Enter Article Subhead
"Enter Quotes here "
—Author name
Enter Aticle’s Bottom Body
Class of 2013 inductee expresses thanks, soaks in sights and sounds
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The broad smile that seemed to stick with Leonard Wood throughout the NASCAR Hall of Fame weekend ceremonies grew even wider Sunday morning. That’s when the 2013 inductee strolled up to see the granite marker engraved with his signature for the first time.
"Oh, my goodness," Wood said softly in his trademark southern Virginia drawl. He stopped, then silently shook his head, speechless in a weekend full of them.
NASCAR Acceleration Weekend drew to a close Sunday with a touching benediction near the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s ceremonial plaza. One by one, each member of the Hall’s fourth class was represented, from Rusty Wallace’s unbridled excitement to the emotion of Cotton Owens’ extended family, who teared up at the sight of their patriarch’s signature etched into the granite just eight months after his death.
HONORING NASCAR LEGENDS
• Wallace had to persevere
• To family, Owens was ‘pop’
• Class full of stock car titans
• Wood’s replica comes to life
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS
• One-on-one with Rusty Wallace
• One-on-one with Leonard Wood
VIDEO COVERAGE
• Wallace comes full circle
• Owens’ grandson accepts award
• Honoring Herb Thomas
• Wood’s acceptance speech
• Buck Baker remembered
VIDEO: FAMILIES REACT
• Herb Thomas
• Cotton Owens
• Buck Baker
Wood’s response was one of pure marvel.
"It’s hard to realize just how special this weekend has been," Wood said. "So much honor and excitement the way the people have responded, and the Hall of Fame personnel have just been so nice. They’re all the ones that have made it even more special."
The best touch of all might have been the strategic placement of the permanent tribute, catty-corner to the monument honoring his brother Glen, part of the Hall’s class of 2012. Together, the diagonally positioned markers represent two of the most enduring and innovative mechanical minds that NASCAR has ever known — bonds born from family roots, forged by oil, tools and grime — now immortalized in stone.
Leonard Wood participated in the previous two Hall of Fame weekends, first helping to induct David Pearson, the winningest driver in their famed No. 21 car, then to enshrine older brother Glen, who gave the team its start in 1950. This weekend, it was Leonard’s time to let others honor him.
"I’ve been on the other side twice," he said. "… I just want to share it with the whole Wood Brothers family, all our families and the Wood Brothers racing team. Without all of them, I wouldn’t be here, so they played a big part."
Wood happily finished the morning by signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans for nearly an hour. Those fans not fortunate enough to offer a greeting in person could follow the sentimental updates from the 78-year-old’s Twitter account, where he dutifully offered thank-yous with a mix of tech savvy and old-fashioned elegance.
In contrast to the newfangled social media came a decidedly old-school note of appreciation, which arrived on the Hall of Fame’s doorstep: The sparse two-sentence memo in a stark courier font was signed by Parnelli Jones, a legend and winner in nearly all forms of motor sport.
The method of delivery: telegram. It was yet another reason for Wood to marvel.
Steve Wallace hopes for sleeker, more efficient organization
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Friday was a big night for the Wallace family, with Rusty Wallace being inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Another one will come in May, when the race team owned by the 1989 NASCAR premier-series champion returns to the track.
Rusty Wallace Racing will attempt the spring NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the first step in what the organization hopes is a 10- to 15-race slate on the circuit. RWR shut down due to sponsorship issues following the 2011 season, mothballing what had been a two-car effort that placed drivers Steve Wallace and Michael Annett in the top 10 in final points.
Annett has since moved on to Richard Petty Motorsports, while Steve Wallace started one event last season at Richmond in a car he and crew chief Blake Bainbridge prepared by themselves. It’s still a two-man show at RWR, but Steve thinks the team can learn from past mistakes and field a leaner yet still competitive effort if sponsorship comes along.
"We were just stupid with it. We spent way too much money in the wrong areas."
— Steve Wallace
“The flow of everything is so much better,” Steve said after his dad’s induction. “You can sit back, focus, pick the races you want to run. Whereas before, I never really had that opportunity. I’m way more involved in stuff than I’ve ever been. I shamelessly say that, because my head should have been in the deal a lot more hardcore then, as it is now. I’m extremely focused on this stuff, because I’ve got to be. There’s only two of us doing it.”
The closure of RWR was a wake-up call for the younger Wallace, a driver who in the past has had a reputation for being hard on equipment. To compete in the race at Richmond International Raceway last season, he and Bainbridge obtained a car from Roush Fenway Racing and prepared it themselves. Wallace learned from the experience, bringing the vehicle home in 11th place — and most importantly, with barely a scratch on it.
Now, Wallace said he and Bainbridge are working roughly 80 hours a week trying to get the scaled-down race team up and running again.
“The tower can tumble quick, and it did, and I learned a huge, valuable lesson from it, for sure,” he said. “I’m way more appreciative of all the people who have helped me in the past, and the man hours that go into stuff. I’ve always worked on my cars, always been really hands-on with everything. But just not to this extent. I’ve got my fingers crossed, and I’m hoping and praying we can get about a 10-race deal. Because I’m telling you, if I was able to come back, I know I’d be able to knock all the bad vibe of me out. I could totally change some minds.”
The Charlotte race has sponsorship from Richard Tocado Home Mortgages, and Wallace said he hopes his father’s Hall of Fame induction will help attract more backing. He added that Rusty is a daily presence in the RWR shop, which has contracted from three buildings to one.
“We had three gigantic buildings,” he said. “We were just stupid with it. We spent way too much money in the wrong areas. We had three giant race shops. We leased out a 20,000-square-foot shop on the left and about a 15,000-square-foot shop on the right. Now we’re in the center building. Dad’s office is in there, so he comes out probably 30 times a day. His head’s in it a lot more now. It’s a smaller deal, everything’s packed in there good, and the whole flow of that race shop is real good.”
If sponsorship comes through, Wallace said the team might be able to hire a few more people, but he doubts the organization would attempt more than a 15-race effort. The lessons learned from the team’s shutdown, and the shorthanded effort prior to the Richmond race last year, have not been forgotten.
“Working that hard with just two guys showed me, I’m 95 percent sure we can do this deal with a much smaller budget, less people, and the whole nine yards,” Steve Wallace said. “Because I think with the whole deal with the race team shutting down, we learned we can do a lot more with less. That was a big eye-opener.”
After waiting in line as a fan, tables turn for Brennan Newberry at NASCAR Preview
As Brennan Newberry waits in the driver’s lounge at NASCAR Preview ’13, he chats with good friend and fellow Trucks Series driver Ross Chastain and his little brother. The conversation pauses every now and then for Newberry to shake a hand and say hello to a familiar face.
Growing up in Bakersfield, Calif., Newberry admired and aspired to be like local drivers Kevin Harvick and Rick Mears. He remembers waiting in line for autographs himself. Now, he’ll have races against Harvick and he’s the one people are waiting in line to meet.
"I stood in line for Kevin Harvick before," Newberry recalled. "And so, to be there before, and just to progress to where I am now, that’s really cool. That’s something I never want to forget."
Part of NASCAR Acceleration Weekend, the preview event gives fans the opportunity to meet drivers and ask them questions at Q&A sessions. As Newberry looks around at the people bustling through the Charlotte Convention Center, he wears a mixed expression of awe and excitement.
"It’s kind of humbling to me," he said. "… All these people are here not only to see me, but also to see all the other drivers, it just shows what kind of fan following we have. It shows that these are dedicated fans."
"I’m sure kids I meet today are going to be in my shoes 10 years from now — I hope they are."
— Brennan Newberry
To Newberry, 23, a big part of that dedication comes from the relationship between drivers and fans. This is something he learned from experience, when, as a 12-year-old, he went up to Kasey Kahne in Las Vegas and started talking to him. To his surprise, it was just a regular conversation.
"From that point on, I’m like, ‘You know what? These guys are just like me,’ " Newberry said.
Mark Jackson, who waited in line with his son Matthew, 13, to meet Jeff Gordon, found their favorite driver easy to talk to.
"He’s very friendly," Mark said of Gordon. "I told him that last year we came and his session was sold out, told him that I remember when he won the 1997 Southern 500."
"I’ve been waiting for this ever since the past summer," Matthew said. "I wanted to meet (Jeff Gordon)."
A driver that Newberry has also waited in line for. And he hopes to inspire fans just as Gordon, Harvick and Kahne inspired him.
"I’m sure kids I meet today are going to be in my shoes 10 years from now — I hope they are," he said.
Kids like Colton McLean, who hopes to be in a pit crew one day and got his garage box — a shoebox cut to look like a garage — signed by Kyle Busch. Or Ethan Edwards, who came to the NASCAR Preview to see his hero, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and hopes to be a driver someday himself.
"He’s met (Dale Jr.) before and he was real friendly to him, and signed everything and talked to him for a little bit," Ethan’s mom, Amy Edwards, said. Ethan, 11, received a go-kart for Christmas.
As kids and adults alike pass through the autograph line, Newberry wears a smile just as big as those he hands an autograph. Maybe because it’s his birthday, or maybe because he just enjoys meeting fans.
"Besides the race, besides being able to do that and besides enjoy my passion, the biggest thing that I like is actually getting to know my fans," he said. "The autograph sessions are probably the most relaxing time for me."
He certainly got a lot of relaxation, then, after signing his name for an seemingly endless line of fans, standing in front of his chair the entire time. The fact that Harvick signed autographs for the same crowd in the same location just hours before was an added bonus.
READ MORE:
|
READ: Danica on
|
WATCH: Johnson
|
READ: Sprint Unlimited
|
READ: History of The
|
|---|
Artist, Hall of Famer team up for unveiling of NASCAR Day pin
Fans from all over flocked to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., this weekend as the sport officially kicked off the 2013 race season during NASCAR Acceleration Weekend. One of the many anticipated events taking place in Uptown Charlotte was a special appearance by NASCAR’s first officially licensed artist, Sam Bass.
“It was a lot of fun to do this,” Bass said. “It’s always a big honor to design anything for NASCAR and the NASCAR Foundation is something I really believe in as well. They do a lot of good work and support a lot of good causes.”
Bass unveiled the 2013 NASCAR Day pin with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace. The 10th annual NASCAR Day is scheduled for May 17, and this is the second time Bass has been asked to design the pin that signifies NASCAR’s day of giving back. Proceeds from sales of the pins will go toward the NASCAR Unites initiative and the NASCAR Foundation.
"Everybody knows that the NASCAR Foundation is something very, very near and dear to my heart."
–Rusty Wallace
“I’ve had the good fortune to design and work with Rusty from 1990 to 2005,” Bass said.
The artist was also in attendance for Friday night’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, at which Wallace was honored, along with Leonard Wood, Cotton Owens, Herb Thomas and Buck Baker.
“It was a big night,” said Wallace. “I looked out in that audience and saw so many people I haven’t seen in a long time, some huge names, some real icons of the sport and it was real moving. It was something that I’ve never experienced in my life.”
Wallace has been a key benefactor of the NASCAR Foundation during his career, recently raising nearly $17,000 to support children.
“Everybody knows that the NASCAR Foundation is something very, very near and dear to my heart,” said the 2013 Hall of Famer.
NASCAR Day will be held on the same day as the NC Education Lottery 200 Camping World Truck Series race. Series driver Dakoda Armstrong will be one of the lucky few to be racing on NASCAR Day, something the 21-year-old driver knows is an honor.
“It’s very cool (to race on NASCAR Day) and for it to be the 10th celebration is even cooler. I’m very happy and privileged to do what I do,” said Armstrong. “There’s been so much with switching up stuff (for me) and new teams, everything just came together and so hopefully everyone will come out and support the NASCAR Foundation and buy their pins.”
Armstrong will be running the full 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Turn One Racing in an alliance with Richard Childress Racing. He’ll also be behind the wheel of the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro in a limited Nationwide Series schedule.
Indiana couple goes to great lengths to be first in line for second annual festival
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — You have to get up pretty early in the morning to beat the Stevens family of Pierceton, Ind., to the front of the line. Not only that, you might have to use a few tanks of gas.
The husband-wife team of Sue and Michael Stevens made their second straight trek to the NASCAR Preview portion of Acceleration Weekend on Saturday, but that journey actually started more than 48 hours before the doors swung wide open at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
By their estimate, the couple drove some 700 miles over 12 hours after leaving their Hoosier State home at 4:10 a.m. That put them front and center under the NASCAR Hall’s video board in a steady rain at 4 p.m. Thursday, at the head of the line for wristbands to driver autograph sessions.
The Stevenses acquired Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s signature last year after four years of autograph hunting. This year’s wish list? Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick.
"It’s kind of a hobby for me," said Michael Stevens, an avid collector of die-cast model cars.
Both fans are no strangers to NASCAR-themed road trips, making the five-hour round trip to Michigan International Speedway on an annual basis. They said making the several-hundred-mile jump to Charlotte was worth it for a chance to casually interact away from the track with their favorite drivers, who haven’t had much downtime in an offseason full of testing the new Gen-6 Sprint Cup cars and other obligations.
"I think it’s fantastic that the drivers are coming out and doing this for the fans," Michael said. "We know they’re busy."
Drive for Diversity grad to join Kyle Busch Motorsports
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Darrell Wallace Jr., a six-time winner in NASCAR’s K&N Pro East Series, will run a full Camping World Truck Series schedule in 2013 for Kyle Busch Motorsports through an affiliation with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Team officials made the announcement Feb. 9 during Acceleration Weekend activities at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Wallace, 20, has participated in NASCAR’s Drive For Diversity program and is a development driver for JGR.
In addition to his experience in the K&N Series, Wallace made four starts in the Nationwide Series last year for the Gibbs organization, scoring three top-10s.
"I think it can be a great year."
— Darrell Wallace Jr.
“I’ve always wanted to run a truck more than anything, to be honest with you,” Wallace said. “They look awesome out there on the track and put on great races.
“This was a good path for me; running trucks for a full season and then seeing what happens is the way to go. I think it can be a great year.”
Wallace will drive the No. 54 truck, one of three full-time KBM entries scheduled for 2013. Joey Coulter will also compete in the series for the team this year.
Veteran crew chief Jerry Baxter, who guided Cale Gale to a win in the final NCWTS race of 2012, will be Wallace’s crew chief. Gale pinched Busch into the wall coming to the checkered flag in the season-ending race to score his first win in the series.
“Kyle told me he was working really hard to get Jerry,” Wallace said. “When he told me that, I kind of replayed the end of the truck race at Homestead last year and I was like, ‘I hope you’re not mad at him still.’”
JGR President J.D. Gibbs said Wallace “did a great job” for the organization in his limited Nationwide starts, but with the addition of Elliott Sadler and Brian Vickers to the NNS program, along with scheduled starts for Cup teammates Busch and Matt Kenseth, there wasn’t an opening for Wallace to compete full-time in that series.
“And I do think there is a value in the truck series,” Gibbs said. “Darrell can gain some experience, gain some wisdom that would really be hard to do in the Nationwide Series.
“We’ve been doing this for a while now. What you’re looking for … is just that spark. You don’t ask them to go out there and dominate, go crazy and tear stuff up, but at the same time you want to see that spark. … We wouldn’t be doing all this work if he didn’t have that. He does have that.”
Because Wallace hasn’t raced on a track larger than one mile, he will compete for Venturini Motorsports in the ARCA event at Daytona in order to be cleared for in the season-opening Truck race on the 2.5-mile track.
Wallace recently tested at Talladega with the Venturini team in preparation for the Daytona ARCA event.
“I drove Frank Kimmel’s car down there, his backup car, and he drove it for a couple of laps,” Wallace said. “I came in after a couple of laps and he said, ‘Well you went faster than me. That ain’t going to happen,’ so he got back out there and tried to beat me. … It was a cool experience. I think we’ll be OK. I’ve got to keep telling myself to not lift (off the accelerator) and I think we’ll be alright.”
Wallace said he hopes to make some Nationwide starts for JGR, and will likely run his Late Model when the schedule allows. As of now, he said he plans to compete at Richmond and Rockingham (twice) in the Late Model ride.
He will be seeing many of the tracks on the Truck Series schedule for the first time, including Eldora Speedway, a half-mile dirt track in Rossburg, Ohio.
“That will be wild,” Wallace said, noting that he has virtually no experience on dirt.
“Well, I ran one,” he said. “This is not on my resume. I ran one go-kart race on dirt and I finished second. But there were only two karts, and the winner was a girl. That was a long race.”