For a second consecutive year, Kevin Harvick has won the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. Harvick, who had been suffering from flu like symptoms earlier in the week, seemed unaffected during the race, maintaining his place near the front of the field for the majority of the race.

After a late-race caution led the field to a green-white-checkered restart, Harvick, who restarted fourth, charged to the front, pulling up alongside Greg Biffle. Shortly after, Jeff Gordon drove into the back of Biffle’s car, who spun into several of the oncoming vehicles, once again bringing out the caution flag and freezing the field in place. As per NASCAR rules, the race was not restarted.

Harvick is the fourth driver to celebrate back-to-back Shootout victories. Other drivers that have accomplished this feat include Tony Stewart (2001, 2002), Ken Schrader (1989, 1990), and Neil Bonnett (1983, 1984).

Results of the 2010 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Raceway:

Pos  #  Driver              Make     Laps  Status
 1  29  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet  76  Running
 2   9  Kasey Kahne         Ford       76  Running
 3   1  Jamie McMurray      Chevrolet  76  Running
 4  18  Kyle Busch          Toyota     76  Running
 5  11  Denny Hamlin        Toyota     76  Running
 6  83  Brian Vickers       Toyota     76  Running
 7  20  Joey Logano         Toyota     76  Running
 8  24  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet  76  Running
 9  14  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet  76  Running
10  42  Juan Montoya        Chevrolet  76  Running
11  88  Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Chevrolet  76  Running
12  31  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet  76  Running
13  48  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet  76  Running
14  82  Ken Schrader        Toyota     76  Running
15  16  Greg Biffle         Ford       74  In Pit
16  17  Matt Kenseth        Ford       74  In Pit
17  99  Carl Edwards        Ford       74  In Pit
18  71  Bobby Labonte       Chevrolet  74  In Pit
19  39  Ryan Newman         Chevrolet  74  In Pit
20   5  Mark Martin         Chevrolet  74  In Pit
21  51  Michael Waltrip     Toyota     69  In Pit
22  34  John Andretti       Ford       69  In Pit
23   2  Kurt Busch          Dodge      32  Running
24  75  Derrike Cope        Dodge      15  Out of Race

The next NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is the Daytona 500, also to be raced at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 14, 2010. Preceding this race are the two qualifying races (The Gatorade Duels) held the Thursday before.

Related Links:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Series Information, Schedule, Standings, Past Champions, News, Videos

Joao Barbosa was first to the checkered flag today in his #9 Porsche Riley, bringing himself and his Action Express Racing teammates, Terry Borcheller, Ryan Dalziel, and Mike Rockenfeller, the overall victory for the Grand-Am’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. Just 50.494 seconds behind him and still on the lead lap was the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing entry piloted by Max Papis, Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, and Justin Wilson.

Taking the GT Class win and finishing 8th overall were Jonathan Bomarito, Nick Ham, David Haskell, and Sylvain Tremblay, in their #70 SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8. This marked the team’s second Rolex 24 class victory in the past three years.

Top Finishers of the 2010 Grand-Am Rolex 24 at Daytona:

Pos   No  Class  Car             Drivers
  1   #9     DP  Porsche Riley   Joao Barbosa
                                 Terry Borcheller
                                 Ryan Dalziel
                                 Mike Rockenfeller

  2  #01     DP  BMW Riley       Max Papis
                                 Scott Pruett
                                 Memo Rojas
                                 Justin Wilson

  3  #95     DP  BMW Riley       Christophe Bouchut
                                 Ryan Hunter-Reay
                                 Lucas Luhr
                                 Scott Tucker
                                 Richard Westbrook

  4  #75     DP  Ford Lola       Colin Braun
                                 Nic Jonsson
                                 Tracy Krohn
                                 Ricardo Zonta

  5  #60     DP  Ford Riley      Burt Frisselle
                                 Ozz Negri
                                 John Pew
                                 Mark Wilkins

  6  #10     DP  Ford Dallara    Max Angelelli
                                 Pedro Lamy
                                 Ricky Taylor
                                 Wayne Taylor

  7   #6     DP  Ford Riley      AJ Allmendinger
                                 Brian Frisselle
                                 Mark Patterson
                                 Michael Valiante

  8  #70     GT  Mazda RX-8      Jonathan Bomarito
                                 Nick Ham
                                 David Haskell
                                 Sylvain Tremblay

  9  #67     GT  Porsche GT3     Jorg Bergmeister
                                 Patrick Long
                                 Seth Neiman
                                 Johannes van Overbeek

 10  #66     GT  Porsche GT3     Ted Ballou
                                 Kelly Collins
                                 Patrick Flanagan
                                 Wolf Henzler
                                 Andy Lally

Related Links:
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series: Series Facts, Schedule, Standings, News, Series News, Videos

Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ final race of the season earlier today at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This made for his fourth win of the 2009 season and moved him up three positions in the final standings for a fifth place ranking in the 2009 Sprint Cup Series points championship.

The pole-sitter, Jimmie Johnson, ended up with a fifth place finish, which was more than enough to secure his fourth consecutive championship in the series. Rookie of the Year honors went to Joey Logano who finished 20th in the standings, after winning one race and having seven top-10 finishes.

Top Finishers in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford 400:

 Pos  No  Driver               Make
   1  11  Denny Hamlin         Toyota
   2  31  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet
   3  29  Kevin Harvick        Chevrolet
   4   2  Kurt Busch           Dodge
   5  48  Jimmie Johnson       Chevrolet
   6  24  Jeff Gordon          Chevrolet
   7  99  Carl Edwards         Ford
   8  18  Kyle Busch           Toyota
   9   1  Martin Truex Jr.     Chevrolet
  10  44  A.J. Allmendinger    Ford

Top Finishing Teams in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship:

 Pos  Driver               Points  Behind
   1  Jimmie Johnson         6652  Leader
   2  Mark Martin            6511    -141
   3  Jeff Gordon            6473    -179
   4  Kurt Busch             6446    -206
   5  Denny Hamlin           6335    -317
   6  Tony Stewart           6309    -343
   7  Greg Biffle            6292    -360
   8  Juan Montoya           6252    -400
   9  Ryan Newman            6175    -477
  10  Kasey Kahne            6128    -524
  11  Carl Edwards           6118    -534
  12  Brian Vickers          5929    -723
        ^Chase for the Sprint Cup^

  13  Kyle Busch             4457   -2195
  14  Matt Kenseth           4389   -2263
  15  Clint Bowyer           4359   -2293

Related Links:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Series Information, Schedule, Standings, Past Champions, News, Videos

This week’s race at Phoenix International Raceway was won by the current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader, Jimmie Johnson. This win helped Johnson to increase his points lead over the next closest competitor, Mark Martin, from 73 to 108 championship points. Just one race remains in the 2009 season.

Second place in today’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 went to Jeff Burton, with Denny Hamlin, and Mark Martin rounding out the top four. Martin Truex Jr., the pole-sitter, finished 5th.

Top Finishers in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil:

 Pos  No  Driver               Make
   1  48  Jimmie Johnson       Chevrolet
   2  31  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet
   3  11  Denny Hamlin         Toyota
   4   5  Mark Martin          Chevrolet
   5   1  Martin Truex Jr.     Chevrolet
   6   2  Kurt Busch           Dodge
   7  33  Clint Bowyer         Chevrolet
   8  42  Juan Montoya         Chevrolet
   9  24  Jeff Gordon          Chevrolet
  10  00  David Reutimann      Toyota

Top Teams in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship:

 Pos  Driver               Points  Behind
   1  Jimmie Johnson         6492  Leader
   2  Mark Martin            6384    -108
   3  Jeff Gordon            6323    -169
   4  Kurt Busch             6281    -211
   5  Tony Stewart           6207    -285
   6  Juan Montoya           6203    -289
   7  Greg Biffle            6171    -321
   8  Denny Hamlin           6140    -352
   9  Ryan Newman            6081    -411
  10  Kasey Kahne            6016    -476
  11  Carl Edwards           5972    -520
  12  Brian Vickers          5826    -666
        ^Chase for the Sprint Cup^

  13  Kyle Busch             4310   -2182
  14  Matt Kenseth           4265   -2227
  15  Clint Bowyer           4224   -2268

Related Links:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Series Information, Schedule, Standings, Past Champions, News, Videos

Kurt Busch won today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. This moved him up two championship positions, placing him 4th in the Chase for the Cup with just two races left to complete in 2009.

The other chase contenders weren’t so lucky however, with many of them finishing at the back of the pack. This included Carl Edwards who finished 39th, the current championship leader Jimmie Johnson who finished 38th, Juan Montoya who finished 37th, and Kasey Kahne who finished 33rd.

Though Johnson’s championship position didn’t change, he did lose a large portion of his lead, which fell to just 73 points after going into the race 184 points ahead of the second place contender, Mark Martin.

Top Finishers in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Dickies 500:

Pos  No  Driver               Make
  1   2  Kurt Busch           Dodge
  2  11  Denny Hamlin         Toyota
  3  17  Matt Kenseth         Ford
  4   5  Mark Martin          Chevrolet
  5  29  Kevin Harvick        Chevrolet
  6  14  Tony Stewart         Chevrolet
  7  33  Clint Bowyer         Chevrolet
  8  16  Greg Biffle          Ford
  9  31  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet
 10  44  A.J. Allmendinger    Ford

Top Teams in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship:

Pos  Driver               Points  Behind
  1  Jimmie Johnson         6297  Leader
  2  Mark Martin            6224     -73
  3  Jeff Gordon            6185    -112
  4  Kurt Busch             6126    -171
  5  Tony Stewart           6119    -178
  6  Juan Montoya           6061    -236
  7  Greg Biffle            6050    -247
  8  Denny Hamlin           5975    -322
  9  Ryan Newman            5973    -324
 10  Kasey Kahne            5898    -399
 11  Carl Edwards           5857    -440
 12  Brian Vickers          5777    -520
       ^Chase for the Sprint Cup^
 13  Kyle Busch             4183   -2114
 14  Matt Kenseth           4151   -2146
 15  Clint Bowyer           4078   -2219

Related Links:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Series Information, Schedule, Standings, Past Champions, News, Videos

This week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. The win went to Jamie McMurray, driver of the #26 Irwin Marathon Saw Blades Ford. Coming up short was Kasey Kahne who finished 2nd, Joey Logano who finished 3rd, and Greg Biffle who finished 4th. Rounding out the top-5 was Jeff Burton.

Championship leader Jimmie Johnson finished in 6th, increasing his lead over Mark Martin to 184 points from his previous 118 point advantage. Martin finished the race in 28th, after a multi-car wreck brought out the yellow flag during the green-white-checkered finish, forcing the race to end and the field to freeze in position.

Top Finishers in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Amp Energy 500:

Pos  No  Driver               Make
  1  26  Jamie McMurray       Ford
  2   9  Kasey Kahne          Dodge
  3  20  Joey Logano (R)      Toyota
  4  16  Greg Biffle          Ford
  5  31  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet
  6  48  Jimmie Johnson       Chevrolet
  7  55  Michael Waltrip      Toyota
  8  09  Brad Keselowski      Chevrolet
  9  19  Elliott Sadler       Ford
 10 171  Bobby Labonte        Chevrolet

Top Teams in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship:

Pos  Driver               Points  Behind
  1  Jimmie Johnson         6248  Leader
  2  Mark Martin            6064    -184
  3  Jeff Gordon            6056    -192
  4  Juan Montoya           6009    -239
  5  Tony Stewart           5969    -279
  6  Kurt Busch             5936    -312
  7  Greg Biffle            5908    -340
  8  Ryan Newman            5846    -402
  9  Kasey Kahne            5834    -414
 10  Carl Edwards           5811    -437
 11  Denny Hamlin           5800    -448
 12  Brian Vickers          5692    -556
       ^Chase for the Sprint Cup^
 13  Kyle Busch             4043   -2205
 14  Matt Kenseth           3986   -2262
 15  Clint Bowyer           3932   -2316

Related Links:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Series Information, Schedule, Standings, Past Champions, News, Videos

The final 2009 season race of the KONI Challenge Series was won by Bret Seafuse and James Gue at Virginia International Raceway. The JBS Motorsports team raced their #37 Trumansburg ShurSave Mustang GT to the checkered flag beating out the second place finishers (Andrew Hendricks and Terry Borcheller / #28 BMW M3) by just 1.305 seconds.

Seafuse and Gue, who celebrated their second win of the season, finished second in the final points standings – each with 309 points. Ahead of them was Ken Wilden, of Rehagen Racing, who was crowned the KONI Challenge Series champion for 2009. Wilden, who also celebrated two victories in 2009 lead the field with 317 points.

In the ST class, the race victory went to Derek Whitis and Tom Long in the #145 Mazda MX-5 of Freedom Autosport. Christian Miller, despite finishing 21st in today’s race, retained the championship lead with 15 points ahead of Andrew Aquilante, who finished second in the ST final points standings.

Top GS Finishers of the 2009 KONI Challenge Series Race in Virginia:

Pos   No  Class  Car             Drivers
  1  #37     GS  Mustang GT      Bret Seafuse
                                 James Gue

  2  #28     GS  BMW M3          Andrew Hendricks
                                 Terry Borcheller

  3   #8     GS  Porsche 997     Daniel DiLeo
                                 Eric Foss 

  4  #96     GS  BMW M3          Bill Auberlen
                                 Matt Bell

  5  #91     GS  BMW M3          Charles Putman
                                 Charles Espenlaub

Top ST Finishers of the 2009 KONI Challenge Series Race in Virginia:

Pos   No  Class  Car             Drivers
 19 #145     ST  Mazda MX-5      Derek Whitis
                                 Tom Long

 20  #95     ST  BMW 328i        Paul Dalla Lana
                                 Will Turner

 21 #146     ST  Mazda MX-5      Mark Pombo
                                 Andrew Carbonell

 22  #75     ST  Honda Civic Si  Randy Pobst
                                 Jamie Holtom

 23 #111     ST  Subaru Legacy   Kristian Skavnes
                                 Andrew Aquilante

Top GS Drivers in the 2009 KONI Challenge Series Final Points:

Pos  Name          Points
  1  Ken Wilden       317
  2  James Gue        309
     Bret Seafuse     309
  3  Matt Bell        288
  4  Dean Martin      287
  5  Jack Roush Jr    272

Top ST Drivers in the 2009 KONI Challenge Series Final Points:

Pos  Name             Points 
  1  Christian Miller    296
  2  Kristian Skavnes    281
     Andrew Aquilante    281
  3  Randy Pobst         263
  4  Andrew Carbonell    259
  5  Ian Baas            236

Related Links:
Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series: Series Facts, Schedule, Standings, News, Videos

This week’s American Le Mans Series event took the racers to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, where the #66 of Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud came up first overall for the second consecutive race. In fact, the top three finishers earlier today were a direct repeat from the last event in Long Beach (1. #66 P1 Acura – Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud, 2. #9 P1 Acura – Scott Sharp and David Brabham, 3. #15 P2 Acura – Luis Diaz and Adrian Fernandez), giving Acura another podium sweep as manufacturer.

Luis Diaz and Adrian Fernandez once again won class honors in the P2 division. This marks their fourth class win of the season, in just as many races. Coming up short to the line was Marino Franchitti and Butch Leitzinger in their #20 Mazda Lola B08 machine.

GT1 was again missing in action with the Compuware Corvettes sitting out another race, but to fill the void, the new Challenge class was added to the mix, bringing in another five entries – all Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. Of the five, two teams suffered mechanical issues (#02 Carl Skerlong and Nick Parker / #36 Bob Faieta and Wesley Hoaglund), two teams were disqualified due to ride height (#47 John Baker and Guy Cosmo / #08 Ed Brown and Bill Sweedler), and one team managed to complete the race – the #57 entry of Melanie Snow and Martin Snow who took the class victory.

As for the GT2 class, the #45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long took the checkered flag for a third consecutive class win. Close behind were fellow Porsche drivers, Marc Lieb and Wolf Henzler in their #87 entry.

The top finishers included:

Pos   No  Class  Car                  Drivers
  1  #66     P1  Acura ARX-02a        Simon Pagenaud
                                      Gil de Ferran

  2   #9     P1  Acura ARX-02a        Scott Sharp
                                      David Brabham

  3  #15     P2  Acura ARX-01B        Luis Diaz
                                      Adrian Fernandez

  4  #20     P2  Mazda / Lola B08     Marino Franchitti
                                      Butch Leitzinger

  5  #37     P1  Lola B06             Jon Field
                                      Clint Field
                                      Chapman Ducote

  6  #16     P2  Mazda / Lola B09     Chris Dyson
                                      Guy Smith

  7  #45    GT2  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR  Jörg Bergmeister
                                      Patrick Long

  8  #87    GT2  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR  Marc Lieb
                                      Wolf Henzler

  9  #62    GT2  Ferrari 430 GT       Pierre Kaffer
                                      Jaime Melo

 10  #21    GT2  Panoz Esperante      Ian James
                                      Dominik Farnbacher

Related Links:
American Le Mans Series: Schedule, Standings, Latest News, Videos

Today’s Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series race at Long Beach was won by Simon Pagenaud and Gil de Ferran – the drivers of the No. 66 XM Radio/Panasonic Acura ARX-02a. Though the pair had lead for a good portion of the race, the margin of victory remained only 1.016 seconds ahead of fellow Acura drivers, Scott Sharp and David Brabham in the No. 9 Patrón Spirits Company machine.

P2 honors went to the third Acura entry – the No. 15 Lowe’s sponsored car piloted by Luis Diaz and Adrian Fernandez. This strong finish secured all three steps of the overall winner’s podium for Acura.

In GT1, the Compuware Corvettes returned for mixed results. The No. 4 of Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin took the class victory and finished 6th overall. The No. 3 sister entry driven by Johnny O’Connell faced mechanical issues and was forced to drop out of the race after only 42 of the total 76 laps.

A wide range of manufacturers made the podium in GT2, with Porsche taking over the top step with the No. 45 entry of Patrick Long and Jörg Bergmeister. Second in class went to the No. 62 Ferrari’s Pierre Kaffer and Jaime Melo, with the No. 92 BMW’s Tommy Milner and Dirk Müller gracing the third step.

The top finishers included:

Pos   No  Class  Car                  Drivers
  1  #66     P1  Acura ARX-02a        Simon Pagenaud
                                      Gil de Ferran

  2   #9     P1  Acura ARX-02a        Scott Sharp
                                      David Brabham

  3  #15     P2  Acura ARX-01B        Luis Diaz
                                      Adrian Fernandez

  4  #16     P2  Mazda / Lola B09     Guy Smith
                                      Chris Dyson

  5  #20     P2  Mazda / Lola B09     Butch Leitzinger
                                      Marino Franchitti

  6   #4    GT1  Chev Corvette C6-R   Olivier Beretta
                                      Oliver Gavin

  7  #37     P1  Lola B06             Jon Field
                                      Chapman Ducote
                                      Clint Field

  8  #45    GT2  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR  Patrick Long
                                      Jörg Bergmeister

  9  #62    GT2  Ferrari 430 GT       Pierre Kaffer
                                      Jaime Melo

 10  #92    GT2  BMW E92 M3           Tommy Milner
                                      Dirk Müller

Related Links:
American Le Mans Series: Schedule, Standings, Latest News, Videos

Sebastien Loeb finished first for the fourth time this year during the WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal. The Citroen C4 driver came out ahead of Mikko Hirvonen, Dani Sordo, Petter Solberg, and Henning Solberg – all of which rounded out the top five respectively.

This win allowed Loeb to increase his World Rally Championship points lead over Hirvonen, who is currently in the second position in the standings.

For the full results from this weekend’s rally, please use the following link:

Results from the 2009 WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal

The updated standings can be found here:

2009 World Rally Championship Standings