April 19, 2009
- Schrader runs out of gas at the Rock, Caisse wins: Sean Caisse shot by Ken Schrader’s fuel-starved Chevrolet and into the lead with three laps remaining in Sunday’s Carolina 200 to collect his career-first ARCA/REMAX Series victory. Caisse, 23, trailed Schrader by 4.5 seconds in the closing laps, placing him in position to capitalize on the Missouri native’s misfortune when he had to duck onto pit road for fuel. Caisse, who led once for three laps, finished 7.535 seconds ahead of points leader Patrick Sheltra in a Dodge. Schrader dominated the 200-lap event on the 1-mile track, leading three times for 185 laps, but he didn’t anticipate a 90-lap, green-flag run in the race’s second half. Schrader said the Rockingham track hadn’t changed since the days he raced on it in NASCAR events. “Run around the bottom, around the top and any place in between,” Schrader commented. Rockingham Speedway’s next major race weekend is the Fourth of July when the ASA Late Model Series will make its debut at the track and Frank Kimmel’s Street Stock Nationals return for its second outing.(Rockingham Speedway PR)(4-19-2009)
- McMurray team gone after 2009? UPDATE: The #26 Roush Fenway Racing team of Jamie McMurray is expected to be dumped by Roush when it has to cut back to four Cup teams after this season.(Virginia Pilot)(4-15-2009)
UPDATE: Team co-owner Jack Roush said Friday that no decision had been made regarding what his organization’s NASCAR Sprint Cup team lineup would look like in 2010. #26-Jamie McMurray, currently one of five Roush Fenway Racing Cup drivers, has been mentioned in media reports as the likely choice to go elsewhere, most likely to join Yates Racing next season. Roush Fenway Racing currently fields five Sprint Cup Series teams, but per changes to NASCAR’s competition policy instituted in 2006, Cup ownership groups can have a maximum of four teams. Because of sponsorship agreements in place at the time of the policy change, Roush’s organization was “grandfathered in” until the end of 2009. Yates Racing, which like Roush Fenway fields Ford entries, has a technical alliance with RFR. The Yates group began the season with three teams – fielding cars for #96-Bobby Labonte (through an alliance with Hall of Fame Racing), #98-Paul Menard and #28-Travis Kvapil – but recently shut down Kvapil’s team due to a lack of sponsorship. “That is premature,” Roush said of one recent report which said McMurray’s team was expected to be dumped. “And if I had something to announce, there would be something written on the shelf back there [in the media center]. We’re not thinking about next year yet, we’re thinking about this year. Certainly there was nothing that has happened in the last week that is noteworthy or newsworthy and I wouldn’t care to speculate.”(SceneDaily)(4-19-2009) - Did Not Finish Streak and stats: #33-Bowyer has been running at the finish in 81 consecutive races, the longest current streak, and now tied the modern era record of #29-Harvick who had 81 until DNFing at California in Feb 2009, next up is #78-Regan Smith at 45 [but has not run all the races] and then #48-Johnson at 32 consecutive races. The all-time record for the longest streak of NOT having an DNF is 84 races held by Herman Beam from April 30, 1961 thru March 10, 1963 [Beam didn’t run all the races, but didn’t DNF in 84 straight consecutive races that he ran]. Kevin Harvick holds the modern era (1972-present) record at 81 [he also has the 3rd longest at 58], then Jeff Gordon at 56 and Dale Earnhardt at 53 [Indy in 1996 thru Martinsville in the spring of 1998.(4-19-2009)
- Oldest Sprint Cup Race Winners
Driver, Date, Track, Age
1) Harry Gant, 8/6/1992, Michigan, 52 years, 7 months, 6 days
(Gant won 8 races after turning 50, and his last pole was at 54 years old, Bristol 1994)
2) Morgan Shepherd, 3/20/1993, Atlanta, 51 years, 4 months, 27 days
3) Mark Martin, 4/18/2009, Phoenix, 50 years, 3 months, 9 days
4) Bobby Allison, 2/14/1988, Daytona, 50 years, 2 months, 11 days
5) Dale Earnhardt, 10/15/2000, Talladega, 49 years, 5 months, 16 days
6) Dale Jarrett, 10/2/2005, Talladega, 48 years, 10 months, 6 days
7) Bill Elliott, 11/9/2003, Rockingham, 48 years, 1 month, 1 day
8) Rusty Wallace, 4/18/2004, Martinsville, 47 years, 8 months, 4 days
9) Geoffrey Bodine, 8/11/1996, Watkins Glen, 47 years, 3 months, 24 days
10) Richard Petty, 7/4/1984, Daytona, 47 years, 2 days
11) Terry Labonte, 8/31/2003, Darlington, 46 years, 9 months, 15 days - Bainey & the #00 Aaron’s Dream Team move to trucks UPDATE more info: There’s a new team in the world of NASCAR…Tim Bainey Jr. will return behind the wheel of the #00 Aaron’s Dream Machine in 2009, but he’ll be trading in his car for a NASCAR Camping World Series Truck. The team will make their Debut May 29th at Dover International Speedway. Tim Jr. will pilot the #00 Aaron’s Lucky Dog Truck in a select number of events during the 2009 Season. Tim’s younger brother Dan Bainey will return for his 5th season as his Crew Chief of the #00 Aaron’s Dream Team. The #00 Aaron’s Dream Team plans to compete in the events at; Dover International Speedway May, O’Reilly Raceway Park, Bristol Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway, & Martinsville Speedway.(Tim Bainey Jr. PR)(4-17-2009)
UPDATE: They acquired two pristine trucks from Spears Motorsports, which suspended operations on the circuit after the 2007 season. The Baineys also will receive their engines from Hendrick Motorsports. Tim Jr. also said the Trucks Series campaign has garnered interest from local sponsors. Longtime sponsor DelGrosso Foods, maker of pasta sauces, has remained on board. The team could compete in as many as seven races this season, but will race no more than seven to keep Tim Jr. eligible for the Rookie of the Year in 2010.(Centre Daily Times)(4-19-2009) - Unser wins, Benson second, Reeves wins celebrity category at Long Beach: It was auto racing at its most thrilling as actor Keanu Reeves prevailed over a highly competitive group of stars of film, television and sports to win the Celebrity Category of the 2009 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. “The King of the Beach,” six-time Toyota Grand Prix winner Al Unser, Jr., finished first among all drivers and won in the Professional category, followed closely by NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Johnny Benson. In the Professional Category, Unser overcame the pros’ :30-second handicap by the eighth lap and held off the scrappy Benson and Southern California Toyota Dealer representative Tom Rudnai, president of Longo Toyota in El Monte, Calif., who came in third overall. The 2008 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race winner, ESPN/ABC pit reporter Jamie Little, came in fifth among the Pros. Toyota will donate $5,000 to “Racing for Kids” in the name of each celebrity racer, and another $5,000 to the winning racer’s charity of choice. Racing for Kids is a national non-profit program benefiting children’s hospitals in Long Beach and Orange County, Calif. Toyota has donated $1.7 million on behalf of the race and it participants and various children hospitals since 1991. Additionally, a $15,000 donation was made in conjunction with the annual “PEOPLE Pole Award.” Sponsored by PEOPLE magazine, the award was given to Danny Way, this year’s pole-position winner of the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race qualifying session. Way selected the Action Sports Environmental Coalition (ASEC) as his charity, to support ASEC’s mission of progressive eco-education and empowering people to adopt a sustainable lifestyle. Way is hoping the funds generated by the “PEOPLE Pole Award” will enable ASEC to build a “green” skate park for kids in Hawaii.(PR Newswire)(4-19-2008)
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