Irwindale Cancels Season and Shuts Down

In a sad state of affairs, the news on the street is that Toyota Speedway, aka, Irwindale Speedway, has canceled its 2012 season and shut down. They have even taken down their own website.  Reports are that last Saturday workers were dismantling the stands and offices being emptied.

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Irwindale shutting down is a surprise to me.  This was the track where I first saw a track with different degrees of banking... long before Homestead every changed their configuration.  When they installed the variable banking, it allowed 1 and 2 line racing to become 3-wide... at a short track.  This 3-wide racing was seen during a Toyota All-Star Showdown event.

Speaking of which, this is the track that the NASCAR All-Star Showdown would be televised from each year.  This is the track that Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano and the likes would come to.

It's also the track where I got my hands on a Legends car in a "school session" and finally learned how it felt to be a racer as that little pocket rocket would squiggle through corners as the front end would grab and skid alternately through the entire turn.  It doesn't seem like much, doing that at 60 or 70 mph, but if you saw the size of the car, the small Legends track inside of the main Irwindale track, you'd get it.

It was here I got yelled at for not sticking to the course inside the school cones.  (But damn it, I get faster lap times up against the wall people!!!)

It was here that I had to sneak out of work one day (cough, cough, I'm not feeling good!) because I had a chance to take a Custom Jack Roush Ford Mustang through its paces on the track.  (Wow!)  It's not often you stomp on the gas and go "umfph" verbally from behind the wheel.

Press Teleconference Call with NASCAR Kasey Kahne

Last week NASCAR held a press teleconference with Kasey Kahne and the press.  In the teleconference, Kasey chatted about his upcoming time in the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet with Hendrick Motorsports, working with Kenny Francis, the idea of points swapping, and a few other tidbits.  Check it out...

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On Coming Into the Fold of Hendrick Motorsports:

 

The last year Kasey spent driving for Red Bull, was a year of anticipation of where he was headed.  Finally sitting in the No. 5 car at the Daytona testing it started to feel real.

Kasey Kahne thinks that being in the same garage as the 24 team is "really good."  (He's such an understater!)  He calls it fun to chat with Jeff Gordon and seeing how they sometimes look at the same thing in different ways is enlightening.  He feels that working with Gordon is a great opportunity.

Kasey is pretty excited about coming to Daytona with a team that has a great record at the track and is excited about qualifying.  Kasey Kahne's first impressions of Hendrick Motorsports was "very very impressed," with a lot going on.

With his contract with HMS, he has a short-term form of stability and it's something he hasn't had to date.  Up to this point in time, he's learned a lot and now is the time to take advantage of what he's learned and the situation he's in now.

Kasey Kahne Recovering From Knee Surgery

-Kasey Kahne had impromptu knee surgery yesterday, Friday, February 10th, 2012, after having seen a doctor for swelling of the knee the day before.  The surgery was to fix a torn cartilage in his left knee.

My first thought while reading the news was, how perfect... brand new driving gig in the Hendrick No.5  and you have to have knee surgery just before you hope in the car?  Wow.   But never fear gang.

Hendrick Motorsports says they're not getting a backup driver for Kasey Kahne and that he'll be ready for Daytona in the upcoming week.

If you recall, he's had knee surgery before.  In 2011 he was back at racing within the week of cartilage surgery.

These drivers are pretty tough cookies with having their surgeries and getting back in the game pretty fast.  Or broken ankles or what not.

This should be interesting.

[Fox News:  Kasey Kahne Knee Surgery ]

News About David Ragan, & Go Canada's New Team Name

Check Out This NASCAR News About David Ragan, & Go Canada's New Team Name.  Which, by the way, is great news to see David getting seat time!

Via Press Release

Go Canada Racing to become GC Motorsports International

Toronto, ON, Effective Feb15th, 2012 Go Canada Racing will become GC Motorsports International (GCMI).

"The name change is a result of numerous developments in the off-season and more clearly represents our company, our partners, drivers and sponsors going forward." said team owner Steve Meehan.  In 2012 the team will continue to compete in the NASCAR Nationwide Series with drivers from both Canada and the United States.

2012 will begin with David Ragan, last season's winner of the Coke Zero 400 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, behind the wheel at Daytona.

"I am really excited to be kicking off the 2012 Nationwide season for GCMI. I have known many of the team members for quite some time; it will be great to work with them again. This group has put together many winning efforts in the past and I plan on being part of their winning efforts in the future, hopefully starting with Daytona." Says David Ragan.

The team will also launch an effort in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series for 2012. GC Motorsports International will team up with Dave Jacombs Racing to form GC Motorsports Canada. The team plans on fielding a two car effort anchored by two time series champion Andrew Ranger.

Andrew Ranger will also return to the Nationwide team this year. Andrew will compete in a number of Nationwide Races Including the series only Canadian race, the Napa Auto Parts 200 in Montreal.

The team is extremely excited about the program going into 2012, and expects to make more announcements about drivers and sponsors in the coming weeks.

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Speed Channel's Daytona Coverage

For the 2012 Daytona 500 month, Fox's Speed channel has quite a bit of NASCAR coverage planned, including a piece on remembering Dale Earnhardt.  Overall, it's reportedly about 100 hours of television programming.

Speed's coverage will include 16 events from the track and 44 different shows from various studios.

First up, starting Feb 13th, is NASCAR Race Hub.  There will also be 8 Sprint Cup practice sessions, 2 qualifying races plus coverage of the Budweiser Shootout practices...

There will also be the ARCA race, the Camping World Truck Series events.

There's even a Dale Earnhardt special airing late, on February 17th.

Check out the TV coverage from Daytona from Speed Channel:

Red Bull Assets In Play, Landon Cassill Driving

Jennar Fryer is Treaking (Twitter & Breaking) some news that Landon Cassill will be driving the No. 83, with Doug Richert as his crew chief.  The No. 83 will come into the sport with the points that Red Bull racing accrued last year for the No. 83 efforts.

Also,

That there will be a second car.

At the time of Jenna's tweets, but she was hearing that Travis Kvapil could be the driver the second car.  There's no team name yet, but she reports that the team is owned by former TRG investors.

It's good to see that the team is getting back out there.  That means Cassill's got a job, probably Kvapil if the NASCAR news is accurate and some other folks will be keeping their jobs and a few others will be getting new ones.

twitter.com: JennaFryer tweet#1
twitter.com: JennaFryer t#2

Daytona 500 Qualifying Explained - I Think!

Some non fans ask why NASCAR has it's "Super Bowl" (the Daytona 500) at the front of the season instead of wrapping it up.  The only thing I can come up with is that it makes the anticipation for the new season so much more exciting than just starting the NASCAR season at just any track, but at the track that started it all!

(UPDATE Feb 2013: The format of qualifying below is from the 2012 season.  I've added the process for qualifying for the 2013 season over on my parent site.  The qualifying process is slightly different this year!  Check out Qualifying for the 2013 Daytona 500 at this site's parent website, Brusimm.com.)

It seems right.

Daytona starts the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season with the 'Shootout at Daytona,' (on Feb 18, 2012).  That's just a fun event for fans.  After that race, we then have pole qualifying, followed by the 2 Gatorade Duels (Feb 23, 2012) to set the field for the Daytona 500, which takes place on Feb. 26, 2012 on FOX, at 1 p.m. ET.

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Qualifying Format for the Daytona 500

Unlike most races where everyone usually takes one day to compete in timed lap trials, teams have to fight for their starting position within the Daytona 500.

On Daytona 500 Qualifying Day, each team runs two laps, using the fastest lap as their qualifying time.  The two teams that set the fastest two times, become the front row starters for the Daytona 500.

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Gatorade Duels
After qualifying, are the Gatorade Duels, which are two 150-mile qualifying races. 

The top-35 in owners points from last year are placed in the field*, where teams with odd-numbered owner points are assigned to the first race, even numbered points, the other qualifying race.

The fields are further filled out with teams outside last year's top-35 in owners points, based on their qualifying day performance.

*Pole position for these races are given to the two cars that snagged the front row in qualifying.  Then the fields are allocated in their respective starting grid via the competitors qualifying speeds.

THE THREE STOOGES to Fly The Daytona 500 Green Flag

If you're a comedy fan and like The Three Stooges, did you know that Twentieth Century Fox is remaking the franchise?  Yep... I've seen the trailer,  but it didn't really have the vibe I thought it would have.  BUT if the idea of the franchise appeals to you...

Check out the press snippet:

Sean Hayes, Chris Diamantopoulos, and Will Sasso -- starring as Larry, Moe & Curly – in the all new The Three Stooges movie from Twentieth Century Fox, will start the action by delivering the green flag at the Daytona 500, NASCAR's most prestigious race, on Sunday, February 26th (FOX, 1 p.m. ET).

See the stooges deliver the Green Flag while co-stars and Daytona 500 Marshalls Jane Lynch and Kate Upton will deliver the four most famous words in motorsports – "Drivers, start your engines." 

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Visit www.threestooges.com and Facebook (www.facebook.com/thethreestooges) for all the latest Three Stooges movie news.
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Will The New NASCAR Points System Pay Out Again in 2012?

The 2011 Sprint Cup Series season had an incredible points finish.  But in all the hoopla, did anyone notice the other 10 or 11 top-10 spots in the points in all the different NASCAR National race series?

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Last year had some of the best racing in NASCAR that I've seen in a long time.  The race-starts were fun, the many restarts, though begrudged by many, were also fun.  And there were quite a few exciting finishes last year.  The only dark mark on the television viewing experience is what TV fans call the snoozer middle section of most races, yet overall it was a fun 2011 season.

One of the fun factors for the season was that NASCAR went to a new points system last year.  And I presume, the new system did the job it was intended to do and that's give fans a very exciting season ending fight, with what appeared to be tighter appearing point spreads.

And yes, the Sprint Cup Series season ended needing a tie-breaker.  Admittedly, the sleeping giant called Stewart-Haas Racing woke up and pile-drove to the front of the charts and that's what made it incredibly exciting.  They were the true star of this action-adventure points race.

But aside from that awesome media frenzy of fun, there was something that nagged at the back of my mind to the point of worry.

In the Nationwide Series, there was a 45-point difference between 1st and 2nd.  Then 117 point spread between the points leader and third place.

In the Camping World Truck Series, there was a 6-point difference between 1st and 2nd...  and 29 points between 1st and third.  (OK, that wasn't so bad.)

Kyle Busch Motorsports Retains Flexco

For the Kyle Busch fan out there, I'm sure you'll be interested to know that his Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) has retained Flexco as an associate sponsor on their No. 18 Toyota Tundra in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team.

For fans, it's good to see that folks are seeing past last year's debacle with Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday Jr..

But then again, KBM has Jason Leffler being the primary driver for the truck in 2012.  Leffler is a spitfire in his own way, so we'll see how the team fares!

Check out the press release below:

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MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 8, 2012) - Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) announces today that Flexco, the worldwide leader in the manufacturing of belt conveyer products, will return as a corporate partner for the 2012 season. The Illinois-based company will continue as a season-long associate sponsor on KBM's No. 18 Tundra in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, which will be driven primarily by veteran wheelman Jason Leffler.

Since becoming a KBM corporate partner in 2010, Flexco has achieved stronger customer partnerships by teaming with one of the most successful teams in all of NASCAR. In addition to logo placement on the No. 18 Tundra, the company's sales representatives have strengthened relationships with customers by providing behind-the-scenes access to Truck Series races. The global company also invited KBM team owner-driver Kyle Busch to personally meet with customers at one of the largest mining shows in North America, CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2011.