None injured in explosion at JGR:
No injuries in explosion at Gibbs Racing: An explosion early Friday rocked the headquarters of Joe Gibbs Racing, causing significant damage to JGR's engine department. There were no injuries reported. According to a team spokesperson, around 9:00am/et, members of the engine department were running a routine test on one of the Gibbs team's two engine dynamometers. Dynamometers are machines used to run an engine through its paces to measure power and performance under the strain of race conditions. A source within Gibbs' team says that it was during this test session that one of the engines exploded, resulting in a fire that significantly damaged the dynamometer on which is was mounted and caused at least some damage to a second dynamometer located in an adjacent room. The JGR spokesperson confirmed that the fire was short-lived and was contained within the two-room area of the engine dyno department, which is part of the team's 235,000-square-foot facility [Huntersville, NC]. The main shop floor and second-floor offices continued business as usual shortly after the initial fire alarm sounded. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. Roughly an hour after the explosion, team members received clearance from firefighters to re-enter the shop to assess the damage. The JGR spokesperson described most of the damage as being caused by smoke and water from the brief firefighting effort. The engine that exploded was not in the team's plans for Daytona Speedweeks, which begin next Friday, but the engine mounted on the second damaged dynamometer was. The initial concern for the second engine wasn't fire damage, but rather water damage (ESPN)(2-4-2011)
Stoddard starts new team:
Stoddard starts new Cup team UPDATE: Frank Stoddard, a 14-time Cup winner as a crew chief has formed his own NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team and plans to run the full 36-race schedule with the #32 Ford. No driver has been named and the team is currently seeking sponsorship support. "I'm really eager to get this off the ground," said Stoddard. "It's a great time to enter the sport. We'll just have to wait and see where we can go from here. My hope is to take this team to a competitive level and put together some respectable runs with the limited resources we have in place. One never knows, with our determination and just a little bit of funding we could definitely improve our chances on the track." Stoddard plans to open the season with the Daytona 500.(National Speed Sport News) Stoddard was the crew cheif of the #26 Latitude 43 team that attempted all 36 races in 2011 with various drivers, but has not made its plans for 2011 known and didn't test at Daytona.(2-3-2011)
UPDATE: Veteran crewchief Frank Stoddard has joined the ranks of team ownership, joining with U.S. Chrome Corporation owner and CEO Bob Reath to form FAS Lane Racing, a new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series operation that will run the full 2011 championship schedule. "We've acquired a few cars from Richard Petty Motorsports and a few from Roush-Fenway," said Stoddard. "Doug Yates is going to build us some killer race engines, and we're looking forward to making our debut at the Daytona 500." Stoddard said his goals are realistic for 2011. "We're not going to be out there knocking off Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Roush," he said. "Our goal will be to run between 15th and 30th, and by doing that, to give a smaller sponsor a ton of exposure."
Stoddard and Reath first joined forces nearly a quarter-century ago -- in 1988 -- when U.S. Chrome backed New Hampshire driver Dana Patten in five races on what is now the Sprint Cup Series. Stoddard served as crewchief and chassis specialist for the team, and more recently teamed with Reath to field cars for Boris Said in a limited schedule of events on the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Last year, he served as crewchief for the #26 Latitude 43 Motorsports team, an operation that is not expected to compete this season.
"I am energized to be back partnering with U.S. Chrome and Bob Reath& this time as co-owners on NASCAR's grandest stage." Stoddard said. "With U.S. Chrome's sponsorship of the FAS Lane Racing Team, we look forward to hitting the ground running at the Daytona 500." The team will announce its Daytona 500 driver early next week, with Stoddard hinting he may utilize multiple wheelmen over the course of the season.(Sirius Speedway)(2-4-2011)
Ragan signed through 2014?:
Ragan signed thru 2014: some previous reports had #6-David Ragan of Roush Fenway Racing as a free agent after this season. According to Roush Fenway Racing, the UPS sponsorship is up at the end of 2011, however, Ragan's contract extends throught 2014 (FoxSports)(2-4-2011)
Wise to drive for Go Green Racing:
Wise to drive for Go Green: Go Green Racing announces that Josh Wise has joined GGR and the #39 NASCAR Nationwide team for the first four races of 2011. Josh will be piloting the new Ford Mustang COT at Daytona, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Bristol.(Go Green Racing) (2-3-2011)
Wimmer to return to Key Motorsports
Wimmer to drive for Key Motorsports: Curtis Key and his Key Motorsports team will again be fielding the #40 Chevy, now with the new Impala, in the 2011 Nationwide Series season. For this coming season Curtis has gone back to the well with a driver that he is very familiar with, and knows can show the true ability of his team and the equipment they are putting on track in Wausau, Wisconsin native Scott Wimmer. In limited action in 2010 Wimmer led every race in which he competed, finishing with three Top-10's in just five races.(Key Motorsports)(2-3-2011)
Timmy Hill to drive for Rick Ware:
Hill to drive for Rick Ware: When Timmy Hill turns 18 on February 25th, the opening day of Nationwide Series practice at Phoenix, buying a lottery ticket or going to a movie rated "R" will not be on the agenda; jumping behind the wheel of his full time ride in the #15 Ford for Rick Ware Racing will be. Due to NASCAR's age restriction for drivers, Hill will sit out the opening race at Daytona, but his #15 car will be under the veteran care of Todd Bodine. Hill will compete for Rookie of the Year, and RWR purchased a stable of Fords with Roush-Fenway and engines from Roush-Yates for Hills efforts. (RWR)(2-2-2011)
Kenny Wallace will be on stand-by for Matt Kenseth as Kenseth's wife is due to give birth within the next few weeks.
all from jayski.com
Topic: NASCAR Silly Season 2010-2011 (Read 5250 times)
