I am by no means an athlete, never have been, never will be.  I'll hike up a "moderate" trail, splash around with the kids in the local lake or river, take the dog for a walk around the block, but that is the extent of my exercising.  Aside from football, I don't watch much either.  I watch a tennis match or hockey game if there's nothing else on, but I'm more likely to just pop a movie in the DVD or tromp around my gardens with trowel or camera in hand.  The Olympic games are a bit different though.  They have the ability to make me a fan of just about any sport conceivable.  But for a long time I had stopped paying attention.

The Lenox Industrial Tools 301 is underway at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where fears of rainfall have actually given way to the joy of hazy sunshine. We're not out of the woods yet, with a small band of storms headed this way, and a 50 percent chance of rain persisting, but we're nearing the midway point -- which would make this race official -- and this thing looks good for a Sunday completion.

A few highlights of Bruton's Smith's morning press conference at New Hampshire Motor Speedway:

“I’m real delighted, and I was pleased with our races (Saturday). I found out that this speedway was far racier than I had realized.”

We're here in the media center awaiting O. Bruton Smith, as the man who paid $340 million for New Hampshire Motor Speedway is set to meet the media for the first time in his new facility. It's scheduled to start at any minute, so we'll be updating soon after with all the relevant news -- as well as having a full account in tomorrow's Monitor -- so check back in a bit.

As we stare out the window inside the media center at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, several Sprint Cup teams have already begun setting up their pit boxes in anticipation of what appears to be inevitable precipitation.

There are 11 Sprint Cup regulars pulling double-duty this weekend, starting with this afternoon's Nationwide race, the Camping World RV Sales 200. But it isn't going to be a Sprint Cup stalwart starting at the head of the field. That honor is held by 18-year-old Landon Cassill, whose best finish in 14 career Nationwide races is a ninth-place finish in Nashville on June 7.

The Sprint Cup series is on the grid for its second to last practice before tomorrow's Lenox Industrial Tools 301. First time pole-sitter Patrick Carpentier is currently 39th fastest around the "Magic Mile" while Juan Pablo Montoya, who will start 32nd tomorrow is running the quickest lap times at 126.829 MPH. Montoya was one of the top three quickest around the grid during yesterday's practice as well, but struggled in open air during qualifying.

Heluva Good Pole Day turned into one Heluva long day -- but a pretty darn good day of action at NHMS.

Late in the afternoon Canadian Patrick Carpentier became the first rookie ever to win a pole at the Magic Mile, taking advantage of a track cooled by a long rain delay and turning a blistering lap around the 1.058-mile oval. Then, a couple hours later, Eddie MacDonald spent much of the final 10 laps banging door-to-door with Trevor Bayne and ultimately surged ahead on a restart to claim victory in the Camping World Series East contest.

All you fans hoping to catch a glimpse of elephants racing down pit road before Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 are in for a bit of a disappointment.

Due to last-minute permit issues, the pre-race event has been canceled. According to the NHMS press release, officials were unaware of regulations that require pachyderm permits to allow elephants across state lines.

Casey Mears and Hendrick Motorsports will part ways at season's end, opting to void the final year of their agreement and leaving one of NASCAR's top teams with an opening in a coveted seat.