March 19, 2006
- Vote for Most Popular Driver site is open MORE: The Chex NMPA NASCAR Most Popular Driver of 2006 Award. website in now up and running, fans can vote at mostpopulardriver.com.(3-17-2006)
MORE Internet voting for the NASCAR NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver begins this weekend at www.mostpopulardriver.com. Under the Chex banner for the second year, the Most Popular Driver Award has become the largest fan-based award in motorsports. Since General Mills started sponsoring the award in 2002 more than 13.4 million votes have been cast. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the award the past three years. This year more than 40 Nextel Cup Series drivers are eligible for the esteemed NASCAR NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver Award, which is administered by the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA). It has been awarded annually since 1956 and is one of the oldest awards in racing. Fans may vote on the site once each day beginning this weekend. Voting ends at11:59am/ct, Monday, November 20, 2006.
NASCAR NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver Key Points
• Top winners of the award are Bill Elliott with 16 wins and Richard Petty with nine.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s win in 2005 made him the seventh driver in NASCAR history to win the award in consecutive seasons. The other six drivers are Lee Petty, Bobby Allison, Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bill Elliott and Darrell Waltrip.
• More than 14 million votes have been cast since General Mills began sponsoring the award in 2002. Prior to General Mills’ sponsorship of the award, the most votes cast in a single season were 400,000.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. received a record 1,403,544 votes in 2005. Jeff Gordon finished second with 594,434 votes.(Elevation / General Mills PR)(3-19-2006)
- Tire Problems at Atlanta? The Golden Corral 500 has a chance to be like other Nextel Cup races in Atlanta, where tires aren’t a problem the day following a Busch Series event where tires weren’t totally dependable. But the race Sunday afternoon also could turn into a debacle as it did in Charlotte last October. Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch suffered tire blowouts in the Busch Series race Saturday at Atlanta, sparking memories of the tire-plagued races in Charlotte last year. NASCAR Vice President Robin Pemberton said the spring Atlanta weekends traditionally have tire issues early in the weekend but they fade as more rubber gets on the track. But there are two differences this year: Teams were not allowed to test at the track in the months leading up to the race and the chance of rain Sunday could rid the track of any old rubber. Goodyear Director for Race Tire Sales and Marketing Greg Stucker said he did not hear of any major problems during Nextel Cup practice Saturday. Pemberton said teams didn’t hit 50 laps on a practice run, so it’s hard to predict if there will be issues in the event today. Stucker said the tire this weekend is a new tire for Atlanta, the result of a tire test in January conducted by Newman’s Penske Racing South teammate Kurt Busch. Greg Biffle, who had problems on his first run in the Busch Series race with his tires wearing down to the cords, said the tire is not the issue. Pemberton said Saturday night that there had been no decision on whether to throw an early competition caution in the race.(SceneDaily.com)(3-19-2006)
- NASCAR Looking at Changes to Busch Cars?: According to a manufacturer source, NASCAR officials have floated one solution to the apparent [Cup drivers in the Busch Series] problem to the series’ manufacturers. It involves changing the cars that race in the series from the current models being run in the Nextel Cup Series to smaller, sportier ones. If the two series ran cars that differed more from each other, it would greatly limit what Cup drivers and teams could learn in the Busch Series and apply to the next day’s Cup race, thus making racing Busch a less attractive proposition. A change back to smaller cars could have Chevrolet fielding the new retro Camaro (scheduled for 2009) and Dodge running its new Challenger (scheduled for 2008). Pontiac could return to NASCAR to run its new, smaller GTO, Ford would field its highly-successful redesigned retro Mustang, and Toyota could run a Celica or its future replacement. Initial reaction among the manufacturers has been very positive. Any changes would be instituted well after the new Car of Tomorrow is fully integrated into the Nextel Cup Series, which currently is scheduled to happen in 2009.(Yahoo! Sports)(3-19-2006)
- Benson to get additional sponsorship from Exide: For the Atlanta race, Exide, the leader in consumer batteries, came on board as a sponsor for Johnny Benson and the #23 Toyota Tundra. We’ve been told that Exide will sponsor the truck for additional races. The specific races have not been determined as of yet, but they will have a presence on the truck all year.(3-19-2006)
- Wood Bros/JTG switch back for Martinsville: For the Atlanta race, Bobby East drove the #20 Ford, with Jon Wood switching to the #21 to gain points for Marcos Ambrose before his debut in Martinsville. Atlanta was Bobby’s first speedway race and the team had a lot of confidence in his abilities, but, wanted to ensure the best case scenario for their teams. The switch was not permanent and we’re told that Bobby East will be in the #21 State Fair Corn Dogs Ford at Martinsville and Ambrose will make his first start in the #20 JTG/Wood Bros. Ford.(JTG/Wood Bros. PR)(3-19-2006)
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