David Stremme starts first in today's Sprint Showdown being held at Lowe's Motor Speedway

NASCAR officials had to really go through the book on Friday as qualifying for Saturday’s Sprint Showdown was washed away due to light rain that was falling on the track and they still needed to determine the grid order for today’s Sprint Showdown.

Just how would they determine the grid order in cases where qualifying rounds have been cancelled due to Mother Nature, in this case the order was determined using each drivers qualifying order, which was determined randomly. This leaves the No. 27 of Kirk Shelmerdine on the pole position for the Sprint Showdown, but unfortunately for Kirk NASCAR looked in their rule book and have ruled that he must start at the rear of the pack at the start since he wasn’t able to present himself for the pre-race inspection.

The rule book has been consulted and a ruling given, so which driver will start on the pole position of the Sprint Showdown? When the race starts for real today the No. 12 Penske-Dodge of David Stremme will be in the front of the field, something that was a pleasant surprise for David when he was told as he was driving home yesterday, he was so happy he came back to have a few laughs with the media.

This bit of luck is something that could turn out to be significant for Stremme, since the top two finishers in the Showdown advance to the All-Star race, and starting in the front can be a major advantage all other factors being equal. In addition, the longer he can stay on the track and in the front the more information he can get to help him when he gets through this preliminary race and to the All-Star race.

The official starting-grid for today’s Sprint Showdown at Lowe’s Motor Speedway will see David Stremme in the front after the pace car pulls off the track and penalties are enforced on Kirk Shelmerdine and Carl Long. He will be followed by Dave Blaney, Scott Riggs, Martin Truex Jr., David Ragan, Sam Hornish Jr., Max Papis, and A.J. Allmendinger.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

NASCAR’s Rules and Regulations

2/6 – NASCAR has announced that racing legend Junior Johnson will drive the pace car at this year’s Daytona 500.  Read More.

2/6 – NASCAR has also announced that the 24 Daytona 500 champions that are still alive will all Grand Marshall this year’s race.  Read More.

2/6 – Freightliner Trucks will be the primary sponsor on the DEI no. 8 Chevy this year in the Nationwide Series.  Read More.

2/7 – The 73-year-old James Hylton had previously announced that he would enter his name for the Daytona 500 to run alongside Carl Long for E&M Motorsports, but those plans fell through and Hylton is not on the Daytona entry list.  Read More.

2/7 – NASCAR President Mike Helton has stated that NASCAR does not plan on placing an age restriction requirement for the Sprint Cup Series anytime soon, and should any rule pertaining to such come into effect in the future, plenty of advance notice will be given.  Read More.

2/7 – A recent media poll released on Thursday has Jeff Gordon slated to win his fifth Cup Championship this season with the final points standings closely resembling that of last year.  Read More.

2/7 – TRG Motorsports has signed Line-X Spray-On Truck Bedliners as the primary sponsor for the no. 7 truck of Andy Lally at Daytona on Friday.  Read More.

2/7 – It’s been reported that NASCAR could possibly be interested in purchasing the NHRA Series following 2008.  Read More.

2/7 – Yates Racing has finally signed the first primary sponsor for either of their Sprint Cup teams this season. Freecreditreport.com will sponsor the no. 38 Ford of David Gilliland through the first 7 races of the season.  Read More.

2/8 – Kurt Busch has drawn the pole position for this year’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona on Saturday.  Read More.

2/8 – Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon will sponsor the no. 70 Chevy Impala of Jeremy Mayfield this year at the Daytona 500.  Read More.

2/8 – Elliott Sadler has launched his new driver website at www.elliottsadler.com.  Read More.

2/8 – The Miller Lite Brewing Co. has wagered $25,000 in Las Vegas that the no. 2 Miller Lite car driven by Kurt Busch will finish ahead of the no. 9 Budweiser car of Kasey Kahne in the points standings this year with the proceeds to be donated to the Kurt Busch Foundation. The current line at the Palms’ has Busch favored to finish 8 spots ahead of Kahne by season’s end.  Read More.

2/8 – Coke Zero has taken the new role of Title Sponsor of the Sprint Cup Series’ July race at Daytona. The race has historically been known as the “Pepsi 400”, but PepsiCo. has decided to focus their NASCAR sponsorship funds to Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Read More.

Post from: EveryJoe

Saturday Morning Quick Fix