N'Wide: Harvick wins at Vegas

Kevin Harvick was happy with the result of the Sam's Town 300, but he was not happy with the crew's performance. Using a long green flag segment to finish the race, he scooted out to a 1.3 second lead over Denny Hamlin.

Our View Mistakes in the pit could have cost him the race, but Harvick's talent in the car made up the difference.

Play Yahoo! fantasy racing

More Nationwide newsbreakers

N'Wide: Keselowski on Vegas pole

Brad Keselowski carried his momentum from last week's third-place finish in the Stater Bros. 300 at Auto Club Speedway into this week's Las Vegas Motor Speedway race and that was enough to give him the pole for Saturday's contest.

Our View Unfortunately, he's suffered crash damage in his last two Nationwide attempts on this track and he's blown an engine one other time. In four Nationwide starts at Vegas, his best result is only 23rd.

Play Yahoo! fantasy racing

More Nationwide newsbreakers

N'Wide: Logano dominates, Busch wins Stater Bros. 300

Joey Logano dominated the race but he was roughed up by Greg Biffle on the final restart. Kyle Busch exacted revenge, however, and passed Biffle in the run to the checkers.

Our View The best car doesn't always win and today, they finished fifth after getting knocked around by Biffle and Brad Keselowski—who must have thought Denny Hamlin was in the No. 20 this week.

Keselowski dumped Logano only a few yards from the finish line.

Play Yahoo! fantasy racing

More Nationwide newsbreakers

N'Wide: Patrick's learning curve continues

Danica Patrick will race on Saturday afternoon, but not because of the time she laid down in qualification. She'll roll of the grid 36th, but was actually slower than two of the "go-or-go-home" drivers (Morgan Shepherd and Danny O'Quinn) who failed to make the show.

Our View She was tentative on her qualification lap in part because she knew that with top-30 owners' points, she would be guaranteed a starting position. She'll improve during the race, but a top-20 is probably the outside mark fantasy owners should expect.

Play Yahoo! fantasy racing

More Nationwide newsbreakers

N'Wide: Logano on Auto Club pole

Joey Logano was the second driver to hit the track in qualification for the Stater Bros. 300, and despite slick track conditions, he logged the fastest time and will lead the field to green in a few hours.

Our View The track may have been slick, but Logano benefited from cool conditions so the net effect was positive. He should have a car capable of staying in the top five all day.

Play Yahoo! fantasy racing

More Nationwide newsbreakers

Nationwide Inspection cleared

According to @bobpockrass: Inspection for the #NASCAR Nationwide Series is complete and there were no issues.

Smoke 'em: Stewart wins Daytona Nationwide race

Tony Stewart survived a wild Drive4COPD.com 300 to beat the field to the checkers and win in dominant fashion.

Our View "Survived" is the operative word as a 10-car crash erupted immediately behind him in the final quarter of the race. Stewart's odds for the Daytona 500 are improved after this run.

Play Yahoo! fantasy racing

More Nationwide newsbreakers

Patrick impressive in stock car debut

Danica Patrick wanted to get experience by running the ARCA race at Daytona International Speedway, and she accomplished that goal with flying colors. She was credited with sixth-place in a photo finish with Ricky Carmichael at the line.

Our View Patrick had to avoid wrecks along the way and was even knocked into the infield by Nelson Piquet Jr. at one point, so she experienced nearly everything that she would face in a Nationwide Series race.

The final decision on whether she will run the Nationwide race next Saturday will come on Monday, but according to a tweet by @NASCAR_NNS, she has already been approved by NASCAR.

Play Yahoo! fantasy racing

More Nationwide newsbreakers

More ARCA newsbreakers

Nationwide: Patrick schedule announced

JR Motorsports has announced Danica Patrick's 12-race Nationwide schedule. She has not yet been approved to run at Daytona in that series but could still be entered if she performs well in the ARCA Daytona event. Her first scheduled race will be at Auto Club Speedway on 2/20/2010 followed immediately by the event at Las Vegas the following week. Then she will take a break to concentrate on her IndyCar responsibilities and return to stock car competition at New Hampshire in June.

The remainder of her schedule includes Chicagoland, Michigan, Dover, the fall Auto Club race, Charlotte, Gateway, Texas, Phoenix (her hometown) and Homestead.

Our View The majority of these events are held on unrestricted, intermediate speedways, which gives her a chance to focus on the skill set requited to go fast on that track type.

Patrick's transition to the heavy stockers will be a challenging one, but with JR Motorsports equipment at her disposal, she could be a better value than many anticipate.

Play Yahoo! fantasy racing

N'Wide: McDowell to McDonald Motorsports

Michael McDowell will pilot Randy McDonald's No. 81 Nationwide Series Dodge in 2010, according to a Press Release by the team. This team will run full time.

Our View McDonald Motorsports has improved slightly in recent seasons. With McDonald behind the wheel, however, this could be a breakout year.

Play Yahoo! fantasy racing

More Nationwide newsbreakers

N'Wide: Danica's first races

On Thursday, it was announced that Danica Patrick's first race will come at Auto Club Speedway in week two of the season; her next race will immediately follow at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Our View It certainly makes sense to debut her on tracks where car control—and not the whim of the draft—determines her success or failure. Until she posts practice times, however, it's hard to determine her fantasy worth.

More Nationwide newsbreakers

Cope forms new team

Derrike Cope has announced the formation of a new team for 2010 in partnership with Dale Clemons. The new venture will be called Stratus Racing Group, according to the Cope Web site, and intends to run full time in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series with Cope as the principal driver.

Our View In addition, his twin nieces Amber and Angela Cope will run in the ARCA series and selected Truck races. It has long been a goal of the Northwestern driver to bring these ladies into the sport, but now it appears he has the sponsorship in place to make it happen.

More Nationwide newsbreakers
More Camping World Truck Series newsbreakers
More ARCA newsbreakers

ARCA: Duno to test at Daytona

Danica Patrick may have some competition as the top female driver in stock cars. Milka Duno is also expected to test at Daytona International Speedway this spring. She will be in Braun Racing entry according to a press release from the team (quoted at Jayski.com).

Our View The two ladies have not gotten along very well in the Indy Racing League, so in addition to the appeal of having female drivers in a male-dominated sport, fans could see sparks fly in any events they contest. Fenders have a tendency to make drivers bold.

More ARCA newsbreakers

N'Wide: Patrick gets first test in

According to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s facebook page, Danica Patrick has put her first test with the team in the books; it came at Walt Disney Speedway. The Indy Racing League has run a handful of races at Disney, but not since Danica Patrick joined the series.

Our View If she is willing to put in the work, Patrick's transition to the heavier stock cars will go a lot smoother.

More Nationwide newsbreakers
More IRL newsbreakers

Ky Busch caps off Nationwide season in style

Kyle Busch clinched the Nationwide season championship by merely starting the Ford 300, but he capped off the season in style by holding off second-place Carl Edwards—who also finished second in the points' standings.

Our View On Friday night, Kevin Harvick won the Camping World Truck Series race while his Ron Hornaday-led team clinched the owner's championship.

Could we see a third such storyline with a Jimmie Johnson victory on Sunday?

Hamlin/Keselowski tangle late in Able Body Labor 200

Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski tangled for the third time this year in the Able Body Labor 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. In this pushing and shoving match, Hamlin came out on the short end of the stick and spun out of winning contention while Keselowski finished fifth. Hamlin finished 12th.

Our View The incident follows previous shunts at Dover International Speedway and Auto Club Speedway this season and one at Watkins Glen International last year between the two.

Eventually, tempers are going to completely spill over and unfortunately, there is liable to collateral damage among other drivers. Don't look for the two to get together in this week's Cup Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500k by Pennzoil, however, because Hamlin has vowed to take out his revenge in next week's Nationwide season finale.

More Cup newsbreakers
Official tweets from the track

Edwards wins Able Body Labor 200

Carl Edwards easily pulled away from the field late in the Able Body Labor 200 to win over Kevin Harvick.

Our View Last week, Kyle Busch brought the momentum from his Nationwide victory into the Cup race and Edwards hopes to repeat that feat. But Roush-Fenway has not been exceptional on short, flat tracks, so doubling down will be challenging this week.

More Cup newsbreakers
Official tweets from the track

Two out of three ain't bad: Busch wins Texas Nationwide

Kyle Busch hopes to be the first driver to win in all three of NASCAR's top divisions this week at Texas Motor Speedway. So far, so good; he won both the Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series races handily.

Our View Of course the Cup race is going to be much more difficult, but tune in on Sunday because history could be in the making.

More Cup newsbreakers
Official tweets from the track

Ky Busch wins Lowe's Nationwide race

Despite battling the remnants of the flu, Kyle Busch dominated the Dollar General 300 and won.

Our View Busch was quickest in Happy Hour (in terms of average laps) and this will give him some momentum entering Saturday night's NASCAR Banking 500. It's still hard to see him finishing in the top-five, however. But a top-10 might be in the cards.

More Nationwide newsbreakers

Auto Club Pit Stalls

Jayski has posted the pit stall selections, and as expected pole sitter Denny Hamlin has the first piece of real estate leaving pit road.

Our View Greg Biffle and Juan Montoya are the only other drivers with an opening in front of them, but the pits at Auto Club are wide enough so that there should not be any issues.

Notably, immediately in front of Biffle is Joey Logano. Those two drivers exchanged paint during the Nationwide race in a move that appeared to be a deliberate attempt to cripple Logano's car. The teenage sensation came back to win the race, while Biffle ultimately suffered more damage in a second tangle with Logano's teammate Denny Hamlin.

In addition to Logano, other drivers with openings behind them are Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon.

Since David Reutimann's speed was disallowed in qualification for illegal shocks, he lost the right to pick a stall early and finds himself in one of the center pits.

Complete Pit Stall Selection