JENSEN: Toyota/Save Mart 350 Blog UPDATED

Sprint Cup

JENSEN: Toyota/Save Mart 350 Blog UPDATED

SPEEDtv.com's Tom Jensen blogs the latest news heading into the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway...

Tom Jensen | Posted June 22, 2008 Sonoma, Calif.

SPEED's Tom Jensen interviews A.J. Allmendinger during practice at Infineon Raceway. JENSEN: The Answer Man (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images)

SPEEDtv.com's Tom Jensen blogs the latest news heading into the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. Check back for updates and don't forget to leave your comments below!

Blog Post: Sunday, June 22, 2008 9:51 PM Eastern

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR Juan Pablo Montoya, the defending race winner in the Toyota/Save Mart 350, ran second to race-winner Kyle Busch during the middle stages of Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Infineon Raceway, but contact with Marcos Ambrose dropped him deep in the field. The Colombia native rebounded to finish sixth, but the finish wasn’t what he’d hoped for.

“It was a good race car,” said Montoya, who has endured a frustrating sophomore season with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. “It wasn’t as fast as we need to be, but overall, it was pretty good. You know it was one of those deals where we were hoping for a little bit more. The team did a great job on the pit stops and we were competitive. We just got tangled up with the No. 21 (Ambrose) and that cost us a few spots.”

POINTS REPORT Kyle Busch’s victory in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway opened his points lead to 103 over Jeff Burton. Dale Earnhardt (-152) remained third, ahead of Carl Edwards (-258) and Jimmie Johnson (-326) as the top five drivers held sway in the points.

Jeff Gordon was the afternoon’s big mover, as he picked up three spots to sixth, 367 markers in arrears of Busch with 10 races left in NASCAR’s regular season. Completing the top 12 are Greg Biffle (-389), Denny Hamlin (-400), Kasey Kahne (-450), Clint Bowyer (-484), Tony Stewart (-500) and Matt Kenseth (-516).

The big thing, though, is that Busch’s victory, his fifth of the 2008 season, will give him 50 bonus points when the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins in September. As of now, no other driver has more 20 bonus points and Busch almost certainly will begin the Chase seeded first.

AUST STEPPING DOWN Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway was the final official appearance of Jim Aust as vice president of motorsports for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., and president and chief executive officer of Toyota Racing Development, U.S.A. Aust is retiring at the end of the month as the leader of Toyota’s racing operations in the United States. He has been with Toyota since 1987 and in motorsports for the last decade.

“My background, basically, was one of finance. So to go from that to motorsports, where really it’s about engineering and being a true racer is really a fortunate event as far as my overall career is concerned,” said Aust Sunday. “It’s been a dream job. To have the opportunity that I was given some 10 years ago to come in and be a part of the Toyota Motorsports organization is something I never really had any anticipation of that taking place.”

Aust said his favorite moment came in 2003, when Toyota won the Indianapolis 500 for the first time. “In 2003, we made the switch over to the IRL (from CART),” said Aust. “And to then go on and participate in the Indianapolis 500, and not only participate as a competitor, but to have Penske Racing and Gil de Ferran win that the first year we were involved in it, certainly has to be the highlight of the last 10 years, in my opinion.”

Page 1 of 4

12 3 4

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR

AUTOS: Score One For Cadillac
Cadillac has truly knocked it out of the ballpark with the stunning…
CUP: Dover Power Rankings
Despite a rare and costly mistake, Jimmie Johnson holds onto the…
CUP: Dover Sunday Notebook (Update 10)
Tony Stewart wins at Dover International Speedway...