Shawn Courchesne | Auto Racing

Ricky Carmichael To Run For Ken Schrader In The Camping World East Series In 2008

Motocross legend Ricky Carmichael will be running for a championship this season in the Camping World East Series for Ken Schrader Racing with backing from Hendrick Motorsports, his manager Scott Taylor said Thursday.

Carmichael will be sponsored by Monster energy drink.

Carmichael, 28, who retired from full-time motocross racing after 2006 is trying to make his way up the rungs of the stock racing ladder.

Carmichael had been under contract as a driver last year with former Sprint Cup Series team owner Bobby Ginn and raced about 15 Late Model events around Florida last summer.

This, That And The Other Thing (Yes, More Mindless Meanderings)

Red Bull Racing announced that former Formula One driver Scott Speed will race in a limited number of Craftsman Truck Series events this year for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports.

Speed will make his debut with Morgan-Dollar on March 7 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He will also compete in the Truck Series event March at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Speed is competing full-time this season with Red Bull’s backing in the ARCA RE/MAX Series for Eddie Sharp Racing.

“Every time I’m in the car I’m learning something,” Speed said in a release from Red Bull. “It’s a lot more helpful for me to drive the races because for me to get into a truck or Cup car and go fast by myself has been really easy.

No Better Place For The Race Fan To Be This Weekend Than SpeedwayExpo At The Big E

For local race fans of most 4-wheeled disciplines the place to be this weekend will be the Big E in West Springfield, Mass.

The Eastern States Exposition grounds is the site from Friday through Sunday of the biggest racing show in New England, SpeedwayExpo, in the Mallory Complex on the Big E grounds.

There’s something for everyone at this year’s event.

The Mallory Complex will be brimming with displays from race tracks, to racing divisions and exhibitors selling racing items that run the spectrum from collectibles to the newest in top line racing gear.

Ready To Take Your Best Shot At Me? Here's Your Chance

I know you’re out there.

The few, the proud, the racers and race directors and track owners and pit crew members and everybody else in between that I’ve annoyed at some point or another over the years.

Come on, I’ve been doing this too long not to know that there’s a laundry list of folks in racing that would just love to take a free shot at me.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway Heads South To SpeedwayExpo Friday-Sunday

Race tracks of all shapes and sizes will take center stage this weekend at SpeedwayExpo at the Eastern States Exposition grounds, but none bigger than New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

New England’s only super speedway will be on display showcasing the diverse assortment of cars that compete at the 1.058-mile oval in Loudon, N.H.

Jim Beam Continues To Stand By Their Man Robby Gordon

Officials from Jim Beam Bourbon, sponsor for Sprint Cup Series driver Robby Gordon, will continue the “Stand Up For Robby” campaign that kicked off last weekend at Auto Club Speedway.

Gordon was penalized 100 points and fined $100,000 and crew chief Frank Kerr was suspended for 6 events after Gordon was found to have an unapproved bumper cover on his car on Feb. 8 at Daytona International Speedway during the first day of inspection in preparation for the running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 17.

Friday Gordon told reporters that he was sent the wrong bumper cover by a Dodge aligned parts warehouse. Gordon is appealing the penalty.

Carl Edwards Wins The Test Of Time At Auto Club Speedway Of Southern California

Endurance racing is saved mostly for sports cars. But that wasn’t the case this weekend at Auto Club Speedway of Southern California.

While it may not have been a full cycle of the clock on the track, the 24-hours of California will go surely go down as one of the most remembered events of the 2008 Sprint Cup season.

It was a race that started Sunday afternoon on a weeping wet track, suffered through long delays much of the night and finally got going under sunny skies Monday afternoon.

Please Make The Fox Music Stop (And Other Rainy Day Fox Observations)

Some observations from an afternoon and evening of rain delay theater courtesy of the Fox NASCAR team:

--- There are annoying little ditties, there is painful music and then there is the new Fox NASCAR theme. 

I realized Sunday just how lucky I was to be sitting in the press box at Daytona International Speedway last week simply because it meant I didn’t have to hear that horrendous theme song.

Deny, Deny, Deny: The Bobby Labonte Mantra

If past history is any indication then pencil in Bobby Labonte’s name behind the wheel of a Richard Childress Chevy on your 2009 Sprint Cup Series lineup card.

And why?

Because Labonte is out there discounting reports that he’s getting ready to move on from his current Petty Enterprises ride to jump to a possible fourth team at Childress.

Remember, it was back in 2005 when Labonte’s name was spinning on the mid-season move carousel that he showed his true colors by chastising reporters for including his name on the rumor list as a driver probably on the move out of his then Joe Gibbs Racing ride.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Looking To Get Crew Chief Punishment Curtailed

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was appealing to NASCAR to cut his Nationwide Series team a break when it comes to the 6-race suspension of crew chief Chad Walter

The sanctioning body handed down the punishment after the team was found in violation of the rule book after a practice session Feb. 14 at Daytona International Speedway prior to the season opening Camping World 300.

The rear ends on the spoiler on Earnhardt’s No. 5 Nationwide Series did not meet specified height and the spoiler was also found to be enhanced to improve aerodynamic performance after inspection.