Gentlemen, start your blogging

It's been nine months since NASCAR Nation trained its attention on this neck of the woods -- and, suffice to say, some things have changed. What was the Nextel Cup is now the Sprint Cup. What was the Busch Series is now the Nationwide Series. And locally, what was the family-owned New Hampshire International Speedway is now the corporately held New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

But because the action, the atmosphere and the energy coming to the area promises to be the same as ever, little Loudon will once again be at the center of the worldwide motorsports spotlight this week, and the Monitor will be here to bring you all the action.

Right through race day we'll be blogging about all the news as it breaks, including updates from the infield throughout the weekend, relevant notes and nuggets mined from the garage, and a glimpse into some of the colorful happenings that only a NASCAR crowd can create.

The posts will come as quick and as current as the news itself, and hopefully there'll also be some multimedia elements to our coverage, so be sure to check back here from now through Sunday for all the details from trackside. Of course we'll also have accounts in the paper throughout the week as well, and we'd also welcome your own thoughts on all the action, so don't hesitate to comment or even shoot us a quick e-mail at ddonofrio@cmonitor.com.

Now let's go racin'.