May 1, 2014
- Chassis selections for this weeks race: see the list of many teams [that report or post them] and what chassis were selected by the team to run at Talladega Superspeedway on the Talladega Race Info page – Chassis selection area.
- Ambrose & Petty discuss penalty and the punch: #9-Marcos Ambrose was involved in a post-race altercation with #13-Casey Mears last weekend at Richmond International Raceway. Ambrose, who was fined $25,000 and put on probation until the end of the year by NASCAR for his role, spoke publicly for the first time about the incident on Thursday during a press event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Q) CAN YOU GO THROUGH WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE RACE?
Ambrose: “The altercation I had with Casey was quite impromptu. As I was walking past the 13 car, as he’d finished the race, I was actually heading over to have a chat with David Gilliland (#38) just to say we’re all good after we got into each other a couple of times. Some words were said and I was confused about why Casey was so annoyed at me, and I think you just see a lot of the passion that the drivers have and the commitment we have to try to win these races and try to run at the front. That passion kind of got out of hand and got out of control pretty quick. To be honest with you, once he put his hand on me and started pushing me around I was just trying to stand up for myself and my country and my family and my reputation and I threw a punch down on him to get him out of the way and let him know that I didn’t respect him not giving me my private space. As it goes down, if I had my chance to think back about it, a wiser man would have walked away a little bit earlier and not got himself in that situation. I don’t apologize for my actions. I was just standing up for myself and my team and my family and letting people know that you can’t get in my private space like that and expect not to have any consequences.”
Q) HAVE YOU TWO TALKED?
Ambrose: “We have. We’ve spoken in-depth more than once. I honestly believe that we’ll enjoy having a beer with each other. I think we have a mutual respect for each other. I like Casey a lot. I didn’t have any beef with him after the race, but emotions just got out of hand and we both recognized that if we had our time again it wouldn’t happen again, but now it has, you can’t take back what has happened. I’ve spoken to him and I’m not carrying anything forward. He has to decide what he wants to do moving forward, but if we get ourselves in a pub somewhere I’d buy him a beer no problem.”
Q) WERE YOU UPSET AT THE PENALTY?
Ambrose: “No, I got myself in a bad situation. I caused an action that NASCAR needed to reprimand, so I’m happy to pay it and happy to move on. It’s a heavy fine. That’s the biggest fine I’ve ever received in racing and I think that NASCAR needed to do something and whatever they chose to do I’ll pay it.” Q) HAS THAT EVER HAPPENED TO YOU IN AUSTRALIA?
Ambrose: “No, I have not. I’ve never been in this situation before, and it was for 18th. That just shows you the passion we have in our sport that I’m able to get myself in a physical fight and draw a claret to finish 18th. That just shows you how deep the talent is and how much passion and commitment we all have to what we’re doing.”
Q) IT LOOKED LIKE ONE OF THE CREW GUYS TRIED TO PUNCH YOU.
Ambrose: “I did not get punched. I was able to duck and weave and get out of trouble. The person in question, I haven’t seen the footage, so I don’t know if there was a swing thrown, but there certainly was aggression at the end. I’ve had a phone call from somebody to apologize for his actions and that’s it for me. I’ve got no beef with him, either. I’m happy to move on and put the week behind us. It’s certainly not a proud moment of mine, but I certainly don’t take anything back that I did. Casey and I spoke about it and he said, if the shoe was on the other foot he probably would have done the same thing. I was just standing up for myself and standing up for my family and you get to a point where you’ve got to defend yourself and that’s exactly what I did.”
Q) SOME SAY YOU SHOULDN’T BE FINED BECAUSE WHEN THEY PROMOTE THAT RACE THEY’RE GOING TO SHOW THAT FOOTAGE. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT?
Ambrose: “I think my NASCAR career may well be remembered by one of the best finishes of all-time and one of the best fights of all-time, too. It’s OK. Our sport is made up of passion and everyone has their own angle. Certainly, it’s not a great thing to explain to your kids on Sunday what you did. I’ll take that penalty and the repercussions from my actions and pay it, and then people can do whatever they want from there. It’s not for me to call NASCAR out on taking advantage of a situation like that.”
Q) ANY IDEA WHY HE WAS SO MAD AFTER THE RACE?
Ambrose: “He was mad at the race and he was mad at himself and we were around each other at the end of the race. It’s a full contact sport out there. I’m charged up. I’m full of adrenaline too. I was actually pretty calm. I think one of the reasons I laid down such a good shot on him was that I wasn’t riled up. I was actually fairly lucid in my thoughts and was able to get a good punch off because I wasn’t bound up with too much adrenaline, but adrenaline is just part of what we do. It was an emotional race. A lot of drivers got into each other and there was a lot of action up and down the grid. I look back at it and it’s a beef and an argument between myself and Casey. Unfortunately, it got put on national TV and three-and-a-half million people saw it.”
Q) SO YOU KNOW WHO TOOK A SWING AT YOU?
Ambrose: “Yes. I’m not even sure it was a swing. I haven’t seen the footage, but I know there was aggression by the people out there and I’ve got no problem with it, I really don’t. Casey’s team is standing up behind Casey and my team stands up behind me and that’s just what we do.”
Q) IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU MIGHT DO THE SAME THING IF A SIMILAR SITUATION ARISES
Ambrose: “I would walk away earlier before it got out of hand. I could tell it was getting out of hand, but I just didn’t walk away quick enough and get out of that situation. So if I look back at it, I could tell it was not going well and I should have taken up. We spoke for maybe a minute-and-a-half before he started shoving me around and I should have walked away a lot sooner than what I tried to.”
Q) DID HE SAY ANYTHING OR WAS IT MORE OF THE FACT HE WAS HOLDING YOU?
Ambrose: “There was plenty of stuff said, but before the pushing. He was upset and he was letting me know how upset he was and then when I went to walk away he just couldn’t handle it any longer. As soon as he grabbed hold of me there, I knew I was gonna have to get a shot in and I was just waiting for the right moment.”
Q) WHY IS RIGHT AFTER THE RACE THE RIGHT TIME TO ADDRESS AN ISSUE LIKE THAT?
Ambrose: “It’s not, and I think I’ve learned my lesson on that one. I think next time I might scamper into the race hauler or scamper back to the plane and have a sleep on things. There’s just so much emotion. In this example, this is the first time I’ve been involved in something like this. At the time, even after the incident went down, I didn’t think much of it. I just thought, ‘Well, he started pushing me around and I just had to get him away from me,’ because I didn’t know what was gonna happen next. If he starts pushing me in the toolbox what happens next? Is he gonna try to throw one on me? So I was trying to get out of there and it wasn’t until a few hours later that the adrenaline starts to whoa down and you start to realize what you had done. And then the next day when you have to talk to your kids about it and your wife is mad at you, you realize that walking away would have been a much smarter option.”
RPM Owner Richard Petty comments
Q) DO YOU FEEL IF YOU’RE PROVOKED YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO DEFEND YOURSELF?
Petty: “You’ve got to defend yourself no matter what, but if he knew he was gonna be fined $25,000 he might have let the guy take another swing at him (laughing). As you can see in the tape, he did not initiate any of that. He was trying to get away, so I think, from that standpoint, I don’t know what their rationale is. I’ll just have to talk to them (NASCAR) and see what they come up with.”
Q) WERE YOU EVER IN ANY SCRAPS OF NOTE?
Petty: “No comment (laughing). It used to go on a little bit all the time, but they didn’t have all of the TV cameras and all that stuff, so you could go around behind a truck and do what you needed to do and there wasn’t very many people who knew about it.”
Q) HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE INCIDENT IN RETROSPECT?
Petty: “I always look at it as you have to defend yourself no matter what the circumstances are, and that’s what I saw in the Marcos situation. What provoked it? I have no idea. I don’t even think Marcos knows really what provoked the whole thing, but in the scheme of things if you can’t protect yourself, then NASCAR is not gonna come and protect you, so he had to do what he had to do.”(see the full transcript at Ford Racing)(5-1-2014) - Earnhardt Jr. voted first quarter Driver of the Year: Two-time Daytona 500 winner, #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr., was named winner of the first quarter Driver of the Year Award 2014. NASCAR’s perennial fan favorite won title in the voting by an elite panel of American broadcasters and journalists Ending an almost two-year winless drought Earnhardt took the checkered flag in the season opening, and rain-delayed, Daytona 500. In the first quarter, which ended with race in Darlington, he added three second-place and one third-place finishes. In the voting Earnhardt, who drives the #88 National Guard Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports, had seven first-place ballots and totaled 88 points according to the Driver of the Year points system. Kevin Harvick, who drives the #4 Budweiser Chevy in NASCAR, and Australia’s Will Power who drives the #12 Verizon Dallara-Chevrolet for Team Penske tied for second place with 80 points. Harvick had five first-place votes and Australia’s Power had three. Chase Elliott burst into the limelight scoring 37 points, one first-place vote and finished fourth, in the ballot driving for Earnhardt’s JRM Nationwide Series team. And Kyle Busch also garnered one first-place vote A total of 20 drivers scored points in the first quarter voting. In its’ 48th year, the Driver of the Year title is unique. The panel of 17 leading journalists and broadcasters from across the U.S. determines the winner. In quarterly voting, points are awarded on a declining 9, 6, 4,3,2,1 basis. Earnhardt will receive a trophy and a Tissot wristwatch to be presented at a race weekend at to be determined.(DOTY)(5-1-2014)
- Dogecoin and Reddit Partner with Phil Parsons Racing for Talladega: In a partnership effort between Dogecoin and Reddit, the #98 Ford Fusion of Phil Parsons Racing will have a new look at Talladega. Earlier this year, Reddit user and tech fan Denis Pavel noticed a plain black car with a driver he felt ‘raced the wheels off the car’ during a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. The lack of sponsorship caused Pavel to think of some of the significant fundraisers that he’s witnessed on the Reddit platform.
“I didn’t really know much about Dogecoin or Reddit when Denis Pavel initially reached out to us about the race at Talladega Superspeedway,” commented Parsons. “He watched a race on television and was excited about what he saw from Josh Wise and our team. We were able to connect on Twitter and everything took off from there-it’s amazing how social media allows sports fans to actually connect to us, and that it would allow something like this to come together. As far as I know, this is the first online effort like this that’s been able to fund sponsorship for a NASCAR team, so it’s pretty cool to be a part of it.”
“I knew that Dogecoin had done some significant fundraisers, like sending the Jamaican bobsled team to the Olympics,” Pavel said. “I was thinking what kind of response I would get if I did ask the (Reddit) community about sponsoring a Sprint Cup car. They were all with it.”
Familiar with the digital currency Dogecoin, the 16-year-old Pavel from Niles, Ill., decided to utilize the currency to raise sponsorship funds for driver Josh Wise and the #98 Ford Fusion team. Exceeding their initial goal by 10% within the opening week, Dogecoin and Reddit were able to partner with Phil Parsons Racing for the Sprint Cup Series event at Talladega Superspeedway.
“We are all about fun and goofiness,” commented Ben Doernberg, board member at the Dogecoin Foundation. “At the same time, we want to make sure that digital currency is really giving back to the world. We do feel like this is a technology that can make the world a better place, and we want to put that into practice by doing fundraisers.”
To date, this marks the first fundraising effort through Dogecoin and Reddit to sponsor a NASCAR race team. In addition to raising funds online, the team also took to the internet allowing Reddit users to vote on a paint scheme for Sunday’s event. “The more we’ve walked through this fundraising effort, it has really been special to us,” commented Wise. “People are noticing our effort. We’re a tiny little team with seven or eight employees. The amount of support we’re getting from the Reddit community … we’re just trying to do the best job we can.”(Phil Parsons Racing), see images of the scheme/car on the #98 Team Schemes page.(5-1-2014) - McMurray discusses NASCAR’s handling of Mears-Ambrose fight: Following NASCAR dishing out fines and probation to #9-Marcos Ambrose and #13-Casey Mears for their Richmond post-race scuffle, #1-Jamie McMurray was hoping neither driver would have gotten punished. “I’d hoped NASCAR would let that go…they’ve preached to all of us that they want us to be who we are, said McMurray. “I think it’s good that you have some characters in the sport that — I’m not calling Casey or Marcos out, but not everyone is willing to — or is the type of guy that would punch someone, right? I think you can count on one hand the guys that would actually throw a punch. Everyone is talking about it. I’m building a house, and when I got up to the home site, that’s all the guys wanted to talk about and they wanted to know if I have any inside scoop. I think it’s great. I don’t want to see anyone get punched, but it’s been — how many years ago has it been since someone actually punched someone? It’s got everyone talking about the sport and I think it’s good you see those guys’ passion. I was really hoping that NASCAR was going to let it go or that the fines would be less because that’s a huge — $25,000 is massive. My opinion of that is that you won’t see it happen again because I think people will think about that and be like, it’s not worth it. It’s not worth $25,000 for me to express exactly how I feel at this time.” McMurray admitted there have been a few times where he’s been in the same situation but that it’s been a long time. “If it was happening every week, I think it would be different, but if they hadn’t fined those guys, I don’t think it would have happened again for a long time. I think it’s very circumstantial with the two right guys, you know. I don’t think Casey had any intentions of throwing a punch. Casey went over there and was wanting to get his point across. I don’t think he had any — when he got hit, you could tell he was like, I can’t believe I just got punched, right? I don’t think anyone had that mindset going into it.”(PRN’s Garagepass)(5-1-2014)
- Talladega Notes & Facts – Thursday – history:
· Construction began on what was then known as the Alabama International Motor Speedway on May 23, 1968.
· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on Sept. 14, 1969 – won by Richard Brickhouse.
· The name changed to Talladega Superspeedway in 1989.
· Fourth repaving completed on Sept. 19, 2006.
· There have been 89 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Talladega Superspeedway, one NSCS event in 1969 and two races per year since 1970.
· Talladega Superspeedway is tied with Michigan International Speedway for holding the ninth most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points paying races (89).
(NASCAR)(5-1-2014) - New look for Patrick’s car at Talladega: Danica Patrick will be sporting a new look in the #10 GoDaddy Peeker Chevy with the GoDaddy “Peeker” logo, which is usually on the side of the bright green car, adorning the hood this weekend. Patrick will also run this stylish ride at Kansas on May 10 and during the Coke 600 on May 25. See images of the scheme on the #10 Team Schemes page.(5-1-2014)
- Kahne to debut new look on the #5 at Dega, to thank teachers: Kasey Kahne will debut his special #5 Farmers Insurance “Thank A Million Teachers” Chevy paint scheme this weekend at Talladega. Kahne will drive the special paint scheme two more times during the month of May, which is National Teacher Appreciation Month: Kansas on May 10 and Charlotte on May 25. As part of the “Thank A Million Teachers” program, Farmers is urging America to thank teachers, past and present, on www.ThankAMillionTeachers.com for the positive impact they have had in communities across the nation. Farmers also has invited teachers to submit proposals for $2,500 grants, and in all, they are committed to donating $1 million to teachers and education programs in 2014. On behalf of Farmers Insurance’s “Thank A Million Teachers” initiative, Kahne will visit Oxmoor Valley Elementary School in Birmingham, AL, on Friday to thank its educators. Kahne also will unveil his #5 Farmers Insurance “Thank A Million Teachers” Chevrolet SS paint scheme during a school-wide assembly (HMS). See an image of the scheme on the #5 Team Schemes page..(5-1-2014)
- Brian Scott returns to the #33 at Dega: Brian Scott returns to the wheel of the #33 Shore Lodge Chevy for the Aarons 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. Scott will be making his first Sprint Cup Series start at Talladega Superspeedway in the Aaron’s 499, but has four NASCAR Nationwide Series races under his belt at the 2.66-mile track. Scott has captured one top-10 finish and led three laps. Shore Lodge will be the sponsor of the #33 at Talladega. It’ll be Scott’s third Sprint Cup Series of the 2014 season.(Circle Sport), see an image of the #33 Shore Lodge Chevy on the #33 Team Schemes page.(5-1-2014)
- Joie Chitwood III to be Honorary Chairman of the 2014 MSHFA Induction Ceremony: Joie Chitwood III, president of Daytona International Speedway, will be the honorary chairman of the 26th Annual Motorsports Hall of Fame of America’s Induction Ceremony to take place August 6 at The Fillmore Theater in Detroit. His grandfather, historic open-wheel race car driver and legendary showman Joie Chitwood, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010. In January, it was announced that the Hall of Fame will be relocating to the grounds of the Daytona International Speedway by 2016.(MSHFA)(5-1-2014)
- Martins fastest in happy hour: #76-Tommy Joe Martin was quickest during happy hour for the Aaron’s 312 with a speed of 185.891mph. He was followed by: #4-Jeffrey Earnhardt, #42-Kyle Larson, #6-Trevor Bayne, #62-Brendan Gaughan, #39-Ryan Sieg, #2-Brian Scott, #25-John Wes Townley, #43-Dakoda Armstrong, and #40-Josh Wise. 29 drivers participated in the session. See complete results on the Talladega practice 2 speeds page (pdf).(5-1-2014)
- Bayne fastest in first practice: #6-Trevor Bayne was fastest during opening practice at Talladega Superspeedway with a speed of 190.378mph. #60-Chris Buescher was second, followed by: #16-Ryan Reed, #42-Kyle Larson, #98-David Ragan, #3-Ty Dillon, #2-Brian Scott, #62-Brendan Gaughan, #11-Elliott Sadler, and #99-James Buescher. 36 drivers practiced during the session. See complete results on the Talladega practice 1 speeds page (pdf).(5-1-2014)
- NC Gov. Pat McCrory to Make Special Proclamation at CMS: on Thursday, May 1st, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is scheduled to be joined by Richard Petty, Marcos Ambrose and Charlotte Motor Speedway President and General Manager Marcus Smith to make a special proclamation. #9-Marcos Ambrose will then take Gov. McCrory for a ride along in an 800-horsepower stock car on the legendary 1.5-mile superspeedway.(CMS)(5-1-2014)
UPDATE NC Governor Pat McCrory Declares May ‘Motorsports Month’, see images at Charlottemotorspeedway.com.
AND NASCAR mogul Bruton Smith is no stranger to controversy and catching people off guard. He did just that on Thursday when he asked North Carolina’s governor for $100 million to improve his Concord-based race track. Governor Pat McCrory was at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on Monday to proclaim May as “Motorsports Month” in North Carolina, ahead of the All Star Race and Coca Cola 600 later this month. “Racing and motorsports have helped define our state and drive our economy,” said Governor McCrory. “We are proud of the rich history of motorsports in North Carolina and that so many teams, tracks and events call our state home. Today we celebrate that legacy, as well as the industry’s bright future.” The governor was joined by NASCAR Hall of Fame member Richard Petty, Bruton and Marcus Smith, and NASCAR driver Marcos Ambrose to sign the proclamation.
That’s when Smith told the governor he’d be coming for some money. “While you’re here, I’ve got to find some time to talk to you,” Bruton said to McCrory. “We want to spend about $100 million here to improve our situation and I certainly would like to have you to say ‘you know well that’s a good thing’.”
“I’m gonna fight for you,” McCrory responded while laughing. He then pointed to driver Marcos Ambrose . “And I’m bringing my man to help it.”
“Now that I’ve got you here, we only wanna spend a hundred, okay? Downtown Charlotte spending $88 million on something that was built a few years ago. Well, I built this place in 1960. That was a while back.” That’s when Smith asked if McCrory wanted him to come see him to talk or if he wanted to talk “right here in front of God and everybody else.” McCrory took the microphone from Smith saying he’d just come from a prayer breakfast, so “why don’t we do it later.”(wbtv.com)(5-1-2014) - Talladega’s Tribute – “The Alabama Gang Superstretch” Unveiled: Talladega Superspeedway announced that the back straightaway will forever be known as “The Alabama Gang Superstretch”, paying tribute to the original members – racing legends Bobby and Donnie Allison, and Red Farmer, all of whom have played a significant role in the track’s history and are today huge supporters of the 2.66-mile venue. For this weekend’s Aaron’s Dream Weekend at Talladega, The Alabama Gang Superstretch name will be displayed in huge, block lettering midway down the outside retaining wall of the backstretch, which measures over 4,000 feet. The monumental, new addition to the track will “stretch” more than 200 feet.
The trio will serve in “official” capacities during what will be a busy and exciting Saturday at the track. The Allisons will serve as the Grand Marshal’s for the International Motorsports Hall of Fame 200 ARCA race, while Farmer will be the Honorary Starter from atop the flag stand.
“This place is special,” said Bobby of the speedway. “We (The Alabama Gang) have always felt like we were a part of it.”
“When you won Talladega, there was something extra special about it,” added Donnie. “It was a huge deal to us, our family and friends.”
“We made each other the best we could be since we raced against each other in the early years,” quipped Farmer of he and the Allisons. “We liked racing against each other, and Talladega was the ultimate place to race.”
The Alabama Gang is also represented atop The Alabama Gang Superstretch. From the exit of turn two to the entrance of turn three, fans now have additional RV options from which to view all races at Talladega Superspeedway. They include Allison Motorhome Ridge, Farmer Motorhome Overlook and Bonnett Corporate Motorhome Summit.
The Alabama Gang continues to live on today with a new generation of racers. The torch of the Allison legacy is passed from Donnie and Bobby to their grandsons Justin and Robbie. Justin Allison, with the help from his grandfather Donnie, has recently emerged on the racing scene in the ARCA Racing Series. Robbie Allison, grandson of Bobby and son of Davey, now lives in Mooresville, NC and is competing in Legends and Late Model cars, as well as Pro Champion Karts. Both Justin and Robbie have high aspirations. Interestingly enough, since Talladega Superspeedway opened in 1969, there have been more than 50 drivers from the state of Alabama to compete at the most competitive facility in the world, and all can say they are a part of “The Alabama Gang.”
The track was also had former crew chief Larry McReynolds, a Birmingham native, who helped Davey Allison to several wins, on hand at Wednesday’s event. Bonnett’s widow Susan Bonnett Northcutt and Liz Allison Hackett and Krista Allison, widow and daughter of Davey Allison, respectively, joined in on Wednesday’s ceremonies, as well. For a variety of ticket packages for the Aaron’s Dream Weekend, log onto talladegasuperspeedway.com or call 1-877-Go2-DEGA.(TSS)(5-1-2014) - Enjoy Talladega Superspeedway from Crew Member Vantage Point: Want to see Talladega Superspeedway from a crew member’s perspective with access to pit road and other pre-race activities? Fans now have the chance to do just that with the Pre-Race Pit Pass – for the Aaron’s Dream Weekend, May 2-4, at NASCAR’s Most Competitive track. For only $50 (admission ticket required) fans with the Pre-Race Pit Pass can stroll pit road on the morning of Sunday, May 4, before the running of the Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event. Walking among the crews as they prepare for the battle ahead, Pre-Race Pit Pass holders will experience the sights and sounds as anticipation mounts for one of NASCAR’s most spectacular events. As a part of race day prep, the Pre-Race Pit Pass allows access to the see the Sprint Cup Series drivers, crew chiefs, team owners, celebrities and NASCAR officials walk the Red Carpet to the mandated drivers meeting, where race procedures and protocol will be explained. The $50 Pre-Race Pit Pass goes in effect on Sunday from 8 am until 11 am for the Sprint Cup event. To purchase, simply log onto www.talladegasuperspeedway.com or call 1-877-Go2-DEGA.
Additionally, fans can upgrade their experience for $25 more with the Pit Pass Upgrade. Get up close with NASCAR’s gladiators and take in Driver Introductions at the start-finish line, and see some of the sports personalities conduct a question/answer session that morning from the stage. Now those are memories that will last a lifetime. After time spent on Pit Road it will feel great settling into Talladega’s roomy and comfortable 21 and 22-inch wide chairback seats. And, new for the 2014 Aaron’s Dream Weekend, is the addition of Sprint Vision video boards that are four times the size of previous ones, placed along the frontstretch to provide views of the whole track to every seat in the house.(TSS)(5-1-2014)
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