NASCAR BLOG

The 20 year old blonde driving sensation Chrissy Wallace will be the latest addition from the Wallace household to make her debut in the NASCAR race and this avid racer has gone a bit further as she is going to make her debut in NASCAR at the Craftsman truck Series named Kroger 250 at the Martinsville Speedway on March 29th. Wallace will be competing in the NASCAR races for Germain racing and will take part in five ARCA races as well as five Truck races. She was the first female driver in the 57 year old history of Carolina race track to be victorious in a Late Model stock car race.

Wallace says that she is pretty aware that she is competing in the truck race that has been predominantly dominated by males and is happy that the Germain racing team had confidence in her to sign her to race for their team. The Germain racing is the only company to be hiring a father-daughter duo to race for their team. Wallace says that her dad, Mike Wallace, is her coach and her well-wisher and is glad that her father will be there at Martinsville to watch her race. She says that she is pretty close to her dad as both of them are racing and the bond between them is very strong.

The paving work going on the surface of the Darlington raceway has been completed. Work has been going on to prepare the race track for the forth coming Dodge Challenger 500 weekend race happening on the 8th to 10th of May 2008. The track president, Chris Browning made the announcement on Wednesday. He further said that with the paving done and completed the focus would shift to the actual preparations for the Dodge challenger 500 coming up. The paving work began in the middle of January on the Darlington race track. It gulped almost 15,000 tons of asphalt. The original race surface was laid in 1994. About 4 million reference points had to be utilized by the construction team to ensure that the new track is exactly as the original design and pattern.

The total reconstruction project was valued at $10 million and included a new infield tunnel. The tunnel was to be large enough to take car haulers, emergency vehicles and motor homes. Safety barriers were also upgraded to make them safer. Interior concrete walls on the back and front stretch were also constructed. “Too Tough To Tame” is a test race. It is a Goodman tire test race, the first race on the new tracks and it would come up on the 10th and 11th of March. Among the expected drivers would be Jeff Gordon who has won the Darlington event seven times. Greg Biffle has won it twice and he would also feature as a driver along with Ryan Newman who won the 2008 event of Daytona 500.

Jeff Gordon, the four time champion, racing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in his No 24 Chevrolet made a contact with racer Matt Kenseth’s car just four laps before the finish of the race and the impact was such that both the racers had to withdraw from the UAW-Dodge 400 race. Jeff Gordon was not worried of the contact with another car, but raised his concerns over the minimal protection given on the curved portion of the backstretch inside wall onto which his car collided. He says that, but for his safety racecar, he would have sustained major injuries and was thankful to his team mechanics for developing such a safe racecar.

Gordon hit the back end of Kenseth’s car and his car spun and went on to hit the wall at an area that was devoid of Steel and Foam Energy Reduction or SAFER which is provided along the walls of the racetrack to absorb the impact. Gordon said that he would talk to the track owner and general manager about the poor safety standards of the track and insisted that the SAFER should be provided both outside as well as inside the wall barriers. The track spokesperson said that the track authorities will make the necessary changes as per the recommendations of NASCAR.

29 year old Dan Lowery has won the “Your name Here” competition being sponsored by Crown Royal to pick a new name for the 2008 sprint Cup race to hold on may 3rd, 2008 at the International Raceway in Richmond. The race would now be called the “Crown Royal Presents The Dan Lowery 400”. Dan from New Waterford in Ohio was part of the new name unveiling ceremony and was part of several helicopters that flew over the Vegas Strip to a desert mosaic covering about 10,000 sq. foot. The Mosaic featured Dan Lowery’s name as part of the official identity and logo of the race which would take place at the Richmond Raceway.

There were over 10,000 entries submitted and applicants had to write their fondest Crown Royal memories when the drink was enjoyed responsibly. Lowery’s entry submission came out tops and now his name will be incorporated in all the race logos and associated merchandise. It would also be recognized and accepted by NASCAR and all associated media. He would also be part of the activities before the race and would be on hand to hand over the trophy to the winning driver on Victory Lane. He would be received and entertained during race weekend as a VIP guest along with a companion of his choice. This is the second year that Crown royal is sponsoring the Richmond race and it says it would sponsor the event next year, 2009 and hold another naming contest to give another adult fan a chance to contest to give another adult fan a chance to affix his name on the race.

Ashley Cooper, a 27 year old driver from Ulladulla in the state of New South Wales lost his life due to injuries caused by a crash in the Clipsal 500 race. Ashley’s V8 supercar hit the concrete barrier at the exit of a corner, while moving at a speed of 120 mph. The accident caused severe head injuries and brain swelling. On the spot he was attended to by a senior medical officer of the Clipsal 500 and was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital by an ambulance. Ashley was in coma condition and was kept on the life supporting system till his death.
The crash occurred on the 11th lap of the final series of the race and Cooper had the collision at the 8th turn. The first hit was at the driver’s side and the car went across the track to hit the opposite wall with its rear end. This is the second fatal accident that stuck, Australia’s premier auto racing competition within two years time. New Zealand driver Mark Porter died following an accident in October 2006 in the Bathurst 1000 race. Wayne Cattach, chief executive of V8 supercars said that, the preliminary look of the footage points to the fact that Cooper’s car, while entering the corner has clipped the guard rail.

Several drivers were penalized after NASCAR found them guilty of violating some NASCAR rules. Among these drivers were: Dale Earnhardt Jr, Cale Gale, Kertus Davis, David Gilliland, Johnny Sauter, David Stremme and Todd Bodine. Bodine is known to be winner of the truck series. One of the major penalties that were issued was to Robby Gordon and his team. Gordon placed 8th during the Daytona International Speedway. Gordon and his team were found guilty after the inspection on the first day of Daytona 500. His Dodge had a front bumper cover which was considered an illegal addition by NASCAR. This discrepancy caused Gordon and his tem 100 points plus a $100,000 penalty off his chief of crew.

Other drivers were also penalized with points and a couple of thousand of dollars. Among these is Earnhardt who was penalized for 50 points with this chief of crew also penalized with $25, 000. The drivers such as Earnhardt were also banned for the upcoming six races. There were also other cars fined for having an aerodynamically modified oil tank, another illegal addition for NASCAR. Each of the chiefs of crew that were found guilty of these illegal additions was fined for $15,000. The teams as well as the drivers were not only penalized but just like the others, they were prohibited from participating in the upcoming six races of the nationwide event.

The 17 year long wait for Todd Bodine is over and he tasted victory at last in the truck race in Daytona. Bodine has made almost 34 tries at the famous Daytona international speedway to reach the victory lane. He won the Chevy Silverado 250 craftsman truck series by holding of Johnny Benson and Kyle Busch. Todd Bodine used a Toyota and his average speed was 127.551 mph. The race lasted for 1 hour, 57 minutes and 36 seconds and Todd’s victory margin is .077 seconds. For the first time in the history of Daytona Craftsman Series the trucks were using 17.75 gallon fuel cells instead of the usual 22 gallon cells.

The race was stopped for 17 minutes, 23 seconds due to an accident that caused the elimination of Skinner from the race and damage to many vehicles. Ron Hornaday, The defending truck series champion had to take his No. 33 Chevrolet for repair because of mechanical problems. Busch bagged the second position followed by Benson and David Starr. It was a moment of great pride for Toyota as their drivers reached the top four positions in the Chevy Silverado 250.

NASCAR proved they were serious when they put Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch on a 6-race probation because of bad behavior.  The two have been known to exchange harsh words and eventually a punch in the face, as some report say, so NASCAR officials acted on the situation — and right when Daytona 500 is coming up.  Stewart and Busch’s conflict started when they wrecked into each other during practice and had a confrontation that reached the NASCAR officials’ trailer.

NASCAR officials said that what happened during practice was a racing accident, but what the drivers did after that was a different thing.  They also stressed that “probation” means a lot more this time than it used to.  NASCAR has not really given a harsh punishment for a driver before because of bad behavior, but this year will be different.  It certainly is, as the season comes to a start with two star drivers on probation.

Stewart and Pemberton will still be able to race, but they need to allow each other some room when on the track.  According to a NASCAR official, this doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to seriously race.  They just need to avoid intentionally crashing into each other when in tight situations.

Busch is pretty confident that Toyota will be seen in the victory lane in this year’s NASCAR 2008 season as Joe Gibbs Racing has shifted from Chevrolet to Toyota for the upcoming season. All the racing drivers on these Toyotas, be it Busch or Tony Stewart or Denny, have proven their mettle on the NASCAR race tracks previously and Busch feels that this is a great opportunity for the Toyotas to make a mark on the NASCAR circuit. The drafting practice sessions for the Joe Gibbs racing team are showing good results and Busch feels that the car is better equipped to handle greater speeds this season.  The technicians and the mechanics are also toiling very hard to put the Toyota cars in better racing shape and the inputs given by the race drivers are also adhered to while making the final adjustments on the car. The entire Gibbs racing team is pumped up for the big occasion and is eagerly waiting for the moment to roll their cars on the NASCAR tracks. The Joe Gibbs Racing team fans as well as the Toyota car fans are also hoping that Busch’s predictions come true and there is a rumor in the NASCAR circuit that the Joe Gibbs racing means business this time round.

The legal notice is issued for the NASCAR fans on the restriction on smoking on the Bristol Motor Speedway. On 3th February Kevin Triplett the Bristol Motor Speedway’s vice president of public affairs has said that from this year there will be no smoking on the speedway because there were many complaints filed against smoking while many people also don’t have any dilemma against this rule. Earlier in October the Tennessee rule was prohibiting smoking in most public facilities which includes sports arenas as well. But now this follow up rule is made to determine the areas where smokers are not allowed to smoke are terraces, restrooms and seating area; while smoking is allowed in concourses. There will be “No Smoking” on the prohibited areas. Management will not hire smoking police but, the smokers will be ask to extinguish at the spot, when spot smoking. The world should be smoke free now as it is harmful and hazardous for health, government is liable and now when it is taking step, the responsible citizens should obey and let other breathe in smoke free air. Smoking and drinking is the only thing which people do on the tracks; but after this rule there will be some restrictions.