NASCAR on TV this week

Tracking the Trucks: American Ethanol 200 presented by Hy-Vee

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*In a Nutshell:* Ryan Blaney took the checkered flag 0.168 seconds ahead of Ty Dillon to win the American 200 Saturday night at Iowa Speedway. Blaney survived four restarts and a hard charge from Dillon to grab his first career Truck Series victory in his third start. Todd Bodine, Johnny Sauter and Cale Gale rounded out the top 5.

*Who Should Have Won:* *Ryan Blaney.* Parker Kligerman started on the pole and looked to be the guy to beat, having led 107 laps on the night, until late-race pit strategy forced the driver of the No. 7 to make a green flag pit stop.

BSNews!: Brian France Vows to Bring Peace to Mideast Via NASCAR

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Daytona Beach, FL- Having exhausted the supply of NASCAR zealots in North America, NASCAR CEO Brian France, announced his plans to expand his sport around the world to the troubled areas in the Middle East.

“I was sitting here, and by here I mean here in my palatial office, watching a bit of TV, just kind of surfing ya know, trying to find the Oprah channel, when I came across what I guess was a news piece about all this violence that has suddenly erupted in an area they call the ‘Middle East’,” said France.

Four Burning Questions: Hamlin’s Survivor Weekend As All Eyes Turn Towards Chicago

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*1. Can Denny hold his momentum?*

In a Chase that can be defined in simple terms – Hendrick chassis vs. the field – Denny Hamlin stands out as the lone “wild card” capable of dethroning the Johnson juggernaut so many expect. Entering the Chase with two wins in his last three races, the driver of the No. 11 Toyota repositioned himself after a miserable summer and enters this Chase the No. 1 seed, albeit with a scant three-point advantage over his closest competition. The 2010 championship runner-up appears to have learned from that year of “almost,” now paired with a crew chief in Darian Grubb that’s won more Sprint Cup races since the start of 2011 than anyone else. Together, both create a compelling case of redemption and have the full focus of Joe Gibbs Racing behind them.

8 Reasons NASCAR Fans Should Also Be Watching IndyCar this Weekend

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Love NASCAR? Of course you do, that’s probably why you’re reading a NASCAR column! But this week, I’m going to switch it up and talk another type of racing..Indy cars. Yeah, that’s right, those funny-looking pointy cars that sound more like mosquitoes than monsters..and go really, really fast. The bottom line is, if you love racing but aren’t watching IndyCar, you’re missing a whole lot. As NASCAR revs up its championship Chase this weekend, IndyCar will be deciding theirs once and for all. You say you need some good reasons to try out the season-ending, championship-deciding IZOD IndyCar Series race this weekend? Well, then, try these on for size:

*1. There’s no Chase* That’s right, there’s no points reset, no gimmickry, and yet the title contenders are separated by just 17 points. The championship will—yet again—come down to the last race of the season. It often comes down to the last lap of the last race.

Michael Annett Driver Diary: Knocking on the Door, Politics, and Football

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We were in Richmond last week. After practice I thought we definitely had a top 5 car that was going to be competing for the win. Then the green flag dropped and our car just went completely the other way. It was really loose pretty much through the whole corner at both ends and it took us about two or three stops to really get the grip we needed. We kind of ran around in 12th to 15th for the first 150 lap, made some good changes and got the grip we needed and then the last 100 laps we really started to move forward.

Richmond is the type of track where you really can’t relax. You have to be really aggressive there, whether you run laps by yourself or your racing, you just have to be aggressive and make the car work there. We got the grip we need and we were able to be aggressive and move forward. After making it through a couple of late race restarts and brought home another top 5 for our team.

IndyCar In-Depth: The MAVTV 500 INDYCAR World Championship

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With one week off after the Baltimore Grand Prix, the IZOD IndyCar Series returns, the last appearance of the season. This race, labeled the MAVTV 500 INDYCAR World Championships at Auto Club Speedway, really comes down to two drivers: Will Power, the points leader, and Ryan Hunter-Reay, who trails by 17. The race throws an interesting curve towards all the drivers as the track is one where many do not have much experience. In addition, it’s a high speed oval, one of only three tracks like that on the circuit this year.

Formula 1 Friday: The Madness of King Lewis/Tribute to a Legend

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I’ve been thinking all week about the content of this Friday’s column, and my continuing frustration at a certain Lewis Hamilton (despite his magnificent win last Sunday at Monza, the home of Ferrari) when something far more important happened in the motor sports world and we lost someone who I would consider a legend. So putting the rather misguided behavior of a frustrating talent aside (but we’ll get back to that), excuse me if I take a moment to celebrate the incredible work of Professor Sid Watkins, who so sadly passed away on Wednesday.

Five Hundred Miles For All The Marbles

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For the seventh year in a row, the IZOD IndyCar Series championship will come down to the final race of the season. For the third year in a row, Will Power will be trying to win his first series championship. Power, driving for Team Penske, leads Ryan Hunter-Reay, driving for Andretti Autosport, by 17 points.

“I definitely like the position we’re in, chasing. We’ve been doing that for most of the year. I think we’ve been getting better at it,” said Hunter Reay this week. “We need to go out and focus on winning. That’s really what it’s going to be about.”

But there is a new wrinkle in the story this year, other than Hunter-Reay, who is making his first run at the series championship. It’s a wrinkle that may make focusing on the win even harder than usual.

The Fickle Force of Fate

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Three points. Three positions on the race track.

Failing to earn three additional points kept Kyle Busch from making this year’s edition of The Chase for the Sprint Cup. Someone, working somewhere in the NASCAR main office (and at M&M/Mars) is probably lamenting the fact that one of sports’ most volatile and controversial figures will spend the next ten weekends watching the season championship go (yet again) to another driver.

This is a rough time of year for athletes. If you’re a football player, your talents are being assessed under the media’s microscope – and every idiot with a pizza stained t-shirt managing a fantasy team. For every player who looks good, there’s another who looks great; for every possible playoff contender, there’s an already-forming line of teams buying tickets for the S.S. Better Luck Next Year.

Truckin’ Thursdays: Sponsorship Problems Sideline Another Young Talent

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The Camping World Truck Series rolls into Iowa Speedway for a standalone event this weekend, but the off week wasn’t without its problems–at least for one driver. Dakoda Armstrong became the latest victim of the sponsorship woes that have plagued the series for a few years now, and 2012 in particular. He marks the third rookie this season to have started intent on running the full schedule only to have the rug pulled from beneath them, though Max Gresham’s parting with Joe Denette Motorsports hinged on performance more than sponsorship.

Having made 15 starts behind the wheel of the No. 98 Toyota for ThorSport Racing, Armstrong showcased a variety of different sponsors and even posted a career-best finish of third at Michigan International Speedway just a few weeks ago. In a rookie campaign that has featured plenty of ups and downs, Armstrong appeared to be making some improvements week after week but never managed to find enough backing to finish off the season. As a result, next year remains up in the air for the young driver, however he definitely has age on his side when it comes to finding another home somewhere across NASCAR.