THE LINE - OCTOBER 1, 2014

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
The finale of the 2014 United SportsCar Championship (USCC) season will be contested at Saturday’s Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda. Titles will be crowned for drivers, teams and manufacturers at Road Atlanta, the natural-terrain road racing circuit in Braselton, Georgia. In a departure from the previous year’s events, this year’s race will be run as a ten-hour race – not 1,000 miles. The race will be live on IMSA.com at 11:00 a.m. Live television coverage will begin at 3:00 p.m. on FoxSports2.

(Photo by Gregg Ellman/HHP for GM/Chevy Racing)
Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet SS) celebrates his victory in the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway Sunday with his wife, Ingrid, and his children, Ella Sofia and Leo Benjamin. Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Team Penske Wurth Ford Fusion) was second and Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet SS) finished third. Gordon advances to the Contender 12 phase of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, which begins next Sunday at Kansas Speedway. The other drivers who advance are Keselowski, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Johnson, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne. The four drivers eliminated are Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, AJ Allmendinger and Greg Biffle.  Watch NASCAR videos here, here and here.

(Photo by Christa L Thomas/HHP for GM/Chevy Racing)
Jimmie Johnson is lurking, but the buzz seems to be with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, and the Penske Ford drivers - Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano - for the Sprint Cup Championship.

(Photo by Gregg Ellman/HHP for GM/Chevy Racing)
Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet SS) races alongside teammate Kasey Kahne (No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Farmer's Insurance Chevrolet SS), who finished in 20th place at Dover International Speedway to make it into the Contender 12 phase of the Chase for the Sprint Cup by the skin of his teeth.

(Photo by Nigel Kinrade, LAT Photo USA ©2014, Courtesy of Toyota Racing)
Kyle Busch (No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Monster Energy Toyota Camry) celebrates his dominant win in the Dover 200 Nationwide race at Dover International Speedway on Saturday. It was his fifth Nationwide Series win of the season, his fifth at Dover and the 68th of his career, a series record. Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Hertz Mustang) was second and Chase Elliott (No. 9 JR Motorsports NAPA Chevrolet Camaro) finished third. Watch a NASCAR video here.

(Global RallyCross Championship/newspressUSA)
Sverre Isachsen (No. 11 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI) gave Subaru Rally Team USA a popular maiden victory at Red Bull Global Rallycross Seattle over the weekend, the ninth round of the 2014 Red Bull GRC season. Joni Wiman (No. 31 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST) finished second to steal the points lead from Ken Block (No. 43 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST), and Brian Deegan (No. 38 Rockstar Energy Drink Ford Fiesta ST) finished in third. Four drivers are in contention for the championship heading into next month’s season finale in Las Vegas.

(Global RallyCross Championship/newspressUSA)

(FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy/newspress)
Norway’s Petter Solberg (No. 11 PSRX Citroen) has entered the record books after becoming the first FIA World Champion in two different disciplines. He scored enough points in Italy this weekend to secure the inaugural FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy.  Twenty-one-year-old Timmy Hansen (No. 3 Team Peugeot-Hansen Red Bull Peugeot 208) won the event in a sensational performance. Richard Goransson (No. 15 Ford Olsbergs MSE) finished second in his debut run for the team. And Andreas Bakkerud (No. 13 Ford Olsbergs MSE) finished third.

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Team Penske has signed Simon Pagenaud for the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season, in a multi-year agreement. Pagenaud, 30, will drive the team’s fourth car for 2015, joining Verizon IndyCar Series champion Will Power, Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya. Pagenaud won four races in three years with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports including the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the reconfigured IMS road course on May 10. “Simon Pagenaud is a very talented, focused and determined driver,” Roger Penske commented. “We know how tough he has been to compete with over the last few seasons and we are very happy to welcome him to Team Penske starting in 2015. With Simon coming on board to join Will, Helio and Juan, we feel we have four drivers very capable of winning on any given weekend and four guys who are legitimate championship contenders.” Pagenaud raced to the Champ Car Atlantic Series title as a rookie in 2006 and the American Le Mans Series sports car LMP1 crown in 2010 driving for Duncan Dayton's Highcroft Racing. “Getting a chance to race for Team Penske is almost like a dream to me,” Pagenaud said. “I have always admired the team and everything that Roger Penske has accomplished in racing. I am so excited to become a part of Team Penske and I can’t wait for the 2015 season to start.”

(GM/Chevy Racing)
The Grand Sport (GS) class comes down to the wire in the final race of this year’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at Road Atlanta this weekend. Chevrolet is second in the Grand Sport (GS) Manufacturer standings, seven points behind BMW. The final race of the season is set for 1:15 p.m. ET on Friday. Live race coverage from Road Atlanta is set for 1:15 p.m. ET Friday at IMSA.com. FOX Sports 1 will air the race at noon ET on Sunday, Oct. 12.