With NASCAR on a temporary hiatus, news is going to be slow in the coming weeks. To help fill the NASCAR void, we plan on taking you on a daily trip down memory lane spanning the years since the Jayski’s site inception. Using our news archives pages, here’s a look back at what’s happened on this date through the last 23 years in NASCAR:
This day in NASCAR history: April 11
Years we have pulled today’s main items from: 2015, 2013, 2009, 2007, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 1999
Top see everything from this date over previous years: Main Page | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997
Note: Many links on older stories don’t work. There’s not a lot of the same websites around anymore.
To see previous articles covering “Today in History”, click here.
2015:
- Gordon wants NASCAR to eliminate pit road timing lines: Friday #24-Jeff Gordon was asked about the increased number of penalties issued to teams this season:
Jeff Gordon: “I think the camera system speaks for itself. It’s black & white if you want to put it that way. When things roll out of the box or guys leave over the wall too soon or you drive through too many boxes, it’s going to bust you. And so it’s made all of us have to be that much cleaner and do our jobs that much better and pay more attention to more things than we used to. That didn’t have anything to do with what I did last week [when he got caught for speeding late in the race at Martinsville]. That was just us trying to take advantage of speed lines. I think that’s the next step. We’ve got to get rid of these speed lines. It doesn’t make any sense. The speed limit is the speed limit. You should never be able to break the speed limit. You should carry the speed limit all the way down pit road. What we do is find pit stalls to try to get around that. So we’re ramping up and slowing down and that’s what got us in Martinsville. We were just too aggressive with it.”(Team Chevy Racing)(4-11-2015) - #48-Jimmie Johnson wins at Texas: #48-Jimmie Johnson won the Duck Commander 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway for his 2nd win of the season, 5th win at Texas Motor Speedway and his 72nd career wi.
#4-Harvick finished second, the rest of the top 10: #88-Earnhardt, Jr., #22-Logano, #2-Keselowski, #1-McMurray, #24-Gordon, #5-Kahne, #78-Truex, Jr. and #19-Edwards.
Harvick, Logano, and Truex, Jr have all finished in the top-10 every race this season.
Pole sitter #41-Kurt Busch led 46 laps on the night, but finished 14th.
Harvick continues to hold the Chase points lead. He and Johnson each have 2 wins on the season but Harvick has 306 points to #48-Johnson’s 216.
There were 29 lead changes among 9 drivers. There were 8 cautions for 40 yellow flag laps.
The average speed was 140.500mph.(4-11-2015)
2013:
- 300 Cup starts for Kyle Busch: At just 27 years of age, it’s difficult to believe Kyle Busch is considered by
many to be a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran. But as the Sprint Cup competitors head to Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth this Saturday night for the NRA 500, the driver of the # 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing is showing veteran-like numbers to prove it, especially since the Texas start will be his 300th in NASCAR’s top series. Along with his number of starts, the number in the career wins column also serves to belie Busch’s age. His 25th Sprint Cup win three weekends ago at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. – ties him with JGR teammate Matt Kenseth, along with Jim Paschal and Joe Weatherly, for 24th in all-time Sprint Cup victories. Also with the Fontana win, Busch became just the third driver to score 25 victories in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series (25 Sprint Cup, 54 Nationwide). Mark Martin (40 Sprint Cup, 49 Nationwide) and Kenseth (25 Sprint Cup, 26 Nationwide) are the only other drivers to do so. In Busch’s 299 previous starts, he’s also has notched an impressive 97 top-five finishes and 144 top-10s. Not too shabby for just 300 career starts.(Joe Gibbs Racing)(4-11-2013)
2009:
Morgan-McClure Motorsports set to return at Talladega: Morgan-McClure Motorsports is back. The team will return to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway on April 26 and will attempt to make the Aaron’s 499 with driver Eric McClure, sources said Friday at Nashville Superspeedway. The team will again field the #4 Chevy, with sponsorship from Hefty brand. If the Talladega race weekend goes well, a source said the team could attempt to make more races later in the season.(Scene Daily)(4-11-2009)
2007:
- Earnhardt Still Wants Majority Ownership of DEI: #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. has not backed down from his demand for majority ownership in his late father’s company, his sister said Tuesday. “Fifty-one (percent) is the right number because that gives us control,” said Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, Junior’s sister and business manager. “We’ll take 75 or 95 or whatever we work out. At the end of the day, 51 gives you control. “And we want control.” Earnhardt is in the final year of his contract with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and has made owning a share of the company a major issue of his negotiations. He raised the stakes even higher in February when he said he actually wanted 51 percent of DEI – not just a piece of the team. Earnhardt Elledge said the ownership stake was not the breaking point of negotiations, but that time could run out for a new agreement to be reached. [DEI President Max] Siegel has said he believes a decision can be made by May, and Earnhardt Elledge said the next two months are crucial.(Associated Press)(4-11-2007)
2004:
- Mikey..Cup team owner? #15-Michael Waltrip, whose wit and charisma have made him one of NASCAR’s most
popular drivers, is heavily involved in television work. He is featured in TV commercials and serves as a commentator on various racing programs. He said he might consider a career in broadcasting after his racing days are done, but also wants to remain in the sport. ”At some point I’d like to own a (Nextel) Cup team,” said Waltrip, who currently fields his own Busch Series team [#99 Aaron’s Chevy that won at Nashville on Saturday]. ”That would give me an opportunity to remain involved in something I love after I’m done driving.”(Tennessean), also Waltrip doers have a part-time Cup team, the #00 Team, one in which Kenny Wallace will run five races.(4-11-2004)
2003:
- Park Rumors Denied UPDATE: Rumors about Steve Park’s job security in DEI’s #1 Pennzoil Chevy were circulating even before the Cup race at Texas. But Ty Norris, vice president of motorsports at DEI isn’t ready for talk of change, saying the team needs to do better and that DEI is going to keep trying to do better. Norris said Park has been real dedicated, coming by the shop and talking to the crew. The communication is open and positive. Norris had no comment when it was mentioned that Shane Hmiel’s [#48 in the Busch Series] name has been tossed around as a possible replacement for Park.(paraphrased from the Winston Cup Scene – subscription required to read online)(4-4-2003)
UPDATE: Driver Steve Park just shrugs his shoulders at the rumors over him being replaced in the Pennzoil Chevy by Busch Series regular Shane Hmiel. Park admits the performance of the team is not where they would like it to be and that’s what produces the rumors. Park said, “The Inquirer and all the trash newspapers that are out there sell, so I guess bad news sells better than good news.” Maybe we’ll do a story on how much money Steve Park donates to charity and all the work he does away from the racetrack to raise money for different charities ‘you never see anything like that’ all you see is that Steve Park is out of the Pennzoil car and so we’re fixin’ to prove them all wrong.” Since Shane’s father Steve is DEI’s Technical Director Park says it makes for a great story, but he’s staying in the racecar.(PRN’s Garage Pass)(4-11-2003)
2002:
- Soft Walls at Indy UPDATE: In a major step toward safety, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will announce on Wednesday the installation of “soft wall” technology for this year’s Indianapolis 500. A long-time research and development project with the University of Nebraska has produced a soft wall padding that will be installed in the outside turns of the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This is a result of a long-time project between the Indy Racing League and NASCAR with the University of Nebraska in an effort to reduce impact in the event of a crash. The soft wall padding is currently being installed at Indianapolis in an effort to improve safety for the 86th running of the Indianapolis 500.(Fox Sports)(4-10-2002)
UPDATE: Soft-wall applications to the four turns of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval may be made before the start of practice for this year’s 86th Indianapolis 500, said Brian Barnhart, Indy Racing League vice president of operations, on April 10. The decision will be made whether to install the new safety technology after two final testing sessions at the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Barnhart said. Opening Day for the Indianapolis 500 is May 5. The shock-absorbing soft walls are an evolution of the original PEDS barrier that was attached to the inside wall exiting Turn 4 in 1998. The PEDS barrier was found to have some defects after it was struck at full speed by two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk during the 1998 IROC at Indy race. Still, Barnhart believes the PEDS barrier possibly saved Luyendyk’s life. In 1999, Japanese driver Hideshi Matsuda, in a practice crash before the Indianapolis 500, impacted a second-generation PEDS barrier in the same location of track. With the assistance of the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, the Speedway, under the leadership of president and CEO Tony George, continued its development of an energy-reducing wall attachment that could help lower the risk of driver injury in a crash. Under the direction of Dr. Dean Sicking and Dr. Ron Faller, the soft-wall program progressed to the point that by September 2000, George and Barnhart were ready to include NASCAR in the development. Because the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a multi-purpose motorsports facility, the soft wall needs to withstand crashes by 1,550-pound Indy Racing League cars and 3,500-pound stock cars raced in the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400, respectively. NASCAR assigned Steve Peterson to work with the Indy Racing League Technical Director Phil Casey, PEDS designer John Pierce and the Nebraska engineers on the project. The crashes are simulated on an airport runway setup. The vehicles are propelled by cables to a creditable speed and then released to travel free the final 15 feet into the barriers. The cars, Barnhart pointed out, are heavily instrumented with impact data recorders in the front, middle and back of the chassis. Barnhart received an encouraging report April 9 after the 17th in the series of test crashes. There are two more test crashes scheduled for late April. Because of time restraints, soft walls only would be installed in each of the four turns at this time. Barnhart noted the soft walls are designed to provide their best protection at the most prominent impact areas in the corners and then taper down on the exits to allow running cars to take their normal grooves up to the concrete for maximum speed.(IMS Site) and see a story at the Orlando Sentinel: Indy tests use of ‘soft’ walls and from the Indy Star: IMS pleased with soft-wall tests.(4-11-2002)
2001:
- President Bush meets with the Earnhardts: To a round of cheers, President Bush arrived on Air Force One at the North Carolina Air National Guard terminal near Charlotte/Douglas International Airport about 10:15 Wednesday morning, the first president to visit Charlotte in five years. Bush stepped off the presidential jet alone, and met briefly with the family of late NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt. He kissed and embraced Earnhardt’s widow, Teresa, and shook the hands of Dale Jr., Kerry and daughters Kelley and Taylor. The Earnhardts were given a tour of Air Force One after Bush spent 13 minutes shaking hands and signing autographs for about 100 Air National Guard personnel and their families. The Earnhardt family spent about 50 minutes touring Air Force One. At one point, family members were seen inside the plane’s cockpit, sitting in the pilot’s seat. As they emerged, the family posed for pictures with crew members and Air National Guard members(That’s Racin’)(4-11-2001)
1999:
- Martin 25th: Mark Martin will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of his first race when he drives his #6 Valvoline Ford in the Food City 500 at Bristol, April 11 (SpeedNet/Monte Dutton)
Click a link below for a full listing of news from each year:
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