Fred Lorenzen honored by home state

   Elmhurst, Ill., native and 1965 Daytona 500 winner, Fred Lorenzen was honored by the Illinois General Assembly on Wednesday at Chicagoland Speedway for his accomplishments as a NASCAR driver between 1958-1972.

   “Fred Lorenzen was an icon of NASCAR and the racing world,” Illinois State Representative, Dennis Reboletti said. “He is an Illinois sports legend and we recognize him for his lifetime of accomplishments."

   “Fred Lorenzen is a true NASCAR and Illinois sports legend, and we’re thrilled to be a part of today’s presentation honoring his accomplishments,” said Scott Paddock, Chicagoland Speedway president. “Fred was one of the first pioneers of NASCAR and his contributions have helped to make it the great sport that is today.”

   

   Also in attendance at the press conference, were two of Lorenzen’s old friends from his days at Holman-Moody Racing – Charlie ‘Slick’ Owens and Waddell Wilson.

   Owens had this to say about Lorenzen’s impact in the world of racing and NASCAR, “Freddie knew every piece of the race car. He worked on it, cleaned it and he never bragged about anything. He just went out and did what he had to do, and that was race.”

   Wilson added, “Freddie taught me great ethics about racing. He was one of the highlights of my life. I look back at all the great things we’ve done, and even before I worked for him, I idolized him. He was my hero; he still is.”

   Earning the nicknames “Fearless Freddie” and “Golden Boy,” Lorenzen recorded 26 wins in his NASCAR career and is still the only NASCAR driver to win 20 races in their first 100 starts. He also became the first driver to earn more than $100,000 in winnings in a single season, claiming $113,570 driving for the legendary Holman-Moody team in 1963.

Kurt Busch responds to release from Penske Racing

    Kurt Busch issued the following statement today regarding the news that the 24-time NASCAR Sprint Cup winner and 2004 Cup champion had reached a mutual agreement with Penske Racing to leave the team:

   “I am grateful to Penske Racing for six very productive years. Together we won a lot of races – 16 in all. I’m proud that we won on a variety of tracks and this past season reached Victory Lane four times. Another highlight was pushing my teammate to a Daytona 500 win. I also appreciate the lasting friendships I’ve made while working with our great sponsors through the years, including Miller Lite, Shell and Dodge.

   “Coming to a mutual agreement to go our separate ways is a positive step for me. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I took time to reflect on what is most important to me and realized I need to find a way to put the fun back into racing. It’s time for a fresh start. Leaving a great organization and a lucrative contract is not easy, but it allows me to take a deep breath and work on things that can make me a better driver and a better person.

   “I recognize the passion and emotion that have helped me succeed on the track need to be better channeled off the track. The past few months I began working with a sports psychologist to help me better deal with my emotions, especially following moments of frustration during competition.

   “I never want to take for granted that it’s a privilege to earn a living as a NASCAR driver. As I begin this new chapter in my career, I’m excited about the future and committed to making the changes necessary for me to enjoy racing again, to compete for championships and to better represent NASCAR, my sponsors, my team and my fans.

   “I want to personally thank Roger Penske for the opportunity he gave me and for his friendship, which will continue long into the future.”

Sprint extends Cup Series sponsorship

   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.

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.

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.”

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.”