Every weekday morning, we'll run out four NASCAR stories to get your day started right.

Brian Vickers is hellbent for the Chase: "Vickers qualified for every race and placed 19th in the standings. A season earlier, when he debuted for the then-brand new Red Bull Racing and with a manufacturer, Toyota, making its entry into Cup, Vickers placed a dismal 38th in the standings and earned just one top-five finish. Now with a solid 2008 to build on, a second season at Red Bull under his belt and a new crew chief in Ryan Pemberton, Vickers has set the bar higher heading into the 2009 campaign."

Time to get the non-NASCAR folks out of the sport: "Over the last couple of years we have seen a rash of non-NASCAR Owners and drivers come to our sport, and in most cases quickly leave. NASCAR is a completely different animal compared to other Motor Sports, and especially compared to other stick and ball sports. With that being said it might be better if these non-NASCAR types just stayed away. Think about it like this: the company Boston Ventures bought a controlling interest in Petty Enterprises less then a year ago. Already their influence has been removed from the sport. Granted, on the business side they did acquire the Richard Petty Driving experience, and with their background running carnival attractions that is a good move. However, their legacy as team owners is garbage. They did absolutely nothing."

NASCAR teams are clinging to one another for survival: "Now that investors are safeguarding their savings and sponsors are not spending, struggling NASCAR teams are looking for help from within their ranks. And for their survival, they're finding comfort in one another's arms. [Ed. note: Yeeech.] In the two months since the 2008 season closed, many of the teams in NASCAR's top series have engaged in a flurry of mergers, acquisitions and other assorted alliances that have changed the ownership and team landscape. Most teams now can't be said without taking a breath."

Mechanic Patrick Reynolds writes a new column for Bump Drafts: "In the expansion of auto racing coverage we have gotten away from the accurate meaning of the word NASCAR and inserted it for the name of the country's biggest stock car series currently under the Sprint Cup title. And as bright as the spotlight shines on names like Burton or Edwards, drivers like [Todd] Owens and [Brad] Soll and thousands of others, share a little less of that same light. The words Sprint Cup and NASCAR can be exchanged sometimes, but all too often appear in incorrect context and have shaped a lot of newer fans views of the sport's structure, sometimes inaccurately. It evolved over a period of time and left some current grassroots NASCAR competitors missing some attention they may have had years ago."

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