NASCAR (in English)

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http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/feat...ear/index.html



Champ gets the nod

Ron Hornaday had plenty of history on his side, but it took one dissenting vote for him to edge Kyle Busch and be NASCAR.COM's 2009 Truck Series Driver of the Year.

Shop: Hornaday championship gear!
Also: Busch launches Truck team

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Surprising result

Friday at Texas Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart did something he hasn't done since the Martinsville race in October 2005 -- qualify on the pole for a Cup Series race.

Stewart grabs Texas pole, first in 4-plus years - breaking a drought of 155 races.

This is Tony Stewart's 11th Cup Series pole in his 400th start.





The last driver to win the pole in his 400th start was Rusty Wallace at Bristol in April 1997, he finished second.

Tony Stewart is the seventh different pole winner in the first seven races this season with time trials.

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Complete washout

The only thing to hit the track Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway was rain, and it stayed well past its welcome. Both Cup practices were canceled and the Nationwide Series race postponed, rescheduled for 9 p.m. ET Sunday following the Cup race.



Will one of the double-duty drivers win the Nationwide race after competing in the Cup race just prior.



Montoya hoping rain turns into positive
Spent Friday focused on race trim while others worried about quals.



Rain washes out both practices at Texas
Despite lack of track time, most unconcerned about racing with spoiler.



Baby steps back to competitiveness
Compared to 2009, Earnhardt Jr. clearly going in right direction.

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Races postponed

The pit boxes remained covered and the cars never left the garage Sunday as for the second day in a row rain trumped racing at Texas. The Cup Series race has been rescheduled for noon ET Monday, with the Nationwide race to follow at 5 p.m. ET.

Crew members try and wait out the rain at Texas, but to no avail. The race was postponed.

More rain at Texas pushes races back another day
Forecast better for Cup, Nationwide events on Monday

It was the fan-friendly thing to do in terms of allowing our fans with either ticket to stay for both races. ...
We expect to accommodate all of those ticketholders.
- Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage

The Samsung Mobile 500 will be broadcast live by FOX while the O'Reilly 300 will be shown live on ESPN2.

Bill Elliott, who dominated the Cup Series' Most Popular Driver award standings for more than a decade from the 1980s through most of the '90s, said:

"There's nothing more boring than watching it rain at a race track because the [hauler] doesn't normally have enough food on it if it rains. That's the first thing that goes. You can go on just about every hauler in this garage area when it's raining and everybody is either telling lies or eating -- if not both [laughing]."

Fans looking to purchase tickets for this unique NASCAR doubleheader can do so at the TMS ticket office, starting as low as $91.

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Next: Cup Series race

It's been a rainy weekend at Texas Motor Speedway but the skies are finally clear for the Samsung Mobile 500. Green at 12:17 p.m. ET. FOX's coverage begins at noon.

This is just the 2nd Cup race to move to a Monday at Texas -- Matt Kenseth won the 2002 race.

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Texas tangle

Two champions racing hard for the same thing. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon will discuss it and move on. There's nothing more to it than that, they insist. It just goes to show, as Dave Rodman points out, even the best can get frustrated.

Texas: Results | Standings | Video: 24, 48 make contact
http://www.nascar.com/video/cup/2010...car/index.html



Who has more of a reason to be upset at the other person after Texas?
#24 Jeff Gordon --- #48 Jimmie Johnson


Samsung Mobile 500 | Texas


Hamlin holds off Johnson at Texas
Victory comes less than 2 weeks after having knee surgery.


Stewart shoulders blame for crash
Late-race incident took out lap-leader Gordon among 9 cars total.

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Busch rolls to 5th win in row at Texas
Matches Nationwide record for consecutive victories at one track.


Busch, JGR thinking about title defense
After winning race at Texas, JGR rethinking plans for No. 18.


Final Laps: Busch cruises to victory
Pulled away from teammate Logano to continue hot streak in Nationwide Series.


Results - Texas
POS. DRIVER
1 Kyle Busch
2 Joey Logano
3 Reed Sorenson
4 Brad Keselowski
5 Kevin Harvick

Standings as of: Texas
POS. DRIVER
1 Kyle Busch
2 Brad Keselowski
3 Kevin Harvick
4 Justin Allgaier
5 Carl Edwards

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Every week, Junior takes out his Magic 8 Ball, shakes it, flips it over and it says, "Reply Hazy, Try Again Later." Maybe he should switch to a Magic 88 Ball.



Junior working his way to the front
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finding consistency in 2010 according to data.

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Kevin Harvick
First, Kasey Kahne winds up in the ride Kevin wouldn't have minded having. Then Kurt Busch takes his sponsor. And you wonder why they call the guy "Happy."



Jeff Burton
Would you like sprinkles with that?: This might not be a good week for the person behind the counter at Dairy Queen to ask Jeff if he wants it in a cup or a cone.

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Tony Stewart
For this year's Prelude to a Dream, Tony is inviting the winner of the Indy 500 to Eldora.
I'm old enough to remember when that worked the other way around.