NASCAR OFF SEASON WITHDRAWAL AND THERAPY THREAD

Local and Internet ^ | 12/10/2014 | Self

[mabarker1]

Fred Lorenzen - Driver, NASCAR Hall of Fame

(b. 12/30/1934)
Hometown: Elmhurst, Ill.
Premier Series Stats
Competed: 1956-1972
Starts: 158
Wins: 26
Poles: 32

• Fred Lorenzen was one of NASCAR's first true superstars even though he was a "part-time" driver never running more than 29 of the season's 50-plus races. Lorenzen got his start in NASCAR as a mechanic with the famed Holman-Moody team in 1960, but was elevated to lead driver by the end of the year. Lorenzen won three races in only 15 starts the following season. Lorenzen's best overall season came in 1963 as he finished with six wins, 21 top fives and 23 top 10s in 29 starts. Despite missing 26 races that season, he finished third in the standings. In 1964, he entered 16 of the scheduled 62 races but won eight, including five consecutive starts. During that stretch, Lorenzen led 1,679 of the possible 1,953 laps, one of the most dominant runs in NASCAR history. In 1965, he won two of NASCAR's major events - the Daytona 500 and the World 600. Lorenzen retired in 1967 but made a brief comeback from 1970-72. Lorenzen was an extremely popular driver with fans, to the point that he had several nicknames - "Golden Boy," "Fearless Freddie" and "The Elmhurst Express." In 1998, he was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers.

• "Golden Boy" Lorenzen Reaches NASCAR Pinnacle Winning Percentage Ranks Fifth All-Time: Fred Lorenzen's NASCAR career was brief, just 158 premier series starts over slightly more than a decade. The Elmhurst, Illinois, native never ran a complete season, his Holman-Moody Ford team choosing only to compete in the schedule's most prestigious events. But when Lorenzen did buckle into his white, #28 Ford, it could be argued the rest of the field was running for second place. He was the "Golden Boy."

  From 1961 through 1967 he won 26 times, posting more victories than NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty (21) and David Pearson (eight). Lorenzen's 16.46 career winning percentage ranks fifth all-time and highest among drivers without a NASCAR premier series championship. Lorenzen retired after the 1967 season, made a brief return in 1970-72 but left many - including himself - wondering what could have been. "I quit way too early," Lorenzen said in a 1985 interview with Circle Track magazine. "I was good for another five or six years. I was at my prime, but I'd won about everything there was to win and I had plenty of money. I was sick with stomach ulcers and I was tired of living out of a suitcase. Most of all the spark was gone; the candle was out."

  How good was Lorenzen? His crew chief, Herb Nab, asked to name the best driver in NASCAR, pointed to Lorenzen's picture on a poster. "People say Fireball Roberts is the best driver. That there is the best driver." Petty, quoted in the same Insider Racing News.com article, said, "Fred Lorenzen was total concentration before, during and after the race." Longtime friend and mechanic Jack Sullivan, quoted by Stock Car Racing in 1968, said, "Freddie ate, slept, breathed and dreamt racing, 24 hours a day."

  Lorenzen also was among the first "outsiders" to capture the fancy of the partisan southeastern crowds following NASCAR premier series competition. Lorenzen was named the circuit's Most Popular Driver in 1963 and 1965. "Freddie was the first northerner I knew that all the people here liked," Charlie "Slick" Owens, a Charlotte auto parts manager told Chicagoland Auto Racing.com's Stan Kawalsinski.

  The Chicago Tribune's David Condon wrote similarly in 1964. "If there is one athlete in America who is as wholesome as (baseball's) Stan Musial, it has to be stock car racing's Fred Lorenzen from Elmhurst, Illinois. Fred is the All-American hero."

  "He was good-natured and got along with everybody," said fellow competitor and Daytona 500 winner Marvin Panch.

  Lorenzen, born Dec. 30, 1934, followed racing from an early age once setting up a tent in his family's backyard so as to listen to a broadcast of the Southern 500 without interruption. He built a miniature car out of spare parts at age 13, a washing machine motor-powered contraption that was confiscated by police for being too fast. Lorenzen's first races came on Chicago-area dirt tracks and drag strips. He won the 1958-59 U.S. Auto Club stock car championships and caught the eye of Ralph Moody, who with partner John Holman operated Ford's preeminent NASCAR premier series program. Moody called on Christmas Eve 1960 to offer a mechanic's job - and the possibility of driving. Lorenzen accepted and couldn't believe his good fortune.

  "It was like walking into a diamond factory," he said of the team's shop and resources in a 2009 interview with the broadcaster TNT. "I had the best of everything. When you've got it all, it's easier to do."

  Lorenzen won three times in 1961 including Darlington Raceway's Rebel 300 in which he out-foxed NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Curtis Turner with two laps remaining to earn the nickname "Fearless Freddie." Mirror driving the second-place Lorenzen, Turner repeatedly blocked the high side of the one-groove track. Lorenzen faked a high pass and shot under the not-pleased Turner. "That race was extra special because the track is so very, very special and because I was able to beat Curtis Turner," said Lorenzen in an interview with the Charlotte Observer's Tom Higgins. "You've got to remember that for a kid like me, names like Curtis Turner, Joe Weatherly and Fireball Roberts were hero stuff."

  His best season was 1963 when he finished with six wins, 21 top fives and 23 top 10s in 29 starts. Despite winning 26 races that season, he finished third in the standings. Lorenzen started just 16 races in 1964 but won eight times including five consecutive starts. During that stretch, he led 1,679 of the possible 1,953 laps, one of the most dominant runs in NASCAR history. A year later he won two of NASCAR's major events - the Daytona 500 and World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

  In retirement, Lorenzen became a successful Chicago real estate developer. He was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. He was previously enshrined in the National Motorsports Press Association and International Motorsports halls of fame and Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.(NASCAR)(1-16-2015)

• website: fredlorenzen.com

• driver stats at racing-reference.info
  owner stats at racing-reference.info

[mabarker1]

Updated 1-14-2015

• JAYSKI.COM GUIDELINES for POSTING:
  Each job post will be up for approx a month or until the team [Sprint Cup, XFINITY and Trucks] wishes it pulled.
  Also will post internships for teams, NASCAR, media companies.
  Jayski.com only posts for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series teams/jobs.
  The team must be mentioned in the opening and an active NASCAR Racing team, with email and or phone/fax number for contact along with job positions.
  Jayski.com does NOT post drivers / or crews who are looking for work. The is a free service and as a favor to teams and folks looking for jobs in NASCAR. Jayski.com is under no obligation to post openings.

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JOBS

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• ThorSport Racing (NASCAR Truck Series Teams #88, #98, #13) is currently seeking qualified fabricators, mechanics and race engineers with race team experience. Must be willing to relocate to Sandusky, Ohio. Send resume to jobs@thorsport.com or call (419) 621-8800.(1-14-2015)

• The Motorsports Group (TMG), scheduled to field the #30 car full-time for the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season is hiring for their new team. Jobs Available inculde: Car Chief, Interior Specialists, Shock Specialist, Engineers, Tire Specialist, Mechanics and EFI Specialists/Engine Tuner. Contact Gary Showalter via email at hr@themotorsportsgroup.com or the shop via phone (704) 663-1670 or go to themotorsportsgroup.com.(1-8-2015)

• Front Row Motorsports is searching for qualified applicants to fill the following vacant positions for the 2015 Sprint Cup Series Season: Car Chief, Road Crew, Truck Driver, Painter, General Assembly Shop Mechanic, Shop Electrician. If interested please submit your resume to Becky Hopkins, Administrative Assistant at Front Row Motorsports: bhopkins@frontrowmotorsports.com.(1-7-2015)

• check out www.nascar.com/careers for info on working at/with NASCAR

• JobLink Career Center Locations:
  www.centralinaworks.com/joblink

• Employment opportunities in the automotive performance and racing industries: at horsepowerjobs.com

[mabarker1]

Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety sponsoring qualifying at Atlanta: The Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety will serve as the title sponsor of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying day at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday, Feb. 27. The event will be named the Drive Sober Georgia Qualifying Day. GOHS's "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign is a safe driving program that targets impaired drivers through concentrated patrols and sobriety checkpoints. The zero tolerance campaign reminds motorists that if they get caught driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher, they will be arrested and go to jail. The Drive Sober Georgia Qualifying Day will feature a full day of high-speed NASCAR action on the Atlanta Motor Speedway oval. NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series, XFINITY Series and Sprint Cup Series teams will each take part in practice sessions during the day before Sprint Cup Series qualifying begins at 5:45pm to determine the pole winner and the starting order for Sunday's Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.(AMS)(1-17-2015)

[mabarker1]

Hendrick buys limited-edition BMW at Barrett-Jackson: NASCAR team owner and inveterate car collector Rick Hendrick is at it again. Thursday night at the Barrett-Jackson Collector-Car Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., Hendrick paid $700,000 for a special 30th Jahre -- German for "year" -- Anniversary Edition 2014 BMW M5 sedan, with all proceeds going to the BMW Car Club of America Foundation, which helps train young drivers. The car was one of just 30 imported in to the U.S. market, and one of just 300 produced worldwide. The $700,000 hammer price was the high sale of the auction so far. And it hauls asphalt, too, thanks to a 600-horsepower engine, which propels it from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 3.9 seconds. The consignor described this car as "the last unsold example in this country" and "the most powerful production BMW ever." Hendrick said the car will join the more than 200 cars in his Concord, N.C., museum. In fact, it will be parked next to a BMW i8 hybrid supercar in the same color. "We were fortunate enough to get the i8 in this color," said Hendrick. "This baby's going to go right beside the i8 in the museum. The only miles it's going to get are in the truck (sending it from Arizona to North Carolina.)"(FoxSports)(1-17-2014)

[mabarker1]

Kahne looks forward to return to sprint cars: #5-Kasey Kahne hopes to race a sprint car again after spending five nights this month wheeling one of the fastest cars on dirt. He certainly hopes it doesn't take another three years to run his next sprint-car race. After a 2011 wreck where he flipped out of Williams Grove (Pa.) Raceway, Kahne ran a few more sprint-car races in 2012 before Rick Hendrick stopped approving him to compete in the open-cockpit cars that tend to flip more than a stock car. Kahne convinced his NASCAR team owner to allow him to get back into a sprint car powered by 410-cubic-inch engine at Cocopah Speedway in Arizona the first two weekends in January. Kahne finished 10th overall in points after the five races, with a best finish of fifth. He would have liked to have run better, but he just relished the opportunity to be in the cars again. He owns a sprint-car team and is around them daily. Kahne said he wasn't trying to make a statement about sprint-car racing by competing in the inaugural sprint-car "Winter Heat" event at the Arizona track. As far as his racing schedule, Kahne says he has no idea when he'll be back in a sprint car. "I definitely won't be waiting two-and-a-half years again," Kahne said. "I'm not sure when that next time will be. I think it''s definitely better to do it sooner than later so you can kind of keep with it and understand things. Me and Mr. H just talked about these five races and doing them. We did them and now I'm just focused on the Cup car. I would hope to get back in one at some point within three years."(Sporting News)(1-17-2015)

[mabarker1]

Sad News - Edward Doebler: Edward John Doebler, father of Richard Petty Motorsports fabricator and body hanger Kevin Doebler, passed away in a motor vehicle accident near his home in Troutman, NC the evening of Tuesday, January 13, 2015. He was 62. Ed retired from IBM in Endicott, NY after over 30 years of service. He was a racer who had feature wins at the former Shangri-La Speedway in Owego, NY where he was nicknamed "The Leadfoot". While maintaining his full time job Ed assisted among others Alan Kulwicki Racing, Jimmy Means Racing and Brett Bodine Racing as a tire specialist, jackman, tire changer even crew chief when the series shifted to the northern tracks. Ed was a family man who is survived by his wife of 39 years, Patricia Doebler; his mother, Dorothy Doebler of Binghamton, NY; two sons, Joseph Doebler and Kevin Doebler both of Mooresville, NC, and his daughter, Kristi Doebler of Wilmington, NC. He was preceded in death by his Father, Richard Doebler. Celebrations of life will be held in Ed's honor on Monday, January 19 in Mooresville, NC at the Wingate Hotel from 6:30-8:30pm and on Thursday, January 22 in Binghamton, NY at American Legion Post 1194 from 6:00-8:00pm. In lieu of flowers please donate to your local Humane Society or favorite children's charity.(1-18-2015)

[mabarker1]

Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham Begin 2015 Living in the Past UPDATE: Jeff Gordon and former crew chief Ray Evernham will team up again in 2015. On Jan. 16 in Scottsdale, Arizona, the duo will auction off their final race-winning car at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale. Proceeds from the sale of the 1999 #24 Pepsi Chevrolet Monte Carlo that won the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series (then known as the NASCAR Busch Series) race at Phoenix International Raceway will benefit Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation. In 1999, Gordon/Evernham Motorsports (GEM) was formed to compete in six NASCAR XFINITY Series races with Gordon as driver and Evernham as crew chief. Evernham hosts Velocity's AmeriCarna, and the television series will feature the restoration and sale of this 1999 #24 Chevy (Lot No. 3007; scheduled to be auctioned at 7 p.m. local time) during an upcoming episode.(VMG)(1-13-2015)
UPDATE: Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham's final race-winning stock car sold for $500,000 at auction on Friday night at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale, to benefit the Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation. The car reached $450,000 and then hit a half million when Gordon sweetened the deal by adding his Pepsi uniform and autographed helmet. Both Gordon and Evernham were in attendance to watch the car go across the auction block. Evernham, who currently hosts "AmeriCarna" on Velocity, was also part of the Barrett-Jackson broadcast with the auction moving over to that channel this week. One of the upcoming episodes of "AmeriCarna" will feature the restoration and sale of the #24 Chevrolet. Season 2 of "AmeriCarna" is set to debut Feb. 17 on Velocity. Along with the Gordon car, one of the shows will be Elvis Presley-themed and it's one that Dale Earnhardt Jr. helped Evernham with.(Motor Racing Network)(1-18-2015)

[mabarker1]

Stewart expects at least one more leg surgery: The long recovery process from a broken leg suffered in a dirt-track race in August 2013 continues for Tony Stewart. He had a fourth surgery last month, and a fifth - and, he hopes, final - operation is scheduled after the 2015 Sprint Cup season to remove the titanium rod that supports the right leg. "The leg isn't bad," he said. "I was out here (working at the track [at the Chili Bowl]) on it for 12 hours Monday and didn't have a problem. That's a long day for anybody on their feet. I'm in pain, but I'm walking back and forth, so it's not terrible. The last surgery wasn't that bad. I feel better at this time this year than at the same time last year. I'm much further along."(USA Today)(1-18-2015)

[mabarker1]

Been a week since they changed the rod in my leg. Just changed the gauze. The stitches looked great, for stitches

[mabarker1]

Kurt Busch has no comment on legal issues: Inside the Panic Switch Army retail trailer in one corner of the Chili Bowl souvenir area, Kurt Busch was at rest Saturday. It has been a long January. On the way to a NASCAR/Goodyear tire test scheduled Monday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Busch dropped in on the Chili Bowl Friday and Saturday to get a taste of the country's No. 1 Midget racing event - and to sell a few T-shirts. Busch had spent two days this week in Kent County (Del.) Family Court, where he and others testified in hearings about a protection order filed against Busch by Patricia Driscoll, his former girlfriend. The hearings created interest far beyond the normal reach of NASCAR news, particularly when Busch claimed that Driscoll is a trained assassin, leading Driscoll to insist - again - that Busch is a candidate for treatment for alcoholism and depression. So Busch, weeks away from the start of his second Sprint Cup season with Stewart-Haas Racing, was more than happy to drop in on the Chili Bowl - his first visit, he said - and to leave the legal craziness behind for a while. The judge's decision in the case is expected within the next month. Busch wouldn't talk about his off-track troubles Friday or Saturday. Instead, he roamed the track area meeting fans, visited team co-owner Tony Stewart (who's working with the track-preparation crew here) and relaxed at the Panic Switch Army traveling headquarters. Busch is a partner (along with company executives Luke and Charis Burrett) in Panic Switch, an "urban and streetwear" clothing company that is making inroads in the NASCAR (and other motor sports) souvenir area with on-the-edge apparel and accessories. Among Panic Switch's "team" members are Busch (whose T-shirts are labeled "Outlaw"), Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart and wrestler Bill Goldberg.(USA Today)(1-18-2015)

[mabarker1]

Zing Zang to return to Tommy Baldwin Racing: Zing Zang Bloody Mary Mix, who sponsored Tommy Baldwin Racing's #36 and driver Reed Sorenson for four races in 2014, announced on Twitter that: "Hey NASCAR fans! Green Flag! It's go time! We just signed with Tommy Baldwin Racing to support Reed Sorenson for the Sprint Cup season - starting with the Martinsville Speedway Race on March 29!" Doesn't say how many races.(1-18-2015)

[mabarker1]

Abreu wins Chili Bowl: Rico Abreu scored one of the biggest wins of his racing career Saturday on one of short-track open-wheel racing's biggest stages. Abreu took first place with a bold pass of leader Bryan Clauson on the 27th of 55 laps and held on to win the Chili Bowl, one of the nation's major Midget races. It was the first Chili Bowl victory for Abreu, who runs both sprint-car and Midget series. Former Chili Bowl champion Kevin Swindell finished second after he made mid-race contact with his father, Sammy, also a previous Bowl winner. Damion Gardner was third. Sprint Cup driver Kyle Larson, a teammate of Abreu's, spun out twice during the race and finished seventh.(USA Today), J.J. Yeley finished 17th and Chad Boat was 21st in the final.(1-18-2015)

[mabarker1]

NASCAR spotters at the Rolex 24: NASCAR is NASCAR and sports cars are sports cars - and never the two shall meet, right? But at the upcoming Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway [January 24-25], that demarcation line is getting more blurry than ever. Two of the best spotters in NASCAR will be lending their eyes and (hopefully) calming voices on the team radio in this year's Rolex 24. Tim Fedewa, himself a former NASCAR driver and primary spotter for reigning 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion #4-Kevin Harvick, will give this sports car thing a whirl for a second time, having also done so in last year's Rolex. Also, Tyler Green, who has served as #43-Aric Almirola's spotter the last five years - including for Almirola's first career Cup win last summer in the Coke Zero 400 at DIS - will also be for a second straight year at the Rolex. Both Fedewa and Green will be part of a team for Mazda drivers, that also includes Mazda primary spotter Chris Long (who works full-time with Chip Ganassi's NASCAR team), as well as Daniel Tremblay, son of Mazda SpeedSource team owner and driver, Sylvain Tremblay.
Spotters work four-hour shifts during the race. "We will do four hours on, and four off," Green said. "We're used to long days on the spotter stand at NASCAR races, but this is like doing three 500-mile Cup races in one day."
Spotters must be like postal carriers in the 24, in a sense. Neither gloom, nor dark, nor storms, nor chills will keep them from their appointed rounds in keeping their respective drivers safe and out of trouble. "It's pretty straightforward in the daytime," Fedewa said. "But, it's not lit up like a NASCAR race when it's dark. So, you have to focus that much more."(NBC Sports)(1-19-2015)

[mabarker1]

Goodyear tire test at Las Vegas: The first NASCAR test of the 2015 season is scheduled to take place Monday when four Sprint Cup Series teams participate in a one-day Goodyear tire test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The teams of #41-Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing) and #47-AJ Allmendinger (JTG Daugherty Racing) will be on hand as representatives for Chevy; #20-Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing) is the Toyota entry while Brad Keselowski (Team Penske) and his #2 Ford team will be on hand to round out the test teams and vehicles. According to a Team Penske representative, Keselowski's teammate Joey Logano, crew chief Todd Gordon and several members of the #22 Team Penske group will be on hand as well to help and observe. In previous years, tire tests haven't generated a great deal of interest. Now that NASCAR no longer allows private team testing, however, track time is considered more valuable. Goodyear has scheduled 14 tests for the upcoming season; Monday's trip to Las Vegas is the only one currently on the schedule that does not dovetail with a team test. Others will be either one- or two-day tires tests followed by a single-day team test. For now, only a stop next month at Atlanta will see teams test prior to a Goodyear tire test at the facility. Teams will be given a four-hour window for testing one day before the start of that track's race weekend. A two-day Goodyear tire test will be conducted at the track on March 2-3 after the completion of the Sprint Cup event. In all other cases, the team test will come after the Goodyear test is completed.(NASCAR.com)(1-19-2015)

[McGruff]

The first NASCAR test of the 2015 season is scheduled to take place Monday...

That's what I want to hear. Keep hope alive.

[Chode]

OUCH!!!

[mabarker1]

From Jr's Twitter Page

It's with a heavy heart that I must share the sad news of our dog Killers passing from cancer. He was special.

RIP Killer, Go find Your Grandfather and play in the field with Him.

[Chode]

he was a fine looking dog... RIP

[mabarker1]

Yes He was.

Got to meet Him once at JRM during a Wristband pass out to get Autographs the next day (Spring Race here) there was a Crunchie Drive for the Local Critter Shelter and a donation of Critter food got You in the line for the Wristbands. Killer was “sniff testing” all the donations.

Bella is wearing Black for the next few days...

[mabarker1]

RCR to field #29 for Scott in Daytona 500: Richard Childress Racing (RCR) will field the #29 Chevy in the Daytona 500 for RCR XFNITY Series driver Brian Scott, who will attempt his second Daytona 500. The #29 will return to Sprint Cup Series competition for the first time since 2013 at Homestead, where reigning Cup champion Kevin Harvick wheeled a 10th place finish in final start for RCR. Richard "Slugger" Labbe, who stepped down as crew chief for Paul Menard following the Charlotte race last October to take a leadership role in research and development is the leading candidate to lead Scott during Speedweeks 2015. Scott competed in last season's Daytona 500, qualifying a strong 12th, before finishing 25th in the #33 Whitetail Club Chevy for Circle Sport Racing. Circle Sport, which carries an affiliation with RCR will field an entry for Ty Dillon at Daytona [#33 Cheerios/Kroger Chevy]. Shore Lodge, a longtime backer of Scott's NASCAR career is expected to sponsor him in his eighth Sprint Cup Series race. Scott's pole at Talladega earned him an a spot in next month's Sprint Unlimited, but Scott is not scheduled to compete in the non-points event, which opens the door for RCR teammate #27 Paul Menard to take his place, based on the new Sprint Unlimited guidelines unveiled by NASCAR last month. Scott's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series program has not been outlined, but he is expected to run a limited schedule with hopes of a full-time campaign in 2016.(Catchfence)(1-19-2015)