March 22, 2007
- Sharpie Introduces #8 Marker, Sharpie Scheme and more: #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr, is making a bold statement on and off the track as he prepares for the Sharpie MINI 300 Busch Series race this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS). The new Sharpie/Dale Earnhardt, Inc. relationship will officially kick off Saturday when Dale Jr steps behind the wheel of the new DEI #8 Chevy, co-sponsored by Sharpie and Budweiser. Race fans will get a glimpse of the race when Sharpie introduces the first-ever Dale Jr #8 Sharpie marker, rolling out in stores now. Dale Jr will unveil the marker and new paint scheme Thursday, March 22, at 5 pm at the track’s Tower 8, where he will also sign Sharpie’s giant autograph wall. Dozens of children representing Speedway Children’s Charities will join him, lending their signatures and support to the Sharpie “Autographs for Action” campaign to benefit Speedway Children’s Charities with $10,000 in funds and supplies. The Sharpie MINI 300 is Dale Jr’s second Busch race this season. Dale Jr is a former winner at Bristol, going to Victory Lane in the 2004 Sharpie 500 Nextel Cup Series race. DEI and Dale Jr’s new Sharpie partnership also includes a bold new addition to the BMS landscape – a giant three-story billboard covering Tower 8 and featuring Dale Jr’s larger-than-life likeness. The banner, which also includes an image of the Sharpie #8 paint scheme and the new #8 marker, will be unveiled Thursday along with the #8 marker. It will become a permanent fixture at BMS throughout the 2007 race season. The Dale Earnhardt Jr #8 Sharpie marker is the only marker endorsed by Dale Jr. Available in black fine point and imprinted with his autograph and #8, it is rolling out now in select stores nationwide where office products are sold. Autographs for Action annually seeks one million autographs as part of its program to give away $1 million in funds and supplies for community groups, charitable organizations and schools nationwide (go to www.sharpie.com). Sharpie will donate $10,000 in funds and supplies to Speedway Children’s Charities as part of the Bristol autograph drive. Visit sharpie.com for more information.(Sanford PR)(3-22-2007)
- Front Row Motorsports to Focus on #37 Team: Front Row Motorsports announced they will focus primarily on the #37 Dodge for the reminder of the 2007 season and that the team still plans on running the #34 with a limited schedule. “We would love to continue entering two cars each week, but in today’s climate, we feel that focusing on one car will give us our best shot at making races,” said team owner Bob Jenkins. “With the number of well-funded teams that are entered each week, it is very difficult for the independent teams such as ours to compete as a multi-car effort.”(Front Row Motorsports PR)(3-22-2007)
- Young drivers put COT to the test: They’ve never competed in a NASCAR Nextel Cup race, and they won’t be racing at Bristol, but three drivers could have an impact on what happens in the series’ first Car of Tomorrow race Sunday. Landon Cassill, 17, graduated last month from high school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is a development driver for Hendrick Motorsports. Billy Wease, 20, finished second in his ARCA debut last summer but hasn’t raced a stock car since then for Penske Racing. Kevin Hamlin, 28, has started 15 Busch Series races but none for his current team, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Each driver played a key role in helping his team develop the Car of Tomorrow, which debuts this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. They tested the cars when their more famous Cup teammates couldn’t. They ran mile after mile as crews tried to understand the car. Sometimes the changes worked. Sometimes they didn’t. “We sent him to do the dirty work,” Kurt Busch said of Wease. “We wanted him to run the tires off the car. It was a lot of monotonous work of just lap after lap, session after session. When we jumped in the car, Ryan (Newman) and myself, we were further down the road.” The task for each driver often was the same. The crews had a list of changes — from shocks and springs to adjusting the front splitter and so on — to make. The driver then told them how it made the car handle. Sometimes the driver ran two laps. Sometimes it was five laps. Sometimes it was 20 or more laps at tracks such as Greenville-Pickens in Greenville, S.C., Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky., or Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. When the day ended, they often had driven more than 400 miles. Cassill tested alone at Greenville-Pickens in the offseason and then tested with Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears and Kyle Busch at USA International Speedway in Lakeland, Fla. “It was important for Jeff and I to tell Steve what the car was doing and being accurate about it, especially with a car they haven’t used before,” Cassill said, referring to Gordon’s crew chief, Steve Letarte. “It’s important to have accurate feedback from the driver.(in part from the Roanoke Times)(3-22-2007)
- Hendrick going for 200th NASCAR win: Car owner Rick Hendrick now has 199 combined NASCAR victories: 151 at the NEXTEL Cup level, 23 in the Busch Series and 25 in the Craftsman Truck Series. The total includes a 1983 Busch Series win by the late Dale Earnhardt at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in a car co-owned by Hendrick and Robert Gee.(HMS PR)(3-22-2007)
- Johnson’s #48 Crew Earns Pit Crew Challenge Win in Atlanta:Jimmie Johnson’s #48 pit crew earned its first Checkers/Rally’s Double Drive-Thru Challenge win of the season by spending the least amount of time on pit road during Sunday’s (March 18) Nextel Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, helping lift its driver to a victory in the Kobalt Tools 500. Johnson’s over-the-wall crew is the reigning Checkers/Rally’s Double-Drive Thru Challenge champion, having earned five pit crew wins in 2006. “I couldn’t be more proud of our guys,” said Johnson, whose team spent 323.450 seconds on pit road. “They worked hard all weekend and it showed on Sunday when their strong, consistent pit stops helped us win the race.” Checkers/Rally’s awards the winning Nextel Cup pit crew each week with a cash prize of $11,000. An additional $111,150 will be presented to the pit crew with the most wins at the completion of the 36-race Nextel Cup schedule. The #48 Lowe’s over-the-wall crew includes: Chris Anderson (jackman), Art Simmons (front-tire carrier), Mike Trower (front-tire changer), Ron Malec (rear-tire carrier), Tim Ladyga (rear-tire changer), Rich Gutierrez (gasman), Mike Knauer (catch can) and Sean Kerlin (eighth-man). The team’s pit crew coach is Matt Clark and the crew chief is Chad Knaus. An additional $111,150 will be presented to the pit crew with the most wins at the completion of the 36-race Nextel Cup schedule. To win the Checkers/Rally’s Double Drive-Thru Challenge, teams are required to finish on the lead lap while spending the least amount of time on pit road. Checkers/Rally’s is in its third season as title sponsor for the pit crew challenge. Checkers/Rally’s is the Official Burger and Drive-Thru Restaurant of NASCAR, more info at checkers.com.(DMF Communications PR)(3-22-2007)
- Menard tests COT at South Boston: #15-Paul Menard tested the Car of Tomorrow at South Boston Speedway (Wednesday, March 21st). While the focus of the test was to prepare for next weekend’s event at Martinsville, a secondary goal was to improve DEI’s overall COT program.(co-Pilott.com PR)(3-22-2007)
- Culver’s to Sponsor Kreyer in 4 Busch Races with Mac Hill: Culver’s is expanding its motorsports sponsorship from a regional program to the national spotlight with entry into several NASCAR races this year. The chain said that long-time Culver’s Racing driver Frank Kreyer will move up from regional late-models to driving in two NASCAR’s Crafstman truck series events and four Busch Series events in 2007. Kreyer will drive the #44 at Martinsville and Mansfield in the Craftsman Truck Series. Kreyer will then return to Wisconsin for the his initial Busch Series event, driving the Mac Hill Motorsports #56 at the Milwaukee Mile. His other Busch races are Gateway, O’Reilly Raceway Park, and Phoenix.(Business Journal of Milwaukee)(3-22-2007)
- O’Quinn Making 2007 Debut at Bristol with Mac Hill Motorsports: The Sharpie Mini 300 will be the first Busch Series race of the year for Mac Hill Motorsports and the #56 KYMCO Chevy. Danny O’Quinn will drive a limited schedule for Mac Hill beginning with the race, and he said he’s eager to get back behind the wheel. The primary sponsor of the #56 this week is KYMCO, the manufacturer of motor scooters, motorcycles and ATVs.(Mac Hill Motorsports PR)(3-22-2007)
- Quaker Steak & Lube renews sponsorship at Lowe’s: Quaker Steak & Lube, has announced their return for a third straight year as title sponsor of the Quaker Steak & Lube 200 Craftsman Truck Series race at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, NC. The Quaker Steak & Lube 200 will run under the lights on Friday, May 18, as part of the annual Nextel Cup Series All-Star Weekend activities. The race will air live on SPEED Channel beginning at 8:30 pm.(Quaker Steak & Lube PR)(3-22-2007)
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