Steve Wallace to enter Daytona 500

NASCAR Nationwide Series regular Steve Wallace will make his Sprint Cup debut next month at Daytona, driving for his father's Rusty Wallace Racing team in the season opener.

The 23-year-old, son of former Cup champion Rusty Wallace, who fields his own team in NASCAR's second-tier series, will make the jump up together with his family's outfit, which will enter the #77 Toyota Camry in the Daytona 500.

Wallace, who has finished in the top 10 in the Nationwide Series points in the past two years, will have his start in the race guaranteed after his team was able to secure a deal to have the 2010 owner points transferred from Penske Racing's #77 car of Sam Hornish Jr, who is not expected to compete for the team in the Cup series this year.

According to NASCAR rules, the top 35 cars in the owner standings from the previous year are automatically guaranteed the start in the first five races of the new season. Penske's #77 was 29th in that ranking at the end of last year.

"Starting my first Daytona 500 is definitely going to be the most exciting day of my career - make that my life - so far," said Wallace. "It's something that every kid wanting to be a racer - including me - dreams of doing one day. It's the some of the best drivers in the world competing in the biggest race in the world.

"As far as the race, my goals are simple: to stay out of trouble, earn all the respect I can from the other guys and make sure [the car] is there at the end of the race. The way restrictor plate racing goes, if we can do that, there's no telling what can happen."

Larry Carter, who was crew chief for his father Rusty on his final appearance in the Daytona 500 in 2005, when he finished 10th for Penske Racing, will be calling the shots from the pitwall for the younger Wallace on his Cup debut.

1989 Cup champion Wallace, who never claimed a Daytona 500 victory despite his 55 wins in the series, believes the new grippy asphalt at the 2.5-mile oval will make it easier for his team to be competitive on its debut as handling will no longer be as large a factor.

"When you're a young driver coming up, you dream about racing in the Daytona 500 and now Steve's going to get the opportunity to do it," said team-owner Wallace. "He's grown by leaps and bounds as a driver in the Nationwide Series over the last few years and we think he's ready for this opportunity.

"We've been looking at this race as an opportunity for a while, because I really believe that the new pavement at Daytona is going to be a great equaliser among the teams. The cars will have a tonne of grip and it's going to make handling a much smaller part of the equation."

Steve Wallace will be the fourth different member of his family to compete in the Daytona 500.

Forlan refuses to rule out moveSteve Wallace to enter Daytona 500

Waltrip Toyotas top drafting session

The Michael Waltrip Racing Toyotas of David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr topped an uneventful Thursday drafting practice session as NASCAR Sprint Cup teams continued to gear up for the Daytona 500.

Reutimann, a two-time winner in the series, set a fastest lap of 45.970 seconds, at an average speed of 195.780 mph, achieved while running in tandem with his MWR team-mate Truex, who was second on the timesheets.

Behind them, Red Bull's returnee Brian Vickers was third-fastest, also achieving his best lap while working in tandem with his team-mate Kasey Kahne.

Stewart Haas' Tony Stewart was fifth, setting his best lap while drafting in single file with both MWR and Red Bull cars in a five-car group, the biggest seen during the four-hour session. However, his best lap was over a second slower than what the top four managed after splitting into two-car team formations.

Despite much anticipation to the afternoon session, few drivers ventured on the track to draft and figure out the effect of the new, smoother Daytona asphalt, which proved to allow more bump-drafting than in the past.

"It looked like a lot of guys were just working on a lot of stuff today so maybe they're going to be focused on drafting tomorrow," said Vickers. "I'm sure before we leave you'll see a pretty big pack. I can't imagine you wouldn't because I know pretty much everybody wants to see how the cars react in that situation, the track and all that stuff."

Many drivers and teams continued to focus on single-car runs, hoping to get most of their programmes done before switching to drafting mode. Some rain is forecast for the Daytona area on Friday.

Teams will continue to test until Saturday for the Daytona 500, which takes place on February 20.

Waltrip Toyotas top drafting sessionNadal set for Mallorca role

Steve Wallace to enter Daytona 500

NASCAR Nationwide Series regular Steve Wallace will make his Sprint Cup debut next month at Daytona, driving for his father's Rusty Wallace Racing team in the season opener.

The 23-year-old, son of former Cup champion Rusty Wallace, who fields his own team in NASCAR's second-tier series, will make the jump up together with his family's outfit, which will enter the #77 Toyota Camry in the Daytona 500.

Wallace, who has finished in the top 10 in the Nationwide Series points in the past two years, will have his start in the race guaranteed after his team was able to secure a deal to have the 2010 owner points transferred from Penske Racing's #77 car of Sam Hornish Jr, who is not expected to compete for the team in the Cup series this year.

According to NASCAR rules, the top 35 cars in the owner standings from the previous year are automatically guaranteed the start in the first five races of the new season. Penske's #77 was 29th in that ranking at the end of last year.

"Starting my first Daytona 500 is definitely going to be the most exciting day of my career - make that my life - so far," said Wallace. "It's something that every kid wanting to be a racer - including me - dreams of doing one day. It's the some of the best drivers in the world competing in the biggest race in the world.

"As far as the race, my goals are simple: to stay out of trouble, earn all the respect I can from the other guys and make sure [the car] is there at the end of the race. The way restrictor plate racing goes, if we can do that, there's no telling what can happen."

Larry Carter, who was crew chief for his father Rusty on his final appearance in the Daytona 500 in 2005, when he finished 10th for Penske Racing, will be calling the shots from the pitwall for the younger Wallace on his Cup debut.

1989 Cup champion Wallace, who never claimed a Daytona 500 victory despite his 55 wins in the series, believes the new grippy asphalt at the 2.5-mile oval will make it easier for his team to be competitive on its debut as handling will no longer be as large a factor.

"When you're a young driver coming up, you dream about racing in the Daytona 500 and now Steve's going to get the opportunity to do it," said team-owner Wallace. "He's grown by leaps and bounds as a driver in the Nationwide Series over the last few years and we think he's ready for this opportunity.

"We've been looking at this race as an opportunity for a while, because I really believe that the new pavement at Daytona is going to be a great equaliser among the teams. The cars will have a tonne of grip and it's going to make handling a much smaller part of the equation."

Steve Wallace will be the fourth different member of his family to compete in the Daytona 500.

Steve Wallace to enter Daytona 500Forlan refuses to rule out move

Waltrip Toyotas top drafting session

The Michael Waltrip Racing Toyotas of David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr topped an uneventful Thursday drafting practice session as NASCAR Sprint Cup teams continued to gear up for the Daytona 500.

Reutimann, a two-time winner in the series, set a fastest lap of 45.970 seconds, at an average speed of 195.780 mph, achieved while running in tandem with his MWR team-mate Truex, who was second on the timesheets.

Behind them, Red Bull's returnee Brian Vickers was third-fastest, also achieving his best lap while working in tandem with his team-mate Kasey Kahne.

Stewart Haas' Tony Stewart was fifth, setting his best lap while drafting in single file with both MWR and Red Bull cars in a five-car group, the biggest seen during the four-hour session. However, his best lap was over a second slower than what the top four managed after splitting into two-car team formations.

Despite much anticipation to the afternoon session, few drivers ventured on the track to draft and figure out the effect of the new, smoother Daytona asphalt, which proved to allow more bump-drafting than in the past.

"It looked like a lot of guys were just working on a lot of stuff today so maybe they're going to be focused on drafting tomorrow," said Vickers. "I'm sure before we leave you'll see a pretty big pack. I can't imagine you wouldn't because I know pretty much everybody wants to see how the cars react in that situation, the track and all that stuff."

Many drivers and teams continued to focus on single-car runs, hoping to get most of their programmes done before switching to drafting mode. Some rain is forecast for the Daytona area on Friday.

Teams will continue to test until Saturday for the Daytona 500, which takes place on February 20.

Waltrip Toyotas top drafting sessionNadal set for Mallorca role

Drivers would back Cup points change

A number of Sprint Cup drivers have shown their support for a new points system that NASCAR could potentially implement this year in an attempt to make the scoring easier for fans to understand.

According to a recent report from the Associated Press, NASCAR is considering a complete overhaul of the points allocation that has been in place since 1975, and could replace it with a system that would award 43 points to the first finisher down to one for the 43rd placed driver, with a one-point decrease between each position. Possible changes to the Chase are also on the cards, as well as the allocation of bonus points.

The current points system awards 185 points to a race winner, with five-point decreases down to sixth place, four-point decreases from sixth to 11th and then three from 11th down to 43rd place. Five bonus points are awarded for leading laps, another five for leading the most laps, and 10 towards a driver's seeding in the play-off for every win during the first 26 races, with the top 12 in the points becoming title contenders in the final 10 weeks of the season.

A NASCAR spokesman has confirmed changes being considered but denied that a final decision had been taken. An official announcement is expected to take place next week.

Five-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson backed the possible change but said he would not expect it to hurt his chances of defending his title if implemented this year. However he believes that further changes need to be made in other areas like the length and number of races, in order to enhance declining viewership and attendance figures.

"There's a lot of speculation at this point, but in theory if it is 43 points for the winner on down to one for the last place car, in concept, in theory, it's still very similar to what we have now," said Johnson. "So I think the premise, the concept is still very similar. Take a while to get used to it.

"I think it's more of an attempt to make our points system easier to understand. I don't think that it would be a huge change from the thought that I've put into it so far. I don't see it being a big thing.

"I know people expect me to react and think, 'oh, they've got to leave it alone, don't change it.' I don't care what races are in the Chase, the format to win the championship; I could care less because I feel confident that my team will be able to win championships under any set of circumstances.

"Some more tweaks here and there, I'm willing to try it, but I think there are some other issues that would help with attendance and viewership that kind of leave the garage area and what happens on the track.

"You look at length of races, frequency of races. In my opinion I think a lot of our fans are just over-exposed from race lengths and then so many events."

2004 champion Kurt Busch, the first to win a Cup title under the Chase format, said the changes being considered are positive for the fans, although he would like to see more bonus points being awarded for winning a race.

"I thought it was good," said Busch. "I do think it's simpler for people to figure out. Obviously when you know you're 18 points behind someone, that's 18 spots without the bonus points and everything.

"From what I saw that [NASCAR] proposed, the one thing that they were open to is possibly giving a few more bonus points for the wins in the regular season to count towards the Chase, and I think because just maybe giving one point to someone who wins a race, putting that to your Chase points, that's only one spot, that's not equal to what we had before.

"I definitely think that they're open to that change, but I'm definitely in favour of the one to 43. I think it's going to be easier for us to figure out to be honest with you."

Last year's championship runner-up Denny Hamlin believes that the proposed alterations would not have changed the identity of the champion in recent seasons.

"I'd like to go back for myself and just do research and plug those numbers into past years and to see who comes out on top or to see how things change around and to help fine-tune it a little bit more, because in the end you still want it to be about consistency, but you have to be consistent during those 10 weeks," said Hamlin.

"When you sit there and change around points 100 different ways, we still end up with the same champion nine times out of 10 it seems like."

Double champion Tony Stewart also seemed supportive of any possible changes.

"As long as we all start the year and we understand what the point structure is and how you get the points, then you race accordingly," said Stewart.

"But it's still going to be on a situation where if you win races the points take care of itself, and as long as it's not a deal where you ever get in a situation where running 30th pays more points than winning then it shouldn't really change how you race, it's just you know if it's a 36-week deal that leads into a championship or a 10-week deal, you know how to prepare for it."

Next week NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France is expected to unveil any final changes to the championship format.

NASCAR announces new points systemHammers lead Barrera chase

Vickers admits he doubted return

Brian Vickers has admitted to being unsure about his return to the Sprint Cup series at one point but is thrilled to be making it back in 2011 with Red Bull Racing Team.

The former Nationwide Series champion was diagnosed with blood clots in May of last year and was forced to stop racing in order to get treatment, hoping he would be able to make a full recovery.

Vickers successfully returned to driving his #83 Red Bull Toyota on January 10th at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, before taking part of the three-day test at Daytona International Speedway, where he ran all three days making plenty of laps in the draft.

Following his testing return, he says he feels at his best after going through a life-changing experience during the months of his treatment.

"Everyone keeps asking me how does it feel to be back? I guess, it feels damn good," said Vickers following testing at Daytona last week. "You look for all of these words and ways to describe your emotions and your feelings and sometimes there's just nothing to say.

"I wasn't sure if I would ever be back up here talking to you guys about being in the car again and here I sit. I'm really happy about it. It's been a long year. Last year was a very long year. I'm very excited for 2011. I'm probably at the best place I've ever been personally, professionally, emotionally and I'm ready to go kick butt!"

Vickers said he hit a low when he returned to the track while still being under treatment, despite feeling great support from the NASCAR community and the fans.

He revealed at the time he was struggling emotionally while finding it hard to cope with the fact that he couldn't race.

"My first time back I think I was still dealing with a lot of things and everyone was so supportive - the fans, the media, the team, everybody top to bottom in NASCAR," said Vickers. "So, it was kind of out of site, out of mind.

"Then the next time back just sitting there on the box trying to be supportive for the team, but it was just tearing me apart inside. I was just a wreck -- a complete wreck. My stress was out of the roof, my medicines weren't working, they were all over the place. That was probably when it hit me."

The 27-year-old admits that when he was given the green-light by doctors to resume his racing career he had doubts over making a return. However it didn't take him long to realize that his place was back behind the wheel.

"There was a point in time there where I didn't know if I was ever coming back," said Vickers. "Not just because of the doctors, but I questioned if I wanted to come back. Maybe it was time to just start a new chapter of my life. Is it worth going back and trying again? What would happen to me emotionally?

"Trust me, once the doctors said, 'Okay,we feel pretty good about this and we're good with you going back racing if you want.' It's tough talking to a doctor about risk levels and going back racing and all of this stuff because most doctors would tell you that they'd rather you did not race cars to begin with.

"They're like, 'Okay, let's really think about this. You skydive and you race cars at 200 miles an hour and you're asking me about this. Let's address the first problem.' That's kind of their mentality.

"Once they told me I could go back racing - it was funny, for the longest time I just kind of went down this path and I assumed it was a clear cut decision for me when I had approval, but as some time went on I started thinking to myself, 'Maybe it is time to start a new chapter.'

"You go through a lot of emotional states, I guess... I went through everything you could imagine, but in the end through a lot of traveling, chasing some dreams outside of racing that I always wanted to do and some soul searching and spending time with friends and family I realised that I couldn't not give it another shot."

After more than three years racing alongside less experienced team-mates, Vickers is set to compete this season alongside Kasey Kahne at Red Bull Racing. The pair entered the Sprint Cup series full-time as rookies back in 2004, and Vickers claims to have a good relationship with him based on mutual respect.

"I've enjoyed working with Kasey," he said. "Kasey and I came in this sport about the same time and we've always had a mutual respect, over 10 years you're always going to have your run-ins here and there, but we sort it out quick and painless.

"I've always had a good working relationship, even as competitors, so I can't imagine that our partnership, even as team-mates is not going to go well."

Although Vickers is under no restrictions from his doctors and is no longer taking any blood-thinning medicines, he says there's still many unknowns about how he developed his illness.

"There's a lot of questions that are going to go unanswered, and that goes with anything," said Vickers. "My situation is not unique to that. In a lot of ways, there will always remain to be unanswered questions. Moving forward they feel good with me going back racing. I feel good with me going back racing. I'm pretty excited about it."

Vickers made the Chase for the first time two years ago, before his blood clot diagnosis sidelined him from racing last season. He claimed Red Bull's only Sprint Cup series victory in a points race thus far at Michigan in August of 2009.

Kahne to finish 2010 with Red BullForlan refuses to rule out move

NASCAR announces new points system

NASCAR officials announced a new point system for the 2011 season along with changes to the way drivers qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup plus a number of rule adjustments.

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said on Wednesday that drivers in all NASCAR national series will be awarded points on a 43 to 1 scale with one-point decreases, giving a complete overhaul to the points allocation that had been in place for NASCAR since 1975.

France stated the change is based on having a more simple system that is easier to understand and apply, although it is also expected to to keep gaps tighter than in the past.

"Many of our most loyal fans don't fully understand the points system we have used to date," said France, referencing the system that has been in use since 1975. "So, we are simplifying the points system to one that is much easier to understand. Conceptually, it is comparable to our previous system, but it is easier to follow."

A new bonus points system was also announced to reward drivers winning races. A driver claiming victory will get three bonus points, one more will be given for leading a lap and another one for leading the most laps, which means a winner can claim a maximum of 48 points.

Adjustments have also been made to the way the Chase format is set for the final ten races. The top 10 in the points during the regular season will automatically become title contenders, while two additional spots will be given to those winning the most races who aren't already qualified.

If there are no race winners outside the top 10 after race 26, the final two slots in the Chase will be determined by the point standings.

Points for those in the Chase will now be reset to 2000 plus three bonus per win, although 11th and 12th places will not get the benefit of the bonus.

Under this format, last year's Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 winner Earnhardt Ganassi's Jamie McMurray would have been in the Chase, while Richard Childress' Clint Bowyer would have missed it.

"The fans tell us that winning matters the most with them, so we're combining the tradition of consistency in our sport with the excitement that comes along with winning," said France.

"This makes every race count leading into the 26th race of the season at Richmond, when we set the field for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup."

Minor tweaks were also revealed for qualifying, the order not being determined by a draw anymore, instead by speeds from practice. If qualifying gets rained out, practice speeds will also be used to set the field, while If no practice or qualifying are run, then the owner standings determine the starting grid.

France also confirmed that NASCAR drivers competing in more than one national series can only contend for one championship, putting Cup regulars out of the title equation in the Nationwide and Truck series.

Officials also announced that tyre allocation for practice and qualifying will be decreased from six to five sets of tyres. Four of those sets will be returned to Goodyear in order to receive their tyres for the race.

Self-ventilated dumps cans will also be implemented for the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series, after successfully being tested in the trucks last year. This will eliminate the need for a catch-can man, decreasing the number of "over-the-wall" crew members from seven to six.

Hammers lead Barrera chaseNASCAR confirms points change talks