Jeff Gordon and Ingrid Vandebosch Give Birth To NASCAR’s Next Superstar
Congratulations are in order for Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Dupont sponsored Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and his wife Ingrid Vandebosch on the birth of their son Leo Benjamin.
Gordon’s second child from Vandebosch weighed in at seven pounds, two ounces.
Leo Benjamin entered the world at 8:53 a.m. ET, and is 19 inches long.
Gordon became the fifth NASCAR driver to have a baby this season, and the other four were his teammate Jimmie Johnson, Roush Fenway driver Carl Edwards, Richard Petty Motorsports driver Elliott Sadler, and this past weekend’s winner Juan Montoya who drives for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.
“He’s happy and healthy, and Mom is doing great,” said Gordon who will still participate in this weekend’s race at Michigan Speedway.
Gordon who finished 10th this past weekend at Watkins Glen International Speedway, is sitting second in points behind Richard Childress driver Kevin Harvick.
Sadler to part with RPM after 2010 season
JOLIET, Ill.—Elliott Sadler said Friday he has no plans to return to Richard Petty Motorsports after the 2010 season and is open to other options.
Sadler indicated he was not a part of RPM’s plans going forward, saying he has “no future plans with this race team.”
Sadler joins Kasey Kahne in his decision to leave RPM at the end of the season. Kahne will drive the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in 2012 after a year in a ride to be determined.
Sadler joined Evernham Motorsports for 14 races in 2006 after the firing of Jeremy Mayfield. Sadler has remained with the organization through a series of mergers and acquisitions that have installed George Gillett as majority owner and seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty as a partner in the operation.
Sadler signed a two-year contract extension in the spring of 2008. He has three Sprint Cup victories, the last coming in Fontana, Calif., in 2004. Sadler’s best finish so far this season was 17th at Sonoma, though he was running consistently in the top 10 last Saturday at Daytona before a late-race wreck involving Sam Hornish Jr. and Kurt Busch took him out.
Sadler acknowledged the importance of running well for the remainder of the season, both from a personal and a team standpoint.
“We need to run good,” said Sadler before qualifying for Saturday night’s Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway. “I need to run good to further my career next year. They need to run good because they have great sponsors that they’re trying to land and drivers that need to come back. Richard Petty needs to be a part of this sport, I think. So it benefits both of us for this car to run good the rest of this season.”
Sadler is trying to win $1 million for the Racing for a Miracle program created by Stanley Tools, Ace Hardware and the Children’s Miracle Network. If he wins Saturday’s LifeLock.com 400 , his sponsor, Stanley Tools, will donate $1 million to the charity, on top of the $100,000 Stanley donated during a check presentation on Friday.
Saturday’s race will be Sadler’s first since being reunited with crew chief Todd Parrott, who made the pit calls for his last two wins, at Yates Racing, in 2004.
Kasey Kahne Signs Contract To Drive For Hendrick Motorsports In 2011
Sources close to ESPN have confirmed that Kasey Kahne, driver of the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 9 Budweiser Ford, who would have undeniably been the hottest free agent coming out of the 2010 season, has signed a multi-year deal to drive for Hendrick Motorsports.
The negotiations, which are still ongoing, would put Kahne into an HMS race car by the beginning of the 2011 season.
Sources close to ESPN have said that a decision on whose ride Kahne will take over has not been released, along with who his sponsor will be, if in fact Budweiser does not follow him in 2011.
As far as the current contract situation stands at HMS, the only realistic choice would be for Kahne to take over the No.5 car which is currently being driven by Mark Martin.
Since Martin’s contract will be the first to expire after the 2011 season, HMS would probably give Martin a release from his final year the same way they let Kyle Busch go after the 2007 season.
It was also speculated that Kahne could possibly drive a third car for Stewart Haas racing in 2011, which is considered an HMS satellite team, in anticipation of Martin retiring after the 2011 season which would put Kahne in the No. 5 after Martins retirement.
Busch who said at the time that he never felt he was pushed out after HMS learned that Dale Earnhardt Jr. was leaving DEI after the 2007, had this to say when his negotiations took a turn for the worse.
“Then Junior announced his availability and then that’s where we kind of stalled out again,” said Busch.
Busch also added that, “I’m not stupid. You guys aren’t stupid. It’s kind of common sense, I guess?”
Kahne, who is in his final year of his contract at RPM, has made it clear since last season that he wanted out of his contract, and with today’s news it is clear that he will no longer have that lingering over his head.
Kahne will finish out the rest of the 2010 season with RPM. Comments from HMS, or Kahne have yet to be released as of this time. RPM did release this statement earlier confirming that Kahne will be leaving the team.
“Kasey is a very talented driver and I have enjoyed watching him race. We all wish him nothing but the best and hope he succeeds in anything he chooses to do,” said team owner Richard Petty.
“Drivers like Kasey Kahne are the very reason we got into this sport. Kasey has helped us get to where we are today,” said George Gillett, owner of Richard Petty Motorsports.
Special Thanks To ESPN for Content.
Get Over It: Gossage Does It Again, Media Whines
Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage is widely known in NASCAR circles as one of the most notorious promoters since Humpy Wheeler. From promoting races like boxing matches between two feuding drivers, to offering Dale Earnhardt Jr. a large sum of money to race IndyCars at the track, Gossage always finds a way to put himself in the news as the next Texas race approaches.
This time, however, he’s found a sure-fire way to ruffle the feathers of the media, when a planned April Fool’s joke went awry.
Gossage offered a local DJ $100,000 on March 30 to legally change his name to “TexasMotorSpeedway.com” for one year, and to get a tattoo of the URL somewhere on his body. The track’s Twitter account even posted a photo of the check that Gossage was ready to hand out upon the DJ’s acceptance of the offer.
On March 31, Terry Dorsey, the Dallas DJ in question, accepted the offer on his radio show. The track sent out a press release detailing the deal, and posted it to its website. Multiple journalists within the racing community did their jobs and wrote about the deal.
Hours later, however, word began to spread that the whole thing was an April Fool’s hoax. Numerous journalists well-known within the sport, like Terry Blount at ESPN.com and Jeff Gluck of SBNation.com, began complaining about the stunt, citing the usage of official track letterhead to send out the press release and the date on the calendar.
I have three words of advice for the press corps: Get over it.
I’m pretty sure that Gossage and Dorsey were planning to announce tomorrow that the whole thing was a fake. It seems clear to me, if nobody else, that the plan for this stunt was to do it over three days: the offer on March 30, the acceptance on March 31, the admission on April Fool’s Day. It was meant to be a joke of extraordinary magnitude, and, well, it was.
Blount quickly deleted his post on the subject, and called the prank “inexcusable” and “a huge blow to TMS credibility.” Gluck said the event left “a bad taste in (his) mouth” and responded to Red Bull’s congratulatory tweet to TMS with “Uh, no. WRONG.” But many of their media colleagues aren’t so bothered.
Blount’s cohort at ESPN, David Newton, asked a very good question on his Twitter account: “Did anybody bother to talk to the folks at Texas Motor Speedway or the radio host before the hoax got this far?” Nate Ryan of USA Today echoed those sentiments, and brought up the 2008 TMS prank, which suggested the track would build a $900 million retractable roof.
Blount and Gluck should be well aware of Gossage’s history, each having covered the sport for a while now. They just appear to be upset because their serious coverage of the event has hurt their own credibility. Gluck’s final comment, “Maybe if Texas used its energy to improve the racing instead of tricking people into coming to the track, everyone would be better off,” was exactly the personal kind of comment that seemed out of line in the situation.
It’s not as if this prank was designed to maliciously wound NASCAR reporters’ credibility. It got all of us going. And even if it was, I’m not too bothered by it. I’m sure it’s annoying as sin for these folks to have to field the same questions from different people every day for two weeks before their event, and to play a joke makes it interesting. I want to go into the business for a living; I’ll take my bumps and bruises and occasionally look stupid. (I certainly have reported things that were totally untrue before.) It also reminded us journalists of the cardinal rule of reporting: always, ALWAYS verify your sources.
Happy April Fool’s Day, everybody. Look out for pranks… and my exclusive interview with Michael Schumacher on why he’s joining Richard Childress Racing for the 2011 NASCAR season. You heard it here first!
Larry Pearson sustains multiple fractures in legends race
BRISTOL, Tenn.—Larry Pearson, son of three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion David Pearson, sustained fractures to his lower left ankle, pelvis and right hand during a frightening crash Saturday in a legends race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The 56-year-old Pearson, a two-time Nationwide Series champion, was knocked unconscious after the car of Charlie Glotzbach slammed into the driver’s-side door of Pearson’s late model stock car in Turn 2 at the high-speed .533-mile short track. Emergency workers extricated Pearson by cutting the roll cage of his car.
Pearson was to undergo surgery to repair his broken ankle Saturday night.
According to ESPN analyst Dr. Jerry Punch, who spoke with Pearson’s brothers, Ricky and Eddie Pearson, Larry Pearson regained consciousness before he was lifted out of the car on a backboard and transported by ambulance to a waiting helicopter, where he was airlifted to a nearby hospital.
David Pearson, who also was competing in the 35-lap event, withdrew from the race to visit his son in the hospital. Glotzbach, 71, was treated in the infield care center and taken to a local hospital for further examination. Glotzbach is said to be in good condition, SceneDaily.com reported.
The Pearson family confirmed Larry Pearson’s injuries, according to a statement sent to the track.
The legends race, won by former Sprint Cup driver Rick Wilson, was not a NASCAR-sanctioned event.
Stewart wins at Daytona; Patrick victim of early wreck
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It was Tony Stewart’s good fortune to lead much of Saturday’s DRIVE4COPD 300 Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway — because all hell kept breaking loose behind him.
In a race widely trumpeted as Danica Patrick’s NASCAR debut, Stewart took the checkered flag .309 seconds ahead of 2008 series champion Carl Edwards.
In winning the season opener, Stewart achieved several milestones: he won the February Nationwide race at Daytona for the third straight time and fifth overall, and he claimed his sixth victory in the series on restrictor-plate superspeedways, tying Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the career lead in that category.
“There were some really good cars that got mangled up today,” Stewart said, referring to crashes that damaged the cars of Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski, among others. “We were just lucky to be in front when it happened.”
Stewart led the final 20 laps under green after a restart on Lap 101.
Kevin Harvick, who owns the No. 4 Chevrolet that Stewart was driving in his only scheduled Nationwide appearance of the year, finished third in his own No. 33 Chevy. Justin Allgaier came home fourth and Brian Vickers fifth.
Patrick lasted a little more than half the race. Just as she appeared to be getting comfortable while running with the lead draft, her No. 7 Chevrolet was damaged beyond repair on Lap 68 of 120 in a 12-car wreck off Turn 4 that began with contact between the No. 16 Ford of Colin Braun and the No. 61 Ford of Josh Wise.
“There’s nothing you can do — you can’t see anything,” Patrick radioed to crew chief Tony Eury Jr. after sliding into a pack of cars turned sideways in front of her. “I was just starting to get it, too, man.”
Patrick was credited with a 35th-place finish.
Earnhardt had a strong car, but his No. 88 Chevrolet was an innocent victim of a backstretch wreck on Lap 92, which started when Edwards tried to squeeze into a small space in the outside lane. Contact between Edwards’ Ford and Brad Keselowski’s Dodge sent Keselowski’s car spinning into Earnhardt’s Chevrolet, which turned upside-down and slid on its roof before righting itself in the infield.
“We were having a real good run, and I felt good about our chances,” said Earnhardt, whose company, JR Motorsports, also owns the car Patrick will drive in selected races this season. “I’ll have to go back and balance the books — it was an expensive day for JR Motorsports.”
Danica Patrick Set to Make Nationwide Debut In Saturday’s Drive4COPD 300
Danica Patrick probably made the best decision of her young NASCAR career, by choosing to race in Saturday’s Drive4COPD 300 Nationwide race.
After hearing week after week the saga that followed her desire to race in the NASCAR Series, she held true to her words and the fans will finally get what they have been waiting for.
“I’ve got a lot to learn, but I have good people around me. We’re ready to go. I am here to drive a Sprint Cup Car in the Sprint Cup Series,” said Patrick.
The decision couldn’t have been an easy one, but when you think of the word competitor, why would any driver choose to sit out the biggest race of the season?
After all she did make it clear that her desire was to someday race in the cup series, and with a lot of the cup regulars entered into Saturdays race this is her best chance of the season to fulfill what she has set out to accomplish.
Timing in the NASCAR Series doesn’t always play into the drivers schedule, and sometime’s they have to go beyond the box and seize the moments as they come along.
Such was the case with Patrick, and her wanting to wait for the second Nationwide race of the season at Auto Club Speedway.
“Racing in the Nationwide Series race was my goal during this entire two-month preparation process, but we wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do,” Patrick said.
“The ARCA race was a blast, and I’m not ready for my first Daytona Speedweeks to end just yet. I want more racing.”
Now when you sit back and think about not only the experience that she will gain, but with the some of the cup regulars in the field at least she will be among some of the best drivers in the motorsports world who know how to handle a rookie driver.
Being the competitor that she is, it didn’t make much sense to skip the chance of a lifetime since there are no guarantees’ that an opportunity such as this will arise in the future.
In NASCAR racing as sad as it is, but we have seen the inevitable happen without giving some very good talent the chance to compete at this high level of racing.
Patrick has set a path that only she can walk down, and given the backing along with some of the best equipment in the series, it is up to her to take full advantage of what is being given to her.
Even though she finished sixth in her first official start in a stock car on Saturday in the Arca Series Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, the trial and error phase has just begun along with a learning curve that is just as uncertain.
Its inevitable that whether she wins, loses, or doesn’t finish the race, the skeptics will be out in full force waiting to critique her every move.
Many fans around the various NASCAR social sites have already spoken saying that she has not earned the right to race in the NASCAR Series, all of that no longer matters because she is here and ready to make a go at it.
Basically when you come right down to it, we all have our opinions and now its up to her to prove that she does belong racing with the best stock cars drivers that the series has to offer, and get down to the task at hand.
Kelley Earnhardt said it the best, “She has worked extremely hard during the past two months for this opportunity. Her dedication and work ethic is infectious.”
Only time will tell how true these words really are.
K&N Takes Over Title Sponsorship for Camping World Series in 2010
It was announced on Thursday that NASCAR’s top developmental series, which was known as the Camping World East and West series, has signed a seven-year agreement with K&N Engineering Inc. to take over as the title sponsor beginning with the All-Star Showdown in 2010.
Out will go The Camping World Series, and in its place the new name of the series, The NASCAR K&N Pro Series.
“We are thrilled to be the Official Developmental Series Partner and sponsor of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series,” said Steve Rogers, CEO of K&N Engineering.
“Our roots in NASCAR go back to the 1970s, and this feels like a partnership long overdue. After supporting grassroots and professional racing for decades, we love the idea of supporting a developmental series that provides great racing excitement while developing the top tier drivers of tomorrow.”
K&N Engineering, which is based in Riverside, California, employs over 500 people to manufacture high performance reusable cotton gauze filters, as well as intake systems which have been sold to millions of customers for over four decades.
The company, which started as a family owned business, began participating in the NASCAR series by supplying parts for the cup races at the old Riverside Speedway, also located in Riverside, California.
K&N are one of the many sponsors that have been with NASCAR since the grassroots foundation of the sport.
“K&N is a company that epitomizes the spirit of NASCAR,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France.
“The developmental series are a tremendously integral part of the past, present, and future of NASCAR—from the great champions throughout the years to the pipeline of tremendous racers that have made their way up the NASCAR ladder to our national series.”
France also added that, “Having a company with the dedication to the sport and the automotive industry that K&N does speaks volumes to the importance we place in the series.”
The series, which dates back to 1954, started as the Winston West Series as a way for the drivers from the West to be able to establish themselves when they could not travel to race in areas such as North Carolina and the rest of the South where stock car racing was first founded.
The Busch North Series, founded in 1987, held their races in the Northeastern United States: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.
It wasn’t until 2003 that NASCAR decided to combine the rules from both series and only have one rule book, to make it easier for the drivers who wanted to cross back and forth from series to series.
With one set of rules, NASCAR decided to run the Toyota All-Star Showdown as a prestigious postseason event that has earned the nickname of the “Daytona 500 of short-track racing,” with K&N making its on-track debut as the series title sponsor for 2010.
The race allows the drivers from the two series to run against each other, mostly for bragging rights since this is a non-points race.
NASCAR will still continue to award separate championships in the East and in the West series, along with both series still running on tracks that are one mile or shorter in length, along with two road courses that will still continue to be part of the schedule.
In addition, cost-savings ideas such as the SPEC engine along with composite body, and competition rules such as the double-file restart have further helped to give the series its own identity.
The series has seen its share of short-track legends such as Ray Elder, Jack McCoy, Hershel McGriff, Andy Santerre, Kelly Moore, and Mike Stefanik, along with drivers who have gone on to make their mark in the sport’s highest levels like Kevin Harvick, Ricky Craven, Ron Hornaday Jr., Martin Truex Jr., David Gilliland, and Steve Park.
Most recently, the series has been the stepping stone for the next wave of stars like Joey Logano, Jason Bowles, Ryan Truex, Brian Ickler, Trevor Bayne, and Austin Dillon, along with churning out crew members, crew chiefs, and track and series officials for NASCAR’s three national series.
Danica Patrick Set To Make Nationwide Debut at Auto Club Speedway
Hollywood California is known to throw some of the biggest bashes when it comes to announcing the next up and coming star whether it be music, television, or sports.
The glamor and glitz of this popular hot-spot, is known to spread out as far as 30 miles to the east into the neighboring cities.
Auto Club Speedway with its backdrop of the San Bernardino mountains, by all means is no stranger to hosting NASCAR’s biggest stars even though they may not walk the red carpet of the Academy Awards, but none the less they are some of motorsports biggest stars.
Twice a year the stars of NASCAR make their way out to a city that was made famous by drivers such as Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Rusty Wallace, Jeremy Mayfield, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Carl Edwards, and Greg Biffle who are all past winners.
On February 20, 2010 Auto Club Speedway will once again play host to the media frenzy, that will follow NASCAR’s newest driver into the Nationwide series.
Danica Patrick announced that she will make her Nationwide debut in the No. 7 Go Daddy sponsored Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, and team owners Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rick Hendrick in the Stater Bros. 300.
This will be Patrick’s second visit to the 2 mile D shaped oval; her first was back in 2005 where as a rookie in the IRL she finished 18th.
Patrick, who is expected to run 10 to 12 races this season, will use an ARCA Series test at Daytona International Speedway on December 18-20 to get approval by NASCAR for her Nationwide debut in February.
Danica Patrick announces limited Nationwide schedule
A year’s worth of rumors and speculation regarding Danica Patrick’s move to NASCAR were put to rest on Tuesday in Phoenix, Ariz. when it was announced that Danica Patrick would drive the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series for JR Motorsports. After signing a three-year contract with IndyCar Series team Andretti Autosport, 27-year-old Patrick will race open-wheel and stock car races concurrently.
- GoDaddy PR
According to JR Motorsports Vice President Kelly Earnhardt Elledge, the No. 5 Nationwide Series team will not race next year, as it stands right now. Earnhardt Elledge continued to say that Patrick will be locked into the field, however she did not directly say the points would come from the No. 5 team. This means that JR Motorsports will continue to be a two car team with a full-time operation, the No. 88 driven by Kelly Bires, and the No. 7 part-time operation.
Patrick will drive a limited schedule in the JRM Chevrolet with her NASCAR Nationwide Series debut and number of races still to be determined. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s former crew chief in the Sprint Cup Series, Tony Eury Jr., will be her Nationwide Series crew chief.
“We’re not a 100 percent sure on the all of the details (NASCAR schedule) at this point, but the primary focus will be before and after the IndyCar Series season as IndyCar is the primary focus,” Patrick said.
Patrick will be with a JRM Chevrolet on Dec. 18-20 for the ARCA Series test at Daytona.
- GoDaddy PR
“One of the things JRM has to offer is proven NASCAR experience,” Kelly Earnhardt Elledge said. “This is a team sport, and our team will help Danica get up to speed quickly. She’s slated to begin working with our crew starting with the upcoming ARCA tests.”
Before arriving to race at Daytona, however, Patrick will first participate in the ARCA Series event at Daytona on Feb. 6. This is because of a technicality in which NASCAR requires competitors to race a restrictor plate race in another series before they can do so in one of NASCAR’s top-three national touring series.
Once she participates in the event, she will be cleared to race at any track, a NASCAR official confirmed.
This will be the first time in Patrick’s auto racing career that she will be driving a stock car in a competitive setting. The Roscoe, Ill. native did test a Nationwide Series car in 2002 before deciding to race in the IndyCar Series.
She made her IZOD IndyCar Series debut at Homestead in 2005 with Rahal Letterman Racing. After a two-year stint with RLR, she joined Andretti Autosport in 2007. With 81 career starts and three full-time seasons in the IndyCar Series, Patrick has posted one win and a career average finish of 10.1.
Patrick will be the 33rd woman to race in NASCAR and the 13th women to race in the Nationwide Series.
Danica Patrick signs multi-year IndyCar contract with Andretti Autosport
(Andretti Autosport PR)
Andretti Autosport announced today it has signed domain registrar Go Daddy, the world’s largest domain name registrar and Web hosting provider, to a multi-year primary sponsorship agreement and has also secured driver Danica Patrick for multiple years as the driver of the team’s #7 IZOD IndyCar Series entry.
The announcement came Monday morning as the #7 Go Daddy machine was unveiled by Patrick and team owner Michael Andretti live on ABC’s “Good Morning America” in New York City.
Go Daddy is a leading provider of services that enable individuals and businesses to establish, maintain and evolve an online presence. Go Daddy provides a variety of domain name registrar plans and Web site design and Web hosting packages, as well as a broad array of on-demand services.
Go Daddy is also well-known for its Super Bowl commercials, in which Patrick has been featured three-straight years.
Patrick joined Andretti Autosport prior to the start of the 2007 season, and during her time with the team, became the first woman ever to win an IZOD IndyCar Series event at the 2008 Japan Indy 300 and also finished third in the 2009 Indianapolis 500 — bettering the fourth-place mark she established during her breakout 2005 season. Patrick also drove to a career-best fifth-place finish in this year’s IZOD IndyCar Series championship, which stands as her best result ever.
As part of its continuing relationship with Andretti Autosport, Go Daddy provided the team with a redesigned company Web site, which was also launched today at www.andrettiautosport.com.
Jimmie Johnson Extends Contract With Lowes and HMS Through 2015
Lowe’s Companies Inc. announced today that they will be extending Jimmie Johnson’s sponsorship deal all the way through the 2013 season, along with Hendrick Motorsports who extended Johnson’s contract keeping him behind the wheel of the No. 48 through the 2015 season.
“Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports are a key part of our marketing efforts and outreach to our more than 225,000 employees,” said Robert A. Niblock, Lowe’s chairman and CEO. “We believe this is the best combination in racing, and we’re proud to have Jimmie carry the Lowe’s name in NASCAR.”
Lowe’s has been Johnson’s primary sponsor since 2001, and together they have become one the most profitable relationships in NASCAR today.
Johnson who picked up his first official NASCAR win at Auto Club Speedway his rookie year in 2002, along with finishing fifth in points had nothing but admiration for the only primary sponsor that Johnson has ever had since coming into the series.
“Lowe’s commitment to the 48 team and Hendrick Motorsports is tremendous and has been a source of pride for me personally,” said Johnson. “We’ve built a championship team together, and I’m proud the 48 will carry the Lowe’s colors for many more years.”
Johnson who is on the verge of making NASCAR history with possibly his fourth championship in a row if he can finish 25th or better this weekend at Homestead, is also fourth on the list of drivers with the highest win percentage with 47 victories.
Johnson’s commitment to winning championships has made him one of NASCAR’s most marketable drivers, even though many of the sports fans have said that he lacks the fiery, hard nosed persona that most of the drivers carry around with them.
Johnson has been labeled at times of being a little to politically correct at times, but that didn’t sway Lowe’s decision to continue a business relationship with the 34 year old California native.
Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick said that, “Jimmie is charting new territory in our sport, and that’s due to a combination of natural talent and unsurpassed work ethic.”
Hendrick also added that because of, “How he’s committed himself is just incredible, and it shows in everything that he does — not just on the racetrack. There’s no question that he’s one of the great champions in all of sports, and he’s not done yet.”
Johnson’s current contract with Lowe’s would have expired after the 2010 season, and there is no word yet about the status of his crew chief Chad Knaus, whose contract also expires at the end of 2010 season.
Report: Patrick and JRM deal entering final stages
According to ESPN The Magazine‘s Ryan McGee, a partnership that would pair two of the most popular auto racing drivers in America together is entering the final stages.
The article, which cited an anonymous source that is “close to the negotiations,” claims that Danica Patrick could soon be driving a stock car with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Nationwide Series team, JR Motorsports, for a part-time schedule as the driver will attempt to test the waters of NASCAR.
The proposed deal could have Patrick in a car at the season-opening race at Daytona in February.
Sources reported over the summer that Patrick had signed a contract extension to remain with IndyCar Series team Andretti-Green Racing for three more years. The IndyCar Series runs 17-races per season over the span of under eight months. However, an official announcement has yet to be made.
JR Motorsports currently runs two entries in the Nationwide Series; the No. 88 full-time and the No. 5 part-time. Both Earnhardt Jr. and the team have a strong relationship with GoDaddy.com, a sponsor for Patrick in the IndyCar Series.
JR Motorsports’s plans are still undecided as the end of the 2009 Nationwide Series closes in. It is known that Kelly Bires will step into the No. 88 next season for a full-time effort. From there it appears to depend on sponsorship as far as the amount of races are run with other teams.
Patrick has been rumored since February to be stepping over to stock racing as her contract was in its final year at AGR. She has one win on her resume in the series; in 2008 in Japan when she became the first female race winner in series history.
Richard Petty Motorsports Further Solidifies 2010 Plans
An Associated Press report published today suggests that Best Buy, Elliott Sadler’s sponsor on the No. 19 Richard Petty Motorsports car for the past couple of years, will move to its teammate, the No. 43 car, which A.J. Allmendinger will drive for the 2010 season.
Best Buy began its relationship with Allmendinger this season at Darlington, when they sponsored his No. 44 car as he finished 17th. Allmendinger also finished 7th at Sonoma and 23rd two weeks ago at Charlotte with Best Buy on the hood.
Best Buy sponsored Sadler in 19 races this season, including the Sprint All-Star Challenge, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, and the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Sadler’s best finish this season was a 5th place in the Daytona 500.
The move is one of marginal elevation for the Richfield, MN-based company: Allmendinger sits one spot ahead of Sadler in points, although their records this season are virtually identical: 32 starts, no wins, a top-5 and four top-10s apiece.
The move leaves the No. 19 with one primary sponsor, Stanley Tools, which has covered 22 races over the course of this season (19 with Sadler and 3 with Allmendinger).
However, the move also strengthens Richard Petty Motorsports as a whole; instead of putting together a multi-million dollar sponsorship package for Allmendinger, they only need to patch holes for both Sadler and Allmendinger, a much easier task. RPM also has experience with this method, having utilized it all year with Allmendinger’s car and the No. 43 of Reed Sorenson.
Thus far, the biggest supporters of those two teams have been McDonald’s and Valvoline, with 10 races apiece. Hunt Brothers Pizza sponsored eight races for Allmendinger this season, with the last one this weekend at Talladega. Charter Communications covered seven races, but none since Phoenix in April. Super 8 Motels, the Air Force, and PVA.org have also sponsored RPM cars this year.
Ideally, RPM will fill its sponsorship gaps with the companies that have already appeared on its cars this year, giving them three fully sponsored and factory supported teams for next year. Pending the potential addition of Paul Menard and his family sponsorship, RPM could finally have a financially stable four-car team for the 2010 season.
Elliott Sadler to drive Ford at Talladega for RPM
In the midst of finalizing a merger with Yates Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports will race a Ford-powered car at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, the team announced Monday.
Elliott Sadler will become the first driver to ever drive a Ford in the history of Richard Petty Motorsports before he will switch back to Dodge, the team’s current manufacturer, for the final three races of the season at Texas, Phoenix and Miami.
Sadler drove in a Ford with Yates Racing in 2003-2005 before coming to what is now Richard Petty Motorsports and the No. 19 team. All of Sadler’s three Sprint Cup Series wins came in a Ford, with his last being in 2006 at California.
“Richard Petty Motorsports is working with Ford Racing as we get ready to make the full-time switch at Daytona in 2010,” Sadler said. “Since this is the final restrictor plate race of the season, we made the decision to run a Ford to get some work done in advance. This will be our first time to practice and work on a Fusion under real race conditions. It should help us get ready to make a strong showing at Daytona and put us in the best position to start next season. I’ll be back in a Dodge at Texas, Phoenix and Homestead, but since it’s important to start a season off on the right foot we thought we’d try to get a head start.”
Richard Petty Motorsports announced that they signed a letter of intent on Sept. 10 with Yates Racing to merge. While an official merger plan of the two teams has not been officially agreed upon, the team has confirmed that they will field the NASCAR-maximum of four cars next year. All of which will be Fords.
Upon the finalization of the merger, this will be the second consecutive year that a Richard Petty-owned team has merged. In January of this year, what was Petty Enterprises merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports to form the current Richard Petty Motorsports.
April 14, 1985 was the last time a Ford owned by Petty hit the track. Morgan Sheppard drove it to an 18th-place finish at Darlington.
The last time Petty drove a Ford was Dec. 2, 1969 at the Texas World Speedway. Petty recorded nine wins, 29 top-five and 36 top-10 finishes in a Ford in 48 starts.
