Ginn merges with DEI to stay competitive

Bobby Ginn had grand plans to build a contender when he bought a NASCAR team last summer. But he learned rather quickly that winning takes a lot of money, and without solid sponsorships, it's almost impossible to do. Faced with scaling back his program to a noncompetitive level, Ginn instead merged his organization with Dale Earnhardt Inc. on Wednesday to form a four-car team that will debut this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"We absolutely would have survived without merging, but what we would have wound up doing is taken on lesser sponsors," Ginn told The Associated Press in a Wednesday telephone interview.

"We would have had to continue to cut costs, and that is disgraceful to me. I am proud of the merger. I would not have been proud of putting a car out there that couldn't compete."
The new deal makes Ginn a partner at DEI, which had been owned outright by the late Dale Earnhardt's widow, Teresa. She remains the majority owner under the merger.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will continue to drive the No. 8 Chevrolet for DEI for the remainder of the season, and Martin Truex Jr. remains in the No. 1 Chevy.

Paul Menard, who has struggled to make races this season in the No. 15 for DEI, will get the owner points from Ginn's No. 14 entry. That car had been driven by Sterling Marlin, who had locked it into the field each week based on owner points. Now Menard is assured a spot in the field.

Ginn driver Mark Martin will now pilot the No. 01 Chevrolet for DEI and split seat time with Aric Almirola. Ginn's third car, the No. 13 that had been driven by Joe Nemechek, has been parked and won't compete under the merger as NASCAR rules limit a single organization to just four entries.

"Teresa is very excited about this merger," said Max Siegel, president of global operations at DEI. "She wakes up every day making sure 400 people have a job doing what they love, and today she has done something that has strengthened her company and positioned it for another 25 years."

Ginn, who will be listed as the car owner for Martin and Menard at least this weekend, thinks he's done the same. A Florida-based land developer, he made a splash last summer when he bought controlling interest in MB2 Motorsports.

He quickly pumped money into the cash-strapped team and was determined to pull it above its midlevel status and turn it into a contender. Ginn built a new 200,000-sq. foot race shop, bought expensive equipment that only the elite teams have, assembled a deep driver development program and lured Martin away from Roush Racing in a deal that expanded the organization to three Cup teams.

Then the team shocked NASCAR by nearly winning the Daytona 500 — Martin was nipped at the finish by Kevin Harvick, but his strong start to the season made him the points leader through the first four races of the season.

Even though he was on top, Ginn stuck to his word and allowed Martin to keep his plan of running a partial schedule this season. So Martin climbed out of the car at Bristol in March and forfeited the points lead as he turned the wheel over to Regan Smith.

That strong start should have lured big-money sponsors to the organization, but they never materialized and Ginn was forced sponsor Marlin and Nemechek himself with his Ginn Resorts brand.

He stopped doing that in early June, allowing the two cars to run with plain black paint schemes — Martin's car is sponsored by the U.S. Army — and he was forced to let employees go as they scaled back operations.

"We were forced with either having to cut expenses or keep running the cars," he said. "And when I cut expenses, I noticed our performance level was going down. That really weighed on my mind."

Convinced that merging teams is the way of the future in NASCAR, Ginn set out to find a partner that would help create one fully funded super team.

Ginn found it in DEI, which has been trying to move back into elite status after several lean years following Earnhardt's 2001 death. The team took another hit in May when Earnhardt Jr. said he would leave at the end of the season — he's going to Hendrick Motorsports, based partly on a poor relationship with Teresa Earnhardt and partly on his belief that DEI isn't in position to win championships.

DEI has made strides since that May 10 announcement, focusing on building the team and preparing for a future without Earnhardt Jr. Siegel said Ginn was the perfect opportunity.
Ginn's shop is just four miles away from DEI, and will immediately house Martin and Menard's teams. Earnhardt and Truex will move into the building if they are eliminated from Chase contention, or when the season ends. DEI's existing facility will be used for the Busch and driver development programs.

DEI officials and Ginn will spend the next several weeks merging the personnel from both companies, and it's not clear who will make the cut. Smith, who has shared seat time with Martin this season but was expected to get a Cup ride of his own with Ginn, is now in limbo. He's entered in Friday night's Truck race in Indianapolis for Ginn, with nothing else immediately announced on his schedule.

Ginn said letting employees go — particularly Marlin and Nemechek — is the hardest part of the merger. But he's convinced it's for the best for both companies.

"I look at this like I may have sacrificed some ownership, and it doesn't have my name on it, but at the end of the day I have bettered everybody for doing this," Ginn said. "Even if the sponsors had come in, we probably would be talking about something like this anyway. This is just going to be the way teams operate going forward, and we needed to be invited to the party before it was too late."

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FIA summons McLaren over Ferrari secrets

The McLaren Formula One team was summoned Thursday to appear before the sport's governing body to explain how it came into possession of rival Ferrari's secret design documents.

McLaren is scheduled to appear before FIA's world motor sport council in Paris on July 26. The documents included information on how to design, engineer, build, check, test, develop and run a 2007 Ferrari F1 car.

The case reached the High Court in London on Wednesday when McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan, who was suspended by his team last week when documents were found in his house, agreed to tell Ferrari how he got hold of its design secrets.

Coughlan has been linked to Ferrari's head of performance Nigel Stepney, who was fired by the team for allegedly sending the 780-page technical document to Coughlan.

Stepney has denied it, although Ferrari won a court order to search the Coughlans' home and the documents were found, along with computers that will be examined by experts.
Ferrari also has taken legal action in Italy against Stepney.

McLaren team chief Ron Dennis has maintained his team did not break any rules, and the team issued a statement Thursday saying it was "extremely disappointed" by FIA's decision.
"While McLaren wishes to continue its full co-operation with any investigation into this matter, it does wish to make it very clear that the documents and confidential information were only in the possession of one currently suspended employee on an unauthorized basis and no element of it has been used in relation to McLaren's Formula 1 cars," it said.

The FIA did not say what sanctions could be taken against McLaren if found guilty of breaking rules. It's possible the team could face a points deduction or expulsion from the championship.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton leads the drivers' standings with 70 points, ahead of teammate Fernando Alonso (58) and followed by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen (52) and Felipe Massa (51). In the constructors' championship, McLaren has 128 points and Ferrari is second with 103.

The next race is July 22 at the Nuerburgring in Germany.

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F1 won't return to Indianapolis in 2008

Formula One's latest attempt at extending its global popularity to the United States has been put on hold because the U.S. Grand Prix won't be back at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next year.

Speedway CEO Tony George said Thursday he and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone agreed not to schedule the event for 2008. The only U.S. race on the F1 schedule had a troubled eight years, including a 2005 fiasco when most drivers didn't start the race. It drew by far the smallest crowds of the speedway's events.

George, who had set Thursday as the deadline for reaching an agreement to extend the contract with F1, said he did not believe a U.S. Grand Prix would be held elsewhere next year, but that such a decision would be up to Ecclestone.

"We did agree it was prudent to try and leave the door open for the future," George said. "My sincere hope is that we will have an opportunity to bring it back in the not-too-distant future."
Ecclestone had repeatedly said F1 did not need to race in the United States, although he mentioned the possibility of moving the U.S. Grand Prix to New York or Las Vegas.

George said Thursday it was a "great disappointment" that F1 would not be returning next year to the 2.6-mile, 13-turn road course that was built inside the speedway's famous oval to attract the series.

"It's tough to have a hiatus," he said.

Indianapolis will lose out on the economic impact that thousands of F1 fans — many from outside the country — had brought to the city.

"We are certainly disappointed in the loss of Formula One in Indianapolis," Mayor Bart Peterson said in a statement. "But it was a business decision between Tony George and Bernie Ecclestone. I have full faith in Tony George and know that he will continue to do what's best for the
speedway and the city of Indianapolis."

While attendance figures are not released at Indianapolis, its F1 crowds have been among the biggest on the circuit — estimated around 125,000 each of the past six years. The inaugural race in 2000 drew more than 200,000.

But those crowds have left empty large parts of the track's grandstands that are filled for the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

The race attracted core F1 enthusiasts, George said, but it struggled to attract casual fans.
"The challenge is building on that," he said, adding that more consistent national exposure and title sponsors should be a part of bringing F1 back.

"I think the future will depend on recognizing the fact that the United States is a bit different and to the extent it is important we're going to have to figure how to work it out," George said.
Before arriving in Indianapolis in 2000, F1 last had a U.S. race in 1991 after being a regular visitor since 1959. It raced with varied success in Detroit; Las Vegas; Dallas; Phoenix; Sebring, Fla.; Riverside, Calif.; Watkins Glen, N.Y.; and Long Beach, Calif.

The race faced several difficulties during its time in Indianapolis — most prominently when 14 of the 20 drivers pulled off the track just before the start of the 2005 race over concerns about the safety of the Michelin tires used by seven teams. Afterward, George refused to wave the checkered flag or join Michael Schumacher in the winner's circle.

Angry fans sued, saying F1 and the teams were obligated not only to put on a race, but to put out their best efforts to make it exciting. A federal appeals court later upheld a judge's dismissal of the class-action lawsuit.

Last year's negotiations to extend the deal dragged into August before the two sides agreed on a one-year pact. Speedway officials had said they wanted a more permanent solution this time.
Despite F1's absence, the speedway could still be the site of three races next year, as track officials expect to announce a deal with MotoGP, the international motorcycle racing series, next week.

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Budweiser out once Junior joins Hendrick

When Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaves his late father's team to drive for Hendrick Motorsports next season, longtime corporate sponsor Budweiser won't be going with him.

The Hendrick team announced on Friday that Budweiser would not continue as the sponsor of Earnhardt's car next season because of Hendrick's "long-term contractual commitments to existing sponsors."

Earnhardt announced in June that he would leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. to join the Hendrick team next season, but Hendrick has not yet made it clear what number car Earnhardt will drive or who his sponsor will be.

Kyle Busch, who is leaving the Hendrick team at the end of the season to make room for Earnhardt, currently drives a No. 5 car with sponsorship from Kellogg's and several other companies.

"We have agreements in place with sponsors for the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, which prevent us from having a relationship with Budweiser," team owner Rick Hendrick said in a statement. "Honoring our commitments is important to us. The trade-off is missing an opportunity to bring Budweiser, a marquee brand synonymous with NASCAR and its fans, into the fold."

The team has not announced a timetable for its sponsorship announcements.
"They had a full plate," said Earnhardt, who said he'd prefer to keep driving the No. 8 car for his new team. "They had sponsors pretty much already signed in agreements through '08. It wasn't really an option for Rick to make room."

Budweiser will continue as a sponsor in NASCAR.

"Budweiser has sponsored Dale Jr. for nearly a decade, and we wish him the very best," said Tony Ponturo, vice president of global media and sports marketing for Anheuser-Busch Inc. "Budweiser will remain an active sponsor of NASCAR, and we look forward to building upon the legacy of the iconic Budweiser red car in 2008 and beyond."

Earnhardt called it a "privilege" to drive the Budweiser car.
"Although Budweiser and I will be unable to continue our partnership beyond this season, I remain committed to driving for Bud the rest of this year," Earnhardt said. "I'm a race car driver. All I can do is drive as hard as I can for my fans and sponsorship partners and give my best effort each weekend."

Earnhardt said he had some regrets about splitting with the Budweiser brand, but he's excited to see what new sponsorship deals the team will put together.

"We felt like we possibly only accomplished half of what we could do together, so that part of it's kind of unfortunate," Earnhardt said before qualifying at Chicagoland Speedway. "Sure, I would have loved to continue working with Bud. But under the circumstances, that's not a possibility. We'll have to change our frame of mind and see what the possibilities are for our primary sponsors next year. Those should be in line with what I like and what I enjoy, and I'm excited to put that together."

Earnhardt said it would be "cool" if Budweiser decided to stick with DEI, but believes there might be substance to rumors that the company is looking at sponsoring Evernham Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne.

"You hear the rumors — they've been looking at Kasey Kahne for about two months now in case things weren't going to work out, I guess," Earnhardt said. "So they've definitely been entertaining some ideas on other drivers. Kasey would really have a lot of fun with that. I think they would enjoy Kasey, might bring him out of his shell a little bit."

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Casey Mears wins pole for Chicagoland

Casey Mears turned a lap of 182.556 mph in his Chevrolet on Friday, taking the pole position for Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway.
It was Mears' third career pole, and the latest in a series of benchmarks that indicate improvement for the 29-year-old nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears.

Mears joined the elite Hendrick Motorsports team this year and won his first career race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May.
"It's just awesome," Mears said. "Obviously, when you start something new, you want to do things right."

Although Mears ranks 19th in the standings going into Sunday's USG Sheetrock 400, he says his team is on a "little bit of a roll" that included back-to-back, top-five finishes at Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway last month.

And Mears said he got a little boost in qualifying on Friday when a cloud floated over Turns 3 and 4 during his lap to cool off the track and make it slightly less slippery.

Can one cloud really help a driver go faster in qualifying?
"Whether it's in my head or there's grip on the track, I always go faster when there's a cloud out," Mears said.

Mears' quick lap late in qualifying bumped Martin Truex Jr.'s Chevrolet off what would have been Truex's first career pole. He'll start second on Sunday with a lap of 182.476 mph.
Truex is having a breakout season for Dale Earnhardt Inc., but he's still looking for his first career pole.

"I feel like we'll get one this year," Truex said. "We came close today."
Truex broke through for his first career victory at Dover International Speedway in June and ranks 10th in the series points standings — two spots ahead of star teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose move to Hendrick Motorsports next season will boost Truex's profile at DEI next year.

But Truex thinks he can contend for this year's championship.
"Obviously, we want to get in the chase — and once we get in it, we want to contend for the championship," Truex said.

Ryan Newman qualified third in a Dodge, followed by Mark Martin and Earnhardt in Chevrolets.
"There's already a second groove out there," Newman said.

Michael Waltrip qualified a solid 28th, allowing him to make only his fourth start all season for his new Toyota team, Michael Waltrip Racing.

Among the drivers failing to qualify for Sunday's race were Scott Riggs, Brian Vickers, Dale Jarrett, A.J. Allmendinger, Kevin Lepage and Kenny Wallace.

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Tony Stewart ends 20-race winless streak

Tony Stewart finally broke through for his first victory of the season, holding off Matt Kenseth on several late-race restarts Sunday to win the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.

Stewart, who has spent this week in a high-profile feud with teammate Denny Hamlin, climbed the frontstretch fence in celebration, but seemed more relieved than elated by the victory.
"I'm glad this is over," said Stewart, who also won at Chicagoland in 2004. "I'm going on vacation."

Stewart broke a 20-race winless streak dating to last season thanks in part to a hard crash by contender Jimmie Johnson, who was running second behind Stewart with 45 laps left when his tire went flat.

Johnson walked away from the crash into the wall without any serious injuries beyond a sore elbow, but it left his car mangled and ruined his chance at a victory.
"I thought the drive shaft came out of the car, it was so violent," Johnson said.
The accident jumbled pit strategies for the race leaders, most of whom only needed a splash of fuel to make it to the end when they pitted with 40 laps left.

After a quick pit stop, Stewart came out of the pits with the lead, ahead of Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick. Kenseth pulled side-by-side to challenge Stewart on the restart, but Stewart held him off until another caution flag came out for a crash by J.J. Yeley 20 laps later.

Kenseth said that was his "one shot" to get past Stewart — but he nearly lost control of his car while making the move, and backed off to finish second.
"I had that one shot at him, and I couldn't quite finish the pass," Kenseth said.
Kenseth was glued to Stewart's back bumper when the race restarted with 18 laps to go — and Joe Nemechek crashed two laps later, forcing Stewart to fend off the field on yet another late restart. But Stewart squirted away on the final restart with 12 laps to go, and Kenseth wasn't able to mount another challenge in the closing laps.

Kenseth held off a charge from teammate Carl Edwards to finish second. Edwards finished third, followed by Kevin Harvick and pole-sitter Casey Mears.

With two cars in the top three on Sunday, it was another step forward in what has been an off year for the Roush-Fenway team.

"I think we've been working pretty hard, and we've been gaining some ground," Edwards said.
What was shaping up as a good day for Dale Earnhardt Inc. quickly fell apart in the final stages of the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was running third with 58 laps to go when he fell off the pace with an apparent power steering failure — remarking over his in-car radio how "funny" it was that he couldn't really steer his car.

Teammate Martin Truex Jr., who also had been running in the top 10, pulled off the track with engine problems three laps later and rolled back into the garage.

Earnhardt stayed on the track, but dropped out of the top 10 and finished 19th.

Sunday's victory broke a 20-race winless streak for Stewart, whose last victory came Nov. 5, 2006, at Texas Motor Speedway.

Stewart did win two non-points-paying events leading up to the season-opening Daytona 500 this year, and certainly has had his chances to win races this year at Atlanta, Bristol, Phoenix and Charlotte.

Meanwhile, Hendrick Motorsports' dominance in the first half of the season seems to be fading slightly. Hendrick drivers Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Casey Mears won 10 of the first 4 races. But Hendrick has been shut out of victory lane for the past five races.

Mears finished fifth, the highest-finishing Hendrick car.

It was a particularly rough day for Johnson, who banged his elbow in the crash.
"I haven't hit hard in a while, and it certainly was one of those," Johnson said.

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IRL's Hornish pondering jump to NASCAR

LEXINGTON, Ohio - Sam Hornish Jr. has already exceeded the modest goals he set as a young kid whose biggest dream was to someday drive in an Indianapolis 500. Having won at the Brickyard a year ago, and with three IndyCar Series titles under his racing suit, at the age of 28 he's taking a long, hard look at what he wants to do next and whether it includes a risky jump to NASCAR.

"It's safe to say that the challenge of it intrigues me," Hornish said in the midst of preparations for this week's Honda 200.

Hornish is fifth in the IRL driver standings heading into the race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course — which Hornish first drove on 14 or 15 years ago when he sloshed through a rainy go-kart race. He is financially secure and has a reputation as a dependable, patient and productive driver.
At the same time, after eight years in IRL, he's itching for something new.

"One of the main reasons that I would even consider doing a stock-car program is again getting to the point that it's racing but it's still not the same thing," Hornish said while sipping a diet drink in the coffee shop of his hotel. "It's a different discipline you have to learn, the tools you have to use are different. There's a lot of little things that you need to consider and adjust yourself for to be able to be competitive in that series."

No sooner were those words out of his mouth than he added, "Just because someone is good in one thing doesn't mean that they're going to be good in another."
There's no question that Hornish has been very, very good in IRL. His win at Texas Motor Speedway last month was his 19th, more than anyone else in the series.

He had the fourth-fastest time during the two practice sessions on Friday. IRL points leader Dario Franchitti, chasing his fourth win of the year, was less than a second faster over the 2.258-mile road course than Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves, Hornish, Scott Dixon and Vitor Meira. Qualifying runs are Saturday.

Despite his IRL success, Hornish makes no secret of the fact that he's restless. His agreement with Penske Racing allows him to try some different things. He's driving in several Busch Series events and is testing himself in other ways.

"That's one of the great things about this deal I have with Roger right now is that we have an opportunity to go either way," Hornish said. "The best part is that I don't have to make a decision today or tomorrow. We started off this year knowing that we were going to do 11 to 14 stock-car events, run the whole IndyCar schedule, run the 24 Hours of Daytona, have a whole bunch of different kind of racing thrown in there.

"We're going to continue to work on that plan. We'll sit down at the end of the year when that's all over with and make a decision on what we're going to do."
In the meantime, he's thinking beyond the days when he spends his time strapped inside a cockpit fighting G forces and jousting with other cars at 200 mph.

Attending art school appeals to him. At one time, he toyed with the idea of running a restaurant but has changed his mind. But maybe the lure of driving is too strong.
"Four or five years ago it was more about getting to the point where when I have this much money, then I can quit," he said. "But the more and more I race, right now I can't see myself quitting. I can't see that happening anytime in the immediate future because, first of all, I don't know what I'd do with myself."

A year ago, he was on the road for more than 260 days, so spending some time at home in the village of Napoleon is welcome. Spending a lot of time, however, isn't.
"Four or five" days off, Hornish said, "and I start saying, 'I ought to be doing something more.'"

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Alonso wins chaotic European Grand Prix

NUERBURG, Germany - The rain that threw the European Grand Prix into chaos at the start gave Fernando Alonso the edge he needed to win at the end.

The two-time defending Formula One champion had the better setup for the wet conditions during the final laps of the race Sunday, and took advantage to squeeze past Felipe Massa of Ferrari on the Nuerburgring circuit.

For Massa, finishing second 8 seconds back left a "bitter taste" after an unhelpful change of tires.
"I had driven a strong race right up until the last shower, then once I had the rain tires on, I immediately felt vibrations that made the car very unbalanced," Massa said. "I couldn't keep the pace, Fernando was faster."

Alonso closed to within two points in the standings of McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton. The rookie was ninth, finishing out of the top three for the first time in 10 races this season.
"It was exciting to drive and I hope to watch," Alonso said. "The rain at the end helped us a lot. I think we were better in wet conditions. Luckily, I had six laps to try to pass (Massa). I enjoyed the race and the different conditions. I like the rain."

Hamilton leads Alonso 70-68.

"This was an extraordinary weekend and a new experience for me," said Hamilton, who started 10th on the grid following his crash in qualifying Saturday.

Mark Webber was 1:05 back in third for Red Bull to equal his career best, at Monaco in 2005.
Kimi Raikkonen started from the pole, but lost the lead in a chaotic start, and pulled out in the 34th lap due to a hydraulics problem with his Ferrari.

"I am very disappointed," said Raikkonen, who was coming off two straight wins. "I was in a good position, right behind Felipe and Alonso, and the car was very quick and I was convinced I could win."

The rain that had halted the race for 30 minutes after four laps returned with 11 laps left with Massa in the lead, ahead of Alonso.

Three laps later, it began to rain harder and both drivers went in for wet-weather tires.
Alonso squeezed out Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault in the pit lane to get into position to attack Massa.

A great battle ensued over the next two laps and, with less than five laps remaining, the two touched wheels as Alonso pushed past Massa and went on to record his 18th career F1 victory.
Alonso and Massa exchanged heated words before the victory ceremony and Alonso said later he had apologized for touching wheels.

Alonso crossed the line in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 26.358 seconds over 60 laps on the 3.2-mile circuit.

Barely two laps into the race, a heavy shower drenched the track and the safety car came out.
Hamilton, who only passed a medical checkup earlier Sunday to be cleared to drive, was among the six cars that slid off into the gravel before the race was stopped. With his engine still running, Hamilton was lifted by a crane and put back on track before the red flag came out.

When the race resumed, Hamilton was allowed to make up one lap that he lost. The Briton was put at the back of the field, but on the same number of laps.

Hamilton chose dry tires and was quickly lapped again by all other 16 remaining cars, who were still on wet tires. However, the weather defied predictions and stayed dry, and Hamilton began clocking faster and faster laps at the back of the field. But his gap proved too big at the end.
"I pushed as much as I could to catch up, but when you are almost a lap down you really have to rely on other people's misfortunes," Hamilton said.

By the 14th lap, the other cars were also on dry tires with Massa in the lead, ahead of Alonso and Raikkonen.

Nick Heidfeld drove his BMW-Sauber into Ralf Schumacher's Toyota, forcing Schumacher out of the race. Schumacher's older brother, Michael — the seven-time champion who retired at the end of the last season — had one of the curves names after him on the circuit before the race.
Michael Schumacher won this race five times and presented the winner's trophy.

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Dixon wins inaugural Honda Indy 200

LEXINGTON, Ohio - Scott Dixon escaped a first-lap accident and hung near the leaders before moving in front late to win the inaugural Honda Indy 200 on Sunday for his third straight victory.

It proved to be a particularly happy birthday for the 27-year-old Dixon — and yet another disappointing day for Danica Patrick.

Dixon's win tightened the race in the drivers points standings. He began the race trailing Dario Franchitti, who finished second, by 34 points and trails by only 24 now with five races left.
Dixon, sixth in qualifying, took the lead for good on lap 77 of the 85-lap race when Franchitti took a delayed pit stop. Dixon was never threatened to the finish, taking his ninth IndyCar Series win. After wins at Watkins Glen and Nashville the past two weekends, he tied the series mark for consecutive victories set by Kenny Brack (1998) and tied by Dan Wheldon (2005).
A huge crowd greeted the return of IndyCar racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, which has a long tradition of hosting CanAm and CART races.

Franchitti was second — his 11th consecutive top-5 finish — by 2.6917 seconds, with polesitter Helio Castroneves third, Tony Kanaan fourth, followed by Patrick and Darren Manning.
Patrick, shooting to become the first woman to win an IndyCar Series race, never recovered after a bit of bad luck on the first lap that almost knocked her and two other Andretti Green teammates out of the race.

Kanaan made contact with Patrick's car in turn 4, forcing her to pull into the grass to avoid any further damage from behind. Kanaan then banged into Andretti's car, causing it to go into a half roll before flipping onto its top and sliding upside down along the edge of the pavement.
Patrick, who had a career best on a road course when she qualified second, dropped all the way to ninth and never made up the lost ground. Still, her fifth-place finish was her best ever on a road course.

Andretti was able to get out of the car on his own. He was anything but pleased by the early knockout.
"We all can't fit through there," he said of the traffic in the tight turn. "It's a bummer when people act that way on starts and things just get crazy."

Castroneves maintained the lead until most of the field pitted about a third of the way into the race. Coming off a rapid fuel refill, Dixon took the lead and built it to more than 5 seconds over Castroneves and the hard-charging Franchitti at the race's midpoint.

Ohio native Sam Hornish Jr., followed by a large, rabid group of fans who piled into buses, cars and trucks to cheer him on, was running fourth when he spun out of the first turn and rolled backward into the tire wall. After he was restarted, he returned to the course, falling all the way to 16th place in the 18-car field. He finished 14th.

Kanaan delayed his second pit stop, and rolled into the top spot, expanding his lead before finally coming in near lap 60 with almost a 10-second head start on the second-place Castroneves. But Castroneves then replaced Kanaan when he ducked into the pits, with Dixon climbing into second place and — with plenty of fuel and rubber on this tires — awaiting Castroneves to hit the pits.

Franchitti now has 474 points to Dixon's 450 heading into the Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 5.

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Doomed NASCAR plane wobbled, smoked

ORLANDO, Fla. - Witnesses reported the NASCAR plane that crashed into two homes, killing five people earlier this month, was trailing smoke and wobbling as it flew low and fast before banking and plunging to the ground, federal investigators said Tuesday.

ADVERTISEMENT The National Transportation Safety Board said it will take months to complete the investigation into the July 10 crash.

The agency's five-page preliminary report issued Tuesday did not speculate on a cause of the crash in a residential area of suburban Sanford.

The report said NTSB inspectors found several breaks in the twin-engine Cessna 310's right wing and fuselage control cables. It did not specify what parts of the aircraft those cables would have controlled.

NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said the cables weren't necessarily a factor in the crash because they could have easily snapped upon impact. It's still too early to tell, he said.
"They're just verifying what they can in the wreckage," Lopatkiewicz said of the report.

A longer factual report won't be issued until later this year or early next year, Lopatkiewicz said.
Witnesses had reported seeing smoke trailing from the plane as it sped low over the neighborhood and seeing its wings "rocking" before it sharply banked, clipped treetops and slammed into the homes, the report said.

The crash killed both people aboard the plane, NASCAR Aviation pilot Michael Klemm and Dr. Bruce Kennedy, the husband of International Speedway Corp. President Lesa France Kennedy.
Three people in the homes that were hit and gutted by fire also died: a 24-year-old law student, her 6-month-old son and a 4-year-old neighbor. The 4-year-old's parents and a 10-year-old boy were rescued by an off-duty firefighter living nearby and were hospitalized with severe burns, officials said.

The plane was traveling from Daytona Beach to Lakeland, a 100-mile trip. The pilot reported smoke in the cockpit shortly after reaching 6,000 feet, and air traffic controllers at Sanford Orlando International Airport gave him clearance to land on any runway, according to the report. The last radio transmission, about a half-minute later, was cut off in mid-sentence.

The report did not offer an explanation for the cockpit smoke. NTSB investigators plan to test the plane's electrical components at the board's material laboratory in Washington.
The plane's landing gear and flaps had not been deployed, indicating the pilot was not prepared to land, federal officials have said.

Investigators still aren't sure who was piloting the plane. Kennedy had a pilot's license but was authorized to fly this plane only when accompanied by Klemm, according to the report.
The plane was registered to Competitor Liaison Bureau Inc. of Daytona Beach, which is registered under the name of William C. France, the NASCAR chairman who died last month at 74. Lesa France Kennedy is his daughter.

By Yahoo

DEI expands to 4 teams following merger

Dale Earnhardt Inc. is absorbing Ginn Racing, making it a four-car team in time for this weekend's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

person familiar with the deal who requested anonymity because an official announcement had yet to be made.

DEI will immediately add the No. 01 Chevrolet, which is co-driven by Mark Martin and rookie Aric Almirola, and take the season points from Ginn's No. 14 team and apply it to DEI 's No. 15 entry of Paul Menard.

The No. 14 has been driven this season by Sterling Marlin, but the two-time Daytona 500 winner was released from the ride last week as team owner Bobby Ginn reorganized the operation he purchased last summer. Marlin was 29th in the points, which assured that car a spot in the field each week. Menard is 38th, outside of the top 35 that are locked in, and using the points from the No. 14 will now guarantee him a spot in the field.

Ginn will be listed as the owner of both the No. 01 and the No. 15, the source said.
The merger was first reported by ESPN.com.

Meanwhile, DEI will continue to run Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 8 and Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 1, both owned by Teresa Earnhardt, Earnhardt's stepmother.

The future of rookie Regan Smith, slated to replace Marlin in the Cup ride, remained uncertain. Smith is still scheduled to drive for Ginn Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck race Friday night at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Ginn, who bought controlling interest in the MB2 Motorsports team last year and changed the name, made sweeping changes last week when he released Marlin and Joe Nemechek. He also shifted Smith, who had been sharing a ride with Martin, to Marlin's car, while saying he would suspend operations on Nemechek's No. 13.

The team also made a deal with Joe Gibbs Racing to hire 23-year-old Almirola, who was part of the Gibbs driver development program, to replace Smith as Martin's co-driver.

By Yahoo

Ferrari focused on solving reliability issues

Ferrari team principal Jean Todt has admitted the Italian squad must keep working to solve reliability problems with the F2007 after Kimi Raikkonen retired midway through Sundays’ European Grand Prix. Todt insisted, however, that the Finn is still very much in the title hunt.
Raikkonen started the Nurburgring race from pole position, but things started to go wrong for him almost immediately when he slid wide at the pit entry at the end of lap one. It meant he had to do an extra tour on dry tyres in wet conditions, dropping him to sixth place by the time the race was resumed behind the safety car.

He fought his way back up to third, and was pressuring eventual winner Ferrnando Alonso for second place at one point, before his car began to intermittently lose power, forcing him out on lap 35.

"We definitely had a reliability problem today,” said Todt. “As I said before, we have to analyse what has happened. It was a hydraulic problem on Kimi's car and it stopped the car. It's definitely unfortunate but it's our responsibility. We think that we had this kind of problem during free practice in Magny-Cours."

The result means Raikkonen lies fourth in the driver standings on 52 points, 18 adrift of championship leader, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. The consolation was that Hamilton also failed to score and Todt is convinced that Raikkonen still has everything to play for.
"There are seven races to go and we have the potential to win every race, so if we are able to do a good job, it's still possible," he added.

Second place for Raikkonen’s team mate Felipe Massa at least meant that Ferrari dropped only two points to McLaren in the fight for the constructors’ championship. The Brazilian had looked set for victory until a late shower allowed Alonso to muscle his way past in the tricky conditions.
That led to the rather ironic situation of Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher presenting the winning constructor’s trophy to McLaren boss Ron Dennis on the Nurburgring podium. Todt, however, said he was simply sad to have lost the race.

"Honestly, I would have preferred that he (Schumacher) gave it to a Ferrari team member, but he was asked by the organisers to give the trophy so he did so,” said the Frenchman. “But my heart had more pain when Kimi stopped because of a hydraulic problem and when Felipe lost the lead after a fantastic race a few laps before the end."

Ferrari’s next confrontation with McLaren will be in this week’s much-anticipated FIA hearing. Todt confirmed that Ferrari will be represented, but did not reveal whether the team will be giving evidence against McLaren, who are charged with being in possession of technical data belonging to the Italian team.

formula1com

Australia rules out night race for 2008

Australian Grand Prix organisers have dismissed the possibility of running a night race in Melbourne’s Albert Park - at least for next season.

They are, however, proposing a later start time for the 2008 event, making the schedule more TV friendly for European audiences.

"Our investigations have convinced us that as things currently stand, the disadvantages (of a night race) outweigh the advantages,” said Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) Chairman, Ronald Walker.

“Instead, we have decided to run the F1 race later on Sunday, moving the start time from 2pm to 3.30pm. We need to ensure all of our partners are comfortable with this and we’re working through that process now.

“Going later will benefit fans at Albert Park who will enjoy an even bigger day of entertainment and people watching the race live in other parts of the world, especially Europe where fans will be able to get up closer to breakfast time.”

The AGPC plans to stage the 2008 Grand Prix on March 13 to 16, subject to FIA approval, in a meeting that will also see the return of the highly popular V8 Supercar series to the line-up.

formulacom