NASCAR Capsules: Talladega could be trouble for three title contenders

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Denny Hamlin wishes no ill will on Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

He wants a clean race Sunday, with no outside interference, and an honest final push to the Sprint Cup championship.

“You really would like to beat the guy heads-up,” Hamlin said Friday. “You almost don’t want anything to happen to anyone because you want to beat ‘em straight-up, 10 weeks, no questions about it when you get down to Homestead.”

That will, of course, depend on the results of Sunday’s race, the most anticipated of the 10 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Talladega is considered the “wild card” race of the Chase, and the one where the drivers are at the mercy of one another on the track.

Because of the tight packs and high speeds — both Hamlin and teammate Kyle Busch posted laps at 201 mph in Friday’s first practices — the race is a white-knuckle exercise in trying to avoid the slips, bumps and nudges that create multicar accidents.

So as the Chase hits the homestretch, Talladega becomes a critical spot on the tour. Johnson, the four-time defending series champion, takes a six-point lead into Sunday over Hamlin.

Lurking back in third is Harvick, the winner of April’s race at Talladega who trails by 62 points. Harvick has had decent success at restrictor-plate races, but is taking nothing for granted.

“Obviously at this place anything can happen whether you are leading the race or running last — you can wind up in somebody else’s mess,” he said. “There is a lot of strategy involved in it, and you have to have fast cars.”

That strategy could include teammates as all three title contenders drive for multicar organizations.

Teammates came into play last weekend at Martinsville, where Hamlin won and Busch passed Johnson in the closing laps to take away fourth place — thus denying Johnson five more points in his race with Hamlin.

“I thought when I was running around (Johnson), ‘Man, this only helps me and only helps Denny if I can keep him back another spot,’ ” Busch said of passing Johnson at Martinsville. “Anything can help. I knew that was another spot that I got between (Hamlin) and Jimmie.”

That same scenario can come into play at Talladega, and then some.

Because drafting is a critical component of plate racing, drivers will have to pick and choose carefully who they push Sunday. the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers are likely to avoid helping Johnson, just as Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing drivers will try not to push Johnson and Hamlin to the win.

“Your teammates can help you on a restrictor-plate track probably more so than anywhere else,” Johnson said. “I’m hopeful that my teammates will keep an eye out for me and if I need to get into a slot, will cut me some slack. At the end of the race, if they have a decision to push two or three different cars, that they would pick pushing me and help us out.”

But RCR driver Jeff Burton, who tangled on track with teammate Harvick last week, said there’s only so much organizations can do to help without jeopardizing their own efforts.

“It is very clear to all of us at RCR, if you are in a position to help your teammate, you go help them,” Burton said. “But you don’t do that if it is going to hurt you. we don’t have any team orders that says ‘Hey, go push Kevin. go make it so he can do it.’

“If I can help Kevin, I certainly will. I won’t do that at the jeopardy of hurting me and my team and Kevin wouldn’t want me to. we have to go and do the very best we can for each individual team. if we don’t do that, then I think we really mess with the credibility of the sport.”

Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick settle track spat

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Richard Childress Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton declared a truce after their spat on the track at Martinsville.

Burton said he and Harvick met Tuesday, and it didn’t take much time to resolve any lingering issues from Sunday’s race. Harvick said it wasn’t a difficult conversation.

“A lot can be made out of things that we say on the radio, and obviously neither of us did a very good job at that,” Harvick said Friday at Talladega Superspeedway. “But the thing about Jeff and I is there’s a lot of respect there. We’ve had those spats before, and we can handle those things in about five minutes.”

Harvick and Burton both spent a portion of last Sunday’s race at Martinsville complaining to their crews over their in-car radios. Harvick apparently took issue with the way Burton tried to pass him and nudged Burton’s car. Burton then criticized Harvick after the race.

Burton compared it to a family argument.

“We sat down and had a great meeting and talked about it and we’ll be better teammates for it,” Burton said. “Both of us could have handled that situation better, both of us had something to learn from it. it is completely over. and again, I think we will be stronger for it.”

Burton said there’s always a certain amount of tension between teammates because they’re expected to help each other at the same time they’re trying to beat each other.

“Being teammates is hard,” Burton said. “You always expect more out of your teammate. You are trying to be a good teammate, but you are also trying to beat your teammate and it’s very, very difficult.”

And Burton acknowledged that Talladega isn’t the best place to race one week after having a dustup with a teammate. because of the unique nature of racing at Talladega, teammates generally try to work together in the draft. but things don’t always go as planned.

“You have a situation with a teammate, the last place you want to go is Talladega the week after because teammates always get their feelings hurt here,” Burton said. “But the reality of it is, and I think we handle it really well, is that if a teammate can help me, I want him to help me. but I don’t want him to help me if it is going to hurt them. That is not fair to them.”

While Harvick enters Sunday’s race at Talladega third in the series points standings and a serious championship contender, Burton said teammates still have to worry about themselves first.

“We don’t have any team orders that says ‘Hey, go push Kevin. go make it so he can do it,”’ Burton said. “If I can help Kevin, I certainly will. I won’t do that at the jeopardy of hurting me and my team and Kevin wouldn’t want me to.”

“Kevin or Richard (Childress) wouldn’t want us to do that,” he added. “This is still racing. we are RCR, but at the same time, we have to go and do the very best we can for each individual team. if we don’t do that then I think we really mess with the credibility of the sport.”

— Chris Jenkins

Gordon creates energy drink to use as sponsor

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Robby Gordon introduced a new energy drink Friday that he developed as a potential revenue source for his race team.

Gordon said Speed Energy will be in stores soon, and he marked the launch by featuring the product on the No. 7 Toyota he’ll race this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

“We’re going to sell (so much) product that you’re going to shake your head wondering how it happened,” Gordon said. “It’s so easy for me to promote this brand. It’s our brand. It’s about a lifestyle that so many people dream about going fast.”

Gordon has experience in the energy drink market. he has partnered previously with both Red Bull and Monster energy drinks during his long career.

This time, he said he’s invested millions of his own money into the drink, but did not disclose specific costs. He’s partnered with his longtime attorney Steven Nichols as owners of the drink company.

“I understand this marketplace really well,” Gordon said. “I know what we need to do. My life is about speed, and that’s what we do. the product is similar but different than the others, but at the same time, we did it with the highest quality we could possibly do in every part of the manufacturing side of it.

“You’ll see through our marketing program, it definitely will be an extreme motorsports marketing plan that will take this brand on.”

Gordon plans to use Speed Energy as a sponsor of his team, but he was noncommittal on how much he’ll race next year. His initial goal is to run the first five races of 2011, and then the “fun” events and large markets.

But it’s not clear if by “fun” events, Gordon meant the Indianapolis 500, the Dakar Rally or the Brickyard 400.

“Running a 36-race schedule doesn’t work for Robby Gordon,” said Gordon. “It’s over as far as that goes. We’re going to have a lot of fun. We’ll show up and race NASCAR. NASCAR is something I want to do. We’re going to win races again. I’m very frustrated about the performance of our program.”

His frustration comes from funding, or in Gordon’s case, the shortage of finances.

Gordon is currently 34th in the standings.

Fellow RCR drivers team with Harvick in Nationwide

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Kevin Harvick’s NASCAR Nationwide series team will feature several of his fellow Richard Childress Racing teammates with sponsorship from Rheem and Menards next season.

It’s another step in a newly formed alliance between Kevin Harvick Inc. and Richard Childress Racing. the teams announced this week that they are formally aligning for next season. Harvick drives for Childress in the Sprint Cup series, but his Nationwide team had been operated separately from RCR.

Harvick and fellow RCR drivers Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard and Austin Dillon will share driving duties for the No. 33 Chevrolet in the Nationwide series next season. the team has not yet named a driver for three races next season.

Dillon is the grandson of RCR team owner Richard Childress.

IndyCar

Tony Kanaan out at Andretti Autosport

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — former IndyCar champion Tony Kanaan is looking for a new ride.

The popular 2004 series champion from Brazil has reached a settlement with Andretti Autosport that releases him from his contract immediately. Terms were not disclosed.

Kanaan spent the last eight seasons with Andretti, winning 14 races and the 2004 championship. he never finished out of the top six in points.

“I want to thank (team owner) Michael Andretti and everyone at Andretti Autosport for eight years together,” Kanaan said in a statement. “We created some great memories that I will always cherish and we have much to be proud of.”

Kanaan’s future at Andretti took a hit when convenience store giant 7-Eleven announced it would not return to as primary sponsor on Kanaan’s No. 11 Honda next season.

Andretti said it was “difficult to believe” the 35-year-old driver was leaving, but added the sponsorship issue was too big an obstacle to overcome.

“We felt it was important to give Tony the freedom to review his options outside of Andretti Autosport,” Andretti said. “We understand firsthand his value as a driver in this series and we did not want to prevent him from furthering his career in the event we could not arrive at a reasonable solution for him for 2011.”

Kanaan said before the season finale in Miami he was optimistic he could find a new sponsor and hoped he would stay with Andretti. he finished sixth in points in 2010, winning at Iowa in June.

He was one of the founding members of Andretti Autosport — formerly known as Andretti Green Racing — in 2003 and became the face of a team that challenged Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing for supremacy.

“Tony deserved a chance when we signed him prior to the 2003 season and he made the most of that opportunity,” Andretti said. “He brought us our first pole, our first race win and our first championship. we were always a contender to win the Indianapolis 500, and while I’m disappointed we were never able to do that together, I am confident that Tony will win it before his career is over.”

The program, however, has fallen a step off the pace recently amid reports of internal squabbling. Kanaan and Danica Patrick had a tense run-in at Texas in the spring, when Patrick cut Kanaan off while he attempted to pass her. he slammed on the brakes and fell to the rear of the field.

The two swore things were patched up, but they engaged in a thrilling duel for second in the finale, with Patrick edging Kanaan at the wire in the series’ final visit to Kanaan’s home track for the foreseeable future.

The settlement announcement came the same day Andretti announced a two-year contract extension with Ryan Hunter-Reay through 2012.

Hunter-Reay finished seventh in the points this season and won at Long Beach, but needed an assist from series sponsor Izod to run a full schedule. Sponsorship on his No. 37 car will be announced soon.

“Anything less than wins and challenging for the championship next year would be unacceptable,” Hunter-Reay said. “With that said, we all recognize there is a lot of work to be done to bring the team back to that level.”

NHRA

Schumacher leads Top Fuel qualifying

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tony Schumacher raced to the Top Fuel qualifying lead Friday in the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, the fifth of six events in the Countdown to the Championship.

Schumacher had a 3.812-second run at a track-record speed of 325.14 mph at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Series leader Larry Dixon was second with a 3.825 at 318.99.

Ashley Force Hood, Allen Johnson and Hector Arana also topped their categories.

Force Hood raced to the front of the Funny Car field with a 4.032 at 309.70 in a Ford Mustang. Series leader Matt Hagan was fourth and second-place John Force was second.

Johnson was quickest in Pro Stock, posting a 6.660 at 207.46 in a Dodge Avenger. Arana led Pro Stock Motorcycle on a Buell, finishing in 6.929 at 192.30.

NASCAR Capsules: Talladega could be trouble for three title contenders

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