Cornelius, N.C. – Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) announced today that Patrick Carpentier will drive the No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry in the upcoming Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.

“There are so many great road course racers competing in Sonoma this year, and as the owner and driver of the No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota, I am in a unique position,” said Waltrip who has two top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in his NASCAR Sprint Cup road racing career. “If I see where I can improve my car’s performance then that’s exactly what I am going to do. I am a good road racer, but Patrick is a great road racer.

Continue reading “Patrick Carpentier to drive #55 MWR at Infineon”

STATESVILLE, N.C. – Richard Petty Motorsports announced it will partner with Braun Racing to compete in five NASCAR Nationwide Series races in 2009.

The Petty team competed full-time in the series until this season when it chose to run a fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. Team officials said the agreement with Braun Racing makes a successful return to the series more likely.

“We have a commitment to run five races this season,” said Mark McArdle, the Petty team’s vice president of competition. “Braun Racing is one of the most successful stand alone teams in the series that contends for race wins, week in and week out. Partnering with them gives us an opportunity to be extremely competitive and to win races. It also brings the most value to our partners without disrupting anything we are doing with our Sprint Cup programs.”

Continue reading “Petty and Braun Join Forces for NNS”

CHARLOTTE, NC (June 6, 2009) – Robby Gordon and his No. 77 Monster Energy / Toyo Tires team continued their dirt-defying dominance of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series season by winning the coveted Baja 500 title on Saturday. Gordon continues to lead the 2009 points standing and set the pace for the rest of the competitors this season. In the three races ran this season, Gordon holds two victories and a second place finish. Further, Saturday’s Baja 500 win marks the renowned off-road racer’s fifth class win and fourth overall victory.

Gordon started the 432.51-mile race from the sixth position, but quickly moved his way up through the field and set the race pace for most of the day. He was able to finish the grueling course in eight hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds, averaging roughly 50 miles per hour in the No. 77 Monster Energy / Toyo Tires trophy truck. Gordon won by over a four minute margin to second place finisher, B.J. Baldwin.

Continue reading “Robby Gordon wins Baja 500”

It took all of 14 races for Stewart-Haas Racing’s owner/driver to win his first NASCAR Sprint cup points race. It is a well known fact that Tony Stewart is never very good or consistent in the first half of the season. He’s proven everyone wrong by pulling the 14 car into Victory Lane twice this season already, the first time being at the NASCAR All Star Race in May.

Call it a fuel mileage win if you will but all that matters is that Tony has got that first win out of the way. Now he can focus on running top five every week, winning more races, and getting that championship trophy in November.

“I didn’t think he was going to be a factor,” Edwards said of Stewart. “I was sure he was going to run out.”

He was probably counting on Stewart to run out of fuel there at the end. Edwards placed second to Stewart with David Reutimann, Jeff Gordon, and Ryan Newman rounding out the top 5.

Edwards and Gordon were also low on fuel with only Reutimann and Newman projected to make the final laps.

When asked what his fuel strategy was, Stewart retorted, laughing “I’m not telling!”

Other drivers, however, lost the fuel mileage game. Mark Martin had to pit late in the final green flag run for fuel and Jimmie Johnson ran out but managed to coast to the checkers in 7th place.

What is even more amazing about Stewart’s win is that he did it in a backup car from a 43rd starting position. His splitter was ripped off in a practice session on Saturday. Still he remained optimistic that his team and car were good enough to not only get to the front but to contend for the win. Within the first 30 laps of Sunday’s race, the 14 car had broken into the top 10. Still, Stewart took little credit for his performance on Sunday.

“Breathe easy, boys, we’re gonna make it,” Stewart radioed to his crew as he rolled through the final corner. “God, I’m proud of you guys. You make me look like a genius in here.”

In attendance was Tony’s father, Nelson Stewart, who was seen to be shedding a few tears on his way to Victory Lane to celebrate with his son.

Tony Stewart now leads the points standings by 71 points. He gained the lead after last Sunday’s race at Dover. This is also the first win by an owner/driver since Ricky Rudd won at Martinsville in September of 1998.

@NASCARGirl14

The opinions expressed in this article are solely that of the author and not this website.

MOORESVILLE, N.C.(June 8, 2009) – Red Horse Racing regretfully announces the closure of the #1 Toyota Tundra driven by Johnny Benson. The decision is effective immediately.

Red Horse Racing worked to secure sponsorship for the #1 team since last December but has been unsuccessful in doing so.

“It hasn’t been for a lack of effort,” says Team Owner, Tom DeLoach. “We had several people working on finding a sponsor for the #1 and Johnny Benson. I’ve been working on it myself. We gave it our best shot, and we tried as long as we could, but nothing materialized. I am saddened that we were unsuccessful in accomplishing our goal but this is a tough economic climate and the cost of fielding a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team with essentially no support other than our manufacturer is too much for Red Horse Racing to bear alone.”

Sponsorship for Benson was thought to be secure before the season began but the economic downturn kept that sponsor from being able to participate with Red Horse Racing.

Continue reading “Johnny Benson's #1 Truck Team Shuts Down”