NASCAR BLOG

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.

Robert Kauffman are giving Nascar a high-octane boost,moonshine runners and car dealers who gave the motor sport its start. A record $3.5 billion in sponsorships will flow into U.S. motor sports in 2008. That’s attracting Kauffman, fund owner John Henry, who owns the Boston Red Sox; and George Gillett. They see an opportunity for more profit from applying financial expertise to mom-and-pop businesses. ` Nascar is the biggest U.S. racing league by sales and claims. Kauffman purchased half of Michael Waltrip Racing.

Toyota’s progress in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from early 2007 to January 2008 has been an eye-opener.Toyotas posted six of the fastest cumulative speeds in qualifying trim. Denny Hamlin ran second fastest at 188.818 mph.Dale Jarrett says he has a fighting chance to win the 50th running of the Great American Race. Toyota assembled a group of engineers dedicated to the development of restrictor-plate engines for the Camry version of the COT.

 Denning explaining that the moment at the Kotel was the first time he sensed a touch of the divine. Denning has toured throughout Israel. He pitched tents in the Negev Desert climbed Masada and took in views of the Mediterranean Sea. Denning said that moving to Virginia to train and race was a culture shock for him.

Now that the New Year’s Eve celebrations are all gone, it is right the time for Testing at Daytona International Speedway to commence. It’s time for the drivers and crew members to head south for two weeks of testing around the famed Daytona track that will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 500 next month.

The Orlando Sentinel has made a decision to focus more on its local news. Doing so, the Sentinel will cut its national NASCAR coverage. Ed Hinton, one of the best and most popular NASCAR writers, will also be leaving the company. This decision is connected with the fact that NASCAR 

is one of the most watched sports in the U.S. and local news is very often neglected. Therefore, someone should care for the local news coverage and this mission has been taken on by the Orlando Sentinel.

Team on the Newly Rechristened NASCAR Sprint Cup Circuit Introduces Groundbreaking 36-Race, $4,995 Sponsorships. This is a kind of an Integrated Marketing Campaign launched by Online Components.  According to BAM Racing, sponsorship programs for the team’s 2008 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series entry can now be bought online via eBay and other online auction websites. Such an opportunity has become available for the first time in the history of NASCAR.

New sponsors to secure their program online by December 31, 2007 (which is the pre-season deadline), receive a supplementary high-tech activation package concentrating heavily on the online activation of their sponsorship and provides an integrated marketing campaign for such a high profile sport as NASCAR which boasts 75 million fans.

NASCAR has chosen Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) for a prized two-day Cup test to be held in March 3-4 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway due to competition and business reasons. The session, open to all teams, is a PIR first. PIR, so convenient for the teams, accumulates a publicity in advance of its April 12 Subway Fresh Fit 500.

When the NASCAR truck race starts in 2009, it will carry a different brand than Craftsman. This name has always been synonymous with the NASCAR race series since its inception more than ten years ago. Sears, Roebuck and Co. that has always been the title sponsor since the racing series started in ‘95, is giving up this role after next year. NASCAR officials have not yet begun looking for a replacement, but they have more than a year to find a new sponsor.