NASCAR Daily News Headlines * January 24, 2009

Robby Gordon On Score Pole

The season opener of the five-race 2009 SCORE Desert Series, is being held near the banks of the Colorado River in Laughlin, Nev. -- The unique race, split into two parts, will start Saturday and finish Sunday, running from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the 17 classes divided into five race groups running multiple laps each day. The featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division will race at 1 p.m. each day followed by the unlimited Class 1 cars at 3 p.m. Both classes will run eight laps each day.

Gordon, who ran nine seconds faster than his 2008 Laughlin qualifying time, will lead a field of 113 official entries, which includes 22 vehicles in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division for high-tech, 800 horsepower, unlimited production trucks.

With plans to run the entire 2009 SCORE Desert Series while continuing to run his full NASCAR season, Gordon, of Charlotte, N.C., easily outdistanced the 17 SCORE Trophy-Trucks that started in the special one-lap qualifying session.(racingwest.com)

NASCAR: No TV Blackouts

Speedway Motorsports Inc. Chairman Bruton Smith floated an NFL-style blackout idea on Tuesday as a possible solution to help tracks counter lagging attendance figures.

But France said the concept wouldn’t work. In the NFL, a home team must sell out its game in order to have the event broadcast in its local market. With a national sport like NASCAR, a blackout would not have the intended effect, he said.(scenedaily.com)

Four Car Cap Will Stay

NASCAR announced the team cap in November 2005, and Roush Fenway was given until the end of 2009 to get down from five to four teams because it had existing contracts that ran through this season.

“We have not changed our mind on this,” NASCAR President Mike Helton said Thursday during the Sprint Media Tour. “As a matter of fact, it's probably stronger than it's ever been, and we believed it's the right thing to do when we announced it. We believe it's the right thing to do today.(scenedaily.com)

NASCAR Limits Hall Inductees

NASCAR expects to announce its inaugural class in October and to have its first induction ceremony in May 2010. The inductee display will have a section for the five current year inductees (likely in the middle) with the past inductees along the wall. Inductees will be determined by a voting committee that will decide from a list created by the nominating committee.(scenedaily.com)

More Indy Tire Test

Phoenix Racing To Run Full Schedule

Team officials said Marlin will drive in an undetermined number of races this season. The team's Nationwide Series driver, Mike Bliss, could also get a few starts. Miccosukee will sponsor 10 races this year, and the team will have other sponsor and driver announcements at a later date. Miccosukee will continue its sponsorship of Bliss for the 35-race Nationwide schedule.(scenedaily.com)

Gordon To Run Third Hummer In 2010 Dakar

Team Gordon Off-road just completed a challenging two weeks participating in the 2009 Dakar Rally throughout Argentina and Chile. It was the team’s fourth and most successful Dakar attempt since its inception in 2006. Gordon finished third overall behind Giniel De Villiers, the 31st Dakar Rally car class winner. Gordon’s teammate, Eric Vigouroux drove his identical Hummer to a 13th place finish.(theautochannel.com)

NASCAR Lifts Suspensions

“They’re done paying their price, they’ve been reinstated and they’re waiting to apply for their license,” NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said Thursday during the Sprint Media Tour. “They’re good.”

JGR President J.D. Gibbs said Tuesday that all of those who were reinstated would receive a team-imposed one-race suspension as an additional penalty.(scenedaily.com)

Max Papis In For Five Truck Races