Jack Roush: "Clint (Bowyer) has been on my radar screen"

   In an interview Wednesday night with Claire B. Lang during her show "Dialed In" on SIRIUSXM Radio, team owner Jack Roush admitted he has had conversations with driver Clint Bowyer and that Bowyer "has been on my radar screen for a long, long time."

   "We'd certainly welcome him to the Ford camp if he accepted (Richard Petty Motorsports') offer. That would certainly be, I think, in Ford's interest and I would be very happy about that," Roush said. "If he decided to take a look at one of our programs, and we had room for him, that would also be of interest.

   "The way the sponsors are going to line up for next year and which cars they're going to be on and which opportunities you might have, is not clear. We're having discussions on many topics."

   Bowyer, who currently drives for Richard Childress Racing, is in the last year of his contract with the No. 33 Sprint Cup Series team. He has been in contract negotiations for months, leading to speculation he may end up elsewhere when all is said and done.

   Roush said Bowyer was "a lot out of the Carl Edwards mold."

   "He's a Midwest guy and he has good judgment on the race track. He's earned a lot of respect from his competitors as well as a lot of insiders like myself who have been watching him during his career," Roush said.

   Roush currently fields four Cup teams with drivers Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Edwards and David Ragan.

   Asked if he really had a spot available at Roush Fenway Racing, Roush said, "I don't know what kind of sponsor lineup I will have for next year. It's just not clear. It's not clear the way all of our programs are going to shake down."

  

NASCAR goes to college this fall

    As students head off to college this fall, many will encounter the work of one of NASCAR's newest marketing campaigns.

   UNC Charlotte and UNC Chapel Hill are among the schools NASCAR has targeted this fall with its College Brand Ambassador Program, which will utilize student ambassadors to host events including viewing parties and trips to loca tracks to watch NASCAR events.

   NASCAR U CREW, with the assistance of two brand ambassadors per school, will help integrate NASCAR into the college lifestyle of 12 colleges and universities in the 10 Chase for the Sprint Cup markets.

   “NASCAR, and the social component of watching and attending races, lends itself very nicely to the college lifestyle,” said NASCAR Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Steve Phelps.

   Besides the two North Carolina schools, the pilot program will also debut at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; University of New Hampshire; University of Delaware; University of Kansas; Auburn University; Virginia Tech; University of North Texas; Arizona State University; Florida International University; and the University of Miami (Fla.).

   Responsible for establishing and executing at least 10 unique NASCAR events and integrating the sport into existing campus events, each school’s ambassadors will also be charged with working closely with their respective track to create and promote a college ticket package as well as a designated hospitality/tailgate area for local students.

   “NASCAR is a fast-paced, high intensity, adrenalin rush, and that is exactly why it is already so popular with 18-34 year olds. It’s a sport for the young and adventurous, and we just have to open more college students’ eyes to it," said Madison Phillips, a NASCAR ambassador at UNC Chapel Hill.

Can fans accept the ever-changing landscape of NASCAR?

   In many respects, advances in technology bring positive, beneficial changes.

   That is also true in NASCAR, particularly in the area of driver safety. The use of the HANS device and extensive work done on car chassis to make them more durable and help prevent serious injury – or even death – has been seen in countless examples over the last 10 years.

   But at its heart, NASCAR was always a simple sport.

   Build a car and engine that’s durable, run fast, outrun your competitors. Try to find an advantage others don’t have or ‘slip’ something by the track officials.

   Hopefully, make enough at the race to pick up your stuff and take it to the next one.

   It’s worked for over 60 years.

   These days, however, NASCAR – at least in competition terms – has been battling technology more than it has benefited from it.

   With changes in competition, technology and even society, rules have been changed or added in the sport affecting how races are run or even how drivers may act.

   The addition of a multitude of millions of dollars in corporate sponsorship has imposed greater demands on drivers and teams and greater responsibility, sometimes to the detriment of the once rough-and-tumble operation of the sport.

   The development of car technology has made them far more durable – thus eliminating the attrition factor once a part of 500-mile races – and also created unexpected problems in areas like aerodynamics.

   There are more big tracks than short ones, a trend which only adds to the aero problem and thus the cost of correcting those issues.

   NASCAR tried to keep its engines in line with its origins, but next year carburetors will yield to fuel-injection. Is there anyone who doesn’t think a whole new line of unpredicted issues will develop as a result in the years ahead?

   Yes, technology has done wonders for NASCAR competitors and fans, who now have access to more information than ever before about the sport they love.

   Yet, technology has also changed that once simple sport forever. I do not doubt that in some ways that’s occurred in every sport, but in NASCAR – where many argue equipment has more influence than the competitor – it’s far greater.

   The question remains: In the long term, will that be for the better?

   The answer is likely yes, but only if the sport’s fans are willing to accept the ever-changing landscape.

Chase would be great, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants a championship

   Dale Earnhardt Jr. would certainly like to end his career-worst winless streak. And making the Chase for the Sprint Cup after missing it for two consecutive seasons would be a plus, too.

   But does Earnhardt really want? A Cup championship.
  
   Earnhardt was asked Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway how important was to make the Chase and his take was very telling:

   "I don’t know how important it is. It is probably all professional really. You have a lot of race fans; a lot of sponsors and me as a driver; my car owner; everybody. That is your ultimate goal to get in the Chase at the start of the season. It is important to us all on a professional level. On a personal level, I don’t really know how much it matters to me.," he said.

   "Making the Chase is just an afterthought. I really want to win the championship, you know. Making the Chase is great and all, but as a person, you want to be the champion. Making the Chase doesn’t really make you feel better at the end of the season if you don’t win a championship, you are really disappointed. I don’t really think about, I need to make the Chase, personally, those aren’t my thoughts. I think more about what could we have done last week? What do we need to go into Bristol? What did we do last time we raced here?

   "I’m thinking more about the particular day-to-day stuff and I want to win a race. How can we put ourselves in position to do that? Things like that. The Chase stuff, the points and everything sort of takes care of itself. You try to do the best you can throughout the year to put yourself in the best position there, but, I miss the Chase, I’ll probably catch a lot of s*** about it. It will save me a lot of s*** if I make the Chase so that is probably the only thing personally that I have to worry about."

No pulling hair in NASCAR

   NASCAR fined crew chief Jerry Baxter $5,000 on Tuesday and placed him on probation until Dec. 31 for pulling the hair of driver Steve Wallace as Wallace drove down pit road following Saturday's Nationwide Series race in Montreal.

   Baxter was crew chief for the No. 99 Toyota that competed in the race with driver Patrick Carpentier.

   As Wallace was driving down pit road after the race with his helmet off, Baxter reached into Wallace's car and had pulled Wallace's hair. The incident was caught on Wallace's in-car camera and shown on the ESPN broadcast.

   Wallace and Carpentier had been involved in an inicident on the track early in the race.

   On Monday, Baxter issued an apology for his actions.

   "I'm sorry for what happened after the race on Saturday and I take responsibility for my own actions," Baxter said in a statement. "I was just very frustrated and let my emotions get to me. That was Patrick's last race and we wanted to make it special.

   "We really thought he had a shot for the win and everything boiled over when that chance went away in the wreck. Everyone was just racing hard and there was no intent to wreck anyone. There's no excuse for what I did after the race and I apologize to everyone."

Truck series driver Shane Sieg suspended by NASCAR

   Shane Sieg, a driver in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, was indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body's substance abuse policy.

   Sieg, a 28 year old driver from Tucker, Ga., has been fielding his own entries in the Truck series this season. He has started 12 of 15 races so far with a best finish of 12th on March 12 at Darlington, S.C.

   In his NASCAR career, Sieg has made 68 starts in Trucks and two in the Nationwide Series (both in 2004). His career best finish is an eighth at Milwaukee in Trucks in 2004.

   Also, NASCAR has reinstated Denise Harmon-Mixon, a crew member in the Nationwide Series, following her successful completion of the Road to Recovery program. Harmon-Mixon had been suspended July 5 for violating the substance abuse policy.

Kyle Petty on Danica Patrick: "Do they give out trophies for 25th?"

    Former Sprint Cup Series driver and Speed analyst has been pulling no punches lately in discussions about IndyCar fan favorite Danica Patrick making a fulltime move to NASCAR next season.

   During Sunday's "NASCAR RaceDay" Petty reiterated his opinion Patrick is not ready for a fulltime Nationwide season or a move shortly thereafter to the Cup series.

   Here's Petty's exchange with NASCAR RaceDay co-hosts John Roberts and Kenny Wallace on Sunday morning:

   On the expected announcement Patrick is coming to NASCAR fulltime in the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series:
   Petty: “I really don’t have much to say on this. So, finally marketing is coming to NASCAR because we know driving isn’t coming to NASCAR. Let’s be serious about this. She ran 12 races last year. She’s made an improvement this year. To run the Nationwide Series, she’s basically going to have to run two full seasons during one. What I mean by that – the IndyCar season is only 15, 17 races. NASCAR Nationwide Series is a tough, freakin’ series. I don’t think she can be competitive. Was she competitive yesterday (Saturday in the Nationwide Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal)? Do they give out trophies for 25^th? No, I ran 25^th my whole life. I never got a trophy for 25^th.”

   Roberts: They don’t give out trophies for 25^th but she was running up near the front when the car broke … in the teens …
   Petty: “In the teens! Oh my gosh, Danica’s in the teens (joking). She’s not ready for Cup by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve said this before. I don’t think people realize how good a driver Joe Nemechek, Travis Kvapil, David Gilliland – how tough they really are. She can come up, she can bring marketing, she can sell t-shirts. These people out here (fans) can scream for her and pull for her but she’s going to have to do something on the race track at some point in time and she has yet to do anything on a NASCAR track yet. Give her a chance. I’m all for chances.”