Blogginisracin

Paul Menard headed for Yates Racing

Paul Menard will leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of the season and move to Yates Racing. It's an important pickup for Yates since Menard comes with sponsorship from his father's hardware chain. The departure leaves DEI with three drivers but only one full-time sponsor for 2009. Bass Pro Shops will continue to sponsor Martin Truex Jr.'s No. 1 Chevy, but the No. 8 of Aric Almirola and No. 01 of Regan Smith may not have full-time backing in 2009.

-- Michele Vincze

Allmendinger proves his worth

AJ Allmendinger picked a great time to record his career-best NASCAR Sprint Cup finish. In a week in which he was told he will not be returning to Red Bull Racing next season, Allmendinger went out and finished ninth Sunday at Kansas Speedway to show any potential suitors that he really can drive a racecar. The finish had to help the free-agent driver, who doesn't even know if he'll be racing his No. 84 Toyota at Talladega next weekend. Read more about Allmendinger's day here.

Update: Red Bull Racing has decided to let Allmendinger go early to pursue other offers. Mike Skinner will pilot the No. 84 Toyota at Talladega this weekend and again at Lowe's Motor Speedway the week after. Scott Speed will finish the season in the car, including the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 2.

-- Michele Vincze

Schumacher back to his winning ways

O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals
Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park

Top Fuel: Tony Schumacher's loss to J.R. Todd last week at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis apparently was a just a blip in his run to another title. Schumacher got back to winning Sunday when he defeated Doug Herbert in the event final. It was Schumacher's ninth consecutive final-round appearance.

Funny Car: Tim Wilkerson spoiled a potential all-John Force Racing semifinals when he turned back John Force, Robert Hight, and Ashley Force in consecutive rounds. Wilkerson beat Ashley Force in the final 4.166 to 4.183. Wilkerson remains the points leader in the class with three events remaining.

Pro Stock: Mike Edwards earned his second victory of the season with a final-round win against Jason Line. Edwards jumped from ninth to fifth in the Countdown to 1 standings. Jeg Coughlin Jr. maintained his points lead despite losing in the quarterfinals to Allen Johnson.

Pro Stock Motorcycle: Craig Treble defeated Eddie Krawiec in the final to earn his first victory of the year. Matt Smith still leads the class despite losing to Krawiec in the semifinals.

Full points standings can be found here.

-- Michele Vincze

Alonso wins wild one in Singapore

Fernando Alonso earned his first Formula One victory of the season in the series' first night race in Singapore. The race Sunday also saw one title contender falter and another scratch for a third-place finish.
When Alonso's Renault teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. wrecked early in the race, polesitter and leader Felipe Massa of Ferrari pitted, but he left his pit before his fueling was finished and drug the fueling hose down pit road. He was penalized for leaving the pit unsafely and eventually finished 13th.
Points leader Lewis Hamilton started second but fell back into the pack after the first pitstop and recovered to finish third. The McLaren driver now has a seven-point edge over Massa in the title hunt.
Nico Rosberg recovered from a 10-second stop-and-go penalty early in the race to finish second, his best career F1 result.
Full results can be found here.

-- Michele Vincze

Johnson grabs points lead with win

Jimmie Johnson had no idea where Carl Edwards came from.
Leading by what he thought was a comfortable margin late in the Camping World RV 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, Johnson, left, ended up with a thrilling last-lap battle on his hands, courtesy of a hard-charging Edwards.
Johnson had more than a second lead on second-place Edwards as the race approached 10 laps to go. However, Edwards chipped away at Johnson’s lead and was right on Johnson’s bumper when the white flag flew. Edwards looked like he might steal the win from Johnson in Turn 3 of the final lap but as he shot past Johnson’s No. 48 Chevy, Edwards’ No. 99 Ford slid up the track and scrubbed the wall in Turn 4. That allowed Johnson to pass Edwards on the front stretch and take the win.
“I planned on hitting the wall, but I didn’t plan on the wall slowing me down that much," Edwards said in a TV interview after the race. "I play a lot of video games where you can just run it into the wall and hold it wide open and that’s what I did, but it didn’t work out quite the same as the video game. I just really, really wanted to win this race so I feel bad for the guys back at the shop for tearing up their race car intentionally. But I wasn’t going to get by him (Johnson) on the top and I didn’t want to go in there and slide job and hit him and so I just did what I could do.”
Johnson led the most laps (124) and made up 20 points on Edwards to take a 10-point lead in the standings. It was Johnson’s fifth victory of the season and 12th in the Chase since 2004.
"I thought I was sitting in great shape with two to go," Johnson said in his post-race news conference "Had a nice, comfortable lead. Next thing you know, that No. 99 (Carl Edwards) is all over me. I had a battle on my hands."
Greg Biffle continued his hot streak with a third-place finish. Jeff Gordon leapt two spots in the standings to sixth after he battled Biffle late and settled for a fourth-place finish. Matt Kenseth, who had to rally twice after a lug nut problem in the pits and a spin on the track, rounded out the top five.
Chase losers on the day included Kyle Busch, who finished 28th to slide to 311 points back of points leader Johnson. Busch's teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, Tony Stewart, started 41st, spun through the infield grass on the frontstretch midway through the race and finished 40th after his crew spent time on pit road fixing a damaged front splitter.
Full results can be found here. Updated standings can be found here.

-- Michele Vincze
Photo: Getty Images

Bernstein maintains No. 1 spot in Top Fuel

O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals
Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park

Top Fuel: Brandon Bernstein's Friday run of 3.825 seconds at 313.88 mph held up Saturday to give him his second No. 1 qualifier of the season and 13th of his career.

Funny Car: This class didn't see much movement either as Ashley Force's 4.079 at 298.87 from Friday stayed strong. It's Force's third No. 1 qualifier of the season and of her career.

Pro Stock: Allen Johnson drove his Dodge Stratus to a 6.591 at 208.52, a track record for elapsed time. It's Johnson's third No. 1 qualifier of the season and sixth of his career.

Pro Stock Motorcycle: Chip Ellis was the only driver to earn a No. 1 spot on Saturday with a 6.910 at 191.10. It's Ellis' first No. 1 qualifier of the season, 13th of his career and second consecutive at Memphis Motorsports Park.

-- The Associated Press

Hamlin helps Toyota clinch Nationwide title

Denny Hamlin took advantage of a fast pit stop near the halfway point and held off Nationwide Series points leader Clint Bowyer to win the Kansas Lottery 300 on Saturday.
Hamlin started 19th and gradually worked through the field, moving in behind pole sitter Kevin Harvick for second. Hamlin got out of the pits faster than Harvick after Bobby Hillin Jr. spun out on the 93rd lap and built the lead to nearly 3 seconds to win his fourth Nationwide race this year.
Hamlin gave Joe Gibbs Racing its 17th victory in 30 Nationwide races, and clinched the series manufacturer's championship for Toyota in just its second season competing in NASCAR's top two series.
Bowyer pushed his points lead to 196 points over Carl Edwards, who finished fourth. David Ragan was third, Matt Kenseth fifth. Full results can be found here.

-- The Associated Press

Passionate racer Paul Newman will be missed

With the passing of legend Paul Newman on Friday at age 83, so many things drifted through my brain. The guy was a great actor (gotta love "Slap Shot" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"), entrepreneur and he was one of the most charitable individuals on this earth. He also was a member of this country's "Greatest Generation" and I have the feeling my grandpa, age 86, is lamenting Newman's passing this weekend.

But the thought that kept coming back to me is Paul Newman, above left with his wife Joanne Woodward in 1983, loved racing cars and he'll be sorely missed in racing circles around the globe. He raced cars and won races and titles; he owned racing teams and he never stopped loving the thrill of speed. As recent as 2005 he raced in the Rolex 24 at Daytona Grand-Am endurance race and his Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing open-wheel team won eight CART or Champ Car championships, most recently in 2007 with Sebastien Bourdais.

“I have come to know his passion, humor and above all, his generosity," said Carl Haas, co-owner of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. "Not just economic generosity, but generosity of spirit. His support of the team's drivers, crew and the racing industry is legendary. His pure joy at winning a pole position or winning a race exemplified the spirit he brought to his life and to all those that knew him. We will truly miss him.”

Check out more quotes about Newman from the racing community here.
Associated Press motorsports writer Mike Harris penned a nice piece about Newman's life in racing. Check it out here.

-- Michele Vincze
Photo: The Associated Press