April 30, 2006
- Cup Testing at Lowe’s – Tues/Wed: testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway was scheduled to start Monday, May 1st thru Wednesday, May 3rd. The drivers will not test Monday of course since the race at Talladega was postponed Sunday until Monday, May 1st, PLUS next weeks race is at Richmond…on Saturday, so this will be quite a short turn-a-round week for the teams, at least testing is close to home for most of the teams and the race in Richmond is not too far away. Any news or updated schedules will be reported when I fear about them.
UPDATE: This week’s test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway will now be two days instead of three. Cars will hit the newly repaved 1.5-mile speedway on Tuesday and Wednesday from 1:00-9:00pm/et each day.(RacingOne/NASCAR.com)
UPDATE 2: With rain postponing the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway until Monday, the testing session scheduled for Lowe’s Motor Speedway has been cut from three days to two. NEXTEL Cup teams will now test the track’s new asphalt on Tuesday and Wednesday in preparation for the May 20 NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge and the May 28 Coca-Cola 600. Lowe’s Motor Speedway’s frontstretch grandstand will be open free of charge and fans should enter through Gate 5A, located next to the main ticket office.(Lowe’s Motor Speedway PR)(4-30-2006) - Ernie Irvan Announces LAPS Walk 2006 Schedule: On the heels of last August’s successful inaugural walkathon event at Michigan International Speedway (MIS), NASCAR racing legend Ernie Irvan and the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) have today announced the 2006 dates for Irvan’s LAPS Walk, and have added the Pocono Raceway in Pocono, PA as an additional location. The event, which allows participants to walk the racetrack alongside Irvan and other current and former NASCAR drivers to raise awareness and funding for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) prevention and treatment, will occur on Friday, July 21 at Pocono (after Cup qualifying,) and Wednesday, August 16 at MIS in Brooklyn, MI. Irvan and the BIAA are also working on additional track locations for LAPS Walk and are expected to announce them soon. For a minimum $100 entry fee, anyone is able to participate and walk side-by-side with Irvan, as well as other current and former NASCAR drivers to raise money for TBI education, awareness and prevention. Registration for each event will begin on Friday, April 21, 2006. Interested individuals can register online at www.lapswalk.org. There are only a limited amount of walker positions available for each event and it is expected that registration will fill very quickly. In February of 2004, Irvan formed a non-profit organization called Race2Safety in order to educate the public about TBI and spearhead development of next-generation transportation head protection safety equipment for adults and children. Race2Safety is now a part of the Brain Injury Association of America, providing Ernie with the ability to spread his message across the country.(Marketwire.com)(4-30-2006)
- Mayfield expects no changes: Despite a disastrous season to date, #19-Jeremy Mayfield said he foresees no major shakeup to his Evernham Motorsports team, which was reorganized late last year. “I don’t expect any changes other than we might add a few people. Chris (team director Andrews) and I have started to come together,” Mayfield said Saturday. “It hasn’t showed up yet, but it’s better than it was a couple of weeks ago as far as him understanding what I like and me understanding how he does things on the car. It’s just like Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Michael Waltrip when they switched up (prior to the start of the 2005 season). You saw what happened on that deal. Dale Jr. couldn’t hit his butt and Michael took off running good. That’s just part of what we’re going through right now.”(Speed Channel)(4-30-2006)
- No Agressive Driving allowed at Talladega: NASCAR race director David Hoots told drivers before the Aaron’s 499 that the entire track – not just the turns – will be monitored for aggressive driving during Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR had extra officials in the turns at the season-opening race at Daytona to watch for aggressive driving after criticism that bump-drafting had escalated to an unacceptable level. “The aggressive driving zone has been expanded,” Hoots said during the pre-race drivers meeting. “It will start at the start of the race as soon as you go across the start-finish line and will conclude when you complete the race – for all 2.66 miles around this race track and all 188 laps of the race. It will be considered all the way around the track.” Hoots asked the drivers to err on the side of caution. “Remember drivers, it doesn’t mean that you’re given more latitude on the straightaway,” Hoots said. “If you think you’re getting ready to be too close to or crossing over that line, you need to throttle back and be on the conservative side and don’t place yourself in the position of opening it up to our judgment of aggressive driving.”(SceneDaily.com)(4-30-2006)
- Sunday at Talladega…moves to Monday: cars were on their pace laps at Talladega on Sunday, with one lap to go before green when it started raining, the cars we taken to pit road to wait it out as of 2:11pm/et, then…as of 3:46pm/et the rain is still off and on and the track is still wet, supposedly NASCAR will make a decision by 4:30pm/et on plans as the track takes about two hours to dry and their are no lights at the track. The radar looks bad for another couple hours. Just about 4:00pm/et NASCAR announced the race was postponed until Monday, May 1st at 12:00noon/et [11am local Talladega time] and the race will be covered on TV via FX and some FOX affiliates, plus live on MRN Radio and XM Satellite radio, plus the race can be followed via my Racepage and updates on Jayski’s Cingular Alerts. The weather forecast for Monday at Talladega calls for sunshine and 77 degrees.(4-30-2006)
- WVa Miracle Miner Special Guest at Talladega: Aaron Rents, Inc. announced that West Virginia miner Randal McCloy Jr. and seven members of his family are attending the Aaron’s Dream Weekend at Talladega Superspeedway as special guests of Aaron’s Sales and Lease Ownership President Ken Butler. Butler extended the invitation to the McCloy family a month earlier when he learned they were NASCAR fans. Aaron’s is the entitlement sponsor of this weekend’s races, and as such is able to provide Randy and his family with access to events such as the Victory Lane Celebration, the Driver Meeting, Driver Introductions and more. As part of his ongoing recovery process, McCloy’s doctors have encouraged him to spend as much time with his family as possible and to enjoy as much rest and relaxation as he can.(Aaron’s PR)(4-30-2006)
- Keller Released from the #1, Mike Wallace In: Keller to the #34? DENIED: UPDATE: Phoenix Racing has decided to make a driver change in the #1 Miccosukee Gaming Dodge effective this weekend at Phoenix. Mike Wallace will take over driving duties on an interim basis as Phoenix Racing evaluates their program.(Phoenix Racing PR)(4-17-2006)
NOTE: Keller currently leads all drivers with 279 consecutive starts in the Busch Series. He has 399 starts overall, just behind Tommy Houston’s record of 417 Busch starts.
UPDATE: Hearing that Jason Keller is in discussions with car owner Frank Cicci to hop behind the wheel of the #34 beginning in Phoenix. Mike Bliss spent Thursday practicing the car but would step aside for Keller to make his 400th career start on Friday. Keller did not make the early trip to Phoenix but is expected Friday.(BGNRacing.com)(4-20-2006)
UPDATE 2: Been told that Cicci hasn’t spoken to Keller nor has Keller called Frank Cicci about a ride.(4-21-2006)
UPDATE 3: Now been told that Keller and Cicci have talked but Keller would like to see the team get sponsorship before he makes a commitment.(4-30-2006)
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