April 18, 2008
- Dickies to be associate sponsor of #29 Team: Dickies, the leading global workwear brand, and Richard Childress Racing (RCR), are expanding their partnership to include an associate sponsorship position on the #29 Shell-Pennzoil team with driver Kevin Harvick in the Cup Series. Dickies and RCR began their partnership in 2006 as the official provider of work apparel for RCR. The opportunity to increase their involvement into team partnership with RCR was the next logical step in a successful relationship.(RCR PR)(4-18-2008) Comment here
- NASCAR Sued for Contract Breach: NASCAR was sued by a maker of automotive wet wipes for breach of a license agreement. Sellars Absorbent Materials Inc., a manufacturer of automotive car products, said NASCAR refused to approve packaging and marketing materials in connection with its automotive disposable wet wipes. The company paid NASCAR $1.5 million for the exclusive right to use the NASCAR logo to market its products, including wipes that will protect the surface and interior of cars, according to a lawsuit filed April 11 in federal court in Orlando, Florida. NASCAR contends that Sellars can’t market the wipes as a protectant due to an exclusive license agreement it has with 3M for “protectants,” according to the complaint. Sellars alleges that NASCAR granted it the exclusive right to use its logo for the wipes and is now attempting to “retroactively limit the scope of the license rights.” “Although Nascar identified certain limitations and exceptions in the license agreement and amendments,” Sellars said in court papers. “NASCAR did not create an exception for ‘protectants.’”(Bloomberg News)(4-18-2008) Comment here
- Hornish, Franchitti will not run Indy 500: Sprint Cup rookies Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish Jr., the men who won the last two Indianapolis 500s, will not compete in the race next month. Their NASCAR team owners — Chip Ganassi for the #40 Dodge Franchitti drives and Roger Penske for the # 77 Dodge Hornish drives — both said the Indy 500 is not part of the plan this season. The two Cup rookies will concentrate on the Coca-Cola 600 Cup race that day (May 25) at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Penske, who is traveling in Europe this week, called Rusty Wallace on Tuesday from England to tell him Hornish would not race at Indy this year. Penske wanted to end the speculation that David Stremme would replace Hornish in the Coca-Cola 600 so Hornish could race at Indy. The speculation about Hornish also brought rumors about Franchitti possibly returning to the Indy 500 next month to defend his victory from last season. But Ganassi made his feelings clear: “No way we’re doing that,” Ganassi said. Ganassi also said that Franchitti is totally committed to his move to NASCAR.(ESPN.com), see previous rumors about Hornish on my #77 Team News page.(4-18-2008) Comment here
- Fans To Decide One Driver’s Entry Into The Sprint All-Star Race:Sprint announced the return of the Sprint Fan Vote, a voting competition powered by fans to award one team a starting spot in the May 17 Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Voting began April 17 and closes at 7 p.m. EDT May 17. Race fans may vote multiple times. New this year, as a bonus to Sprint customers, votes placed on Sprint phones will count twice. Voting is available through the following channels:
*On Sprint phones text “NASCAR” to 7777 and follow the received directions (standard text messaging and data rates apply)
*At participating Sprint stores
*Trackside at the Sprint Experience
Past Fan Vote winners include Ken Schrader (2004), Martin Truex Jr. (2005), Kyle Petty (2006) and Kenny Wallace (2007).
To be eligible for the Sprint Fan Vote, drivers must have been in the top 50 in Sprint Cup Series driver point standings in 2007 or have attempted to qualify for a 2008 Sprint Cup Series race prior to March 10. The driver with the most votes who finishes the Sprint Showdown on the lead lap will transfer to the prestigious field. The Sprint Fan Vote winner will be announced following the completion of the Sprint Showdown. Tune in to SPEED May 17 at 7 p.m. EDT to see who will win the 2008 Sprint Fan Vote.(Sprint PR)(4-18-2008) Comment here - Marlin Running at Music City Motorplex: Sterling Marlin has no plans to compete for a Music City Motorplex Late Model points championship this season. He will race for a cause. Marlin said he will split his winnings from his six Motorplex races between Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University and the Nashville Rescue Mission. First place pays between $1,100 and $3,000, depending on the race. “My grandson was in (the children’s hospital) and they took really good care of him,” said Marlin, a Columbia resident and two-time Daytona 500 champ. “I wanted to try and take care of some kids and some people that have had misfortune. We eat well at Thanksgiving and Christmas and I know some of those people at the mission may not know where their next meal is coming from. I figured I’d try and help them out a little bit.” Marlin will race May 10, June 14, Aug. 8, Aug. 30, Sept. 20 and Oct. 11. Marlin also is racing a partial Sprint Cup schedule with Phoenix Racing. He will attempt to qualify for the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega next week and Richmond the following week.(Tennessean)(4-18-2008) Comment here
- NASCAR Revs Up New York: a FREE outdoor fan event celebrating NASCAR Sprint All-Star weekend featuring: Live Race Coverage, Race Simulators, NASCAR Stock Cars, Tire Changing Competitions, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Trophy, Games and Prizes for all ages, Pocono Raceway Ticket Package Giveaways and much, much more! More info on my 2008 All-Star Race page.(4-18-2008)
- Kyle Busch may run full Nationwide season: UPDATE 2: Kyle Busch said Friday he might change his plans and try to run the entire Nationwide Series schedule this season. “There’s some thought about it,” Busch said. “We’ll see. I think the possibility is there, but I’m not going to do whatever it takes to get practice in the Nationwide car. I’m going to worry about the Cup stuff and show up to race the Nationwide car.” Busch, who leads the Cup standings, ranks second in the Nationwide standings and second in the Craftsman Truck Series standings. He will not run the entire truck schedule. Busch said they would re-evaluate his schedule after the Nationwide race at Atlanta next weekend. “I believe Tony is going to skip that Atlanta race,” Busch said. “So we’ll probably be the [Nationwide] points leader coming out of that if everything goes right this weekend. Then we’ll decide if we want to go to Mexico City or not. Right now, it’s not on our list, but guys are calling to get a ride in our #20 car for that race, so I might be stealing somebody’s ride.”(ESPN.com)(3-1-2008)
UPDATE: The one-time thought of running the full Nationwide Series schedule is quickly fading [for Busch]. “Probably for now, I’m going to decide to back out of adding more races,” Busch said Friday at Martinsville Speedway. “We haven’t done any of that yet. The thought is still to go to Mexico, but I’m trying to get out of that if I can now.”(SceneDaily.com)(3-28-2008)
UPDATE 2: Kyle Busch said Friday the decision on whether to run the entire Nationwide Series schedule is strictly up to him. “It really depends on our Cup effort,” Busch said. “We’re still going race-by-race and see how it goes,” Busch said. “If I win this weekend, that doesn’t change it. Cup testing is going to come into play. We’re going to have to out to places [non-Cup tracks] to work on it. That tends to make me tired, so I may not want to do all the traveling back and forth from Sonoma to Milwaukee and from Kentucky to Michigan.”(ESPN.com)(4-18-2008) - Said to Run Nationwide Road Course Races: Boris Said’s No Fear Racing team will not attempt to run the Sprint Cup race at Talladega next week, he said Friday. “We can’t really turn our program around [in a short amount of time], and we’re just not ready,” he said before practicing his Nationwide Series car at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for this Sunday’s race. “We’ve only got three people working in our shop.” Said said his team would take the money it would have spent to attempt the first Talladega race and use it to run all three road course races in the Nationwide Series – Mexico City, Montreal and Watkins Glen.(SceneDaily.com)(4-18-2008)
- Keven Wood readies for debut at Mansfield; tests at South Boston: Wood Brothers Racing and Keven Wood tested South Boston Speedway this week to prepare for Keven’s debut race in Mansfield, OH on May 24th. The test was the first time Keven Wood worked with the team as a driver, as the test was solely for him. After being on the track for most of the colder than normal spring day; Keven felt that this test gave him a boost of confidence as he learned to push the truck to the limit on qualifying runs. By doing this, he tied the track record lap time of 15.42 seconds that was set by Brendan Gaughan when the trucks ran there. Keven is also getting extra seat time by running a Late Model stock car at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, VA set to run on Saturday, April 19th for the Hawkeye 150.(Wood Brothers Racing PR)(4-18-2008)
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