Five things we learned under the lights on Saturday night at Daytona:
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Those double-file restarts designed to spice up NASCAR racing sure didn't sit too well with Joe Gibbs on Saturday night.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Kyle Busch braced himself for a four-lap "trophy dash" around Daytona International Speedway, intent on snatching a win away from Tony Stewart.
An overheated Kyle Busch received intravenous fluids Saturday following his driving stint in the Grand-Am race, then retreated to his motorhome to rest before NASCAR's 400-mile Sprint Cup event.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Clint Bowyer's first victory of the season gave Richard Childress Racing a much-needed boost.
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (AP) -- Tony Stewart will start from a familiar spot Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.
I first caught Scott Speed's act last January, when I was in Charlotte for NASCAR's annual preseason media tour. It was an evening Red Bull event, and Speed addressed the press from a comfy couch, wearing shades and a button-down shirt open to about mid-torso. The California native, who was coming off of a two-year stint on the F1 circuit (where he went winless in 28 starts), seemed very conscious of projecting a laid-back vibe, greeting the media with, "What up, dog?"
Jeremy Mayfield missed the deadline to enter this weekend's race after successfully fighting NASCAR to get back behind the wheel following a failed random drug test.
In reading over the decision yesterday to grant a temporary injunction allowing Jeremy Mayfield to race, the song that came to mind was REM's "Everybody Hurts."
NEW YORK (AP) -- Joe Gibbs didn't expect his gamble to pay off so soon.
Five things we learned under the lights on Saturday night at Daytona:
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Those double-file restarts designed to spice up NASCAR racing sure didn't sit too well with Joe Gibbs on Saturday night.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Kyle Busch braced himself for a four-lap "trophy dash" around Daytona International Speedway, intent on snatching a win away from Tony Stewart.
An overheated Kyle Busch received intravenous fluids Saturday following his driving stint in the Grand-Am race, then retreated to his motorhome to rest before NASCAR's 400-mile Sprint Cup event.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Clint Bowyer's first victory of the season gave Richard Childress Racing a much-needed boost.
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (AP) -- Tony Stewart will start from a familiar spot Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.
I first caught Scott Speed's act last January, when I was in Charlotte for NASCAR's annual preseason media tour. It was an evening Red Bull event, and Speed addressed the press from a comfy couch, wearing shades and a button-down shirt open to about mid-torso. The California native, who was coming off of a two-year stint on the F1 circuit (where he went winless in 28 starts), seemed very conscious of projecting a laid-back vibe, greeting the media with, "What up, dog?"
Jeremy Mayfield missed the deadline to enter this weekend's race after successfully fighting NASCAR to get back behind the wheel following a failed random drug test.
In reading over the decision yesterday to grant a temporary injunction allowing Jeremy Mayfield to race, the song that came to mind was REM's "Everybody Hurts."
NEW YORK (AP) -- Joe Gibbs didn't expect his gamble to pay off so soon.
NEW YORK (AP) -- IndyCar racing's Helio Castroneves narrowly edged NASCAR's Tony Stewart in second-quarter voting for the 2009 Driver of the Year award.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- The driver known as Sliced Bread popped out of the toaster earlier than anybody realistically expected by winning Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire.
LOUDON, N.H. (AP) -- There were questions about the judgment of team owner Joe Gibbs when he decided to replace departing two-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart with a 19-year-old rookie this season.
LOUDON, N.H. (AP) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. had one of the most satisfying 13th-place finishes in his NASCAR career Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
LOUDON, N.H. (AP) -- An eight-car crash on a midrace restart has roused tempers and taken out a couple of contenders at the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Kyle Busch figured out a way to win again in NASCAR's Nationwide Series.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- The Nationwide series will emulate the top NASCAR circuit by using double-file restarts with the leaders at the front throughout races, beginning with the event at Daytona International Speedway on July 3.
LOUDON, N.H. (AP) -- Juan Pablo Montoya offered some friendly advice to IndyCar star Danica Patrick, a free agent who could possibly opt to jump to NASCAR in 2010.
These are tough days at Richard Childress Racing. Last November at Texas, I met with Childress to discuss the state of the U.S. economy and its impact on NASCAR. Something that he said -- really, something that he kept hammering home -- during our conversation recently occurred to me while I was perusing the current standings (no RCR driver ranks higher than 15th).
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Jeremy Mayfield denied Thursday ever taking methamphetamines, doesn't know how he failed a random drug test and said his indefinite suspension from NASCAR has ruined his driving career.
The two biggest racing series in the world, Formula 1 and NASCAR, don't have much in common. NASCAR's big, bulky stock cars pale in comparison to F1's open-wheel marvels of engineering precision, with the wind tunnel meaning just as much to a team's finish as the driver in the cockpit. With side-by-side racing difficult in F1, there are more lead changes in one stock car race than there are in one-third of an F1 season.
Richard Petty is a man of iconic imagery. He is to NASCAR what Jerry West is to the NBA. He could be the logo, too.
Compared to the past three Sprint Cup seasons, Richard Childress Racing has been mired in a slump. With 10 races remaining before the Chase, none of its four drivers are in the top 12. Jeff Burton (15th in the points and 46 behind current final qualifier Juan Pablo Montoya) and Clint Bowyer (16th and 65 back), still have a chance, but Casey Mears (21st and 300 back) and Kevin Harvick (25th and 380 back) really don't.
SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Richard Petty Motorsports has made news this season for all the wrong reasons. Caught in the financial crunch of Chrysler's bankruptcy, the team had a recent round of layoffs and companywide salary reductions.
SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Rick Hendrick will meet with Brad Keselowski this coming week to discuss their 2010 options. Under consideration is placing the young driver with a team affiliated with Hendrick Motorsports.
After Ron Hornaday Jr. celebrated his 51st birthday by winning Saturday's NASCAR Camping World Truck series race at the Milwaukee Mile, he opted not to do a victory burnout. Tire-smoking celebrations have become commonplace in recent years, but now they're a luxury his team just can't afford.
It is getting interesting, the race for the final spot in the Chase. After 15 events this season, three drivers -- David Reutimann, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Kasey Kahne -- are all within 90 points of the 12th-place driver in the standings, Jeff Burton. So who will ultimately grab that 12th and final position that advances to the Chase? Let's break it down, driver by driver.
Don't look now, but Juan Pablo Montoya is currently 14th in the Sprint Cup standings, just 43 points out of the 12th and final spot in the Chase. He's also one of the hotter drivers on the circuit, having run off two straight top-10 finishes, giving him four in his past six races. In other words, NASCAR's highest-profile open-wheel convert could be on the verge of making a major jump in the standings with a victory this weekend on the road course at Sonoma, the sight of his first career Cup win and one of his favorite tracks on the circuit.
The Sprint Cup hits a road course for the first time this season on Sunday at Infineon Raceway -- a tight, 1.99-mile track in the wine country of Sonoma, Calif. It should be a showdown, sabers drawn, between Juan Pablo Montoya -- a fabulous road racer who has been learning to drive stock cars the past three years -- and Kyle Busch, a great stock car driver who suddenly became a winning road racer in NASCAR last year.
NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- In Mark Martin's mind, it's about the race not about the Chase.
Five things we learned on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway:
BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- The most surprised person to find Mark Martin in Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway was the driver himself.
SPARTA, Ky. (AP) -- With a red flag stalling the final laps of Kentucky Speedway's Nationwide race for nearly nine minutes Saturday night, defending champion Joey Logano had plenty of time to think about the task -- and the teammate -- in front of him.
BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- Colin Braun took advantage of an unintentional block by a lapped truck to pass Kyle Busch and race to his first trucks series win Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
BROOKLYN, Michigan (AP) -- Brian Vickers won his third pole of the season for the LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Friday.
David Reutimann's late-career rise to prominence in Sprint Cup delivers an inspirational message of hope to all those drivers in their late 20s or early 30s who are running in NASCAR's entry-level Whelen Series or the touring Camping World East or West Series.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Johnny Benson lost his ride Monday when Red Horse Racing folded his team because it couldn't find sponsorship for the defending Truck Series champion.
MOORESVILLE, North Carolina -- Don't ever call Kyle Busch a Guitar Hero.
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) -- It didn't take long for drivers to get some experience with NASCAR's new double-file restart rule.
Kyle Busch punished the competition and a brand new Gibson Les Paul guitar trophy Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway.
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) -- Tony Stewart lost his pole position and will start from the back of the pack for the Pocono 500 after wrecking his car during practice at Pocono Raceway on Saturday.
Todd Bodine passed up a chance to refuel on the final pit stop Friday night, and still had enough to win the fastest NASCAR Truck Series race ever at Texas Motor Speedway.
Rain didn't entirely spoil Tony Stewart's week.
We're halfway to the Chase for the Championship. There should be a nickname, a logo, a T-shirt, something. Until then, we have a prospective playoff field with 13 races left until that 12-driver playoff unit is finalized at Richmond on Sept. 12.
Martin Truex Jr., Sprint Cup's most desirable free agent, has a gut feeling where he's headed next season.
1. Jimmie Johnson is a strong bet to win a fourth-straight Cup. How thoroughly did Johnson dominate at Dover today? Let us count the ways: his driver rating was a perfect 150.0; he led a race-high (and career-best) 298 of 400 laps; after a bobbled tire change on pit row shuffled him from first all the way back to ninth with 33 laps left, he charged to the front with bloodless efficiency, catching a game Tony Stewart with three laps left to go. Johnson and his team already look to be in Chase-winning trim.
So, the inevitable has happened; Tony Eury Jr. has been replaced as the crew chief for his cousin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. After Little E's 40th-place finish at Charlotte last Monday, there was really no way for team owner Rick Hendrick to get around the fact that something had to change with the No. 88 team. The car has finished 20th or worse in five of the past six races, and in seven of 12 overall. Junior now ranks 19th in points and is all but assured of missing the Chase.
In the end, Rick Hendrick was left with only one option: He had to fire Tony Eury Jr. on Thursday to try to salvage not only Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s season, but also his career.
Five things we learned after the running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, won in an upset by David Reutimann after a rain-shortened race ended on Lap 227:
1,100 miles. Just the number seems daunting. Driving it all in one day, over nine hours with speeds upwards of 220-mph makes it nearly an impossible feat.
Ray Evernham knew he liked the Knaus kid from his first days on the job. Then the crew chief of Jeff Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet, Evernham sensed the young man's burning ambition, and he liked it -- a lot.
Darrell Waltrip looks at Carl Edwards and he sees the next best thing to the perfect driver. The three-time series champion said Edwards has the greatest collection of the most exquisite traits and characteristics of any driver in the Sprint Cup series. He is a virtual Frankenstein monster of abilities: skill, strength, aggressiveness, cunning and youth, for good measure.
Three years after the floodgates opened on an open-wheel NASCAR invasion, it appears the bleeding has finally stopped for the IRL. As the curtain rises on this year's Indy 500, Dario Franchitti finds himself running open-wheel after just one failed season attempting to transition into Sprint Cup. He joins Jacques Villeneuve, Sarah Fisher and Patrick Carpentier as recent examples of how success in one form of motorsports doesn't always translate somewhere else -- failures that make others wary of attempting to make the jump (Danica, are you listening?).
Innovation comes less often from Eureka! moments than from borrowing a bit here, and a bit there. The Vikings were actually quite helpful, once all the pillaging stopped. Rock n' Roll didn't just steal itself from the blues. Someone had to do it for Elvis. Anyway, sports leagues can learn from each other, too. So here are five things racing could learn from the other major sports, and vice versa.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- So, Danica Patrick thinks she can leave the IndyCar Series, switch to NASCAR and become an instant sensation, racking up millions in sponsorship and endorsement opportunities and race off into the sunset.
Five things we learned on a sunny afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway:
Dale Earnhardt Jr. strolled through the garage at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday afternoon, followed -- as usual -- by a crush of autograph-seeking fans. This is the way it is for Earnhardt at every track on the circuit every time he leaves the privacy of his motor coach and walks into a garage. It's the way it's been for him since he made his Cup debut in 1999. For six straight years, fans have voted him NASCAR's most popular driver. He'll likely win the award again this year, even though 2009 is shaping up to be the worst of his Cup career.
Sam Hornish Jr. made real, tangible, definitive progress in his Sprint Cup career Saturday at Phoenix by finishing ninth -- his first top-10 in 44 starts in the series. The former IndyCar star delivered it on a most interesting weekend for the Penske Racing organization, one that closed the door on Hornish's possible return to the open-wheel series with the team.
NASCAR's Silly Season starts earlier and earlier these days, and don't expect 2009 to be an exception to the rule. Remember, we're nearing the one-year anniversary of Tony Stewart's departure from Joe Gibbs Racing, which caused a long chain reaction of free agent dominoes falling before the 36-race regular season was even halfway complete.
The moment is still frozen in Michael McDowell's mind: Blazing into Turn One at Texas Motor Speedway during Cup qualifying last spring, McDowell drove over a patch of speedy dry -- a granular substance that removes oil from the track. A moment later, at 170 miles per hour, he lost control of his car. McDowell's wife, Jamie, was walking from pit road to the garage. When her husband's car smashed into the wall, she thought a bomb had exploded.
With the Cup Series off last week (click here for the Power Rankings after Texas), SI decided to take a look at some of the drivers you might see wheeling a Cup car in the near future. Currently successful in some of the sport's lower-tier divisions, this list of young talent has the potential to be the next wave of Kyle Busches, Jimmie Johnsons, and Carl Edwards in just a few short years. Take a look at the top 10 prospects we see coming down the pike at this point in 2009.
Juan Pablo Montoya came to NASCAR three seasons ago after starring for five years in Formula One, the world's premier auto racing circuit. His background made the Colombia native one of the most hyped -- and most glamorous -- Cup rookies in recent memory. But two years of mediocre performance made him little more than an afterthought heading into 2009.
Nearly one fourth of the way through the 26-race regular season, here are the five biggest surprises so far in the Sprint Cup series in 2009.
When Tony Stewart was considering an offer to become co-owner of Haas CNC Racing last spring, Rick Hendrick encouraged him with more than words to accept the deal. Hendrick promised a full-fledged technical partnership that included supplying cars and engines and the sharing of information from his championship-winning Sprint Cup operation.
Starting this week, NASCAR will use its 2009 version of owner points to determine who's locked into the starting lineup. It's a reminder we've been through enough of the regular season -- nearly 20 percent -- to start sorting out pretenders from contenders.
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- When NASCAR's most popular driver joined Hendrick Motorsports, everyone thought Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was finally with a team that would take him to his first Cup championship.
Kurt Busch, the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, participated in the NASCAR cam video teleconference in advance of this weekend's racing at Bristol, which includes Sunday's Food City 500.
The Greatest of All Time is utterly consumed by the bear trap of a lawn chair. Delana and Kevin Harvick, each sitting nearby and pampering some sort of lap dog, gesture toward the television tucked into the ribs of their motor coach.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- As sports fans gear up for college basketball's March Madness, NASCAR fans have their own version as the series heads to Bristol for the first short track race of the season.
Four races provide only a snapshot into Sprint Cup's regular season, but they could also be a indicator of the changing face of the Chase. Four drivers -- Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Brian Vickers and David Reutimann -- who didn't make it last year are in the top-12 in points, pushing four -- Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 2008 Chasers out.
As Joey Logano tore through NASCAR's lower divisions last year, he picked up the nickname Sliced Bread. But as Logano transitioned to NASCAR's top division, that bread turned stale.
Beneath short black hair and with his ears sticking out, Kurt Busch bears at least some resemblance to Spock from Star Trek. And for the past few seasons, Kyle Busch's older brother was as quiet and analytical as Leonard Nimoy's character.
The anticipation of it conjures guilt. It shouldn't. No more than the expectation of the tide that pulls a child's sand castle back into the sea. It is going to happen. And we all know it. The only question how inhumane it will be.
And now the real season begins in NASCAR.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Now that the 51st Daytona 500 is a soggy memory and winner Matt Kenseth has made the most of his media trip to New York as the winner of NASCAR's biggest race, it's time to look ahead to the rest of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.
DAYTONA, Fla. (CNN) -- Joey Logano is ready to enter his first Daytona 500, but if he wins this Sunday's race, he won't be able to enjoy champagne in victory lane.
Looking at it from a wide lens, things look bleak on planet NASCAR right now. As many as 1,000 in the sport have lost their jobs in the last three months, former powerhouses like Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Richard Petty Enterprises have been forced to merge with other teams to stay financially afloat, and it's probably only a matter of weeks before the Sprint Cup series fails to have a full starting field of 43 cars, something that hasn't happened since 1997. Yet if you take a close-up of what's transpiring on the track, 2009 has more compelling storylines than any other season since I started on the NASCAR beat in 2000.
Now that the field is set for the 51st running of the Daytona 500, with a pair of Martins on the front row (Martin Truex, Jr. and Mark Martin) and two-time Cup champion Terry Labonte bringing up the rear in the 43-car field, it's time for our annual five-minute guide to the Great American race.
Five things we learned under the lights on Saturday night in Daytona at the Budweiser Shootout, the preseason warm-up act for the Daytona 500.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In the hours leading up to taking the track Friday for NASCAR's first "official" practice session of the 2009 season, Tony Stewart was asked why he would succeed as the owner/driver of a satellite team with Hendrick Motorsports where others have failed?
It begins on Friday, the longest season in sports. The Sprint Cup cars will roar onto the track at Daytona International Speedway to practice for Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout, NASCAR's version of an all-star preseason game. Then on Sunday there's qualifying for the 51st running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15, the first of 36 points-paying races in a season that is already filled with more uncertainty than any in recent memory.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Another offseason has vanished, seemingly as quickly as a qualification lap at Daytona International Speedway. By the end of this week there will be Sprint Cup cars at Daytona as a new season officially gets underway with Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout and Sunday's run for the Daytona 500 pole.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- They should just rename the "Budweiser Shootout" the "Bailout Shootout" because the emphasis has been taken away from the drivers and put on the car manufacturers of the ailing automotive industry.
A New Year always gets us looking ahead rather than behind -- and that's exciting, because NASCAR's return is suddenly close at hand. The start of Daytona Speedweeks is now less than one month away, which means it's time to put 2008 behind us while resolving to look ahead to the hype of a 61st season of NASCAR Sprint Cup competition.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Now that 2000 NASCAR Cup champion Bobby Labonte has been released from his contract at Petty Enterprises, don't be surprised to see him as the driver of the No. 41 entry at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- In a normal offseason, Regan Smith and Landon Cassill would both have a lot to look forward to. After all, Smith won the Raybestos Rookie of the Year title in NASCAR Sprint Cup driving for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and Cassill was the rookie award winner in the Nationwide Series for JR Motorsports.
The National Football League instituted instant replay as hedge against botched officiating calls. College football followed, and this summer, so did Major League Baseball, a bastion of tradition that was slow to allow turn-of-this-century technology to interlope on a game born before the turn of the last. The National Hockey League reviews controversial goals at its nerve center in Toronto. They all get it right -- within a reasonable doubt -- and in the NHL's case, from up to thousands of miles away.
As summer turns to fall, NASCAR's Silly Season is a little bit like a department store going out of business. All merchandise needs to be cleared out at bargain basement prices; and by the time you get to its final days, there's next to nothing left to shop for.
The three combatants toddled into the media center of Richmond International Raceway on Friday, plopped behind a smallish table and instinctively checked to see if their microphones were live.
BROOKLYN, Michigan -- Danny Sullivan, the "Spin and Win" driver who won the 1985 Indianapolis 500, has put an offer together to purchase the Bill Davis Racing operation in NASCAR.
KOONTZ LAKE, Ind. -- When it comes to speaking his mind, especially when it comes to NASCAR, Jerry Carroll certainly doesn't hold back.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a touchstone for Ganassi Racing and cordial rival Penske, the backdrop for much of the glory that has defined the storied open wheel teams.
INDIANAPOLIS -- When NASCAR arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Inaugural Brickyard 400 on Aug. 6, 1994, it was an event of epic proportions.
The phone rings in Larry Kemp's office at Eldora Speedway on a busy Friday night. Just a few hours remain before the sprint car race in this rural part of Ohio, but the boss is a thousand miles away at some hulking concrete and steel superspeedway. That doesn't mean, though, the boss isn't present, not when he fills the hours after practice and qualifying in his motor home twiddling like a security guard at the controls of the high-definition cameras that peer down upon the track back in Ohio, upon the money rooms and the concession stands.
Ryan Newman stood, hands in jean pockets, at the base of the graveled slope to a Space Shuttle launching pad at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, pursing his lips as he considered the framed green flag he was accepting as part of a Daytona International Speedway presentation.
Halfway through NASCAR's 26-race regular season, basic patterns develop which begin to tell the tale for how the rest of the season's storylines -- and the playoffs themselves -- may turn out, enough to make every racing analyst's mouth water. But sometimes, one race, stat, or driver simply isn't enough to tell the whole story.
Six things we learned at the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday night:
So NASCAR has its new "Public Enemy No. 1" and it's none other than Kyle Busch, the driver who is so good at being "bad."
Carl Edwards was the belle of the ball, the pick of the litter. Then Tony Stewart's flirtation with other race teams became garage knowledge and suddenly he was the back-up prom date.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Throughout the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, trends that begin at one track often given an indication of what to expect in the following race on the schedule.
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