NASCAR BLOG

After coming off last year where Jamie McMurray won the Sprint Cup Series’ 2009 Amp Energy 500, the 34-year-old driver has moved back to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and is preparing for the 2010 season. The driver of the #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevorolet Impala SS has been quite busy this off season testing race cars, competeing in go-karting, and getting to know his new team mate Juan Pablo Montoya. The two will compete in the Rolex 24 at Daytona as part of four man EGR team. McMurray is happy to back with the racing team that he left four years ago for Rousch Fenway Racing. McMurray says its nice to working with people he knows and with race cars that have a high level of craftmanship. With McMurray and Montoya driving in the Sprint Cup Series, 2010 should be a very intersting year for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick has donated two of the planes staffed by two flight crews to non-profit group Missionary Flights International for relief missions to the earthquake ravaged country of Haiti.

The 45-seat planes are used flying drivers and crew members around the country for races during the busy season, but were available during what is traditionally a month break for the pilots and staff. The planes are being used to deliver precious cargo to the thousands of Haitians in need of food, water, and medicine. In addition to dropping off supplies the 10 Hendrick team members that volunteered have been picking up groups of children orphaned by the terrible disaster.

Pilot Dave Dudley told NASCAR.com that his first flight picking up Haitian orphans was the “best flight of his career”. The crew were also able to bring back the corpse of a dead American who perished in earthquake so that the family could have a proper burial back in America. NASCAR teams have raised more than $3 million dollars for the disaster relief which is ongoing in Hati. It has not been determined how long Hendrick Motorsports will continue with the missions to Haiti, but their help has certainly made a impact on many earthquake survivors lives.

We are back to the topic of that new rear spoiler. The news is that Nascar is probably going to take the new type in March. They will be doing some real testing and then hold some meeting about it, but it sounds a little bit like their choice is already made. Hopefully, the new spoiler will help to make things safer, but also exciting. It seems like this is the point of it, but they are also trying to make something that is better for the efficiency of the racers. The details are that they will be replacing the rear wing with a more typical spoiler. They’re hoping that this design with work out better for all the racing and that it might be easier to keep things in repair and such.

When Danica Patrick came to Nascar, we all knew that she was going to get a lot more endorsements. She has broken through the $10 Million barrier, which is what many of the best women in sports have been able to earn over the years. Currently, there are about 5 other women in sports earning this much. For Danica, it’s likely to grow even more, as she is a woman in a sport that has no other women. And hasn’t really had other women over the years. Clearly people are going to be paying attention to her, so maybe she will get more endorsements. The only trick for her and her people will be for them to make sure that she doesn’t get so overhyped that people stop believing that she can actually perform. Hope she gets some good wins this year!

The league is thinking about getting the rear wings off of their cars. Instead, they are considering putting a new spoiler on it, just as they used to have. It’s not for sure whether they will be instituting the change sooner or later, but it seems like it will probably be somewhere later this season. For the moment, though, they are continuing to test out the spoiler for safety. The purpose of this new spoiler is apparently to make races closer and more competitive. I don’t know if that’s going to be met with happiness from the racers, since they have been unhappy with the caps that slow them down a bit. They find that the closeness is really a problem because it keeps them too bunched up and they end up in major accidents. It will be interesting to see if they decide to put it together by the end of this season or if they need to test for awhile longer.

With the pause between the seasons in the Nascar, there isn’t much news. In fact, a quick search this morning shows us that we have just one big story. Jimmie Johnson is going to be a father! You know that it’s a slow news week when the big story is the coming fatherhood of one of the biggest players. The quiet time is right now, and then the Daytona 500 in about 6 weeks is perhaps the first big race and a lot of racers are hoping to get a good start in the new year. Despite his becoming a father, clearly all of these competitors are going to try to unseat the athlete of the decade by winning the Sprint Cup in 2010. We’ve had some great excitement and several different lead changes in the last years. It tends to end in the same place, but we’ll get to see if anyone can topple the grand champion again!

The big news of Nascar over the last decade is how much care they’ve taken to give racers the amount of safety that they need while driving around the track. The reason for this is that the decade began with several important racers getting killed on the track. Even in 2001, Dale Earnhardt was killed in a rather freak accident during the Daytona 500. It was a sad time for them, and hopefully they have improved the safety as much as possible. We haven’t seen too many major injuries in recent years despite a relatively large number of crashes that look really bad. Hopefully we’ll be able to continue that trend of improving safety while still keeping the sport exciting!

In European Formula 1 racing, Michael Schumacher, a hero to German fans, has decided to return. He’s been gone for so long that people can hardly believe it. Adding to their surprise is the fact that he came out just recently with an interview in which he said that his neck wasn’t able to take the racing world anymore, with all the centrifugal force that this movement creates on you. He’s a talented racer, that’s for sure, but it’s not clear if his physical condition will actually affect the performance that he’s able to put forward. Needless to say, there are lots of fans who are really looking forward to seeing the 41 year old back on the track, and we have high hopes for him!

Guess who is the Associated Press’s Athlete of the Year. I’ll start by giving you some hints. He has won 4 straight championships in his sport. How many other people or teams can boast having won 4 championships in their sport? The number 48 is very significant to him. Got it yet? His initials are JJ. You’ve probably figured it out by now, so I’ll tell you. It’s Jimmie Johnson of Nascar. Believe it or not, the sport has finally come into its own with a driver winning the Athlete of the Year for the first time, and Johnson is the one that has proven his mettle. Having to win 4 straight championships is a really high bar for anyone who’s trying to get honored in some way! But either way, congratulations to him. While he may not always be my favorite driver, I have to admit that he’s one of the best drivers in the entire league. I enjoy watching him race, because while he doesn’t always win individual races, he does have a sense of the marathon-style racing that can win Sprint Cups much more easily.

The Daytona 500 is not that far away. Even though it’s not Christmas yet, February isn’t such a long time from now. The Daytona 500 occurs frequently in the middle of February and it’s going to be a hoot this year. That’s why you need to find Daytona 500 tickets at Vivid Seats to get yourself into the best seats and see your favorite drivers as they try to make a splash at the beginning of the Nascar season. Last year, Matt Kenseth was declared the winner when a red flag was waved due to a heavy rainstorm. They didn’t want to risk having drivers going around really fast when it was so very wet that time. Kenseth went on to have a respectable showing in the Sprint Cup, and anyone who wins or comes close to winning in Daytona has a leg up on all the rest of the competition!