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 12
Years we have pulled today’s main items from: 2017, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2010, 2009, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2000
Top see everything from this date over previous years: 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.
2017:
- New NASCAR policy allows for earlier race starts: NASCAR has a new policy where, with 24 hours notice, it could start a race one hour earlier than the listed start time in the event of a forecast of inclement weather.[More](4-11-2017)
2015:
- Gibbs says Jones is “ready to go” to Cup; MWR an option?: With Kyle Busch’s return date still undetermined from a broken right leg and broken left foot suffered in a crash in February, Joe Gibbs has talked about putting Erik Jones in Busch’s Cup car when he feels it’s the right time. Jones’ performance in outlasting Brad
Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the victory Friday no doubt is encouraging Gibbs to make “the right time” sooner than later, as Jones won in just his ninth Xfinity start. “There’s no question that at some point very quick he’s going to be in a Cup car some,” Gibbs said. “We kind of have a little bit of a strategy there that we’ve talked about. He’s ready to go at any time.” Jones is driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports full time in the Camping World Truck Series while also driving as many Xfinity races as possible for JGR that don’t conflict with his trucks schedule. Gibbs doesn’t have any room to expand his Cup program, as he has the current maximum of four teams and all his drivers are signed through at least 2016. He can run a fifth car for up to seven races for a development driver or loan him to another Cup team. “We know that Erik is on the fast track,” Gibbs said. “It’s just a matter of when.”(ESPN.com)(4-12-2015)
AND If Joe Gibbs Racing cannot find a Sprint Cup ride for Erik Jones, fellow Toyota team owner Rob Kauffman says Michael Waltrip Racing might have a Camry for the 18-year-old phenom. “There are a lot of moving parts, but we would love to figure something out,” Kauffman told Motorsports.com prior to Saturday’s Duck Commander 500. Kauffman acknowledged he went to Victory Lane last night during Jones’ celebration to congratulate Coach Gibbs and Dave Wilson, President and General Manager, Toyota Racing Development. “We have some open seats, potentially. We’d love to expand when it makes sense.” Currently MWR runs two teams – the #15 with veteran Clint Bowyer, who is in the first year of the three-year contract and the #55 with Moffitt, who is filling in for Brian Vickers while he recovers from blood clots. “I think Brian’s doing better,” Kauffman added. “I haven’t talked to him in a bit…but right now the important thing is his health.”(Motorsport)(4-12-2015)
2014:
- Harvick wins at Darlington: #4-Kevin Harvick won the Bojangles’ Southern 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway for his 2nd win of 2014 and his 25th career win. Harvick is the first driver in 2014 to win two
races. The race had two -green-white-checked attempts, running 7 extra laps. Harvick led the most laps with 238 of 374. Harvick is the first driver to win at Darlington from the pole since Dale Jarrett did it in March 1997 [400 miles] and the first driver to win the Southern 500 from the pole since Dale Earnhardt won in September 1990. Harvick has now won a Southern 500, Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and Coca-Cola 600.
#88-Earnhardt Jr. finished 2nd followed by #48-Johnson, #20-Kenseth, #16-Biffle, #18-Busch, #24-Gordon, #42-Larson, #14-Stewart and #31-Newman.
#42-Lason was the rookie of the race, finishing 8th.
#24-Gordon, who came into the race as the points leader finished 7th and holds on to the points lead by 1 point over #20-Kenseth. #4-Harivick leads the Chase Seeding with two wins followed by #99-Edwards, who has a win and is 3rd in points.
There were 22 lead changes among 12 drivers and there were 11 cautions for 50 yellow flag laps.
The average speed was 131.211 mph.(4-12-2014)
2013:
- Chip Ganassi selling to John Menard? One of the hottest stories in the garage Thursday was intense speculation that veteran team owner Chip Ganassi may be considering selling his two-team NASCAR operation to John Menard. Menard, who owns the Midwestern home improvement chain Menards, is a long-time racer, and he is currently sponsoring his son Paul’s NASCAR team, part of the Richard Childress organization. Ganassi and Childress are both Chevy men. Childress supplied Ganassi’s two teams (with #1-Jamie McMurray and #42-Juan Pablo Montoya) with engines until this season, when Ganassi switched to Hendrick motors. Of the sport’s top eight team owners, Ganassi this season ranks seventh in finishes. Of particular disappointment is Montoya, who is averaging a 27th place finish; Montoya’s last top-10 was at Michigan last June, and his last tour win was at Watkins Glen in the summer of 2010. McMurray’s seventh at Martinsville last weekend was his best finish in over a year.(MikeMulhern.net)(4-12-2013)
2010:
Almirola leaves #09 team: Aric Almirola, who qualified for four of the first seven Sprint Cup races for Phoenix Racing, said Monday he has mutually agreed to part ways with the team and will focus on competing for the Camping World Truck Series title with Billy Ballew Motorsports. Phoenix Racing lost its sponsorship from Miccosukee Resort & Gaming prior to the start of the season and has dropped out of the four races with Almirola within 60 laps. “We both agreed it was time to do something different,” Almirola said in a phone interview. “I am going to focus a lot more on my truck program, which is really important to me and Billy Ballew Motorsports and all the guys over there.(Scene Daily)(4-12-2010)
2009:
Rusty Wallace, Inc. considering 2010 move to Cup: NASCAR Nationwide Series car owner [#62 & #64] Rusty Wallace said he hopes to move his two-car team to the Sprint Cup Series in 2010. But the situation would have to be perfect. Rusty Wallace Racing fields two Chevys, for Brendan Gaughan and Rusty’s son, Steve, in the Nationwide Series. “Ideally, if all the moons lined up, I’d start in 2010,” Wallace said at Nashville Superspeedway, where the Nashville 300 will be held Saturday. “Two cars. I’d want Stephen and Brendan to go right in.” But Rusty Wallace would need a partnership with an existing team in order to stock enough inventory of cars and engines. Also, RWR would need the right level of sponsorship. Richard Childress Racing provided RWR with engines in the Nationwide Series, and Wallace said he’s had casual conversations about a Cup alliance with RCR. Wallace said his shop facilities in Mooresville, N.C. would be adequate for a Cup team. The team currently does its own bodies there and has a large fabrication area.(Scene Daily)(4-12-2009)
2006:
- Biffle’s girlfriend faces a reprimand: #16-Greg Biffle’s girlfriend faces a reprimand from NASCAR about her pit-road confrontation with #2-Kurt Busch’s fiance after the two drivers wrecked at Texas Motor Speedway. Busch hit the back of Biffle’s car early in Sunday’s race, causing an accident that ended Biffle’s day. Biffle, the defending race winner, had led 49 of the first 82 laps before the crash and wound up 42nd. Moments after the wreck, TV cameras caught girlfriend Nicole Lunders slamming a water bottle on Biffle’s pit box. She then marched down pit road and climbed halfway up Busch’s box and had a heated exchange with Eva Bryan. The brief confrontation created a buzz in NASCAR, and the sanctioning body wants to cool down the emotions. “There will be some conversations that will be had with the people that participated, and we’ll make sure that this doesn’t carry on and into the garage or anywhere else,” Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition, said Wednesday. “You’ve got to remember, most everybody in the garage area is friends, and those two girls in particular have a close relationship. Tempers flare, and we’ll look at that and we’ll make sure it doesn’t carry on any further than that.” NASCAR does not have a steadfast rule against team members entering other pit boxes, but generally frowns upon it if the reason for approaching the area stems from something that happened in race. “When altercations and things like that happen, we recommend that you stay in your own area,” Pemberton said. “You can go have a conversation, but it can’t be heated per se.” Family members are typically given entrance to the track on a “license” that recognizes them as a team member, meaning their actions can be policed by NASCAR and the sanctioning body reserves the right to revoke their pass at any time.(Associated Press)(4-12-2006)
2004:
Jeff Burton to RCR #31? Rumors swirled last week about Johnny Sauter being released from the #30 AOL Chevy team, which is 24th in the standings, and getting replaced by Johnny Benson or Dave Blaney. Another garage rumor: Jeff Burton’s #99 Ford, which is 30th in the standings, will shut down if sponsorship is not found by the end of May, and Burton will move to the #31 Cingular Chevy driven by Robby Gordon. However, anyone who knows Richard Childress, the owner of the #31, realizes Childress left after the Texas race for Canada’s Northwest Territories to go hunting.(FoxSports)(4-12-2004)
2003:
- Fuel Problems? Sources at Talladega Superspeedway told teamfordracing.com that the fuel Unocal has provided since the announcement that they were leaving the sport might have some consistency problems. This, according to a leading engine builder in the sport, is leading to some interesting finds during post-race engine tear down. “We’ve even questioned here lately with Unocal moving out how the fuel … We’ve seen some funny things on our parts after the race and for some of us fuel quality is changing on us,” said the engine builder. “So yeah, it’s a big issue and we’ve been talking about it quite a bit.” Fuel is a vital part of the Winston Cup engine builder equation as the additive packages are what help hold a motor together during a race. Fuel chemistry changes can lead to premature part failure. NASCAR hasn’t let the teams know what will be pumping in 2003, which is making the engine builders nervous. Variances with the chemistry and consistency of blend will be needed soon as it can take six to nine months to match the engine package to the fuel package. One big question that’s not been answered is whether the fuel will be of a leaded blend, or no-lead. There is concern that if the sanctioning body goes the no-lead route that engine failure could rise dramatically due to leads lubricity qualities, or the capacity for reducing friction. Unocal, along with NASCAR and the teams, tried a no-lead blend several years ago in the Busch Grand National Series. Those experiments ended after the exhaust valves beat the seats out of the head. Unocal, to help solve the problem, suggested that the teams move to titanium vales. That suggestion angered the involved engine builders as they’d been using titanium for several years, and were surprised that Unocal engineers seemingly didn’t know what was in a motor for which they were blending fuel.(Ford Racing), see my NASCAR-Sponsors page for more info on the Unocal deal.(4-12-2003)
- Kyle Busch wins first ARCA race: 17-year-old Kyle Busch set a track qualifying record in the afternoon, then backed it up Friday night at Nashville Superspeedway to win in just his second start on the ARCA circuit. Busch, the younger brother of Winston Cup star Kurt Busch, led 83 of 113 laps and held off four-time ARCA series champion Frank Kimmel by 2.406 seconds despite several restarts down the stretch. Busch will debut in the NASACR Busch Series on May 24 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway after turning 18 on May 2. He finished 12th in his only other ARCA start, last October at that track. He won the pole by touring the 1.33-mile concrete tri-oval in 30.094 seconds at a speed of 159.460, topping the mark of 158.261 set by Kimmel in 2001. Kimmel had won three races at this track and finished second. Brent Sherman had the best finish of his career in third followed by Jeff Fultz, Darryl Sage and former NFL coach Jerry Glanville.(ThatsRacin.com/AP)(4-12-2003)
2000:
- NASCAR TV? Will the new unified NASCAR television contract be good for Speedvision?… YES… Will Speedvision be the new all-NASCAR channel?… NOT… says Speedvision founder president Roger Werner. Asked about the much-discussed creation of an all-NASCAR channel, Werner said, “Speedvision has been involved in conversations with NASCAR since the summer of 1999 regarding the creation and development of a NASCAR channel. Contrary to rumors, those discussions have in no way been related to converting Speedvision into a NASCAR channel, nor has there been any discussion of NASCAR purchasing Speedvision for that purpose. See full story by Bill King at SpeedVision: Roger Werner On the Future of Speedvision(4-12-2000)
Click a link below for a full listing of news from each year:
2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997