Preseason Thunder set to kick off 2006 season
Official Release
January 5, 2006
03:20 PM EST (20:20 GMT)


The 2006 Nextel Cup Series season will begin with test sessions at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the season-opening 48th annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 19.

Fans can watch all of the January testing sessions free from the Oldfield Grandstands located just outside of DAYTONA USA:
•Jan. 9-11: Nextel Cup (odd owners' points)
•Jan. 13-15: Craftsman Truck (all trucks)
•Jan. 16-18: Nextel Cup (even owners' points)
•Jan. 20-22: Busch Series (all cars)

The Fan Fest events, which include fan forums, bands, show cars, pit stop demonstrations and displays, start at 5 p.m. but fans will be able to enter the NEXTEL FANZONE beginning at 9 a.m. to watch testing. Admissions for the Nextel Cup Fan Fest dates are $15. Busch and Truck series' admissions are $10.

NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fest will be held:
•Jan. 10: Cup Fan Fest
•Jan. 13: Truck Fan Fest
•Jan. 17: Cup Fan Fest
•Jan. 21: Busch Fan Fest

Thanks for the info.

Date Time Event (All on the SPEED Channel)
01|09|06 7 p.m. Daytona Testing: Day 1

01|10|06 7 p.m. Daytona Testing: Day 2

01|11|06 7 p.m. Daytona Testing: Day 3

01|15|06 7 p.m. NCTS Daytona Testing

01|16|06 7 p.m. Daytona Testing: Day 4

01|17|06 6:30 p.m. Daytona Testing: Day 5

01|18|06 6:30 p.m. Daytona Testing: Day 6

01|22|06 7 p.m. NBS Daytona Testing

02|01|06 7 p.m. Cup Testing from Las Vegas

Did anyone know this:

Kyle Petty picks up a primary sponsorBy JIM UTTERThe Charlotte ObserverPetty Enterprises has obtained a new sponsor for its No. 45 Dodges driven by Nextel Cup Series veteran Kyle Petty.Wells Fargo & Co. will sponsor the No. 45 for at least 12 races this season, The Observer has learned. Wells Fargo Financial, the North American consumer finance subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Co,. has been an associate sponsor with Petty since 2003.
The team's former primary sponsor, Georgia Pacific, left at the end of the 2005 season.
Petty Enterprises is in talks with other sponsors for the No. 45 as well, but is committed to running the full season regardless, sources said.

Now where was I for this event. I would have gone.

Posted on Fri, Jan. 06, 2006


NASCAR on ice: Todd Bodine wins pole in bro's event

By JOHN KEKIS
The Associated Press

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - Todd Bodine won the first pole of the new year on Friday, and he was greeted with hisses and catcalls when he crossed the finish line.
The fix wasn't on at the Chevrolet Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge. It only seemed that way. Bodine beat nine other current or former NASCAR drivers through 17 turns on the 6-year-old track at the Verizon Sports Complex on Mount Van Hoevenberg.

"I'm a little surprised. I was struggling earlier," said Bodine, who had a combined two-heat time of 1 minute, 47.24 seconds to knock Tim Fedewa to second by 0.07 seconds. "It's hard not to make a mistake. I was hoping to at least back up my time from the first run, but we'll take it.

"We're here for fun, but if we're not the fastest we're mad," Bodine said. "And if it was fixed, Geoff would be on the pole, not me."

In third was Kevin Lepage, followed by Boris Said, Dick Trickle, Brad Noffsinger, Stanton Barrett, Steve Park, Geoff Bodine and Joel Kauffman.

The unique event is an effort by Geoff Bodine to raise funds to keep the U.S. men's and women's bobsled teams at the forefront of international racing.

One day after getting a crash course in how to drive the specially prepared two-man sleds, which like NASCAR's IROC series were designed to be equal, the drivers demonstrated a remarkable ability to learn a decidedly different form of racing.

Fedewa, who competes in NASCAR's Busch series, posted the fastest qualifying run, and the top six sleds finished within a half-second of each other.

There was plenty of joking around, as usual, between practice runs. Once qualifying began, though, the drivers were all business, focusing on their sleds and seeking advice from U.S. bobsled team members that might give them the winning edge for Saturday's two races.

"It's been tough trying to make this fair and keep everyone happy," Geoff Bodine said.

Even though practice had turned into a visual struggle for the tough 64-year-old Trickle, the Wisconsin short-track legend looked like the man to beat early on.

"I was second-quickest my first time out," said Trickle, who lost his son Chad as his brakeman because their sled was 62 pounds over the 400-pound weight limit. "The first two practice runs my goggles fogged up. I couldn't see where I was going, so I wasted those runs. So now I'm behind a little bit. The biggest thing is we want to be competitive. It would be a bonus to win."

A light snow was falling and the temperature in the Adirondack Mountains was beginning to plummet through the teens as Todd Bodine put down the winning time, hitting speeds of nearly 60 mph.

Said, whose late father drove in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics for the U.S. bobsled team, stationed himself at the entrance to the final turn and glared at Bodine, seemingly ready to throw his helmet at him, as Bodine and brakeman Larry Fowler sped past.

Said then jumped down with a big smile on his face and walked over to congratulate the winner.

"I shouldn't have given him any advice," joked Said, who repeatedly consulted with 61-year-old Phil Duprey. Duprey was the brakeman for Said's father.






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© 2006 ThatsRacin.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.thatsracin.com

You are sure the fountain of NASCAR information, Thanks.

I'm getting excited about it starting again. We should get Becky to open up the Fantasy Racing team again.

If we can find Becky.

If anyone finds Becky please return her to this forum.

Well she now owns NASCAR and you have to BET BIG on her site now
SO bet often

The red M&M gets the drivers duties this time round , beings the yellow one didnt do to hot

Couldnt hurt , Danika seems to be doing wonders for IRL

Welcome home. Hey everybody Becks home. (Excitedly runs in circles waving arms overhead. Slams into open door and lays on floor groaning.)

Mayfield hopes to prove detractors wrong -- again
Two-time Chaser says his team is better this time around
By Marty Smith, NASCAR.COM
January 12, 2006
02:31 PM EST (19:31 GMT)


Jeremy Mayfield is hilarious; a prankster by nature blessed with the keen ability to correctly prioritize life, to take neither himself nor his profession too seriously.

That's not to say he doesn't care, of course. He very much cares. But his easygoing demeanor makes sternness stand out.

It is readily apparent when Mayfield feels strongly about something, as evidenced by his reaction to the suggestion that he'll be a Chase long shot in 2006.

Remember, over the past two seasons Mayfield did something NASCAR's heaviest hitters -- namely Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Rusty Wallace, Greg Biffle and Elliott Sadler -- couldn't. He qualified for consecutive Chases.

He has every right to be miffed.

"I've got a better race team right now than I had last year," Mayfield said when asked why he should be considered a preseason Chase pick.

"Look at average finishes, average starts, laps completed. We didn't lead the most laps. We made the top 10 running like that. If we made the top 10 last year running like that, what's going to happen this year if we get just a little bit better? That's where we're at."

A viable assertion, certainly. So Mayfield feels his team is better than it was a year ago, and 15 sparkling new, race-ready Dodge Chargers are sitting idle in the shop. And the confidence is obvious.

Yet he's on few preseason top-10 lists. Including mine. Mayfield won't make the Chase this year. None of the other 2005 Chasers -- sans Rusty Wallace, of course -- will slow down any. Wallace's old ride will contend with Kurt Busch at the wheel, and the No. 97/26 team won't miss a beat with Jamie McMurray in the cockpit.

Gordon, Earnhardt and Sadler will all be back. And rookie driver David Stremme went so far as to project that winning the 2006 Rookie of the Year would require Chase qualification. All said, more than 20 teams will vie for a playoff birth.

"It's as competitive, or more competitive now than it's ever been, for sure," Mayfield said. "The thing you've got to do is be smart on how you race. Any given week, there's 20 cars that can win for sure."

Easily.

Mayfield's team will contend for its share of wins, but will lack the consistency necessary to make the Chase. But what do I know? I didn't pick Mayfield last year, either, chose Jeff Burton instead. Chose Mayfield's teammate, Kasey Kahne, too. And McMurray and Sadler.

None qualified.

And there's the No. 19 car, consistently, methodically, quietly proving its detractors (me) wrong.

"I've done it two years in a row and I can do it again," Mayfield said. "I'm just joking, but I'm trying to make a point. We're a better race team and this year we'll show you.

"It's a tight-knit group right now. If you're going to pick us, put us at least 15th, not 18th-to-20th. I know we're quiet and don't say a whole lot, but Ray Evernham and Dodge and myself, and everybody on the 9 and 19 and 10 cars, we're going to win races and we're going to be in the top 10 in points."

Rest assured, Mayfield means what he says.

No joke.

Marty Smith is a senior writer for NASCAR.COM. His column appears each Thursday.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.
Find this article at:
http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/opinion/01/12/jmayfield_testing/index.html

I'm ready to see Michael Waltrip again , he is such a hottie. I see he has a new number this year #55, thats my favorite number

Heres some one:
http://www.fireballroberts.com/smokey_yunick1.htm
you NASCAR fans need to read on , this guy was one of the best at bending the rules of NASCAR , his 65 Chevelle was something to believe , he did aerodynamics to the roof line and couldnt tell , he had like 3 extra gallons of fuel line plumbed into the frame rails , the front bumper was widened but made to look stock for better down force ,I think he narrowed the front fenders for a slippery air flow , there are so many things he did to this car that it was so much faster then the competition , they finally banded the car , because the officials knew he was cheating , but couldnt figure all out. ( I think years later ) He said he never cheated , as they never specified in the rules how much fuel line a person could use , and his aerodynamics was light years ahead of anyone else of that time .