This Week in Auto Racing October 1 - 3

This Week in Auto Racing October 1 - 3

Kansas City, KS (Sports Network) - While round three in the Chase for the Sprint Cup moves through the heartland of America to Kansas Speedway, the IZOD IndyCar Series will wrap up its season in South Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway, as two drivers vie for the championship.

Sprint Cup Series

Price Chopper 400 - Kansas Speedway - Kansas City, KS

After a dramatic weekend in Dover, round three in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship heads to Kansas Speedway -- the first of four 1.5-mile tracks on the Chase schedule.

Just 83 points separate leader Denny Hamlin from eighth-place Jeff Gordon. Hamlin's advantage over second-place Jimmie Johnson is 35 points, which is the largest margin after the second race in the Chase. However, no driver who has led in Chase points after Dover has gone on to win the championship.

Hamlin has struggled at Kansas in the past, but last year, his performance here significantly improved with a fifth-place finish.

"I felt like we almost had a race-winning car there last year," Hamlin said. "I think our program is better this time around than where we were last year. So if we finished fifth last year, we should improve on it this time around.

"When I go there, I'm going to go with an open mind. It is another one-off racetrack where we don't go there but once a year. Really, it's almost like everyone is going to have to start over."

Kansas will host two Sprint Cup races beginning next year.

Johnson started the Chase with a disappointing 25th-place finish at New Hampshire, but his campaign for a record-extending fifth straight Sprint Cup championship got back on track after winning at Dover.

Can he keep the momentum going at Kansas?

Johnson has now scored 19 wins in 62 Chase races. Seven of those wins have occurred on mile-and-a-halfs, including one at Kansas in 2008.

"In years past, mile-and-a-halfs have been our bread and butter and have been really good for us," Johnson said. "Kansas has a really cool transition in and off the corners where you can run second and third lane. It is pretty friendly, and you can search around and try to find a line."

Chase contenders Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart are the only drivers with multiple victories at Kansas. Gordon won the first two Kansas races from 2001-02, while Stewart has won two of the last four events here.

"It's just a momentum track, and there's nothing in particular that I love when I go to Kansas, as far as the track is concerned," Stewart said. "It's just a place that whatever it is about our driving style, it seems to work when we go there."

Stewart currently is 10th in the Chase standings, as he trails Hamlin by 162 points.

"The further we get into it, the more the points are going to separate the field, and you're going to see exactly who you're racing against for the championship," Stewart said. "There probably won't be 12 guys with two or three races left. It will be down to four or five guys who have a shot at it."

After a frustrating start in the Chase, Clint Bowyer certainly is looking forward to competing at his home track. Bowyer's hometown of Emporia, KS is roughly 100 miles southwest of the speedway.

"Going back to Kansas is always special, because it's home," he said. "We've always been able to run well there, and I'm looking forward to it. We had an awesome race at Chicago, a track that is very similar to Kansas. I'm looking forward to taking that very same car back and having a good run in front of the hometown crowd."

Bowyer kicked off the Chase by winning the September 19 race at New Hampshire, but days later, NASCAR docked Bowyer 150 points, as well as suspended his crew chief, Shane Wilson, and car chief, Chad Haney, for six races after Bowyer's winning car was found to be illegal during a more thorough post-race inspection conducted at NASCAR's Research and Development Center in Concord, NC. Richard Childress Racing is scheduled to appeal the penalty in front of the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel on Wednesday.

Bowyer's New Hampshire win moved him to within 35 points of Hamlin, but after the penalty and then a 25th-place finish at Dover, Bowyer is now a distant 235 points behind the leader.

Hamlin's comments towards Bowyer's team on Friday at Dover led to a ruckus on the track and in the garage during practice the following day. Bowyer's teammate, Kevin Harvick, showed his displeasure towards Hamlin by bumping his car multiple times during the first lap of practice. The two exchanged heated words in the garage shortly after.

Will the drama continue at Kansas?

Forty-six teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Price Chopper 400.

Nationwide Series

Kansas Lottery 300 - Kansas Speedway - Kansas City, KS

Kyle Busch is looking to continue his winning ways in the Nationwide Series this weekend at Kansas Speedway.

Busch set another record in NASCAR's second-tier series by claiming his 11th win of the season with a near flawless performance in last Saturday's race at Dover. He broke the previous record of 10 wins in a season, originally set by Sam Ard in 1983. Busch matched that feat in 2008.

"It's very cool and very fitting to come out here and beat one of the greats in Sam Ard and be able to put my win up there as number 11 -- the most of all- time -- in a season," Busch said. "We still have more races to go. I'm looking forward to more wins, hopefully."

Busch is scheduled to run in six of the seven remaining Nationwide races this season. He will not compete in the October 23 race in St. Louis, which is the last stand-alone event in the series this year.

There have been nine different winners in as many Nationwide races at Kansas. Busch won here in 2007, when he drove for Hendrick Motorsports.

Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Joey Logano, is the defending race winner. Busch dominated last year's Kansas race, but following a late-race restart, Logano passed him for the lead with four laps to go and then held it for his fourth victory of the 2009 season.

Camping World Truck Series regular Ricky Carmichael will make his Nationwide debut at Kansas. Carmichael, who is a 15-time American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) champion, will drive the No.10 Toyota for Turner Motorsports.

"Just in my first full year of competition in the Truck Series, I feel like we've really made a lot of improvement," Carmichael said.

Last week, Turner announced its immediate acquisition of Braun Racing, which had owned four Nationwide teams.

Brian Scott drove the No.11 Toyota for Braun throughout the season, but Scott was released from the team earlier this week. James Buescher, a current truck driver and former Nationwide competitor, will take over driving duties. Scott currently holds a one-point lead over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the Nationwide rookie of the year standings.

Forty-nine teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Kansas Lottery 300.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES

Cafes do Brasil Indy 300 - Homestead-Miami Speedway - Homestead, FL

Twelve points, two drivers and one race to go.

That's the point separation between leader Will Power and second-place Dario Franchitti heading into this weekend's season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

After winning the final road/street course race of the season last month at Sonoma, CA, Power held a 59-point lead over defending series champion Franchitti. But Franchitti has cut that deficit by 47 points in the last three races, all of them contested on 1.5-mile ovals.

Power showed he was the best on the courses this year, but he hasn't been as dominant on the ovals. The Team Penske driver finished 16th at Chicagoland and then eighth at Kentucky before recording his career-best performance on an oval with a third-place run at Motegi, Japan.

"I've got a 12-point lead, and basically, I need to race according to where Dario is on the track," Power said. "If he's ahead, I've got to race more aggressively. Otherwise, I could lose the championship and maybe take it a bit more cautious if he's behind me."

Franchitti has finished fifth or better, including a win at Chicagoland, in the last three races. The Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver is attempting to match Sam Hornish Jr.'s record of three IndyCar championships.

One year ago, Scott Dixon entered the season-ending race at Homestead with just a five-point lead over his teammate, Franchitti, and an eight-point advantage over third-place Ryan Briscoe from Penske. Franchitti prevailed in the series' first-ever caution-free race. He capitalized on a late-race pit strategy and then held off Briscoe and Dixon in the final laps to take the checkered flag and clinch his second IndyCar championship. His first title came in 2007, when he drove for Andretti Green Racing.

Power finished 25th in his only start at Homestead in 2008, when he drove for KV Racing. Franchitti has competed in six IndyCar races here.

Will Franchitti's experience at Homestead give him an advantage?

"I don't think it will matter," Franchitti said. "I think [Power] will get up to speed very quickly...There's no reason why he can't do it at Homestead. We just have to make sure we beat him."

Saturday's race should be a heck of a shootout, with the championship likely decided again on the final lap. Chicagoland held the finale from 2006-08, with the title determined on the last lap there each of those years.

Should there be a tie for the points lead after the checkered flag waves at Homestead, the championship would then be decided by number of victories for the season. Power has notched five wins, compared to three for Franchitti.

This is the second year in a row that Homestead hosts the series' season- ending race. Homestead held the season-opener from 2003-08. The South Florida track has been dropped from next year's schedule.

Twenty-seven teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Cafes do Brasil Indy 300.