Mark Martin earned the pole for Sunday's Price Chopper 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race after turning a lap at 175.758 mph in qualifying this afternoon at the Kansas Speedway.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. grabbed the outside pole with a speed of 175.279, his best qualifying effort of the 2009 season. Brad Keselowski clocked in at 175.205 to take the third starting spot which gives Hendrick Motorsports a sweep of the top three starting positions.
Kelly Bires has signed a two-year deal to drive full time for JR Motorsports in NASCAR's Nationwide Series starting in 2010, the team announced Tuesday.
Bires, 25, may drive the No. 88 or No. 5 JRM Chevrolet next season it remains to be decided, given that JRM is still in the process of find sponsorship for its cars.
Bires, who has posted three top fives and 11 top 10s in the Nationwide Series while driving for a variety of owners, will replace current No. 88 driver Brad Keselowski, who is leaving JRM for a Sprint Cup ride at Penske Racing next season.
Earnhardt Nation Website
NASCAR popularity vote also in playoff mode | www.thatsracin.com: "NASCAR's Chase field is set for the 10-race run to the end of the season and so are the finalists in the most popular driver balloting.
The Sprint Cup playoff features the top-12 drivers, but there are 10 finalists now competing for NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver Award.
The National Motorsports Press Association administers the annual vote and presents the award, among others.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. collected the award for a sixth time last year. He has won it more than anyone except 16-time winner Bill Elliott and nine-time winner Richard Petty."
For Earnhardt fans Atlanta was like a good movie with a bad ending. We watched Dale Jr race most of the night in the top ten and a lot of the night in the top five. Then some how he managed to finish 17th after starting tenth with a handful of laps to go.
I don't know if the last pit stop an adjustment was bad. I don't know if he got into the wall in the last laps. Maybe he put on a set of tires that didn't agree with his setup. Whatever the reason it was a disappointment after watching four hours of a very good race to see Junior drop so far so fast.
Earnhardt Nation Website
Ed Hinton is reporting, Danica Patrick will run some NASCAR in 2010...trucks and Nationwide.
If this is true it will pretty up the garage. Danica's biggest problem will be her famous temper. In NASCAR she won't be dealing with cake eating Europeans. The good ole boys of NASCAR will take down her racing suit and blister her butt like a screaming child in WalMart if she decides to slap one of them.
Earnhardt Nation Website
