February 2008 Archives

Kyle Busch won the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was the first pole for Toyota this year and the third for the engiune manufacturer since joining the Cup ranks last year.
Ten Toyota drivers qualified for the Las Vegas race, the most Toyotas in any Cup race to date.
Busch also leads the Cup Series standings, another first for Toyota.
"It's just been crazy the way things have been going," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "I'm at a loss for words almost because I've talked about how well we're running, and how great things have been going. Sooner or later you wonder when the fall is going to happen. I'm a pretty good surfer, so as long as this wave is here I'm going to ride it.”
Dave Blaney, driver of the No. 22 Toyota for Bill Davis Racing, won the first pole for Toyota at New Hampshire International Speedway. Michael Waltrip, driver of the No. 55 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, won the second pole for Toyota at Talladega Superspeedway.
Of the 10 Toyota drivers who qualified, the most surprising had to be Mike Skinner in the No. 27 Toyota for Bill Davis Racing. The car was originally supposed to be driven by Jacques Villeneuve, but he crashed in one of the qualifying races for the Daytona 500. Skinner was supposed to be in the car for the race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, but rain washed out qualifying. This was the first time Skinner was able to qualify the car for a race. He'll start the Vegas race fifth.
"You're in a real unique situation here -- you can't go for it, but you got to go for it," Skinner said. "You're damned if you go for it and damned if you don't in this deal. I don't like to be conservative in qualifying and it's funny because I had to be conservative and go for it all at the same time. It's kind of a strange happening there.”

Carl Edwards, winner of Monday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the newly named Auto Club Speedway, will have an untested car for this weekend's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
But if preseason testing is any indication, Edwards said his Vegas car should be better than his Fontana car.
"Similar to Fontana, we had a really good test at Vegas," said Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. "I feel like our Vegas test was better than the California test, so I’m really looking forward to this weekend."
Bob Osbourne, the crew chief for Edwards' team, said because they raced their test car at Fontana, there wasn't enough time to make changes and prepare it for the Vegas race.
"We had a really good test at Las Vegas earlier this month, but since we raced our test car at Fontana last week, we have to bring a brand new car to Vegas because there’s no time for turnaround," Osbourne said. "We didn’t test the car we’re bringing this weekend, but it’s exactly like the car we tested and raced in California. With the new cars, we can’t turn them around as fast as with the old ones, so we went back and built an identical car to our Fontana car."
It took two days to complete the Cup race at Auto Club Speedway. Edwards won the fourth straight February Cup race for Roush at Auto Club Speedway, but a Roush driver has not won a race at Vegas since 2004. Matt Kenseth won that race and Jimmie Johnson, a driver for Hendrick Motorsports, has won the past three.
Edwards has all the confidence in his crew chief to give him another car capable of winning.
"Bob is a really smart guy and has done a great job with my cars lately, so I know whatever we unload will be good,” Edwards said.
Osbourne said he expects the Vegas car to be better than the car the team raced at Fontana.
“Hopefully our car will be just as good as last week’s car – if not better," Osbourne said. "If that’s the case, we should have another good weekend."

Tony Stewart says the real start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season is at the newly named Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.
For Jimmie Johnson, it's at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Johnson has won the past three Cup races at Vegas, site of this weekend's NASCAR races. Last year, it was the site of his first win en route to his second straight Cup championship. The year before that, it was the site of his second victory after winning the Daytona 500.
“It would be great to get that fourth win, but we won’t approach this weekend any differently than we would at a track where we’ve never won," said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "We go into every weekend hoping to win, but so does every other team out there."
The car his team is taking to Vegas has never raced before. The team tested it at Gateway International Speedway in Missouri last year. Apparently Johnson's team decided not to race the car it tested at Vegas in January.
“I have every confidence in the equipment and the crew to get the job done, but anyone who’s ever been to Vegas will tell you you’ve got to have some luck on your side, too," Johnson said. "If you’ve ever watched a poker tournament on TV, you know even the most experienced players can get beat. We won’t take anything for granted.”
Johnson said at the Vegas test, he could attack the track with his car, and that the track was widening and developing a middle lane, if not an outside lane.
"So as we get into that weekend and all that activity on track, I hope that the track really widens out," Johnson said. "I think it’s going to be a better show for us to put on because we can really be aggressive with the cars. At California Speedway, there’s not a lot of banking to tiptoe around, but at Vegas you can really charge.”
Johnson is coming off a second-place finish at the newly named Auto Club Speedway, formerly California Speedway. He finished 27th at Daytona.

One of the three tracks NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams tested at before the season started was Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of this weekend's races.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a good test at Vegas, but his team decided to build a new car for the race using the data collected from the test.
Earnhardt Jr. is coming off a 40th-place finish at the newly named Auto Club Speedway, where he was taken out in a crash with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Casey Mears, and said he's hoping for better luck in Vegas.
"I hate it for my team that we ended up in an early wreck," said Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "I know with the rainout and everything, the team had to stay another day just to run 40th all day. But we're here to race, and, believe me, they fixed that wrecked car so good we were running in the top-five on the speed charts with it. It says a lot about my guys, and the dedication they have. I hope we have better luck in Vegas."
Rather than use the car Earnhardt Jr. tested, his team decided to build a new car, one of NASCAR's Cars of Tomorrow. Tony Eury Jr., Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief, said the COT has evened out the playing field in NASCAR and his team learns something new about it every day.
"We had a real good test in Vegas last month," Eury Jr. said. "We learned a lot about the track and decided that, instead of running the car we tested, to build a new car based on the data we collected. We're unloading this new car we built blind as a frog. Seriously, every week we run this, we will get better at it."

A week and a day after winning the Daytona 500, Ryan Newman finished 10th in the Auto Club 500 at the newly named Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. It was a race that took two days to complete and was delayed by rain twice.
“The car was just OK," said Newman, driver of the No. 12 Dodge for Penske Racing. "At times we were a seventh-place car and at other times we were a 15th-place car. If you average it out I think we did a little bit better than we could have."
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race started on Sunday, but only 87 laps were completed before NASCAR officials stopped the race because of rain. They tried to restart the race on Sunday night, but decided to postpone it until the following day.
Newman was in 10th place when the race was stopped Sunday night. When the race resumed Monday, he maintained his spot and finished 10th.
"The Alltel/Samsung Dodge just held its own," Newman said. "We spent and extra day and an extra 168 laps and ended up in the same spot, so it’s alright.”

Carl Edwards won the Auto Club 500, but there were times it looked like Jeff Gordon had the best car in the race.
It took two days and three rain delays to finish the race, but Gordon had one of the fastest cars in the field in the first 87 laps of the race run on Sunday. He had a fast car the following day and finished third behind Edwards and Jimmie Johnson.
But it could have ended much worse for Gordon. His engine blew on the last lap of the race, which was completed under caution because Dale Jarrett hit the wall on the fianl lap.
"If you don't think we have any luck, we blew up right coming off turn two just as the caution came out and we were done," said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "I coasted to the line. We got very lucky today."
With his third-place finish, Gordon jumped up to 13th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings. He made up 24 spots after coming in 39th in the season-opening Daytona 500.
"I couldn't believe it," Gordon said. "I kept saying, this is it, right? This is it. I thought when we took the white flag it was over. So thank goodness we got a little luck on our side today with what happened.

The more things change the more they stay the same.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the newly named Auto Club Speedway in NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow yielded a familiar result.
Carl Edwards won the Auto Club 500 on Monday and extended Roush Fenway Racing's winning streak to four in February races at the track.
The race was delayed a day, a result of NASCAR officials deciding to stop the race after 87 laps Sunday night. The race resumed this morning at 10 a.m. with Jimmie Johnson in the lead, followed by Travis Kvapil, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle.
Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing, had one of the better cars in the race Sunday and it carried over when the race restarted the next day.
"We have worked very hard," Edwards said. "I hope this is a sign of how our season is going to go."
Matt Kenseth won the previous two Cup races in February at Auto Club Speedway for Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle won the February race at Auto Club Speedway in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford in 2005. Before that, there was only one race at Auto Club Speedway, which was then called California Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson finished second, followed by Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Kenseth.
Johnson and Gordon drive for Hendrick Motorsports, which won 18 of the 36 Cup races last season. Johnson won his second straight Cup championship and won 10 races last year.
"Jimmie's always fun to race with," Edwards said. "I was just trying to go where he wasn't. I was lucky he was a little bit loose. They were the guys to beat today."

Champ Car teams were supposed to test and race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, but plans have been changed after the merger of the Champ Car World Series and the Indy Racing League was announced Friday.
The Champ Car race scheduled at Laguna Seca, part of the Monterey Festival of Speed on May 16-18 has been canceled. A weeklong Champ Car test session scheduled for March 10-14 has also been canceled
“At this point, we know that Champ Car will not be participating in the Monterey Festival of Speed,” said Gill Campbell, CEO/General Manager of the Laguna Seca. “We are in the process of addressing this issue with customers who have purchased tickets, sponsorships, hospitality and vendor space based on a Champ Car race being part of the weekend.”
Fans with questions regarding the Monterey Festival of Speed are encouraged to call the ticket office (1-800-327-SECA) to discuss their options.
The Monterey Festival of Speed features Round 5 of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, along with open-wheel races from Cooper Tires Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda and Formula BMW Americas. Additional races are being considered and a revised schedule for the Monterey Festival of Speed weekend will be announced soon, according to a release from the track.

2008 Schedule of Events at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

May 16-18, Monterey Festival of Speed featuring the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series (Sat.)Fortune Market 250

July 18-20, Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix featuring the MotoGP World Championship

Aug. 15-17, 35th Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races Presented by Toyota

Sept. 27-28, Corona AMA Superbike Finale featuring the AMA Superbike Championship

Oct. 17-19, Monterey Sports Car Championships featuring the American Le Mans Series

Rain postponed the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway for two days. The race was supposed to be on Saturday, part of a doubleheader with the Craftsman Truck Series. But rain scrapped those plans. Then the Nationwide Series race was rescheduled for Sunday after the Sprint Cup Series race, but rain again prevented the race from starting.
The Nationwide Series race was eventually rescheduled for Monday morning. As a result, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of next weekend's NASCAR races, has offered a deal for those who had tickets for the races at Auto Club Speedway.
Those who present ticket stubs for the Nationwide Series Stater Bros. 300 can buy tickets for the Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for $25.
“We’re making this gesture to do our part to help the series grow,” Las Vegas Motor Speedway president Chris Powell said. “While we have sold more than 100,000 tickets to the Sam’s Town 300 this Saturday, we have plenty of room to accommodate those loyal race fans who have endured the poor weather in Southern California.”

For the second time tonight, the Auto Club 500 has been delayed by rain. The start of the race was delayed for more than two hours. On lap 87, rain stopped the race again.
Jimmie Johnson is in the lead, followed by Travis Kvapil, Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne.
Rain also brought out a caution on lap 41.
NASCAR has not postponed the race and it looks like the intend to restart the race at some point.
The race will be official after 125 laps.

Fighting the flu, Jack Beckman of North Hills won the NHRA Funny Car portion of the Checker Schuck’s Kragen NHRA Nationals at Firebird Raceway.
Beckman, a driver for Don Schumacher Racing, beat Robert Hight in the finals to win his first Funny Car event of the year.
"I went through chemotherapy," said Beckman, who battled and survived cancer, "so I get a flu shot now every year, but I guess the flu this year is immune to that shot. I'm living proof. We drove the motor home out here and I had to make an appearance on Wednesday. You get up in the morning and you just feel like hell. I'm thinking it will go away tomorrow and it didn't. And you look at the back of the cold medicine and it says 'do not operate heavy machinery.' I don't know if that counts as a Nitro Funny Car. I didn't want to take anything, but after the second round I finally had to take some Tylenol. It was just getting hot in that thing. I'm glad it wasn't a 95-degree day in the summer. We would have been in big trouble."
Beckman beat Mike Neff from John Force Racing in the first round, then beat his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Gary Scelzi in the second round.
He got lucky in his semifinal race against Jim Head and won with a run of 5.612 seconds. By comparison, his first two wins came with runs in the 4.8 second range.
Beckman beat Hight, a driver from John Force Racing, in the final round and is 2-0 against Hight in final round races.
Beckman said he was having a hard time keeping track of the rounds because of the flu medicine he was taking.
"Your head's kind of fuzzy all day long and we went out there and won the semis and I told (announcer) Alan Reinhart at the top end, 'Ooh, great, we're going to the semifinal.' I couldn't even keep track of winning two or three rounds there," Beckman said. "And it's a little bit surreal because of that, but more so because of what the crew was able to pull off on this deal."
Beckman is second in the NHRA Funny Car standings after two races. He is 27 points behind Hight.
"In the off season Jerry Toliver came on board as another Schumacher car and basically the Valvoline/MTS car started from scratch," Beckman said. "We had an empty trailer, bare chassis and a crew that had never worked together as a group of nine. And they assembled everything, ordered new tools for it, re-stocked the trailer, put new motors together, so they hadn't torn a car apart as a team until we came here for the test session, and I think it was nice to get 12 runs here in the test session. My God, are they jelling now. Two races into it we've already gotten to the winner's circle."
Van Nuys High graduate Larry Dixon, a driver for Don Prudhomme Racing, won the Top Fuel portion of the NHRA event at Firebird Raceway.

Two of the four drivers involved in a fiery crash in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the newly named Auto Club Speedway said the track is not ready for a race.
It has been raining for the past two days at the track. The start of the race was delayed two and a half hours because of rain. Casey Mears spun out on lap 21 and hit the wall causing a crash that collected four cars. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Reed Sorenson were also involved in the wreck.
Hornish ran underneath Mears's car and flipped it over. The cars caught on fire as the track emergency crews arrived to assist the drivers.
It looked like Mears's car hit a wet spot on the track before it spun out and hit the wall.
Hamlin and Earnhardt Jr. drove their cars to the garage for repairs.
"I think we can get back out there, but I think there are 42 other drivers that would agree that we should not be racing on that race track right now," Hamlin said. "I hit a slick spot and my car took off. You can see it on television -- right at the seems, it's seeping a lot of water. It hit a wet spot and I'm not going to be the last one. I'm not sure if that was the cause of that most recent crash, but it was the cause of ours."
Earnhardt Jr., a teammate of Mears at Hendrick Motorsports, was hit when Mears's car slid down the track after hitting the wall. He echoed Hamlin's assessment of the track conditions.
"We rushed into this. It’s a bad move," Earnhardt Jr. said.
Mears and Hornish were evaluated and released from the track's infield care center.
"There was nowhere to go either way," Hornish said. "Not a very good day. This doesn’t help us out much."

The last time a driver won the first two races of the season was in 1997.
Jeff Gordon won the Daytona 500, then won the race at North Carolina Speedway the following week. Gordon also won the race at California Speedway in June that year.
That was the first year the Cup drivers raced at what was then California Speedway. The track has since been renamed Auto Club Speedway. The series has gone through two name changes, from the Winston Cup to Nextel Cup to Sprint Cup.
Gordon won 10 races and the Winston Cup championship in 1997. He won races at Martinsville, Bristol, Lowe's, Pocono, Watkins Glen, Darlington and New Hampshire that year, proving he could win pretty much anywhere at any race.
Ryan Newman won this year's Daytona 500, but has never won a race at Auto Club Speedway.
Matt Kenseth has won the past two February races at Auto Club Speedway and Roush Fenway Racing has won the past three February races at California Speedway. Greg Biffle won the race in 2005. Before that, the second race of the year was at North Carolina Speedway and the Cup Series raced only once a year at Auto Club Speedway.
Gordon won the race in 2004; Kurt Busch won the race in 2003; Jimmie Johnson won the race in 2002; Rusty Wallace won the race in 2001; Jeremy Mayfield won the race in 2000; Gordon won again in 1999 and Mark Martin won the race in 1998.
A blog post popped up the other day suggesting the Labor Day weekend races at Auto Club Speedway could move to Atlanta Motor Speedway in a swap that would give the track a Chase race.
Apparently Gillian Zucker, the president of Auto Club Speedway, said she has not had any discussions about moving the Labor Day races. Atlanta Motor Speedway track officials said pretty much the same thing.
It makes sense to move what used to be the Southern 500, when the Labor Day Cup race was at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, back to the south.
The Labor Day races at Auto Club Speedway don't sell out, it's probably the hottest time of the year in Southern California, especially in the Inland Empire, and it makes for oppressive conditions for NASCAR fans and drivers.
Moving the Labor Day races back to the South would probably be better for the sport, but if NASCAR is considering making the move to improve attendance for the races at Auto Club Speedway, it's not the right reason to move the races.
The track will attract 70,000 to 80,000 people for a race twice a year in Southern California, but two races are probably too much for NASCAR fans in L.A. Still, 70,000 NASCAR fans in L.A. are better than 40,000 in Darlington. But if Auto Club Speedway and NASCAR expect sellouts, they should race at a smaller track.
That would make Tony Stewart happy.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series race will be run after the Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Auto Club Speedway.
Rain delayed the start of the race Saturday and NASCAR officials decided to postpone the race.
The weather has affected the NASCAR schedule all weekend. Rain washed out qualifying for all three NASCAR divisions racing at the track Friday.
The Cup teams were able to practice at the track for about 30 minutes Saturday, but it has been the only time the Cup cars have been on the track all weekend.
The Truck Series completed its race Saturday afternoon. Kyle Busch won driving the No. 51 Toyota Tundra for Billy Ballew Motorsports. Todd Bodine was second and Johnny Benson was third.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is scheduled to start at 1:10 p.m. Television coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. on Fox.

John Force has a way of taking over a conversation. So on a rainy day in Phoenix that washed out the first round of the NHRA Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals at Firebird Raceway, Force offered up his Oscar choices.
As is most often the case when Force starts talking, it's hard to get him to stop.
“First let’s talk about some of the greatest movies of all time. The No. 1 movie of all time was The Grapes of Wrath, No.2 was Gone with the Wind and then The African Queen.”
“In the seventies and eighties you had Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and E.T. They were the best movies for that time period. I’d also put Jurassic Park up near the top.”
“The movies that talk to people change over time. In the really early days people believed that there could be a Frankenstein or Werewolf. Now we know that that is bullshit. It doesn’t scare us anymore. Then we moved on to the age of sharks, and E.T. but we didn’t want to be scared by aliens so they made this one follow a trail of Reese’s Pieces.”
“What the people want now is they want the real world.”
“One of the best I’ve seen this year is No Country for Old Men. Tommy Lee Jones played a secondary role as a sheriff. Javier Bardem will win for Best Supporting Actor. That movie was fantastic. It was just a very realistic movie. The one that really inspired me that I have seen twice was There Will Be Blood. It is as story of the J. Paul Gettys and the Sinclairs that got rich during the oil boom. Daniel Day Lewis played that lead role so bitchin. It was the most realistic movie I ever saw in my life. It is better than No Country for Old Men.“
“Daniel Day Lewis has one scene in There Will Be Blood that is so amazing. He is in his mansion and he is drunk. He passes out and his preacher comes to see him. They have to kick him to wake him up. He climbs up off the floor and he takes a big bite out of a steak they served him the night before. To watch him chew that steak you just knew people where connecting with him in that role it was so real. That was when men were men. It reminded me of me in Dallas except I whined a lot. I cried being drug out of my Mustang. It is one of the all time best.”
“I walked out of Atonement. It just didn’t do it for me. It wasn’t my kind of movie. I get in late to the movies and I just sat down and watched the first ten minutes. Then I walked out. I don’t even know what it was about. I really shouldn’t give an opinion on it other that it wasn’t my kind of movie. I also walked out of Elizabeth.”
“Michael Clayton doesn’t have a chance for Best Picture but the only player that has a chance is Tilda Swinton who played the lead attorney. She was cut throat and ruthless. George Clooney isn’t going to win anything. He is a big name but he won’t win.”
“Best supporting actor will be Javier Bardem from No Country for Old Men and the Best Actor will be Daniel Day Lewis. Nobody else stands a chance I’ll bet you $1,000 and take a bet with anybody.”
“I think There Will Be Blood will win Best Picture.”
“I go to the movies to just get out of the office. I average two movies a week. Last week I saw five movies. I saw 27 Dresses, There Will Be Blood for the second time, No Country for Old Men again, Cloverfield, and Jumper.”
“Cloverfield was a remake of The Blair Witch Project. Then in the middle they threw in a dinosaur. It really tripped me up.”
“Jumper was cool.”
“For Juno I saw enough commercials that I knew I didn’t want to see it. I saw a hundred commercials and it just didn’t impress me. It probably would be a cute little movie but it wasn’t my cup of tea.”
“The movie that captures you is the movie that you believe could be a possibility. Jaws was real. Jurassic Park could happen with science. The movie that makes you drive around for a week thinking about it; that is the movie I want to see.”

Casey Mears has a much better feeling about his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team compared to this time a year ago.
He is part of the four-driver mega team at Hendrick Motorsports. His teammates are Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Using the Daytona 500 as a gauge, Mears has a number of reasons to be encouraged. Gordon and Johnson, who have their team in one shop at Hendrick Motorsports, had their share of problems at Daytona. But Earnhardt Jr., who works with Mears at Hendrick, won the Budweiser Shootout, one of the Gatorade Duels and was leading the Daytona 500 late in the race before dropping back and finishing ninth.
Mears was among the race leaders at the end of the race, but ran up the track and into the wall with less than 10 laps to go. He lasted longer than Gordon or Johnson, who withdrew early with mechanical and handling problems.
“I think that Junior winning those first couple of races is showing that, hey, they’ve come in and done a good job,” said Mears, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. “I think the equipment is there. The No. 5 and No. 88 (Earnhardt Jr.) side has definitely stepped up and matched that of the No. 24 (Gordon) and No. 48 (Johnson).”
Even though the teams are divided into two shops, Mears said he has noticed a difference in how they have been working this year.
“The meetings that we had in Daytona were very encouraging,” Mears said. “To see all four drivers really interacting and working well together, we didn’t have that before. It was the same idea, but it didn’t seem like it went as smooth,”
Mears inherited Kyle Busch’s team from last year. Busch left Hendrick for Joe Gibbs Racing to make room for Earnhardt Jr. to join Hendrick. Earnhardt Jr. also brought some crew members from his team at Dale Earnhardt Inc. with him to Hendrick.
“Junior has done a really good job of coming in and fitting in really well, so that was encouraging too,” Mears said. “The biggest thing that I’ve pulled away from, the first couple of events when I look at the events and the races, the 150s and the Shootout from my side of things, I’m in a very good position as opposed to last year. It was a great team, a great group of guys that I had last year but we came in last minute and changed the crew chief the week before Daytona. There was just a lot of unorganization, we were building a team.”

Kevin Harvick has NASCAR teams in the Craftsman Truck Series and the Nationwide Series. Every once in while, he races one of his own trucks, but never the cars on his Nationwide Series team, and formerly the Busch Series.
Until now.
When Harvick did race in the Busch Series, it was usually one of the Richard Childress Racing cars, the No. 21 more often than not.
But he will be in his own No. 33 Chevrolet for today's Nationwide Series race at the newly named Auto Club Speedway.
He was asked about why he decided to race his own car after racing for Childress all these years.
"I will be honest with you, I just got bored," Harvick said. "I know it is all about winning races, but Saturday is something that I don't have to do, but I was bored. I know that sounds funny but I really wanted the challenge of driving my own car."
His Truck Series team won the championship last year with Ron Hornaday Jr. as driver. It is a two-truck operation with Hornaday and Jack Sprague who have a combined six Truck Series championships.
"If we can succeed, I know how rewarding it was with the truck program to get it to the point with Ron," said Harvick, who drives the No. 29 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. "To me that was as rewarding as anything I have ever done. So that is what I wanted to do with the car. The ultimate goal is to win the Cup championship. The Saturday is something that I enjoy, well I thought I did, well; I think I do."
Juggling driving for one NASCAR owner and running two NASCAR teams can be challenging. Harvick said he embraces the challenge, even though it can be overwhelming at times.
"It is something I enjoy to put all of those pieces together and the people together with the challenges of getting a sponsor," Harvick said. "Participating in the sport. I like being around the cars, I like being around the people and I like what I do. I enjoyed winning races and championships with Richard; he is probably the greatest boss in this sport that you could drive for. Saturday wasn't something that I necessarily had to do and just needed to do something different."

Kurt Busch has won a race at the newly named Auto Club Speedway and won a Cup championship, but his team almost lost out on a garage stall for this weekend’s race at the track.
His team, Penske Racing, added a third car with three-time Indy Racing League champion Sam Hornish Jr. as driver. But to ensure that Hornish starts the first six races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, Roger Penske, owner of the team, transferred Busch’s points in the owners standings to Hornish’s team.
NASCAR rules state that the cars in the top 35 in last year’s owners standings receive automatic starting spots in the first six Cup races of the season.
Busch can use his past champion provisional as a last resort to qualify for the first six Cup races. He had to use one for the Daytona 500.
But because Busch’s team technically has no points from last year, it almost didn’t get a garage stall on a rainy day at the track on Friday.
“I thought my poor guys were out in the rain this morning without a garage stall,” said Busch, driver of the No. 2 Dodge for Penske Racing. “But luckily we ended up with one of the last garage stalls that they had available just because we don’t have any points.”
He said it was a little odd to be second in the Sprint Cup Series standings and not have a garage. But it was just the result of another unselfish act from Busch, who is being credited for giving his teammate Ryan Newman the little last-lap nudge he needed to win the Daytona 500.
“That’s the sacrifice,” Busch said. “I guess I’ve been a real team player by handing over points to Sam and pushing Ryan to victory, but it’s a great start. Penske Racing has got a lot of great things going on right now.”

For the time being, Kasey Kahne and Robby Gordon are teammates, sort of. Gordon recently partnered with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, which has a three-car team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Kahne drives the No. 9 Dodge for GEM and Gordon owns and runs his race operation independently, receiving support and equipment from GEM.
Kahne said he is hoping the newly forged relationship will make Gordon a different driver. In other words, Kahne is hoping Gordon develops an appreciation for his new partners in racing.
“I’ve always got along with Robby Gordon,” Kahne said. “But as far as on the race track, when he’s out there, you have to race differently. He has a different style of racing. It’s very aggressive”
Gordon has been know to ruffle a few fenders and Kahne even said his spotter makes sure he keeps an eye on Gordon during races.
“Robby is the kind of driver that wants to be a teammate and wants to be part of our company,” Kahne said. “He’s going to race us like he wants us to race him.”

Ron Hornaday Jr. will start today’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race from the pole after rain washed out qualifying Friday at the newly named Auto Club Speedway.
The starting order for the Truck Series race was determined by 2007’s owners standings. Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc., won the Truck Series championship last year, the third of his career.
The Truck Series drivers were able practice at the track on Thursday. Hornaday said that he had a truck that could have won the pole on speed, which was much different than the way he felt about his truck before qualifying for this race last year.
"I thought I did," Hornaday said. "Last year, no I didn't. We qualified decent I think, sixth or eighth or whatever."
Mike Skinner, driver of the No. 5 Toyota Tundra for Bill Davis Racing, will start on the front row with Hornaday.
Johnny Benson, Skinner’s teammate at Bill Davis Racing and driver of the No. 23 Toyota Tundra, will start third.
Todd Bodine, winner of the Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway and driver of the No. 30 Toyota Tundra for Germain Racing, will start fourth.
Bodine, Benson and Kyle Busch are tied atop the Truck Series standings after one race. They each have 170 points.

Jimmie Johnson will start the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race from the pole after rain washed out qualifying Friday at the newly named Auto Club Speedway.
Johnson, last year’s Cup champion, earned the top starting spot in Sunday’s race based on the owners standings from 2007. Jeff Gordon, Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, will start second and on the front row.
The Cup drivers tried to get out on the track to practice Friday, but wet track conditions prevented them. That didn't seem to worry Johnson.
“We tested out here. I guess you get used to it," said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "We have things rained out from time to time. I’d like to be out there and I think there is probably more pressure on the crew chiefs than the drivers at this point. I’m sure a lot of guys are coming out here different then where we tested and would love to be on track to see how that was going to work out. I think the crew chiefs will lose a little sleep. I think the drivers will be fine.”
Gordon and Johnson have combined to win five Cup races at California Speedway. Johnson won last year’s Labor Day race at the track. Gordon’s last win at California Speedway came in 2004.
"I think most of us are just anxious to see where we stack up against the competition," said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "And then the other thing is, and the reason we’re all here, is that the race is on Sunday so tomorrow’s practice is more important about being in traffic and maneuvering around cars and getting your car working good on a long run. I’m looking forward to getting out there for that. Today, with the position we’re at in the points, all it was, was making one or two lap runs for qualifying. So for us, today we didn’t really lose much.”
Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, will start third.
“It’s pretty good for me," Bowyer said. "I’m good with third. I’ll take it. Tomorrow will be crucial. It’ll be a busy day for us; for me personally running the Nationwide car too, so there will be a lot going on tomorrow. But we’ll be ready for it. I think a good starting spot goes a long way in these races and staying up front in clean air I think is going to be big with this car in particular. So, I’m looking forward to it.”
Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Dodge for Penske Racing, will start 13th.
Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing and winner of the past two February Cup races at California Speedway, will start fourth.

Robby Gordon is appealing the penalty NASCAR issued earlier this week that knocked the Sprint Cup Series driver from ninth place to 40th in the drivers standings.
Gordon, who owns and drives the No. 7 Dodge in the Sprint Cup Series, was fined $100,000 and his crew chief was suspended for six races after NASCAR officials said that his car had an unapproved front bumper cover that was discovered during opening day inspections for the Daytona 500. Gordon also lost 100 points in the Sprint Cup drivers standings.
The penalty would all but erase his eighth-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500.
Gordon said he was surprised by the severity of the penalty.
“It was something that we didn’t build, we didn’t fix, we didn’t supply,” Gordon said. “It was a clerical error from the manufacturer, and all we did was install it actually on the race car. We’re going to jail for a crime we didn’t commit.”
Less than a month before the Daytona 500, Gordon switched engine manufacturers, and agreed to a partnership with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. He went from using Ford engines to Dodges and began receiving equipment and support from GEM, which has a three-car team in the Sprint Cup Series.
“It’s almost like you put yourself in a position that if someone steals your car and robs a bank, but because it was your car, you’re going to jail,” Gordon said. “I don’t think this is a fair penalty. We don’t feel that we’ve done anything wrong, and we’re confident that NASCAR will make the right decision.”
Kasey Kahne, who drives the No. 9 Dodge for Gillett Evernham Motorsports, said the penalty was outrageous.
“From what I’ve heard is it’s completely out of control for what he really did,” Kahne said.
Because Gordon is appealing the penalty and NASCAR has yet to respond to his appeal, Frank Kerr, his crew chief, will be able to work with the team for the California Speedway race this weekend. The fine will also be assessed after NASCAR reviews his appeal.
The standings, however, reflect his point loss, dropping him from ninth place and 48 points out of first to 40th place and 148 points out of first.
Ryan Newman leads the Cup standings after one race.

Reaction is coming in from all fronts as the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series announced a merger unifying the two open-wheel racing series on Friday.
The Indy Racing League released a statement that said:
"Owners of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League completed an agreement in principle Friday that will unify the sport for 2008.
Gerald Forsythe, co-owner of Champ Car, signed an agreement in principle in Chicago, joining his partner Kevin Kalkhoven and Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George who had signed late Thursday in Indianapolis."
The unification ends a split in open-wheel racing that has existed in the United States since 1996 when George started the IRL as a option to the existing CART series. CART eventually went into bankruptcy and became the Champ Car World Series.
John Andretti, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver who raced in last year's Indianapolis 500, said the merger will make "everything stronger."
"I thought that years ago when CART was being sold off that the judge made the best decision he could, but I think if you take all of the circumstances into account, this could have been resolved then," Andretti said. "Tony could have played hardball in my opinion and he didn't. He's always played fair. This could have happened a long time ago, but it's better to happen now than to keep whittling on."
Eddie Gossage, the president of Texas Motor Speedway, released a statement that described the merger as "spectacular news" but acknowledged that there is a lot of hard work left to be done.
"We all have to be cautious because the act of unifying open-wheel racing in America is not a
cure for all that ails the sport," said Gossage, who runs the tracks that hosts the Bombardier Learjet 550k. "It is a necessary and huge first step, but there is much work to be done.”
Details of the deal were not released or announced.
Michael Andretti, who co-owns the Andretti Green Racing team in the IRL, said this is a huge day for the IndyCar Series.
"Over the years, whether I was in the role of driver, team owner or promoter, I have always wanted a unified sport," Andretti said. "That has been my only goal throughout this entire process and I applaud everyone who played a role in making this happen. So many people have worked tirelessly, both publicly and behind the scenes, to get this done. Everyone can now focus on taking the IndyCar Series to new heights for the good of our sport and everyone involved in it."

Indy Racing Founder Tony George and Champ Car World Series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven have been in meetings the past two days in Indianapolis. Reports indicated that a merger announcement unifying the two racing series was expected Friday, but a statement released by the IRL suggests otherwise.
“The ongoing talks between the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series will continue into at least Friday in regards to the unification of open-wheel racing," according to the statement released Thursday night. "Any confirmation of unification will be made once an agreement is in place. There are no plans for a news conference at this time. Much progress has been made toward unifying the sport.”
There have been a couple of online and newspaper reports regarding which Champ Car races will be absorbed by the IRL. One report indicated that the Twin Ring Motegi IRL race in Japan will not be moved and will proceed as planned, which means it will conflict with the Long Beach Grand Prix, the supposed start of the Champ Car World Series schedule. The Twin Ring Motegi race is April 19; the Long Beach Grand Prix is April 20.
Instead of running the Long Beach Grand Prix as an IRL race, it's possible it could become a farewell race for Champ Car. However, if the merger series unify, most of the Champ Car teams would switch to the IRL. There could potentially be only about a half dozen Champ Car teams willing to race in the Long Beach Grand Prix.
Other reports suggest the season-ending Champ Car race in Surfers Paradise, Australia would become a non-points exhibition race in the IRL in 2008. Chicagoland Speedway has a contract with the IRL that guarantees the race there will be the season finale in the IRL.

No driver has more Cup wins than Jeff Gordon at California Speedway. He has three. Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson each have two and Kenseth has won the past two February Cup races at the track.
But Gordon is in a bit of a drought at the track. He hasn't won a race at California Speedway in a span of three years and seven races. His last win came in the February race in 2004.
This race will be different, even if Gordon doesn't win. This will be the first time Cup teams will use NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow at the track and Gordon doesn't know what to expect.
“There has always been somewhat of a draft here because of the long straightaways,” said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. “To me, drafting at California Speedway has never really been that big of a deal. You could hang with someone down the straightaway, but it sort of evened itself out when you got into the corners."
That was how the old cars responded to the track during a race.
“But with these cars, the change is significant," Gordon said. "When you get up close to another car, these cars take off. During the test, we did a lot of single-car runs but would encounter a car or two. What we don’t know is how the car will react in a pack of cars here. Once you get the draft off several cars and get a run, will the car stop because of the air hitting the nose? Or will you be able to carry that momentum and complete the pass?"
The good thing, or bad thing, depending how you look at it, is that every driver is trying to find the answers to those questions. It could create for some interesting racing.
“While these cars punch such a big hole in the air and it provides a great draft, it’s also doing that in the corners and that takes downforce away," Gordon said. "I think that is going to cause everyone to really search for different lines in the corner.”

Kyle Busch won the first race of his Cup career at California Speedway. In six Cup races at the track, he has only finished outside the top 10 once, and that was in his first race at the track in 2005. Coincidentally, he won the pole for that race in 2004 at California Speedway.
Busch is with a new team, driving a new Toyota and using NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow in the race. Still he's hoping his old winning ways remain. But Busch said it won't be easy.
“That place is tough," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "It’s really a hard race track to get hold of, now, especially when it’s hot and the sun is out. There are two completely different types of racing when you run the top versus the bottom groove. You can run from the top to the bottom, but when you run the bottom you really feel like you’re puttering around the race track. You feel like you aren’t making up any time on the bottom, but when you are running the top groove you feel like you’re getting the job done. The guys who run the bottom have a little bit more patience and handle it better than the guys who are on the gas on top.”
Busch should know his way around the track by now. After winning the race in 2005, he knows it doesn't take the fastest car to win a race at California Speedway.
“We ran in the top-five all day long, but we really didn’t think we had a winning car," Busch said. "When we got the lead a few times throughout the race, we just pulled away and led by quite a bit. It was really cool to have a really dominant race car. I remember having to drive the car really loose. That was the loosest I think I’ve ever driven a race car that was still moving forward. It was crazy because I came over the radio and told the guys I couldn’t believe how loose I have to drive the car. But it was fast.”

Tony Stewart has never won a race at California Speedway. His record at the track is not all that impressive. He has six top-10s in 13 career Cup races at California Speedway and his best finish has been a couple of fourth places, the most recent coming in 2001.
But for Stewart, the track is a welcome sight. For him it means getting away from the restrictor-plate, drafting nightmare of Daytona and to a track that allows drivers to race.
“What you do at California is solely based on what you and your team can do with your race car, not what drafting line you’re in or how the car behind you is going to affect your next move," said Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "Once we get away from Daytona everything kind of settles into a groove. We’re back in the weekly grind. I enjoy going to California because I really feel that’s where our season starts."
Stewart is coming off a third-place finish in the Daytona 500 and was the highest-finishing Toyota in the field. But Stewart doesn't like having to rely on other drivers and work with them in a draft to finish well at Daytona. California Speedway gives drivers and teams the opportunity to perform at a high level without external circumstances.
"That’s a track where you don’t really worry about what everybody else’s car is doing," Stewart said. "You worry about what your car is doing. You’re racing the race track. You’re not racing everybody else. It’s a good opportunity to get back into the swing of things. Once you leave California, you feel like the season has officially started.”

Matt Kenseth and Roush Fenway Racing own California Speedway in February, but Jimmie Johnson always seems to be waiting to buy it.
Johnson, who has won two Cup races at California Speedway in his career, has never won the February race at the track. He has finished second twice and third once, but never won.
He did win the most recent race at California Speedway, the Labor Day weekend race in September.
But Johnson, who's won the past two Cup championships, is off to a poor start. After winning the pole for Sunday's Daytona 500, he spun out late in the race and finished 27th.
“It was a disappointing finish, no doubt," said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "When you start on the front row, you definitely want to try and finish there. We had a couple of setbacks, but as a team, we know it’s how we respond to those setbacks that will dictate where we are in points at the end of the year. Even with the problems, we managed to stay on the lead lap. I’m proud of the team for that."
Johnson wasn't the only Hendrick car to have problems in the Daytona 500. Jeff Gordon had suspension issues and had to withdraw early and Casey Mears ran up into the wall with less than 10 laps to go in the race. Hendrick newcomer Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the only one of the team's four drivers to finish the race and he was ninth.
Johnson had a 39th-place finish at Daytona last year and went on to win his second Cup championship in a row.
"We bounced back from a bad finish at Daytona last year, so last weekend didn’t shake our confidence at all," Johnson said. "You’d definitely like to head to California in the top-10 (in points), but this early in the season, you just have to try and be consistent and get the best finishes you can. Everyone’s going to have a bad day at some point, so as long as we don’t have too many bad days ourselves, it will all shake out.”

In what could be a sign of things to come, a highly regarded Champ Car official has joined an Indy Racing League team.
Andretti Green Racing, which has a four-car team in the IRL IndyCar Series, hired Paul "Ziggy" Harcus on Tuesday as its team manger. Harcus was the director of operations for the Champ Car World Series.
"Paul is a great addition to our team," said Andretti Green's chief executive officer Kim Green, who co-owns Andretti Green with partners Michael Andretti and Kevin Savoree. "He has a wealth of experience and great knowledge that allows him to join Andretti Green and make an immediate contribution to our organization."
The IRL and Champ Car World Series have been in merger negotiations for the past two weeks. One IRL official said this is the closest the two sides have been to unifying since open-wheel racing in the United States split into two separate factions, the IRL and CART, the predecessor of Champ Car, in 1996.
Wire, newspaper and online reports indicate that a merger announcement could come as early as Friday, with the IRL absorbing a handful of Champ Car races and teams.

Matt Kenseth owns California Speedway. In February at any rate.
Kenseth has won the past two Cup races at California Speedway in February. But this year almost every team is bringing a new car to the track. This will be the first race for NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow, the new stock car introduced last year in a handful of races and will be used in every race this season.
In addition to his two Cup wins, Kenseth has four Busch Series wins at California Speedway, a total of six and the most of any NASCAR driver at the track. The Busch Series is now the Nationwide Series.
"I never thought we'd win two years in a row, but I always feel pretty confident going to California," said Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. "It's been one of our better tracks throughout our time in the Nationwide Series and in the Cup Series, so it's one I certainly look forward to. You look forward to trying to go get some momentum back after a disappointing Daytona 500, so, hopefully, it'll be alright."
Kenseth finished 36th in the season-opening Daytona 500 on Sunday. Kenseth said he is looking forward to racing the Car of Tomorrow at California Speedway.
“California’s just a real big, wide track," Kenseth said. "You get a little bit of everything there. You get a lot of speed, especially this new car has less drag, so you really go fast down the straightaways. It's got some pretty big corners where you can run around the bottom or you can run up high and you're always kind of searching for a groove, so it's always a lot of fun."
Kenseth crashed with his teammate David Ragan and damaged the front suspension on his car at Daytona. When Kenseth returned to the race, he was five laps down. Earlier in the race, Kenseth led a lap.
“Obviously, we had a disappointing finish in the 500, but we made some great adjustments on the car during the race," Kenseth said. "We went from being good to getting off a little to figuring out how to fix it and being pretty competitive right before we got wrecked. So, obviously, it was a disappointing finish but it wasn't certainly any of our guy's fault. We had good pit stops, good adjustments and had ourselves in contention, so I thought, overall, it was good."

NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Jason Leffler, who calls Long Beach his hometown, will be honored at Smooth's Sports Grille in Long Beach on Wednesday.
The restaurant, owned by John Morris, will hang Leffler's firesuit and helmet and keep them on display in tribute to the driver.
“I always look forward to coming home to California but this trip is going to be even more special for me. Smooth’s Sports Grill is a staple in Long Beach and has been for the last 26 years," said Leffler, driver of the No. 38 Toyota for Braun Racing. "John Morris has made it a point to celebrate and pay tribute to other athletes from this area and I am honored to now be a part of that history. To be recognized for years of had work in such a way with my wife, Alison, and son, Charlie Dean as well as other family and friends there means a lot to me.”
Leffler will be in Saturday's Nationwide Series race at California Speedway.
He finished third in what was then the Busch Series standings last year and won the first race for Toyota in the Busch Series, at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis in July.
Before racing in NASCAR, Leffler won three USAC Midget National championships and a Silver Crown championship.
"We're excited to have Jason back home in Long Beach and to have him share his success with his fans, friends and family,” Morris said. “Jason will be inducted into the Smooth's "Legends of Long Beach" display and we'll be honored to have his photo and memorabilia adorning the restaurant's walls."

Ryan Newman is out front.
Some unlikely drivers follow.
The big question is how many drivers will stay in the top 12 when the Chase begins. Heck, how many will be in the top 12 when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to California Speedway in August.
Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch will most likely stay. Reed Sorenson, Robby Gordon and Bobby Labonte have never qualified for the Chase.
One thing is for sure, the standings will change when the Chase begins in September.

Days before the traditional NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at California Speedway, otherwise known as the Auto Club 500, the track announced that its Labor Day weekend Cup race will be the Pepsi 500.
California Speedway announced a multiyear deal with Pepsi that includes Pepsi Smash concerts and other entertainment throughout the race weekend.
“Through this relationship with Pepsi we are aligning this race with a global brand that has had a presence in our sport for many decades. They place a huge focus on their racing program by partnering with premier names like Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and now California Speedway,” said Gillian Zucker, President of California Speedway. “Pepsi’s presence in the entertainment world provides us with one more unique way to enhance the California Speedway fan experience.”
The Pepsi 500 will be Aug. 31 and will accompany the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Aug. 30. The California Speedway race is the 25th race of the season, two races before the start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. It has been a pivotal race in determining which drivers and teams qualify for the 10-race playoff to determine the Cup champion.
In addition to becoming the title sponsor of the race, Pepsi will introduce several Hydration Stations set up at the Speedway. These stations will feature reduced-priced Aquafina water for fans throughout the race weekend and will be located in the Opportunity, California FanZone by Apex and between sections 30-40 and 31-41.
“The Pepsi 500 will be a three-day event unlike any other race on the calendar,” said Ralph Santana, VP of sports, media and interactive marketing, Pepsi-Cola North America. “To celebrate being in the state where Jeff Gordon has such deep roots, we’re going to bring a little Hollywood to the race weekend with a Pepsi Smash concert and other innovative entertainment events that we know the fans will enjoy.”

The Daytona 500 was supposed to be a continuation of the Hendrick Motorsports dominance. It was supposed to be the coming out party for Toyota.
What it turned out to be was the return of the Dodge.
Roger Penske can finally add a Daytona 500 win to all his Indianapolis 500 wins. Ryan Newman can put his Daytona 500 win total up against Sam Hornish's Indy 500 win total now too.
After the race, Newman gave all the credit to his Penske Racing teammate, Kurt Busch, for giving him a much-needed push to win the race.
"Without a doubt, he could have easily gone three-wide and split us through the center and made one heck of a mess there going into three, but he chose to be a teammate," said Newman, driver of the No. 12 Dodge for Penske Racing. "That's the most honorable thing that he could do. I would have done the same thing to him. Just thank him a bunch. Thank our Penske/Jasper engine group for the great horsepower."
All the talk leading up to the Daytona 500 was about how great the Hendrick cars still were and how much better the team was going to be with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junior had a chance to win the race, but dropped back on the last lap and finished ninth.
His Hendrick teammates all crashed or had mechanical problems. Jeff Gordon was the first to go with a suspension failure. Jimmie Johnson was next when he spun out. Casey Mears ran up the track and hit the wall with less than 10 laps to go. That left Earnhardt Jr. alone and without a teammate as the race came to an end.
As for Toyota, the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates of Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch made a late surge, but the best they could do was third place.
This was a race for Dodge. Newman and Busch finished 1-2. Then came Stewart and Kyle Busch, followed by four more Dodges.
Reed Sorenson, Elliott Sadler, Kasey Kahne and Robby Gordon gave Dodge six of the top-eight spots at Daytona. Add Bobby Labonte's 11th place and Dodge had seven of the top 11 spots.
“We got a different situation with this car at this racetrack," Newman said about seeing six Dodges finish in the top eight. "I think that's part of it. I think our Penske/Jasper engine did a great job. That made up for two of the six. That's a lot in itself. Just when you're trying to run wide open, the horsepower underneath the hood makes a big difference when the cars are similar. Outside of that, it's probably a part just racing.”

Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman will be at Hollywood and Highland as part of California Speedway Day in L.A. on Wednesday. This will be the third annual event celebrating the winner of the Daytona 500 and a prelude to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at California Speedway.
Newman, driver of the No. 12 Dodge for Penske Racing, won Sunday's Daytona 500, the 50th anniversary of the race.
California Speedway Day in L.A. is from noon to 2 p.m. Newman will be available to sign autographs for fans in the Central Courtyard on the second floor of the Hollywood and Highland complex.
The Auto Club 500, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at California Speedway, is Feb. 24. It highlights a weekend of races, including the Nationwide Series and Craftsman Truck Series on Saturday.
Qualifying for the Cup race is Friday at California Speedway.

There's been a lot of talk and discussion about whether Toyota can win the Daytona 500. One thing is for sure, they have a better chance than Ford.
There are more Toyotas in the Daytona 500 field than Fords. In that regard, Toyota has already surpassed at least of the traditional powers in NASCAR.
Perhaps the Nationwide Series race was an indication of how the Cup race will play out. Three of the top-four cars were Toyotas. But results in the Nationwide Series, formerly known as the Busch Series, do not always translate into Cup.
Toyota has won races in the Busch Series and now one in the Nationwide Series. Tony Stewart won the Nationwide Series race in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing and is considered one of the favorites to win the Daytona 500.
Earnhardt Jr. said it is no surprise the Toyotas are fast, at both the Nationwide and Cup series levels.
"I knew it was real when we first come down here to test," said Earnhardt Jr., who finished third in the Nationwide Series race, the only Chevrolet driver in the top four. "The Toyota has been fast. Those guys, you know, got the knowledge to get cars around the track, know how to get to Victory Lane. They're gonna be tough I think all year."
Denny Hamlin was second and Brian Vickers was fourth in the Nationwide Series race. For the Daytona 500, Michael Waltrip in a Toyota is starting the race on the front row with Jimmie Johnson and the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, Stewart, Hamlin and Kyle Busch, are all legitimate threats to win the race.
"They build great race cars," Earnhardt Jr. said. "They're a good company. I had the privilege of being able to get a good look at it one time. It's a pretty impressive place. I think they'll always be a challenge."
Joe Gibbs Racing made the switch from Chevrolet engines to Toyotas. They join Michael Waltrip Racing, Team Red Bull Racing, Bill Davis Racing and Hall of Fame Racing as Toyota-powered teams in Cup. Hall of Fame Racing, like Joe Gibbs Racing, is using Toyotas for the first time this year.
"I didn't think they wouldn't have made the change if it wasn't for the better," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It's obviously going to help them a lot over the years."

Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are the favorites to win Sunday's Daytona 500 according to odds released by betEd.com.
The Hendrick Motorsports trio each has a 9-2 chance of winning the 50th running of the Daytona 500. Tony Stewart and his new Toyota from Joe Gibbs Racing is next at 6-1.
From there, the odds drop off pretty dramatically. Kevin Harvick, last year's Daytona 500 winner, and Kurt Busch are 15-1 to win the race.
The top Ford driver is Matt Kenseth for Roush Fenway Racing, listed at 20-1. Denny Hamlin, who won one of the Gatorade Duels in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, is 18-1.
I can see Earnhardt being the favorite. He's already won two races at Daytona this month and probably should have a little better odds than Johnson and Gordon at this point.
As for Stewart, he just has bad luck in the Daytona 500. He's becoming the next Dale Earnhardt in this regard. There's no way he should have these good of odds to win the race.
Kenseth is an interesting pick. Of all the Ford guys, he has the best chance. But the way things have been going at Daytona, any Ford driver is a longshot.
If I was betting on this race, and I would never endorse betting on NASCAR, the two sleepers I would take a hard look at are Reed Sorenson and Casey Mears.
Sorensen isn't even listed and would be a field bet at 10-1. There are only 28 drivers listed with specific odds, meaning a bet for Sorenson would mean a bet for 15 drivers who have very little chance of finishing the race, let alone winning it.
But Sorenson looked really good in his Duel race. Might be worth a look.
As for Mears, the other Hendrick Motorsports driver, he's 30-1 to win the Daytona 500. That's a good bet for a driver and team that presumably has the same equipment as Gordon, Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. Keep in mind that he is driving for the team that put together Kyle Busch's cars last year. That team made the Chase and won a race last year. That race was Bristol, but still, it wasn't like Busch had crap cars all year.
The real longshots are David Ragan, Robby Gordon, Patrick Carpentier and Paul Menard. They are all 120-1 to win the Daytona 500 and quite honestly, that's being optimistic.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports and Toyota have been winning pretty much everything at Daytona International Speedway over the past couple weeks. Ford finally has something it can hang its headers on: the pole for tonight's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.
Erik Darnell, driver of the No. 99 Ford F-150 for Roush Fenway Racing won the pole for the Truck Series race. Roush is no stranger to winning races at Daytona, especially in the Truck Series. Mark Martin and Carl Edwards have won a truck races at the track for Roush. Travis Kvapil finished third in last year's truck race at Daytona driving for Roush.
"If you look at Roush's success over the years at the superspeedway tracks, they've run really well, whether it's here or at Talladega," Darnell said. "And Carl won this race and Mark won this race, even when we didn't win, we've been running up front. Travis Kvapil almost won this race last year. I know that our team puts some real good trucks underneath me and they've given me the equipment to go out there and win and do my job. It's just kind of up to me to do my job and keep it up front. I think we've really got a shot at the
victory."
Last year's Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. will start fifth.
“I don’t know what to say. These guys have done an awesome job on this Camping World Silverado," said Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc. "I’m a little disappointed because we lost a tenth (of a second) somewhere. I tried to go around the bumps the first time, and through them the second time, but maybe we just scrubbed a little too much speed."
Jack Sprague, who won last year's Truck Series race at Daytona and a new teammate of Hornaday's at KHI, will start sixth.
"It was a lot better than I expected," said Sprague, driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado for KHI. "Sitting there on pit road waiting to go out, the truck kept getting colder and wetter with dew and the times kept slowing down, I kept thinking 'Man, I am going to run a 52 flat. But the guys did a great job. We were about two-tenths off Ron in single truck runs earlier, but we ended up within eight hundredths of him. That is pretty good."

Toyota showed no signs of slowing after posting impressive times and speeds in preseason testing. Denny Hamlin, driving the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, won his Gatorade Duel qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway. Dale Jarrett, in the No. 44 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, finished high enough in his duel race to qualify for the Daytona 500. And finally, Tony Stewart and Hamlin posted a 1-2 finish in their duel race and perhaps gave everyone a preview of how tough it's going to be to beat Toyota at Daytona.
Toyota, in its second year of Cup competition, has been surprisingly fast during testing at Daytona, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and California Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, Hamlin, Stewart and Kyle Busch, were expected to have top times. But Waltrip almost won the pole for the Daytona 500, finishing only second to Jimmie Johnson in qualifying.
Then Jarrett, without the comfort of a champion's provisional after Kurt Busch lost a motor in the first duel and had to use his provisional to qualify for the Daytona 500, raced his way into what will be his last Daytona 500.
As strong as Toyotas looked in the duels at Daytona, Hamlin said he is looking forward to races at California Speedway and Las Vegas.
“I'm actually a little more excited about the races to come -- the mile-and-a-half, two-mile racetracks -- California, Vegas, those race tracks," Hamlin said. "All the hard work that we did in the off-season, that's where it's going to show up, not necessarily here at Daytona. Here at Daytona you're going to see what hard work paid off in the engine room, both from Mark Cronquist and the engine guys at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and TRD (Toyota Racing Development). That's what's going to show up at the race track this weekend. Everything we worked on in the off-season will show up the rest of the races throughout the season. We definitely know we have the engine thing heading in the right direction right now. We just got to make sure we've got the mechanical stuff working.”

Make it 2-for-2 for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his new Hendrick Motorsports team.
Earnhardt Jr. won his Gatorade Duel race at Daytona Internetaional Speedway, his second win in as many races with Hendrick. He also won the Bud Shootout last week.
At this rate, the question won't be when will Earnhardt win his first real Sprint Cup Series race with his new team, but how many races will he win.
Other notes of interest from the first Duel: Reed Sorenson was able to pull away with Earnhardt Jr. in the closing laps of the race. It was a strong, patient showing for the other driver for Chip Ganassi Racing, which has open-wheel superstars Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti on its team.
Kenny Wallace and Brian Vickers raced their way into the Daytona 500, the highest finishing drivers in the duel without a spot in the Daytona 500. Vickers took a gamble near the end of the race, pitting when Elliott Sadler hit the wall with eight laps to go. Vickers lost valuable track position when the race resumed with two laps to go, but finished with a fairly comfortable lead to capture one of two available starting spots for drivers not already qualified in the Daytona 500.
Kurt Busch had engine problems and had to drop out of the duel. He will start the Daytona 500 with his past champion provisional, meaning Dale Jarrett, a past Cup champion not already qualified for the Daytona 500, has to race into the field in his duel. Bill Elliott, another past Cup champion who was in the duel race with Busch, will not start the Daytona 500.

Brad Garrett's characters on TV have a hard time knowing when to keep quiet. For the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at California Speedway, he will be asked to say only four words: "Gentlemen, start your engines."
Garrett will be the grand marshal for the Auto Club 500 on Feb. 24 at the track, California Speedway president Gillian Zucker announced Thursday.
“Brad has earned a legion of fans across the country and we’re excited to have him as a part of the West Coast Premiere of NASCAR,” said Zucker. “Not only is he one of the most recognizable faces on TV, he’s got one of the most distinctive voices in the entertainment industry.”
Garrett is a three-time Emmy award winner, for his role as Robert on "Everybody Loves Raymond." He plays Eddie Stark on the Fox TV comedy "Til Death."

This hits close to home because I have a son with autism. Anything that brings attention or raises money for autism research I am in support of.
This is from Fox Sports:

AUTISM SPEAKS KICKS OFF “FOX SPORTS SUPPORTS” YEAR-ROUND CHARITABLE CAMPAIGN DURING 50th DAYTONA 500 -- FOX Sports has established FOX Sports Supports, an on-air charitable initiative devoted to raising awareness, providing financial assistance and spurring volunteerism for select health related charities. FOX Sports employees were asked to vote privately to determine the inaugural FOX Sports Supports charities. The organizations selected for FOX Sports Supports’ first year have been assigned to one of FOX Sports’ primary broadcast properties. Autism Speaks, which kicks-off the entire campaign on Sunday during the 50th Daytona 500, continues through the entire NASCAR on FOX season. The Make-A-Wish campaign runs throughout the entire MLB on FOX season beginning in April, and includes the All-Star Game, National League Championship Series and World Series. The Children's Health Fund campaign runs throughout the 2008-2009 NFL on FOX regular season and postseason, culminating with the NFC Championship Game. Finally, Alzheimer's Association is featured throughout FOX Sports' coverage of the 2009 BCS, including the FedEx BCS National Championship Game.

And so does Richard Childress Racing and some of the Toyota teams.
Ten cars in all changed engines on the eve of the Gatorade Duels, the qualifying races for the Daytona 500.
All four Hendrick drivers, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears, will have new engines in their cars for the race.
Jeff Andrews, the head engine builder for Hendrick Motorsports, said the problem appears to be a bad batch of engine valve lifters.
"We did not have any of them that truly broke. Right now we are looking at the lifters," Andrews said. "We don't have anything apart yet, we just have assumptions based on some early signs we saw in some check overs following that early practice. We have a group of guys back in Charlotte, the best group of guys in my mind, have already started on a fix for the program. We will get this stuff back, get it rebuilt and get it brought back down here."
Clint Bowyer, a driver for Richard Childress Racing, Scott Riggs, a driver for Haas-CNC racing, and Toyota drivers Denny Hamlin, A.J. Allmendinger, J.J. Yeley and Tony Stewart had the engines in their cars replaced as well.
Hendrick Motorsports supplies Chevrolet engines to Haas-CNC Racing, which has a two-car operation. Ricahrd Childress Racing also uses Chevrolet engines.
"I am not sure of their exact problems," Andrews said of the reasons for some of the other manufacturer's decisions to change motors. "Right now we are making a lot of assumptions because we haven't been in and haven't looked at the full picture until we get the engine completely apart. We know we have a problem there with that lifter interface and until, like I said, we get the engine dissembled and find out what has actually caused that problem, I can't really comment. I can't really relate it to Toyota's problems, because our package is different is theirs."
All drivers who replace the engines in their cars will have to start the qualifying races from the back.
Johnson, who won the pole for the Daytona 500, will not lose his starting position in the race even though his team is replacing his car's engine.

The car Dale Earnhardt Jr. plans on driving in his qualifying race and the Daytona 500 is called Emma. It is named after a car his grandfather, Robert Gee, helped build for Hendrick Motorsports in the 1980s. The original Emma, named after Gee's mother, was driven by Geoff Bodine and Tim Richmond in what is now the Nationwide Series. Both drivers won races for Hendrick Motorsports with Emma.
Earnhardt Jr. is 1-for-1 with Hendrick Motorsports so far. He won the Bud Shootout last week, his first race with his new team. He didn't run Emma in that race, but posted the 15th fastest time in qualifying for the Daytona with Emma. His first chance to race Emma will be in Thursday's qualifying race.
"Any win this early in the season would be great," said Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "We are just looking forward to having that chance, especially with the 50th running of the Daytona 500."
Tony Eury Jr., Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief, said he remembers seeing the original Emma race. Gee was also Eury's grandfather.
"It's a fitting tribute to my granddaddy," Eury said. "He had a big part in getting me into this sport, but my dad (Tony Eury Sr.) also taught me a lot. I can remember going to Charlotte Motor Speedway (now Lowe's Motor Speedway) with my granddaddy, and we had the car 'Emma.' It was really cool when we were able to see Emma down in the Hendrick Motorsports museum. That car is a tribute to my great-grandmother, my grandmother and Rick Hendrick. This organization is and always has been about family, and now it's like the family is all back together. I hope we win with Emma. It would be a great tribute."

NASCAR put Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart on probation for the first six races of the Sprint Cup Series starting with Sunday's Daytona 500.
The two drivers were involved in a chain-reaction wreck during practice for last week's Bud Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. The crash collected a number of other cars including Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman, Busch's teammate at Penske Racing.
On his weekly radio show with Matt Yocum on Sirius Satellite Radio, Stewart talked about the crash and the meeting with NASCAR officials following the incident.
Yocum asked Stewart about being able to meet with NASCAR officials behind closed doors and not have to worry about any of the conversation leaking to members of the media. Stewart said he liked having a private place to discuss these sort of incidents with other drivers.

"It let’s both of you get that frustration out," said Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "The good thing, and especially for somebody like Kurt and myself who, you get us through that first five or 10 minute period, it helps a lot. The media has such good access to us now that when something happens you get that emotional side that first five minutes and I can almost guarantee you every time there’s the blood-sucking varmints down here that are part of the media that make up a very, very tiny percentage of the ones that actually go out and work hard to do a good job. But there’s that percentage of leeches down there that want to keep mix[ing] the pot that love to get you when you get in that emotional side. That’s one of the good things, positive things about going to the trailer, is you get to air that part of it out with each other."

Dancia Patrick has turned in her fire suit for a swimsuit in Sports Illustrated. She will be one of the women featured in the magazine's annual swimsuit issue which comes out this week.
"What an amazing honor to be asked to be in the SI Swimsuit issue," said Patrick, who will join other models and celebrities at a launch party today in New York City. "It's such an amazing publication and has such a following. I look at it and I like to see the pictures, and I'm a girl so I can't imagine how many people will see the issue."
How much Dancia will readers get in the magazine? Four pages. The photos were taken at Singer Island, Fla., by photographer Ben Watts in the fall during IndyCar Series testing at Barber Motorsports Park. There is also a 44-photo gallery online.
"It was a lot of fun, actually," she said. "I expected it to be nerve-wracking. I've posed in clothes, but I'd never posed in a swimming suit. I didn't know if I'd know exactly what to do, but amazingly it all translated over. I was comfortable and we all had fun. We shot so much stuff in a relatively little amount of time. It was a day and half of a good time. We even were able to relax a little after the second day."
In addition to the photo shoot, Patrick was also interviewed by new senior writer and columnist Dan Patrick.

A decision on the potential merger of the Champ Car World Series and the Indy Racing League is expected within 48 hours, said a spokesman from American Honda Motor Company.
While Tony George, the founder of the IRL, and Robert Clarke, the outgoing president of Honda Performance Development, were in Japan talking with track officials at Twin Ring Motegi about moving the IRL race there to a date later in the year, Champ Car teams in the United States were waiting for any news of the negotiations.
Rumors are circulating that Champ Car will file for bankruptcy on Tuesday, a move that would signal a merger is imminent.
One Champ Car owner said the bankruptcy rumor is gaining momentum around Indianapolis, where the Champ Car World Series is headquartered and a number of teams are based.
Derrick Walker, owner of Walker Racing, said, "If there's a merger happening, it's not going to be pretty."
"Bankruptcies never are," he said. "I would like to think it wasn't, but it's probably a distinct possibility. I haven't heard anything official, I've just heard the rumors."
Tyler Tadevic, team director for the Oxnard-based Pacific Coast Motorsports, which has a two-car team in Champ Car, said his team is working on a contingency plan if Champ Car does file for bankruptcy. He said his team is looking into a number of options, including the IRL, American Le Mans Series, Grand-Am Rolex Series and off-road racing.

NHRA Funny Car driver Tony Pedregon blew up his car during his first-round race against John Force at the season-opening Carquest Auto Parts Winternationals at Pomona.
His car caught fire and hit the retaining wall before coming to a fiery stop about three-quarters of the way down the track.
"There was no warning. A lot of times when something happens to your car, like when you drop a cylinder, you feel it and I would have reacted," said Pedregon, who won the Funny Car championship last year. "But it blew up and I had instant flames, like a flame-thrower in my face, and the scary part was I didn't know where I was."
Pedregon was taken to Pomona Valley Medical Center Hospital for evaluation. He exited his car on his own and was checked by track emergency crews before going to the medical center hospital.
"I hit the wall very hard and I feel very lucky," Pedregon said. "I knew my hands were burned and I knew that I got beat up a little. When I got out of the car I thought, 'I can't believe the car finally stopped and I'm going to get out of it.' I got out slowly because I wanted to make sure the car was completely stopped."
Pedregon returned to the track in time to watch his brother Cruz make his second-round run against Jack Beckman of North Hills. Cruz Pedregon beat Beckman to make it into the semifinals against Ashley Force.
Tony Pedregon said his car blowing up was a little bit of a glitch, but his team is deep.
"We have good people and I feel fine -- I feel great," Pedregon said. "I'm anxious to get back in the seat at Phoenix, and hey, if this is what it takes to get to the top, these are unfortuntate things, but in terms of safety, to have a high-speed wreck like that, blow a motor and go into the wall a couple of times at close to 300 mph, I think it proves a lot about the safety features we've added to these cars."

Two of Michael Waltrip's Toyotas made it in to the Daytona 500 after qualifying. His car will start second. David Reutimann was fourth fastest in qualifying and is in the race. His starting spot will be determined after the qualifying races on Thursday.
The third car at Michael Waltrip Racing, driven by Dale Jarrett, is not in the Daytona 500. That is making Waltrip a fan of Kurt Busch in the qualifying race.
The 43rd and final starting spot in the Daytona 500 goes to the most recent Cup champion not already qualified. The order of past Cup champions trying to qualify for the Daytona 500 are: Busch, Jarrett and Bill Elliott. If Busch earns a starting spot through the qualifying races, Jarrett can use his championship provisional to get into the race. Jarrett of course can get in the race through the qualifying races too.
"Dale Jarrett has to get in on Thursday -- Kurt Busch is a guy I’ll be pulling for, but mainly I’ll be pulling for Dale Jarrett to be able to race his UPS car up through the middle of it and have a good race on Thursday," said Waltrip, driver of the No. 55 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing. "I think he learned a lot last night -- he learned that even though his car wasn’t right, it was fast enough to keep up and be in the middle of things. Dale Jarrett’s a racer and he’ll take that type of car, adjust it and I feel real confident about what he’ll accomplish on Thursday.”

Jimmie Johnson is in. No surprise there. He won the pole for the Daytona 500 and continued the dominance he demonstrated in winning his second straight Cup championship last year.
"Today it didn't have a lot to do with the driver," said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "I can only mess up a few things, my guys really put the speed in that car and I can't thank them enough."
The next three fastest drivers in qualifying were definitely surprising. Michael Waltrip, who was not guaranteed a starting spot in the Daytona 500, was second fastest in qualifying and will start on the front row with Johnson.
Joe Nemechek, another driver who was not guaranteed a starting spot in the Daytona 500, was third fastest in qualifying. He's in the race, but his starting spot will be determined by how he finishes in his qualifying race on Thursday.
"Have to thank Hendrick Motorsports for awesome engines," said Nemechek, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet. "Everybody that works on this car. This team is based out of Denver, Colorado. Logistics are tough. There are a lot of challenges they have to overcome. But the team is good; we have some good people in place. Good leadership and that is what it is about."
David Reutimann is in the same boat as Nemechek. Reutimann was fourth fastest in qualifying and did not have a guaranteed spot in the Daytona 500. But after qualifying, he's in the race and his starting position will be determined after his qualifying race on Thursday.
It was also an impressive showing for Toyota, which had three of the top-five qualifiers. Waltrip and Reutimann, both drivers for Michael Waltrip Racing, had no problem qualifying for the race. Last year, Toyota's first year in Cup, Toyota drivers struggled to qualify for races and only one car finished in the top 35 in the owners standings.
The top-35 teams in the owners standings earn automatic starting spots in Cup races. Dave Blaney, who was fifth fastest in qualifying, had the only Toyota team to finish in the top 35.

A team director for one of the Champ Car World Series teams said he expects a decision to be made on the potential merger between Champ Car and the Indy Racing League by the end of the week, but added that it would be a "rough deal" to switch this year.
Tyler Tadevic, the team director for Pacific Coast Motorsports, said no one in Champ Car is saying anything, formally, about the progression in the merger talks.
"They're working very hard to make something happen," said Tadevic, whose two-car team is based in Oxnard.
As far as he has been told, the negotiations are at a standstill, yet he said he believes that is not exactly the case.
Ideally, he would like to see the merger happen next year in 2009 to give teams time to introduce new equipment, engines, chassis and properly market races at new venues that would be on the IRL schedule.
Tony George, the founder of the IRL, is in Japan with representatives from the IRL and Honda Performance Development to work out a deal that would allow the merger to take place. It has been reported that the main obstacle standing in the way of the merger is the date of the IRL race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. It is the same weekend as the Long Beach Grand Prix, the opening race for the Champ Car World Series. If the Motegi race can be moved, a spokesman from the IRL said a merger agreement is likely.

Tony Stewart finished second to Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Bud Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. It was Stewart's first race in the team's new Toyotas and it looked like the change in engines didn't affect his racing.
It also was a prelude to what could be a familiar finish in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this year. Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing cars ran strong in the Shootout.
Stewart said he was particularly encouraged with the way Denny Hamlin, his teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, rallied through the field in the Shootout.
"I think the part that impressed me the most there at the end was Denny being able to climb back up there -- it’s like I heard the cavalry coming," Stewart said. "It was just that we didn’t synchronize our watches and get there at the same time. As beat up as his car was, I was really proud of how he got back up there. So far, it looks like it’s the usual list of suspects that are up near the front of these things again.”

California Speedway is offering a ticket package for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Feb. 24 that will benefit the Formula Smiles Foundation.
A question and answer session with Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing, is part of the $142 package, with $42 going to the Formula Smiles Foundation. Fans who purchase the package receive tickets to the Auto Club 500 in sections 11-23, a prerace pit pass and a Montoya-themed gift.
The Formula Smiles Foundation provides funds and support for needy Colombian children and their environment by implementing programs that instill values through sports and recreation. Montoya is a driver from Colombia.
A limited number of the Juan Pablo Montoya Formula Smiles Foundation ticket packages are still available. To purchase tickets please call 800-944-RACE.

It didn't take long for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win his first race for Hendrick Motorsports. He won the Bud Shootout on Saturday night, a 70-lap exhibition race for pole winners from 2007 and previous Shootout winners.
While the win doesn't count in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, it does show that Earnhardt Jr. and his new team at Hendrick Motorsports are going to be tough to beat especially at Daytona International Speedway.
Tony Eury Jr., Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief, said he wanted to dedicate the win to the team's set-up man, Joey Arnold.
"His kid was 5 years old and had terminal disease of some kind and died last Tuesday," Eury said to the media in a news conference after the race. Eury said he learned of the news when the team returned to their shop in North Carolina after testing at California Speedway last week.
"I walked in there coming back from the California test, I said 'Joey, what are you doing here?' His kid had died the day before," Eury said. "He said 'This is my best chance to win the Daytona 500 and I want to be a part of it.'"
Eury said he was impressed by the dedication Arnold showed so he dedicated the team's win in the Shootout to him.
"You put yourself in a position where something like that happens; it is unbelievable that there is that much dedication and that much want to win these races," Eury said. "A lot of people don't realize how big these races are. I mean there are a lot of families out here that don't get to come week to week and a lot of time...people say this sport makes a lot of money. The way I look at it, you get paid to not have a life sometimes.
"When things like that happen, it hits me emotionally and I am so thankful that I have people that dedicated behind me and I go out here and perform for them."

Antron Brown is proving to be a quick learner. In his first year as a Top Fuel driver, with his most recent drag racing experience coming from the Pro Stock Motorcycle division, Brown won the top spot in the Top Fuel elimination rounds.
His fan base is growing as rapidly as his talent.
After the final round of qualifying at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Brown could hear pockets of fans screaming things like: "That's what I'm talking about. That's what you do!"
"That's how the whole day's been," Brown said. "It's just been ongoing and ongoing and ongoing. All this energy, I'm trying to keep up."
Brown will face Urs Erbacher from Switzerland in the first round. There were only 17 cars attempting to qualify for 16 spots in the elimination rounds.
Brown said he would be happy just to qualify for the elimination rounds. But after qualifying, he reassessed his goals.
"I'm never happy to be somewhere," Brown said. "I want to win."
Van Nuys High graduate Larry Dixon took the second spot in qualifying and will face Troy Buff in the opening round of eliminations.
Tony Schumacher, last year's Top Fuel champion, qualified third and will face Doug Kalitta in the first round.

Melanie Troxel had a chance to become the first woman to be the top-seeded driver in NHRA Funny Car eliminations, but ended up third at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.
Troxel, who is in her first year of Funny Car competition after years in the Top Fuel division, had the fastest run in the first two days of qualifying.
But Tim Wilkerson and Jerry Toliver had better runs Saturday and bumped Troxel down to third.
Troxel will face Bob Tasca III in the first round of eliminations. She said she is still trying to get comfortable in the Funny Car after her time in Top Fuel dragsters.
"When you get in the car, your instincts take over," Troxel said. "Ten years of driving dragsters, it's hard to break those habits. Every pass, I'm breaking habits and hopefully working on new ones."
There were 23 cars qualifying for 16 spots in the elimination rounds. Troxel's husband, Tommy Johnson, was not among the top-16 drivers and did not qualify for the finals.
"I'm heartbroken for Tommy," Troxel said. "That's incredibly frustrating as a driver. People make a big deal about when we line up to race each other in the final round for the first time, well that's great. That's a good day for everybody.
"It's times like this when one of us is doing well and the other one isn't, that it kind of puts a bunch of salt in the wound."

An official from the Indy Racing League said a merger between the IndyCar Series and Champ Car World Series is closer than ever and that moving the IRL race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan to later in the year is the last significant hurdle in completing the merger.
Tony George, the founder of the IRL, is in Japan meeting with track officials at Twin Ring Motegi to convince them to move the race date. The Twin Ring Motegi race, a staple on the IRL schedule for years, is on the same weekend as the Long Beach Grand Prix, April 19-20, and is the season-opening race for the Champ Car World Series.
George left for Japan on Friday with representatives from the IRL and Honda Performance Development to meet with officials at Twin Ring Motegi, which is owned by Honda.
If the merger happens, that would mean the big-name teams and big wallets from the IRL, Roger Penske, Chip Ganassi, Bobby Rahal and Michael Andretti, would return to race on the streets of Long Beach.
John Griffin, a spokesman for the IRL, said moving the Twin Ring Motegi race is the last significant hurdle in completing the merger.
Champ Car World Series owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Jerry Forsythe were not so optimistic about the merger. They released a statement on Friday saying leaks to media have hampered the negotiations.
"Unfortunately, leaks and media reports about a possible unification of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League (IRL) have significantly hampered discussions," according to the statement attributed to Kalkhoven and Forsythe. "Over the past three years, we have fielded and offered several proposals regarding unification of the two premier U.S.-based open-wheel racing series, but we have been unable to reach an acceptable solution. Discussions currently are at a standstill, and we therefore are proceeding with plans to continue as Champ Car."

Pat Tryson, Kurt Busch's crew chief, has no problem saying Tony Stewart was at fault for causing the wreck Friday during practice for the Bud Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. Busch and Stewart were involved in a wreck that collected a number of cars, including Busch's Pesnke Racing teammate, Ryan Newman.
“We were out there drafting and both our car and Tony’s car was pretty good," Tryson said. "Those guys are out there running hard. They were on the back stretch and Tony had a little run on us. He went to the inside, but there was a slower car there so he came back to the outside and there was just barely enough room. He got into our right rear and turned left and pretty much just wrecked us. Anybody can play it anyway they want, but it was Tony’s fault."
The history between the two drivers has been extensively documented. They have been rubbing fenders since races last yeat and apparently the discontent is carrying over into the 2008 season.
"There’s some frustration from past history, but that is what it is and we’ll work on our car and try to get a third one down here (Saturday) morning. We’ll get ready for the Bud Shootout and put this behind us and get ready for the Daytona 500."
Both Newman and Busch will have to race back-up cars in the Shootout. The cars they used in practice were damaged beyond repair. Newman's car tangled with Clint Bowyer's car in the crash.
“When you walk away from something like that you have to smile," said Newman, driver of the No, 12 Dodge for Penske Racing. "It’s just wrong place, wrong time you know. Clint stuck his nose underneath me and it was either turn right going into the corner if he would have gotten outside of me or count on him checking up. He said he checked up; it just wasn’t enough. He didn’t mean to turn me around, but that’s kind of the way it happened.”
Apparently there are no hard feelings between Newman and Bowyer.
"I asked him (Bowyer). I said ‘just tell me you version,’" Newman said. "It’s part of what happens at this type of race tracks. You know everybody is trying to make these cars stick. That really wasn’t a bad part of it, but it’s unfortunate.”

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson wrecked their cars beyond repair in a mutlicar crash during practice for the Bud Shootout on Friday at Daytona International Speedway.
The Bud Shootout is tonight and Gordon and Johnson are being forced into backup cars. Hendrick Motorsports is sending a car from North Carolina that is supposed to arrive at the track this morning for Johnson to race. Gordon is going to use his Daytona 500 back-up car for the Shootout.
“I’m sure we have a great plan in place and that is one of the benefits of driving for Hendrick Motorsports," said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "We have 560 employees working hard to make sure that we’re never in a bad situation. So I’m sure we have another great race car ready to go and we’ll be fine for the Shootout. And then if, God forbid, we need another backup come the 500, I’m sure we have a lot of bullets left."
Gordon's team made the decision to use the back-up Daytona 500 car instead of having a new one shipped to the track. The team said in the event his back-up car is wrecked during the Shootout, then it will ship a new car to the track.
“Yeah, we don’t want to use our 500 car," said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "We could do that but we want to save that for the 500 for qualifying. It’s the best car we feel like we have and then we’ll figure it out. I really think for the Shootout and where I’m starting (22nd), I don’t think it’s going to matter."
The crash during practice collected a number of cars, including Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch, who are being blamed for causing the wreck. Among others involved in the wreck were Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin.
Gordon said having to use one of his team's back-up cars is not that much of a concern. But he expects there to be more accidents at Daytona in the Shootout, qualifying races and the 500.
"We’ve got plenty of good ones back at the shop," Gordon said. "It’s just a matter of getting it here and getting it ready and going out there and racing. But I think we’re going to see a lot of things like this happening because the drafting is so severe that there is a lot of movement going on out there. It’s going to be exciting. I’ve been saying it’s going to be exciting and I think there is a whole lot of excitement yet to come. But hopefully at the end of the day we can have a great race.”

NASCAR apparently issued a new policy in regard to conduct and language used by drivers during interviews, especially nationally televised interviews.
Some drivers, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., have been fined and penalized, some would say rather severely, by NASCAR for using inappropriate words after winning races and during live TV interviews.
In Earnhardt Jr.'s case, someone asked him how his success at Talladega Superspeedway compares to his dad's accomplishments. Earnhardt Jr. said "It don't mean shit." To be honest, Earnhardt Jr. was just telling the truth, but it cost him points in the standings and a hefty fine.
Earnhardt Jr. was asked during media day at Daytona International Speedway earlier this week if he thought the new rules would take some of the anxiety off interviews.
"No, because I don't believe them," said Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "I don't think anybody does. What does that mean? Tell me? Are we supposed to walk the line and see where we step over it? Are we going to get fines when we go too far? What is it that they are saying?"
Earnhardt Jr. said the new rules were made more for the media than for the drivers and teams.
"I think honestly they are playing to you guys, they are not talking to the drivers, they are playing y'all," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I think it is basically they are trying to appear to be looser, when the message has not been relayed to the drivers as to what has been changed, it is just a press release went out to the press that said 'Hey, we are going to do this, how about that? You guys like that, right?' Really, what have they told us? I don't know what that means? What does that mean?"
With or without the rules, Earnhardt Jr. said he learned his lesson from the incident at Talladega a couple years ago.
"That was just a little card game between you two; it has really nothing to do with the drivers," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I don't feel like I have been holding back. There are words that I don't use, that I shouldn't use on national television. For me, I get to be the same because I don't feel like I have had to reserve myself too much."

When the NASCAR Sprint Cup teams were testing at California Speedway last week, they were greeted by thousands of fans over the two days. Tony Stewart said it was a surprising number of fans.
"There were more people at the test than there were at the fall race there," said Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.
It wasn't quite that big of a crowd, but still an impressive turnout to watch what amounts to batting practice or spring football practice.
"I was pretty impressed with how many people showed up at the test," Stewart said. "I was a little disappointed when I found out they had to pay to get in the infield to watch the testing. I guess it didn't bother the fans too much to have to do that."
For the record, the track did not charge fans for access to the infield to watch testing. The track did request, if fans did not buy a ticket for the grandstands, to donate $5 to the NASCAR Foundation to get infield access. The track raised more than $11,000 to donate to charity over the two days.
"It was a nice scenery change actually to see the fans there during a test where it's normally you don't see anybody at all," Stewart said. "Pretty cool seeing the fans there having a good time."

NHRA Funny Car driver Jack Beckman had to be quick on his feet when he visited with a group of students from Etiwanda Elementary School on Monday.
"It was actually so big we split it into two groups," said Beckman of North Hills and a driver for Don Schumacher Racing. "The younger kids wanted to know about the race car, how fun is it and how fast does it run, and the older kids were a little bit more open to hearing about school and education. I tried to get the message across that the things you learn in school are all the things that our crew guys, the drivers and team managers are using on a day-to-day basis, so it really is important to pay attention."
Beckman met with a group of first through third graders and a group of fourth and fifth graders to talk about the importance of education. He does these type of programs frequently.
"The other thing we talked about is that it's OK if you're not great in every subject but, as for the subjects that you are good at, dive in with both feet," Beckman said, "because if you really enjoy them then you'll probably use them later in life and build a career around them."
Beckman will be in the Carquest Auto Parts Winternationals at Pomona this weekend. He said talking and meeting with kids is very rewarding.
"You realize how neat it is not when you're speaking and projecting to a room of kids who are out there in front of you, but when they come up for questions and answers. And being able to kneel down next to them and put a hand on their shoulder and take pictures afterward is very rewarding," Beckman said. "It's kind of tough, whether you're talking to kids or adults, to know if they're receptive to your message until afterward. When everything was over, they wanted to come up and touch me and get my autograph and they were very excited, so I knew I got through to them. That's when you know it meant something to them and that's why it meant something to me."

Kurt Busch will start on the pole for the Bud Shootout on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.
The starting order for the Shooutout was determined by a random draw Thursday night and the field will consist of 23 cars, pole winners from 2007 and previous Shootout winners.
“I think this race is a great, unique way to start the season,” said Busch, driver of the No. 2 Dodge for Penske Racing which is sponsored by Miller Lite. “There are only 23 guys that get the special treatment. I’m starting first but in this type of racing I could be 23rd on the first lap. This is a tight group of guys that are tough but we’re looking forward to it.”
Mark Martin, the new driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc. and the car formerly sponsored by Budweiser, will start on the front row with Busch.
“I drew the No. 2 starting spot because I didn’t want to start up front,” Martin joked after making his selection. “I like starting in the back and passing everybody. But we were just talking about how much different it is from 1982. I just feel like it’s a privilege to be in this race.”
Other drivers of note: Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Dodge for Gillett Evernham Motorsports and the new driver of the Budweiser car, will start eighth. Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing and winner of last year's Shootout, will start 12th.
Here is the starting lineup:

30th Annual Budweiser Shootout at Daytona
Saturday 5:30 p.m. PST

1. Kurt Busch
2. Mark Martin
3. Michael Waltrip
4. Jamie McMurray
5. David Gilliland
6. Reed Sorenson
7. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
8. Kasey Kahne
9. Martin Truex, Jr.
10. Tony Stewart
11. J.J. Yeley
12. Denny Hamlin
13. Ken Schrader
14. Bill Elliott
15. Dale Jarrett
16. Casey Mears
17. Greg Biffle
18. Jimmie Johnson
19. Dave Blaney
20. Carl Edwards
21. Clint Bowyer
22. Jeff Gordon
23. Ryan Newman

George Thorogood and the Destroyers will be playing during the NASCAR weekend at California Speedway Feb. 23. The band will perform in the Opportunity, California Fan-Zone, between the Craftsman Truck Series race and the Nationwide Series race.
“From a first-of-its-kind NASCAR doubleheader to some unbelievable musical performances by great bands like George Thorogood and the Destroyers, the Auto Club 500 weekend is going to be an unforgettable one,” said California Speedway president Gillian Zucker. “I can’t wait to see the crowd’s reaction when they hear the opening riff from 'Bad to the Bone.' ”
ZZ Top will perform on the track on Feb. 24 before the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

No matter what, there will be at least five Toyotas in this year's Daytona 500. The three drivers from Joe Gibbs Racing, J.J. Yeley, the new driver for Hall of Fame Racing, and Dave Blaney, driver for Bill Davis Racing, all finished in the top 35 in last year's owners standings. That means all five drivers are locked in to the first five races of the year, including the Daytona 500.
Some are already saying this could be Tony Stewart's year to win the race, even though his team is using Toyota engines for the first time.
Toyota struggled last year, its first year in Cup. Only one Toyota driver, Blaney, finished in the top 35 in the owners standings. Yeley was 25th driving the No. 18 Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing last year. He will be in the No. 96 Toyota for Hall of Fame Racing this year. Kyle Busch is in the No. 18 car after driving the No. 5 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports last year.
Even though Toyota had its problems, Stewart said it shouldn't slow his team down this year.
“This series is so competitive week in and week out that I really don’t think there's any more pressure this year than there has always been,” said Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. “It’s a situation where you know there are so many good, quality teams out there that you have to have the right pieces and the right equipment every week. I feel like we have the right pieces in place, and now I just have to go out there and do my job.”
Toyota will have six cars in the Bud Shootout, an exhibition race for pole winners from 2006 and previous Bud Shootout winners. Blaney qualified for the Shootout by winning the pole at New Hampshire International Speedway, the first pole for Toyota in Cup. Yeley won the pole at Michigan International Speedway and Michael Waltrip won a pole at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
Denny Hamlin, winner of last year's Bud Shootout, Dale Jarrett and Stewart are also eligible for the Shootout. Jarrett and Stewart each have three Shootout wins.

Clint Bowyer will be one of four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers making his first start in the Bud Shootout. He won two poles in 2007, the first at Darlington Raceway and the second coming at New Hampshire International Speedway. Bowyer won the race at New Hampshire, the first of his Cup career.
Bowyer achieved a number of career firsts in 2007. His first Cup win, his first berth in the Chase. That rolled over into 2008, with his first start in the Bud Shootout and his first appearance in the all-star race in May.
In his third year in Cup, Bowyer said having to sit out of last year's Bud Shootout was "really hard."
"This year we’re going to get to run all the races," said Bowyer, driver of the No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "Not only are we in the Shootout, we’re in the all-star race for the first time as well. There are going to be a lot of firsts for the Jack Daniels' team this year, just like there were last year. I’m looking forward to it. You know, it’s a bummer to start the year out watching everyone doing what you do and not being able to participate. Thankfully, that’s not how it’s going to happen this year.”
The car his team is bringing for the Shootout is the same car he raced at Talladega Superspeedway last year. He finished 11th in the Talladega race.

Between testing at California Speedway and getting ready Speedweeks to start in Daytona, Jimmie Johnson was hosting a celebrity golf tournament with Nick Lachey in Phoenix.
It made a busy month of testing even busier, but Johnson said he wouldn't have it any other way.
"We had a blast and raised some money for some great charities," said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "When you’re having fun and doing some good at the same time, it’s hard to question why you’re not sitting at home.”
The two-time Cup champion will be in the Bud Shootout, his sixth career start in the exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway. Johnson won four poles last year and won the Shootout in 2005.
“I’m looking forward to getting back on the track in race conditions," Johnson said. "We’ve made a lot of laps in testing the past few weeks, but there’s no comparison to being out there in the battle. It’s going to be interesting to see how the cars handle in a big pack. I think it will be a good show for the fans."
The car his team is bringing for the Shootout has raced twice. It was in the first Car of Tomorrow race at Bristol Motor Speedway. It finished 16th in that race. It was also in the race at Darlington Raceway and finished third.
“Being in the Shootout is a definite plus as far as letting us be among the first to see how this new car design is going to react in a race at Daytona," Johnson said. "Plus, it’s just a ‘no-holds-barred’ great race for the fans and the drivers. Having your first race of the season be a non-points race is a great way to get back in the groove without the added pressure of knowing points are on the line."

Ryan Newman won five poles last year and moved into second place in poles among active Cup drivers.
But Newman only needed to win one pole to qualify for the Bud Shootout. Winning multiple poles is nothing new for the driver of the No. 12 Dodge for Penske Racing. He is usually among the Cup leaders in poles every year.
“We work really hard each year to win poles and have the No. 12 Alltel Dodge start up front," Newman said. "It’s an honor being in the Budweiser Shootout each year because it recognizes the hard work that the entire team has done to put our car on the pole.”
The car the team is racing in the Shootout hasn't been in a race yet. The team tested it last month at Daytona.
Newman has some extra incentive for winning this year's Shootout. The race is the same day as his dad's birthday. Newman's dad, Greg Newman, also works as his spotter during races.
"I’ve always wanted to give my dad a birthday present that he would never forget,” Newman said.
“My dad has done more for me than I could ever repay him for. Celebrating in victory lane at Daytona on his birthday would mean the world to both of us. I would love to make that happen.”

Greg Biffle led 44 laps and finished fifth in his first Bud Shootout three years ago. He missed the Shootout in 2006 and finished 13th last year as the lone driver from Roush Fenway Racing in the exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway.
Biffle won the pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway in October to qualify for this year's Shootout and said being in the race is always a good way to start the season.
"It’s a fun, low-stress race but it also gets you some valuable track time that the rest of the Daytona 500 contenders who aren’t in the Shootout don’t get," said Biffle driver of the No. 16 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. "It also means you got a pole in the previous year, so you must have done something right.”
Three Roush drivers are in the Shootout. Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray and Biffle won poles in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season. Matt Kenseth and David Ragan, the other two drivers from Roush, are not in the Shootout.
Greg Erwin, Biffle's new crew chief, said he is interested to see how his driver's car runs with a full fuel cell, something he has not been able to test yet. This will be the first time the Cup teams will use the Car of Tomorrow, NASCAR's new stock car, in a race at Daytona.
"We’ll see how the handling holds up and how the fuel mileage works out, which will be a big advantage as we prepare for the 150s on Thursday," Erwin said. "It should get us pointed in the right direction as far as where we need to be for setup as well as help us with a little extra practice time."

Carl Edwards remembers last year's Bud Shootout, mainly because he wasn't racing in it. He qualified for the exhibition race in 2006, but because he didn't win a pole during the 2006 Cup season, he did not race in the 2007 Shootout.
"It frustrated me to miss out on the Shootout last year and have to sit out and watch the guys have fun without me," said Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. "I’m excited every time I have the chance to race and am really looking forward to the Budweiser Shootout and hopefully getting a win for my Office Depot team.”
Edwards won the pole at Phoenix International Raceway in November to qualify for this year's Shootout. His team is bringing the car Edwards raced at Talladega in October, the first time the Car of Tomorrow was raced at a restrictor-plate track. Edwards started 31st and finished 14th in the Talladega race.

The last time Jamie McMurray raced at Daytona International Speedway, he won the Pepsi 400. His next race there will be the Bud Shootout and if he had it his way, all races at Daytona would be 70 laps even though his most recent win in Cup came in a 400-mile race at the track.
The Bud Shootout is the first race of the year, an exhibition for the pole winners from the previous season. A record 23 cars will start the Shootout and McMurray said he is looking forward to it.
"The last time we raced at Daytona I won there, which gives the team a lot of confidence heading into the race," said McMurray, driver of the No. 26 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. "Also, I really think that all speedway races should be no more than 50 to 70 laps. The rest of the time the guys are just putting themselves into a position to really go for it at the end."
The car McMurray's team is using in the Shootout is the same one it tested at Daytona last month. The car he raced to win the Pepsi 400 can't be used. The Car of Tomorrow, NASCAR's new stock car for the Cup series, will be used in every race this year.
Don't be confused by the paint scheme on McMurray's car either. There will be a prominent No. 16 on his car, but it's not for his teammate, Greg Biffle, who drives the No. 16 Ford for Roush.
The No. 16 on McMurray's car is for the car's Crown Royal logo. The No. 16 on McMurray's car is part of the Crown Royal Cask No. 16, which represents the beginning of the postal code from the cognac region in France where the drink origintates and is a new blend from Crown Royal.
“Aside from having a cool name, it's a great looking car that I'm really excited to run at both the Shootout and the Daytona 500," McMurray said. "We had a pretty good test in Daytona a couple of weeks ago, so hopefully we can build on what we learned and put ourselves in a good position at the end of the race."

It's a girl for Sam and Crytral Hornish.
Addison Faith Hornish was born Monday at 6:24 a.m. and weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces.
She is 18 inches long and according to Hornish's people, mom and baby are doing well.
Now Sam can focus on Daytona and not worry about whether his wife would give birth in the middle of one of the Gatorade 150s. Hornish Jr. drives the No. 77 Dodge for Penske Racing.

Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth were among the fastest drivers in testing at California Speedway on Friday morning and Thursday night in fields that did not include drivers from Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports.
It’s going to be a long season for Roush Fenway Racing if this is the only way to get to the top of the speed charts.
The drivers for Joe Gibbs Racing, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, left the race track Thursday night and did not participate in either the night test or the Friday sessions.
Three of the four Hendrick drivers, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears, opted out of the Thursday night test, but participated in the Friday sessions.
Gordon said the track conditions were too cold Thursday night to collect any beneficial data. Dale Earnhardt Jr., the newest member of Hendrick Motorsports, did test during the night session and was 21st out of 42 cars that were on the track.
Edwards had the top speeds in the Thursday night and Friday morning sessions. Kenseth was second Thursday night and eighth Friday morning. Jimmie Johnson had the best lap in Friday’s afternoon session, a depleted field with only 17 cars.
Toyota drivers, including those from Joe Gibbs Racing, have been especially fast in preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the past two days at California Speedway. Hendrick drivers won the past two Cup championships with Johnson and 18 Cup races between its four drivers last year.
Kenseth was asked by reporters if he feels his team in playing catch-up with Hendrick Motorsports.
“The goal isn’t really to catch up,” said Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. “The goal is to be the best. Our goal is to win races, win championships.”
Kenseth has won the three of the past four February Cup races at California Speedway and the Cup championship in 2003. Roush drivers have won four straight Cup races at California Speedway in February and the 2003 Cup race that was in May. Kenseth made the Chase last year and is one of only two drivers to make the Chase every year since its inception.
“But the goal is to be the best,” Kenseth said. “To do that, you have to be a step ahead of everybody, not a step behind, not even at the same level they’re at. That’s the big thing, is just to keep working as hard as we can and try to get the right people and parts and equipment, all that stuff, in place to try to get better.”

The candidates for rookie of the year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series looks like the starting grid for the Indianapolis 500. Dario Franchitti, Patrick Carpentier, Jacques Villeneuve and Sam Hornish Jr. are all racing stock cars in 2008.
Matt Kenseth was asked to give his perspective on the influx of open-wheel drivers into NASCAR this year.
"From a fan standpoint or something, I think it's kind of cool," said Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. "Help bring some different fans maybe, fans paying attention to the sport that maybe didn't before or watched other things."
But from a driver's perspective, Kenseth said it makes little difference to him who he is racing against even if they are international stars.
"I think it's really cool to be able to race against guys like Juan Pablo (Montoya), Jacques, all those guys you seen race on TV, race on Formula One, Indy 500 winner, all that," Kenseth said. "It's cool when you think about it like that, that you're on the track with them."
Still, Kenseth said he doesn't pay much attention to he's racing against when he's on the track.
"When you're out there competing and racing, I mean, you don't necessarily care who you're racing against," Kenseth said. "You're just trying to beat them and you're trying to figure out how to get yours in front of them all."

Kyle Busch is gearing up for a busy NASCAR season. He will be driving in the top three NASCAR national series. In addition to racing for Joe Gibbs Racing at the Cup level, he will be in Nationwide Series races for Joe Gibbs Racing and Braun Racing as well as Truck Series races for Billy Ballew Motorsports.
He will also be one of the youngest drivers in all three divisions. But Busch said being the youngest driver on the track is nothing new.
"I've been with that my whole career really," said Busch, driver of the No, 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. "I've raced in legend cars at home, modifieds and late models where there were guys I was racing against who were 45 and 50 years old that had grandkids older than I was."
It's not the age of the driver that matters to Busch. It's the ability of the driver that concerns him.
"There are plenty of them that have talent and are up there in the years," Busch said. "Dale Jarrett sure hasn't given up much, Mark Martin is sure right there and all those guys that sure love doing it."

With the Daytona 500 less than a month away, Robby Gordon has switched engine manufacturers, from Ford to Dodge, and has entered an agreement for support with Gillett Evernham Motorsports.
“I feel this agreement with Gillett Evernham Motorsports helps make the learning curve of the COT little bit easier to navigate,” said Gordon, who owns and drives the No. 7 car for his Robby Gordon Motorsports.
Gordon’s team has a technical, manufacturing and marketing services agreement with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, which runs a three-car NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. GEM also provides support and technical assistance for BAM Racing and Petty Enterprises.
Gordon will begin using Dodge engines when practice begins next week at Daytona International Speedway for the Daytona 500 and its qualifying races.
Gordon had been using Ford engines and equipment during preseason testing at Daytona, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the past two days at California Speedway.
“We pride ourselves on being a leader in technology, innovation, and provider of top flight equipment to other Cup teams. This is another example of a team coming to us for help in areas where we believe we excel,” said co-owner George Gillett Jr. “This is an agreement to help a fellow Dodge team new to the family."
Gordon said he liked the Dodge program, but emphasized that even though he made the switch in engines, he was not unhappy with the Ford program.
"Ford has been very good to me, and this move is not a reflection on our relationship at all," said Gordon. "Ford was planning on supporting me, and even increasing its engineering support for my program in 2008. However, I felt that I needed to make this move to help put my team in a more stable financial situation in terms of marketing and sponsorship help."