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KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY NEWS AND NOTES – SEPTEMBER 22, 2008


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ANDRETTI GREEN RACING TESTS MONTAGNY AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY

Franck Montagny tested an IndyCar for the first time with Andretti Green Racing at Kentucky Speedway today. The Frenchman drives for AGR in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and is looking to return to open-wheel racing. This season’s unification of the Champ Car World Series and IndyCar Series left him without a team.

KESELOWSKI CONVERTS NSCS KENTUCKY TESTS INTO TWO-RACE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS DEAL

Rising NASCAR star Brad Keselowski will have the opportunity to compete in the Oct. 11 Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Nov. 2 Texas Motor Speedway Sprint Cup Series races with crew chief Lance McGrew and the No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Keselowski has participated in several tests with the team at Kentucky Speedway throughout the season and made his most recent visit to the track Sept. 17. The 24-year-old driver ranks third in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship standings with two wins, 10 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes.

BIFFLE BREAKS OFF SECOND STRAIGHT NSCS CHASE WIN

Roush Fenway Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title contender Greg Biffle and his No. 16 Ford reeled in and passed Matt Kenseth in his No. 17 Ford on the Dover International Speedway backstretch with eight of 400 laps remaining before holding on to score a 0.392 of a second victory over his teammate yesterday. Biffle visited Victory Lane for the second time in as many races. He has captured top-two finishes in three of the past four races and top-five finishes in four the past six series events. He joins defending series champion Jimmie Johnson in trailing championship leader Carl Edwards by 10 points. Edwards completed a Roush Fenway Racing top-three sweep at Dover with his second straight third-place finish. He has scored a total of two wins, four top-five and five top-10 finishes in the past six events. Kenseth moved from 12th to 10th in the Chase standings with his third top-five and fourth top-10 finish in his past six races. His best finish of the season helped him rebound from his respective 39th- and 40th-place runs at Richmond International Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the previous two weeks. Mark Martin placed fourth and Johnson completed the Dover top-five. Martin collected his second straight top-five finish and fourth straight top-10 finish. Johnson delivered his fourth consecutive top-five finish. That stretch includes back-to-back wins at California Speedway and Richmond International Raceway as well as a second-place finish at New Hampshire Speedway. Joe Gibbs Racing star Kyle Busch, who tore through the 26-event pre-Chase portion of the schedule with eight wins, 15 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes, continued his struggles with a 43rd-place Dover effort attributed to engine trouble. He opened the Chase with a 34th-place showing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The third of 10 Chase for the Sprint Cup events is set for Sept. 28 at Kansas Speedway. Coverage begins at 1:00 p.m. on ABC and 1:15 p.m. on Motor Racing Network Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 128. Biffle won the 2007 event that Johnson started from the pole position. The top 12 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings are: Edwards (Leader: 5,390 points, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing), Johnson (Second: -10, Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports), Biffle (Third: -10, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing), Jeff Burton (Fourth: -82, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing), Kevin Harvick (Fifth: -101, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing), Clint Bowyer (Sixth: -106, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing), Tony Stewart (Seventh: -113, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing), Jeff Gordon (Eighth: -118, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (Ninth: -129, Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports), Kenseth (10th: -167, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing), Denny Hamlin (11th: -193, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing) and Kyle Busch (12th: -210, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing).

BUSCH DRIVES TO NNS DOVER WIN

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch earned his NASCAR Nationwide Series-leading eighth victory of the season Sept. 20 by driving his No. 18 Toyota across the Dover International Speedway finish line 0.866 of a second in front of Mike Bliss in the No. 1 Chevrolet. Busch led the opening 72 laps of the race and held point three times for 157 of the 207 race laps. Busch kept hold of the seventh spot in the series standings with his fourth win, sixth top-five and seventh top-10 finish in the past seven series events. He has banked a total of 14 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes this season. Bliss remained fourth in the series standings after taking his first top-five and second top-10 finish in his past five races. Brad Keselowski knocked out a third-place performance at Dover, Scott Wimmer nailed down fourth place and Carl Edwards corralled the last spot in the race top five. Keselowski claimed his second top-five finish in his past four races, Wimmer pocketed his second straight top-five finish and third consecutive top-10 result while Edwards held on to the second spot in the standings with his third consecutive top-five finish. Championship leader Clint Bowyer dropped 21 points of his cushion to Edwards with a 10th-place run. Bowyer has taken five straight top-10 series finishes. The series will be back in action Sept. 27 at Kansas Speedway. Kyle Busch won the 2007 series race at the track that Matt Kenseth started from the pole position. Race coverage will begin at 3:00 p.m. on ESPN2 and 3:30 p.m. on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 128. The top 10 drivers in the series standings are: Bowyer (Leader: 4,222 points, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing), Edwards (Second: -186, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing), Keselowski (Third: -248, Chevrolet, Jr. Motorsports), Mike Bliss (Fourth: -443, Chevrolet, Phoenix Racing), David Ragan (Fifth: -501, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing), David Reutimann (Sixth: -546, Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing), Kyle Busch (Seventh: -549, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing/Braun Racing), Mike Wallace (Eighth: -841, Toyota, Germain Racing), Jason Leffler (Ninth: -874, Toyota, Braun Racing) and Marcos Ambrose (10th: -901, Ford, JTG Daugherty Racing).

SKINNER SKATES TO NCTS SIN CITY VICTORY

Former Kentucky Speedway NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race winner Mike Skinner skated to his first victory of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sept. 20 by .020 of a second Erik Darnell. Skinner led the race a total of five times and gained the top spot for the final time from Darnell on Lap 146 of 147. Skinner, who led the series with five victories last season, moves from seventh to fifth in the standings and now owns a total of four top-five and 15 top-10 finishes this season. He has registered three top-10 finishes in the past four races. Darnell moved from sixth to fourth in the standings with his second straight top-five and third consecutive top-10 finish. He has reeled in one win, nine top-five and 10 top-10 finishes through 19 of 25 races this season. Matt Crafton placed third in Las Vegas, John Andretti took fourth in his first series start of the season and Ron Hornaday, Jr., grabbed fifth. Hornaday, Jr., used his 11th top-five and 14th top-10 finish of the season to keep his hold on second-place in the standings. He gained 73 points on current championship leader Johnny Benson, who holds a one-point advantage in the standings after retiring his truck from the Las Vegas race on Lap 64 of 147 following a Turn 1 accident. His 27th-place ended his string of top-five finishes at six. Crafton earned his first top-five finish in the past five series events while Hornaday, Jr., charted his third straight top-five finish and his fourth in the past six series tilts. The series takes the week off before visiting Talladega Superspeedway Oct. 4. Todd Bodine won the 2007 race at the track from the pole position. SPEED Channel coverage began at 3:30 p.m., and radio coverage begins on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 128. The top 10 in the series standings entering the race are: Benson (Leader: 2,858 points, Toyota, Bill Davis Racing), Hornaday, Jr. (Second: -1, Chevrolet, Kevin Harvick, Inc.), Crafton (Third: -164, Chevrolet, ThorSport Racing), Darnell (Fourth: -224, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing), Skinner (Fifth: -227, Toyota, Bill Davis Racing), Crawford (Sixth: -246, Ford, Circle Bar Racing), Bodine (Seventh: -257, Toyota, Germain Racing), Jack Sprague (Eighth: -402, Chevrolet, Kevin Harvick, Inc.), Dennis Setzer (Ninth: -463, Dodge, Bobby Hamilton Racing) and Terry Cook (10th: -492, Toyota, Wyler Racing).