April 5, 2004
- NASCAR.com to go: Nextel Communications, the leading provider of fully integrated wireless communications services, Digital Orchid Inc., an innovator in the development, management and distribution of branded wireless applications, and NASCAR.COM, a division of Turner Sports Interactive, today announced that a suite of real-time wireless NASCAR.COM content applications and services are available to consumers on mobile devices offered on the Nextel network. NASCAR.COM TO GO is a subscription service that gives members access to view and share a variety of real-time NASCAR.COM content via their wireless devices. Subscribers receive breaking news and features from NASCAR.COM’s reporters, qualifying and race results, series standings, driver updates, as well as NASCAR.COM’s live timing and scoring leaderboard service. “We are excited to have Nextel as our partner for the NASCAR.COM wireless services. Applications like NASCAR.COM TO GO are key components of Nextel’s sponsorship of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, allowing all Nextel data users to access NASCAR.COM content in real-time on their mobile phone”, said Cindy Sisson, senior vice president of marketing and co-founder of Digital Orchid. Services available to Nextel subscribers includes NASCAR.COM Mobile, a wireless web site with NASCAR.COM news and NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series content, NASCAR.COM Alerts, a wireless messaging alert service that provides subscribers breaking news and event results, and NASCAR.COM TO GO, the first wireless java application created just for the NASCAR fan. NASCAR.COM TO GO is available on select Java-enabled color screen Nextel handsets, including the limited-edition NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series phones.
NASCAR.COM TO GO can be previewed and purchased at www.NASCAR.COM/mobile. NASCAR.COM TO GO is also preloaded on all 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series phones and all 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Drivers phones. Nextel i730 and i733 customers can download NASCAR.COM TO GO at no cost at www.iDENUpdate.com
To activate the subscription on 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series phones and all 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Drivers phones simply click on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series icon on the home page and click on the Get NASCAR.COM TO GO link. To activate the subscription on i730 and i733 phones, click on Net then Web Sites then Sports then Nextel Cup and then finally click on the Get NASCAR.COM TO GO link. Additional subscription fee of $9.99 for NASCAR.COM TO GO applies; Subscription service to Nextel Online Racing Connection data plan or any Nextel Online Web Access and Total Connect plan required.(TMCnet)(4-5-2004)
- Incomplete Early TV Ratings for Texas: Incomplete overnight Nielsen Media Research numbers show Fox’s broadcast of Sunday’s Samsung/RadioShack 500 drew a 5.6 rating and a 13 share, today’s Sports Business Daily reports. The Daily says Nielsen’s overnight numbers do not include figures from Albuquerque, N.M. Last year, the race drew a 5.8/12 overnight and final figures of 6.3/14.(NASCAR Scene Daily Newsletter)(4-5-2004)
- Official Auto Finance Co of NASCAR and Team Sponsor: Centrix Financial of Centennial, CO, has signed a sponsorship deal that makes it NASCAR’s official auto finance company and is negotiating with several Nextel Cup teams about car sponsorship, Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal reports. Columnist Terry Lefton says the first year of the deal includes “largely Internet advertising and some” TV and print components. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Lefton writes that the deal represents Centrix’s “biggest sports marketing expenditure to date.”(NASCAR Scene Daily Newsletter)(4-5-2004)
- 2nd Team for BAM? road courses UPDATE: BAM Racing, which owns the Nextel Cup #49 Schwan’s Dodge of Missouri driver Ken Schrader, will soon add a second car to its team. Eddie Jones, the team’s general manager, said the team will field a second car for both road races this year and perhaps for five other races. He said the team is close to a deal with a sponsor for the second car and have a deal with a driver whom he would not name. “Hopefully, within the next six weeks we’ll have more definite news on the second team,” Jones said. He did say the driver was a 32-year-old who is not currently driving stock cars.(Kansas City Star)(4-4-2004)
UPDATE: hearing the driver is Klaus Graf of Germany, a sports car driver who is entered by BAM Racing in the ARCA Race at Nashville Superspeedway this weekend.(4-5-2004)
- Assorted trivialities and historical notables:
The four tracks where Jeff Gordon has never won are Texas, Chicago, Phoenix and Homestead.
Elliott Sadler had finished in the top 10 only once in five previous Texas starts. He was 10th in 1999.
Elliott Sadler is one of 109 drivers to have won two or more Cup races. Among those with two are John Andretti, Ricky Craven, James Hylton, Elmo Langley, Steve Park and Jimmy Spencer.
Only Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have four top-five finishes this year. Kahne also has four top-10 finishes, though, while Earnhardt has five.
The entire top 10 in points is within 200 of first place.
Ricky Craven, Jeff Burton, Ricky Rudd and Michael Waltrip now occupy positions 30-33 in the standings.(Gaston Gazette)(4-5-2004)
- Nachos Please: As #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s and the team checked their two-way radios before the start of the race Sunday at Texas, they noticed their frequency was interrupted by a concession stand at the speedway. On one lap, Earnhardt Jr. got instructions from his spotter on traffic, the next lap he heard an order for nachos – in Spanish.(Augusta Chronicle)(4-5-2004)
- Wind Tunnel Viewers Choose Worst Drivers: The results are in and after six weeks of on-line balloting and 16,561 votes, Massachusetts was named “The State with the Worst Drivers” in a SPEED Channel poll featured on Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain. Each week for five weeks, 10 states were listed aphabetically and voted on at SPEEDTV.com. The top two vote getters each week moved into the final round. Listed below are the states that made the final round along with vote totals and percentages from the final week of voting:
* Massachusetts Votes: 456, 19%
* Florida Votes: 385, 16.1%
* California Votes: 379, 5.8%
* New York Votes: 292, 12.2%
* New Jersey Votes: 219,9.1%
* Ohio Votes: 205,8.5%
* Illinois Votes: 193, 8%
* Texas Votes: 146, 6.1%
* Virginia Votes: 70, 2.9%
* Maryland Votes: 53, 2.2%
Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain can be seen Mon-Thur at 10:00pm/et, for info on guests and re-air times, see my TV Listings page.(Speed Channel PR)(4-5-2004)
- Streak Over: #5-Terry Labonte’s ‘Did not finish’ [DNF’s] streak of 48 races without one, is over when the #5 Delphi Chevy’s engine died. Who is next? #29-Kevin Harvick at 46 straight races without a DNF.(4-5-2004)
- Sad News: A 42-year-old Houston man was found dead of apparent natural causes in his trailer on the Texas Motor Speedway campgrounds Sunday morning, an official said. Johnny Hill probably died from complications stemming from pneumonia, a spokesman with the Denton County Sheriff’s Department said. Hill’s friends found his body in the trailer about 9:30am/et Sunday.(Fort Worth Star Telegram)(4-5-2004)
- NASCAR reviews hard liquor ad ban: NASCAR officials may rescind their ban on sponsorships from hard liquor companies. “It’s under review,” says Jim Hunter, NASCAR’s vice president of communications. “We’re trying to do what’s right, weighing all the pros and cons.” NASCAR allows beer companies to sponsor cars, and in recent years also has allowed hard liquor companies to advertise their “malt beverage” products; Smirnoff vodka, for example, is not allowed, but Smirnoff Ice is allowed. If NASCAR does lift the ban, it could provide a boost to teams that are searching for sponsors.(USA Today)(4-5-2004)
- Gear Ratio Change? NASCAR is exploring ways to slow Nextel Cup cars by decreasing RPMs through different gear ratios. But Dale Earnhardt Inc. technical director Steve Hmiel says a gear rule change “would be a nightmare.” Teams are sending engine specialists to Europe to research the latest advancements in drive trains, and NASCAR is concerned that gains made by the top organizations will increase their advantage over the have-nots.(FoxSports/Sporting News)(4-5-2004)
- NASCAR to cut more off the spoiler? NASCAR officials have been considering new rules trimming another half-inch off the rear spoiler and limiting engine height, to limit use of exotic springs. However many teams are upset with that, and the lack of passing in yesterday’s race may force NASCAR to reassess those proposed changes. “Nothing against the NASCAR guys, but they don’t need to making an engine height rule like that,” crew chief Tony Eury Sr. says. “If they do that, then we can’t put the springs in the car we need to put in to make the car drive. If the car is up in the air, the car is going to push, and that’s exactly why we’re putting soft springs in the car. Now NASCAR wants to make a engine height rule, so we’ll have to putting a bigger frame in the car to keep the engine off the ground, and it will push worse.”(Winston Salem Journal)(4-5-2004)
- Sadler not pleased with Sauter: Rookie #30-Johnny Sauter drew the ire of the winner for the late-race maneuvers of his No. 30 Chevrolet. Several other lapped cars pulled aside for the battle between Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne in the closing laps, but Sauter chose to maintain his position. He finished three laps down in 24th. “He should have done like every other smart person and pulled over,” Sadler said. “There wasn’t anybody within half a straightaway of him. He pulled back in the groove and ran right on the bottom of 3 and 4, which is where I tried to run all day long. His awareness is hideous. I wish he would have left it down to me and Kasey to race. I was so focused on what [Sauter] was going to do, I forgot about [Kahne], and it almost cost me the race.”(Richmond Times Dispatch)(4-5-2004)
- New Engine Man for RYR: Engine man Mike Hawkins has joined Robert Yates Racing as the tuner for Dale Jarrett. Hawkins will be reunited with crew chief Mike Ford. They formerly worked at Evernham Motorsports.(FoxSports/Sporting News)(4-5-2004)
- Update on the #25 Draftshaft Problem: Drive shaft failures are rare. In fact, prior to Brian Vickers’ broken drive shaft at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series had gone more than a year since the last drive shaft failure, which seemingly victimizing the #10 Pontiac during practice at the 2003 Daytona 500. Whether or not the 10 car was a victim was answered in rather concrete terms when NASCAR levied a penalty against the team’s crew chief for the use of an illegal, and excessively lightweight, part in the drive train. Vickers’#25 GMAC Chevrolet has now lost two drive shafts in the last three races, first during Happy Hour at Atlanta and next during the race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Answering the obvious questions, NASCAR sources say that the two failures were caused by different problems. The first one was the result of improper installation while the second one was attributed a weak part that failed in battle. There is no evidence indicating that the team is doing anything irregular.(Ford Racing)(4-5-2004)
- Congrats – Nuptials, not NASCAR, at Kentucky Speedway: Lori Howell and Jack Petty, both of Burlington, started their engines together as a married couple Saturday at the Kentucky Speedway. The second wedding at the track, the Pettys nuptials took place in the Winner’s Circle in the center of the speedway. “I love the smell of the fuels. I love the sound of the racing engines,” said the new Mrs. Petty, 36. “We live it everyday.” While not directly related to the legendary racing Petty family, the couple enjoy car racing. The idea of the themed wedding came up after Howell visited the track to see her favorite driver, Jimmy Johnson, practice. Lori ran into Pam Mylor, an employee at the speedway, who told her the track hosted another wedding on Valentine’s Day 2003. “It’s something that people get involved with. It’s in their blood,” said Mylor, the track tour and banquet coordinator for corporate and social events. The Pettys’ wedding came complete with checkered flags and car-shaped chocolates on tables in Bluegrass Hall, behind the Winner’s Circle where the couple held their reception. The colors: blue and yellow. They match the Speedway and are Johnson’s signature colors, Howell said. The bridesmaids wore Kentucky blue dresses while the groomsmen sported the same shade in their vests. The bride and bridesmaids’ and centerpiece flowers followed the same two-color pattern. Lori wore a white chiffon gown and veil. Stephen Hoffman, who presided over the ceremony, has married couples on planes and trains and has presided over Star Trek weddings. He said weddings should be tailored to the bride’s and groom’s personalities. The non-denominational wedding before about 100 guests lasted about 30 minutes. With Hoffman’s “Gentlemen, start your engines,” the men revealed bottles of club soda, shook them and sprayed them on the newlyweds – a Winner’s Circle tradition.(Cincinnati Enquirer)(4-5-2004)
- Newman still not happy about No SAFER at Texas: #12-Ryan Newman’s bid to become the first multiple winner at Texas Motor Speedway ended with an unwelcome bang. The 2003 winner at Texas lost control in Turn 3 on Lap 196, and the throttle in his Dodge stuck. He veered hard into the concrete, then turned left and smacked the inside wall. “It sure would have been nice to hit a SAFER barrier,” said Newman, who criticized track owner Bruton Smith last week for not installing the “soft-wall” technology. “I was just bouncing off the walls with the throttle at 5,000 RPMs.” Texas is slated to install the SAFER barrier in the fall.(Richmond Times Dispatch)(4-5-2004)
- #09 Plans to keep running: #09 team owner James Finch says he has sponsorship for 12 Cup races and will continue to run the circuit as long as it’s profitable. “I made more money per lap for running four laps at Bristol than Kurt Busch got from winning,” Finch says. And he’s right. The #09, driven by Joe Ruttman, made $16,583.75 per lap ($66,335 total); Busch made $346.93 per lap ($173,465 total).(FoxSports/Sporting News)(4-5-2004)
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