2014 Season Preview: No. 9 Brad Keselowski

Welcome to From the Marbles' 2014 season previews. Here's how we think the Chase will shake out in this first year of 16 drivers and eliminations. Will we be right? Unlikely, but it's fun to think about our soothsaying possibilities until the green flag waves for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 23.

Driver: Brad Keselowski

2013 Finish: 14th

2013 Highlight: The win at Charlotte. Without a win before the Chase, Keselowski was on the outside looking in when it started. But you could tell that there was something more important about Keselowski's win than simply getting into victory lane. Maybe it was the fact that his Penske Ford was good on an intermediate track. Maybe it's because it keyed some swagger back. Maybe because it was the week after your headgames with Kyle Busch. Maybe it's none of those things.

Anyway, we're pretty sure it wasn't just another win.

2013 Lowlight: To put missing the Chase into context, the lowlight has to be the "what-if?" of Watkins Glen. The question was bound to linger had Keselowski done the opposite of what he ended up doing and did put the bumper to Busch. Instead, it lingered sourly because Keselowski didn't get another chance for a pre-Chase win.

However, it's also possible to overstate the significance of Watkins Glen. Yes, things would have likely played out differently had Keselowski won, but even with a win, he wouldn't have made the Chase.

Why is Keselowski here? Because we think 2013 was an aberration and Keselowski will get a win early in the season and make worrying about Chase qualification irrelevant. We'll say it happens at Bristol.

How could Keselowski not be here? Another winless streak pops up and is combined with a summer swoon like last year. Like many drivers in the top 10, it's hard to envision a scenario where Keselowski won't make the Chase, but after last year, we know never to say never.

Best Winter Olympic event: We'd pay to see a Keselowski vs. Newman curling match. Is there a sabermetric equivalent in curling? Keselowski would probably be totally on board with it.

Worst Winter Olympic event: Let's go with a sprint event in cross country skiing. After seeing Keselowski's Kansas run, we're not too worried about his endurance. Top speed could be an issue, however.

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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!

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/2014-season-preview-no-9-brad-keselowski-211137323--nascar.html

Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber Skip Barber Paolo Barilla

Your handy cheat sheet for the 2014 Budweiser Duel qualifying races for the Daytona 500

The Budweiser Duel qualifying races at Daytona are unique, as it is the only occasion that NASCAR runs races to decide the starting grid for a race. But the ways drivers can make Sunday's Daytona 500 in the Duel can get a tad complicated.

So we're here to help. Or at least make it so that you may want to leave this post open for reference when the two Duel races are being run Thursday evening.

After Dave Blaney withdrew Wednesday evening following the vicious practice crash on the frontstretch, 48 cars are vying for 43 spots, so five cars will go home.

13 of those 48 cars are guaranteed not to miss the race. They are:

Austin Dillon (starting first in Daytona 500)
Martin Truex Jr. (starting second)
Greg Biffle (via Sunday's qualifying speed)
Carl Edwards (via Sunday's qualifying speed)
Ryan Newman (via Sunday's qualifying speed)
Brad Keselowski (via Sunday's qualifying speed)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (guaranteed provisional via 2013 owner's points)
Jeff Gordon (guaranteed provisional via 2013 owner's points)
Jimmie Johnson (guaranteed provisional via 2013 owner's points)
Matt Kenseth (guaranteed provisional via 2013 owner's points)
Clint Bowyer (guaranteed provisional via 2013 owner's points)
Kyle Busch (guaranteed provisional via 2013 owner's points)
Tony Stewart (guaranteed provisional via winning 2011 championship)

The top 15 cars in each Duel are guaranteed to start the Daytona 500. (the first Duel fills out odd-numbered positions 3-31, while the second fills out even-numbered positions 4-32.) With the final seven positions (37-43) reserved for provisionals, spots 33, 34, 35 and 36 go to the fastest cars. Hence why Biffle, Edwards, Newman and Brad Keselowski are already guaranteed spots.

Got all that? Because provisionals are based off of the 2013 owner's points standings, Kasey Kahne isn't in the same position as, say, Michael McDowell. To miss the race, Kahne would need to finish outside the top 15 in his duel, have four drivers ahead of him during Sunday's front row qualifying session also miss out on the top 15 in their respective duels and have six -- or seven, if the Past Champion's Provisional isn't used -- drivers in the 2013 owner's standings also not finish in the top 15 and require a provisional.

We told you it was complicated. Here are who we think are the drivers in the most danger of missing the 500 and that five of the names below will fail to qualify for the race.

Duel 1:
Reed Sorenson
Parker Kligerman
Cole Whitt
Michael McDowell
Josh Wise
Joe Nemechek
Alex Bowman

Duel 2:
Landon Cassill
Eric McClure
Terry Labonte (could get Past Champion's Provisional)
Bobby Labonte (could get Past Champion's Provisional)
Ryan Truex
Morgan Shepherd

Or will it be someone who isn't on the list? You can find the starting lineup for the first Duel HERE and the second Duel HERE.

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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!

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/handy-cheat-sheet-2014-budweiser-duel-qualifying-races-214546072--nascar.html

Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain Karun Chandhok Alain de Changy

All Prices on the SEAT Leon TGI

Although in Spain vehicles fueled by natural gas does not have a particularly high demand, SEAT have not wanted to miss the chance to offer a variant on the body of your Lion with five doors. With a view similar to the new Golf mechanical , Lion TGI block uses a 1.4-liter 110 hp and […]

Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/634-all-prices-on-the-seat-leon-tgi.html

Don Beauman Karl Gunther Bechem Jean Behra Derek Bell

Track Position Could Be Key At Daytona

While you are taking a breather from the non-stop Danica coverage, consider this: this year’s Sprint Unlimited had 17 less lead changes than last year’s Bud Shootout. Granted the 2012 Shootout was seven laps longer, but it also wasn’t broken up into segments which kept the field together. Combine the number of lead changes with [...]

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Mark Blundell Raul Boesel Menato Boffa Bob Bondurant

Start the music and let?s do the 2014 owner?s points shuffle

Dance like you've never danced before. The annual owner's points shuffle music is cued up.

In recent seasons, swaps and deals to ensure that teams have a guaranteed starting spot, or a better provisional draw provision have been just as common as the annual Sprint Unlimited before the Daytona 500.

This year, we've got some swaps, but no high profile ones. The biggest is an inter-team swap. Brian Vickers' No. 55 at Michael Waltrip Racing will be using the points from MWR's No. 56 last season.

Why does Vickers' car need points? The points from the No. 55 are being given to the No. 66, which is being operated as a timeshare agreement between Jay Robinson Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing. The No. 66 will be driven by Waltrip at Daytona as an MWR car, but in the races that Waltrip or Jeff Burton don't participate in through MWR, it will be driven by Joe Nemechek. (It's a similar arrangement to the No. 33 last season. When Richard Childress Racing didn't run the No. 33 for Austin Dillon, it was fielded by Circle Sport.)

Nemechek's No. 87 last year under his own NEMCO Motorsports banner will now be run under the "Identity Ventures Racing" label. The No. 32 points from Frank Stoddard's FAS Lane Racing team last season will continue with the No. 32 and Go Green Racing this season. The two teams have entered a partnership for the 2014 season.

Last season, the owner's points from Tony Stewart's No. 14 were given to Danica Patrick and the No. 10 for the beginning of the season to ensure that Patrick would be in the Daytona 500. It didn't matter, as she won the pole for the race.

With the top 35 rule phased out before the 2013 season, owner's points matter only if a driver needs a provisional to make the race. If two drivers are vying for the final provisional, the car with the most owner's points gets the spot. The aforementioned points swaps for the 2014 season matter for the first three races. At the fourth race, 2014 points are used.

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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!

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/start-music-let-2014-owner-points-shuffle-132948052--nascar.html

Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison Fernando Alonso

Dodge Challenger R/T Shaker Sold Out in Just Four Days

The Tattletale Issue

Let me just say this first: I don’t care that somebody threw the Penske guys under the bus. There, I said it. (Cue the “you work for Hendrick” trolling in 3…2…1…) Last week, after both Penske cars were busted by NASCAR at Texas for some creative rear-end components, Jenna Fryer wrote that NASCAR may have [...]

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Pablo Birger Art Bisch Harry Blanchard Michael Bleekemolen

50 Cent says he hasn?t watched the video of his encounter with Erin Andrews at the 2013 Daytona 500

50 Cent said he hasn't watched this video.

During last year's Daytona 500, the rapper tried to kiss Fox Sports reporter Erin Andrews. As Andrews was walking down pit road during Fox's prerace show last year, she encountered 50 Cent, who immediately went in for a kiss and got stonewalled.

50 Cent is back at Daytona this year, thanks to a sponsorship agreement with Swan Racing. His company, SMS Audio, is an associate sponsor with the team. And when he was asked if he had watched the video of it, he said he hadn't.

"I wanted to kiss her, man," 50 Cent said. "You really want to know? She handled it amazingly too. It was one ... it was just an awkward moment."

"(Watching the video) That's probably what you do. You probably recap and go look at the video. See, I don't actually go back to see the awkward moment I had at the track."

Well, that's good to know. Maybe 50 went for the kiss because he likes the women at NASCAR races. Really, he said that when he was asked about what he's told others about his NASCAR experience.

"Honestly, I told them the women here are extremely hot," 50 Cent said. "And I don't know if you know this, but it's like, the coolest thing to do ? outside of going to church maybe, you can find good women in NASCAR."

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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!

Follow @NickBromberg

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/50-cent-says-hasn-t-watched-video-encounter-165640540--nascar.html

Clemente Biondetti Pablo Birger Art Bisch Harry Blanchard