Betting Odds - Graffiti - Podcast

Indianapolis, IN - Rain cancelled Craftsman Truck Series qualifying for tonight’s Power Stroke Diesel 200 race at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

Graffiti Wall reports the lineup will be set by rule, owners points, which will put points leader Mike Skinner on the pole.

Starting on the front row with Skinner will be Ron Hornaday Jr. who sits 164 points behind Skinner in the standings..

Todd Bodine (-288) and Travis Kvapil (-313) will make up row two.

The race at O’Reilly Raceway Park is the 13th all-time and is one of four tracks that has hosted an event in every season (the others are Martinsville, Milwaukee and Phoenix).

Skinner won the inaugural race in 1995 and again in 1996 and led every lap (350 in all). Skinner became only the fourth driver in NASCAR national series history to lead every lap in consecutive races at the same track.

Skinner is having a pretty good season in 2007 as well. He leads the series in points (2,238), driver rating (125.0), winnings ($479,300), laps led (789), wins (4), poles (7), top-fives (11) and top-10s (13). Skinner leads Ron Hornaday Jr. by 164 points (2,238-2,074). It’s his largest lead of the season, but only the fifth-largest at this point of the season.

The race is still scheduled to drop the green flag at 8 p.m. (et).

Mooresville, NC - Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ginn Racing merged Wednesday to create a new four-car team.

Effective immediately the new team will feature the Chevrolets of Paul Menard, Martin Truex Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin and Aric Almirola.

Martin and Almirola will combine to drive Ginn’s No. 1 Army Chevrolet for the remainder of the 2007 season and into 2008. Menard drives the Menards Chevy, Truex handles the Bass Pro Shops car and Earnhardt is at the controls of the Budweiser Chevrolet — all originally part of the DEI team.

All four cars are inside the top 35 in Nextel Cup points.

“This merger is great for both our companies,” said DEI global operations president Max Siegel. “Our stated goals included an expansion to four cars as quickly as possible and, in order to do that, we had to acquire more shop space. This relationship with Bobby Ginn and his company allows us to accomplish both which makes this a perfect transaction.”

The partnership will force Ginn to give up the points on his No. 13 car, which was 34th in the owner standings.

“NASCAR’s cap of four teams per company meant we had to give something up,” said Ginn. “We felt so strongly about this merger that we surrendered the intangible value of the 13 car. We all were completely comfortable that the benefits of working together far outweighed the value of the points.”

DEI’s current management team will be responsible for all day-to-day activities.

By Steve Schwarz, Motorsports Editor

All eyes turn to Indianapolis where the Nextel Cup Series races at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

NASCAR

Nextel Cup

Allstate 400 at the Brickyard - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Indianapolis, IN

Following a rare week off, the Nextel Cup Series travels to the hallowed ground of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Except for races held at Daytona, the most highly coveted win in NASCAR is this race at Indy where so much history has been made. The names of Mario Andretti, Mark Donohue, Emerson Fittipaldi, A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Rick Mears, Wilbur Shaw and Al Unser are just a few of the great drivers who have won at this track.

While racing began at Indy in 1909, Nextel Cup has only been coming here since 1994 when Jeff Gordon won the inaugural event. Gordon also won in 1998, 2001 and 2004. Other “Cup” drivers to win at Indy include: Dale Earnhardt (1995), Ricky Rudd (1997), Dale Jarrett (1996, 1999), Bobby Labonte (2000), Bill Elliott (2002), Kevin Harvick (2003), Tony Stewart (2005) and Jimmie Johnson (2006).

For the past two years, the winner at the Brickyard has gone on to win the series championship. All told, the winner of this race has won the title in six of 13 years.

Not only did Johnson win at the Brickyard and the Nextel Cup title in 2006, but he completed a rare sweep, winning Daytona and Indy in the same year, only the second time that it has been accomplished (Jarrett - 1996).

Johnson’s lead was 1.212 seconds with 30 laps to go and 1.826 seconds with 20 to go as Johnson’s No.48 Lowe’s Chevrolet was flying around the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

A caution flag for debris erased Johnson’s big lead and set up a short run (14 laps) to the finish. All the leaders followed Johnson down pit lane for fuel and tires although six backmarkers did stay on the track.

Kenseth was the first off pit road just ahead of Johnson however the race leaders were Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman and Joe Nemechek. Hamlin and Clint Bowyer took two tires only and came out fifth and sixth, respectively with Kenseth the first car on four new tires in seventh place.

Busch and Earnhardt Jr. jumped out to a big lead, but Johnson and Kenseth were charging through the field. With 11 laps to go, Johnson passed Bowyer for third place and took dead aim at the No.8 Budweiser Chevrolet. He caught him with 10 laps to go.

Earnhardt Jr. made the move past Busch and Johnson followed him through, but “Junior” never led a lap as Johnson continued his momentum and drove deep into the corner and into the lead. Kenseth also on four tires made his way past Busch and Earnhardt Jr.

Johnson’s lead was 1.541 seconds with five laps to go and 1.977 seconds with four laps remaining. Only a driver error or a mechanical failure could prevent Johnson from a trip to Victory Lane and none was forthcoming.

Johnson won the race and went on to win the 2006 Nextel Cup Series championship as well.

Which brings us to Sunday’s race.

The favorites to win the race include all the usual suspects. Top on the list is Gordon who has put together a spectacular season to date. Through 19 races, Gordon has earned four wins, 12 top-fives and 17 top-10s to forge a 303-point lead in the drivers championship.

Behind Gordon in the standings are: Hamlin, Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Stewart and Johnson, any of which have the ability and the horsepower to win the race.

It should be a great race to watch.

One other note, Juan Montoya has a chance to become the first driver to win both the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400. Two former Indy 500 champions have raced in a Brickyard 400 - A.J. Foyt (finished 30th) and Danny Sullivan finished 33rd), both in 1994.

Busch

Kroger 200 - O’Reilly Raceway Park - Indianapolis, IN

While the “big boys” race at Indy, the Busch and truck series take to the short track around the corner. This Saturday’s Busch Series race will be on the 0.686-mile O’Reilly Raceway Park oval.

Kevin Harvick won last year’s race, leading 117 of 200 laps, but the 2006 series champion is not on the preliminary entry list. Edwards finished 10th in the race and as with every race this season will be one of the favorites in Saturday’s race.

Edwards finished sixth last week and his lead ballooned to 852 points. He has crafted the lead by winning four times and putting his No.60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford in the top-10 16 times in 21 starts.

David Reutimann is the driver in second place, but is primarily there because he has raced in all 21 events. Harvick is just 19 points behind Reutimann despite racing in just 15 events. Where as Reutimann has yet to win and collected just seven top-10s, Harvick has won three times and put his car in the top-10 on 13 occasions.

The race for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year is much more exciting. David Ragan leads the way with 194 points, but behind him are Marcos Ambrose (171), Juan Montoya (162) and Kyle Krisiloff (152).

Craftsman

Power Stroke Diesel 200 - O’Reilly Raceway Park - Indianapolis, IN

The race at O’Reilly Raceway Park is the 13th all-time and is one of four tracks that has hosted an event in every season (the others are Martinsville, Milwaukee and Phoenix).

Mike Skinner won the inaugural race in 1995 and again in 1996 and led every lap (350 in all). Skinner became only the fourth driver in NASCAR national series history to lead every lap in consecutive races at the same track.

Skinner is having a pretty good season in 2007 as well. He leads the series in points (2,238), driver rating (125.0), winnings ($479,300), laps led (789), wins (4), poles (7), top-fives (11) and top-10s (13). Skinner leads Ron Hornaday Jr. by 164 points (2,238-2,074). It’s his largest lead of the season, but only the fifth-largest at this point of the season.

In 2000 Greg Biffle led by 290 points, the most after 13 events. Last year Todd Bodine held a 172-point lead and went on to win the title, but in 2005 Dennis Setzer held a 227-point lead and lost the crown to Travis Kvapil.

Kvapil just happens to be third (tied with Bodine) in the standings, 288 points back and still a possible challenger for his second series title.

Rick Crawford won last year’s event, edging out Setzer by 0.790 seconds in a caution-filled race.

CHAMP CARS

San Jose Grand Prix - Streets of San Jose - San Jose, CA

All has returned to normalcy in the Champ Car Series after Sebastien Bourdais won last week’s race in Edmonton and regained the series points lead. It’s a position he has held for three years and likely will continue to hold until he jumps to Formula One at the end of the current season.

“We had a decent lead on the first stint and when the yellow came out it bunched everyone up and we were a victim of our results in Toronto and had a bad pit box here,” said Bourdais. “We overcame that and it was an awesome job from everybody from the McDonald’s team. We stuck together and said ‘Its not over.’ We kept plugging away and it worked out and I couldn’t be any happier. It is pretty spectacular to get the lead we have leaving here.”

The three-time series champion has a 20-points lead on “rookie” Robert Doornbos. Doornbos is a former F1 driver for Minardi (2005) and Red Bull (2006) which were not really competitive against the giant teams of F1 like Ferrari and McLaren. But the team came to that realization and made the move across the Atlantic Ocean to Champ Cars.

Doornbos is finally getting to show what he can do when he gets in a competitive car. He opened his rookie Champ Car Series campaign with a second place finish at Las Vegas. Following his only bad outing at Long Beach (13th), Doornbos put himself on the podium four consecutive times including a win at Mont-Tremblant. He was on his way to another top-10 result last week when Alex Tagliani took him out in a late-race incident. Doornbos has earned six top-10s in eight starts.

Behind Doornbos is Will Power (-25) and Justin Wilson (-29). Both are still very much in the championship race.

Power had a tough day in Edmonton finishing 15th after suffering steering problems.

“Up until this point, Canada has been very friendly to us,” said Power, who finished third in Mont-Tremblant and won the race in Toronto.

Wilson finished second to Bourdais in Edmonton. “We gave everything we had, but it wasn’t quite enough,” said Wilson. “The team did a fantastic job all weekend and I’m really pleased to get another podium here at Edmonton.”

Now it’s on to San Jose where Bourdais is the defending race champion.

The 2006 race went back to green with 39 laps to go. Oriol Servia and Charles Zwolsman, who still had one last pit stop to make, led the way, but Bourdais, who had made his final stop, had almost two seconds on Cristiano da Matta for the “real” race lead.

Bourdais didn’t have to, but he passed Zwolsman on lap 73. He was also chopping about half-a-second per lap on Servia. His margin over da Matta was five seconds when Servia finally made his stop on lap 80. Andrew Ranger brought out a caution flag in turn one with 16 laps to go leaving one final shootout between Bourdais, da Matta and Wilson for the win.

The green flag dropped with 11 laps to go and Bourdais quickly established a working lead. In one lap the margin was 1.287 seconds. Three laps later the gap was 2.411 seconds and the race was over. The final winning margin was 6.686 seconds.

Bourdais may have been distracted in mid-season by his testing for a Formula One team, but it appears as if he is back on track. Expect a big effort by the Frenchman and a successful defense of his title.

Edmonton, AB Canada - Sebastien Bourdais captured Sunday’s Rexall Grand Prix Edmonton with relative ease. The three-time series champion crossed the finish line 3.947 seconds ahead of Justin Wilson.

The victory was Bourdais’ fourth of the season and 27th of his Champ Car career.

“It’s a great win and a great team effort,” said Bourdais. “The car was spot on plus the great pit stops is what won us the race.”

Bourdais got the jump on pole winner Will Power driving around the outside of turn one to grab the early race lead. The Frenchman knew what to do with the lead and quickly built a margin of more than one second.

Bourdais and Power remained one-two, but Bourdais was also gradually pulling away from Power and the margin was 2.672 seconds after 19 laps when a debris caution slowed the race and sent everyone down pit lane for the first round of pit stops.

Bourdais had a little trouble on the stop and both Power and Wilson beat the No.1 Newman/Haas/Lanigan driver back on track.

Power still had a lot of speed and with clean air out front he would be tough to get around. In just a couple of laps he led Wilson by 2.451 seconds and Bourdais by 4.160 seconds. Wilson fought back and after posting a fastest lap on lap 41 cut the lead to 1.060 seconds.

It was time for the second round of pit stops, but unlike the first time, these were made under green flag conditions. Power was the first of the leaders to stop, on lap 50, giving up the lead to Wilson. Wilson was next with Bourdais the last of the leaders to come in which meant he could put in an extra lap while light on fuel - usually a faster lap.

The strategy worked as Bourdais returned to the track ahead of both Wilson and Power. In fact, it worked so well that Bourdais’ lead was more than three seconds.

Bourdais continued to expand on the lead over Wilson while Graham Rahal moved into third place around a slowing Power. Power’s laps were almost two seconds slower than the Frenchman’s and he fell more than 15 seconds off the pace.

On lap 62, Bourdais set a race lap record as his lead ballooned to 7.197 seconds. He did it again on the next lap as the margin was now more than eight seconds.

Power made an unscheduled stop on lap 65 and it appeared to be a steering problem causing his slow times. He would not leave his pit, he was done for the day.

All Bourdais’ hard work went up in smoke when Alex Tagliani and points leader Robert Doornbos crashed on lap 69 in turn one. Doornbos managed to continue on, but Tagliani brought out the caution flag when he couldn’t continue on.

The entire field hit pit road for their final stops of the day. Bourdais won the race back to the track and was closely followed by Wilson, Rahal and Simon Pagenaud.

On the restart with 21 minutes to go, Bourdais went about the business of rebuilding his lead. Two laps later it was 1.781 seconds. With 10 minutes remaining the gap was 4.065 seconds and it was just a matter of maintaining that lead to the checkered flag.

The top-four finished just as they had started the final stint - Bourdais, Wilson, Rahal and Pagenaud.

With the win and Doornbos’ problems, Bourdais has grabbed the championship lead. The soon-to-be Formula One driver is 21 points ahead of Doornbos (195-174) and 27 ahead of Power.

The next race in the series is set for Sunday, July 29th on the streets of San Jose, California.

Madison, IL - Reed Sorenson snapped a 61-race losing streak by winning Saturday night’s Gateway 250 Busch Series race at the Gateway International Raceway. The last victory for Sorenson came in 2005 when he won this race. The No.41 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge driver crossed the finish line comfortably ahead of Scott Wimmer.

The victory was Sorenson’s first of the season and third of his Busch career.

After winning his first career Busch Series pole, Wimmer led the 43-car field to the green flag for 200 laps of racing.

The No.29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet driver was able to maintain the first position early. Behind Wimmer, the series points leader, Carl Edwards, got around Sorenson to take over second.

The first of nine caution flags came out on lap five for a Steve Wallace crash. Brad Keselowski and some backmarkers took pit stops under the caution to make adjustments to their cars. The race went back to green on lap nine.

Wimmer started to pull away from the field. After 20 laps his margin was over three seconds. Edwards, Sorenson, Mike Bliss and the rest of the field drove behind the leader in single-file fashion.

The No.29 RCR Chevrolet driver continued his early dominance. Meanwhile, Edwards dropped to the fourth spot when Sorenson and Bliss both passed him.

The big gap between Wimmer and Sorenson began to shrink quickly. By lap 50 Sorenson was in passing distance of Wimmer as they approached lap traffic.

Sorenson inherited the lead on lap 54 when Wimmer, who led the first 53 laps, had to make a unscheduled pit stop for a flat right-front tire. Bliss, Edwards, David Reutimann and Todd Bodine rounded out the top-five.

On lap 64 Sorenson made his way down pit road to start a round of green flag pit stops. The rest of the leaders made their stops during the next few laps.

When the stops were complete, Sorenson found himself in the top spot. Bliss, Wimmer, Edwards and Reutimann followed behind the leader.

The No.41 CGR Dodge driver quickly pulled away to over a three-second lead. The battle behind Sorenson heated up as Wimmer and Edwards fought for the third spot. Edwards eventually took over the spot.

Sorenson’s comfortable margin was erased on lap 93 when the yellow caution flag flew for debris. Under the caution period the leaders went down pit road for another round of pit stops.

The race off pit road was won by Sorenson as Edwards followed behind. Reutimann, Landon Cassill and Bliss completed the top-five. Cassill was making his first career Busch Series start. The race got back underway on lap 97 but not for long.

A string of cautions begun on the next lap when a chain-reaction crash took place. The accident started when Kenny Wallace got loss. Seconds later, the 18-year-old Cassill got into the back of Bliss and caused him to spin out and crash into the wall. As Bliss’ car slid down the track, Kyle Krisiloff crashed into a helpless Bliss.

When the race got back underway on lap 106 Sorenson led Edwards, Reutimann, Cassill and Wimmer.

On lap 109 the young Cassill was involved in his own crash with Travis Kittleson to bring out the fourth caution flag.

When the race finally went back to green on lap 118 Sorenson led Edwards, Reutimann, Wimmer and Bodine. Edwards took advantage of a great restart by ducking under Wimmer as they made their way around the first turn for the lead.

The next caution flag flew just a few laps later, lap 121, for Richard Johns. The leaders took their last pit stops during the caution period. Different strategies played out during the stops.

Bodine decided not to stop and thus took over the top spot. It was reported he would have to stop before the race was over. Reutimann only took right-side tires to win the race off pit road. Edwards, Wimmer and Todd Kluever followed behind.

The race went back to green for a few laps before a three-car crash occurred on lap 132. Kevin Hamlin, Jason Keller and Cale Gale were involved in the wreck.

On lap 137 Bodine led Reutimann, Jason Leffler, Edwards and Sorenson to the restart. As the drivers entered turn three Reutimann used the inside lane to pass Bodine for the lead. Before Reutimann could build any type of lead the sixth caution flag flew for debris two laps later.

Bodine gave up his second position for a pit stop during the caution. He would finish the race in 10th.

When the race went back to green on lap 143, Reutimann led Leffler, Sorenson, Edwards and Wimmer. Reutimann held onto his lead as Sorenson got around Leffler for second.

The cautions continued to be the theme of the night. Brad Coleman and Kelly Bires brought out the eighth caution flag on lap 154.

With 41 laps to go Reutimann led Sorenson, Leffler, Edwards and Wimmer to the restart. On the next lap Sorenson was able to pass Reutimann for the first position. Meanwhile, Wimmer passed Edwards for the third spot.

The No.41 CGR Dodge driver, who was strong all night, created a one-second lead. Reutimann, Wimmer, Edwards and Leffler followed behind the leader. Edwards received heavy rear-end damage after crashing into the wall with 22 laps left to bring out the caution flag.

With 19 laps to go Sorenson led Reutimann, Wimmer, Leffler and David Ragan to the restart. The 21-year-old Sorenson had a great restart to put some distance between himself and Reutimann. With 10 laps to go the margin was over one second and increasing.

As Sorenson pulled away Reutimann and Wimmer battled for second. Wimmer won the spot with eight laps to go. He now set his sights on Sorenson.

The No.41 CGR Dodge driver was too fast for anyone to catch though. He crossed the finish line without a challenge from Wimmer.

Reutimann, Leffler and Ragan completed the top-five.

The next race in the series is set for Saturday, July 28th at the O’Reilly Raceway Park.

Indianapolis, IN - The United States Grand Prix will not be part of the 2008 Formula One schedule.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO Tony George and Formula One Management CEO Bernie Ecclestone could not reach an agreement on a contract extension, ending the circuit’s eight-year run at the famous track.

“After several discussions, Bernie Ecclestone and I were unable to agree how to keep Formula One in Indianapolis for the near term,” said George in a statement Thursday. “However, we have agreed to leave the door open for a potential future date.

“It has been a pleasure having the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, and I hope that as we approach our Centennial Era at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, an opportunity might present itself that would allow its return.”

The U.S. Grand Prix was the only Formula One event in the United States.

British rookie Lewis Hamilton won the 2007 event on June 17.

Nurburg, Germany - Kimi Raikkonen captured the pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Europe Formula One race. The No.6 Ferrari circled the 3.217 miles, 13-turn, road course in one minute, 31.450 seconds to edge out two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso.

However, the most important fact of the day was not the pole win by Raikkonen, but the fact that points leader Lewis Hamilton put his car into a tire wall. It appears that a right-front tire failure was the cause of the incident. Hamilton was taken to the medical center by ambulance but did give a wave to the fans from the stretcher.

According to team boss Ron Dennis, Hamilton has no serious injuries or broken bones, but will be kept under observation for at least a couple of hours.

Starting on the front row with Raikkonen will be Alonso, who posted a second- best time of 1:31.741.

Felipe Massa (1:31.778) and Nick Heidfeld (1:31.840) will start in row two.

While Hamilton and Raikkonen led all the practice sessions, Alonso was quickest in the first qualifying session that saw the elimination of Jenson Button, Scott Speed, Vitantonio Liuzzi, David Coulthard, Adrian Sutil and newcomer Marcus Winkelhock.

Winkelhock is a replacement for Christijan Albers who parted company with the Spyker team in a contract dispute. He is the son of Manfred Winkelhock, a former F1 driver and the team’s official test driver.

Massa won the second session. Dropped from the final competition were: Nico Rosberg, Giancarlo Fisichella, Rubens Barrichello, Alex Wurz, Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato.

While Ferrari drivers have won five of the nine Formula One races in 2007 they still find themselves trailing McLaren in every other category.

Hamilton is the series points leader having won twice (Canada, United States) and been on the podium in all nine races. Hamilton’s teammate, Alonso, is second overall with two wins and six podiums. As a team, McLaren owns a 25- point lead over Ferrari in the manufacturer’s championship (128-103).

Yet there is still reason for optimism at Ferrari. While the Ferrari lacked the speed in the two North American races, when the series returned to Europe their speed miraculously returned.

At Magny-Cours it was all Ferrari as Raikkonen and Massa swept to a one-two finish. The series next went to Silverstone and again Raikkonen led the way.

The pole victory was Raikkonen’s second of the season and 13th of his Formula One career.

The race is set to drop the green flag on Sunday at 8 a.m. (et).

NASCAR

Busch

Gateway 250 - Gateway International Raceway - Madison, IL

Though Carl Edwards lost 82 points off his Busch Series lead, it is hardly time to panic. The No.60 Roush Racing Ford driver still holds an absurd 716- point lead over Kevin Harvick in the standings and is threatening to break Harvick’s all-time winning margin (824 points) which he set just last year.

Edwards had a rare stumble on his way to the 2007 Busch Series title last week in Chicagoland. He was fighting among the leaders for most of the race until a late race penalty left him outside the top-20.

But the 2006 Busch Series runner-up will likely rebound at the Gateway International Raceway where he will be the defending race champion.

Carl Edwards Carl Edwards still holds an absurd 716- point lead over Kevin Harvick. In that race Denny Hamlin had the dominant car for most of the evening, leading a race-high 169 laps, but Edwards led the final nine en route to a 5.658-second victory.

On lap 154 Clint Bowyer joined Hamlin and Edwards to create a three-way race for first. The top-three drivers opened up a seven-second lead over the rest of the field. Then Hamlin pulled away from Edwards when Edwards made a mental mistake by missing the entry to pit lane. Bowyer took over second as Edwards finally made his pit stop on lap 178. Seven laps later Bowyer made his last pit stop of the night.

While Hamlin stayed on the track, Edwards, on fresh tires, was able to make up for his error. On lap 187 Hamlin finally came in for his last stop and he chose to take fuel only to keep his lead. When he returned to the track the margin was 2.196 second over Edwards. The No.60 Ford quickly caught up to Hamlin and with just nine laps to go Edwards passed Hamlin on the outside for the lead. Edwards pulled away from Hamlin as the laps dwindled down and after 200 laps of racing Edwards cruised past the finish line victorious.

Over the first 20 events of 2007, Edwards has fashioned his 716-point lead from four wins, 12 top-5s and 15 top-10s.

On the other hand, had Harvick raced the complete schedule the numbers say he would be leading. Harvick has made 15 start and won three times. His 13 top-10s, despite five fewer starts, is second only to Edwards. Edwards is averaging 153.7 points per race, while Harvick is slightly better earning 157.2 points per race.

But Harvick made the decision before the season that he couldn’t race full- time in the Busch Series. He has stuck to his decision and the result is that Edwards will cruise to his first Busch Series championship.

INDY CARS

The Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - Lexington, OH

For the second time in three weeks the IndyCar Series will take the show to a street course.

That’s good news for Scott Dixon, No.9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, who so far this year has a win (Watkins Glen) and a second place (St. Petersburg) in two road course starts. It’s not a fluke either. In 2006 Dixon earned a first, second and fourth in the three road course events.

Dixon seeks to improve on last year’s fourth-place overall finish. In 2006 he collected two wins and nine top-fives. He already has those numbers in 2007 with still six races left on the schedule and is working on a two-race win streak.

Scott Dixon Scott Dixon is one of six drivers who has raced on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. “To come back and repeat at both (Watkins Glen and Nashville) is fantastic,” said Dixon. “To be honest, things seem to come a little easier for me. I think it is a confidence level. Coming into these two races that were back to back, we’ve proven ourselves (at Nashville) last year, so you do come into a race weekend with more confidence. That’s really all I can put it down to.

The New Zealand native is one of six drivers who has raced on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The IndyCar driver with the most success on the 2.258-mile circuit is Helio Castroneves. In four CART starts between 1998-2001 the Brazilian collected three top-10s including back-to-back wins in 2000 and 2001.

Series points leader Dario Franchitti has made the most starts at Mid-Ohio, but has little success to show for it. In six starts, Franchitti has just one top-10 (third in 1999) and finished 16th or lower four times.

But this is a different Franchitti than we have seen before. In posting 11 top-10s in 11 starts, the Edinburgh, Scotland driver has learned how to compete even when he doesn’t have the best race car and is looking at the big picture.

“The position that Scott and I are in, obviously being up at the front in the fight for the championship maybe changes it (the thought process),” said Dixon. “Take Marco (Andretti), for instance, who I believe can win week in, week out, has the pace and the talent to do that, and the car to do that. Right now he’s just looking to win races. So there’s a situation right now, earlier on I backed off rather than trying and make the big outside pass. Marco would have kept his foot on it or certainly Dan (Wheldon) did, because Dan is not really in the fight for the championship right now.”

Franchitti has collect four consecutive podium finishes to carve out a 34- point lead over Dixon (434-400) and 97 over teammate Dan Wheldon.

Sam Hornish Jr., not known for his road-course prowess, finished a solid second two weeks ago at Watkins Glen and is expecting good things in IndyCars’ first visit to Mid-Ohio.

“I’m looking forward to heading to Mid-Ohio as I think we’ve got a great opportunity ahead of us after that second-place finish at Watkins Glen,” said Hornish Jr., who used to come the 90 miles from his home in Defiance, OH to watch the CART races with his dad.

“I was too little to see over everyone else, so I sat on the top of the fence pole all day long watching the cars go by and thinking how cool that would be to someday drive there,” said Hornish Jr.

How cool would it be if he actually won the race?

CHAMP CARS

Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton - JAGflo Speedway - Edmonton, Canada

As the series heads to Edmonton for the Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton the championship has become a three-man race. Rookie Robert Doornbos leads the way with 164 points and the former Minardi F1 driver has looked solid all season long.

Doornbos has one win (Mont Tremblant), six top-six finishes and only once (Long Beach) has he finished outside the top-10.

Behind Doornbos is Will Power (162) and three-time Champ Car Series champion Sebastien Bourdais (161). Power won the last time the series was on the track two weeks ago in Toronto when he was able to navigate the slippery streets of the Toronto course better than anyone else.

“I’m very happy for the team,” said Power. “This is exactly what we needed points-wise, and also for Sebastien not to finish, that really helps us in the championship.”

Behind the top-three drivers is Justin Wilson (138), who is attempting to bridge the gap and join the chase. Over the last four weeks he has cut the margin from 36 points to just 23.

In last year’s race on the 1.973-mile road course it was Wilson who outlasted Bourdais for the victory. Wilson had a big lead when a caution flag let Bourdais get right onto his rear bumper.

The race would get back underway with 16 laps to go and the two clearly best cars took off down the track, but Nelson Philippe slammed a tire barrier in turn seven and brought out another caution flag. That would leave Bourdais just 13 laps to make a move past Wilson.

Again Wilson and Bourdais quickly put more than one second between themselves and third-place A.J. Allmendinger.

Despite being on harder tires and having less “push-to-pass” Wilson was doggedly hanging on to the top spot and in fact with eight laps to go the margin had ballooned to 2.5 seconds. Bourdais could do nothing with Wilson and he went on to win the race without serious challenge.

If Wilson can repeat that performance, he could turn the championship race into a foursome. FORMULA ONE Grand Prix of Europe - Nurburgring - Nurburging, Germany

While Ferrari drivers have won five of the nine Formula One races in 2007 they still find themselves trailing McLaren in every other category.

McLaren’s fabulous rookie Lewis Hamilton is the series points leader having won twice (Canada, United States) and been on the podium in all nine races. Hamilton’s teammate, two-time F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso, is second overall with two wins and six podiums. As a team, McLaren owns a 25-point lead over Ferrari in the manufacturer’s championship (128-103).

Lewis Hamilton has been on the podium in all nine races.

Yet there is still reason for optimism at Ferrari. While the Ferrari lacked the speed in the two North American races, when the series returned to Europe their speed miraculously returned.

At Magny-Cours it was all Ferrari as Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa swept to a one-two finish. The series next went to Silverstone and again Raikkonen led the way, looking for all the world like the driver that Ferrari had wanted to see all season.

Raikkonen’s two-race win steak coincides with a cutting remark from Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo

“We are waiting for the real Raikkonen, the one that everyone fears,” said Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo just before the French Grand Prix.

Apparently the words were taken to heart as Raikkonen has awaken to become the man Ferrari expected and the team is right back in the title chase.

“It was great to win two races in a row, the team and I needed that,” the Finn said on Ferrari’s official website. “It’s time to succeed. The second part of the championship has begun and you can see how the performance pendulum is easily swinging from one side to the other.”

Now it’s the Grand Prix of Europe at the famed Nurburgring. In 2006, Michael Schumacher took it to Alonso (driving for Renault) for the victory. Massa finished third and Raikkonen fourth.

It should be quite a show this Sunday and if Ferrari continues to improve over the second half of the season the championship could be one of the best shows in years.

Joliet, IL - Tony Stewart passed up new tires on the final pit stop and the strategy worked as he captured Sunday’s USG Sheetrock 400 at the Chicagoland Speedway. The No.20 Home Depot Chevrolet driver crossed the finish line 1.727 seconds ahead of Matt Kenseth.

The victory was Stewart’s first of the season and 30th of his Nextel Cup career.

“The Home Depot guys (pit crew) won us the race today,” said Stewart. “They got us the track position we needed…Being out front, being in clean air was everything.”

Pole winner Casey Mears brought the field to the green flag. Mears lasted until the end of the sixth lap when Martin Truex Jr. slid to the bottom of the track for the lead. Mears continued to drop as he complained of a tight car.

Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson took off after Truex Jr. who had built a lead of nearly one second. He caught Truex Jr. on lap 17 and passed him two laps later.

Johnson’s Chevrolet was working very well and by lap 28 his lead was 1.395 seconds and growing. He began to lap slower traffic and still his margin grew to two seconds. Johnson’s pace was such that after 48 green-flag laps, there were just 28 cars on the lead lap.

Through the first round of green-flag pit stops and Johnson was still the leader. The only casualty was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who missed pit road and had to make an extra lap. He came out 13th after running sixth.

A Jeff Green spin sent everyone down pit lane, but this time there were different strategies used. Johnson came in first and left in 10th place after he took four tires. In front of him were drivers who took zero tires or two right-side tires.

Kevin Harvick and Reed Sorenson didn’t come in at all and led the race. Newman came out first after his fuel only stop and was third on the track.

Harvick quickly built a four-second lead, but if there was another long green- flag run, he might be in some trouble. Johnson’s four new tires were working and by lap 75 he was back up to seventh place.

On lap 85 Stewart, in second place, began to cut into Harvick’s lead. Johnson was still on the move, now in fourth place. By lap 95 Stewart had cut the lead in half while Johnson, faster than both of them, was in third place and still flying. Stewart caught Harvick on lap 110 and when the No.29 pitted, the Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet took over the race lead.

The cars cycled through their pit stops and they returned to the track with Harvick leading Johnson and Stewart. But Johnson didn’t like following Harvick and on lap 120 he passed underneath him for the lead.

At the mid-point of the 267-lap race, Johnson held a 0.876 second lead over Stewart and 3.963 seconds over a fading Harvick. Harvick continued to drop as Kyle Busch passed him as well.

Johnson and Stewart continued to show the way, building the lead to six seconds over third place as the field reached the 150-lap mark. Then Jamie McMurray slapped the way on lap 155 and Johnson’s big lead disappeared in a split second.

Stewart beat Johnson off pit road to grab the lead as the race restarted on lap 160. With clean air Stewart began to pull away from Johnson until lap 165 when Robby Gordon spun into the outside wall.

Just like the last restart, Stewart and Johnson quickly separated themselves from the pack. By lap 185 they had built a gap of two seconds between themselves and third-place Kenseth.

On lap 187 Johnson went to the top of the track and drove around Stewart for the lead. Stewart didn’t stay in second for long, it’s not his style. A couple of laps later he zoomed back into first place and was still there after 200 laps were completed.

Dave Blaney brought out the caution flag when he blew a tire on lap 202 and slammed the wall. There were 63 laps remaining when cars pitted for what they hoped would be the final time. But with a maximum of 50-55 laps on a tank, teams would still need about eight more caution flag laps to reach the checkered flag.

The race went back to green on lap 207.

Stewart got off to a great restart and quickly built a half-second lead on Johnson. Meanwhile, both Earnhardt Jr. (power steering) and Truex Jr. (engine) had problems and were off the pace.

For the third time Stewart and Johnson built a big lead on the field. But trouble found Johnson on lap 223 as his right-rear tire exploded sending him into the turn three wall and ending his day.

Everyone took the opportunity to top off fuel and take it out of the equation. Stewart took about two seconds of fuel, barely stopping, before he was off. Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Harvick followed.

The green flag dropped with 37 laps to go. Stewart and Kenseth immediately jumped out front and Kenseth went to the bottom getting side-by-side with Stewart. But Stewart fought him off and Kenseth had to get back into line.

“We just didn’t quite have the car,” said Kenseth. “I got a run on him and we ran side-by-side, but just getting down into (turn) three I thought I was going to lose control and take out both of us.”

Caution flags, for a J.J. Yeley crash and a Joe Nemechek spin, set up a 12-lap shootout for the win.

Stewart, Kenseth, Harvick and Carl Edwards easily cleared the lapped traffic and set up a four-man race to the checkered flag. Edwards got around Harvick, but was still more than one-and-a-half seconds behind the two leaders.

Stewart built his lead over Kenseth to 1.428 seconds with six laps to go and he was never challenged over the final half dozen laps.

Edwards, Harvick and Mears completed the top-five.

After a week off, the Nextel Cup Series will return on Sunday, July 29th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Lebanon, TN - Saturday night’s Firestone Indy 200 IndyCar race at the Nashville Superspeedway was postponed due to numerous rain showers. The race has been rescheduled for today at 1 p.m. (et).

The race was about 10 minutes away from the green flag when an isolated rain shower entered the Lebanon area. The rain was heavy for almost an hour before it finally let up allowing for the track drying process to begin.

The track was mostly dry and almost ready for racing when another rain shower plagued the track around 9:10 p.m. After this rain shower, two more passed through the area. The persistent rain caused IRL officials to postpone the race at approximately 10:30 p.m.

When the race gets underway today, Scott Dixon will lead the field to the green flag for 200 laps of high-speed racing. The pole victory was Dixon’s second of the season and eighth of his IndyCar career.

Dario Franchitti will start alongside Dixon on the front row.

Franchitti will look to expand his lead in the point standings and continue a great season, so far. The Englishman has three wins, including the Indianapolis 500, and has yet to finish below seventh. Franchitti has been even better over the last three weeks winning two times and finishing third in the other.

The Edinburgh, Scotland native owns a 47-point lead over Dixon. Franchitti’s Andretti Green Racing teammate Tony Kanaan is in third place, 75 points back.