NASCAR STAR GOES DRAG RACING

NASCAR star Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger in the Sprint Cup Series, has announced that he will be making his NHRA Full Throttle Series debut at the 41st annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals, March 11-13, at historic Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway. The 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion will be competing for one of the 16 qualifying spots in the ultra-competitive Pro Stock class in the Shell Dodge Avenger for Allen Johnson and J & J Racing. “Pro Stock is the tightest pro category as far as the elapsed time is concerned and it’s not going to be an easy task,’ Busch said.  “I feel me teaming up with Allen Johnson and the Mopar folks, we’ve given ourselves the best opportunity to make the show.” Busch spent a good part of his busy off-season testing with Allen Johnson and he earned his NHRA Pro Stock license with an impressive best-pass of 6.576 seconds at 210.43 mph at Bradenton, Fla.

EDWARDS WINS: BUT WAS IT FAIRLY ?

The feud between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski — dormant since Atlanta in March — erupted like an angry volcano at Gateway International Raceway. In a duel to the finish line, Edwards sent Keselowski hard into the outside wall on the way to winning Saturday night's Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 Nationwide Series race at the 1.25-mile track. As Edwards took the checkered flag two car lengths ahead of runner-up Reed Sorenson, Keselowski careened into the inside retaining wall and took a vicious shot from Shelby Howard's Chevrolet just short of the finish line. Less than a lap earlier, Keselowski had bumped Edwards in Turn 1 in an attempt to take the lead after a restart on Lap 199 of 200. Edwards' Ford and Keselowski's Dodge raced side-by-side for most of the final lap. With Keselowski edging ahead as the cars approached the stripe, Edwards turned Keselowski's Dodge, igniting a multicar pileup on the frontstretch. "I just couldn't let him take the win from me," said Edwards, who drew a three-race probation in March for unabashedly turning Keselowski in a Sprint Cup race at Atlanta, with the unintended consequence of sending the No. 12 Dodge upside-down into the frontstretch wall. "My guys work way too hard for that.

KESELOWSKI CREAMS ‘EM AT RICHMOND

RICHMOND, Va.—After a late caution turned a runaway into a challenge for Brad Keselowski, a late four-tire call proved decisive, as Keselowski stormed to the front from fourth place during a green-white-checkered-flag finish to win Friday night's Bubba Burger 250 Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway. Keselowski, who led 189 of 252 laps, had an advantage of almost two seconds when Paul Menard slammed the Turn 2 wall on Lap 245 of a scheduled 250 at the .75-mile short track. "I'm coming," Keselowski radioed to crew chief Paul Wolfe, steering his car toward pit road for a four-tire stop. Kyle Busch and Justin Allgaier stayed out on old tires, while Jamie McMurray and Greg Biffle each took two. Busch led the field to green on Lap 251 with Allgaier beside him, McMurray on the inside of the second row and Keselowski alongside in fourth. Biffle surged forward from the fifth spot, and by the time the cars reached Turn 3 on the next-to-last lap, Keselowski and Biffle had separated themselves from the pack. A lap later, Keselowski passed to the inside and ultimately crossed the finish line .261 seconds ahead of Biffle. McMurray finished third, Busch fourth and Carl Edwards fifth. Keselowski extended his series lead to 59 points over seventh-place finisher Kevin Harvick.

PORSCHES ON TOP IN ADELAIDE GT OPENER

Porsches have dominated the opening day's practice session of the first round of the Australian GT championship on the streets of Adelaide. Canberra driver James Koundouris in his Porsche 997 GT3 outpaced defending champion David Wall and Victorian Max Twigg to lead a big field of 31 GT cars. Tony Quinn in the controversial Mosler MT900 was the only car to challenge the Porsches which featured in five of the first six places. High profile Lamborghini driver Peter Hackett had to play second fiddle in the battle of the Gallardo's to local driver Andrew Taplin. Former GT champion Mark Eddy debuted his new Audi R8 LMS in 11th spot just ahead of the battling Dodge Viper pair of Greg Crick and Ross Lilley.

KASEY KAHNES THEM AT SONOMA

How strange was it for Kasey Kahne to win a road-course race? The driver of the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge had to ask his crew chief for directions to victory lane after taking the checkered flag in a green-white-checkered finish in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. Kahne held off road-course ace Tony Stewart through a succession of four late-race double-file restarts, the final time after Scott Speed’s spin on Lap 108 caused the seventh caution of the day. After starting from the rear because of an engine change, Marcos Ambrose chased the top two finishers to the line to claim third place, matching the best result of his Sprint Cup Series career. “Awesome—not too bad for a dirt-tracker from Washington!” Kenny Francis, Kahne’s crew chief, radioed after his driver crossed the stripe on Lap 113, three laps beyond the scheduled distance at the 1.99-mile road course. “Unreal,” replied Kahne, who gave owner Richard Petty his first victory since John Andretti in 1999. “Gosh, we had to hold him (Stewart) off for a while. We won a road-course race! Oh, my God, I can’t believe this.” Jimmie Johnson recovered from a pit-road speeding penalty to finish fourth. Denny Hamlin, who led 33 laps—second only to Kahne’s 37—came home fifth. Juan Pablo Montoya, AJ Allmendinger, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon and Elliott Sadler completed the top 10....

JUST FOR OUR DIRECTOR: HEMI HEAVEN FROM SPEED TV

NEW VIPER TO BITE DOWN UNDER

The Australian GT Championship has received a major boost with the news that regular competitor Ross Lilley will debut a brand new Dodge Viper at the final round of the series at Melbourne's Sandown Raceway in late November. The new V10 will replace Lilly's ex John Bowe Lamborhini Gallardo  which has been sold to former Porsche driver Dean Grant. Grant, is a veteran of  the Carrera Cup Championship (2003-2006) and was that Series Tag Heuer Champion in both 2004 and 2005.