This Week in Auto Racing October 9 - 11

This Week in Auto Racing October 9 - 11

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads west to Southern California for the fourth race in the Chase, while the IndyCar Series wraps up their season in South Florida, as three drivers vie for the title.

Sprint Cup Series

Pepsi 500 - Auto Club Speedway - Fontana, CA

Last Sunday at Kansas, ten of the top-11 finishers were Chase drivers, as the points battle for the Sprint Cup Series championship tightened. Only 114 points separate leader Mark Martin from eighth-place Greg Biffle heading into the Pepsi 500 at California -- the fourth race in the playoffs.

"It shows how competitive the Chase is," said Kansas race winner Tony Stewart, who moved up to fourth in points (-67).

Stewart, in his first year as driver and owner, captured his fourth victory of the season. The two-time Cup Series champion finished 14th at New Hampshire and seventh at ninth at Dover before winning at Kansas.

In February, Stewart finished eighth at California in just his second race with his new Stewart-Haas Racing team.

"We were still just learning each other going into California in the spring," Stewart said. "So going around this time, we obviously know each other better. We've had time to make mistakes and make decisions that worked for me, and we've learned the feel that I like together, and that's something that will help us. I'm anticipating California a lot more this time than in the spring."

After finishing seventh at Kansas, Martin padded his lead to 18 points over Hendrick Motorsports teammate and three-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, who finished ninth.

Johnson excels at the upcoming tracks on the schedule. The El Cajon, CA native returns to his hometrack this weekend as the winner of the last two fall races there. After California, the series runs at Charlotte and then Martinsville. Johnson has five victories at Charlotte and has won five of the last six races at Martinsville.

"They really are great tracks for us," Johnson said. "I think the season comes to us in a way. I know that we perform well in the Chase, but I think the schedule is helpful for the No.48 car. We have great results, and it gives us a lot of hope going into these tracks, but we still have to show up and get the job done."

Johnson has recorded five straight top-10 finishes at California. He dominated last year's fall race there, leading 228 of 250 laps.

Martin will compete in California's second date of the season for the first time since 2006. He has missed the event in the past two years due to his limited Cup schedule. Martin suffered engine failure and ended up with a 40th- place finish at California earlier this year.

Juan Pablo Montoya has been superb in the Chase so far. Montoya, in his first year in the playoffs, is the only driver who has scored top-five finishes in the first three Chase races. He's hoping his momentum will continue, but California has been one of his tougher tracks.

"I would rather have Atlanta to be honest," Montoya said. "I always run really well at Atlanta. At the same time we ran pretty good [at California] the last time we were there. It was very early in the season, and even then I think we had decent cars. Right now, we've got much more competitive cars."

Montoya is now third in points (-51). He has finished no better than 11th in his first five races at California. Montoya had a third-place run last month at Atlanta.

With California's second date of the season now moved to October , drivers and teams are expecting different track conditions, which should make for an interesting race.

"Conditions will be cooler," said Kurt Busch, who is currently fifth in points (-91). "The track most likely will be faster."

Forty-five teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Pepsi 500.

Nationwide Series

Copart 300 - Auto Club Speedway - Fontana, CA

Kyle Busch is looking to widen his points lead over Carl Edwards this Saturday at California.

Busch put on a dominating performance last week at Kansas, but after a late- race restart, Joey Logano passed Busch for the lead with four laps remaining. It was the fourth time this season that Logano has taken the lead away from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate with less than 10 laps to go and then go on to victory.

With his second-place finish, Busch stretched his points lead to 245 with six races to go.

Logano, a four-time Nationwide Series race winner so far this year, will compete at California. The 19-year-old driver has finished third and sixth in his first two races there.

Busch, meanwhile, has won the last two races at California. He was simply unstoppable in last year's fall event there, leading all but six of the 150 laps. Busch briefly gave up the lead on two separate green-flag pit stops. He easily held off Carl Edwards in the final laps for his seventh win of the season.

In February, Busch won the Nationwide race at California several hours after he took the checkered flag for the Camping World Truck Series race there. He became the first driver in NASCAR history to win two national touring races on the same day.

Greg Biffle is the only other driver to win back-to-back Nationwide races at California. Biffle won there twice in 2004.

Matt Kenseth has the most victories at California with four, while Biffle and Busch have won there three times each. Kenseth is not competing in this weekend's race.

"I love this place; I always have," Biffle said. "This weekend is my last Nationwide Series race of the season, and I really want to go out on top."

Fifty teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Copart 300.

INDYCAR SERIES

Firestone Indy 300 - Homestead-Miami Speedway - Homestead, FL

Eight points, three drivers and one race remaining.

That's the point separation among the top-three drivers -- Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe -- heading into the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Last month, Dixon won in Motegi, Japan and moved atop the championship standings. He now holds a five-point lead over Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Franchitti and an eight-point advantage on Briscoe from Team Penske. The 1-3 margin is the second-closest in the IndyCar Series' 14-year history.

Should there be a tie for the points lead after the checkered flag waves at Homestead, the championship would then be determined by number of victories. Dixon has notched five wins, while Franchitti has four victories and Briscoe three.

The series restructured its bonus points system this year, and it's been a major factor in deciding the title. During the previous eight seasons, all three bonus points were awarded to the lap leader of each race. This year, the pole winner of each race receives one point, and the driver who leads the most laps picks up two points.

Of the 46 bonus points awarded so far this year, the three championship contenders combined have taken 35 of them. Dixon has received 13 bonus points, while Briscoe has earned 12 and Franchitti 10.

After hosting the season-opener for the past six years, Homestead now holds the season-finale. Chicagoland Speedway held the finale from 2006-08, with the championship decided on the final lap there each of those years.

Saturday's race at Homestead should be a heck of a shootout, with the title likely decided again on the final lap.

"Fun, isn't it," Franchitti said. "That's the way it should be. We'll just keep our heads down an do the best that we can."

In 2007, Franchitti, who drove for Andretti Green Racing at the time, led Dixon by just three points heading into the season-ending race at Chicagoland. The two battled all the way to the final lap, with Franchitti picking up the win and taking the championship.

Dixon held the lead on the last lap, but gave it up to Franchitti when he ran out of fuel on the backstretch. Dixon coasted across the finish line in second and lost the title by 13 points.

After a brief stint in NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series competition, Franchitti joined Ganassi's IndyCar team and his return to America's most popular open-wheel racing circuit has been nothing short of success.

Dixon won the championship in 2003 and '08. If he wins it again this year, he will join Sam Hornish Jr. as the only drivers with three titles in the series.

"It's going to be a crazy race," said Dixon, who won last year's race at Homestead. "Obviously the three of us are going to be pushing to the maximum."

Briscoe, in his second full season with Penske, is looking to capture his first major championship in motorsports. The Aussie took over Hornish's seat at Penske when Hornish left IndyCar for NASCAR in 2008.

"It's really exciting," said Briscoe, who finished fifth in points last year. "At this point, it's a highlight in my career. It's going to be close, but the team's been doing an unbelievable job, and I feel as though I've stepped it up this year."