Proceeds raised will go to the NASCAR Foundation. Since 2004, NASCAR Day has united more than 400,000 fans and raised 6.5 million dollars for various charity organizations to help thousands of children lead better lives.
If you'd like to participate, call (877)515-GIVE or online at: NASCAR.COM/NASCARDAY
You can also stop by a participating APlus at Sunoco locations to pick up a 2009 collectible NASCAR Day label pin with a $5 donation.
Saturday night, it'll be a quick dash for cash with no points on the line - just bragging rights and a very cool $1,022,975 paycheck!
21 drivers will set the field for Saturday night's 100 lap race.
Who's in?
All Sprint Cup Series Drivers who have won a race within the past year (last season and so far this season); past All-Star race winners; active Sprint Cup Series champions from the past 10 years; the top-2 drivers of the Sprint Showdown and the driver who wins the Sprint Fan Vote.
The drivers are:
Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart and the 3 drivers that will be determined Saturday night.
There's 8 past All-Star race winners so far in the line-up: Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman.
The Race Rules?
100 laps = 150 miles with 4 segments: 50 laps, 20 laps, 20 laps and the final 10-lap shootout for the win!
Segment 1 - 50 laps with a mandatory green-flag pit stop on Lap 25 at which time teams will be required to change all 4 tires. Segment 2 - 20 laps with the caution flag displayed at the end of the segment for an optional pit stop where teams will be allowed to fuel, change tires and make normal chassis adjustments. Segment 3 - 20 laps with a 10-minute break at the end of the segment. Teams will be allowed to make the same adjustments. Segment 4 - 10 laps with only green-flag laps counting.
One practice session will be held on Friday from 1:30-2:50 with Qualifying at 6:05. TV coverage begins Saturday night at 7 on SPEED.
The Sprint Showdown features the drivers who haven't already qualified yet for the All-Star. It's a 20 lap feature with the top-2 finishers winning their way into the show. The Sprint Showdown opens the All-Star event.
Have you placed your Sprint Fan vote yet? Voting will continue until Saturday night up until race time. If you haven't placed a vote and would like to, click here and go to the Sprint Fan Vote banner on the right hand side of the page. I also posted a link for you on the left hand side of this blog spot.
Jeff Burton's #31 crew won the pit crew challenge in record time Thursday night in Charlotte. They defeated the #43 team of Richard Petty Motorsports driver Reed Sorenson. Btw, Sorenson's crew clocked in at 23.839
It took them all of 22.115 seconds which set an event record! Let me take a second to type out their names as they're only too used to being referred to as "Burton's pit crew":
Curt Bowman (gas man) Andrew Childers (catch-can man) Daniel Blizzard (front-tire changer) Jon Wallace (front-tire carrier) Terry Spalding (rear-tire changer) Chris Martin (rear-tire carrier) Adam North (jackman)
“I’m real proud of them,” Burton said of his crew. “They take it very seriously. They truly are athletes. … These guys work so hard. Ninety-nine percent of the people in this country could not do the fitness program that they do. They put a lot of effort into it, a lot of heart into it. It isn’t just a bunch of mechanics who one day decided to pick up a wrench or a jack. They undergo NFL-caliber training.”
The winning crew receives a $70,000 cash prize and they'll also be the first to make their pit selection for the All-Star race.
There's no slowing Mark Martin down! He jumped out in front with 46 to go and cruised to victory lane! He calls it his "second childhood". We can call it momentum. It's his 2nd win in just 4 races. Career win #37 and his 2nd cup win @ Darlington - 16 years apart.
Martin broke a 97-race winless streak last month @ Phoenix. He finished last @ Talladega, but didn't lose momentum as he comes off a 5th place finish last weekend @ Richmond. Martin announced earlier this week that he would return to run another full-time season next year for Hendrick Motorsports. A decision he obviously can't have any doubts he made now.
"I'm just very, very happy right now," declared Martin once the victory lane celebration was over and he was able to grab a seat. "I don't need to say, you know, we're gonna win a whole bunch more races this year. We're going to race just like we raced this race and all the other ones, and the ones we cross the line first, we'll take the trophy. It could happen. But if not, at least we got two instead of one. That's the way I look at it (smiling). Don't take those kind of answers from me as pessimistic or a lack of confidence. All I want to do is be happy and have fun doing this. If you don't set yourself up for disappointment, then it's much easier." And he adds, "It's okay to have the passion. It's okay to have the drive. But you can't let it tear you apart, you know."
Although Hendrick drivers did not dominate the race, they led for a combined total of just 54 laps. 4 of the 5 Hendrick drivers did finish in the top 10. Great turnarounds for both Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. At one point, each of them were running one lap down. Johnson lead early on, but was trapped by a caution on lap 75 while making a green flag pit stop. He earned a free pass on lap 118. Gordon reported a vibration and backed up through the field. Gordon took the free pass on lap 214. By the conclusion, Johnson was runner up to teammate Martin and Gordon finished 5th. In his first race back in the series since winning @ Talladega, Brad Keselowski came home with a top-10 finish, 7th. Dale Earnhardt Jr's luck still hasn't turned around. He started 26th was as high as 2nd but had bad luck a couple of different occasions in the pits before finally hitting the wall with 25 laps to go. Dale Jr ended his night 27th.
2 more top-5 finishes for the Stewart-Hass Racing drivers. Tony Stewart finished 3rd followed by Ryan Newman. Newman led 48 laps.
Greg Biffle led a race-high 117 laps. Biffle was caught up in one of those racing incidents and hit the wall hard with 70 laps to go. He was still able to come back and pull off an 8th place finish.
Martin Truex Jr led the second highest amount of laps with 61. He finished 6th.
And what about Kyle Busch? He slammed the wall on lap 274 taking him out of contention and ended the night 34th.
Perhaps call it the effects of the full moon, but a new record was set for most cautions for this Darlington race. There were 17 cautions for 73 laps. We saw 23 lead changes among 13 drivers:
M. Kenseth 1-16; J. Gordon 17-22; J. Johnson 23-24; R. Newman 25-71; K. Kahne 72-82; E. Sadler 83-84; K. Kahne 85-115; M. Truex Jr. 116-119; K. Kahne 120; B. Labonte 121-122; G. Biffle 123-161; K. Kahne 162; G. Biffle 163-185; K. Kahne 186; G. Biffle 187-215; Kyle Busch 216; M. Truex Jr. 217-249; Kyle Busch 250; G. Biffle 251-276; R. Newman 277; J. Logano 278-296; M. Truex Jr. 297-320; T. Stewart 321; M. Martin 322-367.
Jeff Gordon extends his points lead by 29 over new 2nd place challenger Tony Stewart.
Official NASCAR press release - conference held at 6pm on Saturday, May 9th
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 9, 2009) – Jeremy Mayfield, driver of the No. 41 car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Tony Martin, a licensed crew member with the No. 34 team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Ben Williams, a licensed crew member with the No. 16 team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, have been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy. All three were found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 7-5 (violation of the NASCAR substance abuse policy) of the 2009 NASCAR rule book.
Mayfield Motorsports Press Release:
“As both a team owner and a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, I have immense respect for the enforcement policies NASCAR has in place. In my case, I believe that the combination of a prescribed medicine and an over the counter medicine reacted together and resulted in a positive drug test. My Doctor and I are working with both Dr. Black and NASCAR to resolve this matter. Mayfield Motorsports remains committed to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the organization will announce an interim owner and a temporary replacement driver early next week. Those roles will commence immediately beginning with next week’s Sprint Open and continuing through Charlotte and beyond.”
Update 5/11: According to USA Today, Jeremy Mayfield said that the use of 2 allergy medicines led to the failed drug test. It's a claim NASCAR said was unlikely. Check out the story - here.
Just about every major sports league makes their list of banned substances public, but NASCAR doesn't. Should they?
Matt Kenseth won under the lights Friday night @ Darlington!
The race had the look of another dominating win by Kyle Busch. He led 143 of 153 laps and all it took was a flat tire caused by debris on the track from a late race wreck to take Kyle from 1st to a 16th place finish. The crowd was cheering as Busch made it down pit road so his team could change the flat.
Chris Trotman/Getty Images
As soon as Busch jumped out of his car, he took off and left the race track without speaking to anyone.
Just before the start of the Nationwide race, Kenseth won the pole for the Sprint Cup Series race and set a new track record for his qualifying lap.
"Today couldn't have gone any better than it did, that's for sure," said Kenseth. "Like I said earlier, it's all really about the cars and the people that work on them and your pit stops and all that. I can't go fast with slow cars, which I proved over the last couple months. It feels good to be able to win one of these things… On the Cup side, it feels good to make changes today, and the car actually reacted to it and seemed to drive a lot better than our stuff has lately, so it's been a good day for us. Hopefully, that will continue (Saturday)."
There were 10 cautions for 32 laps and 4 lead changes among 4 drivers:
K. Busch 1-39; C. Edwards 40-44; T. Raines 45; K. Busch 46-149; M. Kenseth 150-153
Dodging rain drops this afternoon @ Darlington. A shower went through just in time to wash out Nationwide Series qualifying. The starting line-up will be set according to the series rulebook.
The Nationwide Series drivers were able to squeeze in their only practice on the track early in the morning (8:30-11 am). Mike Bliss was fastest. Jason Leffler was second quickest followed by Justin Allgaier, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth.
The last 3 Nationwide Series races were won by Joe Gibbs Racing's #20 piloted for 2 wins by Denny Hamlin and last year by Tony Stewart. Joey Logano is in the 20-ride this weekend. He'll start the race in the 4th starting spot.
Brain Vickers posted the fastest practice speed during the Sprint Cup Series practice session (11:30 am - 1 pm). 2. Greg Biffle 3. David Gilliland 4. Carl Edwards 5. David Stremme
Jeff Gordon was fastest during Happy Hour. 2. Jeff Burton 3. Jimmie Johnson 4. Denny Hamlin 5. Mark Martin
Per Darlington fashion, drivers found the wall. Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Denny Hamlin, Max Papis, Greg Biffle, AJ Allmendinger, Marcos Ambrose and Bobby Labonte scraped the wall during practice. David Stremme, David Reutimann and Scott Speed were forced to go to back-up cars. Sam Hornish Jr took a spin during the final practice session, but didn't cause any damage.
Stewart's "Darlington Stripe" after practice. (Photo by: Chris Trotman/Getty Images)
Sprint Cup Series Qualifying started 40 minutes later than scheduled as the rain had stopped and the track was ready. Matt Kenseth won the Coors Light Pole Award with a lap of 27.394 seconds at 179.514 mph - sets a new a track record. It's the first pole since Kansas, October 2005 and just his 4th pole in 339 series races.
Jimmie Johnson crashed during his qualifying run. He slid in turn 2, hit the wall with the back end then bounced into the interior wall with the front end. Johnson's crew ran out to help him. He was taken to the infield care center and released shortly after. He qualified for the race by owner's points and will start 42nd.
"I hate what happened to Jimmie," Jeff Gordon said after the qualifying set was over. "I know they've got another great car in the truck. They're a championship caliber team. They'll rebound, I'm sure, in a big way."
Jeff Gordon will roll off second. Ryan Newman - third. Sam Hornish Jr - 4th. Joey Logano - 5th. Last week's race winner Kyle Busch qualified 14th.
Saving Abel's video for "Drowning (Face Down)" was just released this week. It features Jeremy Mayfield with cameos by Martin Truex Jr, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers.
Two words that best describe me and my personality: radio and racin'.
I started out as a DJ at the age of 13 during teen dance nights and radio followed soon afterwards. I have over 20 years of broadcast experience. The best thing in life is to wake up looking forward to doing what you enjoy doing and then to be able to make a living out of it... is just incredible and unreal!
I've been a bit of an "adrenaline junkie" all my life. My preference for 'extreme sports' has lead to my love of racin'. I've taken a car out on the track a time or two before, but I have no problem leaving it to the professionals and their deep pocketed sponsors as I get a front row seat and can chat about it on the air!
I hope you enjoy my blog...
