Nascar Blog

Here are the latest videos uploaded from the Daytona 500.

Here are some of the videos that have already been uploaded from today’s Gatorade Duel Races at Daytona.

I didn’t get to watch the Duel’s today, watching the replay of the second one right now, but it looks like the racing is better than it has been.

Here is how they finished in the first Duel:
1 - 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s
2 - 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell/Pennzoil
3 - 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s
4 - 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Cheerios/Hamburger Helper
5 - 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies
6 - 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops/Tracker
7 - 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford Best Buy
8 - 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet U.S. Army
9 - 6 David Ragan Ford UPS
10 - 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont
11 - 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M
12 - 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Express
13 - 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac
14 - 55 Michael McDowell Toyota Prism Motorsports
15 - 13 Max Papis Toyota GEICO
16 - 34 John Andretti Ford Window World Cares
17 - 127 Todd Bodine Toyota Kirk Shelmerdine Racing
18 - 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota NEMCO Motorsports
19 - 37 Travis Kvapil Ford Extenze
20 - 46 Terry Cook* Dodge Whitney Motorsports
21 - 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com
22 - 21 Bill Elliott Ford Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center
23 - 38 Robert Richardson Jr. Ford Mahindra Tractors
24 - 132 Reed Sorenson Toyota Dollar General
25 - 151 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts
26 - 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar
27 - 197 Jeff Fuller Toyota FrontRowJoe.com

Here is how they finished in the second Duel:
1 14 9 Kasey Kahne Ford Budweiser
2 11 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Office Depot/Old Spice
3 2 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target
4 3 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite
5 19 19 Elliott Sadler Ford Stanley
6 17 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Auto Parts
7 9 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot
8 7 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota Kroger Floral
9 12 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine
10 18 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull
11 4 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Crown Royal
12 8 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge Penske Racing
13 15 36 Mike Bliss Chevrolet Wave Energy Drink
14 6 82 Scott Speed Toyota Red Bull
15 13 98 Paul Menard Ford Peak/Menards
16 20 190 Casey Mears Chevrolet Keyed-Up Motorsports
17 10 71 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet TaxSlayer.com
18 21 49 David Gilliland Toyota Warner Music Nashville/Larry the Cable Guy
19 16 7 Robby Gordon Toyota Monster Energy
20 25 175 Derrike Cope Dodge Asset Protect/Strutmasterspro.com
21 1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Amp Energy/National Guard
22 22 09 Aric Almirola Chevrolet Phoenix Racing
23 24 66 Dave Blaney Toyota Prism Motorsports
24 26 192 Mike Wallace Dodge K-Automotive Motorsports
25 27 157 Norm Benning Chevrolet Norm Benning Racing
26 5 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Mobil 1
27 23 26 Boris Said Ford Window World Cares

Here are the starting lineups for the twin 125 Gatorade Duel Races, 54 stock cars total, so, 11 of these guys will go home next week.

Gatorade Duel 1:
1 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com
2 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet U.S. Army
3 21 Bill Elliott Ford Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center
4 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s
5 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Cheerios / Hamburger Helper
6 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s
7 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont
8 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota NEMCO Motorsports
9 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker
10 151 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts
11 6 David Ragan Ford UPS
12 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford Best Buy
13 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac
14 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Express
15 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil
16 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar
17 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies
18 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M
19 132 Reed Sorenson Toyota Dollar General
20 13 Max Papis Toyota GEICO
21 34 John Andretti Ford Window World Cares
22 197 Jeff Fuller Toyota FrontRowJoe.com
23 38 Robert Richardson Jr. Ford Mahindra Tractors
24 37 Travis Kvapil Ford Extenze
25 46 Terry Cook* Dodge Whitney Motorsports
26 55 Michael McDowell Toyota Prism Motorsports
27 127 Kirk Shelmerdine Toyota Kirk Shelmerdine Racing

Gatorade Duel 2:
1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Amp Energy / National Guard
2 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target
3 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite
4 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Crown Royal
5 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Mobil 1
6 82 Scott Speed Toyota Red Bull
7 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota Kroger Floral
8 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge Penske Racing
9 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot
10 71 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet TaxSlayer.com
11 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Office Depot / Old Spice
12 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine
13 98 Paul Menard Ford Peak / Menards
14 9 Kasey Kahne Ford Budweiser
15 36 Mike Bliss Chevrolet Wave Energy Drink
16 7 Robby Gordon Toyota Monster Energy
17 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Auto Parts
18 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull
19 19 Elliott Sadler Ford Stanley
20 190 Casey Mears Chevrolet Keyed-Up Motorsports
21 49 David Gilliland Toyota Warner Music Nashville / Larry the Cable Guy
22 09 Aric Almirola Chevrolet Phoenix Racing
23 26 Boris Said Ford Window World Cares
24 66 Dave Blaney Toyota Prism Motorsports
25 175 Derrike Cope Dodge Asset Protect/ Strutmasterspro.com
26 192 Mike Wallace Dodge K-Automotive Motorsports
27 157 Norm Benning Chevrolet Norm Benning Racing

This year’s Bud Shootout was okay, the bigger restrictor plate didn’t seem to make much difference as far as the race went for me. Harvick won after fighting the flu, I think he said he had no practice time in the car; maybe he should try that more often. It was funny that it didn’t end under green, which I believe is in the rulebook, but, it ended under caution when Greg Biffle lost it while Jeff Gordon was pushing him.

We’ll see if the bigger plate and the changes while help during the Daytona qualifying races and the 500 next week.

“I was sick on Thursday and didn’t even get to see a lap in the car, but this thing was a rocket, man,” said Harvick, the fourth back-to-back winner in Shootout history.

Kasey Kahne came home second in the non-points Cup event, followed by Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. Gordon, Joey Logano, Brian Vickers, Tony Stewart and Juan Montoya completed the top 10 as the race ended under caution one lap beyond the scheduled 75 laps. Source:

Here is how they finished:
1 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil
2 9 Kasey Kahne Ford Budweiser
3 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker
4 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s
5 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Express
6 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont
7 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot
8 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull
9 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Old Spice / Office Depot
10 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target
11 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard / Amp Energy
12 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar
13 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s
14 82 Ken Schrader Toyota Red Bull
15 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M
16 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Crown Royal
17 99 Carl Edwards Ford Scotts Turf Builder
18 71 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet TRG Motorsports
19 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Haas Automation
20 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com PE
21 151 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts
22 34 John Andretti Ford Window World Cares
23 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite PE
24 175 Derrike Cope Dodge Asset Protect/ Strutmasterspro.com

Nascar is apparently taking advice from the fans and from the drivers early this year with some much needed rule changes. The biggest rule change as of now, they are going to allow bump drafting again at Talladega and Daytona.

Thank You!

Last years racing at Talladega was some of the worst racing there ever, and allowing bump drafting again will put lots of action back into Nascar, I hope. I’m sure we’ll have those guys in the back riding around until the end, but now they will be taking a bigger chance of being collected in the big one if they do. Let’s hope so anyway, that should motivate them to race harder the whole race.

Other rule changes:
Increasing the size of the restrictor plate at Daytona. Let’s hope this really boosts the speed at which they can race there. AS safe as these cars are now, let’s have some wrecks!

They also plan to replace the rear wing on the Sprint Cup cars with a spoiler. I think everyone in Nascar, at least that I have heard, will certainly like this one. This will give them more of the old stock car look and surely affect the handling of the race car. They plan on testing the spoiler in March at Charlotte and will make a decision then of when to implement it. Check out some pics here.

They plan on limiting the number of crew members on Nationwide Series teams. This is probably one of those rules to make it cheaper to run the Nationwide series.

Reducing number of races Nationwide Series teams can run without using a sealed engine

Implementing double-file restarts in the Camping World Truck Series

This is already a good start to the season and we haven’t even started racing yet. Now I’m getting a little excited!

“When I heard NASCAR talk about losing the wing and going back to the traditional spoiler that we’ve all looked at for 50 years, I was thrilled,” said three-time Cup champion Darrell Waltrip, a NASCAR on FOX analyst. “Losing the wing will give cars that conventional stock car look. And a bigger restrictor plate will make racing better and drivers happier. It’s a change that a fan won’t see or feel, but the driver will. It will give them so much more throttle response. It’s like swapping a four cylinder engine for a V8.” From Fox Sports

A couple more changes have been announced at California and Phoenix; the California race that is in the Chase will change from a 500 mile race to a 400 mile race, they say it will help make it an even better race than last years. They are also changing the distance at Phoenix, but this one is going up, from 312 miles to 375, changing the whole complexion of that race.

Here are some great videos from the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, the crowd really seemed to enjoy Tony Stewart taking out Kyle Busch. I know I did.

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Changing subjects for a moment (though still on a tangent of one of our current subjects, the Daytona 500) - in honor of Chevy’s release of the 638 HP supercharged ZR-1, we’ll jump back in time one year to remember their 2008 Z06 Daytona pacecar. Since its inception, Chevy has been linked to NASCAR, and 2008 and 2009 are no exceptions. Though Chevy chose a Camaro to pace the Daytona 500 this year, the 50th anniversary of the running of the Daytona 500 in 2008 was marked by Chevrolet fielding a special edition Z06 for NASCAR’s biggest, richest, and most prestigious race.

In honor of this historic event, the 2008 Chevrolet Z06 Daytona 500 pace car sported a custom white, gold, red, and blue flame-style paint scheme and, of course, a integrated light bar and strobe system. It also had the notable characteristic of being purely powered by E85 ethanol. But regardless of its power source, under the hood, the Z06 remained almost identical to the version available directly to consumers - and no wonder, seeing as its specs put it already in the realm of supercars. In fact, its horsepower topped that of the NASCAR Sprint Cup cars that it paced. With its trademark Corvette Z06 wheels, this head-turning pacecar was a marvel of engineering and style.

Off the track, Chevrolet made sure that consumers were able to obtain a commemorative edition Corvette for themselves. For those lucky enough to want to own the car and have the means to do so, the "base" Z06 represented a hefty $25,000 price premium over the base coupe. The Indy pace car that was made available to the public, however, was not a Z06; but in exchange, its pricetag of $59,090 for the coupe was significantly less than the $71,000 required for an entry-level Z06. Each commemorative edition was number, featured titanium seats, and sported a Z06 Corvette spoiler.

The Corvette, the Z06, and especially the newly released ZR1 are the embodiment of American ingenuity and muscle car might; and Chevrolet’s clear dedication to high performance through their continuing relationship with NASCAR is something that we can all enjoy, and should. Even cars such as the commemorative Corvette from 2008 are something we NASCAR fans can be proud of, even if we don’t own one. So after this little stroll down NASCAR muscle car memory lane, if you’re a fan of the Corvette, don’t forget to wear your Corvette t shirt out this summer to the track to show your support for our American car companies. Lucky enough to own an actual Corvette, as well as a full closet of Corvette t shirts? Then drive it loud and proud - with a nice loud exhaust from an American aftermarket Corvette parts company - and show your support for Chevrolet - and by extension, your love for motorsports such as NASCAR.

Here are some of the latest Daytona 500 videos we have posted to our video section.

Matt Kenseth did something I don’t remember him being all last season, lucky, and another he had never done before today, win the Daytona 500. Matt Kenseth won the rain shortened 51st running of the Daytona 500 today, after passing Elliott Sadler on the very last green flag lap. I bet Elliott is kicking himself right now. This was also Jack Roush’s first Daytona 500 win in 20 years as an owner, in an article posted at Nascar.com, Roush and Kenseth both did not believe it would happen today.

One day before the Daytona 500, Matt Kenseth confided in his wife Katie that he was tired of no longer being a serious title contender on NASCAR’s premier series, and harbored no illusions about his chances in the sport’s biggest race. On the morning of the Daytona 500, Jack Roush woke up feeling pessimistic as always, those two decades of close calls and near misses on the big race track engrained in his bones. Source: At Daytona, rain washes a team’s pessimism away

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