August 17, 2009
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Thomasville's Brian Vickers focused on his fuel gauge, not the track. Crew chief Ryan Pemberton wondered if he had ruined a season or saved it. Pemberton's decision to pit Vickers 51 laps from the finish played out before them. The...
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BROOKLYN, Mich. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored his first top-10 finish since April, placing third Sunday at Michigan International Speedway and giving his team a needed boost. "I don't want to get too excited," Earnhardt said of his best fini...
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August 16, 2009
BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Joe Nemechek winces, shakes his head and ponders the "awful'' dilemma he faces. Chances are you won't notice Nemechek in today's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway. He'll likely park his car within the...
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BROOKLYN, Mich. -- NASCAR President Mike Helton says there won't be "a major change" to the car any time soon. His comments came Saturday, a day after Dale Earnhardt Jr. implored series officials to fix the car and improve the racing. &qu...
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August 15, 2009
BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. says NASCAR needs to change the car to improve what he described as "poor'' racing. "Ninety-five percent of the race wasn't worth the price of the ticket,'' Earnhardt said of racing before NASCAR alte...
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Carl Long wonders when he'll race again, as he washes someone else's Sprint Cup car. This might be as close as he gets to competing again in NASCAR's top series. His suspension served for an oversized engine, Long hasn't found a ride. The only offe...
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August 12, 2009
Max Papis has raced in Formula 1, IndyCar, road racing and NASCAR. And after finishing a career-high eighth in Monday's Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen, he says, without a doubt NASCAR is as hard as anything he's done. Papis is running a partial schedule...
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August 9, 2009
Mark Martin worries about what he faces. Forget racing for a championship, it's the fight to get into the Chase that has Martin — and other drivers — uptight heading into the final five races before the Chase field is set. "The race...
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August 5, 2009
Ever since Juan Pablo Montoya moved from Formula One to NASCAR in 2006, many fans have waited for him to show his ability. It's been evident from time to time, but a recent hot streak is showing what Montoya can do with good equipment. Now, he's th...
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August 2, 2009
Momentum in NASCAR can be magical, mystical and maddening. In a sport dictated as much by how a motor performs, tires grip or shocks bounce, momentum also can be mythical. "There have been times where I've really believed in momentum," driver Ma...
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July 30, 2009
STATESVILLE — Lisa Mayfield filed a defamation lawsuit Wednesday against Jeremy Mayfield after he accused his stepmother of taking money from NASCAR in exchange for saying she witnessed Jeremy Mayfield taking methamphetamine. Lisa Mayfield's attorne...
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July 29, 2009
Roush Fenway Racing has set its lineup for next season, and it won't include Jamie McMurray's team. The organization must cut from five teams to four after this season to meet NASCAR's four-team limit. The organization announced Tuesday that Crown Royal......
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July 28, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Rick Hendrick has a bad feeling. Actually, it's just not as good a feeling as he often has. And this was after his driver, Jimmie Johnson, won Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the third time in four years, beating anoth...
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July 27, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Juan Pablo Montoya yelled, pleaded and swore. Jimmie Johnson celebrated. "I got the trophy," Johnson said. Montoya got heartache. Johnson might not have scored his third win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in four years...
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INDIANAPOLIS — Kyle Busch is working on his attitude. Now, he needs some help with his car and his luck after falling out of the top 12 in points for the first time since February. Busch scraped the wall a couple of times and then later blew a right...
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July 26, 2009
AKRON, Ohio — A year's worth of work covers the walls of a conference room tucked in the fourth floor of the five-story Goodyear Innovation Center. Here, engineers, executives and other employees dissected charts, pictures and notes tacked to the wa...
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INDIANAPOLIS — The question has popped up throughout the week: Does NASCAR need to be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway? Critics contend that while the track helped NASCAR grow in the 1990s, it does little for the sport now. They state that NASCAR...
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INDIANAPOLIS — Kevin Harvick won't confirm he's returning to Richard Childress Racing, and Brian Vickers says he's looking at all options since Red Bull has yet to present a contract to sign. What those two do could alter the driver lineup for next...
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July 25, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS — NASCAR's most polarizing driver said he needs to reign his emotions. Think about that. The guy who has needled Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans much of the season turning the other cheek? The guy prone to throw salty fits on the radio when his...
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July 22, 2009
An ESPN executive says the network would be for more consistent start times of NASCAR Sprint Cup races, but says research does not support the notion that certain start times will increase viewership. ESPN and ABC will broadcast the remaining 17 Cup races...
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July 16, 2009
Jeremy Mayfield has again failed a drug test for methamphetamine and his stepmother claims he's been taking meth since 1998, according to court documents submitted by NASCAR on Wednesday. Mayfield's attorney, though, told NASCAR Scene that a drug test May...
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July 13, 2009
JOLIET, Ill. — Denny Hamlin offered a pained grin and slight chuckle as he walked through the garage after Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup race. His fifth-place result marked the fourth time in the last five races he's finished that well. So, how...
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July 12, 2009
JOLIET, Ill. -- Mark Martin was headed to a victory, lost it and then regained it when the two leaders drifted out of his line with 16 laps to go Saturday night at Chicagoland Speedway. Martin took the lead for good when Brian Vickers and Denny Hamlin mov...
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JOLIET, Ill. -- While the NASCAR Sprint Cup series began the second half of its 36-race season Saturday night, the race marked the sixth event of the season for the Wood Brothers. The team scaled back to a partial schedule this season because it was unab...
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July 11, 2009
Rain shortened the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. There have been fewer passes for the lead per race on average. A lawsuit is challenging NASCAR's substance abuse policy. It's easy to think the first half of the Sprint Cup season has been awful, but t...
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