On March 9th Clint Bowyer, Marcos Ambrose and Elliott Sadler took part in the Goodyear tire test for this weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington. Ambrose said after the test that Darlington is the place to be if you’re a driver who wants to make it in NASCAR. “Anyone who wants run NASCAR, thinks they’re any good,” he said, “has to come here and prove themselves, because this is as tough as it gets.”
This week Clint Bowyer echoed those sentiments. He said, “It’s the track ‘Too tough to tame’ but I’m looking forward to it.” Bowyer knows he’s had success at the egg shaped 1.5 mile track, and feels this week is his time to step up. “I like Darlington,” he said. “We’ve sat on the pole there before, had a good run last year and got caught up in a wreck but I think that’s a track where we can break out and get our first win.”
Bowyer will attempt to put his No. 33 in victory lane Saturday night
His Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton took a different approach when prepping for this week’s race. Generally when drivers are asked about the biggest race on the schedule they point to the season opening Daytona 500, or my favorite race, the Brickyard 400 at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Burton disagrees. “The history at Darlington is unbelievable,” he said. “My Southern 500 win means more to me than any other win I’ve ever had.”
Burton looks forward to the Southern 500 every year. He won the Southern 500 in 1999, the year he captured his only two wins at Darlington in the Cup Series
One of the senior members of the Cup Series continued his reminiscing: “[Darlington is] the epitome of NASCAR. It’s what NASCAR is all about. You can imagine when that racetrack was built, how tight it was, how narrow it was for the cars they were racing. They built it around the pond, that’s why it’s shaped at either end, no fancy suites. It’s just pure racing.”
Mark Martin won last season’s Southern 500, and his teammate Jeff Gordon has been on the cusp of winning races this season. Gordon just hasn’t been able to seal the deal yet this year. “When things are going well for us, Darlington is one of the tracks that we get really excited about,” he told media members last weekend.
Will Gordon finally win a race in 2010?
This weekend might be Gordon’s weekend to shine. Three years ago he won the May race at Darlington, even with an overheating engine. Look for Gordon to be up front again this weekend, but can he pull off a win?
NASCAR opens Hall of Fame for Media day; Logano visits
Tuesday the NASCAR the Hall of Fame was open for Media Day, and certain media members ambled around the facility, checking out the interactive games and multimedia presentations that the newest Charlotte area attraction presents. The youngest Cup driver, Joey Logano, dropped by unexpectedly.
“My first reaction from driving by was, ‘Wow, this is a no-joke building they’ve got here,’” the youngster said. “I wanted to see it and check it out. It’s cool it has the old modified cars and the old Cup cars and stuff like that, it’s pretty cool to see and hopefully I get to walk around a little more and see.”
Logano stopped by the Hall of Fame for a few minutes during Media Day to check the place out. He was surprised.
NASCAR Hall of Fame Executive Director Winston Kelley also spoke, letting some emotions show after seeing his hard work finalized. “I sat down in the skybox and looked out at ‘Glory Road’ and I literally came to tears,” he said, pausing for a moment, full of emotion. “Just because you see such an incredible history of our sport, from the people that I grew up idolizing. I got to work with my childhood heroes, the Richard Pettys, the Junior Johnsons, the David Pearsons, it literally brought tears to my eyes.”
He hopes NASCAR fans of all ages will enjoy the exhibits too. Logano did. “As a race fan, which is what I was before I was a racer, it’s pretty cool to walk through here,” he said. The NASCAR Hall of Fame will open to the public on May 11th. (For more info visit http://www.nascarhall.com/)
Kentucky Speedway may not get Cup date in 2011
NASCAR fans in Northern Kentucky and southwest Ohio may have to wait another year before they get to experience NASCAR Sprint Cup action at Kentucky Speedway. According to Speedway Motorsports Inc., who owns the facility in Sparta, Ky., a Sprint Cup race in 2011, “may not be feasible because of a variety of factors, including capital improvements necessary for the facility.”
A look down the back stretch during practice for last year's Busch/Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway
Bruton Smith, chairman of SMI, has noted that he wants to add seating to the 1.5-mile track. The current capacity of Kentucky Speedway is 69,000. Also, the IndyCar Series stopped by for a test on Tuesday and couldn’t get out on the track because of water seeping through the track’s surface (commonly called “weepers”).
I’ll keep you updated on the Kentucky Speedway stories and everything else through the weekend. Enjoy your Mother’s Day and don’t forget to check out Fox tomorrow at 7:30 for the drop of the green flag in the Southern 500.
No comments:
Post a Comment