daytona

All of you who have been anxiously awaiting the debut of the Ford Mustang in what we loosely refer to as modern-day stock car racing, take note: The original Pony Car will see its first action this Friday night at the Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

Danica qualified 12th for her first NASCAR race, the ARCA Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 held at Daytona Raceway. After a lot of bumping, a few runs through the infield, a skid or two, a race stoppage, a lot of time in the pits and a lot of running on the outside line, she finished the race in sixth.

Ironically her biggest off came courtesy of the also-new-to-NASCAR Nelson Piquet, Jr.. He qualified seventh and climbed up to sixth at one point, but bumped Danica and sent her down to 24th when she rejoined after having her car repaired. Piquet would find more ways to get in trouble before the chequered flag and finish in 27th.

Shelby Daytona Coupe Le Mans Edition - Click above for high-res image gallery

The Shelby Daytona Coupe is without a doubt one of the greatest cars in American motorsports history. With an aerodynamic body designed by Peter Brock good for 196 mph, Carroll's Ferrari-slayer dominated the 1965 race season on its way to win the FIA GT World Championship - the first and only American car to achieve the feat. While getting your hands on one of the original six racecars will cost a pretty penny, there is a much more affordable solution.

Just about a week ago, Honda announced that it was dropping out of Formula 1, but in subsequent reports Honda confirmed that it was not planning to pull support from other motorsports endeavors. That doesn't quite seem to be the case. Yesterday, Honda announced that it will be removing factory support from AMA road racing. The only Honda factory rider already contracted for the '09 season is Neil Hodgson.

Those of us who live in the Snow Belt know what it's like to have Mother Nature not let go of your vehicle. There's just no dislodging a car under its own power when the tires dig in and make ruts in the white stuff. Although snow isn't a problem for drivers in Florida, the sands at Daytona Beach are causing headaches for a large number of Floridians. On Sunday, there were nearly 100 vehicles stuck on the beach, and officers suggest that these conditions will not be improving any time soon.