Category: NASCAR
Construction Restricts Daytona 500 Traffic To One Lane
DAYTONA BEACH, FL—Construction crews working to patch the rippled and broken asphalt of Daytona International Speedway reduced traffic to a single lane during last Sunday’s Daytona 500, resulting in average speeds of 35 miles per hour. “It’s bad enough that they can’t get this fixed during the week,” said race winner Jamie McMurray, who finished in just over 15 hours. “And NASCAR doubles the fines for speeding in work zones, so there was nothing we could do.” Disagreeing with McMurray was Emilio Ramirez, operator of the No. 0563 Rolaids/Chick-fil-A Caterpillar road grader, who earned time-and-a-half for the race and called the event a “rousing success.” – TheOnion.com
Matt Kenseth Gets New Crew Chief
Jamie McMurray: There’s no crying in NASCAR!
Harvick loses the draft on the final green-white-checkered allowing the Bif to push his old teammate to the finish line at the Daytona 500. Congrats to Jamie, but damn, pull it together bro. You’re wife and dad are watching. A stupid pothole and a bad final pit stop are in my opinion the reason Harvick doesn’t win his second Daytona 500. Lame!
Miss Sprint Cup 2010 now a three-some

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Sprint on Wednesday introduced the 2010 Miss Sprint Cup lineup to the media, as well as fans who follow the program via social media, during Speedweeks in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Returning for her third season as Miss Sprint Cup, Monica Palumbo was joined by newcomers Paige Duke and Amanda Wright in the media center at Daytona International Speedway, as the program expands to three representatives in 2010.
Palumbo is a native of Charlotte, N.C. Duke and Wright hail from Lancaster, S.C., and York, Maine, respectively.
Top Row: Amanda Wright 5′ 4″ 120 lbs 34-26-37 Bottom Row: Paige Duke 5′ 4″ 108 lbs 32-22-34
Monday Links – San Diego Supercross, Local News Updates, Olympics Nearing, Danica To Race Saturday
What a game, what a weekend! Congrats to Drew Brees and the Saints for their victory over Payton and Co. in Super Bowl #??. Danica made her stock car debut and finished 6th in the ARCA race at Daytona on Saturday and Kevin Harvick edged out his second straight victory in the Budweiser Shootout. Mark Martin and Dale Jr. will be on the front row for Sunday’s Daytona 500 and the rest of the field will be sorted on during the Gatorade Duels on Thursday. Here are the rest of the headlines…
San Diego Supercross – Check out TransWorld Motocross’ coverage of San Diego Supercross, where Davi Millsaps pulled off his first victory in nearly 2 years. The boys at TWMX were also nice enough to put together a gallery of the ladies of San Diego Supercross for those of us who didn’t want to sit in the rain, unfortunately it’s a pretty weak gallery. Where are the crowd shots? That’s where the hotties are. Anyway, I caught a bit of the coverage on Sunday morning and it wasn’t as muddy as I thought it would be and seemed to be a pretty good race in the final.
Local News: Thousands Visit Jade Buddha In Escondido – Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike descended upon the Phap Vuong Monastery in Escondido on Sunday to witness the unveiling of the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace, the largest Buddha ever carved from jade in the world. The statue is on the North American leg of its world tour. Monastery officials estimated that by 2 p.m., more than 10,000 visitors had participated in the event. The Buddha will be on display in Escondido through February 16th.
Local News: Animal Waste Used To Ward Off Protesters – An Oceanside animal hospital is using three large bins filled with animal feces set near the edge of its property to try to ward off labor-union members who have been picketing the place for months because the hospital used a nonunion contractor in some of its construction work. “We put it out there every day to discourage them,” said Lisa Hamilton, administrator of Mission Animal and Bird Hospital on Benet Road at Highway 76. She declined to discuss the matter further, saying inquiries were being handled by veterinarian Robert Cartin. “It smells awful,” said Abraham Bustamante of Carpenters Local 1506, pointing out the bins on Friday. Bustamante said the odor is so bad, particularly on warm days, that picketers often wear masks to filter the air they breathe.
Local News: Drunk Driver In Encinitas Rams Sheriff’s Deputy – A suspected drunken driver crashed into the back of a Sheriff’s patrol car late Sunday night in Cardiff, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. Deputy Steve Johnson had stopped at the intersection of South Coast Highway 101 and Chesterfield Drive when the crash occurred, said Sgt. William Dreyer. The deputy was taken to Scripps Encinitas Hospital for treatment of minor injuries and was later released. The driver of the car, Troy Otillio, 44, was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence, Dreyer said. Otillio was not injured in the crash, the sergeant said.
Olympic Athletes Confused By Social Networking Guidelines – There are some restrictions on what athletes can do online during the Olympics. According to the IOC Blogging Guidelines for the 2010 Games, athletes and other accredited people must keep their posts confined to their personal experiences. “You can’t act as a journalist if you aren’t,” says Condron. “You need to do things in a first person way.” Rule 49 of the Olympic Charter says that “Only those persons accredited as media may act as journalists, reporters or in any other media capacity.” The other most significant restriction on athletes posts is a ban on references to sponsors or advertisers who aren’t official Olympic partners. – I used to enjoy watching the Olympics as a kid but after being exposed to all these guidelines set forth by the IOC, I’m growing to despise them. At work, we’re one of their media partners so we have to deal with some of their ridiculous guidelines.
Danica Adds Daytona To Nationwide Schedule, NASCAR Premiere – JR Motorsports’ general manager Kelley Earnhardt has announced Danica Patrick will make her NASCAR and Nationwide series premiere this weekend at Daytona. Patrick, the only woman to win an IndyCar Series race, had considered not competing at Daytona because of the uniqueness of restrictor-plate racing and also the number of Sprint Cup drivers in the event. But having survived a spin and moving from the back of the pack to near the front during the ARCA race, Patrick felt as if she progressed enough to make her NASCAR debut on NASCAR’s biggest stage a day before the Daytona 500. “The ARCA race was a blast, and I’m not ready for my first Daytona Speedweeks to end just yet. I want more racing,” Patrick said.
Harvick wins back-to-back Bud Shootouts
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A bout with the flu and a lack of practice time didn’t seem to bother Kevin Harvick, who won Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway for the second consecutive year.
In a green-white-checkered finish, Harvick took the lead on Lap 75 and earned the win when caution froze the field after a push from Jeff Gordon’s Chevrolet spun Greg Biffle’s Ford in Turn 3 and ignited a multi-car wreck that trashed the car of polesitter Carl Edwards, among others.
“I was sick on Thursday and didn’t even get to see a lap in the car, but this thing was a rocket, man,” said Harvick, the fourth back-to-back winner in Shootout history. – See The Video
Quote of the Day – Jimmie Johnson on Sam Hornish
El Cajon’s Jimmie Johnson has provided the quote of the day during an interview yesterday while discussing open wheel drivers making the transition to stock cars amid Danica Patrick-mania:




