NASCAR Cup Series

Ask a group of NASCAR® fans whom they’d most like to “ride shotgun” with at a race track and, chances are, most of them will say Dale Earnhardt Jr. –NASCAR’s nine-time most popular driver.

Turner Sports’ coverage of the NASCAR Summer Series averaged a 3.1 U.S. HH rating over the six-race schedule, an increase of three percent when compared with last year’s 2.9 U.S. HH rating.

Phoenix International Raceway President, Bryan R. Sperber announced today that NASCAR has moved Gatorade Pole Qualifying for the semi-final race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup to Friday, Nov. 9 at 4:10 p.m.

“We now have a confirmed date for the testing of AJ’s “B” (split specimen) Sample. The test will take place on Tuesday, July 24 at 8 a.m. CDT and be conducted at the Aegis Analytical Laboratories in Nashville."

Bob Osborne is transitioning away from his role as crew chief of the No. 99 Fastenal Sprint Cup team at Roush Fenway Racing, team owner Jack Roush announced today. Roush Fenway veteran Chad Norris will be the crew chief for the No. 99 effective immediately. Osborne will remain with the organization as a senior member of the organization’s management team and steering committee.

What can we say about New Hampshire, the race track, not the state? The action was not exactly gripping, it proved a dandy cure for insomnea, it showed that Denny Hamlin is still tough, but Kasey Kahne was the one celebrating in the end.

Why have the NASCAR races lately been so boring? NASCAR has been shooting themselves in the foot since the implementation of the COT for 16 races during the 2007 season.

13 seconds. That is the average time it takes for a NASCAR pit crew to change all four-tires and fuel the car. One second lost in the pits results in positions lost on the track. That is the pressure that guys like WSC graduates and former football players Drew Molacek and Mark Janssen face each time their car comes in for a pit stop.

During the NASCAR weekend, at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, we learned that races are still won and lost in the pits. On one extreme of the theory eventual Sprint Cup winner Kasey Kahne showed us how well it can work.

Richard Petty won 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Martinsville Speedway, more than anyone else. Now you have a chance to follow in his tire tracks … sort of.