NASCAR Champion's Week set to get underway in Las Vegas

   NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion's Week kicks off Tuesday for its fifth installment in Las Vegas.

   Four days of glitz and fan activities with the 13 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers is scheduled, culminating Friday with the feting of six-time champion Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team at the Wynn Las Vegas. 

   Coverage of the awards takes place Friday at 9 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2 and streamed live on NASCAR.com beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Radio coverage on MRN affiliates and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio is scheduled to begin at 8 ET. 

   Other events this week:

   Tuesday -- "NASCAR Live" with Eli Gold will host Johnson in an hour-long, audience-participation radio show from 7-8 p.m. ET at the Wynn Sports Book. The Motorsports Marketing Forum presented by SportsBusiness Daily/Global/Journal also kicks off for the first of two days, providing a comprehensive look at the business of the NASCAR industry.

   Wednesday -- The red carpet will be out for all 13 Chase drivers in the Fanfest presented by Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Beginning at 4:30 pm ET at the Fremont Street Experience, the drivers will engage in a game-show style face-off with a prize of two tickets to the Friday night awards banquet available for fans.

   Thursday -- One of the busiest days of the week in Vegas begins with the annual NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Awards Luncheon. The awards ceremonies are followed by NASCAR Victory Lap at 6:30 pm ET when the top 10 Chase drivers will offer a taste of the race-day experience with burnouts and a rumbling drive down Las Vegas Boulevard. "NASCAR After the Lap" concludes the day at the Palms Hotel & Casino with an offbeat, unfiltered roundtable involving every Chase driver. Fans can watch NASCAR Victory Lap and NASCAR After the Lap live on NASCAR.com.

   Friday -- Johnson and the rest of the top 10 drivers in the final Sprint Cup Series standings will be honored, marking the official close of the 2013 season.

No Tony Stewart at the NASCAR banquet, but he's still going 'live'

  

    Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart will host a special edition of his show "Tony Stewart Live" on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday, December 3 (7-9 pm/ET), at the start of NASCAR Champions Week.

    Stewart and co-host Matt Yocum will broadcast live from Charlotte where they will review the year that was in NASCAR. Stewart will share his thoughts on the most memorable moments of the year on the track and off, talk live with 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson about his sixth career title, and discuss Stewart-Haas Racing's prospects for 2014 and his recovery from the accident that sidelined him earlier this year.

    Fans can call in to the show to talk live with Stewart and Yocum (1-800-PIT-LANE) or share their thoughts on the season by tweeting @SiriusXMNASCAR and using hashtag #TSL.

A slew of NASCAR celebrities' cars on display this weekend in Davidson

 

    Hundreds of classic, custom, and celebrity cars will roll into the Ingersoll Rand corporate campus in Davidson, N.C. on Saturday, Nov. 30 of Thanksgiving weekend for the inaugural AmeriCarna LIVE Car Show presented by Ingersoll Rand and MSC Industrial Supply Co.

   A celebrity car show to support IGNITE, a new community center in Davidson for young adults with high functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger's Syndrome (AS). IGNITE, founded by former championship crew chief Ray Evernham, offers activities, skills training, and educational workshops that will foster social, financial, educational, and employment independence for its members.

   The featured cars include:
   · Dale Earnhardt Jr. - 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442
   · Tony Stewart – 1956 Chevrolet Custom Pickup Truck
   · Jimmie Johnson – 1967 Chevrolet Camaro
   · Kasey Kahne – Sprint car driven by Daryn Pittman that won the 2013 World of Outlaws Championship
   · Rusty Wallace – 1978 Chevrolet Corvette
   · Jeff Gordon – 2013 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
   · Rick Hendrick – 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS
   · Ray Evernham – 1940 Ford Moonshine Car, 1964 Plymouth Belvedere Fury, 1969 Dodge Daytona Charger, Marty Robbins’ 1964 Plymouth Late Model Belvedere Fury

   Some of the celebrity owners, including Evernham and Rusty Wallace, will attend the event. The celebrity car show also will feature live music from local bands. Other event features include silent auction, local food vendors, and activity area for kids.

   The car show is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Spectator admission is $5 per person. The car show awards will be presented at approximately 2:30 p.m. 

Talladega Superspeedway cutting capacity to 80,000 in 2014

   Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, which once boasted some of the largest crowds to see NASCAR races, will see its seating capacity reduced to approximately 80,000 seats by next season, tracks officials confirmed on Wednesday.

    The largest change will come from the recent demolition of the Allison Grandstands, a large swath of seats located on the backstretch of the 2.66-mile speedway which had a seating capacity this season of 18,000.

    In recent seasons, many of the track’s frontstretch seats have been tarped over while the speedway still sold tickets - usually at lower price - for the backstretch.

    “The changes are simply a reflection of our current attendance trends,” track spokesman Russell Branham told The Observer. “The goal will be a better fan experience and that will be entirely on the frontstretch from now on.”

    As recently as 2007, track attendance estimates had more than 307,000 fans attending Talladega’s two Sprint Cup Series race weekends. At the time, the track’s listed capacity was 147,000 grandstand seats. This season, the track’s listed capacity was listed at 109,000.

    In the coming months, Talladega will make several additional improvements to the frontstretch, including better sightlines and upgrades to its Sprint Vision capabilities - the portable giant TVs which provide closeups and replays to fans in attendance.

    While the grandstands named after the Allison family are gone, the track will unveil a special tribute to the family and the “Alabama Gang” in the coming months.

    “The Allison family and Alabama Gang have always been a part of our Talladega family and they always will,” Branham said.

    The move by Talladega and its parent company, International Speedway Corp., is the latest by several tracks to reduce capacity while also improving the fan experience for those in attendance.

    Daytona International Speedway is currently in the midst of a two-year renovation project which will reduce capacity and vastly improve the comforts of its primary frontstretch seating area. Other tracks, such as Phoenix, have reduced capacity in recent seasons because of attendance declines.

Sprint Cup Awards to be a little bit country, little bit rock 'n roll

 

   Musicians John Mellencamp, Dierks Bentley and Sara Bareilles will take the stage, and comedian, actor and radio personality Jay Mohr will host this year's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards at the Wynn Las Vegas.

   The event will begin at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 6, and will crown six-time Cup series champion Jimmie Johnson and honor the remaining top 10 drivers in this season's Chase for the Cup. The event will air on FOX Sports 2 and NASCAR.com beginning at 9 p.m. ET, with Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio also providing coverage starting at 8 p.m. ET.

   “It may be just a coincidence, but I hosted the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards in 2006 when Jimmie Johnson won the first of his five straight titles,” said Mohr. “Now, I’m back again to officially crown him champion for a sixth time."

   To get the night started, NASCAR fans will be treated to a special performance by John Mellencamp. With 22 top 40 hits to his credit, Mellencamp has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards. Later in the evening, Dierks Bentley, one of contemporary country music’s biggest stars, keeps his NASCAR performance streak rolling following his act at the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Additionally, three-time Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and pianist Sara Bareilles will perform a song from her fourth studio album, The Blessed Unrest.

   The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards will re-air on FOX Sports 1 at noon ET on Sunday, Dec. 8.

Hey, Mr. DJ ... Jimmie Johnson ?

   The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson, shortly after winning his sixth career title, was in the SiriusXM studios in New York for a guest DJ session on SiriusXM’s The Spectrum channel.

   Johnson's song selections will begin airing Wednesday, Nov. 27, at noon ET on The Spectrum (SiriusXM channel 28) and can be heard throughout the Thanksgiving holiday and through Friday, Nov. 29. 

   Johnson’s playlist includes songs from a wide variety of artists including: Bob Dylan, Imagine Dragons, Jack Johnson, Jane’s Addiction, The Lumineers and The Rolling Stones.

JTG Daugherty changes manufacturers, joins alliance with RCR

 

   JTG Daugherty Racing not only has a new driver for its Sprint Cup Series team next season, but it will change manufacturers as well.

   On Monday, the team announced it had joined in a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing that will include receiving ECR Engines and engineering services during the 2014 Cup season with driver A.J. Allmendinger behind the wheel of its No. 47 entry. The alliance will include JTG Daugherty moving to the Chevrolet camp from Toyota.

   "We certainly appreciate all the support that TRD (Toyota Racing Development) has provided to JTG Daugherty Racing for five years and we are great fans of their business model,” team co-owner Tad Geschickter said. "As a single-car team, we feel that aligning directly with a successful multi-car organization like Richard Childress Racing is what will work best for us in 2014."

   After nearly 15 years of success in the Nationwide Series, JTG Daugherty Racing ventured into the Cup series with driver Marcos Ambrose at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July 2008. Most recently, former Cup champion Bobby Labonte served as the team's driver.

   Allmendinger drove a handful of races for the team in 2013 and will be its fulltime driver in 2014. "With our RCR alliance and A.J. behind the wheel, we are looking forward to a fresh start in 2014,” Geschickter said.