Rico Abreu To Trucks With ThorSport Racing

Former USAC National Midget champion and 2015 Chili Bowl Nationals winner Rico Abreu will join ThorSport Racing as a full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver this season, driving the No. 98 Curb Records Toyota Tundra, powered by Triad engines. Abreu's first full-time season in NASCAR's national touring division will be led by crew chief Doug George, as he competes for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors and the 2016 NCWTS championship.  

"This is one of the best opportunities I have been given," said Abreu. "I appreciate the support and the hard work that everyone at ThorSport Racing and Curb Records has put into all of this for me to live my dream. I'm thankful to be a part of Duke's team and am excited to race with all my ThorSport Racing teammates and crewmembers. 

"My team, sponsors and fans will know that I'm giving 100% effort every time I'm at the track and on the track. My goal is to get the most out of every lap and every opportunity this season. I'm looking forward to meeting new fans and representing ThorSport and Toyota well." 

Abreu, 23, has already enjoyed a degree of success that most drivers only dream about. Last season, the St. Helena, California native competed in more than 100 events, with two major wins. After sweeping his Chili Bowl Nationals preliminary night, winning his heat, qualifier and A-Main, he went on to win the 29th annual Chili Bowl Nationals, one of dirt track racing's most prestigious events.  

The achievement introduced the talented racer to a new audience; NASCAR. Making just his seventh-career start in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, Abreu won at Columbus (OH) Motor Speedway in July. He concluded his rookie season fifth in NKNPSE fpoints, earning three poles, and leading 119 laps en route to four Top-five and eight Top-10 finishes. He was also voted as the series Most Popular Driver.  

"Competing full time in the NASCAR K&N East Series prepared me the most for this opportunity," said Abreu. "My first time being in stock cars and getting a full season under my belt helped me understand how to race and put together full races, longer races, than I was used to running in open wheel cars." 

In November, Abreu made his NASCAR national touring debut in the NCWTS at Phoenix International Raceway and went on to compete in the season-ending event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, earning a career-best finish of 13th.  

"Running the last two Camping World Truck Series races of 2015 was a huge help," continued Abreu. "I know what to expect now compared to last year when I had no experience on tracks bigger than one mile." 

The NASCAR NEXT alum's 2016 campaign will be led by NCWTS veteran crew chief, Doug George. Entering his 12th season in the series, George is credited with five poles, two wins, 32 top-five and 65 to-10 finishes. ThorSport Racing has competed in the Truck Series annually since 1996 and has fielded at least one truck in 454 races, a series record. 

"We look forward to Rico joining our race team in 2016," said Duke Thorson, owner of ThorSport Racing. "Rico has proven himself at every level in racing to date, and is a winner and true racer in every sense of the word. He brings a style and attitude that reflects who we are, and what we are all about. We are prepared to give him every single opportunity to win, and look forward to seeing what he can do in his first full-time season in the Truck Series." 

ThorSport Racing will kick off it's 21st season of completion in the season-opening NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Feb. 19. All the action will be televised live on FOX Sports 1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90.  

Additional sponsorship for the No. 98 Toyota Tundra will be announced at a later date. 

HScott Motorsports Completes Mooresville Move

HScott Motorsports has completed the move of its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team headquarters from Spartanburg, S.C., to Mooresville, N.C.  

The new shop features nearly 50,000 square feet and a closer proximity to industry resources. 

“The new HScott Motorsports headquarters in Mooresville, N.C., provides our NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams ample room to prepare and maintain quality cars throughout the season and well into the future,” said team owner Harry Scott, Jr. “The move to Mooresville also allows us to better coordinate with our partners and suppliers.” 

Clint Bowyer will drive the No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Chevrolet for HScott Motorsports this season, with Michael Annett returning to the wheel of the team’s No. 46 Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet. 

“I want to thank the city of Spartanburg and our friends there for being so supportive and helping to get HScott Motorsports launched,” said Scott.

NASCAR Hall Of Fame Profile: Bobby Isaac

This is the third in a five-part series detailing the careers of members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2016, all of whom will be inducted on Friday, Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. ET, live on NBCSN, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

By Owen A. Kearns

NASCAR Wire Service 

In a different era, in which stock cars driven to and past their limits didn’t break with frequency, there’s no telling how many races or championships Bobby Isaac might have won. 

Isaac, the 1970 NASCAR premier series champion, won 37 of his 309 starts. But he was a DNF – did not finish – 129 times. 

His 49 poles rank 10th all-time, with 19 – a still-standing, single-season mark – coming in 1969. Only 38 drivers have won 19 or more poles in a career. 

Nobody ever had to tell Isaac to “stand on it.” 

“Bobby was a never-give-up kind of guy,” said Buddy Parrott, a member of Isaac’s No. 71 K&K Insurance Dodge crew and a 49-time winner as a premier series crew chief for NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace and Darrell Waltrip among others. “Bobby had no fear.” 

Isaac’s accomplishments are such that he’ll join the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016 along with Jerry Cook, Terry Labonte, O. Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner. Their induction will take place Jan. 22 in Charlotte, N.C.  

Isaac, born on a farm near Catawba, North Carolina in 1932, saw his first stock car race at nearby Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway and at age 17 bought a 1937 Ford and put roll bars in it. He flipped the car on the race’s second lap but that didn’t dampen his desire. 

Working at a variety of low-paying jobs, Isaac began racing the NASCAR late model sportsman circuit. He survived but sometimes just barely. 

“One time I drove 200 miles to drive a fellow’s modified car with $4 in my pocket,” he once said. “I figured that I’d have enough to buy gas and get down there and eat a hot dog before the race. The gas was $3 but I had to put two quarts of oil in my car so I was broke when I left town. When the feature started my stomach was not only growling but I didn’t have enough gas to get back home. 

“I drove that car as hard as I could and won. I had to win.” 

Isaac, described by some as “mercurial,” went sportsman racing fulltime in 1958, driving for Ralph Earnhardt. He won 28 feature events, competing against the likes of NASCAR Hall of Famers Ned Jarrett and David Pearson.

Isaac, at age 28, competed in his first premier series event in 1961. Driving a Dodge for Ray Nichels, he won his first race in 1964 – a 50-lap Daytona 500 qualifier in which he edged Jimmy Pardue in a photo finish after Richard Petty ran out of fuel. 

With factory-supported teams jumping in and out of the sport in the mid-1960s, Isaac went from top ride to no seat at all. His fortunes changed in 1968 when he was hired by Indiana insurance magnate Nord Krauskropf and paired with legendary crew chief Harry Hyde, whose larger than life persona was captured as Harry Hogg in the film “Days of Thunder.”

Over the course of five seasons, 1968 to 1972, the trio’s “Poppy Red” Dodges won 36 times – 17 alone in 1969 when Isaac won 17 times in 50 starts. Bedeviled by 19 failures to finish, Isaac wound up sixth in the championship standings.

Isaac “only” won 11 times in his championship season but the DNFs were reduced to just nine. 

The K&K team is remembered best for its winged Dodge Charger Daytona, the needle-nosed, high rear-wing version of the standard Charger. Remarkably, Isaac visited Victory Lane only once in that model, at Texas World Speedway in 1969, his 20th career win and first on a superspeedway. 

“We won a lot of short-races, but we couldn’t pull it all together on the big tracks until the last race of the season,” said Isaac in Greg Fielden’s book “NASCAR: The Complete History.” “Winning the championship gave me personal satisfaction, but I’d rank it second to the Texas win. 

“The way I look at it, it took me seven years to win a superspeedway race and only three years to win the championship.” 

In September 1971 the team took its winged car to the Bonneville Salt Flats in western Utah where Isaac set 28 speed records, including a 217.368 mph “flying kilometer” mark. “That car weighed 3,900 pounds and it had 650 horses in the motor,” Hyde told Car and Driver’s Bob Zeller in May 2002. “And when Bobby set it sideways, it looked like a hydroplane on water. He came by at 200 mph broadside with a big rooster tail of salt comin’ out the back.”  

Driving part-time schedules for a number of owners, Isaac ran his last premier series race in 1976. He returned to Hickory Motor Speedway the following year where, on Aug. 14, he pulled out of a sportsman race feeling ill and was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to heart failure at age 45. 

Isaac was inducted into the National Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1979 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1996. In 1998, NASCAR honored him as one of its 50 Greatest Drivers of all time. 

Tickets are available for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Dinner and Ceremony (limited quantities available). Individual ticket and ticket packages are available at ticketmaster.com, the NASCAR Hall of Fame Box Office or by calling 800.745.3000.

Daytona Rising Near Completion

After more than two years of redeveloping its nearly mile-long frontstretch, Daytona International Speedway’s $400 million DAYTONA Rising project is near completion.

On Tuesday, DIS received its temporary certificate of occupancy which allows us to begin moving into the facility and fully prepare for the upcoming race season. The world’s first motorsports stadium will be ready for its debut later this month at the Rolex 24 At Daytona Weekend. 

Since kicking off the project in July 2013, DIS has celebrated tremendous milestones along the way including the DAYTONA Rising 500 groundbreaking ceremony, the first-ever DAYTONA Rising Escalator Duel to activate the new vertical transportation as well as the recent lighting of the massive identification sign. 

“After more than two years of dedication and hard work, we’re thrilled that our new motorsports stadium is nearing completion,” said Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III. “We’re thankful for the tremendous support from our partners, project team and fans and can’t wait to welcome everyone during the Rolex 24 At Daytona.” 

DIS will mark the installation of the final seat during a special ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 19.

NASCAR Hall Of Fame Profile: O. Bruton Smith

This is the second in a five-part series detailing the careers of members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2016, all of whom will be inducted on Friday, Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. ET, live on NBCSN, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
By Owen A. Kearns
NASCAR Wire Service 

There’s a possibility, albeit remote, that O. Bruton Smith could be entering the NASCAR Hall of Fame as a race car driver instead of a race promoter extraordinaire. 

Smith, at age 17, bought a race car and decided to be a professional driver. 

“One time, I actually beat (NASCAR Hall of Famers) Buck Baker and Joe Weatherly,” Smith said in a May 7, 2005 interview with Motorsport.com. “So I knew when I beat them I could be a contender, right?” 

Smith’s mother, however, believed otherwise and appealed to a Higher Authority. She prayed her son would change his mind. 

“She started fighting dirty,” said Smith in the same interview. “You can’t fight your mom and God, so I stopped driving.” 

NASCAR stock car racing became the beneficiary of the intervention. Smith turned to race promotion, ultimately creating some of America’s greatest facilities. His eight-track Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI), anchored by Charlotte Motor Speedway, helped boost the sport to new heights in the 1950s and was the first American motorsports company to go public in 1995. 

The Oakboro, North Carolina native is part of the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s class of 2016 that includes Jerry Cook, Bobby Isaac, Terry Labonte and Curtis Turner. Induction ceremonies will be held Jan. 22 in Charlotte, N.C.

Born on a farm in rural North Carolina, Smith never considered an agricultural life. He hated the thought of being poor, which a childhood during the throes of the Great Depression appeared to suggest. 

“You have food, clothing and shelter but you never have any money and I never did like that. I did not like that,” said Smith in a July 2003 Car & Driver story authored by Bob Zeller. “You worked from sunup to sundown, but you never did see the rewards.” 

By 1949, Smith had his own stock car racing association, the National Stock Car Racing Association, which was a direct competitor to William H.G. “Big Bill” France’s fledgling NASCAR. Both groups fought for the same drivers and neither was making much money. 

France and Smith discussed a possible merger in 1950 but the Korean War and U.S. Army scuttled the negotiations. Smith was drafted, served two years stateside as a paratrooper and by the time he mustered out the NSCRA was defunct. 

Smith began to be noticed in 1954 when he took over promotion of the half-mile track at the Charlotte Fairgrounds. 

Motorsports writer Russ Catlin wrote of “the genius of a 27-year-old fanatic named Bruton Smith … who took a poorly lighted, run-down half-mile track that wends around a muddy lake and built it into a spectacular speed emporium.” 

In partnership with Turner and others, Smith built Charlotte Motor Speedway, completed in 1960 at a cost of $1.5 million. The first Coca-Cola 600 – then the World 600 – was the facility’s opening event. 

Eventually, Smith decided just owning the 1.5-mile track wasn’t enough. Boosting its profile meant adding seats, building suites and condos for VIP customers – and changing demographics of ticket buyers and sponsors. 

“He took a cue from the oil industry in World War II when they were trying to get women who were suddenly driving the family car to stop in and pump gas at their service stations,” said CMS’ then-general manager Humpy Wheeler. “What they did was clean up the stations and make sure they had a decent women’s rest room.” 

By 2000, the track’s customer base was 40 percent female. 

“I took the position that Charlotte Motor Speedway was constantly under construction,” said Smith, a statement that describes how the now 88-year-old entrepreneur views his racing empire. Fueled in part by public stock offerings, Smith acquired Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1990 and Bristol Motor Speedway in 1996 – expanding the latter from 71,000 to 160,000 seats. SMI bought Sonoma Raceway in 1996, Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 1997, New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2007 and Kentucky Speedway in 2008.

Smith built and opened Texas Motor Speedway – SMI’s signature project – in 1997, which rose from the prairie outside Fort Worth. The track later added Big Hoss TV, the world’s largest HD screen measuring 20l,633.64 square feet. SMI presents 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races annually, including three in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. 

“He (is) such an innovator. He would think of something and do it,” said NASCAR Hall of Fame voter Eddie Wood, co-owner of the Wood Brothers Racing team, in a May 20, 2015 interview with ESPN’s Bob Pockrass.

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France agrees.  

“He deserves to be in (the NASCAR Hall of Fame); he’s made a huge impact, obviously,” France said. “He has given the fans an experience that has transformed the sport.” 

Tickets are available for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Dinner and Ceremony (limited quantities available). Individual ticket and ticket packages are available at ticketmaster.com, the NASCAR Hall of Fame Box Office or by calling 800.745.3000.

Menards Returns To RCR XFINITY Program

Menard was a winner at Road America

Building on a strong 2015 season, Menards will continue its partnership with Richard Childress Racing's NASCAR XFINITY Series program as a primary sponsor for select races on both the No. 2 Chevrolet with Paul Menard and the No. 33 Chevrolet with Brandon Jones. 

Menards has been a part of RCR's XFINITY Series campaign since 2012.  

"We are excited to be back for another season of NASCAR XFINITY Series racing with RCR," said Jeff Abbott, Menards Promotion Manager. “Last year proved to be a success with Paul Menard's win in our home state of Wisconsin at Road America, along with four Top-five and eight Top-10 finishes with Menard and Brandon Jones behind the wheel. We are proud of the caliber of race cars Richard Childress and his team bring to the race track each weekend. We look forward to another exciting season in 2016 with Jones and Menard behind the wheel again."  

Menard will drive the No. 2 Richmond/Menards Chevrolet Camaro in select events this season, while maintaining a full-time schedule in the No. 27 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entry for RCR. The Eau Claire, Wis. native is a three-time XFINITY Series race winner with five pole awards, 34 Top-five and 87 Top-10 finishes. Menard will kick off the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, making his 200th XFINITY Series start.  

Danny Stockman will return as crew chief of the No. 2 Richmond/Menards Chevrolet team with Menard. The duo captured the win at Road America, earning Menard a victory in his home state of Wisconsin in 2015.  

As previously announced, Jones will compete on a full-time basis in the XFINITY Series in 2016. The 18-year old driver made his XFINITY Series debut with RCR at Iowa Speedway in 2015, earning one Top-five and two Top-10 finishes with a total of 16 laps led in five starts.  

Mike Hillman Jr. has been named crew chief for Jones and the No. 33 team. Hillman Jr.'s 12 years of experience will help guide the young driver in his rookie season in the series. The veteran crew chief joined RCR in 2015 and recorded 18 top-five starting positions, resulting in six top-five and 18 top-10 finishes throughout the 2015 season. Menards will be Jones' primary sponsor at the season opener at Daytona International Speedway on February 20th. 

"Menards' continued support this season with Paul Menard and Brandon Jones in the XFINITY Series is a true testament to their commitment to RCR and this sport," said Richard Childress, CEO and Chairman of Richard Childress Racing. "The Menards racing team found success last season with Paul winning in his home state of Wisconsin and Brandon's solid finishes on track. We hope to build on that success this year and provide Menards an opportunity to be a winning company both on and off the race track." 

Menards has a long, successful history as a racing sponsor dating back to the 1970's, which includes one of NASCAR's crown jewels, the 2011 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with driver Paul Menard. A family-owned company started in 1960 and headquartered in Eau Claire, Wis., Menards has 297 retail store locations throughout the Midwest.

Pettys To Resurrect Iconic No. 44 For Brian Scott

There are times in the sport of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, when looking at things on the surface, they seem simple. An example is a car number. A car number, in its simplest definition, allows race fans to connect a car with a team and a driver. But, as in many cases, when digging under the surface, you can find layers of history. And, for Richard Petty, and the Petty family, these layers of car numbers are built on wins and championships that have transcended through time to build a stock car dynasty across the world.   Brian Scott's 2016 Sprint Cup entry Beginning in 2016, this tradition is returning to the Petty family and Richard Petty Motorsports, when RPM once again fields the number 44, replacing the number 9 used since RPM was created following a merger in 2009.   Richard Petty spoke today about the family history and its' car numbers, saying, “To speak about us changing our car number, you first have to go back to the beginning with my Dad (Lee). He started Petty Engineering and later Petty Enterprises, and he was there right when NASCAR all started. He put together a car, and the first race he entered he actually raced a car numbered 38. But, that was it. He then went and got his own car. He had to put a number on it and saw the number 42 on a license plate, and that's how it all started. It just went forward from there.   Lee Petty raced the number 42 from 1949-1961, before using the number 41 in select races through 1964, before retiring. He retired with three championships and 54 wins with the number 42. "Daddy won three championships and had a bunch of wins with that number,” said Richard Petty. “It was the most of anyone at that time. He built Petty Enterprises off that number. At that time, maybe it didn't mean too much, but that's what got everything started. After my brother (Maurice) and I got older, we wanted to race, too. We put a car together with Dale (Inman), and when it was time to go to the track, we needed a number. The car we had was one of Daddy's old cars, so it was easy to just take the 4 off, and we raced under the number 2 for a few races.   “I think one race, we just switched the numbers and raced with the number 24,” he recalled. “When we got going into the 1959 season, it just made sense for me to go to the track with the 43 number, with Daddy still racing the 42. That allowed me to have my own identity, and fate took it from there.   Rick Wilson in the post-retirement No, 44 Richard Petty raced the number 43 from 1959-1992, winning a record 200 races and seven championships. He was crowned "The King" and cemented himself as the most successful NASCAR driver of all time.   "Back then, it wasn't just Daddy and I racing,” he said. “Maurice was building the engines, but he did some racing, too. When it was time, we were using the 42 and 43, so he was one of the first to use the number 44 in the family. Later, he started using the 41, and then, that really became his family number that he used. We raced the number 41 again at Martinsville the year he was elected into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and that was pretty special.   Maurice "Chief" Petty raced the No. 41, 42, 43 and 44 in select races from 1960-1964. He is most remembered for driving the No. 41.   "We've had a lot of other drivers race for Petty Enterprises and Richard Petty Motorsports,” said Richard Petty. “But when Maurice wanted to be the crew chief for the Superbird in 1970, we hired Pete Hamilton, who was a big star racing up in New England. We really felt that car was a big part of the Petty stable, so we used the number 40. Pete and Chief won the 500 and swept the races at Talladega that year. That built the legacy of the number 40 with the family.   Hamilton raced the No. 40 for Petty Enterprises during the 1970 season, winning three races, including the 1970 Daytona 500. He finished in the Top-10 11 times in the No. 40 for the Petty family.   Kyle Petty's Hot Wheels Pontiac "Kyle had his first ever stock car start (ARCA) in a number 44 at Daytona,” recalled Richard Petty. “He won that one. He started with the number 42 in Cup racing because that's what his grandfather raced. He did that for a few years before getting the 7-Eleven sponsorship, and that changed the number. He then raced for Felix Sabates, but when he came back and formed pe2, he started using the 44 number, and that's really where it became his number. He had the Hot Wheels car and was racing for the family. People know Kyle for different numbers, but for the Petty family, we consider his number to be the 44.   Kyle Petty raced the No. 42 for Petty Enterprises from 1979-1982, before running the No. 44 for pe2/Petty Enterprises from 1997-2000. He won his first ARCA race in 1979 at Daytona in the No. 44 for Petty Enterprises. He recalled how the family history progressed to a fourth generation, saying, “When Adam came along, he saw that his great grandfather raced the 42, I raced the 43 and so on. He saw the order, and he just started right out with the 45. That worked for him and Petty Enterprises too. He won in the No. 45 at Charlotte in his first ARCA start. He then carried that number with him. That's the number that everyone thinks of when they think of Adam.   Adam Petty raced the No. 45 from 1998 to 2000 and made his Sprint Cup debut in the No. 45. He won the ARCA race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1998 racing a number 45.   The No. 43 and other 'Petty numbers' have kept winning too, with drivers like Jim Paschal, Bobby Hamilton, John Andretti and now Aric Almirola, keeping the 41, 42 and 43 numbers in Victory Lane. Jim Paschal (9 wins in the 41, 42 and 43), Bobby Hamilton (2 wins in the 43), John Andretti and Aric Almirola (one win each in the 43) have all carried on the winning tradition.    "After the 2015 season, we had an opportunity to make some changes and get the No. 44 back,” said Richard Petty. “We felt that it was good timing. We really wanted to get that number back in the Petty family, where it really belongs. Brian (Scott) is coming on board, and he really hasn't had a number in the Sprint Cup Series. Everything has just come together to really bring back a Petty tradition.   "For us, the numbers are more than just a number. They really represent our family history, our legacy and everyone who has worked for us or raced for us. We take a lot of pride in that and are glad to have the 44 back home."   Kyle Petty also expressed happiness with the change, saying, “It's good to see the number 44 back where it belongs. I grew up knowing that my uncle Maurice raced the 41, my grandfather raced the 42 and my father raced the 43. I would go on to race the 44, and Adam eventually drove the 45.  With Pete Hamilton driving the 40 at one time for PE, to me, those numbers were always 'Petty' numbers. I'm looking forward to seeing Brian Scott carrying on our tradition."      Scott also commented on racing the iconic Petty Family number 44, saying, “I think it's special to be with an organization with such history and then to be able to put your name in their history. Richard Petty's history and recognition around NASCAR is his number.  To go back to what everyone considers to be Petty history with the 44, I think it's really special to be the driver that gets to do that."

 

 

 

Ford Set To Debut 2016 Sprint Cup Fusion

History is repeating itself when it comes to preparing the new NASCAR Fusion for its competition debut in February at Daytona Speedweeks. 

Much like three years ago, when NASCAR allowed manufacturers to include more brand-specific characteristics, Ford once again used the talents of its designers to ensure the same eye-catching components on the 2017 Ford Fusion production car are included on the new racing version. This latest iteration marks the third major body change for Fusion, and represents another step toward keeping “stock” a relative part of stock car racing. 

The result of the efforts of designers and engineers is an aggressive-looking new race car capable of producing 750 horsepower at 9,000 rpm under the current rules package. 

“There’s no mistaking we’re here to win races and championships,” said Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance. “And we believe the new NASCAR Fusion will be a powerful tool in the hands of our teams and drivers. 

“Aerodynamics are more important than ever at the speeds these cars run,” he added, “so we used some of the best wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamics technology available to create this new Fusion. Fortunately, the Ford design team gave us a great car with which to start.” 

The new NASCAR Fusion follows in the tire tracks of its successful predecessor by not only mirroring the exterior of its production counterpart, but in bringing a better interior to the driver. 

Ford NASCAR drivers will digest more information through a new digital dashboard system that’s mandatory this season. Teams can switch between as many as 16 preset screens to display information, which they can access either in bar graph or numbers format, or via the standard gauge and needle that has been used for years. 

This latest technological advancement from NASCAR comes on the heels of several significant changes, including the Gen 6 model that brought brand identity back to the sport in 2013, the switch to electronic fuel injection in 2012 and the move to an ethanol fuel blend in 2011. 

Ford has continued to refine its own technological program as well, opening up Ford Performance Technical Center in Concord, North Carolina, in 2014, which features a state-of-the-art full-motion simulator that assists both racing and production car development. 

“The technical center and the full-motion simulator have been great tools for our teams and engineers,” said Pericak. “As important as aerodynamics are in NASCAR, it’s also imperative the computer simulations that assist the teams in arriving at the track with a proper setup are best-in-class as well. We’ve worked very hard the past year to refine our simulation tools to create a real benefit to our race drivers, as well as the drivers of our new passenger vehicles.” 

The new NASCAR Fusion makes its public debut Tuesday, when 2012 Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski participates in a two-day Goodyear test session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.   

The Team Penske driver is coming off a season in which he qualified for The Chase after winning at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, then finishing seventh in the final standings. This is Keselowski’s fourth season driving with Ford, his seventh for car owner Roger Penske. He has 17 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins, with eight of those coming behind the wheel of Fusion. 

Fusion is entering its 11th season of NASCAR competition. The car debuted as Ford's flagship model in NASCAR in 2006 and has won 71 Sprint Cup races since, including 21 the past two seasons. 

Roush Fenway Racing’s Greg Biffle drove Fusion to a milestone victory in the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 16, 2013, representing Ford’s 1,000th win in NASCAR’s top three series combined. 

Fusion has won the Daytona 500 four times in the last seven years, including 2015 when Team Penske’s Joey Logano won The Great American Race for the first time.

Field Set For 2016 Sprint Unlimited At Daytona

NASCAR has announced the 25 eligible drivers and format for the season-opening 75-lap Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 13.  

The event, which will be broadcast live on FOX, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, marks the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race following the completion of DAYTONA Rising, the $400 million frontstretch redevelopment project that has transformed Daytona International Speedway into the first motorsports stadium in the world.  

“We’re ready to go,” said NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell. “The anticipation for this season, this event and this venue is unprecedented. We are excited how the new stadium will provide a state-of-the-art showcase for the brightest stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.”  

Once again, the non-points event will be split into two segments with a competition caution at lap 25 separating the segments. A popular element introduced before the 2015 event returns this year: select fans will be paired with each crew chief for a random drawing to determine starting and pit road positions. The drawings will take place on Friday, Feb. 12 at the Alert Today Florida Stage inside the Sprint Fanzone, beginning at 3:30 p.m.  

The 25 eligible NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers include the 2015 Coors Light Pole Award winners, former Sprint Unlimited race winners and former Daytona 500 pole winners who competed full time in 2015. All 16 drivers from the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup are also eligible for the race, and any remaining open positions are filled based on 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship driver points.   

Eligible drivers include 2015 Coors Light Pole Awards winners AJ Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano. Former Sprint Unlimited winners eligible for this year’s event include Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart, along with former Daytona 500 Coors Light Pole Award winners Greg Biffle, Austin Dillon, David Gilliland, Danica Patrick and Martin Truex Jr. 

Also eligible are 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard and Ryan Newman, as well as Aric Almirola and Kyle Larson, who qualified via 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship driver points. 

If an eligible driver does not enter the race, the open position will be filled based on 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship driver points. The first five provisional drivers are Casey Mears, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Sam Hornish Jr., David Ragan and Trevor Bayne.   

Tickets for the Sprint Unlimited are available online at DaytonaInternationalSpeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP. Fans can follow @NASCAR and @MissSprintCup on Twitter to engage in the #SprintUnlimited conversation.

 

 

COMMENTARY: Rockingham Speculation Gives Cause For Cautious Optimism

Not much of the news out of Rockingham Speedway lately has been positive. 

The legendary North Carolina oval – site of some of NASCAR’s most memorable moments -- has been inactive since April of 2013, when it hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event. Since, then, the track has laid silent, floundering under a delinquent, $4.2 million mortgage, rumored ownership squabbles and a series of encouraging rumors that never quite seem to come true. 

Now, a new round of announcements has raised hopes that the track known as “The Rock” might still arise from the dead. The question is, can any of it be believed? 

The new X-Cup Series announced plans to run a number of events at Rockingham this season, with spokesman James Martin saying they would "hopefully" hold their first event there in April of this year. Martin told the Richmond County (NC) Daily Journal that the organization’s 10-race schedule is "all gonna be ran at Rockingham," with eight events to be held on the traditional, 1.017-mile oval track, with the remaining two contested on the infield road course.  

The National Auto Sports Association also has an event scheduled at Rockingham on July 2-3, and the Super Cup Stock Car Series says it will close its 2016 campaign with a race at Rockingham Speedway on Saturday, October 15. With a schedule that includes only eight dates – two of which are listed as “To Be Announced” with another as “Pending” -- the circuit’s pronouncement seemed shaky, at best. Series spokesman Joe Schmaling did little to calm those fears today, when asked to discuss his circuit’s scheduled event at “The Rock.”  

His terse reply? “I have nothing to release at this time.” 
 

Now there’s a confidence builder. 
 

A dozen announced events seems like an ambitious schedule for a venue that has not hosted the sound of racing engines in nearly three years. But Craig Northacker, a U.S. Army veteran who serves as executive director of Vets-Help.org, said today that he is confident in his ability to make it happen. 

Craig Northacker of Vets-Help.org

In January of 2015, Northacker announced plans to purchase Rockingham and convert it into a “Reintegration Center” for military veterans. At the time, Northacker said auto racing would be a major part of his organization’s effort to “reintegrate veterans back into society… with stability, financial security and an affordable home.”   

One year later, that plan is apparently still in place, though not much closer to fruition. 

“My plan for Rockingham is to create a facility that can serve the needs of our service veterans and their families,” said the Cold Spring Harbor, NY, native, who as a Certified Public Accountant has more than two decades of involvement in the entertainment industry. “We will be rolling out a number of educational, vocational and rehabilitative programs for our service men and women, all bound together by the racing.” 

 

Northacker confirmed that while he currently holds a three-year lease, he still intends to purchase Rockingham Speedway, despite difficulty negotiating with the former mortgage holder, Farmers and Merchants Bank. 

“The previous holder of the note made things very, very difficult,” he said. “We wanted to put $50 million into this facility, but (F&M) wouldn’t even talk to us. They made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the process to move forward.” 

It's been three years since "The Rock" roared.

Recently, however, F&M sold the outstanding note to Bill Silas, father of ARCA and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Brian Silas and co-owner of Rockingham Speedway, along with former racer Andy Hillenburg. Northacker said the sale of that note and the subsequent assignment of two deeds of trust and an assignment of rents and leases to Silas’ BK Rock Holdings, LLC, “cleared the way” for talks begin once again, in earnest. 
 

“I have been actively talking with Billy Silas,” said Northacker, “and we have begun to clear some of the road blocks that stand in our way.” 

Silas' attorney, Alan Armour, offered a less-encouraging assessment, saying, "It is my understanding that there are numerous parties who have shown, and continue to express, an interest in Rockingham Raceway, including Craig Northacker. However, to date, it is my understanding that none of the parties have presented any definitive proposals. 

"We are aware of numerous parties who desire to bring racing events back to the “Rock," said Armour.  "However, there is a lot involved, and until a definitive agreement is reached, there are no assurances that there will be any racing events in year 2016."
 
While declining to discuss any of the specific issues still facing the speedway, Northacker insisted that Rockingham can – and will – host racing events this season. 

“There will be racing at Rockingham in 2016,” he said. “I am the instigator of those recent scheduling announcements” from the Super Cup Stock Car, X-Cup and National Auto Sports Association circuits. In fact, Northacker revealed that he owns the fledgling X-Cup Series, saying, “That’s ours. We’re starting that up as part of our plan to revitalize the speedway.” 
 

Admitting that he “knows nothing about racing, really,” Northacker said he will leave the day-to-day operations of the circuit in the hands of Martin and others. And while admitting that considerable work must still be done to make his purchase of Rockingham a reality, he said he is confident that racing will resume at the Richmond County complex in April of this year. 
 

“Yes,” he said. “The simple answer is yes. We will make it happen.” 

Can Craig Northacker and Vets-Help.org bring Rockingham back from the brink of death? 

Perhaps. 

 

But talk is cheap, and after a year of empty promises, grandiose schemes and absolutely no progress, we’re not quite ready to bet the farm on them, just yet.  
 

Simply put, it remains to be seen whether Northacker and company can finally put some actual verbs in their sentences. After spinning their wheels for the last 12 months, it’s difficult to believe that anyone – no matter how well-intentioned -- can tiptoe through Rockingham’s legal and financial minefield in time to pull off an April, 2016 race date. 
 

As race fans, we wish them luck. But we’ve also learned not to get our hopes up.