With NASCAR on a temporary hiatus, news is going to be slow in the coming weeks. To help fill the NASCAR void, we plan on taking you on a daily trip down memory lane spanning the years since the Jayski’s site inception. Using our news archives pages, here’s a look back at what’s happened on this date through the last 23 years in NASCAR:
This day in NASCAR history: March 31
Years we have pulled today’s main items from: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2007, 2004, 2001, 2000, 1999
Top see everything from this date over previous years: 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997
Note: Many links on older stories don’t work. There’s not a lot of the same websites around anymore.
To see previous articles covering “Today in History”, click here.
2011:
- Randy Moss Motorsports #25 team shut down? UPDATE 2 #25 team will not be at Martinsville:
Speedtv announcer Ray Dunlap is reporting that the #25 Iron Horse jeans NCWTS team at Randy Moss Motorsports has closed down as of noon Wed March 23rd. No word as to the future plans of driver Tayler Malsam. The team missed the first two events of 2011 and lost an engine at the most recent event in Darlington.(3-23-2011)
UPDATE: “Due to various circumstances outside of our control, we are re-evaluating the status of the No. 25 Toyota Tundra,” commented David Dollar, co-owner of Randy Moss Motorsports. “Tayler Malsam is a very talented young driver, and we are extremely appreciative of everything he, One Eighty, and Iron Horse Jeans have done for us. We have an entry filed for the April 2nd race at Martinsville Speedway and are currently evaluating our options for that event.”(Randy Moss Motorsports PR)(3-24-2011)
UPDATE 2: Although the #25 RMM Toyota is listed on the Preliminary Entry List for Martinsville, a team representative has just confirmed that the #25 team will not be racing at Martinsville.(Nancy/Jayski)(3-31-2011)
2010:
- Martinsville images added: #2-Kevin Harvick, Kroger/Tide Chevy; #33-Ron Hornaday Jr., Longhorn Chevy; #60-Narain Karthikeyan, Safe Auto Insurance/Wyler.com Toyota; #52-Ken Schrader, Federated Auto Parts Chevy; #48-Hermie Sadler, Hermie & Elliott Sadler Foundation Chevy; #21-Chris Eggleston, H20 Fire Protection Chevy; #07-Tony Jackson Jr. ASI Chevy; #6-DJ Kennington, Northern Provincial Pipelines Chevy. Check them out on the 2010 Truck Series Paint Scheme Pages.(3-31-2010)
2009:
- Harvick set at RCR Thru 2010: #29-Kevin Harvick says rumors of his imminent free agency are greatly exaggerated. Although mentioned recently as a driver up for grabs after this season, “I have another year on my contract after this year [with Richard Childress Racing], so I’m not in the middle of all that stuff this year,” Harvick said. “So you can go ahead and check my name off that list. We have an extension in my contract that we signed about a year and a half ago. It goes through 2010.”(ESPN Insider)(3-31-2009)
2007:
- COT to run full time in 2008? still undecided: NASCAR isn’t ready to decide after one weekend whether the
car of tomorrow will be used for all tracks in 2008. NASCAR’s current phase-in plan includes racing with the car of tomorrow in 16 races this year, 26 races in 2008 and then for the full schedule in 2009. “What we do know is that it’s terribly hard and it’s very frustrating to run two different programs throughout a year,” Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby said Friday. “So for most of the mechanics and the crew members and even a lot of the crew chiefs in the garage, they would prefer just going, just making the decision now. But for the same reason that the original rollout of the new car was three years – a three-year period, will be the same reason that ultimately decides whether ’09 is gone and we’re all in for ’08 or not. That reason is the team owners, the guys that are writing the checks to build these things.If they’re comfortable with scaling up and pushing a little harder and eliminating ’09, NASCAR, we’d welcome it with open arms, for sure. But we also don’t want to force them into that decision,” Darby said. “The team owners will have to come and say, look, this deal is working pretty good. They’re very easy to build, they’re very easy to manage in inventory, so on and so forth, so let’s press on with it.’ We’ll cross that bridge when it comes.”(SceneDaily.com)(3-31-2007)
2004:
Milestone for Rudd: Ricky Rudd, driver of the #21 Motorcraft Racing Taurus, will reach another milestone this weekend when he makes 810th-career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start to move ahead of Darrell Waltrip into sole possession of third place on the series’ all-time list. Rudd, who made his Cup debut in 1975, trails only Richard Petty (1,185) and Dave Marcis (883).(Ford Racing)(3-31-2004)- Dale Jr. causes caution UPDATE 3 Penalized, docked points and a statement: #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. admitted repeatedly after Sunday’s race he spun out on purpose on Lap 431 of 500 to prevent from having to pit under green and lose one or more laps. “I had a loose wheel and I didn’t have any choice but to spin the car out to get a caution. So I went down in the corner, had some clear room behind me, and I just spun it out,” Earnhardt Jr. said after the race. The caution came out, I put the clutch in and got going. What the hell else was I supposed to do? Go a lap down? Go two laps down?” Earnhardt Jr. also engaged in a profanity-laced exchange with his crew over his radio regarding NASCAR’s decision to extend cautions late in the race to blow debris from the track. That earned Earnhardt Jr. a trip to the NASCAR hauler. His admission of intentionally causing a caution – an act which has been penalized previously by NASCAR – did not seem to raise the ire of series director John Darby. ” ‘I spun a car out’ – that’s a great excuse for spinning a car out, but proving that is another story,” Darby said. “To brag about it is not enough for me to make a move on it.”(ThatsRacin.com)(3-29-2004)
- UPDATE: NASCAR is reviewing the post-race comments made by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in which he admitted intentionally spinning out to cause a caution, NASCAR spokesman Mike Zizzo said Tuesday. “This issue is still being looked at,” Zizzo said. Following Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Earnhardt Jr. admitted repeatedly he spun out on purpose on Lap 431 of 500 to prevent from having to pit under green and lose one or more laps. In the 2002 Winston all-star race, Kurt Busch admitted after the race he intentionally spun driver Robby Gordon to bring out a caution. Later in the week, NASCAR fined him $10,000 for intentionally wrecking another competitor. Sunday, Nextel Cup series director John Darby said initially he didn’t think Earnhardt Jr. deserved a
penalty. However, on Tuesday Zizzo said Darby had heard only Earnhardt Jr.’s comments over his two-way radio after the race, not any comments Earnhardt Jr. made to the media. NASCAR should reach a decision on Earnhardt Jr. by Wednesday.(Kansas City Star)(3-30-2004)UPDATE 2: Section 12-4 (N) in the NASCAR Nextel Cup rulebook prohibits such action and lists what type of action is to be taken. It also states Earnhardt could be fined, lose championship points and lose his finishing position in the race.(Roanoke Times)(3-31-2004)
Dale Jr. penalized #10G’s and docked 25 points: Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. was penalized with a loss of 25 championship driver points, a $10,000 fine and probation until June 1 for his actions during Sunday’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, NASCAR officials announced today. The penalty also will extend to the team as Dale Earnhardt Inc. will lose 25 championship owner points for the actions of its driver. Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #8 Busweiser Chevrolet, was penalized for intentionally causing a caution condition during the race and as a result was in violation of Section 12-4-A (Actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 12-4-N (Any driver who, in the judgment of NASCAR officials, intentionally causes or attempts to cause a caution condition by stopping or spinning out or any other action) of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Rule Book.
“The driver of the No. 8 car was quite vocal in admitting he intentionally spun out his car to cause a caution condition on the track, which is clearly prohibited in the NASCAR Rule Book,” NASCAR President Mike Helton said. ” We have several rules in our Rule Book that have been in place for quite some time to prevent someone from altering the outcome of an event. This was a clear-cut case of that. Actions such as this will not be tolerated. We will always react to protect the integrity of our sport.” Earnhardt Jr.’s championship points total will be adjusted to 832 points as a result of the penalty, but he will still maintain third in the championship standings. DEI also will be adjusted to 832 points with the 25-point penalty and remain third in the owners’ championship standings.(NASCAR PR)
STATEMENT: TERESA EARNHARDT COMMENTS ON NASCAR PENALTY:
Teresa Earnhardt, Owner of the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in NASCAR Nextel Cup competition, commented today on the penalty levied against the team by NASCAR following Sunday’s Sharpie 500 in Bristol, TN. The fine, assessed for a late race spin, cost the Dale Earnhardt Incorporated team $10,000 and 25 owners and drivers championship points. “We regret what this has cost us in our pursuit of the Nextel Cup Championship. In the heat of battle, a lot of things can happen and decisions can be made that come at a high cost. It was a mistake we’ve all learned from and we have to move past it. Our goal is regaining the ground we’ve lost and continuing our focus on winning.”(DEI PR)(3-31-2004)
2001:
- No HANS for Dale Jr: Earnhardt Jr. said that he’s not ready to try the HANS device, a head and neck support system that some contend might have saved his father’s life. Since Earnhardt’s fatal crash, the number of Cup drivers using the HANS has more than doubled. About 15 drivers are expected to wear it for Sunday’s race and another dozen are expected to wear a different type of a head-restraint system. “I’m not going to be too quick to start strapping on all kinds of gizmos,” said Earnhardt Jr., one of the few drivers in the series who wears an open-face helmet. “I’ve been running for several years and I’ve been using the equipment that I feel is necessary. I think it should be [driver] preference. Nothing should be mandatory aside from what we have until they really come up with a sure-fire invention that isn’t commercialized.”(Roanoke Times)(3-31-2001)
2000:
- #81 scheme: #81-Blaise Alexander and the TRACFONE/WCW team are joining forces with seven-time world championship heavyweight title winner, to feature Sting on the #81 Chevy. Sting, who has won many honors including two tag team belts, will wow the crowds with his trademark “Ooooooow!” yell(Team SABCO PR)(3-31-2000)
1999:
- It’s Back….Morgan-McClure 2nd Team? UPDATE 7: Remember this rumor? Morgan-McClure 2nd Team? Hey, a wild one – hear that a second Morgan-McClure team effort is may still happen in 1999. The sponsor rumored is Microsoft. No word on a driver yet.(11-18-98) — UPDATE 1: Hearing the 2nd Morgan-McClure team is close to fruition and we may hear something next week — UPDATE 2: during an interview with Larry McClure by WC Today Radio, McClure said they would run a 2nd team on a limited basis only if a sponsor is found and only for 5-6 races on 1999 with an eye towards 2000 with a full-time schedule(12-22-98) — UPDATE 3: I hear the team will attempt the Daytona 500 with an yet unnamed driver and possibly up to 15 1999 starts(12-29-98) — UPDATE 4: The Microsoft rumor have proven to be false and they will not be the sponsor of the 2nd team, if it happens(12-31-98) — UPDATE 5: Larry McClure is ready to launch that long-awaited second Winston Cup team. He’s got three drivers under consideration and plans to make a decision by July 1. The sponsor? Possibly computer software giant Microsoft(PitNow)(3-29-1999) — UPDATE 6: When asked during Tuesday’s NOL chat about a possible teammate, Bobby Hamilton, driver of the #4 Kodak Morgan-McClure Chevy said – “It’ll definitely help and we’re definitely looking in that direction. Larry McClure and myself are looking, and he’s asked me to start looking for drivers…..and at the end of the year we’ll be able to make a decision on it.”(in part from NOL chat) BUT on NASCAR Today Radio(MRN) a team spokesperson said there would be no second team this season, so go figure. Also during the NOL chat Hamilton also mentioned a possible different paint scheme at one of the night races and that the Advantix deal was a one race deal only — UPDATE 7: From Sparky Plug at iRACE/SpeedVision – Owner Larry McClure said their shop can hold a 2nd team and with the proper sponsorship the 2nd team will run five races in 1999 to prepare for a full schedule in 2000. McClure was rumored to be in negotiations with Microsoft, but denied that allegation. He did say that he has secured a crew chief who is currently working in the Cup garage and has until July 1 to decide on a driver. Matt Kenseth was considered for the ride, but turned it down to concentrate on the Roush/Martin Cup deal(3-31-1999)
Click a link below for a full listing of news from each year:
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