NASCAR News

Actor Matthew McConaughey has been named Grand Marshal for the 47th annual Daytona 500.

NASCAR Nextel Cup stars Michael Waltrip and Kyle Petty stepped up their preparation for the 'marathon' that is the forthcoming season by.... taking part in a marathon of another sort.

Chip Ganassi has re-affirmed his faith in veteran driver Sterling Marlin despite a sub-par 2004, stating that the double Daytona 500 winner and his #40 Coors Light team is the backbone of his Nextel Cup operation.

Nicorette gum will become the first specific anti-smoking product to sponsor a NASCAR Nextel Cup effort when it provides primary backing to Casey Mears' #41 Chip Ganassi Racing team later this year.

The most successful driver in terms of race wins in Busch Series history, Mark Martin, will round out his Busch career in the final round of the 2005 series at Homestead with team owner Jack Roush.

Roush Racing has revealed that Greg Biffle's #16 National Guard Ford Taurus will have a new associate sponsor for the forthcoming Nextel Cup season, with the Post-it brand joining the line-up.

Brian Vickers' #25 Hendrick Motorsports team have picked up a major associate sponsor in the form of cosmetics firm Garnier Fructis. The deal marks the first foray into motorsports by Garnier Fructis, which is owned by L'Oreal USA.

Jack Roush has added another piece to the complicated sponsorship jigsaw puzzle that is his #99 Ford driven by Carl Edwards by agreeing a nine race deal with 'The Scotts Company' for 2005.

Bill Elliott will swap teams for next month's Bud Shootout at Daytona after agreeing to drive a retro paint-scheme Dodge Charger for Chip Ganassi Racing in the traditional NASCAR season curtain raiser.

Look for Nextel Cup driver Jamie McMurray on a future episode of American drama 'The West Wing.' McMurray played the role of a winning driver in an episode of the series, which aired in the U.S. last week and he even got to plant a kiss on 'First Lady' Stockard Channing.

After spending the majority of last week testing his new #22 Bill Davis Racing Dodge Charger at Daytona, Scott Wimmer spent most of the weekend piloting a snowmobile in Wisconsin, having some fun and helping to raise money for his late friend's memorial benefit.

It's been a successful week of testing for MB2/MBV duo Joe Nemechek and Scott Riggs at Daytona. After two days of testing, they took time out for a chat... Q: Tell us about your success this week in testing.

Testing ahead of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup season is well into it's second week at Daytona International Raceway.

Robby Gordon has officially unveiled the first of four co-primary sponsors who will carry Robby Gordon Motorsports through their first NASCAR Nextel Cup campaign since 2000 with Fruit of the Loom stepping up from the Busch Series for nine races in 2005.

Although 2005 marks his final season as a fulltime Nextel Cup Series competitor, don't expect Mark Martin to cruise through it collecting tributes and parting gifts as he continues to drive for that elusive Nextel Cup Championship.

Morgan McClure Motorsports has been saved from possible extinction after coming to a deal with Lucas Oil, who will sponsor the famous #4 Chevrolet for the entire 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup campaign.

Pre-season testing got underway in earnest last week at the Daytona International Speedway where those drivers whose teams finished the 2004 season in odd numbered positions in the Nextel Cup owners table got their first chance to sample the 2005 rules package at the newly refurbished 2.5-mile Su

On the eve of the start of his final NASCAR Nextel Cup season, Mark Martin knows that he has just one more chance to capture two things that have eluded him during his long and storied career to date: A win in the Daytona 500 and a Nextel Cup title.

Roush Racing's Greg Biffle had a chance to familiarise himself with the new Daytona International Speedway infield during the recent Rolex 24 Hours Grand Am test at the newly renovated facility.

Jack Roush may not have secured complete primary sponsorship for Carl Edwards' #99 team for 2005 but the double defending NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion owner has succeeded in getting new driver Carl Edwards a pair of part-time deals.

Independent and start-up Nextel Cup teams may find it harder than ever to break into the 43 car-starting field from 2005 onwards after NASCAR eliminated the use of 'provisional' starting spots and guaranteed its top 35 teams a place in every race.

In what has to be the first of a kind in the world of Motorsport, the Nextel Cup drivers who win pole position at the Texas Motor Speedway in 2005 will be awarded with a unique Beretta firearm.

NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series veteran Terry Labonte and long time drag racing veteran Lee Shepherd will be the next inductees into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame.

After almost 30 years, the legendary Dodge Charger will return to the track in 2005 as Dodge Motorsports reveals its modern-era version of the model for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series ahead of testing at Daytona.