The Passing Grade

There is plenty of excitement on NASCAR road courses; you just have to know where to look.

Infineon Raceway is listed as an 11-turn course, but that is a little misleading. The modern NASCAR circuit skips turns five and six, which comprise an inner loop. This part of the track was used when the series first started visiting Sonoma, but designers decided that the stock cars would perform better if a chute was added to connect turns four and seven.

They were right. The twisty segment that is currently avoided acted a lot like the current esses, only with drivers reaching much faster speeds. Not a lot of passing went on in this segment, but during the last five years, 11 percent of the total passes for position have come in turn seven. Another 10 percent come in the segment of turns two, three and four, which is an uphill climb following the start/finish line, but most of these passes are actually made in the final corner numbered "four A."

The grandstands at Infineon are located between turns 11 and one, which also provides a great view of turn 10, and there is a good reason for that. Thirty-two percent of the total passes for position come in the turn 11-12 complex—otherwise known as the hairpin and kink onto the front stretch. Another 27 percent of the passing occurs in turn 10, which comes at the end of a long sweeping left hand corner that is the culmination of the backstretch esses. That will continue to be the action spots on Sunday.

Some road racing specialists, however, have shown they can pass anywhere. Only two percent of the total passes have been made in the backstretch esses. Tony Stewart has been the king of turns eight and nine. Of the total 158 passes that have been made in that section during the last four years, Stewart has completed seven percent of them. The next most productive driver in this segment might surprise fantasy owners, however. Casey Mears has six percent of those passes to his credit and no one else has more than four.

Of course, Mears has had more opportunities to pass overall than most of the leaders. Drivers like Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Juan Montoya spend most of their time in the front of the pack and therefore don't have to overtake as many cars. With an average of 49.3 passes per race during the last four events (which is when NASCAR Statistical Services started tracking this stat), he has made the 10th most passes per race.

So who has had to pass the most cars? Among drivers with more than one start, Denny Hamlin leads the league. He's completed 64.7 passes per race in the three events he's run at Infineon. He's passed a lot of cars and that will get his fans up on their feet, but it hasn't always landed him at the very front of the pack. Hamlin finished 12th in 2006, was 10th in 2007, but only 27th last year.

Total Passes at Infineon

Driver	Races	Total	Avg. per race	Avg. Fin	Turn 1	Turn 2-4
Regan Smith	1	73	73.0	30.0	7	6
David Stremme	1	67	67.0	32.0	6	2
Denny Hamlin	3	194	64.7	16.3	20	12
Michael Waltrip	3	184	61.3	23.3	28	22
Brian Vickers	3	174	58.0	20.7	12	14
David Ragan	2	115	57.5	26.5	10	7
Bobby Labonte	4	229	57.3	31.3	36	22
J.J. Yeley	2	114	57.0	27.0	16	8
Clint Bowyer	3	165	55.0	8.0	26	9
Jeremy Mayfield	2	107	53.5	14.5	20	10
Travis Kvapil	2	103	51.5	21.5	23	7
Casey Mears	4	197	49.3	18.0	38	15
Tony Stewart	4	189	47.3	11.3	30	41
Kevin Harvick	4	187	46.8	23.3	54	17
Matt Kenseth	4	187	46.8	17.5	27	21
Ron Fellows	4	185	46.3	22.3	22	16
Joe Nemechek	4	184	46.0	28.0	35	17
Terry Labonte	4	183	45.8	16.8	28	11
Reed Sorenson	2	91	45.5	34.5	11	7
Martin Truex Jr.	3	133	44.3	18.3	27	23
Carl Edwards	4	176	44.0	17.8	27	20
Chris Cook	1	44	44.0	28.0	10	4
Jeff Gordon	4	172	43.0	11.0	21	14
Dave Blaney	4	171	42.8	29.8	29	26
Greg Biffle	4	170	42.5	8.5	34	21
David Gilliland	3	127	42.3	19.7	19	8
Elliott Sadler	4	169	42.3	11.8	33	16
Robby Gordon	4	169	42.3	27.0	42	26
Bill Elliott	1	42	42.0	19.0	5	0
Juan Montoya	2	84	42.0	3.5	18	13
Michael McDowell	1	40	40.0	21.0	6	4
Jeff Burton	4	159	39.8	13.3	34	13
Kasey Kahne	4	158	39.5	32.0	29	8
Kyle Busch	4	157	39.3	15.0	37	18
Patrick Carpentier	1	39	39.0	23.0	7	2
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	4	152	38.0	23.3	39	12
Jimmie Johnson	4	151	37.8	19.5	25	21
Boris Said	4	145	36.3	19.0	14	14
Jamie McMurray	4	140	35.0	21.5	29	21
Ryan Newman	4	138	34.5	9.5	23	10
Paul Menard	1	33	33.0	34.0	3	5
Scott Riggs	2	65	32.5	25.5	18	10
Mark Martin	2	64	32.0	14.0	8	11
Sam Hornish Jr.	1	30	30.0	31.0	5	0
Kurt Busch	4	114	28.5	15.5	22	6
Aric Almirola	1	27	27.0	28.0	8	0
Brian Simo	2	54	27.0	26.5	8	2
Marcos Ambrose	1	25	25.0	42.0	2	3
AJ Allmendinger	1	24	24.0	37.0	2	2
Sterling Marlin	3	59	19.7	37.0	12	8
David Reutimann	1	19	19.0	40.0	5	1
Max Papis	1	19	19.0	35.0	3	1
Tom Hubert	2	34	17.0	43.0	9	6
Mike Bliss	1	12	12.0	39.0	4	1
Brandon Ash	1	6	6.0	38.0	1	3
Total		6,249			1,067	617
Percentage					17%	10%

Driver		Turn 7	Turn 8	Turn 9	Turn 10	Turn 11-12
Regan Smith		6	1	0	22	31
David Stremme		2	3	0	25	29
Denny Hamlin		27	3	2	70	60
Michael Waltrip		23	1	6	38	66
Brian Vickers		28	2	1	37	80
David Ragan		7	4	2	36	49
Bobby Labonte		31	2	2	61	75
J.J. Yeley		15	1	4	32	38
Clint Bowyer		30	1	2	47	50
Jeremy Mayfield		7	2	1	27	40
Travis Kvapil		5	0	1	37	30
Casey Mears		15	6	3	51	69
Tony Stewart		23	5	6	43	41
Kevin Harvick		25	1	0	29	61
Matt Kenseth		26	4	2	53	54
Ron Fellows		18	5	0	73	51
Joe Nemechek		14	2	2	50	64
Terry Labonte		14	1	3	54	72
Reed Sorenson		3	2	1	32	35
Martin Truex Jr.		9	0	3	31	40
Carl Edwards		20	2	3	59	45
Chris Cook		3	0	1	11	15
Jeff Gordon		31	0	3	49	54
Dave Blaney		20	0	1	40	55
Greg Biffle		14	0	3	48	50
David Gilliland		11	2	1	47	39
Elliott Sadler		18	3	0	45	54
Robby Gordon		18	2	2	31	48
Bill Elliott		6	1	1	20	9
Juan Montoya		12	5	0	15	21
Michael McDowell		4	0	1	7	18
Jeff Burton		15	2	1	42	52
Kasey Kahne		8	0	1	58	54
Kyle Busch		18	3	2	47	32
Patrick Carpentier		2	1	0	8	19
Dale Earnhardt Jr.		24	2	2	22	51
Jimmie Johnson		17	2	3	38	45
Boris Said		24	0	1	44	48
Jamie McMurray		20	1	1	27	41
Ryan Newman		16	0	1	43	45
Paul Menard		2	0	0	10	13
Scott Riggs		2	1	0	10	24
Mark Martin		12	0	1	16	16
Sam Hornish Jr.		1	0	0	8	16
Kurt Busch		23	1	2	25	35
Aric Almirola		1	0	2	5	11
Brian Simo		9	2	1	16	16
Marcos Ambrose		6	0	0	4	10
AJ Allmendinger		2	1	0	5	12
Sterling Marlin		13	2	1	12	11
David Reutimann		0	0	1	5	7
Max Papis		1	0	0	5	9
Tom Hubert		2	1	1	6	9
Mike Bliss		2	0	0	2	3
Brandon Ash		0	0	0	0	2
Total		705	80	78	1,678	2,024
Percentage		11%	1%	1%	27%	32%

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Mayfield expert qualifications clarified

In an article at NASCAR.com, Jeremy Mayfield's expert Harvey MacFenerstein clarifies his credentials and says that he tried to correct the mistakes before court documents were filed.

Our View: After seeing the real credentials, you'll realize why Mayfield's lawyer may have embellished. The true credentials include "taking some classes" toward certification as a medical review officer and a degree from a Dominican Republic college.

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European short track racing

Short track racing goes international. Check out this video from a short track in Belgium.

Dark Horse Report: Andretti best at Infineon

Looking for a strong dark horse at Infineon Raceway this week? In terms of career average finishes, John Andretti lists Infineon as his best track.

Our View: It would be a little easier to get excited about him if that average result wasn't 17.8 in nine starts, but if he practices well, he could be one cheap alternative.

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N'Wide Coleman looks to repeat top five Milwaukee run

Joe Gibbs Racing driver finished fourth in first outing at the Mile

Charlotte, NC (June 16, 2009) – 19 year-old Brad Coleman had never seen the famed Milwaukee Mile when he first set sail on the track in 2007. Undaunted, the rookie brought the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 home in fourth and looks to repeat and improve on the finish this coming Father’s Day weekend.

“It is a fast, flat race track and I love racing there,” said Coleman. “I finished Top 10 in my debut in the No. 20 Rudys.com Toyota two weeks ago and am determined to improve that finish this weekend at Milwaukee. It’s my turn to give my dad a Father’s Day present he’ll never forget.”

This will be Coleman’s third run at Milwaukee, finishing fourth two years ago and 25th last season in a Baker Curb prepared race car. His last outing on-track was setting up Kyle Busch’s No. 18 machine last week at Kentucky.“

It was all I could do not to hope Kyle’s helicopter was late last weekend at Kentucky,” smiled Coleman. “I enjoyed practicing and setting up his car for him and would have loved to have raced it. I do know he got the most out of it because he is the best there is right now in the driving world.”

From a team press release

Digger sealed in hole

Several weeks ago, we suggested TNT should run over a cartoon gopher to signal the end of the idiocy that was Fox's NASCAR coverage. They did the next best thing. Click here for an animation of Race Buddy (their cartoon hero) sealing up a gopher hole.

Our View: As cute as that is, Race Buddy may be only a half step up the intelligence scale, but at least it's not that danged gopher.

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N'Wide: Trouble brewing for Wallace sponsor

According to NASCARDaily.com, trouble is brewing for one of Rusty Wallace's sponsors. "At last count, 40 Attorneys General were actively involved in pursuing criminal complaints against US Fidelis," they report.

Our View: There is also a nice mugshot of the CEO of the company at the above link, listing his record of Theft, Burglary, Forgery and Counterfeiting.

Even in these tough economic times, teams have an ethical obligation to the fans not to advertise fraudulent products and services. Kevin Conway has sponsorship from a male enhancement product named Extense that is also under scrutiny.

IRL: Patrick agents entertain offers

In the last year of her contract with Andretti – Green Racing, Danica Patrick is letting her agents field offers, according to DailyNASCAR.com. "That’s what I leave up to my agents," she said. "And as they tell me — which is the best thing — all I have to do is go there and perform and they’ll take care of the rest, so that’s what I’m going to do."

These offer reportedly are coming from Indy Racing League, NASCAR and Formula 1 teams.

Our View: While Patrick would find a transition to either NASCAR or Formula 1 to have a steep learning curve, she is one of the best values in IndyCar at the moment and we believe she has the talent to eventually become a contender wherever she races.

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Jones to run Infineon

Add P J Jones to the Infineon entry list. He'll drive a second Robby Gordon car.

Jones is Gordon's go to test guy and a road racing specialist. Unfortunately, there are much better road ringers available this week.

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

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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.

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