SAFER barriers going into Lowe's backstretch

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Lowe's Motor Speedway will have a SAFER barrier along the inside wall of its backstretch by the time the track opens for NASCAR racing next month.

An additional 340 feet of the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction barriers are being installed, and track president Humpy Wheeler said Tuesday the project will be completed in time for the May 17 All-Star Race. The track has had a SAFER barrier on part of the inside backstretch wall coming out of Turn 2, but none heading into Turn 3.
"Not that many people end up down here, but just in case they do, we want to make sure they've got some cushioning," Wheeler said of the project that will cost about $110,000.

Stewart has plenty of reasons to leave JGR

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- If winning really and truly is the most important thing to Tony Stewart, then he'll be hard pressed to find an acceptable reason to leave Joe Gibbs Racing.

But his decision to test the free agent market is based on so much more than wins and losses, and that's why Stewart might very well walk away from a team that has currently established itself as the best in NASCAR.
The two-time NASCAR champion embarked on a whirlwind media tour to explain his decision, joking at one point he'd talked more with reporters at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend than he'd spoken to his own mother over the past two years.