NASCAR on TV this week

The Junk In The Trunk

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What is the value of a memory? What is the price of history? Does owning a part of history enable us to actually experience of a special event? These may be little more than hypothetical questions, but recent events in the news have helped to stir such thinking.

The front page headline at the top of the newspaper last week said it all: “Baseball Cards Found in Attic May be Worth Millions”.

This teaser drew readers to a story written by John Seewer of the Associated Press about a “soot-covered cardboard box” found by Karl Kissner and his cousin in the attic of their late grandfather’s home in Defiance, Ohio – a small town not far from the city of Toledo, and also the hometown of Indy 500 winner/NASCAR driver Sam Hornish, Jr.

Dollars And Sense: Fortune 500’s NASCAR Connection

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NASCAR polled teams and tracks in a review to see what brands are sponsoring the sport. So far in 2012, 24 brands have committed to sponsorship somewhere within NASCAR. According to Jon Schwartz, NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications, these new participants include Fortune 500 Altria Group, Hewlett Packard, and MasterCard.

None of these new Fortune 500 company logos, however, are adorned on the hood of a race car. Of course, a Sprint Cup car’s paint scheme is a fan’s favorite place to see a sponsor’s logo, and also the best way to keep a race team full of crew members fully employed. But while the race teams themselves have signed many of their current backers to extensions this season, no major additions for 2013 have been announced as of yet.

Truckin’ Thursdays: Peeling Back The Onion – Inside Todd Bodine’s 200th Start

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As the Camping World Truck Series heads to Chicagoland Speedway for a companion weekend with the Nationwide Series, Todd Bodine will make his 200th career start. While there have been other drivers that have reached this milestone–and others, including David Starr, who will make his 300th start this weekend–Bodine will become the only driver to have made at least 200 starts in each of NASCAR’s top three series.

The 48-year old made his debut during the series’ inaugural 1995 season at Heartland Park Topeka, a 1.8-mile road course in Topeka, Kansas. Piloting the No. 61 Roush Performance Products Ford, Bodine qualified third and finished fourth behind race winner Ron Hornaday, Jr., Joe Ruttman and Terry Labonte. Though he only ran five races that season, his worst finish came when he finished eighth at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, California.

The Comeback of the American Driver: Ryan Hunter-Reay

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Ryan Hunter-Reay is in many ways the poster child for the plight of the American driver in open wheel racing. He currently sits atop the driver standings in the IZOD IndyCar Series and if he can hang on to win the championship, it will not only be the realization at last of the wealth of potential Hunter-Reay has always shown, but perhaps it will also signal the comeback of the American driver.

Here’s an encouraging stat: of the 21 drivers to win three races in a row from 1979 to 2011, only three (Paul Tracy, 1997; AJ Allmendinger, 2006; Scott Dixon, 2007) failed to win an Indy car title in the same year. In defense of Tracy and Allmendinger, it might be worth noting that in 1997, Alex Zanardi, who also won three in a row, took the title and in 2006 it went to Sebastien Bourdais who won the first four in a row.

Did You Notice? … The Norris Factor

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*Did You Notice?…* Chad Norris wasn’t informed he would be Carl Edwards’ new crew chief until yesterday morning? That’s the biggest nugget from Tuesday’s big surprise, No. 99 head wrench Bob Osborne stepping down after spending more than eight of the past nine seasons atop that pit box. That alone should tell you this decision was not as pre-planned as some out in the racing world might surmise. Yes, the duo had been having a bad season together but as recently as Kentucky, after poor pit strategy doomed them both sides were adamant about the pairing continuing over the long-term. Edwards and Osborne have always been close, the outgoing driver a perfect match for the introverted, ultra-intelligent engineer who brought them within one position on the racetrack of a championship last season. Consistently, through the years Edwards has told me in interviews how much their relationship has been the key to remaining at or near the top of the Cup Series. So, until all the facts come out, or sources explain differently let’s take the press release at its word and wish Osborne well while dealing with undisclosed, health-related issues behind the scenes.

Mirror Driving: Kyle’s Recovery Prospects, Amber In The Way And Drug Bans

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*What looked like a dominant day for Kyle Busch early went away after a speeding penalty and an untimely caution. Can Busch recover to win a championship, or is even his Chase berth in danger?*

Amy: Here’s the thing with Busch this year. He’s had some bad luck lately but is fast enough to win, and another victory would solidify the “wild card” for him. The thing I still see with Busch is that sometimes you have to back off a notch and be patient to be fast at the end, and I don’t know that he can do that for 10 races. The Chase is just not suited to his style.

Choquette’s NASCAR Truck Debut at Iowa A Promising Start

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Excluding a talented (and well-funded) rookie following in his elder brother’s footsteps, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie battle has been less than spectacular in 2012. Few drivers who declared for the Rookie of the Year distinction prior to Daytona have stuck around for all nine races, with some early bright spots (see: John King, Jeb Burton) succumbing to sponsorship woes.

So, aside from one Ty Dillon, where can Truck Series fans look for budding talent (aside from the Nationwide Series, of course)?

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Top Ten First Tweets From Keelan Harvick

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*10.* I’m not even a month old and already I’ve got an offer to replace the E-Trade baby in this year’s Super Bowl commercial

*9.* No, Dad, actually I doubt I’ll be ready to run the Legends race at Daytona this February.

*8.* Do you get frequent flyer miles if your dad owns the plane? Hello Cancun!

*7.* If you cry long enough eventually Dad will but Budweiser in your bottle… #Imontothem