Ryan Permberton Lands At Tommy Baldwin Racing

Good news for one more ex-Red Bull Racing crew member:  Ryan Pemberton has joined Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) and will be serving as crew chief for Dave Blaney for the Sprint Cup 2012 season.

His first task will be trying to get Dave Blaney into the Daytona 500 through the rigorous, multi-layered qualifying process, as they do not have a guaranteed spot in the Great American Race.

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Ryan has two wins, 21 top-5', 92 top-10s and 15 poles in his career so far.  It's good to see him landing on his feet after Red Bull closed shop!

NB&P

[Scene Daily: Pemberton Lands at TBR]

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EFI Will Be a Game Changer in NASCAR; At Least In The Early Weeks

As all fans know, NASCAR has converted the Sprint Cup Series cars to an electronic fuel injection (EFI) system for the 2012 season.  The concerns are many, the subjects are varied.  (I'm am going out on a limb and assuming you all know this.  Right?  Bueller?  Bueller?)  And this EFI change, for now, is only in the Cup Series.

The big questions fans seem to have that I'm hearing are what will this do to the fuel mileage races?  The word on the street is that chancing fuel mileage will have a more severe penalty for any team that runs out of gas, seeing as how you won't be able to spray a starter fluid down a carburetor throat any more.

But with EFI, for the short term, I've heard tell that the fuel mileage in the cars will go up.  That is until the crew chiefs figure out how to get more HP out of this system that is more fuel efficient.

Some fans are worried about what happens to teams when or if the EFI system breaks on cars.  But from what I've been told, these systems are used in other racing circuits (Formula One and IndyCar), and if I heard right, they don't break. 

(I'll believe that when I see it.  To be honest, and not dissing the system, everything breaks at one time or another!)

But what's interesting about the inclusion of the EFI system, which some single-car teams have said has cost them upwards to $3 million to switch over to, is that the electronics involved and all the new information.

To help everyone across the board, NASCAR will be taking the EFI telemetry and sharing it with all teams after each event.  This is an effort to help all involved get up to speed faster.  (And I hope that won't be a constant!)

NASCAR Charity Poker Tournament (Win A Contest to Get In!)

On February 22,  there's going to be a charity poker tournament called the "High Speed Hold'em on the Halifax" that will take place at the luxury hotel, the MG on the Halifax, which is located dear Daytona International Speedway.

It will be hosted by the NASCAR Foundation is will raise money for Speediatrics, which is the pediatric unit at the Halifax Health Medical Center.

In attendance will be NASCAR drivers, celebs, poker pros and NASCAR fans.  Rusty Wallace will be co-hosting the event alongside Betty Jane France.

There are going to be 22 tables and each table is slated to have one celebrity, and either one NASCAR driver or professional poker player.

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I did mention a contest to get into the event for free, instead of ponying up the $500 per table fee, right?

"One player will be able to get into the tournament for free through a special drawing being held by the MG on the Halifax. By going online and registering at www.eventsatmgonthehalifax.com, one person and a guest will attend the tournament and the winner of the drawing will be able to play in the event."

[Poker News Daily:  Annie Duke & the NASCAR Foundation Charity Poker Tourn  ]

NB&P!

Ryan Newman Gets WIX Sponsor For Four Races

In this era, when sponsors can be hard to nab, some NASCAR teams are doing OK.  In this case, Ryan Newman's No. 39 Chevy will have WIX Filters as a primary sponsor for four races in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

We'll see them debut on Ryan's hood in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, then at Phoenix, Darlington and Michigan.

WIX has been with Stewart-Haas Racing since it became an entity in 2009.  Hence, they're coming back and supporing the team again, in 2012.

Landon Cassill Exits Front Row Motorsports

Just a few weeks before the Daytona 500, and you expect news like points swaps and what not.  That's the norm, but you don't usually see driver leaving their NASCAR Sprint Cup Team, willingly.

But that's exactly what happened the other day.

Landon Cassill resigned from Front Row Motorsports, with the reason cited as being offered a full-time ride with another team.

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Speculation on the street says that Cassill is headed to the entity that bought up the Red Bull Racing assets recently.  (Wasn't Michael Waltrip pondering those assets recently???)

Front Row Motorsports will be naming a replacement soon, and it's been said there are no hard feelings between FRM and Cassill.  They recognize that they didn't want to get in the way of Landon having a chance that presented a better opportunity to him.

Fox Sports: Cassill Exits FRM

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Sad News: Matt Kenseth Mom Passed Away

In a piece of sad news, Matt Kenseth's mother, Nicola Sue Kenseth, passed away last Tuesday at the age of 63.  She passed after a long battle with Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease.

In lieu of flowers, memorials have been established in Nicki's name to the Alzheimer's Association, Agrace Hospice, and Willerup Methodist Church.

Matt, it probably goes without saying, that all our thoughts are with you.

Nicki Kenseth Memorial Donations may be made to:
Alzheimer's Association
Agrace HospiceCare
Willerup Methodist Church


[http://www.mattkenseth.com/]

Top-35 Owners Points Explained, And Why Owner Points Are Important

With the Danica Patrick tizzy regarding the owners points shell game and her getting into the 2012 Daytona 500, fans are once again refocusing some of their attention on the owners points system instigated by NASCAR and how the top-35 in owners points are guaranteed starting spots in the next race, with the exception of the first five races of each year.  I think there will be some credibility lost in the fans' minds with this special deal, but in the end, the bad is usually forgotten by enough people that some business decisions are worth the risk.  (Anyone know/remember what Calvin Ball is?  Remember Calvin and Hobbs... check out rule # 1.2 if you follow the link at the bottom of this piece.)

So what Is This Top-35 In Owner Points?

In NASCAR, there are several tiers of points within the sport.  When you watch a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on TV, there are several things happening behind the scenes that aren't immediately apparent, if you're the casual TV fan.  One of those items is the points structure.

When a car and driver cross the finish line, the driver gets driver points and the car owner also get points.  The most commonly referred to points standings are the driver points.  When a driver wins a race, he gets the coveted 43+bonus points awarded.  The car owner also gets points and for the most part, in the top half of the field, car points and driver points look like they work the same.  But there is a slight difference.

For instance, last year Robby Gordon finished the year 34th in driver points, with 268 points.  But his car owner (In this case, his own car), was 38th in owner points, with 334 points.  See the different in points?

That's because owner's points are distributed to ALL cars who attempt to qualify for a race, and that becomes important to the teams near the top-30 in points.  Here's how it's put by NASCAR:

"The 43 owners who make the race earn points equal to the driver points. Those who do not qualify for the race are awarded points, starting with the fastest car that failed to qualify, down to the slowest car that attempted to qualify. These points establish priority in gaining provisionals for future races."

So what this equates to is that Robby Gordon ran/qualified for 25 of the 36 races in 2011.  He had 268 driver points.  But as an owner, he/his car had 334 points, because he attempted to qualify for 33 races, only making 25 of them.  This rule even makes qualifying attempts valuable to some teams!  Like those who don't make the race, but they can still muster some spare points or so.

So...

Danica Patrick's Top-35 Points Gift Has Fans Wondering

Check out this shell game of owners points so that Danica Patrick can race in the Daytona 500 (D500):

A month ago, we were introduced to Danica Patrick driving the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevy and the announcement included that this NASCAR Sprint Cup effort would be a Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) endeavor.

Then, we heard that Danica Patrick will be using Owners Points from another team to be able to race in the Daytona 500.

We then learned that that Dave Blaney gave up his points with Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) so Danica Patrick can race in the D500.

And finally, we heard that in a collaborative effort, Danica Patrick won't be driving an SHR car, but rather, her 10 Sprint Cup races will be driving under the auspices of TBR.

There...  how hard was that?  Right?

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Wait... she is driving what with who how?

The bottom line is that in some of the best media hub-bub to come along since Kurt Busch disrespected ESPN's Jerry Punch on camera and got himself fired, I mean, off to "have fun" racing, a situation has been made possible so that Danica Patrick's very first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race will be the Daytona 500.

Are You Ready For A No. 3 Chevy On The Track Again?

Austin Dillon drove the black No. 3 Chevy truck in the Camping World Truck Series.  He also won the championship in that black No. 3.  Which is a fine way to represent that number, whose history touches many a heart.

And in 2012, Richard Childriss is putting Austin Dillon on the track in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.  And yes, it will be in the mostly black No. 3 Chevy Impala.

To be honest, being a die-hard Dale Earnhardt sr. fan, this progression for a No. 3 creeping ever so slowly towards the Cup series, seems to be coming at just the right time and at just the right pace.

Plus Austin Dillon has a lot of adjustments to tackle.  He's not seen some of the tracks he'll be seeing now in the Nationwide Series.  He hasn't dealt with road courses.

No More Secret NASCAR Fines, No More Inside Thoughts

In case you had not heard the news, NASCAR has abolished the "secret fine" practice.

In reality, it was never working anyway.  When ever someone was fined, we always seem to hear about it.  Or as far as we know.  But this secret fine business was in contrast to the family friendly and openness they professed was part of the sport.

But that's OK.

And it seems the drivers like it too.  Kevin Harvick says that this new policy will help make things clearer.

In the past, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin have found themselves on the receiving end of some of these unspoken fines from things they've said about different aspects of the racing.

In one way, it's a bit disappointing that the drivers can't speak their minds.  It gives the fans a fascinating insight to the real, dirty inside of the sport.