DUO'S DUELS ARE ALL ABOUT THE CAR HUDDLESTON CHASES LEAD BY THIRKETTLE.Byline: TIM TIM Timothy TIM Technical Interchange Meeting TIM Transient Intermodulation Distortion TIM Time Is Money TIM The Invisible Man (movie) TIM Telecom Italia Mobile (Italian cellular provider) HADDOCK MOTOR SPORTS Travis Thirkettle and Tim Huddleston have combined to win nine of the 10 NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. Late Model races at Irwindale Speedway Irwindale Speedway is a motorsports facility located in Irwindale, California. It features banked, paved 1/2 and 1/3 mile oval tracks. It is mainly used for USAC sprint car and regional NASCAR races. this season. Huddleston won on opening night and added his second win of the season last Saturday night. Thirkettle, a driver from Newhall, has won seven races this year and has a 43-point lead in the Late Model standings. He will get a chance to add his eighth win of the season tonight at Irwindale Speedway. Huddleston is the division's latest winner. Thirkettle was right on his heels, though, finishing second. Now that Huddleston, the 2005 Late Model champion, seems to have regained his winning touch, the big question is: Is his car good enough to catch Thirkettle in the standings? ``It's better,'' Thirkettle said of Huddleston's car. ``It was fast enough to win the race. He's got probably more in it.'' As for Thirkettle, he said he is taking an owner's mentality in recent races, especially the last one. He took into consideration the back-to-back weekend of races and the points battle. ``Second's good enough,'' Thirkettle said. ``It keeps me where we need to be.'' That would on top of the Late Model standings. With six races to go in the season, that's where he wants to stay. The NASCAR Elite Division, Southwest Series, Super Stocks and Mini Stocks are also scheduled to race tonight at Irwindale Speedway. Gates open at 4 p.m. Races start at 7. Indy Racing League The Indy Racing League, better known as IRL, is the sanctioning body of a predominantly American based open-wheel racing series. The League consists of two series, the premiere IndyCar Series : In three starts at Kentucky Speedway, Valencia's Bryan Herta Bryan Herta (b. May 23 1970, Warren, Michigan) is an American race car driver. He currently drives for Andretti Green Racing, which is co-owned by former CART and IRL driver Michael Andretti, in the ALMS, although his career has primarily been spent in open-wheel cars had his best race in 2003. He was third. Last year at Kentucky Speedway, site of Sunday's Indy Racing League event, he started 11th and finished 19th, withdrawing late in the race with gear box problems. But Herta said he is more interested in the new track surface at Kentucky Speedway than he is about his last race there. ``The interesting thing about going back to Kentucky this year will be the surface itself,'' said Herta, driver of the No. 7 Honda-powered entry for Andretti Green Racing Andretti Green Racing is an auto racing team that competes in the IRL IndyCar Series and the American Le Mans Series. Early years in CART Founded in 1993 by Barry Green and Gerry Forsythe as Forsythe Green Racing and a Hart High of Newhall graduate. ``I understand they've done some work to the track surface and maybe some of the bumps we've had to deal with in the past are not as big, or not even there anymore.'' Kentucky Speedway is very similar to Kansas Speedway Kansas Speedway is a speedway in Kansas City, in the U.S. state of Kansas. The speedway is a 1.5 mile tri-oval with 15 degree banking in the turns. The track held its first race on on June 2, 2001, when the Winston West came and raced in the Kansas 100. , where Herta won the first race of his IRL 1. (jargon, chat) IRL - In real life. Generally synonymous with f2f. 2. (language, robotics) IRL - Industrial Robot Language. career in 2003. ``It's a pretty normal tri-oval, not unlike a few other tracks we go to on the circuit,'' Herta said about Kentucky Speedway, ``but the bumps have always been what set it apart and made it different, so we'll see when we get there if that has changed.'' Herta is coming off an 11th-place finish at Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile (3.22 km), moderate-banked, D shaped superspeedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than 1,400 acres [1] near Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. two weeks ago. It was his first finish outside the top 10 in three races. Herta was seventh at The Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a race track in West Allis, Wisconsin, USA. It is a 1 mile long (1.032 mi, 1.619 km) oval track that seats about 50,000 spectators. It operated as a dirt track until 1953. The track was paved in 1954. on July 23 and was sixth at Richmond International Raceway Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series. on July 15. Scott Sharp Scott Sharp (born February 14, 1968 in Norwalk, Connecticut) is an American race car driver in the Indy Racing League. He is the son of SCCA multiple champion Bob Sharp. Early in his career he was 1991 Trans-Am champion, also taking 7 poles the next season. , driver for Delphi Fernandez Racing, won the race at Kentucky Speedway last year. Adrian Fernandez, who owns part of Sharp's IRL team, won the race at Kentucky Speedway in 2004. The top six drivers in the IRL standings are separated by 67 points. Marlboro Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves has an eight-point lead over teammate Sam Hornish Jr. Herta's Andretti Green Racing teammate Tony Kanaan is sixth, 67 points behind Castroneves. Herta is 12th in points, five out of ninth place and 16 out of seventh with three races to go in the season. INDY RACING LEAGUE Kentucky Indy 300 Site: Sparta. Schedule: Today, qualifying, 1:30 p.m.; Sunday, race (ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. , 12:30 p.m.). Track: Kentucky Speedway (tri-oval, 1.5 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns). Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps. Last race: Helio Castroneves took advantage of a superior car and an aggressive strategy to win the Firestone Indy 400 on July 30, ending team owner Roger Penske's open-wheel drought at Michigan International Speedway. Castroneves beat Vitor Meira by 1.62 seconds, picking up his series-high fourth victory of the season and moving past teammate Sam Hornish Jr. for the points lead. Last year: Scott Sharp won for the first time in more than two years by taking the Amber Alert Portal Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway. It was his first win since Japan in 2003, a streak of 40 winless races. Fast facts: Meira has finished second three times this season, the most runner-up finishes of any driver. ... Sarah Fisher, the first woman to win the pole in a major auto racing series, is expected to make her first IndyCar start since 2004 this weekend. The 25-year-old Fisher won the pole at Kentucky in 2002 and still holds the track qualifying record of 221.390 mph. ... Danica Patrick won the pole in last year's event, but finished 16th. ... Rookie Jeff Simmons finished 10th at Michigan for his fourth consecutive top-10 finish. Next race: Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Calif., Aug. 27. On the Net: www.indycar.com CAPTION(S): Box: NASCAR (see text) |
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