30-Day Stretch Weighty For East, West

30-Day Stretch Weighty For East, West

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West head into an important 30-day window that will have a big impact on the title hopes of the top contenders.
By the end of June, the West will have run four races in the next five weeks and the East will have three. They’ll meet head-to-head in the annual combination race at Iowa Speedway on June 7.
First for the West, however, is the first of three road course races on the calendar this Saturday with a trip to the 2.5-mile Brainerd International Raceway.
Michael Self, the 22-year-old former karting champion from Park City, Utah, is the defending race winner. The driver for Jim Offenbach’s Golden Gate Racing Team – which has an affiliation with Richard Childress Racing – sits sixth in the standings. A win in Minnesota would go a long way to getting him back in the hunt.
He’ll have plenty of competition. Greg Pursley, the 2011 series champion, has four road-course wins. Points leader Derek Thorn scored his best road course finish last year with a second place at Sonoma. And then there’s road-course ringer Andrew Ranger. Thirteen of Ranger’s 16 career wins in the Canadian Tire Series came on road courses, and he scored a pair of K&N Pro Series wins in 2010 on road courses.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will race under the lights when it returns to Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway for the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 presented by G-Oil on Friday. Bobby Santos has won three of the last four tour races at Stafford.

Dates Set For NASCAR Nationwide Truck Series Awards

Dates Set For NASCAR Nationwide Series,

NASCAR Camping World

Postseason Honors Celebrates Fifth Year In Miami Beach

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 15, 2013) – NASCAR announced today the postseason awards dates for the annual NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, set for Monday, Nov. 18 at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel in Miami Beach, Fla.

 

For the fifth consecutive season, the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will share the awards stage, honoring the series driver and owner champions as well as the top-five drivers in each series.

 

“Winning a NASCAR championship in one of our national series is a remarkable accomplishment, and the reason why the postseason awards shows are such significant dates on the NASCAR calendar,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR chief marketing officer. “Returning to a major market such as Miami for the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series Awards will shine a bright spotlight on the special and unique achievements of our champions.”

 

For the first time in two years, NASCAR will crown a new champion in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, as reigning two-time titlist Ricky Stenhouse Jr. now races full time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. JR Motorsports driver Regan Smith currently owns the top spot in the standings, followed by three-time IndyCar champion Sam Hornish Jr., last year’s championship runner-up Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier and Brian Vickers.

 

Reigning NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion James Buescher returned to the series in 2013 to defend his crown, and currently ranks sixth after four races. Johnny Sauter leads the points, followed by Matt Crafton and a trio of young rising stars Jeb Burton, Ryan Blaney and Ty Dillon.

 

NASCAR previously announced the date for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards – Dec. 6 at Wynn Las Vegas.

 

JGR Continues To Dominate, Build Depth

JGR Continues To Dominate, Build Depth

Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Darlington Raceway was indicative of the season Joe Gibbs Racing is having.
All four JGR entries finished in the top five with Kyle Busch winning and posting his 16th perfect driver rating in the series. It was Busch’s first perfect rating at Darlington and his first since the August 2011 Bristol race.   
JGR drivers Elliott Sadler (second), Brian Vickers (third) and Matt Kenseth (fifth) joined Busch in the top five. Three of the team’s four cars are firmly ensconced inside the top 10 in owner points. The No. 54, which Busch has driven to five wins, leads the owner points. The No. 11, driven by Sadler, is fifth, while Vickers’ No 20 is eighth.
The reason for JGR’s success in the NSCS and NNS is due in large part to how the organization approaches the latter.
"It pays off in Nationwide. That’s kind of our training ground for our guys to move up to Cup," said J.D. Gibbs, team president for JGR. "We have guys that work hard, long hours. They enjoy it. They enjoy winning races, too … It’s the best training ground we could ever have."
This season, the team has incorporated a nice blend of full-time NNS talent (Sadler and Vickers) with two drivers competing in the NSCS (Busch and Kenseth). The strength and quality of the personnel (drivers, crew chiefs, crew members) found throughout the organization are why they’ve found success at all levels.
Case in point: Adam Stevens. Over the past two seasons no driver or crew chief has more victories than Stevens, who has been atop the war wagon for all five of Busch’s NNS victories this season. Last year, Stevens called the shots for former JGR driver Joey Logano, who visited Victory Lane nine times with the crew chief.
Because of his success, it’s reasonable to assume that great things lie in store for Stevens, proving the formidability of JGR’s training ground and "bench."

Allgaier Making Gains On Last Year’s Performance

When Justin Allgaier crossed the finished line 10th in last Friday night’s race at Darlington, it was his sixth top 10 of the season.
Although the Illinois native didn’t have a bad year in 2012, after the first nine races of 2013 he’s on track to have a better season. Could the stronger start be what he needs to propel him into title contention?
Allgaier currently sits fourth in the standings, 43 points behind Regan Smith. Last year at this time, he was seventh, 104 points off the lead.
In addition to his 10th-place finish last weekend, Allgaier has finishes of third, fifth, seventh and eighth to go along with another 10th. He only has one finish outside the top 15 – a 31st-place finish at Richmond. Over the first nine races of last year, he had a pair of seventh- and eighth-place finishes to go with two finishes of 32nd or worse. 
So far in 2013, he has been running at the end of all the races, while last year he had two DNFs already at this point in the season. His average finish position is 11.1, which is an improvement on the 15.3 he had through the first nine races of 2012.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Etc.

The NNS returns to the track Saturday, May 25, for the History 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, marking the start of 21 consecutive weeks in which the series will compete. … Kyle Larson remains on top of the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings with Alex Bowman and Nelson Piquet Jr. in second and third, respectively.

LDORA’S NASCAR CAMPING WORLD SERIES EVENT

TUESDAY PRACTICE ADDED FOR ELDORA’S NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK

SERIES EVENT

Tickets for July 23 Added Event, Which Includes Eldora Dirt Late Model Invitational, Go On Sale May 16

ROSSBURG, OH (May 15) – Although all available tickets for the inaugural running of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Mudsummer Classic on Wednesday, July 24 have been sold, fans now have an added opportunity to catch a glimpse of the historic event.  The Tuesday Night Tailgate (July 23) has been added to the schedule, with tickets going on sale tomorrow (May 16).

The Mudsummer Classic marks NASCAR’s first national series dirt track event since 1970, and the first-ever dirt race for the Camping World Truck Series.   For many drivers, the added Tuesday night practice sessions will be their first venture on a dirt-track.

Tickets for the doubleheader evening, which will include a pair of two-hour practice periods for the trucks, along with a 25 lap Eldora Dirt Late Model Invitational, are priced as low as $10 for adult General Admission and go on sale at 9 a.m.

The most efficient method to obtain tickets is by using the TicketForce-powered online system at www.EldoraSpeedway.com.  With its capability to process up to 800 different orders simultaneously, it has a flawless track record of handling Eldora’s rich history of marquee events and massive opening day ticket sales.  A backup direct link to the ticketing site of eldoraspeedway.ticketforce.com has also been established.

Race fans that do not have access to a computer can call into the Eldora Box Office at (937) 338-3815 where a full staff of Ticketing Specialists will be available to assist a cue of up to 25 calls at a time.  In addition, the Speedway Box Office will be open for walk-up sales beginning at 9 a.m.

On Tuesday, July 23, the spectator gates will swing open at 1 p.m., with the first NCWTS practice session taking the green flag at 4:30 p.m.

Entrants for the Eldora Dirt Late Model Invitational will be announced after the running of the $100,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream presented by Ferris Commercial Mowers (June 6, 7 & 8).

Complete information regarding Eldora Speedway, including seating schematics, facility maps and event schedules may be found on www.EldoraSpeedway.com and additional on-sale date information continues to be released via Twitter.com/EldoraSpeedway and Facebook.com/EldoraSpeedway.  The newly released Eldora Speedway app is now also available for download for the iPhone and Android devices.

Busch, Crafton Share Charlotte Connection

Busch, Crafton Share Charlotte Connection

Matt Crafton won his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. So did Kyle Busch. The two enter Friday night’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 with the same – albeit slightly different – agendas.
Each wants a victory.
Crafton, however, might be willing to sacrifice the trophy in exchange for maintaining or adding to his series points lead. For Busch, a four-time Charlotte truck winner but not NCWTS points eligible, it’s all about the "W." Thus, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Crafton’s No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota go fender-to-fender with Busch’s No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Tundra.
Busch owns a significant statistical advantage – over Crafton and everyone else in the field. His 129.2 Driver Rating includes series bests of average finish (3.6), laps led (335), number of fastest laps (205), and percentage of laps in the top 15 (88.9).
Crafton’s Driver Rating (96.4) is fifth best and includes most green flag passes (307) and most quality passes (254) and most top-10 finishes (seven).
Busch and Crafton aren’t the only Charlotte winners in the field. Justin Lofton won the race a year ago while Ron Hornaday Jr. is a two-time winner (2007, ’09). The four-time series champion ranks second to Busch in Driver Rating (113.2) and has finished among the top five in six of eight Charlotte races.
Busch, Crafton and Hornaday have won seven of the past eight Charlotte races.

Second Last Year, Keselowski Ready For ‘Do-Over’

Close, but no trophy and no record.
That was the story a year ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway for Brad Keselowski. Bidding to become the 24th competitor to win in all three of NASCAR’s national series, Keselowski lost the lead to Justin Lofton on the North Carolina Education Lottery 200’s final restart and finished second.
It also kept Keselowski and his father, Bob, from becoming the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ first son-father winners.
Keselowski, who’s finished second three times in NCWTS competition, gets his next do-over Friday night. Brad Keselowski Racing will enter three Fords, for Keselowski, Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney.
Blaney, the series’ youngest winner a year ago at age 18, is running for the championship. He ranks fourth, 21 points behind leader Matt Crafton. Chastain is competing for BKR on a limited basis.
At 20, Keselowski got his chance in the series with his family’s team. BKR exists to identify future stars, he said.
"Giving back and reinvesting in our sport is critical," Keselowski said. "Someone [Dale Earnhardt Jr.] gave me a chance to prove myself and I feel it’s the only thing to do to give a young driver a chance in good equipment."

Townley, Red Horse Participate In NASCAR Day Giving

Friday’s 10th Annual NASCAR Day wraps up this year’s "Ten Days of Giving" tour that included a May 8 stop in Atlanta. NCWTS competitor John Wes Townley, a Watkinsville, Ga., native, participated in the event before heading for Charlotte with his No. 7 Red Horse Racing Toyota team.
The team presented the George Washington Carver Boys & Girls Club with a new TV for their gaming room. Townley did a question-and-answer session and spent time playing the NASCAR game on the Wii with the kids.
"It means a lot to come out here and give back to my local community," Townley said. "This sport has given me so much. It's always been my dream to drive and if I can give back, it's really an honor.
"I have three younger siblings, so I've been around kids for a while."
Camping World, the Official Outdoor and RV Retailer of NASCAR, has joined the cause this year and will make the limited-edition pin, designed by NASCAR’s first officially licensed artist Sam Bass, available now until May 17 at Camping World SuperCenters nationwide for a $10 donation to The NASCAR Foundation.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Etc.

Friday night’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 ends a near month-long break in the NCWTS schedule. Drivers will compete on three of the next four weekends at Charlotte, Dover and Texas Motor Speedway. … Crafton’s standings lead over ThorSport Racing teammate Johnny Sauter is 13 points. The pair has won three of the year’s first four races and fashioned a combined eight top-10 finishes. … Busch is the only driver to win from the pole (2010).