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  • Ryan Reed: Inspiring People Through Journey, One Lap at a Time

    Ryan Reed: Inspiring People Through Journey, One Lap at a Time

    [media-credit name=”Ryan Reed Racing” align=”alignleft” width=”133″][/media-credit]When Ryan Reed was 17 years old, everything was going great in his life.

    “I was pretty full of myself, was doing well and winning races, on cloud-nine,” he says.

    Then in February of 2011, Reed was diagnosed with type one diabetes (T1D).

    “When I was diagnosed, I was really humbled, especially when they told me I wasn’t going to be able to race again,” he says. “I was devastated and really just, I thought I was invincible and then to learn that my dream was going to be taken away.”

    Reed says it was heartbreaking at the time and caused him to grow up quickly.

    “I thought I could sit there, pout and throw a tantrum till I got my way,” he continues. “Then I realized that’s not going to beat this. I need to – I got to take a step back and think about it. I just decided that if there was anything I could do to put myself back behind the wheel of a race car, then that’s what I was going to do.”

    He started learning more about the disease, finding other athletes who continued in their sport after being diagnosed.

    “I learned how common it was so I knew there’s got to be a race car driver with this,” he says. “The only driver I could find was Charlie Kimball and he’s an IndyCar driver, so I was like, ‘Well, there’s no reason I can’t do it’ so I found out more about him.”

    He then learned of Kimball’s doctor Ann Peters and got in contact with her.

    “I had a doctor at the time, but I just wanted to talk to Ann to see what she had to say,” she says. “So I went in there, not expecting anything and she wanted to have me as her patient.”

    Through a conversation with Peters, he discovered that if he worked at it, he would have a future in racing.

    “She just said you need to do what I tell you and be diligent with it and this isn’t ever going to quick, get easier – you may learn how to control it, but that’s just about it,” he says. “It’s never going to go away and I was like okay.”

    Since then, Reed has learned how to handle the disease and has a continued to move up the racing ladder.

    Earlier this year at Daytona International Speedway, the 18-year-old competed in his first ARCA Racing Series event with Venturini Motorsports.

    [media-credit name=”Ryan Reed Racing” align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]“It’s been really fun,” he says of the season so far. “Daytona, we had a really good run going, ran second most of the day, then just ran out of fuel with just under 10 to go. I mean, what do you do then? Daytona kind of the gamble anyways.”

    Last week, he finished 12th after being spun late in the race and now sits sixth in points, 55 points behind leader Cale Gale.

    “Seemed like we had a good strategy and with 30 to go, we had new tires,” he says. “We were working our way to top 10, passing someone for 11th or 12th and had a really good car, and got spun out. That kind of ruined our day. We were able to battle our way back up to 12th, but that didn’t show our effort from the whole day and the whole weekend. We qualified fifth and felt like we had one of the cars to beat.”

    The deal came together with Venturini Motorsports after he raced a late model race at Martinsville Speedway.

    “When I was 15, I started racing super late models on the west coast and had a really successful year,” the Bakersfield, California native says. “We decided we wanted to go try to race late models on the east coast because if you can go to the east coast and make a name in late model racing, then you’ve really done something. So we packed up, I moved out there.

    “I was racing a late model at Martinsville and I qualified 10th my first time there, which 80 plus cars show up every year to try and qualify for 43 spots. Billy Venturini was there, saw it and came over and said, ‘I wanna talk to you about driving one of my cars next year’ and the rest is history.”

    So far the experience at Venturini Motorsports has been wonderful.

    “Bill and Billy were drivers themselves behind the wheel and it’s really cool to be with a group rich in history behind the wheel,” he says. “It feels like family to me. They’re so welcoming. Anytime I have a problem on and off the track, their open arms and ready to listen. They’ve just been great to work with and I really feel like this year is going to be a really positive experience with them.”

    The 2012 season marks an important year for Venturini Motorsports as it’s their 30th anniversary. Reed says that for this year, he would like to win a championship for them, well winning some races and scoring top-five finishes.

    “They’ve had a lot of history and great drivers come through their program,” he adds.

    Five years down the road, he hopes to be competing at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series level.

    “I mean, there’s no question in my mind,” he comments. “That’s where I wanna be and I’m not going to settle for anything less. It’s not an easy road and I definitely didn’t pick an easy sport to break into and be successful at so I know all the challenges. NASCAR has been supportive, especially of the disease. They’ve already cleared me medical wise to race in the Sprint Cup Series so I feel like if I have no restrictions. If I want this, I can go out and get this.”

    Reed got started in racing at a young age through his father.

    “I come from a racing family,” he says. “My dad raced forever, since he was a little kid. He got me into go-karts when I was four and been there ever since.”

    Due to the influence of his father on the racing side, he says that his racing hero is his father.

    “I’ve watched my dad and just his style of racing and his approach to the sport,” he says. “It’s just always meant a lot to me and helped me through the years.

    “There’s a lot of guys that I look up to – Kyle Busch, on the track, he’s so impressive. We watched him at Daytona do what no one else has ever done in the Budweiser Shootout. There’s quite a few guys I look up to and just try and learn the positives.”

    In 2009, Reed won the Legends Division Track Championship at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. The following season, he became the Super Late Model Division Rookie of the Year while becoming the youngest winner in the division when he scored one win.

    In 2011, Reed raced a variety of cars, including the Pro Allstars Series, NASCAR Whelen All American and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East

    As Reed has continued his career, he has turned the disease into a positive.

    “I’ve really been fortunate to be an advocate for JDRF and having my own foundation to really turn it into a positive,” he says.

    JDRF is the world’s largest funding provider for research towards curing, treating and preventing T1D and its complications.

    Reed formed Ryan’s Mission, a non-profit organization to help build awareness, become a role model and positively touch the lives of others.

    If given the chance, Reed says that he wouldn’t change anything that has happened.

    “It’s not really something that I’d think about changing now,” he says. “I’ve been able to do a lot of positive with it and really positively touch so many lives that it’s hard to say that if I had to chance to undo this, I would.”

  • NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: CAN KURT BUSCH LEAVE THAT BLACK CLOUD BEHIND IN THUNDER VALLEY?

    NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: CAN KURT BUSCH LEAVE THAT BLACK CLOUD BEHIND IN THUNDER VALLEY?

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]Kurt Busch was not a happy man last Sunday, following the conclusion of the Kobalt Tools 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Las Vegas native was hoping for a win, or at least a strong finish, in front of the home town fans. Instead he wound up with a disappointing 35th place finish due to a late race accident. In an unusual in car radio comment, during this race, he said he “had a black cloud hanging over his head.”

    This driver’s trials and tribulations, from the 2011 racing season, was well documented. Frequent tirades, fueled by a lack of anger management, often made the NASCAR news and eventually led to team owner Roger Penske announcing that he and Busch “had mutually agreed to part ways.”

    In the aftermath, Busch signed a one year contract to drive for team owner James Finch and his Phoenix Racing Chevrolet. While this team has always had a certain level of potential, it was a far cry from the resources Busch enjoyed during this tenure at Penske Racing. Prior to the start of the 2012 season Busch said it was a time for him to step back and take stock of his career: “racing needs to be fun again,” he said.

    He also admitted that it was time to deal with his personal anger issues. In all fairness and honesty, he needs to be congratulated for that move. There’s an old, and wise, saying that goes: “in order to solve a problem, one must first admit that the problem exists.”

    That “racing needs to be fun” concept has been somewhat slow in the making for this team. The frustration was clearly evident, during the Las Vegas race, when we heard a few “old Kurt” radio transmissions during the race. When told that the yellow caution flag was out, due to debris, Busch again made a reference to that black cloud hanging over his head and said: “They don’t miss the f*****g black cloud above my head, that’s what gives it away.”

    In another instance, again under yellow flag conditions, Busch was told by crew chief Nick Harrison: “don’t pit-don’t pit-don’t pit !” An angry driver responded with: “Jesus H Christ I’m already on pit road right at the commitment cone.”

    (By the way, exactly what does that letter “H” stand for? Henry? Horatio? Dare I say it: Hebrew?)

    Also, during a pit road visit, an air hose got hung on the rear bumper of the car. That’s when it was Harrison’s turn to lose it. He screamed and cussed at this crew to remove the hose. The hit in track position was huge. One can only imagine the level of frustration the driver was feeling.

    But the end of the long day for this team came on lap 256 with a late race accident. Busch came over his radio and yelled: “You’re not going to believe it. I ran over a piece of debris, blew the left rear out, and now we have a wrecked race car. I called it-I called it-I called it.”

    The first few weeks of the 2012 season has been filled with disappointment and frustration for Phoenix Racing and is exemplified by the following bullet points:

    In the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona the team finished 17th, nine laps down, following an accident. In their Gatorade Duel qualifying race, they finished 14th while completing all 60 laps. Problems during the Daytona resulted in a 39th place finish, 89 laps down. The bright spot so far has been a 15th place finish at Phoenix where they completed all 312 laps. Then there was the aforementioned accident at Las Vegas that led to a 35th place finish, 16 laps down. The team is still seeking their first top ten finish and are presently ranked 29th in the championship points.

    The next potential obstacle this team will need to keep tabs on is their “golden ticket” owner points status. Teams within the top 35 in owner’s points are guaranteed a start in the next race on the schedule. To allow time for teams to accumulate owner’s points in 2012, the guaranteed starts are being based on 2011 owner’s points for the first five races. Phoenix Racing finished 30th in the 2011 owner’s rankings. That means Busch is guaranteed a start in the upcoming fourth and fifth races at Bristol and the Auto Club Speedway.

    The concern here lies in the fact that, with three races complete, the Finch team is currently ranked 32nd in the owner’s points. In a sheer note of extreme irony, they are tied in the standings with the #22 Roger Penske Dodge Busch drove last year. They are also only five points ahead of the team ranked at 36th. In other words: they can’t afford any more bad finishes during the next two events.

    Can Kurt Busch turn around his early season numbers and find the “fun” in racing again? Can he leave that proverbial black cloud, hanging over his head, behind at the Thunder Valley-Tennessee based Bristol Motor Speedway?

    Actually, the answer is Yes: he can. That’s because this driver has some amazing numbers at this track that includes five wins, six top five finishes, 13 top tens and a very healthy average finish ratio of 12.9. Of course, naysayers will make quick work in pointing out that these numbers were compiled when Busch was driving for team owners Jack Roush and Roger Penske and that is true. However, there has been plenty of examples, from the recent past, that clearly indicates that the Phoenix Racing Chevrolet is very capable of creating some strong runs.

    When the green flag falls on the Food City 500 at Bristol this Sunday, keep an eye on Kurt Busch and the #51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet. They could turn out to be a lot of “fun” to watch.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”273″][/media-credit]Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Greg Biffle: Biffle finished third in the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas and now has three third-place finishes on the year. He assumed the lead in the Sprint Cup point standings, and holds a 10-point lead over Kevin Harvick.

    “There are those that think I’m the weak link at Roush Fenway Racing,” Biffle said. “Well, I didn’t win, nor did I place, but you could say I ‘showed’ them.

    “They say good things come in three’s, and bad things come out of Boris Said’s mouth. That being said, if I continue to finish in the top 5, I should avoid Said altogether.”

    2. Tony Stewart: Stewart took the lead on a restart with 36 laps to go, and held off Jimmie Johnson on two late restarts to claim his first-ever victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was a redemptive victory for the defending Sprint Cup champion, who gave away a win at Vegas last year.

    “As you may have seen,” Stewart said, “I won a giant wrench. Obviously, that will be presented to my pet monkey, Mojo. Hopefully, he won’t throw it into anything.

    “I was quite motivated by losing at Vegas last year. I’ve learned that you can’t keep a good man down, although NASCAR’s surely tried with Jimmie Johnson. More importantly, I’ve wiped a ‘win at Las Vegas’ off my bucket list, and finally, I’m no longer the only person calling Vegas ‘virgin territory.’”

    3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick faded late after racing in the top-5 for much of Sunday’s race, but still finished a solid 11th to move up one spot in the point standings. He is now second, 10 points behind leader Greg Biffle.

    “Despite what you may hear on Twitter,” Harvick said, “DeLana and I are not naming our son ‘Otis.’ We don’t have a name yet, but one won’t be hard to come by, especially considering all the ‘baby’ names in NASCAR right now, like ‘Kyle,’ ‘Kurt,’ and ‘Carl.’ I think it’s only fitting that my child’s name be a four-letter word.”

    4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson bid to pass Tony Stewart in the closing laps at Las Vegas failed, but Johnson’s runner-up finish was his second-consecutive top-5 finish. After his early exit at Daytona, Johnson now seems to be in proper form to reclaim the Sprint Cup.

    “I tried everything,” Johnson said, “but I couldn’t pass Stewart. So just call me ‘tape measure,’ because I couldn’t get around Tony.

    “Sadly, though, Chad Knaus’s appeal of his six-race suspension was denied by NASCAR. Eventually, Chad will have to serve the suspension. He didn’t get away with it, so now he has to get away from it.”

    5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt led 70 laps at Las Vegas, second only to Tony Stewart’s 127, and posted his second top-10 finish of the year with a 10th in the Kobalt Tools 400. He improved one spot to fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings, and is 18 points out of first.

    “I led 70 of the first 73 laps,” Earnhardt said. “The fans of Junior Nation were thrilled, because the race was ‘mine to lose’ for only 70 laps, and not all of them. I don’t know what I whipped more—-the field, or Junior Nation into a frenzy.”

    6. Carl Edwards: Edwards scored his first top-5 result of the season, joining Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle, who finished third, with a fifth in the Kobalt Tools 500. Edwards leapt four places in the point standings to sixth and trails Biffle by 23.

    “I spent the offseason lamenting losing the title to Stewart because he had more wins,” Edwards said, “so it pains me to see Tony winning again. But not as much as it pained me to be called ‘Second Cousin Carl.’”

    7. Denny Hamlin: A week after winning at Phoenix, Hamlin struggled in the Kobalt Tools 400, finishing 20th on a day when Joe Gibbs Racing placed no cars in the top 15. Hamlin fell from the Sprint Cup points lead, and now sits third, 12 out of first.

    “You win some,” said Hamlin, “and you lose some. That’s me quoting Tony Stewart’s statement on Sprint Cup championships and crew chiefs. And speaking of Darian Grubb, I won’t dismiss him, or his contributions to this team.”

    8. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth led 22 laps at Las Vegas, and was eyeing a potential top-5 finish before getting shoved into the wall after a lap 263 restart. He finished 22nd and fell one spot in the point standings to fifth, 23 behind Greg Biffle.

    “Sunday was my first race with my new sponsor,” Kenseth said. “Ironically, it was the first time ‘Zest’ has been used to describe anything Matt Kenseth. Maybe a more appropriate soap to sponsor me would be Ivory, because I’m white and 99 44/100% pure.”

    9. Mark Martin: Martin suffered a brush with the wall after Dale Earnhardt, Jr. bumped Martin’s No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Chevy. Martin recovered to finish 18th and is now 10th in the point standings, 28 out of first.

    “I’ve finished second in the championship race five times,” Martin said, “while Junior’s never come close to contending. So I don’t know where he gets off running in to me. It did him no good. It did me no good. Of course, we’re both well-versed in finding ourselves in no-win situations.”

    10. Joey Logano: Logano led the way on a disappointing day for Joe Gibbs Racing, placing 16th at Las Vegas, his first finish outside the top 10 this year. He is ninth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 27 out of first.

    “The No. 20 Dollar General Toyota was solid,” Logano said, “but handling issues got the best of us, despite the work by my dedicated crew, the ‘Buck Privates.’ After a long day of making adjustments, they were spent.”

  • Dillon and Stenhouse Lead the ‘Young Gun’ Movement Return to NASCAR Nationwide Series

    Dillon and Stenhouse Lead the ‘Young Gun’ Movement Return to NASCAR Nationwide Series

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”227″][/media-credit]Through the past five years, there were many concerned NASCAR fans with regards to how they saw the second-tier divisions going. Concerned fans were questioning both series as they saw a lack of young drivers competing in the divisions.

    So far this year, the Nationwide Series looks to have defied the concept as seven drivers in the top 10 in points are considered ‘young guns’.

    For drivers coming into the divisions like Ty Dillon, it gives them hope for the future.

    “They kind of got away from having individual names that led that series,” Dillon says. “Now we’ve got young guys in each series that are developing their way from the trucks to the Nationwide and now to Sprint Cup. It’s really cool to see that and gives you hope as a driver making your way up the rankings. I’m glad to see more individuality in each series, so it’s really nice.”

    Currently, veteran Elliott Sadler leads the standing with a win that came at Phoenix International Raceway. However beyond his position, a group of hungry young drivers follow.

    21-year-old Austin Dillon currently sits second in points, 15 points behind Sadler. So far in the first three races of the season, he has finished fifth, fourth and seventh. This marks Dillon’s first season in the Nationwide Series after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship in 2011. Dillon got his start in racing at the age of 15 racing Banderos after seeing them run at Charlotte Motor Speedway with his brother.

    24-year-old Ricky Stenhouse Jr. currently sits third in points, 17 points behind Sadler. In the first two races of the season, he finished 19th and third while winning last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This marks Stenhouse’s third full-time season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series after winning the championship last year. He chose to stay in the Nationwide Series an extra year to therefore learn more.

    “Knowing what I want in a race car on the stock car side of it and knowing what these races take to be better throughout the whole race, and the right adjustments and just learning more about the race cars in itself,” Stenhouse says. “I can tell you everything about a sprint car, but there are so many parts on these stock cars that I’m still not 100 percent familiar with so I think to learn last year and so far in my stock car career I’ve been learning what I need for the race car to go fast. Now I want to learn the set-ups and things like being able to come into the pits and say, ‘Hey I need this’ and help the crew chief out instead of just telling him, ‘Hey I need to be tighter, fix it.’ So there are a lot of things I just want to get better at.”

    21-year-old Trevor Bayne currently sits fourth in points, 19 points behind Sadler. In the first three races of the season, he has finished 11th, seventh and fourth. This marks Bayne’s third season in the Nationwide Series after winning the Daytona 500 last season. Bayne is looking to run the full schedule to continue to gain experience, however it will depend if Roush-Fenway Racing can secure sponsorship.

    20-year-old Cole Whitt currently sits fifth in points, 22 points behind Sadler. In the first three races of the season, he has finished fourth, 13th and sixth. This mark’s Whitt’s first season in the Nationwide Series after turning heads last year in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Whitt moved into the truck series last season after shocking fans by becoming the youngest USAC National Midget Champion in 2008.

    The average age of these four drivers is 21.5, so it is definitely showing proof that ‘young gun’ phase is back.

    One reason that you’re seeing the young gun phase come back is big teams are going back to taking a chance on younger drivers, rather than trying to reel in the money from big companies. Dillon drives for Richard Childress Racing, Whitt drives for JR Motorsports while both Stenhouse Jr. and Bayne drive for Roush Racing.

    Going after inexperienced, unknown drivers can present problems in finding sponsorship. Dillon was able to find sponsorship, as he has made a name for himself by being the grandson of Richard Childress. Whitt has been able to find sponsorship via having NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. as his car owner. Stenhouse has just found sponsorship for the year, while Bayne is not as lucky. Sponsors aren’t as willing to chance on a young driver as they do not have a proven background. With drivers running for big teams, it can sometimes be enough to per sway a sponsor.

    As the season goes forward, it will be interesting to watch how the young drivers do in comparison to the veterans and Sprint Cup Series drivers who dip in the series. So far the Nationwide Series-only have the upper hand as they have won the first three races of the season.

  • Wallace earns his job on and off the track

    Wallace earns his job on and off the track

    [media-credit name=”theautochannel.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Kenny Wallace has had a roller coaster of a career, highlighted by pushing Dale Earhardt Sr. to his final victory at Talladega over a decade ago. The 48 year old from St. Louis, Missouri, is in a fight to keep himself behind the wheel for one final season in the Nationwide Series.

    It is well documented that Wallace doesn’t get paid. He drives for the underfunded RAB Racing with Brack Maggard in the No. 09 Toyota Camry.

    Throughout his time at RAB Racing, Wallace has done it all.

    Performing on the track gave the veteran driver a chance to do it all over again in 2012. Unfortunately, the sponsorship he originally obtained, backed out the last second just before the Nationwide Series race at Phoenix.

    Rumors swirled around as his job was and still is in jeopardy. Reports across numerous media panels believed Wallace had finished his career. But, he did not give up.
    With the use of his widely spread Twitter and Facebook pages, Wallace was on a mission.

    As the past two weeks progressed, so did Wallace’s on-track performance. He qualified third at Phoenix, the best qualifying effort in RAB Racing’s history. Though he was unable to finish the race due to an accident, Wallace raised many eyebrows.

    This past weekend at Las Vegas, Wallace contended for a top ten position throughout the day. Ultimately, he finished 11th, an impressive bounce back for Wallace as he continued to search for a sponsor.

    How does this help Wallace’s case though? Sponsors didn’t want him when he was running in the top ten every week, why would they want him now?
    I’ll tell you why.

    Kenny Wallace is a man like no other. His beyond extraordinary personality is thrilling for races fans. If one was to go onto Twitter and see what Kenny Wallace was up to, you wouldn’t just see what he’s doing, you would see him respond to numerous fans on a daily basis.

    Over the past few seasons, Wallace has become more interactive with the fans. Well, at least more than he already was.

    A fan favorite for years, Wallace can spread the word of a company to thousands of people in the matter of seconds. One company has already taken a pledge to help out Wallace as well as expand their branding.

    MAC Tools, an often used tool supplier throughout the NASCAR garage area, will sponsor Wallace for the Nationwide Series race this weekend at the Bristol Motor Speedway.
    Wallace and team owner Robby Benton collaborated to break the news to fans as they posted it on their respective Twitter accounts.

    “@Mac_Tools:……I am SO Thankful….. @Mac_Tools is proud to be teaming with @Kenny_Wallace and @RobbyBenton at Bristol on Saturday!” tweeted Wallace in an enthusiastic way.

    Wallace got fans involved as well. In a matter of several hours of the announcement, fans across the nation wrote about MAC Tools and how great it is for them to sponsor a driver that doesn’t even get paid.

    Few drivers can be compared to Wallace. His determination to find a sponsor via social media propelled him to achieve his goal.

    A race car driver that advertises himself on Twitter could seem crazy to numerous people, but for Kenny Wallace, a man hunting for victory in his possible final year as a NASCAR driver, it is one more opportunity to show his great talents.

  • NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: RACING AND LAS VEGAS BELONGS IN THE SAME SENTENCE

    NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: RACING AND LAS VEGAS BELONGS IN THE SAME SENTENCE

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]The recently completed NASCAR weekend at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway was clearly evident that this race track, along with the city of Las Vegas, clearly understands how to cater to every need and want a racing fan could ever have. It was also absolute proof that the words racing and Las Vegas belongs in the same sentence.

    The following are just a few major “bullet Points” to support the theory:

    An estimated 150,000 were on hand to watch the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series run the Kobalt Tools 400. In this day and age, there aren’t many tracks on the Sprint Cup schedule that can make that claim.

    An estimated 70,000 were on hand to watch the very exciting Sams Town 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

    The Las Vegas Motor Speedway offered its fans a special package that combined reserved seating with the special amenities of visiting their Neon Garage, a spectacular opportunity to see the cars, drivers and race team members up close. One of these packages even allowed fans to sit in on the Sprint Cup driver’s meeting, a first time ever experience. Commenting on that rare fan access was Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Senior vice President of Racing Operations, who said: “the entire NASCAR community has always worked closely to ensure that we are the most fan friendly sport. This is another terrific example of a race track providing fans with access that is unprecedented in sports.”

    The racing at Las Vegas was not just limited to the speedway’s 1.5 mile oval. Fans who arrived earlier in the week were treated to some Wednesday and Thursday night action at the facility’s famed one half mile dirt track. The two days of dirt tracking featured red hot action from the West Coast Late Model Shootout, the IMCA Modifieds, the West Coast 360 Sprint Car Showdown as well as a special appearance by the famed World Of Outlaw Sprint Car Series.

    There was plenty of fan friendly activity off of the race track in Las Vegas as well. That included an unusually high amount of NASCAR driver personal appearances. Three solid days of scheduled appearances gave fans the opportunity to meet their favorite drivers while collecting autographs and photos.

    The Las Vegas hotels and casino did their typical outstanding job of catering to the needs of the racing fans that visited their city. There were plenty of special accommodation packages loaded with special amenities. There was also a full schedule of special shows and concerts scheduled during the NASCAR week to keep the fans well entertained when they were not at the track.

    This city’s willingness to use an over the top, what can we do for you, approach towards the racing fans who visit was a major factor that led to NASCAR’s decision to move their annual awards banquet from New York to Las Vegas.

    Now that the action of NASCAR in Las Vegas has concluded, what’s next for Las Vegas racing fans? The Las Vegas Motor Speedway has already made that move by offering fans free admission to two days of legend car racing at the Bullring, a three eighths of a mile oval located within the racing complex. The March 17th and 18th action features the U.S. Legend Cars International’s Spring Sizzler Series. Yes, you read that right: admission is free.

    Over the years the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the city they call home, has clearly proven they know how to promote racing and how to take care of their fans. There’s only one question remaining: when is this race track going to receive the second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series date they so richly deserve?

  • Appeal Denied As Expected

    Appeal Denied As Expected

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”222″][/media-credit]It must have been a full moon. I didn’t go because it’s a long way from West Virginia to the R&D Center and mostly because I knew what the verdict was before they announced it. Rarely does the NASCAR Appeal Board, or whatever they call it these days, overturn anything, especially when the defendants are caught red-handed. The circus continued regardless.

    Reports I heard said reporters arrived at the designated place as early as 7:00 AM. When it got past noon, people bought food for the reporters, with Landon Cassill bringing Burger King (his sponsor) bringing treats to the faithful. Later on Lugnut, the Charlotte Motor Speedway mascot showed up to entertain. Never in the history of a hearing was so much done for so many. In the end, the penalty to Chad Knaus and the No. 48 team stayed the same, just as I expected. Rick Hendrick declared his disbelief at the verdict and vowed to take it to the next level. In the meantime, if the hearing with the head man is taken next week, it means Knaus would miss Fontana through Talladega, but the big issue is whether or not it would make a difference in the team.

    Knaus would be able to set up the car, discuss changes to the car through cellular phone conversations, and everyone knows the team is so talented, it really won’t make a difference—not much anyway. The big issue is the points penalty. There is not a chance in hades that that will go away, so you have to wonder what in the world Rick Hendrick is thinking. The best that can happen, if history is any indication (and many think that the fact that the head officer is a former GM employee think this is probably what will happen), is a reduction of the suspensions of Knaus and the car chief. Why drag this out? Only Rick, the top owner in the series, knows. The penalty could be reduced, but it’s not likely, and it probably doesn’t matter anyway. The No. 48 team will make up the deficit, land in the top 10 and do its usual thing in the Chase. And yet, it was made into a circus maybe because it was Rick Hendrick and the five-time champ. Or maybe it was because it was an event and NASCAR has never avoided an event. We will know soon what the verdict is, but why all the drama?

    Finally, Chevrolet kind of announced today that they won’t show their stock car for 2013 until later. Ford and Dodge, even though Dodge doesn’t know who will be campaigning the car, have already shown their car. Toyota and Chevrolet have not. Chevrolet said it will be a new nameplate—many think it will be the new Chevelle, built in Australia by Holden. I have to wonder how red-blooded American fans will react to their favorite, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and other Chevy drivers driving a foreign car. It probably won’t make any difference. Fusions are made in Mexico and many Chargers are made in Canada. If they indeed run the Chevelle, people will accept the foreign car just like they did the Camry.

    So, we’re not even at midweek and everyone’s all excited. In a couple of days, we head to Bristol, once the highlight of March. The change in the track configuration has lessened that some, but still a great to watch a race. Chad will be on the pit box for now and Trevor Bayne will not be there at his home track, but I have to hope that the circus over one team will not take away from the others and we see a great race. It’s going to be a tough act to follow, you know. I mean, Lugnut and a horde of reporters are hard to beat. But, for now, we have a race to win and the lawyers and protests are in the background. Until next week.

  • The Final Word – Tony was a tiger at Las Vegas, Petty was a tiger on SPEED

    The Final Word – Tony was a tiger at Las Vegas, Petty was a tiger on SPEED

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”165″][/media-credit]When the dust had cleared at Las Vegas, Sunday had featured two folks in my opinion. One was Tony Stewart, who won this early in the season way back in…well, never. He drove like a demon to take his one, beating his own standard when he claimed Atlanta in 2002, the fourth race of that campaign. Stewart has finished second at the Daytona 500, but no wins have ever come his way this early.

    The defending and three-time NASCAR Cup king is now in his 13th full season on the tour, but like an old bear he just doesn’t shake off his hibernation until winter is gone and spring has pretty much passed. He has now won just twice in March, once in April (2006 – Martinsville), and twice in May, back to back at Richmond in 2001 and 2002. Twenty-one of his 45 victories have come in the middle third of the year, with 19 coming down the stretch. Maybe his competitors need to sing some sweet lullabies to Tony, put him back into his slumber until June. An early rising Stewart can’t be good for any of them.

    There was another fellow who made some news on Sunday. If NASCAR had their way, their kangaroo court might just fine this boy (secretly, of course) $100,000 for telling it like it is. Kyle Petty had a few choice words to say in regards to the appeal system Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson are presently involved in. To tell you the truth, he made it sound a lot like the courtroom of Judge Roy Bean, the Law West of the Pecos.

    If you don’t know about Bean, he was a man who shot another down, dueled another to the death, survived a lynching, and operated some saloons. Obviously a prime candidate to become Justice of the Peace in west Texas in the 1880s. Many a time the fines he handed out equaled the exact amount the accused happened to have had in their pockets. He was not empowered to grant divorces, but did so anyway while concluding wedding ceremonies with “and may God have mercy on your souls”, the traditional comment when handing out a death sentence. In short, Roy Bean made up the law as he went along, with little or no expertise in how to get it right.

    That brings us back to Kyle Petty’s comments about those listed in the rule book as NASCAR’s 45 member appeals board. Three of them were picked, and decided that the Johnson-Knaus penalties were hunky dory. Due process? Well, maybe not. “Some of them may have passed away since their names were put in here. That’s how old these people are”, observed Petty. Maybe only a third of them had even been to a track in the past year, he furthered, do not have the expertise, and certainly could not be considered as the peers of those current drivers, team members, or owners. Or, as Petty stated, “These people don’t go to the racetrack, they don’t understand the process. They don’t understand sometimes where this sport is.”

    By the way, Kyle also stated that the 25 point penalty handed out was no where near legitimate, in his opinion. Remember, the car in question had passed the templates before and, from what I understand, was not even going through the process when tagged using the ole eyeball method. It simply was at the track, but not yet presented for competition. In short, it had the same standing at that time as a Winnebago parked in the infield or a hot dog stand in the parking lot ; it was just there.

    So, after Tuesday’s ruling Hendrick Motorsports takes this to NASCAR’s chief appellate officer to continue its appeal, all the while being very respectful to the powers that be. With his runner up finish at Las Vegas, Johnson sits 36 points out of a Chase place with 23 races to go before the deadline. That is doable, but it would be tougher should his crew chief, along with car chief Ron Malec, get an enforced six week holiday.

    What about Kyle Petty? If NASCAR can fine independent contractors for making statements that they deem to be detrimental to stock car racing, what about an announcer? If they did, I don’t imagine Petty would find any support on the appeals board, unless the old fossils couldn’t remember what it was all about by the time they met.

    What Petty said at Las Vegas had little to do as to whether the penalties were right or wrong, though we know what he thinks on that. It was about whether the appeal process constitutes a peer review of the issue or instead that they might be perceived as being just a rubber stamp committee of glorified hacks with little expertise who are less interested in doing what is right but rather doing what they are told. It should make for an interesting week as we lead up to Bristol.

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. knows it was a good weekend but still leaves Vegas frustrated

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. knows it was a good weekend but still leaves Vegas frustrated

    [media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]For a few hours on Sunday driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet looked the best he’s been the last three years.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. rocketed from the outside of the front row to take the lead and drove away from the field by over five seconds. He led until lap 44 when he came down pit road, but a caution falling the right way gave him back the lead until lap 74 when he surrendered it for good after leading for 70 total laps.

    Earnhardt Jr. went on to finish 10th, his second top 10 of the season. He sits fourth in points entering Bristol this weekend.

    “Well, we didn’t keep up with the race track,” said Earnhardt Jr. on his finish. “The car was really fast at the start of the race. I didn’t give that information to Steve [Letarte, crew chief]. I don’t think I gave him a good enough understanding of where our racecar was, even though it was really fast.

    “The track got really tight on us at the end of the race. Something that I should have had a handle on, and should have known better, and should have not let happen. We just didn’t have our adjustments going throughout the day to keep up with the track as it tightened up on us.”

    For as hard on himself as he was about where they finished, Earnhardt Jr. was very pleased with the fast car that his team had given him. It was fast right off the truck on Friday, near the top of every speed chart in practice and qualified fourth, it just didn’t finish where it deserved.

    “Hopefully we can keep bringing cars like that to the racetrack and we will get some opportunities to win,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We had good speed, led some laps. This is a tough series. When you get back in traffic it gets very competitive. Congratulations to Tony [Stewart] and his team. We’ll be at it in Bristol trying to get another one.”

    The finish falls squarely on Earnhardt Jr.’s shoulders, at least according to him. Repeatedly saying after the race that he didn’t give Letarte enough or the right information to make changes to his car. And he didn’t think far enough ahead in the race to predict what the car or track would do.

    That fault of Earnhardt Jr.’s cost the team on a weekend when they had one of the best cars on the track. And it’s something that he’s been publicly criticized for in the past.

    As Sunday’s race started to wind down and cautions started to fall Earnhardt Jr. knew that his car was going to get tight and it would make the job of navigating traffic that much harder. It was too late though for changes to be made and he had to do the best he can with what box he had put himself in.

    Once he lost the lead Earnhardt Jr. never cracked the top five for the remainder of the race. Instead he fought to remain inside the top 10 where he eventually finished. Yet, it was a former teammate of his who gave him unexpected trouble and halted the hard charge he was trying to make at the end.

    Earnhardt Jr. was running 10th and coming with a full head of steam off turn two when Mark Martin, running ninth, remained next to the wall instead of moving to the inside.

    It would have give Earnhardt Jr. a clear lane to drive by but instead he was knocked in the rear end by an upset Earnhardt Jr. The contact sent Martin into the backstretch wall, damaging the right side of his No. 55.

    “Personally, I don’t have a problem with Mark and have so respect for him,” said Earnhardt Jr. “But to me, there is an unwritten etiquette that when the guy is running the top, even if you are clearing him or passing him, I’m coming 10 miles an hour faster off the top of the race track, you stay low.

    “Don’t knock a half second off my lap time by being a jerk about it. Stay low. You are going to get it in the next corner and the position is going to be yours. Don’t pull up in front of somebody when they are going to come off the corner 10 miles an hour faster.”

    Though he did apologize for damaging Martin’s car, Earnhardt Jr. said he was already frustrated at that point in the race and Martin sent him over the edge. Still looking to snap his 132 race, over three year, winless streak, Earnhardt Jr. is hungrier than ever and he’s ready for more than a solid weekend.

    “We just wan to win really bad and felt like we should have finished better than we did,” he said. “I was just frustrated at that point and that is just not the way that I understand it to be done and I am sure he feels a different way about it but I think we definitely disagreed right there at that moment.”

  • Ty Dillon Puts Pressure Aside, Looking To Do Well This Year

    Ty Dillon Puts Pressure Aside, Looking To Do Well This Year

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]For any driver entering into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driving for one of the biggest teams in NASCAR, Richard Childress Racing, the pressure is certainly there to perform. However, for Ty Dillon, the pressure goes beyond that. But as you take a closer look at this 19-year-old, the pressure isn’t bugging him one bit.

    For starters, he is driving the exact same truck that his brother Austin Dillon drove to the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship. Everybody is expecting younger brother Ty to live up to Austin’s level after Ty finished in the top 10 in two of three starts last year.

    Rather than being concerned with the expectations, Ty Dillon focuses on the advantages of having a big brother racing in NASCAR.

    “I can use his career as a learning curve for me, the things that he does,” Dillon says. “I get to pay attention to everything that he does on and off the race track that help him or hurt him. There are a lot of advantages to having an older brother who is successful in a series above you.”

    Dillon also has the pressure on his shoulders as he is the grandson of his team owner, Childress. For Dillon, he once again uses it as an advantage from his standpoint in his career.

    “He is always there to help us, no matter what it is on or off the race track,” the defending ARCA Racing Series Champion says. “Whether it’s doing stuff like this and what he’s learned over the years that’s helped him, or things on the race track. He’s a legend of our sport and I’m very blessed to be in the situation that I am to be able to rely on him.”

    Dillon adds that Childress stresses that he should bring the truck back in one piece, while also taking some risks to win races.

    At no point does Dillon take for granted the situation he is in, either, saying that he was blessed to be born into this situation.

    “I’ve been around racing all my life and kind of knew it would be an option there for me,” he says. “My grandfather never really wanted to pressure us into racing. We played football, baseball and other sports. We kind of started racing late. I started when I was 13. (Brother) Austin was 15. Nowadays kids are starting when they’re four or five years old racing.”

    Since then, the feeling behind the wheel hasn’t changed for Dillon as he says he still loves it just as much.

    “Driving, it just gives us that feeling that you can’t get away from,” he explains. “We still get it every day when we strap into these Nationwide (cars) and trucks and we race probably 50 or 60 races a year, just because we love the sport and we love what we do.”

    With taking over the truck that his big brother drove, that means that Dillon is behind the wheel of the legendary No. 3 truck. This brings its own set of expectations from fans that expect the No. 3 to be running up front and winning every weekend. Dillon says he doesn’t feel that pressure as he is actually having fun with running the number.

    “It means more to us on a personal side that it’s my grandfather’s number and it’s really great to see the fan’s reactions when you run well in it and you win races,” he says. “To see how excited people get to see that black number 3 back there on the track, the way it used to be. So we’re just having fun with it right now. As long as everybody stays happy with it that’s what we’re going do. As far as what series it’s going to go, I’ll leave that up to my grandfather. Right now we’re doing it for our family and doing it for the fans.”

    In expanding on that, Dillon says that the number means a lot to him due to it being the number that his grandfather Childress ran during his career.

    Dillon joins the youth movement that has taken over the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series as late with young drivers coming in to get their start in racing, including James Buescher and Parker Kligermann, among others.

    “They kind of got away from having individual names that led that series,” Dillon says. “Now we’ve got young guys in each series that are developing their way from the trucks to the Nationwide and now to Sprint Cup. It’s really cool to see that and gives you hope as a driver making your way up the rankings. I’m glad to see more individuality in each series, so it’s really nice.”

    While most rookies may be set on coming in and learning, that’s not the same with Dillon. He says that coming off the ARCA championship last year and driving Austin’s trucks, he feels that he can do well.

    “I feel like we need to run for a championship this year,” he says. “We’ve got the experience and the equipment, why can’t we do it? We ran well last year and we got a lot of confidence going into this year. We’ll see what it gives us. We want to win some races but our main trophy in our little trophy case we have set off to the side is the championship trophy. Then if we do that, we will have won races and won rookie of the year.”

    So far, Dillon is off to a pretty good start as he survived the carnage in Daytona to finish ninth and now sits eighth in points heading into Martinsville in two weeks.