Backstretch Motorsports

Even though both of his cars were victims of accidents at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, it has still been a pretty good week for Yates Racing co-owner Doug Yates. The team has signed Paul Menard as a third driver for the 2009 season and is coming off a pole run with Travis Kvapil at Talladega. Yates spoke about his team’s progress.

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TALLADEGA, ALA– Tony Stewart survived a couple of huge wrecks and a record number of leaders to win the AMP Energy 500 here Sunday at a track that produces excitement by the barrel.

Stewart held off hard-charging rookie Regan Smith, who made a last-lap daredevil pass below the yellow line in trying to beat the two-time champion.

NASCAR rules prohibit passing below the yellow line that separates the racing track from the apron.

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BRASELTON, Ga., Oct. 4, 2008 – A race that began with Johnny O’Connell’s daughter singing the national anthem on the starting grid at Road Atlanta ended 9 hours and 41 minutes later with a victory in the 1,000-mile Petit Le Mans for O’Connell and his teammates Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows. O’Connell and Magnussen clinched the American Le Mans Series GT1 drivers championship with their eighth win of the season in the No. 3 Compuware with one race still to run.

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The battle that everyone expected at Petit Le Mans powered by the Totally New MAZDA6 lived up to its billing. Audi remained unbeaten at Road Atlanta as Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Emanuele Pirro spotted the field two laps at the start of the race but came back for a stunning victory in the 11th annual 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic.

McNish and his Audi R10 TDI crossed the finish line 4.512 seconds ahead of Peugeot’s Christian Klien and the Peugeot 908 HDi that he drove with Stephane Sarrazin and Nic Minassian. A record weekend crowd of 113,000 witnessed the week-long fight between the top two powers in sports car racing.

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By Reid Spencer

TALLADEGA, Ala. (October 4, 2008) — With a brilliant last-lap move through the tri-oval at Talladega Superspeedway, Todd Bodine won Saturday’s Mountain Dew 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race with a much-needed assist from new points leader Ron Hornaday Jr.

Bodine was pushing Kyle Busch through the final corner, but contact from Bodine’s No. 30 Toyota loosened Busch’s No. 51 Tundra enough for Bodine to dodge to the outside and pick up a push from Hornaday, who crossed the finish line second, .075 seconds behind the race winner.

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Qualifying Fast Facts
Talladega Superspeedway
AMP Energy 500

Coors Light Pole Winner: Travis Kvapil
Age: 32
Team : No. 28 - Academy Sports & Outdoors Ford
Owner: Doug Yates
Crew Chief: Todd Parrott

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BRASELTON, Ga. (Oct. 3, 2008) – Brandon Davis, of Huntington Beach, Calif., got the holeshot from his second starting position and never wavered en route to his second SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship win at the SPEED GT Finale Presented by Foametix®, part of the Petit Le Mans Powered by the Totally New MAZDA6 at Road Atlanta. Tommy Milner, of Leesburg, Va., and Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., completed the podium. Randy Pobst, of nearby Gainesville, Ga., clinched his second-consecutive Drivers’ Championship.

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All four classes set qualifying records Friday at Petit Le Mans powered by the Totally New MAZDA6, highlighted by Stephane Sarrazin’s run to the overall pole position for Saturday’s 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic at Road Atlanta. Sarrazin’s time of 1:06.242 (138.039 mph) nipped Audi Sport North America’s Allan McNish by 0.085 seconds as the battle between the two marques intensified even more.

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Vitor Meira has signed to drive the No. 14 ABC Supply Co. Honda-powered Dallara for A.J. Foyt Racing in 2009 with an option for 2010. He’ll get a jump-start on the season by competing in the non-points Nikon Indy 300 on the streets of Surfer’s Paradise, Australia, on Oct. 26.

“I am definitely going into 2009 with a little extra motivation,” said Meira, who competed for Panther Racing the past three seasons. “I have raced against the team for many years and have heard cool things about them. Many people would give an arm and a leg just to meet A.J. and I am getting to work with him.”

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The entry list for Petit Le Mans powered by the Totally New MAZDA6 continues to take shape with several teams adding drivers to their lineups for the annual 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic at Road Atlanta. The American Le Mans Series’ founding event gets the green flag at 11:15 a.m. ET on Saturday, October 4.

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