Wichita Eagle: Motorsports

Stewart wins third NASCAR championship

JENNA FRYER — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:05 CST

HOMESTEAD, Fla. —Tony Stewart insisted he wasn't a title contender when NASCAR's championship race began.

When it became clear he actually was a viable threat, he kicked it into another gear and vowed to go for broke in his pursuit of Carl Edwards.

Did he ever.

Edwards and Stewart race down to the wire

JENNA FRYER — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:05 CST

HOMESTEAD, Fla. —Tony Stewart has run his mouth for almost a month trying to rattle Carl Edwards in the race to NASCAR's championship.

Edwards has tuned it all out, and on Saturday he did his talking on the track.

Edwards won the pole for today's season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where the Sprint Cup Series championship will be decided. Edwards goes into the race with a three-point lead over Stewart, who qualified 15th. One of the two will bring an official end to Jimmie Johnson's record five-year run, and the pole-winning run seemed to indicate Edwards is on pace.

Kahne ends 81-race winless streak

JENNA FRYER — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:05 CST

AVONDALE, Ariz. —Kasey Kahne snapped an 81-race winless streak Sunday by holding off championship contenders Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart at Phoenix International Raceway.

Stewart dominated the race, leading 160 of the 312 laps, but had to pit for gas with 18 laps remaining. He then had to work his way back to the front, and used a late pass of Jeff Burton to finish third, right behind Edwards.

The points margin didn't change, and Edwards goes into next weekend's season finale leading Stewart by three points. Edwards is going for his first Sprint Cup championship, while Stewart is a two-time champion.

Kenseth wins pole, helps out Edwards

JENNA FRYER — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 00:05 CST

AVONDALE, Ariz. —Matt Kenseth had no idea his pole-winning run at Phoenix International Raceway could benefit his championship-contending teammate.

When he found out he had assisted Carl Edwards, Kenseth pretended it was all part of the plan.

"That was my plan. I thought, 'Man, if we can sit on the pole, that will really help him,'" Kenseth laughed.

Stewart wins, closes in on Edwards

STEPHEN HAWKINS — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:05 CST

FORT WORTH, Texas — Tony Stewart figures he has no need to issue any more verbal jabs in what has become quite a fight for the Cup title.

Stewart raced to his second consecutive victory, and won for the fourth time in eight NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup races, finishing just ahead of points leader Carl Edwards in the so-called "Texas Title Fight" that fully lived up to its billing Sunday.

"I'm pretty sure what we did on the race track said everything we needed to tell him today. I don't know how you top that," Stewart said. "The funny thing, I don't feel like I have to say anything. I feel like I've already got it done."

Stewart wins, turns attention to Chase title

HANK KURZ Jr. — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 06:42 CDT

MARTINSVILLE, Virginia — Tony Stewart hadn't won a race all season and didn't list himself as a championship contender when asked to handicap the field before NASCAR's 10-race playoffs got going.

Now, his third championship is there for the taking.

"We've had one of those up-and-down years and we're having a run in this Chase and now we're hungry," Stewart said after his third victory in the first seven Chase races moved him within eight points of leader Carl Edwards. "We're hungry for this. I feel like our mindset into these next three weeks, we've been nice all year to a lot of guys, given guys a lot of breaks.

Bowyer edges Burton at flag, Chase standings receive jolt

JENNA FRYER — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:08 CDT

TALLADEGA, Ala. —Teamwork meant very little in the closing laps at Talladega Superspeedway.

Unless, of course, you were driving a Ford.

Emporia native Clint Bowyer bailed on teammate Jeff Burton on the last lap of Sunday's race, pulling around him when the checkered flag was in sight to pick up his first win of the season and the 100th in the Sprint Cup Series for Richard Childress Racing.

CEO: Safety will be focus for IndyCar

JENNA FRYER — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:08 CDT

IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said Wednesday night the best way to honor Dan Wheldon is finding a way to prevent another fatal accident.

The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner was killed Sunday in a fiery 15-car accident at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. IndyCar has launched a formal investigation that Bernard hopes will lead to improved safety measures.

"We've got a lot to do, and we don't have any time to mess around," Bernard said. "We need answers."

Inexperience, oval track led to Wheldon's tragic death

JENNA FRYER — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 06:34 CDT

The perfect storm: A high-banked oval crowded with the largest field of the season. Inexperienced or impatient drivers racing at more than 220 mph. Absolutely no room for error.

What was supposed to be a season-ending showdown at Las Vegas Motor Speedway became instead a script for disaster Sunday: a fiery 15-car crash that killed popular two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon and left the shaken auto racing community to deal with uncomfortable questions.

The drivers knew the Las Vegas race was going to present challenges even before the season began.

Indy 500 winner Wheldon dies in crash

JOHN MARSHALL — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 06:12 CDT

LAS VEGAS — Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon died Sunday after his car became ensnared in a fiery 15-car pileup, flew over another vehicle and landed in a catch fence just outside turn 2 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The 33-year-old racer was a two-time Indy winner, including this year's race.

Three other drivers, including championship contender Will Power, were hurt in the pileup during Lap 11.

IndyCar star Wheldon dies in crash

Associated Press — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 00:08 CDT

LAS VEGAS — Dan Wheldon, who moved to the United States from his native England with hopes of winning the Indianapolis 500 and went on to twice prevail at his sport's most famed race, died Sunday after a massive, fiery wreck at the Las Vegas Indy 300.

One of the most well-liked drivers in the paddock, Wheldon was 33.

He called the Indy 500 "the biggest sporting event in the world," and his second and final win there came in most unexpected fashion. Trailing rookie JR Hildebrand with only one turn remaining, Wheldon was resigned to finishing in second place for the third straight year.

NASCAR ratings on rise

JENNA FRYER — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:08 CDT

CONCORD, N.C. —An exciting start to NASCAR's championship series has boosted ESPN's ratings over the last month, a positive turnaround after a lengthy decline in television viewers.

The first four races of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship are up 11 percent compared to the first four races of last season. The numbers don't include the Chase opener at Chicago, which was rained out and held a day later. But an 18 percent boost at Dover and a 13 percent increase at Kansas have the overall numbers up.

Julie Sobieski, vice president of programming and acquisitions, said the on-track competition will be critical in keeping the ratings up through the Nov. 20 finale.

Johnson moves up in Chase

RANDY COVITZ — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 00:07 CDT

KANSAS CITY, Kan. —Jimmie Johnson could be using Kansas Speedway as his personal springboard to another NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.

Johnson, the five-time defending champion, led 197 of 267 laps, and by winning the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday, moved from fifth to third place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings.

Just three weeks ago, skeptics were counting Johnson out of contention when he fell to 10th place in the standings after the first race in the Chase. Now, after a second-place last week at Dover and the win at Kansas, he is just four points behind Carl Edwards — who finished fifth — with six races to go.

Keselowski has racing in his blood

RANDY COVITZ — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 00:09 CDT

KANSAS CITY, Kan. —Bob Keselowski sat near a tool box in front of the garage at Dover International Speedway sipping on a cup of coffee, an arm's reach from a wrench or a screwdriver.

He watched as the NASCAR Nationwide Series car driven by his youngest son, Brad, was prepared for the race, and offered any help the team might need.

But Bob Keselowski's work already had been done years ago. Almost everything Brad Keselowski knows about racing came from years of hanging around K Automotive — his family's race team that was started in Lake Orion, Mich., far from NASCAR's hotbed of Charlotte.

Biffle still at home in Kansas

RANDY COVITZ — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 07:28 CDT

KANSAS CITY, Kan. —The defending champion at Kansas Speedway won't go away quietly.

Greg Biffle might not have qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, but the winner of last year's race at Kansas Speedway won the pole for Sunday's Hollywood 400.

Biffle, a two-time winner at Kansas, turned a lap of 174.887 on Friday in his Ford Fusion and will start on the front row next to Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards, who posted a 174.571.

New view of Kansas Speedway for Danica Patrick

RANDY COVITZ — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 07:28 CDT

KANSAS CITY, Kan. —Danica Patrick is venturing into the unknown at Kansas Speedway this weekend.

She's raced six times on the track in the IndyCar Series, winning a pole in 2005, and finishing in the top 10 four times, including a fifth-place finish in 2009.

What will that mean for Patrick when she makes her first start at Kansas Speedway in a stock car in Saturday's Kansas Lottery 300 NASCAR Nationwide race?

Busch storms into contention with win at Dover

DAN GELSTON — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 06:21 CDT

DOVER, Del. —Kurt Busch left a rocky start to the Chase and his fiercest rival behind him.

Busch put himself into contention for a second Cup championship, holding off fellow Chase drivers Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards to win Sunday at Dover International Speedway, tightening the leaderboard in a playoff where no driver has emerged as a clear-cut favorite.

Busch, though, is in the mix.

Stewart digs hole in qualifying run

DAN GELSTON — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 00:10 CDT

DOVER, Del. —Tony Stewart needs a tremendous rally at Dover to keep his perfect Chase season alive.

Stewart's Chevrolet has not performed like the car that romped to victories in the first two races in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. He was horrible at practice and that carried over into Saturday's qualifying, where he turned a lap of 156.760 mph and will start the third Chase race 27 spots behind polesitter Martin Truex Jr.

Stewart's two wins have only given him a seven-point cushion over Kevin Harvick entering today's race. With four Chase drivers starting in the top six at the concrete mile, this could be the race where the standings get rattled.

Stewart stays hot in Chase

DAN GELSTON — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:07 CDT

LOUDON, N.H. —Tony Stewart's season has gone from winless to winning streak at crunch time.

Don't ask Smoke to explain it.

While Chase drivers around him run out of gas, Stewart has the fuel to go the distance and inject the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship with a dose of dominance that has him a formidable front-runner for a third title.

Hamlin needs rebound race

DAN GELSTON — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 00:09 CDT

LOUDON, N.H. —One and done? Title hopes up in smoke? For the Chase drivers who ran out of gas or good luck in the playoff opener, they have kept the faith that their championship pursuits aren't spoiled because of a bad start.

But it doesn't help.

Denny Hamlin, inconsistent all season, is stuck in 12th place and already 41 points behind leader Kevin Harvick. He struggled all day in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship kickoff last week at Chicagoland and staggered to a 31st- place finish.