Posted on by Holly Cain

Founder of FUBU discusses NASCAR, his ABC colleagues

Daymond John, founder of FUBU clothing line and star of the popular ABC show “Shark Tank” gave the starting command for the Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway in March. John’s Shark Branding management company is working with Nationwide rookie Alex Bowman. He sat down with NASCAR.com to answer a few questions before the race.
 
Have you followed NASCAR?
This is my first race I’m physically at, but I’ve followed as a kid even. Growing up in New York I had the Matchbox cars.

Did you practice the starting command?
I practiced it a 100 times last night. Not really. But my voice is not always deep enough and I want to make sure I don’t sound like Chris Tucker, (in high pitch) “Gentlemen, start your engines.’’ (Laughs) So I had to practice some.
 
How did you meet Alex Bowman?
We me through mutual friends and I just started watching him, and became fascinated. I’ve worked with many, many celebrities in the past from the Kardashians to Lennox Lewis to Pitbull that have become very big and he (Bowman) has what it takes that I’ve seen in every single one of those people.

"People don’t understand how difficult it is to be a driver and they don’t know any better until you go into their living rooms in another way…"

— Daymond John

You’re a marketing genius, how would you win over more NASCAR fans with all the entertainment options out there?
It’s challenging because there are so many options. But I think first of all, the easiest thing to sell is the truth and this is a huge sport — fan-friendly, it’s brand-friendly, everything is there. As you move NASCAR into more popular culture with social media and shows that depict it properly that’s what we’ll see. People don’t understand how difficult it is to be a driver and they don’t know any better until you go into their living rooms in another way they don’t expect you to. It’s kind of like Shark Tank. You’d think people don’t want to see some old business guys negotiating but now kids want to be a Shark as much as they want to be Lebron James because it came into someone’s living room another way.
 
Any possibility FUBU comes as a sponsor to NASCAR?
We license FUBU overseas, but we will have some of my other brands out there. I am going to my associates whom I’ve known the last 20 years and who didn’t understand the sport and I’m going to say, ‘This kid (Bowman) is it.’ I’ve been here and invested my time and energy. I’m going to bring some attention here that traditionally might not have come here.
 
If the cast of Shark Tank were to suit up and climb behind the wheels of race cars, who wins?
In order from worst to first would probably be Barbara (Corcoran). She’s a little dizzy so she would probably wreck the car immediately. Lori (Greiner) would be too busy arguing with her pit crew. Kevin O’Leary, unless he had a dollar in front of the car for him to chase, he wouldn’t be driving it. (Mark) Cuban’s too big to fit in a car. So it would be against Robert (Herjavec) and I, and because Robert already races in the Ferrari Series, I’d have to say he’d win because he has the cool hair and already looks like a race car driver.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by

Historic Event To Offer Unique Qualifying, Race Procedures

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR announced today the qualifying and race procedures for the inaugural “Mudsummer Classic” — the highly anticipated NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway on Wednesday, July 24. Unlike asphalt tracks, dirt tracks have historically used a format much different than typical races and that will be the case for this event, the first NASCAR national series race held on dirt in more than 40 years.

The race will feature a traditional two-lap qualifying session, five qualifying races, one last-chance race and a champion’s provisional to determine the 30-truck starting field. The top-20 in owners’ points entering the race event will have a guaranteed starting position.

Here are additional details for each round of qualifying:

Qualifying

Two-lap qualifying determines starting position for the qualifying races 

"We look forward to putting on a great show at this unique venue."

— Chad Little, Camping World Truck Series director

Qualifying Races

·    Five qualifying races
     o   Eight laps each; only green flag laps count
     o   Five trucks transfer from each qualifying race

·    Lineup for the qualifying races will be based on qualifying speeds with four locked-in trucks (trucks in the top 20)

·    The top-five trucks in qualifying will start on the pole for their respective qualifying race

·    Highest finishing non-locked-in truck will transfer to race from each qualifying race

·    At the completion of the qualifying races, 25 trucks will have earned spots into the feature.


Last Chance Race

·    15 laps; only green flag laps count
·    The top-four finishers will transfer to the feature and start in positions 26-29
·    The lineup will be based on the finish from the qualifying races

Starting position No. 30 will go to the most recent past series champion who has not already qualified. If the 30th starting position is not filled by an eligible champion, it will be assigned to the next highest finishing truck in the Last Chance Race.

“NASCAR and Eldora Speedway have collectively worked together to come up with a format that embraces the history of dirt track racing while also ensuring that full-time competitors have an opportunity to be a part of this special event,” said Chad Little, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series director. “This will also add an exciting element for the fans and we look forward to putting on a great show at this unique venue.”

The race length and format are also new for the series. The race will be 150 laps divided into three segments. The segments will be 60, 50 and 40 laps.

There will be pit stops between each segment, with teams having the opportunity to change tires and work on their trucks.

More details on the event schedule will be released later this spring.

The “Mudsummer Classic” will be the first NASCAR national touring series event held on dirt since NASCAR’s premiere series competed on September 30, 1970 in Raleigh, N.C. Richard Petty won the Home State 200 at the one-mile State Fairgrounds Speedway.


 ___________________________________________________________________________________________


Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by Staff Report

JGR teammate will drive No. 11 in race to benefit Denny Hamlin Cystic Fibrosis Research Lab

Denny Hamlin won’t compete in the charity race at Richmond International Raceway that bears his name, so he’s turning his seat over to a teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing.

RIR announced Tuesday that Matt Kenseth would drive the host’s car in the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown set for April 25 at the .75-mile track. The event serves as a fundraiser for the Denny Hamlin Cystic Fibrosis Research Lab at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU.

"… I know that it won’t be easy for (Hamlin) to sit out his own charity race."

— Matt Kenseth

Hamlin is out six weeks with a compression fracture in a vertebra suffered in a final-lap crash at Auto Club Speedway on March 24. He’s not expected to return until May 11 at Darlington at the earliest, though he told reporters last week that he hoped to come back two weeks earlier to compete on his hometown track. While that’s still uncertain, his charity event is a definite no-go.

“Obviously, it kills me to not be able to race in the Short Track Showdown,” Hamlin said in a statement. “I grew up racing these cars against some of the best in the area, and it’s always fun to come back and do it again, but my injury won’t allow that this year. Matt has been a great teammate since coming to Joe Gibbs Racing, and I have to thank him for stepping in for me in this race. There’s a great list of drivers in this year’s field, and I know they’ll put on an awesome show for the fans at RIR.”

Kenseth, who moved from Roush Racing to JGR prior to this season, has been among the drivers most active in checking up on his injured teammate’s condition.

“I’m honored that Denny asked me to fill his seat at his annual Short Track Showdown,” Kenseth said. “It’s a good event for a great cause and I know that it won’t be easy for him to sit out his own charity race. We’ll have a good time raising some money for the Denny Hamlin Foundation. I just hope some of Denny’s magic at Richmond comes with the number on the side of the car.”

Kenseth will be joined by a number of NASCAR stars who will mix it up with area late model drivers. Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Michael Waltrip, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Trevor Bayne, Regan Smith, Darrell Wallace Jr. and Kyle Larson are all scheduled to compete — as is C.E. Falk, a late model driver and special invitee whom Larson turned on the final lap of a Battle at the Beach event at Daytona.

The event kicks off a weekend that includes a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race on the same night, as well as a NASCAR Nationwide Series event on Friday, April 26, and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Saturday, April 27.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by Staff Report

Driver makes announcement on Twitter

MORE: Johnson wins for eighth time at Martinsville

Five-Time is about to become a father for the second time.

Jimmie Johnson announced via Twitter on Tuesday morning that he and his wife Chandra are expecting a second daughter. The Johnsons have one daughter, Genevieve, who will turn 3 in July.

"We are so happy to share the news that we’re having another baby in September," the five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion wrote in a post. "Genevieve is so excited to be a big sister!"

Johnson announced the family’s news two days after winning the STP Gas Booster 500 at Martinsville Speedway, his eighth career victory at the track.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by Nascar

Goodyear officials will conduct a two-day tire test at Daytona International Speedway April 16-17

Goodyear officials will conduct a two-day tire test at Daytona International Speedway April 16-17, with 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams tentatively scheduled to attend. 

According to a release from track officials, Kasey Kahne and Regan Smith (Hendrick Motorsports), Danica Patrick (Stewart-Haas Racing), Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing), Jamie McMurray (Earnhardt Ganassi Racing), Trevor Bayne (Wood Brothers Racing), Austin Dillon (Circle Sport) will participate in the test. Joe Gibbs Racing is also expected to attend, although no driver was named to represent the organization.

Teams will test under the lights on April 16, taking to the track from 5-10 p.m. The following day, testing will be conducted from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Although NASCAR teams competed at the 2.5-mile track earlier this year with no issues, Goodyear’s Greg Stucker said at the time that the tire supplier is always looking ahead and seeking out ways to improve its on-track product.

“We had a couple of other things we wanted to try and implement, try and work into the recommendation (for Daytona),” he said prior to this year’s Daytona 500. “But we always like to do that with some racing under our belt before we come to the Daytona 500.

“So we would come (back) here, evaluate some of those things, see if some of those made sense on a superspeedway.”

If that’s the case, he said, the changes could be implemented for either the July race in Daytona or the fall stop at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway before returning to Daytona in February of 2014. 

The same tire package is used at the two tracks.

Officials have also tentatively scheduled tire tests for Indianapolis (April 30-May 1) as well as New Hampshire Motor Speedway (May 14-15).

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by Nascar

Pit stall selection expected to be determined by qualifying results

The annual pit crew competition that has served as one of the opening events for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race week activities will not be held this year.

“While we remain committed to the continuation of the unique competition that the pit crew challenge offers our teams and our fans, it will not be held this year,” NASCAR spokesperson Kerry Tharp said April 9.

Tharp said the sanctioning body is hopeful that a “more sustainable model” for the program can be found and that “due to the circumstances, the timing was too short to stage a successful event (for 2013).”

It is hoped, he said, that the event can return as soon as next season.

The Sprint Pit Crew Competition was held at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte and sponsored by Sprint. It consisted of team and individual events, which included changing front and rear tires, fueling and jacking the car, as well as pushing the car forward in a race to the finish line.

The Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 team with driver Jimmie Johnson won last year’s competition.

The event also played an important role in the All-Star Race, with the winning pit crew earning the first choice of pit stalls for the upcoming race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

"While we remain committed to the continuation of the unique competition that the pit crew challenge offers our teams and our fans, it will not be held this year."

— Kerry Tharp, senior director, competition communications, NASCAR

It is expected that this year pit stall selection will be determined based on qualifying results.

In January, Sprint unveiled The Sprint Unlimited, taking over sponsorship of what had been the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. As a result, funding of the pit crew challenge would not continue.

“The pit crews are vital to the success of the sport and (event promoter) JHE has done a phenomenal job with the pit crew challenge,” Sprint’s Kimberly Meesters said at the time. “We are proud of the investment we made in the event in the past several years but it was time for us to explore (other) opportunities.”

The event has been around in different forms since 1967 when it was held at Rockingham (N.C) Speedway and consisted solely of a two-tire change.

Known as the Unocal 76 World Pit Crew Championship, it remained at Rockingham through the 2003 season.

There was no event in 2004; then two separate competitions in 2005.

The National Pit Crew Championship Powered by Tyson was held May 9, 2005 and won by the No. 97 Roush Racing team with driver Kurt Busch.

The Nextel Pit Crew Challenge, the forerunner of the Sprint event, was held May 19 at the Charlotte Coliseum. Evernham Motorsports’ No. 9 team and driver Kasey Kahne were the winners.

Former Cup crew chief Larry McReynolds, now a commentator for NASCAR coverage with FOX and SPEED, helped put together the National Pit Crew Championship, held in Mooresville, N.C.

“It was a big undertaking,” McReynolds said earlier this season. “At that point, there was two different groups doing the same thing and neither one of us knew the other was doing it.

“It was successful, but it didn’t make sense to do two. Had Sprint and NASCAR not gotten together and done one, we would have likely continued. But it was a huge project, a big undertaking and very expensive. Fortunately Tyson stepped in and supported us that one year.” 

McReynolds, crew chief of the winning team in 1998, understands how much the event means to those who go over the wall on a weekly basis.

“Even though to some degree the spotlight is on these guys every single time that car comes down pit road, normally … the spotlight’s only on them if they screw up,” he said. “This is the time it is on them and on them only.

“It’s not about the $70,000. Sure each of those guys getting $10,000 is huge, but you know what? It’s getting that (winner’s) ring, it’s getting that jacket, it’s walking into that race track the next week or the next day and people saying ‘congratulations.’ There are 36 races … but there is only one pit crew competition a year and it’s 100 percent non-driver related.”


___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by Nascar

Hendrick, Childress among nine who could be up for consideration again

They have been a part of 23 championships and more than 450 victories as either a driver or team owner in NASCAR’s premier series. 

Their names have been among the 25 candidates for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame since the very beginning.

Nine men. A lot of hard work and a lot of hardware.

Each name, however, has yet to be called when the list of five has been announced for induction into the NASCAR shrine.

This year’s list of nominees will be announced Wednesday (SPEED, 6 p.m.). While there are no guarantees their names will appear once more, it’s likely that these nine will be among those announced, put forth once again for consideration:

"There’s Fireball (Roberts) and (Joe) Weatherly and Tim Flock, Red Byron and Raymond Parks. … That’s five really, really old-timers."

— Glen Wood, 2012 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee

• Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick continue to push forward in the sport, successful team owners that field competitive teams and contend for championships.

• Atlanta businessman Raymond Parks, credited with helping fund the fledgling NASCAR series in its infancy, was the sport’s first “Strictly Stock” championship-winning car owner.

• Red Byron suffered a serious leg injury when the plane he was aboard was hit during World War II. Already a standout racer before the war, Byron returned, recovered and won the series’ first driving title while competing for Parks.

• Tim Flock and Joe Weatherly are the only two eligible candidates with multiple championships not currently in the Hall of Fame. Flock won titles in 1952 and ’55; Weatherly in ’62-63. Each driver won more than two dozen races.

• Driver Benny Parsons won the 1973 Cup championship and finished his career with 21 victories, including the 1975 Daytona 500. After retiring as a driver, Parsons became a well-known figure in the broadcast booth.

• Glen “Fireball” Roberts and Curtis Turner were two of the sport’s early stars. Turner scored 17 career victories, dominating races on both dirt and asphalt, and counts the 1956 Southern 500 at Darlington among his wins. He was also instrumental in the building of Charlotte Motor Speedway. Roberts tasted victory 33 times. He won at Darlington, captured the 1962 Daytona 500 and finished fifth or higher in points on three occasions.

Glen Wood, founder of Wood Brothers Racing and a member of the 2012 Hall of Fame class, was drawn to racing by the likes of Turner.

“Anybody that ever saw him racing on the beach (at Daytona), and saw him coming down into the North Turn sideways for what seemed like a quarter of a mile down the track,” Wood said, “it was just like a wave coming in.

“He was just as good as they come. I never saw anybody do that as well as him on the sand and I saw a lot of races there.”

Wood says there are a lot of “old-timers” on the list and deserving of recognition. Whether they will eventually go in — or when they might — is difficult to determine, he said.

“There’s Fireball and Weatherly and Tim Flock, Red Byron and Raymond Parks. … That’s five really, really old-timers. All five of them should get in. But they may or may not.”

Wood said he was content just to be counted among those worthy of consideration. To actually be inducted wasn’t something he had considered.

“I told somebody when they first came out with the first 25 (nominees) and I was one of them, that I was happy if I never got inducted,” he said. “That was a great honor to be nominated, especially in the first bunch. I would have been satisfied with it.”

Richard Petty, NASCAR’s leading winner and one of only two drivers to capture seven championships as a driver, said he thinks it is important that those who helped build the sport aren’t forgotten.

Accomplishments on the track are crucial, he said, citing championships and particular victories as sufficient credentials for consideration, if not induction.

“Like Daytona, for instance,” Petty said. “Even if someone gets lucky there, it doesn’t make any difference. It’s such a big event.

“Winning a championship is a big deal. You beat everybody. No matter what the circumstances were.

“Guys like Weatherly and Tim Flock, they accomplished a lot in their time. At the same time, you had guys like Parks who was instrumental … I don’t know how you mix that up.”

The names of the five inductees for the Class of 2014 will be announced May 22.

Until then, it’s likely that those nine from the original roster will be left to wonder once again if this is the year their names will be called.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by

Patrick was not merely a footnote as first female driver to run Cup race at Martinsville

Read more: Danica’s Martinsville debut

By Jove, I think she’s got it. 

You could almost hear Professor Henry Higgins’ exclamation from "My Fair Lady" echoing around the grandstands at Martinsville Speedway, as Danica Patrick fought for position.

To those watching Sunday’s STP Gas Booster 500, it was abundantly clear that Patrick had found the rhythm of the .526-mile short track, one of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series‘ most difficult to master.

Consider the following:

Race winner Jimmie Johnson, who claimed his eighth grandfather clock trophy on Sunday, finished 35th in his 2002 Martinsville debut.

Three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart ran 20th the first time he attempted a Cup race at Martinsville. 

Ryan Newman, who won last year’s spring race, came home 41st in his first Martinsville Cup race.

Juan Pablo Montoya, who like Patrick came to Cup racing from an open-wheel background, was 16th in his first try at ‘The Paper Clip.’

Short-track ace Kyle Busch was 39th in his Martinsville debut. Brother Kurt Busch was only slightly better — 37th. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 26th, Carl Edwards 24th, Kevin Harvick 34th, Clint Bowyer 22nd, Kasey Kahne 21st and Matt Kenseth 21st, respectively, when they made their first visits to the rural Virginia track.

The list goes on. The bottom line is that of the 42 other drivers in the field on Sunday, only two recorded higher finishes than Patrick in their first trips to Martinsville. Mark Martin ran third in 1981 and Jeff Gordon was eighth in 1993. That’s it.

For the sake of full disclosure, let’s add that Brad Keselowski and Bobby Labonte also came home 12th in their Martinsville openers. And as a footnote, sidelined Denny Hamlin, out with a compression fracture of his first lumbar vertebra, matched Gordon’s eighth-place finish when he first tackled Martinsville in 2005.

Nevertheless, Patrick’s performance left her in elite company.

Nor was it a fluke. True, Patrick had qualified 32nd after a bobble in Turn 3 on the money lap cost her precious hundredths of a second. Nevertheless, Patrick’s crew chief, Tony Gibson, expressed surprise at how quickly Patrick had adapted to a track some drivers never understand.

The winning crew chief for Newman in last year’s spring race, Gibson put a car under Patrick that could roll the center of the corners with enough drive off to complete a pass. And pass she did. Patrick started dead last in the field because of an engine change after Saturday practice.

On Lap 16, she spun in Turn 3. Before she found her rhythm, Patrick was two laps down, but taking advantage of wave-arounds during two proximate cautions, she was back on the lead lap.

Over the last 200 laps, she battled with some of the best in the business, including Stewart, her car owner, giving the boss no quarter when he was trapped in the outside lane. Patrick was the highest finisher from Stewart-Haas Racing, beating Stewart (17th) and Newman, who ran 31st after recurring tire problems (and after drawing a three-lap penalty for causing a caution by stopping on the track).

NASCAR’s loop data statistics show Patrick making 51 green-flag passes throughout the race, 17th most in the field. That number would have been higher, had Patrick not defended her position so effectively. With the exception of one late restart from the outside lane, Patrick remained in the top 20 after getting there.

Furthermore, Patrick’s pass differential (passing vs. getting passed) was plus-23, tied for third best in the field.

Patrick will admit that she felt more comfortable testing the limits of her car running 95-mph laps at Martinsville, as opposed to 190-mph laps at an intermediate downforce track. Nevertheless, her performance Sunday should be enough to make even her harshest critics reevaluate her potential in the Sprint Cup Series.

For on Sunday, Patrick was not merely a footnote as the first female driver to run a Cup race at Martinsville.

She was simply a driver, adroit and competitive, and that’s as it should be.


 

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.

Posted on by Staff Report

With just a few hours between races, this up-and-comer is ready for the challenge

Kyle Larson will pilot the No. 30 entry in the Camping World Truck Series for Turner Scott Motorsports in what’s become a double-duty weekend for the young NASCAR star.

Turner Scott announced Monday that the 20-year-old Larson would wheel the No. 30 truck Sunday at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway, two days after competing in his usual Nationwide Series ride Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. Trent Owens, crew chief for Larson’s No. 32 Nationwide car, will also be on the pit box for the Truck Series event.

In four previous Truck Series starts, Larson has recorded three top-10 finishes, including a runner-up result at Homestead last year. Larson stands seventh in Nationwide Series points after finishing second and sixth in his last two starts. Although a former sprint car driver accustomed to juggling multiple events, this will be Larson’s first double-duty weekend entirely at NASCAR’s national level.

Nelson Piquet Jr. and Ryan Truex drove Turner Scott’s No. 30 truck in the first two events of this season, with Piquet finishing 19th Saturday in Martinsville. Rockingham is where Larson was crowned K&N Pro Series East champion after a sixth-place finish on the 1-mile track in 2012. Larson’s truck will bear the colors of Autism Speaks and have the name of Owens’ 5-year-old son Gray — who is affected by the condition — over the right-side window opening.

"There’s no question in my mind he’ll excel at Rockingham Speedway, and hopefully we can run well for Autism Speaks,” team co-owner Harry Scott said of Larson. “This cause is especially important to me and the rest of Turner Scott Motorsports because it affects us so close to home with Trent Owens and his family. It’s an honor to have the opportunity to raise awareness for Autism Speaks, especially during Autism Awareness month."

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments are currently unavailable. We’re working on the development of a NASCAR fan forum – please stay tuned.