Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/11/post_abu_dhabi.html
Saturday
Friday
Kurt Busch signs with Stewart-Haas Racing to drive fourth car in 2014
The possibility of Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Danica Patrick on the same Sprint Cup team is becoming a reality.
Kurt Busch has signed with Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2014 season and beyond. Busch told Fox Sports' Lee Spencer that "I've inked my deal."
BREAKING: "I've inked my deal," @KurtBusch tells @FOXSports #NASCAR
? Lee Spencer (@CandiceSpencer) August 26, 2013
News broke last week that SHR had extended an offer to Busch, and it didn't take the 2004 Cup champ long to decide. Busch is driving for Furniture Row Racing this season after driving most of last season for Phoenix Racing after his departure from Penske Racing.
It's quite the turnaround for the mercurial Busch, who had left Penske under ignominious circumstances after berating an ESPN reporter during the 2011 season finale at Homestead. He was also suspended for a race last season after threatening a reporter at Dover.
This season at Furniture Row, Busch has been on his best behavior and he's exceeded expectations. He's 13th in Sprint Cup standings and was in the top 10 before a bad wheel hub at Bristol ruined his race.
Earlier reports have said that sponsorship for Busch will come from Haas Automation, the company that co-owner Gene Haas owns. Previously, SHR said that it wouldn't expand to four teams after Ryan Newman's departure was announced, but Haas wanted to bring Busch into the fold and was willing to put his own company on the car.
With Busch in the fold at SHR, the four-car team will be a fascinating watch next season. Busch and Stewart had a run-in at Richmond earlier in the season after late race contact and Harvick and Busch's brother Kyle aren't the best of friends. Add in Patrick and the attention that comes from being the only female driver in the Sprint Cup Series and you've got one intriguing recipe.
We do have one request for Busch moving forward. Please drop the self-placed "Outlaw" nickname. When you're driving for a team that employs Hendrick equipment, you're no longer an Outlaw. You're a member of an establishment that will supply stuff for all but three active Sprint Cup Series champions next season.
Carlo Abate George Abecassis Kenny Acheson Andrea de Adamich
Thursday
Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday
Truck Craziest Moment: Papis gets slapped, someone gets tackled, Dillon gets wrecked and Elliott wins in Canada
Do you like crashes, tackles and slaps? Hey, Sunday's Camping World Truck Series race is perfect for you.
The Truck Series' first trip to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park got wild on the last lap and it only escalated afterwards.
On the final corner, Chase Elliott, the son of 1988 Sprint Cup champion Bill, made contact with leader Ty Dillon and Dillon went spinning into the tires. Elliott kept control of his truck through the grass and made it to the finish line first for his first NASCAR win.
But that was the appetizer to the main course of craziness. Max Papis and Mike Skeen were racing for third behind Elliott and Dillon when Skeen, making his first NASCAR start, got inside of Papis on the final corner and both trucks crashed. They both got going again, and with Papis and Skeen pointing towards each other while they limped their damaged trucks to the pits.
While Papis was unbuckling, someone tried to get to him but was quickly tackled by members of Papis' team.
Then, after Papis gave a post-race interview to Fox Sports 1, an unidentified woman (obviously with an affinity for Skeen and team) came up to Papis and slapped him hard on the left cheek.
It was quite an ironic slap. At Road America in June, Papis, an accomplished racer who races part-time in NASCAR and filled in for Tony Stewart at Watkins Glen, slapped Billy Johnson on the helmet after they had contact over the race's final laps. However, this one was much harder and without the benefit of a helmet for protection. Papis' wife Tati took it well, though.
Ahahha was actually kind of comical....hey other @nascar wives careful or I'll slap ur hubby...WTF???!! #whodoesthat
? Tati FittipaldiPapis (@tatipapis) September 1, 2013
Sunday
Will anything come out of the investigation into Saturday night?s finish?
NASCAR took the step of issuing a statement that it was investigating the finish of Saturday night's race at Richmond which saw Ryan Newman lose the lead on pit road after a Clint Bowyer spin.
Investigating the finish of a race is a step that's nothing new for NASCAR. Though issuing a statement about it is. That's probably because since the conclusion of Saturday night's race, the NASCAR world has become convinced that there were shenanigans going on during the final few laps.
Newman was leading when Bowyer spun. A win for Newman would have put him in the Chase, knocking out Bowyer's teammate Martin Truex Jr. After the caution, Newman came out of the pits fifth. He finished third and behind Truex for the final Wild Card. Oh, and to make that possible, Joey Logano gained enough spots to end the first 26 races in the top 10.
This isn't your typical Jimmie Johnson conspiracy theory either. While many black helicopter folks feel that Johnson somehow gets special treatment by Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR, those are unfounded accusations. This? Well, there are a lot of things fishy with this.
It starts with the radio communication before the spin, and then the spin itself. It spreads over to communication to Brian Vickers, and his subsequent pit stop. And it doesn't stop as both Vickers and Bowyer drove like cautious 85-year-olds over the final few laps, a final few laps that saw Logano pass both of them on the track.
Logano was in the Chase and so was Truex. Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman weren't.
It's not the first time that accusations have been flung about a late race spin at Richmond. In 2011, Paul Menard spun late and his teammate Kevin Harvick won the race. While Harvick got three extra points for the Chase from the win, the spin didn't affect the Chase field. This one is a little different.
But what can NASCAR do? Expecting the sanctioning body to redo the Chase field is unrealistic -- it's not going to happen. But if NASCAR finds that there's wrongdoing, something that while isn't certain, seems likely, there's going to be significant points penalties. While there may be no actual "proof" that Bowyer spun purposely to set off the events of the final laps, the public perception is so strong against what happened that NASCAR may have to take action simply for fan credibility's sake.
And if there are penalties, they should be crippling ones. 50 points for both Bowyer and Truex would be enough to eliminate them from championship contention before the Chase starts, and if NASCAR also wants to bring the boom against MWR, it could really hit where it hurts. Accompany those points penalties with a hefty, hefty fine or prohibition of winnings during the Chase. Or heck, make the financial penalties the only ones. Why? Well, look at what Waltrip said earlier this season.
?Our business model doesn?t work without us making the Chase,? Waltrip told Fox Sports in July. ?We invest in our cars and our team and we tell our sponsors that with the way we built our team, we?re going to make the Chase, we?re going to win races.?
MWR has won two races this season. They have two cars in the Chase. But given what happened Saturday night, we're soon going to find out what the costs of seemingly doing whatever it takes to make the playoffs are.
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