Chidress Racers Run Strong in Fontana by Bruce Cameron, The Racing Reporter

RCR Shows Skills at Fontana

Thank God for something to write on besides a pothole or Danica.

RCR had a rough season last year, as no drivers made the chase. Not the case in Fontana. With Harvick (2nd), Burton (3rd) and Bowyer all finishing in the top 7.

Speculation about Kevin Harvick’s dissatisfaction and a consequent dragging of feet in signing a new contract might be stalled after this week’s second place finish. Harvick becomes a free-agent in 2011. What will he end up doing?

In 2009, Childress himself was losing interest in his racing operation as he was getting as much publicity about his association with the National Rifle Association as he was for making cars go fast. Childress attended more hunting trips than Nascar races last year. Hopefully this will change.

Dickies 500 2009 Preview by Bruce Cameron, The Racing Reporter

Despite an ailing economy, NASCAR fans will attend this year’s Dickies 500 Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) in droves. The race will be held on November 6-8, 2009.

TMS President, Eddie Gossage, announced the return of the popular “Backstretch Buster” tickets, which sold as low as $20 per ticket. Gossage has pulled out all of the stops to boost fan attendance. The Seven Eleven four pack, which includes four hot dogs, is one example. Even though this effort has been made, many seats remain available throughout the track. Individuals can get free tickets to this race by purchasing 2010 season tickets.

Prior to the race, fans at the track will get to see legendary rockers, ZZ TOP, perform. This is sure to pump up an already feisty crowd anticipating the starting of the engines. The band will headline the American Racing Custom Wheels pre-race show with a free concert at the November 8 Dickies 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Billy F. Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard will also serve as grand marshals for the race. They will give the command to the 43-car field to start their engines prior to the start of the race. The 2.5-hour pre-race show that will also include the RE/MAX Skydiving team, Texas Christian University Marching Band, U.S. Army Reserve Command, 11th Aviation Command, and the 7-158th Aviations Regiment. The pre-race show will begin at TMS at 11:45 a.m. and ZZ Top will perform on the speedway’s front stretch at 12:30 p.m. The band will play a one-hour set. It will mark the first-ever appearance for ZZ Top at TMS.

The Dickies 500 is the eighth race in the NASCAR “Chase for the Cup”. This is NASCAR’s version of the World Series. Texas has the largest purse in the “Chase” . It is in excess of $7.3 million! Texas pays more money than anyone else and has one of the largest crowds of the tracks in the Chase. An estimated 400,000 spectators, over the course of the weekend, make TMS the seventh largest race in the state of Texas.

The top five drivers on the leader board for the Sprint Cup Chase have all enjoyed success at Texas Motor Speedway. Jimmie Johnson, who won in 2007, leads by 184 points over his nearest competitor, Mark Martin. Mark Martin has had success here in Texas. He won the Texas 500 in 1998. Jeff Gordon has fought his way to third place. In April, Gordon snapped a long winless streak at Texas, posting a win at the Samsung 500. Juan Pablo Montoya, who is currently 4th in the Chase, had a top 10 finish at TMS in April. The 5th place driver, Tony Stewart, won the Dickies 500 in 2006. What happens here this weekend could affect the Sprint Cup Chase standings significantly, particularly if Chase leader Jimmie Johnson has difficulty.

The defending Dickies 500 champion, Carl Edwards, hopes to return and repeat his performance of last year. Edwards’ share for last year’s Dickies 500 victory was $496,300.00. Edwards hangs like a loose tooth in tenth place in the Chase standings. There is little to no hope of him winning the Sprint Cup Championship this year. He will also be racing in the O’Reilly Challenge on Saturday November 7th, where he will be battling for the Nationwide Series title.

Tired of seeing Jimmie Johnson strategically progressing toward his 4th Sprint Cup in a row? Let’s pick a driver who is an underdog, a hard charger, and who has some attitude then. Who can we cheer for this year at TMS?  There’s alway Brian Vickers, who is overdue for a top finish, but will no doubt give it “his all” at TMS.

One such driver poised to win this year’s Dickies 500, is Tony Stewart. Stewart has hit major strides in his first year as an owner/driver for Stewart Haas Racing (SHR). Stewart has pushed himself to the fifth position in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The driver of the No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala SS. On October 4th, Tony earned his 22nd top-10 of the season, with five season victories to his name. Stewart has been successful at Texas, winning here in 2006.

Tony Stewart and SHR employee/team member, Ryan Newman, are both represented in this year’s Chase for the Championship. Stewart is 279 points behind the leader, Johnson. Newman gained one spot to seventh, 402 points out of first. Newman has no shot at the Cup title, but can be an invaluable resource for Stewart, pushing him toward the front of the pack.

Stewart must win the Dickies 500 in order to win the Cup Championship, Jumping from 5th to 1st place in the Chase is not impossible, but sadly, improbable. Statistically, given that this is one of the last Cup races of the season, only a series of rare mishaps could dislodge Jimmie Johnson from winning the Sprint Cup.

In addition to the featured race on Sunday, there will be a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series WinStar World Casino 350k, the NASCAR Nationwide Series O’Reilly Challenge. The truce race is on Friday.

Events for the Fans

November 5- Sam Hornish Jr. will host the Autotrader.com Celebrity Bowling Tournament. This is open to the public and will be held at Main Even in Grapevine, Texas. It will benefit Speedway Children’s Charities. More information is at http://bit.ly/1u1MK.

November 5- Beretta Celebrity Clay Shoot will be held at Ross Perot Jr.’s Circle T Ranch. It is located on Texas 114 at Trophy Club, Westlake, Texas. Sponsored teams will pair with local and national celebrities to see who is the best shot.

November 7- Texas Motor Speedway Track Walk
Walk begins 30 minutes after the conclusion of the O’Reilly Challenge Nationwide Series race. Driver Joey Logano is scheduled to walk with fans. Visit http://texas.speedwaycharities.org for more information.

November 7-Live NASCAR Memorabilia Auction at the Texas Motor Speedway Hospitality Village
This event begins immediately after the O’Reilly Challenge Nationwide Series race. Auction is open to the public.

Bruce Cameron, The Racing Reporter

Despite Declining Economy TMS expects 400,000 at Nov. Race

Justin, Texas

Dollars are tight. Just one look at Craigslist or Ebay and one can find some bargains on tickets, pit passes, and infield camping. Money is flowing easier than this time last year. It is a great time to be a Nascar fan! Now’s the chance to get it all in Texas.

According to the Dallas Business Journal, Eddie Gossage, president of Texas Motor Speedway, said he expects attendance and revenue for the Nov. 8 Dickies 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race to remain about flat with last year’s numbers.

He expects 175,000 to 185,000 in attendance for the Sunday race, and about 400,000 for the entire weekend.

“If people are getting worked up about 105,000 at a Cowboys game, we call that a bad day on Saturday,” Gossage said in a recent interview.

About 240 of the track’s 15,000 Backstretch Buster seats, which sell for $20 and $40, remain available.

The venue’s high-dollar RV parking spaces are sold out. “We’re having a hard time with the corporate clients who a year ago bought 500 tickets and this year bought 200,” Gossage said. “I think that’s settling down some.”

Already looking to next year, Gossage said he is in talks with sponsors willing to take the place of Dickies, which has not renewed its sponsorship of the Sprint Cup race for 2010.

Bruce Cameron, The Racing Reporter

Brad Coleman Toyota Test Turns Coyote Ugly

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brad Coleman was testing a Gibbs NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car at Toyota Arizona Proving Grounds earlier in 2009.  Staff recalled Coleman calling on the radio and told his crew something rather unusual.

“Guys, I hit a coyote,” Coleman said.

Coleman was running close to 200 mph around the 10-mile test track when he saw the animal wander under the outside guardrail.

“I’m in the middle of the corner, and I’m doing like 190,” Coleman said Friday at Nashville Superspeedway before practicing his Nationwide Series car. “I’m just cruising. You run the high line there, because that’s where the most banking is. It’s the high-speed lane. There’s just a guardrail there like on the freeway.

“I see this thing, it must’ve been 100 feet in front of me, just jump out. Right when I saw it come out from under the guardrail, I was like, ‘That’s a coyote.’”

“It just started smoking like crazy,” Coleman said. “And it smelled terrible. I didn’t see anything in the mirror, so I was like, ‘I wonder where it went?’ I said, ‘Guys, I hit a coyote. I’m going to come in because I think it screwed up the radiator. I think it clogged up the
grille a little bit.’”

(Photos Courtesy of Autoracing1.com)

Surprise in Talladega

Multiple pile-ups, wrecks and near death experiences characterize the Aaron’s race in Talladega.  This is a Nascar fan’s dream, other than Dale Jr. did not win.

But second is a good thing for Dale Jr. at the Jr. Nation Headquarters.

But when the smoke settled on Sunday, Talladega was able to crown its 10th driver to win their first Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega.  And that driver was none other then Brad Keselowski.

The day started out with Hendrick Motorsports poised to make history, just one win by Dale Earnhardt Jr to become the only team in NASCAR history to win four straight races with four different drivers.

However, it was Keselowski and Phoenix Racing, owned by James Finch, who stole the show.

As the cars circled through the tri-oval for the final time, it was between Carl Edwards and young Keselowski.  Keselowski peaked below Edwards, as he put a strangle-hold on the yellow line–which is out-of-bounds at Talladega–as Edwards turned down to block.  Edwards spun out of control as Keselowski steered high to miss the driver who was literally flying towards the fans to win his first Cup race–in just his fifth start–as well as the first Cup win for Finch–who has been in the sport for years.

“This is the best thing to ever happen to me,” Finch said. “I’ve always dreamed about winning one of these races. Sprint Cup racing is the hardest racing in the world. I’ve won 400 short-track races. I’ve said I’d trade all of them for one of these races. That’s how hard they are to win.”

Finch entered his first race as an owner on September 16, 1990 with driver Jeff Purvis at Dover. They started four races total, registering no top-tens and no lead lap finishes. It was 2002 when Geoff Bodine finished the Daytona 500 third for the team’s first top-five and first top-ten finish in its history. Since then, the team had made 104 starts with only two top-fives and seven top-tens to show for it.

Bruce Cameron, The Racing Reporter

Nascar Returns to Its Roots in 2009 by Bruce Cameron, The Racing Reporter

Economic downturns are leaving skid marks on America’s most popular spectator sport.

My visit to TMS in November at the last Texas NASCAR race showed evidence of a slowed economy. There were thousands of empty seats, drastic cuts in merchandise prices and extremely nervous ticket sellers by the start of the first race of the week. Coveted infield RV spots were vacant. Gas prices were high, but still, vacant infield spaces are the marks of a true beating.

The Daytona 500 scheduled for next week, still has thousands of tickets available. Television ratings dropped in 2008 compared to the 2007 season. Large banners will cover unattended grandstand sections at many tracks, despite deep price cuts.

Sprint Cup, Nationwide and the Camping World Truck series are all dealing with the distinct possibility that there might not be enough teams for a full field once the grind of the regular season begins.

Given these realities, NASCAR is not “re-inventing” itself, but will have to return to it’s roots to adapt to changing economic conditions.

Layoffs have happened for many teams. Petty Enterprises and others have had to merge with one-time competitors to maintain a presence in the sport. Richard Petty merges with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. This new partnership desperately seeks sponsorship with one or both of their teams having to run a partial schedule in 2009.

With the creation of new teams, new faces and new racing alliances will be formed. Perhaps some underdog stories will capture the attention of fans, even creating some new fans to this leaner-meaner field of teams and drivers.

In 2008 NASCAR was dominated by “super teams” that had the edge over the smaller or owner-driver teams. Three racers from such teams won 24 out of 36 races last season. New looks, new drivers with new teams will square off for victory.

Hendrick, Roush and Gibbs were the dominant forces producing the vast majority of the 2008 victories. They were able to achieve this without the assistance of Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth. Tony Stewart won only once last year. Joey Logano replaces Tony Stewart. David Ragan and Jamie McMurray are going to be good producers for Roush. These teams will likely continue to dominate this season.

Here are just some of the changes for the 2009 season:

Jeff Gordon keeps the #24 and Dupont sponsorship but has a new color scheme. Other NASCAR writers have been referring to this new look in a Johnny Cash-like Man-In-Black.

Tony Stewart begins his first year as an owner-driver team. The team is a hybrid of Tony and Haas Racing. He’ll be sporting the #14 with forms of new sponsorship. Notably, Houstonian A.J. Foyt (ok, he’s really from Hockely but hey..) will be at the Daytona 500 supporting Stewart. Why? The #14 was his number back in the day. Ryan Newman, last years Daytona 500 winner, will also be a member of the Stewart team, driving the #39 Army car.

Dale Earnhardt Inc. And Chip Ganassi Racing merge to save their operations. This duo is searching to sustain Martin Truex Jr. and Juan Pablo Montoya. They are also straining for sponsors for a third team of Aric Almirola.

Martin Truex won the pole for this year’s Datona 500. This is a much-needed presence for DEI/Ganassi.

Mark Martin, who is no stranger to change is another defector from DEI to the Hendrick organization. He’ll be driving the #5, formerly the number of Casey Mears. Mark has threatened retirement over the years, but like many folks, probably can’t afford to NOT work.

Paul Menard, formerly #15 moves to #98 and will be driving a Ford instead of a Chevy.

Native Texan Bobby Labonte leaves team Petty and joins up with Hall of Fame Racing, which joined up with Yates Racing. The car is now a Ford (from a Toyota). Now that’s going back to the roots. Cowboy greats Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman are out of the ownership group.

Carl Edwards #99 goes from Men’s Health poster boy to married to a hot doctor. He’ll be cashing in from Office Depot red to wearing black and green with his Aflac insurance sponsor.

Spare driver John Andretti will drive in the 2009 Daytona 500 as he steps behind the wheel of the #34 Window World Chevy as part of a partnership between Front Row Motorsports (FRM) and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Don’t be fooled by the last name. His car last April looked like a Maaco failure with maybe 6 baby stickers on the entire car.

Another miracle is that Michael Waltrip Racing signed a full year deal with Aaron’s sponsoring the #00 now driven by former #44 UPS David Reutimann. Even Reutimann is going back to his roots as #00 was his original number. (His grandfather also raced with that number.)

This is just a small sample of the changes. Months will have to pass to see who wins the first 5 races. Sponsorship for many drivers is not guaranteed for the entire year. Winning and performance in the first 5 races are critical for the survival of several teams and drivers.

Being a fan of NASCAR, I can’t wait to see the new faces, team dynamics, and even paint schemes for the cars. Strategy is the name of the game. Teams are going to have to come together hard and fast to secure scarce dollars from dwindling corporate sponsorship.

This year is going to be a great year to get good seats cheap. Real cheap. I’ll get to see how this plays out in April at the Samsung 500 at our own Texas Motor Speedway.

These cutbacks, mergers and dwindling sales will create a more competitive spirit on and off the track for many drivers. For now, fans will have to roll with the changes and witness a new era in NASCAR Cup Series Racing.

Gentlemen, start your engines.

Bruce Cameron, The Racing Reporter