NASCAR conspiracy?
Upon further review of Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway, I could not find any presence of mysterious NASCAR debris.
Nowhere could I find a NASCAR official tossing a banana peel under the wheels of Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet on the third lap before he went crashing into the wall. His 38th-place finish magically injected some drama into a points race that he had all but clinched.
Johnson’s early exit cut his lead from 184 to 73 points over Mark Martin as the series heads to Phoenix this weekend. A pair of fourth-place finishes over the last two races — Phoenix and next week in Homestead, Fla. — will give Johnson his fourth straight championship.
The champions are ...
By Sunday night, champions will be crowned in NHRA and baring another third-lap crash Johnson could virtually wrap up his championship.
Lost in NASCAR’s blinding spotlight on its Cup series, however, is that Kyle Busch could be wearing the Nationwide crown after Saturday’s race at Phoenix International Raceway. He leads Carl Edwards by 247 points and Brad Keselowski by 267.
Busch has won nine Nationwide races this year, one less that he did a year ago. But counting Phoenix, he has two more chances this year.
In drag racing, the NHRA finale begins today and most eyes will be on Top Fuel qualifying today and tomorrow before Sunday’s elimination rounds.
Tony Schumacher holds a one-point lead over Larry Dixon. Don’t count out Cory McClenathan, who is third and trails Schumacher by 48 points. If Schumacher and Dixon go out in the first round on Sunday and McClenathan wins the title he could earn his first pro championship.
But up to 12 bonus points are on the table in qualifying, and a national elapsed time record is worth 20 points. So with those variables tossed into the mix it could be a wild Sunday.
Your choice of dirt
It’s a perfect weekend if you like dirt.
If the dusty, desert variety is to your liking then Saturday and Sunday head to the Primm Motorsports Complex behind Buffalo Bill’s about 30 miles south of Las Vegas on Interstate 15.
The season finale of the Lucas Oil Off Road Series will be held Saturday and Sunday in a great, stadium setting.
Among those competing will be Carey Hart, Jeff Ward and desert legend Carl Renezeder.
Go to LucasOilOffRoadRacing.com for information. ...
If you prefer your dirt to be hard-packed, be at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Dirt Track tonight and Saturday night for the annual Duel in the Desert that will pay $7,777.77 to the winner of the IMCA Modified race.
The half-mile track also will host the DIRTcar series on Nov. 20-21.
Go to LVMS.com for Dirt Track information.
NHRA changes schedule
The NHRA realized it doesn’t want to compete next year with a Phoenix golf tournament likely to star Tiger Woods, so it has adjusted the first part of the 2010 schedule and moved its national event at Firebird International Raceway.
The Firebird event will move up to Feb. 19-21 and be followed by the Gatornationals in Florida on March 11-14 and the NHRA Nationals in Concord, N.C., two weeks later.
It does not affect the SummitRacing.com Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which remains April 16-18.
