FanHouse SamHornishJR

BROOKLYN, MICH. (AP) -- Closing in on the checkered flag with mostly fumes in his gas tank, there were only two possibilities for Brian Vickers.

Run out of gas and probably blow any chance at making NASCAR's championship chase -- or make a bold move toward title contention by winning the race.

After a surprising gamble on gas by his crew chief, Vickers drove conservatively to conserve fuel. Then he pounced when race leader Jimmie Johnson's tank ran dry, taking the lead with two laps to go and holding on to win Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.

There was much ado about nothing leaving Bristol Motor Speedway last Sunday. The top 35 owner points in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series were reset for the first time this year following the Bristol race, guaranteeing a starting spot to the top 35 teams this weekend at Martinsville Speedway and forcing the outsiders to race their way in on time.

So, for those locked into the top 35, relief reigns at least for the next week. But my contention is the top 35 shouldn't even exist. Get rid of the whole system. I've thought that since the rule's inception but became even more incensed when things became completely convoluted entering the 2009 season.

Dario Franchitti is done with NASCAR, and if you're surprised, then, well, you shouldn't be.

Franchitti announced Tuesday that he'd be heading back to life in the IRL IndyCar Series with the same owner who drove for in NASCAR, Chip Ganassi. The move was a little puzzling especially knowing that Franchitti would be replacing Dan Wheldon -- one of the series' top drivers.

But more telling of Franchitti's move was how quickly the idea by NASCAR owners to bring open-wheel talent to NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series with limited stock car experience at best became a bust.

Franchitti is the third driver to take the reins in NASCAR with intentions of making a long-term career move at the beginning of 2008 to succumb to the economics of NASCAR. In other words, open-wheel drivers with limited experience struggle early in their stock car careers and sponsors just don't want to spend money and time on such a move.

That list includes Franchitti, Jacques Villenueve and Patrick Carpentier, and leaves just one question.

Who's next?

A huge wreck coming off of Turn 11 at Watkins Glen International Raceway put the Sprint Cup Series' Centurion Boats at the Glen under the red flag with just eight laps to go Sunday.

Nine cars were involved in the big crash that saw David Gililland and Bobby Labonte take some of the hardest hits the NASCAR world has seen at a road course in a long time. Labonte walked away from his car but will be transferred to a local hospital for further evaluation.

FanHouse's Geoffrey Miller is on-location at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Sunday's 15th Running of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

Hendrick Motorsports is running strong at Indianapolis.

Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon put their Chevrolets away Friday afternoon at the Brickyard with the Top-2 speeds overall of both Friday practices in preparation for Saturday's run for the pole.

In the heat of the afternoon, Johnson and Gordon were the only two drivers to overtake the 180 mph mark, with Johnson setting the pace with a lap of 180.047mph and Gordon following closely behind at 180.007 mph.

Elliott Sadler in his No. 19 Dodge paced the first practice session with a lap of 179.190mph.

There was just one incident in the two afternoon practice sessions as Sam Hornish Jr. -- more known at Indy for his 2006 Indianapolis 500 victory -- looped his No. 77 in the short chute between turns 1 & 2 without any damage.

Juan Pablo Montoya's brutal honesty is so, so refreshing.

Following Sunday's Lenox 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, JPM fully admitted that he intentionally spun Sprint Cup point leader Kyle Busch late in the event under caution after the two had bumped on track. Before we go any further, watch below at 0:46:



As you can see, the discontent among the two began when Busch drove JPM up the hill in turn one. The two continued to make contact down the backstretch and when the caution came out for the crash between Clint Bowyer and Sam Hornish Jr., Busch banged into Montoya's drivers side.

That was enough to break Montoya's last straw.

I don't call myself a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan, but I was happy Sunday afternoon to see driver No. 88 in victory lane after the LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Earnhardt Jr. managed to squeeze every last drop of fuel from his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to win the 406 mile race extended by a late caution brought out by a spinning Sam Hornish Jr. It was Dale Jr.'s 18th-career win.

Something just felt good about the day, and Sunday night, looking back on the day's event, it still just feels good.

There's so many things riding on the entire saga of Dale Earnhardt Jr. that have been pressing matters for so long for the driver who would much rather be much more recluse than he's allowed to be.

It seems that former-Indy 500 champion Sam Hornish Jr. might find his way back to the brickyard in May, despite his new career as a driver of the No. 77 Penske Racing Dodge in the Sprint Cup Series.

According to this report from the Sporting News, David Stremme is expected to sign on with Penske Racing as a test driver for the organization this week, leave a door open for Hornish to sneak back to the Indianapolis 500 in May if both he and team owner Roger Penske decide on it.

Penske's entry blank for the Indy 500 reportedly lists Helio Castroneves in the No. 3 car and Ryan Briscoe in the No. 6, but there's a big "TBA" beside the No. 77. It's all speculation at this point, but if Hornish should decide he'd rather run up front in the reunified IndyCar Series (he's a three-time IndyCar champion) than fight to stay on the lead lap in a stock car, Penske would have a test driver -- Stremme -- ready to fill the void.

I really should point out in this situation the use of the word "speculation". There's really nothing in this that states that this is a done deal.

Sam's definitely had some struggles this season in the Sprint Cup Series, and going off to race at Indy certainly wouldn't help that too much, but then again, Hornish will undoubtedly have a much better chance to win again there than he would at Charlotte in May.

I like to pretend I care about the IRL at least once a year, 'cause they do have this race that's like a pretty big deal or something. The television networks have even arranged it so that race fans can enjoy all the competition on the track without conflict.

However, the scheduling gods didn't allow enough time between races. To watch the Indianapolis 500 all the way to the end means missing most of Speed's "Raceday," which is the only NASCAR pre-race show worth watching. To skip it means to risk missing a breaking news item or the best anecdote of the week--or both.

Such is the dilemma facing race fans this Memorial Day Sunday.

I am genuinely interested in watching the 500 today. As most of my readers know, I follow A.J. Foyt IV, so I want to see how he does, and there are six previous winners racing, including Al Unser Jr. and last year's winner, Busch Series rookie Sam Hornish Jr., that also make it interesting.

Most* of my readers also know that I'm a female and I'm also supposed to care that three women will make history today when they take the green flag--but let's not get ahead of ourselves. For this tallglassofmilk, the estrogen factor only comes into play because McDreamy in on the scene.

Can the IRL drivers keep it interesting 'til the end? We'll see in a couple of hours.

Here is the sked for the day (all times PT cause that's my time zone):

IRL
9:00AM - 10:00AM - Indy Pre-race (ABC)
10:00AM -1:30 PM - The Indianapolis 500 (ABC)

NASCAR
12:00PM - 2:00PM NASCAR Raceday (Speed)
2:00PM - 7:00PM The Coca-Cola 600 (Fox)

* When I say most, I mean the ones that followed me from Answer this... to the Fanhouse. Some of the newer readers haven't quite caught on. But I gotta ask, how many men out there are that in touch with their femine side--their mammary glands in particular--that they'd call themselves a tallglassofmilk?