April 28, 2003
- GM-Pontiac Rep will Leave Current Post: Al Larsen, General Motors-Pontiac representative, will take a new job starting in two weeks, with Michael Andretti’s IRL Indy Car team. Larsen will work his last NASCAR race this weekend at Richmond. A replacement for Larsen isn’t known at this time.(Insider Racing News)(4-28-2003)
- Early TV Ratings for California: Fox is going to need a boost from small markets if its ratings for Sunday’s broadcast of the Auto Club 500 Winston Cup race at California Speedway are going to match last year’s figures. Today’s Sports Business Daily says Nielsen Media Research’s overnight figures from the nation’s largest markets show the race drew a 4.9 rating and an 11 share. While the ratings trail only Sunday’s NBA playoff game between the Lakers and Timberwolves (5.3/12) among weekend telecasts of sporting events, they fall well short of the 5.9/13 that Fox drew in 2002 for the California race.(Winston Cup Scene Daily Newsletter)(4-28-2003)
- Grissom to England: Former NASCAR Busch Series Champion and Winston Cup veteran Steve Grissom has signed to drive the #48 Deuce Racing Unity Project’ Chevy in the opening round of the 2003 ASCAR Championship at the Rockingham Motor Speedway [in England]. Grissom is the third American driver to take the wheel of Deuce’s Unity Project’ car after former Truck Series driver Randy Tolsma and Brandon Whitt. Grissom, who more recently has served as a test and substitute driver for Petty Enterprises, will drive the #48 Chevy during the opening round of the 2003 season, which gets underway on May 11th at the 1.5-mile Rockingham Motor Speedway near Corby.(Crash.net)(4-28-2003)
- Goodyear Looking to save $$? Saving money is apparently the goal behind Goodyear’s proposed plans to bring its entire race-tire distribution program in-house. Five different distribution companies handle Goodyear’s Winston Cup distribution operation.(Winston Salem Journal)(4-28-2003)
- Reality Show back on? UPDATE: Word in the garage is that the FX cable network will begin filming for its NASCAR reality series — which will feature Kevin Harvick and Kenny Wallace — next week. Rusty Wallace and Jamie McMurray were originally considered for the series, which has been planned for some time.(NASCAR.com’s Buzz), see past news on the reality show on my TV/Media News page.(4-27-2003)
UPDATE: The FX cable network will spend this coming week with drivers Kevin Harvick and Kenny Wallace filming a pilot for a proposed reality-based TV show, NASCAR officials confirmed Sunday. The network will follow the drivers and their teams as they prepare for next weekend’s Winston Cup race at Richmond. The show was originally to be based on drivers Rusty Wallace, Jamie McMurray and Harvick, but contract issues could not be resolved. No decision has been made on the likelihood of the series coming to fruition. A final decision by all parties will come after filming of the pilot is completed.(ThatsRacin.com)(4-28-2003) - More on the #88 Crew Chief Situation UPDATE: Talking about the potential crew chief situation for Dale Jarrett’s #88 UPS Ford and Doug Yates, the new Robert Yates Racing General Manager, starts to pull his cards closer to his vest. No response comes when names of current #38 Car Chief Shawn Parker and Jimmy Makar are mentioned “We’ll see what comes available as far as crew chiefs,” said Yates after several names were thrown at him. “You know, right now, this time of year, it’s kind of tough because everyone’s under contract; and we respect that, just like we want our guys to respect their contracts. We’re just kind of sitting back. We want to make sure when we do make a move that it’s a long-term situation.”(Ford Racing) AND see more past news on my #88 Team News and Links page.(4-27-2003)
UPDATE: Yates Racing GM Doug Yates says a new crew chief has not been selected for Dale Jarrett despite speculation that Shawn Parker, the car chief for teammate Elliott Sadler, would get the job. Several names outside RYR have been mentioned, including Joe Gibbs Racing team manager Jimmy Makar, who is Jarrett’s brother-in-law. However, Greg Zipadelli, crew chief for Tony Stewart in Gibbs’ #20 car, says he doesn’t think Makar will go anywhere. For those on the Todd Parrott watch, one Yates insider says he doesn’t expect Parrott, the former team manager, to return.(Sporting News)(4-28-2003) - Andretti, Petty Set Donation At California: John Andretti and the #43 Dodge team did more than run a race for themselves and their fans Sunday at the two-mile California Speedway. By completing all 250 laps in Sunday’s NASCAR Winston Cup event, 10,750 new books will now be donated by First Book and Cheerios to children in the greater Los Angeles area. Through the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories program, 43 books were donated for every lap Andretti completed Sunday to children participating in Boys and Girls Club of Fontana, Sivaland Head Start and The Agape House, also both in Fontana, and in LA’s BEST, an after-school program serving children in the city of Los Angeles. The goal of the donation was to drive home Cheerios’ commitment to childhood literacy.(Williams Company PR)(4-28-2003)
- #27 Busch Team Changes Crew Chiefs: Brewco Motorsports has announced that crew chief Terry Shirley will become team manager and named Sandy Jones to replace him on the #27 Pontiac driven by rookie Chase Montgomery. “This is something we’ve been looking at for a while,” Brewco President Todd Wilkerson said. “As the sport has progressed, there has been an increasing need for an experienced team manager, especially when running a multicar operation.” Jones, who has nine Busch Series victories to his credit, including five with current Winston Cup driver Elliott Sadler, has most recently run the Dodge test program in the Craftsman Truck Series.(Winston Cup Scene Daily Newsletter)(4-28-2003)
- Truck drivers to go Karting: Ten of the Series’ toughest drivers will tackle the 12-turn road course at Victory Lane Indoor Karting Center in Charlotte on Wed., May 14 as part of the “Craftsman Go-Kart Challenge.” The drivers will be dueling for bragging rights, in hopes of becoming the first-ever NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver to visit the winner’s circle in the racing hotbed of Charlotte. Dennis Setzer, Rick Crawford, Carl Edwards, Brendan Gaughan, Tina Gordon, Bobby Hamilton, Travis Kvapil, Jason Leffler, David Starr and Jon Wood are the drivers scheduled to compete. But who wins the race won’t necessarily be determined by the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver piloting the go-kart. To throw a wrench into the plan, each driver will be paired with a member of the local media as well as a sponsor executive in an hour-long endurance go-kart race. Each team member will race the kart for 10-minute intervals before handing off the wheel to a teammate. The winner will be the team with the best-combined overall time. Awards also will be presented to the driver with the quickest lap time during the event. Fans are encouraged to come to Victory Lane Karting Center Wed., May 14, between 4-7 p.m. to cheer on their favorite NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver. Fans attending can win various prizes, including a Craftsman tool box signed by the drivers and four tickets to the inaugural Hardee’s 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Fri., May 16. Victory Lane Indoor Karting Center is located at the Intersection of I-85 and I-77, exit Statesville Avenue at 2330 Tipton Drive, Suite 100. Experience Charlotte’s first and only Indoor Competition Karting Facility, which includes 54,000 square feet of PURE ADRENALINE.. Driving suits and helmets are provided to drivers 16 years and older.. For more information please visit www.377FAST.com or call 704-377FAST(3278).(PR)(4-28-2003)
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