It's hard to believe it has been 10 years since NASCAR lost its king:

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ESPN's NASCAR reporter Jamie Little is worth watching...

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Here's the official press release:

Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) Chairman and CEO Bruton Smith announced today that Kentucky Speedway will play host to its inaugural 400-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Saturday, July 9, 2011.

"The passionate NASCAR fans throughout Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati have deserved a Sprint Cup Race for a long time. Before this, racing in Kentucky was about horses, but now it's all about more horsepower. We're going to create the grandest sports event in the history of the state in 2011, and any fan that comes here will know what it means to be 'Lucky in Kentucky,'"Smith said.

The Sparta, Ky., venue will become the 23rd motorsports facility on the 36-race Sprint Cup Series schedule and the first facility to be added to the national tour since Chicagoland Speedway made its debut July 15, 2001 and Kansas Speedway staged its first series race on Sept. 29, 2001.

Kentucky Speedway will be the eighth SMI facility to welcome the premier American stock car racing series which features former Kentucky Speedway NASCAR Nationwide Series 300-mile race winners Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch along with four-time series champions Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

"I am thrilled that all the hard work of my administration to bring a NASCAR Sprint Cup race to Kentucky has finally paid off," Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear said. "The legislation we proposed, pushed and I signed amending our Tourism Development Act to attract legacy expansion projects to Kentucky was critical in bringing this race to Kentucky. In addition to the excitement this race will bring to race fans, it will have an unparalleled economic impact on the region."

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LeBron James made it official on Thursday, announcing he would join Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. The superstar made his decision known to the world during a one-hour television special on ESPN that drew big ratings.

Instantly, the Cavaliers went from being perennial Eastern Conference contenders to just another team in the also-rans.

Within minutes shots of people in Cleveland reacting to the news filled the air waves and in typical Cleveland fashion what unfolded was embarrassing, but not surprising.

The same people that dressed up like Dawgs and barked at football games…or at least they used to when they actually HAD a team, were now starting bomb fires with LeBron James jerseys.

James, an Akron native, went from penthouse to outhouse in a matter of seconds in the Mistake By the Lake as he shunned his hometown for the sunny beaches of South Miami.

Nobody took it harder in Cleveland than team owner Dan Gilbert, who took the city to an entirely different level of stupidity and ignorance with his letter to Lebron he sent out in a press release.

Here are just some of the snippets from the open letter:

“You simply don't deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.

You have given so much and deserve so much more.

In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight:

I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE

You can take it to the bank. “

***
Here’s my open message to Lebron:  “YOU DON’T LIVE IN CLEVELAND, YOU LIVE IN MIAMI!!!”

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This week's Aaron's 312 at Talledega features some must-see crashes:

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How in the world did NASCAR only issue a 3-race probration to Carl Edwards for this?

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Sunday saw Jamie McMurray win the longest Daytona 500 in history as he edged out Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the first race of the 2010 Nextel Cup Series.

A gaping hole in track’s surface caused two delays that led the race to lasting nearly six hours. Heavy rains and cold temperatures in this week no doubt had a hand in causing the holes. The track has not been paved in 1978 and isn’t set to be repaved until 2012. They may want to reconsider.

McMurray got his first win in the race, becoming the ninth different winner in the last nine tries and the 34th driver overall in the 52-year history of the race. He led only two laps, which is the least amount by a Daytona 500 winner.

UNOFFICIAL ORDER OF FINISH

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The Daytona 500 is set for Sunday as the official kick start to the NASCAR season. It is easily the biggest race on the schedule, despite not being worth as many points as the last 10 races of the year known as the Chase.

Still, it has never made sense to me to have you sports’ biggest event, in this case the Daytona 500, held at the beginning of the season. Could you imagine the Super Bowl being played in September or the World Series in April? I’ll tell you what, why not play March Madness in October?

While the Chase for the Cup is likely the best route to go and clearly it’s tough to compare the other sports that have playoff formats, I still think they should move the Daytona 500 to the end of the schedule.

One of the things that football and baseball don't do well is you have that preseason junk. Not many people watch preseason and then you go from preseason into games that count. It's like it's no real big deal. In NASCAR the Daytona 500 is in your face right off the bat. I think that has an appealing factor. It doesn’t matter that it doesn’t make sense to me, but I still enjoy it.

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from About.com...

The Great American Race has had some moments in its history that have helped define the sport. Photo finishes, fights and huge underdog winners have highlighted the history of this classic race. Here are the top ten greatest moments in Daytona 500 history.

4. 2001 - A Dark Day
Not a "great" moment, but certainly momentous. This race changed the future of the sport forever as NASCAR lost its greatest driver of all time when Dale Earnhardt Sr. lost his life in turn four of the last lap. This event made international headlines bringing NASCAR in focus in a way that it never had been before. NASCAR took the opportunity to make significant safety changes that have saved lives since. That renewed focus on safety continues to this day.

COMPLETE LIST

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Lance McAlister brought a good point on his blog regarding the potential expansion of the NCAA Tournament from 65 to 96. As you see most leagues place a much larger percentage of their teams into the tournament.

NCAA football: 68 of 119 play in bowl games, 57%
NBA: 16 of 30, 53.3%
NFL: 12 of 32, 37.5%
MLB: 8 of 30, 26.6%
NCAA basketball: 65 of 347, 18.7%
NCAA basketball (if expanded to 96): 96 of 347, 27.6%

One good thing an expansion would do is eliminate the play in game. Or would it create another 16 freaking play-in games.

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