NASCAR

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.

We've wrapped up our Beijing Motor Show coverage as April closes and May begins, signaling the end of the major international auto show season. We'll have a spring and summer full of concours, racing, meets, exhibitions and more to keep us busy though until the new car reveals pick up again in October at the Paris Motor Show.

Bristol Speedway is among the most well-known tracks in America, and an all-time favorite of NASCAR fans. In fact, the track sold out 55 straight times beginning in 1982. But that streak came to an end in March, and the NASCAR news only gets more depressing from there. According to Time, NASCAR has seen its television audiences drop by a knee-wobbling 25 percent since 2005, and last year alone, attendance was down 10 percent.

Word has it the ever-voracious Hendrick Motorsports is about to sink its teeth into even more talent. Kasey Kahne just announced he won't be renewing his contract with Richard Petty Motorsports at the end of this year, meaning the guy probably has his eyes set on making his way to the same team as Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the rest. Needless to say, the internet is rife with rumors of the move.

Perhaps Polyphony Digital should just go into the commercial rendering business. Gran Turismo 5 remains stuck behind a palisade of silence, but new trailers for the game are thrown over the barriers to the salivating hordes every couple of weeks.

Auto show season keeps marching on in March with wall-to-wall coverage coming your way from the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, which is just winding down. Motorsports enthusiasts can look forward to the start of the 2010 Formula One season with all the action kicking off in Bahrain, followed two weeks later by the Australian Grand Prix. American open-wheel fans have IndyCar action in Brazil and St. Petersburg in March, while NASCAR visits Atlanta, Martinsville and Bristol. For fans of the unorthodox, the LeMons bunch will make a stop at Sears Point.

Kyle Busch, reigning NASCAR Nationwide Series champ and the polesitter for today's 2010 season opener in Daytona, has a bone to pick with the media. Busch is irked that the overwhelming majority of the Nationwide Series TV coverage during the runup to the 2010 season kickoff has focused primarily (and not at all unexpectedly) on Danica Patrick's impending stock car debut. He calls the lopsided coverage "horrible," according to SceneDaily.com.

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.