Auto Club 400 Recap

By Shaun Burke

Kevin Harvick only led one lap in the Auto Club 400, but it was the one every driver wants to lead! Harvick made a bold last corner pass on Jimmie Johnson to pull away to his first win of 2011 and fifteenth of his Sprint Cup career.

After “stealing” the Nationwide race Saturday, Kyle Busch dominated the race leading a race high 151 laps and looking pretty much untouchable. After leading the field on a restart with nine laps to go, he was passed by both Jimmie Johnson and Harvick with just a couple laps to go.

Behind Harvick, Johnson and Busch were Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman. Carl Edwards finished sixth and will go into Martinsville as the points leader.

The first caution of the race didn’t occur until lap 76 and broke the record at Auto Club Speedway for most green flag laps from the start of a race. The only major incident of the race occurred on lap 185 when Bobby Labonte blew a right front tire and clobbered the wall in turn 4. The caution came after a 12 lap run and set up a situation where eight drivers stayed out. The rest of the field took a variety of two and four tires.

Next week, NASCAR heads back to one of the oldest tracks on the circuit, Martinsville. Carl Edwards looks to extend his points lead and Jimmie Johnson is looking for his first win in 2011.

Against the Odds, Willie Allen Drives On

By Brody Jones

To say that Bon Aqua, Tennessee’s Willie Allen has come a long way in the last two years would be an understatement. From all the high-points to the low-points, the one constant for Allen is his strong resolve to keep going. The man had to resort to start-and-park rides after he was released by ThorSport Racing, following his 2007 Craftsman Truck Series Rookie Of The Year-winning campaign,. He lost his father due to the debilitating disease known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and spent a number of months on the sidelines due to circumstances beyond his control. And yet, Willie keeps pressing on, even with the odds stacked against him.

Going back to 2009, Willie was reduced to start and parking for K-Automotive just to keep his career going. “Yeah, I definitely didn’t love doing it.” recalled Allen. “But I viewed it as a way to keep myself out there because you know how the old saying goes: ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’, but I used the opportunity to help me learn about different tracks, and it was definitely a learning experience that allowed me to stay in the network of NASCAR racing.”. Starting in 2010, Allen had an opportunity to race with the Goodlettsville, Tennessee based Day Enterprises team. “Basically, I was start and parking with the Keselowskis and Mr. Day saw me racing late models around Nashville, he knew who I was and wanted to give me a shot in the car.” Allen said.

But tragedy struck Willie early in the 2010 season when he lost his father, Al to ALS. “It was a big-time loss for me.” lamented Willie. “My dad was my biggest supporter on and off the track. He was always the first in the shop and the last to leave. I miss him more and more each day. I really miss his advice. It’s still hard not having him here.” Shortly after that, the Nationwide Series returned to Nashville SuperSpeedway, just weeks after a devastating flood hit the Middle Tennessee area. With so many ties to the area, Willie was the focal-point of a piece about the floods by ESPN in the pre-race coverage. “I welcomed the media attention that weekend.” explained Willie “It brought a lot of awareness to the situation and I had a lot of friends and family involved with the floods, and it got the word out about the recovery efforts.”

That race itself, was an emotional roller-coaster for Willie. Due to an unapproved adjustment before the race, Willie was told he would have to start the race two laps down. “It was a crazy week-end.” recalled Allen. “We had a good car in practice and we did okay in qualifying. We weren’t as fast as we would have liked to have been but we felt like we had a good race car. I thought my crew chief, Newt Moore, was kidding me when he told me we would have to start the race two laps down. I was getting kind of aggravated with him because I’d never heard of NASCAR doing that in a race before.” But, almost in a Hollywood-esque twist, Willie managed to race his way back onto the lead lap. “I was definitely excited about the way things turned out.” said Willie. “We actually could have had a better finish if we hadn’t messed up on our tires. And it really meant a lot for our team to get complimented by Brendan (Gaughan) post-race. We had a great car and I felt like the team fought hard to get back on the lead lap.”

Things continued to get better for Willie at Bristol for the night race in August, when he and his Day Enterprises team picked up a top 10 finish, ahead of several teams that had more funding. “Both the Nashville race and Bristol were so much different.” recalled Willie. “I loved Bristol and the atmosphere for the night race. That was a big, big night for us. In fact, that race and the Nashville race were both huge for us.” But shortly afterwards, Willie was out of the Nationwide Series and found himself again on the outside looking in. “During that down-time, I was racing late models and working with my shock business, W.A.R. Shocks.” Willie explained. “I’ve been travelling and going to a lot of dirt races. I’ve been busy building a dirt late model chassis and been racing a dirt track car the last couple of weeks.”

Like any other driver that unexpectly has found themselves with some down-time, Willie has had his struggles with it. “It was tough because I’m super-competitive.” Willie stated. ”I loved racing and wanted to race in one of the big three touring series and I hated watching it from the couch.” But during that time, Willie got to focus more on his business away from the track, W.A.R. Shocks “Our business is doing suspension work throughout the United States.” explained Willie. “We do some retail shock manufacturing, we revalve and work with customers. We do everything from dirt to asphalt racing and we’re trying to expand testing by getting a leg up on the competition. We’ve got on & off track support and a couple of guys who also race and work with me and the chances are if you are having a problem, we can probably figure out what the issue is.”

During the interview, Willie also reflected on how he’s evolved as a person and as a driver from his early years in NASCAR until now. “Definitely the business of NASCAR has changed. The whole sponsorship deal going on has made it much tougher, but it’s made me more of a fighter and made me not give up. I’ve learned a lot at the different tracks whether I’m start & parking or driving and it’s a constant state of learning.” As far as his plans the rest of the year with Day Entersprises go, Willie addressed those as well. “I think we’re going to try to run Nashville and Kentucky and we’re hoping to run more if we can get ourselves a sponsor. I’d like to run full-time.”

Unquestionably, Willie has been through hell and back in the last year and a half, but he feels it’s made him a better person in the long run. “It definitely has made me see that I can’t take life for granted and I’ve got to make the most of it every day. For example, we just found out a few hours ago one of our old crew members, Stephen Masch, just died from the car wreck he was in and it definitely makes you realize to make the most of each day.” At the end of the day, Allen still hopes to be a factor in NASCAR in the years to come. “We’ve just got to keep digging and make the most of things.” said Willie. “I’d like to run full-time and I’ve been racing on different levels, and hope to be running a different type of car every week this year. I’m hoping a sponsor comes around and sees what we’re doing at Day Enterprises and if there’s any sponsor’s reading this, we’ve got a good program at Day Enterprises and all we need is some sponsorship to make things happen.”

Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City

By Brody Jones

Dominance, thy name is Kyle Busch. At least at Bristol as Busch held off a late race charge from Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson to win his 5^th straight NASCAR race at Bristol in the Jeff Byrd 500 Sunday afternoon. Kyle led seven times in the race for 153 laps, again having one of the more dominant cars in the race along with Jimmie Johnson, who led the most laps, leading four times for 164 laps. On the weekend, Kyle led 422 of the week-end’s 800 laps, averaging close to leading 53 percent of the laps completed this week-end at Bristol.

Carl Edwards won the pole for today’s Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City, clocking in at 128.014 mph on Friday with team-mate Greg Biffle starting to his outside leading the other 41 cars to the green flag. Edwards jumped out to an early lead and held it until lap 18 when Paul Menard took the lead. The first caution came out for a 7-car accordion effect incident on lap 28 when Jeff Burton slowed after bouncing off the wall, collecting Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, A.J. Allmendinger, Jamie McMurray, David Reutimann, and Brian Vickers, putting Vickers behind the wall.

As the race went back to green, Landon Cassill pulled off the track on lap 32. He came back out for four laps later on before parking for good. Three laps later, Michael McDowell blew his engine in one of the rare races this year that HP Racing had planned to run in this season. Menard and Jimmie Johnson battled hard until the lap 50 competition caution to check for tire wear. After pit stops, David Gilliland, Robby Gordon, and J.J. Yeley stayed out to take the top 3 spots with Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman taking the 4^th and 5^th positions after pit stops. On lap 58, Ryan Newman took the lead from Gilliland and held it until lap 84 when Kyle Busch took the lead. Busch’s stint up front lasted for eight laps when Kyle Busch took the lead.

On lap 128, the event’s third caution came out when Robby Gordon smacked the wall in turn one when a right front tire went down. After pit-stops, Truex Jr. held on to the lead with Jimmie Johnson 2^nd, Kyle Busch 3^rd, Kevin Harvick 4^th, and Kasey Kahne 5^th. Shortly after the race went back to green flag racing, Brad Keselowski, as the result of a flat tire, spun out without any more contact for the 4^th caution of the afternoon. After Truex led for 63 laps, Kevin Harvick took the lead on lap 155. The next lap, Casey Mears pulled behind the wall with electrical issues. On lap 192, Jimmie Johnson wrested the lead away from Harvick.

On lap 228, Casey Mears pulled back onto the track after the repairs to his car were made. The 5^th caution of the afternoon came from an incident between Bobby Labonte and Paul Menard on lap 246. Labonte had made contact with Menard the previous lap and was repaid with an intentional spin of Labonte. In the aftermath, Tony Stewart ran into the back of Ryan Newman. After pit stops, it was Jimmie Johnson still leading, Kyle Busch 2^nd, Harvick, 3^rd, Kasey Kahne 4^th, and Carl Edwards rounding out the top 5. Juan Pablo Montoya had an impressive charge from 36^th to 8^th thwarted by a loose right front wheel on lap 265, costing him 2 laps after a green flag pit stop. Five laps later, Kyle Busch took the lead for the fourth time of the afternoon.

Two laps later, local boy Trevor Bayne slapped the wall slightly but kept going and there was no caution. Kyle Busch would hold the lead for the next 70 laps until Jimmie Johnson took the lead back. Two laps later, the 6^th caution came out for debris on the front-stretch. After pit-stops under the caution, Johnson retained the lead with Kyle Busch 2^nd, Kurt Busch 3^rd, Kasey Kahne 4^th, and Harvick 5^th. On lap 378, Dennis Setzer pulled the #92 K–Automotive Dodge behind the wall for the rest of the day.

The 7^th caution of the afternoon came out after David Gilliland hit the wall in the #34 Taco Bell Ford Fusion on lap 428. The caution led to pit stops with Kyle Busch taking the lead at lap 430 with Carl Edwards 2^nd, Greg Biffle 3^rd, Jimmie Johnson fell to 4^th, and Kevin Harvick rounding out the top 5. There was some controversy in the pits when it appeared that Jimmie Johnson sped on pit road to pass Kevin Harvick and was not penalized, a rather curious call to say the least. Shortly after the restart, the 8^th caution of the day came out following contact by Kasey Kahne to Kevin Harvick, who looped his car in turn 3 after nearly saving the car. Collected in a melee trying to avoid the crash were Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya, Mark Martin, and Trevor Bayne, spoiling the homecoming for the Knoxville native.

Caution number nine came out when Travis Kvapil looped his car on lap 450. He continued without making any additional contact. Seven laps later, as a result of his incident 20 laps before, Clint Bowyer cooked his engine, ending his afternoon. In the closing stages, the race became a three-car blanket consisting of Kyle Busch, Edwards, and Johnson. Edwards took the lead briefly on lap 474 but Kyle retook the lead on the next lap. From there, Kyle Busch checked out and went on to win his 5^th straight win at Bristol by 0.946 seconds, with Edwards settling for 2^nd and Johnson 3^rd. Matt Kenseth and Paul Menard, with his best run of the year, rounded out the top 5. Kevin Harvick recovered from his late-race incident to take home 6^th place, Kurt Busch was 7^th, Greg Biffle was 8^th, Kasey Kahne was 9^th, and Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10.

In a remarkable stat, the Busch brothers have now won half of the last 18 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch led seven times for 153 laps to take home his 5^th straight win at Bristol. The average speed of the race was 91.941 miles per hour and there were 10 cautions for 57 laps. The listed attendance for the event was 120,000, which was about 40,000 seats short of a sell-out.

Kyle Busch’s Dominance At Bristol Is Nothing To Sneeze At

By Brody Jones

Love him or hate him, one cannot deny the fact that Kyle Busch, after winning the last five races at Bristol in the last two weekends, has officially earned the title “The Baron Of Bristol” with his dominating performance this week-end at Bristol. After leading all but 32 laps in the Nationwide Series Scotts E-Z Seed 300 on Saturday to win his 4^th straight race at Bristol, people immediately started to pencil in Kyle as the favorite for Sunday’s race. And, while he had to share the “class of the field” honors at Bristol with Jimmie Johnson, leading seven times for 153 laps while Jimmie Johnson led four times for 164 laps, he managed to pull away down the stretch and win his 5^th straight NASCAR race at Bristol.

With the win, not only does Kyle assert his dominance at Bristol, but he establishes himself as a legitimate championship contender in 2011. Call it maturity, call it more focus on his career, call it whatever one desires, but the fact that Kyle has, outside of a blown engine at Las Vegas, has ran especially well in every series that he has competed in so far in 2011. That dominance has been prevalent in the Nationwide Series, with his 45 career wins in 204 career starts, which is almost an average winning percentage of 1 out of every 4 races he enters in that series. While his Cup track record hasn’t quite been as dominant, one cannot help but be impressed at, not just the fact that Kyle has more natural talent than any other driver in NASCAR, but at the maturity he’s shown to date in 2011.

Early in the season, Kyle avoided potential disaster after an early race spin at Daytona and recovered to finish 8^th with a damaged, ill-handling race car. At Phoenix, for much of the race, Kyle had the car to beat until Jeff Gordon passed him with 8 laps to go to ultimately win the race. Kyle had a bit of a hiccup at Las Vegas when his engine imploded on him, turning his car into a ball of fire. But at Bristol, it was clear that Kyle had one of the two most dominant race cars of the afternoon and at the end, showed the most muscle after a brief late-race charge from Carl Edwards and pulled away in the late stages to win the race.

Being married to his new wife, Samantha, seems to have somewhat tamed the petulant beast that Kyle has been in the past and, in situations so far this year that he would have reacted childishly in the past, he seems to be more level headed. Case in point, at Las Vegas when his motor detonated on him, he remained relatively calm about it, even almost joking about it. He Kyle Busch of old would likely have gone on a public tirade toward his engine building department at Joe Gibbs Racing. While a Jimmy Spencer right-hook seemed to mellow out Kurt Busch, it appears that married life has been what has calmed Kyle down.

When all the dust and smoke settled at the end of the day at Bristol, it was apparent that the maturation of Kyle Busch is at least in a constant state of evolution. His fans like to point out, however misguided the comparison may be, that Kyle is the modern equivalent of Dale Earnhardt Sr. Truthfully, Kyle’s talent and attitude, at times, are much more reminiscent of a younger Darrell Waltrip. Before he was spouting off catch-phrases in the FOX announcing booth, Waltrip had a much similar effect on fans, in a polarizing manner, that Kyle has been known to have in the past. He also could drive the wheels off of anything he drove in, also like Kyle. Now will Kyle be a NASCAR great on the level of a Darrell Waltrip or a Richard Petty? Only time will tell on that issue.

Edwards Flipping His Fortunes In 2011

By Brody Jones

Last year at this time, Carl Edwards was sitting in 13^th place in points and the lone highlight (or lowlight, depending on one’s point of view) was Carl crossing swords with Brad Keselowski at Atlanta, sending him into the fence and at Bristol, he finished 6^th. Fast forward to a year later, and Carl has a runner-up finish at Daytona to his credit, along with a win at Las Vegas. He also had a car capable of winning at Phoenix but after contact with Kyle Busch, his victory chances were sent up in smoke in the turn 3 wall.

Although Tony Stewart is leading the points, the talk of the circuit is Edwards. He closed last year with back-to-back wins at Phoenix and Homestead and has started the season running strong out of the gate. Most of all, although the season is still young, Carl has shown that he just may be able to have a championship-caliber season. This, combined with Jimmie Johnson’s early struggles out of the gate, leave hope springing eternal for Carl Edwards fans. Just a scant three races into the season, Edwards has already improved his results from last year at Daytona, going from 9^th to 2^nd and at Las Vegas, going from 12^th last year to winning the race.

What does one truly attribute the turn-around of Carl Edwards in 2011 to? Does one give Carl all the credit? Does one give crew chief Bob Osborne his due? Is it the FR9 engines? Or is it Jack Roush coming through with a more hands-on role in the day-to-day operations? Truthfully, it’s a little bit of everything. There is no denying the rapport that Edwards has with Bob Osborne and the fact that Osborne is a very smart crew chief who is not afraid to gamble. Carl also deserves much of the credit, but one also has to pinpoint the rise of the FR9 engine as a very vital role in the success of the team. But another key component in Edwards’ resurgence has been Jack Roush’s complete and total commitment to getting his team back to the championship level they once were at.

Perhaps the most noticeable difference in Edwards this season compared to last is the undeniable fact that he appears to have his confidence back. Back in 2008, Edwards won a jaw-dropping nine races but still had to settle for second in points behind Jimmie Johnson. Much of the last two years, Edwards was mired in relative obscurity and, at times, appeared to have lost his confidence. But through a lot of hard work and persistence, Edwards has regained that lost swagger of his and early indications of this season are pointing toward another big year for Edwards, perhaps even a championship-caliber operation. If anyone at this early stage seems to be firing on all eight cylinders, it has to be Carl Edwards and his team.

But all of Edwards’ early-season bravado will not matter in the long run if his team stumbles in the Chase. Case in point, Denny Hamlin had a strong season last year, but wilted like a desert flower when the pressure became much too great. Edwards and his crew must avoid these same pratfalls down the stretch or they, too, will be tagged with the label of a “choke-artist”. Edwards has been close before, but with this new points system as a bit of a crap-shoot, it at least somewhat levels the playing field. Plus Edwards surely has to be aware that the law of averages will surely catch-up to Johnson at some point in the not-too-distant future. Perhaps those laws may already be in effect for Johnson.

At Bristol today, the question of pressing importance on everybody’s mind has to be can Carl keep his momentum rolling at Bristol or will his impressive roll as of late level off? Bristol has, in the past, been equal parts great and miserable for Edwards. He’s won twice at Bristol, but he’s also failed to finish on a few occasions. Carl has no reason to give fans any belief that he might struggle at Bristol, but at “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile”, anything and everything can happen. So tune in today to see if Edwards can keep Lady Luck on his side or if his luck will run out.

Paul Menard Is Slowly Converting The Masses

By Brody Jones

When one brings up the name Paul Menard, until roughly this time last year, people just assumed that he was only in the sport because his father is Midwestern home-improvement tycoon, John Menard, but nothing could be further from the truth. In the past two years, Menard has gone from an average, at best, driver to being a legitimate contender to win races. To say that Menard has come a long way from his largely dismal D.E.I. and Yates Racing years is an understatement. Most of all, in what was perceived to be a make-or-break opportunity for Menard at Richard Childress Racing, he has more than exceeded expectations. In fact, he’s currently the top dog at Childress, ahead of Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, and even Kevin Harvick.

Menard’s turn-around is nothing short of remarkable. In particular, he has been especially stout on the mile and a half tracks, and was reportedly the driver for Ford last year who helped the manufacturer with their super-speedway program the most. But at least half of the credit has to go to Richard “Slugger” Labbe, whose crew chiefing skills are vastly underrated. To turn Michael Waltrip from a journey-man driver into a race winner and a sponsor shill (though one really can’t blame Labbe for the last one.) and now to turn a previous also-ran like Paul Menard into a honest-to-goodness weekly contender to win races officially should cement Labbe’s reputation as a turn-around artist.

Even fans, most of whom prior to two years ago didn’t know anything about Paul Menard except that the guy had the most prominent sideburns in NASCAR and that he had a soul patch are starting to take gradual notice of the former ice racer. Although it’s still not a very common sight, there were a few more fans than usual sporting a Menards hat or a Paul Menard T-shirt this week-end at Bristol. Of course, he still does not sell anywhere near the amount of merchandise as team-mate Kevin Harvick, but at least he has a few fans in the stands taking notice of his capabilities behind the wheel. Even the social networking beast has got in on the act, in particular the Facebook and Twitter group “The Paul Menard Empire”, which in just slightly over a year, has mushroomed to well over 500 members. Although the group started somewhat as a joke, it’s actually become a bit of an Internet haven for all fans of Paul Menard. Even some of the past critics have come around, at least to a point of where they may not quite yet perceive him as a threat to win races, but they do recognize he’s not a rich guy playing the part of a race car driver.

Menard had a strong start to last year as well at this point, climbing up to 9th in the points standings before eventually tailing off. Few expected Paul to have the strong start that he’s had to this year. He started the year with a top 10 at Daytona, ran well for much of the race at Phoenix before settling for a top 20 and at Las Vegas, he again had a top 10-caliber car and finished just outside the top 10 to put him 6th in points. While it remains to be seen if Menard can carry over this momentum throughout the course of the 2011 season, it certainly has proven that Menard’s early-season success last year was no flash in the pan. Granted, while his team-mates have had a great deal of early season misfortune and woes and Menard has yet to have those problems, one cannot help but be impressed with Menard’s maturation as a driver.

Bristol Gives Driver Introductions A Unique Twist

By Brody Jones

At every other track on the NASCAR circuit, driver introductions are, generally, a rather boring and bland affair. Usually, the introductions are just an announcer saying where a driver is starting and his name. Occasionally, a driver will bring their family on stage, but that’s about the only variety to your typical driver introduction ceremony. But at Bristol, it’s a totally different kind of animal. Before the race, drivers, in a page almost out of professional wrestling, come out to their selection of introduction music. The songs range from a college fight song (Dave Blaney’s choice of the Ohio State Buckeyes fight song), to classic rock (for example, Kurt Busch’s selection of “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” by George Thorogood) to TV theme songs (Carl Edwards’ choice of the “Cheers” theme song and Ryan Newman picking “The Dukes Of Hazzard” theme song) and everything in between. In the past, songs from movies (The “2001: A Space Odyssey” theme that Elliott Sadler picked last year) and even, somewhat appropriately, pro wrestling music (David Reutimann’s selection last year of “The Game” by Motorhead)

In another quirky twist, of sorts, the drivers do their own introductions. Last year, this led to some controversy when Brad Keselowski took the microphone at last year’s spring race and declared that “Kyle Busch is an ass.” Could this year see another interesting moment such as that during driver introductions that could very well live in Bristol immortality, along with Jeff Gordon’s shoving match with Matt Kenseth and Shane Hmiel giving Dale Jarrett the middle finger? With some of the combustible personalities in the garage area, there is absolutely no telling exactly what could wind up being said on a live microphone.

Things such as this to add to the Bristol experience still make the track a “must-see” event, even if the racing there has somewhat been tamed with the advent of the progressive banking. Incorporating music to driver introductions and letting the drivers introduce themselves is all part of the experience of going to Bristol. It’s all part of making Bristol its own unique experience. Some have argued that other NASCAR tracks should follow Bristol’s response. But would that really be such aa good thing? Don’t misunderstand me, I think that this is a great addition to the experience of Bristol, buit if every other track took Bristol’s lead, it would perhaps cheapen the experience that Bristol provides with the introduction music. Think about it, if every track did, in fact, follow Bristol’s lead, would the fans get nearly as psyched up about the entrance music as they have so far? Probably not. Sure, they would still be pumped up but their enthusiasm might be slightly tempered. But on the other hand, it would spice up tracks that don’t have a lot of charisma to them, such as California and Michigan, in particular.

At the end of the day, the main thing that matters is the fans and the verdict is that fans really like these unique introductions and it likely will only be a matter of time before other tracks follow the example of Bristol. It has been said that music is the universal language. Such is definitely the case at “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile” where whether you like old TV show themes, 80′s music, metal, classic rock, country, or even praise and worship music, you’ll likely find something to suit your musical tastes. Who knows? Some of the drivers intro-music choices just might surprise you. Bet you never pictured Landon Cassill “Rick-Rolling” ristol fans to Rick Astley or Paul Menard coming out to such heavy metal as “Concrete Jungle” by Black Label Society, now would you?

Danica Does Bristol

By Brody Jones

In her first trip to the half-mile leviathan known as Bristol Motor Speedway, Danica Patrick felt the unyielding wrath of the Bristol beast. On Friday, when she got here, the usual media circus surrounding her was unrelenting and the fans that had access to pit road kept hounding her endlessly for autographs. She was getting so much unwanted attention that one could not help but feel a bit sorry for Ms. Patrick. With Danica trying to focus on the task at hand, it seemed like she was pursued by a seemingly endless stream of well-wishers and autograph-seekers that might have distracted her a bit from her duties for Jr. Motorsports. In qualifying, she started an ignominious 29th. But as the race progressed forward, she was slowly, but surely gaining experience on the half-mile and had, in fact, worked her way into the top 20.

But late in the race, at lap 245, Danica appeared to come up on Ryan Truex in turn 2 and hit his left rear quarter-panel, spinning herself out in the process and making hard contact with the turn 3 wall. As she exited the car, she showed a bit of an attitude toward Ryan Truex for, in her mind, wrecking her. But as video evidence shows, nothing could have been any further from the truth. In fact, it looked as if Danica came up on Truex and wrecked herself in the process. In her post-race interview, she reverted back to her mentality of blame everyone else but herself and came across as a might bit childish. She seemed incredulous that one is supposed to race hard at Bristol, when it's a well-known fact that if you race at Bristol, you better expect to be in for some contact along the way.

Make no mistake about it. Danica has improved tremendously from her early stock car outings where it seemed like she spent more time in the wall than on the track, and she deserves credit for her 4th place finish at Las Vegas. But let's take a reality break just for a minute, race fans. Danica Patrick showed at Bristol that she still has plenty to learn about driving in NASCAR, in particular at the short-tracks where she has seemed to struggle the most in her rather limited experience. To hail Danica as "ready for Cup racing" after a fuel-mileage 4th place finish is just completely and utterly asinine in almost every respect. Does she sell tickets? Undeniably so. Does she sell merchandise? By far and away, she does. But the fact remains that if Ms. Patrick was not put up on this pedestal as a sex symbol, race fans would largely be apathetic toward her NASCAR pursuits.

There are a few other female drivers currently in NASCAR that do not get the mainstream publicity that Danica gets. Drivers like Jennifer Jo Cobb and Johanna Long also race in NASCAR, but almost no one, save the most ardent hardcore fans have likely ever heard of either lady. What is particularly irritating is that it seems as if NASCAR is perfectly content to put all their eggs in the "elite female driver" basket on Danica Patrick, even if she doesn't automatically deserve that status held to her. If NASCAR is serious about their efforts to get more female fans, why not put forth more marketing effort in the other female drivers, at least to perhaps make them comparable on the scale of Danica in terms of merchandise-sales. But, for reasons only known to the NASCAR brain trust, all they seem to care about is Danica along with ESN, who tirelessly covers her running mid-pack. If one is going to cover one mid-pack driver, why not cover them all or just flat out don't cover them, even if their name is Danica Patrick. But, on the bright-side, at least we won't get another dose of Danica-Mania for another three months.

Jeremy Clements Making His Mark In NASCAR

By Brody Jones

The path Jeremy Clements has taken to the NASCAR series has been a long, hard road with many twists and turns, but through it all, Clements and his small family-operated team have managed to survive and even thrive in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, going up against teams with far greater resources than they have available to them. Clements started his career in the dirt track ranks, going from modified 4-cylinders to dirt late models. "It was a pretty huge transition to go from modified 4-cylinders to dirt late models." recalled Clements. "Everything was different from the steering to triple the horsepower in the engine. It was fun, though. I won my first dirt late model race and it was a great learning experience for me.". Back in 2003, Clements got his first taste of the Triple A level of NASCAR in a Busch Series race at Pike's Peak. "We didn't have a clue what we were getting into." Clements said. "We had been running ARCA at the time and wanted to get into the Busch Series. We went to Pike's Peak with a car we bought and we were so loose there, and in fact, we ended up wrecking early and it made me realize how tought it was at that level."

But just as Clements career was starting to take off, a freak accident put his career on hold for over a year in 2004. As he recounted to me "That weekend it was like it was meant to be. That Friday night before, we had run at a 5/8 mile dirt track in Tennessee and Bill Elliott was there and it was so rough it knocked a hole in the oil tank. We got home about 6 AM and headed to the shop at Noon and everybody was really tired and the track was about 3 1/2 hours away. We washed the car and got ready to go. I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay home and sit that one out, but my dad and I got into an argument over it and we wound up going. We got there in time to qualify and pretty much sucked. We were like 10th in the race and it was five laps to go and the torque broke off and made the drive shaft come up and get my hand. It's got hoops in there, and it was a Barry Wright car, one of the best kind of cars you can get and it was a freak deal, like it was meant to happen. It's funny how it all worked out and it was the same day my grandfather, Crawford Clements, died and it was kind of freaky to look back on that and think about it. Luckily, it was just a memory." As a result, Clements had to undergo rehabilitation for his injured hand. "Oh, rehab was terrible and we went there for a year and honestly, the doctors told me I was never going to race again and I wanted to prove them wrong. When I first went to therapy, I couldn't move nothing there and there was rods. I got really close to my therapist and we're still friends to this day. he fixed me up. The problem with my hand was there's so much stuff in your hand that makes it all work."

A little over a year later, Jeremy made it back to the ARCA Series back in 2006. "I gained so much in experience in ARCA, it was a good series to race in." Clements stated "We never could afford to run the full schedule, but when we were there, we were always a contender. In 2007, we ran up front a lot and won Nashville and should have won Pocono. But it was a great series and I learned a lot in it." Speaking on the Pocono and Nashville races Clements said "I wanted to cry so bad after that Pocono race to run out of fuel in the final yards. We were a family run team and we got so close to winning and ran out of gas and Josh Wise and Michael McDowell passed me in the final yards. The very next week we went to Nashville and dominated the race and won it.". In 2008, Clements went back to the Nationwide Series. "I loved running in ARCA but you couldn't make any money running in that series and we basically had to give the Nationwide Series another try basically because it paid more."

Clements' family-backed operation has certainly seen its share of adversity over the years but despite everything, they keep pressing forward. "We have to build our own engines and get our own parts to save money, plus we can only run one set of sticker tires so it's hard to be competitive at times without the backing of a major sponsor so we can get stuff like new tires and new equipment so we don't have to run things until they're junk." Clements explained. At Gateway in 2010, that hard-work paid off as Clements got his first career Nationwide top 10. "Oh, that was such a good weekend for us." said Clements. "We got that car from Childress and we knew if we could get it hooked up right, we'd have a heck of a car. We kept working on that car and working on it and that top 10 proved to me that I'm just as capable as anyone else in the Nationwide Series."

Late last year, Jeremy got some sponsorship from RaceDaySponsor.com to help his team out. "Basically, RaceDaySponsor.com is a way for smaller businesses to get into the sport for a certain amount of money and it helps out the businesses by getting them some exposure annd it helps us out a little bit along the way." said Clements. As far as his schedule for the rest of the year, Clements had this to say. "Right now, we're just going to take things one race at a time and see how things go. We hope to run the full season, if we can.". Jeremy has lofty, albeit realistic goals for the 2011 season as well. "We want to try to stay locked in the top 30 in owner points so we can be able to be locked in for every race and see if we can get more backing.". So if you're looking for a bit of an underdog to cheer for in the Nationwide Series, who would fit the role better than Jeremy Clements?

Driver/Crew walk out as the green flag drops at Bristol

By Joe Dunn
   It was a bizarre start to the NASCAR Nationwide series, Scotts EZ Seed 300 Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway.  During the pace laps, NASCAR announced that the 79 car of Jennifer Jo Cobb was to start at the rear of the field due to a driver change.  It was announced at that time that Charles Lewandowski would start in the car, with no explanation as to why.

    As the media scrambled to learn what happened, ESPN’s Dr Jerry Punch talked with Cobb who explained that the owner informed her moments before the start that she was to start and park the car.  Cobb was adamant that it was contrary to her racing ethics and refused to start.

    As the 79 car sat behind the hauler with a right rear wheel off, and a driver, reported to be Chris Lawson strapped into the car.  The crew chief, Steve Kuykendall stood several feet away with some of the crew members.  Kuykendall informed this writer that they were Cobb’s crew and that they had been evicted from the hauler.  A local sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to the hauler where he stood by as a crew member was allowed to retrieve the team’s personal items. 

    .  So as the car sat with no crew, NASCAR officials stood by not letting the car go out until the owner could assemble a crew.  Efforts to speak with the car owner, Rick Russell for his side of the story were spurned.  With over 100 laps completed in the race, a rag tag crew was assembled  and the 79 car was allowed to start the race before parking 4 laps later.

    I caught up with Jennifer Jo a few minutes later and she explained her side of the situation.  “ I was told 10 minutes before the race that , that the team owner had the right to have me black flagged and I was going to be forced to start and park.” explained Cobb, “That’s just against my principle and my mission as a race car driver. Jennifer Jo Cobb racing had purchased tires for the race today, so it was really a very ill timed decision for him to make.  It was explained to me that the idea was  so that the car could be in one piece for the race in California next week.  I said that as a business person and a team owner, I could understand that, but I asked him if he could assure me that I would be in the car in California, and he responded, ’No, you are not racing for me in California’.   I had a agreement with him for me to race the car in California, so I felt that we was breaking the contract.”

    Cobb’s intention is to begin immediately to negotiate with team owners in hopes of securing a ride for next week in California and for the rest of the season.  The crew are all members of Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing, brought over to this car from her 2010 NASCAR Camping World truck series team

Kyle Busch Victorious Again at Bristol

By Joe Dunn
(From Speedwaymedia.com)
    The last time NASCAR was at Bristol Motor Speedway, back in August of 2010, it was the Kyle Busch show  as he swept all three top series races in the same weekend.  The spring race at Bristol does not include a Truck series event, so the Nationwide race is the first event.  Could this win could be the start of another sweep?

    Following Busch across the line was Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Elliott Sadler (the highest finishing series regular) and Joey Logano in fifth.  Rounding out the top 10 were, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Jason Leffler, Brad Keselowski and Aric Almirola.

    The 29th annual Scott’s EZ Seed 300 proved to be another event filled race after what looked to be a smooth start.  Other than a competition caution ordered by NASCAR on lap 25 to check for tire wear on the new tires provided Saturday morning, the race remained  green for 68 laps.  It was lap 68 when Robert Richardson Jr. made contact with the outside wall in turn three.  The damage to Richardson’s #23 car resulted in lots of fluid across the track which caught Trevor Bayne and forced contact with the outside wall that spelled trouble for his day, as he finished 3 laps down in 19th place.

    The beginning of the race was not without it’s own drama as Jennifer Jo Cobb refused to start the race after being ordered by car owner Rick Russell to ‘start and park’ the car.  The car eventually started and parked after 4 laps, but not before the race had reached the 100 lap marker, with the third announced driver for the car.

    The third caution for the day came on lap 183 as reigning Series Champion, Brad Keselowski cut a tire and made contact with the wall in turn 3.  The last 100 laps of the race would bring out five more cautions, slowing the pace of the race. The fourth caution came on lap 201 as Aric Almirola spun the 388 car down the front stretch, while  just 8 laps later the #05 of Willie Allen would crash on the front stretch. Lap 236 saw Bayne and Michael Annett wrecking in turn 2 while on lap 249, Danica Patrick would run into the left rear fender of Ryan Truex.    Although Truex would keep control of his car and drive safely away, Patrick went into a spin and collected the outside wall ending her day with a 33rd place finish.

    The win was Busch’s second of 2011 and his third top 10 finish this year.  He also lead the most laps with 268, which set an all time record for the Series with 10,045 laps led.  This is also Busch’s 45th win in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

    Heading to California, Jason Leffler leads the series 2 point ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr, with Justin Allgaier, Reed Sorenson and Aric Almirola rounding out the top 5 in points.

East Tennesseean Making His Mark As A NASCAR Owner

By Brody Jones 

When you think of NASCAR owners, you generally assume all the teams have roots entrenched in the Carolinas. One team owner in NASCAR has East Tennessee roots and recently, OnPitRoad.com had a chance to sit down with Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins and talk about his unlikely rise from East Tennessee businessman to a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner. “I grew up as a rabid fan of NASCAR and have always been a fan.” recalled Jenkins. “It was always a dream of mine to own a race team and I wanted to do it and the opportunity came about to do so, so in 2004, we started racing in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series and I’ve been in NASCAR ever since.”
While his team is currently located in Statesville, North Carolina, Jenkins has never forgotten about his days as a fan at Bristol and the sentimental attachment he has to “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile”. “Bristol, honestly, is more of a home track for me than Charlotte because of all the memories I have here. My friends and I would come here and get buckets of KFC and Bojangles’ chicken and watch the races here. Of course, I liked to watch the wrecks as a fan because Bristol, at times, could become a demolition derby.” Jenkins said. ”Though as an owner now? I don’t like to see the cars wreck as much.” Over the course of the teams’ tenure since 2004, they have had to undergo their fair share of trials and tribulations. “There were times in the early years of our team’s existence where my stomach was in knots during qualifying. It took a whole lot of money to start the team and early on, it was a real struggle. But, thanks to the hard work of the guys, we’ve managed to do well for ourselves.” reflected Jenkins.
Last year, when the team ran 3 cars for the first time, the toll of going from two teams to three with limited resources eventually caught up to Jenkins and his team “Going into this year, the #34 and the #38 are our main focus currently as we feel those cars are our best opportunity to be competitive and as for the #37, I’m not sure long-term at the moment, what the plans are for the team. The #37 guys have done a great job for us this year considering the fact that we don’t have the resources to supply to them.” The past few seasons, Jenkins has had at least one car locked in over the course of the season and that has been a god-send for his team. “It means a whole lot to not have to worry about qualifying and just focus on the race set-up. We were fortunate to have all three cars locked in at Daytona after Travis Kvapil timed in and we’ve got in on speed at every race so far this year.”
Jenkins teams have mostly been backed by his restaurant franchises the past few years. “I’ve got 134 Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s, and A&W Restaurants that have supplied most of the sponsorship and financial backing for my team.” explained Jenkins. “We get some help from corporate but not a whole lot.” After David Gilliland’s 3rd place finish at Daytona in February, he was quoted as saying that the FR9 engines have made a huge difference and Jenkins agrees. “The FR9 engines have made a huge difference for us. Last year, we were down 25-30 horsepower and we’d be even with teams in the corners but get pulled down the straight-aways. Doug Yates has done a great job building our engines and I can’t thank him enough for that.” On the subject of Gilliland’s 3rd place finish, it was just as much of an emotional high for Jenkins as it was David Gilliland. “It was so huge for us considering all the struggles we’ve had to go through over the years from being uncertain if we’d make the field not long ago to running in the top 3 at Daytona, and it couldn’t happen to a better guy than David (Gilliland).”
Over the years, when a rash of teams have started up, Jenkins’ team has managed to stay afloat where others have fallen by the wayside and that is definitely a commendable feat compared to all the larger teams. “We started out like everybody else. We haven’t had the resources these other teams have had but we’ve made the most out of a limited budget and we’ve got great drivers and great people that have helped us along the way.” said Jenkins. At Bristol, he has high hopes for his operation “I used to be happy with not having any wrecked race cars, but now, honestly? I would like to see us get a top 15, especially the #38 team. They have just had terrible luck to start the year and a good day would be such a boost for them.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr on the Pole for Scott’s EZ Seed 300

By Joe Dunn
(as seen on Speedwaymedia.com)
    Carl Edward’s jumped to the provisional pole as he went out 22nd qualifying for Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race with a speed of 125.052 mph.  But the idea of Edwards grabbing both poles  was short lived.

    Two cars later, Edwards’ teammate Trevor Bayne pushed Carl to the outside as he posted a lap of 125.461 mph, .050 seconds faster.    A few spots later, it was Jason Leffler hitting the top spot with a speed of 125.939, but the very next car out would be Edwards’ and Bayne’s teammate Stenhouse Jr. who took the top spot for the day with a speed of 126.071 mph.  This will be Stenhouse Jr’s second pole of his career, the first one coming at Iowa in 2009.  This will be his third top 10 start in 2011 and his third race at Bristol.

    When the qualifying session was complete, Edwards was bumped back to 7th.  Start on the outside of the front row will be Leffler, followed by  last year’s winner Justin Allgaier, Bayne, and Kyle Busch starting 5th. Rounding out the top 10 will be  Elliott Sadler, Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano.

    Only one car will miss the race, Chris Lawson who crashed during his qualifying run.  It should also be noted that these cars did qualify on the tires from yesterday as they had no practice on the new tires.

Bristol Tire Fiasco

By Joe Dunn
(as seen on Speedwaymedia.com)
    (BRISTOL, TN)  Carl Edwards turned in the fastest lap of NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying to earn the Pole for the Jeff Byrd 500 (presented by Food City).Edwards’ teammate Greg Biffle  secured the #2 spot for an all Ford all Roush Fenway Racing front row but that effort was overshadowed by the tire woes experienced Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    From the beginning of the first NASCAR Nationwide Series practice Friday morning, it became obvious that there was a problem with tire wear.  As NNS teams reported excess tire wear Goodyear was quick to acknowledge that something was amiss with the tires brought to the track.

    In addition to the excessive wear, another problem also became evident.  The track surface did not ‘Rubber up”, a build up of rubber imbedding into the track surface.  That was obvious to all as the normal blackening of the track was not at all occurring.  That lack of build up effects the long term wear of the tires as, under normal conditions it cushions the tire wear and reduced the ability of the track surface to grind rubber off the tires.

    Goodyear was quick to notify NASCAR that it intended to bring an entire compliment of new tires to the track on Saturday.  The scheduled practices continued with the current tires as did the NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying.  The only major victim of the wear Kevin Lepage in the NNS #24 car who had a right front tire go down putting him into the wall.  The damage to the car was extensive and the crew was working feverishly to read a back up car.

    With the new tires arriving Saturday morning, and the Nationwide Series not having any practice on the  new tires, NASCAR decided that it would be best to conduct qualifying on the old tires.  Both the Scotts EZ SEED 300 and the Jeff Byrd 500 will have a NASCAR mandatory competition caution early in the race to check tire wear on the new tires.

Jimmy Means Soldiering On - 35 years of NASCAR racing

By Brody Jones

While he’s not necessarily a house-hold name, Jimmy Means has managed over the past 35 years to persevere with limited finances and second-hand equipment. He’s managed to keep himself firmly entrenched in the sport, even as teams with more money and better equipment infiltrate the Nationwide Series. Still, with the odds against him, Means has managed to survive when many other independent teams have fallen by the way-side over the years. Recently, at Bristol Motor Speedway, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Mr. Means about his career and what exactly has kept him going when other independent teams such as his have had to close up shop.
“I got my start in racing, running a Late Model car at Huntsville Speedway and decided to go Cup racing back in 1976.” reflected Means. “Back then, there were only about 10 or 11 teams that had the financial resources to run up front, so my goal was to be the best out of all the drivers who didn’t have as much as the big teams.” Eventually, however, owning and driving with limited equipment and little financial resources took its toll on Means. “It got to a point where it was costing way too much money to even be competitive as an independent and toward the end of my career, the only independents left were myself and Dave Marcis.” stated Means. Also, the tragic events of Speedweeks in 1994 when Neil Bonnett and Rodney Orr were fatally injured at Daytona were the last straw for Means. As he related to me “I was clocking Neil Bonnett with a stop-watch when he hit the wall at Daytona and was killed. Then a few days later, Rodney Orr got killed too and at that point, I said I just didn’t have the desire to race anymore.”
A few years later, the opportunity came up for Means to get back into car ownership with Moy Racing. “I worked a few years for Bud Moore until he had to shut down due to a lack of sponsorship. A few businessmen were wanting to start a team and the representative from Ford had me meet with them and we ran for about six or seven years. We ran pretty well. We won a race (at Hickory with Ed Berrier) and had some good qualifying efforts.” explained Means. Over the years, Means’ operation has had to resort to the oft-debated practice of start & parking. “You have to do what you have to do to survive.” explained Means. “Tires cost $2,000 and when you’re spending your whole purse on tires, you’re going to lose money real quick, so we have to do what we have to do to survive.”
Back in 2009 at Daytona, in a little-known fact, Means gave future Daytona 500 winner (and Knoxville, Tennessee’s favorite son) Trevor Bayne his first opportunity in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. “Myself and my former business partner, Bob Jenkins from Front Row Motorsports, put together a deal for Trevor to run here at Bristol. Bob supplied us with a car and sponsorship backing and we came here with Trevor and did pretty well.” Means said. With the advent of the Nationwide COT, Means has found the new car to be a bit of a double-edged sword. “We’ve been lucky with the car in some regards, as the body frame is basically a first-generation Cup COT and we have been able to find hand-me-down parts at a reduced rate. But by the same token, it’s just causing the costs to run in the series to sky-rocket and in the last few years, I’ve about gone broke just trying to stay afloat.”
Things were at their bleakest back at Speedweeks this year when Bobby Santos III had a ferocious accident that destroyed the only car Means’ team had. “We spent all winter preparing that car for Daytona, and through a mistake I made, we destroyed the car. At that point, I was ready to say “I’m done” because I didn’t have the money to rebuild another car.” But the team found an unlikely savior of sorts in Dale Earnhardt Jr. “Dale came up to me after the accident happened and said “You guys need a car?” So we worked out a deal with Dale Jr. to use his back-up car that week-end and he said that he wanted us to race it because he said you can’t make any money by parking it. TaxSlayer stepped up and sponsored us that week-end and we did pretty well at that race. That deal meant so much for us because Jr. didn’t have to do that, but that tells you what kind of a person he is.”
As for the rest of 2011, Jimmy Means plans to take things one race at a time. “We plan to run the full-schedule this year, but we still only have one car and if something happens to it, we’re not going to be racing for a while so we’ve got to take things one race at a time.” I’d like to thank Jimmy for taking time out of his busy schedule to do this interview and I wish him nothing but the best of luck in the 2011 season and hope he’s in the sport for many years to come.

Goody's and BC Powders Give Fans a Voice for the Goody's Fast Relief 500

Fans Can Select Favorite Wounded Warrior Project- and Victory Junction-Designed Paint Schemes

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (March 11, 2011) – For nearly a week beginning March 11, fans of Goody's and BC Powders can help choose a race car paint scheme designed by wounded hero from Wounded Warrior Project, Cory Collins, and Victory Junction camper, Eleanor Bolton, with the assistance of renowned motorsports artist Sam Bass. The designs will be showcased on a race car during pre-race ceremonies on April 3 at the Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.

As part of the Pick A Powder campaign (www.pickapowder.com), country music superstar Trace Adkins and racing legend Richard Petty have a friendly rivalry to see which pain relief powder – BC or Goody's - is toughest on pain. One thing the stars do agree on is giving back to causes near to their heart - Wounded Warrior Project for Adkins and Victory Junction for Petty. Goody's and BC are making both philanthropic organizations a pivotal aspect of the Goody's Fast Relief 500.

"Connecting with our customers and engaging the Goody's Fast Relief 500 fans is important to us," said Traci Plate, brand manager at GlaxoSmithKline, the marketers of Goody's and BC. "Giving them a voice in selecting this special paint scheme is a meaningful way of involving our fans. Through our efforts with the Pick A Powder campaign and partnership with Trace Adkins and Richard Petty, we are thrilled to highlight both worthy charities leading up to and during the race on April 3."

Beginning March 11 and concluding March 17 at midnight ET, each day fans can "choose" their favorite paint scheme designs for BC and Goody's by visiting either Goody's Powder Facebook page or BC Powder Facebook page. Simply visit the "Pick a Paint Scheme" tab and "choose" your favorite design. The design with the most "likes" from each charity will be wrapped on a full-size race car. In addition, Bolton and Collins will ride in their designed cars as they circle the track during pre-race ceremonies. The winning designs will be unveiled at Martinsville.

On his first tour in Iraq in 2005, Collins was injured 27 days after arriving. While clearing a safe path for his Sergeant Major south of Baghdad, he ran over a 500-pound IED and was the only surviving member of his truck. After trying to mend 30 broken or shattered bones, he kept his leg for five years and recently had it amputated. Amazingly, within 34 days, Collins was walking again with the assistance of a prosthetic leg.

A second grader from Davidson Elementary School in Davidson, N.C., Bolton is eight years of age and has a medical condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a motor neuron disease that affects the voluntary muscles that are used for activities such as crawling, walking, head and neck control, and swallowing. Bolton and her family first attended a family weekend at Victory Junction in February 2010.

In addition to all of this, fans have yet another way to support both charities. Adkins and Wounded Warrior Project are currently featured on specially-marked boxes of BC, and Petty and Victory Junction on select boxes of Goody's. With each purchase made until March 31 of the BC and Goody's specially-marked boxes, fans will help to give back to the organization affiliated with each brand.

Adkins and Petty have recorded messages in support of the charities that can be found on www.pickapowder.com. During the Goody's Fast Relief 500, both charities will be presented a check from BC and Goody's to continue their missions.

Tickets for the Goody's Fast Relief 500 weekend are on sale and may be purchased by calling 877.RACE.TIX or by visiting www.martinsvillespeedway.com. Tickets start at just $25.

Burton, No. 31 Team See Rebound on the Horizon

If you would have asked Jeff Burton, driver of Richard Childress Racing’s No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, at the beginning of the 2011 season if he thought the first three races would bring him bad luck, his answer would have been ‘No.’ Same with crew chief Todd Berrier, director of competition Scott Miller and the entire Cat Racing team.

Unfortunately, it did. And, with those three races now in the record books, Burton heads to Bristol Motor Speedway, the site of the fourth race on the 2011 Sprint Cup Series schedule, 32^nd in the championship point standings and with one thing on his mind – redemption.

The South Boston, Va., native started off the year with a win in the Duel 150 qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway that secured him and the No. 31 Caterpillar team the fourth starting spot for the 53^rd running of the Daytona 500. But, that high soon led to the first of three lows.

After showcasing a strong and fast No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet during the first half of the Great American Race and leading a total of five laps on two separate occasions, the engine expired on the RCR entry, forcing the team to call it a day and leave the historic speedway with a 36^th-place finish.

The Berrier-led squad, again, produced a fast black and yellow Chevrolet for the 312-lap at Phoenix International Raceway the following weekend, but a wrong place, wrong time circumstance accumulated the veteran driver in a multi-car incident just 60 circuits in. Speedy work by the crew to repair the damaged machine to the best of their abilities sent Burton back on track in order to gain as many valuable positions as he could before the checkered flag waved and, because of that, he was able to salvage a 26^th-place result.

Most recently, handling woes and ever-changing track conditions at Las Vegas Motor Speedway got the best of the Cat Racing team that left them leaving Sin City with a 21^st-place finish.

Alas, the off weekend – a few days for the driver, crew chief and gang to clear their heads and erase the misfortunes that plagued them early in the season.

“It’s very disappointing to have the finishes that we had in these first three races,” commented Berrier. “Obviously, this isn’t how we pictured our season to start out, but it’s the situation we’re in and we’ll do everything we can to dig ourselves out from underneath it. Our team is strong and we’ll recover. I don’t like losing, so you can believe that we’re doing everything we can to turn this ship around.”

The next four races on the schedule – Bristol Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Martinsville Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway – couldn’t have come at a better time for the 21-time Sprint Cup Series winner. After all, he has found Victory Lane at three of those four tracks in his career.

In 2008, Burton beat his RCR teammates to the line, claiming his first victory at the Bristol bullring. A third-place finish last year at Auto Club Speedway has the Cat Racing team wanting more when they return to the West Coast and numerous laps led at both Martinsville Speedway events last year has Burton hungry for a win at his home track. And, how can you forget Texas – not only the site of Burton’s first Sprint Cup Series victory, but the Fort Worth facility’s first repeat winner.

“It’s, obviously, disappointing to be where we are in the point standings,” stated Burton. “With as much preparation that we, as a company, did over the off season, it’s something that we couldn’t have done any different. Some of the situations we were involved in were out of our control while some were in our control. I’ve said all along that the new points structure will hurt those with poor finishes and we’re a classic example of that. Yes, we have a hole to dig out of, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do it. I believe in this team, wholeheartedly, and I really believe that over these next few races, you’ll see us have a complete turnaround.”

The boys in black and yellow will head to the World’s Fastest Half Mile next Thursday, looking for that turnaround. An hour-and-a-half practice session commences all Sprint Cup Series activity on Friday followed by qualifying. Then, the Cat Racing team will have two more chances on Saturday to fine tune their No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet for Sunday’s 500-lap showdown.

Live coverage of the Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City from Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised on FOX Sunday, March 20, beginning at 12 noon Eastern Daylight Time and will also be broadcast worldwide on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the fifth of 36 points-paying races will be televised on SPEED Friday, March 18, beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

Bristol Motor Speedway, Fighting Back

By Joe Dunn

    Last spring, Bristol Motor Speedway saw the end of it’s 55 race sellout record.  It was a rude, though not totally unexpected wake up call for the track and NASCAR as a whole.  The signs of a problem began to surface long before that date arrived.
    The United States began to see serious signs of an economic downturn in late 2008. That shock to the country occurred after most NASCAR fans, teams track and sponsors had already made the financial commitments to the 2009 race season.  Unlike many other sports, it’s was not uncommon for NASCAR fans to purchase race tickets and  make travel, hotel and vacation plans a full year in advance.  However, some of the tracks did see impact on season ticket sales. 
    Bristol, whose season tickets renew in October immediately felt the impact when renewal suddenly stopped coming in.  They were quick to respond and for the first time established a payment plan for season ticket holders.  That idea was well received and although the season ticket sales did fall, there were a great number of late renewals opting for the payment plan.  2009 continued the ‘sell out’ history for Bristol although it did require more work by the track.  For the first time in memory Bristol tickets were available all the way till race week.  The efforts didn‘t end with the payment plan though, a strange sight became common throughout Tennessee, BMS vans were suddenly seen in Food City Supermarket parking lots, selling race tickets. It took some last minute sponsor buys, but the ‘Sold Out’ sign for Bristol held on for another year.
    2010 became the year of panic for NASCAR, beginning with the Daytona 500 empty seats were ever present at the races,  Bristol for the first failed to sell out it’s Cup races and TV rating were falling.  While I was at the Bristol spring race, I took some time to check out the local business’.  The hotel rates remained high as did the minimum stay requirements.  The local restaurants and stores continued with their ’race week’ inflated prices.  A check of the area campgrounds showed no lowering of their rates, even though the empty spaces were obvious.  I spoke with a couple of the campground operators and though they were polite, they felt no need to roll back their prices.
    I was not the only person that noticed the local business’ ignoring the financial plight of race fans, the folks at Bristol Motor Speedway did too.  Director of Public relations Kevin Triplett spearheaded a campaign to enlist the help of the local hospitality folks.  His initial efforts in approaching the hotel industry met with less than stellar  results,  enlisting only five hotels willing to lower rates and minimum stay requirements. Those five are,  The Ameriinn Lodge in Jonesborough, TN, The Comfort Inn at Abingdon and Bristol, VA., The Comfort Suites in Abingdon and the holiday Inn Hotel and Suites in Bristol, VA.
    Working with Jerry Caldwell, BMS Executive Vice President and General Manager, they enlisted the help of the Bristol, Kingsport and Johnson City Chambers of Commerce as well as the Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association.  In this second round, American Classic Suites, in Johnson City, the Comfort Suites, Holiday Inn Express and Red Roof Inn, all of Kingsport, Days Inn Abingdon, VA and the Travelodge in Bristol, TN all agreed to lower rates and reduce the minimum stay.
    Race Lodging, a local agency that has been active for several years in the Bristol area arranging lodging alternatives such as rental of rooms and sometimes entire homes for race fans, also became part of the effort.  In addition to their normal activities they are putting together lodging facilities in outlying areas and are also arranging for shuttle bus service for those fans.
    On the Camping end of the deal, it appears that the efforts have been less successful.  It seems that the track has reached out to several of the campground operators in the area  but those calls have fallen on deaf ears.  The campgrounds surrounding Bristol Motor Speedway have all advertised their pledge to be Fan Friendly, however Actions speak much louder than Words and the word seems to be screw the race fans.  Not a single campground operator was willing to lower their rates as of this writing.   
    Bristol Motor Speedway has long been known as one of the most fan friendly track in NASCAR.  This latest effort show that they intend to live up to that name, and I for one believe that those efforts will continue into the future.  If you’re a local business and vendor that has not agreed to work with the track, beware because the war to bring back the fans has only just begun.

Carl Edwards hold off Tony Stewart to win the Kobalt Tools 400

By Shaun Burke

Carl Edwards topped off what was a Ford weekend in Las Vegas by winning the Kobalt Tools 400. The win is Edward’s nineteenth career win and second at Las Vegas. Edwards has now won three of the last five Sprint Cup races.

Tony Stewart dominated the Kobalt Tools 400 leading 166 of the 267 laps. Stewart had a miscue on pit road on lap 159 when he drug and air wrench out of his pit box. The penalty relegated Stewart to 24th position. Stewart struggled deep in traffic but managed to work his way inside the top 15 when Jeff Gordon pounded the wall on lap 196.

Stewart’s crew chief Darian Grubb made a gutsy call and took only two tires giving Stewart the led again. Most fans and even competitors thought that Stewart would be a moving chicane; however, Stewart was faster than the cars that took four tires. Stewart pulled out to over a four second lead when it was time for the final pit stop.

Since Stewart took two tires to get the lead, he had to take four tires on the final while Edwards was able to take two. When pit stops were over, Stewart sat third behind Edwards and Juan Montoya. It took Stewart several laps to get around Montoya and he ran out of time and couldn’t catch Edwards, finishing just 1.25 seconds and in second position. Stewart was clearly frustrated after the race saying “Second sucks”

Behind Edwards and Stewart, Montoya, Marcos Ambrose and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five.

Las Vegas was not kind to the hometown Busch brothers. Kyle Busch cut a tire running in the top 5 and a few laps later had an engine explode. Kurt, while racing inside the top 5, got loose under Juan Montoya and spun. Kurt was able to make his way back to a ninth place finish and is now tired for the points lead with Tony Stewart.

Jimmie Johnson, who had won the last two Las Vegas races, was never a factor going a lap down midway through the race. He finished sixteenth.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup and the Nationwide Series both take a week off as the Camping World Truck Series heads to Darlington Raceway for the Too Tough to Tame 200 on Saturday. The Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series next races will be March 19 & 20 at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Jeff Byrd 500 and the Scotts EZ Seed 300.

Kevin Conway Vs. Robby Gordon: This Time, It’s Personal!

By Brody Jones

When you think of big-name Las Vegas prize-fights, you usually imagine such encouters at the Bellagio, the MGM Grand, or the Thomas & Mack Center… not the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But Friday in the garage area at the track, the animosity between Robby Gordon and 2010 Raybestos Rookie Of The Year Kevin Conway allegedly came to a head, with Conway claiming that things became “physical” and that he has filed a police report on the incident. While no one from NASCAR has confirmed that the incident even took place, apparently a poster on the popular NASCAR web-site TheHotLap.com’s message board confirmed that the encounter did, in fact, take place with Gordon, according to the message board poster, slapping Conway around and throwing a punch at him before it was broken up by various parties.

One can only surmise that this incident stems from the legal squabbles between Robby Gordon and Conway, along with his sponsor Extenze. Gordon has sued Extenze in the state of California while Conway has sued Gordon in North Carolina. Gordon stated Saturday that Conway was suing for $27,000 for winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie Of The Year award. Defiantly, Gordon has stated that he would pay Conway when he got the $690,000 from Extenze over the time-frame that Conway drove for Gordon and that Extenze allegedly failed to compensate Gordon for the races agreed upon in the contract. Thus, Robby’s solution to the problem was allegedly getting into a Stewie Griffin-esque “Where’s My Money, Man?” type of beat-down. Though, to be honest, it’s not clear who really has the bigger black eye in this alleged encounter. Is it Robby for allegedly bullying Conway into a confrontation or is it Conway and Extenze for allegedly not paying Robby (or allegedly Front Row Motorsports, for that matter)?

This is not the first time Robby has thrown-down with someone. He got into a shoving match with Tony Stewart at Daytona in 2000 and he’s thrown a helmet at Michael Waltrip’s car at Loudon in 2005, subsequently dropping an “s-bomb” on national television, so it’s not all that surprising that Robby could be linked to an alleged altercation with another driver. Conway, on the other hand, is mildly surprising. The Richmond, Virginia native has been perceived to be a bit more laid-back in the garage area, so it comes as a shock that anyone would get in a fight with him. But if someone allegedly owed me close to three-quarters of a million dollars, I might be tempted to hit them too. But the difference between Robby Gordon and this journalist is out of sheer professionalism that I am expected to maintain at all times, I would refrain from landing a right-cross to someone who allegedly owed me money. Gordon is a professional too, but that has not stopped him from acting unprofessionally in the past. This time, however, it may have finally caught up to him as Conway has filed a police report and if this leads to criminal charges, the court of public opinion will not be in Robby’s favor.

I, however, have a solution for Bruton Smith and the track promoters at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. If Gordon and Conway are still engaged in these legal squabbles by this time next year, why not just transport a boxing ring in the infield in the pre-race ceremonies, complete with Vegas show-girls holding up the round number placards and let Gordon and Conway duke it out, mano y mano in the ring. Better yet, let’s get Michael Buffer to do pre-fight introductions! If NASCAR truly wants to have their drivers “have at it”, let them go at it in a boxing ring! That would blow the Bristol Food City Family Race Night Wii Boxing Drivers tournament right out of the water! But, since we live in a sue-happy society, that probably won’t ever happen. But hey, it would be fun to dream about it, now wouldn’t it?

Keys for Success: Kobalt Tools 400

LAS VEGAS (March 5, 2011) – Each race weekend, select Dodge Motorsports engineers, Penske Racing crew chiefs, engineers, drivers or engine specialists give their insight on the „Keys for Success‟ for the upcoming race. This week, the green flag drops at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the Kobalt Tools 400.

Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (race 3 of 36 NSCS point events)

Race: Kobalt Tools 400

Track Length: 1.5-mile (267 laps/400.5 miles)

Trivia Question: Most caution laps for a Sprint Cup race at LVMS? (Answer Below)

Travis Geisler (Director of Competition, Penske Racing)

Watch Out For the Bumps: “The bumps in Turns 1 & 2 have gotten worse. Every year they get a little bit bigger and the affect is greater because we‟re trying to control our car‟s attitude more. It‟s a moving target for us because nobody has been able to test here for a few years. You have all your seven post shaker data, but it‟s still not the same as what we are seeing with the actual bumps on the track.

“Essentially you‟re porpoising between (turns) 1 & 2 to the point where the splitter just wants to keep hitting on the high spots, and then you lose the nose and push up the race track. The other thing is that the bumps force the drivers to move their lines around a bunch to find a smooth spot on the race track. There are spots that are smoother. If you run on the bottom, or just off the bottom, it seems to be the roughest. If you run up too high, you get into the dirt and then you‟re in trouble. People are going to have a hard time racing each other over the bumps. It‟s like driving over an icy bridge; as long as you‟re pointed to where you want to go, you‟ll get there. There‟s no correcting your course. As soon as you get into the bumps, the driver loses his input and you have to skate through them because the car is just losing traction.”

Speed Alert: “Las Vegas is a high-speed race track and you still have to worry about your car‟s attitude. You just can‟t put soft, squishy springs in the car to make it ride like a car with a lot of travel that can handle the bumps. You‟ve got to have a rigid platform because there‟s too much speed on the aero side.”

Pit Road Tire Strategy: “Pit stops are going to be a big deal here. The tire doesn‟t slow down a bunch. It seems like you lose speed because of temperature versus tire wear. A place like Atlanta, when you run 10 laps, you stop and pit because the tires have lost the speed, they‟re worn out. Here, the tires lose speed from when they‟re cold to when they get hot. Once they stabilize, if you get caution 10 laps in and the tires cools down when you‟re pacing around, when you re-fire, it‟s with similar characteristics to sticker tire; it‟s not the huge speed loss that you would have at other places. You‟re going to see some pit road tire strategy, at least with right sides. You‟re going to see a situation like last weekend in Phoenix where you‟ve got good cars pitting, bad cars not pitting; the field is totally mixed up with fast cars trying to come through the field and that‟s when big wrecks usually happen.”

Answer to Trivia Question: 66 in 2009

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The End Of An American Dream?

By Brody Jones

To most casual NASCAR fans, the name Brent Raymer is far from a household name. Raymer was never a front-runner in the Camping World Truck Series. Raymer was never in the Top 10 at the end of any races. But his plight and struggle won many admirers over the course of the past few years in NASCAR. Although Raymer’s family-owned team did not have any real noticeable corporate backing, still they pressed on and last year, that persistence paid off with a more than respectable 19th place finish in the final points standings. The finish would have most certainly been higher in the standings had Raymer not been forced to start and park in a number of events due to a lack of trucks. But Brent Raymer had managed for the past few years to make an impossible dream possible.

Fast forward to Thursday, when the news that no team ever wants to announce was leaked out to the media. Brent Raymer, after selling his 2010 owner points to Richard Childress Racing’s second truck entry (Joey Coulter’s #22) and failing to qualify for the first two events of the year, plus the lack of a big-budget sponsor, finally sent one of the last bastions of the Ford Camping World Truck Series program by the way-side, at least temporarily. With Raymer’s team now suspending operations, this just leaves Chase Mattioli’s first-year team and the Mittler Brothers part-time Truck Series effort as the last Ford truck teams left standing. While it’s sad to see any team close up shop or suspend operations, it’s especially sad to see a driver who had constantly defied all odds against him and his family have to give up his dream, even temporarily.

But this is more than the potential end of Brent Raymer’s team, this is the beginning of the end of an American dream, where unknown neophytes can fight all odds and compete with some of the more well-funded organizations on a consistent basis. However, all hope is not entirely lost, as family-operated teams such as Johanna Long’s Panhandle Motorsports team owned by her father and Jeremy Clements has been running more than admirably against teams with multiple times the budget that his team has in the Nationwide Series. But the possible end of the line for Raymer’s organization is an absolutely crushing blow for these family-backed organizations. It’s hard enough, as is, for anyone to break into the sport unless they have a loaded check-book anymore. But it’s increasingly difficult for these family-owned teams to fight against these mega-conglomerates such as Roush Fenway and Joe Gibbs Racing. And yet, some of them still press on.

Once upon a time, it was much easier for a family-run team to be consistently up to par as a team with ten times the funding. Fewer and fewer drivers each year are able to break into NASCAR and succeed, unless they have money backing them. Talent, too often, has been over-looked for drivers with rich relatives with minimal talent just to fatten the wallet of a NASCAR owner. While it can be construed as “the nature of the beast”, it’s not something that this journalist has to accept with a smile.

Maybe one day things will cycle back to talent, regardless of age, gender, race, or money, being the number one criteria for earning a NASCAR ride. But until then? Teams like Brent Raymer’s and Johanna Long’s will continue to fight long odds, trying to show prospective sponsors that with some money, maybe they too can be equal to the dominant teams of the Truck Series. Maybe someday, a prospective sponsor will recognize the abilities of a Jeremy Clements and give his family-owned team the backing to get to the next level. But until that day? We have to see the occasional team give up their dream because of a terrible sponsorship economy. And it is a truly terrible thing that people like the Raymers have to give up their dream. Hopefully we don’t have to see this happen too much more often.