FanHouse FanHouseWarmup

Where: Lowe's Motor Speedway
Time: Sunday 5:45 p.m./EDT
TV/Radio: FOX Sports, PRN Radio
Twitter: In-race updates at FanHouseRacing
Forecast: 64 degrees, 80% chance of rain
Distance: 400 laps (600 miles)
Pole Winner: Ryan Newman
2008 Winner: Kasey Kahne
First-time NASCAR winners have been commonplace at Lowe's Motor Speedway for quite a few years now. Jeff Gordon got his first there as did Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth and Casey Mears.

Sunday night, though, the favorites look to be of the veteran variety.

Where: Richmond Int'l Raceway
Time: Saturday 7:30 p.m./EDT
TV/Radio: FOX Sports, MRN Radio
Twitter: Live updates at FanHouseRacing
Forecast: 60 degrees, 60% chance of rain
Distance: 400 laps (300 miles)
Pole Winner: Brian Vickers
2008 Winner: Clint Bowyer

Who in the world is Russ Friedman? After winning a promotion though Crown Royal, Saturday night's presenting sponsor, Friedman earned himself naming rights to the event in a program that's been going for a few years now.

Friedman, as it turns out, is a veteran of the war in Iraq and has received -- count 'em -- two purple hearts during his service.

Where: Phoenix Int'l Raceway
Time: Saturday 8:46 p.m./EDT
TV/Radio: FOX Sports, MRN Radio
Forecast: Clear, Lows in the 50s
Distance: 312 laps (312 miles, 500k)
Pole Winner: Mark Martin
2008 Winner: Jimmie Johnson


Mark Martin has gotten awful good at starting Sprint Cup races from the front in 2009 in his new Hendrick Motorsports ride, but its the whole finishing part that hasn't gone as planned.

Where: Texas Motor Speedway
Time: Sunday 2 p.m./EDT
TV/Radio: FOX Sports, PRN Radio
Forecast: Sunny, 62 degrees
Distance: 334 laps (501 miles)
Pole Winner: David Reutimann
2008 Winner: Carl Edwards


For the sake of racing in general let's hope that Saturday's Nationwide Series race at TMS will have been nothing like Sunday's Samsung 500. Missed that race? Well, here's all you need to know: Kyle Busch, Kyle Busch and, yep, more Kyle freakin' Busch.

What: Subway Fresh Fit 500
Where: Phoenix International Raceway, Phoenix, Ariz.
When: Saturday, April 12 8:30pm/et FOX
Distance: 312 laps, 500k
Weather: Clear, with a low around 61. East northeast wind around 7 mph.
2007 Winner: Jeff Gordon
Predictions: Keep Reading





Gordon Was Horrible at Texas, Could Be Horrible at Phoenix - All across the NASCAR web world, there's been plenty of talk about how bad Jeff Gordon was one week ago at Texas Motor Speedway.

There's also been plenty wrote about how Gordon scored his first Phoenix victory one year ago in this same race and how that should bode well for a comeback for the Hendrick Motorsports driver.

I just don't see that happening. Remember back to last fall when Gordon was battling teammate Jimmie Johnson for the Cup title and how Gordon flat out struggled to stay in the Top-10. During Friday's practice sessions at PIR, Gordon was a lowly 30th-fast in both practices.

What: Goody's Cool Orange 500
Where: Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Va.
When: Sunday, March 30 1:30pm/et FOX (Green Flag Approx. 2:00pm/et)
Distance: 500 laps, 263 miles
Weather: Rain likely, mainly after 8am. Cloudy, with a high near 39. East wind between 7 and 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Ugh.
2007 Winner: Jimmie Johnson
Predictions: Keep Reading





Rain-proof race tracks, anyone? NASCAR again faces a big time threat of rain Sunday at Martinsville as the keen observers of FanHouse can tell from the title of "Weather" above. Two words about that: