No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet team to throw out first pitch at Sunday's Winston-Salem Dash Baseball Game at BB&T Ballpark

(Members of Austin Dillon's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team are scheduled to throw out the first pitch at Sunday's Winston-Salem Dash baseball game. Photo by Josh Weinrich)

Members from Richard Childress Racing's No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet pit crew will throw out the first pitch prior to Sunday's Winston-Salem Dash game at BB&T Balllpark, located in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The game is scheduled to commence at 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time against the Lynchburg (Va.) Hillcats.

Bass Pro Shops team members, including spotter Andy Houston, tire specialist Dustin Keath, shock specialist P.J. Bryant and jack man Sam Abney, serve as key support for Austin Dillon in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team produces speedy pit stops and lightning-fast No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolets each week. Currently, they are fourth in the point standings and have earned two pole awards this season.

"These are the guys that support me each week and build fast trucks for me," said Dillon. "They are the reason my trucks are fast. I love baseball and I love my team so this is going to be a fun event for everyone."

Although stock car auto racing is their primary career, the Bass Pro Shops pit crew members are not unfamiliar with baseball. Houston has spent much of this summer attending his children's little league baseball games. Bryant and Keath played on little league teams as children and Abney was an outfielder at Azle High School outside of Fort Worth, Texas.

The Winston-Salem Dash is the Class-A Advanced minor league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. To purchase tickets and for more information, please call 336-714-2287 or visit www.wsdash.com.

Governor Perdue Signs Bill Making Stock Car Racing North Carolina's Official State Sport

(With the stroke of a pen today at Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue signed Senate Bill 322 into law, making stock car racing the official state sport and adding to the history of fabulous firsts at the historic 1.5-mile superspeedway. Photo by Brad Bowling) 

 

With the stroke of a pen today at Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue signed Senate Bill 322 into law, making stock car racing the official state sport and adding to the legacy of fabulous firsts at the historic 1.5-mile superspeedway.

Perdue was joined by a host of special guests on hand to watch the bill signing ceremony, including Marcus Smith, president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway; NASCAR Hall of Famers Ned Jarrett and Bobby Allison; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver David Ragan; and a group of fourth and fifth grade students from Lake Norman Elementary School and Mt. Mourne IB School in Iredell County, who originated the bill. In addition, 12 grassroots Legend Car and Bandolero drivers, industry leaders and dignitaries who are members of the North Carolina Motorsports Advisory Council and Charlotte Motor Speedway fans were in attendance. 

"Sometimes it takes really bright kids to tell all of us grown-ups what we ought to be doing. And that's what these students are about today," said Perdue. "They found something that should have been right under our noses because we all love NASCAR, we love Charlotte Motor Speedway, we get really excited during race season. So it's pretty cool for these students to understand that we needed to do better."

The students worked to get the legislation passed for more than a year and the bill was ratified last week by the state's General Assembly. In proposing the legislation, the students pointed to motorsports' $6 billion annual economic impact to North Carolina and noted that Charlotte, N.C., and the surrounding region is home to Charlotte Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Hall of Fame and more than 90 percent of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams. More than 200 businesses in Cabarrus County support the motorsports industry, which employs nearly 20,000 people in the region. 

"It feels really good to know that the bill has finally passed and nobody disagreed with making stock car racing North Carolina's state sport, it feels really rewarding," said Sierra Bice, a student at Lake Norman Elementary School. 

North Carolina now joins other U.S. states with an official state sport, including Alaska (dog mushing); Colorado (snowboarding and skiing); Massachusetts (basketball); Minnesota (hockey); and South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming (rodeo).

"When you think about North Carolina and you think about racing, it really has been unofficially the state sport for so long and I think today to have the governor sign a bill that makes racing the official state sport is really neat and special," said Smith. "It's an exciting time and a real privilege for Charlotte Motor Speedway to be such a big part of the governor's trip today." 

To view photos from the event, visit: www.charlottemotorspeedway.com/multimedia/photo/. 

Tickets for October races at Charlotte Motor Speedway are on sale now and can be purchased online at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com or by calling the speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS (3267). The Coca-Cola Four Pack includes tickets, hot dogs and Coca-Cola drinks starting at just $39.75 per person. 

Connect with Charlotte Motor Speedway on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CLTMotorSpdwy or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/charlottemotorspeedway.

K&N Horsepower Challenge Offers Bonus Cash for NHRA Pro Stock Drivers

(Jason Line is the No. 1 seed for this weekend's NHRA Full Throttle Series Pro Stock K&N Horsepower Challenge at Norwalk. Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)

Jason Line will lead the K&N Horsepower Challenge field as the No. 1 seed for the first time as the lucrative special event takes center stage June 25 during the fifth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.

A purse of $76,000 is available for the eight drivers competing in the K&N Horsepower Challenge. The winner of the 27th annual K&N Horsepower Challenge will earn $50,000. The runner-up will earn $10,000, the two semifinalists $3,000 each, and the four first-round finishers $2,500 apiece. A $25,000 NHRA sweep bonus is available to any driver who can win the K&N Horsepower Challenge on Saturday and take the Pro Stock eliminations title during the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals on Sunday.

Line, from Mooresville, N.C., qualified No. 1 at two of the 20 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events where drivers could earn K&N Horsepower Challenge points. It will be Line’s seventh appearance in the bonus event.

The $136,000 K&N Horsepower Challenge showcases eight Pro Stock teams in a race-within-a-race bonus event. Seven of the teams qualified during a 20-race span from the 2010 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk through the 2011 Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Tri-Cities Area Ford Dealers at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway, and the eighth-place team was selected via a special fan vote on the K&N website. Besides the $76,000 available in the K&N Horsepower Challenge, bonuses of $60,000 were paid to the top Pro Stock qualifiers throughout the 20-race K&N Horsepower Challenge series, $3,000 to the No. 1 qualifier at each race.

This year’s K&N Horsepower Challenge field features two past winners and six drivers who are looking for their first victory in the special event. The past winners are defending champ Greg Anderson, who drove his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP to a sweep of the Norwalk weekend last season, pocketing $100,000 for his efforts. The other past winner is second seed Allen Johnson, who claimed victory at the event in 2008 in his Team Mopar Dodge Avenger. Among the six drivers who have never won, two are multi-time runners-up in the race, Mike Edwards (three) and Line (two).

In the opening round, top-seeded Line will face the winner of the K&N fan vote, Erica Enders, who is making her second appearance in the event. Second-seeded Johnson will meet first-time qualifier Shane Gray; third-seeded Edwards will face Rodger Brogdon, who is making his second start; and three-time and defending winner Anderson will meet veteran driver Ron Krisher.

Other past winners of the K&N Horsepower Challenge include Darrell Alderman, Bruce Allen, Dave Connolly, Jeg Coughlin,  Bob Glidden, Kurt Johnson, Warren Johnson, Larry Morgan and Jim Yates.

K&N Horsepower Challenge rounds are scheduled for 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. on June 25.

2011 K&N HORSEPOWER CHALLENGE FINAL STANDINGS:

1. Jason Line, Mooresville, N.C., Summit Racing Pontiac GXP                                                        

2. Allen Johnson, Greeneville, Tenn., J&J Racing/Team Mopar Dodge Avenger                              

3. Mike Edwards, Coweta, Okla., Penhall/Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP                                     

4. Greg Anderson, Charlotte, N.C., Summit Racing Pontiac GXP                                                    

5. Ron Krisher, Warren, Ohio, Valvoline Chevy Cobalt                                                                    

6. Rodger Brogdon, Tomball, Texas, Racers Edge Pontiac GXP                                                      

7. Shane Gray, Artesia, N.M., Service Central Pontiac GXP                                                            

8. Erica Enders, New Orleans, ZaZa Energy Chevy Cobalt                                                           

2011 K&N HORSEPOWER CHALLENGE ROUND PAIRINGS:

FIRST ROUND (11:30 a.m.):

Line vs. Enders

Johnson vs. Gray

Edwards vs. Brogdon

Anderson vs. Krisher

               

SEMIFINALS (1:30 p.m.):

Line vs. Enders winner vs. Anderson vs. Krisher winner

Johnson vs. Gray winner vs. Edwards vs. Brogdon winner

               

FINAL (2:50 p.m.)

NHRA Full Throttle Series Preview: Norwalk

(Greg Anderson, second from left and seen here with the three other 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Series champions at the season-opener at Pomona, is looking for another Pro Stock sweep this weekend at Norwalk. Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)

Last year Greg Anderson said he “took every nickel they had to give” when his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP team swept the big money weekend of Pro Stock racing at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.

Anderson used the momentum he gained from winning the event Pro Stock title and the bonus K&N Horsepower Challenge in what he called at the time “beyond a dream weekend,” to fuel his run for a fourth NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series world championship title.

Anderson returns to Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park looking to catch lighting in a bottle once again at the Fifth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, June 23-26, which also will feature the $50,000 K&N Horsepower Challenge. In addition to Anderson (Pro Stock), other defending winners of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event are Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle). The race will be televised on ESPN2 HD.

Anderson enters this event in third place in the point standings with his one victory this season coming at his home track in Charlotte, N.C. While he’s certainly solidly in the mix to make the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship playoffs, Anderson says he and all of his teammates at KB Racing always circle this date on their calendar very early, as it is certainly like a “Super Bowl” weekend for Pro Stock racers.

With its spot on the schedule during the final seven races of the regular season, it’s a pivotal race where a team can start a hot streak just in time for the playoffs. Anderson is well versed in how that strategy works.

“We’re definitely ahead of where we were last year at this time, and we have so many things going well as a team that I just know we are going to get better as time goes on, hopefully hitting our stride when we get to those final six races,” Anderson said. “To be honest, I have a lot more confidence than I did last year.  We’re showing more consistency, with more opportunities for success than we did a year ago at this time, and I think we’re on to a few things that will make this race team better over the next few months.  It’s certainly not a gimme by any means, but I like our odds.”

No matter the outcome of the race, Anderson is assured of having a blast at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, home of the famous “B Guarantee,” that includes a pound of ice cream for a buck, among other fan-friendly ammenities. Not to mention the fact that the event will be populated with plenty of folks wearing Summit Racing Equipment shirts, just like Anderson.

“For us, racing in Norwalk has a home town feel because of all the Summit people who will be there,” Anderson said.  “It’s just a beautiful facility, and the Baders (track owners) put so much into the racetrack that you just enjoy going there.  You know everything will be taken care of, allowing you to focus on running your race car.

“You can see why Summit jumped on board and put their name on the event and on the racetrack – they like to associate themselves with people who go the extra mile. The Baders do everything to make sure it’s a first class event for both the racers and the fans, making it a very special race.  We love going there, and love the Bader family for what they’ve done.”

While Anderson tries to claim his second win of the season and back-to-back wins at one of his sponsor’s title events on the circuit, one of the main opponents he’ll have to beat in order to get the job done is his teammate, current points leader Jason Line. Line has raced to three victories this season and sits atop the series standings. Line won this event in 2009 but has never won the K&N Horsepower Challenge.

“He’s been a pain in my side all season, and I’d probably feel a lot better about my season if it wasn’t for him (laughs), but from a team, standpoint thank God he has,” Anderson said.  “He’s done great, not only for himself, but for KB Racing, and he’s going to continue to do well.  I feel good about that, because every week he proves exactly what kind of potential we have.  The fact that he is doing so well makes me happy, because I know we are going to get my Summit Pontiac turned around and performing as well as he is.  It would be a lot worse if both our cars were running poorly, but with his car performing as well as it is, I know where I can be.”

Line won’t be the only driver he’ll have to contend with. He’ll face Valvoline Chevy driver Ron Krisher in the opening round of the K&N Challenge and plenty of other talented drivers all weekend, including Bristol finalists Mike Edwards and Erica Enders, Greg Stanfield, hotshot rookie Vincent Nobile, national record holder Rodger Brogdon, Topeka winner Shane Gray and 2008 Challenge winner Allen Johnson.

“I know it’s a cliché, and I say it every year, but the competition just gets tougher every year,” Anderson said. “Just as happened in NASCAR and just about every form of motorsport, ten years ago you had two great teams who knew what it took to win.  Five years ago you had four great teams, three years ago you had six until this year where you have twelve teams all capable of winning.  It just progresses every year, and I don’t expect it to change moving forward.  As time goes on, everyone works harder and gets smarter, and, as a result, you have more players in the field.”

In Top Fuel, the Al-Anabi Racing tandem of Del Worsham and defending world champ Larry Dixon – who won his first race of the season last weekend at Bristol – hold down the top two spots. Spencer Massey and Antron Brown have won two races each this season and Morgan Lucas has won once. A few top drivers are patiently waiting for their first wins of the season, including Tony Schumacher, Doug Kalitta and Brandon Bernstein.

In Funny Car, Mike Neff is leading the way by pulling double duty as both driver and crew chief of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. Already a two-time champ as a crew chief in past seasons, Neff is trying to earn his first as a driver. His teammate, Robert Hight, is a four-time winner this season and looks poised to claim a second world championship title in his Auto Club Ford Mustang. Others to watch in the 7,000 horsepower category include Jack Beckman, Cruz Pedregon, Matt Hagan, Ron Capps and 15-time world champ John Force.

* SCHEDULE: Full Throttle Drag Racing Series qualifying sessions are scheduled for 3:30 and 6 p.m. on Friday, June 24 and 11:40 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. on Saturday, June 25.  Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 26.

* TICKETS: Tickets are available for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. Please call Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park at (419) 668-5555 or visit www.summitmotorsportspark.tix.com.

* ON TV: ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 10 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, June 25. ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise three hours of eliminations coverage beginning at 8 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, June 26.

* LUCAS OIL SERIES: The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. also will feature competition in seven categories in the NHRA Lucas Oil Series, where the future stars of the NHRA Full Throttle Series are born. Lucas Oil Series qualifying begins at 8:30 a.m. on June 24. Lucas Oil Series eliminations begin at 8 a.m. on June 25 and continue through June 26.

* GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES: NHRA’s popular Pro Mod touring series will make its seventh start of the 10-race 2011 season at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. The series features some of the world’s fastest and most unique doorslammer cars, with an eclectic mix of vintage and late-model body styles, in quarter-mile competition. Two of three scheduled rounds of qualifying will be held on Friday, June 24 at 3:30 and 6 p.m. The final round of qualifying is set for 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 25. The first round of eliminations is scheduled for Saturday, June 25 at 1:40 p.m. Eliminations will continue on Sunday, June 26 at approximately 2:30 p.m.

* ON THE WEB: Get live timing, scoring, multimedia and the latest news updates from every NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event on the Internet at www.nhra.com. Visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

* * *

TIM WILKERSON LOOKING FOR MORE NORWALK MAGIC AS FULL THROTTLE COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP LOOMS ON HORIZON

NORWALK, Ohio – With only seven races remaining in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series regular season, many teams are starting to take inventory of their status as a top 10 points finish becomes the primary goal in order to land a spot in the Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six-race playoff.

While the competition is tight in all four classes, as many as eight drivers could find themselves in a heated battle for the final four spots in the Funny Car top 10.

Veteran racer Tim Wilkerson is one driver who is currently attached to the dreaded 11th spot, on the outside looking in.

However, the Springfield, Ill. racer can draw some confidence from the fact that it was about this time last year when a victory at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals provided the spark to move him out of the cut zone and into the playoffs.

Wilkerson hopes to summon the same magic this weekend and turn around the fortunes of his season at the Fifth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, June 23-26 at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. Joining Wilkerson (Funny Car) as defending winners of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event are Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

“That was a pretty big deal, because we had won Gainesville in March but then went a whole bunch of races without doing too much,” Wilkerson said. “The race before Norwalk, in Bristol, we got to the final and lost to (John) Force when we had an engine malfunction, so we felt pretty good going into Norwalk but you never know if the success you had the week before will follow along with you or leave you stranded, if you know what I mean. To run so well there, and to beat John in the final was a big deal to us, and really got us into the thick of the Countdown thing. Before then, we were sort of hanging on by our teeth to stay in the Top 10.”

So far Wilkerson’s best effort this season behind the wheel of his Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang has been a final round effort at the VisitMyrtleBeach.com NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, N.C.  Lately some really strong qualifying efforts – including a second at Houston, third at Englishtown and fifth last weekend at Bristol – have been very encouraging for the team. However, on race day, bizarre things have been happening, resulting in more than their share of first round losses.

Wilkerson knows that he’ll need to turn his qualifying excellence into race day excellence to gain the points he’ll need to jockey with the competitors who are also hungry to grab one of those top 10 spots, including Johnny Gray, Ron Capps, Jim Head and Tony Pedregon to name a few.

“Well, nobody is going to back up and hand us a spot, so we’re going to have to run a little better on Sunday to make it, and I think we're about ready to do that,” Wilkerson said. “Other than in Atlanta, we’ve been qualifying really strong lately, so that tells me we have a fast race car. On Sunday, that fast race car wants to get over-center on me every now and then, so we’re working on calming it down so we can win some rounds. Last year, the win in Norwalk really got us going, so maybe we can do that again.”

At Norwalk, for the second consecutive race, Wilkerson will have a teammate. His son Dan, who raced alongside him on Father’s Day in Bristol, will drive his Summit Racing Equipment Ford Mustang in Ohio.  Dan qualified 16th at Bristol and lost in the first round to top qualifier Bob Tasca when his car broke after performing the burnout.

Wilkerson says while it adds a bit of stress and pressure to his tuning responsibilities during the race weekend, it’s really cool to have his son driving one of the team’s cars.

“It’s very special, and it’s something we’ve talked about and aimed for since he was a little kid,” Wilkerson said. “The first time we put him in a Junior Dragster, he went out there like he’d been doing it his whole life and was just cool as a cucumber. It might’ve only been a Junior Dragster, but the way he handled himself told me, right then, that the kid’s a racer. He's been that cool every step up the ladder, and just last weekend he went bracket racing, just for fun, and worked his way through six rounds to win the race in Havana, Ill. Can you tell I'm a proud papa? It’s a great deal to be able to race with Dan. I’m really proud of him.”

He looks forward to the day when Dan will be a full-time driver and join the ultra-competitive ranks of Funny Car, where it can be difficult to make the Countdown to the Championship. A host of strong frontrunners are leading the way this season including points leader Mike Neff, four-time winner Robert Hight, two-time world champ Cruz Pedregon and last season’s championship runner-up, Matt Hagan. You can never count out defending and 15-time world champ John Force, who currently sits eighth in the standings without a win. Wilkerson realizes the category is stacked with talent.

“Right now, we have 15 or 16 really strong teams, and then some regional teams that come in and keep us honest,” Wilkerson said. “The thing is, the best teams out here now are better than ever, and that makes it tough. When we show up and start qualifying, the first thing on your mind is making sure you get in the show. There are no sure things.”

In Top Fuel, the Al-Anabi Racing tandem of Del Worsham and defending world champ Larry Dixon – who won his first race of the season last weekend at Bristol – hold down the top two spots. Spencer Massey and Antron Brown have won two races each this season and Morgan Lucas has won once. A few top drivers are patiently waiting for their first wins of the season, including Tony Schumacher, Doug Kalitta and Brandon Bernstein.

Jason Line is leading the way in Pro Stock with three victories behind the wheel of his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP. His teammate Anderson is the defending race winner as well as the defending winner of the K&N Horsepower Challenge, which is contested at this event. The 2009 world champ, Mike Edwards, is back to his winning ways, while Greg Stanfield has been a strong runner for several seasons. Rookie Vincent Nobile, national record holder Rodger Brogdon, Topeka winner Shane Gray and Bristol runner-up Erica Enders are all looking for more success in the 200 mph category.

* SCHEDULE: Full Throttle Drag Racing Series qualifying sessions are scheduled for 3:30 and 6 p.m. on Friday, June 24 and 11:40 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. on Saturday, June 25.  Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 26.

* TICKETS: Tickets are available for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. Please call Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park at (419) 668-5555 or visit www.summitmotorsportspark.tix.com.

* ON TV: ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 10 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, June 25. ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise three hours of eliminations coverage beginning at 8 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, June 26.

* LUCAS OIL SERIES: The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. also will feature competition in seven categories in the NHRA Lucas Oil Series, where the future stars of the NHRA Full Throttle Series are born. Lucas Oil Series qualifying begins at 8:30 a.m. on June 24. Lucas Oil Series eliminations begin at 8 a.m. on June 25 and continue through June 26.

* GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES: NHRA’s popular Pro Mod touring series will make its seventh start of the 10-race 2011 season at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. The series features some of the world’s fastest and most unique doorslammer cars, with an eclectic mix of vintage and late-model body styles, in quarter-mile competition. Two of three scheduled rounds of qualifying will be held on Friday, June 24 at 3:30 and 6 p.m. The final round of qualifying is set for 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 25. The first round of eliminations is scheduled for Saturday, June 25 at 1:40 p.m. Eliminations will continue on Sunday, June 26 at approximately 2:30 p.m.

* ON THE WEB: Get live timing, scoring, multimedia and the latest news updates from every NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event on the Internet at www.nhra.com. Visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

* * *

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT NHRA NATIONALS FACT SHEET

WHAT: Fifth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, the 10th of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Drivers in four categories - Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle - earn points leading to 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series world championships. NHRA is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2011 and will pay tribute to the evolution of the hot rod and honor its legendary racers as well as the sport’s current stars.

WHERE: Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, Norwalk, Ohio. The track is located at 1300 State Route 18, half way between Cleveland and Toledo; just an hour and a half north of Columbus. The Ohio Turnpike is less than 10 minutes away.

WHEN: Thursday through Sunday, June 23-26.

SCHEDULE:        

THURSDAY, June 23 - LUCAS OIL SERIES qualifying at 9 a.m.

FRIDAY, June 24 - LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations begin at 8:30 a.m.

GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES qualifying at 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.

FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 4:15 p.m. and 6:45 p.m.

SATURDAY, June 25 – LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations continue at 8 a.m.

GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES qualifying at 10:30 a.m. and first round of eliminations at 1:40 p.m.

FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 11:40 a.m. and 2:15 p.m.

K&N HORSEPOWER CHALLENGE at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m.

SUNDAY, June 26 - Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m.

FULL THROTTLE SERIES eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

TELEVISION:      

Saturday, June 25, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 10 p.m. (ET).

Sunday, June 26, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise three hours of eliminations coverage starting at 8 p.m. (ET).

SATELLITE (Digital HD Feed):     

Friday, June 24, 10 – 10:30 p.m. (ET), AMC 3 / Transponder 18C (4060 MHz, vertical)

Saturday, June 25, 6:30 – 7 p.m. (ET), AMC 3 / Transponder 18C (4060 MHz, vertical)

Sunday, June 26, 7 – 7:30 p.m. (ET), AMC 3 / Transponder 18C (4060 MHz, vertical)

(Downlink: 4060 MHz, vertical; Transmission: MPEG-2; HD: 720p; Data Rate: 40.461470554 Mbp; Symbol Rate: 29.27 Ms; FEC: ¾; Bandwidth: 36 Mhz)

Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winners’ interviews on Sunday.             

2010 EVENT WINNERS: Larry Dixon, Top Fuel; Tim Wilkerson, Funny Car; Greg Anderson, Pro Stock; Matt Smith, Pro Stock Motorcycle.

MOST VICTORIES: Larry Dixon, 2, TF; Greg Anderson, 2, PS; Andrew Hines, 2, PSM.

TRACK RECORDS:            

Top Fuel – 3.780 seconds by Larry Dixon, June ’10; 320.43 mph by Dixon, June ’10.

Funny Car – 4.032 seconds by Ashley Force Hood, June ’10; 313.15 mph by Del Worsham, June ’10.

Pro Stock – 6.592 seconds by Jeg Coughlin, June ’10; 209.30 mph by Allen Johnson, June ’10.

PS Motorcycle – 6.929 seconds by Steve Johnson, June ’10; 194.49 mph by Andrew Hines, June ’10.

NATIONAL RECORDS:    

Top Fuel - 3.770 sec. by Larry Dixon, Feb. ’11, Pomona, Calif.; 327.03 mph by Tony Schumacher, Feb. ’11, Pomona, Calif.

Funny Car - 4.011 sec. by Matt Hagan, Oct. ’10, Reading, Pa.; 316.45 mph by Robert Hight, June '11, Bristol, Tenn.

Pro Stock - 6.495 sec. by Rodger Brogdon, March ’11, Gainesville, Fla.; 213.57 mph by Erica Enders, March ’11, Gainesville, Fla.

PS Motorcycle – 6.777 sec. by Hector Arana, March ’11, Gainesville, Fla.; 199.26 mph by Eddie Krawiec, March ’11, Gainesville, Fla.

TICKETS: For tickets, call (419) 668-5555 or purchase online at www.summitmotorsportspark.tix.com.

GENERAL ADMISSION (includes pit pass) - Thursday: Adult, $12; Junior (6-12 years), free. Friday: Adult, $32; Junior (6-12 years), $10. Saturday: Adult, $45; Junior (6-12 years), $10. Sunday: Adult, $45; Junior (6-12 years), $10. Children five years and under admitted free to general admission and pit areas each day.

RESERVED SEATS (includes pit pass) - Friday: Adult, $42; Junior (6-12 years), $20; Child (5 years & under), $10. Saturday: Adult, $55; Junior (6-12 years), $20; Child (5 years & under), $10. Sunday: Adult, $55; Junior (6-12 years), $20; Child (5 years & under), $10

CONTACT: NHRA Communications Department, (626) 914-4761. Scott Smith (317) 281-5049, cell.

* * *

NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES POINT STANDINGS 

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the ninth of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel: 1. Del Worsham, 763; 2. Larry Dixon, 732; 3. Spencer Massey, 729; 4. Antron Brown, 679; 5. Tony Schumacher, 670; 6. Doug Kalitta, 503; 7. Brandon Bernstein, 458; 8. Morgan Lucas, 426; 9. Shawn Langdon, 396; 10. Terry McMillen, 364.

Funny Car: 1. Mike Neff, 765; 2. Jack Beckman, 705; 3. Robert Hight, 691; 4. Cruz Pedregon, 635; 5. Matt Hagan, 544; 6. Jeff Arend, 488; 7. Bob Tasca III, 462; 8. John Force, 451; 9. Ron Capps, 440; 10. Johnny Gray, 431.

Pro Stock: 1. Jason Line, 694; 2. Mike Edwards, 670; 3. Greg Anderson, 645; 4. Greg Stanfield, 617; 5. Vincent Nobile, 598; 6. Rodger Brogdon, 571; 7. Allen Johnson, 557; 8. Erica Enders, 521; 9. Shane Gray, 437; 10. Ron Krisher, 414.

Pro Stock Motorcycle: 1. Karen Stoffer, 380; 2. Andrew Hines, 337; 3. Eddie Krawiec, 311; 4. LE Tonglet, 273; 5. Matt Smith, 252; 6. Hector Arana, 239; 7. Jerry Savoie, 238; 8. Michael Phillips, 193; 9. Jim Underdahl, 186; 10. Hector Arana Jr, 148.

VIDEO: YOU Can Be on Kenny Wallace's NASCAR Nationwide Series Car!

Motorsports This Week on ESPN

The NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., this weekend and ESPN will have a live telecast of the Bucyrus 300 on Saturday, June 25. NASCAR Countdown airs at 5 p.m. ET with the race’s green flag at 5:51 p.m.

Allen Bestwick will call the action with analysis by Rusty Wallace, the 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, and two-time champion crew chief Andy Petree. Reports from two-time champion crew chief Tim Brewer will air from the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage, while pit reporters will be Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Shannon Spake and Vince Welch.


NHRA Action from Ohio on ESPN2, ESPN3.com

The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series races this weekend in the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. ESPN2 will air action from qualifying on Saturday, June 25, at 10 p.m. ET and coverage of eliminations airs Sunday, June 26, at 8 p.m. NHRA fans also can watch the full day of eliminations live on ESPN3.com starting Sunday at noon.

The series will make its fifth appearance at fan-friendly Summit Motorsports Park with the full slate of Full Throttle classes and the seventh of 10 events for the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. The event, known for upsets and high drama, is also the site of the eight-car Pro Stock bonus event, the K&N Horsepower Challenge, the winner of which receives $50,000. The 10-race regular season for Pro Stock Motorcycles reaches its halfway point here.

Paul Page anchors for ESPN with analysis by 22-time NHRA winner Mike Dunn. Gary Gerould, and Dave Rieff report from the pits.

Benson, Craven, Hinton on NASCAR Now Roundtable

NASCAR driver Johnny Benson Jr. joins ESPN NASCAR analyst Ricky Craven and ESPN.com senior motorsports writer Ed Hinton as panelists on NASCAR Now’s weekly roundtable discussion program airing Monday, June 27, at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Allen Bestwick will host the edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program.

Half-hour episodes of NASCAR Now air at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday of this week, with Nicole Briscoe hosting. Briscoe also hosts NASCAR Now’s weekend edition airing Sunday, June 26, at 11 a.m. with a preview of that day’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Mike Massaro and Marty Smith will report from the track.

ESPN.com Offers RacingLive! During NASCAR Sonoma Event

NASCAR fans looking for an online gathering during ESPN’s telecasts of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series now have a place to go on ESPN.com.

RacingLive! on ESPN.com is a live blog where fans can engage in debate and discussion with ESPN.com writers and editors during the NASCAR Sprint Cup races. On Sunday, June 26, RacingLive! Sonoma will kick off to coincide with the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Fans can join ESPN.com’s NASCAR experts in dissecting every aspect of the race live at http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/.

ESPN.com motorsports writers Terry Blount and David Newton will be reporting from Sonoma.


ESPN Radio Raceday Airs Saturday, Sunday

Each weekend morning, ESPN Radio’s RaceDay starts its engines at 6 a.m. ET with host Pat Patterson anchored from Daytona Beach, Fla. Patterson also originates the broadcast from several racetracks with key races during the season. On both Saturday and Sunday mornings, ESPN Radio’s RaceDay listeners get an hour of news, previews and analysis, as well as profiles and interviews with NASCAR’s biggest names and newsmakers and the involvement of listeners via calls and e-mails.

Additionally, many of ESPN’s NASCAR reporters and analysts contribute each week as ESPN networks televise the entire NASCAR Nationwide Series and the final 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, including the 10-race “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup” championship. A list of ESPN Radio affiliates can be found at www.espnradio.com.

Visit www.espnmediazone.com for ESPN's latest releases, schedules and other news, plus photos, video and audio clips and more.

VIDEO: Kenny Wallace Goes Green with G-Oil

TRANSCRIPT: Ryan Newman Press Conference

(Ryan Newman, seen here talking to media prior to last week's Prelude to the Dream, will carry a special Army paint scheme honoring NASCAR Hall of Famer and veteran Bud Moore this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)

THE MODERATOR: Our guest today is Ryan Newman, and this weekend at Michigan, Newman will pilot the No. 39 U.S. Army Bud Moore NASCAR Hall of Fame Chevrolet. The No. 39 will carry an old military photo on his quarterpanels, which pays tribute to Moore, a decorated World War II veteran who was inducted to the NASCAR Hall of Fame last month. The No. 39 car will also pay tribute to the Army's 236th birthday, which is this week.

Ryan is currently tenth in points in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings, and tied with teammate and team owner Tony Stewart. In 19 starts at Michigan, Ryan has collected one pole two, wins and four Top-5 finishes.

Ryan, as you head to a track that you traveled to many times as a kid, talk about what would it mean to collect another victory at Michigan, especially considering it being Army's birthday this week and your first Father's Day.

RYAN NEWMAN: Well, it's special for a lot of reasons, and I've always considered it home. It's one of the first places I ever came and saw a NASCAR Sprint Cup race and as a fan, and just kind of like coming back home for me.

So mix in having U.S. Army on the race car, their birth die, 236 years strong, the cool factor of having bud Moore on the race car and as you said the decorated veteran that he was and is, just being Father's Day, first time for me having my dad there and coming back home, I look forward to it. I hope the race car is as fast as all of the hype we have built up into it.

Q. Bud Moore being on your car and everything, and the Hall of Fame just announced Dale Inman is going to be inducted, wonder if you've met these guys and what's your sense of history of what they have done in NASCAR many years ago?

RYAN NEWMAN: Well, I had never met Bud Moore until a couple of weeks ago and was honored to meet him, especially after watching his biography on TV talking about how he was involved with the war and how influential he was and the command that he was with. That's one part of it.

The other part of it is the NASCAR side of things, and you know, what he's done for our sport, the innovations he's made, the things he's accomplished, and mixing those two things together, that's why it's an honor for me to represent him.

And then talking about guys like Dale Inman that you said, that I've got a chance to meet, obviously in the Hall of Fame, these are great, genuine men who have meant a lot and done a lot and some have started out with very little. Just proud to represent and proud to -- and it's an honor for me as I said to represent the Army, and then you add in a soldier like Bud Moore and NASCAR pioneer, that's even cooler.

Q. We saw this week Kyle Busch got a 6-point penalty for being too low on the left run. A little bit of an infraction, but not huge; how do drivers look that it? Do they say it's not much of a big deal or he got away with something?

RYAN NEWMAN: It's tough to answer that without knowing exactly what it was on the car, if it was something that was done intentionally and NASCAR can deem that intentional, then that's one thing. But if it was some situation where a part failed, then that's a different thing.

So it's hard from the outside in to say whether it's the penalty meets the crime, but in saying that, the toughest part in my eyes was figuring out how to match this points system with a penalty. To my knowledge that's the first penalty we have had with the new points system.

Q. Is it natural for guys to have parts break and just to be too low -- inaudible -- if that happened 36 times a year, he would be too low once or twice?

RYAN NEWMAN: That's why I say it's tough to say, because if you look at suspension components, the right front seems a lot more low than the left front does, so if the left front failed a component, then the question is, was it made to intentionally fail.

So NASCAR has to do their homework and have a study on whether it's element analysis of the parts and pieces and how it was assembled and whenever it happens, whether it was a spring or suspension part hood, I don't know. But that's all of the things that need to be considered, and you know, handing out a penalty when it comes to something like that.

Q. I see that you've been active in rescue dogs and that kind of program for a long time. Just wonder what your passion is about that, and how you became involved in it and why you think it's important, and I think the last thing I saw was that you and your wife have I think five rescue dogs, and I guess how many is too many when you get the house full?

RYAN NEWMAN: We used to have a rule in the house that we had to stop at four, because between my wife and I, it was only a dog per hand is all you could do to scratch and satisfy their needs.

We actually broke that rule and ended up with six and now we are back down to five. We just have a love of animals and want to do everything we can to help their welfare. So raise awareness for spaying and neutering and people going out and adapting a pet versus spending $1,000 on animal that somebody bred just to be a money maker for them.

You know, we are trying to eliminate the over population. The over-population, and therefore, the euthanization of animals.

Q. What's the response been from NASCAR fans as far as listening to the message and then getting involved in this?

RYAN NEWMAN: Well, NASCAR fans are like anybody else. I shouldn't say we are all -- there's a majority of us that are pet lovers.

So it's good to see -- we have got our -- inaudible -- of pets that talks about drivers and TV personalities and car owners and crew chiefs and their love of animals and the bottom line is, we represent as -- from the NASCAR side of things, the same type of feelings and emotions that people have that are common fans out there in the real world.

So a lot of things transfer over and I think that's what they like to see in how our relationships are with our animals.

Q. Looking at Daytona, are you looking forward to tandem racing, and what are your thoughts on tandem racing in general?

RYAN NEWMAN: I look forward to coming back there, and getting a little more experience from Daytona and Talladega, I'm sure our teams are going to be more competitive than they ever have been at that type of racing.

It's going to be hot. It will be interesting to see how much grip there is in the race car after this spring and if we still have to run wide open or if we have to lift at all. The racing itself, I wouldn't say is my favorite kind of racing, but I do prefer it more over the old style of drafting, I guess you could say, that we have always done there.

It's nice to have an impact as a driver on the abilities of tandem racing, but I would rather be racing side-by-side, three-wide or four-wide or running wide open and having my car do the work than something else pushing me.

Q. I went to the ride swap yesterday with Tony Stewart and Lewis Hamilton. I was just totally fascinated. A lot of effort on behalf of your team and to come out for two days and get ready. Did you see any of that, and if you haven't answered this yet, what are your thoughts about how Tony did it and how Lewis did it and how fascinating that would be as an general ear to watch it?

RYAN NEWMAN: I watched three minutes of it last night and saw Lewis in Stewart's car and he did a heck of a job I thought just controlling the race car which isn't easy to do.

Outside of that, I think it was more about having fun and creating some awareness for mobile and how great of a partner they are for Stewart Haas Racing and how basically from a racer's standpoint, a good racer can drive anything, and I'm sure probably both of them proved that at the end of the day. I didn't see that but I'm just speculating.

Q. Would you like to do the swap of something like that just for fun?

RYAN NEWMAN: I don't know if they make an F1 car that I can fit into.

Q. Tony fit into it.

RYAN NEWMAN: Yeah, I got him by a couple of inches on the suit coat size.

Q. You've been racing Daytona about ten years how. Can you give me your impression of how racing has changed at Daytona in those ten years, how dramatic it's been?

RYAN NEWMAN: It's been a big change I would say for two parts. No. 1, probably the biggest part is the car itself and the way that we race around there and going from no it -- what do you call it, no taxicab signs to taxicab signs to no taxicab signs in the new car and then the difference between the wing and the spoiler and the way the cars are drafting now. That's one part of it.

The other part of it is the racetrack itself; the fact that it's so grippy now, it was such a handling racetrack. You had to be all about getting your car perfectly set up in order to not abuse the tires or blow a tire or going back to my Daytona 500 victory, the cars were on edge; everybody was on edge. It's a fun place to race. And it will be even more fun once the track gauges up again.

And in just those ten years as you stated, it changed a lot. The racing changed a lot, more so from the change of the race car than to the change of the racetrack.

Q. With your engineering background, the changes on the horizon with the fuel injection and the new body template, it seems like NASCAR is quickly modernizing the series.

RYAN NEWMAN: Yeah, and I don't like the whole modernizing thing. I don't know how to answer the fuel injection question. It's kind of a Catch 22 where we are talking about being green and good for the environment and those things, that's one side of it. The other side of it is I like the preservation of the history of our sport, and the fact that it is kind of rustic in many areas.

You know, a friend of mine, I said one time, before you take the carburetor off and put a fuel injection system on it, why don't you take the 1966 truck arm suspension out of the back of the car first and make it make the racing look better. I don't think the difference between a fuel injection versus a carburetor is going to change the way the fans perceive our sport in the grandstands, and I think that's what we need to focus on the most.

Q. You get to do many off-track activities; can you share your most favorite off-track moments?

RYAN NEWMAN: My most favorite off-track moments: I've had a lot of fun doing my Army appearances and actually I'm driving right now to another one, so if the lady on the GPS speaks, that's not somebody else, that's her; she's got no personality.

I really enjoyed my Fort Bragg appearance where we got to do the vertical winds tunnel. They took me down in the training areas where they do live rounds bouncing off rubber walls. It felt like they were bouncing off. I swear, I don't know how the rubber walls kept the bullets from not bouncing but just things like that are a lot of fun and getting to meet soldiers.

And visits to the Walter Reed are special; they are bittersweet, but they are special. Things like that have taught me much more about what the U.S. Army does and is and has been doing that I didn't realize in my years past. But we have a lot of fun off the racetrack, sometimes even at the racetrack I go and finish and do things like that, too. But getting to meet those soldiers and those people are definitely special.

Q. And do you get to do anything like say you get special treatment to go to a Super Bowl or is there anything like that that you like, also?

RYAN NEWMAN: Yeah, I've gone to Super Bowls. In fact, I never had gone to a professional football game in my life and I went to a Super Bowl. I was lucky back in the day to be partnered up with Gatorade because they have big Super Bowl parties and things like that. I enjoy those things, but I don't enjoy them any more than going on the racetrack and doing what I do and enjoying the things around the racetrack.

Q. You had a 15th and 9th the last two weeks; you guys are on the bubble. Do you feel like you are at all on the upswing or do you feel like you're swinging into this Chase spot or where do you think you're at?

RYAN NEWMAN: Our 15th at Kansas was partially luck. We did the fuel strategy thing. I had a miserable race car and finished 15th, which was good. We salvaged a decent finish out of something that should have been 30th. But we got caught up in wreck there at Charlotte with the mediocre race car, and really struggled -- my point is, Pocono was a good turnaround for us, for our team. We had a transmission problem towards the end of the race and still finished 9th. So that was nice to have a good rebound weekend there.

And I think to answer your question, going into Michigan here, that will be one of our defining factors of whether we make the Chase or not, or at least have the potential as far as how we do here and if we can keep that ball rolling, that we finally got moving again back in Pocono. And saying that, not basing everything off of Michigan, but a big part of our summer stretch is working on racetracks that have lower grip and typically fast mile-and-a-half, two-mile racetracks. We'll see what we can do there.

Q. Does Michigan take on any additional importance because -- inaudible -- wild-cards, at Infineon and Daytona?

RYAN NEWMAN: Yes and no. They all weigh evenly and you can get just as much lucky as you do unlucky sometimes or vice versa. So when it comes to -- just like at Charlotte, getting caught up in the 34 and the 5 wreck, we could have been a Top-10 car that day. We were not going to win the race, at least based on the performance of our race car. Honestly you just never know. You can speculate, but Michigan is a place that I enjoy, and it's really a wide-open racetrack. Once you get your car right, you can pretty much have a good day.

Q. You mentioned your visit to the Walter Reed; how do you handle that? Those are very emotional, seeing the soldiers with lost limbs. I guess you try to be upbeat or try to talk about racing with them, or how do you do that?

RYAN NEWMAN: Well, you have to have a strong stomach and sometimes you have to have an even stronger brain, because they are going through some serious life changes in their life and the amazing thing is all those soldiers, at Walter Reed especially, they want to get back in battle. They want to go back with their command and friends and be part of their team. That's part of the reason they are such a parallel between racing and what we do and the U.S. Army and those soldiers, because they want to fight. They want to go back to battle and they want to win.

It's tough at times. Sometimes you go in and you see somebody have a reaction to you, and it's like magic and you can just talk about anything. You can talk about sports, the weather, their trip, what happened to them, the things they have been through. And some people, they don't want to talk about it. You just have to read the character and make the best of the first impression that you can.

Q. I asked you a couple of years ago about social media and you said you didn't really care for it that much. You do have a Twitter account now and you do have a Facebook page. Has your opinion of social media changed?

RYAN NEWMAN: It's not changed from my personal standpoint, and I've told other people this and I'll tell you the same thing. Those accounts, my Twitter and Facebook, they are the things I'm doing, but I'm not pushing the buttons to make that message come out. So the reason I say that is because if I was as involved with my Facebook and Twitter account, I wouldn't be able to take the time to do those things that are getting ready.

It's kind of a Catch 22 for me. I enjoy doing what I do, whether it's feeding my baby deer, or playing around the farm, doing things with my baby and my wife, or going to get ice cream; if I was -- I've got an old flip phone with no Internet -- or I shouldn't say no Internet, no e-mail, or anything like that. I try to keep it simple, and a phone is a phone to me. I just have people that help me out so that because of the importance of Facebook and Twitter and social media, it's important to the fans and it's important to our sponsors and that's why it's a Catch 22, because I know of its importance; at the same time, I know of the response of the things that I like to do outside of that so that I can have time to get everything done.

Q. Are you surprised at the number of your counterparts, drivers and whatnot, that do have an active account and participate on a regular basis.

RYAN NEWMAN: I wouldn't say I'm surprised. I understand the reason and the importance of it. I guess I'm maybe a little more active when it comes to doing things throughout the day than they are, so that's maybe the difference.

TRANSCRIPT: Jeff Gordon Talks to Media at Sonoma

(Jeff Gordon, the most recent winner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit, visited with media in Northern California today to help promote the upcoming event at Infineon Raceway. Photo by Brandon W. Mudd) 

Jeff, thanks so much for joining the Northern California media on today's call.

JG: Yeah, absolutely. It's a pleasure. Really looking forward to coming out to Sonoma. As always, it's around my daughter Ella's birthday. So last year she wasn't able to come out because Leo was being born shortly after in August, so it's going to be great having the family out there and what a great track and the success we've had. So we certainly are looking forward to it.  

Jeff, before we get started on talking about the upcoming race, maybe you can fill us in on your involvement in the movie Cars 2 and your role in there? Maybe you can give us a little update on what that's going to be all about.

JG: Yeah, it's been a busy day promoting that here today actually, but what an amazing experience just being involved with the Cars 2 movie legacy with what they're building here. Actually John Lasseter from Pixar, who's a huge race fan and comes out to the Sonoma races every year, I was able to get in touch with him last year around this same time and we started talking about being a part of Cars 2, and I just can't believe it's all worked out the way it has. I mean, it was probably a week or two after the conversation and he's presenting Jeff Gorvette to me and my potential role. So it's not a big one, but it sure is something I'm very proud of and excited about as a racecar driver being able to be the voice of a cool car and especially as a parent. So, yeah, I can't wait for it to come out June 24.  

It's been a while since we’ve seen you in the Wine Country Winner’s Circle in Sonoma. I know you've won the most races and the most poles there, but lately you haven't visited Victory Circle. What's it going to take to get you there?

JG: You know, I'll say this and I really mean it, I mean we have struggled on the road courses in recent years and it's not something that we've been accustomed to and it's not something we like, so we've been working really hard at making improvements there and we actually tested at a road course back East, Mid-Ohio, and I'm hoping that that test will definitely get us closer to where we need to be to be more competitive out in Sonoma. Just haven't been able to get the balance right there and find the speed that we need, so hopefully we have that this time.  

How tough is it to drive Infineon Raceway in Sonoma?

JG: Well, it's a very challenging race track. It's one that you really struggle between being aggressive and being patient. On a road course, you typically really want to attack the breaking zones. But Sonoma, with the elevation changes and the off cambered turns, it's one of those tracks where you have to be very careful at over attacking and you can drive it too hard. And plus setting up the car, there's some fast sections as well as some very technical sections, so getting the car right for that track is extremely challenging as well as driving it.

Just from 2008 through last year, you had one win total. This year you already have two. What's been the first thing that goes through your mind when you think ‘Why are we having success this year so far as opposed to the last couple years?’ In terms of getting in the Winner Circle, what is the difference?

JG: Well, I mean, if you look at especially last year, we had a lot of second place finishes. So, I think that some slipped away from us, sometimes the cautions don’t fall the right way for you. I mean I think of Martinsville last year, I mean we were 50 feet from getting the white flag and the caution came out, so I think we ran really well last year. But I think if you go to Victory Lane, it's either meant to be or it's not meant to be and so for us last year it just wasn't meant to be. And with all the changes that Rick Hendrick called for over the offseason, I think that they're definitely working out very well. I think you look at the chemistry between (Dale Earnhardt) Junior and Steve (Letarte) and Mark (Martin) and Lance (McGrew) and me and Alan (Gustafson), it's been fantastic. So I've always wanted to work with Alan, known him for a long time as he's worked at Hendrick Motorsports and he's a very talented crew chief with a great group of guys around him, so I just look at the confidence that they have in me and that I have in them. And we haven't always been great this year and yet we've won two races, so I feel like we've turned the corner on our mile-and-a-half program. Our short track program has been there through the offseason and early on and now I think we’ve got to continue with the intermediate tracks like this weekend in Michigan and then really step up our road-course program. And I think if we can do that, we're a complete team that can definitely get ourselves solidly in the Chase.  

Where were you when you realized stock car racing should be your career?

JG: Well it certainly wasn't in Vallejo. When I grew up in Vallejo, all I wanted to do was race open-wheel cars. I grew up racing quarter midgets all around the Bay Area and throughout the state and racing to me was my life since age five; and I love to go to Baylands (Raceway Park) and even Vallejo Speedway back when they had a dirt track, West Capital. I mean all around there watching the sprint car drivers and races. So that was to me my focus was there and then Indianapolis, the Indianapolis 500, and I moved back to Indiana just out of Freshman year in high school and I think doing all the racing that I did all around the Midwest racing sprint cars, midgets… A friend of mine, Larry Newburgh, who unfortunately isn't with us anymore, but he's the one that really came to me with the idea and said: "I know you're focused on trying to go open-wheel racing, but have you thought about NASCAR? You should at least think about it." And that was the first time that I really had and I went down south and drove a stock car at a driving school and fell in love with it. From that moment on, that's what I wanted to do. Again, when things are meant to be, they're meant to be. And from that moment on, amazing things just fell in place and I think that it fell in place for a reason.  

Give us a little behind the scenes of this Cars thing. Give us a little bit about your role before that movie comes out.

JG: Yeah, so I play Jeff Gorvette. I mean the movie is completely different from the first movie. Obviously Lightning McQueen and Mater and some of his buddies are in there and I'm one of his new buddies, but it's an international spy thriller this time so they go all over the world and so there's a lot of international flair from the car side of it and the voices that you'll hear as well as some other racecar drivers. My role is fairly small, but still was a blast. Going into the studio, working with John Lasseter is just -- he's a genius and getting to know him and his family, but working with him on this was an experience that I'll never forget. I haven't even seen the movie. I saw some clips, but looking forward to seeing the movie. On Monday, we're going to get to go to a screening, so I can't wait for that. Unfortunately, we're going to miss the premiere, but at least I'll get to see the screening before it comes out in theaters.  

Jeff, do you get to see the video clip that you're doing the sound for or do you do the sound and they add the animation later?

JG: John (Lasseter) showed some clips that they were working on that were very rough cut, but it did not have Jeff Gorvette in it. It was more things with I believe Mater and Lightning McQueen. And if you've seen some of the trailers where they show the boat in the ocean, he had some of that. But, no, when I was in the studio, it was purely John painting a picture in my mind through explaining the scene to me and then trying to emulate what he was looking for and then me sometimes just either doing it repetitively or trying to copy some things that he was doing. It's amazing because he definitely put me in that scene even though I had no idea what it looked like. I enjoyed it immensely. It was great.  

NASCAR's made a lot of changes in the last few years, and one of them this year is getting the ethanol in the tanks. Have you noticed any difference with the ethanol, and what do you think of it?

JG: I guess if you talk to the engine builders, they would probably be able to explain further. From inside the car, no, not really. We've been trying to throw around some ideas on weather and how it's affecting the fuel and how it burns in the engine and whether or not we're able to maintain the power like if the humidity changes or temperature changes in the air, and those have always been a challenge. But with the ethanol, it's just a little bit different and so just the way that the fuel burns is slightly different, so adjusting around that. But from a performance standpoint, I would say "no difference." So it's great that NASCAR's taken this step and I see us moving more in this direction moving forward to do things that are better for the environment, which I think is important to everybody.  

What other changes has NASCAR made in the last few years that you really like?

JG: Well I think obviously safer barriers is something we're seeing more and more around all the racetracks, so from a safety standpoint that's important to all of us. This past weekend, we saw shifting come back at Pocono and I was certainly happy to see that, and it worked very well for us as well. The new nose on the car this year, I really like. I think the cars look better and they seem to be performing a little bit better as well in traffic, so I think they continue to learn just like we do and implement some changes as we go.  

I noticed after Sunday's race, you had to answer a couple questions about almost being 40 years old now, but do these wins at this stage of your career maybe mean a little bit more to you than maybe they did 10 or 15 years ago?

JG: Oh absolutely, and I don't know if it's just because I'm getting older and I can appreciate these things more because I think most people do as they get older… And I'm not old. I'm not saying I'm old, it's just I have been doing this a long time and if you talked to me through the mid-, late-'90s, I mean we were racking up a lot of wins, and we just haven't won as much in recent years. So I think half of it is that I am getting a little older and appreciating things a lot more. I'm a dad and a husband and just I think looking at life in general in a different perspective and light because of being a parent. And then looking back throughout my career and the fact that I haven't won as much, I think definitely allows me to appreciate the wins more. I work harder at trying to get those wins these days than I ever have before and I certainly don't take them for granted.  

You touched on this a little bit earlier, but obviously things are going pretty well at Hendrick Motorsports these days. Is this the way you guys felt it should've been right from the beginning with all four drivers being competitive, especially with the way Junior struggled the last couple years? Is this the way you guys thought it would be?

JG: Well, you always hope that. The more competitive each of your teammates can be, the better overall your organization is and the better chance you have of getting all four cars in the Chase and battling for the championship and sometimes you got to mix it up. I think people don't realize that it's more than just equipment or the product you put out there on the racetrack, it's such a team sport and it's about chemistry and people believing in one another and building the car to fit your style, and that's hard to do. You go all the way back to us, a four-time championship team, do you make other teams follow what you're doing? Then Jimmie Johnson comes along, wins five in a row. Do you just try to do what they're doing? And you got to be careful. There's great things to learn from them, but you also have to go out and do things in the way they work for you, and I think we're really getting better and better at that all the time.  

Do you notice anything maybe a little bit different about Dale Earnhardt Jr. these days as opposed to maybe the last couple years? Is there anything specifically that's led him to have a better start this year?

JG: Well I think all drivers will tell you when they're going through tough times, because I've been there, and then things start going well, they'll tell you they didn't really change anything they're doing. It's just for whatever reason the chemistry is there, the confidence is there and great performances and consistently good performances build that confidence in one another. And I think a lot of credit goes to Steve Letarte. I mean he's a really sharp guy and he's got a heck of a personality on him and I think that has really worked well with Junior's personality and I think they just blend well together and have good chemistry, and I'm really glad that it's working out well for them and that things are working out well for us with Alan also.  

As a guy who's been obviously been around the sport for a long time, we've seen a lot of skirmishes between drivers and even an owner and a driver recently, I mean is that kind of stuff good for the sport? I mean is any publicity good publicity from your standpoint?

JG: Well I think in some ways, yeah. I mean I think if you look at the history of our sport and what built it up to what it is today. I think there's a lot of interesting storylines whether it's pit strategy and fuel mileage or somebody struggling and coming from the back to the front or whether it's controversy like we've seen not only this year but recent years with people really bringing their frustration out and letting that get the best of them and, shoot, I've been a part of that myself. So I think it just shows the passion that we all have, and I think it certainly creates something good to write about and talk about on TV and that never hurts.  

You're tied now for third all time with 84 wins, tied with Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip. Talk about what it means to be amongst the best ever in this sport in terms of the length of your career?

JG: It means so much to me. Right now, I am so like - - I mean even today, I was in two debriefs about the race on Sunday with Alan and our engineers, then I was in a debrief after that with all four drivers and crew chiefs and when I'm not doing that, I'm either testing or I'm with the family, I just haven't been able to take the time to truly reflect on all the amazing things I've accomplished in my career. I'm so thankful and so appreciative, but to put it in words I think is so hard for me right now because I don't get that time to sit down and go: ‘Wow, and this is what it means to me,’ and I look forward to that day and I certainly hope I'm not done. But I look forward to that day where I really can reflect and truly be able to either write it down so I don't forgot it or put it into the words so I can truly express it because I was a kid growing up racing in Vallejo. I hoped one day I got a chance to race at Indy or do something special, but I didn't believe it was going to happen. So to now look back on it and win three Daytona 500s and four Brickyard 400s and the Championships and all the wins, it just blows me away and it really humbles me because I never thought that I would achieve this kind of success. In my, what, 19th season in Cup Series, here I'm still able to put some wins together. That's awesome.  

Of your five wins in Infineon Raceway, it seems to me that it's such a tight race course that getting the poles is almost as important as a win. Talk about all the poles that you've won there and I think you won three of the races that you were on the pole, so I'd say that's a pretty good record in itself too.

JG: I would say unlike about every track that we go to, and that's the difference between ovals and road courses, is that I don't think it's ever been more important to start up front and qualify up front than on the road courses, and I would definitely say that especially at Sonoma. But that's been a huge part of our success at Sonoma is qualifying and we really have to qualify much better this time. That's something we have not done a good enough job of in recent years and I think that, again, to me that's half of the success you're going to have at Sonoma is having a great qualifying effort.  

Earlier you talked about what it was like to grow up in Vallejo and race at the local tracks. You mentioned West Capital, the old track in West Sacramento, but you also raced in Rio Linda and some of the quarter-midget tracks. Talk a little bit more specifically about the Sacramento area for our fans out here, what it was like as a kid growing up in these small dustbowls and kicking butt.

JG: The first track I ever went to was Rio Linda. I mean the very first time I ever drove a racecar was at the Vallejo Fair Grounds. My stepdad, John Bickford, just took me out there and we went around the gravel and the next step was we went to Rio Linda, so that was the track that I really got started with and I’m I pretty sure I won my first race there. I never raced at West Capital, but I watched Sprint Car races there. But to me, quarter-midget racing is an awesome way to get started in racing, and I did some go-kart racing, but to me quarter midgets, especially because they're on ovals, really taught me about being the racecar driver that I am today and I mean it was in the Sacramento area, even further north up near Eureka and then down further south. You go all the way down to Pomona and Visalia and of course around the Bay Area and Baylands and Hayward, but to me Rio Linda is where it all really got started, and I was so thankful to be a part of saving that racetrack. I heard that there was a chance it was going to go away and I did everything that I could to try to keep it there because I think it's vital to kids growing up in that area, not only for entertainment but for future racecar drivers in our sport.  

How old were you when you first had that victory when you started racing?

JG: Well I started racing there when I was five, and I'm guessing that the win came somewhere between five and six. My stepfather put it in my blood, so I'm thankful for that. He's been a huge part of keeping the racing going through all these years. So he and my mom, I couldn't thank them enough for introducing me to it, but the sacrifices they made to keep me in it was huge.  

Was there ever a time when you kind of felt burnt out? Like maybe 14/15-year-old, you hear these stories these year-round sports guys, football players, basketball players, they just get burnt out. Was there ever a time in your career as a young driver that you said, "You know what, I want to do something else?”

JG: I don't know if I ever thought I wanted to do something else, but there was no doubt there were moments in my life that, like thinking back to people having birthday parties on the weekends that I was missing out on, my prom or graduation from high school, there were moments where I was like, “Man, I wish I was doing what other kids are doing.” But I look back on it now and I think my parents were really smart and recognizing certain things that they said, "Okay, we need to take some time off and do this." I mean one summer we took off and we did waterskiing. Now my family, they’re all about competition, so everything we did was very competitive, even waterskiing, but it always came back to racing and I never got tired of racing. I always loved going to the racetrack. But there were times when I wanted to do other regular things and I got the chance to do enough of it and now I look back and I'm thankful I put as much effort and time into racing as I did or I wouldn’t be where I am.  

Jeff, we were speaking earlier about how Infineon Raceway is a difficult track and it's been awhile since you've been in the Winner’s Circle, but I was wondering if you still feel any kind of advantage or extra motivation with it being a sort of homecoming for you?

JG: It is a very special time for me in Sonoma. It's just magical when I'm there from having my daughter's birthday party that we do every year out there, as I mentioned earlier, my biological father and other family I get to see that I don't get to see very often, friends that I went to elementary school with, friends I raced with out there, so it's a very, very special time and plus the racing has been extremely good at the track too. So it's just, we come out there, we thoroughly enjoy the weather, the wine country, and then reminiscing with friends and family and then get to go to the racetrack and hopefully experience going to Victory Lane again because we've been able to do it a number of times out there. And my wife and I also announced our engagement out there, so there's no doubt it's probably my favorite weekend of racing regardless of what happens on the racetrack, but I will say that because of all those fun activities and things that are going on, it puts me in an incredibly positive frame of mind going into that race on Sunday. I'll never forgot when Ingrid and I did announce our engagement and I -- this is not something that I do, I feel like I'm a very low-key, humble guy when it comes racing, especially, and the morning of the race after Ingrid and I announced our engagement, I'll never forgot calling Steve Letarte, who's my crew chief at that time, and I said, "Buddy, we're going to win this race today." And it was just me being on this incredible high because of the time that I had that weekend and I just felt so positive and I get that feeling just about every time we're out there because of all these great moments.