LOUDON, N.H. - Kissing the granite? Don't be surprised if that becomes the new fashionable thing for racers at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway has its yard of bricks and now New Hampshire Motor Speedway will have its two feet of granite.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway executive vice president and general manager Jerry Gappens announced Wednesday that the track will install a two-foot wide section of granite across the track's start/finish line, symbolic of New Hampshire's Granite State nickname.

"Indianapolis has the famous yard of bricks at the start/finish line, Augusta has Amen Corner with the beautiful azaleas and everything that you see at that beautiful golf course down there," Gappens said. "And here close to home, Boston's Fenway Park has the Green Monster. We thought it was appropriate to announce that New Hampshire Motor Speedway will now have the Granite Stripe." 

Gappens said the new stripe will be in place for the track's Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 weekend which is schedule for Sept. 16-19. The stripe will be adorned with the logo's of Bryar Motorsports Park, New Hampshire International Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Before former track owner Bob Bahre built what was then known as New Hampshire International Speedway, the facility was known as Bryar Motorsports Park. The facility became New Hampshire Motor Speedway when it was purchased by Speedway Motorsports Inc. in 2008. 

"We're going to put the logo of the old Bryar Motorsports Park on top of it, New Hampshire International's Speedway logo and of course New Hampshire Motor Speedway's logo to really kind of illustrate and remember the heritage of this whole facility and the property and the history that it's brought and all the good memories that we have," Gappens said. "...  It illustrates New Hampshire Motor Speedway as solid as a rock with our race fans and our great schedule of events."

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LOUDON, N.H. - It will still be a twin bill for Sprint Cup Series events at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2011.

After much negative speculation over recent months concerning the future of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the track's executive vice president and general manager Jerry Gappens confirmed Tuesday that no events are being taken off the schedule at the facility.

Gappens announced Tuesday that New Hampshire Motor Speedway will once again host two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events in 2011.

"We're standing here in victory lane to celebrate a tremendous win for New Hampshire Motor Speedway in keeping two NASCAR Sprint Cup races here," Gappens said Tuesday during an announcement at the track. "These NASCAR Sprint Cup Series dates are special and they're highly coveted by other venues and other cities throughout the country. It really concerned me. This year, the realignment process for next year's dates saw some dates from speedway's that currently host two NASCAR Sprint Cup races move away where they only have one.

"I think it is fitting that the largest sports and entertainment facility in all of New England is maintaining its rightful place on the calendar with two weekends a year. I am very grateful for that and I don't take that for granted."

Since June there have been rumors floating that officials with company that owns the track, Speedway Motorsports Inc., would move one of two Sprint Cup Series events held in Loudon to Las Vegas for the 2011 season.

"I was worried in June, even when [SMI chairman and CEO Bruton Smith] was here," Gappens said. "When it became a topic of conversation and there was all the speculation and rumors, obviously it gets your attention. I had to respect the fact that anything could happen in this business."

What will change at New Hampshire are the weekends the events will run on in 2011. This year New Hampshire hosted the Sprint Cup Series on June 27 for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 and the series will return for the Sylvania 300 on Sept. 19, which is the first race in NASCAR's 10-event season ending Chase for the Championship.

Next year the summer event will move to July 17 and the fall event will go to Sept. 25, becoming the second event in the Chase for the Championship. Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. will host the first Chase event in 2011.

The date changes for New Hampshire Motor Speedway are a small part of sweeping changes for the Sprint Cup Series for the 2011 season.

NASCAR is expected to officially announce the 2011 Sprint Cup Series schedule next week, but many of the upcoming changes have been revealed in recent days through numerous track announcements.

Last week it was confirmed that Atlanta Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. would each be cutting back from two Sprint Cup events annually to one at each track for the 2011 season.

Filling those holes created in the schedule will be Kansas Speedway, which will add a second Sprint Cup event to its schedule, and Kentucky Speedway, which will host its first Sprint Cup event in 2011.

Another change announced Tuesday involved the return of the Indy Racing League's IndyCar Series to the track next year. In June, when track officials announced the return, a July 31, 2011 event date was set, but Tuesday it was announced that race will now be run on Aug. 14, 2011.

"When I originally sat down with the IRL and talked about dates, the two dates we talked about were July 31 and Aug. 14," Gappens said. "Based on the late June and mid-to-late September dates we had for NASCAR, I thought the July 31 date was better. When I found out we had July 17 then Aug. 14 looked a lot better real fast."

Gappens confirmed that the NASCAR Nationwide Series along with the Whelen Modified Tour and K&N Pro Series East will be part of the July card in 2011 at the track and that the two regional division along with the Camping World Truck Series will be part of the Sept. card next.

Gappens said he is working with NASCAR to have the Whelen Modified Tour on the card with the IndyCar Series.

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LOUDON, N.H. - There's been plenty of speculation about what will happen to the schedule at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2011.

This much is certain as of right now, both race weekends will definitely be changing at the track next year.

That became fact today when officials at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. announced they would host the Sprint Cup Series in 2011 on June 26. That weekend has been the home of New Hampshire Motor Speedway's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 event.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway hosted its first Sprint Cup Series event on July 11, 1993 and through the 2006 season that summer event was normally held on the second or third weekend in July. New Hampshire added its fall event in 1997.

The event is expected to return to that slot in 2011, with a July 17 date for the event seemingly set to be announced. The Associated Press reported earlier this week that New Hampshire Motor Speedway is likely to host the Nationwide Series on July 16 in 2011.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway officials are expected to release their 2011 schedule at a press conference this afternoon at the track.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway has hosted the first Chase for the Championship event since the inception of the pseudo playoff system in 2004. That will also change in 2011. Chicagoland Speedway officials have announced that their track will host the Chase opener in 2011, meaning New Hampshire Motor Speedway's fall Sylvania 300 likely moves to a Sept. 25 run date.

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New Hampshire Motor Speedway officials have scheduled a press conference for this afternoon with the 2011 schedule at the track being the topic at hand.

So what will be going on at the track?

It seems the most likely scenario that will be laid out is a change back to what used to be for the track's annual summer Sprint Cup Series weekend and a one-week change for the track's fall event.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway officials are expected to announce that the track's usual late June event will move to a mid-July date. The Lenox Industrial Tools 301 went from a mid-July race to a late June event (and once early July event) in 2007.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway hosted its first Sprint Cup Series event on July 11, 1993 and through the 2006 season that event was normally held on the second or third weekend in July.

The event is expected to return to that slot in 2011, with a July 17 date for the event seemingly set to be announced. The Associated Press reported earlier this week that New Hampshire Motor Speedway is likely to host the Nationwide Series on July 16 in 2011.

It brings up a unique scenario though. For the first time since 1998, the IndyCar Series will return to the facility in 2011. The date for that race has been announced as July 31. Moving the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 to July 17 would mean two major events at the facility in a three week span.

It seemed a given that the regional NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour would be part of the IndyCar Series weekend in 2011. If that's so it would make for an interesting stretch for the division, competing twice over a three-week span at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway has hosted the first Chase for the Championship event since the inception of the pseudo playoff system in 2004. That will change in 2011. Chicagoland Speedway officials have announced that their track will host the Chase opener in 2011, meaning New Hampshire Motor Speedway's fall Sylvania 300 likely moves to a Sept. 25 run date.

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It's an oldie in the realm of internet comedy but truly NASCAR parody at its best and something anyone with even the slightest interest in the sport should view just for a hearty laugh.

It's legendary NASCAR coach Dan Amon revealing the secrets of the sport to The Onion News Network. Some of the tips offered by coach Amon.

-- "Well, the most important point is to drive fast."

-- "We do a lot of training with pedals. Pushing the pedal down all the way, that's very important. Now a lot of mistakes a lot of rookie drivers make is they only push the pedal down part way."

-- "I always tell my drivers the same thing, look out the windshield. If you see a racecar over there, don't drive into that place because you might could hit 'em and it might cause an accident."

Yes, it's absolutely racing sarcasm at its best, but after spending a weekend experiencing what's come to be known as Danica-Mania, it was hard not to walk away thinking maybe IndyCar Series veteran Danica Patrick could use some NASCAR tips from coach Amon.

The overwhelming question after watching another less than spectacular Nationwide Series appearance by Patrick has to be, is she really interested in a career competing in NASCAR or was the money just way too good to say no to dabbling in stock cars for a little while? 

During a press conference on Friday Patrick explained that part of her struggles early in practice involved having to take time to learn things like switches in the car and how to blend in on the track. Aren't these things that someone competing in the second highest level of stock car racing in the world should have a cursory understanding of before getting behind the wheel?

But the most glaring display of just how uneducated Patrick is to what's actually going on around her came just after she crashed with Morgan Shepherd on the seventh lap of the New England 200 Saturday after the two made contact in turn one.

Patrick sounded hardly like professional top-level NASCAR driver and a lot more like a soccer mom at a backyard barbecue watching a NASCAR event for the first time when she complained to her team over their two-way radio following the crash.

"He totally took me out," Patrick said. "Does he get some kind of penalty for that or something?"

It was 20 years ago this week that the iconic NASCAR centered movie Days of Thunder was released. One of the most memorable scenes in the film involved fictional driver Cole Trickle, played by Tom Cruise, meeting his crew chief Harry Hogge, played by Robert Duvall, to test a stock car for the first time.

"What do you know about stock car racing" Hogge asked Trickle.

"Well ..., watched it on television, of course," Trickle said.

"You've seen it on television?" Hogge says.
 
"ESPN," Trickle responds. "The coverage is excellent, you'd be surprised at how much you can pick up."

Sadly, in the case of Patrick, it comes across as if she hasn't even taken the time to watch NASCAR on TV. Some kind of penalty for making slight contact in a turn? Where does she think she's racing, on a Quarter Midget track?

One would think a professional racer like Patrick who is trying to make the leap from the IndyCar Series to the top levels of NASCAR would pour themselves into fully understanding what they were getting into before hitting the track. That understanding would include things like knowing where the switches are in the car, understanding how to blend with traffic and knowing that another driver isn't going to get parked for making minor contact with another driver on the track.

Patrick's less than even simple knowledge of what's going on around her should be considered a big slap in the face to the drivers that make their living racing in the Nationwide Series and it proves an even bigger slap in the face to the drivers around the country fighting and scraping and putting in the work and trying to get the experience to someday reach that level in their careers.

Patrick has long fought the stigma that she's reached the levels she reached in racing more because of sex appeal and marketing genius than true racing talent.

The fact is, if she doesn't want to be considered just a pretty face behind the wheel looking to pad her bank account with the spoils that come with NASCAR exposure, maybe she should step back and actually learn just a little bit more about stock car racing at the level she's trying to compete at. For someone who has hardly paid any dues to get the chance to compete in a top-level Nationwide Series ride, it's the least she can do.

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LOUDON, N.H. - It was a day to make NASCAR history in the most perfectly fitting fashion for Kyle Busch. And for Danica Patrick it was another day in her NASCAR experiment that she'd probably prefer to soon forget.

Busch was thoroughly dominate in winning the Nationwide Series New England 200 Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Busch led a race-high 126 of 200 laps, in the process becoming the all-time laps leader in the history of the Nationwide Series.

Busch came into the event 92 laps short of Mark Martin's previous series record of 8,082 laps led. The 25-year old, who has won 36 career Nationwide Series events, finished the day with 8,118 laps led all-time.

"I wish there was money for laps led," said Busch, who is also a regular in the Sprint Cup Series. "Obviously that would be pretty cool. It's a testament to this team and also I was at Hendrick Motorsports too and led a lot of laps there. It comes down to just being competitive and being that fierce competitor that wants to go out there and lead every lap and win every race.

"Sometimes I haven't been able to win those races when I've led the most laps, but I've certainly been able to lead a lot of them. It's remarkable to beat a guy like Mark Martin, who did so much in this series and can still come back any day in this series and win races."

Brad Keselowski was second and Carl Edwards was third.

The biggest worry for Busch came on the race's final restart on lap 183. Before the restart it looked as if his teammate and Middletown native Joey Logano was ready to challenge him for the win. But Logano spun his tires when the green flag flew on the restart, dropping him back in the field.

"Driver error," said Logano, who finished fourth. "... It's tough. You feel like you're close to it, but I just feel bad for the guys because I screwed up."

Patrick, making her fourth Nationwide Series start of her career and first since making three starts in February, saw her day go bad seven laps into the event when contact with Morgan Shepherd sent her into the turn two wall.

Her team was able to repair her car, but she lost a lap under caution. Before the race restarted she gave Shepherd a bump to the rear while the field paced on the track. She finished 30th, five laps down from the leaders.

"It was definitely a long day," said Patrick, who started 25th. "It's always tough when you start from behind like that, to be a lap down so quickly. It was a bummer to get lapped so many times. But, it was a learning process."

Patrick, who is also competing full-time in the Izod IndyCar Series, is scheduled to make nine more starts in the Nationwide Series this year for the Dale Earnhardt Jr. owned JR Motorsports team.

Charles Lewandoski of Stafford, making his second career Nationwide Series start, finished 31st for the Maine based Go Green Racing team.

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LOUDON, N.H. - For years Sprint Cup Series regular Ryan Newman played fixated spectator watching the Whelen Modified Tour put on dramatic finish after dramatic finish as a support race during Sprint Cup Series event weekends at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

On Thursday at NHMS, Newman said the Modified Tour events are always "the best race of the entire weekend here."

Saturday Newman got to make himself a part of one of those classic dramatic finishes, in the process scoring his first career victory in the division.

Newman passed Ted Christopher on the final lap and then held him off out of the final corner to win the Whelen Modified Tour New England 100 at NHMS.

Over the years a handful of Sprint Cup Series stars, including Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards, have made starts in Modified Tour events at NHMS. Newman, a South Bend, Ind. native, became the first one to steal a victory from the division's regulars.

The victory came in the fifth career start in the series for Newman, who competes in the Sprint Cup Series for Stewart-Haas Racing.

"To have a race slide jobbing back and forth like we did at the end, that's what fans love to see and I'm glad to be able to put on a show for them and I thank Teddy for racing me clean there at the end," Newman said. "I'm just glad to get a victory."

Christopher, of Plainville, the track's all-time winningest driver, held on for second after leading race-high 40 laps. Ryan Preece of Berlin was third. 

Newman had started the last three Modified Tour events at NHMS before Saturday, with a best finish of eighth in those events. He also made a start in the division's inaugural event at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway last August.

Newman has made all his series starts in a car owned by West Boylston, Mass. native and Sprint Cup Series crew chief Kevin "Bono" Manion, a former Modified Tour crew chief.

Newman won the pole for the race in qualifying on Thursday, but he spent much of the race laying back outside the top-3.

"We were actually really loose," Newman said. "I had spun it out here twice before so I didn't want to spin it out this time. A little patience paid off."

Newman went to the lead past Ron Silk on a lap 80 restart. On lap 92 Christopher moved past Bobby Santos III into second. On lap 93 Christopher went under Newman for the lead into turn three only to have Newman cross back under him in turn four to regain the top spot. A carbon copy of the lead swapping between to the two took place on the next lap. On lap 99 Christopher went by Newman in turn three to take over the lead coming to the white flag. On the final lap Newman went low into turn one and moved to the front, but Christopher went to the low lane in turn two to get back out front. But down the backstretch it was Newman who was able to win the drag race into turn three and keep Christopher at bay to the checkered.

After getting into Newman hard early in the event and nearly putting him into the wall, Christopher said he made a conscious decision not to use his bumper to move Newman on the final lap.

"You can always second guess everything you do," Christopher said. "I got into him pretty good at the beginning of the race and I told myself I wasn't going to do that again. I have a lot of respect for him. We've raced together at [New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway] a bunch of times and he's a fun fun guy to race with. I wasn't going to bump him to get by him at the end."

Said Newman: "I know Teddy is one of the hardest, if not the hardest driver out there, when it comes to the Modifieds. He'll run it in hard on you and he's not afraid to use the nerf bars [side-body bars that run the length of the car]. I don't race these cars enough to race them that way. He does, he's raced the short tracks. I don't know if he did it on purpose or not, but when he nerfed me up out the way about eight laps in I didn't appreciate it a whole lot. But in saying that he wouldn't do it in the end, that takes a lot of man."

Whelen Modified Tour points leader Bobby Santos III, who had won three of the first four events of the season, was fourth.

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