The 2009 Formula One season has been a downslide for BMW Sauber after a 2008 season that saw them challenge for the championship before finishing second best to Ferrari and McLaren. Obviously, this German-Swiss team was hoping for a better result in 2009 after a pretty good run at the title last year and were hoping to take another step forward in their battle for the championship. Unfortunately, things haven’t worked out as planned for BMW Sauber this year, with only eight points, and no sign of improvement in their car viewable around the corner. It might be time for BMW Sauber to take a step back for 2009 and maybe start working toward a better 2010.

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica thinking about his year, so far

Let’s quickly go over BMW Sauber’s year so far and a few of the less than stellar moments of their 2009 campaign.

2009 was going to be BMW Sauber’s year for major improvements in their car and final standing in the race for the world championship. Considering their steady progress since 2006, expectations were of BMW Sauber challenging for the championship and maybe even winning. This was not to be however, as instead of rising to glory, BMW Sauber has lost ground with both their car and their final standings in the races.

Pre-season testing seemed to indicate too many that BMW Sauber’s F1.09 was fast, quick, and reliable, and drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica were talking excitedly about their cars and chances for the 2009 Formula One season. Unfortunately, as the season has progressed, it has become clear they can’t currently compete with the front running Brawns and Toyotas. They have only managed four top ten finishes this season, far behind what they were expecting considering last year they had 74 points after eight races.

BMW Sauber really got left behind when they concentrated on KERS over aerodynamics at the beginning of the year. They are now coming up with their own editions of Brawn/Toyota/Williams double-diffuser, but they’re still way behind this season, and refuse to admit defeat.

In the Turkish Grand Prix they tried out their first editions of the two-tier diffuser, and there were a few signs of improvement, with Kubica grabbing his first points of the 2009 Formula One season. The Silverstone race saw both BMW Sauber drivers finish a lap down, so if the team is going to compete, they need to get their car running faster.

“Image: Zuma Press”

One of the most reliable cars on the market today is the new 2009 Toyota Camry. Now in its seventh generation the Camry has always stood for safety and reliability.

The Camry comes available in many different trims. The base model Camry starts at $19,395, LE - $20,850, SE - $22,165, XLE - $25,925. The Camry also comes as a Hybrid for $26,150.

2009 Toyota Camry

The two engines used on the Camry are the 2.5L I4, that has 179 hp and the 3.5L V6 that has an impressive 268 hp. If you want to have performance and better high speed handling I’d get the 3.5L. The Camry typically gets good mileage with 22mpg in the city and 33mpg out on the highway.

Be sure to check out the safety trim as well. Features like side curtain airbags, traction control and bacteria reducing air filters are great to have. Check out the new 2009 Toyota Camry at a dealership near you.

Image: Toyota.com

Looking for a bulky SUV? You may not be able to conserve fuel with the new 2010 Toyota Sequoia, but being able to get a great resale values out of you car will save you in the long run. The Sequoia is great for towing heavy loads like a boat or light trailer, and for those long trips to the cottage.

image via toyota.com

The roomy interior of the Toyota Sequoia make this the perfect family comfort ride. It drives like a minivan but retains the bulkiness of a truck. The tough looking grill and hood is matched only by your choice between the 4.6L V8 or 5.7L V8. Both come with an estimated 14mpg in the city and 19mpg on the highway.

You will love the Sequoia if you want something with a bit more room and comfort. If you are unfamiliar with driving a large truck you should opt for the rear-view backup camera. It’ll make parking a breeze.

Find out more about the 2010 Toyota Sequoia at a Toyota dealership near you. Expect to pay anywhere from $38,530 to $55,680.

Image: Toyota.com

Brawn officials must be sitting somewhere and cracking a few bottles to celebrate pulling a rabbit out of the proverbial hat as their disputed diffuser has been declared legal by FIA’s International Court of Appeal on Wednesday. This doesn’t mean that we should hand Jenson Button and Brawn the trophy and tell the other teams and drivers to stay home, that they shouldn’t bother coming to Shanghai this weekend. In fact, despite this bit of good news for Brawn, Williams and Toyota, expect Jenson Button to have to battle to win his hat-trick at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Shanghai is next on the Formula One schedule

The other teams will certainly be disappointed with the news, but will soon recover and implement diffusers of their own using the disputed designs. This will take time, how much, and will they implement them before Shanghai, only they know, but the likely seems remote that they could install them and test them before Shanghai.

The Shanghai International Circuit is a technical course that the drivers generally enjoy, with a variety of slow and fast sections requiring proper speed management and opportunities to pass at several points. The total length of the track is a moderate 5.451 kilometers, and it has the general shape of the Chinese character “Shang”, which translates as high or above in the English language. The set up of the cars will be critical as they need speed and balance through the high-speed corners and but good mechanical grip for the hairpin corners. The course designers created a beautiful course with seven right and seven left turns, with several opportunities for the drivers to pass slower traffic. One of these passing areas is Turn One and another is the tight corner at the end of the 1.1 km straight stretch that demands the cars brake from speeds in access of 320 km/hr on the area of the track between Turn 13 and Turn 14.

Watch carefully this weekend when your watching for these areas of the track, they will be where all the excitement will probably occur, and enjoy the race.

Image: Newscom

Image details: Goody’s Cool Orange 500 Qualifying served by picapp.com

There’s been talk all over the internet (again) revolving around the infamous Tony Stewart and his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing. Smoke has been driving for JGR since 1998, and back in 2003 signed a six-year deal with the team that would put him there through the 2009 season. Just as he did in ’03, Stewart appears to be willing to listen to just about anyone talking to him about offers, and as one might expect, a two-time former champ is going to receive plenty of them.

Some believe he may be letting his negotiations fall into the public eye purely for the sake of having some leverage to get a more lucrative deal from JGR, but it appears also that Stewart’s long-time relationship with the folks over at General Motors may be playing a large role in his uncertainty. There are certainly some viable options out there that would put him back in the seat of a Chevy, including the now widely-gossiped notion of becoming at least a part owner at Haas CNC Racing, whom not only drives Chevy’s, but also have a standing business relationship with Hendrick Motorsports. We also know that Richard Childress Racing will be fielding a fourth car next season, but placing Tony in that car would require an early release from his contract.

Stewart has stated that there have been talks with a couple of teams out there that would include him becoming a car owner in the Cup Series, but he said that he has not yet talked to the Joe and/or JD Gibbs about becoming a partner at JGR. He also said that while he and his agent have presented various scenarios to Gibbs to feel out whether or not there might be a possibility of being released from his current contract prior to ’09, he has not actually asked for that to happen.

JD Gibbs has gone on record by stating that they have Tony under contract through the 2009 season, and that they have no intention of allowing him to part from the company early. He and Toyota’s President of Competition, Lee White, both also said that they would like to see Stewart not only re-sign with Gibbs, but to retire with the organization.

I’ve scouted many sources on this topic, and just about everyone seems to have a differing opinion.  Reverand Jim’s Rants ‘n’ Raves is shrugging the rumors off for the time being, whereas Bruce Simmons over at Bruce’s Bits and Pieces seems to think that it might just make too much sense for Tony to move back to a GM-based team. One article that I found very interesting, however, was the opinion of Matt Mercer posted over at Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie. Matt made a very good point in that if Joey Logano runs well enough in the Nationwide Series later this year, then they just might be willing to bring him up early and let Stewart out of his contract.

I can’t say that I necessarily agree with that assessment, but it did get the wheels churning a bit. I don’t think that there’s going to be any situation that presents itself that would cause Gibbs to let Tony walk early, nor do I think they should. That said, however, if Logano does run well in the Nationwide Series this year and in his first full season in ’09, then I could see a situation where JGR may not offer Tony the exact dollar figures he’s going to be looking for. I mean, let’s face it, there’s very few – if any – names in the sport that can replace Tony Stewart, but at the same time, if you’ve got a team with the youth and talent of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Logano … well, let’s just say that you’re not hurtin.

If Stewart does get into the car ownership side of the house in the Cup Series, it would be a crowning achievement to his long list of business ventures. He currently owns several lower-series race teams (all GM powered, mind you) and also has stock in quite a few race tracks, including full ownership of Ohio’s Eldora Speedway.

For quite some time now, Jack Roush has been battling his former employee and current Toyota Racing GM Lee White in a rather harsh and uncharacteristic battle of words. The feud between the two really came to light only a couple of weeks into the new NASCAR season, and escalated in the public eye at the beginning of March through an article posted on nascar.com.  The article went into lengthy detail about Roush’s opinion on the entire Toyota setup this year as he accused them of dumping more money into their NASCAR operations than any other teams are able to – or, at least willing to – afford. The end result, he insinuated, was a lot more horsepower than the other manufacturers are capable of running on race day.

“I think the chassis dynamometer inspections that NASCAR has done has shown that they’ve got more power than the other manufacturers. Again, that’s a reflection of how much money they spend and what NASCAR has approved for them to have in terms of configuration of the engines,” says Roush. He later went on to add, “There is a limit to what you can reasonably afford to spend given the tradition of sponsorship and the traditional level of support that comes from the manufacturers, and the traditional level of support that comes from the decals on the car. If Toyota is upsetting that, if they’re spending more money, which I’m given to believe they are, then they’ve got an advantage. But, it’s not unfair, because if we wanted to spend or could spend that much money, we could do the same thing. The problem is that nobody can match Toyota dollar for dollar over the long haul.” He harped on the issue some more by adding the finishing touches, “They’ve got a history of spending their money wisely, and in quantities that outspend or outstrip the other manufacturers. And, I’ve got every reason to believe they’ll do it here. It’s been their practice to do that in Formula One and open-wheel racing.”

Jack Roush has openly been against the transition of Toyota into NASCAR since the plans were first put into motion a few years ago, and doesn’t appear to be letting up on the issue. He feels that with Toyota suddenly in the fold, they could change the shape of NASCAR forever in a way he doesn’t seem to feel is beneficial to the sport. NASCAR has stated that there hasn’t been anything in their dyno testing that would suggest that Toyota has any significant advantage in horsepower over any of the other manufacturers.

All the talk about Toyota’s horsepower came after the series ran their scheduled events at Daytona and California, and despite not winning either race, Toyota appeared to be a dominant factor in both. The next week, however, all of the Toyota star drivers either struggled with their cars late in the race or ran into various issues on the track, and Kyle Busch was the highest finishing Toyota in the race in 11th place. Carl Edwards won that race, but shortly after was the focus of NASCAR’s post-race inspection in which they discovered the lid on the no. 99 car’s oil tank to be missing. Suddenly, the focus shifted from Toyota over to Roush Racing.

Although I didn’t pick up on any commentary from Lee White in response to Jack Roush’s criticism of their program a week earlier, White didn’t appear to have missed the articles and was now ready to take aim at his own issues. He was very prompt to throw allegations in the direction of Roush-Fenway Racing following the UAW-Dodge 400 in Vegas, accusing the team of intentionally leaving the lid off of Edwards’ tank in an effort to allow for better air circulation through the engine and create additional downforce, or to give the car an extra bit of push to put it simply.

White reported to USA Today that in wind tunnel testing that Toyota had done in Germany, they discovered that removing the cap could actually result in 170 lbs of extra downforce for the car. Additionally, he stated that a video replay of one of Edwards’ stops on pit road revealed a member of his pit crew tugging on the fender to open a 3-inch gap on the inner panel, which Toyota’s tests had shown could create yet another 70 lbs of downforce.

Roush responded by questioning the integrity of the Toyota group, wondering why they would test a car with a missing oil lid and a 3-inch gap in the inner panel when both are illegal setups. “Why would they do that? I wonder how many times they tested the rocket fuel on Michael Waltrip’s car before they decided to take the chance at Daytona?” he asked, referring to the incident that disqualified Waltrip from competing in the 2007 Daytona 500.

Jack accused White of being a cheater when he was with the organization in the late 80’s, and that was the primary reason for him not bringing him along when he made the move to NASCAR. White obviously had a different recollection of events, stating that Steve Hmiel and Robin Pemberton had a problem with White tagging along. Although he didn’t want to accuse his old friend directly of being a cheater, he did also state the following on the day that NASCAR announced their penalties on Edwards and Roush: “There’s absolutely something going on there where someone knew what they were doing. I must applaud NASCAR. Given the safety implications of opening that oil tank to the driver, the penalty could have been more severe. I guarantee you the cover bolts didn’t fall out, because if they fall, the engine leaks and you can’t run. If you want something to fall off, you fix it so it can.”

This battle between former friends has certainly kept many fans entertained through the first four races of the season, and that was all prior to Toyota being able to actually win their first Cup Series race. Now that Toyota has won (referencing Kyle Busch’s victory in Atlanta) and sits atop the Sprint Cup Series points standings, this ongoing saga is sure to keep popping into the NASCAR columns every now and again for quite awhile.

DYN Imposes … This week, Do You NASCAR also asks its readers:

1) Has Toyota’s success in 2008 been a result of extra horsepower they’re getting from their cars that other manufacturers are unable to produce? If that is the case, should NASCAR be putting restrictions in place to level the playing field?
2) Did the no. 99 team of Carl Edwards intentionally leave the lid off of the oil tank during the UAW-Dodge 400 in Las Vegas?
3) How many drivers will Toyota field in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and who will be the highest finishing Toyota in the points standings?
4) Roush-Fenway Racing vs. Joe Gibbs Racing … which is better?

Red Bull Racing has recently announced that AJ Allmendinger will be replaced in the no. 84 Toyota by veteran driver Mike Skinner for this weekend’s race in Atlanta.  The decision was made after Allmendinger failed to qualify for last Sunday’s UWA-Dodge 400 in Las Vegas, rendering him without a single start three races into the season.  Red Bull Racing general manager Jay Frye has stated that the switch is part-time only as the organization is frantically trying to put a finger on the problems surrounding the no. 84 team.

After qualifying for only 17 races on the Cup Series’ 36-race schedule in 2007 and missing out on the first three races of this year, Allmendinger appears to be rather cooperative with the company’s decision and is eager for the opportunity to learn from Skinner as he fills in on an interim basis. The team says that they’re also exploring opportunities to get AJ some seat time in the Nationwide Series with Joe Gibbs Racing or Chip Ganassi Racing, and possibly also in the Craftsman Truck Series with Billy Ballew Motorsports.

NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series kicked off their first race of March with a bang this Sunday in Sin City when they visited Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the UAW Dodge 400. Heading into the weekend, Kyle Busch and his no. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team was the talk of the town as he came into the race as the series’ points leader and turned in the fastest lap during qualifying to win the Coors Lite Pole Award at his hometown track where he held a current streak of three consecutive top-ten finishes. But, alas, as is the case with so many races, by the time the checkered flag waived there was a new name at the tip of NASCAR fans’ tongues as Carl Edwards pulled away from the field in the closing laps to secure the win for his no. 99 Roush Racing team for the second week in a row.

Kyle Busch looked like the car to beat early in the race as he led the first 21 laps, but was soon overthrown by eventual race winner Carl Edwards. Carl surrendered the lead on lap 48 during a round of green flag stops that gave the cars of Scott Riggs, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Robby Gordon the opportunity to lead laps as they had all pitted during the race’s only caution to that point back on lap 9. Once the pit stops cycled through, however, it was Edwards right back to the front. During those stops, Kurt Busch and Elliott Sadler were both penalized for being too fast on pit road and were pushed a lap down.

The next caution came on lap 69 for debris, and with only 17 cars on the lead lap, Jeff Burton stayed out to lead the race, but Kyle Busch regained the helm about 11 laps later. At this point, Joe Gibbs Racing’s dynamic duo was looking pretty solid yet again with Busch leading and Stewart charging through the field, but on lap 109 Stewart blew a right front tire that sent him sailing into the wall, cutting his race short for the second day in a row.

Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, and Dale Junior all exchanged the lead throughout the course of the next three cautions before Edwards took control again with 73 laps to go. Edwards had been shuffled back through the field earlier when NASCAR penalized him for having a tire roll across pit road during an earlier stop under caution. After battling fiercely to regain his track position, it appeared as though maybe it just weren’t meant to be, because when the 7th caution came out for debris in turn 2, Edwards’ crew lost yet another tire on pit road, but this time NASCAR determined that a cameraman had inadvertently interfered with Edwards’ pit crew, and thus no penalty was handed down and Carl was able to restart third.

Matt Kenseth won that race off of pit road on lap 219 and was the new leader once again with 48 to go.  Two cautions and 18 laps later, it was Edwards back to the front, and he just took off from the rest of the field. Kenseth then lost the second position to Earnhardt with just 14 laps to go, but then Kurt Busch – who had battled all day to regain his position on the lead lap and finally did – blew a tire and smacked the wall to bring out the 10th yellow of the day with just 11 laps left.

The restart came with five laps left and the field lined up behind Edwards, Junior, Kenseth, and Jeff Gordon. In an odd occurrence, Junior spun his tires on the restart causing the cars of Gordon and Kenseth to split him. Once both cars had cleared the 88, Gordon’s car barely slid up the track, but it was enough to make slight contact with Kenseth. The rub sent Kenseth spinning around on the track – although he was able to not touch anything or anyone – but, it sent Gordon hard into the inside wall and his entire radiator actually came out of the car and shot across the track. After a red flag was flown to give the track crew ample time to cleanup the radiator fluid, the green flag dropped for the final time with 2 laps left. There was never really another race for the top spot after that, but it was fun watching Junior and Greg Biffle fight for second, which Junior won.  The Richard Childress cars of Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton rounded out the top-five.  Kyle Busch went onto finish 11th. Also of note is that Denny Hamlin was the highest finishing Toyota in 9th, Kasey Kahne had the highest Dodge in 7th, and to everyone’s surprise, Jimmie Johnson – who won this event for the previous three years running – finished in 29th despite not having any on-track incidents the entire day.  All in all, I thought it was a pretty exciting race, and definitely the best showing we’ve seen from NASCAR so far in 2008.

Grades (on a 100 point scale):
The Race: 94%
The Drama: 89%
Coverage: 81%
Pre-Race Ceremonies: 78%

Overall Grade: 88.8%
*Note - the Race accounts for 50% of score; Coverage & Drama is 20% each; Pre-Race is 10%Race Results (credit nascar.com):

First off, I’d like to apologize for getting this week’s “DYN Imposes” topic out a day late. With the extended weekend out in Fontana, I didn’t have much time to prepare anything for Tuesday, and this week’s topic is one that I wanted to give the proper justice rather than rushing it. With everything that’s already happened in NASCAR’s highly anticipated, yet young 2008 season, you’re probably expecting to start reading about Robby Gordon’s penalties incurred from Daytona or the impressive showing from Toyota thus far. Well, you’d be wrong. Quite frankly, I’m tired of having the same ol’ Robby Gordon debate with people that’s been going on for the last week, and Kyle Busch and/or Toyota is/are mentioned in nearly every post or story regardless of where you’re reading. No, this week I want to talk about NASCAR’s system for determining provisionals, because if this season has taught us anything, it’s the severe repercussions that this system can have on our sport.

NASCAR currently uses the system the cars ranked in the top 35 in owner points are guaranteed to start each race, with the remaining slots to be filled via qualifying times. They also incorporate a Past Champion’s provisional, which means if you’re a former Cup Champion, you’re also guaranteed a start in the race if you fail to qualify on time – except that only one driver may use this provisional in a race. For the first five races of the season, the top 35 in owner points is determined from the previous year’s standings, and the only other caveat to the normal rules is for the Daytona 500 where the remaining spots after the use of provisionals is no longer determined by qualifying times, but rather by where the drivers finish in their respective Gatorade Duels after Qualifying. Pretty straight forward, right? (note the sarcasm)

If you’re new to this sport as a fan, trust me, it’s as complicated as it looks. Heck, chances are I may not have even explained it thoroughly and probably left something out. It can be tough to explain, it’s just one of those things that you know after awhile. Well, here’s where it gets really tricky … note the emphasis on the term owner points. These are different that driver points and are used because of situations where teams change drivers throughout the course of the season. This way team owners can still accrue owner points for that particular car. It’s also crucial to teams that hire new drivers in the offseason. For instance, this past offseason Regan Smith, Jeremy Mayfield, Travis Kvapil, and Dario Franchitti – all drivers that were previously not eligible for the top 35 provisionals – moved into cars that were, meaning guaranteed starts for them in the first five races of the year that would have otherwise not been available to them. In an even stranger situation, Penske Racing revived their no. 77 racing team to give rookie Sam Hornish Jr. a ride this season. Typically, Hornish would have begun the season outside of the top 35 in owner points, but Roger Penske convinced NASCAR to allow Kurt Busch to transfer his team’s points over to Hornish’s, thus giving him the coveted provisionals for those five races. The effect on Busch’s team is nil during that period – with the exception that he would begin in the back of the field for races that had qualifying rained out – because he already qualifies for use of the Past Champion’s provisional.

Okay, I know I’ve lost some of you at this point, but try to bear with me because the side-effects of all this that I’m about to lay out for you may help clarify some of this for you … or just add to your confusion. We’ll see. Let’s start with Daytona … Bill Elliott failed to make the race because Kurt Busch had already used the Past Champion’s provisional after failing to finish his Gatorade Duel. Had he not been able to transfer his owner points to Hornish, however, Busch would have still made the race based on the top 35 rule, and Hornish would have raced his way into the race anyway. Elliott finished 16th in his Duel, while Dario Franchitti finished 25th and Jeremy Mayfield finished 20th. Yet, they both made the race because of the top 35 rule. Even worse, though, is for AJ Allmendinger who qualified 19th overall and finished his Duel event in 13th, yet failed to make the race. It’s clear here where the effects of the transfer in owner points can have a huge effect on making these first five races.

Now, let’s forget about the transferring of owner points for a second and just focus on NASCAR’s use of the Gatorade Duels for making the Daytona 500. Had they used normal qualifying procedures for determining the starting grid at Daytona, Bill Elliott would have actually made the race via the champion’s provisional and Boris Said would have made the field from his 9th place qualifying run, whereas John Andretti and Kenny Wallace would have been shutout from the competition.

Well, that’s Daytona. It’s neither here nor there, because it is afterall, only one race. Taking that into consideration, maybe NASCAR’s system works, or at least works well enough to not make a huge fuss over it. But, what if the second event on the schedule gets qualifying rained out? That’s exactly what happened, and now due to a various combination of potential flaws coming together within the sport’s system,  two weeks into the season AJ Allmendinger, Boris Said, and rookie Patrick Carpentier haven’t yet had the opportunity to compete despite outstanding qualifying efforts at Daytona. Meanwhile, Mayfield, Franchitti, and Regan Smith would have failed to make the race at Daytona – whether determined by qualifying or the Duels – yet, each now has two more starts than the previously mentioned three drivers.

The effect of this goes much deeper than just the fact that these drivers did not get to compete in the first to races. It also puts them in a devastating hole that they’ll have to climb out of if they want any shot at regaining enough ground to finish 2008 in the top 35 so that they don’t have to go through this again next year. At the same time, you have the intangible of what it does with these drivers’ relationships with their team owners, and the effects that it has on the owners’ relationships with their sponsors. These simple flaws could see these drivers lose the necessary financial backing that it takes to compete on a competitive level, or even worse, cause them to lose their ride altogether. Am I being a little drastic? Perhaps, but trying telling that to Allmendinger. AJ’s currently in his second year with Toyota at the Cup level, and as horrid as 2007 was for him, he had the most accessible scapegoat known to man in the form of Toyota. This year that group’s got their act together and they’re running well, but we have no idea if Allmendinger can be as competitive as the rest of these guys, and neither does Team Red Bull. The question is, by the time anyone does realize, will it already be too late?

There’s a ton of different scenarios I could play out through the first two weeks regarding NASCAR’s provisional system, but I’ll spare you for confusion’s sake, and also because it really doesn’t matter since in reality it just is what it is. I just think that at this point it’s becoming blatantly obvious that there’s a few guys out there getting the shaft while others are getting free passes that they never earned. Travesty is the only word you need to sum it up.

DYN Imposes:  This week, Do You NASCAR also asks you …

1) Should NASCAR revise their top 35 rule to reflect the top 35 in driver points rather than owner points?
2) Should team owners be able to transfer points from one car to another?
3) Would NASCAR be better off to determine the starting grid for the Daytona 500 based on Qualifying rather than running the Gatorade Duels?
4) Overall, who has been the biggest gainer and the biggest loser so far in 2008 by virtue of NASCAR’s current system?

2/20 – After failing to attain full-time sponsorship to run in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series for Bill Davis Racing, former F1 Series Champion Jacques Villeneuve has reportedly contacted former IndyCar team owner Barry Green. Green will work with Villeneuve to find the right sponsors so that he may continue his pursuit to find full-time in rides in either or both of the series.  Read More.

2/20 – Tony Stewart has worked out a deal with Old Spice that will give fans the opportunity to bid in public auction for the Old Spice towel Stewart wears into Victory Lane everytime he wins a race in either the Sprint Cup or Nationwide Series this year. The towel will, of course, be autographed and proceeds will go to the Tony Stewart Foundation.  Read More.

2/21 – The Petty family has recently announced the opening of a second Victory Junction Gang Camp, which will be located in Wyandotte County in Kansas.  Read More.

2/21 – DishNet has signed on for a second year with Roush Racing in 2008 and will serve as the primary sponsor in 15 Sprint Cup races between Greg Biffle (11 races), Carl Edwards (3 races), and Matt Kenseth (1 race).  Read More.

2/21 – DEI recently announced that their 01 Sprint Cup Series car driven by Regan Smith will carry Coors Light as their primary sponsor for the next two races at California and Las Vegas.  Read More.

2/22 – Robby Gordon Motorsports has appealed the penalties handed down by NASCAR for rule infractions that occurred during Daytona Speedweeks. While Robby isn’t very hopeful of getting NASCAR to drop the points hit altogether, they are trying to at least reduce the 100 points that the sanctioning body has hit them with.  Read More.

2/22 – In a recent survey, NASCAR fans have voted that the Toyota commercial in which the kids are controlling the cars via remote control is the best new ad of the 2008 season.  Read More.

2/22 – Richard Childress Racing teammates Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer apparently had a confrontation with one another following last Sunday’s Daytona 500, reportedly because each driver felt they didn’t receive enough help in the closing laps from the other.  Read More.

2/22 – The newly-formed partnership between International Speedway Corporation and the Automobile Club of Southern California has sparked the renaming of California Speedway to what is now the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California.  Read More.

2/22 – After Earl Pearson Jr. had to be cut from his car following an accident in a dirt late model race for Bobby Labonte Racing in Barberville, FL, Bobby Labonte has begun taking several safety measures to ensure the safety in his rides.  Read More.

2/22 – Rain has caused NASCAR to cancel qualifying for all three of their series’ races this weekend at California. Each of the series will line their cars up based on owner points.  Read More.