April 13, 2011
- Jeff Gordon on the Golf Channel: #24-Jeff Gordon is scheduled to be a guest on Golf Channel’s brand new morning program, “Morning Drive,” Thursday, 4/14 at 8:30am/et. The Morning Drive is hosted by sports broadcast veterans Erik Kuselias and Gary Williams.(PR)(4-13-2011)
- Biffle signs contract extension: #16-Greg Biffle has agreed to a contract extension with Roush Fenway Racing. An official announcement of Biffle’s extension could come as early as this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, sources said. As recently as April 1, Biffle said he was “90 percent sure” he would re-sign with Roush and hoped to have a new deal completed by midseason. A team spokesperson on Wednesday said she could not confirm Biffle had agreed to an extension.(Charlotte Observer)(4-13-2011)
- Special Scheme for Hamlin at Talladega: The #11 Toyota will carry a special paint scheme for the second consecutive weekend, as the familiar black and blue FedEx Office colors turn blue and white to coincide with the “Print Big, Save Big” sale currently running at all FedEx Office locations. The Orlando South FedEx Office district is currently the best performing district in the “Print Big, Save Big” promotion and will have its “0110” numbers on the b-post of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota this weekend. (FedEx Racing), see an image of the scheme on the #11 Team Schemes page.(4-13-2011)
- STP jumping back into racing: UPDATE: On Wednesday afternoon, STP will announce its return to big league racing, an aggressive sponsorship plan that will have the old familiar “racer’s edge” mantra back in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series as well as the NHRA, plus multiple racetrack sponsorships. It begins with NASCAR’s split weekend of June 4-5, when the Saturday night Nationwide Series event at Chicagoland Speedway will be the STP 300 and the following Sunday afternoon’s Sprint Cup race will be the STP 400. That same weekend, Richard Petty’s famous #43 car, driven by A.J. Allmendinger, will carry The King’s iconic 1972 STP paint scheme, marking the first time that car has carried those colors since a two-race deal in 2006. In addition, STP has signed track sponsorship deals with International Speedway Corp. properties, including Daytona, Talladega, Richmond, Darlington, Michigan, Chicagoland and Kansas. The company has also inked a multiyear sponsorship of Infineon Raceway, including title sponsorship of its Wednesday night drag racing series.(ESPN.com)(4-13-2010)
UPDATE: When STP and Richard Petty first signed a deal in 1972, it forever changed the sponsorship landscape within the sport of auto racing. To mark its 39 year history in racing, the STP brand is building its presence in the sport through multiple series’ including NASCAR, NHRA, World of Outlaws, Infineon Speedway, and at several International Speedway Corporation (ISC) tracks.
STP’s racing portfolio includes:
• Multi-year title sponsorship of the Nationwide and Cup races at Chicagoland Speedway and Kansas Speedway, respectively. This year, the STP 300 Nationwide Series race will take place on June 4 and the STP 400 Cup race will run on June 5.
• The STP-branded #43 car will make its return to the track driven by Richard Petty Motorsports driver, AJ Allmendinger, during the STP 400. The No. 43 STP Ford Fusion will be a modern replica of the 1972 paint scheme featuring the original Petty Blue and STP Day-Glo Red.
• Primary sponsor of two-time NHRA Full Throttle Nitro Funny Car Champion Tony Pedregon for three races (Las Vegas, Houston and Infineon) and an associate sponsorship for the balance of the season.
• Multi-year track sponsorships with a number of ISC properties including Daytona, Talladega, Richmond, Darlington, Michigan, Chicagoland and Kansas.
• Multi-year track sponsorship of Infineon Raceway and title sponsor of Wednesday Night Drags and Bracket Drags.
• Continued sponsorship of Tony Stewart Racing and four-time World of Outlaws Champion Donny Schatz and the World of Outlaws Series.(MATTER, Edelman/STP)(4-13-2011) - Vickers Unsure of 2012 Plans: With the health conditions seemingly behind him and Chase prospects, for now, looking dim, the most intriguing story surrounding Vickers and Red Bull Racing is whether they will remain together in 2012. “I haven’t made any decisions yet. I like Red Bull. I’ve enjoyed my time there as a Red Bull brand. I think I fit the brand and the brand fits me. There’s no doubt about that. It is a high energy, be yourself, love life, extreme athlete, extreme sport kind of brand. And they allow me to do the things that I love to do and that is great,” said Vickers in a phone interview with News/Talk WSB. “Most importantly, we’ve got to win races and I think that is what we both want. And hopefully we can both figure that out together and I can finish my career out at Red Bull. If we can’t, then there’s other options on the table and maybe we’ll look at those. For right now, I’m committed to Red Bull and to this season and that’s where my focus is as of right now.” A possible factor in Vickers’ decision may be who Red Bull Racing picks as his teammate next season. “Obviously, Kasey [Kahne] is going to be gone next season and we’re going to have to fill that car. It’s definitely going to be an interesting year for Red Bull Racing.”(WSB Atlanta)(4-13-2011)
- Golden Corral returns to TBR: Tommy Baldwin Racing will team up with Golden Corral in the Aaron’s 499 for the second installment of the Racing for American Families promotion. Golden Corral joined forces with TBR earlier this season in the Daytona 500. TBR driver Dave Blaney will pilot the #36 Golden Corral Chevy at Talladega Superspeedway. As part of the Racing for American Families promotion, Golden Corral will offer a one-day “Kids Eat Free” promotion on Monday, April 18th if Blaney and the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet finish in the top-10 in the Aaron’s 499 on April 17th. In addition to the “Kids Eat Free” promotion, Golden Corral will make a $10,000 donation to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) on behalf of the #36 Golden Corral Chevrolet race team.(TBR)(4-13-2011)
- Steve Park returning to the #36 at Daytona: Tommy Baldwin Racing will team up with NASCAR veteran Steve Park for the second annual modified tribute car at Daytona International Speedway. Park will run the #36 “Old Blue” Chevy to tribute owner, car-builder and mechanic Len Boehler in the Coke Zero 400 on Saturday, July 2nd. Boehler started BRE Racing Inc in 1957. From the late 60’s to the early 70’s, Boehler ran a coupe modified that was beat up with dents, rusty and built with junkyard parts but had a fast big-block engine. Competitors called the car “Old Blue” and the name stuck. “Old Blue” won six NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Championships from 1967-69 and 1994-96 and collected over 400 feature wins in the team’s 54-year history. Beginning Monday, April 18th, fans will have the opportunity to be a part of history by sponsoring the #36 “Old Blue” Chevy with contributions from $20 to $10,000. All proceeds exceeding $100,000, the cost to race the Coke Zero 400, will be donated by Tommy Baldwin Racing to the Victory Junction Gang Camp.(TBR), Park ran the #36 last year at Daytona in July in a Richie Evans Tribute car and is also entered in the #35 Chevy this weekend at Talladega for Tommy Baldwin.(4-13-2011)
- Burton expects more teams to communicate at Talladega: From Tuesday’s NASCAR Teleconference:
Q. At Daytona there was quite a bit of communication, starters, drivers, teams blending and that sort of thing. More of that at Talladega? Did we set a precedent for that at Daytona or will it be about the same?
JEFF BURTON: I think it’s going to be more of it. I think that it’s really an interesting dynamic to be quite honest. We had a meeting this week talking about, you know, who you want to try to get on your radio, and it’s pretty odd. I mean, typically it’s teams that try to communicate within the team. But for a Childress car to be talking to a Hendrick car, or a Hendrick car to be talking to a Roush car, and a Roush car to be talking to a Gibbs car, we’ve never seen that. It’s pretty interesting how that all is going down and who is going to who and talking and saying, can I put you in my radio. And with the etiquette: When do you go to a competitor’s radio frequency? All of that’s a moving target. I don’t know, I’m a fan of it because I think honestly it’s safer doing it with one spotter and two cars. I think it’s actually safer. However, I’m not a fan of it because it’s supposed to be us against them, you know. We are not supposed to be working together. (Laughing). (Chevy PR)(4-13-2011) - NASCAR, Walmart Join Forces In Support Of U.S. Military Families: NASCAR and Walmart have partnered to produce a public service announcement (PSA) campaign recognizing the sacrifices and challenges military families face throughout the United States. These PSAs, which will feature a number of NASCAR drivers and be shown in more than 500 Walmart locations, will highlight opportunities for NASCAR fans and Walmart customers to support military families in their local communities. Scheduled to launch Memorial Day Weekend, the NASCAR-produced spots will direct viewers to a website – www.joiningforces.gov – where they can learn more about opportunities to support local efforts.(NASCAR)(4-13-2011)
- Record lead changes at Talladega? Whenever a lead change takes place on the race track, the NASCAR control tower announces it thusly: “New Leader, the [car number].” There were many such announcements at the two Talladega races last season. The April race had an all-time NASCAR record 88 lead changes; the October race had 87. The October race got off to a quick start – there were 10 lead changes in the first 10 laps. The record for number of different leaders was also broken last April – 29 different drivers led at least one lap. Figure on a similar ratio this weekend. The lead change and leader records both fell in the season’s first restrictor plate race – the Daytona 500. That jump-started a season that has already seen three races with records in lead changes, and another – Texas, last weekend – that came two lead changes short of tying the record. Many competition numbers are highs through seven races. For instance …
• There has been an average of 13 leaders per race, most through seven races in series history.
• There has been an average of 31.4 lead changes per race, most through seven races in series history.
• There have been six different winners in the first seven races, most since 2003.
• There has been an average of 3,581 green flag passes all around the track per race, most through seven races since the inception of Loop Data in 2005.
• There has been an average of 39 green flag passes for the lead all around the track per race, second-most through seven races since the inception of Loop Data in 2005.(NASCAR)(4-13-2011) - Oreos on the #42 Talladega: This weekend the #42 Target Chevy will carry the Oreo brand on its quarter panels. Oreo is manufactured by the Nabisco Division of Kraft Foods and can be purchased at local Target stores. The Oreo cookie has been America’s most popular cookie since it was introduced in 1912. More than 345 billion Oreo cookies have been consumed to date. More than 7.5 billion Oreo cookies are consumed each year, which comes out to 625 million per month and 20.5 million per day.(EGR)(4-13-2011)
- Mayfield claims NASCAR forced SPEED to edit interview: Jeremy Mayfield accused NASCAR of forcing the SPEED Channel to edit Mayfield’s one-on-one interview with Steve Byrnes. Mayfield said, ” I had a great interview with the SPEED Channel about a month ago with Steve Byrnes, the best one ever. It was going to be great! I couldn’t wait for them to air it. It was honest. From his point of view, he was asking me honest questions that I could answer, he wasn’t trying to set me up…everything was great – and then NASCAR gets wind of it. Paul Brooks (from NASCAR) calls the President of the SPEED Channel and says, “If you air this show with Mayfield on it, it’s going to jeopardize our relationship.” So, they took out everything I said, anything that amounted to anything at all – took it all out and basically made me look like an idiot on TV like I wasn’t saying anything.”(Captain Thunder)(4-13-2011)
- Rodney Atkins having pre-race concert at Richmond: One can always find their fair share of Patriotism at a NASCAR event but when Rodney Atkins takes the stage in Richmond, it will be at an all-time high. Continuing his ongoing partnership with Crown Royal to salute those who proudly serve, country music artist Rodney Atkins will honor military hero United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant (SSgt.) Matthew Hansen, in an hour-long concert prior to the Crown Royal Presents The Matthew & Daniel Hansen 400 at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, April 30th. Ticketholders who are 21 years of age and older will have the opportunity to view the concert on the frontstretch of America’s Premier Short Track. To receive passes for on-track access, ticketholders are invited to visit a booth located in the white VIBE tent on the midway, adjacent to the Old Dominion Building on Saturday, April 30, where they will receive a Crown Royal t-shirt and a lanyard, providing them access to the stage area for the concert. Ticketholders who do not have on-track access passes can still experience the concert from the grandstands.(RIR)(4-13-2011)
- Kansas Speedway partnering with Harvesters on June 3: Kansas Speedway is partnering with Harvesters – The Community Food Network to benefit Harvesters’ BackSnack program. Fans that attend the June 3 practice sessions for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Kansas Speedway will be able to make a monetary donation to the BackSnack program when they enter the gates at Kansas Speedway. The BackSnack program, provides backpacks of healthy, kid-friendly food to low-income children who are at risk of being hungry on the weekends. Harvesters provides the food and backpacks, and a community partner cleans and fills the backpacks with food each week. Schools distribute the backpacks on Fridays to students who then bring them back on Mondays to start the process again. This year alone, the BackSnack program is feeding more than 13,000 students each weekend in Harvesters’ 26-county service area. It takes $200 to provide one backpack to one child for the entire school year. Volunteers from Harvesters will be on hand to collect the donations at the Speedway or race fans can donate $10 to Harvesters by texting FOOD to 41010.(Kansas Speedway)(4-13-2011)
- Two team for MacDonald this weekend: This will be the first time this season that MacDonald Motorsports will be entering two cars into a race. Donnie Neuenberger will be back in the Eagle Convenience Stores #81 and Blake Koch will be driving the Daystar.com #82. This creates a lot more work leading up to and during the weekend for the team. The #81 car that Donnie will be driving is locked into the race while the #82 will have to qualify on time.(MacDonald Motorsports)(4-13-2011)
- Wise returns to Go Green at Talladega: Josh Wise returns to Go Green Racing this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway and will compete for the Aaron’s 312 win in the #39 Cajun Industries Ford Mustang on Saturday, April 16. Wise is currently in 13th-place in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings after scoring four top-20 finishes in six races this season with Go Green Racing and JR Motorsports. In addition, Polk’s Meat Products joins Wise and Go Green Racing as an associate sponsor for the event. (Spire Sports + Entertainment)(4-13-2011)
- Efland to drive for Means at Talladega: Danny Efland announced that he is combining efforts with Jimmy Means Racing for the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega SuperSpeedway on Saturday, April 16, 2011. With Jimmy Means vast experience Danny expects to do well in the #52 car at Talladega. It’s been close to five months since Danny and the Danny Efland Racing team have been on a race track competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. But that will end this weekend. Danny plans to be back in the familiar #07 for the next race he runs. (Danny Efland Racing)(4-13-2011)
- Applebee’s to sponsor George: Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill/Potomac Family Dining Group will sponsor Tim George Jr. in both the ARCA and NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. George, 30, will compete in his third full ARCA season in 2011, piloting the #31 Chevy for Richard Childress Racing. He ran 27th in the season opener at Daytona on Feb. 12. Friday’s 3 Amigos 250 at Talladega is the second race on the ARCA schedule. George will pilot the #21 Applebee’s Chevy in the NNS race on Saturday.(Fox Sports)(4-12-2011)
UPDATE: Potomac Family Dining Group announced the sponsorship of Tim George Jr., driver of the #31 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) Chevt, in the April 15 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards event at Talladega Superspeedway. Potomac Family Dining Group and Applebee’s will also be the sponsor on the #21 RCR Chevy driven by George Jr. in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event the following day. This will be the first appearance in both racing series for the Washington, D.C.-based restaurant group which is the exclusive franchisee of 30 Applebee’s restaurants in southern Maryland, northern Virginia, and parts of West Virginia and Pennsylvania.(PFDG PR), see an image of the car on the #21 team paint schemes page.(4-13-2011) - 5-Hour Energy sponsoring Dover race: 5-hour ENERGY announced that it will be the title sponsor of the Nationwide Series race to be held Saturday, May 14 at the Dover International Speedway, also known as the Monster Mile. NASCAR fans will not only be treated to exciting race action, but also get a chance to try a free sample of 5-hour ENERGY. Brand representatives will be stationed throughout the speedway passing out samples. Dover will not be the first time NASCAR fans see 5-hour ENERGY® at the track. The Michigan- based brand was the title sponsor for last year’s Nationwide Series race in St. Louis, and is in its fourth season as primary sponsor for the Rusty Wallace Racing #66 Toyota driven by Steven Wallace.(Performance PR Plus)(4-13-2011)
- Harvick having special guests at Talladega: Kevin Harvick Inc. sponsor Pinnacle Foods will be bringing along some very special guests to the NASCAR Nationwide Series race this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Pinnacle Foods, whose brand Armour Vienna Sausages is the primary sponsor of the #4 KHI Chevy driven by Kevin Harvick for Saturday’s event, will host 18 children with the group Magic Moments for a day of fun at the track. Magic Moments, founded in 1984 and based in the Birmingham, Ala. area is dedicated to making the non-medical wishes and dreams come true for children who are not able to live out a normal childhood due to unfortunate illnesses. The group of children will have the opportunity to catch first hand all the NASCAR action at the famed Alabama superspeedway. The VIP guests will get to meet driver and KHI co-owner Harvick during a special Meet and Greet Saturday morning outside of the Media Center. The group will also have the chance to spend time with former NASCAR driver and SPEED personality Kyle Petty during a private Meet and Greet in their hospitality chalet. Harvick’s #4 Chevy will also run a Magic Moments decal in support of the organization.(KHI)(4-13-2011)
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