Joey Logano to join Penske Racing

Joey Logano, who earned his second career Sprint Cup Series victory this season and leads all drivers in the Nationwide Series with six wins, will join Penske Racing as the driver of the No. 22 Ford next season, The Observer and ThatsRacin.com have learned.

   Logano, 22, has spent his entire NASCAR career with Joe Gibbs Racing, but JGR did not have a fulltime Cup ride available for him in 2013. Logano's move comes just as JGR is set to officially announce on Tuesday that former Cup champion Matt Kenseth is joining the organization in 2013.

   An official announcement of Logano's move to Penske could come as early as Tuesday as well, multiple sources confirmed.

   A request for comment from Penske Racing was not immediately returned.

   Sam Hornish Jr. now drives the No. 22 Dodge for Penske on a temporary basis after former driver A.J. Allmendinger was released by the team after being indefinitely suspended by NASCAR for failing a random drug test. Logano would be the fourth driver in the No. 22 in less than two seasons.

   Logano is still technically in the hunt for one of the two wild card berths in the Chase this season. He has one win this season, at Pocono, and a second victory Saturday night at Richmond, Va., could qualify him for the Chase for the first time.

Harvick happy to have crew chief back

   Kevin Harvick finished third in the Sprint Cup Series the past two seasons so it was sort of a surprise when his crew chief, Gil Martin, was replaced in the offseason by Shane Wilson.

   While Harvick has run well enough this season to cement a berth in the Chase, he has yet to reach Victory Lane this season. In recent months, Harvick and Wilson's relationship appeared to deteriorate and two weeks ago Wilson was replaced by - surprise - Martin.

   The move was said to be on an interim basis, but in the two races since Martin's returned Harvick has finished 15th at Bristol, Tenn., and fifth Sunday night at Atlanta. Sunday night, Harvick led laps for the first time since the June race at Dover Del.

   After Sunday night's race, Harvick expressed his appreciation for Martin's return.

   "I just have to thank Gil for coming back with everything we put him through, it wasn't a great situation," Harvick said after the race. "It takes a big man to do what he did and things are going in the right direction.

   "I feel like we hadn't missed a beat. It took a lot of conversations and things to try to convince him to come back and do it. Obviously, for myself I learned a big lesson and it takes a big man to do what he did."

  

  

Keselowski explains 'Bottle-gate'

   Brad Keselowski was shown on ESPN footage tossing a water bottle out of his car during Saturday night's Nationwide race at Atlanta. At first, ESPN thought the bottle may have been the cause for a caution on Lap 184. It wasn't - ESPN later showed footage of the debris which did bring out the caution. But the damage was done.

   Keselowski was asked to explain what happened after the race:

   "If the water bottle would have been the cause for the yellow it went out of my car 15 to 20 laps before the yellow came out. I don’t know verbatim what lap it was or specifically what lap it was. I guess that’s why I was caught off guard with the comments about the water bottle causing a yellow. I don’t know why the yellow’s come out. The yellow’s come out all the time in the race without an explanation. It is what it is. That’s not a question for me; it’s a question for everybody that runs the show. I’m sure they felt there was a reason; they threw the yellow, that’s their right. That’s their job as the sanctioning body of NASCAR, any questions to that need to go to them," he said.

   "Do I feel guilty for throwing a water bottle out of my car? No. Everybody throws that stuff out the car. You watch on Lap 15 or 20 when the sun went down, tear-offs and water bottles go out of every single car. That’s how racing works. If you go down on the infield at these tracks after the race I’m sure that you’ll find water bottles. NASCAR knows that, and if they decide to throw a yellow that’s their prerogative, but most times they don’t. That’s their call. I can’t speak for NASCAR. I’m not going to say that I didn’t throw a water bottle. Heck ya, I threw about three of them out through the course of the race and I do every race and will continue to do so. I think most of the field will so I don’t know how the two are linked together without NASCAR saying so. 

   "The questions need to go to (them) or Kevin’s questions do, not to me. I can understand Kevin being frustrated. I’d be frustrated too. I was very frustrated after Watkins Glen when I had the dominant car and didn’t win. But you know sometimes in racing you do everything right and it just doesn’t work out. If you’re not mad about it you’re not a racer. So how can I sit here and bash Kevin? Kevin is a racer; he had the best car and didn’t win. If he wasn’t mad as hell I’d personal be mad at him because that’s his job and that’s why he’s a great racer. Just give his some time. He’ll figure out the situation with NASCAR and cooler heads will prevail. That’s just the way it is.”

Why Dale Junior thinks NASCAR fans love raw emotion

   Dale Earnhardt Jr. was asked on Friday why he thought raw emotion resonates as much as it does with the NASCAR fan base.

   NASCAR fans typically get very excited and riled up when drivers express emotion in races, such as following the incident that took place between Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth last week at Bristol, Tenn., when both wrecked and Stewart tossed his helmet at Kenseth's car.

   Earnhardt's answer:

   "I’m sure everybody watching the race has somebody’s neck they would like to ring. Maybe they live vicariously through that emotion in some way. There is probably a co-worker or two they wouldn’t mind running their fist into his face. It’s probably more likely than you imagine. I assume they live vicariously through it. I do when I watch football. I see what the players do on the field (and) I kind of get into the emotional side of it when somebody is upset or a player gets real physical and plays really hard," he said.

   "That is what you like to see and I think the fans really like seeing that out of the drivers. Especially, we are inside the cars and we are limited to our physical emotions and physical body language driving the car. But when we get out and do things such as Tony (Stewart) did the fans really connect to that. They really connect to that emotion and driving down the road somebody cuts you off on the highway you would love to shoot them a bird or something. Maybe you do.”

   Who doesn't?
 

Bank of America 500 going to new heights

   World famous tightrope walker Nik Wallenda, who made headlines earlier this year when he traversed a 1,500-foot span across Niagara Falls on live television, will bring his high-wire thrill show to the Oct. 13 Bank of America 500 pre-race show at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

   “We always strive to give fans an unforgettable race day experience,” said Marcus Smith, president and general manager at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “This year, Nik wowed us all at Niagara Falls, and now fans can see him in action at the greatest place to see the race. Whether it’s on the track or in the air, the Bank of America 500 will be a combination of entertainment and thrills that only Charlotte Motor Speedway can deliver.”

   No previous show has risen to the heights that will be achieved during this year’s Bank of America 500, when Wallenda, a six-time Guinness World Record holder for various acrobatic achievements, takes to the high wire.

   Wallenda will descend from above the frontstretch grandstands over a span of more than 750 feet to a crane set up behind Victory Circle, all while balancing on a tiny 5/8-inch cord. At times the cord will hang more than 100 feet – 10 stories – above the ground, and his total walk will equal the length of two-and-a-half football fields.

   This year’s performance marks the 26^th anniversary of The Flying Wallendas’ high-wire act at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1986, when Nik’s predecessors walked from the grandstands down to pit road as part of a circus-themed prerace show.

   “I’m honored to continue the great Wallenda family tradition performing at Charlotte Motor Speedway,” Wallenda said. “The speedway has always set the bar for pre-race entertainment and excitement, and I’m looking forward to raising that bar to new heights this year.

   “NASCAR drivers are used to driving on the edge, and in my job, it’s really no different. It takes an extreme level of focus and commitment to your craft to be successful, and there’s really nothing quite like the thrill of being out there and performing.”

Pocono & Iowa set 2013 NASCAR dates

   Pocono Raceway announced on Wednesday its 2013 NASCAR events will be held on their traditional weekends - the Pocono 400 Sprint Cup race will take place on June 9, 2013, and the Pennsylvania 400 will take place on Aug. 4, 2013.

   The Pocono 400 weekend, June 7-9, will also feature an ARCA race. The Aug. 2-4 Pennsylvania 400 weekend will also include ARCA and a NASCAR Trucks race.

   Iowa Speedway also announced its NASCAR race dates for the 2013 season.

   The track will host Nationwide Series races on Jun 8 and Aug. 3, 2013. Iowa Speedway will also host NASCAR Truck races on July 13 and Sept. 8, 2013.
  

Kansas Speedway repave gets good early reviews

   Several NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams took to the newly reconfigured Kansas Speedway on Tuesday and several offered positive reviews as teams navigated the variable banking for the first time.

   “I think they did a really nice job repaving,” said Matt Kenseth. “Drivers aren’t huge fans of repaves, especially being the first ones on the track, by this afternoon the cars were more comfortable on the track. I think the repave is awesome.”

   Regan Smith agreed.

 “We’ve seen quite a few of these this year already. They did a pretty good job with this one.”

 

   For Dale Earnhardt Jr., the day was about getting some time on the track.

    “It’s nice to get out on the track. It’s nice to see the track. I like this place,” said Earnhardt, Jr. “The banking will add speed to the race track and one and two definitely have more banking. This should be a fast little race track.”

   Kenseth, who holds the track record of 180.856 mph set back in 2005, expects a new track record this fall.

    “We’re already running, the last lap was 30.30 or something,” said Kenseth. “You know it’s going to be faster when everybody runs in qualifying runs. I expect it to be the high 28s in a qualifying run.”