Daytona 500 Postponed To Monday Because Of Rain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Daytona 500 has been postponed for the first time in its 54-year history.

NASCAR postponed The Great American Race after heavy rain saturated Daytona International Speedway on Sunday.

Officials spent more than four hours waiting for a window to dry the famed track, but it never came. And when the latest storm cell passed over the speedway, they had little choice but to call it a day and reschedule.

The 500-mile race was rescheduled for noon Monday. It will be aired on Fox.

"This is one of the toughest things for us drivers," pole-sitter Carl Edwards said. "It's now who can really stay focused. That's not just the drivers, that's the pit crews, the crew chiefs, everyone, the officials. But I think we'll be just fine."

But Monday may be another test for both drivers and fans.

The forecast calls for more rain, and officials are prepared to wait all day and into the night to avoid a Tuesday race.

"The longer runway we have tomorrow to get in the Daytona 500, the greater the likelihood for us to start and finish the event on Monday," NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said. "There are certainly a lot of considerations that go into the start time decision, and we believe scheduling it for noon gives us the best opportunity for us to get the race in tomorrow."

Eight previous Daytona 500s have endured rain delays, the latest in 2009. But never before had storms forced NASCAR's premier event to be moved."I think that's a pretty good record for NASCAR," Edwards said. "They've been living right to have 53 of these and never have one postponed. That's pretty spectacular. ... I think NASCAR, they're doing the right thing, you know, not dragging this out."

Noontime showers sent fans scattering for cover and leaving everyone in wait-and-see mode. Puddles of water formed in parts of the infield, and many fans got drenched as they tried to make the best of a less-than-ideal situation.

Drivers retreated to their motorhomes, relaxing while keeping an eye on developments. Edwards, Brad Keselowski and others took naps. Former Daytona 500 winners Jamie McMurray and Trevor Bayne did in-studio interviews with Fox. Another previous race winner, Ryan Newman, played with his daughter in the motorhome lot.

"I guess I'm gonna have to win the first Monday Daytona 500," driver Greg Biffle said. "As you can tell, I'm still in my uniform because I was optimistic that this weather was gonna get out of here and we were going to get this thing going. But I'll have to save my energy for tomorrow.

"I know a lot of race fans are disappointed and a lot of people at home on TV, but we just hope they turn in tomorrow."

The last shortened Daytona 500 was Matt Kenseth's 2009 victory, when rain stopped the event 48 laps from the finish. He was declared the winner while the cars were parked on pit road.

The 2010 race had more than two hours in delays as NASCAR twice stopped the event to fix a pesky pothole in the surface. Jamie McMurray held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win that race.

This time around, drivers didn't even get in their cars.

"I didn't know when to eat. I didn't know when to rest. I didn't know what to do," Bobby Labonte said. "I never took my uniform off. I took a nap. I think we cleaned out the refrigerator snacking on things."

Now, NASCAR will have to deal with the downside of moving its biggest race. Ratings and attendance will suffer, and its showcase event won't get the audience the series expected.

The opener will feature several intriguing story lines for a racing series trying to capitalize on the success of last season's captivating championship race.

The Daytona 500 is the first of 10 scheduled Sprint Cup Series events this season for Danica Patrick, who left IndyCar behind for a full-time move to NASCAR. She will race for the Nationwide Series championship driving for JR Motorsports.

She arrived at the pre-race driver meeting Sunday with three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart, the owner of her Cup car. Stewart is trying to snap an 0-for-13 losing streak in NASCAR's biggest race of the year.

Stewart's 17 victories at Daytona include everything but the 500, ranking him second on the all-time list behind the late Dale Earnhardt's 34 wins. Stewart will start third when the race goes green.

Earnhardt Jr., the 2004 Daytona 500 champion, takes a 129-race losing streak into the event. His last victory was in 2008, his first season with powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports. source huffingtonpost.com Read More...

NASCAR-TRUCK: Toyota Motorsports Daytona race notes, quotes

Tundra driver John King earned his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) victory in Friday night's 250-mile race at Daytona International Speedway.King's win marks the sixth consecutive victory for a Tundra at Daytona International Speedway.

Friday night's NCWTS race marked King's eighth career start in the series and first of his career at Daytona.

Timothy Peters (second), Travis Kvapil (fourth), Todd Bodine (sixth) and Chris Fontaine (seventh) also finished in

the top-10 driving Tundras at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

Toyota drivers David Starr (21st), Matt Crafton (23rd), Johnny Sauter (24th), Ross Chastain (28th), Dakoda

Armstrong (35th) and Jason Leffler (36th) were also in the field.

***

JOHN KING, No. 7 Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position: 1st

What can you say about winning this race? "I'm a rookie -- I'm not supposed to be here. This is unreal. This Red Horse Racing team is unbelievable. From the owner to the tire guy -- everybody does their job. I don't know what to say. This is a dream come true."

How did the race progress? "We got out of the draft early. Just stayed with it -- got lucky, got a caution and got back up. Stayed right on my yellow brick road and just made it up towards the front. I apologize to Johnny Sauter -- I shouldn't have been there because I am so inexperienced. Here we are."

What happened between you and Johnny Sauter? "I closed up on him real fast -- I was in the tri-oval and I couldn't get off of him. I closed up on him too fast and just wrecked him. Just inexperience -- rookie mistake."

What were you thinking in the closing laps? "I was ready for them to be over real quick. Timothy (Peters) stuck with me and pushed me right to the end. I've got great teammates." CHAD KENDRICK, crew chief, No. 7 Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing

How was your team able to win the race? "We had a game plan. First of all, I got to say this was a truly, truly team effort from the whole organization -- from the shop, to the track, all three teams worked together. We talked in practice. Formulated plans what we were going to do in the race. We did the race the way we planned it from the start, from taking the tires the first stop, to not taking tires the rest of the race. Taking the fuel. John (King) did an awesome job coming onto pit road and coming around. He had to come around the 19 (Brad Keselowski) twice to take fuel. One time we got blocked in by the truck in front of us. But we stuck to our plan. This truck has won this race -- this is the second time. It won in 2010 with Timothy Peters. I guess it's ironic Timothy helped push us to this win with John in it. John's a great, great kid -- awesome to work with. I mean, you put somebody in good equipment, they have a good head on them -- I guess you always have a shot."

***

TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Tire Kingdom/Service Central Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position: 2nd

What did you think of the finish? "How about John King? Go back to Top Gun -- you never, ever leave your wing man, right? I will tell you -- awesome finish to Daytona. How about our Tire Kingdom Toyota Tundra. Toyota one-two -- Tom DeLoach (team owner), thank you for the opportunity. Joe Gibbs Racing engines -- thank you Mark Cronquist and everybody back there. Butch Hylton (crew chief) and all these crew guys. I'm so happy for John and Todd (Bodine) -- great night for the organization."

***

TRAVIS KVAPIL, No. 09 Toyota Tundra, RAB Racing Finishing Position: 4th

How was your race tonight? "All the credit goes to Robby Benton (team owner) and everybody at the RAB Racing team with Brack Maggard. They brought me a really solid Toyota Tundra tonight and we were happy to have Toyota Parts and Service on the side of it. We just kept it out of trouble and that was kind of our strategy. We knew we had a strong truck. Just make the right moves at the right time, stay out of trouble, stay in line when we needed to stay in line -- the guys on pit road did a great job. Just really proud of everybody on this team. A week ago is when I got the call, so to come out of h ere with a good top-five finish we're really happy."

***

TODD BODINE, No. 11, Good Sam Roadside Assistance Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position: 6th

What did you tell John King after the win? "I told him to savor every minute of this -- he's going to victory lane at Daytona. He's such a good kid. He's so polite and nice and he's a heck of a race car driver. I talked to him before the race and I told him, 'John, just don't do anything and you're going to be there at the end.' Sure enough, that's what happened. I am so happy for him and everybody at Red Horse Racing has worked their guts out for the last two months on all three of these speedway trucks. We should have got all three in the top-three there, but I just couldn't get going on the restart. I tried to side draft him and it didn't work. I am so happy for this team. Everybody at Good Sam Roadside Assistance -- I really appreciate that they have come on board. I hope they had fun, got some coverage out of it. Red Horse Racing is a great race team -- Tom DeLoach (team owner) deserves to be in victory lane. I hope that every member of all three of these teams goes over there."

***

CHRIS FONTAINE, No. 84 Glenden Enterprises Toyota Tundra, Glenden Enterprises Finishing Position: 7th

DAVID STARR, No. 81 Zachry Tundra, Arrington Racing Finishing Position: 21st

MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing Finishing Position: 23rd

***

JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 13 Hot Honeys Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing Finishing Position: 24th

What happened that took you out of the race? "Thought I was in pretty good position there, but it's just a product of superspeedway racing. I was trying to get into the tri- oval and I think it's just a racing deal. I wish it would have worked a little better with (Ron) Hornaday. I apologize for that, but we couldn't really hook up. Daytona in the Truck Series has a lot of incidents -- always has -- always will. I'm glad to see a Toyota in victory lane, but we wanted it to be the 13."

Did you get hit from behind? "Yeah, for sure. It was pretty substantial help too. It just looks like he's (John King) crossing over here and he's obviously getting help from the guy behind him -- it's probably (Todd) Bodine. He's known for driving a little bit over his head at places like this. Nonetheless, super proud of everybody on this Hot Honey's/Curb Records Toyota. We were in position and I felt like we were in the cat bird seat there. You could see that I tried to do everything right and I was getting pushed the opposite way. Daytona's been an Achilles heel for me -- for whatever reason it's impossible for me to get to a finish so I had no expectations going into the race today. Am I surprised that I'm standing here with a 24th place finish? No."

***

ROSS CHASTAIN, No. 08 National Watermelon Association & Promotion Board Toyota Tundra, Finishing Position: 28th

DAKODA ARMSTRONG, No. 98 EverFi.com Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing Finishing Position: 35th

***

JASON LEFFLER, No. 18 Dollar General Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports Finishing Position: 36th

What happened that took you out of the race? "I have no idea. All I can tell you is the Dollar General Toyota was really fast. Just got shuffled back there early in the race and was kind of riding and just got wiped out. I knew it was too good to be true to have a truck that fast and make it to the end without any problems. I've got to thank everybody -- Dollar General, Toyota, M&M's and Flexco and everybody at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) for this opportunity. Just ready to go at Rockingham again." Read More...

Android So the king in the land of Queen Elizabeth

Android debuted as the popular operating system in the world. Android surged past even the iPhone in the UK, phone-based Google's operating system dominated the smartphone market That in the country.36.9 percent of smartphone users in the UK have Andoid handset, compared to Apple WHO should receive 28.5 percent kekalahah with his iPhone. With these figures, the Android phone has managed to put the iPhone as most popular smartphone in the UK.When it is known That as many as 50.3 per cent of Britons have a smartphone. Through the data Presented here, Dominic Sunnebo of Kantar World Comtech says "For the first time, you will be included in the minority if you do not have a smartphone." According to the smarphone market is growing rapidly That, providing a great opportunity for retailers and manufacturers, as well as reminding the competition will take place very tight.While Android and iPhone controls over 20 percent of the smartphone market in the UK a study by Kantar Worldpanel Comtech also provides That the BlackBerry is only Able to reach 18.1 percent . As for the Windows Phone (WP), Sunnebo said, WP 7 began creeping up with more than two percent for the first time with 800 taking the lion's Lumia. "This looks set to continue in the hope of launching two new phone models at mobile World Congress (MWC). We predict this will help WP grow to about 8 percent in the latter half of 2012, "explained Sunnebo, as reported by the Daily Mail, Friday (24/2/2012). One of the clear evidence of cell phones measures WP, says Sunnebo is how the involvement of users on Such devices. 81 percent of cell phone owners have used social networking from Their mobile phones last month, higher than Those of the IOS and Android. "Meanwhile, three-quarters have also been using the GPS, shows That Nokia's decision to include a free Nokia maps is a price to pay to Encourage user involvement, "concluded Sunnebo. (Tyo) Read More...

J.K. Rowling's New Book Can Take From 'Harry Potter'

Hallelujah, J.K. Rowling is officially releasing a new book. Sure, no title, however, has no release date, and mockery of the "details will be announced later this year" could mean a variety of things. But the author, whose only legacy is now the beloved "Harry Potter book finally released the album a new novel - this time for adults - and I could not be happier.

Although this novel is going to tilt toward older audiences, there are still many elements of "Harry Potter" which Rowling can make more in a new series. Though I suppose that this new book not likely to include children as well as "Harry Potter" did, there are still plenty of other components that worked very well in that series and is likely to work even better in the history of adult .

Strong female characters
It's no surprise that Rowling enjoys writing about women who can maintain their weight with the kids. Hermione Granger was certainly more powerful than his two cohorts, Harry and Ron, and several times was the trio's most mature character. I hope that Rowling includes equally strong female characters in his new novel, perhaps even in the title role.

A love triangle
Well, what the fans have made Harry, Ron and Hermione romantic relationship over the reality of what actually was (thanks for that, Harry and Hermione shippers), but there are many love triangles that take place in "Harry Potter". Lily, Snape and Harry James, Cho and Cedric had a lot of romantic tension going on in the previous series Rowling. Well, why not go all out and have a full-blown love triangle in a novel aimed at adults? I'm not talking about what is the point of the plot that hinges on books like "The Twilight Saga" or "The Hunger Games", but now we are adults Rowling. We can take a little love.A British landscape both familiar and new
Rowling might have seen most of the world, now thanks to their numerous tours of Harry Potter books, but his house is still the UK. "Harry Potter" is definitely a British history, and I would like to see the next book in Rowling follow suit. Having said that, "Harry Potter" walked the line between family demonstrated (King's Cross Station) and unknown (Hogwarts) places in Britain. Here's hoping that Rowling takes us on a similar journey in his next novel, and takes us somewhere you've never been before.

Magical Items
There are probably people out there who prefer the new book, Rowling did not involve magic in all its forms. I am not one of those people. In all likelihood, Rowling kept away from the magic in his book for adults in order to differentiate it from the "Potter", but there are many forms of magic can manifest. Although I love to see Rowling against an entirely new theme would still be nice to have some kind of supernatural component in the game.

Darkness
The darkness in "Harry Potter" is a big part of what made the book so powerful. I have long said that the change of "Potter" is done in 'Goblet of Fire ", which is the first book in the series that has a sad ending, but the darkness can find a way to start again "Philosopher's Stone '. It is difficult to expect that Rowling could write a novel for adult soft and fluffy after developing a series of darker children of our time, and I think it will be really exciting to see how dark it can make a book without having to care for a young audience.

Are you as excited about the new book by Rowling as we? What elements of "Harry Potter" would like to see posted to this new novel? Tell us in the comments section or on Twitter Read More...