Five Questions With Brian Scott

By

-

June 26, 2012

[media-credit name=”facebook.com/BScottRacing” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]In my next interview I had the chance to speak with Nationwide Series driver Brian Scott. He currently drives the No. 11 Dollar General Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Here is my interview with Brian Scott.

Q: Imagine yourself not as a driver but as a race fan. If you were to do a ride along with any driver other than yourself, who would you chose, which track and why?

Brian Scott: If I wasn’t a race car driver I think the most exhilarating ride along would be with Jimmie Johnson at Dover. Dover is such an incredible place with the most sensation of speed anywhere we go, and Jimmie because he is amazing at the track.

Q: If you could have a track named after you, what kind of track would it be and where would it be located?

Brian Scott: I think to have a track named after me in my home state of Idaho or just even in the Northwest would be neat. It would be a track that was a fast short track. Something like if you merged Bristol and Phoenix together.

Q: What is your most memorable race?

Brian Scott: My most memorable race was the 2009 Camping World Truck Series race at Dover. I won the race, my first win in NASCAR, and it will always be a memory I cherish.

Q: Who would you consider NASCAR’s bad boy? Golden boy?

Brian Scott: NASCAR’s bad boy in my eyes is my teammate Kyle Busch. And the golden boy is Carl Edwards.

Q: What advice would you give someone who wanted to be a race car driver?

Brian Scott: I would tell anyone with aspirations of being a race car driver to work hard, be humbled, and never give up. Its a long, hard road to make it and when it all comes down to it you have to be lucky, talented and smart.

A Fan Proposal of the Perfect Chase

By

SM Staff

-

June 26, 2012

[media-credit name=”Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]A competitive chase is all any fan wants for the last ten races of the Sprint Cup Series season. As we stand right now, the chase races could use a little adjustment. A few qualities a chase track should have are; competitive racing, a unique track layout and no other track in the chase to compare to it. Right now the Chase for the Sprint Cup includes the following tracks; Chicagoland, New Hampshire, Dover, Talladega, Charlotte, Kansas, Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead Miami. Some of these tracks fit like a puzzle piece into the chase format, some others don’t have the smooth edges to fit into the chase puzzle.

Tracks I believe deserve a spot in the chase are; New Hampshire, Dover, Talladega, Charlotte, Martinsville and Homestead Miami. These tracks are uniquely different from each other and always put on a show. The “Magic Mile” in New Hampshire is a tough little track. Your car needs to have the perfect set up to compete and you need great strategy to win. Last year strategy hurt Clint Bowyer who was leading on the last lap until he ran out of fuel and Tony Stewart passed him for the win. The “Monster Mile” in Dover is a great tough track that features great racing. Every lap around Dover there is threat for disaster. Anything can happen at any minute there, that’s a track you should need to conquer to be called a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship.

Talladega is always the wild card of the chase and that’s an aspect we need in the chase, to be a true champion you’ll need to survive a race at Talladega. Charlotte is the classic mile and a half track but its curved front straightaway provides a different aspect for the track. If your car can stay out front all day and stay competitive for 500 miles at Charlotte, then one day you’ll be considered one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR.

Martinsville is the ‘ole short track, a beating and banging track. This is one of the toughest tracks on the circuit even though it’s the smallest. It’s a perfect fit for the chase due to its small but tough track structure. Homestead Miami is a great track to determine the champion because we only go there for one race, no team will have an advantage. To become the champion you’ll need to outdo your opponent all weekend.

The Chase for the Sprint Cup doesn’t just include six races, it has ten. Four tracks that are uniquely different than any others in the chase need to be added to accommodate the six I mentioned of being a great fit for the chase. I believe Darlington should be added to the chase races because there is no other track like it. “The Lady in Black” has a track layout that doesn’t have its corners matching. Turns one and two are very different then turns three and four, that’s a great way to determine who can set up their car the best to get around the track. Another track that I think should be added to the track is Pocono. Pocono features three completely different corners that need to be mastered one by one. With the newly repaved surface, it now is a very fast track and a great fit for the chase.

The third new track I think should be added to the chase is Indianapolis. The “Brickyard” is a very unique and special track. Indianapolis is one of the few tracks that is a rectangle shape rather than an oval. It features very fast speeds and requires the perfect race to be victorious. The final puzzle piece to complete the chase should be a road course. I can’t pick a certain road course to be in the chase but any road course will do. After this past weekends’ race in Sonoma, it brought up the annual question of should a road course race be in the chase. I say yes because to be a true champion, you need to posses all racing skills that includes road course racing as well. To be a NASCAR champion you need to be able to turn left and right.

My perfect chase is very unique and different than anything else. To be a champion in NASCAR you need to show tremendous skill and talent. If one day NASCAR tweaks the chase schedule, expect some of the changes I stated to be put in the chase. To shake up the chase format like this isn’t easy but it can be done. One day we’ll have the perfect chase and we can say that the champion is a true champion.

The Sprint Cup Series heads to Kentucky Speedway

By

SM Staff

-

June 26, 2012

[media-credit name=”Matt LaFlair” align=”alignright” width=”275″][/media-credit]This week will be the second visit to Kentucky Speedway. Its inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup race last season that was marred by race fans that never even made it to the track due to blocked highways and limited parking areas.

Last year the speedway was that they had “120,000 seats sold when they could only hold 107,000”. The speedway has announced the expansion of parking lots, easier access to the speedway and new camping services.

Kentucky Speedway has converted 50 new acres of previously unusable land to parking and added gravel aisles to 100 acres of previously all-grass parking, adding an additional 20,000 parking spots.

“Kentucky Speedway and Speedway Motorsports, Inc., that widened the Interstate 71 exit ramp to Kentucky Highway 35 to three lanes, expanded Ky. Hwy. 35 to seven lanes, yielded parking for an estimated 20,000 additional vehicles and constructed a pedestrian tunnel which connects 170 acres of new Ford Parking to the original speedway property.”

Ford and Ford Dealers in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana will be supporting the speedway’s on race day traffic management for five 2012 NASCAR events including the Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400 by sponsoring 170 new acres of free parking east of the 107,000-capacity venue. Fans arriving at the speedway in Ford vehicles will be directed to park in forward sections of the expansive Ford Parking area.

“Ford and our local Ford dealers are excited to strengthen our partnership with Kentucky Speedway on this major initiative to expand parking and convenience for race fans all across the tri-state.” Ford Cincinnati Regional Manager Greg Wood said.

The campgrounds open on Tuesday June 26 at noon for the speedway’s tripleheader NASCAR weekend.

“I urge our fans to get their friends together and spend race weeks with us. Arrive early because it’s a great way to experience our speedway, make new friends, gear up for our races and enjoy entertainment we have planned.” Kentucky Speedway General Manager Mark Simendinger said.

Country music star Chris Young will perform before the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400 on June 30 at 5:15 p.m. Then Versatile star of stage, screen and country music radio Laura Bell Bundy will honor America when she sings “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the green flag waves.

Hopefully all of the problems of years past will be resolved and fans attending the second Sprint Cup Series event this weekend will all be able to park there cars and get to see the race. Bu just in case, fans can follow @kystatepolice and @KySpeedway on Twitter along with finding “Kentucky State Police” and “Kentucky Speedway” on Facebook. Fans within five miles of the track can tune to information radio 1620 AM.

Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Folds of Honor Team Kentucky Advance

By

SM Archive

-

June 26, 2012

CHEVY NSCS AT KENTUCKY: Team Chevy Advance

By

SM Archive

-

June 26, 2012

NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: DON’T BE SURPRISED IF THE TRUCKS ARE THE CLASS OF THE KENTUCKY WEEKEND

By

SM Staff

-

June 26, 2012

[media-credit name=”Joe Dunn” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]All three of NASCAR’s national touring series will be racing a Thursday through Saturday schedule at the Kentucky Speedway this week. When it’s time to analyze the stats from this weekend, don’t be too surprised if Thursday night’s UNOH 225 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is deemed the class act of the trio of races. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that happened.

Having said that, it’s too bad that this Truck race is on a Thursday night. Economics dictates that the fans simply won’t have the money to purchase tickets for all three events and that could hurt Thursday night’s attendance. The date is also inconvenient for out of town fans and that could be an attendance factor as well. For years now, the loyal fans of this series have been begging NASCAR to schedule more stand alone events for the trucks. The series has more than proven they can pack a grandstand all by themselves over the years.

THE STORY BREAKDOWN

One of the big stories associated with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this year has been the competitive nature of its first seven races of the season. The series has ran seven races and sent seven different winners to victory lane. We hear the term “level playing field” a lot from NASCAR officials. It appears that its truck series has found that level playing field.

Three times, during the series’ first seven races, we have been treated to watching the elation of first time winners. James Buescher, John King and Justin Lofton scored their first wins, in a NASCAR national touring series, this year and there are plenty of other young hopefuls in the series who could see their names added to that list before the year is over.

Certainly one of those potential first time winners has got to be Nelson Piquet Jr who will be coming to the Kentucky Speedway with a truck load of momentum after his outstanding performance last weekend in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Road America in Wisconsin. The Turner Motorsports driver started that race on the pole position and won the event in only his third series start. Many truck series observers have said this young driver from Brazil could become a breakout winner this year. With the momentum from last weekend carrying him, the Kentucky Speedway could easily become the scene of his first truck win.

If there’s one team, with some badly needed renewed momentum, that bears watching Thursday night it’s certainly drivers Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton from Thorsport Racing. Both of these teams were hampered by plain bad luck and frustrating finishes the first six races of the season. There were a lot of garage rumors that said the team’s decision to switch manufacturers, from Chevrolet to Toyota, just wasn’t working out.

However, it only takes one strong race to turn a racing situation around and Thorsport certainly accomplished that at the Texas Motor Speedway, back on June 8th, when Sauter and Crafton scored a one-two finish. The momentum is running high again and this two truck team will bear some attention during the UNOH 225.

THE RACE BREAKDOWN

The UNOH 225 is 150 laps/225 miles around the Kentucky Speedway’s 1.5 mile oval.

The race has 43 posted entries vying for the 36 starting positions.

A whopping19 of these entries are on the go or go home list meaning they are not guaranteed a start in the race because they are currently outside of the series’ top 25 in owner’s points. These teams will have to earn a starting berth in the race via qualifying speeds.

The defending race champion is Kyle Busch. However, there will be no repeat winner Thursday night because Busch is not entered in this race. Jason Leffler will be driving the Kyle Busch Motorsports’ #18 Toyota.

Six previous Kentucky Speedway winners have gone on to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ championship. The last driver to perform this feat was Todd Bodine back in the 2010 season.

The Kentucky Speedway’s 1.5 mile oval is regarded by NASCAR as being an intermediate track. These facilities are often referred to as “cookie cutter tracks.” The speedway has 14 degrees of banking in its four corners, eight degrees on the front stretch and only four degrees on the back chute.

Thursday night’s UNOH 225 will be broadcast live by the SPEED Channel with the pre race “set up” show beginning at 730 pm eastern time.