The Media and Fan Engagement Center. (NASCAR)

On Monday, NASCAR unveiled its new "Media and Fan Engagement Center," a 500 square foot area at NASCAR Plaza that, in partnership with HP, boasts 13 high-definition 47" screens to "monitor, analyze and better understand the current media landscape in order to respond more effectively and efficiently to fans and respond more rapidly to national, local and global media."

Sounds like a NASA Control Center, huh? Well, pardon me for thinking Truman Show.

“The Fan and Media Engagement Center build has been a thorough process more than a year in the making, and we are excited to see it come to life,” NASCAR CEO Brian France said. “We believe this tool has the potential to be the best of its kind in sports – the first ever to combine not only social, but also traditional and broadcast media analysis. We’ll be able to use this to help our industry and business partners and better connect with NASCAR fans across the world. It’s another example of our commitment to innovation.”

Innovation. After

(Getty)Kevin Swindell is doing what no driver has ever done before at the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals.

The indoor midget race in Tulsa, Oklahoma, once again attracted the likes of Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne after they got done with preseason testing at Daytona, but it was Swindell who dominated the show from the front row, becoming the first driver to win four straight Chili Bowls.

Heck, he was the first driver to win consecutive Chili Bowls. His dad Sammy, who has five titles to his credit, finished second.

As for Stewart and Kahne, they weren't so lucky. Stewart finished a lap down in 15th after starting 12th in Saturday night's A-Main. Kahne didn't make the A-Main and neither did Justin Allgaier.

Kyle Larson, a development driver for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing who has made four starts in the Camping World Truck Series last year and won the K&N East title, might have been Kevin Swindell's biggest challenger. However after spinning out as the two were battling for the lead early in the

The Big One spans all car generations.

The multi-car crash that has been around all during NASCAR's restrictor plate era struck again on Friday when Dale Earnhardt Jr. made contact with Marcos Ambrose's rear bumper during testing and a seven car crash ensued.

The bumpers on the new cars don't line up as nicely as they did on the previous car and when Ambrose moved to the inside and Junior made contact with him, Ambrose was in the wall and soon after, cars were in the grass.

"We got off the back straightaway and were just kind of pushing him along there and our cars sort of just didn’t match up very well," Junior said after the crash. "I got him hooked into the fence. I pushed (Truex) a little bit in his Toyota and they matched up good. The bumpers were good, didn’t have any problem with any of the cars. That is the first time I pushed a Ford. The roll bar of the front of my car is just at the right place where his car sets right up on top of that. I sort of had him going down the back

Likely not talking with Jeff Gordon. (Getty)

At some point in our lives, we've all gotten sick of talking about a significant moment, only for the topic to be brought up again and again. And it's safe to say that Clint Bowyer has reached that point when talking about Jeff Gordon.

As you've seen over and over again (and replayed to chariots of fire music and turned into a meme), Gordon intentionally wrecked Bowyer at Phoenix, the next-to-last race of 2012 after contact between the two had sent Gordon into the wall laps earlier. The intentional crash destroyed Bowyer's championship hopes (and his car) and after pulling to pit road, Bowyer made a full sprint to the garage area to find Gordon while the two drivers' teams ended up in a big scrum.

Bowyer hasn't forgiven Gordon for that moment, or if he has in private, he's certainly not showing it.

"Who cares? Really, who cares?" Bowyer said on Thursday when he was asked if he talked to Gordon between the banquet and Daytona testing. "Apparently you guys do way more than we do. I can

Brad Keselowski's 2013 Ford. (Getty Images for NASCAR)

The Sprint Cup Series' annual preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway gets underway on Thursday, and while it's the second superspeedway test of the new Sprint Cup Series car, it will be the first time in the car at a restrictor plate track for many drivers. Seven teams participated in the Talladega test.

Of course, the big storyline over the weekend will once again be the new cars and how they drive and handle, especially in the draft. Drafting will be allowed in the afternoon test sessions. For those of you who aren't fans of the tandem drafting, you got a good early sign at Talladega when the new Gen-6 car was generally more unstable in a two car tandem than the COTs were.

Daytona testing will probably be the biggest indicator of how recognizable the new body styles are for manufacturers, given that many cars will feature bare paint schemes. With the COT, cars without manufacturer decals were virtually indistinguishable to the naked eye without other visual cues. With

(Getty)By now, you know the Jeremy Mayfield saga. There's no need to rehash it, right?

OK, we'll do it quickly, promise. Mayfield is still indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for failing a drug test in 2009. Since then, he's been involved in a number of legal battles outside of his one with NASCAR including an incident involving his dogs and a postal worker and, most recently, is facing multiple felony charges including possession of methamphetamine and stolen goods.

Anyway, NASCAR CEO Brian France was a guest on Motor Racing Network's NASCAR Live on Tuesday night and Mayfield called in. And Mayfield was put through on-air to France.

We know what's going through your head right now; you likely have visions of an epic radio disaster. But believe it or not, it was civil -- no one was called a whore.

You can click here to listen to the clip. We've transcribed it below.

Mayfield, after host Eli Gold (also the radio voice of Alabama football) introduces him to the show: Hey thank you. I thought I

The Phoenix Racing No. 51 (Getty)

Regan Smith will drive Phoenix Racing’s No. 51 for the Daytona 500 and will likely split the ride with AJ Allmendinger in 2013 according to Phoenix general manager Steve Barkdoll.

Both Smith and Allmendinger drove for the team at the end of 2012 after Kurt Busch left to start his sting with Furniture Row Racing before the end of the season. Smith was scheduled to finish out the season, but was called up to drive at Charlotte and Kansas for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Allmendinger was called in as his replacement and drove four races for the team while Smith drove two.

From the Sporting News:

“It will be more than likely AJ at Phoenix and the next handful of races,” Barkdoll said. “Regan, with his concentration on the Nationwide deal, he’s going to pick and choose the ones that he wants. … I talked to AJ yesterday and he doesn’t have anything going right now and he did us a really good job.

Allmendinger had said the same publicly over the weekend at the Roar Before the 24 Grand-Am test. It’s a

(Getty Images)

After Budweiser announced that it wouldn't be sponsoring the race now known as the Shootout in 2013, the exhibition race the week before the Daytona 500 was looking for a new sponsor and potentially, a new name.

It now has both. And, the new name is, uh, interesting.

Cup Series title sponsor Sprint is now sponsoring the race, and it will be called the "Sprint Unlimited." Yes, it's named after Sprint's data plan marketing angle.

“Sprint is entering its 10th season as title sponsor of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series,” Steve Gaffney, vice president of marketing for Sprint said in a release. “From the outset, we promised unprecedented access for race fans, and each year we challenge ourselves to honor that commitment in innovative ways. Thanks to the strength of our partnership with NASCAR and Daytona International Speedway, we have designed The Sprint Unlimited so that fans play a major role in all aspects of the event. It is the ideal way to start this milestone season, and we look