Track Talk for the weekend of March 7-9 THE BIG STORY
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
NASCAR Nationwide Series
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Racer of the Week
Yes, He REALLY Said That
Valvoline Winners Last Weekend
This Weekend



THE BIG STORY
[:-]

Toyota won its first Sprint Cup race in its 40th attempt, with Kyle Busch finishing first and Gibbs' teammate Tony Stewart second, in Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Busch took the checkered flag two seconds ahead of Stewart. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third, followed by Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon. Al Keller drove a Jaguar to victory in 1954, the last time a non-U.S. auto manufacturer won the modern equivalent of a Cup race.
Also: Carl Edwards lost 100 driver points, Jack Roush 100 owner points, and No. 99 crew chief Bob Osborne was fined $100,000 and suspended for six races for a technical violation discovered during post-race inspection at Las Vegas… The National Stock Car Commission gave back Robby Gordon's 100 driver and owner points for an unapproved bumper cover found during pre-Daytona 500 inspection. Crew chief Frank Kerr was reinstated but his fine was increased from $100,000 to $150,000… Walker Racing won't compete in the IndyCar Series due to lack of sponsorship… The Grand Prix of Houston, scheduled for Champ Cars and ALMS, was canceled… Champ Car filed for bankruptcy… Townsend Bell will drive for Dreyer & Reinbold at the Indianapolis 500 and other races where Milka Duno is not competing… Daytona Motorsports Group, led by Jim France and Roger Edmondson, has an agreement to purchase most of the promotional, sanctioning and management rights to AMA Pro motorcycle racing… Chaz Davies was declared winner of Saturday's Daytona 200 when Josh Hayes' bike was disqualified due to a technical violation. Mat Mladin won the Superbike race. Return to Top


NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
[:-]

Mike Skinner replaced A.J. Allmendinger in the No. 84 Toyota. Engineer Chris Andrews and general manager Robbie Reiser called Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 for Carl Edwards given Bob Osborne's suspension. Jeff Gordon claimed the pole Friday night with a 185.251 mph lap. Outside front-row starter Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead on the first lap. He was there until a debris yellow on lap 38. Kyle Busch's Toyota Camry went to the front on lap 60. After a couple of cautions, Clint Bowyer was first on lap 152. Denny Hamlin lost his power steering with about 145 laps to go. After a debris yellow on lap 200, Elliott Sadler spun, triggering the first of three straight cautions he caused. On a yellow with 94 laps left, Busch, Jeff Gordon and Bowyer didn't pit for new tires. Edwards did, and soon was in the lead. With 52 laps remaining, Edwards' car started trailing smoke and broke the transmission. (Teammate Matt Kenseth started last after a morning transmission change but finished eighth.) Busch went on to the victory, averaging 140.975 mph. There were eight yellows for 35 laps. Busch is 73 points ahead of Biffle. Robby Gordon qualified the Valvoline Dodge 26th and finished 24th.Return to Top


NASCAR Nationwide Series[:-]


[b]Matt Kenseth held off Kevin Harvick on a green-white-checker finish to win Saturday's Nicorette 300 at Atlanta. Bad weather canceled qualifying. Kyle Busch, in the No. 20 Toyota Tony Stewart drove to victory in the season's first two races, was dominant. He led 153 of the first 170 laps until a right-fron

 

[/align]Sportscar fans will see Peugeot's on SPEED in HD from Sebring, with the Australian F1 opener following just after the 12hr race concludes. (Photo: Marshall Pruett) » More Photos[/align][center][b]Saturday, March 15
12 Hours of Sebring (Start) 9:30 a.m. (Live)
12 Hours of Sebring (To Conclusion) 2 p.m. (Live)
Australian Grand Prix Midnight (Live)

SPEED is the nation’s first and foremost cable television network dedicated to motor sports and the passion for everything automotive. From racing to restoration, motorcycles to movies, SPEED delivers quality programming from the track to the garage. Now available in more than 78 million homes in North America, SPEED is among the fastest-growing sports cable networks in the country and, the home to NASCAR on SPEED and an industry leader in interactive TV, video on demand, mobile initiatives and broadba

 

[align=center]NHRA goes in Gainesville, Fla[/align][align=center][/align][align=center][:-]

[:-]



March 13-16
Gainesville, Fla.

Preview

Tickets
Schedule

[/align][align=center]Schedule [/align][align=center][:-][/align][align=center][/align][align=center]March 16
1:00 a.m.-3:00 a.m.
Qualifying

March 16
6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Eliminations

March 19
2:00 a.m.-4:00 a.m.
Repeat Eliminations

[/align][align=center][/align][align=center](All times Eastern)[/align][align=center][/align][align=center][/align][align=center][:-]
Entry List
Team Reports
Event sponsor
[:-]

[:-]
[/align][align=center]http://www.nhra.com/index.asp[/align]

 

[center]Goodyear Statement
[:-]
Written by Administrator & MCF `Space : )

Mar 11, 2008

Goodyear Statement on Atlanta Race Tires

Based on Goodyear’s tire testing at Atlanta last August, October and
December, we provided what we believed were the best possible products for
the races this past weekend. We had no tire failures and no problems with
heat or wear. We supplied the same tires for both the NASCAR Nationwide
Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, and received zero complaints
about our tires after the Nationwide race on Saturday.

We believe that our engineering, research and tire development is second to
none. We accept that drivers will have their own opinions about our tires.
NASCAR president Mike Helton told us Monday that "NASCAR is very grateful
for the commitment Goodyear has made on behalf of building a good and safe
product for our competitors, including this past weekend at Atlanta. NASCAR
stands by our relationship and is proud to have Goodyear as a partner."

Even though both Goodyear and NASCAR were satisfied with the tire’s
performance in Atlanta, if the drivers are not happy, then Goodyear’s not
happy. Now that we know how this tire combination performed, we’ll go back
and retest for the fall race. We have the same goal as the drivers and
NASCAR: to put the safest, best performing tires on these cars.


There will be many instances this year when the new car is on a particular
track for the first time, as was the case in Atlanta. That makes it
tougher than usual to get a read on how the tires will perform. But if
there is ever any doubt about the recommendation, we will always err on the
conservative side.

Finally, we would like to correct an erroneous comment made by Tony
Stewart. Goodyear decided to leave other racing series only because of the
escalating costs of competition in those series. At least one other
tiremaker has done the same. For Goodyear, the enormous investment
required to compete in those other forms of racing far outweighed the
benefits derived from our participation. We see tremendous benefits in our
54-year relationship with NASCAR as the organization’s longest continuing
supplier. We remain fully committed to, and are proud of, our relationship
with NASCAR. [/align]

Cup Series: Point Standings
[:-]
Mar 11, 2008
[:-]
[b]DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 10, 2008) – Below is a look at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Top 12 along with other notable drivers, going into the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 16.

1 – Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota)
• Season-to-Date Driver Rating: 125.9
2008 Rundown
• One win, three top fives
• Average finish of 5.0
• Led four races for 329 laps
Bristol Motor Speedway Outlook:
• One win, two top fives, four top 10s
• Average finish of 13.5
• Finished ninth in August’s Bristol race
• Led four of six races for 67 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight
• Series-best Average Running Position of 4.7

2 – Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford)
• Season-to-Date Driver Rating: 101.3
2008 Rundown
• Two top fives, three top 10s
• Average finish of 8.0
• Led three races for 17 laps
Bristol Motor Speedway Outlook:
• Three top fives, six top 10s
• Average finish of 10.3
• Finished 10th in August
• Led four of 10 races for 202 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight
• Series-high 293 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green)

3 – Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet)
• Season-to-Date Driver Rating: 99.8
2008 Rundown
• One top five, three t

 

Well what did you expect Good Year to say to Tony Stewarts comments....

"He's right ,we suck... we know, we're on our way out."

And about hte car being the first time on the track... allow me to correct them. I know for sure I read about a COT test that included Dale Jarrett amongst others at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The car HAD been on that track before.

 

Harvick leads the NNS points



Written by Administrator

Mar 12, 2008


Kevin Harvick (No. 33 Road Loans Chevrolet) finds himself in a familiar place, in an unfamiliar situation. Four races into the NASCAR Nationwide Series Harvick, a two-time series champion, is leading the standings. Only this time he is doing it for his own team – Kevin Harvick Inc.

Harvick has long had success in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driving for Richard Childress Racing. The duo have accounted for 32 victories and two championships together over nine years.

This season, however, Harvick plans to run 22 races, all for KHI.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge of running my own cars and creating a little bit different challenge from all aspects,” Harvick said. “I know what it’s been like the last few years to be winning races and being competitive week-in and week-out and that’s what we are shooting for.”

This isn’t the first time KHI is on top of the owners’ point standings. Tony Stewart drove the No. 33 Chevrolet to Victory Lane in the 2005 and 2006 season openers at Daytona. However, this is the first time that Harvick sits in first as both driver and owner.

“We are certainly very proud of where our Nationwide Series program is headed,” said DeLana Harvick, Kevin’s wife and team co-owner. “We have been very fortunate to have some veteran drivers to help us along the way, but ultimately we knew that making the step toward week-in and week-out consistency, we needed Kevin.

“We took similar steps getting our Truck program up and running, and we feel like we have built a good foundation there, so our approach to our Nationwide program naturally would follow that model.”

 

[align=center]Mar 13, 2008 [/align][align=center]Dale Jarrett, No. 44 UPS Toyota Camry
Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

UPS Racing Team Notes of Interest
Dale Jarrett will make the 668th and final points race start of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.[/align][align=center][/align][align=center]This weekend’s race also marks Jarrett’s 44th career start at the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway.
Jarrett has one win at Bristol, scoring his lone win at the track during the night race in 1997. Jarrett started that race from the third position and led 210 laps in route to the win. He won $101,550 for scoring the win in August 1997.[/align][align=center]In addition to his win at Bristol, Jarrett has earned nine top-five and 19 top-10 finishes in his previous 43 starts.[/align][align=center]Heading into this weekend’s Food City 500, Jarrett’s Sprint Cup Series career features 32 wins, 163 top fives, 260 top 10s and 16 poles.[/align][align=center]Jarrett will be available for interviews this Friday, March 14 at 11 a.m. EDT in the infield media center at Bristol.

[/align][align=center][b]Jarrett Discusses Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway

Has it set in that this will be your last point race?
“It definitely has especially now that these first four races are over. It’s something I’ve been preparing myself for a while. I’m very happy with the decision and it is starting to hit home – probably even a little more so after watching Brett Favre talk about his retirement on television last week. When Brett talked about how you know you can still do it but he was just tired, I understood that exactly. When you see someone like that and the appreciation they have for what they do – I just hope that everyone understands that is how much I appreciate the opportunities that I’ve been given in this sport. I looked at this always as an honor and a privilege to drive these cars, know the people and make a living at this.”

Was there any significance to Bristol being the last points race for you, or did it just fall that way with the schedule?
“It was a little of both. It fell that way but I was pleased whenever I saw the number and as I started counting down to see where exactly that was going to be. When I realized that it was Bristol I was pleased about that and that it worked out to that because I think it is very fitting. It’s a place that I enjoy racing and there’s going to be what seems like – and I know there’s more than 160,000 people there – but it seems like more than that. So it will be a fitting way for me to finish my racing as far as points racing goes.”

How emotional will this weekend be and is there anything you feel like is missing from your career?
“I think it’s going to be somewhat emotional and probably even more so because it’s going to be close to my home and I am going to be able to have a lot of family and friends around. So I think that will help add to that on top of it just being Bristol. I know I’ve said that a number of times but it is a special place to race. As far as anything that is missing, there really isn’t anything I can see that is missing. I would obviously liked to have had another championship, and I came close to having a couple and that was great to be able to battle for that, but I’ve been very blessed and I couldn’t imagine asking to add anything to a caree

 

i still have a dale jarrett driver jacket.... heck i remember when he was good

a good respectable driver... I remember the "Dale and Dale" shows at Daytona and Talladega... where Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jarrett would go at it for the wins. It was great racing. I miss it to this day.

i think he'll enjoy the broadcast booth... i know i enjoy the busch races he covers with ESPN

 

[align=center]
Kyle Busch is on a Roll [/align][align=center][:-]

[align=center]Mar 14, 2008 [/align][:-]
[align=center]As accomplishments and admirers multiply, Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota) zooms from one track to the next these days, often at the front of the field.
This week, he heads to Bristol Motor Speedway as the defending winner of Sunday’s Food City 500 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ latest victory — last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“We've been fortunate with everything this year to run as well as we've run,” Busch said, “and to be as fast as we've been at the places we've been so far. So we can only hope that it continues to be that way. We have a long year ahead of us and look forward to going to the race track.”
In his fourth season and first at Joe Gibbs Racing, Busch leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings by 73 points over second-place Greg Biffle (No. 16 Jackson-Hewitt Ford). Back-to-back NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wins (at Auto Club Speedway and Atlanta) have him atop those standings, and he’s third in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings.
Last week at Atlanta, Busch became the first driver to score a NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series weekend sweep.
A 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series victory will make him the first to win at least one race in all three NASCAR national series in four consecutive seasons.[/align][align=center]CREDIT: NASCAR PR[/align][/align][align=center][:-]
Happy 1 Year Birthday COT [/align][align=center]
[align=center] [:-][/align]
[align=center]Mar 14, 2008 [/align]
[align=center]Back To The Future: NASCAR’s New Car Celebrates First Anniversary[/align][align=center]
Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol marks the one-year competition debut of NASCAR’s new car — the now-generation race car.
Kyle Busch, then with Hendrick Motorsports, won that day, by 0.064 of a second, and the new car raced 15 more times — in 16 of 36 scheduled NASCAR Sprint Cup events in 2007. In response to teams’ feedback, NASCAR announced last May that the new car would debut fulltime in 2008, a year ahead of schedule.
Safety, competition and cost-containment enhancements all are crucial aspects of the car.
“A year ago when we first took the new car to Bristol, there was speculation amongst some that the splitter would fall off and the wing wouldn’t hold up,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition. “We quickly saw that wasn’t the case at all. I think everyone has learned a lot in a short period of time.
“People need to remember that this is just the second year of what was originally going to be a three-year rollout phase for the car, so we’ve just raced it 20 times going into this weekend. Along the way we’ve learned some things as they relate to pre-race and post-race tolerances, as we didn’t have any race data to fall back on and neither did the teams.
“I want to compliment the teams on the job they’ve done in working on the new car; they’ve played a big role throughout this process. It will be fun getting back to Bristol this weekend.”[/align][align=center]CREDIT: NASCAR PR[/align][align=center]
Double up the Short Tracks [/align][/align][align=center][align=center]
[align=center] [:-]

Short Tracks Ahead: Bristol, Martinsville Offer Back-To-Back Drama

[b]After opening the season with four consecutive superspeedway events, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams are revisiting the sport’s roots.
Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol marks the first of two consecutive short-track events, always a welcome stretch on the schedule, and a challenge.
Bristol’s high-banked, .533-mile su

 

[align=center]
Stewart meets with Goodyear [/align][align=center][align=center][:-]
[/align][align=center]Mar 15, 2008 [/align]
[:-]
[align=center]BRISTOL, Tenn., (March 14, 2008) – The following are statements from NASCAR driver Tony Stewart and Goodyear General Manager of Worldwide Racing Stu Grant, respectively, following a meeting between the two this afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Dirty `Tony[/align][align=center][:-]
[/align][align=center]Tony Stewart: Yes, One of these days I'll take a bath : )[/align][align=center]

“I’m glad the weather gave us a break in the schedule that allowed us to meet this afternoon, and I appreciate Stu taking the time to meet with me. We’re hoping that Goodyear will now work with us a little better on the racing side of things and rely on our input a little more, because we are the ones driving the cars. It was a good meeting, but at the end of the day, it’s up to Goodyear to make it right. If having this meeting helps to make things better down the road, then this meeting was a success.

“My comments last week (following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway) were made in frustration and made to get Goodyear’s attention. But what I overlooked when I made those comments was that they affected people who had nothing to do with the racing program. I want to apologize to the people who work in the factories and the union workers at Goodyear. We realize that they’re working hard just like everybody else, and we realize that Goodyear as a whole works hard too. But our comments last week were not meant to offend those people, because they’re not the ones making the decisions about the racing tires we use here at the track.

“A lot of the people that Goodyear brings to the track aren’t necessarily engineers and they don’t make the decisions on what compounds and constructions (of tires) that we’ll race on, but they’re the people who are here as early as the teams are and leave as late as the teams do because they’re here mounting and dismounting tires and unloading and loading trucks. A lot of those people have become friends over the years, and that’s another group of people we didn’t mean to offend with our comments. Our comments were strong to get somebody’s attention high up in corporate at Goodyear. It wasn’t meant to offend anyone else.”

Stu Grant:

“I was very pleased with the meeting that I had with Tony. It was an excellent meeting. It was constructive. It was extremely worthwhile to sit down and have a discussion with him. Tony was able to express his concerns and I listened to his concerns. I was able to explain our process, and we both talked about how moving forward, we can improve the process of developing tires for NASCAR Sprint Cup racing together[/align][/align]