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First Squier-Hall Award Part Of Feb. 8 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A new NASCAR season is just over the horizon.

But before the engines are fired next month at Daytona International Speedway, there’s unfinished business – the celebration of those who built the foundations of the sport.

The 2013 NASCAR racing season officially begins on Friday, Feb. 8 with the induction of five legendary men into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. – NASCAR premier series champions Buck Baker, Herb Thomas and Rusty Wallace; championship car owner Cotton Owens and crew chief extraordinaire Leonard Wood.

Baker and Thomas won two championships apiece in the rough and tumble 1950s. Wallace, now an ESPN analyst, became champion in 1989 as the sport’s footprint broadened through the medium of network and cable television.

Owens supplied the cars and horsepower that carried many famous drivers into Victory Lane – and NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson to his first of three championships in 1966.

Wood, the architect of the lightning quick pit stop, follows his older brother Glen into the NASCAR Hall of Fame – a pioneer whose family has fielded winners through five generations of NASCAR Sprint Cup cars.

And – for the first time – media members who have contributed to the growth of NASCAR over more than six decades will be honored by NASCAR. This year’s induction events will feature the presentation of the first Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence – named in honor of its first recipients, pioneer NASCAR industry radio and television personalities Ken Squier and Barney Hall.

Squier and Hall’s careers have been intertwined since intersecting with the creation of the longtime Voice of NASCAR, the Motor Racing Network in 1970. Their expert observations on the sport have thrilled generations of NASCAR fans for more than 40 years and continue to do so today.

Vermont native Squier began his career as a race track public address announcer at the age of 14 and is a longtime New England radio station and track owner. Squier joined the Motor Racing Network in 1970 and for nearly two decades anchored NASCAR on CBS broadcasts before shifting to the studio as host for NASCAR broadcasts until 2000.

Squier, who called CBS’ first flag-to-flag coverage of the Daytona 500 in 1979 – and the post-race fight involving Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison – is credited with naming the event the “Great American Race.” He continues to enlighten NASCAR fans through periodic appearances on SPEED.

Hall, a native of Elkin, N.C., began his broadcast career in the 1950s working at local radio stations in North Carolina. He served as Bristol Motor Speedway’s first public address announcer when the track opened and called his first Daytona 500 in 1960 – missing only three broadcasts in the 54-year history of the classic event.

Hall joined the Motor Racing Network as an original announcer at the network’s inception in 1970, first as a turn announcer and then moving to the broadcast booth in the late 70s – from which he continues to provide word pictures for NASCAR’s many radio fans. Hall is widely known for his calm voice and unmatched story telling.

Induction of the fourth class brings the Hall of Fame’s membership to 20. Ceremonies will take place at 7:30 p.m. ET in the Crown Ball Room at the Charlotte Convention Center and will air live on SPEED. The event is the first half of NASCAR Acceleration Weekend followed on Saturday, Feb. 9 by NASCAR Preview 2013.

Appearances by members of the classes of 2010, 2011 and 2012 are set for 4 p.m. at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, followed by 5 p.m. Induction Reception and 6 p.m. NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Dinner and Jacket Presentation, the latter two events taking place in the Charlotte Convention Center Ballroom.

Tickets for the ceremonies start at $45 (available at www.nascaracceleration.com) and the NASCAR Hall of Fame box office. In addition, a $20 ticket will gain fans all-day access into NASCAR Preview 2013 and the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Fame on Saturday, Feb. 9.

More than 50 drivers across NASCAR’s three national series – NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – are scheduled to participate in the all-day NASCAR Preview 2013 event. Fans will have the opportunity to interact with drivers and secure autographs, participate in driver Q&A sessions, get a first-look at the new sixth-generation NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race cars and paint schemes and check out various interactive displays, among other activities.

Drivers include 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski, five-time premier series winner Jimmie Johnson and NASCAR’s 10-time Most Popular Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon, three-time series champion Tony Stewart, two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr., reigning NASCAR Nationwide Series most popular driver Danica Patrick, and 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion James Buescher also will be on hand.

The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season kicks off Saturday, Feb. 16 with the Shootout at Daytona, a non-points race for 2012 Coors Light Pole winners. The 55th Daytona 500 is scheduled for 1 p.m. ETC Sunday, Feb. 24 at Daytona International Speedway with coverage by FOX Sports, MRN and SIRIUSXM.

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Bold, interactive design hits cyberspace with fans in mind

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Calendars officially turned to 2013 just a few days ago, signifying for many a point of resolution – a fresh start in determining a new course of action. Like millions of its loyal fans, NASCAR took a bold step by officially flipping the switch on a brand new digital experience, highlighted by a revamped NASCAR.com. 

“As people wake up and log on to the new NASCAR.com today and every day moving forward, they will see that it was designed with one thing in mind: the fans,” said Marc Jenkins, vice president of digital media for NASCAR. “This digital experience is meant to constantly evolve based on user feedback, with the goal of a creating a better digital experience for our fans.”

On the new NASCAR.com, the excitement of NASCAR will be captured through dynamic video, big, bold imagery, interactive graphics and the latest news and in-depth analysis from a choice group of NASCAR insiders and writers. Much of the content being produced by NASCAR.com’s editorial team will be focused on the upcoming races, giving fans the opportunity to consume rich, comprehensive event information on a week-to-week basis.

“The simplified NASCAR digital platform makes for easier user navigation and maximized interaction,” said Jenkins. “And most importantly, fans will have the same digital experience no matter what type of device is being used — be it a PC, a tablet or a mobile phone.”

Across the entire digital platform, there are also plenty of options for fans to further engage in on-track action on race day. The interactive live leaderboard will provide fans with in-depth information in real-time on each driver, while the popular RaceView and RaceBuddy applications will be improved for an enhanced broadcast complement on race day. Fans will also be able to engage in NASCAR FANTASY LIVE, the official NASCAR fantasy game, which will have a brand new look and feel.

For fans heading to the racetrack, the new NASCAR.com will continue to serve as a great destination for in-depth information on NASCAR-sanctioned race tracks. From information on local attractions, track history, and most importantly, ordering race tickets, fans need to look no further than the digital home of NASCAR: NASCAR.com.

Finally, in addition to an entirely new website, NASCAR will release a pair of mobile apps before the start of the Shootout at Daytona (Feb. 16, FOX) and the Daytona 500 (Feb. 24, FOX), giving fans an unprecedented second screen experience on their tablets and mobile devices.   

•    NASCAR Mobile ’13 – This app is highlighted with content such as latest news, race leaderboard, video, social media updates, in-car audio, live data and more.
•    NASCAR RaceView Mobile ’13 – In addition to the aforementioned features, this premium app will render a virtual live race environment, giving fans the ultimate tool to follow their favorite driver in real time throughout the entire race.

NASCAR selected SapientNitro last summer to help design and build the platform for NASCAR’s new digital experience. NASCAR has also worked very closely with technology services firm Omnigon, which has acted as an advisor throughout the build.

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Youth rules at all levels of NASCAR during 2012 season

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR has a talent-laden farm system loaded with stock car racing’s future stars.

From the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to the sanctioning body’s touring divisions and on the Whelen All-American tracks, there’s a single common denominator: Lightning-fast youth.
 
The pipeline leading to the ultimate destination — the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series — figures to overflow for years to come. And from the looks of 2012, current NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors had best be ready to defend their turf and their jobs.
 
Dillon brothers lead the charge — again
Austin Dillon made history in 2011, becoming the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ youngest champion at age 22. That goal accomplished, Richard Childress, Dillon’s owner and grandfather, gave the driver an even greater challenge — a full-time opportunity in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, where he thrived in his No. 3 Chevrolet. The young competitor won twice at Kentucky Speedway, never left the top four in points and claimed Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.
 
There’s another Dillon on the horizon — Ty Dillon, and the 20-year-old is coming up fast in his older sibling’s mirror. Like Austin, Ty won NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie honors in his first full season. He also scored a victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, led the championship standings with his No. 3 Chevrolet and was on the threshold of a title as late as the waning laps at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Buescher triumphs, Piquet’s fortunes rise
A first NASCAR national series victory — not with his No. 31 Turner Motorsports Chevrolet, but in the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series opener at Daytona International Speedway — propelled James Buescher on a championship course. The 22-year-old Texan did win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series four times, including twice in Kentucky and at Kansas and Chicagoland.
 
Piquet, the one-time Formula 1 driver from Brazil, became a NASCAR star in a break-out year. Like Turner teammate Buescher, Piquet won in two series — NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series, his latter victory scored at the fabled Road America road course in Wisconsin. Piquet, 27, won at Michigan and Las Vegas en route to a seventh-place championship performance. He also led the series with four Keystone Light poles.
 
Patrick proves ready for prime time
Danica Patrick became NASCAR’s highest finishing female competitor in 2011 with a fourth-place finish at Las Vegas. She set another record for her gender as a full-time NASCAR Nationwide Series competitor in the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet during the past season — the first female to produce a top-10 finish (10th) in a national series. Patrick’s 17th-place performance at Phoenix, her last of 10 premier series starts, readied her for a NASCAR Sprint Cup rookie campaign in 2013.
 
Record number of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series first-time winners
There were nine of them in 2012, all under the age of 30, beginning with John King’s upset victory in the season-opening race at Daytona. King, 23, was participating in just his eighth series event. As noted, Buescher, Ty Dillon and Piquet also were first-time winners. They were joined by 2011 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Joey Coulter, 22, at Pocono; Cale Gale, 27, at Homestead; Parker Kligerman, 22, at Talladega; and Justin Lofton, 26, at Charlotte. Ryan Blaney became the youngest series winner at 18 years, 8 months when he captured the series’ second visit of the season to Iowa Speedway.
 
Among the season’s top-five championship finishers, only runner-up Timothy Peters is older than 22.
 
Young stars on the rise in NASCAR touring, Whelen All-American
— A year after becoming the youngest race winner and pole sitter in NASCAR K&N Pro Series West history, Dylan Kwasniewski took the big step in his sophomore season in becoming the youngest champion in the 59 years of the series. The 17-year-old Las Vegas driver won three times and posted 12 top fives in 15 races en route to taking the title by six points over teammate and defending champion Greg Pursley.
 
— Kyle Larson had never raced a stock car prior to February. That lack of experience didn’t slow down the transition for the 20-year-old open-wheel star from Elk Grove, Calif., Larson won twice — including at New Hampshire — on his way to winning the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship. He joined Joey Logano and Ryan Truex in becoming the only drivers in the series’ history to win rookie of the year and the championship in the same season. He also gave Rev Racing and NASCAR Drive for Diversity their first NASCAR touring title. Larson, an Earnhardt Ganassi Racing development driver, nearly won for Turner Motorsports in his fourth career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start.
 
— Darrell Wallace Jr. picked up his sixth career win in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East early in the year. It was a big milestone year for the 19-year-old from Concord, N.C., a graduate of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program, as he made four NASCAR Nationwide Series starts for Joe Gibbs Racing. Wallace scored three top 10s and earned his first 21 Means 21 Pole Award presented by Coors Brewing Co., at Dover. He became the first African-American driver to win a pole in the Nationwide Series.
 
— After capping 2012 by winning the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West finale at Phoenix, Ryan Blaney continued his successful progression. After rallying from a spin to finish second in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East opener at Bristol, Blaney also finished second at Iowa in a partial season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. The 18-year-old from High Point, N.C., made 13 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts and nine in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, highlighted by his breakthrough victory at Iowa.
 
— Lee Pulliam has only been racing for six seasons. But the 24-year-old from Semora, N.C., quickly rose to the top in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. Driving the asphalt Late Model divisions at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va., Kingsport (Tenn.) Speedway, Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., Southern National Raceway Park in Kenly, N.C., and South Boston (Va.) Speedway, Pulliam collected 22 wins and 30 top fives in 36 starts to win his first NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national title.
 
Other breakthrough performances

Chase Elliott, 17, became the youngest pole winner in NASCAR K&N Pro Series history and also scored his first career NASCAR win at Iowa. … Ben Kennedy, the 20-year-old grandson of Bill France Jr., earned his first NASCAR victory in the historic inaugural NASCAR oval race in Europe at Tours in France. He also finished ninth in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East points. … Ryan Preece, 22, from Berlin, Conn., had two wins and six poles and finished second in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. He also ran his Modified at weekly tracks in Connecticut and at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway, winning 14 times and finishing fifth in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national standings.

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Series again a breeding ground for future stars

For seven consecutive seasons, from 2004 through 2010, the man who raised the championship trophy at season’s end had already celebrated his 40th birthday.

But last year, Austin Dillon continued his meteoric ascent to stardom, becoming the series’ youngest champion at the age of 21 years, six months and 22 days. Graduating to the NASCAR Nationwide Series this season, Dillon ran away with the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honor.
 
And 2012? This season’s follow-up to a 2011 youth movement was yet another one — this one even more pronounced.
 
James Buescher won the title at the age of 22 years, seven months and 21 days — the second-youngest champion in series history. Buescher battled Austin’s younger brother, Ty, throughout the 2012 campaign. Ty Dillon, age 20, finished fourth in the series.
 
In fact, four of the top five final points finishers — Buescher, Dillon, Joey Coulter and Parker Kligerman — have yet to turn 23. The youth movement continues.
 
As is always the case in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, there were some outstanding performances and spectacular highlights that took place during the recently completed 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck season. The following is a look back at some of those standout performers and memorable races.

Top Drivers
James Buescher — The Lone Star State rocked, as Buescher became the first Texan to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. A winner of a series-high four races, Buescher especially excelled on the intermediate tracks. All four of his wins, including a sweep of Kentucky Speedway, came at 1.5-mile venues. This season was one of retribution for Buescher. In 2011, he failed to qualify at Phoenix, the second race of the season. Though finishing third in points, the Phoenix setback spoiled a campaign that otherwise saw Buescher chip in one championship-worthy performance after another. This season, however, he started all 22 races, stationed in the top five points for 20 of them.
 
Timothy Peters (Honorable Mention) — Peters, the oldest member of the final top five at only 32, was the picture of consistency during the 2012 season. Peters, who finished second in the championship points and never fell out of the top three, tallied two wins, 10 top fives and 16 top 10s. His personal highlight of the 2012 season came at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he turned in one of the most dominating performances in the last 15 years. There, he led all 204 laps, becoming the first driver to lead every single lap in the truck series since Ron Hornaday Jr. did it in 1997.
 
Comeback Driver of the Year
Justin Lofton – Lofton personified the “sophomore slump” phenomenon in 2011. After a solid 2010 rookie season where he scored four top fives and eight top 10s en route to a 12th place points finish, Lofton failed to score a single top-five in 2011. There was little reason to believe he’d be a factor in 2012. He shirked those beliefs, big-time. Driving for Eddie Sharp Racing, Lofton captured his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win at Charlotte and finished eighth in points. Scoring a career-high 13 top 10s, Lofton also won his first Keystone Pole Award, at Chicagoland Speedway.
 
Top Team
Red Horse Racing — It’s rare that the championship winning team wouldn’t also win the “Top Team” award in a rundown like this, but there’s good reason to give it to Red Horse Racing. Actually, there are four good reasons: Timothy Peters, Parker Kligerman, John King and Todd Bodine. All four drivers, who strapped in for owner Tom DeLoach this season, won at least one race. That has never happened in the 18-year history of the series. Better yet, the team had two legitimate championship threats in Peters and Kligerman, who finished second and fifth, respectively.
 
Turner Motorsports (Honorable Mention) — The championship-winning team won a series-high seven races in 2012, with three different drivers. Champion James Buescher won four, Nelson Piquet Jr. won two and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Kasey Kahne won the inaugural series race at Rockingham Speedway. Team owner Steve Turner accomplished all of that after coming into the 2012 season without a single victory to his credit.
 
Top Breakthrough Performance
Ty Dillon – Talk about pressure. For his rookie season, Dillon was stepping into a truck owned by his grandfather (Richard Childress) that just won the championship with his brother Austin driving, and was sporting one the sport’s most iconic numbers — the No. 3. So, it would be understandable if there were some rookie jitters. There weren’t any — at all. He opened up the season with nine consecutive top-10 finishes, and eventually took the points lead after race No. 15. He nabbed his first series win — at Atlanta — and threatened to become the first driver in series history to win the Sunoco Rookie of the Year and the championship in the same season. He came close, but a late-race wreck in the season-finale crushed any hopes of a title. Still, he did win rookie honors, easily.
 
Parker Kligerman (Honorable Mention) — Few handled adversity with the type of determination that Kligerman showed in 2012. After losing his ride with Brad Keselowski Racing midseason, Tom DeLoach offered Kligerman a job at his Red Horse Racing organization. Kligerman made DeLoach look smart, scoring eight top 10s in 11 starts including his first win (Talladega) and a fifth-place points finish.
 
Top Races
Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 16) — Five drivers entered the season finale with a mathematical chance at winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. James Buescher ended the night as champion — but it was far from a sure thing throughout the race. Ty Dillon posed the biggest threat, but his hopes evaporated after colliding with NASCAR Drive for Diversity product Kyle Larson for the lead with less than 10 laps remaining. Larson led the most laps in the event, with Cale Gale capturing his first series victory. Gale became the 16th different winner and ninth different first-time winner of the season, both series records.
 
American Ethanol 200 at Iowa Speedway (Sept. 15) – Iowa Speedway has quickly developed the reputation of providing unmatched entertainment and drama when hosting NASCAR national series event. This one was no different. The race was a battle of young guns, as Parker Kligerman and Ryan Blaney proved to be the class of the field. Kligerman led the most laps, but his hopes for a first win were dashed after a late race spin. Blaney went onto became the youngest winner in series history at 18 years, eight months and 15 days in only his third career race.

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Hornish Jr. among the most impressive drivers last season

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — With a second consecutive championship in hand, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. departs the NASCAR Nationwide Series with credentials suggesting future superstardom.

Stenhouse, who’ll join Roush Fenway Racing teammates — and past NASCAR Nationwide champions — Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle as a full-fledged NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitor in 2013, is just the sixth competitor in series history to win back-to-back titles.

The 25-year-old Olive Branch, Miss., competitor is the first to win consecutive championships since Martin Truex Jr. in 2004-05. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1998-99), Randy LaJoie (1996-97), Larry Pearson (1986-87) and Sam Ard (1983-84) are the other back-to-back champions.

Winning a NASCAR Nationwide Series championship is a special achievement, and could foreshadow future greatness. Two previous champions — Brad Keselowski and Bobby Labonte — have gone on to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup title. Nine of the past 10 champions are current NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers, of which five qualified for the 2012 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Although Stenhouse excelled, his accomplishments in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Ford weren’t sufficient to wrest owner championship honors from the No. 18 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing. With multiple drivers behind the wheel — including Joey Logano, who supplied seven victories — JGR won its fourth owner crown in the past five seasons.

Top Driver

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Hands down, Stenhouse had the season’s top resume among points-eligible competitors, championship trophy notwithstanding. He went from a two-win season in 2011 to six victories and led the points standings eight times. Stenhouse never fell out of the top three after recovering from a three-race stretch in late May-early June during which he finished 25th or worse. Five of his six victories came on intermediate tracks: Atlanta, Chicagoland, Kansas, Las Vegas and Texas. He also won for the third consecutive time at Iowa in May and posted a top-five finish on a road course (Watkins Glen) and superspeedway (Talladega).

Elliott Sadler/Joey Logano (Honorable Mention)
Sadler fought the good fight and nearly won a championship for the second consecutive year. The driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet led an amazing 25 times during the 33-race season, never ranking lower than second. He won four times. Logano, the NASCAR Sprint Cup outlier who couldn’t earn driver points but literally locked up the owner championship for Joe Gibbs Racing, won nine times in a partial season of 22 races. In his final season with JGR, Logano also led the series with six Coors Light Poles.

Comeback Driver of the Year

Sam Hornish Jr.
Here’s a guy who was without a full-time ride in 2011. And in 2012, he contended for a championship for parts of the season. Hornish’s first victory in the next-to-final race of 2011 supplied momentum that carried the former open-wheel champion to his best season in NASCAR. The Ohioan wasn’t able to repeat that Phoenix triumph but Hornish did the next best thing, driving the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge to a fourth-place championship finish. Hornish, who became a double-duty driver midseason, benefited from the extra track time recording second-place finishes at Indianapolis, Montreal and Kentucky.

Michael Annett (Honorable Mention)
The Iowan finished among the top 10 in points for the third time in four seasons but with six top-five and 17 top-10 finishes he reached the elite level — on stage at the Champion’s Awards banquet — for the first time. Though this wasn’t exactly a driver “comeback,” in the truest sense of the word, it certainly was for owner Richard Petty. Annett, driving the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, ranked fifth at season’s end, boosted by a run of eight consecutive top-10 finishes from Bristol in late August through Kansas in October. The last time owner Richard Petty had a car in the top five in the final points standings for any of the three national series was in 1983, when he drove the No. 43 to a fourth-place finish in the final NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings.

Top Team

Joe Gibbs Racing
JGR fielded a trio of entries during the 2012 season, captured the owner championship for the fourth time and posted nine victories and 28 top-five and 52 top-10 finishes. Four of its drivers — Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Truex and Darrell Wallace Jr. — accounted for nine Coors Light Poles.

Roush Fenway Racing (Honorable Mention)
With only a single full-time entry — the No. 6 of champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — Roush Fenway’s presence in the series was below recent seasons. No matter. RFR battled Joe Gibbs Racing to the final race before falling a few points short in the owner standings. Carl Edwards added a victory to Stenhouse’s exploits giving RFR seven wins overall in 2012. Stenhouse and Trevor Bayne combined for five Coors Light Poles.

Top Breakthrough Performance

Austin Dillon
Austin Dillon almost accomplished the undoable: win both the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship and the Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the same season, all following a year in which he became the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ youngest champion. It didn’t quite work out that way, although Dillon’s quest in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet went down to the final laps at Homestead. Childress’s grandson settled for rookie honors and a third-place overall ranking. He won both races at Kentucky Speedway and led the series in top-10 finishes with 27.

Danica Patrick/Cole Whitt (Honorable Mention)
JR Motorsports’ two competitors each enjoyed success in 2012. Both recorded top-10 championship finishes. Patrick’s 10th-place performance marked the first time a female competitor has finished among the overall top 10 in a NASCAR national series. She’ll move to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2013 after posting four top-10 finishes. Whitt, who finished second in Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings, placed seventh overall with four top fives and 14 top 10s. He opened the season with a fourth at Daytona, a finish he later matched at Talladega and Michigan.

Top Races

Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway (April 27)
The finish was unbelievable. Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin went door-to-door on the final lap with Busch taking the victory by 0.062 seconds. The victory was the first in the series for Kyle Busch Motorsports. The race, which featured 13 lead changes, marked the coming out party for 18-year-old Ryan Blaney, who finished seventh in his first series start.

Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway
You could say they saved the best for last, giving NASCAR Nationwide Series fans plenty on which to chew while awaiting the beginning of the 2013 season. Regan Smith drove his No. 5 Junior Motorsports Chevrolet to his first victory after a five-year absence from the series. Smith was one of 10 drivers who swapped the lead 13 times — including Kyle Busch, who won the Coors Light Pole and finished second, snapping an eight-year run in which he’d won at least one race. All three title contenders — Stenhouse, Sadler and Dillon — also managed to lead a lap during the 300-mile affair.

Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 at Iowa Speedway (May 20)
Reigning champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the trifecta in the year’s first of two visits to the 0.875-mile short track. Stenhouse swept both Iowa events in 2011 and won for a third consecutive time, ringing up a perfect 150.0 Driver Rating in the process. He may have been statistically dominant, but fans saw each of the top six drivers in the standings and all four manufacturers lead a lap. In the end, Stenhouse was out front for 209 of 250 laps and beat Elliott Sadler by 1.465 seconds in a mirror image of the season championship.

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Nationwide can wait as champ tries to defend Trucks Series crown

Once the flight attendants found out there was a newly crowned NASCAR champion on the plane, James Buescher couldn’t sign autographs fast enough.

More than 33,000 feet skyward — somewhere over the Rocky Mountains — the passengers, row after row of them, were pointing in Buescher’s direction as the 2012 Camping World Truck Series champ enthusiastically signed napkins and boarding passes, accepted handshakes up and down the aisle and politely toasted with a beer sent his way.

If the people on board weren’t already NASCAR fans, they were by the time the plane landed in Las Vegas thanks to Buescher, who hopes to make a return trip to the Champions Week celebration as the first back-to-back champ in Camping World Truck Series history.

Turner Motorsports and Buescher announced on Thursday a multiyear primary sponsorship with Rheem Manufacturing Company, which presented an opportunity too good to pass up.

"It’s not everyday you get to (win a title), and we want to do it again."

— James Buescher

“We had the honor of being at the head table in November, but looking across the stage we saw (Nationwide Series champ Ricky) Stenhouse and (his crew chief) Mike Kelley, they kept talking about how cool it was to be up there for a second year in a row,” Buescher told NASCAR.com

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to be able to do that. … To be able to take momentum off the championship and go for another one.”

At 22, Buescher is the second-youngest champion (by 31 days to Austin Dillon) in Truck Series history. He won the 2012 Nationwide Series season opener in Daytona and had a runner-up (Michigan) and eight top-10s in a limited 20-start schedule in that series. So there were plenty of solid options to choose from for the upcoming season.

“I had opportunities to go to other teams, opportunities to move up to Nationwide with Turner Motorsports, but between the fact we wanted to win back-to-back championships and the way sponsorship fell into place this is the best fit for me and my career,” Buescher said.

It was never a question of whether he was ready and willing to move up to the Nationwide level, but of capitalizing on the right circumstance.

“James had a chance of a lifetime this year with a sponsor that’s come on board for three years for him,” Turner Motorsports owner Steve Turner said. “…The way everything happens, you sort of have to plan when you get to Sprint Cup. You can get there too soon and not last long, or you can get there with the right timing and the right experience and be there a long time like Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson.”

Spend much time talking with Buescher, and one comes away feeling that it’s simple math, really, for the ebullient Texan.

“I’m only 22 years old,” Buescher said. “If I can stay in this sport like a Mark Martin and a Ron Hornaday and if I do everything right, I can have another 30 years in this sport. … The way I look at it, you get one shot when you get to that level and you have to be able to succeed.”

Largely thanks to the Camping World Truck Series’ two most recent champions — Dillon and Buescher — the series has evolved into a bona fide training ground and national showcase for up-and-coming talent.

It’s a legitimate destination and proving ground as will again be evidenced this year by a grid starring Turner Motorsports trucks driven by Buescher, Miguel Paludo and rookie Jeb Burton — son of Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton — with a fourth driver announcement impending.

The competition across the board has never been better, race wins never harder to come by. There were 17 different winners in 22 races in 2012 — a mixture that included Sprint Cup drivers who were dropping in for a weekend, wily NASCAR veteran part-timers and young drivers racing their way up the ranks.

“The series is a blast,” explained Buescher, who had a series-high four wins last year. “When I first came in, it was guys from Cup winning all the championships, getting the good sponsorships and the good rides. Now the young guys are making it happen. … It’s pretty cool to say I was a part of that.”

And when you’re 22 years old and on top of the world, fun is important.

In the past year, Buescher has gotten married (to Turner’s daughter, Kris), won the biggest Nationwide race of the year, notched a career-best four Camping World Truck Series wins and celebrated his first major championship.

The chance for Buescher to top that with a historic second consecutive truck title is a compelling storyline for the series and a plus for NASCAR. And the decision presents Buescher a chance to connect with a new generation of fans, who will be watching him for the next 30 years if he has his way.

“It’s not everyday you get to (win a title), and we want to do it again,” Buescher said. "…The approach I’m kinda going with is go out there and win races and the championship and everything will fall into place where it’s supposed to.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Sadler has deep history with J.D. Gibbs

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Elliott Sadler claimed the Nationwide Series runner-up trophy for the second consecutive season during November’s year-end awards banquet in South Beach.

But it was an earlier meeting in the Homestead-Miami Speedway infield that most affected Sadler’s future. He signed a contract to drive a Nationwide entry for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013.

"Saturday at 1:45 p.m. in the Toyota bus, we signed a contract with Gibbs," a smiling Sadler said shortly after his second-place acceptance speech at the banquet.

He said JGR president J.D. Gibbs called him in September once it became apparent that Sadler’s tenure at Richard Childress Racing was ending this season. 

"To be asked to be part of such a great organization… I was pretty overwhelmed by it."

— Elliott Sadler

"I’ve been friends with J.D. a long time. We used to race late models against each other, and he’s someone I’ve called for advice from time to time, business stuff, sponsor stuff, racing stuff. When he made the first phone call to me asking if I had any interest in joining with them, that was a pretty cool phone call to get as a person.

"To be asked to be a part of such a great organization, a winning organization… I was pretty overwhelmed by it."

Sadler said he had an idea of whom his crew chief would be but wasn’t comfortable sharing that until the team made a formal announcement.

Brian Vickers, the 2003 Nationwide champion, already has signed with JGR, and 2009 series champion Kyle Busch also is rumored to be with the team in 2013.

OneMain Financial will carry its sponsorship of Sadler’s car from RCR to JGR, serving as the primary sponsor on the No. 11. The company also will have associate sponsorship on two additional JGR Nationwide entries.

"We are thrilled to continue our incredibly successful presence in the NASCAR Nationwide Series," said Mary McDowell, president and CEO of OneMain Financial. "Our customers and employees are huge supporters of this great sport, and we could not be happier to continue our relationship with Elliott Sadler and team up with Joe Gibbs Racing in this new partnership. Elliott and our racing program were integral components of the OneMain Financial brand launch last year, and we are looking forward to continuing to leverage this platform to grow our brand and our business in 2013."

Sadler, a three-time Sprint Cup Series winner, indicated that part of the reason he signed with JGR was the possibility of him moving into a Cup ride in the future.

"You guys know my goal, where I want to be before I hang up my helmet," Sadler said. "You know I want another shot at winning some Cup races, another shot at being a part of the Chase, another shot at winning the Nationwide Series championship.

"It hurt finishing second after pretty much leading the entire season, but I really feel like the avenue and position I will be in at JGR is going to lead me down a pretty cool path."

Posted on by Holly Cain

Drive for Diversity candidate, 20, making a name for himself in NASCAR

Kyle Larson exchanges text messages with Jeff Gordon, goes to Tony Stewart for racing advice and often spends his off-days go-karting with Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray.

If you’re not familiar with NASCAR’s newest champion, odds are you will be soon. The company the 20-year-old Larson keeps is reflective of the potential he’s shown to become one of the sport’s can’t-miss, next-generation stars.

Larson clinched both the K&N East Pro Series touring championship and the Sunoco Rookie of the Year title in last weekend’s season finale to become the first member of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program to win a championship.

"As long as I’m racing, I’m happy."

— Kyle Larson

"They always tell me good job when I win and when I see them in person they offer me advice,” Larson said of his famous friends. "Jeff especially is good about texting and keeping up with me. It’s really, really cool.”

This was Larson’s first season even sitting in a stock car. And considering that the K&N East Series — a late-model circuit which races at tracks along the East Coast — featured the deepest competition in recent memory, it’s hard not to have high expectations for the former USAC and World Of Outlaws dirt track standout.

It’s an understatement to say it’s been a big week. Larson figures he’s done a dozen sit-down interviews, television programs and along with Cup championship contender Brad Keselowski was the featured guest on NASCAR’s teleconference call with national media.

"I didn’t know so many people paid attention to this,” Larson said. "I’ve kinda realized how big a deal it is."

Larson, whose mother is Japanese, is grateful for the opportunity he got with NASCAR’s Diversity program, but is determined to use it as a launching point, not the end-game.

"I’ve been lucky enough with the Diversity program that Rev Racing gave me a shot to run,” Larson said. "They have really good equipment and Randy Goss was my crew chief and he’s the guy who brought Greg Biffle up. It was a really good experience.

"I got experience as a driver and with the media. And it’s good to be racing with a team that gets a lot of exposure.”

After a friendly karting session with Kahne and a few friends early this week in Charlotte, Larson is now preparing to head to Phoenix International Raceway this weekend for his third Camping World Truck Series start with Turner Motorsports.

He’s scored top-10s in two previous Truck Series starts this year — including a sixth-place run at Atlanta — and will close out the NASCAR season in a Turner truck at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.

Not just fast on track, Larson is humble, well-spoken and enthusiastic, traits that have impressed potential sponsors, team owners even potential future competition.

"He’s so natural, just looks like he is part of the race car — he’s super smooth and fast,” said Kahne, who, like the California-native Larson, started his career racing sprint cars and midgets on dirt tracks across the West.

And it hasn’t taken long for people to take notice. Larson has already signed a long-term contract with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing as a development driver. And while nothing is firmed up for 2013 yet, he is hopeful to get some Nationwide Series and truck series starts even if he does another year of K&N.

Like his mentors, Kahne, Gordon and Stewart, with whom he shares a racing background and a one-time desire to race IndyCars, Larson has decided that NASCAR is where he ultimately wants to be.

"I like how popular it is,” Larson explained. "I want to be racing with the best drivers out there and I think the best drivers are in NASCAR. I grew up watching Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon and it would be really cool to get to race door-to-door with those guys each Sunday.”

Until then, Larson’s racing calendar is full. He figures he’s already run 120 races and is set for some more USAC starts this fall before heading to New Zealand to race midgets and then back to the States for the star-studded Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa, Okla.

"As long as I’m racing, I’m happy,” Larson said with a grin, adding that his immediate goals are pretty simple.

"Keep winning. Keep running out front. Keep them talking about you.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Strong finale puts Patrick at 10th place in final standings

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — With her 13th-place finish in the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 300, the Nationwide Series season finale, Danica Patrick secured 10th place in the standings, the best championship showing for a female driver in one of NASCAR’s top three touring series.

"It is nice to know that statistic, of course, but I always hope for more,” said Patrick, insisting she wasn’t aware of the historical significance of her effort. "We came back at the end of the year to put ourselves in top 10 in points. It would have been nice to have a couple top-fives and the points from the road races that went wrong. But everyone says that at the end of the year."

It took 63 years for someone to better the late Sara Christian’s mark of 13th place in the 1949 Strictly Stock Series points standings.

"It is nice to know that statistic, of course, but I always hope for more."

— Danica Patrick

In Patrick’s first full Nationwide season after a historic seven-year IndyCar career, she already has set records for female NASCAR competitors including leading the most laps in a single race (20 in the 2012 Montreal race), highest race finish (fourth at Las Vegas in 2011) and most career laps led (60). Patrick is the second woman to win a national series pole position (Daytona, 2012).

Next season, she will become the first woman to compete full-time in the Sprint Cup Series with Stewart-Haas Racing.

Patrick made international headlines by leading and nearly winning the 2005 Indianapolis 500 as a rookie. In 2008, she became the first woman to win a major open-wheel race at Motegi, Japan.

But the 30-year-old always has insisted her motivation in competing is to win races. Any trailblazing she does for her gender is a bonus, not necessarily the intent.

"I had a lot to expect when I started the year off, and that’s what put me in a bit of an unhappy place after the second race in Phoenix," Patrick said. "I just expected it to go better right off the bat and be a little bit easier, but it just wasn’t. After race two, I just started setting more realistic goals. And sometimes you have to change them. From one year to the next, things change, cars change, teams change and you have to sort of adapt.

"You have to find little victories every weekend because it’s a long season. Even if making a mistake taught me a lesson, you’ve got to come away with that."

Posted on by Holly Cain

Veteran drivers have broad perspective on evolution of NASCAR racer

When a mustached, mullet-haired 21-year-old Jeff Gordon first climbed into his 1992 Chevrolet Lumina in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, the car had a big rear spoiler and looked similar to the Luminas that fans drove to the race track.

A lot has changed in the 20 years since — Gordon lost the mustache and mullet and picked up four Cup championships — but NASCAR’s latest evolution of race car includes an intentional dose of stock car nostalgia that has captured the attention of drivers, fans and Detroit’s automakers.

As NASCAR formally launches its 2013 Generation-6 — or “Gen-6” — race cars during Daytona Speedweeks in February, fans will immediately see the resemblance to production cars, just as they did decades earlier.

The drivers, meanwhile, are embracing a race car that reigning Sprint Cup champ Brad Keselowski refers to as a “game-changer” and that Gordon affectionately calls, “a street car on steroids.”

“I get asked a lot what has changed the most in the sport during the years, and without a doubt it’s aerodynamics, and how we understand aerodynamics, computer simulation and telemetry,’’ Gordon said.

“I look at the Chevy Lumina I drove in my first race, the height of the deck lid, the greenhouse, how the air flowed over the car, how it got to the rear spoiler, the height of the front air dam, how it flowed underneath the car,’’ Gordon said, becoming more animated as he marveled at the different eras while recalling the old-style cars.

“Had we known then what we know now, that car on the track would have looked a lot different.’’

Now it does.

Gordon and Jeff Burton are two of a handful of veteran drivers with firsthand experience in NASCAR’s car evolution during the past two decades — the move from production-based cars in the 1990s to the safety-first, boxier COT (Car of Tomorrow) in 2007 and now a return to a stronger manufacturer brand identity.

And these veterans provide an important perspective on this new generation of cars — Chevrolet SSs, Ford Fusions and Toyota Camrys — set to turn their first official race laps in the Feb. 24 Daytona 500.

“The first time I drove the COT (2007-2012), it was kind of an eye-opening experience of going, ‘Whoa, this car doesn’t drive anything like the current car,’ ” recalled Gordon.

“It took us probably a year or two to understand that, racing it. This 2013 car, right out of the box it drives good and that’s a very good sign. I think we’ve learned so much more about the splitters, sealing the air, the side-skirts, the greenhouse and how it affects the airflow as well as how it exits rear of the car and affects cars behind it.

“I feel like there’s a lot of positives, a lot of momentum.”

Burton couldn’t agree more. The potential of the Gen-6, as far as he’s concerned, reaches beyond the cockpit and directly into the grandstands.

“When I first started racing, I drove a Thunderbird and it looked like a Thunderbird,’’ said Burton, who made his first Cup Series start in 1993. “As it’s evolved now, this in many ways puts us back to when I started. A Chevrolet looks like a Chevrolet and a Ford looks like a Ford. It’s more like it used to be.

“From the technology standpoint, however, it’s light-years away. The COT was a great concept from the safety standpoint but didn’t look very good. We were able to take the COT concept and improve it and also make it look good.

“In some ways, it’s going back to the way it was 20 years ago but with all the advantages of the safety advances in the last 20 years.’’

Both Gordon and Burton agree, however, that as great as the new cars look, it’s how they race that will decide their true impact.

The COTs, while much safer with more driver room and better impact protection, were often criticized for the racing they produced. NASCAR has gone to great lengths with the 2013 models to ensure that the racing looks as good as the cars do.

The new cars have undergone vigorous wind tunnel tests and on-track experimenting to hit on the right combination that will produce close, exciting, side-by-side racing on all types of NASCAR tracks.

“We have to give fans what they want to see today, not what they wanted to see 10 years ago,’’ Burton said. “And they want to see more action, they want to see more battles, more side-by-side. We’ve got to find a way to give it to them.

“I think they (NASCAR) have put more effort this go-round into understanding what makes the cars race with each other better. That’s irrefutable. Whether the outcome is where it needs to be will be decided later. But the effort has been greater this time than ever before.’’