April 4, 2010
- Kannapolis offering brick program for Dale Earnhardt tribute site: Kannapolis is offering new brick packages for the N.C. city’s Dale Earnhardt tribute site on Main Street. Fans can purchase one brick for $33 or three bricks for $88. Proceeds will help complete the site as originally designed, said Gary Mills, Kannapolis Parks & Recreation director. On Main Street between A and B streets, the one-acre Dale Earnhardt Plaza features a statue by Arizona sculptor Clyde Ross Morgan honoring the hometown hero and racing legend. The granite base of the statue pedestal is divided into seven sections to represent Earnhardt’s seven championships. Earnhardt’s 76 Cup wins are commemorated by the seat wall around the statue square in the center of the plaza, which is designed for 76 granite sections. Those sections aren’t in place, but are on the fundraising list, city officials said. The walk around the plaza is an oval, representing a race track. To represent Earnhardt’s car number, azaleas and daylilies around the center seat wall are planted in sets of three, and benches along the oval walk are also grouped in sets of three. Eight lights shine on the statue, representing the car numbers of Dale’s father, Ralph Earnhardt, and his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. The statue of Earnhardt faces “Idiot’s Circle,” around which teenagers in Dale’s day drove on weekends to socialize. Dale is rumored to have learned to drive and turn left there. Each brick can have up to three lines etched, with 16 characters per line, including spaces and punctuation marks. Inscriptions can communicate non-commercial messages only. Company names can be used, but phone numbers, e-mail and Web addresses, slogans, sales pitches and logos won’t be allowed. Where each brick will be placed isn’t guaranteed, officials said. Order forms are available at www.cityofkannapolis.com. Click on the forms and documents section of the Parks & Recreation page. For more details, call the Kannapolis Parks & Recreation Department at 704-920-4343.(Charlotte Observer)(4-4-2010)
- DuPont hospitality program experiences a revival: DuPont’s once robust NASCAR hospitality program suffered enormous cuts last year, but the longtime #24- Jeff Gordon sponsor is back in 2010 with more guests and events at each track. Just a few years ago, DuPont had the largest hospitality program in NASCAR, hosting
guests at every race on the Sprint Cup circuit, a number that reached 20,000 people a year. Their guests ranged from body-shop owners who used DuPont paint to building contractors who bought the Tyvek brand of house wrap. The company would bring as many as 1,000 people to a race, and virtually the entire focus of the sponsorship was based on creating business-to-business activity. DuPont entertained customers with meals, question-and-answer sessions with Gordon and bags of swag, all the while making new relationships or deepening existing ones. But DuPont hospitality was largely a casualty of the recession in 2009. Instead of entertaining at all 36 Cup events as it had done in the past, DuPont cut back to six races and 2,000 guests, 10% of what it used to do. DuPont wasn’t the only corporate entity slashing its spend. Tracks reported that revenue from hospitality was down 20 to 25% last year. What DuPont discovered, though, was how important the hospitality program was to its sales. So in 2010, it’s back with hospitality events at 23 races, and it’ll entertain 4,000 to 5,000 guests. Those numbers are still a fraction of what used to be the biggest hospitality program in NASCAR, but it’s a start. DuPont’s revival in 2010 comes at a pivotal time in its sponsorship, having renewed its league deal as the official auto finish, a distinction it has had since 2003. The team deal with Gordon and #24 car owner Hendrick Motorsports expires at the end of this year, and renewal discussions are ongoing, although it’s uncertain if DuPont will maintain its current commitment level as the primary sponsor for 75% of Gordon’s Sprint Cup races. National Guard and Pepsi are the other sponsors on Gordon’s car. DuPont owns the longest-running driver-sponsor-owner relationship in NASCAR, having sponsored Gordon since he first started driving the #24 in 1992.(Sporting News/SportsBusiness Journal)(4-4-2010) - Biffle Off to Career-Best Start: After finishing 10th at Martinsville Speedway, #16-Greg Biffle became only the second driver in the last 18 years to start the season with six consecutive top-10 finishes. #48-Jimmie Johnson was the last driver to do so in 2005 when he started the season with seven consecutive top-10 finishes. Before Johnson, Terry Labonte started the season with eight consecutive top-10 finishes. Others include Morgan Shepherd who started the 1990 season with eleven consecutive top-10 finishes. Ricky Rudd was another driver who started the season with six consecutive top-10 finishes, in 1991. Since 1980, only Dale Earnhardt had six straight top-10 finishes to start the season and win the Sprint Cup championship in that season.(4-4-2010)
- NASCAR parks Leffler for retaliation on Buescher:: Showing that a payback that ends another car’s day is unacceptable, NASCAR parked Braun Racing’s #38-Jason Leffler for retaliating against Phoenix Racing’s #1-James Buescher during the Nashville 300 at Nashville Superspeedway. The situation began shortly after the start of the race Saturday when Buescher had gotten loose underneath Leffler, and Leffler hit the wall hard on lap 43. It took more than 60 laps for Leffler’s team to repair his car, and at lap 143, Leffler ran into the side of Buescher, whose car slammed into the outside wall and briefly caught fire. After the seven laps under caution, Leffler was sent to the garage by NASCAR for the day. He finished 39th, and possibly could have finished 32nd – a difference of 21 points. Leffler didn’t totally admit that he did it on purpose. Buescher obviously thought it was intentional. And NASCAR Nationwide Series Director Joe Balash said it appeared intentional. Balash said NASCAR will take another look at the incident this week to see if there will be any further penalties.(Scene Daily)(4-4-2010)
- Steve Wallace breaks foot: Steve Wallace twittered Sunday, “Well I broke my right foot In 2 different spots it hurts like hell but I’m tuff and I will race at pheonix.” Wallace was involved in an accident on Lap 115 of the Nashville race.(4-4-2010)
- Sauter in the #23 at Phoenix?: R3 Motorsports hopes to enter Johnny Sauter in the team’s #23 Chevy in next weekend’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Speedway. R3 moved into a tie for 29th-place tie in the Nationwide owners standings, locking the team into the race at Phoenix. The team hopes the veteran Sauter can keep the #23 in the top 30. Sauter drove for Baker Curb Racing in Nashville, finishing 13th.(NNS Racing)(4-4-2010)
- Harvick wins Dash 4 Cash: #33-Kevin Harvick took home more than the Gibson Les Paul Trophy guitar after winning Saturday’s race at Nashville Superspeedway — thanks to Nationwide Insurance’s Dash 4 Cash bonus. Harvick won $25,000 in the first Nationwide Insurance Dash 4 Cash race of the 2010 season. Nationwide Insurance introduced Dash 4 Cash, a first-of-its-kind bonus program for the Nationwide Series, in 2009. This year, the four races in the Dash 4 Cash bonus program are at Nashville (April 3), Kentucky Speedway (June 12), Iowa Speedway (July 31) and Texas Motor Speedway (Nov. 6). Just like last year, eligible winners at each of the Dash 4 Cash races will receive an additional $25,000 bonus. If the race winner is not eligible, the prize money rolls to the next Dash 4 Cash race. This year’s season-ending bonus for the driver accumulating the most points in the four-race program is up to $75,000, a nice raise from the $50,000 bonus in 2009. In addition, to be eligible for the year-end bonus, drivers cannot participate in more than seven Sprint Cup Series races during the season. The 2010 Dash 4 Cash bonus program is open to all Nationwide Series regulars and up-and-comers, including those who may not have a full-time Nationwide Series ride. Nationwide Series drivers with a full-time ride in Sprint Cup must enter every Nationwide Series event in order to qualify for the cash payouts in the four races.(Nationwide PR)(4-4-2010)
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