Richard Petty – quite possibly the best NASCAR racer of all time and the man in charge of Richard Petty Motorsports – says that Chrysler stopped paying his team after filing for bankruptcy last month. No surprise there. The lack of funds prompted RPM to lay off nine workers, although Petty is now saying there is hope that the automaker will soon work out some sort of deal to begin making payments once again now that it's clear of court proceedings.

It isn't clear at this moment if Petty's team, which is in the final year of its current contract with Chrysler, will soldier on using Dodge Chargers Challengers next year. Earlier this month, The King said his team would be willing to talk to any and all manufacturers regarding the 2010 NASCAR season, including Dodge. We'll surely know soon enough, but internet message boards are awash with rumors the team has been in talks with *gasp* Toyota.

[Source: ESPN via MLive.com | Image: Jason Smith/Getty]

Perhaps more than any other motorsports series, NASCAR is renowned for its marketing prowess, with branded merchandise efforts in virtually every segment of the consumer world, from t-shirts to beverages to vacuum cleaners. Back in late 2005, we first told you about the series' foray into the world of romance novels, and apparently it's been quietly chugging along since then, adding new titles ripe with double-entendres and libidinous scenarios of loves found and lost in the world of roundy-round racing.

Given the (apparently) burgeoning Harlequin romance series and the possibility of amusingly breathless texts like:

The image of Josh James stared down at her from the lofty heights of his souvenir rig, plastered across a ten-by-twenty strip to the left of a portable store's open window. Josh's arms were crossed, his shoulders thrown back, a haughty look of disdain on his face as he stared down at lesser mortals, i.e. herself. He wore a red uniform, a color that would have looked silly on most men, but Callie had to admit, looked great on Mr. James. Gorgeous blue eyes stood out like twin neon signs, high cheekbones set off a masculine chin, one that was really, truly square, and had a tiny cleft in the center. The lower half of his face was covered with a five-o'clock shadow, one that matched his jet black hair.

(Excerpt from Slow Burn by Pamela Britton)

... well, we couldn't pass up revisiting the series for your enjoyment. Whether you're looking for some summer beach reading or just a good laugh, we've compiled a gallery of some of the best titles in the series for your viewing pleasure below.


[Sources: eHarlequin; PamelaBritton.com]

As we start the second half of 2009, the automotive industry remains in turmoil but the economy is finally showing signs of recovery. And once again, we have a full calendar of events to keep our minds on the positive aspects of our industry. Show season is in full swing so you'll find plenty of concours events, cruise nights, and local shows filling July weekends. In America, Meadowbrook is the star of July, but there are also other interesting events like the GoodGuys Heartland Nationals, Hudson-Essex-Terraplane meet in Pontiac, New England Concours d'Elegance in Vermont, the First Annual Great American Car Show in Massachusetts, Micros on the Monument in Racine, International Bricklin Owners Club Annual Grand National Meet, and the Alfa Romeo Owners Club National Meet in Portland, among others.

There's lots of racing in July, too. Most Formula 1 teams will make a brief stop at Goodwood before resuming their regular racing schedule at the Nürburgring, followed by the Hungarian GP at the end of the month. IndyCar hits Watkins Glen, the Streets of Toronto, and the airport course in Edmonton. NASCAR fans can look forward to races in Daytona, Chicago, and at the Brickyard. ALMS teams can take it easy after the marathon that was the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a two-hour stint at Lime Rock Park.

There will also be plenty of other random racing action in July, with the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Portland Historic Races, Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, Kohler International Challenge with Brian Redman, and the New England Forest Rally. Green car fans can look forward to the Eco-Rally U.S.A. 2009, and bike fans can take in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix or AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid-Ohio.

If none of those events appeals to you, check the Google Calendar after the jump for even more listings, all with detailed info and links. Please use the comments section to add or modify listings. Oh, and Happy 4th of July!

After being the first driver suspended for substance abuse under NASCAR's new drug policy, the sport's governing body has confirmed Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for methamphetamines on May 1.

At a federal court in Charlotte, NC, Mayfield's attorney mentioned the drug several times during his arguments against the suspension, and the driver and his legal representative are crafting a case to prove NASCAR's testing system is flawed. Mayfield maintains that the positive result was due to a combination of Adderall (for Attention Deficit Disorder) and Claritin-D (for allergies), and along with denying using meth, Mayfiled's lawyer argued that the racer wasn't given the opportunity to get his backup ("B") sample tested independently, something that's explicitly allowed under NASCAR rules.

The court has adjourned until this afternoon, so expect an update on the case later today.

[Source: AP | Image Source: Todd Warshaw/Getty]

Whether or not you're a fan of NASCAR, the simple fact remains that none of the cars bear much resemblance to their factory counterparts, and it's not like the "Fusions" and "Chargers" are particularly sexy, either. So in an attempt to boost the series' viewers and souvenir sales, Fox Sports is reporting that Ford and Chrysler plan to introduce Mustang- and Challenger -bodied racers into the Nationwide series next year.

The new designs are due to be submitted for approval on June 26, and the 2010 NASCAR competitors are reportedly going to be visually closer to stock than anything we've seen since the new "aero-matched" cars began rolling out earlier this decade. Unfortunately, the new Mustang and Challenger cars will still be far removed from their stock siblings, and General Motors has apparently decided not to join its domestic rivals and produce a Camaro shell. Both GM and Toyota will reportedly run their current Impala and Camry bodies, respectively.

[Source: Fox Sports via Cars]

The scalpel of bankruptcy that is slicing off GM's sponsorship activities hasn't touched NASCAR's top tier Sprint Cup series, but the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series' have been trimmed. NASCAR drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kevin Harvick have teams running in the lower two series, and have been told by GM that they will lose funding.

Harvick runs three trucks in the Camping World Truck Series and hasn't commented on what GM's move will bring. Earnhardt, with the backing of Hendrick Motorsports, fields two cars in the Nationwide series and a team spokeswoman said "we are fully capable of adjusting our business model to this change" to continue racing.

For now, Chevrolet has no plans to pull out of NASCAR entirely and the Sprint Cup remains immune to the cost cutting. As the red carpet event, everybody knows the fans want to see Chevrolet doing the ovals, and we imagine there will be quite a few other painful measures taken before the Bowtie would bow out of oval racing.

[Source: AP via Google News]

On April 8, 50-year-old Charles P. Dimmick died doing what he loved to do: watching his favorite driver, Jeff Gordon, run in the Phoenix round of NASCAR. Dimmick was also the marketing manager at Lund Cadillac Hummer Saab in Phoenix, and if you believe the person who wrote his obituary, he also loved to sell cars.

In the notice itself (after the details of his death and before the details of the wake), was this line: "We are sure he would still want all to know that 0.9% financing is still available on all New 2008 Hummer H2's." It isn't clear who wrote the obituary, but tasking someone with selling H2 inventory even after they die sounds a bit like something Dante might be involved in.

[Source: Yahoo!]

As far as we know, NASCAR has no plans to expand into the aquatic arena, but the current situation at Daytona International Speedway might lead one to a different conclusion. Over the past few days, massive storms have drenched the Florida coast leaving behind over 17 inches of rain in Daytona Beach.

The bowl-shaped race track has become a vessel of sorts, trapping water up to the midway point of the SAFER barriers in some sections. Reports indicate that the transporter tunnel alone is filled up to about 10 feet. Track officials aren't expecting to face too much damage once things dry up though. With just over a month to go, they believe the course should be operative for the July 4th Sprint Cup event. However, if the weather doesn't let up soon, NASCAR teams might want to get started on building some speedboats.



[Source: ESPN.com; Image: Kaye Fairer]

According to Nielsen, ratings for NASCAR on Fox are down by an alarming 11.5% so far this year, and while we're sure that many NASCAR haters will suggest that it's just not that interesting watching non-stock "stock cars" turning left over and over again as they circle oval tracks, race organizers and TV ratings researchers believe there's much more to the decline in viewership than that.

Certainly, the sorry state of affairs surrounding the world's sagging economy doesn't help matters any, and neither did the rain that forced an early end to the Daytona 500, the sport's pivotal first race of the season. Paul Brooks, president of NASCAR Media Group, also points a finger in the direction of Dale Earnhardt Jr, who's second season as part of Hendrick Motorsports isn't exactly going as hoped.

Regardless of its downward ratings trend in '09, it seems most experts on the subject predict the NASCAR brand will pull through over the long haul, although it will be interesting to see if/how the auto industry crisis affects the cash-intensive motorsports series. In the meantime, NASCAR and Fox are reportedly "looking at every angle" to boost viewership in the short term.

[Source: Sports Business Journal | Image: Roger Smith]

Jeremy Mayfield, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver with five career victories, has become the first driver suspended for substance abuse since the sanctioning body's no-nonsense policy took effect this season. Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications, would not say what the specific substance was, but he did clarify that it was not alcohol-related. As of last September, NASCAR tests all drivers and crew members at the start of the season, and randomly throughout the year. Mayfield, 39, drives for Mayfield Motorsports, his own team. The suspension prevents him from leading or driving, but nothing prevents the team from being run by someone else with a replacement driver behind the wheel.

Mayfield released the following statement to Sports Illustrated on Saturday: "As both a team owner and a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, I have immense respect for the enforcement policies NASCAR has in place. In my case, I believe that the combination of a prescribed medicine and an over the counter medicine reacted together and resulted in a positive drug test. My Doctor and I are working with both Dr. Black and NASCAR to resolve this matter." Thanks to Patrick for the tip.

[Source: Miami Herald, quote from Sports Illustrated]