NASCAR BLOG

The first race of the 2011 Chase For the Sprint Cup will be held just outside Chicago, IL at the Chicagoland Speedway. The announcement could be a sign that NASCAR is looking to tap into the massive Chicago market by awarding the city one of the 10 Sprint Cup races. Chicagoland Speedway  played host to the LifeLock.com 400 last month that saw underdog favorite win his second Sprint Cup Series race. The 1.5 mile track has also hosted the Dollar General 300 on the Nationwide Series since 2001. Kyle Busch claimed the $81,570 prize last year finishing in 1st place. Located in Joliet, IL, the Chicagoland Speedway has been in operation for nine years. The $130 million stadium seats 75,000 spectators on race day. The Chase For the Sprint Cup opening race in Joliet will be followed by a race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway had a feel-good ending this weekend with driver David Reutimann coming away with his second career win on the Sprint Series. At Victory Lane a host of drivers and NASCAR crew member congratulated Reutimann and his team after the #00 car held off Jeff Gordon for the win. The outpouring of congratulations gave racing fans a in-depth look into Reutimann’s popularity within NASCAR circles. Reutimann’s first win on the Sprint Series came with a boatload of scrunity. The 40-year-old got his first career Sprint Cup win at the Coke 600 last year due to weather conditions. The manner at which his won his first race caused critics to question if he deserved the win. Reutimann put all his critics to bed by leading the race Saturday for the last 32 laps and fending off the likes of Gordon and Carl Edwards. Congrats to David!

Motorsports fans are going to need to find a good NASCAR ticket broker for all of the great upcoming races. The Sprint Cup Series will return to Daytona Motorspeedway this weekend for the Coke Zero 400 on Saturday. Kevin Harvick is right now is the only man keeping Jimmie Johnson from his fifth consecutive Sprint Cup title. The #48 car has already won 5 times already this year and doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. The next race is The LifeLock.com 400 in Chicago where Mark Martin will try to defend his title. Then NASCAR head to Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400 where an expected crowd of 250,000 will watch the world’s best stock car drivers compete. Jimmie Johnson has won the race the two previous years, but former winner Tony Stewart could prove a stiff test. This truly is turning out to be an exciting summer for NASCAR maniacs!

Danica Patrick is riding three IndyCar Top 10 finishes into her first Nationwide race in three months. The 28-year-old race car driver will compete in the NASCAR Nationwide New England 200 at New Hampshire Motorspeedway on Saturday. Patrick’s cross over to NASCAR has seen mixed results. Her first race on the ARCA circuit was a great success as Patrick finished in sixth place at the Daytona Motor Speedway. On the Nationwide, Patrick has wrecked twice in three races, so perhaps we shouldn’t expect the IndyCar star to threaten to win the race. Patrick told the media that she’d be happy with a Top 20 or T0p 15 finish in New Hampshire. Regardless of whatever place Danica finishes on Saturday, there will be a lot of extra eyes on New Hampshire cheering her on.

Perhaps right now is not the best time to be comparing anyone to Tiger Woods, but in terms of dominating his sport, Jimmie Johnson is starting to fit the mold. Johnson has won the last four Sprint Cup Series and he already looks unbeatable this season winning at Fontana and Las Vegas in February. Don’t be surprised if see Jimmie Johnson in the winner’s circle at the Kobalt Tools 500 in Atlanta. Johnson has won seven races each of the last two seasons and doesn’t appear to be slowing down on bit. Some fans are so sick of seeing Johnson win that they’re cheering on anyone who crashes into him. The fact remains that if Johnson keeps up his incredible form on the race track then he should be considered as a elite athlete in the world on par with the a certain Mr. Tiger Woods. If Johnson and his Loews’ Chevrolet can claim another Sprint Cup next year than he’ll half way to a decade of pure dominance. I wouldn’t put it past him either.

NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick has donated two of the planes staffed by two flight crews to non-profit group Missionary Flights International for relief missions to the earthquake ravaged country of Haiti.

The 45-seat planes are used flying drivers and crew members around the country for races during the busy season, but were available during what is traditionally a month break for the pilots and staff. The planes are being used to deliver precious cargo to the thousands of Haitians in need of food, water, and medicine. In addition to dropping off supplies the 10 Hendrick team members that volunteered have been picking up groups of children orphaned by the terrible disaster.

Pilot Dave Dudley told NASCAR.com that his first flight picking up Haitian orphans was the “best flight of his career”. The crew were also able to bring back the corpse of a dead American who perished in earthquake so that the family could have a proper burial back in America. NASCAR teams have raised more than $3 million dollars for the disaster relief which is ongoing in Hati. It has not been determined how long Hendrick Motorsports will continue with the missions to Haiti, but their help has certainly made a impact on many earthquake survivors lives.

Jeff Gordon leads the official Sprint Cup lineup right now, having garnered 634 points over the first few races of the season. Clint Bowyer, a little-known name, is presently in second, and then comes Kurt Busch with 588 points. His brother Kyle is down at #7 right now. However, keep in mind, this is still very early in the season. It’s doubtful that Jimmie Johnson was going to win the cup ultimately last year. But we will have to watch the Busch Bros. Kenseth, Gordon and a couple of other racers over the course of this year. It’s also possible that this works more like a long horse race where there are some horses that automatically start off well and then fall off towards the end and others that hit their stride on the back stretch. The season is only just beginning, but it looks like a good one!

A rainy Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal brought out the grooved rain tires for the first time in NASCAR Nationwide race series this season and Ron Fellows was the proud winner of this race, which is his fourth win in 13 Nationwide Series races. The rain hit the circuit so badly that the race had to be called off with about 26 laps still to race. Ron Fellows was very much excited to win the race and said that he had visibility problems throughout the race. He said that it was very difficult to handle the car on the road because of the slippery conditions. Fellows fans will be buying tickets to future NASCAR races in anticipation of a good showing by the racer.

Fans of Denny Hamlin will be relieved to find out that NASCAR officials will not punish him further when he intentionally brought out a late caution when he raced at the Richmond International Raceway. Earlier at the race on Saturday, he has to race two additional laps as penalty when he halted on the track with a cut tire. During that time, he has less than ten laps remaining before the race ended. NASCAR translated that move as a way to allow Hamlin’s team mate Kyle Busch the upper hand to overtake Dale Earnhardt Jr.

In related news, Michael Waltrip will also not be punished for purposefully wrecking Casey Mears’ car.

Both fans and NASCAR racers will be glad to know that Lowe’s Motor Speedway will soon feature a reliable SAFER barrier lining the inside wall of its backstretch. The proper installation process is expected to be completed right before the track opens its doors to crowds coming for the NASCAR race come May 2008. SAFER, an acronym for Steel and Foam Energy Reduction barriers is a great form of safety and protection for racers. For this matter, Lowe will soon boast an extra 340 feet of SAFER barriers. Humpy Wheeler, responsible track president for Lowe, said that even though this entire project will cost them a whopping $110,000, the wellbeing of NASCAR racers are still number one priority.

The move came about after Jeff Gordon suffered from a terrible crash at Las Vegas last March. He criticized Bruton Smith, owner of both Las Vegas and Lowe’s Motor Speedway on live television for failing to install adequate SAFER barriers.