Auto Racing: Hendrick dominant at Martinsville

The good news for the drivers chasing Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson in the Nextel Cup Series championship is that five opportunities remain to cut into their lead and ruin their season-long domination.

The bad news is that the second half begins at little Martinsville Speedway, the tricky track in Martinsville, Va., where their superiority is perhaps more apparent than anywhere else.

The Hendrick Motorsports teammates have combined to win seven of the last nine races on the 0.526-mile oval, and both will start at the front in today’s Subway 500.

Gordon is on the pole, and Johnson will be a row behind, starting fourth.

Clint Bowyer, third in points and only 10 behind Johnson, starts 21st. The daunting task of making up ground is made all the more imposing by the competition, he said.

“It’s not a back marker that you’re trying to chase down, it’s Jeff Gordon,” Bowyer said of the four-time champion and runaway active leader with 81 victories. “And it’s not only Jeff Gordon of two years ago where he was a top-10 car, it’s Jeff Gordon where he’s a top-three car about every weekend, so we know we’ve got to pick up our game.”

Bowyer has been one of the surprises of the Chase for the championship. He won the first race at New Hampshire, and has finished second twice in the four since.

He knows he’ll have to be even better to have a chance.

“Even if we do win two or three more races this year, it’s still going to take some bad luck on their side,” he said. “If you win, they’re going to finish second or third. They’re just that good right now, but we have to be that good too and hopefully if they slip up and stub their toe or something, we have to be there for the taking.”

So far, Gordon hasn’t come close to stumbling. He’ll be seeking his third victory in a row today, and has also finished second, fifth and 11th in Chase races.

Johnson, meanwhile, has two top-fives in the Chase, but will be seeking a season sweep of NASCAR’s oldest, smallest circuit, and his third victory here in a row.

Craftsman Trucks

Mike Skinner sneaked into the lead and held off Jack Sprague for the final 66 laps Saturday, helped along by numerous cautions that made the Kroger 200 Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway look like a brawl.

The race was red-flagged with seven laps to go after an accident coming out of Turn 4 that involved at least nine trucks and left wreckage and fluid strewn everywhere.

It went back to green for a three-lap dash to finish, and with the trucks behind him jockeying, Skinner sailed off to his series-best fifth victory of the season. Fittingly, the final lap ended with one more pileup.

Formula One

Felipe Massa took the pole for the decisive Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with overall leader Lewis Hamilton beside him in position to become Formula One’s youngest champion.

Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso – Hamilton’s rivals for the title – will start in the second row, with Raikkonen third and Alonso fourth in today’s race.

“I think we sit in good position,” Hamilton said. “It’s a good place for us to start.”