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Brad Keselowski tops the speed chart in practice 1 for the Nationwide Series at Charlotte
posted by Mike Neff
Thursday May 24, 2012
Brad Keselowki only turned three laps in practice for the History 300 at Charlotte, but his second lap was the fastest among the 42 cars who took times. Keselowski’s lap took 30.061 seconds which is a speed of 179.635 mph. Kevin Harvick was the runner-up on the sheet, clocking in at 30.072 seconds for a speed of 179.569 mph. Point leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. turned a best lap of 30.083 seconds which equates to a speed of 179.503 mph. Fourth fastest, and just .006 seconds slower than Stenhouse, was Cole Whitt. Whitt ran around the mile and a half of Charlotte Motor Speedway in 30.089 seconds at 179.468 mph. Rounding out the top five in the first practice session was Joey Logano who laid down a lap of 30.206 seconds or 178.772 mph. Final practice for the Nationwide Series will take place at 5:10 Thursday evening.
NASCAR and Activision unveil 'Drive for the Cover' campaign
posted by Mike Neff
Thursday May 24, 2012
NASCAR is preparing to release the latest version of their video game entitled NASCAR – The Game – Inside LIne. As part of the process NASCAR is going to allow the fans to decide which driver will appear on the cover of the game package. In a bracket style voting process, fans can go to http://NASCARthegame.com/vote to vote for their favorite drivers. The voting will last for seven weeks as the number of drivers is whittled down to the final driver who will appear on the cover of the game.
Jimmie Johnson wins All-Star Race at Charlotte
posted by Mike Neff
Saturday May 19, 2012
Jimmie Johnson came from sixth place in the first 20 lap segment to secure the top spot for the final, mandatory pit stop, came out first and proceeded to lead the last 10 laps to capture his third All-Star win of his career. Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the wins in segments 2, 3, and 4 respectively. On the final restart, Kenseth stumbled which slowed him and Earnhardt, allowing Johnson and Keselowski to pull away. Kenseth rebounded from the bobble to finish third ahead of Kyle Busch, while Earnhardt came across the line in fifth. Kevin Harvick, Marcos Ambrose, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10. The victory ties Johnson with Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon for most All-Star race wins with three each. Johnson also won the race in 2003 and 2006. Keselowski’s runner-up finish was his career best. His previous best finish was seventh. Kenseth’s third place effort was his fifth top 5 run in the event and his ninth top 10 in 12 career starts in the race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. dominates the Sprint Showodwn
posted by Mike Neff
Saturday May 19, 2012
As the field came to the green in the Sprint Showdown, polesitter AJ Allmendinger had a left front tire deflate so he was forced to pit lane. That misfortune for the No. 22 allowed Dale Earnhardt Jr. to start from the pole position. After a side-by-side lap with Martin Truex Jr., Earnhardt grabbed the top spot and would not relinquish it for the entire 40 laps of the race. At the halfway point Earnhardt Jr and Truex stayed on the track while most of the rest of the field came to the pits. When the green flag flew for the second 20 lap segment, Jamie McMurray was able to get around Truex and grabbed the second spot. As Earnhardt pulled away and McMurray cemented himself in the second spot, Allmendinger put on a furious charge from the back of the pack. Allmendinger took fifth on lap 24, fourth on lap 25 and third on lap 28. However, once he got within three car lengths of McMurray he stalled out and was unable to advance further, at least until three to go. Coming to the flag stand for the two-to-go signal, Allmendinger dove underneath McMurray and grabbed the second position and continued to hold it until the checkered flag. Earnhardt Jr. and Allmendinger took the checkers in first and second and punched their tickets into the All-Star race. Rounding out the top five were McMurray, Truex and Juan Pablo Montoya. Receiving the Sprint Fan Vote to transfer into the All-Star race was Bobby Labonte.
NASCAR becomes first motorsport organization in Beyond Sport United
posted by Mike Neff
Saturday May 19, 2012
Beyond Sport United is a philanthropic organization that utilizes the global appeal of sport to advance the causes that will make the world a better place. The organization brings together the leaders of sports federations, grassroot organizations, teams and government agencies to address social issues in communities around the world and attempts to help influence social change. NASCAR and the NASCAR foundation have long done extensive work at making the world a better place through the fortune of the people in the sport along with driver foundations. Now, being part of Beyond Sport United, NASCAR will be able to expand their reach even farther and make an impact in even more lives than ever before.
Kyle Busch grabs pole for the Sprint All-Star Race
posted by Mike Neff
Friday May 18, 2012
The unique qualifying format for the Sprint All-Star race brings out the best in drivers and crews. Not only is speed on the track important but the crews also have to perform at a high level as they complete a four tire change during the qualifying process. After the 20 competitors completed their three laps with a pit stop it was Kyle Busch who was on top of the chart. Busch’s time was a 119.112 seconds for a speed of 136.006 mph. Next to Busch, in the front row, will be Ryan Newman. The only other driver to dip below the 120 second mark, Newman crossed the stripe in 119.821 seconds for a speed of 135.202 seconds. The second row will be composed of Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle. Hamlin ran around Charlotte Motor Speedway in 120.168 seconds. for a speed of 134.811 mph. Biffles’s lap was 120.420 seconds at a speed of 134.520 mph. Rounding out the top five is Kevin Harvick whose 120.522 second lap equates to a speed of 134.304 mph. This is Busch’s third All-Star pole. Busch has never won at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
AJ Allmendinger on the pole for the Sprint Showdown
posted by Mike Neff
Friday May 18, 2012
22 cars laid down laps in the Sprint Showdown qualifying session and, after all of them had laid down a time it was AJ Allmendinger who was the fastest. Allmendinger turned a lap of 28.057 seconds which was a speed of 192.465 mph. Allmendinger was the only driver to eclipse 192 mph. On the outside of the front row will be Martin Truex Jr. who clocked in at 28.265 seconds for a speed of 191.049 mph. Inside the second row will be Dale Earnhardt Jr. who was fastest in practice but only managed to be third fastest in qualifying. Earnhardt’s time was 28.272 seconds that was worth 191.002 mph. To the right of Earnhardt will be Jeff Burton, with a lap of 28.467 seconds and a speed of 189.693 mph. The last car in the top five is Aric Almirola after he laid down a lap of 28.609 seconds which translates to 188.752 mph.
Ty Dillon on the pole for North Carolina Education Lottery 200
posted by Mike Neff
Friday May 18, 2012
Ty Dillon was fastest in first practice, which gave him the final qualitying spot for Truck time trials. He took full advantage of the cooling conditions and laid down a 29.733 second lap for a speed of 181.616 mph. Dillon bested Justin Lofton by .019 seconds to secure the top spot. Lofton’s lap lasted 29.752 seconds which worked out to a 181.500 mph. Dillon and Lofton were the only two drivers to eclipse the 181 mph mark. Joey Coulter was the second RCR Chevrolet in the top three spots. Coulter crossed the line in 29.884 seconds which was worth 180.699 mph. The outside row two slot is going to be occupied by Timothy Peters, who made it around the mile and a half track in 29.907 seconds for a speed of 180.560 mph. The final driver in the top five is Jason Leffler, who ran a 29.992 second lap at a speed of 180.048 mph. This is Dillon’s first pole of his Camping World Truck Series career in his eighth start in the series. It is his fourth top-10 starting spot in 2012.
Kyle Busch Paces All-Star Final Practice
posted by Amy Henderson
Friday May 18, 2012
The drivers in the Sprint All-Star Race have just one practice opportunity to dial in their raecars, and Kyle Busch made the most of it, posting the fastest lap with a time of 28.672 (188.337 MPH). Greg Biffle was less than a tenth of a second off Busch’s pace, with a lap of 28.767 seconds. Qualifying for the All-Star Race is Friday at 6:00 PM Eastern and consists of a three-lap run, including a four-tire pit stop to determine the starting lineup. The top two finishers in the Sprint Showdown will line up behind the qualifiers, and the fan vote winner will start shotgun on the field Saturday night. The top 10 in final practice:
NASCAR Announces Partnership with Twitter to Bring Fans a Unique Experience
posted by Amy Henderson
Friday May 18, 2012
NASCAR and Twitter announced on Friday that they will form a partnership-the first of its kind in major professional sport-in an effort to give race fans an enhanced race day experience. Twitter.com/#NASCAR will be available beginning with the first Pocono race on June 10. The page will use both algorithmic and editorial input to select content that will bring fans the full race day atmosphere from drivers, teams, media, tracks and officials to bring a behind-the-scenes feel to the page each week. NASCAR Chief Marketing Officer Steve Phelps said Friday that the sanctioning body understands the role of social media in the sport today. “Twitter has been an important piece of our effort the last several years,” Phelps said in a press release. “We’re excited about continuing to provide our millions of fans with greater access to our athletes and further engagement with our drivers, teams, tracks, and executives.” Phelps added that while drivers will be encouraged to interact with fans through the social media platform, they will not be required to do so. “It will be entirely up to them,” Phelps stressed. While the page is still a work in progress, the idea is to bring fans a carefully selected sampling of what’s being said. While the page will filter the content in order to maintain relevance, Twitter and NASCAR have said that both positive and negative comments will be shown. The idea is to narrow down the volume from a straight hashtag search while bringing fans a variety of information. |
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Toni Montgomery · Thursday March 3, 2005
In our last visit to the Craftsman Truck Series I predicted that as more big name drivers from the Nextel Cup Series make the move to trucks, the series would be boosted in popularity. NASCAR fans are loyal to their drivers and will generally follow them to whichever series they may move. After two weeks of increased television ratings for the trucks, that prediction already appears headed for the correct column.
I’d be interested to see a breakdown of those ratings to see if there has been a spike in interest in the New England region. I feel pretty confident at laying at least part of the responsibility for the increased interest at Ricky Craven’s feet. Craven is the new factor in the series this year. After all, Musgrave and Hamilton have been there for awhile. Park and Skinner were there all of last season. Johnny Benson came aboard in the middle of last year. I wouldn’t doubt that all of these drivers brought fans and gave the popularity of the trucks a bump but maybe it’s Craven that put it over the top. The Florida Dodge Dealers 250 from Daytona attracted over a million viewers and set a new record rating for Speed Channel.
Craven is also doing something else that could help sustain that extra interest in the truck series. After two top five finishes, Craven sits second in the points behind defending champion Bobby Hamilton and looks poised to mount a challenge to the always consistent Hamilton. That should be enough to keep his fans interested.
Certainly it’s still early and perennial contender Ted Musgrave also posted two top fives to start the 2005 season well. It’s a deep field and it’s very early. Plenty of contenders who may not have had the greatest start could still regain form and challenge.
I’d like to see a few of what I think of as the regular truck guys get in the mix too. It’s nice to see the whole series benefit from the presence of Cup veterans, but I’d like to see that opportunity used to increase the respect the drivers who have been in the series for some time receive too. Too often I hear fans put the series and it’s drivers down, as if they aren’t as good as the drivers in some of NASCAR’s other series.
There are some in the Craftsman Truck Series who are as good as anyone out there but stay in the trucks because they want to. They like the racing or the schedule or don’t want to deal with the extra media and sponsor pressure of the Cup Series. Dennis Setzer and Rick Crawford come to mind. They can go wheel to wheel with anyone out there.
If a few of those guys can get in there and contend while the audience continues to grow, maybe the impression that they are racing trucks because they weren’t good enough to race in the Cup Series will fade away. Especially as these drivers get the opportunity to demonstrate that against drivers who everyone knows were good enough for the Cup level.
Some of the Busch Series regulars say they enjoy racing the Cup guys who make appearances in their series because they get a chance to go up against and beat the best but it’s not done under what I consider ideal circumstances. The Cup drivers come in and usually end up taking the lion’s share of the purse money and the points from the Busch regulars while only racing part time, picking and choosing where they will run.
While some like Ken Schrader do run only part time in the truck series, most of the Cup drivers racing trucks are in the series full time. Many are running for regular truck series teams. It doesn’t seem as much like stealing from the truck regulars when they truly are regulars too. The teams they are running for sometimes do rely on that purse money to fund their operations and the points are not going to waste because those drivers are contending for the championship.
It seems the Craftsman Truck Series has found a much more ideal way to cash in on the presence of Cup drivers for promotion and fan interest without compromising their regular teams and their shares of purses and points.
Thursday on the Frontstretch:
MPM2Nite: NASCAR’s Summer of Discontent
The Twitter NASCAR Revolution – A Trivial Pursuit?
Truckin’ Thursdays: A Look Back at Five Different Victors
Potts’ Shots: New Car Nuances And Goodbye To An Old Friend
Dollars And Sense: NASCAR Dumps Jump Co. As Ad Agency
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