FanHouse Warmup: Lenox Tools 301

Where: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Time: Sunday 2:00pm/EDT
TV/Radio: TNT, PRN Radio
Twitter: Updates at FanHouseRacing
Forecast: 67 degrees, 80% chance of rain
Distance: 301 laps (318.46 miles)
Pole Winner: Tony Stewart
2008 Winner: Kurt Busch

You may have heard or seen some reports this morning connecting Danica Patrick to NASCAR in a very big way, that also heavily impacts the sport's most popular driver. But here's one word of advice: don't read into it quite yet.

The latest rumor has indicated that one-time IndyCar winner Danica Patrick is a shoe-in to Hendrick Motorsports for a Sprint Cup ride in 2010, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. shuffles to a Hendrick satellite team with JR Motorsports moving up from the Nationwide Series.

Why should we hold off on putting full faith behind this possibility? Well, just look at the effort Hendrick has been putting into getting Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 program to match up with the performance of his three other HMS teammates. It's been an astronomical effort of the entire Hendrick brain trust, and moving Junior to a JR Motorsports ride would put that all for naught.

Plus, if it's taken this much effort to get a solid NASCAR driver in Earnhardt Jr. to be competitive in the best cars available in the Cup Series, it's hard to believe that there's much left to take an IndyCar driver with as much stock car experience as your average racing writer and make her competetive in America's most competitive form of racing.

If you're a Danica fan, hold your excitement, and if you're not, don't worry too much.

TNT's Bill Weber won't be in the booth for Sunday's race -- or Monday's if the forecast of rain, rain and more rain pans out -- after the network abruptly announced Sunday morning that a private matter will keep the play-by-play man out of the booth.

Obviously, we've got no clue what the deal is, but it may be important to note that births or deaths in the family or another type of emergency is typically announced when something like this happens. Take that how you may, and I'm sure we'll find out more after the race. NOTE: The Charlotte Observer is now reporting Weber was involved in a 'loud confrontation' at a Manchester, N.H. hotel over the weekend.

TNT pit road reporter and SPEED's motocross announcer Ralph Sheheen will handle the duties at New Hampshire.

Taking a look around New Hampshire's Magic Mile, the owl-sighted fans might notice that the catchfence around the speedway has been completely replaced by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., to bring the track's fencing system in line with the other tracks in the SMI portfolio.

The fence now hangs 21.5 feet above the racing surface, some five feet higher than the previous fence. The fence also curves over the racing surface further to help prevent large pieces of debris from entering the grandstand. Additionally, the lower portion of the fence is reinforced by six strands of 5/8-inch steel cables while the top features strands of 3/8-inch.

There's also been changes to the infield layout, and track management made sure to note that the fencing was not a response to the incident involving Carl Edwards getting into the fencing system at Talladega Superspeedway in April, and instead was planned in the master plan of improvements for 2009 at NHMS.