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"Have at it, boys" (also interpreted as "Boys, have at it") was a quote formerly used by NASCAR to describe the philosophy that the Sprint Cup Series drivers used starting in the 2010 season to solve their disputes on the race track. This practice was not abandoned near the end of the 2011 season and continued on in the 2012 season.
NASCAR fans (in addition to fans of car racing in general) have jointly accused the people in charge of NASCAR for making racing "too sterile" and "too calm" during the past seasons of its existence. [1] Robin Pemberton said those words during the 2010 pre-season Sprint Media Tour in Concord, North Carolina. [2] Racing without significant penalties for the drivers seemed to be the definition of this catch phrase. [2] People were beginning to follow the sport more thanks to this new "attitude" towards racing competition. [1] The final laps of the 2011 Showtime Southern 500 saw Kyle Busch get tangled up with Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer. [1] Many run-ins in the past have involved Jeff Gordon; especially during the 1997 Winston Cup Series season. [1] With the fans' interest at heart and the increased safety of the new car, NASCAR refused to change the way which they policed the racing events;. [1] Even in this "have-at-it" era of racing, there were clear limits to what drivers can do to each other. [3] "One of the limits is if drivers put each other into danger", Brian France explained in an interview after the Harvick-Busch incident at pit road. [3] This also applied to the Ron Hornaday Jr.-Kyle Busch incident at the 2011 WinStar World Casino 350K race. After Busch's one-weekend ban for the incident and also after Dan Wheldon's death, the "have at it, boys" era officially came to an end. [4] [5] NASCAR took this action under rules that allow it to park a driver in order to ensure the "orderly conduct of the event," an action which is not appealable. Since the drivers didn't solve this problem amongst themselves, the drivers did not "have at it;" NASCAR's officials had to solve this problem without any input from the drivers themselves.
NASCAR's action mathematically eliminated Busch from contention for the Sprint Cup in 2011, though any realistic chance of him winning it ended earlier in the Chase.
The Busch Light Clash is an annual non-championship pre-season NASCAR Cup Series exhibition event held in February before the season-opening Daytona 500. The event was held each year at Daytona International Speedway from the race's inception in 1979 until 2021, after which it was moved to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum beginning in 2022. Previously at Daytona, the race, along with the ARCA Menards Series' season-opening BRANDT 200, served as the kickoff events for Daytona Speedweeks. The event is one of two non-points races on the Cup Series schedule, the other being the NASCAR All-Star Race.
Kevin Michael Harvick is an American stock car racing driver and commentator. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart–Haas Racing. Harvick won the Cup Series championship in 2014 as well as the 2001 and 2006 Xfinity Series championships, and the 2007 Daytona 500.
Kyle Thomas Busch is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports. Busch is the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion and the 2015 and 2019 Cup Series champion. Busch is currently 9th on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list and his dominance of NASCAR's three major series has him ranked as one of the greatest racing drivers of all time. Busch is also a one-time WWE 24/7 Champion. He is the younger brother of 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion Kurt Busch.
Buschwhacker is a term for NASCAR drivers who are regulars in the top-level NASCAR Cup Series but who also compete on a regular basis in the second-tier Xfinity Series. The original coinage of the term "Buschwhacker" refers to Anheuser-Busch's longtime title sponsorship of the second-tier series through their Busch beer brand.
Richard Reed Childress is an American former race car driver in NASCAR. As the owner of Richard Childress Racing (RCR), he became one of the wealthiest men in North Carolina. In 2004, he opened a vineyard in the Yadkin Valley AVA near Lexington. Childress sat on the board of directors at the National Rifle Association of America until 2019.
The Mission 200 at The Glen is a Xfinity Series that takes place annually at the Watkins Glen International road course in Watkins Glen, New York. Sam Mayer is the defending race winner.
The 2007 Nextel Open and Nextel All-Star Challenge was a professional auto race held on Saturday, May 19, 2007, at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. North Carolina native and former NBA MVP Michael Jordan was the grand marshal of the event.
The 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 61st season of professional stock car racing in the United States, the 38th modern-era Cup series, and the last Cup season of the 21st century's first decade, the 2000s. The season included 36 races and two exhibition races with the regular season beginning with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The final ten races were known as 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup. Rick Hendrick won the Owners' Championship, while Jimmie Johnson won the Drivers' Championship with a fifth-place finish at the final race of the season. Chevrolet won the Manufacturers' Championship with 248 points.
The 2011 Budweiser Shootout was a stock car race and the first exhibition event of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on February 12, 2011 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The 75-lap race was won by Kurt Busch for the Penske Racing team. Jamie McMurray finished second and Ryan Newman came in third.
The 2009 Sharpie 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on August 22, 2009, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee.
The 2011 Showtime Southern 500, the 55th running of the event, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on May 7, 2011 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 370 laps, 3 laps over the advertised distance, it was the tenth race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season out of thirty-six. The pole position was won by Kasey Kahne of Red Bull Racing Team. The race was won by Regan Smith of Furniture Row Racing, the first win for both Smith and the team, with Carl Edwards in second and Brad Keselowski in third.
The 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series was the 31st season of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the second-tier professional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season included thirty-three races, down from thirty-four, and began with the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway and ended with the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Chevrolet won the Manufacturer's Championship. Joe Gibbs won the Owners' Championship with the No. 18 car, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of Roush Fenway Racing won the Drivers' championship with a sixth-place finish at the final race of the season.
The 2011 WinStar World Casino 350K was a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event held on November 4, 2011 at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 148 laps of the 1.5 miles (2.4 km) oval, it was the second-last race of the season, and was won by Kevin Harvick in a green-white-checker finish.
The 2012 Budweiser Shootout was the first exhibition stock car race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The 34th annual running of the Budweiser Shootout, it was held on February 18, 2012 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, before a crowd of 82,000 people. Kyle Busch of the Joe Gibbs Racing team won the 82-lap race. It was Busch's first victory in the event; Stewart-Haas Racing driver Tony Stewart finished second with Richard Petty Motorsports racer Marcos Ambrose third.
The 2012 Auto Club 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on March 25 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Shortened to 129 laps because of rain showers, it was the fifth race of the 2012 Sprint Cup Series season. The race was won by Tony Stewart for the Stewart-Haas Racing team. Kyle Busch finished second, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who started fourteenth, clinched third.
The 2013 Sprint Unlimited at Daytona was a non-championship NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on February 16, 2013, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 75 laps, it was the first exhibition race of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season. Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing won the race, while Greg Biffle finished second. Joey Logano, Tony Stewart, and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.
The 2013 Coca-Cola 600, the 54th running of the race, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on May 26, 2013, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, United States. Contested over 400 laps on the 1.5–mile (2.4 km) oval, it was the twelfth race of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series championship. Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing won the race, his second win in the Coca-Cola 600 and in the 2013 season. Kasey Kahne followed in second while Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.
The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 67th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 44th modern-era Cup season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Sprint Unlimited exhibition race, the Budweiser Duels, and the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kyle Busch won the championship, despite missing the first third of the season due to severe leg injuries suffered in an Xfinity Series race at Daytona. Busch also became the first Toyota driver to win a Cup championship. Despite not running the full season, Brett Moffitt was named Rookie of the Year.
The 2014 Irwin Tools Night Race was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on August 23, 2014, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 500 laps, it was the 24th race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Joey Logano of Team Penske took his third win of the season. Logano's teammate Brad Keselowski finished second while Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, and Kurt Busch completed the top five placings. The top rookies of the race were Kyle Larson (12th), Justin Allgaier (19th), and Austin Dillon (28th). This would also be the final race for veteran NASCAR drivers, Jeff Burton and Dave Blaney.
The 2015 myAFibRisk.com 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on September 20, 2015, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) intermediate speedway, it was the 27th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, first race of the Chase and first race of the Challenger Round. Denny Hamlin won the race, his second of the season. Carl Edwards finished second. Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top–five.