Saturday’s running of the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal was an historic night for the Nationwide Series, and NASCAR in general. As the rainy weather crept its way onto the tracks, the race was red flagged, and for the first time ever in a NASCAR points race, the teams switched over to grooved tires to run the remainder of the race.

The rain was eventually stopped 26 laps short due to poor visibility, and in the end, it was Canadian native, Ron Fellows, out in front of the pack when the race was officially called. Throughout the majority of the race it appeared as though Marcos Ambrose was going to run away with things, leading a race high 27 laps, but a late pit road speeding penalty cost him, and Fellows was there to take advantage.

For Fellows, who was driving the no. 5 entry for the Dale Earnhardt Jr. owned JR Motorsports, it was his fourth career road course victory in 13 Nationwide Series starts, and he also became the first Canadian to ever win a major NASCAR event in Canada.

Fellows was followed to the line by another Canadian native, Patrick Carpentier, who finished 2nd. Ambrose was able to recover from his earlier mistakes on pit road and came back to finish 3rd. 4th place went to Ron Hornaday, and 5th was Boris Said.

Carl Edwards - now 2nd in points - finished 6th, while the series points leader, Clint Bowyer, crossed the finish line in 9th. Brad Keselowski dropped the 2nd position in the points race to Edwards with a 12th place run, dropping Brad down to 3rd overall.

Jacques Villeneuve and Joey Logano dropped about 10 positions in the running order each when they wrecked into other cars during the final caution period.

“I hit a lapped car with no brake lights. I have no idea who it was,” Logano said. “I couldn’t see 5 feet in front of me down the straightaway, under caution. Somebody stopped. I locked up all four and boom! … It’s just not right.”

They each went onto finish 16th and 17th respectively.

It should be noted, however, that the accidents during the final caution were caused by poor visibility, and were not tire-related. In fact, there were really no tire issues the whole race, which should serve as a huge pick-me-up for Goodyear after the debacle that they went through last week at Indy.

Complete Results of the NAPA Auto Parts 200     /     Current Nationwide Series Points Standings

With only two accidents and one blown engine, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in Indianapolis Motorspeedway still managed to see 11 caution periods during the 160-lap event because of tire issues …. that’s the story of Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race, and unfortunately that story overshadows the one of Jimmie Johnson winning the pole award and going on to pick up his second career victory at the Brickyard.

NASCAR knew that they were likely to experience tire issues, but they weren’t sure just how bad it would be. They had a competition caution scheduled within the first 15 laps of the race, but they didn’t need to use it thanks to Michael Waltrip spinning into the Turn 2 wall on lap 4, and then Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick wrecking on lap 14.

Dale Earnhardt Jr, who had already made a pit stop under green, inherited the lead on lap 17 when he stayed out as the rest of the leaders came into pit. He was able to hold onto the lead until his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, passed him on lap 25, and that’s when the troubles started for Junior. The next lap Earnhardt’s car was bobbling around the track as he lost a ton of positions before finally pitting on lap 27 with a right rear tire going down, putting him a lap down.

On the following lap, Mark Martin came down pit road when he thought he might have a tire going down, and then on lap 29, Juan Pablo Montoya’s right-rear blew, spreading debris all over the track. NASCAR then brought their first competition caution out on lap 30, and it was the points leader, Kyle Busch, leading the charge off of pit road to assume the race lead.

Jeff Gordon passed Busch for the lead on lap 36, but Johnson passed his teammate on the next trip around the track to take the lead for the second time of the day. About this same time, NASCAR reported that the next scheduled competition caution would take place on lap 47, but a few of the cars just couldn’t stretch it that far. Mark Martin pitted on lap 46 when he felt the tire cords vibrating in the car, Sam Hornish Jr. went a lap down when he was forced to pit with a tire issue, and Carl Edwards lost several positions on the track when he had to slow his car down because he, too, thought he was having a problem.

The big blow, though, was on lap 47. Just prior to NASCAR waiving their scheduled competition caution, Matt Kenseth blew a right rear tire that sent him spinning and literally shredded the rear end of his car. Kenseth had started up inside the top-ten and was viewed by many as one of the favorites to win the race, but the unfortunate circumstances put a shoddy end to his day.

Kyle Busch once again led the field off of pit road, this time followed by AJ Allmendinger in second. Both cars took only two tires, while Jimmie Johnson continued to take four tires on each stop. The four tires proved to be key, as Johnson once again worked his way up to the front on lap 62 and stayed there until the next competition caution, which came on lap 65. Dale Earnhardt Jr. received the Lucky Dog award under this caution, finally putting him back on the lead lap.

Allmendinger, who stayed in second place through the entire previous run on just two tires, once again went with just two right-sides and won the race off of pit road to take the lead. He continued his strong run and held onto the lead for a few laps, but was eventually passed by Johnson on lap 72. Two laps later Brian Vickers, who was running in the top-ten at the time, was forced to make his way down pit road with engine troubles as he was unable to turn the full RPMs.

Johnson still had the lead when the next competition caution waived on lap 82, but Martin Truex Jr. short-pitted just prior to the caution flag and inherited the lead by staying out while the leaders pitted. The lead was short-lived, however, as Carl Edwards made quick work of Truex and passed him for the lead on lap 87, and three laps later it was Johnson back to the front.

Caution number 7 was another competion caution on lap 97, and this time it was Elliott Sadler taking the lead for the first time despite hanging around near the top-five for the entire day, but lost the lead during the restart on lap 105 when Jeff Burton made his move to the front after starting all the way back in 32nd. Just after Burton took the lead, though, Brian Vickers - who had recently returned to the track - finally blew his engine, bringing the field under caution for the 8th time.

The leaders stayed out on the track having run only one lap on their set of tires, and they didn’t finally get restarted again until lap 113. Burton was still in the lead at the time, but three laps later it was Johnson again up to the front. He stayed there until the next competition caution on lap 121. This time it was Denny Hamlin taking two tires to get off of pit road first, and for the first time of the day, Johnson struggled to get past him despite having four fresh tires underneath him.

Hamlin held onto the lead through the ensuing caution on lap 133, and then NASCAR presented their final competition caution on lap 149, setting up a shootout to the finish. With the majority of the teams opting for just two tires on pit road, Hamlin’s crew had a slow stop and sent him out in third with Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards coming out ahead of him.

The final restart came on lap 154, and Johnson was able to hold off Carl Edwards for the final 7 laps of the race to get his second Brickyard victory with Edwards finishing 2nd and Hamlin in 3rd. Elliott Sadler earned his best finish of the season in 4th, and Jamie McMurray finished off a strong run in 5th. Jeff Gordon slipped a little in the latter portions of the race, but still went onto finish in 6th. 7th place went to Kasey Kahne, who rebounded nicely after his team spotted a cracked header on his car in the first segments of the race. Greg Biffle scored his best Indy finish by crossing the line in 8th. In 9th was Jeff Burton, and AJ Allmendinger finally scored his first ever top-ten finish by finishing 10th.

Other Notables:
After running a lap down earlier in the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. rebounded to a 12th place finish ….. Indiana-native, Ryan Newman, was scored in 13th ….. Points leader, Kyle Busch, wound up with his worst Indianapolis finish in 15th ….. Patrick Carpentier was scored as the highest rookie in the race. He finished 18th ….. In what will be his final Indianapolis appearance with Joe Gibbs Racing, Tony Stewart - a two time winner of this event and one of the favorites heading into the weekend - finished with an extremely disappointing 23rd place run.

The top three spots in the standings remained unchanged, and both Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton were able to gain very minimal ground on Kyle Busch for 1st place. Johnson’s win, however, moved him up a position past Carl Edwards into 4th, as Edwards now drops to 5th. Denny Hamlin gave himself a little bit more of a cushion as he moves up four spots into 8th, and Kasey Kahne jumped up two positions to 9th. Clint Bowyer’s 19th place run was enough to move him from 13th to 12th in the standings and into a Chase position, while his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Kevin Harvick, dropped down 4 spots to 13th. Only 100 points separates 7th place Greg Biffle from Kevin Harvick, and Harvick is only 2 points out of 12th.

Grades:
the Race:  40%
the Drama:  75%
Coverage:  62%
Pre-Race:  90%

Overall Grade:  56.4%

Complete Results (from nascar.com):

Sprint Cup Series Standings (from nascar.com):

Transactions:
- DEI has picked up the 2009 option on Martin Truex Jr, though Truex disputes the legality of the verbiage in the contract.
- Hendrick Motorsports has announced the release of Casey Mears for next season.
- Richard Childress Racing has extended Clint Bowyer’s contract through 2011.
- Roush-Fenway Racing has extended Greg Biffle’s contract through 2011.
- Gillette-Evernham Motorsports has signed Elliott Sadler through 2010.
- Richard Childress Racing has announced the addition of the #33 car as a fourth Cup team in 2009.
- Petty Enterprises has signed Bobby LaBonte through 2012.
- Roush-Fenway Racing has signed Carl Edwards through 2011.
- Due to a lack of sponsorship, Chip Ganassi Racing is forced to shut down the no. 40 car driven by Dario Franchitti for the remainder of the season.
- Hendrick Motorsports has signed Mark Martin to drive the no. 5 car full-time in 2009 and part-time in 2010.
- Tony Stewart announced his departure from Joe Gibbs Racing to go to Stewart Haas Racing (formerly Haas CNC Racing) as a 50% owner and a full-time driver in 2009.

Teams Without an Assigned 2009 Driver:
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. - No. 01 car
- Penske Racing - No. 12 car
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. - No. 15 car
- Joe Gibbs Racing - No. 20 car
- Wood Brothers Racing - No. 21 car
- Bill Davis Racing - No. 22 car
- Yates Racing - No. 28 car
- Richard Childress Racing - No. 33 car
- Furniture Row Motorsports - No. 34 car
- Chip Ganassi Racing - No. 41 car
- Stewart Haas Racing - No. 66 or No. 70 car

Drivers Without a Definitive 2009 Ride:
- Regan Smith
- Casey Mears
- Ryan Newman
- Paul Menard
- Dave Blaney
- Marcos Ambrose
- Travis Kvapil
- Tony Raines
- Reed Sorenson
- Scott Riggs
- Johnny Sauter
- Jeremy Mayfield
- Brad Keselowski
- David Stremme
- Jacques Villeneuve
- Kenny Wallace
- Ken Schrader
- Ward Burton
- Dario Franchitti

Other Potential Rides & Drivers that Could Become Available
(Pending variable circumstances):
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. - No. 1 Car - Current Driver: Martin Truex Jr.
- Gillette-Evernham Motorsports - No. 10 Car - Current Driver: Patrick Carpentier
- Roush Fenway Racing - No. 26 Car - Current Driver: Jamie McMurray
- Penske Racing - No. 77 Car - Current Driver: Sam Hornish Jr.

Image details: LifeLock.com 400 served by picapp.com

Kyle Busch continued his dominating run over the Sprint Cup Series Saturday night as he picked up his series-leading 7th win of the season by taking the checkers in the Lifelock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL. After rain cancelled Friday’s qualifying session, Busch was awarded the pole position due to leading the championship points standings, and that proved to be invaluable as he led the first 44 laps of the race en route to setting a new track record by leading a total of 165 laps, erasing the previous record set by Tony Stewart.

After a competition caution on lap 35 brought the field together, Carl Edwards passed Busch for the lead on lap 45, but then surrendered the lead just a few laps later when Denny Hamlin brought out the caution as he fell off the pace due to issues with his ignition box. While Edwards and most of the other race leaders came into pit, five cars remained out on the track, including Jeff Gordon who was then scored as the race leader, and also Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, and Ryan Newman who were able to use the track position to their advantage for the rest of the evening. Biffle took the lead from Gordon on lap 57 and held onto until the five cars that stayed out had to pit around lap 92, at which time Tony Stewart became the new race leader.

The rest of the field started cycling through their green flag stops around lap 100, and many cars had costly stops, including Kurt Busch who was penalized for too fast entering pit road, and Travis Kvapil who was penalized for hitting the commitment cone as he entered pit road. Both drivers were forced to make pass-through penalties, and both found themselves a lap down following the incidents.

Greg Biffle re-assumed command of the race after the pit stops finally cycled their way through, but a caution on lap 112 involving Patrick Carpentier, Michael Waltrip, and Jeff Burton erased the lead. Seeing the strategy that some of the other drivers used earlier in the race, four more drivers stayed out on the track, and Matt Kenseth led the race for the first time. Kyle Busch, David Ragan, and AJ Allmendinger also stayed out.

Kurt Busch was able to drive his way ahead of the leaders on the restart to get back onto the lead lap, and then some of the best racing of the evening came when Kenseth and Kyle Busch raced each other side-by-side for several laps until Kenseth finally gave way on lap 120, and then was forced to pit four laps later when he had a tire going down. The pit stop put Matt a lap down to the race leaders, but he later gained that back when a caution came out on lap 177 for debris and he was awarded the lucky dog.

Carl Edwards made his way back to the front when he passed Kyle Busch for the lead on lap 203, but the troubles continued for the Roush-Fenway Racing bunch when he pitted on lap 208. He had originally thought that he also had a tire going down, but it was later determined that he had broken a splitter, causing the handling on his car to go away. He was able to get back out on the track, though he was stuck a lap down and was never able to recover. About the same time, Kurt Busch watched all the progress he’d made in recovering from the earlier penalty on pit road go away as his car dropped a cylinder, sending him all the way back to the tail end of the lead lap.

Kyle Busch re-assumed the lead after the Edwards pit stop, and remained up front until Jimmie Johnson challenged him for the lead with just 17 laps to go. Johnson won the battle and appeared to be poised for his second win of the season as he pulled away from the field until David Gilliland’s engine blew up 11 laps later, bringing out the ninth and final caution of the day, and also setting the field up for a 2-lap shootout.

Johnson had already proven that he had the most dominant car of all those in position for the win, so Kyle Busch knew that the only way to get to him was to get him on the restart, and that’s exactly what he did. He timed the restart perfectly as he clung to Johnson’s rear bumper and was able to pull up next to him going through turns 1 and 2. He made the pass on the no. 48 car on the high side and then pulled down in front of him.

Johnson hung with him, though, as Kyle took the white flag with Kevin Harvick also hanging tough in third right behind Johnson. He made one last attempt to pass Kyle going through the final turns, but Johnson overdrove the corner and got loose, securing the win for the no. 18 team. Johnson went onto finish 2nd, and Harvick wound up 3rd.

Greg Biffle’s race strategy paid off as he finished in 4th, and after a long week in the spotlight, Tony Stewart came home in 5th. The no. 83 Red Bull Racing team of Brian Vickers also used some strategy in the pits, and they were able to walk away with a 6th place finish. Matt Kenseth ran out of time in his charge back up to the front of the field, but still managed to salvage a 7th place effort. David Ragan finished in 8th. Martin Truex Jr. found the good run that he desperately needed and crossed the line in 9th, and Ryan Newman’s strategy paid off as well, as he rounded out the top-ten finishers.

Other Notables:
Jeff Gordon’s bid for a second Chicagoland victory came up short as he finished just outside of the top-ten in 11th ….. Elliott Sadler and AJ Allmendinger both had good runs going, but dropped outside of the top-ten in the closing laps as they wound up in 12th and 13th ….. Kasey Kahne recorded the best Chicagoland finish in his career as he finished 15th ….. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a disappointing run. After starting the race in 2nd, he wound up 16th ….. Kurt Busch wound up 28th, and Carl Edwards was 30th.

For Kyle Busch, this was his third win in the last four races, being trumped only by older brother Kurt’s win at New Hampshire. It was also his seventh Sprint Cup victory of the season, which will equate to 35 bonus points when the series enters the Chase for the Cup in October. He has now also opened up an astounding 262 point lead in the standings over second place Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The top six spots in the standings remained unchanged, but there was quite a bit of shakeup in the bottom half of the top-12. Greg Biffle moved up four spots to 7th, and his Roush teammate, Matt Kenseth, also continues to gain ground as he moved up a spot to 8th. Kevin Harvick made his way back inside the Chase field, as he moved from 13th to 9th, and Tony Stewart is a little more comfortable now in 10th. Kasey Kahne and Denny Hamlin are now on the bubble in 11th and 12th, and Clint Bowyer has dropped outside of the top-12 as he now sits 27 points out in 13th.

Grades:
the Race: 85%
the Drama: 93%
Coverage: 86%
Pre-Race: 95%

Overall Grade: 87.8%

Complete Results (from nascar.com):

Sprint Cup Series Standings (from nascar.com):