Kentuckiana Motorsports Presented by Lucas Oil

It is Championship Saturday at the Sportsdrome Speedway! This weekend, 2022 racers will be crowned at the Jeffersonville, Indiana short-flat track in the Clark Nickles Excavating Championships! It is a fun racing facility that over the years, Lucas Oil has given support. It will be a full night of battles. Some divisions are tight, other drivers just need to crank the car to take home a title. Nonetheless, a season of hard work by teams, racers, and car owners comes down to one night! After Saturday, there are still several events scheduled into early October at the Drome, about 5 minutes from downtown Louisville off Interstate 65 in Southern Indiana.

As for short tracks, it is going to come down to Bristol and the high banked speedway to see who advances in the NASCAR Cup playoffs. At Darlington, a non-playoff driver won, Erik Jones. At Kansas, another racer, not in the playoffs, took the checkered flag, Bubba Wallace. It was an odd race as many playoff drivers had issues, and finished farther back in the pack. One was former Cup Champion-- Kevin Harvick. He must win at Bristol to advance in the playoffs. The driver of the #4 last won at Bristol in the fall of 2020, so he knows how to win there. The active driver with the most victories at Bristol is Kyle Busch with eight Cup wins. Right now, Christopher Bell and William Byron lead the playoff Cup standings. Two names many observers did not expect to be up front at this time of year. However, knocking on the door right behind are two seasoned veterans: Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano. Back to Bubba for a moment. The 23XI team is owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin. It is new, growing. When it was discovered Kurt Busch could not run for a Cup championship due to ongoing concussions issues, they quickly put Bubba in the #45 car. That car and team obviously is more experienced, better prepared. It showed at Kansas with Bubba's win. Michael has money. You can bet in the off season both he and Denny will open up the purse strings and go after better crew members and behind the scenes talent. A question for thought? If Denny doesn't win the title with Joe Gibbs this year, does he move over to his "own' team to driver in his final years as a driver? We believe the answer just may be yes.

Speaking of Kyle Bush, he is on the move. And that is not a surprise. There has been a lack of intensity by Gibbs (And Toyota) to keep Busch, who has been with Joe Gibbs for 15 years, and is the all-time NASCAR win leader (In all 3 major series). It cost money to keep a driver like Kyle Busch. Not just salary. But a strong team, support for Kyle's dominant truck series program, as well as surrounding the #18 with top caliber crew members. Financially, it is hard to do when you have two other stars in the stable: Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. And the grandson of the team owner is waiting in the wings. In today's economy there is just so much money to go around. And lets toss in attitude. Kyle has displayed some nasty antics after races over the years. To many, it gets old. Yes he is a competitor, but many sponsors don't like performers who don't represent the product from A to Z. It took time for his older brother to figure it out. As of late, Kyle seemingly has grown up a little, at least in front of the cameras. With that said, there is plenty of fight and racing left in Kyle.

Louisville's Ben Rhodes has advanced in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series playoffs. He didn't have a super strong run at Kansas, but it was enough to move on. He is fourth in points. But note, the 4 racers behind him are just a few points behind. It is that close! Bristol, Talladega, and Homestead (Florida) are next. All tracks that should serve Ben well. The Louisville native needs top five finishes, and even better, a win to advance. The top four drivers in points after Homestead, advance... and will run for a championship at Phoenix in November. Ben is the defending truck series title holder.

Congrats to Will Power. He didn't win at Laguna, California, but ran a strong race, enough to claim the 2022 Indy Car Series title over Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon. We applaud the ICS. It has been a very competitive season. It has gained viewers and fans. In the weeks ahead, we will toss out some ideas on how the series can attract even more fans. Congrats again to Will Power!

They've been with us for nearly 20 years! We thank Lucas Oil as a huge longtime sponsor. We're able to talk racing locally and in other ways, thanks to Forrest, Charlotte, and Morgan Lucas and the entire Lucas Oil Family. Other backers: PNC Bank (Sponsor of Scott Dixon's Indy Car Series Car), Sportsdrome Speedway (Celebrating more than 75 years of Racing!) locally owned Bright Pest Control and Bright Retail in Louisville, (Offering Do-It-Yourself Professional Pest Products with a retail store), and Knox Ford in Radcliff (KY). KMS supporters also include: VoiceTel Kentucky (Offering telephone service for $25.00 a line, and that includes all taxes and fees), Temco Roofing, Andriots Paint, Flooring, & Blinds, ICA Dumpsters, Kentucky Raceway Ministries, St. Matthews Cycling, Nimlok Kentucky, Dynamic Healthcare, and Lyndon Mower Repair. We also thank our media connections in all series, especially NASCAR and with NASCAR Media for helping us bring the sport to the fans!

Thanks for all the entries and winners in our KMS Free Giveaway (Lucas Oil Driver autographs)! (See Giveaway tab in heading!). Our next Giveaway will be unveiled Wednesday September 21st! A hint, you will be able to use them in your car or truck!

Enjoy the racing!