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NASCAR NEWS: Phoenix Natives Ride Momentum Into Home Track

Michael McDowell and J.J. Yeley have a few things in common.

They’re both from the Phoenix area. Yeley’s hometown is Phoenix; McDowell hails from Glendale.

They’re both driving for smaller teams with two or fewer cars. Yeley drives for Tommy Baldwin Racing, McDowell for Phil Parsons Racing. And they both scored top-10 finishes in the Daytona 500, and ride into Phoenix on a wave of momentum. 

McDowell finished a career-best ninth in The Great American Race. His previous best finish was 20th at Richmond International Raceway in 2008. Yeley’s top-10 Daytona 500 finish was the eighth of his career, and first since June of 2008. He finished 10th on Sunday.

And, of course, you have Danica Patrick, an honorary Phoenix native. Though born in Roscoe, Ill., Patrick resides in both Phoenix and Chicago. And, clearly, she enjoys the home-track advantage.

Last November’s race marked a then-series-best for the Daytona 500 pole winner and top-10 finisher. She finished 17th in her second start with current Stewart-Haas Racing crew chief Tony Gibson, her current best series performance on a non-plate track. 

Patrick made all kinds of history on Sunday, becoming the first female to leads laps in the Daytona 500, the first female to score a top-10 in the 500, and the 13th driver to lead both the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500. Patrick led five laps on Sunday, which put her on a list with only five other drivers who have led five laps in both races. A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Robby Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Stewart are the others.

NASCAR NEWS: Daytona Done, Gen-6 Readies For Downforce Tracks

By most measures, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Gen-6 race car passed its Daytona International Speedway debut with flying colors.

The racing from Sprint Unlimited through Budweiser Duel and the Daytona 500 was close and intense – and fans applauded the new look of the Chevrolet SS, Ford Fusion and Toyota Camry.

“I noticed something last night coming out of the track for dinner, just seemed to be a different vibe inside the infield,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his post-Daytona 500 media interview. “People seemed more excited about what was getting ready to happen today.

“I think it's a great way to start the season. The car is doing everything we hoped it would do,” said the Daytona 500’s second-place finisher. “I think it will just get better. It's still a brand‑new car. We have a whole season and the future to improve it and learn how to make it tick.”

Now Gen-6 moves into the meat-and-potatoes portion of the schedule, beginning with Phoenix International Speedway’s one-mile oval and – on March 10 – the first intermediate layout at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where teams will get an extra day of testing.

Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson said it’s too early to judge the full potential of Gen-6, especially with the season’s first race being contested on an aerodynamic sensitive, restrictor plate-track.

“Once we get a downforce race or two behind us, we'll have a better understanding,” Johnson said. “We're really excited for the races to come. But it is a little early. Maybe after Vegas, Bristol, we can see which team has the upper hand.”

Mark Martin, a Phoenix winner with the previous Gen-5 platform, believes Phoenix will be an eye-opener because of the new car’s enhanced downforce. “When we get in these things next week, they are going to be stuck like glue and we're going to be breaking track records,” Martin said.  

NASCAR NEWS: Phoenix Offers Johnson Opportunity, Challenges

Can Jimmie Johnson do it again? NASCAR’s media corps predicted Johnson will win his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship this season in the preseason NASCARMedia.com poll. And that was before last Sunday, when Johnson raced his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to a second Daytona 500 victory.

Johnson has confirmed his stature as the driver to beat. But with 35 races remaining in the 2013 campaign, he’s just one of two dozen or so title contenders.

Only five Daytona 500 winners – Johnson, Jeff Gordon and NASCAR Hall of Famers Lee Petty, Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough – have gone on to capture the same season’s championship. Johnson was the most recent to achieve the feat in 2006.

Johnson hardly has stopped to take a breath since rolling into Victory Lane for the 61st time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup career. The Daytona 500 champion’s coast-to-coast odyssey includes stops in New York City, the ESPN campus in Bristol, Conn., Dallas-Ft. Worth and Los Angeles before wrapping up Thursday night in Phoenix.

 “You know, I'm just enjoying this moment. This is a one-of-a-kind race. In the rush that follows, the notoriety that follows, it's great for all of us. Chad (Knaus), Rick (Hendrick), the company, Lowe's, Chevrolet. It's just time to sit back and enjoy,” Johnson said in his Daytona 500 post-race interview.

“When we pull into the gates at Phoenix next weekend, it's a totally different game, as we all know. We'll enjoy this rush. If there's some down points through the year, we'll look back on this race and smile again.”

Johnson will do double duty this week, making a rare NASCAR Nationwide Series appearance in Saturday’s Dollar General 200 Presented by AmeriGas in the No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

Phoenix has been one of Johnson’s best tracks as well as the place – last November – where his championship hopes began to unravel thanks to a tire/suspension failure and accident. On the plus side, he boasts four wins, 12 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes, a Coors Light Pole, average finish of 6.7 and a series best Driver Rating of 115.8. 

Johnson’s last Phoenix victory came in the fall of 2009. He won in the Valley of the Sun in three of his five championship seasons – 2007-09. Johnson finished fourth in last spring’s Subway Fresh Fit 500, the second of three races run since the one-mile track was repaved and somewhat reconfigured.

The last driver to win the opening two races of the season was Matt Kenseth in 2009.

Johnson’s teammates at Hendrick Motorsports may be his toughest competition on Sunday. Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne have won a combined five Phoenix races. HMS is the all-time Phoenix winner with nine victories. 

NSCS Race Recap: Jimmie Johnson holds off Dale Earnhardt Jr. for Daytona 500 victory

Jimmie Johnson sped away from the field after a restart with six laps left in Sunday's Daytona 500 and held off a charging Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the 55th running of the Great American Race at Daytona International Speedway.
 
The victory was the 61st of Johnson's career in his 400th start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and his second win in NASCAR's most prestigious race. 
 
Earnhardt finished second for the third time in the last four Daytona 500s. Mark Martin ran third, followed by defending series champion Brad Keselowski and Ryan Newman. Greg Biffle ran sixth and Regan Smith seventh.
 
Polesitter Danica Patrick came home eighth, the best-ever finish by a woman in the Daytona 500.
 
With tandem racing all but absent in the points race for the new Gen-6 race cars, passing was difficult and track position paramount.
 
"You can't ride and wait for things to happen," Johnson said. "You have to race all day long and fight for track position. This race car, this Lowe's Chevrolet was so good. (Crew chief) Chad Knaus and all of Hendrick Motorsports had me a fast car, and I could really stay up front all day long. I had a lot of confidence in the final few laps leading the train, (because) I knew just how fast the car was." 
 
Earnhardt got a strong push from Martin on the last lap, but couldn't catch Johnson off the final corner.
 
"I couldn't have done much without Mark helping me here at the end," said Earnhardt, who was fourth at the white flag. "I was hoping he was thinking what I was thinking as we come off of Turn 2 on that last lap. I felt like we needed to make the move a little earlier than off (Turn) 4.
 
"I kept backing up, backing up, trying not to let guys get racing behind us too much. If somebody ducked out of line a couple rows behind Mark, I was going to have a gap, (and) me and Mark could take off, not get hung up with those guys. Once we come off of 2, mashed the gas, got a run on Danica, side-drafted her a little bit.  
 
"I don't know why them guys didn't pull down in front of me besides Jimmie, but we got through 3 and 4 with a pretty good run. Once we come to Turn 4, we kind of run out of steam, didn't have enough to get a run on Jimmie."
 
After a restart on Lap 182, following the fifth caution of the race for Jeff Burton's hard contact with the outside wall at the entrance to the tri-oval, Keselowski and Johnson ran side-by-side at the front of the pack, trading the lead as their respective lanes gained momentum.
 
A caution for debris on Lap 192 set up the six-lap dash to the finish with Johnson in the lead in the outside lane.
 
Patrick made history when she led the field to green from the pole position. On Lap 90, she reached another milestone. Surging to the lead after a restart, she paced the field on Laps 90 and 91, and, in doing so, became the first female driver to lead a lap in the Daytona 500 and the first female to lead a green-flag Lap in the Cup series.
 
(Janet Guthrie led Laps 43 through 47 under caution in the Nov. 20, 1977, Los Angeles Times 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway, the only five laps she led in 33 career Cup starts.)
 
Later in the race, Patrick led three more laps, for a total of five, to tie Guthrie's five.
 
Despite the success, Patrick was reluctant to reset expectations for her rookie season in the Cup series.
 
"I think that would be unwise to sort of start telling myself that top 10 is where we need to be every week," said Patrick, who was third with one lap left but fell to eighth in the last-lap scramble. "I think that's setting up for failure. The list of drivers in the Cup series is deep. This is a unique track. These (restrictor-plate) tracks are different and unique. (It's) a lot about the car.  
 
"I mean, you have to be smart enough to do the right thing at the right time, but it's very much about the car. I feel like I'm still sticking to 'Let's see how these first five races go,' where we go to a bunch of different kinds of tracks, see where we settle in, start to establish goals from there on out."
 
The Toyota Camrys of Joe Gibbs Racing were running 1-2-3 as the race neared the three-quarter mark, with Matt Kenseth pacing Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. On Lap 150, however, Kenseth, who led four times for a race-high 86 laps, brought his car to pit road, having felt a vibration in the drive train. Busch parked his car two laps later, with a blown engine.
 
That left Hamlin at the point as the field ran single-file behind him, in a lull before the late-race pyrotechnics.
 
A nine-car accident on Lap 138, thinned an already depleted field. With most cars running single-file around the top of the track, Keselowski tapped David Reutimann and dropped abruptly to the apron in Turn 1.
 
That triggered a melee as cars checked up behind Keselowski. Carl Edwards was a victim of the accident, as ill fortune at Daytona continued to haunt the driver who already had wrecked four cars at Daytona this year.
 
Other casualties included 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., making his first start as a full-time Cup driver in the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion.
 
The first major wreck of the race -- on Lap 33 as the double-file lead pack of cars exited the tri-oval -- dashed the hopes of former Daytona 500 winners Kevin Harvick and Jamie McMurray, as well as those of pre-race favorites Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne.
 
As the field stacked up toward Turn 1, Kyle Busch tagged the back of Kahne's car, turning Kahne into Juan Pablo Montoya's Chevrolet SS and igniting a nine-car incident that also damaged the cars of Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Casey Mears.
 
Keselowski suffered damage to the both sides of his Ford, pinballing off both Montoya and Harvick, but was able to continue. Kurt Busch lost a lap on pit road with the nose of his Chevy caved in from contact during the wreck. Casey Mears, who had qualified 17th, also sustained significant damage.
 
Note: Other drivers who have won their 400th Cup starts include Lee Petty, Richard Petty, David Pearson, Dave Marci’s and Dale Earnhardt.

STOCKCAR Radio Broadcast Update for February 23rd Guest Lineup.

Make sure to tune into the weeks broadcast of STOCKCAR Radio as we welcome Ford Racings Garen Nicoghosian.... 

...and Ms. Sprint Cup Kim Coon. To find station listing go to ernlive.com or to listen to the live stream go to radioamerica.org – you can also call into the program 1.800.510.8255 – email me during the show dennis@ernlive.com

NASCAR NEWS: 2013 NASCAR CAMPAIGN: RIVALS

Rivalries make any sport great and NASCAR has its fair share of legendary foes. Every driver's desire to win is fueled by their contempt for coming in 2nd.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS GREAT VIDEO

NASCAR NEWS: Larson wins UNOH Battle At The Beach

Kyle Larson spent a lot of time watching short-track races via online videos, and he was left with one impression.

"I don't get to do this short-track stock car stuff very often," said Larson, the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion with a busy background in open-wheel sprint and midget cars on dirt. "It seems to me like every video I've ever seen from a short track like this, it seems the second-place guy coming out of the turn always wins."

Larson made certain it happened again Monday night at Daytona International Speedway.

Larson, of Elk Grove, Calif., initiated contact with leader C.E. Falk off the final turn of the final lap, turning Falk into the infield on the superspeedway's .4-mile backstretch oval to win the inaugural UNOH Battle At The Beach NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model race. Falk made it across the finish line in third place, behind Larson's teammate and pole sitter Ben Rhodes.

Larson and Falk traded the lead three times over the final 10 laps of the 150-lap event.

"It's the first race I've ever won in that manner, but this was a pretty big race," Larson said. "I wanted to win it.

"It was a cool race. My adrenaline was really going... My heart was pounding. When I got the checkered, I was just really excited and glad I could win. It was a good win for the team."

Larson, who started on the outside pole after winning one of two 25-lap heat races earlier in the day, was content to ride inside the top five for most of the caution-filled event. He finally started to make a charge that seemed destined to come up short when he suffered front-end damage after contact with Rhodes. He recovered from that and set his sights on the leader.

Larson led for a single lap on Lap 142, and after conceding the point back to Falk on Lap 143, he chased him down yet again on the final circuit. As the two raced into Turn 4, Larson nudged Falk's No. 40 once to get him loose. Both cars bobbled, but Larson again ran into Falk on the frontstretch in the ensuing drag race to the checkered flag.

"I did dirty him up there," Larson said. "I got into him once, got into him twice and then got him around.

"It's the last lap. You have to slow down so much in the center of the corner, I got a run on him and got into the back of him. I got underneath him and then got him around. I feel bad for him, but like I said, I wanted to win."

Falk -- who led 61 laps on the night -- was visibly frustrated as Larson celebrated in Victory Lane, at one point turning away and swatting the air with his hand in disgust.

"I just tried to protect the bottom as best I could," Falk said of the last lap. "He got me once and I thought I was going to be OK, but I was wheel-spinning the whole time. Finally, he just finished us off. It sucks that it ended up that way, but our car's still in one piece -- and I've got some great notes for next year to go and try and win this thing." 

Larson will try to repeat on Tuesday, where he has rides in both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races here. He's also entered in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on the superspeedway Saturday.

Anthony Anders and Deac McCaskill rounded out the top five in the 29-car field.

ARCA NEWS: Townley goes to Victory Lane at Daytona

Venturini Motorsports driver John Wes Townley took the checkered flag Saturday after an amazing sequence of events inside the final 10 laps left him at the front of the Lucas Oil 200 presented by MAVTV American Real.

Townley won from the pole in what was the 50th annual ARCA Racing Series event at Daytona International Speedway.

“It’s one thing to win your first race in ARCA, it’s another to win at Daytona,” Townley said after the first win in the 31-year history of Venturini Motorsports at Daytona International Speedway.

“This is just a great day for Venturini Motorsports,” Townley said. “This is priceless. I almost wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. It’s a real honor.”

The final 49 laps were all under the green flag.

Kyle Larson finished second, Ricky Ehhrgot third and Frank Kimmel fourth. Sean Corr came in fifth. Townley passed eight-time Daytona winner Bobby Gerhart with seven laps to go when Gerhart slowed. “I don’t really know what happened there,” Townley said. “He checked up. We made a little contact.”

After going green after the third caution at lap 22, Gerhart, Townley, Ehrgott and Larson broke away from the pack along with the lapped car of Chris Buescher, which tucked in right behind Gerhart and remained there for about 50 laps. The five cars created their own pack and coasted for nearly 40 laps while the second set of cars were much further back, but continued on the lead lap.

Things remained in that order until Buescher moved out of the way with just under 10 laps to go and Gerhart slowed, eventually rocketing down pit lane at high speed. He returned to the track before eventually pulling off the track and finishing 29th because of a fuel pump problem. Gerhart was attempting to win his ninth time at Daytona.

In the pre-race drivers meeting, ARCA officials stressed to the drivers to remain patient and be courteous to others. Townley, of Watkinsville, Ga. said that wasn’t an easy thing to do. “It’s a tough thing to do,” he said. “A few times I wanted to duck out and see what I could do. I’m glad that I didn’t.”

Larson, racing in the No. 4 Cessna Chevrolet, said he couldn’t get any closer to the front. “The race went pretty smooth,” he said. “But, I couldn’t really make any moves. I was wide open. We’ll take second.” Milka Duno was the early race leader until her car had troubles and she had to make repairs and ended up four laps down in 28th. Matt Kurzejewski and Josh Williams also led laps during the race.

The crash on lap 19 sent drivers Justin Boston, Darrell Wallace and Steve Kemp to the infield care center. They were treated and released. Julien Jousse caused the first caution when his motor blew up. The final caution came during a six-car crash that occurred after the green flag dropped and several cars never got up to speed.

There were only three cautions for 19 laps in the event and five different leaders. The race was completed in 1:29:18. Billy Venturini, general manager for the VMS team, said the win meant everything for his family and team.

“This is the first time I cried in victory lane,” he said. “This was definitely the highlight of our entire racing career. I think we’ve won at just about every other track we go to except here.”

NASCAR NEWS: Harvick blocks Biffle to win The Sprint Unlimited

Leading every lap but one in the final segment of The Sprint Unlimited, Kevin Harvick held off Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart to win Saturday night's season-opening exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway for the third time.

On the last lap, in the debut race for NASCAR's Gen-6 race car, Harvick blocked Stewart on the inside and moved back up the track to block Biffle, who was perilously close to sending Harvick's No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet into the fence.

Biffle ran second, Joey Logano took third, and Stewart -- his momentum broken by Harvick's block -- came home fourth. Matt Kenseth finished fifth in his first competition for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Harvick’s victory was his third in five races, following back-to-back wins in 2009 and 2010. Though Harvick will leave RCR at the end of the season to drive for Stewart-Haas Racing next year, he said the impending job change is of no consequence on the track.

“I think it's one of those deals, where, for us, it's about winning races,” Harvick said in Victory Lane. “The politics and everything are one thing, but when we get to the race track, it's about sitting in this race car, making it as fast as it will go.”

Harvick may not have had the fastest car -- in fact, he thought the Stewart’s Chevy SS and Kenseth’s Camry were slightly better -- but he made the critical moves at precisely the right times, particularly when it came to blocking Biffle.

“In the middle segment, I could tell that Biffle was backing up and trying to time what his move was going to be as we got further into the segment,” Harvick said. “So I was working on my timing to kind of back up and block that… 

“Those guys (Biffle and Logano) were coming on the outside, and I don’t know if the 14 (Stewart) and the 16 (Biffle) were side-by-side, but I just felt like I needed to move up and block that momentum, and we were able to block two of those moves.”

Biffle said he thought about trying the outside lane entering the final corner but wasn't sure he had enough room.

“I thought about sticking it in there, and it just didn’t look like it was going to work to me,” Biffle said. “It looked like it would be sparks and parts flying. He shut the door on the top. That’s what Kevin needed to do to win the race. I looked in the mirror and didn’t have anyone pushing me.” 

An incident-free 25-lap second segment, won by Harvick over Biffle, set the starting order for the final 20-lap dash for the victory. By the end of the segment both Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had lost touch with the 10-car pack ahead of them, but a caution between the second and final segments bunched the field for a restart on Lap 56 of 75.

The first segment, on the other hand, featured plenty of action.

On Lap 15, the halfway point, a nine-car incident ruined the winning chances of nearly a third of the field. Tony Stewart turned down across the nose of Marcos Ambrose's Ford near the apex of Turns 1 and 2. Stewart saved his No, 14 Chevrolet, but drivers behind him checked up, seeing sparks trailing from the rear of Stewart's car.

The ensuing wreck destroyed the cars of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. Martin Truex Jr.'s Toyota was nicked in the melee, but he was able to continue, as were Stewart and Ambrose.

In fact, Stewart's car was fast to enough to take the lead on the final lap of the first segment, and he held it to the finish line. During the planned caution between the first and second segments, the 12 remaining cars came to pit road for mandatory four-tire stops -- a requirement dictated by a fan vote.

Fans voted to set the starting lineup for the race according to the chronological order in which drivers won their poles. That put 2012 Daytona 500 pole winner Edwards in the top starting spot and Martin, winner of the pole at Phoenix the following week, on the outside of the front row.

Both Edwards and Martin, however, had to drop to the rear for the start, because neither driver practiced in his backup car after a wreck in Friday's opening Sprint Unlimited practice forced a change of equipment. Accordingly, Kasey Kahne led the field to green, with Biffle beside him.
 
RACE RESULTS

 1.  (17)   Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 75, $205075.
 2.   (4)   Greg Biffle, Ford, 75, $101325.
 3.   (9)   Joey Logano, Ford, 75, $61325.
 4.  (15)   Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 75, $52325.
 5.  (12)   Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 75, $51300.
 6.   (8)   Aric Almirola, Ford, 75, $49900.
 7.   (3)   Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 75, $48550.
 8.  (16)   Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 75, $46525.
 9.   (6)   Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 75, $44525.
10.  (14)   Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 75, $43025.
11.  (10)   Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 75, $42525.
12.   (1)   Carl Edwards, Ford, 75, $42025.
13.  (18)   Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, Accident, 15, $41525.
14.  (11)   Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, Accident, 14, $40025.
15.   (5)   Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 14, $39525.
16.  (13)   Kyle Busch, Toyota, Accident, 14, $39025.
17.   (7)   Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, Accident, 14, $36525.
18.   (2)   Mark Martin, Toyota, Accident, 14, $34525.
19.  (19)   Terry Labonte, Ford, Vibration, 2, $31499.

RACE STATISTICS

Average Speed of Race Winner: 177.538 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 03 Mins, 22 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.149 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 6 laps.
Lead Changes: 9 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: 0; G. Biffle 1-2; M. Truex Jr. 3-4; M. Kenseth 5-29; T. Stewart 30-33; K. Harvick 34-42; T. Stewart 43; K. Harvick 44-61; M. Kenseth 62; K. Harvick 63-75.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): K. Harvick 3 times for 40 laps; M. Kenseth 2 times for 26 laps; T. Stewart 2 times for 5 laps; G. Biffle 1 time for 2 laps; M. Truex Jr. 1 time for 2 laps.

NASCAR NEWS: Danica Patrick Becomes First Female Pole Winner In NASCAR Sprint Cup History

Danica Patrick made NASCAR history today during Coors Light Pole qualifying for the Daytona 500, becoming the first female driver to win a pole at NASCAR’s top level – the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

During qualifying for the sport’s marquee event, Patrick turned a lap of 196.434 mph (45.817 seconds), giving her the first starting position for next Sunday’s Daytona 500 (1 p.m. on FOX, FOX Deportes, Motor Racing Network Radio and SiriusXM Satellite Radio). It was the fastest Daytona 500 pole-winning speed since 1990.

Patrick shattered the previous record for top starting spot by a female NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. Janet Guthrie previously held the mark, twice starting ninth in 1977. She started ninth at Talladega Superspeedway on Aug. 7, 1977 and at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 28, 1977.

The previous best starting position for a female in the Daytona 500 was 18th by Janet Guthrie in 1980.

This is Patrick’s second NASCAR pole, also winning the Coors Light Pole for the season-opening NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona last season. The only other female to win a NASCAR national series pole was Shawna Robinson in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1994.

Already a NASCAR record holder, Patrick set the mark of best finish by a female driver in NASCAR national series history when she finished fourth in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011. She finished 10th in the final 2012 NASCAR Nationwide points standings, the top finish by a female in NASCAR national series history.

Patrick, who is running for the 2013 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award, is the first rookie to win the Daytona 500 pole since Jimmie Johnson in 2002.

FORD RACING NEWS: Ready For A New Look In 2013

There’s speed but not much downforce. The bumpers don’t match. The draft has a new and maybe more dangerous look.

Welcome to Daytona 2013.

It’s a new year for the NASCAR traveling circus, and the first stop, as always, is Daytona International Speedway. The first two weekends of each season are always tense as drivers and teams break through the cobwebs of a long off-season and return to speed, but this year the time at Daytona will be even more convoluted -- and perhaps a bit uncomfortable -- because of the arrival of the Gen-6 race car.

Designed to be much more similar to street models than the previous Sprint Cup car, the Gen-6 has sleek lines and a cool silhouette – one that instantly identifies its manufacturer. But, simply because it’s new, it carries a boatload of mysteries, some of which can be explored only when dozens of cars are on track together in the dynamics of the famous Daytona draft.

How will the car respond in groups of three, four and five, and with 43 on track at once? Is bump-drafting a thing of the past? Will the last few laps of the Daytona 500 be chaotic (as is usually the case)?

“It was definitely different behind the wheel (in testing) right away,” said Greg Biffle of the Gen-6 Fusion. “When I first saw the car unveiled at Ford, I was shocked by the look of it. I said, ‘There’s no way we’re racing this in NASCAR’ because it looked so cool. It really, really looked racy just sitting there. I’m so excited to see these cars sitting on the grid. It’s a neat car. It’s going to change our sport.”

Joey Logano, new to Ford Racing, said the situation entering Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited, the non-points race that will open the season, is similar to preseason football.

“Saturday is preseason racing to me,” Logano said. “We need to learn as much as we can as a team, and it will help us when we get to the 500. As far as the racing goes, I would assume you are going to see something fairly similar to what you saw last year. But we will have to wait and see. When I was out there before, we found things with the side-draft that work differently. You have to fine-tune your techniques as a driver to find what you want for the 500.”

Saturday night’s Unlimited will give the participating teams their first true look at the new car in a competition environment. The race, scheduled for an 8 p.m. start, will be run in segments of 30, 25 and 20 laps as a result of a fan vote that concluded this week. Sprint Unlimited practice is scheduled at 5 p.m. (ET) and 6:30 p.m. Friday.

On Sunday, Daytona 500 qualifying is scheduled at 1 p.m. Results of the time trials will fill only the first two starting spots for the Great American race. The rest of the 43-car field will be set by the results of next Thursday’s 150-mile qualifying races, qualifying speeds and provisional.

Logano said Sunday’s qualifying will be more important than usual because of the uncertainties surrounding the week.

“We want to help ourselves in case something dumb happens in the Duel (Thursday),” he said. “They have the car in the [wind] tunnel working on that and trying to make sure we can qualify up close to the front. I know we made adjustments on the car since the test (at Daytona), and we have a different car than that one, but we planned on having a different car anyway. I feel like there were some pretty big gains there. I am sure everyone else has pretty big gains, too, I just hope ours are more than theirs.”

 

FORD RACING NEWS: Wood Brothers Racing Honor Ford’s 1st 500 Win/Unveils Retro Paint Scheme for Daytona 500

* The paint scheme of Trevor Bayne’s No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion has been altered to mirror that of the Wood Brothers Racing 1963 Ford Galaxie Tiny Lund drove to Ford’s first Daytona 500 victory, exactly 50 years ago to the day of this year’s race.

* The car also commemorates long-time crew chief Leonard Wood’s recent induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

* The No. 21 Ford Fusion will go back to its traditional Motorcraft/Quick Lane red, white and blue for the spring race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The date of this year’s Daytona 500 is an important landmark for Ford and Wood Brothers Racing. The green flag for this year’s “Great American Race” marks the 50th anniversary of the day substitute driver Tiny Lund drove a 1963 Ford Galaxie built by Leonard Wood to the Blue Oval’s first Daytona 500 win in 1963.

The odds were undeniably against him. Lund was only in the seat because the Woods’ regular driver, Marvin Panch, who had already qualified the Wood Brothers’ Ford for the Daytona 500, was injured trying to set a speed record in a sports car at the track 10 days before the race.

Panch, who lost control of the car in Turn 3, was pinned inside until Glen Wood, NASCAR official Johnny Bruner, crewmen and drivers, including Lund, ran to free him as the car caught fire. Incredibly, it was Lund -- the strongest of the rescuers -- who was able to pull Panch away from the wreck. He was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Honor for the rescue.

Losing a driver 10 days before the race could’ve been devastating to the team’s chances, but in what has so often been the case for the oldest continually running team in NASCAR, Lund’s win was a moment that must have been meant to be. It was largely possible because Leonard Wood, in a demonstration of his foresight and innovation, had equipped the Galaxie with a modified right-front spindle so the tire wore evenly through the corners, allowing the team to go without changing the tires.

To honor both Lund’s victory and Leonard Wood’s induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing has partnered with Wood Brothers Racing to create a special paint scheme for this year’s Daytona 500.

Driver Trevor Bayne, who had his own storybook moment when he won on NASCAR’s biggest stage in 2011, will pilot the Rangoon Red and Corinthian White Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion tribute car that mirrors the Galaxie Lund drove to Victory Lane.

“We are happy to honor this 50th anniversary with Wood Brothers Racing and Ford,” said Mary Lou Quesnell, marketing director, Ford Customer Service Division. “The story behind it is just incredible. Congratulations to Wood Brothers Racing and Leonard Wood for joining his brother Glen in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. We couldn’t be more proud to support you.”

The 1963 Galaxie the Woods built for Leonard’s display in the Hall of Fame’s Hall of Honor will be on display in the Sprint Fan Zone in the infield of Daytona International Speedway during the race weekend. It took the family -- including engineering genius Leonard Wood -- 18 months and countless hours of searching for the parts and pieces to make an exact twin of Lund’s car, from the wheels to the paint used.

“We’ve always been a Ford team, and we’ve had Motorcraft on our cars for a long time,” said Eddie Wood, who co-owns Wood Brothers Racing with his brother Len. “Our family has such a rich history in NASCAR and we love to tell the stories. We’re fortunate to have a sponsor that appreciates the history of the sport and especially our family’s history in stock car racing as much as we do.

“We were able to honor our dad, Glen, with a special car at Charlotte in 2011. We couldn’t ask for better timing. Maybe lightning will strike again, and we’ll get a win with Leonard’s car.”

For live updates from the Daytona 500, follow the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion team on Twitter (MQL_Racing) and Facebook. Follow Wood Brothers Racing on Facebook and Twitter (@WoodBrothers21) and driver Trevor Bayne on Facebook and Twitter (@TBayne21).
 

PODCAST UPDATE: StockCar Radio 2/9/2013 Broadcast

STOCK CAR RADIO: February 9 2013, Full Show

This weeks STOCKCAR Radio welcomes guest from coast to coast. Starting with Ben Deatherage from Sunset Speedway, Cottage Grove Speedway and Willamette Speedway to talk about upcoming racing season in the Pacific NW. Then after a quick visit from Kim Coon, Ms. Sprint Cup, we bounce across the country to talk to Kevin Smith from Irvan-Smith Racing. We then talk to Jay Neal from BSB Manufacturing to talk shop and racing at all levels of competition. CLICK HERE TO HEAR FULL SHOW

February 9, 2013, Clip 1

Host Dennis Pittsenbarger starts off this hour of Stock Car Radio by visiting with Ben Deatherage from Sunset Speedway, Cottage Grove Speedway and Willamette Speedway. Ben shares the dates of the upcoming late model events at these tracks. CLICK HERE TO HEAR SEGMENT

February 9, 2013, Clip 2

Dennis starts off this segment talking with Ben Deatherage about Sunset Speedway. Kim Coon steps in and shares a little bit about her job as Miss Sprint Cup. CLICK HERE TO HEAR SEGMENT

February 9, 2013, Clip 3

Kevin Smith from Irvan-Smith Racing is on the line visiting with host Dennis Pittsenbarger. Kevin talks about the background of Irvan-Smith Racing and how Vic Irvan started a business that’s been around for a solid 30 years. Kevin also talks about the pride that the company takes in their customers and how they’re able to pass along their knowledge. CLICK HERE TO HEAR SEGMENT

  

February 9, 2013, Clip 4

Safety First! Kevin Smith from Irvan-Smith Racing shares why applying safety and putting high-quality reliable pieces into your stock car can impact your driving. Also, Kevin talks about some of the longstanding relationships they’ve had in the business. CLICK HERE TO HEAR SEGMENT

February 9, 2013, Clip 5

Everybody wants to go FAST and BSB Manufacturing has the products to make that happen. Jay Neal from BSB Manufacturing tells host Dennis Pittsenbarger about how he got started in the business and also gives a background on the company. CLICK HERE TO HEAR SEGMENT

February 9, 2013, Clip 6

"There’s no reason for you to go out and buy a $300 shock and then send it the minute you get it to somebody else to get it right." Jay Neal from BSB Manufacturing gives this statement to host Dennis Pittsenbarger to explain why you should choose BSB-MFG. CLICK HERE TO HEAR SEGMENT

   

PODCAST UPDATE: STOCK CAR RADIO: February 2 2013

STOCKCAR Radio is a potent one-two NASCAR punch this week as we talk to the heavy hitters from Chevrolet and Ford. First up is Mark Kent, Chevrolet's Director of Racing and then Pat DiMarco, Ford Racing's NASCAR Program Manager both give us the latest news of their offerings for the upcoming 2013 Sprint Car series.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO FULL SHOW OR SEGMENTS