Normally I'm a defender of issues relating to NASCAR's Chase format.

As the old-fashioned crowd continue to scream, "Bring back the old points system, the Chase is garbage," ignoring the fact that championships were often sealed weeks in advance in boring fashion in past decades, I defend the Chase because it does provide a more exciting battle for the crown in the Cup series.

I love the "win and you're in" setup because it encourages drivers to battle harder during the regular season, and the four-man battle at Homestead is edge-of-the-seat exciting.

But I've finally found my area where I'm tired of NASCAR's tinkering, and that's with the Chase waivers.

Please stop, Brian France.

Ram truck owners from seven U.S states and Canada helped the Ram Truck brand set a new world record for the largest parade of pickup trucks on Saturday, April 18, in Arlington, Texas. 451 Ram trucks participated in the “Ram Truck Round-up,” breaking the previous world record of 438 trucks.

“Our hard-working Ram truck owners are passionate and loyal, and today they proved once again that everything is always bigger in Texas,” said Robert Hegbloom, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ram Truck Brand, FCA – North America. “Ram is the fastest growing truck brand in Texas, where trucks are king, and it was great to see 451Ram owners travel far and wide for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of a special record-breaking rally and pickup parade.”

The Ram Truck Round-up parade route started on the east side of AT&T Stadium in Arlington and traveled approximately 3.2 miles around the stadium and neighboring Globe Life Park grounds.

Entering Saturday night’s Richmond 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, Danica Patrick and her No. 10 GoDaddy

Chevrolet SS team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) have enjoyed quite a bit of success on short tracks thus far in 2015.

They scored a seventh-place finish at the .526-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway late last month. It was Patrick’s first Sprint Cup top-10 at a short track. Last weekend at the .533-mile Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, she earned her second top-10 of the season – a ninth-place run at the high-banked short track. The effort marked the sixth top-10 finish of Patrick’s Sprint Cup career, setting the record for the most top-10 finishes ever by a female in Sprint Cup competition.
While the results have been great, the finishes haven’t come easy. They have been earned through a lot of hard work by Patrick and the members of her No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS team.

Even with relatively lower gas prices recently, people still like to keep their money in their pockets and out of the hands of oil barons, so compact cars will always be popular to some extent unless gas suddenly becomes free.

That’s where vehicles like the Toyota Corolla come into play. They’re bigger than tiny rides like a smart car or those baby Scions that look like golf carts, but still smaller than the midsize vehicle that dominate the market (think Camry, Fusion, Accord). It’s a sweet spot for many car buyers who want some room but don’t need a lot, and the under-$20K pricetags are enticing.

Here are the thoughts of the Stewart-Haas Racing team drivers (Tony Stewart,  Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick) ahead of this weekend's race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

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DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10:

Do you like racing at Bristol?

“I do. I like Bristol. Obviously, it can be a little bit – the cars definitely got in a train last time we were here. It was tough. It was a little bit hard to pass. But like I said, that is why the bottom becomes important because, if you get stuck or even if you start on the bottom on a restart, if your car is turning, you can make that work, I think, for a little while. I think qualifying is going to be really important, so I’m definitely going to find myself doing a lot more qualifying runs – as many as possible before qualifying in the afternoon. But, I’ve liked Bristol since the first time I came here.”

Brooklyn Ford is providing an opportunity to test drive a new vehicle at Michigan International Speedway as part of the Drive 4 UR Community program.

And you just might find your next car, all while supporting MIS Cares. The best part. It is free.

From 1 to 6 p.m. on Friday, April 24, MIS welcomes back Drive 4 UR Community sponsored by Ford Motor Company. MIS and Brooklyn Ford have teamed up to present would-be new car owners an opportunity to drive a brand new Ford vehicle around the interior road course.

All the hype this NASCAR season is focused on the big names, the guys winning races -- understandably so.

Kevin Harvick is a contender to win every week and likely the favorite to win the championship for a second straight year.

Jimmie Johnson, despite having some rough weeks, is as good as he's always been and will no doubt step up come Chase time; he's already got a couple wins under his belt, just like Harvick.