Formula DRIFT
Round 6: Locked & Loaded, August 21-22
Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California

It was the unlikeliest of finales, but when history looks back at Formula D's 2009 Round 6 at Infineon Raceway, they'll see the name of chronically hapless Stephan Verdier in the Cooper Tires/Crawford Performance/Rhys Millen Racing Subaru STI as the event's victor, winner by default after the motor in Ken Gushi's Scion Racing/RS*R tC gave up in the pair's first title-round lap.

Joining them on the podium was Ryuji Miki in third, nabbing his second top-three finish in three events in the APEXi/Hankook Tires/Exedy Clutch Mazda FD RX-7 after double One-More-Time tiebreakers against reigning series champion Tanner Foust in his Rockstar Energy Drink/Hankook Tire tC.

Formula D returned to Infineon Raceway for Round 6: Locked and Loaded, joining the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma weekend. It was the first professional points event in FD history to share the same stage with IndyCar. Fans were treated to both drifting and open-wheel racing action for an exciting combination of motorsports that kept everyone entertained.

The win was the first in FD for the Frenchman and rally driver. "This is a dream come true," Verdier commented afterward. "My first victory after three years of competition and it is also the first victory for a Subaru and for Cooper Tires. Today I'm number one and it's a great feeling."

Verdier, who has advanced only as high as Top 8 - and only once at that - in his three-year FD tenure, qualified in 14th spot and took out Kazu Hayashida's Maziora/Signal Auto/Exedy/BFGoodrich Nissan S15 Silvia in the first round, and current points leader Chris Forsberg's NOS Energy Drink/Maxxis Tire/Genius Tools 350Z Roadster in the second. In the Great 8, Vaughn Gittin Jr. and the Falken Tire/Ford Racing/Bosch/K&N Filters 2010 Mustang fell to Verdier's STI, as did Round 4: Las Vegas silver medalist Miki in the Final 4.

To get to the final against Verdier, 8th-qualifying Gushi had to best Robbie Nishida in the Hankook Tire/Dynamic Autosports/Seibon 350Z in Top 32 and Daijiro Yoshihara in Top 16, the latter pilot rebounding in the Falken Tire/Discount Tire/America's Tire S13 just days after totaling his IS 350 at the previous round in Seattle. Gushi then beat number-one qualifier Katsuhiro Ueo and the Behrman/Drift Speed S15 in the quarterfinals after a OMT to face Foust for an epic all-tC semi.

In the point standings, the championship now appears to be Forserg's to lose. The driver stands at 470 points with just one event left on the calendar, 56 markers up on Ryan Tuerck and the Gardella Racing/Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice in second. Forsberg needs 53 points at Irwindale to clinch the 2009 crown outright, which means he must at least advance into the Top 16 (and possibly deeper, depending on how well he qualifies).

Formula DRIFT returns to the "House of Drift" at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on October 15-16 for Round 7: Judgment Day for the season finale.

Formula D Round 6: Locked & Loaded
Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA

www.formulad.com

Formula One
Telefonica Grand Prix of Europe, August 21-23
Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia, Spain
Rubens Barrichello returned Brawn GP to the top step of the podium on Sunday by winning the 2009 European Grand Prix at the Valencia Street Circuit, coming home some two seconds ahead of pole-sitter and world champion Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren. Kimi Räikkönen and his Ferrari finished in third.

Hamilton led at the start as expected, leaving McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen in P2 and both using their Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) power boost to keep Barrichello in third. Behind them, Raikkonen thrust up to fourth, also using the Ferrari's KERS button. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel went with them after seeing off Brawn GP's Jenson Button, whose race soon collapsed with tire graining issues which sent him backwards early on.

Hamilton led until his first pit stop on Lap 16, leaving Kovalainen to take over on the 17th, when he too stopped. Thereafter Barrichello ran another three laps before refueling. That put his Brawn ahead of Kovalainen for the middle stint. Behind them, Raikkonen had no trouble keeping fourth ahead of Williams' Nico Rosberg and Renault's Fernando Alonso, leaving Mark Webber to fight with Button.

Hamilton had a lead of 3.6 seconds over Barrichello by Lap 36, but when he pitted again a lap later McLaren did not have his front tires ready after a late request to him to do one more lap came just as he was about to enter the pits. That delay proved costly. When Barrichello pitted from the lead on Lap 40, he was able to resume ahead of Hamilton.

The Briton kept the pressure on Barrichello all the way, but could not close the gap by more than a couple of tenths each lap until the Brazilian backed off right at the end, and it came down from 3.9 to 2.3s. Raikkonen jumped Kovalainen on the second stop, and the other Finn had his hands full holding off an aggressive Rosberg in the final laps.

Brawn increase their constructors' championship lead over Red Bull, 126 points to 98.5, and Barrichello vaults back to second place in the drivers' with 54 points to Webber's 51.5. Button leads the drivers' championship with 72.

Barrichello's win marked the 100th by a Brazilian driver, and he dedicated it to Felipe Massa, who had advised him on racing lines only last week. It was also the 250th race for the McLaren Mercedes partnership, and Bridgestone's 150th victory. And it left the title fight wide open as the paddock heads to Belgium next week.
The ING Belgian Grand Prix is set for August 28-30 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa (MFL photography provided by Brawn GP and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes).

Telefonica Grand Prix of Europe
Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia, Spain

www.formula1.com

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals, August 20-23
Maple Grove Raceway, Mohnton, Pennsylvania

Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) scored top honors during the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, the 17th of 18 events in the regular Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season.

Their victories came after a long day that required a lot of patience and persistence on the part of the NHRA Safety Safari and the race teams. After two days of rain, the sun came out on Sunday, but that ended up being bad news as it drew water up through the track.

The opening rounds of Top Fuel and Funny Car were completed and the first five pair of Pro Stockers went down track before the "weepers" began appearing just past the quarter-mile mark. Though crews attempted to quickly halt the seeping, their efforts were unsuccessful, and officials were forced to put the event on hold to do extensive work on the track.

That work took three and a half hours to complete, but was well worth it when racing resumed and performances got better and better as things moved along. Though the Pro classes and Top Alcohol Funny Car, in which Frank Manzo successfully completed his decade sweep of this event, were completed, time ran out on the rest of the Lucas Oil Sportsman racers, who will return Monday to wrap up eliminations.

Dixon added Maple Grove Raceway to the list of tracks where he's won, leaving just two — Gateway Int'l Raceway in Madison and zMax Dragway in Charlotte — where he has yet to notch a victory. Dixon's first Reading win was also his fifth of the season and 48th career victory for the Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi Racing driver, and he earned it by defeating the team for which he drove last year, Don "the Snake" Prudhomme's U.S. Smokeless group and rookie driver Spencer Massey. The final was decided almost immediately when Massey smoked the tires of his rail, leaving him to just watch as Dixon sailed to a 3.899 win.

Dixon, who was the runner-up last weekend in Brainerd, was nearly flawless all day, running sub-four-second passes in all four rounds. He opened with a 3.99 defeat of Chris Karamesines, and then won a critical second-round pairing against Tony Schumacher that decided who would leave Reading second in points, 3.96 to 4.02. Dixon earned a spot in the 89th final of his career and sixth this year when he dispatched rookie Shawn Langdon in the semis.

Massey continued to make a strong case for the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future award when he powered to his third final round of the year. The Chicago champ got an easy win in round one when Terry Haddock could not get his car into reverse after the burnout. Massey then powered to 3.96- and 3.97-second runs to defeat Cory McClenathan and Antron Brown to earn a spot in the title round.

Tasca had a nearly perfect outing as he wheeled his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang to his second career Funny Car victory, a performance that moved him up to fourth in the points and locked him into the Countdown to 1 playoffs. Tasca went wire to wire in the all-Ford final, getting a huge jump on Mike Neff, who got distracted and had a .184-second reaction time against Tasca. Tasca just added to his lead as he traversed the 1,000-foot course, outrunning Neff, 4.23 to 4.24, to turn on the win light.

Tasca, a three-time finalist who won earlier this year in Gainesville, clocked the third-quickest time of the opening round, a 4.261, to defeat Ron Capps, then powered to a 4.25 to trailer Robert Hight. Tasca caught a lucky break in the semi's when John Force red-lighted against him. Tasca's car had a broken rod and only made it a few hundred feet before losing power and coasting to a 6.78.

Though he came up short in the final round, Neff's run to the money round was a big boost for him in his quest to make the Countdown to 1 field. He did not move any positions in the standings, staying ninth, but Neff added breathing room between him and 10th-place Cruz Pedregon, who exited in round one. Neff drove his Ford Drive One Mustang to his fifth career final and second this season with wins against Tim Wilkerson, Jerry Toliver, and Tony Pedregon.

Coughlin started the season out strong, but he hadn't been to the winner's circle since Englishtown in June. The reigning world champ picked the perfect time to revisit, as his lead had shrunk to the point he could have been overtaken with an early exit. That didn't happen, however, with Coughlin going the distance, punctuating his march to his sixth Wally of the season with a 6.634, low e.t. of the weekend, en route to victory over surprise finalist Johnny Gray.

As he has done so many times before, Coughlin got a quiet start to the weekend, just qualifying in the top half with an eighth-best 6.712, but things really clicked for him on Sunday with a combination of strong runs and good reaction times carrying him through. He opened with a 6.72 to 6.73 defeat of Ronnie Humphrey, and then parlayed a .007 to .028 reaction-time advantage into a 6.64 to 6.63 holeshot win over Mike Edwards. In the semis, Coughlin went wire to wire against Jason Line, pairing a .032 light with a 6.64 to defeat Line's 6.67.

Gray's final-round showing also came along with a perfect time for him as he is among the drivers battling for one of the final Countdown to 1 spots, and the runner-up finish pulled him to within nine points of 10th-place Warren Johnson. Gray earned a spot in the final with wins against Rodger Brogdon, Greg Anderson, and Kurt Johnson.

Krawiec continued his torrid pace in Pro Stock Motorcycle, collecting his fourth win in eight final-round showings this year. Krawiec, who clinched the top spot in the Countdown to 1 earlier in the day, defeated Michael Phillips easily when Phillips, who damaged his engine in the semi's and had Steve Johnson's powerplant in his bike for the final, had troubles and clicked his bike off early.

Krawiec began his march to the final running low e.t. of the weekend, 6.970, to defeat Wes Wells. Krawiec then advanced to his 14th career final when Matt Guidera and No. 1 qualifier Hector Arana red-lighted in rounds two and three, respectively.

Phillips, who has shown promise all season with a number of top speeds, enjoyed his best outing of the year, qualifying second and advancing to the sixth final of his career. Phillips started race day from the No. 2 spot on the ladder and defeated Neil Jacobs, Doug Horne, and Bailey Whitaker en route to the money round.

The Full Throttle Drag Racing Series sets off next to O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis in Indiana for the granddaddy of them all, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals on September 2-7 (MFL photography provided by NHRA.com).

Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals
Maple Grove Raceway, Mohnton, PA

www.nhra.com

IndyCar Series
Infineon Indy Grand Prix, August 22-23
Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California

Dario Franchitti became only the second driver to lead an IndyCar Series race from flag to flag, and closed ground in the tight fight for the IndyCar Series championship on Sunday.

He won the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway, while Ryan Briscoe's runner-up finish gave him the championship points lead by four over Franchitti. It's the 13th time the championship points lead has changed in the 14 races this season.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing rookie Mike Conway posted a career-high third place and Mario Moraes also had a career best with a fourth place. Both drivers overtook Hideki Mutoh's No. 27 Formula Dream car on Lap 73, who ran to the checkers for his second consecutive fifth place.

Franchitti and Briscoe were clear of a first-lap jumble that entangled seven mid-pack cars in Turn 2. Scott Dixon, the points leader who started 10th at Sonoma, wasn't as fortunate.

Dixon's No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car continued after a hit and run, and he weaved from 15th on the 2.303-mile, 12-turn Infineon Raceway to 10th place until literally being bumped to 13th on the white-flag lap. Dixon's finish moves him to third in the championship standings, 20 points behind Briscoe.

The IndyCar Series travels next to Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., for the PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300, August 28-29 (MFL photography provided by IndyRacing.com).

Infineon Indy Grand Prix
Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA

www.indycar.com

Coming up:

American Le Mans Series
Mobil 1 Grand Prix of Mosport, August 28-30
Mosport, Bowmanville, ON, CA
www.americanlemans.com

Formula One
ING Belgian Grand Prix, August 28-30
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium
www.formula1.com

Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, August 28-29
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montréal, Québec
www.grand-am.com

IndyCar Series
PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300, August 28-29
Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, IL
www.indycar.com

Redline: Time Attack! Series
Round 6, August 29-30
Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ
www.redlinetimeattack.com

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, September 2-7
O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN
www.nhra.com

World Rally Championship
Repco Rally Australia, September 4-6
Northern Rivers, New South Wales, Australia
www.wrc.com

D1GP USA
Round 4, September 5
Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ
www.d1gp.com

Super Lap Battle Time Attack
Qualifying Round 4 (w/NASA Nationals), September 10-13
Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, UT
superlapbattle.com

National Guard American Drag Racing League
ADRL Flowmaster Dragstock VI, September 11-12
Rockingham Dragway, Rockingham, NC
www.adrl.us

Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge
KONI Challenge at Miller Motorsports Park, September 18-20
Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, UT
www.grand-am.com

SCCA SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship
12th Annual Petit Le Mans, September 23-25
Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA
www.world-challenge.com

Battle of the Imports
Round 5: BOTI Oregon, September 27
Woodburn Dragstrip, Woodburn, OR
www.battleoftheimports.com

Formula DRIFT
Round 7: Judgment Day, October 16-17
Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, Irwindale, CA
www.formulad.com