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Post-race ruckus results in fines, suspensions from NASCAR

Penalties have been levied to two NASCAR Nationwide Series teams as a result of their involvement in separate post-race incidents following last Friday’s race at Richmond International Raceway.

Thomas Costello and Michael Scearce, both crew members for the No. 2 team, have each been fined $15,000 and suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next four NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship events. They have also been placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Both Costello and Scearce were found to be in violation of Section 12-1 (Actions detrimental to stock car racing. Involved in an altercation with another competitor after the race had concluded).

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Drivers Nelson Piquet Jr. (No. 30 car) and Brian Scott (No. 2 car) have been placed on NASCAR probation until June 26 for violating Section 12-1 and their involvement in an on-track altercation with their two cars after the race had concluded.

Crew chiefs Chris Carrier (No. 30 car) and Phil Gould (No. 2 car) have likewise been placed on NASCAR probation until June 26 as a result of the on-track incident between their two drivers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Check out which new colors will fly at Talladega

Editor’s note: This story will be updated as additional paint schemes are revealed.

This weekend’s races at Talladega Superspeedway will put drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series on the 2.66-mile track formerly known as Alabama International Motor Speedway.

Below are some of the special paint schemes you’ll see at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron’s 499 and Nationwide Series Aaron’s 312.

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Greg Biffle will drive the No. 16 3M Safety Ford.

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Jeff Gordon will drive the No. 24 Imron Elite Chevrolet.

SHOP: Jeff Gordon die-casts

David Stremme will drive the No. 30 Lean 1/Swan Energy Toyota.

SHOP: David Stremme die-casts


David Ragan will drive the No. 34 Farm Rich Ford.

SHOP: David Ragan die-casts

Juan Pablo Montoya  will drive the No. 42 Clorox Chevrolet.

SHOP: Juan Pablo Montoya die-casts

Aric Almirola will drive the No. 43 Gwaltney Ford.

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Bobby Labonte will drive the No. 47 Clorox 100 Year Anniversary Toyota.

SHOP: Bobby Labonte die-casts


Michael Waltrip will drive the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine-Alabama National Championship Toyota.

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Danica Patrick will drive the No. 34 Accudoc Solutions-GoDaddy Chevrolet.

SHOP: Danica Patrick die-casts

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Final appeal Tuesday concludes process

After the Nos. 2 and 22 cars failed multiple inspections just minutes ahead of the April 13 Texas race, Penske Racing drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano were docked 25 points each and crew members were handed a bevy of fines and suspensions as a result of having unapproved rear-end housing parts.

Penske Racing had its appeal heard May 1, and a three-member panel upheld the original sanctions.

The appeals process ended for good Tuesday when Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook reduced suspensions to the two crews.

Below is complete coverage of the entire process from NASCAR.com.

Penalties softened

The penalties levied to Penske Racing drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano were softened Tuesday by Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook in a hearing at the NASCAR Research & Development Center. Crew members from both teams got their six-week suspensions reduced. | Read the full story | Video: Reactions from R&D

Open letter from Kes

In an open letter published on his website, Brad Keselowski apologized to David Ragan for his critical comments following Ragan’s win Sunday. The letter was published Tuesday afternoon, while the final Penske Racing appeals process was underway.| Read the full story

Wild card Middlebrook

Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook has been somewhat unpredictable in his short tenure in the position, making Tuesday’s final say on the Penske case a rather interesting one for NASCAR fans to track. | Read the full story

NASCAR upholds penalties

After stating their case before a three-person delegation for the National Stock Car Racing Commission, Penske Racing learned the penalties levied against them were upheld. The team appealed the ruling to the Chief Appellate Officer. | Read the full story

Diverse appeals board

Ever wonder who will be helping to decide the appeals for Penske Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing in the next couple weeks? Check out David Caraviello’s quick profiles of the 48 people involved, including Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook. | Read the full story

Kes cashes in

Brad Keselowski outdueled a pair of fellow NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regulars to win his first Nationwide Series race of the year Friday. Keselowski’s win ended Kyle Busch’s three-race series winning streak. | Read the full story

Overcoming obstacles

Brad Keselowski’s rough week spilled over into the start of Sunday’s race when his No. 2 Ford experienced trouble. But as he has so many times, Keselowski and his team rallied from the adversity for a top-10 finish. | Read the full story

Not it

Jimmie Johnson met with the media for the first time since NASCAR announced Brad Keselowski‘s punishment for his failed pre-race inspection. The five-time champion denied any involvement in the process. | Read the full story

Champ speaks out

Penalized 25 points and without his crew chief for six races, Brad Keselowski responded to sanctions handed down by NASCAR. He says not to write him off this weekend just yet. | Read the full story

Logano in trouble?

Most of the spotlight surrounding the Penske punishment has been on defending series champion Brad Keselowski. Chase hopeful Joey Logano may have been impacted even more. | Read the full story

NASCAR lowers boom on Penske

NASCAR came down hard on Brad Keselowski and Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano for technical violations discovered before the race at Texas Motor Speedway, docking each driver 25 championship points and unleashing a flurry of suspensions that includes both crew chiefs. | Read the full story

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Vital stats for Talladega weekend

Related: Aaron’s 499 entry list | Complete Talladega coverage

Track: Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala., 2.66 miles, paved surface, 33-degree banking in Turns 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Time/TV: Aaron’s 499 (188 laps, 500 miles), 1 p.m. ET, Sunday, May 5. TV: FOX (coverage starts at noon ET), Radio: MRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90.

Trailblazers: The first Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega was held on Sept. 14, 1969 and won by Richard Brickhouse. NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt leads the series with 23 top-five finishes at Talladega.

.002  seconds is the closest margin of victory at Talladega since the advent of electronic scoring in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Jimmie Johnson’s win on April 17, 2011 is tied with the 2003 Darlington race as the closest finishes in the NSCS using electronic scoring.

2 of the 87 races at Talladega Superspeedway have been shortened due to weather conditions: spring of 1987 and fall of 1996. Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup at Talladega Superspeedway three times; most recently spring of 2010.

3  drivers have posted their first Sprint Cup wins at Talladega: 2012 series champion Brad Keselowski (4/26/2009), Brian Vickers (10/8/2006) and Ken Schrader (7/31/1988).

4 races have had female drivers competing at Talladega in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Janet Guthrie made three Talladega starts, and Patty Moise made one.

5  drivers made 10 or more attempts before their first win at Talladega: Matt Kenseth (25), Terry Labonte (21), Tony Stewart (19), Kevin Harvick (18) and Mark Martin (18).

6  is the most runner-up finishes a driver has tallied at Talladega, a tie between Buddy Baker and Tony Stewart.

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6  NSCS races have resulted in a green-white-checkered finish at Talladega Superspeedway: spring of 2005 (188/194), fall of 2005 (188/190), spring of 2007 (188/192), fall of 2008 (188/190) spring of 2010 (188/200) and fall of 2012 (188/189).

9  different manufacturers have won in the NSCS at Talladega; led by Chevrolet with 38 victories; followed by Ford with 19.

9  drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series have posted consecutive wins at Talladega Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads the series in consecutive wins at Talladega after posting four consecutive wins from the fall of 2001 – 2003.

10  drivers have won consecutive Coors Light poles at Talladega. Bill Elliott holds the record for most consecutive poles at Talladega with six (1985-1987).

10.182  — the average starting position of Jimmie Johnson — is the best among active Sprint Cup drivers at Talladega. The best average finishing position belongs to Brad Keselowski, who leads all active drivers with a 12.250.

12  Talladega wins have been claimed by Richard Childress Racing, the most by any team at Talladega in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, followed by Hendrick Motorsports with 11.

13  of the 87 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Talladega have been won from the Coors Light pole. Only two active drivers have been able to accomplish the feat: Bobby Labonte (1998) and Jeff Gordon (2007). 

15 of the 16 active NASCAR Sprint Cup winners at Talladega Superspeedway participated in at least one or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Brad Keselowski is the only active series driver to win at Talladega in his first appearance.

22 is the age of the youngest Talladega winner: Bobby Hillin Jr. , who was 22 years, 1 month, 22 days in 1986. The oldest winner to date is Harry Gant, who was 51 years, 3 months, 26 days when he won in 1991.

23  top-five finishes at Talladega have been earned by Dale Earnhardt, the record among all drivers. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 15.

25  races went by at Talladega for Matt Kenseth before winning last fall; the longest span of any the 16 active NASCAR Sprint Cup winners.

26  is the age of the youngest Talladega pole winner: Jimmie Johnson, who won the pole at 26 years,seven months and four days in 2002. The oldest Talladega pole winner is Mark Martin, who won in October 2012 at 52 years, 9 months, 14 days.

36  drivers have Coors Light poles at Talladega, led by Bill Elliott with eight. Joe Nemechek leads all active drivers with four.

36 is the farthest in the field any race winner has started, a feat by Jeff Gordon in the spring of 2000.

47  different drivers have won at Talladega Superspeedway, led by Dale Earnhardt with 10. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with six.

61 starts at Talladega is the current series record, held by Dave Marcis. Terry Labonte leads all active drivers with 57 starts; followed by Michael Waltrip with 53.

87  NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races have been held at Talladega Superspeedway, one NSCS event in 1969 and two races per year since 1970.

199.466 mph won the first Coors Light pole at Talladega for Bobby Isaac in 1969. Isaac won the first three poles at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.

429 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega; 294 in more than one.

839  laps have been led by Jeff Gordon in 40 starts at Talladega, the most of all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. 

 

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Gibbs driver aims to build on successful 2012 at restricted superspeedways

There was a time when Matt Kenseth cared not so much for the series’ four restrictor-plate races.
 
"I used to dread it," the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said April 30 during a NASCAR Cam teleconference.
 
And then he swept through last year’s four stops — two apiece at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway — with a success rate that has rarely been seen on the big tracks. Two wins and a pair of third-place finishes gave Kenseth an average finish of 2.0 on the tracks where speed is king and the brake pedal is an afterthought.

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“Yeah, that was a pretty gaudy number,” Kenseth admitted. “I don’t think we’ll ever be able to do that again. It’s the same approach, you show up at the track, you go through to lead laps, put yourself in position to win.”
 
Of course, it’s just as likely that a driver will be swept up in one of the multicar crashes that regularly occur. While drivers don’t often consider the potential for such trouble at other venues, Talladega is the exception.
 
The finish of last fall’s race was typical. Kenseth, the 2003 series champion, was celebrating in victory lane while workers were likely still removing the final remnants of a 25-car incident that occurred on the last lap.
 
“I think whenever you go to … a restrictor-plate race, certainly being in a wreck is more on your mind than any other race track; you’re going faster, (in) big packs,” he said.
 
“Ever since I started racing, or even really started watching NASCAR racing, that’s the way it’s been. The first thing you think of when you think of Talladega and you want to be honest, you think of a wreck. As a fan or driver or whatever, that’s usually what comes to your mind … big packs of cars and big wrecks.”
 
Already twice a winner this season, Kenseth heads into the April 5 Aaron’s 499 racing under a bit of a cloud — his Kansas win was overshadowed by a hefty penalty when his car’s engine failed inspection.
 
The subsequent 50-point penalty dropped him to 14th in points, and although he improved to 13th with a top-10 finish last weekend at Richmond, Kenseth hopes a May 8 appeal of the severity of the punishment will be successful.
 
Regardless of the outcome, it appears Kenseth and his No. 20 team, led by crew chief Jason Ratcliff, will continue to be contenders on the track. He’ll be going for his third consecutive pole this weekend, has led multiple laps in seven of the nine races and has five top-10 finishes.
 
“I can tell you that I have a ton of confidence in my race team,” he said. “These guys are really, really good … our performance has been nothing short of spectacular all year.”
 
He led 86 laps in the season-opening Daytona 500 and was out front when engine troubles struck just shy of the lap-150 mark. He also suffered a DNF at Bristol while running second when leader Jeff Gordon crashed in front of him on lap 390 of the 500-lap race.
 
“Although we don’t have all the finishes to show for it, I’m real thankful to have two wins,” Kenseth said. “We had a couple races where everything worked out all right. I feel really good with where we are at today, still obviously trying to move forward, get the cars faster, me do a better job on track, all that stuff.
 
“I certainly feel good about where we are from a performance standpoint only being here nine races into the year, and hopefully we can keep that moving forward.”
 
• If Kenseth was the standout on restrictor-plate tracks last year, Jimmie Johnson was on the opposite end of the spectrum. The five-time Cup champion had a best finish of 17th in plate races and failed to finish three of the four.
 
The good news for Johnson? He snapped the run of misfortune with a victory in this year’s Daytona 500.
 
The bad news? The race-winning car will be on display in Daytona until next year, and thus unavailable for further use.
 
“We would like to (use our Daytona car), but we usually don’t have that ability,” crew chief Knaus said earlier this year. “We usually crash, so we were prepared to do something else.”

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Three-member appeals panel will hear case; Gibbs will argue against severity

Related: Full coverage of Kenseth penalty, appeal

Joe Gibbs Racing will appeal penalties levied against its No. 20 team on May 8, NASCAR has announced.

The appeal will be heard at 9 a.m. at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C. Three members of the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel will hear arguments regarding stiff penalties levied by NASCAR against JGR for a violation discovered in the engine Matt Kenseth used to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Kansas Speedway on April 21.

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In post-race tear-down at the R&D Center, NASCAR officials determined that one connecting rod in the No. 20 car engine was lighter than the minimum of 525 grams set forth in the 2013 Sprint Cup Series Rule Book. Last week the sanctioning body responded with penalties that included a 50-point deduction to Kenseth, a six-week suspension and $200,000 fine to crew chief Jason Ratcliff and a six-week freeze on Gibbs’ owners’ license.

The sanctions also included the vacating of Kenseth’s pole from Kansas and the disqualification of his victory toward Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup seeding or Wild Card consideration. Although the engine in question was manufactured by Toyota Racing Development and not JGR, NASCAR historically has taken a very hard line on engine issues.

“As everyone knows, there are a few things that are understood in the garage area that are big,” Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president for competition, said last week at Richmond. “When you talk about engines, you talk about tires, and you talk about fuel. That’s a common thread that’s been understood, and it’s stood the test of time for the last 65 years. Don’t mess with those areas. And the penalties are severe.”

Gibbs said he understands a penalty is warranted, but plans to appeal the severity of the sanctions. TRD officials have said the connecting rod in question — which was manufactured by an outside vendor — came in 2.7 grams under the minimum, and the other seven connecting rods were legal. JGR and TRD have also argued that the infraction was not a result of attempting to gain a performance advantage.

“We know there’s going to be a penalty for that,” Gibbs said of the violation. “What we’re going to appeal is the severity of the penalties. … When you have motor experts look at it, what they would say is, there is no advantage to having that one light rod in that motor. That’s one thing that’s very important to me is, the intent here was not to get an unfair advantage in any way. That’s very important to me.”

Ratcliff called last weekend’s race at Richmond, and is able to work until the appeal process is complete. The three-member appeals panel has the power to uphold, overturn or reduce the sanctions levied by NASCAR. If the penalties are upheld, Gibbs can make a final plea to the Chief Appellate Officer, former General Motors executive John Middlebrook.

The Gibbs appeal will occur one week after the appeal of another team — Penske Racing, this one for point deductions, fines and suspensions handed out for the rear end housings in the Nos. 2 and 22 cars being confiscated prior to the April 13 Sprint Cup event at Texas. For that offense, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano were docked 25 points apiece, and their crew chiefs, car chiefs and team engineers were each suspended six weeks.

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Behind schedule, injured driver now targets Charlotte return

Related: Watch the video of Annett’s crash

When Michael Annett’s surgeon first saw the X-ray of the broken sternum the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver had suffered in a crash at Daytona International Speedway, he told his new patient the recovery time would be two to three months. Being a racer hoping for the quickest return possible, Annett heard only the first of those numbers.

“I think in his head,” Annett admitted Monday, “he was thinking three.”

Which is why it may now be Memorial Day weekend before the Richard Petty Motorsports driver returns from an injury that has sidetracked his 2013 season. Annett’s breastbone was fractured and dislocated in a head-on impact with the wall late in the Nationwide season opener at Daytona, and he had surgery the following week in which screws and a metal plate were used to repair the damage.

"I’d rather miss one or two more instead of missing 10 more if something happens."

— Michael Annett

Annett had originally hoped to be back in his No. 43 car this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, but that won’t be the case. He said a scan last week revealed that the bones and plates at the injury site aren’t fusing together as quickly as doctors had hoped, and his surgeon wasn’t comfortable with the idea of him withstanding another big hit.

“Physically, I still felt like I could have gotten in the car at Richmond, still feel like I can get in at Talladega,” Annett said. “He’s not worrying about me physically being able to do it. It’s just in case something goes wrong, if the plates and everything he’s put in there aren’t willing to withstand a hard hit like that. It’s not so much keeping me out, because I can do it. It’s in case something goes bad, it hasn’t grown back enough to where it would be able to hold that.”

Much like NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin, who is out with a compression fracture in a lower back vertebra, Annett held some hope of returning from his injury earlier than expected at Richmond. Toward that end, he had a scan originally slated for this week moved up to last Monday, when he was told he’d actually have to be out longer than he first hoped. Although he hasn’t ruled out being back next week at Darlington Raceway, a more realistic target appears to be May 25 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which follows an off week for the series.

Annett seems confident of that return date. “Anything can happen. Freak things can happen,” he said. “But as far as I see it, there’s no doubt in my mind that physically and internally, it will be ready to go. You never know the unknown, but I don’t really see anything keeping us out of the car beyond Charlotte.”

Being out of the car hasn’t been the only difficult part of the recovery process for the 26-year-old Iowa native. Since his surgery in late February, Annett has been under doctor’s orders to not lift anything heavier than 10 pounds. When he flew to Texas earlier this month to watch his race team compete, he had to have someone lift his suitcase in and out of the car, and lug it on and off the airplane. The former hockey player can see the atrophy in his pectoral muscles each time he looks in the mirror.

“Obviously, not being able to race was the worst part,” he said. “But I love bowling, I love golfing, love doing a bunch of stuff outside. And that’s just been real limited right now.”

Annett said he is scheduled to start physical therapy this week, which will involve weight training exercises like the bench press designed to rebuild strength in his chest. Meanwhile he continues to keep a close eye on his race team, which this past Friday night at Richmond recorded its best result of the season after substitute Reed Sorenson finished 10th. Sorenson, a close friend of Annett’s, will stay in the car until the regular driver returns.

“It’s definitely been tough, because you feel like you’re not included,” Annett said. “But being back at the race track has been a huge help. … This past weekend at Richmond, watching Reed run in the top five for most of the race was a lot of fun. But it was also probably one of the tougher ones to watch, because when you know the car is handling that well and is as fast as it was, you definitely want to be in it. So it’s tough, but people keep asking me, ‘Don’t you want to get back? How bad is this? Why don’t you just push it and try it?’ My answer to that is, I’d rather miss one or two more instead of missing 10 more if something happens. As tough as it is, I know … there’s a long season left.”

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On ‘The Intimidator’s’ birthday, a look back

In honor of the late seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt’s April 29 birthday, here are excerpts from a small group interview with “The Intimidator” on Oct. 11, 1997 — the afternoon before the annual Talladega Superspeedway fall Cup race and four months before his one and only victory in the Daytona 500.

Earnhardt’s 13 Cup wins  — including 10 at Talladega — earned him the reputation as the most proficient restrictor-plate racer of his era. He showed up in Alabama that weekend fresh off three consecutive top-three finishes — including a pair of runner-ups at Dover (Del.) and Martinsville (Va.) — hopeful that his usual fine form on the Talladega high banks would return him to Victory Lane for the first time that season.

Unfortunately for Earnhardt, he finished 29th in that race and 1997 turned out to be only the second winless season of his full-time Cup career (the other was in 1981).  He finished fifth in the standings while a young driver named Jeff Gordon hoisted his second Cup championship trophy.

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In this interview session — before the days of Twitter and live internet news feeds — Earnhardt speaks candidly to a small number of beat reporters on a variety of subjects — from his love-hate of restrictor-plate racing to the what was, at the time, a new trend of multi-car teams getting booed at driver introductions.

Here are excerpts from that vintage interview, where he touches on topics still so relevant today as NASCAR heads to Talladega again this weekend.

On restrictor plate racing:

Dale Earnhardt: “I wish we could race without restrictor plates. We’ve worked on these cars and the technical side of making a car run here has gotten more technical because of the restrictor plate. … As they put more spoiler on you and they do things like that, we come up with things to get around it or make the car work different. The speeds stay similar or the same.

“If you’ve got a race track where you can hold the throttle down all the way around it what to you want? What do you expect?

“It’s tougher to win because of the restrictor plates. You don’t see guys passing each other now without help. We ran second to Mark (Martin) here in the spring race. We just had to sit there. We couldn’t do nothing. I couldn’t pull out either way because the car wouldn’t go forward. If you call that racing, OK. So be it. We’ll just sit in line. … They could take the restrictor plate off and we’ll see who’ll hold it wide open around here.”

On the growing trend toward multi-car teams:

DE: “We’ve learned a lot of things (because of it). Like the restrictor-plate races, we’ve learned more because of the two-car team. It needs to work better yet. Hendrick has three (cars). Roush has who knows how many. Every week the numbers come up. They’re winning and qualifying in the top. Yates has two. We should be able to do the same thing.

“It’s frustrating to Richard (Childress) because the other team or us haven’t won a race. The other team (driver Mike Skinner) hasn’t been consistent and to not make the race at Charlotte (the previous week) was a tough setback for ‘em.’’

On getting that next win:

DE: “I want to win every race and it’s been a long time since I won (55 races at that point). It would be nice to win again. It’ll happen. And that eighth championship will happen too. We’ve had that opportunity a couple of times with a good race car and we didn’t end up in the right situation.’’

“You be leading the race on the last lap and let me behind you and see (how badly he still wants to win). As guys get older, they get smarter and they don’t forget nothing they’ve ever done. I don’t. I would hate to have me behind me on the last lap if I haven’t won a race all year.’’

On being more motivated than ever to compete, even at age 46:

“When I sit down in a race car, it’s like the first day I ever done it. There’s nothing else on my mind. I’m not sitting there while I’m racing pondering everything that’s going in my life. I’m focused on beating whoever is in front of me or behind me.

“Racing is fun. It gets hectic and busy sometimes. You come in late at night and wonder what about tomorrow. The next thing you know you’re up at 5 o’clock in the morning signing autographs for the race fans.  That’s part of it. …

“I couldn’t tell you how much it pays to win this race. I race to win. The money part of it, but I couldn’t tell you how much the purse is here (at Talladega). It’s probably not enough when you’re the car owner. When you’re the driver, you’re racing (because) you want to win.

On his children beginning a racing career:

DE: “I’m enjoying starting to see the kids race and do well. They can do what they want. They’re working to do it. I’m certainly not trying to make them race car drivers. If they want to go out and be a doctor, or whatever, they can do that. It’s their decision.’’

On NASCAR scrutiny of his team:

DE: “It feels good to go in the garage area and see ‘em cutting on your race car. Then you know you’re working hard in all the right areas.’’

On getting booed during driver introductions:

DE: “They’re going to be booing me some more before it’s over with. When they boo you, then you know you’re running too good. They (fans) are hard on all the guys who win right off. They were on Darrell (Waltrip), Cale (Yarborough), Bobby Allison. That’s life.

“I want to win. I want to win the Daytona 500 too.’’

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NASCAR.com sits down with Latin actress Kate Del Castillo

Internationally acclaimed actress Kate Del Castillo attended her first NASCAR race serving as the Honorary Starter for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. The popular Latino actress spent some time before the green flag promoting her upcoming NASCAR-themed Novela “Arranque De Pasion, La Historia De Ela” — a first of its kind drama that will air in primetime on Univision on May 5. Shorter 5-7 minute episodes began airing on Univision.com/Arranquedepasion on April 1 for five weeks every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at midnight (ET).

Del Castillo spoke with NASCAR.com at Auto Club Speedway before the race.

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How much knowledge did you have of NASCAR before embarking on this project?

“To be honest, I love sports and extreme sport and cars and speed were something I always wanted to do. I did the Toyota Pro Celebrity race at Long Beach and actually got to drive the cars and fell in love with the whole idea (of racing). That’s where I got the idea for the web series with NASCAR. It has been like our dream come true and of course, now I’m a big, big fan of NASCAR.

How was your experience at your first NASCAR race so far?

“I’m very, very excited, it’s all adrenalin. Their lives depend on the others unlike any other sport.

Are there any drivers you are interested in meeting?

“I’m very excited to meet all of them, for me they are all the best. Of course, Danica (Patrick) is my hero and (Juan Pablo) Montoya, of course, a Latino.

Do people tell you that you look a little bit like Danica?

“You know it’s funny, when I was doing the Pro Celebrity race, people said, ‘you guys look a lot alike.’"

What is the inspiration for the web series? Why NASCAR?

“I think it’s a great idea. When we came up with this at first, it was just going to be a romantic comedy but they are doing so many things with (web series) the product is like a big movie. So now we know how big the internet is, for us it was the perfect marriage: young people, extreme sports, speeding. … It’s going to be great.’’

How did you do your research?

“First of all, we have an amazing writer and director. I told him it needs to be edgy and have passion and love and allure for everybody. But (my character) needs to be this tough lady but not just surviving in a world ruled by men, but also being a woman. She has this heart.

“I did a lot of research (on NASCAR) and I think these drivers are really much more beyond in many ways because they are tempting with their lives every single time they (race). It’s not just your life, but the lives of others.’’

Posted on by Staff Report

No. 34 car will be sponsored by AccuDoc Solutions/GoDaddy.com

Danica Patrick will race for Turner Scott Motorsports in Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Motor Speedway. This will be the second Nationwide race of the season for Patrick, who also raced in the No. 34 at Daytona to open the season. Patrick led five laps in that race with Mike Greci atop the pit box, but after completing only 31 laps, engine problems took her off the track. Greci will once again be crew chief for Patrick and the No. 34 team on the 117-lap restrictor plate race.

"I’m thrilled that I get another chance to drive the No. 34 AccuDoc Solutions/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Camaro for Turner Scott Motorsports," Patrick said. "We had a great run going in Daytona, and I’m hoping we can pick up where we left off."

Patrick has only raced at Talladega once in her career, finishing 13th in the Nationwide race at the track last year. Her teammates for the race, which airs at 3 p.m. ET on ABC, will be Justin Allgaier, Kyle Larson and Nelson Piquet Jr.

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