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KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY NEWS AND NOTES


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KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY “DRIVE THE TRACK” SALE SET FOR APRIL 19

Kentucky Speedway will stage its first of two popular “Drive the Track” gift shop sales on Saturday April 19, 2008 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Fans who make a minimum purchase of $40 in the Fan Center Gift Shop will be able to turn paced laps on the Kentucky Speedway 1.5-mile paved tri-oval track in their own vehicles. The sale will feature Kentucky Speedway and popular driver merchandise specials. Event ticket purchases will be applied to the customer purchase total. The Fan Center is located off of Interstate 71 Exit 57 and Ky. Hwy. 35 North in Sparta, Ky. Fans can phone 859-567-3400 for more information.

RAHAL BEATS OUT RAIN, CASTRONEVES FOR STREETS OF ST. PETERSBURG INDYCAR SERIES WIN

Newman/Haas/Lanigan IndyCar Series newcomer Graham Rahal became the youngest race winner in open-wheel racing history and the third driver to claim a victory in his first series start April 6 in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Rahal, age 19 years and 93 days, failed to qualify for the series season-opening race at Homestead-Miami Speedway due to the effects of a practice crash, but rebounded nicely on the Streets of St. Petersburg by leading a race-high 19 of 83 laps. The race was scheduled for either 100 laps or two hours. Rainy conditions forced it to end at the time limit. Rahal joined Juan Pablo Montoya (Indianapolis, 2000) and Scott Dixon (Homestead-Miami, 2003) in the series debut winners club after crossing the finish line 3.5192 seconds ahead of Penske Racing driver Helio Castroneves. Castroneves took over the lead in the series standings with his third top-two finish in four career starts on the temporary street course and his second straight top-five finish of the season. He charted a fourth-place finish last week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Andretti Green Racing veteran Tony Kanaan scored a third-place finish while rookies Ernesto Viso of HVM Racing and Conquest Racing’s Enrique Bernoldi respectively closed out the race top five. Kanaan led 15 race laps before finishing third for the third consecutive year in St. Petersburg. He claimed his first top-five and second top-10 finish of the season. Viso moved to eighth in the series standings and Bernoldi ascended to 10th in the championship hunt. Each drove to their first series top-five finishes. Andretti Green Racing driver Marco Andretti previously held the distinction of being the youngest race winner in series history. He earned a 2006 win at Infineon Raceway at the age of 19 years, five months and 14 days. The series will take a week off before arriving at Kansas Speedway for a 300-mile race April 27. Dan Wheldon claimed victory at the track in 2007. Kanaan started from the pole position. Race coverage is set to begin at 5:00 p.m., on ESPN2, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) Radio Network and XM Radio Channel 145. The top 10 drivers in the series standings are: Castroneves (Leader: 72 points, Penske Racing); Dixon (Second: -10 points, Chip Ganassi Racing); Kanaan (Third: -13, Andretti Green Racing); Rahal (Fourth (tied): -19, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing); Andretti (Fourth (tied): -19, Andretti Green Racing); Dan Wheldon (Fourth (tied): -19, Chip Ganassi Racing); Danica Patrick (Seventh: -24, Andretti Green Racing); Ernesto Viso (Eighth: -27, HVM Racing); Oriol Servia (Ninth: -28, KV Racing Technology); Enrique Bernoldi (10th (tied): -30, Conquest Racing) and Ed Carpenter (10th (tied): -30, Vision Racing). Firestone Indy Lights Update: Firestone Indy Lights competition joined the IndyCar Series in Florida for a Streets of St. Petersburg doubleheader. Raphael Matos won the April 5 race by 3.1577 seconds over Richard Antinucci. Antinucci closed out a solid weekend with a 1.5415 of a second win over J.R. Hilenbrand April 6. Antinucci leads the series standings by 26 points over Matos. The series next race will be at Kansas Speedway April 27. The race will air on ESPN2 at 2:00 p.m., May 1.

EDWARDS RACES TO THIRD NSCS WIN AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Roush Fenway racer Carl Edwards took the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins lead by racing to his third victory of the season on April 6 at Texas Motor Speedway. Edwards, who posted his first NASCAR-sanctioned victory at Kentucky Speedway July 12, 2003 in the Craftsman Truck Series, nailed down his 10th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win by bringing his No. 99 car across the finish line 0.399 of a second in front of the No. 48 ride of two-time and defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. Joe Gibbs Racing product Kyle Busch grabbed a third-place finish, Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman took fourth and Busch’s teammate, Denny Hamlin, completed the race top-five. Edwards picked up four spots in the series standings and made his way into the top 10 for the third time this season. He will start the week ranked 10th in the championship hunt. Johnson put together his second straight top-five race run and now owns three top-five finishes this season. He also gained four spots in the standings and ranks sixth. Kyle Busch rebounded from his 38th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway March 30 with his fourth top-five effort of the season and moved from fifth to third in the series standings. Newman netted his first top-five series finish since his season-opening win and advanced three spots in the standings to eighth. Hamlin backed up his Martinsville Speedway win with his second top-five and fourth top-10 finish of the campaign. He has posted top-10 finishes in each of the past three events and moved from eighth to seventh in the standings. Richard Childress racer Jeff Burton kept hold of the top spot in the series standings with a sixth-place performance in Texas. He extended his top-10 finish streak to five and has earned top-five finishes three times in that span. The series presses further west for its April 12 desert clash at Phoenix International Raceway. FOX Television event coverage is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. Radio coverage is slated for a 2:00 p.m., start on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 128. The top 12 drivers in the series standings entering the event are: Burton (Leader: 1,065 points, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing); Kevin Harvick (Second: -59, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing); Kyle Busch (Third: -64, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing); Dale Earnhardt, Jr., (Fourth: -87, Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports); Tony Stewart (Fifth: -108, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing); Johnson (Sixth: -144, Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports); Hamlin (Seventh: -152, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing); Newman (Eighth (tied): -164, Dodge, Penske Racing); Greg Biffle (Eighth (tied): -164, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing); Edwards (10th: -184, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing); Clint Bowyer (11th: -191 (tied), Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing) and Kasey Kahne (11th (tied): -191, Dodge, Gillett Evernham Motorsports).

BUSCH BOUNCES THROUGH NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES TEXAS FIELD

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch, a former NASCAR Nationwide Series and ARCA RE/MAX Series race winner at Kentucky Speedway, rocketed through the 43-car field at Texas Motor Speedway April 5 to capture his first win and third top-five series finish of the season. His 12th career series win helped him click off six positions in the series standings. He ranks fifth in the early championship chase after taking his third top-two finish of the season and first since the Feb. 23 event at California Speedway. Busch crossed the finish line 1.041 seconds ahead of Richard Childress Racing (RCR) veteran Jeff Burton. Burton’s RCR teammate Clint Bowyer secured third place, Bobby Labonte snared fourth place in an RCR entry and Roush Fenway Racing driver Jamie McMurray earned fifth place. Burton took his second top-five and third top-10 finish of the season in his fourth series start while Bowyer maintained his spot on top the series points mountain with his third straight top-three finish and fifth top-10 result in his past six starts. Labonte picked up his second top-five finish of the season through five starts and his second in his past three series outings. McMurray delivered his first top-five and second top-10 series finish in his third series start of the season. The series will join the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Phoenix International Raceway this week and stage 200-mile event April 11. Kyle Busch won the pole award for the 2007 April race at the track in which Bowyer scored a win. Race coverage is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m., on ESPN 2 and 9:45 p.m., on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 128. The top 10 drivers in the series standings entering the race are: Bowyer (Leader: 1,047 points, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing); Edwards (Second: -57, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing); David Reutimann (Third: -120, Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing); Ragan (Fourth: -134, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing); Kyle Busch (Fifth: -159, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing); Brad Keselowski (Sixth: -168, Chevrolet, Jr. Motorsports); Mike Bliss (Seventh: -199, Chevrolet, Phoenix Racing); Jason Leffler (Eighth: -206, Toyota, Braun Racing); Kelly Bires (Ninth: -227, Ford, JTG Racing); and Kevin Harvick (10th: -230 points, Chevrolet, Kevin Harvick, Inc.).