Archive for March, 2011

Two NASCAR drivers will attempt to make history Saturday at Bristol. Following Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race, Marcos Ambrose and David Ragan will each drive a supercharged 2011 Ford Mustang GT around the half-mile track. The drivers will attempt to break the world record for the fastest half-mile run for a street-legal car. Breaking the record will, of course, be no easy task, particularly seeing as how the drivers will have to turn corners as opposed to being able to go straight and keep their speed up. The fastest quarter-mile run by a street-legal car to date was 6.95 seconds [...]

The NASCAR world is mourning another loss. Dean Shaut, mechanic and fabricator for Rick Ware Racing, was tragically killed in a car accident on Friday night. Shaut reportedly lost control of his Toyota Tundra while driving and crashed in Thomasville, NC. Fellow RWR crew member Stephen Masch was riding with Shaut and was severely injured in the accident. Writing these is never easy. In NASCAR, or in sports for that matter, when one of us falls, we all fall. Shaut, of course, was not one of the sport’s big names. He was a behind-the-scenes guy for a small team. He [...]

Kurt Busch went into his drag racing debut expected a heavy dose of “humble pie”. He got it. Busch was eliminated in the first round of Sunday’s Gatornationals by Erica Enders. Busch, who qualified No. 12 overall in the Pro Stock series, was defeated by just half a car length by Enders, the No. 5 qualifier. Just making the field was quite an accomplishment for the 2004 NASCAR Cup champ. In doing that, he became just the third NASCAR driver ever to qualify for an NHRA-sanctioned event, joining John Andretti and Richard Petty. Busch may run again in July at [...]

Kurt Busch will make his NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing debut later on today. Busch qualified his Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Avenger into the Pro Stock field, taking the No. 12 spot with a pass of 6.532 seconds at 211.46 mph. He will face off against No. 5 qualifier Erica Enders, who will get lane choice for the first round. The significance of lane choice is that during the runs, sometimes the dragsters will blow motors, leaving oil in the lane. Even though the oil gets cleaned up, the stuff they use to dry the oil is sometimes slick, much like the speedy [...]

Danica Patrick’s historical run. The Robby Gordon v. Kevin Conway battle. The early off-week. These were the major issues coming out of race No. 3 at Las Vegas, and once again our buddy Latemodel driver Chris Siebert was kind enough to discuss these issues in this week’s edition of Driver Speak: Ben: Alrighty Chris, let’s get started! First off, what are we to make out of Danica Patrick’s fourth-place run at Vegas in the Nationwide race? Is she legit or is it still too early to tell? Siebert: Good question man. It’s early yes, but the fact she did finish [...]

Last season, Dale Earnhardt Jr was having one of his worst seasons ever in his NASCAR career. He wasn’t competitive at all, and was more frustrated than anything. In 2011, Dale Jr is actually doing a heck of alot better than 2009, and 2010 combined. In the 3 races that have been run, Dale Jr has 2 top-10 finishes so far (Phoenix, and Las Vegas). He is also the leading Hendrick racer in the Chase, as he is 10th in the points, and climbing. In an article for NASCAR.com, Dale Jr said that he is happy with the results so [...]

Through three races in the 2011 NASCAR season, the competition has been great, the lead changes have been plentiful, and the races have been much better than in recent years. So it should come as no surprise that attendance at all three races thus far has been up as well. According to Jayski.com, track attendance at Daytona International Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway, and Las Vegas Motor Speedway has reportedly been higher this season than it was in 2010. Daytona’s reported attendance for the season-opening Daytona 500 was an estimated 180,000 fans, its highest mark since 2009, when the race was [...]

After three races, Danica Patrick sits fourth in the NASCAR Nationwide Series points standings. Her most recent effort was a fourth-place outing in Las Vegas; not only a career-best finish, but the best finish by a woman in NASCAR history. Patrick has one more race in the Nationwide Series(Saturday, March 19th at Bristol) before jumping back over to the Indycar Series. Her next NASCAR race won’t be until early June. So what are we to make of Danica Patrick, anyway? I’ll start with this. Danica has not lucked into the fourth-place points spot. Her average finish through three races is 12th; [...]

The boys of NASCAR were in Las Vegas this weekend. One driver came up aces, while several others were a bust. Carl Edwards, this week’s winner, climbs one spot in this week’s SCS Power Rankings to second. Tony Stewart assumes the top spot after taking over the points lead in Vegas. Our big mover this week is Paul Menard, up 10 spots after a 12th place effort in Vegas moved him up to sixth in the standings. Our big loser is Phoenix winner Jeff Gordon, down 8 spots after crashing out in Vegas. New this week are Martin Truex Jr., Marcos Ambrose, and [...]

Howdy race fans! The boys of NASCAR are in Las Vegas today for the Kobalt Tools 400. As always, we’ve got you covered with live timing and scoring, courtesy of Foxsports.com. For LIVE Timing and Scoring, click on the link below: http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/cup/raceTrax