Auto Racing Capsules: Pocono promising safety changes
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Pocono Raceway keeps taking hits.
Often criticized by drivers for unnecessary 500-mile races and for clogging two spots on the Sprint Cup schedule, the 2½-mile triangle track is now deemed by some unsafe after an accident in the June race involving Kasey Kahne.
The rally cry of "shorten the races" has morphed into "make them safer."
Track president Brandon Igdalsky is listening — and he's promising to do what it takes to improve the track.
"Do we need to make changes? Yes," he said.
Greg Biffle offered the harshest critique in a recent Sports Illustrated story, saying "they're going to kill somebody there." He added: "If they don't change that racetrack — maybe not next year, maybe not three years from now — they'll hurt somebody there."
Igdalsky wants the feedback — even as he feels Biffle overstated the danger — and has already started planning safety improvements. The track is adding more SAFER barriers in time for next year's race and would like to install a catch fence along the non-grandstand areas.
The barriers would be installed along the inside wall between turns 1 and 2 and down the "Long Pond" stretch. The barriers, a combination of steel and foam, will replace the current guard rail system. SAFER barriers are currently in place at each of NASCAR's oval tracks and are also being installed on the road course at Watkins Glen.
Kahne was involved in a huge scare in the June race when he lost control of his car in the grass, went airborne and into the trees that line the track. Had the car sailed higher, Kahne would have flipped out of the track.
"The Kasey thing was a freak thing," Igdalsky said. "He didn't make anything out of it. Everybody else decided to talk about it."
Still, Igdalsky would like to add a catch fence there in time for 2011.
Jimmie Johnson, the four-time defending Cup champion, believes a catch fence is one of the necessary changes.
"And not just this track, but I don't think grass has any purpose inside the walls of a race track anymore," he said "There's no friction to slow down the vehicle, and then the cars just hammer the wall when that's the case. And then you get mud and rain and a wheel can sink into the mud and flip the car over and get it flipping. We've seen that at Daytona and Talladega, and even here."
Add it to the Pocono wish list.
The 34-year-old Igdalsky has taken a bigger role as his grandfather, track owner Joseph Mattioli, scales back his duties. Igdalsky helped bring corporate sponsorship to the races, the first trucks race on Saturday, and has an eye on bringing back an IndyCar Series race.
"We're making some noise," Igdalsky said.
Pocono Raceway had corporate sponsorship for its June Cup race for the first time since 1996. Pocono's June race had been called the Pocono 500 since 1997.
Mattioli said last year that Pocono didn't have sponsorship because he didn't need the money.
"I don't need the money and if you don't need the money, what the hell is the sense of sponsorship?" Mattioli said last June. "We call all the shots. All the VIPs on race day are our people, not the sponsor's people."
He said before Saturday's trucks race the sponsorship package "was so nice we couldn't refuse it."
Mattioli is used to criticism of his track and has made improvements. The track underwent a 10-year renovation in the 1990s, adding new crash walls, a garage area and 150-site motor home park.
He had a decrepit section of track filled in 2008 with asphalt that created a patch drivers raved about.
Igdalsky, and his brother Nick, is easing Pocono into an always-evolving modern day sports world. As a dogged promoter, Igdalsky is searching for ways to bring more events to the Pocono. That's why he won't rule out making a pitch for an IndyCar Series race, only a month after the open-wheel series announced it was returning to New Hampshire.
"This place was built for IndyCars. It was built by IndyCar drivers," Igdalsky said. "I'm not going to say it's going to happen."
One thing he won't do is surrender a Sprint Cup series race. Mattioli and Igdalsky are both adamant that they will never give up one of their two races.
"I know that for a fact," Igdalsky said. "We're not giving up any races."
Mattioli called the idea of offering up a race "stupid."
Richard Petty won the first NASCAR race held on the triangle — the Purolator 500 — in 1974 and a second race was added to the schedule in 1982. The family remains a staunch defender of the 500-mile races and has no plans to cut back.
Few understand why the track has two races each season separated by only eight weeks and neither one is a Chase for the Sprint Cup championship event.
"We're like the bad stepchild, aren't we?" Igdalsky said. "Everyone kind of looks at us like, 'These guys are still around?' But we're here."
Notebook: Hoops and racing: Two-sport Tony Stewart?
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Smoke was on a hot streak at the free-throw line.
Tony Stewart, the pole-sitter for Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway, got a chance to show his skills on the hardwood during a recent appeararnce at Syracuse University. He had teamed Wednesday with Orange coach Jim Boeheim for a shooting contest.
The two-time Sprint Cup champion called the visit "really cool," though he did admit to being a little rattled on the basketball court.
"It's pretty intimidating when you go to somebody else's venue and you're in their house and then get in a competition with them," Stewart said this weekend.
Stewart, who is from Columbus, Ind., banked some basketball credibility for when he returns to his basketball-crazy home state.
"I'm happy to say that we tied four out of five on the free-throw side, so I held my own as an Indiana kid," Stewart said. "Hopefully now when I go back to Indiana, I won't get thrown out for not being good at basketball."
Stewart has also had to deal this year with finding a new sponsor for Old Spice, which will not renew its deal after this season. He hasn't been too involved on that front yet.
"Keep in mind, every race team has a marketing staff and that marketing staff is who is out trying to get the leads on sponsors and once they get so far down the road with each sponsor, that's when I get involved," Stewart said. "Every major race team has a marketing staff that is out there beating those doors down before it gets to my level."
ROUSH REAX: Jeff Burton hopes NASCAR team owner Jack Roush doesn't stop flying.
Roush is recovering from facial injuries sustained in a plane crash last week in Wisconsin. The aviation buff was at the controls of the business jet registered to Roush Fenway Racing when the plane crashed while attempting to land.
"Obviously, he has a passion for racing, but I think when he is flying, he's the driver," said Burton, a driver for Richard Childress Racing who once raced for Roush. "I certainly hope he continues flying."
Roush had another close call eight years ago, when he crashed into a lake in Alabama and nearly drowned before being rescued by an ex-Marine who lived nearby.
"It does make you think about your vulnerability and what we do as far as flying," Burton said. "We fly a lot and it is dangerous. Jack's a very, very, very good pilot."
News of the accident also made Kyle Busch recall the fear of flying of his fiance, Samantha Sarcinella. Busch said he was thankful that Roush survived.
"I don't if this is his second or third time, but he's made it through," Busch said. "A couple of people this week were mentioning that he needs to go to Vegas and try his luck there because he has some pretty good luck."
SUN POWER: Brian Vickers says he's doing well as he receives treatments for blood clots that have kept him off the track since May. He's out for the season.
"Everything is great," Vickers told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday. "I'm doing very well. I hope to get back in the car next year."
He wasn't at Pocono Raceway, where the Sprint Cup series stops Sunday for a 500-mile race, though he was impressed with the new solar energy system formally unveiled this weekend.
The 25-acre installation across the street from the Pocono track may be the world's largest solar-powered sports facility, providing enough energy for the track as well as 1,000 homes.
Vickers said he hopes Pocono's $16 million solar farm makes fans aware of the environmental initiatives in a sport that burns about 135,000 gallons of fuel per Sprint Cup series.
"Most important is that yes, NASCAR is going to do a lot more things, such as what Pocono is doing on the solar farm, but a lot of times, people forget what they've already done," Vickers said.
TV DEAL: ARCA has extended its TV deal with the Speed channel for 2011.
As with this season, 10 ARCA races will be televised by the cable network next year, either live or on same-day tape. Speed has shown ARCA races since 1997.
It's the earliest that two sides have been able to finalize an extension annoucement, ARCA president Ron Drager said Saturday. The 2010 schedule has 20 events running on 17 tracks.
"It gives us some good news at a time when there's not much good economic news going on out there," Drager said. "We think it's a significant amount for us to have 10 events televised on Speed. Above and beyond that, we're always looking for exposure."
-- Genaro C. Armas
Nationwide
Busch wins Nationwide race in Iowa
NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Kyle Busch is now a better bet than the Nationwide Series field.
Busch raced to his sixth victory in his last seven Nationwide starts and ninth in 17 events this season Saturday night, leading 209 of 250 laps in a dominating run at Iowa Speedway.
Busch moved a victory away from the series season victory record of 10 he shares with Sam Ard. Busch, a 10-time winner in 2008, is second in series history with 39 victories — nine behind Mark Martin's record.
Given that Busch has won more than he's lost so far, that 10-win record seems destined to fall this season.
Martin's career mark doesn't seem all that safe either.
"I'm looking forward to it, man. I can't wait to get to win 11, and hopefully more after that," Busch said.
Kevin Harvick was second, followed by Jason Leffler. Brad Keselowski, who beat Busch in Iowa last year, finished fourth to stay atop the series points standings by 231 points over Carl Edwards, who was 10th.
Trevor Bayne, who became the first Nationwide driver in 18 years to capture three consecutive poles earlier Saturday, finished fifth in front of a standing-room only crowd of nearly 56,000.
Harvick took the lead from Busch during a late pit stop by taking just two tires while Busch grabbed four. But that mattered little to Busch, who had the strongest car of the night.
The No. 18 Toyota zipped past Harvick on the outside with 25 laps to go on the 0.875-mile oval, winning without running a single practice lap for the second week in a row.
"Harvick scared us a little bit at the end there, putting on two (tires) and having a good jump on us at the restart there, but we ran him down," Busch said.
Busch, who started second after flying back from practice for the Sprint Cup race Saturday at Pocono with Harvick, grabbed the lead from Bayne soon after the race went green, marking the 17th straight Nationwide race he's led at some point.
Busch was still in front when Reed Sorenson popped a front tire 42 laps in, causing the No. 32 car to slam into the wall and catch fire under the hood. Sorenson, who was running 12th, was pulled out safely.
Bayne gave Busch all he could handle through the first third of the race, briefly jumping ahead and leading a total of 21 laps.
Bayne was the first driver to start out front in three straight races since Jeff Gordon did it in 1992, and at 19 he's also the youngest to do so.
Bayne has yet to turn all that qualifying speed into a victory, though. He began to fade as the sun went down and his car got tighter, and he was overtaken by Harvick two-thirds of the way in. Bayne's best finish came at Gateway two weeks ago when he crossed third.
"If that thing would've ended in the daylight we probably could have got our first win here," Bayne said. "Three poles in a row, I mean, I hear that's not very heard of so that's awesome."
Brian Keselowski drilled Colin Braun after Braun slid into the wall and came to a stop in the middle of the track 93 laps in. Busch retook the lead on the restart and was 3 seconds ahead by the midway point.
With Sunday's race at Pocono nearly 1,000 miles away from Iowa, only eight drivers are doing double-duty this weekend. That gave hope to many of the Nationwide-only drivers that they could snap a 16-race winless streak dating to Justin Allgaier's win at Bristol in March.
Alas, that stretch is now at 17 races. Leffler's third-place finish was tops among Nationwide-only drivers, though six of them finished in the top 10.
But once again, Busch's No. 18 car proved too strong for the rest of the field.
"We ran really good. It's hard to run with the 18," Leffler said.
-- Luke Meredith
Bayne captures third straight Nationwide pole
NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Trevor Bayne has become the first Nationwide series driver in 18 years to capture three consecutive poles.
The 19-year-old Bayne took the pole for Saturday night's race at Iowa Speedway. He's the first driver to start out front in three straight races since Jeff Gordon did it in 1992.
Michael Waltrip, Mark Martin and Sam Ard also won three consecutive poles in the series back in the 1980s.
Bayne is also the youngest Nationwide driver to earn three straight poles, but he hasn't won in the series entering Saturday's race. Bayne's best finish was third at Gateway two weeks ago.
NASCAR Trucks
Sadler holds off Kahne, Crafton in trucks series
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Tears welled up in Elliott Sadler's eyes as he drove his No. 2 truck past the white flag. Finally, victory was within reach.
After cutting off Matt Crafton's pass attempt inside on a restart, the veteran driver pulled away from Kasey Kahne on the final lap of Saturday's Truck Series race at Pocono for his first NASCAR win in six years.
"You sit at home a lot wondering if you're ever going to make it back to Victory Lane," said Sadler, a former Sprint Cup series contender who has struggled in recent years. "This time, I know it's recent, I know it's today, but it feels like the biggest win of my career."
The inaugural trucks race at Pocono Raceway was a hit with drivers despite a flurry of late mishaps around the 2.5-mile tri-oval. Kahne finished second, Crafton was third and points leader Todd Bodine wound up 12th.
After a relatively smooth start, things got bumpy in the second half of the 125-mile race with drivers often going three-wide — or sometimes four-wide — around the turns. The racing down the straightaways was just as exciting to Crafton.
"You get two trucks side-by-side, and you'll be 10 back, and by the end of the front straightaway, you'll be on top of them," Crafton said. "I honestly didn't know with the race what to expect here."
No one was happier than Sadler, whose first trucks win made him the 21st driver to get victories in all three NASCAR series. It was also Sadler's spin down Victory Lane since finishing first in the Sprint Cup race at Fontana in 2004, when he contended for the title.
Sadler has struggled since then, and Pocono may be just the spark that he was looking for to boost his Sprint Cup fortunes.
"It's hard to put into words what this means to me ... to have a tough couple years like we've had in the Cup series," said Sadler, who hasn't finished better than 17th in a Sprint Cup race this year. He'll start 29th for the 500-mile race Sunday at Pocono.
Other than Sadler, the first Pocono trucks race also featured Sprint Cup stars Kahne and Denny Hamlin, who finished ninth. Each took their shots challenging Sadler, who never strayed too far from the front after starting on the pole.
Kahne took the lead on a restart on lap 44 before Donny Lia and Chase Mattioli got tangled up less than a lap later to bring the caution out. Sadler took the lead on the next restart before Ron Hornaday spun off to bring out another caution.
Sadler started outside on the final restart, turned aside Crafton on the inside, then pulled away for 0.90-second lead in the final lap over Kahne.
"The restarts were crazy because it was drafting so much into Turn 1 and people were getting pushes and two-car tandems," Sadler said, adding that his strategy for the last restart to slow down on the accelerator and make sure drafting wasn't as much of a factor in the first turn.
Kahne, who will also race in Sunday's race, enjoyed his first spin around the track in a truck since 2004. He won both his truck starts that year — and came close to making it 3 for 3.
Sprint Cup series drivers have typically complained about the length of the 500-mile races at Pocono, but there were no such gripes Saturday with the trucks race.
"It was probably as a front straightaway, or all three straightaways, as best it has been, that I've been on," Kahne said. "Hopefully the trucks come back next year, and race more laps."
Sadler was just fine with the length, which ended five laps more than the scheduled 50 because of the late cautions. An anxious Sadler had just 90 minutes of sleep the previous night, optimistic he could do well at Pocono. He called the victory "great timing" for his career.
"I screamed to the top of my lungs when I sat on the pole today," he said, "then to come back and win the race, I felt I was putting all my eggs in this basket to run good in this truck."
-- Genaro C. Armas
ARCA
Brent wins ARCA race at Pocono
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Robb Brent won the ARCA race at Pocono Raceway on Saturday for his first career victory and continued a season-long trend of new winners in Victory Lane.
"I was starting to think my time wouldn't come," Brent said.
Brent became the ninth first-time winner this year in the ARCA series. Dakoda Armstrong was second and Craig Goess was third on Saturday, followed by Tom Hessert and Justin Marks.
There have been 10 different winners in 11 ARCA races this year, and Brent won for the first time in 48 career ARCA races.
"Everyone kept winning. I was like, 'When is it my turn?'" he said. "Whatever it is, I just really like this place. I fell in love with this place the first time I tested here."
The race was shortened this year to 50 laps because of the debut earlier Saturday of the NASCAR Truck Series race. The race took only 57 minutes, 32 seconds to complete.
Brent led a race-high 36 laps.
ARCA drivers got to keep their garage while the trucks were parked on the grass. Work was done on the pit stalls.
"It worked out great for us," a smiling Goess said.
Ricky Byers completed only two laps and was 36th. Byers drove his red-and-black Ford Fusion in honor of the people who have given the two-time throat cancer survivor a chance to fight back at the disease that nearly cost him his life.
Byers created his own racing team last year with a purpose of donating all of its winnings to cancer research.
Frank Kimmel, who won the pole, was seventh.
ARCA announced before the race it has extended its TV deal with the Speed channel for 2011.
Formula One
Red Bull's Vettel clinches pole at Hungarian GP
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel secured the pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday and will be joined by teammate Mark Webber on the front row.
Vettel posted a time of 1 minute, 18.773 seconds in qualifying for Sunday's race, 0.411 seconds ahead of Webber.
"The track suits us very well this year. I'm happy," said Vettel, who clinched his fourth straight pole and seventh of the season. "If we have a good start tomorrow, we should have a great race."
Vettel has two wins this season and is fourth in the drivers' standings with 136 points, 21 behind overall leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren.
Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will be on the second row Sunday. Hamilton, the 2009 winner, will start fifth, followed by Nico Rosberg of Mercedes and the two Renault drivers, Vitaly Petrov and Robert Kubica.
Pedro de la Rosa of Sauber and Nico Hulkenberg of Williams completed the top 10.
The Hungaroring circuit has 14 turns and is one of the slowest on the Formula One calendar, making passing difficult.
"It's not always easy to get around here," Vettel said. "The bumps are quite harsh and the car is very nervous and tends to move a lot."
Alonso, who was 1.214 seconds behind Vettel, was startled by the huge gap between the Red Bull cars and the rest of the field, considering Ferrari's 1-2 finish at the German GP last week.
"I was surprised, no doubt," Alonso said. "(The Red Bulls) were dominant this weekend and untouchable.
"Knowing how the weekend went so far, winning the race would be a dream, but we need to be realistic. We need to know that there are two cars much quicker than us."
Defending world champion Jenson Button of McLaren will start 11th after he was knocked out in the second part of qualifying.
Michael Schumacher, the seven-time world champion who returned to F1 this season after retiring for three years, extended his streak of disappointing results by qualifying 14th, his second-worst starting position in 2010.
The 25th F1 race at Hungaroring circuit is the 12th of 19 races this season.
-- Pablo Gorondi
