The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads west to
Southern California for the fourth race in the Chase, while the IndyCar Series
wraps up their season in South Florida, as three drivers vie for the title.
NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series
Pepsi 500 - Auto Club Speedway - Fontana, CA
Last Sunday at Kansas, ten of the top-11 finishers were Chase drivers, as the
points battle for the Sprint Cup Series championship tightened. Only 114
points separate leader Mark Martin from eighth-place Greg Biffle heading into
the Pepsi 500 at California -- the fourth race in the playoffs.
"It shows how competitive the Chase is," said Kansas race winner Tony Stewart,
who moved up to fourth in points (-67).
Stewart, in his first year as driver and owner, captured his fourth victory of
the season. The two-time Cup Series champion finished 14th at New Hampshire
and seventh at ninth at Dover before winning at Kansas.
In February, Stewart finished eighth at California in just his second race
with his new Stewart-Haas Racing team.
"We were still just learning each other going into California in the spring,"
Stewart said. "So going around this time, we obviously know each other better.
We've had time to make mistakes and make decisions that worked for me, and
we've learned the feel that I like together, and that's something that will
help us. I'm anticipating California a lot more this time than in the spring."
After finishing seventh at Kansas, Martin padded his lead to 18 points over
Hendrick Motorsports teammate and three-time defending series champion Jimmie
Johnson, who finished ninth.
Johnson excels at the upcoming tracks on the schedule. The El Cajon, CA native
returns to his hometrack this weekend as the winner of the last two fall races
there. After California, the series runs at Charlotte and then Martinsville.
Johnson has five victories at Charlotte and has won five of the last six races
at Martinsville.
"They really are great tracks for us," Johnson said. "I think the season comes
to us in a way. I know that we perform well in the Chase, but I think the
schedule is helpful for the No.48 car. We have great results, and it gives us
a lot of hope going into these tracks, but we still have to show up and get
the job done."
Johnson has recorded five straight top-10 finishes at California. He dominated
last year's fall race there, leading 228 of 250 laps.
Martin will compete in California's second date of the season for the first
time since 2006. He has missed the event in the past two years due to his
limited Cup schedule. Martin suffered engine failure and ended up with a 40th-
place finish at California earlier this year.
Juan Pablo Montoya has been superb in the Chase so far. Montoya, in his first
year in the playoffs, is the only driver who has scored top-five finishes in
the first three Chase races. He's hoping his momentum will continue, but
California has been one of his tougher tracks.
"I would rather have Atlanta to be honest," Montoya said. "I always run really
well at Atlanta. At the same time we ran pretty good [at California] the last
time we were there. It was very early in the season, and even then I think we
had decent cars. Right now, we've got much more competitive cars."
Montoya is now third in points (-51). He has finished no better than 11th in
his first five races at California. Montoya had a third-place run last month
at Atlanta.
With California's second date of the season now moved to October , drivers and
teams are expecting different track conditions, which should make for an
interesting race.
"Conditions will be cooler," said Kurt Busch, who is currently fifth in points
(-91). "The track most likely will be faster."
Forty-five teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Pepsi 500.
Nationwide Series
Copart 300 - Auto Club Speedway - Fontana, CA
Kyle Busch is looking to widen his points lead over Carl Edwards this Saturday
at California.
Busch put on a dominating performance last week at Kansas, but after a late-
race restart, Joey Logano passed Busch for the lead with four laps remaining.
It was the fourth time this season that Logano has taken the lead away from
his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate with less than 10 laps to go and then go on to
victory.
With his second-place finish, Busch stretched his points lead to 245 with six
races to go.
Logano, a four-time Nationwide Series race winner so far this year, will
compete at California. The 19-year-old driver has finished third and sixth in
his first two races there.
Busch, meanwhile, has won the last two races at California. He was simply
unstoppable in last year's fall event there, leading all but six of the 150
laps. Busch briefly gave up the lead on two separate green-flag pit stops. He
easily held off Carl Edwards in the final laps for his seventh win of the
season.
In February, Busch won the Nationwide race at California several hours after
he took the checkered flag for the Camping World Truck Series race there. He
became the first driver in NASCAR history to win two national touring races on
the same day.
Greg Biffle is the only other driver to win back-to-back Nationwide races at
California. Biffle won there twice in 2004.
Matt Kenseth has the most victories at California with four, while Biffle and
Busch have won there three times each. Kenseth is not competing in this
weekend's race.
"I love this place; I always have," Biffle said. "This weekend is my last
Nationwide Series race of the season, and I really want to go out on top."
Fifty teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Copart 300.
INDYCAR SERIES
Firestone Indy 300 - Homestead-Miami Speedway - Homestead, FL
Eight points, three drivers and one race remaining.
That's the point separation among the top-three drivers -- Scott Dixon, Dario
Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe -- heading into the final race of the season at
Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Last month, Dixon won in Motegi, Japan and moved atop the championship
standings. He now holds a five-point lead over Chip Ganassi Racing teammate
Franchitti and an eight-point advantage on Briscoe from Team Penske. The 1-3
margin is the second-closest in the IndyCar Series' 14-year history.
Should there be a tie for the points lead after the checkered flag waves at
Homestead, the championship would then be determined by number of victories.
Dixon has notched five wins, while Franchitti has four victories and Briscoe
three.
The series restructured its bonus points system this year, and it's been a
major factor in deciding the title. During the previous eight seasons, all
three bonus points were awarded to the lap leader of each race. This year, the
pole winner of each race receives one point, and the driver who leads the most
laps picks up two points.
Of the 46 bonus points awarded so far this year, the three championship
contenders combined have taken 35 of them. Dixon has received 13 bonus points,
while Briscoe has earned 12 and Franchitti 10.
After hosting the season-opener for the past six years, Homestead now holds
the season-finale. Chicagoland Speedway held the finale from 2006-08, with the
championship decided on the final lap there each of those years.
Saturday's race at Homestead should be a heck of a shootout, with the title
likely decided again on the final lap.
"Fun, isn't it," Franchitti said. "That's the way it should be. We'll just
keep our heads down an do the best that we can."
In 2007, Franchitti, who drove for Andretti Green Racing at the time, led
Dixon by just three points heading into the season-ending race at Chicagoland.
The two battled all the way to the final lap, with Franchitti picking up the
win and taking the championship.
Dixon held the lead on the last lap, but gave it up to Franchitti when he ran
out of fuel on the backstretch. Dixon coasted across the finish line in second
and lost the title by 13 points.
After a brief stint in NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series competition,
Franchitti joined Ganassi's IndyCar team and his return to America's most
popular open-wheel racing circuit has been nothing short of success.
Dixon won the championship in 2003 and '08. If he wins it again this year, he
will join Sam Hornish Jr. as the only drivers with three titles in the series.
"It's going to be a crazy race," said Dixon, who won last year's race at
Homestead. "Obviously the three of us are going to be pushing to the maximum."
Briscoe, in his second full season with Penske, is looking to capture his
first major championship in motorsports. The Aussie took over Hornish's seat
at Penske when Hornish left IndyCar for NASCAR in 2008.
"It's really exciting," said Briscoe, who finished fifth in points last year.
"At this point, it's a highlight in my career. It's going to be close, but the
team's been doing an unbelievable job, and I feel as though I've stepped it up
this year."
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