This Week in Auto Racing September 17 - 19

This Week in Auto Racing September 17 - 19

Loudon, NH (Sports Network) - The 10-race Chase begins this weekend at New Hampshire, with 12 drivers set to battle for the 2010 Sprint Cup Series championship. The Camping World Truck Series joins Sprint Cup at New Hampshire, and the IZOD IndyCar Series travels overseas to Motegi, Japan.

Sprint Cup Series

Sylvania 300 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway - Loudon, NH

Now that the regular season has been completed, it's time for 12 drivers to decide the Sprint Cup Series championship in the 10-race Chase, which begins Sunday at New Hampshire.

Heading to Loudon, just 60 points separate first-seed Denny Hamlin from 12th- place Clint Bowyer.

Hamlin earned the top seed after notching his series-high sixth win of the season last Saturday at Richmond. It has been an up and down year for Hamlin, who was considered as Jimmie Johnson's biggest threat for the championship at the start of the season.

Despite undergoing surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee in March, Hamlin got red hot in the spring and early summer by winning five of 10 races. After his victory in the June race at Michigan, Hamlin went into somewhat of a slump, finishing 34th or worse in four races. He finished a season-worst 43rd at Atlanta on Labor Day weekend, but rebounded big time with his Richmond win.

"A lot of people bash this race team about we can't finish this or can't finish that, but we got the most wins, and hopefully, that's going to carry us through 10 weeks of the Chase," Hamlin said.

Hamlin has an impressive track record at New Hampshire, finishing no worse than 15th in his nine races here. He won at New Hampshire in July 2007 and finished second here one year ago.

With five victories for the season, Johnson will begin the Chase in the second seed, as he attempts to win his record-extending fifth consecutive Sprint Cup championship.

After winning at New Hampshire the last weekend in June, Johnson struggled the following two months, scoring only one top-10 finish in seven races. He fell to ninth in points after the August 21 night race at Bristol, and there were some concerns at the time that his drive for five titles was heading south.

"If guys think we are vulnerable, it's my job to show up at Loudon, qualify in the pole and win the race," Johnson said. "That's what we need to do regardless. I'm not concerned about what people think of my race team and where I'm at and what kind of threat we are for the championship. I'm just more concerned about going out and getting the job done."

Johnson has been on the rebound this month, with third-place finishes at both Atlanta and Richmond.

"I think with two good runs going into the Chase, my guys are ready, I'm ready, we have got our mojo back and we are looking forward to it," Johnson added.

Kevin Harvick has been the most consistent driver so far this year, finishing the regular season as the points leader. Harvick has bounced back tremendously after a frustrating season in 2009. He finished last season 19th in points.

"It's been a phenomenal year to this point, and hopefully the last ten weeks can be the same way," said Harvick, who will start the Chase from the third position. "We have done it for 26 weeks and we have beat them, and hopefully we can beat them for ten more."

Harvick kicked off the 2006 Chase by winning at New Hampshire. He finished fifth here earlier this year.

The first race in the Chase is indeed critical, as New Hampshire can either make or break a driver's chances of winning the championship.

When the playoff format for NASCAR's top series began in 2004, Kurt Busch started the final 10 races that season by winning at New Hampshire. Busch, however, did not win again during the remainder of the Chase, but consistent finishes in the remaining races helped him beat Johnson for the title by only eight points, which is the closest points battle in series history. In that same New Hampshire race, Tony Stewart was involved in an accident and finished 39th. Stewart quickly fell out of title contention and ended the season sixth in points.

Busch is the only driver who won at the first race in the Chase and then went on to capture the Cup championship.

Bowyer started the 2007 Chase in the 12th spot, but after scoring his first career Cup victory at New Hampshire, he moved up to fourth in points. Bowyer remained a championship contender until Johnson won four out of the last five races to clinch his second straight title. He ended the '07 season third in points.

Bowyer also will start in the 12th seed this year.

"You kind of go in as the underdog under the radar, but the good thing is that we do have a lot of momentum right now," Bowyer said. "I really believe that a win, just like 2007, is exactly what this team is missing right now. So whatever that brings; that calm finesse, that little more pep in your step, and believing in all of ourselves, is what we need right now. So if we could possibly get that done like we did in '07, I think we'll run good."

Two years ago, Kyle Busch won eight races and started the Chase in the top seed, but Busch suffered engine failure at New Hampshire and then again the following week at Dover, which ended any hope of winning the championship.

Forty-five teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Sylvania 300.

Camping World Truck Series

TheRaceDayRaffleSeries.com 175 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway - Loudon, NH

After taking last week off, the Camping World Truck Series returns to action on Saturday at New Hampshire. Todd Bodine heads to Loudon with a commanding 271-point lead over Aric Almirola. Bodine picked up his third win of the season earlier this month at Kentucky.

There have been 12 different winners in 14 previous truck races at New Hampshire. Bodine has yet to win at the 1.058-mile oval. His best finish here is fourth, which came in 2006 and '07.

Ron Hornaday Jr. is the only driver with multiple victories at New Hampshire. He won the inaugural race here in 1996, and then scored back-to-back victories from 2007-08.

Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick are those Sprint Cup Series regulars competing in the truck event at New Hampshire. Busch is the defending race winner. Last year, Busch conserved enough fuel to hold off teammates Hornaday and Harvick at the finish. Hornaday finished second, while Harvick took the third spot.

"Kevin and Kyle will be racing with us this weekend, so we are all going to have to be on our game," Hornaday said. "Both of those guys have tons of laps around New Hampshire, and they know what it takes to win. I am confident the No.33 team will be right there with them in the closing laps."

Busch is the only driver who has won a race in all three of NASCAR's national touring series at New Hampshire.

Harvick will be behind the wheel of his No.2 truck for the fifth time this season. In his previous four starts, Harvick has won three races -- Atlanta, Martinsville and Gateway -- and finished second to Busch at Nashville.

"Ron has three wins at the track, two of them in [Kevin Harvick Inc.] trucks, so I have no doubt that we have the ability to show up and win," Harvick said. "I've won there in both the Cup and Nationwide Series, so it would be cool if I can get the Truck Series win and add this to the list of tracks where I have won in all three series."

Thirty-four drivers are on the preliminary entry list for TheRaceDayRaffleSeries.com 175, two short of a full field.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES

Indy Japan 300 - Twin Ring Motegi - Motegi, Japan

With two races to go, the battle for this year's IZOD IndyCar Series championship comes down to Team Penske's Will Power and Dario Franchitti from Target Chip Ganassi Racing.

After wrapping up the series' first-ever road/street course championship with a win at Sonoma, CA last month, Power held a 59-point lead over Franchitti, but since then, Franchitti, the defending series champion, has trimmed that lead to just 17 points.

"We have our work cut out for us for the championship, but we still have the lead and onward we go," Power said.

The last four races this season are contested on 1.5-mile ovals, with Chicagoland Speedway and Kentucky Speedway already completed.

Even though Power showed he was the best on the courses this year, he is not as dominant on the ovals. His best finish in 18 career oval starts is fifth, which came three times, most recently in the June 20 race at Iowa Speedway.

Power has shown some progress on the ovals with strong runs at Chicagoland and Kentucky. He was in contention to win during the closing laps at Chicagoland, but ran out of fuel with five laps to go and wound up finishing a season-worst 16th. Power led 83 laps at Kentucky, but made slight contact with the wall after a late-race pit stop and then faded to an eighth-place finish.

"I've definitely got my confidence up on ovals," he said. "I just have to put it all together one time, or two times."

Franchitti won at Chicagoland and then finished fifth at Kentucky to give his title defense a huge boost.

"We finished ahead of Will, which was one of the things we needed to achieve, but it would have been nice to have finished a little further up," Franchitti said after his top-five run at Kentucky.

One year ago when the series traveled overseas to Motegi, Japan, Ryan Briscoe from Penske held a 25-point lead over Franchitti and a 33-point advantage over Franchitti's teammate, Scott Dixon.

After winning at Motegi for the first time, Dixon took over the points lead. Briscoe was involved in an early-race accident and spent several laps behind the wall for repairs. He finished 18th. Dixon held a five-point lead over Franchitti, who finished second, while Briscoe trailed by eight points.

"Last year was tough in Japan," Briscoe said. "We went there and Ganassi was killing us. They were a lot better than we were around there, and I'm confident this year it will be different. We've been working really hard on our setups for that track, and I'm confident we're going to have competitive cars that are capable of winning."

Franchitti went on to clinch last year's championship after winning the season-finale at Homestead.

This year's oval title will be decided at Motegi, while the October 2 season ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway most likely will determine the overall IndyCar champion.

Located 60 miles northeast of Tokyo, the Twin Ring Motegi facility contains two major racing venues, a 1.5-mile, egg-shaped oval and a three-mile, 14-turn road course, which winds underneath and east of the oval track.

Scott Sharp won the inaugural Indy Japan 300 in 2003, which was the first IndyCar event held overseas. The following year, Dan Wheldon made history for Honda when he claimed the first victory for the engine manufacturer at its home track.

Wheldon is the only repeat winner at Motegi. He also won there in 2005.

Twenty-five drivers are on the preliminary entry list for the Indy Japan 300.