Jeb Burton, son of former Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton, will make his Nationwide Series debut at Kentucky Speedway in the Kentucky 300. Jeb currently is competing full time in the Camping World Truck Series where drives the No. 4 Arrowhead Chevy for Turner-Scott Motorsports.
Burton has had an impressive season. In 16 starts, Burton has nine top-10 finishes including three top-5’s and one victory. He has also scored an impressive five poles in the series and sits fourth in the series standings behind teammate and defending series champion, James Buescher.
For this weekend’s Kentucky 300, Burton will pilot the No. 34 Arrowhead Chevy for his Turner-Scott Motorsports team with a similar paint scheme to his Camping World Series truck. Teammate, Buescher, drove the car two times this season. Buescher finished 14th Road America and a strong second at Daytona.
The Turner-Scott team has enormous depth with three full time truck series teams, three full time Nationwide Series teams and team co-owner Harry Scott recently purchased the No.51 Cup Series team from James Finch. Not only do they have depth, but they also are very competitive. This combination makes the team the ideal place for a young, up and coming drivers to hone their skills and drive multiple series in competitive cars.
The 21 year old, Halifax, Virginia driver was 21st fastest in practice with a lap of 169.327 mph. He will be looking to improve that position on Saturday night when the green falls at 7:30pm local time.
Matt Crafton has accumulated 310 starts in the Camping World Truck Series. Driving the familiar No. 88 Menards Chevrolet, he is in the midst of the best season of his career. Currently, Crafton is leading the series standings by 41 points over second place and defending series champion, James Buescher.
Crafton is also on an amazing streak of 16 top-10 finishes in 16 races. Buescher and Ryan Blaney are the next closest competitors with ten top-10’s. Crafton has become one of the most consistent, dependable drivers in the history of the series.
In addition to his success this season in the truck series, Crafton has ventured into something he has wanted to do for a while – compete in the Nationwide Series. He made his series debut earlier this season at Kentucky Speedway driving the No. 33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.
Crafton’s debut was a success. He qualified eighth and finished a very respectable third. He followed that up with a tenth place finish at Chicago a few weeks later.
Richard Childress Racing has a very successful Nationwide Series program. Austin Dillon and Brian Scott race full time for the team. Dillon is currently in the middle of a tight championship battle sitting just 17 points behind series points leader, Sam Hornish. Scott, who sits seventh in the standings, recently had a dominating performance at Richmond International Raceway starting from the pole and leading 239 of 250 laps only to come up short at the end thanks to a late race caution.
Crafton stated earlier this season at Kentucky that, “I have been looking forward to the opportunity to drive in the series with great equipment for a long time.” Driving for RCR gives him that opportunity.
Given the off weekend for the Truck Series, Crafton has returned to Kentucky Speedway for the Kentucky 300, a standalone event for the series.
Crafton’s success continued Friday as he paced practice with a lap 173.740 mph edging out his RCR teammates Dillon, and Scott who were second and third respectively. A top-10 finish this weekend will give him the opportunity to achieve a perfect 100% stat in top-10’s this season in all of his NASCAR touring series starts.
Crafton seems to be right at home in the Nationwide Series cars, which could bode well for his future. Rumors are that Austin Dillon will be moving to the Sprint Cup Series next season. If that holds true, Crafton could be the perfect replacement to fill that seat in 2014.
The green flag will fall on the Kentucky 300 at 7:30pm local time on Saturday.
In 1982, NASCAR changed the Late Model Sportsman series to the Busch Grand National Series, now known as the Nationwide Series, becoming the number two NASCAR touring series behind the premier Cup Series. The first race for the new series was the Goody’s 300 at Daytona.
NASCAR legend, Dale Earnhardt would take the victory in that first event. He went to win the season opener six more times in his Nationwide Series career including five in a row from 1990 to 1994.
The series, though not officially deemed so, is a stepping stone to the Cup Series. A place where up and coming drivers can hone their skills. There are, however, several very talented, very accomplished drivers who stayed in the series and made a career of it.
The first series champion, Jack Ingram, was one such driver. Ingram was known for his aggressive, hard driving style. He raced hard every lap, start to finish. Ingram had an amazing season in 1982. He scored seven wins, 23 top-5’s, and 24 top-10’s en route to the inaugural championship. Ingram has been chosen to enter the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January 2014.
He was known for driving No. 11. Elliott Sadler, who carries the number this season, is paying tribute to Ingram this weekend in the Virginia College Savings Plan 250, by carrying a paint scheme that has the stylized number 11 that Ingram used for years.
Ingram compiled 275 starts, scoring 31 wins, 122 top-5’s and 164 top-10’s. The 78 year old driver was still racing a NASCAR Late Model as recent as September 2012 at Greeneville-Pickens Speedway in Greeneville, SC. He finished a very respectable fifth.
Another Nationwide Series legend is Sam Ard. Ard’s career was cut short by brain injury resulting from a hard crash in 1984. After finishing second to Ingram in the points standings in 1982, Ard went on to win the series title in 1983 and 1984. His final race was at Rockingham in the next to last race of the season. Even though he did not compete in the final race, he still won the championship.
Like Ingram, Ard made a number and paint scheme famous. He drove the familiar white and red No. 00 Thomas Brothers Country Ham car. Ard compiled one of the most impressive list of stats in any NASCAR series. In just 92 starts, Ard scored 22 victories, 67 top-5’s, and 79 top-10’s. That is an 85.8% top ten average. A record that would be envied by any driver. It is impossible to tell how great his career could have been if not cut short by injury.
Though this series is billed as NASCAR’s number two series, it has written many interesting stories of its own over the last 1,000 races. This season is no different. The 2013 Nationwide Series season is one of the most competitive in series history. Recent changes in the points system that does not award points to series’ non-regulars, has given series regulars a better chance at the limelight. Also, Cup teams who field Nationwide team are now moving to assigning drivers to their cars full time instead of splitting amongst several drivers. This has opened up full-time, quality rides to accomplished drivers that have found themselves without one. All of these factors are a recipe for a highly competitive, successful series.
As we celebrate the 1,000th race, we look forward to the next 1,000 and to what legendary drivers find their home in the Nationwide Series.
(Images used in this article are courtesy of ISC archives/Getty Images)
The first 58 laps of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park were fairly tame with a few spins and Coulter nosing it into the tires being the biggest highlights. Then Johnny Sauter stalled, the caution flew and everything got out of control fast. The battle for the win came down to a duel between young guns Chase Elliott & Ty Dillon. Both come from racing royalty and their battle Sunday was somewhat reminiscent of the old days when the red No.9 and the black No.3 battled tooth and nail for victories on a weekly basis. After Dillon sputtered, Chase could smell blood and immediately went on the attack. It ended with Chase tearing through the grass on his way to the checkered flag while Ty Dillon tried to get his truck dislodged from the tire barrier in the final corner as more trucks piled in.
The finish was incredible and the post-race antics were some of the craziest I’ve ever seen. As drivers showed their displeasure on the cool down lap, officials were trying to keep the irate No.3 crew away from Chase Elliott and his team. While all that was unfolding, it took three or four men to restrain German Quiroga as he tried to get to James Buescher…probably to say congrats on top 10, right? Then there were the stars of the day; Mike Skeen, Kelly Heaphy and Max Papis…the feud that stole the show and made that thrilling finish take a back seat in the highlight reel.
That finish and the post-race shenanigans that followed made news headlines all around the country and the controversy in Canada is still a hot topic 72 hours later. This race exemplifies the need for more road courses in NASCAR. I was an advocate for more road courses in NASCAR before it was cool to like road courses. Now it seems like most of NASCAR nation has jumped onto the right turn bandwagon. Every time NASCAR visits a road course, you are guaranteed to either see an angry driver, a wild finish, a big wow moment or all of the above.
There are many reasons why road courses put on such terrific shows. First and foremost, the drivers have to work a lot harder in the car and driver skill suddenly becomes more important than car capability. That’s reversed when we race on large, high banked ovals where powerful engines and the most aerodynamic car you can build within the regulations are a necessity. Also, negotiating 10 to 20 distinctly different turns is much more difficult than negotiating four similar corners but I’m sure Indycar’s Will Power will argue with that but that’s a discussion for different day. One mistake will send you wheel-hopping into the dirt and with so many drivers fighting for the apex of every corner rather than three or four different grooves, there is sure to be some contact. I also love the fact that you can have a car beat all to hell and still contend with it!
Fans want more road courses and NASCAR should definitely oblige them. I personally hope for a day when I can look at the Sprint Cup schedule and see 1/3rd of it on road courses but with the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) owning 18 of the 36 race dates and Speedway Motorsports (SMI) owning another 12; that dream of mine is unlikely. Unless of course Bruton Smith and ISC got the bright idea to build or buy some road courses to appease the millions of NASCAR fans that won’t bother to fill the stands at most of their cookie cutter tracks.
Heck, they don’t even have to leave the tracks we currently race at if they want a road course event. Many NASCAR ovals already have road courses built into the infield such as Daytona, Auto Club, Texas, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Homestead and Kansas. We call them “rovals.” I think it would be a great idea to utilize the infield road courses at some of these tracks; especially the ones that have two race dates. You could have one race be strictly on the oval and the have the other using the infield course to spice things up a little.
More road courses could be integral in NASCAR’s pursuit of increasing TV ratings and race attendance. The action at Watkins Glen every year is unrivaled with the exception of a few short tracks and the plate races. I’m not saying adding more road courses is the panacea NASCAR has been looking for but more of them certainly would help. At the very least, can we please get one in the chase? Maybe Circuit of the Americas? It would give the champion much more credence if they are able to say they out-performed their competitors at short tracks, high banked ovals, flat tracks AND road courses.
Dale Jarrett this week suggested that the All-Star Race be moved from Charlotte Motor Speedway to Bristol. Stating that these drivers have all grown up on short tracks, I’m assuming he isn’t taking into account Danica Patrick or Juan Puablo Montoya, who both have not ever thought about driving short track or dirt track cars.
When I first heard this brought up, I took the typical approach of, “Why change something as historic as the All-Star Race?” Then I realized that the last several years that I have not enjoyed the All-Star event as much as I once did.
Perhaps this isn’t such a bad idea after all. I mean think back to this weekend’s race, we saw plenty of cautions, plenty of beating and banging on each other, tempers flared, and despite the fact that there wasn’t a ton of passing for the lead, there was still some and a good bit of drama as the laps wound down.
Granted true NASCAR fans don’t want a ton of carnage during a race, we mainly want to see meaningful passes, people getting held up in lap traffic, and the leaders trying to figure out how to navigate that lap traffic in a confined space. Drop in something like Bruton Smith did this year and give a bonus for winning each segment and we the fans win almost instantly.
Obviously the segments and rules would need to be tweaked a little bit to be more entertaining for a smaller venue. Whereas this year’s segments were twenty lap events in the first four sections, with one final ten lap shoot out, I would plead with anyone listening that they make the segments longer, work with Goodyear Tires and build some give up into the tires and then let the boys have at it. Let’s think outside the box a little more here since we are basically playing with house money and throwing things against the wall to see what sticks. Currently the only ones allowed into this star studded event are: Any driver that has won a race in that year or the preceding year, then any Sprint Cup All Star Race winner within the last ten years, Any Champion of the series in the past ten years, The top two finishers in the Showdown, and the fan vote winner, (whom is determined the night of the event).
Let’s expand the eligibility to anyone who has won a race in any of the three top touring series in the last five years. How great would it be to see a Ron Hornaday, or some rookie that snagged a victory in the Nationwide Series getting a one off deal to run in the All-Star Event? And since we are doing that, then obviously we have to let any champion in those three series in the past five years into the event as well. This will automatically give us an expanded field, if there are teams out there willing to take a run at that tasty thought.
Of course we would allow any Cup champion in the last ten years in, since that is what like three now? (Just kidding I know it’s four). I know I am just thinking loudly, and these things may seem like madness, but let’s play with this thought a little more. Let’s allow the top three finishers in the Sprint Unlimited All-Star Showdown Race presented by about seventy different sponsors whom we don’t even know, or whatever they plan to call it next year, I just call it the qualifying race for the All-Star Shootout.
The last rule on eligibility that I would make is a simple one, once you win the fan vote you are ineligible to win the fan vote again for three years. I am tired of seeing the same select few people win this part of the process before the night even gets started (Danica Patrick and Dale Jr, I am looking directly at you two).
Now to the matter of segment and race length, let’s start out slow and actually build towards something and learn a little from the trucks being on dirt this season. The first segment is twenty laps, and only green flag laps count, the second segment is thirty, and again only green flag laps count. The third segment would be forty-five laps, and a fourth segment would be fifty both with only green flag laps counting. I liked the idea of how where you exit pit road is where you line up, and a few years ago NASCAR gave us the fans a chance to participate a little more with each segment. At the beginning of each segment there would be a brief five minute voting process to determine the number of spots to invert at the end of the segment. This way the drivers and crew chiefs don’t know where they will be starting until the final sixty lap segment, which would be run for an extra payday for the drivers favorite charity. Let’s make it about giving back to the community that has been supporting this sport for so very long.
This would actually add a certain level of excitement back to the event, of course it would have to be run under the lights, if a driver is able to win all five segments then of course that team earns an extra million dollars for their favorite charity. Again I want this to be about the fans, because isn’t that what this event is supposed to be about? Isn’t the All Star supposed to be about giving us an extra layer of entertainment? Something extra for us to believe that our driver is simply the greatest person out there, would this instantly fix what is ailing NASCAR these days? Probably not, but it would at least give us something to cheer for again, and one final thought? Bring back the pit crew challenge the day before qualifying, show case the teams and let them factor heavily into the outcome of the event.
Eric McClure, driver of the No.14 Hefty Toyota for Tri-Star Motorsports who missed the race last week at Mid-Ohio, will also be sitting out the Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway. McClure was hospitalized on August 12 and diagnosed with acute renal failure.
The Bristol event is somewhat of a hometrack race for McClure, who hails from just up the road in Chilhowie, Va. His family owned and operated Morgan-McClure Racing for many years in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The Southwest Virginia based team started 702 races and accumulated 14 wins with a variety of drivers including Sterling Marlin, Ernie Irvan and Bobby Hamliton.
McClure was hospitalized on August 12 and diagnosed with acute renal failure. Fellow Tri-Star Motorsports driver and former series champion, Jeff Green, who filled the seat at Mid-Ohio has been tabbed to drive the car again this weekend. Green won the series championship in 2000 driving the No. 10 Nesquick Ford. Green scored six wins and a very impressive 27 top-10’s in 32 races in his championship season.
Green, also has a good deal of experience at the World’s Fastest Half-Mile, with one win in 28 starts. In recent years, Green has been a start and park driver for the team. He has many years of experience and should be a good substitute for the team.
Green was 23rd fastest in final practice on Friday with a lap of 15.912 seconds and a speed of 120.588 mph.
As of Friday at Bristol, crew chief Todd Myers said there is still no confirmed date for the return of McClure.
Just a few weeks ago it seemed as if JR Motorsports driver, Regan Smith, had a stranglehold on the championship points standings in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. After a string of 11 top-10 finishes which included two wins, Smith had a very impressive 58 point lead.
Smith took big hit in the standings at the road course event at Road America where he finished 32nd. The struggles continued the following week at Kentucky finishing 30th. After just two bad weeks, Smith’s lead and dropped from 58 points to a mere eight points over Sam Hornish Jr.
Smith bounced back at Daytona and Loudon, where he finished eighth in both events and managed to hold on to the points lead. Hornish was once again impressive at Chicago finishing second to Smith’s 13th, and took over the points lead which he had held during the first seven races of the season.
Along with Smith and Hornish, two more drivers are in the tick of the battle for the championship. Elliott Sadler and Austin Dillon are second and fourth respectively in the standings with Sadler only 13 points back from the leader Hornish, Dillon tied with Smith at only 15 points back.
Smith’s stats for the season include two wins, five top-5’s and 14 top-10’s. Hornish has an equally impressive record, and may be showing a little more consistency with one win, ten top-5’s, and 17 top-10’s.
Sadler has had somewhat of an up and down season in the Joe Gibbs Racing No.11 One Main Financial Toyota. In recent weeks, however, he has had some better luck and solid performances with the exception of a run in with Smith at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where Smith got into the back of Sadler late in the race on the final restart. Sadler was running third at the time but fell to 18th after the incident.
The two exchanged words after the event with Sadler telling Smith, “You will not win this championship, mark my word.” Last week at Mid-Ohio, it appeared Sadler got revenge on Smith when he turned Smith around in the second half of the race. Sadler did not say of the contact was intentional but Smith commented, “I am going to presume that we’re on an even slate for the rest of the year, though.”
Sadler currently has eight top-5’s and 14 top-10’s on the season, with no wins, however.
Richard Childress Racing driver, Austin Dillon, who is widely expected to move up to the Sprint Cup Series next season, had some struggles last week at Mid-Ohio finishing 21st. Some criticized the decision for Dillon to attempt double duty filling in for Tony Stewart at Michigan while in the midst of a championship run. With the two races being at separate venues and weekend schedules overlapping, Dillon elected not to qualify his No. 3 Advocare Chevy and had to start at the rear of the field at a road course where track position is key.
Supporters pointed out that Dillon’s long term goals is to compete in the Cup series and the experience in a top quality car was worth the sacrifices. Dillon has no wins this season, with seven top-5’s and 13 top-10’s.
The Food City 250 this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway will provide an excellent arena for the series top drivers to battle. Given the volatile nature of racing at Bristol, and the tight points battle, this weekend’s event could lead to a major shake-up in the standings.
Among the leaders, Elliott Sadler has the best record in the Nationwide Series at Bristol with 13 starts, two wins, five top-5’s, and six top-10’s in 13 starts. During final practice Sadler was struggling with handling saying he could not get aggressive with the car on the team radio. Sadler commented further when asked about it saying, “If you’re not aggressive at Bristol, you don’t have a chance to win.” At the time Sadler was 22nd fastest in practice.
We are in the middle of one of the best, most competitive Nationwide Series seasons in recent memory. The talent level in this series is extraordinary. The decision for many of the top teams to enter one driver running the full schedule, the level of excitement has risen drastically.
The green flag will fall on the Food City 250, Friday Aug 23rd at 7:30pm.
Travis Pastrana holds twelve world records, eleven X Games gold medals, has won championships in Rally and Motocross but he’s now trying to conquer something completely different than what he’s ever experienced before; he’s trying to make a name for himself in NASCAR. There is no doubt that this racing phenom has the talent and the tenacity to make his way in the most popular motorsport in North America but even a racing ace like Travis Pastrana must work for it if he wants to one day hold his own against the best NASCAR has to offer.
Travis joined up with Roush-Fenway Racing for the 2013 season which happens to be one of the most successful teams in NASCAR history. They have earned over 300 national touring wins and have won seven championships. Despite all of his incredible accomplishments in other disciplines, NASCAR has been a challenge for Travis to adapt to but he’s already shown promise in his short career winning a pole at Talladega and posting a handful of top 10’s this year.
At Watkins Glen, I got the chance to interview Travis; the first major motorsport interview of my professional career by the way. Before I was a member of the media, I was a fan of Travis Pastrana and I remember sitting shocked on my couch as a 13 year old when I watched him perform a double back flip at the 2006 X Games. I cheered him on in Rally and followed him from his early days of motocross back when he was just a teenage kid like myself.
Now, I got the chance to finally shake his hand and talk to the man behind all these incredible feats. I was also soaking wet because I forgot to bring an umbrella to the track….great foresight on my part! Here’s what he had to say about the transition to NASCAR, his season thus far and his plans for the future…
Who in the garage has been the biggest help to you as you try to adapt to racing in NASCAR?
When I first started in NASCAR, Matt Crafton was just awesome, he’s still really taking me under his wing but now with the Roush-Fenway team when we go to test, it’s probably Trevor Bayne just because he’s my Nationwide teammate. When we go to the restrictor plate races, he’s worked with me which is something a lot of people wouldn’t be willing to do…so that’s been really an honor and has been super cool. Carl Edwards has been great at the tests as well. He jumps into me car because we have the same seat. We’re pretty much the same height, same build. At the track, it’s been Stenhouse so really everyone at the Roush-Fenway team.
What, if anything can you take from your experience racing rally cars and apply to driving one of these big, heavy stock cars? Is there anything?
I would have liked to have thought that there was a lot more but definitely car control. I’m really comfortable sliding around but the problem is, that’s not necessarily the fastest way. Especially at road racing; I was thinking, this is gonna be great! In rally, you charge in really, really deep and get back on the gas really, really early.
With these cars, they’re heavier, they’re bigger. They really don’t behave as well. They flat spot the tires real easy. As soon as you start turning in, you got to be off the brakes so you got to get all your braking done in a straight line and then roll it around the corner with as much roll speed as you can but then point it before you get on the gas. So it’s the patience thing. I just want to charge in hard, lock up the tires, get on the gas and slide it off the corners and its just not faster.
Kind of like the old adage; go slower to go faster?
Yeah, it’s just that when you’re not the fastest one on the track, you want to go faster.
You obviously have the talent to race in NASCAR…you don’t just luck into 11 X-Games gold medals and you’ve already had three or four front row starts this year (in NASCAR). What would a win in NASCAR mean to you? Would it be the biggest win of your career?
I think it would be the most difficult from where I came from. My whole life has been geared to motorcycles and then to rally; all dirt stuff pretty much. Even with rallycross, I haven’t done as well as the rally when it was just all dirt. If I can figure out a pavement sport, it would be the biggest success and surprise if you will.
Now that you brought up dirt…would you ever consider running that truck race at Eldora in the future?
The truck race looked like a lot of fun but again, it’s not the dirt I’m used to. I’m used to charging in hard…that’s a patience track. I would have been spun everywhere like come on; I want to go faster and then I’m in the wall! (Laughs) So probably not my forte even though it is dirt.
What do you think you need to improve on personally and your team needs to improve on to take you to that next level? You seem like a solid top 15 driver but what do you need to do to get to be a solid top 5 or top 10 driver?
That’s a great question…you know, the team is working really hard. They’ve got great stuff. I have a lot of notes from past champions…I mean we are the winningest Nationwide team of all-time and I need to get that win. At the beginning of the season, we worked on consistency. We got that; we had the three top 10’s in the first six races or seven races.
Then we got to Richmond and I said okay, I’m not fast enough. I’m not qualifying well enough. So we started pushing and I could get that single lap to fire off. I was getting faster in practice, we got to where I could get the car to run one lap quick. We were fastest in practice for a couple races, got a couple 2nd’s in qualifying…a 5th, a pole. Like we were doing good but I couldn’t race the car setup like that. Now I know what the speed’s like; how how can I keep that speed and figure out how to race it.
Most drivers have a time table of where they want to be five or ten years from now in their career. What’s your time table, like where do you want to be in five years, 10 years; you want to be racing in Cup?
My bucket list; why I even started was to try to race Cup in the Daytona 500. That and the Indy 500 are pretty much the two biggest races that as a American, you could just be a part of. Now that I started racing, you don’t just want to be a part of it, you want to do well in it. You have to figure out how to get better, get faster.
If you’re looking five years down the road, I need to look at what I need to do to speed up this learning curve whether its racing more ARCA races and Late Models or spending more time in the shop and learning more about the car. We’re kind of in that spot now where I’ve got Rally, I’ve got Nitro; I’ve got all this other stuff going on and I’ve always been able to balance that.
You hate to say its a job, it’s an awesome job but I got to be in the shop more. We got to figure out what I need to do to structure the rest of my life and now with a kid on the way and to be a good friend to my friends at Nitro but to really, focus on this.If we’re going to do this full-time, if I want to be here in five years, I need to figure out what it’s going to take and I need to do it now.
Now that you brought up the Indy 500….I know you’re focused on the task at hand but would you ever consider running Indycars or doing some more endurance races in sports cars?
All that stuff is awesome but for now, I got to figure out NASCAR.
Fan Question – Laura from Vancouver, Canada Asks: What has been the most challenging track for you this year?
A lot of them, I thought I was going to do well like Iowa; it’s my best K&N track and I don’t know the difference between K&N and Nationwide. Even last year in Nationwide, we didn’t have a great setup but I felt like we were competitive and this year, we were just well off. I think the biggest challenge hasn’t necessarily been a single track but it’s figuring out what I need in practice to race well. I mean, the team can do exactly what I say and I’m wrong 90% of the time. (Laughs)
What is something interesting about you that most fans don’t know?
What most of the fans don’t know is that everything about me and even stuff I don’t know about me is on the internet. (Laughs)
And that’s not necessarily a good thing! (Laughs)
No! (Laughs) If I want to know what I’m doing this weekend, I just look on the websites and see what they say. Oh, he’s probably doing this and I’m like oh, that’s a good idea!
After taking a step back, how would you assess your first full-time season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series so far?
At the beginning, we started off better than I thought…we found more speed in the middle that I thought we were going to find. At this point, slower than I anticipated. I was hoping to be consistently top 10 driver and working on some top 5’s but it hasn’t been the case.
Travis Pastrana may not have a win in NASCAR yet but he’s got three big things going for him right now and that’s a great team behind him, a great attitude and the most important attribute of all; he’s got the raw talent to get the job done. All he’s lacking is experience in NASCAR and that will come with time.
I believe that we will see Travis in victory lane by this time, next year and his dream of racing in the Daytona 500 will one day come to fruition as long as he keeps fighting to make it a reality. We all know Travis isn’t a quitter, it took a broken leg to finally stop him from attempting the Rodeo 720 at the 2011 X Games and I don’t see him giving up on NASCAR until he accomplishes what he came here to do and that’s win.
He’s led laps, won a pole, and finished in the top 10 on multiple occasions in just his first full-time season in the Nationwide Series which is really impressive for someone with little stock car experience. There is another guy that came to NASCAR with little stock car experience and with a background primarily based on dirt and with dirt bikes…he posted six top 10’s, no top fives and failed to win a race in his first full-time Nationwide season which is almost identical to how Pastrana’s season is going. His name is Jimmie Johnson.
On a rainy and humid Friday afternoon at Watkins Glen, I made my way from the Media Center and into the Nationwide garage to meet with NASCAR veteran Eric McClure. I’ve been told many positive stories about Eric from people who have met him and he immediately gave credence to the stories I had heard. He greeted me at the No. 14 hauler with big smile, offered me something to eat and invited me to come sit down with him.
Eric has a great personality and his love for God as well as his family quickly became apparent which are a couple attributes a lot of people sadly lack this day in age. He is extremely self-aware about the way he acts and tries to be very professional about the way he goes about things on and off the track which I thought was very commendable and something I’m sure sponsors love. We talked about the struggles of being an independent team in modern day NASCAR, the greatest moments of his career, that scary crash at Talladega, and why he folds his socks! He also reminisced about me some funny stories from the past and even talked about what he wants to be remembered for in the future. Enjoy!
Try to describe what it’s like to drive for one of the underdog teams and the challenges you guys face when competing against Roush, Penske and Gibbs on a weekly basis?
Well, it’s a challenge from a mental standpoint because as a driver, all of us are used to winning or being a top dog at a lower level. When you get to this level, you realize pretty quickly that you’re not going to beat them on an everyday basis no matter how good of a driver you are. I think that’s something as a professional, you have to understand and also, it can be a challenge because the average fan doesn’t understand that and some of the media doesn’t understand that. There are so many factors that go into winning and being a strong team and they’re quick to point the finger at a driver or whatever when in reality, (except for restrictor plate races) we’re competing for 20th so we measure our goals a little bit differently.
What would you consider to be TriStar’s strongest and weakest points?
Well, our strongest point is experience. I mean, I have teammates, Jeff Green (who) is a former champion and Mike Bliss. So from a driving standpoint, they’ve been able to help me and take me to a different level over the last couple of years to where I feel like I am a driver that can fit into our organization; that can maximize our equipment. I think we’ve proven that by Jeff being in my car a few times as well so I think the experience is something that works for us.
Our weakest point is a lack of resources. If you look at our team, we have four cars and one full time sponsor and they piece together some sponsors on one of the other cars. We show up to the race track and each car has the max it can afford to have but we miss the wind tunnel, we don’t have 7-post, (and) we have less personnel. We are down at a resource standpoint. If you look at our teams, we have two big name sponsors on our cars this week but that doesn’t mean that the resource level is the same. So that’s our weakest point…just a number of people and resources but our strongest point is that we do have good experience on the crew chief side and on the driver side.
You mentioned Mike Bliss there…how big of a benefit is it to have teammates while with most small teams; it’s just a one car operation? It must be a huge advantage to have somebody that you can bounce ideas and setups off of.
It is, but only recently have we taken full advantage of that. We have our team meetings after practice. We have a four car team but it’s a challenge to get all four of us to work together sometimes. Having Bliss here is really good; he’s helped me a lot but I think Jeff Green, where he does the start and park, he’s also are R&D department. He tries some things.
He and I have a really close relationship off the track and that’s why I’ve leaned on him to drive my car when I’ve been out. Just leaning on those guys from a driving standpoint and from a setup standpoint has been huge. In the past, where maybe we’ve been lost one weekend, we put his setup under the car and started over and he did that a couple times for us at the end of last year where he used my setup. It’s really neat when you can have assets like that.
Do you believe that TriStar has the potential to one day be a top team, sort of like what we saw Michael Waltrip Racing do?
There’s always potential because NASCAR’s the most democratic sport in the world. Anybody that can meet that criteria has the opportunity to grow. You saw with Michael Waltrip, it wasn’t an overnight thing and TriStar has to operate in the mentality we do now for survival. It’s amazing we’re even able to run the three full time cars and the start and park. I certainly think we are overdoing it, we are overachieving right now.
If you were ever able to attract that full time sponsorship or drivers that have backing like I do, you can set your goals a little bit different. It’s not something that will happen overnight but I think TriStar needs to be commended for what they’ve done. You don’t see independent guys like Mark Smith survive in this sport anymore. I feel really blessed to be a part of this organization because of the commitment him and Kathy have and I think because of their dedication, they are a team that certainly can expand.
You had that vicious crash at Talladega last year but you persevered, you came back and that’s not something every driver can say. How did that scary crash affect you personally and professionally once you got back behind the wheel?
Well personally, it was a challenge. It really had an effect on my wife and my little girls; the ones that were old enough to know what was happening. There was a soul searching period there when I had to decide….talking to her, talking to the team, talking to the sponsors and decide if I wanted to come back and do that. That was some adversity we never faced before. That was a tough time personally to get over what could have happened or to realize that people I cared about and cared about me were hurting. It wasn’t a big deal for me but to see the effect it had on them was a big challenge for me.
Professionally, once I came back to the car, you’re not afraid of anything. Other than having a limited number of cars, you know that’s about as hard as you can hit and you’re fine. It was several months before I woke up and knew I was fully healthy. Even coming back with a clean bill of health, I wasn’t 100% and that’s something I didn’t know until I woke up and was 100% one day. There was certainly some challenges but if you look at from the end of summer all the way through the end of that year, we were really fast. We were as fast as Bliss every week and had the opportunity to be top 10 or top 15 in speed and we had a couple of finishes there. The rest of the time, we were competing for top 20’s against really strong fields. That was an encouragement and that brought the fun back into the series and if you look at this year, we’ve been faster more times than not but we’ve had a lot more things go wrong. But certainly, from a professional standpoint and from a personal standpoint, I’ve been able to appreciate it a lot more and that’s made the experience a lot more enjoyable.
You’re 34 years old and have spent about a decade in NASCAR. Are you content with where you are right now or do you have aspirations to maybe one day, race in Cup full time?
Other than having to pay for five weddings…(laughs) You know, I love the Nationwide series. When I first came up, I got thrown to the wolves and I ran three Cup races, (and) a few Nationwide. When we were able to obtain our sponsorship with Hefty Brands and Reynolds Wrap; their competitors and their retail support was in the Nationwide series and that seemed like the logical step for them and for me. Over that time, you can see how much I struggled in a full time role. Where I’m at now, we’re very respectable on most weeks. I’ve sort of found a home here in the way Nationwide markets the series. It’s not much of a development series anymore as it is an independent series.
I’m able to make a living doing what I love and I’m home an extra day during the week. I’m able to be at church with my family on Sunday so to me, it’s the perfect scenario. As I’ve gotten older and had children and seen my priorities in life change a little bit; it’s not as prevalent in my life to go to the Cup series while some people might consider their career a failure if they don’t. I’ve achieved everything I’ve ever dreamed in life by doing this. I still have fun and I still compete and I’d love to win a race but it hasn’t happened yet. I don’t have a problem being here and I certainly anticipate retiring out of the Nationwide series.
What would you consider the highlight of your professional motorsports career so far…what has been your biggest moment?
I’ve had two biggest moments. Before, it would always be my first cup race for Morgan McClure being at Talladega and with the success they had. Going down there, making the race and being in the lead pack all day was really special. Now that I’ve been in the series longer and I know how much effort, frustration, blood, sweat and tears have gone into my career and all the nights I sat up wondering if I made the right decisions. When we went to Daytona this year and we led the race, it was inside of 20 laps and we were fighting for a win. It didn’t work out, but for us to be in that position that I had never been in before and have some of the veterans of the sport; some Cup guys come up and shake my hand and tell me I did a really good job and want to work with me in that race…that was probably my proudest moment.
To me, you seem like a pretty calm guy, but when was the angriest you’ve ever gotten inside the race car?
I’ve had a couple episodes this year…I was really mad at Darlington when a rookie caused me to wreck because I was being too patient and trying to treat others the way people had treated me when I first started. I’ve probably been a little more vocal this year and bumped more people because I was mad but for me, I can’t help but think about who’s listening. My sponsor’s watching, God’s watching, my wife’s watching and I don’t want to disappoint anyone with my words or my actions. Sometimes, I’ve had to get over the perception that people can take advantage of me on the race track and off the race track because I’ve always tried to do the right thing.
This year, there’s been a little more attitude on my end and I’ve expressed frustration at a few more people this year than I would have in the past. Not necessarily going and looking for a fight but I’m not going to let people run over me. I’m going to stand my ground with other people and with my own race team if it comes time. With Stevie Reeves who is my spotter most of the time, he spots for Paul (Menard) in the Cup series and he beats into my head every week that I got to stand up for myself and take no crap from anybody. After three years, I’m finally learning how to do that.
What has been the strangest fan encounter you’ve ever had?
There’s this awesome bathroom in Texas. I always got to go out to the infield and use the bathroom there. In 2010, I go strolling through there and I got my Hefty polo shirt on and I see some people with some Hefty shirts that look like they were homemade. I know Hefty always sends guests to Texas because there’s a manufacturing plant nearby. I look at those people and I’m like, I like your shirt and they’re like hey, I like your shirt. I asked, you guys with the sponsor, you from the local plant? They said no, we’re just really big Eric McClure fans and I’m like, awesome! I didn’t know I had fans! That guy looks at me and he goes, are you Eric? I’m like, really! You’ve never seen me without my helmet on?!
So those are probably my biggest fans. I play games with people at my appearances. I might stand beside my cardboard cut-out and see if people notice me. I like to have fun with people and I’ve been asked to sign some weird things but that was just a bizarre moment because those people were my biggest fans and they had no idea what I looked like. We have them out to the race every year; we have a ball with them. They’re just good people. I always like to meet people that turn out to be fans because you know, you got to be a die-hard to be my fan because we only have three chances a year to win a race and it’s cool when we get people that are loyal like that.
What is something interesting about you that most fans don’t know?
I fold my socks. I have five children. I talk a lot. I’m like Kenny Wallace without the popularity or the grossness. (laughs) When people get to know me, I don’t shut up and I fold my socks over my feet.
Why do you do that? (laughs)
Well, it’s mental now. I’ve done it since I was nine. When I was little, the only way I could fit into a dress shoe was to make my socks bigger because my foot was narrow. Now I can’t function if it’s not folded properly; especially before a race so I’m a weird guy like that. God made me good looking, I can’t ask for anything else! (laughs) We love Disney. I got five little girls who are Disney fanatics but definitely, I talk a lot.
I can tell.
Thanks.
(laughs)
This is a pretty deep question actually. If you could choose what people would remember you for, whether it be what you did or words you spoke; what would it be?
I would want people to remember me as being someone their kids can look at and not be ashamed of. As a father of five kids, we’re really protective of what we have them around. There’s a lot of things that can affect someone’s life negatively. I just want people to know that they don’t have to think I was a great driver; they can think I was a good guy or whatever but I want them to be able to think that I did things the right way and that I always represented our people professionally. I could retire and hold my head up knowing that people weren’t ashamed to watch me and let their kids be influenced by what I did.
After doing this interview, I gained some new-found respect for Eric McClure and I already respected him a great deal beforehand so that’s saying a lot. He answered all my questions thoughtfully and gave great insight. If you are new to NASCAR and looking for someone to call your favorite driver, it would be wise of you to consider this great guy. Eric’s persevered through some tough times but from every bad day he’s been forced to endure to every good one he’s been able to enjoy, one thing remains constant and that’s his desire to be the best man he can be on and off the race track.
He’s a family man with a passion for driving race cars and his only care is that people aren’t disappointed in the way he carries himself and that he can be somebody that kids can look up to. Eric McClure exemplifies the kind of person we should all aspire to be. I want to thank Emily Brandt for scheduling this interview and also thank Eric for taking time out of your day to talk with me. Keep doing what you’re doing and although I am a member of the media and I’m supposed to be unbiased, I can honestly say that you’ve gained a fan in me.
The three Penske cars combined to lead 73 of the 82 laps in the Zippo 200 and swept the top two spots while leaving the rest of the field to fight for the leftovers. Logano was running inside the top five on the final lap as well but ran out of fuel which relegated him to a disappointing 21st place finish. Brad Keselowski was able to hold off teammate and NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) title threat, Sam Hornish Jr for the victory; the 24th of his NNS career and his 4th in his last four starts.
The race started off with a jaw-dropping moment when Kyle Busch spun just seconds after the initial start while trying to take the lead. He escaped with only minor damage until Mike Wallace made heavy contact with the left front of the No.54. Kyle Busch finished the race 24th and five laps down while his rival in the owner’s championship, Brad Keselowski put the No.22 in victory lane and significantly cut down the 54’s points lead.
Austin Dillon was able to maintain his position at the top of the standings, although it did shrink after a 12th place finish which could partly be attributed to fuel pick-up problems.
Sam Hornish Jr. is just eight markers back of Austin with Regan Smith five points back. Sadler and Vickers are also within reasonable striking distance.
The NNS will return to a road course again next weekend with their inaugural trip to Mid-Ohio.