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NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Brendan Gaughan will drive the No. 66 South Point Casino/TRG Porsche GT3 at this weekend’s Grand-Am Rolex Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

Gaughan, from Las Vegas, will make his first Grand-Am Series start with co-driver and Rolex 24 at Daytona winner Andy Lally. Gaughan will also be competing in his regular ride, the No. 62 USfidelis Chevrolet, in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race there on Sunday.

“Growing up in the off-road world if you had aspirations on going to the next level in racing you looked to sports cars or Indy cars,” Gaughan said. “As my career progressed and I was fortunate enough to get into the NASCAR side of things my passion for road racing has never diminished.

“I have been very familiar with Andy’s accomplishments and am both proud and honored to have the opportunity to be his co-driver. I can only hope to have lap times remotely close to his!

“Initially, I was just hoping to run the Grand-Am race to get some laps in to be better prepared for the Nationwide race in my No. 62 USfidelis Chevy. But after learning that I was going to be running with Andy and the car that’s fifth in the points, now I’m hoping to gain valuable track experience and try to help the team gain more points.”

TRG regular Lally is looking forward to sharing his ride with Gaughan, whom he has met before in the infancy of their racing careers.

Herschel McGriff gave a lot of people a reason to smile this past weekend when he competed in the Camping West World Series at Portland International Raceway, U.S.A finishing 13th in the 28 car field. A finish made all the more surprising after McGriff was forced to start at the back of the field and make up a lost lap. It was also a surprising finish given that McGriff is 81 years old.

McGriff has been competing in NASCAR since the 1950’s. In fact he won four races in 1954 prior to any active NASCAR driver today even being born.

In 2002, McGriff established the record for the oldest driver to compete in a NASCAR sanctioned event, a record he broke this past weekend.

Another driver, James Hylton, attempted but failed to make the starting lineup for the Daytona 500 in 2007. Hylton was 72 at the time. He did return to Daytona and competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Race in 2008 starting 38th and finishing 36th.

While these men are certainly great competitors and both are proven winners in NASCAR, at their respectful ages are they a danger to themselves or others when they are racing?

Last week we talked about all the drug/substance abuse violation suspensions in NASCAR in the 2009 season, and now we must discuss the high volume of rule violations in this series as well.

WHAT IS GOING ON?

Again I must ask, is NASCAR just becoming more diligent (while still turning a blind eye to blatant rules violations by “pet” drivers) or are these violations a sign of something bigger? As more teams outside the Toyota realm try to find ways to get wins, cheating is becoming more and more prevalent. Fans have expressed outrage at series forums and in online discussions about specific drivers and teams, demanding an investigation by NASCAR sanctioning staff, but no relief has come.

Until then we must be content to see violators punished and fined as we have in this week’s example. According to CarRacing.com: NASCAR announced that Michael Allen, crew chief for the No. 91 Chevrolet driven by Terry Cook in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, has been fined due to rule violations during this past Friday’s event at Darlington Raceway.

The infractions were discovered on May 7 during opening-day inspection.

According to a report posted on CarRacing.com from NASCAR Media:
Richard Gray, a licensed crew member for the No. 177 team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy.

On April 30, Gray was found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 7-5 (violation of the NASCAR substance abuse policy) of the 2009 NASCAR rule book.

What is it this year with all the substance abuse suspensions? Is NASCAR just getting more diligent with these drivers and crew members - or is there a problem surfacing in professional motor sports? We hope it’s not a trend and that these problems begin to get weeded out from the industry for good.

John Boyd, a licensed crew member for the No. 23 team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy.

On March 9, Boyd was found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 7-5 (violation of the NASCAR substance abuse policy) of the 2009 NASCAR rule book.

We knew that 2009 would be a busy season for Tony Stewart as he saddles up for his first season as both team-owner with Stewart-Haas Racing and as driver for the #14 Old Spice car. But it seems as if Tony is working double-overtime with a few announcements this week regarding new sponsorships, which include deals for his Eldora Speedway in Western Ohio, and even a seat in the Nationwide Series at Daytona:

Burger King Signs on for Two Races
Stewart-Haas Racing announced this morning that Burger King has signed a multiyear sponsorship agreement with the organization. Burger King will appear as the primary sponsor on Tony Stewart’s #14 Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway on July 4 and at Dover International Speedway on Sept. 27.

“I am extremely happy to welcome Burger King Corp. to the team and really proud to be associated with such a great brand,” Stewart said. “This demonstrates another important step in getting Stewart-Haas Racing ready for the season.” Additionally, Burger King will become the exclusive quick-service restaurant sponsor of Eldora Speedway, the Indiana dirt track Stewart owns.

and…

Tony Stewart to race at Daytona for Hendrick Motorsports

Two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart will attempt to qualify a No. 80 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet prepared by Hendrick Motorsports for the Feb. 14 Nationwide Series race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

Stewart, the defending winner of the Camping World 300, has won the season-opening event three times — twice with owner Kevin Harvick (2005 and 2006) and once with Joe Gibbs (2008). Should he qualify, the race will mark Stewart’s first-ever start for car owner Rick Hendrick. The effort will be led by 2003 Nationwide Series champion crew chief Lance McGrew.

What’s wrong with this picture? Can anybody see? This is the NASCAR Nationwide Series for crying out loud - NOT the Cup Series! Anyone else out there hankering for the old NASCAR days when the Cup Series was for the big boys - and the main competitors in the Nationwide (Busch) Series were up-and-comers? I know there’s no rule - I’ve been in discussions on many a NASCAR forum - but I just hate seeing these Cup drivers come down here and dominate the NNS.

Clint Bowyer – Clint Bowyer captured his first NASCAR national series title, holding off a strong late-season comeback by fellow Midwestern dirt racer Carl Edwards. Bowyer took over first place in the standings after the sixth race of the season and never relinquished his lead. He won just once – the rain-shortened spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway – but had 14 top fives and led the series with 29 top 10s.

Kyle Busch – Kyle Busch put together arguably one of the greatest seasons in series history with 10 wins, 18 top fives and 20 top 10s in 30 races. The win total tied the legendary Sam Ard’s 25-year-old record for victories in a season. Busch won for two different teams in three different cars and conquered all types of tracks other than the restrictor plate superspeedways – though he did finish second at both races at Daytona International Speedway.

Carl Edwards – Carl Edwards, the 2007 champion, struggled during the first half of the season but found his mojo following a crew chief change. Drew Blickensderfer joined Edwards prior to the July 21 race at The Milwaukee Mile. There, the duo produced the first of seven wins – a career-best for Edwards. More than 200 points out with eight races left, he took the title chase down to the final race and finished 21 points behind Bowyer, the fourth-closest championship margin in series history.

This video is courtesy of NASCAR.com’s Media Department. The 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Awards Banquet and year’s end celebrations:

They say a picture is worth a thousand words - let’s hope so… not much to report, just some cool pics for NASCAR Nationwide Series fans from the 2008 Championship Banquet this weekend.

Congrats again to Clint Bowyer!

2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion driver Clint Bowyer poses with his show car before the Nationwide Series Awards Banquet at the Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando. (Photo Credit: Marc Serota/Getty Images for NASCAR)

2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion owner J.D. Gibbs poses with Joey Logano, one of the team’s four drivers, before the Nationwide Series Awards Banquet at the Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando. (Photo Credit: Marc Serota/Getty Images for NASCAR)

If you ever doubted the grasp that Carl “Cousin Carl” Edwards from NASCAR’s Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series’ has on life - you can just forget about it. In an interview with the Associated Press this week Edwards offered up his own brand of Forrest Gump-ish logic when he said, “The only thing about second is it’s better than third. That’s really all you can say.”

Well said Cousin Carl - life really IS like a box of chocolates… even in NASCAR driving for Rousch you never know which one you’re going to get.

Clint Bowyer held off Edwards for the Nationwide driver championship by 21 points, and Jimmie Johnson prevailed in the Sprint Cup Series, even though Edwards won a series-best nine races and three of the final four.

Bowyer, who was recognized Saturday during an awards banquet in Orlando, won just one of 35 races. But 14 top-five finishes and a series-best 29 top-10s were enough to give him his first driver championship.

In addition to not catching Bowyer, Edwards fell 69 points short of stopping Johnson from taking his record-tying third consecutive Cup championship.