ROGER DIEZ: Thunder Bowl saying 'thank you' to troops at today's races

Thunder Bowl Speedway in Mound House has TT racing for motorcycles and quads tonight.

The event is named "Thank You to Our Troops," a tribute on the anniversary of 9/11. Nevada National Guard personnel will be on hand as well as a chaplain for the opening ceremonies. A recording of the race will be sent to troops in Afghanistan. Gates open at 3 p.m., with racing beginning at 6 p.m. .

For more information or directions to the track, call Ed Brandenburg at 450-7167.

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Tonight's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond will decide the 12 drivers who will be in the 2010 Chase for the Championship, NASCAR's "playoff" season.

The 12th and final Chase spot is Clint Bowyer's to lose. With 117 points in hand over closest pursuer Ryan Newman, Bowyer can only lose if he finishes worse than 25th, even if Newman gets the win and leads the most laps. Jamie McMurray and Mark Martin are also still mathematically in the hunt, but the same circumstances apply, with Bowyer finishing worse than 35th if McMurray sweeps the points and worse than 38th if Martin scores the maximum.

Tonight also is the last chance for a Chase driver to add 10 points to the 5,000 points awarded each Chase participant. Five Chase drivers - Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, and Bowyer - are winless on the season.

There are six Chevrolets in the Chase (that won't change, since Bowyer and his pursuers are all in Chevys), three Fords, two Toyotas, and the lone Dodge of Kurt Busch vying for the 2010 Sprint Cup.

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Points leader Kevin Harvick will start the Chase at Loudon with at least 5,030 points, courtesy of his three victories in the regular season. Harvick has held the points lead most of the year, a remarkable comeback after a disappointing 2009 season.

Gordon and teammate Jimmie Johnson (who will start with at least a 50 point bonus) are both four-time champions looking to add a fifth.

If Johnson manages it, he will have won five in a row, and unheard-of accomplishment. Kyle Busch, highest-scoring of the two Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas in the field, has momentum coming into the 2010 Chase after not making it last season.

Tony Stewart is looking to be the first owner/driver to win the title since Alan Kulwicki in 1992.

Stewart has two championships, but not as an owner. Kenseth, the 2003 champion, joins fellow Roush Ford driver Edwards in the Chase field, while Gibbs driver Denny Hamlin ties Jimmie Johnson with 50 bonus points scored thus far.

Penske Racing's Kurt Busch won the first championship under the Chase format in 2004, and Jeff Burton is locked into the Chase, making Childress Racing the only team to have all its drivers in the Chase, provided Bowyer hangs on to 12th.

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The Formula 1 World Championship resumes this weekend at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. The track is the fastest the series will run on, with lap average speeds approaching 160 miles per hour and trap speeds of up to 214 measured during Friday practice. Because of the extreme speed at Monza, the teams are all running very low downforce rear wings to keep drag to a minimum.

Qualifying was televised on SPEED early this morning, so I can't give you the starting order for tomorrow's race. However, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel set fast time in the last Friday practice session, nipping the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, much to the disappointment of the partisan Italian crowd.

Going into the Monza race, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton holds a slim points lead over Red Bull's Mark Webber (182-179). Other drivers with a realistic shot at the 2010 title are Red Bull's Vettel (151), Hamilton's teammate and defending champion Jensen Button (147), and Ferrari's Alonso (141).

There will be 24 cars on the F1 grids again in 2011, as the FIA has decided that none of the teams applying for inclusion next season met the organization's criteria. Given the problems caused by some of this season's back marker teams, I have to say that it's probably a good decision.