March 24, 2014
- Entry List for the STP 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway is posted, 44 teams/drivers [for 43 spots] are listed, including: #33-Hill, #66-Nemechek, and #95-McDowell. With 44 cars entered, 1 driver will miss the race. #95-McDowell must qualify on speed. See the full entry list at my Jayski’s Martinsville Entry List
- Hamlin to be further evaluated this week: #11-Denny Hamlin remained in a local hospital Sunday afternoon undergoing a CT scan to see what may be causing severe headaches and vision problems his Joe Gibbs Racing team confirmed. Sam Hornish Jr. substituted behind the wheel of the #11 FedEx Toyota in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 because in the hour before the green flag dropped NASCAR did not medically clear Hamlin to compete. “We do (go forward assuming Denny will be back next week.),” his crew chief Darian Grubb said after the race. “But it’s going to be touch and go for right now obviously with him still in the hospital getting a CT Scan. Last I heard the vision was getting worse and the pain was getting worse so we’re just going to wait and see what happens. Hopefully we’ll get some good news this afternoon.” Before the race, JGR President J.D. Gibbs said initially the team thought it was a sinus infection that was causing the headaches and vision issues. But Grubb said it soon became apparent, it may be more serious. “For him to go the infield care center, for one thing, it must have been pretty bad for him,” Grubb said. “Then it got to where he couldn’t see and was having trouble with vision in his left eye with all the pressure that was going on. At that point, NASCAR did some testing and knew he could not follow the finger going by his eyes as he should have been so they knew at that point,they weren’t going to let him go. It wasn’t just a headache, it was more serious than that. That’s why they’re doing the CT Scan now. He had them on the whole time and was just holding his head, it hurt him so bad. You could tell by the look on his face he was really worried.” Team owner Joe Gibbs confirmed that Hamlin left the track immediately before the race started and that by late afternoon “they are still running tests. It will be later on before we get results.”(NASCAR.com)(3-24-2014)
JGR Statement: Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was not medically cleared in today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway because of a sinus infection that affected his vision. Hamlin was taken to a local hospital near the race track for additional evaluation and released. He will be further evaluated this week in Charlotte.(Joe Gibbs Racing)(3-24-2014) - Tire failures impact many teams Sunday: Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway produced a massive number of tire failures, as Goodyear Eagles exploded with shocking regularity from the opening 20 laps until the end of the race. #48-Jimmie Johnson, #4-Kevin Harvick, #99-Carl Edwards, #16-Greg Biffle, #9-Marcos Ambrose, #2-Brad Keselowski, #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. and #15-Clint Bowyer were among the top drivers who saw their races go out the window because of tire failures. But afterward, most of the drivers weren’t pointing the finger at Goodyear as the source of the problem. Instead, they pointed to changes with the cars and how they are set up for 2014. Last year, NASCAR loosened rules on how much air pressure the teams must run in their tires and how much camber they can run. This year, NASCAR added downforce with a new, larger rear spoiler.
Some teams got very aggressive by running extremely low air pressures on left-side tires — 11 pounds per square inch in some cases, vs. the Goodyear recommendation of 22 psi — and equally aggressive camber, which is defined as how much the tire slants away from vertical when viewing it from the front or back. Lower air pressures combined with aggressive camber make for extremely fast speeds, but it greatly increases the risk of catastrophic tire failure, which is what happened again and again and again on Sunday. “Last year we opened up the rules on camber for the rear end,” added Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president of competition and racing development. “I would say that a year ago at this time we were early in the process, and teams were probably not as aggressive as they wound up being as the season unfolded, as they got the mechanics better in their cars and the opportunity to be able to make parts and pieces live longer. Now, I think they’re probably a little bit better prepared for that. So if they had too much camber — they’ve got a lot of choices, so if they had too much and it abused the tire, that’s what happens.” Asked by FOXSports.com if he thought the tire failures were a Goodyear problem, Pemberton was clear. “No,” Pemberton said. “We’ve talked to Goodyear. We have asked, the competitors have asked to bring more aggressive tires, to bring tires that they need to manage and want to — how they use them and how they get the most out of them. At this point in time, I think Goodyear, it’s the same tire that we’ve run on in the past. Just the car is a little bit different.”(FoxSports)(3-24-2014) - Commercial breakdown and links related to the 2014 Auto Club 400: For those of you NASCAR fans that like stats and love to hate commercials, here is the breakdown for Sunday’s race. Began recording the times at the Invocation of the race at 3:00 PM, and stopped at the waving of the checkered flag at 6:26 PM (all times are EST). Fox was the broadcast team for this event.
Total number of commercials: 109
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 59
Number of ‘Side-by-Side’ commercials during race broadcast (split-screen): 13
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 42
Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 5 min. 35 sec.
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 3:00 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 6:26 PM
Total minutes of complete race broadcast: 206
Minutes of race broadcast: 162
Minutes of traditional commercials (not split-screen): 44
Minutes of ‘Side-by-Side’ commercials (split-screen): 8
Number of missed restarts: 1
Number of ‘mystery cautions’ (debris not shown): 0
Total race brdcst time 162 Total comm. brdcst time 44
See past races, links, more info on the 2014 TV Commercials page.(3-24-2014) - Bill Simpson presented with The Justice Brothers-Shav Glick Award: Bill Simpson was presented today The Justice Brothers-Shav Glick Award at Auto Club Speedway. Named in honor of former Los Angeles Times sports writer Shav Glick, the award is presented annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to motorsports in California. Simpson, who was both a driver and safety innovator during his motorsports career, will be remembered for over 50 years of safety contributions in all forms of racing. Today Simpson is focused on his new company, SG Helmets, which has taken racing technology and incorporated it into football helmets used at the youth, varsity, and professional levels.(Shunch PR)(3-24-2014)
- Sad News – Bobby Waltrip: Robert Lynn “Bobby” Waltrip, middle brother of NASCAR Hall of Fame driver and Fox Sports announcer Darrell Waltrip and NASCAR team owner and fellow Fox Sports announcer Michael Waltrip, died Sunday. [Darrell and Michael Waltrip were informed of their brother’s death after the race.] Both worked the Fox Sports’ Sunday afternoon telecast of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Auto Club 400 race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Michael, the youngest of the three Waltrip brothers, confirmed his brother’s passing on Twitter Sunday evening. Moments later, Darrell, the oldest Waltrip brother, also paid homage to brother Bobby. Bobby Waltrip grew up in Owensboro, Ky., but had lived in the Concord, N.C. area the last 25 years. While he never followed his brothers into NASCAR as a race car driver – although he did work for Darrell in the late 1980s and early 1990s when the latter formed his own Winston Cup team – Bobby became a major force in the world of go-kart racing, first as a successful kart racer himself and later as an announcer and promoter in the sport in both the World Karting Association (WKA) and the American Karting Association (AKRA). He was believed to be in his early 60s at the time of his death.(NBC Sports)(3-24-2014)
- Entry list: There are 39 trucks on the preliminary entry list for Saturday’s Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway. A few notes:
Cole Custer in the #00;
Chase Pistone in the #9;
John Hunter Nemechek in the #8;
Ted Minor in the #12;
Gray Gaulding in the #20;
Spencer Gallagher in the #23;
Ben Rhodes in the #32;
Brandon Jones in the #33;
Raymond Terczak, Jr. in the #56;
Josh Williams in the #66;
Alex Guenette in the #74;
(3-24-2014)
See the complete list on the Martinsville entry list page. - Rhodes to run 5 races with TSM: Turner Scott Motorsports is pleased to announce that Ben Rhodes will run five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races during the 2014 season in the #32 Alpha Energy Solutions Chevy Silverado, beginning at Martinsville Speedway. The 17-year-old is currently competing full time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East for TSM and has received three pole awards and one win in just four starts this season. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Rhodes made his TSM debut last year when he ran a partial NKNPSE schedule and received two top fives and five top 10s in seven starts. Rhodes was also selected as a member of the 2013 NASCAR Next class, a select group chosen by the sanctioning body that spotlights NASCAR’s rising stars with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series potential. Most recently, Rhodes claimed his first NKNPSE victory at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. Rhodes will be under the direction of three-time NCWTS championship-winning crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. throughout the five races. Hillman and Rhodes will team up for the following races: Martinsville (March), Dover (May), Bristol (August), Martinsville (October), and Phoenix (November).(TSM)(3-24-2014)
- Alamo on board with Coulter: Alamo Rent A Car will adorn the sides of Joey Coulter’s #21 Chevy Silverado for this weekend’s Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Alamo Rent A Car, the largest car rental provider to international travelers visiting North America, is a value-oriented, internationally recognized brand serving the rental needs of airport leisure travelers. Alamo offers low rental rates and a hassle-free customer experience at the most popular travel destinations throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia.(GMS Racing))(3-24-2014)
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