NASCAR plans to change chase/points system

      Just this evening, it has been revealed by a reliable source that NASCAR will implement a new points system with the chase system in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Season.

      First, NASCAR has allegedly said they are planning on scrapping the points system they have now, and doing a simpler, less complicated system. First place would receive 43 points for the win, 2nd place would receive 42, and so on and so forth. This makes the math for everyone simpler, and makes the fight for the championship closer.
     Second, NASCAR has allegidly decided according to some inside sources that they will have a 12 man chase again, but with some changes. Ten drivers will make the chase format based off points, and then the final 2 spots will go to the next two guys who don't originally qualify for the chase with the most wins to qualify. THERE WILL NOT BE AN ELIMINATION SYSTEM IN PLACE.
      Third, they aren't sure yet how to award lap leaders, and most lap leaders. Nor are they sure if they will give a bonus to a race winner anymore, or the point leader after the 26th race. There has also been talks about giving pole winners points, but that doesn't look like it will be happening.

NOTE: THIS HAS BEEN REPORTED BY JENNA FRYER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. NO CONFIRMATION IS EXPECTED TILL LATER THIS WEEK, ALONG WITH THE NATIONWIDE LIMIATION ANNOUNCEMENT. INFO IS UP FOR EDITING UNTIL CONFIRMATION.

Was or Wasn't Tony Stewart Detained in Australia?

     Over the past few weeks, NASCAR driver and owner Tony Stewart took a trip to Australia to enjoy his other passion, sprint cars. Well, what was suppose to be a relaxing time away before the 2011 season started, has turned into a police investigation.

     Don't worry though Stewart fans, Tony is on his way back to the United States as we speak. On Saturday night, Tony participated in his final race down in Australia. Tony was allegedly upset with track conditions, and he voiced those opinions to track owner Brett Morris. Brett was apparently hit in the face with a racing helmet, which is when the police were called. The police would not name who the alleged attacker was, they just said he was a 39 year old man, which has been inferred to be Stewart.
     The incident is still under investigation by the police down in Australia, but no charges have been filed. Tony was simply questioned about the incident after being arrested, and then was let go freely with no fine or bond needed to be paid.

OPINION: Does Dale Jr have what it takes anymore?

     Lets take a walk down memory lane, and step back all the way into 2003. Who was the man everyone thought would be running for the championship? Dale Jr. And he did. He finished a career high of 3rd in points, making fans across the nation happily bleed Budweiser red. In 2004, he kicked it off with a Daytona 500 win, and 5 other wins along with it. He made the inaugural chase, and finished 5th in points. Then, 2005 hit...

     I don't think I need to recap what happened in 2005...2007...2009...or 2010. There were a few glimpses of hope in 2006, where he made the chase, but wasn't a real championship contender, and in 2009 when he first put his hands in a Hendrick Motorsports auto mobile. Why did the excitement stop in 2005? The media, fans, and even outsiders have tried to find out what happened to "Little E". He had no significant changes personally, nor did he severely change psychologically. There has only been one thing that really changed besides the Hendrick Motorsports move. ( The downfall started prior to the move to Rick Hendricks team) His crew chief.
     For most of Dale Jr's career, he has had one crew chief. Tony Eury Sr. He has had many others, including his cousin Tony Eury Jr, the one that just got taken off the #88 pit box, Lance McGrew, and his new one, Steve Letarte. Dale Jr has not had a season with multiple wins since his last season with Tony Eury Sr. Nor has he been the same over the radio. You can clearly hear (and Dale Jr fans, realize I'm not saying this in a rude way, you know its true) he is much crankier, frustrated, and has a hard time trying to communicate with anyone other than his Uncle.

     Dale Jr just became too accompanied to the way him an his Uncle communicated. This is NOT a bad thing though. For some reason, myself and other NASCAR fans are the only ones that have thought that. If thats what works best, then you don't break up good communication between people. Throwing more crew chiefs at Dale is not the answer. They need to bring back the old to bring in new hardware from victory lane.
     Steve Letarte is a very talented crew chief, but hes not aggressive enough to fit with Dales racing style. Tony Eury Sr. is one of the few people in the world who won't take any ones crap, even Dale Jr's. Hes strong, and even if Jr doesn't agree with a decision Tony Eury Sr. is making, he trusts it. Trust is essential in ANY driver/crew chief relationship. You have clearly seen that Dale Jr didn't fully trust Tony Jr, nor did he trust Lance McGrew.
     Overall, I just had to let this out. If you know me as a fan, you know that I have a strong dislike for Dale Jr, but I can't stand seeing someone fail year after year. I know its no fun, and I don't like seeing another fan hurt by it when there is a simple solution that many fans agree with.

NASCAR gets handed a 6.2 million dollar lawsuit

     As many NASCAR fans know, NASCAR has the "NASCAR Performance" line of products, ranging from cleaning supplies for you car, to the internal workings of it. Many companies pay NASCAR millions upon millions of dollars for the "NASCAR Performance" logo to be placed on their products. This week though, one partnership that practically ended before it started has been dealt another hand to the sticky situation.

     In October of 2009, NASCAR and Advanced Fluids Solutions, which wanted to market its new EXP4 fuel and oil performance additive in NASCAR's performance line, signed on to pay over 6.2 million dollars over the next seven years to sport NASCAR's logo. This arrangement was suppose to start in 2010, but was terminated in December of 2009. NASCAR says that the company failed to pay the first $500,000.00 dollar payment of the deal by the due date they agreed upon. Due to the breach of contract, NASCAR terminated the contract.
     Advanced Fluids claims that NASCAR did not give them adequate notice of the payment being past due, and had no right to terminate the contract. The company said that they were securing funding when NASCAR decided to terminate the contract, and that they planned to pay NASCAR. The company is fighting to get the sponsorship reinstated with NASCAR.
     NASCAR has publicly said that they were in full terms of the contract to terminate it. The NASCAR organization issued a motion to have the courts dismiss the case before going to trial.
     Advanced Fluids claims that NASCAR waived its rights to have payment constraints, which NASCAR clearly defines as a lie, due to the fact that they have it in their policy not to ever wave any payment options in contracts.
     No dates have been set to determine the status of the case, but NASCAR and Advanced Fluids want to settle the case out of court and as quickly as possible.

OPINION: Is there even a point to the chase anymore?

     Today, there has been much speculation out about the expansion of the chase in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series. I have to ask though...why expand it? I thought that the chase was made to narrow the Field for the cup series, not to give everyone a prize. I can't help but compare it to today's society. We feel a need to reward everyone, per say at kids sporting events. Not that boo kids who all get trophy's, but if they didn't earn it, why should they get it?

     If NASCAR implements a 15 man chase to the championship in the 2011 season, I believe it will hurt the sport even more. NASCAR is pretty much saying that if you can just about average a little better than a top 20 finish for the first 26 races, you will have a chance at the championship. Tell me, why does 15th place get the same chance as 1st place in points at the championship? Obviously 1st place preformed much better, had more wins, and was more consistent. Why does a winner have to compete with a mediocre driver for the award that goes to the most successful driver after an overall season?
     
     Lastly, is there even a point to have the chase anymore then? If most of the field gets to compete for the championship anyway, why have this big lead up to the chase, when virtually no driver that is a substantial fan holder will be unable to compete for the championship? I'm sorry if I'm blunt, but i just have to ask. I personally think that NASCAR simply wants to do this too make sure there drivers that draw the biggest crowd always make the chase. Personally, if a fan really likes their driver that much, they will be backing him week in and out regardless if he is in the chase or not. I personally don't think him being in the chase will draw more fans to the television. The ones that are watching now, will more than likely be watching later regardless of his status in the chase.
     I personally say this because I have been in this position. Since 2002, I have been a very dedicated Kasey Kahne fan, and regardless if he makes the chase or not, I stand behind him and watch every race no matter what. Its not a determination in my own or many other fans, fan ship as NASCAR is seeming to put it. Fans are fans. If NASCAR really knew their fan base, they would realize that we don't jump around with our drivers. We are in it to win it, regardless of how long it takes, and we don't like NASCAR adjusting the system just to get us in because our drivers "draw ratings" as they claim.              
     Overall, I think NASCAR expanding the chase to 15 drivers is a drawback to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, not only because its childish, but it may also offend some people in the long run, due to the reasoning simply being to gain ratings only, and not trying to have a classy, well ran sport.

No more double up champs in NASCAR's top 3 series

     NASCAR offically announced tonight that each driver will only be able to compete points wise for one championship a season. This new policy puts a halt to Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Kevin Harvicks strong drives in the Nationwide series. The 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series will offically only have a Nationwide ONLY driver as its champion.
 
     Kenny Wallace got his driver application earlier in the week, and released that his application contained at the top of the page a slot for him to check which championship to fight for, and you can only select one. No one saw this change as a suprise, since most fans, and NASCAR itself had mentioned many times that this was in the near future. On January 21st, NASCAR will have a competition conference, where they will announce any changes in the upcoming season of competition.
      More people are for the change, but a few are against it. Brad Keselowski was one of those against it. Brad took to his twitter earlier in the week and said sarcastically,"Needed a good laugh tonight after being ruled ineligible for both Shootout and NW championship in one loooong week. Thanks for the support!" Brad then retracted his comment, claiming he was suffering from the flu and needed some rest. Also, he said he had not been notifyed of the changes to the NASCAR rules as of Saturday. Keep in mind, NASCAR has made no offical announcement of this. It is to be announced on the 21st of January, but as of right now, this is a rumor that has been confirmed by many people close to NASCAR, except for the head of NASCAR itself, Brian France.

Testing is back to Kick off the 2011 Season

     As a new NASCAR season is coming up quickly, NASCAR has gone back to its normal season kickoff events. No, I'm not talking about Preseason Thunder at Daytona, nor am I talking about the Bud Shootout. I'm talking about testing.      NASCAR did away with testing a few years back to cut costs for owners of not only larger teams, but smaller teams too. They also believed that this would help level the playing field for smaller teams. Well, after a few seasons off, NASCAR has started to dip its toes back into testing. NASCAR has now opened up testing at Daytona International Speedway for NASCAR drivers in order for them to have a chance to adjust their driving skills to the newly layed surface at the track. These tests will be coming up in the next few weeks, but some drivers are out testing on other tracks to get ready for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Season.
     The first drivers to be dropping some comments on the first testing sessions of the season are the Red Bull Boys. Brian Vickers, who unexpectedly left the circut on medical leave in the spring of the 2010 season got in a stock car for the first time in months. Brian took to his twitter to tell his fans how good it felt to be back in his car, and how happy he was to know he was healthy again. Brian was also offered a job in racing a few preseason races, but denyed them so he wouldn't risk his health going into the 2011 season. His teamate, driver of the #4 Red Bull Toyota, Kasey Kahne also took to his twitter, and spoke to nascar.com about his testing experience at the Walt Disney World Speedway down in Orlando Florida.  "Working with my crew and teammate at the test is important and a good start to a great season. I look forward for more car time to get myself better and working closer with Brian in 2011." Kasey and Brian both found great things in their testing experiences in Orlando, and both are ready for the 2011 season to start. The boys had planned on testing late into the day, but rain cut it short. Regardless, the Red Bull boys started the 2011 season off the right way, with a successful test session near the history speedway that kicks off  the 2011 Season.
    

What better time to start a blog than now?

Hey guys! Thanks for coming to my blog :) What a better time to start a racing blog than right at the beginning of the season? I dream of being a NASCAR Journalist one day, so I've decided to work on my skills online now, outside of the classroom! On here I will post NASCAR updates as they come out! And just like I said before...What better time to start a blog right now? Well now the real question is, What better time than to post my first NASCAR artical than now? :)