April 1, 2005
- New Sponsor Site – Cingular Racing: Cingular Wireless has dropped the green flag in cyberspace for fans of #31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet and NASCAR driver Jeff Burton. With the launch of www.cingular31.com, the official Web site of TEAM Cingular, fans will now have an opportunity to stay up to speed on everything happening around the team, including the latest news and notes, driver appearances and customer promotions. The new, interactive web site will serve as a comprehensive portal devoted to everything around TEAM Cingular. Exclusive content will include pre- and post-race reports, Jeff Burton pre- and post-race perspectives, up-to-date driver and show car appearance schedules, Cingular-themed promotions and contests and links to the latest media coverage around TEAM Cingular.(Career Sports & Entertainment)(4-1-2005)
- Two Racing Movies scheduled to open TODAY: Dare To Dream – The Alan Kulwicki Story opens on Friday, April 1, 2005.
AND “Dust to Glory” is scheduled to open on April 1, 2005, celebrates the unique people and geography of Baja, from sun-baked mountains to dusty deserts to the crystal blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. Some of the drivers featured in the movie are NASCAR drivers Robby Gordon and Michele Jourdain, Jr.(4-1-2005)
- JGR’s Diversity Program Ready for 2nd Season: After scoring three wins, three poles, 15 top-five finishes and 34 top-10 finishes in its first season of NASCAR Weekly Racing Series competition in 2004, Joe Gibbs Racing’s (JGR) diversity program hit the ground running in 2005 as second-year drivers Aric Almirola and Chris Bristol finished third in their respective early-season races. Almirola drove his #92 Home Depot Chevrolet to a strong third-place finish in the March 19 Doughton Racing Products 300 Late Model stock car race at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va. Bristol equaled his teammate’s mark a week later, piloting his #92 MBNA Chevrolet to third in the March 26 NASCAR Weekly Racing Series season-opener at Hickory Motor Speedway. In 2005, Almirola moves from being a regular Late Model driver at Ace Speedway to campaign his Home Depot Chevrolet at big Late Model races throughout the Southeast. Bristol, meanwhile, moves to the .363-mile Hickory oval to compete regularly in that track’s Late Model program. Both cars will carry the number 92 in tribute to White, the number he wore throughout his football career.(Joe Gibbs Racing/True Speed Communication)(4-1-2005)
- Diageo and Kurt Busch: Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix: In recognition of April as Alcohol Awareness Month, Diageo is donating its space on Kurt Busch’s #97 Ford during this weekend’s race in Bristol to “Ask, Listen, Learn: Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix” – a multimedia program that provides parents with important tools to talk to their children about the consequences of underage drinking. The space, which covers the lower hood and rear quarter panel areas of the car, is normally occupied by the company’s Crown Royal and Smirnoff ICE brand logos. Busch will carry a special message on the No. 97 Sharpie Retractable “Autographs for Education” Ford during this weekend’s Food City 500 race at Bristol Motor Speedway: kids and alcohol don’t mix. For more information about Diageo, its people, brands, and performance, visit diageo.com.(Alan Taylor Communications)(4-1-2005)
- ‘Bill Elliott Day’ gets approval: The Georgia General Assembly has decided the state needs to pay tribute annually to native son and race car great Bill Elliott. Legislation won final approval Thursday for an annual “Bill Elliott Day in Georgia” on Oct. 8. Here’s what lawmakers said about Elliott: “The General Assembly finds that a Georgia family’s proud tradition of racing began in Dawsonville, Georgia, under the tutelage and guiding hand of George Elliott. George’s young son Bill began to demonstrate at an early age a natural skill and competitive racing instinct at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, and in 1976, at the tender age of 20, Bill Elliott entered his first Winston Cup race and launched a career that would span decades.(Atlanta Journal-Constitution)(4-1-2005)
- #14 team scales down number of races it’ll run AND: ppc Racing officials announced today its #14 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series program with driver John Andretti will cut back its full-time operations to a part-time schedule effective immediately. The team made five starts last year with Andretti and the first three races in the 2005 season, including the Daytona 500. Car Owner, Greg Pollex, talked about today’s announcement: “We started our cup program last year with the #14 car with the intent of being competitive and we want to continue that initiative in 2005,” said Pollex. “We did not anticipate the major shift in the qualifying rules which force a non-locked-in team to qualify for a race or to go home, as it happened to us in Atlanta. The combination of the new qualifying rules and the fact that most events are impound races is a combination that does not work when you are forced to use a qualifying setup just to make the field. A qualifying set up will not race competitively. We have decided to turn our efforts to improving down force on our bodies to assist in the qualifying effort. This will also allow our primary cup sponsor to regroup their sponsorship package for the remainder of the year. In the near future we will announce a part-time schedule for this year and return stronger than ever full time in 2006.”
In addition, Pollex noted ppc Racing’s NASCAR Busch and Craftsman Truck Series programs will continue in their championship form in 2005 with no direct affect from today’s announcement.(ppc Racing), the team has withdrawn from Bristol, no schedule of races was mentioned.(3-30-2005)
UPDATE: have heard some of the over-the-wall crew have left the team.(4-1-2005)
- NASCAR NEXTEL CUP – Qualifying Notes – Bristol:
* Elliott Sadler won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Bud Pole for the Food City 500, lapping Bristol Motor Speedway in 15.022 seconds at 127.733 mph. Ryan Newman holds the track-qualifying record of 14.908 seconds, 128.709 mph, set March 21, 2003.
* This is the 42nd Bud Poe for Robert Yates Racing. Those Bud Poles have come with six different drivers: Dale Jarrett (16), Ernie Irvan (10, Davey Allison (six), Ricky Rudd (four), Kenny Irwin (three) and Sadler (three).
* This is Sadler’s third career Bud Pole in 218 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races. His most recent Bud Pole was at Talladega in September 2003.
* This is Sadler’s first Bud Pole and sixth top-10 start in 14 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is his third consecutive top-10 start here. It is his second top-10 start in 2005.
* Dave Blaney posted the second-quickest qualifying lap of 15.056 seconds, 127.444 mph, and will join Sadler on the front row for the Food City 500. It is second top-10 start in nine races at Bristol. It is his first start better than 27th this season.
* This is the second Bud Pole for Ford in 2005. Dodge also has two Bud Poles and Chevrolet has one.
* Rusty Wallace (third) posted his first start better than 21st in 2005. It is his best start at Bristol since he won the Bud Pole here in August 2000.
* Jeff Gordon (fourth) scored his 22nd top-10 start in 25 races at Bristol. It is his first top-10 start this season.
* Travis Kvapil (fifth) posted his career-best and his second top-10 start in 2005.
* There were five sets of ties in this qualifying session: Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield (seventh and eighth); Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle (ninth and 10th); Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Ricky Rudd (19th and 20th); Dale Jarrett and Mike Wallace (21st and 22nd); Scott Wimmer and Shane Hmiel (32nd and 33rd) The ties were broken by 2004 owner points.
* There have been eight different Bud Pole winners in the last 13 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Bristol Motor Speedway, but only three in the past seven. Jeff Gordon (four), Ryan Newman (two) and Rusty Wallace (two) are the repeat Bud Pole winner in the 12-race period.
* Forty-eight races at Bristol have been won from the first four starting positions (54 percent).
* Only 15 races have been won from a starting position outside the top 10, including five of the past eight.
* The furthest back in the field that a Bristol race winner has started was 38th by Elliott Sadler in the 2001 Food City 500.
* Kurt Busch is the defending champion of the Food City 500. He has won the last three spring races and four of the last six races at Bristol.(NASCAR Statistical Services)(4-1-2005)
- UPS partners up with Bristol and Texas: UPS announced that it has entered into a new partnership with Speedway Motorsports, Inc., (SMI) to become an exclusive track sponsor of Bristol Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. This new partnership is introduced on the heels of an earlier announcement in regards to UPS’s new relationships with California Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Richmond International Raceway. The addition of Bristol and Texas to the UPS family of race tracks that has also included Daytona International Speedway since 2001 provides UPS with a presence at a variety of geographic locations visited by the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. Beyond branding presence at the tracks, UPS will coordinate both outbound and inbound shipments, including ticket packages and merchandise for vendor concessions.(UPS Racing)(4-1-2005)
- Sports Clips to Join Wallace on the #6: Sport Clips has agreed to be an associate sponsor on the #6 Ray Evernham Motorsports Dodge driven by Mike Wallace in the NASCAR Busch Series race this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Sport Clips is in their second year of building their brand through NASCAR. The Georgetown, TX-based enterprise currently has 235 stores in 26 states. Targeting men and boys, (Sport Clips PR)(4-1-2005)
2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997