Jason Richards, whose Dodo team have had more than their share of setbacks this season, was the happiest Kiwi V8 Supercar driver after the running of the Sandown 500 at Melbourne. With team-mate Jamie Whincup, he finished third behind Ford's Craig Lowndes and Yvan Muller and Holden's Mark Skaife andTodd Kelly. It was the team's first podium finish. Paul Radisich and Paul Morris finished eighth for Team Kiwi, despite having to change engines at a late stage after blowing one of their new power plants, and Greg Murphy and Paul Weel were in third place with 21 laps to go when their engine failed. Worst hit was Simon Wills, who left the track at high speed in the warmup. His Team Dynamik Holden was badly damaged and he was checked over in hospital and discharged. Jim Richards finished 11th, Steven Richards 13th and Craig Baird 19th. Fabian Coulthard completed 156 laps, Matt Halliday 116 and Mark Porter and Kayne Scott 41.
Phillip Island finale for V8 Supercars
The V8 Supercars will have their grand finale at Phillip Island on December 8-10 next year. Three overseas dates are on the new calendar: Pukekohe on April 21-23, Shanghai on June 9-11 and Bahrain on November 22-24.
Gordon misses out on chase contest
Fan favourite Jeff Gordon finished 30th at Richmond last weekend to miss the top 10 who will contest the Chase for the Nascar Championship over the next 10 races. The Richmond race was won by the defending champion, Kurt Busch, who will go into the Chase in fifth position. Top qualifier is Tony Stewart, followed by Greg Biffle, Rusty Wallace, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Jeremy Mayfield, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman.
Richards leads at Sandown track
Veteran Jim Richards has snatched a 12-point lead over previous top dog Fabian Coulthard after winning two of the three Porsche races at Sandown. Coulthard had a win and a second but failed to finish the third after an early collision.
