NASCAR + More 08-25-08
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08-25-2008, 01:35 PM
NASCAR + More 08-25-08
THE BIG STORY
Those looking for a feud in NASCAR [:@][8D]apparently have one after Saturday night's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Carl Edwards used his front bumper to move Kyle Busch [
]out of first place with 31 laps to go and won for the sixth time this season. Second-place Busch banged into Edwards 
after the checkered flag. With two races left before the Chase, Busch's advantage over Edwards is 212 points. David Ragan is 11 points behind Clint Bowyer for the last Chase position.Also: The Joe Gibbs' No. 18 and 20 Nationwide teams were penalized by NASCAR after magnetic spacers attached under the gas pedal were found at Michigan. NASCAR said the intent was to compromise a post-race chassis dyno test. Drivers Joey Logano and Tony Stewart were both docked 150 points and Gibbs lost 150 owner points on both entries[:@]. Crew chiefs Jason Ratcliff and Dave Rogers were fined $50,000 [:@]and suspended indefinitely. No. 18 car chief Dorian Thorsen, engine tuner Michael Johnson and crew member Toby Bigelow were put on indefinite suspension. No. 20 car chief Richard Bray and engine tuner Dan Bajek went on indefinite suspension. Both teams are on NASCAR probation through the end of the year. Gibbs said he has suspended both crew chiefs for the rest of the season and fined them... NASCAR announced its 2009 schedules, with a three-way date swap involving Atlanta, California and Talladega. The Labor Day date, Sept. 6, will go to Atlanta. California will be Oct. 11 and Talladega Nov. 1. The Daytona 500 will be Feb. 15. Iowa Speedway gets a Nationwide event, Aug. 1. Montreal moves to Aug. 30. The Trucks will go to Chicagoland Aug. 28 instead of Atlanta... Donnie Wingo, No. 41 Dodge crew chief, was fined $25,000 for improperly attached weight at the Michigan Cup race... Craig Treble joined Don Schumacher Racing as a Suzuki teammate to Chip Ellis... Richard Hogan will tune Gary Scelzi's Funny Car while Todd Okuhara recovers from a viral inner-ear infection... Scott Dixon will drive for Gil de Ferran's team in the ALMS Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta... A1GP moved back the start of its season to Oct. 5 in the Netherlands due to a delay in the build schedule for its new chassis.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Ryan Newman's number next season will be 39, not the previously announced 4. David Reutimann will return to Michael Waltrip Racing but in the No. 00 Toyota. Casey Mears will be with Richard Childress Racing in '09. Travis Geisler replaced Chris Carrier as Sam Hornish Jr.'s crew chief. Carl Edwards took the pole Friday at Bristol with a 121.860 mph lap. For the first time, Patrick Carpentier didn't qualify on time. Saturday night, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was penalized for passing cars before reaching the starting line.[X(] He battled back to finish 18th. Around lap 30, Jimmie Johnson had contact with Sterling Marlin and hit the wall. Johnson wound up 33d. The first yellow came on lap 97 when Martin Truex Jr. and A.J. Allmendinger had contact. Kyle Busch, who took the lead on lap 55, dominated. Jeff Burton wrecked and finished 42d. Another Chase contender, Kasey Kahne, finished 40th after getting caught up in a multi-car accident that resulted in a lap 217 red flag. Mears chopped in front of Michael Waltrip and they crashed. Kahne, Hornish, Robby Gordon, Clint Bowyer and Bill Elliott also were involved. A debris yellow, with 48 laps to go, brought all the leaders into the pits. The green waved with 34 to go and Busch's Toyota ahead of Edwards. On lap 470, Edwards' Ford bumped Busch in turn one and took the lead. He stayed ahead to win by 1.9 seconds. Busch turned into Edwards on the cool-down lap and Carl returned the gesture. He averaged 91.581 mph with eight yellows for 56 laps. Denny Hamlin was third, followed by Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon.[X(]
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Leader Clint Bowyer got loose exiting turn two on lap 227, which allowed Brad Keselowski to pass and win Friday night's Food City 250 at Bristol. Keselowski's Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned Chevrolet started 37th but won by a second. Greg Biffle was third. Defending series champion Carl Edwards had a flat tire and wrecked on lap 87 and finished 37th. Keselowski averaged 93.509 mph with five yellows for 26 laps. Bowyer leads him by 122 points.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Kyle Busch won for the third time(the kid sure can drive a race car 4-Sure : )in the trucks this season Wednesday night in the O'Reilly 200 at Bristol. His Toyota stayed ahead of Todd Bodine's Tundra on a couple of late restarts, which extended the race distance to 203 laps. Busch got to the line .386 second ahead and averaged 65.388 mph with a track record 12 yellows for 69 laps. There was a short red-flag period after a four-vehicle wreck, including Ron Hornaday Jr. Jimmie Johnson made his series debut in Randy Moss' truck, led some laps due to pit sequencing, then lost control and crashed. He placed 34th. Poleman Scott Speed was third. Johnny Benson (fourth) is 119 points up on Hornaday.
IndyCar Series
In one of the most remarkable performances in its ultra-successful history, Team Penske finished 1-2 Sunday at Infineon Raceway, with Helio Castroneves beating Ryan Briscoe by 5.2 seconds. On Wednesday, the Penske transporter en route to the track caught fire in Wyoming. Both of the primary race cars and the pit equipment were lost in the blaze. Castroneves and Briscoe qualified first and second and ran that way much of the 80-lap distance. It was Helio's first victory of the season. He averaged 100.254 mph. Tony Kanaan was third. Scott Dixon finished 12th and his edge over Castroneves was cut to 43 points.
American Le Mans Series
Lucas Luhr passed Gil de Ferran for the overall lead with about nine minutes to go and then led an Audi diesel 1-2 Sunday at Mosport. Luhr, co-driving with Marco Werner, finished 21.3 seconds up on teammates Emanuele Pirro and Rinaldo Capello. On the last of 127 laps, P2 class leader de Ferran's Acura ran out of fuel. David Brabham and Scott Sharp took the P2 win and third overall. In GT1, Johnny O'Connell and Jan Magnussen won in their Chevrolet Corvette C6.R. In GT2, Jaime Melo and Mika Salo won in a Ferrari F430 GT.
Rolex Sports Car Series
Max Angelelli and Michael Valiante won Saturday's Armed Forces 250 at Infineon Raceway, their first victory of the season. Their Pontiac-Dallara finished 3.6 seconds ahead of Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty's Pontiac-Riley. Mark Wilkins and Brian Frisselle were third in a Ford-Riley. Angelelli led the final 58 of the 102 laps and averaged 95.719 mph. Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas were sixth, after a penalty to Pruett for avoidable contact. They are 42 points up on Gurney and Fogarty.
Formula One
Felipe Massa avoided a collision on his final pit stop and won Sunday's inaugural European Grand Prix on the streets of Valencia, Spain. Massa's Ferrari narrowly missed contact with Adrian Sutil as they were exiting pit road. Stewards fined Ferrari. Massa finished 5.6 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren-Mercedes. Robert Kubica was third in a BMW-Sauber. Hamilton is six points clear of Massa.
Racer of the Week
Team Penske. Despite a transporter fire, its backup cars qualify and finish 1-2 at Sonoma.
Yes, He REALLY Said That
Steve Johnson, NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Snap-On Suzuki rider, on the U.S. Nationals. "If Tiger Woods was getting ready for the biggest and most prestigious drag race on the planet, he would be bringing passion, determination and lots of power. But since he has a bad knee, I will be taking his place at this year's U.S. Nationals."
Valvoline Winner Last Weekend
Carl Edwards, NASCAR Sprint Cup series, Bristol
This Weekend
NASCAR does California, with Saturday Nationwide and Sunday Cup action. NHRA shines at the U.S. Nationals. IndyCars and ALMS headline Detroit. Grand-Am debuts in New Jersey.
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