Daily NASCAR

by Holly Cain

Filed under: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Formula One

When the announcement came this summer that Austin, Texas, was going to host a Formula One race in 2012 there was a collective “whaaaaaat?” from the racing world. No one was more shocked than the promoter of the last U.S. Grand Prix, Joie Chitwood.

“I was as surprised as anyone,” Chitwood (pictured right) told FanHouse.com. “Everything I had heard was that it would be somewhere on the East Coast or the West Coast in some waterfront location.

“Austin is about the same size and scope as Indianapolis and there’s not even a facility built. It’s still hard to believe, and to be honest, I’m not even sure it’s really going to happen.”

Chitwood, now president of Daytona International Speedway, oversaw the USGP from 2000-2007 as Indianapolis Motor Speedway President. And he isn’t alone in his doubts about the project, even as the state of Texas has already agreed to a controversial, $25 million-a-year, kick-in for the race’s 10-year contract to help fund and sustain the event.

If a Formula One grand prix didn’t work in America’s greatest racing town Indianapolis — or in a dozen other previous locales — how’s it going to play out in a city there’s never even hosted a major auto race?

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Nationwide Series, NASCAR

Newly reinstated by NASCAR after a failed drug test this summer, former NASCAR series champion Randy LaJoie opened up to FanHouse about the fateful May night he smoked marijuana, the ensuing NASCAR-mandated treatment since his June 22 suspension, his future in racing and his opportunity to teach his teenage children about owning up and making right.

“It was an isolated incident, but I was guilty as charged, no excuses,” the two-time Nationwide (formerly Busch) Series champion LaJoie said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

“I called NASCAR before it all came out even and said, ‘I did it. Now what do I have to do to get back?’ ”

“That was the way I was taught. When you do something wrong, you need to fix it.”

Of the 32 people suspended for positive drug tests in the last five seasons under NASCAR’s random testing policy, LaJoie is one of 10 who have been reinstated, according to NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston.

A major step was simply getting NASCAR to release a statement last Wednesday announcing that he had been reinstated, considering his suspension had been scroll fodder on sports channels when it was originally announced. NASCAR has publicly revealed all the suspensions, but this is the first time it has announced a reinstatement.

“We want to see competitors take advantage of the (treatment) program, that’s why it exists,” Poston said. “Anytime someone can make a successful comeback is a victory for everyone.”

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Daytona Int’l Speedway, NASCAR Tracks, Sprint Cup, NASCAR

So much for the suspense.

After weeks of leaks and days of announcements and eye-rolling spectacle from NASCAR track promoters, the sanctioning body finally revealed the full 2011 Sprint Cup schedule Tuesday.

Thanks to the steady stream of announcements from individual tracks, there were no real surprises.

Most notable for the marquee Cup Series is a new venue for 2011 — Kentucky Speedway — which will host its first Sprint Cup event, a night race on July 9. The Chase for the Championship will begin in Chicago (Sept. 18) instead of New Hampshire, which will host the second Chase race instead.

Speedways in Atlanta and Los Angeles will only hold one Cup race instead of two, while conversely Kansas Speedway was awarded a second date in the summer (June 5) to complement its Oct. 8 Chase race.

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Dodge, NASCAR

As announcements came down the last two weeks detailing the future of driver Kasey Kahne and revealing the direction of Richard Petty Motorsports, it felt like a long good-bye was at last complete — the days when Richard Petty Motorsports was Evernham Motorsports done and gone.

But the NASCAR team’s original namesake, Ray Evernham, told FanHouse.com Wednesday he’s not really sentimental about the complete metamorphosis of the one-time championship contending operation he built from scratch.

“Obviously there’s a certain sentimental value looking at what we had all hoped it would become and knowing that it didn’t,” Evernham said. “The reality is the (George) Gillett family now owns the majority interest and has had control for years. It’s no different than if you sell your house or your car.”

“It’s not the path I would have taken, but they own the controlling interests and the path they take is theirs,” he said.

“Eventually the Ray Evernham DNA will be completely removed.”

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Kevin Harvick, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Richard Childress Racing, NASCAR

It’s been a big week for Kevin Harvick; actually, a big year.

Months removed from what looked like a certain parting with a struggling 2009 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) organization, “Happy” Harvick has both himself and RCR comfortably atop the Sprint Cup championship standings.

On Sunday he won his third race of the season and became the first driver to lock into NASCAR’s Chase for the Championship playoffs. On Tuesday, he and RCR welcomed a prized, major sponsor for 2011, Budweiser.

So what changed in the last 10 months?

“It would be easier to tell you what didn’t change, to be honest with you,” Harvick said Tuesday.

“I think everything (changed) from top to bottom. All the things we had here, we’re just using them correctly and more often.

“It’s still the same people; just working in a different direction.”

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