STP 400

Hello Angels,

Sunday’s STP 400 race was the first race at Kansas Speedway held
in the spring for the Sprint Cup Series in the track’s 10-year history. From
the reaction of the drivers after the race, the hot, slippery racetrack seems
to be a huge success.

Especially for drivers like Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny
Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards. All four drivers said after the race that
if every racetrack could be as good as Kansas, they’d be very happy drivers.

It’s no wonder as Keselowski, Earnhardt, Hamlin, Gordon and
Edwards all finished one through fifth respectively with Keselowski earning his
first win in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger and his first win of the
season.

The only real drama of the race came at the end when Keselowski,
Earnhardt and Hamlin played fuel strategy to end the race. If you remember last
week, Earnhardt ran out of fuel with about 500 yards left in the race and lost
the Coca Cola 600 to Kevin Harvick. This week, he managed his fuel better and
finished the race under power, unfortunately for him and Junior Nation, in
second to Keselowski who did a great job of managing his car’s fuel. The in-car
camera for Keselowski showed him pushing in the clutch and in doing so, letting
his engine’s RPMs go from about 9,500 RPMs down to about 2,600 RPMs – allowing
him to coast through the corners saving as much fuel as possible. It obviously
worked as he went about 60 or so laps without refueling and outlasted the rest
of the field besides Earnhardt and Hamlin, who finished second and third
respectively.

The only other controversy came after Saturday’s Camping World Truck
Series race at Kansas. Richard Childress, owner of Richard Childress Racing,
apparently didn’t like what he saw after the race when Kyle Busch and Childress’s
rookie driver came together with slight contact. Childress allegedly went after
Busch in the hauler area of the track, put the driver in a headlock and punched
Busch three times in the head. Witnesses said Busch did not fight back and
NASCAR confirmed the incident saying the on-track incident between Busch and
Childress’ driver in the cool-down lap did not warrant the attack in the hauler
area. Childress was allowed to participate in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race, but had
his movements limited to the hauler area and was not allowed on pit road.
NASCAR officials will announce further penalties on Monday or Tuesday.

With that, let me introduce to you our newest Angel, Knox, who got
his name from Eric Knox, a character in the 2000 movie Charlie’s Angels.  For those of you wondering, Knox is a NASCAR
fan located very close to my headquarters here in the great state of Texas.
Welcome Knox.

As for all of our Angels’ teams performed this week…well, if the combined
teams’ average finish of 12.68 are any indication, pretty well.

This week’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS’ TOP ANGEL AWARD goes to Kris, whose
drivers earned her a seven-even average finish. Keselowski won the race, Gordon
and Edwards finished fourth and fifth respectively, while Harvick finished 11th
to Kasey Kahne’s 14th place finish. Congratulations Kris on your first TAA of
Segment Two.

On the opposite side of the spectrum are Vivian and CorWin – who tied
average finishes this week at 15.6. Unfortunately for them both that was only
good enough to earn them this week’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS’ GOLDEN CABOOSE AWARD.

CorWin, for you, Edwards finished fifth, while his Roush Racing
teammate, Greg Biffle, finished 10th. Paul Menard finished 19th, with Mark
Martin and Joey Logano rounding out your team with their 21st and 23rd places
respectively. Better luck next week.

Vivian, for you, Edwards finished fifth with Tony Stewart
finishing a few cars behind in eighth place. Harvick started out strong, but finished
outside the top-10 with an 11th place run. Jeff Burton and Jamie McMurray
finished well outside the top-20 with their 25th and 29th place finishes. Better
luck next week.

Julie, you earned this week’s final award – the CHARLIE’S ANGELS’
RUNNER-UP AWARD. You nearly beat out Kris for the TAA after four of your five
drivers finished inside the top-eight, but Burton had a rough-go-of-it on
Sunday and finished two laps down in 25th place. Keselowski and Earnhardt
finished first and second respectively playing their fuel-mileage strategy,
while Edwards and Stewart pitted late for fuel and came home with fifth and
eighth place finishes respectively. Your average finish is 8.2.

Madison, your drivers of Hamlin, Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Kahne and
David Reutimann earned your team a 10 even average finish. Hamlin finished
third; Edwards finished fifth; Kenseth finished sixth; Kahne finished 14th; and
Reutimann finished 22nd.

Pete, four of your drivers finished in the top-12, but your fifth
driver, McMurray, missed his opportunity in front of his home crowd, if you
will, with his 29th place finish. Kyle Busch finished 12th, Biffle finished
10th, Gordon finished fourth, while Hamlin finished third. Your average finish is
11.6.

Knox, for your first time with the league, your No. 5 Angels’ spot
isn’t too bad. Three of your drivers – Hamlin, Gordon and Jimmie Johnson – finished
in the top-10 with their third, fourth and seventh place finishes. Busch
finished 12th, while Landon Cassil, your fifth driver, finished 35th. Your
average finish is 12.2.

Gibbons, you also had three drivers finish in the top-10 –
Edwards, Johnson, and Kurt Busch. Edwards was on top of your drivers’ list with
his fifth place finish. Johnson finished seventh, while Kurt Busch, who led the
most laps of the race, had to pit for fuel late in the race and finished ninth.
Brian Vickers finished 16th, while Burton rounds out your team with his 25th
place finish. Your average finish is 12.4.

Kelly, with the exception of McMurray, your drivers had a pretty
good day of racing. McMurray unfortunately hit the wall I believe and never
recovered – finishing 29th. Hamlin tops your drivers with his third place
finish, while Biffle, Harvick and David Ragan round out your team with their
10th, 11th and 13th place finishes. Your average finish is 13.2.

Evelyn, you had two drivers in the top-10, two drivers outside the
top-20 and one driver – Ragan – still looking for his first Sprint Cup Series
win after a 13th place finish on Sunday. Inside the top-10 are Gordon and Edwards,
who both actually have top-five finishes with their fourth and fifth place
finishes respectively. Martin and Marcos Ambrose finished two laps down with
their 21st and 26th place finishes respectively. Your average finish is 13.8.

Candy Man and Mr. X, you both tie for the No. 9 Angels’ spot with
your 15 even average finish.

Mr. X, you only had one driver – Edwards – finish inside the top
10. He finished fifth. Harvick barely missed the top-10 with an 11th place finish,
while Ragan finished two-spots behind in 13th place. Martin and Burton round
out your team with their 21st and 25th place finishes respectively.

For you Candy Man, Edwards and Biffle top your drivers’ list with
their fifth and 10th place finishes respectively. Kahne finished 14th, while
Martin finished 21st and Burton finished 25th. Your average finish is 15 even.

My team rounds out the week with an average finish of 15.2. Edwards,
Johnson and Biffle top my drivers’ list with their fifth, seventh and 10th
place finishes respectively. Marcos Ambrose and Bobby Labonte had horrible race
cars and finished with Ambrose in 26th place and Labonte in 28th place.

Next week’s race is the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway.

Don’t forget to check the ESPN Stock Car Challenge website to see
where you stack up with the other Angels after Sunday’s STP 400 race at Kansas
Speedway.

Good luck Angels,

Charlie