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Tag: ARCA Series

  • Kyle Larson, Chad Hackenbracht and Matt Tifft Get Chance at NASCAR Dream

    Kyle Larson, Chad Hackenbracht and Matt Tifft Get Chance at NASCAR Dream

    Photo Credit: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images
    Photo Credit: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images

    The future young guns of NASCAR, Kyle Larson, Chad Hackenbracht and Matt Tifft, all have one thing in common. The trio is getting their chance to achieve their NASCAR dreams.

    Just a short time ago, about a year in fact, Kyle Larson stepped into a stock car to race for the first time. Now, the 20 year old up and comer has scored a full-time Nationwide Series ride through a partnership between Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and Turner Scott Motorsports.

    Larson’s quick rise in the NASCAR ranks came after winning the K&N Pro Series East title. Then, in just four races in the Camping World Truck Series, the youngster finished top-ten three times and was runner up at the Phoenix race.

    Larson will be paired with crew chief Trent Owens, who posted the following message on Facebook, “Very excited about the announcement that I’ll be the crew chief for Kyle Larson in Nationwide at Turner Scott Motorsports this year!! Also back to the number 32 that has a special place with me. Hoping this season will be a great one. So pumped!!”

    Although quite not so effusive, Chip Ganassi, a champion owner in his own right, is looking forward to the continuing development of his newest young talent.

    “We feel that he’s certainly capable of it,” Ganassi said. “I don’t think we’re rushing him along or anything like that.”

    “Like I said, he’s shown great ability in anything he’s driven so far.”

    Larson, on the other hand, knows that with the spotlight and the opportunity comes quite a bit of pressure.

    “I know I have a lot of pressure on me,” Larson said. “I try not to pay attention to it at all.”

    “Every week, I just try to go out and do the best I can,” Larson continued. “I try to finish in the top 10 in each race an log as many laps as I can.”

    “Each lap is just going to help me develop as a driver,” Larson said. “I’m going to need that since I’m really young and hopefully will be in a sport a long time.”

    “I will just try to develop as much as I can this year and do better in the future.”

    Joining Kyle Larson in the Nationwide Series will be another young gun with a very interesting last name. TriStar Motorsports announced that Chad Hackenbracht will join the team for at least five Nationwide races.

    Hackenbracht has raced most recently in the ARCA Series for his family’s team, scoring one trip to victory lane, two poles, five top-five finishes and 12 top-ten finishes. He completed the ARCA season top five in the championship point standings.

    “I’m excited for the opportunity,” Hackenbracht said. “I have not run any NASCAR events and I’m excited to make my debut in the Nationwide Series with an established team.”

    “My expectations are to finish every race I run this year, qualify in the top-20 and pull off top-15 finishes,” Hackenbracht continued. “The Nationwide Series is going to be very competitive this year but I’m ready for the challenge.”

    Hackenbracht’s team owner is also excited with his new addition and with being a part of the youngster’s development in the sport.

    “We are really looking forward to having Chad join our team,” Mark Smith said. “He has already shown that he has a lot of talent behind the wheel of a stock car.”

    “We are excited to help him develop his skills and give him his first opportunity to race in NASCAR,” Smith continued. “He will have some veteran guidance, which should help him as he takes the next step in his racing career.”

    The youngest up and comer of the bunch is Matt Tifft, who at just sixteen years of age will be moving up this season from the ARCA Midwest Tour to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. Tifft will be racing full-time in that Series, which has catapulted other drivers such as Martin Truex Jr. to the highest level of the sport.

    Tifft will partner with Shane Tesch, a NASCAR veteran, to compete for the Rookie of the Year honors behind the wheel of the No. 89 Chevrolet Impala.

    “In the last couple months we have been working on this deal,” Tifft said. “The K&N Series is the next thing we wanted to do so when it came together with Win-Tron, it was a really good fit.”

    Tifft started racing young as his father owned a dirt late model and raced in Michigan. In 2007, when he was eleven years old, Tifft jumped into a go kart and fell in love with racing in his own right.

    “I always watched NASCAR, but I was hooked at that point,” Tifft said.

    Since then, Tifft has run in several karting series, as well as late model racing, before racing on the ARCA Midwest Tour. The teen scored  Rookie of the Year honors in that series in his first ever points series season and finished fifth in points.

    “It’s the right time to move up to the K&N Series,” Tifft said. “It’s better to get more experience in the bigger, heavier cars in a NASCAR series.”

    And just who might some of Tifft’s heroes be in the racing world? One of them is a driver that is joining him in the move up in his NASCAR career.

    “I’ve watched drivers like Kyle Larson and watching him go through and get the experience in the K&N Series is what helped attract me,” Tifft said.

    “It’s a really cool deal to build up that experience.”

    Tifft, like Larson and Hackenbracht, is all about learning, growing and just fine-tuning skills behind the wheel. He summed it up best for himself and his fellow racing compatriots who will be racing at the next level this season.

    “I know I have a lot of learning to do,” Tifft said simply. “But I’m up to the challenge.”

  • Dave Blaney’s Son Ryan Plans on Being NASCAR’s Next Generation Ambassador

    Dave Blaney’s Son Ryan Plans on Being NASCAR’s Next Generation Ambassador

    Ryan Blaney is not just NASCAR Cup driver Dave Blaney’s son. The seventeen year old up and coming driver hopes to be NASCAR’s ambassador to the next generation of stock car racing fans.

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Ryan Blaney Racing” align=”alignright” width=”216″][/media-credit]The young Blaney has gotten his career off to a pretty good start, scoring a second place finish in just his second ARCA start at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis this past weekend.

    Blaney, behind the wheel of the No. 15 Seal Wrap Chevrolet for Venturini Motorsports, was good as soon as he arrived at the track. He was also able to hold his own with some of the ARCA Series regulars, including Richard Childress talent and grandson Ty Dillon, who he battled for the win.

    “We were decent off the trailer,” Blaney said. “We qualified second into the race and in the early part of the race, I thought we had the best car.”

    “We would have had some rubbing going on for me to get by Ty,” Blaney said of his battle with eventual race winner, Ty Dillon. “So, I was happy to finish second and see that I can really run with those guys in the series.”

    “Overall it was a pretty good weekend for us.”

    Although still quite young, in fact so young that he cannot yet run many of the tracks on the ARCA Series schedule, Blaney has progressed steadily up the racing ranks. He started racing quarter midgets at the age of eight and then moved up to Bandeleros, Legends and Late Models.

    But this year, with his father’s advice and counsel, young Ryan decided to do something different and move to a heavier car in preparation for the next step in his career.

    “Me and my dad were talking and saying that we think it’s time to move up and try to get into heavier cars,” Blaney said. “He really wanted to prepare me.”

    “The worst thing that can happen is to jump in a car when you’re not ready and look bad,” Blaney continued. “We made sure that I had enough experience to really go out there and look good. I think we timed it just right.”

    “Next year I’m hoping to run a Truck and being full-time in a Truck would be awesome,” Blaney said. “If not, we will try some Truck and ARCA races to get as much experience as I can.

    “This is really what I want to do and what I have a passion for,” Blaney continued. “My dad has put so much time and money into me that I’d be disappointed in myself if I didn’t make it worth it.”

    “And I’m trying my very hardest to make it and pay him off some day.”

    Does the young driver feel pressure, especially in light of his father’s Cup career? Not on your life according to Ryan Blaney.

    “I don’t really feel pressure at all,” Blaney said. “If anything, it motivates me even more to be like him and actually try to be better than him.”

    “He’s never pushed me and he’s always making sure that I’m sure about it,” Blaney said. “I accept the challenge of trying to be like him and get where’s he’s at and what he’s accomplished.”

    Not only does Ryan Blaney strive to follow in his father’s footsteps, but he readily admits that his dad is indeed his racing hero.

    “He is my main racing hero,” Blaney said of his dad. “He grew up on dirt and that’s what he lived for over 30 years and made a career out of that.”

    “Then he jumped into NASCAR and had a career in that,” Blaney continued. “That’s what’s really special to me and impressive to me.”

    As proud as Ryan is of his dad, the feeling is more than reciprocated by his proud papa. But dad Dave said, with a chuckle, that his son probably said those things “because he’s scared of me.”

    “He’s been doing really well,” Dave Blaney said of son. “This year we’ve gotten him in a couple of K&N Series races and he ran well. And he’s run real well in his two ARCA starts.”

    “Ryan’s coming along real well,” Blaney continued. “He’s only seventeen years old so he’s got lots of time.”

    “He might actually be better than me now.”

    As much as he wants to follow in his dad’s tire tracks, Ryan Blaney has another real ambition of his own. He wants to also attract the next generation to the sport of NASCAR that he loves so much.

    “A lot of kids at school follow me and it’s cool how they’ve turned into race fans,” Blaney, who is going into his senior year in high school, said. “Last year, they didn’t know anything about racing and now they’re asking me how I did at the track.”

    “They even know more about my stats than I do,” Blaney continued. “It’s cool how I have friends that can relate to me and not talk just about football.”

    “I’m a seventeen year old that is trying to come up through the ranks,” Blaney said. “And I hope I am an ambassador for the next generation of NASCAR fans.”

  • For Nick Igdalsky, Mattioli Grandson and New Track COO, Pocono is Personal

    Nick Igdalsky wears many hats at Pocono Raceway, from Mattioli grandson to ARCA driver to philanthropist and finally to his appointment as the newly named COO and Executive Vice President of the race track. Regardless of the title or the hat, however, for Igdalsky, Pocono is indeed personal.

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”193″][/media-credit]“It’s always exciting,” Igdalsky said of his various roles. “You live in the moment and get as much as you can out of it.”

    “Where it gets tough is jumping from appointment to appointment and wearing different hats,” Igdalsky continued. “After the race, I have meetings with both sponsors for my car and sponsors for the track, as well as meeting dignitaries and VIPs.”

    “You can never stay in one place too long.”

    Igdalsky manages all of his personal and professional Pocono responsibilities through technology, literally setting alarms on his Iphone.

    “An alarm went off and told me that I to do go to the driver’s meeting and then an alarm went off that told me I had to come to the media center,” Igdalsky said. “You try to remember as much as you can but if you get caught up in the moment, things pass you by.”

    “My little electronic friend helps me out.”

    One of Igdalsky’s greatest personal joys is being behind the wheel of a race car, whether an ARCA ride or his Grand Am race car.

    “I’ll do five to six ARCA races,” Igdalsky said. “We’ll probably do Toledo at the end of the year.”

    “It’s been tough,” Igdalsky continued. “We haven’t really done as good as we thought we would. I’m with a team that’s sort of under-funded.”

    “Everybody wants to run well, but we just don’t have the resources to do that yet,” Igdalsky said. “We’re just trying to keep the car clean and keep it up in owner’s points and we may have a shot at it next year if we get a full season.”

    Racing is so personal in fact to Igdalsky that he hopes the day never comes when he has to make any kind of a choice between racing and managing his track responsibilities.

    “I’m going to live in both worlds until somebody tells me I absolutely cannot,” Igdalsky said with a smile. “I’ll wait until I get the ultimatum from either the wife or the office.”

    While not ultimatum has come yet, Nick Igdalsky had a most personal day at the track this weekend as his grandfather, affectionately known as ‘Doc’ Mattioli, retired and formally turned over the responsibilities of operations of the track to Nick, his brother Brandon, who was named President and CEO, and his sister Ashley, who is the new Secretary/Treasurer.

    “We’re fortunate we have great grandchildren,” Doc Mattioli said. “Fifty years went by damn fast and now it’s about time to take it a little easy and get the hell out of here.”

    “I’m quite sure that Brandon, Nick and Ashley are well trained to do what they have to do,” Mattioli continued. “They’re really good kids and smart kids.”

    From Igdalsky’s perspective, he’s had the best teacher ever in his grandparents, Doc and Doc Rose Mattioli. Because of that, Igdalsky has already pronounced that his new slogan will be, “When in doubt, ask what Doc would do.”

    Now that he has even more of a personal stake in Pocono, Igdalsky is continuing another very personal connection, connecting with a charity called Michael’s Way. And this personal connection hits very close to home.

    “Pocono Raceway has been working with Michael’s Way for the past couple years now,” Igdalsky said. “My nephew was diagnosed two years ago at the age of fifteen months with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma, a very rare type of cancer.”

    “He’s doing good now and he just had some scans done, with all of them coming back clear,” Igdalsky continued. “Through our relationship with Michael’s Way, they support the families of children, like my nephew, with cancer.”

    “They don’t pay for the treatments but they do pay for all the other costs,” Igdalsky said. “For instance, there are lots of families that one of the families might have to stop working because of all the treatments they have to get to, which is a problem.”

    “So, Michael’s Way helps with bills and travel, especially for those children whose immune systems are compromised,” Igdalsky continued. “It’s pretty unique because 100% of all the proceeds go directly to the cause and the families.”

    Michael’s Way is even more personal as Igdalsky’s nephew was selected last year as the ‘poster boy’, making many personal appearances on behalf of the charity. For this weekend’s ARCA race, Michael’s Way will also be featured prominently on Igdalsky’s race car.

    “Since we don’t have a sponsor for this race, we’re keeping them on our car,” Igdalsky said. “You can donate on their site which is michaelsway.org and they’re also doing a raffle at the track where you have a chance to win either a 2011 Harley Davidson or $10,000 cash.”

    “Nick’s involvement with Michael’s Way has been invaluable,” Trish Fulvio, development consultant with the charity, said. “He and Brandy, his wife, do everything straight from the heart.”

    “Nick has allowed us to bring Michael’s Way to the attention of a whole new group of people,” Fulvio continued. “His partnership translates into more funds to give to the families of children with cancer.”

    While family has always been most personal to Igdalsky, from his family track to his philanthropic family, Igdalsky now has a whole new perspective on family as a proud papa of a five month old daughter.

    “When you have a bad day and you come home and you see her little face smiling at you, it definitely makes the bad days better,” Igdalsky said. “And it gives you something to look forward to at the end of the day.”

    “It’s overwhelming,” Igdalsky continued. “I’m living two dreams.”

    “I’m helping out in the family business that I was involved in ever since I was a little boy,” Igdalsky said. “And with the racing, it’s been my dream since a young boy to race cars too.”

    “I not only get to do both but I get to do it at my home track.”