DRIVERS**TEAMS

Robby Gordon says team is for sale:

2012-02-19T13:40:00.002-05:00

Robby Gordon says team is for sale: In one breath, #7-Robby Gordon is bemoaning the fact he couldn't quit NASCAR even if he wanted to. He has money tied up in a race shop and airplanes, with crew members depending on him for their livelihood. Minutes later, though, Gordon is talking with boundless optimism about the potential of Speed Energy, a brand of energy drink that he's trying to market on his own. And does he have a deal for you.

"Race team's for sale," Gordon said. "It's been up for sale. Really, what I'd like to do, I think the smartest thing for us to do as we're talking candidly here, would be to bring in investors that have more opportunity to [attract] big sponsor relations. Obviously, I can drive it, we can run it, but between doing that and operating Speed, we need people that have more relations than I have." Does he make money in NASCAR? "Right now? No," Gordon said. "We haven't made money in NASCAR in a long time." Would he consider getting out? "I've got a 100,000-square-foot building," Gordon said. "Unfortunately, I've got airplanes that I can't even afford to use today that are sitting there, I'm still paying insurance on them, I'm still paying payments. The race shop, it's not paid for, obviously I'm paying rent on it. So I'm stuck. Plain and simple." Gordon later reconsidered his use of the word "stuck," saying he would prefer to stay in NASCAR on a limited schedule and take on investors. "The reality is, I don't want to be all the way out," Gordon said. "I would like to run about 15 stock car races a year. That would be my goal." That would allow him to continue pursuing his diverse racing interests outside of NASCAR -- and continue to build Speed Energy, which he insists is on its way to becoming a marketing success that can grow to take on the likes of industry titans such as Red Bull.(NASCAR.com)(2-19-2012)

The 2012 season can't start soon enough for Carl Edwards

2012-02-17T21:29:00.000-05:00

The 2012 season can't start soon enough for Carl Edwards

feb. 16, 2012
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Even after losing the NASCAR Sprint Cup title to Tony Stewart in a tiebreaker last season, Carl Edwards won't be haunted by second-place syndrome.
Edwards, who characterizes himself as a realist, feels he has put the close runner-up finish in its proper place. That doesn't mean, however, that he hasn't spent the offseason chafing to get back to the racetrack.
"It bothered me after the race for a few minutes, but that's not how I try to do things," Edwards told the NASCAR Wire Service during a media day question-and-answer session at Daytona International Speedway. "I go out and do the best I can, but I'm a realist. There's a reality in the world, and the reality is that we finished second. That's just it.
"I didn't really have much trouble with that. What I had trouble with is the waiting for the season, just sitting around . . . no racing, no racing, trying to get up in the morning and find constructive things to do. I am ready to go race. I cannot wait to get in that racecar."
It's not that Edwards gave the championship away. He finished second in each of the last three races only to see Stewart post two victories and a third. Stewart's winÂ in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway left him tied with Edwards in the standings, with Stewart winning the tiebreaker based on number of victories during the season.
"In all honesty, if I'm able to put the fierce competitiveness I have aside, it was a neat thing to be a part of, to be a part of that championship race and to be forced to perform that way and do the best we could . . .
"At the end of the race, I don't know how far Tony and I were ahead of the rest of the field, but it felt like both of us were just on a mission. We raised each others' games. If either one of us is in the hunt for it (this) year going into Homestead, I feel sorry for whoever's racing against us, because I think we both have a really good experience under our belts."

Danica Patrick wants to share the limelight on Nationwide tour

2012-02-08T12:50:00.000-05:00

Danica Patrick wants to share the limelight on Nationwide tour

Feb. 8, 2012
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

Danica Patrick certainly doesn't mind the attention she gets for her activities on and off the racetrack, but the last thing she wants is to be the sole focus of attention in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this yearAt a Nationwide dinner during the late-January NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway, Patrick and four other drivers squared off against five reporters in a mock game of Family Feud for charity. After the media members slyly stole Patrick's preferred team name of "Honey Badgers," driver captain Ricky Stenhouse Jr. opted for "Danica and the Other Guys" for the team name.
Why? "Because that's what it is," quipped Stenhouse, the defending series champion.
Stenhouse's jest is couched in more than a little truth. When Patrick raced in the Nationwide Series last season, as she did 12 times, race promotions invariably featured her above all other drivers.
As she races full-time in the series this season, Patrick would rather see the attention spread around, as she feels it deserves to be.
"Ricky said something about 'That's what it is.' " Patrick said after the Family Feud game. "That's not true. There's tons of great racing out there, and if I was out there by myself, trust me, no one would be watching.
"So I don't agree. I do get a little uncomfortable with that, but only because I don't agree with that, if that makes sense. There's a lot of great personalities and drivers, and they all make the series -- that's for darn sure."
Patrick has drawn criticism in some quarters for the suggestive ads that feature her primary sponsor, GoDaddy.com. The 2012 Super Bowl broadcast provided more of the same -- a scantily clad Patrick in "GoDaddy Heaven" encouraging viewers to get a domain name "and make your business and personal internet dreams come true."
Patrick, however, brushes off the naysayers.
"It does not get to me," she said. "I do what feels comfortable to me, and then I'm good with it. I've always been lucky enough in my career and in my life to be able to be an honest person, to be able to be authentic, whatever good and bad may come from that. With the GoDaddy commercials, we have a lot of fun with them. And not just GoDaddy -- I look pretty in different ads for other people, too.
"I'm a girl, and to say I can't use being a girl doesn't make any sense. In this world, there's so much competition out there that you have to use everything that you have to make sponsors happy, to attract them, to be unique, be different.
"But, more than anything, I'm just glad that I get to show different sides of my personality. I'm really fortunate. I don't have a cookie-cutter sponsor, and that's kind of cool."

Kevin Harvick inducted Into Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame

2012-02-02T12:10:00.000-05:00

Kevin Harvick inducted Into Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame

Feb. 2, 2012
Special to NASCAR Wire Service

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Kevin Harvick returned Wednesday to where his racing career began -- his hometown of Bakersfield, Calif. -- to be inducted into the Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame.
A sold-out gathering greeted their hometown hero, who went from racing go-karts around the Bakersfield area as a 5-year-old to winning the Daytona 500 in 2007.
"It's been an honor to be selected," Harvick told the audience at his induction. "My friends and family and everybody in this town have been very supportive. From my go-kart days or my wrestling days at North High, no matter what it was, the town has been supportive. And you guys support our foundation events when we come back. It's truly an honor to see the support."This town has been very much a part of everything I've been able to do in my career," Harvick said, thanking many individuals and businesses by name. "We had a lot of help from a lot of people around here."
Harvick recalled his grandfather taking him to the race track as a kid and growing up around racing.
"It really helped shape my life and gave me something as a kid that I could really latch onto and really be a part of and really look forward to every week," he said.
Harvick recalled his racing days at Mesa Marin Raceway, where he competed as a 16-year-old.
"Mesa Marin Raceway is a place where I learned a lot of hard lessons and I had a lot of success," he said. "The Collins family was always very supportive of everything that we did. Mesa Marin was a huge part. It really launched my career into what it is today."
Harvick also thanked his family for their contribution to his career.
"My family has made a lot of sacrifices through the years to give me the opportunity to drive my car and do the things that I get to do today," he said. "It's fun to come back to the town they still live in and see the support that everybody gives. We all appreciate it and I really appreciate everything they have done for me through my career."
Harvick, 36, was one of four enshrined during Wednesday's ceremony. Also inducted were Olympic swimmer Gabe Woodward; Pat Skrable, an outstanding baseball and football player at Bakersfield High School; and Arnold Kirschenmann, a golfing standout from Bakersfield.
Harvick joins just three other drivers in the Hall -- four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears, off-road champion Roger Mears and Indy 500 competitor George Snider.The Hall is named for Bakersfield sports broadcaster Bob Elias, who, before his passing in 1965, led the effort to establish a way to honor outstanding performances by athletes and officials from Bakersfield and Kern County.
Harvick grew up racing go-karts and then competed as a teenager in late model stock cars at Mesa Marin Raceway in eastern Bakersfield. He won a championship at the high-banked, half-mile track in 1993. He graduated to the former NASCAR Southwest Tour, where he won Rookie of the Year honors in 1995, and then to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, where he won a championship in 1998.
Harvick's success continued as he moved to NASCAR's national level, competing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and winning the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Award in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2000. He won the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship in 2001 and a second title in 2006. He also won the Raybestos Rookie of the Year title in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2001.
His NASCAR Sprint Cup Series accomplishments include 18 victories, highlighted by his win in the Daytona 500. Harvick finished third in the standings in each of the past two seasons.

Dillon brothers two-step up racing career ladder

2012-01-31T20:40:00.000-05:00

Dillon brothers two-step up racing career ladder

Jan. 31, 2012
Special to NASCAR Wire Service

Austin and Ty Dillon don't claim to have a sibling rivalry, but there is some element of competition in their bloodlines. There's also little coincidence that their career arcs have strikingly similar parallels.
Austin, 21, will jump to the NASCAR Nationwide Series this season, one year removed from becoming the youngest champion in the history of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Ty, who will turn 20 the day after the Feb. 26 Daytona 500 (FOX, 1 p.m. ET), will be taking his older brother's place in the truck series, fresh from an impressive march to the ARCA series title in 2011.
Both are champions, both are moving up, both will campaign the famed No. 3. But does one brother have an advantage over another? It depends on who you ask.
"So far, I've got more wins, so me, and I'm always going to say me," Ty Dillon says with a wink. "That's the answer to that question, but I believe in my brother, too. It's the both of us right now; it's more about the Dillon name succeeding in NASCAR."
True enough, Ty claimed a 7-2 margin over his brother in the win column after last season, a point Austin readily concedes.
"Ty is his own guy, you know. To me, he kind of creates his own identity with the way he likes to drive," Austin Dillon said. "We work together well; we push each other tremendously, so it's nice having a very talented brother to make you want to do your best each and every week."
As they make the leap up the ladder this season, both Dillons will lean on each other as resources on a Richard Childress Racing team laden with them. But two more generations of family will also have their eye on the farm -- father Mike Dillon is the RCR general manager and their grandfather is the legendary owner and team namesake.
Advancing deeper into the ranks of NASCAR's top three national series may seem like pretty heady stuff for two relatively young drivers, but based on their reactions to questions on last week's NASCAR Sprint Media Tour presented by Charlotte Motor Speedway, they seem unfazed by any perception of pressure.
"I try not to think about it too much," Ty Dillon said. "I focus on my main goal, which is winning races and fighting for a championship. I've been given the greatest opportunity in the world to drive for my family, which is an awesome organization in RCR."
For his part, Austin Dillon isn't treating his transition as a millstone around his neck, either.
"There's always pressure in whatever you do, but it's how you handle it and if you take advantage of it," he said. "I think, in my situation, I like pressure. I feel like pressure makes you rise to the occasion most of the time. The more you have, you have to go out and do something about it or handle it the right way."
Rocky Mountain High for Regan
Regan Smith's stunning breakthrough in winning the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway was one of the brightest moments of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series last season. But one of his more dramatic moves took place far west of sandy South Carolina.
Smith wanted to be closer to his Furniture Row Racing team. That meant moving from the Charlotte-area hub of stock-car racing to Denver, the western-most point among major NASCAR race shops.
"It's certainly different and took a little bit of time to get used to initially," Smith said. "The first time that (wife) Megan called me and said there's a bear on our back porch and she was scared half to death was a pretty unique day."
Since then, the Smiths have seen bobcats, elk and other wildlife from their remote home. What the scrappy single-car team has seen since the Smiths' move is an extreme commitment to their efforts.
"It was definitely a big deal," said Pete Rondeau, Furniture Row's crew chief. "To be able to see the driver, it's a big thing for the people in the shop, to see that he has the drive and the desire to do this and to be a big part of this team."
No F1 for Ganassi
Team owner Chip Ganassi managed one of the best lines of the media tour when asked about the possibility of expanding his already diverse motorsports empire into Formula One.
"There was a time in my life when I would've thought about that," Ganassi said. "When I start to think about that, I go lay down until that feeling goes away."

Several big name drivers still not locked into Daytona 500

2012-01-29T11:54:00.000-05:00

Several big name drivers still not locked into Daytona 500: The big question that continued throughout testing was whether or not Danica Patrick would be locked into the Daytona 500. Or Mark Martin. Or Trevor Bayne. It likely will be a few weeks before teams know the answer. With Red Bull Racing having closed, there could still be a deal done for the points earned by the #4 car (14th) and the #83 (25th) last year. If those points aren't used, next in line is the closed TRG Motorsports #71 car. If it does not enter and a deal is not done to use those points, next in line are the Wood Brothers #21 car (Trevor Bayne) and Robby Gordon Motorsports #7 car, which Gordon will drive in the Daytona 500. Among those looking for points are Stewart-Haas Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing. There has been speculation that Stewart Haas would put together a deal with Tommy Baldwin Racing, possibly for points from the #36 car (33rd in 2011 owner points) to be transferred to Patrick. But it also could include a partnership where TBR would field a #10 car for David Reutimann in the 26 races in which Patrick doesn't compete, thus allowing that car to continue to earn owner points all season. MWR attempted to purchase Red Bull for the points and equipment, but that deal fell through. Team co-owner Michael Waltrip said last week no final determination of which two of his three drivers would have the MWR points from 2011, but it is expected those would go to the two drivers competing for the drivers championship - #56-Martin Truex Jr. and #15-Clint Bowyer - while #55-Mark Martin would have to get in the race on speed. It appears that Richard Childress Racing will enter a fourth car for the Daytona 500 and use its points from the #33 car last year. That fourth car would only run a handful of races throughout the year, possibly with Austin Dillon for select events although RCR could put in a more experienced driver such as Elliott Sadler or Brian Vickers for the Daytona 500.(Scene Daily)(1-18-2012)

Elliott Sadler primed for another run at Daytona 500 glory

2012-01-27T17:50:00.000-05:00

Elliott Sadler primed for another run at Daytona 500 glory

Jan. 27, 2012
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

WELCOME, N.C. -- You can't blame Elliott Sadler for thinking that the Daytona 500 might owe him one.
In 2009, Sadler was running fifth and in position to challenge for the victory in the Great American Race when rain stopped the proceedings and made a winner of Matt Kenseth.
The experience made an indelible impression on Sadler.
"I relive the 2009 Daytona 500 almost every day," Sadler told the NASCAR Wire Service during the Sprint Media Tour's Wednesday night stop at Richard Childress Racing. "I was so close. In 2002 I was close, finishing second to Ward Burton. If you look at the last 10 Daytona 500s that I was in, my average finish is pretty damn good.
"I'm kind of an under-the-radar guy when it comes to speedway racing, but my stats speak for themselves, and we really feel like we can go down there and be very competitive."
The numbers support Sadler's assertion. In those 10 races, from 2001 through 2010, Sadler posted six top-10s, three top-fives and an average finish of 10.6.
Sadler will have another shot at NASCAR's most prestigious trophy on Feb. 26, thanks to a serendipitous chain of circumstances. Clint Bowyer left RCR at season's end to drive for Michael Waltrip Racing, but the No. 33 car Bowyer drove last year retains its owner points and guaranteed starting spots in the first five Sprint Cup races.
But Sadler had no idea what to expect when he got a call from team owner Richard Childress.
"When Richard called me and told me to come to his office, that he needed to talk to me, you never know what it was about," said Sadler, who will compete for the Nationwide Series title this season. "Richard said, 'Look, if we can get some sponsorship, would you be interested in driving the Daytona 500?'
"I was like, 'Heck, yes.' I wanted to hug him, man. I was just blown away that he would ask me to do it. He said, 'We think it's important to have four cars down there, and we think you can win the race.' That made me feel good. Then Kroger and General Mills came on board. He's had some relationships with them in the past, and they stepped up to the plate and made it happen."
At this point, the 500 is the only Cup race Sadler is scheduled to run for RCR. Brendan Gaughan will drive the No. 33 Chevrolet under sponsorship from his family-owned South Point Hotel Casino in the next four races. Beyond that, RCR has no firm plans to field a fourth Cup car, though additional sponsorship could mean more races for the No. 33.
Not So Fast
With Sadler filling out the RCR roster, it might seem logical for Sadler to pair up with teammate Jeff Burton at Daytona -- assuming tandem drafting is still the order of the day -- given that the other two Childress cars, driven by Kevin Harvick and Paul Menard, already are committed to work together.
"I've talked to Jeff Burton about it," Sadler said. "That's probably who I'm going to be paired up with. We're going to meet some more about it before we get down there to make sure we're 100 percent on the same page.
"My spotter (Brett Griffin) who spotted for me for 10 years, is Jeff Burton's spotter, so all that's going to work hand-in-hand."
Burton, however, worked extensively with Regan Smith during mid-January testing at Daytona, before Sadler's deal came together. Smith drives the No. 78 Chevy for Furniture row, which gets chassis, engines and technical support from RCR. To Drew Blickensderfer, Burton's new crew chief, working with a driver who will compete in all four restrictor-plate races has its merits.
"I think, if the 33 were to run every race, I think it would just be common that we would go with the 33," Blickensderfer told the NASCAR Wire Service. "Since the 78 you know will run every race, I think there's a good chance, if we're able to tandem race, we'll be with the 78, because we know at Talladega he'll be there and at the next Daytona he'll be there.
"So Jeff and Regan could work together for an extended period of time and learn each other's nuances. And spotters can work together a lot easier and build a relationship that would improve as the year goes on."
Gaughan's Not Greedy
In addition to the four Cup races he'll run for RCR, Gaughan has agreed to compete in 10 Nationwide Series events and eight Camping World Truck Series races. Though RCR vice president of competition Mike Dillon intimated that more Cup races could follow, pending sponsorship, Gaughan is content with the 22 events on his calendar.
"Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered," Gaughan told the NASCAR Wire Service, in a variation on the Wall Street aphorism. "All I'm looking forward to is four races. I'm not going to sit and say, 'Hey, if I do top-five, we can get (more races). Nope, if I get top-five, I'm going to sit here and cry my ass off in victory lane.
"So I'm going to do everything I can in those four races and let Mr. Childress and Mr. Dillon and the marketing group . . . if they come up with something, I'm not going to say 'No.' If they add some to me, I'm going to be the happiest kid in America. If they don't, I'm still the happiest kid in America."
So That's Why They Sold
Kevin Harvick was faced with a choice last summer: continue to operate the race teams he owns with wife DeLana Harvick or start a family.
Harvick chose the latter. Childress absorbed his Nationwide operation, and Eddie Sharp acquired his Truck Series teams. On Wednesday night, Harvick announced that DeLana was 14 weeks pregnant.
"We were sitting at the beach in August, just having a conversation, and she just basically told me that it wasn't going to happen if we still had the race teams, so we started getting rid of them the next week. She said, 'I can't believe you called my bluff.'
"It's just the next phase of our life. I'm really looking forward to it."
As an expectant father, Harvick had no trouble dealing with his time away from the track during a long offseason.
"I conquered boredom, for sure," Harvick quipped. "Having a pregnant wife at home will conquer that pretty quick."

Earnhardt to Letarte: 'Keep pushing me'

2012-01-26T14:54:00.000-05:00

Earnhardt to Letarte: 'Keep pushing me'

Jan. 25, 2012
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
CONCORD, N.C. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. has one request of crew chief Steve Letarte, and it might seem unusual coming from a notorious late sleeper.
Letarte is a demanding crew chief. He sets the schedule and demands that Earnhardt report to work much earlier than has been his custom. If Letarte asks for a post-race report, Earnhardt fills out the form.
"I never really had anybody ask much of me, as far as a crew chief goes -- just be there with your helmet, ready to drive when it's time to drive," Earnhardt said.
Earnhardt, however, has accepted the radical change to his routine, and now his one request to Letarte can be summed up into two words: Don't stop.
"Steve's deal was that he had these expectations, his rules, this is what you were going to do: 'I need this from you; you can do whatever you want, but this I need from you,' " Earnhardt said Wednesday at the Hendrick Motorsports stop on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Media Tour presented by Charlotte Motor Speedway. "That was good, man. I was like, 'Hell, yeah.'
"I just told him this offseason, 'I worry that you're going to relax a little on that, the more we're together, the more we become friends, the more he might let me off the hook -- and I don't want that to happen."
That's not likely to happen, because Letarte is comfortable with his role as taskmaster, even with the sport's most popular driver. And team owner Rick Hendrick wants Letarte to exercise his authority.
"Without a doubt, I have no problem being the guy that takes the authority and sets the schedule," Letarte said. "That's my job. That's the seat I have. That's the desk I own. That's the power Mr. Hendrick has given me to run this race team."
Last year, in Letarte's first season as Earnhardt's crew chief, the performance of the No. 88 team improved markedly. Though Earnhardt failed to break a winless streak that had reached 129 races by the end of the campaign, he qualified for the Chase for the first time in three years and finished seventh in the final series standings, his best result since 2006.
To Hendrick, there's a reason why Letarte has succeeded where his immediate predecessors, Lance McGrew and Tony Eury Jr., found frustration and failure.
"I think the other guys were scared of him, and they would get mad, and Junior would get mad, and we didn't go anywhere," Hendrick said. "But now Stevie knows exactly when he can pull that trigger, get him in the trailer or just ride to the races with him and work on him.
"They haven't shown their potential yet, but I think you'll see it this year. The confidence level, the communication -- I just wish we had put them together early on. I had no way of knowing it would be as good as it is."
Still, Letarte's way of doing things took some acclimation of Earnhardt's part.
"He wanted me there early," Earnhardt said. "I was like grumbling about it at first, and he was like, 'That's the deal. That's the way it is.' Once we got to doing it, I understood it. I found that place to be enjoyable and wanted to be there. So it's been good.
"He's an easy guy to be around, too, which helps a lot. None of this works unless he's got the right personality, a good personality. He deserves a lot of credit. He's a good guy, and he took on a tough little job here. This is a tough gig for him, but he's done well with it so far."
"Tough" doesn't describe the role as Earnhardt's crew chief. The pressure is almost palpable. When Earnhardt doesn't win, no one in his immense fan base blames the driver. The crew chief takes the brunt of the criticism, as Eury and McGrew learned only too well.
Hendrick says Letarte can shoulder the pressure and ignore it. Part of his success lies in treating Earnhardt as he would any other member of the team.
"I ask him to be a part of the team, no different than I'd ask an engineer or a tire changer," Letarte said. "He has a responsibility to the race team, no different than I do, and if I feel more interaction with the team would help, then I ask for more interaction. If I feel a post-race form is going to help, then I ask him to do that.
"I treat him no different than I would critique a tire changer. He's a superstar. He obviously is Dale Earnhardt Jr. We all know that. But I've been raised since a very, very young age by my father that he's just a racecar driver. He's no different than me. He just drives. I would expect no more or no less from him than I would expect from anyone on the team."
And it's not that Letarte hasn't had experience in high-profile jobs. Before taking over the No. 88 team, Letarte served as Jeff Gordon's crew chief for six years, and he learned a valuable lesson in management from the four-time champion.
"Jeff used to tell me: 'Treat me as you feel I need to be treated; don't treat me (differently) because I'm Jeff Gordon,' "Letarte said. "He gave me that word of advice a long, long time ago when I became his crew chief in '05. We sat down, and he said, 'Hey, we've been friends for a long time, but you need to push me, because a lot of people in the world don't.'
"That's probably some of the best advice Jeff Gordon ever gave me. I've used it through my whole crew-chiefing career, and, without a doubt, I push Dale no differently from the way I push any guy I work with. He never, ever, ever shies away from it. Everything I've ever asked him to do, he does."

BEER COMPANIES EXTEND PARTNERSHIPS

2012-01-26T11:29:00.000-05:00

Coors Light Renews As Official Beer Of NASCAR;
Miller Lite Extends Partnership With Penske Racing, Keselowski

Daytona beach, fla. (January 26, 2012) – NASCAR, MillerCoors and Penske Racing today jointly announced multi-year partnership extensions for the brewer’s two biggest brands. For MillerCoors, the deals with the sanctioning body and one of the sport’s most respected teams solidify its status among the most committed sponsors in NASCAR. In addition, MillerCoors has alliances with seven tracks that host NASCAR races.
Coors Light, the World’s Most Refreshing Beer, is extending its sponsorship as the Official Beer of NASCAR. Coors Light started its official sponsorship with NASCAR in 2008, after a 14-year run as the primary sponsor of the No. 40 car.
Additionally, the millions of fans of the famed Blue Deuce and its popular driver Brad Keselowski can rest easy because Miller Lite, the original light beer with the never watered down taste, has renewed its partnership with Penske Racing. Miller Lite will continue as the season-long primary sponsor of Penske’s No. 2 Dodge driven by Keselowski, building upon an alliance that began in 1991. Miller Lite continues as one of the highest profile season-long primary sponsors in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
MillerCoors Chief Marketing Officer Andy England said the renewals point to the value of NASCAR as a powerful way to connect with legal-drinking-age consumers.
“We don’t make investment decisions like this without having a great sense of exactly what the alliance will deliver for our brands,” England said. “That’s why I’m so excited about our continued partnerships with NASCAR and with Penske Racing. NASCAR fans are among the most passionate and loyal fans in all of sports, and they love nothing more than getting together with friends to watch the race while enjoying a cold, refreshing Coors Light or a great tasting, never watered down Miller Lite. Our distributors and retailers know that, which is why they’re so supportive of our leadership in the sport.”
The Coors Light partnership with NASCAR includes the Coors Light Pole Award for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, which rewards the driver with the fastest qualifying time each week. It also includes the exclusive right to use NASCAR marks on retail point-of-sale and merchandising materials, in advertising and digital marketing, and through other marketing tools.
Coors Light brings special insight to race fans through its Miss Coors Light program, which began at the start of the 2010 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and continued throughout the 2011 season. Miss Coors Light, who will be back in 2012, presents the Coors Light Pole Award to the winning driver, makes appearances during race week at local bars and provides her perspective on NASCAR activities via the Miss Coors Light Facebook page.
“The return of MillerCoors to NASCAR not only ensures that the company will bring back compelling activation that continues to engage and excite our fans, but it also benefits our ecosystem as a whole, which is comprised of tracks, drivers and teams,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR chief marketing officer. “As a sanctioning body, NASCAR is proud to have Coors Light as part of our stable of Official Partners for whom we create exclusive assets and platforms to drive their respective businesses. NASCAR is the sport that works for business, and we’re pleased to see it working so well for MillerCoors.”
For Miller Lite, its sponsorship extension with Penske and Keselowski comes after an amazing 2011 season, Keselowski’s second full year on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit. Keselowski and his Miller Lite team surged from deep in the driver standings as late as mid-July to win three races, qualify for the Chase and finish fifth in the championship standings.
Keselowski and the Blue Deuce are featured throughout the year in Miller Lite-branded point-of-sale materials displayed in on- and off-premise retail accounts across the country, as well as in advertising and digital marketing. Keselowski and members of his crew also make special appearances at retail accounts to visit Miller Lite customers throughout the season.
“The No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge is coming off a very successful season on the racetrack – one where we reached Victory Lane for a sixth-consecutive season while qualifying for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup,” said Roger Penske. “The continued support of MillerCoors will ensure that this long-standing partnership will remain one of the strongest bonds in professional motorsports. With Miller Lite, we are proud to have one of the few full-season sponsors in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. That continuity is one of the many reasons Brad and the team are primed for another great season.”

Truex Jr. Hopes To Re-Sign with MWR

2012-01-25T12:29:00.002-05:00

Truex Jr. Hopes To Re-Sign with MWR: #56-Martin Truex Jr. knows it will take a trip to Victory Lane in order to keep sponsor NAPA and perhaps in order to keep his job at Michael Waltrip Racing. Truex enters the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season faced with increased pressure to perform, in perhaps a now-or-never situation with a contract that expires at the end of the year. "I'm not here to float along and hang around if I'm not competitive," Truex said Monday night. "I know what I can do in a race car. Michael knows what I can do in a race car, and everybody here knows what I can do in a race car. And that's all that matters to me. This year is obviously very, very important with NAPA keeping them happy and hopefully keeping them here. For now, it's just about getting it done. We can do it. There's no doubt in my mind." Truex refused to call 2012 a "make-or-break season" because, he said, every season is that way. There's always pressure to perform, always expectations. But the 31-year-old driver acknowledged this season is crucial in deciding the future for both himself and MWR. "I mean, I want to be here next year," he said. "We both have to wait and see how all that goes. But I feel good about this year. I really do. Time will tell."(SB Nation)(1-25-2012)

Addington brushes off job security pressure at Stewart Haas Racing

2012-01-24T10:00:00.001-05:00

Addington brushes off job security pressure at Stewart Haas Racing

Jan. 23, 2012
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

CONCORD, N.C. -- For argument's sake, let's say you were hired to replace a crew chief who had just won a championship with Tony Stewart -- and got his walking papers before the season ended.
Further, imagine that the director of competition Stewart just hired was the crew chief who led him to his first two Sprint Cup titles at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Finally, assume that the transmission of the car you prepared for the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway failed early in the race and that a flying U-joint from that failure punched a hole in the nose of Stewart's car -- as he was battling Carl Edwards for the title.
Steve Addington has lived that scenario -- all of it -- but aside from a few nervous moments in the wee hours after the Homestead race, he says he's confident enough in his own ability to work in the fishbowl otherwise known as Stewart Haas Racing.
Addington flew home from Homestead, but he couldn't sleep. Even though Stewart had reassured him that he was the man for the crew chief's job, Addington knows how volatile Cup racing can be. With Darian Grubb on the pit box, Stewart won five of the 10 Chase races and clinched the title in a tiebreaker over Carl Edwards.
Perhaps Stewart was reconsidering replacing Grubb. The thought crossed Addington's mind, before a text from Stewart lit up his phone.
"The pressure of the championship, I got that feeling about 2:30 in the morning the night of Homestead," Addington said at the Stewart Haas stop on the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway. "I got the text of 'No pressure, bud.' I'm laying in the bed trying to figure out, 'Hey, they just won a championship; what's going to happen now?' "
Homestead was Addington's final race with driver Kurt Busch, and the day hadn't gone well. The transmission failure on Lap 2 knocked Busch out of the top 10 in the drivers' standings and precipitated the tirade that ultimately cost Busch his Penske Racing ride.
As he tossed and turned that night, however, Addington was more concerned with the collateral damage to Stewart's car.
"I'm laying in the bed -- I'd already gotten home from Homestead," Addington said. "We were going for a top 10 in points -- transmission troubles, and the universal joint flies out of our car and almost costs Tony a championship. So I'm sitting there thinking, 'What's this guy thinking? They just won a championship. Are they going to change their minds?'
"Laying in my bed, couldn't sleep, and then the phone blew up, and it was him with the 'No pressure, bud.' "
Addington need not have worried. He had already taken on a role as a motor coach lot confidant for Stewart, and a friendship born of mutual respect had grown out of their conversations.
"Tony and I have talked a lot . . . in the coach lot, at times when he needed to talk to somebody about what was going on with the team and how he felt, and that just led to us having a good friendship there at the racetrack," Addington said.
Competition director Greg Zipadelli, who was Stewart's crew chief for 10 years at Joe Gibbs Racing (where Addington also served as crew chief for Kyle Busch for two seasons), plans to give Addington plenty of space as both men adapt to their new roles.
"The good thing is I worked with Steve a long time," said Zipadelli, who exited JGR and his job as Joey Logano's crew chief at the end of the season." When Steve left Joe Gibbs Racing, we still maintained a very strong friendship and a very strong respect for each other."
Despite his long-time friendship with Stewart, Zipadelli says he won't let it intrude into Addington's area of responsibility.
"I don't think that's an issue for us at all," Zipadelli said. "He's got all the rope in the world he needs to hang himself (with), and I feel like I do in my position, and I think that's just the way it is. I'm not a very good micro-manager. I want people to do their jobs and have everything they need to do it."
Addington says he'll rely on Zipadelli for counsel on how to deal with his owner/driver boss.
"He knows Tony very well, when you need to crack the whip," Addington said. "Tony told me, 'You're going to have to jerk me back in line when I'm out of line.' He said, 'That's what I want out of you.' That's when I'm going to lean on Zippy (to understand) 'When is that point?' "
For his own part, Addington believes he and Stewart can combine for another title.
"I know a lot of people are going to look at it 'Well, you're the only thing that's changed on that race team,' and that is true," Addington acknowledged. "But I feel good about it. I'm confident enough in my position and my experience in races to give him what he needs and get that communication down pat (about) what he needs in a racecar.
"Yeah, we can go out and win a championship."

Danica Patrick will race at Charlotte, not Indy in May

2012-01-23T13:41:00.000-05:00

Danica Patrick will race at Charlotte, not Indy in May

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
CONCORD, N.C. -- All stock cars, all the time.
Danica Patrick confirmed Monday that she will confine her 2012 racing efforts to cars with fenders with the announcement that she will drive in the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
After seven straight appearances in the Indianapolis 500 and a best finish of third in 2009, Patrick will miss the race this year, though she still plans to run the event in the future, perhaps as a double with the Coke 600.
"I hope to do it in the future, the Indy 500, that is," Patrick said during Monday's first stop at on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Media Tour at a Stewart-Haas Racing luncheon. "Maybe it'll be a double, but at this point in time, after a lot of conversations, it's just going to be the Coke 600.
"I think it's going to be a big challenge, but I'm looking forward to it -- especially a hometown like Charlotte for NASCAR."
Patrick said trying to race at Indy "was just something that didn't work out."
"As far as the business side of things, it just didn't work out," Patrick added. "Again, I'm hopeful to do it in the future, but for this year it just didn't happen."
Patrick, who will run a full NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule and compete for the championship in that series this year, will make her NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut in the Feb. 26 Daytona 500. She already had announced that she will also compete in the Southern 500 at Darlington in May as part of a 10-race Cup schedule.
Patrick won't be the first woman to compete in the annual 600-mile race at Charlotte. Janet Guthrie made her NASCAR debut in what was then the World 600 in 1976 and finished 15th.

Front Row Motorsports :David Ragan to drive the #34 Ford

2012-01-16T20:31:00.000-05:00

Front Row Motorsports will follow up its best season in the team's young history by bolstering its line-up for 2012, adding race winner David Ragan to drive the #34 Ford in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Front Row veteran David Gilliland will build off an impressive 2011 season, returning to the team behind the wheel of the team's second entry, the #38 Ford. Ragan joins Front Row after completing a 2011 season that delivered his first Cup win (Daytona International Speedway in July), two poles, and four top-five and eight top-10 finishes. The 26-year-old Unadilla, Ga., native is already a NASCAR veteran, first joining the national stock-car ranks at the age of 18 and quickly ascending to premier-level Sprint Cup racing. His #34 team is locked in to the starting line-up entering the 2012 season, including a guaranteed starting spot in the prestigious Daytona 500 next month. Gilliland returns for his third season with Front Row and his seventh in the Cup series. The 35-year-old Riverside, Calif., native will return to the #38, the number he drove as a Sprint Cup rookie as well as the car he drove in his first season with Front Row. The #38 team is also locked in to the field entering 2012. Last season, Gilliland raced his way to a third-place finish in the Daytona 500 to start off an impressive 2011 run, in which he proved to be a force on superspeedways and road courses. Sponsorship for the Front Row Motorsports entries is being finalized and will be announced soon.(Breaking Limits/Front Row)

Smithfield Foods, Inc Multiyear Partnership With Petty

2012-01-12T16:51:00.000-05:00

Consumer Packaged Foods Giant Inks Multiyear Partnership with NASCARs First Family

01.12.12

Daytona Beach, Fla. (January 12, 2012) – Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NYSE:SFD) and Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) announced today that the consumer packaged foods company headquartered in Smithfield, Virginia has entered into a multiyear, integrated partnership with the legendary Richard Petty Motorsports NASCAR team starting in 2012.
As part of its agreement with Richard Petty Motorsports, Smithfield will be utilizing a number of its core brands as well as unique and engaging promotional initiatives throughout this racing season to communicate with existing customers and introduce others to the company’s many fine products. In addition, NASCAR fans will see a variety of Smithfield brands adorning the legendary No. 43 Ford Fusion as primary sponsor in fifteen NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events in 2012, including the first event of the season, February’s Daytona 500. Smithfield brands include Farmland®, Eckrich® and Curly’s®, among others, as well as Helping Hungry Homes™, one of Smithfield’s premier community-outreach brands.
Smithfield® and Helping Hungry Homes™ will be Smithfield’s featured brands for the Daytona 500. Helping Hungry Homes™ is Smithfield’s initiative focused on alleviating hunger across America. The initiative provided more than eight million servings of protein last year through food banks, school nutrition programs, disaster relief, and community outreach programs. “Making a positive impact on our communities is one of our core values at Smithfield,” said C. Larry Pope, Smithfield’s president and chief executive officer.
For Smithfield Foods, partnering now with the Petty organization is a natural fit. “We had been in discussions internally about entering NASCAR with the Petty’s as so many of our customers are true blue fans of the sport and of the Petty’s,” stated Mr. Pope. “However, with the recent events that have affected the Petty organization, we felt it was only right to step up our efforts now to support them, as well as dedicate time and resources to bring some exciting initiatives with our brands to NASCAR fans,” said Pope. “In the coming months, we will be announcing plans and programs both on and off the track to reach and engage our customers and local communities that are so important to us,” added Pope.
“This partnership with Smithfield Foods is part of the beginning of a new chapter for the No. 43 team,” commented Petty. “We appreciate that they saw something special in the Petty family and in Richard Petty Motorsports as a whole and made the decision to take the partnership to a higher level right out of the box. The folks at Smithfield have a solid plan in place to utilize their sponsorship in some very exciting ways and we’re looking forward to working with them in 2012 and beyond.”
Aric Almirola was recently named as the driver of the famed No. 43 Ford and will make his debut in the Richard Petty Motorsports owned entry at Daytona International Speedway.
“I’m looking forward to representing the Smithfield brands,” said Almirola. “They have some great things planned and I am happy to be a part of it.”

Michael Waltrip Racing tried to purchase Red Bull Racing

2012-01-12T04:52:00.000-05:00

Michael Waltrip Racing tried to purchase Red Bull Racing to acquire more equipment and secure owner points to guarantee that all three of his Sprint Cup teams have guaranteed spots in the Daytona 500, but was not able complete the deal. That means there's more work to do for Waltrip before the season-opening race. Among his priorities is finding points so that all three MWR automatically qualify for the Daytona 500. "We tried to buy them," Waltrip said of Red Bull Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway. "We felt it would be a way to make our team stronger. We always look at accomplishing just that. MWR will look to get points through another partnership. The catch is that no owner can have a stake in more than four teams, so with three teams already, it limits the organization's options. There has been no decision on which car would be left without points if MWR can't get a deal done. All three have major sponsors. Waltrip, a two-time Daytona 500 winner, also would like to race in the Daytona 500 but with his organization already having three cars, he doesn't know if he can field a fourth car out of his shop or would have to drive for another team. He would have to run for his own team or a single-car team as the four-team cap includes all teams owned by a owner/driver, plus all teams if the driver competes for another organization.(Scene Daily)(1-12-2012)

Jason Ratcliff has been named crew chief for its No. 20

2012-01-11T12:40:00.000-05:00

“We appreciate everything Greg has done for us here at Joe Gibbs Racing. He has been a big part of our success, but we felt the timing was right to make this transition for our race team which allows Greg the opportunity to pursue a director of competition position with Tony (Stewart),” said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. “We also felt that the timing was right to bring Jason (Ratcliff) to our Cup operation. He is a proven leader with a tremendous track record in our Nationwide program and we think he and Joey will work well together.”

Ratcliff spent the previous seven years as crew chief for JGR’s No. 18 Nationwide Series team. No team has been better over the past three seasons as the team won two consecutive NASCAR Nationwide Series Owner’s Championships in 2009 and 2010. They narrowly missed out on a third consecutive title this past season finishing just a few points off the pace in second. Over the past three seasons JGR’s No. 18 Nationwide Series team has won an incredible 30 races, with 68 top-five, and 85 top-ten finishes. In addition, they have led an astonishing 6,124 laps over that time.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to join our Cup operation and work with Joey and everyone on the 20 team,” said Ratcliff. “There is a great history with this program and we have two of the best sponsors in the sport with The Home Depot and Dollar General. I’ve had the opportunity to work with Joey a few times now on the Nationwide side so there is a familiarity there, but I’m looking forward to getting started fulltime and working alongside Dave (Rogers) and Darian (Grubb).”

Zipadelli has been the crew chief for JGR’s No. 20 program since the team was formed in 1999. Over the 13-year span he has won 33 total races and two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships with driver Tony Stewart (2002 and 2005). He was also on top of the pit box for Joey Logano’s first career victory in 2009 which made him the youngest driver ever to win on the Cup level. Zipadelli is leaving JGR to pursue an opportunity with Stewart-Haas Racing.

Mark Martin testing

2012-01-10T13:34:00.000-05:00

Mark Martin testing: This week's tests at New Smyrna (FL) Speedway and Daytona International Speedway mark the first two tests for Mark Martin and his #55 Aaron's Dream Machine race team. Martin begins his 30th NASCAR Sprint Cup season driving the #55 Aaron's Dream Machine in 25 races for Michael Waltrip Racing. Martin believes the work done this week is an important step toward running well at Daytona and the rest of the 2012 season. Martin's comments: "These tests aren't incredibly important from the car hardware side. It's more important for us as a new group working together to work through the areas like communication, flow, learning everyone's names, routines and things like that. That's really the critical part of the test. From the hardware side, we do have a number of things we want to run through at these tests, but all teams are doing those kinds of things. These tests are valuable because we want everything to be working like a smooth oiled machine by the time we get to the Daytona 500. Then, by the time we get to Phoenix, we want to be acting like we've been racing together for years. The one other thing that I am going to focus on this time at Daytona, more than I did a year ago, is working on tandem drafting. We didn't do that last year and it's going to be even more of a challenge this year. (Crew Chief) Rodney (Childers) and I want to look toward being ahead of the curve on the two-car tandem or explore areas that will give us an advantage."(Michael Waltrip Racing)(1-10-2012)

Martin will drive the Interstate Batteries Nationwide race

2012-01-10T08:59:00.002-05:00

Joe Gibbs Racing announced Friday that Mark Martin will drive a NASCAR Nationwide Series race for the organization.

Martin will drive the Interstate Batteries Camry in the Nationwide race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.

“We’ve always hoped to have the opportunity for Mark to drive for us and to have him behind the wheel of our Interstate Batteries Toyota for the Nationwide race in Vegas is exciting,” said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. “He is a great example to all drivers of the dedication it takes to be successful and certainly we’re honored to have him part of our efforts in 2012.”
The team said it is working on additional opportunities to have Martin in the car.
He has 49 career victories in 235 Nationwide Series starts, with 111 top-five and 151 top-10 finishes while leading 8,093 laps. His most recent victory came last season at Las Vegas. He is second on the all-time series wins list to Kyle Busch, who passed Martin in 2011 and now has 51 career Nationwide wins.
“This is exciting,” said Martin. “No organization has been better in the Nationwide Series over the past three or four seasons and to have the chance to get behind the wheel of a Joe Gibbs Racing Nationwide car will be a thrill. Maybe I can pick up a few more races and try to catch Kyle to get my record back again.”

Kurt Busch Running Limited NNS Schedule

2012-01-09T20:46:00.002-05:00

Kurt Busch Running Limited NNS Schedule

Posted on: January 9, 2012

Phoenix Racing announced that in addition to running the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule with Kurt Busch, they will field the #1 Chevy in a limited amount of NASCAR Nationwide Series races, starting at Daytona with Kurt Busch. The team plans on running all major events and are looking for sponsorship for these races.
“Everyone at Phoenix Racing is excited about competing on the Nationwide circuit this year,” general manager Steve Barkdoll said. “”Our Nationwide Series team is a proven, winning organization and we’re looking forward to Busch continuing the tradition. This is a great opportunity for a company to partner with a top-notch program.”
Phoenix Racing ran its first Nationwide race in 1989 and has 12 wins in the series. The organization has 150 top-10 Nationwide finishes, 61 of them top fives.

Ford Unveils Next Cup Car

2012-01-09T12:38:00.000-05:00

Ford Unveils Next Cup Car: Ford Motor Co. has taken the wraps off its 2013 Fusion sedan, the car the automaker will race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series next year and for the near future. In 2013, NASCAR will introduce its next-generation Sprint Cup car, which according to series officials and automakers will look much more like a production car than the current ones do. Given that, Ford's 2013 production Fusion will present a much different face for the automaker than the current model, which debuted in 2006. Thus, expect the new Fusion Sprint Cup car to have lines that more closely mimic the new street model. The new Fusion, which is being introduced this week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, is a fairly bold departure stylistically from the model it's replacing.(SPEED)

Danica gets a car chief

2012-01-08T20:46:00.000-05:00

Danica gets a car chief: After 13 seasons with Roush Fenway Racing in a variety of roles, Todd Zeigler was looking for a new challenge. The 39-year-old native of Albion, Ind., joined Stewart-Haas Racing as the new car chief for #10-Danica Patrick on Tuesday. Zeigler will oversee the crew and supervise the setup of the car. He will report to Greg Zipadelli, who is serving as the interim crew chief this season along with his duties as competition director. A full-time crew chief is expected to be named later this year. Zeigler started as a tire changer with Roush Fenway Racing in 1998 and served as car chief for Mark Martin, Jeff Burton and Jamie McMurray. Most recently he worked as the shop foreman with the #16 team after opting to get off the road crew. After Mike Lingerfelt was injured, Zeigler was asked to substitute and found himself going over the wall again. At the end of the 2011 season, Zeigler was asked to help rebuild the #16 team with driver Greg Biffle. He declined. The prospect for working with Stewart, NASCAR's reigning Sprint Cup champ, was too tempting.(FoxSports)(1-6-2012)

RUSTY WALLACE RACING “CHANGING GEARS”

2012-01-06T17:40:00.002-05:00

MOORESVILLE, NC (January 6, 2012)—Officials of Rusty Wallace Racing, LLC (RWR) announced today that the team’s on-track activities will be put on temporary hiatus.

While the organization’s day-to-day competition activities will temporarily cease, key elements of RWR’s business staff will remain in place to continue development of future opportunities.

The team is currently assisting No. 66 driver, Steve Wallace, in exploring several exciting opportunities for 2012, with backing from his current RWR sponsors. RWR will continue to maintain and manage those sponsor relationships on Wallace’s behalf.

No. 62 driver, Michael Annett has been released from the team and will pursue other 2012 opportunities with his longtime family sponsor, Pilot Flying J.

Noted team owner Rusty Wallace, “This was a tough decision to make, but it was the prudent one from a number of perspectives. While we had several great partners—such as Pilot Flying J—on board for 2012, we just didn’t feel like we had enough sponsorship in place to accomplish all of our goals.

“A lot of teams would have run with the level of funding we have now, but we want to ensure that our team has the resources necessary to compete and to improve our operations. I promised myself and my family long ago that if the team wasn’t funded to a level with which we were comfortable, we just wouldn’t run it. I’ve worked way too hard to put part of my life savings into a race team.

“So, we collectively decided to take a break, regroup and focus on the future. We’ll keep working hard on sponsorship programs for Steve (Wallace) and for future seasons. This also allows us to focus on the other aspects of our companies and our brand as well, whether it’s our car dealerships, new track design projects, licensing, personal services or even something new.

“Nearly all of our current partners are staying on board with us to support Steve in 2012 and we’re really grateful for their support. We’re working hard on an exciting 2012 program for Steve and hope to have an announcement on his plans very soon. We’re all very excited about working with our great group of sponsors both this year and well into the future.

“Most of all, I really want to thank all of our employees for their hard work and dedication. One of the hardest parts of this decision was knowing the impact that it would have on our employees and their families. It’s just the unfortunate reality that our sport is facing right now. We wish all of our employees the very best in the future.”

# # #

BAYNE WITH WOODS BROTHERS 2012

2012-01-06T07:36:00.000-05:00

Bayne’s Signed Up For 2012 in the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion

In an off-season that has seen several surprising driver changes, there’s one winning combination that isn’t about to break up. Trevor Bayne will remain in the seat of the Wood Brothers No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion.

Bayne, who delivered the Woods their fifth Daytona 500 triumph in just his second start in the No. 21 Ford Fusion, said he’s pleased to be putting any off-season uncertainty behind him.
“I’m excited,” he said. “It’s a big deal for me. It’s what I had hoped for. We’re all excited to be back together.”
Team co-owner Eddie Wood said he too is pleased to have Bayne back behind the wheel of his family’s race car.
“It’s taken a long time to get to this announcement, but it’s good to be back together,” Wood said.
“We all wanted to do what was best for Ford Motor Company and its young drivers, and to be sure everybody had a place to race.”
For Bayne, one of the younger drivers in the Sprint Cup Series, driving for the sport’s longest running team is something he appreciates even more as time goes by.
He was made even more aware of the team’s history and heritage – and its long-standing relationship with Ford Motor Company – when he watched a video on the team’s history at the company Christmas party.
“There’s no question at all that since the beginning, the Woods and Ford were going to stick with each other,” he said. “The Woods are such a great racing family, and it’s amazing that they’re the only one of the original teams that has survived since the beginning.”
But the Woods and Bayne aren’t just interested in celebrating the past. Beginning next week, they’ll be back at Daytona International Speedway for Preseason Thunder testing and trying to figure a way to adapt to a new rules package and defend their 500 victory.
“It’s going to be very different at Daytona,” Bayne said, referring to a rule change that will block off air to the car’s radiator and thereby limit the two-car tandem racing that Bayne so quickly adapted to. “It’ll be like starting all over again, but that’s OK.
“We’ll just go try to do it again.”

#71 team not returning in 2012?

2012-01-05T09:53:00.002-05:00

#71 team not returning in 2012?: Sirius XM NASCAR Radio's Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody has learned that the #71 TRG Motorsports NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team will not return in 2012. Sources close to the team say TRG will announce later this week that it has shuttered its NASCAR operation and will compete only on the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series in 2012. TRG finished 36th in Sprint Cup owner points last season, and would not have been a guaranteed starter for the season-opening Daytona 500. TRG Motorsports made a total of 106 starts since joining the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2009, with a pair of Top-10 finishes to its credit. Bobby Labonte claimed a 10th-place finish for the team at Talladega in the fall of 2009, while Mike Bliss finished ninth in the 2010 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. Team owner Kevin Buckler did not immediately return a call seeking comment today.(Sirius Speedway)(1-4-2012)

ZIpadelli Named Competition Director for Stewart-Haas Racing

2011-12-16T14:38:00.001-05:00

ZIpadelli Named Competition Director for Stewart-Haas Racing: Greg Zipadelli, winner of two championships and 34 victories as a crew chief in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, has been named competition director at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). He will work with Vice President of Competition Matt Borland and oversee the #14 and #39 teams, while also building the #10 team for which Danica Patrick will run a 10-race Sprint Cup schedule with in 2012. Zipadelli comes to SHR from Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) where he served as crew chief for the #20 team since 1999. It's where the 44-year-old from Berlin, Conn., began a 10-year tenure with Tony Stewart, the co-owner of SHR along with Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation. From 1999 through 2008, Zipadelli was Stewart's crew chief, with the duo winning Sprint Cup titles in 2002 and 2005 while claiming 33 victories and 10 poles. When Stewart left JGR following the 2008 season to form SHR, Zipadelli stayed and spent three years as the crew chief for Joey Logano, where he helped deliver Logano's first career Sprint Cup victory on June 28, 2009 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. "We're very proud to have Greg Zipadelli join Stewart-Haas Racing," said Stewart, the three-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion. "Greg and I have a long and successful history together. I know him and he knows me, and we both know what it takes to build race teams. We took our time in searching for a competition director because it's an important role with a lot of responsibility. Greg knows all that goes into the job, understands the importance of teamwork and communication across all levels of the organization, and is ultimately someone I have a great deal of trust in."
The addition of Zipadelli to the SHR family is a reunion on two fronts Stewart, of course, but also with Steve Addington, who spent 2004-2008 at JGR and is now Stewart's crew chief at SHR with the #14 team. (Tony Gibson serves as crew chief for the #39 team and driver Ryan Newman.)
"Joe Gibbs always says that you win with people, and Tony Stewart is a winner," Zipadelli said. "We won a lot together at Joe Gibbs Racing, and it was a sad day when he left. But Tony had an unbelievable opportunity with Stewart-Haas Racing, and he's obviously made the most of it. To become a part of what he's already built, but to do it in a new role with a new set of responsibilities, was a challenge I wanted. I really appreciate Joe and J.D. Gibbs for all that that they've given me over the years and for allowing me to seize this opportunity."(Stewart-Haas Racing)(12-16-2011)

Ratcliff Named No. 20 Crew Chief

2011-12-16T13:31:00.000-05:00

Ratcliff Named No. 20 Crew Chief

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (December 16, 2011) – Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) announces today that Jason Ratcliff has been named crew chief for its No. 20 Sprint Cup Series team, replacing Greg Zipadelli who is leaving the organization to pursue an opportunity with Stewart-Haas Racing.
“We appreciate everything Greg has done for us here at Joe Gibbs Racing. He has been a big part of our success, but we felt the timing was right to make this transition for our race team which allows Greg the opportunity to pursue a director of competition position with Tony (Stewart),” said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. “We also felt that the timing was right to bring Jason (Ratcliff) to our Cup operation. He is a proven leader with a tremendous track record in our Nationwide program and we think he and Joey will work well together.”
Ratcliff spent the previous seven years as crew chief for JGR’s No. 18 Nationwide Series team. No team has been better over the past three seasons as the team won two consecutive NASCAR Nationwide Series Owner’s Championships in 2009 and 2010. They narrowly missed out on a third consecutive title this past season finishing just a few points off the pace in second. Over the past three seasons JGR’s No. 18 Nationwide Series team has won an incredible 30 races, with 68 top-five, and 85 top-ten finishes. In addition, they have led an astonishing 6,124 laps over that time.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to join our Cup operation and work with Joey and everyone on the 20 team,” said Ratcliff. “There is a great history with this program and we have two of the best sponsors in the sport with The Home Depot and Dollar General. I’ve had the opportunity to work with Joey a few times now on the Nationwide side so there is a familiarity there, but I’m looking forward to getting started fulltime and working alongside Dave (Rogers) and Darian (Grubb).”
Zipadelli has been the crew chief for JGR’s No. 20 program since the team was formed in 1999. Over the 13-year span he has won 33 total races and two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships with driver Tony Stewart (2002 and 2005). He was also on top of the pit box for Joey Logano’s first career victory in 2009 which made him the youngest driver ever to win on the Cup level. Zipadelli is leaving JGR to pursue an opportunity with Stewart-Haas Racing.

Best Buy to sponsor Kenseth?

2011-12-15T21:38:00.002-05:00

Best Buy to sponsor Kenseth?: Roush Fenway Racing and #17-Matt Kenseth appear to be well on their way to securing the Best Buy sponsorship for 2012, according to sources familiar with the situation. The Roush organization has pledged to run Kenseth, the 2003 Cup champion, without sponsorship but has been working hard to find funding for the driver coming off a three-win season where he placed fourth in the Cup standings. Kenseth's primary sponsor Crown Royal opted not to sponsor a race team in 2012. Best Buy's sponsorship of #43-AJ Allmendinger at Richard Petty Motorsports was for 24 races in 2011. RPM has not announced any sponsorship for the #43 car for next season. An RPM spokesman said the team would have no comment on its sponsorship search.(SceneDaily)(12-15-2011)

SCOTT SPEED JOINS LEVINE FAMILY RACING

2011-12-15T07:03:00.000-05:00

CONCORD, N.C. (December 13, 2011) — Scott Speed has joined Leavine Family Racing (LFR) for a limited 15-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule for 2012 in the No. 95 Ford.

A veteran of all three of NASCAR’s premier national touring series, Speed joins Leavine Family Racing after making 13 Sprint Cup starts with Whitney Motorsports’ in the No. 46 Ford.

Speed will be competing in his fifth Sprint Cup Series season. The California native competed full-time with Red Bull Racing in 2010; earning two top-10 finishes and leading 21 laps.

"We are pleased to have Scott Speed join our team," team owner Bob Leavine said. "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 has made 18 starts in the Nationwide Series and 16 starts in the Camping World Truck Series over the past four years. He posted a truck series win at the Dover International Speedway in 2008. His best Nationwide Series finish came on the road course at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve last year where he placed sixth. Speed earned career first pole in the series in 2009.

Speed began his racing career in Karting at the age of 10. Making his way through the open-wheel racing ranks throughout the West Coast, he made his Formula One debut in 2001. From there he has successfully competed in Formula One making 28 career starts before making the transition to stock-car racing in 2007 with the ARCA Racing Series.

The 28-year-old driver is thrilled to have the opportunity to compete with Leavine Family Racing.

"I am excited to team up with Bob Leavine and his guys at Leavine Family Racing,” Speed said. 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."

Penske Racing News

2011-12-15T04:40:00.000-05:00

While Penske Racing says that it "continues to evaluate drivers to fill the seat of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge," a crew chief was named for the team Wednesday.

Nationwide Series crew chief Todd Gordon will take over the role with the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Gordon joined Penske in January of 2011, working with Brad Keselowski in the Nationwide Series ranks. Gordon led the team to six wins and six pole positions this past season.
“Our first priority is always to look within the walls of Penske Racing when making personnel decisions,” team owner Roger Penske said. “We want to reward success. The path we are taking with Todd mirrors what we did with Paul Wolfe who led the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge to a Chase berth in 2011. We think Todd can get the job done in the same manner.”
Gordon said that he is looking forward to the move. He replaces Steve Addington, who moved to Tony Stewart's championship team at season's end. Driver Kurt Busch and Penske parted ways following the season as well.
“I can’t thank Roger and everyone at Penske Racing enough for this vote of confidence,” Gordon said. “It’s an honor to step into a race-winning team. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but this is an organization full of talented people that know how to get the job done. I look forward to getting the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge back in Victory Lane.”

NASCAR looking at banning driver-to-driver communications

2011-12-15T04:33:00.002-05:00

NASCAR looking at banning driver-to-driver communications: NASCAR is expected to revise its policy on in-car radio communications, including a possible ban on drivers communicating with other drivers over their in-car radios for at least restrictor-plate events in 2012. The sanctioning body is reviewing its current policy, which does allow driver-to-driver radio contact, a series spokesman said, and expects to have a revised policy in place in 2012. The practice was used heavily during the restrictor-plate races as drivers worked in two-car tandems. The drivers would use one spotter and be able to communicate with each other. NASCAR is expected to make other rule changes in hopes of getting rid of the two-car drafts at Daytona and Talladega. Smaller spoilers and different cooling systems are the most likely change

Ragan talks to Penske; Kurt Busch will talk to Phoenix Racing

2011-12-09T22:03:00.002-05:00

Ragan talks to Penske; Kurt Busch will talk to Phoenix Racing: David Ragan has met with Penske Racing officials about replacing Kurt Busch. Busch's future could hinge on whether Ragan is hired. James Finch, the owner of Phoenix Racing, said he had a deal with Ragan to drive the #51 Chevy next season subject "to him getting a better deal.'' That possibility happened on Monday when Busch was released by Penske Racing, leaving the #22 with sponsor Shell Pennzoil open. Finch told ESPN.com on Friday that Ragan contacted him on Thursday to say he met with Roger Penske in Detroit and planned to meet next week with Shell Pennzoil officials. Ragan confirmed he met with Penske and other officials and planned to "follow up next week." Meanwhile, Finch said Busch contacted him about driving for his Spartanburg, S.C. -based organization. "I told him I'd meet with him and see what's going on,'' Finch said. "I haven't decided who I am going to put in my car next year. He wasn't necessarily at the top of the list." Finch said Busch's behavior that led to what was described as a "mutual'' split with Penske Racing wouldn't discourage him from hiring the 2004 Cup champion. He also said he wouldn't tolerate Busch's sometimes volatile behavior. "Kurt, his talent is pretty good,'' Finch said. "He's one of the best there is, but I'm not going to listen to that s--- and pay him money."(ESPN)(12-9-2011)

Red Bull Racing closes Thursday

2011-12-08T13:24:00.002-05:00

Red Bull Racing closes Thursday: Red Bull Racing's five-year run as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team will come to an end [Thursday], when the last of approximately 150 employees will be laid off and the competition shop shut down, presumably for good. After 284 Sprint Cup starts, over 106,000 competitive laps and two victories, the team informed its remaining employees this week that Thursday will be the final day of operation. A memo was distributed by the team's Human Resources Manager outlining severance procedures and establishing a schedule for exit interviews. After a brief team meeting &. the team will raffle off sheet metal, mementos and photos that have hung at the Red Bull shop and distribute cases of Red Bull to departing employees. "We know it will be a difficult day for everyone," said the memo, "as a large number of employees will be exiting the facility."(Sirius Speedway)(12-8-2011)

Stenhouse Jr., No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Team Extend Title Celebration

2011-12-08T11:43:00.001-05:00

Stenhouse Jr., No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Team Extend Title Celebration

Driver Champion And His Team Visit Nationwide Headquarters For Full Day Of Activities

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 8, 2011) – Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series driver champion, and his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing team, will take part in a full day – and evening – of activities today, hosted by series sponsor Nationwide Insurance in its headquarters’ hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Nationwide Insurance has welcomed the series driver champion to its home turf, and the second year in succession that his entire team – this year led by crew chief Mike Kelley – also has made the trip. Since the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Awards Banquet immediately followed this year’s season finale on Nov. 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, today’s schedule allow Stenhouse’s championship celebration to continue a bit longer.

"It’s still a surreal feeling to be the NASCAR Nationwide Series champion,” Stenhouse said. “I wake up every day and ask myself, ‘Did it really happen?’ I’m so thankful for Nationwide Insurance and everybody that has made it possible for us to race in such a great series. I’m looking forward to being at Champion’s Day in Columbus. It’s an honor and a privilege to represent Nationwide as their champion today and for the rest of my life."

Stenhouse’s portion of the day begins with an exclusive on-line live chat for Nationwide associates. In the meantime, the No. 6 team will receive a tour of Nationwide’s corporate headquarters. After the chat and tour, Stenhouse and his team will sign autographs for Nationwide associates on site.

Following lunch, the driver champion team will head to nearby Nationwide Arena, home of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League, for a tour of the facility and a game of broomball on the Jackets’ home ice. Next up is a trip to the Mid-Ohio Food Bank where Stenhouse, Kelley and the No. 6 team will challenge a team of Nationwide associates to pack as many boxes of food items as possible in a time allotment. The food will assist needy families in the Columbus area during the holiday season.

A unique experience follows as team members will be introduced to a Columbus, Ohio original: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream. The company’s founder, Jeni Britton Bauer, will be on hand to discuss her inspiration for her unique ice cream shops and flavors. The store insists there will be enough ice cream on hand to keep the hungry No. 6 team happy.

The day concludes with a short trip back to Nationwide Arena where the team will enjoy the 7 p.m. ET matchup between the Blue Jackets and the Nashville Predators. Stenhouse will be a featured guest on the FOX Ohio pre-game show. He’ll also take part in a Q&A session in the Fan Lounge before an autograph session with fans in between the first and second periods.

Darian Grubb close to announcing his plans for 2012

2011-12-08T09:20:00.001-05:00

Darian Grubb says he's close to announcing his plans for 2012. The 2011 Sprint Cup championship crew chief attended Tuesday night's Stocks-for-Tots fundraising event at the NASCAR Technical Institute and said he hopes to reveal his plans by the end of the week. "I'm hoping to get it all ironed out by the end of the week because we have to get things rolling for 2012, and get things going no matter where I go." With today's announcement of the departure of Mike Ford as crew chief for the No. 11 FedEx Toyota and driver Denny Hamlin, the open slot at Joe Gibbs Racing is one possibility for Grubb. "It's all still rumors at this point," Grubb said. "I've talked to a lot of people and I have narrowed down my list a little bit and I still haven't made any decisions myself. Hopefully, by the end of the week we'll have some decisions made and get some announcements out there."(Motor Racing Network)(12-7-2011)

Kenseth's #17 Roush Fenway Racing team needs Sponsor

2011-12-07T19:19:00.000-05:00

Off-season with a blank quarter-panel is a mystery. With Crown Royal's last sponsorship dollars having been poured from the glass, Kenseth's #17 Roush Fenway Racing team is looking toward 2012 from a rather lonely position. The team does not have a major sponsor for next season, and time is rapidly running out. Kenseth said he remains hopeful that his Fords will carry major sponsorship when the team reports to Daytona International Speedway in February. "I think they'll find something," he said. "I think we have too competitive of a team to be unsponsored. From my standpoint, it's frustrating because I don't know how the whole process works. But, from a driver standpoint, if you perform well and don't act like an idiot too much, things are good.(SPEED)

Keselowski and Wolfe get extensions from Penske Racing

2011-12-02T08:22:00.001-05:00

Keselowski and Wolfe get extensions from Penske Racing: One of the most successful combinations in NASCAR will continue for years to come at Penske Racing as the organization announced today that both driver Brad Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe have agreed to multi-year contract extensions. Keselowski and Wolfe will continue to lead the #2 team as it pursues the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship in 2012 and beyond. "The winning combination of Brad Keselowski and Paul Wolfe has been terrific for Penske Racing and we are excited to announce that they will continue to work together," said Roger Penske. "With one NASCAR championship and numerous wins in both the Nationwide Series and the Cup Series to their credit, this has proven to be a special pairing. Although Brad, Paul and the #2 team fell short of winning the Cup Series title this season, we know they will continue to be championship contenders for years to come."
In their first season of working together in 2010, Keselowski and Wolfe teamed up to produce six wins and five poles on their way to winning the Nationwide Series championship for Penske Racing. That team also established a new series single-season record with 26 top-five finishes and completed all but one lap of competition throughout the 2010 season.(Penske Racing)(12-1-2011)

Earnhardt Jr. Wins Ninth Straight Most Popular Driver Award

2011-12-01T17:21:00.002-05:00

Earnhardt Jr. Wins Ninth Straight Most Popular Driver Award: Junior Nation has spoken once again. Fans of Dale Earnhardt Jr. voted the Sprint Cup Series driver the NASCAR NMPA Most Popular Driver for the ninth straight year. Earnhardt Jr. earned the award after receiving the most online fan votes among all eligible drivers throughout the 2011 racing season. The trophy was presented by award sponsor Wheaties FUEL to Earnhardt Jr. at the National Motorsports Press Association's Myers Brothers ceremony Thursday in Las Vegas.
Fans cast nearly 1.5 million total votes throughout the 2011 campaign, voting up to once per day for their favorite driver at www.WheatiesFuelMostPopularDriver.com. The field was narrowed to 10 finalists and the vote counts were reset to zero for the final 10 races of the season. The nine other finalists were (in alphabetical order): Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart.
"It's a big honor. My fans have been real supportive throughout my career," Earnhardt Jr. said. "This has been a little bit of a turnaround year from the last couple of years, and we want to keep getting better on the racetrack and give our fans what they expect. We've got a lot of momentum going into 2012, and I'm proud to accept this award on behalf of all the fans who voted." Bill Elliott holds the record for most consecutive Most Popular Driver wins with 10, and he also holds the record for total wins with 16. He removed himself from voting after earning the honor the 16th time. "Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s fans showcase the passion NASCAR drivers can instill," said Rea White, president of the National Motorsports Press Association. "The NMPA appreciates all the fans who vote to make this award an important part of NASCAR." Since 1956, the NASCAR NMPA Most Popular Driver Award, now sponsored by Wheaties FUEL, has recognized NASCAR's most beloved Sprint Cup driver. The award has been won by champions such as Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Allison, Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip. It is still the only NASCAR award determined solely by the fans. The contest once was decided by a poll among the drivers taken at the end of the season. Later, only the press was able to vote for the winner. Today, race fans from all over the world make the ultimate decision. General Mills became involved with the award in 2001 and today the Wheaties FUEL brand is the presenting sponsor.(Breaking Limits)(12-1-2011)

Toyota Honored With 2011 NASCAR Marketing Achievement Award

2011-12-01T15:19:00.002-05:00

Toyota Honored With 2011 NASCAR Marketing Achievement Award

Social Media, At-Track Marketing Programs Engage Millions Of NASCAR Fans

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 1, 2011) – Toyota was honored with the 2011 NASCAR Marketing Achievement Award today at the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Awards held at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. Toyota’s Sponsafier, PitPass and Owners Hospitality campaigns, among many others, directly engaged millions of NASCAR fans through the implementation of an integrated social media campaign as well as an at-track fan activation display.

Each year, NASCAR recognizes an industry partner who has exemplified the spirit of NASCAR through integrated marketing campaigns for all racing fans, consumers and employees.

“In its eighth year as an official partner, Toyota is executing multiple NASCAR branded advertising and social media campaigns to complement their at-track activation programs that allow them to engage fans throughout the season,” said Jim O'Connell, vice president and chief sales officer for NASCAR. “Toyota is raising the bar for fan activation with its Sponsafier and PitPass program, not only in NASCAR but in all of sports.”

“Toyota is honored to receive the NASCAR Marketing Achievement Award,” said Ed Laukes, vice president of marketing communications and motorsports for Toyota. “Our commitment to becoming a champion of the fans by providing the best fan experience possible has truly paid off. Our in-vehicle experiences and opt-in rates are more successful at NASCAR events than any other ride and drive deployment we execute all year. We thank NASCAR for its continued support, and look forward to increasing fan interaction and excitement even more during the 2012 season.”

Toyota’s online consumer engagement contest, Sponsafier, returned in 2011 with a new website, as well as TV, print, radio and online advertisements that featured Toyota NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin. Sponsafier allowed fans to create a custom Toyota Camry NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car and enter for a chance to spend time with their favorite Toyota NASCAR driver. The campaign generated 220,000 registered users and three million page views to go along with 63,000 designs submitted and more than 400,000 fan votes gathered. The Sponsafier 3 winning design incorporated the “Chelsea’s Hope Foundation” logo in hopes of raising awareness about Lafora Disease. A charity event was held shortly after the selection in Sonoma, Calif. during the Infineon Raceway race weekend to help raise funding for Lafora Disease research.

Toyota’s PitPass program featured 20,000 square feet of fan activations that included a NASCAR technical garage, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Camry cutaway car, NASCAR photo booth, Toyota driver appearances and a full range of Toyota vehicles on display. Toyota captured the data and established an ongoing dialogue with fans after each event by registering more than 40,000 fans at their 2011 PitPass exhibit.

Toyota executed several additional NASCAR marketing initiatives in 2011, including:

· More than 5,500 fans participated in Toyota’s Ride and Drive program at an onsite opt-in rate of 75%.

· Over 13,000 race fans took advantage of Owner’s Hospitality, which was an exclusive, pre-race hospitality experience for Toyota, Lexus and Scion owners located in the vendor midway

· Toyota provided more than 300 vehicles for use at NASCAR events in the form of pace cars, driver introduction vehicles, grand marshal vehicles, and fire and safety vehicles.

· Launched the completely redesigned 2012 Camry via live webcast and included the unveiling of the 2012 Daytona 500 pace car with special guest, Denny Hamlin.

· Toyota’s Daytona 500 partnership and position as 2012 Official Pace Car was communicated in over 500 million paid media impressions.

· Toyota has run its NASCAR Daytona 500 Camry ad almost 1,000 times in non-NASCAR related programming, including the World Series.

· Toyota Racing’s website reached more than one million unique visitors in 2011 thanks to the creation of unique content that can only be found at ToyotaRacing.com

Previous winners of the NASCAR Marketing Achievement Award include: Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, ESPN, FOX/TNT/NBC, Gillette, K-mart, Office Depot, Sprint, Nationwide Insurance and The Home Depot.

About NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for one of North America's premier sports. NASCAR races are broadcast in more than 150 countries and in 20 languages. In the U.S., races are broadcast on FOX, TNT, ABC/ESPN/ESPN2, SPEED and SiriusXM Satellite Radio. NASCAR fans are among the most brand-loyal in all of sports, and as a result more Fortune 100 companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport. NASCAR consists of three national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), four regional series, and one local grassroots series, as well as two international series. Also part of NASCAR is Grand-Am Road Racing, known for its competition on road courses with multiple classes of cars. NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico. Based in Daytona Beach, Fla., NASCAR has offices in eight cities across North America. Follow NASCAR on www.facebook.com/NASCAR or on Twitter: @NASCAR.

Martin and Waltrip's car will be #55

2011-11-23T10:26:00.002-05:00

Martin and Waltrip's car will be #55 rather than #00: Mark Martin and Michael Waltrip's Toyota Camrys will carry the #55 during the 2012 and 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series seasons. The number commemorates Charlie Loudermilk's founding of Aaron's, Inc. in 1955. Martin will drive in 25 Sprint Cup events each of the next two seasons, sharing the #55 Aaron's Dream Machine with Waltrip who will drive seven events with Aaron's sponsorship. Martin will join Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. in the MWR stable of drivers. Martin will begin his tenure with MWR at the 2012 Daytona 500. Waltrip will run the remaining restrictor plate races plus the race in his home state of Kentucky. MWR plans to run a combination of drivers and sponsor partners to fill the remaining races when Martin and Waltrip are not behind the wheel.(Michael Waltrip Racing)(11-23-2011)

Camping World Truck Series Driver Suspended Indefinitely

2011-11-22T18:32:00.000-05:00

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Driver Suspended Indefinitely

Due To Violation Of NASCAR Substance Abuse Policy

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 22, 2011) – Jack C. Smith, a driver in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy.

He was found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 19 (violation of the NASCAR substance abuse policy) of the 2011 NASCAR rule book.

NEWS FROM AROUND

2011-11-22T14:26:00.000-05:00

Penske Racing says Kurt Busch’s crew chief has left the organization.
Steve Addington has been with Busch the last two seasons. He is the second crew chief in three years to split with the 2004 NASCAR champion.
Penske Racing President Tim Cindric confirmed Addington is leaving Tuesday, and wished the crew chief well in the future.
Although the split had been rumored for months, Addington had repeatedly declined to discuss his future with Busch or address speculation he planned to go to work for three-time champion Tony Stewart in 2012.
News he was leaving came the same day a video shot by a fan emerged on YouTube of Busch being verbally abusive to a reporter during Sunday’s season-finale race at Homestead.
NASCAR called Busch’s language in the video “disappointing.”

Significant layoffs at Roush: Multiple sources have confirmed significant layoffs this week at Roush Fenway Racing. According to sources, more than 100 workers were released by the team Monday and [Tuesday]. One source put the number at 125. Prior to today, the team employed about 440 people. Roush Fenway is expected to reduce its NASCAR Sprint Cup car count from four cars to three next season, with the #6 driven by David Ragan likely to be shuttered. At last report, the team is also without sponsors for the #17 of Matt Kenseth. The team may also reduce the size of its NASCAR Nationwide Series operations from three cars to one or two.(SPEED)(1-22-2011)
A.J. Foyt comment on Stewart winning the Championship: Following the thrilling race down to the wire between Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship which A.J. Foyt watched from his home in Houston, Foyt had this to say about Stewart winning the race at Homestead Miami Speedway and with it the title his first as a team owner and third as a driver. "It was a great race. I was a little worried in the beginning because it seemed like something happened to Tony every time he got to the front. He had to win it to win the championship and I think Tony drove the best race of his life. It was great to see the 14 win again. I am real proud of him!"(AJ Foyt Racing)(11-21-2011)

Earnhardt: Breaking up tandems will be difficult

2011-11-19T18:25:00.002-05:00

Earnhardt: Breaking up tandems will be difficult

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 19, 2011)

HOMESTEAD, Fla.—Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn’t be more enthusiastic about Friday’s pronouncement from NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France that the sanctioning body is committed to breaking up two-car drafts at Daytona and Talladega.

Only one problem: Based on past history and a recent test at Daytona, Earnhardt thinks it will be a huge challenge to stop the “love-bug racing” in which one car pushes another lap after lap.

“We would prefer to eliminate tandem racing in the manner it exists today,” France said. “There is no question about that. We are working on rolling back the clock to traditional Daytona, Talladega races.”

Earnhardt would like to see the NASCAR boys have at it—if they can.

“I’m all for helping to make that happen,” Earnhardt told Sporting News on Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “I think it’s going to be as hard as we think it will and as hard as we imagine it will after testing a little bit at Daytona there. It sort of reiterated everybody’s fears that it would be a little bit more difficult to do than just flipping a few switches.

“There are a lot of variables. These racecars have a bunch of pieces on them and the racetrack is part of the deal and the tire is part of the deal. There are just so many variables to get it different or make changes. The more you test and work with stuff, the more you find out where you might be wrong on some ideas and right on some ideas. This is just going to take a lot of work. I would like to hope we can get to go racing the way Brian wants it. I hope we can get closer to that.”

NASCAR has tried to separate the cars in the past, with larger restrictor-plate openings, smaller grille openings and lower settings on pressure relief valves. Recently, the sanctioning body also has been experimenting with smaller spoilers designed to reduce downforce and drag and destabilize the cars, making tandem drafting more difficult.

The way Earnhardt sees it, the quality of the racing surfaces at Daytona and Talladega may frustrate NASCAR’s attempt to break up the two-car drafts.

“The surface on these racetracks that they are repaving … they are doing an amazing job,” Earnhardt said. “The technology in paving from say the mid-’90s when these tracks were last paved to now, it is just incredibly different and much better. Look at Charlotte. It looks brand new, still, after several years.

“It should be aging and changing colors and getting slicker. But we were all forced to the bottom of that track the last time we raced there, and it was a very difficult race. Hopefully, being down in the Daytona area and the sand area, it will really beat that track up; beat the surface up and blast it pretty good. It just depends. There are a lot of variables.

“But, I’m glad to hear what he said.”

Keselowski: I could have said it better

2011-11-18T21:14:00.002-05:00

Keselowski: I could have said it better

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 18, 2011)

HOMESTEAD, Fla.—Brad Keselowski acknowledged that his criticism of NASCAR’s move to electronic fuel injection could have been less confrontational, but a reported $25,000 fine levied by the sanctioning body didn’t change his opinion on the subject.

Keselowski drew the supposedly secret fine earlier this week after making pointed remarks about EFI, scheduled for implementation next season, after an appearance last week at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.

Keselowski called EFI “a disaster” and said he failed to see how race fans got anything from it.

“We’re not doing this because it’s better for the sport or better for the teams—I don’t even really think we’re going to save any gas,” Keselowski told reporters. “It’s the media circus, trying to make you guys happy so you write good stories.

“It gives (NASCAR) something to promote, absolutely. And we’re always looking for something to promote. But the honest answer is it does nothing for the sport other than to cost the team owners money.”

Standing behind his transporter Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Keselowski said he should have been more judicious with his remarks.

“I think I could have been honest without (being) perhaps as confrontational,” said Keselowski, who met with NASCAR officials to discuss the issue.

Neither Keselowski nor NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France provided substantive details of that discussion.

“I can’t elaborate on that, because we didn’t issue a public fine on that,” France told Sporting News on Friday at Homestead. “You can read into what people say just like I can. When you cross a line that denigrates the direction of the sport or the quality of the racing, we’re not going to accept that—not going to accept it.

“Happy to have any other criticism, any other complaint—happy to hear them all. If I own a restaurant, and I say, ‘You know what, the food in my restaurant is not very good,’ we’re not going to accept it. It’s as simple as that.”

Keselowski took the restaurant analogy a step further.

“When I go to a restaurant and ask the waitress about the food, the first thing I ask her is, ‘What would you not order? What’s the worst item on the menu?’ Because I feel like any restaurant you go to is going to have bad food and they’re going to have good food. And you only trust the person for a recommendation if they can admit that they have one item on the menu that’s not quite so good.

“And it’s out of that respect and appreciation when I can get an honest waitress that’ll say, ‘Hey, this is terrible; you should get this,’ that I believe her when she says, you know, ‘Don’t eat the omelet; eat the French toast.’ I believe her if she can look me in the eye and say, ‘Hey, you know the omelet is not so good.’ That’s how I’ve always viewed the sport. I’ve always viewed the sport as being credible when it can admit its fallacies.”

Keselowski said his intent in criticizing EFI was to offer an opinion that, to him, was in the best interest of the sport.

“Obviously, that contradicted someone else’s thoughts,” Keselowski said.

Jeff Gordon Quote

2011-11-14T20:27:00.000-05:00

"I feel like I came along at a great time, in the early '90s. The sport was taking off and to have a new, young face, that was competing with Dale Earnhardt, I think we brought something unique and different. The sport was going to new venues and sponsors were getting behind the marketing. Then the wins and championships started coming.
"To me, that rivalry between me and Dale and Rusty (Wallace), it was great timing. Those years, definitely, I feel like I played a role in helping the sport grow, but so did others."

- Jeff Gordon on when he started this NASCAR in the early 90s

Edwards, Stewart set to wage an epic battle at Homestead

2011-11-14T13:09:00.002-05:00

Edwards, Stewart set to wage an epic battle at Homestead

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 14, 2011)

AVONDALE, Ariz.—Take your pick.

Mr. Clean or Mr. Mean.

The driver who prefers to stay above the fray, or the driver who likes to get under your skin.

The consistent finisher or the prolific winner.

The driver who pumps iron with a vengeance, or the driver who … doesn’t.

Two very different drivers, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart, will take to the track Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway with an identical purpose—to leave the track as champion of the Sprint Cup Series.

After nine Chase races, Edwards leads Stewart by three points, the same margin he held over the two-time champion when the Chase began. That three-point edge came from Edwards’ lone win of the season, at Las Vegas in March.

Stewart had no wins in the regular season but quickly rectified that when the Chase began at Chicagoland. He won that race and the next one, at New Hampshire. He added wins at Martinsville and Texas to pare Edwards’ advantage to three points.

Where Stewart has parlayed bonus points for victories into his Chase success, Edwards has ridden the wave of consistency to his current position atop the standings. Edwards’ worst finish in the Chase is an 11th at Talladega. His average finish is 5.2.

In fact, if Edwards finishes first or second at Homestead, he will better a mark many thought impregnable—Jimmie Johnson’s average finish of 5.0 in the 2007 Chase.

After winning the first two Chase races, Stewart stumbled. He finished 25th at Dover and 15th the following week at Kansas. His average finish in the Chase is 6.9, but the bonuses for winning have allowed him to score the exact same number of points in the Chase as Edwards—356.

Though Edwards and Stewart have arrived at the season finale in very different fashions, they have raced with enough heart and skill to eliminate the other 10 Chase drivers from title contention.

As the Chase has distilled into a two-man battle, Stewart and Edwards have upped the ante. They have raced each other cleanly and ferociously for two spellbinding weeks. Stewart took the checkers at Texas 1.092 seconds ahead of Edwards, the runner-up.

Edwards and Stewart ran second and third, respectively, in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix, but Stewart’s bonus point for leading most laps offset Edwards’ advantage of one position.

Through the process of racing each other for the title, the respect the drivers feel for each other has multiplied. Mr. Clean poked his head into Stewart’s car and congratulated him on the win at Texas. Mr. Mean has toned down his edgy rhetoric of late, preferring to let his No. 14 Chevrolet do the talking.

Both come to Homestead supremely confident. Though Stewart hasn’t won at Homestead since 2000, his cars have had blazing speed at intermediate speedways, enough to win at two of the four 1.5-mile tracks in the Chase so far—Chicagoland and Texas.

Stewart also has the mojo of championships won in 2002 and 2005, and those who know him have never seen him so calm and self-assured with a title on the line.

As tenuous as it is, Edwards has the points lead. He also has the knowledge that Roush Fenway Racing drivers have won six of the seven Chase races held at Homestead, with Edwards himself winning last year and in 2008.

Either driver will clinch the championship with a win. That’s true even if Stewart wins and Edwards finishes second and leads the most laps. Such a scenario would leave the drivers tied, and Stewart wins the tiebreaker on the basis of more victories.

Edwards predicted before the Phoenix race that the title will come down to the final lap at Homestead. Given the had-to-head battle we’ve seen for the past two weeks, that’s more than a far-fetched promise.

Let’s just hope the season finale lives up to it.

‘Cheap shot’ from Vickers riles Kenseth

2011-11-14T10:15:00.001-05:00

‘Cheap shot’ from Vickers riles Kenseth

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 13, 2011)

AVONDALE, Ariz.—Brian Vickers waited two weeks to take his shot, but when he got it, he made it count.

Still irked by an incident at Martinsville, where Kenseth ran Vickers into the Turn 3 wall after the drivers banged doors for several laps in succession, Vickers returned the favor in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

On Lap 177 of 312, Vickers knocked Kenseth into the Turn 3 wall at the one-mile track. Kenseth was angry, and he chided NASCAR for doing nothing about it.

“You have someone that has been telling everybody for four or five weeks (actually two) that, as soon as he got a chance at a fast racetrack, he was going to make it hurt and wipe us out—and they do nothing about it,” Kenseth said. “It was so premeditated, it just surprises me that they didn’t do anything.

“I’m disappointed, but I expected it. We aren’t racing street stocks at a quarter-mile track, so they need to figure out how to get the drivers to settle their difference in a different way and talk about it or figure it out or do something instead of using your car as a battering ram somewhere this fast.”

Kenseth said he wasn’t tempted to escalate the warfare between the drivers.

“No, not at all,” Kenseth said. “I don’t stoop to that level. When we had our problem at Martinsville, it was heat of the moment, and he hit me eight or nine times. ... Hindsight, I should have let him go and left him alone because you realize who he is and what he is and all that. You probably should leave him alone and go on. I would never sit down there and wait for somebody and take a cheap shot like that. You can hurt someone like that and that isn’t sportsmanlike and that isn’t something I would do.”

Johnson reflects on life as a former champion

2011-11-13T21:08:00.002-05:00

Johnson reflects on life as a former champion

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 13, 2011)

AVONDALE, Ariz.—Jimmie Johnson said he didn’t want to contemplate the prospect of failing to win a sixth straight Sprint Cup title until he was mathematically eliminated from contention.

In Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, that’s exactly what happened.

Johnson finished a lackluster 14th, as Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart ran second and third behind race winner Kasey Kahne to eliminate Johnson and six other drivers from the title race. The 2011 champion will be either Stewart or Edwards. For the first time since 2005, it won’t be Johnson.

“There’s definitely disappointment,” Johnson said after the race. “I think that will be the emotion I deal with first. And then over the offseason, I’m sure it will kick-in some. … I’ll reflect then, but still, in order for us to be where we want to be next year, we’ve got to work very, very hard during this offseason to understand what’s up, and that’s not going to make it all that relaxed. So, I’m up for the challenge. This team is. My guys work so hard. and we’ll learn and grow from this.”

It will be an unusual season finale for Johnson, the only driver to qualify for the Chase in all eight years of that championship format.

“Yeah, I’ll definitely have more fun and get a lot of sleep going in there,” Johnson said. “I’ll bet you the No. 99 (Edwards) and the No. 14 (Stewart) won’t. I’ll have fun watching from the sidelines.”

Johnson also said he expects his team to return next season with renewed determination.

“We’ll definitely learn,” he said. “To a certain degree, being on top for as long as we have been takes a lot of effort to maintain that. It just takes a lot out of you. So this winter will be a nice winter to unplug and relax and really look internally and dissect the different areas of the race team and what we do and come back stronger.

“I’ve always learned more from tougher moments. … Yes, the streak is gone, but we’ve still got a shot at a top five in points, and that would be a big year still.”

Notebook: Having a home game isn’t that easy, Patrick says

2011-11-12T14:17:00.000-05:00

Notebook: Having a home game isn’t that easy, Patrick says

By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 12, 2011)

AVONDALE, Ariz.—Most drivers relish an opportunity to compete in or near their home towns, but for Danica Patrick, a race near her home in Phoenix actually disrupts her routine.

Shuttling between the IndyCar and Nationwide Series this season, Patrick is more accustomed to life in the motor home lot than to sleeping in her bed.

“As far as being home, I almost feel disoriented, because I have to plan for driving, plan for traffic,” Patrick said Friday at Phoenix International Raceway after practice for Saturday’s Wypall 200 Nationwide Series race. “When do I get up?

“My whole routine gets thrown off when I’m not doing the norm in my bus, but at least I get to go home at night.”

Mixed bag for Earnhardt

Though Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t accomplished his foremost goal this season—winning a Sprint Cup race—he can still find plenty of positives in his performance this season.

“I think there are pluses and minuses about the season,” said Earnhardt, who qualified for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup for the first time since his debut season with Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. “We would’ve definitely liked to have won a race, and our opportunities to do that are running low, but as far as points go, I think we’ve made a decent account of ourselves.”

With two races left, Earnhardt is seventh in the Sprint Cup standings, 79 points behind leader Carl Edwards.

“I do feel like—and I think our team understands—that we’re better than even where we are in the points standings, so we feel confident we can improve,” Earnhardt said.

What, me worry?

With two races left and a three-point lead over Tony Stewart, you’d expect Edwards to be on edge, but the driver of the No. 99 Ford says the nerves haven’t hit him yet.

“I’m not nervous,” Edwards said Friday after Cup practice at Phoenix. “I maybe should be, but I’m not. I am pretty excited about the opportunity I have here. I’ve been doing this long enough now. Last year is a good example. I sat back and thought about what I would not give to be going into these last two races with a shot at winning the thing.

“To be able to go out there and perform and do what we do—that’s the neatest part. The last restart at Homestead (in the season finale), neck and neck, tied and if it’s best man win, then the hair might be standing up on my neck. Right now, I’m looking at this like this is pretty neat to be a part of—and it’s fun.”

Nationwide Series And Camping World Truck Series Banquet

2011-11-10T17:08:00.002-05:00

And The Award Goes To: Entertainment, Post-Season Accolades Highlight

NASCAR Nationwide Series And NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Banquet

Simplified, Pinette, Most Popular Driver Announcement Headline Year-End Ceremony

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 10, 2011) – Will Ricky Stenhouse Jr. enjoy a hero’s welcome? Or maybe Elliott Sadler storms back, stealing center stage – and the NASCAR Nationwide Series title – from the youngster. It seems likely Austin Dillon will wear the crown in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. But stranger things have happened, and a storybook comeback from talented Johnny Sauter or James Buescher shouldn’t qualify as all that strange.

Following what promises to be an historic Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, NASCAR will hold its annual NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Awards Banquet – a postseason tradition honoring the champions and award winners from two of NASCAR’s national series. The ceremony takes place at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel on Monday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m., one final opportunity for the sport to celebrate its champions, and its fans.

SPEED’s Krista Voda and Rick Allen will host Monday’s banquet, with the band Simplified unleashing an opening to the show with a live performance. Comedian John Pinette returns to the ceremony, enlivening the festivities with his unique brand of self-deprecating humor.

That’s the known. Everything else will be decided in the coming weeks by the competitors – and the fans.

Voda and Allen will interview the top five drivers in each series, and even those participants are TBD. Jason Leffler, in sixth, currently trails fifth-place Reed Sorenson by 56 points (and third-place Justin Allgaier and fourth-place Aric Almirola by 61 points) in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings. With two races remaining before the banquet, Leffler’s deficit is far from insurmountable.

In the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, sixth-place Todd Bodine trails fifth-place Timothy Peters by 21 points with only one race – the Ford 200 at Homestead – remaining. A two-time champion of Bodine’s pedigree should not be dismissed.

And as the chances for championship glory near an end, so too do the opportunities for fans to vote for their favorites in the NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Most Popular Driver polls. NASCAR.COM has housed on-line voting for both series since July 20. Voting closes on Thursday, Nov. 17 as the teams from each series close out the year at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

It’s not only each series’ driver championships that are in question as the season winds down. So too are their Most Popular Driver battles. To date, fans have cast nearly 180,000 total votes in both series.

Below – in alphabetical order – are each series top five vote-getters coming down the home stretch:

NASCAR Nationwide Series top five as of Oct. 31: Aric Almirola, Trevor Bayne, Elliott Sadler, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kenny Wallace. (Vote here: www.nascar.com/nnsmpd)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series top five as of Oct. 31: Todd Bodine, Ricky Carmichael, Austin Dillon, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Nelson Piquet Jr. (Vote here: www.nascar.com/ncwtsmpd)

Brad Keselowski won the last three NASCAR Nationwide Series awards while Johnny Benson (2008), Carmichael (2009) and Narain Karthikeyan (2010) have won in the NASCAR Camping World Trucks. This year, to be eligible to receive votes, drivers must have selected the NASCAR Nationwide or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to receive 2011 driver championship points. Additionally, drivers must have attempted at least half of each series’ races this season.

The 2011 Most Popular Driver for each series will be announced at the combined awards banquet for each series on Nov. 21 at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel. SPEED will broadcast the banquet on Friday, Dec. 2 from 7-9 p.m. ET, which will lead into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony at the Wynn Las Vegas.

Mark Martin

2011-11-10T13:17:00.002-05:00

Mark Martin

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Martin has put some fans off with what has become a half-decade retirement tour, but he remains one of the most revered and respected drivers in the garage. Fans can't come up with much to say against Martin, a testament to his clean driving record and sympathy for being the best driver to never win a NASCAR championship. That's part of the reason why, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. left his father's company in 2008, Teresa Earnhardt installed him as the replacement driver for that car; who would boo Mark Martin?
Longtime fans will remember his association with Valvoline, Ford and Jack Roush as one of the toughest to beat in all of NASCAR in the 1990s.

David Reutimann surprised by firing

2011-11-10T07:54:00.002-05:00

David Reutimann surprised by firing: #00-David Reutimann said Tuesday he had no idea he was about to be fired last week and that he expected to be with Michael Waltrip Racing at least through the end of his contract in 2012. Reutimann said his representatives are working with MWR to resolve his contract situation. "That was certainly a pretty big surprise," said Reutimann. "Last week was a rough week for sure. It was pretty rough all through the race weekend (at Texas). You go through different emotions. Sometimes you're upset. Sometimes you're angry. It flip-flops around time to time. It's just a bummer to be in this situation, but there's nothing I can really do to change it." Reutimann said he was told the change came at the request of sponsor Aaron's. "I had no indication," said the 41-year-old Reutimann, who is 28th in points after finishing 18th and 16th the past two years. "They never told me my job was on the line or in jeopardy." Reutimann is being replaced next year by Mark Martin and team owner Michael Waltrip in the #00. Reutimann doesn't know what he will do next season. His first choice would be to remain in the Sprint Cup series, but understanding the options are few he would be willing to drop down to the Nationwide Series or Truck Series.(ESPN)(11-10-2011)

McDowell struggles with handling in Kyle Busch’s car

2011-11-07T08:58:00.001-05:00

McDowell struggles with handling in Kyle Busch’s car

By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 6, 2011)

FORT WORTH, Texas—Michael McDowell couldn’t script a fairy tale on Sunday—his car wouldn’t let him.

Pressed into service in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after NASCAR parked Kyle Busch for wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. under caution in Friday’s truck series race, McDowell had to start from the rear in the AAA Texas 500 because of the driver change.

The afternoon didn’t get much better from that point on, as McDowell struggled with the handling of the car. In fact, all three JGR teams missed the setup at Texas Motor Speedway, with Denny Hamlin finishing a team-best 20th and Joey Logano retiring after 258 laps with a blown engine.

McDowell brought his car home in one piece, three laps down in 33rd place. But it was an eye-opening afternoon for a driver who had planned to start and park the No. 66 car before he got the call from Gibbs.

“We know the expectations,” McDowell said, well aware that Busch has won 104 races across NASCAR’s top three series. “There’s not a lot of people that have won 100 races, so obviously you’re filling big shoes. For me, it’s just a matter of I gave it all I had.

“My ability is not going to change overnight. You get into a car. You haven’t worked with the crew chief. … Yeah, just a tough day for us. We were hoping for more, but for me it was just great. I was planning on doing 20 laps this week, so I think I did 310 more (actually 311) more than I was planning on. (It was a) great opportunity to work with a great team and just see how they do things a little bit different.”

Johnson falls farther behind with 14th-place finish

2011-11-06T20:28:00.002-05:00

Johnson falls farther behind with 14th-place finish

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 6, 2011)

FORT WORTH, Texas—Right about now, reality should be hitting Jimmie Johnson in the face.

Trailing Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup leader Carl Edwards by 55 points with two races left, Johnson will need a miracle—make that a pocket full of miracles—to extend his streak of consecutive Cup championships from five to six.

Johnson had a fast car in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway—until he spun off Turn 4 on Lap 239 and slid sideways through the tri-oval grass.

Johnson was slapped with a commitment-line violation for driving straight to his pit box from the infield and restarted as the last car on the lead lap. Ultimately, he finished 14th.

Lack of handling contributed to the spin off Turn 4, Johnson said.

“Just a loose car,” he said. “I fought a loose racecar all night long, and I lost it off of 4. And I think sliding through the grass did some damage underneath the car.

“It may have been the rear end or something, because it didn’t really drive really good after that. We were loose, but fast beforehand and then after the spin, that really hurt the car.”

Kahne makes another strong late-season run

2011-11-06T20:24:00.002-05:00

Kahne makes another strong late-season run

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 6, 2011)

FORT WORTH, Texas—Kasey Kahne thought he might have a chance to win Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway—until he got a close-up look at the way Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards were racing.

“I watched Tony and Carl,” said Kahne, who finished third behind Stewart and Edwards. “They’re going for it. Tony raced me as hard as he ever raced me. I had to race as hard as I could. They’re trying to get as many points as they can.

“It’s intense, trying to win these races right now. It’s super close.”

Kahne, who will leave Red Bull Racing for Hendrick Motorsports next year, posted his fifth top-six finish in the past six Sprint Cup races, but he just wasn’t fast enough to overtake the championship contenders ahead of him.

If Kahne has concrete plans for the future, his current team doesn’t. Red Bull Racing is for sale, and the sponsor/owner of the team won’t continue in that role.

“The Red Bull team just keeps doing a good job,” Kahne said. “They’re working hard. It’s pretty impressive for a lot of them—not knowing their future, not knowing what’s going on there, if there will be a two-car team or one-car team—to keep putting the cars on the track like they are.”

Kahne, who hasn’t won a race this year, gained a spot to 14th in the standings with Sunday’s strong finish. He trails 13th-place Clint Bowyer by 18 points with two races left.

Danica Patrick finds comfort in carrying memory of Dan Wheldon

2011-11-04T16:06:00.002-04:00

Danica Patrick finds comfort in carrying memory of Dan Wheldon

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 4, 2011)

FORT WORTH, Texas—Danica Patrick returns to racing at Texas Motor Speedway carrying the memory of what happened the last time she competed on a 1.5-mile oval.

Patrick was one of the fortunate drivers who avoided the 15-car wreck that killed two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon on Oct. 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In her return to action in the Nationwide Series, Patrick and sponsor GoDaddy.com have opted to run a car that honors Wheldon’s memory. On the hood is Wheldon’s personal mantra “Lionheart.” The DanWheldonMemorial.com website is featured on the TV panel of Patrick’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

Patrick also will donate the helmet she uses at Texas to an auction in support of the memorial, as well donating the prize money she wins in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge Nationwide race.

Patrick says carrying Wheldon’s memory on her car and on her helmet provides a degree of solace for the loss of a champion driver.

“It feels comforting in a way, to be honest,” Patrick said Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. “I kind of feel like I have a little angel, in a way. I’ll tell you what, when they pop the hood open and work on the car, to see “Lionheart”—that’s all I have to stare at while I’m sitting in my car waiting for changes—it’s a cool thing.

“It’s a privilege, and, like I said, it’s almost a little comforting.”

David Reutimann Out At Michael Waltrip Raccing

2011-11-03T17:29:00.000-04:00

Michael Waltrip Racing confirmed Thursday that driver David Reutimann will not return as one of the team’s Sprint Cup drivers next season.

The team announced Thursday that Reutimann will vacate the 00 Toyotas at the end of this season.

Veteran driver Mark Martin will be joining MWR as a part-time driver next year.

“David has been a significant part of Michael Waltrip Racing since the very beginning and will forever be a part of our heritage,” said team co-owner Michael Waltrip. “We want to thank David for his contribution to our growth and success over the past five years and wish him well in the future.”

Reutimann, who seemed surprised at the news this week, was a key player in the team’s sponsorship activities and commercials with major sponsor Aaron’s.

In 168 Sprint Cup starts, all for MWR, Reutimann won twice.

Next season, MWR will field cars for Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer and Martin.

Quicken Loans added as a sponsor of Newman’s No. 39 Cup car

2011-11-01T15:13:00.002-04:00

Quicken Loans added as a sponsor of Newman’s No. 39 Cup car

By Tripp Mickle
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 1, 2011)

At a time when several NASCAR teams are contracting and marketing dollars are scarce, Stewart-Haas Racing landed a significant new sponsorship, signing Quicken Loans to a multiyear, co-primary deal.

The deal, which industry sources valued at more than $4 million a year, will make the Detroit-based online mortgage lender the primary sponsor for nine races in 2012 on driver Ryan Newman’s No. 39 Chevrolet.

The company will make its NASCAR debut this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway when Newman drives a car with a paint scheme promoting the Quicken Loans Carrier Classic, a college basketball game between North Carolina and Michigan State that will be played on the USS Carl Vinson on Nov. 11.

Stewart-Haas’ relationship with the U.S. Army, which will sponsor 12 races on the No. 39 car in 2012, played a major role in Quicken’s decision to sign with the team, said Jay Farner, president of Quicken Loans. The company is one of the top five lenders to American veterans and military personnel. It has forged close ties with the Navy in recent years, and that played a role in its title sponsorship of the Carrier Classic.

Farner said the loyalty of NASCAR fans and the synergy between the sport and the company’s new mission statement, “Quicken Loans is engineered to amaze,” compelled the company to sign the sponsorship.

“It’s not a big stretch to get your mind around NASCAR as one of those things that’s engineered to amaze,” Farner said. “That’s a nice tie-in. We believe if we build loyalty with the fans that when it comes time to buy a home, we’ll be their first choice. That’s what led us down this path.”

Stewart-Haas Racing still has eight races left to fill on the No. 39 car for 2012. Brett Frood, the team’s executive vice president, said he is in serious conversations with companies and expects to fill that inventory before the end of the year.

Tripp Mickle is a reporter with SportsBusiness Journal.

Rick Hendrick injured when brakes fail on team plane

2011-11-01T13:24:00.002-04:00

Rick Hendrick injured when brakes fail on team plane

Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 1, 2011)

Rick Hendrick suffered a broken rib and a broken shoulder when the brakes of a Hendrick Motorsports plane failed on landing and the small jet ran off the end of the runway and into a fence at Key West International Airport on Monday night.

Hendrick and his wife, Linda, and the two pilots were all released from Lower Keys Medical Center on Tuesday morning. They have returned to North Carolina, according to a team statement. Linda suffered minor cuts and bruises in the incident, which occurred at about 7:45 p.m. Monday. The team statement said the pilots did not have any injuries.

The Gulfstream G150 jet, operated and maintained by Hendrick Motorpsorts as part of a joint ownership agreement between the team owner and five-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, seats eight to nine people and typically is the plane Johnson takes to-and-from races, Johnson said in a teleconference Tuesday.

“As everybody is aware, there was a brake issue with the airplane landing,” Johnson said. “All four on board are OK and are home back in Charlotte.

“We are just beyond thankful that everything turned out well with the crash and there weren’t any major injuries down there. … It certainly was a scary event—I can only imagine.”

Johnson said he has had a brief conversation Tuesday morning with Hendrick.

“It’s been a long night for him—he’s trying to get some rest and we just touched base and I know that he’s OK,” Johnson said. “It’s just nice to hear his voice and hear him say he’s fine and OK and Linda is as well along with the pilots.”

Johnson said he did not have any additional details of what happened.

“We don’t have a lot of answers at this point,” he said. “There’s a lot of really good, smart people working on getting answers to these questions so we can all understand what exactly took place.”

According to The Miami Herald, the plane skidded completely off the 4,800-foot runway and came to a stop along a 600-foot unpaved safety area that had been added in May.

“If this area hadn’t been added the outcome would have been different and probably catastrophic,” airport director Peter Horton told the newspaper. “Before we had only 100 feet of overrun and then they would have gone into a salt pond and hit an embankment.”

Vickers draws fire from other drivers for Martinsville wrecks

2011-10-30T21:45:00.002-04:00

Vickers draws fire from other drivers for Martinsville wrecks

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 30, 2011)

MARTINSVILLE, Va.—Jimmie Johnson nicknamed Brian Vickers ‘The Sheriff’ when his friend showed up for a shooting party in Texas with a magnum revolver Dirty Harry Callahan would have admired.

In Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Vickers was more of a loose cannon, and his fifth wreck of the afternoon—an attempt to retaliate against Matt Kenseth that went awry—caused the final caution that may have deprived Johnson of a victory.

It was hyperbole—but not in the extreme—when Johnson said Vickers’ No. 83 Toyota “was a part of every caution. I wish he could have just driven around the racetrack, and we could have won this thing, but—whatever—we’ll move on.”

Johnson had the lead when Vickers brought out the 18th and final caution of the race. Johnson finished second, after race winner Tony Stewart passed him to the outside in a three-lap run to the finish.

“After a fourth, fifth time with the same car in the crash, you start thinking about maybe you’re the problem,” Johnson suggested. “Something is going on. You’re having a bad day. You need to stop crashing, for whatever reason.

“When you’re on the racetrack and someone wrongs you, you have some decisions to make in how you want to handle that. … I don’t agree with the way things were handled at the end. Tony Stewart is sitting in victory lane smiling, and he’s real happy it turned out that way.”

Vickers, who finished 30th, 16 laps back, left the track without speaking to reporters.

Jeff Gordon attributed much of the action to short-track racing at Martinsville, which at .526 miles, is the shortest track in the Sprint Cup Series.

“We couldn’t get into a rhythm with the race, couldn’t get it going,” Gordon said. “Seemed like guys were ticked off at one another, driving over their heads, whatever it may be. We saw that for a big majority of the race.

“Obviously, the 83 had that throughout the whole race. But I think it was just one of those crazy days. I don’t know. You can’t always explain it. Usually, Martinsville does contribute towards that.”

After some tough luck, White hoping to finish season strong

2011-10-28T13:42:00.001-04:00

After some tough luck, White hoping to finish season strong

By Jared Turner

Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 27, 2011)

If you believe in luck, Camping World Truck Series team owner Joe Denette no doubt experienced more of it back in May 2009 than the Average Joe ever will.

Denette, a longtime NASCAR fan who had been laid off from his job and unemployed for four months, won the Mega Millions lottery—a payout worth $70 million. This, coincidentally enough, came after just winning four tickets to that May's Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway.

Being such an ardent enthusiast of all things NASCAR, Denette later used part of his earnings to form a new NASCAR team—Joe Denette Motorsports—that entered truck series competition at the outset of 2011.

Now, it's Denette's driver—Jason White—who could use a change in fortunes. Saddled 16th in the truck series standings a year after finishing a career-best 10th in points, White wants to conclude a thus far frustrating campaign on a positive note.

The Richmond, Va., native matched his best finish of the season with a fifth last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, and hopes to build on that effort in Saturday's Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway.

"To end up with a top five at Talladega was awesome and then the last few weeks before then—Kentucky and Vegas—we were running top five with 10 laps to go in both of those races," recalled White, who has four top 10s in 22 starts this season. "One week we had a tire go down and the other week we had an alternator problem. So we've been very competitive the last few weeks.

"We're trying to end this year strong, and I think doing what we did at Talladega, running the way we were the last couple weeks, obviously shows we can run in the top five. We just have to put it all together."

Never did bad luck bite harder than in August at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he led 44 laps and was running second late when a fuel pickup problem ended his bid for a strong outcome. He finished 16th, one lap down.

And there have also been several other occasions this season when the stars just simply didn't align for White and his No. 23 Chevrolet team.

"We definitely had way higher expectations than what we've done so far," said the 32-year-old driver, who is still seeking his first victory after 126 career series starts. "It's just been tough. Starting a new team from scratch three weeks before Daytona has been tough for us. We've always been kind of behind the eight ball."

Despite Joe Denette Motorsports lacking the resources and experience of the series' top-tier teams, White says he has enjoyed his time with the company and plans to return in 2012.

But with three races still left in 2011, he hopes he doesn't have to wait that long to capture that first victory.

Martinsville, where he finished fourth last fall, presents a potentially compelling opportunity.

"I think there's been about five races this year that we've had a legitimate shot to win and it's been close," White said. "Hopefully, this weekend's another weekend where we have a chance."

UPS leaving Ragan, joining Edwards as associate sponsor for 2012

2011-10-28T08:45:00.000-04:00

(October 27, 2011)The company decreased its team involvement but is keeping its NASCAR deal, with a multiyear agreement to extend its status as the sport's official logistics partner, meaning it will have space in the garage at the racetracks for pickups and deliveries.UPS, which recently completed a four-year, $100 million sponsorship deal with about 70 colleges, has sponsored Dale Jarrett, David Reutimann and Ragan in the Cup series. It had been with Ragan for the last three years.
UPS will move its primary sponsorship of the Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 car and driver David Ragan to an associate sponsorship of Roush Fenway's No. 99 car and driver Carl Edwards beginning in 2012.

Ragan won one race—in July at Daytona—but failed to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in any of his three seasons with UPS.

"It has been an honor and privilege having David Ragan serve as UPS Racing's official brand ambassador on and off the track during the last three seasons," UPS vice president Ron Rogowski said in a statement.

"David's dedication, work ethic and personal integrity are second to none and we always will be grateful for the many contributions he and the entire No. 6 team have made to the success of our motorsports program."

Instead of being a primary sponsor for an entire season, UPS now will be the primary sponsor for only one race for Edwards—at Kentucky Speedway.

"The shift in our program was a strategic business decision that allows us to focus on the elements that drive the best return on our investment, including continuing our relationship with Roush Fenway Racing," Rogowski said.

Knaus told Johnson to wreck car if he won at Talladega

2011-10-27T15:34:00.001-04:00

Knaus told Johnson to wreck car if he won at Talladega: : Chad Knaus told driver Jimmie Johnson to intentionally damage the back end of his race car if the #48 team won Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway, the crew chief acknowledged Wednesday. Knaus admitted giving the five-time NASCAR champion the pre-race instructions in order to "cover our bases" in case 500 miles of bump-drafting knocked the car beyond NASCAR's strict tolerances. Officials likely would have accepted the damage as an excuse if the # 48 car had not fit NASCAR's templates in post-race inspection. The conversation between Knaus and Johnson occurred when the crew chief leaned inside the #48 car before the race to give Johnson some final words of encouragement. Because Johnson's in-car camera was live on NASCAR.com's RaceBuddy application, the chat was broadcast to anyone watching the feed at the time.
"If we win this race, you have to crack the back of the car," Knaus could be heard telling Johnson on the recording. "Got it?"
"Really?" Johnson replied, sounding surprised.
"Yes," Knaus said. "Got it? You don't have to have to hit it hard, you don't have to destroy it. But you've gotta do a donut and you've gotta hit the back end, or somebody's gotta hit you in the ass-end or something. OK?"
After Johnson responds with apparent silence (he can't be heard saying anything else), Knaus added, "You'll be alright. Can't take any chances."
When asked Wednesday whether the conversation indicated Knaus was trying something fishy on the back of the car, the crew chief replied, "I don't think that's a fair assessment. To be honest with you, here's the deal - racing at Talladega is tough, and I think everybody understands that," Knaus said in a phone interview. "You run 500 miles at 200 miles per hour, and you're bump-drafting and you're beating on one another, and it's real easy for these cars to get outside of tolerance. It's a tight tolerance that we're held in. It doesn't take much to be a few thousands (of an inch) off and have NASCAR raise an eyebrow. Just being proactive, I just told Jimmie, 'Look, man - we've just got to make sure there's a tire mark or some type of visible damage.' Just because cars do move when you race them like that."(SB Nation)(10-26-2001)
UPDATE: NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp has issued a statement in response to the story: "We became aware of this piece of audio this morning and certainly want to get all the facts before making an opinion and reaching any conclusions. We'll visit with the parties and pull all the facts together best we can. While Talladega is done and the #48 was not the winning or random car, we certainly have an interest in getting the facts straight on behalf of the balance of the competitors." Though officials might be steamed at Knaus, it might be difficult for NASCAR to issue a penalty in this situation. While Knaus may have intended for Johnson to wreck the back of the car had the 48 team won the race, nothing ever actually happened. NASCAR will likely tell Knaus it's not happy with his intentions, however.(SB Nation)(10-27-2011)

UPS Extends NASCAR Partnership;

2011-10-27T13:22:00.002-04:00

UPS Extends NASCAR Partnership;

Shifts To Associate Sponsor With Roush Fenway Racing

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 27, 2011) – NASCAR and UPS have signed a multi-year agreement for UPS to remain the sport’s Official Logistics Partner, providing critical pick-up and delivery services for race teams, vendors and suppliers at every NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event throughout the season.

In addition to its official partnership, UPS will continue its relationship with Roush Fenway Racing as a full-season associate sponsor of Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 99 Ford, driven by Carl Edwards.

The decision to continue with NASCAR in an official capacity for a 13th season and Roush Fenway Racing as a sponsor for a fourth season was driven by the positive growth UPS has enjoyed through its direct involvement in the sport.

“We are pleased that UPS will continue as a partner in our sport at multiple levels,” said Jim O’Connell, NASCAR chief sales officer. “NASCAR works for business because our fans are among the most brand loyal in all of sports. UPS is a world-class company and one that we are proud to call our partner.”

“UPS has enjoyed a great relationship with NASCAR and our official status allows us to continue providing logistics solutions for other great NASCAR partners both at and away from the race track,” said Ron Rogowski, UPS vice president, sponsorships and events. “The shift in our program was a strategic business decision that allows us to focus on the elements that drive the best return on our investment, including continuing our relationship with Roush Fenway Racing.”

UPS also will continue its successful customer and employee hospitality activations at select events throughout the year in addition to serving as primary sponsor on the No. 99 Ford at Kentucky Speedway.

“We are always evaluating ways to refine and enhance all of our sponsorship programs to ensure they are aligned with our business strategy and objectives,” continued Rogowski. “While we’re making some changes to our racing program in 2012, we are confident UPS’s ongoing association with NASCAR and Roush Fenway Racing will continue to present new and meaningful opportunities for UPS, our customers and employees.”

The 2012 racing season will mark UPS’s 12th consecutive year of team sponsorship in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the sport’s premier division. UPS’s first sponsored driver was racing legend Dale Jarrett, who retired in 2008 after 668 races. Since 2009, David Ragan of Unadilla, Ga., has piloted the No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion as part of the Roush Fenway Racing team.

“We are very pleased that UPS will continue to partner with Roush Fenway Racing,” said Roush Fenway President Steve Newmark. “UPS is one of the most recognized and respected brands in the world and we have enjoyed a strong relationship for many years. Although they are restructuring their commitment, it speaks volumes that an organization of UPS’s caliber has chosen to stay a part of our partnership roster and that they recognize that Roush Fenway will continue to deliver a great return on their marketing investment.”

Kraft Foods Extends Partnerships With NASCAR And Stewart-Haas Racing

2011-10-25T14:54:00.002-04:00

Kraft Foods Extends Partnerships With NASCAR And Stewart-Haas Racing

Nabisco Brands To Continue As “Official Cookies and Crackers” Of NASCAR

And As Associate Sponsor Of Stewart-Haas Racing

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 25, 2011) – NASCAR, Stewart-Haas Racing and Northfield, Ill.-based Kraft Foods today jointly announced an extended agreement for Kraft Foods to continue as the Official Cookie (Oreo, Nilla and Nutter Butter) and Cracker (Ritz and Wheat Thins) of NASCAR, and that the iconic Oreo and Ritz brands would continue to serve as Associate Sponsors of Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman, respectively, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Kraft Foods, an Official NASCAR Partner since 2000, will continue its long tradition of creating NASCAR-themed, specially-marked packages of Oreo cookies and Ritz crackers for a national consumer sweepstakes. For the first time in 2012, Ritz will host a national digital and social media sweepstakes on its Facebook page where a fan will have the chance to win a prize package to go to the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony.

As part of its NASCAR partnership, Kraft Foods will participate in upcoming NASCAR-themed retail programs. In 2011, Kraft Foods was a supporter of NASCAR’s partnership with Dollar General and the Dollar General “Race in to Win” sweepstakes.

“Kraft Foods has been a valued NASCAR partner for more than a decade, and thanks to powerful marketing programs from brands recognized by millions of NASCAR fans – such as Nilla and Ritz – they’ve helped our sport grow,” said Jim O’Connell, chief sales officer, NASCAR. “Kraft Foods understands how to effectively engage our fans through creative activation programs, at both the sanctioning body and team levels, and we’re excited to have them renew their commitment to our sport.”

“NASCAR has been one of our strongest strategic partnerships, and we are very pleased to continue our relationship with both the sanctioning body and with Stewart-Haas Racing,” said Michael Tilley, associate director of Kraft Foods consumer engagement. “NASCAR has been a much respected partner, aiding us in connecting with its many ardent fans across the nation. We look forward to a great year in 2012 with exciting activation plans.”

“We’re obviously very proud to have Oreo and Ritz on our race cars and grateful for Kraft Foods’ support of Stewart-Haas Racing,” said Tony Stewart, two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing. “Kraft Foods’ partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing goes beyond the race track, as their activation has helped raise the profile of our race team and NASCAR. Our success on the track is made possible by all of our partners, and Kraft Foods is no exception.”

Bryan Smith Made Long Trek East To Follow Father Into NASCAR

2011-10-24T17:14:00.002-04:00

Bryan Smith Made Long Trek East To Follow Father Into NASCAR

Gasses Clint Bowyer’s No. 33 Chevrolet To Talladega Victory

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 24, 2011) — Clint Bowyer may be a short timer at Richard Childress Racing but he gave his Shane Wilson-led crew a going away present they’ll long remember as the Kansas native won Sunday’s Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega Superspeedway for the second consecutive year and presented RCR with its 100th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory.

Bowyer, who’ll move to Michael Waltrip Racing in 2012, took the checkered flag just 0.018 seconds ahead of RCR teammate Jeff Burton, whom he passed on the final lap around the 2.66-mile speedway. Bowyer, Wilson and RCR annexed a number of special awards as well, including the American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award for the fastest average speed on restarts; DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race Award; Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race Award for Earnhardt Childress Racing Technologies and Mobil1 Driver of the Race Award.

Among the celebrants was Bryan Smith, the team’s gasman who personifies NASCAR racing as being a family affair. Smith, from Redding, Calif., followed his father and engine builder Mark Smith into the industry and ultimately from northern California to North Carolina and NASCAR.

“Dad built motors before I was born,” said Smith, 32. “I started out in the shop cleaning parts but probably got in the way more than anything else.”

The Smiths, father and son, have worked together at times but not recently. “We get along too well to work together,” said the younger Smith, who worked for his father’s Tri-Star Motorsports in the early 1990s. The team won the Coors Light Pole for the 1993 Daytona 500 with Loy Allen Jr. The elder Smith was a principal in Xpress Motorsports during its 2002-03 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title seasons with Mike Bliss and Travis Kvapil.

“I wasn’t part of those teams but it was good for dad and special for the family,” said Smith.

Smith, like many in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage, learned the craft with his father, brother and sister in the shop and at weekly tracks in the west. He worked in ARCA and in the NASCAR Nationwide Series with Braun Racing. He spent three years in Richard Childress Racing’s NASCAR Nationwide shop and on RCR’s test team. Smith moved to the No. 33 NASCAR Sprint Cup team upon its creation.

“Winning the Loudon race (New Hampshire in 2010) with Clint was really special,” said Smith, whose weekend duties off pit road is as an underneath mechanic working on the Chevrolet’s suspension, rear end housing, gears and transmission.

“I’ve been doing this long enough and done every job so few things come up that surprise me,” said Smith.

This season’s new fueling rules were challenging, but Smith said he’s largely overcome the early season issues with fuel flow. “We spent some time trying to figure out the gas can configuration and the best flow rate out of the heads,” he said. “Each stop we kind of held our breath, hoping it would go well. We finally figured out how to work around it.”

Smith hopes to become a crew chief in the future “but if I don’t I’m happy every day just working on race cars,” he said. “If I don’t make it I won’t be disappointed. This is a great group of guys, racers, building race cars.” He continues to be surprised how a small town like Redding – population 89,861 – could produce three RCR employees, himself, Ron Lidell and Mike Morrison.

“When you do racing for a living, the bad days outnumber the good days,” said Smith. “You have to have passion, accept (defeat) and keep going. You’re jealous of the one winner. But you want to be him next week.” It took a year, but for Smith and the rest of the No. 33 crew, this was their week to savor victory.

Official winners of this week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Prize Money & Decal Program special awards include:

· AMERICAN ETHANOL GREEN FLAG RESTART: Clint Bowyer

· COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Mark Martin (181.367 mph, 52.799 secs,)

· DIRECTV CREW CHIEF OF THE RACE AWARD: Shane Wilson (crew chief for Clint Bowyer)

· GOODYEAR GATORBACK BELTS FASTEST LAP AWARD: Matt Kenseth (197.313 mph, Lap 114)

· MAHLE CLEVITE ENGINE BUILDER OF THE RACE AWARD: Earnhardt Childress Racing Technologies, No. 33

· MOBIL 1 OIL DRIVER OF THE RACE AWARD: Clint Bowyer

· MOOG CHASSIS PARTS PROBLEM SOLVER OF THE RACE AWARD: Darian Grubb, 0.188 secs. (crew chief for Tony Stewart)

· O’REILLY AUTO PARTS POSITION IMPROVEMENT AWARD: Dave Blaney (38 places)

· SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD: Andy Lally

Fuel fire causes damage to #78 hauler

2011-10-24T12:26:00.002-04:00

Fuel fire causes damage to #78 hauler: A fuel fire next to #78-Regan Smith's hauler created chaos -- and a huge billowing cloud of black smoke -- in the garage area following Sunday's Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Thankfully, no one was injured and the blaze was extinguished without extensive damage. Crewmen were busy disconnecting the fuel probes from gas cans and dumping excess fuel into a storage can near the front of the #78 hauler after the race, when a spark apparently ignited fuel inside one of the cans. "They had the gas can on the ground there between the tractor and the hauler," Furniture Row Racing spokesman Dave Ferroni said. "They took off the fuel probe, something sparked it and it ignited. That's all we know at this time." Everyone involved was able to scramble to safety, and several alert crewmen grabbed fire extinguishers and beat down the flames before the fire truck could get through the hundreds of crews, media and onlookers that are usually scurrying around in the garage once a race ends. Ferroni said several crew members' personal bags were damaged or destroyed by the fire, but most of the major damage was contained to the hauler itself. "There's a lot of damage to the back of the tractor, a lot of melted hoses," Ferroni said. "Somebody from Penske came over and they're going to offer us an extra tractor to take back to Denver, and hopefully we can get this one repaired."(NASCAR.com)(10-24-2011)

Labonte, Berrier lead JTG Daugherty in season of change

2011-10-24T10:07:00.002-04:00

Labonte, Berrier lead JTG Daugherty in season of change

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 23, 2011)

TALLADEGA, Ala.—The cornerstones of JTG Daugherty Racing—the driver and the sponsor lineup—will remain intact, but that’s about all that won’t change for the organization in 2012.

Bobby Labonte, the 2000 Sprint Cup champion, will continue to drive the No. 47 Toyota owned by Tad and Jodi Geschickter and Brad Daugherty, with a robust lineup of sponsors behind him.

But, in changes announced Sunday morning at Talladega Superspeedway, JTG Daugherty no longer will be part and parcel of Michael Waltrip Racing, which has built cars for Labonte, and for Marcos Ambrose before him, for the past three years. Instead, as MWR adds a third car to its roster with driver Clint Bowyer, JTG Daugherty will return to the 130,000-square-foot shop it has shared with Wood Brothers Racing in Harrisburg, N.C.

Accordingly, JTG Daugherty no longer will be an in-house partner at MWR, though the organizations will maintain a technical alliance.

“Michael Waltrip has been a great partner, and we’re working out the details on that,” Tad Geschickter said.

On the competitive side, Todd Berrier, an 18-year veteran of Richard Childress Racing, joins the operation as general manager and crew chief for Labonte. Frank Kerr, crew chief for JTG for the past three seasons, takes on a new role as shop foreman, a critical ingredient in the organization’s reconfiguration.

Laerte Zatta will move from Toyota Racing Development, where he served most recently as manager of TRD’s Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series efforts, and will join JTG Daugherty in 2012 as director of engineering.

Zatta, who TRD president Lee White describes as “a bulldog,” was part of driver Cristiano Da Matta’s Champ Car title team in 2002.

JTG also will have a new engine supplier in Triad Racing Technologies, with the full support of TRD. Triad provides engines to Kyle Busch Motorsports, and interestingly, the top-qualifying Toyota at Talladega this weekend—the No. 97 driven by Kevin Conway—got its horsepower from a Triad engine.

“Our folks at Toyota are really going to help us go with Triad, passing down the intellectual property,” Geschickter said. “Toyota needs a secondary engine supplier—they’re stretched pretty thin, and we’re going to help them get that up and running.

“I expect the Triad motors to be one and the same as the Costa Mesa (TRD) motors.”

Berrier, who served most recently as crew chief for Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton at RCR, knows what it takes to turn a small organization into a successful larger one. He and Labonte had contemplated working together years ago.

“Bobby and I talked about doing something like this in 2003—we just didn’t ever work it all out,” Berrier said. “For myself, I think it’s really cool. I’ve been in a big company that was once a small company—as small as this one is—so I’ve kind of seen it from ground level up to where we were (at RCR). I feel like I know what we need to do here to get this thing up and going.”

Geschickter has been a pioneer at cobbling together relatively small sponsorships into a larger whole. In 2012, Kingsford Charcoal, which recently signed a three-year renewal, starts its 16th year supporting race teams Geschickter has owned. Other returning long-term sponsors include Bush’s Best (baked beans), Kimberly-Clark (with its Scott Paper Products brand), Hidden Valley, KC Masterpiece Barbecue Sauces, Glad bags and wraps.

In addition, Reese Towpower will continue its year-to-year sponsorship with JTG Daugherty.

“I’ve seen both sides of it now,” Geschickter said. “I’ve been a part of a big organization, and for many years, we were a small organization. To me, it all comes down to the people. As we were able to talk to a Todd Brerrier and a Frankie Kerr and an L.Z. (Zatta’s nickname) and their vision of what they want our company to become, it was just clunky trying to do it inside the same building.

“We still expect to do a lot of work together with MWR, but for us, for them to be able to create that vision of the future for our company, having our own management team and our own building made a lot of sense.”

Hendrick strategy backfires, dims title hopes for Johnson

2011-10-23T21:25:00.002-04:00

Hendrick strategy backfires, dims title hopes for Johnson

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 23, 2011)

TALLADEGA, Ala.—After last week’s crash at Charlotte, Jimmie Johnson had a steep hill to climb to win a sixth straight Sprint Cup title.

After an undistinguished run Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, the hill became Mount Everest.

Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin decided that discretion was the better part of valor in the Good Sam Club 500 and spent the afternoon running in the back of the pack.

Only one problem. The second part of the plan was to surge to the front in the late stages of the race—and that never happened.

Martin, who started from the pole, had the best finish of the Hendrick cars—20th. Earnhardt came home 25th, Johnson 26th and Gordon 27th in a uniformly dismal performance for three drivers trying to claw their way back into title contention.

“We planned our strategy like we had hoped to,” said Johnson, whose Chevrolet had sustained damage to the right front in a wreck that collected Terry Labonte and Andy Lally. “And on that last restart at the end (with two laps left), we had some issues with my car overheating. That last caution that came out, I got some trash and grass and stuff on the grille of the car.

“We were out of sequence the way we were lined up. I was going to push Junior, and I had to be in the lead the way we had the debris on the grille. And then as we went to make our switch, the pack was organized and, with the green-white-checkered situation, there’s not a lot of time to get organized and we lost our momentum there and got to the outside and kind of stalled out up on the top and finished far worse than we had hoped to.”

Earnhardt said a spate of late cautions prevented Johnson and him from making a move.

“We wanted to try to work our way toward the front in the last 20 laps,” Earnhardt said. “The cautions kept coming out, and we ran over some debris and we had to come to pit road. We just didn’t have the track position at the end to make a run with two laps to go—just not enough time.”

In Gordon’s case, he and Martin were separated when Martin sustained damage in a five-car accident on Lap 181. Gordon spoke on the radio with Trevor Bayne, with whom he had worked successfully at Daytona in February and expected Bayne to push him, despite an earlier Ford edict that discouraged Ford drivers from working with other manufacturers.

Gordon, however, got no help from Bayne on the final two laps.

“We worked together pretty well in February; him pushing me and me pushing him,” Gordon said. “But I think everybody knew coming into the weekend, the Fords made it very clear about what they were doing in working with one another and helping one another out and all those things.

“So I didn’t expect him to commit to me on the radio. I expected him to say, ‘Man, I’m sorry; I can’t.’ And when he said, ‘Yeah, I’m pushing you, we’re good,’ I believed him. But I think they had a different plan.”

Kyle Busch to field Nationwide Series team in 2012

2011-10-21T16:36:00.002-04:00

Kyle Busch to field Nationwide Series team in 2012: Toyota Motorsports Transcript, #18-Kyle Busch announced he will run a Nationwide Series team in 2012:
Busch: "On behalf of myself and Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM), it's just a subtle little announcement that KBM is transitioning into the Nationwide Series next year to go race a full-funded team for the championship and I can't announce any further details, besides that it will be a Toyota. Excited about it. It's a great opportunity for myself and for the Kyle Busch Motorsports organization for everybody there that's there now that we have on the line to hire to bring over in order to foresee that program being successful. We're excited. It's a great day for us. Crew chiefs, sponsors, drivers -- all that stuff will be announced at a later time. Wanted to get it out there before Jayski, so we did it. That was good." (so now 'my' mission is to find out the sponsor before announced......)
Q) Will Kyle Busch Motorsports continue to compete in the Truck Series?
Busch: "I did say transitioning in. We did run one race earlier this year, through help with NEMCO Motorsports, running Kimi Raikkonen at Charlotte, so we have the equipment started. We will run trucks also. We will keep the 18 truck going for a full season next year. We are just a few races shy being full sponsorship on that deal. Obviously, last week with Dollar General -- announcing those guys coming back to help us with the Truck Series program and, you know, with the driver and all that kinds of stuff, it's all pretty much done. It's just a matter of waiting until the time in which the sponsor is ready to announce all that stuff."
Q) Is it safe to assume you will drive Nationwide races for KBM and Joe Gibbs Racing next year?
Busch: "It's kind of the point to really announce later, but it's safe to assume that I will be running in some Nationwide races at Kyle Busch Motorsports. I will also still commit to my current obligations that I have at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and run over there too. I'll be split between two Nationwide teams essentially driving some races. What number that's going to be yet, that's to be decided. Certainly we've gone over it with JGR and everything. This is definitely nothing new to those guys. There's certainly the amount of races that I've already been set to run in the Nationwide car for next year with JGR. We'll still continue to plan all that out into these next few weeks or next few months maybe before our announcement."(Toyota Motorsports)(10-21-2011)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Cars To Carry Bosch Oxygen Sensors Beginning In 2012

2011-10-20T15:50:00.002-04:00

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Cars To Carry Bosch Oxygen Sensors Beginning In 2012

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (October 20, 2011) – NASCARtoday announced that as it makes the switch from carburetion to fuel injection in 2012, Bosch will be its exclusive oxygen sensor supplier.As an exclusive NASCAR Performance partner, Bosch will supply special wide-band oxygen sensors, specific to NASCAR race cars, which will provide essential data to the fuel injection engine management system.

Beginning with the 2012 Daytona 500, all NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race car engines will be fuel injected. An onboard computer will control the fuel injectors, using input from the oxygen sensors in the exhaust to determine the exact fuel provided to the airflow just as it is entering the cylinder. Several NASCAR teams have been testing fuel injected engines on-track to see how the new systems operate in actual race track conditions.

“We are pleased to partner with Bosch to ensure a seamless transition as we move to fuel-injected engines and outfit each car with two oxygen sensors,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. “This technology will provide the opportunity for greater fuel efficiency and maximize each race team’s ability to get the most performance from their fuel-injected engines.”

Every NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race car will be equipped with two oxygen sensors in the exhaust system to monitor the level of unburned oxygen in the exhaust, and therefore the engine’s relative “rich” or “lean” operating condition.

“Oxygen sensors relay vital information on engine performance to the vehicle’s engine management system, which controls the fuel injectors and determines how the vehicle reacts to race conditions,” said Wolfgang Hustedt, Bosch Motorsports manager, North America. “This change to fuel injection will give NASCAR teams enhanced control over their vehicle performance, and the oxygen sensors are vital in maximum but flexible performance at each track.”

Bosch is a proud supporter of the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association’s Know Your Parts® education and awareness campaign. This initiative promotes the importance of quality brand name aftermarket parts backed by full service suppliers, and its impact on delivering reliable products to today’s motorists. For more information visit: www.AASAKnowYourParts.org.

About The Bosch Group

In the U.S., Canada and Mexico, the Bosch Group manufactures and markets automotive original equipment and aftermarket products, industrial drives and control technology, power tools, security and communication systems, packaging technology, thermotechnology, household appliances, solar energy, healthcare and software innovations. Having established a regional presence in 1906, Bosch employs over 22,000 associates in more than 100 locations, with reported sales of $8.8 billion in fiscal 2010. For more information, visit www.boschusa.com.

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In the areas of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology, some 285,000 associates generated sales of 47.3 billion euros ($62.7 billion) in fiscal 2010. For 2011, the company forecasts sales of more than 50 billion euros ($70 billion) and a headcount of 300,000 by the end of the year.The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its more than 350 subsidiaries and regional companies in over 60 countries. If its sales and service partners are included, then Bosch is represented in roughly 150 countries. This worldwide development, manufacturing, and sales network is the foundation for further growth. Bosch spent 3.8 billion euros (approximately $5 billion) for research and development in 2010, and applied for over 3,800 patents worldwide. With all its products and services, Bosch enhances the quality of life by providing solutions which are both innovative and beneficial. Bosch is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2011. Additional information can be accessed at www.bosch.com, www.bosch-press.com, and www.125.bosch.com.

Johnson questions wisdom of racing IndyCars on oval tracks

2011-10-17T16:19:00.000-04:00

Johnson questions wisdom of racing IndyCars on oval tracks

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 17, 2011)

CONCORD, N.C.—Jimmie Johnson didn’t see the crash that killed IndyCar Series driver Dan Wheldon.

Afterward, however, he turned on his television and sat and stared.

Some 16 hours earlier, Johnson had slammed nose-first into the Turn 2 wall at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The impact stung, certainly, and it dealt a serious blow to Johnson’s hopes for a sixth straight Sprint Cup title.

But unlike Wheldon’s horrific wreck Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Johnson’s accident didn’t deprive racing of one of its most charismatic champions.

During a break in electronic fuel injection testing Monday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Johnson reflected on the accident that took Wheldon’s life and on the relative safety of Sprint Cup cars vs. open-cockpit IndyCars.

“It’s been my dream to race the Indy 500,” Johnson said, “but wrecks like that. … My attorney, Alan Miller, has represented a lot of different open-wheel drivers over the years, and, unfortunately, he’s been through this tragedy four or five times with his drivers. He’s always been against it but knew the racer in me wanted to run in the 500.

“Just out of being honest with my wife, and Alan’s relationship with her, we kind of had a deal that, once we had kids, then I needed to look the other way on that. There’s the racer in me that wants to, but I know how dangerous those cars are, and yesterday was proof of how dangerous those cars are on ovals.”

Johnson’s next race is Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, where NASCAR has worked mightily to keep cars from lifting off at high speeds.

“Why we run restrictor plates is so the cars stay on the ground,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t matter the kind of racecar. If it’s off the ground, you cannot control it in an accident. Those cars (IndyCars) are running so fast, and they get airborne so often on ovals that I wouldn’t run them on ovals.

“I hate, hate, hate that this tragedy took place, but hopefully they can learn something from it and make those cars safer on ovals. I don’t know how you do it. Myself, I have a lot of friends that race in that series. I’d rather see them on street circuits and road courses—and no more ovals.”

Wheldon, who didn’t have a full-time ride in the IndyCar Series despite winning the Indianapolis 500 in May, was competing at Las Vegas for a $5 million promotional prize available to a driver who was not a regular in the series, if that driver could start from the rear and win the race.

Red Bull Racing driver Kasey Kahne, who will move to Hendrick Motorsports next season, was approached about trying for the $5 million.

“I was absolutely thinking about doing it,” Kahne told reporters Monday morning at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “Mr. (Rick) Hendrick didn’t want me to do it. I definitely thought about it. Things are completely different. If I was to run that race, you go out and the starting lineup is different, the way they’re running the field is different.

“You can never even think about if something like that would have happened or wouldn’t have happened. You have no control over it. I don’t even think about that. Driving an IndyCar is something I always wanted to do and definitely thought about doing at that race. It just didn’t work out.”

Kahne and Wheldon had struck up a friendship over the years.

“I just thought he was a really talented person and just really good at whatever he did,” Kahne said. “Then he was a nice person and a cool guy. I met him the first time at Daytona, walked up to him and said, ‘I’m a huge fan and congrats on what you do.’ Ever since then, we’ve talked on the phone a couple times. I see him at Indy every time we go to the (Brickyard) 400. He’s just a stand-up guy.

“Truthfully, all I could think about was that. I just think about his family, his friends and the things they’re probably going through. And losing someone like that … I woke up this morning, and it’s all that was on my mind.”

Even though enclosed stock cars are demonstrably safer than their open-wheel counterparts, Kahne never forgets that he’s in a risky business.

“We’re all racers—we know what we’re getting into when we get into the cars,” Kahne said. “It’s just things happen sometimes, and that was one of the things that happened yesterday.

“We’ll go to Talladega and race like we always do.”

NASCAR planning three Fuel Injection tests

2011-10-15T17:11:00.002-04:00

NASCAR planning three Fuel Injection tests: NASCAR has three Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) tests scheduled this month for the Sprint Cup Series: Oct. 17 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Oct. 20 at Talladega Superspeedway and Oct. 31 at Martinsville Speedway. The tests are part of the continued development of the EFI Research and Development for the teams. Electronic Fuel Injection will be fully implemented in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series beginning at Daytona International Speedway in February 2012.(NASCAR)(10-12-2011)
As of Thursday, 12 teams have entered for the Charlotte test on Monday. Those include teams from Hendrick Motorsports (4), Joe Gibbs Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Roush Fenway Racing, Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, NEMCO Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing (2) and Richard Childress Racing. Teams will be on track from 9am - 3pm/et.(NASCAR)(10-13-2011)

NASCAR :DRIVER PUSHING DRIVER

2011-10-15T11:24:00.000-04:00

During a late caution at Kansas Speedway most of the field pitted, but #29-Kevin Harvick did not. This was with about 50 laps to go. Harvick was trying to save fuel. Behind him on the track was #98-Austin Dillon, making his first Cup start. Dillon is the grandson of car owner Richard Childress and technically was in a car owned by Mike Curb. Still, Dillon saw Harvick and came up and pushed Harvick, helping him save fuel. NASCAR stepped in and told Dillon to stop. Wait a minute you say, the rule is clear that it can't be done only on the last lap? Well, in a way, you are right and you are wrong. I [Dustin Long] talked with a NASCAR spokesperson after the race and here's what happened.
After the Chicago race (where #17-Matt Kenseth was penalized for being pushed on the final lap after he ran out of fuel), NASCAR told teams that they'd be watching this issue of assisting another car more often the rest of the season. So, already, NASCAR is on the lookout for this more often.
Then came the Harvick situation today. At first, he slowed way down and fell off the rear bumper of the car in front under caution _ NASCAR's rule book requires drivers to "maintain a reasonable speed'' under caution. So, NASCAR officials wanted Harvick to maintain reasonable speed and to close the gap with the car in front under caution (NASCAR likes the field tight to limit how much of the track cars are taking, making it easier to move emergency equipment and clean-up vehicles, if needed, around the track).
With NASCAR already putting word out that it was going to look more closely at cars assisting others, series officials reacted. What I was told was that NASCAR doesn't like this because of the advantage it can provide. Also, this is something not all teams can equally do since not all cars have teammates and thus could be at a disadvantage to a multi-car team. In a way, Harvick can say there's no rule that prohibits it. NASCAR can also say that it adjusts things as it goes and this is one of them. What would seem to be the best situation is for NASCAR to write a rule that either prohibits a car pushing another or provide further guidelines on when it is acceptable and when it is not. Don't be surprised if there's a new rule on this in next year's rule book.(Virginian Pilot)(10-10-2011)
UPDATE: NASCAR likely will make a rule change before next season - if not sooner - further defining when cars can push another car during a race, John Darby, Cup series director told [Dustin Long] Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Cars assisting another have been an issue in the Chase. NASCAR penalized Matt Kenseth for being pushed on the last lap at Chicago after he ran out of fuel, putting him 21st in the lineup (behind all the cars that finished on the lead lap). In the past the rule book stated that a car could not receive assistance on the last lap. Last weekend, NASCAR seemed to change its feelings about the situation when Austin Dillon pushed Kevin Harvick with about 50 laps left while under caution.(Virginian-Pilot)(10-13-2011)

Hornaday feels young at 53 but needs to find a ride

2011-10-15T08:33:00.002-04:00

Hornaday feels young at 53 but needs to find a ride

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 14, 2011)

Ron Hornaday Jr. hasn’t lost a step.

In fact, Hornaday, 53, was the class of the field Oct. 1 at Kentucky Speedway, when he held off the youth movement in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series en route to a milestone 50th victory in the series.

Hornaday, however, had other things on his mind.

“You really don’t think about it as a driver,” Hornaday said. “It was more exciting just to outrun those kids and all that stuff. I don’t even look at how many races I’ve run, how many top 10s, how many top fives.

“I don’t look at that stuff right now. I’m just doing my job, hoping I can win 100. I guess the milestone is the 200 mark of Richard Petty (in the Sprint Cup Series), but I don’t know if I’ve got that many years left.”

For the record, when Hornaday takes the green flag in Saturday’s Smith’s 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he will have started his 296th NCWTS race. The four-time series champion has 143 top fives and 205 top 10s to his credit.

Despite the 50th victory, however, the 2011 season has been bittersweet for Hornaday, a casualty of the sale of Kevin Harvick Inc.’s truck series program to Eddie Sharp. At this point, Hornaday doesn’t have a ride nailed down for 2012, though he has had discussions with several teams.

There’s plenty of competition for the available seats, and the series is getting younger. Five of the top 10 drivers in the NCWTS standings are 21 or younger. More important, many of the drivers cutting their teeth in the series bring talent—and more important, money—to the table.

“It’s still tough out there,” Hornaday said. “It’s all about money and trying to fill up sponsorships.”

Fifth in the series standings and 42 points behind first-place Austin Dillon (one of the 21-year-olds), Hornaday has the utmost confidence in his own ability.

“I don’t have any doubt at all, but how do you win somebody over on a 53-year-old guy when you’ve got some kid out there who’s got the money and a little bit of talent and they’re going to learn as they go?” Hornaday said. “It’s still tough. There’s nothing easy out there.”

Hornaday knows it will be difficult to find a ride equal to the quality of Harvick’s equipment.

“Why they (Kevin and DeLana Harvick) got out of it is beyond me, but I can see where it gets expensive, chasing sponsors and all the appearances,” Hornaday said. “The sponsors, they all want Kevin, and he’s got to do all the appearances along with all the ones he’s got on the Cup side.

“So I can see why they’re getting out of it, but it’s a shame, because I don’t know if we can find another ride like that. But we’ve got some guys that want to go with me, and we’re looking at a couple different venues we can go to, hopefully. When all these kids find a ride, we’ll see what’s left and see if we can make a good team out of it.”

Many drivers at age 53 might start thinking of retirement. Not Hornaday. And he won’t be the one who decides when to stop racing.

“It’s not up to me,” Hornaday said. “It’s up to my wife (Lindy). When she sees I’m out there riding around for a paycheck, not trying to win and being scared of the racetracks we’re going to, that’s the time to quit.

“But right now, when I get behind the wheel, I feel like a kid and I’m having a blast doing it and getting out smiling and still winning races—so at least another five to eight years, hopefully.”

And maybe another championship or two.

Sadler wants a win, but he wants a championship even more

2011-10-12T18:07:00.002-04:00

Sadler wants a win, but he wants a championship even more

By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 12, 2011)

A glance at Elliott Sadler's cumulative statistics in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this season reveals some gaudy numbers: 11 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes to go with four pole positions. And he's second in the points standings heading to the Dollar General 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend.

But there's also a number that Sadler doesn't particularly care for: The zero under the win column.

"Yeah, it bothers me, because I want to win," Sadler said. "I'm not trying to win to appease other people, I want to win for my race team. I want to win because (crew chief) Ernie Cope and those guys put a lot of effort into our race team each and every week to go to the racetrack and run good. I really see the effort that goes into having a championship-contending team. That's why I want to win. I want to win for those guys."

Sadler notes that his No. 2 Kevin Harvick Inc. has had its chances and easily could have four or five wins in 2011.

"But our No. 1 goal is to win the championship," Sadler said. "If you asked me whether I want to win a race and not win the championship or win the championship and not win a race, it's a very easy answer for me."

Sadler heads to Charlotte 20 points behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with four races remaining in the season. Under NASCAR's simplified points system, that's 20 positions on the racetrack. Sadler knows that won't be easy to make up, but he believes "it's definitely within reach."

"If we can average (beating Stenhouse) five positions a race, we've got a chance," Sadler said. "If we run in the top two or three each week for the last four races, we think we're going to be in the middle of this thing by the time Homestead is over with."

There is still a lot of racing left, and Sadler is experienced enough to know "anything can happen."

"You don't always need to hit a walk-off home run or throw a Hail Mary," Sadler said. "The way this points system is, it rewards consistency. If we can be consistent and average a third- or fourth-place finish the last four races, we honestly feel like we've got a shot to win this thing."

Of course, Sadler will be gunning for a victory, especially at Charlotte. This weekend's race—as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month—means a lot to Sadler and his family, as his mother, Bell, beat breast cancer a few years ago. He would love nothing more than to slip into Charlotte's victory lane.

"I tell you what, a victory at Charlotte would be huge," Sadler said. "A victory anywhere is big, but to me, the fall race at Charlotte means a lot. It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and we're running a pink racecar this weekend. For what my family and my mom went through, to be able to win at Charlotte would be huge."

Quick Pit Stops Require Mental As Well As Physical Skills

2011-10-10T17:01:00.000-04:00

Quick Pit Stops Require Mental As Well As Physical Skills

October 10, 2011

Roush Fenway’s Andy Ward Guides No. 17 Team to Mechanix Wear 3rd Quarter Award

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 10, 2011) — Andy Ward, Roush Fenway Racing’s head of pit instruction, coaches physical skills but believes mental toughness ultimately is the difference between winning and losing.

Ward, whose No. 17 Ford team won the third quarter Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew Award, said NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing has reached the point where every crew on pit road has reached an elite level of performance.

“Very few teams have a clear-cut advantage,” said Ward, who has managed pit crews for nearly 15 years. “Ninety percent of the cars (theoretically) would leave the way they came down [pit road]. What separates them is which can adapt the most to adverse conditions. It’s a nip and tuck thing.”

The No. 17 team’s performance during the season’s third quarter cemented Kenseth’s spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ as well as getting the driver off to a solid start in the post season. Its average pit stop time was second at Chicagoland, sixth at Bristol, first in Michigan, eighth at Watkins Glen and seventh at Indianapolis. Kenseth had four top-10 finishes during the third quarter including a fifth in the Brickyard 400.

Crew chief Jimmy Fennig’s over-the-wall crew consists of jack man Cameron Cobb, Washington, Ill.; front tire changer Justin Nottestad, Cambridge, Wis.; front tire carrier Joe Crossen, Salisbury, N.C.; gas man Shawn Ward, Hickory, N.C.; rear tire carrier Ryan McCray, Highland, Calif. and rear tire changer Jon Moore, Gainesville, Fla.

Ward, 38, is in his second stint with Roush Fenway, rejoining the organization when it absorbed Yates Racing in 2004. He shared the 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship with Matt Kenseth’s No. 17 team in 2003.

“I just flat-out believed they out-performed every team in the sport,” said Ward, whose team claimed the American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award at Kansas Speedway on Sunday. The $5,000 award goes to the eligible driver – Kenseth – who records the fastest average speed on restarts. “We lost both tire changers from the previous year and we came back and won with the next group. I’d like to see us put this team over the top (for the championship). It would be a dream come true.”

The Kannapolis, N.C. native began his coaching career as a volunteer in 1996, moonlighting from his physical therapist assistant job with HealthSouth. He joined Penske Kranefuss Racing as a strength and conditioning coach two years later as teams began to realize that over the wall members should be specialists rather than mechanics pressed into race day duty.

“I still chuckle when I remember asking, ‘how often do you practice?’ and they answered, ‘we don’t,’” said Ward.

Ward’s job goes beyond simply teaching choreography and clicking the stopwatch.

“My influence is understanding people, putting groups together that work,” he said. “Super athletes can perform in the parking lot but when it comes time to race they fold. It’s all about being able to control your emotions; people who live for the spotlight, seek it and perform in it.”

Ward credits the leadership of Roush Fenway’s director of competition Robbie Reiser, the No. 17 team’s former crew chief, for keeping the team at a peak level of performance. “Robbie’s still here and he’s our boss. He sets the tone,” he said. “He’s no-nonsense, blue collar. If you’re doing a good job, you don’t hear about it. That’s what you’re paid for. His level of expectation is unmatched.”

The No. 17 pit crew will be presented its award prior to Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway which can be seen live on ABC beginning at 7 p.m. ET. The race is the fifth and halfway point in the Chase.

Official winners of this week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Prize Money & Decal Program special awards include:

· AMERICAN ETHANOL GREEN FLAG RESTART: Matt Kenseth

· COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Greg Biffle (174.887 mph, 30.877 secs,)

· DIRECTV CREW CHIEF OF THE RACE AWARD: Bob Osborne (crew chief for Carl Edwards)

· GOODYEAR GATORBACK BELTS FASTEST LAP AWARD: Greg Biffle (169.705 mph, Lap 2)

· MAHLE CLEVITE ENGINE BUILDER OF THE RACE AWARD: Hendrick Engines No. 48

· MOBIL 1 OIL DRIVER OF THE RACE AWARD: Kasey Kahne

· MOOG CHASSIS PARTS PROBLEM SOLVER OF THE RACE AWARD: Shane Wilson 0.138secs (crew chief for Clint Bowyer)

· O’REILLY AUTO PARTS POSITION IMPROVEMENT AWARD: Landon Cassill (24 places)

· SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD: Andy Lally

About the NASCAR Prize Money & Decal Program

The NASCAR Prize Money & Decal Program, commonly referred to as the contingency program, is administered by the NASCAR Automotive Group. The program strives to build strong relationships with high-quality, performance-driven brands that are leaders in their respective categories and award money to NASCAR teams via per-race and year-end postings. Competitors become eligible for awards money by displaying partner decals on the front fender of their race vehicles and, in some instances, use of a sponsor’s product. National series contingency sponsors will contribute over $8.4 million to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2011.

Chevy wins Sprint Cup Series Manufacturer' Cup for 35th time:

2011-10-10T10:29:00.002-04:00

Chevy wins Sprint Cup Series Manufacturer' Cup for 35th time: #48-Jimmie Johnson, with his win in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, clinched the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Manufacturers' Cup for Chevrolet, which now has won the title 35 times. "Chevrolet is a huge partner at Hendrick Motorsports," said Johnson. "We're a marketing tool for them, and the fact that we're out winning on Sundays will hopefully sell cars on Monday, like we've always discussed. It's a proud moment for myself. All I've ever raced is a Chevrolet, so to be part of them winning another manufacturer's championship means a lot to me personally, and I'm a Chevy dealer. Rick (Hendrick) obviously has a lot of dealerships, and the pride that what we do on the racetrack and how we carry ourselves, how we win races and championships, we can feel that energy in the store. It really does help the brand. So happy to do it."
Chevrolet won its first Manufacturers' Cup in 1958, and now with the 2011 Cup secured, Chevrolet has equaled its previous run of nine consecutive titles achieved in 1983-1991.
"Chevrolet is extremely proud of winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Manufacturers' Cup for the 35th time," said Jim Campbell, US Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. "This is an accomplishment that requires tireless dedication from everyone who is involved - drivers, team owners, crew chiefs, team members and engineers, as well as the dedicated professionals who contribute to our program. And, we certainly appreciate the support we've received from all of our fans and customers as Chevrolet wins its ninth consecutive title."
Mark Kent, Director, GM Racing, was also thrilled with this achievement. "Winning the 2011 Manufacturers' Championship in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the ninth time in a row is an amazing feat for our outstanding teams, drivers, and owners," said Kent. "It is also a remarkable accomplishment for our motorsports engineers here as we record our 35th Manufacturers' Cup. We proudly congratulate and salute all who contributed to this award-winning effort."
With six races remaining on the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, seven different drivers have contributed to Chevrolet's 14 victories this year: #29-Kevin Harvick (four), #24-Jeff Gordon (three), #48-Jimmie Johnson (two), #14-Tony Stewart (two) and, #27-Paul Menard, #39-Ryan Newman and #78-Regan Smith (one apiece). Chevrolet drivers have won 27 championships, including each of the last six (Tony Stewart, 2005; Jimmie Johnson, 2006-10). Chevrolet's first drivers' championship was won by Buck Baker in 1957.(Team Chevy)(10-10-2011)

Edwards uses unconventional pit stall pick to practice for Sunday

2011-10-09T11:20:00.001-04:00

Edwards uses unconventional pit stall pick to practice for Sunday

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 8, 2011)

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Carl Edwards defied custom after winning the pole for Saturday's Kansas Lottery 300 Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway.

He asked crew chief Mike Beam to choose pit stall No. 8—the same pit stall he will use in Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 Sprint Cup race—for the Nationwide event, rather than the customary pit stall No. 1, closest to the exit from pit road.

Why? Because Edwards drew a speeding penalty leaving pit road last Sunday at Dover—a mistake that may have cost him a win in the third Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Edwards charged through the field to finish third behind Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson.

"We picked that pit stall based on a couple of things," Edwards said after finishing second to Brad Keselowski on Saturday. "First was the way the timing lines were laid out, and second was that is the pit stall I am using (Sunday) for the Cup race.

"Considering my little mistake I made last week, I thought it might be good getting some practice getting out of my pit stall without speeding. And Mike Beam could have picked that first pit stall, and I appreciate him taking the eighth one for us. As it stands, I don't think it made a difference in the outcome of the race, so that's good."

Brian Scott threatens to wreck Aric Almirola after Kansas tiff

2011-10-09T09:17:00.001-04:00

Brian Scott threatens to wreck Aric Almirola after Kansas tiff

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 8, 2011)

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—As far as Brian Scott is concerned, bad blood building between him and Aric Almirola boiled over in Saturday's Kansas Lottery 300 Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway.

The drivers exchanged words after the race, and Scott later threatened to wreck Almirola if what he considers discourteous racing doesn't stop.

"It's an issue that's been building all year," Scott said. "He's run into the back of me on restarts, he wrecked me at Richmond, he walls me at Chicago. He races like it's the last lap every time he's around me, and I've had enough of it.

"He's cost me a car, and he continues to race like that, so I went and told him, and I just told him how I felt. I told him that I owed him one, and I told him if he's going to continue to race like that, I'm probably going to slip up and wreck him."

The last straw, as far as the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was concerned, happened on pit road in Saturday's race.

"He just races like—I don't know any other better word for it than a jack-you-know-what," Scott said. "He runs you tight—tighter than anybody. He tried to pass us on pit road and tried to block me from getting into my pits. It's just an every-week thing, and I'm sick of it."

Almirola, who drives the No. 88 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, said the Richmond incident was an accident and that it's time for Scott to move on.

"He thinks I wrecked him on purpose at Richmond, and he still hasn't gotten over it," Almirola said. "It's racing. It's short-track racing at Richmond, and he can't move on from that. We fire off the race today, and I run him down, and I get to him, and he runs me on my door, trying to spin me out.

"So then, later on in the race, he tries to run me back down, and I run right on his door, and that's what he's mad about. He's mad that I don't I give him any room on the racetrack. He races way over his head, and he's very fortunate that his dad has a lot of money and spends a lot of money on his racing. That's a big factor in what he's got going on."

Roush looking for a sponsor to keep Ragan

2011-10-08T17:27:00.000-04:00

Roush concedes that, while he is still looking for a sponsor to keep Ragan in his current ride, there are still no great prospects. And Roush says he's told Ragan to start looking for a new deal, because without major sponsorship Roush says he won't be able to run four full-time Cup teams in 2012. Speculation is that Ragan could be penciled in for a ride with Kevin Buckler [#71 TRG Ford], the sports car racer turned NASCAR team owner, and a Ford man. But Ragan himself says he's focused more on finishing this season as strongly as he can. "Right now I am not focused on 2012 just yet," Ragan says. "I think it's important for us to finish this season strong. And the stronger we can finish 2011, that will only help our chances of finding a sponsor and a package to go racing next year. Everyone at Roush Fenway is working hard at selling sponsors for us and for Matt. They have to sell some sponsorships for us to go racing next year. Jack has always done a good job of selling our race cars. Even though it's come to the last minute, we have confidence we'll be out on the track racing (next season). And hopefully we can find a partner we can announce, sooner rather than later.(MikeMulhern.net)(10-8-2011)

Sorenson lands Nationwide, Cup rides at Kansas

2011-10-07T17:16:00.002-04:00

Sorenson lands Nationwide, Cup rides at Kansas

By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 7, 2011)

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Dismissed from his Nationwide Series ride in the No. 32 Turner Motorsports Chevrolet, Reed Sorenson didn't waste any time finding a new set of wheels.

In fact, he found two.

Sorenson, who found out Tuesday he had been pulled from the No. 32 car in favor of 2003 Nationwide champion Brian Vickers, will try to protect his third-place position in the series standings in the No. 82 Dodge owned by Randy MacDonald.

Scott Wimmer had been scheduled to drive the No. 82 before the driver change was made. In the first Nationwide practice Friday at Kansas Speedway, Vickers was sixth fastest in the No. 32 Chevy. Sorenson was 29th on the speed chart in MacDonald's car.

MacDonald told SceneDaily.com that Sorenson's ride was a one-race deal.

"We plan on running the car a few more times (and) we started with Scott, so we don't want to just throw Scott under the bus because he drove the K-Love car at Chicago and went to Dover to prepare for this race," MacDonald told SceneDaily.com. "That's important to us, but being able to help Reed and having the third-place driver in our car is good for MacDonald Motorsports.

"We want to do whatever is right and whatever is helpful to our company."

Sorenson also is driving the Robby Gordon's No. 7 Dodge in the Sprint Cup Series this weekend.

Edwards has all the pieces to win at Kansas

2011-10-06T17:06:00.002-04:00

Edwards has all the pieces to win at Kansas

By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 6, 2011)

In the calendar year since Mike Beam took over as Carl Edwards' NASCAR Nationwide Series crew chief, Edwards and the No. 60 team have won nine times.

That's one fewer than Nationwide Series king Kyle Busch has over that span, but Edwards hopes to add to his total in this weekend's Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway, his home track.

"It all starts at the shop," Edwards said. "These Ford Mustangs they've been building have been spectacular. (Team co-owner) Jack (Roush) listened to us about a year-and-a-half ago when we were telling him different things we needed, and everybody's come together and done a really good job making these cars better."

Beam was the director of competition for Roush Fenway Racing's Nationwide operation when Roush moved then-crew chief Drew Blickensderfer to the Sprint Cup Series. Edwards had won two races to that point of the 2010 season, a very un-Edwards-like season, as he'd won 25 times in the previous five years.

But Beam and engineer Scott Graves came to the No. 60 team and made some changes.

"It's been a great team," Roush said. "We did look, and there were some things lacking, obviously, in our program a year and a half ago. We were underachieving for the talent of everybody that was involved, so we made some moves."

Roush said the biggest move was literal: Moving the Nationwide Series operation that was housed in Mooresville, N.C., to the Roush Fenway campus in Concord.

"The help that Ford was giving us could come to bear (for the Nationwide teams) and would reflect on all the cars as an engineering impact," Roush said. "Mike's been able to use that to his advantage."

Beam said he and Graves were like "kids in a candy store" with the help and information he received from Roush Fenway's engineering department.

"We're really living a dream here," Beam said. "We have everything we could possibly have."

Soon, the effort turned into a victory at Texas last November, snapping Busch's five-race winning streak there.

"That's the first time we beat Kyle and those guys," Beam said. "We got our confidence back."

This season, Edwards has won seven times, second only to Busch's eight. Those teams are 1-2 in the Nationwide owners standings, with Busch's No. 18 team leading Edwards' team by 13 points. A solid showing at Kansas would help Edwards' team, though Edwards has ulterior motives.

He's from Columbia, Mo., about two hours from Kansas Speedway. A win in Cup or Nationwide at Kansas "would be as big as I've ever had."

“I absolutely love Kansas Speedway," Edwards said. "It’s not far from my hometown and I will have several of my family and friends there. It's a track I really want to win at.

"Our Fastenal team has been on a roll and we are coming off a strong win at Dover. Kansas Speedway is exactly what this Fastenal team needs for the owners points. We have five races left and we want to gain as many points as possible and make it count. These last races are at very good tracks and we will make it exciting for the fans.”

Keselowski out to send a message this weekend at Kansas

2011-10-06T14:35:00.002-04:00

Keselowski out to send a message this weekend at Kansas

By Jim Pedley
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 6, 2011)

Brad Keselowski proved a lot of things to a lot of people earlier this year when he won the June Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway. When Keselowski returns to the 1.5-mile Kansas track for this weekend's Hollywood Casino 400, it will be proving time again.

This time, he will be out to prove that he can bounce back from last week's disappointing 20th-place finish at Dover in the third event of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

"We do want to send a message this weekend that we are going to fight to the finish," Keselowski said.

Keselowski arrived at Kansas the first week in June as a driver known more for a feisty attitude than for being a major threat to collect trophies. He had one Sprint Cup victory in his career—that being the one at Talladega in the spring of 2009 when he launched the car of Carl Edwards up off the track and into the frontstretch catch fence.

It was a memorable finish for Keselowski, who was driving partial seasons for three owners that year, but one that was more flashy than significant.

In 2010, Keselowski moved to Penske full time, and many thought significant wins would quickly follow. It didn't happen, as he was able to log just one top-five finish in the next 48 races leading up to the spring race in Kansas this year.

When he took the green flag at the Kansas race, Keselowski was 25th in points and thought of more as Kurt Busch's teammate than Chase material. But when he took the checkered flag, he was on his way to being a top story.

"That win at Kansas was special because we knew we were doing the right things to be successful, but just didn't get the luck needed to win," Keselowski said this week. "Winning at Kansas was a validation, of sorts, and it was definitely the catalyst for what we were able to accomplish as the summer months wore on."

Ah, the summer months of 2011. Only once since that day in Kansas has Keselowski not finished on the lead lap of a Cup race. He has won two more races since and has become one of the most consistently successful drivers in the series.

He climbed into the Chase via one of two wild-card berths and placed fifth and second in the first two races of the playoff.

All was going well … until Dover last week. Keselowski and his team ran into problems at the Monster Mile. They finished 20th and dropped from third to sixth in the standings.

"We had some misfortune at Dover with the power steering belt getting knocked off, but we were able to battle back and get the best finish we could," Keselowski said. "It's tough when you have a good car—and we had a really good car at Dover—and you can't capitalize on the points leader having a bad day."

The folks in the "Blue Deuce" garage fully expect to not have a bad day in the Hollywood Casino 400. Not after what happened at Kansas in June.

"Not only were we able to pick up the win the last time we were there," Keselowski's crew chief, Paul Wolfe, said, "we also learned a lot about our car. We've seen improvement each time we have gone back to a track for the second time and I expect the same thing this weekend. The Chase battle is getting tight so we want to come out of here with a good finish."

And with one less thing to prove.

Wheaties moves to Burton's car in 2012

2011-10-05T15:40:00.002-04:00

Wheaties moves to Burton's car in 2012

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 5, 2011)

Wheaties will co-sponsor Jeff Burton's No. 31 Sprint Cup Chevrolet at Richard Childress Racing next year, the team announced Wednesday.

Caterpillar will continue as a primary sponsor of Burton's car but will share that role with the General Mills brand, which will appear on the car as an associate sponsor when Caterpillar is the primary.

"Wheaties is one of the most iconic brands in American history, and my kids use so many General Mills products that I'm sure we have a decent market share of the company in our pantry," Burton said.

This season, the Cheerios and Hamburger Helper General Mills brands have sponsored the No. 33 RCR Chevrolet driven by Clint Bowyer, who is expected to announce a move to Michael Waltrip Racing in 2012 (with 5-Hour Energy as his sponsor) at Kansas Speedway this weekend.

Wheaties' transition to Burton's car leaves one of the four RCR cars unsponsored. Sources have told Sporting News that RCR is willing to revert to a three-car Cup operation if funding can't be found for a fourth entry.

Vickers to replace Sorenson in No. 32 Turner Motorsports ride

2011-10-05T09:09:00.001-04:00

Vickers to replace Sorenson in No. 32 Turner Motorsports ride

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 4, 2011)

Reed Sorenson's ouster from Turner Motorsports was sudden and unexpected.

Sorenson confirmed to Sirius Speedway's Dave Moody on Tuesday that he had been fired from his Nationwide Series ride in the No. 32 Turner Motorsports Chevrolet, effective immediately. Brian Vickers will replace Sorenson in the car this weekend at Kansas and for the Oct. 14 race at Charlotte.

Sorenson currently is third in the Nationwide standings, 49 points behind series leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Turner will announce a driver for the remaining 2011 races at a later time.

Concurrent with Sorenson's departure, Turner confirmed in a team release that it was losing Sorenson's sponsor, Dollar General, at the end of the season and had notified its employees of possible downsizing.

"I'm not sure what happened," Sorenson told Moody. "I got a phone call this morning, but they didn't really say much. All they would say is that I'm out of the car. I haven't gotten a reason—I'm just as confused as you are."

Vickers, the 2003 Nationwide champion and currently the driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Racing Sprint Cup car, has a long-standing relationship with Turner, having collected 28 top-10 finishes and three poles in 41 starts for Turner from 2007-2010.

Trent Owens will continue as crew chief for the No. 32 car.

"We are continuing to evaluate our racing program as we look to the 2012 season," team owner Steve Turner said. "Brian Vickers is a proven winner at NASCAR's highest level in addition to being a driver at Turner Motorsports over the last four seasons.

"He has worked with Trent Owens in the past which will allow us to immediately focus on the task at hand. We are confident Brian can help assess where we are, as a company currently, and the direction we are going as we build our programs for 2012 and beyond."

Vickers gets his wish with two-race Nationwide deal

2011-10-04T17:53:00.002-04:00

Vickers gets his wish with two-race Nationwide deal

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 4, 2011)

AVONDALE, Ariz.—Brian Vickers wanted to run at least one Nationwide Series race this season, but he needed the approval of his Red Bull Racing Sprint Cup team to do so.

For one thing, Vickers wanted to preserve his past champion's status. NASCAR rules state that, in order to retain eligibility for a past champion's provisional starting position, a driver must participate in the series in the preceding year. Vickers won the Nationwide title in 2003 but has not raced in the series this year.

His prospects changed markedly on Tuesday, when Turner Motorsports called Vickers and asked him to run the next two races in the No. 32 Chevrolet, at Kansas and Charlotte. Vickers will replace Reed Sorenson, who was released from his ride on Tuesday despite holding third place in the championship standings.

Vickers, who missed the last six months of the 2010 season while recovering from blood clots in his legs and lungs, had to get approval from Red Bull team owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

"It was completely sudden," Vickers told Sporting News on Tuesday, during a break in Sprint Cup testing at Phoenix International Raceway. "I wanted to run a Nationwide race before the year was over. Red Bull hadn't been letting me run Nationwide this season, for whatever reason.

"A week or two ago, I asked Dietrich—first time I'd asked him; I'd been dealing with middle management—if I could run a Nationwide race, because I wanted to have past champion's for next year. He was like, ‘Yeah, of course, no problem.'"

Though Kansas and Charlotte are the only confirmed races on Vickers' schedule now, he'd like to run more than two Nationwide events. With the Red Bull team up for sale and its future uncertain, Vickers is keeping his options open for next year.

Turner was a logical fit, because Vickers raced 41 times for the organization in its Braun Racing incarnation (before Steve Turner assumed ownership from Todd Braun).

"I reached out to a lot of owners, ones I knew, and the ones that had Nationwide programs," Vickers said. "Obviously, driving for Turner all the years at Braun, I reached out and said, ‘Hey, I'd love to run a race before the end of the year, if anything comes up. …

"I was thinking like maybe they'd add a fourth car for the last race, and then (Turner Motorsports general manager) T.J. (Puchyr) called me yesterday afternoon and said, ‘Would you consider running sooner than Homestead?' I said, ‘Yeah, of course.' And they let me know this morning. They asked me if I'd run the next couple of races, and I said ‘Sure.' So it was kind of a last-minute deal."

Testing at Phoenix Tuesday & Wednesday:

2011-10-04T10:38:00.002-04:00

Testing at Phoenix Tuesday & Wednesday: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has a two-day test session at Phoenix International Raceway scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 4-5. Teams will be on track from 10 am to 4 pm. In March, construction began on Phoenix's first track repave since 1990. This test provides the first opportunity for all teams to run on the new surface in preparation for Phoenix's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race on Nov. 13. Though Phoenix International Raceway remains one mile in length, changes to the banking and configuration have been implemented to promote side-by-side racing. As of today, 37 teams have entered for the test. In addition, three have opted to test fuel injection [no word which teams], as NASCAR and its teams continue to prepare for the introduction of fuel injection for the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
Robin Pemberton, NASCAR Vice President of Competition, comments on the upcoming test at Phoenix: "The test at Phoenix will give teams the opportunity to gather data for everything they need for their chassis and simulation work in preparation for November's Chase race. Not only is Phoenix getting a repaved surface, there is a track configuration change to go along with it. The backstretch will now have a more defined dogleg and the bank angles have changed. It's almost like we'll be looking at a new race track."(NASCAR)(10-3-2011)

ON THIS DAY

2011-10-03T10:25:00.002-04:00

October 3

2004: Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the EA Sports 500 at Talladega and swears on live TV after the race, which results in a 25-point penalty. It doesn’t affect Junior in the final standings, as he finishes fifth in the first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, 138 points behind champion Kurt Busch. On this day, Kevin Harvick finishes second, .117 seconds back, and Dale Jarrett is third.

MWR likely to announce Bowyer as driver on Friday:

2011-10-02T23:02:00.002-04:00

MWR likely to announce Bowyer as driver on Friday: #33-Clint Bowyer is expected to be introduced as the new driver for Michael Waltrip Racing on Friday at Kansas Speedway. Team owner Michael Waltrip confirmed there is a press conference scheduled at the track on Friday afternoon to discuss "the future of Michael Waltrip Racing'' and that everything was looking good for Bowyer, a native of Emporia, Kan. "I feel good about everything we're doing,'' Waltrip said before Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway. Bowyer said he's in the process of finalizing the contract with MWR and that he was "hopeful'' it would be announced at his home track. Waltrip also hopes to keep his relationship with JTG Daugherty Racing, allowing the team to move that operation to its Harrisburg, N.C., shop but continue to receive cars and engines from MWR. Co-owner Brad Daugherty told ESPN.com earlier in the week that they had an offer from MWR and that the plan was to move from MWR to its own shop. "We'd like to think we will be together in some form or fashion,'' Waltrip said. Bowyer, wrapping up the final year of his contract with Richard Childress Racing, will give MWR three full-time Sprint Cup teams in 2012. He joins David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr., the pole-sitter at Dover. Bowyer has spent all six of his Cup seasons at RCR, winning four races and making the Chase three times. Due to sponsorship issues, he was unable to renew a deal there even though both parties said they wanted to stay together. Bowyer will be sponsored for about half the 2012 season by 5-hour Energy drink. Waltrip said all other details will be revealed at Friday's press conference.(ESPN)(10-2-2011)

Hamlin: It's time to relax and have fun

2011-10-01T08:55:00.001-04:00

Hamlin: It's time to relax and have fun

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(September 30, 2011)

DOVER, Del.—For Denny Hamlin, runner-up to Jimmie Johnson in last year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, disastrous results in the first two 2011 Chase races have brought a major change in approach.

"We definitely are in a position to where we can kind of relax and have some fun and try to win some races from here on out," Hamlin said Friday at Dover International Speedway. "That's the important, number-one priority right now—to kind of get back on track before the year is over."

Unlike last year, when he took the Chase lead into the season finale at Homestead before surrendering it to Johnson, Hamlin is searching for speed in his cars. After a rash of engine failures earlier in the season, Hamlin—unlike Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch—is using engines produced by Toyota Racing Development for the balance of the season.

So is Hamlin ready to win races in the Chase, even if he's unlikely to win the Chase itself after finishing 31st at Chicagoland and 29th at New Hampshire?

"Not right now, I don't think, so far as going out and dominating any given week," Hamlin said. "I would say it's not likely, but it can happen, if we hit a setup. No, we're not where we need to be by any means at this point, but I see things in the future getting better.

"And when I say future, I say in the next three to four weeks I see us being top-five contenders, and once you get there, then that leads to race wins."

For Earnhardt, getting into the Chase was most stressful

2011-09-30T16:57:00.002-04:00

For Earnhardt, getting into the Chase was most stressful

By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(September 30, 2011)

DOVER, Del.—To hear Dale Earnhardt Jr. tell it, the pressure of being in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup doesn't compare with the stress of trying to get into NASCAR's 10-race playoff.

Earnhardt didn't secure his Chase spot until Sept. 10, in the final race of the regular season at Richmond. Of the 10 drivers to qualify on points, he was 10th, and after getting collected in a Lap 8 wreck at Richmond, Earnhardt's place in the Chase was in doubt until the final fourth of the race.

"I feel more comfortable now that I got making the Chase behind me, and I can just concentrate on ‘Hey, how good can I do in the Chase?'" Earnhardt said Friday at Dover International Speedway. "So I feel a little bit less pressure, I guess.

"I'm sure it would be quite different if I was leading the points right now—the pressure would be pretty high. But at the time, I feel pretty good and pretty comfortable and a lot less pressure now than I did the last five or six races leading up to the Chase. There was a lot of pressure there."

Whether Earnhardt can ramp up the pressure by finishing well at Dover is an open question, given his mixed results at the one-mile concrete track. Earnhardt finished third in the 2007 Chase race at the Monster Mile but hasn't posted a result better than 12th since then.

"Yeah, this track has been good at times and bad at times for me," Earnhardt said. "I like asphalt better than I like concrete. Concrete is just not as good a surface, in my opinion. As high-banked and as fast as this place is, it was the only way they could really put something down that would survive. Once the concrete ages a couple of years, it's got joints in it.

"It's kind of like a wooden deck. It starts to sort of get bumps in it because of that. If you ever drove down I-77 towards Statesville (N.C.), you will remember how that patch of road used to be. And that's about exactly how it feels. It gets them little joints in it, and you just hop around the racetrack all the way around there, and that's the way it goes."

Asked whether track conditions like that tend to build character, Earnhardt replied, "Not in my opinion. I mean, it is character, but not all character is good character."

Q&A with truck series title contender Johnny Sauter

2011-09-29T08:08:00.000-04:00

(September 28, 2011)

Q&A with truck series title contender Johnny Sauter

Johnny Sauter, currently third in the Camping World Truck Series standings, just seven points behind leader Austin Dillon, answers four questions about his quest for the title.

1) Why is the "chase" for the truck series championship title so difficult this year?

Sauter: The new points system is a big part of why it's so difficult—in any given race, you can gain or fall five spots. We endured a lot of bad luck at the midpoint of the season, from broken axles when we're leading the race to penalties at Texas. We led so many races—Texas, Indy, Kentucky with nothing to show for at the end of the day, and that's racing. It was frustrating to say the least, but we kept momentum going. It definitely makes the points race exciting for the fans.

2) How important are the last six races in the 2011 season?

Sauter: It's everything! Judging from what I've seen and how the 2011 season has gone so far, we're not going to know the truck series champion until the checkered flag falls at Homestead. Consistency in these final six races will win it, and cooler heads should prevail. That's what we're shooting for, and we don't freak out under pressure. We've been here before.

3) Are there any remaining tracks that you feel you have an advantage at, or you're concerned about?

Sauter: Going off the first half of the race season's statistics, we dominated Kentucky, Martinsville and Texas. We also had the truck to beat in Miami last year and won Vegas in 2009, so those are five top spots for me. Talladega is literally a crapshoot for everyone—an awesome track with a lot of history, but those superspeedways are just so hit or miss. You never know what's going to happen.

4) What would it mean to win a championship?

Sauter: It would obviously be the biggest accomplishment of my career for myself and for my family. I grew up in racing with my dad and brothers. However, I don't think I'll truly know what it means until it happens!

Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Gordon: Rule changes might make Talladega more perilous

2011-09-24T16:19:00.001-04:00

Gordon: Rule changes might make Talladega more perilous

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(September 24, 2011)

LOUDON, N.H.—If rule changes announced this week for Talladega make sustained two-car drafting more difficult, that could be a recipe for a wild Oct. 23 race at the 2.66-mile speedway, Jeff Gordon says.

NASCAR is increasing the diameter of restrictor-plate openings from 56/64ths of an inch to 57/64ths, as well as lowering the pressure relief valve setting by eight pounds per square inch. The plate change will add seven to 10 horsepower to the engine output, resulting in a decrease of stability.

The lower pressure relief valve setting may prevent one car from pushing another lap after lap, because the car will start to throw off water at lower temperatures, and the pusher may have to separate or swap positions to cool its engine.

While, in the eyes of many fans and competitors, breaking up the two-car tandems is a desirable goal, Gordon said there's also a risk involved in forcing cars to reverse positions more often.

"I'm not in favor of swapping more," Gordon told Sporting News on Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "I know a lot of people don't like us running nose-to-tail like that, but it's far more dangerous doing more swaps. It causes far more chances to have crashes when you're swapping, especially at the end of the race, where you're in the middle of a pack, and all of a sudden two cars just swap.

New tire has helped derail Joey Logano's season

2011-09-24T14:18:00.002-04:00

New tire has helped derail Joey Logano's season

By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(September 24, 2011)

LOUDON, N.H.—You can't blame Goodyear for trying to improve the product it brings to the racetrack—but Joey Logano might prefer a return to the tires the Sprint Cup Series ran last year.

Buoyed by top-10 finishes in five of his last six Cup races in 2010, Logano entered 2011 with optimism. Then the wheels fell off.

Logano finished outside the top 20 in his first five events of the season, and, by his own admission and that of crew chief Greg Zipadelli, inability to adapt to construction and compound changes to the Cup tires has been the primary issue.

"The sidewalls of these tires are a lot more flexible," Logano told Sporting News during a Thursday visit to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. "Last year they were stiff, and you got a good feel for the car. Now it seems like the car's kind of wishy-washy sometimes. It gives you maybe a false read of what's going on with the car.

"You see a lot of guys that were really strong last year that maybe aren't as strong this year. It plays into some guys' hands really good, and for others it's been a total curveball. For me, it's been a total curveball."

Zipadelli says the new tire design hasn't suited Logano's driving style, especially on the bigger downforce racetracks.

"The mile-and-a-halfs this year are awful," Zipadelli said. "This new tire that they have this year just doesn't fit him. He likes a tight, very secure feeling, and this tire doesn't give him that. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the product we have—a lot of people have adjusted to it.

"We've just struggled with it. It doesn't seem like we've been able to get all the things that he needs to get comfortable to go fast at the big places."

Given the cyclical nature of the sport, Logano is confident that either he will adapt to the new tire, or NASCAR and Goodyear will change the package again.

"I think you've seen this over the years, before I was in the sport," Logano said. "Goodyear changes the tire and you see guys that are like 'Holy cow, what happened to this guy? It looks like he can't drive anymore.' Eventually everyone figures it out, or they change the tire again. It happens in the sport a lot."

JTG Daugherty Racing

2011-09-23T10:13:00.002-04:00

JTG Daugherty Racing hasn't decided on an affiliation for next season, and retaining its relationship with Michael Waltrip Racing is still an option, team owner Tad Geschickter told Sporting News on Thursday.
"Unless MWR has ended the relationship since I've been up here, there's no truth to it—I certainly haven't heard about it," Geschickter said in a phone interview during a break in a meeting with one of the team's sponsors.
Geschickter said his phone had been "blowing up" in the wake of a report on CBSsports.com that MWR had terminated its relationship with JTG Daugherty, which fields Toyotas for Bobby Labonte, and speculation in the same story that JTG Daugherty might align itself with Richard Petty Motorsports.
"I haven't talked with Richard Petty Motorsports," Geschickter said. "There's no truth to that at all."
Geschickter said that, to his knowledge, MWR was still exploring its capacity to supply cars to JTG in light of possible expansion. MWR has talked with Clint Bowyer about the possibility of driving a third car for the organization next season, but no deal has been announced.
MWR currently fields Toyotas for Martin Truex Jr. and David Reutimann.

Bowyer "close" to announcement:

2011-09-23T09:51:00.001-04:00

Bowyer "close" to announcement: At Chicagoland last weekend, rumors swirled that #33-Clint Bowyer and MWR were ready to announce a deal with Michael Waltrip Racing, but the two parties never made an announcement. Pressed about the issue during an appearance for the upcoming Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Bowyer seemed close to a decision. "We are getting close to making an announcement," he told News/Talk WSB. "I've had a lot of opportunities and a lot it hinges on funding." Longtime Richard Childress Racing employee and former Director of Competition Scott Miller has left RCR and is highly rumored to have taken a job at MWR - Bowyer's likely destination. When asked whether Miller's departure and destination were linked to his own, Bowyer grinned and said, "I wish him the best and, who knows, maybe I will be working with him someday."(WSB Radio Blog)(9-22-2011)

JTG Daugherty ending alliance with MWR?

2011-09-22T16:49:00.002-04:00

JTG Daugherty ending alliance with MWR?: Michael Waltrip Racing currently fields two teams with #56-Martin Truex Jr. and #00-David Reutimann, and supplies cars for #47-Bobby Labonte and JTG Daugherty Racing out of its Mooresville, N.C., shop. Sources said JTG Daugherty Racing may cut its tie to MWR but remain in the sport with Labonte as its driver in 2012 UPDATE: MWR has paved the way for a third full-time entry [with Clint Bowyer] by ending its affiliation with JTG Daugherty Racing, which had housed its #47 entry at the team's headquarters as part of its alliance. Team owner Brad Daugherty plans to keep his organization on track next season but is currently looking at options to align with another team, with speculation of a partnership with Richard Petty Motorsports. Daugherty's affinity to and admiration of Petty has even included the former college basketball and NBA star wearing the #43 throughout his career. An association as NASCAR business partners would further that connection. RPM was close to launching a third team with Bowyer before contract talks with the driver broke down so the desire to expand is evident.(CBS Sports)(9-22-2011)

MWR names Scott Miller VP of competition

2011-09-21T18:12:00.002-04:00

MWR names Scott Miller VP of competition

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(September 21, 2011)

Scott Miller will join Michael Waltrip Racing as executive vice president of competition at the end of the 2011 season, the organization announced Wednesday.

Speculation is that MWR is bolstering its competition department in anticipation of the signing of Clint Bowyer to drive a third Toyota for the team, which fields Camrys for Martin Truex Jr. and David Reutimann.

Miller has left Richard Childress Racing, where he served as director of competition. MWR recently confirmed the departure of executive vice president of competition Steve Hallam, who has accepted a position as managing director of Walkinshaw Racing in the Australia-based V8 Supercar Series, starting in 2012.

Hallam has been working on special projects for MWR team owners Michael Waltrip and Rob Kauffman. In July, MWR pared down its management team when the organization and executive vice president and chief operations officer Cal Wells parted ways.

Bowyer, 32, also is expected to leave Richard Childress at season’s end to race for MWR next year, with 5-Hour Energy as his primary sponsor. Bowyer has qualified for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup three times in six years with RCR but did not make the Chase field this year.

Both MWR and Bowyer confirmed they have been talking, but no deal has been announced.

"This is the highest ranking role in our competition department, and we needed a person with great knowledge of our sport, experience in managing highly competitive personnel, and a vast technical background," said MWR team owner Michael Waltrip. "Scott is exactly all of those things. This is such an important hire for our organization.

"Scott is used to winning, and we expect a lot of each other. As owners, our job is to provide our teams the human and capital resources needed to be successful. This is another step in that maturing process."

MWR hasn’t won a race this season, and neither of its drivers qualified for the Chase.

"While the team is currently performing well, the ultimate goal is to become one of the elite teams in the sport, winning races and competing for championships," Miller said. "MWR appears to have assembled many of the necessary resources. It will be my responsibility to use them to their full potential."

Casto Left Coal Country, U.S. Navy For NASCAR Pit Road

2011-09-20T17:10:00.000-04:00

Casto Left Coal Country, U.S. Navy For NASCAR Pit Road

Ex-Football Tight End Mike Casto Also Engineer For No. 14 Chevrolet Team

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 20, 2011) — Winning Monday’s GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway to open the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup was both redemptive and a major achievement for Tony Stewart and the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet team.

It gave Stewart a huge jump in the points – ninth to second, seven points behind leader Kevin Harvick – as he pursues a third NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. The victory preserved “Smoke’s” record of at least one win in each of the 13 seasons as a driver in NASCAR’s premier series. And, finally, his 40th win at 40 years of age matched Mark Martin for 16th on NASCAR’s all-time victory list.

Stewart won the Mobil 1 Driver of the Race Award while crew chief Darian Grubb received the Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver Award awarded to the crew chief that improves the most from the first half of the race to the second utilizing the 40 best lap times. “I think we gained five positions the first run, ten positions the second run. After that it was steadily marching forward from there,” said Grubb.

Among Grubb’s over the wall crew is Mike Casto, the No. 14 Chevrolet’s jack man and engineer, an employee before Haas CNC Racing became Stewart-Haas Racing. Casto recalls taking a few deep breaths when Stewart took over. “You were afraid to screw up because it was Tony Stewart,” said Casto.

Casto, a short-time coal miner, U.S. Navy sonar operator and journeyman collegiate tight end, found that Stewart was among the most loyal drivers with whom he’d worked. “If we have a bad stop, he doesn’t get on the radio [blaming the crew],” said Casto. “Working with Tony, I enjoy it a lot. You know he’ll get out of it whatever the car has and you know you can win any race.”

The Proctor, W.V. native has seen more than his share of the world in his 33 years. As a teen, he worked alongside his coal miner father as what he euphemistically called an “intern.” At 17, Casto joined the U.S. Navy for a four-year tour of duty, serving in the first Gulf War aboard an Aegis Class destroyer from which he watched Tomahawk missiles launched toward targets in Iraq.

Those experiences convinced Casto that higher education was where he wanted to go. “My dad and a lot of others in West Virginia didn’t have a choice,” he said. “I wanted to have choices.”

Casto, a journeyman tight end at Glanville State College under coach Rich Rodriguez, later earned an engineering degree from West Virginia University Institute of Technology and in 2002 graduated from the NASCAR Technical Institute hopeful of landing fulltime employment in racing.

He broke in as a chassis specialist with Bobby Dotter’s Green Light Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where his athletic skills made him a natural candidate to go over the wall with the short-staffed team. “They only had so many guys so you had to learn to do everything,” said Casto. He’s been with Stewart-Haas Racing since 2006.

Casto calls the jack position one of the more demanding positions on the crew since he effectively controls the stop. “When you’ve done it so much, sometimes you can’t even remember exactly what you did,” he said. “It feels like your mind slows down.”

He believes athletes and military veterans are the perfect candidates for over-the-wall positions. “They are prepared to handle pressure along with screaming, yelling in your face,” said Casto.

Race No. 2 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Sylvania 300 can be seen live on ESPN at 2 p.m. EDT.

Official winners of this week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Prize Money & Decal Program special awards include:

· AMERICAN ETHANOL GREEN FLAG RESTART: Kurt Busch

· COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Matt Kenseth (183.243 mph, 29.469 secs,)

· DIRECTV CREW CHIEF OF THE RACE AWARD: Bob Osborne (crew chief for Carl Edwards)

· GOODYEAR GATORBACK BELTS FASTEST LAP AWARD: Jimmie Johnson (179.862 mph, Lap 170)

· MAHLE CLEVITE ENGINE BUILDER OF THE RACE AWARD: Penske Engines No. 22

· MOBIL 1 OIL DRIVER OF THE RACE AWARD: Tony Stewart

· MOOG CHASSIS PARTS PROBLEM SOLVER OF THE RACE AWARD: Darian Grubb, 0.235 secs. (crew chief for Tony Stewart)

· O’REILLY AUTO PARTS POSITION IMPROVEMENT AWARD: Kevin Harvick (28 places)

· SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD: Andy Lally

About the NASCAR Prize Money & Decal Program

Crew change helps Harvick take Chase lead

2011-09-19T17:49:00.002-04:00

Crew change helps Harvick take Chase lead

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(September 19, 2011)

JOLIET, Ill.—Kevin Harvick was circumspect after Monday's Geico 400, but those were Clint Bowyer’s pit crew members he was standing beside during prerace ceremonies at Chicagoland Speedway.

In fact, for the second time in as many seasons, Harvick has gotten pit crew help for the Chase from his Richard Childress Racing teammate.

In an effort to bolster RCR’s only Chase entry, front tire changer Jason Pulver, front tire carrier Austin Craven, rear tire changer Dustin Necaise, rear tire carrier Matt Kreuter and jack man Andrew Childers moved from Bowyer’s No. 33 Chevrolet to Harvick’s No. 29.

“I think there were changes, pit crews changes to make teams better,” Harvick said coyly, after finishing second to Tony Stewart in Monday’s rain-delayed Sprint Cup race. “I don’t know exactly how it shook out.”

In fact, Harvick gained three positions on his last pit stop and with his runner-up result assumed the lead by seven points over Stewart after the first race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Last year, most of Bowyer’s crew went to Harvick’s car before the sixth Chase race at Martinsville. By that time, Harvick was contending for the title and Bowyer was out of the running, thanks in part to a 150-point penalty he suffered after winning the opening Chase race at New Hampshire—when his car was deemed slightly out of tolerance.

This year, Harvick is the only one of four RCR drivers to qualify for the Chase. Despite losing most of his over-the-wall crew, Bowyer, who is likely headed to Michael Waltrip Racing next year, finished seventh at Chicagoland, his best result since running fourth at Sonoma in late June.