Tony Stewart must have felt like the last fighter standing after crossing the finish line first in the Coke Zero 400 Cup Series competition Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway. His ability to manage his car through a long race and stay out of the any race ending altercations with the other racers ultimately helped him make it first to the finish line. He became the beneficiary of Kyle Busch slamming into the front-stretch wall after an unsuccessful attempt at a high block that saw his car clip Tony Stewart’s as he came high to block, which resulted in his car swinging around and into the wall. Busch’s crash did ignite a multiple-car crash that took resulted in a few disappointed teams and drivers, but crashes are a normal occurrence at the speeds achieved in NASCAR. There just isn’t time to react at the speeds and distances theses cars are maneuvering in and it’s a testament to the job that NASCAR does ensure the safety of the drivers.

Kyle Busch clips Tony Stewart on an attempted high-block in Turn 4 and ends up fifth

The day was a pretty good one for Stewart, his car was pretty fast, and he did an excellent job of driving his way to victory. This win was the second of the 2009 Cup season for Stewart, the 35^th of his illustrious career, and his second as both an owner and driver for Stewart-Haas racing.

Jimmie Johnson was able to slide in behind Tony Stewart as he slipped in behind Busch’s left rear tire as he came out of Turn 4 and then steer clear of the trouble to finish in second place.  Denny Hamlin was able to drive clear of the cars in front of him as they bumped and jostled into one another due to Busch’s crash and took third place. Carl Edwards battled his way through the race and took fourth, while Kurt Busch was able to recover from his meeting with the wall, and crossed the line in fifth place, after looking like he was going to win, again.

Marcos Ambrose had a good day and finished in sixth, Brian Vickers took seventh, while eighth place was captured by Matt Kenseth. Juan Montoya didn’t have the fastest car but was able to take ninth, while Elliott Sadler rounded out the top ten positions.

If you’re a NASCAR fan and planning on being in sunny Dayton Beach, Florida, this Saturday night the place to be will be Daytona International Speedway as Sprint Cup cars will once again roar down the pavement of iconic Daytona International Speedway in the Coke Zero 400.

The Coke Zero 400 will be run on the pavement of Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night

The Coke Zero 400 will be the 18^th race of the season for the racers and teams, in a season that has been exciting, and as we look ahead to Saturday night at one of the most recognized and popular race tracks in the world, this competition should be a real barn-burner.

Thursdays practice at Daytona International Speedway for the upcoming Coke Zero 400 was pretty scary for almost all the teams as they all had to deal with tire issues that have left some of the teams and drivers scratching their heads and wondering what will happen on Saturday night.

The action started early as with 10 minutes left in nighttime Happy Hour, which took place before the scheduled practice for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400, Greg Biffle and Sam Hornish Jr. got involved in an accident that left them both planning on using their backup cars in the next race. This accident along with rain helped delay the running of the practice for Saturday’s race by 83 minutes and had the drivers sitting around.

David Ragan was fastest in the late-afternoon practice session with a lap time of 47.191 and an average speed of 190.174 mph in his no. 6 Roush Fenway Ford, but he ended in 32^nd place on the evening chart. The track seemed to be a little tighter when he was on the track and his team made a few adjustments that helped him record faster times.

David Reutimann spent most of the day atop the chart and afternoon practicing drafting off of his competitors, and finished best with a time of 46.842 and average speed of 192.135 in his No. 00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota.

Casey Mears was pretty fast in his No 07 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, he finished second in both sessions, and he could definitely win if things go his way. Unfortunately, his history at Daytona isn’t very good, so he may not be feeling too confident despite his fast car. He has only managed two top ten finished in thirteen races at Daytona, which isn’t going to get him in the record books.

You can watch the Coke Zero 400 on TNT TV at 7:30 on Saturday night or listen to the race on MRN Radio at 7:15. Enjoy the race!

“Image: Zuma Press”

served by picapp.com

The NASCAR Commission heard the appeals from Dale Earnhardt Inc. and their no. 1 team on Monday, but ruled in favor of upholding the penalties issued to the team sustained following a rules infraction at Daytona earlier in the month. The team was found to be in violation of rules 12-4-A (”Actions Detrimental to Stock Car Racing”); 12-4-Q (”Any Determination by NASCAR that the Car, Car Parts, Components, and/or Equipment Used in the Event Do Not Conform to NASCAR Rules”); and 20-3.8A (”Roof of the Car Does Not Conform to the Specifications of the NASCAR Rule Book”).

Basically, Martin Truex’ car did not meet the roof templates that NASCAR had posted for the Coke Zero 400 that weekend, which fell right into line with NASCAR’s very stern and stiff warning that they do not want the teams messing with the body of the COT under any circumstances. As a result, the car was impounded and sent to the R&D Center in Concord, NC. Then, during the week following the race, NASCAR announced that they would dock the team 150 owner and driver points, they would fine the team $100,000, and Crew Chief Kevin Manion and Car Chief Gary Putnam have been suspended for six races and placed on probation until December 31st.

Image details: USG Sheetrock 400 served by picapp.com

NASCAR will return to Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL this weekend. Saturday night’s race will mark the eighth trip to Chicagoland for the Sprint Cup Series, and the first NASCAR event there run under the lights. The 1.5 mile tri-oval track has produced only two repeat winner to-date (Kevin Harvick & Tony Stewart), and no driver has ever won the pole here twice. With the points shakeup that occurred as a result of the mele’ at Daytona last week, all eyes are certain to be focused on the Midwest this week with only 8 races remaining until the official cutoff for the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins.

Recent Winners:
2007 - Tony Stewart
2006 - Jeff Gordon
2005 - Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Recent Polesitters:
2007 - Casey Mears
2006 - Jeff Burton
2005 - Jimmie Johnson

the Usual Suspects:
You can’t visit Chicago without Kevin Harvick ranking amongst your favorites to win the race. Despite some lackluster performances as of late, the no. 29 team showed some positive signs of life at the last three weeks at Infineon, New Hampshire, and Daytona, but consistently managed to find themselves the victim of poor circumstances. Now, Harvick will be looking to get back into Chase contention, and Chicago’s certainly a place he can do it. He’s one of only two 2-time winners here in the Cup Series, and his 8.0 average finish at Chicago ranks best amongst all active drivers.

Tony Stewart’s wins at Chicago in 2007 and 2004 qualify him as the only other repeat winner at Chicago, he’s got the third best driver rating here, and his 5 top-five finishes at the track are tops in the Sprint Cup Series. He’s experienced some extremely bizarre luck this year and has yet to record a victory in 2008 despite being amongst the frontrunners on several occassions, but many people feel that with Smoke finally putting an end to all of the contract speculation, a clear head might be able to finally translate into some marks in the “W” column for the no. 20 team.

Jimmie Johnson recorded five consecutive finishes of 6th or better before finishing 37th here last season, which included a 2nd place finish back in 2004. Johnson’s average finish of 9.2 is second best in the series ….. Matt Kenseth holds the best driver rating at Chicago over the past 3 races, and has been one of the hottest drivers in NASCAR over the past two months as he’s worked himself all the way up to 9th in the points standings. Matt has not yet recorded a win here, but he does have a pair of runner-up finishes in 2005 and 2007 ….. Kurt Busch has never recorded a top-five finish at Chicago, but he does have 5 top-ten’s and holds the best average Chicago finish over the past three races, recording finishes of 8th, 8th, and 6th in that span ….. Jeff Gordon won the 2006 race held here, and has also recorded a total of 4 top-five’s and 5 top-ten’s at Chicago.

the Unusual Suspects:
Running only one race a year here can make it tough to use history as a reference when looking for your sleeper picks this week, but Reed Sorenson should be considered a leading candidate for this position. He’s finished 7th and 12th in his only two visits to the track, and ranks 8th in the series for average driver ratings ….. Sorenson’s teammate at Chip Ganassi Racing, Juan Pablo Montoya, has typically been able to improve - or, at least match - his finishes from his rookie season in 2007. Last year he finished 15th at Chicago, so all indicators are that he should be a solid pick this weekend ….. On the heels of the huge announcement that Tony Stewart will join Haas CNC Racing next year, Scott Riggs has two things in mind: 1) Get his team back inside the top-35 in owner points, and 2) Petition for a ride next season. He finished 15th the last time he raced at Chicago, back in 2006.

the Unusual Slackers:
Kasey Kahne has been one of the better drivers in the series since the middle of May, but Chicagoland Speedway has not had a history of playing nice with the no. 9 team. Kahne has never recorded a top-20 finish at the track, and his average finish of 33.0 is the worst amongst all active drivers with four or more starts at Chicago ….. Martin Truex Jr. is in desparate need of a good finish after a 150 point penalty following Daytona has turned a disappointing season into an even worse one, but he’ll have his work cut out for him as he’s finished 16th and 39th in his only two starts here and will be driving without crew chief Kevin Manion in his corner ….. Denny Hamlin has had some disappointing finishes at some of his better tracks over the last month or so, but this weekend he’ll need to reverse that luck with a good finish at Chicago, where his only two starts have resulted in 14th and 17th place finishes.

Best Driver Ratings (from racingone.com):
1. Matt Kenseth - 126.2
2. Kevin Harvick - 114.6
3. Tony Stewart - 112.2
4. Jimmie Johnson - 107.2
5. Kyle Busch - 105.0

Best Average Finish (from racingone.com):
1. Kevin Harvick - 8.0
2. Jimmie Johnson - 9.2
3. Reed Sorenson - 9.5
4. Clint Bowyer - 9.5
5. Kyle Busch - 10.0

Chicago Facts:
- Kevin Harvick has the slowest race record to-date at 121.200 mph in the inaugural race back in 2001. He also holds the race speed record, clocked the following year, at 136.832 mph.
- No driver has ever won the pole award at Chicago more than once.
- All seven Chicagoland races have recorded between 7 to 10 cautions during the race.
- Chevrolet has won 6 of the 7 Sprint Cup races at Chicago.
- No driver has ever won the race from a top-five starting position, and only two have won from the top-ten.
- 17 drivers in the field have competed in all seven Cup races at Chicago.
- Three drivers have finished runner-up at Chicago that have not won at the track: Jeff Burton, Jimmie Johnson, and Matt Kenseth.

Storylines for the Weekend:
- Tony Stewart has announced his departure from Joe Gibbs Racing at the completion of 2008, as he will move to Haas CNC Racing as a driver and a 50% owner. The new company will be renamed Stewart Haas Racing, and the team will continue to receive their engines and chassis from Hendrick Motorsports.
- Martin Truex Jr. was docked 150 points for his car failing to meet NASCAR’s roof template prior to last weekend’s race at Daytona. The penalty drops Truex from 14th all the way down to 18th in the standings, and crew chief, Kevin Manion, has been suspended for six races.

Six-Pack Challenge:
Winner - Matt Kenseth
2nd Place - Jimmie Johnson
3rd Place - Kyle Busch
4th Place - Kevin Harvick
5th Place - Tony Stewart
6th Place - Kurt Busch

Lock of the Week - Tony Stewart
Sleeper Pick - Travis Kvapil
Steer Clear of - Martin Truex Jr.

Video footage of Tony Stewart’s win at the 2007 USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway:

As Jeff Gordon searched for his first victory of the 2008 season this past weekend at Daytona International Speedway, the racing Gods had other plans in mind. With the field all set to go for the sixth green-white-checkered finish of the year after a crazy final 35 laps of the race finally wound down to the end, Gordon lined up behind the race leader, Kyle Busch, with Carl Edwards lagging behind. As you can see by watching the video below, the restart was a bit slow, and Edwards was the first to duck out of line. Gordon moved down the track just a little - perhaps to block him, but as a result, was spun out in the infield, ending his bid for the victory and erasing the outstanding effort that the no. 24 team had put together all day long.

Below is video footage of the final restart, and at the end of the clip are comments from Carl Edwards following the race.

Here is the clip from when the show came back from commercial, and they continue to go through the post-race interviews. About 2 1/2 minutes into the clip is the response from Gordon following the incident.

Image details: Coke Zero 400 served by picapp.com

With only eight races remaining until NASCAR sets the field for their Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2008, only 223 points separates 8th place Kasey Kahne from 18th place Kurt Busch in the points standings. While that may seem like a lot and perhaps too much to overcome for some, keep in mind that at this time last year, those two positions were separated by 416 points, and 18th place at that point time was consumed by Mark Martin, who was running a part-time schedule and had already missed five races. Something else to keep in mind, though, is that the only driver that sat outside the top-12 in points following the Pepsi 400 at Daytona last year and still went onto make the Chase was Kurt Busch, who then ranked 15th and sat 121 points behind then 12th place, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Now, after a very rocky start to his season, Busch is 18th in the standings and lags 191 points behind Tony Stewart for that 12th spot in the Chase. The bright side? Three weeks ago, Kurt left Sonoma in 23rd, but has since managed to put together a mini-rally for himself with a win at New Hampshire and then a fourth-place effort last week at Daytona. Now, the schedule appears to be headed in Kurt’s favor. Next week, the series will make a stop in Chicago where he has 5 top-ten’s in the seven races run at the track. Kurt also finished 11th or better last year in each of the seven races on the schedule following Chicago, picking up wins at Pocono and Michigan in the process.

Despite currently being “stuck” in 16th place, Brian Vickers is another driver on the move. Ever since the disappointing ending to his strong run at Lowe’s back in May when the wheel fell off of his car, Brian has put together a string of six consecutive finishes of 16th or better. Included in that span of races were 2 top-five finishes at Pocono and Michigan - both races that he had a shot to win late in the race - and, Chicago ranks as one of his better tracks. He has an average finish of 10.3 in three trips to Chicagoland, though he did fail to make the show here last year.

Both Busch and Vickers could be in an excellent position to capitalize on the misfortune of quite a few drivers ahead of them. Though Martin Truex Jr. currently sits 14th in the standings, his team is awaiting word from NASCAR this week as to the severity of the penalty that they will incur for the infractions that occurred prior the race in Daytona. Should Truex be hit with a penalty of 150 points or more - as many suspect he will be - that would immediately drop him down in 18th in the standings, giving him a very long road of recovery.

Just as encouraging for Busch and Vickers fans is the recent slump of Ryan Newman (17th) and Kevin Harvick (13th). Newman has picked up only one top-ten in the last 8 points races, and Harvick’s last top-ten came at Richmond all the way back on May 3rd, a big reason why both drivers have slipped outside of the top-12 in points in recent weeks. David Ragan (15th) could potentially be a threat in hindering either driver’s march towards the Chase, but many people feel that his inexperience is shown with the inconsistency of his finishes, and that will ultimately give the advantage to the other drivers looking to lock onto that spot.

There’s also opportunity for Vickers and Busch with some of the cars that currently reside in the Chase transfer spots. While Greg Biffle (11th) and Tony Stewart (12th) have been two of the most dominant cars on the track this season, they’ve also had arguably the worst luck of any of the drivers in the garage, and there teams could be ready to switch to survival mode at any moment now.

Clint Bowyer (10th) and Kasey Kahne (8th) could also be two of the wildcards in the race for the Chase. After a strong run through the first leg of the season, Bowyer’s progress got hindered somewhere along the way and he’s plummeted through the rankings. After winning at Richmond, he then hit a six-race skid where he failed to finish in the top-ten before rebounding in the past three weeks with a 4th at Infineon and then a 9th last week at Daytona. Meanwhile, Kasey Kahne has managed to save his season with 2 wins, 3 top-five’s, and 4 top-ten’s in the last 7 races, but he also finished 30th or worse in the other three events, proving that the inconsistency of his race team has not gone away completely.

In fact, the only driver currently 8th or worse in the standings that seems to be an inevitable lock for the Chase is the no. 17 team of Matt Kenseth, who is currently in 9th. Ten races into the season, Matt was all the way back in 22nd, and few people were giving him a legitimate shot at rebounding to make the Chase. Now, with 7 top-ten’s in the last 8 races, Matt has gained 14 spots in the standings and has the look of a bonafide championship contender.

But, the good news for Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers is that they don’t need ALL of the other drivers from 8th to 18th to hit a rough patch and hand their points over to them … but, it would certainly help.

Image details: UAW-Ford 500 served by picapp.com

In the face of all of the scrutiny that has overcome NASCAR’s recent development, the Car of Tomorrow, there have also been quite a few tracks that have seen improved racing this year, largely attributed to the new car. Based on what we’ve seen this season and in the limited number of COT races in 2007, here are the tracks that have seen the most improvement:

5. Phoenix International Raceway - Though the racing was never terrible at Phoenix, it wasn’t great, either. The Subway Fresh Fit 500, however, ranks amongst my favorite races of the first half of the season, and that’s even with the outcome being determined by fuel mileage (which is something I can easily get tired of).

4. Infineon Raceway - While road course racing has never been my favorite, I always had a particularly bad perception of Infineon out in Sonoma, CA. While I still didn’t think the Toyota Save/Mart 350 in June was great by any means, I did think that the track had found significant improvement from where it was in years past.

3. New Hampshire Motor Speedway - While the Car of Tomorrow setup doesn’t seem to agree with the 1.5 mile “cookie cutter” tracks thus far, it seems to have done wonders for the action at the 1.0 speedway in Loudon, NH. While I would typically dread the very thought of NASCAR’s visit to New Hampshire, I was very pleasantly surprised and pleased with the action in the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 just a couple of weeks ago.

2. Daytona International Speedway - Despite it being the most hyped and celebrated of all tracks on the Sprint Cup schedule, more often than not, the hype seemed to out perform that actual races themselves. That no longer seems to be the case, however, as both the Daytona 500 and the Coke Zero 400 rank amongst the best and most exciting races through the first half of 2008.

1. Talladega Superspeedway - There was quite a bit of uncertainty when the teams unloaded the COT at Talladega for the first time earlier this Spring, but in the end, the Aaron’s 499 resembled something along the lines of an actual race instead of just the crapshoot that it normally is (or was).

*Credit photo to Sporting News 

Kyle Busch won his sixth race of the Sprint Cup season and picked up the second Cup restrictor plate win of his career, much to the dismay of the crowd on-hand at Daytona International Speedway for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400. But, whether or not you like Kyle Busch is irrelevent - what you cannot deny is that the action at Daytona was exciting once again and should be considered another victory for the Car of Tomorrow.

Paul Menard led the field to green after winning the Coors Lite Pole Award during Friday’s qualifying session, and he held onto the position for the first 19 laps of the race, before finally surrendering it over to former DEI teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr. The lead for Junior was short-lived, however, as AJ Allmendinger brought out the first caution of the evening on lap 20 after he cut down a right-side tire and smacked the wall, and it was Kyle Busch leading the field off of pit road. Earnhardt and Busch then swapped the lead back-and-forth a few more times and controlled the position between them until Jimmie Johnson finally took over on lap 75, and then Jeff Gordon moved to the front on lap 79.

Tony Stewart had been moving towards the front and easily had one of the best cars in the field, but some flu-like symptoms finally caught up with Smoke, and after a lap 71 caution involving Greg Biffle and Juan Pablo Montoya, Stewart called upon his former Joe Gibbs Racing ‘mate, JJ Yeley, who failed to qualify for the race and was standing by in the no. 20 pits as a relief driver. It took the team two pit stops, but they made the driver change and got Yeley out on the track at the tail end of the field. For Stewart, this was the second time he needed a mid-race substitute in his career, the last time coming at Dover in 2006 when the team used Ricky Rudd to relieve Stewart, who was recovering from a shoulder injury.

Matters then appeared to be getting worse for the Gibbs camp when Denny Hamlin got Kyle Busch loose on lap 82. Busch got so loose, in fact, that he was forced down onto the apron and sank all the way back to 37th place, near his new teammate, JJ Yeley. A caution on lap 110 helped Busch make up some ground, though, after Elliott Sadler hit the wall and bunched the field back up. Busch was amongst a handful of cars charging up to the front of the field, in a group that included Yeley, Martin Truex Jr. and Kasey Kahne who started in the back of the field, and Daytona 500 winner, Ryan Newman, who was recovering from an earlier spin with Jamie McMurray back on lap 44.

Under the caution, Carl Edwards stayed out on the track to collect 5 bonus points for leading a lap, and then it was Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin swapping the lead back and forth for several laps. Busch had worked his way back into the top-ten by lap 110, and it’s a good thing for him, because the final 40 laps of the race brought out seven more cautions.

The fifth caution of the evening came with just 37 to go when David Gilliland got loose and hit the wall, bringing Ryan Newman with him and setting off a chain reaction behind them which also resulted with Jeff Burton in the wall. Gilliland had been running inside the top-five for most of the race until a pit road misque during the previous caution shuffled him back to 14th and in what would become the danger zone.

The mele’ continued just 7 laps later when Jamie McMurray couldn’t clear the no. 83 car of Brian Vickers and got spun out as a result, and then five laps after that, Ryan Newman was involved in his third accident of the day, this time spinning along with Denny Hamlin. Then, on lap 139, JJ Yeley - who had been making steady progress working his way up inside the top-15 and flirting with the top-ten - got turned sideways by David Ragan, and Jeff Burton and Casey Mears ended up in the wall behind them.

The 9th caution of the race came on lap 149 when Boris Said was spun by Joe Nemechek, and with the field bunched up together, Kyle Busch re-assumed the lead when he passed Jeff Gordon on lap 155. Another caution came out a lap later with a big spill involving Dave Blaney, Jimmie Johnson, Paul Menard, Regan Smith, JJ Yeley, David Reutimann, and Denny Hamlin, amongst others.

The field lined up for the sixth green-white-checkered finish of the season. Kyle Busch was out front, followed by Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards. A slow restart caused Edwards to get into the back of the no. 24, turning Gordon around onto the apron, but NASCAR chose not to waive the caution flag. Then, Edwards and Matt Kenseth ducked out of line and pulled up next to the race leader, but Kenseth’s car “couldn’t hold it down” on the high line.

In an unlikely turn of events, the race turned into Carl Edwards running side-by-side with Kyle Busch, but Carl’s teammate - Matt Kenseth - was pushing Kyle, and Kyle’s brother - Kurt Busch - was pushing the no. 99. As the two cars took turns pulling their nose ahead of the other, the cars started piling up behind them, and NASCAR finally brought out the caution. Officials then turned to video replay to decide who was in front when the caution flag actually came out, and it was determined that Kyle did in fact pull ahead of Edwards right at the last moment, naming him the winner.

Edwards went onto finish 2nd - his best Daytona finish - with his Roush teammate, Matt Kenseth in third, and Kurt Busch in 4th, despite starting all the way back in the 36th position. David Ragan recovered nicely from a pit road penalty that put him at the end of the field on lap 113, and he went onto finish 5th. Robby Gordon had a very solid race and even led a lap at one point, and he finished 6th. Kasey Kahne appeared to be headed for disaster when he was forced to pit with less than 10 to go due to a right fender rub, but he rebounded into the 7th position. After leading the most laps in the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car faded in the latter stages, as he settled for 8th. 9th place went to Clint Bowyer, who had a very quiet day as he worked his way up from 25th. And, Mark Martin rounded out the top-ten finishers after starting from the outside pole. There was also a point in the race where Mark got the opportunity to run up front with his three Hendrick teammates for next season.

Other Notables: Kevin Harvick finished the race in 12th, but it wasn’t enough to keep him in the top-12 in points, as he now sits 13th in the standings ….. Polesitter, Paul Menard, finished 15th ….. Driving in relief of Tony Stewart, JJ Yeley finished 20th, which was just enough to keep Stewart two points in front of Harvick ….. Jimmie Johnson finished 23rd ….. After appearing as though he might be in line for the victory on the final restart, Jeff Gordon plummeted to a 30th place finish ….. Last year’s race winner, Jamie McMurray, finished 32nd ….. Daytona 500 winner, Ryan Newman, finished 36th ….. Jeff Burton wound up 37th, ending his 23-race streak of top-15 finishes.

Grades:
the Racing - 95%
the Drama - 96%
Coverage - 92%
Pre-Race - 89%

Overall Grade: 94%

Recommended Reads:
- Kyle Busch Captures Win in Exciting Finish at Daytona International Speedway - (Racing for the Win)
- Live on Type Delay: Firecracker (Coke Zero) 400 - (RevJim’s Rans ‘n’ Raves)

Complete Results (from nascar.com):

Sprint Cup Series Standings (from nascar.com):

TZ’s Picks (Daytona):
1. Tony Stewart - 20th - No points
2. Jimmie Johnson - 23rd - No points
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - 8th - 38.5 points
4. Kurt Busch - 4th - 40.0 points
5. Kyle Busch - 1st - 41.0 points
6. Greg Biffle - 43rd - No points

Lock of the Week - Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Top Ten - 5 points
Sleeper Pick - Brian Vickers - Top Fifteen - 3 points
Steer Clear of - Martin Truex Jr. - Outside Top Fifteen - No points lost

Roc’s Picks (Daytona):
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - 8th - 39.5 points
2. Tony Stewart - 20th - No points
3. Jimmie Johnson - 23rd - No points
4. Jeff Gordon - 30th - No points
5. Clint Bowyer - 9th - 37 points
6. Kyle Busch - 1st - 40.5 points

Lock of the Week - Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Top Ten - 5 points
Sleeper Pick - Elliott Sadler - Outside Top Fifteen - No points
Steer Clear of - Denny Hamlin - Outside Top Fifteen - No points lost

Head-to-Head:
TZ - 127.5 points (2,977 cumulative)
Roc - 122 points (2,909.5 cumulative)

Do You NASCAR Fantasy League
Final Standings:
1. Team Legacy - 7,054
2. raracing - 5,908
3. Bruce’s Team of Bits - 5,523
4. AlexRyan - 5,294
5. Jimmie’s Rockets - 4,640
6. Vanilla Thrillaz - 4,451

Image details: Coke Zero 400 Qualifying served by picapp.com

Ever since we learned that Hendrick Motorsports scheduled a press conference this weekend at Daytona, most people believed that they would announce Mark Martin as the driver for their no. 5 car next season, and they were right. What was unclear, however, was whether it would be on a full-time basis, or if Mark would engage in another driver / mentor program to bring the young Brad Keselowski up through the ranks of the Sprint Cup Series … it turns out it may have been both.

With Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. both on-hand for Friday’s announcement, team owner Rick Hendrick announced that the team had signed Martin to a two-year deal to drive for the team. Mark will run a full schedule in 2009 in his last-ditch effort to win his elusive first Sprint Cup championship, and then he will run a 26-race schedule in 2010. Mark has finished in the top-five in points a record 12 times, and has finished runner-up on 4 occassions. Even though he will turn the ripe age of 50 years old in January, a run with Hendrick Motorsports may just give him his best shot yet to win the title.

With many moves in NASCAR’s Silly Season still up in the air, the second and third order effects of this announcement could be astronomical. Had Hendrick signed Mark Martin to just a 1-year deal, then the prospect of Tony Stewart taking over the car in 2010 after his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing expires would still be in play. However, as it now looks as though Hendrick will be grooming that seat for the future of Brad Keselowski, the only other GM team out there that could satisfy Stewart solely as a driver would be Richard Childress Racing, but heading there would be a very unlikely scenario for the two-time champ. That means that the potential deal to take over partial ownership of Haas CNC Racing could be back in play as early as next year

While it’s easy for some of us to say that Tony should just ride out the rest of his contract with Gibbs and take another look at the deal with Haas CNC sometime closer to the 2010 season, the fact of the matter is that this could be a “now or never” situation. With both Haas CNC cars currently outside of the top-35 in owner points and the sudden crisis in NASCAR sponsorship, there’s a good chance that without Tony Stewart or a name like Ryan Newman driving their cars, this team might not make it to 2010.

Joe Gibbs has stated that the talks between the team and Stewart are still focused on 2010 - not next year - and, that despite popular belief, GM has not made an offer to buyout the remainder of Tony’s contract. Yet, reports still indicate that Tony has reached an agreement that would make Office Depot the primary sponsor of his car should he make the move over to Haas CNC next season.

Another possibility that we could see play out if Tony is unable to get out of his contract with JGR early would involve either Ryan Newman or Martin Truex Jr. Newman is in his contract year with Penske Racing and has told the team that he will not re-sign unless the team’s performance improves over the next couple of months. Truex, on the other hand, had his 2009 option picked up by DEI, but Martin has since disputed the legality of the contract, which means he, too, could be available in the offseason. Both drivers have been rumored to be involved in the potential Haas CNC deal, so what we could see happen is one of those two drivers head over to Haas in 2009 to keep the team afloat until Stewart arrives in 2010.

Stewart is rumored to possibly be ready to make an announcement a few weeks from now when the series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the running of the Allstate 400. That reace is scheduled for July 27th.