Posted on by

Former crew chief looks to lead Almirola, historic No. 43 to Victory Lane

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Sammy Johns woke up Thursday morning in his usual capacity as director of operations at Richard Petty Motorsports. He was at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday morning as the crew chief of the organization’s flagship No. 43 car.

That sudden transition was the most immediate consequence of the surprise suspension on Thursday of Todd Parrott, who has called signals for the No. 43 team since the start of this season, and whose second stint with the Petty organization began in 2010. Winner of the 1999 premier series championship with Dale Jarrett, Parrott was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for an unspecified violation of the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy.

When Parrott might return is unclear. Substance abuse violators in NASCAR typically undertake a mandatory Road to Recovery program tailored to the specific infraction. AJ Allmendinger did just that after being suspended last year for what he later said was Adderall use, and has since returned to claim a pair of NASCAR Nationwide Series victories and secure a full-time ride in the No. 47 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car for next season.

Johns said he’s been in regular contact with Parrott since the suspension came down Thursday. "He’s doing OK," he said of the crew chief, although he wouldn’t speculate on Parrott’s future with a straight-laced Petty organization that’s historically shied away from even alcohol sponsorship on its No. 43 car.

"We’re not commenting on his potential future right now," Johns said of Parrott. "It’s (a human resources) matter. Right now, we’re going to deal with that next week. This kind of all happened quick, and we had to get here to Talladega. So we’ll deal with that that next week."

With Parrott out of the picture, Johns said car chief Greg Ebert and engineers Marc Hendricksen and Derek Stamets will carry more of a load in preparing Aric Almirola‘s vehicle at the 2.66-mile facility. And the mission remains the same, even with the program’s regular crew chief at home.

"Everybody’s disappointed," Johns said. "But overall, I think everyone’s morale and mood is still the same. We still have a job to do. Talladega, we come here, this is a great shot for us to try and win a race. So I think everyone’s mood and focus is still on that."

For Johns, the situation involves a return to the crew chief’s role for the first time since the final race of the 2009 campaign, when he served in that same role for Reed Sorenson and RPM’s No. 43. That race ended with a 40th-place finish. "Crashed on pit road," Johns recalled. "We ran into the back into the back of Elliott Sadler on pit road. Knocked the radiator out of it."

Things have improved in the Petty shop since then, thanks to a reorganization and a partnering with entrepreneur Andrew Murstein that has put the team on a better financial and competitive footing. But although Marcos Ambrose has won a Sprint Cup road course race in both 2011 and 2012, the No. 43 is still looking for its first victory since John Andretti triumphed at Martinsville in 1999.

Johns figures Talladega is as good a place as any to snap that drought, particularly considering the shocker David Ragan pulled here in the spring. Almirola certainly has a fast car, as he showed by leading Friday’s opening Sprint Cup practice with a speed of 202 mph.

"As good as anybody’s in the garage right now," Johns said when asked about their chances. "I think David Ragan and Front Row Motorsports showed the smaller teams really have a shot here if we can be in position. Our plan’s going to be to race up front all day the best we can, and try to be there at the end, and hopefully he and Marcos can get together at the end and we can get a 1-2 finish for Richard Petty Motorsports. That would be really awesome."

Although Johns hasn’t worked a race as a crew chief in nearly four years, he knows the drill. The Tampa Bay native has called 185 events at NASCAR’s top level, posting best finishes of third with Casey Atwood at Homestead in 2001, and with Allmendinger in the 2009 Daytona 500. After starting out with David Green and Buz McCall’s short-lived American Equipment Racing in 1997, he’s since worked with Andy Petree, Ray Evernham and the former MB2 outfit, with drivers including Ken Schrader and Bill Elliott.

As RPM’s operations director, Johns said he’s a regular in competition meetings with the team’s engineers and crew chiefs, and is up to speed on the current Sprint Cup car. And if he has to call a race after a four-year layoff, he said a restrictor-plate track isn’t a bad place to start.

"If you’ve got to come back after that long and do it, Talladega’s probably the right place to do it, because it’s one of the easier races to call and there’s not a lot of things you can do with the chassis," Johns said. "Martinsville and Texas and those places might be a different story. If you have to come back and knock the cobwebs off, here is probably the place to do it."

The crew chief position on the No. 43 car will be determined on a week-to-week basis going forward, so Johns wouldn’t say if he’d be on the box again at Martinsville. That means Talladega could loom as one golden opportunity for Almirola and Johns each to reach Victory Lane for the first time, and for the No. 43 to return there after a 14-year drought.

"It’s always going to be special for whoever gets that car back to Victory Lane for the first time in a long time," Johns said. "I’d like to be that person, and be in the role of crew chief when that happens."

MORE:

READ: Smoke itching
to return

READ: ‘Dega: Wild Card
or ace up the sleeve?

WATCH: 2014 Cup Series
schedule release

READ: ‘Dega dynamics
present challenges
Posted on by

11 drivers cracked 200 mph barrier in first practice session

RELATED: Results from practices

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Friday at Talladega Superspeedway was about going very fast or standing still.

The two Sprint Cup Series practice sessions at NASCAR’s biggest race track produced very different results — one with the fastest practice speed seen at the 2.66-mile layout in almost a decade, the other with a number of top drivers making only a few circuits around the facility if any at all.

Five championship contenders sat out the final session, while 11 drivers cracked the 200 mph mark in the opener, led by Aric Almirola’s blistering pace of 202 mph.

Almirola’s fast lap was the highest practice speed recorded at Talladega since at least 2004, when such things began to be archived. The Richard Petty Motorsports driver did it without regular crew chief Todd Parrott, who was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR on Thursday for a violation of the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy. Sammy Johns, the team’s operations director and a former crew chief, is filling in this week.

Almirola and RPM teammate Marcos Ambrose were among the 11 drivers who broke 200 mph in the first session, which is where the day’s drafting took place.

Also included in that group were Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup participants Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards. Almirola said his maximum speed during the session was probably just over 210 mph.

"It really didn’t feel that fast," he said. "… You know you’re moving, but it doesn’t feel that fast. The only time you know you’re going that fast is when something goes wrong."

Which thankfully didn’t happen Friday — both practice sessions were clean, although the specter of the Big One certainly looms for Sunday. Almirola hoped the speeds shown by him and Ambrose in practice foreshadowed good things for the RPM duo in the 500-mile event.

"I think we have really good cars. Our cars showed they have a lot of speed in the draft. So that’s important," Almirola said. "It always makes you feel good, too — you have a sense of pride when you go out and you run that fast in practice. All that’s great, but we’re still going to have to race on Sunday. We’re going to have to be good on pit road, and you’ve got to have track position now. … I feel like our car’s got plenty of speed in it, we just have to make the right moves."

For many, the right move in Friday’s second practice was to sit out. Only 29 cars took part, and those who skipped the session included Chase drivers Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman. The final practice was primarily single-car runs, and it was topped by Johnson’s speed of 195.936 mph.

"Kyle was pretty happy with the car. You have a hard time actually evaluating changes unless you get into a big pack, and you just can’t get a big pack (in practice)," said Dave Rogers, crew chief for Kyle Busch, fifth in the standings and 37 points off the lead. "Now you’re out there chancing wrecking, and you’re really not learning anything. So just keep miles off the car and keep out of harm’s way, basically."

Chase leader Matt Kenseth was 12th in the opening session and 17th in final practice, where he made eight laps. Johnson, four points behind Kenseth in second, made just nine laps in final practice. Harvick, third in the standings and 29 points behind the leader, made only 10 laps of practice total Friday, all of them in the opening session.

"You’ve basically got what you’ve got once you get here," said Gil Martin, Harvick’s crew chief. "We’re pretty comfortable with it, and you really can’t recreate the conditions you’re going to have on Sunday with 43 cars there. We went out and ran us 10 laps earlier just to make sure the car was driving good and had no leaks ands no squeaks or vibrations, and then basically park it and go over it and get ready for Sunday."

Speeds on Friday were up markedly compared to May, the last time NASCAR’s top series visited Talladega. In the first race weekend at the big track with the Generation-6 car — whose lighter weight and increased rear grip has translated into record speeds at most facilities — the fastest practice lap in the spring belonged to Edwards at 199.675 mph.

"We knew it was faster than it was in the spring," Rogers said. "Not really sure why — everybody’s got their cars a little bit better, cool weather. But I don’t know there would be any indication that Sunday won’t be the same thing. I think it will be pretty fast."

The 11 drivers who exceeded 200 mph in opening practice might be a prelude to Sunday, Martin added. "The weather’s kind of cool right now, and you’re going to have cars that are probably going to do that," he said. "When we get lined up right, it’s going to happen, because we’re all over that speed. So you get them lined up just right, and the weather’s cool and not very humid, they’re going to run a little quicker."

Saturday’s qualifying session will be the first for the Generation-6 car at Talladega, where time trials were rained out in the spring. The track record of over 212 mph, set by Bill Elliott April of 1987 in the era before restrictor plates, is clearly out of reach. The highest restricted pole speed was recorded in the next race in July of 1987 — 203.877 mph, also set by Elliott. The pole speed at Talladega hasn’t been over 200 mph since.

But Sunday, in the draft, might be another matter.

"I think the race is going to be really fast," Almirola said. "Especially since the pack’s going to be even bigger — not all the cars were even out there in that drafting pack. So the pack will be bigger, and I think you’re going to see some really fast speeds."

MORE:

READ: Smoke itching
to return

READ: ‘Dega: Wild Card
or ace up the sleeve?

WATCH: 2014 Cup Series
schedule release

READ: ‘Dega dynamics
present challenges
Posted on by

Return to Nationwide’s ‘Home Track’ Mid-Ohio; Chicagoland back under the lights

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –  NASCAR today announced the 2014 schedule for the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the 33rd season of racing for the second-most popular motorsports series in the United States. Next year’s schedule once again features a variety of tracks that will challenge drivers, many of whom are quickly transforming into up-and-coming national series stars.

“As it continues to provide great racing for our fans, the NASCAR Nationwide Series is also a launching pad for our rising talent,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing operations. “It’s exciting to watch the growth of current and former series drivers Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. among others in their progression to challenge NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars like Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick. Those former NASCAR Nationwide Series champions also make up a majority of this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers.”

For the third consecutive season, the NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule will consist of 33 races on intermediate venues, road courses and short tracks. Three road course races will again be showcased, including Road America (June 21), Watkins Glen International (Aug. 9) and Mid-Ohio (Aug. 16), which is located less than 60 miles from Nationwide Insurance’s Columbus, Ohio headquarters. ESPN networks will continue to provide live broadcasts of the entire schedule in 2014.

Changes to next season’s schedule include three date shifts from the 2013 edition: Darlington Raceway will hold its race a month earlier (April 11), while the first Iowa Speedway event is now slated for May 18 (it had previously been held in June). Texas Motor Speedway’s date moved one week earlier in the calendar to April 4; the Texas and Darlington date changes coincide with the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule released earlier this week. Chicagoland Speedway’s standalone event on July 19 will return to a night race for the first time since hometown driver Justin Allgaier won there in 2011.

Daytona International Speedway hosts the season opener on Feb. 22 while the series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway is set for Nov. 15. Six “standalone” dates are also included on the 2014 schedule. These races have been a major part of the series’ identity throughout its history, putting the spotlight squarely on series regulars vying for the championship. Iowa Speedway will host two standalones (May 18 and Aug. 2), along with Chicagoland, Kentucky Speedway (Sept. 20), Road America and Mid-Ohio.

And for the sixth straight year, NASCAR and Nationwide Insurance will partner to bring back the popular “Dash 4 Cash” bonus program for drivers and fans alike. The unique program rewards and recognizes NASCAR Nationwide Series driver championship contenders and adds elements of unpredictability and drama leading up to and during the designated “Dash 4 Cash” races. An announcement on the complete 2014 program details will be released at a later date.

Date Site
Feb. 22 Daytona International Speedway
March 1 Phoenix International Raceway
March 8 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 15 Bristol Motor Speedway
March 22 Auto Club Speedway
April 4 Texas Motor Speedway
April 11 Darlington Raceway
April 25 Richmond International Raceway
May 3 Talladega Superspeedway
May 18 Iowa Speedway
May 24 Charlotte Motor Speedway
May 31 Dover International Raceway
June 14 Michigan International Speedway
June 21 Road America
June 27 Kentucky Speedway
July 4 Daytona International Speedway
July 12 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
July 19 Chicagoland Speedway
July 26 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Aug. 2 Iowa Speedway
Aug. 9 Watkins Glen International
Aug. 16 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Aug. 22 Bristol Motor Speedway
Aug. 30 Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sept. 5 Richmond International Raceway
Sept. 13 Chicagoland Speedway
Sept. 20 Kentucky Speedway
Sept. 27 Dover International Speedway
Oct. 4 Kansas Speedway
Oct. 10 Charlotte Motor Speedway
Nov. 1 Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 8 Phoenix International Raceway
Nov. 15 Homestead-Miami Speedway

MORE:

READ: Smoke itching
to return

READ: ‘Dega: Wild Card
or ace up the sleeve?

WATCH: 2014 Cup Series
schedule release

READ: ‘Dega dynamics
present challenges
Posted on by Holly Cain

Dale Jr. has a special bond with Talladega

RELATED: Full Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke into a big grin Friday morning, recalling the five victories and his 700-plus laps outfront at Talladega Superspeedway. Specifically, he smiled remembering the highly emotional reaction this always causes for his rabid and robust fandom here.


"It makes it fun to come here knowing you’ve got a lot of people excited to see you run," Earnhardt acknowledged. "Out there before you even get in the car, the first thing you’re thinking about is how fast you can get to the lead because you know a lot of people want to see you leading the race. 


"And they come here to cheer that specific moment and hopefully see you go to Victory Lane. You just want to produce as soon as you can."


Talladega is like no other for Earnhardt. Think The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" or teenage girls at a Justin Bieber concert.


Only Earnhardt’s ’Dega legions are a broad assortment of kids, college students, women and grown men from every walk of life — across all spectrums. Truck drivers and attorneys. Housewives and XBox-crazed 12-year olds. Sorority girls and Walmart greeters.

And whenever Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet takes the lead on these high-speed high banks, tens of thousands of fans leap from their seat to wave him on. Their screams and collective cheers are loud enough you often hear it on the television broadcasts even over the thundering roar of the Talladega draft.

Even Earnhardt – in the midst of steering a car 200 mph inches away from the wall or other cars — is aware of the full-sensory phenomena he creates.

"Sometimes you swear you can hear them, but most of the time you can’t," Earnhardt said. "But you can definitely see it. You can definitely see lap after lap after lap of going by the grandstand and seeing them sitting down. When you come by and they are standing up, it’s obvious. And you see the arms in the air and all that stuff.

"You don’t block it out. I think you enjoy it.

"You’re happy being first, obviously, but when you see the reaction that other people get from it, it’s a great feeling. It’s a really good feeling."

Not only are Earnhardt’s fans loud, animated and fervent, they are undaunted.

It’s been 35 races – nearly nine years – since Earnhardt’s last restrictor plate win which came at Talladega in October, 2004. But this Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 500 is his to lose as far as his fans are concerned. They feel every race at Talladega is his to lose.

And even though he only has two top-10 finishes in his last eight Talladega starts, Earnhardt echoes his fans confidence every time he rolls into the massive 2.66-mile speedway located in the rolling hills of central Alabama.

"Every time you show up here, you’re thinking that this might be the weekend that you get it kind of turned around and put things back in the right direction," Earnhardt said. "I feel like we haven’t got the job done [recently] and this is a place where I feel like I should know what I’m doing and should be able to go out there and get a great result every time.

"It hasn’t been going as great as I want it to go here lately. We have torn up a lot of cars and been frustrated most times when we leave here. I still come back as confident and excited about the opportunities as ever. That is the way we feel this weekend."

Even before Earnhardt’s winning ways won over the masses, he held Talladega in special esteem. Part of that came from watching his father, the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt dominate these high banks. His 10 victories here is still a record and he won in his last race here in 2000.

Earnhardt Jr. fondly recalled coming to Talladega and "milling around the garage" as a kid, enamored by the look of the bigger superspeedway cars and awestruck by the sheer size of NASCAR’s biggest track.

As he explained Friday this was the first true "speedway" Earnhardt Jr. had ever turned laps – an impromptu test offered up by his father while the younger was still doing odd jobs in the family Chevy dealership and racing street stocks at a local short track.

"Dad called me at the dealership," Earnhardt said, remembering details even as he spoke. "I was changing oil and he told me to get my helmet and my suit and be at the airport the next morning and not to ask any questions or tell anybody where I was going.

"I knew I was going to Talladega, but I didn’t know why. I assumed I was going to drive a race car somewhere. But we got here and he told me to get my stuff on and get in the car and go out and run; and hold it wide-open, that it would stick.

"And I remember going down the back straightaway in that car and wondering if it was really going to stick when I got in that corner because it just didn’t seem like it was possible."

It did stick. And the lesson paid off years later as the love triangle between track, driver and fan has shown to be a true anomaly in the sport – one deeply acknowledged and appreciated by Earnhardt.

"I think that Dad really started all that with the success he had here," Earnhardt said. “Our DEI [Dale Earnhardt Inc.] team came in and just kind of inherited already a pretty loyal fan base. This sport has got the most loyal fans as it is already.

"We sort of adopted a lot of people and we were able to go out and win. And that endeared them and has for some time now. It makes it fun to come here knowing you’ve got a lot of people excited to see you run.  ….

"If you’ve got one fan or you’ve got thousands of fans, you know that when you put the car in first place, that they’re happy.

"I think you enjoy that as much as the fan enjoys it."


MORE:

READ: Smoke itching
to return

READ: ‘Dega: Wild Card
or ace up the sleeve?

WATCH: 2014 Cup Series
schedule release

READ: ‘Dega dynamics
present challenges
Posted on by Staff Report

Burton chooses pit stall closest to exit of pit road into Turn 1

Jeb Burton won his sixth Keystone Light Pole of the season in preparation for the fred’s 250 at Talladega Superspeedway (Saturday, Fox Sports 1, 4 p.m. ET).

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• View all articles
• View all videos
• View all photos

With the pole went the first pick of a spot on pit road. Burton chose No. 2 which is the first stall at the exit of pit road into Turn 1. Max Gresham, who finished second in qualifying, chose No. 7, which has an opening in front of him.

Points leader Matt Crafton qualified 23rd and he ended up with No. 3 stall, right behind Burton on pit road.

MORE:

READ: Smoke itching
to return

READ: ‘Dega: Wild Card
or ace up the sleeve?

WATCH: 2014 Cup Series
schedule release

READ: ‘Dega dynamics
present challenges
Posted on by Staff Report

Hamlin will drive at Texas; Herring will drive at Phoenix and Homestead

Denny Hamlin and Drew Herring will fill in for Brian Vickers in the No. 20 Toyota for the remaining three NASCAR Nationwide Series races, according to Joe Gibbs Racing officials.

Vickers, who competes full-time in the NNS for JGR, was sidelined recently due to health issues.

Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota for JGR in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, will return to Nationwide competition at Texas Motor Speedway for the Nov. 2 O’Reilly Auto Parts 300. It will be the first start of the Nationwide season for the 32-year-old. He is an 11-time race winner in the series, and has seven top-10 finishes at TMS.

Herring, 26, will finish the season in the No. 20 entry, with starts at Phoenix and Homestead. He has 13 career starts, including four this year with JGR. His best career finish was a fourth-place run at Kentucky last season. 

Vickers has also been competing in the Sprint Cup Series for Michael Waltrip Racing this year. The organization announced earlier this week that he would not return to competition this season while he undergoes treatment for a blood clot in his right calf. The 29-year-old missed the bulk of the 2010 season for a similar condition.

Co-owner Michael Waltrip is handling the driving duties for the No. 55 Cup team at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. The track hosts Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 500.

MWR officials announced Thursday that Elliott Sadler, Vickers’ Nationwide teammate at JGR, would fill in for Vickers in the final four Cup races this year.


MORE:

READ: Smoke itching
to return

READ: ‘Dega: Wild Card
or ace up the sleeve?

WATCH: 2014 Cup Series
schedule release

READ: ‘Dega dynamics
present challenges
Posted on by Staff Report

Burton wins his sixth pole of the 2013 season

RELATED: Results | Lineup | Standings

Jeb Burton won the Keystone Light Pole for the fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola at Talladega Superspeedway. Burton turned in the top speed of 176.182 mph to start from the pole position.

For Burton, it was his sixth Keystone Light Pole of the season.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• View all articles
• View all videos
• View all photos

Joining Burton on the front row will be Max Gresham (176.020 mph). For Gresham, starting second is the best starting position of his career. Rounding out the top five are Kyle Busch (175.910 mph), James Buescher (175.900 mph) and Ty Dillon (175.861 mph).

Ron Hornaday Jr., Ross Chastain, Brendan Gaughan, Joey Coulter and Darrell Wallace Jr. will start from spots six through 10, respectively.

Chastain posted the fastest time in practice on Friday.

Points leader Matt Crafton qualified 23rd, which marks Crafton’s worst starting position of the season. He enters the fred’s 250 with a 41-point lead on Buescher. 

Danny Efland and Jennifer Jo Cobb did not qualify for the race.

The fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola is set for 4 p.m. ET on Saturday.

MORE:

READ: Smoke itching
to return

READ: ‘Dega: Wild Card
or ace up the sleeve?

WATCH: 2014 Cup Series
schedule release

READ: ‘Dega dynamics
present challenges
Posted on by Staff Report

Brad Keselowski Racing duo Chastain, Blaney top charts at Talladega

RELATED: Practice results | Standings

TALLADEGA, Ala. — A driver raised on short tracks was fastest in Friday’s  NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice on the sport’s largest facility.

Ross Chastain turned a lap of 190.791 mph to pace the circuit’s lone practice this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. The Alva, Fla., native turned 24 laps in his Brad Keselowski Racing truck over the course of the two-hour session, and edged teammate Ryan Blaney on the speed chart.

German Quiroga, Timothy Peters, James Buescher, Ty Dillon, Ron Hornaday Jr., Dakoda Armstrong, Johnny Sauter and Max Gresham rounded out the top 10.

Series leader Matt Crafton, who holds a 41-point edge over defending champion Buescher with five races remaining in the season, was 13th on the board.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• View all articles
• View all videos
• View all photos

NASCAR Nationwide Series regular Parker Kligerman, who won this race last season in Red Horse Racing’s No. 7 truck, was 28th in a BRG Motorsports entry.

Sprint Cup Series star Kyle Busch placed 12th in his No. 51 truck, and turned the most number of laps in the session at 39. Busch has won four times in eight previous Truck Series starts this season, including triumphs in his past two outings at Bristol and Chicagoland.

Chastain, a 20-year-old former late model driver, is competing in 15 races this season in BKR’s No. 19 truck, which he has shared this year with Keselowski, Joey Logano and Dave Blaney.

The Truck Series was slated to qualify at Talladega late Friday afternoon. The fred’s 250 is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.

MORE:

READ: Smoke itching
to return

READ: ‘Dega: Wild Card
or ace up the sleeve?

WATCH: 2014 Cup Series
schedule release

READ: ‘Dega dynamics
present challenges
Posted on by Staff Report

Aspen Dental will serve as primary sponsor on No. 10 for two races in 2014

Danica Patrick will have a different look on her car for two races in 2014. Aspen Dental will serve as the primary sponsor for two events next year, the driver announced Friday at Talladega Superspeedway.

The look of her car will get an overhaul, too, replacing the familiar green trim for a blue-dominant scheme.

The company will sponsor her Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Chevrolet entry March 9 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Aug. 31 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"The addition of a new partner to the No. 10 Chevrolet is a big milestone for me, and I feel fortunate to have Aspen Dental join GoDaddy beginning in 2014," Patrick said in a release. "I was in Syracuse a few weeks ago to meet the Aspen team and was impressed by their commitment to making sure people have access to quality oral health care. I’m proud to team up with Aspen Dental and shine a spotlight on a part of health care that doesn’t get a lot of attention."

GoDaddy will continue to serve as the primary sponsor for Patrick at all other NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. Besides serving as the primary sponsor for two races, Aspen Dental will serve as an associate sponsor for Patrick in all other races.

"Danica is incredibly focused and driven to succeed, and that includes delivering for her partners," said Tony Stewart, who is the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing with Haas Automation founder Gene Haas. "She’ll be a great ambassador for Aspen Dental, and Stewart-Haas Racing will continue to help Aspen Dental remain one of the most successful and progressive organizations in dentistry."

In her first full season in the Sprint Cup Series, Patrick is 28th in the points standings. Her best finish was an eighth-place run at the Daytona 500 to open the season.

In fact, Patrick generally runs well at restrictor-plate tracks, and she’s looking forward to running at the 2.66-mile behemoth.

"The reason (other drivers) don’t look forward to Talladega is exactly why I do, because someone like me has more of a shot there, just like everybody else," Patrick said. "So, they’re in the Chase and have run really well and been fast all year. So, when we get on more traditional tracks, that’s where they’re going to fall into place more often than not. But with superspeedways, it’s a toss-up what’s going to happen. So, that’s why it’s fun for me because somebody like me has a chance."

MORE:

READ: Smoke itching
to return

READ: ‘Dega: Wild Card
or ace up the sleeve?

WATCH: 2014 Cup Series
schedule release

READ: ‘Dega dynamics
present challenges
Posted on by Nascar

Defending track winner Kligerman expects a lot from Childress trucks

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Three of the top four drivers in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series will start inside the top five for Saturday’s fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola at Talladega Superspeedway.

Points leader Matt Crafton isn’t starting in the top five.

"It really doesn’t mean anything once you drop the green," Crafton said on the heels of his lap that placed him 23rd in the 36-truck field. "Yes, it is nice to have a truck that you can go out there and lead and tow the pack with – we’re not going to be able to do that. But if we get in the right position … we’ll be just fine at the end."

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• View all articles
• View all videos
• View all photos

The ThorSport Racing driver heads into this weekend’s race with a 41-point lead on defending series champion James Buescher (Turner Scott Motorsports). Ty Dillon (Richard Childress Racing) is third and trails by 53 after 17 races.

Rookie Jeb Burton will start on the pole, his lap of 176.182 mph good enough to earn the Turner-Scott driver his sixth No. 1 starting spot of the season. Max Gresham (Sharp-Gallaher Racing), Kyle Busch (Kyle Busch Motorsports), Buescher and Dillon completed the top five.

With top-10 finishes in this year’s first 16 races – an 11th place result at Las Vegas snapped the streak – Crafton said the game plan for Talladega was simply "to get out of this place."

"That’s the best way to put it," he said. "If I was saying this is my favorite race track, I’d be lying to you. The thing is, just so much of it is not in your control and that’s the most aggravating part about it. You just hold it wide open and wait for somebody to make a mistake. That’s what it comes down to.

"If we get out of here with a top five, that would be a win for us; if we have the right Toyota pushing us at the end of the race, we’d have a shot at winning. But we’re not going to go out there and do it on our own."

Burton, a winner at Texas earlier this season, said his team didn’t do a lot of drafting on Friday during practice, "so the race will be a totally different ballgame.

"Hopefully we can have a good, clean day, have some fun and lead some laps.

"It’s so different; a lot of things are out of your control here. … We’ve got to get some more points, start building for next season. And (this race) is a good place to start."

A year ago, Parker Kligerman scored the win, taking the lead with two laps remaining before a multicar wreck unfolded on the final lap to end the race under caution.

"I remember everything about that. Obviously it was a great weekend, a redemption weekend. We had come so close to winning so many weeks in a row in that No. 7 truck – I finished second with it five or six times, something like that. It was just getting out of hand.

"It was a place I never expected it to happen. I’ve always been good at superspeedway racing, in the Nationwide Series I’ve run top-five a couple of times and led a lot of laps. … It was a big deal, and great for my career."

Kligerman, making his return to the series this year, said he expects the Childress trucks to be tough – "they do a great job and have a great motor program," he said.

"We’ve been fast in the Toyotas with the Joe Gibbs motors, we just don’t seem to show the qualifying speed the Chevys can, specifically the RCR ones. Turner-Scott has been fast as well, so maybe it’s a Chevy thing.

"Those are the kinds of trucks you look at as being fast in qualifying. As for the race, honestly it’s one of those things where I say if you get me in the show, I’ll find a way to run up front. The draft is a great equalizer."

MORE:

READ: Smoke itching
to return

READ: ‘Dega: Wild Card
or ace up the sleeve?

WATCH: 2014 Cup Series
schedule release

READ: ‘Dega dynamics
present challenges