The Nextel Cup Series returns to action Sunday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after taking a week off.

Indy Speedway is a 2.5-mile oval with little or no banking, which will force crews to make radical changes in the set-up of the race cars.

Jeff Gordon has a commanding lead in the points chase going into Sunday's Allstate 400 race. Denny Hamlin is second in the standings, 303 points behind Gordon. Matt Kenseth is third, 346 markers behind the leader. Jeff Burton is fourth, followed by Carl Edwards.

There is just a handful of races remaining on the 2007 schedule before the final field is set for the chase to the Nextel Cup title.

It was good to see Scott Priester of Rimersburg pick up a feature win in the Sprint division at the Action Track Friday night. It was his first win in eight years of competition at Lernerville.Alex Ferree of Saxonburg got back into the winners circle by capturing the Late Model main event.Lernerville has a regular Fab 4 card slated for this Friday night.

DIRT Motorsports, owner of the World of Outlaws Late Model division, has announced two additional shows for this area. Bedford Speedway and Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway will have back-to-back events on Sept. 21 and 22.The Sept. 22. show at PPMS is part of the two-day annual Pittsburgher 100 Series, with the Outlaws Late Models running a 50-lap feature on that Saturday only.Sharon Speedway will play host to the Outlaws Late Models this Saturday night.Tri-City Speedway will have the series over the Labor Day weekend as part of the annual Classic Weekend show.Granted, the World of Outlaws Late Model is truly a great show to see, but overexposure can sometimes work as a disadvantage.

• Kittanning native Rod George continues to show the way for all Sprint car drivers in the region. George picked up feature wins at both Mercer Raceway and Tri-City Speedway over the weekend. He now has 17 feature victories in 2007 season.• Jared Miley won his second Late Model feature of the season at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway Saturday night.• I took a week off to journey to the wilds of Colorado, missing the World of Outlaws Sprint show at Lernerville July 17. Donny Schatz won the 35- lap feature. Despite a second-place qualifying time, engine problems kept Ed Lynch Jr. out of the A-Main.• While waiting for my luggage at the Pittsburgh airport, I ran into Dave Blaney. Dave informed me that his uncle, Bob, had died. Bob was a few years younger than his brother, Lou. He was a racing competitor many years ago but had retired from the sport after a very bad accident.• A note of interest to those of you who enjoy hunting in the state of Colorado. The small bug infestation has hit the entire state, killing off the large pine trees. Some experts say that state could lose all of its pine trees within the next eight to 10 years.Jim Lokhaiser is the racing columnist for the Butler Eagle.