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Author: SM Staff

  • NCAT: Jarred Whissell Scores Best Career Finish of 12th at Mosport

    For some drivers, its about going for the wins while for others, its accomplishing those smaller goals. For Jarrad Whissell, he accomplished the lather of the two as he scored a best career finish of twelfth at Mosport International Raceway near Bowmanville, Ontario this past weekend.

    “With all the little issues we had this week twelfth would seem like a pretty good finish, but when you’re running tenth and fighting for another spot or two it’s a bit frustrating too,” he explained.

    The Calgary, Alberta native struggled in practice with his No. 44 SMS Equipment/Komatsu Ford with mechanical issues as the team worked on diagnosing an engine miss.

    “One of the fuel lines to the carburetor wasn’t hooked up properly,” Whissell explained.  “We expected to be better in qualifying but never got the opportunity to try things out.”

    Qualifying wouldn’t be an issue as it was rained out with the field lined up according to NASCAR rule book, which set Whissell in the 23rd starting position. Whissell knew he had to begin his march early, though ran into more mechanical issues.

    “The car had a pretty bad vibration right from the start of the race,” he said.  “We made a couple of pit stops and the team figured out it was a wheel bearing.  Unfortunately we lost a lap while they made repairs.”

    The problems would continue throughout the race as, “The car was a handful to drive throughout the race.  The power steering would come and go as the wheel was turned and post race we found a loose tie rod end.”

    Though Whissell would continue to work his way through and a caution came out, which allowed Whissell to get back on the lead lap, with another quick caution bunching the field up so he could try to gain more positions. Whissell kept working his way up through the field, though a battle with Howie Scannell, Jr. slowed his progress.

    “I got a run on him and was looking to make the pass up the inside but he kind of pushed me onto the grass,” he explained after the race.  “Instead spinning him out I gave way.  When I tried again on the final lap he came across the nose of my car and to avoid him I spun and couple of cars got by me so we wound up finishing twelfth.”

    Jarrad Whissell will be ready to tackle the next Canadian Tire Series race next weekend on July 9th at Exhibition Place in Toronto.

    For more information on Whissell, check out www.jarradwhissell.com and follow him on twitter, @jarredwhissell. All of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races  will once again be shown on TSN.

  • CROWN ROYAL LEAVING NASCAR AFTER 2011 SEASON

    *OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM CROWN ROYAL: *

    * *

    In evaluation of our NASCAR programming and after much consideration, we have made the decision to make a strategic shift to focus our resources against our annual Crown Royal “Your Name Here” program which awards race naming rights to an adult fan. The Your Name Here program has provided NASCAR fans with an experience that is unrivaled in sports and in recent years has shed light on some of the remarkable military servicemen and servicewomen who proudly serve our country. We look forward to elevating this program as well as continuing our presence in the sport through an experience that our fans have grown to love. The specific details regarding how we will honor these heroes at next year’s entitlement will be announced at a later date.

    In shifting our strategy, we will end our sponsorships with Roush Fenway Racing and NASCAR upon the conclusion of the 2011 season. We have developed strong relationships with the people at both organizations – they have not only been fantastic business partners, but have also become our friends. We thank them for working with us throughout the years to showcase the importance of our social responsibility initiatives. We look forward to a strong finish to the 2011 season and like the many fans we’ve gained along the way, we’ll never stop rooting for the No. 17 car on its way to Victory Lane.

    – Yvonne Briese, VP Marketing, DIAGEO NA Whisky

  • Hoorahs and Wazzups: The Long And Winding Road

    Hoorahs and Wazzups: The Long And Winding Road

    Over the previous weekend NASCAR temporarily changed its racing format and sent its Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series teams to road course venues. It was a long and winding road in each case. There were times when the road was bumpy, there were times when the cars spent more time moving dirt and gravel than actually driving on the road, and, oh yes, there was road rage. With those thoughts in mind, let’s begin this week with:

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”232″][/media-credit]Hoorah to Reed Sorenson for winning the Bycyrus 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the mammoth Road America in Elkhart Lake-Wisconsin. The Turner Motorsports/Dollar General Chevrolet driver only led the final lap of the race, in a very wild finish, to claim his fourth series win, his first of 2011 and his first NASCAR win since 2007. He also left Wisconsin as the series’ new points leader.

    Wazzup with the bizarre, not to mention confusing, circumstances that placed Sorenson in the Road America victory lane?

    The confusion began on lap 50, the scheduled final lap of the race, following a yellow flag restart from a single car spin on lap 46. Wazzup with road course ringer Jacques Villeneuve pulling a questionable, bonzai, move from his fourth starting position? The result was contact with Brian Scott who went sailing into a gravel pit. Max Papis, another road course ringer, wasn’t so fortunate. He went slamming nose first into a retaining wall. Scott and Papis, two potential major players to win this race, wound up finishing 16th and 23d respectively. After the race Scott displayed his displeasure with a rear bumper tap on Villeneuve’s car as it came down pit road. Papis pulled up alongside the Villeneuve car to state what had to be a rather unpleasant oppinion.

    On the topic of opinions, Hoorah to Papis for a calm, but stern, radio comment after he was sent flying into the wall when he said: “sorry guys, I just knew the 22, (Villeneuve), was going to do something stupid.”

    Wazzup with Michael McDowell literally giving away this race following the first green-white-checker restart? Driving the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, normally occupied by Kyle Busch, McDowell ripped off a beauty of a restart and appeared to be on the way to the win.only to spin out. Due to a very quick recovery, there was no caution flag following this spin.

    But there was a caution flag that stemmed from a bottle neck accident that followed the McDowell spin involving four cars. Following this incident it was announced that driver Steve Wallace and his crew chief were going to be summoned to the NASCAR trailer after the race.

    Wazzup with the lack of overall information, from the ESPN Network, following this incident? First off, the video replay was shot from a long distance away and it was virtually inconclusive regarding exactly what happened. The ESPN broadcast team did announce that Wallace and crew chief, Doug Randolph, had a post race appointment with NASCAR officials but never said exactly why. We later learned the meeting concerned aggressive driving by Wallace but by the time that was revealed, a full 24 hours had gone by.

    ESPN has an outstanding reputation for accurate and timely reporting in any form of sports you could name. Why wasn’t one of their highly professional pit reporters dispatched to gather information regarding the Wallace incident? Let’s see, could it possibly have anything to do with the fact that the driver’s father-team owner was also an ESPN broadcast analyst who was sitting in the live booth at the time? Is it possible that his broadcast colleagues didn’t want to step on the toes of Rusty Wallace during a live broadcast?

    By the way I swear that I heard a slight hissing sound in the audio background from the ESPN broadcast booth. I wondered if it was steam pouring out of Rusty Wallace’s ears. Well known for never holding back a candid comment and,in all fairness, it had to be difficult for a father-team owner-network analyst to have to sit there choosing his words very carefully.

    Wazzup with the fact that we haven’t quite made it to the bizarre and confusing part of this race yet?

    The green flag fell on lap 55 for the third, and final, green-white-checker attempt to finish this race. Justin Allgaier ripped off a perfect restart to take the lead. His team mate, Sorenson, passed road race ringer Ron Fellows for second and it appeared that Turner Motorsports was lining up a one-two finish.

    Unfortunately, lap 55 never got completed before Aric Almirola and Michael McDowell spun in turn five followed by another spin from Brian Scott. Almirola’s car went into the turn five gravel pit. Wazzup with race officials not immediately throwing a yellow flag when they realized Almirola was stuck in that pit? The car was up to its axles in gravel and wasn’t going anywhere without the assistance of a wrecker. Yet, a full green flag lap, on a four mile road course, went by before the caution finally came out.

    Under caution, Allgaier ran out of gas. The great debate from the NASCAR Nation was now on and it was centered around that extra lap of high speed, green flag, racing before a needed yellow flag appeared. If they caution flag would have come out, right after the lap 55 spin outs, would Allgaier have had enough fuel in the tank to slowly complete that final green-white-checker finish and win this race? Considering that many of the top ten contenders had to come to pit road for fuel under caution, the answer to that question is: “probably not.”

    However, Allgaier deserves a Hoorah for a very gracious and articulate post race television interview despite the bitter disappointment he felt. Keep a sharp eye on this young driver race fans. In the years to come he’s going to be showing us a lot both on and off the track.

    Meanwhile back on the long and winding road, Fellows, realizing that Allgaier was out of gas, roared around Sorenson’s car to seemingly take the lead. Wazzup with Fellows continuing to move at full speed despite the presence of a caution flag? He never slowed until the pace car picked him up to take command of the field.

    At the time NASCAR officials stated that Fellows was the race leader due to Sorenson’s failure to maintain the minimum speed under the caution flag. By now the entire NASCAR Nation was sitting in front of their televisions sets screaming “Wazzup.”

    Hoorah to NASCAR for deciding to err on the side of caution by double checking the elaborate video replay system located in their Race Control Center. That replay clearly showed a Road America official waving a yellow flag when Fellows passed Sorenson for the lead.

    Sorenson was sent to victory lane and Fellows was credited for finishing second. It was a good move, and a good call, by NASCAR.

    ******************

    Now let’s move on to the long and winding road part two: that would be the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the Infineon Raceway in California’s wine country.

    Hoorah to Kurt Busch for an outstanding winning performance that led to his first win of the 2011 season and his first ever win on a road course. Busch’s Roger Penske/Shell-Pennzoil Dodge was dominant all day long and easily led a race high 76 laps.

    It wasn’t that long ago that this winning driver was on a major tirade. He was frustrated by overall team performance and pulled no punches in delivering his thoughts on the matter that were often very loud, very angry and, in the case of in car radio transmissions, very foul mouthed.

    Despite the often irritating, and embarrassing, impact of these tirades, team owner Roger Penske was listening carefully and made some personnel changes and job position changes. The result has been a complete turn around in performance that has generated some very impressive on track numbers in many major categories. These changes has also benefited their second team driven by Brad Keselowski. Hoorah for Roger Penske for looking past the tirades and realizing what needed to be done. Another Hoorah goes to Busch for admitting that it’s time for him to “shut up and drive.”

    Wazzup with the road rage between Tony Stewart and Brian Vickers? It turned out to be a double dose of road rage that may not be resolved just yet. It started on lap 38 when Vickers locked up his brakes while making contact with cars in a tight pack. Meanwhile Kyle Busch slid off of turn 11, trying to pass Juan Pablo Montoya, and his efforts to get back on the asphalt kicked up a lot of dirt that obscured Vicker’s vision. Vickers checked up to avoid Busch and Stewart, believing that he was intentionally being blocked, got angry and dumped him.

    Wazzup with “Road Rage 2: The Sequel” that occurred between these two drivers on lap 88? At virtually the same turn 11 location, Vickers found Stewart and dumped him. Stewart’s self owned Chevrolet spun backwards with the rear of the car landing on on a tire barrier located adjacent to the crash wall. That prompted a radio comment that said “I don’t think I can drive away from this one.”

    Wazzup with the collateral damage that came from this double dose of road rage? Both of these drivers were looking at the strong possibility of top five finishes at a point in their season where a good finish was absolutely needed.

    Wazzup with the innocent victims who found themselves becoming unwilling participants in this collateral damage? This is especially true of Dale Earnhardt Jr who found himself getting collected during the first Stewart-Vickers incident. A damaged radiator from that incident led to a major engine failure, which led to a 41st place finish and that led to a fall from third to seventh in the championship points standings.

    Wazzup goes to the other acts of road rage during the Infineon race that may or may not resurface at a later date? This list includes Joey Logano vs Robby Gordon and Logano vs Matt Kenseth. Also making this list are Juan Pablo Montoya vs Kasey Kahne and Montoya vs Brad Keselowski. Each of these incidents were performed in the midst of race traffic which could have easily increased the collateral damage factor.

    The final Wazzup goes to Roush Fenway Racing driver David Ragan for being penalized for having too many men over the wall during a pit stop. How does that happen during this modern day and age?

    The final Hoorahs goes to Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards for the where did they come from finishes. A heavy pre race favorite, because of his impressive Infineon stats, Gordon was a non factor in this race much of the day until the closing moments. Good pit adjustments allowed him to charge his way to a second place finish. It also moved him to ninth in the points standings.

    Edwards was also a non factor much of the day. His team also found the right adjustments and he finished third while increasing his championship points lead to 25 over Kevin Harvick.

    Edwards deserves another Hoorah for a Friday night decision not to perform double driving duty as originally planned. He was scheduled to compete in the Nationwide Series race in Wisconsin and then fly to California for the Sprint Cup event. But there were performance issues with the Cup car and Edwards felt the priority should be focused on California so he could take advantage of the two scheduled practice sessions on Saturday.

    The decision turned to be a very smart move for two reasons: first, he had a strong finish and a good points day in California. Secondly, the Nationwide Series car departed the race early with oil pressure problems.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Infineon Toyota Save Mart 350

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Infineon Toyota Save Mart 350

    In a weekend filled with Merlot, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the California wine country, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 23rd annual Toyota/Save Mart 350 Sprint Cup Series race at Infineon Raceway.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”249″][/media-credit]Surprising: Not known for his road racing prowess, the driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge finally notched a road course victory. Kurt Busch did so in dominating fashion, taking the checkered flag and quickly resorting to his backwards victory lap around Infineon Raceway.

    This was Busch’s 23rd Cup win, tying Ricky Rudd for 23rd on the all-time victory list. This was also Busch’s first win since his Coca Cola 600 victory in 2010, breaking a 38 race winless streak.

    “It was an unbelievable set up,” Busch said. “Once we got into the groove with this car, it seemed to get better and better. My cars have never done that before.”

    “That was an awesome handling Dodge,” Busch continued. “After what we’ve been through, we’ve been on a high these last few weeks.”

    Not Surprising:  Road courses often lead to road rages and Sonoma did not fail to deliver. Most drivers were mad at somebody, from Denny Hamlin being ticked at AJ Allmendinger , Joey Logano plowing through Robby Gordon, and Juan Pablo Montoya punting Kasey Kahne, as well as getting into it with Brad Keselowski.

    But the ‘most mad in wine country’ award goes to Brian Vickers, driving the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, and Tony Stewart, behind the wheel of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet. The trouble between the two started early in the race when Smoke leaned on Vickers so hard that he got turned, setting off a major melee.

    Vickers, however, bided his time until late in the race and paid back Stewart in a major way. In fact, Vickers paid Stewart back so dramatically that the latter came to rest with his rear end elevated on one of the tire barriers, causing Stewart’s first ever DNF on a road course.

    “I probably had it coming because I dumped him earlier,” Stewart said of his altercation with Vickers. “It was payback but I dumped him first because he was blocking.”

    “I like Brian but I was complaining about how he’s been racing all year,” Smoke continued. “I don’t care if he was Ryan Newman, I would have dumped him too.”

    “I’m not going to tolerate it,” Stewart said. “They block, they get dumped.”

    “I don’t know why he did it,” Vickers said, explaining his side of the altercation. “I was trying to avoid the 18 (Kyle Busch) and Tony was the least of my concern.”

    “He sowed his oats and he reaped them,” Vickers continued. “Stuff happens.”

    Surprising:  Instead of flitting hither and yon, Carl Edwards surprisingly proved his total focus on the championship by not only forgoing running in the Nationwide race this weekend but by also slugging his way to a third place finish.

    “We were lucky,” Edwards said. “Everything went our way today.”

    “I stayed here for practice,” Edwards continued. “And it all came together for a third place finish, which is great for our points.”

    Edwards, this week piloting the No. 99 Scotts Ortho Ford, posted his third top-10 finish in seven races at Infineon. He also maintained his lead in the Chase standings, now 25 points over second place Kevin Harvick.

    Not Surprising:  In a weekend marked by coming home, celebrating his daughter’s birthday and premiering his appearance as ‘Jeff Gorvette’ in the Cars 2 movie, it was not surprising to see four-time champion Jeff Gordon finish in the runner up position at one of his most loved race tracks.

    The driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet notched his 15th top-10 finish in 19 races at Infineon. It is also Gordon’s sixth top-10 finish in 2011, putting him solidly in Chase contention in the ninth spot in points.

    “It was a struggle,” Gordon admitted. “We really missed the set up at the beginning of this race.”

    “Our car was fast at the end and that felt awesome,” Gordon continued. “To work our way up to second, man, that was amazing.”

    Surprising: For one driver who absolutely abhors road course races, deeming Sonoma “one of my worst tracks,” the race actually did not turn out so badly. Matt Kenseth, behind the wheel of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford, finished in the top-15.

    Kenseth and his crew chief Jimmy Fennig brought a brand new car to Sonoma, having shaken it down last month at Road America. Kenseth definitely bettered his average finishing position of 22.2 at Sonoma in the past.

    Not Surprising: Unfortunately for Junior nation, their favorite but self-admitted road course hater, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., had reason to continue his bad attitude. The driver of the No. 88 scored his second DNF since October 2009, officially finishing 41st.

    “We was just out there running around and we got part of it,” Junior said, referencing the altercation between Tony Stewart and Brian Vickers on Lap 38. “It banged up the nose and knocked a hole in the radiator.”

    Junior’s engine did indeed expire from the hole in the radiator, which drained the water and caused the engine to blow. Junior also fell from third to seventh in points as a result of his Sonoma woes.

    “I’m not a big fan of the place,” Junior said. “Maybe one of these days.”

    Surprising: One of the Cup drivers not often mentioned in the front of the pack was surprisingly a factor in the latter stages of the Toyota/Save Mart 350. David Gilliland, driver of the No. 34 Taco Bell Ford finished 12th.

    “I am really proud of our team today,” Gilliland said. “We had an issue with second gear toward the end of the race there, so we lost a few spots, but I had a lot of fun running up front all day.”

    “I asked the guys on the radio during the race if there was an award for passing the most cars ‘cause, man, it sure seemed like I was passing cars all day,” Gilliland continued. “It was a great day for our team.”

    Not Surprising: After the gaffe heard round the racing world last year at Infineon when Marcos Ambrose shut off his engine and lost the lead, the driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion redeemed himself, finishing fifth.

    “I am so proud of my Stanley car and my Stanley team to get a top five out of what could have been a very tough day for me,” Ambrose said. “I want to thank Stanley for putting me in the car and believing in me.”

  • Marco Andretti Puts Andretti Autosport Back on Track with Win at Iowa

    Marco Andretti Puts Andretti Autosport Back on Track with Win at Iowa

    [media-credit id=2 align=”aligncenter” width=”500″][/media-credit]
    Marco Andretti (26) and Tony Kanaan (82) battle for the lead late in the race at Iowa Speedway.
    Since 2003, Andretti Autosport has been competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series and since, they have three championships, two Indianapolis 500 victories and 36 wins. The problem was none of that success came recently – till last Saturday.

    Last Saturday, Marco Andretti won the Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer at Iowa Speedway on June 25th, 0.7932 seconds over Tony Kanaan.

    “It was a big win for us for sure,” team owner Michael Andretti said. “I think a lot of people were really pounding on us and thought we were down and out, but I can tell you this team has got tons of fight in it and we are never out.”

    [media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”275″][/media-credit]
    Marco Andretti holds the Iowa Indy Corn 250 trophy after winning Saturday's race in Newton, Iowa.
    Back in 2007 with Dario Franchitti, the team won the Indianapolis 500 and the championship and in their first four season, had a total of four victories. Though since then, they had yet to find that type of success.

    This year has been a different story as they won earlier this season with Mike Conway and now with Andretti.

    “I’m happy for all the Venom guys; they did a great job,” Michael Andretti continued. “The last pit stop they brought him out P1. They did it when we needed it. It was just really truly a team effort, and Marco drove a hell of a race there in the end. He was beating the best. He had Tony out there, he had Dario, (Scott) Dixon and he drove very well there in the end.

    “I’m just so happy and relieved for (Marco). There’s been a huge monkey on his back, and it was on mine, as well. There was just a lot of pressure on us, him as a driver, me as an owner, because of some of the past things that happened at Indy and stuff. So to come back and win like this, it was just a great, great day.”

    Nine races into the year, Andretti Autosports’ four drivers Danica Patrick, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Conway and Andretti have scored four top-fives and 12 top-10 finishes. While Andretti won the Iowa race, Patrick posted her third consecutive top 10 after starting on the front row while Hunter-Reay finished eighth.

    Meanwhile, for Andretti, the win marked Andretti’s first win since Infineon Raceway in 2006 (stretching 78-races).

    “We’ve been in a position to win a lot of races and we’ve come up short,” Andretti said. “I never doubted the team, never doubted myself. I always said as soon as the stars were aligned and a little bit of luck goes my way that we’d be sitting here.

    “I think it’s just the drought, so to speak, just made me appreciate what we have here in IndyCar racing. From the drivers to the teams, it just makes us appreciate being here that much more because we know we beat those guys. The competition is unbelievable.”

  • TNT’s Embarrassment To The Sport Coverage Needs To Go

    TNT’s Embarrassment To The Sport Coverage Needs To Go

    As I sat down ready to watch some of the road course action at Sonoma this past weekend, I was looking forward to a solid race where I could see the action. No doubt the action was heated on track with the feuds, though the coverage took away from that greatly.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]For starters, how much coverage was actually shown? Every seven minutes or so, it looked as though they were going to commercial. The statistics show that that there were 143 minutes of the race shown with 52 minutes of commercial. That works out to 26% of the race being commercials, instead of racing action. For the race at Michigan, it was 22% while Pocono was 27% commercials.

    Of course, if you look back to FOX’s final race at Kansas where there were 52 minutes of commercials equaling 27% of the broadcast, I guess you could say that they’re on par.

    Though even if they’re on par, they’re not doing a good job. FOX was good at showing different angles, keeping fans informed with what’s going on with a bunch of drivers and giving you the full recap of a wreck.

    For the big wreck down in turn 11, TNT showed multiple angles of the wreck to show how Brian Vickers got shoved in there by Tony Stewart. However, the only damage they showed was the damage to Vickers. What about Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick who were in that mess? We heard them say at the end how Harvick came back from the incident to finish well. How much do we know of that comeback when you don’t show each car involved with their damage? Then, when Earnhardt Jr.’s motor blows up later in the race, how are we to know that’s caused by the front end damage when we didn’t see how serious it looked?

    TNT missed opportunities to report nuggets during the race that should’ve been discussed, including issues for points leader Carl Edwards. While watching the race, it was twitter first where I heard of Edwards having a crushed quarter panel and it causing him issues. Meanwhile, TNT was more focused on Kurt Busch and his lead and whether or not he could be caught.

    Speaking of the lead, how many times did they come back just after a pass for the lead had been made? Or how many pit stops did they miss? There’s some key story lines right there as they help in telling the story of how the race is going to play out.

    NASCAR keeps wondering why fans complain about the race coverage on TV and are turning away from watching it. They can’t be losing fans because of the racing action as any fan will tell you that Sunday is exciting. So until either TNT fixes their errors or NASCAR drops them off the wagon, the trend of losing fans is going to keep happening.

    If you want an example of what coverage should look like, watch an IZOD IndyCar race as their coverage was beautifully put together and might I add, I got to see lots of action while knowing all the top story lines.

  • ARCA Winchester News and Notes: Venturini Motorsports, Tom Hessert and More

    

    While the race was won by Dakoda Armstrong, a bunch of other drivers came home with solid finishes to be proud of.

    This year, Venturini Motorsports has made it a habit of finishing in the top 10 with a variety of drivers. The latest driver to add his name to the list is Ryan Blaney.

    Blaney drove the team’s No.25 Lauren Briant/Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet to a sixth place finish after suffering a flat right front tire on lap 162 in his ARCA debut.

    “We were trying to take it easy in the race, just trying to save our stuff,” Blaney said, after leading 154 of the first 161 laps. “I think if we could have had 10 more laps after we blew a tire, we could have passed Ty for the lead and then we would have been one lap down and got that caution and been in business. It just wasn’t meant to be.

    “I ran the same line I did 50 laps in a row. I was just taking it so easy, especially to help that right front and to keep it from doing what it did. I don’t know if our camber was off or what. But it was a great night. I’ve got to thank Venturini for letting me run this car and making it as good as it was. We’ll get ‘em next time.”

    The son of NASCAR veteran Dave Blaney is hoping that he can make some more starts this season.

    “It’s great to race in the ARCA (Racing) Series,” Blaney said. “There are really good guys racing, especially here, a place like Winchester.”

    Venturini Motorsports also debuted John Blankenship, who finished 10th in the No. 55 Chevrolet, meaning that so far this year Venturini has 11 top 10s with nine different drivers.

    Meanwhile, finishing fifth in front of Blaney was Tom Hessert, who was proud to impress numerous guests from Federated Auto Parts, who were on hand as the race’s sponsor.

    “The guys in the pits did a really good job of getting us back out,” he said. “We didn’t have the best car; we had a couple issues that were keeping us from being better, but it was a good top-five for the Federated car at a Federated race. It’s good to have a good showing for them. It’s too bad we couldn’t get a win, but in a couple weeks we’ll go to Berlin and we always run really well there.”

    For points leader Ty Dillon, it was also a solid day for him as he still finished fouth to pad his points lead despite bottoming out lap in the race.

    “It’s unfortunate,” Dillon said. “It doesn’t happen to us often, but it’s still a good points day. We qualified well and led a couple of laps. I’m happy. I just like winning, so it’s a little disappointing to lead laps there at the end of the race and fall off so bad. We saved our stuff all day and rode and were hoping for what happened to happen, for guys to wear their stuff out and us be patient as usual to let the race come to us, but something happened there and we just got too loose.”

    The next race for ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is July 9th at Berlin Raceway.

  • Elliott Sadler No. 2 Nationwide Series Advance: Daytona International Speedway

    Elliott Sadler No. 2 Nationwide Series Advance: Daytona International Speedway

    Elliott Sadler

    No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet Impala

    NASCAR Nationwide Series Race 17 of 34 – Daytona International Speedway

    TWO CARS, ONEMAIN FINANCIAL: At Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway this weekend, OneMain Financial will be on board not only the No. 2 Chevrolet Impala driven by Elliott Sadler, but also the No. 4 Chevrolet Impala piloted by his team co-owner, Kevin Harvick. The duo, both competing for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), will be sporting the colors of OneMain Financial in an effort to promote the new brand of the organization.

    SADLER AT DAYTONA: Sadler has competed at Daytona in the NASCAR Nationwide Series four times, with a best finish of 15th in 1997. He has led a total of 30 laps around the 2.5-mile track, and looks to lead more this weekend. Sadler also has experience at the superspeedway across two other NASCAR series, making 24 starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, with four top-five and nine top-10 finishes at the track with 58 laps led. The Emporia, Va., native has made two starts at Daytona in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with one top-five and one top-10 finish, and 56 laps led.

    KHI’S FOUR HORSEMEN: KHI will field four entries in Friday night’s race with Nationwide Series championship contender Sadler in the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, KHI co-owner Harvick in the No. 4 Chevrolet Impala, Clint Bowyer in the No. 33 Menards Chevrolet Impala and driver Tony Stewart in the No. 9 TapouT Chevrolet Impala. These four powerhouse drivers have compiled an impressive set of series stats including 44 starts, seven poles, eight wins, 26 top-five finishes, 31 top-10 finishes and have led 542 laps at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

    PROVEN RECORD: In February of 2005, Tony Stewart grabbed KHI’s first win in the Nationwide Series behind the wheel of the No. 33 car. The following year, Stewart not only claimed victory again in the season opener but also gave KHI its first one-two finish as the No. 77 KHI Chevrolet Impala came in second behind the No. 33. Since 2005, KHI has recorded three additional wins, two poles, eight-top five and 11 top-10 finishes and led 194 laps at Daytona.

    DASH 4 CASH: In the first of four Dash 4 Cash events of the season, Sadler has the opportunity to compete as one of the top four drivers in the series for $100,000. The highest finishing driver of the four at Daytona will win the monetary prize and will automatically qualify for the next event at Iowa Speedway in August. The three-highest finishing drivers that receive Nationwide Series Championship driver points will also qualify for Iowa. The other events include Richmond International Raceway in September and Charlotte Motor Speedway in October.

    TO THE POINT: Heading into the race at Daytona, Sadler remains in the second position in the Driver’s Point standings for the third week in a row. Sadler sits five points behind leader Reed Sorenson, who took the victory at Road America last weekend.

    PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial team finished fourth in a wild event at the first road course race of the season at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Running in the top-10 for most of the day, crew chief Ernie Cope developed a fuel-mileage strategy with only two pit stops planned during the scheduled 50-lap event. After three green-white-checkered attempts, the field received the checkered flag under caution with the No. 2 in the fourth position, and just enough fuel to cross the finish line.

    CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 2 team will bring chassis No. 073 to Daytona this week. This superspeedway car is the same chassis the team took to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April where Sadler grabbed his first pole of the season. The team led eight laps before finishing in the fifth position at the 2.5-mile track.

    ARE YOU A CODE SPOTTER? This is the last week fans can play the Nationwide Insurance Code Spotter Sweepstakes for a chance to win a one-of-a-kind Race Weekend Road Trip VIP Experience with Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 team at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. Last month kicked off the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) segment of the Nationwide Insurance Code Spotter Sweepstakes and the segment ends this Sunday, July 3 at 11:59 p.m. ET. To play, enter the code KHINC now at CodeSpotter.com.

    THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Elliott Sadler

    How do you feel heading into this week’s race at Daytona International Speedway?

    “At Daytona, it’s either feast of famine for me. We had a really fast car there in February, but got caught up in a wreck early and finished 38th. Of course, my team owner Kevin Harvick will be in another OneMain Financial car, so I’m sure that we will find each other and help each other throughout the whole race. I’m thrilled for the opportunity to help OneMain Financial to celebrate their brand launch this weekend, and I hope that we can bring home a victory for everyone! Daytona is a special place to a lot of people because it is the France family’s birthplace and where the roots of NASCAR started. I always look forward to going down there on the Fourth of July weekend. It’s a special race that kind of marks the middle of the season. When you leave Daytona, you have a feeling of how the rest of the season will go. It’s going to be a great race.”

    CitiFinancial

    CitiFinancial, soon to be OneMain Financial, is the premier community lender in North America. With more than 1,300 locations across the United States. CitiFinancial has been serving communities since 1912. Additional information may be found at www.citifinancial.com.

    Citi

    Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries. Through Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.

  • Kurt Busch wins first road course race at Infineon Raceway

    Kurt Busch wins first road course race at Infineon Raceway

    Kurt Busch dominated Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway by leading 75 of the 110 laps in route to his first road course victory of his career.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”254″][/media-credit]“It was an unbelievable setup. Once we got into the groove with this car, it seemed to get better after lap five or six. Our cars have never done that before. I’m real proud of this Dodge team, everybody from Shell and Pennzoil.” Busch said.

    This was Busch’s 23rd career victory and his first win of the season, continuing his remarkable turnaround since his troubles earlier this season.

    “I’m so proud of these guys for really stepping up after what we’ve been through. Man, we’ve been on a high these last few weeks.” Busch added.

    Jeff Gordon finished second, Carl Edwards third, Clint Bowyer fourth and Marcos Ambrose finished fifth.

    Gordon’s second place finish moves into the top-10 in points.

    “I don’t know just the adjustments we made were that good or the track position or the track changing at the end. It looked like a lot of guys were really, really struggling with grip there at the end and our car was actually pretty good. We were fast and I think we were faster than the leaders. That felt awesome to start there with old tires and be able to work through traffic all the way up to second, man that was amazing.” Gordon said.

    Edwards decided not to race in Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Road America to better prepare his car for Sonoma and it paid off.

    “I’m glad I stuck around for practice.” said Edwards.  “”I am really proud of my team for the way we battled today. It was just a crazy race and for us to be able to work our way up to where we finished just says a ton about my Aflac crew and Bob and everyone.”

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. was involved in Brian Vickers and Tony Stewart’s first incident in turn 11.

    “We just got in a little bit of a bang up there in turn 11 with a bunch of guys and knocked a hole in the radiator and drained all the water out of it and hurt the engine. The engine is ruined so we won’t be able to get back out there. We had made the car better. It was a really rough race but it was fun though. It just sucks to be out this early.” Earnhardt Jr. said.

    Earnhardt Jr. finished 41st and drops to 7th on the standings.

    Vickers later gave Stewart a payback spin. On lap 88, Vickers drove thru Stewarts entering turn 11, sending Stewart into the outside tire barrier. Stewart’s car came to rest with the rear end atop the tires. Stewart tried to continue on after making repairs in the garage but was unable to.

    “I dumped him earlier for blocking and he got me back later on. If they block, they are going to get dumped. It is real simple. I mean I don’t blame him, I don’t blame him for dumping us back. But, I don’t race guys that way, I never have. If guys want to block then they are going to wrecked every time. Until NASCAR makes a rule against it, I am going to dump them every time for it. He did what he had to do, I don’t blame him, there is nothing wrong with it.” Stewart said.

    Stewart finished 39th and Vickers finished 36th.

     

    Unofficial Race Results
    Toyota/Save Mart 350, Infineon Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=16
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 11 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 48
    2 13 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 42
    3 23 99 Carl Edwards Ford 41
    4 9 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 41
    5 8 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 39
    6 1 20 Joey Logano Toyota 39
    7 12 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 37
    8 14 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 36
    9 26 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 36
    10 15 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 34
    11 19 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 33
    12 29 34 David Gilliland Ford 33
    13 7 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 31
    14 33 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 30
    15 2 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 29
    16 24 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 29
    17 3 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 27
    18 28 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 26
    19 16 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 25
    20 6 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 24
    21 25 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 23
    22 17 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 23
    23 22 16 Greg Biffle Ford 21
    24 32 0 David Reutimann Toyota 20
    25 5 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 19
    26 43 46 Andy Pilgrim Chevrolet 18
    27 42 37 Chris Cook Ford 17
    28 30 51 Boris Said Chevrolet 16
    29 34 6 David Ragan Ford 15
    30 38 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 14
    31 36 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 13
    32 39 32 Terry Labonte Ford 12
    33 40 181 Brian Simo Ford 11
    34 27 13 Casey Mears Toyota 10
    35 41 71 Andy Lally * Ford 9
    36 10 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 8
    37 4 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 8
    38 21 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 6
    39 20 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 6
    40 31 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 0
    41 18 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 3
    42 37 60 Mike Skinner Toyota 0
    43 35 177 P.J. Jones Dodge 1
  • NASCAR’s Short Tracks; The Beginning To The End

    NASCAR’s Short Tracks; The Beginning To The End

    [media-credit name=”Photo by Steve Grayson/Getty Images for NASCAR)” align=”alignright” width=”233″][/media-credit]

    Short track racing as we know today is dying a very slow death, and with that it’s not hard to look around and see how many of them have closed their gates in the last five to 10 years. At one time they were the backbone, as well as the places where some of NASCAR’s top name drivers built their racing careers on.

    On any given weekend it wasn’t uncommon to walk through the turnstiles and if you weren’t there early enough, finding a few empty seats together was about as hard as driving the speed limit here in Los Angeles before and after work.

    The foundations that were built at each one these racing facilities quickly became part of the motorsports culture, as fans from around the country flocked to see these courageous men race their family vehicle. Stock car racing as it was known, rapidly grew as track owners began buying vacant parcels of land to build their own facilities while utilizing surface’s such as dirt, clay or paved with asphalt for the drivers to race on.

    As the sport grew, so did the technology that went into building some America’s most famous tracks throughout the country, which included automatic scoring, smoother racing surfaces, and a more safer environment for the drivers as well as the fans just to name a few. It wasn’t long before an up-and-down economy along with a fan base that began to lose interest, that’s about the time we started to see some of our favorite racing facilities close their gates in favor of land prices that far exceeded the operating costs.

    With most of the tracks being built down south and in the Eastern part of the region, it wasn’t long before the racing bug caught fire to their neighbors west of the Mississippi, and tracks began sprawling up in just about every state. Even though NASCAR’s roots were founded in the south, California quickly became a hot bed for the sport when tracks were built to accommodate those drivers who were looking for a place to race their souped up hot rods. Nestled between the rock quarries in a city with a population of less than 1500 people, lies one of NASCAR’s finest state of the art short track racing facilities.

    Irwindale Speedway as it was known when the facility first opened its gates back in March of 1999, became the first privately owned short track to  pick-up a major sponsor when Toyota acquired the naming rights to the track in 2008. “Bringing a major sponsor to the track was a dream of mine. Track owner Jim Williams, and myself felt that an automotive company would be a good fit,” said general manager Bob DeFazio when asked how Toyota became the track’s major sponsor.

    DeFazio also added that, “With Toyota being Southern California based and just getting into the racing business it was a natural to get involved. It also gave Toyota a chance to showcase their vehicles.” Toyota Speedway at Irwindale as it is known today is asphalt paved, progressively banked half mile track with a third mile track snuggled on the infield. TS@I is known around the NASCAR faithful as one the premier short tracks in the Nation, and has hosted the Toyota All-Star Showdown since 2003 which is dubbed, “The Daytona 500 of short track racing.”

    The showdown brings together drivers from both the K&N Pro Series West and East divisions to battle for bragging rights, given that it’s a non-points event. The speedway also plays host to NASCAR’s Whelan All-American Series, which is designed to reward excellence at local tracks, comparing performance against drivers of each region, and ultimately against drivers across the United States. Through a formula known as the Competition Performance Index (CPI), eventually a State as well as a National points champion will be crowned based on finishes for the best 18 races ending September 30.

    Along with the Whelan Series, the track also runs various other divisions on both the half and third mile, along with demo derby’s and figure eight racing. When you think about the cost of entertainment which does not come cheap these days, especially with Los Angeles being considered the entertainment capitol of the world, TS@I has kept the price of admission the same since they first opened the track 12 years ago. “We knew we were in the entertainment capitol of the world when we built this place. We have a lot of competition and knew that coming in and they set the standard and we have to be good to compete with them,” said DeFazio.

    DeFazio also added that, “We set a standard that if we give people a good value and a good price, and that came from Mr. Williams when he worked at McDonalds.”  In 2002, TS@I added a 1/8 mile drag strip on the south-east corner on the parking lot where people of all ages can come out and watch, as well as race their street-legal vehicles in a safe and controlled atmosphere on Thursday nights.

    “The drags are great and it has become a happening. We get anywhere from 150 to 300 cars during the summer to race for time slips. We get about 1000 spectators every Thursday night,” said DeFazio. DeFazio finished with, “It’s a different group of people and they are out here to have a good time. It’s something easy for them to do on a Thursday night.” TS@I is a family oriented NASCAR sanctioned track that has something to offer for people of all ages whether you are a seasoned racing veteran, a novice fan looking to learn more about the sport, or just looking for a place to hang out on a Saturday night with some friends.

    TS@I is just one of many of NASCAR’s hidden treasures where some of motorsport’s best racing is usually found, and you never know when the next big star will emerge from one of these short tracks. Take the time to support your local track, because one day they may become a distant memory like as so many of them have already have.