After having a solid start to the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Jimmie Johnson was able to capture his first win in the 2008 Chase and his fifth of the year, winning the Camping World RV 400 at Kansas Speedway. Johnson, who started on the pole, had a strong run the entire race, leading 124 laps. A strong performance by the #48 crew gave Johnson the track position he needed to take the lead during the final pit stops. Johnson did have to earn the trip to victory lane, fending off a last lap pass by the #99 Ford driven by Carl Edwards, who gave up the race when he got into the wall in turn four. The victory by Johnson puts Johnson and the #48 Lowes Chevy at the top of the points standings, ten points ahead of Edwards.
Andy Lally dominated the race and Scott Speed was much a threat, until Speed was penalized on pit road for running over an airhose. That sent Speed deep in the field. There were several cautions on the day, one for championship contender Matt Carter and another was for Alli Owens who spun off the front bumper of another car.
Lally went to pit road during the caution for Owens' incident and Scott Speed moved back to 8th. They'd get the green flag around lap 40 only for the rain to begin. After about 10 laps of track drying efforts; the race was called and Justin Allgaier, who took the lead when Dexter Bean hit pit road, was declared the winner.
PAUL NEWMAN 1925-2008: MSNBC News has continuing coverage of the death of legendary driver and actor Paul Newman
The mood in the SCCA pits was somber at the loss of racing legend Paul Newman, who founded Newman-Haas racing in the 1980s. Newman was an avid racecar driver who loved speed and driving in these sports cars. He would've loved to be at New Jersey Motorsports Park. In his honor, the drivers' lounge at NJMP was named after the late Paul Newman who died last night.
Andy Lally was the fastest in practice and qualifying once again today, and he feels he can win the race. Scott Speed qualified 3rd after completing only one lap in qualifying, which was done in groups of 5.
The third week in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup takes drivers to Kansas Speedway for the Camping World RV 400. The first two weeks of the Chase have not been kind to some of the Chase drivers, while others have come up from the shadows to become favorites for the 2008 Sprint Cup Series championship. The race at Kansas Speedway is the first of five races at the mile and a half "cookie cutter" tracks. While some drivers will be "points racing" as they chase a title, others have nothing to lose and will be going all out for a victory in the Midwest. After last year's results, where Greg Biffle coasted to the finish line without fuel, no driver is being counted out as a potential race winner. Here are some drivers to watch on Sunday in the Camping World RV 400. The paddock is a busy place here at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Among the wholesale changes going on here in the ARCA garage, repairs and window cleaning. The surprise is the sports car driver Andy Lally who is fastest at NJMP.
The track itself is really nice. The Thunderbolt Raceway still has work to do, but it's raceable and it has proven to be a real challenge to the teams and drivers. We saw Alli Owens kick up a lot of dirt, and Brian Scott had his DEI/Venturinni Motorsports car wrecked up. The long right hander turn 7 has thrown many of the teams into a loop and has been the biggest challenge at the New Jersey racetrack.
We are now just days away from the first road course race in ARCA racing history since 2001, and the anticipation is beginning to reach high levels for the drivers, crews and fans of the ARCA Re/Max Series. Popular demand has managed to get the race to air on television on MASN and Comcast Sports Net. And while the NASCAR world turns its attention to Kansas waiting for the next "dramatic twist" in the 12-man 10-race Chase for the 2008 Sprint Cup Series Championship, ARCA's battle for the championship is down to three very unique courses.
BULLETIN
ARCA RE/MAX Series officials have announced the addition of the Loud Energy Drink 150 from the New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) road course to their list of televised events in 2008.
The Sunday afternoon, September 28th event at the new 2.3-mile road course in Millville, New Jersey will currently include multiple tape-delayed airings in at least 51.5 million households nationwide on a variety of cable and network outlets. Additional homes are pending.
With a puff of smoke, it was all over.
On Sunday at the Camping World RV 400, Kyle Busch effectively lost his chance to become the 2008 Sprint Cup Series champion when his engine blew up during the first half of the race at Dover International Speedway. The 43rd place finish in Dover and the 34th place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway made Busch's eight regular season victories virtually worthless in the championship battle.
For the second straight year, the regular season champion has failed to capture the Sprint Cup Series championship, which will add more criticism to the Chase format that NASCAR instituted in 2004. Despite the criticism, however, if NASCAR removes the Chase format, the sport's ratings and track attendance will suffer greatly.
Jack Roush is one happy owner tonight.
For the second straight weekend, Greg Biffle was able to battle his way to the front of the field and take his #16 3M Ford to victory lane at the Monster Mile, Dover International Raceway. The victory came in exciting fashion, as he and teammates Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards were side by side, battling during the final 25 laps of the race. Biffle was finally able to take the lead from Kenseth with eight laps to go and never looked back. The victory puts Greg Biffle second in the standings, tied with Jimmie Johnson, ten points behind points leader Carl Edwards. The win also propels Biffle as one of the favorites for the Championship.
This weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visits the Monster Mile, Dover International Speedway, for the Camping World RV 400 presented by AAA. Even though the Chase for the Sprint Cup is only in its second week, things are already heating up in the racing action and in the standings. The track in Dover is always treacherous and unforgiving. Dover is known as a self cleaning track because its high banks send any wreck down towards the inside lane. Single car spins often turn into major wrecks at the one mile track and no driver, regardless of whether they are in the Chase or not, is safe. It is guaranteed that there will be a lot of action on the track as twelve drivers race try to race their way to a Championship. Here are a few drivers to look out for on Sunday:
