March 23 - Today in Jayski’s NASCAR history - Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site

Race Coverage of the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway is scheduled for Sunday, March 24, 2013.
Television (TV): FOX at 3:00 pm/et; Pre-Race show at 2:30 pm/et; green flag approx 3:16pm/et
Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius XM Satellite NASCAR Radio 90
Scheduled Race Re-Airs: SPEED, Wednesday, March 27 at 12:00pm/et

Happy Hour practice for the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway is over, after 50 scheduled minutes, the top five, slowest and notes:
#55-Martin 183.351
#15-Bowyer 182.945
#20-Kenseth 182.839
#48-Johnson 182.417
#2-Keselowski 182.375
slowest: #44-Riggs 173.426 & #19-Bliss 174.187
no speed listed: #98-McDowell
See fastest speeds, laps run and more on the Auto Club 400 Happy Hour Practice Speeds page (pdf).(3-23-2013)

Saturday first practice for the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway is over, after 55 scheduled minutes, the top five, slowest and notes:
#16-Biffle 186.253
#51-Allmendinger 186.191
#18-Busch 185.342
#11-Hamlin 185.276
#78-Busch 185.261
slowest: #19-Bliss 175.301 & #32-Hill 177.550
no speed listed: #87-Nemechek & #44-Riggs
See fastest speeds, laps run and more on the Auto Club 400 Practice 2 Speeds page (pdf).(3-23-2013)

Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway have been made.
Pole sitter #11-Marlin chose pit stall 1 [as do most pole sitters].
Outside pole sitter #16-Biffle took pit stall 12A, the first pitstall in front of it.
#2-Keselowski, who starts 3rd took the 2nd pit stall, right behind the poll sitter.
The 43rd and final pit stall was taken by #20-Kenseth, who starts 5th.
To see where the drivers/teams pit stall is, see the pit selection chart on the Pit Stall Selection chart.(3-23-2013)

Final Bristol TV Ratings: Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Food City 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway earned a 4.6 final rating and 7.5 million viewers, up 5% in ratings and 3% in viewership from last year (4.4, 7.3M), and up 7% and 4%, respectively, from 2011 (4.3, 7.2M). This marks the highest rated and most-viewed edition of the spring Bristol race since 2008 (5.5, 8.9M). Sunday’s race was also the first since 2008 to avoid competition with the NCAA Tournament. Though up from last year, the 4.6 rating ranks as the fifth-lowest for the race since 2000 (13 telecasts). The race earned at least a 5.0 rating each year from 2001 to 2008, peaking with a 6.3 in 2005. The Bristol race also ranks as the first Sprint Cup telecast since the Daytona 500 to have an increase in ratings. The March 3 Phoenix race was flat in ratings, and the March 10 Las Vegas race had a double-digit decline.(Sports Media Watch), see past races for 2013 and 5-year comparison chart on the 2013 NASCAR TV Ratings page.(3-23-2013)

2012 Auto Club winner Stewart to Walk of Fame: Last year’s Auto Club 400 winner #14-Tony Stewart made a return trip to the Walk of Fame on Friday commemorating his 2012 victory at the Auto Club Speedway. “It feels great to be back here,” said Stewart, who also was bestowed the honor back in 2011 following his October of 2010 win at Auto Club Speedway. “I love this track and racing here. This makes it a lot of fun when you can win and then get recognized for it like this.” Stewart, 41, was presented with a plaque by Speedway Vice President Dave Allen and then stepped in the concrete and signed his name and number as a large crowd of his fans cheered him on. Last March, Stewart won his second race of the year capturing the rain-shortened 16th annual Auto Club 400 after 129 laps were completed. Located at Gate 12, on the east end of the FanZone, the Auto Club Speedway Walk of Fame ceremony has become a fan-favorite event.
Stewart joins other past ACS winners Kevin Harvick (2011), Jimmie Johnson (’02, ’07, ’08, ’10), Jeff Gordon (’97, ’99 & 04), Mark Martin (’98), Jeremy Mayfield (’00), Rusty Wallace (’01), Kurt Busch (’03), Elliott Sadler (’04), Kyle Busch (’05), Greg Biffle (’05), Matt Kenseth (’06, ’07 & ’08), Kasey Kahne (’06) and Carl Edwards (’09, ’10) as NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers to be enshrined at the speedway’s Walk of Fame.(ACS)(3-23-2013)

Armed Forces Foundation and NASCAR Bring “Troops to the Track” Program to the Auto Club 400: The Armed Forces Foundation and NASCAR continue the 2013 Troops to the Track TM program on Sunday, March 24th, by bringing service members based out of Camp Pendleton (CA) to the Auto Club 400 at the Auto Club Speedway. They are pleased to again be partnering with NASCAR to allow for wounded service members, active duty troops, warriors in transition, veterans and military families throughout the country to enjoy a special day of NASCAR-style VIP activities at the racetrack. 2013 season of Troops to the Track is a program in which service members are treated to a daylong interactive at-track experience, which includes: a special invitation and recognition at the driver’s pre-race meeting, a private tour of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage, pit road access during driver introductions / National Anthem and special seating in the grandstands. See the attached document for more information about the program.(AFF)(3-23-2013)

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March 23 – Today in Jayski’s NASCAR history