May 6, 2008
- Testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway is over: Sprint Cup testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway ended Tuesday evening, with 51 cars running laps, the fastest was #26-McMurray at 185.720mph in a Ford followed by the Dodge of #12B-Newman, the Toyota of #84-Allmendinger, #66B-Riggs in a Chevy and the Dodge of #10-Carpentier. There were six minor incidents during the 10 hours of testing. A.J. Allmendinger, Robby Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch each brushed the yellow outside SAFER barriers. All five cars received only minor damage and each driver was able to drive back to the garage area. Regan Smith was a double-dipper, making contact with the outside wall twice. He was able to drive into the garage following each fender-bender.(LMS PR)
See all the speeds and notes on my Lowe’s Motor Speedway Testing page and Best Speed Overall by Driver – Lowe’s Motor Speedway Testing.(5-6-2008) - Kvapil gets sponsor for Darlington UPDATE image: Fayetteville’s [NC] Lafayette Ford will sponsor driver #28-Travis Kvapil in the May 10 Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway. Lafayette Ford and the #28 car have a vaunted history. Fred Lorenzen, NASCAR’s “Golden Boy” of the 1960s, scored virtually all of his wins with sponsorship from the dealership while driving for the Holman-Moody team. In 1964, he won five consecutive starts, with the last being the Rebel 300 at Darlington.(Fayetteville Observer)
AND: Yates Racing announced that LaFayette Ford, who sponsored the #28 with driver Fred Lorenzen from 1962-1967, will again sponsor the #28 entry but this time with driver Travis Kvapil for the Sprint Cup series race at Darlington Raceway on May 10th. Kvapil’s #28 will sport a paint scheme reminiscent to that of Fred Lorenzen’s during the 60’s when LaFayette Ford sponsored Lorenzen’s #28 machine. The Darlington 500 will mark the first time LaFayette Ford has served as a primary sponsor in the Sprint Cup Series since the dealership was associated with Lorenzen. LaFayette Ford is proud to be Fayetteville, North Carolina’s only family-owned and operated Ford dealer. They have been serving the Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, and surrounding areas since 1949.(Yates Racing)(4-30-2008)
UPDATE: see images of the scheme on my #28 Team Schemes page.(5-6-2008) - Truex to Penske? with UPS? UPDATE UPS denies: hearing that Martin Truex, current driver of the #1 DEI Chevy, could be headed to a 4th Penske Racing team with UPS as the sponsor.(5-4-2008)
UPDATE – UPS denies negotiating with any team: UPS officials released a statement Monday saying the company is not currently in negotiations with any specific Sprint Cup team or driver. UPS currently sponsors the #44 driven by David Reutimann. Michael Waltrip Racing Vice President Cal Wells has said that UPS has had preliminary discussions with six teams about what cars and drivers they would have open for 2009 and “UPS is doing exactly what they should be doing. We either earn the business back or we won’t.” But to say that UPS has started negotiations with any team is not accurate, according to a company official. “As of this date, UPS is not engaged in formal active sponsorship negotiations with any NASCAR Sprint Cup driver or race team,” read the statement, attributed to UPS Director of Sponsorship & Events Ron Rogowski. With Dale Jarrett’s retirement this year, UPS is looking for another face for a long-term campaign. One of the drivers often mentioned is #99-Carl Edwards, who right now is sponsored by Office Depot. Roush Fenway Racing and Office Depot currently are in an exclusive negotiating period for Edwards. “UPS went to six or eight race teams, visited them, to get all the inventory that they all had,” Roush Fenway President Geoff Smith said Saturday. “And from that, they told us they would cut it down amongst the teams. There’s been no negotiating.”(SceneDaily.com)(5-6-2008) - Schrader back in the #70 UPDATE nope..it is Sauter: Ken Schrader will drive for the #70 Haas CNC Racing team at Darlington Raceway, said team competition director Matt Borland.(SceneDaily)(5-5-2008)
UPDATE: Johnny Sauter will drive the #70 Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet this weekend at Darlington Raceway, according to an updated Sprint Cup Series entry list for the Dodge Challenger 500. The original entry list had Ken Schrader driving this weekend. Sauter has driven for the team at Phoenix and Richmond this year. He has qualified for both races on speed but has been caught up in accidents in both events with finishes of 37th and 33rd.(SceneDaily)(5-6-2008) - Martin named the Wypall Wipers’ “Crew Chief of the Race” in Richmond: Gil Martin, crew chief of the #07 BB&T Chevy driven by Clint Bowyer, has been named the Wypall Wipers’ “Crew Chief of the Race” in Saturday’s Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Some say it was being in the right place at the right time, but cautious instruction from Martin is what empowered Bowyer to drive the #07 BB&T Chevy to victory in Saturday night’s race. After starting deep in the field, (31st) Bowyer carved his way up to 16th on lap 129 resulting from a successful pit stop by the Martin-led team. Increasing track position and then maintaining that spot was Martin’s main concern, coaching Bowyer to be patient as he steadily made his way to the front. Bowyer eventually took over the lead following a collision between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch with two laps to go and sailed to the victory. The 2008 Wypall Wipers Crew Chief Challenge is a season-long contest that will determine the best crew chiefs in the Sprint Cup garage. Following each Cup race, a panel will vote to determine which crew chief demonstrated the most outstanding strategy and leadership during the race. It isn’t necessarily the crew chief that goes to Victory Lane, but the crew chief that makes the biggest difference for his team. Representatives from Wypall Wipers, together with Fox/SPEED television analyst Jeff Hammond, and three of NASCAR’s top crew chiefs who represent Wypall, including Berrier of Richard Childress Racing’s #29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevy team, Bob Osborne of Roush Fenway Racing’s #99 Office Depot Ford team, and Kenny Francis of Gillett Evernham Motorsports’ #9 Budweiser Dodge team, make up the panel of judges. In addition to the $1,000 check, the winning crew chief will receive signage to announce the win on their pit box the following week. The crew chief with the most weekly top wins will be honored as the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Year and will be presented a $20,000 check at the season finale in Homestead, Fla. The Wypall Wipers Crew Chief Challenge will continue throughout the remainder of the 2008 season and spotlight the men behind the machines. For more information, log onto www.Wypall.com.(5-6-2008)
- Hamlin injured but OK to drive: Just when #11-Denny Hamlin thought things couldn’t get any worse, he fell hard on his left hip playing basketball and could hardly walk when he arrived Monday for testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. “I’d like to say I was going up for a dunk, but I think everybody knows that ain’t true,” Hamlin said. “When I went up, the person was lower than I was and I kind of clipped over his shoulder and I was horizontal to the ground — that was bad. It popped and it doesn’t feel good at all. I couldn’t lay on it last night, and it ain’t getting much better.” The injury came roughly 24 hours after Hamlin led a record 381 of the first 382 laps at Richmond International Raceway, only to lose a coveted win on his hometown track when he cut his right front tire. He had to intentionally stop his car on the track to bring out the caution needed to head to pit road for a tire change.(full note at ESPN/AP)(5-6-2008)Comment here
- No additional penalties for Hamlin, Waltrip: #11-Denny Hamlin won’t be further penalized for intentionally bringing out a late caution in Saturday night’s race at Richmond even though there is precedent for it. No further penalty also is expected against #55-Michael Waltrip for intentionally wrecking #5-Casey Mears, NASCAR officials said on Monday. Hamlin was given a two-lap penalty when he stopped on the track with a cut tire with less than 10 laps remaining. NASCAR officials believed it was an intentional move to bring out the caution and allow Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch the opportunity to close on then-leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. A spokesperson for the governing body said during Monday’s test session at Lowe’s Motor Speedway that there would be no further punishment. But in 2004, Earnhardt was docked 25 points and fined $10,000 for intentionally bringing out the caution at Bristol. In the 2002 running of the All-Star race, Kurt Busch was fined $10,000 for intentionally spinning out Robby Gordon to bring out a caution. Meanwhile, Waltrip was parked with about 40 laps remaining when he intentionally took out Mears after Mears got into him a few laps earlier. Officials said the hit Waltrip took in points — he finished 37th and fell a spot to 32nd in points — was severe enough.(ESPN.com)(5-6-2008) Comment here
- Kyle Busch named 1st Quarter Driver of the Year: #18-Kyle Busch crushed the competition on the track and in the ballots as he won 1st quarter Driver of the Year 2008. Busch won a total seven races in NASCAR’s top-three series, Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series. Although he leads in the Cup standings with a second place this past weekend in Richmond, voting only considered results through the previous event at Talladega Speedway. In the voting Busch took 14 first-place ballots, and none lower than a third place totaling 142 points. Cup rival Roush/Fenway driver Carl Edwards’ three wins earned him one first-place vote and a total of 72 points. Danica Patrick, who drives for Andretti Green Racing, whose record-setting first win in top level IndyCar Series for a woman, garnered two first place votes and totaled 51 points in third place. Ashley Force, daughter of the 1996 Driver of the Year beat her famous father, John Force last week in Atlanta in NHRA’s funny car division was fourth in the voting with 49 points. A total of 17 drivers scored points in the first quarter voting, including fifth place Jason Meyers, in the World of Outlaws who won three of the first six races. In related news, ESPN’s award winning writer and broadcast journalist Terry Blount has been added to the panel.(DOTY PR)(5-6-2008)
- Testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway is over: Sprint Cup testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway ended Tuesday evening, with 51 cars running laps, the fastest was #26-McMurray at 185.720mph in a Ford followed by the Dodge of #12B-Newman, the Toyota of #84-Allmendinger, #66B-Riggs in a Chevy and the Dodge of #10-Carpentier.#88-Earnhardt wrecked and called it a night, #01-Smith and #2-Busch had contact with the wall.
See all the speeds and notes on my Lowe’s Motor Speedway Testing page.(5-6-2008) - Lowe’s Motor Speedway Testing – Session 2, Day 2: Fifty-one cars took to Lowe’s Motor Speedway in the afternoon session in Day 2 of Sprint Cup testing. #83-Vickers was the fastest in a Toyota at 181.830mph, followed by #18B-Busch (Toyota), #8-Martin (Chevy), #99-Edwards (Ford) and #19B-Sadler (Dodge). Slowest cars were #08B-Raines and #01B-Smith. There is one final test session Tuesday night until 9:00pm/et.
See the speeds and notes on my Lowe’s Motor Speedway Testing page.(5-6-2008) - Lowe’s Motor Speedway Testing – Session 1, Day 2: The 2nd day of testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the first session in the morning, was only run by only 9 drivers driving 13 cars. Johnny Sauter is in the #70 and Jeff Green tested the #34 Chevy instead of regular driver John Andretti. No Fords tested in the 1st session. The fastest was #88B-Earnhardt Jr. at 182.593 followed by #31-Burton, #24-Gordon, #70-Sauter and the Dodge of #42-Montoya. Slowest of the 13 cars was #34-Jeff Green.
See the speeds and notes on my Lowe’s Motor Speedway Testing page.(5-6-2008) - Verizon Debuting on the #9 at Darlington: Chase Miller will be making his ninth career start this weekend at Darlington Raceway, but first with Verizon Wireless Motorola on the #9 Gillett Evernham Dodge. Miller has never seen the newly repaved track “Too Tough to Tame” in person.(Gilett Evernham Motorsports PR)(5-6-2008)
- Cook entered in Nationwide race at Darlington: Terry Cook is listed on the entry list for this weekend’s Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington Speedway. Cook is scheduled to drive the #91 Ford for Randy Humphrey Racing. Sponsor TBA.(5-6-2008)
- Wood ready for more races with family-owned Cup team: A rejuvenated Jon Wood says he’s thrilled to be taking a larger role on the Wood Brothers Racing team’s NASCAR Sprint Cup driving schedule. The 26-year-old Wood says he is scheduled to drive the car in the upcoming races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway and Pocono Raceway. Bill Elliott will drive for the team this weekend at Darlington Raceway, but Wood has been at Lowe’s this week participating in the NASCAR test session.(SceneDaily.com)(5-6-2008)
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