NASCAR Daily News Headlines * February 4, 2009

Menard On Shootout Pole

Defending race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start ninth as he opens his second season for Hendrick Motorsports in the 75-lap exhibition race. His teammate, three-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, will start 21st. Four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon drew the last starting spot -- four of the last six starting positions were drawn by drivers in Chevrolets.

The field is comprised of seven entrants from each of the four participating manufacturers. The top six drivers, based on owners points from the previous season, from each manufacturer (based on their 2009 manufacturer alignment) are in the event. Each manufacturer gets a seventh driver, either a past Cup champion or another car based on owners points.

Robby Gordon elected to participate in a Dodge although he is switching to Toyota for 2009. Penske Racing's Sam Hornish Jr. is one of the top six Dodges based on the owners points he obtained from the No. 22 car owned by Bill Davis, but the paperwork was done too late to get him into the Budweiser Shootout. The race is scheduled to begin at 8:10 p.m. ET Saturday.
For Full Starting Lineup...     (Insider Racing News)

Ambrose Locked Into 500

"I'll wait until we begin the Daytona 500 until I breathe again," Marcos said with a laugh. "It looks like we're in the 500. NASCAR spoke with us this morning and yesterday and if nothing changes we will be lining up for the 500 — which is a huge relief. We support — Michael Waltrip Racing and JTG Daugherty Racing — NASCAR's move and position on this stance as it has played out. Every team has earned its position in the top 35. Three teams have dropped out in the offseason, so it's natural that some get shifted up."(foxsports.com)

Goodyear Building Bigger Tire

The tire could make its debut at the short- track events in 2010 if things go well. That would follow how NASCAR phased in the Car of Tomorrow. The main advantage of a taller, wider tire is it could give drivers more grip. That would help the car's handling and could give teams improved tire wear.

"We're operating right on the edge of the envelope for our current package," Stucker said. "The new car definitely seems to stress tires differently with the additional right-side weight, it's harder on those right sides. We would like to go taller and wider to... make the tire a little bit more forgiving and a little less sensitive to maybe guys missing the setup or maybe being more aggressive on their setups."

Goodyear's current Cup tire is 28.5 inches tall and 11-12 inches wide, depending on the track configuration. Stucker said that Goodyear officials are looking at making the tire 1.5 to 2 inches taller and the same amount wider. That creates issues, though. A taller, wider tire will force teams to alter their cars and that could cause headaches.

"When you raise the car up, obviously, you change your suspension pickup points and so on and so forth," Stucker said. "We're trying to be very careful in approaching this. If there are going to be changes necessary, make sure they're the right changes and let's think through it. We're proceeding fairly cautiously."

Another issue is that Stucker said that Goodyear would have to alter its equipment to produce a different-sized tire. That will take time.

"We've got to make some fairly significant changes, which we are in the process of planning and getting ready to do," Stucker said. "That's going to take some time to upgrade all of that equipment."(hamptonroads.com)

Race Times Change For 2009

The final three races are also earlier starts, all at 3:15 p.m. Eastern, compared with a 3:30 p.m. start at Texas Motor Speedway and 3:45 p.m. starts at Phoenix and Homestead-Miami to end the year in 2008. Races starting later than last year will be the Feb. 22 race at Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway, which will start at 6 p.m. instead of 4 p.m. Eastern and the May 24 race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway that will start at 5:45 p.m. instead of 5:30 p.m.

The fall California race, which was a night race on Labor Day weekend last year, will start at 3:15 p.m. Eastern, compared with the 8 p.m. Eastern start last year. Likewise, the Labor Day race at Atlanta will start at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, compared with the 2 p.m. start Atlanta had when its race was in October last year.(scenedaily.com)

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