AJ Allmendinger is fastly becoming the feel good story of the 2009 Sprint Cup season. Not only is he running better with hi new team, then his old team (Red Bull Racing), but he was not guaranteed to run the whole season due to lack of sponsorship. Slowly but surely Richard Petty Motor sports is piecing together enough funding to run AJ for the entire schedule.
The latest news is Hunt Brothers Pizza will come on board AJ’s #44 car for six races and the Sprint Cup All star race. This is big news for a driver 20th in points who started the season outside of the top 35 guaranteed staring positions.
This team still faces sever sponsorship problems, and desperately needs to…Â Details
Critics are trying to figure out why NASCAR ratings are down 15 percent from last season. The biggest drop in viewership since the sport’s gargantuan TV contract in 2001 is significant enough to raise eyebrows.
But don’t despair, race fans. I’ve figured out the crux of the problem. And to think, it all boils down to one lesson:
Without risk, there is no reward.
Sounds so simple … and it is. Racing has always had a…Â Details
To Boost Power, Nascar Teams Spend Millions on Engine Lubricants; Calling ‘William the Chemist’
The most advanced piece of technology in a Nascar vehicle these days isn’t its engine, its suspension or anything made of carbon fiber. It’s the motor oil.
Joe Gibbs Racing, a team that owns three top-level Sprint Cup cars, has spent about $1 million a year over the past decade to perfect its motor oil. As a result, its engines have squeezed out an extra 10 horsepower, a roughly 2% increase that can be a serious advantage in Nascar races, where the typical margin of victory is about one second.
With Nascar increasingly cracking down on the use of technology in the sport to cut costs, motor oil is one of the last places teams can innovate without restraint. Companies like Shell, Quaker State and Mobil also make special oils packed with synthetic lubricants, new polymers and experimental molecules for the teams they sponsor.
All this has spawned a culture of secrecy…Â Details
Former Supercross Champ Travis Pastrana Debuts Nitro Circus at Monster Jam
The Travis Pastrana-driven Nitro Circus monster truck debuted at Saturday’s Monster Jam NGK Spark Plugs World Finals in Las Vegas with a score of 26 out of 40, which was good for a 5th place tie in the freestyle competition of the World Finals.
Pastrana earned an impressive 5th-place finish in the freestyle competition…Â Details & Pictures