inside-line nascar-today
[previously 2013-02]
- ] week ended 2013-02-10
- ] our daily entries for this week - the top articles, video's and quotes from the nascar world
[today 2013-02-15]
1148, 2013-02-15-ARTICLE-practice-sprint-unlimited
another practice, another wreck. It's Matt Kenseth's turn to wear the scapegoat jacket today as he starts the wreck that wiped out a good number of cars
1151, 2013-02-15-ARTICLE-Preview-Penske-Racing
] Pete Pistone @ MRN - previews the Penske Racing team for the upcoming 2013 season, we summarize,
- ] ARTICLE by Pete Pistone @MRN -
- Penske Racing Team Preview 2013 - 2012 championship winner with the #2 team. Switch MFG from Dodge to Ford this year, replacing Driver of #22 car with Joey Logano (previously with JGR #20 )
- ] Roger Penske - Team Owner
- ] Legendary racer and captain of industry has been competing in stock car racing since 1970 without a championship. Last season he captured his first.
- ] QUOTE "There's no question that winning a NASCAR championship at the elite level is something that everybody in racing wants to accomplish, and we hadn't done that," "It's a war out there, and to be standing at the end with the American flag in your hand when it's all over and be the champion is something real special."
- It's not how much money you put into your race team," "It's all about the people and the human capital and, I guess, Brad is right at the top. "He came in and said, 'Look, I want to help you build a championship team.' He looked me in the eye and shook my hand. That's how we started -- and there's no question that he's delivered way above what both of us probably thought was possible when you look at the competition and what we have to deal with. But he's a great leader on our team."
- ] #2 Brad Keselowski, FINISHED 1st last season, returns with crew chief Paul Wolfe
- ] career best 1st in points with 5 WINS, 23 top 10s, 0 poles
- ] KESELOWSKI "When I was in Michigan and my family had its own race teams, they were on the third tier of racing, and Sprint Cup was on the first tier,” “My vision was kind of limited to being successful on that third tier. That’s all I knew. Through whatever chain of events, positive or negative, and at the time they seemed negative but now they’re positive, that didn’t work out. My family’s business fell apart. It was a catalyst for a chain of events that got me to be here, now, and have the opportunities that have lead to it. There’s been a lot of self reflection about that, how sometimes you have to dream big”
- “What we did last year is not good enough,” “We have to step up another level. We know our competition is going to do the same. I’m not happy being a guy that wins one championship and goes away quietly.
- ] #22 Joey Logano, FINISHED 17 th last season (with JGR), NEW to Penske Racing replacing AJ Allmindinger/Sam Hornish in the #22 car, paired with crew cheif Todd Gordon
- ] 2012 - 1 WINS, 12 top 10s, 2 poles
- ] LOGANO - "It's really cool to have a teammate that's a student of the sport, that really studies it and will push me to do things differently,""I think the coolest thing that Brad is able to do is he's able to think outside of the box -- like way outside the box."
- “The move is going great so far,” “Coming into a championship-winning team is a huge privilege. Todd Gordon and I are learning each other at a very quick rate. I feel we have a lot of similarities.”
1144, 2013-02-15-ARTICLE-stuck-in-neutral
by Tommy Tomlinson @ sportsonearth.com discussing some reasons he feels that NASCAR is stuck
- ] ARTICLE: stuck in neutral : by Tommy Tomlinson @ sportsonearth.com
- DESCRIPTION: Tommy discusses the state of NASCAR today, a good read but I think the authors logic is a little flawed on some of his points ...
1143, 2013-02-15-ARTICLE-who-to-watch
Tony Stewart's WORD's on NNS rookie Kyle Larson, an excerpt from the media day interview ..
- ] ARTICLE: TRANSCRIPT interview posted BY: Team Chevy on g+
- transcript of interview with Tony Stewart at the Daytona Media day. Here is an excerpt with some questions about Kyle Larson
- Q. It seems like you may have a kindred spirit in Kyle Larson. Both of you share an appetite for racing. He wins this championship on the last lap of the last race. What do you see in him that reminds you of you?
- TONY STEWART: I think he reminds me of a lot better than me. Everything he's got, I mean everything. Even when he got in a stockcar the first time, it was just natural to him. Go from lightweight car to a heavy car is a hard adjustment for a lot of drivers. It's a lot easier to go from a heavier car to a lighter car. To watch him run his first couple races in a stockcar, that's what shows you this kid just has natural driving ability. He's just good in whatever he gets in.
- Q. Last fall at New Hampshire, wins a race. You send him to Eldora, he wins there. Is that symbolic of what he can do, his potential?
- TONY STEWART: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the hard part of that day for us is we throw him on the jet. He goes up and wins in somebody else's midget, crashes in somebody else's Sprint car, and he's supposed to start on the pole in my Silver Crown car. Never got the chance to do it because he crashed the Sprint car and got hurt. It does, it shows how versatile he is. He's the kind of guy, I've been around a lot of wing Sprint car races, I don't think he ran a lot of that, but he ran a lot of non-wing races. The wing races we'd go to, you would watch how quick he adapts to it. It amazes you how good he is.
- Q. Is he the next generation type star?
- TONY STEWART: Yeah. You can bet the farm on it. I guarantee it. If not, you can take everything I own because I'm that confident.
- Q. Pretty stout prediction.
- TONY STEWART: It's not a matter of if, it's when.
- Q. Is he just smart? Pretty intelligent for his age.
- TONY STEWART: I don't know how smart he is, I just know he's good. I mean, you watch him, in between racing, he'll be playing video games on his phone. He just naturally gets in it and he's fast. He just has that ability. The great thing is he's still a kid and he still acts like a kid. Nobody's tried to make him grow up too fast, put pressure on him to do anything. He just gets in and does it. That's something that I don't see there being any red flags with him. I've seen good drivers in the past that have come up and you see red flags, you see problems or hurdles they're going to have to cross in their career. He doesn't have any of those signs.
[next 2013-02-16 >]
