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.
The winner of this week’s paint scheme award goes to the #88 car of Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving the Time Warner Cable Chevrolet. Special mention to the #24 car of Jeff Gordon who will be driving the Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet……………. Silly season is in full swing. Jeff Burton has been told he will not be back in the #31 car for Richard Childress Racing. It appears that Burton and Juan Pablo Montoya are the front runners to replace Kurt Busch at Furniture Row Racing. Busch is leaving Furniture Row Racing to join Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014. Ryan Newman, who is being dropped by Stewart-Haas Racing has been rumored to replace Burton at Richard Childress Racing…………… Tony Stewart, recovering from a serious leg injury, met with the press this past week and seemed confident he’ll be ready for Daytona 2014. Stewart was humbled by the support he’s received since the accident. He stated that no further surgeries were needed and he planned on attending Saturday night’s race at Richmond . Mark Martin will once again be in Stewart’s #14 car at Richmond……………. After a very exciting (but rough) Truck race Sunday afternoon at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Driver Max Papis was slapped by the girlfriend of driver Mike Skeen. NASCAR announced that Kelly Heaphy has been indefinitely banned from attending any NASCAR events for her actions. Heaphy was also fined $2,500. I hope NASCAR keeps this young lady out of the garage area permanently. A very immature act which could have resulted in a full scale donnybrook in a situation that clearly didn’t need much to incite a small riot…………… There are 10 drivers who could make the Chase in the series’ final regular season race. See my column earlier in the week for who I think makes it by clicking here. …………… Bobby Labonte, still recovering from fractured ribs suffered two weeks ago in a bicycle accident, will miss this week’s race. Labonte will be replaced by AJ Allmendinger…………… With his victory last week in Atlanta, Kyle Busch has joined a short list of Cup favorites…………… The weather forecast for Saturday and Saturday night calls for crystal clear skies with a 0% chance of rain. High temperature of 82f (28c) and a low temperature of 63f (17c)…………… The Federated Auto Parts 400 from Richmond International Raceway can be seen on ABC starting at 6:30pm. For Canadian viewers the race can be seen on TSN starting at 7:00 pm. Green flag flies at approximately 7:30.
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