NASCAR

The Granite Stripe prepares for the biggest race weekend of the year with the Broadcast and Podcast and makes its picks for NASCAR's longest race of the season.

The Busch Brothers won the first four segments of Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but Jimmie Johnson took the one the counted -- the 10-lap dash to the finish -- and continued to build his legacy, not to mention his bank account.

The sounds were unmistakable.  The roar of engines could be heard all around.  Six of the best drivers in the sport were behind the wheel of their Sprint Cup cars on Tuesday and Wednesday, logging laps around the "Magic Mile."  The cars weren't the highly polished beasts we see every weekend, but they were fast...really fast.

While visiting NHMS for a Goodyear Tire Test, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton met up with Dick Berggren to provide a Tuesday evening Q+A with fans.

Unsinkable Matt Kenseth capped a banner week for unsinkable Joe Gibbs Racing with a victory in Saturday night's Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway with a substitute crew chief on his pit box -- the unsinkable Wally Brown.

In one of the craziest races in recent memory, an unlikely hero drove out of Talladega Superspeedway with a victory on Sunday. Will there be a new driver atop the MMPR or was Jimmie Johnson's top-five enough to keep on top for a third straight week?

The Magic Mile will once again host Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company's tire test on May 14 and 15. Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Dave Blaney will each turn laps at the 1.058-mile oval.

Kevin Harvick sped away on fresh tires to win Saturday night's Toyota Owners 400 in a green-white-checkered finish at Richmond International Raceway, leaving a group of drivers with widely divergent emotions in his wake.

Penalties have been handed down to the No. 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team as a result of rule violations discovered in the post-race engine inspection April 23 at the NASCAR Research and Development Center.

Matt Kenseth likened his victory in the STP 400 to a game of musical chairs -- you had to be leading when the music stopped.

Moose Head Maniacs: April 2013

The record book will say that Kyle Busch won the NRA 500 on Saturday night.  If truth be known, Busch started the process on Friday afternoon and applied the coup de grace with 20 laps left on Saturday evening.

On Wednesday, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board O. Bruton Smith was named one of five newcomers for the 25 nominees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2014.

Leading 346 of 500 laps in Sunday's STP Gas Booster 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Johnson racked up his eighth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at the .526-mile short track and the 62nd win of his career.

The Granite Stripe takes a look at where the Sprint Cup Series drivers stand in the early going.  Some have performed above expectations; some have picked up their success where they left off in 2012; some are starting to look a lap or two off the pace.

Mark Martin will replace Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Toyota during Hamlin’s recovery from a back injury, according to a news release provided by the Joe Gibbs Racing team Thursday.

Denny Hamlin, winner of last year's SYLVANIA 300 Chase race at the Magic Mile last September, will be out at least six weeks with a L1 compression fracture in his lower back.

The Granite Stripe recaps Bristol and looks ahead to Fontana, Calif., in the broadcast and podcast.  It also gives five drivers to watch this weekend and provides some suggestions for the fantasy NASCAR roster.

The Granite Stripe is ready for the first short track race of the season.  Check out the Broadcast, Podcast, Power Rankings and Fantasy Preview, and make sure you know it all before the green flag waves at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Matt Kenseth’s car was superb for the third time in three races this season. This time, the No. 20 team saw it pay off in the final standings.  Kenseth piloted his Dollar General Toyota to a win Sunday in the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Gen-6 car prepares for its intermediate track debut as teams “rolled the dice” on various set ups during testing Thursday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The Granite Stripe has a full preview of the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.  From the Broadcast to the Podcast to the Fantasy preview, the blog has everything to prepare for the second race of the season.

The Granite Stripe, the official blog of New Hampshire Motor Speedway, has undergone a significant face lift in preparation for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.  GraniteStripe.com, which is named after the Magic Mile’s signature start/finish line, is expanding to reach across multiple digital platforms.

To steal a page from Danica’s “drive to do something different”, New Hampshire Motor Speedway recently rolled out a sweetheart of a deal for those wanting to see all the action in-person at the Magic Mile this July.

Danica Patrick made NASCAR history today during Coors Light Pole qualifying for the Daytona 500, becoming the first female driver to win a pole at NASCAR’s top level – the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Fans are encouraged to attend a FREE Valentine’s Day event at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, N.H. for a special presentation regarding the July 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series New Hampshire 300 pre-race show.

After 23 hours, the 51st Rolex 24 at Daytona came down to the final few minutes, and it was NASCAR’s own Juan Pablo Montoya who delivered on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway officials announced today the entitlement sponsorship extension of OSRAM SYLVANIA, which will keep the SYLVANIA 300 on the Magic Mile marquee for another five years.

NASCAR and Sprint confirmed that fans will have a direct impact on several competition elements of the newly titled The Sprint Unlimited At Daytona, the 75-lap non-points race that opens the season.

Five “New” Things to Watch in NASCAR for 2013

NASCAR and HP today unveiled the new NASCAR Fan and Media Engagement Center presented by HP. This first-of-its-kind resource will enable NASCAR to better serve its industry, partners and fans.

The deadline to renew tickets for the 2013 NASCAR season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is only a few days away. Act before Jan. 15 to get exclusive discounted benefits.

NHMS will get a tax break on future capital investments that could include repaving the raceway, a lighting system that would enable night racing and construction of a New England racing museum.

When Brad Keselowski enthusiastically guzzled the product of his primary sponsor on national television following November's race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he wasn't merely celebrating his 2012 championship season.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway's 2013 schedule is starting to take shape as NASCAR's Whelen Modified Tour and the K&N Pro Series East will return to "The Magic Mile" for a total of three races next year.

Max Giguere, from Saint-Georges, Quebec, claimed the "Fans of NHMS" Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing Title thanks to a dominant performance during NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.

The 2012 season definitely had some memorable moments: the jet dryer fire in the Daytona 500; Tony Stewart's helmet throw at Matt Kenseth; and, the Jeff Gordon/Clint Bowyer melee.

NASCAR announced the 2013 schedule for its Nationwide Series today, a slate that once again includes New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the 24th straight year.

Kevin Harvick won. Jimmie Johnson crashed. And Brad Keselowski took over the points lead. But it's the melee between Team Bowyer and Team Gordon that has ESPN analyst Ricky Craven's attention following Sunday's race at Phoenix International Raceway.

With only seven points separating the two, Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson are in a dogfight for the Sprint Cup championship. But Keselowski might need to win the last two races to win his first title.

Jimmie Johnson sits atop the "Magic Mile" Power Rankings for a third straight week, and he's also taken over the top spot in the Chase standings. Can Brad Keselowski catch him with three races remaining on the slate?

Round ... and around ... and around ... and around.  If you like cars going in circles, this weekend's Tums Fast Relief 500 is for you!  Martinsville Speedway is the shortest of short tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who missed the last two races with a concussion, has been cleared to pilot the No. 88 for Hendrick Motorsports this weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

Brad Keselowski is still atop the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship points standings, but the pilot of the Miller Lite Blue Deuce has dropped to second behind Jimmie Johnson in the "Magic Mile" Power Rankings.

Despite a wild finish to the race at Talladega Superspeedway, there wasn't a huge shakeup to the "Magic Mile" Power Rankings as the field heads to our sister track, Charlotte Motor Speedway, for the Bank of America 500 on Saturday night.

Following a hard crash at Talladega on Sunday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss the next two races with a concussion, effectively ending his bid at the Sprint Cup championship.

The debate over restrictor-plate racing at the sport's biggest track exploded once again, and in typical fashion, when Tony Stewart drifted down the track just enough to ignite automotive calamity.

The SYLVANIA 300 NASCAR weekend provided a big win for non-profits and the N.H. Chapter of the Speedway Children's Charities. The two combined to raise over $275,000 in revenue.

Jonathan and Gavin recap the SYLVANIA 300 and discuss whether banking would impact a race at NHMS, before previewing the AAA 400 at Dover.

Speedway officials welcomed Baby Katie back to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, site of of the "Miracle at the Magic Mile." Her mother, Shawna Arnold, delivered Katie in the backseat of the family sedan in the NHMS parking lot on Sept. 14.

K&N Pro Series East rookie Kyle Larson held off Corey LaJoie for his first-ever win at "The Magic Mile" on Saturday. Larson won the G-Oil 100 by half a car length in one of the tightest finishes in recent memory.

Jeff Gordon took the pole for Sunday's SYLVANIA 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Gordon hasn't won at "The Magic Mile" since 1998, but he'll be in good position to win when he starts from the front row.

NHMS Exec. VP/GM Jerry Gappens talks about all the on-track action and off-track events that he and his staff have planned the SYLVANIA 300 race weekend.

Just a few minutes after qualifying for the SYLVANIA 300, Chase contenders Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kurt Busch will hold an autograph session in the Display Lot in the NHMS tent.

With the field reset for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, beginning this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, "The Magic Mile" Power Rankings have also been reset with 10 races to go.

Denny Hamlin, the top-ranked driver entering the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase, visited New Hampshire on Tuesday to promote the upcoming SYLVANIA 300.

With a checkered flag waving inside the Pennichuck Middle School library, Mayor Donnalee Lozeau affixed Nashua’s name to the $20,000 check on Wednesday, officially declaring her city as the winner of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s inaugural Race to Benefit Education.

In preparation for NASCAR’s invasion to New England on Sunday, Sept. 23 for SYLVANIA 300, New Hampshire Motor Speedway has the opportunity of a lifetime.

In a season that has been nuts with wild-card talk, one more hand must be played this Saturday under the lights at Richmond International Raceway. That will be wild in itself, but the way the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup is shaping up, it hardly will be the end of all the craziness. 

Things certainly got heated in Bristol, didn’t they? Tony Stewart smoked his helmet at Matt Kenseth. Danica Patrick waved her finger at Regan Smith. And Denny Hamlin used an aggressive late-race pass to knock off Carl Edwards. The old Bristol was certainly back, and in a big way. With just two races remaining on the regular-season docket, here’s a look at the top-10 drivers heading to Atlanta Motor Speedway:

Matt Kenseth was nowhere near Charlotte Motor Speedway on Tuesday when Tony Stewart drove a World War II tank as part of a promotion for sponsor Mobil 1.

Even if he had been, Stewart wasn't ready to run over him "every chance I've got from now 'til the end of the year" as the defending Sprint Cup champion promised after the two were involved in a wreck on Saturday night at Bristol.

"Only if I need to," Stewart said during the promotion in which he drove a minivan, drifting car and tank. "No more than anybody else. "You can't guarantee anything is not going to happen. It's not our intention to go seek him out. We've got along a lot more races than we've disagreed."

One of the most recognizable voices in country music today, New Englander Jamie Lee Thurston will hit the WOKQ FanFest stage for next month SYLVANIA 300 NASCAR weekend at “The Magic Mile.” New Hampshire Motor Speedway officials announced the baritone’s inclusion as the feature act on Sept. 20 in the Broadway Midway at 9 p.m.

A native of Central, Vermont, Thurston was recognized in June with two Independent Country Music Association nominations ("Best Musician" and "Best Live Performance") for his performance at a charity event held in South Burlington, VT for the benefit of victims devastated by the May 2011 flood in Green Mountain State. Thurston took home the award for "Best Live Performance." Thurston’s life story has also been optioned for a future Hollywood film.

So, Greg Biffle is the points leader. Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch are on the outside looking in on the Chase. And Hendrick Motorsports, the premier team in NASCAR for the better part of the last decade, is having issues - mechanically and personally. With just three weeks left in the regular season, things certainly are heating up in the Sprint Cup Series.

Here's a look at the top-10 drivers heading to Bristol Motor Speedway in the first edition of the "Magic Mile" Power Rankings list:

With the New Hampshire primary on the horizon, Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Burton made pit stops in New England on Wednesday, throwing his helmet into the mix as the primary candidate to become the winning ticket for the SYLVANIA 300 – the second race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship – at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 23.

Aboard the Pit Stop Express, Burton, known affectionately as “The Mayor of NASCAR,” visited Faneuil Hall in Boston, Mass., City Hall in Manchester, N.H., and Prescott Park in Portsmouth, N.H. Already with more wins (four) than any other Cup driver in “Magic Mile” history, Burton used a grassroots approach to rally fans in support of his drive for five.

Allen Bestwick, host of NASCAR Now on ESPN, served as Burton’s emcee and rally rouser.

Some of the vehicles were painted black, while others bore a strange black and white paint scheme designed to make contour lines difficult to discern. But it wasn't the color of the cars that drew the most attention during a tire test of 2013 models held at Martinsville Speedway – it was the weight.

Four Sprint Cup teams descended on the Virginia short track Tuesday for the opening session of a two-day Goodyear test designed to shake down 2013 cars and give the tire supplier information on which to base their compounds for next season. Key in that effort is the removal of 100 pounds of weight from the next-generation vehicles, including 60 from a right side that in the current models is infamous for stressing tires on that part of the car.

Jeff Gordon, one of NASCAR's biggest rainmakers, got a shower just when he needed it in Sunday's Pennsylvania 400.

Gordon didn't lead a lap under the green flag, but he notched a critically important victory at Pocono Raceway, thanks to an opportunistic move to the front after a restart on Lap 91 of a scheduled 160.

Coincidentally, it was a mistake by Jimmie Johnson, Gordon's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, that enabled Gordon to celebrate in Victory Lane and, more importantly, to resurrect his prospects for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Suspended NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger was released from Penske Racing on Wednesday, opening a seat in the organization's No. 22 car for the second time in as many years.

The Penske team announced the firing in a statement, which came after Allmendinger and team owner Roger Penske met face-to-face. Allmendinger is suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for failing a random drug test, and must complete a mandatory recovery program before he can hope to be reinstated by the sanctioning body. There is no concrete timeline for his return.

If it's true that "one man's loss is another man's gain," Dale Earnhardt Jr. was easily the biggest beneficiary of Matt Kenseth's misfortune Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

When Kenseth couldn't avoid smacking into Joey Logano's out-of-control car with 26 laps remaining -- and Earnhardt went on to finish fourth -- it resulted in major implications at the top of the Sprint Cup points standings.

How much more intriguing would qualifying be at Indianapolis Motor Speedway if we didn't know Dale Earnhardt Jr. was guaranteed a spot in Sunday's Sprint Cup race?

How many more people would pay to sit in the stands and watch qualifying if they knew there was a chance Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart or any of the big names might miss the race if they hit the wall or blew an engine during their two-lap run?

Maybe one day soon we'll find out.

NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton confirmed that NASCAR is discussing with teams about options in each of the top three series that could do away with the top-35 rule to make qualifying more significant in 2013.

The lights are bright, emotions ride high and the finish line is within site. One group might await the four most popular words in motorsports on a race track in the American South while the other readies for the starting shot on a different type of track or in a pool in Great Britain, but the task at hand is the same.

A record number of fans took advantage of New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s ultimate pre-race experience at the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 on July 15. In September, “The Magic Mile” will set a new record as speedway officials announce that they have made another 1,000 “Pre-Race Pit Passes” available.

Bob Osborne is transitioning away from his role as crew chief of the No. 99 Sprint Cup team at Roush Fenway Racing, team owner Jack Roush announced Tuesday. Roush Fenway veteran Chad Norris will be the crew chief for the No. 99 effective immediately. Osborne will remain with the organization as a senior member of the organization's management team and steering committee.

"I have had the pleasure of working with Carl Edwards for the past nine years and, during that time, my focus has been building a championship-caliber program," Osborne said. "I'm proud of the 18 wins we've had together in Sprint Cup Series competition and our two second-place points finishes.

Denny Hamlin's car was good. Real good. But in the end it still wasn’t good enough to catch Kasey Kahne, who picked up his first-career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at "The Magic Mile" on Sunday in the 20th annual LENOX Industrial Tools 301.

With his second victory of the season, Kahne now moves into the top Wild-Card spot for one of the final two spots in the Chase for the championship.

“The luck changed today - I will take them any way I can,” said Kahne, who won at Charlotte Motor Speedway back in May. “It feels good to finish one off today.”

Brad Keselowski saw an opening and he took it. While Kevin Harvick was struggling with lap traffic, Keselowski raced past him to the outside of Turn 2 with 21 laps to go and never looked back en route to winning the F.W. Webb 200 Nationwide Series race on Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

It was a clean sweep for Keselowski, who took the pole earlier in the day – his third straight Nationwide Series pole at “The Magic Mile.” It was Keselowski’s 19th victory in 182 Nationwide races, which ranks 15th on the all-time series wins list.

“We’ve had great runs in the past, but we couldn’t close the deal,” said Keselowski, who now has two victories and nine top-10s this season. “It feels great to finally close the deal. It’s a good two days on the Nationwide side – hopefully we can carry it over into Sunday and get another win.”

Kyle Busch picked up his 100th career NASCAR victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last July. This July, he’s put himself into a great position to add another victory to that list as the pole-sitter for Sunday’s 20th annual LENOX Industrial Tools 301 Sprint Cup Series race.

The fastest in practice, Busch was the last driver to take the track on Friday afternoon. Busch zipped the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota around the 1.058-mile in 28.548 seconds (133.417 mph), followed by Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer.

The year was 1993. Bill Clinton was president. Tom Hanks won his first Academy Award. And Alan Kulwicki was the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion. It was also the year that the Cup Series debuted at New Hampshire Motor Speedway – July 11, 1993 to be exact. On Sunday, “The Magic Mile” will celebrate the 20th anniversary of that first race with the LENOX Industrial Tools 301, which will be paced by New England’s own Ricky Craven.

“I watched as the track was being built – competed in its first event and celebrated a few times in victory lane,” said Craven. “The 20th anniversary represents a great opportunity for all of us to reflect on the many races, and events. I’m proud to have been a member of several and I’m excited to be coming home.”

Tony Stewart and Austin Dillon were both penalized by NASCAR on Tuesday for the exact same violation, but the punishment levied against the Nationwide Series driver may prove more painful in the long run.

Dillon's No. 3 team was penalized for the second consecutive week, this time for an unapproved open vent hose found inside the car during post-qualifying inspection Friday at Daytona International Speedway. The violation, which in theory could reduce drag and give the vehicle an aerodynamic edge on the restrictor-plate track, led to Dillon's qualifying time being disallowed, and on Tuesday the loss of six championship points.

Jerry Gappens can’t wait to get the big boys to “The Magic Mile.” But before NASCAR officially rolls into town later this week, New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s executive vice president and general manager tested his driving skills against future NASCAR pilots at Route 106 RacePark in Pembroke, N.H., as Governor John Lynch helped drop the green flag on race week in the Granite State.

Tony Stewart had an answer for the dominant pair ofMatt Kenseth andGreg Biffle.

In winning Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, Stewart side-drafted and separated Kenseth and Biffle, who had surged into the lead during a two-lap run to the finish, then pulled away for his fourth win in the last eight July races at the 2.5-mile super speedway.

The 2012 season began with high hopes for the No. 99 Ford team from Roush Fenway Racing.

It's not too late for those hopes to be realized, but Carl Edwards could not mask his frustration over the way Saturday night's Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway ended -- and the way his season has unfolded so far.

In his 26th Nationwide Series start -- in his first full season in the series -- pole-sitter Austin Dillon administered an emphatic, definitive, no-doubt-about-it beating to 42 also-rans in Friday night's Feed the Children 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

How decisive was Dillon's first Nationwide victory?

Buried deep in the Sprint Cup points standings and with no real hope of making the Chase, Kurt Busch had nothing to lose. Each time through the hairpin turn at the south end of the road course at Sonoma, and each time in the dogleg on the way back up the hill, the red No. 51 car got close enough to the leader that Busch was able to peek out and think about making the pass. Again and again, Clint Bowyer slammed the door.

The Legislative Office Building in Concord, N.H., was the host site of “The Race to Benefit Education,” an announcement made by New Hampshire Motor Speedway officials today. The NASCAR themed draft paired 26 drivers with 13 city representatives across the Granite State, awarding $20,000 in education grants to the city that chooses the winning driver of the upcoming 20th anniversary NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LENOX Industrial Tools 301 on July 15.

On Friday, President Barack Obama’s campaign respectfully declined New Hampshire Motor Speedway executive vice president and general manager Jerry Gappens’ invitation to attend next month’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301. Today, Gappens is putting four tickets earmarked for the president up to highest bidder.

President Barack Obama’s Campaign notified New Hampshire Motor Speedway Executive Vice President and General Manager Jerry Gappens late this afternoon that while it appreciate Gappens’ “generous offer” to attend next month’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301, they must respectfully decline.

Rick Hendrick broke the news to Steve Letarte at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon in late November of 2010. About 15 minutes after being told that he would henceforth be overseeing the No. 88 team of NASCAR's most popular driver, Letarte was in his car, on his way to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s house. Even though they had worked under the same roof for three years to that point, the crew chief introduced himself as if they had never met.

The stream of well-wishers and congratulatory hugs and handshakes kept coming Sunday in Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway.

If Dale Earnhardt Jr. could have embraced everyone who cheered for him not only in the Quicken Loans 400 he had just won but through every heart-breaking moment of the past four years, he no doubt would have.

Since the early years of NASCAR, racing sons and grandsons have celebrated Father's Day virtually every weekend. It's a family sport where the love of racing has been passed from generation to generation.

Richard Petty became the first son to win a NASCAR premier series race in which his father also ran. His first of a record 200 victories came on Feb. 28, 1960 at the Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte, N.C.

On a speedway with a fresh coat of asphalt, Joey Logano may just have gotten a fresh start.

After reclaiming the lead from veteran Mark Martin on Lap 157 of 160, Logano pulled away to win the Pocono 400 presented by #NASCAR at Pocono Raceway, his first victory since a rain-shortened win at New Hampshire in 2009.

More important, the second triumph of Logano's career couldn't have come at a better time -- during a contract year in which doubters have considered the 22-year-old a prime candidate to lose his ride at Joe Gibbs Racing to a more established star.

Cotton Owens, the Hall of Fame driver and car owner whom David Pearson referred to as his hero, has passed away just weeks after being selected to the 2013 class of the NASCAR shrine.

Winner of two NASCAR modified titles as a driver and a premier-series championship as a car owner, Everett "Cotton" Owens was 88.

"This is the fourth event I've done with NASCAR. It's just so easy. You've really got to hand it to NASCAR. The crowd is just built-in; it's like my constituency. You can come play for 45 minutes and either stay to watch the race or go home, and you know the fans and the folks from NASCAR are going to treat you well.

I'm still shocked by how well this country thing has gone for me. I was going to do this in my basement with my buddies. ... I didn't expect this. I expected to make my [country] record and be forgotten."

The Hendrick Motorsports juggernaut is back -- with a vengeance.

Driving away from Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth after a restart with 31 laps left in Sunday's FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway,Jimmie Johnson made short work of his Sprint Cup rivals.

With Austin Dillon the top rookie in the Nationwide Series and younger brother Ty making his presence felt in his first year in the Camping World Truck Series, the only competition between the two grandsons of Richard Childress these days is for bragging rights in the family.

The sibling rivalry wasn't supposed to extend to the race track. Not yet, anyway. But circumstance, opportunity and a little bit of pleading have led to Ty Dillon's unexpected debut in the No. 33 Nationwide race car on Saturday at Dover International Speedway.

It wasn’t that long ago that A.J. Allmendinger was turning his first laps in NASCAR at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the Camping World Truck Series. A little over five years later, the Californian is a full-fledged star in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and in July he will return to “The Magic Mile” to take part in the annual WOKQ FanFest on Thursday, July 12.

Allmendinger will answer questions from Mark and 2K of WOKQ’s Morning Waking Crew, then will hang around to sign autographs for a few lucky fans.

NASCAR announced today the 2013 class of inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The five-person class, which will be officially inducted in a ceremony on Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., consists of Buck Baker, Cotton Owens, Herb Thomas, Rusty Wallace and Leonard Wood.Members of the 54-member NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel met today in a closed session in Charlotte, N.C., to vote on the induction class of 2013.

The north end garage at New Hampshire Motor Speedway has been the home of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series for nearly two decades. But when stock car racing’s premier circuit returns to Loudon for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 on July 15, they will have a new home in the infield center garage, a move that is expected to make life easier for teams and fans alike.

Jimmie Johnson joined an elite club on Saturday night.

In beating Brad Keselowski to the finish of the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway by .841 seconds, Johnson won the exhibition event for the third time -- tying Dale Earnhardt and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon for most victories in the event.

Over the last three years, they have sponsored races in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and Camping World Truck Series, as well as the most posh and expensive bathroom in New Hampshire. Now, in its fourth year with New Hampshire Motor Speedway, F.W. Webb Company is piping in again.

The Northeast’s largest plumbing, heating, cooling and industrial supplies distributor has signed on as the official title sponsor for the July 14 NASCAR Nationwide Series race, the F.W. Webb 200.

NASCAR fined Kurt Busch $50,000 and placed on probation until July 25 for driving recklessly on pit road during the Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Darlington Raceway and for hitting Ryan Newman's car on pit road following the event.

NASCAR also handed out penalties to three crew members who were involved in a shoving match sparked by Busch's actions following the Bojangles Southern 500.

Mother Nature pulled back the curtain of fog and an armada of track dryers got “The Magic Mile” ready for a special tire test with five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers.

Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Bobby Labonte, Paul Menard and Regan Smith waited out the showers before putting on a show for the fans at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.  Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. technicians took over the speedway for the day to test new tire compounds for mile-track setups.

The best way to win races is to be prepared. That’s why a number of NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers will be in New Hampshire next week, testing new tires for this season’s races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.  Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company announced a tire test with five Sprint Cup teams May 8-9. The fans are encouraged to watch from the grandstands free of charge.

When car owner Joe Gibbs first reached Kyle Buschon Saturday following the Capital City 400 at Richmond International Raceway, he had a question.

"Is it more fun winning as an owner or a driver?" Gibbs said.

And the answer?

Pulling away fromDale Earnhardt Jr. after a restart with eight laps left in Saturday night's Capital City 400 at Richmond International Raceway,Kyle Buschstreaked to his fourth consecutive victory in the spring race at the .75-mile track.

The win was Busch's first of the season and the 24th of his career, tying him with his brother, 2004 Sprint Cup championKurt Busch, for 26th all-time.

In some cases, NASCAR race tracks feel that consulting with race car drivers about plans to upgrade or remodel their facilities is considered akin to conferring with asylum inmates about developing a new rules package.

Several of the sport's premier drivers said they've either never or sporadically been consulted about any of the many repaves or reconstructions that have recently taken place, are in process.

The temperatures were right for Denny Hamlin. The tires were wrong for Martin Truex Jr.

It might seem facile to claim the STP 400 was decided solely on a fortuitous weather development for the winner and a frustrating set of tires for the runner-up, but that's essentially what happened.

NASCAR on Thursday issued a 'White Paper' detailing the various programs that have made NASCAR a leader in green initiatives across all sports. The data in "The Sports Leader in Sustainability" illustrates the steps NASCAR has taken in educating fans, reducing the sport's environmental impact, and validating green technologies -- both on and off the track.

"This report brings to life some of the substantive examples of NASCAR's commitment to green innovation and our role as a leader in sustainability," said Dr. Michael Lynch, managing director of green innovation for NASCAR.

President Obama gave Sprint Cup champ Tony Stewart plenty of light-hearted ribbing during his remarks at the champion's tour of the White House on Tuesday. But he did seem pretty serious about one thing.

He really wants to drive the car.

THOMPSON, Conn. – A wild finish left one driver showered in a chorus of boos, one driver frustrated nearly beyond words and a third driver within inches of a remarkable victory.

When everything had settled on rugged NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season opener at Thompson International Speedway, though, it was Ron Silk who made a hard right-hand turn into Icebreaker 150 Victory Lane on Sunday afternoon and not Rowan Pennink.

Determination and innovation, two qualities existing in abundance in the men and women who built NASCAR, characterize the 25 nominees for the 2013 NASCAR Hall of Fame class.

NASCAR today announced those 25 nominees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s fourth induction class, and included among the diverse group are five newcomers who make this list arguably the most intriguing in the hall’s history.

Take a quick visit to my fantasy land of make-believe -- the place where the Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway this Saturday night has no guaranteed spots.

That's right. This racing wonderland is a track where you post one of the fastest 43 qualifying laps or it's off with your head -- as in pack up and head off to the next race.

With patriotic pride and talent to match, Emma Joanis stood out from the field of Speedway Star contestants to earn the right to sing the national anthem in front of thousands of race fans this summer. Sixteen talented singers from throughout New England competed live during the 3^rd Annual Speedway Star singing competition at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon will make a pit stop on LENOX Industrial Tools 301 race morning to spend with local race fans. The driver of the No. 24 is scheduled to appear at a special event with members of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway “Magic Mile Club” on Sunday, July 15.

Fans who buy this ultimate hospitality package will have access to a private catered pre-race event, a pre-race pit pass, great tickets to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, and a Q&A with Jeff Gordon.

To claim the $1 million top prize in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race this season drivers might have to win more than once.

Sprint and NASCAR officials on Tuesday announced a change to the race’s format, which rewards drivers who win one of the first four segments of the five-segment race on May 19 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

You’ve been to the races at NHMS, you’ve seen the cars fly around the track, and you’ve had the urge to jump behind the wheel and follow the pack.  On April 7, the FANtasy Drive Open House at NHMS will give you the chance to satisfy that urge.

The third annual FANtasy Drive will run from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Everyone deserves another chance at some point, even a NASCAR driver who has wrecked everyone in his way, or let his temper derail his career, or lost both his confidence and competitive edge.

Elliott Sadler got another chance, from Kevin and DeLana Harvick, who gave him a job last season when nobody else was interested in a journeyman driver running at the back of the pack.

Have you ever dreamed about having dinner with a three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion and reigning New Hampshire Motor Speedway 2011 SYLVANIA 300 winner? It’s possible when bidding begins on Friday, March 16 at 8:00 am for a chance to win a private dinner with Tony Stewart.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to dine in a luxury suite overlooking New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The top two bidders and one guest will join Stewart, FOX Sports Pit Reporter Dick Berggren and WGIR Rock 101.1 FM Morning Buzz host Greg Kretschmar.

Trevor Bayne has been entered for Saturday's Ford EcoBoost 300 Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The No. 60 Ford was added to the Nationwide Series entry list on Tuesday.

Bayne finished fourth at Las Vegas, and is currently fourth in the points. However, all of Bayne's races in 2012 have been run without sponsorship -- and the Las Vegas race was scheduled to be his last guaranteed Nationwide start this season.

Chad Knaus is hoping it will feel a little like 2005 again.

That season might have been before Knaus and Jimmie Johnson began their run of five consecutive championships on NASCAR's premier series, but it was when the crew chief of the No. 48 car scored a victory of another kind -- he won the appeal of a penalty levied against him for the roof of his vehicle being too low at Las Vegas.

This one was all Smoke and no fire.

Tony Stewart dominated the field on restarts and held off Jimmie Johnson to win Sunday's Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

One year ago, Stewart appeared set to end his Victory Lane drought at the track - one of three he has not yet won on in the Sprint Cup Series - but a late-race pit road penalty slowed his charge.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is extending the submission deadline to allow all New England area singers the chance perform in front of thousands of screaming NASCAR fans by singing the national anthem during the third annual FANtasy Drive celebration on April 7.

If you think you have what it takes, submit a DVD, CD, Wav file or MP3 file of you singing “The Star Spangled Banner” a cappella style (without music or other accompaniments) to “The Magic Mile” by March 21.

Denny Hamlin, who led the most laps in the Daytona 500, led the ones that counted most Sunday, winning NASCAR's Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Hamlin mastered that track that bit him in November 2010, when he led 190 of 312 laps but was bitten by a fuel-mileage error that resulted in a 12th-place finish and crippled his run at the Sprint Cup championship.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants to set the record straight. He wants to make sure his fans know that he is in no way happy with finishing second in the Daytona 500.

“You want to come in here and make sure the press knows that you wanted to win the race, because the press are going to tell the fans what you thought, and you don't want to give anyone the impression that you are fine running second, because I'm not,” Earnhardt Jr. said after the Daytona 500 Monday night.

The crew chief for Jimmie Johnson has been suspended for six weeks and the team docked 25 points, leaving the five-time Sprint Cup champion in his deepest hole to start the season.

NASCAR handed down the penalty for Chad Knaus and the No. 48 team on Wednesday, two days after Johnson wrecked at the start of the second lap and finished 42nd in the Daytona 500.

The Daytona 500 is going prime time -- weather permitting.

One day after being postponed by weather for the first time in its long history, NASCAR's biggest race was moved under the lights by more persistent rain that continued in the area Monday morning. The hope had been for the Daytona 500 to go green at 12:13 p.m. ET, but it soon became clear that the elements would not cooperate.

For the second time in less than a month, New Hampshire Motor Speedway is launching a "Fans of NHMS" fantasy racing group and you are encouraged to join! After the initial privately-designed group reached a maximum capacity of 100 players, Yahoo agreed to specially create a group for NHMS to allow everyone associated with the track an opportunity to compete for auto racing supremacy. The game is free to play and simple to learn.

Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing announced Tuesday plans to race the full 2012 Camping World Truck Series schedule. In addition, the team will enter select Nationwide Series events this season. For owner and driver Jennifer Jo Cobb, this marks a fresh canvas and she and her No. 10 team are more ready than ever to make a lasting impression.

The team will enter a combination of Ford- and Dodge-manufactured trucks in the Truck Series and Dodge Challengers in Nationwide. Cobb's "Driven2Honor" program will adorn her vehicles until primary sponsorship is secured.

With a new season of racing just days away, NASCAR and FanVision announced today a multi-year agreement that will enhance the at-track companion viewing experience for the sport’s millions of fans.

FanVision will offer a wide array of broadcast content, provided by Emmy Award-winning NASCAR Media Group, delivering the most extensive menu of features and services available. This next generation technology will be available at select NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event weekends and will offer an experience unlike anything fans have ever seen before in a handheld device.

For the past five seasons, David Ragan's goals as a race car driver have been to contend for event victories and put himself in position to make the Chase. At Roush Fenway Racing, a mammoth organization with a pair of championships at NASCAR's highest level, the intent was always to run up front with the best. While he didn't always get there, Ragan surely showed flashes -- like his victory at Daytona last summer, a Chase near-miss in 2008, and his bid for a wild card into the playoff in 2011.

Trevor Bayne returns to Daytona International Speedway this week under more pressure than a 20-year-old should have to bear -- not because he's the defending Daytona 500 winner, but in spite of it.

Doors haven't opened for Bayne the way he and most of the racing world have expected -- despite his dashing good looks, his affable manner and his improbable victory in his second Sprint Cup start.

Tony Stewart thrilled NASCAR fans with an amazing comeback and championship run last season. What can he do for an encore?

Can Carl Edwards recover from the heartbreak of losing last year’s title and make another run?

And can five-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson start another record-breaking streak a year after the end of his historic reign?

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is asking all New England area singers to tap into their inner Kelly Clarkson and belt out the national anthem during the third annual FANtasy Drive celebration on April 7.

If you think you have what it takes, submit a DVD, CD, Wav file or MP3 file of you singing "The Star Spangled Banner" a cappella style (without music or other accompaniments) to "The Magic Mile," beginning Friday, Feb. 10.

After the best season ticket renewal period in four years, New Hampshire Motor Speedway officials will release all remaining NASCAR tickets to the general public beginning at 8 a.m. EST on a first come first serve basis. 

Tickets start at just $19 and officials are encouraging fans to act fast to reserve the best seats in the house before they are gone.

Carl Edwards and Trevor Bayne, known to most sports fans as winners in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, could soon add “Dance Machine” and “Gnarliest Newb” to their respective resumes.

Edwards and Bayne have been nominated as part of Cartoon Network’s second annual Hall of Game Awards, airing Monday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. ET. Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and 2011 “Dance Machine” nominee Jimmie Johnson will also present “The World’s Fastest Award” with a special cameo appearance.

For the first time ever, fans of NHMS will have the opportunity to compete against one another in a fantasy racing group. The group will be run through Yahoo Fantasy Sports' Auto Racing. The friendly interface and straightforward rules of Yahoo provide a great opportunity for beginner and expert fantasy players alike to compete on a level playing field.

Those that join the Fans of NHMS group will have the opportunity to compete against NHMS Exec. VP/GM Jerry Gappens, as well as other track employees and any special guests

A Charlotte television station reported that 10 people were treated and released for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out inside the Joe Gibbs Racing complex in Huntersville, N.C., on Tuesday.

Huntersville police told WCNC-TV in Charlotte that a machine -- thought to be a laser cutter -- caught fire inside the building. The fire was contained to the machine shop inside the building, and all 10 people were treated in a JGR parking lot and subsequently cleared to go back inside the complex.

Prior to his pairing with crew chief Steve Letarte last season, the life of Dale Earnhardt Jr., at least at the track on race weekends, was quite simple.

The philosophy, in a nutshell, was to show up and drive. That is all.

Letarte changed that when he moved over to sit upon the pit box of the No. 88 Chevrolet Earnhardt drives for Hendrick Motorsports.

Patience is running thin at Michael Waltrip Racing. The owner wants to see improvement. The sponsor wants to see improvement. But perhaps the least patient man in the entire organization is the guy behind the wheel of the No. 56.

Martin Truex Jr. knows the pressure to perform may be greater this season than it's ever been. But the pressure on him from the outside pales in comparison to the pressure he's putting on himself in 2012.

One of Penske Racing’s longest-tenured sponsors is building on its relationship with the organization in 2012. Entering its 30th year as a Penske Racing sponsor, Snap-on Tools will enhance its role with the organization to serve as a primary sponsor of the No. 22 Dodge Challenger in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for four races this season.

Snap-on’s colors and branding will adorn the No. 22 car driven this season by both former Nationwide Series champion Brad Keselowski and rising star Parker Kligerman in races that include New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

There are two things you need to know about Chip Ganassi: He hates to lose, and he's exceedingly blunt about the reasons why he doesn't win.

"Hopefully this is the last time I have to say we finished 21st and 27th in the points last year," Ganassi said Tuesday during NASCAR's preseason media tour session with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. "... [That's] pathetic for a team with our ability and resources."

The 2013 Ford Fusion Sprint Cup car, unveiled Tuesday as part of NASCAR's media tour, was worked on by Ford designers in an effort to bring brand identity back to the sport. The result is undeniable with the 2013 Sprint Cup car mirroring the recently unveiled 2013 Ford Fusion production car.

Featuring a completely redesigned sleek new silhouette and fresh face, the 2013 Fusion Sprint Cup car was designed to be the face of a new era of stock car racing.

RAB Racing with Brack Maggard announced Saturday it will attempt to make its Sprint Cup Series debut in the 54th annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 26, with driver Kenny Wallace behind the wheel of their No. 09 American Ethanol Toyota Camry.

With Wallace behind the wheel of its Nationwide Series Toyota in 2011, the No. 09 team finished seventh in the driver championship standings, a career-best for the team after posting 11 top-10 finishes.

Most fans of big league NASCAR racing never get closer to their heroes than seeing them on TV. In July 2011, four of his fans shared an intimate evening with Tony Stewart.

The New Hampshire Motor Speedway branch of Speedway Children’s Charities, which raises money to benefit local kids in need, had auctioned off the night with Tony to the two highest bidders, each of whom was allowed to bring just one guest.

David Ragan, who has five years experience in the Sprint Cup Series, will drive Front Row Motorsports' No. 34 Ford for the 2012 season.

Ragan, 26, will race the car number used all of last season by California veteran David Gilliland, who'll be his 2012 teammate in the No. 38 Ford fielded by Front Row owner Bob Jenkins.

"We've had meetings with potential sponsors that will be onboard throughout the year, a sponsor that's been in the series some," Ragan said.

Eleven years ago, the NASCAR race team then known as Roush Racing made an announcement of a sponsor change on its flagship No. 6 car. Valvoline was leaving, and the Roush organization had struck a megabucks deal with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to advertise a certain little blue pill on the hood of its vehicle beginning the following season.

Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. said Friday that Roush Fenway Racing will enter a car for him in the 2012 Daytona 500. Stenhouse said he will be driving the No. 6 Ford, and RFR team spokesman Andrea Perry confirmed that information.

With David Ragan behind the wheel last season, the No. 6 finished 23rd in owners points. That guarantees Stenhouse a starting spot in February's race. It also locks the car into the first five races of the season, if RFR decides to go that route.

Tony Stewart needed New Hampshire Motor Speedway to clinch his championship run in 2011.  In 2012, he'll have two tries at "The Magic Mile" to defend his title, when NASCAR roars back into Loudon for more exciting action in just six months.

Officials at New Hampshire Motor Speedway announced the track's major event schedule and for the 16th consecutive year the Granite State will host two coveted Sprint Cup Series dates with the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 on Sunday, July 15, and the SYLVANIA 300 on Sunday, Sept. 23.

In what could be the deepest and most talented field to date, NASCAR announced Wednesday the list of eligible competitors for the 2012 Shootout.

NASCAR announced today the 2012 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule that will feature traditional dates at some of the premier short tracks and speedways in the northeast.

In its 28th season of competition, the Whelen Modified Tour will see the 14-race slate spread across seven tracks in four states. New to the schedule in 2012 will be a return to Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl.

A Virginia-born driver with a need to prove himself after losing the championship on NASCAR's premier division two seasons ago. A Virginia-born crew chief with a need to prove himself after getting fired despite winning the title this past year. In some ways, Denny Hamlin and Darian Grubb seemed made for one another.

That partnership was formalized Friday, when Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Grubb would lead Hamlin's No. 11 team beginning next season.

David Ragan spent Sunday flying home from the Snowball Derby, a prestigious late model race held annually in Pensacola, Fla., and his focus during the trip was a right-rear hub assembly that had broken down and knocked his car out of the event. Then he landed in Charlotte, flipped on his mobile telephone -- and suddenly realized he had much more pressing concerns.

"We land in Charlotte, and Twitter is blowing up, and we see reports that something is going to happen with the 22 program the following day," Ragan said.

As expected, veteran Sprint Cup driver Kurt Busch and Penske Racing announced Monday they have mutually decided to end their six-year relationship, effective immediately.

"I appreciate the victories that Kurt has brought Penske Racing and our sponsors over the past six years," team owner Roger Penske said in a statement released by the organization. "While I am disappointed that Kurt will not be racing for our team in the future, both Kurt and I felt that separating at this time was best for all parties, including our team and sponsors.

One run of NASCAR dominance ended this year, when Tony Stewart snapped Jimmie Johnson's streak of five consecutive championships in NASCAR's premier division. But another continued Thursday, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. was awarded the sport's most popular driver trophy for a ninth year in a row.

Earnhardt received the award at the annual National Motorsports Press Association/Myers Brothers Luncheon at the Bellagio, and the trophy will go into the case near his sister Kelley's office at JR Motorsports along with the others.

NASCAR announced today that the points system all NASCAR national series began using this year will be instituted in the regional touring level for 2012.

The points system was simplified to make it easier for fans, competitors and the industry to understand.

Eight days after winning the 2011 Sprint Cup title with Darian Grubb, Tony Stewart has a new crew chief.

Steve Addington will replace Grubb as crew chief for the three-time Cup champion at Stewart-Haas Racing, the team announced in a news release Monday.

Addington had served as crew chief for Penske Racing’s Kurt Busch for two seasons, following a nearly two-year stint as crew chief for Kurt’s brother, Kyle, at Joe Gibbs Racing.

There’s something to be said about going out on top, but this probably wasn’t the way Darian Grubb thought a possible departure from Stewart-Haas Racing would happen.

The crew chief for Tony Stewart was informed during the Chase – six weeks prior to the end of the year – that he wouldn’t be retained after the season. Grubb could have sulked and just cruised through the final six weeks.

NASCAR’s future was front and center Monday night as four champions in two national series were crowned.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 24 and Austin Dillon, 21, officially were proclaimed champions of the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, respectively, on the Americana Ballroom stage at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.

Neither Brad Keselowski nor NASCAR would confirm nor deny an Associated Press report Keselowski has been fined $25,000 for critical comments he made about NASCAR’s switch to fuel injection.

NASCAR has fined drivers the last two years for comments that it believes hurts the credibility of the sport. It hasn’t announced the fines, but drivers have confirmed they were fined.

The remaining two contenders for the Sprint Cup championship have very different track records at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the facility where this year's title will ultimately be decided. But the crew chiefs for Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart each will draw his strategy from the same place -- last year's event at the 1.5-mile oval in South Florida.

Homestead is statistically Edwards' best track, a place where he's won twice and has an average finish better than any other driver.

Is there any question the final two contenders in the 2011 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup would be Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards?  Not at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

What started out as a 12 man race has now become a two man show featuring Edwards and Stewart. Both have different styles of driving, different teams and a different history in the sport.  Edwards is chasing his first title, but Stewart is looking to sit right where he did in 2005, at the head table.

The next-to-last landscape upon which Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart will wrestle for stock car supremacy has been a part of NASCAR's top series for almost a quarter-century, but that means almost nothing in the context of this weekend's racing.

Phoenix International Raceway, which had been one of International Speedway Corp.'s most neglected tracks for years, got a major upgrade this year.

Tony Stewart backed up his smack talk with a convincing victory in Sunday's AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, the eighth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

With his fourth victory in the Chase and the 43rd of his career, Stewart put a dent in runner-up Carl Edwards' series lead, scoring maximum points (48) to trim Edwards' advantage from eight to three points with two races left in the season.

Until Friday, all we knew about Danica Patrick's 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule with Stewart-Haas Racing was the GoDaddy girl would start her Cup career with the Daytona 500.

Now we know the rest of it. Almost.

In addition to her full-time Nationwide Series schedule with JR Motorsports, Patrick will run Cup races at Daytona, Darlington, Bristol (the night race), Atlanta, Chicagoland, Dover (fall race), Texas (fall race) and Phoenix (fall race).

Eddie Gossage spent Sunday afternoon in a television studio at Texas Motor Speedway, publicizing his upcoming race weekend in satellite interviews with local stations across Texas and Oklahoma. He kept one eye on a TV off in the corner, where the event at Martinsville Speedway was wrapping up. The Texas track president finished his interviews just in time to see Tony Stewart overtake Jimmie Johnson for the victory, and issue his now-famous challenge to points leader Carl Edwards -- the latter a large chunk of promotional manna that had fallen right into Gossage's lap.

Championship NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick and his wife are recovering at home in Charlotte after each suffered minor injuries Monday night when the small jet carrying them to Key West, Fla., lost its brakes and crash landed at the island's airport.

Officials on the scene told the Associated Press that the Gulfstream 150 ran off the runway at Key West International Airport Monday at 7:45 p.m., and that Rick and Linda Hendrick, as well as a pilot and co-pilot, were taken to Lower Keys Medical Center.

About the only thing Brian Vickers regrets about his wild race at Martinsville Speedway Sunday is that his retaliation against Matt Kenseth didn’t cause more damage to Kenseth’s car and his championship hopes.

Vickers is not all that concerned that his retaliation against Kenseth impacted the finish of the race. He just wishes Kenseth had not already been running 30th when he chose to take him out.

Chad Knaus told driver Jimmie Johnson to intentionally damage the back end of his race car if the No. 48 team won Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway, the crew chief acknowledged Wednesday.

Knaus admitted giving the five-time NASCAR champion the pre-race instructions in order to "cover our bases" in case 500 miles of bump-drafting knocked the car beyond NASCAR's strict tolerances.

When it came right down to it, Sunday's Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega Superspeedway was decided by a decidedly different set of opinions on how the race should be approached.

While some teams were intent on merely surviving and obviously drove as conservatively as possible -- and that's relatively speaking on a 2.66-mile oval where speeds frequently approach 200 miles per hour -- others were determined to run up front from the drop of the green flag.

As race car drivers, we all are keenly aware of what can happen to us every time we strap in behind the wheel of one of our cars. More times than we care to count -- as in Sunday's tragedy at Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- something happens that causes us to ask ourselves, "Is everything worth it?" To me the answer is ...

Yes. Without a doubt. At least it is in my case. Racing makes me who I am. It's what drives me. It's what I'm wired to do.

Kasey Kahne woke up Monday thinking about Dan Wheldon and the wrenching pain felt by the late two-time Indianapolis 500 champion's family and friends.

Kahne didn't spend a moment thinking that it could have been him — even though the NASCAR driver seriously had considered entering the Izod IndyCar Series season finale in which Wheldon died in Sunday's 15-car accident at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Despite being unable to come to contract terms with driver Clint Bowyer, who announced last Friday that he will drive beginning in 2012 for Michael Waltrip Racing, Richard Childress said Thursday that he could not be more pleased with the future direction in which his company appears to be headed.

Speaking after a function where he appeared together with Bowyer to promote an upcoming special paint scheme on the No. 33 Chevrolet Bowyer currently drives for Richard Childress Racing, Childress said he tentatively plans to scale down from four full-time Sprint Cup teams to three full-time teams in 2012.

The sponsorship picture at Joe Gibbs Racing will undergo a vast change next season, the Observer has learned.

At a news conference Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dollar General is expected to announce it will greatly increase its involvement in NASCAR, sponsoring both Sprint Cup and Nationwide series teams at JGR in 2012, several sources confirmed.

He didn't take the lead in the Sprint Cup standings, didn't even move into second, but he didn't need to. Winning at Kansas Speedway in such dominating fashion was plenty good enough. And in the end, it was one of those afternoons that evoked the feeling of inevitability that's loomed over NASCAR's premier series for much of the past five years, one that grew stronger and stronger with each circuit the No. 48 car made around the track.

Jimmie Johnson is back. As if he ever left.

Over the past 95 years one toy has brought countless smiles to boys and girls faces across America, the Radio Flyer wagon.  For race fans at New Hampshire Motor Speedway a fleet of little red wagons lined up along the grandstand fence means the excitement of NASCAR has finally arrived. But during this year’s SYLVANIA 300 one wagon was missing.

Jan and Diane Duisendecker of Canterbury, N.H., have been attending races at “The Magic Mile” since 2005 and each year, along with hundreds of others, they brought their wagon to help carry food and beverages to and from their campsite.

Reed Sorenson, a championship contender in the Nationwide Series and a race winner earlier this season at Road America, is out of Turner Motorsports' No. 32 car in a move that could herald more departures from the NASCAR team.

Sorenson stands third in the Nationwide standings, 49 points behind leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Turner has also notified employees of a potential downsizing following this season due in part to the impending loss of sponsor Dollar General.

At speeds of up to 140 mph, experience the same thrills that Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon felt during last weekend’s SYLVANIA 300 by driving a stock car around New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Beginning today through Sunday, the Richard Petty Driving Experience will offer several programs to fulfill every race fans need for speed.

NASCAR will unveil the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule via its social/digital channels on today, Sept. 28, at noon ET.

NASCAR.COM will first unveil next year’s schedule on its homepage, with a question-and-answer Twitter chat session to follow involving NASCAR (@NASCAR) and Senior V.P. of Racing Operations Steve O’Donnell (@odsteve). Fans, media, teams and tracks are encouraged to participate throughout the one-hour interactive Twitter forum.

Tony Stewart may not have captured a win leading up to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, but he sure is making up for it now. Stewart is two-for-two in NASCAR's playoffs after winning the SYLVANIA 300 today at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet passed Clint Bowyer on the second to last lap after Bowyer played a fuel mileage game and lost. Ironically, in a similar dramatic finish last year Stewart ran out of gas on the last lap and it was Bowyer to cross the Granite Stripe first.

The year was 1997. Bill Clinton was the president, we lost Princess Diana and Mother Teresa, but we gained a little lamb clone named Dolly. We explored Mars for the first time through unmanned explorers and New England race fans enjoyed fall racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway the very first time.

“The Magic Mile” is one of only 13 tracks in the world to host two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events in a season. 

Ron Silk bump drafted to the end and grabbed his points lead back after winning the New Hampshire 100 at this afternoon.

Silk started from the pole position and went bumper-to-bumper with all of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour regulars to capture his third victory of the 2011 season and his second “Magic Mile” checkered flag.

Brett Moffitt finally scored his first New Hampshire Motor Speedway win today during the rain shortened New Hampshire 125 event.

This was Moffitts third win of the season and seventh in his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East career.  He now sits just 21 points unofficially behind Max Gresham in the championship standings.

The driver of the No. 00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota has finished as the race runner-up the last two trips to Loudon and has four top-five efforts in five career K&N Pro Series East events at NHMS.

You know the ticket is big when it has to be bolted to the side of the grandstands.  New Hampshire Motor Speedway made it big with a Guinness Book World Record for the largest scratch ticket ever made.  The N.H. Lottery unveiled the gigantic instant ticket during last night’s FanFest.  

The enormous scratch ticket measured a whopping 36-feet and 2-inches-tall by 18-feet and 8 inches-wide and was officially measured by Phillip Robertson of Guinness Book of World Records.  It beat the previous record held in Australia.

Ron Silk, looking to get his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points lead back, will start on the point for Saturday's New Hampshire 100 after winning the Coors Light Pole Award Thursday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Silk had a top lap of 29.764 seconds (127.967 mph) around the 1.058-mile oval. It was the fifth career pole for the Norwalk, Conn., driver, who won at the ‘Magic Mile’ in 2009.

 The New Hampshire 100 will be carried by SPEED Saturday at 1 p.m., prior to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.

The campers have parked and the grills are fired up, which only means one thing. NASCAR has returned to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the SYLVANIA 300. 

The WOKQ FanFest will kick off the jam-packed weekend with free fun for the entire family tonight beginning at 5 p.m. in the speedway’s Broadway Midway.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver of the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, David Reutimann will highlight the event signing autographs and hosting a fan Q&A beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Ron Hornaday Jr. has accomplished just about everything in his 14-year career in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, including a record four series championships.

This weekend the driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet will attempt to get his 50^th win during the F.W. Webb 175 on Saturday, a feat that has never been accomplished in the series.

Brian Vickers says he isn’t feeling pressure to prove himself on the track, but that doesn’t mean his future is secure or he knows where he’ll be racing in 2012.

Vickers spent three years at Hendrick Motorsports before moving to Red Bull Racing in 2007, where he has spent the last five years.

But Red Bull wants to sell the team, and Vickers is unsure what will happen. Red Bull announced in late June that it was selling the team and it’s been nearly three months with no announcement of a buyer.

Four years after making waves in NASCAR by signing on as the primary sponsor of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Amp Energy is phasing its brand off the car of the sport's most popular driver.

PepsiCo is expected to announce this week that Diet Mountain Dew will replace its Amp Energy brand as Earnhardt's primary sponsor for 16 races in 2012. The company has the primary sponsorship rights for 20 total races on the No. 88 car, and Amp will serve as an associate sponsor while also appearing on the hood for the other four races.

Ten lucky fans will have the opportunity to wave the green flag during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying during FansFirst Pole Day on Friday, Sept. 23.  The contest will be run through Twitter and entering is simple.

Anyone that takes a picture at the track from now through Thursday and shares it on Twitter using #ILoveNHMS will be entered to win.  There is a maximum of one entry per day.  Pictures may be of anything from the track to FanFest to your camper to, well, whatever strikes your creative mind! 

Who says second place is the first loser?

For the first time since the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup began in 2004 New Hampshire Motor Speedway will not be the first stop on the 10 race playoff schedule, but it doesn’t mean that the 2011 SYLVANIA 300 is any less important.

One of NASCAR's best is among those giving time and attention to the New Hampshire Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities during the SYLVANIA 300 race weekend, but there are many ways for fans to help New England children in need throughout the event.

On Tuesday, Sept. 20, feel the same thrill that you’re favorite NASCAR driver feels as you drive your own car around “The Magic Mile” for three laps during the SCC Laps for Charity event.

There was no back flipping for this win, but Carl Edwards did get a New England style victory as he trapped over a dozen lobsters today in Portsmouth, N.H. It was good practice for Edwards, who hopes to hoist Loudon the Lobster in victory lane after the SYLVANIA 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 25.

As NASCAR’s best prepare to invade “The Magic Mile,” the driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford joined local media members and fans at Geno’s Chowder House in Portsmouth,

The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is just two weeks away from racing into New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Race fans can expect a heated battle during the SYLVANIA 300 as eight of the top-12 have visited victory lane at least once in the Sprint Cup Series at “The Magic Mile.”

Stewart-Haas Racing will have the most momentum when the series returns. Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart dominated the July race weekend, both starting and finishing first and second.

Like most Americans, race fans will never forget where they were on September, 11, 2001. As the nation remembers the 10^th anniversary of that historic day, New Hampshire Motor Speedway reflects on what turned out to be a silent race weekend that September.

The attacks came on a Tuesday, just days before the scheduled NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 300 lap event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Danica Patrick thinks it would be nice if she got her NASCAR Sprint Cup career started at the Daytona 500.

The IndyCar star is moving to NASCAR full time next season and will run a limited Cup schedule in a car owned by Tony Stewart. He expects her to struggle at most of the tracks where she'll race, making a Daytona debut even more attractive to her.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, NASCAR announced today a special in-race tribute to take place on Saturday, Sept. 10 during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway. Fans attending the event, ABC-TV and MRN Radio broadcasters announcing the race, and the track announcer will all go quiet for a three-lap moment of silence from laps 9 through 11 at the .75-mile oval.

NASCAR will give the AdvoCare 500 another go Tuesday.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Lee produced heavy rain and spawned tornadoes around the Atlanta metropolitan area on Monday but the weather should yield in time for Tuesday's 11 a.m. Sprint Cup Series race (ESPN).

Hendrick Motorsports and driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. have agreed to a five-year contract extension that will keep Earnhardt behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevrolets through the end of the 2017 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

“We’re excited to have everything formalized and announced,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports.

During the SYLVANIA 300 weekend, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Tommy Baldwin Racing are offering the ultimate modified fan ticket package for just $71.

The exciting package will include a grandstand ticket for Sept. 25's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' SYLVANIA 300, as well as a ticket for the Sept. 24 triple header. It will also include a 2011 NASCAR Hall of Fame yearbook and a 2012 inductee photo card rack from the Hall of Fame.

Two races remain before the complete 12-driver Chase field is set, seedings and all.

Here's what we know: Five drivers have clinched a Chase spot in some fashion. Kyle Busch, five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards have locked up a top-10 spot. Kevin Harvick, on the strength of three 2011 victories, has clinched at least a wild card spot -- and will likely cement a top-10 berth in Sunday night's AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Brad Keselowski's phoenix-like rise from the ashes continued Saturday, with an improbable victory in the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway -- his third win of the season and his second since breaking his left ankle Aug. 3 in a crash during testing at Road Atlanta.

Keselowski grabbed the lead on a restart with 80 laps left in the 500-lap Sprint Cup race and held on to win for the fourth time in his career. The victory all but assured Keselowski of at least a wild-card position in the upcoming Chase.

Danica Patrick might not even be a race car driver today, let alone have the opportunity to race in NASCAR full time in 2012, had Brooke Patrick not stepped away from the family go-kart nearly 20 years ago.

On Thursday, Patrick confirmed plans to take the next step in her career -- one which began in the Midwest, then to England as a teenager, and then a triumphant return to racing's heartland and the Indianapolis 500.

Kyle Busch had his driver's license suspended for 45 days and was fined $1,000 Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to speeding.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who won Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Michigan, was charged May 24 for speeding and reckless driving for driving 128 mph in a 45-mph zone in a residential area in Mooresville, N.C., according to his citation.

The two drivers just inside the top 10 in points as the Chase For The Sprint Cup nears held onto their positions at Michigan International Speedway Sunday, but had very different outlooks following the Pure Michigan 400.

Part of that could be the fact that Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t made the Chase the last two years while Tony Stewart has.

With the start of the Chase For The Sprint Cup looming, drivers already in position or scrambling to secure one of the 12 playoff spots can be forgiven for casting long glances over their shoulders.

After all, racers have long memories, and issues linger.

With the start of the 10-race playoff on the horizon, the last thing a potential title contender wants to deal with is unfinished business with a fellow competitor.

Marcos Ambrose's happiness bubbled over Monday afternoon to the point where he began vigorously chasing various employees of Richard Petty Motorsports and attempting to spray them with a bit of the bubbly in Victory Lane at Watkins Glen International.

For a driver and company whose intertwined futures were so uncertain just one year ago, it was indeed a day to call for champagne all the way around.

NASCAR announced today the No. 7 team that competes in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has been penalized as a result of rules violations committed Saturday, July 16 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H.

The team was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-I (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used do not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20D-5.9P (the intake manifold ports did not completely seal to the cylinder head ports.

For all the angst and despair brought on by the two-by-two racing that has emerged at Daytona and Talladega, one thing is clear.

The two tracks have produced the most exciting, most intense races in the first half of the 2011 season.

The two tracks have wowed fans with unimagined numbers in terms of lead changes and leaders, and when it was over, two first-time winners – Trevor Bayne and David Ragan – graced victory lane at Daytona.

So, you’re zipping along in heavy traffic and the check engine light comes on and then a bunch of other indicator lights kick in, lighting up the dashboard in a fireworks-like display.

Now you’re NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon and that zipping along is at about 170 miles an hour, in serious want-to-kick-your-butt traffic at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on a speedy Sunday afternoon drive.

Sprint announced today the biggest promotion in its history as the title sponsor of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: the Sprint Summer Showdown presented by HTC EVO 3D. The six-consecutive-race series runs from Indianapolis on July 31 to Atlanta on Sept. 4 and puts a $3 million purse on the line for a driver, a driver’s charity and one lucky race fan. 

The flag said it all when Kyle Busch took his victory lap around New Hampshire Motor Speedway today. Holding a flag emblazoned with the number 100, Busch celebrated becoming the third driver to win 100 NASCAR national series races.  He notched this historic win at the New England 200.

The 26-year-old Las Vegas, Nev. native continues to set records. Busch also captured his 49th NASCAR Nationwide Series win today.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway officials are anticipating a near capacity crowd for Sunday’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301. As of 11 a.m. Saturday, approximately 2,000 tickets remained for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event.  Track officials will hold a limited number of tickets for Sunday morning walk-up sales.

Please plan travel to the track accordingly and aim to arrive early.

It is easily the most overlooked event of every New Hampshire Motor Speedway race weekend.

It doesn't have the glitz of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the star power of the Nationwide Series or the cache of the Whelen Modified Tour. But the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East served notice yet again on Friday evening here at New Hampshire that the division is as entertaining as any competing during the two NASCAR weekends every year.

Max Gresham's victory in the New England 125 had a little bit of everything.

Max Gresham started his day out front and ended it in the same position, capturing the checkered flag at the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East’s New England 125 event.

Behind the wheel of the No. 18 World Crown 300 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing the 18-year old from Griffin, Ga., scored his second win of the 2011 season, fighting his way from the back to the front because of a pit stop gaffe.  

In conjunction with New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s race weekend, an evening meal with NASCAR Sprint Cup champion driver Tony Stewart was auctioned off with proceeds going to the N.H. chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities benefitting local kids in need.

The top-two bidders enjoyed a spectacular five-course dinner with lobster tails, filet mignon, fresh asparagus and some very funny and personal stories from Stewart. The top bidders were Francine Slesinski and her mother Jeannine Laroche (left) and (right) Eugene and Eileen Beckman.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is inviting all race fans to stop by the new Lite Lobster Lounge located in the display area. The speedway unveiled the new fan amenity Thursday night during FanFest.

Thanks to Miller Lite, this New England themed watering hole will feature every New Englanders favorite food including; lobster, clam chowder, hamburgers, chicken and much more.  Fans can also enjoy a cool beverage all in a family fun atmosphere.

Max Gresham was fast when it counted today at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Griffin Ga., native will start from the pole position in tomorrow’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East New England 125. 

This is Gresham’s third pole of the 2011 season in NASCAR’s developmental series. This is also his third start at “The Magic Mile.” Gresham’s best finish at NHMS came in 2009 where he finished ninth.

It was out with the old and in with the new today at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as the new state-of-the-art Panasonic scoreboard was officially unveiled.

Race fans joined former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver and ESPN analyst Ricky Craven, NHMS executive vice president and general manager Jerry Gappens and K&N Pro Series East driver Eddie MacDonald, who waved the green flag to launch the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 weekend.

Today, the New Hampshire Lottery and New Hampshire Motor Speedway are pleased to announce that the New Hampshire Lottery is now an official partner of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway throughout the 2011 season. Starting this week, the Lottery and the Speedway will be working together to rev up fans with unique promotions, special discounts and brand new offers.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway boasts a statistic that may breed some major Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup implications. That stat: There have been six different winners in the past six races. New Hampshire’s reputation as a competitively balanced track grew with each passing NASCAR Nationwide Series race at NHMS – there were 23 different winners in the first 23 races. That streak was broken last year when Kyle Busch finally repeated.

Why would anyone ever bet against NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch? Even the most ardent fans of other drivers have to admit Busch is looking like a serious contender for unseating Jimmie Johnson’s historic run of Championship seasons. 

Busch dominated the inaugural race at Kentucky Speedway this weekend, winning the Quaker State 400 the old fashioned way: he got out front early and simply stayed there.

It was shortly before 11 p.m. local time Saturday when the two images that will come to define this inaugural Sprint Cup weekend at Kentucky Speedway began to intersect. Kyle Busch stood in a Victory Lane styled after that from a horse-racing oval, giving television interviews amid the litter of damp confetti and empty energy drink cans. A few hundred feet away, a line of still red taillights snaked out of the tunnel and onto Speedway Boulevard, as spectators began the slow crawl into the traffic gridlock.

Track Facts LENOX Industrial Tools 301(NSCS)

Qualifying
Qualifying for this event is scheduled for Friday, July 15, at 3:10 p.m. (ET) and will be televised live on SPEED Channel beginning at 3:00 p.m. (EDT).  The better of two laps will determine a driver’s official qualifying speed for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway has started getting the pace cars on the track to warm them up and figure out which one will run for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 on July 17.  Unfortunately, the track has had trouble getting the cars up to speed, as there seems to be a hindrance that is getting in their way.

To help analyze how each car is running, a NHMS staff member filmed the pace car session and this video highlights the main issues with the cars.  Hopefully the issue will be resolved by next weekend's races.

It sounds like the NFL players and owners are finally finding a way to preserve the 2011 football season.  After about 115 days of accusations, lawsuits, counterclaims and lots of hyperbole regarding the end of football as we knew and enjoyed it, both sides are talking and both sides are sounding upbeat. 

The latest media reports indicate a deal may be done within the next few days.  One thing that hasn't been a priority in the battle over billions is the most important part of any professional sport: the fans.

For the first time in their racing careers, one of the Cope Twins is going to attempt to race "solo" in one of NASCAR's top three series.  Without her sister Amber, Angela Cope plans to compete in the Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 16. Amber will be in attendance, however, on the headset helping guide Angela instead of behind the wheel herself.

By competing in a Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville in October, the duet rewrote NASCAR'shistory books last year by becoming the first twins to ever race against each other in one of NASCAR's top three divisions.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway Executive VP/General Manager Jerry Gappens recently caught up with Rutledge Wood on NASCAR.com.  With the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 only a week and a half away, Gappens talked about the unique New England atmosphere the speedway offers to the NASCAR community.

As the country celebrates Independence Day, New Hampshire Motor Speedway officials announced today that the speedway will host a unique service dedicating a grandstand seat to the thousands of Americans who are or were a prisoner of war and for those who are missing in action during the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 pre-race ceremonies on Sunday, July 17.

The POW/MIA empty chair and plaque will be located in “The Magic Mile” main grandstand area, a special reminder of those who serve and protect America. The POW/MIA chair will be part of several special pre-race activities and dedications. 

David Ragan has been trying to let it go since February.

So when leading at Daytona with five miles to go -- again -- the last thing Ragan wanted to hear on his radio was "don't forget to stay in your lane until you cross the start/finish line."

"I was on Matt Kenseth's radio on that last restart and his spotter mentioned it," Ragan said.

Twenty-year-old Trevor Bayne beat the best stock-car drivers in the world the last time he was at Daytona International Speedway. He then promptly proceeded to stump the best doctors in the world.

Bayne returns to the historic Daytona tri-oval this weekend to race in Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 hoping to do everything possible to repeat the former feat and then avoid the latter.

As the NASCAR world prepares to celebrate Independence Day weekend at Daytona, New Hampshire Motor Speedway has to tip our hats to Dale Earnhardt Jr.  In a recent interview about the upcoming Coke Zero 400, Dale sounded off about what he’s really looking forward to this July.

According to a report in Yahoo sports, here is what Earnhardt Jr. said when asked if he was excited to return to Daytona, where he has enjoyed success in recent years:

Before Dale Earnhardt Jr. could race again at Daytona International Speedway after his father died there 10 years ago, he had to check the place out, see if he'd be overwhelmed, see if his cold memories there would consume him.

The week before NASCAR returned to Daytona for the first time after the 2001 Daytona 500, he took some friends there, in part to show them the place but also to see how he felt. Like a man going ice fishing who isn't sure if the ice is thick enough to hold him, he stepped gingerly onto the grounds.

After years of watching the excitement of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events on the 1.058-mile oval at New Hampshire Motor Speedway TV analyst Andy Petree has decided that he'd like to see what it looks like from behind the wheel.

Petree, a former Sprint Cup Series championship crew chief, team owner, driver and current ESPN motorsports analyst, will enter the Whelen Modified Tour F.W. Webb 100 which is scheduled for July 16 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Tony Stewart pretty much dared any Sprint Cup driver to block him with his antics on and off the race track Sunday at Infineon Raceway.

Stewart dumped Brian Vickers for blocking him during the race and said afterward that even if drivers wreck him in retaliation, as Vickers did, those that block him will pay the price.

On a sun-splashed day in the California wine country, Kurt Busch left no doubt about his ability to win on a road course at Infineon Raceway.

As dominant as the Penske Racing driver was in leading 76 of 110 laps, it’s difficult to believe that it took him 15 seasons to get his first victory on a serpentine course.

“It was one of those unbelievable days where having a game plan going in, we weren’t questioning it, it was just old school on how we were going to make it on two [pit] stops,” Busch said. “

If management of the team currently known as Red Bull Racing is unsuccessful in its bid to find new ownership to keep the Sprint Cup organization alive after this season, don't expect Toyota to scour the garage area looking to add to its fleet.

Red Bull's intention to withdraw from NASCAR after this season has left team general manager and vice president Jay Frye searching for investors to keep the 200-employee operation afloat.

When NASCAR races into New Hampshire Motor Speedway fans can bet Kyle Busch will be a factor to capture at least one checkered flag during the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 weekend, July 15-17.

In just seven years of racing on "The Magic Mile," Busch has claimed five wins, two of which came last year.  He became the first ever repeat winner in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at NHMS in 23 races.

Just like the way he seemed to sneak up on everyone on Sunday, Denny Hamlin wants to make sure nobody forgets his name when it comes around to discussing championship contenders.

"I feel like over the last six to seven weeks, we've been as good as anyone," Hamlin said. "... One win's not going to put you in [the Chase], necessarily. It might if you're still high up in points. But we know two wins pretty much puts you in.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway executive vice president and general manager Jerry Gappens joined the Granite State’s Congressional Delegation today hosting the second consecutive Experience New Hampshire day in Washington D.C.

Gappens also hosted the Experience New Hampshire reception with Senator Jeanne Shaheen, gearing up the nation’s capitol for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 on Sunday, July 17.

It will be both an emotional and celebratory feel for U.S. Army driver Ryan Newman at this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.

Newman's No. 39 Chevrolet will pay tribute to the U.S. Army's 236th birthday and will honor Walter "Bud" Moore, recent NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee and decorated World War II veteran.

Anybody got a gallon of gas for Junior?  I just got back from Charlotte and watching one of the most dramatic Coca-Cola 600 finishes in history.  The highs and lows of NASCAR Sprint Cup race fans could be felt in that final mile of the race.  The crowd roared its approval when one of the most popular drivers on the circuit was literally seconds from snapping a long winless streak. In this case, risk was not rewarded and the team’s estimates about fuel mileage were just short.  Hopes were dashed in turn four when Junior fell off the pace and the race victory went to Kevin Harvick, who is enjoying a solid season of good luck and great finishes.

Respect. That’s what Jimmie Johnson earned last year with his wire-to-wire win in the Prelude to the Dream, Tony Stewart’s annual star-studded charity race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

Johnson will defend his victory in Wednesday’s Prelude, the seventh since Stewart launched the charity race in 2005. The event will be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View at 8 p.m. ET.

If there is one thing that Jeff Gordon knows, it's that he's running out of time to make certain he's part of the 2011 Chase.

So while he was pleased with his fourth-place finish in Sunday's STP 400 at Kansas Speedway, and he realizes the value of the one win he already owns this season, he's hardly satisfied. He is, on the other hand, no doubt thankful for the wild-card element that was added to the Chase qualifying format this season.

COMMENTARY: NASCAR needs to be consistent with the way it uses late-race caution flags.

And as long as it consistently officiates the final laps like it did Sunday night in the Coca-Cola 600, then it is giving drivers and fans the finish they deserve.

Sometimes an incident that might result in an automatic caution during the middle part of a race might not bring a yellow flag at the end. And that’s OK.

Welcome to NASCAR, Steve Herbst. Now get ready to negotiate.

This month, Herbst joined NASCAR as vice president of broadcasting, a role that puts him in line to spend the next 18 to 24 months working to secure the sport’s next TV contract. He’ll report to Paul Brooks, the president of NASCAR Media Group and lead executive in NASCAR’s negotiations.

NASCAR signed its current $4.5 billion contract with Fox, ESPN and Turner Sports in 2005.

Jamie McMurray will get escorted into his hometown of Joplin, Mo., Thursday by the mayor and the chief of police.

But it won't exactly be a hero's return or any kind of a joyful event for McMurray -- a standout Sprint Cup driver and winner of the 2010 Daytona 500.

Joplin was probably best known as McMurray's hometown until a twister that to date accounts for around 140 lives lost struck on May 22.

It was an odd sight, but one that made Richard Childress smile.

In the ultimate display of teamwork, as Kevin Harvick attempted to save gas for the final laps of Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Childress looked out onto the 1.5-mile track and saw three of his Richard Childress Racing cars lined up bumper-to-bumper during the caution period that preceded the final restart. Harvick teammates Paul Menard and Jeff Burton were pushing Harvick from behind in an effort to help Harvick save fuel in his No. 29 Chevrolet.

Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne will sit out for a fifth consecutive week as he continues to recover from fatigue and blurred vision caused by an unexplained illness.

Roush Fenway Racing termed the decision “precautionary” and plans for Bayne to return next week for the Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.

Bayne was scheduled to drive in the Top Gear 300 Nationwide Series event on Saturday and the Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup event on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Carl Edwards' No. 99 crew didn't win Thursday's Sprint Pit Crew Challenge -- they waited until it really counted.

Flawless work during mandatory four-tire pit stops before the final 10-lap shootout in Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway got Edwards off pit road first, ahead of Kyle Busch. That proved decisive in Edwards' first All-Star win as he became the eighth different winner of the event in the past eight years.

For the first time since, well, he’s been a Sprint Cup driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not in the Sprint All-Star Race.

As a rookie in 2000, he qualified with a win at Texas Motor Speedway in April, just over a month before the all-star race. Then he won the all-star race – the first rookie to win it – to give him a 10-year exemption into the annual event.

Consider it the ultimate irony.

In October of 2008, when Regan Smith thought he had recorded the first Sprint Cup victory of his career at Talladega, it was Tony Stewart who helped take it away from him. Last Saturday night, when Smith finally did capture that elusive first win more than two years and eight months later, Stewart had a hand in helping him do it.

As if there wasn't already ample evidence piling up that this year may very well be different for Dale Earnhardt Jr., there was last Saturday's Showtime Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Oh, part of what transpired was a rerun of similar Earnhardt implosions in recent years. But what happened in the immediate aftermath of a costly Earnhardt mistake getting onto pit road late in the race was different indeed.

Kevin Harvick vs. Kyle Busch is more than a feud of the week. It could be the feud of the year.

Harvick and Busch, who have clashed before, are drivers who don’t easily forget. And they expect to not only battle for wins and the championship in the Sprint Cup Series but also will be racing each other for victories in the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series events as well.

Nearly three years after a NASCAR ruling denied him his first Sprint Cup victory, Regan Smith finally got the elusive win.

After staying out on old tires, Smith held off Carl Edwards to win Saturday night's Showtime Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in a dramatic green-white-checkered-flag finish.

For many of the drivers, crewmen and series officials who work in NASCAR, Darlington Raceway is a home game. Getting to the race track requires not flights and layovers, but rather a leisurely drive from the suburbs north of Charlotte, through the speed-trap town of McBee, and down into the agricultural heart of South Carolina. It's a three-hour drive back through time, from the modern hub of steel and glass shop complexes that populate the sport today, to a timeless facility that was opened in 1950 and in some ways looks now exactly as it did then.

NASCAR officials meet with each of its four participating car manufacturers periodically, but its meeting Tuesday at the Westin Hotel in Detroit will be different.

It will have representatives of all four manufacturers – General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Dodge – all in the same room.

The meeting will be much like the town hall meetings NASCAR has had with its race teams in recent years.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin said rumors of a potential Joe Gibbs Racing crew-chief swap for them are not true.

Both drivers, speaking Thursday before the Denny Hamlin Foundation Short-Track Showdown at Richmond International Raceway, virtually laughed when asked about the rumors.

Hamlin said he talked to team owner Joe Gibbs about the rumors Wednesday. Hamlin has worked with crew chief Mike Ford for his entire Sprint Cup Series career, which started with a handful of races in 2005.

The setting will be the same, but the scene will be very different the next time NASCAR's premier series arrives at Richmond International Raceway following this weekend's event. That early September date will carry with it the usual sticky, final vestiges of a long summer in the South, making everyone thankful for whomever came up with the idea of running under the lights. And the focus will be less on the race itself and more on the drama surrounding it.

Rachel Gilbert of Laconia, N.H. proved that the need for speed can hit at any age, by taking a spin around New Hampshire Motor Speedway, in the tracks pace car, to celebrate her 100^th birthday.

Gilbert’s centennial celebration got off to a flying start today, when she hopped in a Toyota Camry pace car, similar to the one that will set the field for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on July 17.

NASCAR’s new points system emphasizes winning by placing two wild cards in the Chase For The Sprint Cup based on wins, but in the overall standings, it appears that winning doesn’t mean as much as it did a year ago under the old points system.

And like under the old system, consistency still means more than winning while poor finishes seem to be more difficult to overcome than in the past.

Kasey Kahne had minor surgery to his right knee Monday to repair a torn meniscus and will not need a backup driver next weekend for the Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway.

The Red Bull Racing driver had surgery on both knees in the offseason to repair a condition known as “plica syndrome,” the result of a buildup of tissue in the knees.

Kahne tweeted about the surgery Thursday night and said he feels fine.

A number of fan-friendly events should help set the stage for one of sports' most exciting all-star events.

The 2011 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race is set for Saturday, May 21 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (SPEED, 7 p.m. ET), but there will be plenty of action in and around the Charlotte area to engage fans leading up to Saturday night's grand finale.

Sunday's Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway seemed to have everything you could want at the end of 500 miles of NASCAR racing: A four-wide finish, sparks and a tie for the closest finish in NASCAR's history of electronic scoring.

The top-finishing competitors were all enthused by an environment that enabled a record-tying 88 lead changes -- and oh yeah, their finishes.

Strap those seat belts tight, step on the gas and  experience the same rush that the stars of NASCAR and INDYCAR feel at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, by driving your personal vehicle around “The Magic Mile” during FANtasy Drive 2 on Saturday, April 23. 

If you have purchased a ticket to any of the major motorsports event weekends during the 2011 season, satisfy your need for speed and take three laps around the 1.058-mile oval.

The winds of change appeared to be blowing pretty fiercely last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

And we're not talking about the gusts of wind that drivers said they had to account for during the running of the Samsung 500.

NASCAR issued a statistical package this week that cited the Sprint Cup Series' competitive balance and the level of competition seen in the season's first six races.

Among the numbers used to paint the picture: An average of 13 leaders per race, and 31.5 lead changes per race -- the most, after six races, in series history. Lead change records have fallen in three of the six races, Daytona, Phoenix and, most recently, Martinsville.

When Jeff Burton wrecked Jeff Gordon under caution at Texas Motor Speedway last November, the wreck wasn’t the highlight that most people saw.

Instead, it was the shoving and scuffling that ensued between the two drivers after Burton spun Gordon into the wall, knocking them both out of the race. Burton said that it wasn’t intentional, claiming that he was trying to pull alongside Gordon to apologize for

Oh say can you sing? New Hampshire Motor Speedway and the New Hampshire chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities have the perfect opportunity for aspiring performers to belt out the national anthem, with the first-ever Speedway Star performing competition on Saturday, April 23.   

“The Magic Mile” and WGIR’s “The Morning Buzz” will give two people the opportunity to perform the national anthem in front of thousands of screaming race fans

Denny Hamlin got caught on pit road by an untimely caution flag. Jimmie Johnson got caught speeding on pit road.

But neither of them had as bad a day as Martin Truex Jr. and Kasey Kahne, who were involved in a frightening crash at Martinsville Speedway.

They topped a long list of losers in the Goody's Fast Relief 500.

Martinsville Speedway is one of the toughest and most exciting tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit, producing the type of fender-banging action fans expect from stock-car racing.

At Martinsville, drivers have to be physical, but also race with finesse, soft-pedaling brakes and protecting their equipment for an often frantic dash to the finish.

NASCAR's loaded with developmental series that all work to set the stage for its premier Sprint Cup Series.

If you look at current Cup standouts Kurt Busch or Greg Biffle -- to cite just two -- NASCAR's national series such as Camping World Truck or Nationwide were their respective penultimate steps.

But you have to take a step back to get to the national series, and that's where NASCAR's perfect development platform sits, namely the K&N Pro Series.

NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin is down but not out.

After finishing 39th due to engine failure this past Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California, Hamlin is sitting 21st in points. And that has him somewhat worried.

At this point, it's starting to affect me," he said.

They ended 2010 trash-talking and racing head to head for the Sprint Cup championship.

Going into 2011, they were expected to win races and battle for the title again.

So far, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin have been relatively quiet and stayed out of each other’s way.

That could all change Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, where the two drivers have combined to win the last nine Cup races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is ninth in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series points standings, and if he hopes to remain inside the top 10, he knows he’ll need a good run at Auto Club Speedway this weekend.

But that’s easier said than done, according to the 36-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver.

“California is a track I need to run better at,” he said, and a look at his record on the 2-mile oval does nothing to refute that.

You can’t run the bases with the Red Sox, shoot a free-throw with the Celtics, skate the ice like a Bruin, and you definitely can’t score a touchdown with the Patriots. But, you can drive your own car into Turn 1 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway just like Jeff Gordon during FANtasy Drive 2 on Saturday, April 23, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  

New Hampshire Motor Speedway race fans of ALL ages can rev up their race-day experience by purchasing a pre-race pit pass or garage pass for either of the track’s two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekends or the IZOD INDYCAR Series event.

Racing offers some of the best behind-the-scenes access in all of professional sports and, for the first time, “The Magic Mile” is welcoming children into the infield, pit road and garage area to witness the excitement of race day during a NASCAR or INDYCAR weekend.

When Jennifer Jo Cobb quit and left her team rather than running a few laps and then parking the car in the Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday, it demonstrated again how sensitive drivers and fans are toward start-and-park teams.

To many, it doesn’t matter that a team runs only portions of a race to raise money so it eventually can run a full race. Until the team actually attempts to run full races on a consistent basis,

The question isn't whether Kyle Busch will win at Bristol Motor Speedway -- it's how soon, if ever, someone else will find a way to keep him out of Victory Lane.

First off pit road after stops under caution on Lap 429 of Sunday's Jeff Byrd 500, Busch held off pole-sitter Carl Edwards and defending race winner Jimmie Johnson to win his fifth consecutive race in NASCAR's top three national series at the .533-mile short track.

Jamie McMurray took some laps around Barber Motorsports Park on Wednesday.

It wasn’t a test to help him and his Sprint Cup team on road courses. It was a chance to drive one of team owner Chip Ganassi’s IndyCar Series machines.

“When I drove for Chip Ganassi from 2002 to 2005, honestly I don’t think I even saw an Indy car, never had the opportunity,” said McMurray,

Rusty Wallace will never forget the sack of cash he scored after winning the 1996 Suzuka Thunder Special, the first of three NASCAR exhibition races held in Japan during the late 1990s.

In Victory Lane that afternoon, Wallace was given the choice of how he wanted his $130,940 in winnings. He could have a check or cash; of course, he took the cash. There was only one small problem --

Like most NASCAR drivers, AJ Allmendinger will never forget the first time he went to Bristol Motor Speedway.

Allmendinger couldn’t believe he was supposed to race on the half-mile, high-banked oval shaped like a cereal bowl. When he finally pulled onto the track in front of 160,000 revved up fans, it was one of the most exhilarating experiences of his racing career.

Bristol Motor Speedway is about more than just racing.

It’s NASCAR drama at its finest played out at one of the sport’s most unique and compelling venues.

The half-mile, high-banked bullring surrounded by 160,000 fans is known as NASCAR’s version of the Roman Coliseum. It’s where drivers go not just to race, but to do battle

 Kasey Kahne did it again.

Making his first and possibly only Camping World Truck Series start of the year, Kahne cruised to a relatively comfortable win in Saturday's Too Tough To Tame 200 at Darlington Raceway.

The victory made Kahne the first driver in the Truck Series to win three of his first four starts.

NASCAR Driver Greg Biffle was involved in his second crash of the season Wednesday, this time on a Lexington airport runway.

Biffle and two pilots were not injured when a landing-gear malfunction caused his plane to partially collapse while landing at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, according to a news release from NASCAR.com.

In a phone interview with NASCAR Now on ESPN2, Biffle said he looked out the window and noticed the left wing rising into the air, and the right wing dragging the runway and sending up sparks.

After three weeks which saw record number of lead changes at Daytona and Phoenix, plus upticks in television ratings and attendance, the lack of a Cup event this weekend takes a bit of the steam out of NASCAR's apparent resurgence.

But that shouldn't be the case in 2012 and the foreseeable future, according to NASCAR chief executive officer and chairman Brian France.

The announcement last summer that Richard Childress Racing was adding Paul Menard as a fourth driver raised eyebrows on many levels. First there was the question of why an organization that had expanded a year earlier with disastrous results would attempt such a thing again. And then there was the question of why they would do it with Menard, a driver who, despite a few flashes on restrictor-plate and intermediate tracks, didn't seem to fit in with a stable comprised of three strong contenders for the Sprint Cup championship.

Perhaps Carl Edwards figures jumping off tall buildings or strapping himself into F-16 fighter jets for flights of fancy will be distracting to others, making them forget for a moment that he's proving himself a legitimate contender to take away Jimmie Johnson's Sprint Cup crown.

It is not working, however, with Jack Roush.

As Mark Martin climbed out of his winning race car in Victory Lane on Saturday afternoon, another, smaller celebration was unfolding along pit road at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Danica Patrick exchanged jubilant hugs and handclaps with other drivers and members of her crew, and then turned and waved at the crowd that had witnessed her breakthrough finish in the Nationwide Series.

Having grown up in and around Las Vegas, Kurt Busch is very well acquainted with the NASCAR track there. Inside and out. Except for one spot -- Victory Lane.

This weekend, Busch will take an 11th swing at winning at his hometown venue, 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the way things are going for him and his Penske Racing team, it just might happen.

Gentlemen, place your bets.

Well, before you do, someone else has to place your odds. With this Sunday's Kobalt Tools 400 to be run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, did you ever wonder who sets all those odds everyone scrambles to bet on? Better yet, did you really have any idea how many different "proposition bets" you can legally lay down on NASCAR races every week in Vegas?

There will be plenty of stars and celebrities in the spotlight this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. There always is – it's Las Vegas, the glitz and glamour capital of the world.

But two of the biggest will be Sprint Cup stars Kurt and Kyle Busch, Las Vegas natives who will have the hometown crowd behind them for Sunday's Kobalt Tools 400.

This East Tennessee city welcomed native son Trevor Bayne back into its soggy and wind-blown arms Monday afternoon.

It was a day on which the weather conditions couldn't have been much worse. Violent storms hammered the area, leaving much of it flooded. There were countless lightning strikes, hail and a report of at least one tornado.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway race fans of ALL ages can rev up their race-day experience by purchasing a pre-race pit pass or garage pass for either of the track’s two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekends or the IZOD INDYCAR Series event.

Racing offers some of the best behind-the-scenes access in all of professional sports and, for the first time, “The Magic Mile” is welcoming children into the infield, pit road and garage area to witness the excitement of race day during a NASCAR or INDYCAR weekend.

The 2011 NASCAR season is off to a roaring start, sparked by a thrilling Daytona 500 with a shocking outcome.

In the first three races of the season, there have been exciting finishes, a record number of lead changes, big multicar wrecks, aggressive driving, tempers flaring and three different winners for the first time since 2007.

Jeff Gordon didn't just drive to end hunger Sunday -- he drove to end a famine.

 With a convincing victory in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, where he beat runner-up Kyle Busch to the checkered flag by 1.137 seconds, Gordon ended a 66-race winless streak dating to April 2009 at Texas.

How wild and crazy was young Trevor Bayne’s victory Sunday in the Daytona 500?

Many are rating it the biggest surprise triumph in NASCAR's history, which dates to 1949.

Consider:

It was standing room only in the Daytona media center this past Sunday afternoon when Trevor Bayne walked in following his dramatic win in the Daytona 500.  But in the same room a year earlier, just a handful of people looked on as he drove an iRacing.com-powered simulator while Michael Waltrip talked him around Daytona International Speedway.

Posted on You Tube by Simcraft, builder of the Apex simulator builder, here’s a video of that day in 2010 when a former Daytona 500 champion used iRacing to coach a future one:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RkoG1MKvfU&feature=related

At the end of the 53rd Daytona 500 Sunday, the proof was in the pushing for many, but none so much as David Gilliland and Bobby Labonte whose third- and fourth-place finishes, respectively, were breakthroughs.

 "There's no question in my mind Front Row Motorsports is going to be the most improved team in Sprint Cup this season," Gilliland said after posting his best finish in 84 races,

I first met 2011 Daytona 500 Winner Trevor Bayne in June 2008 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Trevor was`17 and had just graduated from high school. It was his 1st season in the NASCAR Camping World East Series, what was once the NASCAR Busch North Tour. Trevor was a development driver for Dale Earnhardt Inc., a member of a 3 car team that included Jeffrey Earnhardt and Jesus Hernandez.

Two and a half years ago, Trevor Bayne was sitting in the press box at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway talking about his first NASCAR win.

The 20-year-old from Knoxville, Tenn., was nearly speechless Sunday as he stole the spotlight on NASCAR's biggest stage at Daytona International Speedway with his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory -- the 2011 Daytona 500.

The Daytona 500 will take place one week later in 2012, on the final Sunday in February, NASCAR has announced.

The race weekend is being pushed one week back from the traditional President's Day weekend to the final weekend in February. The date for the Daytona 500 is Feb. 26, 2012. To maintain the end of season schedule, the off Sprint Cup weekend typically scheduled in March will now be eliminated.

The main sponsor of Elliott Sadler's Nationwide Series team is rebranding itself this year, changing its name from CitiFinancial to One Main Financial.

Sadler hopes to do exactly the same thing with his name.

Former Cup driver Elliott Sadler is the early favorite to win the Nationwide Series championship.

It is finally here the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2011 Season! To kick start the year, join the New Hampshire Motor Speedway family as they fan out around New England to celebrate the Daytona 500.  “The Magic Mile” is hosting five Daytona 500 parties in Nashua, Newington and Manchester, N.H. as well as in Foxborough and Boston, Mass. 

Join us at:

It's been quite an offseason for NASCAR following Jimmie Johnson's fifth consecutive championship. Not only is there a new point system across all three national series, but also added were wild cards in the Chase and drivers have to pick just one series to run for the championship.

The changes were made with an eye on competition and the fans, to make the sport better than ever. But which rule will have the biggest impact? Bill Kimm and Mark Spoor weigh in with their thoughts, read theirs and then weigh in with yours in the comments below. And don't forget to vote in the poll at the right.

Carl Edwards says there’s no need for a long, messy contract negotiation between him and Roush Fenway Racing over whether he will return to the team in 2012.

About five minutes later, he says he’s not in any rush to sign a new contract.

If that sounds a little contradictory, it is.

The pressure's off Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- until next Sunday, that is.

In Sunday's qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway, Earnhardt edged Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon for the top starting spot in next Sunday's season-opening Daytona 500.

Turning a lap in 48.364 seconds (186.089 mph), Earnhardt claimed the 10th Coors Light pole award of his career and his first at a restrictor-plate superspeedway.

Five-time defending Cup Series champion crew chief Chad Knaus went on TV last Monday to, among other things, reveal that his Hendrick Motorsports team had finalized its six-man over-the-wall pit crew -- as well as a backup man for each spot -- at least for the next two weekend's season-opening events.

Hendrick created some ripples throughout the sport last season mid-race at Texas, when the organization switched the over-the-wall crews

In the last few years, NASCAR has said good-bye to Texaco, Verizon, Old Spice, Jim Beam, Jack Daniel’s, Irwin Tools, AT&T and Wrigley’s.

And while they haven’t said good-bye, they’re seeing much less of DeWalt, DuPont, Kellogg’s and DirecTV

Maybe the biggest fan criticisms of Dale Earnhardt Jr. are that he doesn’t care about his performance or that he doesn’t have the will to win. Or maybe not even the talent.

Maybe the biggest criticism of his team owner, Rick Hendrick, is that he doesn’t give Earnhardt Jr. the best cars or the best personnel.

A 6-year-old girl fighting for her life against leukemia has touched the hearts of Charlotteans, and their outpouring of support could help other cancer patients, too.

A mechanic with NASCAR driver Bobby Labonte's team was so moved by an Observer story about Jordan Jemsek that he suggested the team promote a March 5 bone marrow drive in her honor.

The offseason has morphed into the preseason. And in a couple of weeks, the season-opening Daytona 500 will be upon us.

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) released today its telecast times for the 2011 season, primarily preserving the earlier and consistent start times established in 2010.

Danica Patrick is planning to spend Super Bowl Sunday at home in Arizona, away from the hustle and bustle, not to mention the cold weather.

Sporting a Pittsburgh Steelers hat -- Bears fans can never pull for the Packers, ever -- she'll be surrounded by snacks and drinks, watching the game and those over-the-top commercials like everyone else.

Joey Logano is smarter, more mature, more experienced and this season also more confident.

That's something Logano hasn't always had in his brief NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career.

"He needs that," Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs said. "We forget how young he is and what little time he had before running in this sport. That really bodes well for our future.

Frank Stoddard, 14-time winning NASCAR Sprint Cup crew chief, announced today that he has formed his own NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race team.  Stoddard will own the #32 Ford Fusion and plans to compete in the full schedule. 

Stoddard, a native of North Haverhill, New Hampshire, paved the way for a successful Sprint Cup career by working with the great Stanley “Stub” Fadden while racing short tracks throughout the northeast and collecting four wins together. 

Unless Jimmie Johnson has decided that five Cup titles is enough and chooses to run for the Nationwide or truck series title in 2011, it’s a given that the 35-year-old will be the favorite to win a sixth straight Sprint Cup championship.

But while Johnson’s success at Hendrick Motorsports hasn’t slowed, the same can’t be said for his three teammates, who went winless in 2010.

There is less of Tony Stewart to go around these days, but don't get the idea he's gone all Mark Martin on the racing world.

That would be, in the carefully considered words of Stewart, "insane." But Stewart, who is roughly 15 pounds lighter than he was last fall, did admit that Martin was his inspiration for attempting to get into better physical condition as he approaches age 40.

Chad Knaus, crew chief for five-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, says there will be changes on his No. 48 team’s pit crew, but admits that with only a little more than two weeks remaining before cars are back on the track at Daytona, he still isn’t sure what those changes will be.

“I’m happy with what we have right now, for sure, at this time of the season,” Knaus said during this week’s Sprint Media Tour. “I don’t have a roster picked of the guys that will be starting but I’m real happy with where we are at.”

The final day of the annual NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway kicked off with an announcement from NASCAR.com that focused on improved services catering to race fans.

The site's current Race Buddy and new NASCAR Fantasy Live programs will feature more detailed data available to NASCAR fans.

"The changes and additions we are implementing are geared toward making the NASCAR fan as excited and engaged in the sport as possible," said Jason Williams, general manager of NASCAR.com

With just a few weeks remaining until the Sprint Cup Series season gets under way, Sprint unveiled its 2011 Miss Sprint Cup lineup Wednesday night in Charlotte, N.C.

Returning Miss Sprint Cup representatives Paige Duke and Monica Palumbo were joined by newcomer Kim Coon. The trio was introduced to a crowd of race fans and motorsports media at the popular Whisky River nightclub.

NASCAR announced Wednesday that it has added a wild card element to setting the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field and it has simplified its points system for 2011, making it easier for fans, competitors and the industry to understand. 

 While the 12-driver Chase field remains intact, the final two spots will be determined by the number of wins during the first 26 races.

Richard Childress took the microphone at the very beginning of Tuesday's media visit to his Richard Childress Racing shop and wasted little time in making a bold proclamation.

"This year is the year to knock Jimmie [Johnson] from the throne," Childress said. "We were close with Kevin [Harvick] last year, but this is the year to do it -- and it's going to be RCR, I feel certain. So I'm going to make that [prediction]."

 It is finally here the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2011 Season! To kick start the year, join the New Hampshire Motor Speedway family as they fan out around New England to celebrate the Daytona 500.  “The Magic Mile” is hosting five Daytona 500 parties in Nashua, Newington and Manchester, N.H. as well as in Foxboro and Boston, Mass. 

NASCAR officials are satisfied heading into next month's Speedweeks despite Preseason Thunder's top speeds that were faster than those registered at December's Goodyear tire test at Daytona International Speedway. There was as much as a 14 mph differential between qualifying and drafting speeds during three days of testing.

 One morning session was rained out, which left one morning exclusively devoted to single-car runs and then four sessions in which drafting was allowed. However, single-car and two-car runs still dominated, with no drafts of more than six cars seen.

Former Cup Series driver Jerry Nadeau has been hired as the driving coach for Jeffrey Earnhardt's rookie season in the Camping World Truck Series.

Nadeau will be mentoring Earnhardt not only on track at the races, but off track as well. Jeffrey's grandfather, Dale Earnhardt, raced against Nadeau on many occasions with Nadeau winning the last race Earnhardt competed in prior to the Daytona 500 which claimed his life.

With just 12 drivers making the Chase For The Sprint Cup each year, and the number of annual race winners hovering around the same mark, the list of drivers who underachieved in 2010 is a long one.

Four drivers who made the Chase in 2009 missed it last year. Two other former Chase participants – Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. – also failed to return to the championship race last year.

In the next two weeks, NASCAR officials are expected to announce changes that will affect both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series. Will the Cup points system undergo a complete overhaul? Will Cup drivers not be allowed to earn points in the Nationwide Series? Will the Chase For The Sprint Cup go through yet another format change? We’ll know the answers soon.

In the meantime, here’s a look at seven changes we would like to see in 2011:

NASCAR driver Juan Montoya and his wife, Connie, became parents for the third time last year, and they're enjoying the experience tremendously.

 But sometimes, thanks to the activity of him and Connie's Formula Smiles Foundation, you would think the Montoyas actually have thousands of kids, based off the numbers of youngsters they help.

Check one box.

It seems simple, doesn't it? Just draw an X in the appropriate place, and you're committed to running for only one title on NASCAR's national level -- Sprint Cup, Nationwide, or Camping World Truck. Say goodbye to the moonlighters trying to double-dip championships, and hello to NASCAR's first real attempt to limit incursions into its No. 2 series. As Dave Rodman reported earlier this week, drivers won't be barred from competing on more than one national tour, but they will be restricted to pursuing a single championship of their choice.

As Daytona inches closer on the calendar, the NASCAR.COM writing staff looks ahead to the 2011 season and offers up some predictions. The focus for Thursday is which driver is the one on which you should keep your eyes in 2011.

MARK AUMANN

For all the victories he's piled up in Nationwide and Trucks -- including the 2009 Nationwide drivers championship -- Kyle Busch remains somewhat of an enigma in Cup.

Turner Motorsports announced Wednesday the addition of racing legend Mark Martin to its 2011 driver lineup. Martin will pilot the No. 32 in Nationwide Series events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Kentucky Speedway with crew chief Trent Owens calling the shots. He will also drive the No. 32 in Camping World Truck Series races at Michigan International Speedway and Pocono Raceway.

Drivers in NASCAR's three national series will have to elect a single championship to chase in 2011, eliminating the ability of drivers such as Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards and Paul Menard -- who were full-time double-dippers in 2010 -- to chase two championships at once.

 NASCAR has scheduled a "competition update" on Jan. 21 with NASCAR president Mike Helton and vice president for competition Robin Pemberton as part of the "Preseason Thunder" Sprint Cup test session at Daytona International Speedway.

Just as Mario Andretti, Earl Ross and David Hobbs were drawn to the Daytona 500 in years past, several international drivers are targeting the 2011 NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, a race that has come to be known as the ‘Daytona 500 of short-track racing,’ on Jan. 28-29 at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale (Calif.) as an opportunity to make their mark on the world of NASCAR.

Brian Vickers, who was forced to take a medical leave of absence from the Sprint Cup Series last spring, made his first laps in one of his Red Bull Racing Team stock cars in eight months Monday at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Fla.

 The first day of the two-day session was interrupted by rain in mid-afternoon but both Vickers, who last drove in May 2010, and his new teammate Kasey Kahne, who said he "felt great" after having surgery on both knees immediately after the 2010 season, were thrilled.

With a strong lineup that features former Sprint Cup Series champions, last year's Chase field, a host of former outstanding rookies, along with a collection of previous winners at the sport's most storied race track, NASCAR announced Friday the list of eligible competitors for the 2011 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway will make its movie debut Saturday in the made-for-television family drama “Change of Plans,” which airs at 8 p.m. (EST) on FOX.

 Jeff Burton, a veteran NASCAR driver and four-time winner at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, worked with the cast and crew in filming “The Magic Mile’s” scene during the SYLVANIA 300 weekend in September. 

Ray Evernham Enterprises has been retained to consult for the Hendrick Companies, a management company formed in 2005 to oversee strategic initiatives for chairman Rick Hendrick.

Founded in 2008 by Ray Evernham, REE will consult on special projects related to Hendrick's core businesses. In that role, REE's initial focus will be development of the Hendrick Performance retail brand of high-performance parts, vehicles, products and related services.

Welcome to 2011, everybody! Hope 2010 closed out well for you and yours. As the new year kicks off, it dawns on me that we're so totally living in the future. I mean, check it out -- the iPhone is so much better than Star Trek communicators (and the iPhone 5 will feature a laser beam!), we've actually got flying cars now (ask Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski), and aliens walk among us. How else to explain the dominance of Jimmie Johnson, huh?

Thanks to NASCAR’s no-holds-barred approach to racing and adjustments to the new Sprint Cup car, the 2010 season produced some of the most exciting racing fans have seen in years.

There was plenty of bumping and banging – on and off the track – along with thrilling finishes, controversy, surprising winners and the closest points race in Chase history.

The only thing that didn’t change was the champion.

Here’s a look at the top 10 races of the season:

As 2010 comes to a close, NASCAR.COM looks back at the season that was and forward at the season that's looming on the horizon with some Top 5 lists.

In Saturday's list, David Caraviello breaks down the five biggest issues facing NASCAR.

Even though five of the biggest names in NASCAR stock car racing visited victory lane during the action-packed 2010 season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, track officials are predicting an even bigger and better year of racing for New England fans in 2011.

When NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series rolled into the 1.058-mile oval in June for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301, Jimmie Johnson had already launched the drive for his fifth consecutive NASCAR championship. Johnson won four times before the series visited the Granite State where he added another trophy to his collection.

Celebrate the holidays and the New Year by giving the gift of speed from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “The Magic Mile” is your one-stop holiday-shopping destination with tickets for the highly anticipated 2011 season along with a wide variety of racing souvenirs.

 As a bonus, bargain hunters choosing to purchase tickets for all three major racing events at NHMS will save 10 percent. Gift certificates are also available and can be used toward any New Hampshire Motor Speedway ticket or souvenir purchase. 

The big exterior numbers have been changed outside the shop buildings, the drivers have gotten to know their new crew members, the new revamped team configurations have even been put through a dry run during the recent tire test at Daytona International Speedway. The opening of the 2011 Sprint Cup season is still a long way off -- 60 days remain until the Daytona 500 -- and by then, the results of the personnel changes made by Hendrick Motorsports after this recent campaign should feel comfortable and familiar.

NASCAR vice president for competition Robin Pemberton never could have dreamed what he would unleash when he made the off-the-cuff comment, "Boys, have at it, and have a good time," this past January in a preliminary meeting before the 2010 season.

 But while Pemberton wouldn't have wasted time imagining what "the boys" might try -- or, that after a season's worth of rollicking, slam-bang racing on a variety of tracks a music producer would make Pemberton's comments the centerpiece of a video montage of the action tuned to a hip-hop beat -- he, along with the rest of NASCAR's hierarchy, was taking a lot of time contemplating where the sport was heading.

It's almost Christmas and soon we'll be celebrating the New Year, so it's inevitable that an avalanche of stories have been or will be written trying to capture the year in review.

There is great interest to look back on in what was the 2010 NASCAR season. Like it or not, Jimmie Johnson proved what a great champion he truly is by winning his fifth consecutive Cup Series title. In NASCAR's other national touring series, Brad Keselowski showed why he remains an up-and-coming star by winning the Nationwide championship and Todd Bodine reminded everyone he's still a force with which to be reckoned by capturing his second Truck crown.

The Camping World Truck Series is looked at as a stepping stone to the brighter and bigger lights of the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series. But lately, it's been the veterans, not the youngsters, who have found themselves hoisting the championship trophy at the end of the season.

 One has to go back to 2003, and Travis Kvapil, to find a Truck Series champion under the age of 30.

That didn't change in 2010.

A tip of my hat this week to my local track, the New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS), a 1.058-mile oval with a 1.6-mile road course included which seats more than 93,000 people. Built 20 years ago by Bob Bahre, NHMS was bought three years ago by Bruton Smith, whose publicly-traded Speedway Motorsports Inc (SMI) also owns the Charlotte, Atlanta, Bristol, Las Vegas and Texas Motor Speedways plus the Infineon Raceway (Sears Point) road course.

Original owner Bahre is a crusty old boy (below with Gary Bahre), a self-made man in the construction business.

Goodyear appears to have executed the equivalent of a grand slam with two outs in the seventh game of the World Series with the tire combination it's tested during the past two days at Daytona International Speedway.

 The new tires were necessitated by a complete repaving of the 2.5-mile, high-banked race track that's the site of NASCAR's next national events, during February's Speedweeks 2011.

When NASCAR first brought its Champion's Week to Las Vegas in 2009, nobody embraced the experience more than Denny Hamlin. From his blowout celebration at the Palms Hotel featuring ice sculptures and sports celebrities to his 4-in-the-morning challenge to Jimmie Johnson that he was coming for the champion the next season, it all shaped up as a coming out party for the sport's brashest young driver cast against a neon glow.

Hamlin's return to Las Vegas this year, though, came with a decidedly different tone. He had indeed gone gunning for Johnson, and nearly gotten him, too, holding the lead for two of the final three weeks of the season before falling 39 points short of winning his first title in the sport's premier division.

Matt Kenseth used to dread preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway. Even at speeds approaching 200 mph, circling the big restrictor-plate track for hours on end bordered on monotony.

Not this year, though. With the 2.5-mile speedway shining from a just-completed repaving job, drivers are eager to find out what the new Daytona surface will be like. Several will get their chance this week, when about 20 cars will take to the high banks for a Goodyear tire test slated for Wednesday and Thursday at the facility.

Through most of the first 11 races of the 2010 Sprint Cup season, Tony Stewart wondered where the magic had gone.

Stewart founded his own Stewart-Haas Racing organization a year earlier and surprisingly hit the ground running fast in his No. 14 Chevrolet, leading the point standings much of that season. Although he faded somewhat down the stretch in the 2009 season, he still finished a strong sixth in the final standings after visiting Victory Lane four times.

In a place where NASCAR history is on display, its future was celebrated as six champions in NASCAR’s developmental series were honored during the Night of Champions Touring Awards Gala in the Crown Ballroom at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Saturday night.

The festivities featured the champions and top drivers from all of NASCAR’s North American regional touring series, who gathered for the special year-end celebration in the heartland of stock-car racing.

The 2010 Sprint Cup season only emphasized Kyle Busch's great overall potential, underscored by a maddening inconsistency.

 Busch was part of two successful 2010 owners' championships in NASCAR's national tours, the Camping World Truck Series title he captured for his own Kyle Busch Motorsports team secured by eight victories, and the Nationwide Series crown he enabled Joe Gibbs Racing to win capped by Busch's record 13 victories.

It’s time to call the 2010 NASCAR season for what it was.

Who was the best driver? What was the best race? What did NASCAR do right and wrong?

Here’s our take:

DRIVER OF THE YEAR: Throughout the course of the year it was declared by competitors and media alike that Jimmie Johnson was somehow not up to snuff.

He had supposedly misplaced his lucky horseshoe. Those four championships in a row? Great, but five was not possible.

Typically, drivers can point to a particular race -- or even a moment within a race -- as the key to the ultimate success or failure of their season. But it's rare when it happens several days after the fact, and miles from Victory Lane.

 But that was the case for Clint Bowyer in 2010. After ending an 88-race winless streak at New Hampshire to open the Chase, Bowyer's No. 33 Chevrolet was taken back to NASCAR's Research and Development center in North Carolina. And when the chassis was found by NASCAR inspectors to be outside of tolerances, the team's elation turned to frustration after being docked 150 points and having crew chief Shane Wilson suspended for four weeks.

The tagline for NASCAR’s 2010 Sprint Cup season was written before the first green flag even dropped: Boys, have at it.

The message couldn’t have been clearer. In an effort to reinvigorate the kind of politically incorrect personalities that had endeared NASCAR to the masses, the gents in the corner offices were, in essence, telling the drivers they would be looking the other way in 2010.

The 2010 Sprint Cup season was the ultimate in bittersweet dichotomies for Virginia veteran Jeff Burton.

 Burton, in his 17th full-time Cup season, was a solid part of Richard Childress Racing's resurgence into the Chase as RCR, after being shut out of the 2009 Chase, had all three teams "in," in 2010.

After ending the 26-race regular season seventh in the championship and entering the 12-man Chase seeded 10th,

Amidst all the glitz and glamour and outrageous fanfare that was the Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony at Wynn Las Vegas on Friday, Jeff Gordon made everyone in attendance and watching on television pause for a moment of reflection.

Gordon did so with a comment about the likely lasting historical significance of what has been accomplished by his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson.

Richard Childress, who oversaw a resurgence of Richard Childress Motorsports, is the Sporting News owner of the year, the magazine announced Wednesday.

 Denny Hamlin is the 2010 Dale Earnhardt Tough Driver. The top driver and crew chief will be announced Thursday. All four awards were voted on by Sprint Cup drivers, crew chiefs and owners.

RCR made a remarkable turnaround in 2010. After all four of Childress' drivers missed the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2009, the organization consolidated to three teams this year with drivers Kevin Harvick,

The New Hampshire Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities spread early holiday cheer this morning in Manchester, N.H., distributing over $100,000 to 24 non-profit organizations that assist underprivileged children throughout New England.

Representatives from each organization were on hand at Manchester City Hall to receive the grant money that will benefit 12,000 children in need. Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas and Jerry Gappens, executive vice president and general manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway, also took part in the festivities.

The champion is crowned, the celebration awaits.

What a party it promises to be.

The 2010 edition of Sprint Cup Series Champion's Week in Las Vegas will fete Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson, who earned an unprecedented fifth consecutive series title following the Nov. 21 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Avoid the long lines at the malls this holiday season by giving the gift of speed from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “The Magic Mile” is your one-stop holiday-shopping destination with tickets for the highly anticipated 2011 season along with a wide variety of racing souvenirs.

 As a bonus, bargain hunters choosing to purchase tickets for all three major racing events at NHMS will save 10 percent. Gift certificates are also available and can be used toward any New Hampshire Motor Speedway ticket or souvenir purchase.

It was early Monday morning, and Jimmie Johnson was celebrating another NASCAR championship in the surf on South Beach.

His five NASCAR championship trophies had been placed delicately in the sand, and with rolled up pant legs, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus stepped into the water for one final photo commemorating their historic march through the record books.

Was anyone really surprised at what transpired in the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday?

From the moment Denny Hamlin's dominance in the previous week's race at Phoenix went up in a puff of miscalculated fuel-mileage smoke, costing him the victory that might have clinched the Chase for himself, this was more Jimmie Johnson's title to lose than it was Hamlin's -- even though Johnson had a worried Hamlin thinking exactly the opposite.

Brian France wouldn’t go as far as to say NASCAR will make changes to the Chase in 2011. But reading between the lines, it sounds like that’s where they are heading.

“What’s really clear to me is when you put drivers in a position where there’s a lot on the line … and they actually have got to go out and win or lead laps or compete high – they do it,” France said Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “So that tells us that the more we can do to have incentives – an incentive basis and decide this championship, that puts it all on the line more often – that’s what we need to be thinking about.”

In many ways, this has been a normal week for Kevin Harvick, even with a championship on the line. He did some planning for next season at Kevin Harvick Inc., worked out twice, and sat in on the regular Tuesday morning competition meeting at Richard Childress Racing, where his No. 29 squad game-planned setups and strategies for Sunday's finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was all routine and familiar, helping him to arrive in South Florida relaxed, smiling, and looking every bit like the outside title contender that he is.

Under the NASCAR points system, a 15-point margin is less than the difference between a race winner and runner-up, and a 46-point margin is less than the difference between first place and eighth. For the three contenders left in the race for the Sprint Cup title, the mathematical possibilities seem endless, particularly once bonus points are taken into account. And yet, at the same time, it's all very simple -- winning the championship Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway may also require winning the race.

What is it with Carl Edwards and gymnastics? First, it was the back flip. Now, instead of a hand stand, Edwards continued to pioneer another signature move Sunday: a fan stand.

After winning the Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway and snapping a 70-race winless streak, Edwards grabbed the checkered flag then raced up a ladder, through a catchfence gate and into the frontstretch grandstand for an impromptu celebration.

Jimmie Johnson didn't have the fastest car in Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway -- at the end of the day, race winner and pole-sitter Carl Edwards did.

Johnson, the four-time defending Cup Series champion, didn't lead a lap. Denny Hamlin, ahead in the points and seeking his first title, led a race-high 190 laps.

In this year of "have at it," passion and emotion were taken to a couple of extremes last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, and it was all good.

Well, it wasn't good for Kyle Busch's bank account -- or wherever his fine money comes from -- and his Sunday race result. But it was good for the show, for the most part.

As far as I'm concerned, the sport needs more of it -- when it's called for, of course.

His black No. 11 car charged to the finish line, his primary competition for the Sprint Cup Series title visible only in his rearview mirror. Denny Hamlin scored a statement victory, earned himself a big new cowboy hat, and sent a clear message at Texas Motor Speedway that he was prepared to end Jimmie Johnson's unprecedented run of four consecutive championships. And he did it all long before he won in the Lone Star State again on Sunday night.

Chad Knaus isn’t listening to what Mike Ford has to say about whose team is better with two races left to determine the 2010 Sprint Cup champion.

While he acknowledged he had not heard everything Denny Hamlin's crew chief had said Sunday following the Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway, Knaus said he does not agree with Ford’s declaration that his Joe Gibbs Racing team of Hamlin was better than the Knaus-led Hendrick Motorsports team of Johnson.

A study to examine the cost and economic impact of adding two more lanes to sections of Route 106 will begin early next year, according to the state Department of Transportation. The study, which is being funded in part by the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, will also look at traffic volume to see if the widening is necessary.

"The track is definitely interested in Route 106, and we are interested in it because it continues to grow as a commuter corridor," said Bill Cass, director of project development for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation.

Monkeys, which were on hand to sell programs, did not run down the frontstretch shooting off bottle rockets.

Other than that, take your pick for the unpredictable moments during Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Brawling drivers, angry gestures, bold statements and a pit crew change on the fly. This race had it all.

And shock of all shocks, someone is leading the Chase with two races to go other than Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Chevy team, which didn't end the race as a team.

Clint Bowyer not only is coming off a victory last weekend at Talladega, he’ll get his crew chief back this week with the series heading to Texas Motor Speedway as well.

Crew chief Shane Wilson has completed a four-race suspension for Bowyer’s illegal car that won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the opening Chase For The Sprint Cup race.

Richard Childress Racing, which denied intent and that the quarter-thin height advantage played a role in the victory, appealed the original penalty, and Wilson’s suspension was reduced from six to four races while the 150-point penalty remained the same.

Brad Keselowski knows that barring a catastrophe, he will win the 2010 Nationwide Series title.

All Keselowski has to do is start each of the final three races to clinch the championship. If he finishes 21st or better Saturday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway, he also secures the title.

Keselowski has no finish worse than 21st all season.

When Jimmie Johnson visits the track media center each week, he is introduced by NASCAR’s Kerry Tharp as the “2009 Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year.”

It has become his unofficial title and a running joke that always brings a chuckle from both Johnson and the media.

But the award Johnson won last year was a significant accomplishment for both the driver and NASCAR, demonstrating just how rare and special his fourth straight Sprint Cup championship was.

Just in case, Clint Bowyer started his celebratory burnout several minutes before NASCAR declared him the winner of Sunday's Amp Energy Juice 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

A multi-car crash behind the leaders at the start of the final lap had thrown the outcome in doubt, and it wasn't until Bowyer drove a quarter-mile and stopped his No. 33 Chevrolet at the entrance to the garage that shouts and high-fives from the crew that surrounded the car let the crowd know Bowyer indeed had won his second race in the Chase.

Trick or treat, race fans.

Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway should be a real Halloween treat, as far as the points battle in the championship Chase is concerned.

Talladega is the "wild card, "the crapshoot" in the 10-race Chase. It's the one race the title contenders fear the most, since the unpredictable can happen here, including the "big one."

Halfway through Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway, you couldn’t blame Mark Martin for thinking, “Here we go again.”

On Lap 226 of 500, Martin smacked the frontstretch wall after a tap from AJ Allmendinger and lost a lap for repairs.

Then his fortunes turned. Martin finally regained the lost lap on the next caution as the first car one lap down on Lap 393. In the final 98 laps, he drove from 18th to second in a No. 5 Chevrolet that was the fastest car on the track during the closing green-flag run.

Dead heat.

Well, almost.

Denny Hamlin won Sunday's Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville and trimmed fifth-place finisher Jimmie Johnson's lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup to six points with four races left in the season.

The closest Chase ever through six races is on a collision course toward next Sunday's AMP Energy Juice 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, the most dangerous and unpredictable race in the Chase.

When Denny Hamlin won at Martinsville Speedway in March, he entered the race knowing he was going to have surgery on his knee in a few days and face a painful recovery.

He won that event but now returns to his best track with even more pressure – trailing Jimmie Johnson by 41 points with five races left in the Chase For The Sprint Cup.

Bring on Martinsville.

Jamie McMurray cleared Kyle Busch off Turn 2 after a restart on Lap 314 and pulled away from Busch to win Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, site of McMurray’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory in 2002.

Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup leader Jimmie Johnson and second-place Denny Hamlin, however, both dodged trouble and finished third and fourth, respectively, to set up a showdown Oct. 24 at Martinsville, a short track the two drivers have dominated the past four years.

The 2011 season of speed is fast approaching and so are ticket renewal deadlines for the most action-packed year in the history of New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series drivers will make their first of two appearances on a new date, July 17, in the LENOX Industrial Tools 301, and because of an overwhelming response from race fans the ticket renewal deadline for this event has been extended to Oct. 26.

Joining NASCAR’s elite once again next summer will be the NASCAR Nationwide Series, K&N Pro Series East and the New England favorite Whelen Modified Tour. 

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) will gather at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. today  to announce its second hall of fame class.

The announcement, which will be carried live on SPEED, NASCAR.COM and SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128 at 4 p.m. ET, will be made by NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France.

The 2011 racing season will be even faster with more on-track action at New Hampshire Motor Speedway highlighting an action-packed season of speed.   

This exciting season will kick off with the second annual FANtasy DRIVE, the ultimate open house and fan appreciation day.

The largest sports and entertainment facility in New England once again hosted the biggest sporting event in the Northeast Region with NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series SYLVANIA 300 on Sunday, September 19.

Before an estimated crowd of 95,000 fans saw some of the best racing at “The Magic Mile”.  The first race in the “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup” saw many of the top-12 contenders racing like it was the final event of the season.  Denny Hamlin spun on lap 215 but battled back to a solid second place finish.  Tony Stewart ran out of gas just before the white flag waved, and four- time champion Jimmie Johnson finished 25^th the worst finish of all 12 Chasers.

Finally, the first race in the “Chase for the Sprint Cup” has arrived!  In a few hours, the stars of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series will hit “The Magic Mile” for the SYLVANIA 300. Who will be the first Chaser to cross “The Granite Stripe”?

It is shaping up to be a beautiful fall New England day with sunny skies and highs in the mid-70’s.  Fans are reminded that the green flag drops at 1:00 p.m. 

With drivers at his heels and a right rear tire quickly losing air, Ryan Newman held off the modified regulars to take the F.W. Webb 100. 

Ryan earned the modified sweep for 2010 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, winning both poles and both races this season behind the wheel of team owner Kevin “Bono” Manion’s No. 7 Aggressive Hydraulics/ Menards Chevrolet.

In a race plagued with late race cautions, it was Ryan Truex behind the wheel of his No. 00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota who raced his way to the checkered flag in the New Hampshire 125 sweeping both series races at “The Magic Mile.”

Truex lost the lead with 15 laps to go but when the No. 38 of Allen Tardiff and No. 07 of Corey LaJoie got into each other he took the lead and found his way to victory lane for the second straight time this season. 

New Hampshire Motor Speedway becomes the center of the motorsports universe this weekend. Six races will highlight an action packed weekend at “The Magic Mile,” starting today.

Today kicks off a weekend full of racing action at “The Magic Mile” with the K&N Pro Series East New Hampshire 125 beginning at 5:00 p.m. Brett Moffitt leads the way, followed by teammate Max Gresham, and Kevin Swindell.

Brett Moffitt of Grimes, Iowa grabbed the pole position for tomorrow’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East New Hampshire 125 and set a new track record. Moffitt also won the pole in June.

Driving the No. 20 Game Plan for Life Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, Moffitt turned a lap record of 29.863 seconds at a speed of 127.542 mph.

“We were terrible in practice, I really thought we were going to have a bad weekend, but my team worked on the car until it was time to qualify,” said Moffitt.  “We’ve grown as a team learning, and picking everything apart. We just threw it all together today.”

Track Facts SYLVANIA 300 (NSCS)

Track Facts New Hampshire 125 (NKSE)

NASCAR’s Chase leader Denny Hamlin will highlight New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s “FanFest” tomorrow with an on-stage Q&A and an autograph session for his fans.

Hamlin launched into the number one seed after a dominating victory in Richmond, bringing him to a season and career high six wins.  He races into “The Magic Mile” just 10 points ahead of June’s winner Jimmie Johnson. 

NASCAR points leader Denny Hamlin dueled and dined in Boston iRacing style, throwing down fast times and nasty wrecks against local media this afternoon.

NASCAR's most recent winner showed his iRacing skills by racing "The Magic Mile," from the comfort of a racing simulator setting the record of the day with a lap of 30.3 seconds. Coming in a close second was radio host Bill Thomas of WPKZ 105.3 FM and 1280 AM out of Fitchburg, Mass. with a lap of 31.31 seconds.

There are only a few days remaining until the cars and stars of NASCAR race their way to “The Magic Mile,” for an action packed weekend of non-stop speed and entertainment. Here are just a few things to make for an even more thrilling weekend.

“The Magic Mile” welcomed the first of many campers today as race fans gear up for the SYLVANIA 300 and the first race in the “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.”

New Hampshire Motor Speedway was up bright and early to welcome the fans in at 5:00 a.m. this morning with donuts and coffee. 

Grills are sure to be fired up and televisions tuned into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond tonight which will determine the rest of the Chase Contenders. 

With an anticipated crowd that exceeds the Super Bowl, Final Four, NBA Finals, World Series games, and the Stanley Cup playoffs the SYLVANIA 300 weekend is just one week away and race fans are reminded they can bring their favorite Coca-Cola products, beer, and snacks to “The Magic Mile.”

For the seventh consecutive year, the largest sports and entertainment facility in New England is gearing up to host first race in the “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup,” and fans can be sure that the racing and tailgating will be thrilling right up until the last checkered flag waves.

The American rock band 38 Special led by Don Barnes and Donnie Van Zant will kick start the SYLVAINA 300 with a concert during pre-race activities on September 19 beginning at 11:15 a.m.

The band was formed in 1975 and throughout the years has sold more than 15 million albums, but still plays a rigorous touring schedule with more than 100 shows per year. The thousands of audience members who attend 38 Special shows are still amazed at the power and strength of the band’s performance ability.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway announced today that The Charity Splits Company, of Joliet Ill., will sponsor TheRaceDayRaffleSeries.com 175 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Saturday, September 18.

Charity Splits has been established in motorsports by benefitting multiple NASCAR Charities and Foundations including: The Tony Stewart Foundation, Victory Junction, The Petty Family Foundation, The Greg Biffle Foundation, The Ryan Newman Foundation, The Dale Jarrett Foundation, and The Kyle Busch Foundation. 

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is inviting all race fans to take a lap around the track with their favorite NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to support children’s programs throughout the region, with the help of Speedway Children’s Charities (SCC) this weekend.

A lucky race fan will get the opportunity to take the “Ride of a Lifetime” around the “Magic Mile” before the start of the SYLVANIA 300 on Sunday, September 19.

It will be a full schedule of NASCAR action at “The Magic Mile” when the 2011 season visits New England. As previously announced, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars will race twice in 2011, and for the 16^th consecutive year the NASCAR Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series will join them at the largest sports and entertainment facility in the northeast. 

Indianapolis Motor Speedway has the “Yard of Bricks,” Augusta has the “Amen Corner,” and of course, Boston’s own Fenway Park has the mighty “Green Monster.”  Now, New Hampshire Motor Speedway will have the same iconic item that every fan will remember. 

This September, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars will have to pass “The Granite Stripe” at the start-finish line. 

NASCAR fans, have you ever wondered what it would be like to spend race day Sunday as the general manager of “The Magic Mile?”  If you purchase a ticket to the SYLVANIA 300, you could be the face of NASCAR in New England for the day when the “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup” rolls into New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 19.

On any given Sunday, NASCAR fans from across the country root for their favorite drivers to grab that elusive checkered flag and many of those fans dream of one day meeting their favorite NASCAR star.  For one New Englander, meeting his favorite driver happened under the grandstand at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last September.

On a typical NASCAR weekend at “The Magic Mile,” thousands of spectators walk through the grandstands, so what are the odds that you will run into your favorite driver? Probably not that great, but for one fan, lady luck was on his side.

Still stuffed from Thanksgiving dinner, NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series raced into New Hampshire Motor Speedway the day after the holiday on Friday, November 23, 2001, with one driver extremely hungry for his first Cup win.

Robby Gordon rolled into “The Magic Mile” driving the No. 31 Lowe’s Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. Gordon moved his way up from a 31^st starting position to the front of the pack with just 20 laps to go, when a controversial pass caused the newly crowned champion Jeff Gordon to spin out.  

Joe Nemechek rolled into New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 19, 1999 with nothing to lose.  To call him a desperate driver might be an understatement.  His team owner, Felix Sabates, had just let him know he wasn’t going to be with the team for the 2000 season.  Joe was a no go.  His ride was leaving him and his future prospects depended heavily on the last few races of the season.  If “Front Row Joe” ever needed his first ever NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win, it was now.

New England race fans will have the opportunity to see not one but three exciting races on Saturday, September 18.  “The Magic Mile” triple header will feature the northeast favorite Whelen Modified Tour New Hampshire 100, the Camping World Truck Series New Hampshire 175, and the second annual American Canadian Tour (ACT) Invitational. 

From Danica Mania to an IndyCar zooming around the “Magic Mile” to the exciting finish of Sunday’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup race, New Hampshire Motor Speedway maintained its presence as the largest sports and entertainment facility in New England and hosting the largest sporting events here in the northeast.

Finally, the day that New England race fans have longed for all year, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars will take to "The Magic Mile" in the LENOX Industrial Tools 301!

It is shaping up to be a gorgeous New Hampshire summer day, with sunny skies and highs in the lower 80's. Fans are reminded that this year's race will start one hour earlier, with the green flag waving at 1:00 p.m.

The last 10 laps were a race fans dream. Two cars traded the lead and it was anyone's race. As the drivers came out of turn one side by side on the last lap of the New England 100, the crowd was on their feet. The difference between first and second place was just 0.125 seconds!

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular Ryan Newman captured the checkered flag behind the wheel of the No. 7 Aggressive Hydraulics/Menards Chevrolet, narrowly edging out Ted Christopher's No. 36 Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet. The two came within inches throughout the entire Whelen Modified Tour race, but the finish was clean.

How good is Kyle Busch? He is not even running a full time Nationwide Series schedule this season, yet he is closing in on the record books faster than he can get around "The Magic Mile."

At today's New England 200, Busch has three direct opportunities to land in the Nationwide Series history books, two of which involve another NASCAR star, Mark Martin.

For the second consecutive time at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Juan Pablo Montoya captured the pole position, this time for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday.

Driving the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, Montoya turned a lap time of 28.781 seconds with a top speed of 132.337 mph.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Ryan Newman grabbed the pole position for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour New England 100.

Driving the No. 7 Aggressive Hydraulics/Menards Chevrolet, Newman turned a lap time of 29.663 seconds at a top speed of 128.402 mph.

"This is the best race of the weekend. You get to see the cars bump and draft," said Ryan Newman. "It's such a fun race to drive."

Fast Facts

New England 100

Location

New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H.

Date

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Time

1:00 p.m. (EDT)

Sanctioning Body

NASCAR, Daytona Beach, Fla.

Series

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour

Length

100 laps, 105.8 miles

Purse

$166,513

Event Winner

Ronnie Silk, TS Haulers Chevrolet

Time of Race: 1 hour, 25 minutes, 43 seconds

Average Speed: 74.283 mph

Margin of Victory: 0.324 seconds

Event Pole Sitter

Ryan Preece, Mizzy Const. /Reynold's Auto Wrecking Chevrolet

127.962 mph, 29.765 seconds

Qualifying

Qualifying for this event is scheduled for Thursday, June 24, at 4:45 p.m. (EDT). The better of two laps will determine a driver's official qualifying speed for the New England 100. Starting positions 1-37 will be determined by qualifying speeds with the top 30 in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour owner standings guaranteed a starting position. The remainder of the 38-car field will be set as outlined by the event's official entry blank.

Television

TBA

Tickets

Tickets for all of the great NASCAR events on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday's LENOX Industrial Tools 301 are available online at www.nhms.com or by calling Guest Services at (603) 783-4931.

Track Facts New England 200 (NNS)

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is inviting all race fans to attend "FanFest," a celebration dedicated to NASCAR fans, with food, music, fun and much more on Thursday, June 24 from 5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. in the Broadway Midway. Fan favorite and driver of the No. 31 LENOX Industrial Tools Chevrolet Jeff Burton will kick off this year's festival with a question-and-answer session hosted by WOKQ's Morning Waking Crew, Mark Ericson and Karen Kiley. 

New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s executive vice president and general manager Jerry Gappens joined U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen in Washington D.C. today to showcase all that the great state of New Hampshire has to offer.

Gappens presented a green starters flag to Senator Shaheen kicking off a month full of excitement at New England’s largest sports and entertainment facility. In a few weeks the speedway just so happens to turn into the largest city in New Hampshire.

The “Magic Mile” turned into a driving range and driving school as driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota Casey Mears and three stars of the Duramed FUTURES Tour took to the green and track during a double drive competition at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Briana Vega, Susan Choi, and Chelsea Curtis arrived fresh off a tour stop in Iowa to teach Mears a little bit about the game of golf.  The foursome hit a series of golf balls ranging from 100 to 301 yards, not bad for a NASCAR driver!

It'll feel like you won the race yourself!  To celebrate the 20^th anniversary of New Hampshire Motor Speedway and NASCAR, we plan to truly "enrich" one lucky fan's experience at the LENOX Industrial Tools 301.

Just before the race begins, NHMS will randomly draw a race fan's name and give him or her $20,000.  Our 20/20 Giveaway is a way to say thank you for two decades of memorable racing and great times at the Speedway.

When the green flag waves at the New England 200 on Saturday, June 26 there is a good chance it is going to be a Sprint Cup Series full-timer leading the field.

Five of NASCAR’s top drivers are probable entries for this year’s New England 200 at the “Magic Mile;” fan favorite and Conn. native Joey Logano, Kyle Bush, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, and Jamie McMurray will join all of the Nationwide Series drivers, including Indy Racing’s most popular driver, Danica Patrick, when they take on the 1.058 mile oval.

The sun may not have been shining, but lady luck sure was smiling down on Joey Logano, who became the youngest driver ever to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, when he took a soggy checkered flag at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2009.  A fitting first win too, because NHMS is his hometown track.

Logano, a Middletown, Conn. native watched his first race at the “Magic Mile,” made his first Sprint Cup Series start here, and as fate would have it won his first race in NASCAR’s top series at NHMS.

Tommy Ellis was the first to hoist a NASCAR trophy in 1990 and Rusty Wallace was the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to celebrate in victory lane that hot July day in 1993. From green flag to checkered drivers, crews, and fans have enjoyed a “magical” partnership between New Hampshire Motor Speedway and NASCAR.

This year the speedway will celebrate “20 Years of Motorsports Magic,” with some of racing’s most recognized figures, as drivers past and present celebrate the milestone and take a look back at just how far NHMS has come in such a short period of time. They joined dozens of race fans in Loudon today to celebrate the 20th Anniversary.

Legendary NASCAR driver Bobby Allison will serve as Grand Marshal for Oval Day’s at New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s Twentieth Annual Vintage Celebration. 

Bobby Allison, a former NASCAR Sprint Cup series driver was named one of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers.  He began his career in 1966, after winning 85 races. Bobby retired in 1988.

Known as the “Alabama Gang,” Bobby and a few friends set up shop in Hueytown, Ala.  where their passion for racing came alive.

Bobby’s ties to the New England region date back to the mid-sixties, where he captured his first NASCAR Cup win at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine.

On an unusually hot July day, the second annual Slick 50 300 was under way at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as some of NASCAR’s greatest drivers took to the track.

In NASCAR’s top series doubling as both owner and driver can be a losing battle. Few have had success in both ventures.

Driving the number 10 Tide Ford, Ricky Rudd would prove the racing world wrong by running, driving, and winning in his own operation.

On July 11, 1993, all eyes were on the Northeast as New Hampshire Motor Speedway held its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race, the Slick 50 300.

In arguably one of his most successful seasons, Rusty Wallace endured the 100 degree plus temperatures to take home the very first checkered flag at “The Magic Mile.” 

Driving the No. 2 Miller Genuine Draft Pontiac owned by Roger Penske, Wallace qualified 33rd at the speed of 123.618 mph.

The New Hampshire Motor Speedway Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities has stepped up to the plate to help the Manchester South Little League repair the recent vandalism at Precourt Park.

A check for $2,000 from the local chapter of Speedway Children's Charities will be presented to league officials by Jerry Gappens, executive vice president and general manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway, at Precourt Park on Saturday, April 10 at noon to cover the estimated damage done by vandals.

For the first time in the 20-year history of New Hampshire Motor Speedway, fans will have the opportunity to drive their own cars around the "Magic Mile" on Saturday, April 3 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. as the speedway hosts FANtasy DRIVE, the ultimate open house and fan appreciation day.

Thirsty race fans taking in the action at some of the most popular NASCAR(R) racetracks can continue to enjoy an ice-cold Coca-Cola for years to come. Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) and Coca-Cola North America (CCNA) are extending their long-term partnership through 2015, ensuring NASCAR fans who visit premier speedways in locations such as Charlotte, Atlanta and Las Vegas can open a Coke and Open Happiness as they cheer on their favorite drivers.

Got the Winter blues? The cure is simple... NASCAR tickets to the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 on Sunday, June 27 and the SYLVANIA 300 on Sunday, September 19.

Stuck in winter traffic?  Daydream about your trip to New Hampshire Motor Speedway!  Picture yourself basking in the sun while watching the greatest racers in the world duel at the largest sports and entertainment complex in the Northeast.

Jimmie Johnson Motivated to Go for Fifth-Straight Title Day three of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway included a lunch stop at the campus of the top team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Hendrick Motorsports.

And the top driver on that team the last four years has been Jimmie Johnson. He's the winner of the last four NASCAR Sprint Cup championships, and set a NASCAR record for most consecutive titles last year with the 2009 championship.

Stewart-Haas Racing Enters Second Year

The first function of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway was a luncheon hosted by Stewart-Haas Racing, one the surprise teams of the 2009 season.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway will be hitting the road for "Black Friday" weekend with their new kiosk location at The Mall at Rockingham Park in Salem, N.H.

Speedway Guest Services staff will be on hand throughout the weekend to provide holiday shoppers with one-stop shopping convenience for their ticket and gift certificate purchases.

A special pre-release offering of tickets for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LENOX Industrial Tools 301 on Sunday, June 27 will guarantee early-bird shoppers the best seats available for the largest sporting event in New England.

With renewals completed, all remaining tickets for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LENOX Industrial Tools 301 weekend from Thursday, June 24 through Sunday, June 27, 2010 will go on sale on Tuesday, December 1.

A variety of grandstand seats, starting at just $39, are available for the first event in "The Race to the Chase 2010," the LENOX Industrial Tools 301.

Eddie MacDonald of Rowley, Mass. has won the 2009 Camping World Series East Lincoln Electric/Airgas Track Championship at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Driving the No. 71 NEMO/Grimm Construction Chevrolet, Eddie finished sixth in the Heluva Good! 125 in June and won the second Heluva Good! 125 in September. 

Continuing the sport's "back to basics" approach, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) and its television broadcast partners today announced earlier, uniform start times for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 2010.

The Richard Petty Driving Experience makes their final visit for the 2009 season to New Hampshire Motor Speedway from Friday, September 25 through Sunday September 27.

Just a week after Mark Martin took the checkered flag at the SYLVANIA 300, fans and future drivers can run on the tire tracks left by NASCAR's best.

For some drivers in the inaugural American-Canadian Tour Invitational, it was their first time racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.  For Eddie MacDonald, it meant his second trip to victory lane this weekend.

After taking home the NASCAR Camping World Series East Heluva Good! Fall 125 last night, MacDonald used his experience to beat the invitational field in the 50 lap ACT event.

"The race was just unbelievable," said MacDonald.  "It was great competition.  They ran real hard.  Everyone ran a real clean race and did an excellent job."

Ron Silk passed veteran Reggie Ruggiero in turn 3 of the last lap and drove on to win a caution-filled New Hampshire 100.

11 cautions for 51 laps made it difficult for the drivers to develop a rhythm, but Silk survived all the excitement to earn the victory.

"Its hard to get a read on what your car is doing," said Silk.  "Luckily it was good at the end though."

Eddie MacDonald overcame rain, darkness, and three cautions in the last 10 laps to win his second straight Heluva Good! Fall 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

After a brief shower right before the start of the race, NASCAR reduced the Heluva Good! Fall 125 to 100 laps, to complete the race before dark.  When the caution came out within the final five laps, it was announced that there would be one attempt at a green-white checkered finish.  MacDonald won on lap 99 with a strong restart.

A capacity crowd will be on hand for Sunday's SYLVANIA 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Speedway officials announced today that other than a "few" single seats and handicap accessible seats, all tickets to the grandstand seating area are gone.

A limited number of backstretch, standing-room and infield "Trackside-View" tickets are available. Tickets to these areas are still available in advance by calling the speedway's ticket office at (603) 783-4931, which speedway officials are encouraging.

Fast Facts - SYLVANIA 300

Fast Facts - Heluva Good! Fall 125

Fast Facts - ACT Invitational

By the Numbers: 2009 Chase Drivers at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

NASCAR announced today that the New Hampshire 100 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race will be broadcast same-day on SPEED on Saturday, Sept. 19.

SPEED carried the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour's combination race at Bristol Motor Speedway same-day on Aug. 19 to favorable ratings, which prompted the auto racing network to follow a similar format for the upcoming event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. With the announcement of same-day coverage, the broadcast will begin at 1 p.m. on a 15-minute tape delay.

Dave Pembroke of Montpelier led all 200 laps of the American Canadian Tour Bond Auto Labor Day Classic 200 at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vt.. Pembroke started on the pole after earning a +8 handicap by moving from 11^th to 3^rd in his heat race. John Donahue and Patrick Laperle battled hard for the final 19 laps with Donahue getting the edge by a bumper at the line. Brian Hoar and Eric Williams were the final two cars on the lead lap and rounded out the top five.

Feel The Vibration! NASCAR Superstar Greg Biffle Challenges Fans to Put the Pedal to the Metal at Game On! Fenway Roush Fenway Racing Driver Faces-Off Against NASCAR fans who Put Their Skills to the Test on True-to-Life iRacing Simulators

The American Canadian Tour (ACT) has notified the first 22 teams that have officially been invited to participate in the inaugural ACT Invitational at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) on Saturday, September 19^th. 

The American Canadian Tour completed their final test session at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Wednesday, August 26. The two sessions this week were in preparation for the Inaugural ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 19.

Before the drivers of the American-Canadian Tour make their debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the ACT Invitational on September 19, the speedway will hold a two-day test session for teams on Tuesday, August 25, and Wednesday, August 26.

After a wild Wednesday night in Bristol, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will reunite on Saturday, September 19, during the SYLVANIA 300 event weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

In the last three Modified Tour races in New Hampshire, Ted Christopher has had a share of the lead coming out of turn 4 on the final lap.

As part of New Hampshire Motor Speedway's on-going "FansFirst" initiative, anyone purchasing tickets for the SYLVANIA 300 on September 20 will have a chance of winning an exciting trip to Las Vegas for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony on Friday, December 4.

The Grand Prize includes airfare, lodging, $1,000 in spending money, and two tickets to the Sprint Cup banquet.  This will be the first time that this exclusive awards ceremony is being held in Las Vegas.  For the past 27 years, the banquet has taken place in New York City.

Five-time American Canadian Tour Champion Brian Hoar captured his second victory in a row in the Nutmeg State 100 at Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday, August 8. The first 28 laps of the event were run on Saturday, June 13, but the remaining 72 laps were postponed due to rain. Brad Leighton led the way through the first half of the race after taking the lead from his outside pole starting position.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway's September MegaTicket package for the SYLVANIA 300 weekend, one of the best bargains in professional sports, just became even more valuable to race fans.

With this year's addition of the American-Canadian Tour Invitational on Saturday, September 19, a MegaTicket for the SYLVANIA 300 weekend gives fans admission to five races.

Patrick Laperle of St-Denis-sur-Richelieu, Quebec captured his second win of the 2009 Série ACT Castrol season at the Montmagny 250 in Montmagny, Quebec. Laperle took the green in the 14th starting position and quickly moved to the front of the field. After taking the lead on lap 27 Laperle clearly had the car to beat. Laperle held the lead until Karl Allard took over on lap 114 after pitting for fresh tires.

Five-time American Canadian Tour Champion Brian Hoar of Williston, Vt. notched career win number 24 in the Beech Ridge 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. Hoar started in the ninth position and moved into the lead on lap 37 by passing local favorite Aarron Ricker. Hoar then appeared to have the race in hand as he was chased through lap traffic by Randy Potter during an 80 lap green flag run.

Brad Leighton of Center Harbor, NH captured his second ACT Tour victory of the 2009 season in the Summer Sizzler 200 at Kawartha Speedway in Peterborough, ON. Leighton started on the outside pole with a plus four handicap in ACT's plus/minus system and led until Patrick Laperle took control on lap 27.

Toyota vehicles were prominent all weekend long at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, sweeping NASCAR's two biggest events.

Toyotas Camrys visited New Hampshire Motor Speedway's Victory Lane twice over the weekend, winning both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series races.  Toyota also led the field for both races with its 2010 Camry Hybrid pace car.

On his last day covering racing for the Associated Press, Mike Harris was honored by New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Franklin Pierce University with a scholarship recognizing his accomplishments in journalism.

Dr. James Birge, president of Franklin Pierce University, and Dr. Kristen Nevious, director of the school's Fitzwater Center, were on hand for the scholarship dedication ceremony.

Kyle Busch became the 23rd different visitor to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with his win in the Camping World RV Sales 200 presented by Turtle Wax.

"That's pretty cool," said Busch of the streak.  "Not a lot of race tracks can say that."

Busch took the lead from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano with 36 laps to go.

It was a battle of the rookies as Matt DiBenedetto of Grass Valley, Calif. bumped his way to a win over pole sitter Ryan Truex for a Heluva Good! finish in today's NASCAR Camping World Series East race.

DiBenedetto lead most of the second half of the Heluva Good! Summer 125, but a late caution and double-file restart put Truex in front. That set up a last-lap charge from DiBenedetto in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Driven Toyota.  He got into the backend of Truex's No. 00 NAPA Toyota going into turn 3, and the two were door-handle to door-handle coming out of turn 4 as the battle continued.

Young Joey "Pole" Polewarczyk, Jr. of Hudson, NH scores his first career win at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in the CARQUEST Governor's Cup 150. Pole got by Jamie Fisher to take the lead shortly after a restart with just under 100 laps to go. Nick Sweet then worked his way to second and setup the battle of the race. Pole and Sweet ran side by side and worked their way through lap traffic before a lap 145 caution staged a shootout for the win. Pole proved to be too much for Sweet as he held onto the lead for the final 5 laps. Cris Michaud passed Sweet with two to go for second to come home with the best finish ever for a Ford crate motor in ACT Late Model competition. Sweet settled for third followed by Jamie Fisher and John Donahue finishing in the top five. Sixth through tenth was filled by Dave Pembroke, Trampas Demers, Phil Scott, Joey Laquerre and Eric Williams.

Students of Franklin Pierce University's Fitzwater Center will experience the real pressures of deadline journalism at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend.

Senior Fitzwater Scholar Jason Schachere, of Marblehead, Mass., Senior Fitzwater Scholar Abbie Tumbleson, of Whitney, Penn., graduate student and head men's basketball coach, David Chadbourne, from Jaffrey, N.H., graduate student Jason Raft, from Concord, N.H., graduate student and Assistant Athletic Director Daniel Blair, of Keene, N.H., and Ed French, Director of Franklin Pierce's College of Graduate and Professional Studies MBA Programs, will be reporting on all of the events during the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 weekend.

Milford, Conn.'s Doug Coby drove his No. 19 Major Motion Transport/Family Auto Center Chevrolet to the pole position for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour New England 100.

Coby earned his second career pole with a lap time of 30.003 seconds and a top speed of 126.947 mph.

When last weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race winner Kasey Kahne comes to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 weekend, he will go the EXTRA MILE and more.

Kahne will start his weekend tonight at "Fan Fest."  He will be on hand for a question and answer session with Greg Kretschmar of Greg and the Morning Buzz and Jamie Staton, Sports Director for WMUR/ABC 9. This session will be open to fans.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway now has a fan-friendly mascot to match its 1.058-mile oval superspeedway.

The Mile Oval Moose, known affectionately as "Milo," will start his new job at the speedway this weekend and is sure to be a fan favorite.  A long-time resident of New Hampshire, "Milo" loves racing and entertaining.

"'Milo' will be the star of the show for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301," said Jerry Gappens, executive vice president and general manager of the speedway.

Track Facts LENOX Industrial Tools 301 (NSCS)

Track Facts Heluva Good! 125 (NCWSE)

Milton, Vermont's Brent Dragon dominates the Series ACT Castrol Riverside 100 stock car race at Riverside Speedway in St-Croix, QC. Dragon made the trek up north after finding out the Nutmeg State make-up scheduled at Waterford Speedbowl was cancelled. After taking the initial green in the 12^th position, Dragon worked his way through the field to take the lead from Daniel Descoste on lap 23. Donald Theetge and Sylvain Lacombe both pressured Dragon late in the race but to no avail.

Modified fans everywhere can follow all the race action from New Hampshire Motor Speedway June 27, as NASCAR has announced that play-by-play audio for the New England 100 will be streamed live on www.nascarhometracks.com, the official site for NASCAR's touring and weekly series.

The "Carey & Coffey Show," which airs on Sunday's from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and streams live at www.careyandcoffey.com

Fans have the unique chance to walk in the tire tracks of their favorite NASCAR heroes during the Motor Racing Outreach and Speedway Children's Charities Track Walk on New Hampshire Motor Speedway's oval.

On Saturday, June 27, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., fans can walk the track for a good cause, alongside current NASCAR stars Bobby Labonte, Joe Nemechek, and Sam Hornish, Jr.

New and enhanced trackside safety fencing is up along the grandstand sides of the racing surface at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Approximately 3,400 feet of fencing was installed. The lower portion is reinforced with six strands of 5/8-inch, high-strength cable, while the upper portion consists of sixteen strands of 3/8-inch cable. "Wheel fence" arch posts also raise the overall height of the safety fence to over 21 feet.

Sean Kennedy of Dunrobin, Ontario won the Toromont CAT 100 at his hometrack, Capital City Speedway. Kennedy took the lead from another local Matt Moffiitt on lap 25 and never looked back. The Capital City Speedway regulars used their experience on the third-mile oval to their advantage and two of them finished in the top five.

In preparation for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 Race Week activities, and to better serve customers, New Hampshire Motor Speedway officials have extended their ticket office hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Sunday.

After a great audition session, three finalists will move on in the competition to be the first mascot at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.  Brianne Corey of Manchester, N.H.; Sarah Beth Immonen of Raymond, N.H.; and Justin Martel of Manchester have qualified to take the next step towards performing in front of over 105,000 NASCAR fans, representing the speedway at numerous civic functions, being a part of the world of major league mascots, and receiving a $1,000 signing bonus!

On Friday, June 5th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Veterans Park in Manchester, N.H., New Hampshire Motor Speedway is having an open casting call to choose the first mascot for the largest sports and entertainment complex in New England.  If you are an entertainer with a dynamic and outgoing personality, we are looking for you!

Dave Pembroke of Montpelier, Vt. takes home the win in the 47^th Annual Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic. Pembroke chased leader Joey Polewarczyk for the first 82 laps before Pole lost control off the top of turn 3. Pole ran the high groove while Pembroke attempted to get by on the inside. Pole broke away from the field while working through lap traffic. After the caution on lap 82 for Pole, Pembroke couldn't be touched.

Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. battled Ricky Rolfe during the early stages of the New England Dodge Dealers 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway as the first 84 laps were run caution free. After one of the two cautions Rolfe had carburetor issues and fell back. Polewarczyk took advantage of the opportunity and broke away from the field chased by Tim Brackett. Brackett and Polewarczyk swapped the lead with Polewarczyk running exclusively in the outside groove.

"David had the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of legendary motorsports journalist Tom Higgins.  His success came from bringing his own style, direction, unique vision and perspective to his coverage of motorsports.  David always spoke his mind and wasn't afraid to hold people accountable.  He was always fair and made us better at what we did.  We will miss David's spirit, generosity, principles, and friendship.  We extend our deepest sympathies to his wife, Karen, and his entire family."

In celebration of Earth Day and as a part of its "Green Team" initiative, officials of New Hampshire Motor Speedway announced a plan today to plant additional trees throughout the 1,200-acre facility.

Between now and the end of the day on April 30, speedway officials will plant a tree for every ticket sold to the June 28 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 in honor of the devoted race fans who support the largest sports and entertainment venue in all of New England.

Win a Fully Stocked Site Commander Mobile Office from LENOX! 

Ever want to see a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car up close?  Well, now you can!

Introducing one of the best bargains in professional sports, New Hampshire Motor Speedway is offering fans three days of NASCAR racing for just $99 with their new MegaTicket for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 and SYLVANIA 300 weekends.

A $150 value if purchased separately, the MegaTicket includes reserved seating for the NASCAR Sprint Cup events in the MegaZones, located in a special section of the Concord and Laconia grandstands and general admission seating for Friday and Saturday.

"Stanley ‘Stub' Fadden was a true racing legend and an icon here in the northeast.  On and off the track, he was well-respected and admired by so many.  Racing and family were two of his passions.  He loved racing with his grandson, Mike Olsen, and that was evident to even the most casual observer.  Stub leaves a wonderful legacy with the many people he has impacted.  His spirit will always be with us.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Charlotte, and his entire family."

Qualified customers purchasing an RV at Camping World of New Hampshire, the Official RV Dealer of New Hampshire Motor Speedway, will receive a free, ultimate race weekend ticket package to the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 event weekend. The offer is good only at their Chichester, N.H. location.

This package starts with a camping spot in one of the speedway's camping lots.  It also includes two tickets to Heluva Good! Pole Day on Friday, June 26 featuring the stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 and non-stop racing action in the NASCAR Camping World Series East Heluva Good! 125.

With Opening Day just over a month away, New Hampshire Motor Speedway will gear up for the 2009 season with an exciting, interactive display at this weekend's SpeedwayEXPO ‘09.

The region's largest motorsports trade show runs from this Friday through Sunday in the Mallary Complex at the Eastern States Exposition Center in West Springfield, Mass.

LENOX, a leading manufacturer of premium power tool accessories, hand tools, torches, solder and band saw blades, announces the top 10 finalists in the LENOX Extra Mile Hero Contest.

In 2008, LENOX officially kicked off the LENOX Extra Mile Hero Program with NASCAR driver Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 LENOX Industrial Tools RCR Chevrolet, by asking customers to submit stories of people they considered heroes; users and suppliers of industrial tools who go the extra mile for their community. 

Due to the overwhelming and enthusiastic response by fans, New Hampshire Motor Speedway will continue the "FansFirst Four Pay" program for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 on Sunday, June 28 and the SYLVANIA 300 on Sunday, September 20.

Speedway officials created this new, innovative interest-free payment option in response to the economic challenges that our fans and our country are facing today. 

The fourth and final day of the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway began with breakfast presented by Aflac, primary sponsor of the No. 99 Ford driven by Carl Edwards.

Tuesday's NASCAR Sprint Media Tour schedule started with a breakfast and press conference hosted by Ask.com at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Concord Convention Center.

With event ticket renewals completed, New Hampshire Motor Speedway officials announced today that the limited number of tickets remaining for the Sunday, June 28 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 are now on sale.

In addition, speedway officials also announced a new, innovative interest-free payment option available for 2009 ticket orders.

Bob Bahre, founder and former chairman of New Hampshire International Speedway, received the Buddy Shuman Award today during the 2008 NASCAR National Motorsports Press Association Myers Brothers Media Luncheon in New York City.

The Buddy Shuman Award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to NASCAR racing and is in remembrance of the late Buddy Shuman, a pioneering NASCAR driver who tragically lost his life in a hotel fire in 1955.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Foundation, and Nationwide Insurance have joined together to encourage local residents to help save a life at the Annual Town of Loudon Blood and Marrow Drive.

The drive is scheduled for December 2 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Arthur Colby Safety Building on 8 Cooper Street in Loudon, N.H., and is sponsored by the Loudon Police Department and the American Red Cross.

Late Model stock car drivers will get their first superspeedway experience next year as New Hampshire Motor Speedway will host the inaugural American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Invitational during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series SYLVANIA 300 weekend on September 17-20, 2009.

The Invitational will have a purse of more than $65,000 for invited and approved teams that attend the historic, groundbreaking event for Late Model stock car racing.

The stock market may be erratic, but New Hampshire Motor Speedway is doing their part to help race fans stem the tide of economic uncertainty with their Economic Stimulus Reward program.

Seventeen lucky guests will really enjoy their next trip to a Hannaford Supermarket with $300 of grocery cards to spend.  An additional 10 fans will be rewarded with a pair of pre-race pit passes to the June 28, 2009 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the first event in the "Race to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup."

Gain a new perspective of New Hampshire Motor Speedway before coming to the 2009 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 in June and the SYLVANIA 300 in September while learning to drive like a professional at the Richard Petty Driving Experience.

The Richard Petty Driving Experience will be offering two different classes during this session.  The Rookie Experience will be held on October 10, 11, and 12, and the King's Experience will be run on October 10. 

For 31 race fans, the SYLVANIA 300 was a very lucky day.  New Hampshire Motor Speedway officials distributed over $30,000 in rewards in the second round of the Fan Appreciation Economic Stimulus Program.

This program was implemented at that start of the 2008 season to recognize fans for their support of NASCAR racing at New England's largest sports facility.

Eldar Dutra of Taunton, Mass. has been selected to receive the ultimate reward from round two - a 2008 Chevrolet Malibu.