TV Times - McMurray's Key to Brickyard Win is Good Chemistry

Nice going by Jamie McMurray for posting the win at IMS in the Brickyard 400! Kevin Harvick was next, then Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart. As it currently stands, Harvick still leads the point chase over Jeff Gordon by -184. But both Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have seen much better days than this one.

McMurray attributed his win to good chemistry between himself and his crew, winning the Daytona 500 back in February and now the Brickyard 400 with Chip Ganassi. On the flip side of the Ganassi organization however, Juan Pablo Montoya experienced major problems in the Brickyard go-around after starting from the pole.

Saw lots of empty seats at IMS last Sunday. There’s about 267,000 of them, and it must be next to impossible to fill each and every one during one of the worst recessions in the history of this country. Empty seats must also be causing major headaches for other tracks owned by ISC and SMI as well. Former SMI executive Humpy Wheeler, according to his recent book, warned his boss, O. Bruton Smith, that he overbuilt the seating capacity. Now it’s more than likely come back to haunt him.

Kyle Busch grabbed the Nationwide race across town at IRP a night earlier. Brad Keslowski still leads his adversary, Carl Edwards, in the point chase, the two being on probation with Edwards losing points along with team owner Jack Roush.

What do you think about Ferrari being fined $100,000 Sunday for bringing the sport into disrepute by ordering Felipe Massa to move aside and let teammate Fernando Alonso win the German Formula One Grand Prix? The matter has been referred to the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council under Article 151c of its Sporting Code, giving the governing body carte blanche to sanction Ferrari as it sees fit.

Massa told those at the post-race news conference that he made the decision to allow Alonso through at a point of 18 laps from the end all by himself, saying that he was struggling with his car’s hard tires. However, a radio comment overheard suggested a different story, according to what Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley told the Brazilian: “OK, so, Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?…Good lad. Just stick with it now. Sorry.”

In the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, then-Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello had to let Ferrari teammate, Michael Schumacher, win in a notorious incident that led to team orders being banned. Article 39.1 of the FIA’s Sporting Regulations, introduced in the wake of that incident, states: “Team orders which interfere with the race result will be prohibited.” This came from SportsBusinessInternational.com. Now what?

Alonso and Massa swept the first two spots in Germany while Sebastian Vettle, in a Renault, was next then it was Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, both in Mercedes rounding out the top five. Hamilton leads the point tally with Button next, Mark Weber, Vettel and Alonso. Ferrari has won an impressive nineteen times at Hockenhiem. The Grand Prix of Hungary is up next this weekend.

The inaugural appearance of NASCAR racing on VERSUS, supposedly the fastest growing sports cable network in the country, is set for Wednesday, Aug. 4, with the Riverhead 200 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event from Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway.

IZOD Indy Car Chief Brian Barnhart’s decision to take the win away from Helio Castroneves at Edmonton, AB, for blocking on that temporary airport course has resulted in confusion among fans as well as the media. Helio, usually a level headed personality, was visibly beside himself and even got in an Official’s face over that official ruling. Also in that same race, Milika Duno, the Venezuelan female driver, was put on probation for going too slow!

The Riverhead 200, which will be contested on Saturday, July 31, will be the first of nine telecasts to air on VERSUS between the NASCAR Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tours in 2010. These two Touring Series feature short track racing at its best and are the heart of NASCAR racing at the grassroots level.

Riverhead Raceway is a quarter-mile bullring that has been part of the Whelen Modified Tour schedule since the Tour’s inaugural season in 1985. The first Whelen Southern Modified Tour broadcast will be from historic Bowman Gray Stadium, located in Winston-Salem, NC, and is the longest continuously-sanctioned NASCAR track in the nation.

“NASCAR is excited for the debut of the Whelen Modified Tours on VERSUS,” said George Silbermann, NASCAR Managing Director of racing operations. “The premier from Riverhead Raceway along with races from other traditional Modified tracks like Bowman Gray Stadium, Caraway Speedway, Stafford Motor Speedway and Thompson International Speedway will give viewers a distinct impression of what NASCAR Modified racing is all about.”

VERSUS first entered its partnership with NASCAR in 2009 with Quest for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, a weekly half-hour series that followed 12 drivers competing in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup. In September 2010 the network will launch NASCAR – Next Generation, a series which will profile some the future stars of the Sprint Cup series. In addition to its NASCAR offerings, VERSUS is also the exclusive cable television home of the IZOD Indy Car Series. Now in its second year of coverage, the network has seen 24-percent growth in viewership for its live races as compared to last year.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman, who has competed in selected Whelen Modified Tour races in recent seasons, is among many who see the tremendous value in having VERSUS on board as a broadcast partner. I’ve been asked ‘why do you do this,’ and it’s all about having fun,” Newman said of his participation in Modified races. “With VERSUS on board to telecast the races, the whole nation will now be exposed to what those of us on the East Coast already know – Modifieds produce a very exciting type of racing.”

Kevin Manion, the 2010 Daytona 500-winning Crew Chief, came through the Whelen Modified Tour on his way to his current career in the Sprint Cup Series, and is owner of the Modified team that Newman competes for. “As a Whelen Modified Tour alum, I see great value in the VERSUS package,” Manion said. “Those of us who have been a part of it know the passion of the teams and fans in Modified racing, and it’s great for the Tours to get national exposure.”

VERSUS’ nine-race schedule will premiere with one-hour race telecasts airing on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. ET. All races will re-air the Sunday following the initial telecast. The complete schedule follows (subject to change):

VERSUS Race Schedule
Tour Venue Race Date Premiere Date Re-Air Date
NWMT Riverhead Raceway July 31 Aug. 4, 7 p.m. Aug. 8, 11 p.m.
NWMT Stafford Motor Speedway Aug. 6 Aug. 11, 7 p.m. Aug. 15, 11 p.m.
NWSMT Bowman Gray Stadium Aug. 7 Aug. 18, 7 p.m. Aug. 22, 11 p.m.
NWMT Thompson International Speedway Aug. 12 Aug. 25, 7 p.m. Aug. 29, 12 a.m.
NWSMT Caraway Speedway Aug. 28 Sept. 1, 7 p.m. Sept. 5, 11 p.m.
NWSMT Langley Speedway Sept. 4 Sept. 8, 7 p.m. Sept. 12, 11 p.m.
NWSMT Tri-County Motor Speedway Sept. 15 Sept. 29, 7 p.m. Oct. 3, 11 p.m.
NWMT Stafford Motor Speedway Oct. 3 Oct. 6, 7 p.m. Oct. 10, 11 p.m.
NWMT Thompson International Speedway Oct. 17 Oct. 20, 7 p.m. Oct. 24, 11 p.m.

Following the impressive performance at the Nürburgring 24-hour race
where the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid demonstrated the potential of its groundbreaking technology over 22 hours and 15 minutes, and led the overall classification for more than eight hours, the orange and white liveried 911 racer will now travel to the USA and Asia.

Porsche has received an invitation to contest the season final of the American Le Mans Series, the race series featuring the world’s fastest sport cars, at the ‘Petit Le Mans’ at Road Atlanta on October 2. The race runs over a distance of 1,000 miles or a maximum of ten hours. The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid will not be eligible for points, as hybrid technology is not yet included in the GT regulations.

ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series this weekend with live, prime time racing on Saturday night, July 31, from Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. The race airs on ESPN2 beginning at 7 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown, with the race telecast at 7:30 p.m. and the green flag at 7:44 p.m. ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season, with selected races on ESPN and ABC.

Vince Welch will be lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN’s coverage, with analysis by three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion crew chief Ray Evernham and former NASCAR Sprint Cup race winner Ricky Craven. Reporting from the pits will be Rick DeBruhl, Shannon Spake and Jim Noble.

The Iowa event is the third of four races in the Nationwide Insurance Dash 4 Cash. Created in 2009 and designed to increase the on-track excitement for the drivers and the fans, the bonus program was implemented to develop and support NASCAR Nationwide Series regulars, up-and-comers and those who compete part time in the Series. NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers must also compete full time in the Nationwide Series to be eligible. There is a $25,000 cash bonus awarded to the eligible race winner of the four Dash 4 Cash races but should the winner not be eligible, the prize money will roll over to next Dash 4 Cash race.

There also is a $75,000 year-end bonus awarded at the end of the season to the NASCAR Nationwide Series-only driver with the highest number of cumulative points from the four races. NASCAR drivers who compete in more than seven Sprint Cup races during the season are not eligible for the end of season bonus, even if they run all Nationwide Series races.

NASCAR on ESPN pit reporters Dave Burns, Jamie Little and Dr. Jerry Punch will be panelists on NASCAR Now’s weekly roundtable discussion program airing Monday, Aug. 2, at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Allen Bestwick will host the edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program.

Nicole Briscoe hosts half-hour episodes of NASCAR Now airing Tuesday and Wednesday at 5 p.m. There will be no show on Thursday due to ESPN’s coverage of U.S. Senior Open golf. Briscoe also hosts the one-hour weekend edition of NASCAR Now airing Sunday, Aug. 1, at 9 a.m. with a preview of that day’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway, as well as the weekend wrap-up edition airing Monday, Aug. 2, at midnight (late Sunday night). Marty Smith and Terry Blount will report from Pocono.

NASCAR Now is hosted by Mike Massaro, Nicole Briscoe, Allen Bestwick and Shannon Spake and originates from ESPN’s high definition studios in Bristol, Conn. Contributors include reporters Marty Smith and Angelique Chengelis, analysts Ray Evernham, Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty, and Ricky Craven, ESPN.com reporters Ed Hinton, Terry Blount and David Newton and ESPN the Magazine senior writer Ryan McGee. The NASCAR on ESPN team event coverage team of Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Marty Reid, Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, Dave Burns, Jamie Little, and Vince Welch also make frequent contributions to NASCAR Now.

Here’s what else is happening in the world of motorsports this week into the weekend. F1 moves to Hungary, NASCAR Trucks and the ARCA stockcars perform at Pocono. For the bikers the FIM Superbikes will see action at Silverstone in the UK. Check RaceFanTV.com for all of the details. (END)

NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES AND PRESS RELEASES