Backstretch Motorsports

Q: You are heading back to some familiar grounds in Indianapolis. What are your thoughts going into the weekend, this time in a Cup Car?
A: I am really looking forward to it. I guess I don’t know what to expect, I don’t have an opportunity to go and test there so there are a lot of unknowns for me. I am really happy I have had the opportunity to not only run there in IndyCar, but now I am getting the opportunity now to get in a Stock Car. I think that it’s going to be a really good weekend for us. Regardless of the on-track stuff, just the opportunity to be back in Indianapolis should be really fun.

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LEXINGTON, Ohio (July 20, 2008) – Tommy Archer, of Duluth, Minn., led every lap Sunday to win the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course SPEED GT Presented by Remington race, Round Five of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship. Brandon Davis, of Huntington Beach, Calif., and Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., completed the top three.

Starting from the pole in his No. 13 Foametix/Woodhouse Performance Dodge Viper, Archer got away cleanly from the standing start to lead second starting Davis’ No. 10 ACS/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra. Davis was never far from Archer, but he was unable to mount a challenge for the lead despite the race being slowed by three cautions.

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KENT, Wash. – After a shaky first half of the season that included six DNQs, Tony Bartone (shown left) raced to his first NHRA POWERade Series victory Sunday at the 21st annual Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals after more than six years of professional racing.

Bartone defeated veteran driver Ron Capps, also looking to break out of a winless streak that dates back to Richmond 2007, in the final round. Bartone powered his Canidae Pet Foods Chevy Monte Carlo to a 4.454-second pass at 238.17 mph to get the long-awaited win, while Capps posted a 4.708 at 227.46 in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger R/T.

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LEXINGTON, Ohio, Sunday, July 20, 2008 - Ryan Briscoe earned his second IndyCar Series victory of the season, and Helio Castroneves finished second in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance to earn Team Penske a sweep.

The teammates started in reverse order on the front row for the 85-lap race on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn circuit. Castroneves led the first five laps on rain tires, but relinquished the lead to Vitor Meira on Lap 6 after the Panther Racing driver pitted earlier to change to racing slicks.

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (July 20, 2008) – With track temperatures soaring over 120 degrees, the Lexus duo of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas remained the hottest thing on the track as they registered their sixth Rolex Sports Car Series victory of the season in Sunday’s Porsche 250 at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.

The win comes in just the ninth race of the season for the #01 Ganassi/Lexus team and gives both the drivers and the team a commanding 60-point championship lead with just five races remaining. In addition, Lexus stretched out its manufacturer’s championship to 16 points.

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By Reid Spencer

MADISON, Ill. (July 19, 2008) – It took three days for Carl Edwards to get to Gateway International Raceway from his home in Columbia, Mo. – on a bicycle.

Once at the track, however, Edwards picked up his pace considerably for Saturday night’s Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. In the final 55-lap green-flag run, Edwards’ No. 60 Ford streaked away from the No. 20 Toyota of Joey Logano, taking the checkered flag 6.877 seconds ahead of the 18-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing phenom.

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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
The Built Ford Tough 225 presented
by The Greater Cincinnati Ford
Dealers
Kentucky Speedway
Fast Facts

Race Winner: Johnny Benson
Age: 45
Team: No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota
Owner: Gail Davis
Crew Chief: Trip Bruce

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KENT, Wash. – Tony Schumacher has been in the final round in Seattle every year since 2004. Out of four consecutive final rounds here, he’s won three. He looked primed to add a fifth after qualifying No. 1 Saturday at the 21st annual Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals, piloting his U.S. Army dragster to a 3.802-second pass at 316.90 mph in prime conditions Friday for his fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 51st of his career.

Robert Hight (shown left) and Dave Connolly also will lead their respective categories into Sunday’s eliminations on the power of the No. 1 qualifiers they earned during prime weather conditions of the first day of qualifying, on Friday.

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Leads, Ala., July 19, 2008 – The SunTrust Pontiac Daytona Prototype (DP) will start from the pole for tomorrow’s running of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16.

The heat is proving to be a factor for all of the teams this weekend. With temperatures averaging in the mid-90s it is playing havoc with the track and the cars. With times declining in the afternoon heat the No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Dallara driven by Michael Valiante took the pole for tomorrow’s race with a time of 1:20.521. Valiante is joined in the 10 with co-driver Max Angelelli. The 2005 series champions are trying to make a late season run at the points standings. They have had a difficult season to date which has included on the track contact as well as a hauler fire which destroyed their first Dallara

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LEXINGTON, Ohio, Saturday, July 19, 2008 - Helio Castroneves put himself in the perfect position to chip away at the 63-point deficit in the IndyCar Series championship point standings. The series all-time leader in poles added No. 25 to his career tally during PEAK Motor Oil Pole Qualifying for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance.

Castroneves advanced through the first two qualifying elimination rounds to the Firestone Fast Six for the 13th time in 14 IndyCar Series road/street races. In that session, he lapped the 2.258-mile, 13-turn circuit in 1 minute, 7.2480 seconds, 120.878 mph to earn his second consecutive pole of the season and his second consecutive pole at Mid-Ohio.

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