NEXTERA 250
February 12, 2010
Daytona Intl. Speedway
TV:
Next LROC Series Event
Race #1
February 12-14 2010
Daytona Intl. Speedway
LEAGUE UPDATES On
Where are the league Updates??!
This year Lucky Dog Racing will be posting all of its updates on Twitter! Click the Twitter logo above to visit the updates page and make sure you become a follower. You can get other NASCAR news updates there as well.
Second Shootout Win For Harvick
RacingOne.com
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Kevin Harvick scored his second consecutive win in the Budweiser Shootout with a wild victory Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.
Harvick shot around Greg Biffle for the lead with two laps to go and set sail for the checkered flag. When a multi-car accident broke out in turns three and four after Biffle was rammed from behind by Jeff Gordon, the race was declared official and the No. 29 car was in victory lane for the second straight year.
"I knew I needed to go, but I thought I could get by at least one of the guys on old tires there and try to get myself in position," Harvick said. "I was happy Greg (Biffle) chose the outside because he set the pace to start. We were able to get the best restart we had all night and push him out there and were able to just carry that momentum in to turn one."
Lucky Dog Racing kicked off its 7th season with the running of the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona Intl. Speedway. Taking the victory was Kevin Harvick for the 2nd time in NASCAR, but it was Bob Douce winning his first in Lucky Dog Racing. Bob only has one Cup series victory, the Subway 500 in Martinsville back in October 2007. Although this win doesn't count as a points win, it's still a great way to get things started.
Bob nearly won the Championship last season, losing out by just 8 points and finishing 2nd. He's making a statement for the season by showing everyone that he's ready to contend again. His team, Northeast Ohio Motorsports also are making a statement with three of them finishing in the top 11.
Bob scored 360 points with his picks of race winner Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. He took the win by 5 points over Randy Cook who finished in 2nd with 355 points. Bob Baldridge, Jr. took 3rd followed by Harry Jeffery in 4th and Gary Wheat 5th.
Budweiser Shootout Top 5 Winners
1. Bob Douce
2. Randy Cook
3. Bob Baldridge, Jr.
4. Harry Jeffery
5. Gary Wheat
Nationwide Series To Feature Three Road Courses In 2010
American Le Mans cars at Road America
RacingOne.com
NASCAR announced that it will continue its 17-year streak of racing on a national-series level in Wisconsin with the addition of the historic Road America course to its 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule.
The Road America 200 at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn track located in Elkhart Lake, Wis., replaces the event previously scheduled at the Milwaukee Mile and will be run on Saturday, June 19.
“We’re excited to be staying in Wisconsin and racing in front of the passionate fans there at a historic venue that’s new to our NASCAR Nationwide Series,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s vice president of racing operations.
While Road America is new to the NASCAR Nationwide Series, it’s not the first time NASCAR has raced there. On Aug. 12, 1956, Tim Flock won the only other NASCAR national series race, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, at the then one-year-old track. In 2001, current NASCAR Sprint Cup driver – and Eau Claire, Wis., native – Paul Menard won there in the former NASCAR Re/Max Challenge Series.
Road America will be the third road course on the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule. The series also will race at Watkins Glen International and at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. As recently as the 2007-08 seasons, the NASCAR Nationwide Series also had three road courses on its schedule, racing at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City in addition to The Glen and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Lucky Dog Racing's Nationwide series is about to get underway for the 2010 season. This will be the sixth year of operation for the 2nd tier league. Most of the current Cup members came up from this series, some have graduated from it while others choose to remain in it. This year there will be seven new rookies in the field which should provide an exciting rookie of the year battle.
We also have a rule change in terms of the claim jumper bonus. Instead of using a driver just once during the season, you have the opportunity to use them at three different points. The season will be divided into three claim jumper segments. You can only use a driver once during a segment but at the start of the next segment, you have all your drivers to pick from.
If you are a Nationwide member, get ready to go racing again with the Camping World 300 at Daytona on Feb. 13th!
The 2010 season will be a busy one for Kyle Busch, who has added the responsibilities of being a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team owner to driving full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series.
Busch announced last month the creation of Kyle Busch Motorsports which will field at least two, and possibly three teams, in the 2010 NCWTS.
The move makes Busch the latest Sprint Cup regular to go into team ownership in one of NASCAR's top three divisions following Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart.
"The ownership standpoint, it's going to put a lot of gray hairs in pretty quick," Busch laughed. "I can see where Tony gets it now from.
"Yeah. But, you know, it's fun. It's fun. It's a very, very big challenge. I'm only at the Truck Series level, let alone Tony trying to break the Cup Series deal. You know, for me there's been a lot of things that have been very positive this winter. There's been a lot of things that have been a drain on me that we've really been trying to work through. Toyota has been a great partner for me in order for us to get going. They've given us a lot of stuff."
Busch has the added duty of mentoring his young drivers - Taylor Malsam and Brian Ickler - who will pilot his trucks this season.
Lucky Dog Racing's Truck series gets the biggest changes out of all three leagues this year. For starters, in its fourth year of operation, the series moves away from groups sorted by manufacturer to owners points. In addition to their segment driver, members will also be choosing 5 drivers each week instead of 4. These new groups and additional picks should alleviate many of the same picks and help with the tight races that we had last year.
There is aslo a segment driver change as well. This year it will be mandatory to choose one driver from each of the top 5 groups. Instead of choosing just the 5 best drivers during the season, you will have to use more strategy in picking lower class drivers. Should be very interesting to say the least.
LROC is currently preparing for it's fifth season. The Cool Pool comes back onboard to replace FASCAR who who the 2009 Championship and then closed up shop. Announcements are still forthcoming including revised look to the site. There is one thing that we know for certain and that's who will be representing Lucky Dog Racing in their quest for the first team championship.
Dean Higley - Cup Series Champion: Dean makes the LDR LROC team for the third consecutive year. Fresh off his Cup Championship, Dean will once again look for big things in LROC. Dean won the LROC driver's championship in 2008, the first and so far only LDR driver to achieve this. He finished in third place last year, the highest LDR driver and only one to make the top 5. He also has three wins, 16 top 5's and 20 top 10's in 30 races. He is currently tied with Steve Willard for most top 5's.
Lou Demian - Nationwide Series Champion: The owner of LDR's LROC team makes the team for the third straight year and fourth overall. He has 2 wins, 5 top 5's and 19 top 10's in 34 races. He finished in the top 10 in LROC I, the top 5 in LROC III but had a rough season last year in LROC IV and finished in 14th place. He'll be looking for some redemption this year.
Matt Sealey - Truck Series Champion: Veteran racer Matt Sealey has been in the league since 2004 but had never made until now. After winning his first championship, Matt finally makes his first LROC team where he will give it his all. With any luck, all that hard work of trying to get into LROC will equal to success.
Ed Blackman - Yahoo Series Champion: It was a close race in the Yahoo league last year and Ed came out on top. Ed is also a veteran race who has been in the league since the start of the 2005 season. His experience should help him out in his first LROC season.
Jessy Turgeon - Beat the Streak Champion: Jessy dominated the beat the streak in 2009 with a long Nationwide streak. Hopefully that will help him out in the Nationwide portion of the LROC races. Jessy is the third new driver in LROC this year and has the least experience out of everyone else. However he is out to prove himself and may turn out to be a big surprise this year!
Nathan Helton - Chaser Eraser Champion: Nathan Helton is making his first LDR LROC team, but it's not the first time that he has participated in the series. Nathan ran with The Cool Pool in the very first season. That year there were just 4 races, but he made the most of it by getting a win, 2 top 5's and 3 top 10's. Nathan may be rusty in LROC but he has been in the league for a long time and has shown great consistency. He's sure to be one of the key drivers for LDR this year.
Be sure to cheer on these six driver since they will be representing your league this year!
All three series will be getting underway at Daytona. The leagues are currently full but you still may sign up and be placed on waiting lists. With any luck you could get into the Truck series early into the season.
All Cup series members must get their membership payments in ASAP! The Feb. 1st deadline is rapidly approaching! Don't lose your spot!
Chill out in the dog house!
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In memory of Karen Smith
1960-2008
Visit Karen Smith's memorial page on FASCAR's site
Proud Supporters of
Victory Junction Gang
Amount donated on behalf of Lucky Dog Racing: $757.00
If you would like to make a donation,
Please contact
Council Member Matt Sealey for more info.
Lucky Dog Racing's Yahoo Group is about to get underway for the 2010 season. This will be our fourth season of operation. Last season we had a total of 65 members participate in the group. Since one group can only hold 50 people, we had to create a 2nd one. More than likely the demand will force us to have 2 groups again for the 2010 season.
The invitation will be mailed to everyone on Saturday, Feb. 16th. The group fills up fast so make sure you sign up right away. When the first group fills up, the 2nd one will be created right away and invitations will be sent out again.
You do not need to be a member of Lucky Dog Racing to participate but it is encouraged. The winner of the group gets a spot on the 2011 LROC team but that member must be an active Lucky Dog Racing member.
So keep an eye on your inbox, those inviations will be sent Saturday morning and the group's ID will also be posted here as well.
Lucky Dog Racing's Streak to the Finish is a Forum only competition. Here's how to play... Pick a top 10 driver each week to keep your streak going! Sound easy? Not so fast.... you can only choose a driver once per streak. You receive points depending on how your driver finishes and your current streak. How far can your streak go? If you score the most points out of all players, you can receive a special award on your team page, a spot in the 2011 LROC Series and a $25.00 gift certificate to NASCAR.com's Superstore.
If you don't have a forum name, click on the picture to go to the forum, create a name and get ready to start your streak!
You can join at any time during the season, so what are you waiting for? play now... there's nothing to lose!
This is where you go to play the Streak To the Finish game. While you are in the forum, be sure to check out the other postings as well and feel free to add your own. Everyone is welcome, you will just need to have a forum screen name. It only takes a minute to create one and it's free! Come on in and share your opinions with the other members.
Nationwide Series To Feature Three Road Courses In 2010
