IndyCar Tests New "Push to Pass" to add to excitement at HMS; while Jimmie Eyes a Fourth Straight NASCAR Crown Nov. 22

Six Motorsports Championships…Lots of South Florida Storylines
NASCAR Storylines en route to Ford Championship Weekend
at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 20-22
► Montoya Just Misses History in Indy; Holds Top 10 Spot
► JJ Thinking Miami Four-Peat After Win at Brickyard
► Backflippin’ to Miami? Edwards Fights for N’Wide Title
► Streaking to South Beach: Historic Four Straight for “Horn”
► Ford Mustang Heading on Track—and Not As Pace Car
► NASCAR Standings: Tony Tries to Temper Johnson

Montoya Just Misses History in Indy; Holds Top 10 Spot
Miami resident Juan Pablo Montoya was on his way to a historic day at Indianapolis last weekend before controversy struck the Championship contender. After leading 116 laps, Montoya was caught speeding on pit-road by just one-tenth of mile per hour. The former Indy 500 winner was forced to make a pass-through penalty on pit-road and relegate his dominant lead – and a chance at the win. A frustrated Montoya was heard radio-ing, “I swear on my children and my wife, I was not speeding!” Montoya finished 12th in the race to maintain a spot (10th) in the Championship-eligible Top 12 drivers as he makes a run for the Sprint Cup title at his “home track” of Homestead-Miami Speedway. "Ah, it kind of sucks," Montoya said after the race. "But it is what it is. Everybody on the
Target Chevy did an amazing job… I'm pretty frustrated, but it shows where we're goingwith the team." Montoya’s team has logged nine Top 10s this season—to match their total from the previous two seasons. Montoya sits in 10th position in Sprint Cup points with an eye toward a Championship during Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Nov. 20-22.

JJ Thinking Miami Four-Peat After Win at Brickyard
Seven of the last 15 Brickyard 400 winners have gone on to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway, including Jimmie  Johnson twice (2006, 2008). The reigning Sprint Cup Champion won his third race of the season last weekend, fending off hard-charging teammate and Championship contender Mark Martin in the final laps. “The teams that are on top of their game end up successful [at Indianapolis],” Johnson said post-race in Indianapolis. “I think that's why guys that have won this race have won the championship, because that team that given year is on top of what's going on. We'll see what happens, and hopefully [other Cup] guys in the fenced off area, in the garage area, are worried about it.”During the Nov. 22 Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Johnson will seek to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win four consecutive Sprint Cup
Championships.

Backflippin’ to Miami? Edwards Fights for N’Wide Title
The fight for the Nationwide Series Championship continues to showcase a thrilling duel between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, the 2008 Ford 300 champion who landed his second backflip of 2009 after last weekend winning at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. Edwards passed Busch with 22 laps to go and held on to win his second race of 2009. “It was a pretty good battle.” Edwards said post-race. “It was a lot of fun. That was hard, hard racing.” Busch is the current points leader on the strength of six race wins and an epic streak of nine consecutive finishes of either first or second. The Nationwide Series Champion will be decided in Miami during Ford Championship Weekend, Nov. 20-22.

Streaking to South Beach: Historic Four Straight for “Horn”
Ron Hornaday Jr, the 2007 Camping World Truck Series Champion, became the first driver in series history to win four consecutive races by last weekend beating Mike Skinner at O’Reilly Raceway Park.
“I didn’t think I could hold my breath that many laps,” Hornaday said of his battle with Skinner. "Four in a row, that's cool. Three has been done, and to do this says a lot." Last year, eventual Truck Series Champion Johnny Benson won three consecutive races but was unable to capture the fourth win. Hornaday looks to continue his winning streak Aug. 1 in Nashville in hopes of becoming a four-time Camping World Truck Series Champion during the Kids-FREE Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 20.

Ford Mustang Heading on Track—and Not As Pace Car
A Ford Mustang will be on-track in the coming years at Homestead-Miami Speedway— and it won’t be a pace car. Ford announced that next year the Mustang will debut as NASCAR’s Nationwide Series Car of Tomorrow.
In 2007, NASCAR introduced a new car into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to increase driver saftey and, in an effort to even out the level of competition, decrease the amount of cars teams would build. The new Nationwide car will debut at Daytona in July of 2010 and could be implemented in other races throughout the season. Nationwide’s 2009
Championship finale will be Ford 300 during Ford Championship Weekend, Nov. 20-22.

NASCAR Standings: Tony Tries to Temper Johnson
The Sprint Cup Series heads to Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania to tackle the tricky triangle for the second time this season—the next stop en route to the Championshipcrowning Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 22.
Tony Stewart leads the Sprint Cup Series Championship point standings with six races remaining until the Chase “playoffs”—the Top 12 drivers who will contend for the Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Defending Cup Champ Jimmie Johnson moved up to second in points after his Brickyard 400, followed by Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards in fifth. Denny Hamlin is in the sixth spot, ahead of Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne. Florida residents Mark Martin and Juan Pablo Montoya sit in ninth and 10th, respectively, as former Ford 400 winners Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth round out the Chase-eligible Top 12. David Reutimann, Kyle Busch, and Brian Vickers
sit on the bubble to get into the Championship combat.

IndyCar and Grand-Am Sports Cars Storylines En Route to the
NextEra Energy Resources SpeedJam Championships
at Homestead-Miami Speedway Oct. 9-10
► IndyCar to Provide Extra Horsepower Boost for Miami
► Key Biscayne’s Kanann Sees Effort Go Up in Flames
► Winner “Will” Find His Way to Homestead-Miami Speedway
► Florida Grand-Am’ers Sit 3rd Seeking Miami Championship
► Miami’s Matos Leads Race for Top Rookie
► Miami-Bound: Grand-Am Contest Delivers Another Winner

IndyCar to Provide Extra Horsepower Boost for Miami
When the IndyCar Series decides its Championship at the Oct. 10 Firestone Indy 300, drivers will have an extra tool at their disposal to make more daring passes on Homestead-Miami Speedway’s 18-20 degree-banked oval: a push-to-pass button. The electronic device initiates a power boost—of between 5 and 20 additional horsepower, depending on how their fuel mixture is set—from the Honda engine. The new feature will be utilized in each of the remaining six races this season, beginning with this weekend’s event at Kentucky Speedway.
Drivers will have 20 opportunities to activate the new device by a button on their steering wheel, and the boost will last for 12 seconds, with a 10-second recharge blackout. With drivers already hurtling around Homestead-Miami Speedway at speeds over 230 mph, this will make for even more thrills during the NextEra Energy Resources SpeedJam
Championships Oct. 9-10.

Key Biscayne’s Kanann Sees Effort Go Up in Flames
Key Biscayne resident Tony Kanaan expects to be cleared to drive when the IndyCar Series races at Kentucky Speedway this weekend after getting caught in a scary fuel fire on Pit Road in Edmonton last weekend. Amazingly, Kanaan claims to be fine, save for a burn on the right side of his nose and having lost some eyebrows and lashes.
“It’s like I got popped with a little firecracker at home,” Kanaan said following a doctor’s visit in Miami. “It’s not horrible.” Kanaan occupies the ninth spot in the Championship standings, while teammate Danica
Patrick leads the Andretti Green Racing effort in fifth place with just five races to go before the IndyCar Series Championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway Oct. 10.

Winner “Will” Find His Way to Homestead-Miami Speedway
Part-time driver Will Power—who filled in for Coral Gables resident Helio Castroneves earlier this season while Castroneves dealt with off-track legal issues—collected his first ever IndyCar win last weekend at Edmonton. The Australian has two more races in which
to make an impression—in hopes of propelling himself to a full-time ride in 2010—
before heading for Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Firestone Indy 300 Oct. 10. He built up his resume at Edmonton, leading from the pole and winning under a caution flag in a race marred by a pit fire that burned the hands and face of Key Biscayne’s Tony Kanaan. "That's close to a perfect weekend—a pole position and a win. I'm just really happy for the guys," said Power as he climbed out of his No. 12 yellow Team Penske IndyCar car. In five races this year, the second-year IndyCar pilot never has finished below the Top 6. A strong run during the Oct. 10 Firestone Indy 300 in Miami is likely to make Power a highly sought-after free agent.

Florida Grand-Am’ers Sit 3rd Seeking Miami Championship
The Grand-Am schedule has just three races left before the series crowns its Champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway at the NextEra Energy Resources SpeedJam Championships Oct. 9-10, and the Top 5 teams in the Daytona Prototype class are separated by just 18 points—co-led by GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Florida-based SunTrust Racing sits third in the Daytona Prototype points standings heading into the Aug. 7 race at Watkins Glen
International. “Speaking of the Championship, I have to believe that this one is going down to the last lap in the last race at Homestead,” Ganassi driver Scott Pruett said in previewing the Oct. 9-10 NextEra Energy Resources SpeedJam Championships at Homestead-Miami
Speedway.

Miami’s Matos Leads Race for Top Rookie
Miami resident Rafael Matos has a seven-point lead over Robert Doornbos in the race for IndyCar Rookie of the Year that will be awarded after the Oct. 10 Firestone Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Not that Doornbos is happy about it…. "We should have been leading it [the rookie race] so easily now and with a lot of points," he said. Frustration continues to mount after a gearbox break in Toronto cost Doornbos a possible podium finish—this after his car broke down at Watkins Glen; was shut down due to poor handling at Iowa; and ran out of fuel during qualifying earlier in the season. With just five races remaining before the Championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Matos will have his hands full in the rookie standings: Doornbos recorded a top speed of 209.584 during Spring Training at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March.

Miami-Bound: Grand-Am Contest Delivers Another Winner
The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, partnering with Pirelli and SPEED, has found a sixth winner of the watch-and-win contest for a Chip Foose-designed Ford Flex and a trip to THE Championship Tracksm. Ten contestants will win an opportunity to head to Miami for the Oct. 10 NextEra Energy Resources SpeedJam Championships. Each winner will be awarded a car key, and one of them will start the Flex.
"I'm excited—and kind of shocked," said qualifier Brittany Chavez. "I've never been to a
Grand-Am Rolex Series race before, although I watch them on television. It's going to be pretty cool." Fans interested in qualifying for the Ford Flex can watch the next three Grand-Am races on SPEED that precede the NextEra Energy Resources SpeedJam Championships Oct. 9-10. During each broadcast, a special Pirelli Prize Word will be shown several times, and
viewers must then visit www.grand-am.com/foose and enter the prize word for a chance to win. Full details are available at www.grand-am.com/foose.