NASCAR ROUNDUP | News and notes

No Cup race at Ky. Speedway in ’09: Despite the pleas of Kentucky Speedway’s prospective new owner, a NASCAR official says there will be no Sprint Cup race at the track next year. NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Saturday that the 2009 Sprint Cup series schedule won’t include a stop at the 1.5-mile tri-oval located about halfway between Louisville and Cincinnati.

Darnell wins close trucks race: Erik Darnell beat Johnny Benson in a photo finish Saturday in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway. Darnell, who gave team owner Jack Roush his fourth truck victory and 17th race win overall on the two-mile Michigan oval, was on his way to what looked like an easy victory until rookie Mark Mitchell scraped the wall and brought out a caution flag seven laps from the end. That bunched up the field and, when the green flag waved for the final restart with three laps remaining, Benson did everything he could think of to pass the leader. He finally drove his Toyota all the way onto the apron coming off the final turn and nosed ahead, but Darnell also went low, driving his Ford alongside Benson and using a side draft to win by 0.005 seconds — just inches.

Two officials suspended: Two officials suspended by NASCAR are accused in a $225 million lawsuit of exposing themselves to a former co-worker. Tim Knox and Bud Moore have been placed on indefinite administrative paid leave. NASCAR will not reveal the identities of the officials sent home Friday from Kentucky Speedway, but a person familiar with the investigation confirmed to The Associated Press that Knox and Moore were suspended.

Harvick criticizes attitudes: Kevin Harvick isn’t impressed with the attitudes of some of the young drivers who have arrived in NASCAR in the last few years. In the wake of a meeting Friday in which NASCAR president Mike Helton asked drivers to complain less and be more mindful of the economic woes affecting fans, Harvick said Saturday a lot of the grousing is coming from drivers who haven’t been around long. “There are a lot of them that disrespect the sport week in and week out and they act like a bunch of 18-year-old punks, which most of them probably are, and they just need to grow up,” Harvick said. “If we all move in the same direction, things will get better, as they would in any business, whether it’s the media or the drivers or the owners. Everybody here has the same goal and that’s to have a successful sport.”

Associated Press