May 6, 2010
- Race attendance still dropping: NASCAR pledged the 2010 season would be aimed at placating its hard-core supporters with rough-and-tumble racing, but the recession still seems to be slamming the wallets of its middle-class fan base. According to estimates from official box scores, attendance decreased in nine of the first 10 races, with double-digit drops at Bristol Motor Speedway (14%), Phoenix International Raceway (13%) and Talladega Superspeedway (13%). International Speedway Corp., which owns Phoenix, Talladega and 10 more tracks that host Sprint Cup races, said during a first-quarter conference call last month that crowds at its speedways were at 81% of capacity. “The year is unfolding as predicted,” said Roger Van Der Snick, ISC’s chief operating officer. “We knew admissions would be down. We’re on track with expectations. The biggest impediment is the economy.” To spice up its competition, NASCAR tried to encourage more action by loosening the rules. But the short tracks most renowned for the fender-banging embraced by longtime fans also have suffered erosion in crowds that have been a bellwether of NASCAR popularity. Van Der Snick said blogs and Internet forums indicated fans still were warming up to NASCAR’s changes. “It’s going to take time to win some back,” he said. “If they were disillusioned with the racing, those things don’t change overnight. Just like the economy, there’s going to be a lag factor. I’m not too alarmed.”(USA Today), for track seating and race attendance information see my Race Track Attendance page.(5-6-2010)
- Darlington’s 2009 Citizen of the Year Joins ExtenZe Racing as Honorary Crew Chief: Back in January at the Greater Darlington Chamber of Commerce annual awards banquet, a local chiropractor and philanthropist by the name of Dr. David Eads was honored as 2009 Citizen of the Year in recognition of his outstanding community service. For that, Eads has been named an ‘ExtenZe Local Hero’ and will serve as Honorary Crew Chief for the leading NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year driver Kevin Conway and his ExtenZe Racing team at the upcoming Darlington Raceway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend. A native of Charleston, Eads moved to Darlington in 1976 when his father became principal of St. Johns High School and since then has become very familiar with Darlington’s generosity and its needs over the years. Despite being born elsewhere Eads says there’s nowhere else he’d rather live and work. Eads career path was mapped out fairly early in his childhood as grew up best friends with the son of a prominent local chiropractor by the name of Dr. Joe Willis and spent a lot of time at the chiropractic office following in the footsteps of his friend’s dad observing him with his patients. After graduating from Clemson, Eads joined Dr. Willis’ practice in Darlington and then bought the practice when Willis retired. Now entering his 21st year of straightening of the aches and pains of friends and neighbors, Eads says the spinal care business has remained healthy but it’s his love of community service that keeps him going. More info see www.ExtenZeRacing.com to nominate their own local heroes or review who has been previously chosen.(ExtenZe Racing/Breaking Limits)(5-6-2010)
- NASCAR Now Fans Series Continues Saturday: NASCAR Now, ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program, continues its month-long series on NASCAR fans in the one-hour weekend edition airing Saturday, May 8, at 10 a.m. ET. The program also will preview that night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway. The segments on fans will air in the weekend edition each week during May. Featured in the May 8 show will be Patrick Hickey, a nursing professor at the University of South Carolina who also is an accomplished mountain climber. Hickey has scaled the seven summits of the world, an eight-year quest that included the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. His task was completed when he took a NASCAR flag to the top of Mt. Everest and managed to time it for May 24, matching the number of his favorite NASCAR driver, Jeff Gordon. Hickey and other fans featured in the NASCAR Now series are subjects in the recently-released book “The Weekend Starts on Wednesday” by Andrew Giangola.(5-6-2010)
- Darlington Tire Notes: Teams in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series will run the same tire codes this weekend . . . this is the first time these teams have run this combination of left- and right-side tires at Darlington, though they have run this right-side tire code several times in the past . . . Sprint Cup and Nationwide teams have run this right-side with a different left-side at Las Vegas and Charlotte in 2009, and will do so again in 2010 . . . this tire set-up was confirmed for Darlington at a Goodyear test at the track on March 9 . . . teams participating in that test were the No. 19 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford with Elliott Sadler, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with Clint Bowyer and No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Toyota with Marcos Ambrose . . . compared to what was run at Darlington last year, this tire set-up features a left-side mold shape and compound change and right-side construction change, all designed to give the cars more grip . . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Darlington . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire. The estimated pit window is every 55-60 laps, based on fuel mileage.(Goodyear PR), see tire pressures, codes and more on my Darlington Race Info Page – Goodyear section.(5-6-2010)
- Darlington Rookie Notes: #38-Kevin Conway [will be back in the #37 at Darlington] was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the May 1 Crown Royal Presents the Heath Calhoun 400 at Richmond International Raceway, posting a 37th-place finish. Conway leads Terry Cook [out of a full-time ride] by 62 points (99-37) in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering the May 8 Showtime Southern 500. Joey Logano was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the 2009 Showtime Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, posting a ninth-place finish. Logano led the race once for 19 laps and became the first Raybestos Rookie to lead a lap at Darlington since Kasey Kahne in the 2004 fall race (three times for 24 laps). Since 2001, TWO Raybestos Rookies have won pole positions at Darlington: Kurt Busch (2001) and Kasey Kahne (2004). See rookie standings, race by race, rookie history and more on my 2010 Rookies Page.(5-6-2010)
- Active Winless streaks: Many drivers are coming to Darlinton Raceway Race in the throes of some very serious winless streaks. #39-Ryan Newman recently ended a run of 0-for-77 and #29-Kevin Harvick ended an 0-for-115 streak. The active driver who has made the most starts and not won a race is #66-Dave Blaney, who is 0-for-341 and counting. Longest winless Cup streaks:
Driver, Winless Streak, Last Win
Bobby Labonte. 226, Homestead. 11/16/2003
Elliott Sadler, 201, California, 9/5/2004
Martin Truex Jr. 105, Dover, 6/4/2007
Juan Pablo Montoya, 102, Sonoma, 6/24/2007
Clint Bowyer, 72, Richmond, 5/3/2008
Dale Earnhardt Jr., 67, Michigan, 6/15/2008
Greg Biffle, 54 Dover, 9/21/2008
Jeff Burton, 51, Charlotte, 10/11/2008
Carl Edwards, 46, Homestead, 11/16/2008
Matt Kenseth, 44, Fontana, 2/22/2009
Jeff Gordon, 39, Texas, 4/5/2009
see a longer list and no win streaks on my All-time winners list page.(5-6-2010) - No Cup race at Kentucky in 2011? Even though it appears that the Kentucky Speedway founders’ antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR is coming to a close, track owner Speedway Motorsports Inc. reported that a 2011 Sprint Cup date at the track “may not be feasible” because of a variety of factors, including capital improvements necessary for the facility. SMI Chairman Bruton Smith has been adamant about moving a date to Kentucky as soon as possible. But a filing Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission noted that 2011 might be too soon, although those filings must cover all possible scenarios and can, at times, be cautious in nature. Bill Brooks, SMI’s chief financial officer, said Wednesday during a conference call with financial analysts that among the factors that would dictate when realignment would occur are “particularly costs of any capital expenditure to upgrade or expand our facility at Kentucky [and] the lead time to do it.” Brooks did not say what capital improvements will be necessary, but Smith has talked about expanding the grandstand capacity. Kentucky has only 69,000 seats – 30,000 fewer than New Hampshire and 32,000 fewer than Atlanta – and likely would need to increase seating for a Sprint Cup event. According to the SEC filing, other factors being considered over whether to move a race to Kentucky are the popularity and profitability of various races, alternative uses of tracks and revenues for such tracks in the event a race is moved, any existing or potential government tax incentives, changing economic conditions at the individual tracks and in the economy as a whole.(Scene Daily)(5-6-2010)
- McDonalds returns to the #1 at Darlington honors Bill France Jr.: For the third time during the 2010 NSCS season, Jamie McMurray and the #1 Team will sport McDonald’s colors this weekend at Darlington Raceway for the Showtime Southern 500. One thing different, the #1 Chevy will run a special logo representing former NASCAR Chairman Bill France Jr.(EGR), see an image of the car and the honor on my #1 team paint schemes page.(5-6-2010)
- Doublemint makes debut on #18: This weekend’s race will mark the first time Doublemint Gum has served as primary sponsor for #18-Kyle Busch, as the chewing gum brand’s mint paint scheme will adorn Busch’s #18 Toyota at Darlington and again at Bristol Motor Speedway in August.(JGR/True Speed Communications), see images of the scheme on my #18 team paint schemes page.(5-6-2010)
- National Guard on Facebook on the #24: The National Guard will feature its Facebook page on the hood of the #24 Chevy this weekend at Darlington. Support your country and the #24 DuPont/National Guard team by becoming a fan of the National Guard on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NationalGuard.(HMS PR)(5-6-2010)
- A&W on the #34 at Darlington: #34-Travis Kvapil will run an A&W All American Food scheme on the #34 Front Row Motorsports Ford this weekend at Darlington, the second time this season those, the first being at Martinsville in March (FRM/Breaking Limits PR), see an image of the car on my #34 team paint schemes page.(5-6-2010)
- Turtle Wax on the #98 at Darlington; testing next week: Turtle Wax will be on the hood of Paul Menard’s #98 Menard’s Ford this weekend at Darlington Raceway. The #98 Richard Petty Motorsports team and Menard are scheduled at Gresham Motorsports Park (formerly Peach State Speedway) near Jefferson, Ga. next Tuesday.(RPM PR)(5-6-2010)
- AAA Parking sponsoring Kenny at Darlington: AAA Parking is hitting the fast lane this weekend at Darlington as the sponsor for Kenny Wallace in the #28 Chevy. While the company does not encourage fast driving while parking, AAA Parking is asking Kenny to put the pedal to the metal Friday night at Darlington. Wallace has started 453 Nationwide Series races during his career, which is 2nd in the all-time list. (AAA Parking PR), see an image of the car on the #28 Nationwide Series paint scheme page.(5-6-2010)
- Mike Wallace gets Darlington sponsor: Mike Wallace and J-D Motorsports introduce One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning as the Primary Sponsor of the #01 Chevy for Friday’s Darlington race. True to their motto, “Always on time or you don’t pay a dime!,” One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning couldn’t have been more time appropriate in backing Mike Wallace. The company’s affiliation with Wallace and the J-D Motorsports team falls on the heels of One Hour’s season sponsorship of a Sunday night network TV show. The car is co-sponsored by One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning’s sister companies: Mister Sparky, American’s On Time Electrician and Benjamin Franklin, the Punctual Plumber.(J-D Motorsports PR), see an image of the car on the #01 Nationwide Series paint scheme page.(5-6-2010)
- Kansas images added: Added a few images following the Kansas race; #2-Ken Schrader, E-Z-GO Chevy; #81-David Starr, PC*Miler Toyota; #15-Johnny Benson, Red Top Collector Car Auction Toyota; #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb, MarkOne.com Ford, #63-Jack Smith, MB Motorsports Ford, #29-Brad Keselowski Dodge [from Nashville]. Check them out via the 2010 Camping World Truck Series Paint Scheme Page.(5-6-2010)
- Crafton busy during open-week: With a one-week break from racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ThorSport Racing driver Matt Crafton is keeping himself busy by helping out with worthy charitable causes. On Tuesday May 4, Crafton and a number of other motorsports personalities and many race fans gathered at Ray Evernham’s shop to play poker for B.R.A.K.E.S. (Be Responsible And Keep Everyone Safe), the foundation drag racer Doug Herbert started in memory of his two children, Jon and James, who perished in an automobile accident in 2008. On Saturday May 8, Crafton will participate with fellow NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver and close friend T.J. Bell in Moms on the Run benefiting breast cancer awareness and research. Crafton will travel to Reno, Nevada to participate in Moms on the Run. Crafton and the #88 Menards Chevy return to action on Friday May 14 in the Dover 200 at Dover International Speedway.(ThorSport Racing PR)(5-6-2010)
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