Your Fourth of July NASCAR News and Notes

Truex's Car Impounded: Martin Truex Jr.'s primary car was impounded yesterday after it failed tech inspection when its roof did not match the templates set by NASCAR. That meant Truex and his team had to go to a backup car which meant they missed first practice and didn't get a chance to run second practice due to the rains that came on Thursday night. Truex was none too happy about the situation.

�Somebody made a big mistake,� said Truex. �That shouldn�t happen at this level of auto racing, but people make mistakes. We�ll go on.�

�It�s tough when you miss practice. Two hours of practice isn�t much to begin with, you miss one hour and it�s tough to catch up if you�re not right.�

Truex unhappy with team [Speedtv.com]

S**t happens, Chad Walter: Crew Chief for Jr Motorsports number 5 car, Chad Walter, was fined by NASCAR for dropping the s-bomb on live television during last Saturday's Nationwide race at New Hampshire. Walter recevied a $10,000 fine, while the team suffred a loss of both 25 driver and owner points. Chad Walter is also on probation and will have to have a bar of soap in his mouth until December 31st.

Boy, what a bullshit call. What? It's not like they can fine me, too. [Source: Jayski.com]

Amirola in the 8 for 2009: Dale Earnhardt Inc. announced that Aric Amirola will drive the full time in 2009. *Yawn* This is news? [Source: DEI PR]

Hylton and Kerry Earnhardt to race at Daytona tonight: The 1,000 year old man James Harvey Hylton and the lovable Kerry Earnhardt will particpate in the Nationwide Race. Kerry will drive a DEI car while Hylton will drive for Johnny Davis' car. [Source: Jayski.com]

Stewart maybe looking at sponsorship for Haas CNC team

Of course you've all heard by now that Tony Stewart may be looking into buying into the troubled Haas CNC team. Well sponsorship for those teams may be lining up already. ESPN.com has been reporting that if Stewart joins Haas CNC he may be sponsored by Office Depot or Old Spice, there have also been speculation that Stewart may leave Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the year and Joey Lagano may come to Sprint Cup racing sooner than expected because of Stewart's absence. Of course Stewart is mum on the situation and Joe Gibbs Racing says that Tony isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

The second question is who will join Tony at Haas CNC if such moves do happen. Rumoured drivers include Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr., both drivers have contracts that expire at the end of the year. It also rumored that Truex may bring his Bass Pro sponsorship with him from DEI. UPS also may sponsor the second the car.

But for right now everyone is waiting for Tony Stewart's move and he isn't budging.

With Haas partnership possible, Stewart has eye on sponsorship [ESPN.com]