USA TODAY’s Nate Ryan reports Penske Racing will race Dodge’s ’04 Intrepid in the second and third races of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season at California Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway because the current Charger model “struggled at 1.5- and 2-mile speedways last year.” Driver Ryan Newman: “I don’t want to make anybody mad, but when you feel you have a crooked arrow and somebody’s telling you to shoot straight, it’s really difficult” (USA TODAY, 2/10).
JUDGMENT DAY: In Detroit, David Ashenfelter reports DaimlerChrysler won a $6.5M judgment in its breach of contract lawsuit against Bill Davis Racing (BDR) in U.S. District Court in Detroit. A jury found BDR guilty “of passing confidential Dodge Motorsports technology, parts and information to Toyota.” DaimlerChrysler said that BDR “helped Toyota develop a prototype Tundra racing truck ... at the same time Davis was under contract to prepare DaimlerChrysler stock cars” (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 2/10).
IN-FUSION: Gillette has added NASCAR drivers Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray to its “Young Guns” team, joining Newman, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson (Gillette).
IRL TEAM NOTES: Panther Racing said that it will “scale back to a one-car operation” for the upcoming season. Vitor Meira will drive the No. 4 car, which “will still carry Pennzoil sponsorship in some form” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/10)....Actor Patrick Dempsey has joined Vision Racing as a co-Owner (Vision Racing).
