Richmond International Raceway and Miscellaneous Whatnot

Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series. "America's Premier Short Track" formerly hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, an IZOD IndyCar Series race, and two United States Auto Club sprint car races.

Richmond International Raceway is one of a few race tracks to host all of its events under the lights. The track sold out 33 consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. The sellout streak ended in September 2008 partially due to the economic downturn, though the major factor in ticket sales was the impact of Tropical Storm Hanna.

Richmond has hosted the final "regular-season" race, leading up to the start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, each year since the Chase concept was introduced in 2004. The race is often referred to as "One Last Race to Make The Chase."

In 2010, Richmond International Raceway introduced a state-of-the-art Video Scoring Tower that boasts more LED square footage than any other in the motorsports industry. The cap features four high definition LED screens that measure 38-feet wide by 24-feet high. The screens broadcast live race action and pre-produced video and graphics. The stem shows running order and has the ability to rotate through the entire field.

Richmond International Raceway is home to two NASCAR races on both the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series.

There are a pair of spring races, usually held on the last weekend of April. The Nationwide race is currently 250 laps (187.5 miles) and is named the ToyotaCare 250.[3] The Sprint Cup race is currently 400 laps (300 miles) and is named the Toyota Owners 400.[4]

There are a pair of fall races, usually held on the second weekend of September. The Nationwide race is currently 250 laps (187.5 miles) and is sponsored by Virginia 529 College Savings Plan. It is named the "Virginia 529 College Savings 250".[5] The Fall cup race is currently 400 laps (300 miles). It is currently sponsored by Federated Auto Parts and is named the Federated Auto Parts 400.[6]

Until 2005, RIR was home to a fall Camping World Truck Series race. Starting with the 2006 schedule, that date was transferred to Talladega Superspeedway. Until 2009, RIR was also home to a June Indy Racing League IndyCar Series race. In July 2009, it was announced that the IRL would not return to RIR in 2010



Current standings after the Kansas race.



Fantasy League Standings




Congratulations to Roosters for her 2nd win of the young season. You're closing the gap on that beyotch in first place. Keep it up!

For san.........

First! Thanks for the blog Aug.

Good blog, Aug....til the last part, that is!!!!!!

Damn, my fantasy league results image is jacked up

Great Job Aug. Thanks for taking it this week.

Don't worry about San. She'll most likely change it when you're not looking.

StAugustineFL wrote:Damn, my fantasy league results image is jacked up

Nope all fixed

Swiss Miss wrote:

StAugustineFL wrote:Damn, my fantasy league results image is jacked up

Nope all fixed

I edited it.

Good thang....or I would have!!!

The sport and stakeholders work together to give back to the environment

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – While the rest of the world officially celebrates Earth Day on Monday, NASCAR prefers to operate as if every day is Earth Day. This month just happens to be particularly green.

Toyota drivers Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. joined local youth to plant trees and spread recycled rubber mulch on Friday just outside the gates of this past weekend’s NASCAR venue, Kansas Speedway.
"It’s neat that (NASCAR Chairman) Brian France had that vision because we were faced with an opportunity that was huge -- being green, being environment-ally friendly and being able to get that message to fans."
--Greg Biffle

NASCAR'S RACE TO GREEN
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“This is the first time I’ve autographed a shovel,’’ Bowyer joked of the checkered flag painted tools.

Greg Biffle debuted a commercial recognizing NASCAR’s Race to Green initiative during Sunday’s NASCAR on FOX race broadcast. The Kansas Speedway finish line was painted in green and white -- a nod to the effort.

And Earth Day Monday morning at a Kansas City-area state park, NASCAR hosted UPS and Sprint employees along with a large group of Missouri children to restore and refresh a park and bike trail. The 90 trees they plant will offset the carbon emissions of Sunday’s STP 400 race.

These high-profile events are just the latest efforts when it comes to NASCAR’s comprehensive Green Initiative, widely considered the most ambitious and successful among professional sports leagues.

Beyond the Sunoco Green E15 ethanol-infused fuel, the largest recycling program in sports and track initiatives such as Pocono Raceway’s solar farm, NASCAR is celebrating Earth Day all month in a big way.

“You know we take care of each other; we do so much with charitable work, but the ground itself is overlooked and this is a neat opportunity to take care of both,’’ said Bowyer. “I’m proud to be in a sport that does so much for charity and to take care of the earth.’’

This month, NASCAR’s Clean Air Tree Planting Program delivered by UPS will plant enough trees to offset the carbon emissions produced by all three NASCAR national series this season.

Sponsors such as UPS, Sprint, 3M, Ford, Toyota and Freightliner have made substantial commitments to the tree platform.

This is kind of an off the wall record keeping topic, but I thought it was interesting.....



http://www.jayski.com/news/pages/story/_/page/NASCAR-Televison-Commercials-2013

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2013 STP 400 / Kansas: For those of you NASCAR fans that like stats and love to hate commercials, here is the breakdown for Sunday's race. Began recording the times at the Invocation of the race at 1:00 PM, and stopped at the waving of the checkered flag at 4:19 PM (all times are EST). Fox was the broadcast team for this event.
Total number of commercials: 122
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 60
Number of traditional commercials (not split-screen): 112
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 57
Number of 'Side-by-Side' commercials during race broadcast (split-screen): 10
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 8
Number of times Fox utilized 'Side-by-Side' commercials during this broadcast: 3
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 43
Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 5 min. 35 sec.
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 1:00 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 4:19 PM
Total minutes of complete race broadcast: 199
Minutes of race broadcast: 149
Minutes of traditional commercials (not split-screen): 50
Minutes of 'Side-by-Side' commercials (split-screen): 6
Number of missed restarts: 0
Number of 'mystery cautions' (debris not shown): 1
Total race brdcst time 149 Total comm. brdcst time 50

GROUP QUALIFYING COMING TO SPRINT CUP ON ROAD COURSES

NASCAR announced Monday that the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will implement the group-based road course qualifying procedure used in NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Touring Series competition during its road-course events at Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International. Under the new procedure, cars will qualify in groups instead of the traditional single-car qualifying runs held on oval race tracks.

“The change will add an exciting element to road-course qualifying,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. “Fans will be treated to new strategy and increased competition with several cars on track at once.”

he new qualifying rules for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at road courses are as follows:

• Cars attempting to qualify will be divided into groups. The number of groups, and amount of cars in each, will depend on the number of cars that practice for the event.

• Group assignments will be based on final practice times.

• Each qualifying group will be on-track for a set period of time, determined by the Series Director.

• A car’s best lap time during the group session will be the qualifying lap time of record.

• A group’s time begins when the first car receives the green flag at the start/finish line.

“This is going to be a terrific new format for our NASCAR weekend,” said Steve Page, president and general manager of Sonoma Raceway. “It will intensify the action, with multiple cars on the track at the same time. It’s a very positive development for our fans.”

“The new format of qualifying at Watkins Glen International enhances the fan experience which is our top priority,” said Michael Printup, president of Watkins Glen. “Qualifying on Saturday for our Cheez-It 355 at The Glen is even more of a not-to-be missed aspect of a weekend of high-quality racing.”

The new format will debut with the Toyota Save-Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 23 and will return at Watkins Glen for the Cheez-It 355 at the Glen on August 11.

Kenseth’s Engine Flunks Inspection

The Associated Press is reporting that the engine in Matt Kenseth’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota failed inspection following Kenseth’s victory in Sunday's STP 400 at Kansas Speedway.

According to the AP, one of the connecting rods in Kenseth’s engine was too light.

When contacted by SPEED.com, NASCAR declined comment on the report.

Historically, NASCAR reacts harshly to engine irregularities.

In 2009, Carl Long was fined $200,000 for having an engine that was 0.17 cubic inches oversized during practice for the Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The fine, which Long still hasn’t paid, effectively ended his Sprint Cup driving career. Long still works in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, where he has made one start so far this year.

This is the second major rules infraction case this year.

Penske Racing was busted at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago and has a May 1 appeal date. Seven Penske team members — the team manager and the crew chief, car chief and engineer for both the No. 2 and 22 cars — were suspended six weeks each. The suspensions are pending the completion of the appeal process.

hmmm.....wonder what will happen?

Interesting. Sounds like bad news.

Well now we know what happened. It's not good.

Penalties have been handed down to the No. 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team as a result of rule violations discovered in the post-race engine inspection April 23 at the NASCAR Research and Development Center.

The No. 20 car was found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-5.5.3 (E) (Only magnetic steel connecting rods with a minimum weight of 525.0 grams will be permitted; connecting rod failed to meet the minimum connecting rod weight) of the 2013 rule book.

As a result of this violation, NASCAR has assessed the following penalties:

• Crew chief Jason Ratcliff has been fined $200,000 and suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points events (a period of time that also includes the non-points NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race).

• Car owner Joe Gibbs has lost 50 championship car owner points; the first-place finish from April 21 at Kansas Speedway will not earn bonus points toward the accumulated aggregate car owner points total after the completion of the first 26 events of the current season and will not be credited toward the eligibility for a car owner Wild Card position; has had the owner’s license for the No. 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car suspended until the completion of the next six championship points events, therefore being ineligible to receive championship car owner points during that period of time.

• Driver Matt Kenseth has lost 50 championship driver points; the Coors Light Pole award from April 19 at Kansas Speedway will not be allowed for eligibility into the 2014 Sprint Unlimited; the first-place finish from April 21 at Kansas Speedway will not earn bonus points toward the accumulated aggregate driver points total after the completion of the first 26 events of the current season and will not be credited toward the eligibility for a driver Wild Card position.

• The loss of five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Manufacturer Championship points.

Now I was talking to the youngin yesterday. This most definitely will be going to appeal. What we discussed is that if ALL connecting rods had been light then yes he would have had an unfair advantage. BUT since it was only one the only thing he accomplished is making the car unbalanced.

We are sure that Toyota will be taking care of any fines that are assessed. Hopefully Toyota and Coach Gibbs will be able make NASCAR see the light and realize that this is to harsh of a penalty for the team.

Thanks, Cocoa....

That is a STEEP penalty...... at least Penske, has some some company, now !!!!

The article, about Fantasy, was interesting......I did not realize that penalties, could have an impact in there....not real sure I understand, how they would, anyways.......

Oh Well!!! On To Richmond!!!!!!!!

Even if Joe Gibbs Racing isn't at fault, NASCAR’s rules are pretty black and white...
Larry McReynolds | Posted April 25, 2013 Charlotte, NC

With regard to the penalties NASCAR issued on Wednesday to Joe Gibbs Racing and driver Matt Kenseth for an engine violation, NASCAR knew that the whole world was probably going to be watching to see what it did, especially, probably, the group in the Penske camp.

Penske Racing was penalized 25 driver points for Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano and seven crew members were suspended for six points races after a violation in the rear of the car discovered at Texas Motor Speedway. Those penalties are currently being appealed.

On Wednesday, NASCAR announced that Kenseth's engine was found to be in violation of the rules during a postrace inspection at the sanctioning body's Research and Development Center. It penalized Kenseth 50 points and the win will not count for bonus points in the Chase for the Sprint Cup or in the wild-card race to make the field. Crew chief Jason Ratcliff was fined $200,000 and suspended six points races and team owner Joe Gibbs was fined 50 owners points and his license as team owner for No. 20 was suspended for six races meaning the owners points earned in that stretch will not count toward the owner title. Joe Gibbs Racing has issued a statement that it plans to appeal.

The problem was with one connecting rod, based on what I have read so far, one of eight connecting rods was only a few grams too light. Did that make a difference in what Matt Kenseth did in winning at Kansas on Sunday? Absolutely not. You can pull that engine out, put it back together with a rod that was the right weight in the place of that one and I promise you he’d run the same way.

With that said, NASCAR has rules and they’re distinct rules and it basically says each connective rod with its end cap, minus the bearing insert, has to weigh a minimum of 525 grams. Not 524, not 522 grams and it doesn’t say, “You can have one that’s light.” It says all eight connecting rods have to weigh a minimum of 525 grams.

So you applaud them.

This didn’t just start now. I go back to my heyday as a crew chief. We knew back then, even though the rulebook was only about half as thick as it is now, we knew as crew chiefs there were three sacred areas that you did not mess with and that was tires, fuel and engines. It was an absolute no-no. And that part hasn’t changed today. There are a lot more distinct rules that go along with those.

This has kind of always existed. The only thing I question — I understand the 50 points, I understand the $200,000 fine, I understand all that — that’s pretty much the protocol when you’re messing with engine stuff. The thing that probably if I was Joe Gibbs Racing would definitely be the thing I would appeal would be the suspension of Jason Ratcliff, the crew chief.

I know, at the end of the day, he is responsible for every piece and part about that race car, bumper to bumper, roof to drive shaft, including the engine. I can guarantee you, unlike the rear-end stuff on the Penske car, unlike the fuel-cell foam in the Johnny Sauter truck at Kansas, Jason Ratcliff and nobody at Joe Gibbs Racing had a clue that engine had one light rod in it.

But NASCAR’s rules are pretty black and white and the crew chief is responsible.

I do hope that is the one thing Joe Gibbs Racing will appeal and they can get that overturned or at least reduced.

I do feel bad for whoever put this engine together. It was a complete human error. That guy did not sit out there in Costa Mesa, Calif., and rub his hands together and say, “I’m going to put one light rod in this engine.” It was just an oversight, it was just a mistake.

If you’re going to do that, you’re going to go on and put eight light rods in it. It’s the old saying of if you rob the 7-11 and steal $50 or you rob the 7-11 and steal $5,000, you still robbed the 7-11.

I hate it for this group. Nobody had a clue this had happened. I’m sure everybody’s just in a state of shock.

Cocoa shared this link/video with me....... TDR VP being interviewed..... Per him, the connecting rods were not made in house, but outsourced, from an ISO certified supplier.....so, the sh*t rolls way down hill, with this one.....

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid586359270001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAABRLZgk~,_wziyfTvYKrki4UUA7LHi_qTuAI4orUG&bctid=2326197447001

Nice blog Aug. I plan on unseating the beyotch within the next few weeks.