March 30, 2006
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- LMS testing, restrictor plate doubtful UPDATE: Official lap times were not reported during a tire test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway Tuesday and Wednesday, but #43-Bobby Labonte said he came within .3 second of the last October’s pole-winning lap, Elliott Sadler’s 27.948-second lap at 193.216 mph. “It’s going to be faster [than 2005],” Riggs said. “Is it going to be fast enough that we’re going to need restrictor plates? Absolutely not … even if we are going to break the track record. Anytime you come out with a new tire or new paving, we always break track records. I don’t think just because we are going to run faster than the track record previously, it’s not by two seconds or 10 miles an hour.” Goodyear is testing tires to determine a compound to use when Nextel Cup teams test on the newly paved track May 1-3. The Nextel Cup series races at the track twice in May, for the all-star event and the Coca-Cola 600. Tire problems marred both races at Lowe’s after the track surface was ground down last year, but this year, the track has been repaved. “Anytime you come out to a test like this, there are a lot of unknowns,” said Rick Heinrich, Goodyear’s Nextel Cup product manager. “We knew the conditions would be severe. We knew there would be a lot of speed. New asphalt generally generates a lot of wear. Conditions were a little more severe than we anticipated but not out of the ordinary.” Labonte, Riggs, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and the truck of Bobby Hamilton Jr. participated in the test. Riggs said he did not think speeds were so fast that restrictor plates would be needed in May. Heinrich said the wear is coming on both sides of the car and front and rear. The loads are similar to loads from last year, he said. “Right now, there’s a little bit too much wear, but that’s kind of expected because the asphalt is real fresh,” Heinrich said. “The more laps … will slow that wear down.”(SceneDaily.com)(3-29-2006)
UPDATE It could take weeks for Goodyear to decide what tire will be best because the track surface will continue to change as more and more cars drive on it. The only thing that’s certain is that the speeds should reach record highs. Labonte said his laps Wednesday were just a tick off of Elliott Sadler’s track record 193.216 mph. But Sadler’s mark was set in qualifying, when a car is designed to go as fast as possible for only one lap. The times posted during the test were in race trim, when a car is supposed to be much slower. “It would not surprise me if you saw a 197-mph lap,” track president Humpy Wheeler said. Although using horsepower-sapping restrictor plates is an option, no one really wants to use them.(AP)
UPDATE 2: Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president of competition, was at LMS monitoring the situation. NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said no decision will be made on whether the sanctioning body will step in to lower speeds until after a full Cup test session in early May.(NASCAR.com)(3-30-2006)
- LMS testing, restrictor plate doubtful UPDATE: Official lap times were not reported during a tire test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway Tuesday and Wednesday, but #43-Bobby Labonte said he came within .3 second of the last October’s pole-winning lap, Elliott Sadler’s 27.948-second lap at 193.216 mph. “It’s going to be faster [than 2005],” Riggs said. “Is it going to be fast enough that we’re going to need restrictor plates? Absolutely not … even if we are going to break the track record. Anytime you come out with a new tire or new paving, we always break track records. I don’t think just because we are going to run faster than the track record previously, it’s not by two seconds or 10 miles an hour.” Goodyear is testing tires to determine a compound to use when Nextel Cup teams test on the newly paved track May 1-3. The Nextel Cup series races at the track twice in May, for the all-star event and the Coca-Cola 600. Tire problems marred both races at Lowe’s after the track surface was ground down last year, but this year, the track has been repaved. “Anytime you come out to a test like this, there are a lot of unknowns,” said Rick Heinrich, Goodyear’s Nextel Cup product manager. “We knew the conditions would be severe. We knew there would be a lot of speed. New asphalt generally generates a lot of wear. Conditions were a little more severe than we anticipated but not out of the ordinary.” Labonte, Riggs, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and the truck of Bobby Hamilton Jr. participated in the test. Riggs said he did not think speeds were so fast that restrictor plates would be needed in May. Heinrich said the wear is coming on both sides of the car and front and rear. The loads are similar to loads from last year, he said. “Right now, there’s a little bit too much wear, but that’s kind of expected because the asphalt is real fresh,” Heinrich said. “The more laps … will slow that wear down.”(SceneDaily.com)(3-29-2006)
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- Final Bristol TV Ratings down: Fox’s broadcast of Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway drew a final Nielsen Media Research rating of drew a 6.2, the second-highest figure in the race’s history, track officials say. The rating was 1.6% lower than last year’s 6.3, but officials say last year’s race was a week later, while this year’s event aired directly against the regional finals of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The track says Sunday’s race was seen by more than 9.9 million viewers — up 2% from last year. Officials also say Fox’s coverage of Saturday’s Sharpie Mini 300 drew a 2.5 broadcast rating, making it the highest-rated, most-watched Busch Series event in the history of Bristol Motor Speedway. Officials say the figure marked a 25% increase over the previously highest-rated Busch race at BMS, the 2004 Sharpie 250.(SceneDaily.com), never did see the final Atlanta TV Ratings.(3-30-2006)
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- #37 Team Slows to limited schedule UPDATE: Two Toccoa [GA] businessmen, John Carter and Roger Craven, did the near-impossible last year when they took their shoestring budget team to Daytona and finished ninth in the Daytona 500, earning more than $300,000. But this year, Carter and Craven are on the verge of dropping off the circuit. With Mike Skinner at the wheel of their #37 Dodge, the R and J Racing team has failed to qualify for an event this year, and the team has no primary sponsor to help foot the bills. “We’re still trying to get on our feet, and we’re too good a team to just quit,” Carter said. “It’s a shame that a Georgia-based team can’t get a Georgia-based company to help us just a little bit.”(Atlanta Journal-Constitution)(3-24-2006)
UPDATE: After failing to qualify for the first five races this year, #37 R&J Racing moved its shop back to Toccoa, Ga., and plans to spend the next month rebuilding cars. Car owner Roger Craven said the team needed time to re-evaluate its schedule and concentrate on selected races for the rest of the year. “We’ve decided to put everything under the same roof,” Craven said. “We’re re-organizing and using the rest of the year to rebuild for the future.”(Augusta Chronicle)(3-30-2006)
- #37 Team Slows to limited schedule UPDATE: Two Toccoa [GA] businessmen, John Carter and Roger Craven, did the near-impossible last year when they took their shoestring budget team to Daytona and finished ninth in the Daytona 500, earning more than $300,000. But this year, Carter and Craven are on the verge of dropping off the circuit. With Mike Skinner at the wheel of their #37 Dodge, the R and J Racing team has failed to qualify for an event this year, and the team has no primary sponsor to help foot the bills. “We’re still trying to get on our feet, and we’re too good a team to just quit,” Carter said. “It’s a shame that a Georgia-based team can’t get a Georgia-based company to help us just a little bit.”(Atlanta Journal-Constitution)(3-24-2006)
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- Mathis team hopes to run ARCA race UPDATE: Victory Motorsports Racing, owned by former NFL All-Pro Wide Receiver Terance Mathis, will participated in the ARCA Series open test session in Nashville with hopes of being approved to run April 15, 2006, in Nashville. Morty Buckles will run car # 81 for Victory Motorsports Racing. “This is just the first step in getting on the Nextel Cup Circuit,” says Terance Mathis, majority team owner of Victory Motorsports Racing. “I have been waiting for this day for a while now. Terance took a chance on me when I came out of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Program, and now we are making strides to run ARCA, and eventually run Nextel Cup. This entire experience is so much bigger than myself and Terance, it’s about creating more opportunities for minority drivers, and minority owners,” says Morty Buckles. Victory Motorsports Racing is owned about by majority partner, former NFL All Wide Receiver Terance Mathis, and minority partner Morgan-McClure Racing, a 23 year veteran to the Motorsports Industry.(Origins Public Relations)
UPDATE: looks like the PR folks jumped the gun, been told while Buckles will attempt to make the ARCA race at Nashville, it will not be in the #81 Victory Motorsports car but that Buckles will be working with and driving for ST2 Motorsports from Columbia, TN with BRG Racing, contracted with ST2 to provide a Dodge Charger #67.(MortyBuckles.com)(3-30-2006)
- Mathis team hopes to run ARCA race UPDATE: Victory Motorsports Racing, owned by former NFL All-Pro Wide Receiver Terance Mathis, will participated in the ARCA Series open test session in Nashville with hopes of being approved to run April 15, 2006, in Nashville. Morty Buckles will run car # 81 for Victory Motorsports Racing. “This is just the first step in getting on the Nextel Cup Circuit,” says Terance Mathis, majority team owner of Victory Motorsports Racing. “I have been waiting for this day for a while now. Terance took a chance on me when I came out of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Program, and now we are making strides to run ARCA, and eventually run Nextel Cup. This entire experience is so much bigger than myself and Terance, it’s about creating more opportunities for minority drivers, and minority owners,” says Morty Buckles. Victory Motorsports Racing is owned about by majority partner, former NFL All Wide Receiver Terance Mathis, and minority partner Morgan-McClure Racing, a 23 year veteran to the Motorsports Industry.(Origins Public Relations)
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- Wimmer and Morgan-McClure team protected by LifeLock: Morgan-McClure Motorsports, which owns the #4 AERO Exhaust Chevy Monte Carlo team with driver Scott Wimmer, announced that it has decided to offer the LifeLock Identity Theft service to its NASCAR Nextel Cup Series team. LifeLock is the nation’s first and only service that prevents identity theft and backs it up with a $1 million guarantee. LifeLock does the prevention work by maintaining active fraud alerts with the three major credit bureaus as well as ChexSystems. The LifeLock system makes personal information useless to everyone but the rightful owner. Every time someone attempts to open credit, change an address or make changes in bank accounts, LifeLock is there to make sure the right person is making the request. LifeLock and MMM are also proud to announce that fans of MMM and Scott Wimmer can get identity theft protection at a discount by going to www.lifelock.com and signing up using the promotion code (McClure). A link is also provided on the MMM website (morgan-mcclure.com).(3-30-2006)
- Busch Teams to Test at Richmond: UPDATE 4: NASCAR Busch Series testing for the May 5, 2006 Circuit City 250 Presented by FUNAI at Richmond International Raceway will take place Tuesday, March 28 – Thursday, March 30 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Drivers currently scheduled to participate:
March 28-29: #00 Johnny Sauter, #01 Jay Sauter, #06 Todd Kluever, #1 Jason Keller, #2 Clint Bowyer, #5 Kyle Busch, #8 Martin Truex, Jr., #9 Kasey Kahne, #10 John Andretti, #11 Paul Menard, #16 Greg Biffle, #17 Matt Kenseth, #18 J.J. Yeley, #20 Denny Hamlin, #22 Kenny Wallace, #29 Jeff Burton, #31 Steve Park, #32 Jason Leffler, #39 Ryan Newman, #50 Danny O’Quinn, #56 Chris Cook, #60 Carl Edwards, #90 Elliott Sadler, #270 Justin Diercks.
March 29-30: #25 Ashton Lewis, Jr., #27 David Green, #35 Regan Smith, #38 A.J. Foyt IV, #43 Aaron Fike, #47 Jon Wood, #59 Stacy Compton, #64 Steve Wallace, #66 Scott Wimmer, #184 David Gilliland.(RIR PR)(3-22-2006)
UPDATE: The third test session of the season for the NASCAR Busch Series is a first for Richmond International Raceway where the 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. schedule Tuesday through Thursday allows for testing under the lights at the three-quarters of a mile track. Richmond is one of four tracks – and the only short track – that NASCAR Busch Series teams can utilize for tests this season. Daytona International Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway have already held tests. Lowe’s Motor Speedway will host the series May 8 – 10. Forty-one drivers are scheduled to participate in the three-day session where teams select two of the three available days to test.(NASCAR PR)(3-27-2006)
UPDATE 2: More than two dozen NASCAR Busch Series drivers tested at Richmond International Raceway today in preparation for the Circuit City 250 Presented by FUNAI on Friday, May 5. Topping the speed charts was #2-Clint Bowyer, who posted a best lap of 125.406 mph. He was followed by #9-Kasey Kahne, #60-Carl Edwards, #18-J.J. Yeley and #39-Ryan Newman in the top-five. Newman was followed by #32-Jason Leffler, #00-Johnny Sauter, #5-Kyle Busch, #29-Jeff Burton and #50-Danny O’Quinn to round out the top-10.(RIR PR)(3-28-2006)
UPDATE 3: Day two of NASCAR Busch Series testing at Richmond International Raceway ended with #29-Jeff Burton topping the speed charts with a best lap of 127.011 mph which he recorded in the afternoon. More than 40 cars tested today in preparation for the Circuit City 250 Presented by FUNAI on May 5. This week’s test session at Richmond International Raceway is one of just four test sessions for the NASCAR Busch series teams, and the only short-track test in 2006. Teams had the unique opportunity to test “under the lights” or the first time [Tuesday and Wednesday] nights, with the final day and night of testing wrapping up Thursday. The remainder of the top five were #39-Ryan Newman, #20-Denny Hamlin, #00-Johnny Sauter, and #5-Kyle Busch.(RIR PR)(3-29-2006)
UPDATE 4: During the afternoon session, #88-Mark McFarland ran the fastest lap in the final day of Busch testing at Richmond. His speed was 126.511 mph. He was followed by #41-Reed Sorenson, #36-Tim Sauter, #27-David Green, and #84-David Gilliland. See complete afternoon speeds at RIR.com.(3-30-2006)
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- Goodyear to Produce Different Tires for Busch Series?: Goodyear officials are considering making a different tire for each of NASCAR’s national series when they run at the same track, and that’s welcome news to Busch Series competitors who hope to differentiate that division from Nextel Cup. “We’re fast approaching that point,” Goodyear’s Rick Campbell said March 19. “We may see the trucks on a different tire than the Busch cards, and the Busch cars on a different tire than the Cup cars.”(NASCAR Scene)(3-30-2006)
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- Steve Wallace Full Time in 2007: Steve Wallace said March 24 he’ll run the full Busch Series season in 2007 for Rusty Wallace Inc. Wallace is due to enter 15 Busch races and seven ARCA events this year. “My future is to run two years in Busch, and [dad is] trying to negotiate a [Cup] program right now.”(NASCAR Scene)(3-30-2006)
- New sponsors for Ambrose debut: When Marcos Ambrose makes his debut Saturday in the Truck Series, it will come with the Animal Adoption League, Petfinder.com and Fresh Step cat litter as sponsors. Wood Brothers/JTG Racing has long been a supporter of animal rescue and adoption, decided to mark that passion with Ambrose’s first race, the Kroger 250 at the Martinsville Speedway.(Wood/JTG PR)(3-30-2006)
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- Simply Wow to sponsor Darnell at Martinsville, Gateway: Roush Racing has announced that Simply Wow, a division of Source Direct Holdings, has signed on to sponsor Roush Racing’s #99 Ford F-150 driven by Erik Darnell in the Truck Series races at Martinsville Speedway and Gateway International Raceway. Darnell will debut the #99 Simply Wow Ford F-150 in the 150-lap event at Martinsville on April 1, and will also include the event at Gateway International Raceway on April 29.(Roush Racing)(3-30-2006)
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