Veteran sports writer Jim Utter covers NASCAR for The Charlotte Observer and its racing site, ThatsRacin.com. In this space, Jim writes about all things NASCAR and other forms of racing which may also be relevant ... or not.
Penske Racing engineer Alex Sinoyannis recently shared his racing experience on NASCAR stock cars with a new generation of engineers from James B. Dudley High School in Greensboro, N.C., who will enter their concept car (pictured) in April’s Shell Eco-Marathon Americas. This initiative challenges students to develop vehicles that can travel the farthest on a gallon of fuel, and is one way Shell connects people who are interested in the energy challenges of today and tomorrow.
Race fans can now cast ballots for their favorite Sprint Fan Vote eligible driver in the hopes of putting him or her in the May 18 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Voting ends at 5 p.m. ET on the day of the race.
Fans can vote an unlimited number of times by downloading the NASCAR Mobile ’13 application or visiting NASCAR.com/SprintFanVote. Votes cast on NASCAR Mobile ’13 will count twice towards a driver’s total. The driver receiving the highest number of votes and not already in the race will earn a spot in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.
To date, 26 drivers are eligible for the 2013 Sprint Fan Vote including rookie of the year candidates Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. To be eligible for the Sprint Fan Vote, drivers must have finished in the top 55 of the final 2012 Cup series driver standings or attempted to qualify for the 2013 Daytona 500.
Drivers eligible for the Sprint Fan Vote include: A.J. Allmendinger Aric Almirola Dave Blaney Mike Bliss Jeff Burton Landon Cassill Bill Elliott David Gilliland Travis Kvapil Bobby Labonte Terry Labonte Michael McDowell Jamie McMurray Casey Mears Paul Menard Juan Pablo Montoya Danica Patrick David Ragan David Reutimann Scott Speed Ricky Stenhouse Jr. David Stremme Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Josh Wise J.J. Yeley
Drivers from the worlds of NASCAR and NHRA will face off on April 17 in a charity slow-pitch softball game at CMC - Northeast Stadium in Kannapolis, N.C. In addition, country recording artist Darrell Harwood will sing the national anthem prior to the game, and will then be the star of a post-game concert.
The NASCAR team will include Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Michael Waltrip, Darrell Waltrip, David Ragan, Brad Sweet, and Parker Kligerman.
The big names from the NHRA include Top Fuel Dragster stars Tony Schumacher, Brandon Bernstein, Antron Brown, JR Todd, Shawn Langdon, Clay Millican, and Bob Vandergriff. They will be joined by a number of Funny Car competitors, including Courtney Force, Ron Capps, Del Worsham, Chad Head, and Matt Hagan.
Proceeds from the event will be donated to charities specifically selected by each team. The NASCAR drivers have selected The Armed Forces Foundation, while the NHRA team has designated Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
Game time is 7 p.m. Eastern. Tickets are $20 for reserved seats, $15 for general admission, and are on sale now.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver and fitness advocate Mark Martin is overseeing the construction of Michael Waltrip Racing’s new 7,500-square-foot training facility. The multi-level gym at the team’s Cornelius, N.C. shop will further the skills of pit crew members.
The facility includes an inlaid car silhouette so crews can practice agility drills around a car, free weights, weight machines, Cross Fit elements, cardio equipment as well as locker rooms and offices. Construction should begin this week with completion expected within 90 days.
"I'm really enthused and excited about what we're working on getting at MWR. This has been a 10-month crusade to get the green light. It's fun. It's my second passion. I’ve been consulting with the strength staff and the coaching staff picking out equipment and designing the layout," Martin said.
"We hope to have the nicest facility in the sport. You spend a lot of money on equipment in the sport and I think you are starting to see the teams invest even more in human performance."
Martin said he got started focusing on fitness in January 1988.
"All through my career I had to work day and night and I didn’t have time to carve out to go to the gym. When I signed with Jack Roush, I didn’t have to spend as much time in the shop. I had time to carve that out, so I was able to pursue it. I had always wanted to do it anyway," he said.
Denny Hamlin and
Joey Logano took what was a battle on Twitter after the Daytona 500 to the
track on Sunday. While Logano was running second on Lap 348, Hamlin knocked him
out of the way and into the wall.
Both
Hamlin and Logano had issues the rest of the race but after it was over, Logano
attempted to stick his head into Hamlin’s car to talk to him but was yanked
away by one of Hamlin’s crew members. The two teams traded shoves before the group
was dispersed.
“That’s
a freaking genius behind the wheel of the No. 11 car – probably the worst
teammate I ever had, so I learned that now,” said Logano. “He decided to run in
the back of me, so, whatever. I have a scorecard and I’m not putting up with
that.”
Hamlin dismissed Logano’s complaints.
"You really got to control your car and he slipped
up into me," Hamlin said. "Really, he would have been in the garage
with no radiator in it if I had not checked up twice ... I didn't mean to spin
him out but his day was fine. He still had a bad day anyway for whatever reason and we finished bad,
too. It's even.”
After the race, Logano and Hamlin traded messages on Twitter, much like they did after the Daytona 500.
Logano: Hey @dennyhamlin great job protecting that genius brain of yours by keeping your helmet on
Hamlin: Why's that.. What would u do?
“@joeylogano: Hey @dennyhamlin great job protecting that genius brain of yours by keeping your helmet on
Dylan Kwasniewski, the reigning K&N Pro Series West champion out of Las Vegas, took the lead on Lap 30 of Saturday's K&N Pro Series East race at Bristol Motor Speedway and held off Brett Moffitt for his first East victory.
Moffitt was followed by Ryan Gifford – racing out of the Rev Racing stable – in third. McGuire rebounded from the early incident to finish fourth while CJ Faison came home fifth.
Gray Gaulding, Eddie MacDonald, Jimmy Weller, Ben Rhodes and Ben Kennedy rounded out the Top 10.
Kwasniewski, 17, who led a race-high 96 laps, is competing for a K&N East championship in 2013 with Turner Scott Motorsports in its first full season of competition. It’s his sixth overall K&N Pro Series victory in 29 career starts.
Reigning Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski, never shy on tackling difficult topics, provided an interesting look back on NASCAR history as it pertains to driver criticism, particularly in light of the recent fine of driver Denny Hamlin for making what NASCAR called "disparaging remarks" about the performance of the new Cup series car.
Told it was interesting he and Hamlin - who have had dust-ups on the track in the past - appear to finally be on the somewhat of the same page, Keselowski offered this introspective:
“It’s funny how things go full circle, and maybe that’s where this sport is at. I like to look back at the history of this sport. It’s not talked about much, but the 1980s were really tough on this sport, and there are a lot of interesting parallels between that era and where we’re at right now. Hopefully, it’s a cycle – the late 70s to early 80s – and hopefully it will cycle back around for this sport with interesting stories to tell and better and better competition. I was talking to Darrell Waltrip for a while about when they first came out with the short wheelbase car in 1981. A lot of people don’t talk about it, but there were short fields and there were tough times. You look at a track like Pocono and a lot has been made about how it has two events, but a lot of that is out of appreciation NASCAR has for them taking two races when they couldn’t get tracks to take races. I think that shows you how hard of a time it was for them in the 80s and maybe that’s where we’re at now – maybe it’s gonna cycle back around and in 10 years it will be like 1992 all over again and we won’t be able to miss the dart board. I hope so.
"It’s difficult because we’re looking at other things, and I think the measuring stick we put ourselves up against, whether it’s right or not, is the NFL. But if you look at some of the other major sports, they’re struggling too. You look at the NHL and the issues they had with the lockout. You look at MLB and if you go to one of their games, there’s nobody there. And then I’ve gone to several NBA games this year where attendance has been dismal. Maybe we should be comparing our sport to them, instead of the NFL. I don’t know, but I think things are probably not as bad as they seem, and they’re probably not as good as some people would like to make them out to be. It’s probably somewhere in-between.”
