Tony Stewart leads halfway through NASCAR race in Phoenix

The battle for NASCAR's Sprint Cup title went off as advertised Sunday.

Tony Stewart, who started the day trailing Carl Edwards by only three points in the championship standings, was leading at the halfway point of the Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

But Edwards kept up the pressure, running a close third behind Stewart and second-place Matt Kenseth, who was the race pole-sitter.

Stewart was aggressive from the moment the green flag waved, charging from his eighth-place starting spot to the lead in less than 40 laps of the 312-lap race on the one-mile Phoenix oval.

Brad Keselowski was fourth and A.J. Allmendinger fifth. Kyle Busch, who started near the back of the 43-car field, had climbed to 13th. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 23rd.

Overall, though, passing proved difficult for the drivers and much of the racing was single file on the newly repaved Phoenix International layout.

This is the next-to-last race in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup title playoff; the finale is next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

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--Jim Peltz in Avondale, Ariz.

Photo: The field takes the green flag Sunday at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway. Credit: Christian Petersen / Getty Images

NASCAR's Rick Hendrick breaks four ribs in plane incident

NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick broke four ribs and his clavicle when his team's business jet made a hard landing in Key West, Fla., Hendrick Motorsports said in an update Wednesday.

Hendrick, 62, was admitted to a medical facility near his home in Charlotte, N.C., on Tuesday "due to discomfort from the injuries" but was expected to be released by the end of the week, the team said.

Hendrick Motorsports, based in Concord, N.C., initially said Hendrick broke one rib and his clavicle when the Gulfstream G150 ran off the runway at Key West International Airport on Monday night due to unspecified "braking issues."

Hendrick's wife, Linda, sustained "minor cuts and bruises" in the incident, and the plane's two pilots were not injured, the team said. All four were taken to Lower Keys Medical Center and later released.

"Linda and I have been overwhelmed by all the words of encouragement and genuine concern we've received," Hendrick said in a statement.

"I'm so proud of how our pilots handled the situation, and we're extremely appreciative of the folks in Key West who went above and beyond to help us," he said.

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-- Jim Peltz

Photo: Federal investigators Tuesday inspect the airplane that skidded off the runway at Key West (Fla.) International Airport on Monday night, injuring NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick and his wife. Credit: Ron O'Neal / Key West Citizen / Associated Press

NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick, wife OK after plane crash

A Gulfstream jet carrying Rick Hendrick, one of NASCAR's most successful team owners, his wife Linda and two pilots ran off a runway in Key West, Fla., on Monday night but "there were no serious injuries," Hendrick Motorsports said.

The G150 jet was "experiencing brake issues upon landing at Key West International Airport," the team said, adding that all four people aboard "were taken to a local hospital for evaluation."

"Hendrick Motorsports is gathering additional information on the incident," the team said.

Four of the leading drivers in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series drive for Hendrick: Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin.

The incident occurred seven years after Hendrick's 24-year-old son, Ricky, Hendrick's brother John and two of Hendrick's nieces, along with six others, were killed when their small plane crashed on the way a race in Martinsville, Va.

-- Jim Peltz

Photo: The Gulfstream aircraft carrying Rick Hendrick and his wife after it ran off the runway Monday night in Key West, Fla. Credit: Evan Calhoun / Monroe County (Fla.) Sheriff's Office / Associated Press

NASCAR's Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his dad and hanging back in a race

Trying to avoid wrecks, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and teammate Jimmie Johnson, the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, hung back in the field for much of the race last weekend at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

But the strategy misfired when the Hendrick Motorsports drivers couldn't charge back to the front in time before Clint Bowyer took the checkered flag, and Earnhardt and Johnson finished a disappointing 25th and 26th.

When Earnhardt met with reporters Friday in advance of Sunday's race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, he was asked what his father -- the late seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt, known as "The Intimidator" -- would have thought if "somebody told him to ride around in the back until the end of the race."

"I don’t really want to answer that because I think you know the answer," Earnhardt replied, according to a transcript from Team Chevy.

Earnhardt then explained that the Hendrick teams collectively made the decision to be so cautious and "given the opportunity to run that race over, we would have just thrown ourselves into the fight and tried to run as hard as we could and taken whatever risks needed to be taken to stay toward the front."

You know, like his father raced.

"Hindsight is 20/20, but when we get that opportunity again, I don’t think that’s a strategy we’ll ever use again," Earnhardt said.

As for his dad, "I’m certain that a lot of things would be different if the old man was still around," he said.

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Photo: Dale Earnhardt Jr. before practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Oct. 21. Credit: Jeff Zelevansky /Getty Images

IndyCar launches probe of Dan Wheldon crash, plans memorial Sunday

The Izod IndyCar Series said Tuesday it launched an investigation into the horrific 15-car wreck that claimed the life of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon in Las Vegas.

"We hope to have preliminary findings to report within the next several weeks," IndyCar said. "In the meantime, it would be inappropriate to comment further until the investigative team has had the opportunity to conclude its work."

Wheldon, 33, succumbed to injuries Sunday when his car was involved in the crash early in a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

IndyCar also said it would hold a public memorial service to celebrate Wheldon's life Sunday at Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.

IndyCar said the governing body for Formula One racing, along with the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States, an umbrella organization of racing sanctioning bodies, would assist in the probe.

"The safety of our drivers, their crews, IndyCar staff, racetrack staff and spectators is always our paramount concern," the series said.

Wheldon's death sparked debate about whether it was too dangerous for 34 cars to be traveling at 220 mph and faster at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval. NASCAR stock-car racing champion Jimmie Johnson suggested IndyCar avoid oval tracks.

But two legendary open-wheel drivers, A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti, defended oval racing.

"I don't think Jimmie Johnson knows what he's talking about," Foyt, a four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, told USA Today. "You could say the same about stock cars. I've drove both, and I've been hurt real bad in both."

Andretti told the newspaper that Wheldon's crash was "a fluke, freakish accident" and that while there is always room for safety improvements, to say "we don't have the knowledge to make these things safe enough for ovals is absolutely absurd."

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Photo: Workers hang a tribute banner to Dan Wheldon above the gate at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday. Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

NASCAR's Jimmie Johnson to crew chief: No cheerleading please

Jimmie Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, is widely viewed as perhaps the brainiest crew chief in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and a key reason why Johnson has won a record five consecutive championships.

But Knaus' ability to be Johnson's cheerleader? Not so much, Johnson said.

Johnson and Knaus raised eyebrows Sept. 25 when they got testy with each other on the radio during the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

As Johnson struggled to an 18th-place finish in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Knaus tried to urge him on. Johnson wanted none of it.

That was the second race in the 10-race Chase for the Cup title playoff, and afterward Johnson dropped to 10th in the standings, his lowest position ever in the Chase.

But Johnson finished second the following week at Dover, Del., jumped to fifth in the standings and is only 13 points behind co-leaders Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards ahead of Sunday's race at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway.

So are things smoother now between Johnson and Knaus?

"People overreacted [to the radio chatter] and Chad has never been a good cheerleader and I just kind of needed to remind him of that at New Hampshire," Johnson told reporters Friday before practice at Kansas, according to a Team Chevy transcript.

"We talk about stuff all the time, good and bad, that's good races and bad races," Johnson said.

"If you had a microphone and heard a quarterback and head coach conversation, I'm sure it would be a lot more sharp and pointed than what I said to him," Johnson said.

NASCAR's Chase leads weekend's motor racing

A bit of controversy hangs over the start of NASCAR’s Chase for the Cup, the 10-race championship playoff that opens Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.

Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, with four wins apiece in the Sprint Cup Series so far this season, lead the 12 drivers in the Chase with 2,012 points each. Four-time champion Jeff Gordon follows with 2,009.

Harvick won last week’s race in Richmond, Va., after his Richard Childress Racing teammate Paul Menard spun out late in the race to bring out a caution flag. Harvick then beat Gordon off pit road and held off Gordon for the victory.

Gordon later said the timing of Menard’s spinout was “a little fishy,” and NASCAR President Mike Helton said the sanctioning body would look into it.

But team owner Richard Childress said in a statement Friday “there were no team orders” given to Menard to spin to help Harvick's cause and that Menard “wouldn’t have spun out on purpose even if he had been asked.”

Jimmie Johnson, aiming for a record sixth consecutive title, also is back in the Chase along with 2004 champion Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch’s older brother.

Johnson and Kurt Busch have had a running feud in recent weeks, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- another Chase contender and teammate of Johnson's at Hendrick Motorsports-- was asked Friday if he was curious about how the Johnson-Busch spat might play out this weekend.

“It bores the [expletive] out of me, to be honest,” Earnhardt said. “I’ve got my own damn problems to worry about.”

The Izod IndyCar Series, meanwhile, is racing Sunday for the final time at the Twin Ring Motegi track in Japan, where Danica Patrick won her only IndyCar event in 2008. Patrick is moving to NASCAR stock-car racing next year.

With three races left in the season, the IndyCar championship is coming down to a battle between current point leader Dario Franchitti, who is shooting for his third consecutive championship and fourth overall, and Team Penske’s Will Power, who is only five points behind Franchitti and seeking his first title.

In drag racing, the six-race title playoff in the National Hot Rod Assn.’s Full Throttle Series opens this weekend with the O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals in Charlotte, N.C.

Del Worsham currently leads the NHRA’s top-fuel class by 30 points over Antron Brown, and Mike Neff leads the funny car division by 30 points over Jack Beckman. The series finale is Nov. 10-13 at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.

And on Saturday night, late-model stock cars make their last appearance of the season as part of a multi-race lineup at the half-mile Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. Brandon Davis of Huntington Beach currently leads the point standings in that series.

The Formula One series is off this weekend ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix on Sept. 25.

--Jim Peltz

Photo: NASCAR drivers Jimmie Johnson, left, and Jeff Gordon take in the sights of Chicago ahead of Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway that opens NASCAR's Chase title playoff. Credit: David Banks/Getty Images

 

Paul Menard wins Brickyard 400 for first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win

Paul Menard joined a list of drivers capturing their first victory in NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup Series this season by winning the Brickyard 400 on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Menard, a 30-year-old Wisconsin native who drives for the team of Richard Childress Racing, passed defending Brickyard 400 winner Jamie McMurray with five laps left in the 160-lap race and then held off Jeff Gordon for the victory.

Menard's win came in his 167th career Cup start, and it was especially sweet because his family, which owns the Mendards home-improvement chain, has raced for years in the Indianapolis 500 open-wheel race.

"I can't believe I won at Indy," Menard said in a television interview after climbing out of his yellow No. 27 Chevrolet. "[There's] a lot of emotion right now."

Gordon, the only four-time winner of the Brickyard 400, finished second in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Regan Smith, who won his first Cup race this year at Darlington, S.C., was third and McMurray ended up fourth in a race where many of the leaders were forced to conserve fuel in the closing stages to reach the checkered flag.

Matt Kenseth was fifth and two-time Brickyard 400 winner Tony Stewart finished sixth.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 16th, pole-sitter David Ragan was 23rd and Jimmie Johnson, the reigning Cup champion and three-time Brickyard 400 winner, finished 19th.

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--Jim Peltz, reporting from Indianapolis

Photo: Paul Menard does a burnout after winning the NASCAR Brickyard 400 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. Credit: Jerry Markland / Getty Images

NASCAR from Daytona to Irwindale on tap for July 4 weekend

Most major motor-racing series are idle over the July 4 weekend, but NASCAR's top series returns to its most famous track, Daytona International Speedway, on Saturday night while one of its minor-league series does the same at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader Carl Edwards leads the field for the Coke Zero 400 at the high-banked, 2.5-mile Daytona super-speedway.

Drivers again are expected to pair up in two-car drafts as they did in the season-opening Daytona 500 in February, when Trevor Bayne, who had just turned 20, won the race in a huge upset.

Bakersfield native Kevin Harvick, who won the July race at Daytona a year ago, is in second place in the Cup standings, 25 points behind Edwards, and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson is 33 points behind in third.

NASCAR's second-level Nationwide Series also is racing at Daytona on Friday night, where Danica Patrick will again take a weekend off from her IndyCar schedule to drive in a Nationwide event.

Patrick already has driven in more than a dozen NASCAR races and there is widespread speculation that Patrick will leave IndyCar next season to race stock cars full-time.

Also on Saturday night, the half-mile Irwindale track near the intersection of the 605 and 210 freeways will host NASCAR K&N Pro Series West drivers in the Southern California Toyota Dealers 200.

Greg Pursley of Newhall leads the K&N Pro Series West title standings after winning four of the series' first six races this season.

The Izod IndyCar Series, the NHRA Full Throttle drag-racing series and Formula One are all off this weekend.

When they resume July 10, IndyCar will race on the streets of Toronto, the NHRA will be in Joliet, Ill., and Formula One will be at the Silverstone circuit for the British Grand Prix.

-- Jim Peltz

Photo: Trevor Bayne, front, leads Carl Edwards, David Gilliland and Bobby Labonte to win the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20. Credit: Glenn Smith/Associated Press 

Joey Logano wins pole position for NASCAR race in Sonoma

Joey Logano hustled his No. 20 Toyota around the 10-turn Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., faster than anyone else Friday to win the pole position for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

The driver for Joe Gibbs Racing turned a lap of 93.256 mph on the 1.99-mile track nestled in the hillsides of Sonoma's wine country.

Jamie McMurray was second at 93.223 mph and will start alongside Logano on the first row in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Jimmie Johnson, the reigning Cup champion and defending winner of the race, qualified 12th and Dale Earnhardt Jr., his teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, was 18th.

"We made some good adjustments [after practice] and found good speed in the car," said Logano, who by his own admission is more capable on ovals than twisty road courses such as Infineon. "This is the last place I figured we'd get a pole."

Five-time Sonoma winner Jeff Gordon qualified 13th in the 43-car field, Logano teammate Kyle Busch will start 19th and Carl Edwards, who leads the Cup point standings, qualified 23rd.

The race begins at noon PDT on Sunday.

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--Jim Peltz in Sonoma, Calif.

Photo: NASCAR driver Joey Logano in practice Friday before winning the pole for Sunday's race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Credit: Ben Margot/Associated Press

NASCAR's Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants to like Sonoma track

It's no secret that Dale Earnhardt Jr. and curvy road courses don't mix well, but the popular NASCAR driver wants to change that.

Amid a resurgence in Earnhardt's performance this season -- he's third in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series championship point standings -- Earnhardt said he wants that improvement to extend even to the 10-turn Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, site of Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Asked Friday what his hopes were for this weekend, Earnhardt replied, “To make it my favorite place and go out there and be fast and competitive.

"We want to go out there and be a factor all day and look forward to coming back next year," said Earnhardt, who has never finished in the top 10 in 11 starts at Infineon.

Earnhardt, who drives for Hendrick Motorsports, has gone three years without a win but so far this season has eight top-10 finishes.

Earnhardt also said he'd patched things up with teammate Mark Martin after contact with Martin's car sent Earnhardt into the wall at last Sunday's race at Michigan International Speedway.

"It's good," Earnhardt said. "We handled it after the race and talked a little bit and texted each other back and forth. Everything's cool."

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-- Jim Peltz in Sonoma, Calif.

Photo: Dale Earnhardt Jr. during practice Friday for the NASCAR race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., on Sunday. Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images