NMPA Hall of Fame Class of 2010 .. Stunning!!

L-R Roger Penske, Jack Roush, Robert Yates and Rusty Wallace

By Joe Dunn

Friday evening January 17, members of the National Motorsports Press Association gathered at the Embassy Suites in Concord, N.C. to induct four members into it’s Hall of Fame. For over twenty years, members have voted to induct people associated with racing that have set the bar for high standards within the industry. The list over the years has included drivers, promoters, owners and members of the press. Some of those elite members have included Ned Jarrett, Harry Gant, the Woods Brothers, Chris Economaki, Barney Hall and Iron man Jack Ingram.

Harry Gant, Barney Hall and Jack Ingram

With legends like the above, adding new members to meet the standards is usually a tough job, but this year the voting was pretty easy. The first member, introduced by NASCAR president Mike Helton, was none other than 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion and now an announcer for ESPN and car owner Rusty Wallace. In the introduction Helton called Rusty “Our Jack Nicholas” referring to Rusty working with several developers on new track designs, most notably Iowa Speedway. Rusty expressed his surprise by the vote and spoke of being in awe of the company he joined. And he never mentioned the word Hot Rod.

The second inductee was introduced by 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion, Dale Jarrett. Dale talked about his former car owner Robert Yates, and his dedication to the sport. Robert expressed genuine surprise of the vote, even exclaiming, “I never thought you guys liked me, and I didn’t really give the media the attention I should have, so I really am surprised.” Yates talked about his childhood and heaped praise on his sister, a missionary, for helping him get his life together and completing his education. After retiring from racing Robert bought a 600 acre farm that he is working on as he uses his racing engineering skills with his new company developing tools for the farm industry.

Walt Czarnecki, Vice Chairman of Penske Racing took to the podium next to introduce Roger Penske. Czarnecki spoke of his years with Roger and Roger’s many forays into racing as a car owner, builder, track owner and developer. At one point Walt said, “We have worked together so long, Roger’s hair was black, and I actually had some.” As Roger shared some of his memories over the years, one comment shocked a number of people in the room, as he told how he bought Michigan International Speedway for $200,000.00.

Jeff Hammond was next up as he talked about his days working for Jack Roush, and Jacks knowledge and dedication. Jack, like the other inductees shared some of his memories as he told about his experiences in drag racing and how his success there helped him gain the finances to enter NASCAR. He talked about attending a race and being told by a NASCAR executive to stand behind him near the bathroom at a drivers meeting. He felt that was the message that the sanctioning body is in charge, as a result he was invited to enter a car in qualifying for the 1988 Daytona 500. He first asked Bobby Allison to drive for him, but Bobby told him that he wouldn’t drive for a Yankee. (Jack was born in northern Kentucky), so the choice to go with Mark Martin was an easy one. Speaking of his life as a kid, he talked about how he was always fixing things that were broke, and if they weren’t broke, he would break them in order to fix the. “My dad was glad when I left home because all the gadgets in the house had tinkeritis from me tinkering with them.”

At the end of 2010 the membership of the NMPA will once again consider candidates to be inducted for 2011, but this class set such a high mark we may never see such a stellar class.

Roush 26 team sold

By Joe Dunn

(UPDATE #2 Jan 15)
Rumor floated out of Charlotte this morning that Roush-Fenway has sold the #26 team, including owners points and some Equipment to a Vermont company.
I had a chance this afternoon to speak to the buyer and have confirmed that the sale did take place, but they are not ready to release any details until everything is finalized.
I should have a story ready with details by Saturday.
UPDATE: Jenkins has hired Veteran New Hampshire native crew chief Frank Stoddard
UPDATE #2 I spoke with Bob Jenkins this morning, the announcement is being pushed back to sometime next week.

Country and NASCAR, together in the Music City

By Joe Dunn

It was a weekend for the fans as the stars of Country Music joined together with the stars of NASCAR. From top recording artist Josh Turner, Danielle Peck, Jason Michael Carroll and Bucky Covington, to NASCAR stars Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr, it was a wide open time for the fans while supporting some very deserving causes, the Victory Junction Camp and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Friday night kicked off the event with two back to back concerts at the Ryman Auditorium. A host of country stars performed for the fans while NASCAR hot dogs like Michael Waltrip as the host and MC ran around snapping cell phone pics to post on his twitter page, and Kyle Petty made his Grand Ole Opry debut as a singer-songwriter. The big hit for the evening was of course Hank Williams Jr.
Saturday kicked off the fan involvement at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium where NASCAR show cars were parked around the perimeter inside the auditorium, and displays by NASCAR, Sprint, Sun Trust Bank and the Nashville SuperSpeedway filled the main floor. Autograph stations were spread along the upper level offering fans a chance to get up close and personal with the stars.
The event contained a constant stream for the fans attending where they had an opportunity to address the stars of both fields in a rare opportunity of question and answer sessions. The Stars, and the soon to be stars worked a rotating schedule between autograph sessions, media sessions and the fan question and answer sessions. Souvenirs were a plenty and the event included a huge silent auction, that occupied space both inside and outside the arena.
Some quotes from drivers included:
Aric Almirola - “I went into Homestead having no idea what I was going to do next year. Over the winter months was pleased to find out that I'm going to run the '09 Cup car and still be able to drive Billy's truck. I'm looking forward to it.” .. “I talked with James about it. I mean, his plan is to go full-time”
Michael Waltrip - Regarding the talk of eliminating the yellow line at Talladega “That would be a mistake. “ … “We've proven we're perfectly capable of wiping each other out with the yellow line. Taking it away, what are we trying to accomplish?” …”But I do have a good idea. A point a lap for the leader at Talladega and Daytona.” … “At Talladega we wreck 'em at the end now because we just wait around. So if we had a point a lap, we could wreck some early, some in the middle, and some late, too.”
Mike Bliss - Regarding Danica Patrick in the NASCAR Nationwide Series “ I think Danica is going to steal a lot of the thunder from all of us drivers till her first or second race. There's a lot of emphasis on her. She's somebody that everybody is going to be watching at Daytona. Thank God it's her. The camera is going to be on her. A lot of pressure. “
Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Regarding talk of removing the rear wing “I don't know what that wing's really doing back there, what the spoiler would be like on this car. We've never really tested it so... I don't really know what it would do to the racing. I don't think it would change too much.”
Carl Edwards - On the Yellow line rule - “What we told NASCAR, I think what we all kind of told them from Roush Fenway's driver side is the yellow line deal is good, but I personally like, and I think my teammates like, when you can see the checkered flag, anything goes. That's kind of fun. We're already wrecking every time. We might as well get to shoot for the grass, go for it.”
Tony Stewart - On the elimination of the bump drafting rule “Before I think it was a bigger issue than now. The nice thing with flat bumpers, we're not picking each other up when you're pushing each other. That seems to be less dramatic than it used to be. When we had cars that had slanted noses on them, you could get underneath them, physically pick up the back of their car, wreck 'em. “
The event culminated with a private party for the stars, called the Groove, which has been and was scheduled to be held at the famous Wild Horse Saloon, but due to a water main break overnight, had to be relocated to the municipal auditorium. Good news for folks like myself, the traditional Red Carpet event kept us indoors for the photo shoots, rather than outdoors in the 20 degree cold