March 19, 2011
- Some Bristol schemes added to the Paint Scheme Gallery including: #’s 09, 7, 9, 24, 27, 29, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42, 46, 47, 60, 66, 71, 87, 88, 92 & 99
- New ‘World’ Record at Bristol: Jason Blonde was the fastest of the fast Saturday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway as he established a new world record during the World’s Fastest Half-Mile Speed Trials. Blonde, driving an Xtreme Sprint Series sprint car, clicked off a blistering lap of 144.871 mph in 13.245 seconds, shattering the previous track record of 138.442 mph in 13.860 seconds set by Sammy Swindell in June of 2000 at BMS during a World of Outlaws event. The 36-year-old Blonde, a veteran sprint car racer with more than 50 feature wins on both dirt and pavement, tagged the wall earlier in the afternoon, but was totally unfazed.
Mike Lichty set a new half-mile Supermodified world record with a lap of 144.634 mph in 13.267 seconds. Sprint Cup driver David Ragan piloted his Ford Mustang GT 5.0 to a lap of 98.497 mph at 19.481 seconds, a world record for a passenger car. Scott Russell and his Yamaha took on the World’s Fastest Half-Mile and set a half-mile closed course record for a Superbike with a run of 97.990 mph, which he covered in 19.582 seconds. Others participating in the World’s Fastest Half-Mile Speed Trials were USAC Sprint Car driver Bryan Clauson and ISMA Supermodified driver Brad Noffsinger.(BMS)(3-19-2011) - RCR’s statement regarding Mike Dillon: The following is a statement from Richard Childress Racing, in response to numerous media inquiries on the health of vice president of competition Mike Dillon – ‘Richard Childress Racing vice president of competition Mike Dillon was admitted to the hospital late last week after doctors discovered a blood clot in his lung. Dillon, 46, underwent a series of tests and is awaiting results but was released from the hospital earlier this afternoon.'(RCR)(3-19-2011)
- Happy Hour practice for the Jeff Byrd 500 Presented by Food City Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway is over, the top five and some notes:
#5-Martin 124.018
#83-Vickers 123.523
#11-Hamlin 123.475
#20-Logano 123.245
#14-Stewart 123.237
slowest: #09-Elliott 117.293 and #66-McDowell 117.329
no speed listed: #87-Nemechek
the teams practiced the new tires [D4386], each team had one set to use.
See fastest speeds, average speeds, average ranks, laps run on the - Bristol Practice Speeds Page.(3-19-2011)
- Brian Keselowski to have surgery UPDATE: Brian Keselowski is expected to undergo gallbladder surgery as early as Thursday evening after the driver was rushed to the hospital Tuesday with what was described as “severe abdominal pain,” his K-Automotive Motorsports team said. Keselowski was “diagnosed with a severe case of gallstones,” according to the team, and medication to relieve the pain is not helping. The surgery would put Keselowski – vying for Sprint Cup rookie of the year honors – out of his car for two or three weeks, the team said. Dennis Setzer will attempt to qualify the #92 car at Bristol. Keselowski was described by the team as bending over in pain and begging doctors to remove his gallbladder, saying “Get this thing out of me. I just want this thing out of me so I can get back in my car and race.” The surgery would be done as an outpatient procedure. The team said well-wishes can be sent to Keselowski at K-Automotive Motorsports: 2668 Peachtree Rd., Statesville, NC, 28625.(SB Nation)(3-17-2011)
UPDATE: Brian Keselowski is “very sore” but “feels better than before” after emergency surgery Thursday night to remove his gall bladder, his K-Automotive Motorsports team said Saturday. Keselowski was rushed to the hospital on Tuesday with severe abdominal pain, and it was determined he would need to have his gall bladder removed. Dennis Setzer is driving in Keselowski’s place at Bristol, and Keselowski isn’t expected to return until Talladega. That means he would also miss Fontana, Martinsville and Texas.
The team said Keselowski will get his stiches removed on Thursday. “I don’t like to be sitting at home,” Keselowski said in a statement. “I’d rather be at the track.”(SB Nation) - Saturday 1st practice for the Jeff Byrd 500 Presented by Food City Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway is being over, the top five and some notes:
#14-Stewart 124.889
#00-Reutimann 124.678
#5-Martin 124.638
#1-McMurray 124.460
#22-Busch 124.452
slowest: #46-Yeley 120.687 and #87-Nemechek 120.786
no speed listed: #92-Setzer
incidents: #38-Kvapil slapped the wall with the right side of the car.
the teams still practiced the old tires on the right front [D4442], the new tire [D4386] will be used in Happy Hour [12-1pm/et]
See fastest speeds, average speeds, laps run on the - Bristol Practice Speeds Page.(3-19-2011)
- Race Coverage of the Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway is scheduled for Sunday, March 20, 2011.
Television (TV): FOX at 1:00 pm/et; pre-race show at 12:30 pm/et; green flag approx 1:13pm/et
Radio: Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius XM Satellite NASCAR Radio 128
Scheduled Race Re-Airs:
SPEED, Wednesday, March 23 at 12:00pm/et - Pit Stall Selections – Bristol: The selections of pit stalls for the Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway have been made. Bristol has two pit roads, so choices are a little different.
Pole sitter #99-Edwards chose pit stall 1 on the front stretch pit road [as do most pole sitters].
Outside pole sitter #16-Biffle took pit stall 23, the first stall on the backstretch pit road.
#78-Smith, who starts 3rd took the 22nd pit stall, the final stall on the front stretch pit road.
The 43rd and final pit stall was taken by #27-Menard, who starts 4th, the stall is the last on on the back stretch pit road.To see where the drivers and all the other drivers/teams pit stall is, see the pit selection chart on the Pit Stall Selection chart.(3-19-2011) - Bristol Pit Rules: Bristol Motor Speedway operates under a plan where one-pit road will be used during pit stops under caution. Currently, Bristol remains the only track in the Sprint Cup Series that utilizes two pit roads with 22 pit stalls on the frontstrect and 21 on the backstretch. Teams that pit on the backstretch used to be at a competitive disadvantage. Since the spring 2002 race at Bristol, teams will enter pit road in Turn 2 (the current backstretch pit entrance) drive around down the backstretch and around Turns 3 and 4 and exit in Turn 1. Under green-flag conditions teams will enter and exit pit road under the current two-pit-road scheme.
- Trevor Bayne…not running All-Star race? #21-Trevor Bayne is not expected to race in the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 21. Bayne, 20, automatically became eligible for the event with his win in the Daytona 500 last month. However, before the season the Wood Brothers scheduled only 16 races for Bayne. The Wood Brothers added Martinsville last month and, after his early success on restrictor plate tracks, they opted to move one of the later dates to Talladega in April. The Darlington race in May has also been added to Bayne’s schedule, giving him 18 for the season. “We weren’t planning on going to the Open (the all-star qualifying race) anyway,” team co-owner Eddie Wood said. “Naturally, we’re in it, but we weren’t going to run it. If you’re going to spend money, you’re going to run points races. The way the new points system is now, it may be possible to stay in the top 35 and not run all the races if you’re fairly consistent. Last year if we didn’t show up for a race, we didn’t get any points. This year, that’s different.” Although a couple of sponsorship offers were presented for Bayne to run the Sprint All-Star Race, the products conflicted with current partners of the Wood Brothers. However, that doesn’t mean the Wood Brothers won’t entertain any and all offers. “If a sponsorship deal shows up, we can go do it,” Wood said. “There’s still time. It’s simple enough to do. But as of now, we’re not going. As things are right now, the first race we’re not planning to run is Richmond (on April 30). We won’t go to Dover or the all-star race, either. The schedule we have is all we got.”(FoxSports)(3-19-2011)
- Another career mark for Smith: For the second time this season #78-Regan Smith set a career Sprint Cup mark. The latest was an all-time best qualifying performance of third, which he achieved Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway during time trials for Sunday’s Jeff Byrd 500. His other career performance came last month in the Daytona 500 when he posted an all-time best finish of seventh. And for the second time in the first four races of 2011, Smith recorded the fastest qualified speed for a Chevrolet driver. Smith’s #78 Furniture Row Chevy covered Bristol’s .533-mile oval in 15.040 seconds at 127.580 miles per hour. He was a few ticks shy of #99-Carl Edwards’ pole-winning numbers of 14.989 at 128.014.(Furniture Row Racing)(3-19-2011)
- NASCAR TV Coverage; Gordon leads all drivers: #24-Jeff Gordon, who earlier this season snapped a 66-race winless streak, has generated more on-screen time for his sponsors during television coverage of the first three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events than any other driver, while overall team sponsor exposure fell 25% compared to the same point in the season a year ago.
According to research conducted by Joyce Julius & Associates, Inc. — which has monitored every NASCAR race telecast over the last 27 seasons — Gordon’s sponsors have appeared for one hour, 50 minutes, 16 seconds (1:50:16) during live and replayed telecasts of the Daytona, Phoenix and Las Vegas events. When also factoring in verbal mentions of Gordon’s sponsors, the veteran driver has helped amass nearly $7.6 million of in-broadcast exposure value. Las Vegas winner Carl Edwards ranks second in brand on-camera time with 1:47:28, along with a driver-high 34 sponsor mentions, for a three-race total of $7.1 million.
While Gordon and Edwards have enjoyed early season success, overall in-broadcast exposure statistics for primary team sponsors in the series are down from a year ago. On average, per hour cumulative exposure time accumulated by team sponsors fell from 1:05:43 at the same point a year ago to 49:06 this season.(see more and a full chart at Joyce Julius & Assoc site)(3-19-2011) - Mechanix Wear donates gloves to Red Cross for Japan relief efforts: As relief efforts continue in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that have rocked Japan, Los Angeles-based Mechanix Wear Inc. is sending help to the Red Cross relief workers – in the form of 8,400 pairs of high-performance Mechanix Wear work gloves. Mechanix Wear and their long-time glove manufacturing partner, Hyun Jin Corp., are working together with their Japan based synthetic leather supplier, Kuraray Co. Ltd., to deliver the gloves.(Mechanix Wear)(3-19-2011)
- Changes for Talladega? Dustin Long of the Virginian Pilot talked with Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition for NASCAR, and asked him about any major changes for the cars for Talladega. There had been some talk of major changes to the radiator or a different radiator to control how long the cars can run in that two-car draft as they did at Daytona. Said Pemberton: “Any possible change of any type of cooling has been toned down quite a bit. We’re working with the teams on some parameters which we’re not ready to go public yet, but nothing is earth shattering. I would say the changes would be very minimal.”(Virginian Pilot)(3-19-2011)
- New crew chief for Kvapil: Derrick Finley, Front Row Motorsports competition director, is the interim crew chief for #38-Travis Kvapil until a replacement is named as crew chief Bill Henderson left the team.(FRM)(3-19-2011)
- NASCAR Hauler parade in California – March 24th: To help get the Auto Club 400 Weekend underway, the spectacle of a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hauler Parade will make its way to Auto Club Speedway from Citizens Business Bank Arena through Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana, beginning at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 24. Stretching nearly an entire mile from the first hauler to the last, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hauler Parade will make its way to Auto Club Speedway around 7 p.m. To see where the convoy will travel view the parade route at autoclubspeedway.com/HaulerParade.(ACS)(3-19-2011)
- Tunnel project at Michigan to provide fans with better access to infield: Accessing the infield at Michigan International Speedway with a pre-race pit pass or infield wristband just got easier with the second phase of a construction project to widen the pedestrian tunnel under the racetrack under way. The tunnel was lengthened in 2009 when MIS built its new Pit Road Suite building, extending the then tunnel to the reserved parking lot behind the $17 million building. The previous tunnel popped up in the middle of the tri-oval (the grass section inside the track), making it impossible for fans to use while race cars were on the track.
To get the tunnel up to code, the extension had to be much wider than the existing tunnel. Now, crews are widening and reshaping the tunnel so it’s easier for fans to navigate. After the suite building and first tunnel project were completed in June of 2010, Curtis and his team made a commitment to have phase two of the tunnel completed prior to the 2011 season, which widens the previous six-foot wide tunnel under the track to 11 feet throughout the entire 450-foot-long stretch from the infield to behind the center grandstands.
Construction crews from Clark Construction of Lansing, Mich. have recently dug up the old tunnel and the start-finish line of the race track. The new concrete sections of the tunnel will be placed the rest of this month. The project is scheduled for completion by the Great Lakes Wine Fest at the track on May 21. The new tunnel section, approximately 140-feet long, will bring the grand total of the pedestrian tunnel to more than 450 feet including the stairs. There will be a new entry gate on the grandstand side of the track. The new slope of the tunnel will not be as steep, making it easier for fans to walk.NASCAR Sprint Cup Series tickets for the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 on June 19 and NSCS 400 on August 21 are now on sale and as low as $30. Visit MISpeedway.com or call the MIS ticket hotline at 800-354-1010 today to take advantage of great pricing for 2011 events at MIS.(MIS)(3-19-2011) - Means Motorsports gets Bristol sponsor: Johnson City Press has been named sponsor at Bristol Race for Means Motorsports. The local Newspaper will be on the hood of the #52 Chevy Saturday for the NASCAR Nationwide EZ Seed 300. Johnson City Press has a circulation of over 30,000 and serves the Tri-cities area. Along with the newspaper, Sturgills Tree Farms will be a an associate sponsor on the car. Located in West Jefferson NC Sturgills provides wholesale Fraser Fir Christmas trees to large retail outlets, as well as individual vendors for the entire east coast.(Means Motorsports PR)(3-19-2011)
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