If your scared, say your scared dept. Quotes from Tony Stewart on bumpdrafting in this years Bud Shootout. “ Five years from now, we’re probably going to have to do another tribute to another driver because we’re probably going to kill somebody, it could be me, it could be Dale Jr, it could be anybody out there… It’s absolutely insane… We’re going to hurt someone really, really bad next Sunday. We’ve got to find a way to calm this thing down.”

Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus was ejected from any further participation in the 2006 Daytona 500 for modifying the rear window height in Johnson’s car for Sunday’s qualifying. Johnson’s fifth place run was disallowed. The height difference was discovered during a post qualifying inspection and considered a flagrant violation and an attempt to gain a competitive advantage. (cheating)  In a related incident, Terry Labonte also had his qualifying time disallowed for illegal modifications to the carburetor. (also cheating)  Both will have to start at the back of the pack for the twin 125’s.

It would seem Dale Earnhardt Jr had a lot more fun than Tony. Dale Jr. had this to say after the Bud Shootout. “It was just all-out racing. That’s fun to me. Those last laps we were side-by-side, beatin’ and bangin’, just going for the win. It was so much fun that I forgot there was a guy in front of us. There are guys you feel comfortable racing with, and that’s just the way I feel when I’m racing around Tony. I thought we’d be able to get by Denny, but Denny did such an awesome job. He used his head, stayed patient, and remained calm. It’s not easy being in the catbird seat like that.’ 

Greg Biffle won at Daytona in 2003. Since then he has had a hard time with this track. With an average finish position of 26 over the last 4 races here, he is one of the big name drivers to be wary of.

Dale Earnhardt Jr has 8 top ten finishes (including 2 wins) out of his last 10 races at Daytona. He has finished in the top 5 (including 1 win) in his last 4 races here. If he doesn’t crash he will contend here.

The 48th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 19, America’s biggest and most prestigious motorsports event of the year, will once again carry the biggest purse in the history of stock car racing at more than $18 million. The winner of this year’s Daytona 500 will collect a minimum of $1,438,155. Even the last-place finisher will be rewarded with a minimum of $224,665.

 Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 1,109 laps led in 52 restrictor-plate events. Sterling Marlin is second with 1,004 laps led in his 71 restrictor-plate races. Dale Earnhardt Jr., third, all-time, has led 770 laps in just 24 restrictor-plate races

Seventeen of the 32 Nascar Nextel Cup races at Daytona since 1990, have been won from a top-five starting position. Only seven of those races were won from outside the top 10.

Tony Stewart has scored seven top-10 finishes in 14 races at Daytona, including victory in the 2005 Pepsi 400. His best Daytona 500 finish of second came in 2004. He finished seventh in the 2005 Daytona 500.
 

Five of the 11 races at California Speedway have been won from staring positions of fifth or better. However four of the last five races there have been won from starting positions of 16th or worse and no one has ever won there from a front-row starting position.

Carl Edwards has a 5.0 average finish in his three races at California Speedway, the best of all drivers with two or more starts there. Edwards has finished sixth or better in all three of his races there.

Dale Earnhardt Jr struggles at California Speedway. In the eight races he has competed in, he has an average finish position of 22.5 with only two top 10 finishes. “ We’re better, but not where we need to be. I’d like to be faster. We’re right in the middle of the charts at places like Fontana, Michigan and Las Vegas. Fortunately, we run good at places like Atlanta, Bristol, Phoenix – ya know, basically all the other tracks -- so we’ll be able to cover our tails until we get Vegas and California figured out.”
 

Only seven of the 90 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Bristol have been won from a starting position of 15th or worse. The last driver to win a race at Bristol from outside the top 15 was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who won from the 30th-place starting position in the 2004 Sharpie 500.

Mark Martin has scored 20 top ten finishes at Bristol, the most of all active drivers. He also has 8 straight top 15 finishes in the Nextel Cup series, a streak that goes back to Atlanta last October. Martin, along with Johnson, Kenseth and Kahne are the only drivers to score top fifteen finishes in all four races this year.

Jeff Gordon is the only active driver to have more than one win at Martinsville. Jeff has seven wins including two season sweeps, one in 2005 and another in 2003.

A Chevrolet has won five of the last six races at Martinsville. Rusty Wallace ended the Dodge 28-year drought when he won the 2004 Advance Auto Parts 500. A Ford has not won at Martinsville since Kurt Busch won the 2002 Old Dominion 500. (nascar statistical service)
 

Jimmy Johnson has 7 top 10 finishes (including one win) out of the last 7 races at Martinsville. Jeff Gordon has 6 top 10 finishes out of the last 6 races here, however, Jeff has 4 wins over those same six races and leads all active drivers with seven wins at Martinsville.

Carl Edwards best finish at Martinsville was 24^th place in 2004. Last year he had a dismal 38^th  and 26^th place finish. Carl had this to say after Bristol, "It takes a lot for me to look forward to Martinsville, but this (4^th place finish) sure helps. We needed a good day like this and our whole team did a great job."

Jimmy Spencer will drive the #49 Dodge Charger for BAM Racing at Martinsville Speedway this weekend. Spencer will join BAM Racing as an advisor for the team and mentor for rookie driver Brent Sherman. “I enjoy working with young drivers as they progress through the ranks of NASCAR,” said Spencer. Yes Jimmy, we all remember how you enjoyed “working” with Kurt Busch as a young driver. He ended up with a fat lip and you were suspended.
 

Looking to curb bump drafting on superspeedways, NASCAR has implemented new rules for bumpers to take effect at Talladega Superspeedway for the Aaron's 499 on April 30. Under the revised rules, the solid steel plate behind the bumper must be removed. With the new bumpers, such a tactic will result in damage likely to affect a car's aerodynamic efficiency, a vital quality at restrictor-plate tracks.

Chevy’s have won thirteen of the last fourteen races at Talladega. Dale Jarrett brought his #88 Ford to victory lane last year to give Ford its first win since 1998. Coincidently, the # 88 and Jarrett won that race too.  The last time a Roush Ford has won at this track was back in 1997 with Mark Martin.

Aside from an occasional flash of brilliance (2^nd last year and 6^th in 2003) Elliott Sadler does amazingly poorly at Talladega. Out of the thirteen races he has competed in here, he has an average finish position of 26.5 and not one top fifteen finish other than those two.
 

Nextel Cup points leader Matt Kenseth on Talladega. “Talladega is all about staying out of trouble, getting to the end, and picking the right lane at the right time. Oh yeah, and if you’re in the lead, hope there isn’t a caution with under five to go. I felt last fall we were in good shape. We were leading at the end and had everyone lined up behind us, then the caution came out and bunched everyone back together and we ended up pushing DJ (Jarrett) across for the win.
 

Qualifying for the Neighborhood Excellence 400 at Dover International Speedway will be at 3:10pm/et on Friday and will be shown via tape delay at 5:30pm/et on SPEED. Happy Hour is set for Saturday at 10:35am/et and will be shown via tape delay at 2:00pm/et on FX. The green flag is scheduled to drop at 2:10pm/et and the race will be shown live.

Mark Martin has the longest top five streak of all active drivers at Dover. Starting with the spring race in 2004, Martin has scored 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th place consecutive finishes. In the last 16 races here he has an average finish position of 11.8 including three wins. On top of that, Mark has been known to do well at the short tracks.

Qualifying for the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway is on Friday at 4:35pm/et and will be shown live on the SPEED channel. Happy Hour is set for Thursday at 6:00pm/et and will also be shown live on the SPEED chanel. The green flag for the race is scheduled to drop at 7:55pm/et and will be shown live on FOX.

A Dodge has won only one race in the last 57 races at Daytona. Ward Burton scored the first Dodge victory at Daytona since Richard Petty won the 1975 Daytona 500, when he won the 2002 Daytona 500. A Chevrolet has won the last five races at Daytona and seven of the last eight. A Ford has won only one race in the last 11 races at Daytona.
 

Qualifying for the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway will be on Friday at 4:30pm/et on the SPEED channel and will be rebroadcast at 8:00pm/et also on SPEED. Happy Hour is set for Saturday at 11:30am/et again on SPEED. The race is scheduled to start at 3:35pm/et and will be shown on TNT.

Kevin Harvick is the only repeat race winner at Chicagoland, scoring back-to-back victories. Harvick won the inaugural race in 2001 and then won again there in 2002.

 A Chevrolet has won four of the five races at Chicagoland Speedway. A Dodge won there in 2003. A Ford has never won at Chicagoland Speedway.

Both Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart have 4 top five finishes in the last 4 races at Chicagoland. Tony also has a win here in 2004 and has led the most laps (275) of all drivers.
 

Three of the five races at Chicagoland Speedway have been won from a starting position outside the top-10 and no Nascar Nextel Cup race at Chicagoland has ever been won from a top-five starting position.

Jimmie Johnson has a 8.33 finishing average in his nine races at Pocono Raceway, the best of all drivers with more than one start there.

Qualifying for  the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway  on  Saturday  at 10 am/et on the Speed Channel.. Happy Hour is Saturday, from 3:30-4:30 pm/et, also on the Speed Channel. The race is scheduled to start Sunday at 2:40 pm/et on NBC.
 

Boris Said will attempt to qualify for the Brickyard 400 on Saturday, looks as if his “sell more cases, do more races” line is working for the Sobe/No Fear team.

Three of the last five races at Indy have been won from outside the top-10 starting positions. Only two of the 12 previous races at Indy have been won from the front row.

Elliott Sadler struggles at Indy. His average finish over the last seven races is 27^th. His best finish was 3^rd, in 2004.

Tony Stewart hopes to make Cup history on Sunday by becoming the first driver to win back to back races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Greg Biffle has finished in the top 10 in his last three races at Bristol, the longest streak among active drivers. His 9.8 finishing average in seven races at BMS is also the best among active drivers
 

Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr both suck at California Speedway. Harvick has a 21.9 average finish position over eight races here. Jr has a 21.2 average finish position over nine races.

Qualifying - Friday 3pm/et, Speed channel, Happy Hour - Saturday 10:30am/et, Speed channel, Race - Sunday 1:30pm/et, TNT, (coverage starts at 12:30)

Kevin Harvick has won two straight races and three of the last six. He has out-scored all other drivers in the past 10 races – scoring 1,585 points – 118 more than Denny Hamlin, his nearest competitor.

Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin lead all active drivers, each scoring four victories at Dover. In addition, Mark Martin has posted five straight top-10 finishes at Dover International Speedway, the longest current streak.

Kyle Busch has posted three straight top-five finishes in his three races at Dover, the longest current streak.

Tony Stewart leads all active drivers with a 7.266 finishing average in 15 races at Dover International Speedway. Stewart posted top-15 finishes in his first 13 races at Dover but finished 18th and 25th in his last two races there.(NASCAR Statistical Services)(9-17-2006)

Ryan Newman (2003), Jimmie Johnson (2002) and Tony Stewart (2000) each swept both races at Dover. There have been nine sweeps at Dover since twice-a-year racing began there in 1971. Only two occurred between 1971 and 1987. The remaining seven sweeps all occurred since 1988.

Six of the last seven races at Dover have been won from a top-10 starting position. Only seven of the 73 race winners started from a starting position outside the top 15.

Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon lead all drivers, each scoring four top-10 finishes in five races at Kansas Speedway.