DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The celebratory Fourth of July pyrotechnics going off along the backstretch following Saturday night's NASCAR race at Daytona International Speedway were nothing compared to the last-lap fireworks show minutes earlier on the frontstretch.
Two-time NASCAR champ Tony Stewart muscled his way by Kyle Busch about 100 yards before the finish line -- holding his line as Busch tried to block him. Ultimately, Stewart was able to get his nose in position for the pass. When Busch tried to stop Stewart's final push, the two cars collided and Busch's car spun out, hitting the wall and paving the way for Stewart to capture the victory.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. met with reporters briefly Friday and seemed pretty much resigned to the fact that he won't be making the 12-driver Chase for the Championship this season. He's currently ranked 19th, 285 points behind 12th place Juan Pablo Montoya with nine races remaining before the Chase field is set Sept. 12.
"It's going to be a real challenge for us to make the Chase,'' Earnhardt said. "We're still mathematically in it but we're not trying to catch just one guy. .. we're trying to catch four or five guys. And it's unrealistic to expect all them guys to have enough trouble.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Jeremy Mayfield did not bring his race team to Daytona International Speedway Thursday, despite getting the go-ahead from the U.S. District Court in Charlotte on Wednesday.
Mayfield, an owner-driver in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR on May 9 after allegedly testing positive for methamphetamine on May 1. He has repeatedly denied that he took the illegal drugs, insisting the test was a false positive -- the result of mixing a prescription drug and a common allergy medication.
Mayfield has sued NASCAR over the test results, and Wednesday U.S. District Judge Graham Mullen ruled he could compete until his trial, saying the damage to Mayfield's reputation and career exceeded the potential damage done to NASCAR.
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CONCORD, N.C. - No, there's no racing at Florida's Daytona International Speedway this weekend, but that hasn't stopped the rain from putting the home of the Daytona 500 in the spotlight.
As of Friday morning, the National Weather Service monitoring station at the Daytona International Airport (which sits just outside the 2.5-mile track's backstretch) had recorded some 18.54 inches of rain in the month, with over 17 inches of that coming in the last few days.
The substantial precipitation has created some amazing sights at the track as the infield lake has flooded onto the backstretch and the infield access tunnels have been nearly filled to their brim.
Kyle Busch finished first in a race for the second time in a week. Unlike the first one, this win will actually stick.
It's a little early to call since the race just finished, but as far as I know, Busch's team did not have to cheat to put him in victory lane this morning in his 100th Busch Series entry.
Shrub had the fastest car and kept it out front most of the day. Kevin Harvick, who had a most impressive 2nd place finish after a few setbacks, was really the only other contender.
Compared with the Late Model race he ran last weekend at All-Star Speedway in New Hampshire, I'll bet that Busch is a lot more satisfied with today's win.
6:00AM is a little on the early side to get up and watch racing, but apparently not too early to roll out of bed and onto the couch and wait for the eyes to open.
It's also, apparently, not too early to get annoyed with race commentators. This morning, it's Rusty Wallace on my nerves.
I actually started getting annoyed with Wallace last night when I heard about the comments he made with respect to Dale Earnhardt Jr. firing Shane Huffman. Wallace said it was a mistake, that Huffman was a good short track driver. Then he called Junior out for qualifying 35th and basically said the car was junk no matter who drove it.
Wallace changed his tune bright and early in Daytona when, by lap 16, Junior had driven the #88 from the back of the field up to the 13th spot. They talked about what a great car the team had and Wallace even went as far to say that if Junior was on a list of available drivers to run at Daytona International Speedway, he'd sign him up.
Ya think?
'Course, Junior and his junk have fallen back to 22nd by now, so I probably shouldn't be talking smack either, but hey, I've downed three cups of java in the past hour and a half--I'm a little punchy.
I liked Rusty a lot better when he was behind the wheel of the #2. I liked the Miller Lite Dodge a lot better then, too, but that's another story.
Aw, what's that, Steven Wallace is out of today's race? Maybe he should consider driving for a team that doesn't have a crap car.
Before heading to Daytona, the NASCAR drivers are getting their Fourth of July celebrations on--and you should be, too.
Kevin and Delana Harvick will spend the day hanging out with family and friends, enjoying food and fireworks.
Elliott Sadler and his girlfriend headed out to the Sadler family vacation spot in Nags Head, N.C. and will spend time at the beach and on the golf course.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is holding court and sipping a Bud somewhere silently evaluating potential drivers to replace Shane Huffman.
Jimmie Johnson is polishing his ESPY Award acceptance speech.
Track officials at the egg-shaped Darlington Speedway announced this week that this Saturday night's NASCAR Nextel Cup event has sold out for the third straight year. Which, of course, begs the question.
Why, NASCAR, aren't we racing at Darlington on Labor Day? If they can sell it out on Mother's Day weekend...
...well you get the point.
It's good to see the Lady in Black shimmering in some glory. New grandstands, lights, and other capital improvements have all done wonders from the speedway and more are still on the way for one of NASCAR's crown jewels.
It's just gotta make you feel darn good inside to realize that NASCAR fans still understand what a good race track is -- no matter the location.
I'd be down for a Saturday night, Labor Day Weeked, knock-em out,drag-em out Southern 500 for sure. We'll get to that point in baby steps, though, especially if sell-outs keep happening.
50th Daytona 500 Tickets On Sale Tomorrow [May 9]
Tickets will be available for the 2008 edition of the Daytona 500 starting Wednesday morning. The 50th running of the event is sure to be one heckuva spectacle, and if the finish is 20% of this year's race to the checkers, the cost of admission is worth that alone. Get the good ones 'fo they gone.
The superspeedway races have certainly seen some of the more spectacular crashes in NASCAR history. They range from hit-n-runs causing a single car to go flying to pileups involving half the field or more.
Kyle Busch's wreck on Saturday was reminiscent of Tony Stewart's airborne roll crash last year and Elliott Sadler's in 2003 and Ryan Newman's at Daytona and ...
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s primary sponsor, Budweiser, would prefer to run their signature red Bud car on the track every week, keeping consistent with the brand's identity.
Dale Jr. likes to switch things up. Every now and then, Budweiser lets him. Especially, when it's for a good cause.
The Paint This season Junior will run at least two special paint schemes--both of them patriotic.
In May, Junior joins a handful of other Chevy drivers paying tribute to the military with special armed forces paint schemes in the Coca-Cola 600. The camouflage design is a complete deviation from his standard scheme.
In July, he will run a red, white and blue scheme for the Pepsi 400 at Daytona designed by his buddy Kevin King, who does all of the designs for JR Motorsports.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The celebratory Fourth of July pyrotechnics going off along the backstretch following Saturday night's NASCAR race at Daytona International Speedway were nothing compared to the last-lap fireworks show minutes earlier on the frontstretch.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Catching up on the news and notes trackside at 
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- 
CONCORD, N.C. - No, there's no racing at Florida's 
Kyle Busch finished first in a race for the second time in a week. Unlike the first one, this win will actually stick.
6:00AM is a little on the early side to get up and watch racing, but apparently not too early to roll out of bed and onto the couch and wait for the eyes to open. 
Before heading to Daytona, the NASCAR drivers are getting their Fourth of July celebrations on--and you should be, too.
Track officials at the egg-shaped Darlington Speedway 
The superspeedway races have certainly seen some of the more spectacular crashes in NASCAR history. They range from hit-n-runs causing a single car to go flying to pileups involving half the field or more.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s primary sponsor, Budweiser, would prefer to run their signature red Bud car on the track every week, keeping consistent with the brand's identity. 
