This Week in Auto Racing July 31 - August 2

This Week in Auto Racing July 31 - August 2

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - All three of NASCAR's national touring series are in action at different racetracks this weekend. The IndyCar Series heads to the "Bluegrass State" for a night-time running at Kentucky Speedway.

Sprint Cup Series

Pennsylvania 500 - Pocono Raceway - Pocono, PA

With six races remaining before the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" begins, many teams are now scrambling for a playoff spot. The top-12 drivers in points after the September 12 event at Richmond will qualifying for the 10-race Chase for the title.

Matt Kenseth currently holds the 12th spot in the rankings, with 13th-place David Reutimann 68 points behind Kenseth.

Perhaps the biggest surprise so far in this year's "Race for the Chase" is Kyle Busch, who now occupies the 14th position. Since winning his third race of the season in May at Richmond, Busch has dropped nine spots in the standings. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has recorded only one top-finish in the last eight races, a seventh-place run at New Hampshire.

Last Sunday, Busch blew a right-front tire and scraped the wall in the early- stages of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. He spent 44 laps behind the wall before settling for a 38th-place finish.

"I think it's pretty self-explanatory that we're trying to fight for a spot in the Chase, and this is obviously frustrating because I don't know if it was our cars, the tire or what," Busch said after his incident at Indy.

In 2008, Busch dominated the 26-race regular season with a series-high eight wins. He secured the top seed for the Chase, but plummeted early in the playoffs when he experienced engine trouble at New Hampshire and Dover. Busch finished the year 10th in points.

As the Sprint Cup Series heads to Pocono Raceway this weekend, defending Pennsylvania 500 winner Carl Edwards is baffled with his season so far. Edwards led the series with nine wins in '08, but has yet to drive into Victory Lane this year.

"I'm definitely a little frustrated with the way we've run this season and the results we've had," Edwards said.

Edwards holds the fifth spot in the standings. Heading into Pocono, 247 points separate Edwards from 15th-place Brian Vickers.

One year ago, Edwards capitalized on a late-race pit strategy to win at Pocono for the second time. He made his final pit stop with 35 laps remaining and had just enough fuel to cross the finish line nearly four seconds ahead of runner- up Tony Stewart.

After a third-place finish at Indianapolis, Tony Stewart stretched his points lead to 192 over new second-place Jimmie Johnson, who won at the Brickyard for the third time.

Stewart captured his first victory as both driver and owner when the series ran at Pocono in early June. He started the 500-mile race from the rear of the field in a backup car after wrecking in final practice. Stewart gambled on fuel in the late going when he drove the final 102.5 miles without pitting to take the win.

NASCAR's new rule for double-file restarts throughout each race went into effect last month at Pocono. Since then, the revised format for restarts has generated rave reviews from competitors and fans.

Pocono, dubbed "The Tricky Triangle," is one of the most unique tracks on the Cup schedule with its 2.5-mile triangular shape.

"It's very bumpy," Juan Pablo Montoya said. "It's really hard on tires and that turn three with that asphalt out there, very different race lines than anywhere else."

Though Indianapolis has a rectangular-shaped layout, Pocono somewhat resembles Indianapolis, with each track having relatively flat banking. The banking in Indy's turns is nine degrees, whereas Pocono's corners vary from six to 14 degrees.

Montoya put on a dominating performance for most of the Brickyard 400. The Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing driver led 116 of 160 laps, but a pit-road speeding penalty late in the race prevent him from winning a NASCAR race on an oval for the first time in his career. Montoya has won on road courses in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series.

After finishing 11th at Indy, Montoya dropped one position to 10th in points.

Forty-four teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Pennsylvania 500.

Nationwide Series

U.S. Cellular 250 - Iowa Speedway - Newton, IA

The Nationwide Series will run at the .875-mile Iowa Speedway for the first time. Teams have a full-day of practice at Iowa on Thursday before the official track schedule begins on Friday.

The track, designed by racing great Rusty Wallace, has hosted three combined NASCAR Camping World Series East/West events since its debut in 2006. Many drivers on the 51-car preliminary entry list for the U.S. Cellular 250 have already competed there.

Current points leader Kyle Busch won at Iowa in May when he took the East/West Series race from the pole. Busch, Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick are those drivers attempting the Pocono-Iowa combo this weekend. Harvick competed in the inaugural NASCAR race there in the 2007 East/West event.

Last Saturday, Edwards won at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis and trimmed Busch's lead to 192 points.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will drive the No.16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford at Iowa. Stenhouse, a development driver for Roush this year, has competed there twice, and is quite familiar with the track's surface.

"Everyone talks about the bump in (turns) one and two," Stenhouse said. "It's pretty big and it's actually gotten worse since I raced there last year. That's another reason you run up a groove, groove-and-a-half, because the bump isn't as big when you get up into the second and third groove. If you can get through there, you're in pretty good shape. I think that's the most unique characteristic about the track."

Stenhouse competed in an ARCA race at Iowa last year and ran in a USAC event there in 2007.

Michael Annett, driver of the No.15 Germain Racing Toyota, is also familiar with the track. Annett, a native of nearby Des Moines, IA, made his first career ARCA start there in '07. He started on the pole and finished third. Annett will run in Friday's USAC Silver Crown event there.

Iowa will be the third Nationwide "Dash 4 Cash" event where eligible drivers - full-time series regulars and part-time/limited series-only regulars - will collect a $25,000 bonus if they win. Since no eligible driver won at Nashville in April and Kentucky in June, the bonus has rolled over to $75,000. Kevin Harvick is the lone ineligible driver for the extra cash this weekend. The October race at Memphis is the fourth and final event on the insurance company's award program this year.

The Camping World Truck Series will also compete at Iowa on Labor Day weekend.

Camping World Truck Series

Toyota Tundra 200 - Nashville Superspeedway - Lebanon, TN

"The Drive For Five" - that's what Ron Hornaday Jr. has on his mind heading into Saturday's Camping World Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway.

Last Friday at ORP, Hornaday became the first driver in the 15-year history of the series to win four races in a row. He also won at Milwaukee, Memphis and Kentucky.

"I'm not sure how we did it," Hornaday said. "I am having more fun than I ever have."

At age 51, Hornaday's fifth win this year placed him in a tie with Harry Gant and Joe Ruttman for most NASCAR wins in the same season by a driver over the age of 50. Gant did it in the Cup Series in 1991, and Ruttman accomplished the feat in the Truck Series in 1997. Mark Martin possibly will join that elite group, as the 50-year-old driver has four Cup wins so far this season.

Hornaday has not won at Nashville, which is one of eight tracks where he has yet to make it to Victory Lane. He finished second there in 2007. This year, Hornaday is looking to claim one of NASCAR's most treasured prizes, the Gibson Guitar Trophy.

"I've been so close to winning at Nashville," he said. "In 2007, we had the thing won but ended up missing it by just a little and finished second. I went by (artist) Sam Bass' studio a few weeks ago, and he showed me his guitar collection. It was very impressive, and I told him that I really wanted to win one of his specially- designed guitars."

If Hornaday wins, I seriously doubt he'll smash his guitar in Victory Lane, like Kyle Busch did after winning last month's Nationwide race at Nashville.

Travis Kvapil, the 2004 series champion and '07 race winner at Nashville, will drive the No.51 Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota at Nashville. Kvapil's last start in the series came in the 2008 season-finale at Homestead, where he finished sixth.

Thirty-three teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Toyota Tundra 200.

INDYCAR SERIES

Meijer Indy 300 - Kentucky Speedway - Sparta, KY

After scoring his first career IndyCar Series victory at Edmonton, Canada on Sunday, Will Power is looking forward to running on a 1.5-mile oval for the first time since last October at Chicagoland Speedway.

Power put on a dominating performance at Edmonton. He led 90 of 95 laps, relinquishing the top position only when he pitted. Power held a one-second lead over his Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves before the race ended under caution for an incident involving Tomas Scheckter with less than two laps to go.

At the beginning of the year, Power joined Penske as a test driver and fill-in for Castroneves when he was on trial for federal income tax evasion charges. When Castroneves was acquitted and returned to racing in April at Long Beach, CA, Penske placed Power in a third entry for the team. He has run a limited schedule since then.

Last week, Power finished third on the streets of Toronto - his first start since a fifth-place run in the May 24 Indianapolis 500.

Power is competing at Kentucky this weekend and expects to run at Sonoma and Homestead later this year. Whether or not he secures a full-time ride with Penske next year remains uncertain.

"I'm not sure what more I can do," Power said. "I haven't been thinking forward. I've just been taking things one day at a time. That's one reason I'm enjoying my racing this year. In the last three years, I've always been stressed about not having a ride the next year. This year, I don't have a full-time ride, but I'm enjoying my racing more than ever."

Scott Dixon finished third at Edmonton and reclaimed the lead in the championship standings. Dixon, the defending series champion, holds just a three-point advantage over his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dario Franchitti, who finished fifth.

Dixon won last year's Meijer Indy 300 at Kentucky. He passed Castroneves while exiting the final turn of the last lap, and went on to earn his series record- tying sixth victory of the season. Dan Wheldon won six races during his 2005 title campaign.

This year's IndyCar championship has been a seesaw battle between Dixon and Franchitti. With six races to go in the season, both drivers will likely fight for the title down to the wire, much like they did in 2007.

"I just want to be leading the championship at Homestead," Dixon said. "You've just got to make sure that you're consistent and don't fall out of the chase or out of the championship part of it with two races to go."

Franchitti and Dixon battled for the title all the way to the final lap in the season-ending race at Chicagoland in 2007, with Franchitti taking the checkered flag and the title. He drove for Andretti Green Racing at the time.