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Front Row Motorsports officials have tabbed veteran crew chief Pat Tryson to serve as crew chief for driver David Gilliland and the No. 38 Ford for 2012. Tryson, 57, most recently served as crew chief at Michael Waltrip Racing for driver Martin Truex Jr.
Google Danica Patrick and you may quickly wonder whether she’s a race-car driver or a supermodel. Look closely and you’ll discover that she is a bit of both. But it may take a while to reach that conclusion. The first several photos that pop up feature Patrick in a variety of sexy poses.
Richard Childress Racing might be the only organization in NASCAR that trimmed its Sprint Cup lineup for 2012, yet expanded its employee roster at the same time. That’s because the group, which went from four Cup entries to three, expanded its presence in the Camping World Truck Series with the addition of a third team and dusted off its dormant Nationwide Series program, in large part taking over the now defunct Kevin Harvick Inc. program, for a three-team effort in that series as well.
Team owner Robby Benton put a driver in the top 10 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings for the first time in three seasons when Kenny Wallace finished seventh in 2011. So how did Benton respond? By deciding to not just field a Nationwide car again for Wallace but also a full-time truck for John Wes Townley.
No Sprint Cup driver’s stock has risen as much as Brad Keselowski’s. In just 89 starts, he went from being a young driver on a mission to bona fide superstar last year with his amazing summer run into the Chase following a wicked wreck during testing.
Former Red Bull Racing crew chief Ryan Pemberton has signed with Tommy Baldwin Racing to serve as crew chief for Dave Blaney in 2012. During his career as a Cup crew chief, Pemberton has compiled two wins, 21 top-fives, 92 top-10s and 15 poles. Among those he has worked with include Ernie Irvan, Joe Nemechek, Mark Martin, David Reutimann, Scott Speed and Brian Vickers.
Professional wrestler John Cena will wave the green flag as the honorary starter for the 2012 Daytona 500. Cena, an avid NASCAR fan, has starred on the WWE circuit since 2002, and his introduction as the honorary start was done Monday night on WWE’s “Monday Night Raw.”
Michael Waltrip learned something from his pursuit of Red Bull Racing last month – a deal that eventually collapsed. What he learned had nothing to do with the business of trying to buy a team. It had to do with the business of starting a team, something both the energy drink company and Waltrip did in 2007.
Jack Roush has won 125 NASCAR Cup races – just one more than he’s won in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing has won a total of 299 races across NASCAR’s top three series. And he’s won six NASCAR championships, including two Cup titles. But what is Roush most proud of in his 25-year NASCAR career?
When Sam Hornish Jr. made his first venture into stock-car competition in 2006, he brought with him one of the most impressive resumes of any open-wheel driver. At 27, Hornish was already a three-time IndyCar champion with 19 career wins in open-wheel competition, including a victory in the 2006 Indianapolis 500. There was little left for the Penske Racing driver to accomplish, so he did what many others have done when they’ve reached the top of their profession – he began looking for a new challenge.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Steve Letarte opened the 2011 season with a simple but hard-to-define aim. “Our goal at Daytona — we didn’t hide behind it – was to become relevant again,” Letarte said. “We didn’t set numbers or set a plan. There was no road map. We just wanted to come and be competitive.”
The house was crowded and the opportunity too good to pass up, said Chris Heroy. So the former Hendrick Motorsports engineer now finds himself settled in at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing as crew chief for Juan Pablo Montoya and one of several new hires faced with the daunting task of turning around a program that stumbled mightily in 2011.
Front Row Motorsports put two cars in the top 35 in 2011, a feat that might not seem all that impressive but one that the organization hopes provides a spark for 2012. Halfway through last season, one of the team’s two competitive cars was outside the top 35 in owner points by nine points and already had missed two races. With seven races remaining, it had missed three races and was 39 points outside the top 35.
Todd Bodine obviously had hoped to have a full-time ride by February, but the two-time Camping World Truck Series champion will take a one-race deal with Red Horse Racing because that gives him five weeks before he needs another deal to continue a run at the 2012 title. With five weeks between the season-opening Feb. 24 race at Daytona International Speedway and the season’s next race March 31 at Martinsville, Bodine has bought himself time to land sponsorship and a ride for the rest of the year. He will drive the No. 11 truck at Red Horse Racing at Daytona.
Does anyone remember when Ryan Newman zoomed to eight wins and 11 poles? That was in 2003. What was it they used to call him, “Rocketman?” These days, a more suitable nickname for Newman might be “Mediocre Man.” The 34-year-old driver seemingly does just enough to keep his ride — making the Chase every now and again and good for about one win a season.
ony Stewart has never been one to look too far down the road, so it’s no surprise that the defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion balks when asked if his Stewart-Haas Racing team is the favorite heading into the 2012 season. The previous year might have ended as well as he could have hoped, but Stewart hasn’t forgotten the hurdles his team had to cross to get there.
As Denny Hamlin settles in with new crew chief Darian Grubb, he still can’t believe that Mike Ford, his former crew chief, still hasn’t landed a job. “I’m scratching my head every day why he doesn’t have a crew chief job right now,” Hamlin. Ford was the crew chief for Hamlin’s first six seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing. The duo won 17 races together and nearly captured the 2010 championship.
Denny Hamlin didn’t need a sales pitch to decide whom he wanted as his new crew chief this season. His choice was pretty obvious. After all, the guy he wanted had just won the Sprint Cup championship and, shockingly, was available and looking for work.
For the past two seasons, Greg Biffle has been either fast or consistent — rarely both. “We came into [2010] with six or seven top-10s in a row. We were extremely consistent. But we didn’t have the speed,” the 42-year-old driver said. “We were really good but had [expletive] cars. I don’t know how else to sum it up. … At the end of the year, we were licking our chops.
Elliott Sadler battled for the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship in 2011 with Kevin Harvick Inc. Sadler did not win the championship, however. And that, to some, was a major surprise.
