NEXT Race/RaceCast: Find Sprint Cup Next race information, including television, practice, qualifying times and more, also radio coverage information.. During the race find RacewayReport.com: RaceCast with running order, notes, and more..

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Report: Reutimann signs extension with MWR: David Reutimann has signed a three-year contract extension with Michael Waltrip Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Sponsor Aaron's will be on the car for 18 of those Cup races in 2011 as it enters the third year of a three-year contract. According to sources, the sponsor is looking to extend in 2012.(FOXSports)

Bliss to drive for TRG at Daytona: TRG Motorsports welcomes back Mike Bliss to drive the No. 71 TRG Motorsports Chevy for the Coke Zero 400 to be run at Daytona International Speedway this Saturday, July 3. Bliss had two starts with TRG Motorsports in 2009 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Richmond as well as their first Craftsman Truck race at Daytona in 2008 where he had an outstanding run. Bliss will be running with Dan Stillman, crew chief, for the first time. Bliss qualified tenth in his last superspeedway start at Talladega in April. Bliss has the highest qualifying effort to date for TRG Motorsports, a seventh at the Charlotte Sprint Cup race last year.(TRG Motorsports PR)

8 Soldiers, 8 Missions scheme on the No. 88: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 National Guard "8 Soldiers 8 Missions"/AMP Energy Chevy will feature a special camouflage paint scheme this weekend at Daytona in honor of the eight National Guard Soldiers and eight missions in which they served. These eight Soldiers served in domestic and overseas missions for their country. No. 88 Chevy was designed to commemorate the heroic efforts and service of these Soldiers and the other men and women who serve in the National Guard. The eight soldiers Earnhardt will recognize are Staff Sgt. Ryan Brubaker with the Montana Army National Guard, Staff Sgt. Daniel Caldwell with the Alabama Army National Guard, Sgt. 1st Class Chris Dempsey with the Arizona Army National Guard, Spc. Tabitha Foster with the Kentucky Army National Guard, Spc. Richard Ghent with the New Hampshire Army National Guard, Staff Sgt. Justin Lampert with the North Dakota Army National Guard, 1st Lt. Reed Preece with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and Spc. Joseph Ruiz with the New York Army National Guard.(Hendrick PR)

Dodge President says Challenger could race in Cup series: Dodge President Ralph Gilles said that the automaker may submit the Dodge Challenger for Sprint Cup competition at some point in the future, replacing the Dodge Charger. Gilles said, "It's up to NASCAR," adding "the fans will tell us" what they want to see. Ford's North American Motorsports Manager, Jamie Allison said recently that the Blue Oval is considering bringing its Mustang brand to the Cup Series, if it performs well at the Nationwide level. The new Nationwide car makes its competitive debut Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.(Sirius Speedway)

Kelley Earnhardt named bank chairman: Mooresville-based Blueharbor Bank said that a member of one of racing's first families, Kelley Earnhardt, has been elected chairman of the board. Earnhardt, whose late father was NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Dale Earnhardt Sr. and whose brother is current driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., was a founding board member of the community bank that opened in 2007. She is general manager and co-owner of JR Motorsports in Mooresville and serves as a director of the Dale Jr. Foundation. Earnhardt moved from the vice chairman role as part of a planned rotation, the bank said. Attorney Bill Pope is the new vice chairman.(Charlotte Observer)

NASCAR, IndyCar season finale tickets go on sale at Homestead Saturday: Homestead-Miami Speedway is doing it again in 2010: The only venue ever to host all of North America's premier motorsports' Championship finales, The Championship Track will be the site of IZOD IndyCar Series Championship Weekend (Oct. 1-2) and NASCAR's Ford Championship Weekend (Nov. 19-21). Tickets for both go on sale this Saturday, July 3, via (866) 409-RACE or TheChampionshipTrack.com. Kids 12 & under are FREE to three of the five Championships. With the IndyCar Championship having gone down to the final lap of the final race each of the last four seasons, fans can expect more of the same during the NextEra Energy Indy Championships at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Oct. 1-2). And seven weeks later (Nov. 19-21), Homestead-Miami Speedway will host NASCAR for its series-crowning Ford Championship Weekend, featuring the Championship finales of the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and the Camping World Truck Series.(HMS)

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Kerry Earnhardt to drive Dad's famous No. 3 Brickyard 400 winner at Goodwood: The Richard Childress Racing No. 3 GM Goodwrench Chevy that the legendary Dale Earnhardt drove to victory in the 1995 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be driven by his eldest son, Kerry Earnhardt, in this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed in England. The Goodwood Festival of Speed, July 2-4, is one of the world's premier historic race car events. The event has been held annually since 1993 on the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England. Race cars past and present participate in both demonstration and competition runs up the nine-turn, 1.16-mile hillclimb circuit. This is the second consecutive year RCR has participated in the Festival of Speed. Last year, Taylor Earnhardt, Dale's youngest daughter, drove the black No. 3 GM Goodwrench Chevy her father earned his 76th and final NASCAR Cup Series victory in, on Oct. 15, 2000, at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Both last year's car and this year's entry were prepared by and will be cared for at the Festival of Speed by former No. 3 team crew members Danny Lawrence and Rich Burgess. Lawrence is the assistant head engine builder/trackside manager for Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines and Burgess is the shop manager for RCR's No. 31 Caterpillar team in the NSCS.(RCR PR)

NASCAR suspends No. 43 crew member for violating substance abuse policy: Chris Moore, a crew member for the No. 43 team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy. On June 22, Moore was found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 19 (violation of the NASCAR substance abuse policy) of the 2010 NASCAR Rule Book.(NASCAR PR)

NASCAR to announce HoF 2011 nominees: On Thursday, the 2010 nominees for the NASACAR Hall of Fame will be announced. As with last year's inaugural list, there again will be 25 names. Twenty will be repeat nominees. Ladies and gentlemen, start your debates. And today, do we ever have a debate for you, in the process giving you a "sneak peek" at the nominees. One guy is a repeat nominee – Richie Evans. The other guy is a first-time nominee – Jerry Cook. These two are, arguably, the greatest NASCAR modified drivers of all-time. Many would say there's no argument, in making that assessment. Perhaps the best way to frame this debate is by reminding you that when these gentlemen competed, they hated each other like poison. Evans died in 1985, or else the bad feelings would probably still linger. Remember, they were from the same town , Rome, N.Y. And they always were chasing the same thing: championships. Evans won a record nine NASCAR modified championships, by the way, including eight consecutively from 1978-85. Cook won six. Evans was a hard-partying, hard-charger. Cook was more conservative, on and off the track. Perhaps that led to Evans' fans labeling Cook as a "stroker," race-speak for a points racer – one of the ultimate insults to hurl at a driver.(NASCAR)

Gordon's No. 24 crew wins Tissot Pit Road Award in New Hampshire: Jeff Gordon's crew won the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award in Sunday's (June 27) NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Loudon, N.H. It was the third win of the season for the No. 24 crew, which moved into sole possession of first place in the Tissot season standings. The pit crews for Martin Truex Jr. and Matt Kenseth are tied for second with two wins each. Gordon's No. 24 DuPont Chevy spent the least amount of time on pit road - 172.661 seconds - during the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The quick work helped Gordon to a fourth-place finish. Coming in second was Kevin Harvick's No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevy (176.258) and finishing third was Joey Logano's No. 20 Home Depot Toyota (177.679). Gordon's over-the-wall crew consists of: Clay Robinson (front-tire changer), Mike Houston (front-tire carrier), Joe Slingerland (rear-tire changer), Matt Ver Meer (rear-tire carrier), Jeff Cook (jackman), Caleb Hurd (gasman), Jamie Frady (catch can), Colin Fambrough (back-up tire changer) and Andy Kruep (eighth man). The team's pit crew coach is Greg Morin. Along with winning $5,000 for the weekly pit crew competition the crew with the most Tissot Pit Road Precision Award wins at the end of the 36-race Sprint Cup schedule will collect a $105,000 bonus plus Tissot watches for the over-the-wall crew members and driver.(DMF Communications/Tissot)

Latest on patrol cost at NHMS: Pre-race traffic moved smoothly for the Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway according to Loudon Police Chief Robert Fiske, who said that Route 106 was reopened to two-way traffic at 12:15, 45 minutes before the start of yesterday's race. Fiske said that as of mid-afternoon there had been 72 arrests at the Speedway over the weekend, several of which were for drug possession and assault. The bulk were for disorderly conduct and public intoxication, he said. Fiske, who has been embroiled in a dispute with the speedway over security costs, said that the final tally on the weekend won't be compiled until sometime tomorrow. "We're doing everything we can to keep costs down," said Fiske, who had estimated that it would cost about $134,000 for police details at the track. Speedway Motorsports officials have said that they think $65,000 is sufficient and have threatened to pull one of the Sprint Cup races from the track if the dispute continues.(New Hampshire Union Leader)

Monday, June 28, 2010

Ford to debut the Ford Mustang: The Mustang debut in NASCAR has been anxiously anticipated ever since Ford announced the iconic pony car would be competing on the track last summer. Now, to help celebrate that debut, Ford Racing is giving its drivers even more incentive to be the first Mustang winner, and take their place in Mustang racing history. Jamie Allison, director, Ford North America Motorsports, announced today that any Ford driver who wins Friday night's Subway Jalapeno 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Daytona International Speedway will receive their own 2011 5.0-liter Mustang GT production vehicle. This will mark the second straight NASCAR appearance as the Daytona pace car for the 5.0 Mustang GT, which led the field to the green flag for the first time in its history at February's Daytona 500. For more information regarding Ford Racing's activities, please visit www.fordracing.com.

Latitude 43 Motorsports team has sponsorship to run rest of season: Bill Jenkins, the owner of #26 Latitude 43 Motorsports, says that he’s happy with the team’s progress this year and has enough sponsorship to run full events the rest of the 2010 season. Jenkins, a Massachusetts businessman involved in selling environmental friendly soaps and cleaners, bought the #26 team (points and some equipment) from Roush Fenway Racing before the season started. NASCAR allowed a rare sell of points because it was forcing Roush Fenway to cut from five teams to the recently implemented four-team cap. The organization had Boris Said in the car for the first four races, and David Stremme has driven the remainder of the races with the exception of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway, where Said was back behind the wheel. The team is 36th in owner points after Stremme’s 31st-place finish Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Jenkins, whose home sits on latitude 43, has sponsorship from Air National Guard (a sponsorship that Jenkins called “humbling”) and GlobeTrack Wireless GPS. The team fell outside the top 35 after not running full races early in the year. Jenkins said the key to his team has been having an experienced crew chief in Frank Stoddard. He also has been pleased with Stremme, who has driven Cup cars for Penske Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing. “David is an incredible young man,” Jenkins said. “He works so hard. He has the natural talent.”(Scene Daily)

Reiser to return as crew chief for Kenseth? Sirius NASCAR Radio’s Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody has learned that Robbie Reiser is likely to return as crewchief for Matt Kenseth’s No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford next season. Team owner Jack Roush pulled veteran Jimmy Fennig out of Roush Fenway’s R&D Department to replace Todd Parrott as crew chief last week, the second change of the season for the No. 17 team. Fennig is Kenseth’s fifth crewchief since 2007, and said last week that he expects to remain atop the pit box for the remainder of the 2010 campaign. Sources tell Sirius Speedway that there is “a very strong possibility” that RFR General Manager Robbie Reiser will return to the post in 2011. “Robbie wants to come back,” said one source on condition of anonymity, “but he’s doing such a good job as GM that Jack can’t justify making a move right now. Next season, expect to see Reiser back on the pit box, with Robbie Loomis succeeding him as General Manager.” Kenseth admitted that consideration is being given to bringing Reiser back as crewchief, saying, "He probably would have filled in for the rest of the year (and tried) to do both, but there just are not enough hours in a day.”(Sirius Speedway

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Kenseth dicusses crew chief change: Matt Kenseth took responsibility for his first crew chief change of the year in February, and on Friday, team owner Jack Roush said the call for a second switch was his. Roush surprised veteran Jimmy Fennig by taking him out of the research and development department and putting him in charge of Kenseth's #17 Sprint Cup Series team. Todd Parrott was reassigned back to his old job, overseeing Roush Fenway Racing's superspeedway program. "Matt and I shared a concern that we weren't getting the optimum number of changes in the garage (during practice) based on the plan and the preparation and the execution of the pre-race activities," Roush said at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. "That was not the case in the first few races when Todd was at the helm, but, for whatever reason - I don't know if Matt stopped talking to him or I stopped talking to him or what happened, but for whatever reason - we kind of had a breakdown in team communication and the effectiveness we had of getting ready for the race." Fennig is the fifth crew chief since 2007. Robbie Reiser became general manger of Roush Fenway's Sprint Cup operations at the end of that season. Although it has been suggested that the only answer for Kenseth is to be reunited with Reiser, Reiser is too valuable to the organization as a whole, Kenseth said. "He probably would have came and filled in for the rest of the year if he could try to do both, but there just are not enough hours in a day," Kenseth said. "It does seem like I'm pretty hard on crew chiefs lately, that's for sure, but we've just had some opportunities within the organization. . . . We just had some opportunities to mix things up a little bit and see if we can get the team heading in the direction we think it needs to be headed in."(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Earnhardt Jr. doesn't plan to drive No. 3 after Daytona NNS race: On Friday evening, No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. will slide through the window and into the seat of the No. 3 Wrangler Chevy for 300 miles of Nationwide Series racing at Daytona International Speedway. Until that moment, he cannot know how that car number on his door, and that blue and yellow paint before him on the hood, and memories of his father's win-at-all-costs attitude while driving them may affect him. Especially at that track. But he is fairly certain about one thing: July 2, 2010 will be the last time he drives a race car with the No. 3 on the door. "I just want to go to the racetrack and run it once before I retire, and this will probably be it," he said. "After this, I'll probably never drive a car with a 3 on it again. I can pretty much say I'm 99% sure that will never happen again." This is a stark revelation, especially for long-suffering Earnhardt fans who dreamed Junior would close out his career in a black No. 3. Junior, too, once thought that was his destiny. No more. "It's not [my number] to take and use whenever I feel like using it," he said through a sheepish grin. "You just don't grab the car keys off the counter and go run out the door and haul down the road with your dad's car. I didn't do it when he was alive, and I won't do it now. I'm borrowing it once, and then maybe sometime down the road some kid will come up, and he'll have a connection to the 3 -- whether it's through my father or whether it's what his number's been since he was playing teeball. Whatever, you know, that will be his. It will be someone else's." The current Wrangler program is a dual initiative -- partly to honor Big E, partly out of necessity. Junior's sister, Kelley Earnhardt, Sprint Cup team owner and owner of the No. 3 trademark Richard Childress, and Teresa Earnhardt all played a role in putting the deal together, and wanted to tie it into Dale Earnhardt's Hall of Fame induction.(ESPN)

Saturday, June 26, 2010

A.J. Allmendinger hopes to decide on future plans soon: No. 43 A.J. Allmendinger told Sirius NASCAR Radio’s Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody on Friday that he hopes to make a decision on where he will race next season within the next 30 days. “I’ve had some great talks with the people at Richard Petty Motorsports, and I’ve had some great talks with other teams, too. I can’t tell you right now how it’s going to turn out, but I hope to have this all wrapped up by the middle or the end of July.” Allmendinger and teammates No. 19 Elliott Sadler and No. 98 Paul Menard are in the final year of their respective contracts, and No. 9 Kasey Kahne has already announced plans to go elsewhere in 2011.(Sirius Speedway)

Newman wins Modified race at NHMS: Sprint Cup driver Ryan Newman passed Ted Christopher on the final lap and then held him off out of the final corner to win the Whelen Modified Tour New England 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Over the years a handful of Sprint Cup Series stars, including Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards, have made starts in Modified Tour events at NHMS. Newman, a South Bend, Ind. native, became the first one to steal a victory from the division's regulars. The victory came in the fifth career start in the series for Newman, who competes in the Sprint Cup Series for Stewart-Haas Racing. Christopher, of Plainville, the track's all-time winningest driver, held on for second after leading a race-high 40 laps. Ryan Preece of Berlin was third. Newman has made all his series starts in a car owned by West Boylston, Mass. native and Sprint Cup Series crew chief Kevin "Bono" Manion, a former Modified Tour crew chief. Whelen Modified Tour points leader Bobby Santos III, who had won three of the first four events of the season, was fourth.(Hartford Courant)

Friday, June 25, 2010

Regan Smith breaks wrist: Due to suffering a fractured left wrist in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Sonoma, Calif., Regan Smith has been fitted with a custom-molded splint for this weekend's LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Smith, driver of the No.78 Furniture Row Chevy, fractured his scaphoid bone (located at base of thumb) when he was involved in a multicar accident at Infineon Raceway on Lap 67 of 110. The 26-year-old Smith is being treated for the injury at OrthoCarolina in Charlotte.(FRR)

Las Vegas Motor Speedway proposes 2nd Cup race to SMI: Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the closest it's been in years to getting a second annual Sprint Cup race -- or it could be just another move in the mental chess game of racing grandmaster Bruton Smith. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority two weeks ago submitted a proposal to Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) about landing a coveted race in the series' 10-race Chase for the Cup playoff as early as next year, possibly in mid-September. The additional race would complement the speedway's early spring Cup event. Rossi Ralenkotter, the LVCVA president, confirmed this week that "on-again, off-again" negotiations with Smith heated up over the past month. "We haven't hidden the fact that Las Vegas can and will support a second race," said Ralenkotter, who expects to hear back from Smith next week. The only way Las Vegas can get a second Cup event would be for Smith, SMI's founder and chairman, to move an existing race -- with NASCAR's approval -- from one of his six other tracks that host 11 Cup races. NASCAR has been steadfast in refusing to extend its schedule by adding races. An additional Cup weekend would be a windfall for Southern Nevada but costly for Loudon, N.H., or Atlanta. "As long as we can get a second race, we don't care where it comes from," Ralenkotter said. A source close to the negotiations said the LVCVA is offering to pay SMI between $5 million and $8 million to land a second Cup weekend. The authority is funded through a hotel room tax. Getting a second date for Las Vegas was Smith's top priority until December 2008 when he bought Kentucky Speedway, which does not have a Cup race. Smith, 83, made it clear he would find a Cup race for Kentucky before Las Vegas got a second one. A publicly held corporation like SMI should focus on maximizing profit, and it makes fiscal sense to move an Atlanta race to Las Vegas, where it will draw up to 40,000 more spectators. And let's not forget the LVCVA's multimillion-dollar inducement to SMI.(Las Vegas Review Journal)

Suave to sponsor McMurray at NH: Jamie McMurray and the No. 1 Chevy will welcome a new sponsor, Suave, this weekend when the team returns to New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The partnership with the team is a follow-up from last year's program where Unilever brand Vaseline MEN served as the primary sponsor for two races with the No. 1 Team at Dover and Martinsville. Suave products are designed to offer the same performance as salon and specialty brands without the salon price tag. Suave's lineup includes the Suave Professionals and Suave Naturals lines of shampoos, conditioners and body washes, Suave Men products designed for the grooming needs of guys, and Suave Kids, which includes 2 in 1 and 3 in 1 shampoos and conditioners as well as body washes formulated just for kids. Suave products are available at drug, mass merchandisers, and supermarkets nationwide.(EGR)