NASCAR Daily News Headlines * December 28, 2008

Sadler Out, Allmendinger In

Despite GEM extending Elliott Sadler's contract earlier this year, Allmendinger proved over the last five races of the season that he was better suited for the ride. Allmendinger, 27, outran Sadler with an average finish of 16.4 behind the wheel of GEM equipment compared to the veteran's finish of 31.8.

Sadler's possibilities are rumored to include the No. 41 Chevrolet at Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing or the No. 77 Dodge at Penske Racing should Sam Hornish Jr. replace Helio Castroneves in the IRL IndyCar Series.

Allmendinger posted two top 10s in 21 starts with Red Bull Racing this season after qualifying for 17 races with the start-up operation as a rookie in 2007. He will join Kasey Kahne in the flagship No. 9 GEM Dodge and newcomer Reed Sorenson, who will pilot the No. 43 Dodge following the imminent announcement of the merger between owner George Gillett and Richard Petty.(foxsports.com)

McMurray To Run Daytona Kart Race

For the second straight year, McMurray, who drives for Roush Fenway Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, is competing in Daytona KartWeek By Cometic Gasket World Karting Association races. As a kid, McMurray spent many Christmas holidays with his family in Daytona Beach racing karts at DIS with dreams of competing in NASCAR one day.

With that dream accomplished, McMurray, who won the 2007 Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola at DIS, now enjoys returning to his karting roots when there’s time on his schedule.

“I love golf -- once every two months,” McMurray said. “I go through a spell where you play a week of golf but it hurts my back and my knees. I don’t play a lot of golf anymore but this is the one thing that I have found that I just love.”

On the first day of Daytona KartWeek By Cometic Gasket, McMurray was tooling away on his kart in the infield of Turns 3 and 4 with hundreds of other karters. He has two karting friends – DJ Silva and Gary Carlton – assisting him along with his father Jim, who has raced karts at DIS since the mid-1970s.

He also upgraded his pit area from last year with a new trailer that he purchased from fellow NASCAR competitor Jeff Burton.

“I come down here and I want it to be fun and I want to have a good time and I don’t want it to be stressful,” said McMurray, whose father Jim is sitting out the races this year to assist his son. “Having the help and doing this with dad and all this cool stuff makes it laid back.”

McMurray also enjoys the little things about karting and that includes the drive from North Carolina the day after Christmas.

“My dad and I left 8:30 in the morning after Christmas,” McMurray said. “I drove the whole way. This might sound odd but I wouldn’t want to drive to Cup races but I missed the fact of stopping at a truck stop and experiencing that. It’s different.

“I don’t know if I missed it but I wanted to experience all of that again and I had just a great time experiencing that with my dad. My dad and I we fight like crazy and 10 seconds later it’s all good but just little things like stopping at the truck stop or dealing with traffic.”

Sunday was only a practice day for all the karters. McMurray will compete in a single race on Monday and Tuesday in the Sprint Championships on the half-mile sprint track located in the infield between Turns 3 and 4.