Earnhardt feeling fine

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is feeling fine, according to @DustinLong, and should be able to go the distance in the Brickyard 400.

Our View Qualifying third was probably the best medicine. This could be the week he breaks out of his funk, but he is still a riosk.

More Cup newsbreakers

Logano to the back

Joey Logano has changed and engine and will have to drop to the back for the start, according to @DustinLong.

Our View Logano will be forced to give up his 18th starting position, but he was good in practice on long runs. He should be able to keep his top-20 streak alive, but it's unlikely he will earn a surprise top-10.

More Cup newsbreakers

Yahoo! Qualification Story – Indianapolis

Mother Nature was ornery, but NASCAR still got qualification in the books. Check out this week's Yahoo! qualification story (.pdf).

Revised Indy schedule

Nationwide Series cars are currently practicing at O'Reilly Raceway Park and track drying activity is underway at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. NASCAR expects to get Cup qualification started a little after 2 pm eastern and Happy Hour is scheduled for 5:30, according to a @DustinLong.

Our View Rainy days are long days, but so long as NASCAR gets qualification in for the Cup race, it's worth it. Fantasy owners get one more piece of the puzzle with time trials.

More Cup newsbreakers
More Nationwide newsbreakers

Rain delays Indy activity

Rain has delayed all on track activity at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and O'Reilly Raceway Park on Saturday, according to a tweet from @RacingOne.

Our View Stay tuned for details. NASCAR has all day to try and get qualification in, but they have shown to be quick to cancel this session during the last two years.

More Cup newsbreakers
More Nationwide newsbreakers

Ganassi has eyes for Danica

At Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week, Chip Ganassi admitted that like many car owners, he has had discussions with Danica Patrick about joining his organization, according to FullThrottle.com.

Our View Ganassi offers Patrick a unique opportunity to cherry pick IRL and NASCAR races. While this would be a marketers dream, it would certainly slow any potential development she has as a stock car driver.

More Cup newsbreakers
More IRL newsbreakers

Martin tops Indy practice 2

Mark Martin posted the fastest single lap of the second Friday practice session, posting a speed of 180.643.

Our View He took only five laps, so like Greg Biffle from the first practice session, he was almost certainly working on race trim.

More Cup newsbreakers

Biffle fastest in Brickyard 400 practice 1

Greg Biffle posted the fasest single lap of practice in the first session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 with a speed of 177.075 mph.

Our View With four practices this week, drivers worked on a combination of qualification and race trim. Biffle posted only seven laps, which suggest he mostly worked on qualification.

More Cup newsbreakers

Brickyard 400 Yahoo! preview

The Brickyard 400 may well be the second biggest race of the season. Who is favored to win? Check out this week's Yahoo! preview (.pdf).

Jr under the weather

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is fighting flulike symptoms this week, according to a tweet from @NASCARSays.

Our View This has been a terrible season for Earnhardt and even little things can combine for a terrible race. If you have been on the fence about him; this might encourage you to leave him parked.

More Cup newsbreakers

Ky Busch passes 10-lap mark

Eighteen minutes into the first practice session, Kyle Busch has recorded 12 laps.

Our View Why is that important? At this stage of last year's race, tires were popping in as few as 10 laps. Let's hope that means the issue is firmly put to be.

More Cup newsbreakers

Brickyard 400 Practice underway

It's been two weeks since cars were on the track, but practice is now underway at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Our View: Keep an eye out for practice times on Friday; qualification is not until Saturday.

More Cup newsbreakers

Gordon guarantees Indy tires

Will the new Goodyear tire hold up? "I will guarantee it. I'm 100 percent confident," Jeff Gordon said after the latest test. "I ran this tire as hard as I possibly could, put numerous laps on them. It's a dead issue. There's going to be a race here." (Quoted @DustinLong.)

Our View: According to @NateRyan, the various tests were made up of "13,000 miles of testing, 31 drivers, at least 20 tire compounds." If Goodyear hasn't got this one right, it's not for lack of effort.

More Cup Series Newsbreakers

Stewart on Indy tire test

DO YOU FEEL LIKE AFTER THE TEST AT INDY THAT THEY’RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK AND YOU GUYS WILL HAVE THE TIRE THAT CAN LAST A FUEL RUN WHEN YOU GO BACK FOR THE 400?

“I can’t tell you what is going to happen when we go back. I can tell you the other day we ran a full fuel run on a set of tires and didn’t have a problem with it. I was pleasantly surprised. I know Ryan (Newman) had went and done the first two or three tire tests there and they hadn’t made it that far. The other day, and I don’t know if it was because it was right after the Indy 500 or what and if there was still rubber down from that, but the tire wear was great. There was cording early in the session but no more than what we’ve always seen in the past there. It didn’t take long at all with four cars running to get it to where you could run 20 to 25 laps pretty easily and by the end of the day you could run a full fuel run. If the conditions stay like they are now I’m confident they’ve got a tire that we’re not going to have to worry about. Obviously there is a lot of time and a lot of weather that is going to come in between now and then and I don’t know how that is going to affect everything. If we had to race this weekend I could promise you that we would have a tire that could make it the whole way.”

From a GM Press Release

Flat tracks, three-year avg. fin

With its three dissimilar corners, Pocono Raceway is one of the most unique tracks on the circuit, but that doesn't mean that it is without comparatives.

Flat tracks require a distinctive set of skills. Drivers have to show patience entering the corners and be prepared to drive like a maniac from the center outward. To help make this week's decision on who to start at Pocono, fantasy owners will find a ton of inspiration from NASCAR's four other flat tracks of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Martinsville Speedway.

The proof of how well these tracks compare to one another can be found in a driver's consistency. Last year, one racer swept the top 10 in the nine races held on those tracks and two others failed to finish that well only a single time. Jimmie Johnson was the perfect driver; in his nine attempts, he won four times—once each at Indy and Martinsville, plus a season sweep at Phoenix—and in those races, he averaged a result of 3.1. The No. 48 team carried that momentum forward and won this spring at Martinsville before finishing fourth at Phoenix.

Denny Hamlin was nearly perfect. He finished in the top 10 in all but one flat track race last year, and that exception came because of a miscalculation in the pits. On an alternate pit strategy, he got stranded 23rd in Pocono's fall race, or else he would most likely have been challenging the leaders when the checkers waved. Fantasy owners will be interested in knowing that Hamlin's three-year average finish on this track type is 6.3 compared to Johnson's 7.6 during that same span.

Carl Edwards is the final driver to nearly sweep the top 10. He finished 17th in the first New Hampshire race, but was perfect otherwise. Better still, after that single bobble, he swept the top five in the last five flat track events. This streak was highlighted by a victory in the fall Pocono race, which makes him a driver to watch closely this weekend. Unfortunately, he's been a little more uneven this season and finished 26th at Martinsville earlier in the spring.

Flat track average finish, last three years

Driver	Avg Finish	Attempts
Denny Hamlin	6.30	27
Jimmie Johnson	7.59	27
Jeff Gordon	9.30	27
Mark Martin	9.78	18
Tony Stewart	10.41	27
Jeff Burton	11.56	27
Kevin Harvick	12.15	27
Carl Edwards	13.22	27
Matt Kenseth	14.67	27
Dale Earnhardt Jr	15.74	27
Martin Truex Jr	16.52	27
Clint Bowyer	16.93	27
Greg Biffle	17.00	27
Kurt Busch	17.15	27
Kyle Busch	17.67	27
Ryan Newman	18.04	27
Kasey Kahne	20.15	27
Juan Montoya	20.80	20
Bobby Labonte	21.22	27
Casey Mears	21.26	27
Jamie McMurray	22.33	27
David Ragan	22.33	21
Marcos Ambrose	22.60	5
Reed Sorenson	24.93	27
David Stremme	25.28	18
Brian Vickers	25.56	27
Elliott Sadler	27.48	27
David Reutimann	27.95	20
Paul Menard	28.24	21
Joey Logano	28.33	3
Regan Smith	28.46	13
Sterling Marlin	28.64	14
Dave Blaney	28.96	27
David Gilliland	29.48	23
Patrick Carpentier	29.57	7
Robby Gordon	30.65	27
Sam Hornish Jr	31.07	14
A J Allmendinger	31.83	18
Joe Nemechek	32.85	26
Michael Waltrip	33.58	26
Scott Speed	35.75	4
John Andretti	42.22	9
Derrike Cope	47.00	7

Prilosec OTC to sponsor RCR

Prilosec OTC will be the primary sponsor for three races with RCR, according to SceneDaily.com. They will sponsor Jeff Burton this week at Richmond and for the upcoming Brickyard 400. Additionally, they will be the primary sponsor on Clint Bowyer's car in October's race at Auto Club Speedway.

Our View: Money makes the world go round and teams are likely to get a little more bang for the buck with limited-run sponsorships.

Indy Tire woes continue

Goodyear's tire woes that plagued last year's Brickyard 400 are far from fixed. In recent tire tests, drivers were still able to make only 12-15 laps runs before the cords were showing.

Our View: Last year's Brickyard 400 was outright embarrassing and impossible to handicap. Be prepared to throw this race away unless Goodyear comes up with a new compound quickly. For more on the story, check out NASCAR.com.