March 2008 Archives

No radio, no problem.
Eric Holmes won the season-opening NASCAR Camping World Series West race at All-American Speedway in Roseville on Saturday night, leading all 153 laps and surviving a green-white-checkered flag finish.
Holmes won the race for his new team, Bill McAnally Racing, in their new cars from Toyota.
It also gave Holmes back-to-back wins in the West Series. He won the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway driving a car owned by Allen Beebe in November.
"I knew I had to get the lead early," said Holmes, driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Bill McAnally Racing. "The cars are real difficult to drive for four or five laps, especially on cold tires and low air pressure. So, I knew I had to feel it out at first. It felt good and I got by him. All the restarts were difficult. I just wanted to get racing. I knew I could drive away, if we could get racing."
Holmes spent most of the race without radio contact with his team. He could hear them, but they couldn't hear him.
"It was annoying on my part, because I couldn't hear a lot of times," said Holmes, a driver from Escalon. "There was frequent static. They couldn't understand me. Once I figured out I could hear them, I just needed them to talk to me, so I knew they were there. You don't have much time to look in your mirror here to know what's around you. I didn't want to spin myself out. You don't know when somebody's on you. So, it makes it tough."
The next event on the schedule for the NASCAR Camping World Series West is the Phoenix 150 at Phoenix International Raceway on April 10.
Mayhew, from Atascadero, was second, followed by defending West Series champion Mike David of Modesto, Johnny Borneman of Ramona and Moses Smith of Tempe, Ariz.

To be honest, most of my thoughts have been on baseball these days. Last week, I saw two good high school matchups: Cleveland vs. Birmingham and Valencia vs. Hart. Plus I went to the Coliseum game between the Dodgers and the Red Sox and will be going to Opening Day at Dodger Stadium on Monday.
It's hard to ignore baseball at this time of year.
It's also hard to ignore Hendrick Motorsports at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.
The drivers for Hendrick have won eight of the past 10 Cup races at Martinsville. Jimmie Johnson has won the past three, including the two last year with NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow.
Surprisingly, Dale Earnhardt Jr., the newest Hendrick Motorsports driver, has yet to win a race at Martinsville. Neither has Casey Mears, but that could be said about every track but one.
If ever there was a track suited for Hendrick Motorsports, Martinsville fits that mold. And no team needs a win more than Hendrick.
No Hendrick driver has won a race yet this year. Jeff Gordon and Johnson are outside the top 12 in the Sprint Cup Series standings. Earnhardt Jr. has been the most consistent driver so far this year for Hendrick, fifth in the Cup standings, but even he says Gordon and Johnson are the drivers to beat at Martinsville.
“Well, I think it’s going to be tough," said Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "They’re running good. We’re running good. They’ve always run really good and won races here. We seem to be able to run in the top five quite often. I do like the track."
And I like going to Dodger games. But I know now why the Dodgers moved out of the Coliseum and into their own park. As much fun as the game was, it was hardly worth the aggravation of getting in and out of downtown to watch it.
Those who were there know what I'm talking about.

Kyle Busch is hanging tough. He leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings for the fourth straight week, not counting the two days Carl Edwards was in the lead, then losing it for not passing inspection after winning the Cup race in Las Vegas.
Busch heads in to the Cup race at Martinsville Speedway with three straight top five finishes at the track. He was fifth in the fall race in 2006 and fourth in both races last year.
While finishing well at Martinsville hasn't been a problem, starting up front has.
“Qualifying is a good thing to try to learn and I haven’t done that yet," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "We’ll see if I can figure that out. I haven’t qualified well here yet, but the biggest thing is just during the race you have to be patient. There are 500 laps here, there’s so much that can go on and the first year I was just so impatient about trying to get to the front."
Jeff Gordon in the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports won the pole for the Martinsville race. Busch will start eighth.
But Busch said patience will be the key to posting another good finish at Martinsville.
"On a restart I would just run over the guy in front of me and knock the radiator out and then the next time I think we had something else going on during the event," Busch said. "I can’t really remember -- I don’t think I spun out or anything like that. Learning the patience of this place and learning how to run around in a line or if you can make some passes -- try to make them clean and not run over anybody. It’s just about trying to keep your equipment clean and make your way to the front nice.”

Greg Biffle's best race at Martinsville Speedway was his last race at Martinsville. He finished seventh, his only top 10 finish in 10 career Cup starts at the track.
Biffle heads into Sunday's race at Martinsville second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, 30 points behind Kyle Busch.
“I don’t have the best history at Martinsville. We seem to have a lot of brake trouble there and just bad luck in general," said Biffle, driver of the No. 16 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. "The guys are doing a few things to try to make sure we don’t have the same brake problems we’ve had in the past and I’ll do my best to try to be as easy on the brakes as I can. If we can do that and keep good track position, it should be a decent race for us. I’d like to leave Martinsville with the points lead, but if we can stay in the top five and keep putting distance between ourselves and 12th, I’ll be happy.”
The car Biffle's team is bringing to Martinsville is the same car he raced at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana in February. He finished 15th in that race.
“We’re taking the car we raced at California earlier this year basically because all of these cars are essentially the same," said Greg Erwin, Biffle's crew chief. "As we go through the season I think that will likely be the case most of the time. Our strategy heading into Martinsville is focused on one thing – brake management. We’re doing everything we can to make sure we have the most efficient brake and brake cooling system and Greg is going to do everything he can to preserve the brakes. Hopefully we won’t have any issues and if we can keep track position, it should be a good race for us.”

Kevin Harvick keeps getting better. He finished third two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway, his fourth straight top 10 finish of the year since coming in 13th in the Daytona 500.
It was also his third straight top five, posting a fourth place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and third at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
But Harvick said he thought Bristol was a race he should have won. He made a mistake late in the race, tried to pass Tony Stewart and ended up hitting him instead. Harvick then proceeded to complain about having to answer ignorant questions about hitting Stewart before taking responsibility for losing the race.
"Well, I mean, it was mine to lose at that point, and I lost it," said Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "You know, I got up under there with three or four laps to go, however many laps there was to go. It's just time to go. I clipped the apron, you know, just lost the thing. I mean, it's not like -- if I'd have had it to do over again, I wouldn't want to spin out.
"But, you know, it's just one of those deals where I was just trying to get all I could and just got a little too far."
Harvick is the middle of a log jam for second place in the Cup standings. He trails second-place Greg Biffle by three points and has only a four-point lead over fourth-place Jeff Burton, his teammate at RCR.

Jeff Burton won the most recent NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway. He was part of a Richard Childress Racing 1-2-3 sweep.
He is also a past winner at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, site of Sunday's Cup race. But that win came in 1997. His past five races at Martinsville have produced only one top 10, that was a sixth place in last year's spring race at the track.
Still, Richard Childress Racing appears to be the strongest team in the Sprint Cup Series after the first five races of the year. It has all three of its drivers in the top 10 in the Cup standings, faring much better than rival Hendrick Motorsports, with its all-star driver lineup of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears.
But Burton said after winning the Bristol race it's too early to say that Richard Childress Racing has surpassed Hendrick.
"We'll talk about that in December, you know," said Burton, driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "I can assure you that the 24 (Gordon) didn't run the way that you normally see them run here. You wake the sleeping giant, they're going to be hard to beat. There's no getting around that.
We can answer that question in late November. We can't answer it today."
Childress, who also owns the Cup teams for Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer, echoed Burton's thoughts on Hendrick.
"You know, I think they're a top caliber team, top caliber drivers," Childress said. "But, you know, they were strong last year, and everybody shoots at who is the best. Last year they were the best, and we had to put our sights on them."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has become the best driver at Hendrick Motorsports. That's the good news. The bad news is the best driver at Hendrick is in fifth place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.
What might be even worse news is that Earnhardt Jr. is the only driver from Hendrick in the top 12. The top 12 drivers qualify for the Chase. It's only five races into the 26-race regular schedule before the Chase starts and Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are sitting in 13th and 14th place, but still, this is probably not how Rick Hendrick envisioned his all-star garage to start the season.
Earnhardt Jr. heads to Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, site of Sunday's Cup race, 96 points behind Kyle Busch for the lead in the Cup standings.
In 17 career Cup races at Martinsville, Earnhardt Jr. has seven top-five finishes, but has never won a race there.
"Honestly, what has been between me and Victory Lane is Hendrick Motorsports," said Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "They have an amazing run going at Martinsville. I run well there due to my short track background, but I seemed to always find myself finishing behind my new teammates (Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson)."
Hendrick Motorsports has won eight of the past 10 Cup races at Martinsville. Johnson has won three straight, sweeping both races last year and winning the spring race in 2006.
Earnhardt Jr.'s team will be bringing the car he raced at Bristol two weeks ago. He finished fifth in that race. He finished fifth in the Martinsville race in April last year with Dale Earnhardt Inc.
"Hopefully we can turn the corner and get a win there because the track is important to me with its deep history within the sport," Earnhardt Jr. said. "This track and its importance in the season is often overlooked, and I continue to try and capitalize on that each year with consistent top-five finishes. A win is our goal without a doubt."

Fans of the NHRA and Don Schumacher Racing will be able to have access to some of their favorite drivers with two new features on the team's web site.
In the "Ask us Anything" area, fans can submit questions for the Don Schumacher Racing drivers: Tony Schumacher, Gary Scelzi, Ron Capps, Jack Beckman, Cory McClenathan, Jerry Toliver and Chip Ellis. Crew chiefs, Ed "Ace" McCulloch, Todd Okuhara, Steve Tartaglia and Mike Green, will also be accepting and answering submitted questions.
"This is pretty darned cool for the fans to be able to submit questions that will be answered on the web site by what I believe is one of the most incredible group of drivers and crew chiefs assembled on one team," Capps said. "Once again Don Schumacher has raised the bar and given the fans a wonderful way to stay up with our sport."
The other new section is called "In the News" and will feature articles written about the drivers.
"Week-in and week-out there are dozens of stories written about DSR drivers, but there is not a centralized location to find them. We believe 'In the News' will accomplish this," offers Mike Lewis, Senior Vice President of Don Schumacher Racing.
Each new feature can be accessed at the shoeracing.com homepage, or directly at shoeracing.com/inthenews and shoeracing.com/askusanything .

Back in 1982, the track known as All-American Speedway in Roseville hosted its last NASCAR Winston West Series.
The track was on the Placer County Fairgrounds back then, when it was a quarter-mile track. The track has been expanded, extending turns 3 and 4 by 75 feet, and is a third-mile oval. But it's been 25 year since a NASCAR race was held at the track.
The Winston West is now known as the NASCAR Camping World Series West, which begins its 13-race schedule Saturday night at All-American Speedway.
There were five old Winston West races at the track, the last won by Jim Brown in 1982. The other previous races were won by: Summer McKnight (1977), Jim Insolo (1978), Tim Williamson (1979) and Jim Robinson (1981).
The Camping World Series West is racing twice at the newly named Toyota Speedway at Irwindale: July 4 and Aug. 16.

Richard Clark, an Ojai-based artist, designed the winning entry in the Indy Racing League's safety car contest, selected by a panel of four former Indianapolis 500 winners.
Clark designed a paint scheme for the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe that will be used as the safety car at IRL races throughout the year. The winning design will be unveiled at the IRL season-opening race at Homested-Miami Speedway on Sunday.
Al Unser Sr., Al Unser Jr., Johnny Rutherford and Rick Mears, who have a combined 13 Indy 500 wins, unanimously chose Clark's design from three finalists.
"It looks racy," said Rutherford, who drives the safety car at all IRL IndyCar Series and Indy Pro Series events. "The red, white and blue splash presents the car well."
As part of winning the contest, Clark's name will be displayed in the car for the entire season.
"It was kind of a free-form layout," Clark said. "Then I said let's submit it red, white and blue and show our colors. I've always been a big fan of IndyCars. The competition has been great and it inspired me to make the design as best as possible."
Visitors of Design It in the Community section of indycar.com will find templates for an IndyCar Series car, concept car, historic car, a whimsical toy series and helmet/motorcoach/firesuit/tow truck. There also are sections for 3D car and transporter designs and a chat area. Submissions are featured on the official Web site of the IndyCar Series and Indy Pro Series.
"Kudos to the IRL for putting forth this opportunity for people to submit designs," said Clark, who previously has contributed to Design It. "The whole Design It program online has been a great inspiration to everybody - kids and professionals alike. It's unique to any series and such a fun venue to submit designs. (The design discussion area) helps the kids see what they can do and they can ask questions. At least they can keep looking and striving to build on their talents."

The All Coast Construction 3-2-1 Challenge, a three-race series that could be worth $8,000 to the driver who wins all three races, begins Saturday night at Ventura Raceway.
The 3-2-1 Challenge is for drivers in the Ventura Raceway Association Sprint Car division. There have been two Sprint races at the track so far this season. Mike Spencer won the most recent race, Saturday night. John Nock of Newhall won the first Sprint race of the season a couple weeks ago.
The winner of Saturday night's race will receive $2,000. The winner of the next race will get $2,000 and the winner of the third race will get $3,000. The winner of the three-race championship will receive an extra $1,000. If a driver wins all three races and the championship, it will be worth $8,000.
VRA Senior Sprints, IMCA Modifieds, United States Auto Club Junior Focus Midgets and the California Lightning Sprints are also scheduled to race Saturday night at Ventura Raceway. Racing begins at 5:30 p.m.

Andrew Myers, a driver from the NASCAR Camping World Series West, won the Late Model race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on opening night at the track Saturday.
Behind Myers were two cars from the Simi Valley-based High Point Racing. Colin Fleming, making his first start at the track and his first start in a stock car race, was second. Tim Huddleston, who owns the six-car High Point Racing team, was third.
Lindsey King, a second-year driver in the Late Model divison and one of three women on the High Point Racing team, was sixth, her best finish in a Late Model race at the track.
Ryan Kaplan was eighth, giving High Point Racing four cars in the top 10.
“I couldn’t tell you how proud I am of the blue team to bring all these cars here and be in the top half of the field," said Huddleston, a driver from Agoura Hills who has won two of the past three Late Model championships at the track. "I know we’ll be able to take the cars home and polish on them and be back next week stronger.”
Fleming said he was happy with his second-place finish, especially considering it was his first race in a stock car on an oval track. All of his previous racing experience has come in open-wheel cars on road courses.
“All the late nights and hours testing made it all worth it because we are quick and we’re at the front," said Fleming. "It’s going to be a learning experience going into the race. My goal (Saturday night) was to qualify in the top five and to finish the race.”
Nick Joanides, a driver from Woodland Hills, was fourth, followed by Mike Johnson of Covina in fifth.
Alison Quick and Jennifer Greenberg, the other two women drivers for High Point Racing, ran into problems on the track. Quick had a leaking water pump gasket that the team discovered during practice and finished 16th in the race.
“I’m learning the line and getting more comfortable with the car," said Quick, a driver from Redding, Iowa. "It’s all in one piece so we can keep improving next week.”
Greenberg, an 18-year-old driver from New Mexico, completed only 10 laps after she was involved in a three-car crash.
Charles Price from Redlands won the NASCAR Super Late Model race at the track, followed by Scott Conaway of Rancho Cucamonga, Dan Moore of Burbank, Kevin Thompson of Yorba Linda and Scott Dodd of Mira Loma.
Newhall's Travis Thirkettle, driving High Point Racing's only entry in the Super Late Model division, finished eighth.
"We had to adjust our setup a little bit to account for starting mid pack and we were a little to loose,” Thirkettle said. “Fifty laps are over in a heart beat when you’re trying to come through like that.”
Other winners were: Pat Miney Jr. of Quartz Hill in the NASCAR Super Trucks, Jimmy Hansen in Legend Cars and Steve Stewart of Long Beach in figure 8s.

Mathiasen Motorsports, which plans on having a two-car team in the Atlantic Series, will test driver Jonathan Bomarito in Houston on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mathiasen Motorsports is owned by Encino's Ray Mathiasen. Bomarito became available when Sierra Sierra Enterprises, the team he was going to race for in 2008, decided to end its operations.
“We feel very fortunate that we will have had the opportunity to test two top caliber drivers like Jonathan Bomarito and Alan Scuito during the pre-season testing sessions this winter. Our entire team is extremely motivated as we position ourselves as serious contenders for the 2008 Atlantic Championship”, said team owners Ray and Leslie Mathiasen in a release.
Bomarito has made 31 career Atlantic Series starts with two wins, one pole and eight podium finishes. Last year, he was fifth in the Atlantic Series standings, winning the pole and the race in San Jose.
“I am very excited to be back in the Atlantic car and series," Bomarito said. "Mathiasen Motorsports is very dedicated to be a top team in the championship, and I look forward to working with them and having a very productive test.”
Mathiasen Motorsports is seeking a second driver for its team. Potential drivers should contact Competition Director Alain Clarinval at aclarinval@mathiasenmotorsports.com. For more information on Mathiasen Motorsports, go to www.mathiasenmotorsports.com. For more information on Jonathan Bomarito, go to www.jonathanbomarito.com .

The next NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown will have more cars, more races and a new date.
The newly named Toyota Speedway at Irwindale will host the Showdown for the sixth year. Only this time it will be Jan. 23-24, 2009, instead of the traditional date, the second weekend in November. Additionally, the Showdown will consist of three races: one for the Camping World Series, one for Super Late Models and one for Late Models. Last year's race consisted of races for the old NASCAR Grand National Divisions and Super Late Models. The year before that, the Showdown had two races: one for Grand National cars and one for the Elite Division cars.
One track official said the new date for the Showdown means the auto racing season begins and ends at Irwindale. The Showdown kicks off the season in January and the USAC Turkey Night Grand Prix, run on Thanksgiving night, ends the racing season.
The next Showdown will be broadcast on Speed and will be included in the network's coverage of the 24 Hours of Daytona, according to a NASCAR official.
More details of the Showdown are expected to be released Saturday.
Some of the other changes include adding a 150-lap Super Late Model race and a 75-lap Late Model race to the Showdown.
Canyon Country's Greg Pursley won the Super Late Model portion of the Showdown last year. David Gilliland, who drives the No. 38 Ford for Yates Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, won the Grand National portion of the Showdown a couple years ago.

The High Point Racing team will have six drivers, which includes four rookies and three women. Opening night is Saturday at the newly named Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.

Race fans will notice one big change to Irwindale Speedway. Another change is not so noticeable.
The track has been renamed Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. It will be officially christened on opening night on Saturday with every fan attending receiving a baseball cap with the new name and logo.
The other change is in the cars in the NASCAR Late Model division. The track is allowing cars with coil springs to race in the Late Model division this year. This is a trend other short tracks across the country have adopted. Previoulsy, leaf springs were used in the Late Model cars at Irwindale Speedway.
Tim Huddleston, who has a six-car team called High Point Racing in the Late Model division at the track, has built a new car with coil springs to race on opening night. His other five cars have the old leaf spring set-up.
"We're probably going to have a season of maybe a little sacrifice," said Huddleston, a driver from Agoura Hills who won last year's Late Model championship. "We could stumble on something and come out opening night and maybe be incredible, but we haven't even got the race car on the track yet."
The coil spring cars will be measurably faster than the leaf spring cars. To offset the difference, cars with coil springs have to race with an added 75 pounds in the car. Huddleston estimates there will be as many as five cars in the division racing with coil springs. Forty cars are expected to enter the opening night race.
Huddleston said he is the research and development driver for the team, which includes two teenage women drivers and four rookies, none older than 23.
"We couldn't justify putting one of these young rookie drivers in a completely undeveloped car," Huddleston said. "My priority is these kids. My cars are always prepped last. They're the future, not me."

Rip Michels of San Fernando won't be returning as a driver to the NASCAR Super Late Model division at the newly named Toyota Speedway at Irwindale any time soon.
He won last year's Super Late Model championship, driving a car for Bob Bruncati, and won 11 races, seven in a row at one point. But Bruncati sold the car to Dave Eshleman of Fontana and Michels decided he was going to put his own team together. He has a Super Late Model car and wants to race in the Stockcar Racing League. But Michels said he won't be at Irwindale for opening night on Saturday. His first race might not be until April 26, when the SRL makes it first visit to Irwindale.
That leaves the Super Late Model division wide open.
The favorites include Scott Dodd, Dan Moore, Travis Thirkettle and Nick Joanides.
Dodd, a rookie last year from Mira Loma, won one race last year and finished eighth in the Super Late Model standings.
Moore, a veteran driver from Burbank, had eight top-five finishes and was sixth in the Super Late Model standings last year. Michels is part of Moore's crew and will be working in the pits on opening night.
Thirkettle is driving a car from Tim Huddleston's High Point Racing team. Huddleston has six cars in the NASCAR Late Model division at the track and has won three straight Late Model championships. Thirkettle won one of those, in 2006.
"The nice thing about Travis, when we got Travis, we inherited his dad," Huddleston said. "That's a two-for-one package right there."
Jim Thirkettle, Travis' dad, used to race late models at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield and Saugus Speedway and made a handful of Cup starts back in the 1970s. He won seven track championships at Mesa Marin.
Joanides, a driver from Woodland Hills with experience in NASCAR's Grand National Division West Series and the defunct Southwest Series, will be driving a car for Lloyd McGhee. Joanides won two races in the Late Model division for McGhee at the end of last season. This will be McGhee's first season in the Super Late Models.

Steve Boyer has been named the crew chief for J.J. Yeley's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team starting with the next race at Martinsville Speedway on March 29-30.
Boyer takes over for Brandon Thomas, who was crew chief of the No. 96 car for Hall of Fame Racing since October 2006.
Hall of Fame Racing is owned in part by Troy Aikman, who played college football at UCLA and won three Super Bowls as quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys.
“Steve has earned the respect and trust of J.J. and the team in his short tenure here," said Tom Garfinkel, who co-owns of Hall of Fame Racing with Arizona Diamondbacks CEO Jeff Moorad. "Jeff and I are looking forward to having him in a more significant leadership role. He has a tremendous amount of experience that will be valuable to J.J., Hall of Fame Racing and the No. 96 DLP HDTV Toyota.”
Boyer has worked in the engineering department of Hall of Fame Racing since December 2007 and was Sterling Marlin's crew chief for the last six Cup races of 2004 and all of 2005.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to work with J.J. and the No. 96 DLP HDTV Toyota,” Boyer said. “We’ve got a great group of people at Hall of Fame Racing and we plan on making the DLP car a contender every week.”
Yeley is 31st in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings after five races.

Texas Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Robby Gordon have created new Web sites for fans to post comments about races and chat with NASCAR drivers.
The Texas Motor Speedway MySpace site is: www.myspace.com/thegreatamericanspeedway
Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and David Stremme are a few of the NASCAR drivers who have set up their own MySpace pages to give fans a way to follow them.
Earnhardt Jr. has a web site called Infield Parking: www.infieldparking.com and Gordon has a site called Robby's Uprising: www.robbysuprising.com

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol marks the fifth race of the season. From here on out, the top 35 cars in the owners standings earn automatic starting spots in races.
There have been 48 cars that have qualified for at least one Cup race this year. Drivers for five of those teams have a lot to be worried about.
Jamie McMurray, Dario Franchitti, Dave Blaney, Regan Smith and Kyle Petty are all outside the top 35 and will have to qualify for the next Cup race on speed.
McMurray is four points behind Sam Hornish Jr. for 35th place. There has been some talk about Roger Penske, who owns Hornish's team, again swapping points with Hornish and Kurt Busch, another driver for Penske. Of course there is the danger that Busch, who is 10th in points, would be in such a hole he might not be able to qualify for the Chase. The top 12 drivers in the Cup standings qualify for the Chase, the 10-race playoff to determine the Cup champion. Because Busch has a Cup championship, he can qualify for races on a past champion's provisional.
"We came here to put ourselves in a position to be in the top-35 in driver’s points – and we did that," said Hornish, driver of the No. 77 Dodge for Penske Racing. "I’m really happy with how The Mobil 1 Dodge Chargers guys worked on the car all day."
It was the first NASCAR race at Bristol for Hornish, an IndyCar Series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner. He was asked after the race if Bristol was what he expected.
“Yeah, except I probably got bumped a little bit more than I bumped anybody else just because we weren’t as quick as we’d like to be," Hornish said. "The left rear quarter panel sure shows it. It was a tough day for us but we finished and I think we’re the top-35 in points so it makes us feel a little bit better about going into Martinsville.”
As for Franchitti, Blaney, Smith and Petty, they have their work cut out. Petty is in 40th place and 60 points behind Hornish.
As for the Chase, there are some familiar names outside the top 12. Jimmie Johnson, winner of the past two Cup championships and in pursuit of three straight, a feat only accomplished once in the history of Cup racing. Johnson is 13th in the Cup standings, only four points behind 12th place Martin Truex Jr.
Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards, all Chase drivers last year, are outside the top 12 after five races. Edwards is the farthest out of 12th, in 16th and 47 points behind Truex.

Tim Moon of Ventura won his first race at Ventura Raceway, taking the Senior Sprint main on Saturday night. It was Moon's first win in eight years of racing at the track.
Oklahoma's Tyler Edwards, Gardena's Greg Alexander and Henry Clarke were also first time winners at Ventura Raceway. Edwards won the Junior Focus Midgets race, Alexander won in Sprint Car and Clarke won in Ford Focus Midget. Camarillo's Randal Dougan won the Sport Compact main.

It's hard to bet against Kyle Busch right now.
So much has changed since he won the Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway last year, and yet, he has to be considered the favorite to win again.
He changed teams, switching from Hendrick Motorsports to Joe Gibbs Racing, changed engine manufacturers, from Chevrolet to Toyota, and changed his image, from reckless upstart to unparalleled talent.
Even the track has changed since he won last year's Cup race at Bristol, the first with NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow.
Busch said he is trying to approach the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol like any other race.
“It’s really no different than any other weekend -- we’re just going to go out there and do the best we can," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "We’ll see what kind of car we have here at the beginning of practice with the new surface and everything -- being with JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) this year versus the Hendrick (Motorsports) stuff last year. We won this race last year, but it was the old concrete and we didn’t run as well as we wanted to on the new concrete last fall. The 18 car seemed to be OK so that’s something to look forward to and we’ll try to see what we can get when we get out there."
Getting out there has been a challenge. Rain washed out qualifying and shortened the Nationwide Series race. But it doesn't seem to matter with Busch.
His cars have been fast and it looks like he was the one who made the best off-season move.
Before the season started, it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who was making all the right moves, leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc., heading to Hendrick, with its champion drivers and winning ways.
Nobody seemed to notice Busch made a move to a team with its own rich championship tradition and formula for winning.
It could be Busch is off to a fast start and will burn out at some point. It could be Joe Gibbs Racing will hit some speed bumps and take a step back to two. It could be that Toyota is a one-hit wonder, and Busch's win last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be its only win of the year.
Of course, none of those are safe bets. Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota are on a roll and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down any time soon.

Tony Stewart had a cordial meeting with Stu Grant, the Goodyear general manager of worldwide racing, on a rainy Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway. Stewart said he was grateful for the opportunity to talk to Grant and was hopeful Goodyear would be more receptive to the drivers' and NASCAR team's concerns in the future.
"We’re hoping that Goodyear will now work with us a little better on the racing side of things and rely on our input a little more, because we are the ones driving the cars," said Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "It was a good meeting, but at the end of the day, it’s up to Goodyear to make it right. If having this meeting helps to make things better down the road, then this meeting was a success."
Stewart was critical of the performance of the Goodyear tires after finishing second in the Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday. A number of drivers have raised concerns about the quality of tire being used in races, but none were as vocal as Stewart.
“My comments last week were made in frustration and made to get Goodyear’s attention," Stewart said. "But what I overlooked when I made those comments was that they affected people who had nothing to do with the racing program. I want to apologize to the people who work in the factories and the union workers at Goodyear. We realize that they’re working hard just like everybody else, and we realize that Goodyear as a whole works hard too. But our comments last week were not meant to offend those people, because they’re not the ones making the decisions about the racing tires we use here at the track."
However, Stewart told the Associated Press that some of the drivers in Cup are not happy with the tires Goodyear has made available to NASCAR teams.
“We all can’t be wrong. Not all of us can be wrong about it all the time," Stewart said to the Associated Press. "You hate that it’s come to this, but that’s what happened. I don’t want to hear what they’re doing, I don’t want to hear what they want to do, I don’t want to hear what they’re planning on doing — I just want to
see what happens and see what the end result of that is.
“As long as that’s a better deal then we’ll be back on their side. But they have some work to do.”
Grant said he was pleased with the meeting he had with Stewart and called it "excellent" and "constructive."
"It was extremely worthwhile to sit down and have a discussion with him," Grant said. "Tony was able to express his concerns and I listened to his concerns. I was able to explain our process, and we both talked about how moving forward, we can improve the process of developing tires for NASCAR Sprint Cup racing together.”

The USAC Ford Focus Midgets will make their season debut at Ventura Raceway Saturday night. Nick Carlson from Norwalk won the Ford Focus Midget championship and the season opener at Ventura Raceway last year.
The Junior Focus Midgets are also scheduled to race at Ventura Raceway. Gates open at 3:30 p.m.

VENTURA RACEWAY UNOFFICIAL STANDINGS
Drivers are listed by division, position, hometown, and points.
Ventura Raceway Association Sprint Cars: 1. John Nock, Newhall, 255; 2. Dennis Rodriguez, Camarillo, 235; 3. Richard McCormick, Aqua Dulce, 210; 4. Tom Hendricks, Simi Valley, 195; 4. Johnathon Henry, Stockton, 195; 6. Rick Hendrix, Palmdale, 185; 7. Greg Alexander, Gardena, 170; 7. Alex Schutte, Redding, 170; 7. Guy Woodward, Santa Clarita, 170; 10. Tony Dighera, Thousand Oaks, 160.

IMCA Modifieds: 1. Richard Denman, Coalinga, 40; 2. Danny Lauer, Santa Maria, 39; 3. Jacob Jones, 38; 4. Damon Redman, Santa Paula, 37; 5. Ron Wiley, Santa Maria, 36; 6. Joe Weaver, Ventura, 35; 7. Rick Rodarte, Ventura, 34; 8. Jack Parker, Simi Valley, 33; 9. Jim Evans, Ventura, 32; 10. Jared Domingos, 31

VRA Pro Dwarf Cars: 1. Brian Saxton, Mentone, 260; 2. Brent Stevens, Thousand Oaks, 240; 3. Jeff Shelton, Simi Valley, 205; 3. Ray Estrada, 205; 5. Lars Wolfe, Sunland, 200; 6. Marc Lippert, Granada Hills, 190; 7. Thomas Velasquez, Camarillo, 175; 8. Chris Olson, Chino Hills, 165; 9. Eric Alton, Simi Valley, 155; 10. Tom Bellinger, Cypress, 150.

VRA Senior Dwarf Cars: 1. Jim Scribellito, El Cajon, 255; 2. Ed Niedzwiecki, Ventura, 240; 3. Bill Van Praag, Ventura, 215; 3. Kevin Alverson, Newbury Park, 215; 5. Dave Hume, Ventura, 205; 6. Roy Coe, Saugas, 185; 7. Jon Prechtl, La Harbra, 170; 8. Ben Hoskins, Stevenson Ranch, 165; 9. Wes Harris, Camarillo, 160; 10. Mike Bailey, Ojai, 150.

VRA Junior Midgets: 1. John Butcher, Santa Barbara, 255; 2. Thomas Short, Carpinteria, 235; 3. Austin Figueroa, El Segundo, 205; 3. Michaela Stanton, Camarillo, 205; 5. Brennan Rogers, Camarillo, 195; 6. Nick Valenzuela, 185; 7. Jessica Clark, Westlake Village, 175; 8. Riley Helland, Ventura, 160; 9. Cameron Dougan, Camarillo, 155; 9. Tyler Jerman, Palmdale, 155.

VRA Mini Dwarf – Pistons: 1. Cole Wakim, Simi Valley, 255; 2. Nick Velasquez, Camarillo, 225; 3. Cameron McCauley, Westlake, 210; 4. Zachery Gilmore, Woodland Hills, 205; 5. Joe Snyder, 190; 6. Kameron Garofalo, 160; 7. Cody Arthur, 155; 7. Destyn Garcia, 155; 9. Oliver Blades, 145; 10. Joey Freshour, 35

VRA Mini Dwarf – Superchargers: 1. Ricky Lewis, Oxnard, 260; 2. Cody Major, Simi Valley, 230; 3. Devin McCree, Ventura, 205; 4. Joey Freshour, Ventura, 200; 5. Meagan Kautz, 195; 6. Tommy Velasquez III, Camarillo, 190; 7. Jimmy McDonald, Llano, 175; 7. Chase Lippert, Granada Hills, 175; 9. Cris Noe, Santa Paula, 170; 10. Kayle Brazel, Granada Hills, 145.

Jimmie Johnson will start from the pole Sunday in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
This is the second time this season Johnson, last year's Cup champion, earned the pole because qualifying was rained out. The starting order was determined by owners standings from last year.
And unless Johnson can climb to first place in the Cup standings, it will be the last time he wins the pole by default. He is 13th in the Cup standings heading into Sunday's race.
“It’s going to be nice to have that first pit stall," said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "And I don’t really care how we got it. We worked awfully hard last year to be where we are in points. We had a good day in practice today. We didn’t get a chance to make a qualifying run when the rain came. But we’ll take it and move on. It’s the last week for this luxury and we’ll take advantage of it and try to have a good race on Sunday.”
Jeff Gordon, Johnson's teammate at Hendrick, will start second. His team expected qualifying to be rained out and set up the car for race conditions.
“Today was a unique day," said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "We were looking at the forecast and the radar and we didn’t think we were going to get qualifying in today. So we did nothing but race runs and I was a little concerned with what was going to take place. I love to qualify here and it’a a fun place. We’ve qualified well here before. But this is a great place to start on Sunday.”
Clin Bowyer, who has been struggling a bit in the first four races of the year and is 16th in the Cup standings, will start the Bristol race third.
“I think we definitely need some practice. We need to pick up some areas," said Bowyer, driver of the No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "That’s what’s so hard about this car this season. It’s really been hit or miss for us on the 1.5-miles. We were loose, loose, loose. We could make the front end turn but we couldn’t keep the back end up with it. But we’ve certainly gained a lot of ground last week at Atlanta. I feel confident about that. That path didn’t work. Last year here we were really good. We finished seventh and third I think. We’re looking forward to the race. I think we can get it ironed out and be good.”
Bowyer was eighth in the spring race and third in the fall race at Bristol last year.

The Penske Racing Porsches were the top two LMP2 cars in qualifying for the 12 Hours of Sebring, the opening race of the American Le Mans Series.
A Mazda prototype driven by Ben Devlin crashed into the Turn One barrier and halted qualifying Thursday. The lineup was determined by practice times recorded during the previous three days.
The Lowe's Fernandez Racing car, driven by Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz, will start third, the highest qualifying Acura entry in the race. The Acura entry from Andretti Green Racing, driven by Valencia's Bryan Herta, Marco Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi, will start fifth.
"This is incredibly disappointing because we’ve shown how quick the XM Satellite Radio Acura has been all week," Andretti said. "I really think we would have gotten the LMP2 pole position, so I feel bad for the crew because that would have been a real boost for everyone. That being said, we have to understand that this is a 12-hour race and no one is going to win because they sat on the pole. We know that the XM Acura is very durable and we expect to make our way to the front very quickly.”
The Patron Highcroft Racing Acura will start seventh in the LMP2 portion of the race.

New team, new car, new crew, better results.
Kyle Busch won the first Cup race with NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow last year at Bristol Motor Speedway. That turned out to be his only win of 2007, when he was driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.
He's already matched his win total from a year ago, giving Joe Gibbs Racing its first win of the season and Toyota its first Cup win since entering the top-tier of NASCAR last year.
Things are going well for Busch. He won last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway and leads the Cup standings after four races.
A lot has changed since Busch won the race at Bristol last year. Even the track went through some upgrades.
“Last year what we learned at Bristol, of course you want to take some of that to the race track again this year," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "But the first race, the race that I won last year, was still on the old concrete and the old configuration of Bristol, but we learned some stuff in the fall race that helped us some. We didn't run as well as we would have wanted to then. But when we got out front we were able to pull away from the leaders, and that was pretty satisfying."
In six career Cup races at Bristol, Busch has four straight top 10s. He had a second-place finish in 2006 and he finished ninth in his most recent race at Bristol last fall.
"So we just need to make sure that we can go to Bristol and we try to qualify well and keep our car up front, get a good pit selection and be able to keep our car up front like we did this past weekend," Busch said. "I think that's the key with this car is track position. It's more vital than ever before because you can't pass as well as you used to be able to, so you have to be able to keep your car up front all day.”

Of the five drivers for Roush Fenway Racing, Carl Edwards has the wins, but Greg Biffle is the highest ranking driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings after four races.
Biffle, coming off a fourth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway, is second in the Cup standings, trailing only Kyle Busch.
In all fairness, Edwards would be in the top 12 and among the Chase contenders, if he wasn't penalized by NASCAR for having his car fail a post-race inspection after winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Biffle heads to Bristol Motor Speedway, site of Sunday's Cup race, with six top 10s in 10 career Cup races there. But he has never won a race at Bristol.
“I love racing at Bristol and this weekend I’ll be in both the Nationwide race and the Sprint Cup race, so I can’t wait to get there," said Biffle, driver of the No. 16 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. "We’re taking a car that we ran well with at Dover last year, and that combined with the way things are going for us this year makes me feel like we’re going to get to victory lane sooner than later."
The car his team is taking to Bristol raced at Dover International Speedway in Delaware last year and finished fourth. Biffle has never finished higher than third in a Cup race at Bristol and that came in 2005.
"I don’t have a win at Bristol and I would love to win there," Biffle said. "It’s a fun track and the fans get a great show every time because there’s not a bad seat in the house.”

Valencia's Bryan Herta is the lone remaining driver from the team from Andretti Green Racing that won the LMP2 portion of the 12 Hours of Sebring last year, the opening race of the American Le Mans Series.
He teamed with Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti to finish second overall, first in class, and give Acura its first win in its first race in the American Le Mans Series.
The 12 Hours of Sebring begins Saturday at Sebring International Raceway in Florida. Herta has a new car, new teammates and heightened expectations heading into his second season in the American Le Mans Series with Andretti Green Racing.
In an exclusive interview, Herta talked about his new teammates, the new car Acura put togther for all its teams in the American Le Mans Series, and the unification of the Champ Car World Series with the Indy Racing League.
Herta raced in both Champ Car, the old CART series, and the IRL before moving into the American Le Mans Series.
His teammates for the 12 Hours of Sebring are Christian Fittipaldi and Marco Andretti. Fittipaldi is the nephew of Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi and will be Herta's regular teammate for the majority of the American Le Mans Series season.
Andretti, son of Andretti Green Racing team co-owner Michael Andretti, drives for the team in the IRL.
On Christian Fittipaldi:
"We raced against each other in the old Champ Car Series for years, but we never worked together. We've never been on the same team before. I just know Christian as a fast, experienced driver when he came to the team.
"He's fit in really well, done a good job. He's got a lot of experience. He brings a lot of experience to the table and I think that's helped us. I think he's happy to be here and the car's a lot of fun. It's good to be in a competitive car like this -- good timing."

On Marco Andretti:
"Marco's surprised me and I don't know why. He's done a really, really good job this week. He's been fast and consistent so far in the car.
"The biggest thing I'm worried about with Marco being a young guy is just this race being so long and a lot of different types of cars out there, sometimes you have to be patient in traffic. Young guys aren't able to do that. So far he's shown that he can do that."

The new car:
"It's got some fairly substantial changes to it. There wasn't any one big thing we did over the winter to improve the car. Sort of like 50 little things. There wasn't any one big step; it was just a combination of things.
"I loved the car last year and I love it even more now. The car's got a lot of grip, a lot of downforce, handles really well in the corners. That's our strength: We're not necessarily the fastest car on the straightaways, but we're the fastest car in the corners and as a driver that's where you really want the speed to be."

On unification of Champ Car and the IRL:
Everybody's known from Day One that's what it needed. Unfortunately, it took 12 years. It's going to be a good thing for open-wheel racing and the sport. In the short term, the negative effect for us is we're going to lose a race, the Houston race in particular, a race where our car was very strong last year.
I'm happy for open-wheel racing. My first love was open-wheel racing and where I spent a bulk of my career.
I couldn't be happier."

On if he has any regrets that he's not racing in the IRL or Champ Car any longer:
"It's ironic, but no. I'm still really happy doing what I'm doing. I don't think it's a magic bullet. I don't think overnight the thing is going to be as big as NASCAR. It's going to take them years to build it back up. But at least now they have the potential to do that. Now they got great opportunity. It's going to be a gradual process."

The field of drivers for Toyota Pro-Celebrity race at the 34th annual Grand Prix of Long Beach includes an NFL Hall of Famer and an NBA Finals champion.
Eric Dickerson and John Salley highlight a field of 18 celebrity drivers entered in the 10-lap race in Scion tCs on April 19.
The rest of the field includes: Drew Lachey from "Dancing with the Stars" and 98 Degrees, Raymond Cruz from "The Closer" and "Breaking Bad," Wimer Valderrama from "That '70s Show" and MTV's "Yo Momma,"
Daniel Goddard from "The Young and the Restless," Jamie Little from ESPN and ABC sports, Nancy Lieberman from ESPN and a member of the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame, film producer and director Brad Lewis, who worked on Pixar's Academy Award-winning movie "Ratatouille" and William Fitchner from "Prison Break."
Beccy Gordon, a pro off-road racer and ESPN pit reporter, Marty Nothstein, an Olympic track cycling gold medalist, NASCAR driver Mike Skinner, NHRA drivers Tony Pedregon and Whit Bazemore and sports car driver Sarena Traver are part of the pro drivers entered in the race.

Carl Skerlong, a driver for the Oxnard-based Pacific Coast Motorsports, was the second fastest driver during a two-day test at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Monday and Tuesday.
"Overall it was a very successful test," said Skerlong, one of two Atlantic Series drivers for Pacific Coast Motorsports. "We kept the King Taco car in the top-three throughout the test. I think we have a very good race to go back with in May."
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is part of a 12-race Atlantic Series shedule that starts with the Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 18-20.
"Also we learned some things that definitely will apply to other tracks, but we were really going for a racecar for Laguna and I think we've got that," Skerlong said.
Dane Cameron, a rookie driver for Genoa Racing, was the fastest driver on both days.
Frankie Muniz, better known for his role on "Malcom in the Middle" and the other driver for Pacific Coast Motorsports, was the 14th fastest driver during the Tuesday test session. There were 20 drivers participating in the test.
"To run that strong at Laguna, one of the most difficult tracks we compete on, felt really good," Muniz said. "We made a lot of progress over the two days. The last run of the test (Tuesday) was awesome. That was the best I've ever felt in a race car. The car felt perfect and I felt like I was able to get a lot out of it -- it was awesome. If I'd been able to pick up one-tenth of a second, I would have moved five spots up the time sheets. It's just a test, so times aren't everything, but we are making a ton of progress every time we are on the track. I am in the hunt now, which is very motivating -- 2008 is going to be a great season. The Atlantic staff is putting together an exciting schedule and there were 20 cars at this test, the competition is going to be tough."

Jack Roush blew his lid over the penalty NASCAR gave his driver, Carl Edwards, and his No. 99 Ford team after the car didn't pass inspection after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
But Roush won't fight the penalty.
He considered appealing the 100-point deductions in the drivers standings and owners standings and the six-race suspension crew chief Bob Osbourne received. Roush reconsidered on Thursday.
“We have conducted a thorough internal investigation and have found no evidence whatsoever that anyone intended for the bolt/nut fastener to fail to secure the lid for the entire race,” said Jack Roush, team owner. “We have subsequently added protective measures to insure that the lid will remain fastened even if a failure of this type should again occur.”
Inspectors discovered a lid on the oil reservoir was missing from Edwards' car during post-race inspection at Vegas. The car was sent to NASCAR's Research & Development Center in North Carolina, as are all winning cars, for further inspection. Roush and Edwards received their penalties a couple days after the second inspection.
“We realize in the NASCAR system of penalty administration that simple negligence, by itself, is never sufficient grounds to overturn or reduce a penalty," said Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith. "Consequently, no appeal will be made of the penalties assessed by NASCAR.”

“Stay out of trouble and don’t wreck."
That seems like a pretty simple approach to Bristol Motor Speedway, site of Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. But successfully achieving that goal is not always so simple.
"To win you have to be there at the end and with Bristol, like any other short track, the racing is tight and you can easily get into trouble," said Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "You just have to stay clean and stay focused. As long as you are there at the end, you have a shot.”
Harvick knows something about winning at Bristol. He has one win at the track, coming in April 2005. The car his team is bringing to Bristol is the same car Harvick raced at Las Vegas Motor Speedway two weeks ago. He finished fourth with it at Vegas.
“Bristol is one of my favorite race tracks," Harvick said. "I enjoy the short track stuff and we’ve always been fortunate to run really well there. We go there with high expectations but you never know what’s going to happen. You can get caught up in a wreck in a hurry and have your day ended. You have to go to Bristol and enjoy it but know that the outcome could be the opposite of what you want it to be.”

Ryan Newman, winner of the Daytona 500, holds the qualifying record at Bristol Motor Speedway and has won two poles at the track, but he has never won a Cup race there.
He has won one race in the Busch Series, now called the Nationwide Series, at Bristol. That came in 2005 when he was teamed with Roy McCauley as crew chief.
McCauley and Newman are together again, this time on the No. 12 Dodge for Penske Racing. In 12 career Cup races at Bristol, Newman has six top 10s and one top five. His best finish came in 2004 when he was second.
“Bristol has always been a game of survival," Newman said. "Everything happens so fast there. It’s really amazing. I learned that in 2003 when I won the pole there. I knew I had a good car, but I never anticipated that I could put down a lap that fast. You just don’t realize how quickly everything happens at Bristol."
The car his team is bringing to Bristol is the same car it tested at Phoenix International Raceway a couple weeks ago. It has never raced.
Newman said he was impressed with the track in last year's race, even though there was a reduction in the bumping and grinding that traditionally happens at Bristol.
"The track is better racing-wise than it ever has been," Newman said. "I think that a lot of the fans are disappointed in the lack of bumping and the lack of pushing that happens now compared to the way it was, but the racing from where I sit is by far better and I look forward to going there. We had a decent run in both the Nationwide and Cup cars there last year and I’m excited about going back there.”

Jeff Burton has finished in the top 15 in the first four races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. That's good enough for fifth place in the Cup standings.
He finished 10th at Atlanta Motor Speedway, finishing well in what he described as an ill-handling car.
“For the majority of the race we were really, really loose," said Burton, driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "The AT&T Chevy was all over the place. We made adjustments throughout the race and nothing really seemed to work. We were tight for a little bit towards the end of the race, which we seemed to be our best. On the last restart we put on a set of tires that didn't help the handling of the car. It was a good points day for the AT&T Racing team and we'll keep digging and doing our homework.”
The next race for the Cup drivers is Bristol Motor Speedway. Burton finished second last year in this race, the first for NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow.
Kyle Busch was the winner of the first Car of Tomorrow race. But that was in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.
Busch won Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his first with his new team, Joe Gibbs Racing, and the first for Toyota.

Two drivers won the first races of their careers at Ventura Raceway on Saturday night, the opening night of racing at the seaside dirt track.
John Nock of Newhall won the Ventura Racing Association Sprint Car feature and Cole Wakim of Simi Valley won the VRA MIni Dwarf feature, both first-time winners.
“I can’t believe it,” Nock said. “It came out of nowhere. Everything came to us.”
Other winners:
John Butcher of Santa Barbara in VRA Junior Midgets
Richard Denman of Coalinga in IMCA Modifieds
Jim Scribellito of El Cajon in VRA Senior Dwarfs
Brian Saxton of Mentone in VRA Pro Dwarfs
The season opener attracted 118 cars, reportedly the most entrants on opening night.

A lack of funding has forced Walker Racing to withdraw from the newly formed Indy Racing League, which merged with the Champ Car World Series last month, uniting open-wheel racing in North America for the first time in more than a decade.
“It's a great pity that the team has had to abandon our IndyCar program. So much work by so many has gone into the Team Australia program over the last three and a half years, but now it will remain unfinished business for us. I wish my co-partner well with his new venture and so to Will and Simon and all the employees, associates and fans who have given me the opportunity. Many thanks,” said Walker Racing owner, Derrick Walker.
The racing partnership Walker established with Team Australia, led by Craig Gore, and drivers Will Power and Simon Pagenaud, is also over.
The IRL paired existing IndyCar Series teams with Champ Car teams last week to help them prepare for the season opening race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 29. Walker Racing was supposed to work with Team Penske.
“The difficulty for any new team to come along at this point, so late in the game, is information or lack of information,” said Tony Cotman, vice president of competition for the Indy Racing League, sanctioning body for the IndyCar Series. “If we can give them a starting point, whether it be on a speedway, short oval or road course, just a basic starting point, as a series it’s so much better for us because we have less of a split in the field as far as the haves and have nots. In the long run, it’s best for us. We’d like to see the whole field within a second. If we can help them get to a point to do that by sharing information through partnering teams, that’s what we’ll do. The current IndyCar Series teams have been very good about giving the teams information to get them going.”

The present pairings, based on factors such as previous relationships, geographical proximity and similar team size, are:
Andretti Green Racing-Dale Coyne Racing
Target Chip Ganassi Racing-KV Racing
Rahal Letterman Racing-Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
Vision Racing-Conquest Racing
A.J. Foyt Racing-Pacific Coast Motorsports
Team Penske-Walker Racing
Roth Racing-Team Minardi.

The ways NASCAR teams cheat are impressive. Carl Edwards got caught with a missing lid on his car's oil reservoir after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It's just another in a long list of cheats who have won races in the history of NASCAR.
Jack Roush, the owner of Edwards' Cup team, opened some old wounds, bringing up one of the times Jeff Gordon was penalized for failing a post-race inspection. Geoff Smith, the president of Roush Fenway Racing, brought up the rocket fuel that was found in Michael Waltrip's new Toyota stock cars at last year's Daytona 500.
Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson have been caught with unapproved modifications to their cars during inspections before and after races. There are more, too many to list even on the world wide web.
Cheating is nothing new and part of the charm of NASCAR. Crew chiefs and teams get the rules and do their best to work within the parameters of those rules. They have no qualms about testing the boundaries of those rules either.
Greg Biffle, one of Edwards' teammates at Roush Fenway Racing, tried to explain how a lid could fall off an oil reservoir.
"We used to have quarter turn fasteners that hold the lid on and sometimes those would come loose," said Biffle, driver of the No. 16 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. "In these cars we’ve had a severe vibration problem with the new car, which is mind blowing why we’ve had a vibration problem. You’ve heard us talk about it in Daytona. Most of the tests, they’ve worked on it. At Vegas, my leg was going to sleep. When we tested in Vegas, my lower calf hurt because the car was vibrating so bad. So, we’ve worked extremely hard on our transmissions, the drive shafts and rear gears to find this vibration and try to eliminate it. They think that’s what caused the lid to come off Carl’s car was the vibration."
Whatever. Elliott Sadler said that however the crew figured out to get the lid to come off was genius, almost sounded like he was upset his team didn't figure it out first.
One thing that is certain, all cheating aside, is that the Roush cars have been fast in the first three races of the year. Even David Ragan, the second-year driver of the No. 6 Ford for Roush, finished seventh at Vegas. And Travis Kavpil, whose getting his engines through a joint effort from Roush and his Yates Racing team, was eighth at Vegas.
“The greatest thing is if we weren’t there, Matt Kenseth probably would have won the race," said Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. "If Matt wasn’t there, Greg might have won the race. We’ve got the greatest cars out there in these Ford Fusions. We’re doing really well. We’re doing everything right."
Well, almost everything. Passing post-race inspections should be a priority for Edwards' team, or any team, from here on out. Mainly because it looks like NASCAR is going to take away precious bonus points for teams in the Chase if they fail post-race inspections.
"Obviously, these mistakes are not good that we made on pit road and that we made with that panel, but that’s what I’m excited about," Edwards said. "We’re three races in and we’ve got two wins and that’s the best start to any season that I’ve ever had in my life, so I feel like we’ve got a whole bunch to look forward to. I’m real excited about it.”

Jeff Gordon won the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the first win of any significance for Hendrick Motorsports this year.
OK, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Bud Shootout and one of the Gatorade Duels at Daytona, and Jimmie Johnson won the pole at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, but only because rain washed out qualifying.
Three races into the Cup season and Hendrick has yet to win a race. Some teams have gone three years without a win, but Hendrick is the team that won 18 of the 36 Cup races last year, prompting some to ask what's wrong with the team.
“Oh, whatever. We don’t pay attention to that," said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "We know what we are capable of doing and we’re three races in. I think it’s kind of silly to even think about that. When there is a lot of hype and expectations, those things happen."
Ryan Newman won the season-opening Daytona 500 for Penske Racing. Carl Edwards followed with wins at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana and Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Roush Fenwway Racing. Although the win at Vegas was marred when inspectors found a lid missing from the oil reservoir on Edwards' car after the race.
Gordon said other than the Roush cars, his cars have been the best in Cup.
"The 99 (Edwards) and the 17 (Matt Kenseth) last week and the 16 (Greg Biffle); those guys have been really strong," Gordon said. "Other than them, I feel like we’ve been the best. And so I’m not really concerned with that. I think if we keep running the way we’re running and if we can get to the finish line, we’re going to get our share of wins.”

Scream might be a strong description of how NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner Jack Roush explained the penalty his driver, Carl Edwards, received after his car failed inspection after the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Roush said what happened to his driver's car and the penalty NASCAR issued afterward is the difference between murder and manslaughter.
"The thing that has not been part of the process has been the definition or the determination, the rate of culpability," said Roush, who co-owns the five-car Roush Fenway Racing team at the Cup level. "I can prove that I was not culpable here and nobody on the team was culpable, and I think that should make a difference. It would make a difference anyplace else in the world. There would be a difference between first-degree murder and manslaughter based on culpability."
The lid on the oil reservoir was missing on Edwards' car during post-race inspection at Las Vegas. That much is certain. NASCAR says it was intentional. Roush says his team did nothing on purpose that would lead to the lid falling off.
Edwards lost 100 points in the drivers standings, Roush lost 100 points in the owners standings, Bob Osbourne, Edwards' crew chief, was fined $100,000 and suspended for six races and Edwards will not be awarded 10 bonus points for winning the Vegas race if he qualifies for the Chase.
Roush explained to reporters at Atlanta Motor Speedway, stie of this weekend's NASCAR races, what he believes happened to his driver's car and why the lid was missing.
"Here is the part. It’s got the entire front of the surface secured and it’s got one fastener on the back side. What you would like to do is not waste fasteners and have the car be as light as it can," Roush said. "There wasn’t a conscious decision made by the engineering manager for that, but one of the engineers whose job it was to get weight out of the car, made the decision that that was a sufficient fastener. If it had been adequately retained, either by safety wire or with an interference nut plate, which the original ones did, we wouldn’t have this issue in front of us. But the nut plate that was welded in rather than riveted in, that didn’t have the interference capability and the lack of a lock tight, and lack of a lock washer and a lack of a safety wire resulted in the harmonics that go through the car loosening the fastener.”
Roush said he would like to see consistency in the penalties NASCAR issues. He compared the penalty he and his team received to one that was given to Jeff Gordon, a driver for rival Hendrick Motorsports.
"Of course, when Jeff Gordon had his car settle for an inch-and-a-half because the jack screw dropped out at Daytona the year before last, it was no harm, no foul," Roush said. "So I don’t expect