Nascar 2011

[TheMaster]

For NASCAR followers, the 2011 season is only a month away now from kicking off! Every year is a year of changes in the sport, and this season will have its share of them for sure. Beginning in this season, drivers in the three national touring leagues will have to mark down what one series they will try to win the championship in and be eligible for those points. Drivers will still be allowed to race in all three series, but they can only try for one title. Looks like this is the end of Sprint Cup contenders winning the Nationwide title, now for the Nationwide championship, people will have to start placing money on drivers like Justin Allgaier, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., or Steve Wallace, or others. The past five seasons, a full-time Cup driver won the Nationwide championship: Kevin Harvick in 2006, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, and Brad Keselowski just last year.

And then there were the regular silly season changes. For one, a major crew chief change in the Hendrick Motorsports stable. Steve Letarte moves from being Jeff Gordon's crew chief to the 88 team of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt's chief, Lance McGrew, will go to Mark Martin and the 5 team, and Alan Gustafson, who was the chief for Martin, will be the new chief for the 24 of Jeff Gordon. Chad Knaus is staying put as crew chief for reigning champion Jimmie Johnson. Richard Petty Motorsports has downsized to two cars, the 19 of Elliott Sadler and the 43 of AJ Allmendinger. Kasey Kahne will be in the 4 Red Bull Toyota. Kurt Busch moves to the 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge. Brad Keselowski moves into the 2 Miller Lite Dodge, and Kevin Harvick picks up Budweiser sponsorship on his 29 Chevy. Those are just some of the changes.

The season will begin, as always, with Daytona Speed Weeks, starting with the 33rd Budweiser Shootout! 30 drivers will take part, including defending race winner Kevin Harvick. Following the Shootout, the Gatorade Duel races on Thursday, and then the three series will begin the championship season, leading up to the 53rd Daytona 500. Fellow fans, feel more than free to post your thoughts on everything, which races you look forward to, what you make of the silly season changes, anything. For non-fans, please contribute too if u want.

[TheMaster]

Correction. Elliott Sadler will not be back in the 19 car. The 19 itself won't be back either for that matter. Instead, Marcos Ambrose is taking over the 9 that was vacated by Kasey Kahne.

[Dan2]

I like the idea of changing the qualifying order on a rain-out. Practice times will now determine starting order. Of course, if the whole shebang is a washout then owner points determine your starting spot.

[TheMaster]

I agree, I think it is better to have practice speeds determine the starting grid if time trials are rained out. At least then the grid would be determined based on the driver performance during the current weekend.

NASCAR also announced that drivers who are running full time for a series championship are the only ones to receive points in that series. In the Nationwide Series, if Sprint Cup drivers finish 1-2-3 in a race but a Nationwide title contender finishes fourth, no points for winning the race would be awarded, but 4th place will get points for 4th. I think that is simpler, but my thought coming into the season was to give first place points to the first title contender that finished.

[FUS1ON]

I like the idea of changing the qualifying order on a rain-out. Practice times will now determine starting order. Of course, if the whole shebang is a washout then owner points determine your starting spot.

Same here, the 48 team has gotten too much help winning Championships just because he happened to be leading points and it rained out qualifying giving them P1 on pit road.

[TheMaster]

The new point system is a simpler one than the previous one. 1 point for leading during the race, 1 more point for leading the most laps, 3 points for winning the race. Those are all the bonus points possible, so a maximum of five bonus points.

43 points for finishing first, and they decrease by one right down to 1 point for 43rd place. I like that idea, simple, straightforward.

[TheMaster]

The 33rd Budweiser Shootout at Daytona is a week away now! This year, 30 drivers from the Sprint Cup Series are entered in that race. Among them, the defending race winner Kevin Harvick, who is looking for his third straight. The field includes past Shootout champions, past series champions, past Cup race at Daytona winners, 2010 Chasers, 2010 polesitters, and past Rookies of the Year. The race will be 75 laps long and divided into two segments. The race is Saturday the 12th and will be covered by NASCAR on Fox.

[TheMaster]

The red and black flags waved moments ago, ending the first Budweiser Shootout practice at Daytona tonight. Hendrick Motorsports ends the session 1-2-3 on the leaderboard, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. setting the fastest lap speed, 199.862 mph. Mark Martin was second quickest, Jimmie Johnson third, Clint Bowyer fourth, and Kyle Busch fifth.

Final practice just concluded a few minutes ago. Joey Logano was the fastest this time with a top speed of 203.087. Joe Gibbs Racing was 1-2 in this session with Kyle Busch second quickest. Michael Waltrip third, Bobby Labonte fourth, and Greg Biffle fifth. Qualifying will be up next tonight, but they're doing a draw for the Shootout instead of the regular time trials.

EDIT: Just one more edit to this post. Pole drawing wrapped up. Defending race winner Kevin Harvick will be starting 18th, and will try to be the first NASCAR driver to win three straight Bud Shootouts. But the pole position goes to two-time Shootout champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. Tony Stewart, three time Shootout champ, will start next to Earnhardt on the front row.

[TheMaster]

Let's talk about the Budweiser Shootout, which just wrapped up, because it had action, drama, and controversy.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart led the field to the green flag. The first 25-lap segment went relatively tame, no yellow flag incidents. That did not stay the same during the final 50-lap segment. Several laps after restarting, a multi-car crash took out a few drivers including Juan Pablo Montoya, Regan Smith, Carl Edwards, Dale Jr., and Joey Logano. A few laps after the restart, a two-car crash occurred between Mark Martin and Kyle Busch. The third caution came out when Michael Waltrip spun after contact from Tony Stewart.

28 lead changes, a new record in the Shootout. Ryan Newman was dominant in the closing stages. On the final lap, Newman, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, and Jamie McMurray were all in the same pack. Hamlin made his move to the inside of Newman, but went completely below the double yellow line before arriving at the checkered flag. Though he crossed the line first, NASCAR in the end declared Kurt Busch the winner, deeming Hamlin's move an illegal one and crediting him with 12th place, last car on the lead lap. Kurt's win is his first restrictor plate victory, as well as the first win for Dodge in the Shootout.

[TheMaster]

The field is starting to get set for the 53rd Daytona 500. Time trial qualifying was held earlier today to determine the front row, which this year will be held by Hendrick Motorsports teammates. Dale Earnhardt Jr. grabbed the pole with a lap speed over 186 mph, and Jeff Gordon also lines up on the front row next to him. The Gatorade Duel this Thursday will determine the rest of the starting grid. There will also be a moment of silence held during the race on Sunday on lap three to pay tribute to the late Dale Earnhardt Sr.