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FastCar Newsdesk for New Hampshire Motor Speedway, week of 6/25/09

A partnership with Nationwide Series Toyota team Braun Racing begins this weekend (with Elliott Sadler in the No. 10) for Richard Petty Motorsports and rumors are rampant about the future manufacturer of that team. Reports surfaced this week that RPM is considering putting marquee driver Kasey Kahne in a No. 9 Sprint Cup Series Toyota in the next month and a half, but those sources say that change likely will not happen midseason.

Kasey Kahne was last year’s pole and race winner. He would battle back after a pit road miscue, leaving with loose lugs. Other drivers stayed out while he took fuel and tires. He was able to easily outrun the gamblers Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the win.

Kahne is not the only strong one here as far as the numbers go; you will even be surprised who is on the list! Read on, as we examine who’s hot at Pocono and who is on a current hot streak.

Photo by Steve Langley

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had better be stepping it up a bit, or history is going to repeat itself and he won’t be making the trip to the banquet in Las Vegas.

His year has not gotten off to a great start for one reason or another, but mostly simple mistakes in the pits lately have been the cause of his bad finishes. Bad pit stops, loose lug nuts, missing his pit stall… all have led to many of the problems with the finishes that could have been much better.

In ten races, Dale Jr. has only three top tens and one top five for the season. He’s currently 18th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points, after loosing three spots last week in Richmond.

David Reutimann showed his muscle taking the pole position on the fastest NASCAR track on the circuit, Texas Motor Speedway. Reutimann said the car felt great in practice and he knew he had a good car right “out of the box”.

Jeff Gordon, in his DuPont Chevrolet, took the other spot on the front row. Gordon missed the pole by .048 of a second from the number one spot.

Matt Kenseth, David Regan, and Paul Menard fill the top five positions.

Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Joey Logano rounded out the top ten. Mark Martin, who was fastest in the first practice, slipped on his qualifying lap ended up in the twenty-third starting position.

NASCAR announced the broadcast schedule for the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Series race schedule on SPEED. It features coverage of NASCAR’s top developmental series on the leading cable network dedicated to motorsports. The 22-race calendar kicked off with the NASCAR Camping World Series West opener from Thunderhill Raceway in Kyle, Texas. The March 14 race will air on SPEED Thursday, April 2.

Kyle Busch takes the checkered flag coming out of turn four, winning the Food City 500 in Bristol Tennessee, with a commanding victory. He led 378 of the 503 laps ran due to the green-white-checkered flag.

A late race yellow flag brought out by #20 Joe Gibbs driver Joey Logano n lap 394 for a blown engine didn’t stop the charge by Denny Hamlin to try for a win, but Busch was determined to stay in front and take his second victory of the 2009 season.

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.

FastCar Newsdesk for Las Vegas Motor Speedway, for week of 2/26/09
A sagging economy and a trip to Vegas keep money fresh in the minds of many on the NASCAR circuit. A flurry of teams around the Sprint Cup garage lack full sponsorship for the 2009 season, including Richard Petty Motorsports. Driver Reed Sorenson and the famed No. 43 team have sponsorship for the majority of races this year and have come closer to having a sponsor in each race, with the addition of Super 8 Motels as a primary sponsor for an undisclosed schedule of races this season. Super 8 may also sponsor the No. 44 of A.J. Allmendinger in some races; that team is not scheduled to run each race, unless sponsorship arises. Harrah’s colors will be on that entry this week in Las Vegas.

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

The Stock Car Gazette for Thursday, 2/19/2009 was unfortunately too large to be posted here on our website.

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

Here’s today’s Stock Car Gazette, full of all the latest NASCAR and ARCA news… give it a look!

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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

Do you know for sure?
motorsportsnews.net/you-can-know-for-sure
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The Stock Car Gazette is sponsored by:

I started this list last week here on the MotorSportsNews[dot]Net(work) and thought I would finish it.

Click HERE to check out the original article and let me know your thoughts there as well.

Here is my take on some of the other NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers to watch in 2009.

CONCORD, N.C. (Jan. 19, 2009) – NASCAR legend and seven-time Sprint Cup Series champion Richard Petty announced today that his recently merged race team, co-owned by Petty Holdings and Gillett Evernham Motorsports, will continue to carry on the storied Petty legacy in the form of Richard Petty Motorsports.

“This begins the next great chapter for the Petty name in NASCAR,” said the team’s namesake and co-owner Richard Petty. “It was very important to us, not only to see the Petty name out on the racetrack, but also to be competitive and get all of our cars back into victory lane and competing for Sprint Cup Series championships on a regular basis.”

To prep you for the weekend, why not read today’s Stock Car Gazette, so you’ll be up on all the latest NASCAR and other stock car racing 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

Do you know for sure?
motorsportsnews.net/you-can-know-for-sure
____________________________________________________________

The Stock Car Gazette is sponsored by: