March 17, 2008
- 1-2-3 finishes: Richard Childress Racing [#31-Burton, #29-Harvick, #07-Bowyer] pulled off a feat Sunday that’s not quite as easy as 1-2-3. With its first sweep in team history, RCR also became the first team to finish in the top three spots since Roush Fenway Racing did so four times in 2005.
Last 1-2-3 Finishes
2008: Bristol, RCR
2005: Homestead, Roush*
2005: Texas, Roush
2005: Kansas, Roush
2005: Richmond, Roush
1997: Daytona, HMS
*Finished 1-2-3-4
(AP/ESPN.com)(3-17-2008) - Bristol TV Ratings Up: NASCAR on Fox posted a 5.0/11 for racing from Bristol Sunday, a +2% gain over the same race a year ago and the third straight week that NASCAR has posted a year-to-year increase in the metered markets. Season-to-date, NASCAR on Fox is now averaging a 6.5/13 in the metered markets, a +7% boost over last year’s 6.1/12.(Fox PR)(3-17-2008)Comment here
- Race and Commercial Breakdown of the Food City 500 at Bristol
Total number of commercials: 127
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 63
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 42
Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 4 min. 30 sec.
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 2:01pm/et
End time to record race/commercial periods: 5:17pm/et
Total minutes: 196
Minutes of race broadcast: 138
Minutes of commercials: 58
Number of missed restarts: 1 (and one near miss)
Total race brdcst time 138 Total comm. brdcst time 58
See full report at CawsnJaws.com.(3-17-2008) Comment here - DW presented #11 Mountain Dew Buick Regal: Three-time Cup champion Darrell Waltrip, who leads all drivers with 12 wins at Bristol Motor Speedway, received a surprise gift from Ralph Santana of PCNA VP Sports , Media and IMG, on behalf of the Mountain Dew Racing. Waltrip, who is currently a television analyst form FOX, was presented the #11 Mountain Dew Regal he drove during back-to-back championship seasons in 1981-1982. During those two years, he captured 24 captured flags, 12 in 1981 and another dozen in 1982. His streak of seven consecutive victories at Bristol Motor Speedway began with a sweep of both Cup events in 1981 along with both Bristol events in 1982 and 1983 along with the spring race in 1984. The Owensboro, Kentucky native garnered 84 career wins in 809 starts and he sat on the pole 59 times with career winnings of $19,416,618. Waltrip’s 84 victories ties him with Bobby Allison for third in series wins. He has also been named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.(TriCitiesSports)(3-17-2008) Comment here
- Jarrett Honored Sunday: #44-Dale Jarrett received a standing ovation in the drivers’ meeting in honor of his final points race. He then told the drivers to enjoy their careers “because we all have one time in this, and mine has been fantastic.” The 1999 Cup champion also was honored during prerace introductions, receiving a “Tennessee Volunteer” rifle similar to the ones used by settlers in this area during the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Kings Mountain. An avid golfer, he also received 668 Titleist Pro V1 golf balls to commemorate his career Cup starts. Jarrett’s father, Ned, waved the green flag to start the race. The race was anti-climactic, though, as Jarrett finished 37th, 10 laps off the pace. “Well, it wasn’t the finish I would have liked,” he said. “I’m able to go out with the best sponsor in the business in UPS and I would have liked to have had a better day for them, but I really can’t be too upset when you take into consideration the kind of career I have been fortunate to have.”(ESPN.com)(3-17-2008) Comment here
- Changes at Red Bull, Labbe?: Guenther Steiner is no longer the director of competition for Team Red Bull. Officially, Steiner is on “vacation.” However, sources close to the team say he’s gone and there’s been no replacement named. It’s all part of the shakeup underway at the team now that Jay Frye has been put in charge. I [Yahoo’s Bob Margolis] also hear that Slugger Labbe [who parted ways with BDR on Monday] could be on his way over to Red Bull to be reunited with Frye.(Yahoo Sports)(3-17-2008) Comment here
- Testing at Kentucky this week CANCELLED: #48-Jimmie Johnson and #78-Joe Nemechek are scheduled to test at Kentucky Speedwy on Tues/We March 18-19 along with R&D teams of Joe Gibbs Racing with Joey Logano, Stanton Barrett’s team, the CTS Bill Davis Racing team with Mike Skinner and on Wed Petty Racing will test with driver TBA. Fans can watch from the Turn 3 Fan Center at no charge. Schedule subject to change daily. Test times vary.
CANCELLED: All race teams scheduled to test Kentucky Speedway March 18-19 have canceled their sessions due to a rain-filled weather forecast.(Kentucky Speedway)(3-17-2008)Comment here - Almirola Soldiers to Impressive 8th-Place Finish in Bristol: #8-Aric Almirola sure didn’t look like a driver who had not competed in more than four months. In only his seventh career Sprint Cup start the 24-year-old U.S. Army driver took on one of NASCAR’s toughest tracks Sunday and psoted an eighth-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. “Awesome, just awesome,” said crew chief Tony Gibson. “Aric drove the wheels off that Army Chevrolet. We had a decent car, not a great one. But Aric drove both patiently and hard. He has talent. The team believes in him and he believes in us. He is in the future and we’re just happy that he is driving our stuff.” Almirola’s last Cup race was in November in Phoenix. “These guys on this Army team deserve the credit,” said Almirola, who celebrated his 24th birthday on Friday. “I had a good car with a lot of speed and didn’t have to hustle it. It was a lot of fun out there and I want to thank the U.S. Army, DEI, Tony (Gibson) and all the guys on this team for believing in me. The pit stops were excellent all day.” Almirola will also drive the #8 Chevy in the next Cup race at Martinsville Speedway (March 30) as part of his 12-race schedule with Dale Earnhardt Inc. He is sharing the ride with veteran Mark Martin. Almirola started the race from the 16th position and drove in the top 15 for nearly the entire race. Almirola’s previous best finish in a Cup race was 26th in Phoenix last fall.(DEI PR)(3-17-2008) Comment here
- Points Swapping could happen for Martinsville: If needed, Michael Waltrip Racing could swap its owner points to ensure that drivers David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip are locked into the top 35 beginning at Martinsville. With MWR set to have different drivers in two of its cars after Dale Jarrett’s final points race on Sunday, rookie driver Michael McDowell said he’ll likely inherit the owner points of the car that is outside the top 35, if necessary. All three MWR cars are currently in the top 35, but McDowell knows it makes little sense to have the unsponsored #00 locked into the field with David Reutimann and the #44 UPS car or Michael Waltrip and the #55 Napa car on the outside. As for finding a sponsor, McDowell said the only thing he can do is get the best finishes possible once he debuts at Martinsville. Aaron’s has sponsored the #00 and Reutimann through the first five races.(SceneDaily.com)
AND other teams may swap points depending on how they stand after the race at Bristol as the 2008 Owners Points will be used for the the Top-35 guaranteed spots at Martinsville March 30th. Just to be clear, the Top-35 would only be locked in for Martinsville, not the rest of the season, the Top-35 can change from race-to-race all the way thru the last week at Homestead.
Other teams/drivers that MAY switch: #45-Kyle Petty and #43-Bobby Labonte [Petty is currently 40th on OWNERs pts, 60 out of 35th and the #43 is 19th after Bristol], Labonte would have the past champions provisonal to use…up to 6
#2-Busch [10th] and #77-Hornish [made it in at 35th, so doubt they would switch now]…again, with Busch still having 5 champion provisionals left to use.
#17-Kenseth [11th] and #26-McMurray [36th] could swap, but have not heard anyone from Roush metnion it
NASCAR would have to approve any of these points swaps.(3-15/16-2008)
UPDATE: Petty Enterprises will decide in the next week whether to swap the owners’ points between Bobby Labonte and Petty to assure Petty a spot at Martinsville. Petty is 40th in points. Labonte, who would be guaranteed a spot as a past champion (2000), is 18th after finishing 38th on Sunday.(ESPN.com)(3-17-2008)
UPDATE 2: Petty Enterprises could petition NASCAR for a swap of points between Petty and the 19th-ranked Dodge of teammate Bobby Labonte, who would be in the field as a past champion. But Robbie Loomis, the team’s vice president of operations, said he might be comfortable with Petty qualifying on speed at Martinsville.(USA Today)(3-17-2008) - Sauter and Phoenix Racing Part Ways: UPDATE: After a challenging start to the Nationwide Series season and several key personnel changes including the release of both newly hired crew chiefs, Jon Wolfe and Newt Moore, #1 Phoenix Racing and Johnny Sauter have amicably parted ways. Sauter who just last year brought a brand new team into the top-35 in Sprint Cup points, is available to another organization effective immediately.(3-17-2008)
UPDATE: Johnny Sauter was released today by Phoenix Racing just five races into the 2008 Nationwide Series season. Sauter was 17th in the standings, and the team is already on its third crew chief. “I got a call this morning from [general manager] Steve Barkdoll and he just said that pretty much my driving services weren’t needed anymore,” Sauter said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “I understand that race teams have to do from time to time … what they have to do to try to improve their program. … It’s a tough deal, I’m sure, and it’s a tough call to make. As far as me losing my job, it stinks. What are you going to do?” Phoenix Racing officials opted not to comment on the driver change Monday.(SceneDaily.com)(3-17-2008) - Nationwide Series Airing on ESPN Saturday from Nashville: The Nationwide Series makes its first appearance of the 2008 season on ESPN with a live, flag-to-flag airing of the 300-mile race from Nashville Superspeedway Saturday, March 22, beginning at 2 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. The Nashville telecast is presented by Tractor Supply Company. ESPN2 is the home of the Nationwide Series all season, with selected races on ESPN and ABC. Carl Edwards won both Nationwide Series races held last year on the 1.333-mile, concrete-surfaced Nashville track on his way to the series championship. ESPN2 airs live coverage of Friday’s Nationwide Series practice at Nashville at 2:30 p.m., and taped coverage of final practice airs Saturday at 11 a.m. Marty Reid will be the lead announcer for ESPN’s coverage, joined in the booth for analysis by Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree. Jamie Little, Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake and Vince Welch will report from the pits, while Tim Brewer will be in the ESPN DISH Tech Center. Allen Bestwick will host NASCAR Countdown with analysis by Wallace and Brad Daugherty in the ESPN pit studio. The race will be simulcast on ESPN360.com, ESPN’s signature broadband sports network, and on ESPN Deportes, the domestic Spanish-language network. The event also will be simulcast on ESPN MobileTV.(ESPN PR)(3-17-2008)
- Chase Miller Making 2008 Debut at Nashville: Chase Miller makes his 2008 Nationwide Series debut Saturday driving the #9 Valvoline Dodge at Nashville Superspeedway. The 21-year-old Georgia finished 22nd at the 1.3-mile tri-oval in June – his first race with the Gillett Evernham Motorsports team.(GEM PR)(3-17-2008)
- Key Motorsports working on development program for Dustin Skinner: Key Motorsports has established a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver development program for 22-year-old son Dustin Skinner – the youngest son of former NCTS driving champion Mike Skinner. That project entered the action phase recently whenthe parties tested for two days at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach, Florida – Dustin’s home track. The game plan is to raise enough money from sponsors to continue the testing process and to run Dustin in a maximum of six NCTS races in 2008 beginning with half-mile venues. Upcoming NCTS races at the Mansfield Motorsports Park in Ohio, the Milwaukee Mile; Kentucky Speedway; the O’Reilly Motorsports Park in Indianapolis; the Gateway International Raceway outside of St. Louis, and the Texas Motor Speedway are the target venues. Key is committed to the program but needs sponsorship support to maintain it.The first priority for the program is to secure financial support for the program and Key’s #44 race truck and to allow for more testing opportunities. As more money is secured, more races will be added to the schedule that will provide Dustin with the experience that will ultimately have NASCAR approving him for all tracks up to 2 miles in length.(Key Motorsports PR)(3-17-2008)
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