April 6, 2009
FORT WORTH, Texas — Doubts and questions harassed Jeff Gordon during his career-long winless drought, yet no matter what others said about the NASCAR champion, Gordon was his harshest critic. "It makes you question how bad you really want it,&q...
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FORT WORTH, Texas — What was there for Carl Edwards to say? A lot, but there was no need to yell at his pit crew after they cost him a shot at victory Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. Edwards led as he entered the pits 30 laps from the finish but pro...
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April 5, 2009
FORT WORTH, Texas -- An April Fool's Day gag that frightened NASCAR fans and insiders could foreshadow a dramatic new look to the sport. There are some, though, working to make sure the joke never becomes reality. Car and Driver's bogus online article......
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April 4, 2009
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Lead changes, a sign of competition in NASCAR races, are down dramatically this Sprint Cup season and some drivers say the problem remains the car. This season has seen an average of 13.8 lead changes per race. Last year, that average...
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FORT WORTH, Texas -- The NASCAR Sprint Cup series is expected to move its season-ending banquet to Las Vegas this year, ending a 27-year run in New York City. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the change Friday. NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston would on...
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March 31, 2009
You waited for Denny Hamlin to strike after losing Sunday's race at Martinsville. Would he ram Jimmie Johnson's car? Give him the one-finger salute? Or call Johnson out like a pro wrestler? Instead, Hamlin did something less dramatic but more powerful. He...
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March 30, 2009
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — There will be payback, Denny Hamlin says, and it could cost Jimmie Johnson more than a victory. Wait a minute, Johnson says. Sure he bumped Hamlin out of the lead Sunday with 16 laps left and won — yet again — at Mart...
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MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Tony Stewart is coming closer to scoring his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory as owner/driver less than two months into the season. Stewart, in his first year as owner/driver, finished a season-best third Sunday at Martinsville Sp...
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March 29, 2009
MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Car owner Rick Hendrick will be at Martinsville Speedway today for a celebration, but it will be bittersweet. Hendrick's first Cup victory came at this track in 1984 with Geoff Bodine as driver and Harry Hyde as crew chief. It was a v...
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Pimples and a dogged driving style used to be the quickest way to NASCAR. Not anymore. A combination of recent events has slowed the sport's youth movement, as some team owners idle their development programs and sideline young drivers. "Some of thes...
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March 28, 2009
MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- At first sight, there's little special about this track. Martinsville Speedway is flat. The corners are tight. The infield cramped. This track has been called a parking lot, and there's even been a suggestion to fill the infield with...
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What are the experiences, beliefs and dreams that shape the lives of NASCAR drivers? Staff writer Dustin Long asked Denny Hamlin about these subjects on March 6 inside his team's hauler at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Here is what Hamlin said: I was doi...
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MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- The comparisons have been growing, as many people want to link Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Sr. They see wins and a brash personality and immediately some people say Busch is a younger version of Earnhardt. "Please tell me you'r...
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March 27, 2009
MOORESVILLE — Grease, grime and gunk stain crew chief Richard Labbe's navy sweatshirt. He lies on the race shop's floor and works under the car. Moments later, he coils his body and slithers through the left front wheel opening into the engine compa...
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March 26, 2009
Car owner Rick Hendrick said embattled crew chief Tony Eury Jr. will remain Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief — but added both men would understand if a change needed to be made. Earnhardt is 19th in the standings entering Sunday's race at Martinsvill...
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Dale Earnhardt's grandson, Jeffrey Earnhardt, is scheduled to make his NASCAR Nationwide debut at Dover in May. Earnhardt will drive for Rick Ware Racing, which is based in Thomasville. Earnhardt, 19, is scheduled to drive seven Nationwide races for the t...
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March 25, 2009
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Get through the numbers, formulas and prose and you get the point of the report: Racing is good. Good for cities, states, jobs and tourism. That's the message the parent company of three NASCAR tracks is trying to send to reside...
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Car owner Rick Hendrick gave Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief a vote of confidence, saying he doesn't plan to split them up. Earnhardt is off to a slow start this season and ranks 19th in the points standings heading into Sunday's race at Martinsville Spee...
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March 23, 2009
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Denny Hamlin would have done it. He said so without hesitation. He would have knocked teammate Kyle Busch out of the lead to win Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. "For sure," Hamlin said. "He's won too...
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BRISTOL, Tenn. — They couldn't match Kyle Busch on Sunday at Bristol, but that's fine. For two teams, finishing in the top 10 proved just as important. Mark Martin and Ryan Newman entered Sunday's race mired deep in the points standings after variou...
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March 22, 2009
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The decision, Clint Bowyer admits, was "a shocker,'' but not as much as what he's done since. Although Bowyer finished in the top five in points each of the past two years, car owner Richard Childress moved Bowyer to the organizatio...
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BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Fans stayed and NASCAR legends played at Bristol on Saturday. Afterward, some competitors said they'd like to see more of these old-timer races. For the record, Sterling Marlin, who is in today's Sprint Cup race, won the race for former...
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March 21, 2009
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The decision, at first, seems crazy. Yet it makes sense when you think about it. Think of it this way: Marc Davis, an 18 year old, was looking for work but couldn't find any. Blame the economy. So he created his own business to keep work...
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March 19, 2009
CONCORD — A Goodyear official says that the tire manufacturer is "at least" two years away from having a wider and taller tire ready to race. Greg Stucker, director of Goodyear race tire sales, said that there's an "outside chance'' t...
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March 18, 2009
Formula 1 officials announced Tuesday they will change how that series' champion is determined: The driver who wins the most races will be crowned champion. Points will be kept to break ties. If NASCAR had used that way to determine its champion from the...
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