This Week in Auto Racing September 25 - 27

This Week in Auto Racing September 25 - 27

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - After kicking off the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship last Sunday at New Hampshire, round two of the playoffs moves to Dover, DE. Nationwide will join Sprint Cup at Dover, while Camping World Truck teams head to Las Vegas. Formula One gears up for the second nighttime running of the Singapore Grand Prix.

Sprint Cup Series

AAA 400 - Dover International Speedway - Dover, DE

Last Sunday's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire began the first of the 10-race "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship. Mark Martin, who entered the Chase as the top-seed, kept his points lead intact with the victory. Martin capitalized on a late-race pit strategy and then held off Juan Pablo Montoya and Denny Hamlin in a three-lap shootout for his first win at New Hampshire in 26 starts there.

Martin won his fifth race of the season, which tied Harry Gant's 1991 Cup Series record for most single-season victories by a driver 50 years of age or older. He now holds a 35-point lead over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, as the series heads to the one-mile, concrete-surface Dover International Speedway.

Seven of the 12 drivers competing in the Chase have won at Dover. Martin, Johnson and Jeff Gordon lead all active, full-time drivers with four wins each there. Ryan Newman has won at Dover three times, compared to two for Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart. Carl Edwards has one victory there.

"Dover is one of my very favorite racetracks on the whole circuit," Martin said. "I really have been blessed with a lot of great race cars there. The cars seem to run really good there. [Crew chief] Alan [Gustafson] and our team are really excited about getting back there. I look forward to getting there."

Johnson is looking for a season-sweep at Dover after winning the spring race there. He swept Dover in 2002, becoming the first rookie to win both races at the same track in the same season. Johnson also took the fall event there in 2005.

Newman is the last driver to sweep Dover, doing it 2003.

Newman, in his first year with Stewart-Haas Racing, holds the seventh spot in points (-76). He is just five markers behind his teammate and owner Stewart. Newman's last win in the series came in the 2008 Daytona 500 when he drove for Penske Racing.

After winning at Richmond and finishing second at New Hampshire, Hamlin carries a lot of momentum into Dover. But Hamlin considers "The Monster Mile" as one of his most challenging tracks.

"It's a racetrack that is almost like Talladega, you never know what can happen there," Hamlin said. "You can get caught up in a wreck pretty easily. It's a long, grueling race for us, and it's very physically demanding."

Hamlin's best finish at Dover is fourth, which came in June 2007. Since then, he has finished 36th or worse there.

With his third-place finish at New Hampshire, Montoya made the biggest gain in the championship standings, moving from 11th to fourth. He trails Martin by 55 points. Montoya, in his first career Chase race, started on the pole and led an event-high 105 laps.

"The first race of the Chase, of course, you're going to jump one way to another depending how you run," Montoya said. "We had a very good day, and we gained a lot of grounds. At the same time, I think the leader is the only person that really counts right now."

Montoya is hoping to improve his track performance at Dover, where he has finished 30th and 39th in the last two races.

Biffle, currently ninth in points (-92), won last year's fall race at Dover. Biffle grabbed the lead from his Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth with eight laps to go and then held it for his second victory of the season. Kenseth, who led a race-high 136 laps, finished second. Edwards came in third to give Roush a 1-2-3 finish at Dover. Biffle also won the week prior at New Hampshire.

A Roush driver has won a Sprint Cup race at Dover in each of the last five years -- Martin (2004), Biffle (2005 and '08), Kenseth (2006) and Edwards (2007).

Forty-four teams are on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's AAA 400.

During the off-season, Dover underwent a pit-road renovation. The new 1,592- foot concrete wall extends from turn four down the frontstretch and into turn one. The construction allowed track officials to widen and improve pit road, which is now four feet wider. All 43 stalls are four feet longer than the previous length.

Nationwide Series

Dover 200 - Dover International Speedway - Dover, DE

After taking a week off, the Nationwide Series returns to action on Saturday at Dover.

Second-place Carl Edwards is currently 201 points behind leader Kyle Busch, but Edwards might be staging another late-season rally based on his most recent performance.

Driving with a broken right foot at Richmond, Edwards qualified 39th but had to start from the rear of the field since his team changed the spark plugs prior to the start of the race. The Roush Fenway Racing driver beat Kevin Harvick out of the pits and took the lead for the first time during a caution with 24 laps to go. He held off Harvick at the finish for his fourth Nationwide victory of the season.

Edwards has faced a triple-digit deficit in the series before. With eight races remaining in the 2008 season, he was 207 points behind Clint Bowyer before ending the year just 21 markers short of taking the title from Bowyer.

"The Nationwide battle is still alive," Edwards said. "We've got enough races left that a lot can happen. I feel like right now, in a way, that's more important than what's going on the Cup side."

Edwards has excelled on concrete-surfaced tracks, with five of his 24 career Nationwide wins coming on those tracks. He has finished sixth or better in the last five races at Dover, including a victory in the spring 2007 event.

Bristol, Dover and Nashville are the concrete-surfaced tracks on the Nationwide circuit.

Busch won at Dover for the first time one year ago. He appeared to be on his way to another victory there in May, but a late-race tangle with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano cost him the win. Brad Keselowski went to Victory Lane, while Busch ended up with a 17th-place finish after cutting a tire during the incident.

Forty-four teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Dover 200.

Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr. are among the 10 Sprint Cup regulars competing in the event.

Hamlin, Kenseth and Truex have two Nationwide victories each at Dover compared to one for Newman. Hamlin has won two of the last four races there.

Camping World Truck Series

Las Vegas 350 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Las Vegas, NV

Ron Hornaday Jr.'s quest for a record-fourth Camping World Truck Series championship got a boost last Saturday at New Hampshire. Hornaday finished second to Kyle Busch and padded his lead to 217 points over Matt Crafton with six races remaining in the season. Crafton finished fourth.

While Busch went to Victory Lane, Hornaday and his team owner Kevin Harvick quarreled on pit road when Harvick felt poor team communication cost them a possible victory.

During the final 50 laps, Harvick made numerous attempts to pass Hornaday for position, but Hornaday would not allow him to get around -- which apparently upset Harvick.

Hornaday felt he didn't make any mistakes while racing his boss.

Now that the dust has settled at Kevin Harvick Inc., Hornaday is looking forward to Saturday's race at Las Vegas. Hornaday holds the series record for career victories with 45, but has yet to win at 1.5-mile oval in the desert.

"I have come really close to winning at Vegas," Hornaday said. "This year, we have a really good shot at it. We have run pretty well at the 1.5-mile tracks. I'm really excited to get back there. This has sort of been the year of marking tracks off my list. I was finally able to win at Kentucky and Nashville earlier this year."

Three of the remaining six races this season are on intermediate (1.5-mile) tracks -- Las Vegas, Texas and Homestead.

Hornaday has scored six top-10 finishes in eight races at Las Vegas, with a best finish of second coming there in 1998, the year he won his second series title. He finished fifth in last year's race.

Mike Skinner is the defending race winner. Skinner, with three victories to his credit this year, is third in the championship standings, 246 points behind Hornaday, but only 26 in back of Crafton.

Thirty-two teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Las Vegas 350, four short of a full field.

Aric Almirola is scheduled to drive the No.51 Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota this week. Busch has driven the No.51 truck into Victory Lane five times so far this year. Almirola finished a career-best second earlier this month at Iowa.

FORMULA ONE

Singapore Grand Prix - Marina Bay Street Circuit - Singapore

This weekend in Singapore, Renault returns to the scene that nearly cost the French team permanent expulsion from Formula One competition.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) handed Renault a two-year suspended ban on Monday after the team admitted to intentionally causing a crash in last year's inaugural Singapore Grand Prix.

Investigations by the Council and Renault found that team principal Flavio Briatore and executive director of engineering Pat Symonds, both of whom have now left the team, planned the crash with driver Nelson Piquet Jr. in order to benefit the race strategy of Fernando Alonso, who went on to win. Neither Alonso nor any other Renault personnel were aware of the conspiracy.

The FIA accused Renault of conspiring Piquet to cause a deliberate crash early in the race. The wreck forced the deployment of the safety car. Alonso started on a light fuel load and made his first pit stop prior to Piquet's accident. The safety car period helped Alonso move to the front of the field after starting 15th on the grid.

Briatore has been banned indefinitely from any involvement in FIA-sanctioned motorsports, while Symonds received a five-year suspension. Piquet, who was fired by Renault in July, was granted immunity from sanction for volunteering his evidence in the investigation.

Alonso also won the Japanese Grand Prix two weeks after Singapore, but has not recorded a victory since then. The Spaniard's best finish this year is fifth, which came three times, most recently at Monza, Italy earlier this month. He has accumulated 20 world championship points so far this season.

"The car is working well at most circuits, so I believe we are competitive enough to get close to the podium, which has to be my target this weekend," Alonso said. "Last year, I decided it was better to remain on a European schedule rather than adjusting to local time, so I will do the same this year, as it's the best way to manage my energy levels."

After winning the Italian Grand Prix, Rubens Barrichello gained ground in the championship battle with four races remaining in the season. Barrichello moved to within 14 points of current leader and Brawn GP teammate Jenson Button, who finished second at Monza.

Button and Barrichello, as well as Red Bull Racing teammates Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are the only drivers who remain eligible in this year's title hunt. Vettel is 26 points behind Button, while Webber trails by 28.5.

Lewis Hamilton won't repeat as the world champion this year, but the McLaren driver is hopeful for more victories before this season concludes.

"I remember my race in Singapore last year was all about damage limitation," Hamilton said. "I was driving with one eye on the world championship and wasn't going to take too many risks. I was happy to finish on the podium. This year, it's very different. I know I'm out of the title hunt, and I want to attack these last four races, pushing for as many victories as I can."

Hamilton finished third in last year's first-ever F1 nighttime grand prix.

For the 2009 grand prix at Singapore, track officials have made modifications to the Marina Bay Street Circuit. The pit exit is one of the most significant changes. The exit has been realigned to join the track after the first corner. The entry to the pits has also been altered, with cars now leaving the track before turn 22. After drivers complained of bumps in last year's event, the circuit underwent a resurfacing between turns five and seven. The apexes of turns 13 and 14 have been tightened slightly, while the second and third apexes of turn 10 have been moved left and right respectively to make the chicane slower.