April 7, 2004
- #14 Crew Chief Fined: Keith Koppenal, crew chief for the #14 Dodge driven by Larry Foyt in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, has been fined $1,000 for a rule infraction that occurred this past weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR officials announced today. Koppenal was found in violation of Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and Section 12-4-U (any violation of the fuel cell or fuel cell container specifications) of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Rule Book, because of an oversized container. The violation was found during the weekend’s initial inspection process, on April 2.(NASCAR PR)(4-7-2004)
- #38 Breaks Long Streak: when was the last time a car with the number 38 won a Cup race? How about on 11/26/1959, when Ned Jarrett won at Columbia, SC. The #38 has now won 6 times with Elliott Sadler’s win at Texas. Twenty (20) car numbers that have NOT won yet [not count 0x or numbers with more then two digits] #’s: 35, 36, 39, 50, 57, 61, 63, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70, 74, 76, 79, 82, 84, 93, 94, 95. Of those numbers, only the #50 with Arnold Motorsports is a full-time team. See my Win by Numbers page for first and last time a car number won and the number of wins for each number. Which car number has won the most times? no brainer: #43, 198 times [yep, Richard Petty won a few races using a different car #].(4-7-2004)
- A Championship Outlook – champ usually wins in first 6 races: Only five times in the modern era (1972-present) has the eventual champion not won in the first six races. The winners in the first 6 races of 2004: #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr., #17-Matt Kenseth, #48-Jimmie Johnson and #97-Kurt Busch. When did a driver win the Championship and not win a race in the first six? 1973-Benny Parsons; 1984 and 1996-Terry Labonte; 1985-Darrell Waltrip; and 1999-Dale Jarrett.(4-7-2004)
- Blaney’s tenative schedule: NASCAR Radio – XM Satellite Channel 144 reports during an interview with #23 crew cheif, Philippe Lopez, said the #23 team and driver Dave Blaney would run at Talladega [as #22 Wimmer will need a drafting partner], at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May – with Whelen sponsoring the car, Daytona in July, at Michigan [mentioned the fan effort and support] and at Indianapolis. And more if a sponsor can be found. More info on the ‘Fan Pledges’ see my #23 Team News and Links page, so far the current amount pledged is $63,359 as of 4/7.(4-7-2004)
- 2nd Team for BAM? road courses UPDATE 2: 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)
UPDATE 2: NASCAR Radio – XM Satellite Channel 144 reports that BAM Racing says they plan to run the two road course races at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen and while they wouldn’t say who would drive, Klaus Graf is a driver under consideration.(4-7-2004) - Waltrip’s Pit Crew Wins in Texas: Michael Waltrip’s pit crew claimed the McDonald’s Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade in Sunday’s (April 4) Samsung/RadioShack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The #15 NAPA crew edged the No. 38 crew of Elliott Sadler’s team for the win and the $20,000 first-place check. Waltrip’s crew finished second in the overall McDonald’s/POWERade championship standings in 2003 with five victories and $100,000 in prize money. In the current McDonald’s/POWERade season standings, Kurt Busch’s #97 crew leads with 269 points. Sadler’s crew is second with 262 points and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew is third with 260. The season champion receives a $200,000 bonus. Waltrip’s #15 NAPA Chevrolet spent the least amount of time on pit road in Texas — 218.010 seconds. Sadler’s M&M’s Ford was clocked at 229.014 seconds to finish second and Earnhardt’s Budweiser Chevy was third with a time of 233.636. “The NAPA crew guys continue to do an excellent job and we’re excited about winning the McDonald’s/POWERade contest in Texas,” said crew chief Richard “Slugger” Labbe. “We clicked off some excellent pit stops and it’s always gratifying to see that our guys are rewarded and recognized for their outstanding effort.” The over-the-wall pit crew for Waltrip’s team consists of: Brian Chase (jackman), Jeff Opal (gasman), Chris Crumley (front tire changer), Greg Osborne (rear tire changer), Shawn Ward (front tire carrier), Chad Walter (rear tire carrier) and Pete Rondeau (catch can). The pit crew coach is Walt Smith.(DMF Communications PR) for top 10 at Texas and season standings, see my Pit Crew Page.(4-7-2004)
- Baldwin voted this week’s best crew chief: Tommy Baldwin’s confident and deft pit management of the #9 Dodge led fans to vote him WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Race [www.WYPALL.com]. Even with several ill-timed cautions, the #9 Dodge doggedly moved through traffic to score a second place finish. Although Khane ended his day in the runner-up position, the majority of fans felt that Baldwin’s performance topped the crew chief charts. Baldwin joins, Lee McCall, Chad Knaus, Donnie Wingo and Robbie Reiser in a tie for 2nd place in the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge, at one win each. Tony Eury, Sr., with two wins, leads the challenge. The crew chief with the most weekly wins at the end of the season will be named WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Year and receive $10,000.(ThatsRacin.com)(4-7-2004)
- Firm wins awards, including for ‘The Winston’ Event: JHE Production Group built on its award-winning reputation by collecting three Events In Excellence Awards (EVIEs) for events the company designed and produced in 2003. JHE has earned 10 EVIEs over the past 4 years in various categories. The EVIEs are part of an annual competition hosted by the Greater Charlotte Chapter of the International Special Events Society that recognizes the best special events produced in North and South Carolina. JHE received awards in three different divisions: Best Fair – First Flight; Best Consumer Event – Food Lion Speed Street and Best Entertainment Production – The Winston. Food Lion Speed Street in uptown Charlotte, N.C, provided a unique entertainment source for those wanting a good time in a clean atmosphere. This three-day event spanned eight city blocks and offered three stages of various live musical acts, interactive exhibits, food vendors and celebrities all at no admission charge. The Winston, NASCAR’s All-Star event [now called NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge], combined the effects of pyrotechnics, military fly-overs, an electrifying concert and a stage presentation of NASCAR’s finest, viewed by more than 140,000 fans in the grandstands and millions more worldwide, watching all of this unfold live at home. With more than 18 years of entertainment production, JHE Production Group, Inc., has an outstanding reputation for excellence in event production and management. JHE Production Group is based in Concord, NC.(PR)(4-7-2004)
- Sponsor Help: Body Dynamics Marketing and Matthew Willis are offering teams an alternative in their sponsorship presentations. They are offering teams the opportunity to show their potential sponsors how they would appear on a race track around other drivers or at a showcar venue in front of their sponsors locations. They offer a fully animated 3-d video clip that can be emailed, linked, or copied to a DVD or CD and sent to the Sponsors to give a visual aspect that has never been offered before. No longer does a team have to appear as two dimensional. Now they can jump ahead of the competition and present themselves and their team in real world three dimensional presentations. For more information and to see a sample clip visit www.bodydynamicsracing.com.(4-7-2004)
- Sadler, FanZCar Notes: The NASCAR Busch Series will jolt into Nashville Superspeedway this weekend for the running of the first of two events at the concrete facility. Heading into NSS this weekend, Sadler only has one career start at the 1.333-mile track, which came in last year’s Pepsi 300. After starting the No. 54 Toys ‘R’ Us Chevrolet 30th, he moved up through the field consistently and finished a very solid 19th. “I love Nashville,” said the driver of car 02. “Last year was my first time racing there, and I’m looking forward to going back.” For the second straight week, the SCORE team will unload on Friday with a brand new black and white Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The team finished 25th at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend in another new automobile. “We are taking a brand new car to Nashville. Although we finished 25th at Texas, I was very pleased with the progress we made on the car during the race. I honestly feel like we are starting to get a better handle on the new tire and aero package,” commented the Emporia, Virginia native.
The No. 02 Chevrolet Monte Carlo is still looking for a win, along with their first top ten finish of the season, and it could very easily come on Saturday. “As far as what it will take to win, it will take a better qualifying effort than we have been doing the past few races, and a good day on pit road. I have struggled on restarts the last couple of races getting the car to hook up, so there are a couple of things we will be trying to address this week,” continued the veteran driver.
The FanZCar, and SCORE Motorsports would like to welcome back East Tennessee Trailers on board the #02 machine this weekend. ETT served as the primary sponsor for Sadler’s 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup debut a few weeks ago at Bristol, and has reattached to the team as an associate sponsor for this weekend. “We are proud of our association with ETT, and look forward to having them on the car this weekend,” added the two-time NASCAR Busch winner.
Sadler also hopes to reach out to his fellow competitors and fans about Autism Awareness month. 2001 brought an unexpected turn of events for Hermie Sadler, the father. His daughter Hailie Dru was diagnosed with Autism. Ever since, Hermie has been a tireless advocate for Autism awareness. “My No. 1 priority is to create awareness,” he said. “Through awareness comes funds. Donations are important, but more than that we really want people to be aware of autism, what it is, and what we can do about it. We want people to know what autism is and what they can do. We want to show parents that may think their child is different in some way that help is out there.”Charles Zepfel, Becca Broch, Thomas Irby, Ronnie Page, and Michael Weishaar will all have a huge weekend ahead of them. These members will be at Nashville representing The FanZCar and cheering on Hermie Sadler. Rolling into Nashville, Sadler has 232 NASCAR Busch Series starts to his record, 2 wins, 18 top-fives, 44 top-tens, three poles, and has achieved $ 2,274,684 in career earnings.
The FanZCar Scope: SS Racing Inc. is part of the racing industry. We are in the business of providing a fan-based sponsorship for a race team within NASCAR’s Racing Series. This endeavor is known and marketed as The FanZCar. The monetary funds needed to generate the sponsorship for an entire racing season will be derived from membership sold by SS Racing Inc. for the FanZCar. For more information on the FanZCar and to become a member, please visit our Website www.theFanZCar.com(SCORE Motorsports PR)(4-7-2004) - Chaffin to drive the #77: DGN Racing and Donnie Neuenberger announced that Truck Series driver Chad Chaffin will drive the #77 BG Products Busch Series car in the upcoming Pepsi 300 events at Nashville Superspeedway. Chad Chaffin competes in the #18 Dickies Dodge owned by Bobby Hamilton Racing. Chaffin brings over 80 Busch series starts to the #77 Busch Series Team owned by MOY Racing and Crew Chief Jimmy Means. Neuenberger asked Chaffin to take over the #77 BG Products Ford for this race to try to help the team to work out its weaknesses. With high participation of NEXTEL Cup owners and drivers in the NASCAR Busch Series it’s a tough season for an under funded team to get quality seat time. The #77 University of Maryland / BG Products car has had no luck this year. With incidents including two (2) cut tires in Vegas and Darlington, taken out in Bristol, and competing with fields with an average of twelve (12) NEXTEL Cup drivers it has been a difficult season start for a new team and rookie driver to build up owner points. “We are looking forward to a long season and the opportunity to showcase what we can do. In two weeks we go to Talladega where we had a 21st place finish in the 2003 Busch Series race and look forward to a fresh start…states Donnie Neuenberger”. BG Products manufactures and distributes a broad line of specialty lubricants, greases and chemicals throughout the United States, Central and South America, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Far East. BG products are distributed through a network of independent distributors. Each distributor is assigned an exclusive marketing area and is responsible for the hiring and training of a specialty sales organization. www.bgprod.com. They thank our Associate Sponsors for their support Bay Area Goodyear, Bob Bell Automotive Group, Feinberg & Associates, IHOP, Jenkins & Jenkins, Mona Electric, Plan B Technologies, RV Two-Way / Silvertop Manufacturing, and The University of Maryland. For more information about Donnie Neuenberger and DGN Racing visit our website at www.dgnracing.com. You can listen to our regularTuesay morning shows on the leading radio stations in Baltimore, Maryland, WPOC 93.1 FM and 97.1 “The Eagle Grego and Brian Morning Show” in Dallas, Texas.(DGN Racing PR)(4-7-2004)
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