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NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Wendell Scott

By
Angie Campbell
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Wendell Oliver Scott, born in 1921 in Danville, Virginia, was an American stock car driver and a pioneer of NASCAR.  On March 4, 1961 in Spartanburg SC, he broke down racial barriers to make his first start in the NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) division.  Scott went on to become the first and to date, the only, African-American to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup event.

A look into his life gives us insight into a tumultuous part of NASCAR and American history.

Scott didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life but was sure of one thing. Whatever it was, he would be his own boss.

As a youngster he loved going fast, racing his bicycles against other kids and speeding around town on roller skates. Scott also grew up learning about cars at his father’s side. His Dad worked as a driver and mechanic for two wealthy white families and was well known for his prowess behind the wheel.

Eventually Scott quit high school, became a taxi driver and later served in the segregated Army in Europe during World War II. After the war, he ran an auto-repair shop and ran moonshine on the side.

Like others before him, he used the moonshine business to hone his driving skills and learn how to build fast race cars. Scott was only caught once and was sentenced to three years probation but continued to make whiskey runs.

On May 23, 1952, a set of unusual circumstances gave Scott his first racing start.

At that time the races in Danville were run by the Dixie Circuit, a competing organization to NASCAR.  In order to bring in more money, they decided that they needed a gimmick. Their idea was to bring in a black driver who was fast enough to compete with the usual white drivers. They chose Wendell Scott.

That first race wasn’t a success. His car broke down and many spectators booed him. But at that moment, Scott realized this was what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

The next day brought Scott back down to earth. He repaired his car and decided to tow it to a NASCAR-sanctioned race in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The NASCAR officials refused to let him compete telling him that black drivers weren’t allowed.

He left the race with tears in his eyes but he didn’t quit.

A few days later he went to another NASCAR event in High Point, North Carolina but was once again told he couldn’t race. They suggested he get a white boy to drive his car.

“I told ’em weren’t no damn white boy going to drive my car,” Scott said.

Instead, he left the track and decided to avoid NASCAR races for the time being.

He raced with the Dixie Circuit and at other non-NASCAR speedways and won his first race at Lynchburg, Virginia, only twelve days into his racing career.

As time passed, he still got boos but more and more fans began rooting for him. Although some of the drivers were prejudiced and would wreck him deliberately, many drivers came to respect Scott. They saw him as a driver no different from themselves, just another hard-working guy who loved racing.

Soon, some of the newspapers began writing positive stories about Scott and his popularity increased.

Scott understood, though, that in order to really succeed in the sport, he had to gain admission to NASCAR. He didn’t know NASCAR founder and president, Bill France, so Scott found a less direct way to get into NASCAR.

He towed his racecar to a local NASCAR event at Richmond Speedway and asked the steward, Mike Poston, to grant him a NASCAR license. Poston was only a part-timer in NASCAR but he did have the authority to issue licenses.

Poston told him, “We’ve never had any black drivers, and you’re going to be knocked around.”

“I can take it,” Scott told him.

Poston approved Scott’s license but his decision wasn’t popular.

Scott finally met Bill France for the first time in April of 1954. The night before they met, the promoter at a NASCAR event in Raleigh, North Carolina, had given gas money to all of the white drivers who came to the track but had refused to pay Scott. Scott approached France at the Lynchburg speedway and told him what had happened.

France immediately reached into his pocket, gave Scott thirty dollars and assured him that NASCAR would never treat him with prejudice.

“You’re a NASCAR member, and as of now you will always be treated as a NASCAR member.”

In 1961, Scott moved up to the NASCAR Grand National division.

On December 1, 1963, driving a Chevrolet Bel Air purchased from Ned Jarrett, he won his first race at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida — the first and only top level NASCAR event won by an African-American.

Ironically, Scott almost didn’t make the race.

Scott didn’t have enough cash in his pocket to make the long trip. So he asked Jarrett if he could borrow $500.00.

“He was a race-car driver and I was a race-car driver,” Jarrett said.

“But he was having a tough time because of his race at that particular period. He wasn’t going to get a lot of help. I thought he was a good race-car driver and he could be good for the sport.”

Wendell had won the race, by two laps over Buck Baker, but it wasn’t without controversy. NASCAR waved the checkered flag over Baker and awarded him the trophy.

Hours later, NASCAR officials admitted that Scott had won the race. They gave him a trophy about a month later in Savannah, but it wasn’t the real thing.

Buck got the real trophy.

He continued to race competitively through the rest of the 1960s but was forced to retire due to injuries from a racing accident at Talladega, Alabama in 1973.

Scott achieved one win and 147 top ten finishes in 495 career Grand National starts.

He died Dec. 22, 1990, after a long battle with spinal cancer.  In 1999, Scott was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

I’m so glad we never gave up,” said Scott’s Widow Mary.

“When Ned Jarrett and all of those old drivers came to Scott’s funeral, they told us he had the respect of all the drivers. I’d say all of those older guys learned to like him and respect him. They knew he was a genuine person and he stood for what he believed. He didn’t give up.”

It has been 50 years since Scott’s first race in NASCAR’s premier series. His achievements will be honored on ESPN on February 20th with a movie entitled “Wendell Scott: A Race Story.”

The film will air at 9 p.m. ET shortly after the 53rd running of the Daytona 500 race. It was produced by the Emmy Award-winning NASCAR Media Group in conjunction with ESPN Films and Max Siegel Inc.

The docudrama will contain seldom seen historical footage plus interviews from members of Scott’s family and memories shared by some of stock car racing’s past legends.

“Wendell Scott faced overwhelming challenges throughout his life and as a pioneer in his sport,” said John Dahl, executive producer, ESPN Films. “The film captures his strong sense of determination and honor with a poignant look at his struggles as well as an examination of his legacy.”

Scott will always be remembered as the man who prepared the way for future generations of minorities in stock car racing.

But what we should never forget is this. Wendell Scott was at heart simply a racer.

All he wanted was a chance to prove himself out on the track. The real testament to his success is that he did just that and earned the respect of the other drivers in the process.

Achievements:

1963 – The first and only African-American to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup event.

1999 – Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame

2000 – Inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame

Thanks to Brian Donovan – “Hard Driving: The American Odyssey of NASCAR’s First Black Driver” and NASCAR for quotes.

Bourdais, Conway set to return in 2011

By
SM Staff
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Dale Coyne Racing has announced it has reached an agreement with Sebastien Bourdais to run the road course segments of the 2011 IZOD Indy Car Series.

Bourdais returns to Indy Car after competing in Formula 1, and the International Le Mans Cup. It was great to get back in one of these cars, Bourdais said, after a successful test session at Sebring earlier this year. I really didn’t know what to expect, but all went well, and I think this will be a great opportunity for both Dale, and me. Sebastien will continue to drive for Peugeot in the Le Mans Cup Series. Indy lights standout Martin Plowman will drive a second entry for Coyne Racing, and is expected to contend for Rookie of the Year honors in 2011. Coyne also announced that the Boy Scouts of America will remain as primary sponsor.

Andretti Autosport has signed veteran driver Mike Conway to field a fourth car for the 2011 season. Conway is scheduled to run a full season. Returning from serious injuries suffered on the last lap of last years’ Indy 500, Conway will team with three of the biggest names in the sport, Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Danica Patrick. Sponsorship for Conway has yet to be finalized.

On a final note, Eric Bachelart, team owner of Conquest Racing said he intends to enter two teams for the 2011 IZOD Indy Car Series. It is also a good bet that JK Vernay will move up from the Indy lights series to pilot one of these entries.

The season opening race for the IZOD Indy Car Series is scheduled for March 25Th thru March 27Th in the streets of downtown Saint Petersburg, Florida.

Rules, Regulations and the Speedway Mailbag. Welcome to the 2011 Racing Season

By
SM Staff
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[media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”301″][/media-credit]Welcome to another edition of Speedway Media mailbag.

Since our last meeting, Sprint Cup drivers have spent several days testing on the new Daytona International Speedway asphalt and interacting with media from around the world at the Sprint Media Tour presented by Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Congratulations to Chip Ganassi and his continued dominance at the Rolex 24.

Rumors from the Media Tour stated that invited guest at the wedding of Kyle Busch were made to sign a release. This release guaranteed none of the guest would take any unauthorized pictures, send tweets, or publish any inside information from the nuptials.
This high level of secrecy is more than likely because of a planned future show about the race car driver’s marriage to Samantha Sarcinella.
Busch has posted some pictures on his web site.

So, since I have been traveling for the past two weeks, our ratty ole Tupperware bowl is bursting at the seams with letters, so let’s get cracking.

Brian from Bakersfield writes:
Dear Speedway Media; Do you think NASCAR racing is fixed?
Wow Brian, what a question to start off our new year of racing.
Many sporting events through out the ages have been fixed. The most famous was the 1919 World Series.
While there have been several races where drivers, and fans, feel there have been some strange decisions by NASCAR that unfairly gave an advantage to select drivers, NASCAR has absolutely nothing to gain by fixing a race.
Given there are 43 drivers, pit stops, crashes and a multitude of changes during the race, the logistics alone make it impossible to fix a race.
On the other hand though, I have it on good authority there are other types of competitions that might be fixed.
Take the Miss Universe pageant for instance. Every Miss Universe winner, including the very first one in 1952, has been from the planet Earth.

Wally from Walla Walla writes:
Dear Speedway Media; Can you clarify NASCAR’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” rule?
Thanks for the great question Wally. After spending hours reading the NASCAR rule book, I cannot locate anything that refers to “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” unless of course you’re referring to the rule book its self.

Cindy from Cincinnati writes:
Dear Speedway Media; Have you heard any rumors about new additions to the NASCAR families?
Well Cindy we have heard some good news from Roush-Fenway Racing. During the Sprint Media Tour presented by Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jack Roush announced that three of his four drivers at RFR, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle, are all expecting family additions in 2011. As luck would have it, all three drivers will welcome their new baby’s right around the same time.

During the recent test session at Daytona International Speedway, David Ragan, the fourth driver in the RFR stable, was seen with an unusual “O+” on his driver’s suit.
There is speculation that Ragan is joining a growing number of race car drivers who advertise their blood types on their driver suits. In Ragan’s case it could also be a representation of the number of Sprint Cup wins he has and that he’s remaining positive.

That’s all for this weeks edition of Speedway Mailbag. On a personal note, I want to extend congratulations to Urban Meyer on his new gig at ESPN.

Feel free to send your questions, comments and suggestions to mailbag@speedwaymedia.com.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of management.

D.J. Kennington Shows Talent at Irwindale in NASCAR All-Star Showdown

By
SM Staff
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The past few years, auto racing talent has been blossoming out of Canada with a variety of drivers. Steve Arpin and J.R. Fitzpatrick are two to name a few, though another one is D.J. Kennington.

[media-credit name=”Sal Sigala Jr.” align=”alignleft” width=”200″][/media-credit]Kennington, the 2010 Canadian Tire Series Champion, got his start as a teenager racing at Delaware Speedway. From there, he moved up to the CASCAR Series in 2001, which changed to the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series in 2007. Since then, Kennington has been racing at the highest form of motorsports in Canada.

From 2001 to 2009, he acquired 11 wins, 60 top fives, 82 top 10s and a best year end points ranking of second in 2002 and 2007.

In 2010, he planned to breakthrough and win his first championship. He fought all year alongside J.R. Fitzpatrick, fighting hard at each and every race. Throughout the season, he got five wins – Delaware, St. Eustache, Saskatoon, Barrie, Antigonish – and finished in the top 10 in 85% of the races.

In the final race at Kawartha, the St. Thomas, Ontario native finished third taking the championship, 87 points over Fitzpatrick.

“NASCAR has been really good to us,” Kennington said. “Really happy to get that off my back. Amazing year – five wins is awesome; hopefully this year we can top it. The 2010 season is behind us; time for 2011. Hopefully have as much success.”

One of the things that Kennington took from the season to carry forward is confidence.

“Confidence is a lot in this racing business and my team has a lot of confidence,” he said. “I think confidence goes a long way in making for another championship.”

With the championship, Kennington was invited to Irwindale Speedway to run the Toyota All-Star Showdown, along with 39 other top drivers from the K&N Pro East Series, K&N Pro West Series and NASCAR Mexico Series.

In the first practice, he was 15th, while he was 21st in the second practice.

“Excited and good in practice,” he said after the first practice. “Never seen this track before and never sat in this car. We are top 14 and I think the 17 car will be good. The track is tough to get used to.”

In qualifying, he qualified 15th, two-tenths off of the pole, set to go.D.J. Kennington at Irwindale Speedway

Once the race started, he held his own as he ran consistent laps, steadily moving up to the top 10, avoiding trouble. When it came down to the final sprint to the finish, he had put himself into position to go after the win after some of the other leaders had fallen victim to problems. He took a late charge at leader Jason Bowles in the final nine lap sprint, though fell short and finished second. Still, Kennington was excited about his performance and the show he had put on considering expectations coming in.

“Absolutely, really really proud of everybody on this race team,” Kennington told SpeedTV viewers afterwards. “All my guys are here – it’s so amazing. I watched this race last year on my couch, its great to be here.”

The second place finish marks a good start to the 2011 season, which promises to be promising. Kennington looks to go out and defend his championship, well forming a partnership with Jason White.

“I’m excited to work with White,” he said. “He has been a friend for a long time and I think we can help each other. Having teammates really helps.”

Jason White, a native of Sun Peaks, British Columbia, comes onboard after a year of struggle from the mechanical standpoint while being a single-car team owner. The partnership brings forth horsepower and technical support from DJK Racing engine builder Doug Kennington and DJK Racing.

“After last season we took a look at our program and realized we needed to make some changes to take the next step up,” White explained in a press release. “I talked to a lot of people and different teams and knew that aligning Jason White Racing with DJK Racing was the right move. DJ and Doug Kennington will provide us with plenty of horsepower, the cars will be race ready, and you couldn’t find a more professional group to work with.”

White has also formed a partnership with Kawartha Speedway Group, acquiring the likes of Derek Lynch, Kawartha Speedway track owner and former Canadian Tire Series competitor, as his crew chief.

“I could not be more keyed up about this season,” White said. “Having somebody as bright as Derek managing the operation and working as Crew chief on race day is fantastic. He brings a lot of knowledge to the job and I know he’ll make me a better driver.”

“I’m looking forward to working with Jason,” Lynch said. “Our involvement will take the strain of logistics off his plate, provide him with great race cars and allow him to focus on driving. It’s also a privilege to be associated with a great company like A&W.”

To find out more about DJK Racing, check out their website at , follow them on twitter or find them on facebook.  

Special Thanks to Sal Sigala Jr. for the pictures and quotes

Roush-Fenway Racing Set to Make Many Headlines in 2011

By
SM Staff
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Roush-Fenway Racing will be a very busy place over the next 12 months.

[media-credit name=”Kirk Schroll” align=”alignright” width=”240″][/media-credit]From contract talks with three of their four drivers – Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and David Ragan – to building a daycare on site. OK, so only the first part is true, but with three drivers adding to their families, it might be needed.

First, comes the business in the unpleasant nature of contract talks. With Edwards and Biffle having made the Chase and won races in the past, the two are not expected to be hard to keep in the RFR family.

It’s Ragan’s contract that could become a top story however.

While team owner Jack Roush acknowledged support for the driver and that he would like to retain him for years to come, the expectations and performance need to be there. Ragan has never won a race or qualified for the Chase, last season he finished 24th in points which is a far cry from his 13th standing in his sophomore year (2008).

It was among the many discussions last week during the preseason media tour where Roush spoke of what was ahead for his organization. Contract talk won’t be the only tasks on the agenda; RFR will be looking to keep a hold on key sponsors.

“All our sponsors agree they continue to see NASCAR as the sport that’s very important to their marketing efforts,” Roush said last Thursday.

“They see Roush-Fenway as an organization that’s a terrific investment and for good reason. For 2011, every Cup program has all new cars built. We have realigned our engineering department and we have new software to run our programs on.”

It was that same software that had Roush was very critical of the team’s performance early last year. It was outdated and inaccurate. He cited it as the reason they had fallen behind other teams and were struggling each week.

But when the turnaround happened it did so in a big way. Through the summer months the RFR that many were used to seeing had arrived on the scene – Edwards, Biffle and Kenseth finished third, fourth and fifth respectfully at Michigan in August.

When they entered the Chase they were no longer the pretenders, they were contenders again. Biffle won his second race of the season in the third race of the Chase and Edwards ended the year with back-to-back wins, ending his nearly two-year winless drought.

“I feel a lot better right now going into 2011 then I did going into 2009,” said Edwards in Homestead where he was already named the 2011 preseason championship favorite.

“That’s because I feel we have a lot of momentum and things are getting better. We have a new engine that we are working on that just keeps getting better.”

Kenseth came close to joining the victory party a few times. Had it not been for an overdriven turn one in the fall Texas race, he was half a lap away from winning his first race since February of 2009.

“I don’t know about just us but all of our cars seem to be faster,” said Kenseth. “It seems like things have been going better. It feels like we’re gaining some momentum and the cars are quicker and we’re understanding each other probably a little better.”

They will enter 2011 as one of the hottest teams in the garage. With new racecars and a new hunger, look for the Roushkateers to loudly proclaim, “We’re back.”

Even more exciting though, comes from the big news released last week. Kenseth, Edwards and Biffle will all be new fathers this season.

“I couldn’t hold back,” said Roush, who broke the news on behalf of his drivers. “Maybe I wasn’t supposed to do that.”

He went on to say, “I’m excited about it.”

Senior driver Kenseth and wife Katie will be welcome their second child, joining older sister Kaylin who was born in 2009 and older brother Ross, Kenseth’s son from a previous relationship.

The expectant due date is anytime after the season-opening Daytona 500. Kenseth even predicted that he expects Katie to go into labor the Monday following the 500.

For Edwards it will also be his second child in about a year. His wife Kate gave birth to daughter Anne before the Las Vegas race last season. The sex of Kenseth and Edward’s expectant ones weren’t revealed.

As for Biffle, he found out the day of the Roush media tour that wife Nicole would be giving birth to a little girl. It will be their first child.

He joked, “We have babies by races. I’m having a Daytona baby. Matt’s having a Phoenix baby.”

The Daytona race will be the July event, with the Biffle saying the due date is July 10. Should that date remain the same it would give Biffle even more reasons to love the month of July and Daytona.

Eight years and five days earlier Biffle celebrated his first career Sprint Cup Series victory in the July Daytona race, July 5, 2003.

“It’s a huge deal. I’m super excited about it. I just can’t wait. Part of me wishes I had done it 10 years ago, but I’m happy. If you’re in the day care business, I think a traveling day care in the NASCAR motor coach lot would be highly popular right now.”

When the day does arrive where the RFR drivers need to hang up their helmets, Jack Roush might not have to go far to find their replacements.

Jason Bowles Wins NASCAR All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway; Pastrana Sixth

By
SM Staff
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(C)NASCAR Home Tracks

Every year, the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway produces high-octane excitement that includes chaos at every end of the track with wrecks and debates. The 2011 showing didn’t disappoint as it included controversy, lots of wrecks and a brand new winner.

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”190″][/media-credit]
(C)NASCAR Home Tracks
Jason Bowles has won nine K&N Pro Series races, has come close before – though had never won the overall event to date. That all changed on January 30th as Bowles took the checkered flag after some of the other leaders ran into problems.

“I knew I had a good car going into the race and there were so many things that happened that was I able to avoid,” Bowles said after the race. “I just got a huge jump there and that was it.”

Being the race leader didn’t seem to be the position to be wanted most of the night as most drivers who fell into that sport didn’t fare too well.

Pole sitter and series rookie Derek Thorn started on pole and led all the first 100 laps to the first break, though falling back, he got passed for the lead by Andrew Myers. Myers led all the way to lap 191, when he had a flat right rear, causing him to make an unscheduled pit stop. Bowles inherited the lead, though it didn’t last long as Paulie Harraka bumped and banged his way past.

“We got a good racecar,” Harraka said under the break that followed. “To be honest, I didn’t know we had taken the lead. I knew we were marching to the front, I knew we’d be in the top five, but I didn’t know we’d be the leader. I’m having a blast. I’m having a lot of fun. We never get a 100 green flag laps ever at Toyota Speedway but I am having a lot of fun.”

Harraka then led all the way till 16 to go when Thorn slid up to him, taking him out with others.

“He came down on me,” Thorn told his crew on the radio after the incident

“He flat took me out,” Harraka told his crew.

As a result of Thorn’s intentions, NASCAR black-flagged Thorn for rough driving, sending him to the tail end of the lead. Bowles once again inhereited the lead, though this time it was Greg Pursley passing him with 14 to go. The caution then came out with 11 to go as Dale Quarterly, Troy Ermish and Cole Cabrera got caught up in a wreck, setting up a restart with nine to go.

“We’re going to need to pull out nine qualifying laps here,” Pursley said under the caution. “This is what we’ve worked for – staying up front and staying out of trouble so we’re going to need nine qualifying laps,:

However on a restart, Pursley’s plans fell through as he  had a flat tire, pulling out of the racing line to allow the field to past. Bowles then held off a late race charge from D.J. Kennington to win the race.

Kennington, the 2010 Canadian Tire Series Champion, finished second in his first NASCAR outing south of the border.

[media-credit id=4 align=”alignright” width=”200″]D.J. Kennington at Irwindale Speedway[/media-credit]
(C)Sal Sigala Jr.
“Absolutely, really really proud of everybody on this race team,” Kennington said afterwards. “All my guys are here – its so amazing. I watched this race last year on my couch, its great to be here.”

Meawwhile, Jonathan Gomez finished third after smoking for most of the race due to an oil leak.

“It was a handful out there,” Gomez said. “The middle section – 100 laps straight, no cautions, that was a nice break as we know what the last one was going to be. The first run, the car was a little free, made an adjustment and the car was a little tight – didn’t have the forward bite for the win.”

Luis Martinz Jr. and Johnny Borneman rounded out the top five, while Travis Pastrana finished sixth.

The Showdown marked the first-ever NASCAR start for the 11-gold medal x-game winner as he begins his stint in NASCAR with Michael Waltrip.

“Man, it’s awesome,” Pastrana said afterwards. “I can’t say enough about the entire Waltrip crew. (Matt) Crafton did an awesome job guiding me through all this chaos. I finally got the car loosened up those last 25. I finally felt that I had something going. Three-wide is awesome – I actually got to go four-wide sometimes. I had an awesome time out there. I am super pumped. This sport is so much fun out there and I’ve got a lot to learn.”

Pastrana went through the learning curve as both times under the breaks, the team made the adjustments on the car that were needed.

“I’ve been tight so I said I want it loose,” Pastrana commented under the second segment. “Harry said loose is fast so I wanted to drop the Days of Thunder on this. So hopefully we don’t spin the car out on the first lap as we drop the hammer on this one.”

He also fought through the field like a veteran, fighting hard with competitors to stay on the lead lap and get his sixth place finish.

Derek Thorn, Travis Motley, Moses Smith and NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Steve Wallace rounded out the top 10.

Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle Share Baby, Contract and Texting Talk

By
SM Staff
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[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]NASCAR drivers Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle are not only Roush Fenway Racing teammates, but also have some important upcoming events to talk about, from new baby talk to contract talks to talking about the dangers of texting and driving.

The teammates were both outed by owner Jack Roush as to their upcoming baby talk.  Roush announced during the recent NASCAR media tour that both Edwards, who just had a baby with wife Kate last year, and Greg and Nicole Biffle are expecting.

Edwards’ second child is due in May while the Biffle’s first child, a girl, is due in July.

“I couldn’t hold back,” Roush said after announcing the upcoming additions. “Maybe I wasn’t supposed to do that.”

While having a new addition might be old hat for Edwards, this is all new to the Biffles.  Biffle, at age 41,  is also somewhat nervous about the possibility that the birth of his first child will conflict with one of his race dates.

“I don’t have any children, and there is a lot to be said for being there when your child is born,” Biffle said. “But we can’t control everything.”

While both racers await their bundles of joy, their team owner Jack Roush seems to take a more pragmatic approach to it all.  For him, these new mouths to feed might just ensure that both of his drivers remain in the Roush fold.

“One of the things that it’s going to do for a driver that’s having a baby when he’s 40 years old, with the idea of having even more than that after he has the first one, there’s a necessity there for an income stream that’s going to make the livelihood of them staying in this business driving a race car longer than it might if they were on their own,” Roush said.

Both Edwards’ and Biffle’s contracts with Roush Fenway Racing are up at the end of 2011.  While both drivers may keep their options open, there is no doubt that the powers that be at Roush Fenway will be trying to talk turkey with both drivers, with the hopes of wrapping up both deals as quickly as possible.

“I’d like to be able to get it done, so that we can just keep focused on winning, and that’s the most important thing,” Edwards said about his contract negotiation talks.

In addition to the contract talk, as well as the baby talk, both Edwards and Biffle share some talk about texting as well.  The two drivers will be featured on the television program “Extreme Makeover:  Home Edition” discussing the dangers of texting while driving.

The drivers will be supporting the Brown family, who lost their daughter in a texting while driving accident. Emma Roberts and Justin Beiber are also participating in this episode.

“Texting while driving is incredibly dangerous and I think it’s an extremely important message to get out to everyone right now but especially teenage drivers,” Biffle said.

“While Carl and I had a lot of fun taping the segment for ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,’ it is a very serious issue,” Biffle continued.  “Being a part of the show really opened my eyes to the dangers of texting while driving and I’m sure it will do the same for all of the viewers.”

For more information about the dangers of texting and driving, as well as educating teens about safe driving, both Biffle and Edwards recommend a visit to their Ford team website  at www.drivingskillsforlife.com.”

Teamcassracing from the Toyota All-Star Showdown: New Driver, New Crew, New Outlook

By
SM Staff
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There are many different story lines floating around the NASCAR garages during a race weekend.

[media-credit name=”TeamCassRacing” align=”alignleft” width=”225″][/media-credit]The different angles that can be written about are vast as well as limitless, and depending who or what the subject may be about, it seems that most writers are always looking to the major players to get their next big story to write about.

With the popularity along with the start status that surrounds these teams, it’s easy to see how the little guy, or, for a more apt description, the low budget team almost always gets overlooked.

This weekend’s K&N Pro Series All-Star Showdown at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale is no different, and once again the buzz around the garages surrounds a few of the major players in the East and West series, along with one driver who is making his first start at the NASCAR level.

This weekend could very well see the low budget team of TeamCassRacing once again visit victory lane when last season’s driver Auggie Vidovich, dominated the July 3 K&N Pro Series West race at this same race track.

Teamcassracing, which is back in the showdown after announcing a week after last year’s win they would no longer be racing in the series, is fielding the same car that won on July 3 with driver Jason Fensler.

Fensler, will pilot the No. 50 unsponsored Chevrolet which is entered in the showdown as a fan car, when during the weeks leading up to the race they gave the fans the opportunity to put their names on the car for a small nominal fee to help with racing expenses. In today’s high stakes game of racing, sponsors and budgets still need to be met in order for teams to be able to compete.

How unfortunate is it to be considered a low budget team, especially when their outlook and morale are on the same plateau as those of the more highly-funded teams. Family values have almost been lost when you walk around the garages of some of the more high profile teams, but this team has been able to keep the family values alive while living by the phrase, “The family that races together stays together.”

“You have to be a family in order to be a team, and family comes first with us. There is a bonding process that we go through, and once we mesh as family we should do good and that is one of our goals,” said team owner Terri Cass.

Being a family-orientated team does have its ups and downs, and the team is hoping to run more than just the showdown since it takes more than a tight knit family to run the full season.“For my team we are a low-budget team, we are family-owned and to find sponsors it’s tough because of the economy. We run on bare bones, but we run on top dollar equipment,” said Cass.

Cass also added that, “It does get tense without a sponsor, and sometimes those Top Ramens and hot dogs do get old. But my husband Jim and I are willing to sacrifice and eat those kinds of foods in order to put the money into racing.”

With the start of each new season come the challenges along with the high expectations, and even in this third-tier series, the competition is just as fierce as the second and first-tier levels.

When you think about NASCAR racing, try not to forget that there are still the other levels which bring just as much, and sometimes even more excitement than the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series. After all, each driver has to start someplace, and maybe that one driver who is racing on a Saturday night in your own backyard just might become NASCAR’s next big superstar.

The outlook that Teamcassracing is carrying into the 2011 season is very positive, and one that will hopefully see their goals and dreams come true. “Our outlook is really good; I think that we will do very well this season. Those are our hopes and our dreams. We seem to be meshing as a team. We do have some humps and bumps to get over but we should go good.”

Fensler, who qualified 7th for Saturday nights All-Star Showdown, will be looking forward to bringing his new team a better finish than last year’s race, when Auggie Vidovich finished 32nd after an accident took him out of the evenings. “Practice started off okay and we were struggling made some changes in the middle. Roger Bracken made some changes, and the car picked up a lot of speed.” said Fensler after the first practice session on Friday afternoon.

Fensler also added that, “We have a great race car and I think we have a great shot at winning. I’m really happy from Jim and Terri and the rest of the team. I feel real confident and we will go out and see how the cards fall.” Fensler has one win in the K&N Pro Series West division which came back in 2008, and this weekend’s start will be his second in short tracks racing premier event when he finished 28 after an accident in the 2009 showdown.

Fensler talked about this year’s start knowing this same car is the defending race winner at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale half mile oval when he said, “I think it’s the positive and gives me a ton of confidence and the people that own it and run the program.” Fensler finished with, “It puts pressure on my shoulders as far as being able to get the car to what it needs to be performance wise. I would rather have that type of confidence.”

Andy Belmont Racing Reflects on ARCA Test at Talladega Superspeedway

By
SM Staff
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Following the Daytona test, four teams proceeded to go to Talladega Superspeedway to lay down some extra laps as they continue to prepare for the ARCA season opener.

One of the teams was Andy Belmont Racing with drivers Chad McCumbee and Robb Brent.

“We had a pretty darn productive day,” team owner Andy Belmont told the ARCA Racing Network. “We went down with a game plan with lots to try, and we came away with some really solid info. It think it’s more productive to go to Talladega to test because there’s too many cars at the Daytona test, so track time is limited. With just four teams here yesterday, we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We really accomplished a lot. Robb Brent tested a second car for us – it was the car that (Tom) Hessert got the pole with a couple years ago here. We completely rebuilt it, got the bugs out of it, so if we had to unload it, we’d have a hotrod.”

Chad McCumbee, who has experience in both the ARCA Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, said the test proved beneficial.

“It was a very productive day for the ModSpace Ford,” McCumbee said. “Also able to shake down the back-up car, so we’re pretty confident going to Daytona. We actually found some problems on our primary car that could have been detrimental had we not found them prior to Daytona.

“Being that both tracks (Daytona and Talladega) are so smooth now, I think you can pretty much carry over all the information we got from the Talladega test, and take right to Daytona. The tracks are so similar so everything we learned, for the most part, is going to translate.”

Belmont’s son Andrew was suppose to pilot the back-up car, however he recently had his appendix out. Belmont then made the call to put Brent behind the wheel of the car via his past experience in ARCA. 

“I talked with Andy Wednesday night,” Brent said. “He offered up the chance to test his stuff; he’s always got great restrictor plate stuff, so I jumped at the chance. Before the call was done, I told him I’d be on the next flight. Got to the track about 9:30, 10 in the morning and tested all day. We worked some of the bugs out of his back-up car, had some fun; it was well worth it. Just a fun day all around.”

Brent is hoping to pull together his plans for the 2011 season.

“I’ve been constantly working on deals,” Brent said. “I’ve been contacted by a ton of teams – just need that sponsor. I’ll be in a car sometime, not fulltime, but I’ll be in a car somewhere.”

Andy Belmont Racing knew the test would be crucial as beating six-time Daytona winner Bobby Gerhart, was also at the test, is never easy.

“Our primary car was really solid with Chad (McCumbee); but Gerhart’s still the man to beat, no doubt about it,” Belmont said. “But I also think this kid McCumbee’s gunna give him all he can stand – we’ll see. But when it comes to Daytona, Gerhart’s always the man to beat. His focus has been on these two races (Daytona and Talladega) over the last 10 years. He spends most of his budget on these two races. You have to respect Gerhart. I do. We all do. He was really sporty yesterday.”

Chad Knuas and Hendrick Motorsports Bring Sports Mentality to Pit Crew Changes

By
SM Staff
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During the Media Tour, Hendrick Motorsports was questioned of what would happen with the pit crews come 2011 after the struggles seen during the 2010 Chase.

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignleft” width=”244″][/media-credit]It was revealed that five-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be taking three pit crews to the track each weekend between the two teams. The logic is that it will give them 18 crewmen to draw from if someone gets injured or performance problems are seen.

“We’ve always tried to work on the depth of our crew, but we’ve never been able to successfully pull that off,” Knaus said on Wednesday during the NASCAR Media Tour. “We think we’ve got it going in the right direction. It make take a little bit, let’s be honest, to get everything gelling in the right direction.

“But once it hits it’ll be exciting.”

The pit crew issues were spotlighted during the Texas race in the Chase where Knaus swapped pit crews with Jeff Gordon’s team.

Out of the first seven stops of the day, the No. 48 team had lost spots on four of them, costing their driver valuable time. Once teammate Gordon was wrecked out of the race, the swap was called.

“Ultimately, it was my decision to make the decision as we were getting beat,” Knaus said at the time. “I hope we get back with the 48 guys and get things back on track.”

The No. 48 team ended up using Gordon’s pit crew for the rest of the season on their way to winning the title by 39 points.

At the end of the year, the swap was reversed so therefore Steve Letarte, who was Godon’s crew chief at the time, could bring his team over to work with Earnahrdt in the new season. Knaus said of his team, four members remain in the mix, though nothing has been finalized.

“I can change at any point and time,” Knaus said. “We’ve always had that to a degree, but our backups weren’t necessarily ones that could get it done. I wouldn’t say get it done, but maybe guys on the back end of their career.”

On the other side of the spectrum, the No. 24 team of Gordon and the No. 5 of Mark Martin will have six full-time members per car and another four to share if problems arise.

The mentality that looks to be played out by Hendrick Motorsports is nothing different then what you see in most sports. Every hockey team, basketball team and football team has multiple guys ready to step up to the plate and makes line changes in the middle of the game. This looks to be no different with what Knaus has lined up as he just has created a second-line to swap partway.

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