Parsons said:

Combining our efforts with Whitney Motorsports with the support of Mike Curb and having Michael (McDowell) behind the wheel of the No. 98 Ford means we’ll open the season at Daytona better prepared than ever before. We feel the timing couldn’t be better for us to build this program into a proper Sprint Cup Series effort.

The team will get engines from Roush Yates Racing. Veteran crew chief Gene Nead will lead the team. He has worked with McDowell before — at Michael Waltrip Racing and in the Nationwide Series at PPR.

McDowell said:

This is the opportunity I’ve been looking for to work with various Christian music outlets, Mike Curb and Curb Records, and our other partnerships that are taking shape. This opportunity will allow me to expand my brand and put me in a position to work with the types of companies I’ve been wanting to work with for a long time. On the racetrack, I’m excited about the chance to have my best NASCAR season ever.

Additionally, McDowell will run in the Nationwide Series with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Team owner Bob Leavine said:

We are pleased to have Scott Speed join our team. We, as a team, want to give Scott the equipment and the resources he needs to win – and that is what I believe he will do for us in return. Scott is a proven driver. He was the first American to race in Formula One since Michael Andretti and has a lot to offer our program as a teammate and a competitor.

Speed added:

I am excited to team up with Bob Leavine and his guys at Leavine Family Racing. They have a solid group of guys working on the team and I think it will be a real fun deal. Our goal is to build this race team to become competitive. We know it will be baby steps, but we are all excited to get it rolling.

Speed is in his fifth NASCAR season, having driven for Red Bull Racing, Max Q Motorsports, and Whitney Motorsports.

Travis Kvapil, who normally drives the No. 38, will move to FRM’s No. 55 entry, the car Yeley normally drives, for the race.

Yeley started the season driving for Whitney Motorsports in the No. 46 Chevy. He filled in for Kvapil in the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway while Kvapil drove in the Camping World Truck Series race at Iowa Speedway.

Two races later, he drove the No. 55 for FRM.

Erik Darnell replaced Yeley in WMS’s No. 46 car at NHMS. He also drove in the Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono Raceway for Whitney.  At Watkins Glen International, Yeley was back in the No. 46.

The following week, Yeley drove the no. 55 again. WMS announced that Scott Speed would drive their No. 46 for the remainder of the season.

Yeley has made 19 starts this season; he has an average finish of 40th.

The team also announced via its Facebook page that it has secured sponsorship for the AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

This race marks WM’s last fielding a Chevy. Starting at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, WM will field Fords using FR9 engines.

If qualifying and practices are rained out, however, the team would make the race.

The team was penalized for violating Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR required rules); and 20-2.3A (unapproved added weight location and unapproved added weight – lower A-frames were filled with weight pellets) of the 2010 NASCAR rule book.

Crew chief Thomas Tucker, car chief Richard Boga, and team manager Tony Furr were all indefinitely suspended from NASCAR. Tucker was also fined $50,000.

Driver Michael McDowell was penalized with the loss of 50 championship driver’s points, and team owner Dusty Whitney was penalized with the loss of 50 championship owner’s points.

This is the second time this season that the team was penalized. NASCAR found engine valves that were below the mandated weight on the No. 46 car during post-race inspection following the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The team received similar fines and points penalties.

Update: Whitney Motorsports has appealed the penalty issued for violations found during opening day inspection for the AMP Energy Juice 500 at Talladega. The appeal is set to be heard Nov. 9th. In the meantime, the penalty has been deferred.

Team owner Dusty Whitney said:

They said indefinite on some of the suspensions of the team members, so I would just like a little more clarity and make sure it’s fair. … [Suspending] the team manager, it hits hard a little bit on a small team that is struggling to stay alive. We’ve done a good job this year, I think, for NASCAR putting on a show. We’re here to race and not to take NASCAR’s money. We do have to stay inside their box and make sure we do things right.

Update 2: Whitney Motorsports appealed the penalty for infractions found at Talladega. The team acknowledged that the part was illegal, and instead appealed the severity of the penalty.  The National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel found that the penalties were appropriate for infractions of this magnitude.

As a result, the panel upheld the penalty. Whitney Motorsports to appeal this decision to the National Stock Car Racing Chief Appellate Officer.