NASCAR Sprint Cup 2011
The 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup began on February 12, 2011 with the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway , followed by the 53rd Daytona 500 on February 20, 2011. The Chase for the Sprint Cup began on September 18, 2011 with LifeLock.com 400 on the Chicagoland Speedway . The season ended on November 20, 2011 with the Ford 400 in the course of the Ford Championship Weekend with Tony Stewart winning the championship due to the higher number of wins compared to Carl Edwards (5-1) with the same number of points .
Rule changes
In the 2011 season, fewer people were allowed to cross the pit wall at pit stops, as adjustments to the fuel cans were made. In 2011 Sonoco E15 fuel was used - fuel with a bio-ethanol content of 15%. Changes to the tank systems made the man who had previously caught overflowing fuel superfluous ('catch man').
Furthermore, from the 2011 season onwards, drivers had to announce before the start of the championship which of the 3 individual titles they were fighting for (Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Truck Series). Drivers were able to start in all three series. The points counted in the series, for whose title they were not fighting, but only for the respective owner rating.
The changes to the point system are extensive at first glance, but only led to a slight change in the weighting in favor of the top places:
| placement | previous points | Points according to the new system |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 185 (no bonus points) | 43 (+3 points bonus) |
| 2-6 | 170-150 (5 points between each position) | 42-38 (1 point between each position) |
| 7-11 | 146-130 (4 points between each position) | 37-33 (1 point between each position) |
| 12-43 | 127-34 (3 points between each position) | 32-1 (1 point between each position) |
| Leadership lap | 5 bonus points | 1 bonus point |
| most leadership laps | 5 bonus points | 1 bonus point |
So far the 12 best placed drivers could take part in the fight for the championship ('The Chase'), so these were now the 10 best placed drivers. In addition, those 2 drivers who were placed between 11th and 20th place and who had won most of the races were eligible to start. If positions 11 to 20 were occupied by drivers who could not win a race, the 11th and 12th drivers of the basic round were entitled to start.
Attendees
The following teams and drivers took part in the races of the 2011 season.
Racing calendar
* = Races in which no points were awarded
Run races
Budweiser Shootout - Daytona International Speedway , Florida
A new racing character was evident right from the start: As in previous years, two cars were faster than the field in bump drafting on super speedways . For the first time, however, pairs of two were formed throughout the field, driving laps together and reaching over 200 miles per hour.
After the competition caution on lap 25, there was a restart and shortly afterwards, after a collision in midfield, the first yellow light phase in the course of the race occurred, triggered by an overly optimistic movement inward by Regan Smith . Kyle Busch / Mark Martin as well as Michael Waltrip / Tony Stewart caused further caution phases if the bumpdratfing attempts failed.
In the last few meters, the Busch / McMurray couple prevailed and drove bumper to bumper to the finish line. Hamlin , however, tried to overtake his partner Newman before the finish line, where he was pushed under the limit line and later transferred to a penalty.
| space | Car no. | driver | Car brand | team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22nd |
 Kurt Busch
|
Dodge | Penske Racing |
| 2 | 1 |
Jamie McMurray
|
Chevrolet | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing |
| 3 | 39 |
Ryan Newman
|
Chevrolet | Stewart-Haas Racing |
Daytona 500 - Daytona International Speedway , Florida
Jeff Gordon started the Daytona 500 from the front of the field and, as in the previous races in Daytona, pairs of two were bump-drafted from the start . Already in the first laps there were caution phases, which went smoothly. For The Big One , there was already in lap 29 with more than 15 participating cars. The danger of driving bumper to bumper was shown in numerous other caution phases.
With ten laps to go, five couples approached the finish line. Aggressive driving style and narrow gaps led to another collision with several participants five laps before the end, especially at a time when Trevor Bayne, who was characterized by his defensive driving style early in the race, had pushed David Ragan into first place. The first restart only led to another yellow phase; Ragan was disqualified for changing position too early. Bayne was pushed by Bobby Labonte in the last restart and was able to pull away. Carl Edwards and David Gilliland were able to catch Labonte before the finish line in a run to the top. However, Trevor Bayne skilfully blocked the last few meters and won the most important race of the series in his second Sprint Cup race at the age of 20. This made him the youngest winner of the race, in an event with the most yellow light phases and leadership changes in a Daytona 500 ever recorded.
| space | Car no. | driver | Car brand | team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21st |
Trevor Bayne
|
ford | Wood Brothers Racing |
| 2 | 99 |
Carl Edwards
|
ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 3 | 34 |
David Gilliland
|
ford | Front Row Motorsports |
Kobalt Tools 400 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway , Nevada
Carl Edwards won the Las Vegas race after finishing second in the Daytona 500 and wrecking his car on the wall in Phoenix. Matt Kenseth started from pole position, but was unable to intervene decisively in the battle for the lead. Numerous co-favorites had problems (Gordon: after crashing into the wall due to a puncture; Kyle Busch: engine failure; Tony Stewart: problems with the pits) - finally Carl Edwards prevailed.
| space | Car no. | driver | Car brand | team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 99 |
Carl Edwards
|
ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 2 | 15th |
Tony Stewart
|
Chevrolet | Stewart Haas Racing |
| 3 | 42 |
 Juan Pablo Montoya
|
Chevrolet | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing |
Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City - Bristol Motor Speedway , Tennessee
The race in Bristol, the sports venue with the eighth largest audience capacity in the world, was dominated in the final stages by Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson. The top three finishers managed to remain largely undamaged until the end of the race, while, in typical Bristol fashion, many cars crossed the finish line with serious damage. Kyle Busch won the fifth race in a row in Bristol - in three different racing series - and thus also leads the Sprint Cup classification after four championship races ahead of Carl Edwards.
| space | Car no. | driver | Car brand | team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18th |
Kyle Busch
|
Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 2 | 99 |
Carl Edwards
|
ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 3 | 48 |
Jimmie Johnson
|
Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
Auto Club 400 - Auto Club Speedway , California
The race at Fontana was dominated for a long time by Tony Stewart , Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman ; Kyle Busch was able to lead more than 150 of the 200 race laps. Only four caution phases led to racing interruptions, two of them within the last 30 race laps.
Bobby Labonte caused the last yellow phase after a puncture 15 laps before the end because he could not avoid the impact in the wall. The leading seven drivers did not use the yellow phase to put on fresh tires, but rather kept their racing position. Busch, who was particularly strong during long green phases, was unable to prevail in the final laps despite being in the lead at the restart. Instead, Kevin Harvick caught up with the leaders. In a dramatic finish he pushed Johnson into the final corner so that Johnson had to struggle to maintain control of his Chevrolet . Harvick could pass on the outside, led the last 200 meters of the race and won.
| space | Car no. | driver | Car brand | team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 |
Kevin Harvick
|
Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing |
| 2 | 48 |
Jimmie Johnson
|
Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 3 | 18th |
Kyle Busch
|
Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
Goody's Fast Relief 500 - Martinsville Speedway , Virginia
Jamie McMurray started the race in the lead as the fastest in practice. Over long phases of the race, the inside lane was much faster due to the rubber wear - so McMurray lost several positions when Kasey Kahne was able to push himself to the top on lap 32. After numerous changes in leadership, the race was interrupted on lap 221 when Martin Truex first hit Kasey Kahne with the accelerator pedal stuck and then hit the boundary wall hard. The drivers were uninjured, but extensive clean-up work was necessary.
Towards the end of the race, Kyle Busch was leading , but was overtaken with bump-and-runs by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick . Harvick was able to prevail against Earnhardt with four laps to go; he tried to counter but had to defend his second place hard against Busch.
| space | Car no. | driver | Car brand | team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 |
Kevin Harvick
|
Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing |
| 2 | 88 |
Dale Earnhardt junior
|
Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 3 | 18th |
Kyle Busch
|
Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
Samsung Mobile 500 - Texas Motor Speedway , Texas
David Ragan started the race in Texas from the first pole position of his career. In the style typical of the Texas Motor Speedway , the opponents were already involved in battles for positions in the first laps with three or four people side by side. The pit stops were just as tight, with several collisions in the pit lane that ended with sheet metal damage and vehicles standing against the direction of travel.
Matt Kenseth and his teammates from Roush Fenway Racing were able to show themselves in top positions quite early on. Kenseth then made a few short pit stops and was able to hold his own at the top. Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon speculated on a caution period and made their pit stops as late as possible. Towards the end of the race they tried to save a refueling stop compared to the leader, but ran out of fuel on the final laps. Kenseth won the race undisturbed.
| space | Car no. | driver | Car brand | team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17th |
Matt Kenseth
|
ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 2 | 33 |
Clint Bowyer
|
Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing |
| 3 | 99 |
Carl Edwards
|
ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
Aaron's 499 - Talladega Superspeedway , Alabama
The race on the Alabama Superspeedway was led into the first lap by the four Hendrick Chevrolets of Jeff Gordon , Jimmie Johnson , Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. As in Daytona, the two-car trains prevailed over the majority of the race distance, which were already intensively trained in the training sessions. The first incident occurred on lap 28 when Kurt Busch pushed Landon Cassill into Brian Vickers' car and it spun on the back straight in the direction of the following traffic. However, there was no further collision.
On lap 62, Kurt Busch also pushed Brad Keselowski off the lane, although Marcos Ambrose and Trevor Bayne were not spared. At the same time, Kasey Kahne's car went up in flames. Curiously, David Reagan was also surprised by an engine failure at this point.
On lap 140, Joey Logano accidentally pushed his teammate Kyle Busch off the track. Matt Kenseth got carried away too. 31 laps later, Juan Pablo Montoya was also innocently involved in a collision and had to retire. The final phase was hard to beat in terms of tension. The drivers of the Hendrick-Chevrolets now showed all their experience and fought their way towards the finish line. Jimmie Johnson was eventually pushed over the line by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and won 0.002 seconds ahead of Clint Bowyer . Overall, the first six vehicles were within a tenth of a second.
| space | Car no. | driver | Car brand | team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 48 |
Jimmie Johnson
|
Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 2 | 33 |
Clint Bowyer
|
Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing |
| 3 | 24 |
Jeff Gordon
|
Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
Overall rating
Driver ranking
after race 36 of 36
|
Manufacturer rating
Status: After 36 of 36 races
| Item | Manufacturer | Victories | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
Chevrolet
|
18th | 248 |
| 2. |
ford
|
7th | 195 |
| 3. |
 Toyota
|
6th | 187 |
| 4th |
Dodge
|
5 | 162 |
Web links
- Official website of NASCAR (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Clarifying some points nascar.com
- ^ NASCAR on Fox - Daytona Shootout FoxSports.com
- ↑ 2011 Nascar Sprint Cup Fontana Auto Club 400 Final Laps and Victory Lane: Kevin Harvick FoxSports .com on YouTube
- ↑ Racerewind: Martinsville - April 4, 2011 Nascar.com
- ↑ Racerewind Texas Motor Speedway - 9 April 2011 Nascar.com
- ↑ Racerewind: Talladega Superspeedway - April 17, 2011 Nascar.com
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