One driver’s memories of the 1959 NASCAR Firecracker 250

(L to R) Roger Flaherty, unknown, Leif Johansson, Frank Wasko, Gary Raymond, John Paschal(driver), Tommy Paschal -photo courtesy Roger Flaherty

By Joe Dunn

    It was a 51 year reunion of sorts and I’m not sure who enjoyed it the most.  I felt like I had fallen back in history, to a time that I have had the pleasure to study over the years. The time was 1959, racing news was not available like today, so most  of the information was weeks or months late, gathered from the ‘racing papers’ sold at the local race tracks. Record keeping was sporadic at best and  there was no central records office for auto racing.
    Daytona International Speedway had opened in February of 1959 with it’s inaugural race, the Daytona 500, but the new track already had other racing venues scheduled. The 4th of July was to be a much anticipated USAC Champion (Indy car) race.  Promoters envisioned this to become the southern version of the Indy 500. But a 100 lap USAC race on April 4th, resulted in the death of rookie driver George Amick.  It was a mutual decision by UASC and DIS officials that the track was too fast and the surface too rough to ever run the open wheel cars there again.
    This led Bill France Sr. and the folks of NASCAR scrambling to fill the date, and quickly a NASCAR Grand National event was added to the schedule.  Not to take away from the ‘glory’ of the ‘500’, this would be a shorter race consisting of 100 laps for a distance of 250 miles. Being held on Independence Day, the ‘Firecracker 250’ seemed to be a fitting name for the event.  With less than 3 months to get a field of cars in place, legendary promoter and NASCAR Vice-President Ed Otto reached out to his northern roots to get cars and drivers to fill the field.
    It was late June of that year that John Paschal of Hibernia, NJ headed for Daytona Beach Florida in his quest to join the ranks of NASCAR at the new Speedway.  John packed up his 1957 Ford for the trip and hooked  his Sleepy Hollow Garage, 1958 Ford race car up with a tow bar for the trip. He arrived in Daytona early in the week and was the first car to arrive at the Speedway on Tuesday, for the Saturday race.  “ I had raced for a while up north, but I knew I had a lot to learn about NASCAR and wanted to be there early in hopes of getting some help and advice from the other drivers.” John recalled.
    Paschal’s mother was already living not far from Daytona, so younger brother Tom  was quick to join in to help. Being at the track early, they both met up soon with Bill France Sr. who was staying in a trailer at the track.  “I got to talk to Mr. France and he was a really great guy”, said Paschal, “I explained to him that Tom was my ‘crew’ and even though he was too young (15) to get a NASCAR license, he took us over to the office and got Tom a license.”  John Paschal’s No. 60 team was assigned a garage area and as other teams began arriving, Lee Petty was assigned the garage next to John, with Ralph Moody also being nearby.  Over the days leading to the race John  learned of a lot of ‘little’ things he could do to improve the car for racing at Daytona.
    “ I was out running laps, I had it to the floor and all of a sudden two or three cars would go by, all bumper to bumper.” said Paschal, “When they got along side me, I saw the RPM’s on the tach go up and my speed increased.  As soon as they got by, everything went back to where it was and they were long gone.  I  had just learned about the draft!” Discussing the cars then and comparing to the cars of today, John told me that they had all of the factory glass still in the car and he had his windows open to try to keep himself cool.  He noticed that a lot of cars were running with the windows closed. “I was running out there, and I rolled up the window to see what it would do, and all of a sudden I was going 10 MPH faster.  That was something you would never experience at a short track.” he told me.
    Brother Tom recalled that they were having trouble getting up the speed for a qualifying run, “I had the intake manifold off and Lee Petty came by and looked at the camshaft.  He told me to go over to the Holman-Moody trailer and get an offset camshaft key. I went over and got that key and we picked up almost 10 MPH. These guys knew all the tricks.”
    John was told about the bump in turn four, where if you were running high and hit it, you would fly up into the wall. “ I knew about that bump, and when I qualified, sure enough, I was high and it threw me into the wall and messed up my run.” John explained. He was disappointed in the fact that he qualified and started 9th in his first race there.
    Come race day, The No. 60 Ford managed to stay up front, “I was running 6th  for much of the race. Mom was home, but she told me later that she listened to the race on the radio and how excited she was when they mentioned my name several times.”  John still has fond memories of that and had tried, with no success to find an audio copy of that radio broadcast.  But his top 10 run would be derailed when his engine suddenly began losing power.  His oil pressure was dropping, the car was smoking real bad,  and he feared it would not make it all the way to pit road before his engine exploded, but somehow he managed to get there.  His engine was nearly out of oil and a check under the car revealed the problem.  A broken oil filter had allowed the engine oil to run out. Both Tom and John scattered up and down pit road and the garage area in an attempt to locate an oil filter. But they were running out of luck as the field raced past and not a single filter could be found.
    It was a sign of sheer racer desperation and determination as they both started peering over the infield parking lots. John spotted a new 1959 Ford in a lot and they both climbed the fence to get at the car.  John crawled under the car and discovered the same engine with the same filter. Not bringing any tools in the rush, John struggled to remove the oil filter by hand. He managed to get it off and instructed Tom to leave a note on the car telling the owner what they did.
    Over the fence and back to the car, they got the ‘borrowed’ oil filter installed, filled the engine with oil and the No. 60 Ford was back in the race 33 laps down. The Paschal team finished the race, officially in 30th place, but John likes to think he was 16th.  You see, NASCAR had two Grand National divisions back then, Hard Tops and Convertible, and this race had both cars, so John Paschal’s car was the 16th place Hard Top to finish the race.  After the race was over, and John had collected his $100 winnings, he also had a bill for his tires, parts and fuel for the race, which far exceeded his winnings. He mentioned to Bill France Sr. that he was going to have to find a buyer for his 1957 Ford tow car, to pay the bills. France smiled and told him that his secretary was in need of a car and he bought the car on the spot.  With his bills paid and a few extra dollars to spare, he found another racer to ‘hitch a ride with for himself and his racecar to get back home to New Jersey.  “Oh, and about that oil filter“, John recalled, “This short guy comes up to me after the race, he was a true race fan and he understood and seemed to appreciate that he had ‘helped’ one of the race teams. He was also very thankful for the note giving him the heads up.”
    Although the records available show this as John’s only NASCAR race, he talked about other races he ran including the 1958 race at the Polo Grounds in New York city, the 1960 Road Course race at Montgomery Air Base in NY, Heidelberg Raceway in New Jersey and a few others during that era.

    Back to present day and the ‘Reunion’, it took place on Wednesday June 23 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC. When it was announced a couple of years ago that the Hall of Fame would be offering a ‘Commemorative Brick Program’, Tom Paschal wanted to honor his brother with one.  He contacted their sister, Johanna Paschal Cavalli and she began the process to order the brick and to get the information needed to get just the ‘Right’ inscription on the brick.

In January of 2009, she contacted this writer asking for help as she was having some problems gathering information. I did a bit of research on my own, sent it along to her and wished her luck.  She thanked me for the help and I didn’t hear back from her until Monday June 21, 2010.  It was at that time she told me about the ‘Brick’ and that the family was all gathering Wednesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame to see the brick. My plans suddenly changed for that week and I got a chance to relive that era from my childhood with the Paschal family.

   Meeting in Charlotte would be John Paschal, now of Mine Hill, NJ, Tom Paschal of  Sacramento, CA., sister Johanna Cavalli of Palm Coast, FL and John’s daughter Sonja Kuntzelman and family of Hertford, NC and his son J. Tom Paschal of Greer,SC.

Tom and John at the NASCAR Hall of Fame with Lee Petty's car from the 1959 Firecracker 250.


    Hats off to the staff at the NASCAR Hall of Fame for making this all possible and a special Thank You to Natividad Lewis of the Hall of Fame for her help in making this a special day for the family.

Fans and Drivers come together for special night at Spring City Raceway

By Joe Dunn

    It’s been called the fastest little bullring in east Tennessee, but for many of the local racers and fans, it’s just called Home. Spring City Raceway, located on US Hwy 27 just north of Dayton, TN  sits on what was once an old quarry, converted some years ago to a small dirt track.
    Saturday night, June 26 was a normal race night at the track, but a recent tragedy and some hard work and dedication by the staff made this night anything but normal. Track bookkeeper and go to girl Lori Brun had begun several weeks ago organizing a ‘Meet & Greet’ for the fans and drivers to share some time together during the race program on this night.  But as word got out interest in this idea seemed to grow and the anticipation of all involved increased with time. A photo book for driver autographs was in the works with plans to have several copies available for the fans.
    One week before the scheduled ’Meet &Greet’,  tragedy struck the Spring City Raceway community, an automobile accident on June 18, in nearby Rockwood, TN  took the life of long time racer Tony Yother. Affectionately known at the track as Studmonkey, the Blue Chevy T2 car was a familiar sight. The June 19th race night was filled with sadness as many mourned the loss of one of the Track’s own.
    With the loss of Yother, the autograph book which was nearly ready for print was altered to include a special tribute to Studmonkey. This was the track’s way of honoring one of their own.  As the weekend approached, more and more interest was expressed in the books and with limited funds, the track had what they thought was a safe number of books printed.
    As the cars, drivers and fans began arriving at the track Saturday night, the concession stand was overwhelmed with demand for the books which quickly sold out.  Lori Brun stepped in to assure fans and drivers alike that she would take orders and have more books available at the next race.  In the meantime, she prepared autograph cards for fans who were unable to obtain books, so they too could get autographs of their favorite drivers.  Following the heat racers, the drivers took their places along the front row of the grandstand and a larger than normal crowd gathered to meet them.

    There were a lot of familiar faces there, but there were also some that had not been seen at this track for a long time.  In addition to the ‘regular’ drivers, fans got to meet with folks like Tim Totherow, from Signal mountain, TN.  Tim who grew up in the area suffered injuries several years ago that left him at the mercy of his wheelchair.  Determined to not give up racing, he fought back and returned to the race tracks a few years ago.  He now races at Boyd’s Speedway on a regular basis, but was quick to make a return to Spring city when a call went out to past drivers to take part. Another regular from a few years back, Johnny Stout brought out his #6 mini stock, John Stout Sr., another old time local racer joined his son. Bryan Frost, who now competes at nearby Wartburg made his way to the track also. Up in the grandstand other past drivers arrived and of course a familiar face, former driver and previous Spring City promoter Tip Watson was also on hand.

    As the drivers started leaving the grandstand area to get the feature races underway, there was still a lot of excitement among the fans. As many compared their books with each other, showing off autographs of their favorite drivers, one young lady stood out. Seven year old Raylee K Hawkins of Lake City was at the races with her daddy, Jimmy Hawkins. Little Raylee proudly showed off, not only her autograph book, but her shirt as well.  Between the two, she had gathered more than 70 signatures, including her favorite driver, Sammy Johnson.
In recognition of the feat, she was awarded a Spring City Raceway T Shirt, which she proudly displayed for all to see. The fans were not the only ones who enjoyed the night, Limited Late Model driver, John Burger summed it up this way, “ That was an awesome idea, I had fun signing all those books and T shirts. Thanks again for the great memories at Spring City Raceway.”

Joey rocks again at Kentucky

By Roger Faulkner

Saturday was hot, humid and wet at Kentucky Motor Speedway but the Nascar Nationwide Series was able to dodge the proverbial bullet to get two practice sessions in. For the Double duty Cup drivers it was replacements for all in the first practice as Matt DiBenedetto filled in for Joey Logano, Erik Darnell covered for Carl Edwards, Jarit Johnson for Joe Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr turned laps for Paul Menard and Parker Kligerman wheeled the 22 car for point leader Brad Keselowski.
When the cars came back out for the second practice, only Joey Logano had arrived at Kentucky to practice the Nationwide car. Joey ran a total of 35 laps and managed to post the 8th fastest time. But he showed the results of that effort Saturday afternoon as he grabbed the pole with a fast lap of 30.472 seconds for 177.212 mph.
As the rain had caused delays in the Nascar Camping World Truck race at Michigan the weather was threatening all day long at Kentucky. As the weather radar in the media center showed heavy rain clouds headed for the track, they managed to get all 45 cars through qualifying. When the field was set, it was Logano and Joe Gibbs teammate Brad Coleman in the 18 car starting on the front row. Paul Menard would start 8th with Carl Edwards behind him in 10th. Points leader Brad Keselowski would start the race 13 rows back in 25th. Two teams would go home, missing the race, Brian Keselowski in the 26 car and Kenny Hendrick in the 52.
When the green flag flew, it was Logano clearing the field by turn 2 as he proceeded to dominate. As the caution flag waved 10 times during the race, lead changes occurred and a total of 8 different drivers scored at least one lap lead for the 5 bonus points. Other than Reed Sorenson, who lead 49 laps and Justin Allgaier who led 20 laps, this was all Joey Logano’s race as he would end the day having led 106 of the 200 laps.
None of the other Cup drivers would lead a single lap.
This was all Joey’s race from start to finish as he dominated most of the race and when he wasn’t leading he was always threatening to. As the end of the race approached, so did more threatening weather, but the race continued and the only threat to Joey Logano was Carl Edwards. After the final caution it looked like Carl was gaining on Joey, and as Carl said after the race, “ I was gaining on him, and I really thought I was gonna be able to catch him and pass him, but as I got closer, he moved up to my line and all I could do was keep up with him.” Joey explained in a post race news interview, “ Carl was closing on me, I was asking on the radio for all the information I could get. I was running low and was told that Carl was high. Once I had that information I moved to the high line and that was all it took.”
As Joey was celebrating on the track, the media folks waited anxiously in Victory Lane as the winds began picking up and the smell and feel of the coming rain was present. Logano made it to Victory Lane and the celebrations began. But as the photo flashes lingered on for the ‘hat dance’, The rain decided not to wait out the celebration, as Victory Lane cleared quickly with everyone running for cover.
To say that Kentucky Motor Speedway is Joey Logano’s house is an easy statement to support. Since moving up to the Nascar Nationwide Series in 2008, they have visited this track 3 times. Joey Logano has started on the pole and won all three of those races, a track record.
This race was one of the Nationwide Dash4Cash races, where a $25K bonus was dangling for the winner. According to the rules of the program, only full time drivers in the series and part time drivers racing only this Nascar series are eligible. With those rules in place , only 1 driver was not eligible to win it and that was Logano. The $25K will roll over to the Nationwide race at Iowa.

Logano on the pole for the Meijer 300

By Joe Dunn

        Qualifying for the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kentucky began at 4:05 pm, as the weather remained clear despite threats of rain.  Like Brooklyn Michigan, Sparta, Kentucky  was under a serious rain watch as prediction  as high as 90% was suggested by some weather sources.  A brief early afternoon shower gave way to clear skies, along with high heat and humidity.
    Rolling off second  for qualifying was Trevor Bayne in the No. 99 Toyota who went right to the top.  He withstood challenges from points leader Brad Keselowski and former champion Jeff Green, but it was Coleman Pressley in the JR Motorsports No. 88  quickly replaced Pressley. Brad Coleman, went out thirteenth and set a fast lap of 30.858 for a speed of 174.995 taking the provisional pole. Teammate Joey Logano came out 26th and blistered the field, with a lap of 30.472 for 177.212 mph.  That proved to be the mark that could not be beat.
    With the Gibbs cars starting one, two, it is Penske Racing’s Justin Allgaier starting third with Rookie Josh Wise in the JR Motorsports No. 7, and Scott Riggs in the RCR No. 21 rounding out the top 5.  Mike Bliss (33), Reed Sorenson (32), Paul Menard (98), Pressley and Carl Edwards (60) complete the top 10 starters for the race.
    Kenny Hendrick in the No. 52 Quaker City Castings, Chevy and Brian Keselowski in the No. 26, K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge will miss the race after failing to qualify on time.
    The Meijer 300 at Kentucky Motor Speedway goes green at 8:00 pm, telecast live on ESPN and PRN radio.

NASCAR issues penalties from Pocono and Nashville

By Joe Dunn

    On Wednesday morning NASCAR issued statements relating to rules infractions detected over the weekend in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Gillette Fusion Pro Glide 500 at Pocono Raceway and from the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Superspeedway.
    On Sunday at Pocono, NASCAR officials noticed the rear tires on the No. 38 car to be nearly flat after a rain delay.  Upon examination it was discovered that the wheels had bleeder valves installed on the valve stems.  The official release from NASCAR  states:
    DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 9, 2010) – NASCAR has issued penalties, suspensions and fines to the No. 38 team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as a result of rules infractions committed during last Sunday’s event at Pocono Raceway.
The team was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-10.7J (unapproved modification to valve stem hardware) of the 2010 NASCAR Rule Book.
As a result, crew chief Steve Lane has been fined $100,000, suspended for the next 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup events, suspended from NASCAR until Sept. 15 and placed on probation until Dec. 31. Car chief Richard Bourgeois and tire specialist Michael Harrold have also been suspended from the next 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup events, suspended from NASCAR until Sept. 15 and placed on probation until Dec. 31.
Driver Travis Kvapil and owner Doug Yates have been penalized with the loss of 150 driver and 150 owner points, respectively.

The points penalty drops the No. 38 team from 32nd and locked in the top 35, to 36th, outside the top 35.  The points loss moves the No.7 of Robby Gordon Motorsports back into 35th place and locked in the field this week at Michigan.

On Saturday, during the race at Nashville, NASCAR officials observed team members from the No.38 team, that had left the race, moving tires to the No. 10 team and then mounted and used on the No. 10 car.  Here is the official release from  NASCAR:

    DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 9, 2010) – NASCAR has penalized the No. 10 and No. 38 teams that compete in the NASCAR Nationwide Series as a result of rule violations during the June 5 race at Nashville Superspeedway.
Both teams were found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); 20A-10.8.2E (teams will not be permitted to use tires or wheels from another team unless approved by the series director) and 20A-10.8.2L (identification numbers have been changed on previously approved tires) of the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rule Book.
As a result, Stuart Cooper, crew chief of the No. 10 car and Sean Whisenhunt, tire specialist on the No. 10, along with Trip Bruce, crew chief for the No. 38 car and Kevin Bellicourt, tire specialist for the No. 38, all have been suspended from the next two NASCAR Nationwide Series races, suspended from NASCAR until June 23 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Bruce and Cooper also were each fined $25,000.
Tayler Malsam, driver of the No. 10 car, and Jason Leffler, driver of the No. 38, each were penalized with the loss of 25 NASCAR Nationwide championship driver points for violating Sections 12-1, 12-4-J, 20A-10.8.2E and 20A-10.8.2L.
Additionally, the owners of the No. 10 and No. 38 cars, Todd Braun and Ralph Braun, respectively, each were penalized with the loss of 25 NASCAR Nationwide championship owner points also for violating Sections 12-1, 12-4-J, 20A-10.8.2E and 20A-10.8.2L.

The penalties did not effect the points standing of the No. 38 car, but it did drop the No.10 car from 12th to 13th in owners standings and also dropped driver Jason Leffler from 7th to 8th in Championship driver standings.
UPDATE:
Statement from Front Row Motorsports regarding the penalties issued:
"Front Row Motorsports supports NASCAR in its efforts to enforce competition rules and to maintain integrity throughout the sport. Therefore, Front Row accepts that NASCAR must penalize the team for a rules infraction regarding valve stem caps on the #38 car at Pocono Raceway on June 6. "We take the rules of this sport very seriously, and we support NASCAR in its enforcement of those rules," said Bob Jenkins, team owner. "It was not our intent to put unapproved valve stem caps on our car at Pocono, a track where such a maneuver would clearly not provide any advantage. We are conducting our own internal investigation to determine how those parts got into our inventory and onto our car last weekend. "While we recognize we have to pay for our mistake, this was an unintentional, isolated incident," Jenkins continued. "We plan to immediately submit an appeal through NASCAR's formal appeal process as outlined by the NASCAR rule book." The team's three entries will compete this weekend at Michigan International Speedway."

If the appeal is filed before Friday, the No. 38 will remain 32nd in points and Robby Gordon will have to qualify on time. This will also delay the suspensions pending the hearing.

Todd Braun statement regarding penalties for the #38 and #10 teams following Nationwide Series race at Nashville Superspeedway: "Though we feel the penalties levied against Braun Racing for infractions at Nashville Superspeedway against the #38 and #10 teams are harsh under the circumstances, we understand NASCAR's need to be consistent in making sure teams adhere to the rule book in order to promote a level playing field," says Braun. "This situation is the result of miscommunication between team personnel and we will need to further evaluate the circumstances and work to improve our procedures to ensure this does not happen again."

Ashley Parlett, succeeding in a man’s world

By Joe Dunn
    She fell in love with racing when she turned her first lap in a 5hp go kart at the age of 13. At 14 she was racing a 250cc micro sprint that she had built herself with a little help from her dad. Over the next seven years Ashley Parlett continued racing, moving up to full sized 360 sprint cars, all the while building her own cars.
    By 2005 she was convinced that racing was her future and had to determine the best way to turn her passion into a profession. It was following a conversation with World of Outlaws Sprint Car driver Jeff Shephard that she decided that she needed to move to Charlotte, NC if she wanted a serious chance at being a champion race car driver.
    Shortly after arriving in Charlotte she found work as a suspension and brake specialist in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where she worked for several teams.  Eventually she landed with Xpress Motorsports on the No. 16 team with driver Mike Bliss. When asked about the transition from building and working on her own sprint cars and then moving to NASCAR work, she laughed and told me, “The biggest change I had to get used to was that I hit my head on fenders about 50 times.  With the sprint cars, we didn’t have any body parts that got in the way.“ But she still had that desire to be a driver, so after a chance to race an Andy Hillenburg ARCA car at Toledo, she went to work for Hillenburg’s Fast Track Driving School as an instructor.
    Parlett’s stay at Fast Track ended when she landed a job with a newly formed ARCA team, RAB Racing with Brack Maggard, where she went to work as a brake and suspension specialist.  The hope for a driving career in the big leagues seems to have been put aside, at least for the time being. “ I kind of gave up on the driving idea,” Ashley told me, “I love racing cars, but when it comes to being a race car driver so much is out of your hands. Nowadays, with the economy the way it is, and the race teams the way they are, you almost have to have a pocket full of cash, before somebody will give you a chance.”
    Changing the subject to her current position as a crew member on a full time NASCAR team, Parlett is very upbeat and positive. “As a mechanic, it’s something that I can kind of control. It all depends on how hard I am willing to work, how much of my life I am willing to invest in it, is how far I can go with this.”  Referring back to the driver option she is pretty blunt about the situation. “ I’m not waiting around for a phone call, or for a pocket full of cash to just ‘show up’ in order to do it.  I’ve just got to work my tail off and keep digging.”

    During her four years with the small team, she has progressed through the various crew jobs and is now the Car Chief. She has enjoyed her time with RAB Racing and appreciates the growth a small team has allowed her. When asked if she thought that RAB racing might move up to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series someday, and how that might effect her advancement with the team, she was straight forward.  “ Right now we’re still doing the Nationwide Series and it’s a growing team.  We’re struggling a little bit with the economy the way it is, but I feel like this is a very stable team to be with.”
    The obvious next step up for Ashley would be a Crew Chief job, and she sees a possibility of that happening someday if she stays with RAB racing. “ I think that is absolutely possible, I think the only down side of that is that I have been with this team for four years.  It’s appealing to me to work with other teams because when you work with one team so long you don’t get a chance to expand mentally. You don’t get to see different views and ideas, you adapt to the way that crew chief is working and you learn only that way.  I am anxious to learn as much as I can.  I’m happy to stay here, I’m happy to grow with RAB Racing whether they continue to grow or stay where they are at now.”

    Parlett feels especially loyal to this team and values the experience she has garnered here. The ability to learn from various crew chiefs is something that she feels is need to grow in this field. “ This year, we are on our fourth crew chief, so I have had the opportunity to work with quite a few different one’s this year.” she continued, “ That’s been great, it’s been a big learning curve for me.  Everybody has a different way of doing things, they all wind up in the same direction but they have a different way of going about it.”  Looking back at the differences, Parlett feels that she has grown and learned more from it. “ It’s helped me be better at my job because I am learning several different ways  to get to the same place.” thinking about that for a second, she added, “ It’s been a big help working with all these different crew chiefs.”
    Parlett’s family support is important to her and she perked up when asked about her families response to her move and changes. “ They loved that I tried to pursue the driving aspect of it.” she said, “When it didn’t pan out, I didn’t pack up my stuff and move home. My dad was really proud of me for that and happy that I’m looking in other directions to keep moving forward with my career. They are pretty happy with this, and they watch every week to see how RAB Racing is doing.”
    Summing up the sport and her part of it, Ashley put it this way. “You can’t just be somebody who doesn’t love this sport and walk in and expect to go to work from 7 to 4 and go home and live a normal life. Racing is a Lifestyle.”

   

Cup drivers still dominate Nationwide Series

By Roger Faulkner
As the NASCAR Nationwide Series headed into a stand alone event at Nashville Superspeedway this weekend, the big news was the lack of double duty drivers. Missing from the field were Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano. Kevin Harvick was skipping his first NNS race of the year, and JR Motorsports would not have Daytona 500 winner, Jamie McMurray behind the wheel of the 88 car.
As it turned out, only three full time Cup drivers were in the field, and two of those didn’t practice the car on Friday. Only Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski was in Nashville Friday for the final practice. When qualifying ended Saturday about 4:30pm, it was NNS regular Justin Allgaier on the pole with the nearest Double Duty driver, Carl Edwards starting 7th, while Paul Menard would start 10th and Brad Keselowski to start 24th. With the regular guys starting up front, it looked like it might just be a good day for one of them to win for the first time since Allgaier edged out his teammate at Bristol for the win.
The fans were rolling in all day long as the track had scheduled several pre and post race events for the day. Nearly all of the Nationwide regular drivers were in front of the grandstand early in the afternoon for a mass autograph session. Fans needed to arrive early as wristbands were distributed in advance as this program has been drawing larger crowds each race that Nashville. This time, fans were asked to either make a cash donation or canned goods to help the Second Harvest Food Bank. In addition to these donations, the track ran a Silent Auction of NASCAR related items to raise more money for the Race Fest for Flood Relief, an effort to aid victims of the recent flood in the Nashville area. Part of that effort includes an online auction that will be running through August. The auction is being conducted by the NASCAR Foundation. After qualifying, there was a free concert by Country Music star John Rich, best known as part of the group formerly known as Big & Rich.
As the green flag waved, it was a battle among series regulars Allgaier and Bayne, along with Brad Coleman in the JGR car. But it would not be long, before the three double duty guys would be up front. By lap 15, all three were within the top 13. By lap 70, it was Edwards first, Menard second and Keselowski fourth. As the continued after lap 100, it was Keselowski made his way to the front, and with the few exceptions of pits stops and cautions, where he relegated the lead for short runs, it was all his show. The telling sign of their dominance was the fact that after lap 60, these three remained in the top 10, and by lap 135, they continued to run in the top 5 for nearly all the remaining laps. In the end it was a 1,2,3 finish by the Cup guys with Keselowski taking home the Sam Bass Guitar, while Edwards finished second and Menard third. Pole sitter Allgaier had to settle for fourth.
The win added to Keselowski’s point lead in the series, while Edwards managed to climb one spot from fourth to third with Harvick missing the race. Kyle Busch, despite missing the race, remains second in the points 196 points behind Keselowski and 81 points ahead of Edwards.
Next race for the series will be Saturday June 12, the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Motor Speedway, where the seating capacity is about 75,000 and it has been reported that nearly 70,000 tickets have already been sold. That makes it a stark contrast to Nashville, where the official attendance was reported at about 17,500. From the infield it looked to be far fewer, but you be the judge. Check On Pit Road’s Nashville photos to see the fans during the race.

Keselowski dominates at Nashville

By Joe Dunn

    Forget that Brad Keselowski missed the first practice Friday at Nashville, and that he qualified 24th.  When the green flag dropped for the Federated Auto Parts 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Nashville Superspeedway, he began a steady march to the front.
    Keselowski’s Penske racing teammate, Justin Allgaier claimed the Coors light Pole Award earlier in the day, and led the first 58 laps while Keselowski advanced to the top 10. On lap 59, Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards took the lead away from Allgaier and held onto it until pit stops on lap 108. Reed Sorenson led for 15 laps until Keselowski finally grabbed the top spot on lap 126.  On lap 167 he relinquished the lead during pit stops, then battling with Edwards they swapped the lead five times between lap 169 and lap 204, when Keselowski retook the lead for the final time.
    Following Keselowski across the line was Carl Edwards, Paul Menard, Justin Allgaier and Mike Bliss.  Brad Coleman, Reed Sorenson, Steve Wallace, Scott Riggs and Matt DiBenedetto rounded out the top 10.
    There were 8 cautions for 36 laps throughout the race.  The first caution, on lap 5 was due to an accident involving the No. 16, 81 and 88.  All three cars returned to the track, but the 81 car brought out the second caution on lap 63 when a right front tire blew, causing major damage to the car.  After a lengthy visit to the garage, the 81 car of Michael McDowell did return to the track, but was only able to complete 134 of the scheduled 225 laps. On lap 108, the No. 15 of Michael Annett was involved in an accident with the No. 43 of Scott Lagasse Jr, who was two laps down.  Lagasse’s night was ended by the wreck, while Annett continued to finish on the lead lap in 14th place.  On lap 127 Trevor Bayne took a hard hit in turn 3 when a blown tire put him into the wall. The accident sent him to the infield care center where he was released without injury, but the damage to his No. 99 Toyota ended his night.
    Keselowski remains the points leader, while Edwards advanced one spot to third.  Other points moves included Jason Leffler up 2 to 7th, Steven Wallace up 3 to 9th and Brendan Gaughan up 3 to 11th.  No teams moved into or out of the top 30 in points, however the 87 of Nemechek and the 81 of McDonald swapped the 29th and 30th positions. The 24 team of Ed Rensi  remains in 31st, however with the No. 1 team of Phoenix Racing withdrawing from the series, the 24 car will get the locked in position next week at Kentucky Motor Speedway.

Allgaier captures pole at Nashville

By Joe Dunn
 
    On a blistering hot and sunny day at Nashville Superspeedway, Brad Coleman, subbing for Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Toyota went out fourth and set a fast speed of 157.772 to sit on the provisional pole for the Federated Auto Parts 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series event. Through 27 cars, it appeared that Coleman had the pole locked in, but it was that 28th car, Justin Allgaier, in the No. 12 Penske, Verizon Wireless Dodge who knocked him off.
    Turning a fast lap of 158.063, Allgaier went to the top of the board and was never challenged. A smiling Allgaier made his way, accompanied by his wife Ashley for photos and congratulations. “This has always been a fun race track for me,” said an elated Allgaier “ I just love this place.  It was a great qualifying run.” He was quick to lend credit to his team, “ The Verizon Wireless guys did a great job. Yesterday in practice, we had an awesome car. Now we just have to go for that Sam bass guitar.”
    The three double duty drivers, did not fair as well, as only Brad Keselowski made it to Nashville yesterday for practice.  Carl Edwards will roll off seventh, while Paul Menard starts tenth, and Keselowski starts a disappointing twenty-fourth.
    Of the go or go home cars Kevin Lepage will miss the race, as will the biggest surprise of the day, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Stenhouse spun on the backstretch on his first lap and returned to the start finish line to retry the lap. Unfortunately, one of the roof flaps remained locked open and allowed him to turn in a speed of only 151.372, the slowest in the field. A very disappointed Jack Roush was seen headed for the garage, in what appeared to be a very bad mood.
    Tennessee native Trevor Bayne will start third in the Diamond- Waltrip racing No. 99 Out Pet care Toyota, while fellow Tennessean Willie Allen starts twenty ninth in the No. 05 31W Insulation/Goodall Homes Chevrolet.
Driver changes of note include Scott Riggs in the RCR No. 21 Zaxby’s Chevrolet, yet another replacement for John Wes Townley who has been MIA since Phoenix. Team officials still refuse to comment on the status of Townley.  Mike Bliss, fills in for Kevin Harvick in the No. 33 Charter Cable Chevrolet, while Matt DiBenedetto pilots the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Toyota, normally driven by Joey Logano or Denny Hamlin, this week with Muscle Milk sponsorship.

Is Busch Rally Over?

By Joe Dunn

    For two weeks in Charlotte NASCAR was all about the Busch brothers. Older brother Kurt winning two NASCAR Sprint Cup races while younger brother Kyle dominated both the Camping World Truck race and the Nationwide Series race.
    The brothers dominated the month of May, winning four out of five Cup races and Kyle winning two of three Nationwide Series races, and one of the three Truck races. As the three series each goes their separate way this weekend, the brothers won’t be able to dominate all the races.  With the Cup series in Pocono, Nationwide at Nashville and the Trucks headed to Texas, no Busch will be at Nashville. The folks at Joe Gibbs racing announced earlier that Kyle will not run all the NNS races this year, this will be the first race without Kyle, who sits one point behind Brad Keselowski in the series standing. The absence of Busch opens the door for a three way battle between Keselowski, Harvick and Edwards, and series regular Justin Allgaier pushes on in his quest for a championship.  Despite the experience of the Cup regulars, Allgaier has shown his grit and determination  running with the big guns.
    In the Cup Series, Denny Hamlin is the favorite with the best ratings of all current drivers at Pocono.  Kurt Busch comes in second in the rankings while Kyle ranks seventeenth at the tricky ‘Roval’.  Based on the last four years at the Pennsylvania track, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards round out the top five rated drivers.  But the momentum surely favors Kurt Busch, while Johnson is in desperate need of a change of luck and performance. Of course Johnson is joined by Stewart and Edwards in the less than stellar finishes of late, so it looks like Hamlin  and Kurt Busch should be the class of the field.  Of course, this is Pocono, an oddball track compared to the rest on the circuit and one that usually produces an unexpected winner.
    Hamlin rebounded from his knee surgery and a long poor performance at Phoenix by winning at Texas and Darlington, but the back to back wins by Kurt Busch gives him the edge here. Baring the an oddball dark horse, the battle up front should include both Hamlin and Busch. 
    Heading into the eighth race of Truck series at Texas, we have another series that has been dominated by two Cup regulars.  Of the seven races so far, four have been won by Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Busch will not compete at Texas Motor Speedway Friday as Johnny Benson will pilot the No. 18 KBM Toyota. Benson moved into the No. 18 to replace Brian Ickler who moved to Roush Fenway Racing to drive in the NNS. The No. 56 team of KBM, which has been driven by Taylor Malsam, will shut down for the remainder of the 2010 season.  Malsam received an offer from Braun racing and will be at Nashville to drive the No. 10 car in the NNS race Saturday.
    As the NASCAR Nationwide Series heads into Nashville this weekend, series sponsor Nationwide Insurance is joined by the Nashville Superspeedway and several of the teams in an effort to raise money for the victims of the recent floods that devastated a large section of Nashville. Nationwide Insurance started the ball rolling by donating $100,000.00 for relief efforts while offering matching funds to several local fundraising efforts.  Many of the NNS teams have been gathering donated items for flood victims and will be flying together to Nashville prior to the race to present those donations. At the track on race day, there will be a driver autograph session where fans will be asked to donate canned goods or cash to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of middle Tennessee.  A pre race silent auction at the track will feature racing memorabilia donated by various NNS teams. After the race there will be an on line auction hosted by the NASCAR Foundation that will feature top line NASCAR memorabilia as well as items donated by various country music stars. Highlighted items will include a  guitar signed by Taylor Swift and another custom designed by Sam Bass. The online auction will continue until the August 7th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series  race at Nashville.  For more information and a list of auction items visit the track website at www.nashvillesuperspeedway.com