March 22, 2013
- Hamlin wins Auto Club pole: #11-Denny Hamlin won the pole for the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway with speed of 187.451mph for his 1st pole of 2013, 3rd at Auto Club Speedway and 13th of his career. #16-Biffle is on the outside pole, followed by #2-Keselowski, #18-Busch, #20-Kenseth, #22-Logano, #56-Truex Jr., #14-Stewart, #55-Martin and #78-Busch. Both #16-Biffle and #2-Keselowski had engines changes before qualifying and will have to fall to the rear of the field before the start of the race on Sunday, but will get to chose good pit stalls. No cars / drivers missed the race as there were 43 cars entered for 43 spots.
See the strating lineup, qualifying results, qualifying order and pdf links on the Auto Club Qualifying Page.(3-22-2013)
- Qualifying Fast Facts – Auto Club:
#11-Denny Hamlin won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 17th Annual Auto Club 400 with a lap of 38.410 seconds, 187.451 mph.
This is his 13th pole in 264 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his first pole and fourth top-10 start in 2013.
This is his third pole in 13 races at Auto Club Speedway. Hamlin won the pole for last year’s Auto Club Speedway event.
#16-Greg Biffle (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2013 and his 10th in 19 races at Auto Club Speedway.
#2-Brad Keselowski (third) posted his first top-10 start at Auto Club Speedway. It is his third in five races this season.
#17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (31st) was the fastest qualifying rookie.(NASCAR Statistics)(3-22-2013)
- Coverage of Qualifying for the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway is scheduled for Friday, March 22, 2013 at 7:10pm/et.
Television (TV): SPEED, 7:00pm/et
Radio: Motor Racing Network, 7:00pm/et
Scheduled Qualifying Re-Air: on SPEED at 11:00pm/et
- Qualifying Order for the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway is posted. 43 cars/drivers are listed.
The first of the drivers scheduled to go out is #48-Johnson.
The final driver scheduled to go out is #83-Reutimann.
Qualifying order is set by a random draw, held about an hour before the first practice.
See the full qualifying order on the Auto Club Qualifying Page.(3-22-2013)
- Friday practice for the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway is over, after 120 scheduled minutes, the top five, slowest and notes:
#15-Bowyer 185.414
#11-Hamlin 184.824
#51-Allmendinger 184.611
#18-Busch 184.554
#22-Logano 184.403
slowest: #87-Nemechek 174.834 & #38-Gilliland 175.859
notes: #16-Biffle lost an engine aboutr 13 minutes into practice an the team is putting in a fresh powerplant in the hopes of getting a few practice laps on the engine before qualifying, scheduled for 7:10pm/et tonight. #16-Biffle did get on the track late in practice and ran 6th fastest with the new engine. #2-Kesekowski’s team will change an engine before qualifying. So both #16-Biffle and #2-Keselowski will have to start the race on Sunday at the rear of the field. They will be qualifying for their pit position.
See fastest speeds, laps run and more on the Auto Club 400 Practice 1 Speeds page (pdf).(3-22-2013)
- Hamlin apologizes for Logano bump: #11- Denny Hamlin apologized on Friday for making two mistakes involving former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate #22-Joey Logano last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. The first mistake was bumping Logano too hard on lap 349 in retaliation for the way the Penske Racing driver raced him earlier. The bump sent Logano into a spin when he was battling Jeff Gordon for the lead and ruined any chance he had of contending for the victory. The second was for attacking Logano personally after a post-race shoving match between the crews that began when Logano approached Hamlin at his car. On the first mistake, Hamlin said he was trying to send Logano a message with a tap after Logano pinched down on him too hard earlier. “I felt bad, and really if you could watch my in-car camera you could see how frustrated I was to see he had damage to his car,” Hamlin said before the first practice at Auto Club Speedway. “I banged the steering wheel because I was, ‘Man, I didn’t mean to do that.’ ” Hamlin said that gave the impression he was trying to “bully” Logano, which he was not. Then came what Hamlin called “the big mistake.”
“At the end of the race I shouldn’t have degraded him as a driver,” he said. “It’s not my job to say who’s good or bad in our sport. That part probably should have been left out.” Hamlin and Logano haven’t communicated since a battle of words on Twitter Sunday night. Logano indicated the issue that began at the Daytona 500 with Hamlin criticizing his driving wasn’t over. “I feel like I’ve told him everything I can tell him,” Logano told ESPN.com earlier in the week. “I’ve got nothing to say.” Hamlin considers the issue over because they haven’t talked.(ESPN)(3-22-2013)
- Bowyer fights lawsuit in South Dakota: #15-Clint Bowyer is asking a judge in South Dakota to throw out a lawsuit filed against him by a motorcycle company. Klock Werks Kustom Cycles in Mitchell alleges that Bowyer failed to pay about $31,000 for customization work done on a motorcycle in late 2008 and early 2009. It’s seeking the money plus 18% annual interest, along with attorney and court fees. Bowyer claims to have provided Klock Werks with numerous promotional services in exchange for the customized motorcycle. In court documents filed Feb. 28, Bowyer, 33, and his attorney Steve Sanford, of the Sioux Falls law firm Cadwell, Sanford, Deibert and Garry, motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed last May by Klock Werks Kustom Cycles, because they claim a Davison County court has a “lack of personal jurisdiction” over Bowyer in the case.(in part from the Daily Republic)(3-22-2013)
- RCR honors Warner Hodgon: Richard Childress Racing will honor former NASCAR track and team owner Warner Hodgon, who passed away March 20, with a memoriam decal [on thr RCR’s Chevy’s] at this weekend’s NASCAR events at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. Hodgon was also president of Black Gold Oil Company, a RCR sponsor in the late-1970s when Richard Childress was both owner and driver of his #3 Chevy. “Warner was a great friend and partner who helped change the landscape of NASCAR team ownership in the late 1970s,” said Childress. “I learned a lot about business from the advice he gave me over the years. He was there to help me with sponsorship from Black Gold when I really needed it. Warner was an entrepreneur with a great vision for where stock car racing could go and we stayed in touch long after his time in racing ended. He was a great friend and will be missed.”(RCR)(3-22-2013)
- Testing the new car at Richmond: #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, #1-Jamie McMurray, #43-Aric Almirola and #9-Marcos Ambrose are scheduled to be testing the new Gen-6 car on Tuesday, March 26, 2013 at Richmond International Raceway in advance of the Saturday, April 27, Toyota Owners 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Tickets for the Toyota Owners 400 can be purchased online at www.rir.com or by calling 866-455-7223.(RIR), the test is closed and NOT open to the public.(3-22-2013)
- Cassill to sue BK Racing UPDATE: Landon Cassill is suing BK Racing over what he alleges is $205,000 in unpaid winnings and other fees owed to him for racing for the team last year. Cassill also is asking for an unspecified amount of money for not being told until mid-January that he would not drive for the team in 2013. The lawsuit was filed last month in North Carolina Superior Court in Charlotte against BK Racing, which bought the assets of Red Bull Racing just prior to the 2012 season, and principal owner Ron Devine. Adam Ross, a Charlotte attorney representing BK Racing, said that there is a dispute over what is owed to Cassill but would not go into specifics. The team has until mid-May to file a legal response to the lawsuit.(Sporting News)(3-20-2013)
UPDATE: BK Racing co-owner Ron Devine has responded to the lawsuit filed by former driver Landon Cassill, alleging that the team failed to pay him $145,000 in guaranteed 2012 base salary and an additional $60,000 for other services rendered to the team. “He had some things he wanted us to agree to that we weren’t willing to do,” said Devine. “One of them was (agreeing) that he was the number-one, full-time starter. We had three drivers (who) shared the rides last year and we were set to do that again. We have aspirations of putting a third car on the track (in 2013). We’re trying as hard as we can to get the (No.) 73 on the track, but we’re just not there yet. “We were not prepared to run three cars& and when I went to the other two drivers and said they would have to share the ride, they were fine with it. When we talked to Landon, he didn’t want to do that. We were trying to work something out with all three of the drivers where they could share the (monetary) pool, no matter who was driving the car,” he explained. “Landon didn’t want to do that. I understand that he’s young and wants to run every week, but we felt that for the size of our team, it was better for us to have a stable of three (drivers) and share the ride. Devine said the dispute over Cassill’s 2012 pay was not a factor in his decision to part company for 2013. Attorney Adam Ross has been hired to represent the team, and Devine said he is crafting a response to the suit that will be filed in the near future.(in part from Godfather Motorsports)(3-22-2013)
- 3M Window Film featured on the #16: 3M Window Film will be featured on Greg Biffle’s #16 Ford this weekend in California and the 3M Automotive Window Film – Crystalline 90 product will be on the inside of the windshield. Crystalline is 3M’s highest heat rejecting and UV protecting film. 3M invented window tint in 1966 and have provided protection from the sun’s harmful rays for more than 40 years.(RFR)(3-22-2013)
- Sad News – John Cardinale: Sonoma Raceway vice president for media and community relations John Cardinale, 47, lost his battle with stomach cancer this week.(SPEED & The Spectrum)
AND from Sonoma Raceway “We are saddened to share that we have lost our dear friend and colleague, John Cardinale. He passed away at home with his family after a two-year battle with gastric cancer. John was 47 years old and is survived by his wife, Andrea, and their two daughters. For those who would like to make a donation in John’s honor, a memorial fund has been set up on behalf of his family. Donations may be sent to the John Cardinale Memorial Fund, care of Sonoma Raceway, 29355 Arnold Drive, Sonoma, CA 95476. We will share information on services and other arrangements as they become available.”
Thoughts from Steve Page, president & general manager of Sonoma Raceway: “There is a hole in the heart of this organization. John Cardinale was as true a friend, as loyal a colleague, as devoted a husband and father and as fine a human being as you could ever hope to know. John has been a part of every good thing that has happened at this track over the last 15 years. We are all so fortunate to have had him in our lives and to have shared in his intelligence, his wit, his integrity and his brave spirit.”(Sonoma Raceway).(3-22-2013)
- #43 to feature Farmland at ACS: Aric Almirola will make his ninth NASCAR series start at the Auto Club Speedway this weekend in the #43 Farmland Ford. The Richard Petty Motorsports driver looks to surpass his best California finish of sixth, which he posted in 2010 in the Nationwide Series, in Sunday’s Auto Club 400. As part of their Race to End Hunger, Almirola will join Farmland Foods this week to present a cash and protein donation to Second Harvest Food Bank. The donation will help feed thousands of families, children and seniors in the Inland Empire. The announcement and presentation will be held at the Auto Club Speedway on Friday, March 22 at 9:30am and will include remarks from Farmland, Aric and Second Harvest Food Bank representatives, as well as photo opportunities.(RPM)(3-22-2013)
- Above All Advertising joins JD Motorsports: JD Motorsports w/Gary Keller announced they have recently inked a deal with San Diego based- Above All Advertising as a marketing partner for the 2013 season. The deal will begin at Auto Club Speedway, as an associate sponsor on the #01 Flex Seal Chevy of Mike Wallace, and the #4 iWorld Chevy of Daryl Harr. The agreement came to fruition through a shared industry connection and both organizations determined they could immediately benefit from one other. In addition to supporting the race entries this weekend, the #01 transporter’s design will be completely revamped and rebranded, thanks to the Above All Advertising’s team of skilled artists, their top quality production facility and professional installers.(JD Motorsports)(3-22-2013)
- MaddiesPlaceRock.com returns as associate sponsor on #87: NEMCO-JRR Motorsports announced that MaddiesPlaceRocks.com will be the primary on the #87 NEMCO-JRR Toyota for the Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 400 race this Sunday and an associate partner on the #87 NEMCO Toyota for Royal Purple 300 NNS Saturday. Both #87 Toyota’s will be driven by “Front Row” Joe Nemechek over the race weekend in California.(NEMCO-JRR)(3-22-2013)
- Carl Long driving the #23 at Auto Club Speedway: In an 11th hour agreement, Bebida Beverage Company announced that investors of the KOMA Unwind Liquid Relaxation brand and supporters of Carl Long have agreed to sponsor the #23 Ford Mustang in the Royal Purple 300 at Auto Club Speedway. The partnership reunites Long with KOMA Unwind for the first time since 2010 when Long scored his career-best finish in the Camping World Truck Series of 11th at Dover International Speedway.(KOMA PR)(3-22-2013)
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