NASCAR is going old school

   

    NASCAR recently partnered with Junk Food Clothing to create a new line of apparel that it hopes will attract a younger, more stylish demographic.

    This new brand, NASCAR Classics Collection, will embody the roots and heritage of NASCAR and was inspired by the iconic font styles and imagery of the 1940’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.

    NASCAR will bring the NASCAR Classics Collection to market at mass this fall, but will offer it exclusively in the NASCAR Superstore on NASCAR.com beginning this week.

Army ending NASCAR sponsorship in 2013

    The U.S. Army has decided not to renew its sponsorship with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in 2013 as a primary sponsor of the No. 39 Chevrolet driven by Ryan Newman due to a reallocation of its marketing budget that will not include a presence in NASCAR.

   SHR is actively pursuing a strong brand to partner with the team and its roster of sponsors that also includes Office Depot, Mobil 1, Quicken Loans, GoDaddy.com, Haas Automation, Chevrolet, WIX Filters, Outback Steakhouse, Aspen Dental, Tornados, Coca-Cola, Oreo, Ritz, Bass Pro Shops and Code 3 Associates.

   “The U.S. Army has been a great partner of Stewart-Haas Racing since the team’s inception. It has been a mutually beneficial relationship, with the U.S. Army introducing training regimens that improved our pit crews while instilling the mental, physical and emotional strength of the U.S. Army Soldier in all of us. We remain very proud of our representation of the U.S. Army and its brave Soldiers who are 100 percent committed to our country. We will continue to activate on behalf of the U.S. Army for the rest of 2012, while also growing our other dynamic partnerships at Stewart-Haas Racing for the future.”
   – Brett Frood, Executive Vice President, Stewart-Haas Racing

    “The U.S. Army has worked with Stewart-Haas Racing in a mutually beneficial and highly successful relationship for the past four seasons, and they’ve performed superbly as our partner on and off the track. The same can be said of other members of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series family we have sponsored during the past 10 seasons. The sport, our drivers and the passionate NASCAR fans embraced the Army’s participation and created a tremendous opportunity for Americans to learn more about the profession of the Army Strong Soldier.”

   – John Myers, Director, Marketing Support Element, Army Marketing and Research Group

Statement from A.J. Allmendinger

   Statement from AJ Allmendinger   Charlotte, NC (July 10, 2012) 

   “I have informed NASCAR that I have requested that the "B" sample be tested, following the steps according to NASCAR’s 2012 rule book regarding this situation. I fully respect NASCAR's drug usage policy and the reasons they have it. I am hoping this can get resolved as quickly as possible so that I can get back to driving the No. 22 Penske Racing Dodge. I am sorry that this has caused such a distraction for my Penske Racing team, our sponsors and fans. Obviously I would never do anything to jeopardize my opportunity here at Penske Racing or to my fellow drivers. I am very conscious about my training and health and would never knowingly take a prohibited drug.”

Roger Penske comments on Allmendinger situation

   Following the news NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver A.J. Allmendinger had been temporarily suspended from the sport after failing a random drug test, SPEED reporter Robin Miller talked with team owner Roger Penske in Toronto at the IndyCar race. Penske’s comments on the situation aired on Sunday’s edition of Speed Center:

   Miller: RP, you flew in from Europe last night and got some unfortunate news …

   Penske: “Well, yes it’s unfortunate, obviously, when you come back … and we’re having such a good season … to have a disappointment like that with AJ. You know, there’s still some time. He’s got another test they have to look at this next week and then we’ll make a decision. Obviously, we support the NASCAR program of drug-free drivers, mechanics and crew members and we need to abide by that. To me, it’s a big speed bump for us, but at the end of the day, we’ve had situations before that we’ve had to deal with and we’re going to be professional, we are going to support the sport and we don’t want to let our sponsors down. At this point, we’ll just wait and see.”

Harvicks welcome baby boy

   Kevin and DeLana Harvick welcomed son Keelan Paul Harvick (pronounced Key-lan) Sunday, July 8^th, 2012.

    Keelan weighed in at 6.8 lbs. and 19.5 inches. Throughout the pregnancy, the Harvicks had jokingly referred to their son as "Baby Otis" on Twitter and in public because they did not want to give out the name they had chosen.

    "Waiting on Keelan was the longest nine months of my entire life," Kevin Harvick said. "But time literally stood still when I held our baby for the first time. I've accomplished a lot in my life that I'm proud of, but those moments don't hold a candle to becoming a father and seeing that little face looking up at you. DeLana and I are just amazed by how special and rewarding this is."

    Mother and baby are doing well.

Allmendinger fails drug test, out of Daytona race

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Driver AJ Allmendinger was pulled from the Coke Zero 400 and suspended temporarily by NASCAR for failing a random drug test, senior vice president for racing operations Steve O'Donnell announced about 90 minutes before Saturday's race at Daytona International Speedway began.

Allmendinger's No. 22 Dodge was taken from the starting grid. Sam Hornish Jr. will replace Allmendinger in the car for the race.


O'Donnell read a brief statement and didn't say what drug Allmendinger was flagged for taking, but that his "A" sample tested positive. O'Donnell, who took no questions, said Allmendinger will have the opportunity within 72 hours to request that his "B" sample be tested. O'Donnell referred to Section 19-11B (6,7) in NASCAR's rule book.

Allmendinger took the test last weekend at Kentucky.


Allmendinger's Penske Racing released the following statement:

"NASCAR notified Penske Racing this afternoon that AJ Allmendinger was administered a drug test earlier this week, and those results tested positive. NASCAR has a strict drug testing program that Penske Racing fully supports. Penske Racing will work with NASCAR through this process and its next steps. Sam Hornish Jr., will drive the No. 22 car in tonight's Coke Zero 400." -- David Scott 

Dillon explains penalty at Kentucky

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Rookie Austin Dillon came away from Kentucky Speedway last week with his first NASCAR Nationwide victory and what he thought was the series’ points lead.

Now, as Dillon prepares for Friday night’s Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona International Speedway, he still has possession of that triumph – the first of his Nationwide career. But his lead in the standings is gone after he was penalized six points for his Chevy being too low.

The penalty – levied for what Dillon said was a loose jack bolt that made the car too low -- dropped him into second place by four points behind Richard Childress Racing-teammate Elliott Sadler.

“We thought we had the problems fixed and we just made a mistake and didn’t put the new-style fix on the back of the car,” Dillon said. “Mine had the old clamp and it came loose at the track.

“It was a bummer. You go from such a high, but it’s still a high.”

NOTES

MANDATORY COMPETITION CAUTIONS? Drivers and one very influential NASCAR official had mixed reactions to Bruton Smith’s suggestion for more competition cautions to improve racing in the Sprint Cup series.

“I think … our product … is exciting," NASCAR President Mike Helton told reporters Thursday. “Sports is a true reality show as it unfolds. You have to be careful when you think about artificially creating the outcome of that.

“We go through cycles being accused of creating cautions. It’s kind of interesting to be accused of not having enough cautions. Time will swing back (in the other direction).”

Several races this season have been run under long green-flag periods. Smith, chairman of Charlotte Motor Speedway and Speedway Motorsports, Inc., made his suggestion to throw some mandatory cautions to tighten fields last week at Kentucky.

Greg Biffle doesn’t think it’s a bad idea.

“I wouldn’t be against it if we see the races continue to run green the whole way with one or two cautions,” Biffle said. “Over time, (we) could lose the fans’ interest … and that's not what we want."

Said points-leader Matt Kenseth: “I think we have a good mix of long green-flag runs and some short runs. Long greens have some endings that are pretty exciting. It just depends on what you’re looking for.”

Kevin Harvick also doesn’t think much of Smith’s idea.

“Same guy who ruined Bristol,” Harvick said of Smith, who is repaving Bristol after fans complained about the racing at that SMI track.

HAMLIN SITS OUT PRACTICE: Denny Hamlin didn’t practice Thursday for Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona because of a stiff back. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch practiced the No. 11 Toyota. Hamlin also had problems with his back in May at Charlotte. -- David Scott