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   This press release came in today about jobs with a NASCAR team:

   TMG Offering Motorsports Opportunities In Preparation of 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Season

    Mooresville, NC (January 17, 2012) The Motorsports Group (TMG), located at 222 Pitt Road in Mooresville, North Carolina, announced Tuesday the availability of several positions as the team prepares for the rapidly approaching 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series season.

   The four-car operation will race in all thirty-three scheduled events with drivers Josh Wise, Chase Miller, Erik Darnell and Scott Speed piloting Chevrolet Impala’s.

   Veteran NASCAR crew chief Gary Showalter is overseeing day to day activities of the organization and is seeking qualified mechanics, fabricators and truck drivers who are ready to start work immediately. Showalter says the company will hire at least 10 additional people during the next few days.

   “We have about five more weeks before we leave for Daytona with quite a bit still to be accomplished,” said Showalter. “TMG has a great opportunity for 10 to 15 serious people who want to make a difference this year. It is a good thing to be able to offer these positions in this economy and we look forward to working with the highest quality individuals we can find.”

   Showalter requests any interested parties to send a current resume via fax 704-663-2929.

NASCAR history lives at the Hall

   On Saturday, the four floors of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., will come to life with more than a dozen legends recalling their memories to guests in a casual, up-close-and-personal Evening of Living History. 

   The event is free with a general admission ticket to the NASCAR Hall of Fame and will feature Inductees Bobby Allison, Dale Inman, Ned Jarrett, Junior Johnson, Bud Moore, Darrell Waltrip, Glen Wood and Cale Yarborough. They will be joined by NASCAR notables Donnie Allison, Jeff Hammond, Tom Higgins, Bondy Long and Leonard Wood.

    “As the NASCAR Preview Presented by Sprint winds down Saturday, we invite fans to stop by the Hall for a memorable nightcap,” said Winston Kelley, executive director of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “We have an impressive lineup of NASCAR legends stationed at various exhibits throughout the building to interact with guests. I personally can’t wait to hear the Allisons and Cale Yarborough rehash the 1979 Daytona 500, and I know others are looking forward to free samples of Junior Johnson’s famous brew -- his newer, legal kind.”

    Evening of Living History schedule:

   4-8 p.m. cash bar and food stations open
   5-6 p.m. First Session
   Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough at the 1979 Daytona 500 exhibit, Level 4
   Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond near the Mountain Dew No. 11 in the Great Hall, Level 2
   Ned Jarrett and Bondy Long in the Hall of Honor, Level 3
   6:15 – 7:15 p.m. Second Session
   Junior Johnson and Tom Higgins at the Moonshine Still exhibit, Level 4
   Glen Wood and Leonard Wood near the No. 21 Ford in the Great Hall, Level 2
   Dale Inman and Bud Moore near the Inspection exhibit, Level 3
  
   The Evening of Living History will conclude a full day of activities inside the NASCAR Hall of Fame including breakfast with Junior Johnson (7 a.m.), a Jeff Gordon and Richard Petty new conference (1 p.m.), hourly guided tours of the Hall of Fame and Inductee meet and greets (10 a.m. – 4 p.m.). The Hall will be open for general admission guests 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.

    NASCAR Acceleration Weekend is highlighted by the NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony for the Class of 2012 Inductees Richie Evans, Dale Inman, Darrell Waltrip, Glen Wood and Cale Yarborough Friday, Jan. 20. On Saturday, Jan. 21 NASCAR Preview 2012 Presented by Sprint will offer a festival-like experience for fans that features driver autograph and question-and-answer sessions, show car appearances, simulators, games and more. The weekend activities will conclude with the unveiling of the Class of 2012 Inductee Tribute exhibit in the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Sunday, Jan. 22.

   Combo tickets for NASCAR Hall of Fame and NASCAR Preview 2012 Presented by Sprint start at $20. For tickets and updates about NASCAR Acceleration Weekend, guests can visit www.nascaracceleration2012.com.

Front Row sets NASCAR driver lineup

    Front Row Motorsports made the following announcement on Monday:

   Front Row Motorsports will follow up its best season in the team's young history by bolstering its line-up for 2012, adding race winner David Ragan to drive the No. 34 Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Front Row veteran David Gilliland will build off an impressive 2011 season, returning to the team behind the wheel of the team's second entry, the No. 38 Ford Fusion.

   Ragan joins Front Row after completing a 2011 season that delivered his first Cup win (Daytona International Speedway in July), two poles, and four top-five and eight top-10 finishes. The 26-year-old Unadilla, Ga., native is already a NASCAR veteran, first joining the national stock-car ranks at the age of 18 and quickly ascending to premier-level Sprint Cup racing. His No. 34 team is locked in to the starting line-up entering the 2012 season, including a guaranteed starting spot in the prestigious Daytona 500 next month.

   "Front Row has made great progress in the last few years, and I look forward to helping them advance to the next level," Ragan said. "I think the team appreciates what I can bring to the table, and I think it's a good opportunity for both of us. I've also enjoyed a long relationship with Ford and I'm glad that I'll get to keep working with them."

   Gilliland returns for his third season with Front Row and his seventh in the Cup series. The 35-year-old Riverside, Calif., native will return to the No. 38, the number he drove as a Sprint Cup rookie as well as the car he drove in his first season with Front Row. The No. 38 team is also locked in to the field entering 2012. Last season, Gilliland raced his way to a third-place finish in the Daytona 500 to start off an impressive 2011 run, in which he proved to be a force on superspeedways and road courses.

   "We've gotten better year to year and even week to week in the time I've been with Front Row, so I'm excited to be back for a third year and to have David (Ragan) as a teammate," Gilliland said. "It's good to be back in the '38' car, too. It was my dad's number, and I've also had some pretty good days at the racetrack with that number on the door."

   Front Row Motorsports, which is owned by restaurant and transportation entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, enters its fourth full-time season in the Sprint Cup Series. The team turned in its best results in its young history in 2011, earning one top-5, two top-10, three top-15 and five top-20 finishes in 2011, including the history-best third at Daytona.

   "I am committed to building a competitive race team by employing the same fundamental business principles that have worked for my other successful endeavors, and it all begins with the people," Jenkins said. "We took some pretty big steps in our race program last year and adding David Ragan is another giant step in the right direction.

   "When you look at some of the large, storied teams in NASCAR that have been running for decades, we're still pretty young by comparison," Jenkins continued. "But I like the upgrades we're making and the improvements we're seeing, and I am confident we will be able to compete with them on a consistent basis in the not-too-distant future. Ragan is a proven competitor and race winner, Gilliland had a really solid season for us last year, Roush Yates engines are the best in the sport, and Ford continues to provide invaluable support, so I feel like 2012 is really going to be our year to step up to the next level. Plus, I now have two Davids to engage Goliath, and we know how that day ended."

    Sponsorship for the Front Row Motorsports entries is being finalized and will be announced soon.

   "We've worked hard to build an organization that can deliver compelling value propositions for our partners, and we can win immediately on that front given our size, efficiencies and cost structures," said Jerry Freeze, Front Row Motorsports' General Manager. "Fortunately, a few leading corporate partners have taken notice and others are conducting their due diligence. That's very encouraging and bodes well for our future."

David Ragan lands a Cup ride

   David Ragan, who spent the past five seasons driving for Roush Fenway Racing, will drive for Front Row Motorsports in the Sprint Cup series in 2012, the Observer and ThatsRacin.com have learned.

    An official announcement is scheduled for early next week, sources said.

    It remains unclear which team Ragan will drive for at Front Row, which fielded Ford teams last season for David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil.

    Ragan earned his first career Cup win in the 2011 season, at the July race at Daytona. The 26-year-old native of Unadilla, Ga., also has two wins in the Nationwide series.

Brad Keselowski to run 6 Truck races

   Brad Keselowski will run at least six NASCAR Camping World Truck series races this season in a second truck fielded by his Brad Keselowski Racing team.

    Keselowski will drive in the season opener at Daytona plus the races at Kansas, Charlotte, Kentucky, Pocono and Bristol, Tenn.

    Jeff Stankiewicz will serve as Keselowski's crew chief. Doug Randolph will serve as crew chief for Parker Kligerman, who drives BKM's No. 29 Dodge in the Truck Series.

Trevor Bayne talks Tim Tebow

   Last season's surprise Daytona 500 winner, Trevor Bayne, was asked on Friday why he thought Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow's publicly professed religious beliefs were so polarizing to some people. Bayne is also very public in professing the role his religious beliefs play in his life, including his profession as a race car driver.

   Here was Bayne's answer:

   "Well, it's polarizing to me because it's something different that I think our world needs and I think it desires, and so when you look at somebody and you see something different, you wonder what that is, then I think Tim Tebow has made that very clear what that is, and I think that's our mission is to make it very clear. If we look different from the world, it's because of Jesus.

   "I think he's done a lot in my life. I can't speak for Jamie. I've seen some things that he's seen the same way. It's what we're here for. I started racing for me, I started racing because I wanted to be a driver and I wanted to be successful and I wanted to win races and I wanted to have the most followers on Twitter or the most fans or whatever it is.

   "But I think that's changed over the past few years. I got to go to something that was really incredible this year called Passion, which is for 18 to 25 year olds, and it really got me fired up to see what this is all about, that it's not about me, it never has been. It's not about what I do here, but it's about what happens for the kingdom. I think this year I'm a lot more fired up about storing my treasures in heaven instead of here.

   "I think it's a really great thing that Tim Tebow is staying firm in what he believes in. He's not letting that change him. I read an article today in USA Today that talked about that, and I can see how that would be really hard when you have that much flak that you're catching, whether it's good or it's bad, if people are talking about it so much, it would be easy to change and waver, but I think the reason he doesn't is because it's real. I think Jesus is something that can really change lives, and I think that if we believe all that he says he is and we believe like we say we do, then we'll look different just like he does and like we're trying to do here."

2012 NASCAR Speedweeks schedule

   Thursday, Feb. 16
   1-5 p.m. ARCA practice
  
   Friday, Feb. 17
   2 p.m. ARCA qualifying
   5-5:45 p.m. Budweiser Shootout practice
   6:30-7:30 p.m. Final Budweiser Shootout practice

   Saturday, Feb. 18
   10-10:45 a.m. final ARCA practice
   11 a.m.-1 p.m. Sprint Cup practice
   2-3:45 p.m. Cup practice
   4:30 p.m. ARCA race
   8:10 p.m. Budweiser Shootout

   Sunday, Feb. 19
   1:05 p.m. Daytona 500 pole qualifying

   Monday, Feb. 20
   No track activity

   Tuesday, Feb. 21
   No track activity

   Wednesday, Feb. 22
   noon-1:30 p.m. Cup practice
   2:30-4 p.m. Cup practice

   Thursday, Feb. 23
   9-9:50 a.m. Nationwide practice
   12:10-1 p.m. Truck practice
   2 p.m. Gatorade 150-mile qualifying races
   6-7:20 p.m. Final Truck practice

   Friday, Feb. 24
   11 a.m.-noon Cup practice
   2:05 p.m. Nationwide qualifying
   4:05 p.m. Truck qualifying
   7:30 p.m. Truck series race

   Saturday, Feb. 25
   10:30 a.m.-noon Final practice for Daytona 500
   1:15 p.m. Nationwide Series race

   Sunday, Feb. 26
   1 p.m. 2012 Daytona 500