TURNER MOTORSPORTS ANNOUNCES MARK MARTIN TO DRIVE THE NO. 32 DOLLAR GENERAL CHEVROLET IN SELECT 2011 NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES EVENTS

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (January 12, 2011) – Turner Motorsports is pleased to announce the addition of racing legend, Mark Martin, to its 2011 driver line-up. Martin will pilot the No. 32 Dollar General Impala in NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Kentucky Speedway with crew chief, Trent Owens, calling the shots. He will also drive the No. 32 Silverado in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) races at Michigan International Speedway and Pocono Raceway.

“I’m excited to be running back in the Nationwide and Truck Series again,” said Martin. “Everyone at Dollar General and Turner Motorsports has been great and I’m looking forward to hitting the track with them next year. Working with Turner [Motorsports], I get to extend my relationship with Chevrolet and continue to have Hendrick horsepower under the hood which is really, really good.”

Martin brings unparalleled experience to Turner Motorsports. With a NASCAR career spanning 30 years, he has 40 wins in 794 Sprint Cup Series starts, holds the all-time Nationwide Series records for most wins (48) and most pole positions (30), and seven wins in 23 NCWTS starts. In 2006, motorsports media members acknowledged his accomplishments by naming him the greatest Nationwide Series driver of all-time. Martin continues to compete full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports machine.

“The races we picked for both series are personal favorites of mine. I’d love to win another truck race, and I’ve got to get back to Victory Lane in the Dollar General car so I can keep Kyle [Busch] from breaking my Nationwide Series record,” Martin joked.

Martin has experienced tremendous success at the tracks at which he will compete for Turner Motorsports. In five Nationwide Series starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Martin has three wins, four top-fives, five top-10s and two pole awards to his credit. In only two Nationwide starts at Auto Club Speedway, he has earned one win and a third-place finish. At Michigan International Speedway, he has two wins, eight top-five and nine top-10 finishes and one pole position in his 11 starts. Martin will make his Nationwide Series debut when the team travels to Kentucky Speedway in July.

Team owner, Steve Turner, is very pleased with the experience that Martin brings with him and has high expectations for his organization in 2011.

“We are thrilled to announce the addition of Mark Martin to our stable of drivers,” commented Turner. “Mark [Martin] shares my same passion for helping groom young talent and has expressed interest in helping us get our young drivers to the NASCAR Sprint Cup level. I can’t think of a better mentor than Mark Martin. Everyone at Turner Motorsports knows the value and experience he brings to our organization and we are all delighted to have him join our team. We look forward to getting Mark [Martin] and Dollar General into the winners circle in 2011.”

SHOW #141 – In our first talk show of 2011, Toby Christie joins Paul and I from rubbingsracing.com, we discuss the Bud Shootout, Drivers choose your championship, off season news, and much more. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Paul Northrop

LISTEN HERE (About 54 mins)

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

GET READY FOR MORE “EXCITEMENT” AND “DRAMA”
AS AUTO CLUB 500 BECOMES AUTO CLUB 400
~ Great ticket packages available at NASCAR’s only stop in Southern California ~

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. (Jan. 11, 2011) – NASCAR continues to listen and respond to its fans and as a result, they will be the beneficiary of more exciting NASCAR Sprint Cup racing when it comes to Southern California in March.

Changing the mileage from 500 to 400 for Auto Club Speedway’s October event along with double file restarts resulted in an action-packed three hours that media, drivers and fans called “the best race ever at Auto Club Speedway.” With that feedback, ACS officials announced today that the Auto Club 500 will now be the Auto Club 400. The race will take place on Sunday, March 27 beginning at noon (PT) on FOX.

October’s “gem” resulted in a Tony Stewart victory by 0.466 seconds over Clint Bowyer – one of the closest races ever recorded at the Southern California facility. The intense side-by-side racing elicited rave reviews from everyone, including Stewart who said, “The restarts early in the race were out of control. We were five wide!”

Others agreed with Stewart wholeheartedly:

Motor Racing Network: “Simply put, Sunday’s race was the best Sprint Cup Series race ever at the two-mile Southern California track.”

Motor Sports Weekly News: “Fans that stayed home this time or didn’t tune in on TV missed what just might have been the best race this track has ever put on.”

Clint Bowyer: “They say you’re only as good as your last race. Well, for this place, that was a hell of a race.”

“It’s impossible to ignore the on track excitement we experienced at Auto Club Speedway in October, as a result of NASCAR reducing the Chase race from 500 to 400 miles,” said ACS President Gillian Zucker. “We’re confident the newly remileaged Auto Club 400 will continue the momentum we have been experiencing and that March’s race will be the most exciting ever at Auto Club Speedway.”
In response to the mileage change and the excitement that it likely will produce, Auto Club Speedway is offering several ways to see the 5-wide excitement of NASCAR at Southern California’s premier motorsports facility.

Auto Club Members Section – Save Up to 50%!
§ Turn 1 seating
§ Upper Reserved (Sections 77-91, Rows 24-48) – Adults $50, Kids (12 and under) $25
§ Lower Reserved (Sections 69-91, Rows 11- 23) – Adults $30, Kids (12 and under) $15
§ Seating now located closer to the start/finish line than previous years
While supplies last

Free Pit Pass Offer – Save $55!
§ Purchase a $75 Upper Reserved (rows 24-33) ticket and receive a free pre-race pit pass
§ Seating now located in higher rows than previous years
Expires February 25, 2011

Save $10 on NNS 300 race
§ Save $10 on any ticket for the NNS 300 race on Saturday, March 26, 2011

Call 1-800-944-RACE or visit www.autoclubspeedway.com to get tickets to what will no doubt be another “gem” at Auto Club Speedway.

Speedweeks Opener Features Stellar Field

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 7, 2011) – With a strong lineup that features former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions, last year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field, a host of former outstanding rookies, along with a collection of previous winners at the sport’s most storied race track, NASCAR announced Friday the list of eligible competitors for the 2011 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona.
The 33rd annual season-opening event launches Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 12 with green flag set for 8:10 p.m. FOX and MRN will broadcast live nationally. It marks the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event held on the track’s newly repaved surface. Criteria are based upon the following qualifications, with eligibility based on a driver having competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series within the last two seasons:
· The 12 drivers that qualified for the 2010 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup
· Past NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions
· Past Budweiser Shootout champions
· Past Daytona 500 and Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola champions
· NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year drivers from 2001-2010
“When you take a look at the field for this year’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, it’s loaded with all-star caliber drivers,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. “From former series champions and Chase drivers, to the past 10 rookie of the year performers, to drivers who have had success at Daytona, we believe the fans are in store for a terrific and highly competitive event on a brand new racing surface.”
The race distance will again be 75 laps (187.5 miles), consisting of two segments – 25 and 50 laps. Both green-flag laps and yellow-flag laps will count. Between segments there will be a 10-minute pit stop allowing teams to pit to change tires, add fuel and make normal chassis adjustments. Crews will be permitted to work on cars and will be allowed to perform functions they would do on a normal pit stop in a regular NASCAR Sprint Cup event. All work must be performed on pit road or in the garage. Changing of springs, shock absorbers or rear-ends will not be permitted.
Starting positions will again be determined by a blind-draw at the annual Budweiser Shootout Draw Party on Friday, Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. on the SPEED stage in the Midway, outside Turn 4.
The Budweiser Shootout – a “non-points” event for NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors – was first held in 1979, originally known as the Busch Clash. Kevin Harvick has won the last two events.
Tickets for all 2011 Speedweeks events are now available online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.
Drivers eligible for the 2011 Budweiser Shootout include:

2010 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Drivers
Jimmie Johnson
Denny Hamlin
Kevin Harvick
Carl Edwards
Matt Kenseth
Greg Biffle
Tony Stewart
Kyle Busch
Jeff Gordon
Clint Bowyer
Kurt Busch
Jeff Burton

Others (criteria in parentheses)
John Andretti (Coke Zero 400)
Geoff Bodine (Daytona 500, Budweiser Shootout)
Kevin Conway (Series rookie of the year)
Derrike Cope (Daytona 500)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400, Budweiser Shootout)
Bill Elliott (Series champion, Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400, Budweiser Shootout)
Kasey Kahne (Series rookie of the year)
Bobby Labonte (Series champion)
Terry Labonte (Series champion, Budweiser Shootout)
Joey Logano (Series rookie of the year)
Sterling Marlin (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400)
Mark Martin (Budweiser Shootout)
Jamie McMurray (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400, Series rookie of the year)
Juan Pablo Montoya (Series rookie of the year)
Ryan Newman (Daytona 500, Series rookie of the year)
Ken Schrader (Budweiser Shootout)
Regan Smith (Series rookie of the year)
Michael Waltrip (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400)

These guys have a great package deal going, so I wanted to pass this info along for our friends down in Australia!

Nascar Tours to the USA!

Aussie Nascar Tours runs several small group, unique tours to the United States every year, attending different Nascar events and visiting motorsport and tourist attractions.

Next tour – February 2011

Our next tour is in February 2011, taking in the Daytona 500, Phoenix and Las Vegas. You can view the full itinerary here, but here are some highlights:

-Get behind the wheel of a Nascar at the Petty Experience in Orlando
-Attend the famous Daytona 500 event
-Tour the team garages of Penske, Hendrick, Earnhardt Ganassi, DEI and Joe Gibbs Racing
-Visit the Grand Canyon
-Attend the racing at Phoenix and Las Vegas
-The February tour costs $8,000 plus your airfares from Australia to the US. According to everyone that’s been on our tours, it’s the best money they’ve ever spent and it’s an experience of a lifetime!

Seats are limited – book now!

CLICK HERE