Johnson wins again at Martinsville

By Diego Mejia Monday, October 22nd 2007, 06:51 GMT

Jimmie Johnson claimed his third consecutive win at Martinsville Speedway in the Subway 500 and narrowed the gap to Jeff Gordon in the title race with only four races left in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Johnson overtook Gordon with 43 laps remaining and was able to fend off the seven-time Martinsville winner in one of the later restarts, then keeping Ryan Newman under control in a green-white-chequer finish to take his seventh win of the season in a crash-filled afternoon at the half-mile oval.

“Those last restarts were tough on me,” said Johnson, who cut 15 points out of Gordon’s lead in the points, taking the gap to 53.

“I was nervous of the 24 (Gordon) behind us and I was able to kind of hold him off, and then the 12 (Newman) got in there and I knew he was going to be tough on the short run too.”

“I needed longer runs.

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Villeneuve crashes out at Martinsville

By Diego Mejia Saturday, October 20th 2007, 22:56 GMT

Jacques Villeneuve crashed out of his third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race while running in 15th place in the Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway.

The former Formula One world champion had qualified 27th in his No. 27 Toyota Tundra and was able to make some good progress in the first half of the race, moving up to the top-15.

With only 43 laps remaining he got hit from behind by Jason Leffler, crashing hard into the inside wall exiting turn 4 and finishing his race on the spot.

“It’s just a shame because the truck was going really well,” said Villeneuve.

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Franchitti retires on NASCAR debut

By Diego Mejia Saturday, October 20th 2007, 22:56 GMT

Dario Franchitti had a tough NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut in the Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway, retiring with an oil leak following an incident halfway through the race.

The Scot had qualified 30th for his first official NASCAR race, and made progress early on breaking into the top-20 while remaining on the lead lap, even running ahead of fellow rookie Jacques Villeneuve at some point.

He ran as high as 15th place just before lap 100, but shortly after the halfway mark when he was sitting behind Villeneuve, he was involved in an incident with Clay Rogers on turn 3, causing damage to the front end of his truck.

After several visits to the pits to repair the damage, he still had smoke coming out of the rear of his car.

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Bowyer not at Hendrick level yet

By Diego Mejia Saturday, October 20th 2007, 21:56 GMT

Clint Bowyer says it will be difficult for him to put up a consistent challenge for the Nextel Cup title against Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson as he feels his team is not at the level shown this season by Hendrick Motorsports.

The Richard Childress Racing driver, who currently ranks third in the Chase for the championship, says that even if he is able to maintain his current form, it will take some bad luck for Johnson and Gordon to allow him to seriously challenge for this year’s title.

“Even if we do that and win two or three more races this year it’s still going to take some bad luck on their side,” said Bowyer.

“If you win they’re going to finish second or third, they’re just that good right now but we have to be that good too and hopefully if they slip up and stub their toe or something, we have to be there for the taking and racing as hard as we can week in and week out.

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Gordon not taking cautious approach

By Diego Mejia Saturday, October 20th 2007, 18:32 GMT

Nextel Cup points’ leader Jeff Gordon says it is not time yet for him to apply a conservative approach to defend his position in the championship in the final five races of the season.

Gordon currently has a 68-point gap to Jimmie Johnson in the Chase for the Nextel Cup and has taken two wins in the first five races of the season’s playoff. He expects his teammate to push for victory every weekend and Gordon says he still has to push just as much hoping to get more victories to consolidate his current position.

“I don’t think that you can be cautious right now,” Gordon said.

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Johnson confident of catching Gordon

By Diego Mejia Saturday, October 20th 2007, 18:29 GMT

Jimmie Johnson says he is confident of being able to overcome the 68-point gap to his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, in the five remaining races of the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

The reigning Nextel Cup champion started the Chase in the lead but is now in second place, losing some crucial points specially last week at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, where he had an eventful race despite being the class of the field for most of the distance.

This weekend at Martisnville he is hoping to start turning things around in the title race, especially against Gordon.

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By DENNIS PASSA, AP Sports Writer

October 20, 2007

SURFERS PARADISE, Australia (AP) — Paul Tracy won the Surfers Paradise Indy 300 in 1995 and has missed only two of the 17 races since Champ Car’s predecessor, CART, first came to Australia in 1991.

But the 38-year-old Canadian is still amazed by what he sees during the race weekend that attracts more than 300,000 spectators.

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“This is probably the biggest of any motor racing event in terms of the show and crowd support,” Tracy said.

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Gordon takes Cup pole at Martinsville

By Diego Mejia Friday, October 19th 2007, 23:25 GMT

Jeff Gordon continued to show his impressive form by claiming his seventh NASCAR Nextel Cup pole of the season in the rain-delayed qualifying for the Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

The current points leader had been quickest in the shortened practice session in the morning and backed that up with a great qualifying lap of 19.94 seconds, which will see him start from pole position for the sixth time in his career at the half-mile oval.

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