Archive for November, 2011

Stewart, Teammate Ryan Newman, Winners of Humorous Newlywed Game Parody DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 30, 2011) — Tony Stewart’s on a roll. And that’s a good feeling when you’re in Las Vegas. Stewart and Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Ryan Newman won Wednesday’s “This Ain’t the Newlywed Game,” a riff on the television original hosted by Bob Eubanks. Stewart and Newman edged the team of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch by most accurately recalling the estimated attendance of March’s Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The game had a myriad of humorous moments – some broad, others ribald – and in [...]

The only crew chief in the Class of 2012 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductees is our next profile. 2012 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee Dale Inman, was born on August 19th,  1936 in Level Cross, North Carolina. Inman is best known for being the crew chief for Richard Petty at Petty Enterprises for 30 years. Combined they won a total of 198 races and seven championships together. He is credited for starting the main duties of the crew chief position including preparing and driver-pit communications. Dale Inman came into the sport as a pit member for Richard Petty in the late [...]

The next Class of 2012 Hall of Fame inductee we are profiling is Darrell Waltrip. Darrell Lee Waltrip was born February 5th, 1947 in Owensboro, Kentucky and started racing at the age of 12 behind the wheel of go-karts. His family would later build a 36 Chevrolet Coupe that he would race in local dirt track races. Even has a child, he was brash and outspoken but he dominated. Waltrip made his NASCAR debut at the age of 25 in the 1972 Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, and would finish 38th after an engine failure. His first win in the [...]

There will not be a 6th championship in a row this year. Let that sink in for a moment. No seriously…give it a moment. Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time since 2005, Jimmie Johnson’s name wont be on the banner in victory lane after the race. It wont be the #48 car that rolls onto the makeshift victory lane on the start-finish line at Homestead-Miami to celebrate yet another championship. And in December for the NASCAR awards banquet, the focus will not be on Jimmie Johnson at the head table. Nope. Not again. This is something that perhaps many [...]

It seems to be the off-season of the crew chief. The NASCAR Sprint Cup season ended just eight days ago and three teams have already announced changes on top of the pit box for 2012. Richard Childress Racing announced today that Drew Blickensderfer, former crew chief for David Ragan, would be on the pit box for Jeff Burton for next season. This is the second crew chief change for Richard Childress Racing. It was announced that week that Shane Wilson would replace Gil Martin as crew chief for the No. 29 Budweiser/Jimmy Johns Chevrolet. Martin was named as director of team operations [...]

Tony Stewart and Stewart-Haas Racing haven’t even had a chance to celebrate the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship in Las Vegas with the crew chief that helped them win the organization’s first title, but on Monday they were already hiring a new one to fill his shoes. Steve Addington, who informed Penske Racing last week that he would not be back with Kurt Busch in 2012, was announced as the new crew chief for Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet team, a role that would be “effective immediately.” “I know Steve well and I know how he goes about setting up [...]

Now that we have crowned the champions of the Camping World Trucks, Nationwide, and Sprint Cup Series, its time to look back, and reflect on the the highs, and lows of what has been one of NASCAR’s greatest seasons ever.   We’ve seen first-time winners, we’ve seen hot headed drivers go after each other either by fist, or by the use of race cars on the track, and we’ve also seen the dangers of racing.  NASCARKrissy gave her list of the best and worst of 2011, but now here is mine. Best Moment: I would be called an idiot two [...]

Every day this week, Stock Car Spin will profile one of the inductees into the Hall of Fame.  2012 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Cale Yarborough had a number of firsts in his career: he was the first driver to win three consecutive Cup Series championships(1976 to 1978), the first NASCAR driver to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and the first driver to qualify for the Daytona 500 at a speed of over 200 miles per hour.  Below is just a little bit about Yarborough, who will join fellow 2012 inductees Darrell Waltrip, Glen Wood, Dale Inman, and [...]

  Thanksgiving is over and the madness that is Black Friday is in the books. The 2011 holiday season is upon us. Stock Car Spin called in some favors with Santa and we were able to get our hands on some letters  to Santa from the NASCAR drivers, crews, and owners. Wonder what they are asking for this year? Sit back, grab an ice cold glass of milk and a cookie, because this is going to be good. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images) Dear Santa, WOW! Thanks for giving me what I wanted last year. Steve LeTarte was a great [...]

(Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) On Friday, Kurt Busch learned the power of social media and YouTube when NASCAR fined him $50,000 for his actions during last Sunday’s Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. NASCAR officials made it clear that the sanctioning body was not happy with Busch’s obscene gesture(displaying the middle finger during the ESPN broacast) and his abusive action toward respected ESPN pit reporter, Dr. Jerry Punch. “Kurt Busch showed disrespect toward a media member, an incident that followed similar inappropriate media confrontations earlier in the season,” NASCAR said in a statement. Busch’s No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge broke [...]