That win came at the Auto Club 500, the second points race of the season which was held at the California Speedway. Matt Kenseth driving his Number 17 Ford Fusion won the race for Roush Fenway Racing. After that win though, it was all Chevrolet and it seems that Ford as well as Dodge and Toyota are being totally dominated by Chevrolet teams.

During the past four races though it seems that Ford’s luck is changing as they have won two out of the four races. Dodge has one win and Chevrolet has one. Jamie McMurray recorded Ford’s third win of the season at the Pepsi 400. Aside from winning the race, five Ford drivers made it to the top twelve which means that Ford is slowly gaining on Chevrolet teams.

All three Ford wins are from teams owned by Roush Fenway Racing. Team owner Jack Roush says that the team has underperformed at the start of the season since they have misjudged the amount of time that their competitors are going to spend on testing their vehicles. NASCAR is currently studying whether their testing policies are still being observed and ensures fairness among teams.

The next race of the season will be the USG Sheetrock 400 which will be held at the Chicagoland Speedway. Going into the nineteenth race of the season slated for Sunday, Ford is finally looking as a tough competitor to the Chevrolets fielded by competing teams. Although sharing the same body structure to ensure fairness, the performance of Ford and Chevrolet NASCAR cars vary due to their setup and whatnot. The revitalized Ford teams are now fielding cars which can outrun a Ford hubcap-equipped road bound Ford Fusion.

“The big thing that has helped us with the Car of Tomorrow is we now have a test team,” said Roush explaining their recent resurgence. “We are doing the things I thought we weren’t going to be allowed to do when NASCAR told us we couldn’t take tires from the racetrack because they didn’t want us to test. I thought they would put teeth in that, but they didn’t.”

“We got behind. But five weeks ago I hired six people and dedicated a tractor-trailer (for testing). We’ve been to Iowa, Milwaukee four times in the last month, and Road Atlanta and VIR (Virginia International Raceway).”

The three wins posted by Roush Fenway Racing came at races where the current template for cars is used. But in order for them to be a real threat to Chevrolet teams, they have to perform well at Car of Tomorrow (CoT) races. The CoT template will be the only template that will be used for the next season and Ford is still working on improving their CoT.

“We’re not caught up yet,” said Roush pertaining to the CoT. “But we’re certainly on the path, and we’ll be heard from more before the year is over.”

In Formula One, Montoya cemented his reputation as one of the most aggressive professional race car drivers today. While his skills combined with his unique style made him one of the most talented drivers today, he seems to be having trouble making friends in NASCAR as his aggressive style of driving seems to be rubbing his fellow NASCAR drivers the wrong way.

While NASCAR racing is more aggressive than Formula One, there is a limit to one?s aggressiveness on the tracks. And that is what Montoya is still trying to find out. Currently, the Colombian driver has already wreaked havoc on his fellow drivers with the season just starting. In Mexico, Montoya accidentally forced his teammate, Scott Pruett, off the road at the road race in the Busch Series. The road race saw Montoya securing his first win in the new field that he has entered. He has also reportedly ?annoyed? Jeff Gordon in Atlanta. Montoya also ran into Ryan Newman and Tony Raines at Martinsville. Aside from those incidents, Juan Pablo Montoya also managed to annoy two-time Nextel Cup Champion Tony Stewart as he tangles with him at the recently concluded Samsung 500 which happened in Texas.

In response to the criticism that he receives over his aggressive driving, Montoya has this to say: ?I don’t think Chip (Ganassi) hired me to run 20th every weekend, and I didn’t come here to run 20th every weekend. Is (contact) going to happen? Yeah, it’s going to happen a lot of weekends, but our aim is to run up front.? He added that: ?I think anybody that’s seen me race knows that I’m not going to back down.?

In the recent incident involving Montoya and a fellow driver, it seems that the ?rookie? will be having a hard time adjusting to the sport. Stewart, the latest victim of Montoya?s aggressive driving style, has this to say: ?If you race people with respect, you get respect. You might want to be just a little bit more patient just long enough to learn how everything’s done over here.? NASCAR aficionados have even compared Montoya?s aggressive driving to the skills of NASCAR legends like the late Dale Earnhardt Sr.

The common thinking is that aggressive drivers can have good success in the sport but they have to make sure that their aggressiveness is channeled so that it comes as not to be counter-productive.

Montoya?s start tote season is quite respectable. Being from Formula One, it is expected of him to eventually win in the NASACR races. Currently, the aggressive driving Colombian posted a win at the Busch Series and has already managed to get a couple of top ten finishes in the Nextel Cup. In Texas, the former CART champion managed an eighth place finish. He is driving a Dodge which is yet to win a race at the Nextel Cup. Currently, Dodge, Ford, and Toyota, are being dominated by Chevy at the Nextel Cup series. Equipped with for-race engineered engines which leaves far behind the performance of on-road Chevy vehicles equipped with the Chevy cold air intake system.

While Montoya is yet to show his true worth in NASCAR, drivers in the sport agrees that Montoya has got the talent to be come successful in the motorsport. Even Stewart said that Montoya is the most talented driver in his team. Although admitting Montoya?s flair for the game, Stewart added that: ?He didn’t make friends with me [at Texas], so he won’t get any help from me in the future.?

Most of the changes in Nascar racing have occurred over time and have been directly related to the high-speed pursuits around million dollar raceways. Some of those changes have been painful ones but the Nascar family has remained strong through each of them. Some of the most violent experiences that occasionally occur at a raceway will no doubt cause some people to rethink their past relationships with sponsors, owners, and family.

The cascading effects of those thoughts might lead drivers to other action and cause them to change their driving commitments and their relationship with the world of Nascar excitement. These changes will in turn, put them on a new career path that is a welcome change but a change that might not be a delight to all fans who do not have a full understanding on why those changes needed to happen.

Some of these changes are due to a repositioning of priorities by a team owner or the change might occur because a driver needs to take a step back and rethink things long enough to begin establishing a new view on self-worth and on the view that commitment to self should take precedence and priority over family persuasion and other control factors. No changes that occur in Nascar should directly impact the drivers ability to keep the commitments that are expected by fans. Fans expect their favorite drivers to give their all to win the race they are in, no matter what team they are driving for that year.

Some changes in Nascar racing can keep that from happening though. In an instant, enthusiasts may have more action than they bargained for when they must see the gut wrenching tragedies unfold in front of them. These tragedies can change people in an instant because the action comes from race cars that inadvertently crash at inopportune moments into the various turns of any raceway. Other drivers are lost while they are enroute to the track.

Fare affected by the change and are committed to remembering those moments many times through the years with reverence. The commitment of fans to Nascar and their driver is what keeps changes from dampening the endearing spirit of the crowds. There is one change that will never occur. The fans will always be there on race day and every day after in some small way.

The worst injuries result in death and lately their have been numerous basal skull fractures received by drivers like Dale Earnhardt and Adam Petty. Doctors have determined that a helmet harness is a good protective measure to stop some of these injuries. A basal skull fracture can result fro a severe whipping forward motion and/or a sudden abrupt stop – as in Dale Earnhardt’s case. A basal skull fracture almost always results in immediate death. Another highly effective measure is shock or crash absorbing walls instead of steel reinforced concrete walls that have zero give – These could have spared Jerry Nadeau from his severe injuries or at least limited them. These walls are now being introduced and installed at several tracks.

NASCAR is over 50 years old. Why does it take a famous death or several to begin safety measures or to take them more seriously? Why is it that our own automobiles have air bags, side airbags, crumple zones, etc… Can’t these same devices be reconfigured for NASCAR specs. Air bags have been proven in tests to be highly effective at speeds well over 100 mph. NASCAR drivers deserve more protection than we are currently giving them. The problem is that more attention has been given to advertising, advertisers, and speed. Placement of advertisers stickers on the car were and still are more important than the driver. More money is spent to make sure the different advertisers have their brands clearly displayed on the driver and car than on any safety measures. Some safety measures are thought of as increasing too much weight and are therefor discarded (thicker firewalls, absorbant

Take any other sport – Football, Baseball, basketball – the athletes don’t have stickers, or patches with 50 different sponsors all over them. They are actually more concerned about athlete safety over advertising revenue in these sports, not in NASCAR, though. Yes, NASCAR is experiencing a huge winfall in earnings lately, but that cannot bring back the great legends like Dale Earnhardt. There is no problem with sport profits, but lets focus a little more on safety of our athletes. With all the money NASCAR has they should already be installing safety walls at all tracks, not just a few. Lets focus on safety rather than just on advertising dollars. That way we won’t be left praying for our drivers outcome after a crash anymore.

Now, it seems like everybody else is affected. Even the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, or much commonly known as NASCAR, have given approval for its arm, the NASCAR Performance Automotive Licensing Program, to join forces with the CCC, or the Car Care Council. Together, the two organizations has done brainstorming sessions and just recently launched a consumer education campaign which they dubbed as the “Be An Angel, Maintain Your Car And Save Some Gas”.

NASCAR and the CCC both maintain that this new campaign of theirs would also work as a call to action for all consumers. The campaign, in fact, even encourages car owners to maintain their vehicles regularly. This is because NASCAR and CCC believe that it is one of the best ways to achieve a better fuel mileage and in the process decreases expenses on gas.

A public service announcement that lasted for thirty seconds was produced by NASCAR. The organization is positing to run the mentioned announcement come the NASCAR programming which will actually launch and run throughout the whole month of July. Aside from this, all the local television stations scattered around the United States would also be receiving a copy of this public service announcement which they would have to run during their air time.

On the end of the Car Care Council, Rich White, its executive director, informs the public, “Higher gas prices are here to stay. But fortunately consumers can take greater control of how much gas their vehicles use by performing simple and inexpensive maintenance.”

NASCAR’s automotive licensing managing director, Odis Lloyd, explains, “The opportunity to help consumers with their car care needs has never been more significant. By using NASCAR’s extensive media assets and partnering with our manufacturing and installer partners, we can help consumers combat rising fuel costs by getting them the necessary vehicle repair information they need to get better fuel economy.”

For your vehicle maintenance, you can find the best Ford F150 Pickup parts and other Ford accessories at Ford Parts and Ford Auto Parts. This store supplies Ford owners with the best quality Ford parts at great discount costs.

Dewar, while working for GM in Brazil in the 1990s, has witnessed a successful transformation of an oil-reliant economy to ethanol. As such, he intends to see the same transformation happen in the United States. With that in mind, Dewar thinks that NASCAR can give a big hand hence he is lobbying the officials of the racing giant to shift from gasoline to ethanol.

?We would embrace it,? said Dewar, GM?s vice president of field sales, service and parts. ?We think it would be great on a lot of fronts, because obviously it would send a signal to the public. A lot of people don?t understand the benefits of ethanol.? Dewar added, ?Some research indicates certain kinds of grass and even wood chips might be better suited to making ethanol. Researchers also are working to develop enzymes that break down waste products into ethanol.?

A number of racing series have already shifted to renewable fuels. As a fact, the Indy Racing League?s IndyCar Series will race on 100 percent ethanol starting this season. Also, the LeMans Series confirmed that it will race on a 10 percent ethanol blend. Now, Dewar and other environmentalists in the industry believe that the NASCAR should also shift to alternative fuels to make the commitment more forceful.

Gasoline is about 20 percent more proficient than ethanol. Hence, if ethanol is more than 20 percent cheaper than gasoline, ethanol could be a good alternative, environment and economic-wise. Dewar was in Brazil in December and said that ethanol was 50 percent cheaper than gasoline in the said territory. In five years time, Dewar expects cars to literally run on renewable fuels. As auto parts like the Eagle cold air intake become more advanced, they should also not compromise environmental concerns.

?Without a doubt, I think we should look into it,? driver Jeff Burton said. ?Although our impact on environmental issues is probably very, very small from an actual use standpoint, from a marketing standpoint, we could have a major impact.?

Driver Kyle Petty said NASCAR?s marketing horsepower might drive alternative fuels into the mainstream for it is also helping consumers get over the image of hippies tinkering with their 1980s Mercedes to make them run on vegetable oil. ?I think once you start seeing alternative fuels show up in places like racing and places where you least expect them, then you don?t think about that guy with the Volkswagen van that runs off of whatever,? Petty said.

NASCAR is taking one step in the direction of environmental responsibility by getting the lead out and catching up with a change most consumers made in the 1980s by switching from leaded to unleaded fuel. Ramsey Poston, the spokesman of the racing giant, said their officials are willing to consider renewable fuels, too. ?In terms of looking at the next step, obviously we?re open to options,? Poston said.

NASCAR teams also would have to adjust their cars to run on ethanol, but Dewar said the switch would not be a ?major investment.? Dewar added it ultimately would be worth the hassle.

Petty believes the whole country will switch to renewable fuels at some point, so it makes sense for NASCAR and Sunoco, its official fuel supplier, to lead the way. ?You would like to think that they would take a leading role in it, especially through Sunoco?s involvement,? Petty added. ?Because I know Sunoco?s taken a huge step in that direction.?

Critics and enthusiasts alike believe that it is high time for NASCAR to think about going green. ?I think the global-warming thing, and all the things that are written about that, a lot more people are aware of the fact that we do need to do something,? Petty concluded.

The said championship series has captured the imagination of millions of Americans who are known for their attraction to speed contests. The United States is also undoubtedly the biggest market for automobiles in the world which is a reason for the love of automobiles shown by Americans. As popular as the Nextel Cup Series may be, there are still a large number of people who are still in the dark what this sport is about.

Basically, the Nextel Cup is a series of races where the best race car driver, as judged by the number of points received during the duration of the entire series of races is crowned as the champion. The motorsport can be traced back to the days when races are between ?strictly stock? cars or cars which have not been modified in any way. During those early days, one can bring a car to the tracks and race it.

Today though, the race cars used in the Nextel Cup Series are tailor made for racing. Although teams can tinker with their cars to make it better than the competition?s, NASCAR imposes rules to keep the cars equal. This year, four car brands have their vehicles racing at the series. These are Ford, Dodge, Toyota, and Chevrolet. The latter has been dominating the current series by winning nine of the last ten races.

While a NASCAR Nextel Cup race car can be modified for racing, they must have three stock parts from manufacturers. These three parts are the roof, the trunk lid, and the hood of the cars. Aside from these three parts, the chassis, the drive train, suspension, steering, and other systems can be modified to make the car so as to be suited to the demands of high speed operations. In fact, aftermarket parts such as the Pacesetter exhaust parts can be used by these race cars. While these systems can be tinkered with, NASCAR set some rules that each team must meet including the weight of the race car.

Currently, the weight set by NASCAR for race cars is 3,400 pounds. Another rule is that the distance between the front and rear wheels should also be uniform on all race cars which would compete in the Nextel Cup Series. The wheelbase of all race cars should be 100 inches. The fuel capacity of these race cars are also controlled by NASCAR. For most tracks, the mandated fuel capacity is 17.5 gallons. All race cars entering the contest should have the same fuel type which is 110 octane unleaded fuel as ruled by the sport?s sanctioning body. The cars? top speed also has a limit which is set at 235 miles per hour.

For a car to be permitted to race at the Nextel Cup Series, its engine should conform to the rules set by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing or NASCAR. For instance, electronic features are not permitted and instead, mechanical parts are used. This keeps the costs from ballooning for the benefit of teams competing in the races. Engines allowed to be used on race cars competing in the Nextel Cup Series should have eight cylinders with combustion chambers measuring 358 cubic inches. To keep the cars equal power output is set at a maximum of approximately 750 horsepower.

An interesting fact about these race cars is their headlights. Since these cars are raced only during the day, they do not need to have a pair of headlights. The actual headlights that we see in front of these cars are in fact decals which look realistic enough to fool the unknowing person. Another interesting fact about these race cars is that they have to meet a number of templates that NASCAR is using to make sure that the shape of the cars is almost uniform. The tires used on these cars have no tread on them which is the reason why the Jimmy Stewart 400 was postponed due to the rain that poured during the event. The absence of treads on the tires of these cars makes them impossible to race in wet tracks. The tire compound used on these cars? tire is harder than those used by other motorsport vehicles given the fact that these race cars significantly weigh more.

?I?m sure there?s politics everywhere,? Villeneuve told Journal Now. ?But it was hard to beat the high level of politics of Formula One. It?s extremely high, and most of the time it overshadows the sport. This is a shame. As long as you?re winning, it?s great. But as soon as you?re not winning, then the politics take over, and it does make racing not fun at all. So listening to what Juan Pablo is saying, it sounds like NASCAR is where racing should be.?

After a couple of days testing at Chicagoland Speedway, Villeneuve called it all ?very exciting, because it?s very different than anything I?ve done before.? He also adds, ?When I was talking with other European drivers in F1, they were dumbfounded when I was telling them about ovals. They would call me mad wanting to drive ovals.?

Villeneuve, 36, said that he has been looking at NASCAR since around 2004, ?when I took a year off from F1. But at the time I knew I wanted to go back to F1, so I didn?t look at it that seriously. But I need to do something in racing at an extremely high level, which NASCAR is? but something different. And it sounded like a great challenge. I really wanted to get into it. NASCAR is becoming stronger and stronger every year (in appeal). It?s getting everybody?s attention, even internationally.?

The transition arrives in high-speed. ?It happened really fast, this contact with Bill Davis,? Villeneuve said. ?Everybody seems to be excited and open minded and wants to give it a go. So it happened really fast. Just had to fly in, make a seat and come testing. Why Bill Davis? Look at Truck racing – they?re leading the championship. So that is the best place to start to get mileage and to get used to running at those speeds in traffic.?

Mike Mulhern, a Journal reporter, wrote that Montoya?s aggressiveness has been an issue, though perhaps only because he is now a threat to win, since whipping the field at Sonoma. Asked about his take, Villeneuve responded: ?Apparently no matter what you?re driving, nobody likes the new boy,? he said. ?Any time anybody got into F1, we didn?t like it, and we made their life hard. But he was like that in Formula One, extremely aggressive. And got on people?s nerves. I guess he?s kept the same personality in NASCAR. Once he settles in, it will be all right.?

?He?s driving hard, he?s fast, and he?s making a name for himself. Now he?s earning respect, so that?s fine. But I?ve never been as aggressive as him, I would say. At the same time, NASCAR is a different ballgame. So if and when I get in there, I?ll figure it out,? he added.

Monday’s test session at Chicagoland Speedway, as reported by NASCAR?s Official Web site, was an eye-opener for the veteran Davis crew chief Slugger Labbe. “He’s not intimidated by nothing and he adapted really well, real quick – and he understands it. We haven’t done important things like running in traffic and doing pit stops, but right now, he’s pretty impressive,” Labbe noted.

Watchers in the industry are looking forward to see Villenueve compete with the teams sponsored by manufacturers of the Chevrolet pickup valve cover, Dodge radiators, and Ford engines.

NASCAR also went to great lengths and is supervising the installation of soft walls around tracks. Most of all, the sanctioning body has worked on the development of a universal body template for all cars competing in the NASCAR races. The template is used to ensure equality among cars and to promote safety. The race car is called the Car of Tomorrow or CoT and it is designed primarily for the safety of drivers.

The original plan for the CoT is for it to be slowly introduced to NASCAR races and will be the sole car that will be used come the 2009 season. Recently though, NASCAR announced that the CoT will be used exclusively starting with the 2008 season. This announcement came after teams have expressed their concern about the impracticality of maintaining two different cars for the current season and for the next year.

Robin Pemberton, the NASCAR?s vice president of competition, has this to say about the full implementation of the CoT next season: ?We are proud of how the new car has performed at multiple tracks. NASCAR, with the support of team owners, agreed that the new car is ready to compete at all NASCAR Nextel Cup Series events in 2008. Beginning next year the Car of Tomorrow is officially ‘the car,’ a Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota.? Originally, NASCAR planned to race the CoT for only 26 races next season. But due to the cost of maintaining two cars, the current car and the CoT, team owners and drivers alike are keen to the idea of using the Car of Tomorrow full time for the 2008 season. These cars are deemed safer than passenger cars, even those equipped with Powerstop brake parts.

As for the driver-friendliness of the Car of Tomorrow, drivers have been expressing their willingness to race the CoT full time next season. Jeff Green, one of the drivers who seem to be at ease with the CoT, has this to say: ?As far as the racing, to me the COT puts things back into the driver’s hands more. With the cars we’re using now, either you hit the setup or you miss it. If you miss it, there’s not a lot a driver can do to make up for that. With the COT, even if the setup’s not perfect, a driver can still make things happen and have a good run. It reminds me of the way the cars drove six or seven years ago. I like that, and I’m excited to get back to that.?

NASCAR fans know that racing teams are willing to do everything in their power to give the driver a fair chance of winning the next race. Every member of the racing team has a job to do and by performing that task to the best of their technical abilities, they hope that one day, their hard work will pay off. They do not seem to mind if the driver basks in the glory of the win in the winner’s circle because if the driver has reached that point in the race, they know they have done their job superbly.

Every NASCAR racing team has one purpose in life. As a group, they are tasked with maintaining the racecar at top performance speeds that will allow the driver to be competitive each week. They want the driver on their team to win the race each week because they know that he must be able to tally up win points. Those points are a critical factor in determining which driver is the best and only the best driver in the country is going to be declared the winner of the Winston Cup.

To win the Winston Cup Racing Series, a NASCAR racing team must perfect their trade. They know that the road to the winner’s circle is a long one and racing team members also know that they must do their best each week if they are going to experience the thrill of the win. The racing teams are not afraid of hard work and hard work is all they know during the racing season.

Every team member in NASCAR is willing to devote many hours to training. The pit crew will train on various tasks that are performed in the pit during every race. The training time is centered on one concept. It is their job to make split second tire changes and make repairs to the race car and anything else that needs to be done and get the NASCAR driver back on the track so that he can do the job he was hired to do. Seconds count in the pit and the training periods can be grueling.

For everything that they are tasked to complete each week, the NASCAR racing teams feel that it is all worth it. The fans have come to expect a certain amount of greatness from the things that they do and the racing teams will do everything in their power to make certain that they do not disappoint them. The racing team feels that it will be justly rewarded for all of its efforts when the racing team driver brings the Winston Cup trophy back to the racing team owner at the end of the season. Until NASCAR racing is over for the season, the racing team continues to stand at the ready and give the team the best of their abilities.