Submitted by AUTO JUNKIES

I don’t know why I think this is cool…but I do!!
Check it out

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Bud Shutout

Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic

Kudos to Harvick.

His domination has me questioning the larger restrictor plate. It’s almost like there was no change and all cars were created equal. The draft was stagnant although at 190 plus mph, still no one could get around him… how many lead changes… what 5 or 6? And only briefly. Could it actually be that RCR nailed this and we’ll see Harvick in Victory Lane next Sunday ? That’s a feel good story, but what follows throughout the season remains.

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Kevin Harvick Wins Second Straight Budweiser Shootout – Results

Submitted by RACING NEWS DIGEST

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Danica Finishes 6th At Daytona ARCA Race – Not What You Expected

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Budweiser Shootout Starting Line Up And Numbers – Tonight On SPEED

Submitted by RACING NEWS DIGEST

Tonight’s Budweiser Shootout is at 8pm on SPEED. DON’T MISS IT!

MOST SHOOTOUT RACES
Bill Elliott – 23
Mark Martin – 22
Rusty Wallace – 19
Ken Schrader – 18
Jeff Gordon- 17

2 OR MORE SHOOTOUT WINS
Dale Earnhardt (6)
Tony Stewart (3)
Dale Jarrett (3)
Neil Bonnett (2)
Ken Schrader (2)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2)
Jeff Gordon (2).

DEBUT WINS – DRIVERS IN FIRST SHOOTOUT AND WIN
Buddy Baker (1979)
Dale Earnhardt (1980)
Jeff Gordon (1994)
Dale Jarrett (1996)
Denny Hamlin (2006)

Juan Pablo Montoya is the only driver making a debut in this years Shootout.

NUMBERS
1 Laps led by Rusty Wallace (1998), Neil Bonnett (1983-84), Dale Earnhardt (1980), Dale Jarrett (2004) and Kevin Harvick (2009) in the Budweiser Shootouts they won.
2.75 Average finish by Dale Earnhardt, best by any driver with multiple starts.
14 Number of different leaders in last season’s event, the most in Bud Shootout history.
19 Starting position of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2003, the lowest starting position of a Budweiser Shootout race-winner.
23 Number of lead changes in last season’s event, the most in Bud Shootout history.
27 Kevin Harvick’s starting position last season, the lowest by a race winner in the event’s history.
28 Number of participants in 2009, the largest field in the event’s history.
44 Laps led by Greg Biffle in 2005, the most by a driver who did not win the event.
47 Laps led by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2008, the most in a single Budweiser Shootout.

YOUR LINE UP
Starting positions were determined by a drawing that was held Thursday night.

Drivers that are expected to have to drop to the back of the field for the race –
Kevin Harvick – Flu and did not practice in his car.
Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin and Kurt Busch because they were not able to practice in their back up cars after crashing in practice.

Other drivers had to go to back up cars as well but were able to get back out in those cars and practice.

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Videos: Danica Patrick Starting 12th In ARCA Race- Learning A New Car

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Shootout Practices See Montoya, Busch, Martin, Hamlin An More In Accidents

Submitted by RACING NEWS DIGEST

Today’s practices for the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway were rough for some drivers including Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya Denny Hamlin.

Martin and Busch saw the worst of it. Martin wrecked when he and Hamlin made some contact. This caused one of those superspeedway chain reactions and took out several drivers. This accident results in Hamlin, Martin, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick all going to backup cars.

Kevin Harvick was feeling under the weather so Clint Bowyer was driving his car for the practice.

“It probably was a case of both us anticipating – it looked like he was going to try to squeeze in on the outside of me, so I made an effort to give him a line and he anticipated to get behind me,” Martin said. “If either one of us had just anticipated something else, it wouldn’t have happened. … It’s a huge disappointment for my team.

“To be down a car already is not a good way to start off Speedweeks. I was really happy with my car there. I wish we wouldn’t have torn it up. I was making an effort to be on the cautious side, and I think Denny did, too. And in this particular case, it created a situation where we came together. If just one of us would have been a little bit wilder, maybe it wouldn’t have happened.”

Then in happy hour Kurt Busch went down to the line. It appeared to me that Busch tried coming back up just a little and Montoya was there clipping his back bumper. This sent Busch spinning and into the wall.

“It was just a bump draft and I got turned,” Busch said. “The closing rate is more than what we anticipated and you have to learn how to lift off the throttle.”

I believe those were the only 2 cars really involved in that accident. Kurt Busch had to scrap the car he was in and go to a backup.

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Ryan Newman Daytona Media Visit

Submitted by Ryan Newman News and Information

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 US ARMY IMPALA, met with members of the media at Daytona Media Day and discussed expectations for the season, the success of Stewart-Haas Racing, new NASCAR rules and other topics.

LAST SEASON YOU STARTED OFF DECENT AND DIDN’T FINISH-OFF LIKE YOU WANTED TO WITH IT BEING A NEW SEASON AND NEW YEAR HOW DOES IT FEEL COMING INTO DAYTONA? “We learned last year what we are capable of when we were performing to our ability with a lot of top-fives in a row and that’s tough to do in this sport so I look forward to 2010 because of the things we experienced in 2009 and created as a team and as an organization. Obviously we have notes to fall back on where we had no notes before, it’s gonna be nice and a little bit of an insurance call coming to the racetrack. We had a lot of times last year where we got rained out in practice or qualifying and we didn’t know. This year I think we’ll have a lot better information to work from and teammates and willingness to work together all together.”

Seems like the chemistry of that team worked well right off the start? “We started right off here at Daytona and the biggest problem was we had bad luck, we started in a big hole. We had some pit stop problems in California and Vegas and I think we were 31st or 32nd in points for the first three races and to come back and make the chase. We overcame adversity, nobody wants to do that but we did.”

from a driver’s perspective has anything changed since the Media Tour having not been on the track yet, has anything changed, do you have anything to report? “It’s all pretty much the same, a little more at ease talking in front of y’all that makes it probably easier for me either way I probably got more media in the past year and a half than I did in quite a while.”

HOW DO YOU INTERPRET NASCAR’S DECISION TO MIX IT UP A LITTLE MORE, BE MORE AGGRESSIVE AND SHOW MORE EMOTION? “It’s kind of a catch22 because for a long time we couldn’t have a confrontation in the garage area at the risk of being suspended or being on probation — or both. The second part of it is we are going back to the rules like we had before Talladega. So it all depends on how you interpret what they say and what the rules are actually going to be.”

I HAD A CALL THE OTHER DAY ABOUT THE ROLLBAR IN YOUR CRASH, WHEN IT CAME DOWN ON YOU. DID NASCAR EVER CHANGE ANYTHING OR MAKE A RULING ON THAT? “I don’t know if anything ever came of it, it was talked about and there was some ideas but I don’t know if there was ever any rules put in place or not. NASCAR has to make the rule wither its wall thickness of the tubing or concentrating on making it stronger or type of welding device to use to fuse metal together. Those are the things that NASCAR has to stipulate. We always try to make the cars perform as best as they can and obviously we have a concentration to safety but honestly I don’t know if anything was changed. The rules aren’t defined as they need to be from a safety standpoint. That’s just the evolution. They have the safer barriers, race cars, tires, wheels, all types of things in the 70 or 100 years of doing it.”

IS THE DAYTONA 500 GOING TO LOOK A LOT DIFFERENT TO US THIS YEAR WITH THE CHANGE IN THE RESTRICOTOR PLATE SIZE? “I don’t know that we can even determine the actually size of the restrictor plate until we get out there in the pack and draft. I don’t know what they did as far as the test when they determined the restrictor plate we are going to use and rules packages we are going to have but we’ve seen here several times that the restrictor plate size changes — daily as we go through Speed Weeks. It’s kind of wait to be seen but I don’t know that we are going to see a different race. I think this racetrack has always been great in the essence that you have to handle here that makes it fun in a driver’s standpoint because you’re not just wide open following a guy in front of you and waiting for someone push you from behind. You can actually work on your racecar and make it handle and make it drive.”

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEND A MESASGE TO THE MEN AND WOMEN SERVING IN THE MILITARY AND OUR MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE IN THE MILITARY HOSPITALS RECOOPRATING FROM COMPATE WOUNDS? “Absolutely, thank everybody for what they do in all branches of the military to give us an opportunity to do what we love each and every day for generations to come. We appreciate very much the outgiving and selflessness that those people give us that and give us the opportunity to do what we love.

WHO ARE YOU PULLING FOR THE SUPERBOWL? “I don’t know, we’ll have to see. I just like watching a good game. I’m from Indiana, I don’t really care who wins I just like watching a good game.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE RULE ABOUT BUMP DRAFTING? “I think that it’s good that we can bump draft, we shouldn’t be told what we can’t do with our racecars. I think that the yellow line rule is also good for the sport and the drivers and the safety of what we do and especially for the fans but having the ability to wreck each other per say is a good thing. The more we are policed the less we can race I think.”

IS THE SHOOTOUT A MORE IMPORTANT RACE NOW THAT YOU DON’T HAVE ANY PRESEASON TESTING? “Absolutely, every minute you have to be on the racetrack is important from a testing and teamwork standpoint. It’s important for us especially the ones that are fortunate enough to be in the Bud Shootout to get a head start before the Gatorade 150s and before the 500 itself.”

HOW ARE YOU FEELING AFTER LAST YEAR? “I’m alright, I’m about 98 percent.”

NO AFTER AFFECTS? “A little bit but not too bad.”

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Jimmy Kitchens Is Ryan Newman’s New Spotter – Greg Newman There For Support

Submitted by Ryan Newman News and Information

As most of you know, Greg Newman (Ryan’s Dad) has been Ryan Newman’s spotter forever. Not any longer. Ryan Newman and Greg Newman have agreed to that they need to get back on a father / son level and turn the spotting over to someone else.

Greg Newman was replaced as spotter for Newman by Jimmy Kitchens in the offseason. Kitchens, who drove in the Nationwide Series between 1994 and 2005, will make his Cup debut with the team during Saturday’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway.

You can read the full article at HERE AT NASCAR.COM, but here are some excerpts.

“It was very difficult at times for my dad and I to have a father-son relationship at the race track versus a competitive relationship at the race track,” Newman said.

“It was a tough situation because with my dad spotting and Tony being the crew chief, I only had two people I could vent to,” Newman said. “Those were the only two people that I could talk to, or who talked to me, on a given race.

“So if it got heated, my only options were to vent to one or both of them. My dad could vent to someone there on the spotter stand or Gibson could look over at the engineer and say, ‘What the hell is he talking about?’ But for me, those were the only two guys I could talk to. Somebody’s got to stay calm, among the three of us.”

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Dateline: Daytona

Submitted by The Motorsports Soapbox

It’s already been a busy week at The World Center of Racing, as teams scramble to prepare for their portion of the annual motorized feeding frenzy known as SpeedWeek. And the best is yet to come.

Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., swept front-row qualifying for Hendrick Motorsports, with Martin claiming the 52nd Daytona 500 pole with a fast lap of 47.074 seconds at 191.188 mph. That was the fastest pole-winning speed for the 500 since Jeff Gordon in 1999, and just enough to edge Earnhardt (190.913 mph), who will start on the outside of Row One Sunday.

Team owner Rick Hendrick said the effort was a direct result of the emphasis placed on getting the #5 and #88 teams on the same page of the playbook this season in terms of car preparations and setup, after a 2009 campaign that saw Martin challenge for the Sprint Cup title while Earnhardt languished in 25th place in championship points.

“The challenge was to run one team with two cars, and to have those two cars run almost identical times,” said Hendrick. “I know this is just one race, but no one outside our company knows the effort (crewchiefs) Alan Gustafson and Lance McGrew put into this team and these two cars. I’m really proud of them.”

Martin agreed, saying, “This is such a great accomplishment for the 5 and 88 teams. That was not an accomplishment of mine. It’s one (for) all our guys on this team. Having Dale Jr. on the outside of the front row means that we are doing stuff right.”

Bill Elliott turned the fourth-fastest lap to lock his Wood Brothers Racing Ford into the Daytona 500 field, while Scott Speed (13th) and Joe Nemechek (16th) also leapt from the “Go Or Go Home” list into the 500 with fast time trial laps. Bobby Labonte is also guaranteed a spot in the field as the most recent former Sprint Cup champion.

In other Sprint Cup news, Toyota Racing Development President Lee White says financial losses associated with the automaker’s recent recall of 2.3 million passenger cars and trucks will not impact its support of NASCAR teams. White told FoxSports.com, “Our program is pretty well set. (It) involves technical support more so than writing checks. TRD is very good at managing our budgets (and) I honestly don’t think there will be any impact on the motorsports program.”

John Carter Racing is not taking part in this weekend’s Daytona 500, after being unable to secure sponsorship for former Sprint Cup Series champion Terry Labonte. The team had hoped to run both the 500 and the non-points Budweiser Shootout. Team owner John Carter said the team still plans to race this season, but is dependent on finding sponsorship.

“Right now we are actively looking for a sponsor, and it’s really going to dictate how often we compete this season,” said a spokesman for the team. “We already have some things in place moving forward, but the timing for the Daytona 500 just wasn’t going to happen. The #08 will be on the track this season. Its just a matter of when.”

Michael McDowell will run the full Sprint Cup schedule in the Prism Motorsports #55 car, as a teammate to Dave Blaney’s #66 machine. Prism Motorsports attempted all 36 races last year with drivers Terry Labonte, Blaney and McDowell, often competing as a start-and-park team. There is no word on whether that will continue in 2010..

Nationwide News: Miccosukee Resort and Gaming has informed Phoenix Racing owner James Finch that they will no longer sponsor his NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series teams. Finch had a contract in hand for the complete Nationwide Series and 18 Sprint Cup races, but a recent change in tribal leadership resulted in a new, more conservative fiscal policy, leaving Finch without a sponsor. He said his only recourse is an appeal to the Tribal Council, but in his words, “that’s not a case I’m going to win.” The decision is also expected to affect the new Kyle Busch Motorsports Camping World Truck Series team, whose #18 Toyota (driven by Busch and Brian Ickler) were to have been sponsored by the tribe.

Brad Parrott will serve as crewchief for Brendan Gaughan’s #62 Rusty Wallace Racing NASCAR Nationwide Series Toyota this season. Parrott has sat atop the pitbox for drivers Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Dale Jarrett and Juan Pablo Montoya in recent seasons, and once worked as a tire specialist for team owner Rusty Wallace during his days at Penske Racing in the early 1990’s. Parrott’s father, legendary former crewchief Buddy Parrott, will serve as Gaughan’s spotter in select 2010 events.

Kyle Busch says his plan to run the full NASCAR Nationwide Series this season has been vetoed by Joe Gibbs Racing President J.D. Gibbs. Last year’s Nationwide champion said at the start of the year that he hoped to talk Gibbs into letting him chase a second title, but he told the media last week, “”I think it’s pretty much decided now that we’re running the 25-26 races.” Busch will also the full Sprint Cup Series schedule and approximately 15 Camping World Truck races.

Chrissy Wallace will make her NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Daytona Saturday, running the Camping World 300 in Rick Ware Racing’s #41 Fuel Doctor Chevrolet. Not only will it be the first time a father and daughter have raced together in Nationwide competition, but Wallace will join father Mike, Uncle Kenny and cousin Steve in an on-track Wallace family reunion. In a related story, Blue Ox Products will serve as primary sponsor of Kenny Wallace’s Jay Robinson Racing #28 Chevrolet at Daytona. Blue Ox is a manufacturer of recreational vehicle and towing supplies and accessories.

ABF will expand its longtime sponsorship deal with Braun Racing, serving as primary sponsor of the #10 Toyota in seven races. Jason Leffler will drive the car in the season-opener at Daytona, as well as at Bristol in March, Darlington, Dover and Charlotte in May, the September race at Atlanta and the season finale at Homestead-Miami in November. Leffler will drive the team’s #38 Great Clips Toyota in the remainder of the events.

NASCAR Nationwide Series rookie Brian Scott will undergo surgery on the wrist he broke in a Camping World Truck Series crash at Michigan International Speedway last June. Scott said the wrist has not healed properly, and that surgery will be done after the Nationwide Series race in Las Vegas in a few weeks.

Mike Bliss will drive the #40 Key Motorsports NASCAR Nationwide Series Chevrolet in at least the first three races of the 2010 campaign. Bliss will run the the Camping World 300 at Daytona on February 13th, and at Auto Club and Las Vegas Motorsports Speedway in the opening month of the season. Spokesmen for the team say they are hopeful that sponsorship can be found to keep Bliss in the car for the full, 35-race schedule. He is also slated to drive for Tommy Baldwin Racing on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Jason Keller has signed an agreement with TriStar Motorsports to drive the team’s #19 NASCAR Nationwide Series Chevrolet this season. Tri-Star owner Mark Smith said the team will return to the track for the first time since 1997 with intentions to run the full Nationwide schedule. In recent years, Smith has focused on building engines, including the powerplants that propelled Ron Hornaday Jr. to last year’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. Unconfirmed reports have Tri-Star fielding two cars this season, with the second entry to be driven by Tony Raines.

Daisy Ramirez Motorsports will field a second entry in the Camping World Truck Series NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona for Mexican driver Carlos Contreras. Contreras will drive a #00 Silverado sponsored by Potencia Energy Blast and Alpina Bottled Water, as a teammate to Kerry Earnhardt.

Truck News: NASCAR will revise the way it awards starting spots on the Truck Series this season, cutting the number of guaranteed starters and opening up additional spots for teams to qualify on time. Since 2005, the Top-30 teams in owner’s points were guaranteed a spot in the 36-truck field. This season, the number of lock-in drivers will be reduced to 25, with 10 spots left open for fast time-trialers and the 36th position reserved for a past champion.

2005 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion Ted Musgrave will race in the season opening NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona, after all. Musgrave will drive Billy Ballew Motorsports’ #15 Hope for Haiti Toyota Tundra on Friday night, after sitting out last season due to lack of sponsorship. Associate sponsors on the truck will include Eco Clear Solutions, MagicJack.com and Bee My Bear. Musgrave said there is a possibility for the deal to extend beyond Daytona, adding that the team continues to seek sponsorship for a full championship effort.

And Finally: Prayers are going up across NASCAR Nation for Lynda Petty, wife of seven-time Sprint Cup Series champion Richard Petty, who has been diagnosed with Central Nervous System Lymphoma. Mrs. Petty will undergo treatment at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University Medical Center, according to a statement released by the family last week. “We are thankful for the medical team at Duke,” said Richard Petty. “Lynda is in good hands. The doctors and our family are very optimistic that the treatment for this cancer will be successful.”

In happier news, it appears that NASCAR’s recent procreation boom will continue for at least a while longer. Jeff Gordon announced last week that he and his wife Ingrid are expecting their second child this summer. The new arrival will join daughter Ella, who is now two-years old.

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Newman Looking for Kinder, Gentler Superspeedway Race

Submitted by Ryan Newman News and Information

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb.3, 2010) — By all accounts Ryan Newman’s first season with the new Stewart-Haas Racing team in 2009 was a major success.

After a slow start, the U.S. Army driver came on strong to land a berth in the prestigious Chase and went on to finish ninth in the final point standings with a season total of five top fives and 15 top 10s.

But if there was one part of the 2009 campaign Newman and the No. 39 U.S. Army team would like to change it would be the unfriendliness they encountered in the five superspeedway races (including the Daytona 150 qualifying race).

“We took a beating both physically and mentally at Daytona and Talladega last year,” said the 32-year-old Newman. “We want to put that behind us and get off to a good start this season. We have a great superspeedway car with Hendrick power and feel we’re as capable as any team to win the Daytona 500. We’re the Army team, and like our Army Strong Soldiers, we keep on fighting until the mission is completed. We know our Soldiers all over the world will be watching this race, and it would be pretty cool for them to see their car in Victory Lane.”

Newman knows firsthand what it takes to win NASCAR’s biggest race — he won the 50th running of the Daytona 500 in 2008.

But to have any chance of winning the Great American Race, those superspeedway demons which plagued the team last year need to be exorcised before the Feb. 14th opener at Daytona International Speedway.

“I think we had enough bad luck at Daytona in 2009 to last a decade,” noted Newman. “But to expect the unexpected pretty much defines superspeedway racing.”

During last year’s Daytona Speedweeks, Newman suffered a blown engine and was involved in two accidents before the green flag even dropped for the 500.

He had an engine malfunction in practice, was involved in an accident in the 150 qualifying race and the day before the 500 he lost another car in a practice mishap. The Daytona 500 didn’t go much better for Newman, who finished 36th in the rain-shortened event with a second back-up car.

At the ensuing 2009 superspeedway races, Newman was involved in harrowing accidents at both Talladega events and drove a damaged car after being collected in a 13-car wreck in the summer Daytona race.

“It seemed like we got walloped every which way at the superspeedways last year,” stated Tony Gibson, crew chief and Daytona Beach native. “Considering all the things that happened to us at the big tracks last year, we still managed to get a third at the first Talladega race and a 20th in the second Daytona event. But right now I will tell you this — we’re going to Daytona knowing that we can win. Hopefully the bad stuff is behind us and the luck cycle will be on the side of the Soldiers’ car.”

Newman’s record in eight Daytona 500 starts includes one win, two top fives and three top 10s. His dramatic win two years ago in the golden anniversary of the fabled 500 was the result of a final lap pass over Tony Stewart, who is now Newman’s teammate and team owner.

“When I crossed the finish line to win the 500 two years ago, there was no doubt that I knew the significance of what the victory meant,” recalled Newman about the herculean moment of winning stock car’s biggest prize. “We accomplished plenty last year with this U.S. Army team, but we didn’t get to Victory Lane. A Daytona 500 win will more than make up for it. We can do it, there is no question in my mind.”

Before Newman attempts to win his second Daytona 500, he will compete in two other non-point races at Daytona’s 2.5-mile oval — Saturday night’s (Feb.6) Budweiser Shootout (FOX) and next Thursday’s (Feb. 11) 150-mile qualifying race (SPEED).

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Danica Patrick 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Schedule

Submitted by RACING NEWS DIGEST

While it is still uncertain if Danica will be participating in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, the other 12 races listed below seem to be set in stone.

JR Motorsports will still field two cars including the #7 GoDaddy.com Chevy for the Nationwide Series season opener whether Danica is in the car or not.

Once Danica competes in the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) event on Feb. 6 at Daytona in a JR Motorsports-prepared #7 GoDaddy.com Chevy, then it will be determined if she will drive in the Nationwide season opener.

Feb. 20 race at Auto Club Speedway
Feb. 27 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
June 26 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
July 9 Chicagoland Speedway
Aug. 14 Michigan International Speedway
Sept. 25 Dover International Speedway
Oct. 9 Auto Club Speedway
Oct. 15 Charlotte Motor Speedway
Oct. 23 Gateway International Raceway
Nov. 6 Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 13 Phoenix International Raceway
Nov. 20 Homestead-Miami Speedway

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Navistar To Back Skinner’s Truck Effort

Submitted by The Motorsports Soapbox

Navistar Inc., will join with Randy Moss Motorsports with HTM to sponsor former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Mike Skinner’s #5 Toyota Tundra this season.

Navistar is the longest-running team sponsor in the Truck Series garage, after debuting with Circle Bar Racing and driver Rick Crawford in 2001. The company will showcase its International brand commercial trucks and Monaco RVs.

Robert Carso, Director of Marketing and Global Brand Strategy for Navistar’s Engine Group, said of the new deal, “We think this is a winning formula, backing one of the original series drivers with one of the most committed supporting sponsors. Many of our customers are NASCAR fans and promotion of our International truck and Monaco RV brands are a perfect fit for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.”

Skinner won the inaugural NCWTS championship in 1995 and is third all-time with 28 Truck Series wins. He was the first driver in the series to top $1-million in earnings, and he finished third in the 2009 championship standings in his first season with Randy Moss Motorsports. Randy Moss Motorsports and HT Motorsports will combine their effort in 2010, fielding a two-truck team out of their Statesville, NC, shop with Skinner’s #5 Toyota joining the team’s #81 machine. No announcement has yet been made on a driver for the #81 truck, but sources tell Sirius Speedway that Texas native David Starr will be tabbed for the ride.

“I am so excited about the 2010 season,” said Skinner. “We have partnered with the best sponsors in the garage who believe in what we are doing as a company. We have all the ingredients in place to win Randy Moss Motorsports with HTM its first NASCAR championship and that’s the goal.”

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BREAKING NEWS: More Owner Point Shuffling In The Works

Submitted by The Motorsports Soapbox

Sirius NASCAR Radio’s Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody has learned that talks are underway between Yates Racing and Front Row Motorsports to effect a transfer of owner’s points that would lock all three Front Row Motorsports Fords into the first five races of the 2010 season.

Reliable sources say Front Row Motorsports will assume the owner’s points accrued last season by Yates’ #96 and #98 Fords, which finished 31st and 33rd respectively in the final 2009 owner’s standings. Talks are reportedly in their preliminary stages, but are progressing rapidly with an eye toward completing the deal by midweek. It is expected that in order for the agreement to pass muster with NASCAR, Yates Racing owner Doug Yates will have to assume a minority ownership stake in Front Row Motorsports. Front Row’s #34 car is already a guaranteed starter in the first five races after finishing 35th in owner’s points a year ago.

A spokesman for Front Row Motorsports declined to comment on the story earlier today.

The team will also be forced to shuffle its driver lineup for the season-opening Daytona 500, after rookie Kevin Conway failed to receive clearance from NASCAR to compete on the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

As a result, John Andretti will drive the #34 Front Row Motorsports Ford in the Daytona 500 and Budweiser Shootout. Travis Kvapil will drive the #37 at Daytona in place of Conway, before taking over the #34 at Auto Club Speedway and for the rest of the season, Robert Richardson Jr. will drive Front Row’s #38 Ford in the season’s first three restrictor-plate races, with David Gilliland driving the car for the bulk of the Sprint Cup schedule and Andretti also making a handful of starts.

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Childress Buys Into Furniture Row, Smith Now Locked Into First Five Races

Submitted by The Motorsports Soapbox

Furniture Row General Manager Joe Garone told Sirius NASCAR Radio’s Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody that as part of the team’s new technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing, Childress is now a part-owner of FRR.

“That is a huge part of the deal for us,” he said. “This is not a smokescreen. Richard Childress will become a minority owner of Furniture Row Racing.” Under the arrangement, Furniture Row’s #78 Chevrolet will use 2009 owner points accrued by RCR’s #07 Chevrolet to lock Regan Smith into the first five races of this season.

“That changes everything,” said Garone. “The mindset you have when you go to the track is totally different. We no longer have to worry about qualify, and now, we won’t be behind the eight-ball when it comes to race day.”

Garone said the details of the technical alliance are not fully ironed out at present, but will give the team a major boost in engineering. “As a single car team, we have needed this for quite some time,” he said. “I can’t really tell you much about the specifics right now, because they haven’t been finalized. It could ultimately involve a lot of things.”

He confirmed that the team will not utilize Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines, choosing instead to continue their relationship with Hendrick Engines. Furniture Row will once again contact with Kevin Harvick, Inc., for over-the-wall pitcrew services this season.

“Our hope in 2009 was to be better prepared by racing less, and it actually did work,” said Garone. “We had more time to get our cars together, and it paid off for a time. Halfway through the season, though, not being there every week began to catch up to us. We fell behind. The road crew never really got into a rhythm. When you’ve been gone for three weeks, it’s almost like having to re-learn everything.

“This year, we’re going to be right there every week.”

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Help Us Build Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte

Submitted by The Motorsports Soapbox

Sirius NASCAR Radio’s Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody is teaming with Ray Evernham to raise money for the new Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte, NC.

Nearly two decades ago, Evernham needed a place to stay while his year-old son, Ray J, was treated for leukemia at New York’s Sloan-Kettering Hospital. Ronald McDonald House gave him and his family a home away from home and a sense of comfort that he has never forgotten.

“I can’t explain what it means to be so lost in a town with a sick child,” he said. “Parents will find comfort within these walls. It’s important that Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte gets built and used.”

Evernham recently made a $250,000 donation to the cause, and also agreed to serve on the charity’s executive board. His pledge pushed donations past the $6-million mark, but the fundraising drive is running behind projections, and is well short of its $9-million goal. “This is something I have to do,” said Evernham. “You don’t let things like this go by without getting involved.”

Sirius Speedway has set a goal of $5,000 in listener donations. If that goal is met, host Dave Moody will join Evernham in receiving an on-air pedicure, with the color to be selected by the largest individual giver. In addition, Evernham will match listener donations up to an additional $5,000.

“I’m not really a pedicure kind of guy,” said Moody, who also serves as lead turn announcer for MRN Radio’s broadcasts of NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping Truck Series races. “In fact, I’m not wild about people messing with my feet at all. But if that’s what it takes to help Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte get built, that’s what we’ll do. Paint my toenails pink.”

Construction is scheduled to begin next week, following a ground-breaking ceremony on Wednesday. The 35,000-square-foot facility will be built on a one-acre lot donated by Carolinas Medical Center, and will be able to house up to 28 families of sick children. Charlotte has two large children’s hospitals, and many families travel to the city to take advantage of the care provided by Carolinas HealthCare’s Levine Children’s Hospital and Presbyterian’s Hemby Children’s Hospital.

“It’s overwhelming and very stressful to be here with a child in crisis, trying to figure out this city… where to stay, where to eat, where to go,” said Mona Johnson-Gibson, Executive Director of Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte. “We have to be ready to go. It won’t be long before we’re opening.”

Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte will be the fifth Ronald McDonald House in North Carolina and one of 160 nationwide. Donors are asked to send checks and money orders (no cash please) to Sirius Speedway, c/o MRN Radio, 555 MRN Drive, Concord NC, 28027. Make checks payable to Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte.

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Stewart-Haas Racing Has Orange County Choppers Build Bike – TLC This Week

Submitted by Ryan Newman News and Information

Don’t miss this weeks episode of American Chopper.

“Stewart-Haas Racing Bike” – A NASCAR inspired chopper is built of the Stewart-Haas racing team.

Haas Automation recently commissioned Orange County Choppers to build a motorcycle for the Stewart-Haas Racing team. That bike was built as part of their on-the-air television program, American Chopper. The chopper has been built and delivered, and the television program will be aired next week. American Chopper is on the TLC channel, Thursday February 4th at 9 PM (8 PM Central). Note that some cable companies might air the show at a slightly different time. Be sure to watch the program or set your recorder. This will be a good episode of American Chopper, with Tony Stewart and Gene Haas hosting Paul Teutul Senior’s visit to Stewart-Haas Racing. At the end of the show, Paul Sr. personally delivers the finished chopper to Stewart-Haas Racing. Get the word out and enjoy the show.

Peter Zierhut

Haas Automation, Inc.

Photo From Tornados Facebook Page

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Logano Victorious At Irwindale Showdown After Pena Puts Up Great Fight – Results

Submitted by RACING NEWS DIGEST

Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, CA was the location of the Toyota All-Star Shootout for the K&N Pro Series (formerly Camping World Series) last night.

225 laps split into 2 100 lap segments and finished up with a 25 lap segment.

The pole sitter was 16 year old Sergio Pena in his first career NASCAR race. Starting 2nd was Sprint Cup driver Joey Logano. That is how it remained for most of the night except that Pena was chasing down Logano. Pena did have the lead for awhile in the second segment but Pena’s biggest problem was his restarts. Usually Logano could get him on the restarts.

Logano – “(Pena) had a great car. Once he got by me he was gone. And I knew that from the first lap of this race that I would have my hands full the whole time.”

In my opinion the big story is not that Joey Logano got his second victory but instead was really about Sergio Pena’s willingness and drive to compete hard with Logano.

Pena never backed down. During the whole first segment the 16 year old was constantly looking for a line to get around Logano on. He even bumped Logano a handful of times in an attempt to get around. For the most part you didn’t see a 16 year old in his first NASCAR race out on the track, instead you saw someone that new what he was doing and was bound and determined to get it done.

Pena’s number one weakness was his restarts. He was able to hold off Logano on a number of restarts in the second segment but a couple late race segments is where Logano got Pena.

“It’s just an honor to run with (Logano). Hes been a role model for me for so long, a young Cup driver, what kid doesn’t look up to that?” Pena said. “This has been a dream come true, this whole weekend.

“I’m going to carry this over for the rest of the season and for more seasons to come. This is a good beginning and I just hope it doesn’t slow down at all.

“Taking second place from Joey Logano is good for me any day.”

Pena was not even sure if he was racing until 2 days before the race. Thursday Pena had to beat 2 other Drive For Diversity drivers in a “race off” for one of them to move up for qualifying. After Pena jumped that hurdle he managed to grab the pole position and have a great weekend.

I think eyes will be on Pena. I liked his driving style and his aggressiveness. And it wasn’t necessarily bad aggression, it was pretty controlled….at least for a new 16 year old racer.

Great race. Now I am all pumped up for the 2010 NASCAR Season!

Two-time winner Matt Kobyluck was third, followed by Matt DiBenedetto, Andrew Myers, Eric Holmes, David Mayhew, Eddie MacDonald, Paulie Harraka and Steve Park.

David Gilliland was also having a good race battling upfront in the top 5 in most of the first segment. At the end of the segment he came to pit road where his car died. When the second segment started he had turn hard left as the green flag dropped because he lost all power.

Bad luck for Gilliland as it appeared he had a car that could content for the race. Gilliland later told SPEED that he didn’t believe it was an alternator problem but instead a loose wire somewhere.

SPEED will re-air the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown at Midnight ET this Monday

Unofficial Results

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NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown Tonight On SPEED – Line Up

Submitted by RACING NEWS DIGEST

Alright, we are still weeks away from the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season but the Camping World East and West will be racing tonight at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. This should be a good race tonight. If memory serves me correctly last years was a pretty good race.

NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown Live on Speed TV, January 30, 10pm ET.

Toyota Speedway at Irwindale Track Page.

Catch me on Twitter for tonight’s race (if I haven’t fallen asleep. I am really hoping to be awake)

Also if you hadn’t heard, it is no longer the Camping World Series. K&N Engineering has taken the spot as title sponsor with the series now being called The NASCAR K&N Pro Series. Once again a name change that will take some getting use to by me.

“We are thrilled to be the Official Developmental Series Partner and sponsor of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series,” said Steve Rogers, chief executive officer of K&N Engineering. “Our roots in NASCAR go back to the 1970s and this feels like a partnership long overdue. After supporting grassroots and professional racing for decades, we love the idea of supporting a developmental series that provides great racing excitement while developing the top tier drivers of tomorrow.”

Qualifying was held yesterday (Friday) at Toyota Speedway where Sergio Pena grabbed the pole position.

Pena a 16-year-old Pena, Drive For Diversity member captured the 21 Means 21 Pole Award presented by Coors Light for the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown with a fast lap of 18.390 seconds (97.879 mph) during qualifying Friday evening. This is Pena’s first competition in NASCAR.

Some more popular drivers participating in the race include Joey Logano, David Gilliland and of course our favorite Moses Smith.

NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown Starting Line-Up

Sergio Pena’s Pole Position Team

THE 2010 SEASON IS UPON US……LET’s GO RACING!!!

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Michiganders Are Not To Happy With Felix Sabates

Submitted by RACING NEWS DIGEST

I was driving home from work when I first head this story and to be honest I almost thought it was a joke. It wasn’t. The local talk show host that I was listening to wasn’t all the pleased about it and then he had the president (I think it was Speedwat President Roger Curtis????) of Michigan International Speedway on the air with him.

Actually the radio host composed himself pretty well until he started getting a full grasp of the situation and how the whole thing just didn’t make sense.

Felix Sabates on why to drop races at MIS –

Michigan International Speedway. “I mean, there’s nobody left in Detroit other than the police and the unemployed. I’d cut Michigan off the schedule altogether. Michigan – I’m talking about the state – is never coming back to what it used to be, so why go there and throw good money after bad money?”

You can read his full quote here.

Now, I have to tell you that when I first heard the quote on the radio from Sabates I was kind of shocked. What was the knuckle head talking about? He has since apologized but whether it was Michigan or any other state that he had mentioned, I won’t be able to look at him with out thinking “O.K., he’s a moron”.

Now granted, people in Michigan may be a little sensitive right now. Unemployment is way up. The population of Detroit is down to about 800,000 right now I believe while at one time it was well over 1 Million. I just heard that unemployment is up over last month in 14 of 16 labor areas in Michigan. On top of that we got a Govenor that believes raising taxes is the only answer.

So yeah, people here are a little sensitive.

But I don’t really care if Sabates was talking about………Arizona. It was a ridiculous comment that really just made him look foolish.

And I have to tell you. I have read and heard Roger Curtis’s response on the radio and on the web. He is a very sincere guy. When I heard him on the radio I really didn’t feel like he was tip toeing around and being politically correct. He honestly sounded like a good guy that was defending MIS without attacking Sabates.

“It’s a shame Felix Sabates doesn’t see Michigan race fans are some of the most loyal, hard-working people in the world. He clearly doesn’t appreciate the natural beauty of our state or understand the challenges that Michigan, its residents and the city of Detroit will overcome.

“Perhaps his car sponsor Chevrolet, Jack Roush, Roger Penske, all fine examples of Michigan’s resilience, can explain it to him.

“If not, I’m sure the hundreds of thousands of loyal race fans that annually attend MIS events twice a year can.

“In fact, I will give him and his family tickets in our grandstand so he can experience why MIS fans are so loyal to our racetrack and this sport. Maybe that will help him remember it’s the hard-working and loyal race fans – even those he dismisses as ‘unemployed’ – that make NASCAR what it is.”

Felix has since apologized with the following.

“I am so frustrated over the challenges that this tough economy has brought to everyone in this country that I inadvertently joked about one of the areas hit the hardest. Those of us that have the luxury of getting to work in such a great sport like NASCAR owe a great deal to the city of Detroit and their support of the auto industry because without either, the sport of NASCAR would not be what it is today.

“In fact, Michigan International Speedway, even in this tough environment drew an impressive 100,000 fans to the track at their last race.

“My sincerest apologies to anyone that I might have offended, it was certainly not my intent.”

Wonder if Chevy talked to him. Anyway, it is what it is. Didn’t even make me mad personally, but I just thought “OK, here is a moron”.

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How Do You Know Your Ready For The 2010 NASCAR Season

Submitted by RACING NEWS DIGEST

I am ready and obviously missing NASCAR.

Last week I ran to McDonald’s real quick for an early breakfast. I chose to go inside and get it to go instead of hitting the drive-thru.

Once I had my food and got in my car I started pulling around to the exit which passes by they the drive-thru lane and window.

Just so happened that there was a car to my inside going through the drive-thru and was pulling around to pull up to the ordering speaker.

As I was on the outside, I gassed it just a little and was telling myself….”I’m passing him on the outside…I passing on the outside….clear”.

Yep, think I am ready for the 2010 NASCAR Season to get underway.

Are you getting the itch and how so?

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Hamlin Hurt, Riggs To Daytona With RAB Nationwide Series Team

Submitted by The Motorsports Soapbox

Denny Hamlin tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee Friday playing pickup basketball, but will not have surgery to repair the injury until after the 2010 season.

Hamlin disclosed the injury after being forced to withdraw from a skills competition for NASCAR drivers hosted by the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats Saturday night. He said it occurred when he planted his foot to make a move toward the basket the previous day. On his Twitter page, he promised not to let the injury affect his drive for the 2010 Sprint Cup championship,saying, “No matter what people may think, this injury will not stop me from being a contender. This is a minor setback that will only serve as motivation for me.”

Hamlin underwent surgery on Dec. 16 to repair an unrelated meniscus tear in his right knee.

Riggs To Race At Daytona: Sirius Speedway has learned that Scott Riggs will drive the #09 RAB Motorsports NASCAR Nationwide Series Ford in the 2009 series opener at Daytona International Speedway.

Sources say that the deal is for one race only, but could expand if additional sponsorship is found. The #09 car was driven a year ago by John Wes Townley, but Townley and his Zaxby’s sponsorship have moved to Richard Childress Racing for 2010. Riggs has been sidelined since leaving Tommy Baldwin Racing early last season after being unwilling to be a start-and-park driver.

Crewchief News: Former Richard Petty Motorsports crewchief Kevin Buskirk will serve as crewchief for Tommy Baldwin Racing’s #36 Chevrolet and driver Mike Bliss this season. The team recently announced a switch from Toyota to Chevrolet for 2010 with Wave Energy Drink serving as primary sponsor in 14 events, beginning with the Daytona 500. Buskirk was crewchief for Elliott Sadler’s #19 Dodge at RPM until being reassigned with the company in August.

Iain Watt has been named crewchief for Robby Gordon Motorsports. We previously worked at what is now now Richard Petty Motorsports, serving as Director of Performance Engineering from 2007 until last season, when he was part of a major layoff following the merger of RPM with Yates Racing. The Gordon team still has not determined how many races it will run, after being unable to secure a new major sponsor to replace the departed Jim Beam.

And Finally… Federated Auto Parts will sponsor Kenny Wallace’s #28 Jay Robinson Racing Nationwide Series Chevrolet in eight races this season, including the Federated 300 on June 5 in Nashville. Federated will be an associate sponsor in the remainder of the races. Federated will also back Wallace in over 50 dirt track events this year, and will serve as the “Official Auto Parts Supplier” for the Kenny Wallace and Jay Robinson Racing teams.

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So You Say Jimmie Johnson Is Dull?

Submitted by The Motorsports Soapbox

Check out Jimmie Johnson’s recent appearance on the “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” show, when he raced mini-karts with Fallon and guest Ashley Judd. Johnson didn’t win — thanks to a bit of a head-start by Judd — but he kept Fallon behind him by lobbing hunks of cauliflower stolen from the green room. Click HERE for the video.

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Help Us Build Ronald McDonald House Charlotte

Submitted by The Motorsports Soapbox

Sirius NASCAR Radio’s Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody is teaming with Ray Evernham to raise money for the new Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte, NC.

Nearly two decades ago, Evernham needed a place to stay while his year-old son, Ray J, was treated for leukemia at New York’s Sloan-Kettering Hospital. Ronald McDonald House gave him and his family a home away from home and a sense of comfort that he has never forgotten.

“I can’t explain what it means to be so lost in a town with a sick child,” he said. “Parents will find comfort within these walls. It’s important that Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte gets built and used.”

Evernham recently made a $250,000 donation to the cause, and also agreed to serve on the charity’s executive board. His pledge pushed donations past the $6-million mark, but the fundraising drive is running behind projections, and is well short of its $9-million goal. “This is something I have to do,” said Evernham. “You don’t let things like this go by without getting involved.”

Sirius Speedway has set a goal of $5,000 in listener donations. If that goal is met, host Dave Moody will join Evernham in receiving an on-air pedicure, with the color to be selected by the largest individual giver. In addition, Evernham will match listener donations up to an additional $5,000.

“I’m not really a pedicure kind of guy,” said Moody, who also serves as lead turn announcer for MRN Radio’s broadcasts of NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping Truck Series races. “In fact, I’m not wild about people messing with my feet at all. But if that’s what it takes to help Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte get built, that’s what we’ll do. Paint my toenails pink.”

Construction is scheduled to begin next week, following a ground-breaking ceremony on Wednesday. The 35,000-square-foot facility will be built on a one-acre lot donated by Carolinas Medical Center, and will be able to house up to 28 families of sick children. Charlotte has two large children’s hospitals, and many families travel to the city to take advantage of the care provided by Carolinas HealthCare’s Levine Children’s Hospital and Presbyterian’s Hemby Children’s Hospital.

“It’s overwhelming and very stressful to be here with a child in crisis, trying to figure out this city… where to stay, where to eat, where to go,” said Mona Johnson-Gibson, Executive Director of Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte. “We have to be ready to go. It won’t be long before we’re opening.”

Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte will be the fifth Ronald McDonald House in North Carolina and one of 160 nationwide. Donors are asked to send checks and money orders (no cash please) to Sirius Speedway, c/o MRN Radio, 555 MRN Drive, Concord NC, 28027. Make checks payable to Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte.

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Read My Lips….

Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic

Ya think ?

Well I suppose it’s better late than never. I’ve been to a race at Dega and it was incredibly exciting… 3 years ago. Last seasons fall race was a complete waste of the fans money… in a time when few of us in this Country have much to spare. Bringing “back to basics” with allowing drivers to race is so cool… thank you NASCAR !! Let’s only hope that replacing the wing with a spoiler keeps the wheels on the ground.

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