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The spotlight was bright in Daytona for Danica Patrick. She started strong but didn’t end up with the hoped-for results. Although she is down, she isn’t out. One driver who can attest to that is Elliott Sadler, who faced nearly the same circumstance last season following the season opener at Daytona.

Patrick, a Phoenix resident, became just the second woman in national series history to win a Coors Light Pole when she did so in Daytona. But a potential strong run was cut short when her JR Motorsports teammate, Whitt, tapped her from behind, causing extensive damage to her No. 7 Chevrolet. She was able to return, but finished 38th. She comes home 26th in points.

Continue reading “Danica Patrick Down But Not Out: Just Ask Elliott Sadler”

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J.J. Yeley hopes some home cooking helps salve the disappointment of failing to qualify for the Daytona 500.
Michael McDowell returns home having made the Great American Race the hard way, through last week’s Gatorade Duel.

Both are from Phoenix. And each should have plenty of hometown fans in the grandstands.
Yeley finished 37th in last year’s spring race. His best finish at his home track is 14th in November 2007, when he started fourth.

McDowell has yet to finish inside the top 30 at Phoenix but looks for significantly improved results from what’s now the No. 98 team co-owned by Phil Parsons and recording executive Mike Curb.

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Kahne’s Able At Phoenix International Raceway

With virtually every eye in the packed house focused on the battle for second place between championship rivals Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne sort of got lost in the shuffle as the laps wound down in November’s Kobalt Tools 500 at the newly configured Phoenix International Raceway.

Kahne obviously didn’t care – especially with Edwards and Stewart, as they say, otherwise occupied.

He took the lead on the 299th lap, when Brad Keselowski pitted, then headed the remaining 13 times around the one-mile oval to nicely cap what amounted to a lame-duck season with Team Red Bull. He posted a solid Driver Rating of 112.3.

Continue reading “Kasey Kahne returns to Phoenix, the track where he last won”

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UPDATE: SEE THE REAL THING – CLICK HERE

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2013 NASCAR Dodge Charger: Brand Identity Is Back

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (Friday, March 2, 2012) – Yes, NASCAR driver Sam Hornish, Jr, might be a bit partial to the 2013 Dodge Charger that debuts in the Sprint Cup series at the Daytona 500 next year.

But when he’s right, he’s right: “The car looks the best out of any of the new cars, that’s for sure — nice, sharp lines — and you can see a lot of the street car in the race car. It brings the Charger’s identity back onto the racetrack.”

Continue reading “Photo: Sneak Peek 2013 Dodge Charger NASCAR Cup Series Car”

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Matt Kenseth. Under the radar no longer.
His second Daytona 500 victory, a straight-up, I’m-faster-than-you performance in arguably the most unique of the race’s 54 editions, confirms the popular Wisconsin veteran’s status among the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series elite competitors in the current era – and arguably in any era.

We should have known it all along – although Kenseth, like many racers from his home state, has always raced hard but with humility.
His post-race reaction? Typical: “I wasn’t expecting to win when I woke up this morning,” said Kenseth.

That said, Kenseth has won a championship (2003), two Daytona 500s and 22 times overall. Those victories have come in 10 different seasons beginning in 2000 – his first full campaign with the Roush Fenway organization, his “home” for all but one of Kenseth’s 437 starts.

Continue reading “Daytona 500 Winner Matt Kenseth An Elite Performer – In Any Era”