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Last year, Kyle Busch made history in March 2008 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

He became the first driver to win a Sprint Cup race for a foreign manufacturer since 1954.

Let’s run down the numbers at Atlanta and see who’s hot statistically speaking.

Matt Kenseth will try his hand at making history this weekend going for win number 3 in a row.

Drew Blickensderfer and the crew have been flawless so far, getting Kenseth out in a hurry and in the right place at the right time.

Kenseth is no stranger to great finishes at Las Vegas either. He won back to back races during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. He finished runner up in 2006.

Matt has the fourth best driver rating here of 107.8 with a high of 135.8 (2nd best). He has 5 top 10’s out of the last 6 races here.

Jeff Gordon dominated the rain interrupted Auto Club 500, but did not win. Jimmie Johnson was leading until rain stopped the race on lap 87.

The race was continued on Monday. Johnson was leading the race until Carl Edwards took it away with 13 laps to go.

The race ended under caution as Dale Jarrett spins out. These same drivers mentioned are strong front-runners at California.

Read on as I run down California by the numbers showing who has a better handle on the track than others.

Track Facts:

Size – 2 miles

Race Length – 250 laps / 500 miles

Banking / Corners – 14 degrees

Banking / Frontstretch – 11 degrees

Banking / Backstretch – 3 degrees

Something exploded down in Daytona, and the NASCAR and ARCA news is just flying out everywhere, particularly about the draws of starting position for the Bud Shootout.

We tried to pick up the best parts and send it right to you in today’s edition of the Stock Car Gazette.

Enjoy.

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T H E * S T O C K * C A R * G A Z E T T E
by MotorSportsNews.Net

I told you there’d be some stuff happening in stock car racing since yesterday… and here it is.

Check out the latest edition of the Stock Car Gazette e-zine, containing all the latest from NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ARCA RE/MAX, and other motorsports news.

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T H E * S T O C K * C A R * G A Z E T T E
by MotorSportsNews.Net

Ask.com CEO Jim Safka and 2000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Bobby Labonte addressed media together for the first time and unveiled the Hall of Fame Racing No. 96 Ask.com Ford paint scheme Labonte will drive in the Daytona 500.

Ask recently announced its position as Official Search Engine of NASCAR in conjunction with announcing it’s primary sponsorship of the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing Ford in 2009. Ask also will power the fan’s search experience on NASCAR.com.

Former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Bobby Labonte unveils his 2009 paint scheme alongside Ask.com CEO, Jim Safka and Hall of Fame Racing Owner Tom Garfinkel
[Credit: Harold Hinson Photography]

Bobby Labonte fields questions about driving the

... or so I like to think. Hey I can dream can't I?
Back before Christmas I went on a bit of a rant about the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona and how I thought the new rules already needed to be changed even before the first race under the new rules was even run.
Well, apparently NASCAR thought the same too. They must have read my blog and said, "Hey that there boy up in Canada is frickin' right about this whole darn shootout mess. We need to fix it. Whachu think Brian?"
OK I hear you, the whole conversation probably didn't go like that.

FastCar Newsdesk for week of 1/16/09

The rags to riches racing story that has been David Gilliland’s career may be experiencing a turn in its plot. In a published interview this week, Gilliland said that he is under the assumption that he is the odd man out on his race team, though team officials had not informed him of his release yet.

AskTM Is Now the Official Search Engine of NASCAR;
Ask.com Proprietary Technologies Will Create Best NASCAR Search Experience on the Web
OAKLAND, Calif., January 14, 2009 – Ask.com, a leading search engine and an operating business of IAC (Nasdaq: IACI), today announced it has entered into partnerships with The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), NASCAR.COM, and Hall of Fame Racing. Under the terms of the partnership with NASCAR, Ask becomes the Official Search Engine of NASCAR, with category exclusivity and a broad set of promotional rights in order to reach the sport’s estimated 75 million loyal fans.

(editor’s note: it’s buried within this press release but it is definately official… the PR includes a quote from “Bobby Labonte, Driver of the #96 Ask.com Ford”)

Ask.com Enters NASCAR with Multi-Faceted Partnerships
AskTM Is Now the Official Search Engine of NASCAR;
Ask.com Proprietary Technologies Will Create Best NASCAR Search Experience on the Web

The big news this morning is the Petty/Gillett Evernham Motorsports merger, which was officially announced. Full press release follows after the fold.

Plus we have all your current NASCAR news right here… so take a look. You can also subscribe to receive the Stock Car Gazette directly to your inbox.

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T H E * S T O C K * C A R * G A Z E T T E
by MotorSportsNews.Net

FastCar Newsdesk for week of 1/2/09

The events of the last month regarding Petty Enterprises, Gillett Evernham Motorsports, and their possible merger have taken many turns. A.J. Allmendinger’s promotion to the No. 19 Dodge and Elliott Sadler’s removal from the team is one of he strangest. Last weekend, sources confirmed that Elliott Sadler had been released from his contract and replaced by A.J. Allmendinger, who raced the final five events for GEM in the No. 10 car.

I'll lay it out plain and simple for you:
1) Sadler is out of the 19 car. I feel bad for the Esad fans out there let me tell you.
2) Allmendinger is in the 19 car. AJ did run better than Elliott in the last five 2008 races for GEM, posting an average finish of 16.4 while Elliott had an average finish 31.8 in the same GEM equipment.
3) No one is in the 43 car because they a) can't find a sponsor yet, or b) the merger talks between GEM and Petty are not going so well. Either way no driver is needed for the 43 that is why AJ and/or Elliott weren't considered for the drivers seat left vacant by the departing Labonte.

FastCar Newsdesk for week of 12/19/08

The $225 million discrimination lawsuit brought against NASCAR by former official Mauricia Grant has been settled.

What has NOT been settled as of this writing is the name of the team Bobby Labonte will be driving for in 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup competition.

According to officials, the two sides agreed on a settlement on December 3rd, the week of the championship banquet, during a mediation session in New York City. Neither side admits to wrongdoing by agreeing to the settlement. The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed and neither side is permitted to speak publicly about it.

I would have never, ever imagined that Bobby Labonte would be without a ride in the Sprint Cup series… I realize it hasn’t all been resolved, and that he probably WILL end up somewhere in ‘09, but it’s still a shocker. The slow disolving of an empire (Petty Racing) continues…

Here’s today’s Stock Car Gazette for you to read and enjoy.

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T H E * S T O C K * C A R * G A Z E T T E
by MotorSportsNews.Net