Gateway International Speedway

Kentucky Speedway

July 19, 2008

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Clint Bowyer, No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet, finished eighth:

"We had a good car right up until that last run when the handling just completely disappeared. It got so loose after the last caution that I was barely able to hang onto it and tapped the wall coming off of turn four at least once. We had a top-five BB&T Chevy tonight and the guys did a great job on pit road so I don't know if something broke (in the suspension) or what happened. We'll take another top-10 finish and get ready for a lot of action next week at Indy."

Cale Gale, No. 33 RoadLoans.com Chevrolet, finished 12th:

"Our RoadLoans.com Chevrolet was really good tonight. Unfortunately, we didn't qualify really well and that put us behind from the start. The guys worked hard all night improving the car and we were able to get a solid top-15 finish. We'll take it and move on to the next one."

Marcos Ambrose, No. 59 Kingford/MatchLight Ford, finished 15th:

"It was a tough night for sure, but we got everything possible out of our Kingsford Ford. It was a good night for points, so we're pleased with that. It was the kind of effort that wins championships. Our guys have really been pushed hard to get cars ready each week, especially after the fire. When we get the hauler back and get the two cars back I think we'll be in great shape for rest of the season."

Bobby Hamilton Jr., No. 25 Eckrich Ford, finished 20th:

"We had hoped to finish much higher here tonight, but it wasn't meant to be. We will head to Indianapolis next week and try to find our way back to the top 10. We want to give Eckrich a strong run next weekend."

Steve Wallace, No. 66 Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches Chevrolet, finished 26th.

Scott Wimmer, No. 29 Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express Chevrolet, finished 30th:

"It's been a while since I have taken a hit like that. The Holiday Inn Chevrolet was pretty good today. We started toward the back and we got ourselves up front. It was some tough racing on the restart and I think I got a little help there from the No. 5. It looked like we were going to have a good night of clean racing but we didn't. I was racing Reed (Sorenson) and the No. 5 tapped me a little and that turned me into the wall. It's not a hit that you like to take and I saw the wall coming pretty quick. Fortunately all my safety equipment held up and did good. We'll go racing at ORP from here."

Kelly Bires, No. 47 Clorox Anywhere Ford, finished 32nd:

"We got tangled up getting down into Turn 1. It was the third time we lapped this car and he gave me plenty of room the first two times. The third time he decided to race me where I thought he was giving me room. It's very disappointing, but I have a very strong JTG Racing team and we'll rebound at (O'Reilly Raceway Park)."

NASCAR Truck Series

Ron Hornaday, No. 33 Camping World/RVs.com Chevrolet, finished 10th:

"We did a good job by being able to come from one lap down to finish in the top 10. These guys work so hard and they never give up. The truck was tight after the race started, but Rick Ren (crew chief) made a track-bar adjustment on the first pit stop and made the truck handle better. Then we had the loose wheel and lost a lap, but we were able to get it back and work our way back into the top 10 and get a good finish."

Jon Wood, No. 21 The Barnhill Group Ford, finished 11th:

"Racecars are made to be wrecked. When you're in a position where you have every racecar in the field in front of you, whoever it is that does wreck, you've got to drive around. So, the odds of being in a wreck are the highest riding around in the back like I did all night. I don't know what our situation was, but it wasn't from lack of effort, I know that. It's a shame to finish 11th and be the best finishing Ford in a Ford sponsored race.

"We battled so many issues yesterday in practice that there wasn't a lot of preparation done for qualifying today. We concentrated more on the race. It wasn't that I didn't have a fast truck, I was just always at the wrong place at the wrong time. I had to use my tires up every time I got new tires. It seemed like every time we came in and pit for tires, something would happen, and I would have to race really, really hard to make up positions. It was essentially useless to put on tires."

Jack Sprague, No. 2 American Commercial Lines Chevrolet, finished 22nd:

"We had motor trouble in final practice and qualifying, but we really thought the problem would cure itself," Sprague said. "We had an awesome American Commercial Lines Chevrolet today, and had my motor been running up to speed during the race I really think we would have had a great shot at the win. Unfortunately, right now we can't have any luck but bad luck, but we will go to ORP next week and hopefully change that."

Snap-on's Clint Bowyer maintained the Nationwide Series points lead with an eighth-place run in Saturday's Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250.

Snap-on Nextel Cup Drivers - how they placed:
Clint Bowyer (8th, led 0 laps) Cale Gale (12th, led 0 laps) Marcos Ambrose (15th, led 0 laps) Bobby Hamilton Jr. (20th, led 0 laps) Steve Wallace (26th, led 0 laps) Scott Wimmer (30th, led 0 laps) Kelly Bires (32nd, led 0 laps)

Clint Bowyer:
July, 19, 2008 | Madison, Ill. -- NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader Clint Bowyer clicked off another solid top-10 finish, his 11th straight, at Gateway International Raceway in the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250. Bowyer's points advantage sits at 170 over Brad Keselowski. Bowyer and his Richard Childress Racing Chevy, which qualified fifth, was plagued by handling woes late in the race. Despite the ill-handling car, Bowyer held on for an eighth-place finish. "We had a good car right up until that last run when the handling just completely disappeared," Bowyer explained. "It got so loose after the last caution that I was barely able to hang onto it and tapped the wall coming off of Turn 4 at least once. We had a top-five BB&T Chevy tonight and the guys did a great job on pit road so I don't know if something broke (in the suspension) or what happened. We'll take another top-10 finish and get ready for a lot of action next week in Indy."

Cale Gale:
July, 19, 2008 | Madison, Ill. -- Cale Gale made his ninth start of the 2008 Nationwide Series season for Kevin Harvick, Inc. Although Gale qualified 33rd, he drove a masterful race, dodging numerous accidents and keeping the car clean en route to a 12th-place finish. Gale has finished 12th in his last two starts and has three runs of 12th this year.

Marcos Ambrose:
July, 19, 2008 | Madison, Ill. -- Marcos Ambrose qualified his No. 59 JTG Racing Ford 27th, but advanced to 15th by night's end in the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway International Raceway. The solid run pushed Ambrose up one spot to 12th in the season's point standings. "We got another solid finish and jumped one spot in the points so we achieved some good things here in Gateway," said Ambrose. "It's a tricky track to run at because of the different corners at each end. We had a bad qualifying run but moved up a bit in the first half of the race. "We didn't have the car to move into the top 10 after the red flag but we brought it home and got the points." Ambrose has consecutive 15th-place runs and has not finished outside of the top 20 since late May - a string of seven races.

Bobby Hamilton Jr.:
July, 19, 2008 | Madison, Ill. -- Bobby Hamilton Jr. recorded his fifth straight top-20 finish with a 20th-place run in the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway International Raceway. Driving the Ed Rensi-owned No. 25 Ford, Hamilton qualified 15th but dropped down one lap due to an ill-handling racecar. Hamilton sits 15th in the Nationwide Series point standings.

Steve Wallace:
July, 19, 2008 | Madison, Ill. -- Steve Wallace had a strong run going in Saturday evening's Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway International Raceway. However, Wallace was involved in a lap 117 accident after qualifying a promising sixth on the grid. Wallace was forced to retire from the race due to the damage and finished 26th.

Scott Wimmer:
July, 19, 2008 | Madison, Ill. -- Scott Wimmer made his 13th start of the 2008 Nationwide Series season for Richard Childress in the No. 29 Chevy. After qualifying 28th, Wimmer was involved in a multi-car accident in the frontstretch on lap 117 and was forced to retire the car. He finished 30th. It was Wimmer's first finish outside of the top 20 this season.

Kelly Bires:
July, 19, 2008 | Madison, Ill. -- Kelly Bires suffered through his most disappointing night of the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series season. Having qualified 30th, Bires was working his way through traffic, advancing positions, when he was spun by Brad Teague. Bires' car made hard contact with the outside retaining wall in Turns 1 and 2 and retired after the lap 63 incident. He finished 32nd.

Ron Hornaday Jr.:
July, 19, 2008 | Sparta, Ky. -- Defending Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday overcame a loose wheel that necessitated a green flag pit stop, which docked his No. 33 Chevy a lap. Hornaday made up the lost lap in the Built Ford Tough 225 from Kentucky Speedway and drove to his third straight top-10 run at Kentucky. "We did a good job by being able to come from one lap down to finish in the top 10," Hornaday said. "These guys work so hard and they never give up. "The truck was tight after the race started, but Rick Ren (crew chief) made a track-bar adjustment on the first pit stop and made the truck handle better. Then we had the loose wheel and lost a lap, but we were able to get it back and work our way back into the top 10 and get a good finish." Hornaday, who won at Kentucky in 2006, slipped to third in the series point standings, but trails leader Johnny Benson by a mere 25 points.

Jon Wood:
July, 19, 2008 | Sparta, Ky. -- Jon Wood, driving for his family-owned Wood Brothers Racing team, qualified a disappointing 32nd for Saturday evening's Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway, but blasted his way through the 150-lap event en route to an 11th-place finish. Wood won the pole for the Kentucky race in 2003 and has never finished worse than 13th in his Truck career in six starts at the 1.5-mile Sparta track. Wood has four consecutive top-10 runs in the 2008 Truck Series season.

Jack Sprague:
July, 19, 2008 | Sparta, Ky. -- Jack Sprague led the field in final practice for the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway and started fifth on the grid. However, a potentially strong performance was ruined when engine problems derailed his effort. "We had motor trouble in final practice and qualifying, but we really thought the problem would cure itself," Sprague said. "We had an awesome American Commercial Lines Chevrolet today, and had my motor been running up to speed during the race I really think we would have had a great shot at the win. Unfortunately, right now we can't have any luck but bad luck, but we will go to ORP next week and hopefully change that." Sprague and his No. 2 Kevin Harvick, Inc. team realized there was a problem almost immediately and came to pit road numerous times to check the spark plug wires, change the carburetor and finally to change the spark plugs. Once the faulty plug was replaced, Sprague ran lap times comparable to the leaders, but by then he was two laps off the pace. He finished 22nd.

The Snap-on drivers continued their westward swing in search of a gold rush in the form of a win. The NHRA started its second leg of the three-week summer series in Seattle where Dave Connolly and his Snap-on team took the top qualifying spot in the Pro Stock class, but ultimately the Snap-on teams were unable to secure a win.

Doug Herbert:
July, 20, 2008 | Kent, Wash. -- One word can sum up the summer Doug Herbert has had: hot. "Dougzilla" and his Snap-on team have been winning rounds and have made semifinal and final round appearances in the last several weeks, including a win. Herbert notched a 3.870-second pass at 307.72 mph in qualifying which was good enough for the 11th spot heading into Sunday. Herbert had his work cut out for him in the first round. The Snap-on veteran matched up with Larry Dixon. Herbert was off the line first, but Dixon made a race of it until 350 feet. From there, Dixon dropped cylinders and shut it down. Herbert continued on with a solid, clean pass to move into the second round. Round 2 proved to be a test for Herbert. Squaring off with Bob Vandergriff, Herbert had to pedal his Snap-on dragster to victory. Both Herbert and Vandergriff didn't hook up and had to pedal, but Herbert did it better and moved into the semis. The third time wasn't the charm for Herbert on Sunday in Seattle though. In the third round, Herbert met Brandon Bernstein for the third straight week, looking for win No. 3. Bernstein was away first, but Herbert made up the ground. From there Herbert hazed the tires and lost traction. He was forced to pedal his Snap-on hot-rod and that was enough to end the weekend. "It was a decent day," said Herbert. "Anytime you go to the semifinals it's an okay weekend. We had a good points day because we pulled within 13 points of seventh-place Hillary Will."

Tony Pedregon:
July, 20, 2008 | Kent, Wash. -- Snap-on driver Tony Pedregon was the highest qualifying driver again this week. Pedregon piloted his hot rod down the 1,000-foot lane in 4.098 seconds at 299.33 mph to lock himself into the ninth spot. Pedregon took to the track against Melanie Troxel in the first round. Troxel had won their only other match, but things were different this time. Pedregon was out of the gate first with a huge advantage and it was all over with Pedregon winning impressively. Pedregon and Robert Hight were set for an epic showdown and Pedregon didn't disappoint. Pedregon cut a great light, leaving Hight behind. From there Pedregon pulled away to take the win. In the semifinals Pedregon matched up with Tony Barton. Pedregon took the lead off the line and was out front most of the way. However, Barton chased Pedregon down and drove by to end Pedregon's weekend a round too early.

Cruz Pedregon:
July, 20, 2008 | Kent, Wash. -- Cruz Pedregon and his Snap-on team logged a qualifying effort just behind his brother, Tony. Pedregon rocketed down the track in 4.102 seconds at 301.47 mph. This effort put Pedregon in the 10th spot. Pedregon drew Ashley Force in the first round. Pedregon tore off the line first and held a pretty wheel. Meanwhile, Force drifted out of the groove and had to lift, sending Pedregon into the second round. Pedregon and Ron Capps had a showdown in the second round. Capps was out of the gate first, but Pedregon drove past him with his Snap-on machine 300 feet down the track. Unfortunately, Capps rallied by Pedregon to send him home early.

Gary Densham:
July, 20, 2008 | Kent, Wash. -- Gary Densham completed the string of Snap-on drivers all qualifying in a line. Densham completed his 4.104-second pass at 299.40 mph only a few thousandths of a second from passing Pedregon. In the end, Densham locked into the 11th spot for eliminations. Densham had a close call in Round 1. Facing Jerry Toliver, Densham got off the line first. Toliver fired back and the two lost traction. Densham pedaled and got his car to hook up again just before he got to the centerline. He powered on while Toliver failed to hook up. Densham and Jack Beckman locked horns in the second round with Densham getting the better of Beckman. Densham left first and that was all she wrote. Densham powered away with a solid run to move into the third round against Ron Capps. Capps and Densham hooked up for the rights to go to the finals. Unfortunately, Capps took advantage of his starting line position and pulled away for a hole shot win. Densham had a solid effort, but wasn't quick enough to keep pace.

Dave Connolly:
July, 20, 2008 | Kent, Wash. -- Dave Connolly continued his assault on the top 10 in the championship standings. Sitting 11th entering Seattle, Connolly again made up for lost time early in the season by turning in a very strong effort Friday when it was cool to take the top qualifying spot in Pro Stock. Connolly pegged a 6.573, 209.49 mph pass to edge rival Greg Anderson. Connolly met Ben Watson for the first time ever in the first round and left quite the impression on Watson. Connolly, the top dog in qualifying, pulled off the line first and never looked back en route to a hole shot win. Connolly had a nightmare in the second round against Allen Johnson. Right on the line, Connolly's Snap-on machine busted out loose as soon as he dropped the clutch to take off. As a result, he had to back off and that ended things. Johnson rode off into the sunset and into the semis. "We had a great car all weekend and we could've made up some ground (in points) and moved into the top 10, but we blew the engine on the burnout," said Connolly. "The motor was running on seven cylinders and we were at the mercy of him going red (a foul start, which he didn't). We just can't catch a break."

Jeg Coughlin:
July, 20, 2008 | Kent, Wash. -- Jeg Coughlin didn't quite have the speed to get a high qualifying position, but in the Pro Stock class it doesn't matter. Coughlin notched a 6.606, 208.36 mph pass to secure the 10th spot for Sunday. Coughlin's weekend ended early in the first round at the hands of Mike Edwards. Coughlin edged Edwards off the line, but Edwards out-muscled Coughlin down to the far end. Coughlin and his Snap-on team fell in defeat by a mere four inches. "We made a good run at it," said Coughlin. "Coming from the bottom half of the field we didn't have lane choice and perhaps that was the difference. I guess we'll never know. Certainly, we could have been more aggressive with the tune-up in that other lane, but that's drag racing. No complaints here. We're really all setting up for the Countdown to the Championship and we need to work out all the little things we want to figure out with the car and the tune-up right now." The three-week summer West Coast swing concludes next weekend as the NHRA heads to Sonoma for the Fram Autolite Nationals. Qualifying can be seen on Saturday at 6 p.m. EDT on ESPN2 while eliminations can be seen on Sunday at 7 p.m. EDT on ESPN2.

Cale Gale has only one previous Nationwide Series start at Gateway International Raceway. Driving a Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Chevrolet, Gale started the 2007 race from the 35th position and following an early-race incident, finished 29th. But that statistic might not give a true picture of Gale's ability at the track. He's also had success there. Gale won his first Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) race in 2006 at Gateway, in his second career start. Gale's victory led directly to his current ride with KHI. He'll take over the No. 33 RoadLoans.com Chevrolet this weekend while team owner Kevin Harvick enjoys the weekend off.

"It's the track that definitely helped me get to where I am today in my racing career and it's a track I like," said Gale. "Gateway's a track that drives like a short track. My first time here in an ARCA car, I knew the track fit my driving style. This season I will be back with the confidence to run well in equipment I know is capable of winning."

So what exactly is it about Gateway that is so difficult? It's all about the unique layout of the speedway. One end of the Gateway International Raceway is narrow, the other wide. The egg-shaped track offers no compromises for Marcos Ambrose and the No. 59 Kingsford Match Light Ford for this Saturday night's Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250.

"You can't concentrate on one end and hope for the best at the other because you'd be too far off," Ambrose said. "You know going there Turns 1 and 2 are going to be tight; Turns 3 and 4 are loose. You try to find a balance so you're all right at both ends. It's not possible to be great, just all right."

Because the track is so unusual, it tends to be one that favors drivers who have more laps under their belt there in spite of Gale's beginners luck. In 2007, Scott Wimmer scorched the 1.25-mile egg-shaped Gateway oval in 33.246 seconds (135.355 mph), setting a new track record and capturing his first-career NNS pole position.

"Experience helps a lot because we only go to Gateway once a year and not a lot of teams test there," said Wimmer. "It really isn't like any other place that we go to. Any time you can spend running there helps. I ran an ASA race there back in 2000 for the first time and felt comfortable. Laps definitely help there probably more than any other track."

While the Nationwide Series navigates the tricky Gateway turns, the NASCAR Truck Series heads to the wide and fast expanses of Kentucky Speedway. Coming off their third win of the season, Ron Hornaday and the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet Silverado team is looking to become the first repeat winner in the nine-year history of the NASCAR Truck Series' race at the Kentucky Speedway. Hornaday and team won for the first time at Kentucky in 2006.

"Kentucky is another one of those 1.5-mile tracks and with the way our program has been this year, we have a chance to be really good," Hornaday said. "It is a fast race track with two racing grooves. We won this race in 2006 and I would like to win there again, especially since nobody else has won there twice. Mark Smith (engine builder) has been giving us really good engines and it makes it so much fun for me to drive these trucks. Rick Ren (crew chief) and the guys on the Camping World team will be working really hard to get the truck where it needs to be and I just have to go out there and do my part."

Hornaday's KHI teammate Jack Sprague holds the Truck Series record with at least three victories per year for six consecutive seasons (1996-2001). With his win at Memphis, Hornaday has matched Sprague with six seasons of three or more victories, but Hornaday's are not consecutive (1996-98, 2006-2008). Sprague might have something to say about Hornaday looking to be the first repeat winner at Kentucky.

"Kentucky is nice because over the years it has become a two-groove race track. We race in the evening so the track is not as slick as it is during the day," Sprague explained. "Fans can expect to see what they see each week in the Truck Series: good, hard, old-fashioned racing. This year the competition has been extra tough. Kentucky is very fast and as long as you can keep your truck from going to the tight side by the end of the night, you should have a good day."

Chicagoland Speedway

July 11-12, 2008

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet, finished third:

"The Shell-Pennzoil Chevy was good all night. We've had really good cars for the past couple of weeks and just couldn't capitalize and get a good finish. It was a really good race and I am just really proud of my guys. We have built new cars the last couple of weeks and we are planning on building all new cars going forward. They have been working really hard behind the scenes to get all this work done. I would also like to thank the engine shop. They have really made up some ground. Hopefully, we can gain some momentum and keep everything heading in the right direction these next few weeks heading in to the Chase."

Martin Truex Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Cub Cadet Chevrolet, finished ninth:

"I told the guys that I owe them one. I misunderstood what Bono (crew chief Kevin Manion) wanted me to do on that one caution. I followed Carl (Edwards) down pit road and I should've stayed out. Then I got caught for speeding and had to come back down pit road. We gave up a lot of spots there and just had to work all night to get them back."

Ryan Newman, No. 12 Kodak/The Mummy Dodge, finished 10th:

"We tried some strategy with our Kodak Dodge late in the race to gain some track position, but we got a little too tight there at the end and fell back a few spots. We made some things happen tonight with our strategy on pit road, and we got a good finish. To get back in the Chase, we have to get top-10 finishes each week."

Mark Martin, No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet, finished 17th:

"We had a pretty good car tonight. The handling went away a little late and it got pretty loose. After starting strong it appeared that we were going to achieve a much better finish than we got. I want to thank (crew chief) Tony Gibson and this No. 8 U.S. Army Team for an awesome job in the pits and a really nice racecar tonight. I have to apologize to them for messing it up there in the pits. That was a really costly mistake on my part and I apologize to everyone, including our soldiers who inspire me every week."

Jeff Burton, No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet, finished 19th:

"We were really loose all night long. I couldn't run with the other cars at the end but I have to hand it to my team. We overcame two separate incidents where we got damage on the right front of the AT&T Chevy and were able to get our lap back. I just wish we had more for the guys up front."

Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet, finished 22nd:

"For whatever reason, we just couldn't get a hold of the race track all weekend. We've been struggling on the mile-and-a-half tracks this season and those are the places where we really ran well last year. We've definitely got some work to do but I know Gil and all the guys on the Jack Daniel's Chevrolet will get it figured out so we can get back in the top 12 and be ready for the Chase."

Paul Menard, No. 15 Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet, finished 26th.

Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, finished 28th:

"We lost a cylinder there in the latter stages of the race, with a little over 50 laps to go. It really surprised me that the engine lasted till the end of the race. I imagine what happened was that when we got the lap down from the speeding penalty, we just ran the thing a little too hard in getting the lap back and that took its toll. It sure felt good running up there in the clean air when we did get the lap back. We haven't been up front leading the pack in a long, long time.

"I feel that we were a 10th- to 15th-place car at best here tonight and that's been about par for the course for us on these mile-and-a-half tracks. You could really tell that we were down on horsepower, but it sure did feel good to see what it felt like running at the front again, even though we were just fighting to get the lost lap back."

Bill Elliott, No. 21 U.S. Air Force Ford, finished 35th.

Sam Hornish Jr., No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge, finished 37th:

"We started off pretty good. We were real happy with the car during the first part of the race. I'm not really sure what happened but it was a pretty frustrating night for all of us on the Mobil 1 team. I was really happy the guys gave me some great pit stops tonight and that's probably the only thing that kept us finishing as well as we did. We'll keep pushing at it and hopefully we'll get it figured out sooner than later."

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Clint Bowyer, No. 2 Camping World/RV Sales Chevrolet, finished seventh:

"It was a good night for the Camping World Chevrolet but with the way green flag pit stops cycled out, we didn't get a chance to track down the leaders. Track position is so important at tracks like Chicagoland and when you don't get any caution flags, the guys in clean air just drive away. We still had a decent points night. We only gave up a few to the guys who finished in front of us so it wasn't too big of a deal. We'll go to St. Louis next weekend and race for the win and get our points back."

Jeff Burton, No. 29 Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express Chevrolet, finished eighth:

"The Holiday Inn Racing team had a good night but we need to keep getting better. The competition is so strong this year and we need to keep working hard. We had a mishap in the pit that cost us track position and we could never free up the car. It was about this time last year when we made the charge at the owners' championship and, hopefully, we can keep digging and bring home another one for Richard (Childress)."

Kelly Bires, No. 47 Clorox Ford, finished 12th:

"We really had a great Clorox Ford Fusion on a long run. We just couldn't figure what it needed to get it to take off, and we were so good on the end of a run, you really hated to do too much to it. The second-to-last run, I think we were probably one of the best cars on the track, and we pitted under green and the car just never came to me.

"We tried going down on the track bar to tighten it up on entry for the first couple of laps, and it just made it looser into the corner and tighter off. So, everyone did a good job. I mean, we'll take a 12th-place run. I believe we're a better car than that, but just the way things worked out tonight, everyone did a good job in the pits and on the team here working all weekend."

Marcos Ambrose, No. 59 Kingsford/MatchLight Ford, finished 15th:

"I've got arms like a gorilla because I've been hanging on all night. Had a pretty good car. It would've been nice to be a few spots up, but we just couldn't get track position. We struggled for the first few laps. The car was good for, like, lap 15 to lap 30 and then went away again, so there was quite a shift in balance. But, when we were good, we just didn't have track position."

Kevin Harvick, No. 33 Camping World/RV Rental Chevrolet, finished 18th:

"We had a good night tonight. Despite the incident on lap one, the guys worked hard and we got a decent finish for our Camping World Chevrolet."

Bobby Hamilton Jr., No. 25 Eckrich/Jewel-Osco Ford, finished 19th:

"It's tough out here, we can get our car handling for periods in the race, but the Toyotas drive right on by everyone. My guys are working hard and we are still excited about the next few weeks of racing."

Steve Wallace, No. 66 Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches Chevrolet, finished 24th.

For example, sponsor issues forced Connolly to sit out the first five races of 2008. Now he and his Cagnazzi Racing teammates are attempting to overcome the point deficit they incurred and insert themselves into the POWERade Series top 10 in the next five races. The Countdown to 10 portion of NHRA’s playoff system sends the top 10 into the six-race title showdown.

The next stop on his point-gathering tour is Seattle, site of the Schuck’s Auto Supply Nationals, Friday through Sunday at Pacific Raceways in nearby Kent. Connolly and the crew have been on a mission for eight races, and they have five more opportunities before the field of contenders is trimmed to 10.

The numbers game looks like this – Connolly is 11th with 512 points, 53 behind No. 10. The difference is three rounds of competition. However, he is only 17 points ahead No. 12.

Connolly is the defending champion at Seattle and acknowledges that his Charter Communications/LifeLock Chevy Cobalt must win some elimination rounds on Sunday to help the cause.

"We ran good at Seattle last year," he said. "That’s what we need to do this year, too, especially after not performing like we should have in Denver (a first-round loss last Sunday)."

It was the beginning of the NHRA’s traditional three-race Western Swing and the only stop in the tune-up challenging mile-high altitude.

"Right now, I’m not sure our power is where it needs to be," Connolly continued. "It’s something all teams go through. We have to get back up to par where we can go out and run guys down.

"I’m not driving strong enough to get hole shots on everybody, but everybody else is driving so tough anymore that I have to step up my game. I’m leaving a hundredth (of a second) on the table (at the starting line) and we’re still sorting out the car. All of that stuff adds up pretty quick when you have a bunch of Pro Stock cars that are separated by thousandths of a second. Giving away a hundredth lets them catch up really fast."

Nevertheless, Connolly’s performances have been quite impressive. He won once (Bristol, Tenn.) and was second twice (St. Louis and Englishtown, N.J.) in his first five races.

The three-race swing ends at Sonoma, Calif., July 25-27, but the Countdown to 10 segment has races at Brainerd, Minn., Reading, Pa., and Indianapolis.

Kyle Busch made a daring pass of Jimmie Johnson after a restart with two laps remaining in the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway to win his seventh race of the 2008 Sprint Cup season.

The evening's final caution flag was thrown on lap 261 for David Gilliland's blown engine. That set up the two-lap sprint between Busch, Johnson and Kevin Harvick. Busch ran nose-to-tail with Johnson's Chevy as the green flag flew. He then went high and the two ran door-to-door for a full lap before Busch completed the pass. All the while, Harvick sat and waited to make a move, but to no avail. He finished third.

"In those situations, it's very easy to kind of, you know, get loose underneath somebody or something happens, so you just go as hard as you can," Harvick explained. "And I really thought, yeah, we had a shot, and we were just a touch off of those two guys for most of the night and kept ourselves in position. I felt like we were better than everybody behind us."

"Still, it was a good night for us, exciting finish," he continued. "Felt like the series came off probably the most exciting race that we've had with this car last week. It was fun to be a part of and probably fun to watch and another exciting finish tonight. I feel like everything is going good with the cars."

Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart rounded out the top five. Brian Vickers, Matt Kenseth, David Ragan, Martin Truex, Jr. and Ryan Newman finished sixth through 10th.

Truex had a strong run throughout the event, leading two laps until a pit road speeding penalty derailed his night.

"I told the guys that I owe them one," Truex said. "I misunderstood what Bono (crew chief Kevin Manion) wanted me to do on that one caution. I followed Carl (Edwards) down pit road and I should've stayed out. Then I got caught for speeding and had to come back down pit road. We gave up a lot of spots there and just had to work all night to get them back."

Having to start at the tail end of the longest line on the ensuing restart, Truex drove his way through the field and back into the top 10 by race's end to notch his sixth top 10 of the season.

Newman gained 15 spots when the field pitted under caution on lap 226 by taking only two tires. He remained in the top 10 through the duration to record his seventh top-10 run of the year.

"We just didn't have enough racecar tonight," Newman explained. "We tried some strategy with our Kodak Dodge late in the race to gain some track position, but we just got a little too tight there at the end. It was a top-10 finish that we probably didn't deserve, but we made some things happen strategy-wise and got a respectable finish."

Mark Martin and Jeff Burton also placed in the top 20, Martin 17th and Burton 19th.

Martin was running 13th when he came down pit road on lap 225 and overshot his pit stall. That dropped the series veteran 11 spots. With only 42 laps remaining, he struggled to make up the ground lost.

"I want to thank (crew chief) Tony Gibson and this No. 8 U.S. Army Team for an awesome job in the pits and a really nice racecar tonight," Martin said. "I have to apologize to them for messing it up there in the pits. That was a really costly mistake on my part and I apologize to everyone, including our soldiers who inspire me every week. Our soldiers never quit and this Army team will never quit. We'll take our lumps and come back strong at Indy."

"We had a pretty good car tonight," he added. "The handling went away a little late and it got pretty loose. After starting strong it appeared that we were going to achieve a much better finish than we got."

Burton battled an ill-handling racecar in the event's early stages and lost a lap. He was able to make it up and retains his third-place spot in the championship standings.

"We were really loose all night long," Burton said of his evening. "I couldn't run with the other cars at the end but I have to hand it to my team. We overcame two separate incidents where we got damage on the right front of the AT&T Chevy and got our lap back after going a lap down. I just wish we had more for the guys up front."

Clint Bowyer struggled to a 22nd-place showing while Paul Menard was 26th. Kurt Busch, who had a strong run going, dropped a cylinder and was credited with a 28th-place finish.

Bill Elliott drove the legendary Wood Brothers Ford to a 35th-place showing while Sam Hornish Jr. was 37th.

"We started off pretty good," Hornish said. "We were real happy with the car that first stint and then we didn't keep up with it. I'm not really sure what happened, but it was a pretty frustrating night for all of us on the Mobil 1 Dodge. I was really happy the guys gave me some great pit stops tonight and that's probably the only thing that kept us finishing as well as we did."

Snap-on Nextel Cup Drivers - how they placed:
Kevin Harvick (3rd, led 0 laps) Martin Truex Jr. (9th, led 2 laps) Ryan Newman (10th, led 0 laps) Mark Martin (17th, led 0 laps) Jeff Burton (19th, led 0 laps) Clint Bowyer (22nd, led 0 laps) Paul Menard (26th, led 0 laps) Kurt Busch (28th, led 1 laps) Bill Elliott (35th, led 0 laps) Sam Hornish Jr. (37th, led 0 laps)

Clint Bowyer:
July, 11, 2008 | Joliet, Ill. -- Clint Bowyer continues to lead the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings after a solid seventh-place run in the Dollar General 300 from Chicagoland Speedway on Friday night. Bowyer qualified his RCR Chevy ninth and ran in the top 10 throughout the evening. Bowyer now has 17 top-10 finishes in 20 Nationwide events this season. He has a 183-point lead over Brad Keselowski in the championship standings.

Jeff Burton:
July, 11, 2008 | Joliet, Ill. -- Jeff Burton followed in teammate Clint Bowyer's tire tracks in Friday evening's Dollar General 300. Following a seventh-place qualifying effort, Burton drove his No. 29 RCR Chevy home to an eighth-place run, one spot behind Bowyer. Burton has made eight starts in the Nationwide Series this season and collected five top 10s in that time.

Kelly Bires:
July, 11, 2008 | Joliet, Ill. -- Kelly Bires continued his strong rookie season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Bires, driving the No. 47 JTG Racing Ford, qualified 22nd but adjusted the car throughout the Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland Speedway and finished 12th. Bires now has eight top-15 runs on the season and sits 14th in the point standings.

Marcos Ambrose:
July, 11, 2008 | Joliet, Ill. -- Marcos Ambrose struggled with an ill-handling racecar in the Dollar General 300 on Firday evening, but was able to corral a 15th-place finish in his No. 57 JTG Racing Ford. "I've got arms like a gorilla because I've been hanging on all night," Ambrose said. "We had a pretty good car. It would've been nice to be a few spots up, but we just couldn't get track position. "We struggled for the first few laps. The car was good for... lap 15 to lap 30 and then went away again, so there was quite a shift in balance. But, when we were good, we just didn't have track position. We were okay on the long runs. Not great, but okay."

Kevin Harvick:
July, 11, 2008 | Joliet, Ill. -- Kevin Harvick qualified fourth for the Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland Speedway and appeared to have a contending car. However, he rear-ended Tony Stewart on an early restart when Stewart missed a shift and damaged the nose of his Chevy. Harvick lost a lap because of the damage sustained and finished 18th. Harvick has made 14 starts in the Nationwide Series this season and has seven top-10 showings.

Bobby Hamilton Jr.:
July, 11, 2008 | Joliet, Ill. -- Nashville native Bobby Hamilton Jr. qualified his Ed Rensi-owned Ford 14th for the Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday. An ill-handling condition on the car prevented him from notching his second consecutive top-15 finish, as he landed 19th on the pylon.

Steve Wallace:
July, 11, 2008 | Joliet, Ill. -- Steve Wallace suffered through his poorest outing since April, battling a setup not conducive to the changing condition of daylight to night. Wallace qualified 20th and wrestled the car to a 24th-place finish.

Denver welcomed the NHRA to Colorado to kick off a three-race West Coast swing. The return to action brought one large change in competition for the Snap-on teams. For the first time, these two classes would race only until the 1,000-foot mark instead of the 1,300-foot mark. This was a safety change made until the NHRA decides what measures are needed to improve the safety of the sport after Scott Kalitta's accident a few weeks ago. It didn't take long for some of the teams to adjust as Steve Johnson nearly pulled off a win, but instead, wound up runner-up in Denver for Snap-on.

Steve Johnson:
July, 13, 2008 | Denver, Colo. -- Steve Johnson had a strong outing the last time out and that momentum carried over to Denver. The Snap-on bike flew down the track in qualifying in tune to take a spot in the top half of the ladder. Johnson clicked off a 7.332-second pass at 179.59 mph to take the fifth spot, but was a mere five-thousandths of a second from the top spot. Johnson and Junior Pipin met for the second consecutive week in the first round. Pipin launched off the line first, taking a huge advantage with him. Johnson managed to fight back and charged by Pipin to take the win and advance into the second round. Johnson turned heads in the second round. The Snap-on veteran cut a great light, only one-thousandth of a second away from being perfect and then outran Andrew Hines to the line in impressive fashion. Johnson's run in Denver continued in the semifinals with a stroke of luck. Johnson met Eddie Krawiec, but the race was over long before Johnson made it to the far end. After staging, Krawiec's bike went dead on the starting blocks while Johnson tore off and completed his pass with a free pass to the finals. Matt Smith proved to be too much for Johnson & Co., however. Smith was out of the gate first and ran away with the win despite a great weekend and effort from Johnson and his Snap-on team.

Doug Herbert:
July, 13, 2008 | Denver, Colo. -- Doug Herbert rode into Denver with huge momentum after winning the last time out and looked for another solid effort. In qualifying, Herbert took his Snap-on hot rod down the 1,000-foot mark in 4.025 seconds at 298.60 mph. The effort was good enough for seventh overall. The first round on Sunday was a re-match from the final round just a week ago as Herbert faced off against Brandon Bernstein. Herbert and Bernstein left together, but Herbert had a nice, solid pass. Bernstein was forced to shut it down early, allowing Herbert to advance into the second round. Herbert's remarkable run ended in the second round at the hands of Tony Schumacher. Schumacher and Herbert left the line together, but Schumacher powered away for the win from there. The second round appearance helped Herbert gain ground on seventh place in the championship standings and put more distance between himself and ninth place. "We qualified in the top half of the field, won a round and gained in the points on those in front of us and pulled away from the guys behind us," said Herbert. "At this altitude, you have to do everything completely different than you usually do, so I'm happy we were solid on nearly all of our runs this weekend."

Tony Pedregon:
July, 13, 2008 | Denver, Colo. -- Tony Pedregon stole the show in qualifying for the Snap-on brigade. Pedregon stormed down the track in 4.212 seconds at 286.50 mph to take the top spot. The strong pass edged both John Force and Cruz Pedregon by a couple of thousandths of a second to become the fastest man in the Funny Car class. Pedregon nearly had his first round showdown with Gary Scelzi in the bag, but his car lunged on him and he had to lift out of the throttle. As a result, his Snap-on ride slowed as he gathered it back up and Scelzi cruised by, ending Pedregon's weekend.

Cruz Pedregon:
July, 13, 2008 | Denver, Colo. -- Last time out, Cruz Pedregon and his Snap-on team showed they are tough to beat. This week in Denver, Pedregon laid down a lightning-quick pass to take the third spot after he was edged out by John Force and Tony Pedregon for the top spot. Pedregon logged a 4.327-second pass at 290.76 mph. Pedregon and Jerry Toliver met in the first round, and Pedregon took full advantage of his Snap-on horsepower. He left the line first and never looked back, thundering his way to a convincing win, while Toliver faded down the track. Pedregon and Ron Capps hooked up in the second round with Pedregon making it look easy. The Snap-on backed Ford tore off down the track and never looked back en route to a commanding win as Capps had to pedal after losing traction. Pedregon was out of the gate first in the semifinal match-up with Jack Beckman, but it wasn't enough. Pedregon didn't have the combination and tuning to get the job done. The cylinders on his Snap-on machine were mixing up early and prevented him from providing a challenge to Beckman.

Gary Densham:
July, 13, 2008 | Denver, Colo. -- Gary Densham adjusted to the shorter track length well in qualifying. The Snap-on veteran notched a 4.298-second pass at 287.23 mph to claim the 13th spot in the field. Densham met Melanie Troxel in the first round and improved his record to 2-0 against her. He left the line first and pulled away little by little all the way to the far end to advance into the second round. Densham needed a very strong run in the second round to take out Jack Beckman, and he nearly got the run he needed. The difference in this one was Beckman's starting line lead. Beckman got off the line so much quicker than Densham that Densham's massive rally came up just shy at the far end which was a shame because Densham posted a great run.

Jeg Coughlin:
July, 13, 2008 | Denver, Colo. -- The thin air wreaked havoc in qualifying for Jeg Coughlin. He and his Snap-on team struggled to find the horsepower to get down the track fast enough to take a spot in the top-half of the ladder. As a result, Coughlin only managed a run of 7.040 seconds at 194.97 mph. That effort was good enough for ninth. Coughlin and Justin Humphreys met in the first round for the third straight week in Denver. The two split the first pair of races entering Sunday. Coughlin took a starting line advantage and squirted away to take the win and move on while Humphreys made a good effort, but came up short. Coughlin tattooed Greg Anderson to the tree in the second round, cutting a near perfect light to take a big starting line advantage. Unfortunately, Coughlin would feel the sting of defeat as his car didn't have the horsepower in the thin Denver air to hold off Anderson, the fastest qualifier. As a result, Anderson drove by the Snap-on Pro Stock ride about 150 feet before the line. "We just couldn't keep it out front. I felt like I needed a hundredth (of a second) to have a chance and we did leave first, but Greg was right there and it just didn't happen for us. He came around down there and there right at the end," said Coughlin. "We did hurt our motor in Round 1 and had a thrash between sessions getting a new piece in there but the guys did a great job making the switch. I'm proud of the effort."

Dave Connolly:
July, 13, 2008 | Denver, Colo. -- Dave Connolly also struggled to get the horsepower in the mile-high air. As a result, the Snap-on competitor only logged a run of 7.043 at 195.00 mph. This pass tied Jim Yates for the 10th spot, but Yates won the tiebreaker with a faster speed, knocking Connolly to 11th. Larry Morgan took it to Connolly in the first round, ending Connolly's weekend very early. Morgan was out of the gate first and Connolly had to play catch-up. He rallied and made a charge, but came up short. The finish kept Connolly from climbing into the top 10 in the championship standings after missing several of the first races early in the season. He sits just 53 points out of the final spot for the Countdown to the Championship. "It wasn't the best of days. It took us forever to make a decent run and we thought we'd have some of that today. We made a decent run but you can't make decent runs anymore if you want to win," said Connolly. "You've got to hit the tree and you've got to make nice runs and (we) weren't doing that." The West Coast swing continues next weekend as the NHRA heads to Seattle. Qualifying for the Schuck's Auto Supply Nationals can be seen at 8 p.m. EDT on ESPN2 Saturday while eliminations can be seen on Sunday. Eliminations will also be on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. EDT.

This year, Ryan Hunter-Reay took the surprise victory after a series of unusual events at the front of the field that eliminated the early front-runners.

Team Penske and the Snap-on drivers entered Watkins Glen hoping to have something for Scott Dixon, the driver who has dominated the road course the last several years. Things didn't go according to plan for Helio Castroneves, but Ryan Briscoe looked to have things well in hand.

Briscoe dominated almost the entire race, starting from the pole and getting an early stranglehold on the top spot. Briscoe led all but four of the first 41 laps for a race-high total of 37 of 60 laps in front. Dixon was in the game the whole way, however, shadowing Briscoe in second place.

One thing you don't want to do is let Scott Dixon get ahead of you at the Glen, but on the final pit series under caution on lap 41, Briscoe returned to the track behind several cars, including Dixon. Briscoe passed Hunter-Reay immediately upon the restart and was looking to catch Dixon and leader Darren Manning when the caution flew again.

Ironically, it was Dixon that would have the biggest influence on Briscoe's day when he made an uncharacteristic mistake and spun right in front of the No. 6 Penske entry while warming his tires under that caution.

"I feel bad. I was a complete idiot," said Dixon after the race. "I still can't believe I did it. It's pretty bad. I was just trying to burn the front tires up a bit because of the new tires and the restarts. I was very loose. I was trying to heat them up to see if that would help it. I got a bit aggressive and went a little higher into the turn and I saw it and the steering wheel snapped on me. I feel more down for (Ryan) Briscoe and his boys."

Briscoe was unable to avoid him and damaged the front end when he made contact with the rear of Dixon's car. With the contact, Briscoe's shot at the win evaporated. The team replaced the front wing and Briscoe salvaged a 12th-place result. He sits eighth in championship points.

"It's unfortunate. I imagine how Scott's (Dixon) feeling right now," said Briscoe. "I guess all of us will mess up every now and again. I just wish he would have messed up and not gotten me involved in that moment. It's a tough one because the car's been running strong here all weekend, and I think we had a really good shot for a win or at least it would have been a really good fight between me and Dixon down to the finish line."

With Dixon and Briscoe falling out in front of him, Ryan Hunter-Reay caught and passed Darren Manning on the restart and led the final nine laps to earn his first victory in the IndyCar Series.

Helio Castroneves, the other Snap-on driver, saw his hopes dashed early. The No. 3 car was forced into the pits after only six laps with mechanical trouble. The team made repairs and Castroneves returned to the track several laps down but was never in contention for the win. He finished 16th as the first car not on the lead lap.

The IRL IndyCar Series will go under the lights this Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway. Drivers will contest 200 laps for a distance of 266 miles for the Firestone Indy 200. Television coverage begins at 8 p.m. EDT on ESPN.

Daytona International Speedway

July 4-5, 2008

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, finished fourth:

"It's a great finish for our Miller Lite Dodge. It was a hard-fought day. We came into the pits and changed a right-front shock, which you don't normally do. We changed the left side track bar and that takes wrenches out of your tool box. You normally don't do that. We just fought all race long with making changes trying to make our car better. It was about the same setup that we had here in February and (the setup) showed up right there at the end tonight. I just needed to calm down and play it cool a little bit, whether it's a 500- or 400-mile race here. Our Miller Lite Dodge really was running at the end when everybody was bumping and grinding. Our car pushed well and got pushed well. It was a good day for us."

Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet, finished ninth:

"That was unbelievable! We were fifth or sixth when that last wreck happened and I had to use the wall to hold on to the old girl. I thought I was getting ready to be upside down at Daytona again. The Jack Daniel's Chevrolet was fast all night. We were patient, stayed out of trouble and when it was time to go, we went. We had good pit stops, made good adjustments and came out of here with a good points night. Anytime you can leave Daytona with a top 10 and four fenders still on the car, you've got something to be proud of."

Mark Martin, No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet, finished 10th:

"That was a really strong effort by this No. 8 U.S. Army Racing Team. These guys gave me a great car tonight and I'm really sorry that I wasn't able to give them a better finish than this. We just got hung out there that one time and then there were so many accidents that we were never able to get back to the front where the car was more than capable of running. There at the end, it was just caution after caution and we were pretty lucky to be able to avoid all of them. I would have liked to have given this team, the soldiers and everyone at DEI a little better result. This was easily a top-five car tonight."

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Reese's Chevrolet, finished 12th:

"The Reese's Chevrolet was pretty good all day. The race got a little crazy at the end. I almost wrecked a couple of times and got shuffled back in the pack. We were able to bring our car home in one piece and finish in the top 12 so I think that is a pretty successful day at Daytona. Hopefully, we can run well at Chicago and get ourselves back in the top 12 in points."

Paul Menard, No. 15 Vertis/Menards Chevrolet, finished 15th:

"At Daytona, it's as much about survival as it is about anything. And I just wanted to make sure we got out of here in one piece with a respectable finish. It was a great effort by everyone and I'm definitely happy to come out of here with a solid finish. The engine shop has been putting out good horsepower at every track we come to. We've made pretty significant gains and the last couple months, they've made some more gains that have put us in this position and have three DEI cars qualify in the top 10 and then have all four cars finish in the top 25 is a great testament to our organization."

Martin Truex Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Swing Vote Chevrolet, finished 17th:

"I'm proud of the guys for getting the backup car this good. The only time I got to drive it was during qualifying, but it was really good during the race. I think we could have easily been a top-10 car. That was absolutely some of the craziest racing I have ever seen. I'm usually not happy with finishing 17th, but I'm just lucky that we were able to bring the car home in one piece."

Sam Hornish Jr., No. 77 Penske Truck Rental Dodge, finished 29th:

"Everybody knows that it is going to get crazy out there near the end of the race. I hate how tonight turned out for the Penske Truck Rental team because we had a really good car and we were going to have a top-15 finish. At least we brought the No. 77 Dodge to the checkered flag, even if it was a little beat up. Tonight was another experience at Daytona, another one for the mental logbook, and hopefully we'll have some more things that I'll know to be able to do better next time."

Ryan Newman, No. 12 Samsung HDTV/Alltel Dodge, finished 36th:

"The Alltel Dodge was really strong tonight, but we couldn't catch a break. We just kept getting caught up in other people's problems all night. It was like we were a magnet out on the racetrack. We've had a really good superspeedway package at all three races this year, and we had another good car tonight. I'm disappointed because I really think that we had the chance to get a solid finish and pick up some valuable points, but we just didn't have luck on our side tonight."

Jeff Burton, No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet, finished 37th:

"The AT&T Chevy was tight all night long. Scott (Miller, crew chief) was able to loosen it up and we were getting better after each pit stop. We were fortunate to escape the first incident without any damage but weren't so lucky in the next one. It's real unfortunate but this team doesn't give up and we'll go get them next weekend in Chicago."

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Clint Bowyer, No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet, finished fourth:

"It's pretty tough to beat the No. 20 car right now. Whatever it is, they have something more than everyone else. It's not fair right now. But, we still had a good run with the BB&T Chevrolet. I was a little bit tight but Dan (crew chief Dan Deeringhoff) got me freed up and we were able to make some moves and run up front. It was a good points night and anytime you can come out of Daytona with all four fenders intact and a top-five finish, you can't be too disappointed."

Scott Wimmer, No. 29 Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express Chevrolet, finished seventh.

Kevin Harvick, No. 33 VFW Chevrolet, finished 12th.

Steve Wallace, No. 66 Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches Chevrolet, finished 13th.

Bobby Hamilton Jr., No. 25 John Morrell Ford, finished 15th.

Kelly Bires, No. 47 Clorox Ford, finished 16th:

"We had a better car than what we finished. That last restart with the 60, I don't know what happened where he came back and it really broke our momentum on the green/white/checkered. But, overall it was a good day. We probably had a top-10 car, if not a top-five car if we would've had better track position there. But, we just got a little bit too loose on the last run, and it hurt us a little bit. But, all in all, it was a solid racecar and we made it better each stop, and we came out of here in one piece. That was a good thing."

Marcos Ambrose, No. 59 Kingsford/MatchLight Ford, finished 20th:

"That's a product of restrictor-plate racing. It's just as easy to lose five spots on one lap as it is to gain five spots. It got really crazy there at the end. There was a crash on the last lap, so sometimes you're lucky just to finish one of these things. A 20th-place finish isn't what we wanted, but it's the best we could do. We won't have to rebuild this car for the next race, so we're ahead of the game."

When things are going your way, it often seems as if nothing can work against you. Such is the case for young Kyle Busch, who notched his sixth victory of the season -- and fifth in the last 10 races -- in a wild shootout in the Coke Zero 400 from Daytona International Speedway Saturday night.

Four caution flags thrown in the final 20 laps marred what was a relatively clean event. A wreck with four laps to go when Jimmie Johnson was spun by Dave Blaney collected polesitter Paul Menard, Regan Smith, David Reutimann, Denny Hamlin and J.J. Yeley, who was driving in relief for Tony Stewart.

The race then went to a green-white-checker finish -- and the fireworks were about to start. Kyle Busch led Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch to the green when Gordon threw a block on the 99 of Edwards. Gordon's left rear clipped Edwards' nose and was sent spinning but came to rest deep to the inside apron of the track, allowing the race to remain green.

"Everybody was laying back and trying to get a run on that last restart," Gordon said of this final restart. "They got the jump on me and I tried to block them and I don't know, maybe I came across his nose, I don't know. I'm probably more mad at myself than anything else."

As the field took the white flag a bevy of cars mid-pack banged off one another and critical-mass came in Turn 1 as Sam Hornish Jr., Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip, Travis Kvapil, Reed Sorenson and J.J. Yeley were involved in a massive pileup. The race was frozen at that point and after review by NASCAR officials, Kyle Busch was deemed the race winner.

"Well, it was close, I knew that," Busch said. "When I did see the yellow light come on, I could barely see the nose of the 99 car (Edwards) at my right-front fender. I was hoping that we were the winners and it ended up that way."

"I wasn't sure until we were going down the back straightaway (who won)," Edwards said. "(Spotter) Jason Hedlesky told me. He said, 'the 18 to Victory Lane.' I was pretty sure, though, (based on) where we were running when the yellow light came on. Right as I was going by it, I was getting a run on his door so I was probably second."

Behind Busch and Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and David Ragan rounded out the top five. Busch had a particularly eventful weekend, as he crashed in practice and was forced to roll out a backup for the race that had no track time. He then started at the rear of the field and drove his way through to a fourth-place run on the heels of his victory at New Hampshire last weekend.

"It's a great finish for our Miller Lite Dodge," said a smiling, yet relieved Busch, after he crawled out of his car and stood on pit road with the other top-five finishers. "It was a hard-fought day. We came into the pits and changed a right-front shock, which you don't normally do. We changed the left side track bar and that takes wrenches out of your tool box. You normally don't do that. We just fought all race long with making changes trying to make our car better.

"It was about the same setup that we had here in February and (the setup) showed up right there at the end tonight," Busch explained. "I just needed to calm down and play it cool a little bit, whether it's a 500- or 400-mile race here. Our Miller Lite Dodge really was running at the end when everybody was bumping and grinding. Our car pushed well and got pushed well. It was a good day for us."

Robby Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin finished sixth - 10th.

Bowyer, Martin and Kevin Harvick were each factors throughout the evening, running in the top 10 for much of the night. Harvick was forced out of line before the wreck occurred on the final lap and slid back to 12th in the finishing order.

Paul Menard had the best weekend of his short career on the Sprint Cup circuit. He won his first career pole in the No. 15 DEI Chevy and led 19 laps before being involved in the incident with four laps remaining. He still managed a 15th-place finish despite the crazy ending.

Martin Truex Jr., after starting in a backup car due to an inspection failure earlier in the weekend, drove through the majority of the carnage to notch a 17th-place showing. Body damage on his No. 1 DEI Chevy prevented the New Jersey native from staging a serious run in the event's last handful of laps.

Sam Hornish Jr. was looking to capitalize on his stellar Daytona 500 run, in which he finished 15th as well. Hornish found himself hooked up with his Penske Racing teammate, Kurt Busch, with 15 laps to go, charging toward the front when he was a victim of the final accident of the day. A solid top-15 run was foiled at that point, and he finished 29th.

"Everybody knows that it is going to get crazy out there near the end of the race," said Hornish. "I hate how tonight turned out for the Penske Truck Rental team because we had a really good car and we were going to have a top-15 finish. At least we brought the No. 77 Dodge to the checkered flag, even if it was a little beat up. Tonight was another experience at Daytona, another one for the mental logbook, and hopefully we'll have some more things that I'll know to be able to do better next time."

Jon Wood drove his Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford to a 33rd-place finish after falling eight laps down early in the race when he pitted to change the setup.

Ryan Newman, who had been the victim of an early spin, found himself challenging for the lead with 43 laps to go. The defending Daytona 500 winner was a victim yet again shortly thereafter, when he was sideswiped by the machine of David Gilliland. The chain reaction swept Jeff Burton into the melee, but both were able to continue. Each would be involved in a later incident that essentially ended both of their days. Newman was credited with a 36th-place finish, while Burton, who had recorded 23 consecutive top-15 finishes, was shown 37th.

Snap-on Nextel Cup Drivers - how they placed:
Kurt Busch (4th, led 0 laps) Clint Bowyer (9th, led 0 laps) Mark Martin (10th, led 0 laps) Kevin Harvick (12th, led 0 laps) Paul Menard (15th, led 19 laps) Martin Truex Jr. (17th, led 0 laps) Sam Hornish Jr. (29th, led 0 laps) Jon Wood (33rd, led 0 laps) Ryan Newman (36th, led 0 laps) Jeff Burton (37th, led 0 laps)

Clint Bowyer:
July, 4, 2008 | Daytona Beach, Fla. -- Clint Bowyer held serve at Daytona, qualifying sixth for the Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona International Speedway and finishing fourth. The finish allowed Bowyer, who has nine consecutive top-10 runs in the Nationwide Series, to increase his lead in the season-long points battle to 202 points. Bowyer led six laps throughout the evening. Bowyer lined up fourth for the final green-white-checker restart that would decide the outcome. Running behind Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the top four never changed positions over the final three-lap sprint. "Daytona has been a good track for us -- at least when we're not upside down and on fire," Bowyer joked. "We always seem to race well at Daytona. We don't qualify the best but we always seem to race good. It's not all about speed and drafting. You have to handle at Daytona as opposed to a place like Talladega where handling is virtually out the window since they repaved it."

Scott Wimmer:
July, 4, 2008 | Daytona Beach, Fla. -- Scott Wimmer qualified his Richard Childress Racing Chevy 13th for the Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona International Speedway and drove a smart race en route to a smooth seventh-place finish. The top-10 run was Wimmer's eighth in 12 Nationwide starts this season. The Wisconsin native has not finished worse than 18th.

Kevin Harvick:
July, 4, 2008 | Daytona Beach, Fla. -- Kevin Harvick wheeled his self-owned Chevy to a respectable 12th-place finish in Friday night's Winn-Dixie 250 Nationwide Series race from Daytona. Harvick qualified seventh and kept his nose clean, running in the lead pack throughout the evening. The top-10 finish was Harvick's seventh in only 13 Nationwide Series starts this season.

Steve Wallace:
July, 4, 2008 | Daytona Beach, Fla. -- Steve Wallace notched another solid run in the Winn-Dixie 250 from Daytona International Speedway, finishing 13th. Wallace had to drive from deep in the field, as he qualified 28th for the event. The second-generation driver methodically made his way through traffic and survived a wild last-lap scuffle with his uncle, series veteran Mike Wallace, to record his sixth top-15 finish of the year.

Bobby Hamilton Jr.:
July, 4, 2008 | Daytona Beach, Fla. -- Bobby Hamilton Jr. and his Ed Rensi-owned Ford continue to defy the odds, notching solid finish after solid finish against the well-funded superteams of the sport. Hamilton qualified 23rd for Friday evening's Winn-Dixie 250 and drove forward to a 15th-place finish. In 18 starts this season, Hamilton has driven his No. 25 Ford to seven top-15 runs. He sits 15th in the 2008 Nationwide Series point standings.

Kelly Bires:
July, 4, 2008 | Daytona Beach, Fla. -- Kelly Bires, the Mauston, Wis., native in his first full season in the Nationwide Series, recorded his 13th top-20 finish of the season with a 16th-place run in the Winn-Dixie 250 from Daytona. "We had a better car than what we finished," Bires said. "That last restart with the 60 (Carl Edwards), I don't know what happened where he came back and it really broke our momentum on the green-white-checkered. But, overall it was a good day. We probably had a top-10 car, if not a top-five car if we would've had better track position there. But we just got a little bit too loose on the last run, and it hurt us a little bit. But, all in all, it was a solid racecar and we made it better each stop, and we came out of here in one piece. That was a good thing." Bires sits an impressive 14th in the Nationwide Series point standings.

Marcos Ambrose:
July, 4, 2008 | Daytona Beach, Fla. -- Marcos Ambrose, the second-year Nationwide wheelman from Australia, had a great run going in Friday evening's Winn-Dixie 250 from Daytona International Speedway. After starting a disappointing 34th, Ambrose advanced into the top 15 and seemed to have a car capable of a top-10 finish. However, Ambrose was shuffled out of his drafting line late in the race and slipped to 20th on the pylon by night's end. Ambrose has 12 top-20 finishes on the season and sits 13th in the point standings.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Memphis Motorsports Park

June 28-29, 2008

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Kurt Bush, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, winner:

"So today was a good car for what we've been normally, and that put us in position to stretch our fuel a little bit. When we could make it to the end, we pitted. We needed a few laps to help us. But we were gonna be loaded for bear and ready to rock n' roll if it came down to the end. When everybody pitted with, I don't know, 30 laps to go, when I was told, you're in the lead, there's 26 laps to go, that's the most motivation a driver could ever ask for because you want to hold it off and bring it home for your team. So we were gonna have our work cut out for us. I felt we could have held off some the guys right behind us, and pit strategy worked out perfect. It's all credit to Pat Tryson."

Martin Truex, Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet, finished fourth.

Jeff Burton, No. 31 LENOX Industrial Tools Chevrolet, finished 12th:

"Sometimes weather makes you gamble with pit strategy and our choice was to pit so we could make it to the end. I support the call Scott (crew chief Scott Miller) made. We could have gambled and stayed out and won the race. Seven other people could say the same thing. Everybody is racing for the Chase right now so we made the call we had to make and I think we did the right thing. I can't complain about finishing 12th. We had a fast LENOX Industrial Tools Chevy and I think we made some ground up today on our one-mile flat track program."

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet, finished 14th:

"The Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet was really good. We had a top-five car but the rain and pit strategy bit us. The guys have been working really hard the past couple of weeks to step up our program and it really has shown. We might not have the finishes to show it but we have been able to run consistently in the top five the past couple of weeks."

Ryan Newman, No. 12 Alltel Dodge, finished 15th:

"It was a tough call on pit strategy at the end. We couldn't have made it on fuel to the end of the race (301 laps scheduled), so we pitted. It's a tough way for our day to end since we were running in the top 10."

Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet, finished 22nd.

Paul Menard, No. 15 Sylvania/Menards Chevrolet, finished 29th.

Sam Hornish Jr., No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge, finished 39th:

"It was a tough day out there today. It's difficult when you're racing lead-lap cars and lap-down cars at the same time. Hopefully we will get things turned around in our direction soon."

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Kevin Harvick, No. 33 Camping World/RV Service Chevrolet, finished fourth:

"Our Camping World Chevrolet was good today. We were a touch or two off at the start and a little loose on restarts. Track position is big here and on the last stop we took two tires and held our position to get a good finish."

Clint Bowyer, No. 2 Camping World/RV Sales Chevrolet, finished ninth:

"The call was made for four tires on the last stop and that turned out not to be the right decision in the end. We just ran out of time to get back to the front but the Camping World pit crew did a solid job in the pits today. We lost just a few points to Reutimann so we'll go to Daytona next week to try to get them back."

Scott Wimmer, No. 29 Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express Chevrolet, finished 12th:

"We had a really fast car today but left a lug nut off on that last stop. We had to go to the rear but managed to work our way up to 12th. If we had a few more laps I think I could have notched a top-10 finish. I'm proud of my Holiday Inn crew and they work hard all day. We changed a lot but just couldn't get the track position to run up front. It seems like clean air is what it took to win."

Marcos Ambrose, No. 59 STP Ford, finished 14th:

"It was a reasonable day for us. We fought hard and had a good strategy and stayed out of trouble, which is one of the things you want to try and do before the start of the race. It would have been nice to get a Top-10 out of it, but we'll take 14th and move on. We're hanging in there. We're in the middle of the bunch, which is all you can really ask for. We took our program to the next level. The challenge now is to take it to the next step."

Bobby Hamilton Jr., No. 25 Curly's Ford, finished 16th.

Steve Wallace, No. 66 Atreus Homes & Communities Chevrolet, finished 21st.

Kelly Bires, No. 47 Clorox Ford, finished 22nd:

"Basically we were bouncing the front tires. We were able to make it a little better at the end, but it was a handful. It was 30 degrees cooler than practice. We didn't have any of those conditions during practice. It's hard to set up for something like that. We had real good balance with the car in practice. I thought we were going to be really good in the race. We just couldn't get it freed up enough. The guys on this Clorox team made a lot of changes during the race. These cars are so sensitive they react to every little thing. It's not as easy as turning a wrench and everything is fine. You have to do things in very, very small steps."

NASCAR Truck Series

Ron Hornaday, No. 33 Camping World/RV Sales Chevrolet, winner:

"That was probably the hardest race I have run this year so far. I wanted that trophy really bad and that Elvis trophy is the coolest thing in the world. We were really good in practice and we did a qualifying run and we were terrible. Rick Ren (crew chief) stayed up all night thinking about it and he made some very minor changes but they all worked in the end. You have to race hard and this was a good win for us."

Jack Sprague, No. 2 American Commercial Lines Chevrolet, finished sixth:

"It is just really hard to have to go to the back and drive to the front. We had a really good American Commercial Lines Chevrolet today. We struggled a little bit on pit road, but all in all we ended up with a good day. I think we even gained a few points with Johnny (Benson) having motor problems."

SunTrust Indy Challenge

Richmond International Raceway

June 28, 2008

NASCAR drivers often refer to racing at Bristol Motor Speedway as trying to fly a fighter jet in a gymnasium. The IndyCar Series drivers could probably make the same assessment of driving at the three-quarter-mile Richmond International Raceway. The short distance proved to be a challenge for most of the drivers, which resulted in 102 of 300 laps run under yellow and only 12 cars on track at the finish.

While many drivers found themselves in the garage early, Andretti Green Racing came out as the team to beat with Tony Kanaan leading the way early and often to dominate the event. When he didn't lead, teammate Marco Andretti took his turn at the front.

The only other driver to spend any other time at the front besides the teammates was Jamie Camara, who assumed the top spot for 44 laps through an alternate pit strategy. In a race that featured only three lead changes among those three drivers, it was Kanaan who had the speed and the strategy and came home with the victory.

Team Penske and the Snap-on drivers came home with mixed results in the caution-filled race. Helio Castroneves had to overcome an 18th-place starting position in his quest to find the front, and he had to do it while dodging the multiple spins and accidents on the tight oval. He managed to avoid trouble, employ good pit strategy and put in a stellar performance moving through the field. Castroneves finished second.

"We tried everything. Team Penske did a great job in our pit stops. I was driving my wheels off of it," said Castroneves. "I was trying everything I could to make up spots. The only chance I got was mostly on restarts and the start of the race. Andretti Green seemed to be better than us. They seemed to be more consistent, especially when the tires started dropping a little bit."

The second-place finish kept Castroneves in second in series points, trailing leader Scott Dixon by 43. Dixon finished third followed by teammate Dan Wheldon and Oriol Servia surviving to round out the top five.

Ryan Briscoe, the other Snap-on driver, was hoping for another of the strong runs he has been enjoying lately but bad luck caught up to him. He was one of many drivers involved in accidents when he got caught in traffic on a restart on lap 79 that turned into a four-car pile-up. The team made repairs and Briscoe returned to the track to finish 15th.

"It was pretty crazy out there tonight. We were able to hold our position through the first stint, but the restart after our first stop was a complete mess," explained Briscoe. "I heard green, and then I glanced in my mirrors. The next thing I know is that the guys in front of me were on their brakes, and I was into the back of the No. 14 car. It was just a chain reaction from there, and I got hit from behind.

"I'm not sure why some people were slowing down instead of speeding up on the restarts. Thankfully the Team Penske crew was able to repair the car so that I was able to get back out and pick up some points."

The IRL IndyCar Series drivers can stretch out a little more for the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen from Watkins Glen International this week. Drivers will run 60 laps around the permanent road course for a distance of 204 miles. Television coverage starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT on ABC on Sunday, July 6.

Herbert qualified in the No. 5 position and faced Troy Buff in the opening round of eliminations. First off the line with a stellar reaction time (.077 of a second to Buff’s .085), Herbert piloted the SnaponFranchise.com dragster to a solid 4.69 at 297.29 to Buff’s 4.72 at 294.18.

The second round brought Herbert to the line against friend David Grubnic. Herbert defeated Grubnic with a hole shot victory. Herbert’s quick reaction time (.053 of a second to Grubnic’s .089) led him to the finish line first and his 4.666-second pass defeated Grubnic’s 4.662.

After a brief rain shower caused a delay in racing action, the semifinal round pitted Herbert against No. 1 qualifier Rod Fuller. Herbert, on a day destined for victory, was once again first off the line (.037 of a second to Fuller’s .081). He drove the SnaponFranchise.com Top Fuel dragster into the finals with a solid 4.668 at 300.78 mph besting Fuller’s 4.885 at 304.53 mph.

The final round brought Brandon Bernstein to the line on a day when Herbert could not be beaten. Once again, Herbert’s excellent reaction time led him to victory on a hole shot. He left the line in an astounding .018 of a second to Bernstein’s .081, allowing his 4.63-second pass to cross the finish line before Bernstein’s 4.61, ushering him and the SnaponFranchise.com team into the winner’s circle.

"I felt like a winner when I woke up today and we proved it," said the veteran driver. "I have my daughter Jessie here with me this weekend and it has been really great having her here. She is my good luck charm.

"I was just ready and wired in today. I had to dig down deep because this meant so much to me. I have high expectations for myself, and really wanted to make everyone proud.

"This team has been working so hard. We won the Full Throttle Pit Crew Challenge, and that’s just one example of how hard they work. Most of the guys on the team have won before, but this is the first time we have won together and it’s a really great deal. Now we have started winning and we just plan to keep it up."

Herbert’s first win since losing his sons Jon and James in a tragic automobile accident in January, this win is especially touching and comes at an important time for all of drag racing.

"We call this season the ’For My Boys’ Tour, and today I really felt like I had Jon and James riding with me in the car.

"We lost one of our heroes last weekend when we lost Scott Kalitta, and I can’t help but think that maybe he was up there with Jon and James pulling for us along with my old friend Billy Williams, whose wife Dianne was at the races today with us.

"We said at the beginning of the year we plan on winning the championship in their honor, and today we took one more step in that direction.

"I want to make Jon and James and Jessie proud of me, and today I’m sure they are."

The SnaponFranchise.com team will continue its bid for an NHRA Top Fuel championship July 11-13 in Denver.

Oftentimes in racing, the fastest car does not win. A combination of strategy and luck can take a car that lagged mid-pack all race and propel it to Victory Lane. Such was the case in Sunday's LENOX Industrial Tools 301 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where Kurt Busch and crew chief Pat Tryson opted not to pit during a late-race caution period and assumed the lead just before the rains came.

"These guys made an awesome call," Busch said. "Sometimes you just don't win 'em the right way. I think we can honestly say that, but we had a lot of work and a lot of effort put in today and we'll take it."

A wreck involving Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray and David Ragan with 30 laps remaining set up the dramatic conclusion. Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and a host of other leaders came down pit road to get fuel as a storm cell neared the facility. Busch, Michael Waltrip, J.J. Yeley, Martin Truex Jr., Elliott Sadler, Reed Sorenson and Casey Mears all stayed out, gambling the rain would hit before the end of the scheduled distance.

The race restarted with Busch on point but went yellow on the first green flag lap due to a spin involving Clint Bowyer and Sam Hornish Jr. As the cars circled behind the pace car, the rain set in and NASCAR immediately pulled the cars down pit road. A few moments later, the sanctioning body called the event, with Busch claiming the victory.

"We had a pretty good car all day," crew chief Pat Tryson said. "We topped off the fuel and were pretty close to make it to the end. We were hoping for some cautions, we got them and I told Kurt that we were going to stay on track and take a gamble. Today it worked and it got us a win."

Waltrip, Yeley, Truex and Sadler rounded out the top five.

Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman were victims of the pit strategy and subsequent weather that propelled Busch to the win. All three ran in the top 10 throughout the day and seemed to be set up for strong showings until the rain hit. Burton ended the day 12th, Harvick 14th and Newman 15th. Burton now owns 23 consecutive top-15 finishes, dating back to last October.

Clint Bowyer had a top-15 run going as well until getting crossed up with Sam Hornish Jr. The two Snap-on pilots lightly touched in Turn 3 and spun. Bowyer was knocked from a top 10 to 22nd while Hornish, who was already two laps down, was credited with a 39th-place finish.

Aric Almirola overcame a lap 216 spin courtesy of Kasey Kahne and soldiered on to a 23rd-place showing. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Paul Menard finished 29th, the victim of handling problems.

Snap-on Nextel Cup Drivers - how they placed:
Kurt Busch (1st, led 10 laps) Martin Truex Jr. (4th, led 0 laps) Jeff Burton (12th, led 0 laps) Kevin Harvick (14th, led 54 laps) Ryan Newman (15th, led 0 laps) Clint Bowyer (22nd, led 0 laps) Aric Almirola (23rd, led 0 laps) Paul Menard (29th, led 0 laps) Sam Hornish Jr. (39th, led 0 laps)

Kevin Harvick:
June, 28, 2008 | Sparta, Ky. -- Kevin Harvick drove his self-owned No. 33 Chevy to a fourth-place finish in the Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday. Harvick qualified fifth and was a fixture in the top 10 throughout the afternoon. Tony Stewart took two tires on the race's final pit stop and led the rest of the way for the win. Harvick's top-10 finish was his seventh in only 12 Nationwide Series starts this season.

Clint Bowyer:
June, 28, 2008 | Sparta, Ky. -- Clint Bowyer had a solid, if unspectacular afternoon in the Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Bowyer quietly steered his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to a ninth-place finish, which is exactly the type of consistent performance needed to win a championship. Bowyer increased his lead in the Nationwide Series point standings to 182 over David Reutimann.

Scott Wimmer:
June, 28, 2008 | Sparta, Ky. -- Scott Wimmer had a day that mirrored that of his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Clint Bowyer. A workman-like effort earned Wimmer a 12th-place finish in the Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Wimmer, who is splitting seat time in the No. 29 Chevy with Sprint Cup regular Jeff Burton has competed in 11 of 18 Nationwide Series races in 2008 and has recorded top-12 runs 10 times.

Marcos Ambrose:
June, 28, 2008 | Sparta, Ky. -- Marcos Ambrose qualified his JTG Racing Ford 19th for the Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and ran a strong 14th by day's end. "It was a reasonable day for us," Ambrose said. "We fought hard and had a good strategy and stayed out of trouble - which is one of the things you want to try and do before the start of the race. It would have been nice to get a top 10 out of it, but we'll take 14th and move on." Ambrose now has six top-15 finishes on the season, highlighted by a runner-up showing on the Mexico City road course.

Bobby Hamilton Jr.:
June, 28, 2008 | Sparta, Ky. -- Bobby Hamilton Jr. continues to make the most of his 2008 season. Driving for a single-car operation, Hamilton's experience is paying dividends, as he finds himself 15th in the Nationwide Series point standings. At New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, Hamilton overcame an early dust-up with rookie Landon Cassill to notch a solid 16th-place finish.

Steve Wallace:
June, 28, 2008 | Sparta, Ky. -- Steve Wallace qualified 24th for the Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in his No. 66 Chevrolet. He battled handling problems throughout the afternoon but was able to drive his machine to a 21st-place finish. Wallace remains 12th in the Nationwide Series point standings.

Kelly Bires:
June, 28, 2008 | Sparta, Ky. -- Kelly Bires started the weekend with promise, qualifying his No. 47 JTG Racing Ford 14th for the Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He battled to find the handle on the car, however, and ended the afternoon with a respectable but disappointing 22nd-place finish. Bires sits 14th in Nationwide Series points on the strength of seven top-15 performances.

Ron Hornaday Jr.:
June, 28, 2008 | Memphis, Tenn. -- Ron Hornaday earned his third victory of the 2008 Truck Series season with a win at Memphis Motorsports Park in the O'Reilly 200 on Saturday. The win was Hornaday's 36th career Truck triumph, which places first all-time. "That was probably the hardest race I have run this year so far," Hornaday said. "I wanted that trophy really bad and I know we've got one more year and that Elvis trophy is the coolest thing in the world. I wanted Texas bad but Memphis is cool. I've come close at Nashville and I need a guitar. I've got a couple from my fans but I've never gotten any from winning a race so I got the Elvis trophy." Hornaday led 139 of 204 laps and survived a green-white-checker finish and a shootout with Eric Darnell to claim the win. He also reassumed the lead in the Truck Series point standings in the process. "If you don't pull away from them on the front straightaway and get into Turn 1 clean you can go in there about five miles an hour faster cause they are going to try and run into the back of you," Hornaday said of the finish. "I know Eric (Darnell) wanted this race for his buddy, but I wouldn't have blamed Eric if he turned me sideways because he wanted that win. But I had a good feeling we were going to win this thing and I hated to be the one to take it from him, but it's racing and you have to race hard and it was a good race."

Jack Sprague:
June, 28, 2008 | Memphis, Tenn. -- Jack Sprague qualified fifth for the O'Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park and ran in the top 10 throughout the event. Sprague lined up at the front of the field for the final green-white-checker restart and finished sixth. The sixth-place run was Sprague's sixth top 10 of the 2008 season. He sits eighth in the Truck Series point standings.

Keven Wood:
June, 28, 2008 | Memphis, Tenn. -- Wood made his second consecutive start in the Wood Brothers' No. 21 Ford F-150. The 23-year-old Wood qualified 31st for the O'Reilly 200 from Memphis Motorsports Park but was caught up in a late-race accident and finished 30th, ruining a solid run for the young racer. "I saw the 59 truck spinning and went up high, so I went low," Wood explained. "Then I saw him come down and then my hood was folded in half with no place to go. I was in the back in the 15 and had help from the rear and I think he had help in the rear too getting into the back of me. It was one of those things. "We were good at the beginning then I don't what happened after our first pit stop, but we tried to make adjustments to free it up, but it just got tighter and tighter," Wood continued. "I don't know if the temperature dropped a little bit more dramatic than we thought, or what, but that's how it goes. I've got to thank my team, crew chief John Monsam for all the hard work they put into this Air Force Ford F-150."

Rain limited the amount of runs everyone made in qualifying on Saturday afternoon and evening as the NHRA invaded Ohio for the second annual stop in Norwalk. With summer taking hold, the Snap-on teams looked to heat up after a few weeks of scattered success. This weekend it was Doug Herbert, Tony Pedregon, and Steve Johnson carrying the Snap-on banner with great weekends in Ohio with Herbert and Pedregon claiming huge wins.

Doug Herbert:
June, 29, 2008 | Norwalk, Ohio. -- Doug Herbert flexed some muscle with his Snap-on Top Fuel dragster. "Dougzilla" topped 305 mph in his fifth-place qualifying effort before the rain fell. Herbert's run of 4.647, 307.30 mph was only eight thousandths of a second from putting him third in the ladder for Sunday, but fifth was no doubt a strong effort. In the first round, Hebert met Troy Buff for the first time ever. Herbert launched off the blocks first, but actually trailed Buff early in the run. The horsepower took over for Herbert, however, and his Snap-on machine stormed by Buff around the 600-foot mark en route to a second round appearance. Herbert battled David Grubnic in the second round in one heck of a race. Herbert left first with a sizable advantage off the line. He needed every inch of that lead as Grubnic caught Herbert, and the two crossed the line together but with Herbert in front. The win sent Herbert into the semifinals. Herbert's run continued there with a tremendous and gutsy pass after rain delayed the event by nearly two hours. Herbert launched off the pad first and took a big advantage down the track. Just past the 300-foot mark though, Herbert's tires hazed a little and he nearly had to lift. Then, at the far end, Herbert's Snap-on dragster jumped sideways, but showing no fear, Herbert kept the throttle down and drove through it. The result of the effort put Herbert into the finals. Herbert had the task of racing Brandon Bernstein in the finals, and he didn't disappoint. Herbert was off the line quickly, and he took a huge lead off the line and proceeded to power away from Bernstein to pick up the emotional win. The victory was dedicated to Herbert's two sons who were killed in a car accident prior to the season beginning. "Unbelievable. Such an emotional day, and I'm just happy to get the job done," said Herbert. "Going up there I knew I was going to dig down and give it everything I had. I just wanted to do everything I could do to beat (Bernstein) because I didn't want to have a mistake that I made cost us the race. Luckily, I have my little lucky charm (Jessie, Herbert's daughter) with me, and we did a lot of thinking about her brothers today, and I'm sure they were riding with me on that final-round win. Winning a race was important to me because that substantiates and justifies what we're trying to do. I feel like I'm a winner, and I want my kids to be proud of me and think of me as a winner. I set some real high goals for myself this year, and they haven't changed. I'm going to drive the wheels off that car every run, I guarantee you."

Steve Johnson:
June, 29, 2008 | Norwalk, Ohio. -- For a moment in time, Steve Johnson was on top of the world. The Snap-on Pro Stock Motorcycle driver was the fastest man in the field after two rounds of qualifying with rain fast approaching. However, it wasn't meant to be. The third round was completed and Johnson was bumped from the top spot to third. Johnson's strong 7.058, 186.28 mph pass was third fastest and only half a tenth of a second from holding off everyone for the pole. Johnson may have used the disappointment of missing the top spot as motivation as he came out on fire in the first round Sunday. Johnson hammered Junior Pippin on the tree, leaving first by a couple thousandths and then steadily drove away for the win, giving Snap-on a 6-1 mark in the first round. Johnson proved in the second round that his weekend had been no fluke. The Snap-on motorcycle piloted by Johnson marched off the line well ahead of Chip Ellis in Round 2, and he held on with some horsepower at the end to advance into the semifinals. Johnson's run came to an end in the semifinals by a mere couple of inches. Craig Treble got the starting line advantage and led all the way down to the far end, but Johnson closed and made it a great finish. Unfortunately for Johnson, his late charge wasn't quite enough to overcome the deficit, and he lost by one-thousandth of a second.

Tony Pedregon:
June, 29, 2008 | Norwalk, Ohio. -- Tony Pedregon carried the banner in qualifying for the Snap-on brigade in the Funny Car class again this week. Pedregon notched a solid 4.975, 276.35 mph effort to lock his Snap-on ride into the sixth spot. Jim Head was the first round opponent for Pedregon and the two had their hands full right from the get go. Pedregon left first, but spun the tires hard. The loss of traction forced Pedregon to pedal multiple times before he got his car to hook back up to the pavement. Meanwhile, Head couldn't get traction right from the start and tried to pedal, but shut it down after a couple of failed attempts, handing the win to Pedregon. Tim Wilkerson was all that stood between Pedregon and the semifinals. Pedregon was off and running first after the two staged and never looked back. Wilkerson dropped at least one cylinder and was off the pace, sending Pedregon into the semis. Pedregon had a quiet pass in the semis against Ron Capps. His Snap-on ride got off the line first and that was all she wrote. Pedregon reached the far end first and punched his ticket to the finals and waited to see if his brother and Snap-on teammate Cruz could race him for the event win. Pedregon scored his third win of the season and 39th of his career on Sunday. He was off the line first and pulled away for the win over Robert Hight who had eliminated the other two Snap-on drivers in previous rounds. "We knew we had a tough opponent in the final round, it always is any time you race a Force car, and my crew chief really nailed (it)," said Pedregon. "I've dedicated the race to Scott's (Kalitta) kids and his wife. I think it's important that everyone out here wants them to know we care about them. I think the time coming up we'll use to regroup and heal, and we'll never forget him."

Gary Densham:
June, 29, 2008 | Norwalk, Ohio. -- Gary Densham looked to gather some momentum in qualifying to use in the eliminations on Sunday and the Snap-on veteran did find some momentum. Densham laid down a 4.893-second pass at 297.29 mph to lock in ninth. With the solid qualifying effort Densham earned the right to face Ashley Force in the first round. Force owned a 3-0 record against Densham, but that went out the window. Densham charged off the line first and never looked back, leaving Force in his rearview mirror the entire length of the track to take the win on a hole shot. Densham ran into Robert Hight in the second round and the Force team driver took care of business. Hight dropped the fastest run of the round on Densham and the Snap-on team to take them out while Densham hit the parachute early indicating something may have been wrong with his hot-rod.

Cruz Pedregon:
June, 29, 2008 | Norwalk, Ohio. -- Cruz Pedregon bounced back after failing to qualify a week ago at Englishtown by emphatically putting his Snap-on hot rod in the show this week. Pedregon logged a 4.995-second pass at 296.83 mph to claim the 13th spot, but only a couple thousandths of a second shy of the 12th spot. Pedregon and Jack Beckman hooked up in the first round on Sunday in an epic pedaling match. Beckman took off first and was way out in front when he lost traction and pedaled, trying to get hooked back up. Pedregon, meanwhile, lost traction at the start, but managed to pedal gently enough to get some traction. As he caught Beckman, Pedregon squeezed up to the centerline, but held the car from crossing it and took the win as both cars pedaled to the line. Pedregon drew Bob Tasca III in the second round, but it wasn't much of a contest. Pedregon blasted off the line and flashed down the track, absolutely driving away from Tasca in a hole-shot win. Pedregon had the opportunity to make the finals and race his brother Snap-on teammate, Tony Pedregon, if he could get by Robert Hight. Pedregon impressively drove away off the line and appeared to have locked his name in for the final round, but Hight managed to squeak by to stun Pedregon at the last minute. The difference in this one was Hight's speed. In the end, Pedregon was sent home in heart-wrenching fashion at the last second, but it was still a good day for the Snap-on Funny Car team. "You won't hear complaints in our pit," said Pedregon. "Our strategy coming in was to go back to a set-up we used when we were in the top-three of the points and that's what we did. Obviously, it worked for us this weekend. We're pumped up and ready to continue the season. It's funny because once upon a time I would have been upset for not getting to the final round but any time you can win rounds in Funny Car it's a great day. We're all happy."

Jeg Coughlin:
June, 29, 2008 | Norwalk, Ohio. -- Jeg Coughlin entered Ohio wanting to make a statement after an up-and-down first half of the season and he did manage to make a statement. Coughlin and his Snap-on team hit upon the setup, and they cruised to the top of the chart, but were bumped from it late in the third round of qualifying. Coughlin notched a 6.726-second pass at 205.04 mph to take the second spot in the Pro Stock class. Coughlin unfortunately suffered a tough loss in the first round at the hands of Justin Humphreys. On the bright side, it took the second best pass of the entire weekend to send Coughlin home. It was Humphreys from start to finish; he was off the line first and pulled away to take the win over Coughlin. "This was a rough weekend, no doubt," said Coughlin. "The exciting thing is we have a great racecar on our hands with this JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt. We were the quickest or second quickest of every round we raced. I just didn't do my job as a driver. I don't know what happened. I have lots of confidence in my racecar and, quite frankly, I was confident in myself this morning. I just didn't hit the tree. Every now and then this happens and I get in a rut. It always feels like it lasts forever, but usually it's just a race. I know I'll be thinking about this every day until we get to Denver."

Dave Connolly:
June, 29, 2008 | Norwalk, Ohio. -- Dave Connolly watched his teammate get edged out of the top spot, but was focused on his effort. The Snap-on driver hooked his car up to maintain a spot in the top half of the ladder before rain changed everything. Before rain cancelled the final qualifying round Connolly ran a 6.753, 204.08 mph pass to take the eighth spot. Unfortunately, he was bumped to 10th before it was all said and done. Warren Johnson knew that Connolly would be a tough customer despite his high qualifying seed and didn't take the Snap-on team lightly in the first round. Connolly showed everyone why Johnson took them seriously as he was out of the gate first and held off a hard charge by Johnson at the far end to take the win. The win also allowed Connolly, 11th in the points, to gain ground on Johnson, 10th in the championship standings. Connolly had the opportunity to avenge teammate Jeg Coughlin's loss to Justin Humphreys in the first round, but it was Humphreys getting the best of the Snap-on guys. Humphreys cut a near perfect light, a .002 reaction time, to give him a huge lead and the win despite Connolly charging back late in the run. The NHRA will get next week off to prepare for a three-week stretch of consecutive races in July. The NHRA will resume action in Denver July 11. Qualifying can be seen on Saturday, July 12, at 10 p.m. EDT on ESPN2. Eliminations can be seen Sunday at 8 p.m. EDT on ESPN2.

Infineon Raceway

The Milwaukee Mile

June 20-22, 2008

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet, finished fourth.

Ryan Newman, No. 12 Alltel Dodge, finished seventh:

"Our strategy got off a little bit, and we had to pass a whole lot more cars than we should have had to. There at the end we got a little help to gain some ground with the wrecks. We're happy with the finish - it's a top 10, and that's what we need right now. The Alltel Dodge was pretty good today. It was a little loose in the esses and I struggled with a couple of turns, but I was able to pass and make up ground on the track, which was important."

Jeff Burton, No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet, finished 13th:

"Scott (Miller) made great calls in the pits as far as gaining track position. I made a mistake and sped down pit road after the second stop. I had to come down pit road again and serve a penalty, which cost us a lot of spots. The AT&T Racing team doesn't give up and we'll go get 'em next week at Loudon."

Martin Truex Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet, finished 16th.

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet, finished 30th:

"The Shell-Pennzoil Chevy was really fast all day. I made a mistake late in the race and drove the car in too deep and wheel-hopped it. I feel bad for involving the No. 26 (Jamie McMurray) and the No. 20 (Tony Stewart). Hopefully we can turn things around next week at Loudon."

Sam Hornish Jr., No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge, finished 31st:

"I'm glad to have completed my first road course race in Cup Series competition. I wish we could have had a better finish but we continue to work hard and come together as a team. It felt like the Mobil 1 Dodge did not have any forward bite and I had to adjust my driving accordingly. Today was definitely a learning experience."

Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, finished 32nd:

"It was another tough day for us here and pretty typical of how this season is going. Same stuff, but a different day. What really ruined our day was getting the tire rub while racing so hard with the 41 car and the 01 car. It was just a matter of time before we blew the tire or NASCAR black-flagged us, so we had to pit under green. We lost a lap and just never could make it back up. Just our luck that when we finally got in a spot to get the 'lucky dog' and get the lap back there were less than 10 laps remaining and there is no free pass given then."

Paul Menard, No. 15 Johns Manville/Menards Chevrolet, finished 34th.

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Clint Bowyer, No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet, finished third.

Scott Wimmer, No. 29 Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express Chevrolet, finished sixth:

"We had to pit early because the Holiday Inn Chevy was off at the beginning of the race and that bit us by using up a set of stickers (tires) there. We got the car dialed in and drove up through the field to second. We had to put on old tires on the next stop and that dropped us back. The guys worked really hard tonight and had great stops. We needed to be better there at the end but overall not a bad night with a sixth-place finish."

Kelly Bires, No. 47 Clorox Ford, finished 11th:

"We fought with front-end grip most of the night. It wasn't too bad at the start of the race because the race started in daylight. But at night it got worse. Everyone fights with a tight condition at Milwaukee because it's so flat."

Cale Gale, No. 33 Camping World/RVs.com Chevrolet, finished 12th:

"We had a good car this weekend. It was a brand new car and was fast from the start with practice. It was a great night for the team and I have to thank Wally and the guys for working hard and giving me such a good car. I had a lot of fun tonight."

Bobby Hamilton Jr., No. 25 John Morrell Ford, finished 15th.

Marcos Ambrose, No. 59 STP Ford, finished 16th:

"It was a frustrating night. We had a tight racecar towards the end and it really hurt us. We made some changes and worked on it during the race, but we were always going to be a little behind (traveling between two races, missing qualifying). But we've got to look at the big picture. We came all this way to keep the points from ticking over and we did that."

Steve Wallace, No. 66 Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches Chevrolet, finished 19th.

NASCAR Truck Series

Ron Hornaday Jr., No. 33 Camping World/RVs.com Chevrolet, finished seventh:

"We were tight for most of the race and Rick Ren (crew chief) and the guys made some adjustments and freed the truck up some. I tried to make a run to the front at the end of the race, but I just wasn't able to get up there with those guys. Everybody on this Camping World Chevrolet Silverado team worked really hard all day and I appreciate that. There is still a lot of racing left this season so we will just take this one and go get them next week."

Jack Sprague, No. 2 RVs.com Chevrolet, finished 13th:

"We are going to get us a win one of these days, once those boys stop running into us. There really was nothing we could do. For the second week in a row we were victims of other people's poor driving. The No. 2 RVs.com Chevrolet was really good the last clean run we had. I feel like week-in and week-out we are contenders to win but are taken out by circumstances beyond our control. I hate it for these guys and all of KHI, but we will battle back and see what we can get next week at Memphis."

Kyle Busch continues to prove that he is the man to beat in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship chase. Busch watched as mayhem broke out in his rearview mirror on a late restart that eliminated fellow contenders Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick and cruised on to victory in the Dodge/Save Mart 350 from Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. It marks Busch's fifth win of the season.

The incident at the front of the pack occurred just after a restart with seven laps to go. As Stewart and McMurray hunted down the leader Busch, Harvick -- who was running fourth -- drove into Turn 4 and wheel-hopped the car. His ensuing spin caught McMurray and Stewart and dropped the trio to 19th (Stewart), 20th (McMurray) and 23rd (Harvick). Harvick ended the race 30th.

Snap-on's Clint Bowyer soldiered to the finish with a strong fourth-place run, his second consecutive top-five finish at Infineon. Ryan Newman also recorded a top-10 run, bringing home his Penske Racing Dodge seventh.

Harvick and Bowyer's Richard Childress Racing teammate, Jeff Burton, finished 15th after battling traffic all afternoon. Burton remains second in the Sprint Cup point standings.

Martin Truex Jr. slipped through a late-race accident and managed an 18th-place showing. His DEI teammate, Aric Almirola, finished 28th in his first visit to Infineon. Ron Fellows, a road-racing ace who was hired by DEI to drive the No. 01 car, was running in the top 10 until he was caught up in the Harvick/Stewart/McMurray melee. Fellows finished 29th.

Penske teammates Sam Hornish Jr. and Kurt Busch placed 31st and 32nd. Busch was the victim of a lap 70 spin that also involved Robby Gordon and Max Papis. Paul Menard was 34th.

Nationwide Series regular Marcos Ambrose made his first start of 2008 in the Sprint Cup Series and was the story of the race until he was spun by Elliott Sadler while running fifth with 25 laps to go. Driving the Wood Brothers' legendary No. 21 Ford, Ambrose was a fixture in the top 10 throughout the event until the accident, which resulted in a broken gear and a 42nd-place finish.

Snap-on Nextel Cup Drivers - how they placed:
Clint Bowyer (3rd, led 0 laps) Ryan Newman (7th, led 0 laps) Jeff Burton (15th, led 0 laps) Martin Truex Jr. (18th, led 0 laps) Aric Almirola (28th, led 0 laps) Ron Fellows (29th, led 0 laps) Kevin Harvick (30th, led 0 laps) Sam Hornish Jr. (31st, led 0 laps) Kurt Busch (32nd, led 0 laps) Paul Menard (34th, led 0 laps) Marcos Ambrose (42nd, led 0 laps)

Clint Bowyer:
June, 21, 2008 | West Allis, Wis. -- Clint Bowyer extended his lead in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings to 188 points by virtue of a third-place finish in the Camping World RV Rentals 250 from the Milwaukee Mile on Saturday. Bowyer had the lead with 25 laps remaining but was bumped out of the top spot by Carl Edwards after leading 14 laps. Bowyer lost two spots in the process and was forced to settle for third after having a clear shot at what would have been his second win of the season. "We got up to where we needed to be, and unfortunately it got taken from us," an upset Bowyer said afterward.

Scott Wimmer:
June, 21, 2008 | West Allis, Wis. -- Scott Wimmer qualified his Richard Childress Racing Chevy 12th for Saturday's Camping World RV Rentals 250 at the Milwaukee Mile. The Wisconsin native ran in the top 10 throughout the evening and finished sixth, his seventh top-10 run in 10 Nationwide starts this season. "It was a real good day for us," Wimmer said. "We got bit when we had to pit early. Our car was off at the beginning of the race and we had to make that early stop and used a set of stickers (tires) there. Then the car got really good and we drove up through the field and got up to second. Then the next pit stop we had to put on old tires and that just kind of dropped us back through the field." "I was pretty happy with that," he continued. "The guys worked really hard. We just needed to be better at the beginning of the race, and we weren't."

Kelly Bires:
June, 21, 2008 | West Allis, Wis. -- Kelly Bires was ready for the Milwaukee Mile. A native of nearby Mauston, Wis., Bires was looking forward to going home. "Just like Scott (Wimmer), I've been coming here too for a lot of years watching races from the grandstands," Bires said before Saturday's Camping World RV Rentals 250. "Back then you know it was a place that you always wanted to race at, a place that you always want to run good at and just being from Wisconsin, this is the closest track you to running home. It's a place that you want to perform. I've got a lot of family, friends and people from your hometown and people just from the state of Wisconsin that have watched us grow up through the ranks and stuff. There's a lot of people that know us and you definitely want to run good here and not look bad." And run good he did. The 23-year-old qualified his JTG Racing Ford eighth and finished 11th. Bires now has seven top-15 runs in his first full season on the circuit.

Cale Gale:
June, 21, 2008 | West Allis, Wis. -- Cale Gale qualified 20th for the Camping World RV Rentals 250 at the Milwaukee Mile, his eighth Nationwide Series start of the 2008 season. He drove his Kevin Harvick-owned Chevy to an 11th-place finish in the event, his best run since an eighth at Nashville in March.

Bobby Hamilton Jr.:
June, 21, 2008 | West Allis, Wis. -- Bobby Hamilton Jr. qualified his Team Rensi Ford a disappointing 26th for the Camping World RV Rentals 250 at the Milwaukee Mile. Hamilton made the most of the evening, however, by keeping the nose of his Taurus clean and recording a solid 15th-place finish. The 15th-place result was his sixth top 15 of the season. Hamilton sits 15th in the Nationwide Series point standings.

Marcos Ambrose:
June, 21, 2008 | West Allis, Wis. -- Marcos Ambrose had a busy weekend. The Australia native was participating at both the Nationwide Series event at the Milwaukee Mile and the Cup Series race at Infineon Raceway in California. Unfortunately, things didn't get started on the right foot. "It was a frustrating night. We had a tight racecar towards the end and it really hurt us," Ambrose said of his race. "We made some changes and worked on it during the race, but we were always going to be a little behind (traveling between two races, missing qualifying). But we've got to look at the big picture. We came all this way to keep the points from ticking over and we did that." Ambrose is currently 13th in the Nationwide point standings.

Steve Wallace:
June, 21, 2008 | West Allis, Wis. -- Steve Wallace continues to show promise in just his second full season on the Nationwide circuit. The second-generation driver recorded yet another top-20 run, his 12th of the season, in the Camping World RV Rentals 250 at the Milwaukee Mile.

Ron Hornaday Jr.:
June, 20, 2008 | West Allis, Wis. -- Ron Hornaday battled a tight truck all evening in the Camping World RV Sales 200 from the Milwaukee Mile Friday after qualifying sixth. He also lost valuable track position in an early-race incident after pit stops. Hornaday was forced to work his way through traffic for the remainder of the race. He got back to seventh by lap 200, which is where he finished. "We were just tight for most of the race," the defending series champ said. "Rick Ren (crew chief) and the guys made some adjustments during the race and freed our Camping World Silverado up. We lost track position in that deal early in the race but we were able to make that up. At the end, I tried to make a run to the front towards the end, but just couldn't get there. All the guys on this Camping World crew worked hard today. I can't thank Kevin and DeLana (Harvick) enough for all they do for us. There is a lot of racing left this season so we will just go get them next week." Hornaday sits fourth in the Truck Series championship battle after recording his seventh top 10 of the season.

Jack Sprague:
June, 20, 2008 | West Allis, Wis. -- Jack Sprague started an encouraging fifth in the Camping World RV Sales 200 at the Milwaukee Mile on Friday night. The 13-year Truck veteran was spun while working his way through traffic after an early race pit stop. The spin triggered an eight-car incident, but Sprague's Chevrolet was not damaged too severely. The accident put Sprague back in the pack, but he was able to stay on the lead lap and salvaged a 13th-place finish. Sprague sits ninth in the Truck Series point standings on the strength of seven top-15 runs.

Keven Wood:
June, 20, 2008 | West Allis, Wis. -- Keven Wood finished 21st in the Camping World RV Sales 200 at the Milwaukee Mile. "We'll, we started off bad and it showed pretty early but we kept working on it," Wood explained. "We started going up on the track bar. We didn't adjust the air pressure too much and we started changing the brakes a little bit. But that still wasn't our biggest problem. We were still making small gains out of it. At one point there before the red flag came out, we were about as good as I think we could have been for the night without going home and redoing some of the geometry. "Other than that, I'm still pleased. It was my best finish so far. We were 23rd at Mansfield and 27th at Memphis last year. We're getting better. It's just taking time. It was great to have Jon (Wood) here this weekend. I can't thank him enough for his input on the race this weekend. He came up here and helped look after all of us. I really appreciate him being here." Jon Wood credited his cousin, however, for making a smooth transition up to the Truck Series. "I think the leap from local track racing to this level is a much bigger step than a lot of people give credit for," Jon said. "I would almost go out on a limb and say that the transition from a Late Model to a Nationwide Series car would be easier than racing in the Truck Series. It's a tough bunch of guys to race. The Truck Series might be having a difficult time having a full field each week, but there are still 15 to