Rowdy Sweeps: Kyle Busch dominates NRA 500 for the Texas Sweep
When we came to Texas Motor Speedway, we were promised a Wild Asphalt Circus by Eddie Gossage and the race on Sunday night delivered. From craziness in pre-race technical inspection with Penske Racing to a fire on pit road to sick drivers and motors to sideways cars and a dead battery, the race had something for every fan.
In the end, it was a familiar face at the front of the field as Kyle Busch would pick up the victory in the NRA 500 to pick up the Texas sweep as he won the Nationwide Series event on Friday night. It marks his second sweep of the year. It marks the 26th victory of his Sprint Cup Series career, his first victory at Texas though.
“That felt good for Interstate Batteries and Norm Miller, nothing better than putting them right here,” Busch said. “Great job by Dave (Rogers). If it wasn’t for our pit crew, we wouldn’t be here. They couldn’t had done any better.”
This victory continues Busch’s solid season to date as it marks his second victory and fifth top 10 of the season in seven races.
“We’ve had a great start to the season and it feels good to keep this going,” Busch continued. “We had a talk over the winter, had a talk a couple weeks ago and things have just jelled nice. These things are amazing to drive – they’re fun.”
A caution would come out for debris with 21 laps to go for debris in the fourth corner. The leaders would come down pit road and get pit road and Busch would be the first off. From there, Busch was able to hold off the field on the restart.
If the caution hadn’t come out, it looked as though Martin Truex Jr. was going to run away with it. Instead, he finishes second for his sixth second place finish since his win at Dover and his eighth top 10 finish in 16 starts at Texas.
“Shoulda, coulda, woulda,” Truex Jr. said after the race. “Happened a couple of times to us last year too so I’m just disappointed. I knew the race was over right when we lost out of the pits. I was afraid of losing second there because he inside was so important. proud of my team.
“We’ve had a tough season, had a great car all weekend long – a car worth winning – but finishing second is getting old.”
Truex Jr. would fail post-race inspection as a result of being too low.
Despite going through motor issues and at one point having his belts come loose, Carl Edwards would finish third for his eighth top 10 in 17 starts at Texas.
“I got a great crew chief,” Edwards said, speaking of crew chief Jimmy Fennig. “He called an amazing race and he took every advantage pitting early. Then the engine started running poorly – it was tailpipes. Thought I had a tire going down with how sideways it was. Then the seatbelts – so I got them hooked back up but I lost a ton of time, but unfortunately got back up there. Third feels like a win tonight.”
Greg Biffle would finish fourth despite having a pit road speeding penalty with about 100 laps to go.
“I had my hands full tonight,” he said “Got a pit road penalty with a 100 to go and had to start at the tail end. Just drove it up through there. I just wished we would’ve started up there and got to race with the 18 and 56.”
Despite issues in pre-race inspection that saw Joey Logano almost miss the start of the race, he would finish fifth. In pre-race technical inspection, Logano and Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski were asked to change the rear-end housing in both of their Fords as NASCAR didn’t like how they were hooked up. Logano’s team pushed his car out on to pit road just after the command had been given. Logano would be allowed to start, though had to start from the rear.
“These guys dug real hard all day to get this car on the track and it was a little too close for my comfort,” Logano said. “We worked our way up and Todd Gordon did a good job keeping everybody under control. We just weren’t fast on the short run. We started fourth there and the top three guys were just gone. We have to figure out where that speed was. ”
Points leader Jimmie Johnson finished sixth after running just outside of the top five most of the race. He holds the points lead, nine points ahead of Brad Keselowski. Aric Almirola finished seventh, followed by Brian Vickers, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Newman.
Following the race, Brad Keselowski had some comments to say towards NASCAR and their inspection policy.
“I have one good thing to thing to say and that was my team and the effort they put in today in fighting back with the absolute (expletive) that’s been the last seven days in this garage area,” Keselowski said. “The things I’ve seen over the last seven days have me questioning everything I believe in. I’m not happy about it. I don’t have anything positive to say and I probably should just leave it at that.
“There’s so much stuff going on you guys have no idea, you have no (expletive) idea what’s going on. That’s not your fault. I can tell you there’s no team in this garage with the integrity of the No. 2 team. And the way we’ve been treated over the last seven days is absolutely shameful. I feel like we’ve been targeted over the last seven days more than I’ve seen a team targeted in my life.”
After leading the points lead just two weeks ago, it seems that Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s season has ran into some problems. He started off the season well, having five straight top 10 finishes. Last week at Martinsville, the wheels fell off as they struggled with the handling. This week, Earnhardt Jr. was running third when on lap 190, he immediately turned down pit road, saying that the battery was dead. It was mentioned later that he could have just hit a switch to go over to the back-up battery.
The issue would compound itself as he would be penalized for being too fast entering pit road. When they came back down pit road, LeTarte chose to put four tires on and take fuel. However, that is against the rule states, “Pass thru: Have the driver bring the car onto pit road and maintain pit road speed the entire length without stopping in his pitbox.”
As a result, he would have to come down pit road a third time, putting him four laps down. He would finish 29th.
Earnhardt Jr.’s teammate Jeff Gordon would also run into problems, having to hit road with 28 laps to go due to a broken hub while running third at the time. He would take it behind the wall, finishing 38th.
Bobby Labonte would exit his car under the first caution as a result of suffering a stomach bug. The team had planned to have Mike Bliss take over driving duties, however Bliss continued to drive his car. As a result, Michael McDowell would be the replacement driver, returning the car to the track after a couple of laps spent in the garage.
Rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had no success in Texas as he would have a left rear tire flat, causing him to hit Austin Dillon, before both drivers made contact with the wall. Stenhouse Jr. finished 40th with Dillon in 33rd.
“I think we cut a left rear tire,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “I got a little loose in one and two but we’d been a little loose so didn’t think any thing of it. I think we cut a left rear tire. That’s disappointing. Would’ve liked to see what the car would’ve done under the lights. Guess we’ll get back and ride around out there.”
The other major incident of the day was with 55 laps to go when Marcos Ambrose would get hit by David Gilliland, sending Ambrose around. Behind them, Mark Martin would check up while Jeff Burton didn’t, resulting in Burton going around and hitting the wall.
There’d be a scary moment under the lap 81 pit stops when a fire would start in Matt Kenseth’s pit, causing the gas man’s shoe to catch fire. There’d be no injuries in the incident.
Lap by Lap: NRA 500 won by Kyle Busch
Pull out your brooms as Kyle Busch would lead over 150 laps on his way to scoring the victory in the NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway for the weekend sweep.
BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY LET’S GO RACING as Kyle Busch leads Kurt Busch off of turn two
Lap 3 Kyle Busch leadsKu Busch Truex Johnson Almirola Edwards Ambrose Gordon Earnhardt McMuray. Truex and Johnson clear Kurt Busch for second and third.
Lap 5 McMurray passes Earnhardt for ninth……Ky Busch leads Truex Johnson Ku Busch Edwards Almirola Gordon Ambrose McMurray Earnhardt
Lap 6 Vickers passes Earnhardt for 10th
Lap 8 Gordon passes Almirola
Lap 9 Ky Busch leads Truex Johnson Ku Busch Edwards Gordon Almirola Ambrose McMurray Vickers
Lap 24 Ky Busch leads Truex Johnson Edwards Ku Busch Gordon Almirola Vickers Ambrose McMurray
Lap 38 Ky Busch leads Truex Johnson Edwards Gordon Ku Busch Vickers Almirola Kenseth Ambrose. Caution for debris on the front stretch. Josh Wise gets the lucky dog. Leaders hit pit road. Ky Busch leads Johnson Truex Gordon Vickers Edwards off pit road. Bobby Labonte: “I can’t freaking make it.” Labonte has been sick with stomach bug, spent day in care center. Labonte to the garage.
Restart lap 43 as Kyle Busch leads the field into turn one. Truex gets underneath Busch off of turn two for the lead and takes it. Caution as Stenhouse has something break and it snaps around, collecting Austin Dillon.
Restart lap 48 Truex and Ky Busch side-by-side for the lead down the backstretch. Truex with the lead off of turn four.
Lap 52 Truex leads Ky Busch Johnson Vickers Gordon Kenseth McMurray Edwards Ambrose Ku Busch
Lap 58 Gordon passes Vickers
Lap 67 Keneth passes Vickers; Edwards passes McMurray
Lap 69 Truex leads Ky Busch Johnson Gordon Kenseth
Lap 76 Kyle Busch takes back to the lead
Lap 78 Ky Busch leads Truex Johnson Gordon Kenseth Vickers Edwards McMurray Ku Busch Bowyer
Lap 80 Carl Edwards experiencing motor problems.
Caution Lap 81 Stenhouse Jr. smoking on the track. Looks like repairs not done all well. He had just returned back to the track from making repairs. Leaders make their way down pit road. Ky Busch leads the race off pit road. Flames erupt in Matt Kenseth’s pit. Fire crew right there to put it out. Michael McDowell climbs into Bobby Labonte’s car and brings it back to the track.
Kyle Busch leads Jeff Gordon, Martin Truex Jr., Brian Vickers. JJ fell to ninth.
Restart lap 86 as Kyle Busch leads off of turn two.
Lap 87 Ky Busch leads Truex Kenseth Gordon Vickers McMurray Bowyer Ku Busch Edwards Biffle. Vickers passes Gordon for position.
Lap 90 Ku Busch and Biffle pass Bowyer; Harvick moves into 10th as Edwards falls back with motor issue
Lap 92 Ky Busch leads Truex Kenseth Vickers Gordon McMurray Ku Busch Biffle Bowyer Harvick
Lap 94 Gordon passes McMurray, who passes Vickers
Lap 96 Ky Busch leads Truex Kenseth Gordon McMurray Ku Busch Biffle Vickers Bowyer Harvick
Lap 99 Bowyer passes Vickers while Gordon passes Kenseth
Lap 100 Ky Busch leads Truex Gordon Kenseth Ku Busch McMurray Biffle Bowyer Vickers Harvick
Lap 110 Ky Busch leads Truex Gordon Kenseth Ku Busch McMurray Biffle Bowyer Earnhardt Vickers
Lap 112 Johnson and Harvick pass Vickers; Bowyer passes Biffle
Lap 116 Earnhardt Jr. passes Biffle
Lap 117 Ky Busch leads Truex Gordon Kenseth Ku Busch McMurray Bowyer Earnhardt Johnson Biffle
Lap 120 Earnhardt passes Bowyer
Lap 129 Earnhardt, Ambrose, Truex, Stewart, Ku Busch, Kenseth and Biffle head down pit road
Lap 130 Harvick, Gordon and Vickers on pit road
Lap 131 Montoya and Logano on pit road.
Lap 132 Kyle Busch pits. Johnson to the lead.
Lap 133 Johnson to pit road. Newman to the lead.
Lap 134 Newman heads down pit road to complete the pit cycle. Kyle Busch resumes his position as the top dog.
Lap 137 Keselowski heads down pit road – vibration, possible loose left rear tire
Lap 140 Montoya pits
Lap 141 Ky Busch leads Gordon Truex Kenseth Ku Busch Earnhardt Bowyer Almirola Harvick Johnson. McMurray had to come down pit road to serve penalty for pitting outside of the box.
Lap 150 Ky Busch leads Gordon Truex Kenseth Ku Busch Earnhardt Almirola Johnson Harvick Bowyer…..Caution for debris. Joey Logano gets the lucky dog. NASCAR says it made a mistake on call with McMurray and going to give him a lap back since they had held him for two, when the penalty is one. Leaders head down pit road. Ky Busch leads Gordon Earnhardt Truex Ku Busch off pit road.
Restart lap 156 Kyle Busch leads off the restart. Carl Edwards way off the pace.
Lap 160 Ky Busch leads Gordon Earnhardt Truex Ku Busch Kenseth Johnson Almirola Harvick Ambrose
167 laps down, 167 to go. KyBusch Gordon EarnhardtJr Truex KuBusch Kenseth Johnson Almirola Ambrose Harvick Biffle Kahne Bowyer Vickers
Lap 170 Kurt Busch makes his way down pit road to the garage.
Lap 180 Ky Busch leads Gordon Earnhardt Truex Kenseth Johnson Almirola Ambrose Harvick Kahne
Lap 184 Ky Busch leads Gordon Earnhardt Truex Johnson Kenseth Almirola Ambrose Harvick Kahne. McDowell, who is driving Labonte’s car, is off the pace down the backstretch
Lap 186 Gordon and Ky Busch battle for the lead.
Lap 188 Earnhardt Jr. heads down pit road. “Battery is dead or something.” Dale Jr. just had to switch to a backup battery: “Sorry, Steve.”
Lap 189 Gordon takes the lead from Ky Busch
Lap 190 Earnhardt Jr off of pit road on lap 191 with new battery in. 2 laps down. Dale Jr. pass through .. too fast entering – when you don’t have power, tach doesn’t work. Dale Jr. will put four tires on the car during this pass-through and fix battery box. Letarte: “There’s nothing we can do at this point. Fix it right and we can race from here.” So he gets another penalty. Rule: “Pass thru: Have the driver bring the car onto pit road and maintain pit road speed the entire length without stopping in his pitbox”. Four laps down. Because gauges were going “haywire” and he just didn’t think to try it, he said.
Lap 198 to 200 leaders begin making their way down pit road.
Lap 200 Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon make their way down pit road.
Pit cycle complete on lap 203 as Truex leads Ky Busch and Gordon. Kurt Busch has come back on track – it was a fuel pick up issue and they fixed it
Kyle Busch slaps wall a little … drops to 3rd. Gordon moves up to second while Truex leads
118 to go Truex leads Gordon Ky Busch Johnson Kenseth Almirola Kahne Ambrose Biffle Harvick
116 to go Biffle passes Ambrose
Caution 112 laps to go Reuitmann get into the wall to bring the caution out. Leaders head down pit road. Truex beats Gordon barely to the line ahead of Ky Busch and Kenseth. Biffle too fast on pit road and will go to the rear. He came off pit road in sixth. Dale Jr. takes the wavearound. He’s now three laps down. Gilliland held a lap for pitting outside box. Martin Truex Jr’s windshield man has a cut lip. The jackman hit him in the lip.
Restart 106 to go. Truex leads Kyle Busch with Gordon third
104 to go Truex leads Ky Busch Gordon Kenseth Almirola Johnson Kahne Harvick Ambrose Bowyer
89 to go Johnson passes Almirola
75 to go Truex leads Busch Gordon Kenseth Johnson Kahne Almirola Ambrose Harvick Bowyer
66 to go Truex leads Busch Gordon Kenseth Johnson Kahne Almirola Ambrose Harvick Menard
63 to go Harvick passes Ambrose for eighth
60 to go Harvick heads down pit road
59 to go Yeley and Gilliland pit, along with Wise and Ambrose.
57 to go Almirola pits
56 to go Bowyer pits
55 to go Kenseth and Johnson pit….Truex makes his way down pit road, followed by Busch as Ambrose and Burton go around to bring out the caution. Gilliland spun Ambose and then behind them, Burton spins behind them trying to slow up when Mark Martin slows right in front of him.
On restart will be Truex KyBusch Gordon Logano Hamlin Edwards Newman Martin Biffle Kahne Kenseth Keselowski Ambrose Johnson Harvick Menard. Matt Kenseth gets the lucky dog.
Restart 47 to go as Truex and Busch are side-by-side….Truex with the advantage off of turn two as Busch is second, Gordon third
42 to go Truex leads Ky Busch Gordon Logano Edwards Newman Vickers Biffle Kenseth Martin
40 to go Vickers passes Newman for position. Joe Nemechek down on the apron with a puff of smoke
39 to go Biffle passes Newman
36 to go Kenseth passes Newman
35 to go Truex leads Ky Busch Gordon Logano Edwards Vickers Biffle Kenseth Newman Martin
34 to go Biffle passes Vickers
33 to go Kenseth passes Vickers
29 to go Truex leads Ky Busch Gordon Logano Edwards Biffle Kenseth Vickers Nemwan Almirola
28 to go Gordon has a flat tire on the front straightaway, dropping in positions as he coasts along. “It just went, it just went,” Jeff Gordon said of his tire. “It’s flapping,” Eddie D’Hondt says. End to a good run. Gordon to the garage. “Hub gone”
22 to go Truex leads Busch Logano Edwards Biffle Kenseth Vickers Almirola Newman Johnson
Caution 21 to go debris in the fourth corner. Leaders head down pit road. Ky Busch leads Truex Edwards Biffle Logano
Restart 16 to go Kyle Busch pulls off the lead coming outta three ahead of Truex and Edwards
14 to go Busch leads Truex Edwards Biffle Logano Johnson Almirola Vickers Newman Menard
7 to go Keselowski passes Menard for 10h
4 to go Keselowski passes Newman for ninth
Kyle Busch. Truex. Edwards. Biffle. Logano. Johnson. Almirola. Vickers. Keselowski. Newman.
| Unofficial Race Results | |||||
| NRA 500, Texas Motor Speedway | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/race.php?race=7 | |||||
| ========================================= | |||||
| Pos. | St. | No. | Driver | Make | Points |
| ========================================= | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 48 |
| 2 | 5 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 43 |
| 3 | 9 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 41 |
| 4 | 35 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 40 |
| 5 | 18 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 40 |
| 6 | 7 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 38 |
| 7 | 3 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 37 |
| 8 | 15 | 11 | Brian Vickers(i) | Toyota | 0 |
| 9 | 16 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 35 |
| 10 | 31 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 35 |
| 11 | 14 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 33 |
| 12 | 20 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 32 |
| 13 | 29 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 31 |
| 14 | 23 | 55 | Mark Martin | Toyota | 30 |
| 15 | 26 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 29 |
| 16 | 11 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 28 |
| 17 | 19 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 27 |
| 18 | 22 | 21 | Trevor Bayne(i) | Ford | 0 |
| 19 | 4 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 25 |
| 20 | 10 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Chevrolet | 24 |
| 21 | 13 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 23 |
| 22 | 32 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | 22 |
| 23 | 21 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | 21 |
| 24 | 38 | 83 | David Reutimann | Toyota | 20 |
| 25 | 28 | 7 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | 19 |
| 26 | 25 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | 19 |
| 27 | 33 | 30 | David Stremme | Toyota | 17 |
| 28 | 42 | 10 | Danica Patrick # | Chevrolet | 16 |
| 29 | 6 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 15 |
| 30 | 40 | 35 | Josh Wise(i) | Ford | 0 |
| 31 | 24 | 13 | Casey Mears | Ford | 13 |
| 32 | 27 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 13 |
| 33 | 12 | 51 | Austin Dillon(i) | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 34 | 39 | 33 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 35 | 41 | 87 | Joe Nemechek(i) | Toyota | 0 |
| 36 | 43 | 32 | Timmy Hill # | Ford | 8 |
| 37 | 2 | 78 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 38 | 8 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 39 | 36 | 36 | JJ Yeley | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 40 | 17 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # | Ford | 4 |
| 41 | 34 | 19 | Mike Bliss(i) | Toyota | 0 |
| 42 | 30 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | 2 |
| 43 | 37 | 98 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 1 |
Points System Should Not Be Changed For Hamlin
As we all know, Denny Hamlin is still currently out after fracturing his back following a last-lap accident at the Auto Club 500. A point was made by some fans following the crash that when this kind of thing happens, the relief driver should be able to get points that can be then added back into the primary driver’s points for the entire season. For example, Regan Smith’s points when he drove the No.88 for a couple races during Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s concussion would be given back to Jr. in the final total. Jr. still wouldn’t have been in contention for the championship either way.
I’m in an uncomfortable position about this. Jay Hart made the point that these guys are in fact “relief drivers.” But the fact that his idea would allow guys who aren’t driving to obtain points just really bothers me. The driver who races the car should get the points. I think that is the most logical position to take. Does it hurt for Hamlin? Absolutely, but NASCAR can’t afford to have another change like this affect its image. NASCAR already has enough issues with the Chase and its consistency of rulings on and off the race track.
I feel bad that Hamlin was hurt, but at the same time I wasn’t too sympathetic about him spinning out. His words toward Logano after the Food City 500 were off-base and Hamlin didn’t apologize for the wreck necessarily, but he apologized for his interview. Also, I don’t believe Logano tried to wreck Hamlin. I thought Hamlin’s comments in his interview with Marty Smith were also off-base. You guys are out there in Turn 4 going for the win. I think Logano wanted to win that race as well, but he over drove the car trying to get the best of Denny Hamlin and unfortunately it ended in chaos and a sweep of the weekend for Kyle Busch.
So, I want to see the points system stay the same as it is, but I have spoken about this on many occasions, but I also would like to see the removal of the Chase. NASCAR is not a playoff type of sport.
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NASCAR Finding It Is Easy Being Green
In a sport known for gas guzzling, big engine stock car racing, NASCAR has taken very aggressive steps to address its own carbon footprint in the world of racing. As the sport enters its fifth year of environmentally sound initiatives, NASCAR is indeed finding it easy to be green.
Just two years ago, NASCAR addressed the fuel emissions issue in the sport head on. They forged a partnership with Sunoco, the official fuel of NASCAR and the American Ethanol industry, using Sunoco Green E15, a renewable fuel grown from corn.
This new fuel, utilized by all three of NASCAR’s top series, emits 20 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than unleaded gas. On top of that, the new fuel actually helped the performance of the engines, with teams reporting an increase of up to 10+ horsepower.
“There was a significant degree of caution from the start,” Dr. Mike Lynch, managing director for NASCAR’s Green Innovation, said. “We had to take all the risk out through hard work, time and careful analysis.”
“We needed performance without compromise and we’ve ended up with all the good things and no negative trade-offs,” Lynch continued. “We as an industry have made a ton of progress in terms of green practices and initiatives.”
One of NASCAR’s most exciting green initiatives is the new, energy efficient power at many of its race tracks. Headlining the solar power effort is Pocono Raceway, whose solar farm just hit a major milestone, the production of 10,000,000 kilowatt hours.
Pocono Raceway’s solar farm is comprised of 39,960 American-made photovoltaic modules that will ultimately produce over 72 million kilowatt hours of energy over the next 20 years. This will generate enough power to not only light up the track, but also provide electricity to over 300 homes in the area.
“This is another important milestone for Pocono Raceway”, Brandon Igdalsky, President and CEO of Pocono Raceway, said. “Pocono Raceway strongly believes in the commitment to operate in a more environmentally responsible way and is proud to be the first race track to power our sport with clean, renewable sunlight.”
“This project demonstrates real sustainability and proves that any business that truly wants to ‘Go Green’ can do it.”
From solar power to the power of tree planting, NASCAR and its partner the Arbor Day Foundation are helping the sport go green just in time for Arbor Day, Earth Day and National Tree Planting Day.
In the spirit of the trees, one of NASCAR’s corporate sponsor partners, the 3M Company, just announced that they have just committed to fund the planting of 2,350 trees, one for every lap of the Cup and Nationwide Series racing in the month of April.
These trees will also serve a restorative purpose as many are being planted in areas hard hit by hurricanes, such as the northeast after Super Storm Sandy; tornadoes, such as in northern Alabama; and areas damaged by fires, such as in Minnesota and Texas.
Another one of NASCAR’s most intensive green initiatives has been recycling and, from bottles and cans to tires to electronic devices, the sport has been making great headway in reducing its carbon foot print.
Beverage producers and NASCAR sponsors Coca-Cola and Coors Light have teamed up to not only get their bottles and cans into recycling bins but also to educate fans at the track about the benefits of recycling. Freightliner even provides a BlueTec equipped clean-Diesel rig to transport the Coca-Cola Portable Processing Center at track, which processes 1,000 containers per minutes at the various venues.
The official tire supplier of NASCAR, Goodyear, also has a recycling program for all NASCAR stock cars as well as the trucks. After every race weekend, tires are transported to Charlotte, NC and recycled for use in power generation and asphalt mixtures.
Almost 121,000 tires from the Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series in NASCAR are recycled by Goodyear every year.
NASCAR also recently announced another tire recycling partnership, this one with Liberty Tire Recycling, now the Official Tire Recycler of NASCAR Green.
“By recycling more than 140 million tires annually, we reclaim nearly 1.5 billion pounds of rubber for innovative, eco-friendly products,” Thomas Carter, Liberty Tire Recycling Vice President of Alternative Fuels, said. “We look forward to enhancing NASCAR Green’s best-in-class recycling program by keeping its discarded tires out of landfills and transforming them into smart, sustainable products that improve people’s lives.”
Liberty Tire Recycling will also provide GroundSmart Mulch™ to enhance the landscaping of trees that are donated to areas of need throughout the country. The benefit of this rubber mulch is that it lasts longer and prevents the soil from washing away.
Finally, Liberty Tire Recycling announced that its products, such as rubberized asphalt, will be used to repave race tracks and parking lots at NASCAR venues across the USA.
“Adding the nation’s premier tire recycling company to our group of Official NASCAR Green Partners will further enhance NASCAR’s position of leadership in sustainability across all sports,” Jim O’Connell, NASCAR Chief Sales Officer, said. “We are pleased to work towards a common goal of reducing the environmental impact of our sport.”
Other recycling efforts include Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc., who ensures that all oil and lubricants used in racing are recaptured and re-used. Safety-Kleen re-purposes more than 200,000 gallons of race-used oil annually and also provide absorbent products used for cleaning up fluid spills inside the NASCAR garages.
Finally, NASCAR’s title sponsor, Sprint, is also a partner in green initiatives with their “Recycle for Victory” program. This wireless recycling effort benefits Victory Junction, one of NASCAR’s important children’s charities.
Sprint is present at every track, in their now famous ‘Sprint Experience’ providing pre-addressed, postage-paid envelopes that fans can use to recycle their old cell phones, batteries and other accessories. Since 2001, Sprint has recycled more than 24 million phones, equaling more than 2,600 metric tons of material.
One of the most unique green initiatives, however, occurs at Infineon Raceway. At that race track, there are 3,000 sheep living on the property to maintain the grassy areas and the fire lanes around the facility.
The track also built 15 owl boxes where birds can nest to prey on gophers and other rodents, eliminating the need for pest control.
While NASCAR as a corporate entity may be finding going green positive and exciting, its drivers and team owners are enthusiastic as well.
“I think it’s great that we’re looking in these areas on how to make a difference,” Jimmie Johnson, five-time NASCAR champ, said. “Racing is a great proving ground for new technology that can help the country and world to go green.”
“So, I am excited to see new things coming along and hope there are many more to follow, and really use motorsports as a testing program for that.”
“The nature of our business is one that we use gas and metals, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore the environment,” Jack Roush, team owner, said. “We have an obligation to the global community to give back.”
