Mopar Switch-a-roo/ Chevrolet to Tony Stewart/ USAC Rule Changes/ PRA Wraps Up Season/ Striking a Chord/ Truckin News/ Guaranteed Wrecks/ ESPN Racing
Mopar Switch-a-roo
Mopar is leaving Tony Stewart Racing and will sponsor Kasey Kahne Racing’s efforts in 2007. A news conference is scheduled for Friday at 10am at the PRI show to make the announcement official. Kasey Kahne Racing will field a car with Joey Saldana behind the wheel in the World of Outlaws Sprint Series. Kahne told Dave Moody on Sirius Speedway on Sirius Satellite radio that KKR would also filed sprint and midget cars in USAC in 2007 with Mopar backing. It was unclear listening to the program if Kahne would reopen his Silver Crown program or if the program would run USAC Silver pavement, dirt or PRA pavement. Kahne did tell Moody that he would be spending two weeks in Australia sharing a sprint car ride with Saldana.
Chevrolet Enters USAC Sponsoring Tony Stewart Motorsports
Chevrolet will sponsor and power the engines for Tony Stewart Motorsports in 2007. The three-year deal includes his World of Outlaws team driven by Paul McMahn No. 20, his USAC National Midget Series team driven by Levi Jones driving the No. 20 and Tracy Hines in the No. 21. Jones and Hines will also drive the same numbered cars in the USAC National Sprint Series. The team will also field cars in the USAC Silver Crown Series on dirt. Bass Pro Shops will be an associate sponsor on the USAC cars while remaining the primary sponsor on the WoO car.
"Our goal when we formed Tony Stewart Racing was to create a grassroots motorsports program that would compete for wins and championships while promoting qualified drivers to the next level," said Stewart, who earned his NASCAR success by way of USAC as he captured four USAC national championships, including the elusive Triple Crown in 1995 when he earned titles in each of USAC's top divisions - Sprint, Midget and Silver Crown. "We've been successful, but in order to remain successful we needed a partner committed to us and committed to motorsports. We found the perfect partner in Chevrolet."
Stewart drives Chevrolet powered cars in the NASCAR Nextel Cup and NASCAR Busch Series. Chevrolet's sponsorship of TSR marks its first official foray into USAC and the World of Outlaws. Chevrolet will also provide the "Official Pace Truck of Eldora Speedway." The brand will also be the title sponsor of a major, to be determined auto racing event at Eldora. (Maybe the Four Crown Nationals? Just a guess.) Mark Kent from GM Racing said his company wants to make their mark in grass roots Motorsports.
"Our sponsorship of Tony Stewart Racing ensures Chevrolet's future success in motorsports," said Kent. "We want to establish Chevrolet as the engine of choice for open-wheel racers around the country.
Since its formation in November 2000, TSR has earned seven owner championships. Danny Lasoski WoO 2001
J.J. Yeley USAC National Sprint 2003
Josh Wise USAC National Sprint 2006
(with co-owner Bob East) Won four straight USAC Silver Crown championships from 2002 to 2005 with Yeley, Kasey Kahne and Dave Steele driving.
USAC Rule Changes
With the New Year come new rule changes for USAC midget, sprint and Silver Crown divisions. If a team wants to retain their number from 2006, they must have entered 51% of the races in 2006 in their division. All competitors will be required to wear a head and neck restraint system. The early entry points rule is out the window. The rules for red flags have changed including a new rule that mandates that all drivers remain buckled in on red flags unless a USAC official says otherwise. The Silver Crown division is allowing SB-2 cylinder heads and the weight rules have also changed. The Silver Crown division is also mandating that all drivers become USAC members in order to race.
One way radios are now required in USAC’s sprint divisions. Both sprint and midget divisions have other new rules regarding sail panels and noses of the cars. You can read the new rule changes at USAC’s website, www.USACRacing.com.
PRA Wraps Up Inaugural Season
The Premier Racing Association is wrapping up their inaugural Big Car Series season Wednesday at USA Speedway in Lakeland, Florida. The Big Cars have a scheduled an open practice session today at USA International Speedway. No word yet on how the practice sessions went. The action Wednesday begins with practice at 3pm, qualifying at 5:30pm followed by a scheduled 100-lap feature.
Striking a Chord
I about slit my wrists trying to get through Jay Mohr’s terrible jokes trying to watch the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Awards Ceremony. If Mohr is banned from Jim Rome’s Jungle, there is a good reason. His jokes are in terrible taste. Thankfully he did not host the NASCAR Busch Series Awards program that was taped in Florida last weekend. The Busch program did have a few bright moments according to Amanda Brahler in her article at http://www.bgnracing.com/. Brahler reports that Open Wheeler Carl Edwards joined recording artists Robert Randolph and The Family Band on guitar. Edwards started his own record label this season, Back 40 Records. Images shot by Phil Cavali of Edwards jam session can be viewed at this link. http://www.bgnracing.com/modules.php?name=BGNPhotos&op=album&id=120&min=32
Unfortunately fans will have to set their VCRs to record the ceremony that airs on TNT on December 19th at midnight eastern. Speed did fans a favor with a better time slot for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Awards Ceremony. That is scheduled to air on December 29 9pm eastern.
Fike to the Truck Series
According to a story in NASCAR Scene, Aaron Fike will drive the No. 11 Toyota Tundra in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2007.
Schrader Goes Truckin in 2007
Ken Schrader will drive the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge for Bobby Hamilton Racing during the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
Crocker May Not Run Trucks in 2007
According to a story posted at http://jayski.com/cts/ctsnews.htm, Erin Crocker’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team has closed its operations. Jayski reports that her team members have relocated to other Ray Evernham Motorsports. The article goes on to say that Crocker will run some ARCA ReMax Series races in 2007. The Evernham Motorsports website http://www.evernhammotorsports.com/main.cfm?pagename=standings98&driverId=112
only lists 2006 Busch and ARCA results for Crocker and makes no mention of her 2006 run in the truck series which landed her in 25th in the points, the lowest points finish of any driver to start every race. The second worst finisher points wise that started every race was Kerry Earnhardt. He finished 22nd.
In other related news, Crocker accompanied her boss Ray Evernham to the NASCAR Nextel Cup Awards Ceremony week as seen in these two images. http://www.flickr.com/photos/answer_this/312576279/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/answer_this/311361874/Ray Evernham has repeatedly told the media that he will not discuss his personal life.
Guaranteed Wrecks
I really doubt that a series that seems to wreck every time they head into turn one on the first lap of a race is ready for this but it appears that the folks at Champ Car World Series would disagree with me. CCWS officials announced that the series would make “standing starts“ (think F1) at venues where it is safe to do so.
Hey folks, this isn’t a good idea unless you want guaranteed carnage. But then again, studies have found that the casual race fan watches the sport for the wrecks.
ESPN Change
I reported earlier this season that ESPN.com created an IRL icon at the top of their page. With the addition of CCWS to their program lineup, that icon has been changed back to “autos.” The NASCAR icon remains unchanged.
ARCA on Speed
SPEED will broadcast 14 ARCA RE/MAX Series races in 2007 beginning Saturday afternoon, February 10 at Daytona Int’l Speedway, with live, flag to flag coverage of the 44th annual Daytona ARCA 200 season opener. In addition to Daytona, events scheduled for coverage in ’07 include both at Toledo Speedway on May 20 and October 14 and both at Pocono Raceway on June 9 and August 4. Kansas Speedway on April 27, Iowa Speedway on June 2, Michigan Int’l Speedway on June 15, Kentucky Speedway on July 13, Nashville Superspeedway on August 11, the Milwaukee Mile on August 26, Gateway Int’l Raceway on August 31, Chicagoland Speedway on September 8 and Talladega Superspeedway on October 5 will complete the coverage.
ESPN Steps Up Busch Coverage
The ESPN family of networks (ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC) will air all of the NASCAR Busch Series races in 2007. The networks will also provide coverage of practice and qualifying from 17 races as well as broadcast the season ending banquet (hopefully at a better time slot than 12am.) The network also plans a pre race program and their news program NASCAR Now. The NASCAR programs will all air in High Definition. Technicians are currently working on HD cameras that will be placed in cars for a totally HD broadcast for the first time.
The ESPN family of networks will go from having only the IRL and NHRA in 2006 to NASCAR, Cup, NASCAR Busch, Champ Car World Series and the World of Outlaws Sprints in addition to the IRL and NHRA. Look for ESPN to utilize some of the new angles and broadcast formats that they used in the IRL broadcast this past season in the NASSCAR broadcasts. The first NASCAR race back on ESPN will be the Busch Series opener on February 17th on ESPN2.
Images appearing in this blog courtesy of Open Wheeler, Lonnie Weatley, SPEED, ABC, NBC and NASCAR Images.
Mopar is leaving Tony Stewart Racing and will sponsor Kasey Kahne Racing’s efforts in 2007. A news conference is scheduled for Friday at 10am at the PRI show to make the announcement official. Kasey Kahne Racing will field a car with Joey Saldana behind the wheel in the World of Outlaws Sprint Series. Kahne told Dave Moody on Sirius Speedway on Sirius Satellite radio that KKR would also filed sprint and midget cars in USAC in 2007 with Mopar backing. It was unclear listening to the program if Kahne would reopen his Silver Crown program or if the program would run USAC Silver pavement, dirt or PRA pavement. Kahne did tell Moody that he would be spending two weeks in Australia sharing a sprint car ride with Saldana.
Chevrolet Enters USAC Sponsoring Tony Stewart Motorsports
Chevrolet will sponsor and power the engines for Tony Stewart Motorsports in 2007. The three-year deal includes his World of Outlaws team driven by Paul McMahn No. 20, his USAC National Midget Series team driven by Levi Jones driving the No. 20 and Tracy Hines in the No. 21. Jones and Hines will also drive the same numbered cars in the USAC National Sprint Series. The team will also field cars in the USAC Silver Crown Series on dirt. Bass Pro Shops will be an associate sponsor on the USAC cars while remaining the primary sponsor on the WoO car.
"Our goal when we formed Tony Stewart Racing was to create a grassroots motorsports program that would compete for wins and championships while promoting qualified drivers to the next level," said Stewart, who earned his NASCAR success by way of USAC as he captured four USAC national championships, including the elusive Triple Crown in 1995 when he earned titles in each of USAC's top divisions - Sprint, Midget and Silver Crown. "We've been successful, but in order to remain successful we needed a partner committed to us and committed to motorsports. We found the perfect partner in Chevrolet."
Stewart drives Chevrolet powered cars in the NASCAR Nextel Cup and NASCAR Busch Series. Chevrolet's sponsorship of TSR marks its first official foray into USAC and the World of Outlaws. Chevrolet will also provide the "Official Pace Truck of Eldora Speedway." The brand will also be the title sponsor of a major, to be determined auto racing event at Eldora. (Maybe the Four Crown Nationals? Just a guess.) Mark Kent from GM Racing said his company wants to make their mark in grass roots Motorsports.
"Our sponsorship of Tony Stewart Racing ensures Chevrolet's future success in motorsports," said Kent. "We want to establish Chevrolet as the engine of choice for open-wheel racers around the country.
Since its formation in November 2000, TSR has earned seven owner championships. Danny Lasoski WoO 2001
J.J. Yeley USAC National Sprint 2003
Josh Wise USAC National Sprint 2006
(with co-owner Bob East) Won four straight USAC Silver Crown championships from 2002 to 2005 with Yeley, Kasey Kahne and Dave Steele driving.
USAC Rule Changes
With the New Year come new rule changes for USAC midget, sprint and Silver Crown divisions. If a team wants to retain their number from 2006, they must have entered 51% of the races in 2006 in their division. All competitors will be required to wear a head and neck restraint system. The early entry points rule is out the window. The rules for red flags have changed including a new rule that mandates that all drivers remain buckled in on red flags unless a USAC official says otherwise. The Silver Crown division is allowing SB-2 cylinder heads and the weight rules have also changed. The Silver Crown division is also mandating that all drivers become USAC members in order to race.
One way radios are now required in USAC’s sprint divisions. Both sprint and midget divisions have other new rules regarding sail panels and noses of the cars. You can read the new rule changes at USAC’s website, www.USACRacing.com.
PRA Wraps Up Inaugural Season
The Premier Racing Association is wrapping up their inaugural Big Car Series season Wednesday at USA Speedway in Lakeland, Florida. The Big Cars have a scheduled an open practice session today at USA International Speedway. No word yet on how the practice sessions went. The action Wednesday begins with practice at 3pm, qualifying at 5:30pm followed by a scheduled 100-lap feature.
Striking a Chord
I about slit my wrists trying to get through Jay Mohr’s terrible jokes trying to watch the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Awards Ceremony. If Mohr is banned from Jim Rome’s Jungle, there is a good reason. His jokes are in terrible taste. Thankfully he did not host the NASCAR Busch Series Awards program that was taped in Florida last weekend. The Busch program did have a few bright moments according to Amanda Brahler in her article at http://www.bgnracing.com/. Brahler reports that Open Wheeler Carl Edwards joined recording artists Robert Randolph and The Family Band on guitar. Edwards started his own record label this season, Back 40 Records. Images shot by Phil Cavali of Edwards jam session can be viewed at this link. http://www.bgnracing.com/modules.php?name=BGNPhotos&op=album&id=120&min=32
Unfortunately fans will have to set their VCRs to record the ceremony that airs on TNT on December 19th at midnight eastern. Speed did fans a favor with a better time slot for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Awards Ceremony. That is scheduled to air on December 29 9pm eastern.
Fike to the Truck Series
According to a story in NASCAR Scene, Aaron Fike will drive the No. 11 Toyota Tundra in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2007.
Schrader Goes Truckin in 2007
Ken Schrader will drive the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge for Bobby Hamilton Racing during the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
Crocker May Not Run Trucks in 2007
According to a story posted at http://jayski.com/cts/ctsnews.htm, Erin Crocker’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team has closed its operations. Jayski reports that her team members have relocated to other Ray Evernham Motorsports. The article goes on to say that Crocker will run some ARCA ReMax Series races in 2007. The Evernham Motorsports website http://www.evernhammotorsports.com/main.cfm?pagename=standings98&driverId=112
only lists 2006 Busch and ARCA results for Crocker and makes no mention of her 2006 run in the truck series which landed her in 25th in the points, the lowest points finish of any driver to start every race. The second worst finisher points wise that started every race was Kerry Earnhardt. He finished 22nd.
In other related news, Crocker accompanied her boss Ray Evernham to the NASCAR Nextel Cup Awards Ceremony week as seen in these two images. http://www.flickr.com/photos/answer_this/312576279/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/answer_this/311361874/Ray Evernham has repeatedly told the media that he will not discuss his personal life.
Guaranteed Wrecks
I really doubt that a series that seems to wreck every time they head into turn one on the first lap of a race is ready for this but it appears that the folks at Champ Car World Series would disagree with me. CCWS officials announced that the series would make “standing starts“ (think F1) at venues where it is safe to do so.
Hey folks, this isn’t a good idea unless you want guaranteed carnage. But then again, studies have found that the casual race fan watches the sport for the wrecks.
ESPN Change
I reported earlier this season that ESPN.com created an IRL icon at the top of their page. With the addition of CCWS to their program lineup, that icon has been changed back to “autos.” The NASCAR icon remains unchanged.
ARCA on Speed
SPEED will broadcast 14 ARCA RE/MAX Series races in 2007 beginning Saturday afternoon, February 10 at Daytona Int’l Speedway, with live, flag to flag coverage of the 44th annual Daytona ARCA 200 season opener. In addition to Daytona, events scheduled for coverage in ’07 include both at Toledo Speedway on May 20 and October 14 and both at Pocono Raceway on June 9 and August 4. Kansas Speedway on April 27, Iowa Speedway on June 2, Michigan Int’l Speedway on June 15, Kentucky Speedway on July 13, Nashville Superspeedway on August 11, the Milwaukee Mile on August 26, Gateway Int’l Raceway on August 31, Chicagoland Speedway on September 8 and Talladega Superspeedway on October 5 will complete the coverage.
ESPN Steps Up Busch Coverage
The ESPN family of networks (ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC) will air all of the NASCAR Busch Series races in 2007. The networks will also provide coverage of practice and qualifying from 17 races as well as broadcast the season ending banquet (hopefully at a better time slot than 12am.) The network also plans a pre race program and their news program NASCAR Now. The NASCAR programs will all air in High Definition. Technicians are currently working on HD cameras that will be placed in cars for a totally HD broadcast for the first time.
The ESPN family of networks will go from having only the IRL and NHRA in 2006 to NASCAR, Cup, NASCAR Busch, Champ Car World Series and the World of Outlaws Sprints in addition to the IRL and NHRA. Look for ESPN to utilize some of the new angles and broadcast formats that they used in the IRL broadcast this past season in the NASSCAR broadcasts. The first NASCAR race back on ESPN will be the Busch Series opener on February 17th on ESPN2.
Images appearing in this blog courtesy of Open Wheeler, Lonnie Weatley, SPEED, ABC, NBC and NASCAR Images.
posted by Blake Johnson at 5:39 PM
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