Matt Crafton wins Atlanta Truck race

Matt Crafton took the #88 Toyota truck to his sixth series win in the Camping World Truck Series race on Saturday, held after the Xfinity Series race. Crafton, the two-time defending series champion, dominated the race, winning by over nine seconds over second-place Ty Dillon. Original polesitter Brad Keselowski, driving his own #29 Ford, had his qualifying time disallowed by NASCAR. In his place was the #11 Toyota of Ben Kennedy. Keselowski and Erik Jones would later have bad pit stops during the race, which was mostly incident-free. The trucks now have a month off before returning at Martinsville on March 28.

Kevin Harvick wins Atlanta Xfinity Series race

Kevin Harvick took the #88 Chevrolet of JR Motorsports to victory in the 250-mile Xfinity Series race at Atlanta on Saturday in the first end of a doubleheader with the Camping World Truck Series. This is Harvick's third straight Xfinity Series win at the Hampton, Georgia track. Polesitter Joey Logano finished second in the #22 Ford. Harvick led 101 of 163 laps on his way to the win. In addition to his multiple Xfinity wins, Harvick also won his first then-Winston Cup race at Atlanta in 2001 in just his third series start driving for Richard Childress. Filling in for the injured Kyle Busch in the #54 Toyota was Busch's Truck Series driver Erik Jones, who could be back to drive the car in more races in the coming weeks.

Travis Kvapil's #44 Cup car stolen from hotel

Team XTREME Racing has reported that their #44 Chevrolet Sprint Cup car, to be driven at Atlanta by Travis Kvapil, has been stolen along with the hauler from a Georgia hotel. Kvapil reported the incident Friday morning on Twitter.

UPDATE: Kvapil and the #44 team had to withdraw from the race, but the car and trailer have since both been found before the start of Sunday's race.

Joe Nemechek to take over Front Row #34

Veteran Joe Nemechek will drive the #34 Ford of Front Row Motorsports starting at Atlanta on Sunday. The car's regular driver David Ragan is subbing for the injured Kyle Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing in the #18 car. Busch continues to be sidelined by injuries from a crash in Saturday's Xfinity Series opener at Daytona, having had two surgeries, one in Florida and another upon his return to North Carolina. Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins says he expects Ragan, who gave the team its first win at Talladega in 2013, in "about ten weeks."

David Ragan to sub for Kyle Busch

David Ragan, the driver of the #34 Ford at Front Row Motorsports, has been selected to drive the #18 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing as a substitute for the injured Kyle Busch. Busch, who was flown from Daytona Beach back to the Charlotte, North Carolina area on Tuesday, will miss several more weeks of competition with a compound leg fracture and a foot fracture from his crash during Saturday's Xfinity Series race. Busch's substitute for the Daytona 500 was Truck Series driver Matt Crafton, who got to make his Cup debut in NASCAR's biggest race.

This is an unusual arrangement for NASCAR. Ragan already has a full-time ride at Front Row, having driven the #34 machine since 2012, and even giving the team its first win at Talladega in May of 2013. NASCAR substitute drivers are usually picked because they do not have a full-time ride and thus do not have prior commitments to other teams. Furthermore, Ragan has been a Ford driver his entire Cup career, while all Joe Gibbs and JGR-affiliated vehicles in every NASCAR national series are Toyotas. Crafton was likely selected to drive in the Daytona 500 because his truck team, ThorSport Racing, also fields Toyotas, resulting in no conflict between manufacturers. However, fans and crew members are optimistic that Ragan, who struggled through much of 2014, will have better results with his return to a true top NASCAR team, as his old team Roush Fenway Racing is, and that his abandonment of a full-time ride to make a substitution and doing so with a different manufacturer should not matter.

Bobby Labonte back in the #18 to sub for Kyle Busch?

With Kyle Busch injured and unable to race for several weeks, some fans, encouraged by a tweet by Dale Earnhardt Jr., are wondering what it would be like if Joe Gibbs got his old driver, 2000 champion Bobby Labonte, to sub for Busch. Labonte drove the car from 1995 to 2005 with Interstate Batteries as his sponsor to all 21 of his Cup Series race wins. He was preceded by Dale Jarrett and succeeded by J.J. Yeley, who then gave way to Kyle Busch and attracted M&M's as a new sponsor.

Reflections of 2015 Speedweeks

Another Speedweeks at Daytona is over, and it was another memorable one. From a wreck-filled Sprint Unlimited, to a controversial group qualifying session, to Dale Earnhardt Jr. following up his 2014 Daytona 500 win with a victory in the first Budweiser Duel, to Denny Hamlin and Danica Patrick having a run-in during the second Budweiser Duel, to Kurt Busch getting suspended 36 hours before the 500, to two national series drivers getting their first wins, to Regan Smith flipping and and Kyle Busch getting hurt during the Xfinity race, to Joey Logano winning the Daytona 500 under an unpopular caution, Speedweeks 2015 had it all. I am already ready for 2016.

Joey Logano wins the 57th Daytona 500

Joey Logano took the win in Sunday's Daytona 500 driving the #22 Ford for Roger Penske. This is Logano's ninth Sprint Cup Series win and his first in a restrictor plate race. It was somewhat of an upset considering the big storylines heading into the race were this being Jeff Gordon's final Daytona 500 start and the high possibility of Gordon's teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. taking his super-fast car to a second straight victory, and third overall, in the Great American Race. Gordon got caught up in a last-lap crash triggered by Austin Dillon during a green-white-checkered finish and had to settle for 28th, while Earnhardt led 32 laps mid-race, then got shuffled back to 20th on the penultimate restart, worked his way up to eighth by the time of the overtime-causing Justin Allgaier crash which prompted a brief red flag, then got up to third on the final restart before the caution for the Gordon incident froze the field.

Other occurrences during the race included Tony Stewart getting into the wall with Matt Kenseth and Paul Menard getting damage, Logano's teammate Brad Keselowski suffering a blown engine as well as the Penske-affiliated #21 Wood Brothers Ford of Ryan Blaney, a pit road mishap for two-time winner Jimmie Johnson and a constant tight three-wide racing pack, particularly throughout the second half of the race. Logano's win also completed Ford's Speedweeks points race weekend sweep, as Ford vehicles also won the Camping World Truck Series race on Friday (a Penske-affiliated truck won that race) and the Xfinity Series race on Saturday. Another story that surfaced by Saturday evening was the absence of both Busch brothers, Kurt and Kyle. Kurt is suspended amid legal issues and was replaced by Regan Smith, while Kyle was injured in an Xfinity Series crash and subsequently had leg surgery, allowing two-time truck champion Matt Crafton to make his first Sprint Cup start.

This is car owner Roger Penske's second Daytona 500 win. His first came in 2008 when Kurt Busch, then driving the #2 Dodge that Brad Keselowski now drives as a Ford, pushed Ryan Newman in the #12 Dodge (which is now Logano's #22 Ford) past the Toyota of Tony Stewart to victory with a last-lap pass. Penske also owns 15 Indianapolis 500 victories given to him by several drivers.

The Sprint Cup Series along with the other two national series visit the Atlanta suburb of Hampton, Georgia on February 28 and March 1. This will be the first spring race weekend at Atlanta since 2010, after which the track lost one of its Cup dates to Kentucky, and the first time the second race weekend of the season will be held in the southern United States since 2004.

Race Results:

1. 22 - Joey Logano - Ford - 203 laps
2. 4 - Kevin Harvick - Chevrolet - 203 laps
3. 88 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Chevrolet - 203 laps
4. 11 - Denny Hamlin - Toyota - 203 laps
5. 48 - Jimmie Johnson - Chevrolet - 203 laps
6. 13 - Casey Mears - Chevrolet - 203 laps
7. 15 - Clint Bowyer - Toyota - 203 laps
8. 78 - Martin Truex Jr. - Chevrolet - 203 laps
9. 5 - Kasey Kahne - Chevrolet - 203 laps
10. 16 - Greg Biffle - Ford - 203 laps

Ryan Reed wins Xfinity Series opener at Daytona; Kyle Busch hurt

Ryan Reed took the #16 Ford of Roush Fenway Racing to his first career Xfinity Series win in Saturday's Alert Today Florida 300 at Daytona, which started out as a quiet race, but ended up having several wild moments. Reed's teammate Chris Buescher in the #60 Ford helped push Reed past Cup driver Brad Keselowski, who then got shuffled behind the Dillon brothers, Ty and Austin, before the checkered flag.

The race went green for the first 80 laps, after which there were two big crashes. Daniel Suarez got loose off turn 4 and hit Regan Smith, whose car flipped down the frontstretch and landed by the start/finish line. Other drivers involved included John Wes Townley, Chase Elliott and Chad Boat. The race was stopped for cleanup, but as the cars stopped for the red flag on the backstretch Mike Wallace accidentally bumped into Austin Dillon's stopped car. Landon Cassill also lost his steering shortly after the red flag was lifted.

After the race went back green and there was a quick debris caution for a piece of tape from Chase Elliott's car, Kyle Busch in the #54 Toyota had a hard crash, brought on by contact after his teammate Erik Jones spun, collecting other drivers such as Elliott Sadler and Brendan Gaughan. Busch hit a spot of the track without a SAFER barrier, a device which has been credited for minimizing crash impacts in NASCAR. Busch was visibly injured, as he was seen lying on the ground appearing to have major pain on hi sright leg as safety crews rushed to treat him. Busch was taken by ambulance directly to Halifax Medical Center, and it appears he may have to miss Sunday's Daytona 500 depending on the severity of his leg injury. Busch's brother Kurt is also missing the Daytona 500 due to his suspension which was ordered by NASCAR a couple of hours before Friday's Camping World Truck Series race.

As Reed celebrates his first Xfinity win and other issues stemming from the race are sorted out, the Sprint Cup Series is preparing for the 57th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday afternoon, in what is sure to be a remarkable end to yet another memorable Speedweeks.

Race Results:

1. (8) #16 - Ryan Reed - Ford - 120 laps
2. (10) #60 - Chris Buescher - Ford - 120 laps
3. (34) #3 - Ty Dillon - Chevrolet - 120 laps
4. (1) #33 - Austin Dillon - Chevrolet - 120 laps
5. (14) #22 - Brad Keselowski - Ford - 120 laps
6. (18) #44 - David Starr - Toyota - 120 laps
7. (5) #98 - Aric Almirola - Ford - 120 laps
8. (27) #42 - Kyle Larson - Chevrolet - 120 laps
9. (21) #4 - Ross Chastain - Chevrolet - 120 laps
10. (40) #88 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Chevrolet - 119 laps (1 lap down)

Tyler Reddick wins truck race at Daytona

Tyler Reddick won the season-opening NextEra Energy Resources 250 Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona on Friday, driving the #19 Ford owned by Brad Keselowski. It was Reddick's first win in the series. Reddick's teammate, rookie Austin Theriault finished fourth in the #29 truck. Finishing in the runner-up position was Erik Jones. The race featured several wrecks including one about halfway through the race that took out more than a dozen trucks, including Johnny Sauter, Ben Kennedy, John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher. Three of the only four Fords in the field, the third of which was the #92 truck of David Gilliland, finished in the top ten, leaving the Toyotas and Chevrolets largely out of the spotlight.

Race Results:

1. (3) #19 - Tyler Reddick - Ford - 100 laps
2. (7) #4 - Erik Jones - Toyota - 100 laps
3. (9) #20 - Scott Lagasse Jr. - Chevrolet - 100 laps
4. (4) #29 - Austin Theriault - Ford - 100 laps
5. (15) #07 - Ray Black Jr. - Chevrolet - 100 laps
6. (13) #92 - David Gilliland - Ford - 100 laps
7. (28) #99 - Bryan Silas - Chevrolet - 100 laps
8. (31) #88 - Matt Crafton - Toyota - 100 laps
9. (30) #51 - Daniel Suarez - Toyota - 100 laps
10. (19) #98 - Johnny Sauter - Toyota - 100 laps
11. (1) #33 - Ty Dillon - Chevrolet - 100 laps
12. (23) #08 - Korbin Forrister - Chevrolet - 100 laps
13. (29) #02 - Tyler Young - Chevrolet - 100 laps
14. (22) #6 - Norm Benning - Chevrolet - 100 laps
15. (2) #94 - Travis Kvapil - Chevrolet - 93 laps (7 laps down)
16. (21) #28 - Ryan Ellis - Chevrolet - 87 laps (13 laps down)
17. (5) #31 - James Buescher - Chevrolet - 85 laps (15 laps down)
18. (11) #10 - Jennifer Jo Cobb - Chevrolet - 77 laps (23 laps down)
19. (16) #25 - Matt Tifft - Toyota - 64 laps (rear hub)
20. (18) #8 - Joe Nemechek - Chevrolet - 62 laps (38 laps down)
21. (10) #23 - Spencer Gallagher - Chevrolet - 61 laps (39 laps down)
22. (26) #05 - John Wes Townley - Chevrolet - 48 laps (accident)
23. (14) #13 - Cameron Hayley - Toyota - 48 laps (accident)
24. (32) #17 - Timothy Peters - Toyota - 48 laps (accident)
25. (8) #84 - Chris Fontaine - Toyota - 48 laps (accident)
26. (20) #14 - Daniel Hemric - Chevrolet - 48 laps (accident)
27. (24) #40 - Todd Peck - Chevrolet - 48 laps (accident)
28. (6) #11 - Ben Kennedy - Toyota - 20 laps (accident)
29. (25) #54 - Justin Boston - Toyota - 18 laps (accident)
30. (17) #82 - Austin Hill - Ford - 13 laps (accident)
31. (12) #1 - Donnie Neuenberger - 13 laps (accident)
32. (27) #35 - Justin Marks - Toyota - 12 laps (accident)

Kurt Busch suspended by NASCAR, effective immediately

Kurt Busch has suddenly been suspended by NASCAR after a legal investigation of his involvement in a suspected domestic assault case on ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll at Dover Speedway in Delaware during the September race weekend. Busch, who participated in the Sprint Unlimited and Budweiser Duel this week, is out indefinitely starting with Sunday's Daytona 500. Stewart Haas Racing will shortly announce a replacement driver for the #41 Chevrolet. Although it appeared Busch was going to keep racing despite his legal issues, NASCAR apparently decided these actions were necessary.

Earnhardt, Johnson win Budweiser Duels

The Hendrick Motorsports cars of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson, two of the fastest cars in Speedweeks thus far, raced to victory in the Budweiser Duel qualifying races for the Daytona 500 on Thursday evening. Earnhardt raced his way from the back of the first Duel field after failing post-qualifying inspection on Sunday along with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin. Earnhardt, who won the Daytona 500 last year, is in his first year with new crew chief Greg Ives and has carried over a surge of momentum from 2014. Meanwhile, Johnson is starting on the outside pole in Sunday's race next to teammate Jeff Gordon.

14 years ago, NASCAR's darkest day

Today is the 14th anniversary of the emotional 2001 Daytona 500, a race that saw NASCAR lose Dale Earnhardt, its greatest star at the time. In the months leading up to the race, many notable things happened. Earnhardt had scored a come-from-behind win in October of 2000 at Talladega in the first race with the restrictor plate package that would be used at the stock car events of the 2001 Daytona Speedweeks. Earnhardt had also signed Michael Waltrip, then the driver of Ultra Motorsports' #7 Nations Rent Chevrolet, to drive the new #15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet starting in 2001. Meanwhile, Michael's brother Darrell Waltrip, a three-time Winston Cup champion, ended his driving career after the 2000 Atlanta season finale and joined Mike Joy and former Earnhardt crew chief Larry McReynolds in the broadcast booth of new NASCAR broadcaster Fox. Finally, Dodge was coming back to NASCAR, and the teams who had signed to field Dodges starting in 2001 were Bill Davis Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing (known before '01 as Team SABCO), new team Evernham Motorsports (whose owner Ray Evernham, previously Jeff Gordon's championship crew chief, helped kick off Dodge's NASCAR return), Melling Racing and Petty Enterprises.

NASCAR had also endured several tragedies in 2000. In May, a month after making his Winston Cup debut at Texas, fourth-generation driver Adam Petty died in a crash during Busch Series practice at New Hampshire, just shy of his 20th birthday. Two months later, third-year Winston Cup driver Kenny Irwin Jr. died in a Cup practice crash also at New Hampshire, in almost the same spot where Petty died. Finally, in October, Craftsman Truck Series driver Tony Roper was severely injured in a crash during a race at Texas, on the same evening that future Cup star Greg Biffle clinched the series championship, and died the next day. Despite these deaths, the NASCAR community was eager to press on.

Daytona Speedweeks in 2001 was full of action, a far cry from the previous year's Daytona 500 and its associated events which had featured very little passing, mostly single file racing and dominance by the Fords, specifically the Robert Yates Racing cars of Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd, and to an extent Roush Racing drivers Jeff Burton and Mark Martin. But the new restrictor plates allowed for more competition at Daytona this time around. The same restricted engine that had allowed Dale Earnhardt to go from 17th to first in the final four laps at Talladega the previous fall also allowed Tony Stewart and Sterling Marlin to pass Earnhardt late in the Budweiser Shootout and first Gatorade Duel qualifying race, respectively, and the elder Earnhardt's teammate Mike Skinner to barely beat Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the line in the second Duel. Now the stage was set for a great Daytona 500. Dale Earnhardt's team now consisted of Steve Park, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip, and they would race together with several other drivers.

The race would ultimately feature 49 lead changes, a good 40 more than the previous year. This time, the Chevrolets and the new Dodges spent almost the whole race up front, and Dodge had even swept the front row with Bill Elliott and Stacy Compton taking the top qualifying spots. Early leaders included Ward Burton, Mike Skinner and Sterling Marlin. Earnhardt, Earnhardt Jr., Waltrip and Park all eventually led as well, as did Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and other big names. On lap 174, all hell broke loose. Robby Gordon rear-ended Ward Burton on the backstretch, spinning him into Tony Stewart. Stewart flipped wildly across the track, ending up next to his teammate Bobby Labonte, whose car had fire coming from it. The crash collected several other drivers including Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, defending race champion Dale Jarrett, Steve Park, Terry Labonte and rookies Andy Houston and Jason Leffler. Earnhardt, Dale Jr. and Michael were ahead of the crash when it happened, as were other drivers like Ken Schrader, Ricky Rudd and Mike Wallace. Sterling Marlin was behind the crash after making an unscheduled pit stop, but was able to get past it.

After the crash, NASCAR displayed the red flag. When the race resumed, the leaders made their last pit stops. The race went green on lap 180. Earnhardt Jr., Marlin and Earnhardt traded the lead before Waltrip took it for good. Besides these four drivers, others in the lead pack during the final laps included Ken Schrader, Bill Elliott, Ricky Rudd, Rusty Wallace, Mike Wallace, Bobby Hamilton and Jeremy Mayfield. However, all attention would be focused on the DEI cars of Michael and Dale Jr., and the Earnhardt #3. As the laps wound down, Marlin and Schrader were leading the pack of cars behind the three leaders.

The white flag was in the air. Dale Jr. was trying to get past his teammate, their cars ahead of all of the other leaders. Meanwhile, the elder Earnhardt was trying to block said other leaders, with Marlin and Schrader almost getting past him, and Rusty Wallace getting in the mix. Suddenly, coming off the third turn, with Marlin right on Earnhardt's bumper, Earnhardt got loose and went toward the bottom of the track, then veered sharp right up the steep banking and slammed straight into the wall. Rusty barely missed hitting Dale, but Schrader had nowhere to go and plowed into Earnhardt's car. The two cars went back across the track and across the turn 4 infield grass, and stopped in the grass. As all this was going on, two of Earnhardt's drivers, Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished first and second in NASCAR's greatest race. It was Waltrip's first Winston Cup in in 463 starts.

Waltrip, whose brother Darrell was emotional in the broadcast booth after cheering him on to the win, went to victory lane and began his celebration. But his car owner wasn't there. Nor was his teammate who helped him finally win in NASCAR's top series, and in the Daytona 500 of all races. Schrader had gone to Earnhardt's car and signalled for paramedics. The safety crew began removing Earnhardt from his car. Dale Jr. knew his father had crashed and ran toward the infield care center. He and his stepmother Teresa were directed to go to the nearby Halifax Medical Center, where they would soon be joined by other drivers, crew members, car owners and NASCAR officials. Waltrip knew none of this until Schrader went to victory lane and explained the situation to him. After that, Waltrip couldn't celebrate anymore.

Could restrictor plate tracks go back to time trials?

With Sunday's knockout qualifying session for the Daytona 500 proving chaotic, as with last fall at Talladega, many people are calling for NASCAR to either bring a return to single-car time trials at the four annual restrictor plate events at Daytona and Talladega, or make significant changes to knockout qualifying at these tracks. Others are arguing that time trials should be brought back at all oval tracks, because they feel group knockout qualifying, a staple in some open-wheel series for many years, only truly works at road courses, which some racing series race on almost exclusively. NASCAR has reportedly said it is studying possible changes to the qualifying format at Daytona and Talladega, although it's unlikely they will revert back to time trial qualifying at these tracks.

Starting orders for the Budweiser Duels

Here is how the drivers racing for spots in the Daytona 500 will start in the Budweiser Duel qualifying races on Thursday.

Duel #1

1. 24-Jeff Gordon
2. 20-Matt Kenseth
3. 5-Kasey Kahne
4. 33-Ty Dillon
5. 1-Jamie McMurray
6. 83-Johnny Sauter
7. 6-Trevor Bayne
8. 43-Aric Almirola
9. 2-Brad Keselowski
10. 22-Joey Logano
11. 23-J.J. Yeley
12. 27-Paul Menard
13. 47-A.J. Allmendinger
14. 4-Kevin Harvick
15. 14-Tony Stewart
16. 13-Casey Mears
17. 46-Michael Annett
18. 42-Kyle Larson
19. 95-Michael McDowell
20. 15-Clint Bowyer
21. 29-Justin Marks
22. 35-Cole Whitt
23. 40-Landon Cassill
24. 30-Ron Hornaday Jr.
25. 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Duel #2

1. 48-Jimmie Johnson
2. 18-Kyle Busch
3. 19-Carl Edwards
4. 3-Austin Dillon
5. 78-Martin Truex Jr.
6. 16-Greg Biffle
7. 9-Sam Hornish Jr.
8. 17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
9. 21-Ryan Blaney
10. 55-Michael Waltrip
11. 32-Bobby Labonte
12. 7-Alex Bowman
13. 31-Ryan Newman
14. 41-Kurt Busch
15. 10-Danica Patrick
16. 62-Brian Scott
17. 51-Justin Allgaier
18. 38-David Gilliland
19. 26-Jeb Burton
20. 44-Reed Sorenson
21. 34-David Ragan
22. 98=Josh Wise
23. 66-Mike Wallace
24. 11-Denny Hamlin

Earnhardt and Hamlin fail post-qualifying inspection

The #88 Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the #11 Toyota of Denny Hamlin failed inspection following front-row qualifying for the Daytona 500 on Sunday. The left fronts of both cars were found to be lower than the minimum required height for Sprint Cup vehicles. NASCAR threw out Earnhardt's and Hamlin's qualifying times, and they will be starting in the back in their respective Budweiser Duel qualifying races on Thursday evening.

Gordon, Johnson take Daytona 500 front row

Jeff Gordon, making his 23rd and final Daytona 500 start next week, took the #24 AARP Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet to the pole position for the 57th running of the Great American Race. Gordon is a three-time winner of the race, having won from the pole in 1999. Gordon also started on the front row in 2011 and 2013. Next to Gordon on the front row will be his teammate Jimmie Johnson in the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, giving Hendrick Motorsports a sweep of the front row. Johnson won the pole in his 2002 rookie season and also in 2008, and started second in 2005. The other two Hendrick drivers, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88) and Kasey Kahne (#5) also made the final five-minute, twelve-driver round of knockout qualifying, the first time that qualifying format has been used for Daytona 500 pole qualifying.

The qualifying session was interrupted in the first 25-minute round by a crash between the #15 Toyota of Clint Bowyer and the #44 Toyota of Reed Sorenson. Bowyer was quick to criticize NASCAR's decision to stick with the knockout qualifying format for the restrictor plate races at Daytona and Talladega and believed they were responsible for allowing the crash to happen and causing the #15 team to scramble to make backup plans for their Daytona 500. Tony Stewart got a piece of the first-round wreck and also derided the new qualifying format on Twitter.

The remaining 41 starting positions for the Daytona 500 will be determined on Thursday evening in the twin Budweiser Duel 150-mile qualifying races. Gordon will start first in the first Duel, while Johnson will start first in the second Duel. The remaining 47 drivers attempting to qualify for the 500 will be split between the two Duel races based on their positions during Sunday's qualifying session. Six drivers will not make the Daytona 500 field after Thursday's finishing orders are sorted out.

Matt Kenseth wins Sprint Unlimited

Matt Kenseth kicked off the 2015 Sprint Cup season by winning the Sprint Unlimited exhibition race on Saturday evening, bringing the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to victory lane after several crashes and two red flags. Finishing second after leading several laps as an underdog was Furniture Row Racing driver Martin Truex Jr., who was in the race for qualifying second in the #78 Chevrolet for last year's Daytona 500. Third was Kenseth's new teammate Carl Edwards in the #19 Toyota. The race was 75 laps long, technically a single segment, with a scheduled caution on lap 25 with those caution laps counting, unlike the past few runnings of the Unlimited.


Just before the scheduled caution, Brad Keselowski lost control of his car in the trioval on lap 23, with Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch getting pieces of the crash. After everyone made their required pit stops, the #88 Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. was out front. he led 13 laps before having to pit after getting a piece of paper stuck on his grille. Not long after Earnhardt's unscheduled stop, polesitter Paul Menard spun on the frontstretch and collected Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, and once again Kyle Busch. The race was then red-flagged, after which Greg Biffle briefly led, followed by Edwards and then Truex. Earnhardt got back into the top ten, but spent the rest of the race riding in the middle of the lead pack.


Another big crash occurred on lap 66 and took out Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon, Jeff Gordon and Danica Patrick, forcing another race stoppage. By now, Kenseth had taken the lead, having slowly worked his way up front. Kenseth then held off Truex and Edwards during the final four-lap sprint to claim his first Sprint Unlimited victory. Kenseth's only win last year was in the non-points first Budweiser Duel qualifying race for the Daytona 500. He went winless in all 36 points races after winning 7 races and finishing second in points in 2013. Kenseth is also a two-time Daytona 500 champion, in 2009 and 2012 with Roush Fenway Racing.


Also after the race, Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski's teammate Joey Logano got into a bit of a heated exchange on the cooldown lap. Harvick and Logano bumped each other's cars, with Logano almost spinning out Harvick. The two drivers then got out of their cars and exchanged some words before one of Logano's crew members pulled him away from Harvick to prevent further incident. This incident comes in the wake of a fight-filled 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup, which prominently involved Keselowski.


Sunday afternoon will see front row qualifying for the Daytona 500, for the first time in the group qualifying format introduced last year at the Phoenix spring race. Thursday evening will be the Budweiser Duel 150-mile qualifiers. The Camping World Truck Series 250-mile opener will be on Friday evening, the Xfinity Series 300-miler on Saturday afternoon and the Great American Race, the 57th Daytona 500 on Sunday afternoon.

Paul Menard draws Sprint Unlimited pole

Paul Menard got the pole position for Saturday evening's Sprint Unlimited race at Daytona in a random draw done in place of proper qualifying. Menard is entering his fifth season at Richard Childress Racing driving the #27 Chevrolet. Drawing second place was Kasey Kahne of Hendrick Motorsports. Menard's teammate Austin Dillon in the #3 Chevrolet drew sixth position. The first driver to select a starting position for Saturday's race was reigning champion Kevin Harvick, who drew eighth. Harvick's teammate and boss Tony Stewart drew 22nd, and last year's Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. drew 24th.

An excellent NASCAR Media Day at Daytona

As soon as the drivers and crew chiefs arrived in Daytona Beach on Thursday, they talked with the media about their throughs on Speedweeks, particularly the Daytona 500, and their chances at success throughout the Sprint Cup season.

Sprint Cup driver chart for 2015

Brendan Gaughan to drive full-time for Premium Motorsports in Cup

Brendan Gaughan will drive the #62 Chevrolet Sprint Cup car of Premium Motorsports starting at Atlanta on March 1. Premium Motorsports is a team that has been formed out of Jay Robinson Racing, who along with Michael Waltrip Racing and the Joe Nemechek-owned Identity Ventures Racing fielded the #66 Toyota in some Cup races in 2014. Before the rebranding, Jay Robinson acquired the #36 Chevrolet team of Tommy Baldwin Racing, whose driver last year was Reed Sorenson. The driver of the #62 Cup car during Speedweeks will be Richard Childress Racing Xfinity and Cup development driver Brian Scott. Premium inherited the number 62 after forming an alliance with RCR when Scott signed to drive their car at Daytona. Gaughan is also a lower-series RCR driver, having driven a #62 truck and Xfinity car for the team in the past few seasons. Gaughan won his first two Xfinity races at Road America and Kentucky in 2014. His rookie season in the Cup series was in 2004 driving the #77 Dodge owned by Doug Bawel.

DiBenedetto gets part-time Cup ride; Marks, Scott to attempt 500 with fledgling teams

The latest wave of pre-Daytona news has Xfinity Series driver Matt DiBenedetto getting a part-time ride with BK Racing, driving the team's #83 and #93 Toyotas. It has also been announced that Brian Scott, previously announced as having a ride in a #29 Chevrolet at Richard Childress Racing (with whom he competes full-time in the Xfinity Series) for the Budweiser Duels and (if he qualified) the Daytona 500, will now attempt the Great American Race driving a #62 Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports, possibly under an alliance with RCR. More recently, it has been revealed that, as with the Cup races they attempted in 2014, RAB Racing will after all field their #29 Toyota in the Duels with Justin Marks driving. RAB attempted but failed to qualify for a few Cup races last year, notably with Truck Series driver Matt Crafton at Indianapolis and Joe Nemechek at Talladega in October, where they actually initially made the field, but were soon disqualified after failing post-qualifying inspection.

Jeb Burton to drive for BK Racing

Jeb Burton, formerly a driver and race winner in the Camping World Truck Series in the last two seasons, has expanded the Sprint Cup rookie field for 2015 by signing with BK Racing to replace Cole Whitt in the #26 Toyota. Whitt, who started 2014 at Swan Racing driving the same #26 car, has moved to the #35 Ford of Front Row Motorsports (after erroneously being reported as replacing David Ragan in the #34). Burton, the son of 2002 Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton and the nephew of Ward's brother, 21-time Cup race winner Jeff Burton, drove the #13 Toyota truck at ThorSport Racing in 2014 and was a teammate of Matt Crafton, the truck series champion two years in a row. Burton will join J.J. Yeley at BK Racing, and Trevor Bayne and possibly Brett Moffitt in the race for the 2015 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year award.

A great week for my diecast collection

I have added a total of 16 1:64 diecasts to my collection in the past four days (since Wednesday morning). I ordered a bunch from various websites last Friday, but didn't think they would all arrive in such a short period of time. I posted about the first six arrivals in another post. Below are the ten additional diecasts I have received since.

A throwback rainbow scheme for Jeff Gordon? Possibly

With the news two weeks ago of Jeff Gordon handing the #24 Hendrick Chevrolet to Chase Elliott in 2016, fans have been begging for a return at the Homestead season final in November of the Rainbow Warriors paint scheme that made Gordon famous. Gordon drove the rainbow #24 car from his first Cup start in the 1992 finale at Atlanta to the same race in 2000. In 2001 he switched to a red, yellow and blue flames paint job, which he used through 2008. The next couple of years saw the #24 car with a different-colored flames scheme, and in 2011 Gordon got a mostly solid dark red paint scheme. Gordon has now come forward expressing interest in the throwback rainbow and people have been posting their ideas for what it could look like.

Sprint Unlimited format announced

NASCAR announced on Thursday a new format for the Sprint Unlimited race at Daytona. This year's event will be 75 laps, consisting of two segments that will be 25 laps and 50 laps in length.
 In the last several runnings of the event, the race was three segments with fewer laps in each segment. There have also been some rumors lately that some smaller teams whose drivers are eligible for this year's Sprint Unlimited may not be able to compete in the event due to lack of sponsorship for the race, which they say could compromise their ability to attempt and compete in the Daytona 500.

My six newest NASCAR diecasts

Today I received six legacy Winston and Nextel Cup diecasts that I ordered from the Texas-based South Philly Diecast. The diecasts I ordered are as follows:

• Team Caliber 2001 Mark Martin #6 Pfizer Ford Taurus with removable body and display case (Roush)
• Action 2001 Casey Atwood #19 Dodge R/T with street car door outlines on sides (Evernham)
• Action 2000 Ricky Rudd #28 Texaco/Havoline Ford Taurus with removable body (Yates)
• Action 2003 Jeff Green #30 America Online Chevrolet Monte Carlo (RCR)
• Action 1999 Mike Skinner #31 Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo (RCR)
• Team Caliber 2005 Kurt Busch #97 Sharpie Autographs for Education Ford Taurus (Roush)

A.J. Allmendinger will not compete in the Sprint Unlimited

A.J. Allmendinger has announced that he will not compete in the Sprint Unlimited exhibition race at Daytona on February 14. Allmendinger took the #47 Chevrolet of JTG Daugherty Racing to the first Sprint Cup wins for both him and the team at Watkins Glen in August. He became eligible for the Unlimited when NASCAR expanded the field to include all 16 drivers from the previous year's Chase for the Sprint Cup regardless of whether they won any poles during the season or met any of the other criteria for eligibility (previous Unlimited winners who at least attempted a 2014 points race or previous Daytona 500 front row starters who did not win a points race pole in 2014).

Five more NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees added

On Friday, the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte inducted its five newest members - Fred Lorenzen, Rex White, Bill Elliott, Wendell Scott and Joe Weatherly. Elliott, Weatherly and White are former Sprint Cup champions, while Elliott and Lorenzen are past Daytona 500 winners and Scott was the first black NASCAR driver to win a race. Elliott, Lorenzen and White appeared at the ceremony and White gave an excellent speech during his induction. Elliott's induction comes as his son Chase, 19, is celebrating his Xfinity Series championship and also having just landed a full-time Cup ride for 2016, replacing Jeff Gordon at Hendrick Motorsports.

Joey Logano wins Super Bowl battle between himself and Kasey Kahne

Super Bowl XLIX featured the AFC champion New England Patriots against the NFC champion Seattle Seahawks. Joey Logano, being from Connecticut, was rooting for the Patriots, while Kasey Kahne, from Washington state, was rooting for the Seahawks, who won last year's Super Bowl. The Patriots ultimately won after a fourth-quarter rally, making Logano a winner as well. These same circumstances unfolded last year between Kahne and Kyle Busch, whose Denver Broncos were dominated by Kahne's Seahawks, after which Busch had to pay Kahne money. Kahne probably had to pay the same favor to Logano after this year's thrilling Super Bowl.