HEAVY HITTERS On Friday, 21 past winners of the Daytona 500 will meet with the media to talk about their respective triumphs in NASCAR’s most famous race. For historians of the sport, it’s a truly impressive amount of star power assembled in one room. Participating in media interviews on Friday will be Junior Johnson (1960 winner); Marvin Panch (1961); Richard Petty (1964, 1966, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981); Cale Yarborough (1968, 1977, 1983, 1984); Pete Hamilton (1970); A.J. Foyt (1972); David Pearson (1976); Bobby Allison (1978, 1982, 1988); Buddy Baker (1980); Geoffrey Bodine (1986); Darrell Waltrip (1989); Derrike Cope (1990); Ernie Irvan (1991); Dale Jarrett (1993, 1996, 2000); Sterling Marlin (1994, 1995), Jeff Gordon (1997, 1999, 2005); Michael Waltrip (2001, 2003); Ward Burton (2002); Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2004); Jimmie Johnson (2006) and Kevin Harvick (2007). Look for highlights from those interviews in this space this weekend.

DODGING VICTORY? There are 13 Dodges entered in the Daytona 500. Of the drivers of those Dodges, none has won the 500. Four of them – Kurt Busch, Elliott Sadler, Bobby Labonte and Ken Schrader – have finished second in the Daytona 500, however. Labonte, Schrader and Kyle Petty also have earned poles in the race.

HAPPILY EVER AFTER In what can only be viewed as a sign of the pending apocalypse, Atlanta Motor Speedway has a promotion allowing couples to get married at the track prior to the March 9 Kobalt Tools 500 Sprint Cup race.

“A licensed and ordained minister will be provided to conduct each ceremony in victory lane,” the track said in a statement. “All couples participating will receive complimentary access to the pre-race stage area where the 43-car starting field will be introduced, a wedding day photo in victory lane and a special gift from Atlanta Motor Speedway. Each couple that registers on Valentine’s Day beginning at 9 a.m. will also have their initials painted in a heart on the retaining wall for the Kobalt Tools 500 weekend.”

NEW LOOK To kick off the start of its 40th season of racing, Michigan International Speedway President Roger Curtis and NASCAR driver Bill Elliott unveiled a newly designed logo for the historic racetrack during Speedweeks in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Wednesday.

THERE WILL BE A QUIZ … If you think you understand Daytona 500, you’re probably completely wrong, opined Boris Said, who might be the only one who does understand it. “I’ve been watching TV and they’ve been getting it all wrong and people in the garage have been getting it all wrong,” noted Said. “Basically, if I spin out in the first race, I get in if Joe Nemechek qualifies in the top two. If he doesn’t, then in the second race my last chance is David Reutimann has to finish in the top two, then I transfer. But then there are a lot of other little things like, if Kurt Busch doesn’t transfer in the first race, then he takes a championship provisional and then I’m sure David Reutimann will have team orders to pull over and let the 44 car go through. My hopes are that if I don’t transfer and Joe Nemechek doesn’t transfer is at least Kurt Busch transfers.” Got it? There will be a quiz afterwards …

BOARD ROOM Hall of Fame Racing, one of only a handful of single-car teams left in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, has assembled an eight-person board of advisors to “serve as conduits for excellence in business practices and driving more value for sponsors,” according to the team. All eight board members are CEOs of their respective businesses.


Blog Post: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 6:39 pm ET

Back in the good old days, when two drivers had a beef to settle, NASCAR would put both of them in the NASCAR hauler, lock the door and tell ‘em not to come until it was finished.

How they settled it was up to them. Arguing was OK, yelling was, too. And so was knockin’ the ever-loving snot out of each other with your fist. But the deal was, when they walked out of the hauler it was over. There wasn’t going to be another incident next week or the week after that. NASCAR made sure everyone understood that and went along with it. And heaven help the oaf who didn’t.

As solutions went, it seemed to work. And believe me, over the years I’ve seen more than one driver sporting sunglasses to hide a black eye.

So let’s not get all morally exorcised about Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch, NASCAR’s two perennially most hot-headed drivers fighting in the NASCAR hauler the other night. Using their cars as weapons? Well that’s another matter entirely.

While NASCAR made the right call letting these guys skate with probation, both Busch and Stewart need to know that if one of them lays a fender in anger on the other – or any other driver, for that matter – then they can sit out the next race or the next month. There is no room in this sport for assault with a deadly weapon, period.

You guys want to whack the bejeezus out of each other with your bare hands, behind close doors? Go for it. But leave it in the infield where it belongs, not on the track.

DAYTONA 500 LINEUP