As of today, a driver can only use six 'past champion' provisionals a year to make Nextel Cup fields.
Same for any team, so that means a single outfit can't employ more than one former champ during the course of a season to get their car into more than six races they otherwise wouldn't have qualified for.
This rule was created way back to keep Richard Petty in the field in the final years of his career, when a NASCAR race just wouldn't have been the same for the fans without 'The King' on the grid. Once Petty retired, it was employed extensively - some say abused - by Darrell Waltrip.
The big loser 'in this deal' is Dale Jarrett, who will be driving the new Toyota entry for a brand new team in '07. You can't help but assume that having DJ's free passes into the starting field played a role in their eagerness to sign him to a whopping contract (rumoured to be $10M / year for two years).
Jarrett is no doubt relieved that the ink dried on his contract with Michael Waltrip Racing before this change was announced.
UPDATE: Delaware Speedway story in the London Free Press
According to London Free Press scribe Jim Cressman, Delaware Speedway's 2007 season is no longer "in doubt", but the facility is still "troubled". (h/t Joel Robinson for the link)
Troubled Delaware to open April 28
Delaware Speedway will drop the green flag on its 2007 racing season as scheduled, track co-owner Arlen Scherba said yesterday.
Ownership is doing its best to put on a brave face during tumultuous times after general manager Kevin Bulmer and operations director Amy Dugas suddenly resigned 13 days ago.
Bulmer said last week he left "due to untenable working conditions and lack of support from current ownership."
Sources tell The Free Press a split developed among the four-man ownership group that involves Scherba of Sombra, Dave Meldrum of Stratford, John Sheppard of Scarborough and Dave McDonald of Freelton.
The four bought the operation from Tony Novotny in November 2002. Scherba and Meldrum had already been around the sport and bought in as a hobby.
But for the other two, it was a new venture and when the costs of running a race track began to mount up, they looked for immediate returns on their investments.
This industry doesn't work that way, especially short tracks in Canada. And it wasn't through the Friday paid admissions that Novotny made his money.
He was smart enough to establish Performance Fibreglass, a company that builds fibreglass race car bodies.
The "math" was simple. You own a race track and the sanctioning body, plus you own a fibreglass shop, equals: you make them run your cars.
Scherba admitted there has been a "negative cash flow" and now Delaware is facing more upgrades, especially the racing surface. Estimates peg those costs between $500,000 and $1 million.
"We realize there needs to be work done there," Scherba said of the asphalt track. "The better days of Delaware Speedway as far as track conditions are basically behind it.
"But we need to paint the picture that Delaware Speedway is not going to close."
"There is money behind the track and we will put more money into it to make it happen," Scherba said. "We've got a lot of people coming to the plate right now that have interest in buying in, under conditions, and the format and foundation underneath it may change in the next year and a half. Hopefully less than that."
Read into that what you will, but it sounds like there may be some more changes.
But in the meantime, the season opens with the APC Enduro 250 on April 28 and the first night of regular stock car action is May 5.
... continued at the link above.
Troubled Delaware to open April 28
Delaware Speedway will drop the green flag on its 2007 racing season as scheduled, track co-owner Arlen Scherba said yesterday.
Ownership is doing its best to put on a brave face during tumultuous times after general manager Kevin Bulmer and operations director Amy Dugas suddenly resigned 13 days ago.
Bulmer said last week he left "due to untenable working conditions and lack of support from current ownership."
Sources tell The Free Press a split developed among the four-man ownership group that involves Scherba of Sombra, Dave Meldrum of Stratford, John Sheppard of Scarborough and Dave McDonald of Freelton.
The four bought the operation from Tony Novotny in November 2002. Scherba and Meldrum had already been around the sport and bought in as a hobby.
But for the other two, it was a new venture and when the costs of running a race track began to mount up, they looked for immediate returns on their investments.
This industry doesn't work that way, especially short tracks in Canada. And it wasn't through the Friday paid admissions that Novotny made his money.
He was smart enough to establish Performance Fibreglass, a company that builds fibreglass race car bodies.
The "math" was simple. You own a race track and the sanctioning body, plus you own a fibreglass shop, equals: you make them run your cars.
Scherba admitted there has been a "negative cash flow" and now Delaware is facing more upgrades, especially the racing surface. Estimates peg those costs between $500,000 and $1 million.
"We realize there needs to be work done there," Scherba said of the asphalt track. "The better days of Delaware Speedway as far as track conditions are basically behind it.
"But we need to paint the picture that Delaware Speedway is not going to close."
"There is money behind the track and we will put more money into it to make it happen," Scherba said. "We've got a lot of people coming to the plate right now that have interest in buying in, under conditions, and the format and foundation underneath it may change in the next year and a half. Hopefully less than that."
Read into that what you will, but it sounds like there may be some more changes.
But in the meantime, the season opens with the APC Enduro 250 on April 28 and the first night of regular stock car action is May 5.
... continued at the link above.
Back by popular demand... ice racing at Brighton Speedway
BRIGHTON, ON - On the heels of a successful winter racing event, staff and management at Brighton Speedway Park have received many calls and requests for a repeat. Because of these demands, ice racing will return to Brighton on Saturday February 10th .
“With the forecast remaining positive and the cold weather expected to stay for a while, the majority of the work is done. There will be little effort needed to repair the icy surface and again offer a racing atmosphere for our drivers and their fans,” states promoter Mark Rinaldi.
The event will maintain a similar format as the Brighton WinterFest event. Snowmobiles, four wheelers and enduro cars will take to the 1/3 mile icy surface. There will however be the addition of a Junior class to both the snowmobile and 4 wheeler division, which will allow children as young as 8 years old to compete. “We saw an increase in the youth classes this past Saturday, and wanted to keep the trend going, encouraging more family fun and a challenge for everyone.” said Rinaldi. Parents of children wishing to compete should contact the Speedway prior to the date to verify any requirements.
To make the event more competitor and fan friendly, the start time will be pushed back 1 hour on February 10th. Practice will take place at 10:00 am with the green flag dropping at 11:00 am. “For some of our competitors that live far away it was a pretty early start trying to get here for 9:00 am practice. Not to mention that the day went so smooth the event really didn’t take as long as we expected, so we are going with a later start time”.
Once again the ever-popular enduro cars will hit the iced up track upon the conclusion of the snowmobiles and four wheelers for some slick racing action.
For more information on this event or other exciting news from the 40th Anniversary Season at Brighton Speedway be sure to visit www.brightonspeedway.com.
~30~
For more information contact Angie Rinaldi at 613-475-1102 or angie@brightonspeedway.com
“With the forecast remaining positive and the cold weather expected to stay for a while, the majority of the work is done. There will be little effort needed to repair the icy surface and again offer a racing atmosphere for our drivers and their fans,” states promoter Mark Rinaldi.
The event will maintain a similar format as the Brighton WinterFest event. Snowmobiles, four wheelers and enduro cars will take to the 1/3 mile icy surface. There will however be the addition of a Junior class to both the snowmobile and 4 wheeler division, which will allow children as young as 8 years old to compete. “We saw an increase in the youth classes this past Saturday, and wanted to keep the trend going, encouraging more family fun and a challenge for everyone.” said Rinaldi. Parents of children wishing to compete should contact the Speedway prior to the date to verify any requirements.
To make the event more competitor and fan friendly, the start time will be pushed back 1 hour on February 10th. Practice will take place at 10:00 am with the green flag dropping at 11:00 am. “For some of our competitors that live far away it was a pretty early start trying to get here for 9:00 am practice. Not to mention that the day went so smooth the event really didn’t take as long as we expected, so we are going with a later start time”.
Once again the ever-popular enduro cars will hit the iced up track upon the conclusion of the snowmobiles and four wheelers for some slick racing action.
For more information on this event or other exciting news from the 40th Anniversary Season at Brighton Speedway be sure to visit www.brightonspeedway.com.
~30~
For more information contact Angie Rinaldi at 613-475-1102 or angie@brightonspeedway.com
Kirk Hooker appears ready to head south...
Thanks to Kirk and Dianne Hooker for sending in some shots of the car that Kirk will be driving at New Smyrna Speedway during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing, in mid-February.
Bourque 12th in the Rolex 24 at DIS
From Pierre Bourque's website:
Bourque finishes 12th in GT class @ Daytona 24hrs ...
Read full race report ...
Look for first-hand account Monday exclusively @ Canwest's Driving.Ca ...
And listen to Bourque live with Adler on the Corus Radio Network 3:30 p.m. ET (Monday).
Edwards to drive Roush's #50 Truck at Daytona and some other races, but Canadian Pete Shepherd will drive it for the remainder of the season
(I know Petey was disappointed about not racing the Truck at Daytona - especially after his great testing sessions in the past few weeks - but Jack Roush felt he needed a little more seasoning in the draft before being thrown to the wolves at DIS. Putting Daytona aside, this is incredible news for Shepherd, who will drive the #50 Roush truck in many of the remaining Craftsman Truck Series races. What an incredible opportunity. Congratulations Pete!... GM).
Here is the release from Roush....
Concord, N.C. (January 29, 2007) - Carl Edwards is looking to kick off the 2007 season with a bang at Daytona International Speedway. Edwards, who pilots the No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion in the Cup Series and the No. 60 Scotts Ford Fusion in the Busch Series, has signed up to race Roush Racing's No. 50 F-150 in the Craftsman Truck Series race Friday night.
Edwards will run a handful of truck races throughout the 2007 season (the schedule is TBD) while Peter Shepherd pilots the truck for the remaining races. The No. 50 truck that the two will share is still yet to be sponsored but Edwards is confident a new sponsor partner will come on board.
"I'm excited to be back in the truck at Daytona," said Edwards. "I won there a couple of years ago and it would be awesome to win there again. Matt Puccia is great and I know he and the guys have worked really hard to build some fast trucks for this year. We worked together at Ken Schraeder's shop back in the day so it's neat that we get to work together again.
Edwards continued, "To be able to help Peter Shepherd is awesome. He drove a Silver Crown car for me last year and did a good job. I'm really looking forward to racing with him this year."
Edwards and Shepherd will join truck teammates Erik Darnell and Travis Kvapil to round out the 2007 Roush Racing truck lineup. Kvapil, a former Craftsman Series truck champion, is the newest member to the Roush Racing team and will pilot the yet to be sponsored No. 6 F-150. Kvapil led the field at the recent Daytona truck test while teammates Darnell and Shepherd followed close behind.
With the Daytona race only three weeks away, Roush Racing is continuing to work on solidifying two primary sponsors; one for team Edwards and Shepherd and one for Kvapil. With 30 million loyal truck fans continuing to attend races (1.1 million in 2006) and watch on TV (viewership is up 46 percent since 2003), the Craftsman Truck Series continues to be one of the best buys in racing. The same fans that will be watching Edwards, Shepherd and Kvapil take to the track at Daytona, are 119 percent more likely to purchase a product from a brand that is represented in NASCAR.
With three championship contending teams, Roush Racing looks to continue their winning ways in 2007 with drivers that include, two Rookies-of-the-Year, pole winners, race winners and a champion. Anyone interested in being a part of this winning tradition should contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.
Sheri L. Herrmann // Corporate Communications Manager // Roush Racing
MTV show follows the antics of Paul 'The Animal' Tracy
The Diary of Paul Tracy to air Tuesday, January 30 at 7 p.m. ET on MTV in Canada.
After a few weeks of consecutive collisions and track-side scuffles, MTV will catch up with this lead-footed race car driver in La Belle Provence. Under the scrutiny of the French Canadian fans and media we'll watch as Paul Tracy spins his tires and turns some heads with his racy comments and wild antics.
Couple that with a Mexican wrestling mask, some boxing gloves and a well used rental car, and you've got an MTV Diary that'll be sure to get you all revved up. The MTV Diary of Paul Tracy will air Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. ET on MTV.
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