This Week in Auto Racing May 30 - June 1

This Week in Auto Racing May 30 - June 1

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - After last week's high-profile races, it's inevitable that racing fans will be blase about this week's racing schedule, but both IndyCars and NASCAR will be back on the track.

Sprint Cup

Best Buy 400 - Dover International Speedway - Dover, DE

Kyle Busch is currently the best driver in NASCAR, whether you pick the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series or Craftsman Truck Series.

All told, Busch has made 30 starts in NASCAR's three major series' in 2008 and has earned nine wins (30%), finished in the top-10 20 times (67%) and led a total of 1607 laps.

The younger brother of 2004 Sprint Cup Series champion Kurt Busch leads the Sprint Cup Series by 94 points over Jeff Burton and 139 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr. He also sits second in the Nationwide Series standings and seventh in the truck series despite missing a race due to scheduling conflicts.

But Busch runs 110% at all times and it rubs some drivers and fans the wrong way. After knocking fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. from the lead at Richmond in early May, Busch felt the ire of the fans. He has become NASCAR's "bad boy" not just for the Richmond incident, but for other childish behavior he has exhibited of the past years. Of course, Busch is only 23-years-old and is still in the maturation stage.

Busch won the 2005 Labor Day race at the age of 20 years, four months and two days, the youngest winner in NASCAR's Sprint Cup history. And his performance this year is something to see. Whatever car (or truck) he gets into is automatically a contender for the win. He can drive a car that's too loose to race and yet he will drive it up front. He is fun to watch, because you know something is going to happen - good or bad.

Burton on the other hand is the opposite of Busch both on the track and off. The driver of the No.31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet just quitely goes about his job.

Burton has made the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" in each of the last two seasons and is perfectly situated to do it again this year. He holds a 368-point advantage over the 13th-place driver. Burton has a win (Bristol) and has earned eight top-10s to date.

The No.31 RCR driver rarely shows his emotion on the track, except when it comes to driver safety. There, Burton leads the way for his fellow drivers and is always in favor of whatever it takes to make the guys safe.

"One hundred years from now, when we're all dead, think of how much safer race cars are going to be," says Burton.

Even back in 2000, before SAFER barriers and the Car of Tomorrow, Burton was NASCAR's voice for driver safety.

"NASCAR officials may insist they've always been safety-conscious -- and they have always been safety-conscious -- but this has always been more of a reactive organization, and now it is proactive," said Burton. "There's a big difference between trying to prevent something from happening and trying to prevent something from happening again."

This March, when Jeff Gordon slammed part of an unprotected wall in Las Vegas, it was Burton's voice that was heard loudest.

"Without mincing words, last week's incident and how Jeff hit the wall -- in a word -- was inexcusable," Burton said. "I will give, and the racetracks deserve, a tremendous amount of credit for the investment they've put in to the development of and the installation of the SAFER barriers...but

"The thing that I've been saying for seven years is that we can never be as safe as we can be. If we ever get to the point where we quit looking to be better, we're going to quit being better."

It's nice to see a good man succeed and Burton is doing that this year. That's why he has so many fans - including this reporter.

Nationwide

Heluva Good! 200 - Dover International Speedway - Dover, DE

While Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and David Reutimann are in a classic battle for the 2008 Nationwide Series championship, they will not be the "center of attention" this week at the Dover International Speedway.

No, this week all eyes will be on an 18-year-old by the name of Joey Logano.

None other than Mark Martin called the then 17-year-old the "real deal." He added that Logano already had more talent than some of the drivers he competed against. But NASCAR rules prohibit a driver younger than 18 to compete in any of NASCAR's three national series.

Logano, turned 18 on May 24th and Joe Gibbs Racing will put him behind the wheel of the No.20 Toyota. The same No.20 that Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch have all driven into Victory Lane this season. The pressure will be on the youngster even though its his first Nationwide Series race.

But expect Logano to do well. Despite his young age, he has been driving and winning since he was seven years old when he won the Eastern Grand National Championship in Jr. Stock Quarter Midgets. He won again in 1998 and 1999. At age nine he won the Bandoleros Summer Shootout Series at both Atlanta Motor Speedway and Lowes Motor Speedway, ending with another National Championship.

Logano graduated to Legend Cars and won 14 consecutive races en route to another championship. At age 15, he made his debut in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, making him the youngest competitor in the series that year and he won in his second start. Last year Logano drove in NASCAR's Busch East Series winning five times on his way to another title.

It should be interesting to see how NASCAR's newest sensation performs against the likes of Busch, Edwards and Kevin Harvick.

Craftsman

AAA Insurance 200 - Dover International Speedway - Dover, DE

When we last left the Craftsman Truck Series at the tiny Mansfield Motorsports Park in Ohio, we saw a first-time winner, Donny Lia, head to Victory Lane despite leading just one lap.

David Starr dominated the 250-lap event leading 170 circuits, but Lia led the most important lap - the final one. In just his eighth truck series start, Lia out-drove former series champion Todd Bodine and veteran David Starr for the win.

"I really don't have a whole lot to say except this is an unbelievable day and something that I am still trying to believe is really happening," said Lia. "We struggled yesterday and after qualifying I don't know if I have ever been that mad in my life. That just drove me all day today."

The win was just his second top-10 of the season and it was the first win for the TRG Motorsports team. Lia does know how to win. He won the 2007 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship and with the victory climbed to 20th in the Craftsman standings.

While Lia had a great day in Ohio, then points leader Ron Hornaday Jr. had a disastrous day, finishing 35th and falling to fifth in the championship. The defending series champion's day turned bad after a lap 44 restart. He was fighting with Johnny Benson when they touched and Mike Skinner got past both drivers. Hornaday Jr. fought back against Skinner, but they also made contact and it sent Hornaday Jr. into the Turn 4 wall.

The new points leader is Bodine, by just eight markers over Rick Crawford, 45 over Matt Crafton, 58 over Benson and 64 over Hornaday Jr. in the best of NASCAR's championship races.

"We had a great run today with the Lumber Liquidators Tundra, and we made some big picture gains by finishing third," said Mike Hillman Jr., Bodine's crew chief.

Bodine may have another teammate down the road. Former open-wheel star Paul Tracy will test a Germain Racing Toyota on Wednesday at the Chicagoland Speedway.

"I'm still young and I have a great passion for the sport of racing, and I plan to be a part of it for many years to come," Tracy said. " I'm thankful that Bob Germain is giving me this opportunity."

INDYCARS

ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Indy 225 - The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, WI

While most of the racing world watched Scott Dixon win last Sunday's Indianapolis 500, the IndyCar audience for this week's ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Indy 225 at The Milwaukee Mile will be quite a bit smaller.

But that doesn't mean a win is any less important. A win at Indy is worth more money and prestige than a win in Milwaukee, but both race wins are worth 50 points in the standings.

Dixon's win at Indy gave him a 15-point lead in the championship over Helio Castroneves (191-176).

"Wow! Today has been amazing," said Dixon on the team's website. "I mean you spend your entire racing career to achieve something like today and I finally did it! I can not thank Chip enough and everyone at Target for giving me such a great car this month and for sticking by me throughout my entire time at Target Chip Ganassi Racing."

Dixon won the IndyCar title in 2003, but slumped in 2004 and 2005 finishing 10th and 13th respectively. He rebounded nicely over the past two years finishing fourth and second overall.

The No.9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver had two wins and two thirds in five starts in 2008. He has led a stunning 429 laps of a possible 874. Together with teammate Dan Wheldon (90 laps led), the "bull's-eye" team has led 59.4% of all laps run this year.

Castroneves has hung in the title chase without winning a race. On the other hand, he has not finished lower than fourth this year.

"Fourth place is definitely not what we expected," said Castroneves of his finish at Indianapolis. "We tried everything we could. Tim Cindric and all my guys, led by Rick Rinaman, they were fantastic. Unfortunately, overall, it was very difficult to pass."

But Castroneves is seemingly over the disappointment of not winning a third "500."

"Now, let's think about the championship," he said.

That would be a good idea for everyone. May is almost history and Indianapolis is history. Those frustrated by their results last Sunday, in particular Danica Patrick, must look how to improve not whine about the past.

At least twice during the race, her transmissions to the crew were heard by the audience and each time she was doing more whining than anything else.

"I can't do anything!" Patrick shouted. "I am SLOW! I am DAMN SLOW!"

She also completely blamed Ryan Briscoe for the pit lane accident which ultimately knocked her out of the race. Both drivers could have done more to avoid the incident. Of course, it's not the first time they got together. At Infineon in 2005 Briscoe ran her off the road.

But all that is water under the bridge and to win a championship you have to think about the next race, not the last one. It will be interesting to see which drivers are ready to go this week and which are still in an Indy funk."