The first open week of the season gives drivers a chance to cool off. Some will. Some won’t. Kasey Kahne and Travis Kvapil will both run in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Darlington on Saturday. Kurt Busch will be attempting to make the field for the GatorNationals NHRA race in Gainesville, Fla. Busch will be out to snare one of the 16 qualifying spots in the Pro Stock class. He will have four qualifying passes to break into the field. Marcos Ambrose started his own late model team and this weekend will be the first race in which that team competes, at Hickory Motor Speedway. He will also spend some time in the next week panning for gold, a hobby of his. AJ Allmendinger will be traveling to a karting event this weekend at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C. Juan Pablo Montoya and his wife, Connie, traveled to his native Colombia. Kevin Harvick will use this weekend as an opportunity to get stronger: “I think for us, it is more about just looking at the Cup teams and the Nationwide teams and all the parts and pieces that go with it and making sure they are all headed in the right direction. We will use [the open weeks] as wisely as we can. No big plans, just making sure all the racing stuff is heading in the right direction.” Click here for audio from Harvick, regarding the open week. Dave Blaney will head to Anderson, S.C. to watch his son, Ryan, race in a super late model race. David Reutimann will help rebuild dirt cars with his father Buzzie.(NASCAR)(3-12-2011)
