Tag: Camping World Truck Series

Homestead Championship Preview

It’s hard to believe it but the longest season in sports is just about over with. In a few days, three new NASCAR champions will be crowned. Matt Crafton leads the Camping World Truck Series standings and only needs to start the race in order to clinch his first title. Austin Dillon is the points leader at the Nationwide level with Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr. stalking him from only eight points back. The owner’s title is still up for grabs as well and will come down to Gibbs’ No.54 car versus the No.22 of Penske Racing. In Cup, 5-time champion Jimmie Johnson can almost taste his 6th Cup and only needs a top 23 finish to ensure the crown is his but Kenseth and Harvick will be ready to pounce just in case the unthinkable happens and that No.48 stumbles. Here’s a breakdown of what is at stake in the season finale, who the players are and my predictions regarding who will emerge victorious when the checkered flag falls on 2013.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

As I previously mentioned, this battle is all but over. Matt Crafton has only won a single race this year but 19 top 10’s in 21 races is more than enough to compensate for the lack of visits to victory lane. He leads Ty Dillon by 46 points and when he takes the green flag Friday night, it will preclude anyone from challenging him no matter what happens during the race. This is Matt’s 13th full-time season in the Truck series and to finally win that first title will be such a relief for him and his team. Speaking of his team, the fight for the owner’s title is not quite over with just yet. ThorSport leads by 23pts which is still a fairly comfortable margin but the man and team chasing them happens to be Kyle Busch who has won four races and posted seven top five’s in just 10 starts this season. Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal when he shows up at these Truck races.

My Prediction: The No.3 team will not lock Matt Crafton up in a Port-O-Potty and he will easily win the driver’s title with probably another top ten finish to end his impressive year. I also believe that ThorSport will hang on against the hard-charging Kyle Busch and his No.51 team to win the owner’s championship.

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Austin Dillon is a former Camping World Truck Series champion and his opponent is a former winner of the Indianapolis 500; Sam Hornish Jr. A mere eight points separate these guys and a slip up by one will all but hand the title over to the other. Dillon wants it because he’s moving to the Cup level in 2014 and Hornish wants it because, well, he currently doesn’t have a ride for next year. The owner’s standings is an even closer battle with just four points between the top two and things have gotten fairly hostile between the rival teams as of late. Joey Logano will pilot the No.22 for Penske Racing which is currently in command of the points while Joe Gibbs Racing wisely has Kyle Busch in the No.54 car. An interesting detail that should not be overlooked is the fact that Penske is entering a third car in the race which will be driven by none other than Brad Keselowski who has vowed retaliation against Busch for spinning him out at Kansas. Will he fulfill his promise? I highly doubt it but will he do everything he possibly can to make Kyle Busch’s day a living hell? Of course he will! That’s why he’s in this race…to take points from that No.54 and the No.3 as well as do his best impression of a moving roadblock when necessary.

My Prediction: This will be the most enthralling title bout of the weekend and Austin Dillon will win the driver’s title with a top five finish while the No.54 steals the owner’s championship from Penske by winning the race.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Jimmie Johnson is at it again! After winning five straight championships and taking a two year hiatus from the big table in Vegas, the California native is closing in on the #SixPack. Three drivers mathematically have a shot at taking home the hardware but it is going to take a catastrophic failure on the No.48 or a crash to even give gentleman Matt and the pugnacious Harvick a chance. It’s unlikely but can definitely happen though. Jimmie may seem infallible but in reality, bad luck can just as easily bite him as it can his adversaries. In fact, his last two finishes at Homestead are 36th and 32nd. In 2011, he spun out with what was an awful car and in 2012, he suffered rear gear failure so don’t fool yourself into believing this thing is over with. Remember, this is NASCAR. We set race tracks on fire and break our ex-teammate’s back; okay. If Jimmie were to have some unforeseen issues that consequently costs him the title, imagine the dogfight we would have between JGR newbie Matt Kenseth and lame-duck Kevin Harvick! RCR hasn’t won the Sprint Cup championship since 1994 with Dale Earnhardt; that was nearly 20 years ago and it’s been a decade since Matt was last crowned champion.

My Prediction: Jimmie Johnson survives and wins his 6th championship but if he were to falter and it came down to the two guys chasing him, I think Matt Kenseth would prevail seeing that JGR has practically dominated most of the 1.5 mile races this year.

No matter which drivers and teams are able to call themselves champions when the day is done, I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed the 2013 season. It hasn’t been the best year in NASCAR’s 65 year history but it was certainly an interesting one. Good luck to all those chasing championships this weekend and may the best (or luckiest) man win!

November 14, 2013
Two Strong Partnerships Now Ending Under Unfortunate Circumstances

On February 18th, 2001, NASCAR was changed forever. Dale Earnhardt was gone but in the wake of his death, two relationships that we erroneously assumed would last forever were born. On that dark day, NAPA sponsored Michael Waltrip and together, they won the Daytona 500 and the loss that overshadowed their triumph seemed to create an unbreakable bond between the two. Young gun Kevin Harvick was plucked from RCR’s developmental program and given the task of driving the late, great Earnhardt’s car. In just his 3rd start, the 25 year old won his first race in a spectacular photo finish at Atlanta. The victory revived the withering and despondent team and like NAPA and Waltrip, created an unbreakable bond that many thought could withstand the test of time itself. Due to some imprudent decisions though, these two relationships have taken a turn for the worse.

NAPA was featured on the hood of Waltrip’s car for every race from the commencement of the 2001 season to the conclusion of 2009’s. They jumped from DEI with Michael when he formed Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007. They persevered through the infamous jet fuel controversy and helped the team grow into the powerhouse it is today. Michael went to victory lane four times in his career and every single time, there was a NAPA logo getting sprayed with champagne and adorned with confetti. They now sponsor MWR’s Martin Truex Jr. who has also enjoyed success with the company. We’ve laughed at the many commercials, shook our heads at the countless shameless NAPA plugs by Michael and you could never think of one without thinking of the other.

Now, we look at the two with a bitter taste in our mouths as our thoughts wander back to the scandal that was Spingate in Richmond just a couple months ago. Bowyer spun, Vickers pitted, Truex made the chase and unprecedented events quickly followed. Truex was knocked out of the chase, hefty penalties were handed down and NAPA began rethinking their involvement with Michael Waltrip Racing. On September 19th, the auto parts store announced that it would cut ties with the team at season’s end, terminating their 12 year partnership that had endured through so much up to this point. Truex Jr. is losing his ride because of the decision and the organization is being forced to downsize.

Kevin Harvick is a NASCAR superstar and some will even say that he saved Richard Childress Racing or at the very least, bolstered it. As a rookie in 2001, he quickly asserted himself as their new flagship driver winning races hand over fist. Together, they’ve won 22 Cup races, made seven chases and even collected a Harley J. Earl Trophy in the 2007 Daytona 500 as well as a couple Nationwide crowns. RCR got back on their feet after Earnhardt’s untimely death and expanded around Kevin’s success. Harvick and Childress seemed like a perfect match and everything was going smoothly until Kevin Harvick surprised a lot of people in 2012 by announcing that he would be leaving the team at the conclusion of 2013.

It didn’t faze the organization much at first as they continued their winning ways and made the chase once again this year. Kevin was making a mockery of the “lame-duck” status some decided to label him with. There were rumblings that the reason why he was leaving the team is because of the Dillon boys. Austin and Ty are the grandsons of Richard Childress and they have two Cup cars waiting for them in the RCR stable when they are ready. Kevin didn’t appear to be hostile towards the Dillons (at least from my point of view) but it just seemed like he could read the writing on the wall and decided it was time to move on. No one could have foreseen the chaos that would erupt in Martinsville this past weekend.

Ty and Kevin were engaged in an enthralling battle towards the end of the Truck race and as the laps clicked away, patience thinned and a game of bumper tag commenced. It ended with the two crashing in what seemed like just one of those racing deals. Immediately, Richard Childress came over the radio and told his grandson to go after the No.14 but Kevin beat them to it slamming into the No.3 under caution. The two went around for half a lap hitting one another multiple times before entering pit road where the incident escalated to a dangerous level. Harvick stopped in Dillon’s pit box and the crew went after him. There was pushing, shoving, yelling and some guy had the bright idea to throw a sledge hammer that narrowly missed his fellow crew guys, a NASCAR official and Harvick’s arm. Kevin Harvick delivered the final blow with an incensed interview directed towards the Dillon boys.

“The No.3 jut dumped me. Exactly the reason why I’m leaving RCR because you got those kids coming up and they got no respect for what they do in this sport. They’ve had everything fed to them with a spoon…I cut him slack all day and he just dive bombs in there and dumps me. It’s a shame you got to get taken out by some rich kid like that.” – Kevin Harvick

Ty was caught on video after the race talking to his grandfather and said “he has done nothing for RCR but f*** s*** up.” RC agreed and said that he’s “got plans for him.” Ty also referred to Kevin as someone he once revered but now called him a punk. Harvick apologized for his comments the following day but although I believe he does regret his actions, I think everything he said may be truly how he feels. It’s sad really that we watched a 13 year friendship deteriorate on national television like that.

There’s cruel irony in the fact that these partnerships started around the same time and are now ending at the same time under a cloud of controversy and animosity. MWR handled NAPA’s contract termination in a professional manner after their Richmond transgressions but I’m sure it hurts for Michael to watch them walk away after everything they’ve been through together. Despite the now infamous Martinsville run-in, Childress stated in an interview that he promised Kevin he would do everything humanly possible to help him win the title and that he still intended to keep that promise but also vehemently declared that he will never apologize to Kevin. Austin Dillon responded to the incident in a very classy manner saying that he’s already forgiven Kevin for what he said but admitted that it did hurt his feelings.

I truly believe that with time, the angry words and insults thrown around at “The Paperclip” will fade into the past and become no more than a whisper. They will repair their now broken friendship but maybe that’s just the optimist in me coming out…I just see too much history there for both parties to hold a grudge and completely burn the bridge. With Waltrip and NAPA, that’s sadly a case where there’s no going back. It’s less about friendship and more about breaking the trust of a loyal business partner. When these two partnerships began, the No.3 vanished from the race track and with their demise, we will most likely be seeing the No.3 return next year….funny how fate would have it work out that way.

As the old adage goes, “all good things must come to an end.”

October 30, 2013
Jeb Burton takes the pole in the Fred’s 250 at Talladega

Turner-Scott Motorsports driver, Jeb Burton, scores his sixth pole of the season on Friday at Talladega Superspeedway. Burton turned in a lap of 176.182 mph in his Arrowhead/Kangaroo Express Chevrolet. Burton currently sits fourth in points, 73 points behind leader, Matt Crafton.

Burton, when was asked about his success this season in qualifying responded, “Well I feel like – raw seed, out team has been the best from practice to qualifying, we have the speed, we just haven’t been able to finish it in the race. Even if we’re struggling, we’re fast, we’re at the top of the charts every week. I feel like this year we’re building a notebook for my team and next we will really be able to go get some wins.”

Max Gresham earns his best starting position of the season starting from the outside pole. Gresham turned a lap of 176.020 mph in the Made in USA Chevrolet. Burton and Gresham edged out Sprint Cup Series regular, Kyle Busch. Busch will start third in the Toyota Care Toyota, turning a lap of 175.910 mph.

Kyle was asked about his Kyle Busch Motorsports driver lineup for next year he replied, “Unfortunately, we don’t and a lot of that comes from the unknown of what’s going on in the world of sponsorship and for the truck series it’s very tough for Kyle Busch Motorsports it’s been very tough and obviously without the support of Toyota that we get, we probably wouldn’t be here.”

Rounding out the top five were James Buescher in fourth and Ty Dillon starting fifth. Buescher’s lap of 175.900 mph was just .003 seconds slower than Busch. Buescher, the defending series champion, is trying to catch Matt Crafton in the standings. He is currently 41 points out of the lead with just five races to go.

Dillon currently sits third in points, 53 behind leader Crafton. Dillon turned a lap of 175.861 mph in his Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet.

Other notables: Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney who led practice, qualified seventh and 13^th respectively. KBM driver, Darrell Wallace Jr will start tenth with points leader, Matt Crafton taking the green in 23^rd.

The green falls on the Fred’s 250 at Talladega Superspeedway at 3:00pm local time.

October 18, 2013
Ron Hornaday Looks to Tame Talladega Superspeedway for his First-Career Win on the Historical 2.66-Mile Alabama Track

Quick Facts:

Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Race: 18 of 22 – October 19, 2013
Driver: Ron Hornaday
Truck: No. 9 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet Silverado
Driver’s Point Standings: 11th
Owner’s Point Standings: 10th
Track: Talladega Superspeedway
Race: fred’s 250 Presented by Coca-Cola
Distance: 94 Laps/250.04 Miles

For the second superspeedway race of the 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) season, Ron Hornaday and the No. 9 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff team will unload at Talladega Superspeedway looking to capitalize on the momentum from a strong run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to earn the four-time NCWTS champion his first-career win on the famed 2.66-mile Alabama track. In his previous seven starts at Talladega, Hornaday has earned two top-five finishes, both second-place finishes (2008 and 2011), four top-10 finishes, one pole starting position, has led 50 laps and completed 98.5 percent of attempted laps (653 of 663 laps). His average start is 9.6 with an average finish of 12.4.

For the only other superspeedway race of the 2013 season, Hornaday started from the fourth position in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway and finished under the lights in the third spot.

Hornaday continues to sit 11th in the NCWTS Driver Point Standings with three top-five finishes, eight top-10 finishes and has completed 98.2 percent of laps attempted (2,604 of 2,652 laps) and led 44 laps. Only one point separates Hornaday and 10th place.

Prior to two weekends off before starting the final-five stretch of the 2013 NCWTS season, Hornaday and the No. 9 NTS Motorsports team looked poised to hit the jackpot in “Sin City” for their first win of the season. Hornaday qualified in the eighth position for the Sam’s 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and led a total of 23 laps before a late-race caution bunched the field up for the final restart and after slipping several spots, Hornaday finished the race sixth.

This week Hornaday will be behind the wheel of the No. 9 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet Silverado for the fred’s 250 Presented by Coca-Cola at Talladega Superspeedway.

Catch the fred’s 250 Presented by Coca-Cola from Talladega Superspeedway on MRN, Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 90 and Fox Sports 1 on Saturday, October 19, beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET with the race scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Thoughts from Driver Ron Hornaday:

“I really enjoy racing at Talladega Superspeedway. Our Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet ran so well at Daytona, that I have been looking forward to this race all season long. Drafting at Talladega is a lot of fun and I look forward to pushing and being pushed to the front of the field.”

Words of Wisdom from Crew Chief Bruce Cook:

“I love racing at Talladega Superspeedway. This type of racing is my favorite because it truly tests driver and equipment on the fastest and biggest tracks on the circuit. I have won at Talladega in the truck series before and I hope to repeat that with Ron Hornaday and the Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff truck.”

For more information about NTS Motorsports, visit ntsmotorsports.com.

Follow us on Twitter @TeamNTS, @SmokeySnuff, @TeamNTS9Truck, @RonHornaday

October 18, 2013
Kyle Busch wins thriller in the last great colosseum

In the closing laps of the UNOH 200, Kyle Busch was on the verge of being lapped. A late race caution, however, led to a chaotic restart where several lead trucks experienced fuel pickup problems.

After another yellow, Busch found himself with fresh tires and sitting in second place! Busch then battled leader Ryan Blaney for the top spot. Blaney slipped high, and Busch took the lead. Busch would then receive a late race challenge from Timothy Peters who had ran strong all night but had been shuffled back in the late race cautions.

Peters caught Busch with one to go, drove hard to the inside and took a shot but ended up in the inside retaining wall giving the victory to Busch.

The victory was Busch’s 33rd in the Camping World Truck Series in 111 starts.

Timothy Peters led the most laps (125) and has an impressive record in recent events at the Worlds Fastest Half-Mile. He now has four top-10s in his last four starts, including a win here last year where he led every lap.

Peters at one point was challenged by Ryan Blaney. With Blaney charging hard on the outside, got a run on Peters and pulled alongside. Peters moved up the track and forced Blaney into the marbles. Blaney made slight contact with the outside wall and vowed over the radio that if he made back to Peters’ bumper he would get revenge.

Blaney had the opportunity in the closing laps but didn’t take it. He would end up third.

ThorSport Racing’s Johnny Sauter, who has had a recent run of bad luck, performed well and stayed out of trouble to achieve a much needed top-5 finish coming home in the fourth spot.

Pole sitter, Chase Elliott, looked strong early leading 63 laps, but faded with handling issues. The team rallied, however, and Chase fought his way back to a very respectable fifth place finish. Elliott, who tonight became the youngest pole winner in series history, has stats that any seasoned veteran would love to have – 5 starts, with 4 top-5’s and 5 top-10’s and one pole.

Series points leader, Matt Crafton, kept his string of top-10 finishes alive with a tenth place finish. Crafton has scored a top-10 in every race this season. He now has a 49 point lead over defending series champion, James Buescher.

The series now heads to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park for the Chevy Silverado 250 Sept 1st.

August 21, 2013
Chase Elliott captures the UNOH 200 pole at Bristol

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie driver, Chase Elliott, paces the field in qualifying for the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Elliot in just his fifth career truck series start became the youngest pole winner in the history of the series turning a lap of 125.183 mph around the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile”

Elliott, son of former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, has scored four top-10 finishes in his first four starts. A very impressive record for a driver who is still young to compete on some of the series faster speedways.

Another second generation driver, Ryan Blaney, will start second turning a lap of 125.028 mph. The past few weeks for Blaney have been an emotional roller coaster after winning the Pocono Mountains 125 at Pocono Raceway, then crashing on lap 1. A week later in the National Guard 200 at Michigan International Speedway. Blaney currently sits eighth in the series standings, 85 points out of first.

Driver of the No.3 Bass Pro Shops Chevy, Ty Dillon will take the green in third, with Timothy Peters and German Quiroga rounding out the top-5

The green flag will fall on the UNOH 200 at 7:30pm EST at Bristol Motor Speedway.

August 21, 2013
Qualifying in NASCAR Needs To Change

At Daytona, I sat and watched Cup qualifying for a couple hours. I watched each car get up to speed, run their two laps and then pull to the apron while the next car exited pit road. It’s a procedure repeated 43 times every weekend and it is, for lack of a better term, boring. Qualifying has stayed the same in NASCAR forever so I can understand the reluctance to alter it but a change needs to happen. NASCAR is going in the right direction with the elimination of the top 35 rule and group qualifying at road courses but they need to take it further than that.

When I watch Formula 1, V8 Supercars and even Indycar qualifying; I am on the edge of my seat the whole time and refuse to move until the session is over. Qualifying in NASCAR usually lacks drama, excitement and fails to keep most fans interested the whole time but it doesn’t have to be that way. The three formats used by the series’ I listed above are always wild and produce unexpected moments with the occasional controversy. NASCAR has plenty of options to make qualifying better; they just need to pick one or create their own, unique version. The complete abatement of the current format should be the course of action taken by NASCAR and here are a few ideas that would be good replacements…

Heat races. If NASCAR wants to keep to their roots, then heat races would be the way to go and I’m sure a large contingent of fans would be in favor of this. It’s used by almost every regional racing series around the country and is also used to set the starting lineup for stock car racing’s biggest event; the Daytona 500. If we already use it for our biggest race, then why not implement it in the other 35? It would be a sensational addition the weekend and would help the teams get better prepared for the big show. Indycar has begun using it a bit this year and from what I saw, fans really enjoyed watching them. I’m sure you’d have a lot of people tuning in to see it and regional racing series already have proof that it would be successful. I’m fairly confident that a qualifying format that has been used for over half a century and draws crowds close to that of the ones that show up for the race itself works.

My second idea would be to copy Formula 1 to an extent. They have a knockout style of qualifying where there are three sessions with cars eliminated along the way until just 10 remain. Those 10 fight it out for the pole in a thrilling 10 minute session where the top spot isn’t decided until the final seconds. NASCAR could have 31st on back eliminated in Q1, 11th to 30th eliminated in Q2 and have the 10 fastest cars battle for the pole in Q3. That would definitely create some much needed excitement! Imagine Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson swapping the top spot as the clocks gets closer to zero. Each driver pushes harder and harder every lap as they try to outdo each other while their water temp rises and their tires wear out. They push the car to the absolute edge just trying to gain a couple more hundredths. That is until a mistake is made and someone ends up going to a backup car or a slower car gets in the way causing some controversy and hurt feelings before the big race even starts!

My third idea is a simple one…10 minutes. Every car on the track at the same time. Best time wins pole. Go. You want to talk about a crazy qualifying session; imagine something like that at Bristol or Talladega! This volatile format would have drivers taking risks and making imprudent decisions resulting in 10 minutes of utter chaos and pure drama. There would be one more rule regarding all three of these ideas which would make them even more breathtaking to watch. There would be points on the line. Not a lot of points but just enough to make everybody from Jimmie Johnson to David Ragan want them. Something like five points for pole, three for 2nd and one for 3rd. Just throw some points in front of these drivers and watch the intensity level rise instantly.

NASCAR could only gain from intensifying qualifying. They and the track would make more money, fans would have something to get excited about other than the race itself and it would create stories throughout the weekend that would help to hype up the event. An exciting qualifying format would help to bolster TV ratings as well. Next weekend, we will all patiently watch one car at a time go out for a couple laps, listen to the media ask the drivers the same questions as always regarding how it felt out there and if they left anything on the table while I sit here anxiously waiting for the next drama filled qualifying session in F1, Indycar and V8 Supercars. NASCAR is usually the first to do something in the racing world while the rest see it work and follow suit. In this situation, it’s time that NASCAR did the following.

July 8, 2013
Bryan Silas Goes Back to School During Truck Series Off Week

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Bryan Silas may have the weekend off from racing, however, he is taking full advantage of the time to go back to school. The T3R2 racer will be testing almost daily, from a road course in Virginia to a dirt track in New York.

Silas hit the road course at Virginia International Raceway earlier this week in preparation for the Truck Series road course event later in the fall at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

“This is actually a fun type of school and is much better than sitting in a school doing paper work,” Silas said. “I’ve been on a couple road courses but most of them have been very flat.”

“I needed some experience on a road course with some elevation and VIR was one of those places that had some of that,” Silas continued. “I need to get that experience because the track we are going to, Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, apparently that place is just wild.”

“There are a lot of elevation changes and it’s a road course that thinks it’s a super speedway.”

So, what did the young driver learn on the VIR road course?

“If you are going downhill to a corner, you can’t brake as late as you can going uphill,” Silas said. “This is the stuff I’m learning.”

“And also going into a corner where you can’t see the exit and trusting that, going 110 mph, that you will make it through,” Silas continued. “That was a learning experience.”

“I remember a couple of times there was a straightaway where you went uphill and the downhill and I felt my stomach get light a couple of times,” Silas said. “It just makes it that much more fun.”

During the VIR road course test, Silas rode with the BMW Racing School and was most impressed with the horsepower of those vehicles.

“There were four or five cars in line and I followed one of the BMW instructors,” Silas said. “They would show me where to lift and following the instructor who has done a million laps around the place was definitely a good learning experience.”

After some wild road course testing, Silas will head to New York later in the week to do some dirt track testing, all in preparation for the upcoming Inaugural Mudsummer Classic set for July 24^th at Tony Stewart’s track, Eldora Speedway.

The 25 year old racer will be the guest of four-time dirt champion Bryan Holland for this test. Silas will also experience the racing hands-on by working with the crew and then having his own private test session following that.

“I have a total of four races under my belt on dirt, all in ARCA,” Silas said. “My dad is telling me that he thinks there will be 50 trucks showing up for the Eldora race.”

“So, I have to get some dirt experience before I go there and make a fool of myself,” Silas joked. “So, I’m going to some track in New York and jumping into a late model the day after the race there to turn a bunch of laps.”

“There will be a couple people there helping me get ready for Eldora,” Silas said. “I think my biggest challenge there will be trying to figure out the best line to get around the place.”

“The issue will be learning how the track will change during that race.”

Silas feels that his whole racing season to date in 2013 has been all about learning. Unfortunately, the racing gods have not been with Silas in his student phase.

“Overall, I’ve learned a lot from last year and I’ve been able to use that this year,” Silas said. “Not only have the cars gotten better but I’ve gotten better with these Trucks.”

“We’ve just had crappy luck,” Silas continued. “Daytona, we got wrecked out. Martinsville, we ended up blowing a drive shaft.”

“And in Kansas, we were going to get a top 17 easy and we got caught in the wreck with Todd Bodine,” Silas said. “Our vehicles are heading in the right direction but we need to catch a little bit of luck and then we’ll be alright for Charlotte.”

For Silas, though, his season really is all about learning and he is most eager to do so. But the best way to learn in his mind is to be there on the race track as much as possible.

“I know I still have a lot to learn, but I’m eager,” Silas said. “I’d rather be on the race track.”

“At this point in my career, I need as much testing as possible because I can learn so much,” Silas continued. “You look at the Cup racers and they are on track every week or if they do have an off week, they are racing somewhere else.”

“So, it’s really hard to catch up, but I plan to,” Silas continued. “And I just have to keep learning and going to school.”

May 3, 2013

Crunching the Numbers: Daytona

As the 2013 season gets underway this weekend at Daytona for the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Truck Series, it’s time once again to analyze the statistics and see just who you should be watching this weekend at the “World Center of Racing”.

First on the docket of racing this weekend will be the Camping World Truck Series, which will take to the high banks Friday night in the Nextera Energy Resources 250.

Top 10 Camping World Series drivers at Daytona International Speedway (last 10 races):

Driver	Races	Win	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
John King	1	1	1	1	0	6	23.0	1.0
Todd Bodine	8	2	6	7	0	136	9.0	5.4
Timothy Peters	5	1	2	3	0	17	23.0	6.4
Kyle Busch	4	0	3	3	0	18	19.2	7.8
Ty Dillon	1	0	0	1	0	0	4.0	9.0
Clay Greenfield	1	0	0	1	0	0	26.0	10.0
Chris Fontaine	2	0	0	1	0	0	19.0	13.0
Justin Lofton	3	0	1	1	0	0	17.0	13.0
Dusty Davis	1	0	0	0	0	0	16.0	13.0
Matt Crafton	10	0	1	4	0	1	16.2	14.6

Who to Watch: Defending winner John King returns in 2013 after winning in his first attempt last year in a wild finish. King will be with a different team, but is batting 1.000 in his career at Daytona, so he will definitely be one to keep an eye on. Todd Bodine leads the series regulars with 2 wins and an average finish of 5.4. Other series regulars who run well at Daytona include Timothy Peters with 1 win and an average finish of 6.4 and Ty Dillon, who finished top 10 in his first outing last year. Throw in Cup regular Kyle Busch with an average finish of 7.8 and Friday night’s Truck race should be a great race, as usual.

Next up will be the Nationwide Series taking on the famed 2.5 superspeedway in Florida in the Drive4COPD 300 on Saturday afternoon.

Top 10 Nationwide Series drivers at Daytona International Speedway (last 10 races):

Driver	Races	Win	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
Tony Stewart	6	4	4	5	1	146	10.2	4.2
Austin Dillon	2	0	2	2	0	8	23.5	4.5
Kurt Busch	2	1	1	2	0	65	9.5	5.5
Kyle Busch	10	0	5	7	0	132	12.9	8.7
Matt Kenseth	3	0	1	2	0	39	7.3	9.7
Brian Vickers	5	0	2	4	0	12	17.2	11.8
Kasey Kahne	6	0	1	4	0	5	14.5	12.5
Dale Earnhardt Jr	8	1	4	5	0	62	8.5	12.8
Parker Kligerman	1	0	0	0	0	0	2.0	13.0
Elliott Sadler	4	0	1	3	0	49	9.5	13.8

Who to Watch: The field will be stocked full of Cup regulars, with Tony Stewart as best by far when the Nationwide Series rolls into Daytona. Stewart has 4 wins in 6 starts and has finished no worse than 10th in all but 1 start. This year should be more of the same from Stewart as he will be the one to beat for the win. Others to keep an eye on will be Austin Dillon with a 4.5 average finish in 2 starts, as well as the Busch brothers and Matt Kenseth, all of whom have an average finish of 9.7 or better. Should be another exciting race for NASCAR’s 2nd tier series.

Rounding out the weekend will be Sunday’s 55th running of the Daytona 500, which should be even more of a spectacle than usual with the points race debut of the Gen6 car.

Top 10 Sprint Cup Series drivers at Daytona International Speedway (last 10 races):

Driver	Races	Win	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
Carl Edwards	10	0	3	7	1	2	14.4	11.1
Matt Kenseth	10	2	5	7	1	164	15.7	11.1
Tony Stewart	10	2	3	4	0	149	13.3	12.0
Kevin Harvick	10	1	2	5	0	90	15.7	14.1
Kurt Busch	10	0	4	6	0	82	20.3	14.4
Dale Earnhardt Jr	10	0	3	5	1	78	9.0	14.9
Kasey Kahne	10	0	2	5	0	24	15.0	15.5
Bobby Labonte	10	0	1	2	0	3	28.0	16.3
Paul Menard	10	0	0	3	1	37	20.8	16.6
Kyle Busch	10	1	3	4	0	252	13.9	16.8

Who to Watch: The top 10 is a virtual who’s who of restrictor plate masters with recent Daytona winners Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick, who have 5 wins among them in the last 10 races at Daytona, being book-ended by a consistent Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch. All 5 of these drivers have an average finish of 14.4 or less over the last 10 races and all of the top 10 drivers could be threats for the win on Sunday. The one X-factor, however, will be the debut of the Gen6 car and the vast array of unknowns associated with it, so anyone could be a winner in the “Great American Race” this year.

February 20, 2013

NASCAR Has the Most Interesting Sponsors In Sports

Photo Credit: Tammyrae Benscoter

In the sport of NASCAR, as in many professional sports, it is certainly the sponsors that make it all possible.

But what makes the sport of NASCAR even more interesting is the diversity and uniqueness of the sponsors that have chosen to not only support stock car racing, but to invest in it as an asset to their own market development.

This race season as in the past, several NASCAR sponsors are focusing on fans’ health, using both race cars and trucks to market their unique products. For example, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champ Ron Hornaday has an interesting returning sponsor in Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, a product billed as America’s original, best-selling tobacco-free smokeless snuff.

Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff plans on advertising its wares as primary sponsor on Hornaday’s No. 9 Chevrolet race truck for at least twelve races, starting at Daytona. The sponsor will also serve as an associate sponsor for the remaining ten events in the Truck Series.

“It’s clear that Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff is a young but growing company but I look forward to taking them to the front of the field this year, not only on the race track but in the marketplace,” driver Ron Hornaday said.

In addition to snuff, supplement sponsors are also seemingly hot in NASCAR this year. One recent example is Nutrition53, a health supplement company coming on board to sponsor the No. 30 Toyota driven by David Stremme for Swan Racing.

Nutrition53 is owned by Bill Romanowski, an NFL veteran, who has also joined forces with team owner Brandon Davis to take the race team to the next level and forge a unique sponsor partnership.

“Bill Romanowski understands what it takes to win, which makes him a perfect fit at Swan Racing,” majority owner Brandon Davis said. “Bill is the only linebacker to start in five Super Bowls and he did it playing for four different teams.”

“His leadership skills and approach to successful competition will help Swan Racing become a championship contender.”

“I am thrilled to jump into the NASCAR world as a part owner and as a sponsor,” Romanowski said. “I’m eager to be a part of it.”

From supplements and snuff to construction sponsors, NASCAR again seems to have it all. NASCAR veteran Dave Blaney is one driver who will benefit on the construction side, being sponsored in 2013 by new company SANY America.

SANY America, the sixth largest industrial equipment company in the world, will serve as primary sponsor for Blaney’s #7 Chevrolet for 14 Cup events and will serve as associate partner for 22 races. The company sells cranes, concrete pump machinery, excavators and other heavy equipment.

JJ Yeley, another NASCAR driver, will be sponsored by another equipment company, this one in the mining world. United Mining Equipment will sponsor Yeley for three races, serving as primary sponsor on the Tommy Baldwin Racing #36 Chevrolet.

United Mining Equipment, based in Butler, PA, had their first taste of NASCAR racing at Homestead last year and decided they were hooked. They have signed on for both the Bristol and Kentucky races in 2013.

“United Mining Equipment tested TBR and NASCAR out at Homestead-Miami Speedway last year and really liked what they saw,” Tommy Baldwin, Jr., team owner, said. “By expanding their program this year emphasizes that our program and NASCAR can work for any business category.”

Of course, NASCAR sponsors can also be as diverse as playing safely around rail road tracks to getting lucky in lottery land.

On the railroad safety side, CSX Transportation has announced a new partnership with Front Row Motorsports and driver David Ragan to remind fast to “Play It Safe” around rail road tracks. The company will be the primary sponsor on Ragan’s No. 34 race car throughout the 2013 season.

“It’s important for all of us to be safe around railroad crossings and tracks,” Ragan said. “Far too many incidents occur each year simply because people don’t recognize the danger associated with taking unnecessary chances around railroads.”

“I’m glad CSX is bringing the issue to the forefront of the NASCAR fan base and I’m honored to champion their message.”

For some race fans, while safety is critical, they would also like to be just plain lucky. That’s why the Florida Lottery has decided on sponsoring Tommy Baldwin Racing for the three races that will take place in the Florida area.

“We at TBR are so happy to have the Florida Lottery back for the Daytona 500, the summer Daytona race and the season finale at Homestead-Miami speedway,” Baldwin, Jr. said. “It’s a great program for us as we help spread the word about the Lottery and their program.”

And finally, there are even sponsors who just want to be involved for the good of the order. One such sponsor ‘want to be’, PETA, is looking to get on the hood of a race car and they have a particular one in mind.

PETA has their sights set on NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who has some available space on his hood. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has postulated that since Junior cares about four-legged critters and since he has some blank parts on his car that this could potentially be a match made in charity sponsor heaven.

“PETA knows that Dale cares about animals and we’d love to have his help in fighting the animal overpopulation crisis in North Carolina and across the US,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said. “A spay and neuter message on the No. 88 could inspire millions of NASCAR fans to take the simple but lifesaving steps of ‘fixing’ their dogs and cats.”

Yes, indeed, from PETA to the Florida Lottery, NASCAR most surely does have the most interesting sponsors in the world of professional sports. And that is what makes the cars on the track go round and round.

February 2, 2013