Ford statement on Matt Kenseth's departure from Roush

   Statement from Jamie Allison, director, Ford Racing on the Matt Kenseth announcement by Roush Fenway Racing:

   JAMIE ALLISON -- "All of us at Ford are certainly disappointed to hear that Matt will be leaving, and he will be certainly missed by us and the Ford Racing fans. We are thankful for Matt's winning efforts and championship-caliber success with the Roush and Ford racing programs these past 16 years, both on and off the track. We will focus on this year and look forward to more success on the track in his No. 17 Ford Fusion this season."

Nationwide and Truck awards banquet returns to South Beach

   The combined NASCAR Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series Awards will return to South Florida for 2012 and be held at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, located in the heart of South Beach. The event is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 19, following the Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

   Similar to past award shows, this year’s event will honor the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series champions, as determined during the Homestead-Miami Speedway race weekend, November 16-18.

   “Celebrating the champions of the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in Miami Beach enables us to continue the wave of excitement out of championship weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “The backdrop makes for an ideal location to honor those champions — and their teams and sponsors — after their great seasons.”

   As previously announced, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards will return to Las Vegas, and take place Friday, Nov. 30, at the Wynn Las Vegas. A full lineup of activities for Champion's Week will be announced at a later date.

Time again for the Legends Big Money 100 at CMS

   Legends Big Money 100

   What: The largest grassroots racing event in the country, the third annual Legends Big Money 100, returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway July 2-3. The event boasts a total purse of $100,000, with the Legends Big Money 100 A-Feature winner guaranteed to take home $25,000. The two-day racing spectacular will feature fierce competition among the nation's best Legend Car and Bandolero racers.

   Action on Monday will include qualifying and heat races for the Young Lions/Semi-Pro, Masters and Legends Big Money 100 divisions. Tuesday will include Young Lions/Semi-Pro, Masters and Legends Big Money division feature racing, concluding with the Legends Big Money 100 A-Feature that night.

   Bandolero Bandit and Outlaw drivers will also have the opportunity to compete in a Bandolero championship event, with qualifying sessions and heat races on Monday and feature races on Tuesday.

   Sunday, July 1, all divisions will practice.

   When: The event will take place Monday, July 2 – Tuesday, July 3, with practice on Sunday, July 1.

   Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway, on the quarter-mile oval located on the speedway's front straightaway.

   Ticket info: (704) 455-3200.

Rick Hendrick talks about Dale Junior's win at Michigan

SPEED Interview with Rick Hendrick

Q. Rick, first of all, we're sorry you couldn't be here to actually witness this thing. Logistics kept you away from it. How satisfying is this and how well is the season going for you guys?

RICK HENDRICK: Well, you know, a little bit of a slow start, but we had a lot of speed. Then we get the 200th win and then the All-Star race, and Kasey gets a win, Jimmie gets another one, and I thought Dale had a real shot last week at Pocono. But to get it this weekend, that's outstanding. It's like ahuge load off our backs.

Q. Rick, everybody has been looking to this team, and again, you never lost your focus and the confidence in this group as a whole. Steve Letarte as well as Dale Earnhardt Jr. … what kind of advice have you given these two?

RICK HENDRICK: You know, they just get along so good. I think the chemistry is the best I've seen with any crew chief and driver. And you just look at the way they've been running and had a lot of speed, you knew it was going to come. And just try to say, Dale, don't worry about that, man. You're almost leading the points here. You've got more top tens than anybody. When you run second, third and fourth, you're going to win races. And we hated Pocono, took a chance, but there was too much on the line. I can tell you that's the longest 18 laps I've ever spent, at the end of this race.

Q. Rick, we're having fun with this victory. You know where you were at when you got married, what church. On this day where were you exactly when you saw Junior cross the start/finish line and win this race?

RICK HENDRICK: I was doing laps around my couch, trying to end this race, man. Batman was in a hurry. I was too nervous to stand still. Linda and I were just watching it, come on, no problems. I was so afraid there was going to be a caution, or something was going to happen.

Q. What do you think about the championship potential for the number 88 team?

RICK HENDRICK: Well, you know, when you see a car, and a driver get momentum, and all of the cars are running real well, they're sharing a lot of information, and Dale is just -- he's just switched on. He's got the confidence, Stevie has got the touch and every week they're the best by far. I think he's sitting in the cat bird seat to win his first championship.

Q. Well, Rick, when you -- what will you guys do to celebrate this?

RICK HENDRICK: Well, we had Brad Paisley come down and play for our 200th win. No telling what we might do for this one, I don't know, but we're going to do something. We do like to celebrate together, because the organization just works so hard, and they want to see Junior do so well. So stay tuned.

What Tony Stewart taught Jeff Gordon

   Jeff Gordon said he views the Chase for the Sprint Cup and the series standings in a whole new way following Tony Stewart's run last season to his third series championship.

   "(Points) mean nothing other than you're in (the Chase). And to me, I've not seen one standout team or driver to this point in the season yet," Gordon said. "I don't think we will because Tony was nowhere in sight and just got on fire, you know?"

   Entering the Chase last season Stewart had no wins. He won five times in the 10-race Chase, including the season finale, and won the championship in a tiebreaker over Carl Edwards.

   "Who knows who that team could be when the Chase starts. Matt Kenseth is such a great driver and a consistent driver with a great team, why would you not put him down as a real threat?" Gordon said.

   "I think there's a handful of guys out there right now that you can say that about."

Greg Biffle's words speak volumes

   "We have to walk that fine line of not killing people and creating excitement."

   That's not necessarily anything new heard in NASCAR considering the dangers of the sport and it's history, but those words on Thursday during a test at Michigan International Raceway certainly provoked a big response.

   Perhaps that's more because of who spoke them. Greg Biffle has won numerous races in all three of NASCAR's national series and has championships in two of them - Trucks and Nationwide. For most of this season he has been the Sprint Cup Series points leader.

   During his career, Biffle has certainly not been known for tossing out "pipe bombs" - comments that invoke instant controversy or criticism. He's generally fairly reserved and thoughtful in his comments, although he has had his share of run-ins on and off the track with other drivers.

   Perhaps that's why his comments seemed to stand out. Perhaps that's also why more attention should be paid to them.

   Here are a couple of the questions addressed to Biffle during his media availability on Thursday. Everyone should consider his answers carefully.

   THINK IT IS GOOD FOR THE SPORT OCCASIONALLY TO HAVE A TRACK LIKE THIS WHERE THE SPEEDS ARE WAY UP THERE? IS THAT DANGER GOOD?
   Biffle: “I think so. I don’t see anything wrong with this. It definitely is going to gain some attention going 218 miles per hour and I don’t know, it has been a long time since we have gone that fast. I think that it is good for our sport to have a little – lets face it, controversy is why we have all these reality shows right? – a little action and controversy doesn’t hurt us from giving us something to talk about. It is worthy of talking about. It is fast and a new track and not quite as smooth as Pocono was but it is pretty fast.”

   SOME OF THE CRITICISM HAS BEEN THAT THE SPORT HAS GOTTEN TOO SAFE AND SOME OF THE REASON PEOPLE TUNE IN ON SUNDAY IS BECAUSE WE ARE NOT CRAZY ENOUGH TO GO 218.
   Biffle: “Yeah, but we don’t want to kill anybody either. We have to walk that fine line of not killing people and creating excitement. I think the biggest thing is that when people say that it is too fast or whatever is that it makes it hard to race other cars at that speed. You look at the places we go the absolute fastest and sometimes those aren’t the best races to watch. Sometimes the tracks that are a little bit slower put on a little better side-by-side action and more bumping and grinding. I promise you that you aren’t going to bump somebody at 218 mph, I promise you that. It isn’t going to happen. Saying that just because we are going that fast, doesn’t mean it is going to be a great race. Just because the speeds are the thrill or excitement. TV tames it down a lot. Watching in the grandstands here and watching on TV at home is a lot different. It numbs you from that speed. High speed doesn’t always mean exciting racing. Sometimes a little slower speed actually could be a little more exciting and thrilling. You are seeing guys root and gouge and go.”

  

Brad Keselowski, Twitter cult hero?

   During a national teleconference on Wednesday, Brad Keselowski took a question submitted by a NASCAR fan on Twitter and was asked later about how he sees Twitter as a communication tool with fans considering he had become "a little bit of a cult hero on Twitter."

   Here was Keselowski's answer:

   "I think it's funny that you think of it as a little bit of a cult, and sometimes I have the same thoughts, but it's a good cult to be a part of. It's a group of people that enjoy having some of the further access that the sport has the capability of providing and sometimes you're put in a spot where it doesn't work out, whether that's doing appearances and so forth and being able to tell people where I'm going to be; or just giving feedback how our weekend is going, I think it's a great tool for that.

   “I feel very fortunate to have a role as a leader in the sports integration of social media, specifically through Twitter. So that's a bit of an honor that I feel lucky to have, certainly from a competitor standpoint. I would look to other members of the media, NASCAR media, specifically, who pioneered that process, and I really feel like I'm just following a bit of their lead and I'm just lucky to get a little more attention for it. So you know, as far as that's concerned, I feel lucky to be a part of it. Those people, those members of the media that started it, were certainly some of my motivation. To be honest, what actually sold me on it was the fact that I got an iPad from Nationwide when I won the championship, I couldn't find anything else to do other than be on Twitter, so it seemed perfect. It's funny how it's progressed since then.”