April 5, 2010
- The Entry List for the Subway Fit Fresh 600(k) Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway is posted, 47 teams/drivers [for 43 spots] are listed, including:
Not in top 35 of owners points for the first five races in 2010:
#02-Brandon Ash (0/0)
#09-Aric Almirola (2009 race winner as owner)(45/6)
#13-Max Papis (39/6)
#26-David Stremme (2009 race winner as owner)(38/6)
#35-Johnny Sauter (48/2)
#36-Mike Bliss (37/6)
#46-Terry Cook (46/6)
#55-Michael McDowell (41/6)
#66-Dave Blaney (42/6)
#87-Joe Nemechek (40/6)
#90-Scott Riggs (43/6)
In the event qualifying is rained out or cancelled:
the eight who would make it [8]: #’s 26,09,7,36,13,87,55,66
missing the race would be [4]: #’s 90,46,35,02
See the full entry list at my Jayski’s Phoenix Entry List(4-5-2010) - Journalist to be honored: Ken Willis emerged from two rounds of voting as the 2010 Henry T. McLemore Award winner. The McLemore Award is given to a journalist with an outstanding career of distinguished motorsports reporting. The voting panel consists of former McLemore winners. Willis, 47, is the sports columnist at the Daytona Beach News-Journal, where he’s worked for more than 25 years. While Willis writes about a variety of sports — his “Hey Willie!” column is followed by readers across the country — he has a key interest and keen insight into motorsports, especially topics related to NASCAR. The father of two has won numerous state, regional and national awards for his work and is considered one of the top writers in his field. Willis refuses to pull punches. He is not afraid to discuss difficult issues head-on using humor as his weapon of choice. For instance, when discussing how driver Matt Kenseth might celebrate a big victory or championship, Willis wondered out loud in a column if the low-key Sprint Cup driver would “paint the town plaid.” Willis and Kenseth had a humorous exchange on the subject during Kenseth’s post-race interview following his 2009 Daytona 500 victory. Willis, who lives in Port Orange, Fla., will be honored by his peers in a ceremony this summer.(4-5-2010)
- UNC Asheville Professor Releases Landmark Book on History of NASCAR: How did NASCAR evolve from moonshine running and dirt tracks to a billion dollar industry and the biggest spectator sport in the United States? A new book by Daniel S. Pierce, University of North Carolina at Asheville associate professor of history, takes an unprecedented look into NASCAR’s history and reveals a story that racing fans and Southern historians alike will find compelling. “Real NASCAR: White Lightning, Red Clay, and Big Bill France” (UNC Press, April 2010) examines the sport from its postwar beginnings on Piedmont North Carolina dirt tracks and Daytona Beach dunes through the early 1970s when the sport spread beyond its southern roots and gained national recognition. And in a fascinating and controversial twist, Pierce also confirms the popular notion of NASCAR’s origins in bootlegging and establishes beyond a doubt the close ties between organized racing and the illegal liquor industry. Though Pierce grew up within earshot of the former Asheville Speedway, he didn’t fall in love with NASCAR until a college roommate urged him to attend a race at Bristol Motor Speedway in 1994. Pierce was an instant convert and has since interwoven his passion for the sport with his profession in studying Southern history. He put in countless hours talking with the founding fathers of the sport. Pierce started collecting interviews for “Real NASCAR” more than 10 years ago. The book includes conversations with Ned Jarrett, Humpy Wheeler, Bobby Isaac, Junior Johnson and Big Bill France himself, among many others.
Perhaps the most compelling part of the book is the confirmation that racing had early ties to moonshining. “When I first started doing research on NASCAR, I thought I would prove that the whole moonshine connection was overblown and exaggerated,” said Pierce. “As I put it in the introduction, however, ‘The deeper I looked, the more liquor I found.’ Bootleggers and moonshiners were at the very core of early Piedmont stock car racing and the early days of NASCAR. The illegal industry not only provided the most talented and successful drivers, but the best mechanics, car owners, promoters and race track builders and owners.” Moonshine and fast cars were a natural way to draw students into studying history, said Pierce, who has offered a class on NASCAR and involved students in the research process for “Real NASCAR.” Those students who worked alongside Pierce found that he is not the archetypical tweed-wearing college professor. For instance, he has the whole side of a Dodge Challenger previously driven by Dave Blaney bolted to his office wall.
Pierce, an Asheville native, holds a doctorate in history from the University of Tennessee. A noted NASCAR historian, Pierce has written widely on the topic, including encyclopedia articles and an entry on “The Most Southern Sport on Earth: NASCAR and the Unions” for the Journal of Southern Culture. He also detailed the sport’s bootlegging past for a History Channel special on Appalachian history. Pierce is also the author of “The Great Smokies: From Natural Habitat to National Park,” which was the inaugural selection for Tennessee Reads, a book club featuring titles from the University of Tennessee Press. For more information or to read and excerpt from “Real NASCAR,” visit uncpress.unc.edu.(4-5-2010) - Get The VIP Treatment At Talladega In The Trackside Fan Suite: Talladega Superspeedway has a special offer for the race fan that demands the ultimate in comfort and luxury…. the Trackside Fan Suite hospitality package.The Trackside Fan Suite Package includes:
· Pass into the Trackside Fan Suite Friday, Saturday and Sunday
· 1 Suite/Hospitality parking pass per two Suite passes
· Pre-Race pit passes (Saturday and Sunday only) allowing guests access to pit road until 1 hour prior to track activity
· Event souvenirs Friday and Saturday
· Sunday souvenir race program
Inside the luxury suite, guests will find:
· Closed-circuit televisions
· Private restrooms
· Catering for breakfast, buffet lunch and beverages (water, soda, wine and beer)
· Cash bar available
Each Individual Suite Package is $700 and available by calling the Talladega Superspeedway Ticket Office at 1-877-Go2-DEGA, (1-877-462-3342).(TSS)(4-5-2010) - Darlington racing green: The green flag will be greener than ever as it signals the start of the Darlington 200 and Southern 500 races at Darlington Raceway May 7-8. For the first time, all the electrical needs of these NASCAR races will be met with 100 percent Green Power. The raceway dubbed “Too Tough To Tame” goes green that weekend with the help of Santee Cooper and Pee Dee Electric Cooperative. Darlington Raceway has purchased Green-e Energy Certified Green Power blocks and tags offered by Pee Dee Electric Cooperative and Santee Cooper. Toy Nettles, president and CEO of Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, said, “Pee Dee Electric Cooperative is extremely proud to partner with Darlington Raceway in providing 100% Green Power for the entire NASCAR weekend, including the Darlington 200 and the fan favorite Southern 500. These races will be run under the glow of the “Green-e” logo and all the rigorous standards it represents.” Santee Cooper has over 21 megawatts of clean, renewable Green Power from sources including landfill biogas and solar power. In fact, Santee Cooper is the only utility generating Green Power in South Carolina, and Pee Dee Electric Cooperative promotes Green Power sales to its 30,000 customers. Green-e Marketplace provides forward-thinking organizations with a simple, nationally recognized logo they can use to communicate their commitment to renewable energy to their customers and shareholders. The Green-e logo is the nation’s leading symbol of renewable energy excellence and distinguishes Green-e Marketplace participants as environmental leaders. Green-e is a program of Center for Resource Solutions, a nonprofit that creates policy and market solutions to advance sustainable energy. To learn more, visit Center for Resource Solutions and Green-e Marketplace. Incorporated in 1939, Pee Dee Electric Cooperative serves parts of six counties in northeastern South Carolina. The 30,000-plus members of the electric distribution co-op live in Darlington, Marion, Florence, Lee, Dillon and Chesterfield counties.(Darlington Raceway)(4-5-2010)
- Steve Wallace breaks foot: UPDATE: 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)
UPDATE: Rusty Wallace Racing driver Steve Wallace suffered two small breaks in his right foot in a Nationwide Series crash Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway but plans to race in the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 Friday at Phoenix International Raceway, team vice president Greg Wallace said. “He will use a specially-modified driving shoe on his right foot and his overall recovery time will likely last just over a month,” Greg Wallace, who is Steve’s brother, said in an e-mail.(Scene Daily)(4-5-2010)
- Sauter in the #23 at Phoenix? UPDATE – YES: 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)
UPDATE: For this Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, Johnny Sauter will make a one-race appearance driving the #23 Chevy for R3 Motorsports. Sauter, a three-time winner in the series, was called upon to help keep the team’s upward momentum in the all-important Owner’s Points standings. Coming into last week’s race at Nashville Superspeedway, the #23 team was 31st in points trailing 30th by 15 markers. After a solid performance by the team’s regular driver, Robert Richardson, Jr., en route to a 23rd-place finish in Nashville, the team heads to PIR tied for 29th in points with the #61 team. The team is hoping that utilizing a veteran like Sauter will aid them even more in the tight ownership standings.(R3 Motorsports PR)(4-5-2010)
- WYPALL sponsoring Phoenix November race: Phoenix International Raceway announced that Kimberly-Clark Professional and its WYPALL Brand of heavy duty and general purpose cleaning wipers will be the title sponsor of the track’s November NASCAR Nationwide Series race. The WYPALL 200 Powered by Kimberly-Clark Professional is the first such race entitlement partnership for WYPALL in NASCAR.(PIR pR)(4-5-2010)
- Sauter in the #23 at Phoenix NNS race: UPDATE confirmed: 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 owner 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)
UPDATE: For this Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, Johnny Sauter will make a one-race appearance driving the #23 Chevrolet for R3 Motorsports. Sauter, a three-time winner in the series, was called upon to help keep the team’s upward momentum in the all-important Owner’s Points standings. Coming into last week’s race at Nashville Superspeedway, the No. 23 team was 31st in points trailing 30th by 15 markers. This will also reunite Sauter with crew chief Steve Plattenberger. The two last worked together at Jay Robinson Racing in 2007.(R3 Motorsports PR)(4-5-2010)
- Karthikeyan receives prestigious award from India: Narain Karthikeyan (#60 Safe Auto Insurance/Wyler.com Toyota) will receive India’s prestigious Padma Shri Award on Wednesday in ceremonies at the presidential palace in New Delhi. The honor will be bestowed by India’s President, Pratibha Pratil. The Padma Shri Award recognizes a citizen’s exceptional and distinguished contribution in various spheres of activity. Karthikeyan, the first native of India to compete in Formula 1, is being honored along with five of India’s noteworthy sporting figures: Virender Sehwag and Ramakant Vithal Achrekar (cricket), Saina Nehwal (badminton), Ignace Tirkey (field hockey) and Vijender Singh (boxing). Karthikeyan, who finished 13th in his NCWTS debut at Martinsville Speedway, expects to rejoin the series at Kansas on May 2.(NASCAR PR)[For more of NASCAR’s off-week notes visit the Kansas Race Page.](4-5-2010)
- Brackett to attempt six more races; first up, Dover: Dale Brackett may not have qualified for his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Martinsville Speedway two weeks ago, but it doesn’t have him down. In fact, he’s thinking much more positively now than he was before the event. The 31 year-old Maine racer took what he described as “a huge jump” by breaking into the Truck series. His wife, Valerie, purchased two trucks from Tim Bainey, Jr.’s team with the modest goal of her husband — a former asphalt racer at Unity (Maine) Raceway and dirt Late Model driver in the Carolinas — simply qualifying for races and getting approved to run bigger tracks. Brackett fell victim to the NASCAR rulebook when qualifying was cancelled by rain, and as a first-timer with the series and no provisional starting spot to fall back on, he was sent home to Maine. He [Brackett] will focus on returning to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in six more events: Dover Int’l Speedway (May 14), O’Reilly Raceway Park (July 23), Bristol Motor Speedway (Aug. 18), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Sept. 18), a return trip to Martinsville (Oct. 23), and the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19. “We’re running Homestead so that NASCAR can hopefully declare us eligible to run the superspeedways,” Brackett explained. “I don’t want to be a big talker, and it all depends on sponsorship of course, but we’re looking at racing the full schedule in 2011.”(Vermont Motorsports Magazine)(4-5-2010)
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