NASCAR enacts pit road rule change

   Here it is, in black and white:

    9-15 Pit Procedures During Race
    M. The fuel handler must be in control of the fuel can at all times when fuel is being added to the car. The fuel handler will not be permitted to perform any adjustments or other pit stop procedures while the fuel can coupler is engaged with the car-mounted adapter.

    Translation: So long as the gas man is pouring gas into the car, he is prohibited from doing anything else during the pit stop (In past, the gas man has helped make adjustments or stuck wrenchs in wedge-adjustment holes. This role expanded when catch-can position was eliminated).

It's "Midnight" at the NASCAR Hall of Fame

   "Midnight" - one of the most famous cars in NASCAR history - will be featured in Rusty Wallace's exhibit at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, beginning Saturday, Feb. 9.

    "Midnight" (PSC-009), the ninth stock car assembled by Penske Racing South, made its debut in the Sept. 12, 1992 ,Miller Genuine Draft 400 at Richmond, Va., with Wallace at its helm. The Missouri native started the event from the third position and dominated the night, leading 231 laps on his way to victory.

    Throughout his storied career, Wallace had a tradition of naming each of his cars that had won a race. Thus, he drove into Richmond's Victory Lane around the midnight hour, his veteran PR representative, Tom Roberts, suggested naming the car "Midnight." It was then that a legend was born.

    Midnight became the workhorse of Wallace's Penske fleet during 1993 and 1994 - seasons that produced 10 and eight wins, respectively.

    "Back then, it was Dale Earnhardt and I racing for the win all the time. I remember every week when we got to the track, he'd come up and ask me, 'What car you got? It's not that darn Midnight is it?' If it was, he knew he had his work cut out for him," Wallace said.

    Starting with its 1992 debut, Midnight amassed a staggering record of 13 wins, 30 top-five and 31 top-10 finishes in 38 starts. The car led over 5,000 laps during that period - as both a Pontiac Grand Prix and a Ford Thunderbird -accounting for nearly one-third of all possible laps in those events. To this day, the car's 13 wins still comprise nearly 20 percent of Penske Racing South's Cup Series win total.

    Midnight's restoration began in mid-2012 and was performed by former Penske Racing fabricator, Chuck Gafrarar, along with other former members of Wallace's Penske team. The car has been fully restored to race-ready condition, as a 1994 Ford Thunderbird featuring the famous black and gold Miller Genuine Draft livery. As part of a complete team effort, Penske Corporation, MillerCoors and Ford Motor Company all participated in the project.

What's left on Rick Hendrick's NASCAR bucket list?

   Throughout his distinquished career as a NASCAR owner, Rick Hendrick has amassed quite a resume: 14 drivers' championships (10 Sprint Cup Series, 1 Nationwide Series, 3 Camping World Truck Series); 257 race wins (209 Cup Series, 23 Nationwide Series, 25 Trucks); and 245 poles (189 Cup Series, 35 Nationwide and 21 Trucks. Reaching the 200-win Cup series plateau in 2012 was one of Hendrick's biggest goals.

    With that out of the way, what's next for Hendrick? Is there any one thing he'd still like to accomplish in an owner in NASCAR? What's left on the bucket list for one of NASCAR's most successful owners? I asked Hendrick during the recent NASCAR Sprint Media Tour.

    "What I want to see is the drivers I have here reach their potential. Jimmie (Johnson's) done it. Jeff (Gordon's) done it. I want to see Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) do it. I want to see Kasey (Kahne) do it. I want to see championships come out of the complex. I want to be there every year to try to win it. I know we can't win them all - and nobody will - but to see these guys hit their potential and the company continue to be competitive is what I want," Hendrick said.

    "Other than that, I never thought I'd win one championship, let alone 13 or 14. So, do I have to do anything? It's just the satisfaction of seeing these guys put another mark on the wall. Can we get to 275 wins? Can we get to 15 championships? I don't know.

    "I'd love to see Jeff win No. 5. I'd like to see Jimmie win No. 6. But I'd really like to see Dale win one and I'd like to be a part of Kasey's. It's so cool to be able to say I've been a part of three guys winning championships (Gordon, Johnson and Terry Labonte). It would be so cool to get Dale and Kasey ones, too. That's what drives me."

The Daytona beach race course is (temporarily) back in business

   This year, the town of Ponce Inlet, Fla., officials of Volusia County and Racing's North Turn Restaurant will stage a parade of vintage race cars and motorcycles on the old NASCAR beach/A1A road course south of Daytona Beach.

    The last race held on the beach/road course was in 1958, the year before Daytona International Speedway opened.

    The parade will begin at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 16 and is free and open to the public. There is no entry fee for entering a car in the parade. The parade will leave from in front of the North Turn Restaurant, located at 4511 South Atlantic Avenue in Ponce Inlet at 9 a.m. The parade route will follow the NASCAR race course south on Atlantic Ave (Hwy A1A) through the South Turn onto the beach.

    Following the parade, race cars will be on display in the Racing's North Turn Restaurant parking lot. Invited racers and others from the Beach Racing days will be signing autographs and will be interviewed inside the restaurant by NASCAR historian Buz McKim. Spectators may park in the vacant parking lot at the corner of Toronita Avenue and Highway A1A and a complimentary trolley shuttle from the parking lot to the Racing's North Turn Restaurant and back will run from 8 a.m. until noon.  

   The event is open to race cars and race car replicas from model years 1958 and older. Modified cars with fenders are welcome and open-wheel race cars that date from the beach racing era are also welcome as well as motorcycles from that era.

Watch Shane Hmiel drive a race car once again

   On Jan. 26 at Rockingham Speedway, former NASCAR driver Shane Hmiel took another amazing step on his road to recovery. More than two years after a crash that left him paralyzed and nearly dead, thanks to Accessible Racing and Racing4Vets, Hmiel got back behind the wheel of a race car again along with two retired Marine Corps veterans who lost their legs in IED explosions. 

   It was an amazing feat that his doctors said would never be possible. Watch his inspirational journey here to get back behind the wheel of a race car again.

   To read the story of Hmiel's original accident, go here.

Bill Romanowski to be minority owner in NASCAR team

   Bill Romanowski, who played 16 seasons in the NFL, has signed on as a minority-owner of Swan Racing, a fulltime competitor in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The retired NFL star joins forces with team owner Brandon Davis, who is leading Swan into its first full racing season.

    Romanowski's health supplement company, Nutrition53, also signed on as a team sponsor and will be the primary sponsor for ten races on the No. 30 Toyota driven by David Stremme. Nutrition53 will have an associate sponsor position on the car for the other 26 races.

    Romanowski started in an astounding 243 consecutive games highlighted by 5 Super Bowl appearances as a linebacker and was selected twice to the Pro Bowl. He played for the San Francisco 49ers, 1988-1993; Philadelphia Eagles, 1994-1995; Denver Broncos, 1996-2001; and Oakland Raiders, 2002-2003.

    Romanowski is founder and CEO of Nutrition53, which markets a line of supplemental health drinks and vitamins developed by a team of doctors, scientists and nutritionists to help with weight loss, energy, mental performance and sleep.

Sprint car star Kevin Swindell adding to his NASCAR schedule

   Sprint car standout Kevin Swindell will return Biagi-DenBeste Racing this season to compete in 15 races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, with his first race set for March 9 at Las Vegas.

    The recently crowned four-time consecutive Chili Bowl Champion competed in two of the final three Nationwide races for Biagi-DenBeste Racing in 2012, earning a best finish of ninth at Texas Motor Speedway.

    "We are really proud to have an outstanding young talent like Kevin driving for our team," said Biagi-DenBeste Racing co-owner Fred Biagi. "After coming off of his fourth consecutive Chili Bowl win, Kevin enters the 2013 season with a lot of momentum. We plan to run 15 races in 2013 and are actively working with sponsors and already building for 2014."

    Said the 23-year-old Swindell: "I have been waiting for a chance to gain experience and race for a top-notch team for a long time. I really enjoyed the two races I competed in for Biagi-DenBeste Racing at the end of last season, and I look forward to seeing what the team and I can achieve together this year."