McClure Lays Off Five Employees
Morgan-McClure Motorsports in conjunction with primary sponsor State Water Heaters continue to search for additional sponsorship for their #4 Chevrolet currently running in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. State Water Heaters (Ashland City, TN) signed up to be primary sponsor for 12 races in the 2007 season with the hope of bringing along a co-sponsor. When that didn’t happen, Morgan-McClure and State focused even harder on the continuing search for additional funding.

“We’ve had to look at every aspect of our team and try to find places where we can cut back until additional sponsor money is secured,” said Morgan-McClure President Larry McClure at the Abingdon, Va. based race shop today. We have temporarily released five employees and have every intention of bringing them back as soon as it is possible. Everyone remaining here is making sacrifices to keep this team going in 2007. We probably have the best team we have had in five years. The outlook for 2008 is much better, but first we have to get thru 2007. These guys are like family to me. Telling them they could no longer work here was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I feel responsible for them and taking their jobs away was tough,” McClure continued.

“I look at the money we have been operating on as compared to some of these other teams who are outside the top 35 in owner points and I can’t help but think if we had even half the budget they have, there’s no telling what we could do. This top 35 rule is hurting a lot of us. I think if you looked at qualifying as just the top 43 fastest cars, we would have only missed a couple races. But the rules are what they are and we are trying to make the best of it with what we have. We continue to search for primary and associate sponsors for the remainder of 2007 and I believe there are good partners out there somewhere for this team,” said McClure as he monitored preparations of the Chicago race cars.

Morgan-McClure Motorsports is in its 25th year of competition in NASCAR’S elite Nextel Cup division and carries a history of 14 wins, 63 top five’s and 146 top ten’s in 694 races. They also had one of the longest running sponsorships in the history of the sport when they carried the Kodak colors for 18 years.

Budweiser May Dump Earnhardt
Budweiser officials are shopping around for their best sponsorship option in NASCAR, a clear indication that the beer company will not sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports next season, sources confirmed Tuesday. It's expected that PepsiCo Inc., possibly with the Mountain Dew brand or a combination of Pepsi products, will sponsor Earnhardt next season in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick. And Anheuser-Busch is negotiating with Evernham Motorsports to possibly move the Bud sponsorship to Kasey Kahne's No. 9 Dodge next season. Budweiser officials also have contacted officials at Lowe's Motor Speedway about the possibility of holding a news conference at the Lowe's Speedway Club next week if a new team sponsorship agreement is reached.

An Evernham Motorsports official said Tuesday that no agreement has been reached with Budweiser and that the Evernham marketing department was talking to several other companies about potential sponsorships for 2008. Team owner Ray Evernham has an agreement with Dodge, through the Dodge Dealers, to sponsor both Kahne's car and the No. 19 Dodge of Elliott Sadler through 2010. The Dodge dealers would have to sign off on any deal to allow Budweiser to move to Kahne's car. Budweiser officials now have targeted four other drivers they would consider sponsoring next season, including Kahne. The other three drivers are not known.(espn.go)

Stewart OK With Hamlin
On his weekly satellite radio show, (Tony) Stewart said he had not yet talked with Hamlin but that he and last year's top rookie have a good relationship.

"Oh, yeah. And the thing that people didn't understand about the deal the other day is I remember when we were in Sonoma [last month] and he had just won the Busch race at Milwaukee and I put a note on his door just telling him that I was proud of him and he did a good job with the circumstances that happened there," he said. I love the kid like a little brother. There's not any animosity from that. It's just as tough as the competition is and the way that some of the things happen during the weekend and early in the race like that, I think there's ways that we can work as teammates better ... But we'll get all that stuff figured out. And that's just part of being young teammates. I mean, we've only worked with each other a year and a half."(espn.go.com)

Gretchen Wilson In Brickyard Concert
Country music superstar Gretchen Wilson will perform a Miller Lite Rock N Racing concert Saturday, July 28 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, capping a day full of excitement during the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Grammy Award winner Wilson will take the stage in the infield of the IMS oval at 4:45 p.m. (ET). Her performance is free with $15 gate admission for the day, is part of the Kurt Busch and Miller Lite Racing present Rock N Racing concert series. This will be the inaugural Rock N' Racing concert at the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Miller Lite also presents the wildly popular Miller Lite Carb Day Concert during the Indianapolis 500.

"We're excited to welcome Gretchen Wilson to IMS," said Joie Chitwood, IMS president and chief operating officer. "Her powerful shows are all about high energy and passion, a perfect match for Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and NASCAR fans."

Wilson's Miller Lite Rock N' Racing performance is the finale to a full day of action on and off the track at IMS. All of the stars of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series will attempt to gain a spot in the field for the 14th Allstate 400 at the Brickyard during qualifying at 10:10 a.m., followed by practice from 1:30-2:30 p.m. and 3:30-4:30 p.m. Public gates at IMS open at 7 a.m. Saturday. The 14th Allstate 400 at the Brickyard is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, July 29.

Wilson has become one of the biggest stars in country music since her 2004 debut album, "Here for the Party," went quadruple-platinum. The album stayed at No. 1 on the Billboard country album chart for nine consecutive weeks and rocketed to No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums charts.

"Here for the Party," with its hit single "Redneck Woman," was certified platinum and double platinum faster than any album in country music history.

The album helped Wilson reap numerous awards in 2004 and 2005, including the Country Music Association (CMA) Horizon Award and Female Vocalist of the Year in 2004, the American Music Awards (AMA) Breakthrough Favorite New Artist (All Genres) in 2004, the Grammy Award for Best Country Female Vocal Performance for "Redneck Woman" in 2005, the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 2005 and the AMA Best Female Artist (Country) in 2005. Wilson's next album, "All Jacked Up," was released in 2005 and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country and Top 200 charts.

Her latest album on Sony, "One of the Boys," reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country chart and No. 5 on the Top 200 chart this year. The album has received universal acclaim, including "This is as good as it gets right now; it'll be the country album to beat in 2007," from allmusic.com, and The New York Times calling Wilson's voice "extraordinary." Wilson is supporting her new album with the sold-out There Goes the Neighborhood Tour.

Talladega Hires New PR Manager
Talladega Superspeedway has hired Andrew Smith as Public Relations Manager, track president Rick Humphrey announced today. Smith, a native of Enterprise, AL and 2005 graduate of UAB, returns to Alabama having previously served as Corporate Sales Executive at Richmond International Raceway in Virginia. This also marks Smith’s return to Talladega, where he interned in the Public Relations department through much of 2005.

“We are very excited to have Andrew join our team,” Humphrey stated. “Andrew’s past experience with Talladega and his diverse knowledge of the motorsports industry will certainly be an asset to our business.”

Smith’s responsibilities at Talladega will include overseeing the media center and press box during event weekends, creating and distributing press materials and assisting the director of public relations as a liaison between drivers and track activities. Smith will report to Director of Public Relations Kristi R. King.

Smith joins the track in time for the 2007 UAW-Ford 500 weekend on Oct. 5-7. The weekend will consist of the ARCA RE/MAX Series 250 on Friday, followed by the Mountain Dew 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Saturday. The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Car of Tomorrow will make its first appearance in a superspeedway race on Sunday, Oct. 7, which is also the fourth race in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Kids age 11 and younger are admitted free of charge on Friday and Saturday of race weekends in the general admission grandstands at Talladega Superspeedway. To order tickets, call 1-877-Go2-DEGA (1-877-462-3342). For our hearing impaired guests, please call TDD 1-866-ISC-TRAK (1-866-472-8725). Tickets also are available online at (www.racetickets.com) or in person by visiting the Talladega Superspeedway Ticket Office from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. CDT, Monday - Friday.

Speed Hires Melanie Minichino
Speed's new branding campaign aimed at the 18-34 male demographic will use some less-conventional platforms, such as movie theaters, fast-food restaurants and online gaming, but it will rely on an old-fashioned method of getting their attention - a pretty girl.

Speed, which surpassed 70 million households earlier this year and devotes numerous hours of programming to NASCAR, has hired actress Melanie Minichino to be the face of the campaign, which launches this month.

In 15- and 30-second spots, Minichino, who gained fame recently for her role as Bobby Bacala's niece in the final episode of "The Sopranos," sultrily asks, "Can you handle it?" Minichino eventually could have her own Speed-branded MySpace page.

The spots are designed to promote Speed's lineup of weekly prime-time reality shows, such as "Pinks All Out" and "Nopi Tunervision."

"This demographic consumes media a little differently and we've got to make sure the message is getting through to them," said Lila Everett, Speed's senior vice president of marketing. "We wanted an attractive woman who could get their attention, but also speak intelligently and talk to them in the venues they're used to going to."

Some of the spots will be tagged "Cars, Bikes, SPEED," while others will feature the wording "Girls, Cars, SPEED." In addition to running the promos on its own network, Speed has bought time on several others, including the Comedy Channel, Discovery, ESPN and MTV2.

The campaign also includes print (Maxim, Sporting News, AutoWeek), radio, online and other platforms such as PartyPoker.com, where Speed's brand will appear on poker tables and other props as part of the gaming experience.

Speed's buys in theaters and restaurants are new. Minichino's spots will hit 379 screens in 35 theaters, from Boston to San Diego, in August and September. Arby's, Wendy's and Denny's are among the restaurants where Speed will have a presence with its spots running on video screens.(scenedaily.com)

Motorsports Authentics Big Loss
Motorsports Authentics, the biggest seller of NASCAR merchandise, will lose $15 million to $20 million in 2007, International Speedway Corp. announced today, thanks in large part to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s planned team switch next season.

In reporting its second-quarter earnings, ISC reported that the move of Dale Earnhardt Jr. from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to Hendrick Motorsports will heavily impact the Motorsports Authentics' performance. Motorosports Authentics is 50 percent owned by ISC and 50 percent by Speedway Motorsports Inc.

"More than half of the decline is associated with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s decision to leave DEI at the end of 2007, resulting in lower merchandise sales in multiple distribution channels," the company said in its news release. "To a lesser extent, some of the shortfall is driven by a more challenging consumer economic environment than was anticipated at the beginning of the year by the joint venture.

"Despite the lowered outlook, ISC continues to believe Motorsports Authentics has significant potential for generating solid growth in earnings and cash flow over the longer term."(scenedaily.com)

Keselowski: Three Busch Races
Brad Keselowski will drive the No. 88 Navy Accelerate Your Life Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in the next three NASCAR Busch Series races for JR Motorsports, starting with Saturday’s USG DUROCK 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. Keselowski will also pilot the Navy Chevrolet at Gateway International Raceway and O’Reilly Raceway Park. The new driver selection comes one week after Earnhardt Jr. announced that he was replacing Shane Huffman after a midseason evaluation of the team’s performance.

“I’ve watched Brad for a while and he’s shown a lot of promise in the few Busch races he’s run,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “He became available at a time when we were looking to make some changes to our program and everything just lined up for us to put him in the Navy Chevrolet for the next three races.”

Keselowski, a 24-year-old native of Rochester Hills, Mich., drove for Keith Coleman Racing in the Busch Series until the team suspended operations last month. He jumped at the opportunity to drive the No. 9 truck when Germain Racing needed a last-minute replacement for Ted Musgrave at Memphis Motorsports Park two weeks ago. Keselowski scored the Bud Pole Award, led four times for a total of 62 laps and contended for the win.

Just like JR Motorsports’ team owner, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski is a third-generation race car driver. Following in the footsteps of his dad, Bob Keselowski, he made his NASCAR national touring division debut in the Truck Series in 2004. In 42 starts in the Truck Series, his best finish is seventh. Keselowski’s best Busch Series finish in 20 starts is 24th.

In 19 races this season the Navy team has collected one top-five and four top-10 finishes. The team is currently ranked 24th in the owner point standings.

Fike Released From Jail
Aaron Fike, 24, and his fiancee Cassandra Davidson, 21, both of North Carolina, were released from the Warren County Jail in Ohio on Tuesday following their Saturday arrest at Kings Island amusement park north of Cincinnati for possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia.

According to The Associated Press, both were charged with drug abuse, a felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. Fike entered a plea of not-guilty to the misdemeanor at his initial court appearance Tuesday in Mason Municipal Court. He also agreed to undergo drug and alcohol evaluation as a condition for his release.

Trial on the misdemeanor charge was scheduled for Aug. 28, and a preliminary hearing on the felony charge was set for July 19 for both Fike and Davidson.

An article at nascar.com said NASCAR was making arrangements for "an independent laboratory" to drug-test Fike. The racing organization said its policy calls for drivers who test positive for drug or alcohol use to be suspended indefinitely, but that NASCAR also attempts to assist affected drivers with rehabilitation efforts. It considers reinstatement for those who complete an approved treatment program.

But NASCAR does not look kindly on drivers who fail when given a second chance. Shane Hmiel, a former Busch Series and Craftsman Truck driver, was permanently suspended in 2006 after a third failed substance-abuse test.