April 17, 2010
- Rain causes problem at Texas: BOTH Saturday Practices for the Samsung Mobile 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway were canceled Saturday due to rain.(4-17-2010)
- Pit Stall Selections – Texas: The selections of pit stalls for the Samsung 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway have been made. Pole sitter #14-Stewart chose pit stall 1 [as do most pole sitters].
Outside pole sitter #77-Hornish Jr., took stall 14, the first with an opening in front of it [after the 1st stall of course].
#16-Biffle, who starts 3rd took the 13th pit stall, the first stall with an opening behind it.
The 43rd and final pit stall was taken by #31-Burton, who starts 6th.
To see where all the drivers/teams pit stall is, see the pit selection chart on the Terxas Pit Stall Selection chart.(4-17-2010) - Parts confiscated from #13 and #47 teams: NASCAR confiscated the lower radiator pans from Max Papis’ #13 Toyota and Marcos Ambrose’s #47 Toyota during post-qualifying Sprint Cup Series inspection. The pans are considered “unapproved ballast weight mounting” according to Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby and is in violation of NASCAR Rule 20-2.3 (added car weight). Darby said the violation could carry a penalty. The piece confiscated on the #13 Toyota was 45.2-pounds, while the #47 Toyota’s pan weighed 25.7 pounds. One crew chief who was observing the steel pieces in the NASCAR hauler after they were confiscated said the pans “should weigh a couple of pounds at best” and be composed of one-eighth inch aluminum. Frank Kerr, crew chief of the #47 Toyota said it was the same radiator pan the team has used all season. “We asked the inspectors when we first put it on the car at California if it was ‘OK’ and they said it was ‘on the edge, but OK.’ There hasn’t been any question about the piece until now.”(FoxSports)(4-17-2010)
- Gossage not a fan of start-and-parkers: Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage said the so-called start-and-park teams in each NASCAR race are “stealing money” and steps should be taken to stop them. A few teams enter Sprint Cup events each week with no intention of running the entire event. Some of them don’t even have a pit crew or extra tires. They qualify for the race, run a few laps and park the car to collect the large purse money. “The start-and-parkers are simply stealing,” Gossage said Saturday. “I don’t blame them for finding the loophole, but they are going to steal a half a million dollars here tomorrow [in the Samsung Mobile 500] of our money. “They add nothing to the show, not one darn thing. They’re stealing. I want real racers, but they’re not racing.” Gossage pointed specifically to the #66 Toyota owned by Phil Parsons. The team has competed in six Cup events this season. The car finished 41st or worse in five races, completing less than 20 percent of the laps in those events. “NASCAR has an obligation to the fans to not allow this,” Gossage said. “People are stealing in broad daylight in front of 150,000 fans in the grandstands and millions of people watching at home.” Gossage has two suggestions for eliminating the problem: Reduce the Cup field from 43 to 36 cars (the last seven finishers a year ago at TMS made over $580,000 total), or change the way purse money is distributed. “Last place here Sunday is going to pay about $85,000,” Gossage said. “That should be $10,000 and the rest of that money should go to the top finishers.”(ESPN)(4-17-2010)
- Kyle Busch going for Nationwide record: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Z-Line Designs/Conn’s Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Nationwide Series, has won four consecutive NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Texas Motor Speedway, and the “Drive for Five” will take place during Saturday’s O’Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. In the four victories, Busch led a combined 657 of 800 laps available to him, meaning he has been at the point for 82% of the Nationwide Series circuits conducted at Texas since 2008. Only two other drivers – Jack Ingram and Dale Earnhardt – have won five consecutive Nationwide Series races at one track. Ingram, the 1982 and 1985 Nationwide Series champion, won at South Boston Speedway in July 1985 and then won four more races at the .357-mile oval in southern Virginia in April, May, June and July of 1986. Earnhardt won the February Nationwide Series event at Daytona every year from 1990 to 1994.(JGR)(4-17-2010)
- Gillette says RPM will recover from losing Kahne: Foster Gillett, the managing partner of Richard Petty Motorsports and son of team owner George Gillett Jr., said Friday the team will recover from #9-Kasey Kahne’s decision to leave RPM after this year and sign with Hendrick Motorsports. Gillett said he knows Kahne’s departure, along with some financial difficulties his family is experiencing, have caused doubts about RPM’s future. “Many people last year were saying the same thing,” Gillett said. “You know what? We’re still here. We survived and thrived and we’ll do it again. When change like this happens, it opens up opportunities for others. We are focusing on the opportunities we have more than what we lose.” The move leaves RPM in limbo after losing its star driver. The other three drivers for RPM — #43-AJ Allmendinger, #98-Paul Menard and #19-Elliott Sadler — also have contracts that expire at the end of 2010. “It’s a work in progress next season for our driver lineup,” Gillett said. “That’s not a secret. We are working to have the best drivers we can. Richard preaches to us to focus on building the best race cars we can and we’ll have sponsors and drivers.”
Gillett said he hopes to keep Budweiser, which sponsors Kahne’s car. “My family has a wonderful relationship with Anheuser Busch,” Gillett said. “We will put out a maximum effort to keep them. If they ask me to run through this wall, I’ll do it.” George Gillett is in the process of restructuring a $90 million debt on a loan that’s in default. The Gillett family also is trying to sell its interest in the Liverpool soccer team of the English Premier League. “It’s no secret that my family is looking at all our options and doing all we can,” Foster Gillett said. “The more liquidity we have, the better it is for NASCAR. This is a process we’re trying to go through. We’re nearing closure on that and I think good news is ahead. We’ve made a number of enormous changes to get better. I really believe in what we’ve done.” Gillett had good things to say about Kahne and believes the No. 9 team will race well the rest of the season. Kahne ranks 26th in the standings, but made the Chase last year.
“We are focused more on what we can do while we have him,” Gillett said. “A lot of teams would take a 30-race contract with Kasey. He’s one of the best guys in the sport and we are honored to have him. I know what a gentleman Kasey is. He’s a quality person and he has great ability as a race car driver. If you give him great equipment he’ll go win, and I believe we have a championship-caliber team in the 9. I know Kasey will do his best to uphold all his commitments.” Gillett emphasized that he and his father are committed to NASCAR for the long haul. “My family made a choice to be in NASCAR,” he said. “We’ve learned some hard lessons and I have to take responsibility for how things have gone. We’ve had some hardships, but we’ve gone through worse.”(ESPN.com)(4-17-2010) - Kyle Busch to run a M&M’s Pretzel scheme: Kyle Busch is scheduled to run a #18 M&M Pretzel Special the All Star Challenge and Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. See am image of the scheme on my #18 Team Schemes page…mmmm, m&m’s AND pretzels.At the 2009 NACS show, Mars Snackfood US unveiled its M&M’s Pretzel Chocolate Candies, which combine sweet and salty in every bite-size piece. M&M’s Pretzel Chocolate Candies are kosher certified and feature a crunchy, salted pretzel center covered in M&M’s brand milk chocolate and coated in a colorful candy shell. The product will be available in May 2010.(4-17-2010)
- Kahne going retro at Richmond: #9-Kasey Kahne is scheduled to run a Budweiser Retro Throw Back Special at Richmond International Raceway in May. See am image of the scheme on my #9 Team Schemes page.(4-17-2010)
- Gibbs, Busch, Gordon, Ambrose, Yates, Sturbin honored at TMHoF: Joe Gibbs joined yet another hall of fame as the three-time Super Bowl-winning coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer became the newest member of the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame during Friday evening’s gala at The Speedway Club at Texas Motor Speedway. Gibbs was honored along with Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Marcos Ambrose, Robert Yates and veteran motorsports journalist John Sturbin. Gibbs joins previous inductees A.J. Foyt (2003), Johnny Rutherford (2003), Terry Labonte (2004), Lee Shepherd (2004), Kenny Bernstein (2005), Jim Hall (2005), Eddie Hill (2006), Mark Martin (2007), Jim McElreath (2007), Bobby Labonte (2008) and Bruton Smith (2008) into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame. Gibbs, a five-time winner as car owner at Texas Motor Speedway, has carried his success from the National Football League to NASCAR. Since Joe Gibbs Racing opened its doors in 1992 he has led the organization to two three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships (2000, ’02, ’05) and most recently won his first Nationwide Series championship last year with Kyle Busch.
Gibbs’ championship driver, Busch, was honored as Texas Motor Speedway’s Racer of the Year. Busch became the first Nationwide Series drivers to win four consecutive races at “The Great American Speedway!” last year after. The honor came on the strength of Busch’s performance during last November’s Dickies 500 weekend as he nearly became the first driver in NASCAR history to win three
national series events on the same weekend. He captured his first career truck series victory at Texas Motor Speedway in the WinStar World Casino 350k and followed with a victory in the O’Reilly Challenge Nationwide Series race the following day. Busch came up two laps short in his bid for history as he ran out of fuel on Lap 332 of the 334-lap Dickies 500 Sprint Cup Series race, relinquishing his lead to older brother Kurt.A pair of NASCAR’s most respected drivers, Ambrose and Gordon, received the Texas Motor Speedway Sportsmanship Award. Ambrose has continued to climb up the NASCAR ranks since making the jump from V8 Supercars in Australia. He has proven to be the consummate professional both on and off the track. Gordon, winner of 82 career Sprint Cup Series races, was honored for his
accomplishments off the track. Gordon has continued to help the lives of ill children through the Jeff Gordon Foundation which he established in 1999. Since then he has gone on to help raise more than $10 million for children facing critical illness. The award was just one of two on the evening for Gordon, as he received the 2009 Fan Choice Award presented by 1310 The Ticket. The award, award for to the top racing moment at Texas Motor Speedway, was voted on by the fans. The three moments included Gordon’s first career victory at Texas Motor Speedway during last April’s Samsung 500; Helio Castroneves’ third career victory at Texas Motor Speedway during the Bombardier Learjet 550k; and Jimmie Johnson’s early-lap wreck in the Dickies 500 that changed the complexion of the championship race. More than 10,000 fans casted their vote at www.texasmotorspeedway.com and the overwhelming winner was Gordon.Yates was awarded this year’s Bruton Smith Legend Award. The legendary engine builder and owner of Yates Racing put together a championship-caliber organization from 1989 to 2009. During that span Yates earned a Sprint Cup Series championship in 1999 to go along with 57 career Sprint Cup Series victories, including a pair at Texas Motor Speedway. Yates’ son, Doug, accepted the award on his father’s behalf and said his father has provided him with some valuable lessons.Veteran motorsports journalist John Sturbin was recognized for his contributions to auto racing with the Excellence in Motorsports Journalism award. Sturbin, longtime motorsports reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, has covered racing for more than 35 years and continues to cover the sport as senior writer for racintoday.com.
The Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame ceremony benefits Speedway Children’s Charities-Texas Chapter. Since the organization was established in 1997 it has raised more than $6.7 million in funding, including a record $1 million in grants the previous two years. The funds generated help non-profit organizations in the four North Texas counties it serves – Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant.(TMS)(4-17-2010)
- NASCAR Sponsors Join Forces To Ramp Up Largest Recycling Program In Professional Sports: As the world prepares for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, NASCAR announced an expansion to its event recycling program, which began one year ago in collaboration with Coca-Cola Recycling, and is already the largest in sports. The NASCAR industry, which recycled more than 80 tons and 2.5 million containers in the 2009 season through working with Coca-Cola Recycling, will expand bottle and can recycling from the grandstands, concourse, suites and garage to the campgrounds, while also including cardboard and ink cartridge recycling. With Office Depot, Coors Light and UPS joining NASCAR’s recycling program and working with Coca-Cola Recycling, it is anticipated approximately 100 tons of material (including over three million containers) from NASCAR race tracks will be diverted from landfills and recycled next year.Office Depot is underwriting the overall program at the sport’s Earth Day celebration at Texas Motor Speedway, and piloting an ink and toner cartridge recycling program at track for the first time. Recycling bins for cartridges will be located at the #14 Office Depot/Old Spice merchandise haulers in the fan Midway area at Texas Motor Speedway, as well as in the infield media center. Through the Office Depot ink and toner recycling program, more than 40 million ink and toner cartridges have been returned since the program began in 1993.At Texas Motor Speedway, Office Depot will serve as the lead partner on overall race weekend green efforts focused on recycling in collaboration with Coca-Cola Recycling and neutralizing carbon emissions. Office Depot will match the tree donation by NASCAR in the NASCAR Green Clean Air initiative, which plants 10 trees for every green flag that drops in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in the local area to neutralize the carbon produced by the event’s on-track action. Additionally, Office Depot, along with Coca-Cola Recycling, will have co-branding on all NASCAR recycling elements at the track in Texas, including special locations for ink cartridge recycling. The Office Depot show car program in the local area will also promote recycling to fans, including race ticket giveaways providing an incentive for fans to “grow greener.”
Coors Light will be working with Coca-Cola Recycling to begin piloting a recycling program in the campgrounds that in 2010 will launch at Chicagoland Speedway. Campgrounds recycling, a critical component for the sport’s waste reduction-efforts since approximately one third of recyclable material at the track comes from the campgrounds, is planned to eventually expand to the entire circuit. Coca-Cola, the official soft drink of NASCAR, will continue to facilitate all at-track recycling through collaboration of its Coca-Cola Recycling division with Office Depot, Coors Light on campgrounds recycling, and UPS for cardboard recycling.
UPS will be piloting a new at-track cardboard recycling initiative in 2010. Track-wide cardboard recycling, including the merchandise row and food service areas that are contributing the majority of waste cardboard sent from the track to landfills, will begin as a pilot at five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series tracks this season. Nearly 50% of recyclable material at track is composed of cardboard and paper, with the majority of cardboard from merchandise row, as well as the hospitality village, suites and garage areas.(NASCAR)(4-17-2010)
- ExtenZe Racing Honorary Crew Chief for Texas named: When a small plane was intentionally crashed into an Austin, Texas, building that housed Internal Revenue Service offices, Robin De Haven was on the scene and rushed to aid people stranded in the raging inferno. For his bravery, 28-year-old De Haven has been named an ‘ExtenZe Local Hero’ and will be the ExtenZe Racing Honorary Crew Chief at the upcoming Texas Motor Speedway NASCAR Sprint Cup weekend. It was Feb. 18 and De Haven, a window-glass repairman, was on his way to a job site when he saw a plane flying uncomfortably low. The plane soon disappeared and thick, black smoke began to rise and fill the sky. Unsure of what happened, De Haven opted to drive over and investigate.When he arrived on scene, De Haven was met with smoke, flames and chaos. He pulled into a parking lot, spoke with a 911 operator, and learned from bystanders that people were trapped on the building’s second floor and yelling for help. He grabbed a 20-ft. long ladder from his truck and headed for the fiery, twisted mess. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, De Haven hastily placed the long ladder against the building and managed his way up unsteady rails.Upon reaching the second story, De Haven pushed by a shattered window and entered the building. There he found six people trapped with no exit due to a smoke-filled hallway. After calming their nerves, he realized the precarious ladder he came up wouldn’t do the trick for getting everyone to safety. The stranded group then broke through another window and De Haven climbed out on a skinny ledge. He hollered to people on the ground and had them move his ladder to a fastened position and instructed them to lean it to the ledge. De Haven then helped all six people shimmy to the ground and was the last person down the ladder to safety.
The ‘ExtenZe Local Hero’ program pays tribute to people who have gone to great lengths to make a difference. Those selected have faced danger, sacrificed their own safety for others or in some way displayed leadership that changed their community for the better. Award recipients become ExtenZe Racing Honorary Crew Chiefs, receive a tour of the paddock, attend the pre-race NASCAR Driver/Crew Chief meeting, and sit atop the pit box with Crew Chief Peter Sospenzo to root on rookie driver Kevin Conway piloting the royal blue and red #38 ExtenZe Ford Fusion. Each recipient also receives a $1,000 award from ExtenZe in recognition of their selflessness. Fans can visit www.ExtenZeRacing.com to nominate their own local heroes or review who has been previously chosen. Also check in on blog/twitter feeds for the latest information on ExtenZe Racing and Kevin Conway.(ExtenZe Racing)(4-17-2010)
- TMS fans can help Samsung and Sprint break a Guinness World Record: Samsung Mobile and Sprint are attempting to break the Guinness World Records mark to collect mobile phones Thursday-Sunday (April 15-18) at the Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The joint effort is part of Samsung Mobile’s March to a Million program to collect and recycle one million mobile phones by the end of the year and Sprint’s Recycle for Victory recycling program. Additionally, Samsung Mobile is offering every NASCAR fan that donates an old mobile phone during the Samsung Mobile 500 weekend a limited edition 3D Samsung Mobile 500 pin, and, if they donate an old cell phone before Sunday, the opportunity to win one of three prizes.ccThe drop-off area for race fans who want to recycle their old cell phones throughout the race week will be the Samsung Mobile booth located at Gate 4. Samsung Mobile will accept all makes and models of cell phones.
(TMS)(4-17-2010) - Benson racing Kansas & Dover: Johnny Benson.com Message Board says Benson will be racing at Kansas and Dover…more news to come.(JohnnyBenson.com)(4-17-2010)
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