May 8, 2013
- Gibbs’ penalties reduced by appeals panel UPDATE: According to reports from media at the NASCAR Research & Development Center, the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel has modified the penalties accessed to Matt Kenseth’s #20 team:
Kenseth’s points penalty has been reduced from 50 to 12;
Joe Gibb’s owner points penalty has been reduced from 50 to 12;
Gibb’s suspension was eliminiated;
The marnufacturer’s point penalty to Toyota has been increased from 5 to 7 points;
Kenseth’s win at Kansas will now count for the Chase;
Crew Chief Jason Ratcliff’s suspension has been reduced from 6 races to 1. His fine remains at $200,000.
The appeal panel consisted of Mark Arute (Stafford Motor Speedway), Denis McGlynn (Dover Raceway) and Jack Housby (former team owner).(5-8-2013)
UPDATE: The National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel today heard and considered the appeal of the#20 Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. The penalties concern Sections 12-1: Actions detrimental to stock car racing; 12-4J: Any determination by NASCAR Officials that race equipment used in the event does not conform to the NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the NASCAR rule book, or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the event; and 20-5.5.3E: Only solid magnetic steel connecting rods with a minimum weight of 525.0 grams will be permitted. Connecting rod failed to meet minimum connecting rod weight. The penalties stemmed from a post-race engine inspection April 23 at the NASCAR Research and Development Center. The Appellants appealed all penalties. The Appellants also requested and were granted a deferral of the suspensions until such time as the hearing could be convened. Upon hearing the testimony, it was a unanimous decision by the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel to amend the original penalties assessed by NASCAR. The amendments are as follows:
• Crew chief Jason Ratcliff: The $200,000 fine remains intact; NASCAR suspension now covers one championship points event. In addition, he will be placed on NASCAR probation until the completion of the next three championship points events following his reinstatement;
• Car owner Joe Gibbs: Loss of championship owner points has been reduced to 12. All other components of his penalty were rescinded;
• Driver Matt Kenseth; Loss of championship driver points has been reduced to 12. All other components of his penalty were rescinded;
• Manufacturer: The loss of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series manufacturer championship points has been increased to seven.(NASCAR)(5-8-2013) - Penske announces personnel changes for Darlington and Charlotte: Due to the recent penalties announced by NASCAR regarding the #2 and 22 Penske Racing teams, Penske Racing has made the following roster adjustments for the Darlington and Charlotte races.
Team Manager: Mike Nelson, currently Vice President of Operations, will fulfill this role
#2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion:
Crew Chief: Kevin Buskirk. Buskirk, a former driver and crew chief, joined Penske racing prior to the 2012 season. He currently manages the test teams for Penske Racing.
Race Engineer: Jonathan Hassler. Hassler, served as the lead engineer for the #22 Sprint Cup Series team last season and helped the #22 Nationwide Series team earn six victories in 2011.
Car Chief: Nick Hensley. Hensley, has worked with Penske Racing since 2007 and has worked with the No. 2 team since the 2011 season.
#22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion:
Crew Chief: Steve Reis. Reis, who normally serves as one of the team’s engineers, has been with Penske Racing since 2009 and has been with the #22 team since 2011. Before, he served as the race engineer on the #77 Penske Racing Sprint Cup team
Race Engineer: Ben Atkins. Atkins is an engineer with Penske Racing and worked with Todd Gordon during the 2011 season.
Car Chief: Jeffery Thousand. Thousand, who has been with Penske Racing for close to twenty years, served as the car chief for the #22 through last season.
Greg Erwin, Sam Hornish Jr.’s crew chief in the Nationwide Series, will sit atop the pit box on race day for the Shell-Pennzoil team and serve as a race strategist. Erwin will continue in his role as Sam Hornish’ s crew chief in the Nationwide Series.(Penske Racing)(5-8-2013) - Newman’s comments after Talladega under review by NASCAR UPDATES: NASCAR will likely review comments made by Stewart-Haas Racing driver #39-Ryan Newman following a Lap 183 crash in Sunday’s rain-marred Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway. Any potential fine that could come from the comments likely would be made on Tuesday or Wednesday, per NASCAR’s history. Earlier, it was reported that NASCAR would definitely review his comments, but a spokesperson clarified that there are a variety of things that will be reviewed over the course of a race weekend. Newman finished 32nd after the crash in which Kurt Busch’s #78 car barrel-rolled and landed upside down on the hood of the #39 car Newman had in position for a top-10 finish or win with five laps left in regulation as darkness approached. NASCAR fined #11-Denny Hamlin $25,000 earlier this year for perceived negative comments about the new “Gen 6” car and the quality of racing at Phoenix International Raceway.(ESPN)(5-7-2013)
UPDATE: NASCAR said Tuesday that Ryan Newman will not be fined for his rebuke of NASCAR on live television following a late accident at Talladega. Newman’s race ended Sunday in a 12-car accident when Kurt Busch’s car barrel-rolled on top of his car. Newman said his TV interview was solely to complain that NASCAR had made plenty of safety advances but still couldn’t figure out how to keep cars on the track. He used a vulgarity in his interview. Not fining Newman is consistent with NASCAR chairman Brian France’s decision to give drivers’ permission to criticize anything but the cars and the on-track product. Denny Hamlin was fined $25,000 in March for saying he didn’t think NASCAR’s new car races as well as the old car.(Associated Press/ESPN)(5-8-2013)
UPDATE 2: NASCAR stated Tuesday that Newman would not face any penalties but spokesperson Kerry Tharp explained NASCAR’s position Wednesday and defended its actions. “We did tell them they could challenge NASCAR, they could challenge the racing calls, certain calls that we made and that type of thing,” Tharp said of guidelines to drivers. “We did tell them a couple of years back, hey, don’t take on the racing product, don’t disparage the racing. We believe (Newman) kind of pushed the edge on that in his comments. We disagree with his opinion. We disagree with the comments he made but he wasn’t critical of the racing, he wasn’t critical of the racing product, so therein lies the decision not to fine him. We don’t agree with what he said, I’ll tell you that right now.” (Motor Racing Network)(5-8-2013) - Keselowski apologizes to Regan for post race allegation: Reigning Sprint Cup champion #2-Brad Keselowski apologized publicly Tuesday for his Twitter rant following David Ragan’s victory at Talladega Superspeedway. Keselowski accused Ragan on Twitter of getting an unfair advantage by switching to an outside lane before the green-white-checkered restart in Sunday’s race. He tweeted it was “blatantly wrong” and that he was “mad as hell about the finish.” As Keselowski later discovered, Ragan was told by NASCAR to switch lanes prior to the restart after the governing body realized there was a mistake in the order. NASCAR also radioed the switch to Keselowski and his spotter, but neither heard it and both were unaware the change was being made until about a half-lap before the restart. After the race, Keselowski responded with a series of tweets that included: “I’m happy as hell a small team won. Doesn’t change the fact that the restart was blatantly wrong. mad as hell about that finish. We were suppose to line up 10th when the 34 switched lanes entering 3 before green. That lane won. BS.” But Keselowski changed his tone Tuesday in a written apology posted on his website. “I finally had a chance to digest what happened at the end of the Cup race at Talladega on Sunday,” Keselowski said in the apology. “I owe David Ragan and his fans an apology. I placed blame on David Ragan for the restart lineup confusion when it wasn’t his fault. Keselowski emphasized that he did not mean to “detract” from Ragan’s victory and attempted to explain his confusion regarding the restart. “With the multicar wreck, the rain and the impending darkness, it is easy to see how NASCAR could have made that mistake. It was a confusing time for all of us. I want to send a sincere congratulation out to David Ragan and everyone at Front Row Motorsports. It was a very cool win for our sport.”(ESPN)(5-8-2013)
- Peanut Patch returns to the #34 at Darlington: Peanut Patch is sponsoring Sprint Cup Series Driver David Ragan, fresh off his win at Talladega Superspeedway, in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 on Saturday at Darlington Raceway. This will be the second consecutive year the boiled peanuts brand is backing Ragan in the Southern 500. He will drive the #34 “Peanut Patch” car, a Ford Fusion.”We made our debut last year at the Darlington Raceway with David Ragan, and he was an ideal fit because of his Southern roots, exuberance and strong connection to NASCAR and its fans,” Woody Swink, regional director of sales and an owner of McCall Farms said. “Therefore, it was just a matter of plain common sense to reconnect with David Ragan, an impressive talent who is respected and recognized as a formidable competitor among car racing enthusiasts.”(Front Row Motorsports), see an image of the car on the #34 team paint schemes page.(5-8-2013)
- Doublemint on the #18 at Darlington: Kyle Busch has proven he knows a thing or two about doubling up on a race weekend. So it might be appropriate that the driver of the #18 Doublemint Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing will have the iconic Doublemint gum brand adorn his racecar as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to historic Darlington Raceway for Saturday night’s Bojangles Southern 500. Busch has already recorded two Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series “doubles” thus far in 2013. Those Sprint Cup and Nationwide wins on the same weekends at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., in March, and Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth in April upped his total to eight career Sprint Cup-Nationwide doubles. This weekend’s event will mark the first of four races in 2012 that Doublemint will serve as primary sponsor for Busch, as the iconic chewing gum brand’s mint paint scheme will also adorn Busch’s #18 Toyota at Kentucky, Atlanta, and the first race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Chicagoland.(TrueSpeed Communications/JGR), see an image of the car on the #18 team paint schemes page.(5-8-2013)
- Darlington Tire Notes: Teams in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series will run the same Goodyear tire codes at Darlington this week . . . this is the same left-side tire code (D-4392) that teams in these two series ran at Darlington the last two seasons . . . these teams have also run this left-side tire at Texas (including earlier this season), Homestead and Chicagoland in the past . . . this is the first time these teams have run this right-side tire code (D-4552) at Darlington, though they did run it at Charlotte last season and will do so again later this month . . . compared to what was run at Darlington last year, this right-side tire features just a slight construction change to bring it into line with what is run at similar speedways . . . this tire set-up came out of a Goodyear test with the Gen-6 car at Darlington on February 5 . . . drivers and teams participating in that test were Carl Edwards in the #99 Roush Fenway Ford, Denny Hamlin the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Paul Menard in the #27 Richard Childress Racing Chevy, Juan Pablo Montoya in the #42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevy and Martin Truex Jr. in the #56 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota . . . 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.(Goodyear), see tire codes, pressures, set limits and more on the Darlington Race Info page – Goodyear section.(5-8-2013)
- Man reported missing after race at Talladega: The search is on for an Indiana man who went missing after the NASCAR race in Talladega this past weekend. Nicholas Bower, 27, grew up in Plainfield, IN but recently moved to Georgia for a job. Bower was last seen Saturday night sitting at a campsite with friends in the South Park area of the Talladega Superspeedway. He’s described as a white male about 6 feet 4 inches tall and 185 pounds. Bower was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with “Fastenal” displayed on the front and a black “Fastenal” hat with a mesh back. Anyone with information about Bower’s whereabouts is asked to call the Talladega County sheriff at 256-362-6117.(WBIW)(5-8-2013)
- Buescher to run special Boston Strong scheme at Darlington: Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher and the #16 NASCAR Nationwide Series team will run a special Boston Strong paint scheme Friday, May 10 in Darlington. “I am happy to carry these colors and try to do our part to support the victims and families impacted by the recent events in Boston,” Buescher said. The #16 Ford Mustang will carry the red, white and blue Boston Strong colors on Friday as a continued tribute to those impacted by the tragic events in Boston. Buescher will make his second NNS start at Darlington Raceway on Friday and his fifth NNS start overall.(Roush Fenway), see an image of the car on the #16 team paint schemes page.(5-8-2013)
- Logano driving #22 at Iowa: Iowa Speedway officials announced that NASCAR Sprint Cup star Joey Logano, who won the Newton track’s first-ever NASCAR race in May of 2007 at 16 years of age, will drive a #22 Penske Ford Mustang in the track’s first Nationwide Series race of the season, the ‘DuPont Pioneer 250’ on Saturday evening, June 8. Logano, now 22 and in his fifth full season of Sprint Cup Series racing, is perhaps best known as the youngest race winner ever in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series. But to Iowa race fans, he is also known as the kid from Connecticut who beat Kevin Harvick in Iowa Speedway’s inaugural NASCAR K&N Pro Series East vs. West challenge race on May 18, 2007.(Iowa Speedway)(5-8-2013)
- King still hoping to return to trucks this season: John King is itching to climb back on the NASCAR stage. For the past few weeks, the Kingsport resident has labored behind the scenes in hopes of attracting funding for another ride in the Camping World Truck Series. It’s a tedious yet vital process full of phone calls, proposals and waiting. “We’ve been working hard on it, and we’re close to putting something together for a sponsor,” said King, winner of the 2012 Daytona truck race. “Hopefully, we can announce something soon and race for the rest of the season.” Saturday night, King honed his skills and fed his passion by competing in the Fastrak Late Model event at Wythe Raceway. King, 24, drove the #33 Chevy for Eddie Sharp Racing in the 2013 truck series opener at Daytona. He finished 18th after qualifying in the 21st spot. That was the last event for King until Saturday night at Wythe, where he finished ninth in a 10-car field. For now, King tends to his sprawling cattle farm in Fort Blackmore, Va., and works the phones for potential sponsors.(Tri-Cities.com)(5-8-2013)
- Daytona upgrades in doubt after bill’s failure: The Florida Legislature has ended its 2013 session, passing the largest budget in state history. But the legislature did not deliver tax subsidies that would have benefited Daytona International Speedway’s ambitious development plans. Indeed, Speedway President Joie Chitwood said that the failure to pass the legislation is sending the flagship track for the International Speedway Corporation back to the drawing board to decide the feasibility of the track’s plans. “We are clearly disappointed by the outcome last week in the Florida Legislature,” Chitwood said in a statement released on Tuesday. ” We made a very compelling case for what could have been a successful public/private partnership with the State of Florida to create jobs and generate real economic growth. We also had substantial local, regional and statewide support. However, given this setback to our project, we are forced to reassess the proposed redevelopment and closely examine a number of factors such as its timing, size and scope, before we decide on next steps.” Last October, Chitwood announced plans that would develop the area around the Speedway as a business and entertainment complex. And last January, he unveiled additional plans for the Speedway itself, adding a new tower, additional entrances and a fourth tier of seats along the front straight.(Autoweek)(5-8-2013)
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