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 record field of 28 Sprint Cup cars will start Saturday’s NASCAR Budweiser Shootout, with a new format for the nonpoints race that favors car manufacturers over pole winners.

The made-for-TV race that began 31 years ago is the unofficial opener for the Sprint Cup series at Daytona International Speedway. In the past, the race honored the previous year’s pole winners and former winners of the Shootout.

NASCAR changed the format after Coors replaced Budweiser as sponsor of the Cup pole award before last season. Budweiser wanted to continue sponsoring the Shootout, and the tie-in to pole winners no longer was a good fit…  More info

To Jimmie Johnson, the elimination of preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway means the 2009 season should begin much the same way the ’08 season ended. Considering last season concluded with his third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, that’s fine with Johnson.

“I think the start of the season, you’ll see the usual suspects up front,” said Johnson, whose quest for four in a row begins today with the opening of practice for the Feb. 15 Daytona 500. “It’s going to be more difficult for teams to close that gap without being able to go test.”  …  More info

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The Rahal Letterman Racing team says it is making a last-ditch effort to find a sponsor so it can compete in the 2009 IndyCar Series.

Team co-owner Bobby Rahal said Thursday the situation looks “pretty grim” but he remains hopeful the reeling economy won’t prevent his cars from running…  More info

Sarah Fisher has another sponsorship for this season.

The Indy Racing League fan favorite announced Friday that IUPUI, a local college, is back on board for 2009.

Details of the deal were not immediately available, but IUPUI wants to use the racing series as a platform to promote the school’s four-year motorsports engineering program.

“We see this sponsorship as an investment in opportunity for our students, and Sarah couldn’t be a better role model as she was once a student here at IUPUI,” said Oner Yurtseven, dean of IUPUI’s school of engineering and technology.

It’s the second deal Fisher has announced since mid-January…  More info


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