DRIVER SWAPS: Giancarlo Fisichella has left Force India and will finish the Formula One season with Ferrari. Vitantonio Liuzzi has been named to replace Fisichella at Force India.
SPONSOR TALE: One NHRA legend found a sponsor and another needs one. Kenny Bernstein has landed Copart to back his Top Fuel operation next season, but Don Prudhomme is losing US Tobacco as his sponsor and he needs a primary backer or an investor quickly.
EIGHT: Tony Schumacher tied “Big Daddy” Don Garlits with his eighth U.S. Nationals victory on Monday afternoon. Ashley Force Hood, Jeg Coughlin and Hector Arana were also professional winners at The Big Go at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
MIDGET CONCERNS: Car counts in the USAC Mopar National Midget Series have become a concern for track operators, competitors and sanctioning officials. So much so that this weekend’s Hut Hundred at Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track has been cancelled, and USAC sprint cars will instead race at the historic half-mile dirt track.
SUSPENDED: NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Matt Guidera was suspended for a year for violating NHRA’s substance abuse policy. He will appeal the decision.
TO THE TOP: With a victory, his 16th of the season, and a second-place finish, World of Outlaws driver Joey Saldana jumped to the top of the National Speed Sport News Power Rankings. The rankings appear weekly in America’s Motorsports Authority.
NEW WEBSITE: National Speed Sport News is quietly debuting a new design to its website—www.nationalspeedsportnews.com—this week.
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