NASCAR Daily News Headlines * November 14, 2008

David Reutimann First Sprint Cup Pole

Stewart-Haas Racing Names New Personel

“These are two really important hires for our race team,” said Tony Stewart, co-owner of SHR. “Bobby Hutchens brings a ton of technical and management experience to SHR, and Tony Gibson has helped a lot of well-known drivers earn their recognition by getting them to victory lane. I’m very proud to have both of these guys as a part of my team.”

Hutchens, who has a mechanical engineering degree from North Carolina State University, comes to SHR with 20 years of experience at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series level. A longtime member of Richard Childress Racing (RCR) and its No. 3 team with driver Dale Earnhardt, Hutchens was a part of four championships (1990, 1991, 1993 and 1994) and numerous victories, including the 1998 Daytona 500. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native was promoted to general manager of RCR in 1998, director of competition in 2001 and vice president of competition in 2004. His duties were expanded in 2005 to include oversight of RCR’s expansive research and development program, a role which transitioned Hutchens nicely to his 2007 appointment as general manager of Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines. In August of this year, Hutchens became vice president of competition at DEI.

“Stewart-Haas Racing has an incredible amount of potential, and to be an integral part of what we all believe can be a championship-winning organization was an opportunity I could not turn down,” said Hutchens, who in addition to leading race teams, used his mechanical expertise to help develop the Hutchens Device, a head-and-neck restraint system used in motorsports. “It’s important that a race team’s front office is in sync with what’s happening on the shop floor, and having lived in both worlds, I’m committed to making Stewart-Haas Racing a strong and efficient operation.”

Gibson has been a crew chief in the Sprint Cup Series since 2002, working with such drivers as Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Steve Park and Michael Waltrip. Prior to becoming a crew chief, Gibson served as car chief for such notable drivers as four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon, 1992 Sprint Cup champion Alan Kulwicki and 1988 Sprint Cup champion Bill Elliott. Gibson was there for three of those aforementioned title runs – two with Gordon in 1998 and 2001 at Hendrick Motorsports, and one with Kulwicki, who like Stewart, was also a driver/owner.

“I’ve known Tony a long time and have always respected him as a racer and as a person,” said Gibson, who grew up in Daytona Beach, Fla., and began his racing career working on his family’s team, with his father Bo serving as crew chief and his brother Mark driving – a trio that won the 1978 track title at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway. “He understands people, works well with them, and genuinely wants to see them succeed. And he’s smart enough to know that their success is also his success. He’s building an impressive race team, and I’m very happy to be a part of it and I look forward to working with him and Ryan.”

In addition to being an extremely dedicated racer, Gibson is an equally avid outdoorsman, a trait that puts him in lockstep with his new driver.

“Tony (Gibson) and I have talked as much about racing as we have about hunting and fishing,” said Newman, the reigning Daytona 500 winner. “I feel like we’re already on the same page, so to speak. I’m not sure who’s more excited about next year – him or me.”

NASCAR Suspends 2009 Testing

Teams still will be allowed to test at NASCAR weekly racing series tracks - such as Hickory Motor Speedway or Concord Motorsport Park in the Charlotte area where most teams are based - and at tracks not affiliated with NASCAR.

The decision, for example, could be a boost to Rockingham Speedway and its new owner, Andy Hillenburg. Hillenburg has built a short-track testing facility adjacent to the one-mile oval that used to host NASCAR events.

Crew Chiefs Discuss New Tests Policy

DOES THAT CHANGE YOUR OFF-SEASON APPORACH HEADING INTO DAYTONA IN FEBRUARY? “It’s going to make it harder to pick a car. You’ll have to use wind tunnel data to see which is your better car. Other than that, it will be the same old thing. We’ll just be home a lot more than we are now.”

DOES THE FACT THAT YOU CAN DO SO LITTLE TO THIS CAR NOW... IS THAT GOOD IN A WAY? “I don’t think so. There are still lots of stuff that we can do; not quite as many areas that we can work, but there’s still room to work. Teams that are behind – we feel like we’re a little bit behind – will want test. I guess there were enough teams that didn’t want to test. Times are tough for everybody right now. It’s probably the best thing for all of us right now and hopefully, in some ways, it will make the racing better.”

CAN YOU TEST AT TRACK THAT DON’T HOST CUP, NATIONWIDE, TRUCK? CAN YOU GO TO CARAWAY AND VIR? “We can go to Caraway and VIR, but you can’t go to Greenville…anywhere there is a Camping World Series race. It really cuts down on the tracks that you can go to.”

IS IT GOING TO MAKE YOUR JOB HARDER? “I don’t think it makes it harder. It would have been better to go test on a lot of the race tracks that we race at. It doesn’t make it any harder because it’s the same for everyone. Your practice time is just a little bit more important than it was before.”

RODNEY CHILDERS (Crew Chief, No 19 Hellmann’s Dodge Charger) WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE 2009 TESTING POLICY? “I think it’s the right thing for NASCAR right now. There are a lot of teams and people struggling with the economy the way it is and sponsors not wanting to spend the money like they did. It’s going to be the right thing to keep the sport healthy. It’s going to be tough on the teams trying to figure out what to do with their cars to make them better and stuff like that. That’s one thing that we’re going to have to do to keep the sport healthy.”

HOW’S IT GOING TO CHANGE WHAT CREW CHIEFS DO HEADING INTO NEXT YEAR? “It’s going to put a lot of thought on what you have to do at the (race) shop. People are going to have to learn how to do things at the shop more and more; whether it’s seven post work or just learning more with the scale model testing (wind tunnel). It may actually put peoples’ heads on a little better and get their thinking cap going better instead of letting other people (test teams) do it for them. It’s probably not going to be a bad deal.”

ROBBIE LOOMIS (Executive Vice President of Operations, Petty Enterprises) FROM A FINANCIAL STANDPOINT, IF YOU DON’T SPEND MONEY ON TESTING, WILL YOU SPEND IT SOMEWHERE ELSE? “We’re going to hire Jimmie (Johnson) and Chad (Knaus) and pool our money together (laughs). You’re going to spend it (money) somewhere.”

WILL TEAMS SAVE MONEY? “I think where you will see the biggest cost savings is in testing. If NASCAR were to open it up, teams were going to have to have extra trucks and trailers and extra personnel. Now you’ll see it in engineering; more shops that are tool-based. I think you’ll see more of the engineers stepping out to have the setups and a lot of simulation work will be done before we get to the track.”

IS THERE ANY PART OF THIS COT THAT A LACK OF TESTING WILL HURT TEAMS? “We’ve been to every track once. We’re still always learning. One week you run decent and the next week you’re off. The 48 and the 99 really have it figured out. I think that will bleed through the organizations. The bottom line is for now. The reason that we want to test and have to test is that everyone is testing; now you will see it all go into the resources at the shop. I was hoping that they would test at Daytona mainly from the PR standpoint of the sport and move it a little later in January, maybe a few weeks before we return down there (in February). More like a pre-season football game and have all the drivers there for media access.”

DOES THE NEW TESTING POLICY GIVE FOUR CAR TEAMS LIKE HENDRICK OR ROUSH AN ADVANTAGE? “I think that forever in the history of this sport, the strongest financially- funded teams are usually on top. They usually have the best drivers, personnel, airplanes, busses and it goes all the way through. It’s not going to change if we’re testing or not testing. I think that you might see around the 20th-place team like where we’re sitting a little difference in the gap as far as how we run on the track. We’re still going to have great racing.”

HOW WILL IT AFFECT A NEW TEAM COMING IN OR A ROOKIE LOOKING TO RACE? “Rookies is what it’s going to kill. Rookies like (Joey) Logano need to spend a little bit more time in Nationwide and I think a rule like this will make people look at them a little different before they bring their driver up. Jimmie Johnson was in Nationwide a couple years before he came to Cup. But when Jimmie Johnson came here, he was ready to go.”

"I don't think it makes it harder. It would have been better to go test on a lot of the race tracks that we race at; it doesn't make it any harder because it's the same for everyone. Your practice time is just a little bit more important than it was before." (thatsracin.com)

Auto Club Speedway Hires David Talley

“Auto Club Speedway couldn’t be more thrilled to have David Talley join our already highly skilled team,” said Zucker. “David’s talent, enthusiasm and expertise is priceless. Having someone of his caliber, lead our communications efforts will certainly take Auto Club Speedway to the next level.”

As Director of Communications, Talley will oversee all public and media relations functions for Auto Club Speedway including two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Races, the West Coast Premiere of NASCAR, the Auto Club 500 on February 22, 2009 and the Pepsi 500 on October 11, 2009, the fourth race of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. Additional events held at the Speedway include the AMA Superbike Series, the Historic Sportscar Racing Festival (HSR) and the NHRA Drag Events. Talley assumes his duties December 8th.

Talley comes to Auto Club Speedway as a seasoned public relations executive with over 26 years of experience. Most recently, he was the Director of Media Relations for Daytona International Speedway after serving 5 years with parent company International Speedway Corporation as its Director of Corporate Communications. In both roles he served as chief spokesperson and developed, implemented and managed all strategic communication initiatives.

Prior his tenure at ISC, Talley was the Senior Manager for the CNN Public Relations/News Division where he developed and implemented publicity plans for high profile events such as CNN’s 10th Anniversary and Headline News’ 15th Anniversary and was a company spokesperson. Before CNN, Talley held positions as Sports Editor and News Copy Desk Editor with local Georgia and South Carolina New York Times company-owned daily newspapers.

An active member of his community, Talley is a member of the Special Olympics Florida Public Relations Advisory Committee, Co-Chair of the Halifax Area Advertising Advisory Committee, former President of the Board of Directors for The House Next Door (a non-profit family counseling organization), a member of the Florida Public Relations Associations and member of the National Motorsports Press Association. Talley also volunteered his time to coach YMCA Soccer and Pop Warner Football.

A graduate of the University of South Carolina, Talley earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. He and his wife Christine are the proud parents of Andrew, 5 and Kevin, 1½ .

Homestead Tire Notes

"Our confirmation test at Homestead went well. The early wear rates were high, as expected, but as the teams tested and the track 'rubbered in,' wear improved significantly. By the end of the day, both cars were running full fuel runs with good performance," said Rick Campbell, Goodyear's NASCAR project manager -- this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that Goodyear brought for teams to run at both Texas and Chicagoland this season -- NASCAR teams have also run this left-side tire code (D-4134) with a different right-side code at Dover, Michigan and Kentucky in 2008 -- as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams will are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Homestead -- air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.