Andy Pilgrim News Archives

This is a May 8, 2009, file photo showing IRL driver Danica Patrick, right, and car owner Michael Andretti watching from the pit area during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis.

There is an opportunity for NASCAR fans to give back and help make a mission possible for several children's charities in our area.

NASCAR CEO Brian France, shown earlier in the year, voiced his opinion on a number of topics Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Black Friday signals not only the end of Thanksgiving, but also the formal end of the NASCAR season.A But it also signals the start of some of the most interesting offseason racing throughout the country.

Star Fisel with NASCAR driver Kurt Busch. Thanks to high beer sales, Andalusia's Beef O' Brady's won the opportunity to be advertised on a NASCAR driver's vehicle during the Miami race last weekend.

This is what the car-addicted masses want. Twenty-five insanely great gifts anyone with a dribble of petroleum in their hearts should, must and will crave and devour.

With Jimmie Johnson's record fourth consecutive championship only days old, car owner Rick Hendrick already has pronounced that he's focusing on next year and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team.

Even before the 2008 season ended, Kyle Busch already was making plans for the 2009 Nationwide Series campaign.

It's not your average Black Friday sale. This one could end with you driving your personal car around a race track.

It's too soon for Jimmie Johnson to contemplate his place in NASCAR history. He'll save those conversations for a time long after the champagne has stopped flowing on his record fourth consecutive championship.

Eds: APNewsNow. By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. Kasey Kahne will strongly consider leaving Richard Petty Motorsports after next season because of the instability surrounding the organization.

Johnny Damon knows how difficult it can be to win a championship. After all, it took him four years to finally win the World Series with the Yankees.

Nov. 24, 2009 - Dirt Late Model veteran Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., has been fined and suspended from World of Outlaws Late Model Series and DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned events after forensic laboratory tests determined he used an illegally-altered tire during the recent World Finals at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin checked out a new kind of orbit: watching some spins on a NASCAR track.

Rhonda Winter was named as chief information officer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a new position that will guide the direction of all information technology and related business units of the company.

A Jim and Linda Teske have been coming to races at Bristol Motor Speedway for years.

ON ANOTHER NFL Sunday, perhaps football fans were aware that Jimmie Johnson was closing in on a four-peat. To the general sports fan, NASCAR is made up of those guys who race fast, make a lot of left turns and wear uniforms littered with sponsors logos.

NASCAR has announced that Mark Underwood has won the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Louisiana championship.

FORMULA One driver Sebastian Vettel spent time at his first Nascar event listening to racing advice from Juan Pablo Montoya.

BAM Racing owner Beth Ann Morgenthau announced at the Homestead-Miami Speedway that her team will resume full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series action beginning with the 2010 Daytona 500.

What's wrong, he said, was that it shouldn't be at "Home-instead" in a "Godforsaken area that is north of Cuba." Smith suggested NASCAR bring it back to Atlanta, or perhaps take it to Las Vegas, both tracks owned by his company rather than rival International Speedway Corporation .

Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Stewart could have used a referee. The final two races of the NASCAR season were more like a throwback to the good ol' boys who settled their feuds on the track.

Kelly Bires' fans panicked briefly a week ago, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. was quoted as saying his team might not have the money for Bires to race full-time next year.

The head of Volkswagen's motor sports program is at Homestead-Miami Speedway, fuelling speculation the automaker might join Toyota as the second foreign manufacturer in NASCAR.

Jamie McMurray feels right at home at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. He should. He's been there before.

A glance at the 12 drivers competing in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship heading into this weekend's race at Homestead-Miami Speedway : DRIVER: Jimmie Johnson CHASE POINTS: first, 6,492 CAR: No.

This is not your father's NASCAR. It's great that the Latin community pays attention to what I'm doing [but] I didn't come to NASCAR to create that.

Jeremy Mayfield sat in the back of his large barn Friday morning about 800 miles from where NASCAR's season-ending weekend was kicking off.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. loves to talk about his sponsorship ties to the military. He had a hard time finding the words Friday to discuss the massacre that left 13 people dead at Fort Hood.

Jimmie Johnson's Phoenix victory marked the fourth time this Chase that the No. 48 earned a spot in Victory Lane.

Will Power, still recovering from injury, has been confirmed to drive the #12 Verizon/Penske entry in all 2010 IndyCar Series rounds.

There will be much for Hendrick Motorsports to celebrate on Sunday night. A record-tying ninth NASCAR title, either from Jimmie Johnson or Mark Martin.

Rusty Wallace Racing is moving its Nationwide Series team from Chevrolet to Toyota next season.

He has won it before, in '96, '98 and '07. That means he joins a group of drivers who have won a NASCAR Championship four times or more - Richard Petty, Dale Earnhart and Jeff Gordon.

Tuesday November 17th, 2009 Best Western Renews Partnership with Michael Waltrip Racing for Seventh NASCAR Season Best Western International, the World's Largest Hotel Chain , has extended its partnership with one of NASCAR's most popular teams, Michael Waltrip Racing, for the 2010 NASCAR season, the hotel chain announced today.

Like everything else in his racing and business life, Rick Hendrick already has a well-crafted plan for celebrating another Sprint Cup Series championship.

Jamie McMurray was named the driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in 2010 on Wednesday.

NASCAR star Kyle Busch said Monday he has one goal in mind when it comes to the Snowball Derby.

Somewhere in the future race fans will sit back in an easy chair relating to a younger generation how they enjoyed watching one of the best drivers in stock car history.

Results from Phoenix International Raceway 1. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet 5. Martin Truex Jr., No.

Hendrick Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr. remains the most popular driver with the majority of NASCAR fans according to a recent study.

Tickets for the 2010 Red Bull Indianapolis GP go on sale Monday, Nov. 16, with a new structure that offers additional value and flexibility to fans attending the annual MotoGP event Aug.

AVONDALE, Ariz. - Brad Keselowski's crew chief was headed to the pre-race driver meeting when Juan Pablo Montoya cut him off at the door.

Reporting from Avondale, Ariz. - Kyle Busch's frustrating season in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series was evident for all to see in Texas when Busch suddenly was nowhere to be seen.

Denny Hamlin rode a GameStop-sponsored car adorned with New Super Mario Bros. Wii art this weekend.

Proving there's more to NASCAR than what you see on the racetrack, two Oakland natives will head to Miami on Tuesday as finalists in the NASCAR Kinetics: Marketing in Motion program.

Richard Childress Racing's Jeff Burton sees great strides being made within his team - something evident in his second-place finish in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Washington - Rick Hendrick says he has no deal to bring IndyCar superstar Danica Patrick to NASCAR , and there's no certainty she'll even be driving stock cars next season.

Jimmie Johnson has moved closer to a NASCAR record fourth consecutive championship with a dominating win at Phoenix International Raceway.

He's a recent college grad with mechanical aptitude, a nose for business and a predictable hole in his memories of childhood.

Johnny Sauter will start on the pole for Friday's Lucas Oil 150 Camping World Truck Series race after posting the fastest lap in qualifying at Phoenix International Raceway.

Carl Edwards rolled to a dominating win at Phoenix International Speedway that temporarily staved off Kyle Busch's bid to clinch the Nationwide Series title.

Tony Stewart 's won't win the Sprint Cup championship this season, and his bid to join the late Alan Kulwicki in the NASCAR record books will have to wait at least another year.

Former NASCAR champion Bobby Labonte has signed a deal to drive for TRG Motorsports next season.

Reporting from Las Vegas - The display of merchandise at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway had something for everyone: Ashley Force dolls, Ashley Force rhinestone-encrusted key chains, Ashley Force neoprene beer coolers.

Dave Blaney fiddles with four quarters and stands among the row of cars that don't have a garage stall at Phoenix International Raceway.

The record books will list Ron Hornaday Jr. as the oldest champion in NASCAR history.

Martin Truex Jr. has won the pole at Phoenix International Raceway. Truex turned a lap at 135.120 mph Friday to qualify first for Sunday's race at PIR in his No.

Loading... Mark Martin, left, flips after being involved in an accident last Sunday at Talladega.

Mike Bliss will replace Terry Cook in the No.25 Toyota for Friday's Camping World Truck Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, HT Motorsports officials announced Tuesday.

A couple of weeks ago I got an e-mail from a colleague that stopped me in my tracks with four words in the subject line.

Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch is leading the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings heading into Saturday's race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday,November 15. Race: Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500.

Juan Pablo Montoya says the Sprint Cup Series is the most competitive racing series he's ever competed in.

As with most sports, sometimes the only way to improve in NASCAR is to first be willing to change.

Jeff Gordon was on the verge of winning his fourth NASCAR championship as a driver when he made his debut as a co-owner and teammate for an unproven driver named Jimmie Johnson.

Fears that Toyota might pack up its haulers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series in the wake of its pulling out of Formula 1 were put to rest this week.

The battle for the Sprint Cup Series championship continues at Phoenix International Raceway, while Kyle Busch has an opportunity to clinch the Nationwide Series title and Ron Hornaday Jr.

Texas Motor Speedway wrapped up its 2009 racing schedule with Sunday's Dickies 500, and track president Eddie Gossage is already revved up about 2010.

NASCAR assessed a 50-point penalty to both driver Martin Truex, Jr. and car owner Teresa Earnhardt and fined crew chief Kevin Manion $50,000 after Truex's No.1 Chevrolet failed post-race inspection last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

For some, a day at the track driving the fastest Jaguars on sale today with a top notch driving instructor is a dream.

Jimmie Johnson will probably make stock-car history this month by winning a fourth consecutive championship, but his coronation will culminate an anticlimactic Nascar Sprint Cup Series season.

For James Buescher, the 2010 NASCAR season will be a busy one, as he's going to run full-time in the Nationwide Series with James Finch's PhoenixA Racing and also run 19 races for Turner Motorsports, LLC in the Truck Series.

Jason Meyers of Clovis came up just short again of winning his first World of Outlaws national sprint car championship.

Kurt Busch and Pat Tryson had every reason to coast through the season's final 10 races in a long farewell before the crew chief bolts to a new team next year.

Greg Biffle said he was pleased with the conversations in a recent follow-up meeting to the town hall sessions NASCAR officials held five months ago.

NASCAR chairman Brian France says he wants TV broadcasters that work NASCAR events to call the sport like those in other sports do and limit their areas of criticism.

The No. 1 Chevrolet driven by Martin Truex Jr. failed a post-race inspection when NASCAR officials found the height of the car was too low.

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, and driver Juan Pablo Montoya, appear to be returning with Chevrolets in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

Billy Ballew has been an owner in the Truck Series since 1996 and began racing full time in it in 2002.

Despite a growing body of evidence that it eventually will happen, nothing's been signed between Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Chevrolet-based JR Motorsports.

FORT WORTH, Texas What if Danica Patrick makes her NASCAR debut in the Daytona 500? More likely, of course, it would be the Nationwide Series race.

By DAVID THOMAS The man driving the Dream in Color car in today's Dickies 500 knows about dreams.Colombian-born Juan Pablo Montoya has made his dreams come true in motorsports' top circuits.

Jeff Gordon is suddenly having all kind of success at Texas Motor Speedway, a track where he had never won until earlier this season.

Kyle Busch's new crew chief knows what's coming. Dave Rogers also knows it won't do any good to worry about being on the receiving end of the demanding driver's first tirade.

By CARLOS MENDEZ Brad Keselowski is headed for a full-time ride in the Sprint Cup series, starting this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.It is where every driver wants to end up, in the top series in NASCAR, and he'll work for one of the most respected owners in auto racing, Roger Penske.But Keselowski is not leaving the Nationwide Series behind.

FORT WORTH, Texas Teammate Casey Mears is replacing Richard Childress Racing's Jeff Burton as driver of the No.

Kyle Busch is going for a sweep of the three races at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, and he hurdled his first major obstacle Friday night.

A picture of Clothing maker Izod will be the title sponsor for the IndyCar Series starting next year.

RAY BUCK The person least obsessed by Mark Martin's age is Mark Martin.So, please, dispense with the antique jokes, the AARP barbs and the Methuselah references.

NASCAR will honor the fallen soldiers at Fort Hood during a race weekend that is just 170 miles from the site of the massacre that left 13 people dead.

A picture of race car driver Danica Patrick. Danica Patrick may be starting her 2010 race season in Daytona in February.

Stop eight on the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup tour is Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday afternoon's Dickie's 500.

A picture of NASCAR drivers Matt Crafton and David Gilliland. Matt Crafton sits on the pole for Friday night's Camping World Truck Series race in Texas.

The 2010 AMA Pro Superbike Championship will feature nine races, with a possible tenth, according to the schedule that was released today by AMA Pro Racing.

As the Danica Patrick saga finally may be nearing resolution, perhaps it's time to look back at the 1977 Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway, the last time three female drivers competed in the same Cup race.

That's all it took to turn Haas CNC Racing from a Sprint Cup afterthought into one of the most powerful teams in NASCAR.

By ANTHONY ANDRO If Jimmie Johnson's racing in the Dickies 500 is nothing more than a Sunday drive for the likely Sprint Cup champion, what's Ron Hornaday's night going to be like Friday in the WinStar World Casino 350?If he has anything to do with it, it's not going to be any different than the first 22 races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck ...

AP Photo/Chris Graythen Jamie McMurray takes the chechered flag ahead of Kasey Kahne to win the AMP Energy 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race Sunday, Nov.

Time Trial eXtreme Grand Prix and Infineon Raceway have announced an alliance that will see the Sonoma road course serve as host site of the first-ever zero carbon motorcycle race in the United States.

A picture of NASCAR drivers Jamie McMurray and Steven Cole Smith. NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers Jamie McMurray and Kurt Busch talk about testing tires at Daytona on Monday and Tuesday.

NASCAR Sprint Cup standout Kyle Busch has entered to race in the 42nd annual Snowball Derby on Dec.

Date: Friday, November 6. Race: WinStar World Casino 350K. Site: Texas Motor Speedway.

To anyone watching, Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway looked like a high-speed protest of NASCAR's pre-race ban on bumping in turns.

The field spent most of the race single file, afraid to race for fear of being penalized, or being wrecked.

By ANTHONY ANDRO This was supposed to be the year Kyle Busch broke through and won a NASCAR championship.That's likely going to happen, just not in the series that was expected.Busch, who has won 12 Sprint Cup races over the last two years, didn't even make the Chase.

Dover Motorsports Inc. is shuttering Memphis Motorsports Park, after a deal to sell the facility fell apart earlier this year.

TALLADEGA, November 1, 2009: Ryan Newman was evaluated and released from the infield medical center following a spectacular crash in the late stages of Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway.

If there's one thing about the Talladega Superspeedway that is the most expected, it is that the unexpected will happen.

Alabama's Talladega Superspeedway is known for many things, but perhaps what makes it stand out in many fans' minds is the viciousness of its wrecks, especially when stock cars become airplanes.

Robert Hight closed in on his first Funny Car season championship, racing to his third victory of the season Sunday at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.

Members of a state board in Kansas don't appear to like the hand they've been dealt for proposed casinos in Kansas City and the Wichita area, and they're wondering whether they should fold.

Dover Motorsports Inc. is ceasing operations at Memphis Motorsports Park after a deal to sell the track to another investor fell through.

NHRA GLENDORA , Calif. A full-size boxing ring will be set up in the pits for sparring by young boxing talent along with scheduled Fan Meet-and-Greets with a oeSugara Shane Mosley, a oeViciousa Victor Ortiz & Tony Pedregon Boxing icon and current Welterweight World Champion Sugar Shane Mosley, junior welterweight contender a oeViciousa Victor Ortiz ...

As the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series winds down, the Upland-based Mountain View Pro Stock team is just hitting its midseason stride.