By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
The Earnhardt family’s heroic/tragic relationship with Daytona International Speedway intensified Sunday when Dale Earnhardt Jr. posted a speed of 186.089 mph Sunday afternoon to win the pole for next Sunday’s Daytona 500.
The pole was the first for Earnhardt Jr. in the Sprint Cup Series’ marquee event. But it was the [...]

By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
After a few hours to sort out and think through the events of Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway, I think I prefer potholes.
Unlike those I’ve read who thought the Budweiser Shootout was a great race, I find myself looking forward to Bristol or Martinsville, or even to the Saturday [...]

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
Saturday night’s 75-lap Budweiser Shootout ended in a push.
The push, which came from drafting partner Jamie McMurray, enabled Kurt Busch to put a move on race-leader Ryan Newman in the final couple of hundred yards and win the the 24-car, non-points-paying Shootout at Daytona International Speedway by a matter of [...]

Let’s see what’s in the old Saturday Memo today:
NASCAR has set itself up for an environmental disaster of major proportions this coming season. It is a disaster the effects of which, I predict, will range from nightmares to temporary blindness.
It is the off-season decree by series officials that fans, and especially media, will be allowed [...]

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
It’s a non-point race, but that does not mean the Budweiser Shootout is a non-importance race. On the contrary. And especially this year.
This year, in addition to giving participating teams and drivers extra practice time and a dress-rehearsal opportunity for the season-opening Daytona 500, the Shootout will be held on [...]

The word is out to pit crew members of Jimmie Johnson’s Sprint Cup team: Rest on your laurels and you’ll be resting on your butt.
Chad Knaus, Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports crew chief, made that clear Friday at Daytona International Speedway.
Knaus said that crew members on his team who do not perform up to the level which [...]

Predictions that the new surface at Daytona International Speedway would produce high speeds proved more than correct on Friday.
Joey Logano was the fastest car in the evening session of Friday’s practice for Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. His top lap was at an impressive 203.087 mph.
In all, 10 drivers posted speeds in [...]

In racin’ news today, Friday, Feb. 11:
NASCAR announced today a technology partnership with Freescale Semiconductor and McLaren Electronic Systems to develop and integrate fuel injection systems into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, targeted for the 2012 season.
Freescale will provide the processors for McLaren’s engine control units that will be used to manage the fuel and [...]

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
Today, Thursday, Feb. 10, is media day for Speedweeks. All of the top drivers in NASCAR are being paraded into a big tent at Daytona International Speedway to stand before microphones and notebooks.
Some of the words coming out of their mouths are witty, pithy, informative and entertaining. Some words, well, [...]

By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
When Joey Logano first came on the racing scene that was my old newspaper beat, he was a pint-sized racer with a papa who had deep enough pockets to buy him the best of everything.
Little Joey had the best equipment, but he also had a natural knack for knowing what [...]