Roush Will Appeal Penalty
NASCAR advised Roush Fenway Racing today that it will issue penalties against Carl Edwards (25 driver points), Jack Roush (25 owner points) and crew chief Bob Osborne ($25,000) for violating a rear fender height rule following Sunday's race at Dover International Speedway. Roush Fenway Racing president, Geoff Smith gave a statement following NASCAR's announcement: "We have the misfortune of violating a rule which makes no sense. It was promulgated to address restrictor plate races, not downforce races. I say misfortune because we are being penalized for a violation that actually impaired the car's performance. We intend to appeal the unfair assessment of the point's penalty. What is unfair is that Carl is receiving a penalty that is 250 percent greater in its effect than a similarly assessed penalty against a non-'Chase' driver. 'Chase' drivers are competing for a total of 1,950 points. All drivers competed for 5,070 points in the first 26 races. Do the math. The net effect is that a 25 point penalty falls unfairly hard on a 'Chase' contender. That's simply not right. To equalize the penalty impact on all competitors not more than 10 points should have been taken from a 'Chase' contender."

Edwards Penalized 25 Points/$25,000
Carl Edwards, winner of this past Sunday’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway, has been penalized 25 driver championship points due to rule violations found in post-race inspection. The loss of points dropped Edwards from third in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings to sixth, 28 points behind leader Jeff Gordon.

The No. 99 Ford driven by Edwards was found to be too low in the right rear area, which violated Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment not conforming to NASCAR rules); and 20-12.8.1C (failed to meet minimum rear car heights) of NASCAR Car of Tomorrow Technical Bulletin #3 dated April 10, 2007.

In addition, those infractions have resulted in a $25,000 fine for Edwards’ crew chief Bob Osborne, plus a penalty of 25 car owner championship points for Roush Fenway Racing. Osborne also has been placed on probation until Dec. 31.

Rudd Will Miss Another Race
Ricky Rudd, driver of the No. 88 Snickers Ford Fusion, is expected to miss his fourth straight race on Sunday when the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series visits Kansas Speedway. Rudd, who previously had never missed a race due to injury in his career, suffered a separated shoulder at Fontana earlier this month in what was his 900th career series start. Kenny Wallace will again fill-in for Rudd this weekend. Rudd talked about his situation.

“I go to therapy on Monday, and we go hard at it for about an hour steady. Then, after that, it’s iced down, and you really don’t know how good that’s worked until Tuesday, because you’re sore when you leave there. We usually know Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning what the status is. I’d like to go to Friday and make the decision, but we don’t have that option because you have to line up your back-up and get the seat in the car – different driver wants a different seat – and the car leaves the shop, probably, Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.”

WHAT ELEMENTS ARE GOING INTO THE DECISION? MOBILITY? PAIN? POSSIBLE FURTHER DAMAGE?

“A combination of all of the above – but not so much further damage issue, unless you crash or have some kind of freakish deal and then you wreck and end up hitting something hard, you wouldn’t want to hit in that same spot again. But, it’s more of about pain and mobility. I can relax my muscles and someone can grab my arm and I’ve got a full range of motion, I haven’t lost any range of motion, but it’s when I try to tell my arm to work, to tell the muscles to grab a hold, grab the steering wheel, turn right, turn left – that’s when it hurts, when my muscles have to make my arm work. I guess all the ligaments got ripped apart, and now they’re all growing back. I believe that pain is there for a reason – it’s telling you something. I don’t want to end up doing something that is going to cause me trouble down the road.”

CAN YOU COMPARE THIS INJURY TO ANYTHING YOU’VE HAD TO ENDURE IN THE PAST, SUCH AS HOW IT’S LIMITING YOU?

“I’ve had cartilage and bruised ribs in the past. I tore ligaments at Charlotte in the late ’80s in The Winston, the prelude to the 600. That was back during the tire war and I blew a tire and hit the fence, and it just really crashed the fence hard, we didn’t have the seat stuff like we have today, didn’t have the leg restraints that go down and support your legs, and my leg was on the brake pedal when I hit the wall. All that pressure on the brake pedal, my knee blew out. It was another similar sports injury, like a football player might get blind-sided from the outside and he’s got pressure on his leg. I tore the medial collateral ligaments. Pretty painful. I did get through the next race with a splint. I started the next race, but it was a superspeedway and we felt like we could change drivers without losing a lap, but I had a long splint like they put on at the emergency room – they didn’t have any fancy splints at that time. That injury took a year before it got 100 percent right. I had a special knee brace made. I flew out to California and had this carbon fiber titanium knee brace that you wore underneath your uniform. That deal, as long as you didn’t hyperextend it again, you didn’t have the pain, it was healing itself. The knee brace allowed me to have full range of motion in the car without really having any pain. This is a little different.”

YOU’RE NOTED FOR YOUR TOUGHNESS AND NOT MISSING ANY RACES FOR ANY REASON. HAD THIS HAPPENED, SAY, 15 YEARS AGO, INSTEAD OF THE SEASON AFTER YOU SAT OUT A YEAR, HOW WOULD YOU HAVE HANDLED THE DOWN TIME? ARE YOU HANDLING IT BETTER NOW?

“I think the real deal is if you’re challenging in the points, if you made the top-12 cut, or you’re a factor in the points championship – that’s kind of the risk versus the gain. Okay, maybe you do get the thing loaded up with Novocain so you don’t feel it and you go out there and race. You’re taking a chance; maybe you’ll get further damage down the road. You sort of weigh that risk versus the gain. We’re 32nd in points. The big fight is not driver points, but the ownership slot – it’s a big deal to have a team finish outside of the top 35, so we’re kind of keeping an eye on that. But, really, you look at the races we’ve been to, they’ve been short-track races. So, if I had started the race, I just know I wouldn’t have been able to finish the race. Had I started, and got my driver points, ‘I’m a tough guy, I’m back in the sport,’ I’d have to have gotten out of the car. When I had to get out of the car, short-track racing under yellow you’re going to lose at least two laps under yellow. So, yeah, I would’ve kept my streak going, driving, not missing a race because of an injury because I could’ve started the race, but in doing so the team would’ve suffered. The struggle is hard enough, but then you turn around and have to give up two laps on the front end of a race, you can’t dig yourself out of that big of a hole. Even if you’re running well, you’re going to have a hard time digging back out.”

Goodyear Resumes Tire Test At Daytona
Goodyear returned on Tuesday to Daytona International Speedway for tire testing with NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow in preparation for the historic 50th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 17. Rain slowed Goodyear’s two-day test last week at DIS. Goodyear, testing different tire compounds and structures for the 50th running of the Daytona 500, only got on the track for an afternoon session on the first day.

On Tuesday, four drivers participated in the test: David Stremme in Dodge, Mark Green in a Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota, Hendrick Motorsports’ Casey Mears in a Chevrolet and a Dodge with Kyle Petty. The Car of Tomorrow, a five-year project by NASCAR’s Research and Development Center, is designed to be safer, more competitive and cheaper for the race teams.

NASCAR’s next generation race car made its debut in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series earlier this year and was scheduled to be used in 16 races. It will be utilized on a full-time basis in 2008 and will make its debut at DIS in the 50th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 17.

“Goodyear is just trying to get some good data and get some good information so they now what to come back with,” Mears said during the lunch break. “So far, things are going pretty well. The cars are pretty well balanced. They are not real difficult to drive. For the most part, it’s very hard to tell in a two-car draft. It’s a totally different world when once you get 40 cars out there. The tires we’re putting on are just a little bit different, nothing real excessive or totally different than what we had in the past. They just want to get laps and good information and see what kind of heat these cars put in the tires as opposed to our old cars.”

Chicagoland Speedway To Install Lights
Chicagoland Speedway officials today announced plans to install lights for the 2008 season and will host two night NASCAR races next season. The 1.5-mile, D-shaped oval will become the 10th NASCAR Nextel Cup facility capable of holding night races.

"We are very excited to announce the addition of lights to Chicagoland Speedway for the upcoming 2008 season," said Matthew Alexander, president of Chicagoland Speedway. "Night racing is one of the most thrilling experiences for fans to be a part of, and now we will be able to bring that type of buzz and exciting atmosphere to our facility for fans to enjoy. Other NASCAR tracks with lights have experienced tremendous success when hosting night races, and we anticipate similar results at Chicagoland Speedway. This is an exciting step for the growth of racing in the Chicago market."

The NASCAR race weekend at Chicagoland Speedway in 2008 will feature two night races - the Busch Series race on Friday, July 11, followed by the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Saturday, July 12.(scenedaily.com)

Osborne Crew Chief Of Sunday's Race
Race number two of ten for the Nextel Cup Championship chase on the concrete mile at Dover International Speedway, kept crew chiefs battling down to the checked flag. Amidst the record 13 cautions and a lot of bent metal, crew chief Bob Osborne and the No. 99 Office Depot team emerged victorious earning a hard fought crucial win and gaining valuable points in the race for the cup. For his tactical race planning and mid race decisions, Osborne was awarded the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Race.

Osborne and the No. 99 crew faced early worries with their Ford Fusion as driver Carl Edwards radioed in problems with a sticking throttle. During a yellow flag pit stop on lap 150, Osborne directed his crew as they lifted the hood and went to work. With the problem fixed Osborne returned to the task of getting the most out the Ford and catching the lead pack. By lap 230, Edwards was once again racing in the top five, eventually taking over the lead as the final laps were run. Osborne avoided the temptation of a tire change during a late race caution with 20 laps remaining, keeping Edwards on the track. The ploy was successful as Edwards was able to hold off all charges earning the team its third win of the season.

“At the start of the race Carl [Edwards] came over the radio saying his throttle was sticking real bad, and at Dover that is not a good thing,” shared Osborne. “We kept making changes to the car all day and all the cautions allowed us to dial the car in so by the end of the race we were real fast. That big wreck with 20 laps to go worried me that debris would become an issue. We didn’t take on new tires and I felt we made the right choice.”

WYPALL* Wipers spokesmen Robbie Reiser with a panel of voters selected Bob Osborne as the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the race. “We really thought we had the No. 17 working today but after we dropped a valve it was all the No. 99,” stated Reiser. “They kept making adjustments on the car all day and at the end, where it really counts, no one could touch him.”

As the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Race, Osborne received $1,000. Mike Ford and Osborne are currently tied for first in the overall standings with fours wins.

Mears’ Team Earns Pit Crew Challenge Win at Dover
Casey Mears’ No. 25 over-the-wall crew earned the Checkers®/Rally’s® Double Drive-Thru Challenge win in Sunday’s Nextel Cup race at Dover International Speedway. By spending 315.217 seconds on pit road, the National Guard/GMAC crew took top honors in the weekly competition for the second time this season.

“Everyone on our No. 25 National Guard/GMAC Chevrolet team did a great job at Dover, and the pit crew deserves this award because their efforts kept us in the hunt all day,” said crew chief Darian Grubb. “Casey got into the tight Dover pit boxes the best he possibly could each time we came in, which helped the crew maintain their timing and allowed them to show the skills they’ve been honing all season.”

The crew, out of the Hendrick Motorsports stable, will be presented with an $11,000 check by Checkers/Rally’s for winning the weekly challenge. An additional $111,150 prize will be presented to the over-the-wall crew with the most wins at the completion of the 36-race Nextel Cup schedule. Mears’ No. 25 crew includes: Jason Hunt (jackman), Ben Fischbeck (front-tire carrier), Tony Hamm (front-tire changer), Matt Myers (rear-tire carrier), Chuck Efaw (rear-tire changer), Chris Fasulka (gasman), Chris Hamilton (catch can) and Jim Jenkins (eighth-man). The team’s pit crew coach is Mark Mauldin.

Mark Martin’s No. 01 crew and Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 crew are currently tied for the lead in the season-long Checkers/Rally’s Double Drive-Thru Challenge standings, with four wins each. To win, teams are required to finish on the lead lap while spending the least amount of time on pit road. Checkers/Rally’s is in its third season as title sponsor for the Pit Crew Challenge.

Dover Ratings Up
ABC/ESPN says ABC's broadcast of Sunday's Dodge Dealers 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Dover International Speedway earned a 3.5 fast national rating from Nielsen Media Research. The network says the race was seen by 3,911,057 households, a 15 percent increase over 2006, when the race was carried by the TNT cable station, and 5,498,209 viewers, an increase of 17 percent over last season.

Coors Light Official Beer
Coors Light will announce Tuesday a $20 million deal over five years to become the official beer of NASCAR starting in January. Coors replaces Anheuser-Busch as the official beer sponsor. The new deal includes renaming the pole award to the Coors Light Pole Award from the Bud Pole Award. For Coors, the NASCAR deal also replaces its sponsorship of the No. 40 Dodge in the top-tier Nextel Cup Series.

"Our deal was up with those guys and this opportunity came up," says Andy England, chief marketer for Coors. "It feels like we are elevating our game."

For consumer product marketers a league deals opens greater opportunity for strong retail display — especially in and around cities when races occur. "We'll follow the tour," says England. "This gives us great exposure in the 50 miles around the track. It means no matter who wins on the track, we win every week in stores."(usatoday.com)

Ranger Wins Canadian Title
Andrew Ranger won the inaugural NASCAR Canadian Tire Series title Sunday when his finished sixth in the final race of the season at Kawartha Speedway. Not bad for a driver whose stock car racing experience was virtually nil before the start of the season.

Goodyear is the exclusive tire provider for the Canadian Tire Series. The bias-ply tires supplied to the NCATS come from the same line Goodyear supplied to the two series in NASCAR’s Grand National Division, the Busch East Series and the West Series.

Scott Steckly won the race, his first victory of the 2007 season. Peter Gibbons finished second, followed by Ron Beauchamp, Derek Lynch and Dave Whitlock. Steckly averaged 51.790 mph for the 300-lap race.

Ranger’s closest competition for the title, veteran D.J. Kennington, fell out of the race on the 98th lap around the 4/10-mile oval when the engine on Kennington’s car failed. Ranger beat Kennington 1,896 to 1,793 in the final standings. The championship means Ranger will get a chance to compete in the NASCAR Toyota Showdown at Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, Calif. Mark Dilley won the Budweiser Pole Award with a lap averaging 76.254 mph.

Tony Raines Fined $15,000
NASCAR announced today that Tony Raines, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Busch Series, has been fined and penalized due to rule violations this past weekend at Dover International Speedway. Raines was fined $15,000 and penalized 25 driver championship points for violating Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing – entered the race track surface without authorization; throwing helmet at competitor’s car) of the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series Rule Book. Additionally, the driver’s infractions have resulted in team owner DeLana Harvick being penalized 25 owner championship points. The infractions took place during the race on Sept. 22.