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Spartacus
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saturday
phoenix international raceway
phoenix international raceway
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The Subway Fresh 500 replaces the Subway 400, which was held for three years at North Carolina Speedway. NASCAR said in September it would eliminate the Rockingham, NC, venue from its schedule.
NASCAR Nextel Cup 2005 Overview
The NASCAR’s Nextel Cup Series went through an extreme makeover in 2004, with a new format for determining its champion leading to new drama and new strategies.
The cars in stock-car racing’s premier series didn’t change dramatically. In Nextel Cup, 3,400-pound cars with body styles based on the Ford Taurus, Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Dodge Intrepid still raced with engines generating 800 horsepower. But there was, for the first time since 1975, a major change in how the champion was determined. Under the “Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup” format, teams now amass points in the season’s first 26 races. Only the teams in the top 10 or within 400 points of first qualify to compete for the championship over the final 10 races, with those teams starting with only 45 points separating first from 10th.
In the final 10-race shootout, each of the 10 contenders took turns finding difficulties. After Kurt Busch lost an engine just 52 laps into the seventh Chase race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, five drivers went into the season’s final three races with only 98 points separating first from fifth.
That’s what NASCAR had it mind when it changed from a system that had been in place since 1975 and had all too often produced an anti-climactic championship race. Now, the sport’s top teams go into 2005 with a year’s worth of knowledge about the pressures and pitfalls of this new championship format.
The 10 drivers whose teams who made the Chase last year – Jimmie Johnson, Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler, Matt Kenseth and Jeremy Mayfield – all return to compete again with those same teams in 2005. Jamie McMurray barely missed making the Chase last year and finished the season strong to take the 11th position in the final standings, marking himself as a prime challenger to knock somebody out of the title-eligible group this year. So, too, will Kasey Kahne, the ’04 rookie of the year and Mayfield’s teammate in Dodges – which will be switched from the Interpid body style to a new Charger model for 2005 – that are owned by Ray Evernham.
Veteran driver Dale Jarrett, Sadler’s teammate, also could be a threat, as could another veteran and Newman’s teammate, Rusty Wallace. Wallace and Martin will be making one last bid for Nextel Cup glory, as both long-time stars announced last year that 2005 will be their final full season on the circuit. Two-time champion Terry Labonte is already scaling back – he’ll run just 10 races this year. Kyle Busch, the younger brother of Kurt, will move up from the Busch Series to Cup and join Johnson, Gordon and another young up-and-comer in Brian Vickers, on the roster of the powerful Hendrick Motorsports team.
Roush Racing has Martin, Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, a graduate of the Craftsman Truck Series. Bobby Labonte, Stewart’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, will be looking to bounce back from a down year in 2004.
Sterling Marlin, McMurray’s teammate at Chip Ganassi Racing, is also looking for a rebound while fellow Ganassi Dodge driver Casey Mears could have a breakout season in 2005.
Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, driving for Richard Childress, will be looking to bring that operation back to the glory it knew when the late Dale Earnhardt won six of his seven career championship in Childress-owned Chevrolets.
NASCAR Nextel Cup 2005 Overview
The NASCAR’s Nextel Cup Series went through an extreme makeover in 2004, with a new format for determining its champion leading to new drama and new strategies.
The cars in stock-car racing’s premier series didn’t change dramatically. In Nextel Cup, 3,400-pound cars with body styles based on the Ford Taurus, Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Dodge Intrepid still raced with engines generating 800 horsepower. But there was, for the first time since 1975, a major change in how the champion was determined. Under the “Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup” format, teams now amass points in the season’s first 26 races. Only the teams in the top 10 or within 400 points of first qualify to compete for the championship over the final 10 races, with those teams starting with only 45 points separating first from 10th.
In the final 10-race shootout, each of the 10 contenders took turns finding difficulties. After Kurt Busch lost an engine just 52 laps into the seventh Chase race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, five drivers went into the season’s final three races with only 98 points separating first from fifth.
That’s what NASCAR had it mind when it changed from a system that had been in place since 1975 and had all too often produced an anti-climactic championship race. Now, the sport’s top teams go into 2005 with a year’s worth of knowledge about the pressures and pitfalls of this new championship format.
The 10 drivers whose teams who made the Chase last year – Jimmie Johnson, Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler, Matt Kenseth and Jeremy Mayfield – all return to compete again with those same teams in 2005. Jamie McMurray barely missed making the Chase last year and finished the season strong to take the 11th position in the final standings, marking himself as a prime challenger to knock somebody out of the title-eligible group this year. So, too, will Kasey Kahne, the ’04 rookie of the year and Mayfield’s teammate in Dodges – which will be switched from the Interpid body style to a new Charger model for 2005 – that are owned by Ray Evernham.
Veteran driver Dale Jarrett, Sadler’s teammate, also could be a threat, as could another veteran and Newman’s teammate, Rusty Wallace. Wallace and Martin will be making one last bid for Nextel Cup glory, as both long-time stars announced last year that 2005 will be their final full season on the circuit. Two-time champion Terry Labonte is already scaling back – he’ll run just 10 races this year. Kyle Busch, the younger brother of Kurt, will move up from the Busch Series to Cup and join Johnson, Gordon and another young up-and-comer in Brian Vickers, on the roster of the powerful Hendrick Motorsports team.
Roush Racing has Martin, Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, a graduate of the Craftsman Truck Series. Bobby Labonte, Stewart’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, will be looking to bounce back from a down year in 2004.
Sterling Marlin, McMurray’s teammate at Chip Ganassi Racing, is also looking for a rebound while fellow Ganassi Dodge driver Casey Mears could have a breakout season in 2005.
Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, driving for Richard Childress, will be looking to bring that operation back to the glory it knew when the late Dale Earnhardt won six of his seven career championship in Childress-owned Chevrolets.
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bumping an active event
Lumberg
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Driver Introductions are done. This is gonna be a blast.
Hey do any of you guys do fantasy NASCAR? I have a bunch of teams. IF any of you guys do ESPN, Yahoo!, or NASCAR.com fantasy or are interested in it, let me know. I'll join your league or vice versa.
Also, go tony stewart.
Hey do any of you guys do fantasy NASCAR? I have a bunch of teams. IF any of you guys do ESPN, Yahoo!, or NASCAR.com fantasy or are interested in it, let me know. I'll join your league or vice versa.
Also, go tony stewart.
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Spartacus
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I got a bunch of dudes to pull for
