 19-win team that returns it's top three scorers and rebounders. Stay tuned for more on this story.
After 218 victories, the most in program history and a 12-year tenure as head coach, Bobby Lutz was fired on Mar. 15.
the Buckeyes won 156 games during Major's tenure with the team and were national runners up to the Florida Gators in 2007. Major was also instrumental in the recruitment of National Player of the Year Evan Turner. The Buckeyes finished 29-8 and received a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Tennessee in the Sweet 16.
Major spent three season under Matta at Xavier before heading to Columbus. Under Matta and Major, the Musketeers won 78 games and made three trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Major, who focuses on strong frontcourt play, coached the likes of Greg Oden and David West, the 2003 Associated Press Player of the Year. Major graduated from Purdue in 1992 with a Bachelor's degree in Education and obtained a Master's degree in Education with a concentration in Physical Education while at Cal Lutheran.
Major will take over a 19-win team that returns it's top three scorers and rebounders. Stay tuned for more on this story.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
49er coaching update
Charlotte 49er team officials contacted Xavier associate coach and former Wake Forest assistant Pat Kelsey Monday night about the team's coaching vacancy, Kelsey confirmed Tuesday.
Kelsey spent eight seasons at Wake Forest before joining Chris Mack's staff at Xavier this season, leading the Musketeers to a Sweet 16 appearance. The Musketeers won their fourth consecutive Atlantic 10 regular season title, finishing with a 26-9 record.
Other coaches rumored to be top candidates for the Charlotte job are Syracuse's Mike Hopkins and Kansas' Joe Dooley.
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