Notebook: NASCAR puts limits on championship opportunities
NASCAR drivers, as expected, will have to declare which series they will earn championship points in during the 2011 season when they apply for their annual NASCAR license.
Nationwide Series driver Kenny Wallace confirmed in a Twitter post Monday that he had to select a series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide or truck) in which he would compete for a championship when filling out forms to be able to compete in NASCAR.
The move will prevent full-time Sprint Cup drivers from competing for the Nationwide Series title.
NASCAR officials would not confirm the new policy but are expected to announce it in the next two weeks. The move is not a surprise, however, as team owners and other NASCAR sources have said since November they expected the implementation of the policy this year.
The past five Nationwide titles have been won by Sprint Cup regulars—Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski.
Vickers turns first laps since May
Brian Vickers turned his first laps in a stock car on Monday since blood clots forced him out of his No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota in May.
Red Bull Racing, with Vickers and teammate Kasey Kahne, conducted a two-day test session at Walt Disney World Speedway outside Orlando. Testing ended Tuesday.
“Today was just a huge weight off of my shoulders. Not only for myself, but for the guys on the team,” Vickers said Monday. “There were so many rumors, assumptions and speculations about my health and status for 2011, but today hopefully put all of them to rest. It felt damn good to get back in the car.”
Vickers started the first 11 races of the 2010 Sprint Cup season, missing the final 25 while undergoing a blood-thinning treatment process that made it impossible for him to race. In July, he had surgery for a hole in his heart, a condition known as May-Thurner syndrome.
Vickers is expected to continue his road back Jan. 20-22 at Daytona when nearly the entire Sprint Cup field unloads for three days of Daytona 500 testing.
Fontana Cup race shortened to 400 miles
The Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., will be 400 miles and not 500 miles, track officials announced Tuesday.
The Auto Club 400 on March 27 originally was announced as a 500-mile event last August.
Auto Club Speedway hosted two Cup races in 2010—a 500-mile race in February a 400-miler in October—but NASCAR made changes to the 2011 schedule and Auto Club lost one of its races to Kansas Speedway.
Lepage replaces McClure for Team Rensi
Kevin Lepage will drive for Team Rensi Motorsports in the Nationwide Series in 2011.
Lepage has two career wins in the series, where he has 284 starts. He also has 201 career Cup starts. He replaces Eric McClure, who moved to TriStar Motorsports for 2011.
Chris Wright remains as crew chief for the Team Rensi car, which finished 33rd in the owner standings in 2010.
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
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