Sprint CEO Dan Hesse announced Friday night his company has agreed to a contract extension to continue to sponsor NASCAR's Cup series through "at least" the 2016 season.
Hesser made the announcement official during his speech at the Sprint Cup Series awards banquet Friday night at the Wynn Las Vegas.
The current 10-year deal with NASCAR expires at the end of the 2013 season but talks on an extension have been ongoing throughout the year.
The Kansas City-based wireless phone company, then known as Nextel, signed a 10-year, $750 million agreement in 2004 to rename NASCAR’s top series. Those rights include naming the season series and championship, as well as the annual all-star race.
As part of the sponsorship, Sprint has spent millions more creating a fan experience display that goes to all of the races. In addition, a number of NASCAR-themed features are standard for Sprint’s wireless subscribers.
The deal began in 2004 with Nextel, which was eventually acquired by Sprint. The series was re-branded the Sprint Cup Series in 2008.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
President Obama calls to congratulate Tony Stewart
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
___________________________________________________
November 30, 2011
Readout of the President’s Call with 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart
Earlier today, the President called Tony Stewart to congratulate him and the entire Stewart-Haas Racing team on winning the 2011 Sprint Cup Series Championship and on the incredible season they had. The President said he was impressed that Mr. Stewart was able to come from the back of the pack to edge out Carl Edwards for the win.
The President said that the First Lady and Dr. Biden enjoyed being at Homestead for the Ford 400 and how grateful they were to have NASCAR honor military families. The President commended Mr. Stewart and the other drivers for being such positive role models and great ambassadors for NASCAR, and said that he looks forward to congratulating Mr. Stewart in person at the White House next year.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Jeff Burton gets new crew chief
Richard Childress Racing has named Drew Blickensderfer as the crew chief for the No. 31 Caterpillar/Wheaties Racing team with driver Jeff Burton for the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
Luke Lambert, interim crew chief during the latter part of the 2011 season for the No. 31 team, will assume a yet-to-be announced new position at RCR.
Blickensderfer begins his RCR career after nearly a decade with Roush Fenway Racing. He spent the 2011 Cup season leading the No. 6 team and has been a crew chief, in the Cup and Nationwide Series, since 2007.
"I'm excited about the move to RCR and the opportunity to help lead Jeff Burton and the Cat/Wheaties Racing team back into Chase contention," said Blickensderfer. "I was around Jeff briefly at RFR and always admired and liked him. He's a very talented driver and I look forward to working him and the rest of the No. 31 team in 2012."
Burton qualified for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup from 2006-2008 and 2010. He finished 20th in the final 2011 point standings.
"Drew is a strong leader and will be a great complement to the Caterpillar/Wheaties Racing team," said Childress. "He's won some big races, including the 2009 Daytona 500, his first race as a Sprint Cup Series crew chief. There's every reason to believe the combination of Jeff and Drew will be a successful one."
He knew Darian Grubb when ....
As the talk continues about where champion crew chief Darian Grubb will land, following are some comments on Grubb’s career growth from Jerry Freeze, general manager of Front Row Motorsports. Freeze hired Grubb at Petty Enterprises for his first racing job.
“We hired Darian at Petty Enterprises for a shop-based job in our engineering department in the early 2000s, I think it was. He was working for a trucking company, I believe, but he was looking to get into racing. He was a Virginia Tech graduate with a mechanical engineering degree, but he had a lot of local short-track racing experience. So he was really what you look for in an engineering candidate. And he just hit the ground running. He didn’t stay in the position that we hired him into for very long. We knew pretty quick, within four or six months, that he was pretty special," Freeze said.
“We started taking him to a few tests. He was putting data systems on the car, and he gave the crew chiefs a lot of good information. He was really wise with the tools we had, but he also understood the practical side because he had that racing experience. He became part of the group there with the crew chief and the car chief that made the decisions on the 43 car, really taking on a leadership role. You knew from the start that this guy was going to be a crew chief some day.
“At the end of the 2003 season, we talked about making him the crew chief on Kyle Petty’s car. He had all the knowledge and the aptitude, even if he didn’t have the experience. But we really believed in him. But at that same time, he’d been talking to Hendrick when they were starting up the 48 car. And he wound up going over to be the engineer for Chad Knaus.”
Friday, November 25, 2011
Statement from Shell-Pennzoil on Kurt Busch
Shell Pennzoil released the following statement on Friday evening in light of NASCAR's decision to penalize driver Kurt Busch.
“Shell and Pennzoil are disappointed with recent actions by driver, Kurt Busch, at the final race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race season. His actions are in no way consistent with the way we want our brands represented and we have expressed our disappointment and concerns directly to Penske Racing.”
“Shell and Pennzoil are disappointed with recent actions by driver, Kurt Busch, at the final race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race season. His actions are in no way consistent with the way we want our brands represented and we have expressed our disappointment and concerns directly to Penske Racing.”
NASCAR fines Kurt Busch $50,000
NASCAR Fines Kurt Busch For Actions At Homestead-Miami Speedway
November 25, 2011
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 25, 2011) – NASCAR has fined Kurt Busch $50,000 for his actions during the Nov. 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
NASCAR determined that Kurt Busch violated Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing – inappropriate hand gesture; abusive language) of the 2011 NASCAR Rule Book.
In issuing the penalty, NASCAR cited Kurt Busch's "poor judgment in making an inappropriate hand gesture" when he drove his car into the garage early in the race after it experienced transmission problems. In addition, NASCAR said Kurt Busch showed "disrespect towards a media member," an incident that followed similar inappropriate media confrontations earlier in the season.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
RCR makes crew chief change official
Richard Childress Racing formally announced on Wednesday new roles for Shane Wilson and Gil Martin in prepartion for the 2012 NASCAR season.
As the Observer first reported on Friday, Wilson is the new crew chief of the No. 29 Chevrolet team and driver Kevin Harvick. Wilson spent the past three seasons with RCR's No. 33 team. He replaces Martin, the No. 29's crew chief since May 2009. Martin has been named director of team operations, reporting to director of competition Kent Day.
"Kevin came to me after the Phoenix race a couple weeks ago and asked for a change in the leadership of his team for the 2012 season," said Richard Childress, president and CEO of Richard Childress Racing. "The expectations at RCR are to win championships so the decision was made to move Shane Wilson to the No. 29.
"Shane did a great job for RCR in the Nationwide Series when he first got here, and built on that success the past three seasons with our No. 33 team, so we feel he will continue do a great job with the No. 29 team."
This is not the first time Wilson and Harvick have worked together. They joined forces in 2006 to earn 10 wins, 24 top-five and 31 top-10 finishes on the way to that season's NASCAR Nationwide Series championship. The team's 824-point margin of victory is a series record.
"Shane is a good friend of mine and we had a lot of success together in the NASCAR Nationwide Series," said Harvick. "He has a lot of experience now in the Sprint Cup Series and I look forward to working with him again."
As the Observer first reported on Friday, Wilson is the new crew chief of the No. 29 Chevrolet team and driver Kevin Harvick. Wilson spent the past three seasons with RCR's No. 33 team. He replaces Martin, the No. 29's crew chief since May 2009. Martin has been named director of team operations, reporting to director of competition Kent Day.
"Kevin came to me after the Phoenix race a couple weeks ago and asked for a change in the leadership of his team for the 2012 season," said Richard Childress, president and CEO of Richard Childress Racing. "The expectations at RCR are to win championships so the decision was made to move Shane Wilson to the No. 29.
"Shane did a great job for RCR in the Nationwide Series when he first got here, and built on that success the past three seasons with our No. 33 team, so we feel he will continue do a great job with the No. 29 team."
This is not the first time Wilson and Harvick have worked together. They joined forces in 2006 to earn 10 wins, 24 top-five and 31 top-10 finishes on the way to that season's NASCAR Nationwide Series championship. The team's 824-point margin of victory is a series record.
"Shane is a good friend of mine and we had a lot of success together in the NASCAR Nationwide Series," said Harvick. "He has a lot of experience now in the Sprint Cup Series and I look forward to working with him again."
Further personnel changes within RCR's competition department will be announced in the coming weeks.
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