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Former Cup champ edges Biffle, Johnson, puts Gen-6 car through paces

Kurt Busch rose to the top of the speed charts Thursday in the first on-track action of the weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, setting a rapid pace in the Gen-6 car test session in Fort Worth.

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Busch, in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet, clocked a fast lap of 191.225 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test session. He established the time to beat on fresh tires on just second lap of the 25 he turned in the initial session.

Greg Biffle, who won this race last season, was second-fastest on the 1.5-mile track with a lap of 191.049. Series points leader Jimmie Johnson, who settled for second place behind Biffle in Texas last April, was third-fastest in testing at 190.255 mph, making him the only other driver to crack the 190-mph plateau.

Mark Martin and Martin Ambrose completed the top five.

Brad Keselowski, the defending Sprint Cup Series champ, was 28th on the practice sheet.

 

Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next
1 78 Kurt Busch Furniture Row Racing / Serta Chevrolet 28.239 191.225 2 25 —.— —.—
2 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 28.265 191.049 6 34 -0.026 -0.026
3 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Dover White Chevrolet 28.383 190.255 2 60 -0.144 -0.118
4 55 Mark Martin Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 28.442 189.860 2 44 -0.203 -0.059
5 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford 28.455 189.773 2 32 -0.216 -0.013
6 5 Kasey Kahne Time Warner Cable Chevrolet 28.475 189.640 1 39 -0.236 -0.020
7 27 Paul Menard Quaker State / Menards Chevrolet 28.503 189.454 4 32 -0.264 -0.028
8 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1 / Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 28.507 189.427 1 28 -0.268 -0.004
9 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 28.513 189.387 2 47 -0.274 -0.006
10 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 28.525 189.308 1 50 -0.286 -0.012
11 51 Austin Dillon(i) Bruce Lowrie Chevrolet / Realtree Chevrolet 28.545 189.175 15 37 -0.306 -0.020
12 1 Jamie McMurray Bell Helicopter Chevrolet 28.551 189.135 2 40 -0.312 -0.006
13 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 28.563 189.056 1 30 -0.324 -0.012
14 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 28.577 188.963 1 52 -0.338 -0.014
15 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target / Kellogg’s Chevrolet 28.577 188.963 5 33 -0.338 -0.000
16 43 Aric Almirola Eckrich Ford 28.582 188.930 4 32 -0.343 -0.005
17 11 Brian Vickers(i) FedEx Office / March of Dimes Toyota 28.630 188.613 4 36 -0.391 -0.048
18 99 Carl Edwards Fastenal Ford 28.632 188.600 3 29 -0.393 -0.002
19 24 Jeff Gordon Cromax Pro Chevrolet 28.632 188.600 3 27 -0.393 -0.000
20 15 Clint Bowyer Gander Mountain Toyota 28.664 188.390 3 33 -0.425 -0.032
21 13 Casey Mears GEICO Ford 28.694 188.193 21 34 -0.455 -0.030
22 39 Ryan Newman Quicken Loans Chevrolet 28.696 188.180 2 19 -0.457 -0.002
23 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # Best Buy Ford 28.697 188.173 1 37 -0.458 -0.001
24 29 Kevin Harvick Rheem Chevrolet 28.719 188.029 16 32 -0.480 -0.022
25 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 28.774 187.669 5 44 -0.535 -0.055
26 21 Trevor Bayne(i) Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 28.800 187.500 1 31 -0.561 -0.026
27 83 David Reutimann Dr Pepper Toyota 28.803 187.480 2 16 -0.564 -0.003
28 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 28.812 187.422 3 19 -0.573 -0.009
29 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 28.902 186.838 5 28 -0.663 -0.090
30 10 Danica Patrick # GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 28.906 186.812 3 29 -0.667 -0.004
31 19 Mike Bliss(i) Plinker Tactical / MCM Elegante Toyota 29.017 186.098 5 7 -0.778 -0.111
32 47 Bobby Labonte Pine-Sol Toyota 29.032 186.002 2 25 -0.793 -0.015
33 30 David Stremme Lean 1 / Swan Energy Toyota 29.059 185.829 4 20 -0.820 -0.027
34 38 David Gilliland EZ Pawn / EZ Money Ford 29.063 185.803 4 17 -0.824 -0.004
35 7 Dave Blaney SANY Chevrolet 29.064 185.797 3 22 -0.825 -0.001
36 33 Landon Cassill Little Joe’s Autos / Precon Marine Chevrolet 29.148 185.261 3 3 -0.909 -0.084
37 93 Travis Kvapil Dr Pepper Toyota 29.248 184.628 4 23 -1.009 -0.100
38 34 David Ragan Love’s Travel Stops Ford 29.294 184.338 5 16 -1.055 -0.046
39 95 Scott Speed Tracking Point / B&D Electrical Ford 29.541 182.797 5 7 -1.302 -0.247
40 35 Josh Wise(i) MDS Transport Ford 29.584 182.531 3 5 -1.345 -0.043
41 32 Timmy Hill # OXY water Ford 29.689 181.886 5 23 -1.450 -0.105
42 87 Joe Nemechek(i) ATIgunstocks.com Toyota 0.000 0.000 0 0 -0.000 -0.000

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Rex White among five honored as nominees for 2014 NASCAR Hall of Fame class

Rex White didn’t have time to answer the question before another phone could be heard ringing in the background.

“The phones are getting busy for some reason,” the 1960 NASCAR Cup champion said from his home April 10.

Likely because the personable White, who won 28 times during a nine-year career at NASCAR’s top level, had just been announced as one of the 25 nominees to be considered for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s class of 2014.

“Hold on a second,” White, 83, said, pausing to answer yet another call. But when the connection was lost, he quickly returned.

"Every phone I’ve got is ringing. It’s not normal for me to be this popular."

— Rex White

“Every phone I’ve got is ringing,” he said. “It’s not normal for me to be this popular.”

He is the oldest living driver to win a championship at NASCAR’s top level. His 1960 run to the title included six victories at Columbia, S.C. (twice), Montgomery, N.Y., Weaverville, N.C., Martinsville and North Wilkesboro. But it was his consistency –- he finished fifth or higher in 25 of his 40 starts that season –- that enabled him to distance himself from runner-up Richard Petty.

An owner/driver, White said one of the first lessons he learned in racing was the importance of taking care of one’s equipment.

“You know,” he said, “I like eating every day.

“When you worked on the car, when you paid the bills, when you had to do all the work and tow it all over the country, you didn’t race like you do today where they bang and beat and tear the cars up.

“You just don’t race like that. You try to avoid all that and it makes you have better finishes. The more you beat and bang, the more you’re going to get taken out of a race. So I had to finish.”

He actually won more races (seven) the following year, but finished second in the points battle to Ned Jarrett, and a career best eight in 1962 when he finished fifth in the standings. His 8.9 average finishing position is currently fourth-best in series history.

Other first-time nominees for the hall include Speedway Motorsports Inc. founder Bruton Smith, 1999 Cup champion Dale Jarrett, legendary engine builder Maurice Petty and short-track standout Larry Phillips.

Smith, whose company owns eight facilities that host NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, called it “a great honor” to be nominated.

“Bill France Jr. once asked me to help him build NASCAR and I have literally been building monuments to the sport for my entire lifetime,” Smith said in a statement provided by SMI. “Millions of people have attended NASCAR events at our speedways over the years and we’ve tried to be creative and innovative in an effort to help push the sport to a higher level. It’s always been a perfect fit for me because I love racing and I love NASCAR fans."

Jarrett, son of 2011 Hall of Fame inductee Ned Jarrett, said hearing his name called as one of the 25 nominees was “very unexpected.”

“Because you look at the names that are there and most are people that I either grew up around the sport with, watching form this sport to what it is today or had the opportunity to compete with some of those,” the 1999 Cup champion said during an interview on SiriusXM/NASCAR.

“I think the thing that I should say first is that it took a lot of people to help me get to this point and have this opportunity, that literally poured their heart and soul into giving me opportunities to compete on a high level and I’m very appreciative of that.”

Jarrett is a three-time Daytona 500 winner as well as a two-time winner of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Engines built by Petty helped propel older brother Richard to 198 of his 200 career victories, as well as seven championships and seven Daytona 500 titles. That same power also carried Buddy Baker, Pete Hamilton and Marvin Panch into the winner’s circle during their affiliations with the Level Cross, N.C. outfit.

“We worked hard and stayed after it,” Petty told Sirius. “I’m just thrilled to be here. … It would be great to be voted into the Hall of Fame.”

The class of 2014 will be announced May 22. In addition to the five newcomers, the other 20 nominees are:

Red Byron, Richard Childress, Jerry Cook, H. Clay Earles, Anne B. France, Tim Flock, Ray Fox, Rick Hendrick, Jack Ingram, Bobby Isaac, Fred Lorenzen, Raymond Parks, Benny Parsons, Les Richter, Glenn “Fireball” Roberts, T. Wayne Robertson, Ralph Seagraves, Wendell Scott, Curtis Turner and Joe Weatherly.


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Ford enjoying big gains thanks to Generation-6 car

Follow: Sprint Cup testing live from Texas

It was a busy weekend for Jamie Allison, but not an unusual one.

The director for Ford’s North America Motorsports program, Allison took in the April 6 GRAND-AM competition at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., as well as the STP 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event in Martinsville, Va., the following day. Afterward, he headed to the Charlotte area to take part in April 8 team meetings with various Cup organizations.

“You don’t run motorsports sitting behind a desk,” Allison said prior to the start of the STP 500. “Motorsports happens at the track, it happens with our teams and at Ford Racing that’s where we belong.”

Six races into the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, Ford teams have one win (Carl Edwards at Phoenix) and three drivers inside the top 10 in points. Brad Keselowski (Penske Racing) sits in the No. 2 spot while Roush Fenway Racing teammates Greg Biffle and Edwards are sixth and seventh, respectively.

"The depth is there and we see it across all of our teams."

— Jamie Allison, Director, Ford’s North America Motorsports program

Joey Logano, Keselowski’s teammate, fell out of the top 10 at Martinsville, but is 11th as the series heads to this weekend’s event at Texas Motor Speedway.
 
Given the changes that faced the automaker this year -– NASCAR’s rollout of the new Generation-6 car and the addition of Penske to the fold — Allison said he is pleased with the early-season results.
 
Through the first five races, Allison said, a Ford team was either first or second on the final restart of the race. It was a streak that didn’t end until Martinsville.
 
“So on the final restart … we have been in contention or won the race,” Allison said. “You can’t ask for more than that. The depth is there and we see it across all of our teams.”
 
The new car, built to bridge the gap between race track and dealership, has been a success thus far on both fronts, he said. March sales figures for the Fusion topped 30,000, a record for the model.
 
“Being in contention to win, leading laps, running up front, fans take notice,” he said.
 
• Six Cup organizations affiliated with Ford field a total of 12 teams — Roush Fenway Racing, Penske, Richard Petty Motorsports, Wood Brothers Racing, Germain Racing and Front Row Motorsports.
 
Penske joined the Ford effort prior to 2013, a move that Allison said he hopes will help the automaker capture the NASCAR manufacturers’ championship, something it last accomplished in 2002.
 
“It’s been many years since we’ve been able to garner that lofty championship,” he said. “Which is important for a company, it’s a prize point. The way the program is set up … you need strong, capable, championship-caliber teams. And we think we have them.”
 
• Allison said his company had no issues with Logano, who was involved in separate incidents with Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart last month at Auto Club Speedway.
 
“These are athletes in the heat of battle,” Allison said, “… trying to perform at the highest level. And at those moments, many things can happen. And sometimes it ends up with a little bit of controversy.
 
“In this case I think Joey is handling it absolutely like a champ. It’s something that a lot of drivers go through on their ascent to the top and this is something that stays at the driver level and team level. We as a manufacturer don’t get involved in these controversies.”
 
• The new Fusion is the only entry in Cup that uses an actual grille on the front of the race car rather than a decal, a move that had some unintended consequences at Martinsville.
 
Early in the race, contact with Bobby Labonte dislodged the grille from Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s car; later, on a Lap 297-restart, the front grille from Keselowski’s Ford went airborne following contact with Kyle Busch.
 
Ford and NASCAR officials chalked up the lost pieces to contact that normally occurs during the beating and banging of a short-track race.
 
“We talked with NASCAR about what happened on Sunday, and there are no major concerns at this point,” Ford’s Pat DiMarco said. “The mounting of the grille is team specific, but (the teams are) continuously learning about this new car and adapt accordingly when issues arise.”

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Driver plays at "Go Ape" outdoor experience leading up to Richmond race

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch spends a majority of his weekends practically “flying” around a race track in his No. 18 M&Ms Toyota Camry, a setting the driver is more than comfortable doing for a living.
 
But, what about when Busch is put in an entirely new environment, say the jungle? Well, whether in or out of his comfort zone, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver gives it his all and has fun doing it. Such was the case Wednesday, when Busch’s aerial skills were put to the test, flying through treetops, braving a Tarzan-like swing and riding a skateboard 50 feet in the air.
 
His participation in the event, which was held at “Go Ape,” an outdoor experience in Rockville, Md., was part of an appearance on behalf of Richmond International Raceway (RIR) to help promote its NSCS primetime race — the Toyota Owners 400 — on April 27. The 27-year-old, who has captured four consecutive spring race wins at RIR, was accompanied on the course by RIR President Dennis Bickmeier. And for one day, Busch was king of this jungle.
 
“It was fun to do something different and get out to ride some ropes, enjoy the outdoors and do something that isn’t your typical experience,” Busch said. “I loved the Tarzan swing. You hook up to the rope, fall off a platform and drop right off. It takes your stomach away from you for a second, but it’s fun.”
 
Busch, who is currently fourth in the points standings through six races, will make his 300th career Sprint Cup Series start Saturday (April 13) under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway  (FOX, 7:30 p.m. ET).

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Five-Time, Knaus excel at adapting, finding creative solutions

The most impressive run turned in by Jimmie Johnson this season might not have been Sunday’s dominant victory at Martinsville Speedway, where he led more than half the event and took home his eighth grandfather clock. It might not have been the Daytona 500, where he held on over a final restart to record his second victory in the Great American Race.

No, Johnson’s most notable run might have been one that was completely overlooked amid a scuffle on pit road and a driver being carried off on a backboard. The odds-on favorite to win at Auto Club Speedway on March 24 was absolute junk for most of the event — the car didn’t draft very well, it didn’t seem to have enough speed, it got mired in traffic. It all began to feel reminiscent of a complete whiff at Las Vegas in 2008, which owner Rick Hendrick has called the worst race in the history of the No. 48 team.

It never got as bad as that two-laps-down slog, but it wasn’t going well, either, especially with Johnson running 25th and his frustration growing as the event wore on. “What’s Jimmie doing back here?” a surprised Dale Earnhardt Jr. asked over his radio after losing track position due to a four-tire stop. Truth was, his more decorated teammate had been back there for much of the race.

"I think change is good for the 48 (team). … And we like new challenges."

— Jimmie Johnson

All of which made his eventual 12th-place finish that day something of a shock, even if no one noticed given all the shenanigans going on elsewhere. Crew chief Chad Knaus took a big swing on a late pit stop, Johnson milked all he could out of a car that had no business being in the front half of the field, and the positions gained over those final green-flag runs helped the five-time champion retake the points lead following his victory this past Sunday at Martinsville.

Johnson gets a lot of credit for being one of the best of his (or any) generation, and rightly so, given his ability to find perfect lines and wheel a car with such smooth, clinical efficiency. But he admittedly isn’t the most technical-minded guy in the garage area — “Work on it? Come on, are you crazy?” Johnson said at Martinsville when asked if he performs maintenance on the 1949 Chevrolet pickup he often drives around town — which only emphasizes the role his crew chief plays in setting up the car.

And yet, those individual attributes mask what is perhaps the No. 48 team’s greatest strength — its ability to adapt over the course of a race weekend, or a race distance, or even a season, rarely letting the lows get so low that they threaten to spiral out of control. That miserable event at Las Vegas five years ago stands out precisely because it’s such an aberration, the kind of run that happens to other outfits with a shallower pool of tactics and talent to draw upon. The No. 48 team succeeds, year after year and weekend after weekend, because of the superior way it adjusts to the ever-changing conditions that define NASCAR.

That much is evident, on scales both large and small, again and again. This year at Las Vegas, on a track where a cool test day and a warm race day left crew chiefs scrambling to fix an epidemic of loose race cars, Johnson led 66 laps and cruised home in sixth. At Fontana, late adjustments allowed Johnson and Knaus to salvage 12th after going backward all day. At Martinsville, where Johnson’s traditional advantages seemed mitigated by a new car and tire, that near-perfect weekend was the result of research over the Easter break — what, you thought Knaus would be hiding pastel-colored eggs? — and a highly educated guess.

“I was actually talking to my father last week when we were coming to the race track, and he said, ‘Man, you guys have got a really good setup for Martinsville, you ought to be in pretty good shape.’ And I said, ‘Well, we did until they changed all the rules,’ ” Knaus, whose father John was an accomplished short-track driver, said after race.

“With the new car and everything that we had coming in here with the new tire, we really had to dig in deep. And the off weekend gave us an opportunity to really look back over some past history and draw some conclusions that we were hoping were going to work out. So my father, he’s like, ‘Well, how do you know where you’re going to start?’ I said, ‘Well, I guess we’re just going to guess.’ Fortunately enough, we guessed right.”

In fairness, a guess from somebody like Chad Knaus isn’t really a guess at all. And other teams also adjust well, although they don’t often maintain such a high level of performance in the process. It all goes to show why Johnson relished the idea of the Generation-6 race car, which leveled the scales in terms of setups and preparation. No question, the vehicle’s more brand-identifiable characteristics have the greater interest of the sport in mind. But given that Johnson earned most of his race wins and four of his five titles in the previous vehicle, you’d think he’d hate to see it go.

Hardly. “I like change,” he said last year before the Car of Tomorrow was put out to pasture. “I think change is good for the 48 (team). … And we like new challenges.”

No wonder he’s led the points after four of six races in this season where adaptability is as important as it’s ever been. Drop spike strips on the track or stick a cougar in the back seat, and they’d still find a way. Now it’s on to Texas Motor Speedway, where teams will test Thursday ahead of the race weekend, and where the No. 48 team’s penchant for situational creativity has shown brightly in things like the mid-race pit crew switch and the on-the-fly rebuild of a car wrecked in a collision with Sam Hornish Jr.

The United States Marine Corps has long had an unofficial slogan — improvise, adapt and overcome. Granted, Johnson and his No. 48 team aren’t exactly storming the halls of Montezuma or taking the shores of Tripoli. But they also never assume what worked once will work again. They’re experts at making something out of nothing. Through seven years of historic success, they’ve never grown content. And whether it’s a late adjustment at Fontana or preparation for Martinsville, they improvise, adapt and overcome, over and over, better than anyone else.

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Official tire recycler of NASCAR Green to recycle approximately 120,000 Goodyear tires annually

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As part of NASCAR Race to Green®, a month-long, industry-wide effort to reduce the sport’s carbon footprint, NASCAR and Liberty Tire Recycling announced today a new partnership that designates the tire recycling services provider as the Official Tire Recycler of NASCAR Green.

NASCAR has the largest recycling program in sports, including a comprehensive effort that accounts for approximately 120,000 Goodyear tires recycled across NASCAR’s top three national series each year. Liberty Tire Recycling will join other Official NASCAR Green partners, which comprise a comprehensive recycling program, including Coca-Cola, MillerCoors, Creative Recycling, Goodyear, Safety-Kleen, and Sprint.

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“By recycling more than 140 million tires annually, we reclaim nearly 1.5 billion pounds of rubber for innovative, eco-friendly products,” said Thomas Carter, Liberty Tire Recycling vice president of alternative fuels. “We look forward to enhancing NASCAR Green’s best-in-class recycling program by keeping its discarded tires out of landfills and transforming them into smart, sustainable products that improve people’s lives."

In conjunction with the NASCAR Green Clean Air Tree Planting Program™ Delivered by UPS, an initiative that will neutralize the carbon emissions of all of the racing in NASCAR’s three national series, Liberty Tire Recycling will provide GroundSmart Mulch™ that will enhance the landscaping of trees that are donated to areas of need throughout the country. The rubber mulch lasts longer than its wood mulch counterpart and prevents soil from washing away. Additionally, Liberty Tire Recycling products, such as rubberized asphalt will be used to repave racetracks and parking lots at NASCAR Home Track racetracks across the country.

“Adding the nation’s premier tire recycling company to our group of Official NASCAR Green Partners will further enhance NASCAR’s position of leadership in sustainability across all sports,” said Jim O’Connell, NASCAR chief sales officer. “Liberty Tire Recycling has positioned itself as a leader in tire recycling innovation and we are pleased to work towards a common goal of reducing the environmental impact of our sport.”

Liberty Tire Recycling will join the NASCAR Fuel for Business Council®, which brings together an exclusive group of more than 55 Official NASCAR Partners to get more out of their sponsorships, specifically bringing together partners four times a year to buy and sell products and services. This environment offers the unique opportunity for many Fortune 500 companies to bypass the time and layers of corporate coordination that may exist and construct customized deals to help address specific business needs.   

About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States. NASCAR consists of three national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), four regional series, one local grassroots series, three international series and GRAND-AM Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series, both known for competition on road courses. Based in Daytona Beach, Fla., with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information, visit www.nascar.com and follow NASCAR at www.facebook.com/NASCAR and Twitter: @NASCAR.

About Liberty Tire Recycling
Liberty Tire Recycling is the premier provider of tire recycling services in North America. By recycling more than 140 million tires annually, Liberty Tire reclaims about 1.5 billion pounds of rubber for innovative, eco-friendly products. The recycled rubber produced by Liberty Tire is used as crumb rubber and industrial feedstock for molded products; as tire-derived fuel for industrial kilns, mills and power plants; and as rubber mulch for landscaping and playgrounds. The company maintains a network of processing plants and comprehensive door-to-door collection services. For more information visit www.LibertyTire.com. ___________________________________________________________________________________________

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Famed engine builder Petty, short track star Phillips among 25 eligible

Related: Kenny Bruce on the new nominees

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Larger than life figures who built NASCAR lap by lap and bolt by bolt from the post-World War II era into the 21st century comprise the 25 nominees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2014. 

NASCAR today announced those 25 nominees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s fifth induction class, and included among the diverse group are five newcomers whose achievements are cornerstones of the sport’s origins and continue to fuel its growth in contemporary times.

Of the 25 nominees, 20 return from last year’s group. Five are first-timers with varying backgrounds in the sport: second generation NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion Dale Jarrett; Maurice Petty, the chief engine builder for Petty Enterprises for more than three decades; five-time NASCAR weekly series national champion Larry Phillips; race track builder and owner Bruton Smith; and 1960 NASCAR premier series champion Rex White.

From that list, five inductees will be elected by the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel, which includes a nationwide fan vote on NASCAR.COM. Voting Day for the 2014 class will be May 22. Fans can attend the announcement at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. 

This round of nominees was selected by a 21-person nominating committee consisting of representatives from NASCAR, the NASCAR Hall of Fame and track owners from both major facilities and historic short tracks. The committee’s votes were tabulated by accounting firm Ernst & Young.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame’s 2014 inductees will be determined by a 54-member Voting Panel, which includes the entire Nominating Committee, media members, manufacturer representatives, retired competitors (drivers, owners and crew chiefs) and recognized industry leaders. In addition, the fan vote will result in the Voting Panel’s final ballot. Fan voting on NASCAR.COM opens today, April 10 and closes May 21 at noon.

Following are the 25 nominees, listed alphabetically: 

Red Byron, first NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion, in 1949

Richard Childress, 11-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series

Jerry Cook, six-time NASCAR Modified champion

H. Clay Earles, founder of Martinsville Speedway

Tim Flock, two-time NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion

Ray Fox, legendary engine builder and owner of cars driven by Buck Baker, Junior Johnson and others

Anne Bledsoe France, helped build the sport with husband Bill France Sr. Affectionately known as "Annie B.," she is the first woman to be nominated for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Rick Hendrick, 13-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series

Jack Ingram, two-time NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series champion and three-time Late Model Sportsman champion

Bobby Isaac, 1970 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion

Dale Jarrett, 1999 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion and three-time Daytona 500 winner

Fred Lorenzen, 26 wins and winner of the Daytona 500 and World 600

Raymond Parks, NASCAR’s first champion car owner

Benny Parsons, 1973 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion

Maurice Petty, chief engine builder for Petty Enterprises

Larry Phillips, only five-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion

Les Richter, former NASCAR executive; former president of Riverside International Raceway

Fireball Roberts, 33 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series wins, including the 1962 Daytona 500

T. Wayne Robertson, helped raise NASCAR popularity as R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company senior VP

Wendell Scott, NASCAR trailblazer was the first African-American NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series race winner, and first to be nominated for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Ralph Seagraves, formed groundbreaking Winston-NASCAR partnership as executive with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

O. Bruton Smith, builder of Charlotte Motor Speedway and architect of Speedway Motorsports Inc.

Curtis Turner, early personality, called the "Babe Ruth of stock car racing"

Joe Weatherly, two-time NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion

Rex White, 1960 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion

Detailed information about the 25 nominees is available at NASCAR.COM  and NASCARMedia.com, NASCAR’s media-only website.

The 21-person Nominating Committee follows…

NOMINATING COMMITTEE 

NASCAR Hall of Fame: Executive Director Winston Kelley; Historian Buz McKim.

NASCAR Officials: Chairman/CEO Brian France; Vice Chairman Jim France; President Mike Helton; Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton; Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Steve O’Donnell; Competition Administrator Jerry Cook; former Senior Vice President Paul Brooks; former Vice President Ken Clapp.

Track Owners/Operators: International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa Kennedy; Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell; Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage; Atlanta Motor Speedway President Ed Clark; former Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George; Dover Motorsports CEO Denis McGlynn; Pocono Raceway board of director member Looie McNally; Bowman Gray Stadium operator Dale Pinilis; Riverhead Raceway operators Jim and Barbara Cromarty (1 vote); Rockford Speedway owner Jody Deery; Kingsport Speedway Operator Robert Pressley.


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Driver helps promote 811 “Call Before You Dig” national hotline, progress of highway 114 construction project

Video: Logano operates a hydraulic excavator

The Highway 114 Construction Project continued its progress Wednesday with the help of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano as part of his kickoff of National Safe Digging Month.

Logano took a break from his 3,300-pound stock car and jumped behind the wheel of a 125,000-pound CAT hydraulic excavator along a stretch of the Highway 114 Project to demonstrate the importance of safe digging.

“That’s cool to be able to use a big earth mover like that to pick up a bunch of dirt,” Logano said. “I really didn’t know what I was doing, but I was playing around like a kid in a candy store. I can do that all day. It was pretty fun.”

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Logano’s ceremonial dig will be the only work that will be done on the Highway 114 Project during this weekend’s NRA 500 NASCAR doubleheader at Texas Motor Speedway. The Texas Department of Transportation and contractor Mario Sinacola & Sons Excavating have halted construction, leaving all lanes along the key stretch of Highway 114 running past TMS fully open to fans during the race week.

The Highway 114 construction project targets the stretch of highway west of I-35W and covers the road east of FM 156, including a key segment in front of TMS. The project, aimed at expanding a two-lane road to a four-lane frontage road, will help improve traffic flow with increased capacity. The $15.3 million project will make the commute easier for both race fans and residents around TMS.

The Highway 114 Project will not be the only construction on hold this weekend to ensure a smooth commute for race fans. The DFW Connector Project also will halt construction ensuring there will be no lane closures this weekend.

The Highway 114 Project is part of a transformation that will ultimately improve traffic year-round around TMS.

“The people are going to notice a smoother flow of traffic for race week,” Texas Department of Transportation Public Information Officer Michelle Releford said about completion of the project. “This area has grown like crazy all over 114. We’ve got several projects going on right now just for 114 widening. There are tons of new subdivisions out here and businesses. Everybody else is going to know that their rush hour commute is more consistent as far as getting to work on time.”

The project is slated to be completed by late next year, but fans and residents should be seeing a noticeable difference throughout the year.

“The project is going along really well,” Releford said. “Later this year more lanes will be opened up and next year we will have traffic on all the new lanes.”

Logano’s effort to help celebrate National Safe Digging Month is part of Shell’s partnership with Common Ground Alliance to raise awareness for 811, the national “Call Before You Dig” hotline. With one easy phone call to 811, the process begins of getting underground utility lines marked. Local One Call Center personnel will then notify affected utility companies, who will send crews to mark underground lines for free. The move saves time and eliminates the risk of damaging utility lines.

“You don’t want to be that guy,” Logano said. “It’s easy, it’s simple. They do it for you. Just so you don’t make all your neighbors mad at you. It’s a simple thing to do. It’s kind of a no-brainer in my eyes to do it.”

Tickets for the NASCAR doubleheader featuring Friday evening’s Nationwide Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 and Saturday night’s NRA 500 are available by calling (817) 215-8500 or by visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com. 


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RCR driver gets taste of history in Meals on Wheels program

Austin Dillon‘s rank near the top of the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings this season hasn’t been a stunning development. But the 22-year-old driver had surprises of his own in store for Fort Worth-area residents Tuesday.

Dillon made unannounced stops to Tarrant County, Texas, residents through the Meals on Wheels program using Texas Motor Speedway‘s Chevrolet Camaro pace car for Friday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300. After providing home-delivered meals to two families, his third delivery stop was at the home of Jim McElreath, a former USAC and driver who opened his garage of vintage cars and memorabilia.

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"Any time you meet a guy that has so much history of racing, it’s awesome," Dillon said. "I’m a big fan of the history and how it’s progressed over time, but still the same core values are there."

McElreath, the 1962 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, also savored the experience.

"It was great to talk racing with Austin because he has a bright future," said McElreath, 85. "Any time I get to share my love of racing with a fellow driver, it’s a good day."

The rest of Dillon’s day involved deliveries to Dick and Marian Atkins, the former a retired Air Force colonel, and Rick Atkins, a former sprint car driver. The county chapter of Meals on Wheels, which began in 1973, helps more than 4,000 elderly and disabled homebound residents each year.

Dillon, the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, will be doing double duty at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth track this weekend. He’ll campaign his usual ride, the No. 3 Chevrolet from Richard Childress Racing, in Friday’s Nationwide event, then will jump to James Finch’s No. 51 Phoenix Racing entry for Saturday’s Sprint Cup Series race.

The underdog No. 51 team has used three drivers in six Sprint Cup races this season with admirable results; Phoenix Racing sits 11th in the series’ car owner points after last weekend’s event at Martinsville Speedway.

"The No. 51 team and James Finch have put a lot of effort into it this year, and they do every year," said Dillon, whose fifth career Sprint Cup start Saturday night will be his second effort for Finch. "I think the best thing about this year is that they’ve been rewarded with some great finishes. I think we can get in there this weekend at a track that I run pretty good at and have a good finish."

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Take a look back at the race and track history with some noteworthy numbers

0.028    seconds, the margin of victory when Elliott Sadler beat Kasey Kahne to the checkered flag (April 4, 2004), the closest since the advent of electronic scoring.

1    Cup driver has won with two different manufacturers (Jeff Burton — 1997 with Ford, 2007 with Chevrolet).

1.5    miles, the track length.

3    is the starting position to produce the most wins (four).

4    drivers have made all 24 starts in the history of the race (Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Burton and Mark Martin).

5   degrees of banking on the frontstretch and backstretch.

8.842    best average starting position, Jimmie Johnson (only active driver with an average starting position in the top 10).

9    drivers from Texas have won at least one race in NASCAR’s three national series (Terry Labonte, Bobby Labonte, A.J. Foyt, Billy Wade, Bobby Hillin Jr., Johnny Rutherford, James Buescher, David Starr and Colin Braun).

9.4    is the best average running position (Matt Kenseth).

16    is the number of races Jeff Gordon participated in before winning (Spring 2009), the longest span of any of the 14 active Cup winners.

17    drivers have poles at Texas (Dale Earnhardt Jr., Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr. all have two).

20    races have been run without Kevin Harvick posting a DNF.

23    is the age of the youngest pole winner (Brian Vickers at 23 years, 0 months, 12 days on Nov. 5, 2006).

24    degrees of banking in the turns.

25    is the age of the youngest winner (Newman, at 25 years, 3 months, 22 days on March 30, 2003).

31    is the deepest in the field that a race-winner has started (Kenseth in 2002).

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33    Cup races have been held in Texas (Texas Motor Speedway; Meyer Speedway; Texas World Speedway).

44    is the age of the oldest winner (Dale Jarrett at 44 years, 4 months, 6 days on April 1, 2001).

46    is the age of the oldest pole winner (Bill Elliott at 46 years, 6 months, 0 days on April 8, 2002).

79    drivers have called Texas home.

99    is the only car number to produce three or more wins (Burton — 1997; Carl Edwards — 2005 sweep, 2008 sweep).

106.6    Matt Kenseth’s driver rating at Texas, a series best.

129    drivers have competed in at least one Cup race.

196.235    miles per hour is the track qualifying record set by Vickers on Nov. 3, 2006 (27.518 seconds).

334    laps (500 miles) is the length of the race.

455    is the number of fastest laps run by Greg Biffle, a series high.

677    is the highest number of quality passes, held by Earnhardt Jr.

772    laps have been led by Kenseth, the most by any driver (21 starts).

1,330    feet is the length of the backstretch.

1995    construction began on Texas Motor Speedway.

1997    the year the first races were held (April 5 — Nationwide, winner: Martin; April 6 — Cup, winner: Burton).

2011    was the first night race when the Sunday race was moved to Saturday night.

2,250    feet is the length of the frontstretch.

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