NASCAR News

Casey Mears continued the Indianapolis Motor Speedway success story of the Mears family with pole position for Sunday's Brickyard 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup race. Casey's uncle, Rick holds an enviable record of six pole positions and four Indy 500 wins at the track.

Richard Childress Racing has named Greg Erwin as the new team engineer for the #31 Cingular Wireless program for the rest of the season. Erwin first joined the team in 2002 as a multi-team engineer and he says that he is looking forward to working with driver Robby Gordon.

Two of NASCAR's elder statesmen will attempt to debut new teams this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as Geoffrey Bodine and former Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope both make a run at the Brickyard 400.

Dale Earnhardt Jr lasted until lap 52 of 200 in Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 before a combination of cramp in his recently burned leg and a virtually undriveable racecar saw him reluctantly hand the controls of his #8 Budweiser Chevrolet over to relief driver John Andretti.

Joe Nemechek dominated the opening 30 laps of Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 in a manner that only eventual winner Jimmie Johnson was able to replicate during the remaining 170 tours of the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway before 'Front Row Joe' discovered that he only had third gear at his disposal.

Ward Burton looked set to score his best result of the year and the best ever for his second year Hass CNC Racing outfit in Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 at the Pocono Raceway before a late race transmission failure ended their day.

US racing veteran Eddie Cheever has spoken out on the debate that followed Dale Earnhardt Jr's fiery accident in an American Le Mans Series race two weeks ago.

Tony Stewart is on a roll. With three straight top-five finishes that included a win at the Chicagoland Speedway, the driver of the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing is settling nicely into his traditional second-half surge.

Dale Earnhardt Jr drove through the pain barrier for 60 laps in Sunday's Siemens 300 at the New Hampshire International Speedway before the first of 12 caution periods allowed him to hand the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet over to Busch Series driver Martin Truex Jr.

PPI Motorsports and driver Ricky Craven have confirmed that they will split at the end of the current season, but denied speculation that the parting of the ways may come before this weekend's New Hampshire Cup round.

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series testing will resumes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today (Monday) with 12 drivers, including past Brickyard 400 winners Dale Jarrett and Bill Elliott and former NASCAR champions Tony Stewart and Terry Labonte, scheduled to test.

Aki Okamoto became one of the few Japanese drivers to get behind the wheel of a NASCAR when he tested a Weekly Racing Series car at the Hickory Motor Speedway on Thursday [15 July].

Kasey Kahne's Nextel Cup crew chief Tommy Baldwin has been fined $10,000 for the incident that occurred at last weekend's Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

Joe Gibbs Racing is currently hunting for a replacement crew chief for Bobby Labonte's #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, having released Michael McSwain from his duties.

Construction is underway at Dover International Speedway in preparation for the fitting of new SAFER barriers, beginning with the complete reconstruction of the inside backstretch wall.

It has been confirmed that Michael Waltrip and primary sponsors NAPA will return to Dale Earnhardt Incorporated for the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series after a series of strong races by the double Daytona 500 winner.

Tony Stewart had plenty to talk about at the end of Sunday's Tropicana 400, for although he was the dominant driver at the Chicagoland Speedway, the road to Victory Lane was far from smooth.

Tony Stewart boosted his season by taking the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet to victory at Chicagoland, but only after an on-track clash with Kasey Kahne that led to a scuffle on the pitlane. Stay tuned to crash.net for a full report and results coming soon.

1985 Pepsi Firecracker 400 winner Greg Sacks will attempt to make his first NASCAR Cup Series start in more than six years this weekend at the Chicagoland Speedway in a new team owned by James Wilsburg.

Double Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip announced this afternoon he will run the Las Vegas Marathon on January 30, 2005, and has made a commitment to raise $1 million benefiting Victory Junction Gang Camp in an effort called "Operation Marathon, Going the Distance for Kids."

Although the Pepsi 400 victory went to Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Incorporated didn't leave the Daytona International Speedway winless after Michael Waltrip's #15 NAPA pit crew scooped the honours in the latest round of the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fuelled by Powerade.

Volatile NEXTEL Cup driver Tony Stewart has been fined $50,000, penalised 25 points and placed on probation until 18 August following his post-race altercation with fellow driver Brian Vickers at Infineon Raceway last Sunday.

Elliott Sadler's pit-crew pocketed its second victory in as many weeks by winning the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fuelled by POWERade in Sunday's Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.

Chevrolet has confirmed that the popular Chevy Rock and Roll 400 will revisit Richmond International Raceway during the current NASCAR Nextel Cup season, revealing at the same time that legendary act KISS will be the first to be featured in the race.