April 4, 2013
- Hamlin will go to Martinsville; hopes to return at Richmond: Showing minimal aftereffects of the crash that has sidelined him in Sprint Cup, Denny Hamlin was in good spirits and solid stature Wednesday at Joe Gibbs Racing. He smiled broadly while holding his 2-month-old daughter, Taylor. He joked with reporters. He seemed relatively ambulatory while walking around the shop wearing a back brace beneath his black FedEx polo shirt. But his discontent with Logano hasn’t.
“I don’t blame him for the particular injury,” Hamlin said in his first extensive interview since returning home last week from an overnight hospital stay. “I do for the wreck. The injury was circumstantial. A wreck on a 2-mile speedway, you risk getting hurt. That frustrates me the most. Listening to him say, ‘I’m sure Denny’s fine, these cars are safe.’ That really gets to me because he’s taking for granted no matter how hard you wreck, you’re going to be fine.
[Hamlin] is hopeful of returning by the April 27 race at Richmond International Raceway, which would be two races earlier than the original prognosis of a six-week recovery. But the return will be dictated by doctors, who aren’t expected to scan his back to assess his progress for at least another two to three weeks. That won’t keep him Sunday from Martinsville Speedway, where he is planning to be on the pit box watching Mark Martin pilot his #11 Toyota.
Hamlin, though, doesn’t think NASCAR should take any punitive action [against Logano] because of the “self-policing” philosophies often employed by drivers. Tony Stewart went after Logano after the Fontana race because he was unhappy with a blocking maneuver and vowed to retaliate. See much more at USA Today.(4-4-2013)
- Mayfield’s motion to throw out search warrant denied: Former NASCAR Driver Jeremy Mayfield was hoping a ruling from a judge Wednesday would solve his legal troubles in Catawba County. Instead, the ruling means he likely will go to trial on charges of possession of stolen goods, possession of methamphetamine and several other charges. Mayfield’s attorneys had filed a motion to throw out a search warrant that was obtained by law enforcement in 2011 and led to the discovery of what authorities believe were stolen goods and methamphetamine in Mayfield’s Catawba County home. The defense argued that there was no credible basis for the warrant to be issued. Catawba County Sheriff’s Lt. Aaron Turk testified he obtained the warrant after speaking with an informant. Turk said the informant was John Franklin, a convicted felon who was facing more drug charges when he spoke with him. He was killed last year in a motorcycle wreck while fleeing from police. His girlfriend, who was riding with him, died as well. Methamphetamine was found on the motorcycle after the wreck. Despite that, the court ruled that the search warrant was properly handled and denied the defense motion to throw it out.(WBTV)(4-4-2013)
- United Mining Equipment adds to sponsorship of Yeley: Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) heads up to Martinsville Speedway for some short track racing after a weekend off for Easter. Dave Blaney will have SANY America on board his #7 Chevy SS again for a fifth time this season. JJ Yeley and the #36 Chevy SS recently signed on again with United Mining Equpiment (UME), after recent success in Bristol, TN. track in Virginia. His best finish came in 2006, when he ended the race in 20th position.(TBR)(4-4-2013)
- Mears to promote Distracted Driving Awareness Month: The month of April is underway and it serves as Distracted Driving Awareness Month. For the second straight year, DRIVE SMART Virginia, GEICO and Germain Racing will partner to bring attention to one of our nation’s biggest hazards, distracted driving. Casey Mears will carry the DRIVE SMART Virginia logo on his #13 GEICO Ford Fusion for the Martinsville and Richmond Sprint Cup Series races on April 7th and April 27th. Mears and his GEICO team will help deliver the message that ‘driving distractions can be deadly& buckle up, phone down’.(Player Management International)(4-4-2013)
- Fifth Third Bank making first appearance on #17: Fifth Third Bank will make its 2013 debut with the two-time Nationwide Champion, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. this weekend at Martinsville for the STP Gas Booster 500. This will be the Sprint Cup rookie’s first attempt at the famed paper-clip half-mile track. Fifth Third Bank joined Roush Fenway Racing in 2012 and will continue to serve as a primary sponsor for the #17, as Stenhouse and the team fight for the Rookie of the Year honors. The next scheduled event for Fifth Third Bank is Kentucky Speedway on June 29, 2013. Stenhouse ran a # 6 Fifth Third Ford Fusion in the 2012 Sprint Cup finale last season at Homestead.(Roush Fenway)(4-4-2013)
- 811 Logo returns to the #22: Shell and the Common Ground Alliance have teamed up for a fifth consecutive season to raise awareness for 811, the national “Call Before You Dig” hotline. Shell will leverage its sponsorship with Penske Racing around seven races this season in a continued effort to protect America’s underground infrastructure. As in previous years, the #22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion will carry the 811 logo during National Safe Digging Month in April. Due to the program’s continued success, new races have been added this year, as Shell-Pennzoil driver Joey Logano will feature a large Call 811 logo on the deck lid of his car during races in Talladega on May 5 and Sonoma on June 23. Even small projects like planting trees or shrubs require a call to 811. The quick and easy call will connect you with a local One Call Center operator who will record information about your dig location and notify the underground facility operators so they can mark the approximate location of underground utilities and pipelines. Once the lines are marked, you can begin to dig, but always dig with care.(Shell Penzoil)(4-4-2013)
- 600th NASCAR start for Earnhardt, Jr: This weekend’s race will mark Earnhardt’s 475th start in a sanctioned Sprint Cup points-paying event and his 600th overall in NASCAR competition. He also has tallied 125 starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. In those 599 starts, Earnhardt has 42 wins, 167 top-five finishes, 267 top-10s, 21 pole positions and 10,540 laps led. With 19 Cup wins, Earnhardt is tied for 38th on the all-time Sprint Cup winner’s list and ranks 11th among active, full-time drivers. In 474 Cup starts, Earnhardt also has 108 top-five finishes, 187 top-10s and 11 pole positions.(Hendrick Motorsports)(4-4-2013)
- Chassis selections for this weeks race: see the list of many teams [that report or post these] and what chassis were selected by the team to run at Martinsville on the Martinsville Race Info page – Chassis selection area.
- Martinsville Tire Notes: Teams in both NASCAR series in action at Martinsville this week will run the same tire codes, though the Sprint Cup tires will be branded “Goodyear Eagle,” while the Camping World Truck tires will be branded “Goodyear Wrangler” . . . this is the first time these teams have run on either of these two tire codes . . . compared to what was run at Martinsville last year, this left-side tire code (D-4588) features slight construction and compound changes, while this right-side code (D-4590) features a minor compound change and has slightly less gage (tread depth) . . . this tire set-up came out of a Goodyear test at Martinsville last August 7-8 . . . drivers and teams participating in that Gen-6 test were Carl Edwards in the No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, Kevin Harvick in the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 56 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota . . . as on most NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, teams will not run inner liners in their tires at Martinsville. (Goodyear), see tire codes, pressures, set limits and more on the Martinsville Race Info page – Goodyear section.(4-4-2013)
- Jeffrey Earnhardt to drive for JR Motorsports at Richmond: JR Motorsports announced via the latest JRM 360 episode, that Jeffrey Earnhardt will drive the #5 Chevy at Richmond International Raceway on April 26.(4-4-2013)
- Six-shooter celebration to remain at Texas: Firing six-shooters with blanks will remain a part of the Texas Motor Speedway Victory Lane celebration for the April 13 Sprint Cup race that will be sponsored by the National Rifle Association. Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage told ESPN.com last month he planned to meet with some Cup owners to see if they or their sponsors opposed having the six-shooters as part of the celebration because of a potential conflict with the NRA’s involvement. If some were opposed, Gossage said he would consider altering the tradition. He has since reconsidered. “The more thought I gave to it, the more I realized that it is purely a celebration,” Gossage said. “As you know, it’s been going on for a long time and is not affiliated with the NRA. As a result, I decided we would go through our normal Victory Lane celebration, including the Cowboy Boot Trophy, the cowboy hat and the six-shooters. It is my decision and I’m sure it will be fine.”(ESPN)(4-4-2013)
- Atlanta announces new public hospitality ticket upgrade: Already one of the few tracks in NASCAR to offer a tent-covered, pre-race gathering for race fans inside the track, Atlanta Motor Speedway is presenting customers the opportunity to gain even more access and amenities in 2013 with the announcement of the High Speed Hospitality ticket upgrade for ticket holders of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AdvoCare 500, Sunday, Sept. 1 at AMS. For only $60 per person, the AdvoCare 500 hospitality upgrade gives purchasers an infield hospitality package which includes a pit tour prior to the race, food and beverage, entertainment by a live DJ and a cash bar. Menu items for the afternoon include hot dogs, sirloin burgers, fried chicken, coleslaw, potato salad, corn on the cob, peach pie, iced tea and lemonade. Spectator gates for the AdvoCare 500 will open at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 1, and the hospitality tent will open at 3:00 p.m. Pit tours will be offered from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., with the hospitality tent closing at 8:00 p.m., just following the green flag of the AdvoCare 500.(AMS)(4-4-2013)
- Starr, Miller reunited: Martinsville is a special place for David Starr who scored his last victory in the Truck Series at the paperclip-shaped short track back in 2006. Adding to the excitement of the weekend is that David will be re-united with old friend and long-time crew chief Jason Miller at Martinsville. Bryan Berry, who called the shots for Starr in Daytona, took a reduced schedule to spend more time with his family. Additionally, supporting Starr’s Toyota this weekend will be the Steely Lumber Company of Huntsville, Texas. Family-owned Steely Lumber has been in business since 1896. Specializing in yellow pine decking, Steely Lumber is among the largest and most efficient in the South producing more than 40,000,000 board feet of dimension lumber annually.(SS Green Light Racing PR)(4-4-2013)
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