9-Danica Patrick Posts Best Finish in NASCAR by a Female Driver
All agreed that Danica Patrick’s part-time NASCAR career was on the upswing in its second season. Patrick proved that with an exclamation point on March 5 with a solid, fourth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The performance was record-setting: Patrick became not only the highest-finishing female driver in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race but also in any NASCAR national series event. Patrick’s feat broke a record from NASCAR’s earliest years – Sara Christian’s fifth-place finish in a NASCAR Sprint Cup (then Strictly Stock) race on Oct. 2, 1949 at Heidelberg, Pa.
Note: The Top 10 Stories of the 2011 NASCAR racing season as voted on by the media, including The Final Lap’s own Kerry Murphey
Speedweeks Opener Features Deep And Talented Field
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 14, 2011) – In what could be the deepest and most talented field to date, NASCAR announced Wednesday the list of eligible competitors for the 2012 Shootout.
The 34th annual season-opening event launches Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 18 with a start time set for 8:10 p.m. FOX and MRN will broadcast live nationally. Criteria are based upon the following qualifications, with eligibility based on a driver having been active in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series during the 2011 season:
CONCORD, N.C. (Dec. 14, 2011) – NASCAR driver Greg Biffle will help Natural Balance Pet Foods make a “splash” in the upcoming 123rd Rose Parade on January 2nd, 2012. In 2010 the Natural Balance float rolled into the Guinness Book of World records as the world’s longest float and in 2011, took the record for the world’s heaviest float.
Two NASCAR national series champions gave media and fans yet another reason to keep an eye on the newcomers. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., whose uneven performance nearly cost him his job with Roush Fenway Racing in 2010, recovered to claim NASCAR Nationwide Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors. Roush’s faith was rewarded as Stenhouse won twice en route to the 2011 championship. Austin Dillon’s rookie of the year run in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series wasn’t quite so dramatic but like Stenhouse, he “graduated” to the champion’s chair. The season marked the first time that both Nationwide and truck rookies became champions in their sophomore years.
Note: The Top 10 Stories of the 2011 NASCAR racing season as voted on by the media, including The Final Lap’s own Kerry Murphey
CLINT BOWYER
No. 15 5-hour ENERGY® TOYOTA
TEST: WALT DISNEY WORLD SPEEDWAY
CORNELIUS, N.C. — The Daytona 500 is about 75 days away, but Michael Waltrip Racing’s new No. 15 5-hour ENERGY team is ready to hit the track this week in preparation for the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. New driver Clint Bowyer and crew chief Brian Pattie will visit Walt Disney World Speedway in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. to test the No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It marks the first test for the new driver-crew chief combination. The test also begins a busy off season for the team that will test at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway and Daytona International Speedway in January.
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9-Danica Patrick Posts Best Finish in NASCAR by a Female Driver
Speedweeks Opener Features Deep And Talented Field
10-2010 Sunoco Rookies-of-the-Year Win Championship
CLINT BOWYER
