Originally Posted on Foxsports.com on August 27, 2006.
Bashing at Bristol, Hounding the Champion in Hungry, and Rookie Sensations at Sonoma and the Turkish Grand Prix. What a weekend for race fans!
Bristol
Matt Kenseth swept the Bristol weekend, winning both the Busch series race and the Nextel Cup race. As anticipated, the race shook up the standings - with Mark Martin taking the biggest hit in the points, ending up in 10th from 4th. Tony Stewart also suffered a loss of positions in the standings, falling from 5th to 8th. Junior rallied up a position, to 9th. Kasey Kahne, despite a good run, is still 90 points behind the 10th spot. If Kahne is shut out of the Chase, there will not be a Dodge in the race for the Championship.
Kenseth's win, his second in a row, shows that his team is on a roll. While Johnson is doing well, he isn't burning up the track like Kenseth is right now. We'll see what happens once the final 10 races get here.
Elliott Sadler's move seems to be panning out - at least as far as qualifying goes. He didn't have a good time at Bristol, being involved in a couple of crashes. However, he kept the car in the top 35 of owner points, which means he does not have to qualify on speed next week.
If there is any justice in the world, Jeff Burton will win a race this year. How many races has he sat on the pole, lead the most laps, and not finished in the top 5? It looks like both he and Harvick will be in the Chase, but Burton is due to win one. Soon.
On the Busch side, Kevin Harvick has a 500 point lead over second place. In other words, he could miss 2 races and still have the lead.
Turkish Grand Prix
Felipe Massa ran away with the race from the pole. It was his first Formula One win - and probably solidifies his return to the seat next year. The real race was for second in this one, with Michael Schumacher hounding Fernando Alonzo over the final 10 laps. At times, Schumacher and Alonzo were running as close as the cars at Bristol. On a road course. At over 200 mph. At stake was more than 2nd place, as Alonzo leads the Championship Points. Additionally, Renault and Ferrari are in a dead heat for Manufacturer honors. This Championship race is going to get very interesting...
Sonoma
Marco Andretti won the IRL race at Infineon today, becoming the youngest IRL winner ever. Andretti won on fuel-mileage strategy, running over 30 laps on his last tank of gas. Suffice it to say that the rest of the field could barely manage 28 laps before refueling. Andretti has done what Danica could not - winning in his rookie season. But then again, he's definitely got the genes to do it. Both his father, Michael, and grandfather, Mario, were on hand to help him celebrate (and since Marco is a bit too young to drink champagne, he'll need the help).
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