Welcome to “Fuel It Up”! The racing world is chock full of intriguing stories, but sifting through them to get a good general sense of the landscape can be challenging. In Fuel It Up, I take the biggest, more interesting storylines and present them to you in a quick, compact 300-words-or-less format.
This paint scheme award goes to Jimmie Johnson with a neat red, white and blue scheme. And a special nod for those of us fond of Snickers Bars, to Kyle Busch…………… Dale Earnhardt Jr. made the Sports Illustrated list of the 50 highest paid athletes. He was number 49. Boxer Floyd Mayweather was number 1…………… A lot of drivers were out testing at various tracks this week. Tony Stewart, Danica Patrick and Ryan Newman were testing at Dover. Also testing at Dover were Juan Pablo Montoya, Jamie McMurray and Casey Mears. Kurt Busch and Trevor Bayne were at Michigan. Testing tires for Goodyear at New Hampshire were Dave Blaney, Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon. ………….. An extra spot into the All Star race will be given to the driver who captures the most fan votes. Last year Bobby Labonte received the most votes…………… NASCAR has announced that the top vote getter must also finish the Showdown race on the lead lap…………… Danica Patrick is the heavy favorite to capture the most votes. Her biggest obstacle may be staying on the lead lap…………… The body of a NASCAR fan missing since May 4 in Talladega has been found. Nick Bower’s body was discovered in a creek less than two miles from the track. Foul play is not suspected…………… Michael Waltrip Racing has fired crew member Lee Dodson after he was indefinitely suspended by NASCAR for violating the substance abuse policy. Dodson was a member of Clint Bowyer’s team……………. 19 cars have already qualified for the All Star race. 23 cars are set to battle into the event…………… The All Star events will be televised by the Speed channel. Coverage begins at 7:00 pm. The Showdown race is scheduled to start at 7:30 and the All-Star race is schedule to begin at 9:00……………. FOX averaged a 3.5/7 on Saturday night for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race from Darlington Raceway. That’s even with last year’s ratings and ranked as the second highest-rated event of the day among the measured markets..……………. The weather forecast for Charlotte Saturday night calls for a chance of thunderstorms with high temperatures in the low 80’s and the low in the mid 60’s.
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