Tag: Austin Dillon

Tough day in Charlotte cuts Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s point lead by 21

[media-credit id=38 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Just as quickly as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. entered the picture on Saturday in the History 300 at Charlotte, he left it.

Stenhouse finished 26th in his No. 6 EcoBoost Ford after the transmission went south on lap 65. He’d qualified third and was running in the top 10 when he felt something go wrong and had to pit. The team eventually headed to the garage to fix the issue before Stenhouse was able to rejoin the race.

“I think the U-joint between the driveshaft and the transmission broke first,” said Stenhouse afterwards. “We’re gonna have to go back and look at it. It was a new driveshaft, new everything, so it was a tough day. Our Ford EcoBoost Mustang was by a far a top five car and had a chance to win for sure, so we can take that from today and go on.

“Our mile and a half program this year has been really strong and it was strong again here today. We went back out and tried to learn some things for our Cup guys and learn some things for us the next time we come back here. We had a really fast car there at the end, so all in all, it was obviously a tough day for points, but we’ve got to hang out hat on we were really fast.”

Stenhouse said he began to feel a vibration in the car while under caution. But when he came down pit road he didn’t see anything and went back on track for the restart. That’s when it finally broke and TV cameras caught a piece of metal fly out from underneath his machine.

It took the team 21 laps to repair the car to be able to send Stenhouse back out to salvage any points they could. Stenhouse had entered the day 34 points ahead of second place Elliott Sadler and on an impressive streak of not having finished outside the top six in the last nine races.

After Saturday though, Stenhouse’s point lead sits at 13 over Sadler as he suffered his worst finish since the season opening race in Daytona. Certainly not what the team had in mind coming off their third win of the season last weekend in Iowa and driving the same car they had won with in Texas last month.

It was a fast car, so fast that even while Stenhouse was multiple laps down he was racing amongst the leaders. That didn’t go over well with his competition, specifically Richard Childress and his driver Austin Dillon.

As Stenhouse came up and passed Dillon the young driver shouted over the radio that if he was able to get to Stenhouse he was going to hit him. Childress agreed, saying Stenhouse would have deserved it and then used a five-letter word to describe the champion. Dillon was unable to ever get to Stenhouse’s back bumper.

For Stenhouse though, it’s apart of racing and he has no regrets. He knew exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it at that point in the race. And while others might have said it wasn’t appropriate, Stenhouse won’t apologize for it.

“I’m just letting them know we’re here to win,” said Stenhouse of actions. “We pulled away by more than a straightway. I was respectful of the guys – the 20 [Joey Logano] and the 30 [James Buescher] – I was respectful to them because they were battling for position there at the end.

“I got to them and could have passed them, but I backed off and rode around. We’ve got to go out and get every lap we can and if that means running as hard as we can, we’re trying to learn, I’m not gonna just ride around.”

He further defending himself by saying he would never put others in jeopardy and put himself in a position where someone would end up wrecked. Stenhouse was just looking to see how fast his car was and what he could do with it in traffic. Unfortunately he had to do so in that position instead of contending for the win.

But the defending champions aren’t panicking. Their competition knew they were there Saturday and Stenhouse feels confident it will be more of the same going forward. The NNS heads to Dover next weekend where Stenhouse finished fourth last season.

“It doesn’t at all,” said Stenhouse when asked if his outlook changes now. “We’re gonna go out to win every week. We’ve been fast at Dover every single time we’ve been there.

“We’re going to win. That’s what we do every week and I think we’re gonna have a shot at it next weekend.”

May 27, 2012

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Captures the Nationwide Series Pole at Darlington Raceway

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]Stenhouse Jr. won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 30^th annual VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway on Friday afternoon.

It’s his first pole in only three starts at Darlington Raceway and his fifth pole in 82 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts.

Denny Hamlin will start the race in second position. This is Hamlin’s fourth top-10 start in 2012 and his fourth top-10 start in seven races at this track.

Austin Dillon will begin the race in third place and was the fastest qualifying rookie. It marks his ninth top-10 start in nine races this season.

Kurt Busch and Joey Logano round out the top five starting positions, starting in fourth and fifth place respectively.

Starting Lineup
VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200, Darlington
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/qual.php?race=9
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	173.546	28.336
2	18	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	172.784	28.461
3	3	Austin Dillon*	Chevrolet	172.65	28.483
4	54	Kurt Busch	Toyota	172.378	28.528
5	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	172.354	28.532
6	2	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	171.92	28.604
7	11	Brian Scott	Toyota	171.698	28.641
8	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	171.357	28.698
9	38	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	170.821	28.788
10	31	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	170.253	28.884
11	33	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	170.2	28.893
12	44	Mike Bliss	Toyota	169.807	28.96
13	22	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	169.725	28.974
14	30	James Buescher	Chevrolet	168.758	29.14
15	7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	168.497	29.185
16	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	168.169	29.242
17	136	Ryan Blaney	Chevrolet	167.859	29.296
18	50	T.J. Bell	Chevrolet	167.157	29.419
19	39	Josh Richards	Ford	167.152	29.42
20	40	Erik Darnell	Chevrolet	167.066	29.435
21	1	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	166.953	29.455
22	43	Michael Annett	Ford	166.653	29.508
23	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	166.366	29.559
24	42	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	166.337	29.564
25	199	Travis Pastrana	Toyota	166.186	29.591
26	14	Jeff Green	Toyota	165.984	29.627
27	124	Casey Roderick*	Chevrolet	165.956	29.632
28	23	Jamie Dick	Chevrolet	165.95	29.633
29	46	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	165.464	29.72
30	19	Tayler Malsam	Toyota	165.448	29.723
31	41	Timmy Hill	Ford	165.32	29.746
32	81	Jason Bowles*	Toyota	165.298	29.75
33	47	Scott Speed	Chevrolet	165.264	29.756
34	10	Tony Raines	Toyota	164.965	29.81
35	15	Blake Koch	Chevrolet	164.413	29.91
36	4	Danny Efland	Chevrolet	164.391	29.914
37	89	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	161.36	30.476
38	175	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	160.339	30.67
39	174	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	159.481	30.835
40	88	Cole Whitt*	Chevrolet	158.73	30.981
41	52	Kevin Lepage	Chevrolet	158.255	31.074
42	108	Matt Frahm	Ford	156.323	31.458
43	70	Derrike Cope	Dodge	152.158	32.319

May 11, 2012

Michael Annett Is Flying High Yet Under the Radar

[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Phil Cavali” align=”alignright” width=”172″][/media-credit]At Texas Motor Speedway, Michael Annett scored his second top-10 and fifth top-15 finish in just six races with his new team, Richard Petty Motorsports. And with that good run, he officially moved up two spots to fifth in the Nationwide Series point standings.

Yet, as high as the young driver of the No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang is flying early in the season, he still is very much under the radar in a series dominated by the likes of veteran Elliott Sadler, reigning champ Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., up and comer Austin Dillon, and Danica Patrick.

“To me, that’s how I’ve lived my whole life,” Annett said. “Even when I played hockey growing up, I never did anything outlandish.”

“I was just the guy that got the job done,” Annett continued. “That’s pretty much my M.O. and how it’s been for me in my racing career.”

Although flying under the radar so far this season, the new Richard Petty Motorsports driver has had some impressive initial success, especially with his recent run at Texas. Annett finished ninth, rebounding from running into a lapped car and taking advantage of the lights going out at the speedway.

“We probably could have won the race if I hadn’t run into a lapped car,” Annett said. “But I loved it when the lights went out because we were overheating and getting ready to pit.”

“So, I liked that the lights brought out the caution,” Annett continued. “The whole night was about overcoming adversity, so to come out ninth and to see the guys faces with a top ten finish, it was cool.”

Annett also contributes his early success at Richard Petty Motorsports with the team’s affiliation with Roush Fenway Racing, particularly in light of their driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. winning last year’s Nationwide championship.

“I think the success started with what Roush Fenway built last year with the championship and the relationship we have with them,” Annett said. “That partnership is huge.”

“At Texas, we unloaded and we were close but we were still missing a little bit,” Annett continued. “To be able to go and talk to the No. 6 team and use some things they found, it’s just a huge advantage to us.”

In spite of early success at Richard Petty Motorsports, the reality for Annett was that he had to make a difficult transition rather abruptly when his former team, Rusty Wallace Racing, shut down at the end of last year due to lack of sponsorship.

“It was definitely tough, very unfortunate and a testament to the economic times,” Annett said of the demise of his former team. “They couldn’t find a sponsor for Steven (Wallace) with 5-Hour Energy leaving.”

“Rusty said he didn’t want to do it out of his pocket,” Annett continued. “So, the month before Daytona, they announced they were shutting down and we had to go find a place to race.”

Fortunately for Annett his long-time sponsor, Pilot Flying J, stuck with him and gave him the opportunity to seek out another team. He was especially pleased when Richard Petty Motorsports ended up being one of the teams interested in him.

“I’m definitely blessed to have Pilot as a partner that I’ve had since I’ve started racing,” Annett said. “That enabled me to go to other teams and when I went to Richard Petty Motorsports, it just felt right.”

“It felt like a family, listening to Richard (Petty),” Annett continued. “He and I saw eye to eye on everything and it felt right.”

Annett said it hit him how fortunate he was to be with Richard Petty Motorsports when he and the team went out for their first race together at Daytona in the Drive4COPD 300.

“It’s funny,” Annett said. “It didn’t hit home to me until Daytona when Richard (Petty) was standing on one side and Dale Inman on the other side, both giving me pointers before I got into the car.”

“And all I could think was ‘this is crazy,’ Annett said. “I’ve ridden on the plane with Richard and talked to him and the best way to put it is that I’m blessed. It’s pretty cool.”

The other ‘cool’ discovery for this low-key driver was his new crew chief at Richard Petty Motorsports, Philippe Lopez.

“I had no idea about Philippe Lopez before this season started,” Annett said. “His name got brought up and I didn’t know a thing about him.”

“When I asked around, there is always somebody who doesn’t like somebody, but not one person had anything bad to say about Philippe,” Annett continued. “That’s pretty cool.”

“From Daytona to now, there hasn’t been one mechanical problem and his confidence on the radio is huge,” Annett said. “It’s been a really good relationship.”

After his strong run at Texas with his new crew chief and team, Annett will have another off-weekend before heading to Richmond International Raceway next weekend for the NASCAR Nationwide Series 250.

“Richmond is one of those tracks that I’ve struggled at,” Annett said. “But each time, we go back, I get better.”

“I think I finished 11^th or 12^th last time so if I crack the top-10, I know that we’ll have had a good race,” Annett continued. “At Richmond, if you get the right car, you can come out of there with a top-5 or a win.”

Yet even with his impressive start to the season and in spite of having total upheaval in his team, the young driver is not one often mentioned in the Nationwide Series discourse.

“I don’t mind it, but I worry more about the guys on the team because I want them to get the credit they deserve,” Annett said. “I was hoping that at Daytona when Dale Jarrett started talking about me that would be the start of things.”

“But I’ve fallen back into my old ways of just getting my job done, under the radar,” Annett continued. “But where we finish and the results will show themselves.”

“And if they want to talk about us, they will,” Annett said. “My guys still know I’m driving my butt off for them and they’re doing the same back to me.”

April 19, 2012
Austin Dillon: Gaining Experience, Going After Rookie of the Year

[media-credit name=”Sal Sigala Jr.” align=”alignleft” width=”301″][/media-credit]As Austin Dillon continues up the racing ladder, this year marked an important year as he made the move from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to the NASCAR Nationwide Series. So far this year, he sits fourth in points, 30 points behind teammate Elliott Sadler.

“I’m very happy to the start of the season,” he told me before Bristol. “We went to all three races running every lap and we just keep gaining on it each week. The experience level is lacking and once we get that figured out and how to adjust these cars, we’ll be fine.”

In the first four races of the season, the 21-year-old has finished fifth, fourth, seventh and 12^th. The success he has had so far has impressed a lot of people, including Denny Hamlin.

“I feel like they’re both kind of living up to expectations,” Hamlin said of Dillon and Cole Whitt during his media availability at Bristol. “They’re doing kind of exactly what you would hope that they would do, not what you necessarily thought they would do. I think they’re doing a very, very good job. I’ve watched them a little bit and it just seemed like they’ve both got the talent to make it. You can see it right from the beginning. Some drivers have the speed and can go and not tear up equipment right from the beginning and it looks like those two especially have that and that’s what can make you successful not just at that level, but the following one.”

Coming into Bristol this weekend, Dillon knew it was going to be wild.

“We run pretty well once we get into the race,” he said. “We’ll work hard tomorrow. It’s going to be a pretty wild race.”

Dillon started the race in the ninth position and ran just outside the top 10 most of the time, picking up valuable experience.

In continuing to gain experience, Dillon expects to do well this year.

“We want to win rookie of the year, that’s our first goal,” he said. “If we have a shot at the championship at homestead, then we want to win it.” He added that the main goal is to keep themselves up there while winning some races.

Teammate Elliott Sadler has already won two races, including Bristol this weekend, which shows the strength of the organization.

“Our Nationwide program is very fast right now,” he said. “We’re being able to show speed each week. We’re still pushing hard where we want to be. Everybody wants to be better each and every week.”

He adds that the Cup side of RCR looks strong also with how Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Paul Menard have been running.

Dillon says that having teammates with experience like Sadler and Harvick, he’s able to learn from them.

Dillon, grandson of car owner Richard Childress, has been around racing his entire life. The first time he got in the race car was in a bandolero on a quarter mile behind Charlotte Motor Speedway at the age of 15.

As the season goes, there are many tracks that the series will be going to, including two of Dillon’s favorites.

“I’ve won at Iowa and that’s one of my favorite places that I enjoy, and racing at Michigan,” he said. “We’ve been close there.

Last season, Dillon had a great season as he won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship. Right now though, the focus is on the Nationwide Series.

“I’m sure there’ll be one day that we’ll be able to look back on our season and really cherish everything that we were able to accomplish last year,” he said.

March 17, 2012
Dillon and Stenhouse Lead the ‘Young Gun’ Movement Return to NASCAR Nationwide Series

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

March 14, 2012
Ty Dillon Puts Pressure Aside, Looking To Do Well This Year

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

March 13, 2012
RCR Brings Force to Reckon With in Nationwide Series

[media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]The headlines were going crazy last season when Kevin Harvick Incorporated (KHI) announced that it was closing its doors at the conclusion of 2011. The result of that closure saw KHI’s Nationwide Series program be put under Richard Childress Racing.

The merger was met with some questions, however, they have been quickly answered this far into the season. After the second race of the season, Elliott Sadler leads the point standings, 10 points over rookie teammate Austin Dillon. Sadler won the last race at Phoenix International Speedway while Dillon and Kevin Harvick finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

The win marked a special win for Sadler as he hadn’t been to victory lane in one of NASCAR’s top three divisions since 2010 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The win also marked a bit of revenge for last year as despite finishing second in points, the season was considered disappointing due to no victories.

One of the first moves that was made when Sadler made the shift from KHI to RCR was a change in his crew chief. Richard Childress partnered Sadler with Luke Lambert, who was the crew chief for Clint Bowyer last year in the Sprint Cup Series. Childress felt the partnership was perfect based on what he saw Sadler needed in a crew chief and how Lambert could benefit from a couple seasons spent in Nationwide.

Sadler now hopes to carry the momentum from the win into Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“Momentum is huge in this sport,” he said. “Our team is so strong and so focused that I know the win last week at Phoenix will just add to our drive. We have one goal, and that is to win the championship, and I think this week we will continue to go along with our game plan. It was such a great feeling to be in Victory Lane, and I am so proud of our team and excited to home a win for OneMain Financial and Richard Childress Richard Childress.”

The win marked some reassurance for Sadler as he was at first concerned when Harvick told him of the switch.

“When Kevin first came to me and said, ‘Look, I’m going to sell my team to Richard. We’re going to run the team out of his shop’. I said, ‘Where is that going to leave me?’,” Sadler explained. “He said, ‘Elliott, the last time I ran for RCR, we won 13 races. You’re going to be okay.’

“When you’re affiliated with the Cup teams and the simulation programs that they have and when you’re on the same campus, you feed off of it. We race against the Cup affiliated teams all the time – Roush and Gibbs – so it just puts us on an even playing field.”

In the past couple of years, the Nationwide Series has been dominated by Roush Racing, Penske Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing – all three teams having a cup affiliation.

“I think Kevin and Delana did a great job with the Nationwide,” Childress commented after Phoenix. “But running against what Jack, Gibbs, Penske have, they weren’t quite there and that was the difference. I think Kevin once he saw that, wanted to come back. I think the difference is having a cup affiliation. I had the Cup crew chiefs scanning the three radios telling me what was going on. Now that we’re back in Nationwide, I think it helps back to the Cup due to the cars being so similar except for the motor.”

The success now puts pressure on the team to keep it going, as stated by Brendan Gaughan, who will run his first Nationwide race of the season.

“I’m really excited to race for such a great organization,” he said in the team preview. “The only downside, if there is one, is that now it’s my turn to keep the hot streak going that RCR has started off the season with.”

As the season continues, there’s no question there will be a continued battle between Joe Gibbs Racing, Jack Roush, Roger Penske and Richard Childress for the championships. It’ll all be about who can put the best package together, and right now, Childress looks to have the upper hand. It’s also known that this isn’t his first rodeo as he has won five championships in the Nationwide Series.

March 8, 2012
NASCAR Nationwide Series May Be The One to Watch in 2012

Sandwiched between the top-tier NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the rough and tumble Camping World Truck Series is the middle child, the Nationwide Series. But for the upcoming 2012 season, this may indeed be the preferred series to watch for the NASCAR fandom.

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”218″][/media-credit]One of the biggest new stories in the Nationwide Series is of course that of Danica Patrick running her first full-time gig in NASCAR since her abdication from the world of open wheel racing. For her first Nationwide run, the marketing diva will be continuing her association with JR Motorsports with Tony Eury, Jr. as her crew chief.

“I’m going into this season with a little bit more of a ‘I’m going to do it’ attitude,” Patrick said. “I’ve got a lot to learn and I know that.”

“I’m going to make lots of mistakes I’m sure,” Patrick continued. “But I’m mentally wrapping my head around not just learning but being successful and running well and getting to Victory Lane and thinking about that so my thoughts translate to the real world and really happen.”

Patrick also fully intends to run for the Nationwide championship and even her crew chief believes that is possible. Eury’s goal is to get his driver into the top ten in points after the first ten races of the season, positioning her to make a run at the title.

“She’s gone to a lot of these tracks,” Eury Jr. said. “Before she wasn’t running for points.”

“This year, she’s here for the reason to win the championship,” Eury Jr. continued. “So, she’s not going to be that person that kind of lays over.”

In addition to seeing the new aggression of Patrick on the Nationwide as she attacks her first ever full-time stint, two other super aggressive drivers, in fact brothers, are planning to share a Nationwide gig in 2012.

Big brother Kurt Busch will be sharing a 2012 Nationwide seat with little brother and team owner Kyle for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Monster Energy, leaving prior driver Ricky Carmichael high and dry, will sponsor the Busch brothers in their No. 54 Monster Energy Camry. Kyle will drive the season opener at Daytona and the following four races and then split the ride with his brother Kurt.

While not competing with Patrick for the Nationwide championship, since both Busch brothers are also racing in the Cup Series, the duo fully intends to complete for the 2012 Nationwide Owner’s Championship.

“We’ve had a lot of talks about how this whole deal is going to work out, what we’re both looking to get out of this and what a great opportunity this is to race in the Nationwide Series,” Kyle Busch said. “Kurt’s never done a full Nationwide deal; he’s always had the itch but never really cared about it.”

While Danica Patrick and the Busch brothers have something to prove in the Nationwide Series, a driver whose Nationwide debut has been delayed also has to prove he can get back behind the wheel of a race car.

Travis Pastrana, who was scheduled to come to the Nationwide world last year but could not due to a serious injury sustained during the X Games competition, plans to run seven Nationwide races, starting with Richmond.

“I feel really good,” Pastrana said during the NASCAR Preview 2012. “The therapy the last two weeks has made huge improvements.”

“We’ll start out with seven Nationwide races and that’s kind of a let’s see how we do, let’s see what we need more work on,” Pastrana continued. “If we’re running OK or if I can get sponsorship to keep running wherever we’re running, we’re going to keep trying to get seat time.”

“I basically have to prove I can get in a car.”

As opposed to Pastrana with something to prove, one driver who has already proven that he can drive a race car will be back to defend his Nationwide title. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. will indeed return to the Series, driving full-time again for Roush Fenway Racing.

“They’re working on sponsorship for it right now, so everything is good,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “It sounds like we’re going to be able to go and defend our title again.”

Stenhouse Jr. won the Nationwide title by just 45 points over Kevin Harvick Inc. driver Elliott Sadler. And for this upcoming year, Stenhouse Jr. is certainly hoping that the championship competition will not be quite as close.

“I think we will do little things at the beginning of the year different,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “So, hopefully the points chase isn’t so close all year. That drives you nuts.”

Speaking of Elliott Sadler, or ‘Ricky Bobby’ as he is affectionately known, he will indeed be back to challenge the other Ricky, Stenhouse that is, for the Nationwide Series championship. Since Sadler’s former team is no longer, ‘Ricky Bobby’ will be driving the No. 2 OneMain Financial for Richard Childress Racing.

“It is such a great opportunity to compete for such an accomplished organization like Richard Childress Racing,” Sadler said. “To have an organization like OneMain Financial support me on and off the track again this year really makes me eager to get back to the track to compete for the Nationwide Series championship.”

“We came up short last year, but I know we have all the parts in place to win this year with this RCR team.”

Speaking of Richard Childress Racing, that team will be putting a member of the family, grandson Austin Dillon, on the Nationwide Series track this year. Dillon, last year’s 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion, will be driving the very storied No. 3 Chevy as his Nationwide ride, competing for another honor, the Nationwide Rookie of the Year.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge of moving with Danny Stockman (crew chief) and the guys to the NASCAR Nationwide Series with the No. 3,” Dillon said. “Our goal next year is to win races and compete for Rookie of the Year honors.”

Finally, there are two veterans worth mentioning as very good reasons to watch the 2012 Nationwide Series.

First is Morgan Shepherd, who at the sweet age of 70 years, will be driving in his 45^th season in the Nationwide Series. Shepherd, competing with plenty of faith, hopes to better his best ever 21^st place in the Nationwide point standings in 2011.

The other veteran who is always worth watching in the Nationwide Series is Kenny Wallace, affectionately known as the ‘Herminator’. Wallace will be back with RAB Racing, behind the wheel of the No. 09 American Ethanol Toyota Camry.

“Corn farmers are excited to continue our relationship with RAB Racing and Kenny Wallace in 2012,” Garry Niemeyer, National Corn Growers Association President, said. “Kenny is a fan favorite and one of the most visible drivers in the sport.”

So, from the veterans, like Morgan Shepherd and Kenny Wallace, to the newbies, like Danica Patrick and Travis Pastrana, the Nationwide Series does indeed seem to be the one to watch in 2012.

Fans can catch all the action of the Nationwide Series, beginning with the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 25^th, 2012.

January 22, 2012
Three New Series Champions, One Great Season

The 2011 NASCAR season brought about three different champions. Two of the champions just finished their Second season and the third champion won his third title. Lets meet our NASCAR champions.

[media-credit name=”Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”217″][/media-credit]The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS), saw its youngest truck series champion. The 21 year old grandson of team owner Richard Childress from Lewisville, North Carolina, Austin Dillon, ended the season with four wins, 32 top tens and 12 poles. The 2010 NCWTS Rookie of the Year finished 10th in a rained shortened season finale to hold off championship runner up Johnny Sauter.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) saw another young driver win his first championship in his 2nd year in the Nationwide Series. The 24 year old Olive Branch, Mississippi native Ricky Stenhouse Jr, ended the season with two wins, 28 top tens and three poles. Dillon won the NNS championship by 45 points over runner up Elliott Sadler. Stenhouse also won Rookie of the Year honors in 2010.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) saw a new champion for the first time in five years. The 40 year old from Columbus, Indiana, Tony Stewart turned out to be the guy to beat. Stewart ended the season with five wins, all coming in the chase, 18 top tens and one pole. Stewart held off runner up and second place finisher Carl Edwards to win the final race and his 3rd NSCS championship. This ends Jimmie Johnson’s streak of five consecutive championships.

Tony Stewart also became the first owner-driver since Alan Kulwicki (1992) to win a cup series championship.

Congratulations to all three on a spectacular season!

November 22, 2011

Austin Dillon Wins The Truck Championship; Johnny Sauter wins the Race

Coming into the night, all Austin Dillon had to do was finish 16th or better to clinch the 2011 championship. With 40 laps to go at Homestead-Miami Speedway, it was looking like that championship would be in jeopardy.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”241″][/media-credit]On the restart with 34 laps to go, Dillon didn’t have a good one and fell back to 15th in eight laps. His teammate Coulter had also reported seeing issues with Dillon’s right tire. Ron Hornaday also told Dillon’s team that some oil had come up on his window when Dillon passed him.

“When you get back there in that situation, your head tells you to be smart but at the same time you’re telling yourself to go because you’re close,” Dillon said. “I went as hard as I could.”

Dillon quickly put all of that behind him and moved up to the 10th position, running laps as quick as leaders, before the race was called for rain with 15 laps to go.

At the age of 21 years, 6 months and 22 days, Dillon becomes the youngest NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion in series history.

“This is a dream true,” the grandson of Richard Childress said. “The great thing is that I am a very fortunate person to have this opportunity. It was scary after that last restart. We got back up there. I thought we had a truck to win.”

This marks the first time the No. 3 has won a championship since Dale Earnhardt’s death in 2001.

“The first time I got to pick a number, that was the only number I knew,” he said. “I told my grandpa let’s run it; let’s have some fun with it. I am very proud to run it.”

It also marks the first Truck Series championship for Richard Childress since winning the inaugural truck series title in 1995 with Mike Skinner.

“I’m so happy for my grandfather,” Dillon said. “It’s really helped him. He’s back in it; he’s got the heart of a 10 year old and is back in it.”

It marks Childress’ first driver’s championship since Clint Bowyer’s Nationwide Series title in 2008.

“This has got to be right up there at the top,” Childress said. “It’s so special when your whole family is involved. I remember the very first championship with Dale Earnhardt. I had the same feeling tonight watching Austin, my grandson.”

The difference at the end of the night between Dillon and Johnny Sauter was six points.

“The thing that he did was kept his truck in one piece – for a younger guy with the pressure of leading the points, I’d say that’s one thing that sticks out to me that a lot of guys probably can’t do at this stage in their careers,” Sauter commented on Dillon.

Sauter put all the pressure he could on Dillon, leading the most laps in the Ford 200, before going on to win the race.

“I’m so happy to be up here next to my best friend Joe,” Sauter said. “My guys are everything to me. They were on fire tonight. They are the reason for my year.”

Before the race was called, Denny Hamlin had made a move on Sauter to the outside, though Sauter squeezed Hamlin up. Sauter then came over the radio apologizing to Hamlin, saying it wasn’t intentional.

The win was the fourth of Sauter’s career and ThorSport’s seven victory of the season.

“I’ve always wanted to have two NASCAR wins in the same year so that was a huge accomplishment.”

Kevin Harvick would finish third in his final race as a truck owner, after locking up the owner’s championship two weeks earlier at Texas with the No. 2 truck.

“It’s been quite a run as a team,” Harvick said. “To just get the first win and be able to compete as we have, it shows the type of people behind us. To go from starting the team in 2001 to the championships with Hornaday, it’s been quite a run. If you have to go out, winning the championship would be the way to do it.”

Harvick had his own controversy during the race as he was in the middle of a dispute with James Buescher. On a restart, Harvick had a run on Buescher and tried to go under him, in which Buescher came down and blocked Harvick. Then coming on pit road, Buescher spun Harvick out after Harvick tried to pass him while on the access road.

“I was thinking in my head, ‘Don’t be Kyle Busch, don’t be Kyle Busch’,” Harvick said afterwards.
Nelson Piquet Jr. would finish fourth to finish his 10th in points in his rookie season in the truck series.

With a fifth place finish, Coulter locked up the rookie of the year title to cap off a good year for RCR.

“It’s just fantastic to win a championship and watch how hard these guys put in it,” Childress said. “To see this 3 back in victory lane with Bass Pro Shops, Ty’s success and Joey winning rookie of the year – it’s been an awesome year for RCR.”

The success of Richard Childress Racing in 2011 will definitely be talked about this off-sesaon, but don’t think the success won’t be there next year. Ty Dillon will take over Austin Dillon’s seat in the No. 3 truck and finished sixth to earn his second top-10 finish in his third Truck Series start.

“The great part about Austin and Ty is they are good kids,” Harvick said. “They’ve got their head on their shoulders right. I don’t think that will be the last Dillon that you see going through the championship circle in this truck series.

“They’ve got a good future. They’re like sponges. They listen to you and they’ve got a lot of history and their heritage.”

Unofficial Race Results
Ford 200, Homestead-Miami Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=25
==============================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
==============================================
1	5	13	Johnny Sauter	Chevrolet	48
2	17	18	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	0
3	8	2	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	0
4	3	8	Nelson Piquet Jr. *	Chevrolet	40
5	10	22	Joey Coulter *	Chevrolet	39
6	2	121	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	38
7	7	124	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	0
8	21	17	Timothy Peters	Toyota	36
9	12	23	Jason White	Chevrolet	35
10	4	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	34
11	23	81	David Starr	Toyota	33
12	1	31	James Buescher	Chevrolet	33
13	22	33	Ron Hornaday	Chevrolet	32
14	13	29	Parker Kligerman *	Dodge	30
15	16	15	Dusty Davis *	Toyota	29
16	15	5	Todd Bodine	Toyota	28
17	14	4	Ricky Carmichael	Chevrolet	27
18	9	6	Justin Lofton	Chevrolet	26
19	11	88	Matt Crafton	Chevrolet	26
20	19	62	Brendan Gaughan	Toyota	25
21	24	9	Max Papis	Toyota	23
22	6	60	Cole Whitt *	Chevrolet	22
23	28	32	Blake Feese	Chevrolet	21
24	30	39	Ryan Sieg	Chevrolet	20
25	20	98	Dakoda Armstrong	Chevrolet	20
26	27	151	German Quiroga	Toyota	18
27	36	20	Ross Chastain	Toyota	17
28	25	109	Bryan Silas	Ford	0
29	34	57	Norm Benning	Chevrolet	15
30	35	168	Clay Greenfield	Dodge	14
31	26	66	Max Gresham	Chevrolet	13
32	18	7	Miguel Paludo *	Toyota	12
33	32	174	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	0
34	29	138	Dennis Setzer	Chevrolet	0
35	31	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Ford	0
36	33	7	Johnny Chapman	Toyota	0

November 19, 2011