This Week in Auto Racing June 27 - June 29

This Week in Auto Racing June 27 - June 29
Tue 24th, June 2008

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - NASCAR's Sprint Cup race highlights this week's schedule as they head down to the final 10 races before the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" begins.

Sprint Cup

Lenox Industrials Tool 301 - New Hampshire International Speedway - Loudon, NH

It was just six weeks ago that Matt Kenseth was seemingly out of the "Chase for the Sprint Cup." Just after the race at Richmond in early May, the No.17 Roush Fenway Racing driver was mired in 22nd place more than 200 points behind the 12th and final position in the "playoffs."

But Kenseth, who along with Jimmie Johnson are the only drivers to make the "Chase" in each of the first four years, began his push with a sixth-place finish at Darlington and since then has posted seven consecutive top-10s. After his eighth-place result last Sunday in Sonoma, Kenseth finds himself in 12th place and in the "Chase."

For Kenseth, the eighth-place finish at Sonoma, a place he openly admits is not one of his favorite venues, was a great finish. Before last week's race, Kenseth had never posted a top-10 at Infineon Raceway. His best finish there was an 11th-place result and his average finish was a disappointing 23.5. By staying out of trouble and watching drivers fall by the wayside, the No.17 earned his first top-10 at Sonoma.

"I feel like we won," said Kenseth on his team's website. "That's my best finish ever here. I drove hard and got a good finish and we moved up in points...The bottom line is really you do the best you can every week, and try to finish as high as you can and try to lead laps and do all that and the points take care of themselves."

Now it's on to the New Hampshire International Speedway where he has had much better success. Although he hasn't won in 16 starts there, Kenseth owns 11 top-10s and has an average finish just above 10.

Kenseth will need to continue his top performances because there are five drivers within 107 points of his final place in the Chase.

Kevin Harvick is 13th overall and just two markers behind Kenseth. David Ragan (-47), Brian Vickers (-104), Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman (-105) and Martin Truex Jr. (-107) are all knocking on the doorstep. Even Travis Kvapil, who is 216 points behind and doing a great job in the No.28 Yates Ford, has a chance.

Last year's race was won by Denny Hamlin. Hamlin has visited the 1.058-mile oval just four times. He has scored three top-10s and has the best average finish of any current starter (6.50). One year ago at New Hampshire, Hamlin used a two-tire stop to take the lead with 37 laps remaining and then fought off both Truex Jr. and Jeff Gordon for the victory. Hamlin sits comfortable in the Chase, in eighth place, 118 points ahead of 13th-place Harvick.

But for Hamlin to win this week, he'll likely have to fight off both his teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing. Kyle Busch, the current points leader won the 2006 event and Stewart won in both 2000 and 2005.

Three weeks ago when Busch tried to race in three events at three venues, he struggled finishing 43rd at Pocono. Even two weeks ago when he divided his time between two races, both at Michigan, he finished a mediocre 13th.

Busch, who only raced in one race last week, winning at Sonoma, will once again make multiple starts. He is scheduled to race in the Nationwide Series event at New Hampshire, although he will not drive in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Memphis. It will be interesting to see if the additional start takes away from his focus on the Sprint Cup Series.

Nationwide Series

Camping World RV Sales 200 - New Hampshire International Speedway - Loudon, NH

The Nationwide Series joins up with the Sprint Cup Series in New Hampshire after three stand-alone events which produced two first-time winners in Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.

Logano will sit out this race, Tony Stewart will start in the No.20 Toyota, but Keselowski will try and continue his recent top-10 streak. Currently the string is at five races after an eighth-place finish in Milwaukee. The 24- year-old is second in the standings, just 188 points behind leader Clint Bowyer.

Bowyer continues to dominate the championship despite only winning just one time - at Bristol in March. He has crafted his almost 200-point lead by posting 14 top-10s in 17 starts.

While Keselowski is in second place, the driver Bowyer is probably eyeing the most is defending series champion Carl Edwards. The No.60 Roush Fenway Racing driver finally broke his 36-race winless streak last Saturday at Milwaukee.

Edwards led just 27 laps, but they were the final 27. One lap after going back to green, Edwards slid underneath Bowyer, got him loose and charged through the opening for the lead. Logano followed Edwards and grabbed second place.

But Edwards, the veteran that he is, never let Logano get close enough to make a passing attempt. He also got help from Bowyer who fought with Logano for second and allowed Edwards to get a comfortable lead. Edwards easily took the checkered flag and then honored a favorite local driver, the late Alan Kulwicki, with a "Polish Victory Lap."

Kevin Harvick won last year's race at NHIS, leading 166 of 200 laps en route to a dominating victory. Harvick will be one of five drivers (along with Edwards, Jason Keller, Bobby Hamilton Jr. and Kenny Wallace), who will try for a second win there. In 21 Nationwide Series races, there has never been a repeat winner.

Craftsman

O'Reilly 200 - Memphis Motorsports Park - Memphis, TN

The Craftsman Truck Series continues to be the most hotly contested championship battle in NASCAR. There are eight drivers within 189 points of standings leader Johnny Benson.

Benson is coming off a third consecutive win at Milwaukee and his first of 2008, but probably not his last. Over the last two years, Benson has won nine times all after June 17th.

In 2006 Benson collected five wins starting in Michigan and finished second in the championship to Todd Bodine. Last year, Benson's first win was at Milwaukee and he won three more times, finishing third behind Ron Hornaday Jr. and Mike Skinner. In each of those seasons, he challenged for the title after falling behind early in the season.

This time around, Benson has a 50-point lead on Bodine and 70 points on the defending champion.

Hornaday Jr., has been inconsistent in 2008. When he won last year's title, the No.33 Kevin Harvick Inc. driver earned 22 top-10s (four wins) in 25 events. Already in 2008, Hornaday Jr. has four finishes of 23rd or worse. Despite that, he is fourth overall and a major contender to repeat his crown. Last year, Hornaday Jr. posted eight top-three finishes beginning at NHIS to edge Skinner by 54 points.

And then there is the Matt Crafton story . The journeyman racer has never been a threat to win a crown - at least until this season. He went a series-record 178 races before winning for the first time at Lowe's in mid-May. Since joining the series full-time in 2001, Crafton's best season was in 2004 when he finished fifth overall. But until this season he had never won a race in the series or been a real contender.

Driving the No.88 ThorSport Racing Chevrolet, Crafton took advantage of a late-race crash to edge Chad McCumbee by 0.184-seconds in Charlotte. The win has propelled him to third place in the standings, just 67 points behind Benson. Crafton finished fifth at Dover and was second last week in Milwaukee to become a contender in the championship. He finished 10th at Memphis Motorsports Park in 2007.

"We are definitely a top-five team, top-three team," said Crafton on the team's website. "We just keep doing what we are doing all year. That is what you have to do to win races and win championships is put yourself in position each and every week. I feel like we are doing that right now."

INDYCARS

SunTrust Indy Challenge - Richmond International Raceway - Richmond, VA

The 2008 IndyCar Series campaign continues to look like the 2003 season in which Scott Dixon won the title.

Five years ago, Dixon won three of the first eight races. If we look at this season's results - Dixon has won three of the first seven events. In 2003 Dixon led 524 laps in his first eight starts versus in 2008 when he has led a series-high 634 laps.

The bad news for the other drivers is that in 2003, Dixon still trailed Tony Kanaan by 31 points after eight events. Currently Dixon holds 48-point lead over Helio Castroneves and 49 points over his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dan Wheldon.

Castroneves continues to contend for the championship despite not winning this year (Dancing with the Stars doesn't count). He has finished in the top-four in seven of eight starts.

Wheldon, the 2005 champion, is coming off a win at the Iowa Speedway to close to within 49 points. It was a "fuel-mileage" win at Iowa in which Wheldon went the final 90 laps on his final tank of fuel to edge Hideki Mutoh by 0.1430 seconds.

"When you're talking hundredths of seconds and you've got the guys working all the time to give us competitive equipment, it really does make a difference," said Wheldon."

Last year's race at the Richmond International Raceway was dominated by Dario Franchitti who led 242 of 250 laps, but Franchitti has since headed for the fame and dollars in NASCAR. Unfortunately, his Sprint Cup career has gotten off to a slow start as the defending IndyCar Series champion sits 42nd in points.

One of this year's pleasant surprises has been the performance of Andretti Green Racing's Mutoh. He raced just one time in 2007 finishing eighth in the season finale at the Chicagoland Speedway. This season he has five top-10s including last week's runner-up finish. After eight starts, Mutoh sits fifth in the championship, just 17 points behind fourth-place Kanaan and 117 points behind Dixon.

Mutoh has come up through the IRL ranks, finishing second in the Indy Pro Series in 2007 with two wins. He was noticed by the IndyCar Series "bigwigs" after a dramatic three-wide, last-lap pass at the Kentucky Speedway. When Franchitti jumped to the Sprint Cup Series, Mutoh was selected to take his spot at AGR.

The race at Richmond is the second of six consecutive weeks of racing.

"There are going to be a lot of cars that are going to be competitive," said Wheldon. "(Team) Penske is renowned for being competitive at Richmond."