This Week in Auto Racing August 31 - September 2

NASCAR

Sharp Aquos 500 - California Speedway - Fontana, CA

Just two races remain before the end of the "regular" season and the start of the "Chase for the Nextel Cup." Five drivers have mathematically clinched one of the 12 positions in the "Chase" - Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards.

Four more drivers are on the verge of clinching - 2006 Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer.

Which leaves five drivers competing for the final three spots. Currently, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch hold down positions 10 through 12. Sitting outside the "Chase" and looking in are fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Newman.

Harvick, the 2007 Daytona 500 winner, is 167 points ahead of 13th-place Earnhardt Jr. To clinch a spot he only has to be 162 points ahead of "Junior" heading to the final race in Richmond (assuming he starts the final race). Harvick has been mediocre of late and his highest finish in the last four races is a 15th in Michigan.

Truex Jr. is 166 points ahead of his DEI Inc., teammate Earnhardt Jr. The No.1 Chevrolet driver has two top-10s in the last four events and finished a solid 11th last week in Bristol.

Kurt Busch currently owns the final spot in the "Chase," but the bad news for those trying to make the playoffs is that he is also the hottest driver in Nextel Cup. Busch, who is 158 points ahead of Earnhardt Jr., has two wins (Pocono, Michigan) and three top-10s in the last month. His worse finish since the Pepsi 400 is 11th.

"There are still two races remaining to put it all in place, but we have to be able to breathe a little sigh of relief after our performance here tonight," said Busch, after finishing sixth at Bristol. He might be the most feared driver once the "Chase" begins.

Earnhardt Jr. drove a very good race at Bristol last Saturday night, finishing fifth, but it is too little too late for NASCAR's most popular driver and he will likely miss the "Chase" for the second time in three years.

Newman is 175 points out and while not mathematically out, certainly a longshot to jump over both Earnhardt Jr. and his teammate Busch.

"We still have a shot at it - mathematically we still have a chance, so we just give it the best shot we can each and every lap and hopefully it's good enough," said Newman.

Of the five drivers, Busch has had the best results at the California Speedway. The No.2 Miller Lite Dodge driver has made 10 starts, winning once with four top-10s.

Busch

Camping World 300 - California Speedway - Fontana, CA

While the Busch Series drivers championship is a foregone conclusion, the racing is still great. Last week's event at Bristol saw some great three-wide racing that brought the crowd to it's collective feet. The racing was so good on Friday that when Nextel Cup only put on a decent show on Sunday, the fans were disappointed.

And it could have been even better. Kyle Busch was one of the fastest cars all evening, but because of an incorrect call by NASCAR officials was robbed of a chance to join the fun.

With 20 laps to go it was Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Jason Leffler one-two- three. Kahne, on the inside was side-by-side with Newman, neither giving an inch. Newman fought off Kahne and then Leffler challenged Kahne for second.

But Kahne didn't give up and went to his favorite high line. They were all three side-by-side-by-side and Kahne squeezed through on the outside for the lead despite scraping the wall. Leffler took second and Newman had a tire going down and faded back.

Kahne held off several Leffler charges and took the checkered flag. Leffler came across the start/finish line backwards after being tapped from behind by David Reutimann.

"It was an awesome battle with Jason Leffler and Newman," said Kahne. "Leffler raced me clean there at the end. I think he had the best car...he was a little faster than we were and I just kind of held him off at the top."

It's on to the California Speedway where Kahne is the defending champion and another Nextel Cup driver, Matt Kenseth, won in the spring. Kenseth holds the all-time mark for Busch wins on the two-mile Fontana, CA oval with four. Another Roush Racing driver Greg Biffle has collected three wins as Roush Fenway Racing has been the dominant team in California.

Craftsman

Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 - Gateway International Raceway - Madison, IL

While the Nextel Cup and Busch Series are in California, the Craftsman Truck Series will be in middle America - Madison, IL to be exact.

Mike Skinner continues to lead the series in most categories. After 16 of 25 races Skinner leads the series by 92 points. He is also No.1 in winnings ($541,500), laps led (912), driver rating (122.2), wins (4), poles (8), top- fives (13) and top-10s (15).

Yet his 92-point lead after 16 races is the closest in the last four years.

Ron Hornaday Jr., who is a former two-time truck series champion, has earned three wins and 15 top-10s to stay within striking distance of Skinner. It's just tough to catch someone when they never make a mistake. Skinner has only finished outside the top-eight one time this season - at ORP.

Travis Kvapil was all set to make it a three-way race, but both he and Kyle Busch spun while leading with 22 laps remaining at Bristol. They kept off the walls, but Johnny Benson cruised underneath the two spinning trucks and the lead was his.

The race restarted with 16 laps to go. Benson, who had gotten four tires at lap 103 was better than second-place Brendan Gaughan, who had taken just two right-sides much earlier in the race, and he won the race by 0.790 seconds.

Kvapil is 256 points back with nine races to go.

INDYCARS

Detroit Indy Grand Prix - The Raceway at Belle Isle - Detroit, MI

Scott Dixon has used his road racing skill to take the lead in the IndyCar Series championship.

In four road/street course events, Dixon has scored three wins and a second place worth 196 championship points. His primary rival for the title, Dario Franchitti, has earned 143 point in those same four events giving Dixon a 53- point edge. Dixon leads the standings by just four points (560-556).

And the good news for the Auckland, New Zealand native is that this week's event will also be on a road course. The 2.125-mile, 14-turn circuit has never been used by the IndyCar Series, but was used by CART. In fact, Helio Castroneves won there twice (2000, 2001) and Dario Franchitti won there in 1999 so some of the drivers have a little knowledge of the circuit.

While Andretti Green Racing was testing at Infineon in preparation for last week's race, Target Chip Ganassi went to Sebring to test at a track more similar to Belle Isle. It should give Dixon and teammate Dan Wheldon an advantage this week in Detroit.

Franchitti had the advantage for most of the race at Infineon leading 58 of the first 63 laps. But an incident with teammate Marco Andretti in turn two damaged the No.27 AGR driver's front wing. Dixon had no trouble getting around the struggling Franchitti, who fell to third place. It could have been a lot worse for Franchitti, except that he had teammate Tony Kanaan behind him who clogged the track so that no one else could pass. Franchitti managed to limp home with a third-place finish to stay close to Dixon.

"I think when the car was broken, (Kanaan) was in a situation to be able to pass, and he didn't," said Franchitti in the post-race press conference. "You know, Tony and I, since he came to the team, I've been amazed at how much of a team player he is."

Expect another Dixon/Franchitti battle this week.

CHAMP CARS

Bavarian Champ Car Grand Prix - TT Circuit Assen - Assen, The Netherlands

The second of two European races is scheduled for this Sunday at the TT Circuit Assen.

In the first half of the swing across the pond, Sebastien Bourdais dominated as he has done for most of the last four years. The three-time Champ Car Series champion led 51 of 71 laps en route to a huge 13.655-second victory.

The win, his sixth of 2007, leaves him with a 53-point lead and five races remaining in his Champ Car career. After what likely will be his fourth consecutive title, Bourdais is set to jump to Formula One next year with Toro Rosso.

Three drivers appear to still have a chance to derail the "Bourdais Express." Former F1 driver Robert Doornbos, Will Power and Justin Wilson.

After his win at Mont-Tremblant, Doornbos was tied with Bourdais for the championship lead. However, since then the Minardi Team USA driver has finish in the top-five just once in five races - a win at San Jose. As a Rotterdam native, Doornbos should he at his best this week.

"Hopefully we'll have a better race next weekend at home, but I want to thank all of the fans for coming out," said Doornbos after a seventh-place finish in Belgium. "For sure I'll try very hard and hopefully get a better result at Assen."

Power finished fourth at the Zolder Circuit and sits third overall, 62 points out of first place. Wilson is fourth, 72 points behind Bourdais, but has yet to win in 2007.

"The race didn't work out how we hoped, and that's racing; so many things must go right to finish on the podium," said Wilson, fifth at Zolder. "We just missed our chance to finish on the podium here in Belgium, but we are looking forward to next weekend's race in Assen, with our sights still set on our first win of the season."

A win for Wilson or anyone other than Bourdais will be a difficult task. Over the last four years, Champ Cars has used eight new venues and Bourdais won six times in the inaugural visit.