By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

MADISON, Ill.—Capitalizing on Kevin Harvick’s attempt to stretch his gas mileage beyond the capacity of his fuel cell, Kyle Busch won his sixth NASCAR Nationwide Series race of the season Saturday night and his first at Gateway International Raceway.

In a 19-lap green-flag run to the finish, Busch held off Reed Sorenson to win the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at the 1.25-mile racetrack. The victory was Busch’s 27th in the series, tying him with Jeff Burton for fourth place on the career win list.

Busch extended his lead in the series standings to 212 points over third-place finisher Carl Edwards. Mike Bliss finished fourth, followed by Brad Coleman. Stephen Leicht, rookie Michael Annett, polesitter Brad Keselowski, Jason Keller and rookie Erik Darnell completed the top 10.

Continue reading “Kyle Busch wins Nationwide Race at Gateway”

By Tim Tuttle
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

SPARTA, Ky.—Ron Hornaday Jr. rallied in the final 24 laps Saturday for his third straight victory in the Camping World Truck Series, beating Mike Skinner by a truck length in the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

“On Lap 45, if you had told me we’d win this race, I’d have told you were lying,” Hornaday said. “We brought the truck back to where we could run (Turns) 3 and 4 wide open. We definitely had to pass some trucks.”

Hornaday was sixth for the Lap 127 restart in the 150-lap race on the 1.5-mile track. Crew chief Rick Ren made chassis and air pressure adjustments to the tires on the final two stops to give Hornaday a faster truck.

Hornaday used his tremendous ability on restarts to jump up to third before another caution came out four laps later. On the ensuing restart, he passed rookie Tayler Malsam on the inside of Turn 2 and Aric Almirola on the inside in Turn 4 to take the lead with 18 laps remaining.

Continue reading “Ron Hornaday wins his 3rd in a row”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 14, 2009) – With Tuesday’s All-Star Game representing the halfway point in the Major League Baseball season, the NASCAR Nationwide Series stand-alone schedule also reaches its second half this weekend at Gateway International Raceway.

And with both events taking place in the St. Louis area, there’s another similarity – the next three races, starting Saturday night in Madison, Ill. – represent the pennant drive for those drivers in the mix for the series championship.

Standings leader Kyle Busch (No. 18 New Balance Toyota) has a seemingly comfortable 192-point advantage heading into this crucial stretch that also includes the July 25 race at O’Reilly Raceway Park and Iowa Speedway’s inaugural series event on Aug. 1.

Continue reading “Time to make moves at 'stand-alone' events”

Strong State, Regional Representation At Gateway

Saturday night at Gateway will represent more than a competition – it’ll also be the foundation for a reunion of some area racing stars. But they’ll have to save the pleasantries until after the event.

One of the largest contingents of local and regional drivers in the series will be “home” in Madison this weekend.

Carl Edwards, the 2007 series champion, is from Columbia, Mo., while up-and-comer Justin Allgaier (No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dodge) is from nearby Riverton, Ill. Allgaier is the series’ Raybestos Rookie standings leader and also is in sixth place in the driver rankings.

Erik Darnell (No. 6 Northern Tool+Equipment Ford) is from Beach Park, Ill. He’s sharing his 16-race rookie season with David Ragan.

The Gateway race wouldn’t be complete without the presence of the St. Louis-based Wallace family – represented on the entry list by Kenny (No. 28 U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet), Steve (No. 66 USFidelis Chevrolet) and Mike (No. 0 J-D Motorsports Chevrolet).

“I can’t say enough about the talent that comes from Illinois and Missouri,” Darnell said. “With the likes of Allgaier, the Wallaces and my teammate (Edwards), the field is going to have their hands full.”

Continue reading “Tons of 'Hometown' drivers to race Gateway”

LOS ANGELES (July 16, 2009) — Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, picked up the ESPY for Best Driver during the 17th annual ceremony Wednesday at the Nokia Theater L.A. Live.

Fans can watch the ESPYs, hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

This marks the second year that Johnson has won the award, which is based upon a fan vote. Johnson, the three-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, also was nominated for Best Male Athlete, which was presented to 14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps.

NASCAR has dominated the Best Driver category, picking up 11 of the last 14 awards. Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates have won five of them: Jeff Gordon in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2007, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2004.