May 9, 2015
- Allmendinger agrees to five year deal with JTG Daugherty: Today during a NASCAR media availability at Kansas Speedway, AJ Allmendinger revealed to media members that he has signed an extension to his driver agreement with JTG Daugherty Racing that will make him the driver of the #47 Chevy SS for at least through the 2020 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race season. “I have always said I have a verbal lifetime contract with JTG Daugherty Racing, but I want to announce today that I have officially signed a contract for a five year deal,” Allmendinger said. “It’s pretty cool to me because I love it here and love the family atmosphere Jodi (Geschickter), Tad (Geschickter) and Brad (Daugherty) have established. Not only do we have a family bond, we have a healthy future with some of the biggest and best brands in the business.” This announcement follows The Kroger Company’s news of sponsoring the team for multiple years starting with 17 races this season and 24 in 2016. Kroger is one of many great partners of JTG Daugherty Racing, such as, Better Than Bouillon, BUSH’S Beans, Charter Spectrum, Clorox, Core Power, Freightliner, Glad, Hidden Valley, House-Autry, Hungry Jack, Kingsford, SCOTT Products and Shore Lunch.(JTG Daugherty Racing)(5-9-2015)
- Toyota intent on keeping Jones around long-term: In a short weekend at Kansas Speedway, Erik Jones has turned a lot of heads in his new job — a job that could prove to be one-and-done. Jones will make his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start Saturday night behind the wheel of the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. And it could well be his only start in the #18, as JGR team driver Kyle Busch could be back in his car as soon as next Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Series race. So far this weekend, Jones has dazzled in the both the Cup and the Camping World Truck Series. In his first Cup start, he qualified 12th for the SpongeBob SquarePants 400, was ninth in the first practice and first in Happy Hour. Not bad for an 18-year-old young man who hails from the sleepy little hamlet of Byron, Mich., population 581.
Of course, once Busch comes back, Jones will lose his Cup ride. But don’t worry about his prospects — the Toyota camp intends to keep Jones in the family for a very long time. In an exclusive interview with FOXSports.com, Toyota’s racing boss in the United States said the automaker has big plans for Jones. “He’s not going anywhere,” said David Wilson, the president and general manager of TRD, U.S.A., Toyota’s American racing division. “We’re going to keep Toyotas underneath him, somehow, some way.” Wilson said Jones’ run for the Truck Series championship, where he’s third in points after Friday night’s race, is what Toyota is focusing on this year. In the immediate future, his biggest priority is to win his first national series championship,” Wilson told FOXSports.com. “The part that is important to us about that is, OK, whether Erik belongs in a Cup car today full-time or today an XFINITY car full-time, that’s secondary. He hasn’t gone through a complete season and raced for a championship. There’s a certain discipline and mentality that that takes, right? Whereas you jump in a car one weekend and another car the next weekend and it’s all about winning. But his day job right now is to win a Camping World Truck Series championship.” And from there, the sky is the limit. “We have next year lined out for him,” said Wilson. “We’re working on the year after that.”(FoxSports)(5-9-2015) - Race Coverage of the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway is scheduled for Saturday, May 9, 2015.
Television (TV): FoxSports1 at 7:30 pm/et; Pre-Race show at 7:00pm/et; green flag approx. 7:46pm/et
Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius XM Satellite NASCAR Radio 90
Scheduled Race Re-Airs:
Sunday, May 10 at 3:00am/et on FS1;
Monday, May 11 at 10:00am/et on FS1 - Kansas Saturday Pre-Race Schedule:
5:30:00 p.m.: Driver/Crew Chief Meeting
5:40:00 p.m.: Concert – Shooter Jennings
6:50:00 p.m.: NSCS Drivers Introductions with NASCAR Special Awards
7:30:00 p.m.: Presentation of Colors by: Fort Riley’s Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard
7:30:20 p.m.: Invocation by: Reverend Glen Shoup, Executive Pastor, United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
7:31:00 p.m.: National Anthem: Maggie Marx
7:32:35 p.m.: Flyover TOT by: 2 A-10s from Whiteman Air Force Base (Turn 3 to Turn 2)
7:37:30 p.m.: “Drivers, Start Your Engines” by: Jack Griffo, Star of Nickelodeon’s hit show “The Thundermans”
7:46:30 p.m.: Start of the SpongeBob Squarepants 400 (267 Laps, 400.5 Miles)
eastern time (NASCAR.com) - Testing at Dover on Wednesday: 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers will visit Dover International Speedway on Wednesday, May 13, 2015 for an open test session next week, just weeks before NASCR makes its return to Dover for the May 29-31 race weekend. Fans that want to attent the test session may watch from the enclosed, climate-controlled seating located on the third floor of the Dover Downs Hotel & Casino. Fans can access this area by following signs to the Dover International Speedway ticket office and proceeding to the thrid floor. Drivers scheduled to participate include: #47-AJ Allmendinger – JTG-Daugherty, #43-Aric Almirola – Richard Petty Motorsports, #16-Greg Biffle – Roush Fenway Racing, #26-Jeb Burton – BK Racing, #3-Austin Dillon – Richard Childress Racing, #11-Denny Hamlin – Joe Gibbs Racing – #48-Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports, #22-Joey Logano – Team Penske, #1-Jamie McMurray – Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, #13-Casey Mears – Germain Racing, #10-Danica Patrick – Stewart-Haas Racing, and #55-David Ragan – Michael Waltrip Racing.(Dover Speedway)(5-9-2015)
- Final Talladega TV Ratings: Final ratings for NASCAR’s spring Talladega race were the lowest in eighteen years. NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Talladega drew a 4.0 final rating and 6.3 million viewers on FOX Sunday afternoon, down 9% in ratings and viewership from last year (4.4, 6.9M) and down 13% and 14%, respectively, from 2013 (4.6, 7.3M). The 4.0 rating is the lowest for the spring Talladega race since 1997, the last time it aired on cable (3.0*). This is the third straight year ratings have been the lowest since 1997 and the fourth straight in which the race has had a year-over-year decline. Since hitting the 7.6 mark a decade ago, ratings have declined by 47%. Even rainout coverage in 2006 had a higher rating (4.4). The last four non-rained out races on FOX – Phoenix, Fontana, Texas and Talladega – have each had declines in ratings compared to last year. Three of the four have had declines in viewership. That comes after the first five races of the season each had year-over-year gains. Despite the lower numbers, NASCAR on FOX was the top sporting event of the weekend outside of the Kentucky Derby.(Sports Media Watch)(5-9-2014)
- Lesa France Kennedy featured on CBS Sunday Morning: Losing her father and husband within a month of time made 2007 the “toughest year” of her life, NASCAR Vice Chairperson and International Speedway Corporation Chief Executive Officer Lesa France Kennedy tells Michelle Miller in an interview for CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood to be broadcast May 10, 2015 (9:00am/et) on the CBS Television Network. Kennedy is part of a stock car racing dynasty. She is the granddaughter of NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr., and daughter of Bill France, Jr., who was Vice Chairman of NASCAR when he died after a long illness in 2007. Then, a month later, Kennedy’s husband, Dr. Bruce Kennedy, died in a small plane crash not far from the family’s Florida home. In a wide-ranging interview, Kennedy opens up about rebuilding her life after losing her husband; guiding her son Ben Kennedy’s NASCAR driving career, efforts to broaden the reach of stock car racing in the country, and the future of the International Speedway Corporation’s Daytona International Speedway. In an additional excerpt at CBSNews.com, Kennedy tells Miller that she got through the tragedy of losing her husband by staying close with her son. Ben Kennedy talks with Miller about his racing career, and growing up in the family business. His mother, he says, had him doing a variety of jobs around Daytona, from parking cars, to cleaning up.(NASCAR)(5-9-2015)
- Kansas Speedway Notes & Facts – Saturday – race:
· There have been 18 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Kansas Speedway, one NSCS event from 2001 – 2010 and two races per year since 2011.
· Hendrick Motorsports leads the series in wins at Kansas with five: Jeff Gordon (three) and Jimmie Johnson (two).
· Four manufacturers have won at Kansas Speedway in the NSCS; led by Chevrolet with nine victories, Ford with four, Toyota and Dodge each have two.
· There has been one NSCS race resulting with a green-white-checkered finish at Kansas Speedway: fall of 2011 (267/272).
· Only one of the 18 races at Kansas Speedway has been shortened due to weather conditions: fall of 2007.
· Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Kansas Speedway was the (10/10/2004) race won by Joe Nemechek with a MOV of 0.081 second.
(NASCAR)(5-9-2015)
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