Posts Tagged ‘Motorsports’

Tony Eury Jr. talks to his driver, Danica Patrick, during ARCA test at Daytona Friday. (Photo courtesy of NASCAR)

Danica Patrick seems to be the only thing in the racing  news. I think that the sport is putting way to much pressure on her to perform. We have seen drivers from other types of racing come over to NASCAR and fail.

I think the people and media need to let her do her thing.

Danica Patrick took her first laps in an ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards stock car during a rain-shortened test session at Daytona International Speedway on Friday afternoon.

Patrick, one of 26 drivers who posted a time during the 35-minute single car run session, was 12th quickest on the charts with a time of 51.095 seconds (176.142 mph) around the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

A trio of three cars fielded by long-time ARCA Racing Series team Venturini Motorsports comprised the top three positions in Friday’s test session, led by full-time series competitor Mikey Kile (49.804 seconds/180.708 mph).

The first of the three-day open test was shortened to just 35 minutes after rain plagued both morning and afternoon hours. Patrick was able to make just four laps at full speed during the session.

“It’s still a car once you get in it,” Patrick said during a post test media center press conference on Friday. “I feel most comfortable once I’m at speed actually. Everything from getting into the car to getting the car started – that part feels quite different to me. It’s not normal to me. The car gets pulled out to pit lane and you get in the car when its in its pit stall in an IndyCar and the getting strapped in part is something that I’ve been familiar with for a long time now so everything is a little bit different but once I get out there I feel good. I feel comfortable.

“These cars can run more lanes on the track. You’re all the way to the wall and the car is good to go there. It’s easier to drive there and in an IndyCar you can’t use quite as many lanes usually. That’s just one of the first things I noticed. The gear shifter has more travel. You have to pull something and no more paddle anymore. The clutch is long. It’s just different stuff. But I wouldn’t say that there is any instinctual stuff that is different which is the best part, right? Because I just get to be a driver and I get to do what I’m used to. I feel comfortable once I get going.

“It does have a little bit of a grassroots feeling because there are a lot of cars sort of unpainted and everything but it’s still a car that I need to learn and I’m unfamiliar with. I have a lot to learn so I’m glad I’m here.”

Although Patrick garnered most of the media attention during Friday testing at Daytona, Venturini Motorsports posted the fastest time overall with driver Mikey Kile, who plans on running the entire 2010 ARCA Racing Series.

“It’s good to unload off the trailer fast,” said Kile. “It was not a sticker run. It was a run in race trim. We didn’t get a lot of laps but this team worked hard during the off season. With three Venturini cars at the top of the charts it shows how hard they worked.”

Kile was followed on the charts by teammates Steve Arpin in the No. 55 Toyota (50.098 seconds/179.648 mph) and Daytona Beach, Florida native Alli Owens in the No 15 Chevrolet (50.375 mph/178.660 mph).

Brandon McReynolds, son of veteran NASCAR crew chief/SPEED commentator Larry McReynolds, was fourth fastest with a 50.375 second/178.660 mph lap around the 2.5-mile speedway during his first laps in an ARCA speedway car. McReynolds does not plan to compete in the February 6 Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 but will use this weekend’s test session to build his superspeedway racing resume and gain track time. He is testing with 2009 ARCA Car Owner Champion Eddie Sharp.

Joey Coulter rounded out the top-5 in his family-owned No. 16 Chevrolet with a 50.627 second/177.771 mph lap. Bryan Silas, Nick Igdalsky, Lance Fenton, Grant Enfinger and Matt Lofton rounded out the top-10.

ARCA Racing Series teams will return for two additional full days of testing on Saturday and Sunday.

Danicamania has arrived in full force.

Danica Patrick has yet to turn a wheel in competition in a stock car, but already she’s become the biggest story of the stock car off-season as she prepares to make her NASCAR debut.

Patrick, who will race a limited NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule in 2010 for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports squad, was at the team’s Mooresville, N.C., shop on Thursday for her first formal session with the NASCAR media.

Later in the day, she will fly to Daytona Beach, Fla., where this weekend she will take part in a three-day open ARCA test to help get her ready for her stock-car debut Feb. 6, 2010 in the season-opening ARCA event at Daytona International Speedway.

Joining Patrick at the event were Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt, Tony Eury Jr. and Sr. and Kelly Bires.

Patrick said she will race in as many as 13 NASCAR Nationwide Series races next year, starting Feb. 20 at Auto Club Speedway and then Feb. 27 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Undecided is whether she’ll compete in the season-opening NNS event at Daytona.

“We don’t want to over-commit and under-deliver,” said Patrick, who called the Daytona Nationwide event “basically a Cup race.”

Patricka, who tested last week in Orlando, said she’s ready for the challenge of driving a stock car. “Now it’s time for me to go do my job and do it well,” she said. “I’m pretty excited about this effort,” added Earnhardt.

Video Courtesy of Speed TV

Video courtesy of NASCAR.com

If team building is a step-by-step process, there’s no question the step Brian Vickers and his Red Bull Racing Team took in 2009 was a giant’s.

Vickers had never finished better than 15th in Cup points, never won more than two poles in a season or scored more than 10 top-10 finishes.

In 2009 Vickers’ career year came in only Red Bull’s third year of NASCAR existence, and his sixth full season in the league. The 2003 Nationwide champion scored his second career Cup victory, had six poles and logged a career-best 13 top-10 finishes.

And, he made the Chase for the Sprint Cup, getting to eighth before dropping back to 12th spot. But despite not finishing better than 11th, twice, with six results of 20th or worse in the 10 Chase races, Vickers had no doubt in assessing his campaign.

“No matter what happened [in the Chase] it’s hard to argue that it wasn’t a successful year and I still stand by that,” Vickers said. “We set our goals out at the beginning of the season to sit on poles, win races and be in the Chase. Racing for a championship within the Chase was not necessarily a goal we had, but obviously when you show up at the race track you want to win races and championships. That goes without saying, especially with the competitors that we are.

“Looking back upon the whole season, everything that we’ve gone through with Red Bull since its inception, I’m really proud of this year and proud of everybody at Red Bull for what we’ve accomplished.”

Surrounded by veterans

Vickers said maybe the season’s highlight was working with veteran crew chief Ryan Pemberton.

“Ryan obviously brought a lot to the team, brought more good people onboard,” Vickers said. “He’s brought a lot of knowledge and excitement and enthusiasm. I’ve really enjoyed working with Ryan. He’s very passionate about what he does. He’s good at it. He brought some knowledge and stuff to the team that didn’t exist before.”

What could go wrong, did

Two of the team’s five DNFs, four of them accidents, occurred in the Chase. But it was the arcane that truly blotted Vickers’ season.

“We were one of the best teams on the race track the 10 races leading up to the Chase. We had just about everything possibly go wrong that could go wrong in the Chase. We lost a solenoid. I’ve never heard of that. I talked to the engine builder and he said he’s seen it happen once in 20 years.

“We ripped a shock mount out of a chassis at California. When was the last time you heard of that happening? I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t. Nonetheless I look back on it and it was a good year for us. We learned a lot from it, grew a lot as a team, accomplished all of our goals and still learned a lot in the Chase.”

Randolph, who was most recently at the helm of the No. 07 at Richard Childress Racing, began his Cup career with Junior Johnson and has worked with organizations including Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Bill Davis Racing, and sat atop the pit box for Labonte in 2007 at Petty Enterprises. In their short time together, the pair garnered some strong finishes and are eager to renew their relationship under TRG Motorsports banner.

“I’m excited get started working with TRG. The new job brings me a new challenge, the opportunity to work with Bobby again and gives us the opportunity to bring that ‘David vs. Goliath’ story to life,” Randolph said. “Bobby and I are very similar individuals — we’ve always just clicked — and that’s something we hope to take advantage of.”

TRG Motorsports owner Kevin Buckler was pleased to add someone of Randolph’s caliber and experience level to lead the No. 71 team in only its second year of competition in the Sprint Cup Series.

“I’m really happy that we have added Doug to our organization because he completely fits the model we are building here,” Buckler said. “He brings a positive attitude, a lot of great experience, a past relationship with several of the guys in the shop and he’s got a successful working relationship with our driver and many people in the industry — all of those elements are key to building a successful team and we’re happy to have him on board.

“This sort of feels like the last piece of the puzzle is now in place and now it is game on and up to us to build our program in the ‘new model / new paradigm’ approach we have been talking about. This is going to be good.”

In November, TRG announced Labonte as its full-time driver for 2010 with sponsor TaxSlayer.com on board for a good portion of the season.