photo credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR

The two were side-by-side for a nail-biting, yet clean finish with Busch crossing the finish line by 0.198 seconds ahead of the defending race winner.

“It was a good, clean hard-fought battle,” Busch said in victory lane. “When you treat people with respect, that’s what you get, respect back. Carl was awesome tonight. I had a tough battle there at the beginning with (polesitter) Trevor Bayne. I had to do what I had to do to get by him sometimes. Of course I have to thank the fans. It’s fun to come out here and put on a great show like this and hopefully they enjoy it.”

Joe Nemechek hit the wall with four laps to go bringing out the final caution flag of the night. It set the stage for a finish reminescent of last week’s in which Carl Edwards restarted second and fought hard for the race win. Contact with the points leaders put Edwards in victory lane while Brad Keselowski wrecked.

“I wasn’t going to move Kyle out of the way. I couldn’t move him out of the way,” Edwards said. “My hats off to those guys they did a great job. I can’t complain, second place isn’t what we came here for but about 20-laps in we were running 12th and 15th and it wasn’t looking good.”

Both, Edwards and Keselowski, were placed on NASCAR probation until December 31st. Edwards was also docked 60 championship driver points and fined $25,000. Even after a round of short track racing, Edwards and Keselowski kept their distance on and off of the track.

“We gave each other plenty of room, and that’s good,” Edwards said. “Hopefully, we can keep doing that going forward.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCnEvLwaVTU

Busch turned in a dominant performance after leading 144 of 201 laps including the last 79 laps. It seems it’s tough for any driver to beat him in the Nationwide Series. It’s his fifth win in the past six races that he has entered. It’s a series leading eighth win of the season for Busch and his thirteenth top-10 finish this season.

Starting from the pole, Trevor Bayne went on to lead 55 laps and held on for a fourth place finish.

Reed Sorenson finished fifth followed by Brendan Gaughan, Justin Allgaier, Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard and Steve Wallace completed the top-10.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

There were 6 cautions for 36 laps and 7 lead changes among 4 drivers: T. Bayne 1-39; K. Busch 40-77; A. Almirola 78; K. Busch 79-82; T. Bayne 83-98; K. Busch 99-120; Brad Keselowski 121; K. Busch 122-201

Brad Keselowski continues to lead the standings by 205 points over Carl Edwards.

There’s no other way to put it. Champions do well on the historic 101-year old race track.

photo credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

A former, reigning or future champion has gone on to win fourteen races in NASCAR’s sixteen year history there. The winner of this race has gone on to win the championship during the same year eight times thus far.

Jimmie Johnson is the defending race winner. He is the winner of the past two Brickyard races and three of the last four races there.

“I think any kid that races thinks of the Indianapolis 500 as an event they want to compete in, especially from the generation that I was in,” Johnson has been quoted as saying. “It may be a little different in today’s world where people think more of the Daytona 500. But in my generation it was the Indy 500. To have my career path lead me toward stock car racing I knew that I wouldn’t have a chance to race in the Indy 500. But with stock cars racing at the Brickyard it’s the next best thing.”

Between Johnson and Tony Stewart, they have the past five races at the Brickyard.

“It’s my home race, obviously,” Stewart said. “Growing up in Indiana and every year watching the Indy 500 and the whole month of May leading up to it, a race at the Brickyard is more than just a regular points race. It’s always been a big race to all of the Cup drivers, but then when you grow up in Indiana, it just makes it that much more important.”

Regardless of whether the race this Sunday is at the legendary Brickyard, it’s back to thinking of the points-picture after an off-week. This Sunday’s race marks the fourth one in “The Race to the Chase”, the 10-race stretch before “The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup” championship begins.

“What do we have to do to win more races before the Chase starts,” points leader Kevin Harvick explained as his team’s mindset. Harvick leads the standings by 103 points over 2nd place driver, Jeff Gordon. Harvick has a win at Indy under his belt coming in 2003. Actually, Harvick along with Ricky Rudd, the 1997 Brickyard winner, are the only two winners who’ve won a race at the Brickyard and have yet to win a championship.

“When I think about Indy, I think about a lot of tradition,” Harvick said. “Indy is one of those places where everybody wants to win.  Next to Daytona, it is kind of the second place where you check it off as one you want to win.  We’ve been fortunate to win there, and we know what that feels like.  I grew up as a fan of Indy cars, and I really wanted to race open wheel cars, so to be able to win there and just to compete there, is pretty cool.”

Jeff Gordon leads all drivers with four wins at the Brickyard. It places him second on the all-time win list at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears. Formula One driver Michael Schumacher is tops on the list with five wins.

“The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500 — guys like Rick Mears and A.J. Foyt, Johnny Rutherford, Al Unser — all those guys were heroes of mine that I aspired to be,” Gordon said. “Living in Indiana, racing around Indiana, Indianapolis Raceway Park, the fairgrounds, Bloomington, all over the place, it was every short-track, open-wheel, Sprint Cup driver’s dream to race at Indianapolis one day. To be able to do that in the very first ever NASCAR stock-car race there in 1994, win it, then go on to win it three more times is something that I probably put up as the highest accomplishments of my career.”

Chip Ganassi could make history on Sunday as the only car owner to win the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 all in the same year. His drivers, Jamie McMurray and Dario Franchitti, won the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500, respectively.

“So many times you have drivers who are good at a particular type of track,” Ganassi said. “Fortunately, our guys are good at the tracks that have the big races. Believe me, that’s a big help, and it’s no small thing.”

Jamie McMurray has posted one top-five and three top-10 finishes at the track in his seven starts there, but it’s Juan Pablo Montoya that came close to winning last year after leading 116 of 160 laps. Montoya was penalized for speeding on pit road with thirty-five laps remaining and could only notch an 11th place finish. He’s also a former Indianapolis 500 winner (2000).

TV coverage of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway begins at Noon on Sunday on ESPN.

——————————————————–

The Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series will also be in action from the Indianapolis area. Both races will take place about 20 minutes down the road and under the lights at the O’ Reilly Raceway Park, or ORP for short.

Ron Hornaday Jr is the defending race winner in the truck series. He leads the series with three wins there. He went on a tear last summer around the time of this win and won five consecutive truck races.

“It was really strange,” Hornaday said. “I knew when we won that race that we had done something incredible but the impact of it did not sink in really with any of the No. 33 team members until later. I think we were all riding the victory high. Then it ended after Nashville, but we went on to win the championship so we were content with that. Looking back on it this season I can’t believe we were ever in that position to begin with. The competition is so tough and it is any driver’s race week-in and week-out. (Mike) Skinner probably should have won that race last year but we pulled it out somehow. I just continue to be reminded how lucky I am to be with such a competitive team.”

It might be hard to believe Hornaday is on a 22-race losing streak for just the second time in his career.

Todd Bodine leads the standings now by 101 points. It might be hard to believe that he has never won at the famed short track.

“O’Reilly Raceway Park is a flat track that’s real easy to overdrive,” Bodine said. “The goal of practice is to be sure the Germain.com Tundra can turn good through the center of the corners and keep from getting loose off the corners. The goal for the driver in the race is to practice something no race car driver ever wants to practice, patience.”

TV coverage of the AAA Insurance 200 presented by J.D. Byrider at O’ Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis begins at 8 this Friday night on SPEED.

———————————————————

Kyle Busch is one of six drivers planning to pull double duty at ORP. He has won a series leading seven Nationwide Series wins already this season even though he’s only running a partial schedule in the series. It’s bad news for the rest of the field this Saturday night, but he’ll be there to race.

“Obviously, ORP has been a great place for me,” said Busch. “I started my first ever NASCAR race there back in 2001 when I was just 16. I won there in a Hendrick car when I was a Nationwide Series rookie, when our crew chief made a great call to pit off sequence. In 2008, I think we led all but three laps and won in the Z-Line Designs Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. It’s a fun track and I think we’ll be pretty strong there and I’d obviously like to get my Truck Series win at ORP. We’ve run well there in the past and hopefully we can put the Toyota Tundra in victory lane and get some owner points.”

While Busch is a threat to win, it continues to be the Brad Keselowski vs. Carl Edwards show for the championship. Keselowski continues to lead the standings, while Edwards continues to be his closest competitor. This week, NASCAR penalized the two drivers for rough racing in last Saturday’s race which saw Edwards in victory lane while Keselowski wrecked after leading the most laps. This week, Keselowski leads the standings by 168 points after Edwards was also penalized 60 championship driver points.

“We’ve been strong on the short tracks this season,” Keselowski said. “I think ORP is a great place for us to regain some of the momentum we have lost over the last couple of races. We had a pretty big lead in the points heading into Chicago and we’ve seen that dwindle a bit. When you have two weeks like we’ve had it makes you thankful that you had a big lead. It would be different if we weren’t competitive over the last few weeks, but that’s not the case. Paul Wolfe and all the guys continue to give me fast Discount Tire Dodges. We’re definitely not in a slump, but we need to get back on track.”

By the way, Edwards is the defending race winner.

“To be coming back there Saturday night as the defending race winner means a lot to me,” he said. “Hopefully we can have a good run at what I think is one of the greatest race tracks in the country.”

TV coverage of the Kroger 200 benefiting Riley Hospital for Children at O’ Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis begins Saturday night at 7:30 on ESPN.

photo credit: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

NASCAR placed both drivers on probation until December 31st. Edwards was also  penalized with the loss of 60 Nationwide Series championship (driver) points and fined $25,000. In addition, Edward’s car owner, Jack Roush was penalized with the loss of 60 series championship owner points.

Was it just a case of “hard racing” or did Edwards wreck race leader Brad Keselowski for the win?

Keselowski and Edwards lined up 1-2 for the final restart and as the green flag waved, they raced side-by-side, trading the lead back and forth until contact between the two sent Keselowski spinning.

Edwards: “I just couldn’t let him take the win from me. My guys work way too hard for that.”

Keselowski: “He turned left into me and wrecked me on purpose. I gave him the lane, and he still wrecked me.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZY-ZeQU9yg

Edwards scored a series-leading third win at Gateway International Raceway and first of the season. Keselowski spun across the finish line as he was hit by oncoming traffic, finishing 14th, after having the dominant car through the race and leading a race-high 136 of 200 laps.

We know it’s not the first time the two have tangled. Edwards served a three race probation in March after wrecking Keselowski at the March Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta.

photo credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

Was it a case of “hard racing” or did Carl Edwards intentionally wreck Brad Keselowski to win Saturday night’s race?  It’s not the first time the two have had on-track shuffles.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz9OXptTwVQ

Edwards: “I just couldn’t let him take the win from me. My guys work way too hard for that.”

Keselowski: “He turned left into me and wrecked me on purpose. I gave him the lane, and he still wrecked me.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHYFzueLki8

Edwards served a three-race probation after the following on-track incident this past March at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCb7iIOY-PA

Keselowski: “To come back and just intentionally wreck someone, that’s not cool. He could have killed someone in the grandstands.”

Edwards: “I know Brad has made his career on being super-aggressive. We both had a part in it and it’s not his fault, but it’s just a little too aggressive overall, I think, for that early in the race and caused us to wreck.”

photo credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images

Was it just a case of “hard racing” or did Edwards wreck race leader Brad Keselowski for the win?

Keselowski and Edwards lined up 1-2 for the final restart and as the green flag waved, they raced side-by-side, trading the lead back and forth until contact between the two sent Keselowski spinning.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz9OXptTwVQ

Edwards: “I just couldn’t let him take the win from me. My guys work way too hard for that.”

Keselowski: “He turned left into me and wrecked me on purpose. I gave him the lane, and he still wrecked me.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHYFzueLki8

Edwards scored a series-leading third win at Gateway International Raceway and first of the season. It’s his 27th series win, tying with Jeff Burton for 5th on the all-time wins list.

Keselowski spun across the finish line as he was hit by oncoming traffic, finishing 14th, after having the dominant car through the race and leading a race-high 136 of 200 laps.

We know it’s not the first time the two have tangled. Edwards served a three race probation in March after wrecking Keselowski at the March Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta.

Reed Sorenson scored a runner-up finish. Polesitter Trevor Bayne finished third after leading 19 laps himself. Paul Menard was fourth followed by Steve Wallace, Brian Scott, Colin Braun, Josh Wise, Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Tony Raines finished in the top-10.

In his series debut, Martin Truex Jr’s younger brother Ryan finished 28th. After running solidly in the top-10 for much of the race, a blown tire sent him into the wall and crashing out with twenty-two laps remaining.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

There were 6 cautions for 30 laps and 12 lead changes among 4 drivers: T. Bayne 1-2; Brad Keselowski 3-46; T. Bayne 47-51; Brad Keselowski 52-119; C. Edwards 120-121; K. Harvick 122-127; C. Edwards 128-141; Brad Keselowski 142-147; C. Edwards 148-168; Brad Keselowski 169-180; T. Bayne 181-192; Brad Keselowski 193-198; C. Edwards 199-200

photo credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR

Busch dominated the race leading 110 of the race’s 203 total laps, but the win didn’t come too easily for him. Starting eighth, Busch quickly took the lead for the first time on lap 10. After the first round of pit stops, he was penalized for speeding on pit road and had to restart at the tail end of the lead lap cars. Once again, Busch had to work his way back to the front only to lose the lead to Logano with 52 laps remaining. It was a similar scenario last year, but Logano was able to secure the win.

“It wasn’t easy. We didn’t have the track position when it mattered, and the car got really, really tight. But these guys didn’t give up,” Busch said. “I knew I couldn’t spin my tires and knew I couldn’t let him (referring to Joey Logano) force me too high. It was dirty up there. I was able to keep it low enough to stay out of that and get in front of Joey.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=is-abrQKXao

It’s the 37th series win for Busch, second on the all-time win list behind Mark Martin’s 48 victories.

It didn’t sound like a popular win as fans booed Busch from the grandstands. “I don’t know if they didn’t like my burn-out or they’re not Busch fans,” Busch said in Victory Lane. The win was sure to be popular with his fiance’s family and friends, who are from close-by in the area.

For the runner-up, Joey Logano lead twice for 51 laps. “Kyle just did a good job,” Logano said. “He did what he was supposed to. He door-jammed me into the turn and got me loose. He beat me. I’m embarrassed more than anything else.”

Points leader Brad Keselowski ran out of gas just as the field was about to take the green flag for the final restart. Even after starting second and spending the entire evening in the top-10, Keselowski had to settle for a 21st place finish. “Momma said there would be days like this,” Keselowski said. “I ran out of gas here last year which broke my string of top-10 finishes and I’ll be damned if I didn’t do it again.”

Keselowski now leads the standings by 227 points over 2nd place driver, Carl Edwards. Edwards finished sixth and was credited with leading one lap.

Rookie Brian Scott finished third followed by David Reutimann, Jason Leffler, Edwards, polesitter Harvick, Reed Sorenson, Jamie McMurray and Justin Allgaier inside the top-10.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

There were 5 cautions for 20 laps and 14 lead changes among 7 drivers: K. Harvick 1-9; K. Busch 10-55; Brad Keselowski 56; C. Edwards 57; J. Allgaier 58-59; Brad Keselowski 60-80; K. Busch 81-134; Brad Keselowski 135-136; J. Allgaier 137-138; B. Gaughan 139; K. Busch 140-147; J. Logano 148-187; Brad Keselowski 188-190; J. Logano 191-201; K. Busch 202-203

Danica Patrick scored her best finish in her fifth race after finishing 24th, two laps down. She lost a lap early and then would have to make an unscheduled pit stop for a flat tire with four laps remaining.

photo credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images

“I definitely learned a lot,” Patrick said. “It was really nice to run a clean race with no accidents, really, especially in the first part. It’s so tough when you spin at the beginning of the race, but we didn’t do that, so we just trucked along.”

The series will head to Gateway International Raceway next Saturday, July 19th.

photo credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Coming off of a win last week, Kevin Harvick remains on top of the point standings. “With our current situation in the points,” Harvick said. “We are going to do all we can to give ourselves an opportunity to win each week.”

Harvick has held onto the points lead after the past eight races. At the half-way point of the season, Harvick has scored 2 wins, eight top-5 and thirteen top 10-finishes plus he is on a streak of four top-5 finishes in the past 5 races. In addition, he’s the only driver to average a top-10 finish (8.1) this season.

Harvick excels at Chicagoland. In his 9 races there, he has posted two wins, five top-5 and six top-10 finishes. “Every time we go back there it seems like it just fits our program and my driving style and everything that we do,” Harvick said.

Winning races will be important to Harvick over the next seven races. Following the Richmond night race, the top-12 drivers will be locked in to compete for the championship. Once that happens, points will be reset based according to wins first. At this time, Harvick would be ranked third behind Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin, who have both scored a series leading five wins this season.

There hasn’t been a repeat winner in the past 5 races. Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart are the only two drivers with multiple race wins at Chicagoland. Harvick won the first two races held at the track in July of 2001 and 2002. Stewart won in July of 2004 and 2007.

TV coverage of the Lifelock.com 400 starts at 6:30 this Saturday evening on TNT.
400.5 miles = 267 laps
2009 Pole Winner: Brian Vickers
Defending Race Winner: Mark Martin
Qualifying is scheduled for Friday at 5:05 pm

The Nationwide Series also has reached the mid-point of the season after 17 races. Brad Keselowski currently leads the standings by 277 points over 2nd place driver, Carl Edwards. Keselowski and Edwards are both driving full-time in the series. Kyle Busch has a series leading six wins this season, but has decided not to pull “double-duty” and race in both series. Still, Busch is fourth in the series standings. On a side note, the Nationwide Series doesn’t have a play-off system like the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

And yes… Danica Patrick will race in the series this Friday night at Chicagoland. It will be her fifth race of the thirteen she’s planning to run this season.

TV coverage of the Dollar General 300 powered by Coca-Cola starts at 7:30 this Friday night on ESPN.
300 miles = 200 laps
2009 Pole Winner: Joey Logano
Defending Race Winner: Carl Edwards
Qualifying is set for Friday at 3:05 pm

Weekend Weather Forecast for Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL:
Friday: Partly Cloudy with a Hi 85 and a Low 63
Saturday: Mostly Sunny with a Hi 85 and a Low 63
Sunday: Party Cloudy with a Hi 87 and a Low 67

courtesy of Weather Bug (click here for full weather forecast)

2010 Season Stats (after 17 races):

• 7 different race winners
• 12 different Coors Light Pole winners
• 46 drivers led at least one lap
• 31 drivers have scored at least one top 10
• Average Margin of Victory of 1.294 seconds
• 11 races with an Margin Of Victory under 1 second
• Average of 12 leaders per race
• Average of 28 lead changes per race
• Average of 43 green flag passes for the lead all along the track (highest through 18 races since the inception of Loop Data in 2005)
• Average of 3,613 green flag passes per race (highest through 18 races since the inception of Loop Data in 2005)
• 50% of the cars finished on the lead lap
• 78% of the cars were running at the finish
• All four manufacturers are in the top 12; three have won at least one race

photo credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR

“I was so worried that I wasn’t going to win, ’cause nothing but a win would get it—for everybody,” Earnhardt said. “I worked hard to try to win, not only for daddy—I’m proud of him going to the Hall of Fame, and he would be proud of this, I’m sure, but just all these fans. I hope they enjoyed this. This is it. No more 3 for me. That’s it.”

Earnhardt led 33 of 102 total laps Friday night on the way to his sixth series victory at the historic track, one less than his father’s seven series victories there.

After a third place starting spot, Earnhardt jumped out in the lead for the first time on lap 3, but it was short-lived. He didn’t have the car to beat until late in the race once grabbing the lead on lap 70.

photo credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

With less than 5 laps remaining, Paul Menard brought out the fourth and final caution after hitting the wall, sending debris from a blown tire all over the race track. It set up a green, white, checkered finish which gave the field one more chance at passing Earnhardt. There were no takers.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKTJHT8bXFs

“I was just relieved,” Earnhardt Jr said. “Victory Lane’s like when you’re a little kid and you’ve got a tree house or you and your buddies got a clubhouse in the woods. That’s what Victory Lane is to me, and I like going there. You miss it really bad, but you know it’s there and you can get back there again if you try really hard.”

It’s his 23rd victory in 115 races in the Nationwide Series and first since Michigan in 2006. His last Sprint cup Series victory also came at Michigan in 2008, 85 races ago.

“Every time I win, I just soak it up like a sponge,” he said.

Joey Logano lined up behind Earnhardt on the final restart, but was unable to make a move around the 3.

“I probably gained a lot of fans tonight by pushing the 3 to victory, but I’d much rather be in Victory Lane,” Logano said. “It’s cool to see the 3 in Victory Lane at Daytona. It’s really neat. A lot of people thought they would never see that again.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr finished 3rd followed by points leader Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Brian Ickler and Steve Arpin rounded out the top-10.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

The race marked the debut of the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger in the series. Both cars will be integrated full-time next season.

There were 4 cautions for 16 laps and 13 lead changes among 8 drivers: B. Keselowski 1-11; K. Harvick 12-13; C. Edwards 14-15; C. Bowyer 16-26; B. Keselowski 27-31; K. Busch 32-33; K. Harvick 34; K. Busch 35-40; J. Logano 41; C. Bowyer 42-47; K. Busch 48-49; J. Allgaier 50-60; K. Busch 61-69; D. Earnhardt Jr. 70-102