April 21, 2009
- Dale Jr. and Mears to be penalized? UPDATE 2: NASCAR officials will likely lower the boom on #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. and #07-Casey Mears for late-race and post-race antics here Saturday night at Phoenix. The two tangled several times late, bringing out the final caution that almost cost Mark Martin the win. Mears: “I didn’t mean to get together with Dale Jr. I think he was trying to save fuel and make it to the end without stopping, and I wheel-hopped the car getting into the corner and ended up making contact with him. I guess he was a little bent out of shape about it because he spun me out after the checkered flag.”(mikemulhern.net)(4-20-2009)
UPDATE: NASCAR will NOT penalize Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears for their post-race incident at Phoenix.(Virginian Pilot)(4-21-2009)
UPDATE 2: NASCAR announced that it has placed Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears on probation for the next six races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as a result of their on-track incident last Saturday at the conclusion of the race at Phoenix International Raceway. Earnhardt, driver of the #88 team and Mears, driver of the #07 team, both violated Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing; hitting another competitor’s car after the race had concluded) of the 2009 NASCAR rule book. The probation takes effect beginning with this weekend’s event at Talladega Superspeedway.(NASCAR PR)(4-21-2009) - Indy tire testing: Richard Petty Motorsports driver #43-Reed Sorenson says that Goodyear officials will extend their Indianapolis Motor Speedway tire test into Wednesday for four drivers because of rain that has continually interrupted their efforts. Sorenson, Roush Fenway Racing’s #17-Matt Kenseth [Ford], Stewart-Haas Racing’s #39-Ryan Newman [Chevy] and Red Bull Racing’s #83-Brian Vickers [Toyota] began testing tires at the track Monday as Goodyear officials work to find a better tire for this season’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the track after a 2008 event in which drivers had to pit regularly because of issues with tire wear.(SceneDaily)(4-21-2009)
- Mark Donohue Tribute at Watkins Glen: The weekend of April 25-26, 2009, Watkins Glen International and the International Motor Racing Research Center will join forces to present a Mark Donohue Tribute. The weekend will include the launch of Michael Argetsinger’s new book on Mark. This is the first definitive biography ever written on Mark and at more than 600 pages, promises to be an outstanding read and a tremendous tribute to his memory. Details of the weekend remain in the planning stage but activities will include an opportunity to drive the 3.4-mile Watkins Glen circuit in your own car. A dedicated session will provide for ex-Donohue race cars to have the track to themselves. Several outstanding cars have already committed to be there. There will also be discussion sessions with key people in Mark’s life presenting their memories and stories.
Donohue’s SCCA Championship Winning Cars Will Be Featured at Opening Day, Catch Two of Donohue’s 1967 Lola T70 Cars at The Glen, Donohue’s 1973 PC-1 F1 Car Will Be at Opening Day and Donohue’s Final Indy 500 Ride Coming to The Glen. More info available at www.UnfairAdvantageRacing.com and theglen.com.(4-21-2009) - Toyota Hybrid to pace the Coke 600 and other races: When a Toyota Camry Hybrid leads the 43-car starting field to the green flag for the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (LMS), it will mark the first time in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) history a hybrid vehicle will serve as the ‘official’ pace car for an entire race. The Camry Hybrid will make its pace car debut on Sunday, May 24, at the Concord, N.C., track. Built at the Toyota manufacturing facility in Georgetown, Ky., the Toyota Camry Hybrid is a 187- horsepower, 2.4-liter four-cylinder vehicle that gets an EPA estimated combined average of 33 miles per gallon. Before being approved to serve as the pace car for the upcoming May race the Camry Hybrid had to pass a NASCAR-mandated performance test. In order to qualify as a pace car for the race at LMS, a vehicle is required to reach speeds close to 100 miles per hour from a stand-by position near the exit of pit road to the time it reaches the exit of turn two, a distance of approximately one-quarter-mile. In addition to the May Coca-Cola 600 and the October 17 race at LMS, the Toyota Camry Hybrid will serve as the ‘official’ pace car at Infineon Raceway (June 21), Chicago (July 11), Watkins Glen (Aug. 9) and Martinsville (Oct. 25).(Toyota PR)
NOTE: 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid led the field to the green at Homestead in November 2008, but did not pace the field on other cautions.(4-21-2009) - Race and Commercial Breakdown of the Subway Fresh Fit 500
Total race brdcst time 137 Total comm. brdcst time 52
Total number of commercials: 110
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 62
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 62
Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 8 min. 50 sec.
Total minutes: 189
Minutes of race broadcast: 137
Minutes of commercials: 52
Number of missed restarts: 1
Number of ‘mystery cautions’: 1
Total Digger sightings: 31
Animated Digger shots: 9
‘Digger Vision’ shots: 2
Still Digger shots: 16
Text Digger to 7555 mentions: 2
Get Digger theme at itunes.com mentions: 2
See more and selected driver focus and link to full report on my 2009 TV Commercials page.(4-21-2009) - Kansas donates race tix to National Guard: In a show of support for the men and women of the Kansas National Guard, Kansas Speedway has donated approximately 2,500 tickets to the Guard for the upcoming NASCAR Camping World Truck Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 on Saturday, April 25. The tickets are being distributed to Kansas National Guard personnel on a “first-come, first-served” basis.(Kansas Speedway PR)(4-21-2009)
- Championships Tickets on sale at Homestead: New Value Pricing for 2009: Racing fans are invited to be a part of history in 2009—and at a very special value. Homestead-Miami Speedway announced that all children ages 12 and younger will be: Admitted FREE of charge to both the grandstands and the exclusive paddock area during the Oct. 10 NextEra Energy Resources SpeedJam Championships Weekend and admitted FREE of charge to the Grandstands for the Nov. 20 Camping World Truck Series Championship finale during NASCAR’s Ford Championship Weekend. Tickets for all Six Championships—NASCAR, IndyCar and Grand-Am Sports Cars—are on sale, via (866) 409-RACE and www.HomesteadMiamiSpeedway.com. Adult prices start at just $30 for the IndyCar/Grand-Am Championships and $55 for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Championship. Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2009 becomes the first venue ever to host all of North America’s premier motorsports championships. The SpeedJam Championships (Oct. 9-10) feature the finales of the IndyCar, Firestone Indy Lights and Grand-Am Sports Car Series. Six weeks later (Nov. 20-22), NASCAR’s Ford Championship Weekend features the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series finales. Morer details by calling (866) 409-RACE or going to www.HomesteadMiamiSpeedway.com.(HMS PR)(4-21-2009)
- Gerhart making first series attempt since 2003: Bobby Gerhart will be making his first NASCAR Nationwide series start since July of 2003 when he pilots Bob Schacht’s #75 Chevy this weekend in the Aarons 312 at Talladega. Gerhart’s Chevy will be sponsored by his longtime sponsor, Lucas Oil. Power for the Lucas Oil Chevrolet will be coming from Jeff Collins Racing Engines, who also does all of Gerhart’s ARCA Re/Max Series engines. The Bobby Gerhart Racing ARCA crew will be pulling double duty this weekend, fielding Gerhart’s #5 Lucas Oil Chevrolet in Friday’s ARCA race as well as working with the BSM team on the #75 car.(Bobby Gerhart Racing PR)(4-21-2009)
- Phoenix TV Ratings: ESPN2’s live telecast of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway on Friday night, April 17, earned a 1.0 household coverage rating, equal to the rating earned for the past two years when the event has aired on ESPN2. The telecast averaged 1,281,753 viewers.(ESPN PR)(4-21-2009)
- DiCarlo making third series start at Kansas: This weekend’s race at Kansas Speedway will mark Gabi DiCarlo’s third career start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS). DiCarlo has been driving for Stringer Motorsports for four years, first in the Hooter’s Pro Cup Series and then in the ARCA RE/MAX Series for the last two seasons in the #90 Great Clips entry. DiCarlo, a Phoenix, Ariz.-native, has two previous starts at Kansas Speedway, both in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. In last year’s event at Kansas, she posted a career-best ninth place finish after starting 23rd. DiCarlo has two previous starts in 2009; California & Atlanta.(Stringer Motorsports PR)(4-21-2009)
- Bad Boy Mowers back on board with Skinner: The #5 Randy Moss Motorsports Toyota Tundra, driven by Mike Skinner, will be once again be sponsored by Bad Boy Mowers this weekend at Kansas Speedway. Bad Boy Mowers, a commercial and residential lawn mower company, partnered with Randy Moss Motorsports for the first time last month as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series raced at Martinsville Speedway, where Skinner finished in the third position. For more information about Bad Boy Mowers, please visit BadBoyMowers.com. Skinner and the #5 RMM team have come out of the gate strong and even though it is early in the season, they are shaping up to be a contender for the NCWTS championship. Skinner currently sits fourth in the NCWTS championship point standings, just 76 points behind leader Kyle, however the team is still looking for sponsorship for a number of races in the 2009 season.(Randy Moss Motorsports PR)(4-21-2009)
- TheGPSstore.com and Garmin return to SS Green Light team: After a month away from the track, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to competition at the Kansas Speedway on Saturday, May 25th. For the SS Green Light Racing team, the return to the track re-unites Chad McCumbee with TheGPSstore.com and Garmin for the second time this season. The last time the companies partnered with the #07, McCumbee finished third at the two-mile California Speedway in February, the best finish ever for Green Light Racing.(SS Green Light Racing PR)(4-21-2009)
- Cook spreading the word about Autism: April is Autism Awareness Month: “I [Terry Cook] am encouraging everyone who has a child or knows someone with a child to take a few minutes in the month of April to learn more about Autism. This is something that hit close to home with Amy and me when our son Cody was diagnosed at 18 months of age. We learned that 1 out of 150 kids are diagnosed every day with this and early intervention is the key to helping your child or someone you know get the help they need. It is not your typical movie like “Rain Man” all the time. We know a lot of people in the racing industry who are affected, either with their own child or a family member, by Autism. So all of us are encouraging everyone to log on to autismspeaks.org right now to learn more.” Cook, driving the #25 HT Motorsports Toyota, will be making his ninth NCWTS start at Kansas Speedway this weekend.(HT Motorsports PR)(4-21-2009)
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