Month: June 2011

THE NUMBERS for the 5-HOUR ENERGY 500

Pocono Raceway (all Sprint Cup races)

1 – fewest cautions (7/30/78)

2 – fewest cars on lead lap at finish (twice, most recent 6/6/82)

3 – fewest caution laps (7/30/78)

4 – races won from outside a top-20 starting position

4 – fewest leaders (twice, most recent 6/9/85)

4 – fewest laps led by race winner (Bobby Labonte, 7/29/01)

5 – most wins (Bill Elliott)

5 – most poles (Bill Elliott, Ken Schrader) 10 – number of jet dryers available for track drying this weekend at Pocono Raceway 10 – fewest lead changes (7/26/98)

11 – wins by car owner (Rick Hendrick)

13 – most cautions (twice, most recent 7/24/05)

16 – drivers with more than one pole at “The Tricky Triangle”

16 – most leaders (three times, most recent 6/13/04)

18 – fewest cars running at finish (7/25/82)

22 – wins from the front row; 13 from the pole

29 – worst starting position for race winner (Carl Edwards, 6/12/05)

29 – different race winners

36 – different pole winners

36 – most cars on lead lap at finish (6/10/07)

42 – most cars running at finish (6/10/07)

56 – most lead changes (7/30/79)

57 – most caution laps (6/13/04)

120 minutes – approximate amount of time it takes to dry the 2.5-mile track

175 – laps led by race winner (Kurt Busch, 8/5/07)

 

2011 Caution Update

3 – number of races extended beyond scheduled distance in 2011

4 – fewest cautions this season (Fontana)

16 – most cautions this season (Daytona)

111 – number of cautions in the first 13 races of 2011; includes 51 for accidents, 23 for debris and 19 for spins

551 of 4,348 – number of laps under caution in 2011

710.429 of 5,372.000 – miles under caution in the first 13 races

 

Provided by Darnell Communications for Dodge Motorsports

CONCORD, N.C. (June 8, 2011) – This week 3M launched a “Stay Fit with the Biff” fitness contest which gives students in grades K-12 the chance to win $15,000 in gym equipment and 3M products for their school. Students, parents and teachers can visit www.3M.com/fitnesscontest to submit a short essay about why physical fitness is important to them and their school. Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and his pit crew, the 3M Pit Bulls, are helping with the contest by posting their own fitness tips on the contest website.

“We can’t wait to read the essays that are submitted for the ‘Stay Fit with the Biff’ contest,” said Biffle. “Fitness is a big part of being successful in our sport and we felt that it was an important message to share with kids across the country. 3M is offering a tremendous opportunity for one school to really step up its fitness program by one of its students, parents or teachers submitting the winning essay. I hope that by talking about the contest and providing tips on the website, the message will spread and we can all stay fit together.”

The top five essays will be selected as semi-finalists and submitted for a vote by visitors to the website. The semi-finalist with the highest number of votes will be deemed the grand-prize winner. Essays must be received by September 30th and the essays of the five semi-finalists will be posted for a public voting period from October 11th through October 31st.

For full details about how to enter and contest rules, please visit www.3M.com/fitnesscontest.

About 3M

A recognized leader in research and development, 3M produces thousands of innovative products for dozens of diverse markets. 3M’s core strength is applying its more than 40 distinct technology platforms – often in combination – to a wide array of customer needs. With $23 billion in sales, 3M employs 75,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 65 countries. For more information, visit www.3m.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.

About Roush Fenway Racing

Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating seven motorsports teams. Four in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with drivers Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; and three in the Nationwide Series with Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Trevor Bayne. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto http://www.roushfenway.com/ www.RoushFenway.com. Become a fan of Roush Fenway Racing on Facebook by going to http://www.facebook.com/roushfenway and follow us on Twitter @roushfenway. For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.

THREE-TIME POCONO RACEWAY WINNER LABONTE SET FOR TRICKY TRIANGLE RETURN

LONG POND, Pa. (June 8, 2011) – – The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series arrives at Pocono Raceway’s 2.5-mile Tricky Triangle for the 14th race of the season this weekend.

For Bobby Labonte, who is racing the No. 47 Clorox Toyota on Sunday, he figured out how to trick the competition three times for trips to victory lane with Joe Gibbs Racing. He swept both races in 1999 and won again in July 2001.

“I’ve had a lot of success at Pocono,” said Labonte, who has five top-five and nine top-10 finishes in addition to his three victories at Pocono. “It’s a strange track with obviously three distinct type corners. Some people choose to make Turn 3 the main corner they concentrate on with straightaway speed. I think that’s true for most people’s case. This year NASCAR is letting us go back to a gear-ratio that we can shift with that’s different from the past and a lot of guys haven’t done that there. This race this time will have more wear and tear on equipment than we have seen in the past couple of years – – as far as reliability with transmissions and engines go. So, we have to be prepared for that. It’s a matter of the durability of our equipment, to make sure it is as durable as possible to handle it for 500 miles.”

Crew chief Frank Kerr and his JTG Daugherty Racing team are looking forward to going to Pocono with a three-time winner at one of the most unique tracks on the circuit boasting three distinct corners and straighaways varying in length.

“It is a challenging track setup wise because the three corners are so different,” Kerr said. “So, you have to pick whether you want to get through Turn 1 better or if you want to work on Turn 3 more. It’s an interesting place for the drivers and crew chiefs to figure out a setup that works on both ends. The track is getting rougher too because of Mother Nature.”

“It’s good to have a guy like Bobby that has experience,” Kerr continued. “As Bobby mentioned, NASCAR is allowing us to change our ratios in our transmissions so we can shift this year. We will probably shift twice around the track. That is how it was back when Bobby won those races. Having the experience of knowing that you can shift and where to shift will help along with taking care of the motor.”

Kerr knows his team needs a shot in the arm following some tough weeks.

“We have not been running good these past few weeks and we are working hard to improve everyday and focusing on making our aero package better,” Kerr said. “Right now, all three teams (JTG Daugherty Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing) are doing everything possible to run better. It’s not just our teams facing this; there are a number of great teams that are looking to get more competitive right now. We know we are a little behind, but we are not sitting still and we are working on things.”

Labonte supports Kerr and his JTG Daugherty Racing team on figuring out what may have went wrong in the most recent events to make it right moving forward and vice versa.

“We left Kansas scratching our heads as far as what happened,” Labonte said. “We thought we were fairly decent in practice and then ended up with a way different race car in the race than we anticipated. There’s definitely a concern of how that happened and why it happened. We’ve looked at a lot of different things. The aero package is one thing and a couple things we tried differently. We thought we were gaining at Kansas, but we were not. We might have to take a couple steps back to figure out what we did wrong and make it right.”

Switching gears from performance to appearances, yesterday Labonte had a successful turnout at his Bobby Labonte Foundation golf tournament benefiting Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) raising $107,000.

“This was our first year partnering with JDRF and it was a great first step,” said Labonte. “We met our goals, exceed them actually, and everyone had fun doing it. I can’t thank all the sponsors enough who donated and all the celebrities who took time out of their day to come out and play. We’re looking to make it even better next year.”

Tonight, Labonte is racing in the seventh annual Prelude to the Dream all-star dirt Late Model race at the half-mile Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, which is benefiting four of the nation’s top children’s hospitals – – Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, N.C., Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Children’s Medical Center Dallas. Labonte is on Team St. Louis along with Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Justin Allgaier, Kenny Wallace, Ron Hornaday and Ricky Carmichael. This year’s Prelude to the Dream is a team event. The race is carried this evening on HBO Pay-Per-View, 8 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. PDT). Ordering information and up-to-the minute racing information is available at either www.PreludeToTheDream.org or www.HBO.com.

“It’s a good time,” Labonte said. “Everybody is as competitive as you could imagine. It’s for fun and for a great cause, but oh by the way, we are all here to win. It’s a fun night, but competitive for everyone. We are going up there to help Tony (Stewart) raise money for four children’s hospitals and just being a part of it is special. I’ve been lucky to race in the Prelude to the Dream for a few years. I always enjoy it and wish we could do more.”

Thursday before wheels are up on the team plane out of Statesville, N.C., Labonte, K&N Pro Series East driver Coleman Pressley and JTG Daugherty Racing are visiting Barium Springs Home for Children only minutes away in hopes of bringing awareness to local children that struggle with a background of abuse, neglect and poverty.

“We’re looking forward to spending the day with the children and we’ve got a full fun day of activities prepared for them,” Labonte said. “We’re taking our entire team up there to perform live pit stops and we are making it a career day too. This visit is for the children to have fun and at the same time tell people in our community how they can donate or volunteer. For more information, visit

DENVER, Colo. (June 8, 2011) — All the prerace chatter about Pocono Raceway’s three-turn configuration, the long straightaway or the much anticipated tunnel turn doesn’t faze Regan Smith. 

“This is NASCAR and we want to have challenging and unique tracks to race at; it would be pretty boring if all the venues where identical,” said Smith, as he gets ready for Sunday’s 5-Star Energy 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.

Smith, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet, knows about challenging and unique race tracks. His victory on May 7 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway is considered one of the most challenging as it continues to live up to its moniker — The Track Too Tough To Tame. 

“I like the idea of going to a different-style track,” stated Smith. “You have your favorites and there are some tracks that might not suit your style the best or that might wear on your psyche a little. But overall I like them all. A negative approach about a facility can only hinder your performance.”

Although he has only competed in five-career races at the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway, Smith’s main concern in not about the track, but finding more consistency with his No. 78 Furniture Row team.

“Pocono is where we need to start nailing down consistent finishes in our Furniture Row Chevrolet,” said Smith. “Lately, it’s been one good race, one bad race. You can’t have that, we need to start stringing some good results together. The potential is there, but we need to avoid mistakes and mechanical issues.” 

After his win at Darlington, Smith’s next race at Dover produced a 34th-place finish due to a broken track bar mount. He came back strong at Charlotte, finishing eighth. But slipped last week in Kansas with a 24th-place result.

“If we can have an error-free race I feel we can come out of Pocono with a strong finish,” noted Smith. “We were decent there last year, and after only five career races at Pocono I am understanding the tunnel turn and the configuration of the track much better.”

Last year in his fourth and fifth career starts at Pocono, Smith posted finishes of 18th and 21st.