This Week in Auto Racing August 29 - 31

This Week in Auto Racing August 29 - 31

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - After a wild night of racing at the Bristol Motor Speedway last Saturday, the Sprint Cup Series will run under the lights again this Labor Day weekend at the Auto Club Speedway. The Nationwide Series will join the Sprint Cup in Fontana, Ca, while the IndyCar Series heads to "Motown" for a date at The Raceway at Bell Isle in Detroit.

Sprint Cup Series

Pepsi 500 - Auto Club Speedway - Fontana, CA

Just two races remain before the 2008 "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship begins September 14th at New Hampshire. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards have already clinched their spots in the "Chase," with Busch securing the top seed after accumulating 80 bonus points for his eight wins and Edwards capturing the second seed with 50 bonus points. Despite six victories for the year, Edwards has 50 bonus points since he was deducted 10 points for a rules infraction after winning at Las Vegas earlier this year.

Edwards has closed the points gap the last two weeks by winning at Michigan and Bristol. His victory at Bristol ended in dramatic fashion as he bumped Busch aside for the lead with 31 laps to go. Busch retaliated at the conclusion of the race by intentionally ramming into Edwards, but Edwards responded by spinning Busch out.

Edwards is looking to continue his winning momentum at California, where he captured his first victory this season in February.

"Yeah, we feel good about California for sure," Edwards said. "I think that the next two races...they will be wild, because really, there's more and more guys who don't have a lot to lose, so people will be able to race pretty hard. You know, it's been a great season so far, and I don't think the excitement level is going to go down."

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson are expected to qualify for the "Chase" when they leave California, as both drivers only need to finish 40th or better. Earnhardt, Jr. is third in points, and Johnson is fourth.

While in Southern California this week, Earnhardt Jr. will make a special visit to the set of his favorite television show, "The Office."

"I'm so excited to finally get to meet the cast of The Office," Earnhardt, Jr. said. "Jim's my favorite character. He's everybody's favorite. I just think it's a great show. It's kind of like Cheers and Seinfeld were in their hay day. To me that's what it's like for this generation or for this decade. It's just a good show. It's a really funny show, well-written, great cast and it's just done really well."

Johnson, from El Cajon, CA, won at his "hometown" track one year ago. He grabbed the lead with 21 laps to go and then held off Carl Edwards at the finish by nearly two seconds for his fifth victory of the season and the 28th of his career.

Jeff Burton finished a disappointing 42nd at Bristol but remained fifth in the point standings. Burton is currently 274 points ahead of 13th-place David Ragan and can lock down his spot in the "Chase" if he finishes 15th or better, regardless of any other driver's performance.

"We are obviously in a position of need," Burton said. "We need to get ourselves in the "Chase." That is goal number one. To do that, we need to have good finishes, we need to run well, we need to compete at a high level and we need to get the best finish that we can."

Burton will make his 500th career Sprint Cup start at California.

The remaining seven positions in the "Chase" are still up for grabs as 170 points separate sixth-place Tony Stewart from Ragan. Stewart, seventh-place Greg Biffle and eighth-place Kevin Harvick could potentially clinch at California, while Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer, ninth through 12th in points, respectively, have their work cut out for them, as just 108 points separate Gordon from Ragan.

While Bowyer finished seventh at Bristol and moved up to the coveted 12th position in the standings, Ragan climbed up to 13th spot after his 10th-place run. He is just 12 points behind Bowyer heading into California.

"I've felt like we've had a chance to be in the "Chase" since the beginning of the year," Ragan said. "Our AAA Ford has been fast every week, and as a team, we haven't made many mistakes. We deserve to be in the position we are in and just have to take these last two races one at a time."

Kasey Kahne took the biggest hit in the standings after Bristol, falling from 11th to 14th. Kahne was involved in a multi-car crash on Lap 216 and ended up finishing 40th. He is now 56 markers behind Bowyer. Kahne hopes to rebound at California, where he has scored six top-10 finishes, including a victory in the Labor Day weekend event there two years ago.

Nationwide Series

Camping World RV Service 300 - Auto Club Speedway - Fontana, CA

Brad Keselowski established himself as a serious championship contender in the Nationwide Series after picking up his second win of the year last Friday night at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Despite leading a race-high 121 laps, Clint Bowyer got loose on a restart on Lap 226, allowing Keselowski to move underneath him for the top spot. Keselowski led only the final 24 laps for the victory.

He moved to within 122 points of Bowyer in the championship standings with the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA the next spot on the schedule.

"I think Clint and I are pretty equal, so our team needs to do whatever we can to maintain our place in the standings and capitalize on every opportunity we have to gain points," Keselowski said. "We're coming down to the last few races and every point counts. Every position is one step closer or one step back from the championship."

Carl Edwards fell to third in the standings -- 241 markers behind Bowyer -- after a 37th-place finish at Bristol. Edwards, the defending series champion, made contact with Elliott Sadler and slapped the outside wall on Lap 87, causing severe damage to his No.60 Ford.

Edwards has a lot of ground to make up, but California is the place where he can do it. He has one victory and five top-10 finishes in seven Nationwide races there.

Keselowski, meanwhile, is hoping for the best at California, where he has finished 32nd or worse in his first four races there.

"Carl is going to be the guy to beat this weekend," Keselowski said. "He was struggling earlier this year, then at Michigan he killed everyone. Hes going to be just as strong in California."

Keselowski made his Nationwide debut two years ago at California, driving the No.23 Chevrolet for team owner Keith Coleman.

Bowyer also has an impressive track record at California with four top-10 finishes in six starts. His best finish there is third, which came in September 2005.

Saturday night's Camping World RV Service 300 at California will be the first chance to see if any post-race fireworks remain from the on-going Edwards-Kyle Busch feud. According to Edwards, the tug of war began in a Nationwide race at Richmond earlier this year when Busch punted him out of the way.

IndyCar Series

Detroit Indy Grand Prix - The Raceway at Belle Isle - Detroit, MI

Helio Castroneves kept what little title hopes he has left this season with his first victory in 30 races last Sunday at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA, despite having to use a backup car. Castroneves and teammate Ryan Briscoe finished 1-2 in alternate cars after their primary vehicles sustained water, smoke and heat damage earlier in the week when a Team Penske transporter caught fire while en route to Sonoma.

A 12th-place finish for Scott Dixon allowed Castroneves to trim Dixon's points lead from 78 to 43 with just two races remaining in the season.

The IndyCar Series now heads to the 2.07-mile Raceway at Belle Isle in Detroit for the second running of the Detroit Indy Grand Prix. Dixon can clinch the title at Detroit if he wins on Sunday, regardless of where Castroneves finishes.

However, if Dixon finishes 11th or worse, and Castroneves finishes ahead of him, Castroneves remains in contention, setting up a shootout in the September 7th season-finale at Chicagoland.

"I think if Helio wins the next two, we just have to place fourth, so we should be able to do that," Dixon's team owner Chip Ganassi said.

Castroneves started on the pole but ended up finishing 14th in last year's inaugural event at Detroit. Dixon came in eighth.

Tony Kanaan is the defending race champion. Kanaan grabbed the lead with 20 laps remaining and held off Danica Patrick before the race ended under caution. He scored his fifth win of the 2007 season and the 12th of his IndyCar career.

The 2007 event marked the first Grand Prix held in Detroit in six years. Formula One staged the first ever Grand Prix on the streets of downtown Detroit in 1982 and continued racing through 1988. CART joined the Grand Prix in 1989 and continued to race at the downtown street course through 1991. The race venue shifted gears in 1992 to the picturesque Belle Isle road circuit, and CART continued to race at the venue through 2001. There have been 21 Grand Prix events held in Detroit.