Race #4 for NASCAR Canadian Tire Series: Vortex Brake Pads 200 at Mosport
Opening in 1961, Mosport International Raceway is a track that many Canadian motorsports fan know of and have been too. The 10-turn, 2.459-mile road course also has been on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series schedule since the first year in 2007.
On that first race on June 17, 2007, it was then 20-year-old Andrew Ranger winning the event in just his third stock car start after switching from open-wheel racing. Ranger won the 2009 event, as well, though will not be racing in this year’s event.
Winning the other two races was JR Fitzpatrick, who will attempt the Road America-Mosport double. On Saturday June 25th, he will run the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America for Go Canada Racing after scoring a top 10 there last year for JR Motorsports. He follow that by running the Vortex Brake Pads 200 on Sunday at Mosport. The Cambridge, Ontario native has led 72 laps on the Mosport road course and is known for how he runs on them as five of his six career wins have come on road courses. So far this year, he has had a successful start to the season, finishing in the top 10 all three races.
The 10-turn course, though, will pose a chalelnge as according to Robin Buck, series competitor and instructor.
“The pretty drastic elevation change along with a couple blind turns makes Mosport fairly unique,” Buck, who got his career win earlier this year at Circuit ICAR, said. “It’s a driver’s course, but long straightaway from Moss Corner to The Esses requires horsepower regardless of what kind of car you are in.”
One of the parts of the track to watch is the Mario Andretti Straightaway.
“If you have a car that can’t pull up that straightaway, then you’re going to have a long day at Mosport,” Fitzpatrick said.
Another part of the race to watch will be the pit stops as with this being the longest of the five road courses, it requires at least one pit stop. Once a caution comes out, teams will have a tough decision to make as series rules mandate teams cannot change tires and fuel the car under the same stop.
“There’s going to be a caution at some point,” veteran driver Kerry Micks said. “The odds of the race going green-white-checkered are pretty slim. So, when a caution does come, you have to decide what’s most important at the time – fuel or tires. Obviously, a fuel stop under green is easier than changing tires but everything depends on those yellows.”
Last year, Micks scored his best finish ever at Mosport as he finished fifth, well the previous three starts resulted in a high finish of 16th. He has had success on the road courses despite that as he has two road course wins, both coming in 2007.
Depending on how a driver works the strategy and drives the course will depend if they find success or not. For those who do, it will mean a lot.
“Practically every racing fan in Canada has heard of Mosport and knows of its history,” defending champion DJ Kennington said. “For sponsors, it’s an easy drive from Toronto. The setting at the track is comfortable. It’s not cramped. All in all, it’s a good setting and if your sponsors are there, then you want to win.”
Red Bull’s Jay Frye Speaks Out About Future of Team to The Media
This morning Jay Frye, General Manager and Vice President of Red Bull Racing Team, had a teleconference to answer questions from the media concerning the story that surfaced last week about Red Bull Racing possibly leaving the NASCAR series.
Frye started off the 40 minute conference by saying that Red Bull Racing is looking for a potential investor or sponsor to take over the day to day operations of the organization for the upcoming 2012 season.
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[/media-credit]Frye did mention the team would continue until the end of the current season under the Red Bull Banner, and could possibly field a two-car race team next season to give them more time to find an investor by financing the team for one more year.
Frye did say said that, “There are some potential investors outside of motorsports who might be willing to invest in the team”, which would include the race shop, as well as the cars and other equipment that would be needed to run the team.
Frye added that, “We’re very enthused and excited about some of the prospects and things we have got going on. This process has just started, and there have been a lot of inquiries based on what happened yesterday, in addition to some other people we already were talking to.”
As far as which manufacturer or eventual sponsor the new team owner would work with, Frye said that decision would be left to the new owner. As far as the speculating that surrounded Kasey Kahne signing with Hendrick Motorsport to take over Mark Martin’s seat in 2012, then driving for RBR in 2011 with the possibility that Hendrick might be interested in starting a satellite team in 2012.
That theory was quickly put to rest when Frye said that, Hendrick’s involvement was purely based on his 30 years of knowledge in the sport, and that Hendrick never showed any interest of wanting to buy the team.
Frye also said that he was hoping to begin talking with an investor within the next 30-45 days, but knew that it’s impossible to put a time frame on when and where any negotiations will actually take place.
With Kasey Kahne moving over to Hendrick Motorsports, and Brian Vickers contract running out at the end of the year, that would leave the team without a driver for next season. The focus right now is first get an investor, then worry about who will drive for them which shouldn’t be a big problem when you look at the talent coming up from the Nationwide and Truck series. “We’re very keen and very encouraged about the prospects of everything moving forward.”
For Toyota, the Bad News Keeps on Coming
One doesn’t have to look hard to find story lines during the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series season. The stories are everywhere. Perhaps the story of the Joe Gibbs Racing team ranks at the top of the list. It has been a strange season for the Toyota team headed by the former NFL coach.
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[/media-credit]First came driver Kyle Busch’s battles with Kevin Harvick that resulted in suspensions, and then the “fight.” Who knows what Richard Childress was thinking when he got Busch in a headlock and began punching him. Everyone knows that Jack Roush and many others feel the same way about the younger Busch, but to lower himself to actually physically attacking the young driver? There had to be a full moon that day.
Then came last week’s “oil pan gate” scandal, and it’s just too much.
The story is that the three Gibbs cars came to Michigan last weekend with unapproved oil pans. That may seem like a minor offense, but not to NASCAR. With all the talk this week about how it could offer the Gibbs teams a competitive advantage, you could say that it’s not been a fun month at JGR. Even Denny Hamlin’s win at Michigan was overshadowed by the oil pan story.
Add to that the rumor that Carl Edwards was talking to JGR about signing with the team for a fourth car, “if the rest of his teams approved and a proper sponsor could be found.” Add to that the praising of Ford, its vehicles, its CFO, and everything Ford in victory lane on Saturday and after the Cup race on Sunday. Old Joe and JR must have barfed.
But the Toyota camp had more to worry about with the news on Monday. In a report by the Associated Press’ Jenna Fryer and others (followed by an official non-announcement late Monday afternoon), it appears that Red Bull, who owns the two Sprint Cup Toyota’s driven by Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne, may be leaving the sport. While many are wringing their hands over this move, it’s no secret that the Red Bull team has had little success during their short time in the series. Since 2007, Red Bull only has one victory, that by Brian Vickers at Michigan. One of the original teams Toyota brought to Sprint Cup, it seems that they have come to the end of the road, leaving JGR as the only successful Toyota team in NASCAR’s premier series (yes, Michael Waltrip Racing has won a couple of races). With money in the sport not plentiful, and the seats for drivers scarce, you have to wonder what it means to both JGR, MWR, and even Brian Vickers. Silly Season might be a dandy this year.
With Gibbs having its severe problems and the demise of Red Bull Racing, many traditionalists (and heck, maybe even Jack Roush) are almost giddy. Toyota is already dominating the Nationwide Series and has been near-dominating the truck series, and it rubs many the wrong way. This is a small victory for those of that ilk, but kids, just remember this. Toyota is a worthy adversary. The Japanese manufacturer isn’t dead yet, no matter how bad it looks.
NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: IT’S BEEN A VERY EXPENSIVE WEEK FOR THE COACH
NASCAR has now issued its verdict regarding those extraordinary heavy oil pans confiscated from all three of the Toyota Camrys owned by Joe Gibbs Racing, (JGR), prior to the start of the NASCAR weekend at the Michigan International Raceway. It turned out to be a very expensive week for Coach Gibbs. From Pocono to Michigan, a period of five days, the tab has now hit $175,000 in NASCAR issued penalties.
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[/media-credit]This expensive process started following the June 12th race at the Pocono Raceway where JGR driver Kyle Busch finished third. However, a post race technical inspection indicated that the team’s Toyota had exceeded NASCAR’s official tolerances for body height. The left front of the Busch car was 1/16th of an inch too low. Crew chief Dave Rogers later speculated that the problem was based on a possible broken part sustained from racing on the aggressive Pocono Raceway.
None the less, the car was simply too low. The result was NASCAR fining Rogers $25,000 and, at the same time, docked Busch six driver’s championship points and docked Gibbs six owner’s championship points.
Now, fast forward to the Michigan International Raceway five days later. During a technical inspection, prior to the first scheduled practice session, it was discovered that the oil pans on all three of the Gibbs’ cars were unapproved parts.
Simply put, all parts on a Sprint Cup car has to be officially approved and registered by NASCAR before it can be used on the race track. If a team wants to try a new or different part, they must first submit it to NASCAR for approval.
When the unapproved oil pans were discovered, NASCAR inspectors informed JGR to remove and replace them with the approved part which they promptly did. However, later that morning, NASCAR took the process a little bit further by weighing them. A standard, approved, oil pan for a Sprint Cup car weighs approximately four pounds. The three pans, confiscated from the JGR cars, weighed in at 20 to 30 pounds each. The pans were taken to the NASCAR Research and Development Center, in Concord-North Carolina, for a more detailed inspection.
Once the word got out, the conspiracy theorists went into overtime. Many of them pointed out that the heavier oil pans would allow the teams to move their car weights elsewhere, such as the front of the car, thereby creating a possible advantage in the car’s overall handling package.
In the aftermath of that procedure came more penalties levied against JGR. Crew Chiefs Dave Rogers-car #18, Mike Ford-car #11 and Greg Zipadelli-car #20 were fined $50,000 each and placed on probation until December 31st, 2011.
Additionally the three JGR car chiefs: Chris Gillin-car #11, Wesley Sherrill-car #18 and Jason Shapiro-car #20, along with JGR Vice President of Racing Operations Jimmy Makar, were placed on probation until the end of the calendar year.
No driver or owner points were docked by NASCAR from this penalty decision. You’re likely to hear some comments on that issue this weekend during the Sprint Cup race at the Infineon Raceway. The line of thinking here appears to lie in the fact that the JGR Toyotas, with the unapproved oil pans, never actually went out on the race track. That’s basically a fair and understanding decision.
None the less team owner “Coach” Joe Gibbs is looking at unexpected expenditures of $175,000 accrued within a period of five days. The good news here lies in the fact that JGR driver Denny Hamlin won the Michigan race. With that comes a check worth $202,200. That will help Gibbs cover the NASCAR fines will some change leftover.
