TV TIMES - By Lou Modestino (for 9/10-9/12/10)

TV TIMES - By Lou Modestino (for 9/10-9/12/10)



Todd Bodine and Kyle Busch went at it in the NASCAR Truck race at Kentucky with Bodine coming out on top with the win. Bodine's comments while in Victory Lane about Busch's "dirty driving" resulted in the latter's rushing over into Todd's face, going toe-to-toe with him - no doubt generating some much-needed publicity for NASCAR's third-tier division!



In the meantime, Hilio Castro-Neves won the IZOD Indy Car race at the same site, long overdue. At Atlanta Tony Stewart won the Sprint Cup event, and he also was due for a win, with Edwards next and then Johnson. Jamie McMurray got to visit the Winner's Circle at Atlanta in the Nationwide race, while Brad Kasalowski still leads the Nationwide point chase by a wide margin over his rival, Carl Edwards.



Robin Miller, who covers the IZOD Indy Cars for SPEED, says there's going to be a shift from ISC-owned tracks to SMI venues owned by Bruton Smith. And as far as the IZOD Indy Cars go, it appears that Milwaukee will be on the 2011 schedule. According to the Atlanta Constitution, Smith was quite vocal about his disappointment of NASCAR ending the Sprint Cup season at Homestead, calling Homestead "North Cuba".



He's still smarting over the fact that ISC wouldn't change the NASCAR Cup finale to Las Vegas which would have resulted in the SMI principal to move one of the NHMS dates to Glitter Gulch. Having the last and deciding Sprint Cup date is a valuable asset. (So what's in it for ISC?) Smith wanted the Homestead single Cup date moved to late February, but ISC and NASCAR wouldn't budge.



It may have been Labor Day Weekend - a time for a little R&R, but there was no holiday for Tomy Drissi and the RSR team as they worked hard to return to the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series podium at Brainerd International Raceway. Driving the #5 Unstoppable Jaguar XKR, Drissi topped the charts during the morning practice session ahead of qualifying.



Looking for his second pole of the season, the 2009 Trans-Am champion recorded a best qualifying lap at 1:28.198 (102.043 mph) around BIR's 2.5-mile circuit, but fell just short of the pole. Tony Ave was the pole sitter, and Drissi started on the outside of row one. "I believe our chances of success were hampered by traffic," commented Drissi. "Ave got two clean laps and his second lap was the fastest one. My first lap was faster than his first lap, so I think we could have had the pole here and that is just upsetting."
Round 8 took the green flag on Sunday afternoon. Drissi had a good start, but it was Ave who took the lead. Ave and Drissi raced closely through the early stages of the 36-lap race before Ave managed to pull away and take the checkered flag to win by one minute and five seconds over Drissi. "Second place is OK; it is just frustrating to lose to Tony Ave again," said Drissi. "But at the end, he had the better car and deserved it."

"We never had the opportunity to run next to Ave during the weekend before the race to be able to compare our cars on-track. Times were close, but I thought that we had the winning combination this weekend. I think that it turned out that the #5 Unstoppable Jaguar XKR was better in handling and braking, but Ave had more speed on the straightaway. I tried to make up for that in braking and cornering, but I used up my tires. Overall, it was a good day for the team; we finished the race and returned to the podium."

Drissi earned his fourth podium result of the year. He remains third in the Trans-Am driver standings with 834 points, trailing RJ Lopez (in second) by only 55 points. With two races remaining, it is still possible for him to defend his 2009 title. The RSR team will have a quick turnaround for Round 9 of the 10-race season, which will be next weekend at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA, September 11 - 12.

The Malaysian GP has secured Petronas as its title sponsor for a further five years as the national oil and gas corporation signed a contract extension with the Formula One Group. The company will also enjoy extensive advertising, branding and promotional benefits until 2015, pushing its international expansion efforts. “Apart from the continuous benefits our businesses and brand receive through the Formula One exposure, our extension of the agreement to partner Formula One reflects our long-term commitment and continued dedication to support efforts to position Malaysia as a major motorsport hub and tourist destination,” said Mohd Medan Abdullah, senior general manager, corporate services division at Petronas.

“As the first modern Asian Formula One venue since Japan, the Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix has since been credited as the catalyst in opening Asia to the sport,” recalled Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One group chief executive officer. Petronas has been involved in international motorsport for the past two decades and has seen a steep increase in its lubricant business internationally ever since.
The Leaders event is to host a “behind closed doors” session for directors from teams, sponsors and broadcasters involved in Formula One.

The gathering will take place on October 6 as part of the event that runs separate conferences for the football, sponsorship and performance industries. Some of the guests already confirmed are Sheikh Salman, CEO, Bahrain International Circuit; Simone Perillo, secretary general, Formula One Teams Association; Rob Montague, CEO, F1 Rocks; Derk Saur, chairman, Moscow City Racing; and Ishmael Pena Munoz, chief director, La Sexta News and Sports.
“Everyone involved is also looking forward to sharing ideas and knowledge with all the other sports attending Leaders in Football and Leaders in Sponsorship in order to further develop new opportunities and business relationships across the sports industry,” said Leaders event chief executive officer James Worrall. The Leaders event takes place at Chelsea FC on October 6 and 7. This came from SportsBusiness.com.

Here's what's going on this weekend: NASCAR moves to Richmond, F1 will be at Monza, Italy, and the Grand-Am Series will perform at Tooele, UT. Check out RaceFanTV.com for all of the details.