Week 25 Unified Power Rankings

With Formula 1 taking another week off, no one has been able to challenge Jenson Button, so he remains the hottest driver in auto racing. It's hard to argue the point since he has won six of the first seven events on that calendar.

Tony Stewart remains second on the Unified Power Rankings after posting a solid seventh-place finish at Michigan International Speedway. He's been both consistent and strong with 10 consecutive Cup races in which he's finished on the lead lap. To prove his versatility, in recent months he's also won a dirt late model race at Paducah International Raceway and finished sixth in the Dream at his Eldora Raceway—one of the premier races for that type of car.

And in the Indy Racing League, Helio Castroneves continues to tower above his peers. Currently, Castroneves is about five percentage points better than Ryan Briscoe and eight better than Dario Franchitti, but there could be a shakeup in next week's standings since neither Castroneves nor Briscoe have been overly impressive on the IRL short tracks.

Castroneves was 14th at Iowa last year and since that is the next venue on the calendar, he's going to have to pick up the pace. He also finished outside the top 10 in Richmond in 2007, which outbalances his second-place result there last year.

In two short track starts last year, Briscoe finished seventh at Iowa and 15th at Richmond. In stark contrast, the last time Franchitti was on these two tracks, he swept victory lane.

The biggest mover inside the top 10 last week was Mark Martin. The aged veteran used a fuel mileage strategy to win his third NASCAR Sprint Cup race of the season, which ties him with Kyle Busch. He's skipped the last four road races while running a part time schedule, but this driver once posted 23 top-10 finishes in 24 starts on that track type from 1989 through 2001, so you can expect him to keep his momentum.
Nationwide Regular Jason Leffler has done a great job of staying in the Unified Power Rankings' top 10. He finished sixth in the standalone race at Kentucky Speedway, but don't start thinking his strong effort was because there were so few Claim Jumpers in the field. That was his ninth consecutive top-10 finish in NASCAR's second series.
Unified Power Rankings
Top 50

Rank	Driver	Points	Last week	+/-
1	Jenson Button	110.57	1	0
2	Tony Stewart	97.15	2	0
3	Helio Castroneves	95.80	3	0
4	Ryan Briscoe	90.67	5	1
5	Mark Martin	88.77	10	5
6	Jason Leffler	88.09	6	0
7	Jimmie Johnson	88.08	4	-3
8	Dario Franchitti	87.67	7	-1
9	Rubens Barrichello	87.14	9	0
10	Mark Webber	85.29	11	1
11	Ryan Newman	85.19	8	-3
12	Scott Dixon	84.50	12	0
13	Kurt Busch	84.33	13	0
14	Brad Keselowski	84.00	15	1
15	Danica Patrick	83.33	14	-1
16	Erik Darnell	83.00	NR
17	Jeff Gordon	82.83	16	-1
18	Kyle Busch	80.48	17	-1
19	Denny Hamlin	80.42	23	4
20	Matt Crafton	79.67	19	-1
21	Carl Edwards	79.48	18	-3
22	Greg Biffle	78.47	26	4
23	Timo Glock	78.43	22	-1
24	Dan Wheldon	78.17	24	0
25	Matt Kenseth	77.76	20	-5
26	Juan Montoya	77.50	27	1
27	Joey Logano	76.95	25	-2
28	Jeff Burton	76.82	21	-7
29	Fernando Alonso	74.00	28	-1
30	Nico Rosberg	72.57	30	0
31	Kasey Kahne	72.17	29	-2
32	Sebastian Vettel	72.00	31	-1
33	David Reutimann	70.43	32	-1
34	Marco Andretti	70.00	33	-1
35	Tony Kanaan	69.83	34	-1
36	Justin Allgaier	69.82	38	2
37	Steve Wallace	69.45	36	-1
38	Jason Keller	68.00	35	-3
39	Dale Earnhardt Jr	67.80	39	0
40	Ron Hornaday Jr	67.33	42	2
41	Tayler Malsam	67.33	85	44
42	Brian Vickers	66.94	43	1
43	Clint Bowyer	66.87	44	1
44	Jamie McMurray	66.58	46	2
45	Jarno Trulli	66.29	40	-5
46	Johnny Benson Jr	66.00	41	-5
47	Marcos Ambrose	65.58	37	-10
48	Rick Crawford	64.83	45	-3
49	Burney Lamar	63.63	65	16
50	Kevin Harvick	63.28	49	-1

Previous Unified Power Rankings:

Week 24
Week 23
Week 22
Week 21
Week 20

Mark Martin at Infineon

Look for Mark Martin to run strong this week. From 1989 through 2001 he once earned 23 top-10s in 24 starts on road courses.

N'Wide: Former Milwaukee winners

The Milwaukee Mile is one of the most famous racetracks in America, and with rumors circulating that this could be its last Nationwide race for a while, drivers are going to be highly motivated to take the checkered flag. We'll have to wait and see if Kyle Busch burns it in victory lane if he should win.

The final Milwaukee trophy is only one incentive, however. Less than a handful of Claim Jumpers will be in the race this week, so the Nationwide Regulars are going to pull their gloves a little higher and climb up on the wheel to make sure that their name gets etched in the record books.

The successful racer will stand alongside legends like Sam Ard, Jack Ingram, and modern superstars such as Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Former Winners

Season	Race	Driver
2008	Camping World RV Rental 250	Carl Edwards
2007	AT&T 250	Aric Almirola *
2006	AT&T 250	Paul Menard
2005	SBC 250	Johnny Sauter
2004	Alan Kulwicki 250	Ron Hornaday Jr.
2003	GNC Live Well 250	Jason Keller
2002	GNC Live Well 250	Greg Biffle
2001	GNC Live Well 250	Greg Biffle
2000	DieHard 250	Jeff Green
1999	DieHard 250	Casey Atwood
1998	DieHard 250	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
1997	Sears Auto Center 250	Randy LaJoie
1996	Sears Auto Center 250	Buckshot Jones
1995	Sears Auto Center 250	Dale Jarrett
1994	Havoline 250	Mike Wallace
1993	Havoline 250	Steve Grissom
1985	Milwaukee Sentinel 200	Jack Ingram
1984	Red Carpet 200	Sam Ard
	*relieved by Denny Hamlin at sponsor's direction.

Milwaukee's last five races

More Nationwide Newsbreakers

Infineon Yahoo! preview

This week marks the first road course race of the year. It's easy to overlook, but just as many points get paid out this week as on an oval track. Check out this week's Yahoo! Fantasy Preview (.pdf) for our best bets.

N'Wide: Milwaukee's last five races

Milwaukee has been host to some of the most competitive races in recent years, and perhaps one of its lowest points.

While the Claim Jumping Cup drivers are in Infineon Raceway, the Nationwide Regulars get a chance to shine, but that wasn't to be in 2007—and the source of the frustration came from an unlikely angle. Making the long commute, Denny Hamlin got to the track late and could not get into the car in time for the race.

Aric Almirola qualified and started the No. 20, but that wasn't to the sponsor's liking, so with heavy pressure from Rockwell Automation, he was brought into the pits on lap 59 and replaced with Hamlin. To add injury to insult the tandem won, but Almirola has never really been able to relish his first—and so far only—Nationwide Series win. The next year, he left Joe Gibbs Racing for Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

This year, only two Claim Jumpers are expected to make the long trip from Infineon. One of them is last year's winner Carl Edwards, so the Cup dominance of the second series could continue.

Average finish, last five races

Driver	Avg Finish	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
Aric Almirola *	1.00		1
Joey Logano	2.00	2
Paul Menard	2.00			1	3
J J Yeley	3.50			3	4
Denny Hamlin *	4.00			2	6
Shane Hmiel	4.00					4
Martin Truex Jr	5.50				2	9
Todd Bodine	6.00		6
Randy LaJoie	7.00				7
Greg Biffle	7.00					7
Danny O'Quinn Jr	7.00			7
David Reutimann	7.33	5	7	10
Jason Keller	7.50	9	5		13	3
Brad Keselowski	8.00	8
Jason Leffler	8.00	10	3	4		15
Johnny Benson Jr	9.00		9
Shane Huffman	10.00		10
Clint Bowyer	10.25	3		18	10	10
Carl Edwards	11.00	1	8	21	14
Jay Sauter	11.00			11
Bobby Hamilton Jr	11.00	15	13			5
Mike Wallace	11.25	18	11	5		11
Hermie Sadler	12.00					12
John Andretti	12.00			12
Reed Sorenson	12.00				12
David Green	12.00			17	11	8
Scott Wimmer	12.33	6	2	29
Mike Bliss	12.67	7	25			6
Stephen Leicht	13.50		14	13
Johnny Sauter	13.67			9	1	31
Robert Pressley	14.00					14
James Buescher	14.00	14
Brad Coleman	14.50	25	4
Auggie Vidovich	15.00			15
Marcos Ambrose	15.50	16	15
Ashton Lewis	15.67			16	18	13
Justin Labonte	16.00				16
Kevin Hamlin	16.00		16
David Stremme	16.75	34		26	5	2
Bill Elliott	17.00				17
Stacy Compton	17.00			6	25	20
Kenny Wallace	17.25	28		8	8	25
David Ragan	17.33	4	12		36
Cale Gale	17.50	12	23
Ron Hornaday Jr	18.00		36	20	15	1
Stanton Barrett	18.67	17			21	18
Richard Johns	19.00		19
Kevin Harvick	19.00			19
Tracy Hines	19.00				19
Jon Wood	20.00			14	26
Kyle Busch	20.00			24		16
Marc Mitchell	20.00		20
Aaron Fike	20.00				20
Chase Miller	20.00	23	17
Bryan Clauson	20.00	20
Kelly Bires	20.50	11	30
Todd Kluever	20.50		18	23
Colin Braun	21.00	21
Todd Szegedy	21.00					21
Mark Green	21.25	13	21		28	23
Tony Raines	21.50				9	34
Landon Cassill	22.00	22
Scott Lagasse	22.00				22
Tim Fedewa	22.00				27	17
Bobby East	22.00		22
Ryan Hemphill	23.00				23
Steve Wallace	23.67	19	27	25
Brandon Miller	24.00				24
D J Kennington	25.00	24	26
Regan Smith	25.50			22	29
Bobby Dotter	26.00					26
Kevin Lepage	26.00	26
Jimmy Kitchens	27.00					27
Brian Keselowski	27.00	27
Tim Sauter	27.67			27	37	19
Gus Wasson	28.00					28
Tim McCreadie	28.00		28
Erin Crocker	28.00			28
Trevor Boys	29.00		29
Jason White	29.50			30		29
Michel Jourdain Jr	30.00				30
Steve Grissom	31.00				38	24
Wade Day	31.00				31
Joel Kauffman	31.00			31
Travis Kittleson	31.00	31
Eric McClure	31.33	29	31		34
Casey Atwood	32.00					32
Brent Sherman	32.00		32
A J Fike	32.00				32
John Hayden	32.00			32
Josh Wise	33.00	33
Kyle Krisiloff	33.00		24		42
Robert Richardson	33.00		33
Mark McFarland	33.00			33
Eddie Beahr	33.00					33
Frank Kreyer	34.00		34
Derrike Cope	34.00	38	43	34	33	22
Scott Lagasse Jr	35.00		35
Bryan Reffner	35.00				35
William Hoff	35.00					35
Burney Lamar	35.50	36		35
Justin Ashburn	36.50	43				30
Ian Henderson	37.00		37
Morgan Shepherd	37.00	37
Brad Teague	37.20	30	39	38	43	36
Jerick Johnson	37.67	35	41	37
Mike Potter	39.00	32	42			43
Butch Jarvis	39.00					39
Johnny Chapman	39.00	39
Kertus Davis	39.00	42		36	39
Chris Horn	39.50		40	39
J C Stout	40.00	40
Kim Crosby	40.00			40
Josh Richeson	40.00					40
Tyler Walker	40.00				40
Chad Beahr	40.50				44	37
Jeff Fuller	41.00				41	41
James Hylton	41.00			41
Terry Cook	41.00	41
Mike Harmon	41.33	48	38			38
Jason Schuler	42.00					42
Danny Efland	44.00		44
Ruben Pardo	44.00	44
Kenny Hendrick	45.00	45
Todd Shafer	45.00				45
Andy Ponstein	46.00	46
Chad Chaffin	47.00	47
*In 2007, Denny Hamlin relieved Aric Almirola at sponsor's direction even though Almirola led most of that race.

More Nationwide Newsbreakers

Benson released from hospital

Johnny Benson Jr. has been released from the hospital, according to NASCAR.com.

Our View: Let's hope that he's resting comfortably at home. Benson had to feel like Job last week after losing his Camping World Truck Series and then getting seriously injured in the ISMA modified race on his home track.

More Camping World Truck Series Newsbreakers

Short Trackin' Indy style

For the next two weeks, the Indy Racing League is going short trackin', but don't look for the same beating and banging you've grown accustomed to in NASCAR competition. The sleek open wheel cars are all about precision, even on ovals measuring less than a mile in length. Of course smaller tracks mean that drivers are rarely out of contact with another car, and a different mindset is required to run well on these.

Three drivers have been nearly perfect at Iowa Speedway—a .875-mile course—and Richmond International Raceway—the .750-mile short track that Iowa was patterned after. Foremost among these is Dario Franchitti. He took last year off to race with NASCAR good old boys, but in 2007 he swept both races at Iowa and Richmond. Before 2007, the IRL ran at Richmond only and Franchitti finished second in 2005 and third in 2006. The only time he failed to finish in the top five was in his first effort in Virginia in 2004.

Dan Wheldon has finished in the top 10 seven times in eight starts on IRL's two active short tracks and he also has a pair of victories on these courses. He won at Richmond in 2004 and Iowa last year. With a worst finish of 11th, Wheldon has an average of 5.25 at Richmond and Iowa, which lags well behind Franchitti's 3.80.

Marco Andretti has the third-best average finish among active IndyCar drivers. With a 6.0, he's had higher lows than his three principal rivals. Andretti has failed to win one of his five short track attempts, but he came close at Iowa in 2007 when he finished second to Franchitti. With three top-fives, four top-10s and a worst finish of 12th, he nevertheless makes a great candidate for this week's lineup.

IndyCar short tracks, last five races

Driver	Avg Finish	2008 Richmond	2008 Iowa	2007 Richmond	2007 Iowa	2006 Richmond
Dario Franchitti	1.67			1	1	3
Dan Wheldon	5.60	4	1	3	11	9
Marco Andretti	6.00	9	3	12	2	4
Scott Dixon	6.00	3	4	2	10	11
Hideki Mutoh	7.50	13	2
Helio Castroneves	9.00	2	14	11	8	10
Danica Patrick	9.20	6	6	6	13	15
Justin Wilson	9.50	7	12
Tomas Scheckter	11.00			7	19	7
Ryan Briscoe	11.00	15	7
Tony Kanaan	11.40	1	18	4	16	18
E J Viso	11.50	10	13
Sarah Fisher	11.50			16	7
Ed Carpenter	11.60	11	23	10	6	8
Ryan Hunter-Reay	12.00	16	8
Anthony Foyt IV	13.50	24	5	13	12
Graham Rahal	14.00	18	10
Mario Moraes	18.00	17	19
Milka Duno	20.33		24	19	18

More Indy Racing League Newsbreakers

NASCAR seeks to exclude Mayfield expert

In the case of Jeremy Mayfield, NASCAR is seeking to have expert testimony of Harvey MacFenerstein, President of a drug testing company in San Antonio, Texas, excluded, according to HamptonRoads.com. Several issues are at issue, including the claim that he did not graduate with certain degrees that would make him an expert in the field.

Our View: This case is going to be ugly, but it is important in establishing how drug tests will be performed and driver's rights in contesting them.

More Cup Series Newsbreakers

Gordon guarantees Indy tires

Will the new Goodyear tire hold up? "I will guarantee it. I'm 100 percent confident," Jeff Gordon said after the latest test. "I ran this tire as hard as I possibly could, put numerous laps on them. It's a dead issue. There's going to be a race here." (Quoted @DustinLong.)

Our View: According to @NateRyan, the various tests were made up of "13,000 miles of testing, 31 drivers, at least 20 tire compounds." If Goodyear hasn't got this one right, it's not for lack of effort.

More Cup Series Newsbreakers

LifeLock 400 Results, with avg. finish

Mark Martin led only a single lap en route to his third victory of the season, but it was the one that counted. While the two most dominant drivers Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle baited one another into running too fast while trying to conserve gas, Martin refused to play their game and ran the pace he and crew chief Alan Gustafson decided upon.

Meanwhile, Jeff Gordon admitted he might have been running too conservatively with plenty of gas at the end of the LifeLock 400. He finished second, giving Hendrick Motorsports a one-two finish.

Johnson ran out of gas on the frontstretch as the field took the white flag; Biffle lasted until the middle of the backstretch, then he also ran short on fuel. Both managed to finish on the lead lap, but Johnson was only in 22nd; Biffle was fifth.

Results with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Avg Fin
1	32	Mark Martin	200	1	Running	12.87
2	27	Jeff Gordon	200		Running	11.45
3	14	Denny Hamlin	200	1	Running	13.71
4	29	Carl Edwards	200	1	Running	6.30
5	20	Greg Biffle	200	42	Running	12.54
6	7	Juan Montoya	200		Running	27.60
7	11	Tony Stewart	200		Running	12.19
8	5	Kurt Busch	200	9	Running	19.41
9	1	Brian Vickers	200		Running	16.55
10	9	Clint Bowyer	200		Running	23.00
11	31	Jamie McMurray	200		Running	17.92
12	25	Elliott Sadler	200		Running	22.10
13	2	Kyle Busch	200		Running	16.89
14	30	Dale Earnhardt Jr	200		Running	16.55
15	23	David Ragan	200		Running	13.00
16	15	Bill Elliott	200		Running	13.95
17	13	Robby Gordon	200		Running	25.63
18	12	Kevin Harvick	200		Running	15.41
19	4	David Reutimann	200		Running	21.20
20	16	Matt Kenseth	200		Running	9.65
21	8	Kasey Kahne	200		Running	16.82
22	3	Jimmie Johnson	200	146	Running	14.87
23	18	Ryan Newman	199		Running	18.88
24	37	Casey Mears	199		Running	19.77
25	24	Joey Logano	199		Running	25.00
26	22	Jeff Burton	199		Running	16.13
27	28	Reed Sorenson	199		Running	24.00
28	17	Bobby Labonte	199		Running	14.88
29	34	Sam Hornish Jr	198		Running	24.33
30	36	Michael Waltrip	198		Running	20.63
31	33	Marcos Ambrose	198		Running	37.00
32	35	David Gilliland	198		Running	28.00
33	10	John Andretti	198		Running	24.32
34	38	Paul Menard	197		Running	23.33
35	43	Max Papis	193		Running	35.00
36	19	Martin Truex Jr	192		Running	17.00
37	21	Scott Speed	174		Running	37.00
38	26	David Stremme	159		Accident	29.20
39	6	A J Allmendinger	144		Running	29.25
40	39	Dave Blaney	23		Quit	24.42
41	42	Sterling Marlin	23		Quit	18.96
42	40	Joe Nemechek	20		Quit	25.55
43	41	Tony Raines	17		Quit	34.80
44		Mike Skinner	0		DNQ	27.13

More Cup Series Newsbreakers

Busch, Speed to race in Grand Am

Chip Ganassi will field a second car in the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway during the Fourth of July weekend, according to NASCAR.com. The two drivers will be Kyle Busch and Scott Speed.

Our View: The road course at Daytona is unlike Infineon and Watkins Glen, but seat time on this track type is always helpful.

More Cup Series Newsbreakers

Mayhew looks to run up front at Infineon

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 15, 2009) – David Mayhew (No. 17 MMI Services/Ron’s Rear Ends/KHI Chevrolet) has not had much chance to show his road-racing skills since coming into the NASCAR Camping World Series two years ago. He hopes to change that this season.

His first opportunity comes this week when the NASCAR Camping World Series West heads to Infineon Raceway for the Bennett Lane Winery 200 presented by Supercuts on Saturday, June 20. The race is a companion event as part of the big NASCAR weekend with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Sonoma, Calif., road course.

The twisting track, which hosts the first of three road course events on this year’s NASCAR Camping World Series West schedule, is one where Mayhew spent much time early in his racing career.

“I’ve run quite a bit at Sonoma,” said the 27-year-old California driver, who originally hailed from Atascadero, but now lives in Bakersfield. “I won a bunch of scholarships through karting to the Jim Russell School there. I ran the school series they have there for a year. We were there all the time, testing and such. So, I’ve got quite a bit of road-racing experience at Sonoma. I did a lot of Formula Ford and open-wheel stuff before I made the move to NASCAR. So, I’m looking forward to getting back up there and turning both ways.”

This will only be Mayhew’s second time to compete in a NASCAR Camping World Series West car at Infineon Raceway. The team he drove for in 2007 ran a limited schedule and did not enter the event. Last year, Mayhew qualified fourth and ran with the leaders early, but was sidelined by a mechanical problem.

He’s confident of being up front again this year. “We’re going up there to win the race and get as many points as possible,” Mayhew said. “Running against Jason (Bowles) and Eric (Holmes) every week, it seems like that’s the place you’ve got to win to gain any points on them. That’s our plan. With the background we have up there, turning left and right, I think we should do pretty well.”

Although Mayhew is driving for his third team in three years, the transition does not appear to have had a negative impact on his performance.

“You just go out there and whatever car you’re given, you’ve got to do the best you can,” he said. “You can’t control the situations that you’re put in. So, whatever comes along, that’s what we try to do and make the best of it.”

And Mayhew seems to be doing precisely that this year. He’s third in the championship standings – 64 points out of first – with one win, four top-five and five top-10 finishes in six races. Not bad for a team that did not plan on chasing points. “We originally did the deal to just go have fun and run a few races here and there,” Mayhew said of car owner Steve McGowan and crew chief Terry Henry, who gets behind the wheel of a second car for some events. “Things started going real well. Steve’s got good cars and good equipment and Terry does an awesome job as a crew chief when he’s not driving.”

“We don’t have any full-time guys or anybody working at the shop full time. So, it’s me and Terry and Steve most of the time at night,” Mayhew said of the Bakersfield-based team. “We go to have fun. Obviously, winning is a lot more fun than not. That’s why we do it and keep on going back.”

The team does get help from Bakersfield native and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick and his Kevin Harvick Incorporated team.“

Steve and Kevin have a good relationship,” Mayhew said. “They (KHI) help us in getting the cars ready for some of the races, with setups and stuff like that. It really helps out. At some of the other races, like Phoenix, we used some of their guys to help crew chief my car when Terry was racing. It really helps our program as a whole, getting information from someone like KHI.”

From a NASCAR Press Release

More CW West Newsbreakers

Pardo dies in NASCAR Mexico crash

Carlos Pardo died due to injuries sustained in a NASCAR Mexico race on the Autodromo Miguel E. Abed in Puebla, Mexico. He was leading the race at the time of his accident. Since the race was not finished because of a time limit and NASCAR Mexico rules revert to the last completed green flag lap, he ironically won his final race.

Pardo also competed in various Camping World East and Nationwide series races during his career.

Our View: Our condolences go out to his brother and fellow competitor Ruben Pardo and the rest of his family and friends.

Full Story

Trucks: Former Milwaukee winners

Milwaukee was accustomed to unique winners before Johnny Benson Jr. came along.

Prior to 2006, only Ted Musgrave had won more than a single event on this track, which made it all the more incredible that Benson rattled off three straight victories there from 2006 through 2008. It was beginning to look like he would have the horsepower to make it four in a row since Kyle Busch was ready to place him in the No. 15 Billy Ballew Toyota. Unfortunately, Benson has bigger things on his mind at the moment as he recuperates from a heavy crash in an ISMA Supermodified race at Berlin Raceway.

Former Winners

Season	Race	Winner
2008	Camping World RV Sales 200	Johnny Benson Jr
2007	Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200	Johnny Benson Jr
2006	Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200	Johnny Benson Jr
2005	Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200	Dennis Setzer
2004	Black Cat Fireworks 200	Ted Musgrave
2003	GNC Live Well 200	Brendan Gaughan
2002	GNC Live Well 200	Terry Cook
2001	GNC Live Well 200	Ted Musgrave
2000	Sears Diehard 200	Kurt Busch
1999	Diehard 200	Greg Biffle
1998	Diehard 200	Mike Bliss
1997	Sears Diehard 200	Ron Hornaday Jr
1996	Sears Auto Center 200	Jack Sprague
1995	Sears Auto Center 125	Mike Skinner

More Camping World Truck Series Newsbreakers

IRL: Iowa's last two races

With only two previous Iowa Speedway races in the Indy Racing League book, there isn't a lot to go on this week, but fantasy players may find some inspiration in who ran well in these few events.

Dario Franchitti took last year off to make an attempt at NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, but before he left, he won his only race at Iowa after starting third. This short track was patterned after Richmond International Raceway and on that course, he's been nearly perfect with finishes of second (2005), third (2006) and first (2007) in four attempts. That speaks volumes about his odds for this week.

Marco Andretti has run both Iowa races and he's been close to perfect. With a second in 2007 and a third in 2008, he's come close to winning twice. Perhaps there is something in short track racing that is appealing to his somewhat aggressive style of competition. By contrast, his teammates Tony Kanaan (with a 16th in 2007 and an 18th last year) and Danica Patrick (13th and sixth respectively) have not been nearly as strong.

Last year's winner Dan Wheldon proved that fantasy players cannot always rely strictly on past records. After a modest showing of 11th in 2007, he stormed into victory lane last year, so don't be afraid to take drivers with momentum on their side.

Average finish, last two races

Driver	Avg Finish	2008	2007
Dario Franchitti	1.00		1
Hideki Mutoh	2.00	2
Marco Andretti	2.50	3	2
Scott Sharp	3.00		3
Dan Wheldon	6.00	1	11
Ryan Briscoe	7.00	7
Scott Dixon	7.00	4	10
Sarah Fisher	7.00		7
Ryan Hunter-Reay	8.00	8
Anthony Foyt IV	8.50	5	12
Will Power	9.00	9
Danica Patrick	9.50	6	13
Graham Rahal	10.00	10
Helio Castroneves	11.00	14	8
John Andretti	11.00	11
Justin Wilson	12.00	12
Vitor Meira	12.00	15	9
E J Viso	13.00	13
Buddy Rice	13.00	22	4
Darren Manning	13.00	21	5
Sam Hornish Jr	14.00		14
Ed Carpenter	14.50	23	6
Kosuke Matsuura	15.00		15
Oriol Servia	16.00	16
Tony Kanaan	17.00	18	16
Jeff Simmons	17.00		17
Enrique Bernoldi	17.00	17
Mario Moraes	19.00	19
Tomas Scheckter	19.00		19
Jaime Camara	20.00	20
Milka Duno	21.00	24	18
Bruno Junqueira	25.00	25
Marty Roth	26.00	26

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Gordon on Infineon restarts

WE HAVE DOUBLE-FILE RESTARTS COMING UP NEXT WEEK ON A ROAD COURSE. I BELIEVE IT IS REALLY GOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. WOULD YOU AGREE WITH THAT?

“Absolutely. I think NASCAR knew that trying it at Pocono and at Michigan were two good tracks to test it out and get some of the bugs worked out. I think its going to create some havoc at Sonoma and I am just anxious to get through it and see how it turns out and see if we need to………the only way to know what you have is to race with it and while I’m not sure if we need it at a road course they are pretty adamant to do it there and we’ll see how it turns out.

“You know sometimes it’s a combination of as drivers we have to rethink how we have raced in the past because now we have to figure out how to get through the first corners of the first lap with the double-file restart, but at the same time we have been put into a position that you have to fight even harder and be more intense and sometimes that causes more accidents and mistakes.”

IS THERE A PREFERRED POSITION THERE TO BE ON THE INSIDE OR THE OUTSIDE (at Infineon)?

“You know, I have played it both ways just in the restarts out there and that first kink to the left doesn’t look like much but it is a pretty decent turn. And I think that’s the thing that its not so much the guys on the front row but it’s the guys behind them that are trying to get that track position because it's so valuable there. Its slick out there and there is not a lot of grip out there, you are going uphill, and you are downshifting but I’m not sure right now what the preferred line is for the restart. The good thing is that whoever the leader is, he restarts the race, so I like that.

From a GM Press Release

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D4D driver the first female to win LM at LaCrosse

WEST SALEM, Wisc. – Emily Sue Steck picked up her first career win Saturday night and became the first female to win in LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway’s Kwik Trip Late Model Division.

The 23-year-old Drive for Diversity participant led every lap of the caution-free feature held off pole sitter Cole Howland to win the Coca-Cola 25.

“When it got down to a couple laps to go, I just reminded myself not to look back in the mirror,” said Steck in Victory Lane, “and that certainly helped. I did better when I didn’t worry about the car behind me. Thanks for everyone for their support and encouragement!”

Steck, in her third year in the Late Model division, also overcame a cast around a healing broken thumb – an injury suffered earlier this season.

Steck started the feature second but got a run off Turn 4 of the first lap to wrestle the lead away from Howland, who wound up second. Jeff Baker finished third, followed by former NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion Steve Carlson in fourth and track points leader Kevin Nuttleman in fifth.

It is the 29th win for a Drive for Diversity participant. The Drive for Diversity initiative, managed by The 909 Group, develops minority and female drivers in the NASCAR Camping World Series and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

Inspection complete at Michigan

Inspection is complete at Michigan for the LifeLock 400 and no issues were found, according to a tweet from @DustinLong.

Our View: The cars of Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Bill Elliott will all go to the R&D center for a further inspection, but this is standard procedure.

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Changing face of Michigan

Once upon a time winning at Michigan was reserved for drivers who started in the top-10. In the LifeLock 400, the top five finishers all started 14th or worse including the winner Mark Martin who started 32nd.

Our View: That leaves the fall race wide open for fantasy owners to pick drivers based on their records and practice times.

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Martin wins at Michigan

For the second straight week, fuel mileage played an important role in the finish of a NASCAR race. This time Mark Martin passed Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson on the white flag lap when both of those drivers ran out of gas.

Our View: Even though Pocono and Michigan were determined by fuel mileage, the drivers raced hard until the final lap, which kept the outcome in doubt until the checkers waved.

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To the back at Michigan

Three cars will drop to the back before the start of the LifeLock 400. The No. 87 of Joe Nemechek, No. 77 of Sam Hornish Jr. and No. 24 of Jeff Gordon all changed engines, according to a tweet from @NASCARSays, NASCAR's official feed.

Our View: Gordon says he has a car fast enough to get to the front. Penske Racing South is also stout, so Hornish should be ok as well.

N'Wide: Meijer 300 by Ritz Results

The Nationwide standalone events are known as opportunity races because only a handful of Claim Jumpers make the long commute to compete with the Regulars. And in fact, eight of the top-10 positions were claimed by these racers, led by Brad Keselowski in third.

Unfortunately for them, the race was dominated by Cup drivers Joey Logano and Kyle Busch. These two racers provided what little excitement there was. At the end, the teenager Logano blasted past Busch with only a handful of laps remaining and cruised to an easy win. He became the first driver to win two wins and both of those victories came from the pole. He was also the first to driver to win two poles at Kentucky.

Next week will be another opportunity for the Nationwide Regulars to shine. The Cup drivers will be in Sonoma, Calif. for a road race while the second series is on the flat Milwaukee Mile. It's the toughest commute in NASCAR and only Busch and Carl Edwards will attempt it.

Results, with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Status	Avg Fin
1	1	Joey Logano	200	Running	1.00
2	2	Kyle Busch	200	Running	11.50
3	9	Brad Keselowski	200	Running	3.50
4	6	Brendan Gaughan	200	Running	4.00
5	3	Justin Allgaier	200	Running	5.00
6	11	Jason Leffler	200	Running	16.60
7	4	Michael Annett	200	Running	7.00
8	18	Burney Lamar	200	Running	19.67
9	7	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	200	Running	9.00
10	42	Kelly Bires	200	Running	12.00
11	5	Erik Darnell	199	Running	11.00
12	8	Trevor Bayne	199	Running	12.00
13	15	Scott Lagasse Jr	199	Running	13.00
14	13	Steve Wallace	199	Running	16.00
15	27	Kevin Conway	199	Running	15.00
16	30	Scott Wimmer	198	Running	8.00
17	36	Ken Butler III	198	Running	17.00
18	33	Danny O'Quinn Jr	198	Running	26.33
19	22	Mark Green	197	Running	22.60
20	10	Carl Edwards	197	Running	22.00
21	38	Tony Raines	197	Running	11.00
22	28	Derrike Cope	197	Running	26.50
23	16	Jason Keller	196	Running	17.38
24	25	Brandon Whitt	196	Running	24.00
25	29	Morgan Shepherd	195	Running	38.80
26	24	Shelby Howard	195	Running	26.50
27	17	Bobby Hamilton Jr	192	In Pit	23.00
28	21	Mike Bliss	182	Accident	15.80
29	23	Michael McDowell	168	Handling	29.00
30	37	Eric McClure	154	Running	33.25
31	12	Stephen Leicht	137	Overheating	14.00
32	14	John Wes Townley	83	Accident	32.00
33	40	Mike Harmon	77	Handling	37.25
34	32	Kenny Hendrick	75	Accident	28.25
35	41	Brian Keselowski	38	Brakes	35.00
36	19	Kevin Hamlin	35	Electrical	28.50
37	20	Kenny Wallace	19	Engine	25.29
38	26	Chris Horn	17	Quit	38.25
39	31	Johnny Chapman	6	Quit	37.50
40	34	Brad Baker	2	Quit	29.00
41	43	Justin Hobgood	2	Quit	39.50
42	39	Chad Blount	1	Quit	32.00
43	35	Stanton Barrett	1	Quit	33.00
44		Jeff Green	0	Did Not Qualify	31.00
45		J C Stout	0	Did Not Qualify
46		Benny Gordon	0	Did Not Qualify
47		Blake Bjorkland	0	Did Not Qualify
48		Kevin Lepage	0	Did Not Qualify	18.00
49		Travis Kittleson	0	Did Not Qualify

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Michigan pit stall selections

Jayski.com has posted the pit stall selections. As expected, pole winner Brian Vickers took the final pit at the turn one end of pit road. Other drives with openings in front of them are Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, A.J. Allmendinger, Juan Montoya and Jimmie Johnson.

Our View: This could be one of the tie-breakers you use for drivers who are evenly matched in your estimation.

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Benson injured in fiery crash at Berlin

Recently out of his Camping World Truck Series ride, Johnny Benson Jr. too the opportunity to run in an ISMA Supermodified race on his home track Berlin Raceway, according to MichiganLive.com. What should have been a fun outing turned catastrophic when he crashed in turn three and his car burst into flames. Benson was transported to a local hospital, where he is serious, but stable condition.

Our View: According to his Web site, Benson has a broken rib, but should recover. Keep him in your prayers throughout the week.

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N'Wide: Two, two, two? for Busch

In two races this weekend, Kyle Busch finished second in both. How interesting would it be for him to finish second in Sunday's Cup LifeLock 400.

Our View: NASCAR is filled with symmetrical finishes just like that, but Busch's crew is going to have to find something overnight. In terms of average speed during long runs in the combined practice sessions at Michigan, the No. 18 was only 12th quickest with a speed of 183.370 during 74 laps.

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N'Wide: Perfection for Logano at Kentucky

Perfection is an overused word in auto racing, but it fits tonight. Joey Logano won back-to-back races from the pole at Kentucky Speedway. He became the first repeat driver in both of those statistics.

Our View: Kyle Busch led the most laps, but you had the sense that Logano was biding his time. Busch certainly thought so and credited his teammate with having the best car.

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Burton on crate engines

GIVEN THE GM SITUATION IN THE NATIONWIDE AND TRUCK SERIES DO YOU THINK IT'S TIME FOR NASCAR TO GO TO A CRATE MOTOR TO SAVE COST?

“It’s a double-edged sword because on the surface a crate engine thing sounds like a great idea, but at the same time there is a lot of resources that are channeled through Hendrick Motorsports, through RCR, through Roush that make our companies that make our companies more stable and enable us to make the investments necessary to be here.

"So on the surface of it the crate thing for a lower budget Nationwide team the crate engine thing makes a lot of sense. For the Nationwide teams that are winning races, I don’t think it makes a lot of sense. I think in some ways it lessens a team’s ability to serve the sport.

"If you go to a crate motor it takes away and there are a lot of people that are employed today that would not be employed. You know every time we start talking about saving money we are talking about people. That’s what it ends up being. We have to be careful because it’s a double-edged sword.

"I’ll tell you that if I owned a Nationwide team and somebody said your engine bill is going to be cut in half that would sound pretty enticing to me. At the same time, it's kind of like paying taxes. I don’t want to pay any more taxes than I need to pay, but if me paying some taxes makes our infrastructure better and health care better then I’m okay with it. So in some ways, spending more money in our sport makes our sport stronger and spending less money is not all positives.

"If you do the crate thing, I think it really hinders our opportunity for Chevrolet to want to be involved in the Nationwide series or Ford to want to be involved in the Nationwide series. So that’s probably not a good thing either.

"With the IRL and Honda doing that, I don’t know how that thing works but in these times, it's like hey man if we weren’t relying on the manufacturers that might be a good thing but the majority of the time the manufacturers being here has been very beneficial to this sport. Marketing, merchandising, technology. The manufacturers have brought a lot to this sport. The manufacturers really started pushing the safety thing and put funding into that safety thing before anyone else. The manufacturers have brought a lot to this sport so going to that sounds good but there also some real serious negatives to it that aren’t as good as it looks on the surface of it.“

From a GM Press Release

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

Qualification at Kentucky Speedway was about perfection. Joey Logano won last year's edition of this race from the pole and he's picking up where he left off. He'll lead the field to green with a lap of 174.865 mph and should be considered one of the favorites to win Saturday night.

The only other driver in his league was teammate Kyle Busch, who had the other car that broke the 174 mph mark. That gives Joe Gibbs Racing a perfect sweep of the front row and these two drivers will be each other's toughest competition.

The next four spots were all taken by rookies—which is as close to perfection as they are likely to find in their first year. Justin Allgaier qualified third, Michael Annett is fourth, Erik Darnell is fifth and Brendan Gaughan will start sixth.

Lineup, with average start/finish

Start	Driver	Avg. Fin	Avg. Start	Attempts
1	Joey Logano	1.00	1.00	2
2	Kyle Busch	14.67	5.00	4
3	Justin Allgaier		3.00	1
4	Michael Annett		4.00	1
5	Erik Darnell		5.00	1
6	Brendan Gaughan		6.00	1
7	Ricky Stenhouse Jr		7.00	1
8	Trevor Bayne		8.00	1
9	Brad Keselowski	4.00	11.00	2
10	Carl Edwards	22.50	9.40	5
11	Jason Leffler	19.25	16.20	5
12	Stephen Leicht	5.50	15.00	3
13	Steve Wallace	16.67	13.25	4
14	John Wes Townley		14.00	1
15	Scott Lagasse Jr		15.00	1
16	Jason Keller	16.57	11.63	8
17	Bobby Hamilton Jr	22.33	10.57	7
18	Burney Lamar	25.50	20.33	3
19	Kevin Hamlin	21.00	24.00	2
20	Kenny Wallace	23.33	23.71	7
21	Mike Bliss	12.75	14.40	5
22	Mark Green	23.50	28.00	5
23	Michael McDowell		23.00	1
24	Shelby Howard	27.00	21.50	2
25	Brandon Whitt		25.00	1
26	Chris Horn	38.33	37.25	4
27	Kevin Conway		27.00	1
28	Derrike Cope	31.00	31.50	2
29	Morgan Shepherd	42.25	32.60	5
30	Scott Wimmer	6.40	19.33	6
31	Johnny Chapman	36.00	34.00	2
32	Kenny Hendrick	26.33	33.75	4
33	Danny O'Quinn Jr	30.50	17.00	3
34	Brad Baker	18.00	38.50	2
35	Stanton Barrett	30.50	30.00	5
36	Ken Butler III		36.00	1
37	Eric McClure	34.33	38.25	4
38	Tony Raines	8.50	29.40	5
39	Chad Blount	22.00	30.50	2
40	Mike Harmon	38.67	34.50	4
41	Brian Keselowski	35.00	38.50	2
42	Kelly Bires	13.00	26.33	3
43	Justin Hobgood	38.00	32.00	2
DNQ	Jeff Green	31.00	2.00	1
DNQ	J C Stout
DNQ	Benny Gordon
DNQ	Blake Bjorkland
DNQ	Kevin Lepage	18.00	24.50	2
DNQ	Travis Kittleson

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N'Wide: Logano on Kentucky pole

Last year, Joey Logano won the Kentucky race from the pole and he's picking up where he left off. He will lead the field to green in tonight's Meijer 300.

Our View: Logano was one of the favorites to win before this lap and he's even more highly regarded now. He also started from the pole in his last effort at Dover and finished second in a car that could have won.

In that race, his teammate Kyle Busch cut a tire and did not inform Logano that he would be slow on the restart, causing both Joe Gibbs Racing drivers to slow dramatically.

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N'Wide: Bires crashes in quals, rolls out backup

Kelly Bires crashed during his qualification lap and will be forced to roll out a backup car, according to @NASCAR_NNS.

Our View: His Kevin Harvick, Inc. backup car will be fast and this shouldn't automatically disqualify him for your roster. If he fits a niche, keep him, but if you're considering another driver at his level, err on the side of caution and park him.

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Trucks: Michigan results, with avg. finish

It doesn't matter what series is on the track; if Jack Roush is fielding a car or truck, its driver is a favorite to win. Roushketeer Colin Braun dogged Kyle Busch during the final green flag segment and forced him into a mistake. With 25 laps remaining, the No. 51 tried to go low beneath a lapped car and Braun pounced on the outside. Once in the lead, the victory was never in question.

After pacing the field for 62 laps, Busch was forced to settle for second, but his protégé made him proud. Brian Ickler sat on the pole and we predicted he would fall back through the pack. He had plenty of opportunities to prove us correct when he nearly crashed early and often. As the race settled down, Ickler maintained and finished third.

Matt Crafton finished fourth and padded his point lead. This was his sixth consecutive top-10 finish in the Camping World Truck Series, which has made him a place-and-hold driver.

Results, with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Avg Fin
1	12	Colin Braun	100	26	Running	3.50
2	4	Kyle Busch	100	62	Running	3.25
3	1	Brian Ickler	100		Running	3.00
4	2	Matt Crafton	100		Running	16.63
5	7	Mike Skinner	100		Running	7.29
6	14	Tayler Malsam	100		Running	6.00
7	5	Ron Hornaday Jr	100	1	Running	14.33
8	18	Timothy Peters	100		Running	22.67
9	11	Dennis Setzer	100		Running	10.30
10	21	Terry Cook	100		Running	9.70
11	20	David Starr	100		Running	16.70
12	10	Rick Crawford	100		Running	13.00
13	3	Todd Bodine	100	6	Running	7.40
14	13	Jason White	99		Running	23.00
15	30	Chris Fontaine	99		Running	15.00
16	6	Johnny Sauter	98		Running	16.00
17	32	Norm Benning	95		Running	17.00
18	19	T J Bell	83		Running	19.33
19	16	Stacy Compton	70		Running	14.50
20	24	J J Yeley	68		Overheating	16.50
21	8	J R Fitzpatrick	63		Accident	21.00
22	25	Ryan Hackett	51	3	Accident	22.00
23	25	Wayne Edwards	32		Fuel Pump	28.00
24	15	Chad McCumbee	27		Accident	17.50
25	26	Chris Jones	21		Quit	29.50
26	23	Ryan Matthews	19		Quit	21.00
27	36	Trevor Boys	18		Quit	27.00
28	31	Andy Ponstein	17		Quit	28.00
29	33	Brandon Knupp	15		Quit	29.00
30	28	Brent Raymer	13		Quit	30.00
31	22	Mario Gosselin	12	1	Quit	30.00
32	27	Nick Tucker	9		Quit	31.50
33	9	James Buescher	8		Accident	33.00
34	17	Brian Scott	8		Accident	29.50
35	34	Sean Murphy	6		Quit	26.50
36	29	John Jackson	4		Quit	36.00

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