NASCAR: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Press Conference Transcript... on being the 'bad guy'

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 500
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
WEEKLY TOP 12 DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE
February 20, 2009

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS, met with members of the media at Auto Club Speedway and discussed incident at Daytona last week, his car for this week, his Nationwide team and much more. Full transcript:

IT SEEMS LIKE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR CAREER THAT YOU ARE WEARING THE BAD GUY LABEL, HOW HAS THAT BEEN TO DEAL WITH? “It’s not been too bad. Just been hanging out all week. I did get ripped up quite a bit. I don’t know, it’s kind of different being on that side of it.”

DOES IT BOTHER YOU? “No not really. It was interesting to be on this side of the fence. I’m not on this side too much. So it wasn’t too bad. It will all turn around just as quick as it blew up.”

WHAT ABOUT THE REACTION FROM YOUR FANS, DID YOU NOTICE ANY DIFFERENCE OVER THE PAST FIVE DAYS? “There are some people, fans, friends, family, media – some are real supportive and some aren’t. You’re either on one side or the other of the deal I guess.”

IF YOU HAD IT TO DO ALL OVER AGAIN, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? “Well I mean I definitely could have used better judgment coming back up on the race track. It’s hard to tell. There was rain coming. I was a lap down so I had to get my lap back to even have a shot at winning the race and there was rain coming. It was early in the race, but the race was getting ready to be rained out. Everybody knew that. It’s hard to say you know. When you’re running real hard trying to win and you’ve got rain coming and you’re a lap down and you need to get it back you race hard. I hate that it wrecked all them cars and I hate that me and Brian (Vickers) had to get on bad terms with each other. Those things I regret but I’m out there racing. Made mistakes before and probably won’t be the last one that I make.”

HAVE YOU TALKED TO BRIAN? “Yeah I called him this week. You know he said it was intentional on the television and I wanted to make sure he knew it wasn’t intentional and that I didn’t have a problem with him and that I wouldn’t wreck him intentionally. Just trying to clear that up with him. I think we got that cleared up.”

ABOUT THE GETTING IN AND OUT OF THE PIT BOX, WHAT WAS THE DEAL WITH THAT? “I had some problems with the brakes all weekend and we put some more rear brake on the car that seemed to help it because I was sliding through the box in the first part of the week. We got that fixed. I don’t know. I just wasn’t paying attention coming down that second stop when I missed my stall. That was my fault. I just wasn’t paying attention that good enough and didn’t see my stall. The next stop that was unfortunate.

“We weren’t on the line until I turned the tires to the right. I don’t know. It’s just unfortunate. That call could have went either way and that official decided to choose that direction and that’s the way it goes.”

DIDN’T HE GIVE YOU A WARNING? “No, we got a lap penalty.”

BUT THEY TOLD YOU THEY OFFERED YOU THE CHANCE TO BACK UP. “I wanted to back it up but they were already jacking me up so I can’t drive off the jack.”

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR SIGN THIS WEEKEND? “I don’t know. I’ll have to pay hard attention to make sure I see it because they’re all about the same.”

HAVE YOU AND YOUR TEAM TALKED ABOUT GOING FORWARD WITH PIT STOP PROCEDURES, WHAT YOU CAN DO TO COMBAT WHAT IS HAPPENING? “No, that’s just my responsibility. I take full responsibility for everything that happened on pit road. There’s nothing that they can do better to help me and it’s up to me to make sure that I get the job done which I obviously wasn’t getting it done. There’s nothing they did wrong or weren’t doing right or weren’t doing enough. I mean they do their job just fine. I just was having too much fun I guess.”

WITH ALL THE STUFF THAT WAS GOING ON, YOU GOT THE PENALTY, YOU FELL A LAP BEHIND, IT WAS GOING TO RAIN, DO YOU THINK IF THE SITUATION COULD HAVE ALL BEEN DIFFERENT WOULD YOU HAVE REACTED DIFFERENTLY? “Well it is called a race and there always is urgency no matter what your situation is. It’s the Daytona 500 and everybody pretty much knew we weren’t going to get the whole race in so when there’s no determined lap when you know it’s going to be over with you got to take all the risks. It’s a big race and it’s unfortunate that everything that happened, happened. I personally do feel bad for everybody that was swept up in that wreck. At the same time that was a unique situation where nobody really knew when the race was going to end and I was a lap down. One thing that is important to point out is that I knew before that caution that I wasn’t going to get the Lucky Dog so my only option was to race into the front of the leaders and try to get my lap back that way because I can’t get the Lucky Dog after serving a penalty. I knew that from last year in a situation that we got ourselves in one time.”

ISN’T IT OKAY IF PEOPLE ARGUE ABOUT YOU JUST LIKE THEY WOULD ABOUT ANY OTHER DRIVER? “Well I don’t know. There’s a lot of people that like you and there’s a lot of people that don’t like you. When you give them people that don’t like you an opportunity they’re going to come out of the woods after you and that just the case of what’s happening this weekend.”

WHEN YOU TALKED TO BRIAN WAS HE RECEPTIVE? “Yeah I mean Brian is pretty tough. He’s a pretty tough dude. He’s a good guy though. We’ve known each other for a long time. We’ve been down that road before, wrecking each other and carrying on. It’s a tough call. I tell you when you get in an accident with somebody whatever you believe your fault or not, the hardest thing to do is typically the right thing to do and that’s probably call the guy up and talk about it and see where it goes from there.”

HAVE YOU TALKED TO ANY OF THE OTHER DRIVERS THAT GOT WIPED OUT BY THAT WRECK? “I wasn’t going to call them all up.”

JUST TO PUT ONE THING TO REST, THERE WERE SOME FANS THAT TRIED TO SAY BECAUSE IT WAS BRIAN VICKERS THAT HE HAD WRECKED YOU TWO YEARS AGO AT TALLADEGA AND IT WAS SOME KIND OF PAY BACK. “Well that’s not the case. You don’t forget things like that but I mean after even a couple of weeks you get over it. You’re better off in the long run to concentrate on racing your race car and finishing the best you can. You’re worse off in the long run if you concentrate on the grudges that you keep and somehow find a way to manipulate them every weekend. That’s not going to get you as far obviously because you’re not concentrating on the right thing. Me and Vickers have actually been friends for a while. The deal at Talladega was a hard, bitter pill but he was trying to win his first race. I don’t think it was intentional what he did so it wasn’t the worst thing in the world to get over.”

THAT’S ONE OF THE REASONS THESE THINGS HAPPEN, IS THEY HAPPEN SO FAST AND YOU DON’T HAVE TIME TO SIT THERE AND THINK ABOUT IT. “It all happened pretty fast and it was unfortunate how it all went down. My statistics at the plate tracks speak for themselves and I don’t have to really defend myself of how good a plate-racer I am and what kind of moves I make out on the race track. I’ve got just as much right to be on that race track and do whatever the hell I want to do on it as anybody else out there. I’ll race just as hard as I choose to race and want to race and I race people how I want to be raced. I’ve always raced with a lot of respect and I’ll continue to do so in the future.”

JEFF BURTON SAID HE HAD A GREAT DISCUSSION WITH YOU, THAT YOU WERE VERY CLASSY AND HE CAME UP AND CHATTED WITH YOU, CAN YPU TALK ABOUT THAT? “It was a situation where I think I was a lap down and I was trying to get back up there toward the front and I come off of (turn) two and had a good run. He was on the inside of somebody and I made it three-wide and we just had a restart so everybody’s tires were pretty good so I thought it was okay. Hell, we had been going three-wide a lot and there was big sense of urgency at that point of the race due to the weather. He was shuffled back and several laps later he wrecked. He was like man you doing what you did put me in that position ten laps later. I’m like what, I can’t be responsible for that. We just talked about it. He was upset when he first got out of the car
when the rain came. I didn’t even really remember what he was talking about. He was like why did you take me three-wide and I’m like I can’t remember everybody that I took three-wide. I walked down pit road and thought about it and then I remembered so I walked back down there and said look man I know what happened. I remember what happened and I can’t be responsible for your wreck five laps later. That’s not my responsibility. How can you pin that on me like that? We sat there and debated my ethics and my values and all those things and ended up agreeing that I’m not a jerk and don’t race like a jerk. He was just kind of hot under the collar a little bit. Bygones are bygones I suppose. He’s a good guy. We’ve got a good friendship too. I’ve always been too nice and that was the Daytona 500 and I felt like I had the car to win. I felt that way 100 percent also. I wanted to go out there and win the race and I felt like if I could get my lap back I could get it done. I was racing everybody as smart as I could but I was racing as hard as I could.”

SO IS THAT THE END OF THE NICE GUY? “Well I’m still a good guy but when I feel like I’ve got a real good opportunity to win and I’ve got to make up a little ground you’ve got to race hard. You’ve got to race hard. We go to places like this where there’s still typical give and take. When guys are faster than you let them go and take it easy and take care of your car. That’s the Daytona 500 and is a little different situation. A lot different.”

DURING SPEEDWEEKS FROM MEDIA DAY ON YOU JUST SEEMED LIKE YOU WERE A LITTLE OFF AND BOTHERED. “I actually feel like I was in pretty good shape mentally. I know what you mean and I guess if you looked at everything as a whole you would probably take that kind of idea away from there. I really felt good going into even media day. Media day was really the easiest media day we’ve ever had. I usually hate that and that was actually pretty bearable. I was a little upset by a couple of questions. I get a little annoyed sometimes when the media takes a couple of angles that are odd and unfortunate and uncomfortable for me. I always try to be good with you guys and answer your questions and try to think about the answers and give you the right answer and give you a good, honest answer and then sometimes the way you ask them I don’t get paid the same type of respect sometimes. There’s nobody here in particular but those type of things just kind of upset you a little bit. For the most part it went really good and I was upset with myself a lot for the pit road stuff. The way the Nationwide race went down. I don’t know I felt like I was on my game, I felt like my cars were fast and I was driving them fast. I was making good moves on the track but I couldn’t put it together in the pits real good and I was making a lot of mistakes. That was very frustrating. I make mistakes you know. I probably am making them just as much as anybody else if not more than most these guys in the garage. I was really piling them up this past weekend.”

DID YOU STILL THINK YOU HAD ENOUGH TIME TO GET BACK ON THE LEAD LAP TO WIN THE RACE EVEN WITH THE RAIN COMING? “I felt like I could. I had
drove from the back of the pack to the front in around 30 laps and I wasn’t even as urgent when I did that. I felt like if we got on the lead lap we probably would be in 28th place, so I felt like I could get up there and put up a fight for it. I definitely had a good enough car to win the race. I had the best car I’ve had at Daytona in a couple of years.”

HOW’S YOUR CAR HERE AND ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS? “Yeah I’m looking forward to it. Seeing how we’re doing and seeing how what we did over the off season is paying off. We’re alright today. We need to do a little bit better in qualifying trim but in race trim I was pretty happy with my lap. That’s about it. It’s been pretty interesting though. I’ve had a lot of support from my teammates and all that stuff. It’s not been too bad a week. I got ripped really bad in the press. Maybe I deserve part of it. Everybody has got a job to do.”

WHAT DID RICK (HENDRICK) SAY? YOU SAID HE WAS ALWAYS ON TOP OF WHAT GOES ON, DOES HE CALL YOU UP AND GIVE YOU SOME GOOD ADVICE? “We had a couple of conversations on the phone and we really didn’t even talk about last weekend. We’ve got a couple of other things going on that we were talking about, getting ready for this weekend. He was just wanting to make sure that my head was on straight for this weekend and that all that crap didn’t get you into too bad or whatever. I really didn’t even get on the internet any because I just knew it would be a bad deal if I did.”

ON THE EFFECTS OF HAVING HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS COME IN AND PROVIDING THE DIFFERENT RESOURCES TO JR MOTORSPORTS. “That really boosted the No. 88 last year and gave them a good season. That really pushed them into the opportunity they had last year where they finished third in points. They were a top-10 team. That made them a top-five team for sure.”

HAS HAVING THE SAME DRIVER EACH WEEK HELPED WITH THAT CONSISTENCY? “Yeah, he does everything that I want as far as taking care of the race cars and that’s my main number one focus aside from you’ve got to have a little bit of talent and be able to run well.

“We’ll give you a really good race car, you just can’t tear it up and run wreckless especially now with the economy the way it is. We don’t budget in the fact that we we’re going to kill a couple of race cars. He did a good job last week. We actually made a little bit of money in the Nationwide Series last week. That mostly goes to Gus (Larkin) and Tony (Eury) Sr. and Brad (Keselowski), those three guys.”

YOU’LL BE IN THAT CAR IN TEXAS, ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT? “I look forward to it. I enjoy racing in the Nationwide Series. I enjoy racing in there. Going to Texas is always fun. With the cars that we’ve got this year and the way our design stuff, it’s pretty neat stuff. Pretty fun to bring out new designs and stuff every other week.
The history is good there. It would be good for (Eddie) Gossage and those guys to help promote the Nationwide race on Saturday too.”

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), one of the world’s largest automakers, was founded in 1908, and today manufactures cars and trucks in 34 countries. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 244,500 people in every major region of the world, and sells and services vehicles in some 140 countries. In 2008, GM sold 8.35 million cars and trucks globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM’s largest national market is the United States, followed by China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia and Germany. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com.

CONTACTS: Nancy Wager Judy Kouba Dominick
727.415.3109 317.408.1049
nmwager@aol.com jkdracer@aol.com

NASCAR TRUCKS: J.R. Fitzpatrick Qualifies TRG Chevy 22nd in California

J.R. Fitzpatrick Qualifies TRG Motorsports Chevy 22nd in California

Fontana, Calif. (February 20, 2009) - John Ryan (J.R.) Fitzpatrick qualified the No. 7 TRG Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado in 22nd for tomorrow's running of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series San Bernardino 200.

Fitzpatrick has been busy this weekend making adjustments to his No. 7 Chevy. The 20 year old from Cambridge, Ontario, Canada posted a time of 42.768 and 168 mph that will see him start from the 11th row. Fitzpatrick is visiting the track in the valley of the San Gabriel Mountains for the first time.

"We made improvements for sure," Fitzpatrick said. "I held it to the mat all the way around, I just didn't have much grip in the front. We are improving. This is my first time here. I think the truck will be pretty decent in the race, we will see how it goes."

J.R. is getting his feet on the ground at this tricky Auto Club Speedway tri-oval. "Just trying to find the right line and get a good idea of what I need at this place is a challenge. I am still learning what the truck needs and I need to get around here fast. I think it will be alright."

The trucks had to qualify on race setup as NASCAR impounds the trucks after qualifying.

"Yesterday we were faster in race trim than we were today. Improving the truck for the qualifying run will definitely help us for the race. We will just have to go and not wreck anything and we can have a good finish."

Kevin Buckler, TRG Motorsports team owner, likes the way that Fitzpatrick is progressing.

"J.R. has done a good job all weekend getting up to speed at what is a new track for him," Buckler said. "Butch Hylton and the TRG Motorsports guys have a lot of experience on these tri-ovals so we have a good truck for him for the race tomorrow. If he takes the same patient approach as he did at Daytona last weekend we'll have a good day."

Fitzpatrick is coming off an excellent run at Daytona last weekend where he led the most laps with 17, was the top finishing Chevrolet Silverado driver, won the Wix Filters lap leader award and was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award winner.

The San Bernardino 200 from the Auto Club Speedway will be televised live on FOX starting at 3:00 p.m. ET.

TRG Motorsports is based in Mooresville, North Carolina where they run a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team as well as an ARCA RE/MAX Series effort. 2008 marked the first full season of competition for TRG in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where they recorded one win, one top-five and ten top tens overall. The team's sister company, The Racer's Group, was founded in 1993 has been competing at the top level of motor racing ever since. TRG has the most wins of any team in the Grand-Am Rolex Series with 26, including the 2005 and 2006 Rolex Series GT championship trophy to go along with wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

For more information contact please contact Kyle Chura at (248) 821-0468 or chura@aol.com. Detailed team info can be viewed at www.trgmotorsports.com or www.theracersgroup.com.

From Kyle Chura / TRG

Go-GP.Org A1GP Gauteng, South Africa - Qualifying Result

Event: Go-GP.Org A1GP Gauteng, South Africa (Round 5 of 9)
Go-GP.Org A1GP Gauteng, South Africa - Qualifying Result

Gauteng, South Africa Round Five of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season got underway in South Africa this afternoon with the Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen and Monacos Clivio Piccione on pole position for tomorrows Go-GP.Org A1GP Gauteng, South Africa races.

Bleekemolen made use of his PowerBoost in the second segment of Sprint qualifying to record a 1m 27.717 lap, 0.355s ahead of Portugals Filipe Albuquerque. Reigning champions Switzerland will start third with Neel Jani behind the wheel.

Qualifying for the Feature race came to an early end after Brazils Felipe Guimares lost the back end of his car and ended in the tyre wall bringing out the red flag. Monaco took its first ever pole position in its debut season with Malaysia Fairuz Fauzy alongside him on the front row. New Zealands Earl Bamber will start third.

Local South African driver Adrian Zaugg will start eighth and sixteenth.

For additional information about A1GP including ticket sales and television viewing times and a full list of international broadcast partners, please visit www.A1GP.com .

From A1GP

NASCAR Sprint Cup: Ford Fontana Friday Advance - Matt Kenseth transcript

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Carhartt Ford Fusion, heads into this weekend’s race atop the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings following last Sunday’s victory in the Daytona 500. Kenseth won Auto Club Speedway in 2006 and ’07.

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Carhartt Ford Fusion –

YOU’VE BEEN FROM THE EAST COAST TO THE WEST COAST THIS WEEK. HOW DID IT GO? “The week was really fun, actually. It was probably more fun than I expected it to be. I had a really good time, and it was a long week and kind of a tiring week. It was a lot of fun, got to see a lot of people, lot of places, and I probably enjoyed it more than I expected to and probably saw more people than I expected to in different areas as well. The whole week was fun. I’m glad to be back at the race track.”

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE STORIES FROM THIS WEEK THAT WILL PROBABLY STAY WITH YOU FOR A LONG TIME? “There’s a lot of them. Letterman was probably one of the coolest things. Once we started racing and running better, for some reason, I’ve always been like, ‘If I could go on one show, it would be to go on David Letterman and actually be on the couch and talk to him.’ I’ve been able to do the top 10 list a couple of times, the top 12 last year, and that was fun and everything, but you don’t even really even meet him, really. They kind of lock the doors and lock you in there; when he runs through he doesn’t want to see anybody. So, it’s kind of different than I expected. But, to be on there and actually be a guest on Letterman was probably a highlight for me, second to going to Victory Lane and seeing the guys and all of the looks on all of the faces and all of that, was the best part. But that was one of the cool things. The whole week was really good, mostly. Going to San Francisco – that’s one place you go that you never expect, at least I don’t, to see very many race fans. You don’t really think of it as a racing city and all that, and we actually saw fans all over the place. It really, really surprised me and that was really fun. Got to do a lot of cool things there and take a little time and see some stuff.”

NOW THAT YOU’RE THE DAYTONA 500 CHAMPION HOW MUCH BUSIER DO YOU EXPECT TO BE THIS YEAR? “I don’t know the answer to that question, to be honest with you. It’s been a crazy week, really; a fun week. I’ve probably enjoyed it and appreciated a lot more since it’s been a year since we’ve won a race, and to win the biggest race was pretty cool. So, I probably enjoyed it a little more because of that. It’s easy when things start going well to maybe not let it sink in or not appreciate it when you win or do good as much as if there’s a little space in between there. I did enjoy it all a lot. I do look forward to getting on the track here and concentrating on racing again. Have got to be a little bit careful not to enjoy it too much longer; you have to start thinking about the rest of the season and focus on this week, and the tracks are going to be really important to having a successful season. Just winning that race doesn’t make you have successful season, so we really need to move on from that. It’s a lot different from winning the championship. You had two months to enjoy it and celebrate do all of this crazy stuff, and here you’ve got a week and you better be pretty tuned in to what you’ve got going this week and the next 34 after that.”

ON LETTERMAN, YOU JOKED ABOUT HIM BEING TOUGH ON DALE EARNHARDT, JR. ARE DRIVERS GOING TO BE HESITANT TO BE CRITICAL OF HIM? AND, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT GETTING THROUGH THAT ACCIDENT AT THE DAYTONA 500? “I don’t know. I was joking, trying to be funny. I don’t have anything to gain by pointing out who I think is wrong or who made a mistake or who caused a wreck or what you have, so if you don’t really have anything to gain by it to criticize somebody else for their driving or something is not really something that I need to do. I know that I’ve made my share of mistakes and my share of controversial stuff, and, you know, your peers are ripping on you because they think you did something wrong. It’s not a good feeling, so I don’t want to be on that side of that, either. Everybody’s going to create their own opinion. I’m glad we made it through the wreck. You always hope there’s no wrecks, but just like last year at Talladega, things are going to happen every now and then, and when you’re all racing hard, everybody knew that rain was coming, everybody was racing hard to get position in the lead, and those two were racing to get position for the Lucky Dog so they could get back in that thing because they were running out of time.”

YOU WON THE DAYTONA 500, BUT WERE NOT PART OF THE POST-RACE CONTROVERSY. IN THIS SPORT, THE WINNER IS OFTEN PART OF THE CONTROVERSY. SO, THAT WORKED OUT WELL FOR YOU. “Yeah. Obviously, if you could script it, you’d probably want to take the white and pass the leader on the last lap and take the checkered and do all of those things. I’ve been asked a lot about the rain all week, like I said a million times, everybody knew it was going, it wasn’t a surprise. It’s not like they just stopped the race. Everybody foresaw the rain. In a way, it actually made our job harder, I think. We took the green flag in 43rd and had to get by all of those guys. The race fan part of me likes controversy, but I don’t like to be a part of it. Controversy, if I’m not involved, then it’s fun to watch, fun to listen you guys talk about it, but when you’re one of the people in it, it’s not as much fun.”

THIS HAS BEEN A VERY HECTIC WEEK FOR YOU. HAS THERE BEEN ANYTHING YOU’VE BEEN ABLE TO DO TO GET PREPARED FOR THIS WEEKEND’S RACE? “Just sleep. Just try to eat good and sleep. Actually, I didn’t get that great of sleep last night, but I’ve been getting caught up a little bit. I was fairly tired on Monday and I got a lot of sleep, actually Monday night, and was more tired Tuesday, and then got not that much sleep Tuesday night, a lot Wednesday night, a lot Thursday night and feel like I’m almost back to normal. Probably getting in the car today and getting back to the normal weekend schedule like we do every weekend, besides Daytona, with normal three-day weekends, getting on the track and doing all of that will probably get me more prepared for it than anything else.”

WHAT WAS THE REACTION OF YOUR FATHER AND SON TO YOUR WIN? “They were pretty fired up. I talked to my dad a little bit – he actually talked to me more than I talked to him; he was pretty fired up. Ross was pretty excited, too, obviously. They both wished they would’ve been there; I wish they would’ve been there to celebrate and be part of the moment. But it’s been such a busy , crazy week I haven’t really gotten a chance to talk to them. I talked to my dad and I talked to Ross, they were the first two people I talked to, for a little while – a lot of emails and text back and forth. I’ve either been traveling the whole time or on shows the whole time or doing radio shows the whole time, and when I did have a little time to call somebody, I’m in a car full of people, and that’s not – it drives me crazy when people are on their cell phones and the car’s full of people, so I don’t want to be that guy. It’s honestly been pretty busy, and then with the time change out here, I haven’t gotten to talk to a whole bunch of people. They were very excited, along with a lot of other people I got messages from.”

DID YOU RECEIVE MORE TEXTS, EMAILS OR PHONE CALLS AFTER THE WIN? WHICH WAS THE COOLEST? “More texts and emails – I don’t know which one was the most – but a lot more of them than phone calls. I guess that’s the way it is today. My Sprint Blackberry was vibrating for about 20 minutes straight when I turned it on after the race, so that was pretty cool. I don’t have a coolest one. Every one was special in their own way. Whenever someone thinks of you, it’s pretty neat. I had lot of them that surprised me, I had a few of them that I kind of expected to hear from, which was cool, but every one, honestly, is special. Whenever anybody congratulates you or thinks about you long enough to send you a message, it always means a lot.”

YOUR SPOTTER, MIKE CALINOFF, IS IN THE GARAGE DISPLAYING HIS DAYTONA 500 CHAMPION TATTOO THAT IS ON HIS LEG. HE SAID YOU CHALLENGED HIM TO GET IT. AND, ARE THERE ANY THOUGHTS OF YOURSELF GETTING ONE? “No. I’m not a tattoo guy. I was kind of teasing Mike because I always tease him, but I was really teasing him because the week before we won the championship in ’03, which we were able to win a week early, actually, he went and got the championship tattoo put on his leg, and we were in Victory Lane celebrating the championship and he showed us he already had the tattoo, so I asked him Monday if he got the tattoo put on yet, before we won the race – if he really was a psychic. But, I was just giving him a hard time about it, but it didn’t surprise me that he did it.”

DOES THE FACT THAT YOU’VE HAD SUCH A GOOD RECORD HERE MAKE IT EASIER TO GO RACING THIS WEEKEND AFTER ALL YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH THIS WEEK? “For sure, it makes me a little more comfortable, and I feel a little better about it than if we were going to one of our more difficult ones, like Martinsville or something like that. You still never know what’s going to happen. You can’t take it for granted and not work as hard or do any of that and think you’re going to coast through it. But, I always have a lot of confidence coming out here. For some reason, our team, typically, maybe not last year, but most every year if you look at our numbers, it seems like we get started off fairly quick and that’s kind of been part of the reason that we’ve had some success. And we were able to do that, obviously, at Daytona, but hopefully we can keep that up. Usually the first part of the season is one of our stronger suits, it seems like. So, hopefully, we can keep that going and get a good finish here this weekend and keep some momentum up.”

From Jim Brumfield for Ford

David Ostella, Star Mazda Spring Training

David Ostella strapped into a Star Mazda race car recently as he took part in the Official Winter Test Session at Sebring International Raceway. After a decorated career in karting and a single season in the Formula BMW Americas Championship, the Canadian teenager was thrilled to test with 240HP under his right foot, and is thinking positively about the season ahead.

“I love the car,” he said of his maiden test with AIM Autosports. “It’s bigger, faster, and once I ran my first few laps in it I really felt comfortable. At first I was a little nervous considering Sebring was my first time in the Star Mazda, but once I got going I was much more comfortable.”

The proof was on the clock from day one, as Ostella took nearly 1.5 seconds of his best lap from the first session to the second, and consistently moved up the overall classification. “Sebring is a long track with seventeen corners, so it took some time to get used to,” he continued. “I have been on the half-track there in the past, but this was my first time on the full layout. The more track time I had, the better I was obviously, and I was also still getting used to the car and its capabilities.”

With a night to digest opening day events, Ostella then returned on day two and unloaded the fifth-fastest time of the morning session, and seventh quickest outright.

“It felt great to do that lap Wednesday morning,” he said in recalling the run on new tires. “But the funny thing is, I didn’t know until I came off because I was really just there for the track time! I’m really happy with the test overall. I know there were some returning drivers and race winners in the paddock, so to show that I work toward the front was very encouraging for the future.”

David Ostella races with support from Global Precast Motorsports, Alpinestars and RAW Integrated Ltd. For his latest news and information, please visit www.davidostella.com

From RACEPR // Photo Cutline: Ostella is gearing up for a season of Star Mazda competition

SceneDaily: Story on J.R. Fitzpatrick

There's an interesting story on the SceneDaily website about Canadian NASCAR Truck Series rookie J.R. Fitzpatrick.

Interesting to see how much they focus on his hearing 'issue' (maybe he can get sponsorship from the Steve Austin Bionic Ear guys?).

The full story is here.

Kawartha Speedway: Dan McHattie Returns to Championship Winning Form

By Jim Clarke, Kawartha Speedway PR/Clarke Motorsports Communications

Look up the word ‘racer’ in any dictionary and chances are good you’ll find Dan McHattie’s picture included in the definition. The resident of Cavan, Ontario took his first turn behind the wheel at the age of 13 in a Challenger (limited late model) division racer he built with his father.

Two years later, the creative teen crafted his own car on a borrowed jig and earned his first track championship in 1994. To start the 1995 season, McHattie purchased a Late Model car and then tore it completely apart – making it the way he wanted – and captured Peterborough Speedway’s title in 1996 and 1998.

At 32 years of age, Dan McHattie says he’s never driven a racecar that he didn’t build himself. Its part of what drives his enthusiasm for the sport on and off the racetrack.

“If the car isn’t fast – doesn’t handle out of the box, we’ll keep working on it – massaging and tweaking things until its just right”, says the mechanic at Kerr Industries in Oshawa. “In some ways, its almost more fun to struggle with the car for a few weeks. That way, we get to build-up a list of changes we can make – finding out what works and what doesn’t”.

Obviously, McHattie’s bag of tricks is full to overflowing. His creations earned Kawartha Speedway’s Late Model championship in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2005 and again in 2008 on the strength of 3 wins and 8 top finishes.

The driver of the #71 Uniglass Plus Ziebart/Sidey Auto Supply/Corp Construction/Douglas Automotive/Barry McLennan Masonary/Foxon Alternator and Starter/Praxair Peterborough Chevrolet says he’s always willing to help other drivers in Kawartha’s premier division.

“If something I’m able to share with them as far as car set-up or handling is concerned makes them a better racer, it makes a better show for the fans. I don’t want them to beat me at my own game, but if someone asks, I’ll help them out. I always race to win, but if someone beats me after I’ve helped them, I’m proud”.

While some racers might have aspirations to move-up, move-on or move away, Dan McHattie says he’s exactly where he wants to be. “I don’t really have any long-term goals. This is the class I want to be in and this (Kawartha Speedway) is where I want to race. The guys I run against every Friday night are friends – almost like family. We have a great time and I can’t imagine being anywhere else and getting as much out of it.”

On the subject of family, McHattie says his parents have been big supporters of his racing career and other ventures and is happy to have them pitch-in at the track. He also lists his wife Heidi and her family as some of his biggest fans. Even his 2 and a half year-old daughter Madelyn loves going to the racetrack. He freely admits that if it weren’t for their shared interest in the sport, he probably wouldn’t be back year-after-year.

Dan McHattie says he appreciates the help and sacrifices of long-time friend Colin Winslow. Crew members Ryan Sanderson, Jake Jackson, Jim and Jan Enborg also keep the McHattie ride at the front of the pack.

At the front of the field or working his way through the pack, Dan McHattie shows Kawartha Speedway fans a championship winning form.

Photo attachment: Dan McHattie (#71) runs door-to-door with Yvon Bedard at Kawartha Speedway’s 2008 American-Canadian Tour Summer Sizzler. (Jim Clarke photo – clarkemotorsports@hotmail.com)

Lucas Oil Shootout: Press conference Feb. 28 in Niagara Falls

ST. CATHARINES, Ontario (February 19) With the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH recently completed at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park, Southern Ontario and Western New York race fans and race teams know that there local Dirt Tracks will be soon be loading up for another season – and especially the 2009 Lucas Oil Shoot Outs for both the DIRTcar 358 Modifieds and Sportsman Divisions.

Plans for the 2009 edition of the Lucas Oil Shootout by dirttrackdigest.com will be announced at a Press Conference a kick off to the 4th Season – Saturday February 28th at 12:00 PM at it’s traditional location – the Best Western Cairncroft Hotel on Lundy’s Lane in Niagara Falls Ontario.

“It just continues to get better every year,” relates Ransomville Speedway’s Joel Friesen, “ once again it will pay to follow the series in a number of unique ways … and it will also pay for drivers to attend the mid winter meeting.”

Each Sportsman and 358 Modified Driver that personally attends the afternoon meeting will be eligible to win Two Pit Passes to each of the Lucas Oil Shootout Events at each track for his or her division.

Last season, Jesse Cottris and Fred Carleton were the lucky recipients of the free passes.

The 2009 Lucas Oil Shootouts will feature Sportsmen Events  - one each at each of the following facilities – Friday Night’s Ransomville Speedway, Saturday Night host tracks Merrittville and Genesee Speedways and the lone Sunday Night track – Humberstone Speedway.

The 358 Modified Version will visit the three tracks that will host them throughout the season.

“There’s really nothing else like it,” boasts Merrittville Speedway GM and Series Coordinator Erica Bicknell, “while each driver races at their home track trying to earn the most points … the Lucas Oil Shootout has our racers competing for the lowest total.”

“How can we improve over last season,” asks Humberstone Speedway General Manager Bob Davidson, “every driver wants to win … and with the Lucas Oil Challenge Cup for the Sportsmen … the race also takes into account the Brighton Speedway.”

The Lucas Oil Shootout Press Conference will provide interested race teams with Series Schedules as well as information on purses, point funds and perfect attendance awards programs.

“The support of the racing community just amazes us,” adds Genesee Speedway Promoter Mike Lauterborn, “the fields of drivers that support each event continues to grow with the series.”

“On behalf of the race teams and the tracks,” prides Dirt Track Digest’s Adam Ross, “we owe a lot to Steve Snowden … Lucas Oil is an incredible sponsor and they like to have fun with their marketing programs.”

Series events for each Division, Point Fund and 5 for 5 Bonus Monies in the 2008 Lucas Oil Shoot Out by DirtTrackDigest.com awarded Southern Ontario and Western New York Race Teams more than $70,000 last season.

For further rules and information on the 4th Annual Lucas Oil Shoot Out by DirtTrackDigest.com – race teams can contact Merrittville’s Erica Bicknell at 905-685-7223 leading up to the season or at 905-892-8266. Ransomville’s Jeff Anstett can be reached via e mail at jeff@anstettracing.com or visit www.DirtTrackDigest.com or any of the track’s individual web sites.

From Merrittville Speedway

Brian Graham Racing / TLM Racing sign Mackenzie Clare

Brian Graham Racing/TLM Racing with Grote are pleased to announce a driver development contract with 14 yr old Mackenzie Clare. Mackenzie has already been behind the wheel of one of the teams F1200 cars and Formula Fords in the fall of 2008.

"It never fails to amaze me at the natural talent that these young karters possess. We had a program set up for Mackenzie and he followed it to the letter, with a run in the F1200 and when he was ready, the FF," says team owner Brian Graham.

"At this stage it is all about learning and taking in as much as possible. This is a long term relationship that will be run to develop his driving, technical understanding of the car and the overall dynamics of car racing. We are also working with our sponsor marketing package to teach Mackenzie the basics of sponsor hunting.

"Mackenzie will continue his karting this season with an eye on a championship and when scheduling permits will accompany the BGR/TLM with Grote Team to the F1200 and OFFC races to get acclimated to the world of open wheel racing."
 
With spring just around the corner BGR/TLM with Grote will be announcing more driver signings and news shortly.

From Brian Graham

ELLIOTT SADLER: BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT AND NEXT WEEK

By STAN CREEKMORE

When one loses a parent, sibling or dear friend the feeling is devastating.

Elliott Sadler felt that feeling Sunday night when NASCAR officials were forced to bring an early halt to the 51^st running of the Daytona 500. Less than a half an hour earlier Sadler was doing his best to hold off a pack of hungry drivers as he led the the “Great American Race”. Sadler came up a half lap short of claiming victory in his No. 19 Stanley Tools/Best Buy Dodge Charger.

"It's funny,” Sadler said, choking back emotion. “My crew chief told me for the last 45 minutes of the race that it's raining on the radar. You know, this is his first race with me as a crew chief. I said, 'Welcome to Elliott Sadler's world. It's probably raining all around the racetrack.' When I need it, in the lap where I get passed, it starts raining in turn three. It's the way it is.

“If I would have made a better and smarter move, I'd be in Victory Lane right now. (I) really wanted it. I put my heart and soul to come in here to Daytona, Speedweeks, try to compete at the top of my game, 'cause I knew I had a lot of eyes on me to run good. It was cool running up front. It was great having Reed and AJ behind me pushing. It would have been cool to finish like that, but just wasn't meant to be.”

Sadler started the week proving himself as a true team player, pushing A J Almendinger, driving the #44 Valvoline Dodge during the second Gatorade Duels, twin 150 laps events used to set the starting field, into position to secure a spot in the Daytona 500.

“We were struggling,” admitted Almendinger after his qualifying race. “I honestly have to thank my teammates Elliott and Reed and Stanley and McDonalds for halfway ruining their race to come back and save me.”

Sadler ended the weekend proving himself once again. He admitted visions of a fantastic celebration entered his thoughts over the final laps.

“I'm going to be honest with you. I'm not going to lie to you. I was getting pretty emotional under the caution when it was raining a little bit in turn one and two. I thought it was going to be called a little bit earlier than it was. I was getting emotional in the car thinking, 'Wouldn't this be the coolest story?' I came down here as a fan the first time in 1979 and finished second to Ward Burton (in 2002), and now to have a chance to win the race.

“I had a lot of that cool stuff going through my head. But, you know, (it) just wasn't meant to be.

“You know, it's tough. It's hard to swallow. But I'm proud of my guys. New team. New pit stops. They all worked out great tonight. To look in their faces when the rain was coming down when I got out of the car, man, that was hard, because I felt like I let them down."

The rain came a little too soon and Sadler, sitting in the lead moments before the skies opened up, just didn't have enough to hold off the three car charge which eventually shuffled him to fifth at the finish. Still he held his head high saying, “We'll try to get 'em next week."

Sadler talked about next week, saying, "We’re kind of flying blind heading out to California because we’ve had no testing. We won’t really know where everyone is with their cars until we get on the track. We’re going to try and apply some of the things that we learned from Rockingham (testing) and go off of last year’s notes. Hopefully we’ve learned enough during this off season that we get out there and unload with a decent car.”

Just remember, a win at the Auto Club Speedway in California is nothing like a win at Daytona and we all know the next Daytona 500 is not next week or even next month; the next Daytona 500 is 12 months away.

Inside Track Readers' Choice Awards Voting is Underway!

Click on this link to register your choices for the Inside Track Readers' Choice Awards.

Winners will be announced in an upcoming issue of Inside Track Motorsport News.

Please vote (just) once. Polls close at the end of the day on March 20, 2009.

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series: DJK Racing will field two cars in 2009

February 18, 2009. DJK Racing with Canada’s Most Popular NASCAR Canadian Tire Series driver as voted by the race fans DJ Kennington is set to expand their operation for the 2009 season. While Kennington is preparing to return to the series and fight for the championship for a third season, the DJK race shop will also be fielding a second team for the entire season with Joey Hanssen at the wheel.

Hanssen is from the Netherlands and a highly talented young man of only seventeen. Hanssen has already achieved some remarkable successes in his racing career. Competing most recently in Formula Cars and in numerous European Karting series, Hanssen has claimed numerous pole positions, podium finishes and race victories. Now he prepares to make the biggest leap of his racing career and move across the Atlantic to compete in the 2009 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and challenge for the rookie of the year title.

The key to making such a move successfully is having top level equipment that is immaculately prepared for the races. After several meetings and discussions with DJK Racing the two parties entered into an agreement for DJ Kennington and DJK Racing to supply the cars for Joey Hanssen to drive. “It was something that I’ve thought about before,” said Kennington, “but this was different. All of the pieces were in place and it was a good fit for both of us. We’ve got the necessary time to get the cars put together and make sure everything is right prior to starting the season,” he added.

DJ Kennington and his father Doug Kennington have been working together putting together very good race cars and motors with plenty of horsepower for many years. With his years of experience Kennington will also be able to help the young Hanssen through some of the adjustments necessary to make the switch from Karts & open wheel cars to be successful in stock cars.

Expanding the effort of DJK Racing doesn’t simply mean making two of everything. There is a significant commitment of time and resources to make it a successful endeavor for everyone involved. There will be announcements outlining the sponsorship program on behalf of Joey Hanssen detailed in the coming days. “I couldn’t even imagine doing something like this without a solid sponsorship program and the effort and support of my team,” said Kennington. “All the guys who work so hard in the shop to get us ready each week are ready to dig into this as well.”

The 2009 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will open competition on May 23rd at the Autodrome St. Eustache in the first of thirteen events on ovals, road courses and temporary street circuits.

This release prepared by TL Sports & Entertainment.

Rick Young's 'Rick at the Races'... Florida 2009 tour

PIC 1  Pat Ward was the opening night Modified winner at Volusia
PIC 2  Dan Schlieper was the opening night WoO Late Model winner at Voulsia
PIC  3  Sunshine, beer and racing at the Daytona Gatorade Duels
PIC 4  David Reuteman # 00 in a busy pit lane during the Daytona GATORADE Duel
PIC  5  Ted Christopher wins the NASCAR TYPE Modified Feature at New Smyrna
PIC  6  Kevin Foisey with his # 55 Legend inthe ORlando Speedworld pits
PIC  7  Buzzie Reuteman # 00 in the East Bay pits
PIC  8  Buzzie Reuteman # 00 lines up for the East Bay Feature
PIC  9  Sampling the excellent East Bay Strawberrys
PIC  10  Daniel Harter (L) and BriSCA F1 World Champion Andy Smith (R) in the Volusia pits
PIC  11  Steve Francis wins the final nights WoO Late Model Feature at Volusia
PIC  12  Brett Hearn wins the final nights Modified Feature at Volusia.

RICK @ the RACES (2009 Florida Tour)

11 Feb   Volusia Speedway (ALLTEL DIRTCAR NATIONALS)
12 Feb   Daytona International Speedway (GATORADE DUELS)
12  Feb  New Smyrna Speedway (ASPHALT WORLD SERIES)
13  Feb   Orlando Speedworld (WINTERNATIONALS)
13  Feb    East Bay Speedway, (WINTERNATIONALS)
14  Feb   Volusia Speedway (ALLTEL DIRTCAR NATIONALS)

A couple of years ago I was offered a cheap ( 90 bucks return) air ticket from Montreal to Orlando during Florida's SPEEDWEEKS so I grabbed the opportunity to get in some winter racing. I rented a Pontiac G6 , and added five new tracks to my portfolio.

I had a great time down there, but in the long run, it worked out more expensive than I thought. The flight deal involved a seven day stay which meant a week off work. This year I decided to visit the same five tracks, and to keep my vacation days to a minimum , I would drive down.

I earn my living as a truck driver, and following a prearranged early finish on Tuesday 10 Feb, I was ready to embark on my next adventure. My buddy Roger Aubin and myself were heading south for some winter action.

We left my place in Long Sault (Ont) soon after 2-00pm in Roger's Ford Escape bound for Florida. It's normally about a 24 hour drive to Orlando and our plans were to share the driving and do it non stop. While one of us slept, the other would drive . The journey took us through eight US states, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. We made good time and with the minimum of stops, were at the Volusia Speedway near Barberville before 3-30pm on Wednesday (Feb 11).

Volusia was playing host to the ALLTEL DIRTCAR NATIONALS which are part of the Florida Speedweeks that precede the Daytona 500. Wednesday was the first day of the Big Block Dirt Modified Tour that was sharing the program with the World of Outlaw Late Models. We were there in plenty of time to relax in the sunshine before the racing began. We weren't the only Canadians in attendance ! There's always plenty of race teams and fans from north of the border that use the Speedweeks as good excuse to escape the snow.

In the Modified division , representing Ontario were Tim Kerr ( Picton) and James Friesen ( Niagra on the Lake) and from Quebec came Mario Clair (St Edmond) and Michel Chicoine (Ste Cecile De Milton). Both provinces were represented in the Late Models too, with Peter Mantha from Gatineau, (Que) and Adam Ferri of Port Colborne (Ont). The nights Feature races went to Wisconsin's Dan Schlieper (WoO Late Models) and New Yorker, Pat Ward ( Modifieds).

Following the nights Features, we were back in the 'Escape' for another 45 minute's of driving to our hotel in Orlando. We purposely booked the Rodeway Inn on International drive so we could meet up with some of my UK friends. Short Circuit Magazine Photographer, Dave 'Smiffyman' Smith was staying there along with Rolling Thunder Show promoter Vince O'Connor and his party.

There was no 'lay in' on Thursday (12 Feb) morning as our destination was the Daytona International Speedway for NASCAR's GATORADE Duels. We had no intentions of attending Sunday's 500, but the temptation of the two short distance races was too much to resist. I much prefer these, to the long drawn out 500. Both races (won by Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch respctively,) were over by 5-00pm allowing us to make a leisurely exit towards our evening destination.

Less than a 30 minutes drive away, is the New Smyrna Speedway where the NASCAR Tour Type Modifieds were the main attraction. These , like the DIRTCAR Modifieds at Volusia, are based in the North East and were paying there annual winter visit to the warm south. Winner of the big event was Ted Christopher from Connecticut. Once again Canada was represented , and included top Quebec ACT Late Model driver Patrick Laperle.

It was then back to the Hotel for 'good session' in the bar with our UK buddies.

On Friday (13 Feb) our plans were to 'bag' another two tracks, with the Orlando Speedworld our first port of call. The racing started there at 1-00pm and the divisions on offer were the miniature variety. Joining the headlining Legends were the ProChallenge , Bandolero's and Thundercars.

 The main point of interest for me, was the attendance of one of my local drivers Kevin Foisey # 55 of Carleton Place, Ontario. Kevin was the 2008 Legend track champion at the Capital City Speedway in Ottawa and over the course of last year I was taking his Victory Lane picture on a regular basis. After snapping Kevin in action on the track I moved to the pits to find out where he was parked. Once found, I had a good chat with him and his partner Kelly before it was time to hit the road again.

The destination for our evening agenda was the East Bay Speedway, about two hours away at Gibsonton, near Tampa. East Bay is a dirt track and that night it was the turn of the IMCA / UMP type 'grass root' modifieds to take center stage. This time Canada was represented by drivers from the province of Saskatchewan .

Highlight of the night for me ( even the tour ! ) was meeting up, chatting and watching Modified legend 'Buzzie Reutiman' in action again. Way back in the 1970's, long before I moved to Canada, I'd heard about the great 'Buzzie Reutiman' # 00 . When living in the UK , I had a number of USA 'pen pals' send me photos and news about 'Buzzie' and his famous Dover Brake sponsored, blue and white coupe. Even though I'd never seen him race, he became my Modified driver favorite.

 Soon after crossing the Atlantic to live in the mid 1990's, one of the first DIRT Modified races I attended was at the Brockville Ontario Speedway. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a trailer turn up with the name 'Buzzie Reuteman' on the side. I chatted to him that day and told him the story of the pen pal updates. It wasn't long before I found out that the Zephyr Hills, Florida driver was based in the Watertown NY area during the summer, and was a regular racer at my local tracks of Cornwall, Brockville and Can Am (Lafargeville. NY).

Well as time passed by , 'Buzzie' retired ( so I thought ! ) and his son David began to make the headlines. After a brief spell in NASCAR Trucks David secured a drive in the Sprint Cup Series driving a Toyota and was in one of the Gatorade duels, I'd seen the previous day. As for 'Buzzie' he's now back behind the wheel of a Modified, with the same sponsors as his son. I had a chance to chat to him in the East Bay pits, where I recalled the time we met at Brockville. Just like on our first meeting, he was the same pleasant, easy to talk to guy as before.

 In the nights feature, (won by Minnesota's Ryan Aho) 'Buzzie' was out of luck, got involved in a wreck and was towed back to the pits.

Another thing that made my night, was East Bay's top quality track food. I'm like most other race fans, and take note of what's on offer.  I remembered from my previous visit how good the food was. Back then the track restaurant had a tasty pork chop 'special'. This time the 'special' was spaghetti, but I chose a 'made to order' Tuna Salad Sub. I had fresh strawberry's and ice cream for desert. I've visited many tracks over the years and I can't think of many that beat East Bay for food quality..

After the caution plagued Feature , it was time to return to Orlando for another session in the bar with the 'Brits'.

Saturday (14 Feb) was the last race day of our tour and the plans were to see the final night of the ALLTEL DIRTCAR NATIONALS at Volusia. Because it was the last night, a large crowd was in attendance so it wasn't difficult to bump into many friends and aquaintances.

From the day we arrived in Florida it had been warm and sunny, but just after the heats were completed we got our first rain shower. It held things up for a short time, but it was no big deal and soon dried up. While waiting for the restart I took a wander around the pits, and came across Andy Smith the current BriSCA F1 Stock Car World Champion from the UK. He was taking a look with his brother in law, sponsor and former driver Daniel Harter. It was only last September, during my UK tour that I witnessed Andy take the BriSCA F1 title at the Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich.

More rain was forecast for later that night, so once the show resumed, things got moving quickly .

Steve Francis of Ashland , Kentucky won the big World of Outlaw race while New Jersey's Brett Hearn took Modified event.

Victory Lane presentations were over by 11-15pm and soon after, we were on the road heading north. At around 1-00am we found a cheap hotel beside the I 95 in Jacksonville where we grabbed a few hours sleep before making an early start on Sunday morning. Once again we shared the driving, taking turns to either rest or drive. We crossed the border back in to Canada at 1-00am, and after the 'mandatory' stop at Tim Hortons ! on the 401 at Mallorytown I was home in Long Sault at 2-30 a.m.

TW Steel – A1GP R5 Preview – Kyalami, South Africa

Amsterdam, The Netherlands (February 17, 2009) – South Africa once again plays host to the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport this weekend but it’s a case of pastures new for the nation versus nation championship with the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in the Gauteng Province making its debut on the schedule, Friday 20th – Sunday 22nd February.

Round 5 of the 2008-09 A1GP season switches to the historic 4.26km circuit, located 20km north of Johannesburg, following three highly popular A1GP street races on a specially designed temporary track incorporating the stunning shoreline in Durban.

TW Steel, the ‘Official Watch & Timing Partner’ to A1GP, is already an active presence in South Africa with retailers across the country selling the impressive range of oversized watches – including the sought-after TW Steel A1GP collection, created to celebrate TW Steel’s partnership with the ‘World Cup of Motorsport’.

This weekend’s on-track activities will again be supported off-track with the hosting of the final of ‘Miss TW Steel South Africa’. The winner of Sunday’s final, hosted at the track between the Sprint and Feature races, will go on to the grand final in London, England later in the year to compete against all the other ‘Miss TW Steel’ national winners for a prize of $25,000 US and a photo-shoot in a leading lifestyle magazine.

Change of Venue, Change of Luck?

One man hoping that the switch from Durban to Kyalami will bring about a change of fortune is A1 Team South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg. With three A1GP victories to his credit, the 22-year-old has been a model of consistency this season with seven top-ten finishes from eight race starts, South Africa currently sitting ninth in the Nations Standings. It’s likely though that the man leading his nation’s charge would gladly trade his previous successes for a shot of a home win in South Africa.

Zaugg’s personal best on home soil is a brace of seventh place finishes in Durban, one coming in the Sprint race in 2007 and the other in last season’s Feature event. A1 Team South Africa’s strongest showing came back in A1GP’s inaugural season when Stephen Simpson raced to a fifth place finish to the delight of the partisan crowd after the disappointment of an earlier Sprint race retirement.

South Africa boasts a variety of different A1GP winners with five nations triumphing over the six races held there to-date. France and The Netherlands shared the spoils in Durban in the first season before Germany’s Nico Hülkenberg locked out the top step of the podium in 2007. Last season saw Canada’s Robert Wickens score his maiden A1GP triumph in the Sprint event before the ever-present Neel Jani led eventual World Champions, A1 Team Switzerland to the Feature race win.

Jani scored another Feature win last time out in New Zealand but Adam Carroll’s earlier Sprint success and second place finish behind the Swiss in the second race ensured A1 Team Ireland maintained its points lead heading to Kyalami for Round 5 this weekend, the gap between the top two nations just thirteen points (65-52).

Kyalami Driving Impressions:

While Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit hosts an A1GP meeting for the first time this weekend, the track is no stranger to international motorsport. John Watson is just one individual heading to South Africa with A1GP eager to return to a circuit steeped in history, including his own with the five-time Grand Prix winner making regular Formula One starts at Kyalami from 1974 to 1983.

Watson will be back to commentate on all the A1GP action for TV alongside Ben Edwards. In addition to calling the race John’s duties also include being the first to grill the top-three podium finishers for their post-race thoughts. He was himself a podium finisher at Kyalami back in 1978 when he drove his Brabham to third place in the South African Grand Prix, coincidently beating A1 Team Australia Seat Holder Alan Jones to the final podium spot, behind Sweden’s Ronnie Peterson, who won, and France’s Patrick Depailler.

“The first thing I have to say is that racing in South Africa was always a pleasure,” Watson stated. “Kyalami was usually the third Grand Prix of the year, with the first two being Argentina and Brazil, so more often than not this meant South Africa marked the debut of the new season’s car. We’d spend the preceding days there testing and developing in what was obviously a great climate and it always proved to be a highly social, very welcoming event. Looking back, one thing that always struck me was the strength of South Africa’s home-grown talent.”

Looking back on A1GP’s debut in South Africa in Durban and the change to the Gauteng Province this year Watson commented:

“I thought Durban was a wonderful venue for A1GP. The location on the beach was terrific, some of our TV pictures there were simply amazing, and importantly we were taking A1GP racing straight to the city. In terms of A1GP, as a series, and its growth, there’s no doubt that moving to Kyalami, and being nearer the likes of Johannesburg, is going to take things to the next level. The history of motorsport at Kyalami is well documented and the population close-by is obviously significant. There’s no doubt this is going to be a bigger show and that understandably has a value to both the series and the promoters.

“I’ve heard it’s a much more contemporary circuit, the original layout was dominated by a massively long straight but that’s no more. It still incorporates much of the old Kyalami circuit but for most of the drivers this weekend it’s going to be a new experience. It’s important to note that altitude might play a part, driver’s will have to be at the peak of their fitness as Johannesburg is 5700 feet above sea level, they’ll have to adapt! In brief, South Africa’s a beautiful country, it’s great that A1GP races there and everyone I know in international motorsport who’s raced there always comes away with a smile on there face, it should be a fantastic weekend!”

TW Steel – Big in Oversized Watches

www.twsteel.com

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series: Dickies & Whitlock Preparing for 2009 Season

WYOMING, ONTARIO (Wednesday Feb. 18, 2009): Team owner and driver Dave Whitlock of Whitlock Motorsports is pleased to announce the return of Wiliamson-Dickie Canada Co., maker and distributor of Dickies, the leading global Workwear brand, as title sponsor of the No. 39 entry in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series in 2009.

“Dickies are on board with us again for the third year,” stated a happy Whitlock. “I know I speak for my team when we say that we are not happy with the results of the 2008 season. We would be running respectable in a race and then something beyond our control would take us out of the picture. We want to show Dickies and our fans that we can be a top competitor in 2009. We plan to get the No. 39 Dickies Dodge Avenger back up front and contend for the wins this year.”

“We are proud to be part of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series again in 2009 through our partnership with Dave and his #39 Dickies Dodge Avenger team” said Bill McFarlane, VP Marketing, Williamson-Dickie Canada Co. “We know that Dave and the team had a few challenges last year, but we are confident that through determination and the consistent level of professionalism they bring to the track each week, they will be rewarded in 2009.”

Whitlock Motorsports is also very excited to welcome back NMT, Nitrex Metal Technologies, Dave Orosz and his employees and family. “Dave Orosz and everyone from NMT have been big supporters of ours and this will be our seventh year together. We couldn’t be happier having them back on board with us again in ’09.”

The 2009 schedule was released this week with the usual stops at Mosport, St. Eustache (2), Barrie, Kawartha, Riverside, Montreal, Trois Rivieres, Sun Valley and Edmonton. New in ’09 will be the return to Delaware Speedway in London (home of the former CASCAR Super Series) and a first time visit to Auto Clearing Speedway in Saskatoon, SK.

Whitlock Motorsports is a professional motorsports business located in Wyoming, ON (just outside of Sarnia). Dave Whitlock is a three time National CASCAR Super Series Champion. As well Dave has won his share of big events including the “Richest Short Track Race in North America” the Oxford 250. Added to that his two ACT (American Canadian Tour) Milk Bowl wins at the fast & furious Thunder Road Speedway in Barre, Vermont and you have just a few of his accomplishments during his illustrious 22 year racing career.

For more information on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series please visit www.nascar.ca.
For more information on Whitlock Motorsports please visit www.whitlockmotorsports.com.
Or contact: Linda Jones // Wide Open Motorsport Solutions // (705) 458-4044 // ljones@wideopensolutions.ca

NASCAR Trucks: Canadian J.R. Fitzpatrick Heads to California Truck Race Hungry

J.R. Fitzpatrick Heads to California Truck Race Hungry

Mooresville, North Carolina (February 17, 2009) - John Ryan (J.R.) Fitzpatrick and his No. 7 TRG Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado is headed to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California for round two of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series San Bernardino 200 to be run Saturday, February 21.

Fitzpatrick and his No. 7 Chevy Silverado were a force at Daytona last weekend. The 20-year old Cambridge, Ontario, Canada resident led the most laps with 17, was the top finishing Chevrolet Silverado driver, won the Wix Filters lap leader award and was the Raybestos Rookie of the race award winner.

"I learned a lot at Daytona," Fitzpatrick said. "I did some good things and made some bad decisions. The biggest thing I learned is to be patient. Some maneuvers that I did in the race probably hurt me in the end. Going forward with those mistakes, it makes you think how we could have done with just a little more experience. With the short amount of time left in the race I was told to be aggressive and I went hard. We waited until eight laps to go to get aggressive, which was about perfect. Waiting to the end to put on fresh tires was a great move. The fourth place finish made me really happy and the team as well."

Auto Club Speedway will be another challenge for J.R. who has done his homework.

"I am excited. I have already done my homework. We have awesome equipment. I have been working hard to get familiar with the tracks. I have been on the video game, and even looked at in-car video on youtube.com. I will go into practice and get behind one of the veterans and get some laps and then start to work on the truck."

"In Daytona we just made a few adjustments on the truck right off of the trailer. I hope we don't have to do too much at California as well. I definitely think that it is to my advantage that TRG Motorsports brings a lot of experience. The team ran nearly every race last year. Butch (Hylton, crew chief) and the guys have a real good handle on the truck. Having an ill handling truck would make my learning curve steeper."

Kevin Buckler, TRG Motorsports team owner, wants to keep Fitzpatrick upfront all season.

"We want to give J.R. every opportunity to run for a championship," Buckler said. "He showed what he is capable of at Daytona last weekend. If he can bring that level of maturity, performance and professionalism to the track every weekend there is no reason why he can't be in the running for the number one spot at the end of the season. We have the trucks and team to support him."

The San Bernardino 200 from the Auto Club Speedway will be televised live on FOX starting at 3:00 p.m. ET.

TRG Motorsports is based in Mooresville, North Carolina where they run a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team as well as an ARCA RE/MAX Series effort. 2008 marked the first full season of competition for TRG in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where they recorded one win, one top-five and ten top tens overall. The team's sister company, The Racer's Group, was founded in 1993 has been competing at the top level of motor racing ever since. TRG has the most wins of any team in the Grand-Am Rolex Series with 26, including the 2005 and 2006 Rolex Series GT championship trophy to go along with wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

From Kyle Chura / TRG Motorsports

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Schedule Announced

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series 2009 Schedule Announced

· 13 Dates Cover 12 Tracks In Six Provinces

· Season Opens May 23 At Autodrome St. Eustache

· Two Tracks New To Series Highlight Calendar

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 16, 2009) – NASCAR announced today the schedule for the third season of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, which will take the series to some of the top racing facilities throughout Canada.

The schedule features 13 dates at 12 different tracks across six provinces. The slate includes tracks and events familiar to the series, but there are some new components.

Scott Steckly will commence his title defense when the season begins on Saturday, May 23 at Autodrome St. Eustache in Quebec. The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series made its first visit to the .400-mile oval last season, but the track has been a part of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series since 2006. The schedule has a return trip to St. Eustache on July 11 just prior to the Western swing.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series adds a pair of first-time visits this year – to Delaware Speedway on Saturday, June 6 and Auto Clearing Motor Speedway on Wednesday, July 29.

With a storied 55-year history, Delaware Speedway was a long-time staple of the former CASCAR series. The half-mile oval, located near London, Ont., has a natural amphitheater-like setting, which allows fans a great view of all the action. Delaware joined the family of tracks for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, NASCAR's grassroots weekly racing series, this season, as well.

The addition of Auto Clearing Motor Speedway in Saskatoon, Sask., changes the complexion of the series' Western swing. In the two previous seasons, the trip to Western Canada consisted of visits to SunValley Speedway in Vernon, B.C., and a trip to the demanding 1.973-mile Rexall Speedway in Edmonton, Alberta.

This year, the Western trip will include a Saturday, July 18 race at SunValley Speedway, also a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track. A date along with the IndyCar Series at the Rexall Edmonton Indy comes a week later on Saturday, July 25, while a mid-week show at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway on Wednesday, July 29 will close out the trek as the race teams migrate back East.

Opened in 2006, Auto Clearing Motor Speedway is a third-mile oval located just north of Saskatoon and operated by the Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association. The 35-acre facility is the newest home for the track, known formerly as Bridge City Speedway, since stock-car racing began in Saskatchewan in 1954.

A subtle change to the new schedule is a move for the traditional Montreal date from early August to Sunday, Aug. 30, as the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series again will join the NASCAR Nationwide Series and Grand-Am Rolex Series for the popular event at the legendary Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a 2.71-mile temporary street course, on Montreal's Île Notre Dame.

Just as has been the case in the previous two seasons, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will close out the season and crown a new champion at Kawartha Speedway, a .375-mile oval near Peterborough, Ont., on Saturday, Sept. 26. Last year, Jason Hathaway picked up his first series win in the event while Steckly celebrated his first title.

Other 2009 highlights include:

* The 2009 schedule includes races on nine ovals: Auto Clearing Motor Speedway, Autodrome St. Eustache (2), Barrie Speedway, Delaware Speedway, Kawartha Speedway, Mosport Speedway, Riverside Speedway and SunValley Speedway; and four road courses: Circuit de Trois-Rivieres, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Mosport International Raceway and Rexall Speedway.
* On June 13-14, the series will run at Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario at the facility's 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course. The race is part of an eventful weekend at the 750-acre facility. The series will also visit Mosport's half-mile oval on Saturday, Aug. 8.
* The Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres in Quebec is on tap for Aug. 14-16. Last season, Andrew Ranger thrilled the fans of his home province with a last-lap move for the victory on the 1.53-mile temporary street course. Joining the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series in Trois-Rivieres will be the Grand-Am Koni Sports Car Challenge.
* The Barrie (Ont.) Speedway date is set for Saturday, Sept. 12. Each of the past two trips to Barrie on this weekend has resulted in overflow crowds. Steckly cemented his stake to the 2008 title with a win in this event at the third-mile tri-oval.
* The trip east to the Maritime Province of Nova Scotia for a Saturday, Sept. 19 event at Riverside International Speedway is a popular stop for the competitors. Tackling the high-banked turns of the third-mile scale version of the legendary Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway has produced some of the best racing the series has to offer. Don Thomson Jr. bested the field in 2008 for his fourth career series victory.

2009 NASCAR CANADIAN TIRE SERIES SCHEDULE

Date Track (Length) Location

Sat., May 23 Autodrome St. Eustache (.4-Mile) St. Eustache, Que.

Sat., June 6 Delaware Speedway (.5-Mile) London, Ont.

Sun., June 14 Mosport Int'l Raceway (2.459-Mile road course) Bowmanville, Ont.

Sat., July 11 Autodrome St. Eustache (.4-Mile) St. Eustache, Que.

Sat., July 18 SunValley Speedway (.5-Mile) Vernon, B. C.

Sat., July 25 Rexall Speedway (1.973-Mile road course) Edmonton, Alberta

Wed., July 29 Auto Clearing Motor Speedway (.333-Mile) Saskatoon, Sask.

Sat., Aug. 8 Mosport Speedway (.5-Mile) Bowmanville, Ont.

Sun., Aug. 16 Circuit de Trois-Rivieres (1.53-Mile road course) Trois-Rivieres, Que.

Sun., Aug. 30 Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (2.71-Mile road course) Montreal, Que.

Sat., Sept. 12 Barrie Speedway (.333-Mile) Barrie, Ont.

Sat., Sept. 19 Riverside Int'l Speedway (.333-Mile) Antigonish, N. S.

Sat., Sept. 26 Kawartha Speedway (.375-Mile) Peterborough, Ont.

Tentative - Subject to Change

From Shon Sbarra, NASCAR Public Relations, (253) 377-9128 or ssbarra@nascar.com

INDYCAR SERIES LOOKS BACK AT ONE YEAR OF UNIFICATION

INDIANAPOLIS, Monday, Feb. 16, 2009 - “We are unified.”

Those three words were uttered on Feb. 22, 2008 and changed the landscape of open-wheel racing in the United States.

While positives would be far-reaching, a multitude of tasks were immediate and imperative. Between the signing of the agreement Feb. 22 and the official news conference five days later during an Open Test at Homestead-Miami Speedway, mobilization of materials and paperwork necessary for former Champ Car teams to compete in the 2008 IndyCar Series campaign began in earnest.

“Everyone recognized that unification was the single most important thing that needed to happen to lay the foundation for the future growth of open-wheel racing,” said Brian Barnhart, president of competition and operations for the Indy Racing League.

The process wasn’t without logistical headaches but drivers, owners, manufacturers, sponsors and league officials put their heads down and worked non-stop with the season quickly approaching and 25 cars were on the starting grid for the highly-anticipated opening race.

“There was plenty of opportunity to have not lived up to anyone’s expectations,” said Tony George, the Indy Racing League’s founder and chief executive officer. “Given the late opportunity, there was a tremendous amount of challenge to be overcome. But everyone pulled together and made sure that the equipment was in the hands of the teams so they could go about their business.

“After we got through the first couple of races, it was always my feeling that by Indianapolis we would really start to come together, and I think we did. Getting to Indianapolis, you had a couple of weeks of practice and four days of qualifying and then a 500-mile race with the big stage and the spotlight on everybody. I think it kind of settled everyone and that’s when we started coming together as one.”

“One series, all the stars” was more than a moniker applied to the new face of the IndyCar Series. Certainly, the competition level increased with the infusion of numerous talented drivers, while personalities emerged to become instant fan favorites and capture attention.

That was driven home the second week of the season at St. Petersburg when 19-year-old Graham Rahal became the youngest race winner in IndyCar Series history. Two weeks later, Danica Patrick provided another historic moment by becoming the first female winner of a major closed-circuit auto racing event.

Overall, there were five first-time winners, two rookies posting their first victories and a series record-tying nine winners in the 17 races. Thirteen drivers earned a podium finish and 21 recorded a top-five finish.

Scott Dixon prevailed in the championship chase by a scant 17 points over Helio Castroneves punctuated by the second-closest finish in series history (Castroneves edging Dixon by 0.0033 of a second) in the final race after Dixon held a 78-point lead in the championship standings with three races remaining.

“When you look at the competitive nature on the racetrack, it just shows you the depth of the field and the quality of teams and drivers that are now in a unified open-wheel series,” Barnhart said.

That was no easy task as the series welcomed teams, got them up to speed on procedures and operations and familiarized them with the IndyCar Series equipment and the venues run at.

“A lot of those transition teams were very good teams anyway, and it didn’t take them too long to be competitive,” said Dan Wheldon, a two-time race winner in ’08 and the 2005 IndyCar Series champion. “I just expect another competitive season, which the IndyCar Series always seems to produce.”

Off the race trackunification contributed to impressive numbers as well withstronger at-track attendance (12 of 16 events on the 2008 schedule where the IndyCar Series raced in 2007 were up according to media estimates), increased television ratings (an 11% increase in average viewership from the previous season across ABC/ESPN/ESPN2), a dramatic increase in merchandise sales (at-track merchandise sales were up 25%), a surge in IndyCar.com visitors (a 33% increase to more than nine million) and several new corporate partnerships( PEAK Motor Oli, Coca-Cola and IZOD).

Each event on the 2008 IndyCar Series schedule featured an event entitlement, minus the Indy 500, and teams saw an increase in sponsorship interest and participation. Unification was the galvanizing factor in many of the increases and opportunities, which will continue to unfold.

“I think unification was a long time coming, but it’s now behind us and we have a very deep and competitive field of cars,” George said. “We’re all looking forward to this next season. There will be some challenges pulling things together, but we’ve been through the biggest challenge and I think that was pulling it together at all.”

When you consider that the series was six weeks away from its first race when unification was announced one could say that the 2009 IndyCar Series campaign – with everyone on a more equal field of competition from the start—will be the true first season of unification.

The 2009 IndyCar Series season opens April 5 with the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. The race will be telecast live at 2 p.m. (EDT) by VERSUS. The 2009 Firestone Indy Lights season begins with a doubleheader race weekend April 4-5 at St. Petersburg.

From John Griffin, Indy Racing League // www.indycar.com

Snowy victory for L’Estage launches ’09 championship challenge

MANIWAKI, Que. (February 11, 2009) – A brand new car, a time-tested team and proven winter tires from Yokohama were the winning formula for Rallye Perce-Neige, first round of the 2009 Canadian Rally Championship.

Reigning North American Rally Cup champions Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard piloted their new Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X RS to victory in its very first outing in a classic winter rally with epic battles from start to finish.

L’Estage and Richard, both from St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., first sat in their new car barely 12 hours before taking it into battle over the icy forestry roads of the rugged area north and east of the Ottawa River. Despite a cautious start, the pair parlayed their experience and the right choice of winter tires into a dramatic last-stage win in the slippery conditions.

The team’s inventory of winter tires includes Yokohama’s popular Ice Guard IG 20 range, which the team relies on to negotiate the worst of the icy road surfaces. A tire consumers can purchase at any Yokohama retailer, the IG 20 combines two effective water absorption technologies in the compound and a host of tread design features to help deal with the critical “danger zone” created between -6 degrees C and 0 degrees C, or when ice begins to melt in above-freezing temperatures – the circumstances when Canadian drivers face among the worst winter traction conditions.

The compound of the IG 20 utilizes both shelled micro-bubbles and absorptive carbon flakes in a combination that drastically reduces the critical film of water between the tire and the ice. Yokohama tire engineers have identified the film of water created by the tire’s interaction with ice as the crucial factor that limits traction in winter driving. The water is created when the weight, spinning and braking action of the tire melts the ice at the point of contact, or when ice begins to melt in above-freezing temperatures.

Removing as much of this film of water as possible is the job of shelled microbubbles and absorptive carbon flakes in the compound. The tiny shelled microbubbles absorb the thin film of water using suction and the absorptive carbon uses capillary action to remove the water. Together, they can remove sufficient water to reduce ‘micro hydroplaning’ – the dangerous condition which reduces control on icy surfaces.

That a tire created for consumers excels in rally competition is no surprise, says Yokohama marketing manager Jonathon Karelse. “Rally competitors face real-world conditions, on real roads, just like the rest of us. The tires that succeed in providing security and control for you and me in every day driving do the same job for top rally drivers in competition,” says Karelse. “It all just happens a little faster.”

Yokohama has been a supporter of rally motorsport in Canada for more than a decade.

The Canadian Rally Championship has been televised nationally since 1993, and the 2008 series was made available on multiple media platforms, including as downloads from iTunes, on-line on Flat Over Crest (www.flatovercrest.com) and to 80 million homes in Europe on MotorsTV. The 2009 Canadian Rally Championship includes six events, and spans the country from the shores of Quebec’s Gaspé region to the mountains of interior B.C.

Yokohama Tire (Canada) Inc. markets and distributes a full line of tires for high performance, passenger car, light truck, and commercial truck applications, as well as off-the-road tires for mining, forestry and construction applications. It maintains distribution centres across Canada to serve more than 700 independent tire dealers.

Daytona 500: Matt Kenseth video clip from post-race press conference

PHOTO GALLERY: Daytona 500 (2/15/2009)... by Dave Franks

This is a 145-photo gallery from the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 15, 2009. Matt Kenseth led the final green flag lap before the race was ended by rain to win his first Daytona 500. Thanks to Dave Franks for all of his work this week! You can see Dave's website here.

'Mad' Max Papis and Wife Tatiana Welcome Home New Baby Boy

Mooresville, NC (February 15, 2009) - Max Papis and wife Tatiana Fittipaldi Papis, are happy to announce the birth of their second son, Matteo Fittipaldi Papis.

Matteo was born on February 14th at 4:32AM, weighing 6 pounds 10 ounces, and measuring 18 inches.

Tatiana and Matteo are at Lake Norman Regional Medical Center, and are looking forward to going home soon.

Matteo joins big brother Marco and all are happy and healthy!

Follow Max closely at www.twitter.com/maxpapis and view the latest things he is up to!

For more information about Max, please visit: www.maxpapis.com and www.geicogarage.com

From Doug Barnette // Player Management International, Inc.

Daytona 500: Post race quotes... Kevin Harvick, AJ Allmendinger & Elliott Sadler

Daytona 500 (February 15, 2009)

POST-RACE Transcribed interview with: KEVIN HARVICK, AJ ALLMENDINGER, ELLIOTT SADLER

KERRY THARP: We'll go ahead and get started here with our post race interviews for the 51st running of the Daytona 500. Up on the podium we have our runner up in today's race. That is Kevin Harvick. We have our third place finisher, AJ Allmendinger. We have our fifth place finisher, who led a lot of laps out there today, Elliott Sadler. I'm going to ask them each to make some opening comments and then we'll open it up for questions. Kevin, your thoughts about today's race?

KEVIN HARVICK: Seems to be typical of how we race. To be honest with you, we were off a little bit. Started in the back. Were off a little bit. Made some huge adjustments the second or third pit stop and got ourselves in the back again. Were able to make the car where it drove really good. Once I got myself in the middle of the pack the car was easy to drive. Didn't have the speed like it needed to. Once we were in the middle of it we were able to maneuver ourselves really good. In the end, it was a good day. Worked out okay.

KERRY THARP: AJ, you raced your way into this Daytona 500. You come away with a third place finish. Your thoughts?

AJ ALLMENDINGER: The Valvoline Dodge, the car was really fast today. Could run up front all day. Was really consistent. Felt really good to be there and be able to run consistent up front with everybody. Everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports building great cars. I was hoping it was going to rain when Elliott was leading and Reed was second and I was fourth. That would have been a really great result for the team. I was trying to push Reed and Elliott as much as I could. They are the ones that got me into the race. It was my turn to return the favor and try to get them the win. Kevin had a great run and got under me. That kind of shuffled Reed out. I had to kind of dive down with him because I was going to get really shuffled out if I didn't get back in line. It's a great result. I kind of wish we could have been able to finish. I think the car was fast. Would have loved to have had a chance to win the race. To be top three with everything we went through in the off season, hopefully get some more sponsors on the racecar, keep this thing going after race eight.

KERRY THARP: Elliott, you led some laps out there at the end. Tough luck there at the conclusion of the race before the rain came. Your thoughts?

ELLIOTT SADLER: Yeah, if you'd have told me at the beginning of the day if I would take a fifth place finish and lead some laps for the Daytona 500, I probably would have took it. It's a great way to get a good start to the season. But to be a half a lap short from being the champion of the Daytona 500 is very emotional to me. Had a chance to win it. Just made one mistake off of turn four. I didn't drag the brake enough. Kevin and Matt had a really good run. I thought maybe if I blocked to the outside somebody might come with me. But they had such a good head of steam. Really wanted to go to Victory Lane with my guys. I needed this after the off season that I've had. Really would have been cool. Didn't work out, but happy for my guys. Great mentality all night long. Had ourselves in position to win. We'll go to California and try to ride some of this momentum.

KERRY THARP: We'll take questions for Kevin, Elliott or AJ.

Q. Kevin, emotionally how do you go away from this? Are you thankful it ended where you were? Disappointed in the way you ran? Did you wish it would have gone back to green?

KEVIN HARVICK: Well, I wasn't happy with the way we started the day, but I was proud of the way that we came back and made the car handle really good. We knew where we were speed wise. We said, All right, let's make the thing handle. That really paid off for us in the end. I'm kind of like Elliott. Another lap, you never know what would have happened if that doesn't shake out like it did. I mean, you always want to win the race. Knowing what it's like to win the Daytona 500, it's a lot of fun to win and neat to be in Victory Lane. But, you know, it's also kind of bittersweet, I guess you could say, for the fact that Matt is the one that pushed me to my Daytona 500 win. In the end, it's kind of weird how that stuff works out.


Q. Elliott, I don't want to rub salt in the wound, but they said on the radio you said this is your luck. It's raining on the radar and not raining on the racetrack. What do you do?

ELLIOTT SADLER: It's funny. My crew chief told me for the last 45 minutes of the race that it's raining on the radar. You know, this is his first race with me as a crew chief. I said, Welcome to Elliott Sadler's world. It's probably raining all around the racetrack. When I need it, in the lap where I get passed, it starts raining in turn three. It's the way it is. If I would have made a better and smarter move, I'd be in Victory Lane right now. Really wanted it. I put my heart and soul to come in here to Daytona, Speedweeks, try to compete at the top of my game, 'cause I knew I had a lot of eyes on me to run good. It was cool running up front. It was great having Reed and AJ behind me pushing. It would have been cool to finish like that, but just wasn't meant to be. Very hard to swallow. Very emotional. We'll try to get 'em next week.


Q. Kevin, I know a lot of split second decisions made there. You have to do what you have to do. Describe what you did when you did and what you thought the result was. I mean, to help Matt. And then did you think you were going to be able to get around?

KEVIN HARVICK: Well, when we went up, I was thinking, Man, we got a good push here. I had the 44 behind me. I don't really know I had the 33 behind me at that time on the restart. They were still in front of us. We had a good head of steam going down the back. My car wasn't very good on the bottom, so we went to the top. Clint said he was committed to go wherever we went. We got a good run there. Things started to shake up. I got into the back of the 43 a little bit down the backstretch. He kind of got shot up high there. We wound up behind Matt going into three and coming off of four. Everybody was racing hard, knowing that the rain was really close. It's time to go when they think it's going to rain a lot and you know you need to make something happen. Luckily, you know, it all worked out okay.

Q. Elliott, when the 17 gets under you there, what is going through your head? Do you feel like it's lost at that moment? Did you feel sick to your stomach?

ELLIOTT SADLER: Yeah, I was a little sick to my stomach. I choose to go high because my car wasn't really good on the bottom the whole day. When my spotter told me the 29 was pushing the 17, I could see him coming. Had a really good run. I had to either make a choice, let him go to the outside of me or under me. I decided to let him go under me and hopefully try to side draft a little bit. They had such a good head of steam. You know, I can play that pass back in my head a million times between now and when I leave to go to California, but it's not really going to change the outcome. I needed to do a better job leading the race and put my car in a position to make it wider for them to pass. I can sit here and try to be a Monday morning quarterback, but it's not going to work. We'll take it as a loss and need to do a better job next time, worry about when we come back here in July.

Q. Elliott, for this to be a Cinderella story you would have had to have won. It's still quite a story when not too long ago you lose your ride, then you go into court, and then you're restored to the ride. First time out you have a better finish than you had all last year. The old term, The Lord works in mysterious ways. You've had quite a mystery over the last few months.

ELLIOTT SADLER: I'm going to be honest with you. I'm not going to lie to you. I was getting pretty emotional under the caution when it was raining a little bit in turn one and two. I thought it was going to be called a little bit earlier than it was. I was getting emotional in the car thinking, Wouldn't this be the coolest story? I came down here as a fan the first time in 1979 and finished second to Ward Burton, and now to have a chance to win the race. Seen guys like Harvick and Newman and them celebrate the last couple years on last lap passes, and how fun it looks like to me in Victory Lane. I had a lot of that cool stuff going through my head. But, you know, just wasn't meant to be. You know, it's tough. It's hard to swallow. But I'm proud of my guys. New team. New pit stops. They all worked out great tonight. To look in their faces when the rain was coming down when I got out of the car, man, that was hard, because I felt like I let them down.

Q. Kevin, you touched on that you were happy for Matt because he helped you two years ago. Matt is not usually the guy that grabs for the spotlight or glamour. I think there's a sense he's well respected. Do you think this will be a popular victory, Matt Kenseth, a guy who shuns the spotlight?

KEVIN HARVICK: I think in the garage it will definitely be a popular win. I think Matt's obviously a pretty stand up person and a great racecar driver, accomplished a lot in this sport. I think a lot of us can relate to Matt for kind of going out of the spotlight. I think he's one of those guys that he can win seven or eight races in a year and never receive any credit. He's a really good racecar driver. He's a champion, Daytona 500 champion. I think a lot of times some of those things are overlooked.

Q. AJ and Elliott, last year GEM and Petty Enterprises are struggling teams. The first race out, three guys in the top nine. How much do you think this means to this new team?

AJ ALLMENDINGER: I think it's a big deal. It was a tough off season for everybody. It was a long off season. There's a lot of stuff that went on throughout the team with the merger. We came here, and I think it shows how strong the team is now. Elliott and Reed were a big factor of why I got into this race. That was a lot of teamwork that was involved to get that to happen. Like I said, I wish it would have rained a little bit earlier so we could have had a Cinderella story, had Elliott and all of us in the top five. But overall the team's done a lot of work in the off season. Brand new racecars. Everybody's putting a hundred percent effort into it. You can see when you go to the shop and at the racetrack just everybody's attitude even from the five races that I was there last year everybody's pumped up to be here and excited. You got the King walking around saying hi to everybody, making sure everybody's good. It's a lot of fun at the racetrack right now. I look forward to going to California and just carrying this on.

Q. Kevin, to make sure, the decision to call the race as quickly as they made it, are you okay with that? Do you think we should still be waiting?

KEVIN HARVICK: I've learned a long time ago that I just kind of do my own thing and the rest of it is all up to them. You know, fortunately we've sat on the other side of the fence. Knowing how our day started, what we accomplished today, I'm happy with where we are. Obviously, I know how exciting it is to be in Victory Lane. But it's easy to second guess something until you have to sit up there and make those decisions.

Q. AJ, you had a tough year last year. You were in kind of a spot. You showed good at the end of the year. You had some strength at the end of the year. You still lost a ride. Do you feel any kind of vindication now? Would you credit your results to car or personal improvement or both?
AJ ALLMENDINGER: I mean, I think you quickly learn in this sport that it doesn't owe you anything. I mean, you got to earn everything that you get. You can sit back and feel bad about yourself or whine about everything that's going on. But there's a lot of people in this world that are a lot less fortunate than I am right now, even everything I went through. For me, it ultimately comes down to two decisions. You can quit or work harder and make something happen. I'm never going to quit. I'm going to keep working harder. That's my attitude. I know if I can go out there and do everything that I can on and off the racetrack, I can go home, and whether I have a ride, run well, don't run well, and just go home and feel good about myself and not second guess anything. That's all you can control. As for results, I mean, I credit most of the team. I don't have a lot of restrictor plate racing and had to learn a lot and have great teammates that are great on these racetracks to help me learn. I had to learn quick. But overall, you know, they brought great racecars. There were times we struggled in these two weeks. There were times we were great. Today I just got to give a lot of credit, you know, all the credit, to Sammy Johns and Mike Wolf, my crew chief, my engineer, the whole race team. The pit stops were great. My pit crew has only had two or three weeks to work together. They had tryouts to put together for this team, and they had great stops all day. I give all the credit in the world to them.

KEVIN HARVICK: How many years have you driven a stock car?

AJ ALLMENDINGER: I don't know, two and a half now. Take all the races I missed, I'm still half a year (laughter).

KEVIN HARVICK: I think everybody forgets how many people have been run out of this sport from the open wheel side that hadn't had any success whatsoever. He's been pretty successful in a short amount of time.

Q. I'm not sure where each of you were at the time, but what was your view of the big wreck with Earnhardt and Vickers? What did you see of that? What did you make of all that?

ELLIOTT SADLER: I didn't see any of it. K

EVIN HARVICK: I saw a lot of smoke, stuff flying. That was about it.

AJ ALLMENDINGER: For me, I don't know exactly where everybody was running, but I was pretty far up. I saw Vickers get dropped to the bottom. Earnhardt was down there. From there, after that, it was pretty much a big commotion. My spotter did a good job to get me through. At that point it's not a lot of driving skill; you pray you pick the right line and go through it.

ELLIOTT SADLER: I was in front of it so I didn't see it.

Q. It seemed during the Bud Shootout, during the Gatorade Duels, that the cars were pretty much on the edge. They were about to spin out. During this race, that happened a little bit, but not as much. Does it seem the COT, the teams have made enough improvements on it, or... ?

KEVIN HARVICK: I thought the race was pretty tame, from the Bud Shootout, everything that happened. It seemed like with the heat not being on the racetrack, it seems like the cars were a lot more manageable. My car drove as good as it did all weekend.

ELLIOTT SADLER: Good answer, Kevin.

AJ ALLMENDINGER: I'll stick with that.

KERRY THARP: Guys, thank you very much. We'll see you at California. Thanks for your time and putting on a good show today.

Transcribed by ASAP Sports

Matt Kenseth wins the rain-shortened Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - Matt Kenseth led the lap that mattered on Sunday at Daytona, winning the rain-shortened Daytona 500 after leading just one green flag lap. Race dominator Kyle Busch was taken out in the race's biggest crash, triggered by a pair of almost-lapped cars (Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brian Vickers). Kevin Harvick was second when the race race called (at lap 152 of 200), ahead of AJ Allmendinger, Clint Bowyer and Elliott Sadler.

.... photo gallery to follow shortly.

New Smyrna Speedway: Hooker Brothers Racing - Post Race Update #8 from Florida - Feb 14, 2009

NEW SMYRNA, FL -- The #38 Hooker Brothers Racing crew got up early, packed their bags, cleaned the condo and headed to the track to organize the trailer and hook up the truck to pull out immediately after their eighth race in the nine nights at the New Smyrna Speedway.

Media coverage for the Hooker Team and their sponsors continued as Greg MacPherson of Inside Track Motorsport News made a visit to the Hooker pit to interview Kirk and get a summary of the team’s week of racing. Dave Franks Photos from Ontario took some great pictures that should find their way into the magazine as well as on his website.  Dave got some great shots by riding in the back of the pace truck and the Hooker Team would like to thank him for the great job and congratulate him on his 30 years of success in business. 

Race Time Radio also interviewed Kirk by telephone on their live Monday night radio show as well as other magazines spent some time with the team, taking pictures and interviewing the colorful Canadian driver.

The #38 Pepsi Chevy started on the pole for the final 25 lap feature and Kirk would have his hands full keeping the 10 car field behind him. The #4b, #08, #26, #19, #27, #92, #63, #21 and #82 doubled up behind Kirk to take the green flag that quickly turned to caution as the #9z spun coming off  turn two resulting in a complete restart.

The #4b was quick to challenge Kirk for the lead and took over at the end of lap one followed by the #26 that put Kirk back to third on the second lap. The #63 got into Kirk causing him to wobble coming out of turn four and make contact with the #19 putting him into a spin on the front stretch bringing out the caution. The #08 got a run on Kirk on the following restart that put him 4th with the #26 leading the field.

With 8 laps completed, the #63 tried to pass the #92 as the #92 was trying to find a lane to get past the #38 resulting in the #63 and #92 getting together on the backstretch gathering up the #27 in the process. The #63 and #27 were able to continue however; the night was done for the #92. Kirk gave the aggressive #63 plenty of room on the restart and the #19 took advantage of the opening and followed him through to put the #38 Lucas Oil Chevy into 6th.

The #26 continued to lead at the half way mark and with only one car falling well back behind the #38, Kirk was able to concentrate on catching the #19 without pressure from behind. With 5 laps to go, the field was well spread out with no challenges for positions and they continued to increase the gaps between cars through the remaining laps allowing the #26 to win well ahead of the #4b followed by the #08, #63, #19, #38 and #82.

The crew put on their best set of used tires for the race and it was concluded that it was the difference between how they ran compared to the cars that finished in front of them with new ones. The Hooker crew loaded the car and headed home immediately after their 6th place finish with 4th overall in the series.

Although expectations were higher for the Hooker Team, Kirk summed it up by saying, "nobody got hurt, nobody got sick, the car is in one piece, we drank a bunch of beer and had allot of laughs, making it a pretty good Speed Weeks."

The Hooker Team would like to thank all those who made the annual week of racing in Florida a success and I would personally like to thank Randy & Kirk Hooker as well as the entire crew as they made my vacation a very enjoyable one. It was a pleasure doing the updates, golfing with Randy and playing an active role on a first class race team consisting of a great group of guys. Enjoy your involvement with racing throughout the 2009 season and I look forward to next year................Ken

(Thanks to Ken Spira for his updates throughout the week!... GregM.)

NEW SMYRNA SPEEDWAY: Rogers Closes Out the 43rd World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway by Winning Pete Orr Memorial 100

From Matt Kentfield, 51 Sports

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL (February 14, 2009) – The 43rd Annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway (FL) has concluded with the ninth night of racing closing the series out on Saturday night.

The night was highlighted by a near-flawless performance by Orlando’s David Rogers in the Pete Orr Memorial 100 Super Late Model race.  Rogers, who entered the night tied with Jeff Choquette in the World Series SLM point standings, started in the sixth position, but was leading by the time that the race was only five laps old.  He withstood pressure from several challengers and won over Tim Russell, Jack Landis, Wayne Anderson and Johanna Long.

With the victory, Rogers locked up the World Series Super Late Model championship

Ted Christopher also clinched a World Series championship in style.  The Connecticut driver won his fourth Tour-type Modified race of the World Series.  Christopher faced heavy pressure from new Hampshire’s Andy Seuss throughout the race, but Seuss had a tire go flat late in the race.  Eric Goodale nipped Seuss at the finish line for second place while Jon McKennedy and Matt Hirschman rounded out the top five finishers.

Jimmy Blewett won the SK Modified feature race and wrapped up a perfect week in that division during the 2009 World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing.  He swept that division’s eight races of the series.

In other racing action at New Smyrna, Jessica Murphy won the Limited Late Model feature event and Austin Pickens won the FASCAR Pro Truck main event.

For all of the news, recaps and happenings from this year’s Smyrna Speedweeks, be sure to check out Speed51.com and NewSmyrnaSpeedway.org.  For more information on Speed51.com, please contact Matt Kentfield at 51 Sports by calling (704) 788-2134.

NEW SMYRNA SPEEDWAY: Kirk Hooker Night 6 Update

From Ken Spira

Hooker Brothers Racing - post race update for the 6th night of racing on February 13th at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida.

NEW SMYRNA, FL - The crew arrived at the track and scaled the car to check the wedge that was found to be too high so some was taken out and a small adjustment was made to the pan-hard bar to loosen up the car in preparation of the second last race of the week.

With a 100 lap race on the schedule for the modified's, a 50 lap feature for the ASA Crate division, and with the Hooker Brothers racing in the last feature of the night, the Hooker crew covered the car and found places to read and relax as they waited. The #31 of fellow Canadian Shawn McWhirter raced from the back of the field to a 10th place finish in the ASA 50 lapper as the crew uncovered the car and lined up 5th out of 13 cars for their 25 lap feature.

The #38 Smith & Wilson Chevy started 5th inside the #92 and Kirk raced hard at the green to ensure that he was ahead going into turn one maintaining his position. The #141 took the lead followed by the #08, #63, #4b and then the #38. The entire field was racing single file as they hit the 5 lap mark until the #51 got on the inside of the #38 taking the position and putting Kirk back to 6th on the 7th lap.

The #26 tried to follow the #51 however; Kirk was able to hold off the challenge and pull away by a car length down the straight-aways. At the half way mark, the top five cars pulled away from the #38 JBM Leasing Chevy who was leading the second pack with cars nose to tail behind him.

The gap with the leaders narrowed as the caution came out for the #9z who spun on his own coming out of turn 2. The crew reminded Kirk that the #26 liked to jump the restarts and that he should do what he could to prevent her from getting the edge coming out of turn four.

Kirk did a great job and would have to do it twice in a row as a car spinning in turn three brought the caution back out. Keeping the #26 behind him was Kirks biggest challenge as they got the 10 to go signal as the #141, #63, #08 and #4b pulled ahead of him in a tight race for the win. The #63 was winning the battle at the front as he passed the #141 for the lead with 5 laps remaining. With just two laps to go, Kirk was able to pull away from the #26 and was racing hard with the crew encouraging him to keep digging as he was closing in on the leaders.

As the leaders came off of turn two for the final lap, the #63 got turned causing a chain reaction of spinning and hard brakes to avoid contact. Kirk went for a hole low on the track just as the #4b did the same and the two got together, tearing off the right front fender of the #38. The checkered flag was in the air and the cars involved were quickly trying to get straightened out and race for the finish line as the caution flag was still not being waved at the starters stand.

The #141 made its way through and took the checkered as did the #08 followed by the #26 who got past Kirk in the smoke and gaggle of cars. Kirk was still pointed in the right direction and grabbed a gear to head for the finish line before any other car could get past him.

The #38 took the checkered for a 4th place finish and although happy with the position were disappointed as they had a great opportunity to steel the win if the #4b did not occupy the only lane to get by on the low side or if they had gone high as a clear lane opened up quickly after the leaders got together and came down the track.

A crew member of the #63 decided to add some excitement for the large crowd in the grandstands by fighting on the front stretch with crew members from another team and it wasn't long before others got involved as tempers flared bringing track staff to quickly defuse the situation. Kirk returned to the pits where the crew went to work replacing the fender and it wasn't long before the car was ready for the last night of racing the next day.