The Final Lap with Kerry Murphey

SHOW #133 – We chat with Michael Waltrip about driving this weekend, The Chase, and his show Inside NASCAR on Showtime. Plus we recap Martinsville and preview Talladega. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Paul Northrop

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CREDITS:
Hosts: Kerry Murphey & Paul Northrop
Production: Kerry Murphey
Music: Radium Sound
Voice Over: Thomas Moog

JEFF GORDON WILL ‘DRIVE TO END HUNGER’ BEGINNING IN 2011
THREE-YEAR EFFORT INCLUDES PRIMARY PLACEMENT ON NO. 24 CHEVYS FOR 22 RACES ANNUALLY

CONCORD, N.C. (Oct. 27, 2010) – Hendrick Motorsports and four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon have teamed with AARP and AARP Foundation on the Drive to End Hunger (www.DriveToEndHunger.org), an unprecedented three-year initiative to address the growing problem of hunger among older Americans, including 6 million over the age of 60.

Drive to End Hunger will be the majority sponsor of Gordon’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team in 2011, 2012 and 2013, with primary paint schemes in 22 Sprint Cup races annually. The No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, which will be unveiled at a later date, will race in the next three Daytona 500 events.

“This is a truly unique opportunity to help people, and it’s a completely new, cause-driven approach to sponsorship,” said Gordon, 39, winner of 82 career Sprint Cup races. “Every single day, millions of older Americans are forced to make a choice between food, medicine and utilities. It’s going to be a team effort, and it’s not going to be easy, but we can solve this problem.”

With Gordon as its spokesperson, Drive to End Hunger will help the millions of older Americans who are facing hunger across the United States. The effort will engage the NASCAR fan base, corporations and charitable organizations via a text-to-donate program; activation at racetracks across the country; further research on the causes and consequences of hunger in older Americans; and an innovative national grant program that will provide resources to address the problem at a local level.

Donations from Drive to End Hunger will benefit the hunger programs of AARP Foundation.

“Hunger is a hidden problem that millions of older Americans are battling silently. In fact, between 2006 and 2008, the percentage of seniors struggling with hunger more than doubled,” said Jo Ann Jenkins, AARP Foundation president. “NASCAR fans are among the most charitable, community-minded sports fans in the country, and they have a track record of commitment. With the help of Jeff and the Hendrick team, we will make the most of this unprecedented opportunity to end the struggle that so many older Americans have with hunger.”

Drive to End Hunger will build on the hunger initiative launched earlier this year by AARP Foundation, including volunteer-led food drives, individual and corporate fundraising campaigns, and online hunger resources at www.aarp.org/hunger.

“It’s exciting to see a new organization engage with our sport and our fans through such an innovative approach,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “Having seen firsthand what the NASCAR community is capable of accomplishing, I know the program will help a lot of people in our country who desperately need it. Success ultimately will be measured by how many lives we can impact, and that’s a truly unique and special opportunity for everyone involved.”

For more information, please visit www.DriveToEndHunger.org.

FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s Top Martinsville Finishers Talk Before and After the Race
by Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com.

Denny Hamlin won Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500, race six in the 10-race Chase to the Sprint Cup, ahead of Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson at Martinsville, Virginia.
Hamlin was able to take a car that had mysterious problems early in the race to the front on the 5.26-mile oval at Martinsville Speedway and hold off a fast-charging Martin, who overcame a crash that should have relegated him to a dismal finish.

The tricky track known as the paperclip once again challenged the 43-car field and produced exciting bumping and banging.

All top five finishers expressed their thoughts before the green flag, as well as after the checkers for race 32-of-36 in the long but fast NASCAR season.

Denny Hamlin (No.18 Toyota) Finished first

Before:
“I feel like I am within striking distance,” Hamlin said. “Talladega is such a wildcard in the sense that it can go 100 points one way or another. But unless we go out there and lead the most laps and Jimmie has a struggle in Martinsville, that’s probably not going to happen.”

After:
“I don’t think I’ve ever closed that well – ever,” Hamlin said. “We kept working. We did not have a race-winning car all day until the very end. This is unbelievable. I had already counted how many points I was going to be behind after this race.

“We kept fighting, kept digging, kept making up spots throughout the day and just had the best car at the end. I just can’t say enough for everyone who put all the work in to get this done. This is a come-from-behind victory.”

Mark Martin (No. 5 Chevrolet) Finished second

Before:
“Martinsville was one of our more spectacular races this season,” Martin said.

“It’s exciting any time you can get a new sponsor. I like the way they brought the fans into it and let them put their eBay usernames on the car. I’ve never driven a car with fans’ names on it before. The fans have really stuck by us this year and this is a good way to say ‘Thanks.’ I’d like to get them all in Victory Lane Sunday.”

After:
“Gosh, that was so much fun!” Martin said. “I thought this was going to be the longest day of my life. We were two laps down and to be honest we were going to be 28th. So, boy; what an incredible race car, man! Another 20 laps and we could have caught him.”

Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Chevrolet) Finished third

Before:
“When it comes to thinking about being or not being aggressive because it is in the Chase, in my mind, nine times out of 10, the aggressor comes out up top,” Harvick said. “So, I’ll take that 10 percent chance of making a mistake and having things happen.”

After:
“We kept the No. 48 behind us and the No. 11 in sight and what everybody said was a two-horse race and we were right there in the middle of it,” Harvick said. “So, it’s a lot of fun. Right now we’ve got four more weeks. I’m looking forward to Talladega and just racing hard.”

Kyle Busch (No.18 Toyota) Finished fourth

Before:
“You want to drive into the corner one foot deeper than that other guy. You want to step on the gas one foot sooner than that other guy, and you want to roll a half-mile-an-hour better than that other guy,” Busch said. “That’s why it’s so finicky and so hard there because everybody runs so tight that, any little thing you can find, it can help a lot.”

After:
“That was just a good way to run here at Martinsville – one of these places that I struggle at tremendously,” Busch said. “To come out of here with a fourth-place finish – I can finish fourth here – I’ve done that maybe two or three times, but any higher than that, I’m struggling for it.”

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Chevrolet) Finished fifth

Before:
“You have more control over your car at Martinsville than at any of the other tracks on a double-file restart,” Johnson said. “We’ll see. Who I wouldn’t want next to me? Man, I guess whoever would be second in points.”

After:
“It was a good day,” Johnson said. “It was a solid performance; something we can’t be disappointed in. I wish we were a little better but there is a lot of racing left.”

FYI WIRZ is the swift presentation of pertinent motorsports topics compiled and condensed by Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com. Quotes provided by NASCAR and Sprint Cup team media.

Photo credit: Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com.

The opinions expressed in this articles are solely those of the author and not this website.

Simple question is Dale Jr. Back?

After leading 90 laps at Martinsville – the most he’s led in a race since Richmond in September of 2008 – Dale Earnhardt Jr. returns to Talladega with a chance to tie Gordon for second on the NASCAR Sprint Cup win list at the track with six, behind his father’s record 10 victories. (hasn’t won there since 2004)

Despite his obvious struggles this season, Dale Jr. has looked just fine in this year’s three previous restrictor-plate events, with finishing second and fourth, respectively, at Daytona and 13th at Talladega).

So is he back, or are we getting excited about leading Martinsville a little too soon?

We’d love to hear your comments down below, or on Twitter and Facebook

Chase Spoiler Could Be McMurray – Again

Jamie McMurray will attempt to play Chase spoiler for the second time in this Chase, in the process trying to repeat as Amp Energy Juice 500 race winner.

It could happen. McMurray has come up big in his three previous 2010 wins – capturing the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and the Bank of America 500(at Charlotte).

Jamie McMurray has won two of the last 4 restrictor plate races in the Cup Series and heads to Talladega (Hallow-Dega) this weekend sporting a very Intimidating paint scheme for his car.

The #1 car’s costume for this race will be a tribute to honor Dale Earnhardt’s black and gold colors that ran in the 1998 All-Star race. This weekend is the 10th anniversary of Dale’s last victory lane appearance.