DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Tony Stewart will start from a familiar spot Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.

The Sprint Cup point leader was awarded the pole for the Coke Zero 400 when rain washed out qualifying Friday.

It was Stewart's third pole in the past five races — all in rainouts. He also started up front at Pocono last month and New Hampshire last week.

Jenna Fryer, Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Brian France defended NASCAR's drug testing policy as the toughest in professional sports, despite a federal judge's ruling that overturned driver Jeremy Mayfield's suspension.

Mayfield was indefinitely suspended May 9 for what NASCAR said was a positive test for methamphetamines. He sued to be reinstated, and a federal judge issued an injunction Wednesday that allowed Mayfield to race this weekend based on Mayfield's argument that NASCAR's testing system is flawed.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Clint Bowyer's first victory of the season gave Richard Childress Racing a much-needed boost.

Bowyer won the Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Friday night, holding off Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards in a green-white-checkered finish.

"These guys never give up, the guys at RCR and the ladies," Childress said. "They just dig and dig. We've been a little bit off, and when you get a little bit off, everybody wants to kind of kick you. We just take that lick and come on back."

Scenedaily

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR drivers wondered aloud how Jeremy Mayfield won an injunction to return to the sport following his positive drug test result, but most stopped short of saying they feared for their safety Thursday during interviews from Daytona International Speedway.
 
Drivers also revealed that NASCAR has since enhanced its testing procedure since Mayfield’s suspension was announced in early May.

David Newton, ESPN.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR officials on Thursday questioned the motive behind Jeremy Mayfield seeking a temporary injunction so he could compete this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.

On Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C., Mayfield was granted the injunction by a federal judge, lifting an indefinite suspension handed down May 9 for failing NASCAR's substance-abuse policy.

By Mike Cranston, Associated Press

Stock car racing giants ranging from Bill France Sr. and Junior Johnson to Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt are among the 25 nominees for NASCAR's first Hall of Fame class.

The announcement Thursday night comes 10 months before the Hall of Fame's scheduled opening in downtown Charlotte. An inaugural class of five will be chosen from the group that includes the bootleggers who helped create the sport to the drivers, owners and officials who made it popular.

Jim Litke, Associated Press

When NASCAR people talked about the need for speed, methamphetamines weren't part of the conversation.

Suddenly, they're talking about little else.

What ignited all the talk was driver Jeremy Mayfield's come-from-behind win earlier this week in what promises to be a long and grueling legal race. Fair or not, the only way Mayfield wins - let alone makes it to the end - is if he turns out to a better plaintiff than driver.

ATLANTA -- Play-by-play announcer Bill Weber will not call the last two races of TNT's NASCAR coverage.

Weber wasn't in the booth for last weekend's race from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. TNT said Wednesday that Ralph Sheheen will again take his spot, working The Coke Zero 400 in Daytona and the LifeLock.com 400 from Chicagoland.

TNT did not give a reason for Weber's absence. In a statement Sunday about the New Hampshire race, the network said: "As this is a private issue, it's the policy of the company not to discuss personal matters involving our employees."

http://www.thestate.com/sports/story/849164.html

By Mike Cranston, The Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Two months after a positive drug test for methamphetamines, Jeremy Mayfield is getting ready to return to NASCAR.

U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen on Wednesday issued a temporary injunction to allow the driver to get back behind the wheel at Daytona International Speedway this weekend.

"This is huge for us," Mayfield said. "This means more to me probably than any race I've ever won or anything."

Tim Tuttle, SI.com

NASCAR's Hall of Fame will begin the process of selecting its inaugural five inductees Thursday when 25 nominees are unveiled. It will be prestigious to make the list, virtually a guarantee of future membership, and it will be interesting to see who doesn't make the cut -- those forgotten by the passage of time.

It's vital that the 21-member nominating committee honor those who built what is now the Sprint Cup Series from its first season in 1949. If the Red Byrons and Herb Thomases aren't there now, they'll probably need to form an Old Timer's Committee to make sure deserving people make the Hall. Maybe Byron and Thomas will never make it, but they deserve to be nominated. In the absence of criteria being produced for nomination, the committee shouldn't consider active drivers. There's plenty of years ahead to install Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. It would leave more room for those from the formative years, those who did the heavy lifting.

Bob Pockrass, Scenedaily

In a brief filed in U.S. District Court on Monday night, NASCAR contends that a test of Jeremy Mayfield’s urine samples at a second laboratory proved that the suspended owner/driver had an illegal drug in his system.

Mayfield and NASCAR are scheduled to be in U.S. District Court in Charlotte on Wednesday for the hearing on Mayfield's request for an injunction seeking to stop the sanctioning body from suspending him until the driver's suit can be heard by the court. NASCAR filed its brief Monday night in response to Mayfield’s brief in support of the injunction request filed Thursday.

By Nate Ryan, USA TODAY

Whether it was the lap he pitted a final time or the moment rain started falling, Joey Logano's inaugural Sprint Cup victory Sunday was all a matter of timing.

And the starting time might have played the most critical role in making Logano, 19, the youngest winner ever on NASCAR's premier circuit.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR filed court documents Monday night that show an independent laboratory found an illegal substance in the urine sample that led to Jeremy Mayfield's suspension for a failed drug test.

The documents, part of NASCAR's response to Mayfield's lawsuit to have his indefinite suspension lifted, show that Medtox Laboratories in Minnesota tested both his "A'' and backup "B'' samples last week and "confirmed the presence" of a substance that is blacked out in the filing.

Bob Pockrass, Scenedaily.com

LOUDON, N.H. – Earnhardt Ganassi Racing President Steve Lauletta said no matter what happens with Martin Truex Jr., he expects Bass Pro Shops will remain with the organization for 2010.

Truex, who drives for EGR, is expected to be announced as the 2010 full-time replacement for Michael Waltrip at Michael Waltrip Racing on July 7.

By MIKE HARRIS, AP Auto Racing Writer

LOUDON, N.H. -- There were questions about the judgment of team owner Joe Gibbs when he decided to replace departing two-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart with a 19-year-old rookie this season.

Even a rookie considered a phenom.

The former NFL coach, head of Joe Gibbs Racing, admitted Sunday he tried not to put too many expectations on the talented, but woefully inexperienced Joey Logano.