Elliott wins at Iowa Speedway

Chase Elliott saved his first win for one of the biggest stages on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series schedule.
He won the race at Iowa Speedway which pits the top driver from the East and West Series.
Elliott started 15th and won his first race in his 16th career start on the K&N Pro Series East.
The East Series took the top seven spots in the race at Iowa Speedway.
Dylan Kwasniewski was the highest-finishing driver from the West Series in eighth. He was credited with a win and padded his lead in the West Series standings.
Travis Pastrana, an X-Games champion and action sports athlete, had the best finish of his K&N Pro Series career. He was fourth.
Go to the K&N website for more on the K&N Pro Series race from Iowa Speedway.

Photo: Chase Elliott and crew chief Lance McGrew celebrate winning the K&N Pro Series race at Iowa Speedway. Credit: Mike Gatzke/Iowa Speedway

From Irwindale Speedway to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver David Gilliland won his first stock car race on pavement at Irwindale Speedway. He won a NASCAR Southwest Tour race, a West Series race and a All-Star Showdown race at Irwindale before moving to the Cup Series with Front Row Motorsports.
The track management at Irwindale Speedway cancelled the 2012 racing season and filed for bankruptcy last month.
A number of Cup and Nationwide series drivers raced at Irwindale Speedway early in their NASCAR careers.
Joey Logano won two All-Star Showdown races at Irwindale. Kasey Kahne and Casey Mears raced in the USAC Turkey Night Grand Prix at Irwindale.
Jason Bowles and Travis Pastrana raced at Irwindale before moving up to the Nationwide Series.
Go to ESPN Los Angeles for more on the NASCAR drivers who raced at Irwindale Speedway.

Photo: David Gilliland won late model, Southwest Tour and All-Star Showdown races at Irwindale Speedway.(Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Daytona International Speedway has good news for short track racers

Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway will have a place for the short track stock car racers across the nation in 2013.
A two-day event that will include the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and East and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tours North and South is planned on a short track oval being built on the backstretch of Daytona International Speedway, a NASCAR official said on Wednesday.
The two-day of races will be in 2013 on the Monday and Tuesday before the Daytona 500, once called the dark days of Daytona, on a proposed .4-mile paved oval. The event will also include a late model race. Drivers and teams from the NASCAR international series in Mexico, Canada and Europe will also have an opportunity to enter the races.
The event is being described as the next step up from the NASCAR All-Star Showdown that was run at Irwindale Speedway. The NASCAR All-Star Showdown evolved into a three-race event with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and East, Super Late Models and Late Models.
The All-Star Showdown was a stepping stone for a number of NASCAR drivers who moved up to the Sprint Cup Series. Joey Logano and David Gilliland won All-Star Showdown races and Travis Pastrana made his NASCAR debut at the Showdown last year.
More details about the track and the races will be announced on Friday.

Jason Bowles wins NASCAR Toyota All Star Showdown at Irwindale

Jason Bowles drove his team's back-up car to the biggest win of his NASCAR career in front of a nationally televised audience at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.
Bowles won the NASCAR Toyota All Star Showdown joining Joey Logano and David Gilliland on the impressive list of winners in the race that pits the top drivers from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West, Mexico Series and Canadian Series.
This year's edition of the Showdown included action sports star and X Games champion Travis Pastrana.
He finished a respectable sixth place, surviving three red flag caution periods and nearly three hours in the car in his NASCAR debut.
Bowles, driving a car for Rusty Wallace Racing, won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West championship in 2009, but spent last year piecing together a NASCAR schedule that included races in the Nationwide Series, Camping World Truck Series and the K&N Pro Series East.
He crashed his team's primary car in practice and the team had to switch to the back-up car for the Showdown.
Bowles raced with the leaders for the first 200 laps of the race. In the final 25 laps, he battled with Greg Pursley and Paulie Harraka for the lead. Bowles finally took the lead on lap 217, after the third red caution flag period of the race.
Read my story in the Sporting News for more on the race.

Photo: Travis Pastrana finished sixth in his NASCAR debut in the Toyota All Star Showdown at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.

More on Travis Pastrana making his NASCAR debut

Here's some more on Travis Pastrana making his NASCAR debut in the Toyota All Star Showdown at Irwindale this weekend.
He talks about working with Michael Waltrip and how he's going to juggle NASCAR and X Games in the same season.
Go to the K&N website for more.

Photo: Travis Pastrana unveils his NASCAR Nationwide Series car at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles.

Travis Pastrana unveils NASCAR plans

As Travis Pastrana plans to make his NASCAR debut, he knows he’s going to make some mistakes. On the night he unveiled his plans for the NASCAR Nationwide Series, he referred to Staples Center, site of many of his X Games triumphs, as the Home Depot Center.
A slight slip of the tongue Pastrana easily corrected once he turned around to see the glowing red letters atop the building across from L.A. Live, where he presented his new stock car backed by Michael Waltrip, Boost Mobile and Red Bull. Pastrana will be driving the No. 99 Toyota for Pastrana-Waltrip Racing and making his debut in Indianapolis in July.
Pastrana will be making his NASCAR debut January 28-29 in the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.
The freestyle motocross, X Games, rally car champion turned stock car racer showed off some of his two-wheel skills in front of Staples Center.
After laying down a few donuts in front of Staples Center, he jumped his bike down Chick Hearn Court in front of a few hundred fans who gathered at LA Live in downtown on Friday night.
Pastrana said his goal for the Showdown is to qualify for the race and keep his car out of the wall.
“I’m really looking forward to it. It should be a lot of fun,” Pastrana said.