NASCAR BLOG

Perhaps right now is not the best time to be comparing anyone to Tiger Woods, but in terms of dominating his sport, Jimmie Johnson is starting to fit the mold. Johnson has won the last four Sprint Cup Series and he already looks unbeatable this season winning at Fontana and Las Vegas in February. Don’t be surprised if see Jimmie Johnson in the winner’s circle at the Kobalt Tools 500 in Atlanta. Johnson has won seven races each of the last two seasons and doesn’t appear to be slowing down on bit. Some fans are so sick of seeing Johnson win that they’re cheering on anyone who crashes into him. The fact remains that if Johnson keeps up his incredible form on the race track then he should be considered as a elite athlete in the world on par with the a certain Mr. Tiger Woods. If Johnson and his Loews’ Chevrolet can claim another Sprint Cup next year than he’ll half way to a decade of pure dominance. I wouldn’t put it past him either.

AAA’s national motorsports sponsorships will hit the end of the road after the 2008 season. The primary sponsor on Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 6 car and the official auto insurance for International Speedway Corp. tracks, AAA has decided that it will not renew those deals at the end of this season.

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.

Kasey Kahne, Nascar driver, is having a trial in Miami for assaulting a track security worker at Homestead-Miami Speedway last month. Archibald Hutchison, the victim, is 62. He is suing Kahne because of injuries he said he received on Nov. 16, when the young NASCAR driver pushed him at an access gate during the Ford 400 race weekend.
Kahne was charged with battery and released.

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.

Some of NASCAR’s most famous drivers will participate in the Darlington Historic Racing Festival on Aug. 30-31, including David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip, Buddy Baker, Junior Johnson and others. According to track president Chris Browning, the new festival will bring more than 100 vintage race cars, ranging from the 1950s to the 1970s, to NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway

Now, when we speak of NASCAR, the first car that comes to our mind is Toyota Jarett. But what was the car of the past? Was Toyota associated with racing at that time? I’m afraid, no.
It was white and blue No. 88 Ford Thunderbird with that signature broad, flat nose. Also, Chevy. Both of them were great racing cars of their time, which managed to create excitement and aeropush. Now those cars are being sold to racing schools and ARCA teams.

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.