Standings: Sebastien Bourdais 335, Bruno Junqueira 313, Patrick Carpentier 247, Paul Tracy 243, Mario Dominguez 228, Alex Tagliani 210, A.J. Allmendinger 204, Ryan Hunter-Reay 197, Oriol Servia 182, Jimmy Vasser 180 etc.

  NASCAR

A Win, A Loss

Jimmie Johnson scored his second consecutive Nextel Cup win, but at the end of the race there was no Victory Lane celebration. Unlike some other times this year when there have been problems with Victory Lane, there was no penalty, and there was a good reason why. Rick Hendrick, owner of the cars of winner Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte and Brian Vickers had been given some bad news. Earlier that day, a plane had crashed on its way to Martinsville, carrying his son, Ricky, and brother, John, president of Hendrick Motorsports, John's twin daughters Kimberly and Jennifer, the company's chief engine builder Randy Dorton as well as five other people on board.

In the chase for the championship, Kurt Busch's consistency has seen him extend his lead. He now leads Jeff Gordon by 96 points, after Dale Earnhardt Jr's day went from bad to worse in the closing stages as he dropped from second to third in the standings, now 125 points behind. Despite his second consecutive win Jimmie Johnson is still 207 points, even if he has moved up to fourth. With only four rounds remaining, Gordon and Earnhardt Jr are Busch's only realistic challengers, and even then they both require Busch to strike a problem in the remaining races.

Teammates Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace sat on the front row, with Newman taking the lead at the start. Caution number one wasn't far away, coming out on lap four when Joe Nemechek spun. Back to green on lap 8, Wallace taking the lead from Newman on lap, but it was back to caution on lap 17 as Sterling Marlin and Brendan Gaughan spun. Back to green on lap 23, Wallace still showing the way, but lap 41 saw the next caution as Ricky Rudd was spun by Jeff Green. This saw a rush of cars to the pits, Rusty Wallace the first out but restarted sixth. This was because Terry Labonte, Kasey Kahne, Sterling Marlin, Brian Vickers and Hermie Sadler had pitted earlier in the race, and had not pitted at the caution. Meanwhile Jamie McMurray restarted 38th after being penalised for missing the commitment line on the way into the pits.

Back to green on lap 48, Labonte leading before Kahne took the lead from him on lap 51. The next caution came out on lap 66 after Robby Gordon was spun by Kyle Petty. With a few cars pitting, Labonte moved back in to the lead as the race restarted on lap 72. Five laps later, the caution was back out as Robby Gordon was spun again, this time by Ricky Rudd. Back to green on lap 84, Labonte still showing the way, but not for long, Tony Stewart taking the lead on lap 90. The next caution came out on lap 107 when Matt Kenseth and Dale Jarrett collided and spun. The field pitted, with Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart first out the pits.

Marlin, McMurray and Vickers didn't pit and they led the field as the race resumed on lap 114, though Busch was soon on the charge, taking the lead on lap 130. before another caution came out, on lap 184, when Kyle Petty was spun by rookie Travis Kvapil. The field headed to the pits again, with Busch leading Wallace, Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Marlin as the race restarted on lap 202. Harvick made his way up the order, taking the lead from Busch on lap 250, while Jeff Gordon's day got a little worse, going a lap down on lap 271. The next caution wasn't far away, coming out on lap 292 when Carl Edwards was spun by Earnhardt Jr, which was good news for Gordon, as he got the 'lucky dog' pass back on to the lead lap.

The field pitted, Harvick leading Busch, Wallace, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Burton as the race went back to green on lap 298 but the caution was back out again on lap 322 for debris. Back to green on lap 336, the top five unchanged since the last caution. Back to caution again on lap 355, when Ken Schrader, Bobby Labonte and Jeff Green got tangled up. Most of the field pitted, Johnson first out of those that did, but five cars didn't pit out and moved to the front. The race restarted on lap 361, McMurray leading Marlin, Carl Edwards, Gordon and Terry Labonte. But it was back to caution on lap 372 when Scott Wimmer spun.

Back to green once more on lap 377, McMurray leading Gordon, Johnson, Edwards and Harvick. Before the lap was over Gordon took the lead, McMurray taking the lead back on lap 384. Johnson, with fresher tyres, moved up the order, taking the lead from McMurray on lap 405. Dale Earnhardt Jr pitted early, then rejoined the track and immediately spun Dale Jarrett, bringing out the caution on lap 410. The field came in once more except for Marlin and Labonte, all hopefully for their last stops. The race restarted on lap 417, Marlin leading Labonte, Johnson, Green and Wallace but it was back to caution a lap later for debris when the pinion from Dale Earnhardt Jr's car fell onto the race track, sending Junior behind the wall for repairs.

The race restarted on lap 428 with the top five unchanged, but changes were about to occur. Lap 431 saw Johnson move past Labonte for second, with Wallace passing Labonte for third seven laps later. Meanwhile Johnson continued to push forward, taking the lead on lap 440, Newman broke into the top five on lap 444 and Wallace took second from Marlin on lap 448. A spin for Elliott Sadler brought out yet another caution on lap 451. Back to green on lap 456, Johnson leading Wallace, Marlin, Newman and Labonte, Newman moving into third before the lap was complete.

Kyle Petty spun to bring out the next caution, collecting the just repaired Dale Earnhardt Jr, who decided to call it quits for the day as he could gain no more places. Back to green once more on lap 473, Johnson leading Wallace, Newman, McMurray and Marlin but it was back to caution four laps later when Nemechek was spun by Bobby Labonte, Sadler collecting Nemechek in the ensuing smoke, doing major damage to both cars. Racing restarted on lap 485, the top five unchanged, Johnson still holding on at the front, but spins for Robby Gordon and Carl Edwards brought out another caution with just eleven laps remaining.

This was good news for everyone except Johnson, as it would now be a single file restart. Johnson led an unchanged top five as the race went green on lap 494. Wallace attacked immediately, getting alongside the outside of Johnson through turn one, but couldn't complete the move. This allowed Wallace's teammate Newman a nose inside Wallace, which was a problem as they entered turn three. Wallace turned in but Newman didn't give him any room, and contact was made, sending Wallace sliding as Newman moved into second.

Newman then came under pressure from McMurray in the closing laps, McMurray giving Newman a small bump into turn one on the last lap to move into second. In the middle of turn three and four Newman repaid the favour and got partly up the inside but despite the two rubbing each other to the line McMurray held on ahead of Newman, while in front of them Jimmie Johnson scored his second consecutive win. Filling out the top five were Sterling Marlin and points leader Kurt Busch.

Result of NASCAR Nextel Cup, Round 32 of 36, Martinsville Speedway, Virginia, United States:

Pos  Driver              Car
 1.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 2.  Jamie McMurray      Dodge Intrepid
 3.  Ryan Newman         Dodge Intrepid
 4.  Sterling Marlin     Dodge Intrepid
 5.  Kurt Busch          Ford Taurus
 6.  Jeremy Mayfield     Dodge Intrepid
 7.  Jeff Green          Dodge Intrepid
 8.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 9.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet Monte Carlo
10.  Rusty Wallace       Dodge Intrepid

Standings: Kurt Busch 6015, Jeff Gordon 5919, Dale Earnhardt Jr 5890, Jimmie Johnson 5808, Mark Martin 5791, Tony Stewart 5769, Elliott Sadler 5760, Matt Kenseth 5755, Ryan Newman 5749, Jeremy Mayfield 5651 etc.

  Upcoming Events Calendar

• October 29 - World Rally Championship, Round 15 of 16, Rally Catalunya, Spain
• October 31 - NASCAR Nextel Cup, Round 33 of 36, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Atlanta, United States
• October 31 - World Motorcycle Championship, Round 16 of 16, Communitat Valencia, Spain
• October 31 - European Formula 3000 Championship, Round of 9 of 10, Cagliari, Italy
• November 6 - Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, Round 6 of 7, Thailand Rally
• November 7 - NASCAR Nextel Cup, Round 34 of 36, Phoenix International Raceway, Arizona, United States
• November 7 - Champ Car World Series, Round 14 of 14, Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico
• November 7 - All-Japan Formula Nippon Series, Round 9 of 9, Suzuka, Japan
• November 7 - World Series by Nissan, Round 9 of 9, Shanghai, China
• November 12 - World Rally Championship, Round 16 of 16, Rally Australia
• November 14 - NASCAR Nextel Cup, Round 35 of 36, Darlington Raceway, South Carolina, United States
• November 14 - V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 12 of 13, Symmons Plains, Tasmania, Australia