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KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY NEWS AND NOTES - NOVEMBER 10, 2008


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GIBBS EARLY KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY FAN CHOICE FOR U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE

On the heels of last week’s elections, Kentucky Speedway chose 11 prominent motorsports personalities and is currently polling Web site visitors for their choice for the best presidential candidate from the racing world. The poll started Friday, Nov. 7 and will be active through Thursday, Nov. 13. Joe Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing was the Nov. 10 leader with 29 percent of the vote. Petty Enterprises’ Richard Petty and Speedway Motorsports, Inc., CEO Bruton Smith are tied for second with 21 percent of the vote. Those interested in participating in the poll can visit KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY.

HORSEPOWER TO BE PART OF MIAMI UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MOTORSPORTS NIGHT TOMORROW

Kentucky Speedway’s official mascot “Horsepower” will visit Miami University in Oxford, Ohio tomorrow, Nov. 11, for the Redhawks’ football Motorsports Night. Miami will take on the Bowl Championship Series 14th-ranked Ball State Cardinals at 7:30 p.m. Fans will be able to see great Mid American Conference football action, show cars and much more. IndyCar Series drivers Graham Rahal and Will Power are scheduled to greet fans along with Miami alumnus and Firestone Indy Lights competitor Travis Gregg. Call the Miami University ticket office at 1-866-MUHAWKS (1-866-684-2957) to reserve seats and learn more.

JOHNSON ON SOLID NSCS CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTING HEADING TO HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY

Hendrick Motorsports star Jimmie Johnson virtually sealed a third Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship by scoring a dominating victory at Phoenix International Raceway yesterday. The two-time and defending series champion led a race-best 217 of 313 laps and held an average race position of 1.5 before driving his No. 48 machine across the finish line 0.295 of a second in front of Penske Racing driver Kurt Busch. Johnson will enter the 36th and final event of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 16 with a 141-point lead over second-place championship contender Carl Edwards. Johnson’s third straight Phoenix win places him in position to clinch a third championship with a 36th-place Homestead finish. He also can clinch the title with a 37th-place effort if he leads one race lap or a 39th-place run if he leads the most race laps. He sealed the 2007 championship with a seventh-place Homestead-Miami Speedway finish after starting from the pole position and has scored a total of two top-five and five top-10 finishes at the track in seven career starts. His best finish on the 1.5-mile oval was second in 2004 and his worst was 40th in 2005 after he completed only 124 of 267 race laps following his involvement in an accident. Johnson’s seventh win of the season marked the 40th of his seven-year Sprint Cup Series career. He has now taken top-two finishes in three of the past four events and seven of the past 11 events. His season record is comprised of seven wins, 15 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes. Edwards placed fourth in the Phoenix race and posted his 18th top-five and 26th top-10 finish of the season. He nailed down his track-best fifth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway last season. He owns an average finish of 7.75 through four races at the Florida facility including a career-worst 14th–place finish in 2004. Jamie McMurray placed third in Phoenix and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin captured fifth. Kurt Busch captured his second top-five and third top-10 finish in his past five starts while moving from 19th to 18th in the series standings. McMurray wheeled to his second straight third-place series finish and jumped from 18th to 16th in the points chase. He has posted three top-five and four top-10 finishes in the past five series outings. Hamlin moved from 12th to ninth in the championship standings by taking his third top-five finish in past four starts. Ford 400 race coverage will begin at 3:00 p.m., on ABC television, the Motor Racing Network as well as Channel 128 on Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Radio. Roush Fenway Racing driver Matt Kenseth took the 2007 win in the season-finale. The Chase for the Sprint Cup standings are: Johnson (Leader: 6,561 points, Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports); Edwards (Second: -141 points, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing); Greg Biffle (Third: -203, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing); Jeff Burton (Fourth: -269, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing); Kevin Harvick (Fifth: -328, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing); Clint Bowyer (Sixth: -335, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing); Jeff Gordon (Seventh: -410, Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports); Matt Kenseth (Eighth: -470, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing); Denny Hamlin (Ninth: -471, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing); Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (10th: -474, Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports); Kyle Busch (10th: -481, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing); and Tony Stewart (12th: -502, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing).

BENSON, HORNADAY, JR., TO STAGE NCTS CHAMPIONSHIP SHOWDOWN AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY

Former Kentucky Speedway NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race winners Johnny Benson (2008) and Ron Hornaday, Jr. (2006) will be separated by just three championship points entering the Nov. 14 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Benson, the current championship leader, gave up three points in the Nov. 7 event at Phoenix International Raceway after finishing 26th and one place behind second-place title contender Hornaday, Jr. Both drivers were involved in a seven-truck, incident on Lap 1 that started the first of seven race periods, but the championship hopefuls were able to return to the race. Hornaday, Jr., finished the race with his truck running and Benson was knocked out by a second accident on Lap 129. Benson won the 2007 Homestead race in which Hornaday, Jr., placed seventh. Benson has registered two top-five and four top-10 finishes in the past five events while Hornaday, Jr., has taken two top-two finishes in that stretch. Benson will be searching for his first series title, second straight top-five finish in the championship standings and third straight top-10 championship finish. Hornaday, Jr., leads the series in all-time wins with 39 and will attempt to register his second straight and all-time series leading fourth series championship. He earned his other previous titles in 1998 and 1996 and is tied with Jack Sprague (2001, 1999 and 1997) for the all-time series title lead. Kevin Harvick took the race win in Phoenix by 0.940 of a second over Kyle Busch after leading 60 of 150 laps. Busch led a race-high 90 laps. Todd Bodine placed third, Brian Scott took fourth and 2007 Kentucky Speedway series race winner Mike Skinner ground out a fifth-place finish. Harvick earned his first win, top-five and top-10 finish of the season in his second series start while Busch collected his ninth top-five and 15th top-10 finish in his 17th series start this season. Todd Bodine remained a remote championship contender by scoring his fifth straight top-five and sixth straight top-10 finish in Phoenix. He starts the week trailing Benson by 143 points. Rookie Brian Scott took his first career top-five finish and has now placed in a race top 10 in three straight and four of the past five events. Skinner picked up one spot in the series standings and now ranks fifth after knocking out his second straight and fourth top-10 finish in his past six races. That stretch includes a Sept. 20 win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Series coverage from Ford Championship Weekend will begin at 7:30 p.m., on Speed Channel and 8:00 p.m., the Motor Racing Network as well as Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Radio channels 128. The top 10 in the series standings entering the race are: Benson (Leader: 3,574 points, Toyota, Bill Davis Racing); Hornaday, Jr. (Second: -3 points, Chevrolet, Kevin Harvick, Inc.); Bodine (Third: -143, Toyota, Germain Racing); Erik Darnell (Fourth: -292, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing); Skinner (Fifth: -296, Toyota, Bill Davis Racing); Matt Crafton (Sixth: -299, Chevrolet, ThorSport Racing); Rick Crawford (Seventh: -323, Ford, Circle Bar Racing); Dennis Setzer (Eighth: -532, Dodge, Bobby Hamilton Racing); Jack Sprague (Ninth: -552, Toyota, Wyler Racing) and Terry Cook (10th: -640, Toyota, HT Motorsports).

BOWYER, EDWARDS TO DECIDE NATIONWIDE SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY NOV. 15

Defending NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Carl Edwards will have to make up 56 points on current championship leader Clint Bowyer to become the second driver in five years to earn back-to-back series titles. Edwards scored a Phoenix International Raceway victory that marked his third straight top-two finish by .096 of a second over Denny Hamlin Nov. 8. Edwards’ sixth 2008 victory trimmed Bowyer’s advantage from 91 to 56 points and he will ride a string of eight top-five finishes into the season closing event at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 15. His season record now includes a total of 18 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes. Bowyer scored a fourth-place Phoenix finish that marked his second straight top-10 effort. He has registered five top-five and a total of nine top-10 finishes in the past 10 races. He first took over the championship lead on March 22 with a second-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway and has held point following the past 30 series events. Bowyer is in search of his first series title and finished ninth in last season’s Homestead-Miami race. Edwards placed fourth at Homestead-Miami last season and is attempting to post his third straight top-two finish and fourth straight top-three finish in the final standings. Kevin Harvick took third in Phoenix and Kyle Busch completed the race top five in a Braun Racing entry. Hamlin engineered his 10th top-five and 13th top-10 finish of the season in his 18th start. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has taken a win and a total of four top-10 finishes in his past five starts. Harvick earned his second top-five finish in his past four series starts and has taken eight top-five and 11 top-10 finishes this season. He has started 22 events this season. Busch advanced from seventh to sixth in the series standings with his third consecutive top-five finish and his fifth top-10 finish in his past six races. That stretch has included three victories. Ford 300 race coverage will begin at 4:00 p.m., on ESPN2 and radio coverage takes the green flag at 4:30 p.m. on the Motor Racing Network as well as Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Radio Channels 128. Jeff Burton won the 2007 race that David Ragan started from the pole position. The top 10 drivers in the series standings are: Bowyer (Leader: 4,977 points, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing); Edwards (Second: -56, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing); Brad Keselowski (Third: -353, Chevrolet, Jr. Motorsports); Ragan (Fourth: -546, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing); Mike Bliss (Fifth: -580, Chevrolet, Phoenix Racing); Kyle Busch (Sixth: -696, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing/Braun Racing); David Reutimann (Seventh: -713, Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing); Mike Wallace (Eighth: -958, Toyota, Germain Racing); Jason Leffler (Ninth: -1,051, Toyota, Braun Racing) and Marcos Ambrose (10th: -1,056, Ford, JTG Daugherty Racing).