Daily NASCAR

by Holly Cain

Filed under: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IRL

As expected, the IZOD IndyCar Series formally introduced Randy Bernard as the new chairman of the board of both the Indy Racing League and Firestone Indy Lights series Tuesday at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Bernard, 43, held the same post with the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) for the past 15 years and is being hailed by his new associates for his keen marketing and promotional abilities.

“He brings energy and enthusiasm at a time the IZOD IndyCar Series is positioned for growth,” said Jeff Belskus, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation, which owns the Indy Racing League.

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IRL

Tony George has severed his ties with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and resigned his position from the board of directors of all his family’s businesses.

George, who founded the Indy Racing League in 1995 and served as Chairman of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway up until June 30, 2009, submitted his formal resignation from all roles in his family’s Hulman & Company business, the Speedway, the Indy Racing League and IMS Productions according to a news release from the Speedway on Tuesday.

He will continue to own Vision Racing, which competes in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

“All of us had hoped that Tony would continue to serve on the board and we made that clear to him,” his mother Mari Hulman George said. “We are disappointed with his decision to step down despite our wishes.

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Jimmie Johnson (left) is the only driver with any competition for a NASCAR series championship in this weekend’s trio of races at Homestead. Also pictured: Kurt Busch, who only has to start Saturday’s race in order to win the Nationwide Series title, and Ron Hornaday, who has already clinched the Camping World Truck Series title.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - There may not be much of a race for the Sprint Cup championship, but it’s the only one left as NASCAR closes its season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Jimmie Johnson’s comfortable margin the Sprint Cup Series is the only one left to defend on what is, optimistically as it turns out, billed as Ford Championship Weekend.

Ron Hornaday’s fourth championship has already been clinched in the Camping World Truck Series, and all Kyle Busch has to do is start (which, of course, he will) in the Nationwide Series. The former completes its season with Friday’s Ford 200, and the latter closes down after Saturday’s Ford 300.

Mark Martin will have to gain 109 points on Johnson to win the Cup championship in the (predictably) Ford 400, and that’s about as likely as the Buffalo Bills coming back to make the NFL playoffs.

* * *

MEANS SOMETHING HERE–No Ford driver has won the championship since Kurt Busch in 2004, and it won’t happen this year either, but Roush Fenway Racing has claimed the last five Ford 400s.

Greg Biffle won the season finale in 2004, ‘05 and ‘06. Matt Kenseth won in ‘07 and Carl Edwards in ‘08. Jack Roush has been the owner of six Homestead winners overall.

* * *

TRACK HISTORY— Homestead-Miami Speedway hosted its first race in what is now the Nationwide Series in 1995. The now-Sprint Cup Series made its first visit in 1999, and the track began hosting the final races in all three touring series in 2002.

The track has always been 1.5 miles, but it opened as a track with four distinct turns, similar to Indianapolis Motor Speedway but shorter. Those four turns, laid out in a smaller space, created turning angles deemed dangerous, and the turns were rounded when the track was reconfigured for the first time prior to inclusion on the Cup schedule.

The banking of the turns was changed - tapered from 18 degrees on the bottom to 20 at the top - in 2003.

* * *

ROOM AT THE TOP–Hendrick Motorsports drivers Johnson, Martin and Jeff Gordon have combined to win 13 races. Tony Stewart, whose team derives its chassis and engines from Hendrick, has won five more.

Combined, that’s 51.4 percent of the races to date.

The biggest casualty of Hendrick-Chevy domination has been Roush Fenway Racing, whose victory total has plummeted from 11 in 2008 to three so far this year.

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The first man who ever attempted to qualify at stock car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was Houston, Texas driver Herring Burl (H.B.) Bailey, a bit player in NASCAR’s top series from 1962 through 1993. Bailey, who died at age 66 on April 17, 2003, didn’t make the 1994 Brickyard 400 field, but his red No. 36 Pontiac was the first car on the track.

Bailey, who made a total of 85 starts in what is now the Sprint Cup Series, was famous for his love of Darlington Raceway, where he made his final start in the 1993 Southern 500. In his career, Bailey collected one top-five and five top-10 finishes and led a total of 18 laps.

Upon hearing of Bailey’s death, seven-time champion Richard Petty said, "Our sport was built by people like H.B. Bailey. We all did things the same way in those days. We drove ourselves to the race track, we worked hard when we got there, we raced hard and then we drove home."

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: IRL

INDIANAPOLIS — The IndyCar Series formally welcomed IZOD as the title sponsor for the series Thursday in a flashy, ultra-hip unveiling at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — a significant development in the future of the series which hasn’t had a big money title sponsor in the last decade.

“It is our biggest day in the history of the company,” said Terry Angstadt, President of the IRL’s Commercial Division.

“When people ask about our priorities on a business side, this was number one through ten, believe me.”

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