May 2, 2002
- Jayski News with Ford Racing: Knight Ridder Digital (KRD), the operator of the Real Cities network of local media Web sites, today announced the launch of the Ford Racing advertising campaign in which Ford Racing is featured as a major sponsor of KRD’s stock car racing online properties, ThatsRacin.com and Jayski.com. ThatsRacin.com, a member of the Real Cities Network, is the leading independent stock car racing Web site on the Internet. Ford Racing’s newly redesigned Web site, FordRacing.com, will be promoted through the sponsorship. Ford Racing will become the presenting sponsor of ThatsRacin.com’s “Photo Gallery” section, which provides users with photo snapshots from race tracks on a weekly basis. Additionally, Ford Racing will be a presenting sponsor of ThatsRacin.com’s partner, Jayski.com, the insider’s NASCAR news and rumor site. The Jayski.com sponsorship will also include sponsorship of the site’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series section. Ford Racing branding will appear on the biography pages of ThatsRacin.com and Jayski.com for Ford drivers including Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Rusty Wallace.
“We’re pleased that Ford Racing has chosen ThatsRacin.com and Jayski.com,” said Stan Kleine, sports channel manager Digital. “In selecting our sites to promote FordRacing.com, they’re not only zeroing-in on their target audience, they’re giving our users the opportunity to visit the Web site for one of the top racing organizations in the world.” The campaign began May 1 and will run through November 30, 2002. For the rest of the release, see my Press Release page.(5-2-2002) - Vote for the Winston UPDATE: heard on the MRN Radio coverage of the NAPA Auto Parts 500 Sunday – sometime this week, fans can vote on NASCAR.com on the method to be used inverting the field at The Winston.(4-29-2002)
UPDATE: Once again race fans will have the authoritative voice in selecting the inversion order for the final segment of The Winston at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Saturday night, May 18, as speedway officials announced today that fans may vote their preference on NASCAR.com. NASCAR fans may go online at www.nascar.com and vote on how many cars to invert for the final 20-lap segment, worth at least $750,000 to the winner of NASCAR’s annual all-star event at the 1.5-mile superspeedway. Voting will begin Friday, May 3, and end at the conclusion of the first segment of The Winston. Interactive kiosks will be available at Lowe’s Motor Speedway for fans to vote on site during The Winston weekend May 17-18. Under the new format for The Winston, drivers will be eliminated following the first and second segments. The largest field in the history of the event, at least 27 cars, will be trimmed down to the top-20 finishers after the first 40-lap segment and then will be reduced to the top-10 finishers after the second 30-lap segment. To add an additional dose of excitement, the starting lineup for the final 20-lap segment will be determined by voting on NASCAR.com. The fans will determine whether four, six, eight or the entire 10-car field will be inverted. (i.e. if the fans vote to invert 10 cars, then the car finishing first in the second segment will started 10th and the 10th-place car will start first, the second-place car would start ninth and so on.) In addition, Winston Cup practice for The Winston will available to fans live on NASCAR.com via RaceCast. This feature is being offered to users for the first time. For fans wanting to attend The Winston, tickets are still available starting at just $20 and can be obtained online at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-455-FANS. Cable station FX will televise The Winston live with coverage beginning at 7:00pm/et(NASCAR.com)(5-2-2002) - No TRAC at Nashville: Nashville Superspeedway said thanks but no thanks to a radical new racing league that wanted to compete there. Officials from Team Racing Auto Circuit (TRAC) met recently with Dover Motorsports to discuss the possibility of holding some races on the Superspeedway when the new series starts next year, but were turned down.(Tennessean)(5-2-2002)
- Petree, Jones, Ford (from one of one of the many updates on this rumor on the #33 Team page) and an UPDATE : [Jerry] Jones is expected to announce soon that he will purchase controlling interest in the two-car Winston Cup team of Andy Petree. Some of the details still need to be worked out, but Jones is close to breaking new ground by making the Cowboys the first NFL franchise with a full-time presence in NASCAR. By 2003, a blue and silver car with the Cowboys star could be turning laps. The Petree cars are Chevrolets now, but don’t be surprised to see a switch to Fords next season when the new arrangement begins.(Dallas Morning News – need to register)(2-20-2002)
UPDATE: The Dallas Morning News reports that Ford executives have spoken with Winston Cup team owner Andy Petree about switching from Chevrolet to Ford next season after he completes a deal to sell part of his team to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Ford wants to make “the Petree-Cowboys organization one of its manufacturer-supported teams, which could be worth as much as $7.5 million a year,” the paper says.(Winston Cup Scene Daily Newsletter)(5-2-2002) - Gatorade out, Powerade in: Gatorade is out of the race — and Powerade is in — as the official sports drink of NASCAR. Pepsico owns Gatorade, the biggest-selling sports drink and a longtime NASCAR sponsor. Coca-Cola owns the far smaller Powerade brand and has been trying to mount a challenge to Gatorade on several fronts, from advertising to sponsorship. On Wednesday, Gatorade said it will not renew its sponsorship of NASCAR, which dates to 1984. The company will stay involved in the sport in other ways. Gatorade spokesman Andy Horrow said NASCAR wanted too much money. “NASCAR can’t deliver what we want and, hence, we’re walking away,” he said. Coca-Cola, however, has had a relationship with NASCAR for several years, and getting a bigger role for Powerade is another step ahead. Besides Powerade, the company has three other “official” designations with NASCAR: Coca-Cola soda, Dasani water and Minute Maid juices. Coke’s director of motorsports, Bea Perez, said the company will tie Powerade to NASCAR via a variety of promotions. The cost of the sponsorship was not disclosed. Gatorade will remain the official sports drink at several big racetracks, including Daytona International Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway. Powerade also has deals with some tracks, including Atlanta Motor Speedway and Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte.(Atlanta Journal Constitution)(5-2-2002)
- Furr to the #7 UPDATE: Former #25 Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Tony Furr will become the new crew chief for the #7 Sirius Dodge team and driver Casey Atwood. Furr replaces interim crew chief Buddy Barnes who was released from Ultra-Evernham Motorsports on Tuesday. Furr, 45, worked on the #25 Hendrick team since 1998 when he was the pitboss for Ricky Craven. Until he resigned earlier this month, Furr most recently worked with Jerry Nadeau and led him to his first win at Atlanta in November of 2000. Under Cale Yarborough’s [#98] roof, Furr also guided John Andretti to his first career win in the 1997 Pepsi 400 at Daytona. Atwood, 21, joined the #7 team after a rookie season with Ray Evernham [#19]. The team is currently 37th in points and Atwood’s best finish was 18th at Bristol. While Atwood started the season under the tutelage of Kevin Cram, the owners decided that the driver needed a more seasoned crew chief. Furr brings nine years experience as a crew chief to the team and worked with Evernham at Hendrick.(Sporting News)(4-30-2002)
UPDATE: Ray Evernham, co-owner of Ultra/Evernham Motorsports, today announced that Tony Furr would be assisting the #7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T during this weekend’s race at Richmond International Raceway. Furr, former crew chief of the No. 25 Winston Cup team, will be consulting with the team, assuming the role of crew chief. “I’ve known Tony for a long time, and I have a lot of respect for him as a leader and a crew chief,” Evernham said. “He’s stepping in to help us out this weekend at Richmond. He will be a tremendous asset to the team.”
“Ray and I have the same winning vision for this team,” said Jim Smith, co-owner Ultra/Evernham Motorsports. “We think Tony will make a strong contribution this weekend.”
“This team has the potential to be a great team,” Furr said. “Ray and Jim have asked me to help identify some areas where they can make some changes, and help get this team moving up each week. I’m excited for the opportunity and looking forward to Richmond.” Buddy Barnes had been acting as crew chief since March 11, but is no longer with Ultra/Evernham Motorsports.(Evernham Motorsports/Golin-Harris)(5-2-2002) - Richmond One Lane? After two weekends of superspeedway racing, NASCAR’s Winston Cup and Busch Series drivers will be short tracking this weekend in Richmond. But there are concerns that the sealer that has been applied to the track may have created a one-groove racing surface that won’t accommodate the side-by- side racing that Richmond International Raceway and other short tracks typically produce. Terry Labonte, who tested his No. 5 Chevrolet in preparation for Saturday’s Pontiac Excitement 400, said Tuesday that he and other drivers were surprised by the conditions. “It was definitely just a one-lane race track, which was a little bit different than we’ve seen in the past,” Labonte said. Labonte said the sealer, which is applied to the track to provide more adhesion for the tires, doesn’t seem to be working as planned. “What normally happens is the sealer actually wears off the lower groove,” he said. “The sealer has so much grip, so the groove moves up. I don’t know if that’s going to be the case this time or not.”(Atlanta Journal Constitution)(5-2-2002)
- Truex to run #1 car at NHIS: Martin Truex Jr., a regular in the Busch North Series, will drive the #1 Yellow Chevy in the NASCAR Busch Series race on May 11 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Truex takes the place of regular driver Jimmy Spencer, who will be taking advantage of the rare weekend off by Winston Cup to spend time with his family and to celebrate his son’s birthday. Truex was selected to drive the #1 Yellow Chevy because of his success at the New Hampshire International Speedway. The 22-year-old driver from Manahawkin, N.J., won his first-ever Busch North Series race two years ago at New Hampshire in dominating fashion. He led every lap of the 100-lap race, this after setting the qualifying record a day earlier. Last year, he recorded a pair of runner-up finishes at the one-mile track. The New Hampshire race is the only one scheduled for Team Yellow in which Spencer will not be the driver. The decision to put Truex in the driver’s seat gives Yellow Racing an opportunity to show its appreciation to its loyal fans and employees in the northeast.(Team Yellow PR)(5-2-2002)
- Qualifying rained out at Richmond: Qualifying for the BGN race at Richmond was cancelled due to rain. #24-Jack Sprague, as the series points leader, earned to top starting position for the race as rain forced the cancellation of qualifying. Sprague will be joined on the front row by #57-Jason Keller for Friday night’s Hardee’s 250 at Richmond International Raceway (7:00pm/et, FX). Sprague was 13th fastest in the morning practice, while Winston Cup driver Johnny Benson topped the chart. Benson claimed the final spot in the race when team which had filed its entry past the deadline was removed from the field. The team eliminated was the team with driver Brian Weber. #21-Jeff Green will start third; last weekend’s race winner, #10-Scott Riggs, starts fourth; and two-time series champion #7-Randy LaJoie will line up fifth.
For the lineup see ThatsRacin.com or BGN Racing Site or NASCAR.com(this lineup looks wrong) or MotorsportsOne.(5-2-2002)
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