Photo by John Harrelson - Getty Images for NASCAR

The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) was ultimately undone by a broken rear-end gear which sent him to the garage for repairs in the waning laps of the 500-lap race. Quick work by the team got Stewart back onto the .526-mile oval for a handful of laps before the checkered flag dropped, averting a dreaded DNF (Did Not Finish).

“Ugly day,” said Stewart, who has seen better days at Martinsville as a two-time race winner at the unique, paperclip-shaped track. “We weren’t very good to start with, but we got the car better to where it was competitive on long runs. But the time we lost at the beginning of a run was a lot. I didn’t help our cause with that penalty there, but in the end, it didn’t really matter. I could smell the rear-end gear, and I knew it was just a matter of time before it broke. So, I just brought the car into the garage to see if we could fix it and at least finish the race.”

NASCAR dinged Stewart for passing before the start/finish line on a lap-247 restart. The infraction resulted in a pass-through penalty that put Stewart a lap down. Then, with the leaders setting a torrid pace and Stewart struggling for momentum at the onset of a run, combined with always being stuck in traffic, he lost another lap to the leaders.

Nonetheless, Stewart was looking at salvaging a top-25 finish, perhaps even a top-20 finish, for he was not the only driver experiencing difficulty. But the broken gear was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, and an ugly day turned even uglier.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala for SHR, appeared poised to offset the struggles of Stewart and the No. 14 team. Newman led twice for three laps, but a broken header pipe with 170 laps remaining sapped his car’s horsepower, and a flat left-rear tire sent him for a spin off turn three on lap 372. The misfortune conspired to put Newman two laps down, relegating him to a 20th-place finish.

Kevin Harvick won the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 to score his 16th career Sprint Cup victory, his second of the season and his first at Martinsville. Harvick won last Sunday’s race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., marking the second time in his career he’s scored back-to-back victories, the last of which came in September 2006 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished .727 of a second behind Harvick in the runner-up spot to equal his best result since finishing second in the 2010 Daytona 500. Kyle Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-five, while Matt Kenseth, pole-sitter Jamie McMurray, David Ragan, Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 11 caution periods for 72 laps, with seven drivers failing to finish.

With round six of 36 complete, Newman dropped four spots to sixth in the championship standings, 16 markers behind new series leader Busch. Stewart fell five positions to 11th and is 39 points out of first.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the April 9 Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m.

It was Newman’s fourth straight top-10 result and his third top-five in the first-five races of the 2011 campaign.

The fifth-place finish at Auto Club Speedway lifted Newman from fourth to second in the driver point standings. He trails leader Carl Edwards by nine points.

“It’s been an amazing start and the script is playing out the way we were hoping it would during the offseason,” said Newman. “We were off a bit in the beginning of today’s race, but we made a few adjustments and the U.S. Army Chevrolet kept on getting better and better. The only bad news for us is that we didn’t win the race.”

Newman added, “What makes me even more excited about our recent success is that we are making our Soldiers proud of their team. These Soldiers, who are deployed in more than 80 countries, are our best fans and they give us the inspiration to keep battling with a never-give-up attitude.”

There were a couple of key moments for Newman and the No. 39 U.S. Army team during the 200-lap, 400-mile event. The first came during a Lap 76 pit stop when crew chief Tony Gibson opted for two tires instead of four. The result vaulted Newman to second place in track position.

“That was a key decision that really paid off,” noted Newman. “We pretty much stayed up there the rest of the race.”

Another key moment was near the end of the race (Lap 187) when Gibson and Newman jointly agreed not to pit for fresh tires.

“At that time we were running in sixth place and felt we could hold off the cars behind us that took fresh tires,” explained Newman. “I guess we did one better by finishing fifth.”

Regarding the decision not to pit, Gibson said he got more nervous when more cars behind the Army Chevy didn’t pit for new tires.

“I was hoping for more cars to pit, but Ryan did one great driving job,” said Gibson. “We’re going to ride this success as long as we can and build up a point cushion. Realistically you know there are going to be some bad days. But right now we’re enjoying ourselves and having plenty of fun.”

Newman’s teammate, Tony Stewart, finished 13th and is sixth in driver points.

The race winner was Kevin Harvick. Rounding out the top-five in order were: Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Newman.

The next Sprint Cup race is Sunday (April 3) at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Once all on-track activities at Ford Fan Friday are completed on Friday, the party moves to the hospitality area at BMS. Some of NASCAR’s finest wheelmen will then participate in several on-stage activities, including a question and answer session, Wii Boxing and Family Feud.

Jimmie Johnson heads up the driver question and answer session, along with Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray and David Ragan. Going head to head in Wii Boxing is defending champion Elliott Sadler, along with Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, A.J. Allmendinger and Scott Speed.

Family Feud should be a highlight as drivers from Richard Childress Racing will take on the Stewart-Haas stable. Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, along with Delana Harvick, will battle Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and Krissie Newman. Two fans will be chosen to play on each team, via an online auction benefitting the Bristol Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities at www.bristolmotorspeedway.com. FOX’s very own Matt Yocum will be the emcee for Feud.

Food City Race Night opens at 4 p.m. and is free to all fans. A number of drivers, including Harvick and NASCAR legends David Pearson, Harry Gant and Dave Marcis, will be on hand to sign autographs. Nationwide drivers participating include Steve Wallace, Trevor Bayne, Reed Sorenson, Justin Allgaier, Kelly Bires, Colin Braun and Eric McClure.

Show cars also will be on display, along with simulators and souvenir trailers. Live entertainment, featuring Pine Mountain Railroad, will be featured and there also will be free food sampling.

Race fans can get their sneak peek of Speedweeks 2010 with numerous activities with their favorite drivers from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series in the Sprint FANZONE located in the heart of the “World Center of Racing.”

Among the activities planned for both days include:

* Interactive fan forums
* Autograph sessions
* Show cars, displays, music
* Online auction
* Blood drive
* Richard Petty Driving Experience

Drivers currently scheduled to make appearances on Friday, Jan. 15 beginning at 6 p.m. are 2009 Daytona 500 champion Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Joey Logano, Paul Menard, Travis Kvapil and AJ Allmendinger,

Scheduled to appear on Saturday, Jan. 16 during the noon – 4 p.m. session are Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr., David Reutimann, Morgan Shepherd, Michael Annett, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Colin Braun. In the 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. session on Saturday, Jan. 16, drivers scheduled to appear are Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Todd Bodine and Sam Hornish Jr.

Tickets, which are available for $15, are on sale now at 1-800-PITSHOP or online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com with autograph session availability limited to 250 people per driver in advance. To request access to the special autograph sessions, race fans can call 1-800-PITSHOP or visit the Daytona International Speedway ticket office beginning on Monday, Jan. 4 at 9 a.m.

The only drivers with advance reservations for the driver autograph sessions will be Earnhardt Jr., Newman, Kenseth, Busch, Gordon, Harvick and Martin. The remainder of the driver autograph sessions will be done by a first-come basis.

Additional drivers and more details about the NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fests will be released in the coming weeks.

“The NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fests are going to provide a great opportunity for the fans to interact with the drivers and get pumped up about the upcoming Speedweeks events and the 52nd annual Daytona 500,” Daytona International Speedway President Robin Braig said.

Speedweeks 2010 is highlighted by the season-opening 52nd annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 14. Other events include the Camping World 300 Nationwide Series race on Saturday, Feb. 13, the NextEra Energy Resources 250 Camping World Truck Series race on Friday, Feb. 12, the Gatorade Duel At Daytona qualifying races on Thursday, Feb. 11 and a racing tripleheader on Saturday Feb. 6 with Daytona 500 Qualifying Presented by Kroger, the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 and the Budweiser Shootout.

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In three previous Nationwide Series starts at The Monster Mile, Newman has two poles, one win, one top-five, one top-10 finish and has led 334 of 600 attempted laps. Newman also has 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at the one-mile track, earning four poles, three victories, six top-five and nine top-10 finishes

In the Cup Series, he has led 813 laps and completed 99.3 (5959 of 6004 laps) percent of laps attempted.

In addition to piloting the No. 33 KHI Copart Chevrolet this weekend, Newman will be behind the wheel of the No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet for Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover. This race serves as round two of the 2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. Newman currently sits seventh in the championship standings.

With just 3 starts in the Nationwide Series, you have 2 poles and one win. In addition, you have four poles and 3 wins in the Cup Series. Talk about the track and what makes The Monster Mile a good track for you.

“Dover has always been one of my favorite racetracks. I’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of success at Dover over the years. It’s a physically demanding track, so by the end of the day you have had quite a work out. For me, Dover is a really fun track to drive, but there’s a reason it’s called ‘The Monster Mile.’ The track is really unique – you drop off into the corners and then climb up the hills onto the straight-a-ways. Because of that, the entry into the corners is the toughest part. If you don’t get a good entry, you’re not going to have a good middle or a good exit.

“It’s just an awesome track to race. It’s a give-and-take race track, so it is a lot of fun for the drivers. It’s a great track for passing. It’s a blast to drive around Dover because of the speed and most importantly because of the banking. The fact that it’s concrete doesn’t hurt anything either because it makes the track more consistent, which is good for everyone. The track doesn’t change a whole lot, so if you get the setup right then chances are you are going to perform well all day and have a chance to win the race at the end. It’s just a lot fun—I really enjoy qualifying and racing at Dover.”

Does running the Nationwide Series race on Saturday help you prepare for the Cup race on Sunday? If so, how?

“I like running the Nationwide cars on Saturday because I like getting the extra seat time prior to the Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday. It doesn’t help as much as it used to because the cars are so different, but there are some ways it helps me get prepared for Sunday. It gives me more time to work on my entry and exit, and it gives me an idea of what to expect in Sunday’s race.”

This week the No. 33 Copart team will unload chassis No. 036 for Newman at The Monster Mile. This chassis was last on track at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway with KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick where he started the race 11th, led a race high 91 laps and finished in the fourth position. Prior to Bristol, this chassis was on track at Iowa Speedway where Harvick started the race from the back of the field following a driver change after qualifying (Cale Gale qualified the No. 33 car as Harvick was at Pocono Raceway). A parts failure mid-race relegated the team to a 30th-place finish in the inaugural race at the track. In addition, this chassis has been on track with Harvick at Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway where he started the race third, led a race high 105 laps, but ran out of fuel late in the race and finished 17th. The only other two starts for this chassis were at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. Kelly Bires first piloted this chassis in April at Nashville, scoring a fifth-place finish followed by Cale Gale in June where he earned a 31st-place finish after being caught in a mid-race accident while running in the top 12.

The live, commercial-free broadcast featuring 25 drivers piloting 2,300-pound dirt Late Model stock cars capable of putting out over 800 horsepower will begin at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT), with an immediate replay and subsequent replays throughout the week and the following weekend. HBO Pay-Per-Views racing telecast has a suggested retail price of $24.95 and is available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming in the pay-per-view industry. Ordering information and up-to-the minute racing information is available at www.hbo.com.

Danica Patrickk is going to leave the IRL and be driving a third car for Stewart Haas Racing next year.
But wait! According to Sports Illustrated, via Mike Mulhern.net, Kevin Harvick has asked out of the last year of his contract with Richard Childress Racing.

Kevin Harvick is going to leave RCR and be driving a third car for Stewart Haas Racing next year.
But wait!

Nevermind, that’s enough but waits for now. Silly season seems to get more crazy every year. It seems like Dale Earnhardt Jr. really got it going two years ago with his battles with Teresa and finally moving to Hendrick Motor Sports. Last year it was Tony Stewart with the move to Stewart Haas Racing. This year, it kicked off with Martin Truex Jr. moving to Michael Waltrip Racing.

Let’s not forget that before the MWR announcement, a lot of people were sure that he was going to Stewart Haas and the third car. Personally, I was hoping he would, but was never sure. Let’s look at a few of the fact about what we know and don’t know.

Most importantly, Tony Stewart has said that Stewart Haas would consider adding a third team when they were sure they could consistently be comptetive with both of the current teams. I’m not sure that just over 1/2 a season, even though they are doing well, provides enough experience to be able to say, sure let’s add a third team.

Where’s the money coming from? I’ve seen a couple reports that as part of its coming out of bankruptcy, GM was released from its sponsorship and personal services contracts in NASCAR. This supposedly included a personal services contract with Ryan Newman. Without the money coming in from GM, is Stewart Haas ready for the added cost of a third team?

Martin Truex, Jr. left Earnhardt/Ganassi/WhoEverItIsThisWeek for MWR, but Bass Pro Shops isn’t going with him. Part of the BassPro sponsorship was that it was tied to Truex. They can get out of it if Truex isn’t the driver. With BassPro already affiliated with Tony Stewart Racing, it seems likely that they will be heading to Stewart Haas. The only question is where? Do they take the perfect fit and go to a partial sponsorship on Ryans car, splitting it with the Army? Is the Army going to be around next year as a sponsor? Military sponsorships are done for a year at a time, due to Federal contracting laws and budgetting.

Kevin Harvick has another year left on his contract with Richard Childress Racing. While Sports Illustrated is reporting that he’s ask to be released from the final year, nothing says RCR is going to let him go. Sure Kevin is good friends with Tony but that doesn’t mean Tony is just going to add a third car for his buddy.

Shell-Pennzoil recently extended their sponsorship deal with RCR but, according to reports, the deal is tied to Kevin, just like the BassPro sponsorship was tied to Truex. If Kevin leaves, they can leave also. That means that Kevin can probably be assured of carrying his sponsor to whatever team he moved to.

Brad Kesolowski has the potential to be a star in the Sprint Cup. The only question is, is he ready and where will he go? Everyone is writing that Hendrick wants to keep him in the stable and that’s fueling all the Stewart Haas rumors. I don’t think he’s ready for a cup ride and could use another years experience in the Nationwide Series. Sure he won at Talladega but Talladega is a crap shoot. Here’s some of the other Talladega winners,

Obviously winning at Talladega is good for your career, but it doesn’t prove you are ready for a full time Cup ride.

What can I say about Danica Patrick that hasn’t already been said? How about this; if Danica Patrick were a man, most people involved in racing wouldn’t have any idea who she is. In her “illustrious” racing career, she has 1 win, in a fuel mileage race in Japan. While winning a race on fuel mileage still counts in the records books, and you still get the trophy and the check, they don’t prove you are a great driver. They prove you can save fuel.

Danica is famous because she is a “good looking” woman driving a race car who has a tendency to take off her clothes for Sports Illustrated and other “mens” magazines. Don’t believe me, do a Google Images search for Danica Patrick. It returns 18 pictures. 4 of them are racing related, 3 are her dressed as though she were at some kind of Hollywood gala, and the rest are swimsuit/lingerie pictures.

Would she bring a lot of “fans” to NASCAR? Sure she would, in the same way that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. brought fans a few years ago. The female demographic went up when the young, good looking, single Earnhardt came on the scene. Patrick would do the same thing, only it would be guys this time. As NASCAR is quickly discovering though, those people aren’t NASCAR fans, they are celebrity fans. when the celebrity fades, so do they.

So what’s going to happen at Stewart Haas with the third car?  I don’t think anybody knows, not even Tony.  I’m sure he’s looking at his options but I don’t his decision is made.

What would I like to see happen?

• Kevin Harvick move to SHR and bring Shell-Pennzoil with him.
• Bass Pro Shops move to SHR and co-sponsor the Army car.  Not only are Ryan and BassPro a good fit, so are Army and BassPro.
• Kevin Harvick Inc. become a satellite(?) of Stewart Haas with Kevin still being able to field at least a Nationwide team.  Maybe the three of them, Kevin, Ryan and Tony could rotate driving it.
• Brad Kesolowski do another year in the Nationwide Series and then take over the 5 car from Mark Martin, assuming Mark decides to retire again.

What’s going to happen?  What am I, Nostradamus?  I’m just like the rest of you.  I hear rumors, usually there’s a little truth in each of them.  Sometimes they are completely false and sometimes they are completely true.  If they were all true next year Steart Haas will be fielding 5 teams with new drivers Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick and Danica Patrick.

I don’t think so.  What do you think.  Leave a comment and tell me.

Update: Just as I was about to post this Sirius Speedway is reporting that

while Harvick is indeed talking with both Stewart-Haas and Childress about changing teams next season, Shell-Pennzoil is not a part of the equation. If Harvick changes teams next season, it will likely be with the backing of Jack Daniel’s, which currently backs RCR driver Casey Mears.

I hope not.  Clean cut family guy Kevin Harvick hawking Jack Daniels makes about as much sense as Kasey Kahne hawking Budweiser.  Then again, Casey Mears doesn’t strike me as a Jack Daniels guy either.

TALK ABOUT RUNNING YOUR FIRST NATIONWIDE RACE AT TALLADEGA AND CAN YOU REPEAT IN YOUR FIRST RUN FOR KEVIN HARVICK IN THIS CAR AT THIS TRACK LIKE YOU DID AT ATLANTA LAST YEAR IN THE TRUCK?

“Actually it is the first of many for me because I have never run any car with the, I call it the taxi cab sign, but the roof wickers on the car. It is the first time for me in that respect as well. The Rheem Chevrolet was really good off the truck. Ernie Cope (crew chief) and the guys did a great job. I have to thank Kevin and DeLana (Harvick) for the opportunity to drive their race car. Really didn’t do much running yesterday in practice at all in race trim or in qualifying trim. The car felt pretty good. Had some good pushes and good pulls in the draft. Didn’t do a qualifying run but the guys were definitely prepared. It is the same car Kevin ran at Daytona so it has proven to be a fast car. We will just try to get it in victory lane.”

WOULD THE ROOF RAILS ON THE NATIONWIDE CARS BENEFIT THE CUP CARS AT SOME TRACKS?

“What are we trying to achieve? You can put rails anywhere. I don’t know what you would be trying to achieve. You can open up a whole box of worms if you want to start talking about that because just saw a highlight from like the mid-80s and the racing looked pretty good there. It is an entirely different race car and an entirely different situation. But, we the wickers all over on the Nationwide car. Wings on the Cup car and different situation with different here.

“Here, obviously, I have never run the Nationwide car or Daytona. Here, I think it is tough to say because anything will stick. I mean, it is wide open and there is a ton of grip. Very little bump. Ride quality is really good. It is hard to answer that here.”

WHY DRIVE BOTH HERE?

“Number 1 – I want to race. Number 2 — Kevin and DeLana gave me the opportunity and it is good equipment. I just love to race and another opportunity. This is my first superspeedway pole of any kind so, happy they helped me out with that too.”

DOES IT GIVE YOU ANY KIND OF ADVANTAGE ON SUNDAY?

“I think you learn. You learn the mentality of other race car drivers. Here it is a little different other places, the short tracks and things like that, where you can learn about the race track more so. Here, you have to really learn about your car and how you can work your car in the draft and this so different from every other race track in respect to that.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE UNIQUENESS OF TALLADEGA?

“It is different. It is different most just because you are wide open. It is more race car here than it is at any other race track we go to. This is so much different even than Daytona because there’s a lack of handling and the need for speed. It is a fun place when you have a really fast race car.”

HOW FAST DO THINGS TAKE PLACE INSIDE THE CAR FOR YOU THE DRIVER HERE AT TALLADEGA?

“It’s all speed differentials. I mean, if you are, this is my analogy for you, if you are out on the interstate running 70 m.p.h. and you are three-wide three rows deep, you just have to pay attention. Everybody is doing the same thing. Now you get to a stop light in the city and you weren’t paying attention you are only running 30 but you have to slam on your brakes, things come up quick. So it’s all a matter of speed relative to the people around you. When you are out there four rows deep, four-wide or three-wide, you just have to pay attention because you really can’t go anywhere, you just have to pay attention to what is going on around you. The instant there is a wreck or things change or you are turned around, then things happen quick, now you are 185 m.p.h. relative to the wall that is sitting at zero and other cars are coming at different angles. So, it all depends on the situation you get put in or you put yourself in.”

HOW MUCH DO DRIVERS SIGNAL EACH OTHER HERE HELPFUL OR ANGRY?

“There are very few angry gestures. Every once in a while you will see a guy stick his hand out the window, it is more a five finger salute any more than a one finger salute. In general, you have got guys that are waving off because maybe they are running hot. To me there is less signaling than there was five, six years ago as far as when you want to go for a draft. I think more signaling is done by the spotters working up top, kind of behind the scenes getting the ideas put together for the drivers and at the same time the crew chiefs because the crew chiefs know what is going on as far as pitting, not pitting-strategy wise.

“The visibility is definitely less with the wing, both in looking and being looked at.”

WHAT IS IT EXACTLY THAT MAKES YOU SO GOOD AT QUALIFYING?

“If you are referring to today, nothing (LAUGHS). Because I just pushed the pedal and held it wide open and try to hold a pretty steering wheel, that is what we call it. In general, I have just had really good equipment. Today is an example of that. From my standpoint, just hitting my marks and being smooth and trying to idealize a perfect life.”

HAS THERE BEEN ANY FRIENDLY FIRE BETWEEN YOU AND TONY (STEWART) SINCE HE TOOK THIS SAME TEAM TO VICTORY LAST YEAR HERE?

“No, nothing has been said. In fact, I probably shouldn’t say this, but he didn’t even know I was running the Nationwide car. I said turn the TV on and see how qualifying is going because I went over to his bus during qualifying. He goes, I don’t know, who is on the pole. I said, we are right now. He said who you driving for. I said Harvick. He said oh, ok. It is kind of funny.

“So no is the answer, but there might be. All depends on how he does in his sprint car. If he does really well, he will come in beating his chest tomorrow.”

After on-track activities are completed at Ford Fan Friday, fans can move into the Hospitality area at BMS for Food City Race Night to see some of their favorite drivers taking part in some activities that will require a different skill-set.

At 7 p.m. that evening, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and A.J. Allmendinger are scheduled to square off in a Wii Boxing tournament. Bowyer and Sadler will battle in one semifinal, while Kahne and Allmendinger will meet in the other semifinal. The two winners will then box for the Bristol Wii Boxing Championship.

Following the Wii tournament at 7:45 p.m., Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart will take to the stage for Rock Band. Fans will be selected from the crowd to come on-stage to participate with Harvick and Stewart.

Earlier in the evening, beginning at 6 p.m., several drivers, including Jeff Burton, the defending Food City 500 champion, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth will take part in a question and answer session from the stage.

Food City Race Night activities begin at 4 p.m. and conclude at 9 p.m. Featured throughout the event will be live music, along with food sampling and a variety of other events. Harvick is among several drivers scheduled to sign autographs, from 6-7 p.m.

There is no admission to Food City Race Night.