This Week in Auto Racing July 25 - July 27

This Week in Auto Racing July 25 - July 27

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - NASCAR is in Indy this weekend, and that means someone will kiss the bricks at the "big" track, while a lot of beating and banging will go on at the nearby "short" track. Meanwhile, the IndyCars head north to Edmonton, Canada for the first time.

Sprint Cup Series

Allstate 400 at the Brickyard - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Indianapolis, IN

After taking their third and final week off, the Sprint Cup Series returns to action this weekend with the 15th running of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The series begins 17 consecutive weeks of racing that concludes with the season-ending event November 16th at Homestead, FL.

Indianapolis is one of the most prestigious events on the circuit, as only the Daytona 500 has a bigger purse.

The winner at Indy has gone on to win the series title in six of the last 14 years. Jeff Gordon accomplished the feat in 1998 and 2001, Dale Jarrett did so in 1999, and Bobby Labonte pulled the trick in 2000. Tony Stewart (2005) and Jimmie Johnson (2006) have also won at Indy and captured the championship in the same season.

Gordon leads all Sprint Cup drivers with four victories at Indianapolis. His 2004 Brickyard 400 victory placed him in a tie with A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears for most wins at Indy at the time. Foyt, Unser and Mears won the Indianapolis 500 four times each. Michael Schumacher now holds the track record for most victories with five. Schumacher captured his fifth United States Grand Prix title at Indy in 2006, his final season on the Formula One circuit. Formula One competed at Indy from 2000-07.

Gordon, who surprisingly has yet to win this season, hopes to snap a 24-race winless streak this weekend.

"We want those wins, and we want to be more competitive," Gordon said. "We've got the consistency down. Now we just need to lead more laps and put ourselves in position to win more races...It's one of those things where I'm frustrated. I feel like we could be better. We're a great team, just performance-wise, we've missed a little bit and we've let a couple of opportunities slip away."

It was common to see Gordon in Victory Lane for a Cup race, but the pendulum has swung with his former Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Busch now taking the checkered flag frequently. Busch has seven victories in the series so far in 2008, including wins in the last two races (Daytona and Chicagoland). He has also recorded 12 top-five finishes in the first 19 races this season.

Busch comes to Indianapolis with a 262-point lead, and as good as he's been lately, Busch is a favorite to win. He has finished 10th or better in his first three races at Indy. Behind Busch in the standings right now are Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Gordon.

Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Tony Stewart, is another favorite to win at Indy. Stewart, from nearby Columbus, IN, has won two of the last three races there. Stewart is currently 10th in points.

Last year, Stewart passed Kevin Harvick in the closing laps and held off then-rookie contender Juan Pablo Montoya at the finish for his second victory at Indianapolis. He made his final pit stop with 33 laps to go, taking on four fresh tires. After green-flag stops cycled through, Stewart reclaimed the lead with 31 laps remaining.

Stewart built a 3.8-second lead with 25 laps to go, but his margin was erased when the caution flag flew after Earnhardt, Jr.'s engine blew, spewing oil onto the track.

On the restart, Stewart and Harvick pulled ahead from the field and battled for the lead. Stewart took a look on the inside with 15 left but couldn't complete the move. He made the same attempt at the end of the backstretch with 13 remaining, but again, Harvick turned him away. The third time was the charm. After getting Harvick a little loose, he completed the pass with 10 to go.

Montoya moved up to the second spot, but could not catch Stewart in time. Stewart crossed the finish line 2.982 seconds ahead of Montoya for the win.

Montoya has a chance to become the first driver to win both the Indianapolis 500 and the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. He joined A.J. Foyt and Danny Sullivan as previous Indy 500 champs who have competed in a Cup race at Indy. Foyt finished 30th and Sullivan came in 33rd in the 1994 inaugural Brickyard 400.

Kyle Petty will sit out one more race before taking the wheel of his No.45 Dodge the first weekend in August at Pocono, PA. Terry Labonte will drive Petty's car at Indianapolis. Labonte has substituted for Petty the past six races, while Petty served as an analyst for TNT's coverage of Sprint Cup races. Labonte is guaranteed a starting spot at Indy, since he is a past series champion. Petty's team is 41st in owner points.

Nationwide Series

Kroger 200 - O'Reilly Raceway Park - Indianapolis, IN

While the Sprint Cup Series competes at the "big" track in Indianapolis, the Nationwide Series will run at the nearby 0.686-mile O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. Nationwide teams hit the track Saturday with the Kroger 200. The series has been racing there each year since 1982.

Defending series champion Carl Edwards kept his title hopes alive with an impressive victory last weekend at St. Louis, moving to within 201 points of leader Clint Bowyer in the process. Brad Keselowski is 170 points behind. Edwards and Keselowski both finished in the top-10 in the 2007 race at ORP. Bowyer did not compete there last year.

Jason Leffler is the defending winner of the Kroger 200. A late-race caution set up a five-lap shootout to the finish. On the restart, Greg Biffle led Leffler, David Reutimann, Edwards, and Ron Hornaday, Jr. The battle for the lead heated up after Leffler's great restart. Biffle, on the outside, ran side-by-side with Leffler, but as they cleared the second turn with two laps to go, Leffler pulled away from Biffle. He then drove to his first Nationwide victory of the season and the second of his career. Leffler also gave Toyota its first win in the series.

Morgan Shepherd leads all drivers with three Nationwide victories at ORP. Shepherd won there in 1982, '84, and '88. Jason Keller, Randy LaJoie and Kevin Harvick are the only other drivers with repeat victories at ORP.

Craftsman Truck Series

Power Stroke Diesel 200 - O'Reilly Raceway Park - Indianapolis, IN

The Craftsman Truck Series will also be at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. And, after what happened in last Saturday's race at Kentucky, who knows where the tightly contested points battle will end up when the truck drivers are done beating and banging into each other at this short track.

Johnny Benson won at Kentucky and moved from fourth to first in the standings. Benson holds only a one-point advantage over Matt Crafton, who finished third. Ron Hornaday, Jr. came to Kentucky with a 27-point lead, but after a 10th- place run at 1.5-mile track, Hornaday slipped to third in points. He's five markers behind Benson. Rick Crawford and Mike Skinner are fourth and fifth in points.

The separation between first and second is not the closest points margin in the series after the 13th race of the year. Brendan Gaughan and Travis Kvapil were tied at this point in 2003. Kvapil went on to clinch the series championship that year.

The separation between Benson and Skinner is 101 points, making it the closest margin among the top-five drivers after 13 races have been completed in a season.

Hornaday won last year's Power Stroke Diesel 200 at ORP. Hornaday led 90 of 201 laps. He moved under Travis Kvapil and grabbed the top spot for the final time with 32 laps to go. A late-race caution set up a green-white- checkered finish. On the restart, Hornaday quickly pulled ahead of second- place Johnny Benson and then beat him to the finish line by one truck length. It was Hornaday's third of four victories in 2007 en route to his championship season.

The series has been racing at ORP each year since 1995. Mike Sinner, Jack Sprague and Hornaday are the only drivers with repeat victories there. Skinner won the first two races at ORP from 1995-96.

Kyle Busch is expected to compete in the Power Stroke Diesel 200. Busch, the Sprint Cup points leader, is coming off a sixth-place finish at Kentucky but has two wins in the series so far in 2008. Busch is also expected to run in Saturday's Kroger 200 at ORP. He has five Nationwide victories to his credit this season.

IndyCar Series

Rexall Edmonton Indy - Rexall Speedway - Edmonton, Canada

The IndyCar Series heads north of the border to Canada for the inaugural Rexall Edmonton Indy at Rexall Speedway, a 1.96-mile, 14-turn temporary street/airport course located at City Centre Airport in Edmonton, Alberta. Edmonton is no stranger to motor racing. This track previously hosted ChampCar Series events for three seasons. Sebastien Bourdais won at Edmonton twice, while Justin Wilson, now racing in IndyCar, took the checkered flag in 2006.

Heading into Edmonton, Scott Dixon leads in the points race, owning a 58-point advantage over Helio Castroneves. Dixon finished third last week at Mid-Ohio, while Castroneves came in second. With the victory, Ryan Briscoe moved into fifth in the standings. Briscoe recorded his second career IndyCar victory. His first win came last month at Milwaukee.

Seven drivers racing at Edmonton this weekend have competed in a previous ChampCar event there. Justin Wilson, Mario Dominguez and Oriol Servia have run in all three races at Edmonton, while Bruno Junqueira and Will Power have raced in two events there. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal have one start each there.

Edmonton's first raceway was originally built in the late 40's as a dirt oval named Breckenridge Oval. The track was converted into a quarter-mile oval and re-named Speedway Park the following year. In 1968, the full road course was opened in time for the first Can-Am race.

From 1968-1982, Edmonton International Speedway Park hosted Can-Am, Formula 1600, Formula 5000, Trans-Am and NHRA drag racing. Notable drivers that raced at Edmonton included Jackie Stewart, Bruce McLaren, Danny Sullivan, Jacky Ickx, Denny Hulme, Mark Donahue and Pete Revson.

Gene Simmons, of rock and roll fame with the band KISS, will be the Grand Marshal for the inaugural Rexall Edmonton Indy. The Rexall Speedway has secured a three-year agreement with the IndyCar Series through 2010.