Who's ready to race with Denny?

   Twelve NASCAR stars, past and present, will run the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown, a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model division race at Richmond International Raceway on Thursday, April 26.

   Joining the best local Late Model Stock Car drivers for the race are: Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, Michael Waltrip, Joey Logano, Aric Almirola, Jason White, Timothy Peters, Chase Elliott, Darrell Wallace Jr. and Curtis Markham.

   This season marks the second year the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown will run at Richmond. The event features 12 NASCAR drivers and celebrities battling on the ¾-mile track with some of the best local Late Model Stock Car drivers.

   Proceeds from the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown benefit the Denny Hamlin Foundation, which raises funds for individuals and families suffering from cystic fibrosis. The foundation supports organizations like The Children’s Hospital of Richmond, St. Jude’s Hospital and Victory Junction.

   Call (866) 455-7223 to purchase tickets for the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown.

Why Allmendinger would not wreck Newman to earn the NASCAR win

   With two laps remaining in Sunday's Goody's 500, A.J. Allmendinger - who had yet to earn a Top 10 finish this season - sat alongside Ryan Newman, each with a chance at the Sprint Cup Series victory.

   Newman had won 15 times previously. Allmendinger was still looking for his first series win. The two races virtually side-by-side the first lap, then Newman pulled ahead on the final lap and earned the win.

   Allmendinger was asked after the race what he thought about in that situation and why he opted not to wreck Newman to win the race.

   His reply: "First time I've ever had a chance to win a Sprint Cup race, so I was going to do everything I could. Why didn't I wreck him? He actually got a good drive off Turn 2. I would have had to wreck both of us to get into him in Turn 3 to get him.
  
   "I don't want to win like that. That's not the way I want to win a race. He did everything clean on the restart. He could have drove me off the race track, and if he would have done that then it's kind of like, OK, it's game on. But he gave me all the chances that I could to go beat him. We came off the white side‑by‑side and he rolled through Turns 1 and 2 really good, and that was it. 

   "You race people how they race you. And if he would have just drove into the corner, left side of me and got me out of the way, then I would have probably run into him. He didn't do that and he didn't deserve to get wrecked."

Look what NASCAR drivers are getting the most exposure on TV

   Through television coverage of the this season's first four Sprint Cup Series races, reigning champion Tony Stewart leads in securing on-screen time for his sponsors, while Carl Edwards collected the most verbal mentions for his supporting brands and Jamie McMurray bested all drivers with $18.3 million of exposure value.

   According to research conducted by Joyce Julius & Associates, Inc.— which has monitored every NASCAR race telecast over the last 28 seasons — McMurray's appearance on the Fox set during the Sunday rain-delay portion of last month's Daytona 500 led to quality exposure for several of his brands during some of the most valuable broadcast time of the season.

   Joyce Julius calculates television exposure value by comparing the in-broadcast visual and verbal exposure to the estimated cost of a national commercial during the telecast and applying Joyce Julius Recognition Grading — which takes into account such factors as size and placement of the image on screen, as well as brand clutter and integration of the brand into the activity.

   Stewart ranked No. 1 in camera time, as 29 of his sponsors enjoyed a combined two hours, 42 minutes, 42 seconds of clear and in-focus exposure time during live and replayed coverage of the first four races. Brad Keselowski (2:28:34) was second and Jimmie Johnson (2:27:53) third.

   Carl Edwards, who led all drivers in sponsor mentions last season — either by him, or by announcers referencing his team — is off to another fast start with a series-high 37 verbal brand mentions.        

Townley apologizes to the NASCAR community

   NASCAR Truck series driver John Wes Townley opened a media availability session on Friday morning at Martinsville Speedway by offering an apology to the NASCAR community for his actions that led to a drunk driving arrest in February.

   Townley's team, RAB Racing, suspended him immediately and he did not drive in the series opener at Daytona. NASCAR has since placed Townley on probation for the remainder of the season and ordered him to seek an evaluation from a certified substance abuse counselor.

   Here was Townley's opening statement:

   "I want to start by apologizing to everyone -- to NASCAR, my team and to everybody that made this deal happen. This is something that I feel I'm really serious about as an individual and a driver in NASCAR. What happened that night, I take full responsibility for it. It reflected poorly upon my team, on my sponsors and everyone else and I want to sincerely
apologize. 

   "It's up to me moving forward to put this behind me and to make better decisions in the future and to really learn from this. I know that a lot of these words are real easily spoken, but its actions in the future that I'm going to be judged by."

Keep it simple, NASCAR

   Simpler always seems to work better in racing.

   Anytime issues in NASCAR get bogged down in the wording and interpretation of rules and regulations, generally confusion reigns and competition gets lost in the shuffle.

   The new rules unveiled for this season’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, unfortunately, seem headed in that direction.

   The motivation behind the change is a good one – encourage drivers to have to reason to win one of the four 20-lap segments by offering to those who do a “reward” heading into the final 10-lap segment, which decides the winner of the $1 million payout.

   The method chosen for the reward – making segment winners the first four cars to pit prior to the last segment – doesn’t sound bad on the surface, but in effect has the potential for complications.

   The new rule works great if four different people win the first four segments. But how often does that really happen? Answer: Rarely.

   Then comes the tricky part. If the winner of Segment No. 2 is the same as Segment No. 1, the runner-up in Segment No. 2 gets the pit reward. If the same driver wins all four segments, you end up with one true segment “winner” and three other runner-ups getting the reward.

   Please don’t ask what happens if in the above mentioned scenario the Segment 2 runner-up ends up winning Segment 3 or 4. Is that driver now a "true" segment winner or does he remain locked into his runner-up "win" from Segment No. 2? 

   Who can follow that from the stands? Who can follow that watching on TV? Oh, but Charlotte Motor Speedway will have it all spelled out on its giant HDTV.

   That begs an even bigger question: Should events like the All-Star Race have to come with a follow-along instruction booklet?

   Again, I think the concept here was laudable: Reward winning. The easiest way to do that would be to say if you win any of the first four segments, you move to the front in the final segment (regardless of pit stop and only true ‘winners’ of the segments).

   One additional benefit this year is the elimination of the 10-minute break prior to the start of the final 10-lap showdown.

   That’s great. Hopefully that time will not now be spent figuring out who starts where to win the $1 million.

Help your favorite driver make the NASCAR All-Star Race

    As the date of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race approaches, Sprint is asking fans to again help determine the starting lineup for what is one of the most highly anticipated events of the season.

   Through the annual Sprint Fan Vote, under way now, fans can cast ballots for their favorite eligible driver. The driver receiving the highest number of votes will earn a spot in the prestigious Sprint All-Star Race on May 19 and a shot at the $1 million payday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Last year, fans cast more than 2.4 million votes, a record number.

   Fans can vote by using the NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile Android application on their Sprint phone, or by texting “VOTE” to 229466 on any wireless carrier (standard text messaging and data rates apply). Voting is also open at NASCAR.com/AllStar or by visiting the Sprint Experience, located in the midway at all Cup races. Voting will continue until 5 p.m. Eastern on May 19.

   As an added customer benefit, votes submitted from a Sprint, Boost, Nextel or Virgin Mobile device count double toward an individual driver’s total.

   Winners of the Sprint Fan Vote include: Ken Schrader (2004), Martin Truex Jr. (2005), Kyle Petty (2006), Kenny Wallace (2007), Kasey Kahne (2008), Joey Logano (2009), Carl Edwards (2010) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2011).

Ticket holders for Rockingham Truck race get a bonus

   Race fans attending next month's inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Rockingham Speedway will get an extra bonus with their ticket.

   The NASCAR Hall of Fame will offer a 20-percent discount on admission to anyone presenting a ticket from the April 15 race. 

   "The NASCAR Hall of Fame is committed to preserving and honoring the history of our great sport," said NASCAR Hall of Fame Executive Director Winston Kelley, "and Rockingham Speedway is an important part of that history. Considering that, it was a natural fit for the Hall to partner with Rockingham to offer this benefit for race fans."

   For more information on the Good Sam 200 Truck race, contact the speedway at (910) 205-8800 or visit online at www.rockinghamspeedway.com. For more information on the NASCAR Hall of Fame, visit them online at www.nascarhall.com.