From the Crossville Chronicle - Crossville, Tn. Wednesday February 27, 2008
by Joe Dunn / joe@onpitroad.com
The word for Nascar at California last weekend was RAIN. The qualifying in all three series was canceled due rain on Friday. The Craftsman Truck Series managed to dodge the rain to get their event in early Saturday, but the rest of the day was a washout. Kyle Busch won the truck race with last weeks winner Todd Bodine close behind in second, giving each a 1st and 2nd so far. However, the fact that Busch lead the most laps both weeks, puts him as number one in the points.
Sunday was a day that many teams wish now was just skipped. Attempting to beat the rain all day, they managed to get 83 of 250 laps completed Sunday. The wet condition cause some serious wrecks that cost a half dozen drivers any chance at a decent finish. The Sprint Cup and the Nationwide Series races both finished late Monday afternoon. Carl Edwards won the Cup easily over Jimmy Johnson and Tony Stewart pulled off win number two in the Nationwide series. That kept teammate Kyle Busch from leaving the west coast leading all three top series.
The Big story of 2007 was Dale Earnhardt Jr leaving DEI and heading to HMS, in the process Kyle Busch got an un-ceremonial dumping by Rick Hendrick. Later signing with Joe Gibbs Racing seems to have been the right move for Kyle. So far the Big story of 2008, expected to be Junior, is now Kyle. After two weeks, he leads the Sprint Cup Series, the Craftsman Truck Series and is second in the Nationwide series. At the Same time Earnhardt sits 23rd in Cup and 7th in Nationwide.
The Truck Series gets a week off while the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series heads to Las Vegas, this weekend.
Local news - Crossville Raceway would like to remind all 2007 track employees that there will be a mandatory meeting for employees at the Track this Sunday march 2 at 4:00pm.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Crossville Raceway returns to Friday Nights for 2008
Crossville Raceway PR
February 19, 2008
Racing action at Crossville Raceway will return to it’s familiar Friday night action for the 2008 season. The track which for years was a staple of Friday night racing on the Cumberland Plateau decided the change back was in the best interest of the racing community.
With the assistance of the folks from Clarksville Speedway track preparation is underway with plans for two practice session to be held on Sunday’s March 30 and April 6, 2008 from noon until dark. Weekly racing begins Friday April 11, gates to open at 4:30 pm (CDT) with Hot Laps at 6:30 and Racing to start at 7:30. With Crossville being in the Central time zone, the starting times and easy access from I-40 are idea for racers in East Tennessee.
The track has several Special Events planned for 2008, starting April 25th with the return of the Southern Regional Racing Series (SRRS), as some of the best Super Late Model drivers from the south will race for the $3,000 win. The Advance Auto Parts Tennessee Thunder Series will return on June 20th for another $3,000 to win Super Late Model event. July will bring two headline events as the O’Reilly Auto Parts United Sprint Car Series, Outlaw Thunder Tour comes to town on the 18th, followed by the Ray Cook with the O’Reilly Southern Nationals Series on Tuesday July 22. More special events are being planned, details to follow.
The UMP Open Wheel Modifieds will be back, and with the Friday Racing it will allow those drivers to earn extra points while competing at Clarksville Speedway on Saturdays. Joining the Modifieds in the weekly racing program will be Late Model Sportsman, Street Stock, Mini Mod, Pure Mini Stock and the Cruiser Cars. The popular Pro Street class will return to weekly racing for 2008 after being absent last year. The class was added during a Driver’s Meeting in December that was held to seek drivers and owners opinions on the rules package. The 2008 rules allow competitors from several of the areas Saturday night tracks to compete with little or no changes to the cars in every class.
In addition to the regular programs, other special events will be included such as the ‘Fans Race Side by Side’ program, which allows fans to enter their own ‘street legal’ cars in single lap elimination races. Other plans call for nickel nights and foot races for the kids as well as other fans and kids activities.
2008 rules may be found at http://www.crossvilleracewayusa.com/ and the Schedule may be found at http://www.geocities.com/onpitroadphoto/crossvilleracewayschedule.html
Contacts for the track are William Scogin (931) 538-8448, Chris McConnell (931) 472-5111, email CrossvilleRacewayPR@onpitroad.com
February 19, 2008
Racing action at Crossville Raceway will return to it’s familiar Friday night action for the 2008 season. The track which for years was a staple of Friday night racing on the Cumberland Plateau decided the change back was in the best interest of the racing community.
With the assistance of the folks from Clarksville Speedway track preparation is underway with plans for two practice session to be held on Sunday’s March 30 and April 6, 2008 from noon until dark. Weekly racing begins Friday April 11, gates to open at 4:30 pm (CDT) with Hot Laps at 6:30 and Racing to start at 7:30. With Crossville being in the Central time zone, the starting times and easy access from I-40 are idea for racers in East Tennessee.
The track has several Special Events planned for 2008, starting April 25th with the return of the Southern Regional Racing Series (SRRS), as some of the best Super Late Model drivers from the south will race for the $3,000 win. The Advance Auto Parts Tennessee Thunder Series will return on June 20th for another $3,000 to win Super Late Model event. July will bring two headline events as the O’Reilly Auto Parts United Sprint Car Series, Outlaw Thunder Tour comes to town on the 18th, followed by the Ray Cook with the O’Reilly Southern Nationals Series on Tuesday July 22. More special events are being planned, details to follow.
The UMP Open Wheel Modifieds will be back, and with the Friday Racing it will allow those drivers to earn extra points while competing at Clarksville Speedway on Saturdays. Joining the Modifieds in the weekly racing program will be Late Model Sportsman, Street Stock, Mini Mod, Pure Mini Stock and the Cruiser Cars. The popular Pro Street class will return to weekly racing for 2008 after being absent last year. The class was added during a Driver’s Meeting in December that was held to seek drivers and owners opinions on the rules package. The 2008 rules allow competitors from several of the areas Saturday night tracks to compete with little or no changes to the cars in every class.
In addition to the regular programs, other special events will be included such as the ‘Fans Race Side by Side’ program, which allows fans to enter their own ‘street legal’ cars in single lap elimination races. Other plans call for nickel nights and foot races for the kids as well as other fans and kids activities.
2008 rules may be found at http://www.crossvilleracewayusa.com/ and the Schedule may be found at http://www.geocities.com/onpitroadphoto/crossvilleracewayschedule.html
Contacts for the track are William Scogin (931) 538-8448, Chris McConnell (931) 472-5111, email CrossvilleRacewayPR@onpitroad.com
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Ryan Newman wins the 50th Daytona 500
From the Crossville Chronicle - Crossville, Tn. Wednesday February 20, 2008
By Joe Dunn / joe@onpitroad.com
The 50th running of the Daytona 500 was the culmination of one of the most exciting ‘Speed Weeks’ ever at Daytona International Speedway, with a super success for Penske Racing South.
Through a week of qualifying, practice and the Gatorade Duels, 43 cars took the green flag Sunday afternoon in the ‘Super Bowl’ of auto racing. The drivers expected to finish up front were the Big 3 of Hendrick Motor Sports, 4 time Nascar Champion - Jeff Gordon, 2 time Nascar Champion - Jimmie Johnson and Nascar’s most popular driver - Dale Earnhardt Jr., all multiple winners at Daytona. Junior was setting the stage with his wins of the Bud Shootout and one of the Gatorade Duels, so his fans had visions of the triple crown of Daytona. But once the green flag drops all bets are off, it’s anybody’s game.
The hottest driver of the day was the driver that Hendrick discarded to make room for Junior. Kyle Busch lead 8 times for 86 laps and earned the 10 point bonus for leading the most. Kyle and teammate Tony Stewart were the big threat all day as the took Toyota to an all new level in Nascar. But Ryan Newman and his teammate Kurt Busch were near the front most of the day, but on the last restart on lap 197, Jeff Burton lost the lead to Tony Stewart. Stewart held that lead till the last lap, holding off a charging Newman, but when Stewart slipped down the track, Newman with a big push from Kurt Busch passed him on the high side and off they went for the win.
The win was Newman’s first in 81 races, his last win came at New Hampshire in September of 2005. This was the first Daytona 500 win for Newman, as well as owner Roger Penske. In addition, for Penske Racing it was the first restrictor plate win and the first one - two finish in Nascar Cup racing for Penske. The win paid $1.5 Million plus a special bonus from Dodge Motorsports of $1 million. Following Newman and Busch across the line were, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson, Elliott Sadler, Kasey Kahne, Robby Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Greg Biffle in 10th place. Rookie of the race was Sam Hornish Jr. who finished 15th.
In addition to Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s wins of the Bud Shootout and the first Duel, other winners for the week included Denny Hamlin, winner of the second Duel, Tony Stewart, winner of the Nascar Nationwide Series Camping World 300 and Todd Bodine, winner of the Nascar Craftsman Truck Series Chevy Silverado 250.
The top three Nascar Series head to the west coast next to California Speedway at Fontana, California. Race schedule for California includes, The truck series Saturday at 2 PM (ct) on Fox, The Nationwide Series Saturday at 6 PM on ESPN2 and the Nascar Sprint Cup series, Auto Club 500 Sunday at 2:30 PM on Fox.
Crossville Raceway recently released the 2008 schedule of racing for the local track on Hwy 70N in Crossville. The season will begin with two open practices on Sunday March 30 and Sunday April 6, both sessions will run from noon til dark. The track moves back to Friday Night action this year with the first race on April 11, gates will open at with hot laps at 6:30 and racing starting at 7:30 PM.
Regular weekly classes for 2008 will include Late Model Sportsman, Open Wheel Modified, Pro Street, Street Stock, Mini Stock, Pure Mini Stock and Cruiser Cars. In addition there will be ‘Fans Race side by Side’ nights where fans may compete in single lap races for trophies in their ‘Street car’.
The Southern Regional Racing Series returns in April for some fast action Super Late Model Racing. Other’s visiting the track will include the Advance Auto Parts Tennessee Thunder Series in June, the O’Reilly Auto Parts United Sprint Car Series and the Ray Cook Southern Nationals, Super Late Model show, both in July.
Other Special Event racing programs are being planned and will be announced when the details are finalized.
By Joe Dunn / joe@onpitroad.com
The 50th running of the Daytona 500 was the culmination of one of the most exciting ‘Speed Weeks’ ever at Daytona International Speedway, with a super success for Penske Racing South.
Through a week of qualifying, practice and the Gatorade Duels, 43 cars took the green flag Sunday afternoon in the ‘Super Bowl’ of auto racing. The drivers expected to finish up front were the Big 3 of Hendrick Motor Sports, 4 time Nascar Champion - Jeff Gordon, 2 time Nascar Champion - Jimmie Johnson and Nascar’s most popular driver - Dale Earnhardt Jr., all multiple winners at Daytona. Junior was setting the stage with his wins of the Bud Shootout and one of the Gatorade Duels, so his fans had visions of the triple crown of Daytona. But once the green flag drops all bets are off, it’s anybody’s game.
The hottest driver of the day was the driver that Hendrick discarded to make room for Junior. Kyle Busch lead 8 times for 86 laps and earned the 10 point bonus for leading the most. Kyle and teammate Tony Stewart were the big threat all day as the took Toyota to an all new level in Nascar. But Ryan Newman and his teammate Kurt Busch were near the front most of the day, but on the last restart on lap 197, Jeff Burton lost the lead to Tony Stewart. Stewart held that lead till the last lap, holding off a charging Newman, but when Stewart slipped down the track, Newman with a big push from Kurt Busch passed him on the high side and off they went for the win.
The win was Newman’s first in 81 races, his last win came at New Hampshire in September of 2005. This was the first Daytona 500 win for Newman, as well as owner Roger Penske. In addition, for Penske Racing it was the first restrictor plate win and the first one - two finish in Nascar Cup racing for Penske. The win paid $1.5 Million plus a special bonus from Dodge Motorsports of $1 million. Following Newman and Busch across the line were, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson, Elliott Sadler, Kasey Kahne, Robby Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Greg Biffle in 10th place. Rookie of the race was Sam Hornish Jr. who finished 15th.
In addition to Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s wins of the Bud Shootout and the first Duel, other winners for the week included Denny Hamlin, winner of the second Duel, Tony Stewart, winner of the Nascar Nationwide Series Camping World 300 and Todd Bodine, winner of the Nascar Craftsman Truck Series Chevy Silverado 250.
The top three Nascar Series head to the west coast next to California Speedway at Fontana, California. Race schedule for California includes, The truck series Saturday at 2 PM (ct) on Fox, The Nationwide Series Saturday at 6 PM on ESPN2 and the Nascar Sprint Cup series, Auto Club 500 Sunday at 2:30 PM on Fox.
Crossville Raceway recently released the 2008 schedule of racing for the local track on Hwy 70N in Crossville. The season will begin with two open practices on Sunday March 30 and Sunday April 6, both sessions will run from noon til dark. The track moves back to Friday Night action this year with the first race on April 11, gates will open at with hot laps at 6:30 and racing starting at 7:30 PM.
Regular weekly classes for 2008 will include Late Model Sportsman, Open Wheel Modified, Pro Street, Street Stock, Mini Stock, Pure Mini Stock and Cruiser Cars. In addition there will be ‘Fans Race side by Side’ nights where fans may compete in single lap races for trophies in their ‘Street car’.
The Southern Regional Racing Series returns in April for some fast action Super Late Model Racing. Other’s visiting the track will include the Advance Auto Parts Tennessee Thunder Series in June, the O’Reilly Auto Parts United Sprint Car Series and the Ray Cook Southern Nationals, Super Late Model show, both in July.
Other Special Event racing programs are being planned and will be announced when the details are finalized.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Junior returns to Victory Lane
From the Crossville Chronicle - Crossville, Tn. Wednesday February 13, 2008
By Joe Dunn / joe@onpitroad.com
In his first appearance in the 88 National Guard Hendrick Motor Sports Impala, Dale Earnhardt Jr. made all the right moves in Saturday‘s Bud Shootout. By way of a draw for the line up, Jr. started seventh, but it only took him 5 laps to get to the front and take the lead.
The racing was fast and intense with only four cautions, the first of which came out on lap 17 when Bill Elliott cut down a tire and came to a stop along the outside wall. Earnhardt’s lead on lap 5 was short lived as Carl Edwards took over until lap 23. Junior would take the lead seven times for 47 laps, but the most important was with 2 laps to go. Tony Stewart was leading the race with Junior chasing on the outside, thanks to a bump from teammate Jimmie Johnson Earnhardt was able to slip by for the lead where he stayed to collect the checkers.
The welcome of Earnhardt to the HMS organization was evident as the Hendrick crew chiefs lined up on pit road to congratulate Junior on his first HMS win. The win was a welcome sign for Junior, his team and ‘Junior Nation’ (his fans) who went through the entire 2007 season without a visit to Victory lane. Crew Chief Tony Eury Jr. dedicated the win to one of the team car set up specialist, Joey Arnold. Joey’s 5 year old son, Cayden passed away last month after suffering from a lung condition. A few days after Cayden’s death, Joey returned to work much to the surprise of Eury and others. Joey told Eury that this was his best chance to be part of a Daytona 500 winning team and he wanted to share that. They have not won the 500 yet, but this could be the first step to getting there.
Before the celebrating ended Saturday the teams were hard at work getting ready for Sunday’s qualifying for the 50th running of the Daytona 500. Fifty-three teams took to the 2.5 mile, high banked, historical track in the first stage to make the Big race. At the end of the day, only two cars would be locked into starting positions, Jimmie Johnson on the Pole and Michael Waltrip to start along side him. Of the top five qualifiers, three were in Toyotas, a big change from 2007. Although only the front row is locked into position, three of the go or go home cars are now locked into the race. Waltrip by being on the front row along with Joe Nemecheck and David Reutimann, the third and fourth fastest qualifiers.
Next up will be the Gatorade Duels on Thursday, two 150 lap races will take place Thursday and broadcast on SpeedTV. The first Duel starts at 1PM (cst) with the second following at 3:30PM (cst). Starting positions 3-36 will be determined by these races, filled by the taking the top 35 teams in 2007 owners points plus the two top finishers in each Duel not in the top 35. Next will be the 3 fastest qualifying go or go home cars from Sunday, plus an eligible past champion. In the case where no past champion is in line, the next fastest non top 35 car makes it in.
There are three eligible past champions in the line up, Dale Jarrett, who used 6 past champion starts last year and will retire after the March Bristol race, Bill Elliott and Kurt Bush. Bush finished seventh in owners points in 2007, however with Nascar’s permission, Penske racing transferred those points to the 77 team and driver Sam Hornish Jr. That makes Bush the most recent ‘Past Champion’ not in the top 35. Unlike Jarrett or Elliott it is unlikely Bush will need to use many if any of those provisional starts.
After Thursday, there is no time to relax, as Friday night at 6:30Pm (cst) SpeedTV will broadcast the Nascar Craftsman Truck Series, Chevy Silverado 250. On Saturday ESPN2 will broadcast the Nascar Nationwide Series, season opener, The
Camping World 300 at 11:00AM (cst). The culmination of Speed Week 2008 comes Sunday as the 50th running of the Daytona 500 will air in FOX TV starting at 2:30PM (cst).
By Joe Dunn / joe@onpitroad.com
In his first appearance in the 88 National Guard Hendrick Motor Sports Impala, Dale Earnhardt Jr. made all the right moves in Saturday‘s Bud Shootout. By way of a draw for the line up, Jr. started seventh, but it only took him 5 laps to get to the front and take the lead.
The racing was fast and intense with only four cautions, the first of which came out on lap 17 when Bill Elliott cut down a tire and came to a stop along the outside wall. Earnhardt’s lead on lap 5 was short lived as Carl Edwards took over until lap 23. Junior would take the lead seven times for 47 laps, but the most important was with 2 laps to go. Tony Stewart was leading the race with Junior chasing on the outside, thanks to a bump from teammate Jimmie Johnson Earnhardt was able to slip by for the lead where he stayed to collect the checkers.
The welcome of Earnhardt to the HMS organization was evident as the Hendrick crew chiefs lined up on pit road to congratulate Junior on his first HMS win. The win was a welcome sign for Junior, his team and ‘Junior Nation’ (his fans) who went through the entire 2007 season without a visit to Victory lane. Crew Chief Tony Eury Jr. dedicated the win to one of the team car set up specialist, Joey Arnold. Joey’s 5 year old son, Cayden passed away last month after suffering from a lung condition. A few days after Cayden’s death, Joey returned to work much to the surprise of Eury and others. Joey told Eury that this was his best chance to be part of a Daytona 500 winning team and he wanted to share that. They have not won the 500 yet, but this could be the first step to getting there.
Before the celebrating ended Saturday the teams were hard at work getting ready for Sunday’s qualifying for the 50th running of the Daytona 500. Fifty-three teams took to the 2.5 mile, high banked, historical track in the first stage to make the Big race. At the end of the day, only two cars would be locked into starting positions, Jimmie Johnson on the Pole and Michael Waltrip to start along side him. Of the top five qualifiers, three were in Toyotas, a big change from 2007. Although only the front row is locked into position, three of the go or go home cars are now locked into the race. Waltrip by being on the front row along with Joe Nemecheck and David Reutimann, the third and fourth fastest qualifiers.
Next up will be the Gatorade Duels on Thursday, two 150 lap races will take place Thursday and broadcast on SpeedTV. The first Duel starts at 1PM (cst) with the second following at 3:30PM (cst). Starting positions 3-36 will be determined by these races, filled by the taking the top 35 teams in 2007 owners points plus the two top finishers in each Duel not in the top 35. Next will be the 3 fastest qualifying go or go home cars from Sunday, plus an eligible past champion. In the case where no past champion is in line, the next fastest non top 35 car makes it in.
There are three eligible past champions in the line up, Dale Jarrett, who used 6 past champion starts last year and will retire after the March Bristol race, Bill Elliott and Kurt Bush. Bush finished seventh in owners points in 2007, however with Nascar’s permission, Penske racing transferred those points to the 77 team and driver Sam Hornish Jr. That makes Bush the most recent ‘Past Champion’ not in the top 35. Unlike Jarrett or Elliott it is unlikely Bush will need to use many if any of those provisional starts.
After Thursday, there is no time to relax, as Friday night at 6:30Pm (cst) SpeedTV will broadcast the Nascar Craftsman Truck Series, Chevy Silverado 250. On Saturday ESPN2 will broadcast the Nascar Nationwide Series, season opener, The
Camping World 300 at 11:00AM (cst). The culmination of Speed Week 2008 comes Sunday as the 50th running of the Daytona 500 will air in FOX TV starting at 2:30PM (cst).
Saturday, February 9, 2008
2008 - Toyota, take 2
as seen on SpeedwayMedia.com Feb. 6, 2008
By Joe Dunn / joe@onpitroad.com
Toyota entered the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series with BIG hopes to achieve early success like they did in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series. It appeared that they took a page from the Dodge playbook to re-enter Nascar by using a well known racing personality to spearhead their Flagship team. To this end, they put their hope and trust in Michael Waltrip, just like Dodge did with Ray Evernham.
The big splash was to come at Daytona as the Toyota fleet was highlighted by every media outlet. Hopes for positive results at qualifying were dashed when the 55 car was suddenly impounded after qualifying. They rest is history as the embarrassment of being caught cheating was not the press Toyota desired. It became a season of bitter disappointments for the new car with several races being missed. Toyota ended the season with one car in the top 35 in owner’s points, the 22 of Dave Blaney in 34th place.
Chalk 2007 up to experience because 2008 already shows a lot more promise. During that slump in late 2007, Toyota did not sit on their hands, they reached out for help and they reached HIGH. The reach paid off as they landed Joe Gibbs Racing, a major coup from Chevrolet. JGR wasted no time in the off season as they prepared several cars and early testing results have shown that the right team was brought in. At every testing session, the Gibbs Toyotas have been up front in speed rankings. As if that alone was not a big plus, the other Toyota teams are also showing improvements.
This weekend there will be 6 Toyotas in the Bud Shoot Out, and the talent in those rides are some of the hottest in Nascar. It will be very interesting to see what success they see Saturday. Sunday will be Qualifying for the 500 and look for at least 11 Toyota teams to enter as opposed to 6 in 2007. This year Toyota will also start the season with 6 teams guaranteed to start the first 5 races with Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, JJ Yeley and Dave Blaney all in the top 35 from 2007, plus Dale Jarrett with the past champions provisional. In 2007, only Blaney was in the top 35 and joined by Jarret as the only 2 guaranteed starters.
I won’t go as far as to predict a championship for Toyota this year, but I will sure be looking for them to win at least a few. The obvious drivers to watch will be Stewart, Hamlin and Busch, but I would not count out Yeley or Reutimann. All in all, look for Toyota to make that Big Splash they wanted in 2007 to happen in 2008.
By Joe Dunn / joe@onpitroad.com
Toyota entered the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series with BIG hopes to achieve early success like they did in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series. It appeared that they took a page from the Dodge playbook to re-enter Nascar by using a well known racing personality to spearhead their Flagship team. To this end, they put their hope and trust in Michael Waltrip, just like Dodge did with Ray Evernham.
The big splash was to come at Daytona as the Toyota fleet was highlighted by every media outlet. Hopes for positive results at qualifying were dashed when the 55 car was suddenly impounded after qualifying. They rest is history as the embarrassment of being caught cheating was not the press Toyota desired. It became a season of bitter disappointments for the new car with several races being missed. Toyota ended the season with one car in the top 35 in owner’s points, the 22 of Dave Blaney in 34th place.
Chalk 2007 up to experience because 2008 already shows a lot more promise. During that slump in late 2007, Toyota did not sit on their hands, they reached out for help and they reached HIGH. The reach paid off as they landed Joe Gibbs Racing, a major coup from Chevrolet. JGR wasted no time in the off season as they prepared several cars and early testing results have shown that the right team was brought in. At every testing session, the Gibbs Toyotas have been up front in speed rankings. As if that alone was not a big plus, the other Toyota teams are also showing improvements.
This weekend there will be 6 Toyotas in the Bud Shoot Out, and the talent in those rides are some of the hottest in Nascar. It will be very interesting to see what success they see Saturday. Sunday will be Qualifying for the 500 and look for at least 11 Toyota teams to enter as opposed to 6 in 2007. This year Toyota will also start the season with 6 teams guaranteed to start the first 5 races with Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, JJ Yeley and Dave Blaney all in the top 35 from 2007, plus Dale Jarrett with the past champions provisional. In 2007, only Blaney was in the top 35 and joined by Jarret as the only 2 guaranteed starters.
I won’t go as far as to predict a championship for Toyota this year, but I will sure be looking for them to win at least a few. The obvious drivers to watch will be Stewart, Hamlin and Busch, but I would not count out Yeley or Reutimann. All in all, look for Toyota to make that Big Splash they wanted in 2007 to happen in 2008.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Brian Selby #9 Pro Street Crossville Raceway
As seen at Short Track Warriors http://shorttrackwarriors.com/ January 2008
By Joe Dunn - joe@onpitroad.com
At 35 years of age, Brian Selby of Sparta, Tn is anxious to get on the track for his 19th year of racing. Brian and his family relocated to Sparta two years ago from Joliet, Ill. and arrived in the area brimming with excitement to be in the true heart of dirt track racing.
Before moving south Brian spent 16 years up north running the ½ scale Indy cars where he enjoyed a lot of success. Starting in 1990 at the age of 16 he earned the Rookie of the Year title in the FIRA series. Over the years he ran 2 different series of the Indy cars amassing 75 feature wins. Although he never won a championship in these series he did finish second more than once. He also won the National Short Track Championship twice as well as the Golden Sands Open and the Little Car Nationals.
Brian’s inspiration to get into racing was from three people, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip and Richard Selby, his dad. As a youngster he watched a lot of Nascar races on TV with his dad, as dad explained the various effects and setups to Brian. Dad always wanted to race but over the years one thing or another held him back. By Brian’s 16th birthday he and dad had a ½ scale Indy car ready for Brian to start racing. To this day Mike is on hand with Brian in the pits every race night along with Brian’s wife Kathleen.
Brian’s first run on the dirt was in a Front Wheel Drive at Crossville that included a spectacular roll over. After only a few races, he got himself into a Street Stock, completing his second season in 2007 at Crossville. With 5 Street Stock wins to his credit he will be returning to Crossville in 2008 in the Pro Street class. If everything goes according to plan this will be the final year with a Limited Late Model coming in 2009.
That will not be the end of the story for Brian Selby, his dream is to someday move up to the Super Late Models and a chance to compete against the BIG names. Of course all the plans require one thing over all others, and as Brian says, “The hardest part about racing is the money, or the lack of it.”
I asked Brian what he thought the outlook was for local dirt tracks, and he was quite optimistic. “I see the local tracks emerging as a big driver development area that will spotlight the area. This spotlight will be a catalyst to bringing bigger and better races to this area and with that will be the countries biggest names in Dirt racing.”
“If I was able to dictate one change in the local tracks, it would be to bring in more big sponsored shows to the local tracks. The idea of being able to develop some $25-50K shows that would attract the top names to our tracks.”
It’s pretty cold out there on this January evening in east Tennessee, but that is hardly noticeable when you hear the enthusiasm in Brian’s voice. He had a pretty good 2007 season at Crossville finishing second in the Street Stock class and has a real positive outlook for success in 2008. Ok racers and fans, order up that early spring and we’ll see y’all at the local dirt tracks.
NASCAR is back with lots of changes
From the Crossville Chronicle - Crossville, Tn. Wednesday Feb. 6, 2008
By Joe Dunn - joe@onpitroad.com
Now that the Super Bowl is out of the way, it’s time to change attention to racing with the ‘BUD Shootout’ this Saturday. The field will be filled with an All Star cast of the Who’s Who of Nascar, and will be a very special event. The fact that this will be the Last year for the event under this title makes it even more meaningful. Budweiser dropped their major sponsorships of the Pole Award after the 2007 season and this is the final year of the contract on the Shootout. Starting with qualifying for the Daytona 500 drivers will vie for the COOR’S LIGHT pole award.
There are 25 drivers eligible for the Shoot Out and the staring order will be determined by a random drawing held on Thursday evening. Winners of ‘Bud poles’ for 2007 as well as previous Shoot Out winners that raced in 2007 will make up the field. The Shoot out will be televised on FOX Saturday at 7PM CST.
Although there will be few changes to the rules for 2008, there are major sponsor changes starting at Daytona. The title series has a new name, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, which replaces the Nextel name to complete the changeover in the ownership of the telecommunications giant. Among the other sponsorships ended by the Anheuser-Busch Company is sponsorship of the Busch series. Nationwide Insurance stepped up to take over the series, that is now the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is in the final year of it’s sponsorship contract, so it is expected negotiations will be underway soon for a replacement.
The biggest change for ‘08 is no surprise to Nascar fans as Dale Earnhardt Jr. begins the season with the Shoot Out in the 88 Mountain Dew Chevrolet for Hendrick Motor Sports, replacing Kyle Busch who moves to the 18 of Joe Gibbs. Another big story was Joe Gibbs Racing moving from Chevy to Toyota, early testing shows major improvements for Toyota under Gibbs direction. This is a big step up after a dismal season in 2007 which started with embarrassment after Toyota’s flagship team, Michael Waltrip racing was caught cheating in qualifying for the season opener. The introduction of suspected jet fuel in the 55 Toyota resulted in the heaviest fine ever by Nascar. At the end of the season, the highest finishing Toyota was Dave Blaney in 34th place. The highest Waltrip finisher was rookie David Reutimann who finished 39th, missing 7 races. Robby Gordon Motorsports has changed to Dodge and entered into an engine and engineering deal with Gillette- Evernham racing where he expects more support for his one car team than he got from Ford in 2007.
The Speed channel will be broadcasting the practice sessions starting Friday at 3 PM (cst) with Shoot out practice and will continue practices for the Sprint Cup and Craftsman truck series practices, qualifying and race. As well as the Gatorade Duels on Thursday at 1 and 2:30 PM (cst). The Nationwide Series practices, qualifying and race will be broadcast on ESPN2.
On the Local scene, the area dirt tracks are getting ready for the season, with reports of work already underway at Spring City Raceway, The Mountain Raceway, 411 MotorSpeedway and Volunteer Speedway. Work is expected soon at Wartburg Speedway and Crossville Raceway. Crossville Raceway held a drivers meeting in December where a new set of rules was established. The new rules include the return of the Pro Street class which is expected to have a large field of cars. The Crossville schedule was released right after Christmas and includes series races for the Southern Regional and the Thunder Series for Super Late Models as well as a United Sprintcar Series event.
The I-40 Dragway is expected to begin action shortly, with plans to include a Statewide High School series. We will post the details when we get them.
In the meantime, buckle-up and tighten those belts cause racing is almost here.
By Joe Dunn - joe@onpitroad.com
Now that the Super Bowl is out of the way, it’s time to change attention to racing with the ‘BUD Shootout’ this Saturday. The field will be filled with an All Star cast of the Who’s Who of Nascar, and will be a very special event. The fact that this will be the Last year for the event under this title makes it even more meaningful. Budweiser dropped their major sponsorships of the Pole Award after the 2007 season and this is the final year of the contract on the Shootout. Starting with qualifying for the Daytona 500 drivers will vie for the COOR’S LIGHT pole award.
There are 25 drivers eligible for the Shoot Out and the staring order will be determined by a random drawing held on Thursday evening. Winners of ‘Bud poles’ for 2007 as well as previous Shoot Out winners that raced in 2007 will make up the field. The Shoot out will be televised on FOX Saturday at 7PM CST.
Although there will be few changes to the rules for 2008, there are major sponsor changes starting at Daytona. The title series has a new name, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, which replaces the Nextel name to complete the changeover in the ownership of the telecommunications giant. Among the other sponsorships ended by the Anheuser-Busch Company is sponsorship of the Busch series. Nationwide Insurance stepped up to take over the series, that is now the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is in the final year of it’s sponsorship contract, so it is expected negotiations will be underway soon for a replacement.
The biggest change for ‘08 is no surprise to Nascar fans as Dale Earnhardt Jr. begins the season with the Shoot Out in the 88 Mountain Dew Chevrolet for Hendrick Motor Sports, replacing Kyle Busch who moves to the 18 of Joe Gibbs. Another big story was Joe Gibbs Racing moving from Chevy to Toyota, early testing shows major improvements for Toyota under Gibbs direction. This is a big step up after a dismal season in 2007 which started with embarrassment after Toyota’s flagship team, Michael Waltrip racing was caught cheating in qualifying for the season opener. The introduction of suspected jet fuel in the 55 Toyota resulted in the heaviest fine ever by Nascar. At the end of the season, the highest finishing Toyota was Dave Blaney in 34th place. The highest Waltrip finisher was rookie David Reutimann who finished 39th, missing 7 races. Robby Gordon Motorsports has changed to Dodge and entered into an engine and engineering deal with Gillette- Evernham racing where he expects more support for his one car team than he got from Ford in 2007.
The Speed channel will be broadcasting the practice sessions starting Friday at 3 PM (cst) with Shoot out practice and will continue practices for the Sprint Cup and Craftsman truck series practices, qualifying and race. As well as the Gatorade Duels on Thursday at 1 and 2:30 PM (cst). The Nationwide Series practices, qualifying and race will be broadcast on ESPN2.
On the Local scene, the area dirt tracks are getting ready for the season, with reports of work already underway at Spring City Raceway, The Mountain Raceway, 411 MotorSpeedway and Volunteer Speedway. Work is expected soon at Wartburg Speedway and Crossville Raceway. Crossville Raceway held a drivers meeting in December where a new set of rules was established. The new rules include the return of the Pro Street class which is expected to have a large field of cars. The Crossville schedule was released right after Christmas and includes series races for the Southern Regional and the Thunder Series for Super Late Models as well as a United Sprintcar Series event.
The I-40 Dragway is expected to begin action shortly, with plans to include a Statewide High School series. We will post the details when we get them.
In the meantime, buckle-up and tighten those belts cause racing is almost here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)