NASCAR working on tandem drafts

Drivers and NASCAR officials say they are still looking for ways to limit tandem racing at restrictor plate tracks following a Sprint Cup Series test at Daytona on Tuesday.

Six drivers ran on the 2.5-mile high banks trying different restrictor plates, spoilers and suspension settings among other possible solutions as NASCAR hopes to at least limit the two-car drafting that has prevailed this year both at the Florida track and Talladega.

Officials evaluated different combinations to try to make the technique less effective, including larger plates which made cars break the psychologically significant 200mph average barrier.

Dale Earnhardt Jr, who has voiced his dislike for the tandem technique a number of times, was one of those running at Daytona but admitted no definite solution was found. He believes the answer to what NASCAR is trying to do is "in the past" and conceded it will be very hard to get rid of tandems, although he hopes NASCAR finds a way to avoid it being essential to winning at plate venues.

"I know that [NASCAR] would like to have the pack racing we used to have," said Earnhardt. "I will say, too, that NASCAR and the drivers are all in agreement that there is no way possible to get rid of the tandem drafting.

"But what we would like to do is make it possible to race without having to tandem draft the entire day, get back to where we're having passing, racing amongst the leaders, guys jostling around, moving in and out of packs and lines, and then at the end if it comes down to a one- or two-lap tandem draft that wins the race, that would be expected by everyone here, NASCAR and the drivers as well.

"The bumpers match up so perfectly. We're so comfortable even at 206 mph getting into the corner that I don't think you'll ever be able to get rid of it, but you can make it to where it's not the norm as much as it is now. We're doing it every single lap to stay in these races at this point. We'd like to get away from that a little bit. Have it as a tool, but not something that's a necessity."

Last month at Talladega NASCAR introduced further changes to those made for the Daytona races, including adjustments to the cooling system and a larger restrictor plate, without any convincing results.

Sprint Cup series director John Darby believes it will take a number of changes to achieve what NASCAR is looking for but denied the bumpers aligning so well when making contact to be the root of the issue. He considers further alterations to the radiators to be among the possible solutions so that cars cannot push for as long as they have been able to do so thus far.

"Everything is on the table," said Darby. "The radiator is a simple part that does have a big effect in the deal. Teams spend a tremendous amount of money for a speedway radiator, if you will. So there's lots of benefits from addressing the cooling systems.

"If it's simply the fact that you can have the same radiator in Atlanta and California, Michigan, Daytona and Talladega, it keeps the parts inventory lower, besides the other effects we would get here at a plate race."

The Cup field will be testing at Daytona in January in preparation for the 2012 season-opening Daytona 500, the first race with fuel injected cars in NASCAR history.

Harvick willing to help Stewart

Kevin Harvick hopes to give fellow Chevrolet driver Tony Stewart a push in his bid to win a third Sprint Cup series title.

The Richard Childress Racing driver enters the season-finale at Homestead next weekend ranked third in points and already eliminated from title contention, following a 19th place finish at Phoenix last weekend.

Although Chevrolet has already clinched a 35th Sprint Cup series manufacturer title after Jimmie Johnson won at Kansas earlier during the Chase, Harvick hopes to help Stewart, who has raced for his Nationwide Series team in the past, win yet another driver's title for the bow tie brand.

"Obviously we want to do the best we can in the season-ending points standings, and that's finish third, where we are right now," Harvick said.

"We'll do whatever we can to try to get a Chevrolet into the championship circle there at the end of the season without doing something crazy. If we can help Tony in any way, we will."

Harvick won four races during the regular season en route to becoming one of the leading contenders for the Cup title entering the Chase.

He then led the standings early in the play-off, but was involved in a multi-car incident at Talladega which meant a 32nd place finish and a loss of points from which he has been unable to recover.

The 35-year-old, a two-time Nationwide Series champion as a driver and Truck Series champion as owner of his KHI outfit, has also won most of the biggest races in NASCAR including the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and the All-Star race.

He says he continues to look forward to having another shot at his first Cup championship trophy.

"Well, there's really only one thing that I look forward to, and that's the day that we hopefully win this championship," says Harvick.

"We've been fortunate to experience a lot of the big moments in the sport, whether it be the Daytona 500, any of the other big races, whether it's Nationwide or Truck, we've been a part of those championships, and we've raced for the Truck championship.

"That's the big box left open without the check in it that Richard and our whole organization want to put a check in hopefully as quickly as possible."

Harvick is closing down the shop of his KHI squad as he will no longer field entries in the Truck Series in 2012, while his Nationwide team will merge back to RCR for next year.

Piquet to make Nationwide oval debut

Nelson Piquet Jr will make his NASCAR Nationwide Series maiden oval outing next weekend in the season-finale at Homestead.

The 26-year-old will be on double duty during the closing race weekend of NASCAR's national series, competing Friday in the Truck Series finale for Kevin Harvick to round out a positive first season, while Saturday he will drive for Turner Motorsports in the second-tier series.

Piquet had already raced a Nationwide Series car last year, finishing seventh at Watkins Glen for team owner Mike Curb, but Saturday's race will mark his first series' outing in an oval.

The Brazilian will also be fighting for Rookie of the Year Honors in the Truck Series against Richard Childress Racing driver Joey Coulter.

"I am so looking forward to this weekend at Homestead," said Piquet. "I seem to do quite well at this style of track and I've learned so much during the course of the season. I'm heading into the truck race with a lot of confidence in myself and my team.

"We are only five points behind Joey Coulter for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award, and I'm hoping that after the race this weekend we'll be able to take over the lead. A solid finish will also help me achieve my primary goal of the season, finishing within the top-10 in the Driver Point standings.

"I'm excited to be getting in a Nationwide car again. Last year I got a good result at Watkins Glen so if I can get another result like that it will be fantastic."

Last April Piquet claimed his best Truck Series result by finishing second at Nashville and more recently he was a contender for victory at Kentucky - an intermediate tracks as Nashville and Homestead - where he led the race for 40 laps en route to a fourth-place finish, one of five top-five finishes he has claimed in his first full season in NASCAR.

The former Formula 1 racer expects to take a step up in the NASCAR ladder next year by competing full-time in the Nationwide Series.

Stewart: Johnson's streak a one-off

Tony Stewart thinks Jimmie Johnson's streak of five consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series titles - which came to an end when Johnson was knocked out of the 2011 championship hunt at Phoenix on Sunday - is a feat that will never be achieved again.

Stewart and title rival Carl Edwards will head into next weekend's season finale at Homestead to decide who becomes Johnson's successor, after the Hendrick Motorsports driver's 14th-place finish yesterday put him mathematically out of contention for another title.

Following Sunday's race, Stewart paid tribute to Johnson's achievements over the past five seasons, suggesting that with the Cup series so competitive, he cannot envisage anyone ever maintaining such a long title-winning streak in the future.

Before Johnson's fourth title, the longest championship streak in NASCAR's top series had been achieved by Cale Yarborough between 1976 and '78.

"I don't see anybody doing it again," said Stewart, who was the last man to beat Johnson to a title in 2005.

"I think it's been absolutely remarkable to begin with for Jimmie to put five in a row together. I know this year hasn't ended up the way he's wanted by any means. I think he goes to Vegas and holds his head up high knowing what they've accomplished. The fact is that there's a real good possibility in the history of the sport for eternity that it could never happen again.

"The competition gets tighter and tighter, tougher and tougher. I just think it's amazing. You understand why people didn't want him to win a sixth one. At the same time, I've said it from day one, how do you knock down a guy that's going out and doing what he's supposed to do? If we could trade places with him, we'd do it in a heartbeat, go out and win five in a row.

"I think you've got to tip your hat to him. I think that's something in NASCAR history that I would put my money on that it will never happen again."

Next weekend Johnson will head to the Homestead decider without a fighting chance for the first time since 2003, in what has been his worst play-off thus far. He will enter the season-finale contending for third place in the standings and searching for his first win at one of the few tracks where he has yet to claim victory.

"I'm definitely disappointed that we won't be able to go to Homestead and race for our sixth [championship] but that's motorsports," said Johnson.

"It's a very tough business. What we did over the last five years was absolutely spectacular and I've just got to thank [sponsor] Lowe's, I've got to thank Hendrick Motorsports, Chad Knaus [crew chief], and this whole race team for giving me everything they've had these 10 years.

"Even though we're not in position to win the championship now, we're going to go to Homestead and try to have our best race down there that we can and finish as high as we can in the points."

He added: "I've been racing 30 years; shoot, 31 years and I've won probably two other big championship along the way. So, seven out of 31 years; this is normal. What we did over the last five years is abnormal. And then now we'll get a taste of normality."

While Stewart will be fighting for a third Cup title next weekend, Carl Edwards, a former Nationwide Series champion, will be seeking his first crown in NASCAR's main series.

Kahne wins for Red Bull at Phoenix

Kasey Kahne claimed his first victory for Red Bull Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ahead of Chase contenders Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart at Phoenix on Sunday.

Kahne was a contender in the late stages of the race and was the first of the frontrunners to make his last pitstop for a splash of fuel and new right-side tyres, emerging in the lead once the final stops cycled under green.

Edwards cut the gap to Kahne after completing his final stop but he ran out of laps to really challenge him for the lead. Behind them Stewart passed Jeff Burton on the penultimate lap to finish a distant third and remain in close title contention.

Kahne's win, the second for Red Bull Racing Team, comes with the team's future still uncertain and in the 31-year-old's penultimate race for Red Bull before joining Hendrick Motorsports.

"It's been a long time," said Kahne. "This whole Red Bull team has done an unbelievable job to keep working hard. Kenny Francis [crew chief] keeps on it, everybody at Red Bull, the car, the Toyota engine. It was a great run today. The guys did an awesome job.

"We fell back a little bit early and then came back and just kept getting it better. These guys haven't given up in the last three months. It's been really cool."

Edwards' second place allows him to stay in control of the Chase entering the season finale, although Stewart leading the most laps means the three-point gap that separated them entering Sunday's race remains in place for the season finale next week.

The Chase leader was up front for only 27 laps but was probably the most consistent of the frontrunners throughout the race, only getting beaten by Kahne through strategy.

"We have never gone into Homestead with the points lead," Edwards said. "You know they give a boat away if you win that thing. I saw that boat and I would like to go down there and win it.

"That would be fun to put a cap on this season. That is what our mission is."

Stewart led more than half the distance and was able to beat Edwards on the outside groove during the sixth restart, then kept his Roush Fenway rival behind until the penultimate round of pitstops.

However he lost his edge after dropping to third behind Penske's Kurt Busch and Richard Childress Racing's Paul Menard, who gambled on taking two new tyres to Stewart's four at their penultimate stops.

The Stewart Hass driver was unable to remain in close contention after that, losing third to Edwards on the restart and then dropping behind Kahne as well. He was unable to recover much ground on the leaders as the race carried on under green for the last 88 laps.

"I'm just thinking of the three points," said Stewart, who would need a victory at Homestead to win his third title regardless of where Edwards finishes.

"No, we had an awesome day. We came up two spots shy. I don't know how you could have asked for a better day really. We led the most laps, we were on the same pace we were last week just to have a perfect day.

"Just fought as hard as we could all day. Got out of balance the second to last stop and just lost that little bit that we needed to stay up there and keep Carl honest."

Kurt Busch lost any chance of victory when he ran out of fuel right before his final stop, which then took longer than planned as he struggled to get his engine fired up again.

Early race leader Matt Kenseth was once again on the receiving end of a touch from Red Bull's Brian Vickers following their exchange at Martinsville two weeks ago. Vickers drove into the back of the Roush driver entering Turn 3 as Kenseth had slowed down with brake issues.

"Obviously it is retaliation for retaliation I guess," said Kenseth. "I was out of brakes and I was up on everybody and I saw him coming and I lifted at least 10 car lengths before where I would normally lift and he drove in there at 165mph and cleaned us out."

Kyle Busch made a great recovery from the back of the grid up to third but then was forced to retire with his second engine failure of the weekend, having lost a first engine at the start of the first practice session n Friday.

Outgoing champion Jimmie Johnson finished 14th and lost any mathematical chance of defending his title for the fifth consecutive time.

Kevin Harvick struggled to a 19th-place finish, never showing the speed to contend for a strong result. He leaves Phoenix third in the points but 51 behind Edwards, which means it will be a two-horse race for the 2011 Cup title at Homestead.

Results - 312 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota 2h45m47.000s 2. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford + 0.802s 3. Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 4.319s 4. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet + 4.634s 5. Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 5.865s 6. AJ Allmendinger Petty Ford + 7.297s 7. David Reutimann Waltrip Toyota + 7.609s 8. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford + 9.198s 9. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet + 14.865s 10. Clint Bowyer Childress Chevrolet + 16.740s 11. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota + 21.251s 12. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota + 23.409s 13. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford + 1 lap 14. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet + 1 lap 15. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet + 1 lap 16. Mark Martin Hendrick Chevrolet + 1 lap 17. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet + 1 lap 18. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge + 1 lap 19. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet + 1 lap 20. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota + 1 lap 21. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota + 1 lap 22. Kurt Busch Penske Dodge + 1 lap 23. Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota + 1 lap 24. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet + 2 laps 25. Cole Whitt Red Bull Toyota + 2 laps 26. Casey Mears Germain Toyota + 3 laps 27. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet + 3 laps 28. JJ Yeley Front Row Ford + 3 laps 29. Landon Cassill Phoenix Chevrolet + 3 laps 30. Mike Bliss FAS Lane Ford + 4 laps 31. David Gilliland Front Row Ford + 5 laps 32. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet + 6 laps 33. David Ragan Roush Fenway Ford + 14 laps Retirements: Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford 238 laps Robby Gordon Gordon Dodge 218 laps Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota 188 laps Geoffrey Bodine Baldwin Chevrolet 153 laps Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet 62 laps Scott Speed Whitney Ford 60 laps Michael McDowell HP Toyota 46 laps Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 30 laps Mike Skinner Max Q Ford 25 laps Travis Kvapil Front Row Ford 20 laps

Hornish hopes win revives career

Sam Hornish Jr hopes his NASCAR career gets a new lease following his first win in the Nationwide Series on Saturday at Phoenix.

Nearly five years after making his NASCAR debut at the same venue, the three-time IndyCar champion claimed his maiden victory in the Nationwide Series, edging reigning series' champion Brad Keselowski to a Penske one-two, in the first race ever held in the reconfigured Phoenix International Raceway.

Hornish has only ran a partial Nationwide schedule this season after losing his drive in the Sprint Cup series at the end of last year, as his outfit downsized from three to two full-time cars for former champion Kurt Busch and Keselowski, both Chase contenders this season.

The former Indianapolis winner hopes he is able to build on his first NASCAR win to make a full-time return to competition in 2012.

"I won so much over [in IndyCars] that I didn't know how much to appreciate it at the time," said Hornish following his first win in more than four years, having last won in IndyCar at Texas in June of 2007.

"I came over here and I wanted the challenge of racing these cars because it was the next step. It was something new, it was something that motivated me again.

"There was many times where I shook my head and go 'Why did I do this?' But I did know that I would always regret not trying it so I'm just really, really excited that we were able to keep going. It ranks right up there.

"My next goal is I want to run for a championship next year and get the funding to be able to do that and then obviously how to figure out how to win a Spring Cup race."

Team owner Roger Penske was glad to see his driver back at the top and reminded Hornish has been key to the success of his Cup outfit this year as he has been heavily involved with the team's testing programme, most recently running in a Goodyear test at Las Vegas last week, while also carrying on with the development of the new fuel injection system.

Penske said he plans to have Hornish run for the Nationwide Series title in 2012.

"Well, I feel for Sam. He's been real humble for the last 12-18 months, coming off being an Indy 500 winner, coming over here and aspirations to run up out front," Penske said.

"... I think this sets up for what we want to do next year. Obviously our goal is to run for the championship in Nationwide with Sam next year. Alliance is our partner and Chad the crew chief and this is a great win for us

"... I just want to thank Sam. I remember when we raced here when we went back in Indy and Sam whipped us here with that yellow Pennzoil car. I'll never forget that. This is a special place for us."

Hornish, one of IndyCar's most accomplished oval racers in recent history, said he's glad he kept his focus on NASCAR despite losing his Cup drive and running 141 races without a win, with only three top-five finishes to show for before this weekend's victory.

A 19-time winner in IndyCar, the 32-year-old claims he never stopped believing he could win in NASCAR.

"I'm glad that I stuck it out," Hornish said. "This is what want. I came over here not because there was more money or anything like that. It was because I got an opportunity. I was interested in it, I got an opportunity to run some Nationwide races throughout 2007, and after doing that I got to see that there was something different out there to challenge me again.

"Was it the challenge I thought it was? Heck yeah it was. It was a big challenge for sure. I don't think I ever got to a point where I didn't feel like if I kept my head down and I put myself in the right position I was going to win."

Hornish achieved his maiden NASCAR win at the same track where he claimed his first IndyCar victory back in 2001. He also raced a Cup car for the first time at Phoenix in 2007.

New Phoenix 'tough' for overtaking

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers say they will face uncertain track conditions in today's Chase race at Phoenix as the evolving new surface and weather conditions have turned it into a 'moving target'.

The new asphalt at the one-mile D-shaped oval has proven extremely sensitive to conditions, as shown by Saturday's noon qualifying session when lap times were around a second slower relative to Friday's practice sessions, held under cooler temperatures.

A $15million (USD) reconfiguration and resurfacing project at the track took place ahead of the penultimate race of the season, with the Cup field testing for two days last month to get a grip on the increased banking and smoother asphalt.

Although grip levels have been picking up with more running, the track still has a narrow second groove on the outside, which is expected to make it hard to race side-by-side and overtake, as seen during Saturday's NAACAR Nationwide and K&N races.

Overnight and morning rain at Phoenix could further alter track conditions ahead of today's race, which is set to be key in the title fight.

"The biggest keys to this race are going to be, I think, you start with qualifying and then after that it is pitstops and restart strategy," said polesitter Matt Kenseth. "The tyres don't fall off at all. They don't really drop off in speed at all.

"It is going to be who can figure out how to keep their car up front. Who can be in the bottom on restarts and get good restarts and take advantage of the restarts when someone is in a bad position. I think that is going to be a big deal."

In an effort to get the track rubbered in on a second groove, six stock cars ran with soft tyre compounds early this week, completing approximately 3,000 miles between them. Additionally, a machine dragged more than 80 tyres on that second grove in order to rubber it in and enhance grip on the new asphalt.

Following Saturday's Nationwide Series race, Chase leader Carl Edwards said that he was able to race side-by-side despite the outside groove still being narrow, but it remains a challenge to complete a pass unless a rival makes a mistake.

"It is a pretty narrow two grooves and aero is a big enough factor here that guys can get loose if you are under someone and the track is a little treacherous," said Edwards.

"It is hard to pass. I think what I was saying about the difficulty in passing was that once you line up and you get in a line, if the guy in front of you is running the same groove as you it is a little tough when you are so aero dependant here and everyone is so closely matched to run him down and work him over. You need him to struggle a little bit."

The winners of both NASCAR races on Saturday at Phoenix came from the top five on the grid, Sam Hornish winning from fifth in the Nationwide Series and Ryan Blaney taking victory in the K&N West race in the evening.