After a five-year sojourn to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and accompanying NASCAR Nationwide Series returned to the Southeast on Labor Day weekend for last year’s inaugural night race at Atlanta.

For decades, Labor Day in the Southeast meant two things: football and racing, and not necessarily in that order. The Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway was a Labor Day staple until schedule realignment in 2004, when instead of running 500 miles around a quirky, egg-shaped oval that first began hosting NASCAR races in 1950, 500 miles were instead run around a 2-mile, D-shaped oval nearly two hours outside of Los Angeles with a history dating all the way back to 1997. (Whoa, Nellie!)

Tailgate cuisine went from barbecue and corn dogs to tofu and kuskus. Needless to say, it was a seismic shift of tradition.

But after enduring an endless series of blast furnace-hot temperatures, the series’ second SoCal race was mercifully moved to mid-October beginning last season, and in turn, Labor Day in the Southeast meant college football on Saturday and Sprint Cup racing on Sunday, as Atlanta was awarded the Labor Day weekend slot on the 36-race calendar.

So, after Louisiana State University and the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill play in the College Kickoff Saturday night in an SEC/ACC matchup at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta, fans can stay in the area and on Sunday venture an hour south to Hampton, Ga., home of the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway. There, the Emory Healthcare 500 will kick-off under the lights at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN, less than 24 hours after its parent network, ABC, finishes its broadcast of the LSU-UNC game.

It will be the just the second official night race for the Sprint Cup Series at Atlanta, for well before last year’s Labor Day visit, the series’ held an unofficial night race at Atlanta in 1998 when rain delayed what used to be the season finale deep into the night and the track’s recently installed lights had to be called into service.

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing, wasn’t in Sprint Cup yet, as his rookie year came in 1999. But that’s not to say he doesn’t have experience running under the lights at Atlanta. Stewart was able to participate in a Goodyear tire test prior to last year’s race and, of course, he logged 500 miles worth of track time in the 2009 Pep Boys 500.

That bit of experience, combined with Stewart’s 23 career Sprint Cup starts at Atlanta – a mark that includes two wins, eight top-fives, 13 top-10s and 790 laps led (10.6 percent of the 7,423 laps available) – means that the two-time Sprint Cup champion is poised to kick-off the season’s fall stretch with another championship-worthy performance.

What are your thoughts about racing at Atlanta during the Labor Day weekend instead of racing at California, or Darlington for that matter?
“My answer is pretty simple on this one. I don’t make the race schedule, I just go wherever the race is on that weekend. We still have 36 point races. Wherever we’re at on any given race weekend – what matters to me is that we do everything we can do to win the race and get as many points as possible. NASCAR has obviously done a great job of growing this sport, and if running a night race at Atlanta on Labor Day weekend is the way to go, then who’s to argue?”

You’re currently sixth in the championship standings with a healthy 287-point margin over 13th-place Jamie McMurray – the first driver on the outside looking in at the elite, 12-driver Chase for the Championship with only Atlanta and Richmond (Va.) International Raceway remaining before the 10-race Chase begins. With a 19th-place finish or better at Atlanta, you’ll clinch a spot in the Chase for the sixth time in your career. But once the top-12 drivers in points are secured after the series’ next race at Richmond, they’ll all have their respective point tallies rest to 5,000, with 10 bonus points being awarded for each win during the first 26 races of the season. If Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and McMurray make the Chase, they’ll leapfrog you in the standings, as each of them has won at least one race and you haven’t won any. Does that scenario bother you?

“No, not at all. Everybody understands the system. We know that if the Chase were to start tomorrow, we’d start behind. So, it’s not a situation where you try to make up for it. That’s when you get yourself in trouble. It’s no different than gambling when you get off your game and you try to do something to get yourself back square, that’s when you get in trouble. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing. That’s what got us here.”

What makes Atlanta different from a lot of the other 1.5-mile ovals the Sprint Cup Series visits?
“The neat thing is that the times fall off so guys move around on the racetrack more. Everybody starts at the bottom, and the fast guys normally end up right around the wall midway through a run. I like having the flexibility to be able to move around. I know that if my car isn’t driving all that well in a particular spot that I have the flexibility as a driver to move around on the racetrack. You can make a difference. You can move around and help yourself as a driver, versus being committed and whatever you’ve got, you’ve got. It does make you feel better as a driver to know you have that flexibility.”

What do you expect when you come to Atlanta?
“I like racing there. It’s definitely a driver’s track. That’s why we love coming to Atlanta. I hope they never repave it. That will be the one thing that will kill it. If they have to repave it, it will be out of necessity, not because of desire from us. That’s what makes this place fun is the fact that you’re going to move around from the bottom to the top every segment of the race. You are, at some point, going to have to move around and try to find a spot to make your car better. That’s what makes it so much fun being there.”

How fine of a line is it to find a comfort level when you’re out on the racetrack at speed, particularly at Atlanta where you’re running over 200 mph?
“Well I don’t know that it’s a fine line. I mean, either you’re comfortable or you’re not. Nothing is happening this year that hasn’t happened for 100 years in racing. There’s nothing magical or mysterious going on here. Everybody is going out every week and we’re working with technology, but still at the end of the day, you’ve got a driver that’s driving the car. No matter how fast the computer says that car is going to be, if that driver is not comfortable driving it, then they’re not going to go fast. So you’ve got to tune these cars to the drivers and their feels, and that’s what makes them go fast.”

“Atlanta is a spectacular track to race at and it’s a place I’ve always been fond of going back to,” said Newman. “I am looking forward to racing under the lights. I’m glad to have the chance to come back and race for James (Finch) and the crew. I’ve only got a handful of racing left with him this year, so racking up some good finishes is important for me.”

With just two series starts, Newman hopes for a reason to celebrate and is leaning on his Cup resume, which boasts 7 poles and a number of Top 5 and Top 10 finishes to carry over to Saturday night’s event.

“I feel exceptionally comfortable in a car at Atlanta and I think it shows – at least when I’m in a Cup car,” said Newman, who has a Sprint Cup average finish of 17th. “I’ve only ran two Nationwide races here. I had great starting spots, but both were DNF’s, so obviously, I am looking to have a better day than that.

“The Nationwide cars are lighter, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you see the pole won by a guy who ran wide open around the track. We should also see a lot of guys running wide open during the race – especially those on new tires. Atlanta is a fun, fast track and one you can run the bottom, middle and high grooves. If can get off Turn 4, with its banking without any trouble, then you should good. I’m ready for a good race.”

Newman will be turning extra laps as he enters the Labor Day weekend festivities. Atlanta is Headquarters to CoCa-Cola, so he and other drivers in the Coke Racing Family will be giving ride-alongs on Friday to guests.

“This is my first year as a Coke driver and think giving rides will be a lot of fun,” Newman noted. “I drive a race car for a living, so seeing the look on other peoples face while they are strapped in is always interesting. Sometimes I hear a squeal, but for the most part you don’t hear anything until they get out of the car and they are grinning from ear to ear. It’s a good time and the least I can do for my sponsor.”

For more information on Ryan Newman and the Ryan Newman Foundation, visit www.ryannewman.org or www.ryannewmanfoundation.org.

About the Ryan Newman Foundation:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman and his wife, Krissie, established the Ryan Newman Foundation in January 2005. The mission of the foundation is to educate and encourage people to spay/neuter their pets and to adopt dogs and cats from animal shelters; to educate children and adults about the importance of conservation so the beauty of the great outdoors can be appreciated by future generations; and to provide college scholarship funding through the Rich Vogler Scholarship program to students interested in auto racing careers. The Ryan Newman Foundation is proud to be part of the NASCAR Foundation’s family of charities.?

Newman, who is in position to set a career-pole record at the 1.54-mile oval, also finds himself in a precarious spot with two races remaining before the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship begins. He currently sits 15th in the driver standings, 118 points from the final Chase position of 12th.

“No matter how many realistic ways you dissect the numbers our backs are to the wall in every scenario,” said Newman, a three-time Chase participant, including last year. “We’re going into the race with the expectation of contending for the win in the U.S. Army Reserve Chevrolet. This is the Army team and you’ll never see us quit. We have more than one million Army Strong Soldiers to answer to.

“We know we have a lot of ground to make up, and after the last race in Bristol (Aug. 21) it looks like we need a win to gain in points. We finished sixth in Bristol and went backwards in the standings. That’s a pretty good indicator about how fierce the competition is week in and week out.”

NASCAR’s pre-Chase regular season ends Sept. 11 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. The 10-race Chase playoff commences at the following Cup event — Sept. 19 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The good news for Newman is the high-speed Atlanta track is one of his favorites. He and his former mentor Buddy Baker share the Atlanta Motor Speedway record with seven career poles. Newman posted six consecutive poles at Atlanta, starting with the March 2003 race. He will have the opportunity to be the sole holder of Atlanta’s pole record during Saturday’s time trials.

“It would be an honor to set the pole record in Atlanta and we’ll do everything we can to achieve that milestone,” said the 32-year-old Newman. “Atlanta is one of the best tracks we go to for three- and four-wide racing in the corners. I’ve always enjoyed Atlanta, especially during qualifying.”

Newman’s career record at Atlanta includes: 17 starts, one top five and five top 10s. He has a 6.7 average start and a 17.9 average finish. At this year’s March race in Atlanta, Newman qualified seventh and finished 17th.

Despite Bristol’s reputation of being a crapshoot and a treacherous racetrack where anything can happen, Newman and his team looked forward to racing on the concrete oval nestled in the East Tennessee mountains. After all, Bristol played to the team’s strong suit — its short track program. And once again, Newman and his No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team left Bristol with a top-10 effort.

In 10 races at tracks under 1-mile on the Sprint Cup circuit, Newman and the No. 39 team have finished outside of the top-10 just once.

Unfortunately for Newman, the top-10 effort didn’t aid his efforts to make his second consecutive Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship as two of his competitors for the 12th and final spot — Jamie McMurray and Clint Bowyer — finished just ahead of the No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet in third and fourth spots, respectively. Newman fell one position to 15th in the standings. He has 2,802 points and is 118 markers back of 12th-place Bowyer, who currently holds the final spot in the Chase, which will be decided in the next two races.

“Unfortunately, sixth didn’t end up being as good of a points night for us as we hoped because Bowyer and McMurray finished in front of us. If we could’ve kept Bowyer out of that situation, we would’ve gained on him and Mark (Martin),” Newman said after the race. “But that’s neither here nor there. It was a good team effort for everyone on this WIX Filters Chevrolet. We can’t expect to make everything up in one race. Another top-10 effort on a short track is good for our team. We’ll just go on into Atlanta and keep fighting, which is what this team does. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

Newman started sixth in Saturday night’s 500-lap race, which is the position he held for most of the night. He climbed to as high as fourth during the early stages and never fell out of the top-10.

Throughout the race, Newman fought the same handling issue, as his car would start out too tight, making it difficult to get through the center of the turns, but it would get looser and looser as the run progressed. Crew chief Tony Gibson and the No. 39 crew tried a variety of track bar, air pressure and wedge adjustments during their pit stops, but they couldn’t hit on the right combination to aid the handling of Newman’s car on the long runs. In the end, Newman couldn’t battle with the leaders and finished the race where he started — in sixth-place.

Newman’s SHR teammate, Tony Stewart, endured a tough outing at Bristol. Two tangles — one involving a competitor running into the back of his No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala and the other being a scrape with the turn two wall — conspired to leave him 27th when the checkered flag dropped.

Stewart dropped two spots to sixth in the Sprint Cup championship standings. He now has 3,107 points and is 414 markers behind series leader Kevin Harvick and 287 points ahead of 13th-place McMurray, the first driver on the outside looking in at the 12-driver Chase after round 24 of 36.

Kyle Busch won the Irwin Tools Night Race to score his 19th career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his fourth at Bristol. Busch pulled the Bristol hat trick, winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Wednesday night, the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Friday night and the Sprint Cup race Saturday night. It was the first time any driver has swept NASCAR’s top-three touring divisions in a single race weekend.

David Reutimann finished .677 of a second behind Busch in the runner-up spot, while McMurray, Bowyer and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top-five. Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were seven caution periods for 39 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish.

The Sprint Cup Series takes a rare weekend off before returning to action at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Sept. 5 Emory Healthcare 500.

The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) finished a disappointing 27th after a strong start had him running second to Jimmie Johnson for the race’s first 125 laps.

Stewart’s night began to unravel in typical Bristol fashion when he slowed down to avoid a spinning David Ragan on lap 126. The two-time Sprint Cup champion wooed his red and black Chevy down in plenty of time, but the same could not be said of Tony Raines, who clipped the right-rear corner of Stewart’s ride as the field bunched up.

The damage was cosmetic, but it still took two trips to pit road for the Office Depot/Old Spice team to repair the right-rear quarterpanel and rear decklid well enough to continue. The quick work by the pit crew allowed Stewart to stay on the lead lap, albeit in 25th-place.

With a racecar that was loose on entry and exit into the track’s high-banked corners, Stewart was holding on with all he could to his lead-lap status.

On lap 212, the rear end of the No. 14 car stepped out on Stewart and it slapped the turn two wall — first with the right-rear quarterpanel and then with the right-front fender. That car was hurt, but well enough to soldier on.

Still, telltale smoke began billowing from beneath the right-side wheel wells whenever Stewart sailed into the track’s corners, as the crinkled fenders rubbed the tires. On lap 224 came the inevitable from Stewart: “We got a tire coming apart.”

With the race still running under green and the rest of the field lapping the half-mile oval in 16 seconds, Stewart went three laps down as his crew changed right-side tires.

It proved to be a deficit he could not overcome, for the pace of the leaders was torrid. When the checkered flag dropped, Stewart was six laps down in 27th, breaking a five-race string of top-10 finishes. Stewart’s last result outside the top-10 came July 3 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway where he was caught up in a multi-car accident and placed 25th.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet Impala for SHR, had a much better evening. He finished sixth to score his sixth top-10 of 2010 and his 10th at Bristol.

Kyle Busch won the Irwin Tools Night Race to score his 19th career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his fourth at Bristol. Busch pulled the Bristol hat trick, winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Wednesday night, the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Friday night and the Sprint Cup race Saturday night. It was the first time any driver has swept NASCAR’s top-three touring divisions in a single race weekend.

David Reutimann finished .677 of a second behind Busch in the runner-up spot, while Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top-five. Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were seven caution periods for 39 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race.

With round 24 of 36 complete, Stewart dropped two spots to sixth in the Sprint Cup championship standings. He now has 3,107 points and is 414 markers behind series leader Kevin Harvick and 287 points ahead of 13th-place Jamie McMurray, the first driver on the outside looking in at the 12-driver Chase for the Championship, which will be decided in the next two races. Newman fell one position to 15th in the standings. He has 2,802 points and is 118 points back of 12th-place Bowyer, who holds the final spot in the Chase.

The Sprint Cup Series takes a rare weekend off before returning to action at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Sept. 5 Emory Healthcare 500.

The 2010 Camaro 2SS, featured recently on the Unique Whips cable television series, is valued at $36,000 and has been customized by Will Castro and his staff at Unique. Among the enhancements: 22-inch strut wheels, Pirelli tires and Baer brakes; strut grille; performance by K&N with state-of-the-art filter and intake system to boost power of the 400-horsepower Chevy powerplant; Borla exhaust system for a throaty roar; Eibach suspension; Spies Hecker paint (Summit White) on a Glam Effect body kit by Classic Design Concepts; smoked tail lamps and tinted windows; Roadwire leather interior for added comfort and style; and JL Audio equipment.

Tickets are priced at $50 for one, $75 for two, or $100 for three and are exclusively available online at www.SmokesCamaro.com or www.TonyStewartFoundation.org. Only 5,000 tickets will be sold.

In addition to the grand prize drawing, an additional 14 prize winners will also be drawn on Aug. 30 for a variety of Tony Stewart autographed memorabilia valued at $50 to $225 per item.

Stewart will personally hand over the keys to the grand prize winner in an all-expenses-paid meet-and-greet with the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion at Stewart-Haas Racing. The Tony Stewart Foundation will handle delivery of the 2010 Camaro 2SS to the winner’s home.

The Tony Stewart Foundation and its grant program serves children, animals and injured drivers. Since 2004, the Foundation has awarded $4.5 million to charitable organizations including Victory Junction Gang Camp, Indiana Canine Assistant Network, Camp Riley/Riley Hospital for Children, various greyhound rescue groups, a variety of camps serving special needs children, a variety of animal rescue groups, the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation, the USAC Benevolent Fund and more.

For more information on the raffle, including photos of the 2010 Camaro 2SS and how to buy ticket, visit www.SmokesCamaro.com, or www.TonyStewartFoundation.org.

“I’m happy with that lap,” said Stewart, who won at Bristol in August 2001. “The car felt good. I’m really happy with the way that it ran. Proud of Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and all the guys on this Office Depot/Old Spice team.”

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet Impala for SHR, qualified sixth with a time of 15.680 seconds at 122.372 mph.

“We have a great WIX Filters Chevrolet,” said Newman, who has nine top-10 finishes in 17 career Sprint Cup starts at Bristol. “The car feels pretty good in race trim. We have a good package. We picked up right at two tenths from what we practiced – maybe a tenth-and-a-half. Tony Gibson (crew chief) and the guys did a great job. It’s been a lot of fun today.”

The last time both SHR cars qualified in the top-10 came three races ago at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway where Stewart qualified second and Newman qualified fifth.

Four-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson captured his 24th career pole, his first of the season and his first in 18 career Sprint Cup races at Bristol by posting a lap of 15.540 seconds at 123.475 mph. Carl Edwards will start alongside Johnson on the outside of row one as he timed in at 15.608 seconds and 122.937 mph. Joey Logano was third (15.630 seconds at 122.764 mph), while Stewart and David Reutimann (15.664 seconds at 122.497 mph) rounded out the top-five.

Forty-nine drivers attempted to qualify for the Irwin Tools Night Race. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Dave Blaney, Joe Nemechek, Kevin Lepage, J.J. Yeley, Brian Keselowski and Mike Bliss.

As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet took the top spot thanks to Johnson’s pole-winning mark. Ford was next best at the hands of Edwards, while Toyota was the third-fastest make via Logano. Brad Keselowski carried the flag for Dodge by qualifying 15th (15.728 seconds at 121.999 mph).

The Irwin Tools Night Race gets underway at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m.

Transcript follows the video.

TALK ABOUT HOW YOUR FIRST PRACTICE WENT AND YOUR OUTLOOK FOR BRISTOL SATURDAY NIGHT:
“Definitely it was different than what we have seen in the past. It is kind of cool that we are seeing everybody use pretty much the whole race track already in practice. That is something you don’t normally see until the race. It is kind of encouraging already that we know we are going to have a lot of guys clear up on the top of the track if practice is any indication of that. We still have a little bit of work to do and am glad we have another 45 minutes coming up and we’ll see what we can do with it.”

THERE HAVE BEEN SOME THINGS IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK ABOUT SOME POTENTIAL THINGS FOR SHR SPONSORSHIP WISE NEXT YEAR, CAN YOU TELL US WHERE YOU STAND ON IT: “When we have something to tell you, we’ll tell you. I’ve always told you guys that, as soon as we have something to tell you about, we promise we won’t leave you out of the loop.”

HAS THIS TRACK CHANGED A LOT FROM WHEN YOU WERE HERE IN THE SPRING AND ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE A SETUP TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU HAD THEN?
“I think so. It’s not because the track has changed as much as the tires change. Goodyear has brought a different tire here and I think a lot of us are kind of scrambling around trying to figure out what we had here in the Spring I don’t think is what this tire likes. We’re all kind of thrashing around trying to figure it out. Like I said, the one encouraging thing is that the guys are all over the race track now, so, it’s not going to be a one groove race track for sure. I think we have got potential to see “old school” Bristol race with a lot of guys up on the top all night which I always thought was really cool here. Kind of excited to see what happens tonight in the Nationwide race, I think that will give us a good indication of what we are going to have tomorrow night. I think tomorrow night we will have a lot of cars on the top of the race track again.”

SATURDAY NIGHT IS THE PLAN TO BE MORE OFFENSE OR DEFENSE DEPENDING UPON WHERE YOU ARE RUNNING IN THE RACE?
“I think it depends on how our car handles to be honest. I think if we have a really good handling car and something that we feel like is really stable and solid, I think we will be more offense. But, we are not in a bad position in the point standings right now, but, we don’t need a disaster so we don’t need to put ourself in any bad positions on a night that we really don’t have a lot to gain by it. If we feel like we have a shot to win the race, you are going to take chances. If you know for sure that you’re not going to have a shot at winning it, then you are going to be a little more careful and make sure that you give yourself that little bit of a cushion going into Richmond, hopefully.”

HOW MUCH DIFFERENT DOES THIS PLACE DRIVE THAN IT DID A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO BECAUSE YOU ARE A GUY THAT TRADITIONALLY RUNS THE BOTTOM OF THE RACE TRACK AND NOW IT SEEMS LIKE THE TOP GROVE IS THE FAST WAY AROUND?
“I think it is just like any of the other places we go to now, as time goes on the bottom is starting to get worn out and the top is actually a little bit smoother even than the bottom is. It is just a matter of getting it cut in to where we finally get that rubber up there. It just seems like it is changing. I’ve always run good on the bottom but I’m not opposed to running the top either. I like running the top of race tracks. It is a matter of getting your car balance to get up there and do that. That is what we are trying to figure out right now.”

JEFF GORDON SAID IT WOULDN’T BOTHER HIM TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP IF HE DIDN’T WIN A RACE, IS IT MADE A BIGGER DEAL OF RIGHT NOW BECAUSE 10 POINTS IN THE LARGER SCHEME OF THINGS ISN’T VERY MUCH SO WOULD IT BOTHER YOU TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP WITHOUT A WIN?
“Not in the least bit. I’ll take the check. I’ll take the trophy. I don’t care if I didn’t finish in the top-10 the last 10 weeks if I got enough points to win the championship, I don’t care where I finish as long as I get more than the rest of them do.”

IS THE BONUS POINTS OVERSTATED RIGHT NOW?
“I don’t think anybody really cares if they win a race to win the championship. I don’t think that is what it is about. We all know what the format it. We all know what we have to do to accomplish that goal. It doesn’t matter how you get there, it is accomplishing the goal. The journey getting there doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if you go through rain, sleet, snow, hail; all you care about is that you get there at the end of the day.”

FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE AS A CAR OWNER IN THESE ECONOMIC TIMES, IS IT TOUGHER FOR A YOUNG GUY TO GET A SHOT IN EITHER NATIONWIDE OR CUP SIMPLY BECAUSE SPONSORS MAY WANT A VETERAN IN THE CAR?
“I think it is going back to the way it used to be. I think there was a wave there of car owners hiring drivers for extremely cheap retainer fees to give them a shot and try to find the next great thing. But, I think it is back to guys have to earn their way and prove themselves in the Nationwide Series before they get their opportunities in Cup. I think that is the direction it is probably going to go.”

ANY REACTION TO THE RYAN NEWMAN/JOEY LOGANO DUST-UP?
“No, I was in the shower. I didn’t pay attention to it and there wasn’t anything to worry about going to the NASCAR trailer, nobody got called there so obviously it wasn’t a big deal.”

DIRECTV Channel 795: Tony Stewart will make his 416th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 24th at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway … Has one win (August 2001) and eight top-10 finishes in 23 starts at Bristol … The 39-year-old Columbus, Ind., native has won 37 races and has 243 top-10 finishes in 415 Sprint Cup starts … 2010 marks Stewart’s 12th full year in Sprint Cup and he won the points championship in 2002 and 2005 … Started fourth and finished sixth last week at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn … Ranks fourth in Sprint Cup points with 13 top-10 finishes.

DIRECTV Channel 796: Greg Biffle will make his 282nd career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 16th at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway … Has nine top-10 finishes in 15 starts at Bristol … The 40-year-old Vancouver, Wash., native has won 15 races and has 107 top-10 finishes in 281 Sprint Cup starts … 2010 marks Biffle’s eighth full year in Sprint Cup with a career-best point finish of second in 2005 … Started sixth and finished fourth last week at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn … Ranks 11th in Sprint Cup points with one win and 13 top-10 finishes.

DIRECTV Channel 797: Kyle Busch will make his 210th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 12th at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway … Has three wins (March 2007, March 2009 and August 2009) and eight top-10 finishes in 11 career Sprint Cup starts at Bristol … The 25-year-old Las Vegas native has 18 wins and 96 top-10 finishes in 209 Sprint Cup starts … 2010 marks Busch’s sixth full year in Sprint Cup with a career-best point finish of fifth in 2007 … Won 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship … Started 18th and finished 18th last week at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn … Ranks eighth in Sprint Cup Series points with two wins and 11 top-10 finishes.

DIRECTV Channel 798: Dale Earnhardt Jr., will make his 387th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 23rd at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway … Has one win (August 2004) and 12 top-10 finishes in 21 starts at Bristol … The 35-year-old Kannapolis, N.C., native has won 18 races and has 148 top-10 finishes in 386 Sprint Cup starts … 2010 marks Earnhardt’s 11th full year in Sprint Cup with a career-best point finish of third in 2003 … Won 1998 and 1999 NASCAR Nationwide Series championships … Started 38th and finished 19th last week at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn … Ranks 17th in Sprint Cup points with six top-10 finishes.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver held off a late charge from seven-time tour champion Mike Stefanik over the closing laps to secure his second win of the season. Newman also won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway driving the Modified owned by Kevin Manion, crew chief for Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray.

James Civali was the top NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour driver in the annual combination race in third place overall. The event is the annual combination race between the two Modified tours and drivers received points for their finish in respective to other drivers in the same Tour.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers Bobby Santos and Todd Szegedy rounded out the top five.

Newman powered by Civali and Ted Christopher in one swoop in traffic on Lap 128, and chased down Stefanik three laps later. Stefanik pulled alongside Newman twice in the final five laps but was unable to complete the pass.

Rookie Justin Bonsignore, who won his first career Coors Light Pole Award earlier in the day, finished sixth, followed by Dale Quarterley, Eric Goodale, Ryan Preece and Erick Rudolph.

The race was slowed just three times by yellow flags, including the competition caution at the halfway point.

Christopher led 80 of the first 125 laps before encountering engine trouble and pulling off the track suddenly on Lap 140 while running third. He finished 26th, nine laps down, and lost the points lead to Santos. Santos now leads Christopher by 32 and Stefanik by 61.

L.W. Miller also lost the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour points lead because of mechanical issues. He finished 39 laps down in 29th overall. Civali leads Miller by five and Andy Seuss by 32.

The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified will return to the track in the Triad Commercial Services 150 at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., on Saturday, Aug. 28. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will race next in the F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 18.