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Tag: Michael Annett

Austin Dillon’s weekend again marred by failed inspection

[media-credit name=”Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Austin Dillon’s weekend at the Daytona International Speedway started with him defending his Kentucky win after his car failed post race inspection. It ended with him again having to defend his team after another failed inspection.

On Thursday Dillon stated the loose bolt on his winning No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet was not an advantage, nor intentional. It was something that happened during the course of the event and while some might take away from his win, he was confident that the true racers knew what happened.

Then on Friday he went out and laid down the fastest lap in qualifying. The pole would have been the third of his career and second straight. That was until Dillon’s car went through post qualifying inspection and was found to have an open cooling hose in the cockpit.

The car failed under section 20A-2.1J, the rule that stipulates what teams can do with the ductwork. It’s a no-no because it can be an aerodynamic advantage. Dillon’s time was disallowed, the pole award given to Ricky Stenhouse Jr., with Dillon moving to the rear of the field. He would however, get to keep his selection of pit stall since those had already been taken care of.

Speaking after the race was over Dillon acknowledged that his team made a mistake. But said that while crew chief Danny Stockman is already on probation because of trouble back in April with front bumper covers, and last weekend in Kentucky, he doesn’t see any serious penalties coming from NASCAR this week.

“I’m not concerned,” he said. “I think there was another car that went through tech and had the same problem we did and they caught it before they went through inspection. I wish they would have caught ours because it was a mistake that we made.

“The guys are from the Truck Series and you don’t have to tape up the duct inside. The hosed that was untapped was right beside to my AC hose and my AC hose wasn’t hooked either. It was a bummer because it was another mistake; it’s two in a row. It’s not fun and I know my grandfather [owner Richard Childress] was upset with the guys.

“It sucks because the guys work so hard, making these mistakes it’s just like, man we’ve go to stop doing that, we’ve got to be on our game. We were able to recover tonight; I think this was a good one for the guys. Have a torn up car, they’re not going to be fun fixing that but I’m sure they’ll be happy to after the last two weeks and things that have gone on after tech and stuff.”

When the green flag flew in Friday night’s Subway Jalapeno 250 Dillon had to come from the back of the field, 42nd. It never worried him though, knowing he had a fast enough car to eventually get to the front. It was all about making the right moves and finding the right drafting partners. Just as the team had done all season, it was about staying focused and being there at the end.

By halfway he was 16th and charging. The Big One at lap 65 took out 16 cars, but not Dillon. Having positioned himself just right that he was able to work his way through the mess and into contention. He was sitting third by lap 75.

Finally Dillon found the lead, on four different occasions for eight laps.

“It was a wild race, I think everybody going into it knew it was going to be like that,” Dillon said. “We were three wide for quite a while in that pack and the big one happened and my spotter Andy Houston did a great job. He did a good job of just ensuring me where to go and that kept our car clean and let us finish the race.”

A debris caution would set up the race’s conclusion, a green-white-checkered finish. Suddenly Dillon went from pushing eventual winner Kurt Busch and looking to make a move on the last lap, to being pushed by Michael Annett as the two tried to overtake Busch and Stenhouse.

“Coming down to the end it was great working with Kurt Busch, didn’t want to see that caution we had broken away from the pack a little bit there and it had us out front,” recalled Dillon. “And when it all happened there I got to thank Michael he did a great job of pushing me and sticking with me and when it comes to that you’re fighting for everything to get someone to go with you and somebody to trust and Michael did a good job of that. I wanted to thank him.”

It was only fitting for Dillon that with the way his week and weekend had gone it ended just as crazy. Just yards from the finish line, being pushed by Annett to a third place finish, Dillon spun through the grass. He ended up finishing fourth.

No harm, no foul though. The two laughed and talked about it afterwards. Both saying how happy they were to come away with top five finishes. As well as being two of the four drivers qualified for next weekend’s Dash4Cash $100,000 bonus at New Hampshire.

Even better for Dillon, he remains second in the NNS point standings. But has moved to within two points of leader and teammate Elliott Sadler. That’s barring any further penalties this coming week.

“It’s cool to be qualified for the Dash4Cash,” Dillon said. “It’s not fun coming across the checkered spinning out but we did it in the best fashion you can. And I told [ESPN] there’s not better feeling then coming to Daytona and coming to the checkered and having a run on the two leaders there at the end.

“We had a heck of a run going and Ricky blocked and I tried to cross him up and got hooked a little bit. I probably should have wedged it in there and crashed everybody. I got hooked back left. It was a fun race, that was a awesome feeling coming to it. I was smiling that whole last lap.”

July 7, 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
Michael Annett to drive for a newly formed Richard Petty Motorsports team

It was recently announced that Richard Petty Motorsports has formed a new Nationwide Series team that will be run out of RPM’s Concord, N.C. race shop and contend for the Nationwide Series championship in 2012. The No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford will be driven by Michael Annett, a rising star in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

[media-credit name=”LAT Photographic ” align=”alignright” width=”250″][/media-credit]However, Annett may be more well-known for his drunk driving arrest than for his driving ability. He was arrested early in 2011 after rear ending a vehicle at a stop light. His blood-alcohol content proved to be 0.32 % which is four times North Carolina’s legal limit of 0.08 %. He ended up being charged with drunk driving, texting while driving, failure to reduce speed and resisting arrest. Annett has since then been under unsupervised probation, completed 48 hours of community service and has issued a sincere formal apology. He was also placed on probation with the now dis-assembled team of Rusty Wallace Inc. and did not end up missing any races for the team.

Annett replaced Brendan Gaughan in RWI’s No. 62 car last season. He ended up 9th in Nationwide Series points which is a personal best for the driver who has driven full time in the series for the last 3 seasons. He has also driven for Germain Racing, finishing 10th in points in 2009 and 13th in 2010 (with RWI).

The Des Moines Iowa native had this to say of the new opportunity:

“They say that when one door closes, another door opens, and that is most definitely true. We were left scrambling a bit because of the situation with RWI and were unsure what the future held, but I couldn’t be happier with the way things have turned out. To have the chance to race for Richard Petty and to be under the RPM umbrella is amazing. It has all come together really quickly, but together with Pilot Flying J and Ford, this is the best opportunity I have ever had to race a Nationwide Series car. There is a lot to be done before we get to Daytona in a few weeks and I can’t wait to dive in and get started.”

Pilot Flying J, headquartered in Knoxville Tennessee, is a chain of truck stops and one of the nation’s largest wholesale fuel providers. The company is also a long-time partner of Annett’s. He reached Victory Lane with the Pilot Travel Centers machine in his 4th career ARCA Series start in 2007.

Richard Petty says that it sure has been an exciting couple of months for the team. “We are looking forward to getting back into the Nationwide Series full time and seeing what Michael Annett can do in an RPM Ford Mustang. Michael has improved every season he has raced in the Nationwide Series and has the dedication and drive to be a success.”

February 5, 2012
Rockingham Speedway Hosts Toyota Test Session

[media-credit name=”Rockingham Speedway” align=”alignright” width=”265″][/media-credit]Monday morning I was at home doing the usual housework when all of a sudden it hit me. Why am I in the house on such a beautiful day when I could be at ‘The Rock’? So I ditched the chores, hopped in my car and drove out to Rockingham Speedway.

I arrived around 2:30 pm and decided to check in at the office. One of the best parts of the day was the opportunity to spend a few minutes with Andy Hillenburg. His vision and perseverance combined to bring NASCAR back to this historic track.

After parking my car I walked to the grandstands, took my seat and joined the others who were there to watch the testing session. As I sat and watched, I couldn’t help but smile. ‘The Rock’ is an integral part of NASCAR history and a sense of awe immediately enveloped me.

While I was thinking about all that had come before, a father and son walked past me and caught my eye. I listened as the father patiently explained to his son what was happening. The young boy gazed into his father’s eyes, determined not to miss a single word.

That’s when it dawned on me. Maybe I had been looking at this all wrong. Maybe it’s not the past that’s important but the new memories that this young boy and others like him will make when NASCAR returns to ‘The Rock’.

That reunion will take place when Rockingham Speedway hosts the Camping World Truck Series on April 15, 2012. Tickets are available for pre-order now at www.rockinghamspeedway.com.
Drivers who participated in the test session:

NASCAR Sprint Cup – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Nationwide – Steve Wallace, Michael Annett, Darrell Wallace Jr.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – Kyle Busch, Brian Ickler, Timothy Peters, David Starr

October 25, 2011
Michael Annett: From Brake Pedal to Full Throttle for Rusty Wallace Racing

Michael Annett, driver of the No. 62 Pilot Flying J Toyota for Rusty Wallace Racing, is moving from stepping hard on his brake pedal at the Nationwide road course race last weekend to the upcoming full throttle action of Daytona International Speedway in this weekend’s race.

[media-credit name=”Autostock Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]And on his way, he just happened to score the best finish of his season so far, seventh place on Wisconsin’s 4.048 mile Road America course.

Annett was Rusty Wallace Racing’s top finisher, earning his second top-10 finish and the team’s fifth top-10 finish for the year.

“It was definitely unexpected and I consider myself a survivor of that race,” Annett said. “We were down in the 20’s in the timing charts and I felt if we kept the fenders on the car and stayed on the track, we’d have a chance for a top-15 and then get to the end, and maybe have a chance for a top-10.”

“And we did and it was definitely exciting and good for our whole team.”

In spite of getting a top-10 finish, Annett still does not consider himself an accomplished road course racer.

“I definitely don’t consider myself a road course racer, but pit strategy and steering clear of trouble on the track brought us to another well-deserved top-10 finish,” Annett said.”My crew chief, Rick Viers, made some great calls, and working our way around the mayhem during the three attempts at a green, white, checkered there at the end was to our benefit.”

“We’ve got a great group of guys assembled for our No. 62 team, and their hard work really paid off this weekend,” Annett continued. “We made smart moves throughout the race, and bringing home a car with no damage and a seventh place finish is pretty awesome.”

“I’m excited to give Pilot Flying J and Rusty Wallace Racing another top-10.”

As excited as he was, Annett admitted that he was disappointed for his teammate Steve Wallace, who had what looked to be a potential winning car. Wallace was caught up in an accident later in the race and finished 26th.

“I definitely knew that he deserved a better finish than what he got,” Annett said of Wallace. “He had a really good car and he is a really good road racer. He surprised me this weekend I’ll be honest with you.”

En route to the road course race this weekend, Annett also celebrated another milestone, his 25th birthday.

“I flew on a plane from Concord Airport to Wisconsin for my birthday,” Annett said. “We landed and my mom went to a very good Italian restaurant in Elkhart Lake and her, myself and Reed Sorenson had pasta and pizza and cheese bread.”

“We were all full and then she whipped out an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen for dessert,” Annett continued. “It worked out very nice.”

After his birthday celebration and his great top-10 run, Annett was also very excited for his best friend Reed Sorenson’s victory at Road America.

“As soon as he finished, I pulled up next to him to be the first to congratulate him,” Annett said. “I ran down to Victory Lane and congratulated him there too.”

“He told me the odds would have been a thousand to one for him to win that race,” Annett said. “Better yet, me finishing seventh was even longer odds than that.”

Annett is now ready to move from pumping the brake pedals to running full throttle on the high banks of Daytona. While he has high hopes, he is not so fond of the two-car tandem draft that has become the norm at the superspeedways.

“To me, I enjoyed the chess match being in the big group in the draft, with the driver making the decision about what line to be in and where to be,” Annett said. “I really do not like the racing the way it is now. I don’t like relying on someone else to have success and that’s where we are right now.”

“I am fortunate enough that I have a teammate and we work really well together,” Annett continued. “Going to Daytona we have the same plan to work together. I don’t like it but having a teammate is fortunate going into it.”

While Annett felt that he had some control at the road course, he most certainly feels that it is just a roll of the dice at Daytona.

“I am looking at a top-10 finish to keep this momentum going,” Annett said. “But it’s always a crap shoot at Daytona.”

“I got taken out on lap 15 at Daytona this year and in the last few laps of Talladega,” Annett continued. “It’s really a crap shoot but we definitely have the potential to have both cars in the top-10 at the end. We’re going into the weekend planning on that.”

Annett heads to Daytona in the 10th position in the Nationwide Series championship point standings. He has a win at that track from back in his days with the ARCA Racing Series.

June 28, 2011
NASCAR Needs To Take Tickets From Cops More Seriously

Yesterday, Kyle Busch was cited for careless and reckless driving after he was clocked at 128mph in a 45mph while driving a yellow Lexus LFA sports car.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”231″][/media-credit]Speeding on streets is something that should not be taken lightly as many individuals are killed in accidents each year. In contrast, NASCAR is not doing anything about their own little bad boy’s speeding incident.

Busch released this statement after the incident.

“Today I received a traffic citation in Iredell County. I was test driving a new sports car and I got carried away. I went beyond the speed I should have been going on a public road. I apologize to the public, my fans, sponsors, and race teams for my lack of judgment. I take responsibility for my actions and I can assure you that something like this will never happen again. I thank the Iredell County Sheriff’s Department and all law enforcement for the hard work they do every day to protect the public and to enforce the laws in a fair and equitable manner.”

“Lack of judgements” and getting “carried away” resulted in Busch going 128mph and all NASCAR has said was that they’re going to let Busch deal with this on his own.

“This is a matter that Kyle will have to handle with the authorities in Iredell County,” NASCAR’s Kerry Tharp said. “Based on what we know right now, this would not impact his status as a NASCAR driver.”

Tharp was also quick to add that a NASCAR driver doesn’t need a valid driver’s license, just a NASCAR license. This is a rule that’s set in place more-so for young 15 year old’s who are trying to get their start as legally they can’t get a driver’s license till the age of 16. However, once they have one, they should know the proper rules of the road and how to act safely.

Busch obviously doesn’t know that by what he’s done and the fact that he could have his license suspended for 60 days after the July court date. This is also not the first time for Busch as he was caught speeding. In 2008 he was doing 55mph in a 35mph zone.

In both incidents, NASCAR has done nothing except tell the drivers to deal with it. What kind of precedent does that set?

Busch’s case is not the only one that’s popped up as look at Michael Annett’s case.

Annett was arrested for a DUI charge in February and NASCAR hasn’t done anything to Annett as he continues to drive for Rusty Wallace Racing.

“I’m owning up to everything,” he said back in February. “There’s no excuse for it. I’m taking full blame and hoping everybody can learn from this. It honestly scared the hell out of me.”

All NASCAR has done is placed him on probation, when meanwhile he, in a sense, broke the substance abuse policy. What type of attitude does that show NASCAR having?

If NASCAR wants to be taken seriously, they need to step up their game and do something about the actions of individuals as it doesn’t look good on the sanctioning body.

May 25, 2011
Steve Wallace and Michael Annett See Light at the End of the Tunnel Leading to Iowa

As Steve Wallace and Michael Annett put Dover in their rear view mirror and head to the stand alone Nationwide race in Iowa, the teammates of Rusty Wallace Racing agree that they both see the light at the end of the tunnel for Rusty Wallace Racing.

[media-credit name=”nascar.com” align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]“Well, I’ll tell you the whole deal,” Wallace, driver of the No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota, said.”We thought we were going to start the year pretty good.”

“We got a new teammate this year and built a bunch of new race cars,” Wallace continued. “We thought we were going to be really fast and felt like we had a pretty good idea going into this year.”

“But as it turned out we didn’t,” Wallace said. “And we really, really struggled early there in the year.”

Wallace’s teammate Michael Annett, driver of the No. 62 Pilot Flying J Toyota, could not agree more with the assessment of their early going this season.

“We went into the season doing a ton of stuff thinking we had the best thing we could bring to the track,” Annett said. “And then we unloaded and realized we had a lot of work to do.”

Both drivers and teams went back to the drawing board and after multiple meetings and changing up some personnel, they hit on another idea. They signed up one of the Cup drivers, David Reutimann, to help them shake out the problems on their team.

“We went to Nashville and we ran a third car with David Reutimann,” Wallace said. “He had a completely, way different, odd-ball set up and it ran really, really good.”

“He ran good and I struggled so we went back to the shop and we mended all the set ups and ever since then our cars have unloaded a lot better,” Wallace continued. “We’re still not where we need to be but we’re definitely going in the right direction.”

“We’re getting better and better,” Wallace said. “It’s exciting knowing that we’re not so lost as we were before.”

“There is light at the end of the tunnel.”

Annett used almost identical language regarding the difference the third car of Reutimann has made for both he and his teammate.

“We started having our Monday morning meetings and we made a list of what we needed to do,” Annett said. “We did all on the list and moved some people around and added the third car.”

“They went completely different and they were better,” Annett continued. “They just hit on something and from then on we hit on something. Both teams went that direction and from then on, we started running better.”

“All the hard work is paying off and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Annett said. “For awhile there at the beginning of the season, it was a small light but we knew we had the people, the parts and the cars to get the job done.”

“We are getting closer and closer to the end of that tunnel and everything’s finally moving in the right direction.”

While both Rusty Wallace Racing teammates did not have the best of days at last weekend’s race at Dover’s Monster Mile, with Wallace wrecking hard at the end and Annett never quite finding the handling on his car, the duo managed to salvage top-20 finishes when all was said and done.

Both now go to the track designed by their team owner Rusty Wallace, Iowa Speedway, for this weekend’s stand alone Nationwide race. Again, Annett and Wallace agreed that the John Deere Dealers 250 presented by Pioneer might just be their best chance to head to the winner’s circle.

“I have a big bull’s eye on Iowa,” Wallace said. “That’s my favorite track,”

“We had a really good shot there to win last year and had a problem in the pits,” Wallace continued. “We’re taking a brand new car, our best most state of the art piece.”

Interestingly, Wallace will be running for the first time ever the chassis matching his car number, RWR-066, this weekend in Iowa.

“It’s lighter and better and it’s been in the wind tunnel,” Wallace said.” That’s going to be a good deal.”

For teammate Annett, Iowa Speedway is coming home. The Des Moines, Iowa native has already scored an 11^th and 7^th place finish in 2009 and 2010 respectively at his home track.

“I take a lot of pride in my home track,” Annett said. “With the race just down the road from where I grew up, it’s a fun weekend.”

The teammates are convinced that the Nationwide race, with only two Cup drivers competing, is also the best chance for a Nationwide-only driver to take the checkered flag. And both are motivated by that opportunity to have that Cinderella finish.

“It drives me 100% to be the first Nationwide driver to get a win,” Wallace said. “It makes you feel really good when you can run up front with those guys. That’s what I’m excited about.”

“Trevor Bayne winning that race was amazing because he’s such a young kid and a Nationwide guy,” Annett said. “But Regan Smith winning at Darlington is really something.”

“Steven and I were talking about it and we agreed,” Annett said. “Him winning that race shows that if you do your job right, you can get the job done.”

With both Annett and Wallace headed into a track that means so much to the team owner and father respectively, one question that many have asked is if the two feel any added pressure.

“I get that question a lot,” Wallace said. “Iowa’s a cool track, but not just because my Dad’s involved with it.”

“As far as I’m concerned, we can’t let any of that change the way we approach the weekend at all,” Wallace continued. “We still have to keep our focus on the race.”

“We’ve had a real chance to win there the last two years in a row,” Wallace said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to put our team in Victory Lane and win one for the Nationwide guys.”

May 20, 2011
NASCAR Needs Ounce of Prevention in Substance Abuse Policy

Before the official start of the 2011 NASCAR season, the issue of substance abuse again made headlines for the sport, with the arrest of up and coming driver Michael Annett for driving under the influence.

[media-credit name=”FMCM” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Annett, age 24, allegedly blew a .32 in the breath alcohol level test. This is four times over the legal limit in North Carolina, where he was pulled over after an accident.

Rusty Wallace Racing, the team for whom Annett drives, took immediate action. The team announced that Annett will not be allowed to drink alcohol at all and will get no ‘second chance’ if he violates that requirement.

“It’s real serious to me what happened,” Rusty Wallace, principal of the team, said. “We’re doing the right things with Michael. NASCAR trusts we’re doing the right things.”

“It’s some alcohol awareness, it’s some community service, he’s at that race shop at 7 a.m. every morning,” Wallace continued. “We’ve got him polishing the freaking drive shafts because I’m pissed at him.”

NASCAR has also imposed its own sanctions on Annett as well. The sanctioning body announced that is has paced Annett, driver of the No. 62 race car in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, on probation until December 31, 2011.

Annett will be evaluated by a certified drug and alcohol professional at NASCAR’s discretion. The young driver will also be subject to random testing throughout the year as well.

Unfortunately for the sport, Annett is not alone in having an alcohol-related driving incident prior to or during the racing season.

In 2009, Richard Petty Motorsports young gun AJ Allmendinger was arrested for driving under the influence. Even veteran driver Michael Waltrip has had his share of incidents, one in 2009 and another in 2007 where alcohol was suspected to be a factor in crashes behind the wheel. However, Waltrip was never charged.

With all this attention to alcohol-related issues, especially with drivers getting behind the wheel of a car after imbibing, NASCAR has indeed reacted swiftly and decisively to the various incidents. NASCAR, as well as the race teams involved, should be commended for that.

Yet, in addition to the reaction, the sport must also seriously consider adding some prevention strategies to the mix.

Let’s face it, while not excusing it in any way, shape or form, anyone can make a mistake when it comes to having a few glasses of wine or a few beers and then getting behind the wheel. Most of us, particularly in our youth, could claim the phrase, “There but for the grace of God go I” when it comes to those situations.

But the element that the sport may be missing when it comes to their substance abuse policy is that element of prevention. What is NASCAR really doing to educate those who participate in the sport at whatever level as to the dangers of drinking, drugging and driving prior to it happening?

As a licensed clinical social worker, as well as someone who has run programs for those who have been convicted of driving under the influence, it has been my personal experience that most individuals have no clue how little alcohol they have to have in their bodies in order to be impaired behind the wheel of any vehicle.

In fact, most folks that I have worked with in my professional career have had no idea of the alcohol content in one drink, whether it be beer, wine or other spirits. They are also stunned when they learn of the amount of alcohol that it takes for their particular body type to be considered legally and functionally impaired.

NASCAR must consider being more proactive when it comes to prevention of substance abuse in the sport. This is true especially in a sport where the majority of the drivers are young, male, and fearless as they need to be to even participate as a race car driver.

NASCAR, as well as the various race teams, should run regular substance abuse education and prevention courses that are required for drivers at every level. This should be a part of the licensing requirements, where not only do the drivers declare which Series they are running for championships in but they also check off that they have participated in at least one substance abuse awareness seminar or course.

Having said that, these substance abuse prevention and education requirements should not just be made for the Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series. They should also be required in the Camping World East and West Series, and yes, should even be required in the up and coming series where those teenagers and even pre-teens are now racing.

Perhaps if substance abuse prevention and education programming was added to NASCAR’s substance abuse policy, situations like with Michael Annett will become a thing of the past. And that would be great not only for the sport, where the athletes serve as role models to so many youth, but for the athletes themselves who can avoid having to be punished or sanctioned, to the detriment of all.

Best of all, alcohol and drug prevention and education might just save a life. And that truly is the most powerful argument of all for NASCAR to add that ounce of prevention to the sport’s substance abuse policy.

February 12, 2011