BLOG: NASCAR Nuts & Bolts

This is a headline feed from the Orlando Sentinel's NASCAR Nuts & Bolts blog on NASCAR, Daytona and racing. You can click the hyperlinked headlines below to read individual items that will take you into the blog. You can also click here read the whole NASCAR Nuts & Bolts blog or go to our Orlando Sentinel blogs page to view and subscribe to other blog feeds.

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Joey Logano gets his ride -- in a Hall of Fame Racing car

The Gibbs folks figured out how to get 18-year-old phenom Joey Logano in a Cup ride this season -- put him in the No. 96. Logano will drive the No. 96 on September 14 at New Hampshire, Kansas on Sept....

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NASCAR puts Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch on probation

No big surprise here. NASCAR put Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch on probation for the next six races. The reason: Edwards bumped Busch to pass him at the conclusion of Saturday night's race in Bristol. Busch Didn't appreciate that and...

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Budweiser Shootout will change formats next year

This year's Bud Shootout contained pole winners from 2007 and past champions of the Bud Shootout, still active in Cup racing. Well, next year they'll change things up a bit, evening out the manufacturers represented. The Bud Shootout will feature...

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Next domino: Reed Sorenson to Gillett Evernham Motorsports

Gillett Evernham Motorsports just announced a multi-year deal with Reed Sorenson starting next season. The move takes Sorenson away from Chip Ganassi Racing and leaves that organization with just one full-time Cup driver. This comes a month and a half...

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Carl Edwards vs. Kyle Busch -- who'll you take?

Everybody loves a feud in NASCAR and we got our latest out of Bristol last night. In case you missed it, Edwards passed Busch late in the race, testily, and tensions were high. Edwards won the race -- his second...

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Casey Mears to drive fourth Richard Childress Racing car

Richard Childress announced up in Bristol that Casey Mears will drive his fourth car. Mears lost his ride at Hendrick Motorsports a little more than a month ago to Mark Martin's "final" championship bid. Mears said staying with Chevrolet was...

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Jimmie Johnson can't get Randy Moss truck a win

Loved this pairing of Jimmie Johnson with the Randy Moss Motorsports, joining one star with another. The truck race in Bristol didn't go so well, though.

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Joe Gibbs Racing crew chiefs take responsibility for violation

Joe Gibbs Racing release statements from Jason Ratcliff and Dave Rogers, the crew chiefs for the No. 18 and No. 20 Nationwide cars. Statements normally don't provide much insight, but I thought these were interesting. Both crew chiefs not only...

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Tony Stewart, Joey Logano, Joe Gibbs Racing harshly penalized in Nationwide Series

NASCAR docked Joe Gibbs Racing's unstoppable Nationwide teams 150 owner points and suspended seven team members. Drivers Tony Stewart and Joey Logano, who drove the No. 20 and No. 18 in Michigan, each lost 150 driver points and were put...

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NASCAR announces 2009 schedule -- both major racing series start and end in Florida

NASCAR officially announced its schedule today with no new locations, but a few shifted dates in the Sprint Cup series. The series will begin with the exhibition Bud Shootout will be Feb. 7, with the Daytona 500 the next week...

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Brian Vickers needed that pole win

Not only was yesterday's top qualifying spot a big milestone for Brian Vickers, it was a much-needed boost for Red Bull Racing and Vickers' Chase hopes. Heading into this weekend he was about 200 points out of 12th place. A...

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The year of the Busch: Kyle Busch

What was that now about Busch losing momentum? Kyle Busch started from the pole and won his eighth race of the season at Watkins Glen in New York just a few minutes ago. This means he's swept this season's road...

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Martin Truex Jr. glad to get past rumors about Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Martin Truex Jr. spoke up at Watkins Glen about extending his contract with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and said he's glad he can put and end to all the rumors about his future. There was a lot of speculation leading up...

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Jeff Burton calls on NASCAR manufacturers to usher in a greener automotive era

Just got some quotes from Jeff Burton's press conference today at Watkins Glen and what caught my eye was his response to a question about NASCAR looking into alternative fuels. "I think every single person in this country needs to...

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New Indy Racing League TV deal with Versus secures IndyCar's stranglehold on obscurity

Versus is already the home of the NHL (Zzzzz), Tour de France (Zzzzzzzzz) and David Cup tennis (Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz). Now it will become the cable home of the Indy Racing League (Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz). The IRL struck a new TV deal on Thursday...

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ESPN reports Ryan Newman has reached an agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing

The rumors of this have been around for weeks, but today ESPN reported that Ryan Newman has reached a verbal agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing. (read here) The two Indiana boys will unite if this deal goes through and create a...

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Jimmie Johnson's take on why Kyle Busch has had so much success this year

It's obvious Kyle Busch has really taken to something on this car, and in Indianapolis Jimmie Johnson gave some insight as to why he's so far ahead of most other drivers with it. Johnson remembers testing at Charlotte one year...

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Whose fault was that awful NASCAR race?

I've been saying for a few days that they didn't know what to expect with the new car, but after thinking about it, I think they should have. Goodyear and NASCAR just ignored the warnings. Monte Dutton wrote on AOL.com...

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USAC slaps Tony Stewart with $10,000 fine for tantrum

Tony Stewart's tantrum at O'Reilly Raceway Park will cost him $10,000. Guess that's a small price to pay when you strike somebody, eh? If you haven't seen it yet, here's a video from the incident from YouTube. Love the grain....

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Allstate 400 at the Brickyard: Jimmie Johnson wins again

When Jimmie Johnson picked up a couple spots coming off the last caution, his team knew it was in great shape. Johnson, who started from the pole, battled Carl Edwards in the final laps, then coasted to a win, .333...

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Allstate 400 at the Brickyard: This race has issues, but there won't be a predictable finish

A fellow NASCAR writer brought up a good point. Everyone's complaining about how terrible this race is, and it's not pretty by any means, but normally in Indy you know who the winner is way too early. We dont' know...

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Allstate 400 at the Brickyard: No more tire talk, Jimmie Johnson takes the lead

We're in another caution which started at lap 99. Mike Helton went on ESPN a minute ago and said the reason they've beendoing this so much is to make sure nobody's at a disadvantage because of the tires. Just FYI,...

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Allstate 400 at the Brickyard: Carl Edwards leads with Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon behind him

Tony Stewart is hanging around in fifth place, but Carl Edwards has the lead. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon trail Edwards with Jamie McMurray in fourth. We're on lap 90 and have had five competition cautions so far. We've gone...

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Allstate 400 at the Brickyard: Report from downstairs

Eight Goodyear employees worked on rows and rows of tires that teams had already gone through back in the garages, separatin the rubber from the metal. I waited for a while by the No. 17 garage, but Matt Kenseth never...

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Allstate 400 at the Brickyard: Matt Kenseth blows up, loses right side of car

Matt Kenseth's car blew up and the back right side went flying into the air. NASCAR had planned a competition caution, but that was the third time the race couldn't make it there under green. He's fine. There wasn't any...

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Allstate 400 at the Brickyard: Penske Racing cars struggle

The Kevin Harvick spin on lap 14 took out Harvick and Penske Racing's Kurt Busch. Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr. is currently a lap down. Ryan Newman, despite running near the front for most of the early race, is...

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Allstate 400 at the Brickyard: Dale Earnhardt Jr. feeling vibrations and problems with his left front tire

Junior just said his left front tire feels like it's going to flat son. We're on lap 26 and he had to pit. Earnhardt was leading before he did so and has now dropped back out of necessity. He also...

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Allstate 400 at the Brickyard: Harvick wrecks, competition yellow comes out

Kevin Harvick spun in a full circle and wrecked on Lap 14. The ensuing caution counts as the competition caution. Mark Martin's crew chief just said over the radio that the car is driving a lot better than yesterday. He...

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Allstate 400 at the Brickyard update: Competition caution changed to lap 14

Apparently the competition caution has been moved to lap 14 because of this early caution. Haven't heard any complaining about the tires yet, but we'll see how long that lasts.

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Allstate 400 at the Brickyard: Michael Waltrip wrecks

Michael Waltrip wrecked on lap four losing control of his car and making contact with Paul Menard. He's ok, and he said over the scanner that the car is mostly working fine, but has heavy exterior damage, which is obvious...

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