HAPPY APRIL FOOLS’ DAY! With their racing budgets deemed “unnecessary expenditures,†GM and Chrysler are ordered to cease racing operations at the end of the season.
In a move sure to spark outrage, the White House announced today that GM and Chrysler must cease participation in NASCAR at the end of the 2009 season if they hope to receive any additional financial aid from the government. Companies around the globe—Honda and Audi, to name two—have drawn down racing operations, and NASCAR itself has already felt the pinch in the form of reduced team spending. A complete withdrawal from America’s premier racing series is expected to save more than $250 million between GM and Chrysler, a substantial amount considering the drastic measures being implemented elsewhere. … Details
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We’re getting away from the Kyle Busch/Dale Earnhardt Jr. talk that has dominated Your Turn for, oh, the last month. Instead, you’re talking television coverage, Joey Logano and whether or not the fix was in at Martinsville.
And if you’ve got something else on your mind, we want to hear it. Be a part of Your Turn by e-mailing us your rants right here.
We’ll kick things off this week with this rant from K. May of Bon Wier, Texas:
My rant is not against any driver or team. I am not even that upset with NASCAR. My problem is with the television coverage.
I am fed up with listening to the biggest cry babies that ever drove a racecar. Hello … Details
Four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon has been racing in NASCAR for almost 20 years, but there is one thing that still sends chills up his spine: prerace festivities. There’s just something about the first note of the national anthem that gets Gordon’s adrenaline pumping.
“There’s hundreds of thousands of people standing there getting ready to watch the race with their hands over their hearts,” Gordon said. “They’re looking at the American flag and then the flyover — I don’t think it gets any more patriotic than that.”… Details
Procter & Gamble and AstraZeneca’s heartburn remedy, Prilosec OTC, which sponsors driver Jeff Burton, will also fire up a “BBQ Shootout Series” at six NASCAR Sprint Cup races this year. With portions of proceeds going to support the three-year-old NASCAR Foundation, the Shootout will feature award-winning BBQ Pit Masters from around the country competing for prize money.
Fans will have the opportunity to taste the BBQ at $10 a plate, meet Burton and other drivers, and win tickets to upcoming NASCAR races. … Details