#NASCAR No. 2 sports trend on Twitter in 2012

   In 2012, NASCAR partnered with social media juggernaut Twitter, solidifying an upward trend that has seen Twitter explode across the NASCAR scene over the past two seasons. That partnership has led to the hashtag #NASCAR rating as the number two highest trending sports topics of 2012.

   Read more here: http://thespeedzine.com/2012/12/17/nascar-number-two-sports-trend-on-twitter-in-2012/

Some really Loopie NASCAR awards

   For the sixth consecutive season, NASCAR has pored over a season’s worth of Loop Data and filtered out the top statistical performances of the 2012 season. After a painstaking review, a select committee created awards to recognize those drivers who numerically excelled this season. Those awards have evolved into arguably the most coveted prize in all of NASCAR. They are – and this is – The Loopies.

   Loop Top Dogg: This award yearly goes to the driver who led the most Loop Data categories. Winner: Jimmie Johnson (led 13 of 15 categories).

   Quantity of Quality Award: This award goes to the driver who led the Sprint Cup Series in Quality Passes, which are passes of cars in the top 15 while under green flag conditions. Winner: Brad Keselowski.

   Most Improved Driver: The driver with the biggest improvement in Driver Rating from 2011 to 2012. Winner: Greg Biffle (85.9 to 99.5).
  
   Least Improved Driver: The driver with the biggest drop in Driver Rating wins this Loopie, and it goes to Carl Edwards – with an asterisk. Edwards actually only had the third-biggest drop – 16.8, from 101.0 in 2011 to 84.2 this season. But it was the biggest drop among drivers who didn’t switch teams.

   Coffee’s For Closers Award: The “Closer” statistic measures the positions gained or lost in the last 10 percent of races. The top Closer this season: Ryan Newman, who improved 68 total positions in the last 10 percent of races this season.

   Worst Closer Award: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt lost 41 spots in the last 10 percent of races this year, among the worst of any driver.

   Stefan Kretschmann Lifetime Achievement Award: Stefan Kretschmann works for Stats, LLC in Chicago, and is considered the godfather of Loop Data. We started this award last season to honor a driver who has been statistically strong throughout the Loop Data Era (2005-present). Jimmie Johnson took home the inaugural Lifetime Achievement trophy. The 2012 winner is Kyle Busch, who has landed an unparalleled 20 perfect Driver Ratings of 150.0 throughout NASCAR’s three national series.

Tony Stewart smokes competition again

   Tony Stewart returned to his short-track roots Saturday, winning the feature in the third annual Battle at the Center on the one-sixth mile indoor Mini Magic Mile at the Southern Illinois Center.
  
   The 41-year-old from Columbus, Ind., led all 40 laps in the non-points event organized and sanctioned by the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series. It had 67 entries and brought together many of the best drivers in Midget racing and several more major short-track series

   Andrew Felker of Carl Junction, Mo., this season’s POWRi National Midget champion, finished second and POWRi veteran Tim Siner of Dupo, Ill., was third.

   Stewart won USAC Midget championships in 1994 and 1995 and was USAC’s Triple Crown (also taking the national Sprint Car and Silver Crown) champion in 1995 before moving on to win titles in the IndyCar Series title in 1997 and NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2002, 2005 and 2011.

   “It was a lot of fun,” Stewart said. “I was happy with it. We heard this was a good event last year and decided to run it to get ready for the Chili Bowl (run in Tulsa, Okla., Jan. 8-12). We didn’t run very good in the Chili Bowl last year."

Martinsville Speedway president getting on-track taste of Daytona

   Clay Campbell is not just the president of a race track, he's a client as well.

   Campbell, president of the prestigious Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, took his first laps around Daytona International Speedway’s legendary 2.5-mile tri-oval during Automobile Racing Club of America series testing on Friday.

   Campbell is testing a Spraker Racing Ford with a Roush Yates engine and plans to enter ARCA's Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 season opener in February at Daytona.

   “I’ve been doing various types of racing for 20 years and if you had the opportunity to do something bigger, I think anybody would jump at the chance,” Campbell, 52, said.

   “Anybody that would have the opportunity to run Daytona, you would be crazy not to. The history, the tradition, this is the ultimate as far as motorsports goes."

   Campbell has raced go-karts, Late Models and ran a majority of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races in 2011.

Video: Christmas Joye Abbott trains to make NASCAR pit crew

Christmas Joye Abbott is training to make history as the first woman to be a tire change or a NASCAR pit crew. (Dec. 10, 2012 video by Corey Lowenstein, newsobserver.com)

Is NASCAR ready for Christmas? from The News & Observer on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday, NASCAR!

   Dec. 14, 1947 - On this day, a group of businessmen led by Bill France Sr. met in the rooftop bar of the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, Fla., to write out the rules for the then-chaotic group of dirt track races born from the days of running moonshine in Prohibition. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing would emerge a few months later.

   Enjoy the video testament to the "good 'ol days"
 

What Joey Logano thinks of his new NASCAR teammate

   Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have wasted no time in breaking in their new teammate relationship at Penske Racing. The two participated in this week's test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    On Wednesday, Logano was asked how he and Keselowski can help each other this season. Here was his answer:

    "It’s really cool to have a teammate that’s a student of the sport, that really studies it and will push me to do things differently. I think the coolest thing that Brad is able to do is he’s able to think outside of the box – like way outside the box. I think that’s interesting to me, to see the way his mind works," Logano said.

    "I’ve learned a lot the last couple days and the ways he thinks through a race car is a little bit different than normal, and I think that’s cool. I think it’s good to have a little bit of both on a team, so I can learn a lot on the way he leads a team and drives a race car and the way he sets up his car. I seem to be a little bit different, the things he looks for. There are a lot of different things. The way he drives his car is a little bit different than me, too. Taking some of his techniques, I’ve tried them out there and there are pros and cons to everything, but it gives me a few more tools to work with when I’m out there.”