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."

NASCAR nascar, nextel cup series, kentucky speedway, bruton smith

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!!!”

NASCAR, NBA miami heat, cleveland cavaliers, cleveland, miami heat, lebron james, dan gilbert

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

NASCAR aaron's 312, talladega crash, nascar crash

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

NASCAR brad keselowski, carl edwards, nascar punishment

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

NASCAR nascar, jamie mcmurray, dale earnhardt jr, daytona 500, 2010 daytona 500, pothole daytona

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.

NASCAR daytona 500. moving daytona 500, making sense of daytona 500

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

NASCAR daytona 500, greatest daytona 500 moments, dale earnhardt sr., lists

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.

College Football, College Hoops, NASCAR, NBA ncaa tournament expansion

The gleaming Ford 400 trophy belonged to Denny Hamlin.

But the night, the 36-week season and a place among the immortals belong to Jimmie Johnson.

With the weight of history pressing down, Johnson placed fifth in the season-ending Sprint Cup Series race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday to easily secure his unprecedented fourth consecutive season championship.

"The fact that no one has done this puts me near the top," conceded Johnson, who is not one for hyperbole. "I love and respect the sport, and so to look at that and do something that has never been done in the sport before is so, so amazing.

"I've worked my entire life to get to this position," Johnson added. "It's not like we backed into this. We've gone out and worked really, really hard. It's rewarding to have that payoff."

FINAL STANDINGS

NASCAR nextel cup series, jimmie johnson, ford 400

Jimmie Johnson will go for an unprecedented fourth straight Cup championship from the pole position after qualifying up front Friday to secure the top starting spot in today's season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Johnson needs to finish in 25th place or better to secure a record-setting title. Johnson ran a lap at 173.919 mph to start up front, while Scott Speed took advantage of his late draw and qualified second with a lap of 172.695 mph after being the last driver to qualify.

Johnson enters the Ford 400 with a 108-point lead over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin, who is mathematically still in the Chase for the Cup but would have to lead the most laps and win to have a puncher's chance of claiming the title. Martin is the only other Chase driver that has the chance to overtake his teammate for the title.Johnson is clearly in control of his own destiny, all the defending champ has to do is drive up front part of the race and be among the upper half of finishing drivers in today's race.

Marcos Ambrose qualified in the third spot, posting a lap at 172.678 followed by Martin in fourth. Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Bill Elliott, and Clint Bowyer round out the top 10 qualifying positions.

Johnson signed a contract extension on Friday with Hendrick to drive through the 2015 season, a few days before he competes for his fourth-consecutive championship. Lowe's, the home improvement chain and Johnson's primary car sponsor, also signed an extension with Hendrick to be Johnson's sponsor on the No. 48 Chevrolet through the 2013 season.

Crew chief Chad Knaus will most likely be next to sign an extension with HMS, as talks have begun to stay in line with Johnson's contract. Knaus and Johnson have been paired up since Johnson's rookie year in 2002, and his current contract runs through the 2010 season.

NASCAR jimmie johnson, mark martin, nextel cup series

Jimmie Johnson put himself in a good position to get his first road course victory after he picked up the pole position for Sunday's Heluva Good at the Glen Cup race.  Johnson put in a lap of 123.633 mph on Friday at the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International, beating out Kurt Busch for the top spot by .008 seconds.

The final road race of the season should be a good barometer to see which drivers can emerge to challenge series points leader Tony Stewart in the five races leading up to the Chase. Denny Hamlin, winner of last weekend's race at Pocono, qualified third. Marcos Ambrose, who won last night's Nationwide Zippo 200 at The Glen, qualified fourth followed by Penske driver David Stremme. Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Boris Said, and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the top 10 positions. The weather conditions for today's race should make things interesting as rain supposed to wet the track early on. How the teams react to the changing weather on the track and which does the best to adjust to the more slippery conditions will determine which drivers will stay up front.

TOP PICKS
Tony Stewart: Though the series points leader starts 13th on a day where passing will be difficult, Stewart has four wins at Watkins Glen in his Cup career and has either won or finished second the past five races at the road course. Points leader or not, Stewart will be up front for at least part of today and always has a great shot at winning a road race.

Jimmie Johnson: The three-time Cup champion has never won on a road course in his career, but not for lack of trying. Johnson has three top-five finishes at The Glen and hasn't started from outside the top-10 since 2003. Today will be Johnson's best shot at snapping his road course slump, should he be able to stay up front.

Denny Hamlin: Hamlin's remarkable win at Pocono after the death of his grandmother, certainly has him poised to take the next step on his way towards the Chase and possibly move up a spot today. Hamlin has a top five and three top-10's at The Glen and also has never started outside the top-10 after qualifying. If he races with the same fire that he did at Pocono last week, Hamlin will be hard to stop.

SLEEPERS
Juan Pablo Montoya: After his second-place finish at Pocono, Montoya has a chance at back-to-back top-fives as he starts 10th today. Montoya has won on a road course before, Infineon in '07, and finished fourth in last season's race at The Glen. A win or a top-five today would solidify Montoya as a rising contender going into the final four races before the Chase.

Marcos Ambrose: Saturday's Nationwide race winner has a chance of winning the Cup race after qualifying fourth. Ambrose has a top-three at The Glen in Cup competition after finishing third at last year's race. He has won the Nationwide race two years running and looks to become the second driver this season to sweep both races in one weekend.

Kyle Busch: Busch, the '08 Watkins Glen winner, has tumbled to 13th in points since his seventh-place finish at Loudon in June. Busch does have three top-10 finishes at The Glen in his career, all in the past three seasons. A win would put the struggling driver back in the thick of the Chase and boost his chances of making the 10 race playoff.

NO CHANCE
Matt Kenseth: This is the one day where Kenseth will start from the back of the pack at 42nd and be unable to pass all the way to the front. Passing will be too difficult even for the former Cup champion. Kenseth's last top-10 finish at The Glen was a ninth-place run in 2004.

Joey Logano: Logano has had a great rookie season thus far posting his first win at the rain-shortened Loudon race and currently residing 19th in the Cup standings. But Logano is still too young to even think of competing in a road race. And after his run-in with Robby Gordon during the Nationwide race, he will need to mature a little more at places like The Glen and learn to stay away from wreck-magnet Gordon. Logano will start 35th.

Robby Gordon: Gordon gave away a top-five finish in yesterday's Nationwide race just to run Logano off the road. Maybe that makes sense to the seasoned Cup veteran, but that makes zero sense to me. Gordon showed his arrogance once again on the track, which will translate into more Cup futility. Gordon starts 22nd.

NASCAR jimmie johnson, heluva good at the glen, tony stewart, denny hamlin, juan pablo montoya, marcos ambrose, kyle busch

Juan Montoya who lost the Brickyard 400 yesterday due to being 0.06 mph and 0.11 mph over the speed limit coming down pit road.

You have got to be kidding me!  Like there is a radar that can accurately measure that deviation.  Scientifically you can't validate that speed on just one point.

I think Montoya should file a suit against NASCAR based on the grounds of racism and that they didn't want to see a non caucasian win the event.

He should be on the phone to Obama right now.  I mean if Obama can weigh in on a professor and police incident surely he can weigh in on this matter.

Montoya was crushing the field yesterday and no-one was going to catch him.  NASCAR had to do something.

NASCAR brickyard 400, juan montoya

Not necessarily being the most dominant driver at Martinsville didn't stop Jimmie Johnson from winning at the short track for the fifth time in the past six Cup races there. Johnson took the lead from Denny Hamlin, who led a race-high 296 laps, with 15 laps remaining on an aggressive pass on Lap 485 and held on to win the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500.

Johnson and Hamlin battled hard towards the end with the Hendrick driver winning by a .774 second margin. The victory was the 41st win of Johnson's career and his first of the season. He now has totaled six of those wins at Martinsville, quickly becoming one of Johnson's best tracks. Owner Rick Hendrick has 18 wins there, including this latest one on the 25th anniversary of his first win as a car owner.

Tony Stewart finished third followed by Johnson teammate and series points leader Jeff Gordon in fourth, with Clint Bowyer following suit in fifth place. Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., A.J. Allmendinger, and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top 10.

Hamlin had wrested the lead from Johnson with a bold move to the inside on a Lap 456 restart. Johnson trailed Hamlin through two short green-flag runs and two cautions before Johnson saw his opportunity seven laps after a restart on Lap 478. Entering Turn 3 on Lap 485, Johnson nosed beneath Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota. Hamlin squeezed Johnson to the inside and the No. 48 Chevy bounced off the inside curb. Johnson slid up the track, and contact between the two lead cars allowed Johnson to pass for the lead.

Though for many of the race's laps the race was a two-man show that didn't involve Johnson. Gordon led 141 of the first 155 laps before Hamlin slipped into the inside of Gordon at Turn 4 of Lap 156 and held the top spot for 187 laps until Gordon passed him on Lap 343. Six laps later Hamlin would again have the lead before dealing with the points leader again. After holding of Gordon, Hamlin would have to try and hold off the hard-charging Johson, who got the lead on Lap 434 after coming out first from pit row. Hamlin dived to the inside of Johnson on Lap 456, which was helped by Kyle Busch's car which was one lap down and the first lapped car on the inside lane. Busch gave Hamlin enough room to pass Johnson on the inside corner.

Six of the top eight positions belonged to Hendrick cars(Gordon, Johnson, Martin, and Earnhardt.)

The Busch brothers were unable to keep their streak of wins going beyond three races and were non-factors at a short track race, which is rare indeed. Kurt started second but steadily fell and finished 18th, while Kyle had a tire issue which caused him to end up 24th at the finish.

Gordon extended his lead in the points standings to 89 over second-place Bowyer and 132 over Kurt Busch.

Geoffrey Bodine won the 1984 Sovran Bank 500 at Martinsville, which was the first of many Cup victories to come for Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson's win was the 176th of Hendrick's career.

NASCAR martinsville, jimmy johnson, denny hamlin, tony stewart, jeff gordon, clint bowyer, ryan newman, mark martin, dale earnhardt jr, aj allmedinger, jamie mcmurray, kyle busch, kurt busch, geoffrey bodine

Ryan Newman has been said to be the rumored second driver for Tony Stewart's new race team for next season. Stewart has yet to confirm Newman as the prime candidate for his second car, but Newman himself confirmed that he is in the running for the spot before the LifeLock.com Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway two weeks ago.

Newman announced to NASCAR.com's David Caraviello that "driving for Tony's team is an option." He went on to comment on Stewart: "Tony's a great competitor in a great many ways, because he's tough, but he's also respectful," said Newman, like Stewart a native of Indiana. "He's been a good friend on and off the racetrack, specifically off. He's done a lot to help me and guide me. He's an Indiana boy, so I have a different respect for him because of that. But in general, he's just a hard-nosed racer, and I've always appreciated him for that. Whether we argue on the racetrack or not, we're two hard-nosed racers."

Stewart is leaving his long-held seat at Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of this season to become an owner-driver with the newly formed Stewart-Haas race team. The two-time Cup champion will own half the race team, which will start as a two-car operation in 2009. Now that Newman will no longer be affiliated with Penske Racing after this season, the driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge and the organization decided to part ways before the Chicagoland race, his name has shot to the top of possible candidates who could join Stewart in his new team. There has been speculation that Stewart would name Newman as his second driver in a press conference as soon as Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The only announcement from Stewart is that he's going to drive the No. 14 car with Office Depot and Old Spice gracing his hoods.

Newman hasn't made his mind up according to sources close to the situation. Joe Gibbs Racing has an opening with Stewart leaving and could sway this year's Daytona 500 winner. Nationwide Series phenom Joey Logano has also been linked with the No. 20. Though it remains to be seen if that was to happen with Newman in a new team or if Newman would jump in the 20 car with Logano in a fourth team for JGR.

Stewart wants a driver not content with running in the top 15 to 20 positions in points and he wants to be able to mesh with that driver. Both drivers want to contend for championships and want to be put in a position to do so. Newman has not made the Chase since 2005 and would like to get back there soon. He comes to Indianapolis ranked 16th in the points and looking to move up.

Newman wants to do way better and be more consistent on the track than he is right now. If Stewart's team is the right fit then so be it, but Newman is going to be a hot commodity as a free agent since Greg Biffle went off the market after re-signing with Roush Fenway Racing for another three seasons. This story will keep going until Newman announces where he's going so stay tuned. 

NASCAR ryan newman, joey logano, tony stewart, greg biffle

Alright, I'm not the biggest Danica Patrick fan in the world.  But I've seen the video now several times of her and fellow female driver Milka Duno's "confrontation" (I use that term loosely).  All I have to say is if this were real racing (i.e. NASCAR), Duno gets the beat-down of her life.

Other than the fact that Patrick has a history of getting upset, I don't understand the flack she's taking here.  If you know anything about racing, you take one look at the video and you can immediately tell that Patrick is in the right.  Danica pulled up on her, not once, but twice because she had the obviously faster car.  Duno went into the corners and turned down on Patrick.  It's a technique known in racing as "blocking".  And it usually pisses off even the best-of-the-best of drivers.  But in this case, Danica was nice enough to back off the first time it happened in order to keep from wrecking them both.

The second time it occured is when Patrick became angry.  And even when Danica finally made the pass, Duno drove down on her a third time and almost clipped her back wheels.  To compound matters, and what's most egregious, this was PRACTICE!  To borrow our good friend Allen Iverson for a second, "Practice?  You're talking about practice?  Not a game.  But practice?"

That's right Allen, we are talking 'bout practice in this case. 

On top of everything, Danica never even raised her voice when she went to Duno's pits to talk to her, unitl Duno threw a towel in her face.   If that's NASCAR, somebody gets her ass beat right then and there.  And I don't mean Danica.

So to recap:  Duno tries to block Danica, not once, not twice, but three freaking times, in PRACTICE, then throws a towel in Danica's face when confronted about the "bush league" tactic, and Danica comes out the bad guy (or girl, whatever)?  I don't think so.

Just For Fun, NASCAR danica patrick, milka duno