Copyright 2009 http://www.racingone.com News from RacingOne en-us Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:17:25 -0500 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=53032 Jimmie Johnson took a step closer to his fourth straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship on Friday by taking the pole for Sunday's Ford 400 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:57:00 -0500 http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=53032
Johnson earned his 23rd career pole by turning a lap of 173.919 mph in his Lowe's Chevrolet.

"I struggled at the start of practice. We were committed to the lower line,” Johnson said. “We quickly found the top was the place to be."

“We had two or three runs in qualifying trim where I tried to run the top. I tried too hard on my last run.”

It was Johnson's fourth pole of 2009 and second career at the 1.5-mile Homestead track.

Scott Speed surprised the field with a late session run of 172.695 mph.

Speed was asked about feeling any pressure starting next to Johnson who is trying to lock up the title on Sunday.

"Race car drivers usually don't make plans," Speed said. "But you don't want to be the driver that takes out the 48. That doesn't look good on your resume."

Speed equaled his best start of the season. He also qualified second at Chicagoland.

Marcos Ambrose qualified third for his best qualifying effort on an oval in 2009 and the run equaled his best effort since Sonoma.

Mark Martin, who is the only driver that has a mathematical shot of winning the championship, qualified fourth.

Tony Stewart rounded out the top five.

Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Bill Elliot and Clint Bowyer completed the first ten qualifiers.

Sunday's Ford 400 is slated for a 3:15 p.m. ET green flag.]]> http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=53029 The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas will be hosted by Frank Caliendo with musical appearances from David Gray and Escala. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:57:00 -0500 http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=53029
Caliendo, the renowned comedian/impressionist with considerable sports crossover star power, will serve as the host of the annual post-season show for NASCAR’s premier series, Dec. 4 at Wynn Las Vegas.

Serving as the event’s emcees will be two people highly recognizable to NASCAR fans – Mike Joy and Krista Voda from NASCAR on FOX and SPEED. (The awards ceremony will be broadcast live on SPEED on Dec. 4, at 9 p.m. ET.)

Two premier musical acts will supply additional star power for the ceremony’s Vegas debut: singer/songwriter David Gray, a Grammy-nominated artist with album sales exceeding 12 million; and Escala, a female electric string quartet who emerged during last year’s “Britain’s Got Talent” television show.

Also, comedian John Pinette will return for a third-straight year to NASCAR’s post-season national series awards ceremony lineup – and his second-straight appearance at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony.

Caliendo, who currently performs his own one man show at the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas, is perhaps best known among sports fans for his weekly appearances over the last six years as guest prognosticator on FOX NFL SUNDAY, but he also has a strong NASCAR connection. He was featured in several videos shown at last year’s awards ceremony and also has appeared at post-season events for both the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

"I'm excited to be hosting this year's awards ceremony and look forward to a great evening celebrating the 2009 NASCAR season,” Caliendo said. “I'm on the pole but don't worry; even though we're in Vegas, I'm not dancing.”

Caliendo’s repertoire of dead-on impressions includes NFL broadcaster John Madden; former NBA star Charles Barkley; former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton; and actors Robert DeNiro and Jack Nicholson.

An eight-year veteran of television sketch comedy as a cast member on “MADtv” and with his own series, “Frank TV,” Caliendo has been a fixture on television for the last decade. He has comedy specials that run regularly on TBS and Comedy Central and he is a regular on the late night talk show circuit. He also was a special correspondent for Superbowl XXXIX and co-starred in the film “The Comebacks.” In addition, he recently signed a 10-year deal to headline a nightly Las Vegas act.

With the heart of folk music at his core, Gray’s mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation has established him as one of the world’s leading music artists. With a career now spanning more than 15 years and nearly 12 million album sales, Gray’s commercial success is also backed up by a critical consensus and countless accolades. Gray recently released his highly anticipated seventh studio album, “Draw The Line.” USA Today called it Gray’s “most ambitious, affecting and densely musical work to date” while Entertainment Weekly said “Gray's sincerity and robust voice have been missed, and his new music sounds well-produced and confident.”

]]> http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=53023 Lowe's Companies Inc. will continue its successful relationship with Hendrick Motorsports after signing a three-year agreement that secures primary sponsorship of the No. 48 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=53023
Driving the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolets will be current points leader and three-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who has signed a five-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports that will keep him with the organization through 2015.

Johnson and Lowe's previously were signed through the 2010 season.

The new pacts build upon a partnership launched in 2001 when Johnson was selected by Hendrick Motorsports to drive for the new Lowe's-sponsored No. 48 team. After nearly eight full seasons, the driver-sponsor relationship has become one of the most successful in NASCAR.

"Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports are a key part of our marketing efforts and outreach to our more than 225,000 employees," said Robert A. Niblock, Lowe's chairman and CEO. "We believe this is the best combination in racing, and we're proud to have Jimmie carry the Lowe's name in NASCAR."

Since his first full-time Sprint Cup season in 2002, Johnson has earned a series-leading 47 victories and only twice has finished outside the top two in championship points. Of the 16 NASCAR drivers who have recorded 40 or more wins, just three -- Herb Thomas, David Pearson and Richard Petty -- have higher career winning percentages.

"Lowe's commitment to the 48 team and Hendrick Motorsports is tremendous and has been a source of pride for me personally," said Johnson, 34, who never has had a primary sponsor other than Lowe's in Sprint Cup competition. "We've built a championship team together, and I'm proud the 48 will carry the Lowe's colors for many more years."

Through 35 of 36 races in 2009, the No. 48 Lowe's team led by crew chief Chad Knaus has posted 15 top-five finishes, 23 top-10s and a series-high seven wins. Johnson leads the championship standings with a 108-point margin over teammate Mark Martin going into Sunday's season finale at Homestead, Fla.

"Lowe's took a chance on us back in 2001, and it's not a stretch to say this whole thing would never have been possible without them," said Rick Hendrick, who co-owns the No. 48 team with driver Jeff Gordon. "When you have a partner put that much faith in you, it's incredibly rewarding to see them be successful. They're a company with values and practices that we admire and learn from in our own business, and we feel very fortunate to continue this amazing ride together.

"Jimmie is charting new territory in our sport, and that's due to a combination of natural talent and unsurpassed work ethic. How he's committed himself is just incredible, and it shows in everything that he does -- not just on the racetrack. There's no question that he's one of the great champions in all of sports, and he's not done yet."]]> http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=53021 Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin will face off in Sunday's Ford 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with Hendrick Motorsports set to claim its ninth series championship. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:36:00 -0500 http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=53021
Johnson, Martin and team owner Rick Hendrick met the media on Thursday during the NASCAR Championship Contenders Press Conference to discuss Sunday's last race of the season. Johnson leads Martin by 108 points in the standings and says he's trying to stay focused on winning a record fourth straight championship.

"I am out of emotion,” Johnson said. “There is no emotion. It’s all business. It’s all about putting down the best lap I can Friday and doing the best job I can Sunday. It’s all business this week.”

Johnson isn't taking anything for granted coming into the weekend after his experience two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway when an early race crash handed him a 38th-place finish and shaved 111 points off his lead.

“Luckily, Texas is still really close in my mind and something I think about,” Johnson said. “Because of what happened in Texas, I’m not letting my guard down, and I think about the ‘what-ifs.’ I’m trying to keep the same mindset and focus I had in Phoenix [during a race win last week]. It’s really that mentality. I’m dying to get to the race track. I’m worrying about qualifying trim and race trim. I’m eager for tomorrow. It will help getting in the car and getting a feel for the track and the tire.”

Although Martin has a big hill to climb in order to overtake his teammate for the title, he still considers his first season as a member of the Hendrick stable a success.

“I didn’t know if I could compete against Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. coming into this season,” he said. “But I knew that I was going to give it everything, my whole heart. But I didn’t know for a fact that I could measure up to those guys in their prime.”

No matter the outcome of the drivers in the title fight, Hendrick will have a record ninth crown in NASCAR's top series.

“I would have to say this is probably as good as it gets,” said Hendrick, who could be the first team owner in the sport's history to have drivers sweep the top three spots in the point standings. “You know, to have the three cars in the points where they are right now, having the championship as owner going into Homestead already secured, we've won a lot of races, and this has got to be as good as any season we've ever had.”]]> http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=52948 This weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wraps up its season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Sunday's Ford 400. To help you make your fantasy racing picks, RacingOne brings you our weekly detailed look at some of the field for the 267-lap event. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:40:00 -0500 http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=52948 http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=53008 Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway will wrap up the NASCAR season with a tripleheader headlined by Jimmie Johnson's quest for a fourth straight Sprint Cup Series championship in Sunday's Ford 400. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:42:00 -0500 http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=53008
Johnson needs to finish 25th or better in Sunday's finale at the 1.5-mile track to earn his NASCAR record fourth consecutive title. He brings a 108-point lead over teammate Mark Martin into Homestead and simply by hitting his track average just over 13.

RacingOne is trackside in Homestead and will cover the weekend comprehensively including Friday's Live Qualifying session for the Ford 400 at 3:10 p.m. (ET).

Later Friday night the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series concludes its 2009 season with the Ford 200. Ron Hornaday locked up his fourth series title last weekend in Phoenix, but the owners' championship is still up for grabs between Kevin Harvick Inc. and Billy Ballew Motorsports. SPEED and MRN Radio will have live television and radio coverage of the race beginning at 8 p.m. (ET).

Saturday afternoon Kyle Busch will secure his first NASCAR series championship by starting the Nationwide Series Ford 300. ESPN2 and MRN Radio have the live coverage beginning at 4:30 p.m. (ET).

Sunday's Sprint Cup season finale will take the green flag at 3:15 p.m. (ET) with ABC and MRN Radio covering the Ford 400 from flag-to-flag.

RacingOne will have late-breaking news, results, statistics, photos, audio, video and post-race analysis directly from the track all weekend long.]]> http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=52993 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates announced that they will add NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jamie McMurray as a teammate of Juan Pablo Montoya, to drive the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet for the 2010 season. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:02:00 -0500 http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=52993
Fresh off his win at the Talladega Superspeedway, McMurray will return to Ganassi whom he raced for from 2002-05.

“I am really excited about this opportunity with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing as I think Juan Pablo and Martin have shown this season, their equipment is as good as anyone’s in the garage," McMurray said. "I am really looking forward to getting behind the wheel of their cars and once again competing for a NASCAR championship. It will also be fun to work with some of the people that I worked with when I was there a few years ago."

Bass Pro Shops will once again return for their fifth season as one of the primary partners on the No. 1 Chevrolet.

"I am really happy to have the opportunity to work with Bass Pro Shops as I grew up near Bass Pro’s headquarters in Springfield, MO and am a huge fan of their stores,” McMurray said.]]> http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=52989 Mark Martin's initial year with Hendrick Motorsports and crew chief Alan Gustafson has to be considered a success and a foundation for what the duo sees as a bright future together. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:05:00 -0500 http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=52989
Martin comes into Sunday's Ford 400 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway second in the point standings on the strength of one of the most stellar years in the veteran driver's storied career.

The performance is in no small part due to the chemistry Martin and Gustafson have found and the comfort zone they've enjoyed in their first season working together.

"It's been a real successful season for us," said Gustafson. "You know, getting Mark on board was obviously a huge step in the right direction, and being able to win five races and contend down to the wire for the championship and have a shot at Homestead has been good. It's been a great season, and the guys have accomplished a lot and really looking forward to going to Homestead. It's a really fun track to race on."

Despite trailing Jimmie Johnson by 108 points, neither Martin or Gustafson is willing to throw in the towel for a possible title.

"Going there with a shot is ‑‑ even though the shot is not as good as we want, it's still a privilege to have that opportunity to contend and win a championship and go down there and put as much pressure on Chad (Knaus), as much as possible, even though it's not as much as we want it to be," Gustafson said. "But go down there and have some fun doing that."

Gustafson's opportunity to work with Martin has been nothing short of a dream come true.

"As far as me being a Mark Martin fan, where that started is just a kid, a young race fan, who like every other kid was in love with the race cars and the speed and the competitiveness of the sport and everything that's great about it," Gustafson said. "Mark was a guy that stood out to me, what I would kind of term as a man's man. He always worked very hard for what he got, and if he fell short, he was the first guy to stand up and take the blame, and he would not point the finger and get into controversy. He'd go back and work harder and come back that much better."

At an early age, that philosophy made an impression on Gustafson and helped him shape his career path.

"That was a trait that I tried to emulate in my life and follow, and that was something I was really drawn to," he said. "He was a blue‑collar racer and he worked really, really hard for it and deserved everything he got. And that was the big thing that drew me to Mark, and his tenacity on the racetrack, as a fan, somebody watching this guy on Sunday or Saturdays in the Busch Car winning all these races. It really drew me to him, and I really respected what a stand‑up guy he was."

And now Gustafson has a chance to work with the driver who was so influential in his life. It hasn't been anything short of a satisfying experience.

"The great news about all that is sometimes I think when you have people like that, that you idolize, the opportunity when you meet them or you really get to know them, you can be let down,' Gustafson said. "But for Mark with me it's exactly the opposite. I think I'm a bigger Mark Martin fan today than I was before I knew him, and I have more respect for him today than I did then. That's a really neat thing."]]> http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=52964 Jimmie Johnson is back at the top of the rankings after scoring his fourth victory in his last five starts at Phoenix. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:18:00 -0500 http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=52964 http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=52960 Team owner Rick Hendrick is on the brink of a ninth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship if Jimmie Johnson can finish 25th or better in Sunday's Ford 400 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=52960
With drivers Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon second and third in the standings, Hendrick is all but assured the title even if disaster strikes Johnson in South Florida.

Hendrick is guaranteed his ninth series owner championship, which ties him with Petty Enterprises for the most all-time. (Note: Petty Enterprises won 10 driver championships, but the 1954 championship was a split driver/owner title. Lee Petty won the driver championship; Herb Thomas took the owner title.)

So has Hendrick prepared an acceptance speech given the impending championship?

"You can't ask me that in front of these guys," he said after Johnson's win in Phoenix last Sunday. "I can tell you what I'm going to do already in Homestead. I'm going to go to the loser first, then I'm going to go to the guy that finishes second, and I'm going to tell them all that next week so they know.

"The worst thing in the world would be if I'm doing high fives in the pits, Jimmie broke, Mark won, these guys are going to say, 'Hey, he wanted Mark to win anyway.' I try to give them a snapshot of I'm going to be on neutral ground. I love 'em all. I want to settle it on the track. But I'm going to go to the third place guy, the second place guy, then the champion."

It will also be Hendrick’s 12th national series title, which puts him alone at the top for most all-time (he had previously been tied with Richard Childress at 11).

This year's accomplishment simply adds to the level of excellence Hendrick has established since becoming a team owner.

And that level has been exemplified even further by Johnson's season.

"I don't know how good these two guys can get," Hendrick said of Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus. "I really don't. But they're two of the best I've ever worked with and the best I've ever seen, at a time when this sport is probably more competitive than it has been at any time that I've been racing. But these two guys have the most awesome amount of talent I've ever been around. And they also have the most dedication of anybody I've ever been around."]]>