KV Racing Technology Partners with Mouser Electronics
KV Racing Technology announced that Mouser Electronics will be the primary sponsor on the No. 11 driven by Tony Kanaan for four IZOD IndyCar Series races. Those four races being Long Beach, Texas, Sonoma and China. Mouser will also be a co-primary sponsor with GEICO for the Indianapolis 500.
Last season, Kanann finished fifth in the IZOD IndyCar Series Championship standings.
“There’s no better feeling than having a solid company behind you — the kind of excitement for motorsports we share with Mouser makes it a great experience,” Kanaan said. “When Jimmy (KVRT co-owner Jimmy Vasser) and I were taking a tour of their facilities and saw all the products that they potentially supply to the sport of IndyCar, we were extremely impressed.”
Mouser Electronics designs and distributes semiconductors and electronic components.
“Last year, Mouser attached its name to the high-speed, high-tech world of INDYCAR as an innovative way to promote our supplier partners and gain broad exposure as we continue to expand our operations worldwide,” Larry Johannes, Mouser VP of strategic marketing, said. “Since every advanced, sophisticated component that’s built to go inside an IndyCar is about delivering a speed and performance edge on the track, INDYCAR was a natural fit.”
Johannes said they chose to sponsor Kanaan due to his skill and experience.
“At Mouser, we’re constantly communicating how using the most advanced technology for design delivers a speed-to-market advantage,” Johannes continued. “INDYCAR provides us the perfect vehicle to build top-of-mind awareness for Mouser and our valued supplier and manufacturer rep partnerships.”
Along with Mouser, Kanaan will have continued support from GEICO.
“One of things I am especially happy about is that GEICO is back as one of my sponsors,” he said. “They are a tremendous company and have really supported me. Let’s be honest, without GEICO I don’t know if I would have been in the car last year. I want to thank the entire GEICO executive staff. I am proud to be associated with them.”
KV Racing took part in the four-day test at Sebring, which saw Kannan ranked 20th after the final day.
“The start of the season is coming up very soon. I think we have just this test and one more before St. Petersburg and I am excited to get the new season started,” Kanaan said during the test. “There have been a lot of changes in the series. New cars, new engines, new races, new sponsors and some new faces in the driver field which all should make the new season exciting for both the fans and the drivers.”
Hometown Hero Cale Gale wins Mobile ARCA 200
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[/media-credit]Hometown Hero Cale Gale would come home the winner of the Mobile ARCA 200 at Mobile International Speedway after holding off Chad Hackenbracht. Gale was able to take the lead from fellow Alabama native Grant Enfinger on lap 176 and held the lead, even through the four cautions that followed.
“This worked out better than we ever could have expected it to,” the 28-year-old said in victory lane.
Gale had spent his time cutting his teeth, learning how to race at Mobile before moving up to the higher ranks. He will now forever hold the honor of winning the first ARCA race ever at the half-mile located in Mobile, Alabama during ARCA Racing Series presented by Meanrds’ 60th Anniversary Season. The win marks his first ARCA victory since winning in 2006 at Gateway.
“We came here with intentions to win but actually being able to pull it off is awesome and it comes at a good time,” he said. “What a packed house today. (Promoter) Rick (Crawford) has done an awesome job promoting this thing, and Tommy Praytor too. It’s especially special, because my grandfather passed away last year and we spent many a night down here on Saturday nights and it’s my first race to win since he passed away.”
The victory also marked the first ARCA win for Eddie Sharp Racing since Craig Goess’ victory last year at Pocono in 2010.
Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell winner Alex Bowman would finished third, followed by Mikey Kile and Clint King. Chris Buescher would finish sixth, followed by Brennan Poole, Jared Marks, Tom Hessert and Chase Elliott.
Southern short track star Bubba Pollard would finish 11th, followed by Ryan Reed, Grant Enfinger, Sean Corr and Tyler Reddick.
Alex Bowman would lead the first 28 laps, before Chase Elliott would take the lead at lap 29. Making his first ever ARCA start, Elliott would lead
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[/media-credit]all the way till the third caution of the race, choosing to make a pit stop. This would hand the lead over to Bowman on the lap 56 restart. Bowman would pit under the next caution, handing the lead to 15-year-old Erik Jones, who became the youngest driver to start an ARCA race. Jones would lead for 15 laps, before Gale took the lead on lap 77.
At the halfway point, Gale led followed by Elliott, Matt Lofton, Grant Enfinger and Bowman.
After the restart, Enfinger quickly moved up to second and was able to pass Gale for the lead on lap 127. Enfinger would continue to lead the field, even beating Gale off pit road during a lap 168 caution. Gale would be able to get by Enfinger a couple laps after the restart, before a caution after Mason Mingus lost control of his car and drove over the turn three and four hill.
Four cautions would follow, extending the race beyond it’s scheduled distance and a final green-white-checkered on laps 202 and 203 would decide the race. Hackenbracht would try to get under Gale on the inside in turn two of the final lap, but would not be able to get by.
Unofficially, Gale leads the point standings, 15 points over Poole. Hackenbracht sits third followed by Mikey Kile and Ryan Reed.
The next race for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards will take place Sunday, April 29 at Salem Speedway. The 200-lap, 111-mile Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 is scheduled to start at 2:15 p.m. Salem will host practice and Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell on Saturday, April 28.
Matty’s Picks 2012 – Race No. 3 – March 11, 2012
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[/media-credit]Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Kobalt Tools 400
Some people just can’t handle Vegas…
We stay out west this week in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and where else to hang out for a week than Sin City…
If you’ve been following some of the drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this week on Twitter, you may have noticed that many of them have chosen to stay west this week, rather than make the trek back to North Carolina. 5-time Sprint Cup Series Champ Jimmie Johnson chose to spend his week in Aspen, Colorado skiing with his family, tweeting on Wednesday; “I was back on skis over the last three days and had a blast. Thanks to @aspensnowmass for the fun today. #NoBrokenBones.” Kyle Busch, wife Samantha, and Greg Biffle all tweeted about spending their week in the western sand dunes. And, Paul Menard took his own off-road ride with Regan Smith on Wednesday near Evergreen, Colorado when Smith lost control of his truck on patch of ice and crashed into a bank of trees. Smith later tweeted “Thank you to everybody for the well wishes, everybody is doing fine, shaken up but healthy. Had somebody looking out for us this morning.”
So just like many college students this week, it seems like many NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers chose to take a bit of a Spring Break this week. I know if it was on me, I would have no trouble showing up a bit early for work this week…
Phoenix Recap
Due to technical difficulties and my lack of success last week in Phoenix, this will be a rather quick recap and pick this week.
My winner pick last week lasted 24 laps before he ended my hopes last week of a strong finish. Kasey Kahne started 10th and quickly moved to the runner-up spot, but couldn’t keep his No.5 Farmers Insurance Chevy under control on lap 24, hitting the wall and putting the kaibash on my hopes of a strong pick. Kahne came come 34th.
As for my Dark Horse pick, he ran more than 250 laps in the top 15 last week but also ran into some misfortune late in the 312 lap stanza. Jeff Burton stared juat behind Kahne in the 11th spot and hung around the 10th spot all day before he radioed in that his engine was about to expire. Burton lasted 3 more laps before retiring to the garage in 33rd place.
Vegas Picks
Because my laptop happens to be about 200 miles away from me right now, the research is rather shotty for this week of Matty’s Picks.
My winner pick this week currently has 12 to 1 odds to win Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 (according to Vegasinsider.com). He had a rather shotty qualifying effort, but is an absolute beast on the intermediate tracks. “Showtime” Carl Edwards is my guy this week, despite Jimmie Johnson being a 4 to 1 favorite to win on Sunday.
Sticking with the Vegas theme, my Dark Horse is a ling shot at 30 to 1 this week. He was fastest in Happy Hour earlier today, and his followers are desperate for a W ASAP. Dale Earnhardt Jr may have been looked past coming into the weekend, but has shown over the course of the past two days that he may have the car to beat on Sunday.
Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead tonight, and until next time….You stay classy NASCAR NATION!
Stenhouse wins the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
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[/media-credit]Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held off veteran driver Mark Martin by 4.785 seconds to win Saturday’s Nationwide Series Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Stenhouse Jr. led the final 54 laps in route to his first victory of the season.
“It was really cool. Looking at all the fans in the stands that came out was pretty cool before the race and to win here was fun. I got here Sunday, so I’ve been here a while and it paid off.” Stenhouse Jr. said.
Martin, making his first Nationwide Series race for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 18 Toyota led 44 laps and finished second.
“That was one serious beatdown he put on me that last run. I mean just a beatdown. I kept up with for a while and about wrecked five times, and that’s it. I’m not ashamed to say, it wasn’t even close.” Martin said. “Thanks to Joe Gibbs and everybody at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Interstate Batteries. This Toyota was awesome and they were awesome. I needed to run a race to see if I could find a few things that maybe we could work on to improve.”
Polesitter and series points leader Elliott Sadler finished third after pitting for a vibration problem.
“We showed a lot of guts and effort today. We had a good race car and anytime you can go through what we did today and get a third-place finish, we’ve very happy with that.” Sadler said.
Sadler has a 15 point lead in the series standings over Austin Dillon.
Trevor Bayne finished fourth and Brendan Gaughan finished fifth.
“It’s good when you can say a top five is disappointing. We want to be in Victory Lane every week and there for a while I thought we had a shot at it. We just got too tight at the end when the sun went down, so it’s a decent run.” Bayne said.
| Unofficial Race Results | |||||
| Sam’s Town 300, Las Vegas Motor Speedway | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=3 | |||||
| ========================================= | |||||
| Pos. | St. | No. | Driver | Make | Points |
| ========================================= | |||||
| 1 | – | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 48 |
| 2 | – | 18 | Mark Martin | Toyota | 0 |
| 3 | – | 2 | Elliott Sadler | Chevrolet | 42 |
| 4 | – | 60 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 40 |
| 5 | – | 33 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 6 | – | 88 | Cole Whitt * | Chevrolet | 38 |
| 7 | – | 3 | Austin Dillon * | Chevrolet | 37 |
| 8 | – | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 36 |
| 9 | – | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | 35 |
| 10 | – | 38 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 11 | – | 9 | Kenny Wallace | Toyota | 33 |
| 12 | – | 7 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 32 |
| 13 | – | 43 | Michael Annett | Ford | 31 |
| 14 | – | 30 | James Buescher | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 15 | – | 44 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | 29 |
| 16 | – | 19 | Tayler Malsam | Toyota | 28 |
| 17 | – | 1 | Mike Wallace | Chevrolet | 28 |
| 18 | – | 41 | Blake Koch | Ford | 26 |
| 19 | – | 70 | Johanna Long * | Chevrolet | 25 |
| 20 | – | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | 24 |
| 21 | – | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | 23 |
| 22 | – | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Chevrolet | 22 |
| 23 | – | 22 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | 0 |
| 24 | – | 23 | Robert Richardson Jr. | Chevrolet | 20 |
| 25 | – | 14 | Eric McClure | Toyota | 19 |
| 26 | – | 4 | Daryl Harr | Chevrolet | 18 |
| 27 | – | 81 | Jason Bowles * | Toyota | 17 |
| 28 | – | 108 | Kyle Fowler | Ford | 16 |
| 29 | – | 52 | Tim Schendel | Chevrolet | 15 |
| 30 | – | 124 | Benny Gordon | Chevrolet | 14 |
| 31 | – | 50 | T.J. Bell | Ford | 13 |
| 32 | – | 28 | Derrike Cope | Dodge | 12 |
| 33 | – | 54 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 0 |
| 34 | – | 11 | Brian Scott | Toyota | 11 |
| 35 | – | 40 | Erik Darnell | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 36 | – | 113 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | Dodge | 0 |
| 37 | – | 39 | Joey Gase * | Ford | 7 |
| 38 | – | 27 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | 0 |
| 39 | – | 46 | Chase Miller | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 40 | – | 10 | Jeff Green | Toyota | 4 |
| 41 | – | 42 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 42 | – | 47 | Scott Speed | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 43 | – | 174 | Mike Harmon | Chevrolet | 1 |
