April 15, 2014
- Gordon could race 10 more years? Daughter may race soon: #24-Jeff Gordon talked to Larry King at Auto Club Speedway last month about his strong season in 2014, his career and whether his children will race. “It’s funny how life serves these things up,” Gordon said. “You go through a time where you go through a frustrating year, or I had some back and health issues. And I said, ‘You know, I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to do this at this level or if I event want to.’ “Then you all of the sudden have this amazing year, and you go, ‘God, I love racing. Racing’s amazing. I can’t wait to do it for another 10 years.’ ” In addition to his own future, Gordon also discusses the possibility of his offspring racing and expects to see his daughter behind the wheel in the near future. “We’re probably going to put my daughter in a quarter-midget soon,” Gordon said.(see video at NASCAR.com), on Monday, April 14th, Gordon posted an image on his Twitter of daughter Ella driving a quarter midget for the first time.(4-15-2014)
- NASCAR Numbers so far in 2014:
462: The total number of laps led by Kevin Harvick in his two NASCAR Sprint Cup victories this season. Harvick led 224 laps in winning Saturday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway to go with the 238 he led in getting his first victory of the year at Phoenix. In the six other races combined, Harvick has led 53 laps.
41: The number of positions both Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. improved at Darlington over their finishes in the previous race at Texas Motor Speedway. Earnhardt was first out of the Texas race (43rd) after a close encounter with the infield grass. Harvick retired in 42nd with engine issues. At Darlington, Harvick and Earnhardt ran 1-2.
5: In eight NASCAR Sprint Cup races this season, the number of times Dale Earnhardt Jr. has recorded a top-three finish. After winning the Daytona 500, Earnhardt has finished second three times (at Phoenix, Las Vegas and Darlington) and third once (at Martinsville).
586: The total number of laps led by Kyle Busch in the last five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at Richmond International Raceway held in the spring. Hence, it’s likely Busch will notch the 30 laps he needs to reach a career milestone of 10,000 laps led in the series. Busch led at least 32 laps in each of the last five spring races and won four of them.
1: The number of drivers advancing to the final round in each of the seven knockout qualifying sessions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this year. Joey Logano kept his perfect record intact Friday at Darlington Raceway, then qualified on the outside of the front row in the final round.(NASCAR Wire Service)(4-15-2014) - Kurt Busch says Gene Haas serious about F1 UPDATE2: #41-Kurt Busch said team owner Gene Haas is serious about making a strong entry into Formula One, a move that could expand the series’ footprint in the U.S. “It will be an incredible challenge. He knows that,” Busch said Sunday at the MotoGP motorcycle race in Texas. “It’s a matter of the fans getting behind it, supporting Gene and trying to give F1 another chance,” he said. “We’ve had Michael Andretti, before him was his dad. We had Scott Speed as a driver. Now we have an (American) owner. It will be interesting to see how the driver lineup shapes up.” At 35, Busch said it won’t be him racing a Haas Formula One car. “My time has passed to be a competitive driver in F1,” Busch said. “But a test session? I’d jump on that every time. They’re going to have hard time keeping me out of the shop, from hanging out.”(in part from the Associated Press)(4-14-2014)
UPDATE: NASCAR team owner Gene Haas says he plans to field an American-based Formula One racing series team within the next two years. The team will be called Haas Formula, he said Monday at a news conference. Haas says he should know within the next four weeks if the team will begin racing in 2015 or wait until 2016. He says part of that depends on how long it takes for Haas Formula to find an engine supplier. Haas Formula would become the first American-based Formula One team in more than three decades to join the racing series. Although there’s plenty of skepticism over his decision, Haas says, “I wouldn’t be doing it if I thought I was going to fail. But that’s the challenge — proving other people wrong.”(Associated Press/ESPN)(4-14-2014)
UPDATE2: The motivation for Gene Haas is two-fold. Primarily, Haas, who owns one the largest CNC tool manufacturing operations, wants to market his products globally and F1 will allow him to “enhance his branding” on a greater scale than NASCAR, which is limited to North America. “The ultimate goal is to take the image of Haas Automation and turn it into a brand that is desired and high-quality and known throughout the world,” Haas said. “The ultimate goal would be to double our sales for Haas Automation. I think it’s going to be positive. As an indicator, I’m using the relationship with NASCAR that we have here including the brands we have in the United States. We have a very good market share, good market penetration and it’s as simple as to replicate that overseas.”
Secondly, despite short-lived effort of the USF1 team, Haas is convinced that an American-based team can compete against the established F1 juggernauts of Europe. Haas feels that with the current F1 rules packages, the timing is right for an aspiring team to enter the series and dispel the notion that “Americans can’t do it”.
“I’m here to prove that we can do it, and we can do it with a budget and we can be efficient at it and we can win at it,” Haas said. “That’s what I’m going to try. I’m not saying that I’m better than anybody else. I just have a different way of doing it, and people that I work with think differently. That, I guess, is going to be the secret to our success in this business. We’re going to spend our money wisely. We’re going to do it with an American flair for design and efficiencies, and that’s how we’re going to control our costs. I don’t — we’re not going to be a European-led team. We’re going to be an American-led team and we’ll do it the way we think is the most efficient. Yes, this is an ambitious undertaking for Haas. He wasn’t joking when asked about his budget that “it’s going to be billions and billions” to be operational. And he has just over a month to inform the FIA as to whether Haas Formula intends to race in 2015 or 2016. Certainly, Haas’ timetable will depend on the support of his technical partners. Similar to his introduction to NASCAR where he relied on Hendrick Motorsports to get up to speed, Haas will rely on the relationship of his potential F1 partners as well.
Formula Haas’ home base will be in Kannapolis, N.C. adjacent to the existing Stewart-Haas Racing shop. The company is currently adding 150,000 sq. ft. With Haas Automation satellites in Brussels and Shanghai, there is already a global base, but Haas expects to have a secondary shop in either Germany or Italy likely dependent on whether he partners with Mercedes or Ferrari. Haas will likely use Dallara for his chassis, but his eventual goal is to develop the components to compete for the Constructors championship.
As for prospective drivers, in the beginning Haas would like to use racers that are already familiar with the current engine rules package then eventually phase in American talent. Formula Haas team principal Guenther Steiner would prefer not entertainment drivers searching for buy rides but rely on racers with raw talent. For now, Haas intends on maintaining a clean car free of sponsorship outside of the Haas brand. He believes that any additional support would “dilute” his marketing strategy. However, a five-year plan is in place to “make this a profitable enterprise” and that will involve additional sponsors in order “to make money and compete”.(Motorsport)(4-15-2014) - Sad News – Marty Little: Longtime Florida racing journalist, promoter and track announcer Marty Little passed away on Saturday, April 12th in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Little was a USAF Vet and longtime track announcer at the now defunct Hialeah Speedway. Little the public relations person for Rahmoc Racing, wrote weekly racing articles for National Speed Sport News for South Florida race tracks and was the historian for South Florida racing for over 40 years. Marty is the brother of long time Penske Racing employee David Little. Little currently worked at Dometic Enviromental. Survivors include wife Janet, children Richard, Suzanne (Brian) grandson Paul, brother David (Malinda) their children Chris, Dee, and Katelyn. Donations to Vitas 152 or Victory Junction. Services info at Fred Hunters in Davie, FL.(4-15-2014)
- Sage Fruit signs associate deal with JR Motorsports: Sage Fruit Company, long-time sponsors of Kasey Kahne Racing, just announced a new associate sponsorship with JR Motorsports, the professional race team owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Based in Mooresville, N.C., JR Motorsports fields multiple teams and tours nationally in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. As part of the agreement, the Sage Fruit logo will have placement on the #9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevy for all of Chase Elliott’s races, as well as placement on Kahne’s #5 Great Clips Chevy at Talladega (May 3) and #5 Hellmann’s Chevy at Daytona (July 4).(Perishable News)(4-15-2014)
- Lucas Oil to sponsor Chicagoland truck race: Chicagoland Speedway today announced Lucas Oil as the title sponsor of its NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race this September. The Lucas Oil 225 will hit the track for a night race on Friday, Sept. 12, as part of a triple-header weekend to kick off the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup at Chicagoland Speedway. In recent years Lucas Oil has produced a line of high performance engine oils and gear oils that are second-to-none in the racing industry. “Lucas Oil has made good racing oil for a very long time that really works,” Lucas Oil founder Forrest Lucas said. “We are very excited to be the title sponsor for the Lucas Oil 225 in September and look forward to presenting thrilling NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racing for the enjoyment of the Chicagoland fans.”(Chicagoland Speedway)(4-15-2014)
- New Freedom Trophy Awarded to Talladega Sprint Cup Series Winner: Winning a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway – NASCAR’s Most Competitive track – brings with it history, tradition, prestige and honor. Now, it has taken on a new meaning that has a special place in everyone’s heart. In support of the United States Military, Talladega Superspeedway is thrilled to announce the “Freedom Trophy,” which will be awarded to every winner of a Sprint Cup Series race at the 2.66-mile grand venue, beginning with the May 4 Aaron’s 499. The special trophy showcases all five branches of the United States military – Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. Military personnel will be on hand at each Talladega Sprint Cup Series race to make the presentation of the Freedom Trophy in Victory Lane. Not only will they be in the winner’s circle to award the coveted trophy, but they will also participate in pre-race ceremonies as well. Each Talladega Superspeedway race weekend, a different United States military base will be given the opportunity to present the Freedom Trophy.
The creation of Talladega Superspeedway Vice President Brian Crichton, the Freedom Trophy is an honor to all military men and women on behalf of the speedway, a patriotic entity since 1969. Crichton enlisted the assistance of Fast Forward Marketing Owner Mike Barth (Spring, TX), who has custom designed trophies in motorsports since 1996. MTM Recognition in Oklahoma City, OK spearheaded the design.
“Winning a Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega just got extra special,” said Talladega Chairman Grant Lynch. “With the Freedom Trophy, we pay tribute to our race winners, as well as our servicemen and women who make so many things possible for us on a daily basis.” The Freedom Trophy is five-sided, reflective of each branch of the military. Silver aluminum panels, complete with a design of each military branch soldier and branch logo, are showcased, along with a star that is waterjet cut in the center. The base is black stained wood with circular discs at the bottom and top made of black acrylic, and includes the Talladega Superspeedway logo, the date of the race and the name of the base awarding the trophy.
“As a symbol of our military we thought it was fitting to start with a pentagon shaped base’” said Crichton. “The artists did a great job by bringing together all five branches of the military, incorporating the star in the center and showcasing each branch seal on the individual pillars. It is a trophy we hope every Talladega Sprint Cup winner will be proud of – that it will mean a little something extra when they display it with the rest of their trophies.” In addition to recognizing the military through the Freedom Trophy, Talladega Superspeedway is proud to offer special ticket prices for all members of the military and their families for its race weekends. For more information, visit www.talladegasuperspeedway.com/military.(TSS)(4-15-2014)
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