Keselowski: 2012 performance not good enough to repeat

   Brad Keselowski won five Sprint Cup Series races in 2012 and the championship but when asked this week how he planned to repeat as champion in 2013, he was adamant that same performance would likely not be good enough.

   “Stick to what got you where you are at – hard work, dedication to people,” he said. “Ford is special to us because of their people and their commitment; that’s a key piece. What we did last year is not good enough. We have to step up another level. We know our competition is going to do the same," Keselowski said.

    "I’m not happy being a guy that wins one championship and goes away quietly. Look at some of the additions we’ve made. Bringing in Joey Logano, working on the Nationwide program to solidify two programs, having Ryan Blaney be part of that – that shows the commitment we all have to improving.

    "I know that Joey and Ryan bring some youth and fresh ideas to make the team better. They might go out there and beat my butt, but I’m going to surround myself with the most talent because that’s what got us where we are today.”

It's Blaney vs. Blaney at Eldora NASCAR Truck race

   Ryan Blaney will get a chance to race on dirt this season as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series makes its dirt debut at Eldora Speedway in July.

    Ryan's teammate for the race, however, will also be among his toughest competition.

    While Ryan will compete in Brad Keselowski Racing's No. 29 Ford the entire season, at least three different drivers will take turns in BKR's second Truck team.

    And for the Eldora race, the other driver will be Ryan's dad, Dave - current Sprint Cup series driver and dirt racing legend.

    "There was talk about Eldora and my dad said he thought it would be cool if he could run Brad's second truck there. So, I was kind of joking around and told him I would bring it up with Brad," Ryan said.

    "I saw Brad the next week or so and brought up my dad running Eldora for him and he loved the idea. Thinking back on it now, it was probably a bad idea for me because he is going to make me look bad.

    "It will be fun and a great race. I just hope I don't get lapped by the old man."

Check out the NASCAR Ford parade Thursday in Charlotte

   Ford Racing stars from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will participate in a drive with their all-new 2013 NASCAR Fusions through the streets of Uptown Charlotte on Thursday, Jan. 24 starting at 11:15 a.m.

   The route will start from the NASCAR Hall of Fame complex on South Caldwell Street and then turn right onto Stonewall.  From there, the route will turn right onto Tryon Street and then right onto Fifth Street, where it will go past Time Warner Cable Arena.

   The parade will then turn right onto South Caldwell Street and then right onto Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard before ending up at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

   “We’re extremely grateful to our friends at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and city officials in Charlotte who have helped in making this event possible,” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford Racing.  “Our 2013 NASCAR Fusion is something we’re extremely proud of because it looks so much like the cars we drive on the street.  Now we’re going to literally be able to see that happen when our NASCAR Fusions take to the streets of Uptown Charlotte.”

Bruton Smith: Just say no to start-and-park teams

   Add Speedway Motorsports Chairman Bruton Smith to those who would like to see an end to the practice in NASCAR of start-and-park racing - a term which refers to teams that run a handful of laps and park just to collect a portion of the race purse.

   “Start-and-park should not be a part of what we do,” Smith said on Tuesday. “I think it’s derogatory toward our sport. I’m going to try my best – and I hope you’ll join me – to see if NASCAR can do something about this. It certainly isn’t adding anything to our sport, and it certainly takes away.”

   He then asked media in the room to use their influence to put an end to the practice.

See a Bristol NASCAR race, win a car!

   As if NASCAR fans needed another reason to see racing at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

   During "Bruton’s Big Bristol Giveaway", 10 fans in attendance at the Food City 500 Sprint Cup Series race in March will drive away with 2013 Ford Mustangs.

    “I don’t know anybody who does not want to win a new car,” said BMS general manager Jerry Caldwell. “It’s one thing to give away a single car but giving away 10 is definitely something different, which is no surprise at all since the boss is the one who came up with the idea.

    “This is something really exciting for our race fans and it just gives them something else to look forward to when they get here. It really can’t get much better than seeing a race at Bristol and winning a car. I think the fans are really going to enjoy this.”

    Any fan who has purchased tickets to the Food City 500 will be entered to win a Mustang. Every ticket purchase makes the buyer eligible to win the car. Fans purchasing multiple tickets can be entered as many as 20 times, depending on the number of tickets they purchase.

Stewart considers Indy 500 offer "open-ended"

   At the NASCAR awards banquet in Las Vegas in November, team owner Roger Penske made what he said was a serious offer to field an entry for Tony Stewart in the 2013 Indianapolis 500 if he would like to give the "double" - running the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day - another try.

 

   Stewart passed on the offer and on Monday on the Sprint NASCAR Media Tour, talked more in-depth about the offer and where he thinks is stands now.

 

   “It's a huge opportunity, and a very flattering offer at the same time," Stewart said. "This group up here is why I'm not going to run the 500. There's a lot of commitment with what we're doing here, and like we mentioned, IndyCar racing has progressed and the competition has gotten tighter and tighter there. I really don't feel like ‑ I feel like that's the perfect team to go and do enough with the month of May with. 

 

   "But I still feel like for me as a driver, I would need to start the year with that team and run through the month of May to really feel like the first day of practice that I was competitive and where I needed to be. It's a very flattering offer. I went back to Roger and actually had dinner with him in Indianapolis after the IMIS trade show reception, and I told him he ‑ not necessarily backed me into a corner but he made me a generous offer and I made him a counteroffer that it's an open‑ended invitation. 

 

   "Even though we haven't accepted this year, maybe some year down the road we might be able to accept that offer. He never said no, so as far as I'm concerned, we have an open invitation to run it with him."

Kevin Harvick: "Change can't be bad."

   Kevin Harvick remained tight-lipped about where he would be racing in 2014 but insisted he planned to make his final season at Richard Childress Racing a “character-building year.”

    “I want to go out and have fun and hopefully leave this place as good as it was when I got here if not better,” said Harvick, who is expected to join Stewart-Haas Racing next year.

   “You want to do everything to participate in everything you can do to make the cars as fast as you can. I have a lot of friends here and I want to leave here with it that way.”

   Harvick was the only RCR driver to win a Cup race in 2012 and that was late in the season after he had reunited with crew chief Gil Martin. Martin and Harvick will work together again this season.

    Harvick, 36, doesn’t believe he or his No. 29 team have anything to prove to detractor who think they can’t find success in a “lame duck” season.

   “The biggest thing to prove is who you are as people,” he said. “The bottom line is the cars have to run good, whether it’s this year or the years to come. There is a lot of effort being poured into that.”

   Harvick began his career with RCR in 1999, running the fall race at Rockingham in what is now known as the Nationwide Series. He completed 34 laps before engine failure sent him to the garage.

    In 2001, he took over driving duties for the Sprint Cup team of Dale Earnhardt after Earnhardt was killed in a last-lap wreck in the Daytona 500.

   “It’s been a great journey but sometimes you just need a change in pace to keep the enthusiasm where it needs to be. It’s made my enthusiasm high for this year,” Harvick said.

   “I think my first race with Richard was in October 1999 and we’ve won Nationwide championships, 19 Cup races, 30 to 40 Nationwide races, Truck races. We’ve been through a lot of different situations.

   “Change can’t be bad.”