April 21, 2006
- Lots of racing for Schrader this weekend: #21-Ken Schrader raced in Thursday’s NASCAR Grand National West Series Casino Arizona 150 [finished 10th, won by Andrew Myers], will race in Friday’s Bashas Supermarkets 200 Busch Series race and Saturday’s Subway Fresh 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race, all at Phoenix International Raceway. On Sunday afternoon, Schrader will run the ARCA event at Salem (Ind.) Speedway before heading to Sunday night’s dirt late-model event at Vermilion County Speedway in Danville, Ill.(Speed Channel)(4-21-2006)
- Unleaded fuel sooner for Busch & Trucks? Before the end of the 2006 racing season, NASCAR officials hope to have both Busch and truck series teams using unleaded fuel. And if all goes well, it’s likely that unleaded gas will be used in the Nextel Cup Series beginning in 2007. “We don’t know where we’re going to be with [unleaded fuel for the Cup series],” Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president of competition, said April 20. “We said by ’08. … If the tests look promising, we will re-evaluate the timeline. We are going to, before the end of the year, run unleaded fuel in some select races, probably in the Busch and truck series. Some of their races are stand-alones, [on] short tracks and things of that nature. You’re looking at less mileage, smaller carburetors, less horsepower.” NASCAR teams have always used leaded fuel, and is exempt from the Clean Air Act of 1970 requiring unleaded fuel be used in all automobiles. Pemberton said testing with the new fuel has been “on-going” since the 2005 season, both at the NASCAR Research and Development facility in Concord, N.C. and among a number of individual teams.(SceneDaily.com)(4-21-2006)
- Final Texas TV Ratings mixed: took a while for Texas TV Ratings —- Final Nielsen Media Research numbers show that Fox’s broadcast of the April 9 Samsung/RadioShack 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway earned a 5.4 rating and a 13 share. The rating is 5.3% lower than the 5.7/15 Fox earned for the Texas race in 2005, but that race was on a different weekend from the Masters, one of golf’s four major events. The Masters traditionally draws strong television ratings. The 5.4 rating is 5.9 percent higher than Fox’s 5.1/13 for its coverage of the 2005 Martinsville race, which aired opposite the Masters.(SceneDaily.com)(4-21-2006)
- News about Jenkins: Veteran broadcaster Bob Jenkins [former ESPN NASCAR Anchor and current Speed broadcaster] joined the new Premier Racing Association as director of communications. PRA will use what once were known as USAC’s dirt Silver Crown cars.(Indianpolis Star)(4-21-2006)
- #74 appeals NASCAR fine and penalties: #74-McGlynn Racing announced today that the have formally requested a hearing with the National Stock Car Racing Commission for the [25 point] penalties issued to owner, Raynard McGlynn, driver Derrike Cope as well as the $50,000 fine issued to crew chief, Domenic Turse.(McGlynn Racing PR)(4-21-2006)
- Biffle: Girlfriend’s spat “out of proportion”: NASCAR officials have yet to speak with Greg Biffle’s girlfriend about her confrontation with Kurt Busch’s fiancee following a wreck between the two drivers. But Biffle did. Nicole Lunders has been embarrassed by the attention her spat with Eva Bryan received, and Biffle said Thursday that two much has been made about the words exchanged on pit road two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway. “It certainly got way out of proportion because there wasn’t any big news that week,” Biffle said. “Nobody got out of the car and shoved somebody. It was kind of an uneventful weekend in sports, so it was a highlight. She didn’t want it to be and we didn’t want it to be. I think it’s over.” Lunders was upset after Busch hit the back of Biffle’s car, sending him into the wall and ending his race. The accident caused a hard impact for Biffle, and Lunders was angry because Busch had been involved in several recent wrecks. So Lunders climbed off of Biffle’s pit box, walked down pit road to find Bryan and had a brief exchange with her that was caught on national TV. NASCAR officials said they planned to speak with Lunders about it. “She was just upset about it and really felt like Kurt was going to end up hurting somebody, and that’s what she conveyed to Eva,” Biffle said. “She wasn’t mad at Eva one bit. They’re friends and they talk and they do stuff.”(Associated Press)(4-21-2006)
- Special Look for the pole winning car at Phoenix: To commemorate Kyle Busch’s 50th Nextel Cup start, the #5 Hensdrick Motorsports Chevy will sport a new color combination at Phoenix. The car, a joint venture between Hendrick Motorsports sponsors Kellogg’s, CARQUEST Auto Parts and Delphi, will feature primary colors of blue, yellow and red. The CARQUEST shield will adorn the hood, with the Kellogg’s logo on the quarter panels and Delphi oval on the deck-lid. The familiar Kellogg’s paint scheme will return next week at Talladega.(Hendrick Motorsports PR), see image on my #5 Team Schemes page.(4-21-2006)
- #12 to run blue and purple scheme? UPDATE 4: got images from Penske Racing in Mooresville, NC from a reader in which the nose and smaller parts of the #12 Alltel Dodge of Ryan Newman is painted purple. See my #12 Team Schemes page.(4-6-2006)
UPDATE: hearing this scheme could run at Phoenix on April 22.(4-7-2006)
UPDATE 2: #12-Ryan Newman will make his eighth Phoenix International Raceway start and his 160th in NASCAR’s Cup Series this Saturday. The new paint scheme on the Alltel Dodge this weekend will be hard to miss. The paint [purple] scheme highlights a new feature that Alltel will launch soon. The team plans on showcasing the paint scheme in several upcoming NEXTEL Cup Series races.(Penske Racing PR).
UPDATE 3: have another image of the car, looks like the program will be MyCircle as is noted on the purple hood, see images of the scheme on my #12 Team Schemes page.(4-18-2006)
UPDATE 4: Alltel announced that Ryan Newman’s #12 Alltel Dodge, traditionally royal blue and black, will display a special paint scheme at various races throughout the 2006 season. Set to debut on April 22 at the Subway Fresh 500 in Phoenix, a new purple and black color design will hit the track in support of Alltel’s exclusive wireless feature “My Circle.” The new paint scheme will be featured during a total of five races, which include Talladega, Richmond, Darlington and the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge.(Alltel Racing PR)(4-21-2006) - Foyt out at Braun-Akins: UPDDATE 2 & 3: Ryan Moore will drive Braun Racing’s #38 Chevy in this weekend’s Busch Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, according to the team’s Web site. Moore replaces A.J. Foyt IV, who had his full-time schedule cut back before being let go by the team April 17. Foyt is under contract to Evernham Motorsports, which is affiliated with Dodge. Braun and Akins Motorsports, which fielded Dodges for Foyt, completed their merger with the #38’s team’s move to Chevy, leaving Foyt out of a ride because of the conflict with Dodge.(NASCAR Scene)(4-18-2006)
UPDATE: Foyt, the grandson of A.J. Foyt, remains under contract with Evernham Motorsports.(Dallas Morning News)(4-19-2006)
UPDATE 2: Ray Evernham said he is perplexed by but has not soured on development driver A.J. Foyt IV. The grandson of the legendary racer recently lost his ride after struggling in the first eight races and seeing his Akins Motorsports team merge with Braun Racing and switch to Chevy – a conflict with his Evernham’s Dodge contract.Evernham said he hopes to get Foyt in some ARCA races and more Busch Series races by the end of the season.(NASCAR Scene Daily)(4-21-2006)
UPDATE 3: Anthony Foyt lost his Busch Series ride with Akins Motorsports, but he is planning to drive for FitzBradshaw Racing, in the #14 car no less, May 5 in Richmond, Va. He wants to drive in the Indy 500 again.(Indy Star)(4-21-2006) - Sprague to sport new Con-Way Freight logo and colors: Jack Sprague and his #60 Toyota Tundra truck will unveil a new Con-Way Freight logo and paint scheme beginning with the Truck Series race at Gateway International Raceway next weekend. Sprague will pilot Con-Way Freight’s new colors for the remainder of the 2006 season.(jacksprague.com)(4-21-2006)
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