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David Ragan to drive for Front Row Motorsports

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SM Staff
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Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images North America

[media-credit name=”Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images North America” align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]David Ragan is no longer standing in NASCAR’s unemployment line.

It has been reported by The Charlotte Observer’s Jim Utter that Ragan has signed on to drive for Front Row Motorsports full time in 2012. Front Row Motorsports is owned by restaurant entrepreneur  Bob Jenkins (not the ESPN commentator), who took full ownership of the team from Jimmy Means in 2005.  The team had just two top-10 finishes by David Gilliland last season. One being a third place finish in the biggest race of the year, the Daytona 500. Also driving full time for the team last season was Travis Kvapil who didn’t fair as well. His highest finish during the 2011 season was a 16th place finish at Martinsville in October.

The Unadilla, GA native moves on from Roush Fenway Racing’s 6 car with one Sprint Cup Series win coming at Daytona last July.  Ragan lost his ride with the team due to the cut back of primary sponsor UPS and was released to find another full time ride in the series.

Among the remaining unemployed Sprint Cup drivers are Brian Vickers, Landon Cassill and J.J. Yeley. It is unclear whether or not David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil will keep their rides with Front Row Motorsports this season.

Sources have said to expect an official announcement of the new deal early this week.

NASCAR Notebook – Silly Season is Apparently Over

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SM Staff
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CIA Stock Photo

It looks like the Daytona Pre-Season Thunder event pushed teams to make decisions on 2012. If you remember, David Ragan, David Reutimann, Kurt Busch, and Clint Bowyer were dismissed or left their rides following the 2011 season. One by one, they found employment, but the changes were substantial.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”253″][/media-credit]1. When sponsorship couldn’t be found for the Roush-Fenway No. 6 after the 2011 season, Roush released David Ragan from his contract. Ragan finally found a ride in one of the Front Row Motorsports Fords this weekend, as I predicted. It was also announced that Nationwide Series Champion Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. will be in the Daytona 500 in this car for seems to be a one-shot effort.

2. After being released from the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 00 car, David Reutimann finally found a ride with Tommy Baldwin Racing for a limited number of races. Reutimann will be replaced by Mark Martin and owner Michael Waltrip in what will become the No.55.

3. The No. 5 ride vacated by Martin will be filled with Kasey Kahne at Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne had driven the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota in 2011 after leaving Richard Petty Motorsports late in 2010.

4. After Kurt Busch and Roger Penske agreed to part ways, and after much speculation on who would drive the No. 22 Dodge, A.J. Allmendinger was hired on what many consider to be a one-year contract.

5. When Allmendinger was given his release from the No, 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford when main sponsor Best Buy left for Roush-Fenway, it was rumored that Kurt Busch would get that ride. Unfortunately, sponsors didn’t feel comfortable with Busch, so Aric Almirola got the ride and got the bonus of Smithfield Foods as a sponsor.

6. When Clint Bowyer and Richard Childress couldn’t come to terms or a sponsor could not be found, Bowyer left the No. 33 Chevy for Michael Waltrip racing with NAPA as sponsor and using the No. 15. The No. 33, much like the No. 6 at Roush-Fenway, was retired.

7. Kurt Busch ended up at Phoenix Racing with the No. 51 Chevrolet, which is considered an arm of Hendrick Motorsports. No sponsor has been announced.

8. Scott Speed found a ride in the No. 95 Bob Leavine Ford for an unannounced number of races, a place Speed raced last year for a few races.

9. Sadly, TRG Racing, the home of rookie of the year Andy Lally, has apparently closed shop to concentrate on other forms of racing

Whew, is that ever a mouthful. In the more than 15 years I have been covering the Sprint Cup Series, I cannot remember any more changes. Most of it is a symptom of a not-yet-recovered economy. Things will get better in time. It will be interesting to see how the move to MWR Toyotas treats Martin and Bowyer, how Stenhouse performs in the No. 6 at Daytona, a race that car has been very competitive in, if Kahne can avoid the slump of the No. 5 at Hendrick, how A.J. does in the Penske organization, whether or not Aric Almirola can lead the Pettys back to victory circle, and finally what Kurt Busch will do in James Buescher’s cars. I can’t wait

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After all the stuff we’ve heard (and stuff is very appropriate in this context) over the years, we were led to believe that some insurance god somewhere had mandated that under no circumstances could cars run faster than 200 mph at Daytona, and something awful would happen if that were the case. Well in Daytona testing this week, even though single car speeds were well below that, 200 mph was fairly common in drafting. NASCAR went to a bigger plate on Friday, and the result was Kurt Busch topping 206 mph, and went back to the smaller plate on Saturday. The result was still speeds in excess of 200 mph, so I guess we can expect some tweaks before next month if the 200 mph insurance mandated limit is still in effect. Or was it ever? Kurt Busch said this week that was common in the two car drafts. I have no idea, but the last two days saw more pack racing.

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I cannot imagine how it feels to be David Ragan and David Reutimann these days. Ragan was in the car that Mark Martin almost won numerous championships in, and was featured in UPS commercials the last few years. Now, he’s been relegated to running in a car that, well, hasn’t been all that competitive. Reutimann is in the same position. Both have won races in better equipment, but their chances, except at Daytona or Talladega, are slim (anyone can win there). It also points to the big gap in the haves and have-nots.

Mikey Kile: Ready For The Challenge with Andy Belmont Racing

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SM Staff
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In their breakout season last year with driver Chad McCumbee, Andy Belmont Racing set the bar high as they won the Bill France Four Crown Award and finished fifth in driver’s points. With that said, Mikey Kile knows the expectations are high for him this year.

“I can’t wait to get the season going,” Kile said. “They’ve really set the bar high at Andy Belmont Racing, so it’s a tremendous challenge to take it to the next level. I believe our ModSpace team will come out of the blocks fast. This race team will start the year in full stride.”

The Westlake, La. driver has had success before as he finished fifth in points in 2010 with Venturini Motorsports. The season begins for the 28-year-old at Daytona with the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 on February 18th.

“I’m confident we’ll be in the championship hunt all year,” Jennifer Belmont said. “Mikey is the driver I believe can make us a contender in our flagship car. He’s always been fast at Daytona, so we’re confident he will get us off to a good start. Everyone on this race team has spent a lot of hours making sure he will have a good car. Mikey will do the rest.”

Kile got started in racing through go-karts at a young age. Since then, he has moved up the ranks, having success at various levels. Career highlights include four carting championships, eight IMCA modified wins and 2008 USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series Rookie of the Year.

In 2009, Kile ran some ARCA and Camping World Truck Series races for Brad Keselowski Racing. In the truck series, he qualified career-high 10th at Las Vegas and finished a career-high 11th at both Milwaukee and Gateway in the Truck Series. In the ARCA Series, he qualified a career-high 10th at Kentucky and finished a career-high fourth at Talladega.

“It was good,” Kile said of that experience back in 2010. “Our first outing we ran at Martinsville and finished 11th. I think we ran six races and finished top-12 in three or four of the six. We were sixth quickest at Vegas and running top-10 there and top-10 at Texas and a pit stop issue there caught us outside of the top 10. It was a learning curve, but definitely running there and running good, I felt like I belonged there.”

In 2010, he ran the full schedule for Venturini Motorsports, which led to him running some ARCA races for Venturini in 2011 and some NASCAR Camping World Truck and Nationwide races for Turner Motorsports.

Last month, Andy Belmont Racing made it official that they had hired Mikey Kile for the entire 2012 season.

Andy Belmont Racing also added a new crew chief to the team as they brought Jeff McClure on board. Though there will be one thing that stays the same for ABR as Modspace has come back on board.

“ModSpace is always excited to start the season at Daytona,” said William Mann, vice president of ModSpace Motorsports. “The history and energy that comes with this historic track always creates an exciting race! We are looking forward to seeing Mikey get behind the wheel the No. 1 ModSpace Ford and deliver a top-notch finish.”

“The entire team had a successful test at Daytona and they came back with a lot of notes to make the car even better,” Kile added. “This is an exciting time for everyone involved with this ModSpace race team. We’re all eager to get it started at Daytona. We will also be testing a new car at Talladega Superspeedway at the end of this month.”

Kevin Swindell Takes Chili Bowl Hat Trick

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SM Staff
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The Chili Bowl went off without a hitch. Although its spirit was dampened by the loss of one of its young stars, Donnie Ray Crawford, in a domestic violence situation. More so than other series I have covered the young man’s loss was felt strongly by not only competitors but fans and officials a like. So much so that in his memory they increased the main event by 5 laps to make it 55 his car number and used his car as the pace vehicle to start the race. The only other showing of grief that even comes close to what I saw today was the grief seen in Rockingham in 2001 after the loss of Dale Earnhardt.

The last day of the event saw 19 races starting with the K mains and progressed up to the A main. 4 cars transferred from each race until the D mains when 6 cars transferred and finally the 12 from the 2 B main features filled the last 12 spots of the 24 car field of the Chili Bowl.

The biggest surprise of the day was the Chili Bowl Rookie of the Year winning his B Main in commanding fashion. Richard Vanderweerd won his feature event by a straight away over 2nd place RJ Johnson. Though he didn’t make it into the top ten in the A main when the dust cleared, he showed himself to be a very talented and gifted young man.

The fore gone conclusion of the day, that a Swindell would win the Chili Bowl. And one did. Kevin Swindell pulled off the Chili Bowl hat trick in a race that was interrupted by on only one caution flag for Levi Jones tumble in turns one and two. Jones who was uninjured in the crash never returned to the fray. From that point on the pole sitter dominated the race. From the green flag to the checkered flags Kevin Swindell lead every single lap.

Kevin’s only challenge for the race came from his father Sammy. The elder Swindell made several hard charges at his son until he got tangled up with a lap car and broke the left rear shock and damaged the front axle. For most competitors that would have been the end of their day. Sammy Swindell however is not most competitors and he finished the final 6 laps in a car that was not capable of making any further challenge for the lead.

Third place went to the young lion, Kyle Larson. This young man is going places. Even though he never mounted a serious challenge to the Swindells, he held off all comers otherwise and finished third in a dominant 5 car advantage over Danny Stratton, who came in 4th. This youngster can slice and dice and bicycle a midget as well as the much more experienced drivers he was competing against. His personable and likeable personality fills the picture with a great deal of fan presence.

The remainder of the top 10 were not surprises either. With the exception of Kyle Larson they were all very experienced Midget drivers and Chili Bowl Competitors. 5th place went to Bryan Clauson. 6th to Brad Sweet, 7th to Cory Kruzeman, 8th to Jerry Coons Jr, 9th to Ricky Stenhouse Jr and 10th to Tony Stewart.

The day was a long one. The main event was almost anti climatic. But the real story of the Chili Bowl wasn’t who won or who lost instead it was about the strength and determination of the human spirit when faced with grief and pain. The character and emotional strength it took for every one of those competitors today to get in those cars and carry on was a testament to the affection and respect they had for their fallen friend. Somewhere in the back of their minds each and every one of them realized that though they might not want to carry on with this it would be the ultimate show of disrespect to Donnie Ray Crawford to pack up and go home without trying. It’s not how he would have wanted it. He was there with them every single lap. Cheering them on to victory and consoling them in their loss. No doubt the young man marveled at the respect he was given by heroes like Kevin Swindell, Sammy Swindell, Bryan Clauson and Tony Stewart. But it is the way of the sport. It is the way that we say good bye. But even then not really good bye just see you at the next track.

Last note of interest Joey Moughan was released from the hospital this morning after remaining for observation over night with no serious injuries.

Day Three of Daytona Preseason Thunder – Testing For The 54th Annual Daytona 500 Wraps Up

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SM Archive
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Toyota NSCS Daytona Test – Denny Hamlin/Darian Grubb

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SM Archive
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Dodge Motorsports Notes & Quotes – Travis Geisler Pre-Season Thunder Testing Quotes – Daytona

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SM Archive
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Donny Ray Crawford killed at his home.

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SM Staff
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The Chili Bowl has experienced a tragedy. In an off track domestic incident, Chili Bowl competitor Donny Ray Crawford who was locked in to the H main for today’s competition, was shot and killed along with his grandfather at his home last night.

A third person, an adult woman was also injured in the shooting. She was able to talk when emergency workers arrived and she was reported to have said, “”I don’t want to lose my son”

Wagoner County Sheriff Bob Colbert said the shooting appears to be the result of a family disturbance.

“It’s too early to say why it happened,” he said, adding that there is no reason for the community to feel at risk.

“It appears to be a family thing,” he said.

It has been reported that tonight’s A-Main will be extended to 55 laps in honor of Crawford.

[media-credit name=”Facebook ” align=”alignright” width=”218″][/media-credit]The race community here in Tulsa is saddened and shocked by the occurrence. The thoughts and prayers from all of the staff at Speedway Media go out to the family, friends and fans of Donny Ray Crawford.

Day Two of Daytona Preseason Thunder – Trevor Bayne Ready To Defend Daytona 500 Win

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SM Archive
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Carl Edwards: ‘I Really Wish We Could Talk About This Year’

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SM Staff
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[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”227″][/media-credit]Don’t ask Carl Edwards about what happened to he and his No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing team last season. He’s done talking about it, ready to focus on 2012 instead of dwelling on what went wrong or what they could have done differently last year.

He’s done talking about it because he says once he parked his plane at the airport a few days ago and walked through the gates at Daytona to start testing, his mindset switched to what he needs to do now. The confidence and excitement that he felt when arriving are more than he’s ever felt before.

But it isn’t so easy to just let go of what the NASCAR world witnessed. From Daytona to Homestead it seems that even after doing everything he could he was always one position short of where he needed to be. That included the Daytona 500, which Edwards has yet to win.

“Well, it would be huge,” said Edwards if he were to win it next month. “That would be an understatement. That is an understatement. Last year we were so close following Trevor [Bayne] across the start-finish line. I learned a lot. I feel like our restrictor plate program is better. I feel that Greg [Biffle, teammate] and I have grown together to be able to do well at these races. It’s the Daytona 500 and I’m very, very excited about it.”

Some might find it ironic that Edwards started and ended last season by finishing second, losing two important things in the process. As Bayne went onto win the biggest race of the year, and his career, which was just two races old at that point, Edwards headed back home and gave himself a headache by wondering what he should have done differently to get around Bayne.

In fact, he even called the race winner to ask. Not being able to let it go until he had a solid answer about how he let the Daytona 500 slip away. Bayne though, didn’t have answer, telling Edwards he couldn’t say whether he should have went high or low. So Edwards left Daytona and moved toward trying to win the championship, which he came up short on too.

Those disappointments have left him. Making many appearances during the off-season he says that the common theme that he’s seen is how excited everyone is about the new season and new opportunities. It’s neat he says, to be apart of something that has a whole group genuinely excited and pumped up about 2012.

That includes crew chief Bob Osborne, who seemed to take last year’s ending the hardest. He didn’t attend Champion’s Week in Las Vegas, instead staying home to work and better the team. Edwards saw what Osborne was going through and says the whole team experienced it with him before putting it on a shelf and moving on.

“If we weren’t upset about it, if it wasn’t something that made you just want to – or that frustrated you, then you’re probably not in the right sport,” said Edwards. “But I believe, I’d like to believe that we’re wise enough to not let that get the best of us, to just go out and perform and do the best we can. That’s competition. That’s life. You’ve just got to keep on going and do the best you can.”

They’ve internalized, compartmentalized and put the 2011 book on a shelf. The slate is clean and the year is fresh and it only matters what they do now. Except Edwards and his team all too well that the odds might be stacked against them. Because they’ve been in this position before, trying to come back from disappointment only to never see their expectations come close to being met.

“I think I’m one of the ones that kind of started that deal in 2008 and 2009,” Edwards believes of the second place curse as it’s being called. “We’ve lived that. It’s really painful. I hope that kinds of takes us out of that – keeps us from repeating that statistic. I hope that experience that we had before in 2009 will keep us from doing it again.

“But this sport is tough. Your success last year does not guarantee you anything right now. That’s just the way this sport is. We’ve made the mistake of resting on our laurels and saying we’re good, let’s focus on a coupe little things. But you can’t do that. You’ve got to keep looking at every little thing.”

It’s why Edwards and his Fastenal team will again be ones to watch as they look to right the wrongs of the Daytona 500 and Chase from last season.

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