As the first races of the NASCAR season near, teams and drivers are still shuffling around and in this era of social networking, some announcements come in a less than formal way.

Michael McDowell announced on his Facebook page this morning that he will be running the full NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule for Prism Motorsports in the No. 55.

“McD fans hear it first from the world of social media,” the post read.

Hardcore race fans certainly have a direct line to the NASCAR teams and drivers through the various social media outlets.

Meanwhile, Front Row Motorsports has announced that John Andretti will run the No. 34 car for the team at Daytona. After locking the car into the top-35 last year, Andretti will try his hand in both the Budweiser Shootout and the Daytona 500. He will also make a handful of starts in the team’s No. 38 car throughout the 2010 season.

As for some of the other unaccounted for drivers, there is talk that Johnny Sauter may run the #35 for Tommy Baldwin Racing in a couple of races and Nelson Piquet Jr., a former Formula One driver who announced he would like to make the switch to stock cars, has found a home at Eddie Sharp Racing and will compete in the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards. Also, veteran driver Terry Labonte and Carter-Simo Racing are hoping to secure a sponsor so he can take the green flag for the Great American Race.

The closer we get to the Daytona 500 more and more teams will lock-in their drivers so more announcements are expected this week.

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