Montoya tops new spoiler test

Juan Pablo Montoya emerged at the top of the timesheet on Monday as NASCAR Sprint Cup teams completed the first of a two-day spoiler test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The Colombian set the pace at the wheel of his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a lap of 29.036 seconds at an average speed of 185.976 mph, posted in the morning when the track temperature was at its coolest of the day.

Teams experimented with what is expected to be the new aero package for the majority of tracks, all running the new rear spoiler and left-side deck lid and window fins, aimed at keeping cars from getting airborne.

According to NASCAR's vice president of competition, Robin Pemberton, teams were allowed to play with the length of the deck lid, starting with a minimum of 17 inches, while the dimensions on the shark fin on the rear window and the spoiler are fixed.

The squads on track also tested with different gearing, running shorter ratios in the afternoon to try to compensate the loss of rpm coming from the increased drag generated by the new spoiler.

Richard Petty's Paul Menard topped the afternoon session in his #98 Ford, followed by Montoya, Stewart Haas's Ryan Newman, EGR's Jamie McMurray and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson.

Consensus in the Cup garage seemed to point at the new aero package not causing a major shift in the car's balance and handling, the same conclusion as drawn from the first test that some teams carried out at Texas a few weeks ago.

"It was good to know and put out of my mind that the spoiler was going to be a drastic difference in the way the car drives," said points' leader Kevin Harvick. "That is not the case. The car has a lot of grip with the tyre combination and the spoiler, so it drives really good.

"We went right to work on the things that we needed to because we felt comfortable with the car. I think that's been good and everything has gone well so far."

Jeff Gordon, who was never a big fan of the rear wing, didn't find a very different feel in the car on the track today, although he pointed out the big technical differences that the spoiler brings relative to the wing.

"Based on things we saw in the test, in our data that we have gathered, we thought the cars would drive pretty good and not be that much different and that is pretty much what we felt," said Gordon. "The cars don't have as much side force with the spoiler, so we've started getting into, for the last several years, is downforce, drag and then side force. You see skewing the cars.

"What we learned with the wing is that by running the car sideways as it entered the corner, that side force made up for even some of the drag and downforce that it took away. So now, we still have a lot of those things, but with the spoiler we just noticed where we lost a little bit of that side force but yet we have made up for it on total downforce on the car."

NASCAR officials also announced the aero and restrictor plate package for superspeedways, with spoilers set at 4.5 inches high without the higher side-extensions tested at Talladega. It will be 63 inches wide and have the same 70-degree angle at other tracks. A smaller restrictor-plate that those tested last week will be implemented for Talladega and Daytona, with holes measuring 30/32nds of an inch.

Teams will continue to test at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday before the new device makes its race debut next weekend at Martinsville.

Montoya tops new spoiler testPrimera Division round-up

Burton leads second spoiler test

Richard Childress Racing team-mates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick topped the final day of the new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series spoiler test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Burton set a fastest lap of 28.539 seconds at an average speed of 189.215 mph, edging Harvick by more than two tenths of a second. Tuesday's pacesetter Juan Pablo Montoya was third in his Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet, the last driver able to lap under the 29-second bracket during the whole test.

All the fastest times were recorded in the morning session with cool track temperatures and the asphalt already rubbered in from the first day of running. The afternoon session, which was paced by Richard Petty's AJ Allmendinger, proved to be slower as the track became slick due to warmer conditions.

Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, who was second fastest in the final session, said his Hendrick team was still hunting for the 'magic setting' for the new aero package and believes there may be increasing gaps between teams in the early races with the spoiler, although he expects everyone to catch up during the season.

"We might not be the first team to find the magic the spoiler wants, but we're usually pretty good at finding stuff in a hurry, and then the fact that it's a new element to the car brings a few months' worth of opportunity, I think," said Johnson.

"We saw that with the wing coming along, and truthfully the competition that was really, really equal before the wing has now gone away. I mean, the start of any rule change you have your largest separation, and then as time goes on, the teams that are behind catch up."

Nationwide Series regular Justin Allgaier, testing for Penske Racing, caused the only notable incident of the day when he hit the wall.

Teams will race the spoiler for the first time next weekend at Martinsville.

Burton leads second spoiler testFrancis reveals Racing offer

Montoya tops new spoiler test

Juan Pablo Montoya emerged at the top of the timesheet on Monday as NASCAR Sprint Cup teams completed the first of a two-day spoiler test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The Colombian set the pace at the wheel of his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a lap of 29.036 seconds at an average speed of 185.976 mph, posted in the morning when the track temperature was at its coolest of the day.

Teams experimented with what is expected to be the new aero package for the majority of tracks, all running the new rear spoiler and left-side deck lid and window fins, aimed at keeping cars from getting airborne.

According to NASCAR's vice president of competition, Robin Pemberton, teams were allowed to play with the length of the deck lid, starting with a minimum of 17 inches, while the dimensions on the shark fin on the rear window and the spoiler are fixed.

The squads on track also tested with different gearing, running shorter ratios in the afternoon to try to compensate the loss of rpm coming from the increased drag generated by the new spoiler.

Richard Petty's Paul Menard topped the afternoon session in his #98 Ford, followed by Montoya, Stewart Haas's Ryan Newman, EGR's Jamie McMurray and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson.

Consensus in the Cup garage seemed to point at the new aero package not causing a major shift in the car's balance and handling, the same conclusion as drawn from the first test that some teams carried out at Texas a few weeks ago.

"It was good to know and put out of my mind that the spoiler was going to be a drastic difference in the way the car drives," said points' leader Kevin Harvick. "That is not the case. The car has a lot of grip with the tyre combination and the spoiler, so it drives really good.

"We went right to work on the things that we needed to because we felt comfortable with the car. I think that's been good and everything has gone well so far."

Jeff Gordon, who was never a big fan of the rear wing, didn't find a very different feel in the car on the track today, although he pointed out the big technical differences that the spoiler brings relative to the wing.

"Based on things we saw in the test, in our data that we have gathered, we thought the cars would drive pretty good and not be that much different and that is pretty much what we felt," said Gordon. "The cars don't have as much side force with the spoiler, so we've started getting into, for the last several years, is downforce, drag and then side force. You see skewing the cars.

"What we learned with the wing is that by running the car sideways as it entered the corner, that side force made up for even some of the drag and downforce that it took away. So now, we still have a lot of those things, but with the spoiler we just noticed where we lost a little bit of that side force but yet we have made up for it on total downforce on the car."

NASCAR officials also announced the aero and restrictor plate package for superspeedways, with spoilers set at 4.5 inches high without the higher side-extensions tested at Talladega. It will be 63 inches wide and have the same 70-degree angle at other tracks. A smaller restrictor-plate that those tested last week will be implemented for Talladega and Daytona, with holes measuring 30/32nds of an inch.

Teams will continue to test at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday before the new device makes its race debut next weekend at Martinsville.

Primera Division round-upMontoya tops new spoiler test

Burton leads second spoiler test

Richard Childress Racing team-mates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick topped the final day of the new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series spoiler test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Burton set a fastest lap of 28.539 seconds at an average speed of 189.215 mph, edging Harvick by more than two tenths of a second. Tuesday's pacesetter Juan Pablo Montoya was third in his Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet, the last driver able to lap under the 29-second bracket during the whole test.

All the fastest times were recorded in the morning session with cool track temperatures and the asphalt already rubbered in from the first day of running. The afternoon session, which was paced by Richard Petty's AJ Allmendinger, proved to be slower as the track became slick due to warmer conditions.

Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, who was second fastest in the final session, said his Hendrick team was still hunting for the 'magic setting' for the new aero package and believes there may be increasing gaps between teams in the early races with the spoiler, although he expects everyone to catch up during the season.

"We might not be the first team to find the magic the spoiler wants, but we're usually pretty good at finding stuff in a hurry, and then the fact that it's a new element to the car brings a few months' worth of opportunity, I think," said Johnson.

"We saw that with the wing coming along, and truthfully the competition that was really, really equal before the wing has now gone away. I mean, the start of any rule change you have your largest separation, and then as time goes on, the teams that are behind catch up."

Nationwide Series regular Justin Allgaier, testing for Penske Racing, caused the only notable incident of the day when he hit the wall.

Teams will race the spoiler for the first time next weekend at Martinsville.

Francis reveals Racing offerBurton leads second spoiler test

Burton leads second spoiler test

Richard Childress Racing team-mates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick topped the final day of the new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series spoiler test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Burton set a fastest lap of 28.539 seconds at an average speed of 189.215 mph, edging Harvick by more than two tenths of a second. Tuesday's pacesetter Juan Pablo Montoya was third in his Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet, the last driver able to lap under the 29-second bracket during the whole test.

All the fastest times were recorded in the morning session with cool track temperatures and the asphalt already rubbered in from the first day of running. The afternoon session, which was paced by Richard Petty's AJ Allmendinger, proved to be slower as the track became slick due to warmer conditions.

Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, who was second fastest in the final session, said his Hendrick team was still hunting for the 'magic setting' for the new aero package and believes there may be increasing gaps between teams in the early races with the spoiler, although he expects everyone to catch up during the season.

"We might not be the first team to find the magic the spoiler wants, but we're usually pretty good at finding stuff in a hurry, and then the fact that it's a new element to the car brings a few months' worth of opportunity, I think," said Johnson.

"We saw that with the wing coming along, and truthfully the competition that was really, really equal before the wing has now gone away. I mean, the start of any rule change you have your largest separation, and then as time goes on, the teams that are behind catch up."

Nationwide Series regular Justin Allgaier, testing for Penske Racing, caused the only notable incident of the day when he hit the wall.

Teams will race the spoiler for the first time next weekend at Martinsville.

Burton leads second spoiler testFrancis reveals Racing offer

Rain postpones Martinsville race

The sixth round of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Martinsville has been postponed until Monday due to rain.

Weather forecasts for Sunday did not look good even before the first car turned a wheel this weekend at NASCAR's shortest venue, but officials were hopeful of getting the race started and run at least to halfway through.

However there was drizzle since Sunday morning and then the rain intensified later. Given the increasing probability of showers through the rest of the afternoon, officials decided to postpone the race until Monday, with the start scheduled at noon US Eastern Time.

Rain had already forced the cancellation of both Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series qualifying on Friday, handing pole position for both events to Kevin Harvick.

The Richard Childress Racing driver will lead the field tomorrow after winning on Saturday in the Truck Series, while six-time Martinsville winner and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson will see the green flag wave from the inside of the second row.

It is expected that NASCAR will schedule a competition caution for the early laps of the race to check tyre wear following today's washout.

The weather forecast for Monday is more promising, although there is still a 30 per cent chance of rain for the scheduled starting time.

The postponement also means that Denny Hamlin will reschedule his knee surgery for Wednesday, which means he will have two days less recovery before the next race at Phoenix.

Rain disrupts Daytona build-upRamis race hots up

Montoya tops new spoiler test

Juan Pablo Montoya emerged at the top of the timesheet on Monday as NASCAR Sprint Cup teams completed the first of a two-day spoiler test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The Colombian set the pace at the wheel of his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a lap of 29.036 seconds at an average speed of 185.976 mph, posted in the morning when the track temperature was at its coolest of the day.

Teams experimented with what is expected to be the new aero package for the majority of tracks, all running the new rear spoiler and left-side deck lid and window fins, aimed at keeping cars from getting airborne.

According to NASCAR's vice president of competition, Robin Pemberton, teams were allowed to play with the length of the deck lid, starting with a minimum of 17 inches, while the dimensions on the shark fin on the rear window and the spoiler are fixed.

The squads on track also tested with different gearing, running shorter ratios in the afternoon to try to compensate the loss of rpm coming from the increased drag generated by the new spoiler.

Richard Petty's Paul Menard topped the afternoon session in his #98 Ford, followed by Montoya, Stewart Haas's Ryan Newman, EGR's Jamie McMurray and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson.

Consensus in the Cup garage seemed to point at the new aero package not causing a major shift in the car's balance and handling, the same conclusion as drawn from the first test that some teams carried out at Texas a few weeks ago.

"It was good to know and put out of my mind that the spoiler was going to be a drastic difference in the way the car drives," said points' leader Kevin Harvick. "That is not the case. The car has a lot of grip with the tyre combination and the spoiler, so it drives really good.

"We went right to work on the things that we needed to because we felt comfortable with the car. I think that's been good and everything has gone well so far."

Jeff Gordon, who was never a big fan of the rear wing, didn't find a very different feel in the car on the track today, although he pointed out the big technical differences that the spoiler brings relative to the wing.

"Based on things we saw in the test, in our data that we have gathered, we thought the cars would drive pretty good and not be that much different and that is pretty much what we felt," said Gordon. "The cars don't have as much side force with the spoiler, so we've started getting into, for the last several years, is downforce, drag and then side force. You see skewing the cars.

"What we learned with the wing is that by running the car sideways as it entered the corner, that side force made up for even some of the drag and downforce that it took away. So now, we still have a lot of those things, but with the spoiler we just noticed where we lost a little bit of that side force but yet we have made up for it on total downforce on the car."

NASCAR officials also announced the aero and restrictor plate package for superspeedways, with spoilers set at 4.5 inches high without the higher side-extensions tested at Talladega. It will be 63 inches wide and have the same 70-degree angle at other tracks. A smaller restrictor-plate that those tested last week will be implemented for Talladega and Daytona, with holes measuring 30/32nds of an inch.

Teams will continue to test at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday before the new device makes its race debut next weekend at Martinsville.

Montoya tops new spoiler testPrimera Division round-up

Hamlin to have knee surgery

Denny Hamlin will undergo surgery to his left knee next Monday, Joe Gibbs Racing officials announced on Saturday.

Hamlin injured the anterior cruciate ligament on his knee while playing basketball in January and was hoping to wait until the end of the season to get surgery. However he will now take advantage of the Easter break, where he has at least nine free days to recover from the medical procedure.

His team has stated that he is expected to be back behind the wheel for the following race at Phoenix International Raceway.

"When we first reviewed the situation we thought Denny couldn't do any further damage to his knee if he waited to have surgery, but as the season progressed we determined that the best plan of action was to go ahead and have it repaired," said JD Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing.

"Hopefully this will take care of the situation and he should get stronger each week."

Hamlin had surgery to his right knee last December to repair a torn meniscus, only to pick up another injury a month later.

Joe Gibbs Racing officials have not nominated any relief drivers for Hamlin, but the team is expected to have someone on standby for the Virginia-born racer at Phoenix.

Hamlin, rated as one of the pre-season favourites for the title, is currently just 19th in the standings, the lowest ranked among JGR drivers.

Francis reveals Racing offerHamlin: Surgery won’t spoil season

Burton leads second spoiler test

Richard Childress Racing team-mates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick topped the final day of the new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series spoiler test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Burton set a fastest lap of 28.539 seconds at an average speed of 189.215 mph, edging Harvick by more than two tenths of a second. Tuesday's pacesetter Juan Pablo Montoya was third in his Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet, the last driver able to lap under the 29-second bracket during the whole test.

All the fastest times were recorded in the morning session with cool track temperatures and the asphalt already rubbered in from the first day of running. The afternoon session, which was paced by Richard Petty's AJ Allmendinger, proved to be slower as the track became slick due to warmer conditions.

Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, who was second fastest in the final session, said his Hendrick team was still hunting for the 'magic setting' for the new aero package and believes there may be increasing gaps between teams in the early races with the spoiler, although he expects everyone to catch up during the season.

"We might not be the first team to find the magic the spoiler wants, but we're usually pretty good at finding stuff in a hurry, and then the fact that it's a new element to the car brings a few months' worth of opportunity, I think," said Johnson.

"We saw that with the wing coming along, and truthfully the competition that was really, really equal before the wing has now gone away. I mean, the start of any rule change you have your largest separation, and then as time goes on, the teams that are behind catch up."

Nationwide Series regular Justin Allgaier, testing for Penske Racing, caused the only notable incident of the day when he hit the wall.

Teams will race the spoiler for the first time next weekend at Martinsville.

Burton leads second spoiler testFrancis reveals Racing offer

Montoya tops new spoiler test

Juan Pablo Montoya emerged at the top of the timesheet on Monday as NASCAR Sprint Cup teams completed the first of a two-day spoiler test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The Colombian set the pace at the wheel of his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a lap of 29.036 seconds at an average speed of 185.976 mph, posted in the morning when the track temperature was at its coolest of the day.

Teams experimented with what is expected to be the new aero package for the majority of tracks, all running the new rear spoiler and left-side deck lid and window fins, aimed at keeping cars from getting airborne.

According to NASCAR's vice president of competition, Robin Pemberton, teams were allowed to play with the length of the deck lid, starting with a minimum of 17 inches, while the dimensions on the shark fin on the rear window and the spoiler are fixed.

The squads on track also tested with different gearing, running shorter ratios in the afternoon to try to compensate the loss of rpm coming from the increased drag generated by the new spoiler.

Richard Petty's Paul Menard topped the afternoon session in his #98 Ford, followed by Montoya, Stewart Haas's Ryan Newman, EGR's Jamie McMurray and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson.

Consensus in the Cup garage seemed to point at the new aero package not causing a major shift in the car's balance and handling, the same conclusion as drawn from the first test that some teams carried out at Texas a few weeks ago.

"It was good to know and put out of my mind that the spoiler was going to be a drastic difference in the way the car drives," said points' leader Kevin Harvick. "That is not the case. The car has a lot of grip with the tyre combination and the spoiler, so it drives really good.

"We went right to work on the things that we needed to because we felt comfortable with the car. I think that's been good and everything has gone well so far."

Jeff Gordon, who was never a big fan of the rear wing, didn't find a very different feel in the car on the track today, although he pointed out the big technical differences that the spoiler brings relative to the wing.

"Based on things we saw in the test, in our data that we have gathered, we thought the cars would drive pretty good and not be that much different and that is pretty much what we felt," said Gordon. "The cars don't have as much side force with the spoiler, so we've started getting into, for the last several years, is downforce, drag and then side force. You see skewing the cars.

"What we learned with the wing is that by running the car sideways as it entered the corner, that side force made up for even some of the drag and downforce that it took away. So now, we still have a lot of those things, but with the spoiler we just noticed where we lost a little bit of that side force but yet we have made up for it on total downforce on the car."

NASCAR officials also announced the aero and restrictor plate package for superspeedways, with spoilers set at 4.5 inches high without the higher side-extensions tested at Talladega. It will be 63 inches wide and have the same 70-degree angle at other tracks. A smaller restrictor-plate that those tested last week will be implemented for Talladega and Daytona, with holes measuring 30/32nds of an inch.

Teams will continue to test at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday before the new device makes its race debut next weekend at Martinsville.

Montoya tops new spoiler testPrimera Division round-up

Hamlin: Surgery won't spoil season

Denny Hamlin says he still hopes to be in the Chase come September despite his knee surgery and announced that Casey Mears will be his relief driver for coming races.

The Joe Gibbs racer tore the anterior cruciate ligament on his left knee while playing basketball in January and on Saturday his team announced he will have surgery on Monday, following Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville.

The 29-year-old revealed that since his initial ligament injury the condition on his knee has worsened, with a cracked meniscus adding to the tearing of his ACL. He said that has forced him to get surgery earlier than he had planned.

"When I did initially tear my ACL the rest of my knee was completely fine, there was nothing else wrong with it," said Hamlin. "Now it seems like we've cracked a meniscus and if that goes, then what will happen is the knee will completely lock up and then you have to get it done.

"So it's best for me to limit my time off the race car by doing it on an off week. Just take that week, take my lumps that first week and then get back in the car just as soon as I can. For me it was more fearing long term and if something further goes wrong. With not having it there's nothing else around the knee to support it.

"I've done further damage and then I noticed after the Bristol race that it's as achy as it has been so far and it hurt pretty good. The best thing is to get it over with."

Hamlin said he has not taken any medication to kill the pain in his knee and that he has not suffered more this weekend at Martinsville, NASCAR's toughest oval on brakes, where he ruled out having any problems on Sunday.

The JGR driver does not believe his recovery from surgery will dictate whether or not he will be able to be in the Chase this year and says his poor results in the first five races would probably have to do more with him eventually missing the cut of the top 12 for the first time in his Sprint Cup career.

He expects the next few races to be about damage limitation.

"If we come up short come September when it comes Chase time and we don't get in, then it has to do with a lot of performance over the course of the year," Hamlin said. "It's not about Phoenix, Texas, Richmond and all those tracks. It's this first five races that we struggled to get good finishes.

"But right now I feel like our team is on an upswing, we're going to come here on Sunday, we're going to play in to win and we'll see what happens after that."

Hamlin announced that Mears will be on standby for him at coming races starting from Phoenix, although he stated that he plans to start every event. Mears could step in for Hamlin during an early caution period at any of the events and Hamlin would still be credited with the result as per NASCAR rules.

Mears had been competing for start-up team Keyed Up Motorsports, but had only managed to qualify once at Bristol. He will now focus on being Hamlin's relief driver.

"We're going to have Casey Mears standing by for a few weeks and whatnot, just to see how things go. We felt like he was our best option," said Hamlin. "Probably for Phoenix I will to have to use my right foot to brake versus left foot, which changes things quite a bit. But I'll try doing things just like I normally do and just see what limits me at that point.

"Whether the best thing to do is let [Mears] practice, qualify, all that stuff in the car, and then me race it, I don't know what's the best option. Not until we get close to it.

"The recovery, we're going to be 12 days out of it when we start practice on Friday [at Phoenix]. I'll just see how it goes."

There is an increasing chance of rain for Sunday's race at Martinsville, but Hamlin said that if the race gets postponed until Monday he will get his surgery done on Tuesday.

Stremme, Waltrip to race at BristolHenry - I don’t deserve place

Burton leads second spoiler test

Richard Childress Racing team-mates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick topped the final day of the new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series spoiler test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Burton set a fastest lap of 28.539 seconds at an average speed of 189.215 mph, edging Harvick by more than two tenths of a second. Tuesday's pacesetter Juan Pablo Montoya was third in his Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet, the last driver able to lap under the 29-second bracket during the whole test.

All the fastest times were recorded in the morning session with cool track temperatures and the asphalt already rubbered in from the first day of running. The afternoon session, which was paced by Richard Petty's AJ Allmendinger, proved to be slower as the track became slick due to warmer conditions.

Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, who was second fastest in the final session, said his Hendrick team was still hunting for the 'magic setting' for the new aero package and believes there may be increasing gaps between teams in the early races with the spoiler, although he expects everyone to catch up during the season.

"We might not be the first team to find the magic the spoiler wants, but we're usually pretty good at finding stuff in a hurry, and then the fact that it's a new element to the car brings a few months' worth of opportunity, I think," said Johnson.

"We saw that with the wing coming along, and truthfully the competition that was really, really equal before the wing has now gone away. I mean, the start of any rule change you have your largest separation, and then as time goes on, the teams that are behind catch up."

Nationwide Series regular Justin Allgaier, testing for Penske Racing, caused the only notable incident of the day when he hit the wall.

Teams will race the spoiler for the first time next weekend at Martinsville.

Montoya tops new spoiler testFrancis reveals Racing offer

Montoya tops new spoiler test

Juan Pablo Montoya emerged at the top of the timesheet on Monday as NASCAR Sprint Cup teams completed the first of a two-day spoiler test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The Colombian set the pace at the wheel of his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a lap of 29.036 seconds at an average speed of 185.976 mph, posted in the morning when the track temperature was at its coolest of the day.

Teams experimented with what is expected to be the new aero package for the majority of tracks, all running the new rear spoiler and left-side deck lid and window fins, aimed at keeping cars from getting airborne.

According to NASCAR's vice president of competition, Robin Pemberton, teams were allowed to play with the length of the deck lid, starting with a minimum of 17 inches, while the dimensions on the shark fin on the rear window and the spoiler are fixed.

The squads on track also tested with different gearing, running shorter ratios in the afternoon to try to compensate the loss of rpm coming from the increased drag generated by the new spoiler.

Richard Petty's Paul Menard topped the afternoon session in his #98 Ford, followed by Montoya, Stewart Haas's Ryan Newman, EGR's Jamie McMurray and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson.

Consensus in the Cup garage seemed to point at the new aero package not causing a major shift in the car's balance and handling, the same conclusion as drawn from the first test that some teams carried out at Texas a few weeks ago.

"It was good to know and put out of my mind that the spoiler was going to be a drastic difference in the way the car drives," said points' leader Kevin Harvick. "That is not the case. The car has a lot of grip with the tyre combination and the spoiler, so it drives really good.

"We went right to work on the things that we needed to because we felt comfortable with the car. I think that's been good and everything has gone well so far."

Jeff Gordon, who was never a big fan of the rear wing, didn't find a very different feel in the car on the track today, although he pointed out the big technical differences that the spoiler brings relative to the wing.

"Based on things we saw in the test, in our data that we have gathered, we thought the cars would drive pretty good and not be that much different and that is pretty much what we felt," said Gordon. "The cars don't have as much side force with the spoiler, so we've started getting into, for the last several years, is downforce, drag and then side force. You see skewing the cars.

"What we learned with the wing is that by running the car sideways as it entered the corner, that side force made up for even some of the drag and downforce that it took away. So now, we still have a lot of those things, but with the spoiler we just noticed where we lost a little bit of that side force but yet we have made up for it on total downforce on the car."

NASCAR officials also announced the aero and restrictor plate package for superspeedways, with spoilers set at 4.5 inches high without the higher side-extensions tested at Talladega. It will be 63 inches wide and have the same 70-degree angle at other tracks. A smaller restrictor-plate that those tested last week will be implemented for Talladega and Daytona, with holes measuring 30/32nds of an inch.

Teams will continue to test at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday before the new device makes its race debut next weekend at Martinsville.

Montoya tops new spoiler testPrimera Division round-up

Montoya tops new spoiler test

Juan Pablo Montoya emerged at the top of the timesheet on Monday as NASCAR Sprint Cup teams completed the first of a two-day spoiler test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The Colombian set the pace at the wheel of his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a lap of 29.036 seconds at an average speed of 185.976 mph, posted in the morning when the track temperature was at its coolest of the day.

Teams experimented with what is expected to be the new aero package for the majority of tracks, all running the new rear spoiler and left-side deck lid and window fins, aimed at keeping cars from getting airborne.

According to NASCAR's vice president of competition, Robin Pemberton, teams were allowed to play with the length of the deck lid, starting with a minimum of 17 inches, while the dimensions on the shark fin on the rear window and the spoiler are fixed.

The squads on track also tested with different gearing, running shorter ratios in the afternoon to try to compensate the loss of rpm coming from the increased drag generated by the new spoiler.

Richard Petty's Paul Menard topped the afternoon session in his #98 Ford, followed by Montoya, Stewart Haas's Ryan Newman, EGR's Jamie McMurray and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson.

Consensus in the Cup garage seemed to point at the new aero package not causing a major shift in the car's balance and handling, the same conclusion as drawn from the first test that some teams carried out at Texas a few weeks ago.

"It was good to know and put out of my mind that the spoiler was going to be a drastic difference in the way the car drives," said points' leader Kevin Harvick. "That is not the case. The car has a lot of grip with the tyre combination and the spoiler, so it drives really good.

"We went right to work on the things that we needed to because we felt comfortable with the car. I think that's been good and everything has gone well so far."

Jeff Gordon, who was never a big fan of the rear wing, didn't find a very different feel in the car on the track today, although he pointed out the big technical differences that the spoiler brings relative to the wing.

"Based on things we saw in the test, in our data that we have gathered, we thought the cars would drive pretty good and not be that much different and that is pretty much what we felt," said Gordon. "The cars don't have as much side force with the spoiler, so we've started getting into, for the last several years, is downforce, drag and then side force. You see skewing the cars.

"What we learned with the wing is that by running the car sideways as it entered the corner, that side force made up for even some of the drag and downforce that it took away. So now, we still have a lot of those things, but with the spoiler we just noticed where we lost a little bit of that side force but yet we have made up for it on total downforce on the car."

NASCAR officials also announced the aero and restrictor plate package for superspeedways, with spoilers set at 4.5 inches high without the higher side-extensions tested at Talladega. It will be 63 inches wide and have the same 70-degree angle at other tracks. A smaller restrictor-plate that those tested last week will be implemented for Talladega and Daytona, with holes measuring 30/32nds of an inch.

Teams will continue to test at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday before the new device makes its race debut next weekend at Martinsville.

Martinsville debut for new spoilerPrimera Division round-up

Montoya: Keselowski will back down

Juan Pablo Montoya expects Brad Keselowski to tone down his aggressiveness on the track following his accident at Atlanta two weeks ago.

Speaking at Bristol, Montoya said he anticipates the Penske driver will change the way he races, even if Keselowski himself has said otherwise.

The Earnhardt Ganassi driver admitted that he struggled with his approach initially when he switched from Formula 1, but had to adapt to the way of racing in NASCAR.

"I think he'll learn," said Montoya about Keselowski. "He's going to say he's going to race the same way but I'm sure he won't. And if he does, somebody else will wreck him again. I think he'll learn. It's hard. You want to show you can do it and you can get the job done. But with the races being so long, I think you've got to learn to respect everybody.

"I struggled with it. I didn't wreck anybody at the beginning but I was an a** to get past because I was used to that [in F1]. I was used to racing the hell out of everybody and [in NASCAR] you don't have to."

Montoya said that NASCAR being more flexible on letting the drivers police themselves on the track this year, is simply a way of making public what has been an unwritten racing code between stock car drivers for years.

"If you wreck somebody you've got to expect that they're going to get you back," said Montoya. "It's always been like that. [Now] it's a little more open for the public, but when somebody wrecks you, you're going to wreck them back.

"You don't want to wreck somebody on purpose. But I think if you do, you've got to expect that they're going to get you back."

The Colombian said it is hard to compare how rivals race each other hard in F1 relative to how it is done in NASCAR, given how fragile F1 cars are to wheel-to-wheel contact. He said in open-wheel racing respect from rivals has to be earned in a different way and being aggressive and not backing down is one of them.

Montoya did not mind crashing at high-speed at Motegi in 1999 to try to earn respect on the track from Champ Car's Michael Andretti, when he was entering the series as a rookie and in just his second race.

He also remembered his spat with Tony Stewart at Homestead last year and said that after being on the receiving end of contact from the former Sprint Cup champion, Stewart was obviously expecting him to retaliate, as he eventually did.

"When you do that to somebody and you expect that they don't get you back, you're dreaming; especially when you've got a bumper," Montoya said.

Keselowski fought for victory on Saturday in the closing laps of the Nationwide Series race against Penske team-mate Justin Allgaier. Despite him getting very close to making contact with his young rival a couple of times, in the end he had to concede victory to Allgaier.

Penske supportive of KeselowskiFrancis reveals Racing offer

Johnson: Keselowski has upset rivals

Jimmie Johnson believes Brad Keselowski's attitude on the track has left him unpopular among many of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rivals.

Keselowski has been at the centre of controversy following his violent flip two weeks ago at Atlanta, which came as consequence of retaliatory action from Carl Edwards following a series of past incidents between the Penske and Roush Fenway racers.

Reigning champion Johnson believes Keselowski's aggressiveness on the track has not made him many friends among the established drivers, something he believes may end up working against his own interests.

"I think Brad needs to know that there are a lot of guys he has rubbed the wrong way," Johnson said. "I think he needs to stay true to who he is, and I do respect that. But you go through the garage area, and he has for whatever reason turned the garage against him. And if I were in his shoes, I would be working hard to correct that.

"At the same time, we all have our own past, we all handle things differently and he's a great driver; he's a great talent and he's going to do great in the Penske cars. He's got to stand up for what he feels is right for him and his race team. But you just don't turn off a garage area as fast as he has for no reason. So he's got to work on that in my eyes."

The reigning champion was teamed with Keselowski at Hendrick Motorsports for the past two years as the latter drove in a number of Cup events for the squad while racing full-time for Hendrick co-owned JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series.

Johnson denies having had any issues on the track with Keselowski, but believes that feuds between him and other Cup drivers have made him unpopular with many of his colleagues.

"I have not had any issues," said Johnson. "But if you watch the Nationwide races there's a long list starting with Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards and there's just like an overall brewing of thought and discussion in the garage area.

"I think some of it has to do with when you come into the sport, especially at the top level as a rookie, if you like it or not, you're going to take a few lumps before you're given that opportunity to pass some out. And I believe he's come in and has passed out more bumps than he's taken."

Johnson's team-mate Dale Earnhardt Jr, who was Keselowski's boss for the past two years in the Nationwide Series, says his former driver is just learning his way in NASCAR's top series and expects his attitude to change as he becomes more experienced.

"He'll get to learn a lot of lessons in his rookie season - every rookie does - and he'll probably be glad to tell you guys all about it at the end of the season," Earnhardt said. "And I'm sure his tune will be just slightly different than it is right now."

Keselowski has stated following the Atlanta incident that he will not back down from his approach to racing, even if he does not plan to take his feud with Edwards further. Speaking at Bristol on Friday he said that he has felt support from his fans, who expect him to continue to race hard.

"The fans are like the ultimate gauge in our sport and ultimately dictate what's right or wrong," said Keselowski. "So far I've got a lot of positive response."

The Penske driver is set to meet with NASCAR officials and Edwards on Saturday at Bristol, when the two parties look set to settle their feud.

Messi expects Real challengePenske supportive of Keselowski

Edwards, Keselowski settle feud

Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski met with NASCAR officials on Saturday morning at Bristol and have settled their feud, following their on-track exchange at Atlanta - which resulted in a dramatic accident for Keselowski.

The meeting at the NASCAR hauler ended with both drivers coming out of the back doors together in front of the media, posing so as to show that the animosity between them is over. Their team bosses Jack Roush and Roger Penske were also part of the meeting.

"Everything went really well," Edwards said about the meeting. "I think the biggest thing coming out of that meeting is that now, I think, Brad and I understand one another a little better. I think we're going to be able to just go forward and go racing, and that's what this is all about. It was really cool to be able to talk with Jack and Roger and Brad all at once. We laughed. We cried. In the end, I think it's going to be good."

Keselowski did not reveal much about what was said behind closed doors, but rated the meeting as "productive". It was the first time he and Edwards had met following their incident at Atlanta two weeks ago.

"I don't know how Carl feels about it, but I don't think it's cool to say everything that was said in there," said Keselowski. "Hopefully, it will be productive to where we can move forward and continue to race each other hard and not have any more incidents like we had at Atlanta.

"We hadn't talked before. I wouldn't say there was anything said that surprised me. You have to understand, Carl and I have a mutual respect for each other in a sense we're almost the same people. We come from similar backgrounds. We drive the same way. I have a lot of respect for him before and after the accident. Hopefully, that will stay the same."

Keselowski added that he is willing to continue to race hard against Edwards but will try to be more tolerant whenever they meet on the track again. Both are competing full time in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series.

"Carl and I have talked before about leaving each other more room, but it seems like when it came down to it, it just never worked out," Keselowski said. "It's racing. The biggest thing to me is incidents are going to happen because we race against each other more than 60 times. We're going to run beside each other. We just each have to build up a tolerance for that."

After leaving the NASCAR hauler Keselowski went on to set pole position for the Nationwide Series race, which Edwards will start from the outside of the second row.

Ramis race hots upEdwards keen to end feud

Penske supportive of Keselowski

Roger Penske says he won't interfere with Brad Keselowski's approach to racing, as he came out in support of his driver after his spat with Carl Edwards.

Following Saturday's meeting between Edwards, Keselowski, their respective team bosses and NASCAR officials, Penske said he has never told his drivers how to race and he won't do so now with Keselowski, despite some believing he is too aggressive.

"I don't tell my drivers to run hard or to run soft," said Penske. "I think he knows what he has to do on the race track with his peers and quite honestly, he's not making any statements about what he's gonna do or not do. I think the media has taken some of that, moved it further and made a bigger circle around him.

"What I want him to do is run fair on the race track and be competitive. But he's got to respect the other drivers. They have to respect him."

Keselowski said openly last week that he won't back down from his approach to racing, but Penske said he has not heard his driver say so.

"He hasn't said that to me," said Penske. "He wants to race. He wants to have his car in the race at the end. Consequently, if you're not keeping your car underneath you, you're gonna get yourself in trouble and not be there in the end. As far as I'm concerned, it's behind us. It's an issue that was between the two drivers."

Reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said on Friday that Keselowski's attitude had "turned the garage against him". Penske says that no matter how rivals feel about his 26-year-old driver, he will remain supportive of him.

"I'm not taking a poll in the garage area about what driver personalities are and what other people feel about them," said Penske. "He's a competitor out there. He drives for Penske Racing and I'm going to support him."

Meanwhile Edwards' boss Jack Roush said he told his driver that he "did not condone" what he did at Atlanta when he retaliated against Keselowski on the track, but that he did "understand" his actions. Roush added he doesn't expect the two drivers to see eye-to-eye, although he anticipates more respect on the track between the two.

"I think that they will give one another enough respect that we won't see another occurrence like [Atlanta]," said Roush. "I think Carl is not likely to have incidental contact with Brad and cause a wreck, and I think Brad is not like to have incidental contact with Carl and cause a wreck in the foreseeable future."

Keselowski enters Sunday's race at Bristol 33rd in the points and needs a solid result to remain inside the top 35 in the owners' standings ahead of next weekend's event at Martinsville.

Henry - I don’t deserve placeKeselowski calls for Edwards penalty

Stremme, Waltrip to race at Bristol

David Stremme is set to make his NASCAR Sprint Cup return this weekend at Bristol, while Michael Waltrip will attempt to qualify for his second race of the season at the half-mile track.

Stremme, who lost his drive with Penske Racing last year when the squad hired Brad Keselowski, will replace Boris Said at the wheel of the #26 Latitude 43 Ford. The team is hoping to keep its top 35 status into the next event at Martinsville, though it has slipped to 37th after the first four races.

Meanwhile Michael Waltrip, who plans to enter a limited number of races this year, will drive the #55 Prism Motorsports Toyota in place of Michael McDowell. Waltrip, who needs to qualify on speed for Sunday's race, will be back again with the same team next month to race at Talladega, having only raced once this year in the season-opener at Daytona.

Stremme's best Bristol results came in 2007 while driving for Chip Ganassi, taking two top-15 finishes, while Waltrip has eight top 10s and a top five at the half-mile, highly-banked oval.

Edwards keen to end feudHenry - I don’t deserve place

Karthikeyan to make NASCAR debut

Former Formula 1 racer Narain Karthikeyan is set to make his NASCAR debut in the Camping World Truck Series at Martinsville in two weeks' time.

The Indian racer has inked a deal to compete for newly-formed Starbeast Motorsports in a number of races this year, starting March 27 at NASCAR's shortest and slowest oval.

Karthikeyan, who has most recently raced in the Le Mans Series, tested an ARCA car for Starbeast last December at Daytona and he is now set to follow in the footsteps of Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Speed and Nelson Piquet by making a transition into stock cars.

"The opportunity to compete in a NASCAR series is a dream come true for me," Karthikeyan said.

"I have raced all over the world, but this is a different kind of challenge for me and I look forward to learning everything I can about racing in this environment. NASCAR is known for its passionate fans. I am excited to be introducing India to this sport and hope to help develop an equally passionate fan base there."

Karthikeyan, India's first F1 driver, will now also become the first Indian NASCAR racer. He has some stock car experience from outings in the now defunct Speedcar Series, which used cars similar to NASCAR Nationwide Series machinery, but did not feature any oval events.

Starbeast Motorsports will field the #60 truck from Wyler Racing after entering an agreement with the established Truck Series outfit. The car has been driven by experienced Stacey Compton in the first two races of the year, finishing seventh at Daytona and 19th at Atlanta.

According to a team statement, Starbeast Motorsports is focused on bringing NASCAR to the international community through foreign drivers, with Karthikeyan at the centre of its efforts to grow the sport in India.

"After his success in Formula 1, Narain has become one of India's most popular athletes and the obvious choice to introduce NASCAR to the subcontinent," said team founder Miguel Abaroa. "His story is that of a motorsports pioneer, and this next chapter will be his most compelling."

Compton will serve as a driver coach to assist Karthikeyan as he makes the transition from open-wheel racing to NASCAR.

Piquet set for further ARCA outingsBojan not in Ribery deal

Martinsville debut for new spoiler

NASCAR officials announced on Wednesday that the new rear spoiler is set to make its race debut at Martinsville in two weeks' time.

After running a rear wing since the debut of the current specification of Sprint Cup car at Bristol in 2007, NASCAR has finally decided to ditch it in favour of a return to a spoiler, as used for many years in the series.

The device has already been tested at almost every type of track by a number of teams, and following an official test next week at Charlotte Motor Speedway, cars will be fitted with the spoiler for the rest of the season.

NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton confirmed the move in a news conference at the track today, where all Sprint Cup teams will test the spoiler next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Pemberton said that aerodynamic changes would also be implemented to the cars starting from Texas. Cup cars will be fitted with a shark fin on the left deck lid, as used in the season-opener at Daytona and this week in testing at Talladega.

The move is aimed at trying to keep cars from getting airborne, following Brad Keselowski's dramatic flip at Atlanta two weeks ago.

NASCAR has already provided teams with a number of spoilers fixed at 70 degrees with a four inch height as they will be used at all tracks but superspeedways. Officials have yet to determine the final configuration for the device at those tracks, following Tuesday's test at Talladega.

Navas happy with Sevilla stayTeams test new spoiler at Talladega

Teams test new spoiler at Talladega

Sprint Cup teams tested the series' new rear spoiler at Talladega Superspeedway on Tuesday, while NASCAR looked at different restrictor options ahead of next month's event at the track.

Twenty-four cars, including most of the front-runners, were at the 2.66-mile superspeedway running the new spoiler for the first time at a restrictor-plate track.

Several different configurations of the device were tried throughout the afternoon as the series tries to find a compromise between drafting speeds, closing rates and drag levels.

Teams also tested different restrictor plates, starting with one-inch plus holes, then scaling back through the day as speeds proved too high early on - some cars reportedly exceeded 210mph in the draft.

Sprint Cup director John Darby said he was happy with the progress made during the day and explained the reasoning behind the trimming of the rear spoiler, as they ran with extensions on both ends of it in the morning and then tested without them in the afternoon.

"We had some suck-up speeds that were a little faster than we cared for," Darby said. "In conjunction with that, we had a lot of conversations with the drivers and it became apparent the car had too much drag.

"It was good for closing up to the guy in front if you were in the middle of the pack. But if you got shuffled to the outside, the spoiler became a parachute and sucked them backwards just as fast as they were going forwards. That typically doesn't make for a good race."

Six-time Talladega winner Jeff Gordon said there were no surprises behind the wheel running the new package, although he pointed out that the initial version of the spoiler, with the extensions, created some visibility issues while running close behind other cars.

"Nothing eye-opening, it felt like it went well," said Gordon following his first run in a five-car pack. "The cars have a little bit more turbulent air when you're behind others. It makes the car rattle and shake a little bit more, which I heard was similar to what the Nationwide cars have, so no big surprise there.

"A little bit of visual, not necessarily behind you, but when you're behind a car because the corners of the spoiler are really tall. Just seeing across those corners to the side of somebody, trying to look further ahead."

Teams will get a further chance to test the spoiler next week when they run at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The new device could be used in a race meeting for the first time at Martinsville on March 28.

Daytona track repair beginsPrimera Liga round-up

Edwards keen to end feud

Carl Edwards says he is keen to bring an end to his feud with Brad Keselowski after the incident between the pair at Atlanta.

NASCAR announced yesterday that Edwards was being put on probation after admitting that he deliberately drove into Keselowski in the closing laps last weekend. The collision saw Keselowski's car launched into the air, although he emerged unscathed and was the latest episode in a row between the pair that stretched back to their dramatic late-race crash at Talladega in 2009.

Writing on his Facebook page, Edwards declared that he wanted to end the row with Keselowski and move on ahead of the next event at Bristol, one of NASCAR's tightest tracks and a venue where bumping between cars is frequent.

"I respect NASCAR's penalty and look forward to our meeting in Bristol," Edwards wrote. "I'm ready to put this behind us and get on with some good racing."

Edwards currently ranks 20th in the points, while Keselowski is 33rd ahead of the fifth event of the season, where the top 35 in the standings that have their start guaranteed for the next race will be reset based on the current rankings.

Edwards admits crash was deliberateHleb open to Prem return

NASCAR puts Edwards on probation

Carl Edwards was only lightly punished for his on-track incident with Brad Keselowski at Atlanta, with NASCAR officials announcing a three-race probation for the Roush Fenway racer.

With two laps to go of Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta, Edwards intentionally crashed into Brad Keselowski on the front stretch, causing a frightening accident for the Penske driver.

Edwards was parked by NASCAR following the incident and was called to face officials immediately. Keselowski was able to walk away from the crash unscathed but later called for NASCAR to act against Edwards.

However, having stated at the beginning of the year that it was willing to be more flexible regarding the way drivers race each other on the track, NASCAR announced a three-race probation for Edwards as the only post-race punishment for his antics at Atlanta.

NASCAR president Mike Helton said they considered Edwards' actions a separate issue from Keselowski's car getting airborne, something he said they will look at to prevent it from happening again in the future.

"We made it very clear to [Edwards] that these actions were not acceptable and they go beyond what we said in January about putting the driving back in the hands of the drivers," Helton said. "We believe he understands our position at this point.

"Also I'd like to say that it's important for us to step back and separate the issue of what happened with the #99 and the #12 on the racetrack, and the fact that the #12 car went airborne.

"We've not seen a car get airborne much at a mile and a half racetrack and that's something that is very important to us and that we're going to study closely and figure out things that we can do to help prevent this very quickly in the future."

Helton said parking Edwards on Sunday with just a handful of laps remaining was already a reaction from NASCAR against the driver, even if he was more than 100 laps down when he crashed Keselowski, who was running among the top ten at the time.

Edwards' feud with Keselowski goes back to last year when the Roush Fenway racer crashed hard against the fence after contact with the latter while battling for victory at Talladega. Further incidents in the Nationwide series and earlier on Sunday at Atlanta, seemed to have caused Edwards to retaliate.

"We parked Carl as soon as the incident occurred for the balance of the event," said Helton. "You can look back last year at some incidents in Homestead when it was a one-lap penalty.

"So the immediate reaction from NASCAR was parking the car for the balance of the event. In that end of its own can be a serious reaction from us I think. The balance of it I think will still need to be sorted out among the drivers as to what their opinion of all this is but I do say there's two things here.

"It's a function of us wanting to do the right thing about the competitors on the racetrack from both sides. One allow them to race but the other side of it is to maintain law and order within a reasonable level."

Helton said he expects to have both Edwards and Keselowski meet and bring their feud to rest.

Edward's punishment was well received by some but not so by other Sprint Cup drivers. Points leader Kevin Harvick was one of those who expected Edwards to be penalised.

"Huh! Surprised by the penalty or lack there of," he said on his twitter page. "I'm thinking about asking for a refund for all of my penalties!!!!"

He was echoed later by Kyle Busch, who tweeted "Me too! Let me know how that goes."

Robby Gordon, one of the most penalised drivers in recent NASCAR history, was obviously also in disagreement with the punishment.

"I wonder what would [have] happened to me in that situation? Hmmm someone playing favorites?" he tweeted, but Kasey Kahne said on his Twitter "Doesn't sound like favorites to me. Airborne is biggest and only issue. I like Helton's call."

Neither Edwards nor Keselowski have yet stated their opinion on NASCAR's ruling.

Keselowski accepts Edwards penaltyHenry - I don’t deserve place

Keselowski accepts Edwards penalty

Brad Keselowski says he support NASCAR's decision to put Carl Edwards on probation for deliberately crashing into him near the end of Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta.

The Penske driver was sent into a frightening airborne crash following the contact from Edwards, who later admitted he had been intentionally retaliating for previous incidents between the pair - including their famous late tangle at Talladega last season.

Some in the NASCAR fraternity have expressed their surprise at the lightness of Edwards' punishment, but in statement issued through his Penske team, Keselowski said that he agreed with NASCAR's decision despite having called for further punishment for Edwards on Sunday. He lamented that his crash had cast a shadow over his team-mate Kurt Busch's win.

"I support NASCAR in the decision they communicated today," Keselowski said. "They are not in an enviable position when it comes to these matters, but they do an outstanding job.

"The unfortunate part about what happened on Sunday is that it has overshadowed a win by [Busch] and an overall solid performance by Penske Racing at Atlanta."

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Edwards admits crash was deliberate

Carl Edwards has admitted openly that he intentionally caused Brad Keselowski to crash in the closing laps of Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta.

The Roush Fenway racer had an incident with the Penske driver early in the race following a restart, one that he admitted to be his fault, despite believing otherwise before looking at video evidence.

Then with a couple of laps remaining into the race, Edwards tapped Keselowski into a spin, which resulted in a violent crash as the #12 Dodge got airborne and crashed against the barrier while turned upside down. Keselowski was unhurt in the incident despite the magnitude of the impact.

The feud between the two was triggered last year in the spring race at Talladega, where Edwards' car almost ended up in the grandstand, as he and Keselowski made contact while battling for victory on the final lap.

On Sunday and having met with NASCAR officials at the track after being parked, Edwards later wrote on his Facebook page explaining the reasoning behind his on-track antics at Atlanta.

"My options," he wrote. "Considering that Brad wrecks me with no regard for anyone's safety or hard work, should I: A) Keep letting him wreck me? B) Confront him after the race? C) Wait till Bristol and collect other cars? or D) Take care of it now?

"I want to be clear that I was surprised at his flight and very relieved when he walked away. Every person has to decide what code they want to live by and hopefully this explains mine."

Edwards may face further penalties for his actions, but NASCAR vice president for competition Robin Pemberton, who heard from Edwards on Sunday following the incident, said a decision has yet to be made on the matter.

"It looked like it could have been a payback from the #99 [Edwards] on the #12 [Keselowski]," said Pemberton. "We talked with Carl after the race and we have an understanding about it and we will talk internally again as a group Monday or Tuesday of this week and make any decision on if there will be any other actions that we will take."

Last year in the season finale at Homestead an on-track feud between Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya took place, although with a far less violent result. Montoya was penalised with two laps after he got payback for Stewart getting into him earlier, but no further action was taken against the Ganassi driver.

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Montoya laments late caution

Juan Pablo Montoya lamented that the incident between Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards in the closing laps at Atlanta hampered his chances of winning his first oval race in NASCAR.

The Earnhardt Ganassi driver was a contender up front for most of the distance, leading for a few laps around halfway though the 500-mile event.

In the closing stages of the race he looked to be in position to threaten leader Kurt Busch as he dramatically closed the gap to the Penske driver until the caution flag waved following Keselowski's Penske Dodge's violent crash after contact with the Roush Fenway Ford of Edwards.

Montoya lamented the timing of the caution as he thought he had a better chance of beating Busch for victory while running a long stint under green and not in a short run following a caution.

"I was within three car lengths [of Busch] just coming to two [laps] to go," said Montoya. "I was, taking three or four tenths a lap [from Busch]. So definitely I thought if I got anywhere close to him, I'm sure I could make a move.

"It's one of those deals. It's okay. It is what is. I told the guys anyway at the end, 'we need to finish, we need the points.' It's a good points day for us."

Montoya said on the final restart he was caught by surprise by Busch, as the Penske driver was quicker off the line. The Colombian believes however that Busch probably restarted before the reference they have on the wall, which marks where drivers can get back up to racing speed.

"We have those two lines we're supposed to restart on," said Montoya. "To be honest, the lines are very short between them. I don't know. I need to ask NASCAR exactly how the rule is. If you're within three car lengths of it or four car lengths of it, can you go? Do you get to really cross the first line, how they're going to police it?

"I'm not saying [Busch] doesn't deserve the win because he did. I was on the outside. I was probably destined to finish second there. When you have the bottom, you can hold it wide open between one and two, you have the bottom in three, you're done."

Montoya has led laps in three out of four races this year but has not enjoyed a good start to his season following an engine failure at Fontana and an incident with his team-mate Jamie McMurray at Las Vegas.

After his third place finish at Atlanta, Montoya now ranks 21st in the standings, exactly the same position he had in the championship a year ago.

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Keselowski calls for Edwards penalty

Brad Keselowski expects NASCAR to punish Carl Edwards after the Roush Fenway racer intentionally caused him to crash in the closing laps of Sunday's Sprint Cup series race at Atlanta.

Keselowski was running well and inside the top ten when he passed Edwards, who was several laps down, on the front stretch. The latter seemed to intentionally hit the Penske Dodge of his rival in the left rear, sending it into a spin, which then caused the car to get airborne and crash - flipping over against the SAFER barrier on the driver's side.

Earlier in the race Edwards had crashed when he closed the door on Keselowski on lap 40 following a restart, making contact with him and then with the barrier as a consequence. Although Edwards believed the Penske driver had caused that accident, he seemed to have changed his mind after seeing the replays while his car was being repaired in the garage.

Despite that, the incident on lap 324 looked to be Edward's way of getting payback for what had happened earlier.

"It could have killed somebody in the grandstands," Keselowski said about the incident. "I know that's a little ironic that it's got me saying that, but at least I didn't do it intentionally when it happened.

"It will be interesting to see how NASCAR reacts to it. They have the ball. If they're going to allow people to intentionally wreck each other at tracks this fast, we will hurt someone either in the cars or in the grandstands."

Last year Keselowski won his first Sprint Cup race at Talladega in a controversial finish where he made contact with Edwards approaching the chequered flag while battling for victory. Edwards' car flipped over and crashed against the fence, causing injury to a fan in the grandstand.

Before talking to NASCAR officials following their incident, Edwards said he did not expect to Keselowski's car to flip the way it did, and was glad nobody was injured. He said his feud with the Penske racer should now be over.

"Brad knows the deal between him and I," said Edwards. "The scary part was his car went airborne, which was not at all what I expected. At the end of the day, we're out here to race and people have to have respect for one another and I have a lot of respect for people's safety.

"I wish it wouldn't have gone like it did, but I'm glad he's okay and we'll just go on and race some more and maybe him and I won't get in any more incidents together. That would be the best thing."

Although no more penalties have been announced for Edwards, further punishment could come for him this week.

Patrick in crash on NASCAR debutLa Liga round-up

Montoya critical of McMurray

Juan Pablo Montoya criticised team-mate Jamie McMurray after the two made contact in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas on Sunday.

Both were running inside the top 10 on lap 94 when McMurray's Earnhardt Ganassi Chevy made contact with the left rear corner of Montoya's car entering Turn 3, sending him into a spin, with both cars hitting the barrier.

The Colombian was quick to blame his team-mate, speaking right after taking his car to the garage for repairs.

"Jamie plain and simple just wrecked us," said Montoya. "Every time I am around him, he wants to run the [heck] out of me. I don't know if it is okay to say that but I just did.

"On the restart I was inside of him, I think he got tight and never lifted, I didn't hit the fence because... it was a miracle. Then I arced it in to 3 and he just plain and simple just wrecked us.

"I'm sure on the radio it was 'ah, I didn't mean that'. He is just trying to prove to people he can drive a race car and I guess he isn't doing too many favours on this team."

McMurray, who tweeted: "Tough day, sorry to all of the @jpmontoya fans" following the race, said Montoya's remarks against him were made in the heat of the moment.

"Oh, you're probably just frustrated for what happened on the race track, so you guys [the media] probably shouldn't put a lot of stock into what he said," said McMurray. "When you ask somebody something immediately after getting crashed, they typically don't have nice things to say."

The Daytona 500 winner said he got loose while battling with Montoya and that he was unable to prevent hitting his team-mate's car.

"I just got really loose underneath him, he turned in a little bit earlier than I was expecting and when it did it made even looser," said McMurray. "I just had to catch my car and unfortunately I got into him whenever I did that."

McMurray was able to remain on the lead lap following the incident but the damage on his car caused him to lose pace and finish down in 34th place, seven laps down. Montoya crossed the finish line 37th after lengthy repairs in the garage.

Bilic opens Prem doorMontoya, McMurray settle Vegas clash

Piquet set for further ARCA outings

Nelson Piquet has finalised plans for three more ARCA races as part of his transition to stock cars.

The former Formula 1 driver raced in both the ARCA and Truck Series events at Daytona last month, finishing sixth in the latter after getting caught up in a collision during the ARCA opener.

He will now rejoin top ARCA team Eddie Sharp Racing at Texas on 16 April, Michigan on 11 June, and Pocono on 31 July.

"I learned a lot in the Daytona ARCA race, and I know it helped me with my sixth place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series," Piquet said.

"I have a very good relationship with the Eddie Sharp boys already, we gelled from the very beginning so I'm really happy to continue to work with such a good group of people."

Piquet also expects to announce details of further Truck races shortly. AUTOSPORT understands that his aim is to contest the Truck events on the same bill as his next round of ARCA races, but that no deal has been reached either with Red Horse Racing - which ran him at Daytona - or another Truck team yet.

Francis reveals Racing offerPiquet sixth on NASCAR Truck debut

Rain disrupts Daytona build-up

All on-track activities had to be cancelled at Daytona on Friday due to inclement weather, forcing the Truck Series season opener to be postponed and NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying to be cancelled.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars were set to complete a practice session in the early afternoon, but rain did not allow the session to go ahead as planned and teams will have to shakedown their fresh engines during Saturday's final practice session for the Daytona 500, weather permitting.

The Nationwide Series qualifying session also had to be cancelled as rain continued in the afternoon and the field has been set based on last year's owners' standings, putting Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards on pole position, while Danica Patrick will make her debut in the series from 15th on the grid.

"This is a whole other ball of wax, and the car is not easy to drive," said Patrick ahead of her Nationwide Series debut. "There are a lot of really great drivers out there, really great teams, and everyone is running close. I'm glad to be out there."

The rain eventually stopped and the Truck Series race looked set to go ahead later at night as jet dryers got on track, but then a new shower dashed any hopes for the fans waiting to see some activity. The race, which will mark Nelson Piquet's debut in the series, will now take place on Saturday night.

Weather forecasts show only 20 per cent chance of rain for today, although the temperatures will be low.

Sprint Cup cars will be the first to hit the pavement for their final practice and lay down some rubber before the Nationwide Series race.

Patrick aims to finish at FontanaMessi expects Real challenge

Daytona 500 gets back underway

The Daytona 500 has been restarted for a second time after another red flag stoppage to carry out track repairs.

A hole has developed in the asphalt between Turns 1 and 2 twice during today's race, forcing a one hour and 42 minute stoppage on lap 122, and then another 45 minute delay on lap 161 when the hole reopened.

Course workers used a different method to seal the hole during the second red flag and are optimistic that the race can now proceed as planned to the full 200-lap distance.

Darkness has now fallen over Daytona, with five and a half hours having elapsed since the race initially began. Kevin Harvick currently leads from Juan Pablo Montoya under yellow prior to the race resuming in earnest.

Primera Division round-upDaytona resumes following stoppage

Montoya, McMurray settle Vegas clash

Juan Pablo Montoya and his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team-mate Jamie McMurray have settled their on-track incident from last weekend at Las Vegas, but the Colombian believes it has put him in a difficult situation in the points standings.

Speaking at a media event in Bogota, Colombia, where he will be taking part in his own celebrity pro-am golf tournament, Montoya revealed he and McMurray have vowed to put the incident behind them, while admitting his initial reaction just voiced his frustration about the crash, which followed his first DNF of the season a week earlier at Fontana.

"[McMurray] said I'm sorry and I said OK," said Montoya when asked about what his team-mate told him after the race. "In the moment I was really angry about what happened because last week we had an engine failure and then to lose a bunch of points again is not good for the championship. We need a lot of points now.

"Daytona is one of those races where you expect anything to happen and we finished that one OK, but then we expected two normal weekends [at Fontana and Las Vegas] and they weren't. Now we need to recover from that."

The Colombian said McMurray texted him following the race, and he replied accepting his team-mate's apology despite still being frustrated, as he believes a top-five finish last Sunday was possible for both of them.

"He send me a text message saying 'Hey I'm sorry, I'm sure you're mad at me, you want me to call you and talk through things' and I said 'Don't worry, it happened, yes I was real mad, but let's move forward'," Montoya said.

"It's frustrating because your team-mate is the guy you've got to race the smartest. You have to give each other a lot of respect because you don't want to end up in a bad situation like last Sunday. He was running well and so was I. We were running in the top ten and were competitive and we both threw a top-five finish out the window."

Montoya now ranks 26th in the points standings, already 127 points behind 12th place, in what is statistically his worst start to a season since his debut year in 2007. The Colombian says it is still very early in the season to panic, but admits it will probably be harder for him to secure a place in the Chase this year.

"The goal we had with the team this year was trying to be safe into the Chase before Richmond," Montoya said. "We wanted to avoid being on the edge of being in or out coming to the final race before the cut. But looking at the amount points we're behind right now, I would say it's not impossible but it's definitely going to be harder.

"We're only three races into the first 26, and I think if we can have four or five good races and we can finish in the top ten and get some good points, then things can change very quickly. But you never know. If I blow a tyre and hit the wall at Atlanta, then it can get worse."

While Montoya is set to face a tough challenge recovering from two bad weekends in a row, McMurray currently ranks 15th in the standings, having lost ten places in the rankings due to his 34th place finish last Sunday.

Montoya upbeat on Daytona chancesHiguain plays down row

Patrick aims to finish at Fontana

Danica Patrick is hoping to finish her first NASCAR race, as she makes her second start in the Nationwide Series today at Fontana.

The female racer had a troubled debut in NASCAR's second-tier series at Daytona last week, where she had to retire after being involved in a multi-car crash after the halfway mark of the event. Despite that, her debut got the highest TV ratings ever for a Nationwide Series event in the United States.

This weekend Patrick has not been as much on the spotlight, as she continues to learn the ropes in her new environment. After being 37th and 27th fastest in two practice sessions on Friday, she admitted she was still struggling with the handling of her car at a track where high speeds but low banking pose a new challenge for the IndyCar star.

"We've made some improvements for sure but I'm still not totally happy," said Patrick.

"I'm just not feeling very comfortable on entry into the corners. I feel like we've made a lot of improvements to make it better off the corner, and to be honest that will only stay there or get better as we improve the entry because your problems on exit start at the beginning."

Patrick said her goal for this weekend is to make it to the chequered flag and continue to get more mileage under her belt. She anticipates a tough day behind the wheel, as she tries to familiarise with her car sliding around for a whole run, something she admits is a novelty.

"Finishing is definitely always the goal," she said. "I just need laps. I need to get familiar with how the car changes from the beginning to the end of a run.

"I'm probably going to be a bit surprised by how I'm going to have to deal with the car sliding around for the majority of the run and I need that to become a normal expectation level for me that I deal with.

"Being able to make changes on pitstops and improve it to move up in the race, since you get more comfortable and confident with it, are always very important early on in your career."

Patrick will be back next week for her third Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas where she will be driving fresh from an IndyCar pre-season test at Barber Motorsports Park during the week. She does not expect switching from one car to the other to be a problem, though.

"Well we're going to get our first look at how it's going to go," said Patrick. "I don't think it's going to be a huge problem. I tested an Indycar a few weeks ago and I was like, 'this thing is snappy and this thing turns really quick', so I'm sure it will happen again to me.

"We'll deal with that when it comes and I'm sure I'll be comfortable in a lap or two."

Patrick qualified nearly two seconds off the pace for today's 300-mile race at Fontana.

Ronaldo aims for double gloryPatrick struggles at Fontana

Johnson switches to back-up car

Reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson is one of several drivers forced to switch to their back-up car, as incidents continue to hamper practice at Daytona.

Johnson's car was damaged in a wreck during Wednesday's second practice session, ahead of Thursday's Gatorade Duel qualifying races for the season-opening Daytona 500.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver damaged the front end of his car after running into the back of Denny Hamlin, when he took avoiding action of an accident triggered by Mike Bliss getting loose and being hit by Joey Logano.

Logano and Bliss will also need their back up cars after both hit the wall and each other. Along with Johnson, they will start from the rear of the field in their respective Duels, where their starting position for Sunday's race will be determined.

"When I hit the back of [Denny Hamlin], it kind of shifted the nose over and rolled it up," Johnson said. "We can beat it back into place where we think it's going to be right, but there's just no guarantees we can fix it right 100 per cent.

"With the risk of tomorrow's race, the fact that we might need a back-up car, this one is going to be stripped down and taken back to Charlotte and fixed on the plates so it's right. It's more to make sure that we're really ready with a strong bullet for the 500."

During the first practice of the day Clint Bowyer cut a tyre and got collected by Derrike Cope and David Reutimann, the three of them sustaining major damage to their cars and being forced into their back-ups.

Brian Vickers also spun during the day's first practice, while Dale Earnhardt Jr and Jamie McMurray almost caused a major pile up when they made slight contact at the sharp end of the drafting group later in the same session.

Many drivers have chosen to do very limited running to avoid damaging their primary car for Sunday, as in five practice sessions that have taken place so far, there have been frequent incidents involving several drivers.

"I thought things were wild," Johnson added. "And here's the biggest problem. Guys have different theories on where they want to blend on the race track. Some people stay on the bottom; others think they blend on the top. Either way there is a draft of 18 to 20 cars coming and we're like a snake weaving through these cars, and cars coming in and off at different speeds.

"I don't believe that's what caused this wreck, but there were a lot of other crazy moments because of that. I need to go to the tape and see what happened here because I was just riding along and thought everything was fine, and the next thing you know, I was in the middle of it."

Matt Kenseth and Marcos Ambrose set the fastest times in the two sessions, followed by Kyle Busch who was second fastest in both.

Hole in the track halts Daytona 500Henry - I don’t deserve place

Piquet sixth on NASCAR Truck debut

Nelson Piquet had a strong NASCAR Truck Series debut in the season opening event at Daytona, finishing sixth in an incident-packed race.

Piquet, who drove the #1 Toyota Tundra for Red Horse Racing, survived a number of incidents, ran as high as second at one point and got a strong run on the last lap to gain a number of spots on his way to chequered flag.

"It was an amazing feeling," said an excited Piquet following the race. "I'm just so happy to be able to finish the race and staying out of trouble, sort of - I had my touches and bumps here and there, but I managed to keep the truck in my hands. It was really tough.

"Just unexplainable - so much pressure and fun all at the same time with the guys all around pushing and bumping.

"There on the last lap, hitting side-by-side and then trusting the last corner and just doing it flat and knowing that it needed to go and then gaining like three or four positions in the last lap of the last corner. It's amazing.

"It's much better than last week [in the ARCA event]. I learned so much last week that it helped me a lot for this race. I'm really happy, the team did an excellent job. I need to thank Toyota and Red Horse for helping me so much."

The Brazilian had qualified 22nd, focusing more on his race set-up, and quickly started to make progress once the green flag waved, doing a good job at avoiding the race's first incident which happened as soon as the first lap and right ahead of him.

By lap 25 he was already up to 12th place and drafting well in the middle of the pack and when another incident unfolded past the halfway point, he was once again able to avoid getting involved, moving up to seventh place.

Piquet would actually jump up to second following a round of stops under the third caution of the race, when different strategies shuffled the order. He lost the draft on the restart though and dropped back, but remained in the top 10.

By the time a fifth caution of the race came out he was already back up to third place but later he had another close moment, when Mario Gosselin spun while trying to get in his draft.

On lap 83 Piquet misjudged a bump-drafting move with Max Papis, who ended up turned sideways and against the outside wall, an incident that the Brazilian apologised for over his radio.

Following the seventh and final caution, Piquet tried to go on his own on the outside line while running in the top five, but he would eventually be forced to get back on the inside line. On the last lap he tried to make the outside work again and would finally crossed the finish line sixth.

"I think it was a bit of my inexperience over here," admitted Piquet. "Everybody was pushing and I had pushed one or two trucks before. He came out, he was by himself, I went to push him and I don't know if I pushed him on the wrong side or if our bumpers didn't line up or what happened.

"The moment that I touched him, he just went off. I really felt bad. I didn't know if it was the right time to apologise on the radio, but I have to give him an apology."

Piquet's Red Horse Racing team-mate Timothy Peters was the winner of the event.

The former Renault Formula 1 driver expects to be on the grid for the second race of the season at Atlanta on March 6, but he has yet to secure a deal to complete the whole season in the #1 truck.

Henry - I don’t deserve placePapis excited about first Daytona 500