The pole for Nationwide race in New Hampshire was Brad Keselowski.

After only 30 laps only 20 of the 42 cars in the field were either a lap down or off [...]]]> Author and Stock Car Gazette editor Heather Meyer takes a look in the rear view mirror at this week’s NASCAR racing action in Loudon and Iowa.

The pole for Nationwide race in New Hampshire was Brad Keselowski.

After only 30 laps only 20 of the 42 cars in the field were either a lap down or off track.

The first caution Stenhouse Jr drove in deep on corner under Allgaier and spun.

Carl Edwards had engine trouble.

Lead changes came from pit stops.

Stephen Wallace was a one man wrecking machine.

Kenny Wallace even led by not pitting.

With 70 laps to go only 30 cars left running.

Caution with 33 to go, pit strategy came in, top 5 stayed out, next 9 took gas and 2 tires. How would it play out.

With 25 to go Kyle Busch takes the lead.Multi car wreck with 11 to go started by you guessed it the wrecking machine of Stephen Wallace, taking out Bayne,Sorenson,Clements Logano andWallace .

Causing a Green White Checker finish.

Kyle Busch wins#100 ties Mark Martin’s record 49 series win.

Kevin Harvick sets NNS record all time leader with 199 top 10 finishes.

Kevin Harvick said Mike Helton told him a few weeks ago he would be parked if he got into Kyle Busch .

Sadler is the points leader by 7.

Ty Dillion wins his 5th race this season in ARCA.

Rookie David Mayhew on the pole in Camping World series truck race driving for KHI.

The race was red flagged when Justin Marks hit the inside wall HARD knocking the safer barrier out of alignment. Marks was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

Dillion and Crafton raced side by side late in the race for the lead with Crafton winning the race. Sauter is the points leader.

NASCAR took the winning car from the modified race because there were questions surrounding the restrictor plate. This car was driven by Ryan Newman.

Stewart Haas front row for the cup race with Newman on the pole.

Second caution was for Kyle Busch in the wall with a blown right front tire that had a melted bead. He would return to the race laps down after fixing car.

Keselowski also had a tire issue.

Martin had a tire go down and cause a caution.

Johnson and Eardhardt Jr are having issues in the pits that keep them from winning.

Newman and Stewart finish the way they started 1-2. Edwards takes over the points lead.

This race was a fuel mileage race. TNT’s last race for the season.

Cup series takes a week off before heading to Indy. The Trucks and Nationwide cars are in Nashville this week.

Sprint Cup wasn’t as lucky, they only got one practice in before the storms rolled in and had many taking cover. Qualifying was Saturday and the day dawned clear like nothing had happened [...]]]> The weekend started early with ARCA and Nationwide practice on Thursday. Weather held through qualifying and practice for both.

Sprint Cup wasn’t as lucky, they only got one practice in before the storms rolled in and had many taking cover. Qualifying was Saturday and the day dawned clear like nothing had happened the day before.

The ARCA race was run at 8 am starting the excitement out. What a finish with a young gun using the sling shot move to pass Frank Kimmel for the win. Ty Dillion even got his GrandDad Richard Childres to say he reminded him of Dale Earnhardt with that race winning move, it was also Ty’s dad Mike’s first time back at the track since early March. Amazing how those driving genes went to the grand kids and kids.. (If you watched the Kevin Harvick roast from Daytona you know they teased Mike DIllion about his driving.)

The Nationwide race had 56 lead changes a series record,18 leaders two shy of a record. Remember it only counts at the start finish line here.

Many drivers in both series complained about the two car tandem. Steve Wallace after wrecking said “the stupidest racing I’ve ever been involved with in my life.”

We had drivers like Mike Wallace and Joe Nemechek contending for the win but a Nationwide series first we had 3 Green White Checkers.

The tag line for the weekend that I thought was funny was Beep Beep coming through, saw the dancing partners flex those muscles and move around. Also saw some awesome saves. Something new was cars could lose the draft and not be in complete trouble.

We had a car blow and engine and another catch on fire all in the same wreck and yes the 22 was involved. Kurt Busch must have felt he couldn’t win the race without wrecking a lot of them. OR else he saw how torn up his brother’s car was Saturday and still won.

Single car teams did well in the Sprint Cup race also, hats off to Dave Blaney and Andy Lally for showing they could run up front too.

The finish of 4 cars wide tied for the closest finish of 0.002. Yes people complained that Jimmie went below the yellow line, or Dale Jr should have sling shot around Jimmie to win. It was all legal not below the line.

There were 88 lead changes, 26 leaders tying an all time record.

Every Dega green flag finish since 93 has had a margin of victory of less than 0.4 seconds.

A twitter comment that I’d like to share: “Busch says he needs a windshield tear off, perhaps a prescription windshield might be better.”

Off weekend for Sprint Cup,But Camping World Trucks and Nationwide will be in Nashville this weekend.

Good for her… especially since now she has a little confidence, even after her wild slide through the infield grass on the front stretch.

With all [...]]]> So Danica wants to drive her NASCAR Nationwide Series car in Saturdays race at Daytona now that she has a little experience from her time in the ARCA event last weekend?

Good for her… especially since now she has a little confidence, even after her wild slide through the infield grass on the front stretch.

With all that metal around her (that she’s not used to) compared to the Indy cars she drove before, getting hurt is probably the last thing on her mind. After all, the NASCAR race cars are among the safest of all motor sports vehicles.

But the reality is, injury is still a possibility even with all the safety features that have developed over years and years of research and development. In the photo above, Dario Franchitti was injured on lap 10 when he cut a tire, hit the wall, spun down to the apron and was hit by Larry Gunselman. Franchitti suffered a broken ankle and contusions during the Aaron’s 312 race at Talladega. Gunselman t-boned Franchitti’s car in the door at full speed while he sat there helplessly watching the car come at him full bore.

Looking closely at the photo, you can see the roll bars in the door are laying way past where the seat would normally sit and he’s lucky he didn’t receive more broken bones in the upper torso as well. The integrity of the door compartment gave way to the force of Gunselman’s front end and was a real concern for the NASCAR officials that investigated the accident. His car was transferred to NASCAR’s R&D center for evaluation and the decision was made to put a plate in the door section for added support and safety for this area of all the Nationwide Series race cars.

After Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was killed in a racing accident on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, NASCAR rules for safety were mandatory rather than suggested. Thanks to the added safety at tracks, like the safer barriers installed along outside walls of the race track, no driver has been killed on the track since 2002 in any of the three major series. When driver Jeff Gordon was injured hitting the inside wall in the 2008 racing season, safer barriers were installed on the inside walls of some tracks. Developed specifically to help protect drivers during accidents, Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barriers consist of rectangular steel tubes backed by foam blocks that are installed in front of a track’s traditional cement retaining walls. When a car meets the wall at high speeds, the SAFER wall assists in absorbing the energy of the impact. This helps reduce the impact forced upon the driver.

NASCAR is committed to safety and uses a number of technical and procedural systems to keep the sport as safe as possible. Many of the technical safety initiatives in NASCAR take place at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in North Carolina, where new technologies are researched and tested on a regular basis. But some times things just ‘happen’ that were not anticipated which requires new rules to be implemented.

But in the case of the Francheitti accident, he was sitting on the inside of the track, away from the wall, and was hit broadside while sitting still. In past NASCAR history, accidents like this have caused many injuries that just can’t be avoided. The only way to help is with more structural reinforcement in the driver compartment to make the driver as safe as possible.

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (January 18, 2010)-What brought IZOD IndyCar Series star Danica Patrick, NASCAR President Mike Helton and Motocross great Ricky Carmichael to Daytona Int’l Speedway one week before Christmas?

The Automobile Racing Club of America, which converges in Daytona Beach each December [...]]]> Driver Development: ARCA Racing Series prepares drivers for future careers in stock car auto racing

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (January 18, 2010)-What brought IZOD IndyCar Series star Danica Patrick, NASCAR President Mike Helton and Motocross great Ricky Carmichael to Daytona Int’l Speedway one week before Christmas?

The Automobile Racing Club of America, which converges in Daytona Beach each December for a three day test in preparation for its February season-opener Speedweeks race date. Since ARCA’s superspeedway racing debut at Daytona in 1964, the nationally touring sanctioning body has taken an important industry position in helping to prepare drivers for professional careers in stock car auto racing.

For many drivers with aspirations of full time stock car racing, the first step to a successful career in any of NASCAR’s top three touring divisions is ARCA Testing at Daytona. ARCA Daytona Testing is what helped prepare Ryan Newman for an ARCA win at Daytona in 2001 and a 2008 Daytona 500 victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

David Ragan, who finished sixth in the 2009 Daytona 500, got his first glimpse of Daytona’s high banks via the ARCA Racing Series, competing in ARCA races at Daytona in 2004, 2005 and 2007.

“The first time I went to Daytona to compete in an ARCA race I had no idea about drafting or the bumps in the track or the way you make a qualifying lap by running one lap up high on the racetrack and one lap down low,” said Ragan. “The last ARCA race-in 2007-I entered the race knowing that I was also competing in the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series races so the ARCA race basically served as a big confidence booster. We finished second or third in the ARCA race and went on to finish fifth in the Daytona 500. The ARCA race was a big confidence booster that led into the next week and the NASCAR portions of Speedweeks.”

Kyle Busch won the 2004 ARCA race at Daytona. Justin Allgaier, Justin Lofton, Parker Kligerman, 2009 ARCA Daytona race winner James Buescher and 2008 ARCA Daytona race winner Michael Annett are just a few recent examples of drivers who made their Daytona debuts via ARCA Racing.

Industry experts recognize ARCA as an established route to the highest levels of stock car auto racing. It’s the reason Larry McReynolds entrusted his son with 2009 ARCA Racing Series Championship Car Owner Eddie Sharp during December ARCA Testing just a few weeks ago.

“Looking at all the different series and what my son Brandon has run previously, I wanted to get him into a series that has a lot of the elements of the upper [NASCAR] series – big cars, lots of power, weight, bigger tracks,” said McReynolds. “The rules that play into Nationwide and Sprint Cup as far as pit road speed, pit stops, the way restarts are, pretty much everything about the ARCA Racing Series is beneficial to a driver with NASCAR aspirations.”

McReynolds entered Daytona ARCA Testing with limited expectations and no concrete plans to return for February’s ARCA race. However, the 18-year-old was solid during morning session single car runs and those successes helped the team decide to participate in afternoon drafting. Should funding become available, McReynolds will return for the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 on February 6.

“I can see us maybe spending two years here in the ARCA Series if the right opportunity presented itself,” said Larry McReynolds. “You spend one year learning the car, learning the track, learning the competition, learning where the restrooms are located in the garage area. Then you spend the next year coming back and trying to really win races and trying to compete for a championship.”

While drivers like Brandon McReynolds are drawn to Daytona Testing to gain experience and track time, others come to the World Center of Racing for the very specific goal of gaining approval to compete in the ARCA portion of Speedweeks.

Goshen, New York, native Sean Corr began his racing career at local dirt tracks, making the biggest jump of his career-to-date in 2009 with three ARCA Racing Series starts and several open test sessions. During December testing, Corr was among approximately 60 drivers who were observed by ARCA Officials. A successful drafting session and a fourth-place showing on Sunday’s speed charts allowed him to gain approval to race at Daytona in February. He plans to return with his No. 82 Empire Racing Team.

ARCA Officials look at a variety of factors when approving drivers for speedway racing. Among them, past racing history, participation in racing schools and on-track observation at ARCA-sanctioned tests.

“We encourage drivers to participate in as many open tests as possible because the added experience young racers gain with track time helps improve the racing for everyone,” said Joe Wells, vice president of competition for ARCA. “We try to schedule open test sessions one month in advance of all of our speedway races. In addition, one-on-one interaction with ARCA Officials and veteran drivers help rookie drivers make the most of the ARCA experience.”

ARCA Officials were not the only observers during Daytona Testing. NASCAR President Mike Helton frequented the ARCA Garage at Daytona during the three day test. Many drivers who plan to race in the February 6 Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 ARCA Racing Series event at Daytona plan to participate in the NASCAR portion of Speedweeks, either in 2010 or in upcoming years.

IZOD IndyCar Series star Danica Patrick drew attention to ARCA Testing by using the event to gain her first taste of drafting. While her ARCA Racing Series involvement will likely be limited to ARCA Daytona testing and the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 ARCA Daytona race, others, such as renowned Motocross star Ricky Carmichael, plan to extend their ARCA schedule past Daytona.

Carmichael is expected to race in as many as nine ARCA events in addition to his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ride with Turner Motorsports.

ARCA testing at Daytona draws drivers from the world over, with Venezuela’s Milka Duno, India’s Narain Karthikeyan and China’s Darryl O’Young joining US and Canadian drivers in this year’s edition. Many will return for ARCA’s February 6 Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 season opener at Daytona Int’l Speedway. The race is live on SPEED beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern. Tickets are available online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

For more information, visit http://www.arcaracing.com.

With her qualification during this test race, Danica Patrick is now slated to appear in an ARCA race on February 6, 2010 at the world-famous Daytona Speedway while she is scheduled to debut in a NASCAR event later in the month at California Auto Club Speedway. While this video isn’t the most exciting thing in the [...]]]>

With her qualification during this test race, Danica Patrick is now slated to appear in an ARCA race on February 6, 2010 at the world-famous Daytona Speedway while she is scheduled to debut in a NASCAR event later in the month at California Auto Club Speedway. While this video isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, it presents Danica giving her insights on her first official stock car event and her orange and green Chevy blazing around the track. If nothing else, this video and the news around it should officially mark Danica’s entry into the world of stock car racing.

This link and video are from CarTech.