Meet Sue Official NASCAR Fan Council member of the month
Name: Sue
Current City: Seattle, Washington
Hometown: I’m an Air Force brat, so I moved around.
Member since: 2010
Getting to know Sue
Q. Why did you join the Official NASCAR Fan Council?
"I love auto racing so much – the opportunity to give feedback to a sanctioning body that listens was such a great opportunity. I love other sports, too, but no other sport solicits feedback the way NASCAR does."
Q. What comes to mind when you think of NASCAR? What’s your favorite NASCAR memory?
"NASCAR reminds me of my dad, who is the one who got me interested to begin with. My favorite NASCAR memory was the Fontana fall race in 2010. I was fortunate enough to get a garage pass, and that was an eye opening experience I will never forget."
Q: Do you have a favorite in any of the following categories?
Driver: "Tony Stewart."
Track: "Richmond."
Memorabilia: "I have a Dale Junior "Voo Doo Ride" t-shirt that I bought 3 years ago. Random people stop me on the street and ask me about it!"
Q: If you could go to any NASCAR race/track, where would you go?
"Bristol"
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
"Hiking, reading, going to Seahawks and Vancouver Canucks games!"
Q: Tell us about your family. Do you have children and/or pets?
"I have four legged kids. Three horses and two golden retrievers."
Q: What’s your dream car?
"A Spyker B6 Venator in cranberry color. SO sleek!!"
From all of us at NASCAR, we thank Sue for her continued support and look forward to hearing from her in 2015!
How perfectly fitting that Denny Hamlin received a grandfather clock for his victory Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. The timing couldn’t have been any better.
It wasn’t the emotion of winning the special trophy – his fifth there — that resonated most with Hamlin or even the chance to celebrate with his team in Victory Lane after a 31-race winning drought.
What also mattered Sunday was the emotional lift Hamlin created for his beloved boss J.D. Gibbs, who was preparing to begin some highly focused medical treatment for symptoms impacting his brain function.
The Joe Gibbs Racing team revealed last Wednesday that Gibbs has been dealing with this medical issue for the past six months and will be undergoing a more rigorous treatment that will most likely keep him away from the race track more.
"J.D. at our team meeting earlier this week, he got up and basically he said, ‘I know God has a plan and God puts us through things for a reason.’" said Gibbs’ father and the team’s namesake Joe Gibbs.
"I think J.D. gains his strength from the fact that he has a personal relationship with the Lord and I have to tell you that he’s my hero. I kind of watch him and I don’t know if anybody has ever dealt with anything as courageous as J.D. does."
It helps having a reason to smile and Hamlin’s victory Sunday was the first for the now four-car Joe Gibbs Racing Cup stable since he won at Talladega last May.
Emotional lifts are a really big deal when you’re facing major medical hurdles and as Hamlin showed again, the NASCAR community is really good at providing them.
Unfortunately, there have been plenty of opportunities recently.
NASCAR has already rallied around Gibbs-own injured driver Kyle Busch, who has been out of the driver’s seat since February recovering from a fractured leg and foot suffered in an accident in the XFINITY Series opener at Daytona International Speedway.
Just last week veteran Brian Vickers announced he would take three months off while on blood thinners to treat a reoccurrence of blood clots – his fourth leave of absence since 2010 because of medical reasons.
And only days after the JGR team announced Gibbs’ situation, the hugely popular Sprint Cup Series 2014 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Kyle Larson was transported to the hospital after fainting at an autograph signing.
It has certainly been an especially challenging time away from the track.
Longtime JGR employee Jason Ratcliff, crew chief on Matt Kenseth‘s No. 20 Toyota, noted that everyone missed seeing Gibbs’ familiar big grin in Victory Lane.
"One thing about JGR, it’s a family-owned business and they treat all 500 employees like they’re family,” Ratcliff said. "We miss him this weekend, and prayers to him, and we know he’s going to get well."
It’s not the first time Gibbs has needed or felt the support from within NASCAR. His son Taylor battled leukemia as a young child and Joe Gibbs pointed out Sunday his grandson is doing better. And he expects a good outcome for his son as well despite having few definitive medical answers as to the condition at this point.
"Basically what the doctors say is that they really don’t know,” Joe Gibbs said, then made a point to address the NASCAR community.
"I have to tell you that as a group, from all the contact that we’ve had, the people praying for us and the people reaching out to us, whether it was through Taylor’s situation or now through J.D.’s situation, it’s been just unbelievable for us as a family."
And Sunday was perfect example that in NASCAR racing, what goes around comes around.
If not for Gibbs, Hamlin may not have ever had the chance to compete in the Sprint Cup Series, much less win. It was Gibbs who first spotted Hamlin running late models at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway 13 years ago and convinced Joe Gibbs to give the young driver a chance to compete and work his way up in the organization.
It’s something they all said they thought about during the driver’s extra exuberant victory lap at Martinsville on Sunday.
"I thank my lucky stars every day that I was able to get in the car that I was able to get into because so many young guys come into this sport and don’t get an opportunity with a good team, and I was put with a great race team, and things worked out for me in my future, and it’s amazing looking back on it, how everything played out,” Hamlin said Sunday. "These guys gave me my chance, and J.D. was a big key to that."
Joe Gibbs smiled listening to Hamlin.
"For me it was emotional and thinking about J.D. and all that he means to our team, so it was a big week for us, but a great finish to a story there,” Gibbs said.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 31, 2015) — The No. 31 team that competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has been penalized for rules infractions discovered as a result of NASCAR’s post-event tire audit conducted following the March 22 race at Auto Club Speedway.These infractions amount to a P5 level penalty and violate the following Sections in the 2015 NASCAR rule book:
20.16: Wheels and tires A. Any device, modification, or procedure to the tire or wheel, including the valve stem hardware, that is used to release pressure, beyond normal pressure adjustments, from the tire and/or inner shield, will not be permitted.
20.16.2:Tires F. Modifications to the tires, by treatment or any other means, will not be permitted.
Section 12.5.3.5.1 lists P5 Penalty Violation examples that could include but are not limited to:
A. Effecting, modifying and/or altering the standard tires in any way, other than through authorized means such as tire pressure adjustments within the recommended range, permitted tire cooling when mounted on the race vehicle; or heat-cycling on the race vehicle on the race track earlier in the event.
12.5.3.5.2: Minimum P5 Penalty Options (includes all four points below):
A. Loss of 50 championship driver and owner points, regardless of whether the violation occurred during a Championship race or not B. $75,000-$125,000 fine C. Suspension for the next six series Championship Races, plus any non-championship races or special events which might occur during that time period, for the crew chief and any other team members as determined by NASCAR D. Probation through the end of the calendar year for all suspended members, or for a six-month period following the issuance of the penalty notice if that period spans across two consecutive seasons
12.5.3.5.3: P5 Level infractions detected during post-race inspection: If the infraction is detected during post-race inspection, then the following penalty elements will be added to those listed previously in this section: A. Loss of an additional 25 Championship driver and owner points; regardless of whether it was a Championship Race or no B. Loss of an additional $50,000
As a result of these violations, crew chief Luke Lambert has been fined a total of $125,000 ($75,000 plus $50,000), suspended from the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship races, plus any non-championship races or special events which might occur during that time period, and been placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31.
James Bender, team tire technician, and Philip Surgen, team engineer, have been suspended from the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship races, plus any non-championship races or special events which might occur during that time period, and been placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31.
Driver Ryan Newman and car owner Richard Childress each have been penalized with the loss of 75 (50 plus 25) championship driver and championship car owner points.
"NASCAR takes very seriously its responsibility to govern and regulate the rules of the sport in order to ensure competitive balance," said Steve O’Donnell, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer. "We’ve been very clear that any modifications to race vehicle tires is an unacceptable practice and will not be tolerated."
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 31, 2015) — "NASCAR is disappointed by the recent legislation passed in Indiana. We will not embrace nor participate in exclusion or intolerance. We are committed to diversity and inclusion within our sport and therefore will continue to welcome all competitors and fans at our events in the state of Indiana and anywhere else we race." — NASCAR Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer Brett Jewkes
"We understand the seriousness of the penalty. In fact, RCR has been one of the most outspoken opponents against ‘tire bleeding’ since the rumors began to surface last season. Once NASCAR provides us with the specific details of the infraction we will conduct a further internal investigation, and evaluate our options for an appeal."
The penalty resulted in the loss of 75 championship driver and owner points to driver Ryan Newman and car owner Richard Childress.
Crew chief Luke Lambert has been fined $125,000, suspended from the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship races, plus any non-championship races or special events which might occur during that time period, and has also been placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31.
James Bender, team tire technician, and Philip Surgen, team engineer, have also been suspended from the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship races, plus any non-championship races or special events which might occur during that time period, and have also been placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31.
Lap-by-Lap will keep you caught up even if you can only take a peek here and there. Check in to read back through all the laps you’ve missed, or keep an eye on the feed for real-time race updates.
We’ll also send race updates via Twitter through the official @NASCAR and @NASCARStats handles.
RaceBuddy will have enhanced views and coverage for the Sprint Cup Series and for most XFINITY Series races with 10 HD live race views, including up to eight in-car cameras, two mosaic views, live leaderboard and interactive chat.
Haven’t tried RaceView yet? If you sign up, you’ll get virtual videos of cars on the track from various angles and hear what your favorite team is saying over the radio in both the Sprint Cup and select XFINITY Series races. Use it as a second screen or as your only screen. Just want to scan the radios? You can have that too with Scanner (formerly RaceView Audio). On a mobile device? Get RaceView Mobile here.
If you want to be more involved in the on-track action, you can manage your fantasy team on NASCAR.com and follow your team’s performance in NASCAR Fantasy Live. Mobile users can also download NASCAR Connect, a game from OneUp Sports that allows users to play other fans with race predictions for some off-track competition while drivers battle it out on the track.
Live Press Pass video streams will keep the NASCAR action rolling even after the winner goes in and out of Victory Lane. Catch interviews with the top finishers and series champions immediately following the checkered flag for both national series events, and stay tuned to NASCAR.com throughout the week for the latest news.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman has been penalized 75 points and his crew chief has been fined $125,000 after NASCAR determined the team illegally altered air pressures in its tires during a March 22 event at Auto Club Speedway.
The findings came after an audit of tires taken from four teams following the Auto Club 400 were sent to an outside agency for further evaluation.
The 75-point loss dropped Newman from sixth to 26th in the points standings after six races. One of last year’s drivers in the Championship 4 round in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Newman, 37, has four top-10 finishes this season.
In addition to the tires from Newman’s team, NASCAR officials also obtained tires from the No. 27 Chevrolet of RCR teammate Paul Menard as well as those from race winner Kevin Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch.
NASCAR engineers inspected the tires from all four teams at the sanctioning body’s Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, before sending them to an outside company for a more detailed analysis.
Tire audits have been conducted after the last three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events as rumors of teams illegally altering air pressures swirled through the garage. By allowing air to escape from tires as they heat up, more of the tire’s surface remains in contact with the race track, providing more grip consistently throughout a run.
According to the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rulebook, "Any device, modification, or procedure to the tire or wheel, including the valve stem hardware, that is used to release pressure, beyond normal pressure adjustments, from the tire and/or inner shield, will not be permitted."
Penalties for such infractions are classified as P5 level by NASCAR, and in this case resulted in the loss of 75 championship driver and car owner points for Newman and car owner Richard Childress; a $125,000 fine and six-race suspension for crew chief Luke Lambert; and six-race suspensions for team tire technician James Bender and team engineer Philip Surgen.
Lambert, Bender and Surgen have also been placed on probation through Dec. 31.
In a statement issued shortly after the NASCAR announcement, RCR president Torrey Galida said the organization would consider its options as further information is provided.
"We understand the seriousness of the penalty," Galida said. "In fact, RCR has been one of the most outspoken opponents against ‘tire bleeding’ since the rumors began to surface last season.
"Once NASCAR provides us with the specific details of the infraction we will conduct a further internal investigation, and evaluate our options for an appeal."
Sprint Cup Series Managing Director Richard Buck said Monday that teams were reminded of the severity of penalties for tire infractions during a meeting with crew chiefs on Friday at Martinsville Speedway.
"We generally have crew chief meetings where we will address topics and issues with crew chiefs, get information to them," Buck said. "And that was the case at Martinsville. We had several things that we addressed there, but one of the things was the tires."
"We reiterated to the garage area that it is very serious; our process has not changed. … We take that very seriously."
NASCAR took tires from several teams at Phoenix and again at Martinsville in addition to those taken at ACS. Those from ACS were believed to be the only ones sent to an outside source for further evaluation.
No issues were found with those taken at Phoenix.
"We’ve been very clear that any modifications to race vehicle tires is an unacceptable practice and will not be tolerated," Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said in regard to the penalties dealt to the No. 31 team.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Larson has been released from a Charlotte hospital and is going through the process of gaining clearance to return to competition, according to a statement from Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.
Larson, 22, fainted during a fan appearance Saturday while at Martinsville Speedway for Sunday’s running of the STP 500. After an initial evaluation at a local hospital, Larson was transported to a Charlotte facility for further testing.
"After extensive testing and observation over the last few days, Kyle Larson was released from the hospital last night and has finished up final tests today," the CGR statement read. "He is currently waiting for final doctor recommendations in order to clear him to return to all NASCAR related activities."
According to a NASCAR official, Larson has not yet been medically cleared to resume NASCAR racing activities.
Larson qualified seventh for the race on Friday and had taken part in two practice sessions Saturday before the scheduled autograph appearance on the grounds of the speedway.
NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Regan Smith was called upon to fill in for the team during Larson’s absence. The former Sprint Cup driver finished 16th.
Larson won the 2014 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award for the Sprint Cup Series. He posted 17 top-10 and eight top-five finishes while driving the team’s No. 42 Chevrolet, and finished 17th in points after just missing qualifying for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
This season, he has two top-10s through his first five starts and was 18th in points. He dropped to 24th with the missed start.
Larson is the third driver sidelined this season for medical reasons.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch continues to recuperate from a broken right leg and fractured left foot sustained in a crash during the season-opening XFINITY Series race at Daytona.
Michael Waltrip Racing driver Brian Vickers missed the first two Sprint Cup events following off-season corrective heart surgery. He returned for two races, then announced a leave of absence following the recurrence of blood clot issues and is expected to be sidelined for three months while he takes blood thinners.
