Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona will mark the official midway point of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Naturally, it's a great time to review what we've seen so far from the Cup boys, their teams, the series and the tracks. First, we'll start with the not-so-hot performers: Motorsports FanHouse Grade: F
Dale Earnhardt Jr.- It's been easy to see why the season for driver No. 88 has earned a failing grade. He's been slowly -- very slowly -- improving of late, but still has no chance for the Chase in 2009 and has one track left with a great chance to win at -- Daytona.
After what the Charlotte Observer is calling a "loud confrontation" at a Manchester, N.H., hotel prior to last Sunday's Lenox 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, TNT play-by-play announcer Bill Weber won't be returning to the booth in 2009.
The network announced the move Wednesday, and also confirmed that Ralph Sheheen will continue in the replacement role for the final two TNT races this weekend in Daytona Beach and next at Chicagoland.
Sheheen did a bang-up job in his first coverage of a Sprint Cup race on Sunday, but the bigger question surrounds what exactly Weber did to force himself out of the booth for what will ultimately be half of TNT's NASCAR coverage.
Mopping up from a wet finish, here's this week's teenage wasteland edition of Sprint Cup Notes & Quotes. They're Logano-rific!
No. No. No. Rain Tires. No.
Because this is the third time in 2009 that a Sprint Cup race has been halted by rain [congrats, Lincoln Log-ano!], the thoughts of "Why can't NASCAR use rain tires?" are creeping back again.
Well, you want the answer? It's way too simple: the racing would plain suck.
You may have heard or seensome reports this morning connecting Danica Patrick to NASCAR in a very big way, that also heavily impacts the sport's most popular driver. But here's one word of advice: don't read into it quite yet.
The two Sprint Cup Series teammates tangled while battling Mike Bliss for fourth on the last lap, sending Vickers into the wall. On the cool-down lap, Vickers bumped Speed numerous times in retaliation.
What Vickers said, though, likely will have some lasting repercussions on the team.
Humpy Wheeler -- the longtime and now ex-President and General Manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway -- told the Indianapols Star this week that he and his company are in talks with IndyCar officials about promoting the American open-wheel series.
Humpy's name first entered the IndyCar fold after he attended the Indianapolis 500 instead of the 50th-running of the Coca-Cola 600 in May.
You get the feeling this is kind of what the renegade Formula 1 teams wanted all along.
Wednesday, F1 and FOTA [Formula One Teams Association] announced that plans from last week for the international racing series to split in 2010 had been halted after a deal between the two was struck.
Terms of the deal -- while not completely released -- include plans for Max Mosley, the righthand man for F1 chief Bernie Eccelstone, to take a backseat and leave the sport entirely at the end of his term in October, in addition to plans to scrap the class-creating plans for financial cutbacks.
Notes & Quotes comes flying at you this week from the sandy shores of the Gulf of Mexico. I hope you'll pardon my tardniness. Infineon Win a Baby Step for Kasey Kahne at RPM
If you got a chance to read Holly Cain's piece on Kasey Kahne this week, you saw how excited the Washington driver was to be finally finding good equipment at Richard Petty Motorsports. According to Kahne, everything from bodies to engines are coming together at the right time for the team.
That's good news for Kahne fans, but it's even better for the folks running the show at RPM.
Where:Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, Calif. Time: Sunday 5:00pm/EDT TV/Radio: TNT, MRN Radio Twitter: At-track updates at FanHouseRacing Forecast: 78 degrees, Mostly Sunny Distance: 110 laps (218.9 miles) Pole Winner:Brian Vickers 2008 Winner:Kyle Busch
The Storylines
NASCAR's annual trip to wine countryis a highlight of the Sprint Cup season because its one of two trips the series takes to a track that turns right. And as FH's Holly Cain argued earlier in the week, they 'oughta be doing this more.
Perhaps, you could say, Saturday's practice sessions had more twists and turns than the 10-turn road course they happened on.
An favorite, an underdog and a three-time champion were all involved in incidents that should have a good bit of effect on Sunday's 110-lapper at Infineon Raceway, and a rookie even got punted in the support race to accentuate a wild day.
Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona will mark the official midway point of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Naturally, it's a great time to review what we've seen so far from the Cup boys, their teams, the series and the tracks. First, we'll start with the not-so-hot performers:
After what the Charlotte Observer is calling a "
Mopping up from a wet finish, here's this week's teenage wasteland edition of Sprint Cup Notes & Quotes. They're Logano-rific!
Race: Lenox Industrial Tools 301
Veteran 
The rumor that wouldn't stop after the shuffling of 
You get the feeling this is kind of what the renegade Formula 1 teams wanted all along.
Notes & Quotes comes flying at you this week from the sandy shores of the Gulf of Mexico. I hope you'll pardon my tardniness.
Race: Toyota SaveMart 350k
Perhaps, you could say, Saturday's practice sessions had more twists and turns than the 10-turn road course they happened on.
