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Saturday
What Did We Learn At Daytona? Nothing.
If you read or hear any media member say this week that Jimmie Johnson is on his way to a sixth title, or that Danica Patrick is a contender, or that the Gen 6 car needs to be tweaked, know one thing: they don’t have a clue. Did Jimmie win the 500? Yes. Did Danica [...] 
Friday
Looking Back At 2013 - Rating The Riders: 8th, Andrea Dovizioso, 5/10
In the eighth instalment of our series looking at 2013, we come to Andrea Dovizioso. This is how the Italian got on in his first year at Ducati. To read the rest of our reviews of last year, you can read part 1, Marc Marquez; part 2, Jorge Lorenzo; part 3, Dani Pedrosa; part 4, Valentino Rossi; part 5, Cal Crutchlow; part 6, Alvaro Bautista; and part 7, Stefan Bradl.
| Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati Factory |
| Championship position: | 8th |
| Score: | 5/10 |
After losing his factory Honda ride at the end of 2011, Dovizioso made the switch to Yamaha, joining Cal Crutchlow in the Tech 3 team. A strong year with six podiums saw him win the slot in the factory Ducati team vacated by Valentino Rossi. Dovizioso felt he deserved a factory ride, and he had got what he wanted.
That proved to be something of a poisoned chalice. The year after Ducati was taken over by Audi proved to be a year of stagnation, with new head of Ducati Corse Bernhard Gobmeier never really able to impose his authority on the race department. A lot of work was done with chassis stiffness, a new aerodynamics package was unveiled, the engine received a minor upgrade with improved throttle bodies. It all helped, a little, but the bike still had understeer, still wouldn't turn.
Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen Mike Beuttler Birabongse Bhanubandh
Thursday
JTG Daugherty forms alliance with Richard Childress Racing, moves to Chevrolet
JTG Daugherty Racing's time with Toyota is over.
The single car team announced Monday that it was forming an alliance with Richard Childress Racing and would field Chevrolets for AJ Allmendinger in 2014.
?As a single-car team, we feel that aligning directly with a successful multi-car organization like Richard Childress Racing is what will work best for us in 2014," co-owner Tad Geschickter said in a statement.
Consider it similar to the arrangement that Furniture Row Racing has with Richard Childress Racing. The No. 78, driven by Kurt Busch this year and Martin Truex Jr. next year, served in many facets as basically a fourth RCR car despite the team's shop location in Colorado.
Allmendinger and Bobby Labonte drove for JTG Daugherty in 2013, as Allmendinger drove nine races while Labonte drove in 27. Allmendinger had the team's only top 10 when he finished 10th at Watkins Glen.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
Wednesday
The Nationwide Series Is Going To Be Awesome In 2013
Thanks to a strong mix of young drivers and veterans trying to fight their way back to the top, with help from the NASCAR rule limiting drivers to one series for points, we are about to see the re-emergence of the Nationwide Series in 2013. I mean, have you seen the driver lineup? Instead of [...] 
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Tuesday
Authorities give details of Schumacher investigation
French authorities held a press conference in Albertville this morning in order to give more details of their investigation into Michael Schumacher’s accident. Although relatively little emerged, prosecutor Patrick Quincy did clarify a few points. Quincy said: “Every winter season … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2014/01/08/authorities-give-details-of-schumacher-investigation/
Monday
Steve Letarte leaving post as Dale Earnhardt Jr.?s crew chief for NBC Sports in 2015
Jeff Burton isn't the only big hire that NBC Sports has made for its coverage of NASCAR.
Steve Letarte, the crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr., will step down from his post at Hendrick Motorsports and join NBC Sports for the 2015 NASCAR season. NBC picks up coverage of the final 20 races of the season from ESPN and TNT starting next season.
?I want to thank Rick Hendrick and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports for the opportunities they have given me over the last eighteen years, and I want to reaffirm my commitment to Dale Jr. and the entire No. 88 team to go win races and challenge for the championship in 2014,? Letarte said in an NBC statement.
Earlier Thursday, Letarte told MRN's Dave Moody that ?I will be the crew chief for the No. 88 Chevrolet in in 2014. That?s all I know right now."
Previously, NBC has announced the hire of Rick Allen, currently the play-by-play voice of the Camping World Truck Series and Burton, who is driving a part-time schedule for Michael Waltrip Racing this season.
Letarte has been the crew chief for Earnhardt Jr. since the beginning of the 2011 season. In three years, he and Junior have won at Michigan in 2012 and recorded 24 top fives and 54 top tens.
"We're looking forward to a successful year in 2014 with Steve and Dale leading the No. 88 together," Rick Hendrick said in a statement. "They have some of the best chemistry in the garage, and we know they'll build on last season and continue to be a championship-contending team."
"We don't expect to address the crew chief position until after the season. Everyone with the team is focused on 2014 and committed to having another great year."
Before serving as the crew chief for Junior, Letarte was atop the pit box for Jeff Gordon for the final 10 races of 2005 through 2010. With Gordon, Letarte won 10 races."
With the way that Junior performed at the end of the Sprint Cup Series season in 2013, he became a very legitimate title threat for the 2014 season. And any Letarte departure shouldn't change that.
Sure, it'll be reasonable to wonder about 2015 and beyond, but Hendrick Motorsports has a deep stable and a transition to a new crew chief from in-house should be fairly seamless. And besides, this could be Junior's best chance for a championship since the s-word year of 2004. First things first, Junior Nation.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
Gibbs Ultimately Owns This Penalty
Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? If the answer’s yes, did you try telling the officer, ‘that wasn’t my intent’? Or maybe you were just a MPH or two over the limit, did you try telling him, ‘I wasn’t speeding that much’? When he got done laughing at you, did he still write you [...] 
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Sunday
2014 Superprestigio Barcelona Dirt Track Qualifying - Baker And Marquez Flying
The Superprestigio dirt track event is underway in Barcelona, and so far, the indoor event has been deemed a success. Riders are tackling the short course with enthusiasm, the organization is running the event smoothly and despite the Palau Sant Jordi not yet being open to the public, the fans wandering around have been fascinated. The only minor point is the state of the surface, the organization struggling to find the balance between damping the dust and smoothing the track, leading to one or two rough points. Things are gradually improving, with the dust now more under control.
Brad 'The Bullet' Baker is living up to his nickname, setting a blistering pace beyond what the rest can follow, though the gap is surprisingly small. In the Open class (basically, full time flat track racers), Baker leads Spaniard Dani Ribalta by a tenth of a second, with British rider Tim Neave in third, just under two tenths slower than Baker.
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