= = Track Talk August 4-5 = =
 

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=550 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=4>http://contenta.mkt2218.com/ra/2011/...header_top.jpg</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=4><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=550><TBODY><TR><TD width=191></TD><TD vAlign=top width=359>http://contenta.mkt2218.com/ra/2011/...der_bottom.jpg</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=391>http://contenta.mkt2218.com/ra/2011/...ges_spacer.gif</TD><TD bgColor=#e5e5e5 width=13>http://contenta.mkt2218.com/ra/2011/...ges_spacer.gif</TD><TD bgColor=#e5e5e5 vAlign=top width=146>http://contenta.mkt2218.com/ra/2011/...ges_spacer.gif</TD><TD bgColor=#999999 width=1>http://contenta.mkt2218.com/ra/2011/...ges_spacer.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=391><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=381><TBODY><TR><TD>For Weekend of August 5-7
THE BIG STORY
Also
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
NASCAR Nationwide Series
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Izod IndyCar Series
American Le Mans Series
Racer of the Week
Yes, He REALLY Said That
This Week
</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px" bgColor=#cccccc>THE BIG STORY</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Brad Keselowski, injured as a result of a testing crash at Road Atlanta earlier in the week, won Sunday's Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono International Raceway. The race was delayed by rain. Keselowski passed Kyle Busch on a late restart and won by .791 second. Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman made up the top five. Carl Edwards (seventh) leads Johnson by nine points. With five races to go before the Chase, Keselowski -- now with two wins -- moved into a wild card position.

Also: Carl Edwards signed a multi-year contract extension with Roush Fenway Racing . . . Brad Keselowski crashed while testing his Cup car at Road Atlanta. He was hospitalized briefly and didn't compete in the Nationwide race at Iowa due to a broken left ankle . . . Nashville Superspeedway doesn't plan to host any NASCAR races next season and may be put up for sale . . . Jimmie Johnson will drive Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Nationwide car at Watkins Glen . . . Travis Pastrana won't make his Nationwide series debut until next year as he recovers from X Games injuries . . . Pocono Raceway CEO Dr. Joseph Mattioli retired and turned full business control of the track over to his family . . . IndyCar put Mike Conway, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alex Tagliani on probation through Dec. 31, 2011 for multiple instances of initiating avoidable contact this season . . . Sam Schmidt's team will use Honda engines next season in IndyCar . . . Donny Schatz won Friday night at Bloomington Speedway in the World of Outlaws. Craig Dollansky won Saturday night's Ironman 55 at I-55 Raceway.

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</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px" bgColor=#cccccc>NASCAR Sprint Cup Series</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Joey Logano took the pole Saturday at Pocono with a 172.005 mph lap. Sunday, the first yellow came on lap 12, when Kyle Busch spun coming off turn three. He restarted at the rear of the pack after pitting too soon. Brian Vickers went to the garage with an engine problem. On lap 20, David Ragan lost control in traffic, and hit the wall. Greg Biffle was penalized for a restart violation. Kurt Busch led and then Denny Hamlin went ahead on lap 25. Hamlin continued in front after two rounds of green flag stops. Tony Stewart pitted under green with a flat tire on lap 93. There was a debris caution on lap 100. Logano regained the lead with a two-tire pit stop and was just ahead of a charging Jimmie Johnson when the yellow came out for rain on lap 123. The red flag was out for one hour, 40 minutes. Brad Keselowski led briefly after the restart and then Kurt Busch passed him. Following green flag refueling stops, Kyle Busch passed his brother for the lead on lap 163. With 21 laps to go, Juan Pablo Montoya and Kasey Kahne had contact, bringing out a yellow. Hamlin lost track position due to a slow right-rear tire change. The green waved with 16 laps remaining and Keselowski pulled ahead of Kyle Busch going into turn one. Five laps later, Logano pitted with a flat tire. On the last lap, Johnson passed Kurt Busch for third place, then the two banged coming off turn two, and Busch reclaimed the spot. They exchanged words on pit road afterwards. Keselowski averaged 137.878 mph with five yellows for 21 of the 200 laps. Hamlin finished 15th and Logano 26th.

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</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px" bgColor=#cccccc>NASCAR Nationwide Series</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s engine went up in smoke coming off the last turn and he was hit by Roush Fenway Ford Mustang teammate Carl Edwards and knocked across the finish line as the winner of the U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway. Edwards couldn't turn to avoid Stenhouse because his front tires got on fluid from Stenhouse's engine. The two had bumped earlier in what Edwards called over-aggressive driving by Stenhouse, who took the lead with 25 laps to go. Edwards led 109 laps after starting 17th but lost track position due to a loose lug nut. Stenhouse, in sweeping both of the season's events at Iowa, won by .066 second and averaged 99.937 mph with six yellows for 38 of the 250 laps. Poleman Elliott Sadler was third. Stenhouse leads Reed Sorenson (sixth) by 12 points.

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</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px" bgColor=#cccccc>NASCAR Camping World Truck Series</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Pocono's Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service 125 was completed Sunday morning with Kevin Harvick the winner. Rain halted the event Saturday after 17 laps with Parker Kligerman in the lead. Harvick, the pole winner, led 44 of the 53 laps and finished 1.1 seconds ahead of Kyle Busch. James Buescher was third. Todd Bodine's spin forced a green-white-checker finish and Harvick was among those who needed to stretch fuel mileage. He averaged 99.582 mph with seven yellows for 22 laps. Johnny Sauter finished fourth but his Truck was found to be too high on the rear measurement during post-race inspection and penalties are expected. He leads Austin Dillon (fifth) by five points.

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</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px" bgColor=#cccccc>Izod IndyCar Series</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Scott Dixon commanded Sunday's Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, winning from the pole by 7.6 seconds over teammate Dario Franchitti. Dixon took the lead for good, from Franchitti, on a restart on lap 61 of 85. Ryan Hunter-Reay was third. Dixon averaged 105.861 mph with two full-course cautions for eight laps. Franchitti tops Will Power (14th) by 62 points. Justin Wilson injured his lower back in a crash during practice and was replaced by Simon Pagenaud, who finished 13th. Wilson was hospitalized overnight in Mansfield, Ohio before returning to Indianapolis for further evaluation of a compression fracture to his fifth vertebra.

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</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px" bgColor=#cccccc>American Le Mans Series</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Saturday's race at Mid-Ohio ended under a red flag with about 10 minutes left in the scheduled two hour, 45 minute distance. Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr were the overall winners in an AMR/Lola-Aston Martin, almost 70 seconds ahead of Chris Dyson and Guy Smith in a Lola-Mazda after 96 laps. Luhr passed Smith on a restart almost 90 minutes in. Tomy Drissi and Kyle Marcelli were third overall, and first in LMPC, in an Oreca. In GT, Wolf Henzler went from sixth in class to the lead with 22 minutes to go as others spun off the wet track. Henzler and Bryan Sellers won in a Porsche GT3 RSR fielded by former CART team owner Derrick Walker. When Patrick Long spun off-course, it brought out a yellow, followed by a red flag as parts of the course were flooded. In GTC, Spencer Pumpelly and Duncan Ende won in a Porsche 911 GTC Cup.

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</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px" bgColor=#cccccc>Racer of the Week</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Brad Keselowski. Wins Pocono with broken left ankle and sore back after testing crash.

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</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px" bgColor=#cccccc>YES, He REALLY Said That</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Jacques Villeneuve, on fan reaction if Sprint Cup raced in Montreal. "The Quebec fans are just race fanatics and they just turn up for whatever racing there is. But if you brought the big league – the Cup (series) there, you'd get bigger crowds than you get for F1."

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</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px" bgColor=#cccccc>This Week</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Sprint Cup road races at Watkins Glen, with the Nationwide and Rolex series. IndyCars return to New Hampshire. World of Outlaws features the Knoxville Nationals.


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</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://contenta.mkt2218.com/ra/2011/...ges_spacer.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px" bgColor=#cc0000>50% Recycled. 100% Valvoline Protection.</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://contenta.mkt2218.com/ra/2011/...tt_nextgen.jpg</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Valvoline is proud to offer the Valvoline Engine Guarantee as a statement of NextGen quality. Protect the environment without sacrificing performance.
Learn More


</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px" bgColor=#cc0000>What Are You Waiting For?</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://contenta.mkt2218.com/ra/2011/...ages_tt_g2.jpg</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">If you haven't signed up for Valvoline's free Engine Guarantee, you're missing out. Get up to 300,000 miles of guaranteed engine life.
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</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px" bgColor=#cc0000>Fight the Four Major Causes of Engine Breakdown</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://contenta.mkt2218.com/ra/2011/..._motor_oil.jpg</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Keeping your higher mileage car on the road means doing everything you can to prevent engine breakdown. Switch to MaxLife and give your car the protection it needs.
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</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px" bgColor=#cc0000>155 MPH for Under $15,000</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://contenta.mkt2218.com/ra/2011/...20100501up.jpg</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">While we discourage you from going 150 mph on public roads, here are five used cars that can be had for less than $15,000 and could exceed 155 mph as they left the showroom.
Read about it


</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px" bgColor=#cc0000>BCGD</TD></TR><TR><TD>http://contenta.mkt2218.com/ra/2011/...ed_garage2.jpg</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">I.N. Sider lists what is right about racing in the new Behind [Closed] Garage Doors column, now posted at Valvoline.com.


</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">
I.N. Sider is the pen name for an independent motorsports business-person who has a quarter-century of professional experience working in almost every major North American racing series. The writer is not an employee of Valvoline or Ashland Inc. The column is intended to inform, entertain, and stimulate thought on the contemporary motorsports scene. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Valvoline or Ashland Inc. <HR color=#999999 SIZE=1 noShade>"Track Talk" is a summary of the week's racing news and results of nationally televised events. The information has been obtained from on-site reporting plus race telecasts, major news outlets, tracks and sanctioning organizations. <HR color=#999999 SIZE=1 noShade>I.N. Sider conducts the annual Mid-Season Motorsports Exam in the new "Behind Closed Garage Doors" column, now posted at Valvoline.com.

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