Blogginisracin

Kyle Busch dominates in Cali

Stop me if you've heard this one before. Kyle Busch won ... again. This time in the Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Busch started on pole Saturday night and lead all but six laps for his seventh series win this season and 18th overall in NASCAR's top three series. Carl Edwards was second. Go here to find out where your favorite driver finished.

-- Michele Vincze

Andretti Green Racing earns milestone win

Andretti Green Racing earned is first ever American Le Mans Series overall win as James Rossiter and Franck Montagny piloted their Acura to victory in the Detroit Sports Car Challenge on Saturday on Belle Isle. The AGR pair lead an overall podium sweep for Acura. Scott Sharp and David Brabham finished second, 3.985 seconds back; Simon Pagenaud and Gil De Ferran finished third. IndyCar regular Ryan Briscoe paired with Patrick Long to finish fifth overall in their Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder.

-- Michele Vincze

Dixon, Castroneves battle continues

IndyCar points leader Scott Dixon will only have to look beside him at the start of the Detroit Indy Grand Prix on Sunday to see his closest rival, Helio Castroneves. Dixon qualified on pole Saturday, and the runner-up spot went to Castroneves at the 2.07-mile, 14-turn Belle Isle circuit. With two races remaining in the IndyCar season, Dixon leads Castroneves by 43 points. A full lineup can be found here.

-- Michele Vincze

Johnson wins first pole at hometown track

Jimmie Johnson, above, won his first career Cup pole at Auto Club Speedway on Friday, but his strongest challenge came from the last driver in line to qualify. Johnson, who went out 18th at the 2-mile track in Fontana, Calif., posted a 39.912-second run at 180.397 mph. He then had to wait for more than half the field to cycle through only to see fellow Californian AJ Allmendinger, one of the drivers who had to qualify on time, nearly knock him off the top spot. Allmendinger logged a speed of 179.659 mph (40.076 seconds) for his first career front-row start. Jeff Gordon will start third. Gillett Evernham Motorsports teammates Kasey Kahne and Patrick Carpentier round out the top five. A full lineup can be found here.

-- Michele Vincze
Photo: The Associated Press

Funny Car's Hight fast on emotional night

Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
O'Reilly Raceway Park, Clermont, Ind.

This is the final regular-season event. The six-race Countdown to 1 playoff begins in two weeks with the Carolinas Nationals.

Funny Car: Robert Hight powered his Auto Club Ford Mustang to the provisional No. 1 qualifying position Friday, finishing a 4.114-second pass at 297.48 mph. Hight's run put him in position to earn his fourth No. 1 qualifier this season and the 27th of his career. “I don't think (the 4.114) will hold up (Saturday) night, we're running a little later so the track will be a little better so we'll have to run better than a 4.114 and I honestly think we can improve,” said, Hight, whose John Force Racing teammates provisionally qualified 12th (Mike Neff (4.349), 13th (Ashley Force, 4.357), and 14th (John Force, 4.416). Meanwhile, the DHL Funny Car made its first pass down the track since Scott Kalitta's fatal accident at Englishtown. Jeff Arend opened the Funny Car session, after an emotional acknowledgment, by powering the Toyota Solara to a 4.193 at 297.75. “One of the coolest things at this U.S. Nationals was getting to see that Scott Kalitta car back on the track,” Hight said.

Top Fuel: Cory McClenathan glided down the track in 3.85 seconds at 316.45 mph to earn the provisional top spot.

Pro Stock: Allen Johnson's 6.713 at 201.85 run gave him the provisional No. 1.

Pro Stock Motorcycle: Eddie Krawiec's 7.106 at 184.02 was enough to put him on top.
Qualifying continues with two more rounds on both Saturday and Sunday before the 16-car fields are set for Monday's final.

-- The Associated Press

TMS "Dale and the Duke" promotion still going

According the Texas Motor Speedway web site, "Dale and The Duke" die-casts are still available and now you can purchase the special promotion Dickies 500 tickets online. Frontstretch tickets available for this offer range from $99 to $139 each. The “Dale & The Duke” die-casts will be limited to one per customer and the offer will remain available while supplies last or until Sept. 6. To purchase your Dickies 500 tickets, call the TMS ticket office at 817-215-8500 or go here to purchase online. The 1:24-scale die-cast cars will be available for pick up at a yet-to-be-determined area at the speedway during the Oct. 30-Nov. 2 Dickies 500 race week. The die-cast will retail for $75 when released to the public.

Quote of the week

"Obviously, a lot of what is said on the radio, in my opinion, doesn’t need to be broadcasted [by the TV networks]. But, it is up to us to keep that in mind. That is the first time they have ever broadcasted me, obviously it wasn’t a good thing. It is frustrating. It is down to crunch time. Everybody is trying to dig for every inch; I didn’t mean anything by it, just letting off a little steam.”
-- Clint Bowyer on his disparaging comment regarding Michael Waltrip's driving ability during the Sharpie 500. Waltrip didn't appreciate that ESPN aired the comment. The network does not air live driver's radio chatter, and chose to air the comment on a slightly delayed basis after Waltrip and Casey Mears created a multi-car accident.

Photo: Getty Images

SMI proceeding with Kentucky Speedway sale

The sale of Kentucky Speedway to Speedway Motorsports Inc. is on track to be completed this fall.
SMI announced Thursday that it will proceed with its acquisition of the 1.5-mile tri-oval located in northern Kentucky about halfway between Louisville and Cincinnati. The two sides reached an agreement in May, and SMI completed a 90-day review earlier this month. The company expects the sale to be completed by December.
SMI president Bruton Smith says the sale allows SMI to expand its geographic reach and is optimistic he can bring a NASCAR Sprint Cup race to the track. SMI owns seven tracks throughout the country that host Sprint Cup events: Texas Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Lowe's Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Infineon Raceway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Smith had hoped the track would land a Sprint Cup race in 2009, but cited an ongoing antitrust lawsuit filed by the speedway against NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. as an obstacle.
The case was thrown out in January, but an appeal has been filed and current track owner Jerry Carroll said he has no intentions of abandoning the case.

-- The Associated Press