Scenes from Watkins Glen - Saturday

  by Adriano Manocchia

Stewart crashes Busch to win Coke Zero 400

  NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Daytona
Tony Stewart dominated all night but almost lost to Kyle Busch when the No. 18 was out front on the final lap. But when Busch tried to block Stewart's last move, it was Busch who ended up in the wall and Stewart in Victory Lane.  Busch passed Stewart for the lead with two laps to go and coming down to the checkered Busch blocked Stewart low and then when Stewart went high to pass him Busch tried to move up to block him again and Stewart turned him around.  Busch slammed hard into the outside wall and a massive accident ensued.

IndyCar Racing State Of The Union

  by Mark J. Cipolloni
Brian Barnhart (Competition), Terry Angstadt (Commercial) and Charlie Morgan (TV) from the Indy Racing League (IRL) met with the media Saturday evening at Watkins Glen to give a State of the Union address of sorts following the big news this week that Tony George had been removed as President and CEO of the Indy Motor Speedway and subsequently he resigned as CEO of the Indy Racing League.  What follows are some pretty interesting stories.

Exclusive interview with Will Power

  by Tim Wohlford
Helio Castroneves and Will Power have a lot in common -- they are both friendly, talkative guys, for instance, and would make great guests at a dinner party. They are both very fast drivers.  And, they both want to drive the same car. In an exclusive AutoRacing1.com interview, Will talked about getting "the call" that every driver dreams of, about making the most of a good opportunity, and about handling uncertainty when you're so close to getting one of the best jobs in all of motor sports.

SunTrust team wins Brumos Porsche 250

  Grand Am Rolex Series at Daytona
For the second straight year, Alex Gurney lost a heartbreaker in the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway. Max Angelelli held off a last-lap charge Saturday to win Round 7 of the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, winning by .270 seconds - the fifth-closest finish in the history of the series.

Briscoe tops Wilson for pole at Watkins Glen

  by Mark J. Cipolloni
Ryan Briscoe put his Penske Dallara Honda on pole for the Camping World Grand Prix IndyCar race at Watkins Glen while his teammate Helio Castroneves was too slow to even make it out of the first round of qualifying.  Justin Wilson manhandled his Dale Coyne entry to 2nd on the grid ahead of Scott Dixon, Mario Moraes and Graham Rahal (who later failed inspection).

Scenes from Watkins Glen - Friday

  by Adriano Manocchia

Elated Bowyer Wins At Daytona In Overtime

  Nationwide Series
With cars spinning wildly behind him in Turn 4, Clint Bowyer claimed his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the season and the seventh of his career in Friday night's Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona International Speedway. Kyle Busch was second when the yellow flew and extended his lead in the series standings to 172 points over third-place finisher Carl Edwards. Joey Logano, Busch's teammate, came home fourth, with Kasey Kahne in fifth.

Q&A with Brian France

  Talks about key issues facing NASCAR
We are now joined in the infield media center by NASCAR chairman and chief executive officer, Brian France. Brian will start off with a mid-year update and brief discussion on current events and then we'll turn it over to questions from the media. One, I've been spending more time with you in this particular year with all of the things going on with the manufacturers and that whole issue, and certainly the recent developments with Jeremy Mayfield and the NASCAR substance abuse policy.

Coke Zero 400 Preview

  by Dave Grayson
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' mid summer classic will be held Saturday night on the high banks of Daytona. (A brief pause for local track owners and promoters who are groaning over the concept of the Sprint Cup being on live television on a Saturday night.)  The Coke Zero 400 is bound to offer every level of excitement to suit every race fan's taste. First off, there's the element of restrictor plate racing which is usually a three wide, sometimes even four wide, sprint to the checkers.

Rain washes out Daytona Qualifying

  Tony Stewart on pole
NASCAR canceled Friday's time trials at Daytona International Speedway after a thunderstorm drenched the track, and as a result, the Sprint Cup points leader, Tony Stewart, will start from the top spot because of rain for the third time this season. With the top 35 cars in the 43-car field for Saturday's Coke Zero 400 set according to owners' points, Stewart will start next to Jeff Gordon, the driver closest to him in the standings. Three-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson rolls off third, with fourth-place Kurt Busch to his outside.

NASCAR Silly Season fodder

  by Dave Grayson
Just like your local Wal-Mart displaying Christmas merchandise three weeks prior to Halloween, it seems that NASCAR's annual silly season also starts earlier. Silly season is NASCAR's annual gossip fest that entertains both the racing media and the fans on a variety of topics such as driver, manufacturer and sponsor changes. At this point in time a major focus seems to be on Earnhardt Ganassi Racing-EGR.