This Week in Auto Racing July 3 - 5

This Week in Auto Racing July 3 - 5

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - NASCAR returns to "The World Center of Racing," while the IndyCar Series visits the "Finger Lakes" region in upstate New York this Fourth of July weekend.

Sprint Cup Series

Coke Zero 400 - Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL

The Sprint Cup Series reaches the halfway point of their 36-race season this Fourth of July with the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. Formerly called the Pepsi 400 and the Firecracker 400, "the mid-summer classic" has its own share of fireworks on the 2.5-mile oval. As the third of four restrictor-plate events on the yearly schedule, you can expect plenty of wild racing that culminates with a last-lap battle for the victory.

This will be the first restrictor-plate race to feature double-file restarts throughout the event. NASCAR instituted the double-file format for the June 7 race at Pocono, and it has not presented any apparent problems so far.

How much of an impact double-file restarts will be in restrictor-plate racing should be an interesting factor at Daytona.

"I think restrictor-plate racing will be the biggest beneficiary of double- file restarts because we're already racing two-wide all the time, three-wide all the time already, why not start them two-wide," Roush Fenway Racing driver Greg Biffle said.

The 400-mile event at Daytona has run under the lights each year since 1998. The first nighttime race there was postponed from July to October due to wildfires in the Central Florida area. It's also the first event to run on the Fourth of July since 1992. The race was normally held on Independence Day each year from 1959 to 1987.

Drivers have enjoyed nighttime racing at Daytona in the middle of the summer, as cooler temperatures make for better track grip.

"The grip level is about the same as it is in February when you're racing at night," Biffle said. "It's a little slicker in July. It would just be a miserable race I think in the daytime because the grip would be so horrible and it would be so hot."

With nine races remaining before the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship begins, Juan Pablo Montoya holds the coveted 12th spot in the standings, but only one point separates Montoya from 13th-place Kasey Kahne, who won last week at Sonoma, CA.

The points battle is so tight right now that 95 points separate sixth-place Denny Hamlin from 14th-place David Reutimann.

Matt Kenseth holds the 10th spot as he returns to Daytona after winning the rain-shortened Daytona 500 in February. Kenseth happened to be in the right place at the right time when the skies opened up at Daytona with 48 laps remaining.

Kenseth followed up with the victory at California one week later, but has not won a Cup race since then.

Kyle Busch won at Daytona in thrilling fashion one year ago. Busch overcame tire and steering wheel issues to post his sixth Cup victory of the season. He grabbed the lead from Jeff Gordon just before a seven-car pileup occurred in the closing laps.

The accident set up a green-white-checkered finish. Busch and Carl Edwards battled for the lead on the first of the two-lap shootout. Busch pulled ahead of Edwards by a half-car length when a four-car crash took place in turn three, ending the race under caution.

In 2007, Jamie McMurray beat Busch to the finish line by 0.005 seconds to win the 400-mile race at Daytona.

Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with six wins at Daytona, but Richard Petty holds the track record for most victories with 10.

Petty will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his 200th and final Cup victory on Saturday at Daytona. "The King" won the 1984 Firecracker 500, with President Ronald Reagan in attendance for the historic race.

"I think it was really a super deal for racing, because the President was there," Petty said. "He was the cake, and when I won the 200th, that was the icing."

Petty turns 72 years old on Thursday, the same day NASCAR will reveal the 25 nominees for the Hall of Fame's inaugural class. He is being considered as a shoo-in for the Hall.

Forty-five teams are on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's Coke Zero 400.

Nationwide Series

Subway Jalapeno 250 - Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL

Beginning with Friday's race at Daytona, the Nationwide Series will use the double-file restart throughout each event. While the Sprint Cup Series has already adopted the rule change, NASCAR officials chose to gauge the double- start format before instituting it in Nationwide competition.

Under the previous format, cars on the lead lap would restart in a single-file line, while lapped cars would start in a line next to them. With the rule change, the first and second-place cars will line up side-by-side as the green flag is displayed for each restart.

"A big track like Daytona with plenty of room to sort things out is definitely a good place to implement this new format and get some of the kinks out," long-time Nationwide competitor Jason Keller said.

Daytona also marks the midpoint for the series this season, with Kyle Busch currently holding a 162-point lead over Carl Edwards.

Last Saturday, Busch made a late-race pass on Joey Logano for the lead and then held off his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate in the closing laps to win at New Hampshire. He became the 23rd different winner in as many Nationwide races at the 1.058-mile New England track.

Logano led 108 of 200 laps, which snapped Busch's streak of leading the most laps in a Nationwide race at eight. But Busch moved around Logano with 35 laps remaining and went on to record his fifth victory of the season.

One day later, Logano scored his first Cup win at New Hampshire.

Busch has finished second or better in three of the last four Nationwide races at Daytona. He won there two years ago.

Edwards' only victory at Daytona came in the Truck Series in 2004.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads all active drivers with five Nationwide wins at Daytona. His late-father won there seven times, the most of any driver. Earnhardt Jr. will compete in this year's race.

Forty-eight drivers are on the preliminary entry list for the Subway Jalapeno 250.

INDYCAR SERIES

Camping World GP at The Glen - Watkins Glen International - Watkins Glen, NY

Watkins Glen kicks off three consecutive street/road course events for the IndyCar Series, with Toronto and Edmonton, Canada slated in the coming weeks.

With eight races completed in the 17-race schedule, Scott Dixon continues his quest towards a second straight series title. Dixon tied Sam Hornish Jr.'s record for most IndyCar victories with 19 by winning last Saturday at Richmond.

Dixon's 19th victory came in his 104th start - two less than Hornish, who made a total of 116 starts before moving over to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2008.

"Achievements like that are something you can look back at someday and treasure," Dixon said. "There will be many years, hopefully, in my career that I can try to build on that."

Dixon could make it No.20 at Watkins Glen, where he has won three of the first four races.

"I definitely would like one more so we can have that record outright," Dixon added.

One year ago, Ryan Hunter-Reay not only snapped Dixon's three-race winning streak at Watkins Glen, but also recorded his first career IndyCar victory.

Hunter-Reay, a former Champ Car standout, capitalized on a bizarre incident during a mid-race caution when Ryan Briscoe and Dixon bumped into each other and crashed. Briscoe and Dixon held the top-two positions for most of the 60-lap event. On the restart, Hunter-Reay passed Darren Manning for the lead and then ran in front for the remaining nine laps to capture his first win in his 16th start.

Dixon ended up finishing 11th, while Briscoe came in 12th.

Dario Franchitti won the most recent IndyCar street/road course race held in April at Long Beach, CA.

After finishing second at Richmond, Franchitti captured the lead in the championship standings with only a one-point advantage over Dixon.