This Week in Auto Racing September 18 - 20

This Week in Auto Racing September 18 - 20

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - After deciding the 12-driver field for this year's "Chase for the Sprint Cup" at Richmond, the 10-race battle for the championship begins this weekend at New Hampshire. The Camping World Series joins the Sprint Cup Series at the one-mile New England track, while the IndyCar Series travels overseas to Motegi, Japan.

Sprint Cup Series

Sylvania 300 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway - Loudon, NH

Now that the 26-race regular season has been completed, it's time for the top-12 drivers in points to decide the Sprint Cup title, which kicks off Sunday at New Hampshire.

Just 40 points separate first-seed Mark Martin from 12th-place Greg Biffle.

The 50-year-old Martin clinched a spot in the Chase with his fourth-place finish last Saturday at Richmond. He earned the top ranking by virtue of his series-leading four victories so far this season.

"I feel like a whole new person, huge weight off my shoulders," Martin said. "It's just like I said before, to make this thing is the icing and now we get to go race for the cake."

Kyle Busch, also with four wins this season, had an opportunity to share the first seed with Martin, but Busch came up eight points short of making the Chase.

Martin, in his first year with Hendrick Motorsports, is considered one of the favorites to win the title. He qualified for the Chase in each of the first three years of the playoff format (2004-06). Martin ran a partial schedule in the series the past two years before returning to full-time driving duties this season.

"Anybody in this Chase can win this Chase," he said. "Every team that's in it is capable of putting together a ten-race row. That's all it takes is the magic ten races, and anybody can win it."

Tony Stewart will start in the second seed after recording three victories during the season. Stewart held the points lead for the last 14 races, but now finds himself 10 markers behind Martin.

New Hampshire has been a good track for Stewart, with the two-time Cup champion winning there twice and leading at least one lap in eight of the last 10 races.

"I like starting there," Stewart said. "I feel like it's one of our better tracks. We don't all win there, but we always consistently run really well there. I'm kind of excited about starting there, and hopefully get a good run there and get a good start in the Chase."

Stewart finished fifth in the rain-shortened race at New Hampshire earlier this year. Rookie Joey Logano, who took over Stewart's seat in the No.20 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing this year, won his first Cup race by conserving enough fuel before NASCAR called the race 28 laps short of the 301-lap scheduled distance.

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

In 2004, Kurt Busch started the final 10 races with a victory at New Hampshire. Busch, however, did not win again during the remainder of the Chase, but consistent finishes in the last nine races helped him beat Jimmie Johnson for the title by only eight points, the closest margin in series history. In that same New Hampshire race, Stewart was involved in an accident and finished 39th. He never recovered in the playoffs and ended the season sixth in points.

Two years ago, Clint Bowyer started the Chase in the 12th seed, but after scoring his first career Cup victory at New Hampshire, he moved up to fourth in points. He remained a championship contender until Johnson won four out of the last five races to capture the title. Bowyer ended the year third in points.

Biffle began last year's Chase on the right track by winning at New Hampshire and Dover. The Roush Fenway Racing driver ended a 33-race winless streak at New Hampshire and moved from ninth to third in points. One week later, he trailed teammate and points leader Carl Edwards by only 10 markers after his victory at Dover.

"We started the Chase off last year as a miracle Chase, won the first two events," Biffle said. "So hopefully we can mirror that or get a couple top fives or something."

Johnson dominated the Chase after Dover and went on to claim his record-tying third consecutive Cup championship. Biffle's season ended with a third-place finish.

Heading into New Hampshire, Johnson will begin his quest for an unprecedented fourth straight title in the third seed. Johnson is the most experienced Chase contender, making the field every year since the format began five years ago.

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

Camping World Truck Series

Heluva Good! 200 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway - Loudon, NH

Current points leader Ron Hornaday Jr. is hoping to rebound after a frustrating 17th-place finish last Saturday at Gateway International Raceway. Matt Crafton spoiled Hornaday's opportunity for a dominating victory when Crafton spun him out after a late-race restart.

Crafton grabbed the lead, but NASCAR penalized him for rough driving. That allowed Mike Skinner to take the top spot for the first time. Skinner then held off Johnny Sauter in a green-white-checkered finish for his second straight victory. He also won at Iowa Speedway the weekend prior.

Hornaday led 116 of 162 laps, as he attempted to become the first driver to win a truck race at Gateway in consecutive years. The three-time series champion saw his lead over Crafton cut to 197 points.

Skinner isn't the only driver attempting to win races three in a row this weekend. Hornaday will try to win at New Hampshire for the third straight year. Hornaday is the only driver with multiple truck victories at New Hampshire with three. He won the first race there in 1996.

"Each win at Loudon has been special in its own way," Hornaday said. "I won the inaugural race there which was pretty cool. I led the last and most important lap that year."

Kyle Busch returns to the series for the first time since winning at Chicagoland Speedway. Busch also won at Bristol Motor Speedway the week prior to Chicagoland. New Hampshire will give him an opportunity to win his third race in as many starts.

Kevin Harvick will join Busch as those Sprint Cup regulars competing in the truck event at New Hampshire. Harvick will drive a third entry for his team.

Austin Dillon is expected to make his second career start in the series. Dillon, the grandson of team owner Richard Childress, finished a respectable 12th in his truck debut earlier this month at Iowa.

Thirty-three drivers are on the preliminary entry list for the Heluva Good! 200, three short of a full field.

INDYCAR SERIES

Indy Japan 300 - Twin Ring Motegi - Motegi, Japan

Danica Patrick returns to the site of her first career IndyCar Series victory this weekend. Patrick made racing history in April 2008 when she took the checkered flag at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan and became the first female driver to win a major closed-course motorsports event.

As defending race winner, Patrick's trip to Japan this time around will be a different experience altogether.

"There's a level of confidence that comes with being the defending winner and there's some excitement as well," Patrick said. "Just going back to Japan is always nice for me."

Patrick conserved enough fuel late in the race to cross the finish line first. While the race leaders were forced to pit for gas, the Andretti Green Racing driver ran in front for the remaining three laps. She finished nearly six seconds ahead of runner-up Helio Castroneves, who won this event in 2006.

In Victory Circle, Patrick received an assortment of prizes, including a samurai sword. When Patrick arrives in Japan this week, she will have an opportunity to see a miniature version of her winning trophy, which is on permanent display at the Honda Collection Hall in Motegi.

"The sword came out for a while because it came with a beautiful stand, but it didn't really fit with the rest of the decor of the house," she said. "It's especially cool to see my face on a trophy, because that's the big deal at Indy too. I will know how they did my hair then. I've always wondered how they did my hair from the photos."

Patrick is currently fifth in points.

With two races to go, the battle for this year's IndyCar championship comes down to three drivers. Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe currently holds a 25-point lead over Dario Franchitti from Chip Ganassi Racing. Scott Dixon, the defending series champion and Franchitti's teammate at Ganassi, trails Briscoe by 33 points. All other drivers have been mathematically eliminated.

Dixon has had his share of ups and downs at Motegi. He finished 15th after starting on the pole in the 2003 inaugural race. Last year, he started second and finished third there.

"It is definitely one of the toughest tracks we go to," Dixon said. "It's a 1.5-mile oval, but it is shaped like an egg and very different. Turns three and four are very difficult, but turns one and two are so easy and wide open you get a tow going into turn three. It takes a lot of commitment going into turns three and four. You have to stay committed, and some years we go there, we are running wide open over 200 miles an hour, which is pretty crazy."

Briscoe has finished ninth (2008) and 12th (2005) in his first two starts at Motegi, while Franchitti's best finish in four races there is third, which came in 2007, his championship year.

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 first Indy Japan 300 in '03, 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 2004.