Michael Annett to drive for a newly formed Richard Petty Motorsports team

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February 5, 2012

It was recently announced that Richard Petty Motorsports has formed a new Nationwide Series team that will be run out of RPM’s Concord, N.C. race shop and contend for the Nationwide Series championship in 2012. The No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford will be driven by Michael Annett, a rising star in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

[media-credit name=”LAT Photographic ” align=”alignright” width=”250″][/media-credit]However, Annett may be more well-known for his drunk driving arrest than for his driving ability. He was arrested early in 2011 after rear ending a vehicle at a stop light. His blood-alcohol content proved to be 0.32 % which is four times North Carolina’s legal limit of 0.08 %. He ended up being charged with drunk driving, texting while driving, failure to reduce speed and resisting arrest. Annett has since then been under unsupervised probation, completed 48 hours of community service and has issued a sincere formal apology. He was also placed on probation with the now dis-assembled team of Rusty Wallace Inc. and did not end up missing any races for the team.

Annett replaced Brendan Gaughan in RWI’s No. 62 car last season. He ended up 9th in Nationwide Series points which is a personal best for the driver who has driven full time in the series for the last 3 seasons. He has also driven for Germain Racing, finishing 10th in points in 2009 and 13th in 2010 (with RWI).

The Des Moines Iowa native had this to say of the new opportunity:

“They say that when one door closes, another door opens, and that is most definitely true. We were left scrambling a bit because of the situation with RWI and were unsure what the future held, but I couldn’t be happier with the way things have turned out. To have the chance to race for Richard Petty and to be under the RPM umbrella is amazing. It has all come together really quickly, but together with Pilot Flying J and Ford, this is the best opportunity I have ever had to race a Nationwide Series car. There is a lot to be done before we get to Daytona in a few weeks and I can’t wait to dive in and get started.”

Pilot Flying J, headquartered in Knoxville Tennessee, is a chain of truck stops and one of the nation’s largest wholesale fuel providers. The company is also a long-time partner of Annett’s. He reached Victory Lane with the Pilot Travel Centers machine in his 4th career ARCA Series start in 2007.

Richard Petty says that it sure has been an exciting couple of months for the team. “We are looking forward to getting back into the Nationwide Series full time and seeing what Michael Annett can do in an RPM Ford Mustang. Michael has improved every season he has raced in the Nationwide Series and has the dedication and drive to be a success.”

Robert Yates To Be Part of NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Display at CME

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SM Staff

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February 5, 2012

[media-credit name=”NASCAR Canadian Tire Series” align=”alignleft” width=”282″][/media-credit]NASCAR Canadian Tire Series staff announced that Robert Yates will be part of their display this year at the Canadian Motorsports Expo.

“We’re very pleased that the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series is back at the Canadian Motorsports Expo,” series director Brad Moran said. “While many fans see our races at the track and on TSN, this show, however, offers a unique opportunity to see what goes on in the pits and in ‘tech lane’ on race weekends. This level of fan access isn’t possible when we’re in the heat of an actual race event, so we enjoy offering some hauler tours and an up close look at all that goes on.”

Yates will be part of the display that will be running for its second year. The display is meant to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the series. This is the first year that Yates will be part of the display, though. Yates will be there on Saturday February 11^th at the display to talk with fans and sign autograph’s from 10:30am till 4pm.

Robert Yates Racing is the exclusive provider of the NASCAR-approved Spec Engine, which is an optional program available for use in all NASCAR touring series in US and Canada. Both Yates and Davy will be on hand to answer questions that drivers and team owners may have about the engines.

“Making official suppliers and industry experts available to racers is something that NASCAR regularly does as a service to its competitors,” Moran said. “Chris Davy was at last year’s CME with us and many of the teams took advantage of the opportunity to discuss the ‘Spec’ Engine program. Having Robert Yates join him this year is an added bonus. As a team owner and engine builder, Yates has won championships and the biggest stock-car races in the world. His drivers were successful and his engines were legendary for their power and reliability. NASCAR is proud to have him at our booth Saturday, February 11 at the Canadian Motorsports Expo.”

Lastly, Yates will take to the Mazda Stage from 6:15pm to 7pm to discuss his career in motorsports.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series display will go beyond just having Yates and Davy. The center of the display will be the race hauler that officials use at each race for all of their activities. Moran and officials will be on hand to offer tours. They will also have ‘tech lane’ set-up so fans can see what it looks like, while also having some race cars on display.

Also, Yates will take to the Mazda Stage from 6:15pm to 7pm to discuss his career in motorsports.

The Canadian Motorsports Expo will be held from February 10^th till 12^th at the International Centre in Toronto. For more information, check out http://www.canadianmotorsportsexpo.com.

Andrew Ranger To Run Full NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Schedule

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SM Staff

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February 5, 2012

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”112″][/media-credit]GC Motorsports International, formally known as Go Canada Racing, has announced that they’ve partnered with Dave Jacombs Racing to form GC Motorsports Canada. They also announced that the primary driver for the team will be Andrew Ranger, who will be running the full NASCAR Canadian Tire Series schedule in 2012.

“I am very excited about our organizations working together. I got to know Steve and the team last year and was really intrigued by what they were trying to put together,”Jacombs says. “Over the last few months Steve and I came to the conclusion that working together could accelerate the growth of both programs. Long term, I see us having dominant programs in multiple series on both sides of the border.”

Ranger, the two-time series champion, will also run select NASCAR Nationwide Series races, including the NAPA Auto Parts 200 in Montreal.

“I am really looking forward to competing for my third NASCAR Canadian Tire Series championship,” the Quebec native says. “It will be great working with Dave again, and I am really looking forward to get back behind the wheel in the Nationwide series. GCMI is developing a very strong strategy to grow the team and I think I am at the perfect point of my career to grow with them.”

Steve Meehan, who originally formed Go Canada Racing, is looking forward to what this year has to bring.

“We feel we have a very formidable program by balancing experienced drivers with younger up-and-coming drivers,” Meehan says. “This multi-driver and multi-tier approach to our program will allow us to continue to build a very strong program that will enable an evolution to competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. In addition, it will allow us to develop marketing partnerships all across North America.”

Frank Kimmel Ready To Go After 10th ARCA Championship

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SM Staff

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February 5, 2012

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”112″][/media-credit]As the ARCA Racing Series enters its 60^th year of competition, the history books get re-opened to view how the series has grown. Through the last 20 years, one of the drivers that has stood out is Frank Kimmel.

Going into 2012, Kimmel has his sights set on his 10^th ARCA championship as he won the championship in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 while leading 10,177 laps in 191 races (most of any active driver). Kimmel will look to increase on both of his records, driving the No. 44 Ansell/Menards Toyota with the same colors, yet with a new team in 2012.

Kimmel announced near the end of last year that he had signed a deal to drive with ThorSport Racing, who will expand their operation to the ARCA Series. ThorSport Racing had run primarily as a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team, finishing second in points last year with driver Johnny Sauter. This marks the first time that they will be in the ARCA Series.

Beyond the goal of winning the championship, Kimmel is also focused on another record – most all-time career victories in the series. Currently, Iggy Katona holds the record with 79. Kimmel, meanwhile, currently has 74 wins going into the 2012 season.

“Every year I get asked what’s important to me to achieve for the season,” Kimmel, who finished third in points last season, says. “Winning Daytona is first on the list for me, and it’s important for my entire family. Being the first race for ThorSport Racing, everyone’s working really hard to achieve some wins – period. Daytona would be great and such an accomplishment, but we all know what can happen there. I can honestly remember racing for two years without ever winning at all, and that’s why it means a lot to have 74 wins under my belt now. The first time at Toledo was such a big thing for us. I have a lot to prove this year to win again, since it has been three years since I’ve been to Victory Lane. Iggy Katona is a huge hero of mine; he raced against my dad for years. He’s the man. It’s a privilege to be in the same class of driver as such an ARCA Racing legend as Iggy.”

Beyond just the win record, Kimmel is also closing in on the most career poles award. Katona currently holds that with 43, while Kimmel has 42. One of Kimmel’s sponsors, Ansell, will be giving out the trophies this year, along with Menards.

Throughout his career, Kimmel has 233 top-five finishes and 300 top-10 finishes, but also beyond the statistics, could say a lot about ARCA’s history.

“Getting the first win is the most amazing achievement,” he says. “I raced many years with Terry Shirley in the 02 car, and we only won one. When Terry left to be a crew chief, I didn’t have a team to drive for at all. I thought I’d be driving late models. Then I was picked up by Dan Faldorf and got with Larry Clement. We ended up putting a hodge-podge of races together by the skin of our teeth, and with blood, sweat, and tears, we ended up fifth in driver points and didn’t even go to every race. When we came back the next year and ran full-time for Larry, being manager, driver, and everything, we were second in the points, so we kept climbing. Then the following year, in 1998, we won our first championship. It just goes to show that the competition is always so fierce, it takes a lot to get there and it means so much. Every one of my nine championship trophies have people and a great story behind them. In my tenure of ARCA Racing Series driving, every year is a great battle. It’s going to be a lot of fun competition in 2012.”

NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: OBSERVATIONS WHILE WAITING FOR SPEED WEEKS

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SM Staff

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February 3, 2012

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel ” align=”alignright” width=”270″][/media-credit]As I wait for the green flag to signify the official start of Speed Weeks 2012 at Daytona, I seem to be spending the off season time collecting NASCAR news items while pondering my opinions on their content. It occurred to me that I should share some of them with my racing buddies.

THE DEAL IS JUST FINE, IT’S THE POLICY WE HATE

For approximately seven years now NASCAR has observed the policy of the top 35 in their owner’s points. This policy states that any team within the top 35 is automatically guaranteed a start in the next race on the schedule. At present the points in the top 35 from the 2011 season will be in effect for the first five races of 2012. Beginning with race number six, the accumulated points from the first five events of this year will take effect.

There’s also a policy that states these owner points can be bought, sold or traded as if they were commodities on the New York Stock Exchange. The criteria includes some sort of business or technical alliance between two teams involved in the deal along with the approval of the exchange by NASCAR officials.

This policy made NASCAR headlines last Tuesday following an announcement of a technical alliance between between Stewart-Haas Racing, (SHR), and Tommy Baldwin Racing, (TBR). The owners points from TBR’s #36, accumulated by driver Dave Blaney last year, will be transferred to SHR’s #10 driven by Danica Patrick. Essentially this means Patrick is automatically locked into the field for this year’s Daytona 500.

Patrick will be entered in ten Sprint Cup races this year in preparation for a full time stint in the series in 2013. TBR’s #36 will be changed to #10 for this season. When Patrick is not racing the #10 SHR Chevrolet, driver David Reutimann will be in the #10 TBR Chevrolet for the remaining 26 races on the schedule. If both drivers compile a series of decent finishes, it could mean that Patrick will have a guaranteed start in all ten of her scheduled events. The value of that Sprint Cup seat time is vital to her cause.

In exchange, TBR will receive technical support from SHR at a level that normally would not have been available to them. SHR will also provide pit crew service for the races when Reutimann is driving.

Let’s be completely fair here. Neither of these teams did anything wrong. The terms of their alliance is well within the guidelines of the owner’s points policy. These terms were subsequently thoroughly reviewed and given a stamp of approval by NASCAR. This technical alliance is clearly a win-win situation for both racing organizations.

Despite that, there has been an immense criticism of this policy for several years now. the nay sayers state that starting positions in a 43 car Sprint Cup field should be solely based on posted speeds during qualifying. There should not be any owner’s points guarantees and those points should absolutely not be allowed to be traded like a stock commodity.

These points swaps have been going on for quite a long time now and often seem to manifest themselves around this time of the year prior to the Daytona 500. That’s actually understandable. After all, this year’s Daytona 500 has a record setting total purse of $19,142,601. The guaranteed minimum for the race winner is $1,431,325. In the 2011 final results of the great American race the team that finished 43d earned $268,550 after only running ten laps. In short: you do what you have to do to make this race.

The critic’s view is also understandable: a team is either fast enough to make the field on qualifying day or you go home early. That’s racing. It seems logical that everyone, from NASCAR executives to the fans, would hate the thought of a major Sprint Cup super star not making the starting field. But the fact is: with or without that super star, the fans will gather in the stands on race day, the green flag will wave over the 43 cars and we’ll all enjoy the race.

The time to terminate this guarantee is now past due.

IT WAS A CLOSED TEST SO DON’T TELL ANYONE

Last Wednesday NASCAR conducted a closed test of all four of their 2013 race car models at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Because it was a closed session, no results, such as speed charts, were disclosed. Next in this process will be an aero match in the wind tunnel at the NASCAR Research and Development Center.

Drivers participating in this test included Kasey Kahne-Chevrolet, Kyle Busch-Toyota, Matt Kenseth-Ford and Sam Hornish Jr-Dodge. How did we find out which drivers participated in this closed test? Needless to say, it was through that social phenomenon known as “Twitter.”

IN AN OUT-IN AND OUT, THAT’S WHAT A DRIVER’S SEAT ALL ABOUT.

First off, apologies for fracturing the In And Out Hamburger Restaurant’s advertising jingle and, no, this item has absolutely nothing to do with either one of the Busch brothers.

Last Thursday morning it was announced that NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Landon Cassill had been named to drive a third entry for Front Row Motorsports in the Daytona 500. The young, up and coming, driver was scheduled to drive the #26 Ford with race sponsorship from Morristown Driver’s Service, a Tennessee based trucking firm.

By Thursday afternoon Front Row Motorsports General Manager Jerry Freeze received a telephone call from Cassill who said “he couldn’t do it.” It seems it was a very informal agreement to begin with. Explaining further, Freeze said: “we gave him an out if he got a full time racing deal, and it sounds like he got one.”

There’s been no word regarding who Cassill’s driving for or who’s going to replace him in the Front Row Motorsports #26.

SADLY WE CONCLUDE WITH A GOD BLESS

It was very sad to learn of the recent passing of NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Matt Kenseth’s mother. Nicola Sue Kenseth passed away January 31st following a brave and lengthy battle with Early Onset Alzheimers Disease. Our sincere condolences goes out to the entire Kenseth family during this truly sad time.

Red Horse Racing Adds Two-Time Truck Series Champion to Driver Line-Up

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SM Archive

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February 3, 2012

SS Green Light Racing Keeps Growing

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SM Archive

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February 3, 2012

NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: SURELY HE MUST HAVE NOTICED THAT FISHY SMELL?

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SM Staff

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February 3, 2012

The gospel according to “Twitter” has often fascinated me. In addition to the fact that it’s a quick and simple way of mass communication, it can also become a major source of entertainment. From “hey, that’s funny” to “wow, you should have kept your finger off of the send button,” there’s seems to be no limits to this popular social network.

That same principle applies to the world of NASCAR racing. Tweets are a great way for a driver to interact with the fans. It’s also a buffet filled with one liners that often feeds the needs of the racing media. A case in point involves Kyle Petty and Kenny Wallace. On any given day of the week, their tweets are loaded with humor and sarcasm well worth your reading time.

One of the better tweets that I’ve seen lately surfaced last Thursday from NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Joey Logano. The message read: “look what I found in my bedroom closet.” Underneath the message was a photo of a giant lobster. This was the traditional giant lobster that is presented to winners of NASCAR races at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Wait a minute. Logano received one of those giant lobsters because he won a race at New Hampshire. But that win was back in 2009.

I’m just going to assume that he was playing a very funny, and well staged, “Twitter” prank on us. However, if it turns out it wasn’t a prank then it means that Joey Logano has a dead lobster that has been lying in his closet for over two years now.

If that lobster is real then you would have thought he would have noticed that fishy smell. (EEWWW !!!!)

[media-credit name=”Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”156″][/media-credit]