DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones will serve as Honorary Race Official for the 54th annual Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday, Feb. 26 at Daytona International Speedway (FOX, 1 p.m. ET).

As Honorary Race Official, Jones will be introduced at the driver’s meeting, participate in pre-race ceremonies and ride in one of the honorary race official cars ahead of the 43-car field for the 200-lap, 500-mile historic race.

“Jon ‘Bones’ Jones is a huge star in mixed martial arts,” Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III said. “We are excited to welcome him to the ‘World Center of Racing’ and have him be a part of the pre-race ceremonies for NASCAR’s biggest, richest and most prestigious race.”

“I am thrilled to be able to serve as Honorary Race Official at this year's Daytona 500, NASCAR's premier event,” Jones said. “Like the UFC, NASCAR has a passionate and knowledgeable fan base, and I am honored that I will get to share this experience with them."

Jones’ holds a career record of 15-1, which is comprised of eight knockouts and five submissions. He was named “Most Dangerous Man” at the 2011 Spike Guys’ Choice Awards and “2011 Fighter of the Year” at the World MMA Awards.

In December 2011, the Endicott, N.Y. native capped off what many have hailed as the greatest year in MMA history with a submission against Lyoto

Earlier in the year, Jones became the youngest champion in UFC history at the age of 23 after he won all four of his fights and earned the Light Heavyweight title. With two more defeats of former champions later in 2011, Jones became the first fighter in UFC history to defeat three former champions in one year.

Jones entered the UFC in August 2008 after only four months of competing in professional fights.

 Currently, Jones trains in Albuquerque, N.M. under legendary MMA coach Greg Jackson. On April 21 in Atlanta, Jones will take on his former champion training partner, “Suga” Rashad Evans, in one of the most anticipated UFC fights of the year.

Tickets for Speedweeks 2012 events, including the 54th annual Daytona 500, are available online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling             1-800-PITSHOP.

If you are unable to attend in person, be sure to tune in to the Daytona 500 on FOX on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. ET.

Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter (www.twitter.com/disupdates) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/DaytonaInternationalSpeedway). In addition, fans can follow NASCAR on Twitter (@NASCAR) and stay up to speed on the latest news by using hashtags #NASCAR and #DAYTONA500. - dis pr

photo credit:  us presswire

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In one breath, Robby Gordon is bemoaning the fact he couldn't quit NASCAR even if he wanted to. He has money tied up in a race shop and airplanes, with crew members depending on him for their livelihood.

Minutes later, though, Gordon is talking with boundless optimism about the potential of Speed Energy, a brand of energy drink that he's trying to market on his own.

 And does he have a deal for you.

"Race team's for sale," Gordon said. "It's been up for sale. Really, what I'd like to do, I think the smartest thing for us to do as we're talking candidly here, would be to bring in investors that have more opportunity to [attract] big sponsor relations.

"Obviously, I can drive it, we can run it, but between doing that and operating Speed, we need people that have more relations than I have."

The 43-year-old Gordon has been an owner/driver in NASCAR since 2005, and the former Indy driver has had his moments -- including a second-place finish at Infineon Raceway in 2010.

But there are challenges, too.

Does he make money in NASCAR?

"Right now? No," Gordon said. "We haven't made money in NASCAR in a long time."

Would he consider getting out?

"I've got a 100,000-square-foot building," Gordon said. "Unfortunately, I've got airplanes that I can't even afford to use today that are sitting there, I'm still paying insurance on them, I'm still paying payments. The race shop, it's not paid for, obviously I'm paying rent on it. So I'm stuck. Plain and simple."

Gordon later reconsidered his use of the word "stuck," saying he would prefer to stay in NASCAR on a limited schedule and take on investors.

"The reality is, I don't want to be all the way out," Gordon said. "I would like to run about 15 stock car races a year. That would be my goal."

That would allow him to continue pursuing his diverse racing interests outside of NASCAR -- and continue to build Speed Energy, which he insists is on its way to becoming a marketing success that can grow to take on the likes of industry titans such as Red Bull. - AP

photo credit:  getty images

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The owner of Hendrick Motorsports disputes NASCAR's claim that Jimmie Johnson's Daytona 500 car was illegal and plans to appeal any penalty the governing body issues.

NASCAR on Friday confiscated the C-posts -- pillars that come down from the roof to the quarter panel -- from Johnson's car during the initial inspection process. Officials said the pieces were so obviously altered to create an aerodynamic advantage that they could be seen by the naked eye.

Sprint Cup series director John Darby said it was a major offense and could result in a suspension for crew chief Chad Knaus and others involved.

HMS owner Rick Hendrick said before Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout that the car is the same one that Johnson ran in all four restrictor plate races last season, including the Daytona 500, and the roof had not been altered.

He added that the car went to NASCAR's Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., for inspection and was returned without any notification of being outside the lines.

"That car, we've run it four times,'' Hendrick said. "It was built for this place and they never touched the roof, and it's been to the Tech Center after they won Talladega (in the spring). All that's been done is paint it, so I don't get it.''

Hendrick acknowledged that this is the same car Knaus was caught on film prior to the October Talladega race telling Johnson to damage the rear end if he won. Johnson's car was taken back to the R&D center after that race and the remaining races in 2011.

Asked if this was in response to that incident, for which Knaus received a reprimand from NASCAR, Hendrick said, "Maybe you can put it together.

"I don't understand," Hendrick continued. "They know the serial numbers of the cars. Our guys swear they have not touched the roof on the car."

Hendrick said he plans to meet with NASCAR to discuss the matter. NASCAR said a decision on penalties wouldn't come until after the February 26 Daytona 500.

"When you take it to the Tech Center, you would think they could see it if they have a problem," he said.

Knaus' only comment on the issue was, "They found some things they didn't like and they asked us to remove them.''

The No. 48 team has replaced the C-posts, practiced it on Saturday and plans to use the car to qualify for the 500 on Sunday.

This is not the first time Knaus and the No. 48 team have faced sanctions before the "Great American Race." In 2006, Knaus was suspended for four races and fined $25,000 when NASCAR discovered a device that pushed the rear window out more than three-quarters of an inch to create a competitive advantage.

Knaus sat out the 500 and Johnson won with Darian Grubb as his interim crew chief. He has been penalized by NASCAR eight other times, two before he arrived at HMS.

Knaus' last penalty came in 2007 when he was suspended for six races after NASCAR claimed the front fender was outside the tolerances at Infineon Raceway.

"You know, I don't like it if we find some flagrant problem," Hendrick said. "I don't like it when someone says I just don't like the looks of it and never put the plate down on it."

NASCAR officials said the issue was discovered before it went through inspection, and was confirmed in inspection. Hendrick disputed that after talking to Knaus and his team, saying NASCAR never used the claw used to measure if a car is in specification. - by david newton - www.espn.com

When is Kyle Busch going to accept his 'real' nickname?

"WildThing"

Following Busch's hair raising win Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway in NASCAR's annual kick-off event the Bud Shootout, twitter nation was blowing up with tweets praising Busch's driving skills.

Fans of Busch, haters of Busch, and non NASCAR fans who just happened to catch the race on TV, were all chiming in regarding the amazing saves Busch pulled off throughout the 75-lap exhibition race. Whether they loved Busch or hated Busch, they all seemed to agree - "WildThing" can drive!

Not only does twitter world agree Busch is a helluva wheelman, they also agree his nickname is "WildThing". Nearly every tweet I read regarding Busch Saturday night, referred to the 26-year old Joe Gibbs Racing star as "WildThing".

But, Busch refers to himself as "Rowdy", a nickname he stole from the Tom Cruise movie "Days Of Thunder". Doesn't Busch know you cannot give yourself a nickname? Nickname's need to be given to you, you don't give yourself a nickname - it just doesn't work. For those of you about to type me a nasty e-mail, the nickname Captain Thunder was given to me by Sirius/XM Sportstalk host Scottie Ferrall @ScottFerrall on twitter. So, save your e-mails for Busch.

"Rowdy" was a name for another driver from another time, in a make believe movie. No one calls Kyle Busch "Rowdy" - except Busch himself.

Come on Kyle, embrace "WildThing", it's who you are. You have been "WildThing" since the day you drove on to the truck series scene in 2001. Don't run from the moniker, use it, market it, embrace it - learn to love it.

The saves Busch made in Saturday night's Bud Shootout where spectacular. The way he made the sports defending champion his bitch on the final lap was stunning.

But, none of it was Rowdy. Wild yes, Rowdy, ah no. - Captain Thunder - www.CaptainThunderRacing.com

photo credit:  getty images

Clint Bowyer described his 22nd-place qualifying lap as "uneventful."

Maybe that's because all the drama took place in the inspection line -- after time trials.

Bowyer's No. 15 Toyota failed the post-qualifying height stick test when his car was deemed too low in the left front. Bowyer's qualifying time was disallowed, and he will start the second Duel from the rear of the field.

The problem was a shock absorber that failed to come back up after the attempt, as usually happens.

"I don't know if we got something stuck in the bleed hole in the shock, but the front just didn't come back up," said Scott Miller, vice president of competition at Michael Waltrip Racing, which fields Bowyer's cars. "It's the same stuff that we ran in practice, and it was coming back up.

"We'll go over there and get to the bottom of it and see what happened."

NASCAR doesn't plan to impose any additional penalties, a typical posture for this sort of infraction. - nascar media wire service

photo credit:  getty images

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kyle Busch rallied from two near-disasters to win Saturday's Budweiser Shootout with a slingshot move past Tony Stewart a few yards from the finish line at Daytona International Speedway.

Starting from the back of the field in a backup car -- necessitated by a wreck in Friday's practice -- Busch won the season-opening exhibition race for the first time. His winning margin over Stewart was .013 seconds, the closest in Shootout history, in a green-white-checkered finish that took the race seven laps beyond its scheduled distance.

 Marcos Ambrose recovered from a pair of wrecks to finish third, followed by Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin. Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards and Juan Montoya completed the top 10.

Busch's victory was the first in a NASCAR race car using electronic fuel injection, which was introduced to the Sprint Cup Series this season.

Stewart had just taken the lead on Lap 74 of a scheduled 75 when a violent wreck in Turn 4 sent Jeff Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet barrel-rolling through Turn 4 and sliding on its roof toward the entrance to pit road.

Gordon was following Kyle Busch on the backstretch, and contact between the cars turned Busch's Toyota onto the apron. Busch made a dramatic save for the second time in the race, but Gordon slid up the track into the Chevrolets of Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray.

As all three cars contacted the outside wall, Jimmie Johnson's Chevrolet nosed beneath the right rear bumper of Gordon's car and turned it upside down. The wreck left 11 cars on the lead lap and sent the race to overtime.

"With Gordon behind me, I don't know what the deal was there -- I'd like to talk to him about it," Busch said. "When we came off [Turn] 2, he had me sideways, and then all the way down the backstretch, I was still sideways -- left, right, left, right, everywhere -- then we were off into 3 and he turned me sideways again. He was on the left side of my bumper instead of the right."

The first of the close calls for Busch, on Lap 48, strung the field out, leaving a 10-car pack fighting for the lead. Busch's Toyota twice turned sideways off the bumper of Johnson, and twice Busch saved the car from calamity despite running onto the apron in Turn 2.

"Stab and steer, stab and steer," Busch said of the technique that bailed him out of trouble. "That's what you do. And some brakes. There are brakes involved, too. I thought I was clear ... and I tried going down slowly, and Jimmie just must have been there a little bit, turned me sideways and got me on the apron -- scared everybody half to death, including me."

The complexion of the race changed dramatically on Lap 55, when a chain-reaction wreck that started with contact between the cars of polesitter Martin Truex Jr., Ambrose and Joey Logano clobbered those three vehicles and eliminated Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth.

The resulting fourth caution of the race bunched the field for a restart on Lap 62, with Biffle in the lead, followed by Hendrick Motorsports teammates Gordon and Johnson and reigning Sprint Cup Series champion Stewart.

Rule changes NASCAR instituted during the offseason changed the character of racing at Daytona. Though Busch and Stewart hooked up for the final two-lap dash, drivers spent the vast majority of the race drafting in packs. To Stewart, it was a significant improvement.

"I had fun racing at Daytona again, which I haven't had for a while," Stewart said. "This is better than having to sit there and stare at the back of a spoiler for 500 miles."

The race was barely eight laps old when contact from David Ragan's Ford turned Paul Menard's Chevrolet and ignited a multicar wreck that also damaged the cars of Kasey Kahne, Hamlin, Kenseth, Montoya, Michael Waltrip, Jeff Burton and Gordon.

Earnhardt, who had led the first three laps, had just regained the top spot on Lap 8 and was out in front when the wreck erupted behind him. The crash sidelined Menard, Ragan and Waltrip and knocked Hamlin and Kahne off the lead lap. Burton also fell of the lead lap during the first 25-lap segment when he pitted under green with a cut tire.

"Everybody was real racy and I just got into the back of Menard," Ragan said after exiting his car. "You get a good run, and you're pushing a little bit, and I guess he was pushing whoever was in front of him. And when you've got the meat in between the sandwich, you usually get wrecked."

McMurray was at the front of the field when NASCAR called the competition caution after Lap 25. Gordon, undeterred by minor damage to his car, was second, followed by Harvick, Kyle Busch and Ambrose. - nascar media wire service