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Featured interviews from SpeedwayMedia.com

  • Brett Moffitt Heads to Bristol with Former Mentor and New Race Team

    Brett Moffitt Heads to Bristol with Former Mentor and New Race Team

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: hometracks.nascar.com” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Young up and coming racer Brett Moffitt has had an interesting journey, from his racing start under the tutelage of four-time K&N Pro Series champion Andy Santerre to racing for some of the biggest teams in the sport, including Joe Gibbs Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing.

    But as he kicks off his 2012 K&N Pro Series East season in Bristol, Moffitt is back where he belongs, under the familiar wing of Santerre and with a whole new race team Hattori Racing Enterprises. Moffitt will pilot the No. 11 Toyota Camry and will join teammate Sergio Pena in the Shigeaki Hattori stable.

    “Ever since I drove for Andy (Santerre) in 2009, Andy and my dad have been in constant communication,” Moffitt said. “Andy’s been a big help to my career over the past three years.”

    “So, when this opportunity came up, Andy told Shigeaki Hattori that he knew should drive his second car and luckily that was me.”

    While Moffitt may seem a bit devoted to his old mentor, he knows that Santerre not only has the experience behind him but also has the strength of the new HRE race team with him as well.

    “Working for Andy Santerre is just really great,” Moffitt said. “He’s been there. He’s driven race cars, he’s won races and he’s won championships.”

    “So, he knows what it takes,” Moffitt continued. “Being able to work for him is really great for a driver because he understands everything you say. He’s always looking out for your best interests as a driver.”

    Moffitt has had an eventful three years since debuting as a 16 year old with Andy Santerre in the K&N East Series. Since then, he has had seven wins, four pole positions, 20 top-5 and 25 top-10 finishes and has never finished worse than 3rd in the championship standings.

    “After I left Andy last time, I went to Joe Gibbs Racing for a year,” Moffitt said. “I ran in the K&N East Series for them. We were really competitive for them and ended up second in the points.”

    “After that, I went to Michael Waltrip Racing,” Moffitt continued. “That was a huge step for my career.”

    “MWR made me feel important as a driver,” Moffitt said. “I came in every day and worked on the cars and in the shop.”

    “They put a big emphasis on my physical training and I’m still associated with them,” Moffitt continued. “I still have a trainer with them so I go there every day and still work out. That’s always a good connection to still maintain.”

    With his return to his mentor Andy Santerre, as well as his new assignment with Hattori Racing Enterprises, Moffitt is excited to get his 2012 race season underway. He just recently finished up testing at Bristol, the first race of the season for the K&N Pro Series East.

    “The test went really well,” Moffitt said. “From the first time we unloaded, we had to work on them a little bit but by the end of the day, we were pretty comfortable.”

    “We have a couple things we are working with back at the shop and hopefully when we come back to the track, we will be ready to have a good race,” Moffitt continued. “The car was real fast and I’m really looking forward to the race.”

    Moffitt has been only been guaranteed eight races with HRE Racing. The remainder of the season’s racing will be dependent on sponsorship, as is so often the case.

    “This year Hattori approached me as a driver,” Moffitt said. “They weren’t looking for a driver with a lot of money, just one that they could win races and win championships with.”

    “Right now, I’m only guaranteed eight races, with the first race at Bristol on March 17th,” Moffitt said.” That’s where the sponsorship comes into play.”

    “We’re still out there searching so hopefully we’re able to find something by then,” Moffitt continued. “But we’re just going to take the first eight and try to be the best we can. Hopefully we’ll find a sponsor and be able to finish it out.”

    Moffitt is also looking forward to working with his new teammate at Hattori Racing Enterprises. He will be paired with fellow Santerre protégé Sergio Pena.

    “Me and Sergio have always gotten along real well,” Moffitt said. “So, it’s going to be a really fun year.  We’re both obviously proven race winners so I think it will be a good year for the team this year.”

    In addition to mentor Santerre and teammate Pena, Moffitt is also looking forward to working with Dave McCarty, his new crew chief. McCarty has over 20 years experience in all kinds of racing, from the Nationwide Series to Trucks, ARCA, ASA and the K&N Pro Series East.

    “Me and my new crew chief Dave McCarty have spent time getting to know each other,” Moffitt said. “Dave was Darrell Wallace’s crew chief last year at Revolution Racing. Andy felt like he would be a good match up for me so he brought him over.”

    Moffitt has been working intensely on establishing that all important chemistry with his new crew chief, as well as their bond on and off the track.

    “We’ve just been working together in the shop,” Moffitt said of his new crew chief. “He’s been bossing me around telling me what to do. I say ‘yes sir’ and do it. We have a lot of fun but when it’s time to get things done, we get things done.”

    Owner Shigeaki Hattori, as well as HRE General Manager Andy Santerre are equally as excited about having Moffitt with their team as he is to race with them.

    “People in an organization are the key to the organization’s success,” Hattori said. “If you hire the right people with knowledge and experience, success will follow.”

    “I am excited to have Brett at HRE,” Santerre said. “He is an incredible driving talent and has matured behind the wheel in the last few years. He is more than capable of winning the championship.”

    With the confidence of his owner and manager firmly in his corner, Moffitt simply cannot wait to get back to the race track, beginning at Bristol

    “I feel like I’ve proven myself as being able to win races and be up front,” Moffitt said. “I’m just looking forward to racing. I love racing and being competitive.”

    “That’s what drives me.”

  • Mark Dilley: Racecar Driver, Track Owner, Co-Owner of Wide Open Motorsports

    Mark Dilley: Racecar Driver, Track Owner, Co-Owner of Wide Open Motorsports

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]Mark Dilley had a plan in his mind as he knew what he wanted the track to look like. However, explaining it to the construction engineers was another story. They wanted it explained in percentages while Dilley only knew the degrees of banking he wanted.

    With just over 12 hours to put together a plan, it was time to hit a deadline. Everything came together that night after drawing at the kitchen table using his kids’ crayons, a dinner plate and tea cup, along with a call to a friend who had a computer program.

    Flash forward two race seasons and Sunset International Speedway has gone from a track that was down in the dumps into a track that drivers want to race at.

    “First off, the staff they all seem to take pride in their jobs at the speedway and they do it with a sense of professionalism,” 2011 Limited Late Model (LLM) Champion Kevin Cornelius says. “The facility is second to none, in my opinion. I think the new ownership group has done an outstanding job bringing Sunset Speedway back to life and generating a lot of excitement at the speedway. Also, the competition last year was the some of the best in Ontario and it showed with close hard racing every night, and the competitors, I’m proud to race door to door with them.”

    Dilley got on the ownership side of Sunset after hearing about the status of track. Dilley himself grew up racing at Sunset and the track still meant a lot to him. He also had enjoyed the time that he spent in charge of Barrie Speedway with Brad Moran. So when it came to this situation, everything just came together.

    “When we got involved in this, they put a team of owners together that had money to back it and really wanted to make a difference,” he explains. “They’ve done that by the investment they’ve made into the track, redoing the track. Just whatever they said they’d do, they’ve done and it’s been good to work with partners like that where they have the money to repave the track, redo it and a real fast and exciting place to be.”

    For drivers that race at Sunset, they note it’s because of his understanding with them.

    “Mark has made Sunset International Speedway one of Canada’s top oval tracks by being a promoter who understands what it takes to make a track work,” Mike Bentley, Sunset LLM Competitor, explains. “Being a driver himself, he understands what the weekly racers at Sunset go through and makes sure their opinions and concerns are heard.”

    Becoming in charge of Sunset Speedway came out of a business venture already started with business partner Linda Jones – Wide Open Motorsports. They started Wide Open Motorsports in 2007 because there was a need for race teams to someone to organize the marketing.

    “When NASCAR started, there was a need for teams to have organization from the side of corporate representation,” he explains. “As far as organizing things at the race track, activation of sponsorships, and really where the teams are on demand to that, that’s really how it got started. Whether we came in and managed an existing sponsorship or brought in a new sponsorship and did it that way. Basically to organize and do everything under one umbrella.”

    One of the keys to the organization is finding sponsorship, which isn’t always easy. Due to that, most businesses, as Dilley explains, ask for money up front.

    “A lot of times there are companies and agencies that will do things, but they take a big retainer,” he explains. “So what that means is basically if I was going to get you a sponsorship, you’d give me $40,000-$50,000 up front to hunt that sponsorship down. I guess if I find something, that’s good. If I don’t, well, that’s part of the business.”

    However, Dilley and Jones do it differently to make it easier.

    “Basically, Linda and I put whatever to some degree – I mean, we’ll come back and ask for some money if its getting real crazy – but generally speaking, we do everything upfront,” he says. “We work on a street permission basis.”

    So far in the five years the company has been open, they’ve put together some good sizable sponsorship packages for drivers. One of the biggest was getting Canadian Tire to sponsor Scott Steckly.

    “Early on, to get Canadian Tire was huge for us,” he says. “They were basically going to get out of motorsports – we managed to get them back in, so that was huge.”

    Finding the sponsorships hasn’t been easy due to the economy as Dilley says when the economy goes down, a lot of companies cut advertising business first.  However, it’s still possible to find sponsorship as it’s all about being prepared to give back to the sponsor.

    “Make sure to be prepared to give back 30% minimum of what you’re going for,” he advises. “So if you’re basically if you need $10,000 to race, if that’s your race budget, then you really need to get $13-$14,000 cause you’re going to spend $4,000 on activating that $10,000. So what that means – so if you get $10,000, you’re only going to spend on race program about $7,000 cause you’re going to be spending $3,000 on tickets, buildboards, shirts, lettering, shows, whatever it may be to get them involved.”

    Dilley adds that most people don’t do that and end up using the full $10,000 they get on the race car and doing their own thing. Dilley says that because drivers are forgetting to give back to the sponsor, sponsors are leaving due to no return investment.

    Beyond Wide Open Motorsports and running Sunset Speedway, Dilley is also a driver in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. This past season, Dilley finished sixth in points with a win on the season coming at his home track, Barrie Speedway. Keep everything balanced at times isn’t quite easy, he admits.

    “There’s a lot of stuff that goes on at the same time; that’s the biggest thing,” he explains.

    There was the one weekend during the season in July where Dilley made multiple trips back and forth from Sunset Speedway to Exhibition Place for the Canadian Tire Series race weekend so he could race, while keeping an eye on the double-header show.

    When he can’t be there, he depends a lot on his staff to keep things under control.

    “We do have good staff that works for us at Sunset that can take up a lot of slack,” he says.

    Most notably, he brought Steve Slaughter on board to be part of the management team. Slaughter has experience running race tracks himself as he was in charge of Sunset during the last 1990s.

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”266″][/media-credit]Despite all the positives noted, there are some issues that some drivers note about the track.

    “Sunset Speedway thinks that they need to have one late model driver to what they call headline the show which I think is a slap in the face to the rest of us other drivers that race at sunset speedway,” Cornelius explains. “It’s my opinion that this do called headliner hurts our car counts and the quality of the show that we try to put on every Saturday night.”

    There are also those who feel that there are issues within technical inspection and drivers getting away with breaking the rules.

    “They need to stick with the rules when it comes to teching,” Tara Case, Sunset Super Stock driver, says. “They let too many people away with stuff and makes it harder for others to make it anywhere.”

    Though overall, everybody says that things with the track are quite positive from their perspective.

    “His team has done a great job and you can see this by all the people in the stands,” Evan Towle, who is in charge of CanadianRacingOnline.com. “Every time I go, I notice a new improvement.

    “The things I notice is the staff is really friendly and the people in the stands are talking about how much they like the track and what Mark and his team has done.

    “Never had anything that I can complain about since Mark took over. I have followed Mark Dilley since his CASCAR days and he loves racing and he is a no bs type guy. I brought my daughter to NASCAR Speedpark and Mark was there with his car. He talked to her and you can really see he enjoys racing and his fans and you can see this with everything he has done for Sunset Speedway.”

  • Andy Hillenburg: The Man behind Bringing NASCAR Back to Rockingham Speedway

    Andy Hillenburg: The Man behind Bringing NASCAR Back to Rockingham Speedway

    Photo Credit: Stephanie McLaughlin

    Wednesday afternoon I headed out to Rockingham Speedway to meet with track President, Andy Hillenburg. I wanted to find out a little more about the man who made it his mission to bring NASCAR racing back to Rockingham Speedway.

    I arrived for my appointment a little early and sat in my car for a few minutes before going inside. As I sat waiting, I noticed someone out front trimming the hedges while another man stood nearby checking periodically to make sure everything looked just right. I suddenly realized that the other man was Andy Hillenburg. This was my first clue about the type of man I was about to interview.

    He calls himself a ‘blue collar man’ and he is willing to do whatever it takes to make one of his dreams come true. If something needs to be painted, you’ll likely find him with a paint brush in hand. He’s quick to point out that the track doesn’t have a huge budget so he often has to get creative in order to get things accomplished.

    One of his latest endeavors is a car he calls the “Rockmobile.” It’s a 1975 Dodge Coronet with a paint scheme designed to resemble a police car. On one side it reads, “To Serve and Promote,” and the phone number for ticket sales is prominently displayed. It’s a rolling advertisement that Hillenburg often drives around town.

    Another thing that stood out as we talked is his passion for racing. It’s a passion he has carried with him his entire life.

    Hillenburg was born and raised in Indianapolis, Ind. He worked in the family construction business but every spare moment was spent going to races.

    “I’ve wanted to race for as long as I can remember,” he told me. “I never really wanted to do anything else.”

    He built his first race car when he was 16 years old and began racing sprint cars. Over the next 10 years, he raced in open wheel cars whenever he had a chance. He competed in the USAC (United States Auto Club) series, the World of Outlaws series and anything else that was available. It didn’t really matter to him, as long as he was racing.

    His goal was to one day race in the Indy 500.

    He came close a couple of times. The first time he was actually entered to run but the team abruptly folded just prior to the race. The following year he thought he had a deal put together but a couple of weeks before the race, he realized it wasn’t going to happen.

    He was becoming increasingly frustrated when a good friend suggested that he move to North Carolina and try his hand at stock car racing.

    “I hadn’t really given it much thought,” he said.   “In Indianapolis, there’s so much racing. It’s everywhere you go. You just drive two miles down the road and there’s another race shop. I didn’t think any place could match that. I was perfectly content to stay in Indianapolis.”

    But then his friend took him to a Busch (now Nationwide Series) race in Hickory, N.C. in the spring of 1990.

    Hillenburg was so impressed that he made a drastic decision. With only a duffle bag full of clothes, his helmet, and a hundred dollars he borrowed from another friend, he got in his truck and drove to Charlotte, N.C.  Hillenburg spent the first four nights sleeping in that truck across from Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Then he ran into Kenny Schrader. He’d raced against Schrader so they knew each other slightly, but they weren’t what you’d call good friends. They stood around talking for a while and Schrader asked Hillenburg what he was doing in town.

    “I moved here,” Hillenburg told him.

    Schrader said, “That’s great. Do you have a deal?” “No,” Hillenburg replied.

    Schrader then asked, “Where are you living?” “Right there in my truck,” Hillenburg responded.

    At this point, Schrader began laughing. But he ended up taking Hillenburg out to his shop and gave him a place to stay for about 6 months.

    During the day, Hillenburg visited all the race shops, looking for any kind of job just to get his foot in the door. In the evenings, he helped out at the shop by mowing the grass, taking out the trash, washing cars and anything else that needed doing.

    He finally got a job at Fast Track High Performance Driving School. It wasn’t long before he was running the entire shop. The owner of the shop even fielded a couple of cars for Hillenburg to run two Cup races.  It wasn’t much but it was enough to keep the dream alive.

    About this time Hillenburg had the opportunity to buy the school.  It was a decision that would require him to put his driving career on hold for 3 years. He found that he loved the driving school business and worked hard to make it a success.

    But he hadn’t given up on his racing career.

    He finally had a chance to run a full season in 1995 in the ARCA series. He made the most of it by winning the championship.

    As he reflected on his life, he paused and said, “I’m a person that has a lot of dreams and I’ve been fortunate to accomplish several of them.”

    Then he leaned in, as if to tell me a secret.  “But not all of them; because I have lots.”

    In the 1990s, most of Hillenburg’s time on the track was spent as a test driver. He test drove for over 20 Cup teams, Ford Motor Company and Dodge Engineering. He was also an IROC test driver for about 10 years.

    He never really had the opportunity to race full time but he has no regrets and feels like he accomplished what he set out to do.

    One of the highlights of his racing career came at Daytona Speedway in 1998. He had to qualify on time to enter the race and he remembers it as “the best race I ever drove in my life.”

    Then, in 2000, at 37 years of age, he went to Indianapolis and competed in the Indy 500, accomplishing yet another lifelong dream.

    Hillenburg has also tried his hand as a team owner, most recently in the Camping World Truck series and the ARCA series.

    Did I mention that he has a lot of dreams?

    In his spare time, he also works as a stuntman and acts in commercials and movies.

    In the back of his mind, he knew that there was one piece missing to complete his business circle; owning a racetrack.

    It would give his driving school a home base and would come in handy for the stunt work and acting gigs that he likes to do as well.

    He had looked at a few tracks but nothing seemed like a good fit until Rockingham Speedway came up for auction in 2007.

    One of his goals from the very beginning was to bring NASCAR racing back to the track but he’s a little surprised at how quickly it happened.

    He’s also extremely proud of what he’s been able to accomplish and excited for the future. But he doesn’t take all the credit. It’s been a team effort from everyone at the track and the support of the community has been invaluable.

    But there’s no doubt in my mind that without Andy Hillenburg, it would not have happened.

    It is his blue collar work ethic, his willingness to take risks and his vision that have made it all possible.

    Rockingham Speedway seats approximately 30,000 and ticket sales are progressing well. But Hillenburg says they aren’t going to stop until one of two things happens.

    “We’re either sold out or we give the command to start your engines.”

    My last question for him was this. Why should fans come to Rockingham?

    “I feel like we’re unique. I want to be the facility that’s an old comfortable pair of shoes; a nice evening on the porch. We’re that race track.  All those old memories that you can relive as well as build new ones, that’s what I’m after.”

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to “The Rock” on April 15th.  For more information and to purchase tickets please visit online at rockinghamspeedway.com.

  • Dakoda Armstrong Has Sights Fixed on Truck Rookie of the Year Honors

    Dakoda Armstrong Has Sights Fixed on Truck Rookie of the Year Honors

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: dakodaarmstrong.com” align=”alignright” width=”100″][/media-credit]The youngest and newest member of ThorSport Racing, Dakoda Armstrong, has his eye on just one prize. The up and comer plans to take his No. 98 EverFi/Drive for Savings Toyota Tundra ride straight to the Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year honors.

    While some may argue that being ROTY does not really mean all that much, Armstrong definitely takes exception to that notion. For him, it is not only a special honor, but one that lasts a lifetime and cannot be taken away.

    “You only get one shot at it in any series you go in,” Armstrong said. “I try to go for it in any series that I run in.”

    “The names of people that have received that award and the competition that you go against, it’s a really big honor.”

    “This year, the Rookie of the Year title will be one of our goals,” Armstrong said. “Hopefully we can go out there and run well for it.”

    Armstrong is no stranger to Rookie of the Year honors. In fact, he secured that honor in the ARCA Racing Series and definitely felt that has helped move him along in his career.

    “Getting the Rookie of the Year honor has definitely helped propel me forward,” Armstrong said. “It’s the title you have and it is always brought up.”

    “So, it’s definitely a good thing,” Armstrong continued. “And it’s another banner we’d get to put up in the ThorSport shop.”

    While Armstrong acknowledges that there are plenty of drivers that he will be competing with for the ROTY honors, he feels that his biggest competition will be one of the Dillon boys.

    “For Rookie of the Year, my biggest competition is definitely Ty Dillon,” Armstrong said. “I competed against him in the ARCA Series.”

    “He’s got really good equipment and he’s a really good driver,” Armstrong continued. “We will definitely have some good racing and some good competition with him.”

    In addition to the ROTY honors, Armstrong has a few other goals in mind for this 2012 season at ThorSport Racing.

    “The main thing is just consistency,” Armstrong said. “I want to go out and reel off top-tens left and right and start getting top-fives.”

    “If we can get wins, I’m definitely going to try for it,” Armstrong continued. “We just want to get more consistent from where we were qualifying last year and even finishing.”

    “That’s what we want to work on, just getting better each and every week.”

    Armstrong is also most grateful to be on a team like ThorSport Racing, particularly with teammates like Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton.

    “Having those teammates, Crafton and Sauter, is one of the reasons that I went with ThorSport Racing,” Armstrong said. “Starting up this No. 98 team, it’s not like we’re starting up all three teams from scratch. I just keep trying to build off of them.”

    Armstrong advised that, although his mantra will be consistency, he like the rest of his team will be experiencing some change when it comes to their Truck manufacturer, this year switching to Toyota.

    “It’s a change for me as far as in the stock car world,” Armstrong said. “I’ve been with Toyota in the open wheel world where my dad owns a team.”

    “But this will be new for me and for ThorSport,” Armstrong continued. “We’re glad to have them and they’ve been a big help so far.”

    “Hopefully, we can go out and keep getting better with their equipment.”

    While looking forward to an exciting racing season, particularly with the ROTY honors in sight, Armstrong admits that he leads a ‘pretty boring’ life off the track. But he does have one fairly interesting hobby.

    “I’m actually a pretty boring person,” Armstrong said. “But bowling is one of my biggest hobbies right now.”

    “I got out of high school where I used to play basketball and a lot of other sports,” Armstrong continued. “But bowling is something you can go do so that’s been pretty fun.”

    “I think I bowl good enough to be in a league but I haven’t got there yet,” Armstrong said. “I just have fun with it.”

    On reflection, however, Armstrong advised that his new hobby did have some critical factors in common with his racing passion.

    “It’s a really hard sport as far as making sure that you do the same thing over and over again,” Armstrong said. “I guess it’s like hitting the same line over and over each lap.”

    “So, that way it is connected to racing so I feel a whole lot better about going to play it now.”

    While enjoying his off-track hobby, Armstrong remains committed to pursuing his racing passion. The young driver also has progression on his mind when it comes to his career.

    “I definitely do want to be racing on Sundays in the Cup Series eventually,” Armstrong said. “Whether that happens or not, I don’t know.”

    “The main thing is that I have a great opportunity right now in the Truck Series with ThorSport,” Armstrong continued. “So, I just have to make the best of it and go out and try the best I can each and every week.”

    Most of all, Armstrong just cannot wait to get his 2012 season started so that he can begin his quest for the Truck Series Rookie of the Year prize. He will start work early this week as he heads off to Daytona International Speedway.

    “I actually take off Monday and we have a rookie meeting on Tuesday,” Armstrong said. “We have a call on Wednesday and practice on Thursday.”

    “It’s pretty nerve-wracking,” Armstrong continued. “I’ve been there in the ARCA Series so I know pretty much where everything is.”

    “I know the facility but we will actually be racing the same weekend as the Daytona 500 so the atmosphere will be crazy.”

    “But if I could sum up in one word my feelings going into Daytona, it would be excited, especially because this is something new,” Armstrong said. “I am going to be a rookie and the trucks are still really new to me.”

    “So, I’m just looking forward to getting the opportunity to go out and show what the 98 team can do.”

     

  • Leilani Munter Combines Racing and Dolphin Passions

    Leilani Munter Combines Racing and Dolphin Passions

    [media-credit name=”Photo courtesy of Phil Cavali ” align=”alignright” width=”260″][/media-credit]While passions run high as the ARCA racers take to the track for their season opener at Daytona, Leilani Munter is not only looking forward to her time behind the wheel but cannot wait to share the cause on the hood of her race car.

    The driver of the No. 12 Tony Marks Racing Dodge Charger is combining her passion for speed, as well as her commitment to calling attention to the plight of dolphins by featuring the documentary ‘The Cove’ on her race car.

    “I’m just passionate about a lot of things, like the environment and clean energy,” Munter said. “The way that I found ‘The Cove’ is that I saw the movie a couple of years ago.”

    “As soon as I saw it, I was so moved by it,” Munter continued. “As soon as it ended, I looked at my husband and said “We’re going to Japan to help to end this.”

    “That was my call to action,” Munter said. “My husband and I traveled over there in 2010. I made two trips in 2010 and then another trip over there for three weeks this past September.”

    What Munter saw in her travels to Japan and the cove shook her to her core and became the reason for her desire to combine her racing passion with her call to save the dolphins. Munter’s passion for the issue was most evident as she recalled the story of ‘The Cove.’

    “There is a small cove and the dolphins are migrating past the area,” Munter said. “Thirteen boats go out and bang on poles in the water, which scares the dolphins into the cove.”

    “The dolphins are trapped overnight in the cove,” Munter continued. “Then dolphin trainers from all over the world come and pick out the dolphins they want to go train at dolphin parks.”

    “But what happens to the remaining dolphins is that they end up slaughtering all of them for food.”

    During her trips, Munter is ‘on the ground’ volunteering. She has even risked her own safety to share her concerns for the plight of the dolphins in the cove.

    “I filmed the first slaughter of the year this year,” Munter said. “And I got caught in the typhoon and was without water for five days in Japan.”

    “It was pretty interesting having no drinking water and no showers,” Munter continued. “So, I’ve had some pretty intense experiences over there.”

    “I just became passionate about it and the more that I got to know Ric O’Barry (dolphin activist, former trainer of Flipper, and star of the movie), the more I wanted to help and to get everyone to see the movie.”

    Prior to the Daytona race, Munter has devoted a great deal of time to continuing to try to keep the academy award winning film, as well as the plight of the dolphins, in the public eye.

    “This summer, we did a screening of the movie in San Francisco, who donated the theatre to us,” Munter said. “My brother-in-law, who is a musician with the ‘Grateful Dead’, played a few sets so a lot of their fans came out.”

    “This past December, we went up the Empire State building, as the owner saw the film and was moved to help,” Munter continued. “So, on December 9th, we lit up the Empire State building in red in honor of the dolphins who had died at ‘The Cove.’

    “It was there that I began to think about how cool it would be to have a race car and really get this message in front of the race fans,” Munter said. “One of the key things we want people to understand and take away from the film is the tie to dolphin captivity and the slaughter.”

    “The take away message, besides watching the movie which is my number one call to action, is to not support dolphin captivity and dolphin parks,” Munter continued. “By doing that, you are indirectly supporting the dolphin slaughter.”

    “We want to help fans making the connection between going to see dolphins jump through hoops and the slaughter that occurs for all the other dolphins in the cove,” Munter said. “It is a complicated issue but we hope that we can help fans understand.”

    Munter is not only educating her fans but also her own race team to the dolphin slaughter issue.

    “We held a screening at Tony Marks Racing to help the team and crew know the message,” Munter said. “It was fantastic. One of the guys came to talk to me afterwards and shared that he had no idea that was going on until he saw the film.”

    “That’s something that we want to accomplish and to get people to see the film because that’s how we’ll end the slaughter.”

    Munter knows that the strength of stock car racing, combined with being at Daytona, is one of the best ways to get her message out. In addition, she is thrilled to drive at the storied track and fully intends to take her ‘Cove’ car to Victory Lane.

    “What better way than NASCAR to get a movie out in front of a large group of people all at once,” Munter said. “And Daytona is the best venue ever.”

    “I’m so excited to drive this car,” Munter continued. “I have a good, fast race car and this means more than anything to me. It’s a very special race to me.”

    Munter and Tony Marks Racing currently have a one race deal for the Daytona ARCA race. But they are focused on gaining not only sponsorship but calling attention to other causes in upcoming races as well.

    “We’re definitely focused on ‘The Cove’ car, which is a one race deal,” Munter said. “But Tony Marks and I are hoping to go to at least the nine televised ARCA races that are left. I’m actively talking to sponsors to be involved in that program.”

    “We want to continue to use the race car to send messages,” Munter continued. “We want it to be a vehicle to call people to action and get them to think about things.”

    Munter has one more reason to look forward to her Daytona race. In addition to her passion for racing and dolphins, she will also be celebrating her birthday.

    “I’m looking forward to having a chance to run up front and finish the race in first place,” Munter said. “I don’t think I’d ever be able to top winning the Daytona race in ‘The Cove’ car on my birthday.”

    “But for this weekend, it’s all about the dolphins,” Munter said. “We want to make the world a better place.”

     

  • Johnny Sauter: From Runner Up to Running for the Championship

    Johnny Sauter: From Runner Up to Running for the Championship

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images North America” align=”alignright” width=”100″][/media-credit]Although not as close as Carl Edwards’ loss of the Cup championship in a tie breaker, Camping World Truck Series driver Johnny Sauter had an eerily similar experience. The driver of the No. 13 ThorSport Toyota Tundra came up short by just six points in his bid to win the Truck title last season.

    Yet Johnny Sauter’s runner-up status has served as nothing short of a motivator, enhancing his desire even more to run all out for that most coveted honor in the upcoming 2012 season.

    “I guess the competitor in you will look back on last season as a really good year, winning a couple of races, leading close to 500 laps, getting a couple of poles,” Sauter said. “But ultimately finishing in second place by six points is tough.”

    “Do I feel like Carl Edwards?” Sauter continued. “Look, if you’re second in points it’s great, as long as it’s by fifty points or so.”

    “When it’s one point like with Carl, it’s really tough,” Sauter said. “But six points is also tough to swallow.”

    “You go through the whole season and put your best effort out there,” Sauter continued. “And if you come up six points short, you come up six points short.”

    “I’m just thankful that I have the opportunity to go try it again.”

    Sauter is definitely keeping himself focused on what is really important, including not dwelling on the the past. Plus, Sauter is just plain practical in his approach to racing.

    “I’ve spent a lot of times focusing on the positives,” Sauter said. “There are instances where I could have done things better but I’ve learned from my mistakes.”

    “So, hopefully we can pick up where we left off and make a run of it in 2012.”

    “It’s easy for me,” Sauter said. “I’ve got kids and they like to eat. So, I don’t have an option but to dig hard and race hard week in and week out.”

    “I feel like I’m with the team and the organization where it’s not just about the driver,” Sauter continued. “The team can carry me and it’s a mutual relationship that works really well.”

    “I have all the faith in the world in my crew chief and in my guys,” Sauter said. “So, I see us picking off where we left off and contending for the championship and winning races.”

    “At the end of the day, it’s something that you want to do, so you do it.”

    Sauter credits his confidence in going into the 2012 season with his consistency with his team and crew chief. But he acknowledged that his team is indeed facing a challenge this season in the move from a Chevrolet race truck to a Toyota.

    “It’s actually a perfect time to switch manufacturers in the off season when you have a bit of down time and when you’re re-bodying your trucks anyway,” Sauter said. “We were essentially switched over to a Toyota a week or two after Homestead.”

    “And we were in the wind tunnel and already learning what we needed to do,” Sauter continued. “We were pleasantly surprised that we were good right out of the gate.”

    Sauter is also pleased that his long-time friend and teammate Matt Crafton will be at his side at the track. Additionally, he is looking forward to working with 18 year old Dakoda Armstrong, who will be running for Rookie of the Year honors for ThorSport Racing.

    “I’ve always had a great relationship with Crafton,” Sauter said. “Dakoda is a really good kid. He’s one of those guys that has proved himself already and he seems to be really open to learning.”

    “I see it working well, really well,” Sauter continued. “You throw Kimmel in there with the ARCA team and that’s even better.”

    “We have a lot of changes but a lot of good things working this season and I couldn’t be more pleased with my fellow drivers, crew chiefs and team members. The whole deal is pretty solid.”

    While much in Sauter’s racing life is staying the same, including long-time sponsor Curb Records, the driver is also looking forward to welcoming new sponsor, Hot Honeys Honey-Roasted Chipotle-flavored peanuts, to the fold.

    “Well the Hot Honey Chipotle Peanuts sponsorship is good,” Sauter said. “Let’s face it, this is a sport that’s sponsor driven and takes a lot of money for us to do what we do.”

    “A new relationship with The Peanut Roaster Company is great and I look forward to working with them this upcoming season,” Sauter continued. “It’s fun to see some fresh paint schemes in the garage.”

    “They are very excited to be in the sport and hopefully we can do a good job in representing them.”

    In addition to preparing for his championship run in the upcoming season, Sauter has been busy at home with his family, as well as with his ‘other’ hobby.

    “My hobby is racing,” Sauter said. “I’ve got a late model car that I spend most of my time working on when I have any free time.”

    “I went and raced a couple weeks ago in Georgia,” Sauter continued. “I finished dead last due to mechanical issues.”

    “But it was fun,” Sauter said. “That’s what I do. Anytime I get an opportunity to race, that’s what I do other than spend time with my family.”

    Yet even with his ‘other’ racing hobby to keep him occupied, Sauter admitted to being not only surprised at how fast the off season has gone, but also at how ready he is to get back to the Truck Series track. He is especially excited realizing that his date with Daytona is right around the corner.

    “It’s an exciting feeling for me,” Sauter said. “Everybody that is fortunate to get to drive in one of the top three divisions in NASCAR and make their living doing it, that’s exciting in and of itself.”

    “But to pull into Daytona, with the history of that race track and knowing that at a restrictor plate race that anyone can win that race, it’s an exciting feeling.”

    “But you kind of have to manage your expectations,” Sauter continued. “I’ve been down there and taken out before I’ve even completed a full lap of the race.”

    “So, you take the good with the bad. Daytona is one of those places that can grab you but it’s still an exciting feeling.”

    “My program is solid,” Sauter said. “I love having the opportunity to race with the same group of guys.”

    “Being so close to winning the championship, I feel so fortunate to race another year and ultimately, hopefully, to be the champion.”

  • Sergio Pena Looks Forward to Freshman Year On and Off the Track

    Sergio Pena Looks Forward to Freshman Year On and Off the Track

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit hometracks.nascar.com” align=”alignright” width=”262″][/media-credit]Sergio Pena, one of the graduates of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Program, is looking forward to his freshman year of learning on and off the track. The young up and comer will soon enjoy his freshman run with a new race team on the track, as well as his freshman year off the track as a student at Radford University.

    For his freshman year on the track, Pena will pilot the No. 1 Toyota Camry in the K&N Pro Series East with Hattori Racing Enterprises. The 18 year old from Winchester, Virginia had previously raced in NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program with Revolution Racing.

    “I’m really excited for this season,” Pena said. “I actually did not re-sign with Revolution Racing this year, who I was with for two years, but signed with a new team, Hattori Racing Enterprises.”

    “My crew chief and Andy Santerre all left Revolution Racing and merged with Shigeaki Hattori and created a team for me to race in the K&N East Series.”

    Santerre, a four-time champion in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, will manage Pena’s race team. He will be assisted by Matt Goslant, who will continue as crew chief for Pena, having worked with him last season, winning three of 12 races and finishing 5th in the East Series point standings.

    “I am excited to be working with Sergio again this season,” Goslant said. “He has the talent to be a champion and we are a good team together.”

    “He gives me 100% and I could not ask for anything more in a driver.”

    Although a freshman with Hattori Racing Enterprises, Pena actually will be entering his third year in the K&N Series. And with that experience, he has his eyes set on one goal for 2012.

    “My main goal is to win a championship,” Pena said simply. “The first year I struggled learning all the tracks and how to drive the cars because they were a lot different than anything I had ever driven before.”

    “Last year, I learned a lot and I caught on quicker than I thought I would,” Pena continued. “So this year, the way things are looking, I think we have a great chance to win it.”

    “My goal is to win as many races as possible and just learn a lot,” Pena said. “I want to be able to get more comfortable at the bigger tracks like Dover and New Hampshire and Rockingham.”

    “I want to gain experience and learn as much as I can from these guys.”

    Pena, like so many racers, comes by it genetically.  His father, who came to the United States from Bogota, Columbia when he was 19 years old raced go karts and dirt bikes in his home country.

    “He was a two-time champion in national dirt bike racing down there,” Pena said proudly of his father. “So, that’s pretty cool. That’s where I get my racing blood from.”

    Pena himself initially followed in his father’s dirt bike footsteps as he launched his racing career.

    “I actually started racing dirt bikes when I was five years old,” Pena said. “I got into jumping them and one time I hit a jump and my dad said, “No more, I don’t want you getting hurt.”

    “So, he got rid of the bike and got me a go kart instead,” Pena continued. “At the time, I was really upset but now I’m really happy about it.”

    “I did go karts from when I was eight years old until thirteen,” Pena said. “Then I moved to a championship series out west and ran road courses in formula cars.”

    “Then I had to switch to the ovals, where there was more of a future,” Pena continued. “When we heard about the Drive to Diversity Revolution Racing program, we thought that would be a great opportunity. And that’s how we got into this kind of racing.”

    Pena has definitely put his go kart and dirt bike racing behind him, growing fonder for stock cars and oval racing. But the young driver has never forgotten his road racing roots.

    “At this point, I like the ovals more,” Pena said. “But there still are some things I like about the road courses, like out-braking people and downshifting and all the switch-back turns.”

    “The ovals just bring more excitement,” Pena continued. “You can beat and bang and everything’s really close. It’s a lot harder to win on an oval and so that just makes for more competitive and exciting racing.”

    In addition to his on-track career, Pena’s other freshman activity includes starting his college career at Radford University in southern Virginia, where he is majoring in communications. As a freshman, Pena is facing that difficult task of balancing his studies with his new endeavors on the race track.

    “It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be with racing,” Pena said. “Missing classes in high school wasn’t too bad but here it’s a little bit tougher to get them to understand that what I’m doing is not just a hobby anymore.”

    “Some of them understand but some of them don’t,” Pena continued. “It’s the ones that want you to focus on school and nothing else that are a little tricky. But overall I’ve been able to manage it and I’ll continue to do both until it gets too hard.”

    “I really think the communications degree is going to help, like with the media and doing interviews,” Pena said. “I’m also doing media production and I’ve gotten into making videos recently.”

    “We have been making videos of the race weekend for promotions and sponsors,” Pena continued. “But being able to speak to the sponsors and the media fluently and well will help me a lot.”

    Now that he has his first freshman semester under his belt at college, Pena is looking forward to kicking off his freshman year with Hattori Racing at a storied NASCAR track, Bristol Motor Speedway, on March 17th.

    “We actually start off at Bristol this year and that will be pretty cool,” Pena said. “I’ve never even been to Bristol before but I’ve heard a lot of great things about it and watched a lot of races on TV from there.”

    “I’m really excited to get started there,” Pena continued. “I think that will be a pretty cool race.”

    “I know we will definitely be one of the teams to beat this year.”

  • Jeff Gordon’s On Track Drive to End Hunger Takes Off Track Twists

    Jeff Gordon’s On Track Drive to End Hunger Takes Off Track Twists

    [media-credit id=18 align=”alignright” width=”196″][/media-credit]With the partnership between Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon and the AARP Foundation’s Drive to End Hunger initiative heading into its second year on the track, this special promotion has taken some new twists and turns off the track as the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet readies for the 2012 season.

    The first twist on one of the most successful cause-related marketing campaigns in the sport is a new partnership with Quaker State, who has joined the Drive to End Hunger effort by pledging portions of its product sales at Walmart. This new fundraising effort will take place from February 1st to March 31st.

    “We are proud to initiate this cause-related effort to support the AARP Foundation in its quest to help those in need through Jeff Gordon and the Drive to End Hunger,” Chris Hayek, Quaker State Global Brand Manager, said. “By partnering with Walmart, the promotion is elevated onto the national stage.”

    “We’re really thrilled that Quaker State engaged with us,” Jim Nedohon, Interim Vice President for AARP Foundation’s Hunger Initiatives, said. “By allowing us into Walmart, this ensures that we can attract national attention to the need to alleviate hunger for seniors.”

    The idea for taking the Drive to End Hunger promotion off the track and into stores was hatched in discussions between the AARP Foundation and Quaker State right at the track. And it all came about in an effort to elevate Drive to End Hunger to another level.

    “We were at the track talking,” Nedohon said. “My background is in cause-related marketing and we were brainstorming about how to activate our sponsorship of Jeff Gordon in a brick and mortar store.”

    “This is a new opportunity for Quaker State to have a cause related marketing campaign on one of their products,” Nedohon continued. “It developed over a couple of months.”

    “We worked through all the details, such as having a bottle flag with Jeff Gordon and the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger car,” Nedohon said. “Jeff is on the bottle and has a relationship with Quaker State as an associate sponsor.”

    “So, Jeff was thrilled to be able to extend his brand to support our cause.”

    The best part of the new twist in the Drive to End Hunger sponsorship is that it furthers the mission of the AARP Foundation, which is to raise awareness about the issue of older Americans who are facing hunger, as well as fulfilling Quaker State’s social mission.

    “Quaker State is very socially oriented and they were totally onboard with helping us execute our mission,” Nedohon said. “It’s one more corporation that embraces the mission that we have to end hunger.”

    “Quaker State could have easily written a check for $50,000 but we are focused together on efforts that have long-term, sustainable impact,” Nedohon continued. “This Quaker State promotion is taking us off the track and into Walmart stores.”

    “This allows people to really take the time to read the materials and it will mean even more to our work at the Foundation.”

    The new sponsorship twist off the track has also permitted the AARP Foundation to make grants to other nonprofit organizations focused on sustainable solutions for ending senior hunger.

    “We sent out an RFP to identify organizations that are trying to address stable solutions to hunger,” Nedohon said. “We had over 750 letters of inquiry and 150 completed applications and awarded ten grants throughout the United States for $1.9 million for sustainable solutions to ending hunger.”

    “Every time we put this effort in a new place, it reminds people about the hunger issue,” Nedohon continued. “And it may even be occurring for someone they know.”

    The second twist on the Drive to End Hunger took place at the recent Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction, where a Corvette donated by team owner Rick Hendrick was auctioned off for $700,000.

    “I got to go out with Mr. Hendrick to Phoenix to the Barrett-Jackson auction,” Nedohon said. “It’s incredible because this again is reaching another level of enthusiasts around the automobile industry.”

    “This was a special limited edition Corvette and only 60 will be made,” Nedohon continued. “This was the first one to be auctioned to benefit Drive to End Hunger.”

    “When the bidding started and Mr. Hendrick sweetened the deal by inviting the new owner to Daytona, it just erupted,’ Nedohon continued. “ It went to $300,000 and kept going.”

    “It was just phenomenal,” Nedohon said. “After the auction was finished, another bidder donated an extra $100,000 to the Drive to End Hunger effort.”

    “I can’t tell you how amazing it was to see how the cause resonated with thousands of people watching.”

    While the AARP Foundation is ecstatic about these twists and turns, as well as their partnership with Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick, they have not been completely surprised about the success of their sponsorship.

    “It’s not completely surprising,” Nedohon said of the sponsorship. “It’s amazing to see how many NASCAR fans care.”

    “We’ve found that the NASCAR fans want to know how they can help,” Nedohon continued. “That’s why we’ve been so pleased to support our local food banks at track and now with this new initiative off-track.”

    “It helps when you have partners like Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick,” Nedohon said. “We couldn’t really think of any better partners to help fight this good fight.”

    And for his part, the Drive to End Hunger driver could not agree more.

    “Honestly, I don’t know if 10 years ago I would have gotten behind something like this but with just the experience of life and the things that become more important to you, I’ve gotten into it,” Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger, said. “I feel like it did come at the right time in my career.”

    “We’ve sort of set a trend in NASCAR that will be catching on.”

  • Joey Coulter Set To Embark on Second Full Camping World Truck Series Season

    Joey Coulter Set To Embark on Second Full Camping World Truck Series Season

    [media-credit name=”Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR ” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]In 2011, Joey Coulter had his biggest year in racing to date as he moved up to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to run the entire schedule for Richard Childress Racing. The year was a success as with five top fives and 13 top 10s, Coulter won the Rookie of the Year award.

    “It’s the biggest accomplishment of my career,” the driver of the No. 22 Darrell Gwynn Foundation  Chevrolet Silverado says. “The whole team put in a lot of effort. Right from the beginning the year, that was the goal that Mr. Childress set for our team.  Austin winning it last year added a little bit of positive pressure for us to try to win it and the whole team – all of us – we kept pushing forward and at the end of the year, we were able to keep it together and bring it home. It was a really important, huge accomplishment.”

    For this season, Coulter will once again run the entire Camping World Truck Series schedule for Richard Childress Racing. With a year under his belt and teammate Austin Dillon winning the championship last season, the pressure is there.

    “We feel like seeing what Austin, my teammate, did last year, we really got a good shot at the championship,” he says. “There’s obviously a lot of tough competition out there – James Buescher, Ron Hornaday – I could name hundreds of them. But I really feel like we have a good opportunity to go out there and run for a championship.

    “I saw a lot of great things with the team near the end of last season. The pit stops went from good to great. The communication between my crew chief, Harold Holly, and me just got better. The goal is to win a few races and come home with the championship.”

    With the new year, though, there comes a change in the line-up as with Austin Dillon moving up to the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Coulter’s new teammate for 2012 will be Austin’s little brother Ty Dillon. Coulter says that he’s looking forward to working with Ty this year.

    “The few races that Ty ran last year – he did an awesome job,” Coulter adds. “We talked at the shop last year – I think we’re going to work great together. We both watched the Daytona race from last year and gone over a lot of notes, just kinda talked back and forth about a lot of different things. We both pumped up and ready to get there.”

    The beginning of the season will start in two weeks with the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway. The race will be run on Friday February 24th at 7pm EST.

    “I’m really excited to get back to Daytona,” Coulter says. “I think it’s going to be exciting. I don’t know if the tandem thing is going to go away or not – but it’s going to be great. I love super speedway races and I think seeing all the work that the guys back at the shop – the body shop – put into this speedway truck and the awesome motors they build, I’m really looking forward it. We’re going to have an awesome hotrod.”

    Besides running the truck race, Coulter will also run in the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona on February 18th in the ARCA Racing Series for his father’s team. This year marks a big year for ARCA as it is their 60th year of competition.

    “I think it’s awesome,” Coulter says. “I really like the ARCA Series a lot. Even though I only ran two full seasons myself, my dad still has an ARCA team that’s going to run the majority of the races this year with Matt Lofton in the car so I really think that’s an awesome series. I’m really excited that they’ve been around 60 years. It’s a huge stepping-stone series. That’s how a lot of people look at it – like the minor league NASCAR. It’s a league of its own. It helps young drivers, even younger than me, and older drivers learn how to drive a really heavy car on a big fast race track with a lot of horsepower. It’s a great series. I’m glad my dad’s team is going to be able to run this year.”

    Part of the off-season for Coulter was spent helping his dad with setting up the ARCA program for 2012. Coulter kept busy during the off-season, going to classes as he is a mechanical engineering student at UNC while working out and doing pit crew practice at RCR. He also embarked on a new journey as he bought a dirt super late model to start racing.

    “Never been on dirt before so it’s going to be an exciting new venture,” Coulter says.

    Though as February rolls around and Daytona Speedweeks are near, the focus will soon turn to the 2012 NASCAR season for Coulter as he goes not only for his first NASCAR championship, but his first truck win. It’s very easily possible that it could come on a favourite track of Coulter’s.

    “I look forward to places like Delaware,” Coulter says of his favourite tracks. “Iowa is one of my favorites. I love Martinsville, Bristol, O’Reilly Raceway Park – ‘cause those are the short tracks. There are a lot of places that I like to race at.”

    He sums it up by saying that his favourite race track is the one that he goes to next.

     

  • Bill Elliott Plans to Put the Awesome in His Upcoming Race Season

    Bill Elliott Plans to Put the Awesome in His Upcoming Race Season

    [media-credit name=”” align=”alignright” width=”266″]Photo Credit: Greg Engle, NASCAR Examiner[/media-credit]At this stage in his career, Bill Elliott could definitely sit back, rest on his laurels, and enjoy watching his young son Chase progress in his racing career. Yet for the veteran driver known as ‘Awesome Bill from Dawsonville,’ the upcoming racing season promises to live up to his moniker.

    This past week, Elliott made an historic announcement, partnering with Walmart for the July Daytona race, the Coke Zero 400, in celebration of the superstore’s 50th anniversary. The joint venture, “Legends in Racing” is the first time ever that Walmart as sponsored a Cup car.

    “It came about real quick,” Elliott said of his historic deal with the superstore giant. “I don’t really understand the total dynamics but it came about super-fast.”

    “I’m very excited about it,” Elliott continued. “There’s a lot of opportunities there for the race fans, Walmart and NASCAR all together.”

    “The opportunity for me at this stage of my career, having something like this come along, is very gratifying to me.”

    Elliott, the 1988 Cup Champion who competed last year in five Cup races, will be piloting the Walmart No. 50 Car. And according to a Walmart spokesperson, the superstore could not be more pleased with their choice as well.

    “The No. 50 car is a big deal for us,” Rand Waddoups, Senior Director Entertainment Marketing for Walmart, said. “It’s one of the major things we’re excited about as we turn 50 and we couldn’t have picked a better driver to represent us.”

    In addition to being the primary sponsor on Elliott’s car, Walmart also is sponsoring a special ticket package for the fans. This package will be available at 17 races throughout the NASCAR Cup season.

    “They have a great program for the fans,” Elliott said. “Last year they started working with NASCAR and this will just expand what they are doing in the future.”

    “They have a ticket package where you can get four tickets, four hot dogs and four drinks for $99 at various different tracks,” Elliott continued. “It’s a huge deal.”

    “It’s as big as when NASCAR went to Indy and expanded,” Elliott said. “It’s big for everybody involved.”

    Although he has been out of the seat of a race car for a bit of time, Elliott does not see that as a disadvantage going to Daytona over the summer.

    “I’ve run well at Daytona and that’s a race track where you can be out of the seat of a race car and still perform,” Elliott said. “With Turner Motorsports and Hendrick engines, I’m very confident from the competition side that everything will be there.”

    “Their key point for Walmart and for me is doing all we can promotion-wise, not necessarily worrying about the race but building up to it instead.”

    While other drivers may feel some pressure carrying the Walmart banner for their first official ‘on-the-car’ sponsorship, Elliott is not nervous about it at all, instead feeling tremendously honored and excited.

    “It’s a big step for Walmart because they’ve never been a primary on a Cup car before,” Elliott said. “It’s very important to me to make it work.”

    “It’s a great opportunity and I’m so pleased that I’m able to do this kind of deal.”

    “I feel like I can offer more from the standpoint of the promotional side than a driver that drives full-time,” Elliott continued. “I’ve been around the sport a long time so we’ll work with Walmart the best we can to achieve their goal and trying to put race fans in the stands at those key markets.”

    “I’ll do the best job that I can for them so it will work out for their marketing strategy.”

    While the Walmart deal was uppermost in ‘Awesome’ Bill’s mind due to the announcement this week, the veteran driver has other plans for the upcoming race season.  First and foremost, 2012 includes his continued mentoring of drivers hoping to develop and hone their NASCAR talents.

    “Right now, I’m trying to put a couple more late-model programs together for some different people,” Elliott said. “As soon as I get that signed, sealed and delivered, then I can expand on that.”

    “I’m trying to expand my short-track program to help a few guys along,” Elliott continued. “We’re doing a little deal with a kid named T.J. Reaid this weekend at Cordele and we’ll continue to work with another couple guys.”

    “I’m also trying to work out a program with Dan Kennedy to help him do some late model stuff this year,” Elliott said. “So, I’ve got a lot of things going this year.”

    Finally, of course, Elliott plans to be the proud and watchful papa, overseeing his sixteen year old son Chase’s progression in the sport. Chase Elliott will not only be racing this weekend at Cordele in the 2012 SpeedFest but will also continue his driver development program with Hendrick Motorsports in the K&N East Series.

    “My other goal is to stay close to Chase and where he is on the K&N and ARCA side as the season continues,” Elliott said. “Other than that, I would like to run a few more Cup races, but if it don’t happen, so be it.”

    “My key goal is being available to Walmart this year to do what they need me to do,” Elliott continued. “I can’t say enough about how honored I am to do their program.”

    “It’s a great opportunity and the fans can really benefit,” Elliott said. “Hopefully, we’ll make it a win-win situation.”