NASCAR releases list of 20 nominees for Hall of Fame induction

   Following are the 20 nominees for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, listed alphabetically:

    Buddy Baker, won 19 times in NASCAR’s premier (now Sprint Cup) series, including the Daytona 500 and Southern 500

    Red Byron, first NASCAR premier series champion, in 1949

    Richard Childress, 11-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series
    Jerry Cook, six-time NASCAR Modified champion

    Bill Elliott, 1988 premier series champion, two-time Daytona 500 winner and 16-time Most Popular Driver

    Ray Fox, legendary engine builder and owner of cars driven by Buck Baker, Junior Johnson and others

    Rick Hendrick, 14-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series

    Bobby Isaac, 1970 NASCAR premier series champion

    Terry Labonte, Two-time NASCAR premier series champion

    Fred Lorenzen, 26 wins and winner of the Daytona 500 and World 600

    Raymond Parks, NASCAR’s first champion car owner

    Benny Parsons, 1973 NASCAR premier series champion  

    Larry Phillips, only five-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion

    Wendell Scott, NASCAR trailblazer was the first African-American NASCAR premier series race winner, and first to be nominated for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

    O. Bruton Smith, builder of Charlotte Motor Speedway and architect of Speedway Motorsports Inc.

    Mike Stefanik, winner of record-tying nine NASCAR championships

    Curtis Turner, early personality, called the "Babe Ruth of stock car racing"

    Joe Weatherly, two-time NASCAR premier series champion

    Rex White, 1960 NASCAR premier series champion

    Robert Yates, won NASCAR premier series championship as both an engine builder and owner

 

   The five nominees for the inaugural Landmark Award are as follows…
    
   H. Clay Earles, founder of Martinsville Speedway

    Anne Bledsoe France, helped build the sport with husband Bill France Sr. Affectionately known as "Annie B.," she is the first woman to be nominated for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

    Raymond Parks, NASCAR’s first champion car owner

    Ralph Seagraves, formed groundbreaking Winston-NASCAR partnership as executive with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

    Ken Squier, legendary radio and television broadcaster; inaugural winner / namesake of Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence

 

Tony Stewart issues a Danica Patrick-Richard Petty racing challenge

 

   During the first of two PRN Fast Talk Shows at Outback Steakhouse in Daytona with Doug Rice and Mark Garrow, Tony Stewart made it very clear how he feels about the negative remarks Richard Petty made recently about Danica Patrick. 

   “I told her she should challenge Richard to a heads up race,” said Stewart. “I think that would pretty much settle it once and for all, maybe get him to shut up a little bit too. He drove in an era when he had cars that were superior to what everybody else was running a lot. I think he forgets that, that NASCAR has changed a lot since he was a driver and how hard it really is now.” 

   Stewart added, “I will supply the cars, I don’t care. If he wants to race her I’ll make sure they have exactly the same set-up in the car and give him a chance. He can drive one of my 14 cars I don’t care.” 

   It was then suggested if Patrick ever won a race that she should ask Petty to autograph the checkered flag. Stewart, however, had another suggestion. “If I were her I’d take it over and cram it up his (bleep)…If it were me, that’s just me.” 

   To hear the audio, go here.

Is demand for Daytona 500 tickets at an all-time low ?

  

    According to at least one measure, demand for Daytona 500 tickets this season on the secondary ticket market is at an all-time low. 

   Data from SeatGeek, an entertainment ticket search engine, indicates the average ticket price for Sunday's 500 has fallen more than 30 percent in the last month, from a peak of $238 per ticket on Jan. 20 to $161 with four days remaining before the race.

 

   More findings from an analysis of ticket data from SeatGeek:

 

   - This year's average ticket price ($161) is down 18 percent from the 2013 Daytona 500, which drew an average of $197 per ticket on the resale market. In prior years, the race drew average ticket prices of $191 in 2012 and $203 in 2011.

 

   - As of Wednesday, the race is not close to being sold out. All of the cheapest seats have been sold (prices started at $32 per ticket), and those are up for sale on the secondary market starting at more than twice face value ($75 per ticket), but you can still find plenty of face value tickets at the online box office as low as $65 each in Turn 2, Lund and Allison seating areas. For the most part, all tower and box seating near the finish line is sold out, but aside from those areas, you can find tickets from the box office anywhere around the track.

 

   - Even in seating areas that have sold out, there are deals to be had on the secondary market. Campbell Box seats at the finish line had been going for about $450 apiece in late January, but they can be had Wednesday for $199 per ticket. Sprint Tower seats (only available from the box office as part of an $1,800 package including food and beverage, parking, gifts, celebrity appearances and VIP pre-race access) that were commanding $700 and up per ticket a month ago now start at around $300 each.

 

   All the latest information on pricing and availability for the Daytona 500 can be found on SeatGeek's event page for the race here.

Uptown Charlotte will light up Tuesday night in honor of Dale Earnhardt

  

 

    The Charlotte skyline will illuminate with 45,730 blue LED lights atop the Duke Energy Building in honor of Dale Earnhardt on Feb. 18, 2014. 
   The light presentation at the 786-foot-tall Duke Energy Building, as well as the annual Candlelight Tribute at Dale Earnhardt Inc. in Mooresville, N.C., is presented by The Dale Earnhardt Foundation. 
   Earnhardt was killed in a last-lap wreck in the 2001 Daytona 500. 
   The foundation's mission is to "Continue The Legend" that sustains Earnhardt's lifelong commitment to children, education and environmental/wildlife preservation. 
   The candlelight tribute with open showroom is held from 6-8 p.m. ET at Dale Earnhardt Inc. 

The No. 3 will lead the way in the 2014 Daytona 500

  

   DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The No. 3 has found its way to Victory Lane at Daytona again.

   It’s a significant milestone in NASCAR, even if it’s for winning a pole rather than a race.

   And it marks a grand debut for rookie Austin Dillon, who is piloting the No. 3 for his grandfather and team owner, Richard Childress.

   Prior to Sunday, the No. 3’s lone trip to Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway in a Sprint Cup Series race was Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s lone win in the Daytona 500 to kick off the 1998 season.

   After Earnhardt was killed in a last-lap wreck of the 2001 Daytona 500, Childress mothballed the No. 3, even though he used it for teams in the Nationwide and Trucks series.

   With the fulltime debut of Dillon this season in the Cup series, Childress announced last December he would bring back the No. 3.

   Dillon’s average lap speed of 196.019 mph barely eclipsed that of Martin Truex Jr., who will start alongside Dillon on the front row.

   Dillon and Truex are the only two drivers whose positions are locked in for next Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Video: Yes, the pace car caught fire at Daytona

   NASCAR: Before the start of the final 20-lap final segment of Saturday night's Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway, the pace car is forced to pull over after it catches fire. No one was injured. 

 

   Chevrolet issued a statement Sunday morning attributing the fire to the trunk area which housed a purpose-built auxiliary electrical kit to operate the car’s caution lights during the race.

 

Hendrick engines run into trouble during Saturday practice

  

 

   Three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers utilizing engines from Hendrick Motorsports saw their engines blow up during practice on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

   Engines in the cars of Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick all had to be replaced. All three drivers will start from the rear of their respective Thursday qualifying race regardless of how they qualify on Sunday for the Feb. 23 Daytona 500.

   All three will also have to start the Daytona 500 from the rear of the field.

   A fourth car with a Hendrick engine, belonging to driver Justin Allgaier, developed an oil line problem during the practice session.

   “It was a concern when Tony blew up, and then we did,” Patrick said. “It’s something we’re doing in our family, I guess, and we need to figure it out. I’m sure the Hendrick teams are wondering what is going on.”

   A Hendrick spokesman said there appeared to be a common problem in the "bottom end" of the engines.