Brickyard ticket sales bad?

   There have been rumors that ticket sales for next week's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway were again off-pace from last season, but an internal NASCAR memo obtained by ThatsRacin.com and The Observer seems to confirm the problem.

   In the memo, which was distributed by email on Friday, team public relations representatives were thanked ahead of time for their drivers' participation in a Sprint Cup Series autograph session at the track.

   The memo said, "ticket sales are significantly behind from previous years" at IMS. Since sales have been dramatically down since the 2008 tire problems at the track, another significant decline would appear ominous. 

   The memo goes on to say, the track believed there would be a large walk-up crowd for the July 31 race and hoped the autograph session would be well received by race fans.

Manion statement on NASCAR penalties in Modified series

   On Wednesday, NASCAR disqualified the No. 7NY team owned by Sprint Cup Series crew chief Kevin "Bono" Manion, which won last weekend's Whelen Modified Series race at New Hampshire with driver Ryan Newman.

   The team's crew chief and Manion were both suspended from competition in any NASCAR regional touring series until Dec. 31. Newman and Manion's entry in the race was disqualified.

   Wednesday night a statement was released by Manion, who serves as crew chief for Cup driver Jamie McMurray:

   “I had no intention to ruin my or my team’s reputations or put a black eye on the NWMT in any way, shape or manner,” explained Manion. “It was never anyone’s intent to cheat. We have won numerous races with the No. 7NY and Ryan and have been through and passed inspection for each of them. Unfortunately, the penalties were a result of circumstances beyond our control. Everyone on our team has won NWMT races in the past and never did anything of this magnitude while racing full-time in the series.

   “With that being said, though we don’t like or agree with the severity of the penalty, we accept the penalty that NASCAR has given out to us. We will still give back to the modified series as it gave us so many years of experience in order for us to do what we do today. We will try to win more races and bring more fans from the Cup fan base to crossover to the NWMT.”

Allmendinger gets new crew chief

   Richard Petty Motorsports officials announced on Monday that Greg Erwin is the new crew chief for its No. 43 Sprint Cup Series team and driver AJ Allmendinger. Erwin replaces Mike Shiplett.

   “Mike and I have been together for a long time, so from a personal standpoint this is difficult for me,” said Allmendinger. "We’ve worked really well together and I think our personalities really complemented each other.

   "Mike and I both came into this year really committed to working on our weaker areas. I know we both tried our best to be better and communicate better - I couldn’t have asked for either of us to try any harder. Sometimes though, you need to take a step back and have a new perspective or new set of eyes look at things to move to the next level."

   Prior to joining Richard Petty Motorsports, Erwin served as crew chief position with the No. 16 team at Roush Fenway Racing and driver Greg Biffle. Erwin joined that team in May 2007 and during his tenure at RFR, led Biffle to five victories, 36 top-five and 66 top-10 finishes. Erwin’s team made the Chase for the Cup three times.

 

   “When one door closes, another one opens and this is great example of that,” said Erwin. “I couldn’t be happier to have found a new home at Richard Petty Motorsports. To work with Richard Petty and lead the iconic No. 43 team is a great opportunity for me. AJ Allmendinger has shown that he has a great deal of talent and I’m excited to have the chance to get the No. 43 team back to Victory Lane.”

One-on-one with Joey Logano

    Joey Logano talked candidly this weekend about the two years since his career-first Sprint Cup Series race win at New Hampshire in his rookie season.
   You can read the full story here.
   In addition to the story, Logano and I covered a vast array of topics in our discussion, including his take on how difficult the transition has been to Cup, why he decided on racing as a career, where he would most like to win and who he thinks is NASCAR’s best driver.

   Q: What was it like when you first arrived in the Cup series?
   Logano: I had a rude awakening as soon as I jumped into one of these things for the first time. I was like, ‘Oh wow, this is a little harder than I thought it was going to be.’ I think that was a big deal then. It goes to show how good these guys are. They have the natural talent out there – the guys that work real hard with that natural talent are the guys that run really well. Had to figure out what you need to work on – that’s one big thing and a struggle. There’s always something different you can’t work on every week that’s different. It’s what we do every week and it’s part of it. It’s part of the normal deal now. Before we would go to the race track and work 18 hours and there is a lot more to it, you focus a lot more during the week and you don’t really get a break from it anymore. You race these guys that are that good.
   Q: Why did you decide racing was what you wanted to do in your life?
   Logano: Because I sucked at everything else. That was one of the main reasons. I enjoyed it and it was a lot of fun for me. I tried baseball when I was little. I didn’t give it a great effort, but I didn’t enjoy it because I wasn’t good at it. Racing for me was something that came to me naturally, pretty quick when I was little. You go to the quarter midget track or whatever and I won all the races and I loved it. You find something that you win at, you’re going to love it. That’s the way I look at it. I’m so competitive that if it’s something I’m not good at then I’m not going to like it. When I start to get better at things, I enjoy it a lot more. That’s kind of where I stand with this sport.

    Q: If you were promised a fast car and the best circumstances to win, where would you like to win?

   Logano: I think Indy or Daytona for sure. I think those are pretty equal. I think those in my eyes are the two biggest that we run. I think either of them are equally as cool to win. I know after winning in Daytona in the Nationwide car, how cool that was and I thought that was the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me. I was pretty pumped up so I can imagine what it would be like in the 500.

   Q: Who do you think the best driver in NASCAR is or was?

   Logano: That's hard to say, there’s a lot of good ones. Especially since these guys are the best. You think about back in the day and there are a lot of guys that were just amazing. David Pearson and stuff like that and they were just great or Richard Petty winning 200 races. That is unbelievable. It’s hard to pick one. These guys are great and I wasn’t alive back then so I didn’t get to watch them race. All I watch is the highlight videos of them making these bad ass moves. It’s hard to pick one guy, but I would say it’s between those guys. You just look at stats and numbers and you can figure out who was good, but those guys stick out the most.

   Q: If you could run every Cup race on one track, which would it be?

   Logano: Charlotte. I love it, I think it’s cool and I think it has a lot of speed. It puts on good races. I think that would be fun.

   Q: What will you be doing five years from now?

   Logano: Five years from now I will be 26. Still won’t be that old. Hopefully, I’m still sitting here talking to Jim Utter. I’ve never looked down the road further than a week. I get home every Sunday and then Monday morning I look at my schedule and see what I’m doing this week. That’s how my life goes. I’ve never looked that far out and set huge goals for myself. Five years down the road – it’s more like what is my goal for this weekend. What am I going to do this weekend. It’s hard for me to set a goal for a year. Forget five years ahead. It’s something personally that I don’t know how to do. I think it would be big because I don’t know how to set a goal that far away. I can tell you one thing, five years ago I didn’t think I would be sitting here. You never know what life is going to bring you.

   Q: Who is the ‘next Joey Logano?”

   Logano: I think Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) is doing a good job and I think he has big things coming up and he already has. I would say he is the next big one. I don’t follow Late Model racing as much as I used to. A lot of my friends are good. I think Coleman Pressley, Corey Lajoie and those guys are really good. It’s just hard for them to get a break. It’s hard to break in right now. I watched them run those East cars. Corey to me is really, really good. He shows it every time he gets in that car. He works on his own stuff. He’s an old school racer. It’s so hard to get a sponsor these days and when Kyle Busch can’t get a sponsor for a Nationwide race or I can’t in a Nationwide race, how is someone going to come in here that hasn’t raced one of these cars before and expect to get a sponsor? How is that even possible? I explained that to them that it is hard. Keep trying, but what are you supposed to do?

Kentucky offers apology, tickets

    Kentucky Speedway, which is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., today issued the following statement regarding the fan experience at Saturday's “Quaker State 400.”

   "To those fans that were not able to attend the Quaker State 400, we offer our sincerest apologies," said Mark Simendinger, general manager, Kentucky Speedway. "We'd also like to apologize to all of our fans who endured challenging conditions during our event weekend. As we said earlier, we're committed to working with NASCAR, state and local officials and traffic experts to address Saturday's traffic issues to ensure that we never have this type of experience again."

   “I would like to apologize on behalf of Speedway Motorsports to the fans who had tickets, yet due to logistical issues, were not able to attend the inaugural Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway," said Marcus Smith, president and chief operating officer of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. "For those fans with tickets who were unable to attend Saturday night's event, we will honor their ticket at any remaining 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at a Speedway Motorsports facility or the 2012 Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway. 

   "Our company has always been about enhancing the fan experience with first-class amenities and putting fans first. I feel terrible for the fans that had a bad experience at Kentucky Speedway and we are asking that they give us a chance to make it up to them. We are very thankful for the overwhelming fan support we had for this inaugural event. We learned some valuable lessons this past weekend and will do everything in our power to make sure we don't have these issues again."

   The ticket exchange is good for the following events at Speedway Motorsports facilities while supplies last at each respective venue:
   July 17 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway
   Aug. 27 - Bristol Motor Speedway
   Sept. 4 - Atlanta Motor Speedway
   Sept. 25 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway
   Oct. 15 - Charlotte Motor Speedway
   Nov. 6 - Texas Motor Speedway
   2012 - Kentucky Speedway

   In addition to the ticket exchange, Kentucky Speedway will issue these fans an equal quantity of tickets to either its Oct. 1 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 225-mile race or Oct. 2 IZOD IndyCar Series 300-mile event. 

   For information on ticket exchange and redemption, fans should only contact the Kentucky Speedway ticket office at 859-578-2300 or by email at tickets@kentuckyspeedway.com.

 

Brian France on Kentucky debacle

   "While NASCAR was thrilled by the incredible response to our inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Kentucky, we also are extremely disappointed by the traffic problems and inconveniences endured by fans who wanted to be part of our races at Kentucky Speedway. NASCAR will be in close communications with Kentucky Speedway and Speedway Motorsports Inc. to see that they work to resolve the issues. This situation cannot happen again.”

   NASCAR Chairman Brian France

One fan's Kentucky traffic tale

   We live in LaGrange Ky, just off exit 22 on I-71. On Saturday afternoon, my wife and another couple left our home in two vehicles just after 2:00pm for the 33 mile drive to the track. Our friends were particularly excited to be attending the race because their tickets had been a Father's Day gift from their son who is currently serving in Afghanistan. At mile marker 39 (about 2:20 p.m.), a full 16 miles from our exit, traffic came to a complete stop. For the next 5 hours and 45 minutes we alternated between a (mostly) dead stop and a snails pace. To the credit of those in the cars around us, tempers were held in check and during those moments when we would all exit our cars and mill about on the interstate the mood was not so much anger but a mixture of disbelief, disappointment and resignation. 

 

   Despite the prevailing attitude of those around us, the hours spent mired in traffic were not without some tense moments. At various times we were passed by no less than six ambulances en route to the local hospital who were navigating a berm blocked every few hundred yards with overheating and/or out of gas vehicles. It should be noted that during this time on the interstate we were unable to find a radio station which broadcast traffic information and the only law enforcement presence we observed was a single patrol car parked in the median, the officer enjoying snacks and bottled water in the comfort of his vehicle.

 

   At 8 p.m., 15 minutes after the green flag, we had finally reached our exit (#55) but found ourselves (still) mired in traffic and at a dead stop two miles from the speedway. At this point rumors began to circulate from car to car that the parking lots were completely full and that they were about to start turning people away. It was impossible to verify these rumors as (again) we could find no local station broadcasting traffic information and the only law enforcement presence consisted of two Highway Patrol vehicles parked at the off ramp (the officers inside the vehicles and apparently occupied with something other than traffic) and another Highway Patrolman, who we observed posing for snapshots with fans who had abandoned their vehicles and elected to walk the two-plus miles to the speedway. At this point my wife and I came to the conclusion that given the utter chaos surrounding us and with little hope of actually seeing any of the race that we would cut our losses and return home. With a wave to our friends who had elected to press on, we made a U-turn in the highway and gave up on the idea of attending the race.

 

   On our return trip south (this now roughly 8:30 p.m.) we observed traffic still backed up and more or less at a complete stop for a full 13 miles. At one of the exits we elected to make a stop for a restroom break.  I had an opportunity to chat with some of the many people who were milling about the parking lot. In addition to the disappointed race fans I also spoke with an elderly woman, traveling alone, who had spent six hours stuck in traffic on her way from Cincinnati to Louisville. She told me she believed her car had ran out of gas as she pulled into the pumps. Then there were the six people traveling (initially traveling in two vehicles) to a family members wedding in Ohio. One of the cars had overheated while idling in traffic and was abandoned on the berm. After sitting through another two hours of traffic they realized they could not make the wedding and had turned around in the median and were heading home.

 

   This morning we called our friends who had elected to press on when we decided to turn around. It was a brief conversation as they were still asleep after arriving home at 4:30 a.m. this morning. The gist of our conversation was that after navigating another mile long gauntlet of confusion and incompetence, they finally found a place to abandon their vehicle and walked the last mile to the track, arriving at about 9:45 p.m. Apparently they were among the last people in the traffic jam to gain entry into the speedway as not far behind them the Highway Patrol had closed access and had began turning traffic around.

   Thank you for listening. I hope your next trip to Kentucky is without incident and that you won't be writing post race stories about massive traffic jams.

 

    Sincerely,

 

   Steve Pearson

   LaGrange, KY