March 16, 2001
- Green to Childress? UPDATE yes: hearing it was reported on FSN’s Totally NASCAR Thursday night that 2000 BGN Champ Jeff Green is under consideration for the #30 AOL Richard Childress 3rd Winston Cup ride, which would be 6-7 races this year and full time in 2002
UPDATE: Jeff Green, defending BGN champion, will run five to seven Winston Cup races this season for Richard Childress Racing. A formal announcement of Green’s move will come next weekend at Bristol, according to sources. Green will drive the No. 30 Chevrolets, originally scheduled to be the Cup ride for Kevin Harvick.(That’s Racin’)(3-16-2001) - #50 Sponsor UPDATE: Blair Corporation, a national catalog and direct mail marketer of women’s and men’s apparel and home products, today announced that its e-commerce website, Blair.com, has agreed to a sponsorship role with the #50 Midwest Transit Racing Chevrolet, driven by Rick Mast. While details of the agreement are still being finalized, Blair.com is committed to working with the #50 car for the rest of the 2001 Winston Cup season(Midwest Transit PR)(3-15-2001)
UPDATE: Blair Corporation and Midwest Transit Racing, owner of the #50 Winston Cup Chevrolet driven by Rick Mast announced today that a portion of all sales resulting from shoppers entering Blair.com through the Midwest Transit/Rick Mast Welcome Page (www.blair.com/50) will be donated to the Carolina Foundation in honor of the late Dale Earnhardt. This agreement will last thoughout the 2001 Winston Cup season(Blair Corp PR)(3-16-2001) - IROC Replacement UPDATE: getting asked much about what driver will replace Dale Earnahrdt in the IROC Series, sorry, no idea have not heard, if they follow suit when Gil de Ferran was replaced at Daytona, it could be the #7 driver in Cup points from 2000, Rusty Wallace, or id de Ferran comes back for Talladega, Tony Stewart, who subbed for de Ferran could be the driver, BUT I have not heard anything….yet(3-13-2001)
UPDATE: Dale Earnhardt could earn a piece of the International Race of Champions title after running in the season-opening round at Daytona. If IROC follows its 1993 precedent, it will name a driver to replace Earnhardt and give that driver Earnhardt’s points. Terry Labonte raced the IROC finale for Davey Allison, who was killed in a helicopter crash. Labonte scored enough points to earn the IROC title for Allison(Daytona Beach News Journal/Speed Magazine), hearing the replacement driver will be named next week(3-16-2001) - Elliott at Michigan UPDATE: hearing #9-Bill Elliott will have a special paint scheme at Michigan in June on his Dodge(3-15-2001)
UPDATE: hearing the scheme will feature Muhammed Ali as a movie will be coming out soon starring Wil Smith and Dodge is doing some type of promotion with it(3-16-2001) - #8 Special Paint? UPDATE: hearing Dale Earnhardt Jr will have a special Ducks Unlimited paint scheme at the Winston with an announcement at Talladega in April. Also hear Earnhardt Jr will also run a All-Star Baseball scheme sometime in the summer, possibly at the Pepsi 400 in July(3-8-2001)
UPDATE: sorry folks, been ‘asked’ by Action Performance to remove the image and will honor that request, do not email asking for me to send the image, I won’t, sorry. The car is white, with red lettering, the All-Star or baseball was blacked out. Will be announced at Texas on March 31st (3-16-2001) - #18 and #20 Special Paint? hearing the the two Joe Gibbs cars, #18-Labonte and #20-Stewart will run a speical paint scheme at the Pepsi 400 in Daytona, a tie in with a movie being released this summer, possibly Jurassic Park III(3-8-2001)
UPDATE: Jurassic Park III it is, see the diecast images on my Paint Scheme Gallery(3-16-2001) - #7 Sponsor News: NationsRent, Inc., primary sponsor of the #7, NationsRent, Ultra Motorsports Ford Taurus Racing Team is making available associate sponsorship positions for the remainder of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup racing season and beyond. See my Team Address page for contact info (along with all the teams)(3-16-2001)
- Points Question: been asked quite a bit on this – So, what if Jeff Gordon(currently leading the Driver Points) won the driver championship and Richard Childress(#29 was #3) captured the car owner title? According to NASCAR, the Winston Cup championship would be split between the two camps. Gordon and Childress would both earn seats at the head table of the Winston Cup Awards Banquet as co-champions. But it would be more than a symbolic gesture. Gordon and Childress would divide the championship money. “The money would be split down the middle,” said Danielle Humphrey, NASCAR manager of communications for the Winston Cup Series(Daytona Beach News Journal/Speed Magazine)(3-16-2001)
- Big Announcement UPDATE 2: a press conference is scheduled for Wednesday, Mar 14th at 11:30am/et: Making the most significant announcement in NASCAR Winston Cup racing in the past 20 years(Williams Company). Hearing it could be an announcement involving Shawna Robinson(AOL? no..) running in the Cup series or something else. Nothing to do with the Chicagoland announcement on Wednesday(3-13-2001)
UPDATE: Team owner and Michael Kranefuss and driver Shawna Robinson announced Wednesday that Robinson would run six NASCAR Winston Cup stock car racing events beginning April 29 at California Speedway. Robinson will be the first female driver to start a Winston Cup race since 1989 and the first to run a multi-race schedule in 20 years. Crew chief is Joe Dan Bailey, who has word with Robinson in her ARCA starts(Williams Company). AND from Speedway Illustrated: The rest of this years schedule includes events at Michigan, Chicago, Indianapolis, Kansas and Homestead. Kranefuss indicates he and Shawna have a three-year deal that includes running for Winston Cup Rookie of the Year in 2002. They are currently seeking major sponsorship but Kranefuss has made the commitment to fund the team for the 2001 schedule out of his own pocket if necessary. Robinson will race Ford Taurus cars with Robert Yates engines. Also see a full story at That’s Racin’. No word on a car # yet(3-14-2001)
UPDATE 2: hearing Robinson’s car number will be #84 (not sure how this effects Norm Benning who also uses #84, may share it if they do not run the same races)(3-16-2001) - Harvick to be Honored: The Coleman Company, Inc., will present a commemorative gold lantern to first-year Cup driver Kevin Harvick, acknowledging his first career Winston Cup win. The presentation will take place in the Darlington Raceway infield, behind the #29 transporter at noon on Friday, March 16th. Coleman created the Coleman(r)Gold Lantern award to recognize NASCAR Winston Cup teams and drivers involved with the Coleman family of licensed products for extraordinary accomplishments throughout their careers. This Gold Lantern recognizes Harvick’s thrilling victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 11. Harvick is the fifth Gold Lantern recipient since Coleman began the recognition program in March 2000. Past recipients include:
Dale Earnhardt Sr. 1st NASCAR Winston Cup Victory as a member of the Coleman family of licensed drivers – Atlanta Motor Speedway, March 2000
Rusty Wallace 50th Career NASCAR Winston Cup Victory – Bristol Motor Speedway, March 2000
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1st Career NASCAR Winston Cup Victory – Texas Motor Speedway, April 2000
Jeff Gordon 1st NASCAR Winston Cup Victory as a member of the Coleman family of licensed drivers – Talladega Superspeedway, April 2000(GMR Marketing)(3-16-2001) - Press Conference Canceled? NASCAR officials have scrapped plans for a press conference this weekend to discuss their investigation into Dale Earnhardt’s death and possible safety measures that they plan to order, according to NASCAR sources(Winston Salem Journal)(3-16-2001)
- Newman on the pole at Darlington: Ryan Newman won his second consecutive pole in the BGN after winning the pole at Darlington with a speed of 170.301mph, breaking the track record as did 16 other drivers. Todd Bodine, who has two series wins this season with Buckshot Racing, qualified second, while Matt Kenseth was third. Bobby Hamilton Jr. and Kevin Harvick, last weekend’s Winston Cup race winner at Altanta, round out the top five. The old record was set by Ward Burton in 1999 with a lap at 167.676mph(That’s Racin’) and see the starting lineup, only 40 cars this week, at That’s Racin’: SunCom 200 lineup(3-16-2001)
- Alexander Leaves #8 UPDATE:: Blaise Alexander has announced the termination of his affiliation with Highline Performance Group racing team. Alexander had qualified the # 8 Highline Performance Group Chevy for every BGN event thus far in 2001. Lack of sponsorship and financial backing of the team were the primary influences on his decision. The relationship between Alexander and Highline was relatively new and still in the development stage; this being the first season that Blaise has been running under new team owner, Armando Fitz. Upon further analysis, Blaise decided it would be in the best interest of his racing future to consider other opportunities.(SportsONE PR), no replacement named(3-14-2001)
UPDATE: hearing that Alexander will concentrate on racing for LJ racing(#91) in the ARCA series(3-16-2001) - MacDonald to sit UPDATE again to sit – needs a driver UPDATE: Randy Macdonald was all set to drive his #72 LeftBehind.com Chevy at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but was told by his physician late Saturday afternoon that he had sustained a herniated disk in an accident at Daytona in the seasons opening event. MacDonald had been involved in an incident about mid way through the race in turn three and four. The news that he should not run today came as a shock to the team. “I checked my phone messages after practice today and there was a voice mail from my doctor. He told me I had damage to a disk and I should not be on the track,” MacDonald said. Rob Morgan, who is involved in his own team with Dennis Setzer as the driver of the Acxiom #46 Chevy, will drive the #72 for MacDonald. MacDonald is due to be checked out further by his doctor upon his return to his Carolina home(Truckseries.com Newsletter)(3-4-2001)
UPDATE: MacDonald Motorsports announced Wednesday(3-7) that doctors would not let Randy MacDonald drive for at least three races. The #72 leftbehind.com Chevrolet was involved in a hard crash with Roush Racing rookie #50 Chuck Hossfeld at the season opener in Daytona, Florida which has left Craftsman truck series veteran Randy MacDonald with three herniated discs in his neck. With new trucks fresh, motors on the floor, sponsorship programs in place and the season under way, MacDonald Motorsports is looking for a qualified driver who can get the team back in the Top 20 in short order. Interested qualified drivers only should contact Randy MacDonald at MacDonald Motorsports immediately at 336-210-3652 – 336-210-3652(Truckseries.com Newsletter)(3-8-2001)
UPDATE 2: looks like Steve Portenga will drive the #72 at Bakersfield for MacDonald(NASCAR.com Entry List)(3-16-2001)
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