Nascar Rules

[the H team]

Hendrick Motorsports has never won here at Homestead. Until now, apparently.

[the H team]

Keselowski wins title; Gordon wins race Brad Keselowski cruised to the Sprint Cup championship after problems befell Jimmie Johnson. Meanwhile, Jeff Gordon outlasted recent nemesis Clint Bowyer to win the race.

[the H team]

[the H team]

Well another NASCAR car season has come to an end. It took 40 years for Roger Peneske to finally win a Sprint Car Championship, but now he can add that to his illustrious racing career portfolio.
We'll have to wait till February 16th 2013 for the Bud Shootout & the 24th for the Daytona 500. Not sure if i can last that long
Next week it's the Grey Cup & then at least the NFL finishes just as NASCAR starts, so i won't have too much withdrawal.
Till next season NASCAR race fans.


98 Days till Daytona.

[the H team]

CONGRATULATIONS BRAD KESELOWSKI ON YOUR SPRINT CUP CHAMPIONSHIP! Brad Keselowski becomes the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion in his third full season after Jimmie Johnson has drive train issues on Lap 226 of the Ford EcoBoost 400 and retires from the race. For complete coverage, visit NASCAR.COM.

[rockit]

Testing at Daytona

Jr. starts big crash on backstretch...Ooops

New NASCAR.com format...not quite liking it.

[the H team]

---

NASCAR drivers plan a different kind of race


February 05, 2013, Staff report, NASCAR.com
Half marathon beckons on day of Daytona 500 qualifying

Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne would like nothing more than to be the quickest driver during qualifying for the Daytona 500. But first, the Hendrick Motorsports teammates hope to be quick in a different kind of race.

Johnson and Kahne, along with Aric Almirola and Michael Waltrip, will all run in the fifth annual Daytona Beach Half Marathon (13.1 miles), which starts at 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 17 -- the Sunday of qualifying for The Great American Race. It’s the first time the race has been held during Speedweeks.


FULL SERIES COVERAGE
• View all articles
• View all videos
• View all photos


Perhaps the foursome can get one final scouting report on Daytona International Speedway. The race starts on pit road, before the runners eventually exit the track, run over a bridge and onto the beach before eventually ending up in Victory Lane at the finish.
“We all decided this was a perfect run to do,” Almirola said. “It’s during Speedweeks, it’s going to get the race fans involved and it just seems like a lot of fun. We are looking forward to it.”
Of the four NASCAR drivers, Waltrip and Johnson have at least one Daytona 500 win on their respective resumes. Johnson won the 2006 race, and also has a Daytona 500 pole to his credit. His best finish in the past six 500s, though, is 27th (2011, 2008). Waltrip won in 2001 and 2003, and one of his other two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins came during the summer race at Daytona.
Kahne has a pair of seventh-place finishes (2007, 2008) in the Daytona 500 while Almirola has two starts to his credit.

[the H team]

Gen-6 car's Road to Daytona begins in Detroit


Manufacturer brand badges get higher placement, NASCAR announces

DETROIT -- NASCAR used the birthplace of America's auto industry as the kick-off point in the latest phase of the Gen-6 race car's introduction.

During Tuesday's Autoweek Racing Conference -- the first stop on the NASCAR #Gen6 Road to Daytona Fueled by Sunoco -- NASCAR President Mike Helton continued the rollout of the Gen-6 platform, the sport's first revision since 2007.

"We've found that four of five of our fans have an affinity for the brand of car," he said. "A lot of those relationships are even older than the relationship with their favorite driver."


"We'll see what happens when they're door-to-door."
-- Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition

• GET READY FOR NASCAR ACCELERATION WEEKEND
  
  
  • 39
  
  
  
  

During Tuesday morning's panel, Helton announced that the manufacturer's brand badge will now flank the drivers' names atop their windshields.
"We believe this will help build the identity of the driver with the race car and their relationship with the manufacturer," Helton said.

To that end, NASCAR worked closely with Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota to develop new cars that match the profiles of stock models sold in showrooms. This sixth generation of car will more closely resemble the cars fans can purchase.

The new cars feature body panels unique to the Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry and Chevrolet SS, and Kim Brink, NASCAR's vice president of brand, consumer and series marketing, said it’s part of an aim to strengthen the way fans view the cars on the track vis-a-vis the cars sold in showrooms.

"The new car is a game-changer for us in marketing," she said.

Manufacturers usually adapt a race car's design after a production car hits showrooms, but Chevrolet will turn the tables in Daytona when it introduces the 2014 SS. The NASCAR model will race later that evening in The Sprint Unlimited at Daytona, and Jim Campbell of Chevrolet Performance Racing said the automaker will debut the production car in the fan midway at the speedway.

Tuesday's roundtable took place less than two miles from General Motors Corp.'s downtown headquarters.

Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, said the Gen-6 cars also will feature new safety enhancements in the roll cages and are about 150 pounds lighter than last year's models. Feedback from drivers, he added, has been good so far but everyone is waiting to see what happens when the first green drops.

"We'll see what happens when they're door-to-door," he said. "Right now it's just been individual tests and guys driving by themselves."

Also in attendance at the panel session held at the College for Creative Studies were Jamie Allison, director of Ford Racing, and David Wilson, senior vice president of Toyota Racing Development.

The media blitz continues tomorrow at ESPN's Bristol, Conn., headquarters and also will make stops in New York and Jacksonville, Fla., before arriving in Daytona Beach for the start of Speedweeks. The 55th running of the Daytona 500 is Feb. 24.

[the H team]

Countdown to Race Time: 2/24/2013 ~1:20 pm/et17:01:50:30

[the H team]

NASCAR Unveils "Air Titan" Track-Drying Technology: Less than eight months ago, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France tasked the team at the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., with developing a means to shorten the delay caused by rain. The reasons for the initiative were many, but at the top of the list: Fans, whether in the grandstands or watching on television, should not have to wait long before racing resumes following a downpour.
NASCAR announced Phase 1 of France's vision, introducing the Air Titan track drying system that will debut during Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway. This innovative technology, steeped in science and created by the NASCAR R&D Center, will reduce track drying time, improve the racing product and enhance the fan experience  starting this week and including The Sprint Unlimited on Saturday night at 8:00pm/et on FOX.
"In a short amount of time, our talented team at the NASCAR R&D Center imagined, designed and built the Air Titan, an innovative device that will dramatically improve the race-viewing experience for our fans," France said of the initiative's first phase. "With its far-reaching potential and impact, we believe the Air Titan is a big win for the motorsports industry, and eventually will enhance many surface cleaning and drying industries as well."
With the ultimate goal of reducing track-drying time by up to 80%, the NASCAR R&D team took an advanced scientific approach during the production of the Air Titan. Using compressed air, the Air Titan efficiently and reliably pushes water off of the racing surface and onto the apron where vacuum trucks will remove the remainder of the moisture. Jet dryers will follow each Air Titan, drying any excess water that remains on the racing surface.
As part of the Air Titan's testing process, NASCAR enlisted the expertise of the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) in Auburn, Ala., International Speedway Corporation's track construction group, Racing Surface Technologies and QualPro Inc. Additionally, Elgin Sweeper Company, Sullair and Ring Power CAT also provided equipment during the testing, and will be part of the track-drying process at Daytona during Speedweeks. For the immediate future, jet dryers and vacuum trucks will continue to be used during track-drying efforts. Over time, the innovations of the Air Titan will lessen the carbon footprint of track drying, decreasing both emissions and noise pollution. The next evolution in the innovative technology will be to optimize the power source.(NASCAR)(2-12-2013)

[the H team]

New qualifying format should pump excitement into Duels: Even at first glance, it's obvious that changes to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying format will add two important aspects to the process -- opportunity and suspense. Nowhere will that be more in evidence than at Daytona International Speedway, where Cup teams will begin preparation for the Feb. 24 season-opening Daytona 500 this weekend. The scrapping of the top-35 rule, which guaranteed starting spots in every Cup race to the top 35 cars in the owner standings, by definition broadens the opportunity to make the field. In the case of Daytona, it also injects a level of suspense and excitement into the Budweiser Duel 150 qualifying races that's been minimized in the era of the top-35 rule.
For every Cup race this season, the 36 fastest cars will make the field. Rather than, say, 13 go-or-go-homers (non-exempt cars) competing for a maximum of eight starting spots, every team that takes to the track knows one thing. If you're among the 36 fastest, you're in the race. Period. The next six positions -- provisional starting spots -- go to the top six cars in owner points that haven't qualified on speed. The 43rd position is reserved for a past champion not other qualified, provided he participated in the Cup series during the previous season. If there's no past champion to fill the final spot, it goes to the seventh car in the owners' standings not otherwise qualified.
For the Daytona 500 and its unique qualifying format, here's what to watch: As in the past, the front row will be locked in on pole day, Sunday, Feb. 17. After time trials, the starting positions of the fastest two cars will be set, on the pole and on the outside of the front row. The pole winner will lead odd-numbered qualifiers (positions 3, 5, 7, etc.) to the green in the first Duel on Feb. 21. The second-place car in time trials will pace the even-number qualifiers in the second Duel.
The top six qualifiers on Sunday are locked into the race on speed no matter what, but the starting position of the third-through-sixth-place qualifiers won't be determined until the Duels are run. For the past eight seasons, with 35 cars locked in before they ever got to the race track, the functional purpose of the Duels was to set the starting order and to determine which two back markers from each race would ride shotgun on the field at the start of the Daytona 500. This year, things have changed -- dramatically. The Duels will now determine not only the starting positions of the first 32 cars but also who actually makes the race. Finish in the top 15 in your Duel, and you're in the Daytona 500 -- simple as that.
Positions 33-36 are filled by the four fastest cars from time trials that 1) aren't on the front row and 2) don't transfer from the Duels. Positions 37-42 go to the top six cars in owner points not otherwise qualified. The final spot goes to a past champion or a seventh provisional starter, as with the general procedure for all races. If the new format multiplies the suspense of the Duels from a fan's standpoint, it also will lead to some white knuckles inside the race cars. A major wreck in one of the Duels, one that involves a number of top drivers, could create havoc with the starting field.(NASCAR Wire)(2-12-2013)

[the H team]

Countdown to Race Time: 2/24/2013 ~1:20 pm/et10:03:34:17

[the H team]

well here we are race fans at the start of a new NASCAR season with the Sprint Unlimited or better known as the Bud Shootout.

[the H team]

LIVE

• Lap 3:
  
  Greg Biffle leads Martin Truex Jr. with Kahen in third, followed by Aric Almirola and Denny Hamlin.

[heartgirl99]

big crash! at 15 laps