Bowman, Truex to drive for BK Racing

Alex Bowman and Ryan Truex will be driving for BK Racing for the 2014 Sprint Cup season. Bowman will pilot the newly renumbered #23 Dr. Pepper Toyota. Ryan Truex will pilot the # 83 Toyota. Both drivers tested with the BK Racing teams during Preseason Thunder testing earlier this month. Bowman and Truex will join a very exciting battle for the 2014 Sunoco Rookie of the Year title.

Opinion on the Chase

NASCAR has received a wide variety of criticism over the past week following the story posted by Jim Utter from the Charlotte Observer reporting that NASCAR was considering changing the Chase for the Sprint Cup. When the Chase debuted back in 2004, the first 10 in points along with anyone else within 400 points of the leader was eligible to win the championship. This changed in 2007, where the top 12 were entered in the Chase & 10 point bonuses were awarded for a race win. In 2011 NASCAR introduced the "wild card" where Chase positions 11 & 12 were awarded to the drivers who won the most races, but could not place in the top 10 in points. In 2013 NASCAR had to alter the Chase as a result of the actions of Michael Waltrip Racing, Penske Racing & Front Row Motorsports. These alterations removed Martin Truex Jr and added Ryan Newman along with a 13th driver Jeff Gordon.

Fast forward to today & NASCAR is evaluating new Chase scenarios. This will be the 5th chase revision in its 10 years in existence. While I do applaud NASCAR for trying to create the most exciting season finale every year, it is becoming a little ridiculous. NASCAR is the only major Motorsport that uses a "playoff" format to determine their champion. I think that they should just race all year with the same points, no resets or seeding by race wins or wildcard entries, as it had been done until 2004. If NASCAR does reset the points, do so for the whole field, that allows for a very wide variety of possible Sprint Cup Champions. If NASCAR wants to provide excitement to draw in fans, create exciting racing, the Gen-6 car is a great thing... keep developing it so that every single lap provides excitement.

 NASCAR stated on 1/18/2014 that they are discussing possible changes with industry stakeholders & an announcement on the changes & their decision on the future of the Chase will occur following the discussions.

NBC team taking shape

Key members of the team calling NASCAR action for NBC in 2015 have been announced recently. Current Fox Sports reporter Rick Allen will switch to NBC to call play-by-play. Driver turned analyst and respected figure in the garage Jeff Burton will provide a driver point of view. Joining them in the booth will be current crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports for the 88 car, Steve Letarte. Mike Massaro will switch from his studio role at ESPN to a studio role at NBC. Dave Burns will also be leaving ESPN to work on NBC's pit road team. NBC will broadcast the final portion of the season for the Sprint Cup & Nationwide Series from 2015 to 2024.

2014 Preseason Thunder Updates

Day 2

• Rain has delayed the morning session, NASCAR has extended today's testing until 9 pm eastern time.
• As of 1 pm cars are on the track!
• So far RCR & JGR own the top 5 spots on the leaderboard followed by Danica Patrick in 6th & Jimmie Johnson in 7th.
• The night session is now underway. Cars will be on track until 9 pm & it can be seen on FOX Sports 1.

Day 1

• Morning testing was delayed because of rain, but track crews currently have Air Titian track driers working on drying out the track surface.
• Update: Testing for Day 1 has been canceled, activities for Day 2 are still on schedule.

Stay tuned & check back throughout the day for updates of the Preseason Testing from Daytona International Speedway

Fox Sports 1 to Air 2014 NASCAR Preseason Thunder at Daytona

From Jan, 9-11 the NASCAR on FOX team will bring viewers over 12 hours of coverage from Daytona International Speedway. The Sprint Cup Series & Nationwide Series will be participating in preseason testing from the 2.5 tri-oval in Daytona Beach, Fl. Jan 9th & 10th will feature the Sprint Cup test with Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds and Mike Joy call the action from the booth , with Bob Dillner and Matt Yocum reporting from the pits and Jeff Hammond reporting from the garage. Rick Allen and analyst Hermie Sadler will speak with drivers, crew chiefs & other team members from a set setup in the garage. NASCAR Nationwide Series tests air on FOX Sports 1 from 3:00pm/et to 7:00pm/et on Saturday, Jan. 11, with Allen, Hammond and Phil Parsons in the booth, and Sadler, Dillner and Ray Dunlap reporting from the pits.