The Chase continues today as NASCAR’s Sprint Cup darlings will be in Concord, North Caroline on the track of Lowe’s Motor Speedway competing in the NASCAR’s Banking 500. The fifth race of the Chase today’s race is going to probably cut the field of contenders for the Sprint Cup Championship a little more. Currently Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Chevrolet leads the Chase by 12 points to his Hendrick Motorsports team mate Mark Martin in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
Jimmie is chasing history and his fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship in a row, while Mark Martin is just trying to …read more

Everything seemed to be going perfectly for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the no. 88 team on Sunday as Earnhardt was in search of his first Cup victory at Watkins Glen International, and his first win at the track since winning the 1999 Nationwide Series race there. He started the day with the outside pole position after rain canceled out qualifying on Friday, and then he went onto lead 28 of the first 29 laps in the race.
Earnhardt gave up the lead during the first round of green flag stops after being one of the last cars to make their stop. …read more

Transactions:
- Hendrick Motorsports has announced the release of Casey Mears for next season.
- Richard Childress Racing has extended Clint Bowyer’s contract through 2011.
- Roush-Fenway Racing has extended Greg Biffle’s contract through 2011.
- Gillette-Evernham Motorsports has signed Elliott Sadler through 2010.
- Richard Childress Racing has announced the addition of the #33 car as a fourth Cup team in 2009.
- Petty Enterprises has signed Bobby LaBonte through 2012.
- Roush-Fenway Racing has signed Carl Edwards through 2011.
- Due to a lack of sponsorship, Chip Ganassi Racing is forced to shut down the no. 40 car driven by Dario Franchitti for the remainder of …read more

Despite being handed his walking papers from Hendrick Motorsports when the team announced at the end of June that Casey Mears would no longer be the driver of the no. 5 car in 2009, it’s not exactly the end of world for Mears. Really, if it had to happen, it couldn’t have happened in a better year with seats still remaining open at Richard Childress Racing, Penske Racing, and technically, even Stewart-Haas Racing for next season.
With Roger Penske and Ryan Newman recently announcing their split at the end of the year, the no. 12 ride at Penske has now become …read more

Back on July 21st, we asked our readers of the guys that will be moving teams in 2009, “Which Driver Will Have the Better 2009 Season?” We asked, and here’s how you responded:
A) Tony Stewart – 36%
B) Mark Martin – 30%
C) Ryan Newman – 29%
D) Casey Mears – 3%
Be sure to check out the sidebar for the newest poll at Do You NASCAR.

Rain played a large part in pretty much anything NASCAR tried to accomplish this weekend, and Sunday’s race at Pocono was no different. It was also one of the more interesting weekends in Carl Edwards’ professional racing career, that’s for sure. He had to squeegee the rain off his own windshield under caution during Saturday’s Nationwide Series race in Montreal (in which he finished 6th). Then, after both of the Sprint Cup practice sessions were rained out on Saturday, his team unloaded off the hauler on Sunday with a car that Crew Chief, Bob Osbourne, described as “experimental.” Then, they …read more

Coming off of a terrible weekend at Indy, you can bet that NASCAR’s feeling the pressure to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible at Pocono this weekend, and if the trip here back in June is any indication, then things should be just fine. It’s also a big weekend for the teams, as Pocono is only the second track on the schedule that the series has already traveled to once before this season, and this is about the time of year that you really begin to see how much some of these groups have been able to …read more

With only two accidents and one blown engine, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in Indianapolis Motorspeedway still managed to see 11 caution periods during the 160-lap event because of tire issues …. that’s the story of Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race, and unfortunately that story overshadows the one of Jimmie Johnson winning the pole award and going on to pick up his second career victory at the Brickyard.
NASCAR knew that they were likely to experience tire issues, but they weren’t sure just how bad it would be. They had a competition caution scheduled within the first 15 laps of the …read more

 
As most predicted, Tony Stewart and Stewart Haas Racing’s announcement on Friday afternoon brought to a close at least two of the lingering mysteries surrounding the team’s future for 2009. Stewart announced that the side of his car next season would be labeled with the no. 14, previously made famous by his racing idol and longtime friend, AJ Foyt. They also announced that the second team car will carry the no. 4, which was the first car number Stewart raced with, way back when he was still racing Go-Karts.
Additionally, Stewart announced that the team has partnered with both Office Depot …read more

Back on July 6th, Do You NASCAR asked its readers where they thought Mark Martin would finish in the points standings in 2009, his first season with Hendrick Motorsports. Here’s how you responded:
A) Championship:  17%
B) 2nd – 6th:  29%
C) 7th – 12th:  26%
D) Outside of the Top-12:  29%
In comparison, if we would have asked whether or not Mark will make the Chase next season, here’s how it would have looked:
A) Yes – 71%
B) No – 29%
Be sure to check the sidebar for this week’s poll!
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