FanHouse KaseyKahne

SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Tony Stewart is off to such a strong first season as a team owner, he's already open to expansion.

The Sprint Cup Series points leader said Friday he'd consider adding a third team to Stewart-Haas Racing next year if the right combination was available. Although he promised his team not to expand too quickly, their success so far this season has made him consider his options.

"I wanted to make sure we had two cars that were competitive and had a chance to win a championship," he said Friday at Infineon Raceway. "I'm proud of the fact that I think we're at that point. So if the right situation came along, we would entertain it."

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: Lowe's Motor Speedway
Time: Saturday 7:00 p.m./EDT
TV/Radio: SPEED, MRN Radio
Twitter: Updates at FanHouseRacing
Forecast: 63 degrees, 80% chance of rain
Distance: 4 segments, 100 laps (150 miles)
Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson
2008 Winner: Kasey Kahne
The last time rain affected the All-Star event at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon walled his primary No. 24 in a 2001 first-turn crash thanks to rain on the track and later won the event in his backup. While that's a legendary story, the rain isn't -- and it might take center stage tonight.

Fans have just voted Kasey Kahne's win in last year's Sprint All-Star Race the greatest moment in Lowe's Motor Speedway's storied history. After failing to qualify for the race, Kahne lined up on the starting grid thanks to the fans' popular vote, then promptly went out and snapped a 19-month winless streak.

Kahne's amazing effort that night, followed by a win a week later in the Coca-Cola 600, marked one of the best weeks of his Sprint Cup Series career.

The highlight reel has been considerably shorter for him since.

Let's take a quick glance at some of the Richmond post-race storylines:

"We lost the brakes."

Jimmie Johnson, as Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway proved, isn't the racing robot with a switch stuck on "Dominate" we've come to think he is after three-straight Sprint Cup titles. Nope, not even at a track where he's won three of the last four events before Saturday night's race.

In fact, it was an all-around miserable night for the No. 48 after brake problems caused him to spin once, get caught up in another crash and then race the rest of the way with a damaged race car. Unfortunately for the rest of the competition, his 36th-place finish won't be a barometer of his 2009 season.

Less than impressed.

That was pretty much the consensus of drivers following Wednesday's Goodyear tire test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- the sixth test since a tire debacle at the track during last year's NASCAR race resulted in no green flag runs more than 16 laps.

"The tires still are not ideal,'' said Ryan Newman, who represented the Chevrolet contingent in the four-car test. "I know Goodyear is still working on that. It is just a tough situation, man."

TALLEDEGA, Ala. -- Brad Keselowski did what any driver would do.

It was the last lap, and he had a shot to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race. So he held his line and powered forward.

That the ensuing collision between his Chevy and Carl Edwards's Ford as they approached the finish line resulted in Edwards taking a frightening airborne ride into grandstands fencing and injuring seven fans had less to do with Keselowski than the innate dangers of restrictor plate racing.

In fact, NASCAR started putting restrictor plates on the cars at its two super speedways in Talladega and Daytona because of a similar airborne accident at Talladega in 1987. The idea was to control speeds. Roof flaps developed in the 1990s were supposed to keep the cars on the ground.

And so the 25-year-old Keselowski, whose win came in only his fifth Cup start, didn't make apologies for the racing.

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On Friday evening we caught up with one of NASCAR's most popular drivers, Kasey Kahne, for a live chat in which Kahne spent time answering the burning questions of his fans.

Among the topics Kahne touched on were his confidence in his car, the rumors swirling around his sponsorship status, his favorite track (and which one needs the most work) and what he did on his birthday.

Check out the full chat transcript after the jump.

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.