The combination of NASCAR's safety developments over the past decade likely saved another driver from serious injury or worse Friday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
On lap 34, Mike Skinner dove to the low side of Johnny Sauter, caught the infield grass and spun a complete 360 before plowing head first into the third dogleg of the LMS frontstretch during a Camping World Truck Series event. Another truck collided simulaneously with Skinner, flipping the black No. 5 truck on its side.
Red Bull Racing Team and driver AJ Allmendinger have agreed to part ways for the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Allmendinger is in his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season driving the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota, which currently sits 34th in owners' points.
"AJ is a talented driver and we really enjoyed working with him," said RBRT Vice President and General Manager Jay Frye. "He's come a long way in just two years and we wish him nothing but the best."
That last line -- "we wish him nothing but the best" -- just seems to have a certain Jay Frye-is-totally-BS'ing-us ring to it, doesn't it?
CORNELIUS, N.C. (AP) -Mike Skinner will take over Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 00 Toyota in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, replacing rookie Michael McDowell for the next three races.
Waltrip said Tuesday he asked the veteran Skinner to help the team evaluate where it can improve its on-track performance, as Skinner did earlier this year when he drove five races for Red Bull Racing, replacing A.J. Allmendinger.
"Michael Waltrip Racing is fully committed to our sponsors, the success of our race teams and ensuring Michael McDowell, Josh Wise, David Reutimann and I have the necessary tools to succeed as drivers," Waltrip said. "We've asked Mike Skinner to evaluate areas where we can improve our on-track performance."
Skinner's efforts were a big hit with Red Bull Racing and A.J. Allmendinger especially because he essentially cemented to the race team that what A.J. was feeling and communicating to the team about the car were accurate.
To me though, the best way to improve on-track performance at Michael Waltrip Racing would have been not jumping to a three-car team for its debut in 2007. And it's second step should have been hiring a veteran for the No. 00 instead of stock car novice Michael McDowell for 2008.
If nothing else, A.J. Allmendinger learned one thing from being benched by his team several races ago in favor of Craftsman Truck Series driver Mike Skinner after missing the first three events of the Sprint Cup season.
His No. 84 is bad no matter who drives it.
"It really gave me a peace of mind because I learned more about what each adjustment does, what [crew chief Ricky Viers] likes to hear and I felt better with Mike saying some of the same things I had been saying," Allmendinger said.
In other words, Allmendinger has seemingly learned some about how to talk about how bad is car is, rather than just post bad lap times.
Red Bull Racing had hoped that Skinner could get the No. 84 back in the Top-35 of owner points as fellow team driver Brian Vickers has done in his No. 83 Toyota. That didn't happen, but the No. 84 is only 111 points out of 35th in 40th position.
With Allmendinger coming back to the car for Friday's qualifying Talladega, the team is hoping that the Toyota restrictor plate qualifying package -- which some have said packs some extra horsepower -- will help Allmendinger put the Camry in the field.
Check out all of the NASCAR Fanhouse Daytona Speedweeks Coverage. On Sunday, stop by for the live blog of the 50th Daytona 500 at 3:00pm/ET.
In a race that saw at least 12 of the 36 trucks entered in Friday night's Chevy Silverado 250 wrecked in the first 25 laps, Todd Bodine managed to dodge everything and win his first career race at Daytona International Speedway.
Bodine, driving the No. 30 Germain Racing Toyota, held off Kyle Busch and Johnny Benson for the win.
Busch nearly didn't finish after a big wreck on lap 19 took out several pre-race favorites, including Mike Skinner and Ted Musgrave. Watch below as P.J. Jones, the first driver to ever win a Craftsman Truck Series race in 1996, erupts in a fireball amid the carnage on the backstretch.
Jones was treated and released from the infield care center.
A majority of drivers interviewed blamed Kyle Busch for driving erratically too early in the race and causing the wreck.
Anybody catch the NASCAR Craftsman Series Truck race last night? What a wild finish.
I only caught the last 17 or so laps--when I tuned in championship battlers Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday were running 7th and 8th with only three points separating them in the standings. I almost kept the remote moving ... nothing to see here. But I know better than that.
With four laps to go, Hornaday and Skinner were leading the field on a restart--rookie Chad McCumbee put the moves on both veteran drivers passing them three wide on the low side. Chaos ensued. McCumbee led the next restart and, with a two-lap green / white checker finish, appeared on track to collect his first series win.
McCumbee spun his tires on the restart, though, collecting Jack Sprague and making way for Ted Musgrave to score his first win since his 2005 championship season.
Tony Stewart has been pretty much MIA for any questions from the media in a few of the past Nextel Cup events in the Chase.
Currently, the Home Deport Chevrolet sits fourth in series points, 249 points back of the series leader Jeff Gordon.
Now, I fully realize that Stewart's rule about attending media sessions was clarified after Phoenix this year, and from that I know that he doesn't have to talk to anyone unless he finishes in the top-3.
Let's just say that the top-3 has been elusive for the Indiana driver during the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
Regardless, it just doesn't seem fair to Tony's fans that they have to wait for driver No. 20's comments either from the satellite radio show he hosts or from a press release from Joe Gibbs Racing as an advance press release for the coming race weekend.
As a result, I, as one of your gracious hosts of the NASCAR FanHouse, have posted some thoughts and observations from Stewart about the coming race at Atlanta and his position in points.
"Until somebody comes up and says, 'OK, mathematically you are out of it,' until then, we have a shot," said Stewart.
Hm. That was meaty. I can see why that would be tough to talk about after a race. Right.
"All we can do is just do our job," he said. "Even if we win the race for the last four weeks in a row, there is still no guarantee that we could close the gap.
For the guys who apply the name decals to the Haas CNC No. 66 Chevrolets and the No. 36 Bill Davis Racing Toyota, Monday brought plenty of new work.
Jeremy Mayfield will replace Jeff Green in the No. 66 immediately after departing Bill Davis' ride. He'll be there in 2008 as well.
For the guys who apply the name decals to the Haas CNC No. 66 Chevrolets and the No. 36 Bill Davis Racing Toyota, Monday brought plenty of new work.
Jeremy Mayfield will replace Jeff Green in the No. 66 immediately after departing Bill Davis' ride. With the No. 36 BDR ride available (and lacking a sponsor in '08), Davis hired a pair of Craftsman Truck Series drivers with past Cup experience to finish out the year.
Johnny Benson and Mike Skinner will split those duties. Skinner gets the gig at Atlanta this weekend and then at Texas Motor Speedway while Benson will wrap up the year at Phoenix and Homestead.
With Scott Riggs already announced as a Haas CNC driver for 2007, the driver lineup will completely change at Haas with both Jeff Green and Johnny Sauter on the way out it seems.
He misses the money of Nextel Cup, but says he wouldn't trade his truck for anything.
And what a truck it is.
His #5 Bill Davis Toyota Tundra is "hooked up." So far in the 2007 NCTS season he's sat on two poles and had three wins--the third consecutive one coming in Martinsville.
Martinsville is a special place for him since that is the place he finally got his future wife's attention after he'd been chasing her for awhile. The first meal he and Angie shared was a Martinsville hot dog. He's says then she couldn't even cook a hot dog. But now she has her own cookbook, Race Day Grub (Recipes from the NASCAR family).
Skinner talks about the Martinsville "rectum rockets," his season, IRL driver Helio Castroneves and college basketball in this really fun SpeedFreaks interview (audio).
With all three of NASCAR's national series running at AMS this weekend, schedules will be busy for drivers across the board. Despite the track time, appearances and other commitments, several drivers will have one eye turned towards the NCAA Tournament – especially Brendan Gaughan.
Gaughan is a former college basketball player himself, spending four years as a backup to Allen Iversonat Georgetown University. During his time at Georgetown, the Hoyas made two Sweet 16 and one Elite Eight appearance.
"I don't know if there is a way to really get people to understand what its like to be there and be part of the phenomenon," Gaughan said. "You're 18, 19 years old. You're a child, and you walk into an arena and there are 30,000 people. You walk in there, you know the national media is there, all of the main announcers are there, the entire sports world is there. And you take the court – its amazing."
Gaughan's former team will take the court Thursday night, one day before he takes the track for the American Commercial Lines 200.
Several NASCAR competitors weighed in on the NCAA Tournament, here are their picks:
Brendan Gaughan (No. 77 South Point Resort Chevrolet), NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Final Four Picks: Georgetown, Kansas, Ohio State, Wisconsin Champion: Georgetown "I was there – I got to play it, I got to live it – so for me, for the rest of my life it will be a big part of every March. Whether I'm racing or not, I'll be watching the games – yelling for the Hoyas and loving the Cinderella stories. And when I'm at home in Las Vegas, you'll find me sitting in front of 10 TVs at a Sports Book at the South Point watching every game."
Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge), NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Final Four Picks: Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA "I always let my heart weigh in more than logic and rarely is that a smart move. For my final four, I'll have to go with UCLA, Kansas, Arizona...the Wildcats will have to have miraculous tournament play, but I just have to hang with them since they did get a bid (Kurt attended Arizona for a year prior to deciding to go racing fulltime)... and of course I have to throw the North Carolina Tar Heels in there, too."
Robby Gordon (No. 7 Jim Beam Ford), NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Final Four Picks: Florida, Nevada, Texas, UCLA Champion: UCLA "For the national championship I'm going to stick to my California roots and take UCLA. The Bruins, like my sponsor Jim Beam, know that the stuff inside matters most and that will take them to the title."
Kasey Kahne (No. 9 UAW/Dodge Dealers Dodge), NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Final Four: Florida, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Washington State Champion: Ohio State "I can't overlook our teams from the Northwest. Washington State will make the Final Four. Florida is the defending NCAA champion; the Gators know tournament pressure. Virginia Tech has been a giant killer at times this year. There's just one giant they can't handle...Ohio State. The Buckeyes win the championship this time, just not against Florida."
The combination of NASCAR's safety developments over the past decade likely saved another driver from serious injury or worse Friday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Current Craftsman Truck Series driver Mike Skinner is back in the Sprint Cup Series. 
If nothing else, A.J. Allmendinger learned one thing from being benched by his team several races ago in favor of Craftsman Truck Series driver Mike Skinner after missing the first three events of the Sprint Cup season.
Anybody catch the NASCAR Craftsman Series Truck race last night? What a wild finish.
Tony Stewart has been pretty much MIA for any questions from the media in a few of the past Nextel Cup events in the Chase.
For the guys who apply the name decals to the Haas CNC No. 66 Chevrolets and the No. 36 Bill Davis Racing Toyota, Monday brought plenty of new work.
Could Mike Skinner be having more fun? 
With all three of NASCAR's national series running at AMS this weekend, schedules will be busy for drivers across the board. Despite the track time, appearances and other commitments, several drivers will have one eye turned towards the NCAA Tournament – especially Brendan Gaughan.
