The Final Lap with Kerry Murphey

Childress, Harvick Put 2010 Season Rumors to Rest

WELCOME, N.C. (August 31, 2009) – Kevin Harvick will drive Richard Childress Racing’s No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS in 2010 for his 10th season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series despite rumors to the contrary.

“Rumors about Kevin not driving for RCR next season have been flying around the garage area and in the media,” said Richard Childress, president and CEO of Richard Childress Racing. “We want to put the rumors behind us by stating together that Kevin will drive RCR’s No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS for the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. RCR continues to work on the overall performance of the No. 29 team, like we are with all of our teams, and the plan is to end the season on a high note. Kevin and the No. 29 team are also preparing for next season with the goal of making a run at the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.”

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By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

MONTREAL — Swear out a warrant.

On second thought, break out the champagne.

Carl Edwards’ grand larceny Sunday at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve ended with a back flip and a celebration, not a jail term.

With a pass for the lead on the final corner of the final lap of the Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200, Edwards capitalized on the only mistake Marcos Ambrose made all day to win his first road-course race in one of NASCAR’s top three divisions.

Running on rain tires after a mandatory change for the entire field on Lap 61, Edwards hounded Ambrose for both laps of a green-white-checkered-flag finish and made the winning pass after Ambrose’s car got airborne over the curbing and lost momentum in the final turn of Lap 76.

In collecting his third Nationwide Series victory of the season and the 23rd of his career, Edwards gave Roush Fenway Racing its first road-course win in the series.

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RACE RECAP | MONTREAL | NATIONWIDE SERIES
10 Kyle Busch
9 Brendan Gaughan
8 Stephen Leicht
7 Jean Francois Dumoulin
6 Tony Raines
5 Brad Keselowski
4 Jaques Villenueve
3 Andrew Ranger
2 Marcos Ambrose

VICTORY LANE

1 Carl Edwards takes home his first ever road course win

OTHER STORIES ON THE DAY

-Teams practiced AND qualified in the rain on Saturday

-Colin Braun had engine problems early on causing the longest caution in history!

-Patrick Carpentier had transmission problems while running top 5

-4 minutes per pace lap…excruciatingly painful

-Justin Allgaier lost control after a wheel hop, took out Ron Fellows and damaged Kyle Busch’s 18 machine

-Why can’t teams figure out how to make windshield wipers work at high speeds?

-In a late restart, Carl Edwards moved Marcos Ambrose aside, on the next set of turns, Ambrose returned the favor and took the lead back

-With 16 laps to go, rain fell for a full course caution

-NASCAR decided to continue racing in the rain, brought the cars down pit road, gave them a 5 minute clock to make preparations to race in the rain. This turned into a race in itself.

-Kyle Busch’s windshield wipers looked wicked cool

-With 3 to go on the restart, Kyle Busch was spun, giving Carl Edwards a chance for more points. Kyle lost a ton of positions

-A battle to the finish on the final lap of the race between Marcos Ambrose and Carl Edwards

-Marcos Ambrose dominated this race, leading 60 laps, and lost it on the last turn hitting the curb sending his #47 airborne, putting him in second. Marcos said “I made one mistake and it cost me the race”

1 Marcos Ambrose
2 Carl Edwards
3 * Ron Fellows
4 * Boris Said
5 Brad Coleman
6 Jacques Villeneuve
7 Justin Marks
8 * Antonio Perez
9 Andrew Ranger
10 * Paul Menard
11 Stephen Leicht
12 Kyle Busch
13 Steve Wallace
14 * Andy Lally
15 Colin Braun
16 Jean Francois Dumoulin
17 Brendan Gaughan #
18 J R Fitzpatrick
19 Brad Keselowski
20 Mike Bliss
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By Tim Tuttle
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

JOLIET, Ill. — Kyle Busch won his second straight race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, passing Todd Bodine with 19 laps remaining to take the inaugural EnjoyIllinois.com 225 on Friday at Chicagoland Speedway.

It was Busch’s fourth win of the season in 10 starts in the Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota. Busch also made Chicagoland the fifth track in which he has won a race in each of NASCAR’s three national series. He won the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races there last season.

“It was a fun night,” Busch said. “My parents are from just outside Chicago and my girlfriend is from just over the border in Indiana, and it was cool to come back and win before the home folks in the Midwest.”
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