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Crown Royal may become Brickyard 400 title sponsor: An unlikely match could give the Indianapolis Motor Speedway a new title sponsor for the Brickyard 400 and a seven-figure windfall starting next summer. That's the direction things are headed, despite appearances to the contrary. Sources are beginning to bubble that Crown Royal is ready to sign a deal to become the title sponsor of the Brickyard 400. It's rumored to be a multi-year deal starting in 2012. Don't be surprised if Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO Jeff Belskus along with Crown Royal honchos make an announcement at this year's race. And stunningly, the Crown Royal deal& is financially bigger than any other current NASCAR title sponsorship deal. Yes, that means bigger than the Coca-Cola 600 and Irwin Tools Night Race (Bristol) deals. In a soft economy, when the race's attendance has wavered, Speedway officials are going to get around $1.5 million annually for the title sponsorship of its race, sources are whispering.(Indianapolis Business Journal)(7-13-2011)

If it was "The Brickyard 400: Presented by Crown Royal" it wouldn't be nearly as bad.

Think it was The Allstate 400 At The Brickyard instead.

SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody has learned that Randy Moss Motorsports and Germain Racing will join forces to put reigning NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Todd Bodine in the #5 Toyota Tundra for the remainder of the 2011 season. Germain Racing owner Bob Germain confirmed the move today, saying, "We began talking with (RMM co-owner) David Dollar last weekend, and met this week about the possibility of combining their #5 and our #30 trucks for an unknown period of time; possibly the rest of the season. We compared sponsor commitments, and with 15 races left in the season, that's about what we had in combined sponsorship. It made sense to talk, and while the deal is not completely done, we knew we had to make a decision on Iowa right away. We've told Todd that he will go to Iowa this weekend and drive the #5 Toyota with Mike Hillman, Jr. as crew chief and our pit crew. The move will leave former series champion Travis Kvapil without a ride, after he replaced Mike Skinner as driver of the #5 during the offseason. Kvapil currently stands 18th in Truck Series points, with a pair of tenth-place finishes the highlight of his year. It's been a surprise to all of us that (Randy Moss Motorsports) hasn't been more competitive this season," said Germain. "The upside for them is better performance for the #5 truck and their sponsors." He said it was "fair to assume" that Bodine will pilot trucks from the Germain Racing stable for the remainder of the season, re-numbered with RMM's #5 and prepared and crewed by Germain. "I think we're a little bit ahead of them on the superspeedways and 1.5-mile tracks," he said, "so we will probably end up using our trucks.(Siriur Speedway PR)(7-13-2011)

Ingram's grandson charged: The grandson of NASCAR driver Jack Ingram is accused of stealing his championship rings and other mementos, then asking Ingram to pay for their return. Buncombe County investigators charged 25-year-old Jackson Layne Ingram on Thursday with breaking and entering and larceny, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported. Authorities said $5,000 worth of items were taken from Jack Ingram's home June 29, including the diamond ring he won for his 1982 Busch Series championship, a 1985 championship ring, a watch and his wife's high school ring. A few days later, a caller asked for $1,000 to return the items, but Ingram said no.(Associated Press/ESPN.com)(7-15-2011)