NASCAR has decided not to penalize Kansas Truck Series winner Carl Edwards for his truck failing post race inspection this past weekend. They determined that his wreck with Dennis Setzer in the first lap caused the #99 Ford to be lower than required.

Who should you look out for this weekend?
How about Jimmie Johnson, who has 9 top 5 finishes in the last 10 races.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has 14 finishes fo 11th or better in 17 races
Jeff Gordon has jumped from 6th to 3rd in the points in two races.
So basically the top 3 in points.

Expect to see a bunch of changes to the look and feel of NBC's broadcast of the races this year. They're going to be shown in wide-screen movie style format, the running order will be moving like on Fox, the on-screen graphics and theme music will be different, plus they plan to do "Through the field" at least every 30 minutes. NBC takes over this weekend.

CHICAGOLAND
Distance: 1.5 Mile Tri-oval
Banking/Turns 1-4: 24°
Banking on Tri-oval:11°
Banking/Backstretch: 5°
Length/Frontstretch: 2,332 ft.
Length/Backstretch: 1,800 ft.
Miles/Laps: 400.5 mi. = 267 laps
Up for grabs: 5.7 million
Last years winner: Ryan Newman

July 8, 2004

Jeff Burton's 99 ride will carry Comcast on the hood at this weekends race in Chicago. As you may know, Jeff has been running without a full-time sponsor this season after Citgo left after 2003.

Clint Bowyer will be driving the Andy Petry #33 Busch car this weekend since Kevin Harvick is slated to run in the #21 Reeses Chevrolet. Paul Menard who normally drives the 33 has moved on to Dale Earnhardt Incorporated.

No surprise here, Bobby Labonte was fastest among the two Petty cars practicing at the track this week. Teams are preparing for the Brickyard 400 on August 8th.


ON TV

BUSCH QUALIFYING @ 2:30 p.m. Friday on Speed

NEXTEL CUP QUALIFYING @ 4 p.m. Friday on Speed

NEXTEL CUP HAPPY HOUR @ Noon Saturday on Speed

BUSCH SERIES RACING @ 2 p.m. Saturday on NBC

CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES RACING @ 8 p.m. Saturday on Speed

NEXTEL CUP RACING FROM CHICAGOLAND @ 3:30 p.m. Sunday NBC

All times are eastern

July 7, 2004

Renovations began at Daytona International Speedway yesterday. Included in the upgrades are: a new tunnel, new Cup and Busch garages, a fan-zone area, a waterfront dock area on the lake, and an all new victory lane. It'll all be ready for the Daytona 500 in February.

Bill Elliott will be in a Busch car in October in Memphis. The car will have an Elvis Presley theme, and carry Lucas Oil on the hood. This is Bill's first Busch race in over 10 years.

Ricky Craven will drive the #29 Richard Childress Busch car this weekend in Chicago. It's the same car that Tony Stewart drove to a second place finish at California earlier this year.

POINT STANDINGS | BUSCH SERIES

5 Bobby Hamilton Jr.
4 Ron Hornaday
3 Greg Biffle
2 Kyle Busch
1 Martin Truex Jr. +68

POINT STANDINGS | TRUCK SERIES

5 Matt Crafton
4 Rick Crawford
3 Bobby Hamilton
2 Carl Edwards
1 Dennis Setzer +34

July 6, 2004

Mike Wallace from CBS's 60 minutes hung out with Dale Earnhardt Jr. this past weekend. Dale Jr. took Wallace on a ride-a-long in a 2005 Corvette, and sat down for an interview for the famous news show which will air sometime in the fall.

Michael Waltrip will run in the Las Vegas Marathon in January, and hopes to raise 1 million dollars to benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

Michael Waltrip's OPERATION MARATHON
http://www.michaelwaltrip.com/
1-866-WALTRIP.

TESTING | INDY

Cars shaking down their setups this week at the track are Bobby Labonte, Kyle Petty and Jeff Green.

Martin Truex Jr. will test in a cup car at New Hampshire where he will make his cup debut in the fall. If tests go well, he could get the chance in the first race at that track.

POINT STANDINGS | CUP SERIES

1 Jimmie Johnson +27
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3 Jeff Gordon
4 Tony Stewart
5 Matt Kenseth
6 Bobby Labonte
7 Kurt Busch
8 Elliott Sadler
9 Ryan Newman
10 Kevin Harvick

BIGGEST GAINER: Terry Labonte moves up 3 spots
BIGGEST LOSER: Elliott Sadler is down 3

July 5, 2004

© CIA Stock Photo, Inc.

RACE RECAP | DAYTONA | PEPSI 400

10 Joe Nemechek
9 Brian Vickers - Top finishing rookie
8 Terry Labonte
7 Bobby Labonte
6 Mark Martin
5 Tony Stewart
4 Kurt Busch
3 Dale Earnhardt Jr - 3rd top 10 at Daytona
2 Jimmie Johnson - 12th top 5 this season
1 Jeff Gordon - 2nd win in a row from the poll, 4th of 2004, and back to back restrictor plate races

OTHER STORIES ON THE DAY

-Matt Kenseth gets caught up in a wreck after Ward Burton cut a tire down. Matt falls two spots in the points.

-John Andretti found the wall and finishes last

-A pit road incident by Jeff Gordon and Brian Vickers forced Dale Jr. into the wet grass, he loses a ton of track position.

BUSCH SERIES
Mike Wallace wins an exciting finish, moving from 5th to first on the final lap, after crashes by Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

TRUCK SERIES
Carl Edwards does back flips after his win on Saturday in Kansas, but his 99 Ford failed post race inspection for being too low, more on this later in the week.

Updated: Sunday, October 31, 2004 | 9:43 AM Pacific