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JIMMIE JOHNSON/No.48 Chevrolet finally put the road race monkey off his back Sunday at Infineon Raceway for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Toyota/Save Mart 350 race at Infineon Raceway. It was his first road course victory in 17 starts, and his fifty-first career win, putting him tenth in overall NASCAR Cup wins.

Johnson started second in the race, and got bonus points for leading the most laps – three times for 55 laps, exactly half of the race. He is now second in the points.

For MARCOS AMBROSE/No.47 Toyota, the race was his to lose and he did. He literally switched off his lead, and finished sixth. During the last caution (for BRAD KESELOWSKI/No.12 Dodge spinning in Turn Seven) Ambrose was leading going uphill into Turn Two, and he turned off his car – as drivers do to save fuel – and couldn’t switch it back on. NASCAR rules say the leader must “maintain speed”. It was a huge tactical error on Ambrose’s part. Second place Johnson was put into the lead and Ambrose relegated back to seventh. The Aussie had already turned the fastest race time on Lap 97. On the white flag lap he again was fastest and moved up to sixth.

Johnson said he thought Ambrose had a major problem. “I was pressuring him, hoping for a mistake. But it was the last type of mistake I would expect to see. Most guys shut off cars going down hill. Going up hill was the last thing I would have expected. If they put him back in front of me, I would have raised hell on the radio. I feel bad for him and his team owners. I couldn’t get by him, so it was a gift handed to us. I’m not saying I was content to be in second, but I clearly had nothing for him. I said OK, I’ll take this and off I went and had a great day.”

CHAD KNAUS, Johnson’s long-time Crew Chief, said “I hate it for those guys (Ambrose’s team). They had the best car today, especially on the short runs. They did a good job, they really did. It’s tough to lose ‘em like that sometimes. But we’ll take it for the victory for us, for sure.”

Ambrose was understandably succinct after the race. “I’m disappointed. It’s NASCAR’s house and I’ll always play by the rules. I don’t agree with it, I don’t like it and that’s only because I lost the race.”

The switch from Ambrose to Johnson as leader, even if under caution, counted as a lead change, which set a new Infineon record for lead changes – 12. Eight drivers led.

Second through fifth finishers were ROBBY GORDON/No.7 Toyota, who won the 2003 Infineon race; Points Leader KEVIN HARVICK/No.29 Chevrolet; pole sitter KASEY KAHNE/No.9 Ford; and JEFF GORDON/No.24 Chevrolet. The Margin of Victory was 3.105 seconds.

KEVIN CONWAY/No.34 Ford was the top/only Rookie, finishing twenty-eighth after starting forty-first.

Road Race Ringers had mixed results. BORIS SAID/No.26 Ford, who has been running selected Cup races for several years, started seventeenth, led twice for eight laps and finished eighth. JAN MAGNUSSEN/No.09 Chevrolet made his NASCAR debut, starting thirty-second, ran as high as eighth and finished twelfth. MATTIAS EKSTROM/No.83 Toyota started thirty-eighth in his first-ever NASCAR race, led seven laps, and finished twenty-first. Veteran road racer, P.J. JONES/No.07 Toyota started thirty-fifth and finished forty first, retiring with electrical problems.

Seven cautions took 14 laps of racing from the 110 lap race. As things were OK on the white flag lap, no matter what happened there would have been no Green-White-Checkered Flag finish. Nothing happened.

So much for the NASCAR-promised Quickie Cautions. There were seven cautions, not all could be considered quick. And there was the Red Flag of 21 minutes, 18 seconds, which was triggered by a big crash on the fourth caution restart – Lap 66. The leaders got through, but back in the pack the cars piled into each other.

Five cars were involved in the Red Flag melee: DENNY HAMLIN/No.11 Toyota; MAX PAPIS/No.13 Toyota; MARTIN TRUEX/No.56 Toyota; SAM HORNISH, Jr/No.77 Dodge; and REGAN SMITH/No.78 Chevrolet. Afterwards, Truex said angry. “We got put in by Jeff Gordon.” Truex said Gordon has not apologized. “Of course Jeff said he didn’t mean it, but he did.” Truex’s unhappiness included the double file restarts. “Everybody just gets ridiculous. It’s just stupid, it’s uncalled for.”

Jeff Gordon said “Truex should be mad and I certainly owe him an apology. And whatever is coming back to me, I understand. When you blatantly get into a guy like that, you can say you are sorry all you want, and I certainly had no intention of what happened with him. I feel terrible because Martin races a lot of guys clean out there. He had a good run going and I ruined it for him. It was wild and crazy. I made a lot of guys mad today.

Papis said “I crashed in front of some people and people crashed in the back of me. It looked like someone in the front brake-checked. It was not like a normal accordion feeling. It was like a real stop.”


Johnson’s take on all the commotion behind him in the race. “I was so thankful to be up in front” listening to the radio telling what was going on behind him. “It was like listening to PRN from my two spotters telling me where all the stuff was.”

The race lasted nearly three hours. The crowd was estimated at 93,000 or 90,000, depending on which set of results you believe.

Unofficial Standings have Harvick still leading, 140 points ahead of Johnson. Third through fifth are KYLE BUSCH/No.18 Toyota; Hamlin; and Jeff Gordon.

All cars cleared Scrutineering. NASCAR took the No.48 Chevrolet, No.7 Toyota and No.1 Chevrolet back to Charlotte R&D Center, along with the engines from No.48 and No.1.

The overhead TV shots early on in the race, showing the cars parading through Turn Seven and into the Esses, were brilliant. It looked like a multi-colored sinuous snake oozing around the track.

Mea Culpa. I know I said the slowing down/braking was intense in Turn Eleven at Infineon Raceway. However, 1430 mph was a bit extreme. The correct figure is 140 mph.

During the Red Flag the emergency alarm system malfunctioned in the Media Center, so a piercing, annoying alarm went on for seemingly ten long, agonizing minutes. The track handed out ear plugs to the Media who couldn’t leave. Thank goodness for David Clarks. I could hear the talking heads but not the alarm.

While the 66 degree F temperature at Infineon Raceway didn’t reach the forecast 80 degrees, it was still nice and warm with blue skies and a bit more of a breeze. The drivers had their meeting, their Driver Intros and then the obligatory parade lap around the course in a convoy of red, white and blue Toyota Tundra trucks, all decked out with an American flag. It’s Father’s Day for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Toyota/Save Mart 350 race and many of the drivers are or about to be Fathers. The latest to so announce is JAMIE McMURRAY/No.1 Chevrolet.

Turn Eleven has been designated by Brembo Brakes as the NASCAR corner hardest on brakes. Consider this. The drivers are running at 140 mph coming into the last horseshoe before the front straight, and have to slow down to 37 mph. That’s hard on brakes. It’s also the corner where the brakes are on for the longest time – 4.9 seconds.

The second most difficult corner at Infineon is Turn Seven. The drivers are on the brakes for 1.7 seconds, after slowing from 116 mph to 45 mph.

Unless conditions warrant, NASCAR said the race cautions would be “quickies.”

One of the interesting Road Race experts making a one-off appearance this weekend is Dane JAN MAGNUSSEN/No.09 Chevrolet. He comes here via a circuitous (pun intended) route. Magnussen, who is a GM factory driver competing full time in the GT2 Corvette in the American Le Mans Series and Le Mans, was asked to help Hendrick (Hendrick Engines) to help develop the road race cars. Magnussen said he is the same size as MARK MARTIN/No.5 Chevrolet, and has tested four times at the Kershaw road course.

Magnussen said his Hendrick development work was not related to his being asked to run the Infineon race. The Phoenix Racing team is running Hendrick engines. The team is owned by JAMES FINCH, and there has been a lot of speculation as to who its 2011 driver will be. The name bandied about the most is the Infineon pole sitter, KASEY KAHNE, who has been signed to drive next year for RICK HENDRICK. The problem is that Hendrick already has four drivers, who aren’t going anywhere. Some speculation is that Kahne would drive for Finch for one year, until Hendrick had a driver vacancy.

Prior to Qualifying, Magnussen said that NASCAR qualifying is not how he normally qualifies. Here he just wanted to run a fast, safe lap. Magnussen qualified thirty-second.

Driving a stock car is unlike anything else, said Magnussen, who said he is very deliberate in his driving. The Cup car has only four gears. He agrees with SCOTT SPEED/No.82 Toyota that the view from a stock car is much better than from an open wheel car, even with all the body work and confining safety requirements. Both Magnussen and Speed have raced Formula One. Magnussen said he sits higher in the stock car, whereas the open wheel cars sit much lower on the track.

Magnussen, who has raced seven times at Infineon in sports cars but never the Corvette, said Infineon is a challenging course. He started racing with GM in 2004 as the third Corvette driver for endurance races, and full time in 2007. He co-drives with JOHNNY O’CONNELL.

The only oval Magnussen has raced was at Chicagoland with Champ Car. He started racing in the United States in 1999, and prior to that raced karts for seven years. Magnussen has raced in many different types of races, and has one yet left to try. He’d like to run the Baja off-road race, and there have been talks towards that end.

Due to a conflict with the Mid-Ohio ALMS race, Magnussen won’t be able to race the NASCAR Cup race at Watkins Glen.

DENNIS O’ DONNELL, local CBS sportscaster, had been covering the U.S. Open golf tournament at Pebble Beach but came to Infineon for Sunday. “Where else can I go from the serenity and peace of golf to the noise, lug nuts and grease of NASCAR?”

It’s a beautiful morning at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma CA for the first road course race of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. Everything is a somewhat relaxed, but taking care of business mode for the noon Toyota/Save Mart 350 race. At 9:30 am PT it’s already close to 60 warm degrees F with just a gentle breeze. The skies are blue and the paddock and vendor areas are packed.

The 43 cars in the race have to be in line for Scrutineering two hours before the race, i.e. 10 am local time. Those cars which have no excuse for not being in line on time are penalized 15 minutes of practice time at the next Cup race.

Sunday Tech is a much abbreviated process, mostly checking the body shapes with templates. Rarely is something found at this point except for damage to the car from previous sessions which can be adjusted before the car goes on track. The ‘killer day’ is Friday. Problems found in that Tech session must be rectified, and are written up for after-the-fact penalty consideration.

So far all cars are in the garage, and the area occasionally is ear-splitting loud while teams run their engines. Team chefs are preparing meals for the day. Remember the old adage that armies (teams) run on their stomachs.

NASCAR requires every driver to have a spotter for this race, and designates the spot up on the hill above Turn Two. Several NASCAR officials work with the spotters, taking roll to ensure 100 per cent attendance. No spotter – no race. For this road course race, some teams also place spotters on top of what is known as the Drag Tower, which over looks the exit of Turn Ten, entrance to pits and/or Turn Eleven, and the front straight.

NASCAR brings approximately 80 officials to each race to work in the pits, garages, Tech, and with the spotters, plus the medical staff. Many of these are full-time employees who have to come in early to set up and then stay to tear down, turn around and do it again the next week. NASCAR has an ongoing recruitment process which includes other race tracks and other series.

NASCAR trains all the local emergency and safety crews. It is a rigorous process including videos and reenactments. The crews are graded, and there is a debrief after each race.

Update on the JEFF GORDON fuel situation. Nothing further was found regarding the contaminated fuel the team found Friday morning in the No.24 Chevrolet, the fuel system was flushed and the car never went on track with the strange fuel mixture. No penalties will be assessed. Much ado about nothing. Case closed.

Several Cup drivers did double duty this weekend, commuting to Road America for Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide race: CARL EDWARDS, BRAD KESELOWSKI and PAUL MENARD. A couple of owners also had cars running in two series, besides the NNS race. CHIP GANASSI had his Grand-Am Rolex Series team running at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – it won with drivers SCOTT PRUETT and MEMO ROJAS in No.01 BMW Riley.

KEVIN BUCKLER, whose TRG team runs BOBBY LABONTE/No.71 Chevrolet in Sprint Cup, also runs sports cars in the Grand-Am series. This weekend Buckler remained at Infineon, while his TRG Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge team won the race after twenty-seventh in a field of 58 cars. STEVEN BERTHEAU and SPENCER PUMPELLI ran No.41 Porsche 997 in the GS class, besting 28 other cars in class. As it was a busy weekend already, Buckler eschewed running any cars in the Rolex Series GT class.

Buckler said it’s not easy going between the two series – two cultures. NASCAR requires more attention. The biggest difficulty is finding the NASCAR sponsorship. It’s like a “crying, hungry baby.” At the upcoming Daytona race, Buckler’s TRG teams will run both NASCAR and Grand-Am.

French Canadian driver, ANDREW RANGER/No.35 Chevrolet, led twice, for 17 laps and won the NASCAR K & N Series Thunder Valley Casino Resort 200 Race Saturday afternoon at Infineon Raceway. He had such a large margin ahead of PAULIE HARRAKA/No./12 Toyota that he still had a cushion of 6.059 seconds when he coasted to his checkered flag, after running out of fuel in sight of the starter. Ranger turned the second-fastest race lap of 1:19.758, only 0.007 seconds behind pole sitter JASON BOWLES/No.31Chevrolet.They were the only two drivers in the 1:19 range.

Pole sitter and hard-charging Bowles survived a crash which left his car looking like a battered ram and was running less than two seconds behind Ranger when he ran out of fuel coming out of Turn Eleven on the last lap. Despite his weaving to slosh fuel from the tank, he finished twenty-second. Bowles led the first 16 laps and turned the fastest race lap of 1:19.398/90.229 mph

Ironically, it was two-time Infineon winner Bowles that Ranger sought out at the recent K & N race in Mosport to seek advice and mentoring on how to run Infineon: Gear ratios, shifting patterns, etc.

Third through fifth were BRANDON DAVIS/No.10 Chevrolet; new points leader, ERIC HOLMES/No.20 Toyota; and Top Rookie, MICHAEL SELF/No.88 Chevrolet, who gained the most positions after starting twenty-second. He also led a lap.

Road Racer/Sprint Cup racer, BORIS SAID/No.57 Ford, started second and ran up front for many laps, leading laps 17-18. But he was caught out in a multi-car accident (are there any other kind in the aggressive, always-entertaining West Series?) not of his own making. He pitted and charged back up and then had another late race pit stop, which dropped him from third to twenty-third on Lap 58. He charged back up to finish fourteenth on Lap 64.

Road Racer/Sprint Cup debutant, MATTIAS EKSTROM of Sweden, ran his first-ever NASCAR race, but didn’t last long. He started eleventh, but drove his No.84 Toyota off course entering Turn Three on Lap 12 and retired, to finish thirty-sixth in a field of 37.

The race ran 1 hr, 50 mins, 30 secs and will be aired on SPEED TV Thursday June 24 2010 at 3 PM PT/6 PM ET. It was punctuated with six cautions for 14 of the 64 laps.

Ranger, whose command of the English language has significantly improved since his open wheel days in the Atlantic and Champ Car World Series, has switched to NASCAR and isn’t looking back.

He doesn’t see returning to open wheel racing, saying he’s having too much fun in stock cars. Besides, he added, “it’s so close to home and all my friends and family.” Ranger’s father ran dirt modified cars for 25-30 years.

This is the fourth year Ranger has run in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series – the official Canadian version of NASCAR. He won the championship in the inaugural season – 2007. He has also ran five NASCAR Nationwide Series races in 2008. Last year Ranger again ran the full Canadian Tire Series and won the championship. This year the economy has not been helpful, and the team for which Ranger had been racing folded. Ranger ran the Mosport Canadian Tire race, and is finalizing details to run the Montreal NNS race. He ran the Montreal NNS race last year, leading 15-20 laps and finishing third. Canadian reports say Ranger will run a Baker Curb Racing Dodge Charger in Montreal NAPA 200 Nationwide Series Presented by Dodge race. It’s all convoluted. Baker Curb, which has been running Roush/Yates Ford engines, has gone through two Crew Chiefs already, lost its tobacco sponsorship due to new anti-tobacco legislation, and have had GREG BIFFLE running selected races. This weekend Baker Curb ran Aussie OWEN KELLY in his first NNS race – he finished fifth. The #27 car has had several crew chiefs so far this season. The most recent #27 Crew Chief, RICKIE VIERS went to Roush Fenway Racing, and Canadian talk is that Dodge engines have been ordered from ERNIE ELLIOT, brother of BILL ELLIOTT. Stay tuned.

Ranger has run three races this year in the K & N Series, both the East and West categories. The car is owned by BOB TORIERRE and the Team Manager is STEVE HEBERT. It was Hebert who called Ranger to run the American NASCAR races. The race shop is in Vermont, about 40 miles from Ranger’s home town of Roxton Pond, Quebec. The team didn’t have a NNS car, for Ranger to run at this weekend’s inaugural NNS race at Road America, and Ranger doesn’t have any other rides this season…so far.

Ranger ran Iowa, finishing P28 after a flat tire, and fifth at Martinsville two weeks ago. By winning the West Series race Saturday, he earned himself a slot for the post-season Toyota All-Star Showdown at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. In order to qualify for this race a driver must be a race winner in either of the K & N Series, or win the championship in a NASCAR Touring Series.

Ranger compared the two kinds of NASCAR race cars. The Canadian car has a fiberglass body and is much lighter, has different brakes, different gear ratios, etc. They are not similar. The Canadian Series is quite large and runs on a variety of tracks. Ranger said he’s learned a lot about NASCAR from running the Canadian Tire Series.

Ranger tested at Lime Rock Park and likes that track. He learned a lot, so when he got to Infineon, it only took him 15-20 laps to learn the track.

Ranger’s next K&N East Series races are at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon NH, and then Lime Rock Park in Lakeville CT.

Saturday morning’s weather at Infineon Raceway was warmer (63F), less breezy, with hazy blue skies. The NASCAR Sprint Cup teams had two morning practice sessions. MARCOS AMBROSE/No.47 Toyota was the fastest in both sessions, turning his fastest lap in the first 45-minute practice. Now the Sprint Cup drivers are through for the day, giving them time to relax and get ready for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 race, which starts at noon PT/3 PM ET.

Second through fifth in the first session were JEFF BURTON/No.31 Chevrolet, A.J. ALLMENDINGER/No.43 Ford; JIMMIE JOHNSON/No.48 Chevrolet; and MARTIN TRUEX, Jr/No.56 Toyota. This session had cautions for Rookie KEVIN CONROY/No.34 Ford running out of gas on track, and SAM HORNISH, Jr/No.77 Dodge spinning into the wall between Turns Ten and Eleven. No caution for the spin by BOBBY LABONTE/No.71 Chevrolet in Turn 11.

Second through fifth in the final, so-called ‘Happy Hour’ session were JAMIE McMURRAY/No.1 Chevrolet; Burton; Johnson, and KEVIN HARVICK/No.29 Chevrolet. This session was interrupted for a long caution to clean up oil in Turn Two which caught out DALE EARNHARDT/No.88 Chevrolet and A.J. ALLMENDINGER/No.43 Ford.

BILL ELLIOTT was the stand-in driver Saturday for two Fords – No.98 for PAUL MENARD, and No.99 for CARL EWARDS. Elliott wore his Menards suit in both cars, as he’d not brought his Edwards suit. Awesome Bill fits well in both cars, with little adjustment. Edwards, Menard and BRAD KESELOWSKI were at Road America for the NASCAR Nationwide Series inaugural road race. Keselowski had Penske Racing teammate, KURT BUSCH, run his car at Infineon. Edwards took the NNS pole Saturday morning for the Road America 200 Saturday afternoon race. Menard will start eighth, and Keselowski, current NNS points leader, qualified thirteenth.

Of the ‘Road Race Ringers’ – JAN MAGNUSSEN/No.09 Chevrolet was sixteenth in P1 and tenth in P2; MATTIAS EKSTROM/No.83 Toyota was thirty-first in P1 and twentieth in P2; BORIS SAID/No.26 Ford was thirtieth in P1 and twenty-sixth in P2; and PJ JONES/No.07 Toyota was thirty-second in P1 and thirty-eighth in P2.

GREG BIFFLE/No.16 Ford said he agreed with previous statements by JEFF BURTON.No.31 Chevrolet, who said that Road Race Ringers drive differently.

Biffle said “They don’t race the same as NASCAR drivers. It’s a different culture over there. This is especially true when you’re coming up on these guys. He doesn’t know or doesn’t care that you’re there.”

One of those Ringers, Ekstrom, had a different perspective when discussing contact in NASCAR versus the European DTM series in which he competes. “There’s a lot of contact in DTM. The driving style in Europe is way different to here. Here drivers have a lot more respect for each other. Leave each other — give each other room. At the end of races, everything gets tough. This is like this everywhere. But, here, you can do nearly a whole race racing hard and fair. And then in the end of the race, after the last pit stop, everything gets a bit harder. But, at our place, it’s hard from the beginning because the races are shorter.”

Going forward after this weekend, No.83 Red Bull Racing Toyota will be raced by REED SORENSON, who is filling in for BRIAN VICKERS, who has taken off the rest of the Cup season to deal with his blood clotting issues. CASEY MEARS substituted in the last two races, but was replaced after last week’s race at Michigan when he twice hit his teammate, SCOTT SPEED/No.84 Toyota in the race. Thursday at a media conference, Speed said he didn’t know what happened with the Mears incident, and he was asking himself if he’d done something wrong. Speed says he still doesn’t know. “Wrecking a teammate while racing hard is one thing, but that’s different than an intentional hit.”

Ekstrom also ran the Saturday afternoon K&N Pro Series West Thunder Valley Casino Resort 200 Race. He started eleventh, but went off course on Lap Three, and played catchup thereafter. That 64-lap race is still in progress. Stay tuned.

Losing Vickers as a teammate has been hard on Speed and the team. “It hurts the growth process.” Vickers has been at the races and helps as much as he can without being in the car.” Speed admitted he’s not involved in the race strategy – “I just drive fast.”

Friday afternoon at Infineon Raceway, KASEY KAHNE drove the wheels off his red No.9 Ford to grab the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Toyota/Save Mart 350 Race. Kahne, last year’s Infineon victor, turned a lap of lap was 93.893 mph/76.30. The ride looked like it was on the wild side, but Kahne said he was in control. He admitted that he had at least one wheel on the ground at any given time. “They are heavy cars so they come down quick.”

This is Kahne’s second pole in seven starts at Infineon, and his seventeenth career pole. The Qualifying track record of 99.309 mph/72.138 sec on the current 10-turn, 1.99-mile course configuration was set by RUSTY WALLACE/Dodge in June 2000. NASCAR Cup races have been on this circuit since 1998, and running the wine country circuit since 1989.

Second through fifth on the grid will be JIMMIE JOHNSON/No.48 Chevrolet, KURT BUSCH/No.2 Dodge, KEVIN HARVICK/No.29 Chevrolet and JEFF GORDON/No.24 Chevrolet.

Update on fuel situation with Gordon’s car: NASCAR is still investigating the contaminated fuel issue in Gordon’s car – the only car so affected. It was Gordon’s team which first spotted the fuel problem in the garage, noticing the color was different. The fuel system was flushed and the car was never on track with the contaminated fuel. RAMSEY POSTEN, NASCAR Managing Director of Corporate Communications, doesn’t know if the team will be penalized.

Gordon has raced at Infineon since 1998, and has more victories and more poles (five each) than any other NASCAR driver. Gordon has nine road course victories on his resume, and is tied with MARK MARTIN/No.5 Chevrolet for the most top ten finishes at Infineon Raceway – 13. Gordon has raced in 17 of the 21 previous Infineon races, and holds the record for the most money earned at Infineon – $2,229,749.

MARCOS AMBROSE/No.47 Toyota, who was tops in the first practice session, qualified fastest early on before being pipped by Gordon. Ambrose said he had a good lap going until his foot slipped off the pedal in Turn 11. The Aussie ended up sixth on the grid.

The fastest of those eleven drivers having to qualify based on time was BORIS SAID/No.26 Ford, who will start seventeenth. JAN MAGNUSSEN/No.09 Chevrolet will start in P32, while fellow Scandinavian, MATTIAS EKSTROM/No.83 Toyota will start in P38. PJ Jones/No.07 Toyota starts thirty-fifth.

The fastest (and only) Rookie was KEVIN CONWAY/No.34 Ford, starting forty-first.

DAVID RAGAN/No.6 Ford spun out exiting Turn Seven into the Esses, and hit the tire wall hard. Good thing he is guaranteed a starting position, as he’ll have to go to his backup car which will put him at the back of the grid for the race start. He won’t have far to go. Based on his Owner’s Points, he would have been forty-second on the grid.

Those not making Sunday’s race are MICHAEL WALTRIP/No.55 Toyota, BRIAN SIMO/No.36 Chevrolet, and BRANDON ASH/No.02 Dodge.

Sprint Cup has final and Happy Hour practice sessions Saturday morning. Three drivers will skip that so that they can compete in the Saturday NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America, an inaugural event. They are CARL EDWARDS/No.99 Ford (Q-19), BRAD KESELOWSKI/No.12 Dodge (Q-36), and PAUL MENARD/No.98 Ford (Q-18). Keselowski leads the NNS standings, 272 points ahead of Edwards. Menard is in sixth, 561 points off the leader. They are the only Cup drivers running full seasons in both series, since KYLE BUSCH/No.18 Toyota recently announced he wasn’t going for the full NNS season.

They flew after Qualifying in private planes, a trip less than four hours. Coming back, they land at the nearby Sonoma Airport and take a helicopter to the track.

It was cool (59 degrees F), breezy and partly cloudy for the first 90-minute NASCAR Sprint Cup practice session Friday noon at Infineon Raceway. Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 Race has drawn 46 entries for the 43-car grid.

MARCOS AMBROSE/No.47 Toyota was overall fastest with a final time of 1:16.375/93.800 mph. He went to the top immediately the session started and remained there for an hour 14 minutes, even though he had only turned 12 laps. Then KASEY KAHNE/No.9 Ford pipped the amiable Aussie, only to lose it back to Ambrose and be relegated to fourth, behind CLINT BOWYER/No.33 Chevrolet and RYAN NEWMAN/No.39 Chevrolet. Fifth was KEVIN HARVICK/No.29 Chevrolet.

MAX PAPIS/No.13 Toyota was the fastest of the Go or Go Home Guys on the final chart, in P13. Earlier on, BORIS SAID/No.26 Ford had been fastest in eighth place before landing in twenty-second position. Other one-off Road Racers in the GOGH category were JAN MAGNUSSEN/No. 09 Chevrolet-P26; BRIAN SIMO/No.36 Toyota in P37; and P.J. JONES/No.07 Toyota-P38. MATTIAS EKSTROM/No.83 Toyota is running for Red Bull Racing, subbing for BRIAN VICKERS, who is out for the season. Ekstrom, a European touring car road racer who quickly got up to speed at a recent test at Virginia International Raceway, was fortieth fastest; but the Swede has sufficient owner points to make the grid.

JEFF BURTON/No.31 Chevrolet was asked why don’t the Road Racing Ringers win on road courses, and what percentage chance do they actually have? “The percentages have gone down as the years have gone by for many reasons. The first reason is that we’ve gotten better. The normal Cup drivers have improved their road course racing skills over the years. When we started doing it, it was a big void between what a guy like a road course guy could come in and do versus what they can do now. The other issue is, even if you are driving for a great team, it’s hard. You aren’t in sync with the team. You almost have to go through all the bad calls, the bad decisions, the mistakes…all those things to get better as a team. It’s just hard to get all those things synced up with a one-time driver. Typically they are not in the best equipment. Typically they are in equipment that isn’t as good, even though they might be driving for a car owner that has had success, that success hasn’t been built around that driver and that team hasn’t been built around that crew chief. This thing is about teamwork. It’s not just about the drive and having all the pieces of the puzzle working together are part of the deal. You lose two seconds on pit road, all of that stuff starts adding up.”

JEFF GORDON/No.24 Chevrolet possibly had some fuel contamination during the first practice. RAMSEY POSTEN, NASCAR Managing Director of Corporate Communications, said the situation was isolated to the one car at this point. NASCAR is running fuel samples. The TV talking heads said it was possible that there had been some ethanol inadvertently mixed in at the Sunoco gas pumps. It’s all conjecture at this point so NASCAR isn’t going into details. Gordon was seventh fastest in the session.

All 46 cars were on track.

It was a cold and foggy Friday morning at Infineon Raceway for the morning practices of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West for Saturday’s Thunder Valley Casino Resort 200 Race. DAVID GILLILAND/No.45 Dodge was fastest in both sessions. In the early morning session, his time was 1:18.992/90.693 mph, and faster in the mid-morning session at 1:18.121/91.704 mph. Gilliland holds the West Series Qualifying track record of 91.979 mph/1:17.887 seconds, set in June 2007.

Gilliland and P1′s second fastest driver, BORIS SAID/No.57 Ford are two of three drivers also entered in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Toyota/Save Mart 350 Race. The track configuration for the stock cars is 10 turns on a 1.99-mile elevated road course. The Cup race is 110 laps, and the West Series race will run 64 laps.

Third through fifth in Practice One were GREG PURSLEY/No. 26 Ford-third in the current West Series standings, JIM INGLEBRIGHT/No.1 Chevrolet, and BRANDON DAVIS/No.10 Chevrolet.

In the second West Series practice, third through fifth were JASON BOWLES/No.31 Chevrolet-winner of last year’s race, Canadian ANDREW RANGER/No.35 Chevrolet, and Said.

Ranger is the current points leader in the Canadian Tire Stock Car Championship. He is also entered, again, in the Montreal Nationwide Series road race on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Ranger ran eleventh in the first track session.

Another driver of note in this West Series race, on a one-time basis, is Audi DTM champion, MATTIAS EKSTROM of Sweden in No.84 Toyota, courtesy of Red Bull Racing which also has Ekstrom substituting this weekend in Cup’s No.83 Toyota. Red Bull sponsors Ekstrom’s Audi in the German DTM touring car series. In this weekend’s Cup race, Ekstrom is replacing BRIAN VICKERS, who is out for the season with blood clot issues. Ekstrom was thirteenth fastest of 36 drivers in the first West Series practice, and eighth in the second session.

Ekstrom comes highly recommended by Cup drivers CARL EDWARDS/No.99 Ford and JIMMIE JOHNSON/No.48 Chevrolet. They met him when they participated in the Race of Champions and were very impressed.

Thirty-seven of the thirty-eight West Series drivers will take the green flag. AUGGIE VIDOVICH/No.19 Chevrolet had a bad crash in the first session. He is alright, but he doesn’t have a backup car and has withdrawn.

The West Series race will be televised and aired Thursday 24 June 2010 at 3 PM PT/6 PM ET on SPEED TV.

Forty-six Cup drivers are entered for the 43-grid field, one less than last year. Eleven of those drivers, some one-off entries, will be required to qualify based on time. Qualifying is 3:30 PM local time/6 PM ET, broadcast live on SPEED TV. Sunday’s race will be telecast live on TNT, 12 noon local time/3 PM ET.

RYAN NEWMAN/No.39 Chevrolet took a surprising NASCAR Sprint Cup victory Saturday night after a late race caution/restart. It was the first victory for his new owner, driver TONY STEWART/No.14 Chevrolet. Newman said it was the most emotional win of the 14 he’s had in 303 Cup starts. It also ended a dry spell which last saw him in Victory Circle at Daytona in 2008, and he’s now sixteenth in the standings. This is the first time a No.39 car has ever won a Cup race.

The attendance was set at 70,000 at Phoenix International Raceway for the Subway Fresh Fit 600 race.

KYLE BUSCH/No.18 Toyota led twice for 113 laps and was leading at the caution by a substantial margin, which came with six laps to go. His pit stop didn’t go as quickly as others, and he finished eighth.

Second was JEFF GORDON/No.24 Chevrolet who was giving it his best on the last few laps, but just couldn’t get past Newman. Nevertheless, he was pleased with performance – his and the team’s. He led once for three laps, and he finished 0.130 seconds behind Newman. Gordon is also the points leader for car owners.

Points leader JIMMIE JOHNSON/No.48 Chevrolet finished third, and also led 113 laps, during his four times at the front. He has won four times at Phoenix. Johnson has 1073 points, ahead of MATT KENSETH/No.17 Ford, with 1037 points.

MARK MARTIN/No.5 Chevrolet moved up to finish fourth after a two-tire pit stop.

Fifth was JUAN PABLO MONTOYA/No.42 Chevrolet, who led four times for 104 laps.

The top five drivers wore red bow ties, and GM had six of the top ten finishers. Martin was the only driver in the top five who didn’t lead a lap. Those who took two tires instead of four fared better. It was Newman’s decision not to take on four – he didn’t want to be caught out. Busch’s crew, who put on four tires, were visibly upset after their pitstop.

The top Rookie was KEVIN CONWAY/No.38 Ford, who started forty-second and finished thirty-third.

Pole sitter A.J. ALLMENDINGER/No.43 Ford stayed out during the last caution and was running fifth at the restart. “It was tough day, a tough race track with the way the conditions change out there.” AJ took four tires on the last pitstop. “You aren’t going to hold Jimmie Johnson back on a restart with two tires. He split me and that put us in the middle, and then we got down in the corner where MARCOS AMBROSE/No.47 Toyota hit me and sent me for a ride. We were lucky we didn’t get into a wreck.” Allmendinger, who led the first seventeen laps, finished fifteenth. Ambrose finished eleventh.

Thirteen drivers swapped the lead 20 times. Nine cautions took 59 of the 378 laps. Although there were five accidents which resulted in a caution, no one was injured.

An hour into the race, the very slick track became like night and day – bright sun or deep shade/shadows in the four turns as the blazing Arizona sun was setting. Then it became darker and it was the night race all wanted to have.

DENNY HAMLIN/No.11 Toyota started the race, and stayed in the car for the entire race, despite his painful left knee after ACL surgery last week. He was peripherally involved in the first caution dustup, but remained behind the wheel after he pitted for damage assessment. Meanwhile standby driver, CASEY MEARS, sat patiently on the Pit Box, waiting for the ride which never materialized. Hamlin finished thirtieth, two laps down.

Twenty-seven drivers of the 37 finishers were on the lead lap.

Saturday’s fly over was four pilots in four F-16′s from nearby Luke Air Force Base. A proper National Anthem was played by solo trumpet player, JESSE McGUIRE, a repeat performer for the NASCAR races.

RYAN NEWMAN/No.39 Chevrolet took a surprising NASCAR Sprint Cup victory Saturday night after a late race caution/restart. It was the first victory for his new owner, driver TONY STEWART/No.14 Chevrolet. Newman said it was the most emotional win of the 14 he’s had in 303 Cup starts. It also ended a dry spell which last saw him in Victory Circle at Daytona in 2008. This is the first time the No.39 car has ever won a Cup race. He’s now sixteenth in the standings.

The attendance was set at 70,000 at Phoenix International Raceway for the Subway Fresh Fit 600 race.

KYLE BUSCH/No.18 Toyota led twice for 113 laps and was leading at the caution by a substantial margin, which came with six laps to go. His pit stop didn’t go as quickly as others, and he finished eighth.

Second was JEFF GORDON/No.24 Chevrolet who was giving it his best on the last few laps but just couldn’t get past Newman. Nevertheless, he was pleased with performance – his and the team’s. He led once for three laps, and he finished 0.130 seconds behind Newman. Gordon is also the points leader for car owners.

Points leader JIMMIE JOHNSON/No.48 Chevrolet finished third, and also led 113 laps, during his four times at the front. He has won four times at Phoenix. Johnson has 1073 points, ahead of MATT KENSETH/No.17 Ford, with 1037 points.

MARK MARTIN/No.5 Chevrolet moved up to finish fourth after a two-tire pit stop. Those who took only two instead of four tires fared better – faster off pit road and on the restart. Busch’s crew were visibly upset after their pitstop.

Fifth was JUAN PABLO MONTOYA/No.42 Chevrolet, who led four times for 104 laps.

The top five drivers wore red bow ties, and GM had six of the top ten finishers. Martin was the only driver in the top five who didn’t lead a lap. Those who took two tires instead of four fared better. It was Newman’s decision not to take on four – he didn’t want to be caught out.

The top Rookie was KEVIN CONWAY/No.38 Ford, who started forty-second and finished thirty-third

Pole sitter A.J. ALLMENDINGER/No.43 Ford stayed out during the last caution and was running fifth at the restart. “It was tough day, a tough race track with the way the conditions change out there.” AJ took four tires on the last pitstop. “You aren’t going to hold Jimmie Johnson back on a restart with two tires. He split me and that put us in the middle, and then we got down in the corner where MARCOS AMBROSE/No.47 Toyota hit me and sent me for a ride. We were lucky we didn’t get into a wreck.” Allmendinger, who led the first seventeen laps, finished fifteenth. Ambrose finished eleventh.;

Thirteen drivers swapped the lead 20 times. Nine cautions took 59 of the 378 laps. Although there were five accidents which resulted in a caution, no one was injured.

An hour into the race, the very slick track became like night and day – bright sun or deep shade/shadows in the four turns as the blazing Arizona sun was setting. Then it became darker and it was the night race all wanted to have.

DENNY HAMLIN/No.11 Toyota started the race, and stayed in the car for the entire race, despite his painful left knee after ACL surgery last week. He was peripherally involved in the first caution dustup, but remained behind the wheel after he pitted for damage assessment. Meanwhile standby driver, CASEY MEARS, sat patiently on the Pit Box, waiting for the ride which never materialized. Hamlin finished thirtieth, two laps down.

Twenty-seven drivers of the 37 finishers were on the lead lap.

Saturday’s fly over was four pilots in four F-16′s from nearby Luke Air Force Base. A proper National Anthem was played by solo trumpet player, JESSE McGUIRE, a repeat performer for the NASCAR races.