TEAM REPORTS (VARIOUS LOCATION) - PENSKE RACE REPORT

In an exciting race similar to the event two weeks ago at Road Atlanta, Germany's Timo Bernhard and France's Romain Dumas scored their eighth LMP2 win this season in their Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder at the American Le Mans Series finale at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway.

Bernhard and Dumas, who clinched the drivers' championship before they arrived at Laguna Seca, finished second overall to the LMP1 Audi R-10.

The Penske Racing Porsches scored eight straight overall victories during the season, beating the more powerful 12-cylinder Audis on both street course and traditional road circuits. And for the race's last hour, Dumas chased the leading Audi, passing it twice in tight corners, but not quite able to make his lead stick on the straights.

"I put more than maximum pressure on him - I gave it all I had," said Dumas, who celebrated his first ALMS drivers' title. "With 200 horsepower less than the Audis, I think we gave everyone quite a show, and we are pleased with the outcome today, as well as the whole season. We not only won our Class championship, but we beat those guys overall eight times."

Co-driver and co-champion Bernhard, a two-time ALMS champion, said he "could not have dreamed of a season like this, beating the overall Le Mans winners eight straight races."

"Penske Racing and Porsche Motorsport gave us the best of both worlds, and Romain and I are grateful for the opportunity," Bernhard continued.

Bernhard noted the competition for the overall and Class lead was very close in the beginning, and he decided to play it safe and see how things played out. He ended up passing the pole-sitting Penske Porsche RS Spyder of Germany's Sascha Maassen, and then went after the overall Audi leader, but traffic forced him to concentrate on the LMP2 battle. Bernhard and Dumas finished on the Class podium for all 12 ALMS races.

Maassen and Australian co-driver Ryan Briscoe fell to fourth in Class late in the race, but Briscoe passed the two Acuras ahead of him to finish second in Class and fourth overall. Maassen and Briscoe won the LMP2 Class three times this year and produced two overall victories.

"It's been a wonderful season, and this one-two Class finish - the 11th win in 12 races - brings back the glory days of the Porsche 917/30 for both Porsche and Penske Racing," Penske Performance President Tim Cindric said. "It's been a huge honor to be a part of this program, and we believe this puts the exclamation point on a season which will put the Porsche RS Spyder right with the 917 in Porsche racing history."

Porsche and Penske Racing swept all of the championships in the LMP2 Class, winning the chassis and engine manufacturers' titles, the drivers' crowns, and the team championship for the second consecutive year. It was the Penske Porsche RS Spyder's third win at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway. The first victory came in the car's debut in October 2005.

NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Oct. 21, 2007) - A final lap caution flag in a green-white-checker finish in Sunday's Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway cut Ryan Newman's victory bid a half-lap short and relegated him to a second-place finish.

"In hindsight, I still wish we had the last lap on the outside of the 48 [Jimmie Johnson]," Newman said after the event that produced a record 21 caution flags for 127 laps in the 506-lap race on the half-mile track.

"I know I would have had a shot at him [if the yellow hadn't waved]. I had my nose at his left-rear tire at the start/finish line getting the white flag. I would have liked to have said that 'Yeah, I could've passed him on the inside.' He went into turn three and drifted up and over-braked and got loose and drifted up and gave me an opportunity. I didn't think that was going to happen. He was really strong. I think he struggled a little more on restarts. I thought mine was really good on restarts, but it just never happened."

A two-tire change during Newman's final pit stop with 157 laps remaining in the scheduled 500-lap race vaulted the Alltel Dodge Avenger driver into second behind then leader Jeff Gordon. The five position gain coupled with seven caution flags in the final 100 laps provided Newman with the opportunity he needed to challenge for the victory.

The late race caution periods were "a good thing because we were better on the restarts," Newman explained. "We had two tires versus four tires and we're at a little bit of a disadvantage there. The restarts kind of equalized our situation. The two tires [pit strategy] was definitely a great call, strategy-wise, to get us track position."

Newman remained second until Johnson passed him for that position prior to the beginning of the 15th caution period on lap 442. Johnson wrestled the lead from teammate Gordon on lap 457 and relegated him into a duel for second with Newman.

When the race restarted on lap 491 following the 19th caution flag, Newman executed a bump-and-run on Gordon to take over second before the 20th caution period began on lap 497, It was that caution period that forced the race into a green-white-checker finish and provided Newman with one more shot at Johnson.

When the green flag waved on lap 505, Newman was on Johnson's bumper, and he looked to the inside as they headed for the first turn on the final lap. However, a lapped car had spun and was sitting sideways in turn one and Newman had to back off and go high to avoid the disabled car. The yellow flag waved for the 21st time as Johnson and Newman raced down the backstretch, freezing the field and ending Newman's victory bid.

While Newman, who started 12th, challenged for the win, teammate Kurt Busch experienced a frustrating day. After starting 11th, Busch ran in the top 10 for the first 100 laps and remained in the top 20 for the first 150 circuits. But on lap 167 his day soured. That's when Busch smacked the first-turn wall after the heat from his Miller Lite Dodge Avenger's braking system caused the bead to melt on one of his car's tires. That removed Busch from victory contention, but he regained his lost lap thanks to being the "Lucky Dog" recipient later in the event. Still, it was a very long and frustrating day for the Miller Lite team.

"We were OK at the start of the race, then we got back in traffic and got messed up a little bit," crew chief Pat Tryson said. "We had the tire go down and got a lap down, then bent the suspension. We were able to get the Lucky Dog and get back on the lead lap -- twice. There, at the end, we got hit on the restart and busted our transmission. I guess that is just the nature of the beast right now. Nothing seems to be going our way."

The incident that ended Busch's day occurred when Michael Waltrip got into the rear of Busch's car on the restart. The impact lifted Busch's Dodge just as he was shifting gears, resulting in the car's transmission getting stuck in second gear. The incident left Busch 31st in the rundown and dropped him to 10th in the standings with four races remaining in the season.

Next weekend the circuit moves to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Pep Boys 500.