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Headlines.........Featuring race coverage by Amanda Vincent.

Amanda attended Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY, where she majored in journalism and minored in writing. Still based in Bowling Green, she is a freelance NASCAR writer. She has previously worked at both weekly and daily newspapers in Kentucky and has written for such magazines as Kentucky Living and Speedway Illustrated. Amanda will be covering just Nationwide Rac

Stories Below:  Click the link to go directly to the story.  

                        2/13    Stewart gets another Daytona Nationwide win  by Amanda Vincent

                        2/11  Johnson, Kahne get duel wins  by Amanda Vincent
                       
                        2/6   Harvick claims second-straight Shootout win. by Amanda Vincent

                        2/6  Bobby Gerhart Adds to the Record Books with Historic sixth Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200
                           Daytona Victory; Danica Patrick gains valuable experience, survives spin to finish sixth
                           in stock car debut

• 2/13    Stewart gets another Daytona Nationwide win  by Amanda Vincent
  
  
   

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
                            Click here for more photos from Motorsport.com. and Eric Gilbert
  
  Heading into Saturday's DRIVE-4-COPD 300 Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway, Sprint Cup regulars including Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were most definitely considered favorites to win. After all the three had combined to claim the winner's trophy in the last eight February Nationwide events at Daytona.

  Stewart had been the most dominant in that string as of late, winning four of the last five season-opening races. He added to the string on Saturday to claim Nationwide February wins at Daytona for five of the last six years and making it nine straight for himself, Harvick, and Earnhardt Jr. by visiting victory lane at the conclusion of Saturday's race.

   
  Harvick and Earnhardt Jr. kept Stewart company up front much of the day until contact between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski with about 29 laps to go set off a chain reaction that led to Earnhardt Jr. getting airborne and flipping his car and collecting Brendan Gaughan, Kyle Busch, Scott Riggs, Greg Biffle, Tony Raines, Joe Nemechek, and Harvick, among others.

  While Earnhardt's day was ended by the incident that resulted in a red flag of approximately 11 minutes, Harvick was able to continue. After repairs were made to his car, Harvick soldiered back up through the field with some help from Keselowski and was able to salvage a third-place finish.

  Edwards, meanwhile, had to settle for a runner-up finish for the second-consecutive year.

  Stewart's trip to victory lane didn't come without a tough battle in the closing laps with rookie driver Justin Allgaier, though. As the laps wound down, Allgaier stayed behind Stewart in the second spot but was shuffled back to the fourth position on the white flage lap. And fourth was where Allgaier finished the day.

  As Stewart and the other front-runners were making their way to the checkered flag, Busch spun and collected Keselowski to bring out the caution on the final lap. However, since the white flag had already waved, NASCAR didn't get the opportunity to test its revisions to the green-white-checker rule. Anyway, Keselowski wound up with a 14th-place finish following the incident, and Busch ended up 18th.

  The sixth through 10th-place finishers included: Paul Menard, who made his way through the field from his 43rd starting spot to finish sixth; Joey Logano, who finished seventh; eighth-place finisher James Buescher, who isn't normally seen among the top-10 finishing order; Kasey Kahne in ninth; and 10th-place finisher Steve Wallace.

  Brian Vickers survived the carnage throughout the day that involved no fewer than 28 cars of the 43 that started the race to round out the top-five.

  Despite the dominance of Stewart, Harvick, and Earnhardt Jr. of Nationwide Series competition at Daytona, the big story heading into Saturday's race was Danica Patrick's NASCAR debut. Her day started off seemingly event free. She did get a lap down early, but got that lap back under the next caution. However her day went downhill from there. On her second pit stop of the day, she stalled her car on pit road. Then, just as she claimed to become more comfortable in the car, she got caught up in one of the big wrecks of the day just past the halfway point of the race. The damage she suffered from the incident prematurely ended her debut.

  That was after missing a similar accident she managed to drive right through witout incident early in the race on lap seven.

  "I don't know how I didn't, but I didn't," Patrick told crew chief Tony Eury Jr. on the radio after her early close call.

  Patrick wasn't the only female making her Nationwide Series debut on Saturday. Chrissy Wallace, daughter of series veteran Mike Wallace, also started her first Nationwide Series event with the DRIVE4COPD 300. Unfortunately for Wallace, her day ended even earlier than Patrick's. Wallace's debut ended on lap one when she and Menard made contact. Soon after climbing out of the car, Wallace said that her debut came to an abrubt halt because Menard was racing "too hard, too early."

  
   

• 2/11 Johnson, Kahne get duel wins  by Amanda Vincent
  
  Fifty-four cars were split into two fields of 27 entries for Thursday's Gatorade Duel 150-mile races to set the field for Sunday's Daytona 500. The already determined front row occupants of the 500, pole sitter Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr., each led the field to the green in their respective duel races.
  
  Martin started up front for the first duel and led most of the first half of that race, with the exception being the first two laps that were led by Ryan Newman. Meanwhile, Bill Elliott and Owensboro, Ky., native and two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip held on to the two Daytona 500 transfer spots that were up for grabs in the first duel during much of the time Martin was leading.
  
  Through the closing segment of the first duel, though, the lead traded hands several times, as did the transfer positions. One driver who was pretty much a constant among the two transfer spots was Waltrip, that was until seven laps to go, when he went through the infield grass before making contact with the inside wall.
  
  When the checkers fell on the first Gatorade Duel of the afternoon, Jimmie Johnson won by a hair, just barely beating out Saturday's Budweiser Shootout winner Kevin Harvick. Johnson beat Harvick to the line by 0.006 of a second.
  
  "Hey, you win some, you lose some, all you can ask for is a chance," Harvick said of his near miss.
  
  Claiming spots in the Daytona 500 with their runs in the first duel were Michael McDowell and Max Papis with 14th and 15th-place finishes. Following the first duel, McDowell said that he felt like he had just won the Daytona 500.
  
  Waltrip would have to wait until the conclusion of the second duel to find out whether or not he would get an opportunity to try to win his third Daytona 500. For Waltrip to make the Daytona 500, Scott Speed or Bobby Labonte would have to claim one of the two transfer spots in the second duel, so they wouldn't have to rely on their Saturday qualifying time. Waltrip was the next fastest go or go homer during Saturday's qualifying session behind Speed and Labonte, and could take one their spots, should one of them race his way in during the second duel race.
  
  In the intermission period between the two duels, Waltrip commented that he could be smiling or crying after the second duel.
  
  Mike Bliss was another driver who may have possibly been cheering for Speed and Labonte a little, even though they were in the same duel as he was. If Bliss couldn't race his way in with his duel finish, he would earn a Daytona 500 starting position based on his Saturday qualifying speed if both Speed and Labonte occupied the two transfer spots from the second duel. Bliss was the next fastest go or go home driver after Waltrip on Saturday.
  
  When the green flag flew signaling the start of the second duel, pole sitter Earnhardt Jr. led a few laps early before former JR Motorsports employee and still new Penske Racing driver Brad Keselowski took over and dominated for several laps. Keselowski kept his No. 12 car up front with the help of Penske teammate Kurt Busch until a pit miscue resulted in a restart in the back of the pack.
  
  Busch kept things going for the Penske organization, though, seeming to pick up where Keselowski left off by leading several laps.
  
  Meanwhile, Bliss spent much of the second duel race in one of the transfer spots, not relying on both Speed and Labonte to finish the race in one of the two transfer positions. Bliss would claim his spot in the Daytona 500 with a 13th-place finish in the second duel.
  
  As eyes were on the transfer or "get in" spots, Kasey Kahne captured the checkered flag for the win in the second Gatorade Duel. Tony Stewart, after starting near the front and falling back early, fought his way up toward the front to post a runner-up finish.
  
  Speed finished right behind Bliss in the 14th position to claim the second transfer spot, which was good news for Waltrip. With Speed's run in the second duel, Waltrip was able to claim one of the final Daytona 500 starting spots based on his Saturday qualifying speed.
  
  The Daytona 500 will air live on FOX beginning at noon ET Sunday
   

• 1/6 Harvick claims second-straight Shootout win. by Amanda Vincent
   

  Kevin Harvick may be suffering from the lingering symptoms of the flu, and may not have turned a lap behind the wheel of his Budweiser Shootout backup car until the start of the event on Saturday night, but that didn't keep him from celebrating with the No. 29 team in victory lane following the Shootout for the second-consecutive year.

  "I have to thank my team, they did a great job," Harvick said. "Wrecked a car in practice, I was sick on Thursday, didn't even get to sit a lap in this thing. Man that thing was a rocket. The best thing about it was it handled really well. I have to thank everybody. Coca Cola, SKF, Jimmy John's, Champion, Sherwin Williams, Reeses, RealTree, everybody that helps this thing go around."

  In all, six of the 24 drivers who started the Budweiser Shootout were in backup cars due to practice crashes on Thursday -- Harvick, Jammie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, and Greg Biffle. Harvick, Biffle, and McMurray got to start in the position they drew, despite being in backup cars, becaus practice laps were taken in the backups they started the race in (Richard Childress Racing treammates Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer took turns practicing Harvick's car in his absense on Thursday. Bowyer was the one who wrecked it).

  Meanwhile, Busch, Martin, and Hamlin had to start in the back, because they didn't make any practice laps in their backups. Also joining them in the back for the start were Juan Montoya and Derrike Cope, who didn't practice at all.

  Harvick stayed near the front throughout the Shootout, as pole sitter Carl Edwards dominated early, leading all 25 laps of the first segment that was caution-free until a Michael Waltrip spin on the final lap of the segment ended green flag racing for the first segment a fraction of a lap early.

  Edwards lost the lead early on in the second segment to McMurray. Edwards soon retook the lead, and then McMurray had problems getting up to speed on a restart after a spin by Busch.

  Following the second caution of the second segment -- brought out after Burton spun as a result of a cut tire -- Tony Stewart and Harvick traded the lead back and forth throughout the rest of the event.

  Biffle, though, did spend some time up front late in the race, and restarted up front for a green-white-checkers finish that was set up by a Waltrip spin after contact from Ryan Newman with six laps to go.

  Biffle, however, was the recipient of contact from Jeff Gordon in the closing laps set the stage for the big one that collected not only Biffle, but both his Roush Fenway teammates who were in the race (Matt Kenseth and Edwards), Bobby Labonte, Ken Schrader, Martin, and Ryan Newman.

  "It was pretty wild at the end, but that is what it is all about," McMurray said. "The Shootout is a lot of fun and they eliminated the bump-drafting zones, we shoved each other all the way down the backstretch."

  With NASCAR rules only allowing for one attempt at a green-white-checkers finish, the race ended under caution with Harvick being declared the winner. Stewart, who Harvick battled for the lead much of the latter portion of the race, wound up finishing in the ninth position. Kasey Kahne, who also spent a lot of time near the front of the pack, claimed the runner-up position.

  McMurray battled back from his problematic restart and finished in the third spot. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five.

  The top-10 finishers of the Budweiser Shootout were as follows:
  1. Kevin Harvick
  2. Kasey Kahne
  3. Jamie McMurray
  4. Kyle Busch
  5. Denny Hamlin
  6. Brian Vickers
  7. Joey Logano
  8. Jeff Gordon
  9. Tony Stewart
  10. Juan Montoya

  *Note: This finishing order is unofficial, as NASCAR was still reviewing video to confirm the exact running order at the time of the final caution.
   

• 1/6  Bobby Gerhart Adds to the Record Books with Historic sixth Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 Daytona Victory; Danica Patrick gains valuable experience, survives spin to finish sixth in stock car debut

  DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (February 6, 2010)-Veteran ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards driver Bobby Gerhart earned a historic sixth Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 Daytona race victory on Saturday evening, using patience and fuel strategy in ARCA's wreck-filled season opener to notch his seventh-career restrictor plate victory while IZOD INDY Car Series star Danica Patrick finished sixth in her stock car debut.

  Patrick, who is expected to decide on Monday if she will compete in next week's NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona, used the ARCA race to learn how to adapt to big, heavy stock cars. She showed that she is a fast learner, working the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet on the inside, outside and middle lanes of the racetrack in both the front and the back of the field throughout the 80 lap/200-mile event.

  Patrick ran in the lead pack for the first half of the race until getting loose in turns 1 and 2 on lap 50, losing the draft and dropping from sixth to 13th. Three laps later Nelson Piquet, Jr., the former Formula One driver who also used Saturday's ARCA race to make his stock car debut, made contact with Patrick's car coming off of turn 4, forcing her through the infield grass. Patrick slid sideways on the track and went through the infield grass but was able to avoid making contact. She made two pit stops following the spin, remaining on the lead lap, finishing sixth in her career first stock car start.

  "I was just kind of hanging out there for most of the race," said Patrick. "There were lots of yellows. It feels to me like I got bumped a little bit in turns one and two (on lap 53). I just held to the yellow line because I know that you're not supposed to go below the yellow line to advance your position and I took myself out unfortunately. I was pretty excited to go from last to the top five. I felt pretty good, I was going side-by-side with people. And then at the end I was running eighth and I thought what the heck so I pulled out of the line and ran high. You can see I was racing by all of the marks on the car. The GoDaddy.com Chevrolet doesn't look very pretty."

  While Patrick garnered most of the media attention this weekend it was Gerhart to etched his name further into the ARCA Racing Series Record Books, earning a record sixth Daytona ARCA victory. The Lebanon, Pennsylvania, native pitted to make adjustments to the No. 5 Lucas Oil Slick Mist Chevrolet on lap 12 of 80 during the second of six caution periods, making the most of the pit stop by topping the car off with fuel. He did not pit for the remainder of the 200-mile race and worked his way to the point position by lap 30.

  "To be honest with you we calculated that we could run 66 laps before we would need to refuel," said Gerhart. "Every chance I could I was doing everything possible to conserve fuel. I probably gained six laps by coasting during cautions. As a little kid I dreamed of having the opportunity to come here and race. I couldn't have believed that I would ever be here six times and one day I hope to retire here in Daytona victory lane but let me tell you something, I don't like the number six so I guarantee I will be back."

  Venturini Motorsports teammates Mark Thompson (No. 66 Phoenix Air Toyota) and John Wes Townley (No. 35 Zaxby's Toyota), spent much of the closing portions of the race working together to secure second and third-place finishes, respectively.

  "We really didn't have much for Bobby," said Thompson. "His car and my car were pretty much even and I could have gotten a little bit of a run on the backstretch but he was running smart."

  With his third-place finish Townley, a fulltime NASCAR Nationwide Series driver for Richard Childress Racing, bested the career-best fourth place Daytona ARCA finish he earned in 2009.

  "I was always a little bit tight but we had a real fast car," said Townley. "It was tough to do anything because Bobby was so good. I really think this was a valuable experience. A great opportunity to come here and run and I'm really excited to go into next year and drive for RCR, how many people can say they run for that team?"

  Defending race winner James Buescher finished fourth in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Toyota after leading the first 29 laps and earning the Menard Pole Award presented by Ansell on Friday. Buescher will return to Daytona for next weekend's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Indiantown, Florida native Patrick Sheltra earned a career-best fifth-place Daytona finish.

  The race was plagued by six cautions and a 21 minute, 40 second red flag that occurred on lap 27 while track safety workers made repairs to the speedway's fencing after Jill George made hard contact in the No. 48 Radon.com Dodge. Jesse Smith (No. 29 Hormel Foods-Child's Tire dodge) was also involved.

  Seven drivers were evaluated and released from the Infield Care Center after a lap 7 incident that started when 1998 ARCA Racing Series Champion Bill Baird (No. 52 Saturn Machine Chevrolet) and Steve Blackburn (No. 68 Harley-Davidson & Honda of Prestonburg Dodge) tangled in turns 1 and 2. Butch Jarvis, Milka Duno, Leilani Munter, Josh Richards and Chad Hackenbracht were also involved.

  There were no injuries.

  Bobby Gerhart earned the Aaron's Lap Leader Award and the Messina Half-Way Leader Award, James Finch's No. 51 Phoenix Construction Toyota Team earned Crew Chief of the Race Honors and the Klotz Engine Mechanic of the Race Award. Nick Igdalsky was the RE/MAX Rookie of the Race and Tommy Joe Martins was the CGS Imaging Hard Charger.

  ARCA Racing Series teams will test at Palm Beach Int'l Raceway in Jupiter, Florida on Monday in preparation for the February 27 Tire Kingdom 150, the second of 20 events on the 2010 series schedule and the first of two road course races this year.

  -source: arca

   

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