News and notes from Tueday’s Day 2 of the Charlotte Motor Speedway NASCAR Media Tour:
NASCAR officials and Ford officials took the opportunity of the annual Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour to roll out the new Ford Fusion which will compete in the Sprint Cup Series beginning in 2013.
And in introducing the car, all said they [...]

CONCORD, N. C. – Danica Patrick announced Monday that she will not drive in this year’s Indianapolis 500.
Instead, she will race in the Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend.
Patrick made the announcement during the first day of the annual Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour in North Carolina.
“I hope [...]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rain and chilly temperatures failed to dampen the spirits of several thousand race fans who traveled to the Charlotte Convention Center and NASCAR Hall of Fame Saturday to meet their favorite drivers – past and present – at the NASCAR Preview presented by Sprint.
Several people slept on the sidewalk outside the building [...]

Front Row Motorsports has signed David Ragan to drive the No. 34 Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Ragan, who drove for Roush Fenway Racing the last five seasons, joins Front Row veteran David Gilliland on the team.
Last season, Ragan won his first Cup race (Daytona in July), two poles, and four top-five and [...]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The big experiment continued on Friday at Daytona International Speedway as drivers took to the track in a relatively big pack for the first time under the current rules package, which includes a larger restrictor plate as of Friday morning.
Speeds were considerably faster than before, with Kurt Busch setting the early [...]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is probably still a little young to be considering what will eventually be his legacy in NASCAR. But a big part of it undoubtedly will involve his role as a car owner who was passionate about giving young drivers a chance at stardom.
Earnhardt’s latest pick to drive his [...]

The 2012 Sprint Cup season starts today. It starts with three days of testing at Daytona International Speedway. It starts with a whole bunch of questions wandering the garages looking for answers.
Here are some of those questions. The answers will take months to locate, but that does not prevent us from making guesses.
So…
– Danica Patrick; [...]

Andretti Autosport announced Wednesday that it has signed Canadian driver James Hinchcliffe to a multi-year IZOD IndyCar Series deal. Hinchcliffe will drive the Andretti  GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for 2012.
In his first year in the IZOD IndyCar Series, Hinchcliffe took three top-five and seven top-10 finishes to earn the series’ Rookie of the Year title despite missing [...]

A couple of thoughts on the racin’ news of last couple of days:
Rusty Wallace is one of NASCAR’s original salesmen. Back in the day when he drove for Roger Penske, the man could push product like few before him and, perhaps, only Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Carl Edwards in the years since.
The fact that he [...]

Want to waste a good 15 minutes some day? Try telling a stick-and-ball loser that racing is as big of a team sport as is basketball or football. More of a team sport than baseball. Then get ready for some really comical indignation.
Fact is, of course, team work is more important to success in racing [...]