Whitt goes for two
Brandon Whitt hopes to be doing double duty this next week at Daytona International Speedway.
The El Cajon native will try to qualify a Toyota for Sunday's 200-mile ARCA race and the Feb. 18 Daytona 500.
Whitt, who is also listed as a rookie in NASCAR'S Nextel Cup series, has two previous starts on the high-banked oval in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Speaking of NASCAR, the stock car association made a major rules change last week in a bid to open its 43-car fields to more drivers. Past season champions will now be limited to six provisional starts a season rather than being assured a spot in every field.
James Gang rides
El Cajon's Michael James led his team to a fifth overall and a fourth in the open buggy division last weekend in the Parker 425 season opener to the Best In the Desert off-road series.
Chuck Hovey of Escondido was eighth overall and fifth in the open buggy class while the father-son team of Kevin and Caleb Derby of Escondido was 26th overall and fourth in a limited buggy class.
Mike Falkosky of Ramona won a limited pickup truck division and finished 74th overall. John Sunderland of Valley Center was second in his class and 73rd overall.
Conflict erased
Championship Off-Road Racing has adjusted its 2007 schedule to eliminate a conflict with the annual Unlimited Hydroplane races on Mission Bay.
Both the Unlimiteds and the second of CORR's two 2007 events on its Chula Vista off-road course were scheduled for Sept. 15-16. CORR yesterday announced its race would be moved to Sept. 28-29. The first CORR race at Chula Vista is scheduled for June 9-10.
Meanwhile, seven-time national motocross/Supercross champion Rick Johnson will be driving a Pro 2 pickup for Baldwin Racing during the 2007 CORR season. Johnson served the series as a television commentator last year, although he drove in the season finale at Chula Vista.
SCHEDULE
Today
NHRA drag racing: 47th annual Winternationals, Pomona, qualifying, 2 p.m.
Tomorrow
NHRA: Winternationals, Pomona, qualifying, 2 p.m.
Saturday
NASCAR Nextel Cup: Budweiser Shootout, Daytona Beach, Fla. (70 laps, 2.5-mile, high-banked oval; Channel 6, 5:30 p.m.) – The all-star race is open only to past winners and drivers who won a pole last season. Denny Hamlin is the defending champ. The field includes two local drivers, reigning Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson of El Cajon and Carlsbad's Boris Said, the surprise winner of the pole at Daytona for July's Pepsi 400.
NHRA: Winternationals, Pomona, qualifying, noon.
Sunday
NHRA: Winternationals, Pomona, 11 a.m. (ESPN2, 5 p.m., tape) – Rain could again play a role in Southern California's annual drought-snapping event. Melanie Troxel last year became the sixth woman driver ever to win a Top Fuel event. Four-time Top Fuel season champ Tony Schumacher needs one win to top the legendary Don “Big Daddy” Garlits as the all-time leader in event wins. Each has 35.
NASCAR Nextel Cup: Daytona 500 qualifying, Daytona Beach, Fla. (2 laps, 2.5-mile oval; Channel 6) – Only the top two qualifiers are guaranteed spots in the Feb. 18 race. The rest of the field is set by the Feb. 15 qualifiers.
