JTG Daugherty changes manufacturers, joins alliance with RCR

 

   JTG Daugherty Racing not only has a new driver for its Sprint Cup Series team next season, but it will change manufacturers as well.

   On Monday, the team announced it had joined in a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing that will include receiving ECR Engines and engineering services during the 2014 Cup season with driver A.J. Allmendinger behind the wheel of its No. 47 entry. The alliance will include JTG Daugherty moving to the Chevrolet camp from Toyota.

   "We certainly appreciate all the support that TRD (Toyota Racing Development) has provided to JTG Daugherty Racing for five years and we are great fans of their business model,” team co-owner Tad Geschickter said. "As a single-car team, we feel that aligning directly with a successful multi-car organization like Richard Childress Racing is what will work best for us in 2014."

   After nearly 15 years of success in the Nationwide Series, JTG Daugherty Racing ventured into the Cup series with driver Marcos Ambrose at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July 2008. Most recently, former Cup champion Bobby Labonte served as the team's driver.

   Allmendinger drove a handful of races for the team in 2013 and will be its fulltime driver in 2014. "With our RCR alliance and A.J. behind the wheel, we are looking forward to a fresh start in 2014,” Geschickter said.

Will Donovan McNabb accept this racing challenge?

 

   Press release

    MILLVILLE, N.J. – Last week on Fox Sports 1, former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb riled NASCAR fans, and the motorsports community at-large, by saying drivers aren’t athletes.

    McNabb was asked to rank the most dominant athletes over the last decade; when asked about now six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, he said “Do I think he’s an athlete? Absolutely not,” McNabb said.

   “He’s not an athlete,” he continued. “[Johnson] sits and a car and drives. That’s not athletic. What athletically is he doing?”

   Now, New Jersey Motorsports Park would like to offer McNabb a chance to experience the vocation first-hand, with a “Day in the Life” of a driver.

   “We’d like to have Donovan visit NJMP and learn a bit about what goes into being a driver – the training, the skills necessary – just the whole package,” said Brad Scott, New Jersey Motorsports Park general manager/COO. “It’ll give him the opportunity to gain some first-hand experience as far as what being a driver is all about.”

   The Park is looking to reach out to a member of McNabb’s representation team to discuss the potential experience.

    New Jersey Motorsports Park, located in Millville, has hosted the Grand-Am Rolex Sportscar Series, GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing, and the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. In addition to the two world-class road courses on the property, the renowned F1 Karting facility offers eight dramatic configurations, over a mile in total length.

East Carolina Motor Speedway joins NASCAR

  

   East Carolina Motor Speedway and NASCAR announced Saturday night that the Robersonville, N.C., track will join the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series for 2014.

   The .375-mile high-banked paved tri-oval will feature NASCAR Late Model Stock cars as its premier division, and will be the only Friday night NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track in North Carolina.

    The track is located in eastern North Carolina, about 90 miles east of Raleigh, N.C., or 20 miles north of Greenville, N.C. It is owned by Wayne Perry and operated by his son, track president Chris Perry.

 

   “East Carolina Motor Speedway is a perfect fit for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series,” said Bob Duvall, NASCAR senior director, business development. “Wayne and Chris Perry are committed to providing a home for great Friday night racing and family entertainment.”

 

   Established in 1982, the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series is NASCAR’s national championship program for weekly short track auto racing. More than 50 paved and dirt tracks throughout the United States and Canada participate.

Donovan McNabb goes 'all in' on drivers-aren't-athletes comments

   Former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb went one-on-one with Mike Hill on Fox Sports during a segment of "Keep it Real with Mike Hill" and repeated and defended his assertion that NASCAR drivers aren't athletes, although he tried to claim his comments weren't directed specifically to Jimmie Johnson.

   The discussion of the Johnson comments begins at the 3:10 mark of the video.

NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer is in the hunt ... for mountain lions

   NASCAR driver, Clint Bowyer, joins Tom McMillan on an exciting Arizona hunt for mountain lion – North America’s biggest cat. After a long hunting season, Tom pursues a life-long dream of hunting lions with his buddy Clint Bowyer. How will these Kansas guys fair? Tune in and find out the details on this week’s "Meet the McMillans," airing on Sportsman Channel on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT.

    McMillan and Bowyer share a passion for adventure as they navigate through the rugged Arizona terrain, but their confidence is shaken as they close in on some deadly prey. “Mountain lions can be pretty unpredictable,” admitted McMillan, host of Meet the McMillans. “There’s always a possibility of something going wrong if we don’t get the right shot.”

Guess who in NASCAR bumped up ESPN SportsCenter's ratings?

 

   The first athlete ever to guest host ESPN’s flagship news and information program "SportsCenter" also brought some added viewers to the show.

   Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson was guest host on the 6 p.m. ET SportsCenter on Tuesday, Nov. 19, and the special edition of the program earned a 0.7 U.S. household rating - 17 percent higher than the 0.6 average rating for the Tuesday program so far this fall.

 

   Viewership was up 22 percent with an average of 931,021 tuned in during the one-hour program. The average so far this fall for the 6 p.m. program on Tuesdays has been 760,448.

 

   Johnson joined regular anchors John Anderson and Lindsay Czarniak and performed all of the duties of a SportsCenter host, including presenting news and highlights and conducting interviews. During the show, Johnson interviewed Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops and Boston Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and asked questions of ESPN NFL analyst Tedy Bruschi. He also narrated a NASCAR-themed “Not Top 10” list.

 

   Johnson was only the third celebrity to guest host in the program’s 34-year history, joining actors Billy Crystal and Ken Jeong. 

 

 

Sports car testing halted at Daytona because of airborne wrecks

   Statement from International Motor Sports Association:

   DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 20, 2013) – Officials from the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and Continental Tire have jointly decided to suspend on-track testing of TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Prototype (P)  and Prototype Challenge (PC) race cars after issues were discovered during testing at Daytona International Speedway on Tuesday.

   MSA and Continental Tire are analyzing the situation and working toward a solution. On-track testing will continue at Daytona on Wednesday for the GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes. On-track testing of the DeltaWing DWC13 prototype – which utilizes a unique tire and technical package – will also continue as scheduled.

   Coverage of the incidents can be found here.