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Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
Advice: The points tables for most series covered by Elsewhere In Racing are available here. Individual series are linked to their corresponding points table after each report.
Newman's Lucky Day
Jeff Gordon and Brian Vickers sat on the front row, and with Jimmie Johnson starting third, Hendrick filled the top three positions at the start. The race started but was under caution on lap two when Robby Gordon spun coming off turn two, a few cars pitting but most of the field stayed. The race restarted on lap five, Jeff Gordon leading Vickers with Ryan Newman in third, Newman quickly up to second then fading to fourth, before being forced to pit on lap 22 to remove some debris blocking airflow to the radiator, dropping him down a lap.
Lap 34 saw the caution back out for debris, the field making stops at this point, Gordon leading Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip, Vickers and Johnson as the race restarted on lap 39. Waltrip quickly moved to second with Johnson up to third by lap 45 as Gordon continued to show the way at the front. Kasey Kahne's not so good day became worse around lap 70 when he was put down a lap by leader Gordon, just before Johnson passed Waltrip for second on lap 72. Green flags followed soon after between laps 80 and 85, Gordon resuming the lead after the stops were completed. It didn't last for long however, with Gordon's engine blowing up to bring out the next caution on lap 90, Gordon getting his now traditional ironical cheer from the fans as he rolled back to the pits and retired.
Another engine failure, this time for Jamie McMurray, brought out the next caution on lap 116. More pit stops, with Elliott Sadler leading Gaughan, Matt Kenseth, Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin out the other end, while Kahne was the 'lucky dog' this time to return to the lead lap. Back to racing on lap 121, Nemechek moving up to second two laps later before Marlin demoted him from that place seven laps later. Marlin, Nemechek and Jarrett, moving forward again, all swept past Sadler on the same lap soon after, Jarrett moving past Nemechek not long after.
Lap 151 and it was a caution for debris, bringing the field to the pits once more, probably just a bit too early to make it to the end without another stop. Marlin led Nemechek, Sadler, Kenseth and Jarrett as the race restarted on lap 156 but it was back under caution just four laps later for a slowing Ricky Craven, a few cars pitting but the leaders remained on track. Back to green on lap 164, Newman up to fourth one lap later after being ninth at the previous restart on lap 156, recovering well from his early problem.
Up front it was still Newman though, Jarrett not able to retake the lead despite a couple of attempts. Johnson took third from Marlin on lap 193 just before Stewart pushed up off turn four and hit Greg Biffle, bringing out the caution on lap 194. No red flag for a change, and back to green on lap 197 for a shootout to the flag. Newman led Jarrett, Johnson, Marlin and Kahne, who had made a superb recovery after going down a lap earlier in the race (just like fellow Dodge driver and leader Newman) as the race restarted, Marlin and Kahne both passing Johnson before lap 197 was complete.
Kahne wasn't done with yet, taking third from Marlin on the next lap. Lap 199 saw Biffle spin coming off turn two but the race stayed greem, Kahne snatching second from Jarrett as they completed the lap. Kahne seemed to be too far back with a lap to go but Kahne sailed in deep through turns one and two giving him a great run down the backstretch. He repeated the move into turn three, giving him a shot at Newman for the win through turn four and the run to the line, maybe another of those almost but not quite second placing for Kahne. At least it would have, had the caution not come out for PJ Jones's crash in turn two. And so Ryan Newman beat Kasey Kahne, both having recovered from being a lap down earlier in the race, ahead of Dale Jarrett, who scored his first top five result since winning at Rockingham in February 2003, Jimmie Johnson and Elliott Sadler.
Result of NASCAR Nextel Cup, Round 15 of 36, Michigan International Speedway, Michigan, United States:
Standings: Jimmie Johnson 2220, Dale Earnhardt Jr 2213, Matt Kenseth 2040, Bobby Labonte 1954, Tony Stewart 1945, Jeff Gordon, Elliott Sadler and Kurt Busch 1933, Ryan Newman 1859, Kevin Harvick 1847 etc.
Fortnight Racer
It seems 24 hours wasn't long enough for Sebastien Bourdais. After spending a week off from racing his Champ Car at Le Mans where he spent a long week racing for long time supporter Henri Pescarolo in his Courage-Judd, Bourdais stepped back into his Lola-Ford and never looked back on a less than satisfactory week in the sportscar.
The only other driver to lead the race, indeed to carry any threat to the rampaging Newman Haas team was the Forsythe Championship Racing car of defending champion Paul Tracy. After winning the first event of the season, the Canadian suffered through the next two races, but got his title defence back on track taking third place, twelve seconds ahead of his teammate, fellow Candian Patrick Carpentier. FCR's third car however did not trouble the timekeepers, involved in an accident at the second attempt to start the race. Rodolfo Lavin had been left with no room to maneuver after Mario Dominguez (Herdez Competicion Lola-Ford) had lost control in front of him.
Justin Wilson continued his impressive start to his US career, winning a race-long duel with the new American wunderkid AJ Allmendinger. The remaining top ten cars were all a single lap down with Alex Tagliani leading home Jimmy Vasser, Mario Haberfeld and Roberto Gonzalez. Junqueira retook the points lead with this result, moving six points clear of Carpentier. Bourdais is now just a single point behind Carpentier with Tracy moving into fourth place.
Result of Champ Car World Series, Round 4 of 15, Portland International Raceway, Oregan, United States:
Standings: Bruno Junqueira 105, Patrick Carpentier 99, Sebastien Bourdais 98, Paul Tracy 79, Ryan Hunter-Reay 75, Justin Wilson 71, Mario Dominguez 66, Alex Tagliani 63, Michel Jourdain Jr and Jimmy Vasser 52 etc.
Kanaan Leads AGR 1-2
Tony Kanaan moved back into the Indy Racing League series lead after a forceful victory at Texas Motor Speedway, leading home Andretti Green Racing teammate Dario Franchitti for a narrow victory. It was an important moment for AGR, not just for Kanaan's return to the top of the points chase, but this also was the first good result for Dario Franchitti since injuring his back in a motorcycle accident 18 months ago. A surprise third place was won by Cheever Racing's Chevy running Alex Barron.
The front of the field ran in a bunch until the the stops began agian at around half distance. With new yellows in the middle part of the race, these stops were completed under green flag conditions which served to spread the field out a bit. A yellow finally came after everyone had stopped so the field was bunched up again as Mark Taylor surveyed the wreckage of his car. Rice took to the lead after the subsequent stops but Kanaan's superior form saw that lead only last half a lap. With just 23 laps to go Rice would force his way back into the lead again, but the chances of back-to-back victories ended suddenly for the Indy 500 champion after crashing with reigning champion Scott Dixon.
This left Kanaan and Franchitti at the front of the field and the AGR pair allowed the team to control the pace until the chequer. Behind Barron was Sam Hornish making a welcome return to points in the Penske Dallara, the first Toyota home. Mexican Adrian Fernandez took his first top five finish since his controversial defection from the OWRS. Vitor Meira was sixth in the best result from the Rahal-Letterman squad while Manning recovered to take eighth behind Greg Ray.
Kanaan now holds a handy 35 point lead over teammate Dan Wheldon, who retired at Texas with a broken gearbox, with the first 'hostile' car, belonging to Penske's Helio Castroneves, some 64 points adrift.
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 5 of 16, Texas Motor Speedway, Texas, United States:
Standings: Tony Kanaan 210, Dan Wheldon 175, Helio Castroneves 146, Buddy Rice 144, Darren Manning 124, Scott Dixon 122, Alex Barron 117, Sam Hornish Jr 119, Dario Franchitti and Tora Takagi 108 etc.
NASCAR
Being a lap down doesn't sound lucky, especially when an unscheduled pit stop put you there. But being the first car a lap down when Jeff Gordon's engine blew up meant Ryan Newman was lucky, the recipient of the 'lucky dog' pass back on to the lead lap. He, and later, Kasey Kahne, took full use of being back on the lead lap to race back to the front, the duo of Newman and Kahne ending the race in first and second places. It may have ended the other way around had a caution not come out late on the last lap... A solid performance by Jimmie Johnson moves him to the head of the points standings, seven points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr with Matt Kenseth another 173 points back in third.
Rusty Wallace, Scott Wimmer and Brendan Gaughan didn't pit but the rest of the field did, Dale Jarrett taking just fuel to be first out ahead of Jimmie Johnson and the rest of the field, while Newman was the 'lucky dog' and was now back on the lead lap. Lap 94 and it was back to green, Jarrett quickly on the move, taking the lead of the race on lap 97. However Gaughan's gamble not to pit was a good one, and despite damage to the rear of his car from the lap one Robby Gordon spin, he passed Jarrett for the lead on lap 104.
But another engine failure, this time for Joe Nemechek, saw the caution out on lap 175. Some cars stayed out but most of the field came in, including leader Marlin. Jarrett, Newman, Sadler, Harvick and Busch were among the eight who stayed out and now led the field as the race restarted on lap 178. Newman quickly seized his chance and took the lead before the lap was over as Marlin drove back to the front. Restarting tenth, he was up to fifth by lap 184, passed Busch for fourth a lap later and moved into third past Sadler on lap 189, Jimmie Johnson following Marlin to the front.
Pos Driver Car
1. Ryan Newman Dodge Intrepid
2. Kasey Kahne Dodge Intrepid
3. Dale Jarrett Ford Taurus
4. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
5. Elliott Sadler Ford Taurus
6. Sterling Marlin Dodge Intrepid
7. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
8. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9. Brian Vickers Chevrolet Monte Carlo
10. Michael Waltrip Chevrolet Monte Carlo
OWRS
Bourdais took pole and raced away to an early lead, a lead he would only lose in pitstops. He would lead all bar nine laps of the race to win in the end by just over a second from his Newman Haas Racing teammate Bruno Junqueira. Prior to the last stop the gap had been almost nine seconds, but the Brazilian had saved his set of softer, quicker tyres for the final stint, and used them to close the gap, but his French teammate was just that little bit too far up the road.
Pos Driver Car
1. Sebastien Bourdais Newman Haas Racing Lola-Ford
2. Bruno Junqueira Newman Haas Racing Lola-Ford
3. Paul Tracy Forsythe Championship Racing Lola-Ford
4. Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Championship Racing Lola-Ford
5. Justin Wilson Conquest Racing Lola-Ford
6. AJ Allmendinger RuSport Lola-Ford
7. Alex Tagliani Rocketsports Racing Lola-Ford
8. Jimmy Vasser PKV Racing Lola-Ford
9. Mario Haberfeld Walker Racing Reynard-Ford
10. Roberto Gonzalez PKV Racing Lola-Ford
IRL
Franchitti took pole and led the field away while Kanaan sat behind IRL's new glamour boy Buddy Rice in third position. As the race moved into the 20s, Kanaan moved into the lead and took Rice with him in passing Franchitti, until a yellow interrupted proceedings after a clash between Ed Carpenter and Darren Manning. Carpenter would be involved in the next yellow as well, as AJ Foyt IV is pushed into the concrete. Carpenter finally removed himself in the third yellow.
Pos Driver Team
1. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
2. Dario Franchitti Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
3. Alex Barron Cheever Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
4. Sam Hornish Jr Team Penske Dallara-Toyota
5. Adrian Fernandez Fernandez Racing GForce-Honda
6. Vitor Meira Rahal-Letterman Racing GForce-Honda
7. Greg Ray Access Motorsport GForce-Honda
8. Darren Manning Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
9. Felipe Giaffone Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
10. Tora Takagi Mo Nunn Racing Dallara-Toyota
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Volume 10, Issue 25
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