May 8, 2008
- Hendrick Motorsports reopens museum: Check out Rick Hendrick’s first Chevrolet. Watch a dissected Impala SS “Car of Tomorrow” being pieced together. See the cars and memorabilia of Casey Mears, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. These are just a few things visitors can do now that Hendrick Motorsports has reopened its museum. The 15,000-square-foot facility, which was closed the last four months for renovations, pays tribute to nearly 25 seasons of Hendrick Motorsports history and offers fans the latest in team-related apparel and merchandise. Admission to the museum is free of charge. Throughout the year, the museum will exhibit a rotating stable of famous Chevrolets — such as an original All-Star Racing entry, multiple Daytona 500 champions and the inaugural Brickyard 400 winner. Featured currently are cars driven by Geoff Bodine, Tim Richmond, Ken Schrader and Ricky Hendrick, among others. Visitors will be met at the entrance by the Monte Carlo SS that Johnson drove at Homestead-Miami Speedway to clinch the 2007 Sprint Cup Series title. The Hendrick Motorsports museum is open to the public from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Visitors can find special announcements, extended race-week hours, driving directions and additional information related to the museum at www.HendrickMotorsports.com.(HMS)(5-8-2008)
- Hamlin lends name to restaurant: #11-Denny Hamlin will be lending his name and star power to one of Salisbury’s [NC] more popular restaurants. In coming months, The Original Steakhouse & Sports Theatre, located at the Salisbury Mall, will be changing its name and look to become Denny Hamlin’s Grille 11. The “11” refers to Hamlin’s number for Joe Gibbs Racing. The extensive changes to the restaurant will be made through a licensing agreement between Celebrity Ventures Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Hamlin. Bob McCarthy, a partner and concept development vice president for Celebrity Ventures, said Hamlin will have his own private “owner’s box” at the restaurant and can be expected to be making visits to the Salisbury location and a like-named restaurant in Asheville. This is Celebrity Ventures’ first restaurant with a NASCAR driver. McCarthy put the transformation of the restaurant in Salisbury at 90 to 120 days. He said the restaurant’s footprint will stay the same, but its audio-visual package will be enhanced dramatically, besides some cosmetic changes. The extensive menus offer appetizers, burgers, sandwiches, salads, pasta, steak, seafood and desserts.(Salisbury Post)(5-8-2008)
- Lopez and HOF Racing part ways? hearing that #96 Hall of Fame Racing and Competition Director [and former crew chief], Philippe Lopez parted ways on Tuesday.(5-8-2008)
- Stewart gives few hints about future: #20-Tony Stewart returned to Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday to help Chevrolet unveil its new midget-car engine, an appearance that prompted another round of questions about Stewart’s plans and whether they might include IndyCars. “There’s a part of me that thinks running at Indy and in IndyCar is a chapter of my life that is closed,” he said. “Then there is the emotional part of me that says, ‘Never say never.’ I don’t know if I’ll ever get in an IndyCar again, but if that happens, it’s going to be a long way down the road because I have a lot of commitments on the NASCAR side.” Stewart has been running with Joe Gibbs Racing since 1998, and his current contract doesn’t expire until the end of next season. Yet he’s already fielding offers from other teams and said last month he had discussed terminating the deal early, depending on which offer he accepts. Some of those offers also include ownership of a team. Many believe Stewart, who turns 37 on May 20, is looking to move in part because he has long ties to Chevrolet, one of the Cup series’ manufacturers. JGR is now using Toyotas, and Stewart remains winless this season after winning 32 times in his first nine years on the Cup circuit. While Stewart acknowledged he considered Chevy’s deal with his own open-wheel teams a personal endorsement, he brushed off the suggestion that he was upset with driving a Toyota. “It wasn’t weird when we started the program,” he said. “It wasn’t weird then, and it’s not weird now. When we started our (open-wheel) program, Mopar provided us with engines and both sides understood.” As so often happens when the Indiana native visits the speedway, however, the discussion quickly turned to one of his favorite subjects — the Indy 500 — and whether he would still like to race here. The answer: Only if it’s a full-time gig in the IRL. “If I was going to come to Indianapolis again, I don’t want to come and show up for the month of May,” he said. “If I am going to do it, I need to start at Homestead. I need to run all of the races leading up to the month of May to really feel like I am being fair to the team and being fair to myself. … As long as I’m driving a stock car, that basically takes that part of it out of the equation.”(Associated Press/ESPN)(5-8-2008)
- #18 team wins 1st Qtr Most Valuable Pit Crew Award: The #18 M&M’s Team for Joe Gibbs Racing recorded one win and has been in the top five of the 2008 Sprint Cup Series championship point standings through the first eight races of the season. As a result of their outstanding work on the track and in the pits the team has been named the first quarter finalist for the 2008 Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew Award. The Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew Award is given quarterly throughout the Sprint Cup season. At the end of each quarter, the winning pit crew is determined by a vote of each team’s crew chief. The four quarterly winners are eligible for the year-end Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew Award and a check for $100,000 awarded at the 2008 National Motorsports Press Association Myers Brothers Media Luncheon in New York City. 2008 #18 M&M’s Pit Crew: Michael Lepp, Pit Crew Coach; Jeff Fender, Jackman; Nick O’Dell, Front-Tire Changer; Brad Donaghy, Front-Tire Carrier; Jack Seminara, Rear-Tire Changer; Kenny Barber, Rear-Tire Carrier; Tom Lempe, Gas man; Jason Hinson, Catch Can; Steve Addington, Crew Chief.(Mechanix Wear)(5-8-2008)
- Office Depot to MWR? Hearing Office Depot, currently the sponsor for #99-Carl Edwards, is considering a move to Michael Waltrip Racing with driver #00-Michael McDowell. UPS has been rumored as a possible sponsor for Edwards and Roush Racing in 2009.(5-8-2008)
- Darrell Waltrip Racing Experience to open in Fall of 2008: Belle Island Village – along with three-time Cup Champion and FOX Sports analyst Darrell Waltrip and fellow motor sports veteran Jeff Hammond – announced key components of the Darrell Waltrip Racing Experience, scheduled to open in fall 2008 at Belle Island’s themed development, located in the heart of Pigeon Forge, TN. The new $5 million, 27,000-square-foot racing-themed attraction promises to place visitors in the driver’s seat with diverse and highly interactive components to showcase the racing experience from all vantage points of today’s motor speedway. Included in the Darrell Waltrip Racing Experience, visitors will find:
* a variety of racecar simulators integrating virtual reality
* competition remote-controlled cars that race around a mini-Bristol Motor Speedway replica
* an interactive theater and a soundstage with an actual studio-quality media set, hardwired to allow either live television production with editing capabilities or guests’ interactive fun, such as seeing what it is like to sit in Darrell Waltrip’s studio chair on race day
* interactive pit crew area with images of Darrell Waltrip and his former Crew Chief Jeff Hammond
* both permanent and rotating exhibits, such as a variety of actual stock cars that have won racing events
* an exhibit that commemorates the history of stock car racing
* an “Infield Experience”
* a gift shop and a Victory Lane arcade with the latest in NASCAR and racing-related games
“Anyone who isn’t a die-hard racing fan when they get here will be when they leave,” Waltrip said. “We’re making sure this place is a true ‘experience,’ including the sights, sounds, smells, atmosphere, motion and intensity of racing that give people an opportunity to know what it feels like to be part of a real stock car race, from a lot of different perspectives.” According to Waltrip, it will take the average guest approximately two and a half hours to see all of the attraction, given the range of components within the facility. More info at belleisland.com/dwre.htm.(PR)(5-8-2008) - Richmond TV Ratings higher: For the second straight week, NASCAR on Fox posted a year-to-year increase as Saturday’s race from RICHMOND averaged a 4.5/9 (7.3 million viewers). That’s up +5% over last year’s 4.3/11, which aired on a Sunday due to a Saturday rain-out. This is FOX’s best NASCAR rating for a Saturday night race since 2006. Saturday’s race opened at a 4.0/9 at 7:51p, and peaked at a 5.5/11 from 11-11:30p. For the night, FOX was the top-rated network among both Households (4.3/8), and Adults 18-49 (2.5/9), easily outrating the competition. Remarkably, every time FOX has aired a Saturday night race over the last seven-plus years the race has won the night among Adults 18-49, a perfect 12 for 12 record. Season-to-date, Sprint Cup racing on FOX is averaging a 6.1/12 (10.1 million viewers), up +3% over last year’s 5.9/13. Currently, Sprint Cup racing on FOX is the top-rated sport in season.(Fox), see Ratings per race and more on my 2008 TV Ratings page.(5-8-2008)
- Darlington Rookie Notes: #01-Regan Smith was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the May 3 Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Smith scored a 21st-place finish and captured top rookie honors for the fifth time in 10 races this season. He has been the top Raybestos Rookie in all three short track races. Smith leads the Raybestos Rookie standings by one point (97-96) over #77-Sam Hornish Jr. entering the May 10 Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway. Since 2001, two Raybestos Rookies have won pole positions at Darlington Raceway: Kurt Busch (2001) and Kasey Kahne (2004). The most recent Raybestos Rookie to lead a lap at Darlington is Kasey Kahne, who led three times for 24 laps in the 2004 spring race. The most recent Raybestos Rookie to win a pole position in the Sprint Cup Series is Denny Hamlin. Hamlin captured the top starting spot for the 2006 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway (56 races). Denny Hamlin is the only Raybestos Rookie to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup since the program was created in 2004.(Camp & Assoc/Raybestos), for standings, history, past winners, see my 2008 Rookies page.(5-8-2008)
- Fuel Prices hitting Race teams too: As gas prices soar across the country, the thought of paying $6.25 a gallon would make any consumer cringe. Yet that’s what it costs in NASCAR, where race teams use a special Sunoco 260 GTX unleaded fuel to fill their cars. Although the gas is free — part of Sunoco’s agreement as NASCAR’s official fuel supplier — it doesn’t mean car owners and drivers aren’t feeling the pain at the pump. “It affects all of us, anybody that’s in business,” said car owner Richard Childress. “Getting our cars to the racetracks costs a ton in gas money for the haulers. Bringing our people to the tracks, the rising costs of jet fuel. It’s very, very expensive to do what we’re doing.” Childress, owner of a highly successful race team, isn’t complaining. Nor are the drivers who pull in multimillion dollar salaries and don’t flinch at $85 fill-ups on their luxury SUV’s. But no one in NASCAR is immune to the weakening economy and rising costs on fuel. Just because they can afford it, doesn’t mean they aren’t feeling the pinch. Under Sunoco’s deal with NASCAR, teams are provided free fuel at any sanctioned test, practice or race for all three top divisions. A company spokeswoman said it’s impossible to determine just how much fuel is used per weekend because of fluctuations in schedules, weather and the teams’ practice times each week. When teams tested earlier this week at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, their gas was once again free. But the good teams test a lot, traveling all over the South to facilities not sanctioned by NASCAR. Sunoco doesn’t cover those all-day sessions, and a race team typically brings a 55-gallon drum of gas to get them through the test. Even so, there are critics who complain that NASCAR races are dipping into the national supply. But NASCAR officials claim the amount of fuel being used — less than 175,000 gallons per year on the Sprint Cup Series — doesn’t come close to the 366 million gallons that Americans average in daily usage. So NASCAR has no current plans to shorten races, as it did in the early 1970s when OPEC hoarded oil to increase prices, causing long lines at the pumps.
But the pain is still felt away from the track, where teams have noticed a significant increase in transportation costs. From sending diesel-chugging haulers across the country to transport the race cars, to the exorbitant jump in jet fuel, costs are soaring in simply getting drivers, crews and equipment to each event. With diesel fuel now over $4.00 a gallon, and each hauler holding roughly 300 gallons, fill-ups now cost more than $1,200 for a truck that only gets between 4.5 and 7.5 miles per gallon. The real pinch, though, comes in jet fuel. Many team owners shuttling crew members, and drivers flying private planes on weekends, are considering cutting down on the luxuries. Many drivers own their own planes and use them for personal and professional travel. But at about $4.30 a gallon, Carl Edwards estimated it costs him $2,000 a trip to fill his airplane — not worth it for a spur-of-the-moment vacation. Many also consider themselves lucky to be at the highest level of racing. Fuel isn’t free outside of NASCAR, and as high as the ARCA level, teams are paying for gas to get to the track and once they get there.(in part from the Associated Press/ESPN)(5-8-2008) - The Second practice for the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway is over, the the top five were:
#84-Allmendinger 178.679
#88-Earnhardt Jr. 178.640
#22-Blaney 178.620
#18-Busch 177.249
#16-Biffle 176.676
slowest: #17-Kenseth 171.441 and #10-Carpentier 172.457
most laps run: #18-Busch 42; #9-Kahne, 41
note: the track qualifying record is held by Ward Burton, in March 1996 [after the track was repaved the last time] 173.797mph
incidents: #66-Riggs and #10-Carpentier both hit the wall during the session, but only Riggs will be forced to a backup car. #70-Sauter will also go to a backup car.(SceneDaily)
See all the speeds on my Darlington Practice Speeds Page.(5-8-2008) - Where did the non top-35 drivers [go-or-go-homers] run in the 2nd practice at Darlington
if things stay the same, these drivers would make the race:
#84-AJ Allmendinger, 1st
#22-Dave Blaney, 2nd
#78-Joe Nemechek, 6th
#70-Johnny Sauter, 7th
#40-Sterling Marlin, 8th
#96-J.J. Yeley, 19th
#34-John Andretti, 23rd
#21-Bill Elliott, [would use past champ provisional] 43rd
if things stay the same, these drivers would miss the race:
#45-Kyle Petty, 37th
#10-Patrick Carpentier, 44th
See all the speeds on my Darlington Practice Speeds Page.(5-8-2008) - Key Motorsports sign England’s Poulter: Key Motorsports is going across the Atlantic Ocean to find new talent for its Craftsman Truck Series program, and English-born Pickup Truck Racing standout Paul Poulter has signed a development agreement with team owner Curtis W. Key, Sr. for the 2008 season. The 6′ 2″, 225-pound Poulter, who hails from Fetcham Surrey outside of London, tested with Key Motorsports last year and performed well. He will test several times before initiating a three to 7-race program in the #40 Key Motorsports Chevy later this season beginning with the scheduled race at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, WI in June. Follow-up starts at Memphis and Nashville, TN; Las Vegas, Atlanta, Texas and either Phoenix or Homestead, FL have also been penciled onto the schedule.(Key Motorsports PR)(5-8-2008)
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