B4
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Hamlin and Gibbs group go to Martinsville as title favorites
By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer
RIDGEWAY, Va. — All
the momentum is with Denny
Hamlin headed to Martins-
ville Speedway for the open-
ing race of the third round of
NASCAR’s playoffs.
Hamlin, a fi ve-time win-
ner at the Virginia short
track, need not look far for
worthy challengers, includ-
ing two of his Joe Gibbs Rac-
ing teammates.
JGR moved into the round
of eight with three of its four
drivers still racing for the
Cup Series title and a rea-
sonable shot at advancing
the trio into the season fi nale
shootout next month. Kyle
Busch was the regular-season
champion and holds a four-
point lead over teammate
Martin Truex Jr. in the stand-
ings before Sunday’s race.
Truex leads the series with
six wins, including two in the
fi rst round of the playoffs.
Hamlin is third in points
and coming off his fi fth win
of the season, giving Gibbs
and Toyota a tremendous
1-2-3 attack for the title. It’s
AP Photo/John Locher, File
In this March 1, 2019, fi le photo, drivers Denny Hamlin, left, and Kyle Busch talk in pit lane be-
fore qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas.
only fi tting the Gibbs group
is in this position — the team
has won 16 of the 32 races so
far this season — but snag-
ging three of the fi nal four
spots in the Homestead-Mi-
ami Speedway title-deciding
race will be a tricky naviga-
tion inside the organization.
“Right now, we have very
good chemistry,” Gibbs said
after Hamlin won at Kan-
sas Speedway last Sunday.
“It’s not going to buy us any-
thing next week. I get so ner-
vous. I was all excited about
(Hamlin), then somebody
mentioned next week, and I
almost threw up. I said ‘You
mean this doesn’t get us to
Homestead?’”
No, the road to Home-
stead begins at the shortest
track on the circuit, a tricky
paper clip-shaped 0.526-mile
oval. The middle round is at
Texas Motor Speedway and
then the championship fi eld
of four is decided at ISM
Raceway outside Phoenix.
Busch, a four-time win-
ner this season but mired in
a stretch of 18 races without
one, is ready for this nail-bit-
ing round. He has just two
top-fi ve fi nishes through the
fi rst six playoff races and is
eager to get back up front.
“I feel like it’s our best
round. We run well at all
three of those places and
we’ve won a few at Texas, we
won Martinsville twice and
Phoenix has been getting bet-
ter for us, too,” Busch said.
“We just need to continue to
execute and do a good job
and make sure that we mind
our Ps and Qs.”
Truex has never won at
Martinsville but his perfor-
mance has picked up the last
several years. He has fi nished
eighth or better the last four
races, was runner-up to Busch
in 2017 and third last October.
“We know what we need
to do,” Truex said. “Now it’s
just a matter of going out and
doing it. We have been fast,
ran up front and led laps at all
of these tracks in this round.”
A win at Martinsville
gives any team breathing
room to focus on the Nov. 17
fi nale and not worry about
earning a slot in the fi nal four.
Joey Logano was a longshot
to win the title last year but
won at Martinsville, then
upset regular-season heavy-
weights Busch, Truex and
Kevin Harvick three weeks
later to claim his fi rst title.
Logano was nearly elim-
inated from title contention
a week ago when he went to
Kansas on the bubble, didn’t
have a remarkable race and
then was involved in a late
accident that put him head-
to-head with Team Penske
teammate Brad Keselowski
for the fi nal spot in the round
of eight. Keselowski was
eliminated, Logano kept his
title defense rolling and now
hopes Martinsville punches
his ticket to Homestead.
The competition will be
fi erce from Chase Elliott,
who has been in the mix at
Martinsville but still seeking
his fi rst win on the track.
Harvick has had a quiet
run so far through the play-
offs. He’s had three top-fi ve
fi nishes, but hasn’t led laps in
the last three races and felt his
entire weekend at Kansas was
the worst of the year for his
Stewart-Haas Racing team.
Even if the organization gets
it corrected, Harvick noted:
“Obviously we still have to
beat the Gibbs cars.”
Hamilton and drivers say F1 should be more eco-friendly
By JIM VERTUNO
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY — For-
mula One is a global series
with a large carbon footprint.
Teams, drivers and fans fl y
to 21 races around the world,
hauling tons of equipment.
The cars use up and discard
hundreds of tires during the
season. And despite using
hybrid engines, the series this
year increased the allowable
fuel consumption per race.
Yet that won’t stop defend-
ing champion Lewis Ham-
ilton from using his social
media platforms to call for an
awareness of global warm-
ing, calling for changes in
farming, diet and a reduction
in polluting materials.
The drivers’ news confer-
ence Thursday at the Mex-
ican Grand Prix, a race in
a city of 22 million people
choked with smog, was dom-
inated by questions on Ham-
ilton’s recent public admon-
ishments on global warming,
his support from other driv-
ers, and whether it is hypo-
critical considering the arena
in which they compete.
Hamilton sparked the
issue with a recent Insta-
gram post venting to mil-
lions of followers his frustra-
tions about large commercial
farming and deforestation,
global travel and consumer
diets. He urged others to go
vegan like him.
“It’s my platform and
we all have a voice,” Ham-
ilton said. “It’s not the easi-
est, because yes, we are trav-
eling around the world and
racing cars. It doesn’t mean
we should be afraid to speak
up for positive change. I’m
always looking at things I can
improve the effect.”
Hamilton said he drives
an electric car at home, and
has sold off his plane and
some of his fl eet of automo-
biles. He said he has also cut
back on travel and restricts
what products can be brought
into his offi ce and home. He
said he has pushed fashion
designer Tommy Hilfi ger, a
friend and business partner,
to design clothes with sus-
tainable fabric.
“I don’t allow anyone in
my offi ce or my household
to buy any plastics. I want
everything recyclable down
to deodorant, down to a
toothbrush, all these kind of
things. I’m trying to make as
much change as I can in my
personal space,” said Hamil-
ton, who is British. “I try to
make sure that by the end of
the year I’m carbon neutral.
I’m trying to make as much
change as I can in my per-
sonal space.”
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel
said he supports Hamilton’s
effort to take a public stand,
while acknowledging that F1
drivers may not be taken seri-
ously on the issue.
“You would be ignorant
if you didn’t look at it,” Vet-
tel said. “It’s very diffi cult for
us to get acceptance from the
outside. We don’t have the
smallest footprint. The races
happen around the world.
Formula One, I feel, should
do more. It’s a worldwide
platform. We should send a
much stronger message on
the subject.”
The series could wield
infl uence with its corporate
sponsors, Vettel said.
Formula One offi cials said
Friday the series owner will
soon unveil a detailed plan
to make the sport more envi-
ronmentally friendly. F1 pro-
vided no specifi cs, but said
the plan has been in develop-
ment for a year and “will not
only tackle the carbon foot-
print of our cars but the wider
footprint we leave as a sport.”
The series shifted its
engine technology to a more
environmentally
friendly
hybrid engine in 2014. But
F1 also this year increased
allowable fuel consumption
for the cars from 27 gallons
(105 kilograms) to 29 (110
kilograms) per race in order
to boost power.
Speaking at a German
auto show in September, F1
CEO and President Chase
Carey lauded the hybrid
engine as a model for reduc-
ing carbon emissions.
“The Formula 1 hybrid
engine is the most effi cient
in the world and has a criti-
cal role to play to address the
wider global environmental
issue,” Carey said. “I think
the solution to the environ-
mental situation is going to
be many and not just one and
while I appreciate electric has
got the attention and has hit
a sweet spot at the moment,
I think electric will be part
of the solution but has issues
such as battery disposal that
still need to be addressed.”
An alternate series, For-
mula E, uses only electric
cars. Initiated by Jean Todt,
head of the FIA governing
body of world motorsport,
Formula E launched in 2014.
That series also races in cities
around the world, including
Mexico City, Beijing, Berlin
and New York.
Mercedes, which has won
six consecutive F1 construc-
tor’s titles, is entering For-
mula E next season.
Hamilton, who is chas-
ing a sixth F1 championship
this weekend, said he won’t
be making a switch after his
F1 career.
“I have no interest what-
soever in Formula E,” Ham-
ilton said.
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