This Week in Auto Racing July 18 - July 20

This Week in Auto Racing July 18 - July 20

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - It's a weekend off for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but the Nationwide Series hits the track at Gateway, while the Craftsman Truck Series makes a visit to Kentucky. The IndyCars motor into Mid-Ohio for the second time, and Formula One revs it up in Hockenheim, Germany.

NASCAR

Nationwide Series

Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 - Gateway International Raceway - Madison, IL

While most drivers in the Sprint Cup Series take a break from racing this weekend before running the final 17 races of the season, some will remain busy at the track. Sprint Cup regulars Clint Bowyer, David Ragan, Jamie McMurray, Reed Sorenson, David Reutimann and Carl Edwards are scheduled to compete in Saturday night's Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 Nationwide Series race at Gateway International Raceway just outside St. Louis.

Edwards, the defending Nationwide champion, plans to spend some time in his hometown of Columbia, MO this week before hopping on his motorcycle to Gateway. He won there in 2006. Edwards' Roush Fenway Racing teammate Jamie McMurray, from Joplin, MO, will drive the No.17 Ford. McMurray is making his first appearance at Gateway since 2002.

Sorenson returns to Gateway as the defending race winner. In fact, Sorenson has won two of the last three races there. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kevin Harvick are the only other drivers with repeat victories at Gateway.

One year ago, Sorenson ended a 61-race winless streak with the victory in the Gateway 250. The last victory for Sorenson came in 2005 when he won this race. He finished 2.064 seconds ahead of Scott Wimmer.

Sorenson will drive the No.40 for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Dario Franchitti drove the car last Friday at the Chicagoland Speedway. Franchitti is not scheduled to compete at Gateway.

After a three-race hiatus, 18-year-old Joey Logano is back in the driver's seat of the No.20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Logano has recorded one victory (Kentucky) and three top-10 finishes in just four Nationwide starts. He has also captured two poles.

There is widespread speculation that Logano will replace Tony Stewart in the No.20 car for JGR next year when Stewart moves over to his newly-formed Stewart-Haas Racing.

"Joey is a candidate for anything," team owner Joe Gibbs said in a press conference held Friday at Chicagoland. "I think we have a total now of 32 tests that he's been with us in Cup cars and everything. I don't think there's one incident ever where he hasn't stood out."

Meanwhile, JGR continues on its record-setting path of victories in the series in 2008. Kyle Busch's win Friday night at Chicagoland gave the organization its 13th victory of the season, tying Richard Childress Racing for most owner wins in a Nationwide season, set last year. JGR is running only one car, the No.20, at Gateway, which is the 21st stop on the 35-race schedule this year.

Clint Bowyer enters this weekend's race with a 183-point advantage over Brad Keselowski. Keselowski finished third at Chicagoland but shaved only 19 points from Bowyer's lead. Bowyer finished seventh and recorded his 10th straight top-10 finish in the series. The No.2 RCR Chevrolet driver has only one victory so far this season, coming in March at Bristol, TN. His best finish at Gateway is second in 2006. Keselowski finished 26th in his first start there last year.

Craftsman Truck Series

Built Ford Tough 225 - Kentucky Speedway - Sparta, KY

After taking the last two weeks off, the Craftsman Truck Series returns to action in the "Bluegrass State" with Saturday night's running of the Built Ford Tough 225 at the Kentucky Speedway. And with a tight battle in the championship points race, things are likely to heat up under the lights at the 1.5-mile track.

With the series now approaching the half-way mark of the season, the top-five drivers are all within 74 points of each other. Defending series champion Ron Hornaday, Jr. currently holds a 27-point lead over second-place Matt Crafton and a 54-point advantage of third-place Todd Bodine. Johnny Benson is just two markers behind Bodine. Rick Crawford occupies the fifth spot in the standings.

Hornaday leads all drivers with three victories so far this year.

Sixth-place Mike Skinner (-113) is the defending race winner at Kentucky. Skinner won last year's race in dominating fashion, leading 135 of 150 laps. He crossed the finish line more than five seconds ahead of Travis Kvapil for his fourth victory of the season and the 23rd of his career.

The battle in the point standings won't be the only thing cooking in Kentucky as NASCAR's hottest driver, Kyle Busch, returns to the series for the first time since June at Michigan. Busch will attempt to win his third different national series race in consecutive starts after posting victories in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide events this past weekend at Chicagoland. He has two truck victories this year.

NFL All-Pro receiver Randy Moss will make his debut as a NASCAR team owner at Kentucky. Moss purchased a 50-percent stake in long-time series participant David Dollar's team Morgan-Dollar Motorsports. The team was renamed Randy Moss Motorsports.

Willie Allen, the rookie of the year in the series last year, will drive the No.81 entry for Moss at Kentucky. Sponsorship for the team is still pending.

Moss, who set the NFL single-season touchdown reception record during his first year with the New England Patriots in 2007, has been a NASCAR fan for several years. He expects to attend his first, and likely only, race of the year before departing for the Patriots' training camp.

"It's been a long time coming," Moss said. "It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. It's going to be a lot of fun to see that truck out on the track and know I own it. We've made a pretty big commitment to be here, and we have just as big a commitment to win races too. All of us at Randy Moss Motorsports are competitive people and winning is our priority. It's not going to be easy but we're all going to work as hard as we can to make it happen."

Morgan-Dollar Motorsports has won 13 races with drivers Dennis Setzer, Bobby Labonte and Clint Bowyer. Setzer led the team to a second-place finish in points from 2003 to 2005.

IndyCar Series

Honda Indy 200 - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - Lexington, OH

There was a huge celebration for Scott Dixon and the whole Chip Ganassi Racing organization amid rain drops falling on the Nashville Superspeedway last Saturday night. Dixon's victory in the Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville was not only the point leader's fourth win of the season, but the 100th overall win for Ganassi as well.

Ganassi has already posted 22 victories as a team owner in the IndyCar Series. His first victory came in May 2000 when Juan Pablo Montoya won the Indianapolis 500. Montoya now competes in the Sprint Cup Series, driving the No.42 entry for Ganassi.

All 14 of Dixon's IndyCar career wins have come with Ganassi, including a victory in last year's inaugural race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Dixon capitalized on a late-race pit strategy by taking the checkered flag at Mid-Ohio.

On lap 70, Helio Castroneves gave up the top spot to take his last pit stop. During the next few laps the rest of the leaders cycled through their last stops. Dixon used a fast fuel stop only and re-entered the track ahead of Castroneves for second.

Dario Franchitti was able to stay out longer and took over the lead. His plan was to build a large enough lead where he would be able to pit and keep the first position. Franchitti's lead was 16 seconds when he came down pit road with 10 to go.

Would Franchitti be able to pit and come out ahead of Dixon?

That question was answered when Franchitti, coming out of the pits, saw Dixon fly by him on the track.

This proved to be the race winning moment as the remaining laps saw very little passing. Dixon crossed the finish line 2.6917 seconds ahead of Franchitti for his third consecutive victory of the season. Dixon had won at Nashville and Watkins Glen prior to Mid-Ohio.

Castroneves, Tony Kanaan and Danica Patrick completed the top-five.

Dixon's had a successful tenure with Ganassi so far, winning the Indianapolis 500 this year and capturing the series championship in 2003.

"Having been a part of this team for almost seven years now, you understand exactly what it takes to win the big races and championships at the highest levels of racing," Dixon said. "I think the tremendous amount of success the organization has seen is a direct result of the team Chip has assembled over the years. The people are the ones that truly make a difference."

Dixon now holds a healthy 63-point lead over Helio Castroneves with six races remaining in the season. Dan Wheldon, Dixon's teammate at Ganassi, is third in the standings, 69 markers behind.

Formula One

German Grand Prix - Hockenheimring - Hockenheim, Germany

Two weeks after winning a rainy British Grand Prix and moving into a three-way tie with Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa for the top spot in the point standings, Englishman Lewis Hamilton is looking forward to this weekend's German Grand Prix.

Last week, Hamilton was fastest among 12 drivers testing at the 4.574- kilometer Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Germany. Hamilton, in a McLaren Mercedes, turned in a total of 101 laps during the three-day test session.

He also evaluated several new aero components while preparing for the German Grand Prix.

"I am pleased to be back testing as I just love spending time in the car, Hamilton said after the first day of testing. "Its a great feeling being part of the development process with the team and I do anything I can to help. We are all pushing hard to try and win the World Championships."

For Hamilton, this will be his first Formula One start at Hockenheim.

"I was at Hockenheim in 2005 when I won a Formula 3 EuroSeries race and in 2006 with GP2 when I finished second and third," Hamilton said. "Its actually quite a straightforward circuit to get into, and it helps that our car just feels so awesome at the moment. Theres a bit of everything around here and its quite fun to throw the car into some of the high-speed corners, like Turn One and Turn 12 - the high-speed right-hander into the stadium section."

The first F1 race held at Hockenheim, in 1970, was dramatic as Jochen Rindt drove his Lotus home, a nose in front of Jacky Ickx's Ferrari.

In response to the drivers not wishing to compete at the Nurburgring, following Niki Lauder's near fatal accident in 1976, the race returned to Hockenheim in 1977. Lauder, ironically enough, won the '77 race.

The most memorable race at this circuit was in 1982 when Nelson Piquet made the headlines after trying to punch Eliseo Salazar after they collided. It also saw Didier Pironi badly injured during wet practice for the race, and his teammate, Patrick Tambay, went on to score an emotional win.

The craziest race held here would have to be 1994 when, at the end of the first lap, only half the field remained. Michael Schumacher retired, and Gerhard Berger went on to give Ferrari their first win in four years.

Last year, organizers moved the German round of the F1 World Championship to the Nurburgring and renamed the event the European Grand Prix due to a disagreement over naming rights.

Fernando Alonso out-drove Felipe Massa over the final laps to capture the 2007 Grand Prix of Europe at the Nurburgring. The two-time World Champion crossed the finish line 8.1 seconds ahead of Massa. It was his third victory of the season and the 13th of his F1 career.