HAMPTON, Ga. -- The balancing act between safety concerns and competition that Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. faces each week was the post-race focus of several top finishers Sunday. It left both sides defensive and fans wondering what happened to the typical side-by-side racing for which Atlanta Motor Speedway is famous.
Tony Stewart, who finished second in the Kobalt Tools 500, and third-place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr. were outspoken in their criticism for the tire compound brought to Atlanta. There were no tire failures reported during the race, but the two agreed that the harder tire made it almost impossible for drivers to run side-by-side. Only thirteen cars were on the lead lap at the finish.
"Goodyear doesn't like to hear people bashing them tires and I don't like doing it, but I ain't going to sit here and put up with this."
DALE EARNHARDT JR.
"That was the most pathetic racing tire that I've ever been on in my professional career," Stewart said. "... Goodyear can't build a tire that is worth a crap. If I were Goodyear, I would be really embarrassed about this weekend and what they brought here. It didn't keep us from winning the race and how we got to second, I don't know
Junior was more diplomatic in his criticism.
"I'll say that Goodyear Tire Company makes good racing tires, makes a safe tire," Junior said. "There's a lot of technology that goes into making the tires and I give them a lot of credit. It's a reputation-risk, just to be in this sport for a company like that, especially ... as far as criticism goes. They do a good job. This is just a bad combination. This tire at this track, it was just a poor combination Jeff Gordon finished fifth, and echoed the comments made by Stewart and Earnhardt.
"I felt like I was going to crash every single lap," Gordon said. "I'm exhausted right now. I feel like I've run a thousand miles here. That was the hardest day I have ever had at Atlanta, especially for a top-five finish. This car, this tire, at this track was just terrible."
Justin Fantozzi, marketing manager for Goodyear motorsports, defended his company's decision to bring a harder tire to Atlanta.
"I've heard what they said, "Fantozzi said. "To get into attacks in the media is not the right place. We're tremendously proud of the wear rates that we saw here. We had a defined development process for this particular tire. We started in August, with a development test here at Atlanta. From those wear rates and those data sets, we then made a recommendation for the open house test that was a different tire than we actually raced on here in October.
"Based on those wear rates not being acceptable, in our opinion, we then went back and did another development test here in December and then we made that recommendation for here."Fantozzi said as the official tire supplier for NASCAR, Goodyear is entrusted with making decisions that are in the best interest of the sport.
"We make tire decisions so that we can provide the safest tire that we know how to build at every racetrack," Fantozzi said. "As a supplier of the series, as a partner in the series, we work together but as the tire authority, they let us do our jobs."
Totally Toyota
Tony Stewart wasn't happy with Goodyear, but he gave Kyle Busch and Toyota a thumbs up on a historic day at Atlanta.
Toyota scores first Cup win
Busch returns 18 to victory
Still, Earnhardt wondered what NASCAR's top officials thought about the competitive nature of Sunday's race.
"There's a big difference between complaining and stating the obvious," Junior said. "It is what it is. It's not a complaint. I'm sure that Mike Helton or [Brian] France will say what their opinion is. They probably wouldn't like this any more than the drivers did.
"I don't think, for one, the race was all that exciting. We couldn't run side-by-side, or we'd wreck. We had to let each other go by. Every time you got beside a guy, you were just like, 'Take it.' I couldn't go into the corner side-by-side but nobody else could, either."
Fantozzi said tire company officials will analyze the data from Sunday's race before making a decision on what tire compound to bring when the series returns to Atlanta later this season.
"We'll do the same exact thing that we do every race," Fantozzi said. "We have a post-race data analysis meeting. We now have a new set of data and we'll go back to Akron and sit down with the engineers and go through the process again and see where that leaves us for the fall race.
"Driver comments are part of the data set. It's temperature, it's wear rates, it's driver comments, it's feel, it's grip, it's overall race pace. So we'll look at the overall data set and then we'll make that decision."
Not everyone was as adamant about the tires. Kyle Busch said running up front was a matter of staying patient and taking advantage of what grip you could find.
"I'm going to say that I didn't like it," Busch said. "But I just went out there, and we all had the same tire. They're going to pay somebody to win the race. And so that's what I focused on, was just going out there and try to be the one they were going to pay to win the race. I just drove the thing to the best of my ability.
"You could go the first four or five laps and really haul the mail -- well, the first two anyway -- but from there, you were just skating, sliding all over the place. You just had to be patient with it, slow it down, keep it on the bottom and pretty much just keep that left front right on that line and keep the thing turning in order to make it through the corner."
And crew chief Chad Knaus aimed the blame for Sunday's uncompetitive effort at a different target.
"You know, I think that's where everybody's wrong. It's not the tire, it's the car," Knaus said. "It's just the car. The car asks too much out of the tire. There's only five things that hold the car on the racetrack: That's the four tires and the downforce.
"The car has no downforce and Goodyear has to build an extremely hard tire just to make the tire live because there's no downforce on the car. That makes everybody bad-mouth Goodyear and it's just not fair to them, because Goodyear actually does a very good job."
Stewart said he hoped speaking out, which he did more than once at AMS , will perhaps force changes to be made.
"The reason we're talking about it and the reason that we're bringing it to everybody's attention is that we don't want to have to race on tires like we raced on [Sunday], every week," Stewart said. "This wasn't fun [Sunday]. There wasn't anything about [Sunday's] race that was fun for anybody. I ran second and I wouldn't re-run this race for any amount of money in the world. It was just that bad.
"We're pleading with Goodyear to do something about this, make it better. Do something to make it better for us so we don't have to run on tires that make it to where you can't run side-by-side."
Earnhardt agreed.
"Hopefully it was a good lesson learned," Junior said. "Goodyear doesn't like to hear people bashing them tires and I don't like doing it, but I ain't going to sit here and put up with this. And I don't think any of those other drivers or anybody is going to do it. Hopefully, we can all get along and come up with something better than this."
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Bristol slugfests a part of NASCAR history since 1961
Bristol Motor Speedway, now a modern-day stock car coliseum, had modest beginnings, much like NASCAR itself. Through the years, the half-mile track has grown in size and stature, a development mirrored by the growth of stock car racing overall.
There have been 60 NASCAR seasons, 47 of which have included stops at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn. The relationship and benefits have been reciprocal. Undoubtedly, NASCAR's history has been enriched by BMS' short-tracks slugfests.
Perfection
Mark Aumann looks back at the 1973 Southeastern 500 from Bristol, where Cale Yarborough became the only driver to lead a Cup race at BMS wire-to-wire.
More than 160,000 fans will be stacked into the .533-mile oval on Sunday for the Food City 500, the fifth race of the Cup Series season. On Aug. 23, all of those seats again will be filled for the Sharpie 500, a Saturday night flashbulb-popping spectacle.
It was a different scene on the afternoon of July 30, 1961, as 18,000 watched Jack Smith win the first race for NASCAR's premier series at BMS, the Volunteer 500, with relief-driving help from Johnny Allen.
Fred Lorenzen was on the pole that day -- and Bristol Motor Speedway was on the map.
And so the evolution began:
• Originally a half-mile, the oval was reconfigured into its present .533, with banking made steeper.
• In August 1978 the first night race was held on the oval.
• In January 1996, Speedway Motorsports Inc. CEO Bruton Smith brought BMS from Larry Carrier. At that time, grandstand capacity had grown to 71,000. Smith of course envisioned bigger and better things to come. In time for that season's night race, 15,000 more seats were added.
• Capacity went to 118,000 in 1997, 131,000 in 1998, 147,000 in 2000, approximately 160,000 in 2003.
• In March 2007, Bristol hosted the first race for the "new car" in the Cup Series, with Kyle Busch winning.
• In August 2007, Bristol and its challenging banks (24-30 degrees in the turns) unveiled a newly repaved concrete surface.
History has been made routinely through the years. Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough, both three-time Sprint Cup champions, hold the top two all-time driver records at Bristol -- Waltrip has the most wins (12), Yarborough the most poles (9).
Junior Johnson, the man who personifies history, holds the mark for most car owner victories -- 21.
Waltrip won seven races in a row at Bristol from 1981-84. Yarborough took four consecutive and five of six between '76-78. More recently, Kurt Busch took three consecutive in 2003-04.
History is on tap again for Sunday. Another great past champion, Dale Jarrett, will make his final start in the Cup Series. Jarrett, the series titlist in 1999, has won at Bristol, taking the 1997 night race. His father, two-time series champion Ned Jarrett, will wave the green flag Sunday as the honorary starter.
"There is no better place [to finish] than Bristol because it's the most special motorsports venue in the world as far as I'm concerned," Dale Jarrett said this week. "I hopefully can go out on a good note on Sunday."
There have been 60 NASCAR seasons, 47 of which have included stops at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn. The relationship and benefits have been reciprocal. Undoubtedly, NASCAR's history has been enriched by BMS' short-tracks slugfests.
Perfection
Mark Aumann looks back at the 1973 Southeastern 500 from Bristol, where Cale Yarborough became the only driver to lead a Cup race at BMS wire-to-wire.
More than 160,000 fans will be stacked into the .533-mile oval on Sunday for the Food City 500, the fifth race of the Cup Series season. On Aug. 23, all of those seats again will be filled for the Sharpie 500, a Saturday night flashbulb-popping spectacle.
It was a different scene on the afternoon of July 30, 1961, as 18,000 watched Jack Smith win the first race for NASCAR's premier series at BMS, the Volunteer 500, with relief-driving help from Johnny Allen.
Fred Lorenzen was on the pole that day -- and Bristol Motor Speedway was on the map.
And so the evolution began:
• Originally a half-mile, the oval was reconfigured into its present .533, with banking made steeper.
• In August 1978 the first night race was held on the oval.
• In January 1996, Speedway Motorsports Inc. CEO Bruton Smith brought BMS from Larry Carrier. At that time, grandstand capacity had grown to 71,000. Smith of course envisioned bigger and better things to come. In time for that season's night race, 15,000 more seats were added.
• Capacity went to 118,000 in 1997, 131,000 in 1998, 147,000 in 2000, approximately 160,000 in 2003.
• In March 2007, Bristol hosted the first race for the "new car" in the Cup Series, with Kyle Busch winning.
• In August 2007, Bristol and its challenging banks (24-30 degrees in the turns) unveiled a newly repaved concrete surface.
History has been made routinely through the years. Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough, both three-time Sprint Cup champions, hold the top two all-time driver records at Bristol -- Waltrip has the most wins (12), Yarborough the most poles (9).
Junior Johnson, the man who personifies history, holds the mark for most car owner victories -- 21.
Waltrip won seven races in a row at Bristol from 1981-84. Yarborough took four consecutive and five of six between '76-78. More recently, Kurt Busch took three consecutive in 2003-04.
History is on tap again for Sunday. Another great past champion, Dale Jarrett, will make his final start in the Cup Series. Jarrett, the series titlist in 1999, has won at Bristol, taking the 1997 night race. His father, two-time series champion Ned Jarrett, will wave the green flag Sunday as the honorary starter.
"There is no better place [to finish] than Bristol because it's the most special motorsports venue in the world as far as I'm concerned," Dale Jarrett said this week. "I hopefully can go out on a good note on Sunday."
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Potential penalty may jumble drivers' standings
So, leaving Las Vegas, who is the NASCAR Sprint Cup leader?
Well, at the moment it’s Carl Edwards, red-hot and winner of two of the year’s first three races. But Edwards leads by only 21 points over Kyle Busch.
If NASCAR hits Edwards and his team with penalties similar to those handed out to five other NASCAR teams at Daytona two weeks ago for similar oil-tank cover issues - a $15,000 fine, a 25-point deduction, and a six-race suspension for his crew chief, Bob Osborne - then the man atop the standings when teams reach Hampton, Ga., this week would again be Busch. Unless Edwards and car owner Jack Roush appeal, in which case Edwards would be back on top, at least until his appeal is heard.
Confusing?
Ask NASCAR.
This might not be quite what CEO Brian France was thinking about in his back-to-basics campaign.
And those fines? Drivers are just realizing that NASCAR’s new policy of putting that money into the NASCAR Foundation fund instead of the drivers’ points fund - where the fines have traditionally gone - is costing them. It will be interesting to see if this sport’s television journalists pick up on that point.
It will also be interesting to see how the TV men handle the Hampton, Ga., crowd situation, if ticket sales don’t perk up for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500.
And this car of tomorrow, this supposed cost-cutting, safer machine? Well, it certainly does look safer, as Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart may attest after their nasty crashes here Sunday.
But cost-cutting? Nope. The big teams have even more of an edge than they did before, because engineering is even more at a premium now.
As far as making for better competition, it looks like this machine has a way to go. Richard Childress’ teams have shown some progress. But Dodge teams were dogs again, and all those blown right-front tires and crashes have to be suspicious - is that just a remarkable run of bad luck for so many in the same camp, or are some engineers over-engineering something?
While Edwards, Osborne and Roush await NASCAR’s judgment, what to make of Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Yes he did win the Daytona Shootout, his first big win in almost two years. But he still hasn’t won a Cup tour race since May 2006, at Richmond.
He conceded he isn’t on top of his game.
“Man, it’s just a lot of work,” Earnhardt said of running the new winged car on these intermediate tracks. “Really couldn’t get the front or the back to hook up real good.
“Just had to beat it down in the corner and take whatever it would give you.”
While the Roush Fords are looking quite dominant right now, there is still considerable uncertainty about just how strong that the rest of the teams are.
Take Earnhardt, for example: Ninth in the Daytona 500, 40th at California after crashing, now a second at Vegas.
“I’ve waited and been lackadaisical,” Earnhardt said. “I’m not going to do that this year. I’m going to concentrate on every lap.
“We tested a lot at Atlanta, and it feels as good as it can, for it’s a car of tomorrow. The tire is pretty good for that track; we have pretty good grip there.
“Bristol redid the track, and everybody is still trying to pull some tricks there. Pretty crucial, both them races, to really set you up for the summer run.”
Earnhardt had Edwards right in his sights for a restart with five laps to go in Sunday’s race. But….
“I spun my tires, and Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon got around me,” Earnhardt said. “That was just my mistake.
“Then the red flag (20 minutes), and we weren’t as good on cold tires.”
Edwards then sprinted away, leaving Earnhardt battling Greg Biffle for second.
“I was outside of Earnhardt down in one and two, and he got pushed up the track a little,” Biffle said, somewhat magnanimously. “He came over and talked to me when he got out of the car, like a real gentleman, apologized.”
“Greg got on the outside of me (on the restart), and we pushed up,” Earnhardt said. “I saw him lift so we could get off the corner together. That was kind of cool of him, running me clean like that.
“But Carl wasn’t going to get beat.
“Still, it’s good just to put one in the bag after last week.
“I would have been glad if we had just run second under green flag, no crash. We were in good shape; I was running good times....
“I would have talked myself into being satisfied with a top-five finish no matter where it was. After last week, I just needed to get that kind of a finish.
“But we worked so hard to get to second, to get by Matt.
“You get so mad….
“I wanted a shot at Carl, but he was just so strong.
“You hate to see cautions, because you know guys are going to pull tricks out of their bag. Matt laid back on that restart when I spun my tires; I should have been laying back too, so I can’t complain about him.
“Shoot, I had a shot to try to beat Carl.
“We’d had some pretty good restarts during the race, and I should have been paying a little more attention to what Matt was doing. Carl slowed down real quick before he went, and when I jumped the gas, my car just spun like hell. The tire is so hard it’s hard to get hooked up on the restart.”
Well, at the moment it’s Carl Edwards, red-hot and winner of two of the year’s first three races. But Edwards leads by only 21 points over Kyle Busch.
If NASCAR hits Edwards and his team with penalties similar to those handed out to five other NASCAR teams at Daytona two weeks ago for similar oil-tank cover issues - a $15,000 fine, a 25-point deduction, and a six-race suspension for his crew chief, Bob Osborne - then the man atop the standings when teams reach Hampton, Ga., this week would again be Busch. Unless Edwards and car owner Jack Roush appeal, in which case Edwards would be back on top, at least until his appeal is heard.
Confusing?
Ask NASCAR.
This might not be quite what CEO Brian France was thinking about in his back-to-basics campaign.
And those fines? Drivers are just realizing that NASCAR’s new policy of putting that money into the NASCAR Foundation fund instead of the drivers’ points fund - where the fines have traditionally gone - is costing them. It will be interesting to see if this sport’s television journalists pick up on that point.
It will also be interesting to see how the TV men handle the Hampton, Ga., crowd situation, if ticket sales don’t perk up for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500.
And this car of tomorrow, this supposed cost-cutting, safer machine? Well, it certainly does look safer, as Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart may attest after their nasty crashes here Sunday.
But cost-cutting? Nope. The big teams have even more of an edge than they did before, because engineering is even more at a premium now.
As far as making for better competition, it looks like this machine has a way to go. Richard Childress’ teams have shown some progress. But Dodge teams were dogs again, and all those blown right-front tires and crashes have to be suspicious - is that just a remarkable run of bad luck for so many in the same camp, or are some engineers over-engineering something?
While Edwards, Osborne and Roush await NASCAR’s judgment, what to make of Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Yes he did win the Daytona Shootout, his first big win in almost two years. But he still hasn’t won a Cup tour race since May 2006, at Richmond.
He conceded he isn’t on top of his game.
“Man, it’s just a lot of work,” Earnhardt said of running the new winged car on these intermediate tracks. “Really couldn’t get the front or the back to hook up real good.
“Just had to beat it down in the corner and take whatever it would give you.”
While the Roush Fords are looking quite dominant right now, there is still considerable uncertainty about just how strong that the rest of the teams are.
Take Earnhardt, for example: Ninth in the Daytona 500, 40th at California after crashing, now a second at Vegas.
“I’ve waited and been lackadaisical,” Earnhardt said. “I’m not going to do that this year. I’m going to concentrate on every lap.
“We tested a lot at Atlanta, and it feels as good as it can, for it’s a car of tomorrow. The tire is pretty good for that track; we have pretty good grip there.
“Bristol redid the track, and everybody is still trying to pull some tricks there. Pretty crucial, both them races, to really set you up for the summer run.”
Earnhardt had Edwards right in his sights for a restart with five laps to go in Sunday’s race. But….
“I spun my tires, and Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon got around me,” Earnhardt said. “That was just my mistake.
“Then the red flag (20 minutes), and we weren’t as good on cold tires.”
Edwards then sprinted away, leaving Earnhardt battling Greg Biffle for second.
“I was outside of Earnhardt down in one and two, and he got pushed up the track a little,” Biffle said, somewhat magnanimously. “He came over and talked to me when he got out of the car, like a real gentleman, apologized.”
“Greg got on the outside of me (on the restart), and we pushed up,” Earnhardt said. “I saw him lift so we could get off the corner together. That was kind of cool of him, running me clean like that.
“But Carl wasn’t going to get beat.
“Still, it’s good just to put one in the bag after last week.
“I would have been glad if we had just run second under green flag, no crash. We were in good shape; I was running good times....
“I would have talked myself into being satisfied with a top-five finish no matter where it was. After last week, I just needed to get that kind of a finish.
“But we worked so hard to get to second, to get by Matt.
“You get so mad….
“I wanted a shot at Carl, but he was just so strong.
“You hate to see cautions, because you know guys are going to pull tricks out of their bag. Matt laid back on that restart when I spun my tires; I should have been laying back too, so I can’t complain about him.
“Shoot, I had a shot to try to beat Carl.
“We’d had some pretty good restarts during the race, and I should have been paying a little more attention to what Matt was doing. Carl slowed down real quick before he went, and when I jumped the gas, my car just spun like hell. The tire is so hard it’s hard to get hooked up on the restart.”
Red Bull opts for Skinner to jump start No. 84 at AMS
Red Bull Racing announced Monday that Mike Skinner temporarily will replace A.J. Allmendinger as driver of the No. 84 Toyota in the Sprint Cup Series, effective this weekend at Atlanta.
"We're at a crossroads where we need to make a change that will elevate the No. 84 team to success," said Jay Frye, the team's vice president and general manager. "A.J.'s our guy and he's a talented driver, but there's a lot being asked of him. In order for him to be successful, we have to get this team pointed in the right direction. We hope we can do that with the help of a veteran driver."
SkinnerAllmendinger failed to qualify at Las Vegas, making him 0-for-3 on the season. Teammate Brian Vickers has made all three races in the No. 83 Red Bull car.
Skinner, who won the inaugural Craftsman Truck Series championship in 1995, currently drives the No. 5 Toyota for Bill Davis Racing in the NCTS. Skinner served as a test driver for Red Bull in 2006.
"Let's not kid ourselves," Allmendinger said. "I'm a racer and I want to be racing, but I get the big picture here and obviously we need to improve our program.
"Do I want to be out of the car? No. But, I know Skinner can help both me and my team. All I can say is he better be prepared for me to eat, drink, and sleep with him. ... OK, well maybe not the sleeping part, but I'm ready to attach myself to him and learn everything I can."
Skinner has 246 starts in the Cup Series, the majority coming between 1997 and 2003. His best finish was a second-place run at Talladega on April 16, 2000. Skinner has 10 top-five finishes and 39 top-10s.
Skinner also mentored Allmendinger during the rookie's part-time ride with Bill Davis Racing's NCTS team in 2006.
"[Allmendinger] took on a huge challenge jumping into stock cars last year, and I'm glad I can be the one to help him and his team figure out where the glitches are in their program," Skinner said.
"This is a positive thing for A.J. as a learning experience, for the Red Bull Racing Team to get back on track, and for me to have the opportunity to help another Toyota team that has great equipment and potential."
Allmendinger is in just his second season of NASCAR after a successful open-wheel career. The 25-year-old left the Champ Car Series to drive for Red Bull, and the team gave him a Cup ride he perhaps wasn't prepared for.
He qualified for 17 of 36 races last season, and his best finish was a 15th at Charlotte in October.
Red Bull is also working on securing seat time for Allmendinger in Nationwide Series and Truck Series races to help his adaptation to NASCAR. Options in the Nationwide Series are rides in a Joe Gibbs Racing or Chip Ganassi car, and there could be some seat time available in a truck owned by Billy Ballew.
"He needs seat time, there's no question about that," Frye said. "But it takes time to put it altogether and we're working on it. We want A.J. in as many races as we can get him into, and we want him to gain as much experience as he can."
"We're at a crossroads where we need to make a change that will elevate the No. 84 team to success," said Jay Frye, the team's vice president and general manager. "A.J.'s our guy and he's a talented driver, but there's a lot being asked of him. In order for him to be successful, we have to get this team pointed in the right direction. We hope we can do that with the help of a veteran driver."
SkinnerAllmendinger failed to qualify at Las Vegas, making him 0-for-3 on the season. Teammate Brian Vickers has made all three races in the No. 83 Red Bull car.
Skinner, who won the inaugural Craftsman Truck Series championship in 1995, currently drives the No. 5 Toyota for Bill Davis Racing in the NCTS. Skinner served as a test driver for Red Bull in 2006.
"Let's not kid ourselves," Allmendinger said. "I'm a racer and I want to be racing, but I get the big picture here and obviously we need to improve our program.
"Do I want to be out of the car? No. But, I know Skinner can help both me and my team. All I can say is he better be prepared for me to eat, drink, and sleep with him. ... OK, well maybe not the sleeping part, but I'm ready to attach myself to him and learn everything I can."
Skinner has 246 starts in the Cup Series, the majority coming between 1997 and 2003. His best finish was a second-place run at Talladega on April 16, 2000. Skinner has 10 top-five finishes and 39 top-10s.
Skinner also mentored Allmendinger during the rookie's part-time ride with Bill Davis Racing's NCTS team in 2006.
"[Allmendinger] took on a huge challenge jumping into stock cars last year, and I'm glad I can be the one to help him and his team figure out where the glitches are in their program," Skinner said.
"This is a positive thing for A.J. as a learning experience, for the Red Bull Racing Team to get back on track, and for me to have the opportunity to help another Toyota team that has great equipment and potential."
Allmendinger is in just his second season of NASCAR after a successful open-wheel career. The 25-year-old left the Champ Car Series to drive for Red Bull, and the team gave him a Cup ride he perhaps wasn't prepared for.
He qualified for 17 of 36 races last season, and his best finish was a 15th at Charlotte in October.
Red Bull is also working on securing seat time for Allmendinger in Nationwide Series and Truck Series races to help his adaptation to NASCAR. Options in the Nationwide Series are rides in a Joe Gibbs Racing or Chip Ganassi car, and there could be some seat time available in a truck owned by Billy Ballew.
"He needs seat time, there's no question about that," Frye said. "But it takes time to put it altogether and we're working on it. We want A.J. in as many races as we can get him into, and we want him to gain as much experience as he can."
NASCAR says no to Texas Motor Speedway test date
Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage wants a test session held at his facility before the Sprint Cup teams race there April 6. But NASCAR says he's not going to get one.
Concerned by a track-record 11 cautions Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and comments from some drivers who say Texas will be a bigger test for the new racecar, Gossage sent a release to the media inviting NASCAR to test at the Fort Worth facility prior to the Samsung 500. Although Clint Bowyer and Juan Montoya took part in a Goodyear tire test in January at Texas, it was not one of the six tracks chosen for an official open test like the one held in Phoenix on Monday and Tuesday.
Gossage proposed adding a test session, opening the track the Wednesday of race week for an additional practice session, or adding a Sprint Cup practice to the speedway's regular schedule of events on Thursday.
"My concern is that they did have an open test at Las Vegas and still had a record number of cautions, including three serious crashes involving former Cup champions," said Gossage, referring to wrecks involving Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. "We only have had a two-car Goodyear test so we could see a lot of crashes, and that causes me concern. I'm sure the teams would like as much data and track time as possible to reach that comfort level with the car and its performance at our speedway."
NASCAR says it will keep an eye on the car's performance at Texas before determining whether any additional track time is necessary. As for an additional test, the sanctioning body's answer is clear-cut.
"The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is testing in Phoenix [Tuesday] and will test at Pocono and Charlotte later this year," series spokesman Ramsey Poston said Tuesday. "There are no plans to add tests at this time."
Sprint Cup teams also tested at Daytona, California, and Las Vegas in addition to the session this week in Phoenix and those upcoming at Pocono and Charlotte. Texas officials lobbied NASCAR for an open test, but did not receive one. Gossage's concern was heightened after reading comments from drivers even before the 11-caution Las Vegas event took place.
"I think Texas will be the toughest track we go to with this car, [and] it's already a tough racetrack," Gordon said. "And when you look at the transitions, the vertical loads, the bumps and the speeds, it's probably going to be closer to [Las Vegas] than to any other track we go to. The biggest challenge we're going to have with the Impala going forward this year is going to tracks that we haven't tested at and been to and gotten the data and the laps with the telemetry."
Added Jeff Burton, defending champion of Texas' spring race: "I think there are a lot of challenges at Texas -- maybe more so than [Las Vegas]. Texas is a little rougher. With this car, the bumps seem to be a pretty major issue, so I think Texas is going to be quite a challenge with this car. Some teams are going to hit and some teams aren't. The success we were able to do there last year, none of that works. None of that information will be worth a hoot, so it's starting all over again."
Las Vegas was the first race for the new car on a 1.5-mile tri-oval. The information teams compiled in the January test at Las Vegas was offset somewhat by the stark difference in weather conditions on race day. NASCAR also builds its test schedule partly on input from teams, who are consulted at midseason about which venues they would most prefer to test at the next year.
But Gossage still holds out hope that NASCAR will change its mind. The track president also sent an overnight letter to NASCAR president Mike Helton outlining his concerns about racing at Texas without a test.
"I'm disappointed that NASCAR did not give it more consideration," Gossage said, "but Texas Motor Speedway's offer still stands if they reconsider."
Concerned by a track-record 11 cautions Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and comments from some drivers who say Texas will be a bigger test for the new racecar, Gossage sent a release to the media inviting NASCAR to test at the Fort Worth facility prior to the Samsung 500. Although Clint Bowyer and Juan Montoya took part in a Goodyear tire test in January at Texas, it was not one of the six tracks chosen for an official open test like the one held in Phoenix on Monday and Tuesday.
Gossage proposed adding a test session, opening the track the Wednesday of race week for an additional practice session, or adding a Sprint Cup practice to the speedway's regular schedule of events on Thursday.
"My concern is that they did have an open test at Las Vegas and still had a record number of cautions, including three serious crashes involving former Cup champions," said Gossage, referring to wrecks involving Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. "We only have had a two-car Goodyear test so we could see a lot of crashes, and that causes me concern. I'm sure the teams would like as much data and track time as possible to reach that comfort level with the car and its performance at our speedway."
NASCAR says it will keep an eye on the car's performance at Texas before determining whether any additional track time is necessary. As for an additional test, the sanctioning body's answer is clear-cut.
"The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is testing in Phoenix [Tuesday] and will test at Pocono and Charlotte later this year," series spokesman Ramsey Poston said Tuesday. "There are no plans to add tests at this time."
Sprint Cup teams also tested at Daytona, California, and Las Vegas in addition to the session this week in Phoenix and those upcoming at Pocono and Charlotte. Texas officials lobbied NASCAR for an open test, but did not receive one. Gossage's concern was heightened after reading comments from drivers even before the 11-caution Las Vegas event took place.
"I think Texas will be the toughest track we go to with this car, [and] it's already a tough racetrack," Gordon said. "And when you look at the transitions, the vertical loads, the bumps and the speeds, it's probably going to be closer to [Las Vegas] than to any other track we go to. The biggest challenge we're going to have with the Impala going forward this year is going to tracks that we haven't tested at and been to and gotten the data and the laps with the telemetry."
Added Jeff Burton, defending champion of Texas' spring race: "I think there are a lot of challenges at Texas -- maybe more so than [Las Vegas]. Texas is a little rougher. With this car, the bumps seem to be a pretty major issue, so I think Texas is going to be quite a challenge with this car. Some teams are going to hit and some teams aren't. The success we were able to do there last year, none of that works. None of that information will be worth a hoot, so it's starting all over again."
Las Vegas was the first race for the new car on a 1.5-mile tri-oval. The information teams compiled in the January test at Las Vegas was offset somewhat by the stark difference in weather conditions on race day. NASCAR also builds its test schedule partly on input from teams, who are consulted at midseason about which venues they would most prefer to test at the next year.
But Gossage still holds out hope that NASCAR will change its mind. The track president also sent an overnight letter to NASCAR president Mike Helton outlining his concerns about racing at Texas without a test.
"I'm disappointed that NASCAR did not give it more consideration," Gossage said, "but Texas Motor Speedway's offer still stands if they reconsider."
Saturday, March 1, 2008
'Allstate girl' gives the dirt on Kasey and the new spot
Everyone knows NASCAR drivers are notorious for producing some down right hilarious commercials. Kasey Kahne is no exception and is likely one of the more visible drivers, particularly with his new Bud sponsor.
The driver of the No. 9 has pulled a rabbit from his helmet for a Nextel spot and had his head shaved like Bozo the clown in a Gillette commercial. But Kahne being constantly objectified by those soccer moms in the Allstate commercials is by far my favorite.
That is why I had to talk to Judy Fleming, the red-headed actress who crashes
her Durango while drooling over Kahne throughout most of the advertising campaign. She and her gal pals are at it again this season as Allstate debuts a new spot Sunday during the Sprint Cup race in Vegas.
From her home in Los Angeles, Fleming filled me in on how she became one of the "Allstate Girls," the low down on the new commercial and some hysterical insight into the on-camera skills of Kahne.
The commercial is a 60-second spot titled Sponsorship. It features the three Allstate girls dining at a cafe, discussing how they will spend the "Safe Driving Bonus" check they just received from Allstate. One girl suggests a spa trip while the other wants to sponsor Kahne's car.
The spot slowly dissolves into a dream sequence detailing the sponsorship deal where the girls' faces adorn Kahne's No. 9 Dodge while the driver breaks out into a full-fledged dance routine reminiscent of the Backstreet Boys.
Kahne, our soft-spoken, blushing five-year Cup veteran, is gyrating to the Scorpions hit, Rock You Like a Hurricane. I nearly peed my pants and will never be able to look at Kahne again without blushing myself.
Fleming was equally hysterical, because she said while shooting the spot, Kahne would wander off alone at times and practice his moves in a corner.
OK Kasey, I've got to see some of these moves in Victory Lane.
"Practicing my dance moves for the Sponsorship spot helped me realize that I won't be leaving racing to pursue a career as a hip-hop dancer," Kahne said.
Maybe not, but Fleming said he is definitely Dancing with the Stars material.
And as for her, the spots have made Fleming a commercial actress star.
Before the Allstate campaign, she was working as a senior advertising account executive in Richmond, Va. She did some modeling and theater part-time as a hobby, but never imagined becoming a well-known commercial actress.
After her divorce, she moved from Richmond to Los Angeles and thought she'd try her hand on the small screen for a year, and fortunate for her, it has turned into a lucrative, full-time career.
Fleming landed her first commercial gig about 10 years ago and she has since done major spots for Wal-Mart, Publix, Johnsonville Bratwurst, Home Depot and Toyota.
It sounds like she needs to start swooning over Tony Stewart with sponsors like those, but Allstate has become her favorite gig.
"I enjoy the process, every bit of it ... the audition, the call back, waiting, everything," said Fleming who has really cherished the friendships she has made with her two other co-stars Dana Gilhooley and Jen Biederman.
Their careers together began three years ago when the ladies shot their first spot with Kahne in the Dodge parking lot where Fleming crashes into the pole that conveniently lands on top of another car. Fleming said she never had to actually hit the pole but driving around with cameras mounted to the Durango and directors shouting at her was intense.
She had yet to meet Kahne and had to swoon over a grip riding on a golf cart as opposed to the real Kahne.
"We saw a picture of him, we had to react to this long-haired fat guy riding in golf cart and I was like this guy is not hot. They told us to pretend he was George Clooney. And then when we finally saw Kasey we felt like pervs because he looked like he was 16."
The following year, the group reunited outside of Charlotte, N.C. to shoot the spot where the girls pose as police officers and pull Kahne over to check out his back side.
"He was such a good sport. I could really tell his acting was better. I told him the first time he was so stiff, so now we tease each other. He tells me how to act now," she said with a laugh.
And this year, the chemistry between Kahne and Fleming is even greater.
"Now we try to get personal information out of him," she said. "He's not as guarded."
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.
The driver of the No. 9 has pulled a rabbit from his helmet for a Nextel spot and had his head shaved like Bozo the clown in a Gillette commercial. But Kahne being constantly objectified by those soccer moms in the Allstate commercials is by far my favorite.
That is why I had to talk to Judy Fleming, the red-headed actress who crashes
her Durango while drooling over Kahne throughout most of the advertising campaign. She and her gal pals are at it again this season as Allstate debuts a new spot Sunday during the Sprint Cup race in Vegas.From her home in Los Angeles, Fleming filled me in on how she became one of the "Allstate Girls," the low down on the new commercial and some hysterical insight into the on-camera skills of Kahne.
The commercial is a 60-second spot titled Sponsorship. It features the three Allstate girls dining at a cafe, discussing how they will spend the "Safe Driving Bonus" check they just received from Allstate. One girl suggests a spa trip while the other wants to sponsor Kahne's car.
The spot slowly dissolves into a dream sequence detailing the sponsorship deal where the girls' faces adorn Kahne's No. 9 Dodge while the driver breaks out into a full-fledged dance routine reminiscent of the Backstreet Boys.
Kahne, our soft-spoken, blushing five-year Cup veteran, is gyrating to the Scorpions hit, Rock You Like a Hurricane. I nearly peed my pants and will never be able to look at Kahne again without blushing myself.
Fleming was equally hysterical, because she said while shooting the spot, Kahne would wander off alone at times and practice his moves in a corner.
OK Kasey, I've got to see some of these moves in Victory Lane.
"Practicing my dance moves for the Sponsorship spot helped me realize that I won't be leaving racing to pursue a career as a hip-hop dancer," Kahne said.
Maybe not, but Fleming said he is definitely Dancing with the Stars material.
And as for her, the spots have made Fleming a commercial actress star.
Before the Allstate campaign, she was working as a senior advertising account executive in Richmond, Va. She did some modeling and theater part-time as a hobby, but never imagined becoming a well-known commercial actress.
After her divorce, she moved from Richmond to Los Angeles and thought she'd try her hand on the small screen for a year, and fortunate for her, it has turned into a lucrative, full-time career.
Fleming landed her first commercial gig about 10 years ago and she has since done major spots for Wal-Mart, Publix, Johnsonville Bratwurst, Home Depot and Toyota.
It sounds like she needs to start swooning over Tony Stewart with sponsors like those, but Allstate has become her favorite gig.
"I enjoy the process, every bit of it ... the audition, the call back, waiting, everything," said Fleming who has really cherished the friendships she has made with her two other co-stars Dana Gilhooley and Jen Biederman.
Their careers together began three years ago when the ladies shot their first spot with Kahne in the Dodge parking lot where Fleming crashes into the pole that conveniently lands on top of another car. Fleming said she never had to actually hit the pole but driving around with cameras mounted to the Durango and directors shouting at her was intense.
She had yet to meet Kahne and had to swoon over a grip riding on a golf cart as opposed to the real Kahne.
"We saw a picture of him, we had to react to this long-haired fat guy riding in golf cart and I was like this guy is not hot. They told us to pretend he was George Clooney. And then when we finally saw Kasey we felt like pervs because he looked like he was 16."
The following year, the group reunited outside of Charlotte, N.C. to shoot the spot where the girls pose as police officers and pull Kahne over to check out his back side.
"He was such a good sport. I could really tell his acting was better. I told him the first time he was so stiff, so now we tease each other. He tells me how to act now," she said with a laugh.
And this year, the chemistry between Kahne and Fleming is even greater.
"Now we try to get personal information out of him," she said. "He's not as guarded."
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Busch Home on the Pole
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Kyle Busch backed up his fast practice lap by winning the pole Friday for the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway his first at his home track.Busch turned a lap of 182.352 mph in his Joe Gibbs racing M&M's Toyota. It was Busch's third career Sprint Cup Series pole and his first since Phoenix in 2006.The pole continued Busch's hot streak to start the NASCAR seas
on.He comes into the weekend's race leading the Sprint Cup Series standings as well as the Craftsman Truck Series while sitting in second place over in the Nationwide Series."It’s cool, it’s fun and it’s great and all, but we’re two weeks in," Busch said. "We need it two weeks to go. There’s a lot of stuff, a lot of laps and a lot of corners to go through and a lot of pit stops and everything else."Hopefully we can keep it and ride this wave for however long it lasts. I’m a pretty good surfer, so it shouldn’t be too hard."Last week's Auto Club Speedway winner Carl Edwards qualified second in his Roush Fenway Racing Office Depot Ford.Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Mike Skinner, the fastest of the drivers who needed to qualify on time, rounded out the top five.
Greg Biffle, Scott Riggs, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Elliott Sadler completed the first ten qualifiers.Jimmie Johnson, who is shooting for his fourth straight UAW-Dodge 400 win, had a tough qualifying effort and turned in the 35th fastest lap.Despite the effort and the bad start to the season at Daytona, Johnson isn't concerned.“Man it’s only two races in," he said. "From our standpoint, we finished second and third last week and unfortunately two cars were wrecked early. Daytona is Daytona; we’ve thrown that out the window. We feel like we’re doing just fine. We have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about."
on.He comes into the weekend's race leading the Sprint Cup Series standings as well as the Craftsman Truck Series while sitting in second place over in the Nationwide Series."It’s cool, it’s fun and it’s great and all, but we’re two weeks in," Busch said. "We need it two weeks to go. There’s a lot of stuff, a lot of laps and a lot of corners to go through and a lot of pit stops and everything else."Hopefully we can keep it and ride this wave for however long it lasts. I’m a pretty good surfer, so it shouldn’t be too hard."Last week's Auto Club Speedway winner Carl Edwards qualified second in his Roush Fenway Racing Office Depot Ford.Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Mike Skinner, the fastest of the drivers who needed to qualify on time, rounded out the top five.Greg Biffle, Scott Riggs, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Elliott Sadler completed the first ten qualifiers.Jimmie Johnson, who is shooting for his fourth straight UAW-Dodge 400 win, had a tough qualifying effort and turned in the 35th fastest lap.Despite the effort and the bad start to the season at Daytona, Johnson isn't concerned.“Man it’s only two races in," he said. "From our standpoint, we finished second and third last week and unfortunately two cars were wrecked early. Daytona is Daytona; we’ve thrown that out the window. We feel like we’re doing just fine. We have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about."
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