This Week in Auto Racing August 18 - 22

This Week in Auto Racing August 18 - 22

Bristol, TN (Sports Network) - NASCAR roars into "Thunder Valley" as all three of its national touring series run under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway this week. The IZOD IndyCar Series heads to California's wine country for the final road/street course race of the season at Infineon Raceway.

Sprint Cup Series

IRWIN Tools Night Race - Bristol Motor Speedway - Bristol, TN

When the Sprint Cup Series comes to Bristol in August, it's always an action- packed affair on a hot summer night. And Saturday's race should be no different, as time is running out for many drivers to qualify for the championship Chase, which begins next month at New Hampshire.

With three races remaining in the regular season, 173 points separate 12th- place Clint Bowyer from 19th-place Juan Pablo Montoya. The top-12 drivers in points after the September 11 race at Richmond will make the Chase.

After winning last Sunday at Michigan, Kevin Harvick, the current points leader, became the first driver to lock down a position in the playoffs.

"Obviously, it's nice to go into this week's race and not have to worry about a Chase spot - better than anything going into Richmond without having to worry about a Chase spot," Harvick said. "The next three weeks are going to be a lot of fun, to go to three racetracks we've won at before and run well this year, to try to get more bonus points and get prepared for the Chase."

Two more drivers -- Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin -- could secure a Chase position at Bristol. Despite starting 33rd, Hamlin finished second at Michigan and moved up three spots to third in the standings. He is now 327 points ahead of Bowyer.

"In order to win the Chase [this] year, we were going to have to qualify better," Hamlin said. "Right now, we are just struggling so bad with qualifying. It takes us the entire race to get to the front. That's going to be a tough road to travel if we're going to try to win the championship."

Hamlin and Johnson lead the series with five victories each so far. However, Johnson has not won since the last weekend in June at New Hampshire, and Hamlin hasn't driven into victory lane since two months ago at Michigan.

Johnson is 294 points ahead of Bowyer in the fifth spot. It's a slight possibility that Johnson could secure his Chase spot at Bristol, but the four- time defending series champion most likely will qualify for the playoffs on Labor Day weekend at Atlanta.

In March, Johnson won at Bristol for the first time in 17 starts here. He also claimed his 50th career Cup victory.

"We ran so well there in the spring," Johnson said. "Even last year, we had great spring and fall races. The night race has always been one of my favorites and look forward to being competitive, and hopefully go back to victory lane there."

The best battle in the "Race for the Chase" right now is between Bowyer and 13th-place Mark Martin. The two are in a tight battle for the final Chase eligible spot. They have swapped the 12th and 13th positions in the last two races.

At Michigan, Bowyer finished 13th, while Martin had a disappointing 28th-place run.

"We have three races to go to get it done and, and if we continue to have runs like this, we can race our way into the Chase," Bowyer said.

Martin, who finished second to champion and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Johnson in last year's Chase, trails Bowyer by 35 points.

"I don't know what they are," Martin said of his chances making the 2010 Chase. "We'll keep digging. I don't know. Every race is a new race."

Ryan Newman, who presently holds the 14th spot, is 103 points behind Bowyer, while 15th-place Jamie McMurray trails by 105 points.

Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and David Reutimann are 16th through 18th in points, respectively. All three drivers will need strong performances at Bristol if they want to improve their chances of making the Chase. Montoya will have to do the same as well.

This will be the 100th Cup race at Bristol, with the first event running here on July 30, 1961. Jack Smith won the race, despite driving relief from Johnny Allen. The first night race at Bristol was held in August 1978. Darrell Waltrip holds the record for most wins at Bristol with 12, while Gordon and Kurt Busch lead all active drivers with five victories each here. Kurt's younger brother, Kyle, won both races at Bristol during the 2009 season. Kyle finished ninth here earlier this year.

"I look forward to going there always," Busch said. "We struggled there in the spring for some reason. All of [Joe Gibbs Racing] did. We all blew right-front tires out, and we all got into the fence, but we salvaged a decent day."

Kyle Busch, as well as Brad Keselowski and Elliott Sadler, will compete in all three of NASCAR's national touring series races at Bristol this week.

Fifty teams are on the preliminary entry list for the IRWIN Tools Night Race.

Nationwide Series

Food City 250 - Bristol Motor Speedway - Bristol, TN

After winning at his hometrack in Michigan last Saturday, Brad Keselowski is running away with this year's Nationwide Series title. Keselowski enters Friday's race at Bristol with a commanding 347-point lead over Carl Edwards.

"I want to win races going for the championship," said Keselowski, whose fourth Nationwide win this season came at Michigan. "We just don't want to coast through it."

Keselowski won at Bristol two years ago when he drove the No.88 car for team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. He has finished second, third and 12th in the last three Nationwide races here.

In March, Keselowski's Penske Racing teammate, Justin Allgaier, won his first career Nationwide race at Bristol.

Allgaier, the 2009 rookie of the year in the series, passed Keselowski after a restart with 27 laps remaining. Keselowski made several attempts to pass Allgaier for the lead, but wound up finishing two car-lengths behind him.

"I couldn't be happier to get this [car] in victory lane, and it's even better when you can do it here at Bristol," Allgaier said after his win. "This is one of my favorite racetracks of all time, and to be able to come out of here with a win means a lot."

Allgaier currently is fourth in points.

Earnhardt Jr. will make his third Nationwide start this season. Last month, Earnhardt Jr. won at Daytona in the new Nationwide car's inaugural race. He drove the No.3 Wrangler Chevrolet, which was made famous by his father in the Cup Series during the 1980's.

The new car ran for the second time last weekend at Michigan.

In August 2004, Earnhardt Jr. became the first driver to score a weekend sweep at Bristol, as he won the Friday Nationwide race and then the Cup event the following day.

Kevin Harvick has the most Nationwide victories at Bristol with five. Harvick is not entered in Friday's race. Elliott Sadler will drive his No.33 Chevrolet.

Fifty-two teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Food City 250.

Camping World Truck Series

O'Reilly 200 - Bristol Motor Speedway - Bristol, TN

The Camping World Truck Series will run on Wednesday night at Bristol, and what a treat this race should be. Todd Bodine will attempt to win his third truck race in a row, while Kyle Busch will try to win at Bristol for the third consecutive year.

Bodine, the current points leader, won at Nashville on August 7 and then took Darlington one week later.

But short-track racing has not been one of Bodine's specialties in the series. He has yet to win in 40 short-track starts. The 2006 series champion does have six runner-up finishes on short tracks, including three at Bristol.

Bodine now holds a 231-point advantage over Aric Almirola, which is the largest points lead after the first 15 races of the season in series history. If you think the champagne already is on ice for Bodine's second truck title -- guess again.

"It's never over," Bodine said. "We're not going to approach it that way. I say this every week, there's just too many good race teams. Fortunately for us, every week somebody is having a problem. That's kept helping us build this points lead. Somewhere along the line it could be our week to have the problem. We can't look back. We got to keep doing the things we know how to do and control the things within in our control and try to control our destiny."

Bodine finished 32nd in the 2009 race at Bristol.

After the 15th race during the 2005 season, Dennis Setzer held a 227-point lead over Ted Musgrave, but Musgrave rallied in the final 10 events to win the truck championship by 58 points over Setzer.

Busch is the two-time defending race winner at Bristol. Last year, Busch led the final 75 laps and beat Matt Crafton by nearly three seconds for the win. He also prevented Ron Hornaday Jr. from extending his series record to six consecutive victories. Hornaday finished third.

"I love the place," Busch said. "It's fun for the drivers, and it's fun for the fans. For some reason, I have really taken to the new surface. I loved the old surface, but I really like the new one, too. We've been fast every time we've been at Bristol in a truck, and we've been able to capitalize on that in the last two years and go to victory lane. Obviously, we would like to make it three in a row."

Busch has two truck wins so far this season -- Nashville in April and Charlotte the following month.

Forty teams are on the preliminary entry list for the O'Reilly 200.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES

Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma - Infineon Raceway - Sonoma, CA

The IZOD IndyCar Series will run its ninth and final road/street course race of the season this weekend at Infineon Raceway.

Last week at Mid-Ohio, Will Power's second-place finish allowed him to claim the Mario Andretti Trophy for clinching the series' first-ever road/street course championship. Power has won four course events so far this season -- Sao Paulo, Brazil; St. Petersburg, FL; Watkins, NY and Toronto.

The Team Penske driver currently holds a 41-point lead over defending series champion Dario Franchitti and an 82-point advantage over Franchitti's Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon.

One year ago, Power's season came to an abrupt end at Sonoma, where he sustained multiple injuries during a practice crash. Power suffered two broken vertebrae and a concussion when his car hit the stalled car of Nelson Philippe, who spun exiting the blind, downhill corner. Philippe also suffered a concussion, along with an open fracture to his left foot.

Indy Racing League and track officials recently have made several safety improvements to help prevent serious crashes, like the one of Power and Philippe's, at the 2.303-mile, 12-turn course in Northern California.

Thirteen IndyCar drivers, including Power, participated in a test session at Sonoma last week. Power topped the overall speed charts with a lap of one minute, 17.46 seconds.

"It's nice to be back, actually," Power said. "I was a little nervous heading up over that hill (at Turn 3A) a couple of times, for sure. But the track has done a fantastic job of making sure that everyone is aware if someone does spin. If there is a car sitting up and over the top, there's a lot of lights and plenty of warning before you get there now.

"I enjoy this track. It's very technical and one of the better road courses we come to, so I'd like to come back here and I'd love to win."

There have been five different winners in as many races at Sonoma. Franchitti is the defending race winner. Helio Castroneves (2008), Dixon (2007), Marco Andretti (2006) and Tony Kanaan (2005) also have won here.

After Sonoma, the series will run its final four races on ovals.

The October 2 season-finale at Homestead will determine the oval titleholder and the overall IndyCar champion.