Sprint All-Star Race Preview

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Fan4Racing

Photo – Getty Images

By Jason Schultz

Race Info

Date- Saturday May 19^th, 2012

Location- Charlotte, North Carolina

Estimated Start Time- 9:00 PM EST

Distance- 5 Segments, First 4 Segments are 20 laps each, last segment is 10 laps (90 Laps Total)

Broadcast TV-SPEED

Broadcast Radio- MRN

Weather Forecast

High 76 F Low 56 F

Chance of rain 10%

Partly Cloudy

Past Race Winners

2011- Carl Edwards

2010- Kurt Busch

2009- Tony Stewart

2008- Kasey Kahne

2007- Kevin Harvick

Notables yet to win race

Denny Hamlin

Greg Biffle

Kyle Busch

Brad Keselowski

Event Schedule

All-Star Race Practice 1:30 PM EST Friday on SPEED

All-Star Race Qualifying 6:00 PM EST Friday on SPEED

All-Star Race 9:00 PM EST Saturday on SPEED

Next Race- Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina

Entry List

1. Trevor Bayne (#21)

2. Carl Edwards (#99)

3. Kyle Busch (#18)

4. Jeff Gordon (#24)

5. Kevin Harvick (#29)

6. Matt Kenseth (#17)

7. Jimmie Johnson (#48)

8. Regan Smith (#78)

9. Brad Keselowski (#2)

10. Denny Hamlin (#11)

11. Kurt Busch (#51)

12. David Ragan (#34)

13. Ryan Newman (#39)

14. Paul Menard (#27)

15. Marcos Ambrose (#9)

16. Tony Stewart (#14)

17. Clint Bowyer (#15)

18. Kasey Kahne (#5)

19. Greg Biffle (#16)

20. Mark Martin (#55)

21. Sprint Showdown Winner

22. Sprint Showdown Runner-Up

23. Sprint Fan Vote Winner

Sprint Showdown Preview

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Fan4Racing

Photo – Getty Images

By Jason Schultz

Sprint Showdown

The winner and the runner-up in the Sprint Showdown will advance to the Sprint All-Star Race later that night. Also the winner of the Sprint Fan Vote will advance to the All-Star Race.

Race Info

Date- Saturday May 19^th, 2012

Location- Charlotte, North Carolina

Start Time- 7:30 PM EST

Distance- 2 20-Lap Segments

Broadcast TV- SPEED

Broadcast Radio- MRN

Weather Forecast

High 76 F Low 56 F

Chance of rain- 10%

Partly Cloudy

Past Race Winners

2011- David Ragan

2010- Martin Truex Jr

2009- Sam Hornish Jr.

2008- A.J Allmendinger

2007- Martin Truex Jr.

Last Year’s Fan Vote Winner

2011- Dale Earnhardt Jr.

News & Notes

Martin Truex Jr. looking to win third Sprint Showdown

Dale Earnhardt Jr. looks to race his way into the All-Star Race

A.J Allmendinger looks for second showdown victory

Event Schedule

Showdown Practice 12:00 PM EST Friday on SPEED

Showdown Qualifying 5:00 PM EST Friday on SPEED

Sprint Showdown 7:00 PM EST Saturday on SPEED

Entry List via Nascar.com

CAR	DRIVER	HOMETOWN	MAKE	SPONSOR	OWNER
1	Jamie McMurray	Joplin, MO	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Allstate	Felix Sabates
10	David Reutimann	Zephyrhills, FL	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Tommy Baldwin
13	Casey Mears	Bakersfield, CA	Ford	GEICO	Bob Germain
20	Joey Logano	Middletown, CT	Toyota	The Home Depot	Joe Gibbs
22	AJ Allmendinger	Los Gatos, CA	Dodge	Pennzoil	Walter Czarnecki
26	Josh Wise*	Riverside, CA	Ford	MDS Transport	Jerry Freeze
30	David Stremme	South Bend, IN	Toyota	Inception Motorsports	Kevin Buckler
31	Jeff Burton	South Boston, VA	Chevrolet	CAT / BB&T	Richard Childress
33	Stephen Leicht*	Asheville, NC	Chevrolet	Little Joes A utos.com	Richard Childress
36	Tony Raines	La Porte, IN	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Allan Heinke
37	Timmy Hill	Port Tobacco, MD	Ford	Max Q Motorsports	Larry Gunselman
38	David Gilliland	Riverside, CA	Ford	Front Row Motorsports	Brad Jenkins
42	Juan Montoya	Bogota, Colombia	Chevrolet	Target	Chip Ganassi
43	Aric Almirola	Tampa, FL	Ford	Smithfield	Richard Petty
47	Bobby Labonte	Corpus Christi, TX	Toyota	Kingsford	Tad Geschickter
56	Martin Truex Jr.	Mayetta, NJ	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	Michael Waltrip
83	Landon Cassill	Cedar Rapids, IA	Toyota	Burger King	Thomas Ueberall
87	Joe Nemechek	Lakeland, FL	Toyota	AMFMEnergy.com / Pellet & Wood Stoves	Andrea Nemechek
88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Kannapolis, NC	Chevrolet	Dale Jr. Foundation / National Guard / Diet Mountain Dew	Rick Hendrick
93	Travis Kvapil	Janesville, WI	Toyota	Burger King / Dr Pepper	Thomas Ueberall
19	Mike Bliss	Milwaukie, OR	Toyota	Humphrey Smith Racing	Randy Humphrey
95	Scott Speed	Manteca, CA	Ford	Jordan’s Truck Sales	Bob Leavine
49	J.J. Yeley	Phoenix, AZ	Toyota	JPO Absorbents / America Israel Racing	Jay Robinson

Sprint Cup Pit Crew Challenge Preview

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Fan4Racing

Thursday, May 17 at 8pm ET, SPEED delivers coverage of the popular NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge from Time Warner Cable Arena in uptown Charlotte

If there is one place in NASCAR that you’ll see teamwork, it’s in the pits with all the crew members working proficiently together.

On the eve of the 8^th annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Pit Crew Challenge, I’m particularly excited to make the trip to Charlotte and watch the unsung heroes of NASCAR settle the 2012 ‘best on pit road’ contest with team and individual awards.

This will be my third year attending the event and I find myself looking forward to it more than any other NASCAR event during the season. Why? Because I enjoy watching really talented people put forth 100% effort to get results. I enjoy seeing the camaraderie of a ‘team’ and I take pleasure in watching people who don’t normally get openly praised for doing a good job, get the celebration they deserve. Not to mention, as a female fan, the testosterone that fills the air during the event is hypnotizing. The male fans will love seeing the competition of the teams in action.

If you haven’t been to a pit crew challenge, I suggest you reschedule your evening plans and get tickets for this Thursday’s May 17th event. It will open your eyes to things that happen on pit road during the race that you would never have picked up on before. You’ll get addicted to the personalities coming out in these men during the competition. And for the rest of the year you’ll hear the whirl of the air-gun ringing in your ears. Ok, well that last part isn’t that exciting, but you’ll still be glad you went anyway.

The Pit Crew competition doesn’t mirror an actual race. Think of it more as a ‘skills competition’ type of setup. The arena is split horizontally for a head-to-head, two-team competition throughout the rounds. There are three Sprint-sponsored stationary cars on both sides, in addition to each team having a team-sponsored car in the middle. The stationary cars allow each team to break out into a “Gas Man” station, a “Jack Man” station, and a “Tire carrier/changer” station.

As the time clock starts, each member finishes their individual skill, jumps over a low pit road wall, and collectively push their team sponsored car across a finish line. The time is scored and any penalties are taken for any gas spills, if the car is not raised off the ground to a specific height, or if there are any loose lug nuts on the car. Any penalty, just like in the weekly races, can lose the competition for a team.

Some interesting tidbits you’ll learn about during the competition:
For this competition, the drivers are normally not inside the car. There is a small ‘pit box’ available for the pit crew coaches, drivers, and/or crew chiefs to cheer on the drivers. Sometimes I get frustrated when I don’t see a driver come out and support their team, but as the years have continued more and more drivers are there to pump them up and celebrate with them. The fans are not use to seeing drivers outside of their fire suits and in a casual setting, so having them in jeans and t-shirts is an unusual experience.

Sitting inside the team sponsored car that is rolled over the finish line is normally the wife or girlfriend of a driver. Since the car is being pushed across the finish line by the crew – normally the difference between the teams finish times are in tenths or hundreds of a second – every pound matters. So you might see Mark Martin in the car, but don’t expect Tony Stewart to be hanging out in there.

Another item to keep an eye out for, is the special tape put on the car. It reminds me of black sand paper. These strips are strategically placed on areas outside of the car so crew members can get traction as they pull/push the car from a stationary position through to the finish line.

When you pay attention to all the details going on during the competition, you realize the remarkable strategies these teams put into place to get every tenth of a second.

One of the neatest things I see throughout the night is the ‘high fives’ and ‘fist bumps’ between competitors. These guys are out there to win but to also have fellowship with their peers.

You can see the family atmosphere as you look around the crowd and you know this is one of the places these pit crews take pride in bringing their wives, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers and other relatives to get an inside scoop of what they do on ‘workdays,’ away from home.

The returning champions are the #11 Denny Hamlin FedEx team. They have won both times that I’ve been to the pit crew challenge which leads me to believe, Denny’s team should be paying my way into the competition as their #LuckyCharm. The 2012 #11 team will not change from the 2011 roster. Over the past two years there have been few changes in their lineup:

Scott Wood -Gas man

Justin White/2011 – Catch man

John Eicher/2010 – Catch man

Nate Bolling – Jack man

Heath Cherry – RT Carrier

Brandon Pegram – FT Carrier

Mike Hicks – RT 2011/FT 2010 Carrier

Nick Krizmanich – 2011 FT Changer

Jon Serman – 2010 RT Changer

The #11 team have made it at least to the quarter finals in the past four years so momentum is on their side. Over the past seven years the #11 team is the only repeat winner. Other winning teams include

2005 #9 Dodge – Kasey Kahne team

2006, #1 Bass Pro Chevrolet – Jamie McMurray team

2007 #12 Alltel Dodge – Ryan Newman team

2008 #83 Red Bull Toyota – Brian Vickers team

2009 #31 CAT Chevrolet – Jeff Burton team

In looking at the individual competitions it would be hard not to put Nick O’Dell from the #18 M&M Toyota at the top of the list. He’s won three individual competitions as front tire changer in 2007, 2008, and 2010.

There are a few other individuals who can tie Nick for most individual wins this year.

Jason Pulver – FT Changer #29 Kevin Harvick team – has two wins in 2006 and 2011.

Jeff Kerr – Jackman for #5 Kasey Kahne team – has two in 2006 and 2009.

Dustin Necaise – RT Changer for #29 Kevin Harvick team, has back to back wins and momentum from 2010 and 2011.

Matt Kreuter would have a unique claim if he won a third individual competition. Matt recently switched to position of Gas man for the #27 Paul Menard’s team after winning back to back individual competitions as #33 Clint Bowyer team RT Carrier in 2010 and 2011. So his win would not only mean back-to-back-to-back wins, but with two separate teams and in two different positions as a crewman.

So pick your team, pick your man, pick your competition, but I suggest you go out and watch the teamwork these guys exhibit throughout the competition.

See you there!

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their hard work. For if one of them should fall, the other one can raise his partner up. But how will it be with just the one who falls when there is not another to raise him up? – Ecclesiastes 4:9,10

By Contributing Blogger Susanne Bowyer

28th Annual NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Weekend

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Fan4Racing

NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge and Camping World Truck Series race leads into All-Star Weekend on SPEED.

“This is an event that not only is highlighted on all NASCAR fans’ calendars, but on the SPEED calendar as well,” said SPEED President Scott Ackerson. “It’s our biggest event of the year, it’s being held in our own backyard and we plan to cover the week better than we have ever done before … it simply doesn’t get any bigger than that.”

Throughout the week leading up to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, SPEED’s regular lineup of NASCAR programming including NASCAR Race Hub, Trackside, NASCAR Live! and SPEED Center will deliver on the All-Star theme.

Fans will not want to miss events leading up the the All-Star weekend including, the exciting Pit Crew Challenge on Thursday and the Camping World Truck Series returning to the track on Friday night.

On Thursday, May 17 at 8pm ET, coverage begins with the popular NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge from Time Warner Cable Arena in uptown Charlotte. Pit Crews from all of the teams eligible for the All-Star Race compete for bragging rights and the No. 1 pit stall selection for Saturday’s race. Fans can learn more about the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge at their website.

Pit Crew Challenge in action
Photo – Susanne Bowyer

Fans can also check out Susanne Bowyer’s Pit Crew Challenge Preview at Fan4Racing. This is a great guide for those attending for the first time, giving viewers some ideas of what to look for along with a little history of the event.

Also, Jason Schultz’s Showdown and All-Star race Previews will be posted this week on Fan4Racing. So be sure to check it out too.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes to the track on Friday, May 18 with live coverage of practice at 10:30am ET, qualifying at 4pm ET, pre-race with Krista Voda and NCWTS Setup at 7:30pm ET. The green flag is expected to wave at 8pm ET. Coming off its most-watched season ever, Nielsen ratings for the Truck series broadcasts are up again in 2012, with Rick Allen, Michael Waltrip and Phil Parsons calling the action from the booth and Hermie Sadler and Ray Dunlap covering the pits.

Television coverage of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on May 19th will begin at 3:30pm ET with a special All-Star edition of SPEED Center.

All-Star pre-race begins at 4pm ET with a three-hour edition of NASCAR RaceDay Fueled by Sunoco, as hosts John Roberts, Kyle Petty and Larry McReynolds build anticipation for the evening with a wide variety of guests and look at the 20th anniversary of “One Hot Night” and 25th anniversary of the famed “Pass in the Grass.” Live racing begins at 7pm with the Sprint Showdown, the final opportunity for drivers to race their way into the main event.

Hosted by Krista Voda, Jeff Hammond and McReynolds, coverage of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race begins at 9pm ET, with Mike Joy, NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip and McReynolds calling the action, Voda, Hammond and Michael Waltrip in the “Hollywood Hotel” and Dr. Dick Berggren, Matt Yocum and Steve Byrnes working the pits.

The Social Garage

The Social Garage returns as the network sets up shop just outside the Cup garage, offering a location for members of the NASCAR family – including drivers, crew chiefs, crew members, NASCAR officials, celebrities and on-air personalities – a comfortable setting to communicate with fans through multiple social media outlets, including Twitter and the hash tag #SprintAllStar. Fans can visit the SPEED Social Garage website for more information.

Fans also can enter for the chance to win $10,000 on the NASCAR on SPEED Facebook page, with special codes offered during coverage of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race for more chances to win.

NASCAR Sprint All-Star Week on SPEED – All times ET and subject to change

Thursday, May 17

NASCAR Race Hub 6pm – 7pm
SPEED Center 7pm – 8pm
NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge 8pm – 10:30pm
Emmy-award winning Inside the Headsets replay 10:30pm – 11pm

Friday, May 18

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice 10:30am – Noon
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ShowDown practice Noon – 1:30pm
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star practice 1:30pm -3pm
Trackside 3pm – 4pm
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying 4pm – 5pm
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star qualifying 6pm – 7:30pm
NCWTS Setup with Krista Voda 7:30pm to 8pm
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race 8pm – 10:30pm
SPEED Center 10:30pm – 11pm

Saturday, May 19

NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge replay Noon – 2:30pm
Emmy-award winning Inside the Headsets replay 2:30pm – 3pm
NASCAR Performance 3pm – 3:30pm
SPEED Center 3:30pm – 4pm
NASCAR RaceDay Fueled by Sunoco 4pm – 7pm
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race 7pm – 11pm
NASCAR Victory Lane 11:30pm – Midnight

Source: SPEED-Press Release

Fan at the Track – Darlington Raceway

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Fan4Racing

Michelle began watching NASCAR in 1987 and loves NASCAR overall and enjoys almost all the drivers. Hendrick Motorsports is her favorite team and her favorite drivers are Earnhardt Sr. and Jr., Elliott Sadler, Austin Dillon, Ron Hornaday and Todd Bodine.

As for other sports, Michelle also loves Clemson Tiger Football and the Green Bay Packers – Redskins too.

This was Michelle’s first trip to Darlington and she was very happy to share these photos of her experience at the track. She had lots to see along the way. Enjoy!

Getting Started out right for a big weekend