The Frontstretch Newsletter: Monday, December 14th BREAKING NEWS ON KURT BUSCH
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December 14th, 2009
Volume III, Edition CCXXXIV
Editor's Note: Wondering where the Newsletter was these last couple of days? Don't forget, it's the offseason now ... so we've scaled down to once a week, with editions coming out sometime on Mondays. The next edition of the Newsletter will head your way on Monday, December 21st.
Today's Top News
by Tom Bowles and Phil Allaway
Breaking News: Addington Named Full-Time Crew Chief For Kurt Busch In 2010
It took less than two years for the relationship between Kyle Busch and Steve Addington to hit a sour note. But not to worry, Steve; when it comes to your second marriage, turns out the apple still doesn't fall far from the tree.
Addington was officially named crew chief for Kyle's brother Kurt Monday, taking the helm of the No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge team in a multi-year deal. After winning a dozen races with the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, the veteran hopes to rekindle the magic with an organization that finished fourth in the championship standings in 2009 -- the highest of anyone without an association to Hendrick Motorsports.
"Steve Addington has a proven track record of success in NASCAR and we are excited to welcome him to Penske Racing," said team owner Roger Penske. "By adding Steve to the winning Miller Lite team and working closely with Kurt, we believe we have the combination in place to compete for a championship as we head into the 2010 season."
For the 45-year-old Addington, it's a case of "Brotherly Love" as he'll hope to restrain the temperamental Kurt inside the driver's seat in the same way he was able to corral his brother into championship contention in 2008. With the pieces in place to build a solid program, he's enthusiastic about the long-term prospects as he looks to make the most of what's believed to be a three-year deal.
"I am really looking forward to working with Penske Racing, Kurt Busch and the Miller Lite Dodge team," said Addington. "This a championship-caliber team with a great driver and with the resources and experience at Penske Racing, we have the opportunity to add to the team's success starting next season."
Kurt Busch won the championship in 2004 with Jack Roush but has made the Chase in just two out of his four years with Penske. He has 20 wins, 71 top 5s, and 136 top 10s in 328 career starts at the Cup level.
Patrick to JR Motorsports part-time in 2010, participates in first NASCAR test
As reported all over the internet, Danica Patrick finally made it official on Tuesday, signing a two-year deal with JR Motorsports that includes 10-12 Nationwide races per year. Patrick's new venture also includes one race (the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona) in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Re/MAX and Menards -- an event that'll serve as her de facto stock car debut February 6th.
Patrick will be driving a No. 7 (re-numbered from 5) Chevrolet Impala with sponsorship from GoDaddy.com, the internet's largest domain registrar. GoDaddy.com is also Patrick's primary sponsor in the Izod IndyCar Series, and has pledged a series of ads to help publicize Danica's NASCAR venture. Two of those ads are scheduled to appear in the Super Bowl just two weeks before the Daytona 500 on February 14th, raising the sport's profile after a year filled with declining ratings and negative storylines permeating the national media.
There's no word on an official schedule of stock car races for Patrick, although most if not all her Nationwide starts will be grouped together before and after her full-time slate of IndyCar events with Michael Andretti. In addition, this past week, Patrick participated in her first NASCAR test. JR Motorsports rented the one mile Walt Disney World Speedway near Orlando, Florida to privately put Patrick behind the wheel of a No. 88 Chevrolet. No speeds were announced from the test sessions, but you can see a picture from it on Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s Facebook fan page.
During the press conference, GoDaddy.com CEO Bob Parsons made no secret of the fact the long-term goal would be to get Patrick in the Sprint Cup Series by 2012. While no definitive plan is in place yet, Mark Martin will retire from the seat of the GoDaddy.com-sponsored No. 5 car at the end of 2011, providing the perfect transition for Patrick to make her way to the sport's top level.
Kyle Busch announces his Purchase of Xpress Motorsports, formation of his own Camping World Truck team
On Friday, Kyle Busch held a press conference to announce that he will be entering two full-time teams in the Camping World Truck Series for the 2010 season, creating a new organization known as Kyle Busch Motorsports. Busch will once again run part-time, sharing the driving duties in the No. 18 Toyota with Brian Ickler -- a driver who he also shared a ride with in the No. 51 for Billy Ballew Motorsports last season. Sponsorship for the No. 18 will be provided by Miccosukee Gaming, moving over from the BBM camp as well in order to stay aligned with Busch.
The second truck, numbered No. 56, will be driven by sophomore Tayler Malsam and carry sponsorship from ActivWater. Malsam moves over from Randy Moss Motorsports, where he scored one top 5 and 10 top 10s en route to 12th in the championship standings. The original plan for the team was to run three full-time trucks, and if sponsorship comes through that will still happen for 2010 -- with 2008 Craftsman Truck Series champion Johnny Benson behind the wheel.
Equipment for the team will come in part from the former XPress Motorsports, whose shop Busch has leased and will run out of until his own shop, under construction, is completed in early Spring. Joining the team behind the scenes is 2009 Camping World Truck Series
Champion Crew Chief Rick Ren, who will serve as the team's Director of
Competition after years of being Ron Hornaday's crew chief at Kevin Harvick, Inc.
Kentucky Speedway Loses Anti-Trust Case
On Friday, a three judge panel at the United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation (ISC) did not violate federal anti-trust laws by refusing to grant Kentucky Speedway a date on the Sprint Cup Series schedule. The panel effectively stated in their opinion that the speedway failed to prove that NASCAR and ISC colluded together to keep them off the Sprint Cup schedule.
NASCAR is happy for their victory in the case and is anxious to move on.
“NASCAR is pleased the court treated auto racing like other sports and acknowledged it's right to choose where and when to hold events,” NASCAR PR representative Ramsey Poston said on Friday. “However, we are happy to discuss alternatives with the track owners for 2011 and beyond as they relate to NASCAR's realignment plans.”
For former owner Jerry Carroll, it’s a bittersweet defeat.
“We still think we're right, but the judges have talked and made their decision,” Carroll said after the decision was announced. Carroll stated that he would meet with the other former track owners to discuss their potential options next week, but most likely, this decision is the end of the case against NASCAR and ISC.
During the proceedings, Carroll sold the race track to Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) for $78 million. New track owner O. Burton Smith tried to get Carroll to drop the case after purchasing the track, but without success. Smith is very pleased with the verdict, referring to it as “...an early Christmas present.”
Now that the case is over, Smith is free to put plans in motion for the track to get a Sprint Cup date as soon as 2011. Since NASCAR has no plans to add a 37th Sprint Cup race to the schedule, Smith has two options. One, he could buy a track and move a date to Kentucky. A likely target of such a move would be Dover, since parent company Dover Motorsports, Inc. is currently in the midst of financial problems.
The other option would be to move a date to Kentucky from one of SMI’s other tracks. At the present time, SMI owns tracks in Hampton, Georgia (Atlanta Motor Speedway), Bristol, Tennessee (Bristol Motor Speedway), Concord, North Carolina (Charlotte Motor Speedway), Loudon, New Hampshire (New Hampshire Motor Speedway), Las Vegas, Nevada (Las Vegas Motor Speedway), Sonoma, California (Infineon Raceway) and Fort Worth, Texas (Texas Motor Speedway). These tracks currently hold 12 of the 36 races on the Sprint Cup schedule, and NASCAR has stated in the past that it is permissible for track owners to shift races from one property to another within their portfolio.
RPM President Russell Out
FoxSports.com's Lee Spencer is reporting that Rick Russell, President of Richard Petty Motorsports, has left the team, effective immediately. Russell has been with RPM since its formation at the end of 2000, emerging from the remnants of Bill Elliott's old race team to form Dodge's first factory-sponsored effort.
This move was initiated solely as a result of the RPM-Yates merger. Max Jones, President of Yates Racing, will become the president of the new organization as they switch to Ford full-time in 2010.
Jim Hunter has Lung Cancer
ESPN.com's David Newton reported on Thursday that Jim Hunter, NASCAR's Vice President of Corporate Communications, has been diagnosed with Small-cell Cancer of the right lung and is currently undergoing treatment. This diagnosis was first revealed to Hunter back around Halloween, and he hasn't been back to the track since.
Hunter has worked within the sport for over 30 years, one of the "old guard" under Bill France, Jr. that was largely responsible for managing the sport's explosive growth in the 1980s and 1990s.
RCR pit crew member in hospital due to complications from H1N1 Flu
On Monday, Richard Childress Racing (RCR) announced that D.J. Richardson, rear tire changer on the No. 29 Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series, has been hospitalized at Health Alliance Hospital in Leominster, Massachusetts due to complications from the H1N1 flu, often referred to as the "Swine Flu."
According to RCR's press release, Richardson contracted the H1N1 flu during a trip to Massachusetts for Thanksgivin, where his condition worsened due to the additional onset of pneumonia. Sadly, of all the people that have died as a result of the H1N1 flu over the past few months, an additional disease affecting the flu-afflicted patient has typically been the bigger problem.
Richardson went to the Emergency Room at Health Alliance Hospital to be evaluated, and was quickly admitted to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. As of now, he is still in the hospital and no updates have been released on his condition.
Charlotte Observer wins case to force Brian France lawsuit documents unsealed
These documents, concerning NASCAR CEO Brian France and his ex-wife, Megan, reveal details of their private lives within a suit against Megan which pertained to their divorce settlement. France's lawyers argued there was no matter of public interest served in revealing that information, as well as noting unsealing these documents would pose a threat to a confidentiality agreement that Brian and Megan both signed in late 2007.
France's attorneys will appeal this ruling to the North Carolina Court of Appeals, although a ruling on the official unsealing of documents could come as early as this week.
Have news for Phil and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at ashl...@mail.com with a promising lead or tip.
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Q: Continuing our former Truck Series venue questions, and also touching upon the aforementioned Carrolls once again... before Kentucky Speedway was built, the Carrolls owned Louisville Motor Speedway, a 7/16ths of a mile track just south of the city of Louisville, Kentucky (It was shuttered shortly after Kentucky Speedway opened near Sparta, roughly 60 miles away). What was unique about this short track?
Check back next Monday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Last Monday's Answer:
A. Flemington Speedway was a very unusual 5/8ths-mile oval shaped like a square, with four equidistant turns and straights. The track had been in operation ever since 1915, but 1995, the first year of the then-NASCAR SuperTruck Series presented by Craftsman, was only its fifth year of operation as a paved racetrack. The trucks raced at Flemington for the first four years of the series, going for 150 laps at first before increasing the final distance to 200. Also, the track was one of just a handful which used large styrofoam blocks to act as a "soft wall" (Watkins Glen International and Oswego Speedway being additional examples) after a multitude of serious wrecks in the first couple of years of races after the track was paved.
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Coming Monday, December 21th in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Phil Allaway and more!
All this week on the Frontstretch:
With the season over, your favorite writers at Frontstretch are taking a long look back at the ups and downs of all the full-time wheelmen in the Sprint Cup Series. 27 drivers, including all 12 drivers in the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup, have already been profiled. This week, 15 more, in alphabetical order, will be chosen as our three-week series closes the book on the decade:
Today: Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, and Casey Mears
Wednesday: David Ragan, David Reutimann, and Elliott Sadler
Thursday: Regan Smith, Reed Sorenson, and Scott Speed
Friday: David Stremme, Martin Truex, Jr. and Michael Waltrip
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