NASCAR Basics: Impound Races

Image by fdtate via FlickrOn a typical NASCAR race weekend, Sprint Cup drivers will get some practice time in and qualify Friday, followed by more practice Saturday and the race on Sunday.  Crewmembers can set up the cars for qualifying, then dial in a race setup.  For an impound race, NASCAR usually shifts to Saturday qualifying, then impounds the cars from after qualifying until the start of the race.

At one time impound races comprised over half of the races on the Cup schedule.  It was supposed to be a cost cutting move, a balance between the teams that could afford to set up the car twice, once for qualifying and once for racing, and those who had to make due with just one setup.

The number of impound races has been pared down to just a few -- currently, the two Talladega races and the July Daytona race.  Television networks, sponsors, track officials and fans wanted to see more on-track activity on a race weekend.  Secondarily, the rules seemed to be hurting the poorest teams the most, the ones the rule was designed to help.

The richer teams were able to be more liberal with their setups.  Since they were in the Top 35 in owner's points and therefore locked into the race, they didn't have to strain to get all the speed they could in qualifying.  The poorer teams, who were more likely to be go-or-go-homers having to get into the race on speed, were forced into qualifying setups that they had to change into race trim on pit road during the race.

When a car is impounded, two crewmembers are allowed in to turn off the electrical switches, take out the radio, check air pressures and cover the cars.  They must then leave the garage.  On race day, two crewmembers are allowed in to get the car ready for the race.  They can connect the oil heater, open the hood, prime the oil system, start the car, move the car out of the garage, open the oil cooler pressure valve if needed, start the engine, close the hood, check and adjust air pressures, tighten the wheels, put the radio back in the car, put in a water bottle, adjust the tape on the front of the car, replace equipment batteries, and add a limited amount of fuel.  All other work is forbidden except with NASCAR authorization which is rarely granted.

NASCAR: NSCS -- Martinsville: Tums Fast Relief 500 Results

Image by Hans J E via FlickrDenny Hamlin rallied to pick up his third straight Sprint Cup Series win at Martinsville Sunday in the Tums Fast Relief 500, Kevin Harvick finished a surprising third, and we're left with the closest points battle with four races to go in the history of the Chase format.  And the true wild-card race in the Chase, Talladega, is up next.

The final 98 laps (of 500) were run under green, a benefit to Hamlin whose car was much better on long runs.  On the final restart on Lap 402, Harvick led the field to green with Jeff Burton second and Hamlin third.  Hamlin got around Burton on Lap 453, then battled Harvick side-by-side for several laps before finally taking the lead for good on Lap 471.

Hamlin started on the pole and led the first ten laps until he was passed by Marcos Ambrose.  By the first caution 47 laps in, Hamlin had faded to 12th.  But the crew kept working and the track finally came to Hamlin.  He beat Mark Martin to the finish by 2.318 seconds.  It was Hamlin's 15th career Cup win, his series-leading seventh of the year, and his fourth at Martinsville, including the last three in a row.

Martin's day started out bad, then got much worse before he put on a furious rally at the end to finish second.  By Lap 30, Martin was overheating his brakes and had to baby them the rest of the way.  On Lap 226, he spun, backing into the wall and doing considerable damage to his car.  He fell two laps down and was 18th on the final restart before rallying to a runnerup finish.  He was coming hard at the end and might have won if the race had gone ten laps more.  Martin said adjustments didn't make much of a difference. "I think the race track just came to us. We had a good setup in the car for the race track when it was rubbered up in the second half of the race."

Harvick, whose previous best at the track was a seventh-place finish, was expected to lose ground in the points battle.  His 36th-place start also added to those predictions.  But he quickly moved up through the field.  By that first caution on Lap 47, he was in ninth, three spots ahead of Hamlin.  He stayed near the front for the rest of the race and led most of that last long green flag run until Hamlin and Martin passed him in the closing laps.  Harvick also benefited from a crew swap with Clint Bowyer before the race.

After a long, multi-lap battle, Kyle Busch pulled ahead of Johnson in the closing laps to finish fourth.  Johnson, whose car was much better on short runs, held on for fifth, followed by Joey Logano.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. led 90 laps around the midpoint of the race and finished seventh for just his second top 10 in the last 14 races.  Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 10.

Burton led a race-high 134 laps before fading at the end.  After a restart on Lap 364, he got into an on-track feud with Harvick, his RCR teammate.  Burton was running on the outside and attempted to cut down in front of Harvick.  Harvick cut him off, then accused Burton of cutting him off.  Over the radio, he also accused Burton of doing the same thing at Indy and Loudon.  A short time later, during another caution, Harvick bumped doors with Burton.  For his part, Burton was perplexed:  "I have no clue what he could possibly be upset about.  I cleared him and turned to the bottom the same way he cleared me on the restart and turned to the bottom.  It's Martinsville, that's what you do."  Calmer heads eventually prevailed, and Harvick dismissed the dustup in his postrace press conference:  "We were just racing."

Another on-track incident put the final dagger in Jeff Gordon's fading championship hopes.  On Lap 384, Gordon was trying to nose ahead of Kurt Busch going into Turn Three.  He came in too hot and the two got together.  Gordon tapped Busch.  Busch got loose and Gordon went around him.  But Busch accelerated and caught Gordon coming out of Four.  He hooked him and spun him down the frontstretch.  Gordon lost a lap as his crew tried to repair the damage.  He got the lap back, but lost two more on the final green flag run as his damaged car struggled to keep up.  Gordon got inside of Busch again in the closing laps and pushed him up the track.  Busch lost one spot as a result and finished 16th.  Gordon finished 20th.

Other Chase drivers:  Matt Kenseth finished 15th, Tony Stewart 24th, Greg Biffle 33rd, and Clint Bowyer 38th.  (Race results)

The top three in the points standings have tightened up with Johnson's lead over Hamlin down to just six points.  Harvick gained 15 points on Johnson and is now just 62 points behind.  Although no one has been eliminated yet, it really is a three-man race with just four races remaining.  With his fourth-place finish, Kyle Busch moved into fourth in the standings, 172 points back.  Gordon dropped to fifth, 203 points behind Johnson.

NASCAR: NNS -- Gateway: 5-Hour Energy 250 Results

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When the caution came out in the closing laps of Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Gateway International Raceway, Brad Keselowski came to pit road and took four tires.  The gamble paid off as he was able to slice through the competition to win the 5-Hour Energy 250.

Keselowski appeared to be on his way to a second-place finish behind his Penske Racing teammate Justin Allgaier when Danica Patrick spun into the wall after contact from Stephen Wallace.  The top three cars -- Allgaier, Keselowski and Carl Edwards -- took four tires and lined up for the restart behind Reed Sorenson and Josh Wise, who stayed out, and Mike Bliss and Jason Leffler, who took two tires.  Bliss got into the rear of Sorenson and got him loose, then got by him for the lead.  Keselowski pulled even with Bliss with the white flag in sight.  His four tires beat Bliss's two through Turns One and Two and he pulled away to win by 0.227 seconds.

It was Keselowski's 12th career Nationwide win, his fifth of the season and his first at Gateway.  He had victory in sight in the July race at Gateway, but Carl Edwards punted him into the wall in the final turns, and he finished 14th.

They were three abreast for third place with Allgaier, who led a race-high 88 (of 200) laps, nosing ahead of Leffler and Edwards.  (Race results)

With the win, Keselowski has all but locked up the Nationwide Series championship.  He now leads Edwards by an insurmountable 485 points with just three races remaining.  In fact, Keselowski will clinch the championship in two weeks at Texas if he finishes just nine points better than Edwards.  He can also clinch at Texas just by finishing 20th or better.  (Points standings)

Keselowski and Edwards started in the back of the field after relief drivers qualified their cars for them.  They were busy with Cup practice and qualifying at Martinsville, and showed up just long enough to race.  They both quickly worked their way through the field.  Keselowski took the lead for the first time on Lap 77.  He led four times for 83 laps.

At the midpoint of the race, Scott Wimmer and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got loose coming out of Turn Four.  That triggered an 11-car melee that sent nine cars to the garage.  The race was red-flagged for about 20 minutes to clean up the mess.

This might have been the final NASCAR race at Gateway International Raceway.  Dover Motorsports, who owns the track, is looking for a buyer and has not requested any racing dates for 2011.

NASCAR: NCWTS -- Martinsville: Kroger 200 Results

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Ron Hornaday passed Kyle Busch with three laps to go in regulation and held him off on a green-white-checkered restart to win Saturday's Camping World Truck Series race, the Kroger 200, at Martinsville.  It was Hornaday's first win ever at Martinsville, his second of the season, and the 47th of his career.

Hornaday passed Busch on Lap 197 (of 200) just before the 11th and final caution of the day came out for Cody Cambensy's spin.  NASCAR officials initially had Busch ahead for the final restart, but went to the television replays and reversed themselves.  The race went six laps past the scheduled distance.

Todd Bodine, who was racing just hours after the death of his mother, led much of the second half of the race.  He was passed by Busch with 25 laps to go and Hornaday soon followed.  Bodine hung on to finish third, followed by Jason White and Aric Almirola.  (Race results)

Bodine now leads Almirola by 282 points with just four races remaining.  If Almirola were to win all four of the remaining races, Bodine would need to average just a 12th-place finish to take home the championship trophy.  (Points standings)

Five drivers made their series debuts.  B. J. McLeod finished 17th, C. E. Falk 25th, Amber Cope 26th, Angela Cope 30th, and Cambensy 32nd.  The Cope twins were two of a record four women in the race with Johanna Long and Jennifer Jo Cobb.

NASCAR: Martinsville Preview

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All three of NASCAR's national series are in action this weekend.  Saturday's Nationwide Series race, the 5-Hour Energy 250 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN2), is at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois.  The other two races -- Saturday's Camping World Truck Series race, the Kroger 200 (12:30 p.m., Speed), and Sunday's Sprint Cup race, the Tums Fast Relief 500 (1 p.m., ESPN) are at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.

Sunday's Cup race is the sixth in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, and going in it's looking like a three-man race for the title.  Jimmie Johnson leads Denny Hamlin by 41 points with Kevin Harvick in third, 77 points out.  Several other drivers still have a shot, but will need a lot of luck between now and the end of the season.  Jeff Gordon (-156) is fourth, followed by Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart, both tied at 177 points out.  (Points standings)

Johnson and Hamlin have combined to win the past eight races at Martinsville.  Hamlin won three of them including the past two.  Gordon leads all active drivers with seven wins at the track, but hasn't won since sweeping both races in 2005.  Johnson is right behind him with six Martinsville wins.  They both have a long way to go to match the King's record; Richard Petty has 15 wins there.

Hamlin started the weekend off right by winning the pole for Sunday's race.  In Friday qualifying he turned a lap of 19.518 seconds (97.018 mph), edging Marcos Ambrose for the pole by just 0.003 seconds.  Greg Biffle qualified third, followed by Ryan Newman and Juan Montoya.  Montoya's lap was just 0.012 seconds slower than Hamlin's.

In addition to Hamlin and Biffle, only two other Chasers -- Tony Stewart, sixth, and Carl Edwards, seventh -- qualified in the top ten.  Gordon starts 11th, Clint Bowyer 17th, Jeff Burton 18th, Johnson 19th, Kyle Busch 26th, Kurt Busch 29th, and Matt Kenseth 32nd.  Harvick has his work cut out for him; he starts 36th.
Michael McDowell, Robby Gordon, Terry Cook and Johnny Sauter failed to qualify for the 43-car field.  (Race lineup)

Martinsville Speedway is one of the oldest NASCAR tracks.  It was on the schedule in the inaugural season of 1949, and is the only track to be on the schedule every year since.  At just 0.526 miles, it's also the shortest track, but it packs a lot of excitement in a small package.  Drag race down one 800-foot straightaway, make a sharp left around a tight turn with almost no banking, then drag race down the other straightaway to another sharp turn.  Repeat for 500 laps or until something, usually brakes, fails.

Saturday's Nationwide race will probably be the last NASCAR race at Gateway.   Dover Motorsports, which owns the track, asked for it not to be included on the 2011 Nationwide and Truck Series schedules.  It is uncertain if they are trying to sell it or will simply shut it down.

Barring a rainout or some other unforeseen event, Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards will miss the drivers' meeting and have to start at the rear of the field.  They will be spending most of the weekend at Martinsville and will probably show up at Gateway just long enough to jump in their cars and run the race.  Keselowski leads Edwards by 450 points and can clinch the Nationwide Series championship if he gains 136 points on Edwards Saturday.  Keselowski will win the championship if he averages a 26th-place finish in the four remaining races.   Brandon McReynolds and Brad Sweet will be making their Nationwide debuts at Gateway.

Todd Bodine has a commanding 262-point lead over Aric Almirola with five Camping World Truck Series races remaining.  Amber and Angela Cope will be making their Truck Series debuts at Martinsville.  The 27-year-old nieces of Derrike Cope will be the first twins to compete in the same race in any of the three national NASCAR series.

NASCAR: NSCS -- Charlotte: Bank of America 500 Results

Image by i heart him via FlickrJamie McMurray got by Kyle Busch on a late restart and pulled away to an easy victory in Saturday night's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte, and Jimmie Johnson added a few more points to his lead in his quest for a fifth straight championship.

McMurray got ahead of Busch coming out of Turn Two on the final restart of the night on Lap 314 (of 334) and pulled away as Busch battled Johnson for second place.  McMurray crossed the finish line 1.886 seconds ahead of Busch for his third win of the season, the sixth of his career and his second at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  It was only the 13th win by a non-Chase driver in a Chase race since the format was adopted in 2004.

The victory comes almost eight years to the day after McMurray's first career victory.  He won at Charlotte in 2002, driving in relief of Sterling Marlin, who had broken his neck in an accident two weeks earlier.

Busch, who led a race-high 217 laps was upset with the runner-up finish.  He appeared to be on his way to victory when NASCAR threw a caution for debris on Lap 308.  "I don't know what the caution was for.  You know, apparently there was a mouse that ran across the race track or something," Busch said.  Around the 100-lap mark, Busch had almost a four-second lead on Jeff Gordon when his throttle stuck.  That problem eventually resolved itself.

Early on, it looked like it might not be Jimmie Johnson's night.  He started tenth, but quickly started falling back with a loose car.  It got too loose and he spun it around coming out of Turn Two on Lap 34.  He was in the middle of traffic, but somehow managed not to hit anything or get hit.  He dropped as far back to 37th, but got up toward the front by staying out when most of the lead lap cars pitted during a caution on Lap 128.  He restarted fifth, then moved up to third through a long round of green-flag stops.  Johnson finally ran down McMurray and took the lead on Lap 189, holding it for 15 laps until Marco Ambrose spun to bring out a caution that got finally got Johnson back in sequence with everyone else.  He was quite happy with his third-place finish.

Denny Hamlin also had to overcome some adversity to finish fourth.   Ryan Newman got loose and pounded the wall on the second lap of the race.  Hamlin had to slam on the brakes to avoid Newman and flat spotted his tires.  After pitting for fresh rubber, he restarted in the rear of the field, but steadily worked his way up toward the front.  He finally settled into the top five, but couldn't get the adjustments he needed to challenge for the win.

Only three other Chase drivers finished in the top ten.  Greg Biffle finished fifth, Matt Kenseth sixth, and Kevin Harvick eighth.

After putting himself back in championship contention with good runs in the last two races, including a win last week at Fontana, Tony Stewart is back to long odds again.  He slowed when Newman spun on Lap 2 and got tagged in the rear by David Gilliland.  He made several pit stops to try to repair the damage, but fought an ill-handling car the rest of the night and came home 21st.

Jeff Gordon also had his share of problems.  The polesitter led the first seven laps, but fell back with a loose car.  On Lap 190, it died on him with a bad alternator.  He coasted around to the pits and lost a lap changing out the battery.  He got the lap back with the free pass on the caution for Ambrose's spin, but was never happy with the way his car was handling.  A pit road speeding penalty on the final stop of the night doomed him to a 23rd-place finish.

Kurt Busch was going for the sweep of the three Charlotte Cup races (including the Sprint All-Star Race), but he spun out on Lap 24.  He didn't hit anything, but couldn't quite get going again.  He finished 30th, worst of all the Chase drivers.

Other Chase drivers:  Carl Edwards finished 12th.  Clint Bowyer was 17th.  After a spin of his own, Jeff Burton finished 20th.  (Race results)

With his third-place finish, Johnson increased his lead over Hamlin to 41 points.  Harvick is the only other driver within 100 points of Johnson; he's 77 points down.  Gordon stayed in fourth place, but dropped 156 points down.  Kyle Busch moved up four spots in the standings to fifth.  He's now tied with Stewart, 177 points behind Johnson.  With the win McMurray moved past Newman into 13th, best of the non-Chase drivers.  (Points standings)

A pre-race stunt caused a fiery mess along the frontstretch of Charlotte Motor Speedway, but no one was injured.  Daredevil Spanky Spangler, driving an RV with "Hold my beer. Watch this" spray-painted on the side, was being chased by a police car driven by his son Bryan.  There was a series of planned explosions as the vehicles approached a jump, but the bottom of the RV caught fire and landed nose first on some junked cars near the ramps.  It took several minutes for rescue workers to pull Spanky from the RV, but he walked to an ambulance that took him to the infield care center.  He was treated and released.

NASCAR: NNS -- Charlotte: Dollar General 300 Results

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Brad Keselowski pulled away from the rest of the field on a restart with eight laps to go to easily win Friday night's Nationwide race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  It was Keselowski's eleventh career win in the series, his fifth win of the season and the second in the new Nationwide car.  It was Keselowski's first win at Charlotte.

Keselowski inherited the lead when his crew opted for track position over new tires and he stayed out during a caution on Lap 154 (of 200).  Other than a brief battle for the lead with Martin Truex Jr. and a couple of late restarts, he had no problem running the last 56 laps on the same set of tires.

Keselowski crossed the finish line 1.137 seconds ahead of Truex.  Justin Allgaier was third.  Joey Logano was fourth.  Clint Bowyer had the car to challenge Keselowski for the win, but had to rally to finish fifth after a pit road speeding penalty on his final stop.  Kyle Busch lead a race-high 84 laps, but faded at the end to finish sixth.  (Race results)

That Lap 154 caution, where Keselowski inherited the lead and Bowyer got his speeding penalty, was a strange call by NASCAR to correct a mistake.  Brian Scott was given a pass-through penalty for a missing lugnut on Lap 146.  When NASCAR officials later determined that there was no missing lugnut, they called the caution to give Scott a chance to get his lap back.  Kevin Harvick claimed that the "ghost caution" ruined his strategy and his chance of winning.  Harvick fell back on the restart, later pitted for fresh tires and finished tenth.  Scott spun out on the front straightaway on Lap 182 to bring out the seventh caution and finished 28th.

Danica Patrick finished 21st, her best showing in nine Nationwide starts.  JR Motorsports announced Friday that Patrick will compete in the first four races of the 2011 Nationwide season, including her first trip to Bristol Motor Speedway.  She will run a similar schedule to this year's 13-race campaign.

There's no drama in the Nationwide title race now.  Go ahead and start engraving Keselowski's name on the trophy.  He now leads Carl Edwards, who finished 13th, by 450 points with just four races remaining.  (Points standings)

Related articles

• Nationwide meeting takes different turn (msn.foxsports.com)
• Danica Patrick Project: Tony Stewart Gives a Nationwide Measuring Stick (bleacherreport.com)

NASCAR: Charlotte Preview

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A Saturday night Cup race means an accelerated schedule for the weekend.  There are two races on the weekend schedule, both at Charlotte Motor Speedway:  the Friday night Nationwide race, the Dollar General 300 (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2), and Saturday night's Bank of America 500 (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).  The Camping World Truck Series is off yet again, but returns next weekend at Martinsville.

Saturday night's Cup race is the fifth race in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup.  Jimmie Johnson increased his points lead last weekend at Fontana; he now leads Denny Hamlin by 36 points.   The contenders are now separating themselves from the pretenders.  Kevin Harvick (-54) and Jeff Gordon (-85) are the only other drivers within 100 points of the four-time champion, but Tony Stewart lurks back in fifth, just 107 points behind Johnson.  (Points standings)

Again, some bad news for those trying to catch Johnson:  we're in the middle of a string of Johnson's best tracks.  Johnson leads all active drivers with six wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  His next win at CMS will move him ahead of Bobby Allison and Darryl Waltrip, making him the all-time winner at the track.

Jeff Gordon captured the pole for Saturday night's race in a rare Thursday qualifying session.  Gordon ran a lap of 28.192 seconds (191.544 mph) to edge out Carl Edwards (191.455 mph) for the top spot.  A. J. Allmendinger qualified third, followed by Mark Martin and Paul Menard.  The pole was Gordon's first in almost a year, dating back 34 races to November 2009 at Texas.  It was Gordon's eighth pole at Charlotte and the 69th of his career, tying him with Cale Yarborough for third on the all-time list.  Gordon has now won a pole in 18 consecutive seasons, tying him with Richard Petty.  David Pearson put together a streak of 20 consecutive pole-winning seasons.

Only four Chase drivers qualified in the top 10 -- Gordon, Edwards, Kyle Busch (sixth) and Johnson (tenth).  Kurt Busch, who is going for an unprecedented three-race sweep at CMS, starts 15th.  Matt Kenseth starts 17th, Jeff Burton 18th, Clint Bowyer 20th, Greg Biffle 22nd, Denny Hamlin 23rd, Kevin Harvick 24th, and Tony Stewart 29th.

Joe Nemechek, Casey Mears, Mike Bliss, Jason Leffler, Kevin Conway and Johnny Sauter failed to make the 43-car field.  (Race lineup)

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile quad-oval with moderate banking -- 24 degrees in the turns and 5 degrees on the straightaway.  The 1500 feet back straightaway is the only straight part of the track; the frontstretch has little doglegs before and after the start/finish line.  Since drivers spend about two-thirds of a lap turning, downforce wins races here.

NASCAR: NSCS -- Fontana: Pepsi Max 400 Results

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Tony Stewart earned his first career victory at Auto Club Speedway, winning Sunday's Pepsi Max 400.  Jimmie Johnson began pulling away from the rest of the Chase field in the quest for his fifth straight championship.

Stewart's championship hopes were on life support after the first two Chase races.  After four, he suddenly finds himself back in contention again.  He was buried back in the field throughout the first half of the race, but his crew made the right adjustments and the car came to life in the second half.  It was Stewart's second win of the season and the 39th of his career, putting him in a 17th-place tie with Tim Flock on the all-time wins list.

The race turned on a debris caution on Lap 183 (of 200).  Paul Menard and Regan Smith took two tires and led the field to green on the restart with 13 to go.  Stewart got by Smith a lap later to take the lead, but another caution soon flew when David Ragan slid up the track and pinched Kurt Busch into the wall.  That set up a two-lap shootout and Stewart and Johnson led the field to green.  Stewart took the high line and got a good push from Clint Bowyer to keep him ahead of Johnson.  Bowyer and Johnson battled side-by-side through the final lap for second as Stewart pulled away to win by 0.466 seconds.

Bowyer won the battle and nipped Johnson at the line for second.  Kasey Kahne was fourth.  Ryan Newman was fifth.  (Race results)

After the race, Bowyer seemed disappointed with a second-place finish.  He blasted NASCAR for the debris caution, claiming that he would have won easily if the race had stayed green.

Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon finished seventh, eighth, and ninth respectively to keep Johnson in sight in the championship hunt, but it wasn't easy for any of them.  Harvick and Gordon overcame pit road speeding penalties.  Hamlin had to start the race in the rear of the field after his crew changed his transmission after qualifying.

The rest of the Chase contenders had terrible days.  After his run-in with Ragan, Kurt Busch limped home in 21st place.  That was two spots ahead of Jeff Burton, who ran yet another lackluster race.  Kyle Busch's engine blew on Lap 155; he finished 35th.

After all their past success at Fontana, it was surprising to see the whole Roush Fenway Racing organization's title hopes go up in smoke.  Greg Biffle's engine blew just 40 laps in, giving him a 41st-place finish.  Just a few laps later, Carl Edwards lost power and had to be pushed to the garage.  The trouble was finally traced to a distributor problem and he returned to the track to finish 34th.  Matt Kenseth also had engine problems.  His car was smoking badly at the end, but he nursed it home to finish 30th.

Johnson now leads Hamlin by 36 in the points standings.  Harvick (-54) and Gordon (-85) are the only other drivers within 100 points of the four-time champion.  With his win and the other Chasers' misfortunes, Stewart climbed five spots in the standings to fifth.  He is now 107 points back with six races remaining.  Kurt Busch (-140), Edwards (-162), Burton (-177), Kyle Busch (-187), Biffle (-215), Kenseth (-241) and Bowyer (-247) round out the Chase field.

NASCAR: NNS -- Fontana: CampingWorld.com 300 Results

Image via WikipediaMake it an even dozen for Kyle Busch.  He picked up the victory Saturday in the Nationwide Series race at Fontana to extend the record he set last weekend for most series wins in a season to twelve.

Busch battled hard to keep the lead on the final restart then gradually pulled away from the field to win the CampingWorld.com 300, crossing the finish line 1.034 seconds ahead of Brad Keselowski.  Kevin Harvick was third, followed by Carl Edwards and Joey Logano.  (Race results)

It was Busch's fourth victory at the two-mile track and the 42nd of his career.  He is now just six wins behind Mark Martin for the Nationwide Series career win record.

Busch overcame a pit road speeding penalty on Lap 87 (of 150).  That dropped him back to 15th, but he worked his way through the field and was back in the lead on Lap 112.  This was Busch's third victory of the season after a speeding penalty.

Harvick, who led a race-high 86 laps, had a better car than Busch on the long runs, but was frustrated by slow pit stops that cost him positions.  He came into the pits with the lead on Lap 134 (of 150) but came out sixth.  Two cautions in the final 17 laps kept him from challenging Busch for the win.

Danica Patrick, starting her eighth Nationwide race and her second at Fontana, was having her best run of the season until misfortune struck again.  Just after a restart with the field still tightly packed, Patrick was running 17th, looking for her first Top 15 finish and her first lead lap finish.  She got too close to James Buescher and squeezed him into the wall.  A lap later she got close to Buescher again and he turned into her rear, turning her into the wall.  Ricky Carmichael and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also got caught up in the incident that brought out the sixth and final caution and set up the five-lap dash to the finish.  Patrick would finish 30th.

Keselowski should start clearing out a space in his trophy case.  He now leads Edwards by 384 points in the series standings with just five races to go.

NASCAR: Fontana Preview

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This week's NASCAR action takes place in Fontana, California, at Auto Club Speedway.  There are two races on tap:  Saturday's Nationwide race, the CampingWorld.com 300 (4 p.m. ET, ESPN2) and Sunday's Sprint Cup race, the Pepsi Max 400 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN).  The Camping World Truck Series is taking yet another weekend off; they return on October 23 at Martinsville.

Sunday's Cup race is the fourth race in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup.   Jimmie Johnson took over the lead in the points standings after last weekend's race at Kansas, but Denny Hamlin is just eight points behind and seven drivers are within 85 points of the four-time champ.  Jeff Burton, in ninth place, is just 101 points back.  Tony Stewart (-127) and Matt Kenseth (-149) still have faint glimmers of hope.

Clint Bowyer (-252) is just counting the days until the 2011 season after losing his final appeal of his 150-point penalty after his car failed inspection at the NASCAR R&D Center after he won the first Chase race at Loudon.  NASCAR chief appellate officer John Middlebrook did reduce the fines and suspensions for the No. 33 team though.  Crew chief Shane Wilson's fine was reduced from $150,000 to $100,000 and the suspensions of Wilson and car chief Chad Haney were lowered from six races to four.  Richard Childress Racing competition director Scott Miller will be on the pit box for Wilson beginning this weekend.

The bad news for all the drivers chasing Johnson is that Auto Club Speedway is one of his best tracks.  He leads all drivers with five wins.  Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth, both in the Chase, are the only other drivers with multiple wins at the track; they each have three.  Johnson is the only driver to win back-to-back races at Fontana; he won earlier in the year in February and last year's October race.

Hendrick Motorsports (nine wins) and Roush Fenway Racing (seven) have won 16 of the 20 Cup races at Fontana.  Auto Club Speedway is the only current track where Joe Gibbs Racing does not have a victory.

Jamie McMurray grabbed the pole for Sunday's race in the Friday qualifying session.  McMurray ran a lap in 38.859 seconds (185.285 mph).  It was his fourth pole of the season and the seven of his career.  Elliott Sadler grabbed the other front-row starting spot with a lap of 184.407 mph.  Kenseth starts third, the only Chaser in the top five.  Juan Montoya starts fourth, Kasey Kahne fifth.

Only two other Chasers start in the top ten -- Greg Biffle starts seventh and Johnson eighth.  Bowyer starts 13th, Jeff Burton 15th, Kyle Busch 16th, Gordon 17th, Carl Edwards 20th, Kevin Harvick 21st, Tony Stewart 22nd, Hamlin 34th, and Kurt Busch 38th.

Bobby Labonte claimed the final starting spot by using a past champion's provisional.  Mike Bliss and Patrick Carpentier failed to qualify for the 43-car field.  (Race lineup)

Auto Club Speedway is very similar to Kansas Speedway, site of last week's race.  Both are wide, multi-groove tracks with moderate banking.  Where Kansas was a 1.5-mile tri-oval, ACS is a 2-mile D-shaped oval.  Auto Club Speedway's layout is almost identical to Michigan International Speedway.  There should be a lot of side-by-side racing, but the field might get strung out as the faster cars leave the slower ones behind.  The engines run in the high rpm range all day and one or two usually don't make it out alive.  This year, in an effort to make the race more competitive, NASCAR reduced the race from 500 to 400 miles.

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NASCAR: NSCS -- Kansas: Price Chopper 400 Results

Image by fdtate via FlickrGreg Biffle cruised to victory and Jimmie Johnson took over the Chase points lead in Sunday's Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Biffle ran in the top 10 most of the day, but fought an ill-handling car.  After the team made some adjustments, he took off and finally grabbed the lead on Lap 188 (of 267).  That didn't last long; Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard opted for two tires on a yellow-flag stop and came out first and second.  Menard got past McMurray and soon had Biffle on his tail.  Biffle blew past Menard on the backstretch on Lap 207 (of 267).  He briefly relinquished the lead about 30 laps later to make a green-flag pit stop, but was back in front after the field cycled through stops and held it over the final 29 laps.

It was the Biff's 16th career win and his second of the season.  He joins Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart as the only two-time Cup winners at Kansas Speedway.  Biffle also picked up a $100,000 bonus from Ford Racing boss Jamie Allison.  On Saturday, Allison promised to pay the bonus to any Ford Chase driver -- Biffle, Carl Edwards, or Matt Kenseth -- who won one of the final eight races of the season.

Stewart, who was 162 points out of first coming into this race, declared Saturday, "I have dug myself a pretty big hole" and said he was in "go-for-broke" mode.  He was behind Biffle in second in the closing laps, but first Johnson, then Kevin Harvick battled their way past him.  While all that was going on, Biffle just extended his lead and beat Johnson to the finish line by 7.638 seconds.

The top seven finishers were all Chase drivers.  Harvick finished third, followed by Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth.  The other Chasers fought ill-handling cars and did not fare as well.  Denny Hamlin finished 12th.  Kurt Busch was 13th, Clint Bowyer 15th and Jeff Burton 18th. (Race results)

Kyle Busch finished 21st, worst of all the Chasers, after two on-track incidents with David Reutimann.  On Lap 52, Busch was running behind Reutimann coming out of Turn Two.  It looked like Reutimann got loose and lifted off the gas, and Busch got into his rear, spinning him into the wall.  On Lap 155, with Busch running in the top 10 and Reutimann several laps down, Reutimann pulled alongside Busch and slammed him up against the same wall.  Reutimann spun again from the contact, but did considerable damage to Busch's car.  Busch and crew chief Dave Rogers finally decided against taking the car to the garage, and just nursed it along the rest of the way to get what they could.

The first incident appeared accidental, though Busch might have just gotten impatient and decided to move Reutimann out of the way.  The second incident was clearly intentional.  It seems like there was already some bad blood between the two drivers.  After the Bristol night race in August, where the pair finished 1-2 with Busch winning, Busch said,

Reutimann was fast, and he was good, and I’m not going to say why I beat him because then he’ll fix it, but it has to do with behind the wheel...He wasn’t driving the place right. I’m sorry. If he fixes how to drive this place, he’d be right there with me.

Reutimann took exception on a radio show later that week, saying it was "the stupidest comment I've ever heard anybody say."

“I don’t know if [it was] the fact that his Superman cape was flying out the back when I was behind him and I couldn’t see or what the deal was. We got beat fair and square. That’s what it comes down to. We just got outrun. Professor Busch, maybe he can start a driving school at Bristol and the rest of the field can join in and go and [he can] show all of us what we’re doing wrong. I need help.”

Reutimann also hinted that he and Busch had had run-ins before.

“It all comes down to the fact that we just don’t like each other very much,” Reutimann said on the show. “It has been a while. We just don’t like each other, and we agree we don’t like each other and we’re both fine with it.”

In any case, on a day when most of the other Chase drivers were finishing high up on the leaderboard, the second incident took Busch out of contention and put a serious damper on his title hopes.

Wrestler Ric Flair was always fond of saying, "To be the man, you've got to beat the man," and Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 team showed why they're the men to beat Sunday.  The four-time champ was running 21st at the mid-point of the race, but the team kept working to make the car better and Johnson kept running them down for his second-place finish.

“Honestly, I drove 400 miles with my tongue hanging out – just sawing at the wheel trying to get everything I could. Very pleased to have walked that fine line and didn’t make any mistakes. My crew did the same. [Crew chief] Chad [Knaus] called a great race. We needed all those things to work together in order to get a good finish and we did that.”

Johnson's efforts were good enough to put him in first in the points standings, just eight points ahead of Hamlin, who slipped to second.  The standings are a lot tighter after this race with nine drivers within 101 points of the lead.  Harvick (-30) and Edwards (-53) jumped two spots to third and fourth respectively.  Gordon (-58) jumped three spots to fifth.  Kurt Busch (-70) dropped two spots to sixth.  Brother Kyle (-80) dropped four spots to seventh.  With the win, Biffle moved up one spot in the standings to eighth, but more importantly knocked 55 points off his deficit; he's now 85 points behind Johnson.  Burton (-101), Stewart (-127), Kenseth (-149) and Bowyer (-252) round out the Chase field.

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Atlanta Braves & the Postseason

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeOn the last day of the 2010 regular season, everything worked out great for the Atlanta Braves.  The two remaining National League races were decided without any of those pesky one-game playoffs.

Three teams -- the Braves, Giants and Padres -- were battling for the two remaining playoff spots -- the NL West title and the wild card.  It could have gotten really messy if the Braves and the Padres had both won Sunday.  That would have left all three teams with identical 91-71 records, and would have taken two one-game playoffs to resolve.  The Giants and Padres would have had to play to resolve the NL West, then the loser would have had to travel to Atlanta for another game to determine the wild card.  Luckily, it didn't come to all that.

The Braves led 8-2 after six innings Sunday, but had to hang on to get the 8-7 win over the Phillies.  Tim Hudson (17-9) allowed four runs on just two hits in seven innings, and singled to center in the fourth, driving home a run to break a 2-2 tie.  Hudson later said, "This being Bobby's last year, losing today was not an option."

Yes, it was Braves' manager Bobby Cox's last regular season game.  He finishes his career with a regular season record of 2504-2001.  He ranks fourth in wins behind Connie Mack, John McGraw and Tony La Russa.

After the game, Braves' players watched the conclusion of the Giants/Padres game on the clubhouse television.  The Giants blanked the Padres, winning the NL East title and giving the wild card to the Braves.  The Braves travel to San Francisco to face the Giants in the first round of the playoffs Thursday.  The Phillies play the Reds in the other division series.  They begin Wednesday in Philadelphia.

We've known for several days that the Yankees and Rays were both in the playoffs, one as the AL East winner and the other as the wild card, we just didn't know which was which.  That too was resolved Sunday as the Rays beat the Royals 3-2 in 12 innings and the Red Sox beat the Yankees 8-4.  The Rays won the AL East and will host the Rangers.  The Yankees will travel to Minnesota.  Both series start Wednesday.

SEC Football -- Week Five

Oh, doctor!  The marquee matchup of the day didn't quite live up to expectations, but there was a real doozy of a game in Baton Rouge.

Tennessee came into their game with LSU a two-touchdown underdog, and it looked to be a long afternoon for the Vols when LSU QB Jordan Jefferson scored on an 83-yard run on the Tigers' first offensive play of the game.  But Tennessee put together a 7-play, 64-yard drive and Tauren Poole capped it off with a one-yard run that tied the score just before the end of the first quarter.  It stayed that way until Josh Jasper kicked a 31-yard field goal for LSU to open the fourth quarter, but Tennessee answered with a touchdown on the next drive to take their first lead of the game at 14-10.

Fast forward to the end when things got really weird.  LSU got the ball with a little under six minutes left in the game and started a drive down the field.   On second-and-goal on the Tennessee two with 32 seconds left, Jefferson was stopped at the one-yard line, and LSU suddenly seemed to have no idea of what to do next.  Players rushed on the field and others rushed off and the LSU was running around trying to get a play called.  Tick, tick, tick.  Incredibly bad coaching and clock management.  LSU C T-Bob Hebert finally just snapped the ball as time was running out.  Jefferson wasn't ready for it, and Tennessee's Nick Reveiz fell on it as time expired.

But hold on!  The replay booth called down on the field and Tennessee was charged with illegal participation.  As players from both teams were running on and off the field, it appeared that four Vols ran on and three headed off, then one of the players that was going off turned around and came back.  Thirteen Vols on the field when the ball was snapped.  LSU got one more crack at it.  Jefferson pitched to Stevan Ridley and he punched it in for the 16-14 LSU win.

As much as I really hate Tennessee, I have to admit that they might have gotten screwed on the first "final" play.  LSU did not appear to get set before the ball was snapped, and after the play, when it looked like Tennessee had the win, an LSU lineman snatched his helmet off and threw it to the ground, which should have been a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

The final sequence really has to be seen to be believed.  Click here! 

On paper, the marquee matchup of the day seemed to be Alabama vs. Florida, the best of the west vs. the best of the east.  On the field, however, it was all Alabama in a 31-6 win.  Mark Ingram had two touchdowns, but only rushed for 47 yards.  Marquis Maze threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Michael Williams out of the wildcat formation.  And C. J. Mosely had a 35-yard interception return for another touchdown.  The final stats were actually pretty close, but four turnovers -- three interceptions and a fumble -- killed any chance Florida had of getting back in the game.  Two of the turnovers came with Florida deep in Alabama territory.

Georgia's losing streak is now at four for the first time since 1990.  The Bulldogs were down two to Colorado in the closing minutes, but were within field goal range.  They were just trying to run the clock down and maybe punch out a few more yards.  But Colorado turned LB B. J. Beatty loose on a blitz.  He got to Caleb King in the Georgia backfield just as he was taking the handoff and stripped the ball loose.  Colorado fell on it to preserve the 29-27 win.

The scores:

#1 Alabama 31, #7 Florida 6
#10 Auburn 52, Louisiana-Monroe 3
#12 LSU 16, Tennessee 14
Mississippi 42, Kentucky 35
Colorado 29, Georgia 27
Mississippi State 49, Alcorn State 16
Connecticut 40, Vanderbilt 21

NASCAR: NNS -- Kansas: Kansas Lottery 300 Results

Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Joey Logano got by Kyle Busch on the next-to-last restart with seven laps remaining, and a big push from Brad Keselowski on the final restart helped him seal the deal in Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway.

Mike Wallace was a few laps short on fuel, but seemed to be trying to stretch it to the end.  He finally thought better of it and pitted after Trevor Bayne spun off in Turn Two to bring out the seventh caution of the afternoon.  That gave the lead to Busch on the restart, but Logano got inside of him and forced him up the track.  Busch had to lift and Logano took the lead, but Aric Almirola crashed in Turns Three and Four one lap later to set up the final restart with just two laps to go.

Logano took the high line and got a big push from Brad Keselowski to stay in front of Busch and the rest of the field for the win.  It was Logano's eighth career Nationwide win, his second of the season, and his second in just three starts at Kansas.

Keselowski got by Busch off the final corner to take second.  Busch finished third, followed by Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. fifth.  (Race results)

Busch, who led a race-high 64 laps, showed his displeasure with Logano's pass by bumping him in the rear after the final caution flew.

Keselowski extended his lead in the points standings to 374 points over Carl Edwards, who finished 14th.  That's an almost insurmountable lead with just six races remaining in the season.

Ricky Carmichael made his Nationwide Series debut, finishing 18th.

Atlanta Braves -- A Fine Mess

Image via WikipediaSince I started this blog a few weeks ago, I've avoided any talk of the Atlanta Braves mainly through a desire not to jinx them as they've steadily fallen in the standings.

It wasn't that long ago that they had a pretty sizable lead in the NL East -- maybe as high as eight or nine games.  But injuries caught up with them and the lead started dwindling away.  As the Braves cooled off, the Phillies got hot.  The Braves' division lead got smaller and smaller until the Phillies finally caught them and left them in the dust.  The Phillies clinched the division a few days ago.

But the Braves always had the wild card to fall back on.  Just two days ago, they had a two game lead over the Padres with just three games left in the regular season.  After two more losses to the Phillies and two Padres wins over the Giants, the Braves and Padres are now tied for the wild card with only one game left for each team.

On Saturday, a crowd of 54,296 (a Turner Field regular season record) turned out to watch the Braves pay an emotional pregame tribute to retiring manager Bobby Cox.  Afterwards, the Braves promptly went out and lost 7-0.  The game was scoreless until the 7th and (for the second straight game) turned on a throwing error by Brooks Conrad.

To further complicate matters, the Padres are also battling the Giants for the NL West title.  The Giants are now 91-70 and lead that division by just one game.  The Braves and Padres are 90-71.

A few scenarios for the last day of the regular season:

The Braves have to be rooting for the Giants to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Padres.  If they do and the Braves win, the Giants win the NL West and the Braves win the wild card.

If the Giants win and the Braves lose, the Braves and Padres will play in Atlanta Monday to determine the wild card.

If the Padres win and the Braves lose, the Padres will win the NL West and the Giants will win the wild card.

If the Padres and Braves both win, all three teams will finish with 91-71 records.  The Padres and Giants would play Monday to determine the NL West winner.  The loser would travel to Atlanta for a game Tuesday to determine the wild card.

As much as I would like to see the Braves win one more World Series title for Bobby, I just don't see it happening.  If they even make the playoffs (which is looking more and more doubtful by the minute), I don't think they will advance very far.  They've especially had troubles with the Phillies lately and just won't be able to match up if they both advance to play for the league championship.

Tim Hudson (16-9) gets the crucial start for the Braves Sunday.  Cole Hamels (12-11) will get the start for the Phillies, but is expected to stay in the game for just a couple of innings, a little tuneup for the postseason.  Roy Oswalt (13-13) should also get a few innings in.  Mat Latos (14-9) starts for the Padres against the Giants' Jonathan Sanchez (12-9).

NASCAR: Kansas Preview

Image via Wikipedia
The Camping World Truck Series is idle until October 23, so there are just two races on the schedule this weekend -- both at Kansas Speedway, just outside of Kansas City, Kansas.  The Nationwide Series race, the Kansas Lottery 300, takes place Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN2).  The Sprint Cup race, the Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods, kicks off Sunday at 1 p.m. ET (ESPN).

The Cup race is the third in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup.  After his dominating win last week at Dover, Jimmie Johnson seems like the odds-on favorite to win his fifth straight Cup championship, but he still trails Denny Hamlin by 35 points.  And six other drivers are still within 83 points of the lead, so a lot can happen between now and Homestead in November.

Two points to keep in mind:  since the Chase format began, no driver who has led in the points after two races has gone on to win the championship, but no driver has ever had as big a lead as Hamlin after two races.

Greg Biffle (-140), Tony Stewart (-162), Matt Kenseth (-165) and Clint Bowyer (-235) are technically still alive for the championship, but on life support.

Bowyer, who had his 150-point penalty upheld Wednesday after failing inspection at the R&D Center after his win at Loudon, still has one final appeal left with NASCAR chief appellate officer John Middlebrook.  Bowyer is convinced that he has no chance of winning that final appeal and therefore has no chance of winning the championship this year.  He is vowing to help his RCR teammates Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, and might end up doing a little research and development on the track for them.  Meanwhile, an analyst who testified for RCR at Wednesday's appeal showed that the wrecker that pushed Bowyer to Victory Lane could have caused the inspection violation.  Dr. Charles Manning of Accident Reconstruction Analysis called NASCAR's arguments against his analysis "a bunch of malarkey."

It will be an all-Richard Petty Motorsports front row Sunday.  Kasey Kahne turned a lap in 30.920 seconds (174.644 mph) in Friday's qualifying session to grab the pole.  His RPM teammate Paul Menard will start in the second spot after his lap of 30.951 seconds.  It will be the first time two Petty cars will lead the field to green.  It's the 19th pole in Kahne's career and his third for the season, tying Jamie McMurray for the series lead.

Jeff Gordon starts third, followed by Joey Logano and Greg Biffle.  Only four Chasers start in the top 10 -- in addition to Gordon and Biffle, Kenseth starts eighth, and Kurt Busch starts ninth.   Hamlin starts 12th, Stewart 14th, Kyle Busch 19th, Johnson 21st, Burton 23rd, Harvick 24th, Bowyer 27th and Carl Edwards 31st.

Joe Nemechek, Mike Bliss and Jason Leffler failed to qualify for the 43-car field.  (Race lineup)

Kansas Speedway is a 1.5-mile, D-shaped tri-oval.  There are several tracks of differing sizes with a very similar layout on the Cup circuit.  When the track first opened, the racing was fairly boring because drivers could only run in one groove and it was so hard to pass.  As the surface has aged, the track has become multi-grooved and the passing is much easier.  There have only been nine Cup races at Kansas Speedway.  Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart lead all drivers with two wins each. 

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