By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

As part of the only-in-NASCAR pageantry leading up to the exhibition Showdown and All-Star races at Charlotte next month, Pennzoil is running a stock-car burnout contest at Charlotte Motor Speedway May 22. And this year, one crazed superfan will get to ride shotgun with former winner Kevin Harvick. The Penzoil Ultra Victory Challenge gives top Sprint Cup drivers the opportunity to demonstrate the art of roasting tires in a 30-second “freestyle burnout,” though this year they also get the chance to earn extra points for knocking things over (yep, you read that right) while in full-on victory donut mode. I caught part of the spectacle on TV last year, and it was pretty cool–obviously not as wild as those anarchic Australian burnout comps where they peg the motor until everything blows up, but it’s cool to see top-tier NASCAR drivers engaging in some seriously goofy hijinks as part of the sport’s official proceedings. Check out Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Facebook page for updates, and the official contest page here!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I’ve never been one for wanton groupieism, but I was struck with a mild case of starry-eyed surprise earlier today when I saw the Sprint Cup drivers lined up on pit row waiting for their turn to qualify. And yes, their presence made it kind of difficult, at times, to get the whole car in the shot. Hey, cut me some slack—just because you do this for a living doesn’t mean you’re not human, and when my dog Clint got to within about a foot of me, I couldn’t help but go a little wobbly. If you’re curious to see some candid shots of NASCAR’s big guns alongside their race-winning rides, check them out below the jump.

Continue reading "Top NASCAR Drivers, With Rides" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

If you’re a race fan, it’s always kind of exciting to see your favorite teams’ car haulers. One night not long ago, I was stoked out of my mind to find myself driving in the middle of a pack of NASCAR haulers on the interstate through Pennsylvania. I was coming back from covering Carlisle Ford at the same time that the Sprint Cup teams had just got done racing at Pocono. I have to say, it’s quite the feeling to get dumped off an on-ramp into the tiny space between the giant rolling billboards of Kevin Harvick and Dave Blaney. And today, seeing all the haulers assembled together like this in the parking lot at Dover—it just give you a big dose of that geared-up, let’s-go-racin’ feeling.

I talked with Rooster (pictured), the full-time transport driver for Harvick’s No. 29 Pennzoil team, who agreed that the fans always go nuts when they see the haulers—he’s definitely had people chase him down the highway snapping pictures. It’s for that reason, and for the sponsors, that it’s especially important to get the trucks all spruced up before the race—right down to Armor-All on the tires. When I found them, the haulers were getting the bugs and the road-grime scrubbed off, and the hoods were tilted so that the guys could stand in the engine bays (instead of on the bodywork) to soap the windshields and the roofs. More hauler pics below the jump!

Continue reading "Hardcore Haulin'" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Sure, Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick sure were beating on each other during the final laps of Bristol on Sunday, when contact between the No. 29 and the No. 20 put Stewart’s car into the wall and out of the race. But yesterday, the longtime pals were all chummy again.

As chummy as you can be with someone who is torturing you.

A year ago, Stewart said he’d have his back waxed bare if trash-talking Harvick was able to raise $100,000 for their charity, Victory Junction Gang Camp. Of course, Harvick met and exceeded the goal, and as the culmination of Operation Wax Smoke, poor Tony had to hunker down for the single most painful experience of his life (Vegas crash included). Our boy Harvick presided chucklingly over the operation—broadcast live on Sirius satellite radio—and even tore off wax strips himself as The Great Pumpkin writhed in agony. At one point, Tony pleaded, "I’d rather you kick me in the balls right now." NASCAR drivers sure have been pulling some bizarre stunts for charity lately, but who knew that competitive do-gooding could take such a painful toll. Listen to the whole disgusting rip-by-rip here, and go below the jump to see some disturbing photos.

Harvick’s sadistic streak.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Someone once said of Bristol Motor Speedway that it looks like someone dug a hole in the ground and poured a racetrack into it. Drivers have likened racing on the short, nasty little track to "flying jet fighters in a gymnasium." And the corporate types call it "the fastest half-mile in NASCAR." Whatever you want to say about it, there’s no track on the whole Sprint Cup circuit quite like it: its specific combo of brevity and steeply-banked turns makes for 16-second laps and close, violent, high-contact and high-speed racing. Bumpin’ and bangin’ is SOP here, and it’s not uncommon to see cars cross the finish line with half their sheet metal missing. Anyway, a lot can happen pretty fast when you take a bunch of stock cars and throw ‘em in a blender, and during Sunday’s race, a lot did. In just the last five laps we saw Joe Gibbs racers Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin cruising for a 1-2 finish when the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets started charging. In just a few short minutes, Stewart got spun into the wall after making contact with Kevin Harvick while Jeff Burton slipped past, Hamlin’s fuel pickup stumbled on the restart, knocking him out of the lead, Harvick kept in it to finish second behind Burton and Clint Bowyer brought up the rear of the team charge to finish third. This last-minute switcheroo scored RCR its first 1-2-3 finish. As a dazed Jeff Burton said of his win, "I dunno what happened"—I guess that’s Bristol for you! Congrats to Burton, and to my two faves Harvick and Bowyer, for such a super finish. CarDomain will be covering the next Bristol race in August, so stay tuned!

By Jen

Editor

Ok, so you only get one lap with them, and it’s not a hot lap in a stock car. But for those who’ve always wanted to wave regally to 160,000 screaming fans from the back of a pickup truck alongside their favorite NASCAR driver—which, if you think about it, is a pretty specific fantasy—head on over to Bristol Motor Speedway’s "Ride of a Lifetime" auction and plunk down a bid. Among the drivers for sale are Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer, defending series champ Jimmie Johnson—and last week’s Daytona 500 winner, Ryan Newman. I’m kind of curious to see what kinds of prices everyone will all fetch, but beware: the auction site requires registration, even just to watch.

Down in the infield was the beat-up No. 29 Chevrolet in which Kevin Harvick drag-raced Mark Martin to the finish line during the iconic 2007 Daytona finish. It was on display for grandstand ceremonies right along with—you guessed it—another vintage NASCAR ride. This is a ’59 Impala similar to the one that Lee Petty drove to victory in a similarly razor-close finish during the inaugural Daytona 500.

No. 29 driver Kevin Harvick, who won last year’s Daytona 500 with a dramatic final-lap steal as the field behind him exploded into fire, predicts that this year’s Great American Race isn’t going to be anything like the ’07 run. For one thing, he says, the Daytona track is worn out and rough, factors which thwart the kind of sustained side-by-side battles that fans have come to expect. Other drivers point to the Car of Tomorrow, whose compatibility with the particular style of racing at Daytona is still largely unknown.  Restrictor-plate racing, which forces cars to clump together in packs and use each other’s draft to slingshot to the front, is complicated by the altered handling and aerodynamics of the CoT. As always at Daytona, little errors amount to big wrecks. 2007 Nextel Cup champ Jimmie Johnson worried about the CoT’s erratic handling in testing at Daytona, and No. 10 driver Patrick Carpentier noted that its fragile shell doesn’t hold up well to the low-grade bumpin’ and bangin’ typical of Daytona, leading to squirrelly steering as the car gets misshapen and fights against aerodynamics. The CoT’s behavior is the big question mark, and it’s what will make it either a sedate and uneventful Daytona or a long, brutal one filled with big wrecks.

Which driver is your pick for this year’s Daytona 500 winner?