This Week in Auto Racing June 19 - 21

This Week in Auto Racing June 19 - 21

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The Sprint Cup Series' road-course event at Sonoma, CA headlines a busy Father's Day weekend of racing. The Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series run in Milwaukee, while IndyCar heads to Iowa, and Formula One revs it up in Silverstone, England.

Sprint Cup Series

Toyota/Save Mart 350 - Infineon Raceway - Sonoma, CA

The Sprint Cup Series heads to Northern California for the first of two road- course races this season. The other event is slated for August 9 at Watkins Glen, NY.

After running a limited schedule the past two seasons, Mark Martin will compete on a road course for the first time since August 2006 at Watkins Glen. Martin skipped out on Sonoma and Watkins Glen in 2007 and '08.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver picked up his third victory of the season last Sunday at Michigan. If Martin wins two more Sprint Cup races this year, he will become just the second driver 50 years or older to win five races in a season. Harry Gant did it in 1991 when he was 51.

Martin is a four-time road-course winner, with three of them coming at Watkins Glen (1993-95) and the other at Sonoma (1997).

Jeff Gordon holds the record for most road-course victories with nine. Gordon is a five-time winner at Sonoma, including three in a row there from 1998-2000. He has also posted a track record five poles at Sonoma.

But Gordon has not performed as well on the road courses as he did since NASCAR started running the Car of Tomorrow (COT) on those tracks in 2007.

"We've struggled a little bit the last couple of years on the road courses with this new car, not so much at Infineon as much as Watkins Glen," Gordon said. "It's definitely something that's on our radar. We want to make improvements."

Gordon looks forward to traveling to Sonoma each year since he was born down the road from the track in Vallejo, CA. He also has business interests in the area.

"I love going out there and seeing family," he said. "I love going out there because I like changing it up on the road courses. It's the wine country, and I have my own wine, so I love going out there for that."

Gordon is now 47 points behind leader Tony Stewart, who is also a road-course master.

Stewart has six victories, placing him in a tie with Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, Richard Petty and Bobby Allison for second on the all-time road-course winners list. Two of Stewart's wins have come at Sonoma.

Last year, Kyle Busch established himself as the new road-course "king," winning at Sonoma and Watkins Glen.

Busch earned his first career road-course victory in Sprint Cup one year ago at Sonoma. His car was a handful prior to the race, as he qualified 30th and struggled in practice. But Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing team made adjustments throughout the event to put him in the lead for good with 42 laps to go. He held off David Gilliland and Gordon in a green-white-checkered finish to claim his fifth Cup victory of the season.

"Winning the Toyota race at Infineon Raceway was really cool," Busch said. "For me, to be able to put myself on the list of road-course winners, that was pretty special, too."

Busch also won the Nationwide Series road-course event in Mexico City last year.

Forty-six teams are on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's Toyota/Save Mart 350. Among the entrants are several road-course ringers, such as Ron Fellows, Boris Said and Patrick Carpentier.

Nationwide Series

NorthernTool.com 250 - The Milwaukee Mile - West Allis, WI

After a 20th-place finish last Saturday at Kentucky, Carl Edwards fell 137 points behind leader Kyle Busch in the Nationwide Series championship standings. Edwards dealt with an ill-handling car and was slapped with two pit-road speeding penalties before ending up three laps behind. NASCAR handed out penalties for pit-road speed violations to more than half of the 43-driver field during the race.

Busch finished second, despite running in front for 162 of 200 laps, the seventh straight Nationwide race he has led the most laps. Joey Logano passed Busch with 10 laps remaining to notch the win.

Edwards and Busch will pull the Sonoma-Milwaukee double this weekend. Both drivers are full-time competitors in NASCAR's second-tier series in 2009.

"This is our third split weekend, and Colin Braun will be practicing our (car)," Edwards said. "If Colin qualifies the car, we will start from the rear and forge our way to the front. We struggled in Kentucky, so I am determined to run well and hopefully celebrate in victory lane."

Edwards has yet to win a Nationwide race this year. His first win in 2008 came at Milwaukee, which kick-started the remainder of his season. Edwards trailed leader Clint Bowyer by 225 points at this point last year. He went on to win seven of the remaining 19 events, but lost the championship to Bowyer by 21 points.

Double-duty drivers have always made it from Sonoma to Milwaukee - sometimes in the nick of time. However, Sprint Cup regular Denny Hamlin arrived at the one-mile oval shortly after the Nationwide race began in 2007. Substitute driver Aric Almirola started on the pole and led on lap 58 when he pitted to let Hamlin take over the wheel. Hamlin drove the car across the finish line first, but Almirola was credited with the victory.

Almirola returns to Nationwide competition for the first time since capturing his first career victory at Milwaukee two years ago. He'll drive the No.40 Chevrolet for Key Motorsports.

Johnny Sauter will fill in for Busch at Milwaukee if needed. Sauter, a Wisconsin native, won there in 2005.

Forty-seven teams are on the preliminary entry list for the NorthernTool.com 250.

Camping World Truck Series

Copart 200 - The Milwaukee Mile - West Allis, WI

Colin Braun is coming off an impressive victory last weekend at Michigan. Braun, in his No.6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, moved around Kyle Busch for the lead with 24 laps remaining, and then held it for his first Camping World Truck Series win in his 35th start. He also gave team owner Jack Roush his 50th victory in the series.

With the win, Braun moved up six spots to 12th in points.

"I am still pinching myself a bit that we finally broke through and won last weekend," Braun said. "Everyone says the first win is the toughest to get, so I hope they are right. We had a lot of ups and downs before it, so now I'd just like to keep the momentum going and keep gaining points."

Braun, the 2008 Truck Series rookie of the year, finished 31st in his first start at Milwaukee last year. He was one of nine drivers involved in a pileup midway through the 200-lap race.

After finishing fourth at Michigan, Matt Crafton increased his lead to 39 points over Ron Hornaday Jr. and 44 ahead of Mike Skinner. Hornaday managed to finish seventh after cutting a tire and falling behind early in the race. Skinner was fifth.

Hornaday and Skinner have one victory each at Milwaukee, while Crafton has yet to win there.

Johnny Benson has won the last three truck races at Milwaukee. Benson will not compete in Friday's race since his Red Horse Racing team suspended operations last week due to lack of sponsorship. He also suffered at least one broken rib during a fiery crash in a SuperModified race last Saturday at Berlin Raceway in Marne, MI.

According to Benson's fan website, his condition has been upgraded to fair, but he remains in a Grand Rapids, MI hospital.

Terry Cook, who won at Milwaukee in 2002, is expected to make his 300th career Truck Series start on Friday. Cook will join Rick Crawford as the only drivers with 300 or more starts in the series.

"This is a huge milestone for me in my career," Cook said. "I've had some really great times in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and it has always been my favorite racing in NASCAR."

Crawford has competed in 306 races so far.

Thirty-four teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Copart 200, two short of a full field.

Dennis Setzer, Mike Bliss, Aric Almirola, Hornaday and Cook are competing in both the Nationwide and Truck Series events at Milwaukee this weekend. Hornaday will celebrate his 51st birthday on Saturday.

INDYCAR SERIES

Iowa Corn Indy 250 - Iowa Speedway - Newton, IA

The IndyCar Series returns to action this weekend at the 7/8-mile Iowa Speedway. Iowa kicks off four consecutive weeks of racing in the series, with Richmond, Watkins Glen and Toronto to follow.

Two weeks ago, Helio Castroneves picked up his second victory of the season at Texas. After running among the top-five for a much of the race, Castroneves capitalized on a quick six-second pit stop, as he grabbed the lead from Ryan Briscoe with 53 laps to go. He held off his Penske Racing teammate for the remainder of the event to win at Texas for the third time, placing him in a tie with Sam Hornish Jr. for most victories at the 1.5-mile track.

Castroneves has finished 8th and 14th in the first two races at Iowa.

Briscoe currently holds a three-point lead over defending series champion Scott Dixon.

"Iowa is a really fun track to drive," Briscoe said. "It's a fast, high-banked short oval, so the racing is similar to running on a superspeedway, but we're turning on a very tight radius."

Briscoe finished seventh in his first start at Iowa last year.

Dario Franchitti won the inaugural event there during his 2007 IndyCar championship season. Franchitti competed in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series last season before returning to IndyCar at the end of the year.

"(This week) starts that stretch of Iowa and Richmond, two tracks that I really enjoy," Franchitti said. "You have to be good at every track. You can't let up in any spots."

Franchitti is third in points, while Castroneves, the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion, holds the fourth spot.

Dan Wheldon won the 2008 Iowa Corn Indy 250 on the same day he turned 30 years old. Wheldon drove the final 90 laps without refueling and held off a hard- charging Hideki Mutoh at the finish to score his second victory of the season and the 15th of his IndyCar career. He has not won a race since then.

Wheldon drove the No.10 car for Target Chip Ganassi Racing at the time. Franchitti is now behind the wheel of that car, while Wheldon took over the seat of the No.4 entry for Panther Racing.

Twenty teams are on the preliminary entry list for the 250-lap race at Iowa.

Two weeks ago, A.J. Foyt Racing named Ryan Hunter-Reay as substitute driver for the injured Vitor Meira in the No.14 car for the remainder of the season.

Hunter-Reay began the season driving the No.21 entry for Vision Racing, but the team has ceased operations. Vision secured primary sponsorship from IZOD for just the May 24 Indianapolis 500 and the June 6 race at Texas.

Meira suffered two fractured vertebrae in his back during a horrifying crash in the closing laps of the Indy 500. Paul Tracy (Milwaukee) and A.J. Foyt IV (Texas) have since substituted for the Brazilian driver.

FORMULA ONE

British Grand Prix - Silverstone Circuit - Silverstone, England

Several Formula One teams consider the British Grand Prix as their home race. Brawn GP, McLaren, Red Bull, Williams, Renault and Force India are all based in the United Kingdom.

Jenson Button from Brawn will try to claim his seventh victory in the first eight grand prix this year. Button, a native of Frome, Somerset, England, has accumulated 61 world championship points so far this year. His teammate, Rubens Barrichello, is second in points with 35, followed by 29 for Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.

"The British Grand Prix is always an amazing weekend, and I can't wait to race at Silverstone in front of our home fans on Sunday," Button said. "To be leading the championship going into my home grand prix is something that I've never experienced before, and it puts a smile on my face every time I think about it."

Button continues to enjoy a sensational season with the former Honda Racing team that has absolutely been dominant in F1 this year. Brawn holds a comfortable 39.5-point lead in the Constructors' championship rankings.

"The British Grand Prix at Silverstone will be a particularly special weekend for our team this year," team principal Ross Brawn said. "Our base in Brackley (England) is just eight miles from the circuit, and we are very proud, as a British team, to be going into our home race leading the constructors' and drivers' championships."

Michael Schumacher (2004) and Jim Clark (1965) are the only other drivers to win six of the first seven grand prix in a season. Schumacher went on to win 12 of the first 13 races in '04. He clinched his record-extending seventh drivers' title that year, as well as set records for most victories (13) and most points accumulated (148) in a season.

Barrichello is looking to rebound after his worst performance of the season two weeks ago in the Turkish Grand Prix. The Brazilian driver started third, but fell way back in the field after he stalled off the start line. He later made contact with McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, suffering significant damage to the nose of his car. Barrichello eventually retired, marking the first time this year a Brawn GP driver was knocked out of an event. He ended up with a 19th-place finish.

Lewis Hamilton is happy to return to his home country after the season woes continued for the defending world champion with a 13th-place finish in Turkey. Hamilton has scored only nine points so far this season. He won last year's British GP in a then dominant McLaren car.

"When I'm in the car, I can actually see the fans around the circuit waving banners and cheering," Hamilton said. "It's as if they were racing every lap with me - incredible."

There have been several back-to-back winners of the British GP, with Scotsman David Coulthard the last to do it from 1999-2000. The pole sitter has won this race 22 of 60 times, but just twice in the past 11 years.