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Archive for December, 2009

Speedweeks Opener Features Star-Studded Lineup

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 23, 2009) – NASCAR announced Wednesday a revision to the 2010 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona format that provides fans with a strong lineup of drivers highlighted by last year’s top performers and a collection of previous winners at the sport’s most-storied race track.

The 32nd annual season-opening event launches Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 6 with green flag set for 8:10 p.m. The new criteria are based upon the following qualifications, with eligibility based on a driver having competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series within the last two seasons:

• The 12 drivers that qualified for the 2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup

• Past NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions

• Past Budweiser Shootout champions

• Past Daytona 500 and Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola champions

• The reigning Raybestos Rookie of the Year

 

For a complete list eligible drivers for the 2010 Bud Shootout take the jump!

“We’re always looking at ways to make this event bigger and better for our fans and we believe the new format for the Budweiser Shootout puts together an exceptionally strong lineup of our top drivers,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition.

“In our discussions with the track, we thought by placing an additional emphasis on the drivers who had performed well at Daytona over the years would create an even more compelling element for the fans to get excited about at the beginning of the season.”

The race distance will continue to be 75 laps (187.5 miles), consisting of two segments – 25 and 50 laps. Both green-flag laps and yellow-flag laps will count. Between segments there will be a 10-minute pit stop allowing teams to pit and change tires, add fuel and make normal chassis adjustments. Crews will be permitted to work on cars and will be allowed to perform functions they would do on a normal pit stop in a regular NASCAR Sprint Cup event. All work must be performed on pit road or in the garage. Changing of springs, shock absorbers or rear-ends will not be permitted.

Starting positions will again be determined by a blind-draw at the annual Budweiser Shootout Draw Party on Thursday night, Feb. 4 on the SPEED stage in the Midway, outside Turn 4.

The Budweiser Shootout – a “non-points” event for NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors – was first held in 1979, originally known as the Busch Clash. Kevin Harvick won last year’s event.

Tickets for all 2010 Speedweeks events are now available online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

 

Drivers eligible for the 2010 Budweiser Shootout include:

 

Jimmie Johnson

Mark Martin

Jeff Gordon

Kurt Busch

Denny Hamlin

Tony Stewart

Greg Biffle

Juan Pablo Montoya

Ryan Newman

Kasey Kahne

Carl Edwards

Brian Vickers

Others (criteria filled in parentheses)

John Andretti (Coke Zero 400)

Geoff Bodine (Daytona 500, Budweiser Shootout)

Jeff Burton (Coke Zero 400)

Kyle Busch (Coke Zero 400)

Derrike Cope (Daytona 500)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400, Budweiser Shootout)

Bill Elliott (Series champion, Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400, Budweiser Shootout)

Kevin Harvick (Daytona 500, Budweiser Shootout)

Matt Kenseth (Series champion, Daytona 500)

Bobby Labonte (Series champion)

Terry Labonte (Series champion, Budweiser Shootout)

Joey Logano (Reigning Raybestos Rookie of the Year)

Sterling Marlin (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400)

Jamie McMurray (Coke Zero 400)

Ken Schrader (Budweiser Shootout)

Michael Waltrip (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400)

2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Drivers

2010 BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT FORMAT

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As we close out the year, it’s time to bathe in the warm glow of
nostalgia and look back at some of the best races of the season. We continue with the most vicious wrecks of the year at Talladega, a race you’ll be watching highlights from fifty years from now.

The setup: the Aaron’s 499 in April. Talladega was being Talladega, and there were Big Ones aplenty throughout the race. And in the final lap, Carl Edwards came from out of nowhere to take the lead! And the young, fresh-faced rookie Brad Keselowski was following closely, looking to learn something from the crafty vet! Everybody would behave down the stretch, right? Right … ?

This was the closest Edwards would come to victory all year. While you can debate whether Keselowski was to blame here, it would set the stage for some growing discontent with Jet Ski in the garage. Oh, and the Chase-altering wreck at the end of the second ‘Dega race? Guess who was in the middle of that. And no, it wasn’t Edwards.

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Bringing you the best in NASCAR news and updates. Get your day rolling right … or left, whichever.

• Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s season in pictures. This is sadder than the endings of "Titanic," "Old Yeller" and "The Empire Strikes Back" combined. [Scene Daily]

• Motorsports Authentics is trying to stave off bankruptcy, hoping to survive another year by catering to the obsessive collecting natures of NASCAR fans. [NASCAR via Yahoo! Sports]

• Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and others will be at the NASCAR Fan Fest in mid-January. Just another reminder that we’re less than two months from the 2010 season! [SPEED]

• You need to read this Australian-newspaper account of Tony Stewart‘s impending arrival Down Under. They call him "motor racing royalty" and "the Tiger Woods of motor sports." Make of that what you will. [Sydney Morning Herald]

• Milka Duno was "solid" in her first ARCA test. Which I guess means she didn’t run over anybody. [SPEED]

Got a link/tip? Hit us up at jay.busbee@yahoo.com and follow us on Twitter.

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Ron Fellows celebrates in Victory Lane (Montreal 2008) via www.nascarmedia.com

About a year ago I was given an invitation to attend a press conference being held by The Ontario Lung Association and Canadian race car driver Ron Fellows for the new promotion called “Campaign for a Smoke-free Ride” but I couldn’t go – that darn day job gets in the way!

Fortunately through a series of emails I was able to get a phone interview with Ron himself.  It was a good interview but it had some technical difficulties because of cell phones hitting dead spots but Ron held in there and gave me a full interview – I think I’m on his speed dial now because of all of the call backs.

Anyway, I started to write up the interview but something happened, my kids got a hold of my tape recorder and the tape with Ron’s interview on it disappeared.  I was floored.  I couldn’t call Ron back for another interview, that would just be unfair so I had to suck it up and live without it until recently that is.  During a big clean-up in the house I found the long lost tape along with several missing Gameboy cartridges and I just finished transcribing it for you to read.

Before I dive into the interview let me tell you a bit about Campaign for a Smoke-free Ride:

Campaign for a Smoke-free Rideis designed to give parents who smoke the information and support they need to give their kids a healthy, smoke-free ride.

If you’re a parent who smokes, you know it can be hard to resist lighting up in the car. But it exposes your kids to the risk of serious childhood illnesses. Even on short trips. Even with the windows rolled down.

And believe me, being the child of parents who smoked while I was in the car was awful.  Simply awful.  And I support this Campaign and now Ontario Law 100%.

Now take the jump for the interview!  See you on the other side.

5 MYTHS ABOUT SMOKING IN THE CAR

It’s not harmful to my kids if I:

• Roll down the windows • Use air fresheners or air filters • Smoke when the kids aren’t in the car • Smoke during short rides • Take just a few puffs before butting out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following interview was conducted with Ron on his cell phone as he was travelling to Detriot from the Toronto area in December of 2008:

 

With the economy the way it is and Gm’s outlook not looking so good what are your plans for the upcoming race season?

 

Certainly there’s less money there and we’re still waiting to hear.  The Corvette program is a huge image builder for not only Chevrolet but for GM.  We’ve been extremely successful with the Corvette program and its going to be a reduced schedule for sure and we’re making transition to a GT2 and we’re all hopeful that the program will continue even if it is on a limited basis.

 

You are a big supporter of grass roots racing, how important is that to you?

 

It is very important to me that I take the knowledge that I’ve gained over the last 30 yrs in this business and if I can help shorten the learning curve for others … inaudible …  the good news is you when I was getting started …  inaudible … lost cell phone contact

 

He calls back …

 

What do you think the future of seeing a NASCAR Cup race in Canada is?

 

I don’t know, but NASCAR is a business and the primary business partner for NASCAR is Sprint and I’m guessing that until Sprint has the potential to do business in Canada I don’t think you’ll see a Cup race here.

 

The Nationwide series is a little different.  There are opportunities there (for them to do business in Canada) and I think it is enough for them to test the waters up here.  It’s been hugely successful the two years that they’ve run at Circ de Villeneuve so we shall see but never say never as far as cup races I think regardless if it’s going to be an oval like the proposed one in Fort Erie or a Cup car race in Montreal – that’d be cool too!

 

Would you like to see more road races in Cup?

 

Laughs … as a road racer I’d like to see half the cup schedule as road races!  There was talk a few years ago that they were going to get as many as four just based on the demand for cars – building road course specific cars and it made more sense to have more road races just so they can race the cars they built.  But that has quieted down a bit.

 

You know if you look at North America, in particular the USthe tracks being built these days are road course where a lot of them are motorsports ranches where guys are members of these country clubs and it seems to be the trend.  You should see the country club Spring Mountain near Las Vegas where my racing school is it is spectacular.

 

I think for Corvette racing it generated a lot of interest and for years after that the NASCAR community followed the Corvettes and the Infinion race at Sonoma is the week after LeMans and I’ve been going there after LeMans since 2001 and the number of NASCAR people that were paying attention, especially after we won our first one was great.  One of the first guys I run into in the garage area after that win was Richard Childress and he said congratulations on that class win at Lemans that was awesome.  And Dale Jarrett he’s a ford guy said Hey I watched some of that, it look wild in the rain – I think if nothing else it raised a fair amount of awareness and fascination about the corvette program because of Sr and Jr’s interest to drive in it.

 

It led to opportunities in DEI and a bit of friendship with Dale Jr and was able to drive for him this year with Rick Hendrick – we’re batting a 100 right now.

 

Tell me a bit about the handshake deal you had with Dale Earnhardt to drive for him before he died.

 

At Daytona 2001 we talked about it.  He felt that I should have been in Cup and Dale spent a lot of time talking about it – he didn’t have to convince me but he spent a fair of time talking to my wife Linda to convince her.  The nice thing was is that although I didn’t get an opportunity full-time the people that worked for Dale when there was an opportunity to plug me into one of their cars – although the first time was two years after his accident – they didn’t forget that it was something that Dale wanted to happen that Dale wanted me to drive one of his cars.  Some of the best races I’ve had have been in DEI cars.

 

Do you think soft wall technology should be on the straight-aways too?

 

Yes.  You never know about the freak accident. Jeff Gordon had one incident where he hit in a spot where there was exposed concrete wall (Las Vegas) were it was thought a car would never reach.  You just never know.

 

The tracks have done a terrific job eliminating the grass between the long straits and the inside retaining wall and putting in rough asphalt to continue to create some level of friction when the cars are out of control.

 

I think eventually they’ll look at adding the safer barriers even on the inside retaining walls.

 

What are your plans for Sprint Cup this year (2009)?

 

What I would like to do and what is reality are two different things.  The economy has affected everyone including car racing and NASCAR isn’t immune to the financial woes of the banking and car industries.  So right now I don’t have anything, but I am hoping to be able to drive for Dale Jr again for a couple of road races in the Nationwide and hopefully get an opportunity in cup for the two road races in Cup.  Right now there is nothing going on, just idle chat.

 

Any indication of retiring when you called Linda over to celebrate in the winners circle at Montreal or were you just caught up in the moment?

 

Ya, I think somewhat I was caught up in the moment and I think that the reality of it is that at 49 I’ve got more races behind me than in front me and I just wanted my wife and family to enjoy the moment because you don’t know, you just don’t know.  That was a race that I very badly wanted to win just based on the years that I’ve been going there as a fan and I had a couple of big wins there in the GM Series, watch Gilles race there and to be a Canadian and to win there on a circuit named after Gilles Villeneuve doesn’t get any better than that.

 

Do you have any retirement plans or are you just taking it as it comes?

 

No I don’t have any retirement plans, I still want to driver but certainly it’s an unsettling time in the car business and car racing is part of the car business, so we are working very hard right now with the driving school out in Spring Mountains getting that off of the ground.  Part of the motivation with that is that the all of the Corvette ZR-1s in the US come with a 2-day school and my school is one of the two schools authorized and recognized by Chevrolet as a place for ZR-1 owners to come and use their two day certificates.

 

We’ve got 4 ZR-1s out there and a fleet of 24 C6’s and John Morris is a great guy and working hard to make a go of it with him with the driving school … lost phone call

 

He calls back:

 

Canadian Race car drivers like Patrick Carpentier in Cup have had the short end of a bad stick lately, how does that impact on Canadian race car drivers do you feel?

 

The unfortunate part with Patrick Carpentier is that he wasn’t able to stay there long enough.  He can figure it out but he needs to have a stable ownership and an opportunity and it really needs to be a 3 year program but he wasn’t able to hang in there and that’s too bad.

 

Part of it is the loss of sponsorship there as well as they didn’t have any real results, but it’s to be expected in your first year.

 

I think that in the future with the Canadian Tire Series there is great potential for the next 5-7 years through the Canadian tire series … inaudible … a potential Sprint Cup Champion that happens to be a Canuck and learned the ropes in the Canadian Tire series.

 

When it was CASCAR it wasn’t really on the radar of kids in terms of a career path but with NASCAR getting involved with an Iconic Canadian company like Canadian Tire it is definitely on the radar in term of going closed wheel instead of open wheel and it will be interesting to see how it shakes down in the next 5-7 years.

 

12 Questions:

 

What book are you currently reading?

Kill all of the Judges

 

What is on your IPod?

Neil Young

 

Favourite Song or favourite band?

Led Zep

 

What star living or dead would you like to meet?

EnzoFerrari

 

Favourite Junk Food?

Ruffles

 

Amp, So-Be No Fear, or Red Bull?

That is a loaded question, I’m gonna have to say Amp.

 

Favourite TV show?

 

Old or new?  “doesn’t matter”  NCIS

 

Favourite track to race at?

Le Mans

 

Dream car?

ZR-1

 

Favourite Hockey team?

Unfortunately the Leafs, I’ve got season tickets.

 

Gilmore, Clark, or Sittler? All former Maple Leaf Captains.

All 3.

 

Favourite Football Team?

NFL or CFL?  “doesn’t matter” Tampa Bay Bucs

 

Best race car driver ever alive or dead?

Mario Andretti.

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As we close out the year, it’s time to bathe in the warm glow of
nostalgia and look back at some of the best races of the season. We continue with a midsummer classic, the Fourth of July race at Daytona. This one was a fine race from beginning to end, and a good way to close out Independence Day. That is, unless your name happened to be Kyle Busch.

Here’s the whole race recap; you can kick back and watch all 13 minutes, or you can skip right to the good stuff around nine minutes in. This race, you’ll recall, was the one where Kyle Busch decided to get a little froggy with Tony Stewart, and, well … it didn’t go so well.

As it turned out, this race would have dire consequences for Kyle. Had he just allowed Stewart to pass, he would have cruised easily into the Chase, and would have been ranked right at the top going into the Chase. But he ended up finishing far back in the field, and missed the Chase by a mere eight points. And unfortunately for Kyle, not a whole lot of people were too sorry about that.

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Happy holidays, everybody! As you may have heard, there’s a bit of a big holiday coming up later this week. And so we kick off a week of NASChristmas (or, if you prefer, NASChannukah or NASKwanzaa or NAS-Festivus). So here’s what I want you to do: scour the web for NASCAR Christmas gunk and send it to us. We’ll run roundups throughout the week and ring in the holidays with the sound of engines and the scent of oil!

To start, we’ve got Tony Stewart here posing with the brand-new "Teddy B. Caring" bear, which is a charity bear despite having the most awkward name since "Toys ‘R Us." You can get your own Teddy B. Caring at www.officedepot.com. Tony Stewart not included.

Now, your turn. Track down some NASCAR holiday goodness and send it to me at jay.busbee@yahoo.com. Ho ho ho, y’all!

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Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson holds his fourth championship trophy before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series awards banquet during the final day of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion’s Week on Friday in Las Vegas. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR) via www.nascarmedia.com

Four-Time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Becomes First Race Car Driver To Receive Award

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 21, 2009) – The post-season honors keep piling up for Jimmie Johnson and once again, the four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion is making history.

Johnson has been named the Male Athlete of the Year by members of The Associated Press becoming the first race car driver to win this prestigious award in the 78 years it has been presented.

Johnson made history this season when he became the first driver to win four consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup titles, accomplishing a feat that the likes of Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough were unable to achieve. In 2009, Johnson won seven races, including four during NASCAR’s “playoffs” – the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

 

Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet team at Hendrick Motorsports have elevated themselves to the “dynasty” level. And, taking into consideration that this award has been presented in the past to such superstars as Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Carl Lewis, Muhammad Ali, Sandy Koufax, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Byron Nelson, Joe DiMaggio, Jesse Owens, and Joe Louis, it’s safe to say that Johnson has etched his named alongside some of sports’ greatest of all-time.

“We’d been wondering the last few years, ‘When is this going to hit?’” Johnson told the Associated Press. “It seems like the answer is now. The wave is finally peaking and we don’t know where it’s going to take us. The fourth-straight title takes it out of our sport and makes it a point of discussion like, ‘Wow, a race car driver won this thing.’”

Johnson received 42 votes from editors at U.S. newspapers which are members of the AP. Tennis star Roger Federer (30 votes) and Olympic gold medalist sprinter Usain Bolt (29) were the only other athletes with totals in the double-digits. Swimmer Michael Phelps, who won a record eight Olympic gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Games, was last year’s recipient.

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NASCAR Ranting and Raving supported driver Ricky Byers cracks the top 15 in speed during ARCA testing at Daytona yesterday. Here is the complete list of speeds from yesterday.

More testing is scheduled for today.

I’ll have more about Ricky and testing tonight as I’ve got a super busy schedule today.

Here are some pictures that Ricky and Charles from Burning Rubber Radio sent me yesterday.

 

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End of the week, and it’s time for another Midnight Marbles open-chat thread for everybody to hang out and talk … well, talk whatever you want. Our image today is courtesy of reader JJ, who found this little gem on Amazon. For those of you who haven’t had an eye exam in awhile, it reads, "Attention: Will the lady who left her kid at the go-kart track please pick him up. He’s beating Kevin Harvick by two laps." Oh! The pain! So harsh, so harsh. It’s just a down year for Harvick. Besides, I bet he’d spin that kid if he got that far down.

Have a good weekend, everybody, and we’ll pop in with more stuff. As always, send us your NASCAR links, tips, stories and other ephemera to jay.busbee@yahoo.com. Seeya!

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Sorry I haven’t been around lately but I’ve been busy since my last post.

On Tuesday night my girls Volleyball team played in the City Championships and we beat our opponent 3 games to 1 in the best of 5 match.

The team and their supporters then went out for a bit of celebration afterwords and when I got back home I was way too tired to post and then I had a retirement dinner to go to last night – busy, busy, busy.

I am so proud of these girls, I’ve never had a team that played with as much desire and composure like this team did.  I’ve had better skilled teams, but never one that was as mentally tough as these girls are.

I mean we were facing elimination not once but twice during the play-offs and came back to win both times to move on to the next round.  Once we were down 2-0 in the best of 3 and won 3 straight and the other time we were down 2-1 and won 2 straight.  Other teams would have imploaded, but not these girls.

We were never behind in Tuesday’s victory though.  We won 2 straight, dropped the third, and frustrated the other team to no end in the 4th game to take the match, every time the other team had a killer spike they would look on in disbelief as we dug it out of the hole and returned it to them with an equally as hard hit ball.

OK, I’m done gloating.  Honestly I don’t know how I’m going to get out ot the office now as I don’t think my head will fit through the doorway.  Oh the price of victory!

Oh and our Jr. Girls team won too!  Wow!

The Hendrick-type volleyball dynasty starts now!

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