March 23, 2008

By Connie Felix

25th Guitar

Nashville Superspeedway awarded the 25th coveted Gibson Les Paul Trophy Guitar, Saturday to Scott Wimmer winner of the NASCAR Nationwide Series Pepsi 300 race. Sam Bass the first officially licensed Artist of NASCAR has the contract to design the guitar paint scheme. The artwork colors come from the title sponsor logo, plus various contractual items must be included and numerous subliminal messages will be found throughout the work. Nashville's city landscape on the helmet visor is looking forward to the race event. The checkered start finish line points to the guitar as the ultimate prize. A picture of the finished guitar is on the guitar and this one has race cars around the edge. Each season the race event trophy regardless of series has a common theme, making it possible to tell one year from the next. The picture is painted and then laminated onto the guitar. The June 7th, Federated Auto Parts 300, NASCAR Nationwide Series painting is completed and Bass is currently working on the July 12th, Firestone 200 Indycar Series design.

Who Wants To See Receipts

Rain delays are expensive to the teams and after the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California weekend Kevin Harvick stated it cost KHI an additional $15,000 a day. This was food, lodging and rental cars needed for the crews to stay an extra day. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race ran as scheduled with approximately 23 employees present, an additional 15 members for the NASCAR Nationwide Series teams. Do the math - with separate rooms and cars for the drivers and crew chiefs, 2 bodies per room, 4 people per vehicle and 3 meals each it doesn't compute. Everything I've heard leads me to believe KHI spares no expense, but hope they aren't being taken advantage. I bring all this up because at he other end of the spectrum, truck crews are staying in low budget hotels 6 + to a room and being fed peanut butter sandwiches. Not all is equal in the big leagues of racing!

Daughter Will Qualify For Martinsville

Chrissy Wallace, 20 year old daughter of NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Mike Wallace, will qualify for the March 29th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race at Martinsville Speedway. Wallace participated in the recent testing at the track in a Germain Racing Tundra. According to crew chief Mike Abner, she is a natural. He says the feedback she provided throughout the test session was spot on, and her continued improvement and confidence behind the wheel showed in the rankings from the test session’s final times -- she ranked 11th in day two's afternoon session. The team plans to have her test at another short-track this week and practice pit-stops at the race shop.

Hillenburg Honors History

Andy Hillenburg, became the owner of Rockingham Speedway last fall. The first day of a two day ARCA test, preparing for the May 4th, Carolina 500, it was announced that the tower, garage and grandstands would be named for three men instrumental in the speedway's legacy. The frontstretch tower housing race control, scoring, the track’s suites, and press box is now the Benny Parsons Tower. Retired NASCAR driver Ricky Rudd will have his name on the first- and second-turn grandstands, while the garage has been named for Papa Joe Hendrick, the father of Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick.

Back 40 Records

Carl Edwards started a recording company in late 2006, located downstairs in the home he bought next door to his in Columbia, Missouri. Edwards joked, when the property went on the market he either had to buy it or clean up the radiators and car parts on that side of his house. Recently in victory lane he has mentioned Back40Records.com, in January they released the first CD, a mix of Rock, R&B and Hip Hop by local talent.

Two Weeks Straight

The NASCAR Nationwide Series has a race schedule of 35 events. After completing the Sharp Mini 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway the teams stayed in the "Volunteer State' of Tennessee for the Nashville Superspeedway Pepsi 300. This is the only time the series will compete in the same state two weeks in a row.

Three Spots Remain Available

The NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge presented by Craftsman is set for Thursday, May 15 at 7 p.m. eastern at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena and will be aired at 9 p.m. that evening on SPEED television. In its fourth year, the competition is a signature lead-in event to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Saturday, May 17 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The following teams are currently eligible: No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet (Childress), No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet (DEI), No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge (Penske), No. 5 Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet (Hendrick), No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet (DEI), No. 11 FedEx Toyota (Gibbs), No. 12 Alltel Dodge (Penske), No. 16 3M Ford (Roush), No. 17 DeWALT Ford (Roush), No. 18 M&M’s/Interstate Batteries Toyota (Gibbs), No. 20 Home Depot Toyota (Gibbs), No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet (Hendrick), No. 26 Crown Royal Ford (Roush), No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet (Childress), No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet (Childress), No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge (Ganassi), No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge (Petty), No. 44 UPS Toyota (MWR), No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet (Hendrick), No. 88 Mountain Dew AMP/National Guard Chevrolet (Hendrick) and No. 99 Office Depot Ford (Roush).

What's For Dinner

Dale Earnhardt Inc. recently announced that they had secured Steak-umm Company LLC as a primary sponsor on the No. 1, Regan Smith Chevrolet for the May Richmond International Raceway, NASCAR Sprint Cup Race. June you will find them as primary sponsor for Mark Martin's No. 8 Chevrolet during the Pocono Raceway event. The company has also signed on as associate sponsor for the entire 2008 season with the No. 8 car, becoming interested when they introduced the Steak-umm Burgers, a new line of frozen burgers available in Original, Sweet Onion and Real Cheese varieties.

April Fools Is April 11

The Best Western No 99 Toyota Camry driven by David Reutimann in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, will display a winning April Fools Day picture. The contest which ended this past week asked for a funny picture of a friend, family member, co-worker, boss, neighbor even your pet. The winning entry will be displayed on the deck lid.

Russian Rummy

Media spoke Friday at Nashville Superspeedway with NASCAR Nationwide Series newcomers, Colin Braun, driver of the No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford Fusion, Bryan Clauson - Fastenal Dodge No. 40 driver for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and Landon Cassill who drives the No. 5 National Guard Chevrolet out of the JR Motorsports stable. They all discussed how important it was to properly communication with the crew chief during the race. That perfect balance in communication, when to listen and when to talk. Knowing the personalities, like Crew Chief Brian Pattie who wants to discuss the events and Brad Parrott who comes with an arm full of notes and would prefer not to hash thing out.

When asked if they played poker, both Clauson and Cassill became excited and told of their weekly Russian Rummy games. Seems that Cassill's Great Grandparents taught them the game, but they recently played until 2 A.M. with a Grandmother that wasn't happy when the boys felt it was time to end the evening.

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