Stewart’s win took a back seat to the division’s Chase for the Championship as EMP Stewart Components driver Matt Kenseth (No. 17 at right) stayed on top of the point standings with a solid fourth-place effort. Kenseth now leads Jimmie Johnson, second at Atlanta Sunday, by 26 points with three races remaining.

“We ran really bad on Saturday and everybody did a good job of putting their heads together to try to figure out what was wrong with our car and get it fixed,” said Kenseth, who started the event from the pole position after Friday’s qualifying session was rained out. “It drove terrible all weekend and we didn’t have much to adjust off of. So we just kind of put in what we had in the spring and made our best guess at it.

“I’d feel better if we had more of a gap, but it feels good to come out of here the points leader,” Kenseth continued. “We ran in the top five most of the night – top 10 at the worst. At least could come close to running with them tonight.”

At the finish, nobody could run with Stewart as he rode four fresh tires past Dale Earnhardt, Jr. into the lead with just over a dozen laps remaining. Earnhardt, who didn’t pit for fresh rubber in the late going, also lost second to Johnson but still had enough to nip Kenseth for third by a few inches at the finish line.

Not any more.

Jimmie Johnson won the 500-lap survival test on NASCAR’s smallest track in a slam-bang afternoon that produced 18 caution flags. In the process, the championship standings were scrambled leaving the top eight drivers separated by just 99 points with four races remaining in the season.

Harvick’s title came on a night when the Bakersfield, CA driver didn’t have his ‘best stuff,’ but he still left Charlotte with an insurmountable 775-point lead over Carl Edwards giving him the title with four races remaining in the 2006 NBS season.

“Championships are hard to come by in this sport," said Harvick’s team owner Richard Childress. "For Kevin Harvick to win this one for us...it was a great, great year. I am extremely proud of the whole organization and what they have been able to accomplish this season."

Harvick started eighth, never led, and finished ninth, one lap behind eventual race winner Dave Blaney. It was the first time this year that Harvick did not finish on the lead lap of a Busch Series race.

Vickers, who features associate sponsorship from Engineered Machined Products (EMP) on his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo, notched his first win in 107 career Cup starts capturing the UAW Ford 500 at Talladega Sunday while Martin, driving a Roush Racing Ford F-150 featuring an EMP Stewart Components Pro Series Water Pump, grabbed his fifth Truck Series triumph of the season in Saturday’s John Deere 250.

Sunday’s Cup event at Talladega took the green flag with a pair of EMP Stewart Components cooled Robert Yates Fords leading the pack after David Gilliland and Dale Jarrett swept the top-two spots with laps in excess of 191 miles per hour in Saturday’s qualifying.

“It’s just one of those years where everything has gone our way,” said Harvick after winning his seventh NASCAR Busch Series of the season Saturday capturing the Yellow Transportation 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Harvick’s  win came at the expense of fellow EMP Stewart Components driver Matt Kenseth. Kenseth – whose Roush Racing Ford won the pole for the event - led 145 of the first 165 laps and appeared to be headed to an easy victory.

A late pit stop, however, put him third on the raceway behind Kyle Busch and Harvick. Harvick quickly disposed of Busch – who had only taken two tires on the final stop – and then stayed in front of Kenseth thanks in part to four caution periods in the final 30 laps to take the victory.

Harvick beat Kenseth to the finish stripe by 0.423 seconds with Busch coming home third. Tony Stewart was fourth and Clint Bowyer fifth to give EMP Stewart Components four of the Top-5 finishing positions in the event as only Busch’s car was without an EMP Stewart Components Pro Series Water Pump.

“I don’t know, 300 or 5,000,” joked Burton (left) when asked about the length of his victory drought after winning the Dover 400 Sunday at Dover (DE) International Speedway. In reality, Burton’s last win came 175 races ago at Phoenix International Raceway in 2001. Sunday's victory was also his first win since joining Richard Childress Racing and proved to be special for the Virginia driver.

“I could feel my team with me,” Burton said, who scored the 18th Nextel Cup victory of his career Sunday. “This is a very emotional group. I dreaded coming back in the garage and looking them in the eye if I hadn’t won the race.”

The opening race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup ‘Chase for the Championship’ proved to be no contest as Harvick led 196 of 300 laps holding off Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon at the finish.

As he was at Richmond a week ago, Harvick was the class of the field beginning with the fastest lap in qualifying Friday. There, the Richard Childress Racing driver took the top spot for Sunday’s battle with a 132.282 miles per hour tour of the one-mile Loudon, NH oval.

The Bakersfield, CA native then led Sunday’s 300-mile race seven different times before crossing the finish line 0.777 seconds ahead of Stewart, a surprise non-Chaser this season.

Denny Hamlin was fourth followed by Brian Vickers, Elliott Sadler, Jeff Burton, J.J. Yelley, Dave Blaney and Matt Kenseth. Harvick’s win was his third in the last 10 Cup races, a span where he has finished in the Top-5 seven times. His victory Sunday also gave Chevrolet its 30th overall NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer’s championship.

Gienger, who clinched the International Motor Contest of America (IMCA) stock car division season championship at Marshalltown (IA) Speedway one week ago, was looking to put an exclamation point on the title with a feature win in the final race of the season at the third-mile clay oval.

“We didn't even have to show up to race this week if we didn’t want to,” said Gienger. “That made for a much more relaxing week prior to Friday night. No pressure, we were just looking to go out and have fun. We had more friends and family in attendance than we've ever had before. We wanted to make sure we showed them what we could do.”

Gienger did just that in the evening’s main event and riding the high groove and roaring away to what appeared to be an easy win. That’s when the bottom dropped out.

That’s what Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman provided this weekend as EMP Stewart Components cooled vehicles won every honor available during the NASCAR tripleheader at Bristol (TN) Motor Speedway.

Kenseth was the king of the hill winning both the Sharpie 500 Nextel Cup race Saturday and the Food City 500 Friday. Martin grabbed both the win and the pole position for Wednesday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. Throw in Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton taking the two front-row spots in the Cup race and Newman’s top qualifying effort in the Busch Series event, and you have a total whitewash of the NASCAR weekend.

“That’s pretty amazing,” said Jeff Canull, EMP Stewart Components general manager. “It’s a great accomplishment for any company to have their product on a winning NASCAR racer, but to have three wins and three poles in as many races – and to do it at Bristol – is really something for our company.”

Gardner (right) became the first Michigan driver to capture the overall title in the history of the Wisconsin State Red, White and Blue State Championship Stock Car Series when he rolled to the title Saturday night at Wisconsin International Raceway.

The event, which lists short-track legends Dick Trickle, Joe Shear, Rich Bickle, Alan Kulwicki and Kenseth as past champions, saw Gardner and his EMP Stewart Components cooled Ford add their names to the championship honor roll.

Gardner, who won his second Fox River Racing Club regular season feature event at WIR on Thursday night, got Saturday’s program off on the right foot qualifying sixth for the 24-car, twin 50- lap feature events with a 19.433-second tour of the Kaukauna, WI half-mile paved oval.

Harvick’s Chevy (right) was equipped with an EMP Stewart Components GM Pro Series Water Pump while Busch’s Penske Jasper racing engine featured an EMP Stewart Components/MERE Dodge Pro Series Water Pump.

Harvick rumbled to his first-ever NASCAR Nextel Cup road course win out dueling Tony Stewart over the final laps of Sunday’s 90-circuit event. Stewart had grabbed the lead from Harvick as the pair raced down the backstretch on Lap 82. Not to be denied, Harvick blasted back by Stewart off the final turn on Lap 87 making the winning pass as the pair entered the braking zone going to Turn 1. He then drove away winning his second Cup race of the season by 0.892 seconds.

Rick Crawford and Kevin Harvick set the stage for an EMP Stewart Components trifecta winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Busch Series events at O”Reilly Raceway Park Friday and Saturday.

On Sunday, Jimmie Johnson edged Matt Kenseth in the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to derail the EMP Stewart Components high-speed assault to deny the company the sweep of events in NASCAR’s biggest racing weekend.

Crawford (right) got things off on the right foot Friday driving his EMP Stewart Components cooled Ford F-150 to a win in the Power Stroke Diesel 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

The Mobile, AL driver took the lead with 32 laps remaining in the 200-lap event on the 0.686-mile paved oval and then held off a furious charge from Dennis Setzer’s Chevy to take the win. Ron Hornaday, Jr. finished third giving EMP Stewart Components a sweep of the Top-3 positions in the race. David Starr, Mike Bliss and Terry Cook, Todd Bodine, Ted Musgrave, David Ragan and Erik Darnell completed the Top-10 finishers in the event.

At Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna, WI, Gardner piloted his EMP OilMate sponsored Ford super late model to his first Fox River Racing Club feature event win of the season. Gardner, second in the WIR regular season point standings heading into the event, started 12th in the 30-lap feature on the famed Kaukauna half-mile oval and immediately headed to the front.

By the midway point of the race, the Gladstone, MI driver had advanced to third in the running order and when the leaders got together coming off Turn 4, Gardner made his move driving under the pair to take the top spot.

It was then clear sailing to the finish as Gardner not only took the event win, but he also grabbed the FRRC season championship points lead with just four regular season events remaining in the 2006 schedule.

Gienger and his Buick Regal stock car continued to rule International Motor Contest of America (IMCA) action as he won both his preliminary event and later the feature Friday at Marshalltown (IA) Speedway.

The twin victories boosted the Des Moines, IA driver to a 21-point lead in the season championship standings at the track.

“When you win, the points take care of themselves,” stated Gienger. “The second-place guy in the points finished ninth tonight, sot that’s another eitght- point swing in our favor and we now lead by 21 points with six nights of racing remaining.”

Gienger’s Buick, cooled by an EMP Stewart Components Stage 4 Water Pump, is typical of thousands of ‘Saturday Night’ race cars being campaigned on weekly short tracks across the nation. On this night, Gienger was the class of the field taking the lead in his preliminary event after just two laps and cruising to a seventh heat race win of the season.

Edwards got on the winning track Saturday afternoon capturing the New England 200 NASCAR Busch Series event at New Hampshire International Speedway. Driving a Roush Racing Ford cooled by an EMP Stewart Components/Yates Ford Pro Series Water Pump, Edwards beat Kevin Harvick to the finish line by 0.604 seconds. The victory was the third of the season for Edwards and the eighth Busch Series triumph of his career.

Denny Hamlin finished third with Paul Menard fourth and Clint Bowyer fifth. Johnny Sauter, Scott Riggs, J.J. Yelley, Scott Wimmer and Greg Biffle completed the Top-10 finishers.

Bowyer, who like Harvick was wheeling a Richard Childress Racing Chevy cooled by an EMP Stewart Components GM Pro Series Water Pump, was the dominant car in the field leading from Lap 16-142.

At Kentucky Speedway Saturday, Hornaday Jr. won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Built Ford Tough 225 behind the wheel of a Chevy powered by a Richard Childress Racing engine cooled by an EMP Stewart Components GM Pro Series Water Pump.

Ambrose, who had captured the pole for the event with a lap of 176.92 miles per hour in qualifying, kept his Ford F-150 on point in the race for 49 of the first 51 laps. Meanwhile, Hornaday, Jr. was racing his way through the field from his 22nd starting spot and made it to the front with just eight laps remaining.

Hornaday, Jr. then cruised to the win advancing his own record for victories in the Truck Series to 29 career triumphs. Rick Crawford, in another EMP Stewart Components cooled Ford, grabbed second in the final laps with Brendan Gaughan third in a Dodge.

Johnny Benson, Jr. was fourth with David Ragan, Ted Musgrave, Matt Crafton, David Starr, Erik Darnell and Todd Bodine completing the Top-10 finishers.

Cook’s Ford F-150 took the lead with 40 remaining and never looked back in cruising to the win in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250. The victory was his first in 94 races since he last captured an NCTS event at Indianapolis Raceway Park in August 2002.

Tires proved to be the difference for Cook – both early and late in the race. Cook appeared to see chance of winning vanish when he went a lap down after suffering a right-front flat tire on Lap 18 of the 167 circuit event.

Cook patiently fought his way back into contention and then, along with fellow EMP Stewart Components front-runner Rick Crawford, pitted for tires at Lap 107. Back on the track, Cook sped his way into the Top-5 over the next 20 laps before a yellow flag had the rest of the lead contingent coming to pit road.

Beauchamp’s No. 820 Chevrolet (right) – cooled by an EMP Stewart Components Stage 4 Water Pump, was the class of the field in Saturday’s Round 3 Stock Truck event taking the win with a pass in the final quarter mile on the 1.7-mile Crandon layout.

That moved Beauchamp into the division point’s lead heading into Sunday’s Round 4 battle. Contending with muddy race conditions, Beauchamp rallied from the ninth starting position to finish fourth.

This weekend, three EMP Stewart Components racers took to the track with varying results led by Mike Gardner and his EMP sponsored Ford super late model stock car.

Gardner (right) set fast time at the famed Wisconsin International Raceway taking the top spot in qualifying in the Fox River Racing Club weekly event. The Gladstone, MI driver then started on the outside of the fifth row in the 50-lap headliner and took less than 10 laps to work his way into the Top 5.

With a handful of laps remaining, Gardner, now in second, took a shot at the win only to come up in the runner-up spot at the checkered flag. The second-place finish was Gardner’s best of the season at the Kaukauna, WI paved half-mile oval and vaulted him into second place in the FRRC season championship standings.

Johnson won the ninth-annual event and the 10th of 23 races on the $50 million 2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series this season by downing Pro Stock division kingpin Greg Anderson in the finals at Route 66 Dragway Sunday.

Johnson’s EMP Stewart Components cooled Chevy Cobalt Pro Stocker got the jump on Anderson at the starting line with a stellar .012- to .050-second reaction time. Anderson proved to be faster down the track recording a quicker 6.641-second, 208.10 mph pass, but still lost to Johnson's 6.646, 207.46 mph effort thanks to the Johnson’s performance at the starting line.

Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton and Mark Martin (pictured right) all drove EMP Stewart Components cooled racers to victory at Dover this weekend sweeping the NASCAR Nextel Cup, Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series events.

In the Cup race, Kenseth led an EMP Stewart Components sweep of the Top-4 spots while Burton and four other drivers whitewashed the Top-5 positions for the Escanaba, MI automotive high performance cooling company in Saturday's Busch race..

Martin and Carl Edwards completed the trifecta for EMP Stewart Components take the Top-2 spots in the Truck Series race Friday.

“It’s hard to imagine doing any better unless we had one of our water pumps on every car in the field – kind of like Goodyear does with the tires,” stated Jeff Canull, EMP Stewart Components General Manager. “We’re having great success in NASCAR this season, but our water pumps are also winning in a lot of other places too. We’re having an outstanding season at race tracks everywhere.”

Hornish roared past the 19-year-old Andretti just yards from the checkered flag to on the final straightaway to win by a scant .0635 seconds. The finish was the second closest in the 90-year history of the Indy 500 – second only to1992 event where Al Unser Jr. beat Scott Goodyear by 0.043 seconds.

Michael Andretti, father of Marco Andretti, was third just 1.0087 seconds back at the finish.

Defending Indy 500 champion Dan Wheldon ruled the early stages of the race leading 87 of the first 100 circuits. Weldon, who would eventually pace 148 of the 200 laps contested, finished fourth followed by Tony Kanaan, Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Danica Patrick, the last car on the lead lap and the only woman in the 33-car field.

While Hornish was ruling Indy, a pair of EMP Stewart Components drivers took their bows in NASCAR Victory Lane Saturday.

The Iamsville, MD duo continued to rule the NOPI ranks this weekend rolling to a pair of division championships at Maryland International Raceway located near Budds Creek, MD.

Paul Efantis turned up the wick on his Toyota Solara winning the Pro Outlaw RWD title with a stellar 7.267-second, 190.48 miles per hour pass to win his final round match against Dennis Lugo’s Ford Mustang Sunday. Lugo broke trying to keep up with Efantis, as did Carl Stevens, whose Nissan 350Z proved to be no match for Efantis as he turned in an equally impressive 7.404, 187.65 quarter-mile pass in the semi-finals.

The 25-year-old Maryland driver is now a perfect two-for-two in NOPI events this season. A Justice Racing Engines powerplant cooled by an EMP Stewart Components Electric Water Pump powers his Toyota Solara.

Not to be outdone, brother Krysto Efantis rolled to his second-straight B.F. Goodrich Pro Street NOPI title this season taking the division crown at Maryland International this weekend.

Biffle, who won six times in NASCAR’s top division a year ago, had led 609 laps in the first 10 races this season only to have mechanical gremlins saddle his Ford Fusion with five finishes of 30th or worse.

At Darlington, Biffle returned to form winning on the ultra tough 1.366-mile track for the second straight year.

"It just feels good to be back in victory lane," Biffle stated. "This place never is easy. In the middle part of the race our car fell off a little bit and we really weren't sure why. But we worked on the car and I kept the thing off the wall until there were about 15 or 20 laps to go. I thought I was going to get out of here clean, but I got my Darlington stripe."

The Escanaba, MI company saw it’s line of Pro Series Water Pumps sweep the Top-7 places in the race as winner Kevin Harvick - along with second-through-seventh finishers Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle. Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer – all had an EMP Stewart Components product bolted on their racecars.

“That’s pretty amazing,” said EMP Stewart Components General Manager Jeff Canull. “Richard Childress Racing added our GM Pro Series Water Pump to their high performance parts mix this season and they have been dominating the Busch Series so far this year. That’s the third time Kevin Harvick has put us in Victory Lane in the Busch Series and the sixth time we’ve been there in 11 races this season.

“To sweep the Top-7 finishes in any race is an incredible achievement, but to do it in a NASCAR Busch Series race – especially with all the Nextel Cup drivers now in the series – is really something. It says a lot about our product and the teams that are using it.”

The event, plagued by rain most of the weekend, slowed qualifying times considerably as Beauchamp’s Ford powered Van Diemen racer (left) rolled to a lap of 1-minute, 33.6-seconds on the twisting Blackhawk Farms road course in qualifying.

That put the Green Bay, WI driver seventh on the grid at the start of Sunday’s main event.

“The rain stopped about an hour before our race but the track was still wet at the start, so the team decided to start the race on intermediate treads – half-way between slicks and full rain tires,” said Beauchamp. “Most of the field started on full slicks and a couple guys started on full rain tires. Several of the front-runners on slicks spun out right at the start and it looked like our decision on tires was the right one.

Kevin Harvick (right) and Clint Bowyer (below left) led the EMP Stewart Components parade finishing 1-2 in the Pepsi 300 NASCAR Busch Series race at Nashville Super Speedway Saturday.

Harvick took the lead with 52 laps to go in the 225-circuit event on the 1.33-mile Nashville oval and never looked back in rolling to his 18th-career NASCAR Busch Series win. Bowyer recovered from a two-lap deficit thanks to a problematic pit stop early in the race to finish a scant 0.504-second behind Harvick at the finish.

Meanwhile, Kurt Johnson made it an 'all Kurt weekend' piloting his EMP Stewart Components cooled Chevy to an NHRA Pro Stock Division title to also highlight the weekend racing action. 

Busch (left), who jumped directly from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to the Cup ranks in 2001, drove a Penske Racing Dodge outfitted with an EMP Stewart Components/MERE Dodge Pro Series Water Pump to the win Saturday.

He is the 16th different driver with at least one victory in NASCAR’s top three series - Cup, Busch and Truck – and joined Dale Earnhardt, Joe Ruttman, Ricky Rudd and Terry Labonte as the only drivers in NASCAR history to win in their first Busch Series start. The last to do it was Labonte in October 1985 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

That was clearly apparent in Sunday’s final rounds of the 19th-Annual O'Reilly Spring NHRA Nationals where Mike Edwards became the fourth different winner in as many Pro Stock events this season.

Edwards’ win came in the best race of Sunday’s final rounds as he nipped EMP Stewart Components racer Jim Yates (right) with a holeshot victory. Edwards got off the line with a .058-second launch, a scant .014-seconds better than Yates. That small advantage at the starting line was all Edwards, who last won in 2002 at Reading, PA, needed to earn the victory.

Yates, who already has two Houston Pro Stock wins to his credit, was looking for his first win since 2002 when he ironically beat Edwards at Maple Grove, PA. On this day, however, Edwards led all the way with Yates and his EMP Stewart Components Electric Water Pump cooled Pontiac nipping at his heals.

At the traps, it was Edwards by just 0.0098 seconds - approximately 3 feet.

Sure, there was the normal rock ‘em, sock ‘em action produced by the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series races, but this year’s Bristol spring events also produced a snowstorm that halted Saturday’s Busch Series event for more than 90 minutes.

That, however, was nothing to the storm of hard feelings that had driver’s pushing and shoving each other after Sunday’s Food City 500 Cup event.

Kurt Busch (right) led an EMP Stewart Components sweep of the first four spots winning his first race since switching to the No. 2 Penske South Racing Dodge Charger bumping his way by Matt Kenseth with less than 10 laps remaining.

The victory, Busch’s fifth career triumph at the ultra-fast Bristol fishbowl, wasn’t easy as the Las Vegas, NV driver overcame a cut tire while leading on Lap 61. It took more than 300 laps for Busch to battle his way back to the front of the field taking the lead from Tony Stewart on Lap 386.

That racing adage proved to be true for Jeff Burton (left) Saturday as he drove a flawlessly prepared Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to a win in the Nicorette 300 NASCAR Busch Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The victory was the first for Burton in NASCAR Busch Series competition since his win in the Little Trees 200 at Lowes Motor Speedway on October 2, 2002. Saturday’s win was also Burton’s 21st career triumph in NASCAR Busch Series competition.

"It has been a long time," said Burton after the event. "You question yourself. You question everything. I’m proud of myself, I stayed focused through all of it.”

Burton’s RCR Monte Carlo, equipped with an EMP Stewart Components GM Pro Series Water Pump, was the class of the 43-car starting field leading four times for 75 of the 195 laps contested on the 1.5-mile Atlanta oval.

The event will be contested on the Sebring International Raceway course, a circuit that originated on a World War II B-17 training base known as Hendricks Field. Since1952, the Sebring 12-hour classic and its associated events has been one of the most anticipated sports car events worldwide each season.

Kenseth’s Ford (right) fell victim to the hard charging Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson on the final lap as Johnson nipped Kenseth at the finish line by a scant 0.045 seconds. The close finish was set up when the final caution flag flew late in the race because of an incident between Denny Hamlin and Kenny Wallace that left debris on the track.

In a replay of the event at California two weeks ago where Kenseth held off Johnson for the win on a green-white-checkered-flag finish, Kenseth initially pulled away only to have Johnson make a run to the outside on the final turn.

"I just thought long and hard about what I would do if I was leading and how I would try to protect it," Johnson stated. "I got a good run off Turn 2 and kind of faked to bottom. He (Kenseth) went down to block that, and I knew that left the outside open. I was able to go up to the high side in turns 3 and 4, and once I had position alongside him he couldn't come out to protect his position."

Saturday’s Rolex Sports Car race saw hometown favorite Luis Diaz and co-driver Scott Pruett lead every lap of the Mexico City 250 Daytona Prototype event.

Pruett grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag and never looked back in building a nearly a 20-second lead before surrendering the car to Diaz during a caution-flag pit stop on Lap 47.

Diaz didn’t miss a beat as he thrilled the his countrymen in cruising to an easy 2.84-second victory over Colin Braun and Jörg Bergmeister. Mike Borkowski and 2003 Champ Car World Series champion Paul Tracy were third while Butch Leitzinger and Andy Wallace finished fourth.

The Roush camp gave at least part of an answer over the weekend sweeping all three NASCAR races – the Cup, Busch and Truck events – at California Speedway.

Matt Kenseth (shown left with crew chief Robbie Reiser) capped the Roush party Sunday rolling to his 11th-career Cup victory winning the Auto Club 500 at the 2.0-mile Fontana, CA track.

Meanwhile, Greg Biffle captured the NASCAR Busch Series race Saturday and Mark Martin made it two wins in a row in Friday evening’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event.

The trifecta also proved to be a bonanza for EMP Stewart Components as each of the winning Ford vehicles was outfitted with an EMP Stewart Components/Yates Ford Pro Series Water Pump.

Meanwhile, legendary National Hot Rod Association driver Warren Johnson powered his EMP Stewart Components cooled racer to his 96th career Pro Stock division victory giving the Escanaba, MI company one of its most successful racing weekends in recent memory.

Johnson captured the biggest stock car race of the season passing his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Brian Vickers for the lead with just 13 laps remaining. The California driver then held on through the heavy mist to take his first Daytona 500 victory and the 19th win of his NASCAR Nextel Cup win.

Casey Mears, fresh off of a victory in the Rolex 24 sports car race at Daytona earlier this month, finished second with Ryan Newman third.

Newman was the top EMP Stewart Components finisher in the event as his No. 12 Dodge Charger cooled by an EMP Stewart Components/MERE Dodge Pro Series Water Pump.

Elliott Sadler’s EMP Stewart Components/Yates Ford Pro Series Water Pump cooled racer was fourth while defending Cup champion Tony Stewart rounded out the Top-5 finishers.

There were several sidebar stories to Sunday’s race.

"When I went home from testing down here I told my wife (Kim), 'I think we have a shot at the pole,'" Burton said after taking the Bud Pole for this year’s race with a lap of 189.591 miles per hour on Sunday. "She looked at me like I was cross-eyed.

 Burton was the 34th of 58 drivers to attempt a qualifying lap for this Sunday’s race. He then had to wait out the rest of the afternoon as driver after driver took a swing at the top time only to come up a little short. Jeff Gordon proved to be the closest as the three-time and defending Daytona 500 champion turned in a lap of 188.877, good enough to start next to Burton on the front row of this year’s 500.

Burton’s No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevy was outfitted with the EMP Stewart Components GM Pro Series Water Pump. The pole was a first for the advanced, high-performance GM offering from Stewart Components and the first with RCR, which will use the EMP Stewart Components GM Pro Series Water Pump on all of its engines this season.

The event, one of the most prestigious in all of motorsports and the only 24-hour sports car race held in America each year, saw NASCAR star Casey Mears team with IRL IndyCar Series champions Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon to win the overall title.

The event took the green flag shortly after Noon Eastern Time Saturday on the twisting 3.86-mile Daytona road course and Mears took the lead for good with just under six hours remaining Sunday cruising by the race-leading Alex Job Racing/Emory Motorsports team while they pitted to make a half-shaft repair on their No. 23 Porsche Crawford.

The No. 02 Ganassi car, which had plenty of problems of its own throughout the event falling two laps down to the leaders three times, then avoided trouble the rest of the way to score the win by one lap over the No. 60 Lexus Riley of Oswaldo Negri Jr., Mark Patterson and Champ Car World Series teammates A.J. Allmendinger and Justin Wilson.

"I just can't believe I'm sitting here right now as a winner of this race," Mears said. "I honestly didn't think this would happen like this, so I'm very excited to have this one. First off, what a team Scott, Dan and I had behind us. I just can't explain it. These Ganassi guys went over the wall and back all night to keep this car running. Without them there's no way we could have accomplished this.”

If veteran sports car engine builder Bob Cronin (left) has his way, he’ll be standing in Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway this Sunday celebrating a second-straight overall win in the prestigious event.

“Winning at Daytona was a goal I always wanted to achieve and we met that goal last year,” said Cronin, whose CRD tooled, EMP Stewart Components cooled Pontiac engine powered Wayne Taylor, Max Angelelli, Emanuel Collard and Ryan Briscoe to the overall victory in the 2005 Rolex 24 classic. “A repeat would be fantastic. It’s only happened one other time before where the same team repeated the next year. To do that would make my year.”

A win this year would equal the back-to-back overall victories in the Rolex 24 since Al Holbert, Derek Bell and Al Unser Jr. in 1986 and 1987. In addition to the Daytona win last year, Cronin’s Pontiac Riley went on to capture the 2005 Grand American Road Racing season championship winning three additional races. More importantly, the team exhibited an unmatched consistency record completing every lap contested throughout the 2005 season.

“It will be a little more hard fought this year,” said Cronin in assessing the 2006 Grand American Daytona Prototype championship campaign. “The bar has been raised."

As usual, the center of that activity has been Daytona International Speedway and among the first to take to the track this season was the 2005 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series championship winning team of Max Angelelli and Wayne Taylor.

Along with fellow team drivers Emmanuel Collard and Ryan Brisco, their Riley Motorsports Sun Trust Pontiac posted the second fastest time in preparation for this year’s Daytona Rolex 24, the most prestigious road race in this country each year.

Their time on the combined Daytona oval and road course layout was a stellar 1-minute, 43.6698-second lap, just a tick slower than the 1:43.431 turned in by the Alex Job Team Porsche team.

“We’ve had some great gains over the past two years, but we also realized that if we were to continue to grow, we needed to continue to expand our product distribution base,” said EMP Stewart Components General Manager Jeff Canull. “The majority of our distributors are located on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Given the recent on-track and sales success of our products, this seemed to be a perfect time to concentrate on further developing our West Coast sales and master distributor network.”

Canull’s first step in the new West Coast development program was to hire Scott Witz (pictured above right) to oversee the initiative. Witz, a Tucson, AZ native, comes to EMP Stewart Components with a wealth of experience gained over the past decade in the NASCAR ranks.

Moved from Indianapolis, IN to Orlando, FL and the Orange County Convention Center, this year’s show featured hundreds of very cool racecars.

As always, EMP Stewart Components was right in the middle of the action showcasing it race-winning performance heritage line of engine cooling products.

To see some of the best ground pounding, mud slinging race rockets on display at the show this year, please visit the Image Gallery on EMP Stewart Components where we have posted our largest photo review ever.

There, you’ll see over 45 images of the 18th-Annual PRI Show.

Just click on the link below and, as always, enjoy!

http://www.stewartcomponents.com/photog/thumbnails.php?album=13   

After a record registration of nearly 1,400 exhibits and three days of large crowds attending this year’s event held December 1-3, the answer was a resounding ‘yes.’

“Just about everything at this year’s show was better,” said EMP Stewart Components general manager Jeff Canull. “The facility (left) was beautiful with plenty of space for everyone. Having everything all on one level, in one hall, was great and there was plenty of traffic at the show all three days. Plus the Florida weather was great all three days – not the winter stuff we were used to in the past in Indianapolis. It was a great show and I can see it coming back here to Orlando for years to come.”

Virtually every type of EMP Stewart Components water pump visited Victory Lane this season, whether it was bolted on to a stock car, dragster, sports car or off-road vehicle.

New products, like the EMP Stewart Components/Yates Ford Pro Series Water Pump, dominated the final half of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup season while old favorites like the EMP Stewart Components Electric Water Pump captured multiple drag racing titles.

Throw in a championship in the highest form of sports car racing in the United States – the Grand American Rolex Daytona Prototype division - and you have the best season in the history of EMP Stewart Components.

“We’ve had an incredible year, both on the racetrack and also from a sales standpoint,” stated Jeff Canull, General Manager of EMP Stewart Components. “We’ve always had great results, but this year, our racing performance heritage really showed itself. It’s been a fantastic year for EMP Stewart Components on all fronts.”

All eyes were focused on the 1.5-mile South Florida track as the big NASCAR weekend took center stage hosting the final races of the year.

Sunday’s Nextel Cup race provided a thrilling finish to the season as Biffle (pictured above) bested Mark Martin for the win in the Ford 400 by 0.017-seconds – about two feet – and Stewart grabbed his second career Cup title.

Biffle’s win was his sixth of the season and gave the EMP Stewart Components/Yates Ford Pro Series Water Pump eight victories in the final 17 Cup events of the year after the new high-performance product was introduced to the series at midseason.

The 1-2-3-4 finish by Biffle, Martin, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards also marked the second time in the last three Cup races of the season that cars cooled by the EMP Stewart Components/Yates Ford Pro Series Water Pump swept at least the first three positions.

Busch drove to his second Nextel Cup victory of the season beating Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon to the finish line by 0.609 seconds to win Sunday’s race on the one-mile PIR oval. Meanwhile, Stewart finished fourth in front of his Joe Gibbs teammate Bobby Labonte to take a 52-point lead in the championship standings heading into the final event of the season next weekend at Homestead, FL.

Busch, racing in part for his brother Kurt who was released from his Jack Roush ride for the rest of the season prior to the event after an altercation with the local police Friday night, took the lead with 27 laps to go and never looked back in scoring the victory over Biffle.

Biffle, whose Roush Racing Ford was cooled by an EMP Stewart Components/Yates Pro Series Water Pump, couldn’t close the gap at the finish and had to settle for second.

"We wanted to win, but we came here and led a lot of laps and ran real strong and finished second,” said Biffle. “It just goes to show how solid this race team is."

At Mexico City, Max Angelelli and Wayne Taylor captured the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype season championship while up the coast in Pomona, CA, Jeg Coughlin powered his way to a Pro Stock division victory in the final National Hot Rod Association drag racing meet of the season.

Deep in the heart of Texas, Carl Edwards led a sweep of the first three positions in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Dickies 500 stock car race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Each of the winning and top finishing cars were cooled by an EMP Stewart Components water pump giving the company bragging rights on the raceway this weekend.

Mark Martin (left) won his 35th career Cup event while his Roush Racing teammates Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards finished second and third, respectively, in Sunday's Banquet 400. All three cars utilized the EMP Stewart Components/Yates Ford Pro Series Water Pump in their Yates/Roush Racing Engines.

Matt Kenseth got the weekend off to a quick start pushing his No. 17 Roush Racing Ford to a lap of 180.856 miles per hour to win the pole position in time trials Friday. The effort just barely nipped Biffle for the pole and gave the new EMP Stewart Components/Yates Ford Pro Series Water Pump a sweep of the top two qualifying positions.

Jarrett, who started on the outside of the front row, led just two laps – the third and the last - to break a personal 98-race winless streak in pushing his No. 88 Robert Yates Racing owned Ford Taurus to the victory.

"We were so used to winning in those days,” said Jarrett, who hadn’t won since taking the checkered flag at Rockingham, NC in 2003. “I didn't see any reason we wouldn't just continue right on doing that at least a couple of times each year. Over the past couple of years, we haven't been in position to do that as much. I think we've got some more victories to go, but in case that doesn't happen, we'll make sure we enjoy this one."

It was an all EMP Stewart Components cooled front row as Jarrett and his RYR teammate, Elliott Sadler, dominated qualifying Friday.

Angelelli overcame the late charge of Scott Pruett and an encounter with a wood chuck with three laps remaining to win by 0.473 seconds.

While racing without rearview mirrors over the final third of the event was hard enough in his battle with Pruett, it was contact with the animal that proved to be the most unnerving for Angelelli in the final laps.

“This is going to be my first time participating in the Runoffs,” said Beauchamp (right), who will wheel an EMP Stewart Components sponsored Van Diemen in the Formula Continental finale at Mid-Ohio. “This has been my first year of national competition and the first year that I have scored national points.

"I’d like to get a podium (Top-3) finish because, realistically, I think I have a Top-10 car,” Beauchamp continued. “That’s the main goal. I think Top-10 is definitely in reach. Anything above that is icing on the cake.”

The trio of Blue Oval boys sang a perfect tune at Richmond International Raceway Saturday sweeping the first three spots and in the process also gave EMP Stewart Components a 1-2-3 finish in the NASCAR Nextel Cup race.

"I've respected this place because it's tough to win and we've had everything go wrong to take our chances away, but tonight there were just great pit stops - smooth on the gas, smooth on the brakes,” said Busch. “With the way we've been running this year on short tracks, this finally gets us a win on all the short tracks. This is a great momentum run for us to jump into the Chase."

The most prestigious event on the NHRA tour, this year’s U.S. Nationals featured the mighty Xplod Sport Compact Racing Series Pro Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) cars for the first time in the history of the race. The Pro RWD category was the only division to be invited to compete for the Xplod series’ debut at Indy.

The Pro RWD, the Pro FWD, Modified, Hot Rod, and All Motor categories represent the five pro categories that comprise the NHRA Xplod Sport Compact Racing Series.

Matt Kenseth (No. 17 right) drove his Roush Racing Ford to a dominating win in the Sharpie 500 Cup Saturday while Ryan Newman continued his winning ways in the NASCAR Busch Series capturing the rain-delayed Food City 250 at Bristol Friday.

Kenseth led a whopping 415 of the 500 laps in Saturday’s Cup race en route to breaking a 56-race winless streak for the Cambridge, WI driver. The 2003 Cup champion was the man to beat in his No. 17 Ford taking the pole in time trials Friday, just his second top qualifying effort since joining the Cup ranks in 2000.

Kenseth led throughout the event taking the top spot for the final time on Lap 428 after pitting for four new tires and fuel.

Newman (left) rolled to his second consecutive NBS win Saturday capturing the Domino’s Pizza 250 at Michigan International Speedway. The South Bend, IN driver did it the hard way starting from the back of the 43-car field taking the lead late in the event passing Greg Biffle on a restart with just six laps remaining.

"At the end of the race, I think my car was the best it had been and (Biffle's) car wasn't as good as it had been," Newman said. "I knew I was going to go for whatever it was, even if it was for broke. I just got a good restart."

Max Angelelli and Wayne Taylor led the way as they scored their fourth Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series victory of the season and their second-in-a-row in the CompUSA 200 Watkins Glen, NY Friday .

Taylor started fifth in the No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Riley and stayed in the hunt before Angelelli took over just past the midway point of the event on the famed 11-turn road course. Angelelli later slipped past race-leader Scott Pruett in the "inner loop" chicane on Lap 55 of the 75-lap event and never looked back in scoring a 0.711 second victory over Alex Gurney who finished second.

The technically advanced sports car is powered by a CRD racing engine that is cooled by an EMP Stewart Components water pump.

Angelelli and Taylor captured the event by 18.585 seconds over the No. 19 BMW Riley of Michael McDowell and Memo Gidley.

Earlier this season, the car, which is powered by a CRD Racing Engine and cooled by an EMP Stewart Components Water Pump, won the 24 hours of Daytona.

Sunday’s win boosted Angelelli and Taylor to a 14-point lead in the Daytona Prototype driver standings. They now lead Lexus Riley co-drivers Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz by a 247-233 margin.

The Escanaba, MI company scored a clean sweep of the Top-5 positions of the race with one of its water pumps bolted on to the engine of all five frontrunners.

Kurt Busch (above left) won the 500-mile, 4-hour plus grind in sweltering conditions. His Roush/Yates Racing Engine, featuring the new EMP Stewart Components/Yates Ford Pro Series Water Pump, never skipped a beat.

The win was the second of the year for the defending Nextel Cup champion and the 13th Busch’s career – all behind the wheel of the No. 97 Ford Taurus.

Meanwhile, Sunday’s victory was the first for the EMP Stewart Components/Yates Ford Pro Series Water Pump (right), which was just introduced into Nextel Cup competition at Charlotte earlier this year.

Johnson’s AC Delco Chevrolet Cobalt (right) took a leisurely single pass run to capture the Pro Stock title at the meet after his opponent, Ron Krisher, totaled his car just after his semifinal victory over Jeg Coughlin.

Staged by himself in the final, Johnson made a slow victory pass in the final. His official winning time was 16 seconds at 75 mph.

"It sucks to win like that," said Johnson, who didn't bother with a burnout and basically idled down the track to the victory. “It was weird to go down the track and shut off early and just coast in quiet like that but that's the way it went down. It feels like I only did three-quarters of my job today. I didn't want to mess up the track for the guys behind us. A win is a win. I've had plenty of tough losses so I'll take this one."

On Sunday, Johnson (right) delivered another lesson, this one to Dave Connolly, in capturing the Pro Stock title at the Mopar Mile High Nationals at Denver, CO.

Johnson’s GM Performance Parts Pontiac not only outlasted the competition throughout the weekend, but also won an epic staging battle with Connolly as the pair lined up for the Sunday’s championship final.

Efantis ruled the B.F. Goodrich Pro Street division, not only taking the regularly scheduled Bristol division final, but also winning the finals rained out at Rockingham (NC) Dragway two weeks ago.

It was an all EMP Stewart Components pairing in both division finals as Efantis and his Lucas Oil sponsored Toyota Solara squared off against Gary White and his potent Toyota Celica.

The veteran driver, owner of 55 career Nextel Cup wins, scored his seventh Top-5 finish in 45 Daytona starts keeping his EMP Stewart Components cooled Dodge Charger near the front of the pack all night long. The solid effort also kept Wallace near the top of the standings in the Nextel Cup “Chase for the Championship” moving him to fifth place, 205 markers out of the top spot held by new leader Jimmie Johnson.

Wallace finished 16th in the final standings a year ago.

“It was a good way to close out my career here at Daytona,” said Wallace, whose Penske South Racing entry features an EMP Stewart Components/MERE Dodge Pro Series Water Pump.

“It was a big hit even though it didn’t go down the track,” said Arslanian, who debuted the car at the National Drag Racing Association (NDRA) NOPI event at Rockingham (NC) Dragway last weekend. “Unfortunately, the car didn’t perform the way we had hoped. There was a large flame that shot out the back and made the engine bog down. Before the lights on the tree came down, the engine built up so much boost that the computer tried to turn it back down just as I was letting the clutch out. Talk about bad timing. The car moved, but it moved with no power. Then I banged second gear and smoked the tires.”

(Shots of Arslanian's new dragster at Rockingham are featured in the StewartComponents.com Image Gallery under Ara Arslanian Rockingham Dragster. )

A total of 26 cars showed up hoping to get one the ‘Sweet 16’ spots in Sunday’s final round eliminations. For the second week in a row, Johnson (right) powered his EMP Stewart Components cooled AC Delco Cobalt to the top qualifying spot with a 6.750 second, 204.14 miles per hour pass.

Warren Johnson (third), Jeg Coughlin (seventh), Larry Morgan (14th) and Jim Yates (15th) gave the EMP Stewart crowd five cars in Sunday’s finals competition. All five drivers use the EMP Stewart Components Electric Water Pump.

That’s why when the legendary NASCAR engine builder was in the market for new water pump for his Ford racing powerplants, he enlisted the help of EMP Stewart Components.

“We met the guys in the EMP engineering department a couple of years ago and we were very impressed with them,” said Yates (left), who in association with Roush Racing produces the Ford engines used in NASCAR Nextel Cup Series on a weekly basis. “I was around a little bit when EMP came up with the Dodge pump (the EMP Stewart Components/MERE Dodge Water Pump) and I was really impressed with that. Since then, I have been pushing to get EMP to do a pump with us and we finally got it. The guys did a great job with it. We’ve produced an excellent water pump together in large part because the EMP guys are the best in the business. We’re really happy to have that association and this new product.”

Over the first third of the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series season, Yates has used the new EMP Stewart Components/Yates Ford Pro Series Water Pump (right) with spectacular results. With Dale Jarrett and Elliott Sadler doing the driving, the No. 90 Citifinancial team has rolled to six Top-10 finishes in just 11 events. Not bad for a team that didn’t exist a little over six months ago.

Personett drove his Titan Motorsports Toyota Celica to a Pro Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) division victory defeating Matt Scranton in the finals.

In a battle of EMP Stewart Components racers, Personett, the 2004 NHRA Sport Compact Driver of the Year and Scranton, last year’s NHRA Pro RWD champion, put on a great show with Personett blazing through the traps first with a 6.84 seconds, 207.85 miles per hour run. Scranton, who got out of the starting gate first, posted a 6.90, 202.03 effort but could only watch as Personett rolled by for the win at the top end of the track.

Driving a Chevrolet Silverado in the Stock Truck division, Wells rebounded from a mechanical problem in Saturday’s Round 3 action to take the CORR Stock Truck Division Round 4 win in the Mole Lake Regency Casino Off Road Championships near Antigo, WI Sunday.

Biffle had the winning play taking the lead on Lap 241 of the 400-lap event on the Dover “Monster Mile” surrendering the point only one time in the final 160 circuits.

Meanwhile, the Dodge Chargers of EMP Stewart Components racers Wallace and Newman were also racing their way to the payout window with top performances.

The field for the 72nd Cup clash on the Dover track was set by points after rain washed out Friday’s qualifying activities.

Newman was in the thick of all the action at the 1.5-mile Charlotte, NC track winning the pole position for and finishing fifth in NASCAR’s longest event, the NASCAR Nextel Cup Coca Cola 600 Sunday.

For good measure, Newman also strapped on a NASCAR Busch Series car for the first time in over three years and promptly drove it to a third-place finish in the Carquest 300 Saturday.

Johnson (left) marched his all-new Chevy Cobalt, outfitted with EMP Stewart Components cooling products, through the elimination rounds of the Pontiac Performance Nationals at Columbus, OH Sunday only to run into Anderson.

The Elkhart, IN driver had an outstanding day piloting his Titan Mail Order Toyota Celica a 6.49 seconds pass and a win against Matt Hartford in the Pro Rear Wheel Drive final at Atco, NJ.

Newman (right) was leading the Dodge Charger 500 in the first-ever NASCAR Nextel Cup race at the famed South Carolina track Saturday when he lost certain victory in the final laps. Cruising at the front of the field throughout the late stages of the race, a caution flag for a late spin set up a green-white-checkered flag finish where Newman fell from the lead all the way to a fifth-place finish.

That wonder was recently replaced with amazement when Arslanian and his New Jersey based Bullish Motorsports team debuted an all-new Pro Extreme Compact 2JZ powered dragster (pictured above) at the National Drag Racing Association (NDRA) Phoenix Nationals at Firebird International Dragway.

While still in the developmental stages and not yet ready for competitive runs, the car, which will feature AEM – a research and development manufacturer of original high performance parts and accessories – as the primary marketing partner. So far, the car has received a tremendous amount of attention being hailed as a breakthrough in the sport of compact drag racing.

Vickers (right) and his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet were right on the beam all weekend qualifying fifth and running with the leaders throughout the first-ever NASCAR Cup event on the one-mile Arizona desert oval.

The 21-year-old driver led twice for 50 of the 312 laps marking just the second time this season Vickers has led a race. Vickers’ Monte Carlo features associate sponsorship from EMP.

The competition proved to be no match for Arslanian and Efantis at third-annual Nitto Sport Compact Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Arslanian winning the Pro RWD (Rear Wheel Drive) class and Efantis taking the Modified division.

Arslanian captured his third career Pro NHRA RWD victory by taking out defending division champion and fellow EMP Stewart Components driver Matt Scranton in Round 1 eliminations Sunday.

Also in Pro RWD Round 1 action Sunday, Brad Personett put Abel Ibarra on trailer while Stephan Papadakis had a solo run to advance to Round 2.

Johnson (right) scored his 93rd career National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drag racing victory when Jason Line red-lighted in the championship round. For good measure, Johnson clicked off a 6.714-second, 205.01 miles per hour run to nail down the victory.

Johnson’s GM Performance Parts Pontiac Grand Am utilizes EMP Stewart Components cooling products.

"We seem relatively competitive and I think we can up the pace in the next four or five races, said Johnson afterward. “I feel just as good about this car as my championship years. Last year was a bit of an anomaly for us but we started working hard midseason and now we've got the horsepower we need.”

The season-opening race for the 2005 NHRA Sport Compact division provided plenty of thrills including the Pro Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) final that saw a pair of EMP Stewart drivers square off for the title. Matt Scranton won the 2004 NHRA Pro RWD title beating Papadakis’ 2003 Honda Civic for the championship by a scant 11 points.

In Sunday’s final pairing, Papadakis turned the tables pushing his car to the win with a 6.654-second, 210.62-miles per hour victory over Scranton’s Toyota Celica.

One of CRD’s most recent high performance creations scored the biggest victory ever for the company taking home the overall title in the Rolex 24 Sports Car Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

“We’ve won in the GT class before, but this was the first time we’ve been a part of an overall win,” said Bob Cronin, president of CRD. “As far as road racing in the United States is concerned, winning the Rolex 24 hour race is like winning the Daytona 500 or the Indianapolis 500. That’s as big as it can get in American road racing. To win a class is something special in itself, but to win the overall is fantastic.”

Beauchamp debuted his EMP Stewart Components sponsored Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Formula Continental racer at Memphis Motorsports Park scoring a second in the main event Sunday.

The Green Bay, WI driver, a winner of three SCCA races last year, qualified second with a lap of 1-minute, 9.3-seconds on the twisting MMP layout before making a strong bid for his first victory of the season.

In the Nextel Cup event – the UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 -Ryan Newman got the EMP Stewart racers weekend off on the right foot rolling to his first Bud Pole position of the season with a lap of 173.745 miles per hour.

"That was just a perfect lap," Newman said after his Friday qualifying run. "The car was perfect and I nailed every corner. The speed was just amazing. I knew there were a couple cars that could come close to our lap time. Thankfully, our lap held up."

In fact, there was only one on-track event involving an EMP Stewart racer. Ron Fellows carried the EMP Stewart banner on to the international scene as he piloted Joe Nemechek’s No. 87 Chevrolet in the first-ever NASCAR Busch Series race in Mexico this weekend.

Fellows, a noted road racer, competed in the Telcel Motorola 200 NASCAR Busch Series race at the 2.518-mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.

Busch, 19, claimed his first career Bud Pole in only his eighth NASCAR Nextel Cup Series start, just beating out the 21-year-old Vickers for the top spot to make up the youngest front row in series history. Busch blistered the 2.0-mile California oval with a lap of 187.432 miles per hour while Vickers, who features associate sponsorship from EMP on his Chevrolet Monte Carlo, managed a lap of 187.740. That was good enough for the runner-up spot and both speeds were better than the old track record set by Ryan Newman in 2002.

"There's always something to be said for youthful guts but, then again, there's a lot to be said for experience,” said Vickers after Saturday’s banzai qualifying runs. “We'll see what happens Sunday, which is the true test."

Wallace, starting his final year of Nextel Cup competition, rolled off 36th in Sunday’s Daytona 500 and finished 10th to lead all EMP Stewart competitors in the race. Wallace’s Penske Racing South entry, outfitted with an EMP Stewart Components Dodge Pro Series Water Pump, quickly drafted its way into the lead pack and stayed there throughout the 47th-annual 500-mile event on the 2.5-mile Daytona oval.

The National Hot Rod Association famed Winternationals at Pomona, CA opened its 2005 campaign while the NASCAR season roared into action with the Bud Shootout and qualifying for the Daytona 500 at Daytona Beach (FL) International Speedway.

At Pomona, racing legend Warren Johnson jump-started his “School’s Out” NHRA Pro Stock tour with a solid performance and a near win at the season-opening Winternationals. “The Professor,” who will retire at the end of this year, nearly grabbed his 93rd NHRA event title advancing to the Pro Stock finals only to fall to Dave Connolly.

As always, EMP Stewart Components will be right in the middle of all of it with countless drivers competing in oval track, straight line, road and off-road course racing.

An industry leader in automotive high performance cooling technologies for nearly 20 years, EMP Stewart Components will be expanding its list of featured drivers to over 30 this season, more than double that of a year ago. Of course, that number doesn’t include the thousands of racers across the country who use EMP Stewart Components cooling products at the track each week.

On paper, the 2005 racing season is shaping up to be one of the best ever – both on the track and off for those drivers wheeling racers cooled by EMP Stewart Components Water Pumps.

Ryan Newman again paced the EMP Stewart effort racing to the front of the pack from his third starting position. In the lead with just three laps to go on the 1.5-mile Florida oval, Newman cut down a right front tire and pounded the Turn 1 wall. Uninjured in the wreck, Newman was understandably dejected with a 30th-place finish and a wrecked racecar instead of a win.

“I don’t even know what to say about today’s race,” stated Newman. “It was just typical of how our “entire year has been. “We were so close to earning another win, but is just wasn’t meant to be.”

EMP Stewart’s booth was right in the middle of the action at the world’s largest automotive aftermarket industry trade show in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center Tuesday-Friday, November 2-5.

“We had a great show, our best SEMA event ever,” said Jeff Canull, EMP Stewart Components general manager. “We read 50 percent more cards in our card reader - that's people asking for more information about our products - than we did last year. We also gave out almost twice as many EMP Stewart product catalogs as we did a year ago. Traffic was definitely up this year.”

"I didn't say I was going to stop drag racing, just stop driving," said Johnson. "We'll have Kurt in his car next year and another driver in my car, and perhaps even a third car. Stopping driving just allows me the time to do all of the things I never had the time to do; I was born handicapped – I only have two hands.”

Newman captured his ninth Bud Pole award of the season Friday in qualifying at the one-mile Phoenix International Raceway blistering the track record in the process with a time of 26.830 seconds (135.854 miles per hour). On Sunday, Newman rallied from a flat tire in the early going to finish second behind event winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Working out of a sparkling 40,000 square foot building in Mooresville, NC, Mike Ege Racing Engines (MERE) is one of the top producers of engines in NASCAR today. Ege is also an innovator and played a big role in the development of the EMP Stewart Components/MERE water pump now being used by NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers Rusty Wallace, Ryan Newman, Brendan Gaughn, Jeff Green and Kyle Petty among others.

Vickers, a NASCAR Nextel Cup rookie, qualified his No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports entry 13th in the 43-car field and stayed in the Top-15 for most of the race. Down a lap to the leaders late in the contest, Vickers received the “Lucky Dog” pass with a handful of laps remaining and made the most of it posting his fifth Top-10 finish of the season.

Vickers’ Chevrolet Monte Carlo features associate sponsorship from EMP.

That’s why EMP Stewart Components will again be a part of the 2004 SEMA show when the Las Vegas Convention Center opens its doors for this year’s event to be held Tuesday-Friday, November 2-5.

“This is a show we look forward to working every year,” said Jeff Canull, EMP Stewart Components general manager. “It’s a great place to showcase our products to a wide range of customers and it’s also a great place to launch new products as well.”

This year, the EMP Stewart Components display, which will be located in Booth #27941 in the Central Hall of the Convention Center, will feature a totally new cooling component for the import automotive industry.

Unfortunately, the event was marked by tragedy as 10 members of the NASCAR community were lost when a Hendrick Motorsports plane crashed en route to the race Sunday morning.

Included in the list of those who perished in the incident were Ricky Hendrick, the 24-year-old son of Rick Hendrick; John Hendrick, Rick Hendrick's brother and president of the organization; Kimberly and Jennifer Hendrick, John Hendrick's 22-year-old twin daughters; Joe Jackson, an executive with DuPont, sponsor of Gordon's car; Jeff Turner, general manager of Hendrick Motorsports; Randy Dorton, the team's chief engine builder; Scott Lathram, a pilot for NASCAR driver Tony Stewart; and pilots Dick Tracy and Liz Morrison.

Arslanian captured both the National Drag Racing Association (NDRA) NOPI Pro Compact event and the NDRA/NOPI Xbox season championship at the Texas Motorplex near Dallas, TX over the weekend. The season championship marked the first time a driver has won back-to-back NDRA/NOPI Pro Compact titles as Arslanian also piloted his Toyota Solara to the championship a year ago.

“This has not been a perfect year, but I’d still call it a banner year,” stated Arslanian. “At the beginning of the year, I had said that this season would be a real test of championship worthiness. It has turned out to be just that, but by far more than what we could have ever guessed. Losing the primary racecar in the Maple Grove crash could have easily ended the year for us, our points chases, or even my racing career. We’ve had our share of luck, but the team has also never stopped working since the season began. The team has shown its resiliency and became stronger in the process.”

Sunday, those chances all but vanished when the Penske Racing South and EMP Stewart Components driver crashed out of the Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway.

"We've just got to go to every race and try to win it just like we did today,” said Newman after the Lap 210 crash. “We just didn't win it today. I just got loose and stuck it in the fence. I was the wreck. I just got loose. We've got six to go. We took a double-barrel shotgun and shot ourselves in the foot today. We can fight back. We've done it before."