The first of five Championship races is set to begin with tonight's race from Concord. We're here and will post a few live updates during practice. For the race, we'll be watching like fans but you can tune in to the Mitigator webcast (link on top of right column) and there may be live Internet radio from USARacing. We'll find out about the live Internet radio and let you know if it is going to be available.

The weather is gorgeous right now but it's going to get a little warm this afternoon. The pits don't open today until noon with Pro Cup practice not happening until around 2 PM, so relax, mow the lawn, and then if you're in North Carolina, why not jump in your car and come to the track to watch the race live! Admission is free, with a $10.00 per vehicle parking fee as your only costs to watch tonight.

HAMPTON, Va. (Aug. 14) — Fifteen laps from the scheduled conclusion of Saturday evening’s Hampton VA “Need For Speed” 250 USARacing Pro Cup Series race at Langley Speedway, Caleb Holman found himself in fifth place, wheeling an uncooperative race car and just wishing the event would hurry up and end.

Four caution flags and 15 laps of “overtime” later, though, the Abingdon, Va., driver found himself parked in Victory Lane, hoisting his third checkered flag of the season and marveling at his good fortune.

Series points leader Clay Rogers, who dominated Langley’s Memorial Day weekend Pro Cup race, picked up where he left off in qualifying for Saturday’s event, nabbing the pole position with an 83.662-mph effort. Logan Ruffin was second-fastest, followed by Holman, Benny Gordon and Jeff Agnew.

As the race got under way, Rogers inched ahead of Ruffin and led by half a car-length at the end of lap 1. He cleared Ruffin’s #31 machine in Turns 1 and 2 on lap 2. Ruffin settled into second, followed by Holman, Gordon and Lucas Ransone.

The first caution flag appeared on lap 9 when Danny Abold spun into Turn 1 and collected Matt Lofton. READ MORE

12:06: 1st practice has just begun. Agnew, Ward, Abolt, Lofton, Heavner, Holman, Morgan, Ransone, and rookie Mohelski on the track now.

12:12 update: Jeff Agnew is experiencing a clutch problem already.

12:25 update: Just heard on scanner that Clay Rogers is fastest and Caleb Holman is second fastest so far.

12:35 update: Logan Ruffin is also one of the fastest cars in this practice.
We just heard from USAR that the race will be carried on internet radio tonight. Stay tuned for futher details.

1:12 update: 1st practice ended with no incidents. Second practice is scheduled to begin at 1:35.

1:30 PM - Practice Results:

Rogers
Morgan
Holman
Ruffin
Ward
Lofton
Mohelski
Ransone
Agnew
Gordon
Abolt
Young
Heavner
Barrett

1:42 update: 2nd practice has just begun. Agnew seems to have his clutch problem fixed and is back out on the track. Since the last time the series was here in May, the speedway has repaved the apron to have a dedicated pit exit lane. Unfortunately, several drivers are reporting oil is seeping out of the asphalt and making the track very slippery.

Brandon Ward just spun in between turns 1 and 2. Very minor damage to the rear of this car from impact with the outside wall. Scanner chatter from Brandon indicates his tires had simply not come up to speed yet and caused him to spin.

1:50 Update: Agnew appears to be picking up where he left off here in May. After just a few laps in this practice, reports are he's as fast as Rogers.

2:05 Update: Scanner chatter sounds like teams are scuffing tires now. The new aspalt seems to come in handy for scuffing tires!

2:25 Update: Final practice is over now. Heard on scanner that Ruffin just ran his fastest lap of this practice on old tires.

By Eric Arnold, Newton Daily News Columnist

That’s the southern expression race winner Clay Rogers uses for something that is crazy and weird. Friday at Iowa Speedway “booger jacked” is what it was as fog settled in and ended the race on lap 121.

It ended up benefiting Rogers as he won the USAR Pro Cup Blue Ox 150 Presented by Knoxville Raceway.

“I can’t think of anything we could have done to make the race car any better, you just don’t get race cars like that very often,” Rogers said. “I’ve never had a car that was as dominant as this car was tonight.” Read More

After a very late race start for track drying and a series of complete restarts for accidents on lap 1 to begin the race, it seemed only fitting that the end of the race would not be a thing of beauty either.

With about 30 laps to go, conditions became so hazardous due to a lack of visibility, that spotters and teams could barely see the track. Some said it was fog, some said it was smoke from all of the campfires around the track. Whatever the reason, the field was brought to pit road under red flag conditions on lap 121 and shortly after that, USAR Officials were forced call the race and declared Clay Rogers and his #16 Lamb & Robinson Motorsports Team the victors at Iowa Speedway.

A late race battle with A.J. Frank in the #56 SpeedCo Chevy, found Rogers losing the lead after pit stops and finally passing Frank on lap 81. Rogers had a commanding lead for the majority of the race prior to pit stops, where he lost a spot or two. Part of the reason for losing spots may be attributed to the fact that many members of Rogers' regular pit crew were unable to make it to the track after flight cancellations hampered their trip.

The win is Rogers 5th in a row and 6th of the season as he continues to dominate in his first season with the L&R team. A.J. Frank would remain in second, followed by a pack of young drivers. Logan Ruffin, Ryan Heavner, and Chase Elliott would round out the top 5. J.P. Morgan, the defending race winner, finished 6th and was the final car on the lead lap. Tyler Young brought his #02 home in 7th, one lap down.

We're not at the track this race so we can't give you any updates about tonight's race. We have been checking the Official Series website and various Facebook sites for news. The most we can provide right now is that is might be raining again, they got some practice in today but not as much as scheduled, that there are 22 cars in the garage area, and that qualifying might be canceled and the lineup will be by points.

Here is what I think is the currently active Facebook page for the series - http://www.facebook.com/pages/USARacing-Pro-Cup-Series/115601908473482?ref=ts

Starting lineup - http://usarprocup.com/images/M_images/blueox150startinggrid.pdf

If and when the race gets started at 9 PM EST, we plan on tuning in to the Mitigator/Gibson Motorsports webcast and scanner feed and hoping that someone will be typing in a few live updates.

To view/listen to a replay of the webcast from the race, head over to the Mitigator UStream site.
Webcast from the #13s team of John Gibson.

By Shaun Hoy | The Roanoke Times

RADFORD -- It's safe to say that Motor Mile Speedway was not lacking in intrigue Saturday night in either of the divisions that raced there.

Philip Morris returned to the track to run in the Late Model Stock race just before the race was set to begin after the action at South Boston Speedway was canceled.

And in the USAR Pro Cup race, well, if you finished at all, you earned yourself a top-10.

First, the Pro Cup race.

Clay Rogers didn't have much trouble as he coasted to win the Heritage Truck Centers 250, his fifth win of the season. Brandon Ward finished in second place. A.J. Frank was third. Mark McFarland was fourth and Logan Ruffin fifth.

But the challenge for most of the drivers wasn't figuring out how to win. It was figuring out how to keep their car on the track. And most of them were not successful. Only seven cars finished the race and there weren't any wrecks, just a load of engine problems.

Yesterday, USARacing officials released an updated driver and owner points standings. An error was found in the amount of points awarded to driver Caleb Holman after the South Boston race. Holman and his #75 team inadvertently were credited with 10 more points than what should have been awarded.

As a result of this update, Holman is now listed in fourth position in the driver points as opposed to the second spot he had occupied. The owner points also have the Henderson Motorsports team adjusted from third position to fifth position in owner points.

The updated stats can be found here:
www.procupdigest.com/points/points_current.php
and
www.procupdigest.com/points/points_owner.php

By Tucker McLaughlin Jr., The News & Record

Make it 4-for-6 for USAR veteran Clay Rogers following Saturday night’s series feature at South Boston Speedway. The Mooresville, NC racer dominated the second half of the USA Racing Strutmasters.com 250 at the local short track. This is Rogers’ fourth win in six starts this season.

The USAR format calls for a five race chase for the championship, starting Aug. 28 at Concord Speedway, concluding Nov. 6 at SBS.

That final sprint – which includes races at Concord, Bristol, North Wilkesboro, Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga., and SBS – will settle the 2010 title chase. Although Rogers appears to be on track for a dominant regular season, the points are adjusted for the championship series. read more

By Lou Lauer, USARfans.com

On a night when the points leader did not have the best car, the rest of the field still could not take advantage of the opportunity. One by one they elimintated themselves from a potential win or at least a good finish and the Lamb & Robinson #16 of Clay Rogers kept motoring on and eventually brought home yet another checkered flag in the Pro Cup Series with his second win at South Boston Speedway.

Rogers started third in the 19 car field but could not keep up with pole sitter Jeff Agnew for most of the race. The orange 73 of Agnew looked to be well on its way to win #1 on the year with a straighaway lead most of the time. During pit stops near the middle of the race, the #73 had problems getting fuel into the car and he lost many spots on pit road. Working his way up thru the field, Agnew looked poised to catch Rogers who was leading at the time, but a hole in the oil pan put an end to his night.

Starting second in the race, John Gibson had his #13 Mitigator Ford ready for his best race of the year. When the car began spewing oil early in the race, USAR had to black-flag the car and eventually the problem was terminal enough that Gibson had to park his ride and watch the race from the infield.