Ben Rhodes sweeps Camping World Truck practices at Gateway

Ben Rhodes posted the fastest lap in Saturday’s final practice session for the Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park with a lap of 135.755 mph. Rhodes also was the fastest in the opening session Saturday at 135.738 mph.

Johnny Sauter was second in Saturday’s final practice at 135.510 mph with John Hunter Nemechek third at 135.054 mph.

Rico Abreu, who crashed in the first practice session, did not make it on the track for the final session. His team was busy preparing the backup. He will have no laps on that vehicle at Gateway when he qualifies at 5:45 p.m. ET today. The race is at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Follow @gillesrobson

Jeff Gordon open to co-hosting morning talk show with Kelly Ripa

Jeff Gordon says he’ll be back in the Fox Sports booth next season but the question is if he’ll have other broadcasting work.

The four-time champion said he would “welcome” the opportunity to succeed Michael Strahan as “Live” co-host with Kelly Ripa on the morning talk show. Gordon has co-hosted the show nine times with Ripa. A recent report stated he was on a short list of candidates to replace Strahan, who left the show for a full-time job on “Good Morning America.’’

“I’m flattered that my name has been associated with that,’’ Gordon told reporters Saturday at Sonoma Raceway. “I’ve always maintained a great friendship with the show and some of the producers and folks within the show. I had a great time co-hosting on that show, and I mean, I certainly would welcome it.

“My priority is Fox and Fox Sports and NASCAR, so I will definitely be back in the booth next year. If there was something that would fit into and around that, great. I don’t know if that’s a reality, but it’s been really interesting kind of seeing that unfold. I really don’t have anything that I can say about it.’’

This weekend marks the final Sprint Cup race broadcast for Fox Sports. NBC Sports takes over the broadcast of Cup and Xfinity races the rest of the year.

Heading into his final race broadcast of the year, how does Gordon rate his rookie season in the booth?

“I feel a lot more confident and comfortable,’’ he said. “I know my colleagues that I’m working with far better. I kind of know what to look for, what to ask for, and where I fit in better than I certainly did then. It’s been a lot of fun.

“I still have a lot of things to work on. Somebody talking in your ear while you’re trying to create a thought … start it and finish it and do it in 20 seconds is not an easy task, certainly not for me, so there’s certainly plenty of things there that I’d like to do better, but I like what I’m seeing out there.’’

Follow @gillesrobson

Carl Edwards cruises to Sonoma pole

Carl Edwards won the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Sonoma Raceway with AJ Allmendinger, the pole-sitter in this event a year ago, qualifying second Saturday.

Edwards won the pole with a lap of 95.77 mph. Allmendinger qualified at 95.676 mph.

This is the first Sonoma pole for Edwards. He won at this 1.99-mile road course in 2014. Edwards has a series-high three poles this season.

“I can’t say enough about my guys, our car is fast,” Edwards told FS1. “This place is so much fun.”

Allmendinger told FS1: “A big gain from where we were (Friday). Still got work (for the race).”

Martin Truex Jr. qualified third at 95.672 mph and was followed by Kurt Busch (95.654 mph) and Kyle Larson (95.362)

Follow @gillesrobson

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Casey Mears fastest in 2nd Cup practice at Sonoma

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (95.298 mph) and Casey Mears (95.255 mph) paced the field in Friday’s second and final practice session for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

Denny Hamlin was third fastest (95.243 mph), followed by former Sonoma winner Carl Edwards (95.157 mph) and defending race winner Kyle Busch (95.145 mph).

Qualifying will take place at 2 p.m. ET Saturday.

Here’s how the final practice session played out:

Follow @gillesrobson

Saturday schedule for Sprint Cup, Camping World Truck Series

The Sprint Cup Series has a light day with only qualifying at Sonoma Raceway, but the Camping World Truck Series has a full schedule at Gateway Motorsports Park with practice, qualifying and the Drivin’ for Linemen 200.

Here’s today’s schedule:

All times are Eastern

Sprint Cup Series

(Sonoma Raceway)

10 a.m. – 6 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage open

2:15 p.m. – Sprint Cup qualifying; multi-car/two rounds (FS1, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Camping World Truck Series

(Gateway Motorsports Park)

8 a.m.  – Truck garage opens

9:30 – 10:25 p.m. – Truck practice (No TV)

11: 30 a.m. – 12:55 p.m.  – Final Truck practice (FS1)

4 p.m. – Driver-crew chief meeting

5:45 p.m. – Qualifying; multi-car/three rounds (Fox Sports 2)

8 p.m. – Driver introductions

8:30 p.m. – Drivin’ for Linemen 200; 160 laps, 200 miles (Fox Sports 1, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Follow @gillesrobson

What’s the word for Chip Ganassi? Clean language on team radios

NASCAR and IndyCar team owner Chip Ganassi prides himself in running a clean and professional racing operation.

That extends to language on his race team’s radio communications. With conversations between drivers, crew chiefs, spotters and others on the team freely available to fans with scanner radios, the onus is on everyone in the team to keep their language clean and above board.

“I have always found that the drivers I respect the most are the guys that win races and win championships,” Ganassi said Friday at Sonoma Raceway. “If you look at the guys that win races and win championships, nine times out of 10 those are the calmer, succinct communicators on the radio.

“They don’t get into a lot of poor language or obscenities. The guys that win on a regular basis or the guys that win championships don’t feel the need to do that. I think that probably should tell you something.”

When asked if he has ever had to take a driver aside and discuss their language with them, Ganassi concurred and then added a laugh for emphasis.

“Sure,” he said. “Let’s just say that now that the scanner traffic is more in the public domain I’m glad that certain driver’s aren’t with us anymore.  I’ll say that much.”

Follow @gillesrobson

Sprint Cup using new Goodyear tire at Sonoma

The Sprint Cup Series will be using a new tire code this weekend for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. The code will be used on all four tires.

Compared to the tires used at Sonoma last year, this tire features a decrease in tread gauge (thickness). With all NASCAR road courses, teams will not run inner liners in their tires at Sonoma.

Team will be given five sets of tires for practice/qualifying and five for the race.

Tire Code: D-4678 (same on all four tire positions)

Tire Circumference: 88.66 in. (2,252 mm)

Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 22 psi; Right Front — 20 psi; Left Rear — 17 psi; Right Rear — 17 psi

Goodyear will have its wet weather radials (D-4215) present at the track in case NASCAR determines it necessary to use them. The rain tires have not been used since the Xfinity Series ran them at Road America in 2014.

Teams are allowed up to three sets of “wets” for practice/qualifying and up to three sets for the race.