September 2008 Archives

The standings in the NASCAR Late Models at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale tightened up Saturday night.
Andrew Myers snapped an 11-race winless streak, winning his first race since May 10. He won the first five races of the year, then posted only a couple third places in his past 11 races.
Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills, the leader in the Late Model standings, finished 14th and saw his lead over Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills cut to six points.
Joanides finished ninth in the race Saturday night. Myers is 40 points out of first and mathematically still in the championship hunt.
The season ends next Saturday night with a 100-lap race for the Late Models.
In other action, Rod Johnson Jr. of Canyon Country won his second straight race in the NASCAR Super Trucks and Pat Mintey Jr. of Quartz Hill won the Super Trucks championship. Connor Cantrell of Valencia, who won a division leading six races at the track, was second in the race and second in the Super Trucks standings.

They're not good. Neither is Kyle Busch's attitude about how the Chase started.
After winning eight races before the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup began, Busch had two bad races to start the Chase and dropped from first to 12th in the Cup standings.
In the most recent race at Dover International Speedway, he blew an engine and finished in 43rd and last place.
Before qualifying for the Cup race at Kansas Speedway on Friday, Busch was asked about what happened in Dover.
"We blew up and now we're behind," he said.
His answers were short and sharp. He knows the possibility of catching the leaders -- Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson -- in the standings are not good.
"Here's how I look at it," Busch said. "You can't count on anybody else having a bad race. So, realistically, yeah we are out of it. If they do have a bad race -- then it depends on who has the bad race and how bad the race is and stuff -- for us to get back in it. Realistically, if you are not counting on those guys having a bad race -- we can't win eight races in a row and have Carl or Biffle finish fifth through 10th every single one of those and still win the deal. That ain't going to happen."
Busch was asked if he prescribed to the philosophy that drivers have to lose a championship before they can win one.
"I've been in the Chase -- this is my third year now," Busch said. "So, technically I've already lost two. I've been in this series -- I think this is my fourth year -- so I've lost it three times. So, I think I've lost enough."
He was also asked, regardless of how he finishes, about how he will reflect on his season and if it will be sour.
"I think the biggest thing we'll remember is the eight wins and the places that the came at -- being all various different race tracks," Busch said. "The overall success of the year -- being able to win 19 races overall.
"Really we weren't supposed to be in the position we've been in to win the championship. This was supposed to be the building year the learning year -- getting used to everything at Joe Gibbs Racing, and Toyota coming on board and getting a relationship going with Steve Addington (crew chief). So, you can't look at it as a sour year."

Camping World is one of the companies that could become the title sponsor of what is now the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Camping World is also one of the title sponsors on Ron Hornaday's No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc.
Harvick, a driver for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, was asked what would happen to Hornaday's truck if Camping World becomes the sponsor of the Truck Series.
The deal Camping World has with Harvick and the No. 33 truck ends in 2009. Harvick said he expects Camping and VFW to be the title sponsors on Hornaday's truck next year.
Camping World also has a stake in Harvick's Nationwide Series team. That team could be affected the most if Camping World becomes the sponsor of the Truck Series, Harvick said.
Harvick was asked before qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway on Friday if he was upset by NASCAR's apparent cherry-picking of sponsors from teams, especially in light of the current economic climate.
"I don't think they cherry-picked in this situation," Harvick said. "I think if you look at the entitlements that Camping World has, it is definitely something that they obviously look at what works for them and their vendors and the way that they sell product at the race track. It has got to make sense. If something doesn't make sense for me from a business side of it, I don't do it. It has to make sense on that side of it. Camping World has been a great partner and will continue to be a great partner as we roll forward on the No. 33 truck."
In addition to being a sponsor on the No. 33 truck, Camping World is also a sponsor on the No. 33 car driven by Harvick in the Nationwide Series.
"We have a lot of good races on the No. 33 car with me driving," Harvick said. "It is just something that we haven't been selling. We have sold the rest of the car; I don't foresee a problem there."
Harvick said NASCAR has been in communication with him about the negotiations with Camping World.
"We have known that Camping World has been looking at the entitlement," Harvick said. "This has to work for everybody and ... there is definitely not any cherry-picking from a NASCAR standpoint. This is just a company looking at it, one of a few companies looking at something that might make sense for them. That is not something that you can damn anybody for. You just have to stand back. Sponsorship hunting is something that is always going to be a part of NASCAR, the teams and there is going to be some crossover and some things that happen. I just like the fact that there has been good communication and been on the same page with the team from this point."
There is a possibility that Camping World will be the sponsor of the Truck Series and on Hornaday's truck in 2009.
"I don't know the details of how far along they are with NASCAR," Harvick said. "I know that they are under contract to run on Ron Hornaday's truck, it will be the Camping World Chevrolet with six VFW races with Hornaday next year."

Jonathan Bomarito, a driver for Encino-based Mathiasen Motorsports in the Atlantic Series, has an eight-point lead in the series standings with one race to go.
If Bomarito, coming off a sixth-place finish at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah over the weekend, can hold on to his lead in the standings, it will be the first Atlantic Series championship for Mathiasen Motorsportts, owned by Ray and Leslie Mathiasen of Encino.
The top-three drivers, Bomarito, Jonathan Summerton and Markus Niemela, in the Atlantic Series standings are separated by 10 points.
The Atlantic Series season finale is Oct. 2-3 at Road Atlanta in Georgia.

Two drivers can wrap up track championships at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night. Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills, the reigning champion in the NASCAR Late Models at the track, has a 16-point lead over Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills. Pat Mintey Jr. of Quartz Hill has an 18-point edge over Connor Cantrell of Valencia in the NASCAR Super Trucks standings.
Mintey had a chance to win the Super Trucks championship on Satuday night, but a flat tire knocked him out of contention. He finished 19th in a 20-car field. Cantrell, who has a series leading six wins, finished third and turned a 50-point deficit into 18.
Cantrell, a senior at Valencia High School, needs to finish 10 spots ahead of Mintey to overtake him in the Super Trucks standings.
The season finale in the Super Trucks, a 100-lap race, is Saturday night. It will be the longest race of the year for the Super Trucks drivers.
The Late Models race two more times at the track, Saturday and a 100-lapper on Oct. 4.
NASCAR Super Stocks, Pure Stocks and USAC Ford Focus Midgets are scheduled to race Saturday night at Irwindale. Gates open at 4 p.m. Races start at 7.
Joanides finished second in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series California standings. He won the NASCAR Super Late Model championship at Irwindale with 10 wins, 17 top fives and 19 top 10s in 21 starts.
He finished second in the California standings to Jason Gilbert, a driver at Altamont Motorsports Park in Tracy, who had 10 wins, 17 top fives and 20 top 10s in 21 starts.
Newhall's Travis Thirkettle was fourth and Burbank's Dan Moore was sixth. Six drivers from Irwindale finished in the top 20.

Jack Beckman continued his hot streak in the NHRA Funny Car division. Unfortunately so did Tim Wilkerson and Tony Pedregon, the only two drivers ahead of him in the Funny Car standings.
Beckman, a driver from North Hills, advanced to the semifinals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas on Sunday. He lost to Pedregon, who lost to Wilkerson in the Funny Car final.
After two races in the Countdown to One playoffs, Wilkerson leads the Funny Car standings by nine points over Pedregon and 29 over Beckman.
Beckman has advanced to the semifinals in five straight events, winning two of them. He talked about his recent stretch with Craig Wack at go2geiger.com.
The Countdown continues this weekend at Memphis Motorsports Park in Tennessee. Meanwhile, in the Top Fuel division, Larry Dixon advanced to the quarterfinals at Texas, losing to Tony Schumacher. Dixon, a graduate of Van Nuys High, is fourth in the Top Fuel standings, and trails Schumacher, the leader in the Top Fuel standings, by 129 points.

Ron Hornaday Jr., days after admitting to taking steroids and HGH to treat an overactive thyroid condition, won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway.
It was his second Truck Series win in a row, his fifth of the year and the 38th of his career. The former Saugus Speedway champ from Palmdale is second in the standings and trails Johnny Benson by 74 points as the Truck Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
"I've had some good runs at Las Vegas over the years. I like the track; it's similar to racing at Texas, Atlanta and Charlotte," said Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc. "They all have the same layout. We put together a decent run last year, but had a tire issue late in the race that cost us a good finish."
Hornaday has never won a Truck Series race at Las Vegas and his team will be bringing a new truck for this weekend's race.
"Our mile-and-a-half program has been great this year," Hornaday said. "I don't see why we cannot have another good run on this type of track. Rick Ren (crew chief) and all the guys on this Camping World Chevrolet Silverado team do an awesome job week in and week out."

Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills won his second NASCAR Late Model race in a row and his fifth of the year at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night to extend his lead in the standings to 16 points over Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills.
Joanides, who won the Super Late Model championship at the track, finished eighth in the most recent Late Model race. It was his worst finish since July 26 when he finished 18th.
The NASCAR Super Trucks, Mini Stocks, West Coast Pro Trucks, Legend Cars, figure 8s and demolition derby are scheduled at Irwindale Saturday night. Gates open at 4 p.m. Races start at 7.

Carl Skerlong, driving for the Oxnard-based Pacific Coast Motorsports, won his first Atlantic Series race for the team. He won the inaugural Atlantic Series race at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Sunday.
Skerlong is fifth in the Atlantic Series standings, one point out of fourth and 17 out of third.
It was Skerlong's fourth podium finish of the season. The next race for the Atlantic Series is at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Sunday.
"I am so excited to get back in the car," Skerlong said. "The win last weekend gives us a lot of momentum heading into Miller Motorsports Park this week. The track there is awesome, but it is so long that you have to be precise and it will be important to get the car dialed in very quickly, because one mistake or one bad lap costs so much time. Our sessions are not that long, so every lap counts. I am looking forward to it."

MB2 Raceway opened a new racing facility in Thousand Oaks at 1475 Lawrence Drive. The racetrack, described as an impressive, modern, environmentally conscious, high-performance kart racing circuit and consumer entertainment venue is at the old Northrop site in Thousand Oaks.
It is the second MB2 Raceway track in the area. The other opened in Sylmar in 2006.
Apparently Valencia's Bryan Herta, a veteran of the Indy Racing League and American Le Mans Series, and Ricky Carmichael, supercross champion turned stock car driver, have been racing at the MB2 facility in Sylmar to hone their skills and continue racing.
Herta was most recently with Andretti Green Racing in the American Le Mans Series and raced for Michael Andretti's IRL IndyCar Series team.

Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills, the NASCAR Super Late Model champion at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, was ninth in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship standings.
Philip Morris, a driver at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va., won the short track national championship and a berth in the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale in January.
Morris won the national championship by two points over Brian Harris of Davenport, Iowa, who raced at three tracks in Iowa: West Liberty Raceway, Farley Speedway and Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway.
It was the second national championship for Morris, who had 14 wins and 24 top fives in 28 races. Joanides had 10 wins and 17 top fives in 21 starts at Irwindale.
The champion is determined based on a driver's best 18 finishes at NASCAR-sanctioned tracks.
The Toyota All-Star Showdown, which includes a race that pits the top drivers from the NASCAR Camping World Series East and West and the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series drivers, is Jan. 23-24 at Irwindale.

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Ron Hornaday Jr., the three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, explained on Friday why he started using human growth hormones and steroids. He was diagnosed with a hyperactive thyroid and part of the treatment was to use HGH and steroids.
Hornaday met with the media at New Hampshire International Speedway on Friday. Kevin Harvick, his Truck Series team owner, and Jim Hunter, the vice president of corporate communications for NASCAR, were at his side as he told reporters when he was diagnosed and how he and his doctors decided to treat the problem.
Hornaday said after the Truck Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana in February, he was examined by one of Harvick's doctors at the request of Harvick and Rick Carelli. Hornaday was not feeling well after the races at Daytona and Fontana, to the point he was using an IV to hydrate himself.
Hunter said NASCAR finds nothing wrong with Hornaday's use of HGH and steroids and has cleared him to race this weekend and the rest of the season.
"Our substance abuse expertrs have told us the prescription Hornaday used did not enhance his performance or impair his judgment," Hunter said.

Joey Logano will attempt to qualify the No. 96 Toyota for Hall of Fame Racing instead of the No. 02 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this weekend at New Hampshire International Speedway
Ken Schrader was supposed to race the No. 96 car for the race at New Hampshire. He is expected to return to the No. 96 car for the Cup race at Dover International Speedway next week.
Logano was supposed to race the No. 02 car for Joe Gibbs Racing at Richmond International Raceway last weekend, but did not get a chance to qualify because of rain. The No. 96 car is in the top 35 in the Cup owners standings and will earn a provisional starting spot in the race at New Hampshire if race washes out qualifying again.

Rip Michels, the winningest driver at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, will make his season debut in the NASCAR Super Late Model division at the track on Saturday night.
He will be driving a car prepared by Dan Moore's Super Late Model team. Dan Moore Racing will have three cars entered in the Super Late Models season finale at the track.
Rod Johnson Jr., a driver in the NASCAR Super Trucks division at the track, will make his Super Late Models debut in the third car for Dan Moore Racing.
Johnson is the leading rookie and in fourth place in the Super Truck standings at the track. He is the son of Rod Johnson, the 1999 Super Late Model champion at Irwindale.
Moore, a driver from Burbank, has been racing in the Super Late Model division all year. He is third in the Super Late Model standings at the track.
"I am looking forward to having teammates on the track," said Dan Moore. "R.J. has been a great mechanic for me, and Rip, well what can you say, except he is simply the best. I wanted to thank them all for a great year, and what better way then racing against them."
Nick Joanides, a driver from Woodland Hills, wrapped up the Super Late Model championship at Irwindale on Saturday night. He has a chance to win a NASCAR state championship for short track drivers, but he has to win the season finale Super Late Model race to stay in contention.
"The party's over Nick, we're bringing three cars and were not racing for second," Michels joked.
"I have a feeling that R.J. is going to make both Dan and I get on top of the wheel and lay down qualifiers all night, otherwise he's is going to blow right by us," Michels said. "Just in case, I made sure to fill his iPod with the Jonas Brothers music to mess with his head, but I don't think it is going to work. He's a good kid, a hard worker and a smart racer he'll do great."

Tony Stewart finished second at Richmond International Raceway on Sunday, his fourth runner-up finish of the year. He has yet to win a Cup race this year and is one of five drivers in the Chase without a win.
That puts him in eighth place, leading a group of drivers that includes Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth at 80 points behind Kyle Busch, the leader in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.
But Stewart said his team doesn't settle for anything less than winning races and the way the race at Richmond ended did not sit well with his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team.
"When we know that we let one slip away, that's something that we do let ourselves get down about, but that's also what got us 32 wins and two championships," Stewart said. "We have such a high standard of what we feel our performance should be on the race track. I think that shows the caliber team that we have."
Going winless up to this point in the season is unfamiliar territory for Stewart and crew chief Greg Zipadelli.
"We have the same passion, the same desire, the same frustrations," Stewart said. "Not winning might add a little bit of stress, but if you look at Zippy's past before he came to NASCAR, he was pretty successful. I had good fortune before I came here. I think we've both had good fortune since we've been here. It's personalities. We're not two guys that are going to sit back and be happy with second or third. If that's detrimental, then that's what it has to be. That's just who we are. We can't change that."

Just when it looked like the Chase was going to be a two-driver race between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, along comes Jimmie Johnson and the ghost of Cale Yarborough.
Johnson has won the past two Cup championships and has a chance to join Yarborough as the only driver to win three straight.
Dale Earnhardt and Kyle Petty are recognized as the top drivers of their eras, but no one, not ever Petty, could touch Yarborough for three years.
Johnson has won the past two Cup races, including the Labor Day race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, and stuck his nose between the top two drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
That gives Johnson four wins this year, to Busch's eight and Edwards' six. No other driver in the Chase has more than one win.
But leave it to Johnson to try and play the role of underdog as the Chase starts at New Hampshire International Speedway this weekend.
"I'm trying to show up at next week's race scared, worried about 11 other guys, and worry about doing my part," Johnson said. "And the thing is I have confidence in what my abilities are and what my team is capable of and the packages we have put together in the last five or six months -- short track, big track, all of it."
There are five drivers in the Chase without a win. Some pretty big names are on that list, including Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. It's hard to imagine Gordon and Stewart going a full Cup season without a win.
They should at least win one of the Chase races.
But like in Chase's past, Johnson is getting hot at the right time. He says he's worried about the other 11 drivers in the Chase. Busch and Edwards should be the ones worried about Johnson ruining their great seasons.
"So you know, there's a lot of cars... you just never know what's going to happen," Johnson said. "So I want to show up next week worried about all 11 of them and just do my job."
For the past two years, his job has been winning Cup champioships.