NASCAR OFF SEASON WITHDRAWAL AND THERAPY THREAD

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

[mabarker1]

MSHFA Class of 2015 Finalists: Finalists for the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America 2015 class have been determined. The Hall will unveil its seven new members on Friday, January 23, at Daytona International Speedway prior to the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The racing legends will join the Hall of Fame during the 27th Annual Induction Ceremony on June 18, 2015 at the Fillmore Theater in Detroit.
The nominees are:
veteran driver and official Wally Dallenbach
nine-time Indycar Series winning owner Chip Ganassi
championship owner Carl Haas
innovative designer and safety pioneer Ted Halibrand
three-time Indy winning owner Pat Patrick
Indy 500 veteran Lloyd Ruby
father of the Chrysler 426 Hemi Tom Hoover
six-time NHRA Pro Stock Champion Warren Johnson
announcer Dave McClelland
pioneer Paula Murphy
one of the first Funny Car drivers Gene Snow
Strange Engineering's boss Bob Stange
fifteen-time AMA Grand National race winner Everett Brashear
ten-time Motocross champ Ricky Carmichael
dirt track king Neil Keen
three-time Daytona 200 winner Dick Klamfoth
two-time world Superbike champion Fred Merkel
1950 AAA National Champion Henry Banks
NASCAR's first champion Red Byron
1963 Daytona 500 winner Tiny Lund
Novi legend Duke Nalon
mechanic and builder Ray Nichels
midget / sprint car king Bob Sweikert
youngest member of the "Alabama Gang, Davey Allison
championship owners Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick and Jack Roush
two time NASCAR Cup chanpion Terry Labonte
40 Sprint Cup Series race winner Mark Martin
off-road champion Walker Evans
GM Racing's Herb Fishel
NASCAR's VP of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter
off-road racings "Iron Man" Ivan Stewart
"Miss Hurst Golden Shifter" Linda Vaughn
famed writer Brock Yates
Dyson Racing founder Rob Dyson
four-time Trans Am champ Tommy Kendall
racer and broadcaster Sam Posey
five-time 24 Hours of Daytona champion Scott Pruett
Scarab's designer and builder Phil Remington
driver/founder of the legendary "Group 44" teams Bob Tullius
The Motorsports Museum & Hall of Fame of America is operated by the nonprofit Motorsports Museum and Hall of Fame of America Foundation Inc.(Motorsports Hall of Fame of America)(1-22-2015)

[mabarker1]

2015 Pocono Groundhog Day Special: It's time for Pocono Raceway's annual Groundhog Day Special! They have partnered up with Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs for a great offer this year! On February 2nd, the eyes of the world will focus on the esteemed Punxsutawney Phil to see if he will prognosticate an early spring or six more weeks of winter. If Phil does NOT see his shadow, anyone who purchases a Pocono Raceway $25 Gift Card, as part of this Groundhog Day Special, will receive $20 in Free Slot Play from our pals over at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. More info at poconoraceway.com.(Pocono Raceway)(1-22-2015)

[mabarker1]

Tony Stewart tours MacDill AFB refueling operation: Every weekend during racing season, #14-Tony Stewart deals with the pressure of going around a track very fast. Stewart got a taste of a different degree of pressure Tuesday afternoon [Jan 20] at MacDill Air Force Base when he took a spin on a console that simulates the delicate operation of mid-air refueling. "You are trying to push a needle through a haystack and see how intense it is and the condition these guys have to go through," Stewart said, describing his turn at the BOWST simulator used to help train those who operate the boom on the KC-135 aerial refueling jet. "To think there is only a three-man crew and two of them are on the front of the plane, and one guy is laying on his stomach in the back of the plane, running the nozzle ... you can tell that takes a lot of precision to do that. We're not talking about scratching a body panel. You're talking about scratching a multi-million dollar airplane. So definitely that's a lot of pressure for the guy that runs the nozzle." Stewart, fellow driver Kyle Larson and Joie Chitwood III, Daytona International Speedway president, were at MacDill on Tuesday to kick off the annual USO tour of military bases. "This is something we wish we got to do more often," said Stewart, a three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. "Without these men and women we wouldn't get the chance to do what we do every weekend." Aside from the simulator, the NASCAR contingent witnessed a military dog exhibition and got to tour a KC-135 that rolled off the assembly line in 1962.(Tampa Tribune)(1-21-2015)

[mabarker1]

Stewart-Haas Racing's #4-#14 pit crew swap is permanent: A 2014 late season pit crew swap between Stewart-Haas Racing teammates #14-Tony Stewart and #4-Kevin Harvick will be permanent, Stewart said Tuesday while making a USO visit with troops and military families at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. The Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner/driver and Harvick switched crews in September in time for the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup elimination playoff that culminated with Harvick hoisting his first trophy. Stewart, who did not qualify for last year's Chase, said Tuesday the teams will continue with the lineup as they left it last season. "The pit crew I had that pitted Kevin's car at the end of the year, we kept that switch permanent for this year," said Stewart.(NASCAR.com)(1-21-2015)

[mabarker1]

Vickers medically cleared to race in early March: Doctors have medically cleared Brian Vickers to return to full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup racing in early March, three months after corrective heart surgery. Vickers will make his season debut in the #55 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 8. MWR co-founder and two-time Daytona 500 champion Michael Waltrip will drive the #55 in the 57th annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 22. MWR will name a substitute driver for the March 1 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway later. "The doctors gave me a clean bill of health and said I will be better than before," said Vickers, the 31-year-old Thomasville, N.C. native whose health issues interrupted his racing seasons in 2010 and again in 2013. "The advancements in modern medicine and surgical procedures are amazing and I have to thank my doctors at the Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute and Carolinas Medical Center for their extraordinary care. I have literally put my life in their hands twice and I cannot begin to express my level of gratitude. I was not feeling well in December, so I went to see Dr. William Downey in Charlotte. He discovered my body was rejecting a patch that was surgically placed over a hole in my heart a few years ago. He and Dr. R. Mark Stiegel immediately went to work on correcting the problem. I also want to thank the great counsel along the way by Dr. Jerry Petty, Dr. Robert Heyer and my hematologist Dr. Stephan Moll from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine who is the founder of www.clotconnect.org. "Now all of my focus is getting ready so when I return we are prepared to win races and the championship in my Aaron's Dream Machine."(MWR)(1-21-2015)

[mabarker1]

Ron Hornaday to drive for TMG in Cup: Veteran NASCAR driver, Ron Hornaday, will be the primary driver of the #30 TMG Chevy for the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, starting at Daytona International Speedway. Hornaday, a longtime veteran in the NASCAR garage, starting off in the NASCAR K&N Series in 1989, he quickly advanced to the top series in the sport. In addition to an impressive 55 combined series wins, Hornaday also has four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championships. "I am happy to be signing on with Curtis Key and the entire TMG organization for the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Season," Hornaday said. "This team has been working really hard during the offseason to get cars ready for Daytona and the rest of the season. I'm hoping to bring some guidance and racing knowledge to this start up Cup team."
TMG Owner Curtis Key commented, "We are glad to have Ron Hornaday come on board with The Motorsports Group. Ron has been involved in the NASCAR industry for over 20 years now. His experience and knowledge of the industry is exactly what we need this first year in the Sprint Cup Series." Sponsorship opportunities are still available for the #30 TMG Chevy. More information on sponsorships will be announced in the coming weeks leading into the start of the 2015 NASCAR season.
The Motorsports Group, TMG is owned by Virginia businessman, Curtis Key. Purchasing the team in 1993 from 2-time Busch Series Champ, Tommy Ellis, the team currently resides in Mooresville, NC. In 2009, TMG entered into the NASCAR Nationwide Series as a full time competitor, and in September 2014, announced participation in the top tier, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.(TMG)(1-21-2015)

[mabarker1]

Atlanta Motor Speedway extends ticket office hours: To better serve customers purchasing event tickets and camping spaces for the Feb. 26-March 1 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 NASCAR Weekend, Atlanta Motor Speedway has extended its ticket office hours through Sunday, March 1. Beginning this Saturday, the ticket office will be open on weekends, including Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Additionally, the ticket office will extend its weekday hours an additional three hours and will be open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. beginning Monday, Feb. 9. Several money-saving tickets options are still available for each day of the upcoming Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 weekend, see these options at atlantamotorspeedway.com. For more information or to purchase tickets today, call the AMS ticket office at (770) 946-4211, (877) 9-AMS-TIX or visit atlantamotorspeedway.com.(AMS)(1-22-2015)

[mabarker1]

Jackman for Hamlin re-injured during off season: Last year during the Charlotte race in October, #11 Jackman for Joe Gibbs Racing, Nate Bolling, suffered a torn tricep and was sidelined throughout the Chase. Pit Talks is getting word that Bolling has torn the same tricep during the off season. Details of how it happened are not very clear but talking with guys familiar with this kind of injury suggest that he might be out till mid April and even May. Nate is a top level Jackman on the Cup Series and his absence will be missed. As far as who is going in on the #11 team....not sure yet. When the injury went down last year the #11 team had back up Kenneth Purcell step in and he did a great job. Purcell is scheduled to be the Gasman on the #19 JGR team and Carl Edwards this year. To make the situation even trickier, Jackman Jeff Fender of the JGR #18 just recently retired this year.(Pit Talks)(1-21-2015)

[mabarker1]

Cool! Thanks

[mabarker1]

That witch and her mother set his a$$ up!

And then broke it off inside him...

[mabarker1]

Wood Brothers Racing is the longest active NASCAR team: Wood Brothers Racing [#21-Ryan Blaney] has become something of a common face in NASCAR. Their consistent attendance year in and year out has possibly gone unnoticed to some, so one member of the family has set out to make sure the team's founding fathers get the recognition they finally deserve for their unwavering show of perseverance. Jon Wood, third-generation family member and former Wood Brothers Racing driver, grew up with a fascination for a very peculiar book. That book came to his elementary school once a year when the bookmobile would roll into town. The one book that was so captivating was the Guinness Book of World Records. "From the beginning I have been fascinated with the Guinness Book of World Records," said Wood. "I remember thinking that one day I would figure out a way to do something worthy of being in the Book. I think that's just part of a child's fairytale-like thought process." His family's race team, founded in 1950 by his grandfather Glen Wood, is generally considered NASCAR's longest active race team. The Woods have fielded cars every year since 1950, and while other established teams have come and gone, the Woods have maintained the same ownership through the present. That fact; however, has never been officially recognized, and Wood wanted to do something about that. He got on the Guinness World Records website and submitted an application for a record claim. "Very quickly I got a response from their sports records coordinator, and he was highly interested in helping with this claim," Wood said. The next step was finding a way to substantiate the record. For that he turned to Buz McKim, Historian at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. McKim quickly verified the Woods' record, and as they say, the rest is history. For Jon, getting his family's accomplishment documented in the Guinness Book of World Records makes the record that much more meaningful. Getting this documented and on paper brings feelings of accomplishment that is shared by members of three generations of Woods, each of whom has played a role in the team's longevity.(Wood Brothers Racing)(1-21-2015)

[mabarker1]

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Cover of ESPN the Magazine "Music" Issue: On the eve of Super Bowl - and the Grammys - ESPN The Magazine releases its third annual "Music Issue" with pages paying tribute to the converging worlds of sport and song. The issue - which hits newsstands Friday, January 23 - highlights the intersection of music and sports including features "Entertainers of the Year," as two of the biggest stars of the year - pop star Katy Perry and NFL powerhouse JJ Watt - collide; and "The Perfect Strangers," which highlights the developing relationship between NASCAR's native son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and platinum-selling hip-hop artist, J. Cole, and how they were forever linked by a single lyric before they even met.(ESPN)(1-21-2015)

[mabarker1]

Chili Bowl winner gets NASCAR ride: HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks announced that USAC National Midget champion and open wheel standout, Rico Abreu, will join the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East team in 2015. Abreu, 22, competed in more than 100 open-wheel races in 2014 in the United States and New Zealand. He posted 26 wins across 410 winged and non-winged sprint car, 360 winged sprints, and USAC midget competition in which he also won the national championship. Abreu most recently won the 2015 Chili Bowl Nationals last weekend. Abreu's #98 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East entry will be led by veteran K&N crew chief Mardy Lindley. Lindley has amassed five-career victories in three seasons, along with the 2013 K&N title with driver Dylan Kwasniewski. The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season gets underway on February 15 at New Smyrna Speedway. Abreu will kick-start his experience in stock cars and on pavement by competing in the Pete Orr Memorial Super Late Model event also at New Smyrna Speedway this Saturday, February 24.(PR)
AND Sources tell ESPN The Magazine that these races will serve as the first stages of a driver development agreement with Chip Ganassi Racing, whom Larson drives for in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Ganassi did little to keep the secret on Saturday night, following the Chili Bowl finish by excitedly posting in his second-ever (and since deleted) tweet: "There's a name you'll be hearing more of. Stay Tuned!" Also among the most notable post-Chili Bowl congratulatory tweets was one from NASCAR VP of Racing Operations Steve O'Donnell: "Congrats @Rico_Abreu looking forward to seeing you in #nascar."(ESPN)(1-21-2015)

[mabarker1]

Rascal Flatts to sing National Anthem at Las Vegas: Award-winning country group Rascal Flatts will sing the national anthem at the Kobalt 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday, March 8 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The performance will take place in the midst of the band's first-ever, nine-show residency, Rascal Flatts Vegas Riot!, at The Joint inside Hard Rock Hotel & Casino from Wednesday, Feb. 25 to Saturday, March 14. Rascal Flatts will sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in front of more than 100,000 race fans to kick off Nevada's largest sports event. The 18th annual Kobalt 400 headlines a race weekend that includes Stratosphere Pole Day on Friday, March 6 and the Boyd Gaming 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series event on Saturday, March 7. For more tickets and information on the Kobalt 400 or Las Vegas Motor Speedway, please visit www.lvms.com or call 1.800.644.4444.(LVMS)(1-21-2015)

[mabarker1]

Annett moving to HScott Motorsports? Multiple sources have confirmed that Michael Annett and his Pilot/Flying J sponsorship will jump from Tommy Baldwin Racing (#7) to the HScott Motorsports stable in 2015, running the entire 36-race championship schedule as a teammate to #51-Justin Algaier. Annett finished 33rd in points at the wheel of TBR's #7 Chevy in 2014; his rookie year of Sprint Cup Series competition. The team managed a top finish of 16th at Talladega Superspeedway in May. Annett declined to comment on the move when contacted earlier today (Tuesday), but sources close to the situation say he will race as a teammate to Algaier and the #51 Brandt Chevy, making HScott Motorsports a two-car operation for the first time in their brief Sprint Cup Series history. Calls placed to team owner Harry Scott, Jr. were not immediately returned.(Godfather Motorsports). HScott Motorsports ran an 2nd car for the Daytona 500 in 2014, with Bobby Labonte driving the #52 Florida Lottery Chevy to a 16th place finish. It was the only attempt of the season for the #52 team.(1-20-2015)

[ColdOne]

;)

[mabarker1]

Wendell Scott - Driver/Owner, NASCAR Hall of Fame

(b. 8/29/1921 - d. 12/23/1990)
Hometown: Danville, Va.
Premier Series Stats
Competed: 1961-1973
Starts: 495
Wins: 1
Poles: 1

• Wendell Scott wasn't the first African-American to compete in NASCAR's premier division. But the Danville, Va. native, whose career on wheels began as a taxi driver, was the first of his race to become a full-time competitor in the series. Scott served three years in the U.S. Army during World War II where he honed his mechanical skills in the motor pool. Scott started racing in 1947 and experienced immediate success behind the wheel. He won over 100 races in the next decade at local area tracks. Scott made his first start in NASCAR's premier series March 4, 1961 at Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in Spartanburg, S.C. He made 23 starts that season, posting five top-five finishes. On Dec. 1, 1963 at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Fla., Scott became the first African-American to win a NASCAR premier series event. Scott won the 100-mile feature race after starting 15th. Over the next 13 years, Scott would make 495 starts, which ranks 32nd on the all-time list. In his distinguished career, Scott accumulated 20 top-five finishes including eight of them in the same season he won his first career race, 1964. Scott also posted 147 top-10 finishes, more than 25 percent of the races he entered.

• Wendell Scott: Legend, Trailblazer ... and NASCAR Hall of Famer: During a 13-year premier series career, Wendell Scott likely never considered he was making NASCAR history. The Virginian's sole concern was getting to the next race on a miniscule budget. Scott wasn't the only driver to struggle financially. The odds of making a good living racing stock cars were long in the 1960s and early 1970s when purses were small, large sponsors unheard of and manufacturer support came and went with the turning of the calendar's pages.

  But Scott faced a challenge not shared by his fellow competitors: that of an African-American battling to succeed in a still-segregated society. Measured against that backdrop, Scott succeeded admirably. He became the first - and to date, only - black driver to win a premier series race, at Jacksonville, Florida, in 1963. He made 495 starts to rank 37th on the series' all-time list, posting 147 top-10 finishes, more than 25% of the races he entered. Scott finished four times among the top 10 in driver championship standings including a sixth in 1966.

  While most of Scott's success came on shorter tracks, he logged superspeedway top 10s at Atlanta, Charlotte, Daytona Beach, Dover and Darlington. He twice finished seventh in Atlanta Motor Speedway's Dixie 400 - in 1966 finishing ahead of NASCAR Hall of Famers Buck Baker, Bobby Allison and fellow 2015 inductee Rex White. Scott also finished seventh in a Daytona 500 qualifying race - which at the time carried premier series championship points. Scott was singular of purpose, owning and preparing the cars which carried the No. 34. His Chevrolets and Fords were second hand. Without sponsorship, Scott couldn't afford to hire a pit crew, which usually was comprised of his sons. Tires and spare parts were cast offs from other teams.

  Scott, however, never used that as excuse to give less than 100 percent. He finished 321 of his 495 starts. "We weren't allowed to use the words 'can't' and 'never.' He didn't believe in those words," said Franklin Scott, one of Scott's seven children and a member of his father's pit crew. "He instilled in everybody he met that if you're willing to work and do the things necessary to be successful, you can be successful."

  "If he had had the proper equipment, I believe he would have been a winner a lot of times," said 1960 premier series champion White, sentiments echoed by NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett, a two-time premier series champion. If he'd had the equipment or financial backing that I and others had, he would have won more races," said Jarrett in a 2009 story published in the New York Times. Former Charlotte Motor Speedway president H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, quoted in the same article, said Scott "was obviously a much better driver than the record shows."

  Wendell Oliver Scott was born Aug. 29, 1921 in Danville, Virginia. His father was an expert mechanic, a trade the young Scott quickly learned. After serving in Europe during World War II, Scott returned home to become a taxi driver, who also transported illegal whiskey. He competed in his first race at the Danville fairgrounds winning $50. Over the next decade Scott won more than 100 sportsman and modified stock car races as well as the Virginia State Sportsman championship.

  Scott made his NASCAR premier series debut at age 39 on March 4, 1961 at Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in Spartanburg, South Carolina, driving a year-old Chevrolet purchased from Baker. He continued as a series regular until 1973, his career ended by an accident at Talladega Superspeedway. Scott's signature victory in the Dec. 1, 1963 race at Jacksonville's Speedway Park in the third event of the 1964 season was fraught with controversy. Scott, who started 15th, initially was listed as finishing third behind Baker, who took part in victory circle ceremonies and headed for home with the race trophy. A subsequent scoring re-check found Scott actually had finished two laps ahead of Baker.

  "I knew I'd passed Buck ... three times and only made one pit stop for gas and didn't lose a lap," said Scott, who led the final 27 laps after frontrunner Richard Petty slowed with steering problems. "I knew I had won." In 1990, Scott lost a battle to cancer at age 69. In January 2013 Scott was awarded his own historical marker in Danville, proclaiming in part, "Persevering over prejudice and discrimination, Scott broke racial barriers in NASCAR."

  Scott previously was inducted into the National Sports Hall of Fame, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.(NASCAR)(1-19-2015)

• website: wendellscott.org

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

[mabarker1]

Nate Ryan and Dustin Long join NBCSN's NASCAR AMERICA lineup: NBC Sports announced Tuesday the addition of veteran journalists Nate Ryan and Dustin Long to its coverage team, dovetailing with the media group's expanded presence as a returning NASCAR broadcast partner in 2015. Ryan, who has been a regular contributor to NBC Sports Network's "NASCAR America" program since the start of the 2014 season, will leave his spot as USA Today's primary motorsports writer for a multi-faceted role with NBC. According to a release provided by the media company, Ryan will serve as an on-air reporter during broadcasts, but will also contribute to the organization's online publishing arm as a writer. Long, who most recently served as a writer and editor with Motor Racing Network (MRN) Radio's website, will transition to the same role with NBC Sports, also working alongside Ryan to produce video content. Before his stint with MRN, Long was the lead NASCAR writer for the Landmark newspaper group. In a related move, USA Today Sports announced that Brant James -- most recently a correspondent for ESPN -- would fill the vacancy created by Ryan's departure on the newspaper's motorsports staff.(NASCAR.com)(1-21-2015)

[nascarnation]

Jeff was so good here in Indy before he headed to Charlotte. I remember him winning the Night Before the 500 midget race in 89. I think he was 17. Then when he won the first Brickyard 400 it was such a popular win, the fans went crazy.

Hard to believe he’s that old, but then I say the same thing about myself.

[Chode]

as if i didn't feel old enough already today, now this...