Daily NASCAR

Kevin Harvick is the current points leader even though he’s winless. Chevvies are doing better than any driver so far, finishing at least 1-2 in all races so far. (Photo: John Clark/NASCAR This Week)

- There is no truth to the rumor that Toyota handles the electronics for Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s caution lights.

- Chip Ganassi’s got a couple feuding drivers - Juan Montoya and Jamie McMurray - on his hands, and he’s probably going to be pretty grumpy about that.

- McMurray made a good point, though, when he said not much stock should be taken in what an angry Montoya said as he climbed out of the car. As Kyle Petty said on Speed, "Juan’s … never going to hold back."

- Well, Jimmie Johnson didn’t win either of the Atlanta races last year. In fact, Dodge drivers (Kurt Busch and, at the time, Kasey Kahne) won both.

- Once again, television told us a race was sold out when it obviously wasn’t. It’s actually reached a point where a race is a sellout because many of the seats aren’t … for sale.

- The biggest race of the week might be the ratings battle between the NASCAR in Las Vegas with the Olympic hockey finals.

- Why’s Kevin Harvick the point leader, even though he’s winless? He’s finished seventh, second and second in the three races. Johnson’s finishes are 35th, first and first.

- Tony Stewart fans, take heart. He started out the 2009 season almost exactly the same way.

- Jeff Gordon’s never been a "sour grapes" kind of guy, but there have to be times when he remembers recommending Johnson’s hiring to Rick Hendrick and thinks to himself, "What was I thinking?"

- Chevrolet drivers have finished at least 1-2 in all three

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Kurt Busch, who has become one of NASCAR’s Nicest Guys, threw his Sprint Cup muscle into a Raybestos-hosted remote-control race on Friday morning. (Photo: John Clark/NASCAR This Week)

On Friday morning at Daytona International Speedway, Raybestos hosted an RC (that’s remote-control) race near the infield media center and garage.

It wasn’t a high-tech affair. The course was marked off with long white strips and Raybestos boxes.

Raybestos sponsors the Rookie of the Year programs in NASCAR. Two rookies, Terry Cook (a Truck Series vet now competing in Nationwide) and Kevin Conway (believe it or not, Sprint Cup), took part.

So did Kurt Busch, certainly not because he had to. Probably not because he particularly wanted to. Because Busch, maligned for much of his career, has blossomed into the most cooperative, helpful person in NASCAR to the various sponsor reps, track officials and ticket sellers who desperately need the presence of driver/celebrities to help them hype their events.

This doesn’t mean Kurt won’t blow his top tomorrow if things don’t go his way. That’s who he is. The fire burns brightly and in full public view for both Busch brothers.

But Kurt Busch, who once got punched in his race car by Jimmy Spencer and somehow managed to turn Spencer into the good guy by responding to it petulantly and insincerely, tries to do the right things. Sometimes temper gets the best of him - after all, he is a race-car driver, not a guidance counselor or a shoe salesman - but he deserves considerable credit for mending his ways.

Ask the officials of various tracks. Ask the PR reps trying to make modest events into major ones. They all owe Kurt Busch a few favors.

If he can help out, he will. When he climbs into that blue Dodge of his, another switch goes on, and it frequently trips breakers in his psyche. But there’s a time for racing and there’s a time to uphold the responsibility of being a celebrity, and Kurt Busch, using entirely different tacks, has mastered each in his own way.

For what it’s worth, he was also the class of the remote-control racers, which, respectfully, wasn’t exactly an elite class on this cloudy morning at Daytona.

There was no particular reason for Kurt to be there other than the fact that Raybestos needed a "name" to tie its little soiree together.

Kurt came through like a champ, which he is off the track as much as he was on it in 2004.

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin, Daytona Int’l Speedway, NASCAR Crashes

UPDATE: Carl Edwards has won the pole for Saturday night’s Bud Shootout in a blind draw Thursday night at the SpeedTV stage outside the track.

A six-car crash that occurred less than an hour into NASCAR’s first practice of 2010 at Daytona International Speedway Thursday has forced five drivers into back-up cars before the first green flag of Speedweeks has dropped.

Two more cars — those belonging to Kurt Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya — were damaged Thursday night in the second practice for Saturday’s Budweiser Shootout non-points race .

The collision in opening practice started when Denny Hamlin and Mark Martin collided in Turn 1 and collected the cars of Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer, who was driving the No. 29 Shell Chevy for his Richard Childress Racing teammate Kevin Harvick, home sick with flu.

“Believe it or not, it was actually a case of two guys trying to play it safe,” said Hamlin, as his crew made room in the garage for his back-up No. 11 FedEx Toyota.

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What would happen if someone were to unseat Jimmie Johnson or Dale Earnhardt Jr. from their perennial seats as champion and most popular driver? Surely it would lead to the end of civilization as we know it.

- Do all the ubiquitous college bowl games enhance the yearning of NASCAR fans for a new season to commence? Undoubtedly.

- What do fans do in the offseason? Daytona has a fan showcase this month, and the annual "Sound & Speed" festival is coming up Jan. 8-9 in Nashville, Tenn. Some fans have been following the Dakar Rally online. Trade shows abound, particularly up north, during the winter months.

- Wonder if Steve Addington ever gets "skint up" hopping from Busch (Kyle) to Busch (Kurt)? How Addington and Kurt Busch match up is going to be interesting to watch.

- Kurt’s former crew chief, Pat Tryson, is now paired with Martin Truex Jr. at Michael Waltrip Racing. Continuing improvement at MWR will likely be measured by how well Truex does in his new ride.

- Hmm. The champion every year is Jimmie Johnson. The most popular driver every year is Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wonder what would happen if someone else won either?

- Junior Nation probably wouldn’t mind losing the Most Popular distinction if their hero could win the title. Then again, if he wins the championship, it will only solidify his status as the most popular personality in the sport.

- On the other hand, if Earnhardt Jr. continues to slump, his popularity will subside, at least a little. It’s happened a bit already. For the first time in his career, he seems to have attracted a boisterous minority of detractors. That really comes with the territory.

- Have you heard that Danica Patrick is competing in the Nationwide Series? Thought so.

- Quick! Who won the Budweiser Shootout last year? It was Kevin Harvick.

- Feb. 6 is going to be a big day. Before the Shootout takes the green flag at 8:10 p.m. EST, Patrick will be making her official stock car racing debut in Daytona’s annual Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) 200-miler.

- The Kentucky Speedway lawsuit against NASCAR is still bumping along through the courts. NASCAR officials have repeatedly said no Sprint Cup race is going to be run there as long as the courts are involved.

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By the time you read this the “unnamed decade” will have ended (and not a moment too soon if you ask me). Through triumph and through tragedy this decade for NASCAR can be simply defined by one word: change.

Winston left us and so did Benny Parsons and Bill France Jr. COT and Chase became the controversial buzzwords. And safer barriers made their way to every oval track on the circuit.

A blue collar kid from El Cajon, California went from a mediocre Busch ride to the ride that Jeff Gordon (and Mr. H) made, overnight. He then took the sport by storm.

The Cup Series went from Winston to Nextel to Sprint. Busch said goodbye and Craftsman bid farewell. Nationwide Insurance and Camping World filled the void.

NASCAR got it’s first consolidated TV contract worth billions (yes with a b). We met Digger (the camera turned Sunday morning TV cartoon) and we got the “Hollywood Hotel” all courtesy of Fox. ESPN returned to the fold and TNT joined NASCAR for the first time. Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace went from being drivers to broadcasters.

Jeff Gordon won his fourth championship and so did Jimmie Johnson (along with his first, second and third). Tony Stewart won two and Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Bobby Labonte all joined NASCAR’s elite for the first time.

The era of ‘the next Jeff Gordon’ emerged as teams raced to pick up younger and younger talent in hopes of finding the next great thing. Evernham brought us Casey Atwood, and Gibbs brought us Joey Logano. The jury’s still out on one of them.

‘The King’ Richard Petty left Level Cross for Mooresville, and then left Mooresville for Statesville (and then Concord). A couple of mergers occurred along the way.

Speaking of mergers, Earnhardt and Ganassi became related names, as did Ganassi and Sabates (or is it with Sabates?), Earnhardt and Ginn, Gillett and Evernham, Petty and Gillett, and Yates and Petty. Roush and Fenway even joined forces.

We even had owners emerge from other sports. Randy Moss became part owner of a team as did Brad Daugherty. Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach also got in on the fun (they didn’t stay though).

And finally the death of a legend became the watershed moment of the decade. Dale Earnhardt’s death changed everything. It led to desperately needed safety changes and left a team without its leader and the garage without its biggest advocate.

The unnamed decade was certainly an interesting one for NASCAR. Some things changed for sure, but some things stayed the same. What 2010 and the future holds is unclear, but whatever happens I know I’m looking forward to the ride.

We here at The Nascar Insiders wish you and yours a Happy New Year and remind you Daytona is only 44 days away!

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