June 2008
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June 2 - Valentino Rossi completed the hat-trick of victories this season at his home race, the Italian GP. Starting the Fiat Yamaha from his fiftieth
career pole the "Doctor" earned his 91st race win, breaking the tie for second for most wins in the MotoGP.

"After winning the championship, winning at Mugello is the next best thing for me and once again today it was like a dream," smiled Rossi. "There is
no way to describe the feeling I have standing on the podium in front of all of my fans here and I am so happy that I could win once again today. To
win for the seventh time running at my home track is amazing but I felt quite a lot of pressure about this, so it's a relief as well because I didn't want
to disappoint everyone! It's been a hard weekend for everyone because of
the bad weather and the lack of dry track time, but my crew have done a
fantastic job with the bike and my M1 was wonderful today. Once I got to the
front I was able to make a gap from the others but towards the end it was
unbelievably hot and it became quite hard to ride. I wanted to ease off a bit
but Casey was pushing hard behind so I had to keep going.

American rider,
Colin Edwards, finished in fifth on his Tech 3 Yamaha.  
Americans
Nicky Hayden finished 13th and John Hopkins dnf'd.

For the first time in his rookie year
Jorge Lorenzo wasn't able to finish in the
top five.
Rossi and his wacky helmet
Rossi celebrates
The Rizla girls can arrest me anytime
Rainy Friday Practice
June 3 - Newman/Haas/Lanigan IRL mechanic David Evans died on May 4 at age 63.  
AP News today says that he got in an argument over a woman in a Indianapolis bar with
a guy who then jumped up on a table and kicked him in the head.  Apparently that killed
him.  If convicted, James P. Brackin could face 45 to 65 years in prison.
June 5 - Multi-platinum rock superstars The Goo Goo Dolls will perform a Miller Lite
Rock 'N Racing concert Saturday, July 26 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, capping
a day full of action and excitement during the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.  A sample of
their famous songs include "Iris", "Slide" and "Name".

The Goo Goo Dolls will take the stage in the infield of the IMS oval for an afternoon
performance. The band's performance is free with $15 gate admission for the day, part
of the Miller Lite Rock 'N Racing concert series.
June 8 - Robert Kubica registered his first Formula One victory today, winning the
Canadian Grand Prix a year after from suffering a massive, barrel-rolling crash at
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.  

Kubica led teammate
Nick Heidfeld in a sweep for BMW Sauber. Along with Kubica's
maiden victory, it is the first after 42 races for BMW Sauber, the manufacturer-backed
team that bought out independent campaigner Peter Sauber. Kubica is now leading the
World Drivers' Championship.

David Coulthard came third in scoring his first points of the season for Red Bull.

Lewis Hamilton ran into Kimi Raikkonen, taking both out of the race,
June 11 - Due to the rain out of the Indy 500's pit stop competition, there was a
$100,000 prize sitting around.  The Speedway has donated half of it to the "Hole in the
Wall Camps" and the other half to help with the restoration of Belle Isle, where the
Detroit Grand Prix is held.
June 15 - Dale Earnhardt Jr., broke a 76 race winless skid (not counting the Daytona
125s) today when he won the Michigan International Speedway NASCAR race.

Earnhardt Jr. wasn't sure if he had enough fuel left to finish the race and shut his motor
down to coast as much as he could during the caution laps. He said that even though
they were really close to running out of fuel they were staying out and going for the win.

"We didn't have enough gas to make it until that caution came out," said Earnhardt Jr.,
who ran out of gas on the cool down lap. "We needed that caution. It is what it is. We
run out, we run out. We knew we had a chance to win the race. They can write what
they want about how we did it but we got one. We made it happen."

Earnhardt Jr. is enjoying one of his best seasons since starting his Cup career in 2000.
He has 11 top-10 finishes in 15 races and was been held outside of the top 15 just
twice all year. This is his fourth top five finish in the past five races and he is third in the
championship standings.

"I was thinking about the great opportunity that I've got with this team," said Earnhardt
Jr., who closed the gap to second place Jeff Burton to just 52 points. "I've got to thank
all of my team for this. I don't want for anything they give me what I need. I just had a
real good car thanks to them. It was a lot of fun today."

Earnhardt Jr. said that it was special to win his first race with Hendrick Motorsports on
Father's Day.

"It's pretty meaningful because of Rick," Earnhardt said Jr. "He's such a great man and
deserves so much. I'm glad to be able to win for him."
June 20 - After five years in the States,  Sebastien Bourdais is
finally racing again in front of his home crowd as Formula One holds
their French Grand Prix this weekend.  Bourdais is the only
Frenchmen in the race..  Bourdais qualified and finished second in
his last appearance at Magny-Cours  in the 2002 F3000 race.

The French Grand Prix Race can be seen on FOX June 22 at 1 p.m.
The IRL Iowa race is on at the same time on ABC.
The French Grand Prix was never supposed to return to Magny-
Cours. Somehow it did. Now, plans for the race to return to other
parts of France - Paris, Versailles, Rouen, Disneyland - abound. So
does a plan that Magny-Cours is offering to update its facilities to
tempt Formula One back. While several venues, like Silverstone and
Donington Park, are talking about renovations that could cost tens
of millions of dollars, Magny-Cours’ latest plans also looks fairly
costly, with an updating of the pit building, grandstands being fitting
with awnings, etc.
June 21 - Scott Kalitta died today when his Funny Car burst into
flames while going 300 mph and then smashed into the wall at the
end of the track.  It happened during the final round of qualifying for
NHRA SuperNationals in Elizabethtown NJ.

The NHRA said the 46-year-old Kalitta — the 1994 and 1995 Top
Fuel season champion who had 18 career victories, 17 in Top Fuel
and one in Funny Car — was taken to the Old Bridge division of
Raritan Bay Medical Center, where he died a short time later.

The Palmetto, Fla., resident started his career at Old Bridge
Township Raceway Park in 1982. His father, Connie Kalitta, was a
longtime driver and team owner known as "The Bounty Hunter," and
his cousin, Doug Kalitta, also drives competitively.

"We are deeply saddened and want to pass along our sincere
condolences to the entire Kalitta family," the NHRA said in a
statement. "Scott shared the same passion for drag racing as his
legendary father, Connie. He also shared the same desire to win,
becoming a two-time series world champion. He left the sport for a
period of time, to devote more time to his family, only to be driven to
return to the drag strip to regain his championship form. ... He will be
truly missed by the entire NHRA community."

Kalitta had most of his racing success in Top Fuel, highlighted by his
series titles in 1994 and 1995. He retired from racing in 1997, sitting
out most of two seasons before returning for a 10-race campaign in
1999. He sat out three more seasons following that brief stint and
then returned again in 2003, joining cousin Doug as a second driver
for the family's two Top Fuel dragsters.
Kalitta started his pro career in Top Fuel in 1982, running limited
events for four seasons before moving to Funny Car in 1986 for his
first full season of competition. He returned to that category full-time
in 2006.

One of only 14 drivers in NHRA history to win in both premier nitro
categories, Kalitta's last victory came in Chicago in 2005 in Top
Fuel. He had a runner-up finish two weeks ago in Chicago, his 36th
career NHRA final-round appearance.

He's survived by his father, wife Kathy and sons Corey, 14, and
Colin, 8.
Scott Kallita 1962-2008
June 22 - Former Champ Car Series champion Paul Tracy has
landed a ride for a truck race in September.

Paul Tracy, the 2003 Champ Car champion, will drive for Germain
Racing in the Sept. 20 Craftsman Truck Series race at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway, his agent, Doug Barnette, confirmed Thursday
morning. Tracy began testing for them at the end of May.

Tracy, who lives in Las Vegas, has been idle since Forsythe Racing
opted not to field a team in the newly unified IndyCar series. He
could do more NASCAR racing if sponsorship emerges, Barnette
said.
The Honda Racing Team is not doing well in F1.  
The Super Aguri Honda team folded.
Rumor has it that Honda may try to form an American F1 Team.
Rumors swirled that Honda was setting up a F1 test for Danica
Patrick.  Honda says "Not true," but that they would be interested in
discussing it.
June 24 - Music acts announced for the Brickyard 400.

Craig Morgan will serve as opening act for the pre-race
entertainment, which will take place on the infield stage located
behind the Museum.   Morgan is scheduled to take the stage at 10
a.m. (ET)

The Charlie Daniels Band will appear at noon. The entertainment
is free for all Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Race Day ticket holders.
June 28 - The RIchmond IRL night race was lame.  The track is way
too small for IndyCars.  There were so many spins and wrecks, it
seemed the whole race was a caution flag.  16 of 26 cars crashed!
Here was a race that should have been shown on ESPN2, but
instead was on ESPN.  Even though I think this track should be off
the schedule, RIchmond does draw a pretty decent crowd.

Rookie
Jaime Camara was having a good day and was in 5th near
the end, but then heartbreak hit when he spun and crashed.  He
even led for 44 laps during the first half of the race.
Tony Kanaan celebrates in Gatorade Victory Lane
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