Drivers share laughs at Richmond meet-and-greet with fans
RICHMOND, Va. — The final race before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff field is locked in is typically a pressure cooker. Thursday in front of some early arriving fans at Richmond International Raceway, there was some levity before getting down to business.
The nine drivers with a chance this weekend at locking down five available postseason berths met the media Thursday to assess their chances in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC). But the playoff hopefuls also took time out for the fans along the track’s midway area, answering questions and exchanging zingers in an informal session moderated by MRN Radio’s Steve Post.
Another interactive, fan-driven opportunity to meet this year’s title contenders takes place Thursday, Sept. 12 at Chicago’s Navy Pier Grand Ballroom, site of the 2013 NASCAR Contenders Live event for the 12 Chase-eligible drivers. The event will serve as an unofficial kick-off to the 10-race Chase, which opens with round 1 on Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway.
But before the Chase is underway, here are some of the more entertaining quips and lighter moments — about racing and otherwise — from the late-afternoon, early evening appearances at Richmond:
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Jeff Gordon, on his kids going back to school: “I’m telling you, if you want to get intimidated as a driver, go to carpool. There are some parents out there who get very serious about carpool, not to mention the staff that is organizing carpool. Don’t mess that up. So, I have a lot of pressure when I go to carpool.”
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Dale Earnhardt Jr., a Redskins fan living in the backyard of the Carolina Panthers: “I really didn’t dislike the Panthers up until about last year. All my friends are Panthers fans and I had to hear it over and over and over about how awesome Cam (Newton) is. It’s just about drove me to hate ‘em.”
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Gordon on his birthday, Aug. 4, being in close proximity to his son Leo’s: “I get shorted these days because my son’s birthday is on the 9th, so it’s just close enough to where mine doesn’t really matter any more.”
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Gordon on his teammate’s recent sponsorship deal with Time Warner Cable: “I just have a feeling that when Dale Jr. calls to have some work done on his TV that it’s not quite the same as the rest of the world. … I think he’s got a Time Warner truck parked out front in the yard in case he has a problem.”
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Jamie McMurray on fatherhood: “Being a dad is awesome. I always thought that I was going to be the cool dad, and I’m not. I’m the dad that wants everyone to follow the rules, and I don’t even care about being cool any more. I just want my kid to do what I say, listen to me and not do anything to hurt him.” A fan blurted out, “How’s that going?” prompting McMurray to say, “It’s not going very well.”
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Martin Truex Jr., on his wrist injury: “It’s still broke.”
Ryan Newman, to Truex: “He wears it for the looks. It’s a sympathy cast.”
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Greg Biffle on his Chase chances: “They’ve got all the scenarios. They say I’ve got to finish ninth, but I haven’t found the guy who figured that out yet, because I would like him to explain to me what happens if I finish 10th — how I’m not in the Chase because I finish 10th, because I’m doing the math and I’m fairly good at math — that’s about it, and driving a car — and I can’t figure it out.”
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Kurt Busch on making the move to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014: “It’s an opportunity of a lifetime to be teamed up with (Kevin) Harvick, with Tony (Stewart), Danica (Patrick). Us four in the same meetings, it could be hell or could be great. I’m just kidding about the hell part.”
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Brad Keselowski on veteran team owner Roger Penske: “He sleeps less than I do, which I guess isn’t saying much. You know what’s amazing about him, though? I guarantee if he walked through this whole crowd and met everybody and told him your name, he’d remember your name. He’s really impressive. I don’t know how he does that.”
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Teammate Joey Logano on Penske: “He calls you at like 10:30 at night. He’s like, ‘Hey, what’re you doing.’ I’m like, ‘Uh, I was in bed.’ He’s 70-something years old and he’s out-working me.”
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Keselowski on his newest automotive purchase: “I needed a vehicle for road trips. I was trying to think, well, I don’t want to just buy a van. That would be kind of lame. If I’m going to own a van, it’s got to be something that’s cool, so we built a complete replica of the A-Team van.”
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Earnhardt sits seventh in points, but ‘not locked in by no means’
RICHMOND, Va. — It’s been a tense past few weeks for Dale Earnhardt Jr., as the driver and his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports teams tried to lock down a berth in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
One race remains — Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
Seventh in points, Earnhardt Jr. can seal his sixth appearance in the 10-race playoff with a finish of 32nd or better, regardless of what others’ fortunes may be. He can clinch with a finish of 33rd if he leads one lap (which earns a one-point bonus) or 34th if he leads the most laps (worth another one-point bonus) in the 400-lap race.
A year ago, he headed to Richmond already guaranteed of a spot in the Chase. This year there are no guarantees.
“I definitely understood last year when we were … locked in, that it was a much easier ride, much more enjoyable,” Earnhardt Jr., 38, said Thursday during his media availability at RIR. “The last couple weeks have been pretty stressful from a points standpoint.
“It’s difficult … because you have to focus so much on those points, you have to focus on all those guys, that handful, half a dozen guys, that are around you in points (and) wonder what they’re doing. You can’t help it.”
Keeping an eye on the competition, he said, isn’t nearly as enjoyable as being able to simply go out and run one’s race at one’s own pace.
“You really like to concentrate on the balance of your car, working on your car with your crew chief, trying to give yourself a chance to win the race,” he said.
The points leader briefly earlier this season, Earnhardt Jr. fell to seventh in the standings following back-to-back finishes of 30th or worse at Watkins Glen and Michigan. The result was a points cushion of only 20 points inside the top 10.
Tenth and eighth in the Sprint Cup Series’ next two stops — at Bristol and Atlanta — provided his team with a bit more breathing room, and left him 55 points inside the top 10.
Still, he said, he’s wary.
“We’re not locked in by no means,” he said. “But we’re in a comfortable enough position to be able to pay attention to the race we’re running.”
Earnhardt Jr. is one of three drivers heading into this weekend’s race without a win this year. But the .75-mile short track has been good to the third-generation driver through the years and the 13.8 average finish here is his fourth best. He has three career wins at Richmond — the last coming in 2006.
His team was strong a year ago, he said, and “in the conversation” among title contenders. “I felt like last year we really had put ourselves in a great position.”
But a concussion, the result of a crash during testing prior to the start of the Chase, came to light after he was involved in an accident at Talladega, and led to him sitting out two races down the stretch.
Now, he’s looking to make amends.
“This year the speed has been there, if not even better,” he said of his No. 88 Chevrolet. “Even though we’re working with a new car, the speed has been really good, but we’ve not finished all the races. Mistakes I’ve made, crashes I’ve gotten myself into, engine failures, things like that that have taken away from our ability to show how strong we are to get consistent finishes like we did last year.”
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Where drivers stand before the final opportunity at Richmond
Related: Sprint Cup standings | Chase scenarios
And it all comes down to this: One race, one more chance to get in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. And for the bubble boys, it’s desperate times.
This we know: Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch are in. And the only real drama left among this group is whether Johnson or Kenseth will be the top seed in the postseason.
Kenseth currently holds that distinction with his five wins, but if Johnson wins at Richmond, he will have a fifth win, too, and will get the top spot based on points.
We also know that Kasey Kahne is guaranteed of at least a Wild Card spot based on his two victories that are one more victory than any other Wild Card contender at the moment. So the best anyone else can do is to tie Kahne in wins.
We also know it would take a collapse for Dale Earnhardt Jr. not to qualify for the Chase. With 750 points, he is a comfortable 31 points in front of the 10th-place driver. The simplest way for Junior to qualify is to finish 32nd or better. He can also get in by finishing 33rd and leading a lap or placing 34th and leading the most laps.
Beyond Earnhardt is where it starts to get interesting, and this is why you’ll want to stay glued to the real-time standings on NASCAR.com during race day. Surely, there will be shifts and plenty of ebb and flow from Joey Logano (in eighth place with 729 points) down to Jeff Gordon (in 11th place and currently out of the Chase with 713 points).
Meanwhile, Martin Truex Jr. (in 13th place and holding the last Wild Card spot with 704 points) and Ryan Newman (in 14th with 699 points) will be among those dueling for the Wild Card.
And let’s not forget defending champion Brad Keselowski, who with 691 points has not yet been mathematically eliminated. That is also the case for Jamie McMurray (680) and Paul Menard (658), who are clinging to slim hopes.
For Keselowski, he is 28 points out of 10th place, so he needs to do extremely well at Richmond and get a lot of help. Perhaps the easiest way to picture him getting in is if he wins the race and finishes higher in points than Truex Jr. and Newman, meaning he gets the second Wild Card.
Some of the more interesting back stories include whether Kurt Busch (in 10th place with 719 points) can qualify for the Chase while running with a one-car team with Furniture Row Racing, whether Newman can carry the flag of Stewart-Haas Racing into the Chase one last time and whether four-time champion Gordon will even have a chance to make a run at a fifth title.
We can’t wait till Saturday night for the Federated Auto Parts 400, with coverage set to start at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.
Ready to pounce: Newman is hanging around in 14th place with the benefit of his win in hand from Indianapolis. So if he outpoints Truex Jr. by six at Richmond, Newman would grab a Wild Card, which is one of the simpler scenarios for him to get into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. He’s 20 points out of the top 10 so a regular Chase berth is still a possibility for Newman as well.
Newman has a strong history at Richmond. In 23 career Cup starts there, he has 13 top-10s, including five top-fives and one win, coming in the late-summer race in 2003. More recently he has finished eighth in each of the past two late-summer races at Richmond. His average finish at Richmond is 11.8, with the only venue he has done better at being Pocono (11.7).
Newman comes into Richmond after a fifth-place finish at Atlanta. Before that, he finished 21st, 13th and 14th at Bristol, Michigan and Watkins Glen, respectively. Newman also knows he’s Stewart-Haas Racing’s only hope for the Chase, even though he’s on his way out from the organization. He can show them what they’re missing, though, with a clutch performance at Richmond.
In danger of falling out: Keselowski dropped four spots in the standings to 15th after a 35th-place finish at Atlanta. He sits 28 points outside the top 10 and has no wins this season. But if Keselowski did pick up a win at Richmond, he would need to outpoint Truex Jr. by 13 and Newman by nine in order to clinch a Wild Card berth. He would only have to outpoint one of those drivers if Kahne were to move out of a Wild Card berth and into the top 10.
Of course, there’s the possibility Keselowski could also move into the top 10 and wouldn’t need a Wild Card to make the Chase. But the deck is stacked against him as he risks being the second defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion to miss the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup — Tony Stewart being the first in 2006.
Keselowski has eight career Sprint Cup Series races under his belt at Richmond, and he has finished in the top 10 two times. His average finish at the 0.75-mile short track is 20.5. Among Cup sites that is Keselowski’s sixth-worst average-finish mark. Earlier this season he finished 33rd at Richmond. Last year, he posted his only top-10s at track with a ninth-place finish early and a seventh-place finish late.
Watch a live press conference with the Wild Card contenders, 5:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, Sept. 5.
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With funding not unfolding in RCR’s favor, Burton must now seek another vehicle for 2014
For Richard Childress Racing, the numbers just didn’t add up.
The organization’s hopes of expanding to four teams for the 2014 campaign hinged on sponsorship — and there simply wasn’t enough of if to go around. So RCR will remain a three-car entity for the coming season, and Jeff Burton will step aside to make room for a new driver in the No. 31 car.
Burton had told Childress of his intention to step out of the vehicle after the 2014 season, but the team’s inability to expand to four cars accelerated that plan by a year.
"We have been working hard to try and get all the funding in place to have four Sprint Cup teams in 2014," Childress said in a statement released Wednesday. "With the date on the calendar getting closer to 2014, we just couldn’t run partially funded teams next year. Knowing what Jeff’s plans were in 2015, he and I worked out an agreement for him to step out of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet after this season.”
Burton’s move will coincide with the departure of Kevin Harvick, who is leaving after this year for Stewart-Haas Racing. Two drivers are set for RCR for next season — Paul Menard, who currently wheels the team’s No. 27 car, and Austin Dillon, Childress’ grandson who is a championship contender this year in the Nationwide Series.
RCR said a new driver for its No. 31 car would be announced at a later date. The highest-profile free agent remaining on the market is Ryan Newman, a 17-time winner at NASCAR’s highest level who has a victory this season and will vie for a Wild Card to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup at this weekend’s regular-season finale at Richmond International Raceway. A representative for Newman said Wednesday there was “nothing to report” on the driver’s situation.
Burton, though, is confident RCR will be left in good hands.
“They’re just going to have a driver in place that can be competitive and win races,” Burton said Wednesday in a conference call with the media. “They’ll have a full sponsorship in place that they can move the ball forward. That’s good for RCR. And, again, it’s not necessarily the best thing for me in the world, but I’ll figure it out.”
RCR was last a four-car organization in 2011, when it fielded full-time entries for Harvick, Burton, Menard and Clint Bowyer, the latter of whom is now at Michael Waltrip Racing. Although a three-car entity this season, RCR does have a technical alliance with Denver-based Furniture Row Racing, which is also looking for a driver for next season with Kurt Busch’s looming departure for SHR.
Now, RCR’s hopes of once again fielding four cars will have to wait until 2015 at the earliest.
“Richard truly believes that four teams are what ultimately he wants to try to accomplish. I think with the proper planning and enough notice, I think that is the right thing, too. You know, they worked really hard to have a fourth team. There just wasn’t enough funding for (it),” Burton said.
“You know, Richard has done a lot. … I never want to speak for Richard. But people don’t realize how much Richard has sacrificed to make sure that our teams have the things that we need to be successful. For Richard to run me and the 31 car next year would have been ‑‑ the way it looked today, would have been a major sacrifice, and I don’t think that’s fair. I just don’t think Richard should be put in that position.
“I don’t think it’s in anybody’s best interest to have underfunded teams. Richard doesn’t deserve that, and the people at that company don’t deserve it. It is what it is. It gives them a chance to build and to bring a very, very good race car driver in and build around him, a guy that wants to be there for a long time.”
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Injured driver expected back behind the wheel in 2014
Related: Stewart says no schism with Haas | Looking to stay busy | Covers wide range of topics
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — He was funny bordering on smart-alecky, steadfast bordering on a little defiant, and he made jokes about his weight and getting hot girls.
Yep, same ’ol Tony.
Thankfully.
No one really knew what to expect from Tony Stewart on Tuesday, when the three-time champion of NASCAR’s premier division made his first public appearance since breaking two bones in his lower right leg in a sprint car crash in Iowa early last month. Truth is, he looked good — lost a little weight, maybe? — and sounded even better, taking questions for over an hour from media members, which isn’t always his favorite thing to do. This time, though, it was a respite from the boredom of bed rest.
“I’ve got to watch Oprah the last four weeks now,” he said, “and I’m very tired of watching TV.”
Stewart made his way onto a dais set up in the lobby of Stewart-Haas Racing using a wheelchair, and is wearing a walking boot to protect the leg where his tibia and fibula were fractured on the night of Aug. 5. He’s been buzzing around the shop on an electric scooter that was a gift from future teammate Kurt Busch, and got his first set of crutches just last week. Sponsor appearances loom, as does a return to the race track this week in Richmond, and then beyond that the Daytona 500 and getting back behind the wheel.
For the first time, the end of this very painful road for Stewart is in sight. Drivers are a tough breed, accustomed to putting up with discomfort for long stretches in the race car, not to mention the bumps and bruises that accompany the occasional tumble. But Stewart made no effort to hide it — this situation has been hard, harder than anything else he’s had to endure physically. We’re talking compound fractures, skin and tissue ripped apart when a piece of his sprint car ravaged his right leg.
Sitting up there joking like his old self, he made it seem so effortless. It’s been anything but.
“The injuries are not just compound fractures. That was probably the easiest part of it. There is tissue damage, there’s skin damage that’s involved, and that’s kind of been the first part of this process that the doctor was concerned about was before even the bones,” Stewart said.
“The first phase of this healing process was getting the skin to heal together, which I’ll admit I’ve been about as squeamish as anybody you’ve ever seen. I literally have damned near passed out at every doctor visit I’ve been to so far with the surgeon. I go into it with the attitude that I’m not going to look at my leg, and as soon as they get the wrapping off of it, I’m like, ‘I’ve got to look.’ It’s like yelling at a dog going ‘Squirrel!’ I cannot not look. And then I spend the rest of the time sitting there with a wet washcloth on my forehead trying to regain consciousness.”
Translation: this was a major deal, a devastating injury perhaps prevented from becoming career-ending by the fact that a doctor from South Dakota was the first person to reach him in his mangled sprint car. Even now, he still faces a slight risk of infection. Stewart remembers his right leg feeling numb after the accident, but because he was wearing a firesuit he didn’t realize just how damaged the appendage was — until he saw the X-rays after the first of two surgeries. “At that point,” he said, “I knew we were going to be out.”
As in, for the year. There’s still physical therapy to be done, more stitches to be removed, a continued recovery process that will perhaps preclude him from doing anything in a race car until Speedweeks of 2014. Doctors tell him the leg will be stronger than ever when it does heal and he’ll be good to go for the Daytona 500. But he has to get there first.
And yet, keeping down the irrepressible Stewart is a futile act. No question, he’ll emerge from this episode a little wiser, and likely a little more hesitant to load up on his beloved sprint car races like he did this year. In hindsight he admits this season’s 70-event schedule was a tad aggressive, and he was feeling the wear and tear by Brickyard week in late July.
“Definitely going to cut back quite a bit,” he said, citing scheduling purposes and not his injury as the primary reason why.
But walk away from it altogether? Stewart, a former U.S. Auto Club star who cut his racing teeth in the discipline? Hardly. He’s going to work toward making sprint cars safer, hoping that his injury and the fatal crash of former NASCAR driver Jason Leffler combine to spur the sea change of progress that major stock-car racing went through after Dale Earnhardt’s death. But step away from it permanently?
Why, he wouldn’t be Tony Stewart if he did that.
“I am going to get back in a car eventually,” he said, and he’s not referring to his No. 14.
Stewart has always been a person and an athlete who lives and races on his terms, a quality that not only makes him immensely popular within the NASCAR fan base, but also somewhat larger than life. “A modern-day A.J. Foyt,” he’s been called by Mark Martin, who’s filling in for most of the remainder of this season in Stewart’s car. Foyt also just happens to be Stewart’s idol, not to mention a driver who’s cheated meeting his maker more times than anyone can count.
“We are all here a short amount of time in the big picture, and I’m somebody that wants to live life,” Stewart said. “I’m not somebody that wants to sit there and say, ‘I’ve got to guard against this, and I’ve got to worry about that.’ I mean, if I got in a race car and didn’t wear a helmet and didn’t wear seatbelts, then that would be dangerous, and that’s being foolish. We don’t do that. But I’m going to go live my life. I’m going to take full advantage of whatever time I’ve got on this earth. I’m going to ride it out to the fullest and I’m going to get my money’s worth. You can bet your butt on that.”
Yep. He may have been seated in a wheelchair and wearing a walking boot, but he’s the same ’ol Tony, all right. And everyone involved in NASCAR can certainly be grateful for that.
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Atlanta Braves waiver pick-up owes NASCAR passion to his son
Atlanta Braves utility player Elliot Johnson took the Internet by storm last week when he went all Ricky Bobby during a post-game interview on FOX Sports South.
Asked about his speed after hitting a two-run triple in a victory over Cleveland, the 29-year-old Arizona native slipped into Victory Lane mode, thanking an array of sponsors, throwing out references to crew chiefs and adjustments, and mentioning that he “got a little loose in the rear.”
It was a natural then for Michael Waltrip Racing to invite Johnson to Atlanta Motor Speedway, which he visited Saturday along with his wife, Nicole, and young son, Blake.
Is your visit to Atlanta Motor Speedway a direct result of your NASCAR-themed interview on television last week?
“I knew the race was here this weekend, because my son here loves NASCAR. We TiVo it every weekend so he can watch it, because we’re usually playing at the stadium, or whatever it is when the races are going on. So I knew the race was here this weekend and while I was sitting out there during the game (against Cleveland), I just saw a few of the sponsors and thought I’d just throw them in the interview. And then I just winged the interview from there. I got a tweet from Michael Waltrip Racing, and they invited me out here to check things out. Of course, I said yes.”
You’re an Arizona native. Did you follow NASCAR growing up?
“I live in North Carolina now, but really it starts with (Blake). He’s the reason I started getting interested. Ned Yost, my manager with the (Kansas City) Royals who I was with earlier this year, he let us go to the race in Arizona, in Phoenix, because he was on Dale (Earnhardt) Sr.’s pit crew. They were best friends. He was just like a rehydration engineer. But they were hunting buddies, best buddies, so he let us go to the race. I told him we really wanted to go, and he let us go. And since then, I’ve loved it. What an amazing thing. When you see it, it’s pretty incredible. When you go to a race for the first time, you start to realize why it’s so much fun and why everybody makes such a big deal out of it.
What got Blake into it?
“The movie ‘Cars.’ And I think the association with the numbers and the names. When he comes into the clubhouse, he gets to see the numbers and the names (on jerseys), and I think the association with the names, he kind of picked up on that and started picking up on the names and the numbers. He knows pretty much all the racers. He’s fascinated.
Did you have a notable first car?
“I had an ’85 Dodge Conquest. It was a five-speed hatchback, but it was turbocharged. It was pretty fun. When you looked under the hood, most of the parts were Mitsubishi. It was turbocharged, and it was a lot of fun, but it broke down. It overheated all the time. It was a good first car. My mom got it for like 2,000 bucks, or something like that. I loved that car.”
You were placed on waivers by Kansas City and then claimed by the team with the best record in Major League Baseball. What’s that like?
“It’s pretty cool. They’ve had a ton of injuries, and that’s why I’m here. But to land on the best team, you can’t really expect anything like that to happen. But they needed someone to help quickly. … I’m just trying to pitch in a little bit. They’re not expecting me to be a superstar or anything, and I’m not going to be. But if I can just help the team win a little bit and get us into the playoffs, I think that’s all they’re looking for and that’s all I’m going to do.”
So why did you slip into NASCAR mode during your TV interview last week? You’ve set the bar rather high for the next one.
“It was completely spur of the moment. The only things that I thought about were the sponsors to throw in there, the rest kind of came to me as I was doing it. I wasn’t really sure where I was going to go. It just started flowing after that, and I just kind of went with it. I’m surprised it’s gotten as big as it has. … But I was just having fun with it. You mix it in every once in a while, but you can’t do it every time. You play it standard, and if you mix it in every once in a while, it’s fun.”
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Brown (left) survived a frantic battle with Hauck (right) and Hudson for the win at Atlanta.
After a long, tumultuous NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship season, Joey Brown was not about to let another win slip away. Two weeks after dominating at Michigan only to lose due to fuel strategy, Brown found himself out front once again, this time at Atlanta Motor Speedway. And this time he made sure he came out on top in a spectacular last lap battle with Brandon Hauck and Tyler Hudson.
Brown dominated the race, never being challenged for the lead until the last round of pit stops were in the book. Hauck, who had been matching Brown’s pace but was trailing by a couple seconds, decided to short pit and took the lead. Brown pitted nine laps later and caught Hauck with 22 laps to go, but by then his fresher tires did not have enough of an advantage to complete the pass quickly. Instead he found himself locked in a side-by-side battle with Hauck, with Hudson in third slowly reeling-in the two leaders.
“Craziest race ever . . . don’t really know what to say.” – Joey Brown
Hauck and Brown stayed door-to-door for seven laps before Brown tried to look for another way by. Two laps later, he got a good run to the inside of Hauck and completed the pass. Hauck looked inside a lap later, but could not make it stick and it looked as if Brown had the race won. Despite his inexperience in the NiSWC however, Hauck would not go quietly. With three laps remaining, he made one last try at the lead, diving low on Brown entering Turn Three. The two ran side-by-side once again, with Hauck ahead by a nose as the two took the white flag.
“Craziest race ever . . . don’t really know what to say.” – Joey Brown
Then things got interesting.
Entering Turn One the final time, Hauck took a higher line than Brown expected and the two made contact. The hit shot Brown into the outside wall and slowed Hauck enough for Hudson to get a run at him. Hudson looked low and Hauck tried to shut the door . . . too late. They made contact, sending Hauck into the outside wall and out of the race with a twenty-third place finish. The contact also cost Hudson, who slowed enough that Brown roared around him on the outside exiting Turn Two. Hudson, still seeking his first NiSWC victory, tried one last desperate move in Turn Three. He got to Brown’s back bumper and gave it a shove, but Brown held on for his second win of the season.
“Craziest race ever,” said Brown. “Had a fast car but overall I think Hauck was a tad quicker. Really good race overall; don’t really know what to say. I would have been content finishing third.”
“Phenomenal car, big thanks to everyone on One Up.” said Hudson who settled for second. “I wanted that really bad, and did all I could do. There are so many things that could have gone differently and I would be in victory lane.”
Jared Crawford finished third, more than four seconds behind Brown, with Kevin King taking fourth ahead of Ray Alfalla.
“I wanted that really bad, and did all I could do.” – Tyler Hudson
The race had major implications on the NiSWC championship fight. Alfalla, whose win two weeks ago at Michigan already put him in control, pulled even further ahead after Brian Schoenburg finished a distant P11 and terrible nights effectively ended the championship hopes of both Nick Ottinger and Marcus Lindsey. Lindsey went too aggressive with his grille tape and blew his motor in the opening laps. He finished forty-first. Ottinger had connection issues all race and ended up 38 laps behind in thirty-sixth place.
Alfalla now leads Schoenburg by 38 points with Hudson slotting into third, 55 points out of the lead. A twelfth place finish moved Michael Conti into the top five, 74 points behind Alfalla. He sits five points in front of Lindsey with Ottinger an additional 16 markers back.
With only four weeks remaining in the season Alfalla looks to be on his way to a third straight title. The only driver within one race of him in the points is Schoenburg, but he has shown no sign of being able to gain 38 points in the remaining four races. Everyone else has to hope Alfalla makes a mistake or has terrible luck; otherwise the battle is for second.
Chicagoland Speedway is next on the schedule and starts the season’s stretch drive. The first of three online races held one week apart instead of the customary two weeks, it will challenge drivers to use their testing time wisely, especially those who are still in the running for a top five position in the points. Alfalla won both races at Chicagoland in 2012, but with Brown riding his current hot streak, everyone – the championship leader included — will have to be on the top of their game to keep pace. Catch all the action on iRacing Live and MRN.com!
| Average Lap Time | Laps Completed | Cautions | Caution Laps | Lead Changes | |||||||
| 31.120 | 163 | 1 | 4 | 15 | |||||||
| Fin Pos | Driver | Start Pos | Car # | Status | Interval | Laps Led | Average Lap Time | Fastest Lap Time | Fast Lap# | Laps Comp | Pts |
| 1 | Joey Brown | 1 | 12 | Running | 0 | 144 | 31.12 | 28.254 | 2 | 163 | 48 |
| 2 | Tyler D Hudson | 21 | 1 | Running | -0.25 | 1 | 31.106 | 28.421 | 2 | 163 | 43 |
| 3 | Jared Crawford | 4 | 83 | Running | -4.284 | 3 | 31.144 | 28.263 | 27 | 163 | 42 |
| 4 | Kevin King | 12 | 29 | Running | -6.44 | 0 | 31.152 | 28.293 | 27 | 163 | 40 |
| 5 | Ray Alfalla | 7 | 2 | Running | -6.856 | 1 | 31.157 | 28.231 | 27 | 163 | 40 |
| 6 | Joshua Langton | 16 | 40 | Running | -8.41 | 2 | 31.161 | 28.536 | 27 | 163 | 39 |
| 7 | Byron Daley | 22 | 93 | Running | -9.09 | 0 | 31.161 | 28.474 | 64 | 163 | 37 |
| 8 | Ashley Miller | 10 | 7 | Running | -9.191 | 0 | 31.17 | 28.532 | 137 | 163 | 36 |
| 9 | Thomas Lewandowski | 8 | 16 | Running | -14.068 | 0 | 31.202 | 28.416 | 2 | 163 | 35 |
| 10 | Carson McClelland | 23 | 24 | Running | -16.573 | 0 | 31.205 | 28.382 | 70 | 163 | 34 |
| 11 | Brian Schoenburg | 3 | 55 | Running | -16.77 | 0 | 31.221 | 28.317 | 115 | 163 | 33 |
| 12 | Michael Conti | 6 | 5 | Running | -17.84 | 0 | 31.227 | 28.288 | 60 | 163 | 32 |
| 13 | Nicholas Morse | 19 | 9 | Running | -18.307 | 0 | 31.219 | 28.413 | 67 | 163 | 31 |
| 14 | Brian Day | 9 | 4 | Running | -18.591 | 0 | 31.226 | 28.439 | 83 | 163 | 30 |
| 15 | Jake Stergios | 31 | 41 | Running | -19.507 | 1 | 31.215 | 28.555 | 84 | 163 | 30 |
| 16 | Brandon Kettelle | 26 | 80 | Running | -20.545 | 0 | 31.228 | 28.477 | 83 | 163 | 28 |
| 17 | Benjamin Burmeister | 18 | 25 | Running | -20.883 | 0 | 31.236 | 28.434 | 82 | 163 | 27 |
| 18 | Landon Harrison | 36 | 89 | Running | -20.937 | 0 | 31.221 | 28.48 | 78 | 163 | 26 |
| 19 | Tom Moustakas | 39 | 10 | Running | -22.858 | 0 | 31.228 | 28.542 | 27 | 163 | 25 |
| 20 | Danny Hansen | 14 | 20 | Running | -22.96 | 0 | 31.253 | 28.332 | 63 | 163 | 24 |
| 21 | Michael J Johnson | 11 | 39 | Running | -23.41 | 0 | 31.255 | 28.508 | 74 | 163 | 23 |
| 22 | Bryan Blackford | 32 | 33 | Running | -25.909 | 0 | 31.255 | 28.378 | 70 | 163 | 22 |
| 23 | Brandon Hauck | 13 | 53 | Running | -1 L | 8 | 31.117 | 28.495 | 127 | 162 | 22 |
| 24 | Rob Ackley | 20 | 22 | Running | -1 L | 0 | 31.303 | 28.52 | 81 | 162 | 20 |
| 25 | Brad Davies | 5 | 11 | Running | -1 L | 0 | 31.263 | 28.459 | 2 | 162 | 19 |
| 26 | Brandon Buie | 30 | 54 | Running | -1 L | 0 | 31.335 | 28.427 | 114 | 162 | 18 |
| 27 | Andrew Fayash III | 34 | 157 | Running | -1 L | 0 | 31.332 | 28.577 | 140 | 162 | 17 |
| 28 | Dylan Duval | 24 | 42 | Running | -1 L | 0 | 31.419 | 28.41 | 63 | 162 | 16 |
| 29 | Tyler Laughlin | 28 | 51 | Running | -1 L | 0 | 31.47 | 28.648 | 28 | 162 | 15 |
| 30 | Jon Adams | 33 | 84 | Running | -2 L | 0 | 31.309 | 28.44 | 2 | 161 | 14 |
| 31 | Charlie Foster | 41 | 13 | Running | -2 L | 3 | 31.46 | 28.614 | 84 | 161 | 14 |
| 32 | Paul Kusheba | 29 | 32 | Running | -2 L | 0 | 31.538 | 28.384 | 78 | 161 | 12 |
| 33 | Chad Coleman | 35 | 28 | Running | -4 L | 0 | 31.988 | 28.616 | 2 | 159 | 11 |
| 34 | Kevin Burris | 37 | 45 | Running | -5 L | 0 | 32.146 | 28.466 | 27 | 158 | 10 |
| 35 | Patrick Baldwin | 38 | 52 | Disconnected | -27 L | 0 | 31.343 | 28.436 | 83 | 136 | 9 |
| 36 | Nick Ottinger | 2 | 5 | Running | -38 L | 0 | 32.781 | 28.18 | 124 | 125 | 8 |
| 37 | Josh Berry | 40 | 91 | Disconnected | -68 L | 0 | 32.14 | 28.408 | 84 | 95 | 7 |
| 38 | Peter Bennett | 27 | 69 | Running | -86 L | 0 | 32.645 | 28.384 | 71 | 77 | 6 |
| 39 | Adam Gilliland | 17 | 81 | Disconnected | -94 L | 0 | 33.145 | 28.362 | 63 | 69 | 5 |
| 40 | Alex Warren | 25 | 82 | Disconnected | -129 L | 0 | 38.606 | 28.547 | 24 | 34 | 4 |
| 41 | Marcus Lindsey | 15 | 1 | Disconnected | -144 L | 0 | 29.138 | 28.583 | 2 | 19 | 3 |
| 42 | Carson Downs | 42 | 97 | Disconnected | -163 L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Hart named director, IMSA Communications; Siebens promoted to senior manager
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR announced Wednesday the hiring of David Hart as its Director, International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Communications and the promotion of Nate Siebens to Senior Manager, IMSA Communications.
Hart, a seasoned motorsports communications professional, will lead all communications efforts for IMSA following the conclusion of this year’s GRAND-AM Road Racing season, as he completes his current responsibilities with GRAND-AM team 8Star Motorsports. He will begin his new role with NASCAR and IMSA on Sept. 30, and join the IMSA Communications team for the final two 2013 American Le Mans Series Presented by Tequila Patron events. Hart’s focus will then shift to planning around the inaugural United SportsCar Racing season set to launch in 2014. He will be based out of IMSA’s Daytona Beach, Fla., headquarters.
“David’s deep roots in motorsports and particular passion for sports car racing provide us with a leader to usher in an exciting new era for the sport,” said Brett Jewkes, NASCAR vice president and chief communications officer. “He’s a team player who earned his stripes in the motorsports garages and extended his impact into marketing and corporate communications.
“Additionally, Nate joined our team in January and has proven himself to be invaluable in our efforts to enhance our efforts in sports car communications. Having new leadership in place before the 2013 sports car season concludes gives us sufficient time to ramp up our communications activities months before the inaugural United SportsCar Racing season.”
Prior to serving this season as director of marketing and communications for 8Star Motorsports, Hart spent 15 years at Richard Childress Racing (RCR). From 1999-2009, he led competition communications for the team before taking the role of director, corporate communications, overseeing strategic communications for all of Richard Childress’ business ventures, including RCR and Childress Vineyards. Hart held that position from 2009 through April of 2013.
Hart previously held positions with Sonoma Raceway, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and the Cotter Group, managing communications for sponsors involved in both NASCAR and NHRA.
“The opportunity to contribute to IMSA and the United SportsCar Racing in its inaugural season and beyond is the culmination of my 25 years in motorsports communications,” Hart said. “I’ve been a sports car racing fan since I stood on the driver’s seat and held onto the steering wheel of the Bugeye Sprite my dad and uncles raced in California in the mid-1960s. I look forward to working with the media, teams, manufacturers, marketing partners and everyone at IMSA to build a strong foundation for the future of sports car racing in North America.”
Siebens joined the NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications team fulltime in January of 2013, continuing a communications career in motorsports with roots in NASCAR, the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), GRAND-AM, IndyCar, CART/Champ Car and motorcycle racing. Prior to rejoining NASCAR in a new role this year, Siebens had been operating his own motorsports PR company since 2007.
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