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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

No. 17 Blickensderfer named Wyall Wipers Crew Chief of the Race: Drew Blickensderfer, crew chief of the No. 17 Carhartt Ford driven by Matt Kenseth, has been named the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Race for the second straight week following Sunday's Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Ca. The No. 17 Blickensderfer-led team took their second victory on Sunday following the coveted first place finish in the Daytona 500 a week prior. In addition to the $1,000 check, the winning crew chief will receive signage to announce the win on their pit box the following week.(Wypall PR)

NASCAR haulers stay west: Teams were allowed to remain at the Auto Club Speedway after last Sunday's race. On Monday, they made the four-hour drive up Interstate 15 to Las Vegas. Teams were allowed to park their haulers at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, although several used Brendan Gaughan's old truck-racing shops to make repairs and change sponsorship decals. In the past, teams kept the main haulers out west but had new cars shipped in by secondary trucks during the week. Now many of those extra trucks remained parked at race shops in North Carolina. (St. Augustine)

Harrahs to sponsor No. 44 at LVMS: Harrah’s will serve at the sponsor for the No. 44 Dodge of A.J. Allmendinger this weekend in Las Vegas. The team is looking for sponsorship to run the full season in 2009.(RPM PR)

Kyle Busch leaves door open for Formula One: Kyle Busch's agent said the young NASCAR star would "certainly leave the door open" to try Formula One "at some point" after Busch's name was mentioned during a press conference announcing a new American-based F1 team. Officials with the USF1 team, which will be based out of Charlotte, said it would be interested in having Busch drive its car. Busch is under contract at Joe Gibbs Racing through the end of next season. "Obviously, it's very flattering for him to be mentioned for a Formula One ride, especially an American-based team," said Jeff Dickerson, Busch's agent. "Thanks to Toyota, he was excited at the prospect of getting to test a Formula One car this past offseason. "While it didn't work out then, he would certainly leave the door open to try it out at some point. At the same time, he's currently focused on winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series championships for Joe Gibbs Racing." (SceneDaily.com)

Auto Club 500 most watched sports event for the weekend: Fox Sports’ coverage of the Autoclub 500 at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday evening (2/22) was the top-rated, most-watched sports event of the week and was one of the highest-rated prime time programs among several popular demographic categories, including adults 18-49. According to Nielsen Media Research, the race posted a 6.0/10 national household rating/share, with 10.2 million viewers watching, by far the highest-rated and most-watched sports event of the week. Placing a distant second was Sunday’s final round of the Northern Trust Open on CBS (3.7/7, 4.8 million viewers). Sunday’s Autoclub 500 coverage also fared well opposite expected stiff competition from the Academy Awards. FOX’s 5.9/9 prime time household average on Sunday fared +28% better than FOX's recent performance versus the Oscars (4.6 average from 2004 to 2007). Last year’s NASCAR race opposite the Academy Awards show was delayed by rain and pre-empted the planned prime time lineup, so it was excluded from this comparison. The 2009 Academy Awards on ABC averaged a 20.6/36. (FOX SPORTS PR)

Oil filter not blown engine for K. Harvick: Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines employees discovered a punctured oil filter on the engine of Kevin Harvick’s No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevy after hard contact with the outside wall of Auto Club Speedway on lap 208. The filter was replaced and the engine restarted but the damage done to the car prevented the team from returning to the race and ending Harvick's DNF streak at 81.(RCR PR)

NASCAR fans create petition: NASCAR fans against Kyle Busch would like to see him in the Formula One. (Orlando Sentinel)

HMS engine failures caused by bad parts: Hendrick Motorsports officials say a bad batch of parts led to engine failures by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin in Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. "Both cars had valve train failures that were related to a specific batch of parts from a vendor," said Doug Duchardt, HMS' vice president of development. Duchardt said the parts were not restricted to use by Earnhardt and Martin, whose cars are prepared out of the same building. He said they also were used by Hendrick drivers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, as well as lease programs such as Stewart-Haas Racing. Earnhardt finished 39th and Martin 40th after both lost their engines within 25 laps of each other. Gordon finished second and Johnson was ninth, combining to lead 138 of 250 laps. Tony Stewart was eighth and led three laps. "So we're glad it wasn't more widespread," Duchardt said. (ESPN.com)

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Las Vegas NASCAR race creates 200 million in non-gaming revenue: Amid all the sharp declines in business at Las Vegas casinos, the city gets a shot of adrenaline with the annual Las Vegas NASCAR weekend which begins with Friday's qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Vegas usually has several monster conventions a year along with the PBR and NFR rodeo events, but none has quite the impact for a single weekend as does the NASCAR weekend. Last year it was estimated that nearly $200 million in non-gaming revenue was generated due to the NASCAR weekend. (VegasInsider.com)

No. 14 Stewart Crew wins Pit Road Precision Award: The No. 14 crew for Tony Stewart took top honors Sunday, winning the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award at the Auto Club 500 Sprint Cup race in Fontana, CA. Stewart's Old Spice/Office Depot Chevy spent the least amount of time on pit road (260.940 seconds) during the 250 lap, 500-mile race at Auto Club Speedway. The winning pit road performance helped Stewart to an eighth-place finish in the second race of the season. The #No 4 over-the-wall crew consists of: Jeff "Gooch" Patterson (gasman), Scott Radel (catch can), Mike Casto (jackman), Kelly Kellis (front tire changer), Todd Drakulich (front tire carrier), Daniel Smith (rear tire changer), Mike Morneau (rear tire carrier) and Troy Welty (windshield). The team's crew chief is Darian Grubb and the pit crew trainer is Joe Piette. The Tissot Pit Road Precision Award pays $5,000 for each Cup race to the winning pit road team. In addition, the team with the most pit road event wins will be awarded a $100,000 bonus at the completion of the 36-race schedule by Tissot, the official watch and timekeeper of NASCAR.(DMF Communications/Tissot PR)

Kenseth going for third straight win: Matt Kenseth has a serious chance to become the first driver ever to open a season with three consecutive wins. He already has two wins at Las Vegas (2003-2004) and has led 438 laps there, more than any other driver. (PR)

Kentucky unlikely to receive 2010 Cup date: A court schedule released Monday appears to be another blow for Kentucky Speedway’s chances of obtaining a date on the 2010 Sprint Cup calendar because the antitrust lawsuit between the track founders and NASCAR most likely won’t be resolved until at least late May. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Monday released its oral argument calendar for the week of March 9, and the case was not on the docket. The earliest the Kentucky-NASCAR case can now get on the calendar is the two-week session that begins April 20. It takes at least a month, and typically longer, for the appeals court to render a decision. NASCAR officials have repeatedly said that they would not consider a request from current Kentucky Speedway owner Speedway Motorsports Inc. to realign one of its Cup dates to Kentucky as long as the case is unresolved. That means that unless the speedway founders, who sold the track to SMI in December but retained the rights to the lawsuit, opt to drop the lawsuit, the case won’t be decided until late May at the earliest. NASCAR typically is well into its sanctioning process for the following year by that time. (SceneDaily.com)

Monday, February 23, 2009

Harvick streak ends: When an accident sent Kevin Harvick into the wall, it ended his streak of 81 consecutive races completed, the longest in Cup history. He finished 38th. "The motor blew up and I just got in my own oil going in the corner," said the Bakersfield native who drives the No. 29 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. (LA Times)

Auto Club 500 ratings down: NASCAR Sprint Cup racing on Fox averaged a 5.3/8 for the Auto Club 500 presented by Quaker State from California. Though that's down -13% from last year's 6.1/10 for the same race, yesterday's race was by far the top-rated sporting event for the weekend. That -13% year-to-year gap could shrink in the nationals with a good meter-to-national ratings index. Yesterday's race powered Fox to a second-place finish for the night opposite competition from the Academt Awards [Oscars] on ABC. Fox's prime average of 5.3/8 (7-10p) placed second behind ABC's 18.8/28, but beat CBS's 4.8/7, and NBC's 3.4/5. Last night's Prime average was also FOX's best Sunday night in six weeks. Sunday’s race improved over FOX’s recent Oscar night performances. Last night's 5.3/8 is +10% better than FOX's Sunday Prime average opposite the Oscars from 2004-2007. Last year is excluded from that comparison because the NASCAR race was delayed by rain and pre-empted the planned Primetime lineup. That +10% edge over recent Oscar nights is likely to increase when NASCAR gets its typically strong meters-to-nationals boost. The 2009 Academy Awards on ABC averaged a 23.5/36 from 8:30-12m, up +7% over last year's 21.9/33. (PR)

Low attendance at Auto Club Speedway: Gillian Zucker, president of the Fontana facility for nearly four years, apparently is still struggling to get Southern Californians to the track. On Sunday, the estimated 55,000 people in attendance arguably were the fewest in all of the 18 NASCAR Cup races held at the two-mile oval. It even was fewer than those who attended the 2007 Labor Day weekend race despite temperatures that reportedly got as high as 110 degrees. ISC has a longstanding policy of not releasing attendance numbers. A lot has been made by the continued lack of attendance. This year, because of the slumping national economy, it had been predicted those numbers might be even smaller. "It's an awesome crowd; that's my estimate," Zucker said.(San Bernadino Sun)

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Kyle Busch could make NASCAR history: On Saturday, Kyle Busch became the first driver to win twice in the same day on two of NASCAR's top-three. He held the previous best same-day performance with a first in the Nationwide and second in the Sprint Cup Series races held at Daytona on July 7, 2007. This is just the third time a driver has won both a Camping World Truck Series and a Nationwide Series race in the same weekend (Greg Biffle at Phoenix in October 2001 and Kyle Busch at Phoenix in November 2007). There have been 31 NASCAR Sprint Cup-NASCAR Nationwide weekend sweeps. No driver has ever won all three races in the same weekend.(NASCAR Statistics)

Ambrose supporting Australian relief efforts: Marcos Ambrose is trying to do his part to raise money to help with relief efforts after wildfires ravaged parts of Australia in recent weeks. "My best man at my wedding lost his house and all its contents," Ambrose said. "He said he was in the house at the time and from the moment he first smelled smoke to the house burning down was less than 10 minutes. ...He went outside to have a look and saw his grass on fire. Within 40 seconds the house was engulfed." Ambrose said bush fires aren't unusual in Australia, but this year's outbreak was historically severe. Ambrose has put a link on his site, www.maarcosambrose.com to make it easier for people to donate to the relief efforts. He plans to work with sponsors and will give part of his race earnings to the cause as he tries to raise awareness. (ThatsRacin.com)

Saturday, February 21, 2009

NASCAR explains use of video and scoring loop in rainout: Jeff Gordon told his team last week after the Daytona 500 that he believed he could have been scored 12th instead of 13th in that NASCAR Sprint Cup race, depending on the interpretation of NASCAR rules and policies. The final verdict: He was 13th. Here's why Gordon was confused: When the caution comes out during a race, the field is frozen and reset to the previous scoring line. Depending on the track, there are a dozen or so scoring lines spread throughout the oval. But NASCAR policy is that on the last lap, it uses video in addition to the scoring lines to determine the final position. Gordon believed he had passed David Reutimann after passing the scoring line, but before the caution came out for rain in the Daytona 500. NASCAR later called the race because of rain. Gordon crew chief Steve Letarte discussed the situation with NASCAR officials after the race to learn about the interpretation, which was that NASCAR will only use video on the final scheduled lap or green-white-checkered situation. “We use the [non-video freezing] of the field because we didn’t know that we weren’t going to go back [racing],” NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said Friday at Auto Club Speedway. (SceneDaily.com)

Allmendinger all options open: AJ Allmendinger doesn't have a full-time ride this season in the Sprint Cup Series, but he's not closing any doors on his racing future. He was asked Friday if he might be interested in driving for the Charlotte-based U.S. team in Formula One that will be formally announced next week. "I've learned in this sport over the past couple of years that you don't deny anything," Allmendinger said. "You just nod your head and say, 'There’s a chance.' (ThatsRacin.com)

NASCAR to increase length of restart zone: NASCAR has increased the restart zone for the leader to restart the race from 50 feet to 110 feet. Prior to this season, drivers had the entire distance from the restart line (typically coming out of Turn 4) to the starting line in order to mash the gas and restart the event. NASCAR created a 50-foot restart zone last week at Daytona International Speedway. If a driver didn’t restart the race by the end of the zone, the flagman would wave the green and restart the event. That distance apparently was too small. NASCAR has increased the length to 110 feet for the races at Auto Club Speedway in California this weekend. (SceneDaily.com)

Friday, February 20, 2009

Gilliland released from RYR: Yates Racing and David Gilliland announced that they are terminating their relationship due to a lack of sponsorship on Yates Racing's No. 38 Sprint Cup car. Gilliland began driving the No. 38 car for Robert Yates Racing in mid-2006. "David did a great job for us and is a gifted driver. We are sorry to lose him but it is important for David to continue driving, and sponsorship is very tough this year," stated Doug Yates of Yates Racing.(Yates Racing PR)

Aflac unlikely to sell remaining sponsorships on No. 99: Aflac will likely be the primary sponsor of Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 99 Ford driven by Carl Edwards for more NASCAR Sprint Cup races this year than originally announced. When Aflac announced it would become the primary sponsor in 2009, a company official had indicated that it hoped to keep only 20-25 races as the primary sponsor and sell off the remaining 11-16. That was back in May when the contract, reportedly a three-year deal with Roush Fenway worth $26 million a year, was inked. The economy has changed since then, as has Edwards’ stature as he challenged for last year’s Sprint Cup title and won a series-high nine races. Aflac currently has sold off four races – three to Subway and one to Claritin – and a company executive says it won’t sell off additional races unless the potential sponsor fits with Aflac’s business model. “Our strategy is right now we feel like we have the hottest driver in NASCAR,” Keith Farley, Aflac’s corporate sponsorship manager, said last week at Daytona. “We feel like since originally working with him last May and working on the contract, his value has gone up. Our strategy is to make sure we do what’s right for the Aflac brand and for Carl. (SceneDaily.com)

Starr in the No. 51: Camping World Truck Series veteran David Starr heads to California looking to make his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut this weekend at the Auto Club Speedway. The Texas-native will be behind the wheel of the No. 51 Dodge fielded by BlackJack Racing. Starr and the team will be sponsored by Allegro Marinade in a one race sponsorship for the Auto Club 500. “I have always dreamed about driving in the Cup Series and I am very appreciative of this opportunity that the Bean family has given me,” said Starr. “This all came together rather quickly last week in Daytona and I jumped at the chance. We were also able to secure sponsorship from Allegro Marinade at the last minute. This is really cool and I hope to put on a good performance for Allegro Marinade and BlackJack Racing.” BlackJack Racing fields the No. 51 Dodge in the Sprint Cup Series full-time and narrowly missed making the field in the Daytona 500 last week with Kelly Bires behind the wheel. Dexter Bean will make his Sprint Cup Series debut next week in Las Vegas and will be behind the wheel for the remainder of the 2009 season. (BlackJack Racing PR)

Thursday, February 19, 2009

MWR plane lands safely in Las Vegas: A private aircraft landed safely at McCarran International Airport this afternoon after the left engine had to be shut down during the flight. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the Canada Air Challenger CL60 was en route to Ontario, Calif., when it diverted to Las Vegas because of the engine trouble. McCarran spokesman Chris Jones said the plane landed without incident on the west side of the airport. The Clark County Fire Department was alerted to the problem. Fire Department spokesman Scott Allison said no injuries were reported and the 48 people on board the regional jet all exited the aircraft safely after the incident, which happened about 4:20 p.m. It was unclear what caused the engine trouble. Gregor said the aircraft is owned by Michael Waltrip Racing. (Las Vegas Sun)

Johnson visits childhood neighborhood: Twice a year, Jimmie Johnson detours through his childhood neighborhood en route to a NASCAR race in Fontana. “I like to stay connected,” the NASCAR champion said recently. “Many of my friends and memories are still rooted in El Cajon.” This week was no exception. Johnson flew into San Diego yesterday before heading north for Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway. As usual, Johnson is visiting the site of the four Habitat for Humanity homes his foundation is building near downtown El Cajon and he will stop by the Chevrolet dealership in Kearny Mesa that bears his name. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Mayfield crew member suspended: Pit crew member Paul Chodora of Jeremy Mayfield's No. 41 Sprint Cup team has been suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for violating the new substance abuse policy. Chodora, who NASCAR confirmed was a member of Mayfield's team Thursday, is the first person to be punished under the policy that was amended last season to mandatory preseason testing and random testing throughout the season. "Mayfield Motorsports respects the decision by NASCAR to indefinitely suspend Paul Chodora," Jeremy Mayfield said in a statement issued Thursday. "We as an organization appreciate NASCAR's drug testing policies and policing efforts as it makes the sport stronger overall. If Paul doesn't comply with NASCAR's reinstatement process, then he will no longer be an employee of Mayfield Motorsports." (ESPN.com)

Harvick No. 29 to have special decal: The No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevy driven by Kevin Harvick will feature a special decal on the deck lid this weekend for the running of the Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway. The Mater Dei High School (Evansville, Indiana) name will be featured on the deck lid of the Richard Childress Racing machine in honor of the 2008 Shell Eco-marathon Americas winning student team. The Shell Eco-marathon, held at Auto Club Speedway each April, invites teams of students to design and build the most energy-efficient vehicle powered by either conventional or alternative fuels. The students from Mater Dei High School set a record for fuel efficiency during the 2008 competition with a rating of 2,843 miles per gallon. The team claimed a $10,000 prize for their victory and also beat the overall mileage record that was set in 2007 by Cal Poly.(RCR PR)

Hornish in AAA scheme: Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the Penske Racing No. 77 Auto Club Dodge Charger, will debut the Auto Club of Southern California paint scheme this weekend at Auto Club Speedway. The Automobile Club of Southern California and its affiliated clubs (AAA) have joined the Penske Racing partner family as primary sponsor of the No. 77 car for three events in 2009 and as co-primary for an additional two races. On Thursday, February 19, Hornish will visit the Auto Club headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif., to meet with employees and kick off the race weekend at Auto Club Speedway.(Penske PR)

Gilliland in the No. 71: TRG Motorsports will run their No. 71 Chevy in the next four Sprint Cup Series rounds at the Auto Club Speedway, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Bristol. Kevin Buckler, TRG Motorsports team principal, is working hard to get sponsorship while the team focuses on accruing enough points to be in the top 35 in owner points going into the fifth race at Bristol. "We are pulling out all of the stops to make the next four races," Buckler said. "We want to be in the top 35 in owner points by the time we finish Bristol. We have singed-up David Gilliland and Slugger Labbe to help us accomplish that goal. The water is deep in NASCAR and we are not afraid to dive in with the sharks, but we have a very steep learning curve ahead of us and we will do our best. The team did not hesitate after Daytona getting ready for California. I met with Richard Childress about an engine package and we had a good backup car in the trailer that suits California, Las Vegas and Atlanta. It was just a matter of jumping in with both feet and moving forward. We took a big hit a Daytona by not making the race, but we have taken that and turned it into determination. Everyone involved sees the upside and wants to keep our foot firmly planted on the accelerator to turn this into a full season. With that kind of attitude and a strong team behind the 71, I think we can push it into the field on Friday."(TRG Motorsports PR)