Tony Stewart would like Stewart-Haas Racing to have three full-time teams in 2013, but has not yet signed Ryan Newman to a new deal. Newman agreed to drive for the team when Stewart became co-owner starting with the 2009 season. Newman is not yet signed for 2013. Danica Patrick is expected to drive for the team full time next season in the #10 GoDaddy.com Chevy after a 10-race Cup schedule this year.
NASCAR team owner Richard Childress and former NASCAR driver Ricky Rudd were inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame this week. The National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame is located on the grounds of Darlington Raceway. The inaugural class was inducted in 1965 which has become a Who's Who in the world of NASCAR. Childress and Rudd were the 79th and 80th inductees.
Since winning his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in 2010 at the record age of 16 Darrell Wallace Jr. has been on his way to the bright lights of NASCAR's national series stage. The begins Sunday at Iowa Speedway, where he'll make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut for Joe Gibbs Racing. Wallace is the first African-American in NASCAR K&N Pro East history to visit Victory Lane.
Saturday night NASCAR's top drivers take center stage in an unparalleled best-of-the-best showcase -- the annual Sprint All-Star Race. But that's just the main course. A number of fan-friendly lead-in activities are scheduled to work up an appetite for one of the most anticipated dates on the NASCAR calendar. Starting with the Sprint Pit Crew Challenge tonight, NASCAR Day is tomorrow.
The Pit Crew Challenge (SPEED tv 7 p.m.). A competition between 24 of the top Cup Series pit crews features the "unsung heroes" of the sport in a popular tournament-style battle. The event's finishing order determines pit selection for the Sprint All-Star Race. The No. 11 team is the two-time defending champion.
The ninth celebration of NASCAR Day encourages fans to join The NASCAR Foundation's initiative in the "Pin It Forward" campaign. Fans are invited to connect and share their pride for NASCAR by posting stories and uploading pictures on the Foundation's Facebook page. The NASCAR Day "Pin It Forward" pins are $10.
Fri, May 18 7:00pm Camping World Trucks race in Charlotte Sat, May 19 - 2012 7:00 PM Charlotte Sprint Showdown/ Sprint All-Star Race SPEED Sun, May 20 - 2012 1:30 PM Iowa NASCAR Nationwide Series ESPN
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Jimmy Spencer, former NASCAR driver and current television personality who goes by the nickname "Mr. Excitement," has never backed down from speaking his mind. And at Darlington, he wasn't about to change. He announced to the world he was going retire. That's it. I am going to put my house up for sale and move back to Pennsylvania where I was raised.
Spencer won twice in 478 Sprint Cup starts with such team owners as Bobby Allison, Junior Johnson and Travis Carter. Spencer also record includes 12 Nationwide Series wins and 15 victories on the Modified Tour. He plans to start traveling, with visits to Germany, Switzerland and ride the train up in Canada.
NASCAR has fined Kurt Busch, driver of the #51 car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, $50,000 and placed him on NASCAR probation until July 25 for his actions during the May 12 race at Darlington Raceway. Kurt Busch charged with reckless driving on pit road during the race; involved in an altercation with another competitor after the completion of the race. Additionally, Craig Strickler, a crew member for the #51 team, has been fined $5,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31 for interfering with a member of the broadcast media.
Tony Gibson, crew chief for the #39 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team, has been placed on NASCAR probation until June 27 for the actions of his team members. Andrew Rueger, a crew member for the #39 team, has been fined $5,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until June 27 for failure to comply with a directive from a NASCAR official.
For the second consecutive weekend, Jeff Green will replace the injured Eric McClure in the No. 14 Toyota. Green will drive the car at Iowa Speedway as McClure continues to recuperate from the concussion and internal bruising he suffered as a result of a serious accident near the end of the Nationwide Series race earlier this month at Talladega Superspeedway. Green started 26th and finished 19th at Darlington in McClure's car.
Sat, May 19 - 2012 7:00 PM Charlotte Sprint Showdown/ Sprint All-Star Race SPEED Sun, May 20 - 2012 1:30 PM Iowa NASCAR Nationwide Series ESPN
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Despite sponsorship issues, Matt Kenseth's future is secure at Roush Fenway Racing. Team owner Jack Roush said yesterday that the 2003 Sprint Cup champion, in the final year of his current contract, will have a ride with RFR as long as he wants one. RFR president Steve Newmark said Kenseth's No. 17 car still has eight to 10 unsponsored races. The organization shrank to three Cup cars this season when sponsorship couldn't be found for the #6 and David Ragan. The anticipation is Nationwide Series point’s leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will move into the #6 Cup car in 2013 and Trevor Bayne will drive Nationwide full time.
NASCAR is reviewing the fracas between Kurt Busch & Ryan Newman to see if penalties are warranted, said vice president of competition Ryan Pemberton. A Sprint Cup official fell back on Busch's car, but Pemberton didn't think it was an aggressive move toward the official. We haven't talked to Kurt; we talked to Ryan a little bit. He talked to Kurt afterwards and he told him he didn't mean to hit him, he was taking his helmet off and looked up and he'd run into the back of him. So right now that's really all the facts that we have." Busch did not talk to reporters following the Southern 500.
Hendersonville, TN driver Josef Newgarden is staying on top of Indianapolis’ speed charts.
The IndyCar rookie became the fastest driver this month, turning a fast lap of 222.486 mph in the final 30 minutes of yesterday’s practice session for the Indianapolis 500. It’s the second time in two days that Newgarden has had the fastest lap of the day. Colombia’s Sebastian Saavedra had the best lap Sunday at 221.526. Andretti Autosport teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti were second and third.
Sat, May 19 - 2012 6:00 PM Charlotte Sprint Showdown & Sprint All-Star Race SPEED Sun, May 20 - 2012 12:30 PM Iowa NASCAR Nationwide Series ESPN
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Jimmie Johnson won the Bojangles' Southern 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway for his 1st win of the year, 3rd at Darlington, his 56th career win. He took the lead with 42 laps remaining and held the lead the rest of the way, including one green white checker finish.
Denny Hamlin finished 2nd followed by Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex, Jr.5th.
With Jimmie Johnson's win Saturday night in the #48 Chevy at Darlington, Hendrick Motorsports recorded its 200th points-paying victory in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition, marking a major milestone for the organization and car owner Rick Hendrick.
Hendrick Motorsports' first win came April 29, 1984, at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway with Geoff Bodine at the wheel. Jeff Gordon notched the team's 50th 1996, at Darlington Raceway and its 100th in 2001, at Michigan. Jimmie Johnson scored the 150th Cup win for Hendrick Motorsports in 2007, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
There are only two active tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit where Hendrick Motorsports has yet to reach Victory Lane. Those venues are Homestead-Miami Speedway, which hosts the Sprint Cup season finale, and the newly added Kentucky Speedway.
Joey Logano wrecked leader Elliott Sadler five laps from the end, and then broke free during a green-white-checkered finish at Darlington Raceway for his second straight Nationwide Series victory Friday night. Denny Hamlin finished second, Brad Keselowski was third. Logano left Sadler a voice mail and said he was off to seek him out after postrace interviews. Sadler was visibly angry when he left the car, pacing and grimacing while his team inspected the damage. Sadler said he understood what Logano was doing, but he needed to show awareness of how treacherous Darlington can be.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who started from the poll, finished sixth and took a 23-point lead over Sadler in the series standings.
Tony Stewart's annual charity race, The Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway in Ohio, is scheduled for June 6. So is an afternoon of Sprint Cup testing at newly repaved Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. The two tracks are 480 miles apart, and many Cup drivers participate in Stewart's dirt late model race, won last year by Clint Bowyer. To help with scheduling, NASCAR moved the start of the Pocono test session to noon, allowing drivers plenty of time to fly to Eldora before the start of the Prelude.
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Danica Patrick will have a new spotter for Saturday's Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway; it’s Tab Boyd, a former spotter for Juan Pablo Montoya and an employee at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Boyd will replace Mark Robertson as Patrick makes her second Cup start of the season.
Travis Kvapil will have an opportunity to race in the Southern 500, after all. Kvapil, who has been driving the No. 93 BK Racing Toyota since the second race of the season at Phoenix, was expected to be sidelined this weekend as David Reutimann reprises his role in the car he drove in the season-opening Daytona 500. However, the owners of BK Racing have decided to field a third car at Darlington, putting Kvapil in the No. 73 Dr. Pepper Toyota.
Danica Patrick said yesterday she isn’t sure if NASCAR will penalize her for intentionally wrecking Sam Hornish Jr. at Talladega. Patrick was angry after Hornish ran her up the track on the last lap of the Nationwide Series race. She retaliated on the cool-down lap, but insisted her intent was only to hit Hornish to show her displeasure. After watching a replay of the accident, she called both Hornish and Nationwide Series director; and she also exchanged emails with Hornish team owner Roger Penske. Patrick was not called to the NASCAR hauler after the race, and has not been punished for her actions. But, says that could change once she arrives today at Darlington Raceway.
In a move that will allow Jeremy Mayfield to delay the sale of his foreclosed-on property, Mayfield's wife, Shana, has filed for bankruptcy. The move was not a surprise as the Mayfield’s have seen the bills stack up ever since Mayfield was suspended by NASCAR for what NASCAR officials said was a May 2009 positive drug test for methamphetamines. Mayfield's wife filed the Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition this week in North Carolina. She lists assets (not including any exempt property) of under $50,000 and liabilities of between $1 million and $10 million. The bankruptcy filing would put on hold the closing of the sale and allow the Mayfield’s to at least temporarily remain in their home.
It’s Mother’s day wk-end so the teams are night racing in Darlington.
Fri, May 11 6pm Darlington NASCAR Nationwide Series ESPN2
Sat, May 12 6pm Darlington NASCAR Sprint Cup Series FOX
While #5-Kasey Kahne hasn't had much to smile about this season, he can smile about two things: His left knee and his right knee. Kahne had arthroscopic surgery about seven weeks ago in Charlotte. Kahne said yesterday, my knees are good; I started running last week. I'm kind of slow-paced for what I'm used to. My right knee is perfect. It feels great. It's the best it's felt in two years and my left knee is not there yet, but it's on its way.
Look for Kevin Harvick to run a white and black Budweiser Prohibition scheme on the #29 Richard Childress Racing Chevy at Martinsville Speedway this weekend.
Anheuser-Busch and its family of wholesalers across the United States annually celebrate the repeal of Prohibition on April 7 - the day the Cullen-Harrison Act took effect in 1933, legalizing the sale of 3.2 percent alcohol by volume beer in the District of Columbia and the 20 states in which state laws did not prohibit its sale.
In an effort to salute those who have given so much to protect our freedoms, Roush Fenway Racing and driver of the #17 Ford, Matt Kenseth, will be running a special paint scheme at Martinsville Speedway for the Goody's Fast Relief 500. Kenseth's car will feature a salute to United States Marine Corps Corporal Josh "J.B." Kerns. Kerns was a combat engineer with the U.S. Marine Corps and was on a mine sweep on April 7, 2011 in Afghanistan during his third tour of duty. An improvised explosive device (IED) detonated nearby and Kerns lost both of his legs along with his right arm due to the blast.
Sprint will give NASCAR fans the opportunity to introduce their favorite driver at this year's Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Through the "Sprint All-Star Announcers" contest, fans can submit brief videos of their introducing their favorite driver to Sprint.com. A select panel will choose one winning submission for each driver, and those winning videos will be used to introduce the starting lineup for the Sprint All-Star Race on May 19.
Sun, Apr 1 - 2012 12:30 PM Martinsville NASCAR Sprint Cup Series FOX
NASCAR will unveil the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule today at 11:00am local time.
NASCAR will also host a Q & A Twitter chat for fans, media, teams and tracks are encouraged to participate throughout the one-hour interactive Twitter forum.
Pattie Petty, the wife of former NASCAR driver Kyle Petty, has revealed that she has Parkinson's disease. It was confirmed through a new test at the University of Kansas Hospital. Petty says Parkinson's won't stop her efforts to build a camp in Kansas City for kids with chronic illnesses. Victory Junction, a camp for sick kids.
Red Bull Racing expects to layoff 152 employees when it shutters operations in December.
Red Bull Racing filed a notice this week that the layoffs were expected by Dec. 17, 2011. Red Bull is a two-car team that entered NASCAR in 2007. The Austrian-based energy drink company both owns and sponsors the team, which presently fields cars for Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers.
Kahne is moving to Hendrick Motorsports next season, and Vickers is in the final year of his contract.
Red Bull says the closure is permanent.
Paducah International Raceway will be holding the Season Championships this week-end; In the UMP Super Late Model division, “The Race of the Season” will take place with all eyes at the track on Tim Brown of Benton Ky., who will be trying to end Kevin Coles reign as UMP Super Late Model track Champion for the past two years.
Also on the program for the night will be the Kentucky Vintage Cars.As an added feature to the evening the Mini Sprints will be returning to the 1/5th. mile track at PIR.Tickets are $12 for Adults and Children 12 and under are Free. Pit Admission is $25.info online at www.paducahracing.com
Turner Motorsports will swap the road crews of its No. 4 and No. 32 Camping World Truck Series teams for this weekend's Kentucky 225 at Kentucky Speedway.
Doug George will assume the crew chief duties for Ricky Carmichael's No. 4 while Mark Rette will call the shots for rookie Blake Feese.
The Kentucky 225 from Kentucky Speedway is scheduled to start at 7:18 p.m.
It is a weekend of racing at Ky Speedway at Dover;
Sat, Oct 1 -2:30 PM Nationwide Dover ESPN2
7:00 PM Truck Kentucky SPEED
Sun, Oct 2 -1:00 PM Indycar KentuckyVERSUS
1:00 PM Sprint Cup Dover ESPN
Two races remain before the complete 12-driver Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is set; Six drivers have clinched a Chase spot in some fashion. Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards have locked up top-10 spots. Kevin Harvick (three wins) and Jeff Gordon (two wins) both have clinched, at the least, Wild Card spots; both will likely cement top-10 berths in Sunday night's AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
After race No. 26 at Richmond, the top-10 drivers in points will fill out the first portion of the 12-driver Chase. Spots 11 and 12 go to drivers outside the top 10 with the most victories provided they are in the top 20. The Wild Card tiebreaker is point’s position.
Unless something unforeseen occurs Andy Lally, will be the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year. Lally, a three-time GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series champion, is the only freshman left competing for the award since #92-Brian Keselowski and #50-T.J. Bell failed to meet the minimum competition requirements. Lally, finished 25th in Saturday's IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, his fifth consecutive run in the top 30.
Front Row Motorsports' #38 Ford will have a different look at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend, hitting the track with a new sponsor and a different driver. Front Row driver J.J. Yeley will take the wheel of the #38 Ford for Sunday's race.Travis Kvapil, will drive the #55 Front Row Motorsports Ford for the weekend.
It’s off to Hotlanta for a holiday wk-end of racing;
