Truex and EGR team penalised

Martin Truex Jr and his team have been penalised after their car failed the post-race inspection at Chicagoland Speedway last weekend.

Truex had finished the race 16th but his car was found to be higher than the NASCAR rulebook allows for the right-rear quarter panel.

As a consequence, Martin was docked 25 points in the drivers' standings, car owner Teresa Earnhardt was docked the same ammount in the owner standings, while crew chief Kavin Manion was fined US$25,000 and place on probation until the end of the year.

Manion said Earnhardt Ganassi Racing doesn't plan to appeal the penalties imposed.

"We completely understand NASCAR's position on the rule violation and will not appeal the penalty imposed," Manion said. "In addition, we are taking steps internally to ensure this will not happen in the future."

The points penalty doesn't affect the driver's ranking in the standings where he sits in 24th place.

Villeneuve to race at Montreal againZokora targets Sevilla glory

Villeneuve to race at Montreal again

Jacques Villenueve will return to the NASCAR Nationwide Series next month to compete in Montreal's round of the series for the second year in a row.

The former Formula 1 world champion will return to NASCAR's second-tier series for a one-off appearance at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where he is set to drive the #32 Braun Racing Toyota Camry.

Villeneuve last competed in NASCAR in last year's rain-affected event at his home track, where he was classified 16th. He started fifth and actually led the race for a lap before crashing into the back of another car due to the poor conditions, shortly before the race was stopped.

"I am very happy to return to the track this year in Montreal with Braun Racing," said Villeneuve. "I enjoyed greatly my experience last year and their trust is greatly appreciated. It is also a team that prepares great cars. I am confident the #32 will be at least as good as the car the team prepared for me last, which is exciting.

"But what makes me even more happy is the fact that this time around, I'm part of the equation from a much earlier stage. Together we will be able to better prepare for the end of August race and it should have a good influence on our results."

The Quebecoise, who recently admitted his interest in returning to F1, competed last weekend in the Canadian Tire stock car series at a 0.4-mile oval at Saint-Eustache, where he crashed out of the event on the first lap.

Besides his commitments in Canada, Villeneuve is also set to return to the Argentinean Top Race V6 Series, where he will race next weekend at Interlagos. He is also scheduled to compete again in September at Buenos Aires, where he made his first outing in the series last year.

Dudek wants Alonso reunionBusch: Stewart caused Daytona crash

Busch: Stewart caused Daytona crash

Kyle Busch is still unhappy about the incident between him and Tony Stewart at Daytona last weekend, saying the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion "dumped" him out of the lead on the final lap.

Earlier this week Stewart spoke to Busch on the phone about the incident and the current points' leader said at Indianapolis during a press conference that both of them were "on the same page" about what had happened on that final lap last Saturday.

However, speaking on Thursday at Chicagoland Speedway, Busch did not seem to be at ease with the situation yet.

"I really don't have feelings, it really didn't mean a whole lot," Busch replied when asked about how felt about Stewart calling him to clear things up. "I thank him for I guess, checking on me to see if I was alive."

Busch agreed with Stewart's explanation of the incident, which suggested that the Gibbs driver moved twice to block his former team-mate, making contact the second time as the nose of Stewart's car was already on the outside of Busch's Toyota, ultimately igniting the wreck.

But despite that, Busch pointed out that before the incident, Stewart had hit him while driving out of Turn 4, unsettling his car and getting him loose. He suggested NASCAR should act in those cases, and penalise the driver hitting the leader from behind whenever an accident emerges after that.

"I think NASCAR can take a step and look at it and if the second place driver 'dumps' the leader, then black-flag his [butt], he doesn't get the win, you know," Busch said.

"If he's on him from behind and moves him out of the way and there's no wreck then fine, he can win the race. But if you're up alongside the guy and you dump him, then I'd say black-flag him and give the win to the third-placed car."

Busch then reckoned Stewart "dumped" him on that final lap at Daytona.

Meanwhile Stewart avoided controversy, saying he had already cleared the air with Busch on the phone on a 30-minute conversation on Tuesday.

"I talked to Kyle I guess it was on Tuesday that I spoke to him and we had a good conversation with him and that's the conversation I'm going off of," Stewart said. "So that's all I'm going to talk about it."

The Daytona finish was a nearly a carbon copy of the incident that unfolded between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski on the final lap at Talladega earlier this year. Neither time NASCAR has issued any penalties to the drivers involved.

Zokora targets Sevilla glory

Martinsville fans to get October race started

Most of the time, the crowd at NASCAR races waits impatiently for the traditional "Gentlemen, start your engines" announcement that gets things going on track.

This fall at Martinsville Speedway, it will be the fans that get things started at the TUMS Fast Relief 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

Clay Campbell, president of the Virginia track, and Darren Singer, vice president of marketing for TUMS, said earlier this week that all of the fans who attend the Oct. 25 race will act as Grand Marshal for the event.

"Fans have been our top priority since Martinsville Speedway opened more than 60 years ago," Campbell said. "Fans have always come first with us and what better way to show that than making them all the Grand Marshal."

He said the track and the NASCAR community will recognize the fans throughout the prerace ceremonies.

The Martinsville race will be the sixth of the 10 races that make up NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

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NEW CLASS: There will be a new class of sports cars on track at Watkins Glen International in August.

SCCA Pro Racing and WC Vision have announced the introduction of Touring Car 2 (TC2), which will run as a separate class within SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car races.

The new class is intended to provide a more cost-effective point of entry into the series.

TC2 vehicles will have fewer modifications than the current Touring Cars, including tight limitations on engine and drive-train modifications and the prohibition of non-factory aerodynamic devices such as wings and splitters.

"We recognize that not everyone is in the position to develop a car to the same level as our front-running World Challenge Touring Car teams," said Bob Wildberger, president and CEO of SCCA Pro Racing. "The rules being developed will include a number of cars that can race with World Challenge as soon as Round Five at Watkins Glen next month."

TC2 will retain the same basic premise of Touring Car, a class designed for four-seat automobiles. The overall power-to-weight ratio of the class will be lower than the current World Challenge Touring Car series and, while the cars are expected to have outstanding handling with aftermarket racing shocks, sway bars and springs, they will lack the overall aerodynamic grip created by the devices permitted in Touring Car.

Eligible cars include, but are not limited to, the Acura RSX, BMW 328 and 330 (E36, 46), Chevrolet Cobalt SS, Dodge SRT-4, Honda Civic Si, Lexus IS, Mazda RX-8, MINI Cooper S, Saturn Ion, Scion tC, Subaru Legacy, and Volkswagen GTI and Jetta.

Grubb enjoying time at top with Stewart

AP Graphic CAR LIFELOCK 400

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) -- Darian Grubb made his first good move when he decided to leave the Hendrick Motorsports powerhouse to join Tony Stewart's first-year team.

His decisions as Stewart's crew chief have been just about as good.

Once seemingly content to work behind the scenes at Hendrick, Grubb has helped boost Stewart-Haas Racing into an instant Cup contender.

Grubb was on top of his game at Pocono Raceway, directing Stewart to his first win as driver/owner with a series of instructions designed to help the points leader conserve fuel and show just how much faith they had in each other.

"You have to trust the guy that's on that box making the calls for you," Stewart said.

He believes in no one right now more than Grubb.

"We didn't know how we were going to work together at Daytona when we got there," Stewart said. "It was literally a week-to-week deal, and that's the approach we've had from Day 1."

Grubb had only limited experience as a crew chief working for Hendrick, but a pretty good winning percentage when he was running the show. He was crew chief for Casey Mears in 2007 and led him to his only career Cup victory with a win in the marquee Coca-Cola 600. Grubb also ably filled in for Chad Knaus, leading Jimmie Johnson to two wins during his crew chief's four-race suspension.

When Grubb moved back to an engineering job with Hendrick last season, he believed his days of sitting atop the pit box were numbered.

Hendrick dominated the series with its drivers at least a threat to win every week, and he played a role in Johnson's third straight Cup title.

"I was not planning to be a crew chief at all," Grubb said. "I was very happy where I was at with Hendrick Motorsports. We were on top of the game."

Stewart, a two-time Cup champion, took notice.

When Stewart was assembling his team, he wanted to hire some of the best people he knew to make it a title contender. So he went after Grubb with a simple sales pitch: Come join me and build a contending team and a lasting program from the ground up. That piqued Grubb's interest enough to discuss the job with Stewart.

"It's kind of hard not to get chill bumps from that and say, 'Hmm, do I really want to do that?"' Grubb said. "He wanted to go out and he wanted to build a team to win races and championships."

Grubb liked what he heard. The shot at facilitating the Stewart-Haas Racing team from the outset was enough for him to give up his comfortable job at Hendrick.

"It's just one of those things that when you can read it in somebody's eyes and you know how much it means to them, that you just want to be a part of it," Grubb said. "You want to take that ride. It might be good, it might be bad. But you know at that point you have to make a change and try it."

So far, it's been all good.

Stewart has the points lead, a victory and a spot in the Chase for the championship all but secured. Not only was Stewart able to pluck Grubb away from Hendrick, but Rick Hendrick agreed to share engines with Stewart's team.

"We have to give credit to the Hendrick engine department making great power, but at the same time giving us good fuel mileage," Stewart said. "Without those guys, we couldn't do this."

The smooth working relationship between Grubb and Stewart has played just as big a role in the team's fast development. Stewart had a sometimes strained relationship with crew chief Greg Zipadelli over their 10 years together at Joe Gibbs Racing, but they put their differences aside to win 32 races and two championships together. Grubb hasn't yet run into any rough patches with the fiery Stewart -- just nothing but success.

"There's something to be said when Tony walks into the shop and he has that confidence," Grubb said. "He pats everybody on the back. They know he's back and putting everything he's got into it."

Having the right crew chief in Grubb hasn't hurt either.

20-year-old Braun targets Roush truck milestone

Colin Braun figures there couldn't be a better time for his first victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series than in Saturday's race at Michigan International Speedway.

The 20-year-old Braun, in his second full season driving trucks for Roush Fenway Racing, would love to be the driver to give team co-owner Jack Roush his 50th truck series victory.

"Not only is Michigan Jack's backyard, it's Ford's and our sponsor Con-way Freight's backyards, as well," said Braun, last year's top truck rookie. "Just to get a win for them at Michigan, not to mention it being the 50th, would be pretty awesome."

Roush Fenway Racing has four truck wins and 11 Sprint Cup victories at Michigan, more than any other venue in either series. And Roush was able to celebrate last June at the Brooklyn, Mich., track after Erik Darnell -- now racing in the Nationwide Series -- gave the team its most recent truck win.

That's a long victory drought for Roush and his team, but Braun could be on the verge of changing that. He is coming off a third-place finish at Texas, matching his career best last season at Kansas. Now, heading into his 35th truck start, Braun would love to get to Victory Lane.

"Fifty wins in the truck series would really be keeping in concert with what our goal is: to set a lot of standards, to set a lot of high marks for ourselves, and to enjoy the celebration of those milestones with Ford Motor Company," Roush said.

Roush, whose team won the 2000 truck series championship with Greg Biffle -- as well as two Sprint Cup and two Nationwide Series titles -- is the only high-profile Cup owner still fielding entries in the truck series. Names such as Gibbs, Hendrick and Childress have pulled out.

"Having a name like Jack Roush in the Truck Series is pretty significant," said Patrick DiMarco, Ford's NASCAR brand manager. "... When I started in NASCAR, I was working in the truck series and you had Hendrick, Childress, DEI and Roush and they went at it -- all the big names -- and Jack stuck around, and that is important to us that he's still there and going for his 50th win."

Braun, who finished sixth at Michigan last June, said a big part of Roush's success is that his team is a big family.

"Everyone wants to see everyone else do well," he explained. "Everyone has the same goals and there is no question that goes unanswered.

"I feel like Jack Roush has made it clear to the older drivers that they need to help out the young rookies, and I think that's a big part of it."

Roush views the truck series as a teaching tool for younger drivers and the lessons imparted extend beyond maneuvering the truck around a speedway.

"It's the first stop for a rookie driver coming into NASCAR, coming into stock car racing," Roush said. "Historically, since the onset of the truck series more than 10 years ago, we've enjoyed taking our rookies there first and getting them started and improving their race craft -- improving judgments on the racetrack, establishing their code, which is the thing that keeps them out of harm's way.

"It establishes expectations among the competitors of what (young drivers) will and won't do on the racetrack. It's important that a driver have a good code, a defensible and admirable code, so he can really have the racing room he needs when it comes time and he's able to close the deal to win his races and compete for championships."

Braun agrees with his boss, and he just wants to keep learning and moving up the racing ladder.

"I don't really feel any pressure to get that win," Braun said. "I think that's one of the coolest things about driving for Jack and this team. They just put good trucks under me and we always have fast vehicles and good pit stops.

"We've got to keep putting ourselves in the position to win a race here. I know it will happen."

Eury Jr. out as crew chief for slumping Earnhardt

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have a new crew chief starting with this weekend's race at Dover because of a slump that has dragged deep into the season.

Tony Eury Jr. was removed as crew chief of Earnhardt's No. 88 team Thursday. The two are cousins and have worked together during Earnhardt's entire career.

"It seemed the harder we pushed, the more it unraveled," team owner Rick Hendrick told The Associated Press. "We need a new reason to get up and go to the track each morning, and the chemistry had broken down between them to the point where we just needed a fresh start."

The pair left Dale Earnhardt Inc. last season to drive for Hendrick Motorsports. But despite driving for NASCAR's top team they have one win in 48 races with Hendrick and are 19th in points, well behind teammates Jeff Gordon (first), Jimmie Johnson (fourth) and Mark Martin (12th). Earnhardt hit rock bottom with Monday's 40th-place finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Team manager Brian Whitesell will be the crew chief this weekend. Lance McGrew will take over in two weeks on an interim basis as Hendrick decides on a long-term plan for NASCAR's most popular driver.

"We're going to do everything we can to get this team where it needs to be," said Hendrick, whose steadfast commitment to the pair clearly waned following Monday's rain-shortened race. "It's hard to put your fingers on what the problem is or was. We just feel like with all the frustration we need a fresh start.

"We've all given it the best shot we could and I think the guys that are going to be lined up now on this team. ... We're just rolling up our sleeves and we're going to refuse to lose, refuse to quit until we get it fixed."

Earnhardt and Eury spent Tuesday and Wednesday testing on the road course at Virginia International Raceway. Hendrick told them he was splitting them up when they returned Wednesday evening. He said they needed time to adjust to the split.

"I don't know that they were 100 percent, but by this morning, both of them said they were good," Hendrick said. "I don't think they felt good when I told them, but I think they'll feel better as the days go on."

Eury will stay with Hendrick Motorsports in a research and development role. Whatever route Hendrick takes with Earnhardt, he's giving Earnhardt the full-time use of Whitesell and Rex Stump, the lead chassis engineer.

Earnhardt and Eury are grandsons of Robert Gee, one of Hendrick's first employees. The two went through a rough patch that led to bickering at the end of the 2004 season when they raced for the championship at Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Earnhardt's stepmother, Teresa, separated them at the start of 2005, a move that led Earnhardt to finish a career-worst 19th in the standings. They were back together before the end of the season, but won just one race together in 2006 as Earnhardt's relationship with his stepmother rapidly deteriorated.

The next year, Earnhardt embarked on one of the most high-profile free agencies in NASCAR history. He settled on Hendrick Motorsports, and Eury went with him.

Although they opened their first season at Hendrick by winning the exhibition Budweiser Shootout and a Daytona 500 qualifying race, Earnhardt didn't win a points race until the 15th event of the year. That was at Michigan, his only victory all season.

Still, consistency put him at the top of the title contenders when the Chase for the championship began. But Eury and Earnhardt moved away from what got them into the Chase and finished last in the 12-driver field.

This year, Earnhardt opened with two pit-road mistakes in the Daytona 500 that put him in position to later trigger a nine-car accident. The pit-road errors have plagued him most of the season, but the poor showings have spilled onto the track as well.

Earnhardt has just three top-10 finishes this season and six finishes of 27th or worse. He's close to falling too far behind to rally for a spot in the Chase. That's unacceptable for a driver who went to Hendrick to win the Cup title that has eluded him his entire career. His father, the late Dale Earnhardt, was a seven-time Cup champion before his death in an accident on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

Despite their shortcomings -- two wins in the past 120 races -- Earnhardt remained fiercely loyal to Eury and was pained when his fans blamed the crew chief for their failures.

"Every time I read in the paper that people are on his case I feel like I'm sending my brother to jail for a crime I committed," Earnhardt said in one of his early season defenses of Eury.

Hendrick never considering a split until Monday's disappointment. Now he wants to "spark some magic."

"Right now, we've got one boat that's got a hole in it and we've got to fix it," he said.