Saturday, June 23 The Milwaukee Mile Milwaukee, WI

Qualifying: Saturday, June 23 (SPEED & TSN-Alt. at 6:30 p.m/AT, 5:30 p.m./ET

Race: Saturday, June 23 (ESPN2 & TSN-Alt. at 9:00 p.m./AT, 8:00 p.m./ET)


After replacing Aric Almirola on lap 59, Denny Hamlin drove the 20 car to victory.

Almirola Wins AT&T 250 - With Hamlin In Driver's Seat
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

WEST ALLIS, WI (June 23, 2007) -- Aric Almirola won the AT&T 250 Busch Series race at the Milwaukee Mile and wasn't even around to see it.

Joe Gibbs Racing officials decided to replace Almirola with Denny Hamlin on Lap 59 of the 250-lap race, and after Hamlin made up a lost lap because of the driver change, he charged to the front in the second half to take the checkered flag.

But under NASCAR rules, Almirola is officially the winner because he started the race. NASCAR was checking its records to find out whether that has ever happened in the 26 years of the Busch Series. "Aric, this is your race car," Hamlin said on the team's radio following the race. "I appreciate everything you did."

The last time a scenario like this happened in the Nextel Cup Series was Aug. 7, 1977, when Darrell Waltrip relieved Donnie Allison and won at Talladega.

Hamlin made it exciting on a restart with 15 laps to go. Dropped to fourth under a previous caution because his team changed four tires, Hamlin made a three-wide move under Scott Wimmer and Jason Leffler into Turn 1 on Lap 237.

Hamlin was in charge of the race after getting the lead on Lap 177. He pulled away from the field before Frank Kreyer spun to bring out a caution on Lap 221. Hamlin's team changed four tires, while Wimmer and two others changed two to get out front.

Almirola won the pole for this race for the second straight year but wasn't supposed to start the race. Hamlin was flying from Infineon Raceway in California to race the No. 20 for sponsor Rockwell Automation, which is based in Milwaukee and wanted Hamlin in the car.

But the helicopter carrying Hamlin from the General Mitchell International airport in nearby Milwaukee couldn't land because a makeshift helipad was turned into a parking lot before the race. The helicopter circled the track before heading back to the airport.

Hamlin was whisked to the track with a police escort, but by the time he finally arrived in the infield, the race had started. Hamlin ventured down to Steve Wallace's pit since Wallace wasn't feeling well, and his Rusty Wallace Inc. team was searching for a relief driver.

But Wallace didn't come out of the car, and Hamlin returned to the Gibbs pit. On Lap 59, Almirola was ordered to pit lane, where he was replaced by Hamlin. Almirola retreated to his hauler and eventually ducked out of the garage without comment.

Hamlin got his lap back under the race's fifth caution, restarting 16th with 101 laps to go. But Hamlin's car was hooked up, and with fresh tires, he started through the field and eventually emerged victorious.

Complete Race Results & Point Standings in the Related news section following...


Denny Hamlin celebrates in Victory Lane.

Checkered Flag Fast Facts

• Aric Almirola was credited with the win at the AT&T 250 with relief from Denny Hamlin on Lap 58. It marked Almirola's first career NASCAR Busch Series victory in 20 races.
• Almirola was also awarded the prize money and first-place driver points. The No. 20 Chevrolet owner points do not differ with the driver change.
• The last relief driver to win in the NASCAR Busch Series was Harry Gant for Jack Ingram at Darlington on April 13, 1985. Ingram was declared the winner, his only victory on a superspeedway.
• This was Almirola's third top-10 finish in 11 races this season.
• Almirola was the fifth driver to win from the Busch Pole at Milwaukee. The last was Wisconsin native (Necedah) Johnny Sauter in 2005.
• Wisconsin native Scott Wimmer was second, his fourth top-five finish in his last four races.
• Carl Edwards retained his points lead over second-place Dave Blaney. Blaney remained in second even though he did not participate in the race (Todd Bodine served as the driver of the No. 10 Toyota.)

Related News

Entry List (PDF)

First Practice (PDF)

Rookie Practice (PDF)

Final Practice (PDF)

Qualifying Order (PDF)

Qualifying Results (PDF)

Starting Lineup (PDF)

Race Results (PDF)

Point Standings (PDF)

Green Flag Fast Facts
The Race: AT&T 250
The Place: The Milwaukee Mile
The Date: June 23, 2007
The Time: 9 p.m./AT, 8 p.m./ET
TV: ESPN2 & TSN-HD, 9:30 p.m./AT, 8:30 p.m./ET
Track Layout: 1-mile oval
Race Purse: $1,149,252
2006 Winner: Paul Menard
2006 Pole: Aric Almirola
Schedule: Sat.: 9-10 a.m. – Practice; 10:15-10:45 a.m. – Rookie Practice; 11 a.m. - Noon – Final Practice; 4:35 p.m. – Qualifying (Impound).
Year-To-Date Standings: click here

Green Flag Notes

• Krisiloff Catches Montoya: Kyle Krisiloff (No. 14 Clabber Girl Ford) has made steady progress up the rookie points ladder and has caught Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge) in points. Montoya is still listed in third with higher finishes overall than Krisiloff and has run three fewer races than Krisiloff. But the 20-year-old from Carmel, Ind., has been solid in his first full-time season in the series.
• Ragan Improves Lead: David Ragan increased his lead from six to 11 points over Marcos Ambrose following last Saturday’s race at Kentucky. The difference – Ragan posted his first consecutive top 10s of the season at Nashville (seventh) and Kentucky (eighth) while Ambrose had an 11th-place finish at Kentucky after a career-worst 36th at Nashville.
• New Faces At Milwaukee: At least three drivers hope to make their first start in the NASCAR Busch Series at Milwaukee while two have a few starts to their credit. Frank Kreyer (No. 56 Culver’s Chevrolet), a native of Lyndon Station, Wis., Danny Efland (No. 01 Davis Motorsports Chevrolet) and Tim McCreadie (No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet) look to debut. Marc Mitchell (No 11 Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions Chevrolet) who has two series starts and Scott Lagasse Jr. (No. 41 Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Dodge), with five starts, both return for the first time since 2005.
• Leffler’s Long Climb: It’s taken a while – since last September following the race at his home track, California Speedway – since Jason Leffler has been in the top 10 in points. But after his fourth top-15 finish in his last five races, Leffler enters this weekend’s race at Milwaukee in 10th in the standings. His entry into the top 10 gives Toyota –in its first season of NASCAR Busch Series competition – the distinction of having all three full-time drivers from its two teams ranked in the top 10. Dave Blaney (No. 10 Camping World Toyota) is second while David Reutimann (No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota) is fourth.
• Double-Duty Drivers: The distance between The Milwaukee Mile and Infineon Raceway will keep J.J. Yeley from maintaining his full-time status in the NASCAR Busch Series. Instead, Johnny Benson, the 1995 series champion, will drive the No. 1 Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet at Milwaukee. Additionally, David Reutimann and Mike Bliss will pull duty at Milwaukee only. P.J. Jones will drive Reutimann’s No. 00 Toyota and Klaus Graf is scheduled to drive Bliss’ No. 49 Chevrolet at Infineon this weekend. Carl Edwards will have Janesville, Wis., native Travis Kvapil on hand to practice his No. 60 Ford while Erik Darnell will do the same for David Ragan (No. 6 Discount Tire Ford.) Last year’s Milwaukee Busch Pole winner, Aric Almirola, will shake down the No. 20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet for Denny Hamlin. The sub for Dave Blaney will be announced later this week.
• Series Regulars, Alums Shine: The last two weeks have been highlight moments for the NASCAR Busch Series. Current series regular Stephen Leicht’s first career win at Kentucky was joined by Carl Edwards’ first win of the season in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series competition at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday. J.J. Yeley won his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series pole there while two-time series champion Martin Truex Jr. finished second to Edwards, following up his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup win at Dover International Speedway June 3. Truex is 10th in the premier series’ standings, which currently list three former NASCAR Busch Series champions (Truex, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr.) along with drivers who are 145 wins and over 1,400 combined series among its top 12. “I feel like it's back in 2004-05 when I was running the Busch car,” Truex said. “We're having a lot of fun. We're working well together. Our chemistry is perfect. Everything's just clicking for us right now and hopefully it will last a long time because I sure am enjoying it."
• After winning its third consecutive race thanks to Stephen Leicht’s upstart victory at Kentucky last Saturday night, Ford has seven wins on the season and is tied with Chevrolet in the W column in the Bill France Performance Cup standings. The win leaves second-place Ford just six points behind Chevy heading to Milwaukee this weekend. The two manufacturers were last tied in wins following last April’s race at Phoenix where they each had four, but Chevy ran off three straight before Ford’s recent three-race winning streak. Chevrolet has the upper hand at Milwaukee, having won a series-leading eight races there including last year’s win by Paul Menard. Ford has five wins at the one-mile track. Dodge, in third place in the standings, won at Milwaukee two years ago. Fourth-place Toyota will be making its series debut at the track this week.

IMPORTANT: All information, schedules and/or scheduled events is/are subject to change without notice. Please check with the source to confirm.