Racing News: NASCAR Officials Try to Eliminate Excessive Speeds

HIGH SPEEDS: NASCAR officials have lowered the tolerance level of the pressure-relief valve on the radiator, hopefully forcing drivers to pull out of the draft to cool down their engines and eliminate the excessive speeds seen during the Budweiser Shootout.

BIG BUCKS: Thanks to an endowment left by midget racing historian Crocky Wright, the USAC Mopar National Midget Series Night Before the 500 at Lucas Oil Raceway in Clermont, Indiana, will pay the winner $20,000 this year.

RENOVATE: Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, will be resurfaced and reconfigured later this year. As part of the project, the dogleg on the backstretch will be made even more pronounced.

GET FUELED: Beginning in 2012, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will switch from carbureted engines to fuel-injected powerplants. The series will test the technology throughout 2011 before implementing the program next year.

SEE YA LATER: Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan, won’t return to the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule in 2012.

DEUCES ARE WILD: Kurt Busch used a push from Jamie McMurray to capture the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway Saturday night.

NEW FAMILY: Memphis International Raceway, previously known as Memphis Motorsports Park, has officially joined the International Hotrod Association family.

BACKING: Lucas Oil will sponsor the POWRi National Midget Series beginning this season.

NUMBER SEVEN: Bobby Gerhart drove to his seventh ARCA Racing Series victory at Daytona International Speedway Saturday night, holding off Chris Buescher for the triumph.

POLE STARTER: Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start from the pole for next Sunday’s Daytona 500 after his 186.089 mph lap at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

RIP: Veteran Indianapolis Motor Speedway announcer Tom Carnegie, who worked at the speedway from 1946 until his retirement in 2007, died Friday. He was 91.

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