Hornaday in search of fifth straight NASCAR Truck Series win

Ron Hornaday Jr. will look to win his fifth straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and extend the record he set last week.
The Truck Series is at Nashville Superspeedway for a race Saturday night. Hornaday won his fourth Truck Series race in a row last week at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.
“I’m not sure how we did it,” said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ. “These last two wins have been unbelievable. I’m just so lucky to be able to drive for owners like Kevin and DeLana (Harvick). They have put all the right people in the right places. Rick Ren (crew chief) and the guys have done such a great job with these trucks. I am very fortunate to be in the position I am in right now. I am having more fun than I ever have.”
He has yet to win a Truck Series race at Nashville, but the truck his team is bringing to the track won at Kentucky Speedway earlier this year.
“I have been so close to winning at Nashville,” said Hornaday, who drives the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc. “In 2007, we had the thing won but ended up missing it by just a little and finishing second. I went by Sam Bass’s studio a few weeks ago to sign some prints for Longhorn, and he showed me his guitar collection. It was very impressive and I told him that I really wanted to win one of his specially designed Gibson guitars. I really like this track but have yet to be able to get in the right position to head to victory lane.”

In the NASCAR Camping World West Series, Greg Pursley, coming off a runner-up finish in the race in Portland, Oregon, will tackle another road course on Saturday.
Pursley, a Canyon High graduate, will be at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, the second road course in a row for the NASCAR West Series drivers and teams.
“Even though we are a first-year team in the series, we have a lot of really experienced guys on the team that prepare excellent race cars,” said Pursley, who drives for Gene Price Motorsports. “We have had great cars at each race this year and we continue to get better. I love racing on road courses and I am really looking forward to the race at Miller this weekend.”
It will be Pursley’s first visit to Miller Motorsports Park. He is fourth in the West Series standings and trails leader Jason Bowles, a driver from Ontario, by 177 points.

Photo: NASCAR Camping World West Series driver Greg Pursley will make his first visit to Miller Motorsports Park in Utah for a race on Saturday.

X-GAMES: Deegan tries something new

X-GAMES: Deegan tries something new : North County Times - Californian 07-31-2009

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Brian Deegan, a 10-time X Games medalist in freestyle motocross, will compete in rally cars for the first time in his action sports career. Deegan has been racing off-road trucks in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. He will be teamed with 1999 Indianapolis 500 champion Kenny Brack and two-time X Games rally medalist Tanner Foust in Ford Fiestas for this weekend's X Games.
The Fiestas were the fastest in practice on Thursday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, giving Deegan confidence he can add to his X Games medal collection.

Photo: Brian Deegan is about to give a member of the media a ride in his Ford Fiesta on Thursday in Carson. ©2009, Paul Webb, USA LAT Photographic.

Brian Deegan testing his Ford Fiesta for X Games 15 in Los Angeles

Brian Deegan, a 10-time X Games medalist, has turned in his motocross bike for a rally car. This will be the first time Deegan will compete in the rally cars portion of the X Games. He has three gold and seven bronze medals in the X Games.
More on Deegan's debut in rally cars tomorrow.

Ad Age spotlights NASCAR Citizen Journalist Media Corps and Haddock in the Paddock

Advertising Age, an online source for marketing and media news, had a story about the new NASCAR Citizen Journalist Media Corps and a little insight into why it was created.
Two sites were mentioned by name. Mine and RacinToday.com, another great source for NASCAR and other auto racing news.
Check out the article here.
And check out RacinToday.com here.

Ford unveils Mustang for 2010 Nationwide Series

On the same day NASCAR announced that has prepared a rollout schedule for the new stock car for the Nationwide Series, Ford unveiled its car for the 2010 Nationwide Series.
Ford will produce Mustangs for its Nationwide teams. The Ford Fusion model will remain as the stock car for the Sprint Cup Series. The F-150 will be the model for the Truck Series.
As for the new stock cars for the Nationwide Series, Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition, said he anticipates they will be run in select races in 2010 and run the entire schedule in 2011.
"We had a very productive meeting this morning (Tuesday, July 28) with the team owners from the NASCAR Nationwide Series about the rollout schedule for that series’ new race car," Pemberton said. "In the days ahead, we will digest what was discussed today and make a final decision on the rollout for next season with full anticipation of integrating the new car for the entire 2011 schedule."

Photo: A computer rendering of the Ford Mustang that will be introduced and run in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2010.

Bobby Labonte meets the NASCAR Citizen Journalist Media Corps

Bobby Labonte, on the NASCAR Citizen Journalist Town Hall meeting on Twitter, said he has talked to Kevin Harvick about driving a full season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Labonte said he would like to run for a championship and race with Ron Hornaday Jr. on Harvick's Truck Series team.
Labonte, driver of the No. 96 Ford for Hall of Fame Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, was on a video conference that was simultaneously covered on Twitter. The newly created NASCAR Citizen Journalist Media Corps submitted questions to Labonte via Twitter and he answered them in a video conference broadcast on the Internet.
He was asked about driving in the Truck Series and if he had any desire to return. He said racing in the Truck Series does interest him. Harvick has a Truck and a Nationwide Series team. Hornaday leads the Truck Series standings and has won four races in a row.
One of the questions I asked him was if he ever envisioned a day when newspapers would be struggling so much and online media would gain increasing prominence. One of the reasons NASCAR created the Citizen Journalists Media Corps was to address the shrinking coverage from traditional media, including newspapers, at races. The Citizen Journalist Media Corps is a network of websites dedicated to covering NASCAR and motor sports.
Labonte said he and his family still subscribes to a newspaper, but he subscribes and reads magazines online. He also said we are living in a "now society." Fans want real time coverage and instant information. They don't want to wait to watch news on TV at night or read the morning newspaper to find out what happens in races.
"That's going to be something that hurts," Labonte said. "It's just a different way we're all viewing. It's not going to be gone tomorrow. Maybe they'll find their nitch in society they haven't found yet."
The questions ranged from what are Labonte's plans for the future at Hall of Fame Racing, to whether he thinks there should be a Cup race at O'Reilly Raceway Park instead of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to how many electronic gadgets he has.
The video conference attracted 45 viewers and lasted about 30 minutes.

Kenny Brack preparing for X-Games 15

From Ford Racing and Fiesta movement, Kenny Brack, winner of the 1999 Indianapolis 500, will be competing in X-Games 15 in Los Angeles this weekend. The following is a portion of the release Ford sent out including Brack's test session at the El Toro Marine Base.

Sweden’s Olsbergs Motor Sport Evolution (MSE) team has brought its line-up of Ford Fiesta rally cars to North America for two events, Pikes Peak and the X Games. Olsbergs MSE is entering the race with the 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner Kenny Brack, and the team will also field two Ford Fiestas for ROCKSTAR Energy Drink with drivers Tanner Foust and Brian Deegan. All three Fiestas have been prepared to comply with Rally America Open Class specifications.

The Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta is based on the production version of the Ford Feista, which is Ford of Europe’s top selling car in 2009. The Fiesta will be introduced to North America in summer of 2010.

Just as they did at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, each Olsbergs Motor Sport Evolution Fiesta will utilize BFGoodrich Tires at X Games 15.

“The ROCKSTAR Fiesta is an angry little beast,” said Foust, a two-time X Games medalist in the rally competition after testing his Fiesta. “That is a crazy, crazy little machine. The first time getting in to it I felt like all I could do was calm it down, because with the amount of boost it was creating and the amount of power it just wanted to run. This tight little test track was just too tight for legs that are that long. If there is any car out there that can take the X Games on pure technology and mechanics, it is the Fiesta.”

“I am really impressed,” said Brack, who drove for Ford factory team Rahal Letterman Racing in the now defunct CART open-wheel series, after taking his Fiesta around the simulated rally course at El Toro Marine Base. “The Fiesta is a great little car and a lot of fun to drive. It is very nimble to drive and it has a good torque curve and power. The challenge for us is to sort out the balance and combine it all together and create a nice little package that we can go racing with. The Fiesta has a lot of potential for sure.”


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Hornaday sets NASCAR Camping World Truck Series record with four wins in a row

Ron Hornaday Jr. set a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series record by winning his fourth race in row. It is another in a long list of Truck Series records Hornaday holds.
He won the race at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis on Friday night. It was his third career Truck Series win at the track and the 44th career Truck Series win.
His 44 Truck Series win are the most of any driver in the series.
Hornaday led the most laps in the race at O’Reilly Raceway Park, but he didn’t take the lead from Mike Skinner until lap 62. Hornaday ended up leading 67 of the 200 laps. With the win, Hornaday, a three-time Truck Series champion, extended his lead in the Truck Series standings to 174 points over Skinner.
“We were just really tight on those long runs and I just kept playing with the rear brake,” said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ and driver for Kevin Harvick Inc. “Then Skinner put those tires on and I thought he had us; although, I had searched and found a groove that worked. If you miss it by a half inch, you are going to get loose up off. I concentrated every time and when Skinner got that good run off of there, he could have put me up against the fence, but he didn’t. We haven’t got a mark on this truck. I have to thank Mike for that. Colin Braun ran one heck of a race. Man this is what the Truck Series is all about, this is a lot of fun.”

Photo: Ron Hornaday Jr. won his forth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in a row on Saturday night at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. He set a record by winning four Truck Series races in a row. It was also the 44th Truck Series win of his career, another record. (Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Kimball fifth, Herrington ninth at Edmonton Indy Lights race

Camarillo’s Charlie Kimball finished fifth in the Firestone Indy Lights race at the Grand Prix of Edmonton on Saturday at the Edmonton City Centre Circuit, a temporary street course.
Daniel Herrington, driver for Bryan Herta Autosport, finished ninth. He started ninth, but dropped back early in the race and had to battle back to finish in the top 10. It’s was a similar pattern to how the race in Toronto unfolded.
"That’s twice, at both Toronto and Edmonton, that we’ve started out slow but built up speed and by the end of the race we were one of the faster cars out there and catching a lot of guys,” Herrington said. “In this case, we lost so much ground in the first 25 laps that it was too much to make up. We’ll take a look at this race and try to figure out what I need to do to be more aggressive at the beginning of races to stay in the mix so that at the end we can keep being as strong as we really are and pick a few people off to get some better results.”
Valencia’s Bryan Herta is part owner of the Bryan Herta Autosport team. Herrington is in seventh place in the Indy Lights standings.
J.R. Hildebrand won the Edmonton race, his third of the season, and extended his lead in the Indy Lights standings.

Photo: Daniel Herrington, a driver for Bryan Herta Autosport, finished ninth in the Firestone Indy Lights race at the Grand Prix of Edmonton on Saturday. (Bryan Herta Autosport)

Mike Johnson wins NASCAR Late Model race at Irwindale

Mike Johnson of Covina won the NASCAR Late Model race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night. It was his second win of the year.
Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills and Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills entered the night’s race tied for the lead in the Late Model standings at the track. Huddleston finished in fifth and Joanides was sixth. Huddleston, the reigning Late Model champion at Irwindale, has a two-point lead in the Late Model standings.
A pair of rookies from Reno, Nev., and both drivers for Huddleston’s High Point Racing team came in second and third. Dallas Colodny was second and Beau Debard was third.
Pat Mintey Jr. of Quartz Hill snapped the three-race winning streak of RJ Johnson in the NASCAR Super Trucks division. Mintey won his third race of the season and his first since April 18.
Jeff Peterson of Riverside was second, followed by Ron Peterson in third.
Johnson, a driver from Canyon Country and winner of four of the past five races, finished eighth.
The Super Trucks race featured a pair of Irwindale veterans and past track champions. Rod Johnson, the father of RJ Johnson and winner of the first NASCAR Super Late Model championship in 1999, completed only 14 laps and finished 20th. John Watkinson, a driver from Canyon Country and a two-time track champion in the Grand American Modifieds, finished 11th.
Brandon Toy of Bakersfield won the Legends Cars race and took over the lead in the Legend Cars standings. Toy has a two-point lead over Ryan Reed of Bakersfield, who finished fifth in the race.
Tom Landreth of Alta Loma was second, followed by Darren Amidon of Santee.
Steve Stewart of Long Beach won the figure 8s race. It was his third win of the season and his third win in the past four races. Stewart extended his lead in the figure 8 standings. Rod Proctor of Riverside was second, followed by Billy Ziemann of Bloomington in third.

Rod Johnson

A couple of Toyota Speedway veterans made their season debuts in the NASCAR Super Trucks on Saturday night at Irwindale. Rod Johnson, who won the first NASCAR Super Late Model championship at the track in 1999, entered the Super Trucks race. RJ Johnson, his son, has won three Super Trucks races in a row and is second in the Super Trucks standings at the track.

John Watkinson

John Watkinson, a two-time track champion at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, brought his NASCAR Super Truck to the track for the first time this season. Watkinson, a driver from Canyon Country, won Grand American Modified championships at Irwindale in 2002 and 2006.

Another Granatelli continuing the tradition of famous racing family : Racing : Ventura County Star

Joey Granatelli won $1,800 in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series event at Lake Elsinore Motorsports Complex last month. His dad estimates the team spent a couple hundred dollars on tires and gas, a few hundred more on hotels and food. The $1,800 went quickly, as is the case more often than not in motor sports.

Another Granatelli continuing the tradition of famous racing family : Racing : Ventura County Star

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Capps back atop the NHRA funny car standings

Ron Capps has regained the lead in the National Hot Rod Assn. funny car standings with a win at Bandimere Raceway in Colorado and a semifinal appearance at Pacific Raceways near Seattle. He can solidify his spot atop the funny car standings with another deep run at Infineon Raceway near Sonoma this weekend.
“We knew we were going to have a good Western Swing,” said Capps, a driver from Don Schumacher Racing. “Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) was confident with having a new car built and I had the confidence that the NAPA crew guys and the DSR chassis guys had put together a good car. To win in Denver, get the points lead back and have the success we’ve had the last couple of races, is a testament to the hard work of the NAPA crew and the guys back at the shop. My hat’s off to them.”
It is a bit of a homecoming for Capps, who calls San Luis Obispo his hometown. He grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and is looking forward to returning home to race this weekend.
“Sonoma for me is like coming home to race,” said Capps. “I lived up in the Bay area, went to school there, met my wife Shelley there and got married there. And when I was going to school I was teaching racquetball at a couple of health clubs in the Bay Area and played in tournaments all over Northern California.”
Capps won in Sonoma in 1997. He was the runner-up in Sonoma in 2002 and 2005 and the No. 1 qualifier in 1998.
Capps took over the lead in the funny car standings from Ashley Force Hood. She can clinch a spot in the Countdown to One, the NHRA playoffs, by qualifying for the 16-car field on Sunday at Sonoma.
“Usually, you set your goals and then try to achieve them,” said the 26-year-old graduate of Cal State-Fullerton, “but I think we’ve really outdone ourselves this year. I think we went past what we projected. If anything, we were guilty of limiting ourselves.”
Force Hood has made six final-round appearances in 11 races this year. The only drawback in that streak is that she has only one once. She’s becoming the Atlanta Braves of the 1990s.
“When we suddenly found ourselves going rounds every race and going to finals and leading the points, we talked about it and decided that just because we’re only a 3-year-old team, there’s no reason why we can’t have dreams for the championship,” Force Hood said.
“Maybe some people think that’s crazy considering we’re racing people who have been racing longer than I’ve been alive, (but) sometimes it’s not just about how long you’ve been doing it.”

Photo: Ron Capps regained the lead in the NHRA funny car standings, passing Ashley Force Hood, as the teams head to Infineon Raceway in Sonoma this weekend.

Dixon in the NHRA Countdown

Larry Dixon was knocked out in the second round of the National Hot Rod Assn. top fuel races at Pacific Raceways near Seattle on Sunday. But he left as one of three top fuel drivers who have clinched a spot in the Countdown to One playoffs.
Dixon, a Van Nuys High graduate, Tony Schumacher and Antron Brown, the leader in the top fuel standings are in the Countdown. The top-10 drivers in the top fuel standings will qualify for the playoffs.
“The consolation prize that came out of Seattle is that we clinched a spot on the playoffs,” said Dixon, who drives for Al-Anabi Racing. “We all thought we’d be there, but knowing you have a spot is much nicer. Now it’s all about getting in the best position we can for the playoffs to help our championship effort. First place is not out of the question, but right now, it’s pretty far out of sight. Antron’s team really opened up a big lead on us in the last couple of races so we just have to go out there, do our best, try to win some races and see where we end up.”
Brown won the top fuel races at Seattle and at Bandimere Speedway in Colorado and can complete the Western Swing sweep if he wins the races at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.
He has a 137-point lead over Shumacher. Dixon is in third in the top fuel standings.
Last year, Dixon lost to Brown in the second round of the races at Sonoma. Dixon won the Sonoma race in 2003.
“The best way to make up points is win races, so we’ll be trying to do that this week,” Dixon said. “Antron will be trying to complete the sweep, but there will be 15 other cars trying to prevent the sweep; we’re one of them.”

Photo: Larry Dixon earned a spot in the NHRA Countdown to One playoffs at Pacific Raceways near Seattle on Sunday.

NHRA's Stoffer to throw out first pitch at A's game

Karen Stoffer, a graduate of St. Genevieve High School in Sun Valley and an NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle rider, will throw out the first pitch at the Oakland Coliseum on Wednesday.
The A's are hosting the Minnesota Twins. Game time is 12:35 p.m.
Check it out on NHRA.com.

Hornaday wins three NASCAR Truck Series races in a row

Ron Hornaday Jr. won his third NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in a row on Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway. It gives him four wins on the season and a commanding lead in the Truck Series standings.
Not only did Hornaday win the Truck Series race in Kentucky, Mark Martin gave the three-time Truck Series champ credit for helping him win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway in Illinois. Martin, who drives the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorspors, said he learned a few tricks on how to get the most out of his restarts from Hornaday. Martin called Hornaday the restart king after the race. Hornaday has developed a reputation for being a master of restarts, a skill he learned racing late models at Saugus Speedway years ago.
“I don’t know that I would say I’m the king at anything,” said Hornaday, who drives for Kevin Harvick Inc. “I appreciate that people like Mark Martin watch me to gain pointers. Restarts have always been something that I worked on. I think I have a pretty good system right now. As competitive as the Truck Series is, you have to have something up your sleeve to get an advantage. I guess restarts are my thing.”
Hornaday will be looking for his fourth win in a row at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis on Friday night. He has two Truck Series wins at O’Reilly Raceway Park. They came 10 years apart. He won his first Truck Series race there in 1997 while driving for the late Dale Earnhardt. He won again in 2007.
“I really like racing at ORP and tracks like it. I grew up racing on tracks very similar to it,” Hornaday said. “I think knowing how to race guys and knowing when to pass on short tracks has been the key to my success. Luck has had a lot to do with it too.”
This is the second time Hornaday has put together a three-race winning streak in the Truck Series. He won three races in a row in 1997 when he won at The Milwaukee Mile, Loiusville Motor Speedway and Colorado National Speedway. He has recorded wins at The Milwaukee Mile, Memphis Motorsports Park and Kentucky Speedway in his current streak.

Photo: Ron Hornaday Jr. crosses the finish line and wins his third consecutive race of the 2009 season. (Photo Credit: John Sommers II/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Ricky Carmichael heading to X Games

Ricky Carmichael has one more NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race before heading to Los Angeles for X Games 15. Carmichael will be in the Truck Series race at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis this weekend. The following weekend, starting on July 30, he will be competing in two events, the best whip and step-up in the X Games. He won the gold medal in best whip at last year’s X Games.
Carmichael is coming off his best finish in the Truck Series. He was seventh in the race at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night.
O’Reilly Raceway Park marks a stretch of short tracks on the Truck Series schedule. Three of the next five Truck Series races are on tracks that are less than a mile.
“I like short-track racing. To be honest I like racing everywhere,” said Carmichael, who drives for Kevin Harvick Inc. “Anytime I have the opportunity to climb behind the wheel of the No. 4 Monster Energy Chevrolet I get excited. I think that short-track racing is a little more challenging than some of the 1.5-mile tracks because you really have to keep your eyes open as to what is happening around you and it is tougher to pass.”
Because he is competing in the X Games, he will miss the Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway in Tennessee.
The race at O’Reilly Raceway Park coincides with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. When Carmichael was racing motocross, he made regular visits to the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. It is where he first met Sprint Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne and the two have developed a friendship over the years.
“I think that for Ricky, the opportunity to work with Kevin Harvick is a huge benefit,” said Kahne, who drives the No. 9 Dodge for Richard Petty Motorsports. “You can tell that he really cares about his team and the input he gives really helps the drivers in that organization. Ricky and I are friends and I have always been a huge fan of his from the motorcycle days. I went with Ricky to a Late Model test at Hickory [Motor Speedway in North Carolina] and watched as he made some laps.”
Carmichael, who seems to have adapted to stock car racing rather quickly, was asked if he ever had any desire to race open-wheel cars. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is home to the Indianapolis 500.
“I have no desire to get into one of those cars,” Carmichael said. “I would much rather be enclosed in a stock car. If I am in danger of hitting the wall head on, I’d like to have a cage around me. I spent the better part of my life out in the open, I think for the next chapter I will stay in something.”

Driver on title track

M.K. Kanke leads the Stockcar Racing League Southwest Tour standings as the teams and drivers head to Toyota Speedway at Irwindale for a 100-lap race on Saturday night. The driver from Frazier Park has won three of the first four races of the year and is coming off a win at Madera Speedway on July 4.
When the old NASCAR Southwest Series ran its last race in 2006, Kanke was the winningest driver in series history. He won 22 races, but never a championship.
Read more about Kanke's impressive start to the SRL Southwest Tour and his pursuit of an elusive championship in The Signal.

Driver on title track

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Patrick Long, ALMS star, unknown NASCAR commodity

Patrick Long started his motor sports career with a $75 go-kart his dad bought for him at a garage sale when he was 6. The two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans champion, who was born in Thousand Oaks and grew up in Agoura Hills, has been testing the waters of NASCAR.
He was challenging for the lead in a NASCAR Camping World Series West race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma last month when he crashed with Joey Logano.
Long finished fourth in a West Series race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on July 4.
And by the way, he has won three straight American Le Mans Series races and leads drivers standings in the GT2 class.
Read the story in the Ventura County Star for more on Long and his unconventional racing schedule.

Photo: Patrick Long, left, and American Le Mans Series teammate Joerg Bergmeister, lead the GT2 drivers standings.

Force Hood heads to Bandimere as funny car leader

Ashely Force Hood is atop the National Hot Rod Assn. funny car standings and she still has room to improve.
She has made it to the finals of five of the past nine events, but only has one win to show for it. That came in Houston Raceway Park in March.
Bandimere Speedway in Colorado, site of this weekend’s NHRA races, might not be the best place for her to add to her win total.
Force Hood has only raced at Bandimere twice in her career in funny cars. One time she didn’t qualify for the race. The other time, she didn’t make it past the first round.
Still, she enters the Bandimere races as the top driver in her division.
“We have a car that runs good in the cool, but it also runs good in the heat,” Force Hood said. “You’re not going to win championships being timid (and) my crew chiefs (Dean Antonelli and Ron Douglas) haven’t been afraid to take chances. Sometimes what they do works; sometimes it doesn’t, but this is the time to learn what the limits are -- before we get to the Countdown.”
One driver who does have a successful record at Bandimere is Jack Beckman. He has come on strong in recent weeks, winning the funny car portion of the event at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, two weeks ago. He won at Bandimere in 2007 and was the runner-up last year.
“Love the track and the Bandimere family,” said Beckman, a driver for Don Schumacher Racing who lives in North Hills. “I went there in 1984 when I was in tech school in Denver for the Air Force. And then I drove 500 miles one way for the next three years from Cannon Air Force base in New Mexico, where I was stationed at the time, to watch that race. It’s always been a phenomenal facility.”
Beckman has two wins on the season and is in fourth place in the funny car standings. He trails Force Hood by 143 points. Tony Pedregon is second in the funny car standings, followed by Ron Capps in third.
Beckman can make up some ground if he has another good run at Bandimere. But Beckman knows there are no guarantees despite his previous performances at the Colorado drag strip.
“You still have to enjoy a little bit of racing luck,” he said. “Even the best cars get beat first round once or twice, so you just shouldn’t get down from those. We need to do our best to make good quality runs and be very strategic with our qualifying.
“If it works to our benefit, we can use one or two qualifying runs to test, but our goal is to qualify in the top half in every race so we go into the first round of eliminations with lane choice and a more favorable pairing. That’s what bit us earlier in the year. We seemed to have turned that around somewhat in Norwalk. We’ll just see if we can continue that momentum.”

Photo: Ashley Force Hood enters the NHRA races at Bandimere Speedway in Colorado as the leader in the funny car standings. Her dad, John Force, has won 14 funny car championships.

NHRA's Larry Dixon shoots for third straight win

Larry Dixon is riding a couple impressive streaks in the National Hot Rod Assn. top fuel division. He was won two events in a row and has made it to the semifinals in four straight events.
The Van Nuys High graduate enters this weekend’s races at Bandimere Speedway in Colorado as the second place driver in the top fuel standings and as the hottest driver in the division.
“From where we were when we left Bristol in May, these last four events have been really nice; a very stark contrast,” said Dixon, who drives for Al-Anabi racing. “I am not too caught up on streaks or anything like that; I’m just enjoying the moment.”
Dixon can pinpoint the moment, or at least the day, when his team started its incredible streak. It was right after the races at Bristol Dragway in Tennessee in May. Crew chief Jason McCulloch decided to make some drastic changes during a test in Atlanta and Dixon and his team have been nearly unbeatable since.
“What we’re doing right now is what exactly what Jason talked about after we left Bristol to go to Atlanta and test for two days,” Dixon said. “He said we would make a bunch of runs and we’d ‘get our groove on. You’re gonna start driving the car well, and we’re gonna start making the right calls. We’re gonna make a bunch of runs and go from there.’ The more information they get, the more chances they have to make better calls and be better. Collectively, that’s exactly what has happened, and Jason made the call back in May.”
Dixon is a two-time winner at Bandimere. He won in 2001 and 2003. Last year, he was the No. 3 qualifier and lost to Tony Schumacher in the semifinals.
“With the elevation at Denver, it’s hard to make good power and have good downforce because the air is so thin,” Dixon said. “We’ve raced there before when the air is corrected to what you’d find at 10,000 feet, so that makes it tough to make power and build downforce. It’s challenging to win in Denver, but that’s what makes it cool to win there.

Bowles makes it three wins in a row at Irwindale

Jason Bowles won the NASCAR Camping World Series West race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night. It was his third win of the season and his second in a row.
Bowles, a driver from Ontario, took over the lead in the West Series standings with the win. Eric Holmes, the reigning West Series champion, entered the Irwindale race as the leader in the West Series standings. Holmes was sixth in the Irwindale race.
For Bowles, the win at Irwindale gives him three in a row at the track. He won the Fourth of July race and the August race at Irwindale last year.
Bowles has three West Series wins this year. He won the West Series race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma two weeks ago and the race at Phoenix International Raceway in April.

Jason Bowles wins NASCAR West Series race at Irwindale

Jason Bowles won his third NASCAR Camping World Series West race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale and took over the lead in the West Series standings.
Racing a car that won at Irwindale last year, Bowles, a driver from Ontario, won the pole and led 133 laps in the King Taco 200, the Fourth of July race at Irwindale.
It was his second win in row and his third West Series win of the season. He won at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma two weeks ago and won the race at Phoenix International Raceway in April.
Bowles was driving the same car at Irwindale that won the race at Phoenix. It is the same car his team brought to the Toyota All-Star Showdown in January. He crashed the car in the Showdown race and his team had to repair it for the Fourth of July race at Irwindale.
Jeff Barkshire of Auburn, Wash., was second, followed by Paulie Haraka of Fairlawn, N.J., in third.
Eric Holmes of Escalon, the reigning West Series champion, entered the Irwindale race as the leader in the West Series standings. He finished sixth and lost his lead in the West Series standings.
Patrick Long, a driver from Thousand Oaks, was fourth. He was driving a car prepared by Sunrise Ford, the same team for Bowles. Long was making his first West Series start at Irwindale. He was in the West Series race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma and will be entered in the West Series race at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah on Aug. 1.
Greg Pursley finished fifth in the Irwindale race. Pursley won a NASCAR Whelen All American Racing Series national championship while racing at Irwindale in 2004. He also won the West Series season opener in Kyle, Texas.
Johnny Borneman, a driver from Ramona, was 13th. Borneman was entered in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Friday night. He finished 25th in Daytona then flew to California for the race at Irwindale.
Andrew Myers, a driver from Carlsbad, was 11th in the West Series race at Irwindale. Keith Spangler, a driver from Chatsworth, was 21st and last, completing only three laps.
Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills won the NASCAR Late Model race and moved into a tie for first place in the Late Model standings.
Huddleston won his second race in a row and his fifth in the past six Late Model races at the track. The reigning Late Model champion at Irwindale is tied with Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills for the lead in the Late Model standings.
Joanides was second in the Late Model race. He was followed by rookie Beau Debard of Reno, Nev., in third, Brandon Loverock from Highland in fourth and Travis Motley of Tucson, Ariz., in fifth.
Luis Martinez Jr. of Long Beach won the S-2 race. It was the debut of the new S-2 stock car at the track. Seven drivers ran a 12-lap exhibition race at the track. Kyle Longmore of Camarillo was second, followed by Andrew Johnson of Lancaster in third.
Larry Cerquettini of Redlands, the leader in the NASCAR Super Stocks standings at Irwindale, was fourth. R.J. Johnson, a driver from Canyon Country and winner of four NASCAR Super Trucks races at the track, was sixth.

Nick Joanides falls into tie for first in Late Models

Nick Joanides, a driver from Woodland Hills, is tied for the lead in the NASCAR Late Model standings at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.
He finished second to Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills in the Fourth of July Late Model race at Irwindale on Saturday night. Huddleston and Joanides are tied for the lead in the Late Model standings. Huddleston is the reigning Late Model champion at Irwindale and winner of five of the past six Late Model races at the track.

Eric Holmes enters Irwindale race as West Series leader

Eric Holmes enters the NASCAR Camping World Series West race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale as the leader in the series standings. He has a 16-point edge over Jason Bowles, a driver from Ontario.
Holmes, a driver from Escalon, has won three West Series this year. He has never won a race at Irwindale. He has four top fives and two poles in five career West Series races at Irwindale.

Patrick Long makes first West Series start at Irwindale

Patrick Long, a driver from Thousand Oaks, is making his first NASCAR Camping World Series West start at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. A regular in the American Le Mans Series, Long has been racing in the NASCAR West and East Series.
He was challenging Joey Logano for the lead in the West Series race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma two weeks ago when the two drivers tangled and crashed late in the race. Jason Bowles, a driver from Ontario, inherited the lead and won the race.
Long will be racing in the American Le Mans Series race in Lime Rock Park in Connecticut July 17-18 and then in a NASCAR West Series race at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah on Aug. 1.

Jason Bowles, reigning West Series winner at Irwindale

Jason Bowles, a driver from Ontario, won last years July 4 NASCAR Camping World Series West race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. He also won the West Series race two weeks ago at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.
He is second the West Series standings. The car he is racing at Irwindale is the same car that won the race at Irwindale last year. It also won a race at Phoenix International Raceway in April.
Bowles won the pole for Saturday nights race. He is a two-time winner at Irwindale and owns the track record for a 200-lap West Series race.
He entered the race at Irwindale trailing Eric Holmes by 16 points in the West Series standings.

Greg Pursley returns to Irwindale

Greg Pursley returns to the track where he won a NASCAR Whelen All American Series national championship in 2004. Pursley won the NASCAR Super Late Model championship at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale and was crowned the national champion of NASCAR short track racing the same year.
Purlsey, a Canyon High graduate, won the West Series season opener in Kyle, Texas. He is fifth in the West Series standings. He has three career West Series starts at Irwindale with one top-10 finish.

Pursley prepares for return to Irwindale for NASCAR West Series race

Greg Pursley won a national championship while racing NASCAR Super Late Models at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. He also won a race in the old NASCAR Southwest Series at the track.
He returns this weekend for a NASCAR Camping World Series West race. The King Taco 200 is set for Saturday, July 4, and Pursley enters as one of the top drivers in the West Series.
He won the season opener at Thunderhill Raceway in Texas and is fifth in the West Series standings.
For more on Pursley's return to Irwindale and how his season has progressed, go to The Signal.

Borneman will attempt cross country NASCAR adventure

NASCAR driver Johnny Borneman has a busy weekend scheduled for the Fourth of July.
He will attempt to qualify for two races on two coasts over three days.
He is a regular in the NASCAR Camping World Series West and will be in the race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.
He is also attempting to run in a handful of NASCAR Nationwide Series races. He will be at Daytona International Speedway in Florida on Friday night to qualify for the Nationwide Series race.
“It’s a little stressful,” said the 32-year-old Borneman, a driver from Ramona, Calif., of qualifying for the Daytona event. “It’s a real tough show to make in Daytona. You really don’t know what you’ve got until qualifying is over.”
He attempted to qualify for the season-opening Nationwide Series race at Daytona in February, but did not make the starting field.
He did qualify for the Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama and finished 26th.
“I think we have a real good shot at making it,” Borneman said about the race in Daytona. “Chances are real good, but you really can’t breathe until qualifying is over with. Everybody steps up their game.”
Borneman has won three West Series in his career and has been running regularly in the series since 2000. He has recruited the services of NASCAR Super Late Model driver John Manke to run practice laps for him at Irwindale in the event Borneman doesn’t make it to the track on time.
“I’m going to have him practice the car at Irwindale,” Borneman said. “We should be there in time for qualifying.”

Bryan Herta Autosport adds driver

Bryan Herta Autosport has a new driver in the Firestone Indy Lights Series. Brazilian Felipe Guimaraes, 18, will make his first start for the team at Watkins Glen International in the Corning 100 on Saturday. For the time being, it is the only race Guimaraes will run for Bryan Herta Autosport.
“I am really looking forward to my first race in the USA, especially at such a legendary circuit as Watkins Glen, which is very special as it is where fellow Brazilian and manager Emerson Fittipaldi won his first Formula 1 race,” Guimaraes said. “I expect some tough competition from the rest of the Firestone Indy Lights field, but I also feel I'll be working with a great team here.”
Guimaraes has been racing for Brazil in the A1 Grand Prix and has recorded one podium finish in the international series. He was second in the race at Kyalami in South Africa.
“We are looking forward to running Felipe in the No. 29 BHA entry at Watkins Glen,” said Herta, a Valencia resident and Hart High graduate. “He is a talent with great potential and will be a welcome addition to our established drivers Daniel Herrington and James Davison of Vision Racing. We are all approaching the race at the Glen with a great deal of optimism.”