DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- After teams experienced some overheating engines in various drafting formations last weekend in the practices leading up to Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout -- which continued in the race itself -- NASCAR made a technical change Wednesday morning at Daytona International Speedway.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Similar accidents in practice Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway sent Kasey Kahne to a backup car and Brad Keselowski into conservation mode as 49 Sprint Cup teams prepared for Thursday's Gatorade Duel 150-mile qualifying races.

After a long, cold winter without racing NASCAR makes its annual pilgrimage to Daytona Beach. While most of the country huddles under blankets, the drivers and some lucky fans get to spend two weeks basking in the Florida sun. Several practices, exhibition races and a qualification session give fantasy players a ton of data. Unfortunately, none of it is particularly useful in handicapping the Daytona 500.

With the Daytona 500 just days away, here's how the eight drivers in the Coca-Cola racing family are gearing up for the 2012 NASCAR season:

http://www.insidesimracing.tv presents This Week Inside Sim Racing for the week of January 14th. In this episode we kick the year off with IRacing news including a look towards the future for that sim. We also take a look at the new truck coming to ARCA sim racing as well as the free DLC for Forza. In addition to that we will talk about RFactor 2 and their new open beta, including pricing and features of the sim. Also in this show is a new simrig of the week and an interview with Bob Earl, racecar driver and maker of the VRC Mark II Chassis. Please visit our sponsor at www.iracing.com ARCA sim Racing http://www.thesimfactory.com/main/ Forza Motorsports 4 http://forzamotorsport.net/en-us/hyundai_veloster_bonus_pack/ RFactor 2 http://rfactor.net/web/rf2/ Sim Racing Nation http://simracingnation.com/ Simrig of the Week http://insidesimracing.tv/forums/viewtopic.php?f=110&t=5984 Bob Earl VRC Mark II http://www.bobearlracing.com/

The No. 6 car of Roush Fenway Racing may have been the last vehicle to win a Sprint Cup event at Daytona International Speedway, but these Speedweeks it feels like something of a stepchild. The driver, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., is a full-time competitor in the Nationwide Series. The crew chief, Chad Norris, usually runs Roush's research and development department. The entire effort is a one-time deal, partly because the program had top 35 points available from last season, partly to provide the Roush brigade with an even number of entries in Sunday's Daytona 500.

http://www.insidesimracing.tv presents a review of the Madcatz Wireless Force Feedback Racing Wheel. This is one of very few wheels that are currently available on the XBox 360. Driving sims such as Forza 4, F1 2011, or Dirt 3 can really be enhance when playing with a wheel. Find out how this one performs. Please visit our sponsors at www.iracing.com

http://www.insidesimracing.tv presents This Week Inside Sim Racing for the end of the year. We cover many topics of sim racing news from the end of the year as well as look a little into 2012. We cover the latest sim from the makers of NetKar Pro and Ferrari Virtual Academy this time it will go by the name Assetto Corsa. We also cover some of the latest new regarding RFactor 2. In addition to that we look at the iRacing World Tour Schedule for 2012. We showcase a new viewers rig in the Tamiya Simrig of the Week. Then we have a special guest perform the ISR Challenge and he is Bill Kreig of Granstand.com. Please visit our sponsors at http://www.iracing.com Assetto Corsa http://www.assettocorsa.net/?lang=en RFactor 2 http://rfactor.net/web/rf2/ iRacing World Tour Schedule http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/iracing-news/2012-iracing-com-world-tour-schedule/ Simrig of the Week http://insidesimracing.tv/forums/viewtopic.php?f=110&t=5752

http://www.insidesimracing.tv presents an interview with the North American GT Academy Champion, Bryan Heitkotter. Bryan was the first from North America in the competition that Sony and Nissan have backed since 2008. Bryan went up against more than 50,000 in Gran Turismo 5 to win his spot as a GT Academy pro driver and will run in the 24 hours of Dubai in January of 2012. Check out the entire GT Academy show here http://www.nissanusa.com/gt-academy-web.html GT US Finals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KzasiDfkRI GT Academy road to LeMans 1 of 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiFIiTP_loc 2 of 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--VuZdVgeUU 3 of 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2LtT-AYE1s Mid Ohio Update : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo8ZVV05nBg Bryans Driver profile : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAMcQDZcqSI

http://insidesimracing.tv presents our review of the Xbox 360 Wireless Speedwheel and Kinect for use with driving games on the xbox. The 360 Speedwheel is the entry level wheel for many gamers looking for more out of their driving sims. Will the Speedwheel hold up to the standards of the ISR team? Kinect for the Xbox turns your body into the controller. In the case of Forza 4 it turns your hands into the steering wheel and allows for head tracking and speech recognition. We will see how this works both driving and navigating through games. Please visit our sponsor at http://www.iracing.com

The SimFactory has released a new preview video of the Chevy Silverado truck that will be coming to their ARCA Sim Racing title soon.

News sourced from: VirtualR.net

Speedweeks 2012 at Daytona International Speedway is a third of the way complete and maybe the most significant face that hasn't been seen is that of Sprint Cup driver Brian Vickers.

As teams make final preparations to start the 2012 race season, NASCAR announced Tuesday the lineup of 2012 contingency program sponsors for all three national series.

Speedweeks 2012 at Daytona International Speedway is a third of the way complete and maybe the most significant face that hasn't been seen is that of Sprint Cup driver Brian Vickers.

Hey everyone! I truly can't believe that it's already time to start the 2012 season, and I am very excited to get back into the swing of things and start racing. It's just that it kind of seems like yesterday we were wrapping up at Homestead-Miami Speedway and heading into the holiday season. Anyway, I have been in Daytona for a few days now -- my wife, Ashley, and I drove down early so we could watch the ARCA race, which is always a fun time for both of us, having come up through that series on my way to where I'm at now in the Nationwide Series.

As teams make final preparations to start the 2012 race season, NASCAR announced Tuesday the lineup of 2012 contingency program sponsors for all three national series.

Speedweeks 2012 at Daytona International Speedway is a third of the way complete and maybe the most significant face that hasn't been seen is that of Sprint Cup driver Brian Vickers.

Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing announced Tuesday plans to race the full 2012 Camping World Truck Series schedule. In addition, the team will enter select Nationwide Series events this season. For owner and driver Jennifer Jo Cobb, this marks a fresh canvas and she and her No. 10 team are more ready than ever to make a lasting impression.

As teams make final preparations to start the 2012 race season, NASCAR announced Tuesday the lineup of 2012 contingency program sponsors for all three national series.

http://www.insidesimracing.tv presents a review of the Sim-Seats SRX Driving Simulator. We take a detailed look at this rig and then take it for a long drive to see what it is made of. Despite being priced like many wheel stands, the SRX is a full size rig including the seat. It is fully adjustable and can accommodate most wheel and pedals. In this review you will find out if it can really hold up to the riggors of sim racing. Please visit our sponsors at http://www.iracing.com For more information on sim-seats: http://www.sim-seats.com/

The 2013 Dodge Charger that will be run in the Sprint Cup Series beginning next season will be unveiled Mar. 11 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway following the driver's meeting prior to the running of the Kobalt Tools 400.

These days, the biggest thing going on with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s position in the Sprint Cup Series is he appreciates crew chief Steve Letarte and his men's hard work. Especially since that's placed their No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet near the front of the field.

Even though she had a guaranteed starting berth, even though hers would be the only car out on the race track, Danica Patrick still felt nervous prior to her first Sprint Cup qualifying session.

Jamie McMurray kicked off the 2010 season by leading the final two laps and winning the Daytona 500. Last year, Trevor Bayne came from nowhere and put his name on the Harley J. Earl trophy, becoming the youngest winner of the Great American Race. The past two 500's provided some amazing memories, but also vaulted some of the lesser-known names into the stratosphere.

RAB Racing with Brack Maggard has named 2003 Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil as the driver of its No. 09 Toyota Tundra for the season-opening NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 24.