With Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch right behind and ready to pounce after Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman spun out with six laps left at Darlington Raceway, Johnson seemed short on fuel and tires and looked vulnerable. Once the green flag dropped, Stewart had trouble and Johnson flew into the lead and cruised to his first victory since Kansas last October. He broke a 16-race winless drought for the five-time NASCAR champion and the Hendrick team.

Johnson said about Rick Hendrick that this person is something. He said that they won 200 and let get 250. Denny Hamlin was second, followed by Stewart in third and Kyle Busch in fourth. Finishing six laps behind Johnson in 31st, Danica Patrick lasted until the end of her second Sprint Cup race.

Johnson first swept his Darlington win in 2004 events at the track, the last season “The Lady in Black” had two Sprint Cup races. This was his third Darlington win. A year ago, this was the place where fireworks took place when Kevin Harvick went after Kyle Busch for a late wreck. It involved crewmembers for Newman and Kurt Busch scrumming after the race.

In the Nationwide winner Friday night, Martin Truex Jr. was fifth, Matt Kenseth in sixth, Carl Edwards in seventh, Kasey Kahne in eight, Marcos Ambrose in ninth, followed by Joey Logano in tenth.

From the start with 171 laps, the race began with longest stretch of green flag racing since NASCAR began releasing such information, a run that helped speed up a race that is often slogged through double-digit cautions. Biffle and Johnson both had long runs and built big leads. Of the first 98 laps, Biffle led 74 before Johnson took control for 72 straight laps until the race’s first stoppage for debris. With less than 80 laps left, Patrick was hit with a pass-through penalty for a commitment line violation.

The owner of Patrick’s Nationwide Series team, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had hoped to end a couple of major droughts and collect his first victory at Darlington. However, he, too, struggled as his almost four-year-old winless Sprint Cup streak rose to 140 races as he finished 17th.

Runner-up James Buescher was beaten by Kahne by 1.478 seconds. Kahne did not qualify the truck so he to start at the rear of the field. He finished seventh in the Samsung Mobile 500 at NASCAR’s highest level, the Sprint Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway. It was the fourth triumph in five career Truck Series races for Kahne, who finished seventh in the Cup race Saturday night.

After the race, Kahne said that he has been fortunate to drive some awesome trucks. He added that he tried to figure out whom he would race for and how they would make it happen, as soon as he heard about this race.

For the first time since 2004, the Sunday’s event was also the celebration of bringing back NASCAR to Rockingham Speedway, or “The Rock”. Andy Hillenburg acquired the track at an auction and brought NASCAR back on.

With 46 laps remaining, Kahne took the lead from Crafton and led the rest of the way. In third was Matt Crafton, followed by Johnny Sauter and series points leader Timothy Peters. Pole winner Nelson Piquet Jr. led three times for 107 laps and he had a dominant truck. Piquet was swamped in traffic after a prolonged pit stop shuffled him back to fifth during the third of the race’s four cautions. He missed the chance at victory by a pit road speeding penalty during the final caution period. He rallied to finish seventh.

In the race, John King’s grasp on the series’ points lead fizzled early, as on Lap 4, he spun and nosed into the inside wall on the backstretch and brought out the race’s first caution. King was back on track after repairs, but wound up finishing 56 laps and concluding 33rd, tumbling him seven spots to eighth in the standings.

Once the names Mario Andretti or A.J. Foyt were synonymous with someone driving too fast or using their car like a race car. now the phrase is, “Who do you think you are, Jeff Gordon?”

Gordon transcends the sport that was once dominated by southerners. Now, as Gordon wraps up his career, he is still as competitive as ever. He is now third in NASCAR history with 85 wins and his seat in the NASCAR Hall of Fame awaits the California native.

Gordon’s path to NASCAR was not the path many NASCAR veterans took to arrive in the most elite series in the country. Gordon cut his teeth racing sprint cars and midgets on the dirt bull rings across the country. He raced legendary tracks such as Ascot Park, Terre Haute and Eldora.

Along the way Gordon learned exceptional car control and he also learned to race hard on every lap. The quality of giving everything he had on every lap, did not go over well with the NASCAR establishment and Gordon quickly learned he would have to tone it down to survive in NASCAR.

Fortunately for NASCAR fans, Gordon didn’t dial it down too much and he put together one of the greatest seasons in NASCAR history, winning 13 races in 1998. Gordon won four titles in nine seasons but despite some close calls, he has never held a NASCAR Sprint Cup trophy over his head since the NASCAR Chase began.

Nehro had been an early favorite in horse racing betting before being pulled.

The Preakness Stakes is one of the three most prestigious races in American horse racing, but Nehro will not be in it. Ahmed Zayat, the owner of Nehro, decided that it would be better for the horse to have a break and shoot to return for the Belmont Stakes.

The reason for Nehro sitting out is because of the number of races that the horse has been in recently. The horse took part in four different races in the span of eight weeks. While the owner is simply trying to look after his horse and do what is best, there will certainly be those that think that this is a bad decision from the owner.

The owner’s decision has not been affected by a poor recuperation from Nehro following his 2nd place finish at the Kentucky Derby. All reports have said that Nehro has been doing well since the Triple Crown. However, the decision is ultimately up to Zayat and the horse will not run.

The absence of Nehro will open up the door for Animal Kingdom in his Triple Crown hopes. Nehro was the top competitor in the Kentucky Derby and would have been one of the favored horses at the Preakness Stakes.

Derby winner Animal Kingdom’s handlers did not authenticate that he would make the trip to Maryland until Monday afternoon, while it is generally considered given that the Kentucky Derby winner will take a shot at the Triple Crown by running the Preakness. In Preakness, Animal Kingdom is currently at 3-1 Odds.

This Maryland colt should have strong support and it will be running close to home. He will possibly have a full field to compete for the second time in as many races when the postpositions are pronounced.

Animal Kingdom will obviously be the favorite in spite of that odd hesitation and prime Preakness contender when he takes its shot at History at Pimlico. As attrition persists to zap probable 2011 Preakness contenders, the same cannot be said for at least 10 and of the horses that A.K. beat at Churchill Downs last weekend.

In the last 25 years, the average number of Derby horses in the Preakness is 5.4 and the average for the last 10 years is 5.0. In the last 25 years, the highest number of Derby horses in the Preakness was 10 in 1999 when the Charismatic won the Derby at odds of 31-1. In 2005, just two weeks after Giacomo won the Derby at 50-1.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, trampled Derby favorite Dialed In returned to the track at Churchill Downs and jogged once around the track. As per trainer Nick Zito, the horse came out of the race in good shape, the one who finished eighth last Saturday.

At sportsbooks, NASCAR Betting will be available closer to the May 15 race.

The track that punishes drivers with high G forces in the turns at extremely high speeds for a mile track, Kyle Petty still talks of dreading to race in that. The driver that can withstand the physical demands on the concrete track will be the winner.

The man known as “Concrete Carl” is the obvious favorite heading into this race. Carl Edwards has a knack for the way the concrete tracks grab hold of tires and ask more of the drivers in the skill department as he is already coming off a win in NASCAR Nationwide on the all concrete Nashville Speedway.

Edwards should be up front from green flag to checker on this weekend as he owns the best average finish on the track and with his better power plant package under the hood of his Roush Fenway No. 99. On the Monster Mile, Will anyone give Edwards a challenge?

Jimmie Johnson is up to the task of taking down Carl as he is another driver that has run well at Dover. Even though Kyle Busch’s Toyota powered Joe Gibbs Racing team has not been up to snuff in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, he also has a win on the track.

Look no further than Martin Truex Jr if you are looking for a long shot. He has a great opportunity to collect his first win of the 2011 season and first win as a Michael Waltrip Racing team member as he will be a 30-1 shot to win.

In horse racing odds Premier Pegasus is at 6-1.

As there are several horses that are affected by injuries the Kentucky Derby field is thinning out slowly. It looks like Premier Pegasus will now undergo surgery to try to try correct the injuries that the horse has sustained as it is one of the horses that was affected by injury.

Many people thought that the horse would come through as the favorite in the Derby as the horse was an early favorite to win the events prior to the Kentucky Derby. Because of Premier Pegasus’ fantastic win at San Felipe there is much of the hype around him.

At the San Felipe Stakes the horse was dominant and won the race by 7.75 lengths over Jaycito, the second place finisher. It was actually the largest margin that any horse had won the race by in 74 years as the event was a $250,000 event. The horse had high expectations for the Kentucky Derby with that impressive victory.

The sustained injury left Myung Cho, his trainer, with no choice but to send the horse to surgery even as expectations were high. Many people hope that the horse will return to full health and have a career ahead of him with Cho’s training as Cho is also the trainer.

In February at Phoenix, the popular motocross and X Games star made his K&N West debut; where he started 10th and crashed out to a 25th place three laps from the finish.

Into the Camping World Truck Series, the Nationwide Series and the Sprint Cup Series, the K&N series is NASCAR’s stepping stone. The Late Model type series has separate West and East schedules and championships, and has produced current NASCAR stars Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick, and potential stars Trevor Bayne, Austin Dillon and Ryan Truex.

At the three quarter mile track in Richmond, Pastrana will drive a Toyota in the 100 lap Thursday night race. The Sprint Cup teams will race 400 laps on Saturday night as well as the Nationwide Series has a 250 lap race on Friday night.

At South Boston Speedway in Virginia, Andrew Gipson is ready to make his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut next weekend.

Tapped by veteran driver and mentor Barney McRae, the 17 year old is the fourth driver to be developed in the series that has produced such racing greats as Joey Logano and Trevor Bayne. With only two years of racing experience, Gipson, unlike many of the other series’ current contingent, has gotten to this level. Hence, the 2011 season will be focused on development.

Last month NASCAR announced it had lowered the minimum age for drivers competing in its regional touring series to 15. The change applies to drivers in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour and NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.

In the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season opener in Greenville, N.C., on April 2, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Bill Elliott’s 15 year old son Chase Elliott, finished fourth.

In online sportsbooks NASCAR odds for this series has not yet been published.

In the NASCAR Nationwide Series, after problems at Bristol forced her out of her recent ride, came the agreement between RWR and Cobb. About the rest of the season, Cobb said she has spoken with some other Ford team owners, which includes Richard Petty Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing.

To female drivers, Ware is no stranger. In fact, for Angie Wilson, Amber Cope, Chrissy Wallace and Kim Crosby, RWR has fielded entries, perhaps putting him as the leader in the NASCAR series’ for endorsing women racers within the authorizing body of NASCAR.

Last weekend at Bristol, Cobb had a disagreement with 2nd Chance Motorsports and hence decided that in this Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide series race at California, she will drive the No. 41 Ford for Rick Ware Racing.

Last week, 2nd Chance Motorsports owner Rick Russell wanted Cobb to start and park after a few laps. This was something done to protect race cars by under-funded teams. At the start of the season, Russell had persuaded Cobb to pursue Nationwide Rookie of the Year honors and to leave the NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series.

In objection of having to start and park, Cobb walked off, with a mere five minutes before the race. Russell has pointed out that he will take legal action for violation of contract, as she had signed to drive the first five races of the season for owner Russell. Cobb claimed that Russell had threatened that if she drove the entire race, he would have NASCAR black-flag her.

Four of the last six races, Johnson has won the Las Vegas race. He snatched a victory away from his car owner last year and teammate Jeff Gordon, who wasn’t too happy with his former protégé. Johnson is the prohibitive favorite in NASCAR Odds at 9-2 and Jeff Gordon’s odds are set at 10-1, this week entering Las Vegas.

Even though the other two Hendrick drivers deserve a look this week, those two Hendrick drivers will be the favorites. Including the Cup race, Mark Martin will be driving in the NASCAR Nationwide race. Martin’s odds are 25-1 to bring home the World Championship belt that is awarded to the winner as Las Vegas is one of his favorite tracks.

In the Hendrick camp this leaves one driver, which we have not discussed. Believe it or not Dale Earnhardt Jr. has an opportunity to win his first race in 94 races as he is a 40-1 shot to win Las Vegas this weekend.

This year it is at the top of Kurt Busch’s list as he is still upset his brother won the Las Vegas race before he did. At 12-1 Busch has a perfect opportunity for his first Las Vegas win this year as he has been up front in the first two races this year. Brother Kyle is also a solid pick as he is 8-1 to win this weekend.