This Week in Auto Racing June 15 - June 17

This Week in Auto Racing June 15 - June 17
June 12th, 2007

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Another big racing weekend headlined by Nextel Cup's race at MIS and Formula One's United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

NASCAR

Nextel Cup

Citizens Bank 400 - Michigan International Speedway - Brooklyn, MI

Sometimes, its just "your" year. For Jeff Gordon, 2007 seems as if everything is working out perfectly.

Gordon leads the Nextel Cup points standings by a whopping 242 points over Matt Kenseth and 247 over Denny Hamlin. But it's the way he has gotten there that indicates it a "special" year.

Not only has the No.24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet been good, but they have gotten every break in the books.

Two examples of their "racing luck" were at Darlington and last week in Pocono.

At Darlington, Gordon was running well, but with 35 laps to go his engine was blowing so much steam that he seemed destined to have an engine failure before the checkered flag. Somehow he didn't and he beat teammate Jimmie Johnson to the finish.

"I thought there is no way we're going to make it," said Gordon afterwards. "I've never seen gauges look like that and the engine make it to the end, that's a testament to Hendrick Motorsports and their engine department."

Last Sunday, Gordon and crew chief Steve Letarte made the right move at the right time. They stayed on the track out when everyone else pitted on lap 66. They pitted out of sequence on lap 83 and had enough fuel to go until lap 114 before they would need to pit again. The rains came on lap 105 and Gordon was a winner for the 79th time in his career.

Things are going so well for Gordon, I expect the birth of his first child, due around the time of the road-course event at Infineon, will be perfectly timed so that he will be able to race on the weekend.

"I have never appreciated things in life and my good fortune more than I am right now," Gordon said. "When you have that chemistry and positive energy surrounding you, I think good things happen. I don't think things happen because you're lucky. You put yourself in position to make things happen."

Even if Gordon misses one race when Ingrid gives birth, the four-time Nextel Cup champion will still be in control. He already owns four wins putting him in a tie with Johnson when the "Chase" gets underway. And with a 242-point lead he can miss a race and still come back as the points leader (maximum points earned in one race is 195).

With 14 races completed and 12 to go until the "Chase" begins, the race for the final spots in the playoffs couldn't be much closer.

Mark Martin currently holds down the 12th and final position, but he has consistently said he will not change his part-time schedule to make the "Chase." That makes Ryan Newman the "de facto" holder of the final spot.

Newman has been on a roll of late, winning three consecutive poles and finishing second at both Dover and Pocono. He is 685 points behind Gordon.

Behind Newman is Dale Earnhardt Jr. (-33) and Jamie McMurray (-77).

Drivers holding the ninth through 11 positions are also not a "lock" and will be points racing over these final dozen races. Kevin Harvick in ninth, is just 117 points ahead of "Junior." Kyle Busch and the suddenly formidable Martin Truex Jr. have even less of a hold on their "Chase" positions.

So the race for the "Chase" should be great summer fare. It starts this weekend on the high-speed two-mile Michigan International Speedway.

Don't miss it or you'll be sorry you did.

Busch

Meijer 300 - Kentucky Speedway - Sparta, KY

How do you build a 662-point lead in just 15 events? Ask Carl Edwards.

The driver of the No.60 Roush Fenway Ford has done it by winning four times and finishing in the top-five an incredible 11 times. It also helps that second-place Kevin Harvick, the defending series champion, has missed three races.

Harvick has competed well in the events he has run, winning once and collecting 10 top-10s, but he has not been the force he was in 2006.

Behind Edwards and Harvick are full-timers, Dave Blaney, David Reutimann and Regan Smith. But none of them has a win and Smith has the most top-10s of the trio with just five.

Last year's race in Kentucky saw the arrival of David Gilliland. His win over J.J. Yeley "announced" his arrival and directly led to his getting a full-time Nextel Cup ride with Robert Yates Racing.

Driving an un-sponsored car, Gilliland was fourth with 40 laps remaining. But Yeley was running away and hiding and his lead was 4.783 second with 29 laps to go. Two laps later it was more than five seconds and only the appearance of a caution flag could halt his march towards Victory Lane.

Meanwhile, Gilliland slipped past Denny Hamlin and Mike Wallace and the youngster found himself just one car away from his first Busch Series win. He was putting down the fastest times and slowly cutting into Yeley's huge five- second margin.

Sixteen laps remaining and the worst news Yeley could hear, a caution flag, came out.

Yeley, Gilliland and the remainder of the top-five stayed out and it was a horse race again. Gilliland made his move underneath Yeley with 10 laps to go, running his fastest lap of the race. Shortly after he completed the pass, a final caution flag left him with just six laps to hold the lead for his first win.

Yeley was faster through turns one and two, but Gilliland was quicker through three and four and he managed to maintain a three-length lead as they took the white flag. The final lap was a nervous one for his crew, but Gilliland had no problems as he took the checkered flag.

"It's a dream come true, I've waited my whole life for this," said Gilliland after the race.

Gilliland is still living the dream, driving in both the Nextel Cup Series and the Busch Series.

Craftsman

Michigan 200 - Michigan International Speedway - Brooklyn, MI

Last year, Johnny Benson produced in front of his hometown fans, edging Mark Martin by 0.112 seconds. The Grand Rapids, MI native went on to win another race the following week and a total of four times in a nine-week span to challenge Todd Bodine for the 2006 crown.

Benson will need another kick-start in 2007 as he is currently mired in eighth place, 417 points behind leader Mike Skinner.

"I am very excited about Michigan. It is my home track on the NASCAR side and it is a great place to race," Benson said on NASCAR.com. "This is where we turned things around last year and I am hoping to do it again. We have had some unfortunate luck the last few weeks, even though our truck has been incredibly fast."

Skinner has been on a roll since the season began. The No.5 Toyota Tundra driver has been winning poles and races at an incredible pace.

His streak of five consecutive pole wins was stopped last week when Bodine squeaked past him by just 0.081 seconds on Friday. Skinner owns a record 38 poles in 138 truck series starts, eight more than Jack Sprague. He also holds the series record of eight straight poles which he set in 1995.

But NASCAR doesn't reward points for poles, only race results and Skinner has been pretty good there too.

In nine events, Skinner's worst finish is an eighth-place result in Charlotte. He also earned three wins to build his championship lead. Skinner leads the series in points (1,543), winnings ($328,475), laps led (526), top-10s (9), and driver rating (123.9)

The lead is just 82 points because Ron Hornaday Jr. has also been on a roll lately. The driver of Kevin Harvick Inc.'s No.33 Chevrolet has eight top-10s in nine starts and has won two of the last four events.

Defending series champion Bodine grabbed the win last week at Texas and is third in the title chase, but 181 points back. It remains to be seen if he can get back into the race.

The event will mark Terry Cook's 250th truck start. He ranks No.3 all-time behind Rick Crawford and Sprague, each of whom has appeared in 256 races.

Qualifying is set for Saturday morning and the race will drop the green flag at 4 p.m. that afternoon.

FORMULA ONE

United States Grand Prix - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Indianapolis, IN

Lewis Carl Hamilton was named after the great track and field athlete Carl Lewis. By the time Hamilton's career is completed, people will think it was the other way around.

Hamilton, in just his sixth event in the Formula One Series, is breaking records.

The British driver is the first rookie to ever lead the standings. He has done it with the ease, confidence and skill of a driver with many years of experience. In the six races, we have still yet to see the young 22-year-old make a mistake.

Through six events, and his worse finish is a third-place in his maiden voyage in Melbourne. He followed that up with four consecutive runner-up finishes before winning last week in Montreal.

In the Canadian GP he was virtually perfect. He won the pole, beat his McLaren Mercedes teammate Fernando Alonso to the first turn, and never was headed. Twice he built leads of more than 10 seconds and despite four appearances for the Safety Car, he cruised to the first of what likely will be many F1 wins.

His victory was the first for a black driver in Formula One, but he is much more than that. He is a great driver already and yet still humble enough to know he has a lot more to learn. That is a rare combination for an athlete these days.

"I am just privileged to be in Formula One," said Hamilton. "Ten years ago, I could not have imagined being here and now I am here with the best drivers in the world, it is amazing.

"I'm still a rookie. I am learning every day, every time I arrive at the track. The whole season I will feel like a rookie."

A rookie who holds an eight-point lead over the two-time World Champion.

Alonso seems stunned at how good his new teammate is and it may be affecting his driving. In Montreal, the normally unflappable Spaniard made a seemingly desperate move on the first turn of the first lap.

Starting alongside Hamilton, Alonso tried to go too deep into the first turn to get ahead of Hamilton. He ran through the turn, slid in front of Hamilton coming out of turn two and after regaining control settled in behind Nick Heidfeld in third place. It was the move a rookie would make, or a driver who feels threatened.

On lap 19 Alonso made another mistake in turn one allowing Felipe Massa to take over the third spot. Later, on lap 29 Alonso was penalized for pitting at the wrong time (he was out of fuel and had no choice) and would finish seventh.

"I think this was a strange race with the Safety Car being deployed so many times which worked to Lewis' advantage today and my disadvantage," said Alonso, who also added, "Whilst it was a difficult race for me I'm pleased for the team and Lewis that we were able to secure some important points and Lewis winning his first race."

It seemed to be a half-hearted congratulations, particularly when combined with these other comments:

"From the first moment, I wasn't completely comfortable," said Alonso on Spain's Cadena Ser radio. "I am in an English team, with an English teammate, who is doing brilliantly. We knew all the support and help would go his way. It is something I understand."

And these comments came just a couple of weeks after McLaren told Hamilton not to try and overtake Alonso at Monaco.

Now it's on to Indianapolis. Alonso has never won there while it will be the first try for Hamilton.

Ferrari has won this race five consecutive times and six out of the last seven, but that was all Michael Schumacher. Their lineup this year is Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa. The team was not really competitive in Montreal, Nick Heidfeld and Alex Wurz finished second and third while Raikkonen scored the team's only points for a fifth-place finish. Massa was disqualified for exiting pit lane during a red light.

But Indy has always been good to Ferrari and they will probably put up a big effort this week. Still, if Hamilton continues to be flawless, look for McLaren's first victory at Indianapolis since Alain Prost won in 1991.