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  • SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by TRAXXAS Series set for return to Toronto

    SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by TRAXXAS Series set for return to Toronto

    After a thrilling show last year that left the jaws of fans wide-open, the SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by TRAXXAS is set to return to the streets to the streets of Toronto this weekend as part of the Honda Indy weekend.

    “It’s a great race track,” series promoter Robby Gordon commented. “I’ve always loved coming to Toronto. Downtown Toronto is awesome. To be able to bring our series to another country in front of these fans, it’s very cool for us. We’re excited about the weekend. Everybody from the Honda Indy Toronto, all the officials, have been great to work with. I think last year was, ‘Okay, we’ll try it out’ and this year it’s ‘okay, how do we know more?’ and now we’re getting media days, giving rides and doing things like we did today. We’ve also got the practice tomorrow, and then racing on Saturday and Sunday.”

    Comprising of the 11-turns, the street course is located right in the heart of downtown Toronto at the same location in which the Canadian National Exhibition will be hosted a month later. The track has proven to be challenging for all sorts of drivers, no matter the series, in navigating the turns throughout. One of the most talked about spots that drivers have referenced over the years is the tight turn three that is at the end of the long backstraightaway that runs down Lakeshore Blvd. It’s no different for Gordon and his series as it can be tough to get slowed down for the corner.

    “For our trucks, we’re flat flying at the end of the backstraightaway,” he commented. “We’re reaching about 150 mph and it’s very edgy down there so that’s probably the most challenging thing in slowing down and not locking up the brakes. What you probably saw in the race number one (last year), I hit the wall so it’s just trying not to lock up the brakes and hit the wall.”

    Though, on top of navigating the course by itself, drivers will be faced with man-made ramps throughout the course that they will hit at more than 100 mph, sending them 20 feet in the air and 150 feet down course.

    The series was developed by Gordon, kicking off last year with it’s inaugural season and meant to take after the same form of the old Mickey Thompson Off-Road Series. Mickey Thompson, an off-road racing legend, formed the series 1979, hosting events in stadiums. Gordon ran in the series alongside Thompson, winning a championship in 1988. Sadly, Thompson and his wife were murdered in ’88 with the series only surviving a short time after that.

    Though now with the hard work and promotion of Gordon and his staff, the idea is back and bringing new fans to this form of racing with each event that they have. The growth was shown at the series’ last event at the X-Games in Austin where they were able to put together a solid 20-truck field.

    “The opportunity to run 20 trucks at X-Games kind of proves to us that we can do it, and it puts on an awesome show so that’s obviously my ultimate goal to have a race at an Indy track with 20 trucks,” Gordon commented.

    Gordon’s team of mechanics prepare the trucks for the event equally, with drivers renting a truck for the weekend via the sponsorship that they’re able to get. Each driver is paired with a SST mechanic and will be able to make minor adjustments to the truck to get it to their liking. The idea of the series is simple – equal trucks, equal competition, best driver being able to showcase their skills.

    “We give the drivers a good baseline to start with and I always open my set-up to everybody so everybody has the same equal opportunity,” Gordon noted.

    Last year, both races brought forth entertainment with contact between the trucks, high heights reached off the jumps and a pair of winners in the form of Justin Lofton and Sheldon Creed. With a pair of races, one on Saturday scheduled for 2:20 p.m. EST and one on Sunday at 2:20 p.m. EST, it should bring excitement once again as Creed will try and defend his win against the top drivers in the series.

    To prepare for their races, there will be a practice scheduled on Friday at 11:50 a.m. EST. Fans are welcome down to the grounds to check out that practice for free as part of FREE FRIDAY, which is put on by the Honda Dealers Association. Collecting donations for Make-A-Wish, they allow fans to come and explore the grounds to see what all the buzz is about, in hopes that they’ll return the rest of the weekend.

    Fans whom are unable to attend the event are welcome to watch the live stream online on at http://www.stadiumsupertrucks.com. The race will be broadcast at 10 p.m. PDT on July 31st on NBCSN.

     

    For more information on the SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road Presented by TRAXXAS series, check out http://www.stadiumsupertrucks.com.

    For more information on the Honda Indy Toronto, check out http://www.hondaindytoronto.com.  

     

  • Scott Dixon hoping to repeat last year’s success at the Honda Indy Toronto

    Scott Dixon hoping to repeat last year’s success at the Honda Indy Toronto

    Last year when Scott Dixon headed into the Honda Indy Toronto, he was set at trying to get himself back into the championship picture. The New Zealand native did just that, as he was able to claim the victory in both races as part of the double header weekend.

    “Last year, we were having a bit of an average season to this point and then right before this race, we won the Pocono 400 and then came here to Toronto. We didn’t qualify too well, but managed to pass the other cars and come away with the victory,” Dixon recalled. “It’s kind of strange with a double header to dominate both days with how competitive it is, and how you a figure a wreck or strategy will take you out of one of them. But the next day, we grabbed the pole and went on to win the second race. It was pretty cool and it gave us an interesting distinction of winning three races in seven days. That definitely built up towards the championship in beating Helio. It was definitely a crazy season with highs and lows in the road to the championship.”

    After pulling together some more wins and strong finishes for the rest of the year, Scott Dixon called himself champion at the end of the 2013 season, scoring his third career championship. While it was huge in the way of the comeback, it doesn’t mark the biggest title of his career.

    “The first championship I was really young, 23 years old, naive and my life was pretty crazy in getting married, winning the 500 in May and then the championship,” Dixon said. “Now, I don’t think I can top that because my wife (Emma) wouldn’t be happy if I said otherwise.”

    The beginning of this year didn’t start out how Dixon would’ve hoped as Chip Ganassi Racing seemed to off compared to their competition. However, a recent string of success has Dixon heading into Toronto with momentum on his side as he looks for another victory.

    “It’s a great race for us,” Dixon commented on Toronto. “The fan support is huge. It’s great for our sponsors as it helped our sponsor, Target, kick off their launch into Canada (last year) as well. I think the circuit layout is perhaps one of the best street courses that we go to, and creates some of the craziest and best racing that we have all season because of the layout of the track. I think making it a double header for the fans is totally a great idea and makes for a great city. It’s a big city, part of the common wealth and I think that’s nice. I think the people here help make it great as they love our racing.”

    Of course, one of the unique items about the event is the fact that it is a double header, which IndyCar implemented last year to add dates for the schedule – without adding more travel time for the teams. While it may seem simple in theory, Dixon notes that it makes for a lot of work for the crew guys between the two events.

    “With expanding to a four-car team now, we travel with probably close to a 100, 120 people. They work through the night, especially with the double headers,” he explained. “The engine stays in the car, but everything else changes. The gear box, the uprights, the suspension down to everything. The race ends about 5 pm and mechanics work till 2 in the morning so we can qualify on the track the next day early in the morning. So it’s a lot of work to make it work.”

    As Dixon continues to add to his accomplishments on the track, he also knows that he has his family behind him to support him, in the form of his wife Emma and their two daughters. Traveling right now is easy with them both being young, however Dixon notes that may change shortly with his oldest daughter Poppy turning five recently and starting school next month.

    Though even with the tough days that he may have on the track and the stresses that may come in the future with traveling and a family, there’s one thing that remains true – Dixon is thankful to be in his current position.

    “Even if I have a bad day, I still wake up and feel that I am very lucky to do what I do,” he commented. “It’s a very short list of people that are able to do this in their lifetime and I wake up thinking about racing, I think about racing when I’m training – racing is always on my mind. I’m thankful for being able to do it, and have my wife and kids with me along the way.”

  • Parker Kligerman – Seeking the Next Best Opportunity

    Parker Kligerman – Seeking the Next Best Opportunity

    Imagine yourself, sitting in the car that is about to make your dream come true. Imagine being in what NASCAR is calling the best class of rookies we have ever had. Imagine being picked by famous drivers and fans as “The Dark Horse” for the season. Imagine pulling your belts tight and then hearing the most famous words in NASCAR history. Imagine being on the cusp of everything you have dreamed of. Imagine doing all that and then waking up one day and it is over before you have a chance to really start it.

    All of these things happened to Parker Kligerman this year and though many would be frustrated and even bitter, he isn’t. Kligerman considers it a chance to learn and to grow and is determined that it will not bring him down. This is his story.

    Kligerman grew up in Connecticut, a place you normally wouldn’t associate with racing. “I think there is racing everywhere,” Kligerman said. “I really got into racing when I was about nine years old. We got Speed Channel and I saw some kids go-karting on there and decided I needed to be doing that.”

    Four years later his parents got him a go-kart and he has been racing ever since. Kligerman knew he had to get out of Connecticut and start racing in other places so he headed out to the Midwest. He also began racing in the south to get his career going.

    He went on to race some in the ARCA series as well. When asked if that was when he got his big break, he simply stated, “Well, every opportunity is a big break.” He also added, “I didn’t have a lot of funding so any time I could find an opportunity to get into a race car, I made the most of it.”

    Kligerman would race in just about anything including midgets and that is where he made the right connection. He got what he calls, “a line to becoming a Penske Racing development driver.” He continued saying, “That was a big step into getting my foot in the door in the NASCAR ranks. To be associated with such an iconic race team as Penske Racing, it was a huge break, it was one of the few reasons I was able to move into the NASCAR ranks through their support and belief.”

    Kligerman also discussed the frenzy around the class of 2014. When asked if being around all the Austin Dillon controversy ever made him feel overshadowed, he said that he expected it. “I think in a lot of ways obviously the 3 coming back into the sport in a Cup level, it was a big deal for everyone involved,” he explained. “He deserved the press and the fan support. I felt like I had an ample amount of support, press and fan support, and I have great fans out there.”

    Kligerman went on to say, “I think you make your own headlines and you make your own luck, and whatever it is that you get is most importantly dictated by what you do on the track and that is what I am focused on. I don’t really put too much stock in the other stuff.”

    One wonders if he had any inkling about the sweeping changes at Swan Racing that left him without a ride. Did he have a feeling it was coming or was he taken by surprise?

    His response was, “Ah no, I actually had inklings and I knew of some things going on. One of the largest was they were going to two cars which was never a decision that I was fully supportive of and I didn’t think as an organization we were strong enough internally for that kind of a move. I felt like it put a lot of strain on the organization and sure enough in the end it did. That’s not to put anyone down, it’s just the situation we were in and at the end of the day I was given a job and that was to put the 30 car in the best position possible week in and week out and that’s what we did.”

    Kligerman continued, “Financially I think the team was put in a little bit of a tough spot and obviously going the way it did. It wasn’t a surprise as much as inkling or an idea. I just didn’t know the capacity that would happen.”

    When asked what that felt like, he answered, “You know, as a race car driver you never want to be in the position where your performance on the race track isn’t the main story. We started to see that become the issue at Swan. The performance on the race track wasn’t the main goal, basically survival was. As a driver and as an organization that can wear on you. I think in a lot of ways looking forward that some of my decision making and the opportunities that I take going forward, is to make sure the opportunities and the focus is solely on the performance on the race track and not so much of the internal things. I think goal wise it becomes something where you’re more worried about your performance than how to survive which is never a fun situation for anyone involved. Going forward I’m trying to make sure I am never in that spot again.”

    When asked what he has been doing since leaving Swan Racing and about his old teammate, Kurt Busch. Kligerman said, “I got the call from Kurt to be backup on the 41 for the All-Star race and the 600 while he did the Indy 500 and that was kind of an honor to get that call and I was flattered to be associated with a top notch organization such as Stewart-Haas Racing.”

    He added, “I’ve been actively pursuing other opportunities throughout the sport in NASCAR, outside NASCAR, and all over. We continue to do all our media stuff and our podcast, “Kickin’ It with Kligerman,” just became a radio show.”

    His main focus is “making sure that when we make a decision on what my next move is that it’s the right decision. I do have time on my side. I am only 23 years old so I feel I can take a step back and really start to evaluate what’s out there and what the situation is and find the best situation possible for me. That is more important than just jumping into something for the sake of jumping in something. I’m having a little fun too. I am going to drive a couple of different type of racecars over the next few weeks that we will be able to announce. I am just having a lot of fun with the situation and hope we can get back to something full time that can compete for a championship and win in the near future.”

    Kligerman has been through quite a bit and when asked what he thinks is his biggest accomplishment so far he responded, “As a driver 23 yrs old”, he said, “I made it to the top of the sport and with very, very little family funding almost non-existent, going on talent alone and being able to work with sponsors and as a driver being determined and grateful for every opportunity I have gotten to get to the highest level of the sport at such a young age. If I were to look back I would be very proud of that and of the times I had good equipment and went out there and raced and have been beat up on and the times I had subpar equipment and went out there again and got the most out of it, and got it in a better position than I deserved. As a driver that’s the best you can hope for.  If it all were to stop now I would be proud of the career I have had, proud of the ability I have had to get to the top of our sport, and now that I am here, hopefully I can find the situation that allows me to go out win and fight for championships.”

    Inquiries about the rumors that he was looking toward IndyCars resulted in this answer, “Well yeah, I have always had an interest in open wheel racing and that’s where I started. I want to take this time not being in a full time ride, to go out there and drive as many things as possible and just experience other forms of racing. As a race car driver you won’t always have the opportunity to be in the position I am in, so I am kind of making the best of it.”

    Kligerman is also proud of his podcast telling me how it has grown significantly and is becoming one of the largest racing podcasts and now it’s become a radio show syndicated for Performance Motorsports Network.

    Kligerman is not waiting for things to happen, he is making things happen. He also wanted to make sure to thank his fans.

    “To my fans I am grateful for your support. I think we have some cool things coming up that I really think are going to be fun, so stick with us.”

    Kligerman has every right to be down about the way things have happened. He could have given up, maybe some would have but he is not even close to showing us all what he is about. He has only just begun.
    ᐧ

  • Jeremy Clements Scores Big Finish for Small Team

    Jeremy Clements Scores Big Finish for Small Team

    Jeremy Clements drove his No. 51 Chevrolet to a career best sixth place finish Saturday afternoon in the Nationwide Series race at Road America. For a team that is underfunded and often overlooked, it was a reminder of what the Nationwide Series was designed to be; a learning ground to showcase the talent of drivers hoping to make it to the premier Sprint Cup level.

    Clements’ determination to succeed in the face of what sometimes seems like insurmountable odds has made him a fan favorite. The engines in his cars are not the most current and the team often has to cut corners when it comes to new tires, parts and equipment. Some might call him an underdog but for many he is “The Fan’s Man.”

    On days like Saturday, it’s all worth it.

    Clements expressed his joy and appreciation on his twitter page, saying, “So excited for our small team for our 6th place @roadamerica! What an awesome finish at a super fun track! Appreciate all the support.”

    After practice and qualifying, he was confident that he had a competitive car.

    “I knew we had a good car,” he told me. “We were 14th in practice and qualified 13th so I knew we had a car capable of a top-10 and that was my plan going into the race.”

    The race was not without its challenges. His pit crew was understaffed, he had a couple of inexperienced spotters and then there was the rain.

    “I’ve never driven in the rain in this type of car before,” he said. “Plus, our defogger wasn’t working right and it was hard to see.”

    Clements also had to overcome an on-track incident with the No. 6 car of Trevor Bayne which cost him valuable track position. He was able to drive through the field and regain most of the positions but feels that it may have cost him a top-five. Despite the obstacles, they found the perfect balance between car, driver, strategy and luck.

    “On these road courses, the driver can make up a lot of positions and we had a good car, good strategy and we just put it all together.”

    The sixth place finish was his sixth top-10 in 148 Nationwide Series starts and his first top-10 this season.  Clements is currently 15th in the series point standings.

    He’s encouraged by last weekend’s performance but is looking forward to the remainder of the season, hoping to add more top-10 finishes to his resume.

    “I believe in momentum. It was a big morale boost for everyone but,” he explained, “the next track we go to is very different. We’re always aiming for top-ten finishes so every week we keep plugging away.”

    This week the team travels to Kentucky for the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign 300 presented by Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over race where they will attempt to take advantage of that momentum and make this season one to remember.

     

     

  • Matt Crafton: NASCAR Champ, Texas Race Winner and Elladee’s Dad

    Matt Crafton: NASCAR Champ, Texas Race Winner and Elladee’s Dad

    Matt Crafton may be a NASCAR Camping World Truck Champion and the most recent race winner in Texas this past weekend, but his most important role in life to date is that of being dad to daughter Elladee.

    “It’s been a dream come true,” Crafton, driver of the No. 88 Menards Toyota for ThorSport Racing, said. “I had never expected it to be as cool as it’s been to be a dad without a doubt.”

    Crafton credits Elladee Ann, who is now a little over a year old, to being part of the reason for his recent success, winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship last year and winning two races so far in the 2014 season, at Texas this past weekend and Martinsville in March.

    With his Texas win, Crafton also assumed the points lead in the championship standings, moving eleven points ahead of Johnny Sauter, his ThorSport Racing teammate.

    “She is my lucky charm without a doubt,” Crafton said. “She came into our lives and has changed it for sure.”

    “She’s definitely been my little good luck charm.”

    Given that she has brought so much good luck to her daddy, Elladee has not missed a single race yet in her young life. She does, however, hang back with her mother Ashley in Victory Lane until all the Gatorade is sprayed and the confetti has flown.

    “She’s been in every Victory Lane and she hasn’t missed a race,” Crafton said. “It is so special to have her at the track and to be able to spend time with the family. To travel with me is the only way I would want it for sure.”

    “She loves the camera and she loves people,” Crafton continued. “That’s what is so cool. Before the race, when everyone is around, she is just so happy and energetic to be there. And when she is in Victory Lane, it’s the same thing. When we won at Martinsville, she was in the middle of a nap. They woke her up to bring her to Victory Lane and she was tired but she was still hanging in there.”

    Unlike other public figures that sometimes shield their children, Crafton, as do so many parents in the NASCAR garage, thinks it is very important to have Elladee not only with him but with other people to learn life lessons and grow socially.

    “I know that some people hide their kids and don’t want them in the spotlight but most race car drivers have them out and about among everybody,” Crafton said. “I think that is going to be very key later in her life to be able to be around people and be able to talk and communicate instead of being sheltered.”

    “I was always involved with my dad,” Crafton continued. “He raced and I can remember being at the race track from as long as I can remember. I was too young back then to even go into the pits so I would sit in the stands with my grandparents throughout practice and all that. I can remember sneaking into the pits too.”

    “I’ve learned the lesson of just being involved,” Crafton said. “It’s so cool to have her and be able to do the same things with her sitting with me. To have her a part of my life the same way I was with my parents is special.”

    Crafton admitted he is an involved dad, however, there are a few things that give him pause about parenthood.

    “I had her this morning on my own and of course as soon as mom left, she goes ‘number two’ and I’ve got to change the diaper,” Crafton said. “I do it, but if mom’s here, I definitely try to hand her off as much as I can because I’m not going to lie, I have a weak stomach and some of that is bad.”

    While her dad acknowledged that he is open to her pursuing whatever passion, whether racing or not, Elladee has already shown some proclivity toward speed even at her tender young age.

    “Putting her on my quad or in my side-by-side is my favorite thing to do,” Crafton said. “That’s what we were doing this morning before my wife showed up. We were driving down the street and did about ten laps down and back.”

    “She just loves, loves riding around,” Crafton continued. “It doesn’t matter what she’s in. When she was three months old, I would ride her on the golf cart at the race track and if she was fussy, she would immediately stop.”

    “We have ridden for hours on that golf cart to make her happy.”

    While Crafton has no specific plans for the upcoming Father’s Day weekend, he knows there is one thing that he absolutely will do and that is to spend that precious time with his daughter.

    “Hopefully I’ll get to hang out with family which will be the best thing,” Crafton said. “I haven’t thought much about being a father for Father’s Day. It’s just been too hectic to think about it I guess.”

    “I guess when it gets here, it will be a little bit different for sure now that I’m a dad,” Crafton said. “It’s definitely going to be awesome.”

     

  • Staff Sergeant Randy Gray Speechless After RPM Race Experience

    Staff Sergeant Randy Gray Speechless After RPM Race Experience

    This past race weekend, thanks to Richard Petty Motorsports, driver Aric Almirola and team, sponsor Eckrich, Weis Markets, and Operation Homefront, wounded warrior Staff Sergeant Randy Gray was given a VIP NASCAR experience that literally left him speechless.

    The weekend started out with the Gray family’s shopping trip to their local Weis Markets in Tannersville, PA. There, the family was greeted by members of the No. 43 team who surprised them with free groceries for one year at any Weis Markets location.

    The team then invited Staff Sergeant Gray and his family outside where the No. 43 Eckrich Ford race car drove up to the store front. A member of the RPM team invited the Gray family to not only join them at the track, but also informed them they would be guests of “The King” Richard Petty.

    “That was an amazing night,” Gray said. “I wasn’t expecting it. It was like come on in and boom, I met all the crew. They came out of an aisle. We didn’t see anybody until we rounded the corner and there was like a hundred people around us.”

    “I was speechless,” Gray continued. “I was blown away. It was an amazing thrill that they took the time to just do that.”

    Staff Sergeant Gray, who lives about an hour from the track in Hunlock Creek, PA, recently returned from a nine month deployment in Kuwait. He was enlisted as active duty in the Air Force from 1991 to 1993 before joining the National Guard and deploying to Kuwait.

    But it was an act of kindness from this wounded warrior caring for another service brother in need at a most critical time that got him nominated for the NASCAR VIP honor.

    “Well, we just got back from the deployment from Kuwait,” Gray said. “My wife seen a Facebook message from a soldier that was concerning and I intervened. They kind of said I saved his life. There’s a lot to it because of the privacy rules. The military is very hip on no suicide for soldiers. And I just reacted in a way that impressed my upper echelons.”

    “It was a very late night but he’s doing great now.”

    “I’m still in active duty, waiting on shoulder surgery. I’m actually injured and on June 12th I go for surgery,” Gray continued. “What caught their attention was that I put my stuff aside to help somebody else.”

    For that act of heroism, Gray headed to the track for Pocono race weekend. And while Gray enjoys watching races now and again, he admitted he is not a hard core fan. But his son, who follows Jeff Gordon, certainly considers himself a true NASCAR aficionado and was thrilled to tag along.

    “I’m a NASCAR fan but I don’t follow it, follow it,” Gray said “When they told me that I was coming to the track, I was like ‘whoa’ but my son is on cloud nine.”

    “It’s beyond anything I have ever felt before,” Randy Gray Jr. said. “Usually when I get the opportunity to do things like this, something stupid happens like I get hurt and I can’t do it. But I’m here. And I’ve been pinching myself and slapping myself all weekend.”

    “I wasn’t at the visit at the grocery store in Tannersville but when my parents came home and told me, I mentally passed out and don’t remember a lot of the conversation,” Gray Jr. continued. “I heard ‘Richard Petty, car, hot dog’ and that’s about it. It has been beyond belief.”

    “Jeff Gordon is my driver so I felt kind of bad,” Gray Jr. said. “I rooted for Aric but I mentally had to root for Jeff too.”

    “I can now die happy,” Gray Jr. continued. “I can go into a coma, I can get hit by a truck, whatever. I can die happy after this.”

    Staff Sergeant Gray and his family were impressed not only with opportunity to be at the race track, but also with being able to spend time with the team, from pushing the race car through inspection with them to sitting atop the pit box and watching them work during the race.

    “The fact that the team had to fit every piece of the car through the different inspection bays and they knew the tolerances, it’s just amazing,” Gray said. “We watched qualifying, hung out with the pit crew and took it all in.”

    “The team was so busy, doing their thing,” Gray continued. “I tried to stay out of their way. I’m a mechanic in the Army so I can appreciate the need to stay out of the way and let them do their job.”

    When the race was finished, Staff Sergeant Gray and his family were still pinching themselves, still speechless as they reflected on their VIP weekend.

    “I was really taken back by everything,” Gray said. “It’s awesome to have Eckrich, Weiss and Richard Petty Motorsports do something like this for us. It’s humbling to see people recognize what we go through and it meant a lot to me.”

    “It was an overwhelming and amazing experience.”

    “We are proud to honor our military families,” Charles Gitkin, vice president, marketing, innovation and R&D for the John Morrell Food Group, said. “Our partnerships with Richard Petty Motorsports, Operation Homefront and Weis Markets allowed us to give back in a very special and unique way this weekend.”

    “It’s something that we’re very proud to do for the Gray family after all of their sacrifices for us.”

     

  • Kurt Busch, Patricia Driscoll and Brandon Igdalsky Announce Troops to Table Poker Event

    Kurt Busch, Patricia Driscoll and Brandon Igdalsky Announce Troops to Table Poker Event

    Brandon Igdalsky, President/CEO of Pocono Raceway, along with NASCAR driver Kurt Busch, Armed Forces Foundation President Patricia Driscoll, and Lorene King, Executive Director of the NASCAR Foundation, announced this morning that the Third Annual Pocono Celebrity Charity Poker Showdown will be held this year on Thursday, July 31st at Mohegan Sun prior to the track’s August race.

    “The last two years, we have hosted the celebrity poker tournament at Mohegan Sun and it’s been a tremendous success,” Igdalsky said. “We’ve always done it for this race but this year we decided to do it prior to our August event with Kurt and Patricia and their Foundation to build this into a bigger and more impressive event than it already is.”

    “They have done a tremendous job of raising big funds and they are going to help us take it to the next level,” Igdalsky continued. “It’s not a big donation to come out and enjoy it. Donations to play start at $250 for your seat to play and VIP meet and greet prior and $150 if you just want to come and be a spectator and take part in the VIP. A $100 donation reserves a seat in the poker tournament and a $50 donation allows for fans to attend the event as spectators. The top-finishing fan will receive a choice between two exciting prizes – a VIP Race Experience at Pocono Raceway or a VIP Stay and Play Experience at Mohegan Sun.”

    “It’s a nice evening and we’re going to make this a kick ass event.”

    All proceeds from this year’s event will benefit both the NASCAR Foundation and the Armed Forces Foundation.

    “We’ve partnered together with the Armed Forces Foundation’s Annual Education Initiative, Operation Caring Classroom,” Lorene King, Executive Director of the NASCAR Foundation said. “This program increases awareness, appreciation and support among children in the military. It impacts 40,000 children across the country in 100 schools.”

    “We’re really honored to be a part of this,” Patricia Driscoll, President of the Armed Forces Foundation said. “We have hundreds of thousands of kids participating in our program. Our families suffer too when it comes to post traumatic stress syndrome.”

    “We’re really excited to partner with the NASCAR Foundation to make our program grow even bigger.”

    NASCAR champion Kurt Busch, one of the drivers who has participated in the past poker competitions, acknowledged that the competition is fierce, even if the cause is charitable.

    “Greg Biffle, he likes to flash around his experience,” Busch said. “But he’s vulnerable in certain areas. I can see the certain cards he likes to play.”

    “The young kids who come in, you don’t know if you’re good at it or not, but they come in and their chip count starts stacking up,” Busch continued. “You have to watch out for those young guys because they can count cards quicker than us old guys. It’s just a lot of fun to watch the sponsors, individuals and then a large group that come to make the donation and be involved in the fun.”

    “It’s also a matter of bragging rights as well for how many celebrities you can take down,” Busch continued. “Mike Helton has come, John Darby and a lot of the NASCAR top officials and we will also have the Truck Series guys to come and participate.”

    “And it’s a competition so all the guys that are up on it trying to advance to the final table are into it,” Busch said. “Mohegan Sun does a phenomenal job to keep it on time. The VIP meet and greet beforehand is very relaxed and effective for the sponsors involved. It’s just a matter of building it up and that’s my job to go and recruit more of the celebrity players. It’s a lot of fun to just sit down, play poker and go at it.”

    “I know I’ll be up on the wheel and on the table.”

    Both Busch and Driscoll spoke passionately that the best part of the whole poker playing evening, however, was that wounded warriors and veterans attended the event, rubbing shoulders with drivers and other celebrities as part of their therapeutic healing process.

    “It’s a lot of fun too with our veterans that come out,” Busch said. “You will see our wounded guys jumping in and playing and it gives them a chance to get into an environment that is relaxed and safe. We’re all doing it for a good cause and it’s for them. We see the smile on their faces and they are energized to be engaged in the tournament.”

    “We will have a lot of veterans at the event. That’s what it’s about,” Driscoll said, echoing Busch’s comments. “We try to bring a lot of guys with PTSD. I don’t want to announce it, but we do. It’s part of our therapy that we have with NASCAR that we bring them to the track. It’s important for them to experience everyday life experiences and to feel special.”

    “To sit there and to talk instead of being shut in at home is really important,” Driscoll continued. “So, we’ll have veterans at the table. They might not announce themselves but I promise they will be there.”

    While both Busch and Driscoll have been dedicated to bringing troops to the race track every week, Busch, as he left the media center to prepare for NASCAR’s first practice at Pocono Raceway, gave the event a new tag line.

    “Instead of troops to the track, it’s troops to the table.”

    For more information on the troops to the table event, visit www.nascar.com/foundation.

  • David Ragan and Family Turn Road Rally Scavengers for Good Cause

    David Ragan and Family Turn Road Rally Scavengers for Good Cause

    While David and Jacquelyn Ragan are busy with the racing season, as well as preparing for the birth of their first child, they are both doing something a bit unique, turning into road rally scavengers for a good cause.

    The couple are serving as honorary co-chairs for a unique event, the Race for Research, a three-day road rally and scavenger hunt, that will raise money for the LuMind Foundation and for Down syndrome cognition research.

    This is the first-ever event of its type and will be held from June 16th to June 18th in Charlotte, starting at the Richard Petty Museum and ending at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. A total of 25 two-person teams will drive their own cars, negotiating various stops and finding certain pictures and items in the scavenger hunt along the way.

    “A lot of these charitable organizations and foundations, they have golf tournaments and different dinners and galas, but I thought when we were asked to be part of their fundraising campaign that we should do something a little different and tie it into the NASCAR community,” Ragan said. “So, the Race for Research concept was dreamed of. It’s a great concept bringing in some of the great NASCAR venues and tying it in with the NASCAR Hall of Fame.”

    “It’s not really a race against time but it’s more a race to get certain pictures and do a little scavenger hunt along the way,” Ragan continued. “They’ll have a little map and a ‘to do’ list and they’ll have to snap a picture with someone or get a piece of memorabilia item from a stop.”

    “That will make it fun.”

    For Ragan, this issue is personal as his brother Adam was born with an extra chromosome: Trisomy 21 or Down’s syndrome.

    “I’ve got a brother that is a couple years older than I am that has Down’s syndrome,” Ragan said. “A lot of people in the NASCAR community know who Adam is and they see him around. He’s a very friendly guy.”

    “He has a great life and lives with a disability so it’s great that the Down’s Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation, who just recently changed their name to LuMind Foundation, is trying to raise awareness and raise money for cognitive research to understand more about Down’s syndrome and to understand more about living with and growing older with Down’s syndrome, as well as the complications you may have,” Ragan continued. “It’s a great group of folks. They really spend a lot of time and effort on making kids’ and adults’ lives with Down’s syndrome have a better quality of life.”

    “Adam’s a great example of doing well,” Ragan continued. “And obviously my NASCAR connection, having a lot of fans and a lot of friends and others in the industry that may have a child with Down’s syndrome works.”

    “So, it feels good.”

    Ragan also feels good and is very excited about the variety of stops along the way in the Race for Research. And whether the participants are NASCAR fans or not, he also sees the event as a way for all to get up close and personal with the sport that he so dearly loves.

    “They are going to have a lot of great stops along the way,” Ragan said. “They start off at the Richard Petty Museum at Level Cross. Then they are going to the Childress Winery, Bowman Gray Stadium, Martinsville Speedway, Woods Brothers Racing, Bristol Motor Speedway, Hickory Motor Speedway, Front Row Motorsports, Dale Earnhardt Museum, Earnhardt Tribute Plaza, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Roush Fenway Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, the NASCAR R&D Center, Hendrick Motorsports and then end it at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.”

    “I think they’ll be able to take a little bit from every stop,” Ragan continued. “They’ll have a lot of fun and get to meet some great personalities. They’ll get to shake Richard Petty’s hand and meet a couple of the NASCAR Hall of Famers.”

    “I think that if there are any NASCAR fans that are part of the road rally, that they will get a kick out of it. But if they’re not a NASCAR fan, they’re going to get a pretty good behind the scenes look at our sport and we may convert a few fans over.”

    Ragan acknowledged that the event has a limited number of participants, especially since it is the first year. And he is grateful that they have almost reached their goal of teams participating in this unique fundraising event.

    “We’re about to that point of being at our limit of participants,” Ragan said. “We’re going to have 20 to 25 teams. This being the first year, we wanted to keep a controlled number just so we can make sure everyone has a good time and it runs as planned.”

    Ragan has formed his own team, Team Ragan, for the event and has been busy raising money himself. In fairness to all of the competitors, however, he has decided to race with his own vehicle and not take the Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Taco Bell Ford on the hunt.

    “Our team, Team Ragan, we’ve set a goal to raise $10,000,” Ragan said. “We’re about there and it’s been good so far. We’ll have some stickers and decals on our car to showcase all the sponsors and donors.”

    “I’m using my own car,” Ragan continued. “It would be a little unfair to use my race car. I’ll probably just drive our Ford F150.”

    Ragan, his wife and team will be joined by the rest of the road rally scavengers at the wrap up event at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the final stop of the Race for Research event. This will also be the opportunity for the Ragans to remind all about the reason for the Race.

    “At the NASCAR Hall of Fame, we’re going to have a little lunch and we’ll award the winner and recognize the people that did well,” Ragan said. “This being the first time, they wanted someone that was involved in the NASCAR community to take the helm and really try to be proactive in spreading the word out about the event and kids, guys and gals with Down’s syndrome.”

    “I think it’s worked out well. And obviously having an older brother that has Down’s syndrome gets a lot of attention. It’s a neat feeling to be a part of something that can be fun like this.”

    And while Ragan looks for victory at the track every weekend, for him taking the checkered flag in this event has even greater meaning.

    “It’s good to give back to folks that are working hard to make the quality of life of kids and adults with Down’s syndrome better,” Ragan said. “Our parents worked hard to get Adam good schooling and gave him a lot of good opportunities to learn about some of the skills that we take for granted sometimes.”

    “But there are some families out there that don’t have that luxury,” Ragan continued. “Maybe they are single parents or they are busy working or their financially not stable enough to do that.”

    “So, if we can give back and if the LuMind Foundation can work hard to come up with some medication or different drugs to help the effects of Down’s syndrome for kids as they get older to make their quality of life better, that would be a big victory.”

    For more information on the Race for Research or to donate to a team, visit www.dsrtfRaceforResearch.org.

  • Paulie Harraka Back on Track and Working Hard for More

    Paulie Harraka Back on Track and Working Hard for More

    For Paulie Harraka, being back on track in the No. 44 ‘Buckle Up’ Toyota for TriStar Motorsports this past weekend was most exciting, especially after pulling off a 19th place finish in the Nationwide race at Dover International Speedway.

    But that taste of success simply served to further whet the appetite of the Duke University and Drive for Diversity graduate, who is now working hard on his next opportunity to get back behind the wheel of a race car.

    “It was a lot of fun,” Harraka said of his Nationwide TriStar Motorsports debut. “We had a really good car.”

    “I was able to move up fairly quickly in the early going but I had an unfortunate incident on pit road with just a guy stalling out and making a mistake and miscommunicating with his spotter,” Harraka continued. “We became the victim. And that hurt us. It bent the splitter down a little bit and it obviously hurt the front fender so we lost front down force. We’d land so hard in the corner that it would bottom out the splitter. So, it made the car a little bit of a handful.”

    “But I was able to move around and we made some adjustments and got the handling back,” Harraka said. “We were able to move back up and pass a lot of cars to get back in the top-20, which was our goal for the weekend.”

    “All in all, a good day, especially for my first time in the 44 car and working with this race team. We really enjoyed working with each other and I think we built a good foundation to go and do more and run better next time around.”

    Harraka was also very grateful to have the sponsorship from the Delaware Office of Highway Safety, focusing on seat belt education, a cause in which Harraka passionately believes.

    “I’m really grateful to the Delaware Office of Highway Safety and their ‘Buckle Up’ program,” Harraka said. “We really did a unique marketing package with them. It’s a relationship that we had that we were able to put together.”

    “It’s so important to make a habit of buckling up,” Harraka continued. “You should just do it every time you get in a car because you don’t get that second chance.”

    Harraka was not the only one pleased with the sponsorship deal.

    “The Office of Highway Safety is thrilled to have a new partner in traffic safety with Paulie Harraka and TriStar Motorsports,” Alison Kirk, community relations officer for OHS, said. “We had a great weekend with Paulie and the team to bring seat belt safety education and outreach to fans at the Monster Mile. We appreciated the support that they gave us to share the Buckle Up message in the racing community.”

    In addition to his sponsor, Harraka was also pleased to join the TriStar Motorsports team, one that is deep in veteran talent with drivers Mike Bliss and Jeff Green.

    “We felt like there was a great platform here for me as a driver having a race team that has a lot of their own equipment, a beautiful race shop, and teammates that I can really lean on like Mike Bliss and Jeff Green, champions with multiple wins,” Harraka said. “We were joking around and saying that Mike Bliss probably has more laps run at Dover than I have in my whole racing career. So, to have those guys to lean on, we have a great bunch with the 44 crew and it all came together well.”

    In addition to his teammates, Harraka has yet another tool in his belt that he utilized this past weekend at the Monster Mile and at all the tracks where he races.

    “Ted Musgrave (2005 Truck Series Champion) comes with me to all that races that we do,” Harraka said. “Ted is a coach and a mentor to me. He’s great because he’s seen almost every scenario there is to see. He’s been there, he’s driven it himself, and he has a tremendous amount of knowledge about the race car as well.”

    “He’s really good at helping us when I need to be doing something differently or when we need to adjust the cars. He can watch what the other cars are doing in a way that is different because he has been in those situations so many times. He helps with information and helps us work through optimizing our race car.”

    Harraka admitted that he learned quite a few lessons from his novice run with TriStar Motorsports and the No. 44 team at the Monster Mile, the track that he considers his ‘home track’ as a Wayne, New Jersey native.

    “The first time you work with a new team and a new crew chief you have to figure how you fit into that and how I can best enhance the race team,” Harraka said. “So, when my crew chief Greg Connor and I sit down, we’ll run through everything that happened this weekend and what we can do better as a race team and how we can improve our communication.”

    “They know a little bit better now what I look for in a race car. I know a little bit more about what to expect from them. Obviously, being in a Nationwide car, you learn who you can be around, who you can expect to give you room and who not. All in all, it was a good day.”

    So, what are the plans for the future for Harraka and do those plans involved the No. 44 car and team?

    “We are working on a few different things to have me in the 44 this year,” Harraka continued. “So, it’s a step by step process and certainly the run we had yesterday was helpful to that.”

    “Without a doubt, I’m excited to be back in the car,” Harraka said. “Racing is a bug that bit me when I was seven years old.”

    “You work your butt off to have opportunities to drive race cars and you are grateful when you have them. And then you work your butt of to have more,” Harraka continued. “I’m really excited about the prospect of working with this race team, being with them more, and being in this 44 car again.”

    Harraka summed his feelings up about being back in the race car with great passion and enthusiasm.

    “It’s great to be back in a race car,” Harraka said. “It’s great to be back working with a race team and spending time in the shop with the guys.”

    “It’s fun to work again on the challenges of optimizing your race car,” Harraka said. “I’m in my element.”

    “And I’m working hard for more.”

  • USMC Staff Sgt. Liam Dwyer, IMSA Race Winner, Shares Can Do Attitude with NASCAR Community

    USMC Staff Sgt. Liam Dwyer, IMSA Race Winner, Shares Can Do Attitude with NASCAR Community

    Last week’s IMSA race winner at Lime Rock, USMC Staff Sergeant Liam Dwyer visited the world of NASCAR this past race weekend in Dover, Delaware to experience the sights and sounds of stock car racing and to share his inspirational message of overcoming obstacles and achieving dreams.

    Dwyer, currently still on active duty stationed out of Walter Reed, joined the Marines in 2000 after hearing about the bombing of US Navy Destroyer USS Cole. He was deployed both to Iraq and Afghanistan where he suffered serious wounds, including the loss of his left leg after an IED explosion.

    In spite of his injuries, Dwyer never gave up on his dream to be behind the wheel of a race car. And he achieved that dream and so much more with a win in the IMSA Continental Challenge at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.

    In typical and humble fashion, Dwyer credited his victory to his team, his co-driver, and all those who stood with him throughout his journey of rehabilitation.

    “Last week’s win, everyone is giving me all the praise for it, but the praise really goes to Mazda and my team,” Dwyer said. “I wrecked the car at Mazda Raceway three weeks prior so that was a write off. So, the team had a five-day turnaround. They built a complete new car with 360 man hours and six days later, they were driving up to Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.”

    “The car was fast right off the trailer and the team was really good,” Dwyer continued. “Qualifying was rained out so the field was set by points. We started second to last out of the 33 car field. Based on pit strategy, some good driving (a little bit on my part bit a lot on my co-driver Tom Long’s part), we came out with ‘W’ there at my home track at my home state.”

    Dwyer’s interest in cars started in his childhood and has continued to this day.

    “I grew up with an affection with cars,” Dwyer said. “I had been to Lime Rock numerous times as a child to watch the old IMSA Series there. Actually in high school is when I got interested in racing. I really started doing time trials after Iraq that I had a skill for it. I didn’t start getting faster until after Afghanistan.”

    “I’m a Skip Barber Racing School grad back to 2007,” Dwyer continued. “But I got my break two years ago with High Performance Heroes, a vintage car team that found me at VIR.”

    “They decided they wanted to build a race car for me,” Dwyer continued. “They built a 1962 Austin Healy Sprite and in 2012 I had some odd success with that. Freedom Auto Sports is a team that is all about supporting veterans and active duty personnel. They wanted to help me out and they started following me. After the season I had last year, they took notice and I got a phone call to go test at Sebring.”

    “I’ve had some really good people around me that have gotten me to where I am today.”

    Dwyer detailed the adjustments that had to be made to his car, even removing his prosthetic leg to demonstrate.

    “One of the biggest challenges we face is that we have to do a driver change,” Dwyer said. “I still operate a normal clutch. That’s been our biggest challenge because my foot needs to stay attached to the clutch. But I also need to get out of the car quickly for driver changes.”

    “So, they have designed a system for me that allows me to do both. Our driver change system in no way aids or hinders me getting in and out of the car.”

    While Dwyer has achieved many of his own racing goals, he was most anxious to experience first-hand the world of stock car racing at the Monster Mile.

    “I’ve been a NASCAR fan since really before I can remember,” Dwyer said. “I was an Alan Kulwicki fan back in the late 1980s, and after that a Davey Allison fan, and then an Ernie Irvan fan so I did not strike very well with choosing drivers.”

    “But since 1999, I’ve been a Tony Stewart fan. I’ve really grown to like Kurt Busch over the last two years because of all he is doing for the Armed Forces Foundation,” Dwyer continued. “I know Kurt Busch personally. I met him twice at the hospital. We were at Walter Reed last year and the NASCAR guys came in.”

    “I was on my way to a race that weekend and met him again,” Dwyer said. “I called him out to a go kart race and he took me up on that. He beat me by about 4/10s of a second.”

    In addition to his excitement with seeing the NASCAR drivers, Dwyer also was on another mission, that of sharing his words of inspiration to others.

    “Having been a NASCAR fan almost my entire life and being at some of the races, just to be here at the track means a lot,” Dwyer said. “I’ve gotten to meet some of the drivers and they have been so hospitable.”

    “My message here is to really say that people look at me and say I’ve been dealt a pretty crappy hand being an amputee and with the other injuries that I have to my body,” Dwyer continued. “No matter what we face in life, no matter what challenges we face, the key is staying positive. There are people out there worse off than you. There are people out there that have had it worse than me.”

    “I look at everybody and what challenges they are facing and I think this population has become so attuned to if we face adversity, we just give up,” Dwyer continued. “A lot of people stop striving for their dreams at that point. This has only made me drive further. I’ve been dealt this hand and it is really a blessing. I’m fully aware that the only way that I have the opportunities I have now and to go racing and to be here is because of my injuries.”

    “If people could start looking at things in a more positive light, there would be less darkness,” Dwyer said. “That’s the biggest message that I can share with people is that for the rest of our lives we should strive to do things and be more positive. I’m a very good example of no matter the hand you are dealt, I’ve made lemonade out of a shitty batch of lemons.”

    So, what is next for this fearless competitor as he completes his tour of duty with the Marines and pursues his racing passion?

    “My goal in life right now is that I want to race the 24 hours of Daytona and maybe the 24 hours of Le Mans,” Dwyer said. “I’m also hoping to work something out where I can get to the track and still be a Marine.”

    “And if I can inspire others to get out there and do things that they thought were difficult, then that’s what I want to do.”