April 24, 2009
- Coverage of Qualifying for the Aarons 499 at Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled for Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 11:10am/et.
TV: SPEED – 11:00am/et
Radio: MRN Radio and Sirius XM Satellite NASCAR Radio
Jayski.com: Jayski’s FREE Semi-Live Qualifying Page
Qualifying Re-Air: none scheduled - Qualifying Order for the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway is posted. 45 cars/drivers are listed. Go-or-go homers will qualify at the end of the session, once the top-35 drivers are done. The first of the top-35 drivers scheduled to go out is #55-Waltrip, the final top-35 driver scheduled is #33-Bowyer. The first go-or-go homer scheduled to qualify [36th] is #66-McDowell and the final driver scheduled to qualify is #09-Keselowski. See the full qualifying order on the Talladega Qualifying Page.(4-24-2009)
- Happy Hour/Final Practice for the Aarons 499 at Talladega Superspeedway is over, the top 5:
#99-Edwards 194.904
#71-Gilliland 194.820
#14-Stewart 194.618
#20-Logano 194.591
#39-Newman 194.559
slowest: #44-Allmendinger 180.543 and #4-McClure 182.856
no speed/not running: #1-Truex Jr., #88-Earnhardt Jr., #42-Montoya, #82-Speed, #9-Kahne, #29-Harvick
See speeds, ave speed. laps run and more on my Talladega Practice Speeds Page.(4-24-2009) - Where did the non top-35 drivers in Final Practice at Talladega Superspeedway:
if things stay the same, these eight drivers would make the race:
#71-David Gilliland, 2nd
#09-Brad Keselowski, 22nd
#36-Scott Riggs, 25th
#87-Joe Nemechek, 29th
#78-Regan Smith, 30th
#13-Max Papis, 33rd
#41-Jeremy Mayfield, 36th
#66-Michael McDowell, 38th
these drivers would miss the race if theings stayed the same:
#4-Eric McClure, 39th
#82-Scott Speed, no speed
See speeds, ave speed. laps run and more on my Talladega Practice Speeds Page.(4-24-2009) - The First Practice for the Aarons 499 at Talladega Superspeedway is over, the top 5:
#7-Gordon 197.472
#00-Reutimann 197.260
#31-Burton 197.102
#26-McMurray 196.689
#18-Busch 196.378
slowest: #4-McClure 182.727 and #66-McDowell 184.203
incidents: #44-Allmendinger and #9-Kahne lost engines
See speeds, ave speed. laps run and more on my Talladega Practice Speeds Page.(4-24-2009) - Where did the non top-35 drivers practice in the 1st session at Talladega Superspeedway:
if things stay the same, these eight drivers would make the race:
#36-Scott Riggs, 35th
#13-Max Papis, 37th
#82-Scott Speed, 38th
#87-Joe Nemechek, 39th
#09-Brad Keselowski, 40th
#41-Jeremy Mayfield, 41st
#71-David Gilliland, 42nd
#78-Regan Smith, 43rd
these drivers would miss the race if theings stayed the same:
#66-Michael McDowell, 44th
#4-Eric McClure, 45th
See speeds, ave speed. laps run and more on my Talladega Practice Speeds Page.(4-24-2009) - IMPOUND: the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway is the first IMPOUND race of 2009, there will be [down from five] THREE impound races in 2009, both Talladega races [April & Nov] and Daytona in July. For more info, see my Impounding Info page.
- Retro Pepsi image at ‘Dega for Gordon UPDATE 2: The year was 1983 when Darrell Waltrip took to the track in the Pepsi Challenger Chevy. Waltrip had won back-to-back titles and was trying for three in a row when PepsiCo changed the primary sponsor on his car from Mountain Dew to its signature brand before the season. Waltrip failed to win the title that year. At Talladega, Jeff Gordon will go retro with Waltrip’s 1983 paint scheme on his car.(gordonline.com), see an image there or on my #24 Team Schemes page.(3-10-2009)
UPDATE: #24-Jeff Gordon will drive a special retro “Pepsi Challenger” #24 paint scheme Chevy in Talladega on April 26, 2009. Inspired by Darrell Waltrip’s Pepsi Challenger of the 1980’s this car will feature retro Pepsi logos and a white and yellow scheme.(JeffGordon.com), see images of the scheme on my #24 Team Schemes page.(3-30-2009)
UPDATE 2: Jeff Gordon will give fans a blast from the past at Talladega this weekend when he drives a retro Pepsi Throwback paint- scheme on his #24 DuPont/ Pepsi Throwback Challenger Chevrolet on April 26 at Talladega Superspeedway. The last time fans saw this memorable yellow paint scheme was over 25 years ago, when Darrell Waltrip drove the #11 Pepsi Challenger to victory lane six times in the race for the 1983 Cup Championship. Gordon’s latest paint scheme celebrates Pepsi Throwback, a new limited time only product sweetened with natural sugar in a retro-look package, offering consumers a taste of the past. The cola began appearing in stores on April 20 and will be available for eight weeks. Gordon, who is Pepsi’s longest standing spokesperson, will be sporting a memorable Pepsi Throwback racing suit, similar to the one worn by Waltrip in 1983. As part of the Throwback celebration, Pepsi is launching a number of in-store promotions. Tear pads located in retail outlets will give fans the chance to win cool throwback prizes- five fans will win a trip to DW Motorsports in Charlotte for a barbecue with Darrell Waltrip; 20 winners will receive a Darrell Waltrip autographed retro die-cast car; one lucky fan will win the retro racing suit Jeff Gordon wears during race week at Talladega; and 600 other fans will win a Jeff Gordon/Darrell Waltrip Throwback tee-shirt. Additionally, there will be a new Throwback look for PepsiRacing.com, where each race fans have the chance to win the same cash prize as the winning driver. A free desktop wallpaper featuring Jeff Gordon will be available for download on PepsiRacing.com.(Pepsi Racing PR)(4-24-2009) - Wood Brothers to Run 2009 Sprint Showdown: The Wood Brothers #21 Motorcraft sponsored Ford Fusion will be running in the May 16, 2009 Sprint Showdown race and trying to make the All-Star race that immediately follows The Sprint Showdown. Co-owner Len Wood stated, “We made the decision to run the race because it gives us track time for the Coca-Cola 600 (to be run the following weekend) and gives our sponsors (Ford and Motorcraft) another marketing opportunity – not to mention it’s a fun event and five minutes from our shop.” Bill Elliott and the Wood Brothers #21 Ford Fusion can make the All-Star race by finishing first or second in The Sprint Showdown race or by being voted in by the fans.(Wood Brothers Racing site)(4-24-2009)
- Latest on Manufacturers troubles: Heavy storm clouds are hanging over some NASCAR teams at Talladega Superspeedway this week: Chrysler appears headed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy within the next week, and then Italian car maker Fiat will likely pick and chose the parts of the American automaker that it wants to buy and take a major stake in the Detroit company – and what that means for NASCAR’s Dodge teams, like the ones owned by Roger Penske, Richard Petty and George Gillett is anybody’s guess. The Obama administration has given Chrysler until April 30th to make a deal with Fiat before giving the car maker enough money to survive. Such a bankruptcy would apparently force the U.S. government to take over some key parts of Chrysler’s business, perhaps some of the health care and pension plan aspects. Bankruptcy would apparently also leave all those Cerberus investors without much, if anything, to show for the billions they invested in the car maker a few years ago when buying it and taking it private. Fiat would gradually buy enough of Chrysler, or its parts, to eventually have controlling interest. One interesting angle – Fiat owns Ferrari, the Formula One powerhouse, though Ferrari is operated independently.
On the General Motors’ side of the picture, GM officials say they plan to shut down virtually the entire company for about two months beginning in about two weeks….though that may be just a bluff, because such a shutdown could add tens of thousands more to the unemployment roles, through a major trickle-down effect. GM is under an Obama deadline of May 31st to get its financial affairs in better order. Like the Chrysler situation, the potential impact on GM’s NASCAR operations are unclear.(Mikemulhern.net)(4-24-2009) - Final Phoenix TV Ratings: NASCAR on Fox tumbled to a 3.6/7 (6.0 million) on Saturday night for racing from Phoenix. Saturday’s 3.6/7 is the lowest NASCAR rating ever on FOX, as well as an -18% decline compared to last year’s 4.4/8. Sports competition was somewhat tougher on Saturday night than it was a year ago, as ESPN carried an NBA Playoff doubleheader. Last year’s Phoenix race was run on April 12 and the NBA Playoffs had not yet begun. For the season-to-date, NASCAR is averaging a 5.6/11 (9.3 mill.) on FOX, down -13% compared to last year’s 6.4/13 (10.6 mill.). Much has been written about NASCAR’s ratings declines this year, but it’s worth remembering that at a 5.6/11 NASCAR is still the #1 spring sport by a huge margin, and more than doubles the first-week average of the NBA Playoffs on ABC (2.7/7). See race-by-race and more on my 2009 TV Ratings page.(4-24-2009)
- #71 TRG sponsorship on hold: David Gilliland is ready to put the TRG Motorsports #71 Chevy through its paces at the Aaron’s 499 to be run at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 26. The team heads to the famed track located outside of Birmingham, Alabama with superspeedway redemption on their mind. TRG Motorsports failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 and is looking to show the world that the TRG Motorsports Chevy and five guys can work their magic at a superspeedway. The team heads to Talladega 36th in owner points, just 26 out of 35th position. Gilliland will have to qualify in speed. Kevin Buckler, TRG Motorsports team principal, looks at Talladega as just another challenge for this tight-knit team. “This will be the team’s first restrictor plate race,” Buckler said. “The guys know we have something to prove after what happened at Daytona. We found a good superspeedway car for David that Slugger really likes, so we are going in with a good piece. David has done well at Talladega and has a lot of confidence. We haven’t had a problem getting into the races, we just need to perform better and get the tire monkey off of our back to finish well. This team needs a big time performance this weekend! We will be running the familiarTRG Motorsports blue this weekend. We have experienced funding delays with the sponsor that was announced last weekend at Phoenix. The team continues to persevere in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and pursue all avenues for funding and sponsorship with the goal of running the full 36 race schedule.”(TRG Motorsports PR)(4-24-2009)
- NASCAR officially moves Cup banquet to Vegas; Nationwide and Truck Banquets combined: UPDATE: Fan tickets? TV coverage? NASCAR announced that Las Vegas formally becomes the “Official Host City of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion’s Week.” NASCAR’s annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony will be held at the Wynn Las Vegas on Friday, Dec. 4, 2009. The move to Las Vegas provides for greater flexibility for driver and fan events. The NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events will be combined and held at the Loews Miami Beach on Monday, Nov. 23. The Grand-Am Rolex Series banquet will be held at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Fla. on Monday, Oct. 12. NASCAR had held the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event in New York City every year since 1981. After exploring several options, NASCAR formed a partnership with Las Vegas Events, making the change of venue a reality. “I can’t say enough about the warm reception from Las Vegas,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France. “Las Vegas really made it a priority to get the awards ceremony moved there. We were able to come to an agreement on reasonable room blocks, banquet facilities, and approvals to hold fan activities on the famous Las Vegas Strip.” Activities being planned for the days leading up to the Awards Ceremony include the return of the “Victory Lap,” a procession of the top 10 NSCS drivers in their race cars, the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Media Luncheon, the Pit Stop Tour and the NASCAR Street Tour to include stock cars and mobile marketing units placed throughout the city. The awards ceremony for the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be consolidated in south Florida. This is designed to provide another great venue for the ceremony as well as help save NNS teams from making an additional trip following the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The top-five finishers from the NNS and NCWTS will be honored at the combined banquet celebration.(NASCAR PR)(4-23-2009)
UPDATE: NASCAR will move its Sprint Cup banquet from New York City to Las Vegas, and now it needs to decide what to do with the banquet at the Wynn Las Vegas, which was announced as the site for the 2009 awards ceremony on Thursday. Does it sell tickets to fans, as the National Hockey League is doing with its postseason awards ceremony in Las Vegas? Or does it keep it an invitation-only affair as it was during the banquet’s 28 years in New York. “That decision hasn’t been made yet,” NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Thursday. “That will be decided in the near future. But the Wynn hotel provides us a lot more flexibility than we had in the past. There are going to be some really good options to take a look at, including a fan element at the banquet. That hasn’t been finalized yet.” Poston declined to comment on whether NASCAR is getting paid to bring the banquet to Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported last month that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority would pay NASCAR between $500,000 and $1 million for each year of the contract, which is believed to be for three years. Poston said NASCAR is talking with ABC/ESPN and Speed to determine who will televise that banquet. ESPN has the Nationwide contract, and Speed has the Truck contract.(Scene Daily)(4-24-2009) - Current longest-tenured driver/crew chief pairings:
After the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Saturday, Richard Childress Racing will swap crews and crew chiefs on the #07 & #29 teams, bringing and end to the second longest current driver/crew chief combination.
Driver / Crew Chief: Start Date
#48-Jimmie Johnson / Chad Knaus: October 2001
#29-Kevin Harvick / Todd Berrier*: March 2003*
#24-Jeff Gordon / Steve Letarte: September 2005
#88-Dale Earnhardt, Jr. / Tony Eury, Jr.: September 2005
#11-Denny Hamlin / Mike Ford: October 2005
#31-Jeff Burton / Scott Miller: November 2005
* – Ending after Sunday’s race at Talladega
(Sports Illustrated)(4-24-2009) - Race winners getting older: Just three years ago, the average age (at season’s end) of the 13 drivers who won races was 30.5. This race is only eight races old, but the average age of the winners so far is 35.7. At the moment, the profile of Sprint Cup winners looks a lot like the late 1980s or early ’90s. What was it like back in 1993? The youngest winner was 32 years old. The average was 38.2. Mark Martin, who won five races that year, was 34. Last week he won at age 50. He is the only winner common to both seasons, though then-rookie Jeff Gordon won an unofficial race, a 125-mile qualifier, at Daytona. In recent years, the great trend of the 1990s – younger and younger drivers gradually ousting the generation that preceded them – has reversed. Part of the reason is simply that a generation of great stars – Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, et al. – has gotten older. But part of it is also that the effect of young drivers – the most notable exception being Kyle Busch – has waned. From 1999, when Stewart arrived to much fanfare, through 2007, when Juan Pablo Montoya was the top rookie, at least one rookie won a race six times in a span of eight years. Before 1999 and Stewart, 11 years had passed without the rookie of the year winning. It didn’t happen last year, and the odds appear long, based on results so far, that either of this year’s rookies, Joey Logano and Scott Speed, will score.(NASCAR This Week)(4-24-2009)
- Goodyear Tire Notes – Talladega: Teams in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series will run the same tire codes at Talladega this week . . . for Sprint Cup teams, this is the same left-side tire code (D-4138) that they ran at Talladega last season . . . this right-side tire code (D-4224) is new, featuring a mold and construction change compared to last year . . . the change was implemented to align this tire set-up with the one teams ran at the circuit’s other restrictor plate track in Daytona in February . . . . . . for Nationwide teams, this is a completely different combination of left- and right-side tires that they ran at Talladega last season . . . this is the only track at which these tire codes are scheduled to be run in 2009 . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Talladega . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.(Goodyear PR), see pressures and more notes on the Talladega Race Info page – Goodyear Section.(4-24-2009)
- NASCAR teams up with BET for new TV show: Black Entertainment Television, a network keyed to African-Americans, will air a show next season with NASCAR, a sport that has tried for years to improve diversity within its ranks. “Changing Lanes,” a docu-reality series expected to launch in 2010, will spotlight drivers in NASCAR’s “Drive for Diversity” program. BET has bought 10 episodes of the hour-long show.(New York Daily News)(4-24-2009)
- Michigan Speedway forms non-profit entity: Michigan International Speedway officials announced the establishment of MIS Cares, a 501 c (3) non-profit entity under the umbrella of the NASCAR Foundation. MIS Cares will serve as the liaison between the speedway and all of the charitable causes the speedway supports. The focus of MIS Cares is to raise money and distribute the charitable dollars through grants to non-profit groups in the region. MIS Cares will begin accepting grant applications in early 2010 and will award financial gifts twice annually. Through MIS Cares, race fans and the general public will have opportunities to become involved with the many community service projects MIS supports.(Michigan Speedway PR)(4-24-2009)
- Bischoff Racing to make first start at Milwaukee: Duane Bischoff Racing will be making their first NCWTS start with the #27 truck at the Milwaukee Mile on June 19th. Co-owner and driver Duane Bischoff, along with his wife (Doty) and family have been racing in the ARCA Lincoln Welder Truck series for six years and have recently purchased two trucks from Xpress Motorsports. The team intends to make five races if funding can be secured. PartBuddy.com is the primary sponsor now, but the team is also in talks with other potential partners. PartBuddy.com is a retail and wholesale parts company selling OEM manufacturer parts.(Duane Bischoff Racing PR)(4-24-2009)
- Strutmasters.com takes over as primary sponsor for Peters; Case Wireline new associate: Timothy Peters comes to Kansas Speedway for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250, sitting in 9th place in the Camping World Truck Series points’ standings. The team will also support a new paint scheme as it heads to Kansas Speedway with Strutmasters.com taking over as the Primary Sponsor of the #17 truck for the event. Strutmasters, based in Roxboro, North Carolina, builds automotive struts and springs for cars. They also provide both replacement air ride suspension parts, including air springs, air struts, compressors, air bag suspension and dryers, and conversion kits that convert your car to high quality passive suspension systems. In addition, Case Wireline Services, based in Woodward, Okalahoma, will come on board as a major associate sponsor for the race. Case Wireline Services, Inc., is a local family owned and operated oil well servicing company.(Premier Racing PR)(4-24-2009)
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