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  • John Hunter Nemechek ‘Feeling Good’ With Top-15 Finish in Martinsville Truck Race

    John Hunter Nemechek ‘Feeling Good’ With Top-15 Finish in Martinsville Truck Race

    John Hunter Nemechek, son of Joe Nemechek, was ‘feeling good’ after making his debut in the 2014 Camping World Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway this past weekend.

    In fact the sixteen year old was feeling especially good after finishing eleventh behind the wheel of his No. 8 pelletgrillusa.com/SWM-NEMCO Motorsports Toyota in the Kroger 250

    “It feels good to finish top-15 and run really, really close to the top-10,” the young up and coming driver said. “We ran top-12 most of the day.”

    “There towards the end, I thought we were going to be good restarting on the inside that first green-white-checkered,” Nemechek continued. “The second green-white-checkered, the final one, we ended up starting on the outside and that was not the place to be because you couldn’t get down and you couldn’t pass anybody. The inside line would freight train you.”

    “We battled hard for two laps and didn’t fall back too many positions and finished 11th,” Nemechek said. “Our pit crew was great all day. The guys made very good calls and adjustments. It was a great team effort.”

    Although Nemechek was indeed feeling good, he also had an expectation that he wanted to meet and just came shy of achieving that goal.

    “Our goal was to finish top-10 and we came really close to that,” Nemechek said. “You can’t really be disappointed in missing it by a spot.”

    “To run up in the front with all of the guys that are veterans and have been in the Truck Series forever, it felt really good to run up there and be competitive.”

    “I was overall happy with the day.”

    Nemechek did not feel good, however, about having to wait out the rain delay, which postponed the race from Saturday to Sunday, immediately following the conclusion of the Sprint Cup race.

    “The rain out was boring to tell you the truth,” Nemechek said. “There was nothing going on but just sitting around in the rain.”

    “I got quite a few naps in and got well rested for the race,” Nemechek continued. “That’s always a plus.”

    The rain delay did, however, allow the youngster some good learning opportunities as he watched the big league drivers race, particularly as to how they managed to pass on the short track.

    “We had to come from 20th at the start of the race so watching how the Cup guys were passing and getting to the front was important,” Nemechek said. “It was all interesting just trying to learn.”

    The young driver also observed changes in the track due to the Cup drivers laying down rubber throughout their 500 mile race.

    “Normally we’re the first race on the track and we’re the ones putting rubber down so the track is freer,” Nemechek said. “With the Cup drivers running the track, it really didn’t take that much rubber so their being out there before us made the track a little bit tighter.”

    “The rain made it really loose for them because it was a green race track,” Nemechek continued. “So, as they put rubber down, the race track kept getting tighter and slicker as well.”

    Not only did the sixteen year old have to battle the track but he also had to battle other drivers. And at one point, the Martinsville Truck Series rookie actually became the meat in the middle of a sandwich until one of the other drivers lifted to drift up the track and out of the way.

    “It was tight quarters for sure,” Nemechek said. “I didn’t know that we could run three-wide at Martinsville but we proved that we did.”

    “That was definitely pretty cool to run like that,” Nemechek continued. “I just had to remain calm and do the best I could to stay in there and even gain positions being in that three-way battle.”

    One of the biggest lessons that the young driver took away from the short track, however, was to understand with whom he was racing and to carefully balance respect and aggressiveness.

    “We were around a couple different groups of trucks all day and then we sort of got in a rhythm. We got out on our own and was passing trucks in front of us,” Nemechek said. “We had a really good long run truck.”

    “I didn’t really know who we were around most of the day,” Nemechek continued. “They’re all good to race with but there are a couple guys that you don’t like to race with because they’ll wreck you at any point. So, you just have to watch out for them.”

    “I’m staying out of naming any names on that though.”

    “I learned not to take anybody’s stuff,” Nemechek said. “So, like if they mess with you, you mess with them right back. You have to earn respect with all these veterans in the Series and you do that by running them clean and running them hard.”

    “At the same time, if they rough you up, you rough them back up,” Nemechek continued. “So, it’s all about earning respect and that’s what we take on to the next race.”

    The youngster also admitted that he did get a little bit of advice from Dad, especially when things got challenging during the green-white-checkered battles.

    “Dad kept telling me ‘Good job and keep the tires on it and keep your nose clean so you can be there at the end’, Nemechek said. “That’s what we did and we were there at the end and we got in a good battle for the finish.”

    “The green-white-checkered finish was a new deal for me this year in the Truck Series,” Nemechek said. “We’ve done it plenty of times in other Series so when we did it, my crew chief and dad came on to tell me to drive it like my late model, where we had quite a few green –white-checkers.”

    “So, we did that and didn’t worry about anything else.”

    Because of his age, John Hunter Nemechek’s next race will not be until the Monster Mile in Dover, Delaware and his father instead will be behind the wheel. The young driver will, however, keep himself busy by racing Super Late Models at Asheville and Pensacola until he gets back into the Truck in a few more weeks.

    Most of all, the second generation racer is feeling good about simply having the chance to go and not only follow in his father’s footsteps but also pursue his own dreams of being a successful race car driver.

    “I’m so grateful for this opportunity,” John Hunter Nemechek said. “I’ll be running ten Truck races this year and Dad will be running the other twelve that I can’t run because of my age.”

    “It’s a father-son deal, which is the best.”

  • Jeb Burton has sights set on success in Martinsville, thankful for opportunity

    Jeb Burton has sights set on success in Martinsville, thankful for opportunity

    When the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action next weekend at Martinsville Speedway, there will be 36 drivers set on picking up a victory in the second race of the season. One of those will be Jeb Burton, who will be driving the No. 13 for ThorSport Racing.

    Burton did well at Martinsville last year with Turner-Scott Motorsports in his rookie season, finishing third in both races. The April race he actually started on pole and ended up finishing behind ThorSport drivers Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton.

    “I’ve got the confidence going there – just going with a different organization,” Burton commented. “That’s going to be a little different for me, but ThorSport runs very well there so hopefully our truck will be handling well.”

    Entering his sophomore season, Burton feels that he should be stronger this year as he knows now, versus last year, what he needs in his truck in practice to be good in the race.

    The trucks at Martinsville always bring tough, tight short track racing to the forefront and sometimes it can be tough for a young driver to be patient. Burton says to make sure you get to the end, you just got to keep telling yourself that you can’t win it on the first lap.

    “You need to sit there and ride and when you’re handling good, that’s when you really need to ride,” he commented. “You just need to become a more mature driver and become more patient. It doesn’t matter what happens before the last pit stop as long as you’re in the top three after the last pit stop, you have a shot to win.”

    Last season, Burton had a stellar rookie season, scoring seven poles and 11 top 10s in the 22 races while scoring his first career victory at Texas Motor Speedway and finishing fifth in points.

    Burton was set to head into the new season looking for another great year – possibly a championship season – when less than a month before the 2014 season began, everything fell apart. His sponsor pulled support and as a result, TSM had to let Burton go. A couple weeks before Daytona, ThorSport came to the rescue, hiring Burton to drive for them at Daytona.

    “I was hoping to be able to run a race or two at Turner-Scott, but it didn’t work out and I feel like I’m a better place now with ThorSport,” Burton commented. “I feel like I’m surrounded with good people at ThorSport Racing and that’s what it takes. I had a really good race team for last year and I was going to have a really good race team for this year to go after a championship, and it was took away at the last minute.

    “Mr. and Mrs. Thorson called and gave me the opportunity to race and if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have a ride right now. I’m really grateful to be driving for them.”

    Burton put together a solid performance at Daytona – finishing seventh – and opened the doors for the chance to head to Martinsville next weekend with the team. Beyond Martinsville, whether Burton is able to run more races this year will depend on whether ThorSport Racing can obtain sponsorship.

    “I don’t have a ride for the rest of the year, but I feel if we can keep running in the top 10 like we did at Daytona, we’ll be in the top five in points and that’ll help things,” Burton said. “We just got to keep plugging away and trying to find more sponsors.”

    The Camping World Truck Series will see a bit of a new picture moving forward, especially on the mile-and-a-halves as a result of the new bodies. These bodies are supposed to make the trucks look closer to what people drive on the street. While they may not effect the action this weekend at Martinsville that much, it could effect things moving forward.

    “I tested one at a mile-and-a-half and they’re going to be different,” Burton commented. I think clean air is still going to be very important. I don’t think see much difference with the racing as our truck races are normally really good and exciting. I still think you’ll see a lot of that.”

    Racing is something that Burton has always been around since a young age with both his dad Ward Burton and his uncle Jeff Burton racing in the Sprint Cup Series.

    “My dad raced for a number of years and just being around that gave me the passion to race,” Burton said. “I started racing and I was pretty good at it. I wasn’t great at it, but I was pretty good and really competitive. I was so competitive that it drove me to keep trying to get better and better to be the best. I’m still nowhere close to the best, but I feel I can win races now and that’s what it’s all about.”

    With coming from a racing background, some people would say that there’s added pressure for Burton to perform. However, Burton’s says most of the pressure comes from himself.

    “I just want to do well,” he added. “So the pressure’s there but I just try to block it out and do my job.”

    Certainly at the age of 21, Burton is just getting his career started in NASCAR. Though with being so young, there’s also the possibility and area where he could try different forms of racing. Burton says while he’s mainly a NASCAR guy, he wouldn’t mind doing the Rolex 24 Hours one day down the road.

    “I’m a big short guy, NASCAR guy. That’s all I’ve ever known,” Burton commented. “I’d maybe do a Rolex 24 hour race. I think that’d be pretty cool. Other than that, I think that I’ll stick to what I know.”

    Having gone down the road that he has gone down the past couple of months, Burton’s advice to young drivers trying to get into the sport is simple – it’s tough, but keep working at it.

    “You just got to keep digging and work hard and never give up and good things will happen,” he said.

  • Interview: Parker Kligerman Chasing Bristol Triumph; Hoping For Successful Rookie Season

    Interview: Parker Kligerman Chasing Bristol Triumph; Hoping For Successful Rookie Season

    Parker Kligerman and Swan Racing are entering Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend hoping to revive themselves from dismal finishes the past two weeks at Phoenix International Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Kligerman, whose best finish this season came at Daytona International Speedway in the Daytona 500, is entering his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in Bristol, Tennessee this weekend, and he expects the results to be promising.

    “In the lower series I’ve never finished outside the top ten at Bristol up until this year, so I have a lot of confidence.” Kligerman explained following a dismal finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “Bristol is a place I really love going to and I enjoy racing there.

    “(Starting the season off slow) has put us in a precarious position heading to Bristol as we’ll be forced to qualify in on time,” Kligerman explained about finishing outside the top 40 in two of the three races ran this season. “But we’ll fight back, and make sure everyone keeps working hard and we’ll get past this.”

    Kligerman’s career stats at the challenging half mile stretch in all three of NASCAR’s premier series are quite impressive. He posted a ninth place at ‘Thunder Valley’ in the NASCAR Nationwide Series while piloting Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 77 Toyota last season. His tenure with Red Horse Racing during 2012 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series led to an outstanding career best runner-up finish at the ‘Last Great Colosseum’.

    “The Cup car at Bristol really suits my driving style, so I’m hoping I can be even more successful this weekend then I have been in the lower series,” Kligerman told me on Tuesday evening.

    While Kligerman and Swan Racing will be attempting to score their first Bristol triumph, they’re chasing one ultimate goal, and that’s finishing this season top 25 in the point’s standings.

    “We (Swan Racing) look at a successful year as a top 25 finish in the points standings,” Kligerman told me. “We aren’t focused on winning a race, or making the Chase, our organization is fighting to become one of those mid-field organizations. If we can breakthrough into that (mid-field group) we can really feel like we accomplished something.”

    Following a average 2013 season, Swan Racing completely re-constructed their race team by adding Kligerman and fellow rookie Cole Whitt to their driving line-up. The addition of a second full-time car has really forced the organization to step-up their game.

    “Putting another car on the racetrack for any organization can put a strain, or really just rise the stress level of your team,” Kligerman explained about Swan Racing extending to a two car team this season.

    Kligerman doesn’t expect him or Cole to make the NASCAR ‘playoffs’, or even win a race, however, the doors always open for a lower organization to score a victory on fuel strategy or at a restrictor plate track. And with the new Chase system, a victory within the first 26 races almost guarantees you a berth in the post-season.

    “Winning a race, or making the Chase, would be a massive financial gain and also a huge thing for our partners and I think it’d be a big thing for our sport, it would show hard work and determination can get you into the post-season and make a run for a championship.”

    Kligerman, in his first season at Swan Racing, is expecting consistent results and possibly a chance at the Rookie of The Year award, despite experts saying that Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson are likely to take the award due to being with top-tier multi-car organizations. This weekend at Bristol could be the ‘eye opener’ that fans need to realize just how good this 23-year-old Connecticut racecar driver really is.

  • Jimmy Weller seeking more success after stellar Daytona performance

    Jimmy Weller seeking more success after stellar Daytona performance

    The draft can be the great equalizer and sometimes leads to producing some special results for some drivers that fans do not normally hear about finishing up front. That happened last month with the NextEra Energy Resources 250 as Jimmy Weller brought his No. 08 Geneva Liberty Steel/Engine Parts Plus Chevrolet home in the ninth position.

    “It turned out a lot better than I thought it would,” Weller commented. “I trusted my guys with it being my first trip there.”

    Weller added that working with veteran spotter Rocky Ryan, who also spots for Marcos Ambrose, helped the learning curve. Weller was also surrounded by veterans on track, including Sprint Cup Series regular Kyle Busch.

    On the topic of Cup regulars running the lower tier divisions, Weller is fully open to the idea.

    “I think it’s cool when they come down,” he said. “It teaches you as you see what Kyle did at Daytona and pick up on that. It also gets more people watching the race because of them, and brings more notoriety to the series.”

    Before his performance at Daytona, a lot of people didn’t know Weller, however he has been around the NASCAR ranks for awhile, with experience in the NASCAR K&N Series. The Youngstown, Ohio native has made 20 starts there over the past three years, scoring three top 10s along the way.

    Weller got his start in racing on dirt racing in the big dirt modifieds, following in his dad’s footsteps.

    “Dave Blaney, his dad Lou – he was the greatest around here,” Weller said. “My dad got his start from him. I started off in modifieds and then ran sprint cars for a year.”

    Weller had success on dirt, scoring a BBRP Tour win at Wayne County Speedway at the age of 18, while scoring a championship at Sharon in Sprint Cars a year later. As a result, he was named one of the Top 25 Under 25 in Sprint & Midget Car News’ list at year end. Missing the following season due to injury, Weller returned to Big Blocks for the first half of 2006 – before switching to asphalt Late Models in 2006.

    “Dave Blaney lived only 15 minutes from my house so he’s the one that moved me down to Charlotte and I worked out of his shop,” Weller said. “He’s been the one that has really helped me with this.”

    Weller said going from dirt to asphalt was a challenge – but it was a fun challenge to tackle.

    “First time we got out on the track with the late model and it got loose, I thought I did a good job saving it – ended up in the wall,” he said. “It’s just completely different. It was a lot of fun – it was a big challenge. I think that was the fun part in having to learn something all over again.” 

    Weller had had success in the late model ranks, recording a pair of wins at New Smyrna Speedway during their World Speedweeks while finishing seventh in the PASS Late Model Series in 2011.

    Weller is scheduled to run at least 12 races this year with SS Green Light Racing and the goal is simple – to keep getting better.

    “We’re going to a lot of these places for the first time,” he commented. “Just want to keep learning and getting better.”

    Weller isn’t scheduled to run Martinsville Speedway, which is the next stop for the truck series.

    “It may change now that we’re up in points after Daytona so we might do it,” he commented. “But we’re probably going to stick to our schedule. (Crew Chief) Jason Miller is excited for that race as he’s won some races there before. He’s really looking forward to going back and hopefully he can keep the momentum going.”

    Looking ahead five years, Weller says that he wants to keep moving up the ranks, but added that right now he’s focused on his truck deal.

    “I’ve always wanted to race so anything that I get to do racing wise would be good enough for me,” he continued.

  • NASCAR BTS: Travis Okulski Tells All In Wild Ride With Jeff Gordon

    NASCAR BTS: Travis Okulski Tells All In Wild Ride With Jeff Gordon

    When Jeff Gordon and sponsor Pepsi Max teamed up to do ‘Test Drive’, a video showing Jeff Gordon pranking a sales person at a car dealership, there were many critics of its authenticity. One of the most vocal was writer and Deputy Editor with Jalopnik, Travis Okulski.

    “The sales person was an actor and the guy that drove the car was a stunt driver not Jeff Gordon,” Okulski said. “I wrote three stories and made a couple of phone calls because it was one of those things where it was being passed off as true.”

    “And it obviously wasn’t true,” Okulski continued. “It was a great ad and entertaining but it just wasn’t true.”

    Given that criticism, Pepsi Max and Jeff Gordon decided to team up for Prank Number Two. So, in “Test Drive 2”, Jeff Gordon plays an ex-con taxi cab driver who took his fare for the day, Travis Okulski, for one wild ride trying to outrun the coppers who were hot on his trail.

    “When you look at all the comments from the first video, I think that it was really the bloggers, the media, the fans, it was everybody really challenging us to go and do this because of their comments of saying, ‘Hey, Jeff wasn’t driving the car or this or that wasn’t real,’ ” Jeff Gordon said. “We wanted to go out there and show everybody how authentic and how real this can be.”

    So, just how did Okulski feel when ‘convicted con’ taxi cab driver Jeff Gordon tried to outrun the law with him along for the ride?

    “I thought I was going to die,” Okulski said. “I was really scared and was freaking out.”

    “I tried at first to get out when the cab was stopped but the door was locked. That cab was a Chevy Caprice which is only sold to police fleets,” Okulski continued. “I figured it was bought at municipal auction and converted to a cab. So, I tried to get out of the cab and unbuckle my seat belt but that didn’t work.”

    “Then I guess I tried to kick through the seat and knock the guy out,” Okulski said. “But then I figured that if the cab crashed, that would be bad thing to happen. So, I kept screaming and pleading but I tried to keep it polite too because I figured if I showed him some respect he might not kill me.”

    “I didn’t want to end up tied up in his basement or something,” Okulski continued. “There’s only so long you can keep up screaming. So, then I tried to reason with him and then I just got quiet because I saw that wasn’t going to work.

    “But I kept begging him to let me out.”

    While Okulski can look back on the video now with a great sense of relief after having survived it, it is still difficult for him to see as he truly feared for his life.

    “Obviously I don’t like watching the video very much because I’m too close to it,” Okulski said. “I find seeing myself terrified is not my best look. So, I’m not much of a fan of seeing myself frightened like that.”

    “I understand why it’s funny but it’s just not something that I find entertaining I guess,” Okulski continued. “I’m being a good sport about it but I’m not like going home and watching it and thinking that’s really hilarious.”

    Okulski admits that he really did not realize this was a prank until right at the very end when Gordon pulled the cab into a garage and the confetti flew.

    “I was that terrified right up to the end,” Okulski said. “You look at it now and wonder how I would not know but in the moment, when you are there, it’s all very real.”

    “Running from an actual State Police car is bad news, with sirens and all. It was so real and terrifying that there was no way you would think that was a prank,” Okulski continued “You watch Cops and Wildest Police Videos and that’s on it. This was the sort of thing that happens on those shows and there was no time to even think that someone was pranking me. I didn’t understand why anyone would want to prank me that much.”

    “I figured it out when we pulled into the garage and that’s why you can see me laughing in the back,” Okulski said. “My day had just gotten exponentially better than it could have ever been. I only figured out it was Jeff Gordon when he walked around, opened the door and said he was Jeff Gordon.”

    Okulski said that once he found out what was really going on that he was not mad at all, especially because he is a Jeff Gordon fan. And he enjoyed the face time with his favorite driver once the prank was revealed.

    “It’s not often you get to meet your heroes and so it was pretty cool,” Okulski said “I hung out for another hour or so talking to Jeff and he took me for another ride when I wasn’t terrified.”

    “He took me around the whole course which was actually wonderful because having a ride with one of the greatest drivers of our generation is not something that happens every day,” Okulski continued “I decided that I would be an idiot not to do that.”

    “When I was riding in the car, I wasn’t thinking that he is a great driver but Jeff obviously is a fantastic driver,” Okulski said. “He was on the edge the whole time. He was flying and moving real good. I’ve always been very impressed with Jeff so it was great to get a ride with a race car driver.”

    “I’m a motorsports fan for sure,” Okulski continued. “I raced go karts when I was a kid and have been into cars my whole life. I went to college, got an English degree and started writing about cars three years ago.”

    “And I have the best job in the world and now I have a great story to tell.”

    So, what does Okulski want Jeff Gordon and Pepsi Max fans to know now about ‘Test Drives 1 and 2’?

    “It’s 100 percent real,” Okulski said of his wild ride. “It’s 100 percent terrifying.”

    “But the first one is still not real.”

    “We did it and we can now laugh,” Jeff Gordon said of the prank ride. “Travis can laugh about it and we can all enjoy the risk that paid off.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRIgmKGDqFM&feature=youtu.be

  • Jamie Dick Entering Phoenix With Confidence

    Jamie Dick Entering Phoenix With Confidence

    Growing up in New Mexico isn’t the greatest home state when chasing a NASCAR career, however, Jamie Dick is one of the uncommon racers who has advanced through the racing ranks and become a well-know driver despite growing up in a non-racing environment. Despite his environment not being best suited for racing, Dick has progressed to the NASCAR Nationwide Series and is quickly becoming a force to reckon with.

    Dick stunned the world at Daytona International Speedway last Saturday after qualifying his No. 55 Viva Motorsports seventh. After shocking the NASCAR universe with the qualifying run he disappointed himself and the fans after finishing a dismal 27th position.

    “It was definitely a disappointment.” Dick told me following the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona. “Anytime you start in the top 10 and your run in the top five but you don’t finish up there, it is a disappointment. But, we just have to learn from our mistakes and be prepared to capitalize next time we are in that position.

    Dick’s career high finish was posted at Talladega Superspeedway last season after he finished in 12th position. With the prior success at restrictor plate racetracks, it seemed that he would thrive this weekend in Daytona. However, sometimes things don’t go as planned.

    “After we qualified 7th, we knew we had a good car.” Dick explained to me. “It had been hard to pass during practice and testing, so I knew that starting up front was going to be important. Between our starting position and our strong car, I had high expectations for the race. I felt like I had more control over our finish then most races. But those expectations weren’t based on our 12th place finish the year before at Talladega. Our team has changed a lot since then and the circumstances going into the race at Talladega were much different than this weekend in Daytona”

    Viva Motorsports and Dick are entered into this weekend’s Nationwide Series event at Phoenix International Raceway. The team’s setting high, but reachable, standards in the desert state.

    “I expect to finish in the top 15 and I will be disappointed if we don’t finish in the top 20”

    Dick is hoping to improve upon last year’s 35th and 22nd place finishes last season at Phoenix. He explained to me that he thinks the team can improve on those decent finishes.

    “We can definitely improve on those finishes. The 35th place finish was because of a wreck we were caught up in at the beginning of the race. In the second Phoenix race last year, we had about a 22nd place car and that is right where we finish. Hopefully, we will be a little closer on the setup and we will bring it home with a much higher finish.”

    Dick and Viva Motorsports are hoping 2014 is their breakthrough year where they can prove their one car organization can compete even with the top competitors in NASCAR. And this weekend in Phoenix will be a trial for the team to see whether they will accept the challenge.

     

     

  • NASCAR BTS: Jim Beichner Embracing New Role as Team Penske Athletic Director

    NASCAR BTS: Jim Beichner Embracing New Role as Team Penske Athletic Director

    With an eye to increasing that ever important fitness level for drivers and crew alike, Team Penske recently announced the hiring of Jim Beichner as their new Athletic Director. And Beichner could not be more excited as he embraces his new role in the sport.

    “It’s a completely new role for me,” Beichner said. “While I’m just learning about the responsibilities, what I can say is that I work with great people.”

    “I work for Roger Penske and the Team Penske so it’s an exciting, great new opportunity for me.”

    Beichner has certainly had quite the journey to his new position, from race fan as a youngster to wrestling coach as an adult and throughout much of his career.

    “I’m originally from western New York,” Beichner said. “I grew up on a couple hundred acre farm just outside of Jamestown, New York, where Lucille Ball was born and raised.”

    “I was a race fan and my family was involved with all kinds of different forms of racing, from stock cars, motorcycles and whatever has an engine attached to it,” Beichner continued. “So, I grew up around the sport.”

    While Beichner was a race fan, he fell in love with another sport, wrestling, which he has been involved in throughout his life. And while he loved the world of coaching, he augmented his skills in the administrative area at Clarion University, where he earned a degree in Business Administration and Marketing, as well as the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Buffalo where he coached.

    “While at the University of Buffalo, I took on as many administrative duties as I could,” Beichner said. “I was Director of Compliance at the University of Buffalo and then got involved with student housing and some other administrative activities.”

    “So, the University of Buffalo afforded me opportunities to not just be a coach, of which I’m very appreciative,” Beichner continued. “I knew that I wasn’t going to retire a coach. Somewhere down the line I wanted to be a manger of people and I’m very fortunate that Roger Penske and his group picked me to do this.”

    Beichner did not have an inside track on the position. In fact, he saw the job posting like so many other regular job-seekers.

    “I saw the job posting and the more I read it, it sounded like me is the best way I can explain it,” Beichner said. “As I read the posting, I said to myself, ‘Jim, that sounds like you.’ All the things that they were looking for in an AD just spoke to me.”

    In his new AD role, Beichner is responsible for supervising the pit crews, including the coaches, the strength coach, others in the shop that work with the pit crew.

    “So, I’m the manager of people and I feel like that’s one of my strengths,” Beichner said. “I can cross boundaries and relate to just about anybody. Also, I’m a fair and honest person and that’s what they get from me.”

    While Beichner is thrilled with his new role and the people with whom he works, Beichner is also excited about the facilities in which he and his staff have the privilege to work.

    “I can tell you, our facility is beautiful,” Beichner said. “We have state-of-the art equipment so I couldn’t ask for a better place to be than working.”

    While Beichner has been used to training Division I wrestlers who have a certain mentality that they will do whatever they need to get the job done, he readily admits that those he is training at Team Penske demonstrate the same attitude and commitment.

    “I see, hear and feel the same dedication with my pit crew members here at Team Penske,” Beichner said. “I’m very impressed with the fact that as a new person coming in with new ideas, which I’ve shared with the coaches, and everybody has bought in and is working hard.”

    “I’m very impressed with their attitude,” Beichner continued. “It’s really a great crew to work with. Our coaches are top notch and our athletes are top notch.”

    “Our administration is great and through the changes that we are doing, they have bonded in a way that I had hoped they would respond.”

    While Team Penske is involved with NASCAR, they are also involved in other forms of motorsports including the IndyCar Series. Given that, Beichner may be called upon to expand his work from just focusing on the world of stock car racing to open wheel racing as well.

    “I do what my bosses ask me to do,” Beichner said. “When they ask me to get involved in Indy, as far as their pit crews are concerned, then I get involved.”

    “Whatever they want or need me to do, I’m the kind of person that is a company guy,” Beichner continued. ‘Nothing is out of bounds for me. If they ask me to do whatever, I will do that thing that they are asking me to do so I can achieve our goals and help them achieve their goals.”

    All of the new changes and challenges excite Beichner but what he is most excited about is getting to the race track to see the fruits of his labors. And he intends to be at the Daytona 500 to kick off the race season in celebration of his new responsibilities.

    “I’m really excited about race days,” Beichner said. “That’s probably what everybody would be excited about.”

    “I want to see our guys compete at the highest level and I want to see them do great,” Beichner continued. “I believe they are prepared very well and each one of those guys has a good reason to feel excited about race days. I’m excited about getting to those tracks and being out there and watching our guys perform.”

    Although Beichner has had quite a career in sports, from wrestling to NASCAR, he admits that he is simply in awe of his new opportunity with Team Penske.

    “You’re working for Roger Penske, a legend in motorsports,” Beichner said. “Where else would you rather be if you are a fan of racing than with Roger Penske and Team Penske?”

    “I don’t know what else to say,” Beichner continued. “This is where I’d rather be to help them ultimately to achieve their goals.”

    “I’m excited to see our Team Penske drivers, Keselowski, Logano and Blaney, out there as a team and I hope we help them achieve more victories than they already have,” Beichner said. “That’s what I’m excited about ultimately is to see those guys win races.”

    ‘I can’t speak highly enough of Team Penske, Roger Penske and this organization,” Beichner said. “And I can’t tell you how excited I am to have this opportunity.”

     

  • Enfinger Explains Remarkable Daytona Victory

    Enfinger Explains Remarkable Daytona Victory

    Grant Enfinger notched his third career ARCA Racing Series victory on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway after holding off Frank Kimmel and Clay Campbell in the late stages. Enfinger explained exclusively to me after the victory what the win meant and how big it was to help him advance his career.

    “Definitely the biggest win for my career.” Enfinger told me after his memorable victory. “This win obviously ranks up there (among my greatest wins), but I don’t know if it has sank in yet. Speedway racing is much more of a team involvement and being at the right place at the right time compared to short track racing.”

    During the early stages of the Lucas Oil 200 there was a multitude of cars involved in the ‘big one’ on the front stretch. Luckily, Enfinger was ahead of the incident, but he described to me what he could see.

    “I saw the wreck happen in my mirror early in the race.” Enfinger explained to me. “That’s why track position and qualifying is important at Daytona, it just cuts away your chances of getting caught up in the big one”

    Enfinger was challenged the entire event by Dylan Kwasniewski and Chase Elliott – both rising stars in NASCAR. He explained to me what it was like to contend with Elliott and Kwasniewski.

    “No different then racing with any of the other top ARCA drivers, they just have the best equipment out there.” Enfinger expressed to me about racing with Elliott and Kwasniewski. “Luckily, Team BCR game me a car that could beat them.”

    Despite battling with Elliott and Kwasniewski for the majority of the event, Enfinger was forced to fend off Frank Kimmel in the final laps to capture the huge win.

    “I knew Frank (Kimmel) would try to make something happen, if he could, but at the same time he (Kimmel) is a clean driver, and we’ve never had issues before.” Enfinger told me. “It just all worked out.”

    Enfinger and BCR are attempting to run the entire ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards 2014 season, but funds are keeping them from reaching that goal.

    “BCR team owner Howard Bixman is trying to get us to every race (this season).” Enfinger explained to me. “Great partners like Casite/Motor Honey, Advance Auto Parts, WURTH USA, and Stanley Industries are helping greatly”

    Enfinger will return to track at Mobile Speedway, his home track and the site of his first ARCA Racing Series victory next month.

    “I already felt good about Mobile, but this (win) gives confidence to everyone on our team (heading to Mobile).” Enfinger told me about his chances heading back to his home track.

    Congrats to Enfinger on the remarkable Daytona International Speedway victory, and a HUGE thanks to him for doing the interview.

  • Ryan Newman looks forward to Daytona, skeptical on qualifying format

    Ryan Newman looks forward to Daytona, skeptical on qualifying format

    While some drivers have focused on racing and getting to that top level, Ryan Newman is one of a few drivers who went to University and got an engineering degree. For Newman, he feels that it is a plus for him, personally.

    “Anytime that you have an opportunity to continue with your education, it’s an opportunity you should take,” he commented. “There’s a balance there, though, because you don’t want to be 45 years old and still in school. My point is from my stand point if racing didn’t work out, I’d have that to fall back on. Without a doubt my engineering degree, or any degree or any person is important.”

    Newman added that having the engineering degree brings perks while at the track as he can join in on discussion with the engineers and create additional questions for what they’re telling him because he knows how it works.

    With his knowledge in his back pocket, Newman makes the shift from Stewart-Haas Racing to Richard Childress Racing this season.

    “I’m really excited about working with everybody,” he said. “It’s the biggest organization that I’ve been apart of. I was with Penske before with two Cup teams, then SHR with three Cup teams and now at RCR with three Cup teams and a couple Nationwide teams. Richard as a hands on owner reminds me a lot of Don Miller, who was at Penske Racing and he was like the Roger Penske at Penske Racing because Roger was never there. Having that hands on approach and the personality that he has had and the success he had had with making the Chase each year shows they have the parts and pieces.

    “Aside for that, Richard’s passion for the outdoors is something that I admire. It’s great how we both get away from things. Even if we’re texting on our phone, it’s about if he’s seen any deer, turkeys, or anything else. I look forward to it all.”

    Mid-season last year, Newman found out from Stewart-Haas Racing officials that he would not be back with them in 2014. A week later, he went and won the Brickyard 400.

    “That was huge for many reasons because it was the Brickyard, but also it was my first win with Quickens Loans,” Newman explained. “We put everything together with them to be the primary sponsor and now they’ve moved over to Richard Childress Racing so that proves to them through the adversity that I was a winner. It made a big difference – for me for sure, but also the way people viewed me out of the deal.”

    People shuffling around led to Newman and Richard Childress talking and signing a deal. 

    “Richard and I talked five years ago before I went to Stewart-Haas; we just couldn’t put everything together and Stewart-Haas had a great opportunity,” Newman commented.

    With the move, the focus hasn’t been on Newman – but rather on Austin Dillon and the return of the iconic No. 3.

    “I don’t see the number three at Dale Earnhardt – I see it as Austin Dillon,” Newman commented. “In the grand scheme things there’s a balance between that being just a number and the man’s number. I think you have to separate those things. Dale Earnhardt wasn’t the first person to have the number three – he was just the first person to make the number three famous. Austin Dillon has a challenge ahead of him to out famous Dale Earnhardt and it can be done – Jimmie Johnson is proving that.

    “I think the toughest part about that number is when Dale Earnhardt left us, he left us without telling us he wouldn’t leave. Richard Petty and others retired, but Dale Earnhardt retired through death and that left a whole other spot to deal with.”

    Beyond Newman’s own changes, NASCAR has made some considerable changes – including an elimination style Chase. Newman says that he likes the change and doesn’t see it as a big of a deal as others have seen it to be.

    “I think it is good for our fans to have some extra excitement, as far as looking at it as brackets and playoffs,” he commented. “That I don’t think will change a whole lot. It’s still rewarding consistency and it’s still rewarding some sort of wins. It’ll be exciting for the fans.”

    Newman added that it also opens doors of opportunity because a driver that may have been eliminated by the old system due to a bad race to start off can get back into with a win before that segment closes.

    “In the end, there’s still going to be a champion and you’re still going to have an equal chance to be that champion, whether different amount points or different system than before,” he continued. “That’s what we all strive for is to have that opportunity.”

    Newman’s concern more stems around the qualifying format, which he feels has a lot of grey areas and ways to be manipulated. An example he used stems to what could happen when we go back to Daytona in July and qualify with the group format.

    “As a manufacture if I’m thinking to myself, we have 18 Chevrolets out there and we have the top five spots, I’m going to pull all my cars off the track and lessen the pack so we can win the pole today,” Newman explained. “So I think it opens up a chance of manipulation of our sport when it comes to that.”

    Newman also brought up another way that it could be manipulated on the mile and a half tracks.

    “I’m going to go out first as soon as I can so that way I can come in and let my tires cool off so I can go again later,” he started. “Then if I go out later, or I’ve waited till the end of the session and someone blocks my last run because they have the right to or the opportunity to or whatever, they’ve manipulated my chance to be in that last five minutes and have a shot at winning the pole. I just don’t want to see it where other teams can – because we’re competitors and we have egos – other teams can manipulate the outcome. We were critized heavily after Richmond with everything that went down. We don’t need to be opening ourselves up to that situation again – even if it’s just qualifying.

    “That’s not the racing that we grew up with. I think that’s the biggest part of the change that as a competitor I have to deal with.”

    As far as reflecting back on his time at SHR, Newman says that despite everything he and Tony Stewart still have a mutual respect for each other.

    “I never left the friendship,” Newman said. “Tony and I still talk. We equal or talk more often than before – sometimes totally off track from racing.”

    Newman then went on to speak about one of his memorable moments as a teammate with Stewart – a couple years ago at Atlanta.

    “We were at Atlanta – two years ago – and for whatever reason, the schedule had us qualifying during the day,” Newman told the story. “The track was really good up top and I was contemplating time trialing the high line. If you went up there, rocks were hitting your inside panels – it was nasty dirty but it was not rubbered up and fast. I did my last race run up there and going into qualifying, thought of qualifying up top. But I thought no, I better qualify at the bottom as I’ve won nine poles here and that’s what I’ve always done.

    “I did my run and time trialed not bad – fourth about, I think. He was going out about 35th or 40th – late in the line. I came in and got out of my racecar and walked all the way down. I walked up to Stewart and said, ‘Run the wall.’ He goes, ‘What?’. I said, ‘Run the wall. Run the high line. Don’t even think about qualifying – just do as you do a race run.’ He goes, ‘Are you serious?’ and he’s looking at me as if I’m crazy or I’ve hit my head. So he went out there and won the pole.”

  • Shane Stickel looking for first win during sophomore season

    Shane Stickel looking for first win during sophomore season

    After winning the Canadian Vintage Modified championship last season, Shane Stickel was looking for a challenge for 2013. As a result, he turned to the OSCAAR Modified division to see how he’d do against the division’s top drivers.

    “Started to work on the hobby car and agreed with my dad that I wasn’t really into it,” Stickel said. “Went down to the states and picked up the car. I love the look of these cars.”

    Stickel spoke to the amount of diversity in the series with his car being a “Troyer by McColl” and, for example, Davey Terry’s being a “Troyer by Hanley”.

    “My car has a complete late model front clip so that helps with setup,” Stickel commented. “Only car like it out there. The series definitely has it’s variety.”

    The rulebook allows for this to happen and Stickel says it’s all about figuring out the magic combination to beat two-time series champion Gary McLean.

    Last year, the Kitchener, Ontario native did pretty solid with his set-up as he brought home the No. 39 MSD Machine Tool/ Shelane Properties/ Huron Fasteners/ Creative Edge Signs & Graphics/Metal Supermarkets/Paragon Collision Centre/MAC Contracting/Bizign Design Company/SpeedwayPhoto.ca Modified sixth in points.

    “OSCAAR has the top drivers in the province,” Stickel commented. “Since I was a little kid hanging around the tracks, I remember hanging around these guys. Now I’m racing them.”

    Stickel joked that at the Rick Woolner Memorial when he started fourth, he looked behind him and went “Holy Crap” and had to calm down.

    Stickel will return to the tour in 2014 as he looks to bring home his first career victory. He came close last year, finishing second in the Chase for the Colors event at Peterborough Speedway.

    The young driver will be dealt some new challenges as the series heads to Capital City Speedway for the first time.

    “It’s hard to turn down the opportunity to move to other tracks,” Stickel commented. “It’s helped grow the series. But the negative is in the travel. I’m all pro due to growth.”

    Stickle started his career at the age of seven in the Waterloo Karting Club and thanks his dad for the success along the way.

    “I don’t have a big team – only have a couple friends that help at the track,” he started. “At the shop it’s just us (me and dad) working hard – him more than me. I can’t thank him enough for helping me. Without him, I wouldn’t be here.”