April 4, 2007
- Richmond Testing Day 2 Afternoon: Testing has wrapped up at Richmond International Raceway. The final session Wednesday afternoon had 59 cars with 48 drivers/teams. #2-Kurt Busch (Dodge) was the fastest of the session with a speed of 123.141 followed by #42A-Montoya (Dodge), #31A-Burton (Chevy), #22A-Blaney (Toyota) and #41X-Sorenson (Dodge). The fastest Ford was #17BA-Matt Kenseth in 19th. The slowest car during the session was #55B-Waltrip (Toyota) at 118.281.
Incidents: SpeedDaily.com reported the only incident in the session came when Jimmie Johnson spun on the frontstretch but did not make contact with anything.
The track record is 129.963mph set in 5/2004 by Kasey Kahne, in the two 2006 races the top qualfying speeds were 127.385 in May and 127.986 in Sept.
For speeds and notes during the test, see my Richmond Testing page for more, driver list and speeds.(4-4-2007)
- Domino’s pits Philly [go!] against Brooklyn….pizza: Domino’s Brooklyn-style pizza and its Philly Cheesesteak pizza will go head to head in consumer voting, with the winner getting a free ride on David Reutimann’s #00 Toyota. Domino’s, which co-sponsors the Michael Waltrip Racing car with Burger King, will run a special paint scheme featuring the style of pizza with the most votes, likely for the Nextel Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway on April 29. The promotion, expected to launch this week, will encourage consumers to vote for which style of pizza they prefer. A voting page will be established at dominos.com and teamdominos.com; web advertising on NASCAR.com will direct potential voters to the voting site. Print advertising also will be used to support the promotion. In addition to its team sponsorship, Domino’s owns status as NASCAR’s official pizza delivery through 2008.(Sporting News/SportsBusiness Journal), see images of the schemes on my #00 Team Schemes page.and voting on my #00 Team News and Links page.(4-4-2007)
- Ryan Burr Joins NASCAR Now as Host: Ryan Burr will join Erik Kuselias and Doug Banks sharing the host role of ESPN2’s NASCAR Now (6:30pm/et M-F, 10am and midnight Sundays) beginning tonight (Wednesday, April 4). Burr, who joined ESPN in August 2005 from FSN in Pittsburgh, will continue to anchor ESPNEWS. Burr said, “NASCAR Now is a wonderful opportunity to keep the NASCAR fans up to date on a daily basis, and I look forward to this next challenge in my broadcast career.” The Syracuse graduate added, “NASCAR is the fastest growing sport in this country — definitely a priority at ESPN, and the goal of NASCAR Now is to educate and entertain NASCAR fans everywhere.” ESPN2’s NASCAR Now, ESPN’s first daily program dedicated solely to NASCAR news and information, debuted February 5, 2007, and features highlights, opinion, debate, analysis, and the latest news from drivers, crew chiefs and insiders both on and off the track.(ESPN PR)(4-4-2007)
- Haas CNC Racing Inks “Sweet” Deal for Texas: Haas CNC Racing has announced a sponsorship agreement with Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce. Sweet Baby Ray’s will be an associate sponsor on the #66 Chevy Monte Carlo driven by Jeff Green for the Nextel Cup event at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway on April 15th. Sweet Baby Ray’s will also serve as the primary sponsor on the #08 Silverado driven by Blake Bjorklund in the Craftsman Truck Series event on June 8th. The Texas Motor Speedwy events were hand-picked because of the love for barbecue that exists in the Lone Star State. It all began back in 1985 when a local Chicago boy named Chef Larry perfected his family’s recipe for a sweet and tangy BBQ sauce and entered it into the country’s largest rib cook-off, the Mike Royko Rib-off. By 1994, Sweet Baby Ray’s distinctive bottle could be found on grill pits and dinner tables across the Midwest. Today Sweet Baby Ray’s R is the #1 premium BBQ sauce in grocery. It can be purchased at Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway and other retail stores across the country.(Moore Consulting Group PR)(4-4-2007)
- Rudd to be honored: Chesapeake VA native #88-Ricky Rudd will be inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame later this month, something he said is a little intimidating. “I’m honored to have the chance to go into a big, famous sports hall of fame,” Rudd said. “It’s more of a stick and ball sports state, there’s just a few guys in motorsports in there. I’m looking forward to it, and it’s something I hold in high regard.”(Richmond Times Dispatch). The ceremony is scheduled for April 28 at Portsmouth Renaissance Hotel and Waterfront Conference Center.(4-4-2007)
- NASCAR Stagnant? TV ratings are down for Nextel Cup races, International Speedway Corp., pulled the plug on its proposed track in Washington state and empty seats have been visible at some race this season. Has NASCAR fallen off? “All sports have growth spurts and reach plateaus at various times,” said John Saunders, ISC’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “NASCAR is not unique. What is unique is that this is NASCAR’s first time.” Saunders spoke on a conference call Tuesday with investor analysts as company officials discussed first-quarter earnings. ISC, run by the France family that also runs NASCAR, operates 12 tracks that host 19 Cup races, including at Daytona, Martinsville, Richmond, California and Phoenix. Monday night, ISC announced it dropped plans to build a $368 million race track near Bremerton, Wash., after legislators planned changes to a financing package. Saunders called the changes, which he did not reveal, “unacceptable to ISC” and that those changes would have “a significant negative impact on the project’s financial model.” Said ISC President Lesa France Kennedy in a statement: “Any decision to execute on growth opportunities is guided by the fundamental principal of building long-term value for our shareholders.” ISC officials say they remain interested in building a track in the Northwest and would still consider Washington. ISC officials also are studying the feasibility of a race track in Denver but that track, if ever developed, wouldn’t be ready until 2012. ISC ended its attempts to build a track on Staten Island in December, although it remains interested in that area. With no new track ready to be built soon, ISC officials said on the conference call they had no plans to move a Cup race from one track to another. Saunders also said TV ratings for Cup races are down about 14% from this time last year. He said Busch TV ratings are down about 9% and truck ratings are up about 3%. Saunders said most of the drop in Cup ratings came with the Daytona 500. Last year’s Daytona ratings were artificially boosted, Saunders said, by the Winter Olympics, which preceded the race. Ratings also were down for the California and Bristol races. Despite these examples, Saunders said, “we think the industry outlook is bright,” noting this is the first year of the eight-year TV package that pays NASCAR about $4.5 billion, the return of ESPN to broadcasting races and diversity initiatives to attract new fans, particularly the Hispanic audience.(Roanoke Times)(4-4-2007)
- Wax Smoke: Help Us Wax Smoke! $100,000 Fundraiser For Victory Junction Gang Camp. During the Daytona 500 pre-race show, Tony Stewart held up a photograph of Ronald McDonald that had been altered so it appeared that Kevin Harvick was wearing Ronald’s suit. Now, those of you who are familiar with Kevin know that he does not let a practical joke go unanswered. So here is Kevin’s retort: Kevin’s new colors may indeed be similar to those of Ronald McDonald, but have you seen Tony Stewart’s chest and back? Because Tony is such a great guy, he has offered up a solution to his follicle issues. Tony said on his SIRIUS satellite radio show, Tony Stewart Live, that if someone would raise $100,000 for charity, he would wax his chest and back. Who are we to pass up an offer like that? More info on Operation: Wax Smoke on my Racing Charities page.(4-4-2007)
- Tim Andrews Making ARCA Debut This weekend, Tim Andrews and the Cunningham Motorsports team head to the 1.33-mile, concrete-surfaced Nashville Superspeedway for Saturday’s ARCA 150. Saturday’s race will be Andrews first in his part-time schedule with Cunningham Motorsports in 2007. The team will compete in the ARCA Series as Andrews takes his next step in his driving career. Andrews won his first career NASCAR Busch East Series race at Dover International Speedway last September. Sunday’s race is his first race since. Andrews has been climbing the racing ladder all his life. Winning poles and races has been a part of life. Learning at the sports highest levels has been too. Andrews is the weekly race spotter for Nextel Cup veteran Kyle Petty. Each weekend, Andrews studies and witnesses first-hand what it takes to be a winner at the highest levels of professional racing. It’s that experience and his past winning marks that gives him an advantage this weekend. Andrews is the son of Petty Enterprises #43 crew chief Paul Andrews, who call the shots for Bobby Labonte and won a Cup championship with Alan Kulwicki in 1992.(Moore Consulting Group)(4-4-2007)
- Wyler Racing testing COT at RIR: Johnny Benson is testing the #46 Wyler Racing Toyota COT [Car of Tomorrow/Today] at Richmond International Raceway, April 3-4th. Wyler Racing fields a Toyota in the Truck Series for Jack Sprague and hopes to expand to a 2-truck operation sometime this season. The plan is to run Benson at the May 5th Nextel Cup race at Richmond if the test goes well and could run some other COT races.(4-3-2007)
UPDATE: “Johnny right now is strictly our test driver,” team president David Wyler said Tuesday afternoon. “He drove our COT down at Homestead this past year. [Team manager] Tony [Furr] is real comfortable with the feedback Johnny gave him at Homestead, so that’s why we’re bringing him here.” Wyler Racing currently fields a truck for Jack Sprague. Benson also drives for Toyota in trucks as part of the Bill Davis Racing stable. “There’s a lot of guys in the Toyota camp that would be a possibility [as a driver],” Wyler said. “We haven’t really focused on that. yet. Until we focus on our debut, then we’ll make that determination.” That debut date is still to be determined. “We haven’t determined when our [debut] is going to be,” Wyler said. “This is one of the steps to prepare us. We’ll know a lot more come tomorrow evening. Our main focus is running competitive. “We could go out there and run the next COT race, but I’m not going to do that unless we can be competitive. Until we get to that point, we’ll continue to test.”(SceneDaily.com)(4-4-2007)
- NASCAR Softball: Ten NASCAR Race Teams will be competing in Bob Hubner’s Totally Racin’ Softball League this season which starts April 10th. Michael Waltrip Racing will be looking to defend their 2006 title. Teams competing are: Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Red Bull, Roush Fenway Racing, Evernham Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing, Hendrick Motorsports 1, Hendrick Motorsports 2, Michael Waltrip Racing 1, Michael Waltrip Racing 2, Stock Car Steel/SRI. For more League and Team information visit racecityresumes.com.(4-4-2007)
- Richmond Testing Day 2 Afternoon: Testing has wrapped up at Richmond International Raceway. The final session Wednesday afternoon had 59 cars with 48 drivers/teams. #2-Kurt Busch (Dodge) was the fastest of the session with a speed of 123.141 followed by #42A-Montoya (Dodge), #31A-Burton (Chevy), #22A-Blaney (Toyota) and #41X-Sorenson (Dodge). The fastest Ford was #17BA-Matt Kenseth in 19th. The slowest car during the session was #55B-Waltrip (Toyota) at 118.281.
For all the speed during the test, see my Richmond Testing page for more, driver list and speeds.(4-4-2007)
- Richmond Testing Day 2 AM: The 2nd day [of two] of testing at Richmond International Raceway had 65 cars with 51 drivers/teams. #41X-Sorenson (Dodge) was the fastest of the session [and overall] with a speed of 123.215 followed by #46A-Benson (Wyler Racing Toyota), #2A-Busch (Dodge), #66G-Green (Chevy) and #31A-Burton (Chevy), The fastest Ford was #17A-Kenseth in 10th. The slowest driver [only testing one car] was #83-Vickers (Toyota) at 120.579 [62nd of 65] and the slowest car was #4B-Ward Burton at 119.121 [his #4A was 16th].
For all the speed so far, see my Richmond Testing page for more, driver list and speeds.(4-4-2007)
- Earnhardt’s #8 Team Captures Pit Crew Challenge Victory in Martinsville: Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s over-the-wall crew grabbed the Checkers/Rally’s Double Drive-Thru Challenge victory in Sunday’s Nextel Cup event at Martinsville Speedway. This is the #8 crew’s first win of the season in the weekly pit crew competition, which recognizes the team spending the least amount of time on pit road at each Nextel Cup event. Earnhardt’s Budweiser Chevrolet spent 281.110 seconds on pit lane during the Goody’s Cool Orange 500. “I’ve got a great bunch of guys and they’re as good as they get on pit lane,” said Earnhardt. “Everyone at DEI worked really hard to build us some great new cars, and the crew on Sunday was at their best. I lost the lead on the track, and they got it back for me on pit lane.” Earnhardt added, “It’s a great feeling to have that kind of confidence in your guys. It seemed like that was the easiest way for me to pass people. Come in to pit lane in fourth place, and leave in second.” Each week, Checkers/Rally’s awards the winning team with a cash prize of $11,000. The #8 pit crew includes: Brian “Hootie” Chase (jackman), Shawn Ward (front-tire carrier), D.J. Copp (front-tire changer), Erik Wakeland (rear-tire carrier), Greg Burkhart (rear-tire changer), Jeff Clark (gasman), Craig Lund (catch can) and Jay Guarneri (windshield). The team’s crew chief is Tony Eury Jr. and the pit crew coordinator is Walt Smith.
An additional $111,150 will be presented to the pit crew with the most wins at the completion of the 36-race Nextel Cup schedule. To win the Checkers/Rally’s Double Drive-Thru Challenge, teams are required to finish on the lead lap while spending the least amount of time on pit road. Checkers/Rally’s is in its third season as title sponsor for the pit crew challenge. Checkers/Rally’s is the Official Burger and Drive-Thru Restaurant of NASCAR, more info at checkers.com.
DALE Cups: As part of the “DALE” documentary honoring racing legend Dale Earnhardt, Sr., Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc. will offer Dale Earnhardt commemorative cups at most of its Checkers and Rally’s double drive-thrus nationwide. Produced in conjunction with the release of “DALE” the movie, the 42-ounce collectible Dale Sr. cups serve as a tribute to the life and legacy of one of NASCAR’s most respected and beloved drivers. The commemorative Dale Earnhardt racing cups will be available at most Checkers and Rally’s locations in April 2007.(DMF Communications PR)(4-4-2007) - Kinser making Busch Series debut at Nashville: Kraig Kinser will be making his Busch Series debut in the #4-Ginn Clubs & Resorts Chevy in the Pepsi 300 at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday, April 7th. Kinser currently drives the #47-Chevy truck for Ginn in partnership with Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, and is also splitting the driving duties in Ginn’s #4 Chevy in the Busch Series with Cup driver, Regan Smith.(4-4-2007)
- S+S Mack Records Sponsoring Mac Hill at Nashville: S+S Mack Records announced that they are joining forces with Mac Hill Motorsports for the Busch Series’ Pepsi 300 at Nashville. S+S Mack Records will sponsor the #56 race car, driven by Danny O’Quinn Jr. The hood of the #56 Mac Hill Motorsports Chevy will feature the album cover of Keith Bryant’s new album “Live It Slow,” which was released in stores earlier this month, and the logos for label and sister company Sixth Degree Entertainment will be visible, too.(Mac Hill PR), see an image on the Busch Series Paint Schemes Page.(4-4-2007)
- Get Well Gary Weisbaum: Get Well Gary. Those three words will ride along with the #25 FreeCreditReport.com Ford and the #35 McDonald’s Ford this weekend at Nashville. Team Rensi Motorsports Co-owner Gary Weisbaum is recuperating from a surgical procedure back in his hometown of Long Grove, IL. Weisbaum, along with Ed Rensi own the two-car NASCAR Busch Series team. Get Well Gary decals will be present on both Team Rensi Motorsports cars in Saturday’s Busch race.(Team Rensi PR)(4-4-2007)
- Mike Harmon Considering Limited Busch Schedule: Last week Mike Harmon announced that he, with the support of new co-owners Donnie Richardson and Eddie Netzloff, is considering a limited Busch schedule for 2007. Harmon is a regular on the ARCA RE/MAX Series and has not competed in the Busch Series since Daytona 2004. “There’s a chance we might run the Busch race at Nashville if everything goes well.” said Harmon. “If we don’t make Nashville we will attempt New Hampshire, Memphis, Milwaukee and the Busch races that do not conflict with the ARCA schedule. Our Busch car will be painted black and silver like the ARCA car and I have my old Busch number back, so, it will be the #44. However, for the Nashville race only, we will run the #48.”(Catchfence.com)(4-4-2007)
- Special Scheme for Hamlin at Nashville: The #42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge will carry some very special colors this weekend in Tennessee, ones that are very reminiscent of the late Davey Allison’s #28 Texaco/Havoline Ford.(KevinHamlin.com), see an image of the car on my Busch Series Paint Schemes Page.(4-4-2007)
- Haas CNC Racing announce sponsor for Texas races: Haas CNC Racing has announced a sponsorship agreement with Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce. Sweet Baby Ray’s will serve as the primary sponsor on the #08 Chevy driven by Blake Bjorklund in the Truck Series event at Texas Motor Speedway on June 8th. They will also be an associate sponsor on the #66 Monte Carlo driven by Jeff Green for the Nextel Cup event on April 15th.(Haas CNC Racing PR)(4-4-2007)
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