Danica Patrick to leave IndyCar behind for NASCAR (BLOG)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — With the not-so-subtle shape of a stock car under cover just in front of her and spotlights glaring in her face, Danica Patrick feigned drama for an announcement everyone already knew was coming.

"For breaking news that will shock the world ...," she said facetiously on Thursday.

Peeling the lid off the worst-kept secret in auto racing, Patrick ended months of skirting questions about her future by officially declaring her plans to leave IndyCar in 2012 to race a full Nationwide season for JR Motorsports and a part-time Sprint Cup schedule with Stewart-Haas Racing.

One of the most marketable stars in auto racing, Patrick had been rumored to be headed to NASCAR even before she ran her first stock race, the ARCA series event at Daytona in 2010. Even while racing limited Nationwide schedules the past two years for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team, Patrick had deflected talk of her leaving IndyCar for the fenders of NASCAR.

That all changed, at least officially, when she signed a contract with GoDaddy.com chairman Bob Parsons in front of TV cameras and a few dozen cheering company employees on Thursday.

"If it was about money, I'd have gone a long time ago," Patrick said from GoDaddy's offices in north Scottsdale. "I just go where my heart tells me, where my gut tells me to go, where I'm enjoying my life the most, where I feel like I can have the most success. I've truly enjoyed my experience in NASCAR, to the point that I want to do it full-time."

Patrick will run most of her races in the lower-tier Nationwide Series with only a handful of Sprint Cup races, but her switch to NASCAR should be a big boost to a sport that's been hurt by a sagging economy and a dip in popularity from its heyday just a few years back.

With her telegenic looks, mass appeal, not to mention racy Super Bowl ads, Patrick brings something that's hard to come by: star power.

"We are pleased Danica Patrick has chosen to race full time in NASCAR in 2012," NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France said in a statement. "She has demonstrated a strong desire to compete and NASCAR provides the best opportunity to race against the top drivers in the world with the largest and most loyal fan base in motorsports on a week-to-week basis. Danica has shown solid improvement in NASCAR and we believe her decision to run full time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, with additional races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, will be exciting for our fans and a great challenge for her."

On the other side of the wheel, Patrick's decision leaves a big void in IndyCar.

The series has made some big strides under the direction of CEO Randy Bernard, who has aggressively reshaped the sport with innovative marketing approaches. But for all the successes IndyCar has had, Patrick is still arguably the sport's biggest star — certainly it's most recognizable — and losing her will likely put a dent in the sport's momentum.

"Danica has always been a great ambassador for IndyCar, and there is no doubt she has left a positive impression on our sport," Bernard said in a statement. "She has touched millions of fans and many that were new to motorsports. Danica attracted a fan base that every athlete and sports property in the world would love to have. We should give her a great farewell the rest of this season as she opens a new page in her career and wish her continued success with her new direction."

Patrick has run 20 races in two years with JR Motorsports and has five more on the schedule this season. She plans to run between eight and 10 Sprint Cup races with Stewart-Haas, with an eye on a full season in 2013.

Patrick would like to race at the Daytona 500, though the team hasn't mapped out where she'll start or which races will fill out the schedule this year, and didn't rule out another run at the Indianapolis 500 — even after Andretti Autosport announced it had reached a mutual agreement to part ways with her after the 2011 season.

"We're thrilled with Danica Patrick's decision to join us for the 2012 season and looking forward to seeing her behind the wheel of a NASCAR Nationwide Series car on a consistent basis," said Matt Jauchius, chief marketing and strategy officer for Nationwide Insurance. "Her presence will continue to make our Series stronger and more competitive. She has proven to raise awareness levels of our sport, sponsors and competitors; and that's good for everyone involved."

Patrick will leave IndyCar after a decent run.

She became the first woman to win an IndyCar race at Japan in 2008 and was the first to lead the Indy 500, when she did it in 2005 — the same year she earned the pole at Kansas. Patrick also had a high finish of third at the Brickyard in 2009 on her to way to a career-best fifth in the season standings.

Patrick is currently 12th in the IndyCar standings, with seven top-10 finishes.

"The thing you see in Danica right away is how determined she is to be good at what she does," Stewart-Haas owner Tony Stewart said. "She's very dedicated to taking the time and effort to make the transition from Indy cars to stock cars. She has talent, she has the right mindset, and she has the proper drive and determination. It doesn't matter who it is you're looking for, those are the key attributes that you look for in a driver, and Danica's got them."

Patrick had a sharp learning curve when she first started racing stock cars, but has gained ground this year.

After that first ARCA race at Daytona, she struggled with the nuances of the Nationwide car, her best finish a 19th at Homestead with an average finish of 28th.

Patrick has been much smoother this season, posting three top-10 finishes, with a career-best of fourth at Las Vegas — the best finish by a woman at a national NASCAR race. She's made good progress as a part-time driver and expects to get better with a full-time shot.

"I feel like in the last year, I've really come around much more on the track and the top-10s are happening much more frequently," Patrick said. "I feel like I'm getting it more and more all the time. I still have a lot to learn, that's for sure, but I really feel confident that I can be successful in the future."

There's no turning back now that the secret's officially out.

Kyle Busch picks up win at Michigan (BLOG)

BROOKLYN, MICH. (AP)

Kyle Busch won his 23rd race on NASCAR's Sprint Cup circuit, pulling even with brother Kurt in career victories.

Now, Kyle would like to match another of Kurt's accomplishments: winning a series title.

''He's always still got that carrot over me,'' Kyle Busch said. ''Certainly, being the younger brother, I've had a little bit shorter time being here, but still, it's great to see both of us be as competitive as we've been and as successful as we've been.''

Kyle Busch outlasted Jimmie Johnson on Sunday in a green-white-checkered finish at Michigan International Speedway, winning his fourth Cup race of the year. Busch leads the series standings by 10 points over Johnson and is assured of a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Kurt Busch won the series championship in 2004. Now, his 26-year-old brother might be the driver with the best chance of ending Johnson's five-year hold on the title. There are three races remaining before the 10-race Chase begins.

''Certainly we've built ourselves into championship contenders this year,'' Kyle Busch said. ''There's a great opportunity for us to win three more races before the Chase starts. We'd love nothing more than to see that, and of course carry on our strong runs through the final 10 weeks. It's just a matter of being consistent.''

Kyle Busch passed Johnson with about a dozen laps remaining and was opening up a comfortable margin when Kurt Busch scraped a wall, forcing a caution from laps 198-201. The yellow flag erased much of Kyle Busch's lead, but he was able to fight off a quick move from Johnson after the restart and pull away.

It was Busch's first Cup win at Michigan.

Brad Keselowski finished third, his third consecutive top-three finish and fifth top-10 in his last six races. Mark Martin was fourth.

Keselowski has been impressive recently despite breaking his left ankle earlier this month during a test session. He's now 12th in the standings, and with two victories, he looks likely to make the Chase as a wild card.

The top 10 drivers and the two drivers ranked 11th to 20th with the most victories earn spots for the Chase.

''I would like to make the top 10 on our own merits, if for no other reason than to push away all the naysayers of the wild-card system,'' Keselowski said. ''It's going to be good either way. I'm a big fan of the wild card. It's going to be something that's going to reward me. I think it's a great way of showing a commitment to our fans to rewarding those who can win races.''

Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch's teammate with Joe Gibbs Racing, would be the other wild card if the regular season ended now, but he did little to help himself Sunday with a 35th-place showing. Hamlin, who had to stop in at the garage about two thirds of the way through the race, is in 14th place with one win — at Michigan back in June.

Pole-sitter Greg Biffle led for 86 of the first 100 laps Sunday, but it didn't last. Kyle Busch passed him around the midway point of the planned 200-lap, 400-mile race. Jeff Gordon took the lead not long after that, and Johnson appeared to be in great shape when he made a pit stop just before a caution that started on lap 169.

Johnson was able to stay out on the track while other cars made pit stops under the yellow flag, and he led on the restart.

But Kyle Busch was lurking back in third place in his No. 18 Toyota and eventually passed Johnson.

'Wish I could have hung on,'' Johnson said. ''I got away from Kyle, but as I was pulling away, I was sliding the car pretty bad. ... Eventually, he got to me. With that last restart I had a shot once again, got a good restart next to him, but couldn't make it happen.''

Busch has three straight top-three showings. He was second to Keselowski at Pocono and third at Watkins Glen.

Busch came up short at Watkins Glen in a two-lap dash to the finish. He led the field to the green flag for those final two laps, but couldn't hold off Keselowski or winner Marcos Ambrose.

This ending was much more satisfying, and Busch got the better of Johnson — for now.

Johnson, the five-time defending Cup champion, has only one victory in the series this year but is performing consistently enough to be second in the standings.

Ryan Newman finished fifth Sunday, followed by Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth. Biffle settled for 20th.

Carl Edwards ended up 36th after having to stop at the garage early on.

''I don't know what was wrong with it. ... It felt like it was running on seven cylinders,'' Edwards said. ''We changed a bunch of stuff and then it was fixed. It wasn't something mechanical, it was probably something with some electrical connection or a coil or something.''




foxsports

Boris Said, Greg Biffle tangle after race (BLOG,VIDEO)

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- NASCAR officials will review an incident in which Greg Biffle took a swing at Boris Said in the garage following Monday's Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen International.

According to witnesses, Biffle approached Said's car after a wild green-white-checkered finish in which Said got into the back of David Ragan, Biffle's Roush Fenway Racing teammate.

The bump sparked a violent crash that destroyed the cars of Ragan and David Reutimann, whose Toyota went upside down and into a retaining wall shortly before another crash initiated by Tony Stewart brought out a caution flag and secured Marcos Ambrose's first Sprint Cup win.

After the race, Biffle took at least one swing at Said through the window of Said's Phoenix Racing Chevrolet. Once Said unstrapped himself and climbed out of the car he went after Biffle, who by then was protected by his crew.


"He is the most unprofessional little scaredy cat I've ever seen in my life,'' said an angry Said during a TV interview with ESPN The Magazine's Ryan McGee. "He wouldn't even fight me like a man after. So if someone texts me his address, I'll go see him Wednesday at his house and show him what he really needs."


"He needs a whooping and I'm going to give it to him. He was flipping me off, giving me the finger. Totally unprofessional. Two laps down. I mean, he is a chump," Said added.


Said, a road course specialist who finished 22nd, admitted it was his contact that initiated the crash that collected Ragan and Reutimann, who were released from the infield care center without major injuries.



But Said was more upset with Biffle, who finished 31st after running out of gas early, than about the accident.


"He comes over and throws a few little baby punches and then when I get out he runs away and hides behind some big guys,'' Said said. "But he won't hide from me long. I'll find him. I won't settle it out on the track. It's not right to wreck cars, but, he'll show up at a race with a black eye one of these days. I'll see him somewhere."


Biffle used his Twitter page to respond to Said's remarks.


"Boris,'the roadcourse ringer' caused that wreck," he posted on his page, later adding. "Then Mr. Class pulls in behind my truck after the race today?! Shouldn't you go check on David & David? How unprofessional & disrespectful!"


Both drivers left the track before NASCAR officials had a chance to talk to them.


"We are evaluating the situation,'' NASCAR spokesperson Kristi King said.


Any potential penalties likely would be announced on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Earnhardt Jr. furious after frustration at Daytona (BLOG)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Dale Earnhardt Jr. made it clear he's no fan of the current style of restrictor plate racing before he even arrived at Daytona International Speedway.

"I'm not looking forward to going to Daytona, not with the way the drafting is there," he said a week before Saturday night's race.

"It's really weird and kinda wrong on some levels to race that way," he said the day the track opened.

But if there was any doubt, he ended it after a frustrating 19th-place finish that had his passionate army of fans accusing Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson of sabotaging Earnhardt's chance to win.

"I am really ticked off. It was a foolish ... race. I don't know what to tell you," he fumed. "I don't like this kind of racing and you know it."

Earnhardt didn't appear to be "ticked off" at Johnson, the teammate he partnered with for the second consecutive plate race. He had pushed Johnson to the win at Talladega in April, and Johnson said all week he was willing to return the favor at Daytona.

There once was a time when Earnhardt didn't need help to win at Daytona, when he could just slice his way to the front and hold off a train of traffic in the closing laps. That's how he did it 10 years ago, on his first visit to the track following his father's fatal accident in the 2001 Daytona 500. And that's how he did it 17 months ago, when he charged from 10th to second in the breathtaking final two laps of the season-opener.

But the racing has changed dramatically since then, and drivers now need to create a two-car hookup to get around Daytona. They use one spotter, with the lead driver taking traffic signals, guiding the trailing driver, who is stuck in a perpetual blind spot as he's glued to the rear bumper.

The tandem racing debuted at the start of the season, was elevated to a more sophisticated level at Talladega, and led almost every driver to pick a partner and devise a strategy even before they got to Daytona.

"I'd rather have control of my own destiny and be able to go out there and race and just do my own work and worry about my own self," Earnhardt said on Thursday. "Been growing up all these years racin' for No. 1, lookin' out for No. 1, doing my job. This is what I need to do, I need to do this to get up through the pack. This is how my car drives. Now you are doing it so different. Your thought process and everything you think about during the race is nothing near that.

"It is just different and weird."

Maybe Earnhardt would have felt differently had the outcome been a little better Saturday night. But as winner David Ragan made his move toward the front with teammate Matt Kenseth, the Earnhardt-Johnson duo found itself mired in traffic.

Then they were separated when Johnson ducked onto pit road, but Earnhardt stayed on the track. It was obviously botched communications that sunk their chances at the win.

"I'm driving my car, do what I'm told," Earnhardt said. "They decided to do something different. I can't run the whole damn thing from the seat of the damn race car. I'm just doing what I'm told out there. I don't know how that affected us, if it did at all. It probably didn't."

Johnson, apparently getting blasted on Twitter from angry JR Nation fans, posted on his page immediately after the race that he "didn't leave Jr hanging" and crew chiefs Steve Letarte and Chad Knaus make the decisions.

"You people are crazy," he wrote on Twitter. "When my crew tells me to pit, I pit. Steve and Chad sort out the details."

But that wasn't even what ruined Earnhardt's race. It came later, on the final two-lap sprint, when he said Jamie McMurray drove into the side of his Chevrolet and turned him.

"I had it saved, and then he came on and got him another shot," Earnhardt said. "Brought the KO. punch the second time and spun us around."

The style of racing won't change before NASCAR goes to Talladega in October, when drivers, maybe even Earnhardt, will be competing for the Sprint Cup championship. Each move will be critical, and every driver will be dependent on someone else.

It's not comfortable for Earnhardt, and he doesn't think it's suitable. He's the most outspoken driver about the current state of plate racing, but he's definitely not alone.

"It's so hard to see how many hours these (crew) guys put into these cars, to have it torn up in the blink of an eye like that," Johnson said. "But it is what it is and we'll just go on to the next one."

NASCAR fines Childress $150,000 for hitting Kyle Busch (BLOG)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Richard Childress was fined $150,000 on Monday for assaulting Kyle Busch, the latest incident in an ongoing feud between NASCAR's most polarizing driver and Childress' race teams.

NASCAR also placed Childress on probation through the end of the year, finding the team owner solely at fault for Saturday's incident at Kansas Speedway. Childress, 65, apparently approached Busch after the trucks race, placed him in a headlock and punched him several times.

Childress, who dodged a suspension from NASCAR, was upset that Busch had bumped into Joey Coulter on the cool-down lap after the race.

"First of all, I'm responsible for my actions, plain and simple," Childress said in a statement. "As you know, I am a very principled person and have a passion for what we do at Richard Childress Racing. I believe passionately in defending my race teams and my sponsor partners. In this instance, I let that passion and my emotions get the best of me."

Stewart makes a change: Tony Stewart released Bobby Hutchens as director of competition at Stewart-Haas Racing and promoted Matt Borland to vice president of competition. Stewart has one top-five finish this season.

NFL

Albert added to NFL on CBS

Longtime play-by-play announcer Marv Albert is joining the NFL on CBS team. Albert worked for NBC Sports from 1977 to 1997 and announced the NFL on NBC for 19 years. He was the play-by-play voice for Westwood One Radio's coverage of Monday Night Football from 2002 to 2009 alongside Boomer Esiason.

Albert will keep his lead role as basketball play-by-play announcer for TNT's Thursday NBA regular-season and playoff coverage.

Judge sets Sept. 12 date: U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson scheduled a hearing on the owners' motion to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit from a group of players for Sept. 12.

Burress released from prison: Former Giants receiver Plaxico Burress was released from prison in Rome, N.Y., after spending nearly two years behind bars on a gun charge.


tampabay

Wild Crash Seals Indianapolis 500 (BLOG)

INDIANAPOLIS – Rookie JR Hildebrand threw away the 100th anniversary edition of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, crashing on the very last corner of the last lap in the most dramatic, spectacular and heartbreaking finish in the great race’s proud history.

Hildebrand was poised to become the first rookie since Helio Castroneves in 2001 to drink the famous milk as he survived a wild afternoon to enter the final lap clear of Dan Wheldon.

However, heading into the final corner – and with his team officials and pit crew already raising their arms in celebration – Hildebrand lost control of his No.4 National Guard car for Panther Racing and smashed into the wall.

Even then, he nearly won in any case, as his mangled vehicle slid along the wall toward the finish line. But the impact of the crash caused him to slow enough for Wheldon to surge past in the final 200 yards.

While Wheldon celebrated, the result had yet to be made official. In question is whether Hildebrand was still the leader when the caution came out. Technically, the field is frozen when a caution comes out, meaning officials could have ruled Wheldon’s pass of Hildebrand didn’t count. After a review, officials ruled Wheldon passed Hildebrand after the caution lights came on.

“I just felt a lot of relief,” said Wheldon, who won for the second time following his victory in 2005. “I have been the runner-up twice. There are a lot of great storylines today.”

But there was no bigger story than that of Hildebrand, the 23-year-old Californian whose destiny was so cruelly snatched away at the last moment.

Hildebrand was left in stunned silence at the end, hands on his knees in the infield, barely able to comprehend the misfortune which befell him.

“I knew we were really tight on the fuel coming to the end,” Hildebrand explained. “I had the spotters in my ear telling me the guys were coming at us really hard. I was hanging on a bit.

“I caught him [Charlie Kimball] at just the wrong time,” he continued. “I went to the high side because I didn’t want to slow down too much, I got up in the marbles and that was it.

“I didn’t come here expecting to have a chance to win the Indy 500 but we did, and that is why it is frustrating.”

After leaders Scott Dixon and then Danica Patrick were forced to pit for refueling, Hildebrand overtook Dario Franchitti to give himself a shot at victory. But it was not to be.

Danica Patrick led the race with less than 10 laps to go but had to pit for fuel. She wound up 10th.

yahoo

NASCAR walking fine line in policing its policy (BLOG)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The boys, it seems, are still having at it, and NASCAR, to no surprise, still has no defined line on its year-old policy of letting drivers settle their own scores.

That's the conundrum NASCAR leaders faced Monday as they huddled to review a pair of weekend altercations at Darlington Raceway that raised attention to the ratings-challenged series, but tested the limits of just how far feuds should be permitted to play out.

The first, between Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Newman, happened behind closed doors with only NASCAR's top officials present to witness a Friday meeting that "did not go as well as we had hoped." Rumor has it that Newman punched Montoya in the meeting, a claim neither driver would confirm or deny.

But that NASCAR took the unprecedented step to issue a statement — one that promised further scrutiny of the two drivers — was confirmation enough that something bad went down in the tight confines of NASCAR's at-track office.

It turned out to be just the opening act.

Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, who have a long history of not getting along, then tangled on the track in the closing laps of Saturday night's race. Only Busch knows if the contact he had with Harvick, which led to Harvick teammate Clint Bowyer's race-ending crash, was intentional.

Busch claims it wasn't, just one of those racing incidents he attributed to Harvick's lack of on-track etiquette, but Harvick had no interest in calmly discussing the incident. So he stalked Busch after the checkered flag, stopping his car on pit road in front of Busch.

Busch maybe could have driven around him, but instead pulled up to Harvick's bumper. And when Harvick climbed from his car, approached Busch's window, and as he leaned in to throw a punch, Busch bumped Harvick's empty car enough to send it spinning into the wall. It cleared a path for Busch to drive away.

Race fans love the drama, and the post-race fireworks far overshadowed the upset of Regan Smith — NASCAR's equivalent of a No. 16 seed — beating points leader Carl Edwards — obviously, a No. 1 seed — to the finish in one of the most prestigious races of the season.

In fact, the conversation the last two weeks has not been on the racing or the winners. It's instead been centered on all the other nonsense: the Montoya-Newman scuffle that stretched from Richmond to Darlington, Martin Truex Jr. firing his crew over a botched final pit stop, Kurt Busch's mid-race meltdown on his radio, and now another Busch vs. Harvick feud.

NASCAR will likely punish Busch, Harvick, Montoya and Newman. But figuring out how to scold the drivers without totally discouraging the behavior is a difficult task.

There's precedence in nearly every case.

Robby Gordon drew season-long probation in March for socking Kevin Conway in the garage at Las Vegas, but Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton both went unpunished for an on-track shoving match last November at Texas.

When it comes to meetings in the hauler, which NASCAR is infamously tightlipped about, the sanctioning body took no action in 2008 when Tony Stewart allegedly popped Kurt Busch in front of series officials.

Carl Edwards last season was the first driver to test the policy, which was somewhat accidentally coined "Boys, have at it," by vice president of competition of Robin Pemberton. Edwards drove his damaged race car into the garage at Atlanta last spring, waited for his crew to repair it, then returned to the track to intentionally wreck Brad Keselowski.

The accident send Keselowski's car sailing into the fence, and NASCAR slapped Edwards with three races of probation.

It's not clear why NASCAR is so angry at Montoya and Newman, but the statement on the Friday meeting stressed "we're not completely through with this issue."

Safety is clearly at the heart of the Busch-Harvick incident, because NASCAR has no leg to stand on for punishing Busch for the on-track contact. The sanctioning body did nothing after last season's finale, when Harvick not only caused Busch's fiery wreck, but admitted post-race it was intentional.

"He raced me like a clown all day: three-wide, on the back bumper, running into me. I just had enough," Harvick brazenly admitted.

But their post-race antics on pit road Saturday night can't be ignored, and neither is exempt from blame.

Harvick instigated by stopping on pit road and climbing out of his car, but Busch participated by pulling onto Harvick's bumper and then spinning the car. Thankfully, the crew members running to join the fray had not yet reached the scene, and were thus out of harm's way when the driverless car smacked the wall.

Kurt Busch was fined $100,000 in 2007 for putting crew members in danger with pit road antics, but that was at a time when NASCAR didn't understand how much the fans love driver drama.

Now, in trying to cater to that fan desire, NASCAR has opened the flood gates with nothing more than a case-by-case trial and jury system to determine how much is too much. The Montoya-Newman feud has apparently gone too far, even though we may never know just what was the final straw.

The Busch-Harvick thing must be judged solely as a safety hazard, with punishment only bad enough to send a message that pit road is too dangerous a place to carry out vendettas. The last thing NASCAR wants is to discourage the raw emotion that's got everyone talking.

After all, who won Saturday night?

NASCAR walking fine line in policing its policy (BLOG)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The boys, it seems, are still having at it, and NASCAR, to no surprise, still has no defined line on its year-old policy of letting drivers settle their own scores.

That's the conundrum NASCAR leaders faced Monday as they huddled to review a pair of weekend altercations at Darlington Raceway that raised attention to the ratings-challenged series, but tested the limits of just how far feuds should be permitted to play out.

The first, between Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Newman, happened behind closed doors with only NASCAR's top officials present to witness a Friday meeting that "did not go as well as we had hoped." Rumor has it that Newman punched Montoya in the meeting, a claim neither driver would confirm or deny.

But that NASCAR took the unprecedented step to issue a statement — one that promised further scrutiny of the two drivers — was confirmation enough that something bad went down in the tight confines of NASCAR's at-track office.

It turned out to be just the opening act.

Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, who have a long history of not getting along, then tangled on the track in the closing laps of Saturday night's race. Only Busch knows if the contact he had with Harvick, which led to Harvick teammate Clint Bowyer's race-ending crash, was intentional.

Busch claims it wasn't, just one of those racing incidents he attributed to Harvick's lack of on-track etiquette, but Harvick had no interest in calmly discussing the incident. So he stalked Busch after the checkered flag, stopping his car on pit road in front of Busch.

Busch maybe could have driven around him, but instead pulled up to Harvick's bumper. And when Harvick climbed from his car, approached Busch's window, and as he leaned in to throw a punch, Busch bumped Harvick's empty car enough to send it spinning into the wall. It cleared a path for Busch to drive away.

Race fans love the drama, and the post-race fireworks far overshadowed the upset of Regan Smith — NASCAR's equivalent of a No. 16 seed — beating points leader Carl Edwards — obviously, a No. 1 seed — to the finish in one of the most prestigious races of the season.

In fact, the conversation the last two weeks has not been on the racing or the winners. It's instead been centered on all the other nonsense: the Montoya-Newman scuffle that stretched from Richmond to Darlington, Martin Truex Jr. firing his crew over a botched final pit stop, Kurt Busch's mid-race meltdown on his radio, and now another Busch vs. Harvick feud.

NASCAR will likely punish Busch, Harvick, Montoya and Newman. But figuring out how to scold the drivers without totally discouraging the behavior is a difficult task.

There's precedence in nearly every case.

Robby Gordon drew season-long probation in March for socking Kevin Conway in the garage at Las Vegas, but Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton both went unpunished for an on-track shoving match last November at Texas.

When it comes to meetings in the hauler, which NASCAR is infamously tightlipped about, the sanctioning body took no action in 2008 when Tony Stewart allegedly popped Kurt Busch in front of series officials.

Carl Edwards last season was the first driver to test the policy, which was somewhat accidentally coined "Boys, have at it," by vice president of competition of Robin Pemberton. Edwards drove his damaged race car into the garage at Atlanta last spring, waited for his crew to repair it, then returned to the track to intentionally wreck Brad Keselowski.

The accident send Keselowski's car sailing into the fence, and NASCAR slapped Edwards with three races of probation.

It's not clear why NASCAR is so angry at Montoya and Newman, but the statement on the Friday meeting stressed "we're not completely through with this issue."

Safety is clearly at the heart of the Busch-Harvick incident, because NASCAR has no leg to stand on for punishing Busch for the on-track contact. The sanctioning body did nothing after last season's finale, when Harvick not only caused Busch's fiery wreck, but admitted post-race it was intentional.

"He raced me like a clown all day: three-wide, on the back bumper, running into me. I just had enough," Harvick brazenly admitted.

But their post-race antics on pit road Saturday night can't be ignored, and neither is exempt from blame.

Harvick instigated by stopping on pit road and climbing out of his car, but Busch participated by pulling onto Harvick's bumper and then spinning the car. Thankfully, the crew members running to join the fray had not yet reached the scene, and were thus out of harm's way when the driverless car smacked the wall.

Kurt Busch was fined $100,000 in 2007 for putting crew members in danger with pit road antics, but that was at a time when NASCAR didn't understand how much the fans love driver drama.

Now, in trying to cater to that fan desire, NASCAR has opened the flood gates with nothing more than a case-by-case trial and jury system to determine how much is too much. The Montoya-Newman feud has apparently gone too far, even though we may never know just what was the final straw.

The Busch-Harvick thing must be judged solely as a safety hazard, with punishment only bad enough to send a message that pit road is too dangerous a place to carry out vendettas. The last thing NASCAR wants is to discourage the raw emotion that's got everyone talking.

After all, who won Saturday night?

Regan Smith races to 1st Sprint Cup victory (BLOG)

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Regan Smith wasn't sure he'd ever come as close to winning a Sprint Cup race as he did three years ago at Talladega Superspeedway.

Now, he can't imagine he'll spend much more time thinking about that 2008 near miss after gaining his first series victory in the Southern 500 on Saturday night.

Smith was denied victory at Talladega when NASCAR ruled he ran below the yellow line on a late pass of Tony Stewart. This time, Smith survived a green-white-checkered finish at Darlington Raceway.

"Winning here means more to me than that (Talladega) win ever could've meant," Smith said. "I don't think I'll go to bed tonight thinking about Talladega, that's for sure."

Smith started the race in 23rd and was still outside the top 10 with under than 70 laps to go. But he stayed out on old tires during a caution nine laps from the end to take the lead and held off series points leader Carl Edwards in the two-lap overtime to win for the first time in 105 career starts.

"I'm not supposed to win this race. I've never even had a top-five. I guess in this series, it just shows anyone can win," said Smith, whose previous best this season was a seventh at Daytona.

While the 27-year-old Smith, was celebrating, tempers erupted behind him after Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer tangled in an accident that set up the finish.

After the race, Harvick tracked down Busch's car, stopped in front of Busch on pit road, then got out of his car and attempted to punch or grab Busch through his window. Busch then slammed into Harvick's driverless car, sending it crashing in the inside wall.

Harvick and Busch then stared down each other from their cars as they entered the garage before a standoff that looked as if it might erupt further. It finally ended when Busch bumped Harvick several times to make space to drive off. Both drivers were summoned to the NASCAR hauler.

Brad Keselowski finished third, pole-sitter Kasey Kahne was fourth and Ryan Newman fifth. Denny Hamlin, the Darlington winner last year, was sixth, followed by Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray and Martin Truex Jr.

Edwards appeared to be cruising to his first Darlington victory with 10 laps remaining in what had been about 490 miles of relatively calm racing. Instead, things changed when Jeff Burton brought out the 10th and final caution, setting up a restart with five laps left and many of NASCAR's best not far from the lead.

Busch, Harvick and Bowyer wound up three-wide in a space where that doesn't work and Bowyer was sent sprawling into the interior wall. As cars spun out behind, Busch gathered his car, then veered down the track and sent Harvick spinning.

Smith bobbled slightly on the final lap, but regained control and took off for the victory. He was in tears in victory lane, winning for the first time in 105 Sprint Cup starts.

"We've had some ups and we've had some downs, this is an up," Smith said.

Smith's landmark win, though, will likely be overlooked with the dustup between Harvick and Busch, who have a history. Harvick admittedly wrecked Busch on purpose late in last season's finale at Homestead as retaliation for earlier contact.

"Just uncalled for. Just unacceptable racing," Busch said. "You know, it's in the last couple of laps but I gave him room off of two, I didn't get the room. Just real unfortunate. I hate we tore up a few good cars there."

Busch said the talk in NASCAR's hauler was not a big deal. "Good to hash it out now. Might as well," he said.

Harvick says he was racing hard "and doing what we had to do there at the end and things happen."

Was it over?

"You saw the end," Harvick said, smiling, as he walked off.

Edwards says all drivers have a passion for racing that can leave them frustrated at times. "This is racing," he said. "You're going to have stuff like that. I think all of us know that can happen and we should be prepared."

Smith said he was too overjoyed to pay attention to the problems behind him. "I have no clue what happened in the race other than us winning," he said. "And you know what? If (feuds) are what's talked about next week, so be it."

The spotlight figured to be on Newman and Juan Pablo Montoya, who tangled at Richmond International Raceway a week earlier — a feud that continued into this week at Darlington.

But those two mostly stayed away from each other. Montoya did get into five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson early on. Montoya apologized for tagging Johnson. "I bet he's sorry," Johnson responded.

Before the end, the most frightening incident came when the nose of David Ragan's car peeled off the sheet metal on the left side of Brian Vicker's machine, leaving a long trail of debris.

Regan Smith races to 1st Sprint Cup victory (BLOG)

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Regan Smith wasn't sure he'd ever come as close to winning a Sprint Cup race as he did three years ago at Talladega Superspeedway.

Now, he can't imagine he'll spend much more time thinking about that 2008 near miss after gaining his first series victory in the Southern 500 on Saturday night.

Smith was denied victory at Talladega when NASCAR ruled he ran below the yellow line on a late pass of Tony Stewart. This time, Smith survived a green-white-checkered finish at Darlington Raceway.

"Winning here means more to me than that (Talladega) win ever could've meant," Smith said. "I don't think I'll go to bed tonight thinking about Talladega, that's for sure."

Smith started the race in 23rd and was still outside the top 10 with under than 70 laps to go. But he stayed out on old tires during a caution nine laps from the end to take the lead and held off series points leader Carl Edwards in the two-lap overtime to win for the first time in 105 career starts.

"I'm not supposed to win this race. I've never even had a top-five. I guess in this series, it just shows anyone can win," said Smith, whose previous best this season was a seventh at Daytona.

While the 27-year-old Smith, was celebrating, tempers erupted behind him after Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer tangled in an accident that set up the finish.

After the race, Harvick tracked down Busch's car, stopped in front of Busch on pit road, then got out of his car and attempted to punch or grab Busch through his window. Busch then slammed into Harvick's driverless car, sending it crashing in the inside wall.

Harvick and Busch then stared down each other from their cars as they entered the garage before a standoff that looked as if it might erupt further. It finally ended when Busch bumped Harvick several times to make space to drive off. Both drivers were summoned to the NASCAR hauler.

Brad Keselowski finished third, pole-sitter Kasey Kahne was fourth and Ryan Newman fifth. Denny Hamlin, the Darlington winner last year, was sixth, followed by Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray and Martin Truex Jr.

Edwards appeared to be cruising to his first Darlington victory with 10 laps remaining in what had been about 490 miles of relatively calm racing. Instead, things changed when Jeff Burton brought out the 10th and final caution, setting up a restart with five laps left and many of NASCAR's best not far from the lead.

Busch, Harvick and Bowyer wound up three-wide in a space where that doesn't work and Bowyer was sent sprawling into the interior wall. As cars spun out behind, Busch gathered his car, then veered down the track and sent Harvick spinning.

Smith bobbled slightly on the final lap, but regained control and took off for the victory. He was in tears in victory lane, winning for the first time in 105 Sprint Cup starts.

"We've had some ups and we've had some downs, this is an up," Smith said.

Smith's landmark win, though, will likely be overlooked with the dustup between Harvick and Busch, who have a history. Harvick admittedly wrecked Busch on purpose late in last season's finale at Homestead as retaliation for earlier contact.

"Just uncalled for. Just unacceptable racing," Busch said. "You know, it's in the last couple of laps but I gave him room off of two, I didn't get the room. Just real unfortunate. I hate we tore up a few good cars there."

Busch said the talk in NASCAR's hauler was not a big deal. "Good to hash it out now. Might as well," he said.

Harvick says he was racing hard "and doing what we had to do there at the end and things happen."

Was it over?

"You saw the end," Harvick said, smiling, as he walked off.

Edwards says all drivers have a passion for racing that can leave them frustrated at times. "This is racing," he said. "You're going to have stuff like that. I think all of us know that can happen and we should be prepared."

Smith said he was too overjoyed to pay attention to the problems behind him. "I have no clue what happened in the race other than us winning," he said. "And you know what? If (feuds) are what's talked about next week, so be it."

The spotlight figured to be on Newman and Juan Pablo Montoya, who tangled at Richmond International Raceway a week earlier — a feud that continued into this week at Darlington.

But those two mostly stayed away from each other. Montoya did get into five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson early on. Montoya apologized for tagging Johnson. "I bet he's sorry," Johnson responded.

Before the end, the most frightening incident came when the nose of David Ragan's car peeled off the sheet metal on the left side of Brian Vicker's machine, leaving a long trail of debris.

20 Year Old Rookie Wins Daytona 500?! (Blog)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Trevor Bayne finally made a mistake. Fortunately for him, it didn't happen until he missed the turn pulling into Victory Lane at the Daytona 500.

The youngest driver to win the Great American Race gave the historic Wood Brothers team its fifth Daytona 500 victory — its first since 1976 with David Pearson — and Bayne did it in a No. 21 Ford that was retrofitted to resemble Pearson's famed ride.

In just his second Sprint Cup start, the 20-year-old Bayne stunned NASCAR's biggest names with a thrilling overtime win Sunday at Daytona International Speedway, holding off Carl Edwards after fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed in NASCAR's first attempt at a green-white-checkered flag finish.

15-Car Wreck in Daytona!! (Blog)

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. — We knew that the two-by-two racing would play a significant role in Sunday'sDaytona 500. And we knew that Michael Waltrip would have a significant role on the 10th anniversary of his landmark 2001 win. As it turns out, both storylines blended early in the race, with catastrophic effect.

In Lap 29, Michael Waltrip, pushing David Reutimann, got misaligned and spun Reutimann, triggering a wreck that took out literally one-third of the field. Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle,Marcos Ambrose and feel-good story Brian Keselowski were among those collected in the wreck.

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Coincidentally, Waltrip had spun out Kyle Busch earlier in the race in almost exactly the same way. But in that incident, Busch didn't hit anyone, and was able to get back in the mix with little lost but some sheet metal. Reutimann and the huge pack around him weren't quite so lucky.

"I'm involved in both [spins] and I don't know what I could have done different," Waltrip said afterward. "... I just hate it. I hate it that my cars got tore up and I hate it that you have to be so aggressive so early. Maybe you don't. Probably now you can see that probably waiting around would have been a good idea." 

"It wasn't Mike's fault," Reutimann said.

But others could, and did, take issue with Waltrip.

"The first four, five, six rows, guys are pushing hard to maintain position," Gordon said. "You expect a little more patience further back, and that's not what I'm seeing now. Guys are so adamant about getting with their drafting partner and getting that push and getting up there into that top 6, 8 cars, some guys are getting in such trouble because of it."

The new points system heavily penalizes drivers for poor finishes, and as a result the garage was a whirling nest of duct tape and welding torches as crews worked to get their cars back on the track. Johnson and Biffle were the first out of the garage, while Gordon, Reutimann and Vickers, among many others, could only wait as their crews hammered their cars back into some kind of race-ready shape.  

Waltrip, his day done ("that's a hundred thousand right there," he said ruefully as he looked at his ruined front end), tried to stress the difficulty of this kind of racing. "When people watch and say (in a disappointed voice), 'What's this?' Damn! It's hard," he said. "You're just so focused. You're watching your temperature gauge. You're watching the car in front of you. You're wondering what's ahead. You're wondering what's coming up from behind. There are so many things happening mentally that it's almost impossible to keep up with."

But many fans weren't feeling particularly charitable. Rage at Waltrip boiled over on Twitter and in the Daytona infield. "Hey, Waltrip!" one fan yelled as Waltrip was doing postcrash interviews. "Tell me what time you're leaving so I can get out ahead of you!"

Waltrip made no indication that he heard the fan. But if the fan did decide to depart the race early, he had plenty of disappointed drivers joining him in heading for the exit. 

As he watched crews pounding his car back into shape, Gordon was philosophical. "It's exciting," he shrugged. "I think it's going to be a great finish.

Jeff Burton & Jeff Gordon Square Off (NASCAR) {Video}

Jeff Burton & Jeff Gordon Square Off...



You cannot blame Jeff Gordon for being a lil' upset, I mean all Jeff Burton did was wreck him under caution. Not a friendly love tap either, These two respected NASCAR racers, tied up for a second, and then started to exchange shot after wards.

NASCAR Nuances Pose a Problem for Partners

While the on-air types at ESPN insist a NASCAR race that looks boring might not be dull at all, the inability of TV to transfer the nuances of auto racing could be another problem for the sport this week.

After Fox Sports and TNT split coverage of the Sprint Cup Series season since February, ESPN takes over for the final 17 races of the season beginning Sunday with the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It's an historic venue for racing, but it's also a the type of place -- a big, flat and sweeping 2.5-mile oval -- that rarely produces side-by-side action that best defines NASCAR.

Still, ESPN broadcasters and officials insist (as they must) the race merits watching.

"The history and prestige of the event is enough to make it a great race regardless," analyst Andy Petree, a former NASCAR crew chief, said during a teleconference earlier this week. "But it's also a great watch because it's very tactical how these drivers have to run it -- how they make these passes and how it's tactical for the crews to keep that track position because it is so critical at that track because passing is difficult. It just puts more emphasis on different strategies and that's what I love about it."

Those strategies and tactics rarely transfer well to TV, though, and a wide audience of potential viewers does not love it as much as those who formerly worked in the sport.

At its best auto racing thrives in an action- and personality-driven atmosphere and the Brickyard 400 typically pulls any such emotional momentum down like, well, a ton of bricks. While how drivers set up passes and make the most of what little room exists on the track, it often winds up on TV as a line of cars, nose to tail. For many casual viewers (and NASCAR needs that group for its ratings to ever recover to where they were a few seasons ago), that parade translates to boring racing.

Fellow analyst and former driver Dale Jarrett appreciates the challenges of those on the track. He calls it "very rewarding whenever you can make a pass at a track that is that difficult" while he also admits that from the broadcast booth "what we'll hopefully show is that there is great racing that goes on."

In the midst of a season when dips in attendance and TV ratings have been a big part of the NASCAR story, Indy represents a challenging starting point for ESPN's return.

For years, ESPN was the standard bearer for quality auto racing coverage. Way back in the 1980s, as about the only consistent TV outlet for stock-car racing, whatever the channel tried usually met with a positive response.

As NASCAR's popularity grew more advertisers came to the sport, things such as finding a good time for commercial breaks in an effort to miss as little meaningful on-track action became more difficult. In addition, TV partners changed, and they changed in the middle of the season -- as has been the case for several years.

Fans have become a bit more demanding an cynical in recent years, and broadcast partners inevitably hear from those fans. To their credit, the braodcasters take what they hear into consideration, but balancing what older fans might want to see on TV with finding ways to appeal to 18- to 34-year-old males (a desired demographic because of their purchasing power) cannot always be done easily.

"What we talk about is serving the NASCAR fan as a whole, first and foremost," said Julie Sobieski, ESPN vice president for programming and acquisitions. "ESPN has a ton of events but we have news and information programming that tends to skew to that younger demographic, so there is an opportunity there. We think if we cover the race and cover the product as we think NASCAR fans in general do, regardless of their specific demographic, that demographic will continue to climb."

So far this year, that 18- to 34-year-old male demographic is down 30 percent for races on Fox Sports and TNT. It's hard to believe ESPN's approach will differ in any significant level that might change that trend.

In fact, ESPN's planned changes to NASCAR coverage hardly seem monumental. They include broadcasts of "SportsCenter" directly after races -- allowing for more race-related news coverage -- and a deal with driver Carl Edwards as a standing guest after each of the races on ESPN.

Combine those ho-hum changes with a race that has more going for it in terms of strategy than sheer speed, and it might be another tough week for viewership.

TNT Misses Perspective on Pivotal Moment

A late-race mistake cost Marcos Ambrose a chance at his first Sprint Cup Series victory Sunday but he was not alone in making a mindless lapse -- and he at least had a decent excuse because he was in the midst of the on-track action.

Those covering the race, specifically TNT analysts Wally Dallenbach and Kyle Petty, slumped late in the race as well.

Ambrose, who had led 35 laps, was comfortably in the lead when a late-race caution slowed action. He took the opportunity to shut off his engine briefly to try to save gas. But when he tried to restart the engine it missed and he actually came to a stop on the track.

Because he was not able to maintain speed with the pace car and was passed under the yellow flag, NASCAR officials ordered him to start seventh in the ensuing restart -- a loss of critical spots that could not be made up with just a handful of laps remaining in the race. He eventually finished sixth.

Although the TNT crew correctly cited the rule NASCAR was applying at the time, they missed when they later strayed from racing to humor, and even to soccer.

The most tasteless moment came after the race, when Dallenback said in one egregious moment as Ambrose took his time before making himself available for an interview: "If you want to find Marcos Ambrose, go the the Golden Gate Bridge."

A reference to jumping off a bridge was not funny and unconscionable. Broadcast partners Adam Alexander and Petty groaned and, thankfully, tried to get away from that topic as quickly as possible.

Petty was not blameless, either. He tried to compare Ambrose's mistake to the potential third goal in the U.S.-Slovakia soccer match Friday, citing the need to follow the rules even if competitors do not like them. He was only half right, though.

Ambrose was a victim of the rules because he violated NASCAR's rules for caution periods. The soccer incident had nothing to do with rules, though, and Petty's disclaimer about not knowing anything about the sport should have been an out-loud clue even he could catch. Then he could have decided not to utilize the ill-conceived analogy.

To his credit, Ambrose did conduct the obligatory on-camera interview as he was walking from his trailer later in the broadcast and he shouldered responsibility for his gaffe. Dallenbach and Petty should do the same.

Weekend Pre: AFL, Auto Racing and Softball

Sure, we're getting closer to the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals (with a potentially interesting storyline involving the Philadelphia Flyers) but my remote might skip over the respective conference finals in those sports to find some even more niche events this weekend.

First, there's the Arena Football League on the NFL Network (8 p.m. Friday) -- just because I miss football that much. Plus, this game marks the on-air debut of former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, who seems destined to find a TV assignment with the real league once the fall rolls around.

We'll see how he sounds doing arena games, and he should be as well suited as anyone because the much-told and retold story of his career was how he started with the Iowa Barnstormers. He's working the Arizona Rattlers-Barnstormers game, and his Iowa jersey will be retired during the night.

Auto racing also merits a look this weekend, with Saturday as the big day. It includes pole qualifying for the Indy 500 on Versus (11 a.m. Saturday) and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star (9 p.m. Speed). Of the two, expect the NASCAR event to produce more drama, because it's a race and because of a not-so-simple qualifying process for the Indy 500.

While Indy qualifying used to produce "bumping," as one driver's top speed would put him into he field for the race and push another out, that's not going to happen this year. Still, it will determine where some drivers start and the technology of racing, with on-screen graphics that usually convey necessary information well, provides a nice technological highlight.

Finally -- and it's not an afterthought -- there's college softball. As it has with the Little League World Series, ESPN has latched onto college softball in a big way. It has expanded its popular coverage of the Women's College World Series back to regional and then super regional events. Regional play begins this weekend.

Game coverage works on TV because its fast-paced and the smaller diamond puts viewers closer to the action. Plus, the college competition comes with a bit more energy and enthusiasm than other events on the tube.

While we get a push of college softball at this time of year simply because it's a fairly empty TV window that ESPN can fill, the games usually are competitive. This weekend's regional action might not be quite the quality of the eventual super regionals (May 27-30) and College World Series (June 3-9), but they'll still be OK and they serve an even bigger purpose for ESPN because they provide familiarity with the coaches, players and teams involved -- giving any viewers who follow the action from the regionals to the World Series some relationships and rooting interests.

Danica's NASCAR Debut Drives TV Ratings

Expect to see even more of Danica Patrick, starting this week.

She initially committed to driving 12 NASCAR Nationwide Series races this year, then added the series' season-opening race at Daytona last weekend. She did OK on the track in her debut, eventually finishing 35th when she was unable to avoid a wreck in front of her.

She was more than OK on TV, though, as the race set a viewership record on ESPN2.

An average of more than 4.2 million people watched the race -- the most ever for a Nationwide Series on cable. Plus, many of the people Patrick pulled to TVs stuck around and watched the conclusion of the event even after she was eliminated from the race.

No doubt ESPN officials are thrilled Patrick will be behind the wheel this weekend when the Nationwide Series visits Auto Club Speedway in California. This was to be her first NASCAR race, until she changed gears and started things last week.

This week's telecast begins at 5 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2, and there's no reason to doubt that ratings for the race will not increase over those of previous years, or that her second race will be any less popular than her first.

Danica's certainly doing her best to promote herself and the sport. She has appearances scheduled on several shows this week, including: “The Ellen Show,” “The Bonnie Hunt Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live" and "CBS Evening News.”

Although some (especially other drivers who are not nearly as popular) lament the focus on Patrick at the track and on TV, she's certainly someone about whom viewers have an interest. ESPN2 has to be careful not to focus too much on Patrick, though. Or at least focus on her as a racer. Elements of last week's coverage, and the tone of that coverage, looked and sounded somewhat condescending -- mostly because they probably would not focus in the same manner on another popular open-wheel racer making the transition to stock cars.