TBK-Light.com

They could stay involved as a sponsor rather then ownership.

All three of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars were found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in an event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the NASCAR rule book, or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the event); and 20-5.5.4A (oil pan, failure to submit component) of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book. As a result, the three crew chiefs Mike Ford (#11 car), Dave Rogers (#18 car) and Greg Zipadelli (#20 car) have been fined $50,000 each and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. In addition, all three car chiefs Chris Gillin (#11 car), Wesley Sherrill (#18 car) and Jason Shapiro (#20 car) along with Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Jimmy Makar have been placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.

Wow, I live in Kentucky and I hadn't heard about these changes to the actual racing surface. Here's a video of someone driving around the track recently. Pretty crazy!

(Skip ahead to 2:17)

The PIR repave is progressing well, they are starting to lay the ashphalt, all walls at the new dogleg have now been placed

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 7450967747

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. was not happy after he finished 18th in Saturday's 400. NASCAR's most popular driver does not like tandem racing, not one bit. "It is weird racing," Earnhardt said. Last week Earnhardt said he didn't like the fact he had to depend on another driver in order to be competitive at Daytona. He would rather have his destiny in his own hands. "What kind of move can you make?" Earnhardt groused. "I mean, man. What kind of move can you make in racing like this? There ain't no move you can make. You just hold it on the mat and try not to wreck into each other. You see how good we are at that." The more questions he was asked about tandem style racing, the more aggravated Earnhardt became. "I don't know what to say," he said. "I don't know. You guys need to get your own opinions and write what you all think about it. I think it is probably pretty damn close to mine. Stop putting my damn mouth with y'all and getting my (butt) in trouble. Y'all write what y'all think, man. Come on, y'all are good. Y'all have an opinion about it. I read y'all's stuff. You put us in the damn crow's nest."

I thought that was the point with NASCAR changing the car again for 2013?

Indianapolis Motor Speedway is expected to announce Wednesday the addition of a Nationwide Series race to its 2012 Brickyard 400 weekend. The race will be held on Saturday afternoon, a day after NASCAR's Grand-Am Series will compete on the road course, according to sources familiar with the announcement. Losing a Nationwide Series race will be Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis  formerly known as Indianapolis Raceway Park and O'Reilly Raceway Park. IMS officials have been asking for a Nationwide race for several years and finally are getting one at the expense of one of the best short-track races on the Nationwide circuit. Lucas Oil Raceway has a capacity of 30,000, and apparently NASCAR and the track couldn't agree on a sanction fee to keep the Nationwide event at the 0.686-mile track. The track might still have a Camping World Truck Series event but without the doubleheader feature of the trucks and Nationwide, it remains to be seen whether the track wants to do all the preparations for just one event. The track has been a part of the Nationwide Series since the series debuted in 1982, with Morgan Shepherd winning the track's first race. Kroger has sponsored the race each year, making it the longest continuous race entitlement in the sport.(SceneDaily.com)(7-5-2011)