April 14, 2016
- Bristol Track Notes & History:
� Groundbreaking for Bristol International Speedway, as Bristol Motor Speedway was originally known, took place in 1960. The track was an exact half-mile.
� First NASCAR Sprint Cup race was July 30, 1961; Jack Smith won the event (with relief from Johnny Allen).
� All of the NSCS races have been scheduled for 500 laps, except for both races in 1976 and the second in 1977, which were 400 laps.
� In the fall of 1969, the track was reshaped and re-measured to .533-miles.
� The name changed to Bristol International Raceway in 1978.
� The first night race was held in the fall of 1978.
� The surface was changed from asphalt to concrete in 1992.
� The name changed to Bristol Motor Speedway in May 1996.
� The track was resurfaced between races in 2007, and the turns were ground down in 2012 to eliminate part of the progressive banking.
(NASCAR) - Fire at Richard Petty Museum UPDATE: Statement from Richard Petty Motorsports: There was a fire today [Saturday] at the historical site of Petty Enterprises and now the current site of Petty’s Garage and Richard Petty Museum. The fire was contained to a portion of the building and was controlled quickly. There were no injuries and minimal damage to the structure. The Petty Family is grateful to the first responders.(Richard Petty Motorsports)(4-3-2016)
UPDATE: The Petty Family Foundation donated $1,000 to the Level Cross Fire Department as their way of thanking the local firefighters for their help with a recent minor fire. Station 43 firefighters responded quickly last week after a small fire was reported at the current site of Petty’s Garage and the Richard Petty Museum, the historical site of Petty Enterprises. “Because of their efforts, damage to our facility was minimal,” said Shannon Newman, Director of Development for the Petty Family Foundation. “This donation from the Petty family is their way to demonstrate their appreciation and support for our community firefighters. They are such an important part of the Level Cross community, and we sincerely thank Chief Russell and his staff.” A fire was reported on Saturday, April 2, but was contained to a portion of the building and was controlled quickly by the local fire department. There were no injuries and minimal damage to the structure. Both The Richard Petty Museum and Petty’s Garage continue to operate. The Museum is currently offering half-off admission prices as clean up continues. Clean up is expected to be complete by mid-May.(Petty Family Foundation/Richard Petty Museum)(4-14-2016) - Vickers still possible for an Indy 500 ride: Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team owner Sam Schmidt says NASCAR driver Brian Vickers and the late Justin Wilson’s brother, Stefan, are still possibilities for the team’s third car in the Indy 500. The team owner, whose other candidates include – but are not confined to – trusty veteran Oriol Servia and Verizon IndyCar Series sophomore Gabby Chaves, said: “The same four or five guys have been circling the sandbox for the last 45 days. One week one of them will be all fired up and there’ll be LOIs [letters of intent] exchanged…and then nothing happens and it’s left hanging. We seem to be spending a lot of time on it at the moment, which I hoped not to be doing by now, but that’s the nature of the business. So let me put it this way: as of this morning, the door’s still open to all!” Schmidt, whose team took pole at the 2011 Indy 500 with Alex Tagliani, confirmed that rookies Vickers and Wilson remain in the running for the third SPM seat on Memorial Day Weekend. Schmidt said no clear favorite had emerged among his potential third drivers for the 100th Indy 500.(Motorsport)(4-14-2016)
- Dale Jr. says he’ll be nervous to meet Peyton Manning: #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. has met Peyton Manning before, but that doesn’t mean he won’t get nervous when he meets the recently retired Super Bowl champion quarterback Sunday. Manning is scheduled to join Earnhardt during driver introductions before the Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Just like fans often get when they meet NASCAR’s most popular driver, Earnhardt expects to get a little tongue-tied when around Manning as they ride around in the pickup truck waving to fans following driver introductions. “We’ll see how that goes,” Earnhardt said Wednesday. “That will be pretty interesting to have him there in that process and ride around in the back of the truck. I’m sure I’ll lock up and get stage fright and get all nervous around him — that’s normally what I do around celebrities.” Manning will be an honorary race official for the Food City 500 as the track tries to cross-promote the race as well as the Sept. 10 football game between Tennessee and Virginia Tech. Earnhardt and Manning both are spokesmen for Nationwide.(ESPN)(4-14-2016)
- Three drivers appear on “Dude Perfect” tonight: Texas Motor Speedway will serve as the backdrop for the NASCAR-themed episode of Thursday evening’s The Dude Perfect Show on CMT. The Dude Perfect crew of Tyler Toney, Garrett Hilbert, Cody Jones and twin brothers Coby and Cory Cotton filmed at Texas Motor Speedway during last November’s AAA Texas 500 NASCAR tripleheader weekend that included guest appearances by drivers as well as Dude Perfect in an honorary race role. The episode, which airs at 9:30pm/et, is the second in the show’s debut season for the five Texas A&M; University friends that became YouTube sensations over seven years ago with incredible basketball trick shots. This episode revolves around Dude Perfect being named by Texas Motor Speedway to drive the honorary pace car for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge XFINITY Series race on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015. With only one seat up for grabs, Toney and Hilbert have some fierce competition to determine who will drive the Chevrolet Camaro official pace car that will lead the XFINITY Series field to the green flag. Hilbert ultimately prevails, but the Camaro has a stick shift and he needs to enlist the likes of NASCAR drivers Chase Elliott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to get him situated for his honorary role.(TMS)(4-14-2016)
- Johnson to be honored at Bristol: Food City Race Night will recognize #48-Jimmie Johnson for his contributions to the sport of NASCAR and the racing community on Friday, April 15, at the Bristol Motor Speedway Pepsi Stage (Hospitality Area). Johnson will take the stage at 6:30pm/et for the recognition along with Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president/general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway and Mike Helton, president of NASCAR. Larry McReynolds of NASCAR on FOX will be the master of ceremonies. Food City will make a donation to the Jimmie Johnson Foundation in its 24th year of sponsoring the race event at Bristol.(HMS)(4-14-2016)
- Jeff Gordon and wife attend gala in NYC for good cause: Jeff Gordon along with his wife, Ingrid, attended the Breast Cancer Research Foundation gala in New York City on Tuesday night. The “Hot Pink Party” was held at the Waldorf Astoria luxury hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The event was also highlighted with a special performance by legendary singer, pianist and composer Elton John.(FoxSports)(4-14-2016)
- Sad News – Joni Roberts: Joan M. Hensel (Joni) Roberts died Tuesday, April 12, in the Huntsville (AL) Hospital. She was 58. Her death came at the end of a 10-month battle with lung cancer after being diagnosed the day before her birthday last June. Mrs. Roberts was a devoted employee of the Marshall County Health Department. Mrs. Roberts was working in the avionics field when she relocated to the Atlanta area. It was there she met her husband, Guntersville native Tom Roberts, who was the public relations director at Atlanta International Raceway at the time. Tom moved on to be the assistant general manager of the Nashville International Raceway and the couple were married in 1981 in Nolensville, TN. The couple bought a weekend cabin at Pine Island Point and moved there to live in 1989 as Tom was now traveling on the top level NASCAR circuit working with drivers, teams and sponsors. After serving as hospitality director for driver Alan Kulwicki’s team for a few seasons, Mrs. Roberts was tired of the road and eventually landed her position at the health department.
Service info, full obituary, condolences, donation info at carrfuneralhomeguntersville.com.(4-14-2016) - McLeod Motorsports announces Bristol sponsor: B.J. McLeod Motorsports announced that the team has signed Main Gates as the primary marketing partner for driver B.J. McLeod’s #78 Ford Mustang this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Eight years ago, during Florida’s worst ever housing slump, Main Gate Enterprises began with the office in the owner’s home and the equipment in an old barn on an abandoned dairy farm. In 2016, the company will be operating out of a 35,000 square foot facility in Wauchula, Fla. Main Gate builds its reputation on exceptional service, attentive customer service and proudly being the only gate company in Florida that has both a state licensed building contractor, as well as a state licensed electrical contractor on staff. (McLeod Motorsports)(4-14-2016)
- Sparks Energy sponsoring Gase at Talladega: Sparks Energy Inc., an electrical operations and restoration company based out of Danville, Alabama, will sponsor Joey Gase and the #52 Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet for the upcoming NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on April 30. Standing as the entitlement sponsor for the Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega, the company will sign on with Gase for a one-race deal. Since 2007, Sparks Energy Inc. has provided services on high voltage powerlines and industrial systems across the United States with a focus in transmission and distribution. They have restored power for families and businesses across the country for more than a decade. Gase has a strong dose of momentum once they head into the 2.66-mile track as they are hot off a career-best fifth-place effort one year ago at Talladega. One of the factors that play into plate racing in NASCAR is the heightened level of opportunity for smaller teams. This applies for Joey Gase and Jimmy Means Racing as they were able to keep their legendary #52 Chevrolet in the lead draft before gaining six spots in the last two laps to finish in the fifth position. To join Sparks Energy Inc., Donate Life Alabama and Alabama Organ Center [AOC] will return as sponsor for the 300-mile event. The Alabama Organ Center [AOC] is dedicated to providing a better quality of life for those people who require organ or tissue transplants, while respecting the families who share the gift of life. AOC will continue to dedicate itself to providing a better quality of life for those people who require organ and tissue transplantation, while respecting those families who share.(Joey Gase Racing), see an image of the car on the #52 team paint schemes page.(4-14-2016)
- Cope announces Bristol sponsors: DCR with JP Motorsports are ready to do battle at “The Last Great Colosseum,” and announce partners for the upcoming Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Returning to the #70 once again as a co-primary sponsor is E-hydrate. Offering the world’s first line of premium natural nutritional products, E-hydrate announced a partnership with Ingles Markets, a chain of food stores with over 200 locations. Also on the car as a co-primary sponsor for the Bristol race is To The Point Apparel. To The Point, based out of Winston-Salem, NC, is celebrating its 20th year in business supplying custom logo apparel to businesses and organizations nationwide. ICE-AID – formerly known as Beer Frost – an environmentally safe, all natural, mineral based product that turns your cooler of ice into a freezer – will continue its support of DCR and will be featured as a co-primary sponsor at the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 on the #70 Camaro. Also on board the #70 for the Bristol event is Fatz Cafe of Bristol(Derrike Cope Racing)(4-14-2016)
- Watkins Glen to unveil $11M track project: Watkins Glen International will unveil its newly resurfaced race track on Friday, and then let the public take their own cars on the track this weekend to test it out. Contractors began work on the $11 million repaving project began right after the NASCAR Sprint Cup race last August and continued through the winter. The finishing touches are being put on this spring, just in time for WGI’s annual Opening Weekend festivities, when fans can take laps to raise money for charity. “This is one of those wow projects, for everybody, from the fans to the drivers to the media,” said WGI President Michael Printup. “It’s going to be awesome.” The last major resurfacing was done about 20 years ago, Printup has said, and due to the cold Northeast winters, frost heave was a constant problem. Drivers in all the series that race at WGI, from sports cars to NASCAR, will notice a “dramatic” difference, Printup says. He says there will be better grip in the corners and he’s expecting record speeds in the Sprint Cup race. WGI will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11:15 a.m. Friday. Bob Varsha, a TV racing announcer, will be the MC, and special guests will include sportscar drivers Andy Lally and Derek Bell, who have 10 victories at the Glen between them. Afterward, cars from the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association will take the first laps on the fresh surface. Fans are invited to view the on-track festivities free of charge in the Argetsinger and Seneca grandstands by entering through Gate 2 off County Route 16.(Corning Leader)(4-14-2016)
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