Mayfield drug named

The drug Jeremy Mayfield allegedly took has been named. According to ESPN.com, NASCAR believes he tested positive for methamphetamines.

Our View: This is certainly a serious drug that is extremely addictive. We hope the truth eventually is revealed and if Mayfield was indeed under the influence, he deserves the suspension and banishment.

We also understand NASCAR reluctance to name the drug immediately, as this would have done major damage to Mayfield's reputation.

Michigan Yahoo! preview

Michigan is one of NASCAR's perfect tracks with long sweeping corners and enough room to pass. It has also been very predictable ever since Jack Roush started fielding cars. Check out this week's Yahoo! Fantasy Preview (.pdf) for a sneak peak at who'll be their toughest competitors.

Carpentier to drive for Waltrip at Infineon

Patrick Carpentier will drive the No. 55 for Michael Waltrip at Infineon Raceway next week, according to a Tweet from @mw55.

Our View: Michael Waltrip Racing's cars are powerful as evidenced by the strong runs of David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose. Carpentier could be one of the best road ringers at Infineon.

N'Wide: Kentucky's last five races

For the second straight week, the NASCAR Cup and Nationwide Series are at different tracks, making this one of the opportunity races for the Nationwide Regulars. Last week, only two Claim Jumpers made the long commute from Pocono Raceway to Nashville Superspeedway. And even though Kyle Busch won both the pole and the race with Carl Edwards finishing third in the Federated Auto Parts 300, that left eight spots remaining for the Regulars to score much needed top-10s for their resume.

The same thing often happens at Kentucky. Last year, Scott Wimmer took a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to a second-place finish behind teenage sensation Joey Logano and drivers without fulltime Cup rides swept the top five. Logano and Wimmer were followed across the line by Mike Wallace in third, Brad Keselowski in fourth and Bryan Clauson in fifth.

Marcos Ambrose was sixth and fantasy owners had to look as far back as seventh to find Claim Jumper David Ragan. The same thing could happen this week, and in any event owners would be able to theoretically fill their roster with the top drivers—if only they can identify them.

Average finish, last five races

Driver	Avg Finish	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
Joey Logano	1.00	1
David Gilliland	1.00			1
Scott Wimmer	2.50	2	3
Brad Keselowski	4.00	4
Martin Truex Jr	4.00				2	6
Ron Hornaday Jr	4.00					4
Bryan Clauson	5.00	5
Shane Huffman	5.00		5
Stephen Leicht	5.50		1	10
Aric Almirola	6.00		6
Kevin Harvick	6.00			6
Sterling Marlin	6.00				6
Mike Bliss	6.67	8	9			3
Paul Menard	7.00			9	5
David Ragan	7.50	7	8
J J Yeley	8.00		12	2	7	11
Marcos Ambrose	8.50	6	11
Clint Bowyer	8.50	9		12	3	10
Brad Coleman	8.50	15	2
Denny Hamlin	9.00			3	15
Landon Cassill	11.00	11
Robby Gordon	12.00					12
Greg Biffle	12.25		10	7	30	2
David Reutimann	12.33	13	16	8
Ashton Lewis	12.67			5	25	8
Kelly Bires	13.00	19	7
James Buescher	14.00	14
Tony Raines	14.00				13	15
Boris Said	14.00			14
David Stremme	14.25	12	4		32	9
Kyle Busch	14.67	30		13		1
Dave Blaney	15.00		15
John Andretti	15.00			15
Cale Gale	15.50	18	13
Casey Atwood	15.50				9	22
Mike Wallace	15.75	3	25	4		31
Brandon Miller	16.00				16
Jon Wood	16.00			22	10
Robert Pressley	16.00					16
Jason Keller	16.50	10	20		31	5
Steve Wallace	16.67	17	22	11
Timothy Peters	17.00		17
Stacy Compton	17.00			24	8	19
Kasey Kahne	17.00					17
David Green	18.00		26	21	12	13
Tyler Walker	19.00				19
Jason Leffler	19.25	16	14	40		7
Todd Kluever	20.00		23	17
Justin Labonte	20.50				11	30
Michel Jourdain Jr	20.50			18	23
Kevin Hamlin	21.00		21
Hermie Sadler	21.00					21
Randy LaJoie	21.00				21
Reed Sorenson	21.50			39	4
Chad Blount	22.00				22
Carl Edwards	22.50	20	33	36	1
Josh Wise	23.00	23
Steve Grissom	23.50				27	20
Kevin Lepage	24.00	24
Kenny Wallace	24.00	29		20	14	33
Brent Sherman	24.00		24
Billy Parker	24.00					24
Tim Sauter	24.00			28	20
Rusty Wallace	24.00				24
Aaron Fike	24.50			31	18
Kevin Grubb	25.00			25
Burney Lamar	25.50	32		19
Mark Green	26.00	22			33	23
D J Kennington	26.00	26
Mark McFarland	26.00			26
Stanton Barrett	26.33	25			17	37
Regan Smith	27.00		19	16	41	32
Shelby Howard	27.00		27
Joel Kauffman	27.00			27
Jimmy Kitchens	27.00					27
Richard Johns	28.00		28
Ryan Hemphill	28.00				28
Michael Waltrip	28.00				42	14
Bobby Hamilton Jr	28.33	21	36			28
Chase Miller	28.50	39	18
Kyle Krisiloff	29.00		29
Wade Day	29.00				29
Johnny Benson Jr	29.00					29
Chris Cook	30.00			30
Derrike Cope	31.00	31
Kertus Davis	31.00	37	30		26
Johnny Sauter	31.67			32	38	25
Kenny Hendrick	32.00	34			44	18
Justin Diercks	32.00		31	33
Andy Ponstein	33.00	33
Robert Richardson	34.00		34
Auggie Vidovich	34.00			34
Eric McClure	34.33	28	32	43
Jamie Mosley	34.50		40	35	37	26
Jay Sauter	34.50			29		40
Brian Keselowski	35.00	35
Danny O'Quinn Jr	35.00	44	38	23
Gus Wasson	35.00					35
Johnny Chapman	36.00	36
Clint Vahsholtz	36.00					36
Wayne Edwards	36.00				36
A J Frank	37.00		37
Tim Fedewa	37.00				40	34
Blake Feese	37.50				34	41
Justin Hobgood	38.00	38
Shane Hall	38.00			38
Buckshot Jones	38.00					38
Brett Rowe	39.00		39
Eric Jones	39.00				39
Travis Geisler	39.00					39
Jeff Fuller	39.33			41	35	42
Brad Teague	39.67	27			48	44
Dwayne Leik	40.00	40
Chris Horn	40.75		35	37	43	48
Larry Gunselman	41.00	41
Mike Harmon	41.00		41
Danny Efland	42.00	42
Morgan Shepherd	42.33	43	42	42
Carlos Contreras	43.00		43
John Hayden	44.00			44
Stan Boyd	44.50			46		43
Johnny Borneman III	45.00				45
David Odell	45.00			45
Shawna Robinson	45.00					45
Stuart Kirby	46.00					46
Damon Lusk	46.00				46
Jerry Robertson	47.00				47
Justin Ashburn	47.00					47

More Nationwide Newsbreakers

Double-file restarts are a non issue at Pocono

NASCAR now has one race under its belt with double-file restarts, but that was enough to allow Carl Edwards to offer suggestions, according to NASCAR.com.

Our View: Edwards suggested that the leader should have his own row—something known as a Delaware restart in dirt racing circles—which protects some of the advantage he has worked so hard to get.

Kurt Busch on double-file restarts
Tony Stewart on double-file restarts
Kasey Kahne on double-file restarts

Penske Takes Parker Kligerman to Prom

From an ARCA Press Release

Following his sixth-place finish in Saturday's Pocono 200, Rookie of the Year Contender Parker Kligerman traveled from Long Pond, Pennsylvania, to his hometown of Westport, Conn., to attend his Senior Prom. Kligerman, a Penske Development driver for Cunningham Motorsports, has spent his senior year of high school juggling school work and fulltime ARCA RE/MAX Series competition in hopes of landing a fulltime career in motor sports.

"It's kinda a hectic schedule," said Kligerman. "I go to Staples High School. It's the public school in my hometown of West Port, Connecticut. I have a lot of support from my principal. The day that I walked into school Freshman year I said 'You know I want to be a racecar driver and I'm going to have to travel a lot.' I didn't know exactly how far I was going to go but at the time I was racing open wheel cars on the West Coast. He said as long as you keep your grades up, it's a cool endeavor, we like it. My parents said, 'well it keeps you focused so we'll support it as much as we can as long as you keep your grades up'.

"My parents, actually [were the harder sell than my principal in convincing that I should be a racecar driver]. You would think that it would have been the principal but he thought it was awesome right away."

In seven ARCA RE/MAX Series starts in 2009, Kligerman has finished outside of the top-10 on just one occasion. He earned his first Series win at Toledo Speedway on May 17.

More ARCA Newsbreakers

Trucks: Benson's ride shut down

Johnny Benson Jr. will be without a ride for the moment since Red Horse Racing has been forced to shut down the No. 1 team.

"It hasn't been for a lack of effort," owner Tom DeLoach said. "We had several people working on finding a sponsor for the No. 1 and Johnny Benson. I've been working on it myself. We gave it our best shot, and we tried as long as we could, but nothing materialized."

Our View: How tough is the economy when the defending champion of a major race sanction can't secure sponsorship? It is hard to visualize a scenario in which Benson would be a good value with any team that picks him up; most of the strong teams are already set.

More Camping World Truck Series Newsbreakers

LifeLock 400 roster posted

The roster for the NASCAR Cup LifeLock 400 has been posted and only 44 drivers are listed. In addition to the regular cast of characters Tony Raines in the No. 37, Bill Elliott and Max Papis will attempt to make the show.

Our View: This is good news for most of the "go-or-go-home" drivers. Our best guess is that Raines will be the odd man out.

LifeLock 400 roster

Pocono 500 Results

Now the questions will end. Tony Stewart kept getting closer and closer with six top-fives in his previous eight attempts and during that time, he's been strong enough to win on several occasions. This week, it took a combination of speed and strategy to beat Carl Edwards to the line.

Edwards had the dominant car for most of the afternoon, but he was forced to pedal the throttle and conserve fuel as well, which made for some drama late in the Pocono 500. Still, it could have been worse, because the second most dominant driver Jimmie Johnson ran out of gas in turn two and had to coast to the finish line in seventh.

The majority of the other top-10 finishers climbed that high on the back of their own pit strategy, and fantasy owners with good instincts were rewarded. Owners who did this by the numbers suffered early after one of the favorites Denny Hamlin broke a fuel pump on the opening lap. Even with his 38th-place finish Sunday, the flat track master has an average finish of 10.71 on this track.

Results with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Avg Fin
1	1	Tony Stewart	200	39	Running	12.43
2	11	Carl Edwards	200	103	Running	12.89
3	13	David Reutimann	200		Running	26.20
4	2	Jeff Gordon	200	9	Running	10.09
5	5	Ryan Newman	200	1	Running	13.33
6	20	Marcos Ambrose	200		Running	6.00
7	3	Jimmie Johnson	200	31	Running	9.60
8	15	Juan Montoya	200		Running	24.40
9	10	Jeff Burton	200		Running	16.29
10	26	Sam Hornish Jr	200		Running	26.00
11	9	Greg Biffle	200	4	Running	17.77
12	16	Clint Bowyer	200		Running	19.57
13	22	Jamie McMurray	200	1	Running	20.69
14	21	Casey Mears	200	1	Running	20.38
15	14	Kasey Kahne	200		Running	16.45
16	8	Matt Kenseth	200	6	Running	14.26
17	32	Michael Waltrip	200		Running	21.48
18	19	Martin Truex Jr	200		Running	15.57
19	12	Mark Martin	200	1	Running	10.84
20	25	Reed Sorenson	200		Running	28.86
21	17	Brian Vickers	200		Running	15.09
22	6	Kyle Busch	200		Running	22.00
23	23	Joey Logano	200		Running	23.00
24	24	Kevin Harvick	200		Running	15.82
25	27	Elliott Sadler	200	2	Running	20.90
26	31	David Ragan	200		Running	22.80
27	18	Dale Earnhardt Jr	200		Running	16.84
28	28	Bobby Labonte	200		Running	18.00
29	33	Paul Menard	200		Running	30.00
30	30	A J Allmendinger	199		Running	25.00
31	34	Robby Gordon	199		Running	27.94
32	37	Scott Speed	199		Running	32.00
33	42	Regan Smith	198		Running	28.67
34	29	David Stremme	198		Running	27.40
35	35	John Andretti	198		Running	28.52
36	43	Dexter Bean	196		Running	36.00
37	4	Kurt Busch	182	2	Running	16.94
38	7	Denny Hamlin	178		Running	10.71
39	36	Sterling Marlin	56		Quit	17.87
40	41	Dave Blaney	37		Quit	23.53
41	39	Joe Nemechek	36		Quit	25.21
42	38	David Gilliland	34		Quit	33.00
43	40	Patrick Carpentier	32		Quit	37.50

Two-mile tracks, top-10 laps

Despite the somewhat derisive description "cookie-cutter" tracks for the similarly-configured, 1.5-mile courses, no two tracks on the circuit are closer in terms of layout than Michigan International Speedway and Auto Club Speedway—but you won't hear too many people complaining about the competition this week. That is because the two-milers offer some of the best side-by-side racing on the schedule.

On these tracks, the conventional wisdom says to load up on Roush-Fenway drivers and they have the numbers to back that up. During the last five years at Michigan and Auto Club combined, the three top drivers for the Cat in the Hat dominate the top five among laps spent inside the top 10, but they are not without opposition.

Jimmie Johnson has actually spent the most time among the leaders on this track type during the last five years. With 1,273 laps among the top 10 at Michigan and another 1,970 in California, he has been spent 73 percent of his time at the head of the field. Unfortunately, bad luck and misfortune has caused him to finish outside the top 15 eight times in the last 24 races on these two tracks and nearly all of those disappointments came at Michigan.

Carl Edwards has spent considerably less time in the top 10, but he's made the most of his opportunities. With 1,260 top-10 laps at Michigan and 1,725 at California, he's competed with the leaders for 69 percent of his possible laps and all but two of his 19 races in that span have ended in top-10 finishes.

Matt Kenseth has actually spent more time among the top 10 during the last five years than Edwards, but that is because he has five more races to his credit. In 24 starts on the two-mile tracks since the beginning of 2003, Kenseth has spent 67 percent of his laps battling for a top-10 finish and he's sealed the deal 83 percent of the time with 20 top-10 finishes in 24 starts.

Another Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon and another Roushketeer Greg Biffle are locked in a virtual tie for fourth and fifth on the grid. Gordon has 2,534 laps in the top 10 out of a possible 4,440 during the last five years; Biffle has 2,509, which equates to 57 percent of the time. However, Biffle may be the better value this week because his top-10 laps at Michigan (1,267) are superior to Gordon's (1,081).

Top-10 laps on two-mile tracks

Driver	Michigan	California	Total	%
Jimmie Johnson	1,273	1,970	3,243	73%
Matt Kenseth	1,260	1,725	2,985	67%
Carl Edwards	1,261	1,475	2,736	69%
Jeff Gordon	1,081	1,453	2,534	57%
Greg Biffle	1,267	1,242	2,509	57%
Kyle Busch	844	1,532	2,376	59%
Kurt Busch	1,040	1,220	2,260	51%
Tony Stewart	986	1,204	2,190	49%
Kasey Kahne	604	1,452	2,056	46%
Mark Martin	630	1,234	1,864	47%
Brian Vickers	811	865	1,676	38%
Dale Earnhardt Jr	920	538	1,458	33%
Kevin Harvick	381	869	1,250	28%
Denny Hamlin	488	748	1,236	43%
Jeff Burton	289	883	1,172	26%
Jamie McMurray	368	770	1,138	26%
Ryan Newman	500	621	1,121	25%
Elliott Sadler	640	390	1,030	23%
Joe Nemechek	442	367	809	18%
Clint Bowyer	235	507	742	26%
Martin Truex Jr	256	469	725	25%
Casey Mears	485	235	720	16%
Michael Waltrip	406	152	558	13%
Sterling Marlin	254	221	475	17%
Bobby Labonte	255	137	392	9%
David Ragan	195	159	354	17%
David Reutimann	34	270	304	15%
Robby Gordon	99	130	229	5%
Reed Sorenson	131	67	198	7%
Juan Montoya	2	179	181	9%
A J Allmendinger	23	157	180	13%
Dave Blaney	105	72	177	4%
Paul Menard	28	27	55	2%
Bill Elliott	17	30	47	2%
Sam Hornish Jr	37	0	37	3%
David Gilliland	0	35	35	1%
Tony Raines	19	2	21	1%
David Stremme	5	10	15	1%
John Andretti	1	11	12	1%
Mike Skinner	3	0	3	0%
Joey Logano		0	0	0%
Marcos Ambrose	0	0	0	0%
Scott Speed		0	0	0%

Stewart wins fuel mileage race

Tony Stewart doesn't like to win fuel mileage races—and to our memory, he's done it only once before—but the owner/driver got his first victory in that role.

Our View: For a couple of months, we've been saying a win was around the corner. Now that it's come, we can stop predicting it.

N'Wide: Nashville Results

Finally, Kyle Busch won a race he dominated and scattered applause broke out in the grandstands. That was in stark contrast to the boos that usually accompany his victories, and then he tried to do a Rock Star impersonation in victory lane by smashing one of the most unique trophies in NASCAR—and may well have alienated those same fans. Busch doesn't mind, he loves being the villain.

Last year, when Brad Keselowski won his Sam Bass designed Gibson guitar, he fell asleep on the plan clutching it and he would probably have cherished this one as well, but he settled into second.

Only two Claim Jumpers were in the field, but they made the most of their long commute since Carl Edwards finished third.

Mike Bliss (fourth), Jason Leffler (fifth), and Stephen Leicht (sixth) were the only other drivers to finish on the lead lap.

Results, with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Avg Fin
1	1	Kyle Busch	225	173	Running	15.38
2	10	Brad Keselowski	225	10	Running	14.67
3	6	Carl Edwards	225	1	Running	4.00
4	8	Mike Bliss	225	6	Running	12.36
5	12	Jason Leffler	225	26	Running	14.50
6	9	Stephen Leicht	225		Running	14.00
7	16	Steve Wallace	224		Running	14.25
8	3	Michael McDowell	224	1	Running	11.50
9	27	Erik Darnell	224	1	Running	9.00
10	4	Brad Coleman	224		Running	23.20
11	5	Scott Lagasse Jr	223		Running	10.50
12	35	Shelby Howard	223		Running	13.00
13	24	Justin Allgaier	223		Running	21.00
14	21	Bobby Hamilton Jr	223		Running	14.33
15	22	Burney Lamar	222		Running	13.00
16	28	Kenny Wallace	221	7	Running	15.38
17	43	Morgan Shepherd	221		Running	33.29
18	42	Danny O'Quinn Jr	219		Running	21.00
19	40	Tony Raines	219		Running	20.11
20	37	Brandon Whitt	218		Running	25.00
21	29	Robert Richardson	218		Running	29.25
22	30	Eric McClure	218		Running	30.38
23	18	Kevin Conway	213		Running	27.00
24	7	Brendan Gaughan	211		Running	20.50
25	38	Marc Davis	182		Electrical	25.00
26	11	Jason Keller	170		Running	15.25
27	31	Michael Annett	143		Running	23.00
28	2	Trevor Bayne	128		Accident	28.00
29	13	Sean Caisse	127		Accident	29.00
30	25	Brian Keselowski	127		Accident	35.50
31	15	Cale Gale	123		Accident	24.33
32	19	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	123		Accident	27.50
33	33	Scott Wimmer	79		Wheel	12.55
34	39	Kevin Lepage	64		Engine	26.67
35	26	Kertus Davis	30		Vibration	35.22
36	17	Willie Allen	16		Vibration	34.50
37	32	Kelly Bires	9		Quit	13.80
38	23	Johnny Chapman	8		Quit	39.25
39	41	Mike Harmon	4		Accident	37.67
40	34	Casey Atwood	4		Accident	22.25
41	36	Brad Baker	4		Accident	25.43
42	14	John Wes Townley	2		Accident	30.00
43	20	Mark Green	1		Quit	29.22
44		Justin Hobgood	0		Did Not Qualify	41.00
45		Daryl Harr	0		Did Not Qualify

More Nationwide Newsbreakers

F1: Turkish GP Results

O.k., this is getting ridiculous—unless you happen to be a Jenson Button fan. He's won six of the seven Formula 1 races this year and the championship is nearly a foregone conclusion. And this is coming from a driver who couldn't buy a top-five last year with a best of sixth in Spain and only a handful of top-10s. That just goes to show you how much difference strong equipment makes.

The biggest story was the failure to finish by Rubens Barrichello. He has been the wingman of Button all year and has also swept the top five with three runner-up finishes to this credit. He spun after making contact with Heikki Kovalainen and damaged his nose with contact from Adrian Sutil.

Red Bull teammates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel finished second and third, which puts tem in a position to pounce in the unlikely event that Button stumbles.

Results, with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Status	Avg Fin
1	2	Jenson Button	58	Running	6.80
2	4	Mark Webber	58	Running	12.20
3	1	Sebastian Vettel	58	Running	13.00
4	5	Jarno Trulli	58	Running	9.00
5	9	Nico Rosberg	58	Running	9.50
6	7	Felipe Massa	58	Running	5.60
7	10	Robert Kubica	58	Running	7.75
8	13	Timo Glock	58	Running	10.50
9	6	Kimi Raikkonen	58	Running	7.20
10	8	Fernando Alonso	58	Running	4.60
11	11	Nick Heidfeld	58	Running	10.40
12	12	Kazuki Nakajima	58	Running	15.50
13	16	Lewis Hamilton	58	Running	6.67
14	14	Heikki Kovalainen	57	Running	10.67
15	18	Sebastian Buemi	57	Running	15.00
16	17	Nelson Piquet Jr	57	Running	15.50
17	15	Adrian Sutil	57	Running	18.00
18	20	Sebastian Bourdais	57	Running	18.00
19	3	Rubens Barrichello	47	Retired	13.60
20	19	Giancarlo Fisichella	4	Retired	11.80

More Formula 1 Newsbreakers

IRL: Texas Results

The off-season trouble is completely behind him. Helio Castroneves won for a third time at Texas Motor Speedway and his 16th overall. He led Ryan Briscoe to the line, but the race was won in the pits when he beat his teammate and rest of the field out on lap 175.

Last year's winner Scott Dixon finished third. In 2008, he started first before winning; this week, he started third, which means he is good at finishing what he starts.

Marco Andretti finished fourth, but was still not pleased. Late in the race, he became unhappy with teammate Danica Patrick for having the effrontery to race with him—guess he's forgotten what sport this is.

Pole sitter Dario Franchitti faded to fifth at the end.

Perhaps the hottest driver on the circuit, however, is Patrick. Her four-race top-five streak came to an end Saturday night, but not by much. She finished sixth, which was her third consecutive top-10 on this track.

Results, with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Status	Avg Fin
1	4	Helio Castroneves	228	Running	5.82
2	2	Ryan Briscoe	228	Running	5.67
3	3	Scott Dixon	228	Running	6.33
4	8	Marco Andretti	228	Running	14.00
5	1	Dario Franchitti	228	Running	7.83
6	5	Danica Patrick	228	Running	8.80
7	7	Dan Wheldon	228	Running	8.90
8	16	Tony Kanaan	228	Running	4.89
9	10	Ed Carpenter	228	Running	16.00
10	6	Mario Moraes	227	Running	14.00
11	9	Robert Doornbos	227	Running	11.00
12	15	Raphael Matos	226	Running	12.00
13	18	Tomas Scheckter	226	Running	15.10
14	13	Alex Tagliani	225	Running	14.00
15	17	Justin Wilson	225	Running	21.00
16	23	Ryan Hunter-Reay	225	Running	18.00
17	14	Sarah Fisher	222	Running	14.56
18	24	Jaques Lazier	210	Running	15.00
19	19	Mike Conway	185	Running	19.00
20	22	Anthony Foyt IV	170	Accident	17.75
21	11	Hideki Mutoh	153	Mechanical	13.50
22	12	Graham Rahal	1	Accident	16.50
23	20	Milka Duno	1	Accident	17.00
24	21	E J Viso	1	Accident	19.00

More Indy Racing League Newsbreakers

Holmes dominates at Roseburg

From NASCAR PR

ROSEBURG, Ore. – Eric Holmes had done it the hard way. Saturday evening, he did it the easy way.

A year after overcoming a flat tire and fighting his way through the field at Douglas County Speedway to get the victory, the defending NASCAR Camping World Series West champion stayed out front all night and led all 150 laps en route to winning the Toyota/Bi-Mart 150 presented by NAPA.

It was the fourth straight victory at the .325-mile oval for Holmes’ car owner Bill McAnally.

Holmes’ third win of the season increased his series points lead to 36 points over Jason Bowles, who finished second. David Mayhew was third, followed by Mike David and Moses Smith.

Earlier in the day, Holmes won his first Coors Light Pole Award of the season. Saturday was Holmes’ ninth career win and 11th career pole.

The race was slowed six times for 29 laps.

The NASCAR Camping World Series West will race next at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., on June 20 as part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend at the road course.

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD SERIES WEST-TOYOTA/BI-MART 150
Unofficial Results

Saturday
At Douglas County Speedway
Roseburg, OR

Lap length: 0.375 miles(Start position in parentheses)
1. (1) Eric Holmes, Escalon, Calif., Toyota, 150 laps, 59.911 mph, $10,186.
2. (6) Jason Bowles, Ontario, Calif., Ford, 150, $4,236.
3. (2) David Mayhew, Atascadero, Calif., Chevrolet, 150, $3,536.
4. (5) Mike David, Modesto, Calif., Toyota, 150, $3,336.
5. (4) Moses Smith, Tempe, Ariz., Toyota, 150, $3,286.
6. (10) Brett Thompson, Jerome, Idaho, Chevrolet, 150, $3,036.
7. (7) Blake Koch, West Palm Beach, Fla., Chevrolet, 150, $3,111.
8. (9) Greg Pursley, Newhall, Calif., Chevrolet, 150, $2,736.
9. (12) Jim Warn, Aurora, Ore, Chevrolet, 150, $2,636.
10. (15) Jamie Dick, Albuquerque, N.M., Ford, 150, $4,091.
11. (11) Phil Dugan, Meridian, Idaho, Chevrolet, 148, $2,286.
12. (13) Paul Pedroncelli, Jr., Sonoma, Calif., Chevrolet, 147, $1,640.
13. (8) Paulie Harraka, Fairlawn, N.J., Toyota, 142, $2,066.
14. (14) Johnathan Hale, Rio Linda, Calif., Chevrolet, 124, suspension, $1,986.
15. (3) Travis Bennett, Ellensburg, Wash., Chevrolet, 44, accident, $1,425.
16. (16) Jack Sellers, Sacramento, Calif., Chevrolet, 3, rear end, $1,936.
17. (17) Greg Rayl, Roseville, Calif., Ford, 1, motor, $1,375.

Race StatisticsTime of Race: 0 hours 56 minutes 20 seconds
Margin of Victory: 1.644 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: E.Holmes (88.583 mph, 15.24 seconds)
Caution Flags: 6 for 29 laps.
Lead Changes: 0 among 1 drivers.Lap Leaders: E. Holmes 1-150.
Standings: 1. E. Holmes, 1025; 2. J. Bowles, 989; 3. D. Mayhew, 961; 4. M. David, 942; 5. G. Pursley, 914; 6. P. Harraka, 878; 7. B. Thompson, 876; 8. M. Smith, 866; 9. B. Koch, 839; 10. J. Warn, 772.

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IRL: Patrick narrowly misses top five

Danica Patrick missed extending her top-five streak to six consecutive, but she didn't miss by much. The No. 7 car finished sixth.

Our View: Patrick could be one of the best values in the game at the moment.

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R Gordon wins? or disqualified from Baja?

Robby Gordon may have been disqualified from his winning run in the Baja 500, according to a rumor by @FantasyOffRoad.

Our View: Now that would be a shame to miss Pocono practice and go all that distance – only to get dq'd. Let's hope this one isn't true.

IRL: Castroneves beats Briscoe

Ryan Briscoe dominated the Bombardier Learjet 550k, but he couldn't quite beat Helio Castroneves to the line when the checkers waved.

Our View: This is Castroneves third Texas victory; he also won in 2004 and 2006; last year, he finished second, which tells fantasy owners he has found the setup on this fast 1.5-mile track.

More Indy Racing League Newsbreakers

Stewart leads early, finishes sixth in the Dream

Tony Stewart started from the pole for Saturday night's Dream at Eldora. He led for a while and had a spirited battle with Scott Bloomquist before fading to sixth at the checkers—but that is more than respectable in a field of more than 100 cars (including heats).

Our View: Stewart won his heat and earned the respect of the late model crowd.

N'Wide: Busch dominates and wins Nashville

Kyle Busch finally won a race he dominated. He led 173 of 225 laps at Nashville in the Federated Auto Parts 300 before pulling into victory lane.

Our View: Love him or hate him (and after smashing the Gibson guitar in victory lane, the haters are predominant), he has the potential to earn a lot of fantasy points.

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Ku Busch on double-file restarts

HOW DOES NASCAR DRAW THE LINE OF WHAT CAN BE A GOOD PROCEDURAL CHANGE AND SOMETHING THAT MIGHT JUST BE GIMMICKY AND CONTRIVED?

"I think that everybody in the garage area, drivers, owners, crew members are in favor of double-file re-starts. I think that we’ve seen its positive results in the Camping World West Series and Camping World East Series. We saw that result in the (Sprint) All-Star race where you have guys double-file and it produces great re-starts. The concept came from everybody aboard. The fans ultimately can receive the benefit of saying that they were the ones in charge (contributed to NASCAR’s rule change) because we want to make the right decisions to create more excitement for them to watch. Where do we draw the line? I think the line has to be drawn where everybody has to agree on it and I don’t think a 500-mile race would be appropriate if we threw a caution with 20 laps to go just to bunch the field up for more excitement at the end (of the race). I think pit strategy always comes into play. I think Dover was a really exciting race even though it didn’t have a mandatory caution at the end of the race. What it did was create an element for some guys who were on two tires, some were on four (tires), some even stayed out. We’re going to see that mix even more so in this day in age when it’s so difficult to pass.
That strategy, when it comes into play, if we had a mandatory caution with 20 (laps) to go would really throw it (strategy) out the window. It’s tough to draw the line. We’re in an entertainment business, a racing business; I would like to beat the next guy by three laps if I could. That doesn’t happen this day and age. We have close, competitive racing. We rarely see a guy win a race by more than a second and that’s the competition we want to see on the track."

From a Dodge Press Release

Tony Stewart on double-file restarts
Kasey Kahne on double-file restarts

Ku Busch on Pocono points

WITH WHERE YOU ARE IN THE POINTS, ARE YOU ABLE TO TAKE SOME CHANCES THAT OTHER GUYS WHO ARE NINTH, 10TH, 11TH, 12TH WON’T BE ABLE TO?

"I think it’s irrelevant on where you are in points and who you’re re-starting next too. You always have to keep track of who is starting next to you. At a track like (Pocono) this weekend, with all the points’ runners running up front this weekend, a track like Michigan next week, you’ll have surprises from guys who are running 18th to 25th in points, like a guy such as Montoya, he’s very fast at those tracks. Then when we go to the road courses, we’re going to have our hands full with different guys running up front. You’re going to have those double-file re-starts, we’ve never had double-file re-starts at road courses, and we’ve always been single-file lines. So this weekend will be great to work the bugs out of the new system. Michigan will be another test because we’ll see more guys get a lap down at Michigan than we will at Pocono. And then, when we get to the road course, I don’t think we’ll see anybody a lap down. We’ll see them side-by-side for re-starts and that’s going to be very exciting, but it could be frustrating at times."

From a Dodge Press Release

Owens has strong top-10 finish at Pocono

Female driver Alli Owens had a strong 10th-place finish at Pocono Raceway.

Our View: This is her second top-10 in the ARCA series. She finished sixth at Talladega SuperSpeedway earlier this year and nearly cracked the top 10 on one other occasion on the tough old Rockingham Speedway. NASCAR's diversity is not terribly great in terms of women drivers, but they are on the horizon.

More ARCA Newsbreakers

Logano wins Pocono ARCA race

Joey Logano made the most of his part time ride in the ARCA series at Pocono. We figure it's ok to post this notice since both ARCARacing.com and SpeedTV.com spoiled their own race.

Our View: This was Logano's fourth start in ARCA. He's now won twice and finished second twice.

More ARCA Newsbreakers

N'Wide: Nashville lineup, with avg. start/fin

Kyle Busch stole the show by earning the pole for the Federated Auto Parts 300, but the driver in second made the most noise. In only his second Nationwide career start and hailing from just up the road in Knoxville, Tenn. Trevor Bayne held off the remainder of the competitors in a Michael Waltrip Toyota and will start from the outside pole.

They call this an opportunity race for a reason. Busch and sixth-place qualifier Carl Edwards are the only two Cup regulars in the show and that allowed some unfamiliar names to grace the top of the charts. Michael McDowell (third), Brad Coleman (fourth) and Scott Lagasse Jr. (fifth) rounded out the top five.

Look for some new faces at the front of the pack when the checkers wave as well.

Lineup, with average start/finish

Start	Driver	Avg. Fin	Avg. Start	Attempts
1	Kyle Busch	17.43	9.63	8
2	Trevor Bayne		2.00	1
3	Michael McDowell	15.00	3.00	2
4	Brad Coleman	26.50	16.80	5
5	Scott Lagasse Jr	10.00	21.50	2
6	Carl Edwards	4.13	6.56	9
7	Brendan Gaughan	17.00	10.50	2
8	Mike Bliss	13.20	11.45	11
9	Stephen Leicht	16.00	9.60	5
10	Brad Keselowski	17.20	18.17	6
11	Jason Keller	14.53	13.38	16
12	Jason Leffler	15.56	15.20	10
13	Sean Caisse		13.00	1
14	John Wes Townley	18.00	16.00	2
15	Cale Gale	23.00	16.33	6
16	Steve Wallace	15.29	15.25	8
17	Willie Allen	33.00	27.50	2
18	Kevin Conway	31.00	19.50	2
19	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	23.00	12.00	2
20	Mark Green	27.50	28.44	9
21	Bobby Hamilton Jr	14.36	10.00	12
22	Burney Lamar	12.50	18.00	5
23	Johnny Chapman	39.67	32.50	4
24	Justin Allgaier	29.00	16.50	2
25	Brian Keselowski	41.00	29.00	2
26	Kertus Davis	35.25	28.33	9
27	Erik Darnell		27.00	1
28	Kenny Wallace	15.33	18.92	13
29	Robert Richardson	32.00	37.75	4
30	Eric McClure	31.57	34.88	8
31	Michael Annett	19.00	22.00	2
32	Kelly Bires	8.00	17.40	5
33	Scott Wimmer	10.50	16.91	11
34	Casey Atwood	16.33	23.50	4
35	Shelby Howard	14.00	35.00	2
36	Brad Baker	22.83	29.71	7
37	Brandon Whitt	30.00	39.00	2
38	Marc Davis		38.00	1
39	Kevin Lepage	25.20	28.17	6
40	Tony Raines	20.25	21.33	9
41	Mike Harmon	37.50	38.89	9
42	Danny O'Quinn Jr	21.60	23.17	6
43	Morgan Shepherd	36.00	38.00	7
DNQ	Daryl Harr
DNQ	Justin Hobgood	41.00	32.00	1

More Nationwide Newsbreakers

N'Wide: Busch on Nashville pole

Kyle Busch made the long commute to Nashville Superspeedway in time to qualify his own car for the Federated Auto Parts 300. It was worthwhile, he won the pole with a speed of 161.044 mph.

Our View: Busch only has two top-10s on this track in Nationwide competition, but his latest attempt ended in a result of second after starting fourth in the Pepsi 300 earlier this year.

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CW East: R Truex wins Watkins Glen

From a NASCAR Press Release

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 6, 2009) – NASCAR Camping World Series East rookie Ryan Truex passed race leader Patrick Long between Turns 10 and 11 on the last lap and took the checkered flag in the Tioga Downs Casino 125 Saturday at Watkins Glen International.

Truex (No. 00 NAPA Toyota), who was making just his fifth career start in the series for Michael Waltrip Racing, ran in the top three throughout the day and got position on Long (No. 03 AASCO Motorsports Chevrolet) coming out of Turn 10 on the last lap of a green-white-checker finish. Truex held his position as Long went off the course and Truex came out of Turn 11 with a clear vision of the finish line and earned the victory.

Long settled for a fourth-place finish. Matt Kobyluck (No. 40 Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino Chevrolet) finished as the runner-up and rookie Brett Moffitt (No. 44 Castle Packs Power Chevrolet) was third.

Rounding out the top 10 finishers were Matt DiBenedetto, Steve Park, Eddie MacDonald, Alex Kennedy, Brian Wong and Jonathon Smith.

Truex’s win marked the fifth different driver in as many races to win in 2009. Truex is the third member of his family to win in the series along with his father, Martin Sr., and his older brother, Martin Jr.

With his third-place effort, Moffitt overtook Jody Lavender for the series points lead. Lavender finished 14th on Saturday.

The sixth race of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Series East season is slated for Friday, June 25 with the Heluva Good! Summer 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H.

Tioga Downs Casino 125 at The Glen Unofficial Results
Saturday
At Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen, NY
Lap length: 2.45 miles
(Start position in parentheses)

1. (6) Ryan Truex, Mayetta, N.J., Toyota, 54 laps, 62.056 mph, $12,425.
2. (3) Matt Kobyluck, Uncasville, Conn., Chevrolet, 54, $7,100.
3. (4) Brett Moffitt, Grimes, Iowa, Chevrolet, 54, $5,800.
4. (5) Patrick Long, Oak Park, Calif., Chevrolet, 54, $4,800.
5. (1) Matt DiBenedetto, Grass Valley, Calif., Toyota, 54, $5,000.
6. (7) Steve Park, East Northport, N.Y., Chevrolet, 54, $3,000.
7. (11) Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass., Chevrolet, 54, $2,800.
8. (8) Alex Kennedy, Aztec, N.M., Chevrolet, 54, $3,150.
9. (14) Brian Wong, Newport Beach, Calif., Toyota, 54, $1,900.
10. (12) Jonathan Smith, Beacon Falls, Conn., Chevrolet, 54, $2,360.
11. (13) Dustin Delaney, Mayfield, N.Y., Chevrolet, 54, $2,330.
12. (10) Jason Holehouse, Toronto, Ontario, Toyota, 54, $1,800.
13. (17) Sonny Whelen, Old Saybrook, Conn., Chevrolet, 54, $1,775.
14. (16) Jody Lavender, Hartsville, S.C., Ford, 53, $2,250.
15. (20) John Salemi, Nashua, N.H., Chevrolet, 49, $1,725.
16. (9) Eric Curran, Springfield, Mass., Chevrolet, 48, engine, $1,700.
17. (19) Matt Kurzejewski, Mansfield, Pa., Dodge, 39, accident, $2,185.
18. (18) Jason Patison, Corona, Calif., Chevrolet, 35, transmission, $2,170.
19. (15) Ryan Duff, Hazard, KY., Chevrolet, 20, engine, $2,160.
20. (2) Antonio Perez, Guadalajara, Mexico, Dodge, 13, engine, $2,150.
21. (21) Tiffany Daniels, Smithfield, Va., Dodge, 5, engine, $1,640.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 2 hours 7 minutes 55 seconds
Margin of Victory: .239 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: M. DiBenedetto (118.773 mph, 74.259 seconds)
Caution Flags: 8 for 20 laps.
Lead Changes: 3 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: M. DiBenedetto 1-15; E. Curran 16-21; P. Long 22-53; R. Truex 54.
Standings: 1. B. Moffitt, 764; 2. J. Lavender, 746; 3. M. Kobyluck, 727; 4. E. MacDonald, 723; 5. R. Truex, 697; 6. D. Delaney, 660; 7. S. Park, 650; 8. A. Kennedy, 628; 9. J. Patison, 602; 10. R. Duff, 596.

More Camping World East Newsbreakers

Stewart 24th fastest in time trials for the Dream

With the Prelude to the Dream washed out, Tony Stewart is making it up to fans by trying to race his way into the Dream itself. On Friday night, he had the 24th fastest Late Model dirt car in time trials with a lap of 16.089 on the half-mile Eldora Speedway.

"Kid Rocket" Josh Richards posted the fastest lap of 15.655.

Our View: To further put this in perspective, 109 Dirt Late Models took time and another seven cars are signed in to run the heats.

Stewart happy with backup

According to a Tweet from @BobPockrass, Tony Stewart was in a good mood following practice and says his backup car is better than his primary.

Our View: His speeds on the chart certainly confirm that and Pocono is a track on which a driver can come from the back. Its long straights allow drivers with horsepower to pass before entering the corners.

Hamlin fastest in Pocono Happy Hour

Denny Hamlin posted the fastest single lap in Pocono Happy Hour with a speed of 165.317 mph. His average speed of 162.817 was second best.

Our View: Perhaps we should call Hamlin and Ryan Newman co-winners of this session. Newman was quickest and second fastest in Happy Hour and these two drivers could be the class of the field on Sunday.

Newman wins Pocono Happy Hour

Ryan Newman posted the quickest time in Happy Hour, with a speed of 163.000 mph during 21 laps. His fastest lap of 165.213 was second best on that grid.

Our View: Newman is the hottest driver on the circuit for the moment and if he was not on your lineup already, he should be now.

Logano in Pocono ARCA race

Joey Logano will do double duty this week at Pocono. He will take to the track from the outside of the second row Saturday afternoon.

Our View: This track is tricky to learn and even though the cars are significantly different, Logano needs the seat time. This can only help him during the Cup race.

More ARCA Newsbreakers

Vickers spins in Pocono HH

Immediately after the field went to green in Happy Hour at Pocono, Brian Vickers looped his car in the tunnel turn.

Our View: Unlike Tony Stewart in the first session, however, Vickers more or less kept his car on the pavement and did not do much damage. He is not expected to roll out a backup.

Johnson wins Sat. a.m. practice

No matter how you measured it, Jimmie Johnson won Saturday practice with a top speed of 167.607 and an average speed of 164.872 during 11 laps.

Our View: Johnson's recent record at Pocono has been spotty, but this confirms our suspicion that he will be the driver to beat on Sunday.

Stewart spins in Pocono P1

At the 34 minute mark in the first practice session, Tony Stewart spun without making wall contact.

While he may have avoided the wall, he tore the front splitter off his car. Stewart will probably roll out a backup car and that will cause him to give up the pole, but with the two practice session back-to-back, he's going to lose a lot of track time.

Last week's contact between Biffle and Edwards "just racing"

The contact between Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle last week at Dover late in the Autism Speaks 400 was just a racing deal, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: As the author of this points out, however, the two do seem to run into one another a lot. Rivalries between teammates are often more intense because these guys are also fighting for internal resources. At Pocono, there is plenty of room to race, so don't look for any contact this week.

F1: Turkish GP Lineup, with avg. start/fin

For the second time in 2009, Sebastian Vettel wrestled the pole from Jenson Button, and just like the site of his previous pole the Chinese Grand Prix, he took the top spot after Button won the honor in back-to-back weeks. This is Vettel's first time to start near the lead in Turkey, however. His two previous attempts there have started 18th and 14th and ended 19th and 17th respectively.

Button and teammate Rubens Barrichello continue to make a mockery of the sport by starting second and third. There is absolutely no reason to think they are going to finish anywhere but at the front.

Lineup, with average start/finish

Start	Driver	Avg. Fin	Avg. Start	Attempts
1	Sebastian Vettel	18.00	16.00	2
2	Jenson Button	8.25	13.25	4
3	Rubens Barrichello	12.25	14.50	4
4	Mark Webber	14.75	8.50	4
5	Jarno Trulli	10.25	8.50	4
6	Kimi Raikkonen	6.75	3.75	4
7	Felipe Massa	5.50	2.75	4
8	Fernando Alonso	3.25	4.25	4
9	Nico Rosberg	11.00	11.00	3
10	Robert Kubica	8.00	6.00	3
11	Nick Heidfeld	10.25	6.50	4
12	Kazuki Nakajima	19.00	16.00	1
13	Timo Glock	13.00	15.00	1
14	Heikki Kovalainen	9.00	4.50	2
15	Adrian Sutil	18.50	19.00	2
16	Lewis Hamilton	3.50	2.50	2
17	Nelson Piquet Jr	15.00	17.00	1
18	Sebastian Buemi
19	Giancarlo Fisichella	9.75	9.00	4
20	Sebastian Bourdais	18.00	18.00	1

Gordon about his back pain

HOW IS YOUR BACK AND HOW WILL IT HOLD UP HERE AT POCONO VERSUS A TRACK LIKE DOVER?:

“I think this track is probably one of the easier tracks. You get a lot of resting period on those long straightaways. About the only place that it might be an issue will be under braking getting into turn one. I had to do a test at Road Atlanta this week – that was one of the real tests and I was surprised that we got through it pretty good. Especially after the wreck last Friday during qualifying. I was pretty sore from that. I think the road courses and Martinsville, Bristol – those are the toughest tracks on it. This one should be pretty easy.”

HOW IS YOUR BACK FEELING?:

“Right now I’m feeling pretty good. It’s always nice to have an extra day of rest – kind of got that today. I know there’s a lot of people that this didn’t work out so well for. For us, it worked out well – we got an extra day of rest, got a great starting position, great pit stall and now we can go focus for the race on Sunday. We’ll get out there tomorrow with the car in race conditions.”

DO YOU KNOW WHETHER YOU WILL HAVE TO HAVE SURGERY ON YOUR BACK?:

“Surgery really hasn’t been an option looking at my condition and the options of surgery is really too invasive. I don’t necessarily think it’s necessary. I might do another treatment of what I did a couple weeks ago. We have to wait four to six weeks. They say the second treatment you usually have a lot better results than the first one. I really haven’t seen any big effects from the first one so I wasn’t really thrilled about doing a second one. Anytime they talk about sticking needles in your back it’s not something I’m looking forward to. It wasn’t so bad though and I’m certainly willing to give it a shot so we’ll do that when the time’s right and it fits in the schedule. Until then, my focus is on the training and just stretching. It’s strengthening the area, my whole core area and that’s been great for me in a lot of ways because it’s got me in better physical shape. From a cardio standpoint especially, when I’m in the car everything feels better. I don’t feel as hot in the car, I don’t feel as winded and it’s just dealing with the spasms – just the muscles getting really tight and causing some pain there. Other than that, we’re getting through it.”

From a GM Press Release