Posted on by Staff Report

Air Force to be primary sponsor for two races, associate sponsor all season

The U.S. Air Force will once again partner with Richard Petty Motorsports as a primary sponsor for Aric Almirola‘s No. 43 Ford Fusion for two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, while being an associate sponsor of the car for the entire season.

The star-studded U.S. Air Force paint scheme will adorn the car for the Memorial Day weekend race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Fourth of July weekend race at Daytona International Speedway.

This is the 13th season the Air Force has been associated with NASCAR, and the fifth year as a partner with Richard Petty Motorsports.

The Air Force will also continue its experiential marketing activities at NASCAR events, air shows and festivals throughout the year, taking the No. 43 U.S. Air Force Ford show car and "Hangar 43" interactive display to environments where recruiters can connect with young adults. It will also continue to hold swear-in ceremonies of Airmen in the Delayed Entry Program at NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

Almirola, who was born on Elgin (Fla.) Air Force base and whose father served in the Air Force, will take part in the at-track swear-in ceremonies.

"I’m really proud of how Richard Petty Motorsports helps connect the Air Force with race fans," Almirola said. "We go out to the Air Force display and the swear-ins at the track, and it’s great to see people lined up wanting to learn about the technology and the opportunities available. It’s a perfect partnership, especially for me, having a lifelong history with the Air Force."

Posted on by Nascar

Unable to stay away from the sport, Terance Mathis finds home with LFR

Terance Mathis, vice president of marketing for Leavine Family Racing, has more than just a passing interest in this year’s Super Bowl, having played in the annual contest during a 13-year career in the NFL. 

Although his Atlanta Falcons lost to the Denver Broncos and quarterback John Elway in Super Bowl XXXIII (played in 1999), Mathis, a wide receiver, did score on a 3-yard TD pass late in the fourth quarter.

While he played with three teams, the New York Jets, Atlanta and Pittsburgh Steelers, his best seasons came during an eight-year stint with the Falcons. He gained more than 1,000 yards four times with Atlanta, and was named to the 1994 Pro Bowl.

"Three years ago I said I’m done. But every year I keep getting brought back closer and closer."

— Terance Mathis, former NFL wide receiver

“Of course I’m still a football fan,” Mathis said. “And I keep up with what’s going on with the (Falcons) … how they’re doing. I don’t go to … see them play; I mostly watch them on TV.

“Every once in a while I send a message to (wide receiver) Roddy (White) and wish him luck or congratulate him on breaking my records.”

Mathis isn’t exactly new to NASCAR; for nearly eight years he has sought out ways to become involved in the sport. He’s been part owner on at least one occasion and saw that fall apart for a number of reasons. “It got sticky,” he said.

He’s met with teams both large and small, “and some I just didn’t feel right about,” he said. But something kept drawing him back even when it seemed NASCAR was nothing more than a dead end. 

“Three years ago I said I’m done. But every year I keep getting brought back closer and closer,” Mathis said. “Then a good friend said ‘I’ve got something you might like. You need to call this gentleman; see if there is any kind of synergy.’”

Mathis called, and spoke with Bob Leavine for the first time. Leavine had a team, cars, a driver in Scott Speed, crew chief Wally Rogers and a handful of crewmen. But most of all, Leavine’s family-owned organization offered opportunity, potential and an atmosphere that Mathis said, “just felt right.”

“Bob is one of those smiling assassins,” he said. “He’s lovable, he’s polite, and he’s genuine. But inside he’s that guy that just wants to win. He’s not going to say that, but you can tell. … He knows you don’t win every race. But if you go out and run well and to best of your ability, that’s a win for us, a small win.”

As Vice President of Marketing, Mathis says he hopes to bring stability and growth to the organization. His formed his own mobile marketing group following his retirement from the NFL, working with several record labels. He knows where NASCAR has been and says he has a good idea where it needs to go.

“We have to capture the urban community,” he said. “There are more NASCAR fans in urban communities than you think … more black Americans. But the question is, who do they root for? They don’t have an allegiance to a team, maybe to a product or to a company but not to a team. And we know NASCAR fans are most loyal when it comes to products.

“So if we can present a product to them and we run successfully, that company will prosper from our visibility.

“I’m very competitive; I want to win. It’s fun to go to the track and have relationships, build relationships. But at the end of the day it’s about winning.”

Mathis could have had an ownership role in the team, both he and Leavine said, but providing the opportunity to be involved from a marketing standpoint made the most sense and kept the operation of the organization simple.

"We could have gone and done that, without a doubt,” Leavine said, “but however it was done really wasn’t an issue. I think what Terance brings to the team will be tremendously beneficial to LFR.”

Mathis said he isn’t worried about who brings what to the table, only that everyone contributes to the best of their ability.

“Right off the bat I said, ‘Look, I’ve been down this road before. This is how I operate, I don’t want anything from you until I produce. That way if I don’t produce and we part ways, there are no hard feelings,’” he said. “I’ve been sued in this business before but I keep coming back.

“I could have put a car on the track for one race, sure. But I said I would never do it unless it was done right. 

“And Bob and his family are doing it right.”

Posted on by Nascar

RPM driver confident fortunes will change in 2013

If Marcos Ambrose has grown weary of the question, he hides it well.

One of NASCAR’s most talented road-course racers, Ambrose has yet to deliver for his Richard Petty Motorsports team on the oval tracks that dominate the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series landscape.

Almost as soon as he won his first Cup race — at Watkins Glen International in 2011 — the question arose. Can he win on an oval?

Ambrose, now twice a winner at the Glen, says he can and insists he will. It’s the “when” that’s a bit unknown.

He’s closer than ever as he enters the 2013 season, he said.

How close?

"Short tracks are our bogey tracks — we’ve got to really work on that for 2013 and get better there."

— Marcos Ambrose

“I’ve just got to wait until the (Daytona) 500, that’s all,” said Ambrose, the driver of the No. 9 RPM Ford. “I’ve already got my name on the trophy. We’re ready.”
 
Maybe it happens in the season-opening race, slated for Feb. 24, and maybe it doesn’t, but where better than in the season’s premier event?
 
“We’ve got opportunities every single week,” Ambrose, 36, said. “We ran great on intermediates (last year), we have done that as a company for a couple of years. We’ve run good on superspeedways; road courses are always really good for us. Short tracks are our bogey tracks — we’ve got to really work on that for 2013 and get better there.
 
“We can win any week, and we need to feel that way to be competitive.”
 
Stability has been as much of a concern as anything for the RPM group, which was under financial duress in previous years. Able to weather that particular storm, the bigger issue of late has been simply being competitive on the track. To that end, a personnel shake-up late in the 2012 season saw veteran Todd Parrott move from the No. 9 team to that of teammate Aric Almirola. Mike Ford, who had overseen Almirola’s No. 43 entry since April 30, was named crew chief for Ambrose.
 
Less than two months after the swap, which included crews as well as crew chiefs, Drew Blickensderfer replaced Ford. The initial changes hurt his own team, Ambrose said, “but we’ve come through all that.”

His 18th-place points finish was seemingly short on highlights and long on disappointment, with the bright spot being the lone win at the Glen, followed by consecutive fifth-place finishes at Michigan International Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway. Ambrose did not finish higher than 12th in the remaining dozen races, but did qualify on the outside of the front row at Homestead-Miami Speedway at season’s end, and led 14 laps before finishing 13th.
 
Looking past the statistics and considering what Ambrose has seen from the inside, “I think as a company we’re a lot stronger,” he said. “I’ve got Drew … as my crew chief; to get him into our team has been a huge plus. We’re lucky to have him.
 
“We’re a pretty tight-knit group (and) we need to keep that run going that we finished with in 2012.”
 
Petty, the series’ leader in career victories, has been less than successful since stepping out of the car two decades ago. Former RPM driver Kasey Kahne remains the only Chase participant for the organization, finishing 10th in 2009.
 
Petty said he believes better days are ahead as well, and that last year’s late-season changes showed promise and hinted at potential.
 
“We thought we qualified better; we ran better in some of the races,” Petty said. “Some of the finishes might not have been better but sometimes that’s our fault.
 
“I kind of hated to see the season end because we felt like we were finally getting our feet on the ground and getting going.”
 
Ambrose said the organization has “all the resources in place,” highlighted by the addition of Blickensderfer. A former Roush Fenway Racing crew chief, Blickensderfer helped guide Matt Kenseth to back-to-back wins in the 2009 Daytona 500 and Auto Club 500 while at RFR, and won again at Daytona in July of 2011 with RFR driver David Ragan.
 
“We’ve turned a corner and have Drew on board, I feel really great about that,” Ambrose said. “He’s a similar age to me. Very similar in chemistry and the way we go about our business. I’m lucky to have him.”
 
And that’s because once you get past the resources, the cars, engines and other assorted parts and pieces that make up the sport, “racing is all about people,” Ambrose said. “A team is nothing without good people.”
 
As for winning on an oval?
 
“It’s coming this year. It needs to; it’s time,” he said. “If we can win on an oval and win on a road course … we’ve got a chance to make the Chase (for the NASCAR Sprint Cup) just on wins alone. We know we can’t rely on the road courses just to make the Chase, we’ve got to win somewhere else and 2013 is the year it’s got to be done.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Michigan honors Sprint Cup champ and home-state hero with ‘Brad Keselowski Day’

For the second time in three years, the Michigan Senate welcomed Brad Keselowski, honoring the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion on Thursday.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski addresses the Michigan Senate on Thursday in Lansing, Mich.

"I felt more nervous up there the first time," Keselowski told the Detroit Free Press, after receiving a standing ovation and addressing the chamber at the State Capitol in Lansing, Mich.

Keselowski, of Rochester Hills, Mich., also was honored by the senate following his 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship.

In addition to a senate resolution, the governor’s office will name Feb. 2 "Brad Keselowski Day" in the state of Michigan.

The state’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion continued the celebration with Michigan International Speedway fans and another Michigander, Miss Sprint Cup Jaclyn Roney, at the Henry Ford Museum.

"We are excited to welcome Brad back to Michigan and offer a chance for our fans to interact with the NASCAR champion," MIS President Roger Curtis said. "Brad is the state’s first Michigan-born driver to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship and we are thrilled to welcome him back home."

The kickoff to the track’s 2013 season included another return as Detroit-based Quicken Loans will be back to sponsor the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race as Dale Earnhardt Jr., who snapped a 143-race winless streak in the 2012 event, attempts to defend his title. 

"Last year’s race was extremely exciting, and I know a lot of fans were thrilled to see Dale Jr. bring home the Quicken Loans 400 trophy," Jay Farner, president and chief marketing officer for Quicken Loans said. "We look forward to an equally exciting race this year at NASCAR’s fastest track."

(Left to right) Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Speaker of the House Jase Bolger, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski, Sen. Jim Marleau and Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Gen-6 debut has Ford team scrambling to recover speedway form

The debut of the sixth-generation NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car (Gen-6 in shorthand) has driven home a new emphasis on brand identity and a showroom-style look, but has also left teams with a back-to-the-drawing-board mentality in a busy offseason of prepping their new rides. 

Teams will have a difficult time hanging their hats on their 2012 accomplishments. No one knows this more ahead of the season’s biggest race than Jack Roush.

Roush Fenway Racing enters the Daytona 500 as the defending champion after Greg Biffle helped push then-teammate Matt Kenseth to his second win in the Great American Race. That triumph kicked off a season of success at Daytona and Talladega, where engine restrictions level the playing field and demand even more finesse from crews.

"I’m guardedly optimistic that we can return to that form, but I will not be surprised if we are not as good this year as we were in 2011 and 2012."

—Jack Roush, on his team’s restrictor-plate success

Kenseth’s No. 17, which Ricky Stenhouse Jr. inherited in the offseason, was at the head of the class with two wins and two third-place finishes at the four restrictor-plate races last year. Now with Gen-6 cars emerging from the Roush Fenway stables, the team won’t have laurels to tout.

"I’m guardedly optimistic that we can return to that form, but I will not be surprised if we are not as good this year as we were in 2011 and 2012," Roush said after presenting his roster of drivers at the Sprint Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway. "Those were incredible years where if things had broken for us, we could’ve won virtually every restricted race we went to and that’s unusual for me for Daytona and Talladega."

Testing the new car over three days at NASCAR Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway did little to bolster the still-guarded hopes of the venerable team owner, who called the test "inconclusive." Biffle, now the senior statesman at Roush Fenway, suggested that the team may already be playing catch-up for the Daytona 500.

"My honest opinion is, we’ve lost our edge that we’ve had over the last two or three years when it comes to restrictor plates," Biffle said. "Maybe we’d gotten that old car tweaked and dialed in, but we were mediocre at best the whole time in Daytona."

A mediocre review was hard to process after Biffle topped the speed charts in the sixth and final session of Preseason Thunder testing, a half-tenth of a second better than the Joe Gibbs Racing pair of Kenseth and Kyle Busch. But Biffle was quick to note that the unofficial stat sheet shouldn’t be taken at face value.

"We went to full qualifying (mode), everything we had," Biffle said. "We even had a qualifying engine. We had everything — I mean, this would’ve been pushing out for 500 qualifying. We were the fastest. But not everybody had that, not every last bit. My fast lap probably wasn’t comparative to the second-, third-, fourth-place car because they didn’t have as much done as mine."

So is the outlook all gloom and doom for a Roush Fenway repeat? Not if newly minted vice president of competition Robbie Reiser can help it. Roush’s longtime right-hand man has kept the team’s Fords competitive through a multitude of changes as NASCAR’s vehicles have evolved. This latest change may be the biggest challenge yet.

"The pressure’s on us, right?" Reiser joked. "We’ve had a really good speedway program the last few years, so the pressure’s on to keep that up and we’ve been working pretty hard on that. But this car here has thrown us a curve that we’ve got to work on everything. Otherwise, we come out and run strong at one venue and not at the others. Speedway racing is a very different thing."

The nature of racing at Daytona and Talladega typically has a wild-card element to it, but Roush Fenway’s preparation had given the team an advantage at two tracks where even the most incremental advantages are sought after. Even if the team’s grade so far with the Gen-6 car is incomplete, Reiser seems confident that Roush Fenway can earn high superspeedway marks again soon.

"You know, you always go down there with a fleet of cars … there’s some that run and some that don’t and you’ve got to come back and work on them and change them around," Reiser said. "That’s kind of where we are right now, and if we don’t start as strong as we need to be on the speedways, by God, we’re going to go back and work on it and try to fix it. What I saw at Daytona testing and what I saw at Charlotte testing with our downforce cars, I think we’re going to come out of the box pretty strong."

Posted on by Nascar

Veteran and youngblood will suit up for Tommy Baldwin Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series

Scott Lagasse will be making a return of sorts and Corey LaJoie will be making his debut when the two drivers suit up with Tommy Baldwin Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this season.

Lagasse made three starts late in 2012, his first races in the series since 2010. He said he is scheduled to compete in 15 races, and the team will be run through Scott Lagasse Racing in conjunction with TBR.

LaJoie is scheduled to compete in three races later in the year for TBR.

“The three I ran last year (with SLR) were in total preparation for this year,” Lagasse said.

"I feel no matter what race I’m in, whether it be go-karts, K&N cars or Late Models, every race is a try-out."

—Corey LaJoie

Lagasse, who will be in the No. 8 Chevrolet, will have funding from the Boy Scouts of America as well as HybridLight, which manufactures solar-powered light products.

Lagasse said he hopes to be running his Late Model dirt car, when he’s not competing in the Nationwide series.

“I know that as a driver when you’re not in the seat a lot, it’s tough to be good,” he said. “I ran six total races last year, three were Nationwide … I hadn’t been on asphalt in two years and we kind of struggled through those. So I told myself I’m going to race a lot this year.”

Brad Parrott will serve as crew chief for the team, which fielded the No. 36 Chevrolet for Ryan Blaney (five races), Ryan Truex (one) and Bobby Santos (1) last season. John Blankenship also competed in three racesunder the TBR banner, running the No. 44 entry.

“We had great runs last year at Richmond (7th) and later in the year, at Bristol (7th),” Parrott said of the team’s efforts with Blaney. “… The process is there for Tommy to bring younger guys up through this division and get them rides with bigger teams.

“Scott has only run 52 Nationwide races … only three with this current car. We’re looking forward to getting out there and getting him more experience.”

LaJoie is the son of two-time Busch (now Nationwide) Series champion Randy LaJoie. A five-time winner in NASCAR’s K&N East Series last year, Corey LaJoie will compete at Dover (June), New Hampshire (July) and Atlanta (August).

“I feel no matter what race I’m in, whether it be go-karts, K&N cars or Late Models, every race is a try-out,” LaJoie, 21, said. “You never know who’s going to be watching. The Nationwide Series is definitely a big deal.

“I couldn’t be more excited to run my first Nationwide race with Tommy; he’s just an old-school racer just like I am. I’m looking forward to opening, hopefully, another chapter in my career.

 “Seeing Kyle Larson jump in a truck and run really good; Brett Moffitt running a Nationwide car at Iowa, he ran really good; Ryan Blaney. All those guys have gotten in good stuff and ran really good. And Ibeat all those guys last year. I think I can hold my own with the best of them.”

Posted on by Nascar

NTS Motorsports pleased with relationship

Kevin Harvick may be a year removed from his role as a team owner, but that doesn’t mean the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver has completely removed himself from either the Nationwide Series or Camping World Truck Series.

Harvick, 37, shut the doors on a highly successful organization after the 2011 season, and while Kevin Harvick Inc. no longer exists, he continues to compete in both series for a limited number of races.

For 2013, he’s also become a bit of a sounding board for at least one current owner in the Truck Series –- NTS Motorsports owner Bob Newberry.

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“Bob has been a huge contributor to our foundation and, obviously, being from Bakersfield (Calif.), I’ve gotten to know him fairly well,” said Harvick, who is also a Bakersfield native. “But I don’t necessarily have a role other than to give my feedback when I drive the vehicle.”

To that end, Harvick will return to the Truck Series at least twice in 2013, piloting the No. 24 NTS Chevrolet at events held at Martinsville Speedway.

“Bob asks a lot of questions and you try to tell him exactly what the experiences that you had (were), and give him the most advice you can give him with the things we had done in the past,” Harvick said. “I’m more of a bounce-the-questions-off guy than I am anything else.”

Harvick is also a successful driver and owner in the series. As a driver, he’s won 14 times. His KHI team won 43 races, including championships with Ron Hornaday Jr. in 2007 and 2009.

The NTS Motorsports organization is the result of a merger of NTS and Joe Denette Motorsports teams from 2012. The group plans to field three trucks this season, with Hornaday and Newberry’s son, Brennan, running the full schedule. A third truck is scheduled to be fielded full time, although the only races announced thus far for that team are the two in place for Harvick.

“Kevin has offered a lot of information to us,” Newberry said. “He’s been around the racing enough and he’s the king when it comes to trucks, in my opinion. … In 10 minutes, he can tell you what it takes most people a week to try to figure out. The guy’s just really intuitive.”

Hornaday, 54, failed to win a race last season while paired with Denette, ending a seven-year run that saw the veteran win at least one race a season. Harvick’s input, he said, would be a huge plus for the organization.

“(Bob Newberry) has been talking to Kevin on  … how to run the business to be successful … some of the mistakes that Kevin made so we don’t have to go down that path,” Hornaday said. “They speak rather frequently on how to run the business and mainly how to run the competition side of it.”

Bruce Cook will serve as director of competition for the organization, as well as crew chief for Hornaday and the No. 9 team. Eddie Pardue was just announced as crew chief for Brennan Newberry and the group’s No. 14 team. No crew chief has been named for the No. 24 ride at this time.

Newberry say’s he confident the company can succeed, in part because of Harvick’s help.

“Kevin’s been there, he’s done it,” Bob Newberry said. “He doesn’t have to do this. (He’s) really stepping out and, as a friend, helping NTS build up to where Kevin actually ended up with KHI. Just to have the opportunity to do that is a dream come true.”

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Long-time Penske driver waits patiently for Sprint Cup ride

Photos from Penske Racing’s greatest moments hang on the walls of the organization, and one of defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski is the latest addition. There’s also another from last season, one of the inaugural nascar Nationwide Series event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Sam Hornish Jr. finished second to the younger and more decorated — by NASCAR standards, anyway — teammate.

“Like sticking the knife in there,” Hornish said with a wry smile.

That’s Hornish — a Penske company man to the core. He could have left after last season, and everyone would have understood. He swallowed his pride two years ago and put up with a limited Nationwide schedule, then took over the No. 22 Sprint Cup car last season when AJ Allmendinger was suspended, then was asked to step aside when Joey Logano was hired for 2013. He received some interest from other teams, and no one would have blamed him for breaking ranks.

But there’s something about all those photos on the wall. There’s something about that starched white Penske dress shirt, which seems to fit Hornish as well as anyone save Roger Penske himself. There’s something about the bond built over nine years racing under Penske, through an open-wheel series championship and an Indianapolis 500 crown and a turbulent transition to NASCAR. There’s something about loyalty that led Hornish to stay — to once again pursue the Nationwide title, and hope another Sprint Cup opportunity comes.

"Whatever I do with this, I want to do it and be competitive with it."

— Sam Hornish Jr.

“I feel like Roger’s been very loyal to me, I’ve been very loyal to him,” Hornish said. “I want to do things in the right way, and I feel like if we win this championship, that would be great. I feel like there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to do that.”

If there’s any bitterness over being bypassed for the No. 22 Sprint Cup ride, it never shows. Hornish was in the midst of a full Nationwide campaign last July when he got the call — on the set of a television show, no less — that Allmendinger had been suspended for failing a random drug test, and he was needed in Daytona immediately for that night’s event. He barely made it, catching a ride to the starting grid during opening ceremonies, and from there began a double-duty stretch that a few times had him competing in different places on the same weekend.

Allmendinger was ultimately released. When the time came to fill the ride for 2013 — a key hire, given all the turnover the Shell/Pennzoil car had experienced over the previous year —  the team chose Logano, on whose behalf Keselowski had fiercely lobbied. For Hornish, that meant back to the Nationwide tour.

“I was a little bit disappointed, because I want to race on Sunday,” he said. “And I thought that would give me the opportunity to do it. I had a relationship with Shell/Pennzoil when I ran IndyCars. But it didn’t work out, and I had a choice to make: I could sit there and be upset about it and depressed, or I could go on and try to finish the year good. I could try to take care of my teammate and help him out any way that I could for the rest of the season, and that’s what I did. There was nothing I could do to change it at that point and time. The only thing I could do was go out there and make myself look bad.”

Which isn’t Hornish’s style. It helped that former Penske driver Rusty Wallace used his television platform to argue that the Logano hire was a mistake, and that Hornish should have gotten the job. It helped that Hornish finished a career-best fourth in final Nationwide points, and did some testing that aided Keselowski’s quest for the Sprint Cup crown. It helped that some other teams showed interest, even if Hornish ultimately wasn’t willing to make a move.

“We actually had a couple of people talk to us about it, and it’s just a difficult thing,” Hornish said. “I don’t want Roger ever to think I’m out actively searching for something else. He also knows that if he can’t provide me with something that is going to be a good opportunity for me, he’s definitely not going to hold me back from it, either. Whatever I do with this, I want to do it and be competitive with it. I don’t want to just go and find a way to make five grand on a weekend and go home. I’d rather spend the time with my kids.”

Penske still blames himself for not starting Hornish on the Nationwide tour — as opposed to throwing him directly into Sprint Cup, which produced a forgettable debut season that’s taken the driver a long time to come back from. But there’s been real progress made over the past 18 months, beginning with Hornish’s first national-series race victory, and followed by a genuine championship purist last year. Over the offseason Hornish was paired with new crew chief Greg Erwin, who three times made the Chase for the Sprint Cup with Greg Biffle.

Now, Penske believes Hornish is ready to take the next step. “I said to him, ‘If there’s an opportunity in Cup and you want it (you can have it); but I can tell you one thing: we’re going to give you the best car and the best crew chief we can to run in the (Nationwide) Series this year,’” Penske said. “The goal, I said to him … is to win the championship. Not second or third, it’s to win the championship. I think he’s got the tools and the ability to do it now.”

And if that happens? There are sponsor commitments for a few Sprint Cup races for Hornish this season, and Penske continues to weigh the merits of expanding to three teams. He seriously considered it for this season, given that his former driver Ryan Newman was available before signing a one-year extension with Stewart-Haas. Clearly, much of that hinges on sponsorship availability. But if Hornish does win the Nationwide title, and everything else falls into line?

“I think I’ve got to look at Hornish as the next person,” Penske said. “If he meets the goals that we would expect, and we get the support from the sponsors we have, he could be the next (Sprint Cup) driver.”

For Hornish, that’s the goal. And even after the disappointment of not getting the ride in the No. 22 car, he’s always believed that the best way to get there is by staying exactly where he is.

“At the end of 2010, there were not lot of people fighting for me to have a Cup ride,” he said, referring to his most recent full-time season at NASCAR’s top level. “And at the end of 2012 I had Rusty Wallace on national TV saying I should have a Cup ride — not only a Cup ride, but a premier Cup ride. So I’m really appreciative of just getting the opportunity to run in the 22 last year. I feel like if I keep my head down, we’re going to take our sponsors like Alliance and Wurth and we’re going to bring new ones on board, and we’re going to get back there.”

Posted on by NASCAR Wire Service

Clint Bowyer illustrated his vast personality in sports car debut

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — You could call Clint Bowyer the clown prince of the Rolex 24 — but for one thing. 

Yes, Bowyer had the media center in stitches after his first stint in the AF Waltrip Ferrari 458. On the track, however, in his first sports car competition, Bowyer showed some serious speed, as he and teammates Rob Kauffman, Michael Waltrip and Rui Aguas finished eighth in the GT classification and 16th overall in GRAND-AM’s most prestigious race.

Bowyer may downplay his own contribution, but don’t kid yourself. He won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event last June at Sonoma Raceway with a near-perfect drive. On Saturday and Sunday at Daytona International Speedway, Bowyer held his own against some of the world’s most talented and experienced sports car drivers.

"The guys that talk to you (on the radio), I can’t understand ’em, other than ‘Pit!"

—Clint Bowyer, on the Italian engineers on his team radio

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t lighten the mood of reporters facing a long night of race coverage.

Bowyer paid a visit to the media center after his first stint on the track. That was at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, four hours into the race.

"What time is it anyway–7:30?" Bowyer asked. "We’re almost to halfway, right? Who came up with the idea of a 24-hour race anyway?"

Herb Branham, NASCAR’s managing director of communications for GRAND-AM Road Racing, informed Bowyer that the vision for the Rolex 24 came from NASCAR founder Bill France Sr.

"That’s pretty cool then!" Bowyer replied.

If NASCAR had a statistical category for "saves," Bowyer would be the early-season leader. 

Bowyer also had issues trying to understand the Italian engineers on his team radio. The AF Waltrip team is a collaboration between Michael Waltrip Racing and an AF Corse organization, based in Italy, that has raced to considerable international acclaim.

The "AF" in AF Corse stands for team founder Amato Ferrari.

"The guys that talk to you (on the radio), I can’t understand ’em, other than ‘Pit!’" Bowyer said. "You can understand ‘Pit’ and that’s pretty much it. I asked them for lap times, and you might as well just carry on a conversation with yourself."

Nevertheless, the pomp and circumstance of the Rolex 24 wasn’t lost on Bowyer, who will return to Daytona in two weeks for Daytona 500 qualifying.

"This is their biggest race of the year," Bowyer said. "I think our Daytona 500 is exactly like that, with the thrill and the excitement in the air like that, especially down on the starting grid. It’s kind of comparable, but it sure is cool to see all the action, all the excitement, neat cars, a lot of different cars from what I’m used to…

"There was body paint. I certainly liked the body paint. I thought that was a great addition to the day. Some of them had umbrellas. It was fun!"

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First winner of consecutive titles bulled way to NASCAR Hall of Fame

Editor’s note: This release is part of a series in advance of the 2013 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Charlotte, N.C. on Feb. 8, broadcast live at 7:30 p.m. ET on SPEED, Motor Racing Network Radio and SiriusXM Satellite Radio. Buck Baker, Cotton Owens, Herb Thomas, Rusty Wallace and Leonard Wood are the five 2013 inductees. Click here to download and listen to a special NASCAR Hall of Fame podcast on Herb Thomas with historian Buz McKim.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Buck Baker personified the term “old school.”

Elzie Wylie “Buck” Baker, winner of 46 NASCAR Sprint Cup races and the series’ first back-to-back champion, personified the phrase “no quarter asked and none given.”

Baker, whose NASCAR career spanned portions of four decades beginning in 1949, had one goal: to win. How he got there, well, that was up to Baker.

PROFILES OF INDUCTEES
Ceremony set for Feb. 8

• Buck Baker
• Cotton Owens
• Herb Thomas
• Rusty Wallace
• Leonard Wood

“He was the perfect example of how a (stock car) driver used to be; the typical Scotch-Irish driver of the past,” said H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, the former president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway and one-time sportswriter. “If you were in a corner and (it was) someplace he wanted to go, he’d be there. Either you’d be in the wall or he would.

“However fast the car would go, he’d get there in a fairly spectacular fashion. He was one of the best and certainly one of the toughest.”

Baker’s son, Elzie Wylie “Buddy” Baker Jr., puts it this way. “He was not a bully. He wasn’t out to create problems,” said Baker, who counts the 1980 Daytona 500 and 1972-73 Coca-Cola 600s among 19 NASCAR premier series victories. “But he didn’t run from them either.

“If you were racing against him, you didn’t like him very much. But you had to be tough back then.”

Buck Baker, who died in 2002 at age 83, is among five being inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Feb. 8. His fellow members of the class of 2013 – the hall’s fourth – are NASCAR premier series champions Herb Thomas and Rusty Wallace; championship car owner Cotton Owens and innovative engine builder, mechanic and crew chief Leonard Wood.

Born in 1919 on a farm near Chester, S.C., Baker as a child gained the nickname “Buck” because he shared the reckless abandon of a bull calf by the same name the family owned.  Without job prospects after discharge from the U.S. Navy, Baker hauled alcohol effectively polishing the skills he’d need on the race track.  He later drove a bus and – by his son’s estimation – won hundreds of modified stock car races including 27 weeks in a row at Charlotte’s Southern State Fairgrounds.

“The same people booing him would line up (for autographs) at the bus stop on Monday,” said Buddy Baker.

Racing out of Charlotte, N.C., Baker won his first NASCAR premier series race at Columbia, S.C., a .5-mile dirt track driving a Hudson Hornet. NASCAR Hall of Fame member Lee Petty – a perennial rival – finished second.

Baker won the 1953 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and posted his first of eight consecutive points finishes among the top five. He won 11 times between 1953-55 then joined the powerhouse Carl Kiekhaefer Chrysler-Dodge organization, for which Tim Flock won the 1955 championship with 18 victories in 39 starts.

Kiekhaefer, owner of Mercury Outboards, entered cars in 190 races over two seasons, winning 52 times, before exiting the sport as abruptly as he’d appeared. Baker – who’d run second to Flock driving for himself and several other owners in 1955 – hustled Kiekhaefer’s Hemi engine-powered cars to the 1956 title on the strength of 13 wins, 12 poles and 30 top-five and 38 top-10 finishes.

With Kiekhaefer gone, Baker returned to Chevrolets in 1957. He won the championship and 10 races: six in his own car and four at the wheel of a Chevy owned by Hugh Babb.

Baker finished second to Petty for the 1958 championship and continued to win but at a diminished pace. His final victory came at age 44 in the 1964 Southern 500 driving a Dodge fielded by NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Ray Fox.

Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 – he also won the sanctioning body’s Speedway Division title in 1952, driving an Indianapolis-type car powered by a Cadillac engine – Baker opened a stock car driving school in retirement. According to Buddy Baker, it was his father’s way of giving back to the sport.

“He said, ‘I’m not going to race but I have a lot to offer to kids who are just starting out,’” said Baker, who was one of the school’s instructors. Jeff Gordon was among the thousands of Baker’s students. So was NASCAR Nationwide Series champion and current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Joe Nemechek, who asked for and received Baker’s permission to use the driver’s old car number – 87.

The younger Baker, who’ll induct his father into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, was renowned for his mastery of Daytona and Talladega. He was the first in NASCAR to officially record a lap at an average speed of 200 mph. Yet Baker still marvels at his father’s talent.

“He could do things in a race car I could only dream about,” said Baker. “Throughout the entire racing world, I don’t know of anybody who would have said he didn’t give 110% from the time they dropped the green flag until the race was over. He was the same way in life, too.”

Induction ceremonies will take place at 7:30 p.m. ET in the Crown Ball Room at the Charlotte Convention Center which is directly connected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The event is the first half of NASCAR

Acceleration Weekend followed on Saturday, Feb. 9 by NASCAR Preview 2013. 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 Saturday, Feb. 9.