NASCAR to Race Atlanta at Night

NASCAR will run under the lights at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2009, The Associated Press has learned.

There’s more: The new night race is expected to be run on Labor Day weekend.

Atlanta Motor Speedway and NASCAR officials are planning to announce a schedule change Tuesday that will include the night race announcement, said a racing official who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the change had not been made public.

Atlanta’s place on the racing calendar also could move. There has been speculation Atlanta Motor Speedway will be part of a three-way trade of race dates for next year’s Sprint Cup schedule that also involves the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., and Talladega Superspeedway.

Atlanta would receive the 2009 Labor Day weekend race that’s happening this season in California. Fontana would receive Talladega’s fall race, while Talladega would receive Atlanta’s fall race, set for late October this year.

Fontana has struggled with overwhelming heat at its race on Labor Day weekend. The change would give the California track a spot in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

Meanwhile, there also is speculation the Iowa Speedway will gain a spot in the Nationwide Series schedule and the Chicagoland Speedway will add a Craftsman Truck Series date.

Nationwide to Race at Iowa Speedway

The Iowa Speedway in Newton will host a NASCAR Nationwide Series race next season.

Track officials announced Tuesday that the 250-lap race will be held Aug. 1.

Landing a Nationwide Series race is a major coup for the track, which was designed by Rusty Wallace. The yet-to-be named race is the second from a major circuit on the track’s 2009 schedule, joining the Indy Racing League’s Iowa 250.

Wallace says it hasn’t been determined if it will be a day or night race.

The Nationwide Series is NASCAR’s second-tier stock car circuit, often drawing many of the sport’s top drivers.

Should Logano be Questioned With Gibbs Cheating Scandal?

It's a question that comes most often from people involved in the racing game on the local level around the state's short tracks.

Wheeler Launching his Own Firm for NASCAR Drivers

Carl Edwards Wins at Michigan Speedway

Carl Edwards took the lead in the pits, then drove away Saturday for his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory at Michigan International Speedway and 16th overall series win.

The reigning series champion was trailing fellow Sprint Cup star Tony Stewart when the leaders drove onto pit road under a caution flag on lap 93. Edwards, driving a Ford for Roush Fenway Racing, came out in front and easily led to the end of the 125-lap race on the 2-mile oval.

“I’m just so happy that we won this thing,” Edwards said after doing his traditional victory backflip off his car. “We’ve been close before. I don’t know if we would have been able to get by Tony or not. He was pretty quick.

“The car was awesome all day. There were a couple of cars that were real fast — Tony and Brian Vickers. But my pit crew just did a great job there at the end. I don’t know what kind of problem Tony had on pit road, but it was sure a lot easier to pass him there than it would have been on the racetrack.”

It was the 19th victory for team co-owner Jack Roush at Michigan, but the first in the series previously sponsored by Busch since 1998.

“We’ve certainly had more than our share of good finishes here, and it seems like it’s a track where we always race well,” said Roush, whose headquarters are in nearby Livonia. “It’s a very good feeling.”

Edwards, who led a race-high 71 laps on the way to his third Nationwide victory of the season, was nearly 3.5 seconds ahead of runner-up Vickers before Danny Efland crash at the start of the last lap. The race finished under caution.

“You don’t want to come across greedy, but I’m getting sick and tired of not winning one of these races,” said Vickers, who will start from the pole in Sunday’s Cup race. “We feel like every race we’ve been in we’ve led, but we haven’t led the right lap.”

Asked what the difference was between Edwards’ Ford and his Toyota, Vickers said, “I really feel like it was the power difference between the Ford and the Toyotas with the new (restrictor) plate. Carl just got too far out ahead of us at the end and we didn’t have enough time.”

Stewart wound up third, followed by Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, Mike Bliss and 18-year-old rookie Joey Logano.

Series leader Clint Bowyer, who collided with David Reutimann as they battled for fourth place late in the race, wound up 10th and saw both Edwards and Brad Keselowski chop into his margin. Edwards, who has 16 Nationwide victories, is 113 points behind Bowyer, while Keselowski, who finished 11th, is 132 behind heading into Bristol next week.

“It was a fun day,” said Stewart, making his last Nationwide start with Joe Gibbs Racing. “I never thought it would be such a big deal, but it has been. It’s not like I’ll never these guys again, but I know this is the last time I’m going to work with this particular group of guys.”

Stewart, who will leave the Gibbs team at the end of the season to become an owner-driver in Cup with Stewart-Haas Racing, finished his Nationwide season with five wins and eight top-10s in nine races.

NASCAR Finds Cheating After Nationwide Race

The two Joe Gibbs Racing cars that have dominated the Nationwide Series this season likely will face stiff NASCAR sanctions after team members were caught deliberately trying to mask the horsepower in their powerful engines.

NASCAR inspectors found magnets under the gas pedals of the No. 18 and No. 20 Toyota's when the cars were sent to the chassis dyno following Saturday's race at Michigan International Speedway. Tony Stewart finished third in the No. 20 in his final Nationwide race for JGR, and Joey Logano was seventh in the No. 18.

The two cars have combined to win 14 of Toyota's 15 victories in 25 Nationwide races this season. To temper the domination, NASCAR last month ordered all Toyota teams to cut about 15 horsepower in their motors.

NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said the magnets were a quarter-inch thick and their placement was an attempt to hide how much horsepower the Gibbs motors still have even after the rule change.

"The intention was to manipulate the numbers that we get when we get our information and data off the dyno,'' Pemberton said.

Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs said he and his father, owner Joe Gibbs, had no prior knowledge of their crew members intent and apologized to NASCAR and Toyota.

"That was a really poor, foolish decision on the part of our key guys,'' J.D. Gibbs said. "A couple guys chose to make a decision there that really impacts all of us.''

Gibbs said he wasn't sure the crews tried to manipulate the dyno numbers. The JGR teams, behind esteemed engine builder Mark Cronquist, are thought to have some of the strongest motors in the industry.

"I know they were probably frustrated from the standpoint that wanting to show that, 'Hey, we have less horsepower than ever before' and they wanted to make it look like we're handicapped even more than we actually were,'' Gibbs said. "I understand that, but that's not an excuse.

"The engine shop, that's kind of a badge of honor. You win that engine dyno, good for you. That's kind of how we felt in the past few years, and Mark Cronquist and those guys really feel like they want to win that thing.

"The way I look at it, to come back after you've been chopped, to come back and win it again, that's awesome,'' Gibbs noted. "That's a great story. That wasn't able to be told.''

Pemberton said NASCAR will meet this week to decide how JGR will be punished.

"I anticipate that we haven't seen the end of it yet,'' Pemberton said.

But J.D. Gibbs vowed the team will address the incident in-house.

"(We'll) figure out exactly what happened and those that were responsible,'' Gibbs said. "There's going to be punishment for that. That's just part of life. You can't do that.''

Joe Gibbs echoed his son's thoughts in a sharply worded statement.

"If this alleged incident proves true, it goes against everything we stand for as an organization,'' the former Washington Redskins coach said. "We will take full responsibility and accept any penalties NASCAR levies against us.''

Lee White, president of Toyota Racing Development, said the company is grateful that the team stepped up and took responsibility and made it clear Toyota was not involved.

"I was surprised to see what was happening, and astonished and frankly incredulous,'' White said. "I couldn't believe it was happening because it's clearly defined in the entry forms that you don't do this sort of thing. But I'm sure Joe and J.D. will take care of that internally and, whatever fans think, they're going to think. We're just going to keep working on our stuff.''

Pat Suhy, GM Racing group manager for NASCAR, said the actions by the Gibbs team raise more questions that stretch all the way to Toyota. The Japanese automaker is in its second season in NASCAR's top two series.

"It's not something that you like to hear about and you have to just question every chassis dyno that's ever been run on every Toyota,'' Suhy said. "I don't know is if it's a Toyota problem, if it's a Joe Gibbs thing, how widespread is it and how long has it been going on.

"It's disappointing to hear that anybody, whether it's a manufacturer or a team or an individual on a team would go to any length to do that. It's bad for the entire garage, I think.''

Jack Roush, co-owner of Roush-Fenway Racing, which fields Fords in the Nationwide Series, called the Gibbs team's actions "extremely detrimental'' to the sport and was confident NASCAR will address it.

"NASCAR will figure out what they should,'' Roush said. "If they're going to make decisions based on parity, after they've given (Toyota) what they've given them with regard to parameters on their engine, based on flawed data that a team or the manufacturer, one of the other, had kited or shaved, that certainly is detrimental to my interests.''

Darlington Regains Southern 500 Name

The Southern 500 is back at Darlington Raceway.

Track president Chris Browning said Wednesday the historic name will return to Darlington for next May's Sprint Cup race, restoring at least part of more than a half-century of tradition to the old country track.

"The timing really is good with us celebrating our 60th year of racing next year,'' Browning said. "It just seemed to make sense.''

The Southern 500 was a shaky startup venture when it was first run on Sept. 4, 1950. But over the next five-plus decades, it became a Labor Day staple for NASCAR drivers, fans and their families to spend the final summer holiday in South Carolina's steamy Pee Dee region.

After 2003, that date was given to California Speedway with its larger layout and population center.

"Although it's not on Labor Day, it is a 500-mile race at Darlington,'' Browning said. "And that's another way of our continuing to tie back into our history and our tradition.''

Another Southern 500 was run in 2004, but in November. Darlington has held just one Sprint Cup weekend since 2005, each sponsored by the Carolina Dodge Dealers Association.

When the sponsorship agreement ran out this spring - and with the track's once hobbled future on the rise - Browning thought it was time to bring back the old name.

Browning said he's in talks with potential title sponsors for next year's race, and one told him the return of the former race name was an important selling point.

Next season, Darlington will celebrate its 60th year since Harold Brasington carved the misshapen superspeedway out of farmland.

Browning came to Darlington in 2004 after the track he previously led, nearby North Carolina Speedway at Rockingham, had its race dates taken away. It is no longer part of the NASCAR schedule.

Darlington seemed like the next old, crumbling Southern domino to fall in the race to open sparkling new superspeedways with seating capacities far bigger than the track "Too Tough To Tame.''

However, Darlington modernized and expanded, adding lights and nearly 4,000 seats. It most recently completed $10 million in improvements that included the first repaving in 13 years and a massive new infield entrance tunnel.

The track also struck gold with its Mother's Day weekend date, which has sold out all four times.

"When I think of Darlington and the history of the track, the Southern 500 is what comes to mind,'' said driver Jeff Gordon, who has won five Southern 500s and seven times total at Darlington. "I look forward to the opportunity of possibly winning a sixth.''

Terry Labonte won the final Labor Day weekend Southern 500 in 2003.

Former racer and current TV analyst Darrell Waltrip, whose last NASCAR victory was the 1992 Southern 500, said Darlington's appeal comes in taming the oddly shaped layout and matching accomplishments with some of the sport's greatest names.

"It's anything but routine racing,'' he said.

Former F1 Star, Scott Speed to NASCAR

Are you ready for some speed? Sure, but are you ready for Scott Speed? Painted toenails, flashy clothes, loose talk and plenty else that doesn't fit NASCAR, he's coming to a track near you.

And he just might be the next Sprint Cup star.

No doubt you've also heard that Joey Logano, the 18-year-old who won in his third Nationwide Series start, might be the next Cup star. Well, Speed, 25, is the anti-Logano. Logano is destined to be a polished NASCAR talent in the conservative mold of Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson, but he has barely raced in any big-time events. Speed, more likely to dress in and say whatever he feels like on any particular day, already has reached what he considers the pinnacle of racing: Formula One.

Granted, the whole F1 thing didn't work out so well -- he was replaced in 2006 after less than two years and finished no higher than ninth in 28 starts -- but Speed has competed in some of the world's biggest races and was the first American to drive in F1 since Michael Andretti in 1993. Hey, it looks good on the resume.

Looks aside, he knows how to race. With four ARCA wins (Kansas, Kentucky, Berlin and Nashville) and a truck win at Dover so far in 2008, it's obvious he can do well in good equipment. His biggest challenge in the future will be giving feedback to his team in the longer Nationwide Series and Cup events.

He'll be accepted on the track as long as he wins. Off the track? That remains to be seen. People say he used to be a little arrogant, a Kyle Busch type, because he knew he had talent. Making it to F1 only boosted his confidence. Now that Speed is back in the United States (he was born in California), he is as loose as they come -- but without the ego because making it to Cup never was his dream.

Speed talks about getting pedicures to relax before races (he also had the tips of his toenails painted dark blue, with a hint of purple, before the win at Dover). He dresses more like K-Fed than a racecar driver. He talks about how he wants to race in Sprint Cup but is in absolutely no hurry to get there -- he likely won't race in the series full time until 2010. He seems to be having fun in trucks and ARCA cars.

It's a good thing Speed is driving for Red Bull Racing because he doesn't look at all interested in being molded into the typical company spokesman. Red Bull is all about energy, all about flair, and Speed has both. He gets strange looks in the garage when he wears a bright outfit. And he's just about always listening to tunes with his earbuds in. That's the way he rolls.

Criticize him for being different if you want -- he doesn't seem to care. He isn't coming to Sprint Cup to win a popularity contest. He already has a sponsor that loves him.

Speed will bring fresh air to a garage made stuffy and high-strung by the influence of big-money sponsors and the pressure big-time teams put on their drivers.

So what if he gets his toenails painted? As they say in racing: It's just one of them deals.

Greg Biffle Hoping to Recapture the Glory at Michigan

Greg Biffle isn't packing his bags for NASCAR's postseason just yet.

"It's definitely not easy cruising to the Chase right now,'' he said. "We know that we're on the envelope of getting in.''

Right now, that envelope is getting pretty crowded.

The top 12 after the Sept. 6 race at Richmond make the Chase, and Biffle slipped from eighth to 10th in points after finishing 21st in last week's race at Watkins Glen. While he remains 83 points clear of 13th-place Clint Bowyer, Biffle knows any slip-up could cost him a chance to compete for the Sprint Cup title.

"We're in that eighth-through-13th class that's going to fight right down to Richmond unless one of us breaks out, gets a win, a couple of top-fives and locks ourselves in the next two races,'' he said.

Biffle may be the best bet to break through. He's won four times at Michigan's two-mile oval during his racing career, including twice in the Sprint Cup. It helps that he's on a team that's dominated the track over the years. Roush Fenway Racing has 10 Cup victories Michigan, second only to the Wood Brothers' total of 11.

"We've had a legacy of having really fast cars, I think, of having generally pretty good engines and better-than-average luck there,'' team owner Jack Roush said.

A little bit of racing luck never hurts, something the Roush Fenway cars have managed to find in bunches at Michigan. Maybe the home cooking helps. Roush Industries has offices in the area, and the boss sets up two hospitality tents for the Sprint races.

Whatever the reason, trips to victory lane have become commonplace for Roush Fenway cars over the years at the track whose banking makes for wide-open racing. Biffle sure seems to like it. He won at Michigan the first time he raced there in the Craftsman Truck Series, and has six top-10s there as a Sprint Cup driver.

"The thing I love about Michigan is you can race as hard as you want,'' Biffle said. "You can go two-and-three wide on that downforce racetrack for the win and be able to do that in a cautious manner where you're going to get a good finish.''

A good finish eluded Biffle during the series' first visit to the track this season, when he was 20th in a race won by Dale Earnhardt Jr., a rare off day for a team that's had few of them at the home of Ford.

While the track allows a driver to pick a line and go, don't expect to see Biffle riding up along the wall. That's not his style. Besides, as much as he'd like to win on Sunday, a top-five finish could go just as far in helping him make the Chase.

"To run two feet off the wall at Michigan is, I'd like to say, a dangerous line because one little mistake and it wipes the right side of the car off,'' he said. "I intend to stay away from that line.''

Call it good coaching from Roush, who has no doubt about Biffle's chances of getting into the playoffs if he makes smart choices.

"Greg should certainly be OK given the mix of races we've got left,'' Roush said. "But man, we've got to miss the wreck and we can't have a part that breaks. ... (Who gets in will) be more determined by things gone wrong than it will by blinding speed.''

That might be a good thing for Biffle, who is in danger of going winless for the first time since his rookie year in 2002. He has six top-fives and nine top-10s, but has finished out of the top-10 in six of his last eight races.

Biffle has struggled at times this year, and knows he can't afford to miss the Chase for a third straight season. It's a scenario he never envisioned during his breakout year in 2005, when he won six times and finished second behind Tony Stewart in the points race.

"Sometimes it's short-lived, sometimes it isn't,'' he said. "We won six races in 2005 and it just kind of slips away from your fingers and you don't ever really know what you did wrong or what happened. Just enjoy it while you can.''

Missing out is not an option this season, and he's bypassed races on the Nationwide Series to focus on Sprint Cup and the Car of Tomorrow. He's also spent extra time in the gym trying to keep fit, readying for what he hopes will be a frantic fall.

"I want to be the best I can be and be prepared to give a run at the title,'' Biffle said.

It's a run he hopes gets a little easier come Sunday night.

NASCAR Needs Patrick Carpentier

Patrick Carpentier's stint in limbo -- will he or won't he have a full-time ride in 2009? -- is supposed to end this week, and it could be the beginning of a mutual success story for the Gillett Evernham Motorsports driver and for NASCAR.

"There are three things that I like," Carpentier said earlier this month. "Formula Atlantic was fun. Grand Am was great to drive. But NASCAR is the most fun I've ever had racing.

"I just appreciate the moment. We race in front of crowds that are unbelievable. To be able to be a part of the Sprint Cup Series, I feel like a pretty fortunate guy."

And NASCAR is fortunate to have someone with such international flair -- Carpentier is a native of Joliette, Quebec -- who so ardently wants to be in the series.

Carpentier, 37, didn't come to stock cars with an Indianapolis 500 win or a Formula One championship on his resume, but his desire to learn and excel -- and his ability to qualify -- has kept him in the driver's seat while others in his rookie class with more luminous open-wheel credentials fell by the wayside.

Dario Franchitti's team at Chip Ganassi Racing folded in July because of a lack of sponsorship. Jacques Villeneuve was a nonstarter who exited Cup racing after failing to qualify for the 2008 Daytona 500.

Carpentier, already a pole winner in NASCAR's top two series, will learn soon enough whether he can get the financial backing to keep him in the No. 10 Dodge next season. The wait has been tedious, but he has borne the stress with grace.

"I really hope that it comes out positive," he said. "I think Gillett Evernham is pretty happy. Most of the sponsors that were at our sponsor summit in Montreal were happy. Valvoline, LifeLock, Auto Value. I hope Gillett Evernham is happy as well because I like being here and I like driving this car."

George Gillett, majority owner of GEM, also owns 80 percent interest in the Montreal Canadiens. It would behoove Gillett to keep Carpentier around -- if only to avoid being run out of Canada's second-largest city on a rail.

Beyond that, Carpentier is a key to unlocking an unfailingly enthusiastic and largely untapped fan base for NASCAR racing north of the border. Those who saw either of the first two Montreal races also saw the potential for growth.

Beyond that, he's one of the most humble and likable men in motorsports, someone who can represent NASCAR racing to the world.

As much as Carpentier wants to stay in a stock car, NASCAR needs him to be there.

Tony Stewart to Hire Ryan Newman

Tony Stewart has hired fellow Indiana native Ryan Newman to drive the second car for his new team next season, The Associated Press has learned.

Newman, who nipped Stewart on the final lap to win the Daytona 500 in February, will be introduced as driver of the No. 4 Chevrolet on Friday at Michigan International Speedway, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person requested anonymity because details, including car sponsorship, are still being worked out.

Stewart said in July he was leaving Joe Gibbs Racing after 10 successful seasons that included two Cup titles to become part owner of fledgling Haas CNC Racing. The new team will be known as Stewart-Haas Racing, and Stewart will use childhood hero A.J. Foyt’s No. 14. That car will be sponsored by Office Depot and Old Spice.

Newman, who is leaving Penske Racing at the end of this season, will use No. 4 in honor of the first number Stewart used as a child. Stewart is still working on multiple sponsor offers for that car.

The duo have a combined 45 victories and 53 poles. But most of Newman’s success came before this season.

His team’s performance has declined since the season opener, prompting him to start looking for other options that could provide him a chance to win a championship.

Newman potentially could be reunited with Matt Borland, now the competition director at Stewart-Haas. Borland was Newman’s crew chief at Penske for 12 of his 13 Cup victories, but it’s unclear what personnel moves Stewart might make.