May 4, 2013
- Race Coverage of the Aaron’s 499 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled for Sunday, May 5, 2013.
Television (TV): FOX at 1:00 pm/et; Pre-Race show at 12:30 pm/et; green flag approx 1:19pm/et
Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius XM Satellite NASCAR Radio 90
Scheduled Race Re-Airs: SPEED, Wednesday, May 8 at 12:00pm/et - Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Aaron’s 499 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway have been made.
#99-Edwards, who starts first, chose pit stall 1.
#56-Truex Jr., who starts 2nd, took pit stall 3.
#9-Ambrose, who starts 3rd took the 17th pit stall, the 1st stall with an opening in front of it.
The 43rd and final pit stall was taken by #1-McMurray, who starts 28th.
To see where the drivers/teams pit stall is, see the pit selection chart on the Pit Stall Selection chart.(5-4-2013) - Qualifying for the Aaron’s 499 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway has been canceled due to rain. The lineup was set by the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rules book. First the 43 teams making the race are determined:
Top 36 in owners points.
Past Series Champions not in the top 36 of owners points.
Then by race attempts, ties broken by owners points rank.
The starting order is then set by 1st practice speed.
So #99-Edwards starts 1st [not awarded the pole], #56-Truex Jr., #9-Ambrose, #22-Logano, #39-Newman, #20-Kenseth, #11-Hamlin, #48-Johnson, #24-Gordon and #5-Kahne.
See the starting lineup on my Talladega Qualifying Page.(5-4-2013) - Hamlin discusses injury, plans for Sunday: #11-Denny Hamlin, cleared Thursday to race at Talladega, talked to the media on Friday at Talladege Superspeedway after practicing 16 laps in the #11 FedEx Toyota. A few comments from Hamlin about his back injury and return to the track:
Q) How did it feel to be back in the car in practice today?
Hamlin: “Obviously it’s really good to get back and run some speed and get somewhat adrenaline pumping again. I’m thankful for everything Brian (Vickers) has done over these last four weeks and what he’s going to do this weekend. We appreciate that and FedEx for sticking through it with us and obviously showing us a lot of support. So, it’s definitely good to be back in a car and really just starting with hopefully what will be a good run in these next 17 weeks.”
Q) Is it physically painful to be in the car on the race track?
Hamlin: “No, there’s no discomfort inside the car at all. Really, for me, the most discomfort I have is getting out of the car. That’s why we’re choosing to go through the roof versus the window. It’s much easier on me, and really any kind of twisting we can keep out of myself will be good. Really, inside the race car I feel just like I did six, seven weeks ago.”
Q) Was it hard physically to get out of the race car?
Hamlin:“No, it took us one minute and six seconds twice in a row, so I think that we’re going to be plenty good if a caution comes out to come out and preserve a lap.”
Q) Are you concerned there may be an early accident that you could get involved in?
Hamlin: “As far as the first lap, early-on wreck it definitely can happen. We’ve seen it here at this race track on lap one and we’ve seen it on the last lap. I’m obviously going to put myself in what I believe is a safe position. Obviously you can’t help things like blown tires or whatever that could possibly happen, but like I said I think the equivalency of our risks this weekend will be taking a knee.”
Q) Are you definitely getting out of the car on Sunday?
Hamlin:“Yeah, I would say that’s probably the most — there’s going to be a caution at some point and I’d like to get out to just insure myself of one more week of healing versus trying to come back in the middle of round six.”
Q) Is there any risk that you could have a career-ending injury in an accident?
Hamlin: “I have to be careful with the answer of this. There’s going to be risks. There is risk. There is risk until — I don’t know the exact science and no one knows the exact percentages. Nobody knows and that’s what makes this really, really hard. With bone healing, it doesn’t matter if you break your arm, you break your leg or whatever, a bone takes a year to heal. That’s realistic. But, as far as I’ve been told and I understand it would take such a significant hit that you probably would be injured from it even if you were 100 percent healthy as far as I understand. So, it’s very hard. I’ve got to let the doctors speak for that a little bit more than me because I don’t know the risks exactly and neither do they. We’re just trying to buy myself another week obviously until Darlington, but the risk is so minimal that it’s almost not even there.”
Q) Do you feel like you will have to be more careful in the race car with your injury?
Hamlin: “Not really. When I was in the car in practice you would think when you’re coming back — I know with my ACL I was cognizant the first time I actually went running again for the first time. Just trying to be — I was scared of it. This is a little bit different because my symptoms from this went away after one week. I felt no back pain in the fractured area. For me, I’m only being limited on what I do — the twisting, the jumping, the running, all of that — just because I’m told to and not because I’m scared or fearful of it. It never even crossed my mind in the car so I think it’s really a non-issue going forward.”
Q) Why are you getting rescanned next week?
Hamlin: “It was scheduled. It’s been on the schedule. I mentioned even through media that after Talladega we were going to get scanned once again.”
Q) Have you practiced the driver swap with Brian Vickers?
Hamlin: “I think it’s three minutes or high twos or something like that that you will lose a lap. But it took us right at one minute every time that we rehearsed it, so we’re going to be plenty fine there. Everything is pretty seamless.”(in part from a Toyota Racing Transcript)(5-4-2013) - Kurt Busch to test Indycar at Indy: After two days of testing the #78 Furniture Row Racing Chevy NASCAR Sprint Cup car this week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch left the track knowing he was going to get more seat time at the famed oval before the Crown Royal presents the “Your Hero’s Name Here” 400 at the Brickyard in July. But this time, the additional seat time will be behind the wheel an IZOD IndyCar Series car. Busch will test a Chevrolet-powered Andretti Autosport Indy car Thursday morning, May 9, just two days before IMS officially opens for practice for the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500. Andretti Autosport team owner and IMS legend Michael Andretti will be on hand to provide driver coaching and assist in getting Busch up to speed quickly.
“I have always enjoyed racing at Indianapolis, and when IMS and Michael presented me with the opportunity to test an Indy car prior to opening day of practice of the Indianapolis 500, I jumped at it,” Busch said. “The Indianapolis 500 is an iconic event and having an opportunity to go through the testing process with Michael and Andretti Autosport, the defending series champions and two-time winners of the race, is pretty cool.”
Said Andretti: “I had the chance to get to know Kurt last year when we were working on another racing project. I respect his talent and am happy to give him the opportunity to experience the raw speed of an Indy car. It’s a unique feel and perspective – it will be totally different than what he is used to driving each week on the Cup circuit.” Busch left open the door to compete in “The Double” – racing in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the same day – in the future. “I am looking forward to this test and experiencing IMS at the speeds the Indy cars run,” Busch said. “Let’s see how the test goes, and then I can look at the opportunities that could be beyond this coming Thursday. Running the Indianapolis 500 would certainly be a highlight, and doing another 600 miles in a Cup car on the same day would make for a special weekend.” Only three drivers have attempted the Memorial Day weekend “Double” – John Andretti, Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon.(IMS)(5-4-2013) - SANY Worldwide Magazine Features SANY Racing with TBR: Emerging into the sport of NASCAR with Tommy Baldwin Racing, SANY America’s partnership with TBR and the #7 Chevy has left both fans and media members talking. Anytime a new sponsor enters the sport, heads turn, but who was SANY and how did they end up at Tommy Baldwin Racing? In February as we prepared for Daytona, Kyle Nape, vice president of global sales and marketing at SANY America said,”We’re excited to start this venture with Tommy Baldwin Racing and NASCAR. Many of our customers are NASCAR fans, so this partnership is a great way for us to get our name out there. We’re looking forward to a great season with a great team.” From our media day at SANY America in early April to welcoming executives and customers of SANY America each weekend, Tommy Baldwin Racing is proud to have SANY on board the #7 as we continue the 2013 NASCAR season.(TBR)(5-4-2013)
- Spring Testing season underway for Goodyear: With springtime comes warmer weather across the country which, in turn, marks the beginning of testing season at some of NASCAR’s more northern tracks for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. After running a two-day test down south at Daytona International Speedway on April 16-17, the exclusive tire supplier for NASCAR’s top three divisions moved up north this past Tuesday and Wednesday to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to be followed by sessions at Chicagoland Speedway next week (May 7-8) and New Hampshire Motor Speedway the following week (May 14-15).
“Now that the weather is scheduled to break, it opens up our palette of race tracks for testing to continue our tire development with the Gen-6 car,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of race tire sales. “We’ve had a great start to the season, and NASCAR deserves a lot of credit for all the work they’ve put in to the new car. We used the early part of the season to collect a lot of data on race weekends to see how our tires work with the Gen-6. We feel very good about our results so far and we just want to stay on top of things and see where improvements can be made. As teams have more time with the new car, their set-ups will evolve, so we need to stay in tune with those changes. Track testing in advance of summer races at some of these tracks is the best way to do that.”
Goodyear started the spring testing season with the two-day session at Daytona. Day one featured single car runs as teams sorted through several tire options. Day two was run mostly in multi-car packs, with the nine teams getting in two 20-lap runs. It was a fruitful session that yielded a new tire recommendation for NASCAR weekend scheduled for this coming July.
“We tested at Daytona mainly to keep up with the race track, since it’s now been a couple years since the re-pave” said Stucker. “After running the 500 down there in February, and what we learned at the test, we will go back there in July with a new recommendation. We’ve decided to change the compounds on both sides of the car and update the left-side construction to incorporate changes that we’ve successfully made at several other race tracks.”
Goodyear followed that up with a test this past week at Indianapolis, which has a grooved surface that is known for aggressively wearing tires. Driver’s and teams participating in that six-car test were #21-Trevor Bayne, #78-Kurt Busch, #24-Jeff Gordon, #2-Brad Keselowski, #55-Mark Martin and #14-Tony Stewart.
“Indianapolis is obviously a unique configuration and not like any other surface we race on. We’ve been very happy with our set-up over the last several years, and we want to be able to match that on these cars that have more left-side weight, more downforce and cambered rear ends,” said Stucker. “We completed two full days of testing this week and we had excellent weather that provided conditions very typical of what we might expect in July — sunny and mid-80-degree temperatures. All six teams participated in evaluations, and contributed a lot of data for us to review in determining the recommendation for this year’s race, which we will finalize over the coming weeks.”
Goodyear continues on with tests at Chicagoland and New Hampshire, two tracks that will host three races on the remaining NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule.
“At Chicagoland, our goal will be evaluating any changes to the track surface and learning more about this car on the intermediate tracks, which is the most popular style track on the circuit,” said Stucker. “Driver feedback from Loudon last year identified that track as an opportunity to increase grip. The focus of that test will be to come up with the right balance of grip, wear and fall off for the new car on that surface.”
Drivers and teams scheduled for do the Chicagoland test are #16-Greg Biffle, #18-Kurt Busch, #29-Kevin Harvick, #48-Jimmie Johnson, #1-Jamie McMurray and #39-Ryan Newman.
Set to handle the New Hampshire test are #7-Dave Blaney, #15-Clint Bowyer, #31-Jeff Burton, #24-Jeff Gordon, #20-Matt Kenseth and #22-Joey Logano.
Later in the year, Goodyear has already scheduled additional tests for Atlanta Motor Speedway (June 18-19), Homestead-Miami Speedway on August 27-28, Phoenix International Raceway on September 10-11, Richmond International Raceway on October 15-16 and Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 22-23.(Goodyear Racing PR)(5-4-2013) - Golden Corral returns to the #36: Heading to the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway, JJ Yeley and the #36 Tommy Baldwin Racing team are bringing back the popular Golden Corral paint scheme in hopes of another “Top 10 Kids Eat Free” celebration on Monday.(TBR)(5-4-2013)
- Smith wins at Talladega: #7-Regan Smith won the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway for his first win of 2013 and the second of his career. #22-Joey Logano finished second followed by #5-Kasey Kahne, #1-Kurt Busch, #31-Justin Allgaier, #77-Parker Kligerman, #01-Mike Wallace, #24-Jason White, #51-Jeremy Clements, and #3-Austin Dillon.
A wreck on the last lap forced NASCAR to throw the caution as the lead cars came through the tri-oval heading to the checkered flag. Kahne got to the finish line first, but NASCAR had already put out the caution.
#12-Sam Hornish, Jr., who was the points leader coming into the race, was caught in an accident and finished 25th. Smtih now leads the points by 27 over Hornish.
The race started nearly 2 1/2 hours late after it rained at the track most of the morning and was ended 10 laps early due to darkness. There was also a single green-white-checker attempt.
There were 7 cautions for 28 laps and 47 lead changes among 16 leaders. Complete results are on the Talladega race results page (pdf).(5-3-2013) - Talladega Race Fast Facts:
Regan Smith won the 22nd Annual Aaron’s 312, his second victory in 111 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
This is his first victory and sixth top-10 finish in 2013.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in three races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Joey Logano(i) (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in five races at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his first top-10 finish in 2013.
Kasey Kahne(i) (third) posted his first top-10 finish in five races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Alex Bowman (13th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Regan Smith leads the point standings by 27 points over Sam Hornish Jr.
(NASCAR Integrated Marketing)(5-3-2013) - Driver standings following Talladega:
1) #7-Regan Smith 305
2) #12-Sam Hornish Jr. 278, -27
3) #31-Justin Allgaier 265, -40
4) #77-Parker Kligerman 258, -47
5) #11-Elliott Sadler 258, -47
6) #3-Austin Dillon 257, -48
7) #2-Brian Scott 254, -51
8) #20-Brian Vickers 252, -53
9) #99-Alex Bowman # 231, -74
10) #6Trevor Bayne 230, -75
See complete standings on the driver standings page (pdf).(5-3-2013) - Owner Standings following Talladega are posted (pdf).(5-3-2013)
- Townley in for Green at Dega: UPDATE: #25-John Wes Townley’s qualifying time was thrown out because his car failed pre-qualifying inspection. His sponsorship was moved to #10-Jeff Green’s car so he could race Saturday.(ESPN.com)(5-3-2013)
UPDATE Jeff Green will drive the #10 at Talladega afterall. Townley was involved in an accident during the ARCA race Friday.(5-4-2013) - Bliss gets Talladega sponsor: Dixie Chopper and NASCAR share many loyal fans. The lines will blur even further when Dixie Chopper will be on the #19 Dixie Chopper Toyota Camry, driven by Mike Bliss, at the 2.66-mile tri-oval of Talladega Superspeedway. Dixie Chopper is known for manufacturing the world’s fastest lawn mower, therefore being on display at one of NASCAR’s fastest tracks, seems inevitable. Headquartered in Coatesville, Indiana, Dixie Chopper’s revolutionary craftsmanship is proudly made in the USA.(TriStar Motorsports)(5-4-2013)
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