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Week of 8/27/06
Race Recap: Kahne wins Ca. Busch Race
September 2, 2006
Stewart flips car at Kahne charity race
At Skagit Speedway in Washington Kasey Kahne raised $144,000 for his charity foundation on Wednesday night. That's the good news, the bad. Tony Stewart flipped his car going into turn 3 on the first lap of his qualifying run. Stewart might have suffered a minor concussion, but was fine enough to skip a trip to the hospital. August 31, 2006
WHO'S HOT GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND?
Matt Kenseth tops this list with two wins in a row
Rookie Denny Hamlin has 6 straight top 10 finishes, and sits 6th in points
3 drivers have 4 wins this season, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, and Kasey Kahne. August 31, 2006
TRACK STATS | CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY
Distance: 2.0 Mile Oval
Banking up to: 14
Length/Frontstretch: 2,500 ft.
Length/Backstretch: 3,100 ft.
Miles/Laps: 500 mi. = 250 laps
Last year's poll sitter: Carl Edwards
Last year's winner: Kyle Busch
Up for grabs: $5.9 million
It should be a star studded race with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Lee (My name is Earl), Kelly Clarkson, Jim Belushi, and 'Desperate Housewife Marcia Cross will all be on hand. August 31, 2006
CHASE SCENARIOS
Some guys who know some math came up with these...
-Kasey Kahne in 11th, could actually leave California in 4th
-Anyone from 4th-10th in points could fall out
-Anyone from 4th-10th could also clinch a spot
-Kevin Harvick could clinch with a finish of 3rd or better
-MORE-
•Only 48 points separate positions four through 10 in the current NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series standings. Only 138 points separate positions four through 11. A driver can gain a maximum of 156 points over another competitor in each event.
•The 11th-place driver, Kasey Kahne, can move as high as fourth in the standings following Sunday’s Sony HD 500 at California Speedway.
•Any driver in positions four through 10 can fall from the top 10 following Sunday’s event.
•Drivers in positions four through 10 can clinch a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup following Sunday’s event.
•No top-10 driver will be mathematically eliminated from the Chase even if he finishes 43rd (last) at California.
•Kevin Harvick will clinch a Chase berth with a finish of third or better in Sunday’s event, no matter where another competitor finishes. Harvick also can clinch if he finishes lower than third, as long as his advantage over 11th place is 191 points or greater after the Sony HD 500.
•Harvick can fall as low as 10th in the standings following Sunday’s event.
•Also important: Top-10 drivers are racing for the highest finish in the standings before the Chase begins. Although the point separation to start the Chase is a mere five points per position, the 2004 series title was decided by eight points. The 2005 title margin was 35 points.
•The sports statistics experts at STATS LLC have calculated 574,560 different possibilities for the order of the top 11 drivers following Sunday’s event.
•Any driver with a lead of 191 points or more over 11th place following Sunday’s event will clinch a spot in the Chase. (Note: The clinching method used by NASCAR does not assume that a driver will be able to start all of the remaining races, although that is likely.) August 30, 2006
Rusty and wife OK after accident
Rusty Wallace and his wife Patti are doing fine after being in a traffic accident on Monday night. Their Dodge Durango was hit on the drivers side door after someone allegedly ran a stop sign. Rusty said "I've been in a lot of crashes in my time, but that was one of the craziest things I think I've ever experienced" August 29, 2006
Lepage fined and probation
Kevin Lepage driver of the #56 car in the Busch Series has been fined $10,000 and put on probation until the end of the year for hitting Mike Skinner's car during a caution in Friday's race. August 29, 2006
Martin not driving the #6 in '07
According to Roush Racing team president Geoff Smith, Mark Martin will not return full time in the Cup Series in one of their cars. Martin is planning on competing full time for Roush in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2007. So who will drive the #6 car? Todd Kluever is supposed to, but word is he is not currently meeting expectations so we'll have to wait and see. August 29, 2006
Mayfield lands at Bill Davis Racing
Jeremy Mayfield has his next job lined up for next season already. For the next 3 years, Mayfield will drive for Bill Davis Racing and their #36 Toyota Camry. BDR also confirmed that Dave Blaney will return as the driver of the #22 Cat car for next year as a team mate to Jeremy.
August 29, 2006
TESTING | MILWAUKEE
All 3 Richard Childress Racing's drivers are checking their setups at the track this week in anticipation of races that are similar to that track. Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and Clint Bowyer drive for RCR in case you are new to the sport. August 29, 2006
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