Today's race is a sellout. As a matter of fact, it has been 27 Cup race sellouts here at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. There's standing room only on the backstretch. Despite the overcast and uncertainty of the weather, fans are rolling in and enjoying some of the pre-race festivities.
A young girl gets to sign her name to the start/finish line.
The band Kansas will be jamming here in a little while to entertain the fans while we wait for the start of the race.
Here are a few more views from this morning...
Teams wait for the gates to open so they can get to the garage.
Robby Gordon's car is getting decaled.
All for now. I'm going to grab some lunch and get ready for the start of the race.
I'm going with Kevin Harvick for the win today. He was quick in the practice sessions. He has also been to victory lane here in 2006. He's only 2 points out of Chase so I'm sure he will be working to get back in that top 12. Plus, I just have a good feeling about him today.
Here are the point standings heading in to the race today:
Congrats to Tony Stewart on his win yesterday in the Nationwide Series.
I was listening to some of the folks from the media who were joking around about who was going to ask the questions to Stewart. It seemed that no one really wanted to stick their neck out there. Jeez, I wonder why...
On another note, I have officially decided that I'm just not going to be a Kyle Busch fan. He is such a punk. He came to the media center after the Nationwide race yesterday and had major attitude written all over his face.
Just look at him. He was so completely checked out. He didn't want to give anyone the time of day. When he did open his mouth, he was rude. Uugh.
It's overcast here. I'm looking out the window from the media center and there are already a few folks sitting in their seats in the grandstands. I can't imagine having to sit there 5 more hours waiting for the race to start. That's dedication.
I took a stroll through the garage area today. Here are some of the close ups that I got of some familiar faces...
Robby Gordon
Terry Labonte
Joe Nemechek
The king, Richard Petty. Darn good picture if I do say so myself... He was so pleasant to anyone who wanted his autograph or picture taken with him.
I didn't realize it but it was lunchtime when I was walking around.
The men are running the grill. Nice. Actually, wherever I walked, that was the case. I walked by one grill and this guy was cooking up half a pig or something. It looked absolutely yummy. I almost thought about asking if I could take a picture of what he was cooking but I thought he would think I was a freak so I didn't.
I'll be back again later today. I'll be watching the Nationwide race from the press box if the rain stays away. I can't wait! It is overcast right now. It has been all day but no rain... Let's keep our fingers crossed.
I watched the Camping World East race from up in the press box last night. It started late because of a rain delay during the Sprint Cup qualifying. I really wasn't sure if they were going to be able to get the entire race in because the skies looked as though they could dump rain at any given time, but they were able to do so.
Eddie MacDonald won the event. Ricky Carmichael was awesome to watch last night. He raced his way from the back of the pack right up to his fifth-place finish. Steve Park had issues under the hood. Austin Dillon finished fourth. Here are the race results from last night's race.
Robby Gordon congratulates Ricky Carmichael on a good finish
Ricky Carmichael and Austin Dillon in the media center after the race
Here are a few more shots from yesterday.
Tony Stewart
I dove to the right like I was getting out of the way of a Mac Truck after I snapped this picture. A little too close for comfort.
Jack Roush
Carl Edwards talks to the media.
They had to pull Michael Waltrip’s engine.
I was out and about this morning around the garage area. I will be back in a while to share those images as well. I'm trying to get caught up from missing a day with all the website issues we had.
Sorry folks. We had some major issues with the website all day yesterday. I couldn’t do anything with the blog but it really didn’t matter because the entire website was down anyway.
I spent a lot of time taking pictures throughout the day yesterday to share. We managed to get practice sessions in for all Cup, Nationwide and Camping World East.
Here are some views from the day. By the way, it felt like it was 100 degrees yesterday. It was muggy, humid weather. I'm not complaining though because today doesn't look all that good. It's overcast and looks like it could start raining any minute.
Here's what I captured yesterday:
(click any image to enlarge)
When I got in this morning someone made an announcement that Clint Bowyer would be standing in front of his hauler to take questions, so of course I had to run out.
Ricky Carmichael
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Juan Pablo Montoya’s car gets some fine tuning.
For whatever reason, I really got a kick out of the UPS driver trying to deliver packages. He was up and down pit road during a practice session, trying to to deliver and not get hit by cars.
Tony Stewart’s #20 Old Spice car
David Reutimann
Mike Helton was checking things out. Notice he signed that woman’s shirt. “Mike H” is on her shoulder. A lot of people do this actually. They wear white shirts and carry sharpies with them and have the drivers sign their shirts.
See? That same woman was trying to get Jason Leffler to sign her shirt in this photo.
It seems they let anyone in the garage area. This woman was a bit out of hand. Seriously, how in the world did she get a HOT pass?
Alright, I'll be back with more images in a while. I promise. Well, that is if the system is still up when I return. The Cup guys just came in off the track from their practice session. They are usually out and about in the garage area right now. I'm going for a walk to see.
I just arrived to the media center at New Hampshire Motor Speedway a little while ago . The weather is certainly not the type of weather that I left back home. (the sun was shining bright) It is down to a sprinkle here though. At the moment they are out drying the track so that they can get some practice in for the Modifieds and then the Camping World East.
They have canceled the Camping World East qualifying because of the weather.
Some folks trying to stay dry and passing the time playing hockey in the Nationwide garage:
I am once again heading down to New Hampshire Motor Speedway. I will be pulling into the track for the weekend festivities on Thursday, camera in hand.
If you have drivers you would like to see, please let me know. It does not matter which division, Cup, Nationwide, Camping World East. I will make it my mission to capture them for you and upload images to the blog.
If you have a question that you've been wanting to know the answer to, ask it - I will do my best to get it answered for you. You can either send me an email with the question or post it here on the blog.
I'll be blogging a few times each day from NHMS. With each entry will be pictures of the sights I find interesting or the things you want to see. The best way to know when I've updated? Sign up for email notifications. As soon as I post a new blog, the link will be sent to your email. Just input your email address in the yellow box under the bold red "Updates" to the right of this blog entry, under my bio.
I am at your disposal for the weekend. Just let me know what you want...
As much as I keep trying, I cannot get myself to sit down and watch Eldora. I tried last night but couldn't get through it. So the title of my blog entry was: "Will you pay $24.95 to watch tonight?"
Well my answer to my own blog is this: Yeah, I'll pay $24.95. It seems I just can't get myself to watch it. What a waste. Not to mention that that $24.95 is the equivalent of 6 gallons of gas! Uugh.
Speaking of gas prices... did you hear that New Hampshire Motor Speedway will be giving away gas cards? As part of the pre-race festivities for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 on Sunday, June 29, NHMS will be selecting 20 lucky racefans to receive $500 worth of gas cards from Sunoco. To be eligible, all you have to do is purchase your ticket before the close of business on June 25.
Also, before the start of the race, 10 race fans will be selected to watch the race on Sunday, September 14th from the VIP Suite. Each of the 10 will be allowed to bring one guest.
In addition to all that, one lucky person could have their mortgage or rent paid through December 2008 (up to $2,500 per month).
In the press release, Jerry Gappens, executive vice president and general manager for the speedway says: "Our fans are our greatest asset. In these challenging economic times, we need to recognize those who support the speedway by giving them an opportunity to enhance their experience with some innovative rewards. Today, people have to make choices on how they invest their time and money on entertainment.
We want them to choose New Hampshire Motor Speedway and the LENOX Industrial Tools 301. This program is a thank you to our loyal ticket buyers and certainly is an incentive for those fans thinking about coming, but are still on the fence."
So do you feel lucky? Are you a ticket holder yet? If not, what are you waiting for? The race is only 17 days away... Splurge a little, you're worth it.
I went down to New Hampshire Motor Speedway over the weekend to watch some motorcycle racing. As we drove up to NHMS entrance, I noticed that the new sign at the road is now in place:
They've spruced up the entrance:
As I made my way through the tunnel:
I love the painting on the tunnel. If I remember correctly, it just used to be white so it’s a nice touch.
When we got to the infield, there were people walking around in tank tops and flip flops so I knew right away it was a very relaxed environment. There were tents, campers and motor homes all over the place.
We decided to sit in the stands at turn 3 and watch practice for an hour or so before having to sit through a corner worker class. At that time I still hadn't decided if I was going to attempt flagging.
All day people were zooming around on little bikes like this:
It took a couple hours, from start to finish, to go through the corner-worker class. I decided during the class that it wasn’t something that I should try. I just had a feeling that I would have made a mistake, waving the red or something under a caution and would have had half of the riders stopped on the track. I wanted to watch the racing anyway and have free reign of walking around and checking things out.
It's a pretty good gig though. If you decide you would like to try corner working, your track admission of $25 will be reimbursed and lunch will be provided. Plus you can camp in the infield for free for the weekend. I bet it's pretty fun at night... Here’s what you do:
-- Pay the admission fee at the gate, sign the waiver, get the bracelet
-- Report to the scales area down by the media center (if you don’t know where it is, just ask someone, likely they will know) find someone dressed in white and tell them you want to attend a class. They will show you where to go.
-- Attend the corner working class, it typically takes 2 hours. They do the class on Saturdays at 9 a.m. on race weekends
-- At lunch time, find the appropriate person (they tell you in the class who to find) You will get a voucher or something like that so on your way out you can get reimbursed. I believe you must flag at least half the day to get reimbursed.
That’s it. How can you beat it? Here’s the schedule for the rest of the summer.
Steve Park said it's like being home when he's here at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He said there's a lot of inexperience with the youth in the Camping World East Series today. He does ask his spotter to keep him informed of who he is racing around on the track and what their experience level is because he just doesn't know.
Park was asked what his goal was. His answer: "to win races." He said there is nothing on the horizon right now for the Modified Tour.
Austin Dillon also came in to chat with us in the media center. First, I have to say that he looks much too young to be driving a race car. When asked how he felt about the pressure to drive the number 3 car, he said he didn't have any. He said you have to look at it as fun. His grandfather (Richard Childress) tells him to just have fun and to stay in the gas coming off the corners.
Ricky Carmichael came into the media center to chat with all of us. I think I was a bit awe struck when I first saw him. He says the transition to racing is going really good. He's happy with how things are shaking out so far. It's been fun for him. He really likes the sport.
The competetive nature in car racing is the same as it is in motocross. He says however, driving a car requires more mental concentration than driving motorcycles.
There's yet another reason for me to like Ricky Carmichael...he's life-long friends with Clint Bowyer. Their family's are really close. When asked if he has visited Clint Bowyer's track at his house, he said he hasn't. Then he said that he jokes around with Bowyer and calls him "Hollywood" because he's always so busy.
He said he will never turn his back on motocross. He is still contracted with Suzuki for this year and next year. "It's the sport that made me who I am and I will never turn my back on it." He said although he is done racing, he will however, be competing in the X games. He talked about the step up competition which he said doesn't require much practice. He said Schrader was giving him a hard time about the step up competition he was in this year but then said that Schrader's just as crazy as he is.
Jerry Gappens, Executive Vice President & General Manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway, came in and spoke about what changes will be coming our way.
He said that now that the snow is out of the way, he can take a much clearer look at what needs to be done around the facility. He said when he came to Loudon in November, NHMS reminded him of what Bristol Motor Speedway looked like 12 years ago, when Bruton Smith bought the track. Gappens sees this track as being the Lowe's Motor Speedway of New England.
One change you will see by the June race is electronic directional signs at the front entrance. There will be banners on the back side of the grandstands, for possible advertising. There will be 10 transportation vehicles to give campers and fans rides to and from the camping areas and parking lots to the grandstands.
He says the road racing is not in jeopardy. He would not speculate at what the road racing would look like in 3-5 years, but said it was here first so it's an important part of NHMS. Another change in the future could be possibly flipping the front stretch and back stretch. He mentioned that a couple times today.
He said there are still tickets available for the June race but isn't too worried about them being filled. With the economy as it is today, people are making last minute decisions to purchase tickets and make the decision to attend the race.
As for lights at the racetrack...the agreement that was written 18 years ago, prevents that. It is something that may be revisited. He thinks that in the not so distant future that most tracks will be required by NASCAR to have lights in place.
I am blogging from down here at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. I came down to check out the Camping World East practice.
I was getting ready to go on a rant about Ricky Carmichael and how I didn't think his heart was in car racing. The list that I received via email on who was going to be here did not include Carmichael.
When I went to sign in, a guy was walking away from the sign in place and got into a rental car. I said to the person standing there..."Was that Carmichael?" The guy turned around and said what? I said that was either him or a damn good look alike.
It was him. Perfect. I will have some pictures of him a bit later on. (hopefully) Right now, there are only 3 of us in the media center. My pals Shawn Courchesne, Travis Barrett and myself.
It's real quiet right now in here, not much going on. I'll be back in a little while...
Jennifer is the newsroom
administrative assistant and
executive
assistant to the editor for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. She is married, lives in Pownal with her husband and son, and has been following NASCAR for many years.
About this blog:
I am hopeful that this will be a place where people can air their two cents' worth about a race, catch up on the gossip and share their opinions on the rules and regulations of NASCAR. I have always felt that there has been a need for such a place in Maine and that this blog helps to fill the void.
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