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 format.
The winner of this week’s paint scheme award goes to Jeff Gordon who will be driving the #24 Imron Elite Chevrolet.……Penske Racing lost its appeal of the penalties handed down by NASCAR for an illegal rear end at the Texas Motor Speedway. The team has one last opportunity for appeal before the National Stock Car Racing Chief Appellate Officer, John Middlebrook. Penske has indicated that he will appeal to Middlebrook. ……Several drivers were at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week to do a tire test. A speed of 214 MPH was recorded by Jeff Gordon on the back stretch and several other drivers reached speeds of over 210 MPH. No word yet if NASCAR will try to slow the cars down before the race which is scheduled for July 28th……Some further punishment was given out by NASCAR in the aftermath of the Scott – Piquet tussle after the Nationwide race on Friday night in Richmond. Members of the Richard Childress Racing Team of Brian Scott, Michael Scearce and Thomas Costello, who were arrested for assault well after the race, have been suspended four races, fined $15,000 and put on probation through the end of the year. Scott and Piquet were put on probation through June 26th……Danica Patrick will race in the Nationwide race this weekend in addition to the Sprint Cup event on Sunday. She will drive the #34 car owned by Turner Scott Motorsports. She is also looking to repeat her season’s best performance at Daytona, the circuits other restrictor plate track.……Denny Hamlin says he will be in the #11 Fed Ex car Sunday for the start of the Sunday’s Sprint Cup Race, and it may only be for the start. Brian Vickers is prepared to take over for Hamlin sometime after the start of the race. Hamlin has been out since March 24 after suffering a broken back in a hard crash with Joey Logano……Robin Meade, News Anchor for HLN and CNN will sing the National Anthem prior to the Sunday’s Aaron’s 449. Chipper Jones, (Larry, for all you NY Met fans) will give the command to start the race……Alabama QB AJ McCarron will drive the pace car….. The weather forecast for Sunday’s race calls for mostly cloudy skies with a chance of rain with temperatures in the low 70’s.
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