May 9, 2008
- NASCAR Schedules National Series Awards Shows: NASCAR announced the lineup for its three top series’ 2008 postseason awards shows, including the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Ceremony’s return to the Waldorf=Astoria hotel in New York City. The Dec. 5 Waldorf event will continue a tradition begun in 1981 for NASCAR’s premier series. The event will be held in the Waldorf’s Grand Ballroom. Television broadcast information will be announced at a later date. This lineup is a change from recent seasons, when the NASCAR Nationwide Series was the finale. This year, that event will preface the New York show. The rundown follows:
• Nov. 17: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series; Seminole Hard Rock; Hollywood, Fla.
• Nov. 22: NASCAR Nationwide Series; Portofino Bay Hotel; Orlando, Fla.
• Dec. 5: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series; Waldorf=Astoria; New York.(NASCAR PR)(5-9-2008) - Special scheme for Labonte in #43 at Chicago: #43-Bobby Labonte will drive a special paint scheme marking the 50th Anniversary of the King’s first NASCAR race. Labonte is scheduled to drive the car on July 12, 2008 at the LifeLock.com 400 in Chicagoland. See image on my #43 Team Schemes page.(5-9-2008)
- NASCAR claims electrical fire caused fatal plane crash: NASCAR officials claim an electrical fire caused a fatal plane crash near Orlando last year that killed two aboard the aircraft and three on the ground, but federal investigators do not necessarily agree with that claim. The NASCAR accident summary is included in Friday’s release of reports by the National Transportation Safety Board into the July 10 [2007] crash of the NASCAR airplane. It claims the pilots were overcome by fumes and were incapacitated. The NTSB says it is still investigating the crash, with a final report of the cause likely in the summer. NTSB reports say a radar unit malfunctioned and caused a burning smell the day before the crash, but NASCAR claims the radar unit did not cause the fire that led to the crash. NASCAR’s insurance company earlier this year reached a settlement with a man whose wife and 6-month-old son were killed when their home was hit by the plane. The crash also killed NASCAR pilot Michael Klemm and the husband of a NASCAR executive, as well as a 4-year-old child in the second house that was hit.(Associated Press)(5-9-2008)
- Kurt Busch’s Superdome opens soon: The “Grand Opening” of the new Kurt Busch Superdome at the Victory Junction Gang Camp is set for Tuesday, May 20 at 2:00pm/et. The project was announced in May 2006, with Kurt announcing the donation of the initial $1 million in support of the project. The 28,000 square-foot facility will provide opportunities for indoor sports in a climate-controlled environment. “It’ll be like seeing a dream come true to finally get the doors open and see all the kids enjoying themselves,” said Kurt. “It’s been a labor of love for all of the people involved and I’m so proud and grateful to have the opportunity to make a contribution in this manner to the Petty camp.” Final details on the event will be announced within the next 10 days. Several sports and entertainment celebrities are expected to be on hand.(TRPR)(5-9-2008)Comment here
- Darlington Goodyear Tire Notes: With the complete re-pave of Darlington Rcaeway since last season, Goodyear has tested extensively at the track and brought a new combination of left- and right-side tires for teams to race on this weekend . . . Goodyear ran it’s first two-day test at Darlington with drivers #16-Greg Biffle, #24-Jeff Gordon and #12-Ryan Newman in mid-March, and settled on it’s right-side tire recommendation during that session . . . the tire manufacturer scheduled a one-day continuation test with the same drivers for early-April, and confirmed it’s left-side recommendation at that session . . . Darlington is the only track at which NASCAR teams are scheduled to run this specific combination of left- and right-side tire codes this season . . . however, teams will run this right-side code (D-4130) with a different left-side code at Charlotte later this month . . . teams in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series will run the same tire codes this weekend . . . 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 54-58 laps, based on fuel mileage.(Goodyear PR), see full report, codes, pressures and more on my Darlington Race Info page.(5-9-2008) Comment here
- Happy Hour practice for the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway is over, the top five:
#11-Hamlin 179.651
#18-Busch 179.174
#88-Earnhardt Jr. 179.141
#9-Kahne 178.731
#24-Gordon 178.510
slowest: #70-Sauter 171.065 & #07-Bowyer 172.125
no speed listed: #84-Allmendinger
most laps run: #6-Ragan 25
note: the track qualifying record is held by Ward Burton, in March 1996 [after the track was repaved the last time] 173.797mph
incidents: got another one in the wall as #41-Sorenson slapped the turn 2 wall and crushed the right front of the car and will have to go to a backup car for qualifying this afternoon, the 4th driver to a backup; late in the session, #48-Johnson spun off turn 4, held it off the outside wall, and kissed the inside wall, doing some damage to the left front and the splitter…this is a backup car already, but it is repairable. Then just after the track went green again, #15-Menard came off turn 4, scraped the wall, then came down and slapped the inside wall, the #15 will go to a backup; then in turn 2, #7-Gordon scraped the wall, but the car looks repairable.
See all the speeds on my Darlington Practice Speeds Page.(5-9-2008) - Where did the non top-35 drivers [go-or-go-homers] run in Happy Hour practice at Darlington
if things stay the same, these drivers would make the race:
#40-Sterling Marlin, 12th
#22-Dave Blaney, 20th
#78-Joe Nemechek, 23rd
#45-Kyle Petty, 26th
#10-Patrick Carpentier, 29th
#96-J.J. Yeley, 33rd
#21-Bill Elliott, [has past champ provisional to use if needed], 38th
#34-Jeff Green, 39th
if things stay the same, these drivers would miss the race:
#70-Johnny Sauter, 44th
#84-AJ Allmendinger, no speed, didn’t practice
See all the speeds on my Darlington Practice Speeds Page.(5-9-2008) - Changes at JR Motorsports: Marty Smith reported during ESPN2’s Darlington pre race coverage that JR Motorsports’ Director of Motorsports Steve Crisp was leaving the team the pursue a passion with hot rod cars. He will be replaced by Gus Larkin, the current head of Sponsor Relations, who will become the Team Manager.(ESPN TV Coverage)(5-9-2008)
- Benson returns to Berlin Raceway: Grand Rapids native Johnny Benson returns to his home track, Berlin Raceway, to compete in the Late Model division [during off-week for Truck Series]. Benson had planned on competing in last week’s Berlin Raceway program, only to be stopped when rain washed out the week’s action. Benson will be back at Berlin on Aug. 2 and Sept. 27 for two additional appearances.(Grand Rapids Press)(5-9-2008) [For ticket information visit the Appearances Page.]
- Seaman lands deal with Lafferty Motorsports: Even at 25 years of age, Ryan Seaman figured he was running out of racing opportunities … and the much needed money to fuel his thirst to race. Surprisingly, he came across a “want ad” for a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver, someone who had his experience, his energy and his desire to win races. “It was a driver development deal in a truck series,” Seaman said. Seaman and his father, Everett, flew to Concord, N.C., on Easter Sunday evening to meet with truck owner Chris Lafferty the next morning at Hickory Motor Speedway. On the second day [testing] at Hickory Motor Speedway, the evaluation gave Seaman a complete understanding of exactly what Lafferty Motorsports had been looking for and what they saw in his performance. Everyone sat down later in the day and talked about goals and tasks to build a long-lasting relationship within Lafferty Motorsports. Seaman will make his debut May 30 in the AAA Insurance 200 at Dover International Speedway.(Ashbury Park Press)(5-9-2008)
Main Page | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997