(While I’m taking a break from writing, I’ll be filling in here with posts courtesy of NASCAR Media.)
Daytona International Speedway is preparing to host one of the biggest tripleheader weekends of the season.
- The NASCAR Nationwide Series races Friday night, with the Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-Cola;
- The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series races Saturday afternoon, with the Brumos Porsche 250;
- Saturday night, the NASCAR Cup Series will be in action, with the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola
Storylines for the weekend follow, beginning with those members of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series garages who hail from the state of Florida.
In the NSCS Garage:
David Reutimann (Zephrhills) – No. 00 driver
Joe Nemechek (Lakeland) – No. 87 driver
Bobby Bakeeff (Ft. Lauderdale) – No. 16 car chief
Alan Gustafson (Ormond Beach) – No. 5 crew chief
Brian Pattie (Zephrhills) – No. 42 crew chief
Tony Gibson (Daytona Beach) – No. 39 crew chief
Kenny Francis (Jacksonville) – No. 9 crew chief
Jay Nolan (Jacksonville) – No. 39 engine tuner
Scott Kilbury (Ft. Lauderdale) – No. 82 mechanic
Alan Mincey (Ft. Lauderdale) – No. 43 mechanic
Christine Brownlow (Miami Springs) – No. 31 media relations
Adam Cooke (Zephrhills) – No. 82 shock specialist
Charlie Orr (Mountverde) – No. 18 shock specialist
Dean Mozingo (Tampa) – No. 5 transporter driver
Ryan Pepe (Orlando) – No. 07 tire changer
Preston Cordell (Middleburg) – No. 1 gas man
Mark Jacobs (Ft. Walton Beach) – No. 88 jack man
Jay Guarneri (Naples) – No. 39 windshield/driver support
Joey Meier (Marathon) – No. 1 spotter
Tab Boyd (Pensacola) – No. 42 spotter
In the NNS Garage:
Paul Flury (Hollywood) – No. 29 engineer
Kenny Oates (Miami) – No. 38 engineer
Thomas Costello (St. Petersburg) – No. 29 mechanic
Kevin Bellicourt (Daytona Beach) – No. 38 tire specialist
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
Race to the Chase – Race 2
The “Race to Chase” – the 10-event stretch that precedes NASCAR’s playoffs, otherwise known as the “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup” – continues this week at Daytona. This is the time of year when the 12-driver field is firmed up for the Chase, which will start Sept. 20 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
And, On The Subject Of The Top 12 …
With nine races remaining before the Chase begins, attention is focused on the 12th and final position in the series standings. Adding to the interest is that 12th place is occupied this week by Juan Pablo Montoya, the former Indianapolis 500 and Formula One star who struggled in his first two NASCAR seasons, but appears headed toward championship contender status.
Montoya retained 12th this week by the slimmest of margins – one point over 13th-place Kasey Kahne.
Big-Time Shootout at The Top of The Standings
The top four spots in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series standings this week are occupied by former series champions:
• Tony Stewart, the 2002 and ’05 champion
• Jeff Gordon, titlist in 1995, ’97-98 and ‘01
• Jimmie Johnson, champion the last three seasons
• Kurt Busch, champion in 2004 – the first year of the Chase format
NEVER have the top four in NASCAR Sprint Cup points been former champions this late in the season.
Kyle Busch Tackling Unique Tripleheader
Racing three races on one weekend is nothing new for Kyle Busch, but this coming weekend’s tripleheader at Daytona represents a most unique challenge.
First up, he’ll race Friday night in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, where he is the points leader. Then he’ll co-drive with Scott Speed in Saturday afternoon’s Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series event. After a brief “cooling-off” period, he’ll jump back into a stock car for the Coke Zero 400 Saturday night.
NASCAR Hall Of Fame Nominees TBA This Week;
Fans Will Get ‘Sneak Peeks’ Via Social Media Sources
The NASCAR Hall of Fame’s inaugural class will take a significant step towards realization Thursday night when the first 25 nominees will be revealed. The announcement will take place during an hour-long special on SPEED (8 p.m. ET) that will be hosted by long-time NASCAR announcer Ken Squier. The Hall of Fame Voting Panel, which includes a fan-vote element, will then choose the first class of inductees – five NASCAR greats who will be honored next May at the new NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C.
The elite 25 names were determined by a 21-person Nominating Committee that consists of officials from both NASCAR and the NASCAR Hall of Fame, plus owners/operators of major speedways and historic short tracks. The list represents many who helped build the sport, including drivers, owners and promoters.
NASCAR will release the names of a handful of nominees with daily blogs on NASCAR.COM leading into Thursday (http://community.nascar.com/crews/NASCAR_Says). The remainder of the 25 finalists will be announced on SPEED Thursday night. The show will countdown all 25 nominees with background and footage of each of them. Immediately following the SPEED show, NASCAR.COM will go live with a gallery of all 25 nominees and will open registration for the fan vote.
Petty Celebrating 25th Anniversary Of Epic 200th Victory
For years, Daytona’s summer race was always held on July 4, no matter the day of the week the holiday landed upon; a number of years back, the event was shifted, to be held on the Saturday night closest to the 4th.
This year, the calendar has fallen in favor of history; Saturday night is the 4th – meaning it’s also the 25th anniversary of Richard Petty’s 200th victory. Petty got that epic win – his last in NASCAR – on July 4, 1984 with then-President Ronald Reagan in attendance.
Petty returned to Victory Lane as an owner two weeks ago at Infineon Raceway, when Richard Petty Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne was the race winner.
Petty discussed Kahne’s victory and his 1984 win last week in a NASCAR CAM video teleconference. A transcript and video of that interview session can be accessed on NASCARmedia.com.
Emphasis On Winning: Bonus Points Coveted By Chase Contenders
The 12 drivers who end up making the chase field will have their point totals reset to 5,000. Then, they’ll get 10 bonus points for each race victory they had prior to the Chase.
Which means that drivers are racing to win, not just finish respectably.
Currently, Kyle Busch and Mark Martin have three race victories which means if they make the Chase, they will start with 5,030 points apiece – and either be at the top of the standings or close to it.
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
Double-File Restarts: Shootout Style Come To NNS
They’ve been an exciting addition to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Now “Double-File Restarts – Shootout Style” come to the NASCAR Nationwide Series beginning Friday night at Daytona and throughout each race in the series.
The format – where the first- and second-place cars line up side-by-side as the green flag is displayed on each restart with the leader having the option on his position, and cars in odd-numbered positions start on the outside, cars in even-numbered positions start on the inside – has been utilized for the last four races, all different tracks, in NASCAR Sprint Cup. That allowed NASCAR to gauge the various configurations before instituting the format in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
Series Hits Halfway Mark At Daytona
The conclusion of the July race at Daytona marks the traditional halfway point in the season, and the 2009 edition has certainly lived up to its preseason billing. Some highlights include:
• The first 16 races have produced 10 different winners and nine different pole winners. Kyle Busch, the standings leader, has five wins while his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano has two. Greg Biffle, the 2002 series champion, also has two wins.
• Carl Edwards, the 2007 series champion, continues to chase Busch; and despite having a season that’s statistically better than at this point last year, Edwards is 162 points back. He also the series in poles with four, tying his career high.
• Two series-only regulars have posted wins – Brad Keselowski and Mike Bliss – and they did so in consecutive races. Keselowski (third) leads seven series-only regulars who are ranked in the top 10 while the 2009 rookie class is one of the strongest in history, with two currently ranked in the top 10 in points.
• The competition continues to be trademark NASCAR Nationwide Series racing. Ten of the races have had margins of victory less than one second while seven have been under a half-second.
Last Chance For Restrictor Plate Specialists
Daytona is the final restrictor-plate race of the year for the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and the entry list is full of drivers who excel at this type of racing. Last year’s winner Denny Hamlin isn’t entered.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., the 1998-99 series champion, leads the pack so to speak. One of the preeminent restrictor-plate racers, he has two wins in this event. Kerry Earnhardt is back at Daytona for the first time since last year when he finished 17th in this race. Mike Wallace won in a wild finish in 2004; Joe Nemechek, the 1992 series champion, won in 2002 and also leads all drivers with five poles at DIS. Some would now argue Brad Keselowski falls into the “specialist” category thanks to his first NASCAR Sprint Cup win at Talladega in April. Additionally, Michael Waltrip, the two-time Daytona 500 winner, is also entered. Waltrip has three NASCAR Nationwide poles at Daytona.
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
Hornaday Jr. Is Perfection
Ron Hornaday Jr. won for the third time this season on Saturday at Memphis Motorsports Park. The win comes after his victory at Milwaukee. Both wins were captured with a perfect driver rating (150.0). Since the inception of Loop Data in 2005, seven of his 16 wins, or in other words 44% of his wins, have been perfect.
Starr Continues Successful Season
Veteran David Starr is enjoying a successful season. He’s been one of the biggest movers in the point standings following the May 15 race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, moving from 13th to 5th in the standings after Memphis.
Over the last six races, Starr has managed his climb up the points by finishing outside the top 10 only once (11th at Michigan). He matched his season best finish of third at Memphis.
Mike Skinner To Participate At Goodwood
Mike Skinner will celebrate the 4th of July weekend by participating in another form of racing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England. Skinner will add his name along side other notable NASCAR drivers who have competed in the event, such as Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Junior Johnson and Richard Petty.
Held since 1993, the Festival celebrates historic cars from all forms of racing. The three-day event features a 1.16-mile hill-climbing competition for all classes and types of race cars and motorcycles, plus a 2.5-kilometer course for historic rally cars. This year’s festival runs from July 3-5.
GRAND AM ROLEX SERIES
Pruett, Rojas Defend Daytona Victory, Championship Lead
Scott Pruett passed Alex Gurney in the closing yards to win the 2008 running of the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway. Pruett and co-driver Memo Rojas have momentum on their side as the Rolex Series begins the second half of its 2009 schedule with Saturday’s Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway.
Pruett and Rojas won six races and the Daytona Prototype championship last year in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley. This year they are coming off back-to-back victories at Watkins Glen International and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Their victory in the recent EMCO Gears Classic gave the team sole possession of the lead in the Daytona Prototype championship, with a three-way scramble for the runner-up position.
Gurney and Jon Fogarty are second, 11 points behind (175-164). SunTrust Racing’s Max Angelelli and Brian Frisselle are one point behind the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing duo, with Penske Racing drivers Romain Dumas and Timo Berhard another point back.
Busch, Speed to Race in Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Kyle Busch and Scott Speed will challenge the Grand-Am Rolex Series regulars in the July 4 Brumos Porsche 250, co-driving a second Lexus Riley for three-time Daytona Prototype champions Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.
The duo will make their Grand-Am Rolex Series debut piloting the No.02 Waste Management Lexus Riley.
The Ganassi team is the defending winner of the Brumos Porsche 250, with Scott Pruett executing a last-lap pass in the trioval to beat Alex Gurney to the checkered flag last July.
Will Time Change Affect Brumos Porsche 250?
Competitors will face dramatically different conditions when they return to Daytona International Speedway July 4 for the next event on the Rolex Series schedule – running in daylight for the first time.
The Brumos Porsche 250 dates back to 1967-1985, when it began at the stroke of midnight on July 4. It was followed by a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race later in the morning, then known as the Firecracker 400. It’s been an evening race during the July 4 weekend since Grand-Am resurrected the event in 2000. This year, the race switches to a 2 p.m. start, followed by an 8 p.m. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, the Coke Zero 400.
Daytona Prototypes Have Enjoyed Thrilling Races in Brumos Porsche 250
Scott Pruett’s slingshot pass of Alex Gurney in the closing yards of the 2008 continued a streak of thrilling battles in the Brumos Porsche 250.
The roles were reversed between the two teams in 2007. Jon Fogarty, Gurney’s co-driver in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley, was penalized early in the race for avoidable contact with Memo Rojas – Pruett’s co-driver in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley. Admittedly driving with anger, Fogarty and Gurney charged back from 16th to take the victory.
The 2006 finish was a nail-biter, with Colin Braun becoming the youngest Daytona Prototype winner after co-driver Jorg Bergmeister stretched his fuel mileage and nursed home the Krohn Racing entry – running out of fuel on the cool-down lap. SunTrust Racing scored a dramatic victory in 2004 in a late-race shootout between Max Angelelli, Ganassi’s Max Papis and Crawford’s Andy Wallace. Angelelli and co-driver Wayne Taylor came up short the following year, losing in 2005 to Crawford’s Butch Leitzinger and Elliott Forbes-Robinson.
Tremblay, Ham Seek to Make Rolex Series History
Sylvain Tremblay and Nick Ham seek to make Grand-Am Rolex Series history in the July 4 Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway. The co-drivers of the No. 70 SpeedSource Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 are seeking to become the first Rolex Series drivers to win the same class in the same event in three consecutive years.
In addition to winning the Acxiom GT class in Brumos Porsche 250 from 2006-08, SpeedSource also won the GT class in the 2008 Rolex 24 At Daytona.
GT Championship Also Tight at Midway Point
Dirk Werner and Leh Keen are on a roll in the Acxiom GT class, winning three of the last four races in the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 to take a 16-point lead in the championship. Now, they are looking to give Porsche its first Rolex Series GT victory in the traditional event. Wayne Nonnamaker gave Porsche an SGS class triumph with a solo drive in 2004, while Porsche won in GTS in 2002 and GTU with Darren Law in 2000.
Dempsey Scores Another Career Best Finish
Patrick Dempsey scored a career-best finish in the most recent Rolex Series race at Mid-Ohio, finishing sixth with co-driver Joe Foster in the Dempsey Racing No. 40 El Grado Tequila Mazda RX-8. Earlier this season, Dempsey placed a then career-best seventh at New Jersey Motorsports Park in May, and matched that finish at Watkins Glen International. He now has four consecutive top-10 finishes, while Dempsey Racing has five straight top-10s after placing 22nd in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
