Yearly Archives: 2017

745 posts

Lee Montgomery, Michael Harker Join John Force Racing Public Relations Staff

NHRA
Lee Montgomery at 9 pm ET, Monday, January 16, 2017 Photo – JFR

Lee Montgomery is our guest on Fan4Racing NASCAR & Race Talk on Monday, January 16, 2017 at 9 pm ET. Call 929-477-1790 or tweet @Fan4RacingSite or @Sal_Sigala with any questions or comments during our LIVE broadcast.

John Force Racing has beefed up its media and public relations efforts with the hiring of Lee Montgomery and Michael Harker to its PR staff.

Montgomery and Harker, who will be based in the Brownsburg JFR shop, will lead the media outreach and public relations strategy for JFR and its four NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series teams: the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet for 16-time Funny Car champion John Force, the Auto Club of Southern California Funny Car for past champion Robert Hight, the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet for Courtney Force and the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster for Brittany Force. Continue reading →

Mark Martin’s Fitness Regimen Redefined the NASCAR Athlete and Prolonged a Winning Career

Camping World Truck Series Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series NASCAR Hall of Fame NASCAR Wire Service Xfinity Series
Team owner Jack Roush (L) and Mark Martin, driver of the #6 Viagra Ford, celebrate winning the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Banquet 400 on October 9, 2005 at the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Photo – Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images

To the surprise of no one, Mark Martin continued to win races at the highest level well past an age when most competitors have hung up their helmets.

With five victories past the age of 50, Martin also came within one standings position of winning the 2009 premier series championship.

The phrase ‘age is just a number’ may be cliché – but it certainly applied to the diminutive Martin, whose fitness regimen of heavy weight lifting and healthy eating became legend and ultimately sent his fellow competitors flocking to gyms and nutritionists.

In short, Martin lived his life like a man half his age – and drove like it as well.

“I told the guys I don’t have any problem keeping up with a 25-year-old,” he told The Associated Press in April 2009 after becoming the third-oldest winner in NASCAR premier series history at Phoenix International Raceway. “I feel really good.”

Only one driver – Harry Gant – won more races after his 50th birthday. Martin polished off a 40-victory resume during a magical year driving for Hendrick Motorsports in 2009, adding to his 35 wins at Roush Fenway Raceway. That’s the most wins by a competitor without a series championship. Continue reading →

Daniel Suárez: Promoted Earlier than Expected – But Not Too Soon

Camping World Truck Series Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Xfinity Series
Photo – Getty Images

Don’t worry about Daniel Suárez.

And don’t buy into the assumption that, in promoting Suárez to fill the seat of departing Carl Edwards, Joe Gibbs Racing is making the same mistake it made in 2009 when the organization threw then-18-year-old Joey Logano into the deep end of the pool.

Laboring under the weight of replacing Tony Stewart in the No. 20 Toyota, Logano never blossomed at JGR. It took four years of seasoning and a move to Team Penske for Logano to realize his enormous potential in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car.

Suárez, on the other hand, is already 25, and possesses a ferocious work ethic matched only by his desire to learn – and learn quickly. Continue reading →

XFINITY Champion Suarez Promoted to Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

Camping World Truck Series Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Xfinity Series
HUNTERSVILLE, NC – JANUARY 11: NASCAR driver Daniel Suarez talks about his future driving at NASCAR’s highest level during a press conference at Joe Gibbs Racing on January 11, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Photo by Bob Leverone/ Getty Images

The phone call interrupted Daniel Suarez’s lunch. He didn’t mind.

Team owner Joe Gibbs was calling with the surprising news that Suarez, winner of the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship last season, would be promoted to drive the team’s No. 19 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota in 2017 as a replacement for Carl Edwards.

Edwards had told Gibbs about his decision to leave racing during the Christmas holidays. Continue reading →