NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race memories: 1996, Michael Waltrip

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

To call Michael Waltrip’s win in the 1996 all-star race a surprise would be a major understatement. Before joining Wood Brothers Racing to start the 1996 season, Waltrip had suffered through 10 years of futility in the Sprint Cup Series, and he arrived at Lowe’s Motor Speedway that May with no wins to show for his 309 Cup starts to that point.

Waltrip had to race his way into the main event, and he did so in the Open by claiming the last of five transfer positions into the all-star race. Accordingly, he started last (20th) in the first 30-lap segment, after which there was a full inversion of the field before the second segment of 30 laps. In the final 10-lap run to the finish, Waltrip took the lead for the first time after Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte made contact ahead of him and slid up the track in Turn 2 before regaining control.

Continue reading “NASCAR All-Star Race memories: 1996, Michael Waltrip”

Mercury Recording Artist Jessie James to Sing National Anthem At NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXV Verve recording artist Kenny Lattimore to sing “God Bless America”

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (May 7, 2009) ¯ Sprint (NYSE: S) announced Mercury recording artist Jessie James will sing “The Star Spangled Banner” for the 25th running of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on May 16 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

James, 20, recently released her hit single “Wanted,” which she co-wrote with American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi, Mitch Allen and David Hodges. James also is known for the song “Blue Jeans,” a song featured in the Touchstone film and Hollywood Records album soundtrack of the film “Confessions of a Shopaholic.” This petite powerhouse will release her debut album this summer, which she has been recording in Los Angeles, New York and Nashville.

Continue reading “Jessie James to Sing National Anthem At All-Star Race”

Tony Stewart continued his impressive first season as a driver/owner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series by finishing a solid third in Saturday night’s Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. It was Stewart’s best Sprint Cup finish in 17 career starts at Darlington, besting a pair of fourth-place efforts earned in March 2000 and September 2001.

“That’s the best finish I’ve ever had at a Southern 500,” said Stewart, whose Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team is co-owned with Oxnard, Calif.-based Haas Automation, the largest CNC machine tool builder in the western world. “It’s a tough race – one of the toughest physically we run all year.

“I’m just proud of our guys. We had phenomenal stops all night, and that made the difference. I bet they passed 12 guys in the pits today. An amazing night for the pit crew.”

The Darlington result also marked Stewart’s eighth top-10 finish of the season and his fifth top-five in the last six races, which allowed the driver of the No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala SS to inch ever closer to the championship point lead. Stewart gained one spot to climb to second in the standings, just 29 points behind series leader and four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon.

Continue reading “Stewart-Haas continues to impress”

A WORD FROM GENNA:

Talk about déjà vu. I sure hope that this will be a recurring theme in the months to come. It seems surreal to me, I am not sure why. I woke up this morning wondering if Mark Martin really won that race or if it was only a dream.

It wasn’t in dominating fashion that he won. It was definitely different from Phoenix where he led several times. Martin took the lead, by default, on lap 322 when he, along with six others, stayed out after a caution. Martin led the next 42 laps and won the race but what shocked me the most was how he almost effortlessly held off a charging Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson seemed to have a very strong car on the restart and caught Martin several times going into the corners but he could never quite make the pass. It was pretty amazing to watch the action. Most definitely one of the best races I have seen in a long time.

I just love to watch Martin race. He is a clean, good racer. He knows when he has a good car and drives it hard, just like he did on Saturday night. Watching him hold off a much younger man who was running him down hard was just amazing. Its wonderful to see him back on top and driving the way I knew he could all along. This is the first time since 1999 that Mark Martin has had a season with more than one race win. However, people tend to forget just how close he’s come several times to that very elusive win that he finally claimed this year at Phoenix. I could bring up the one that should have been his but I won’t…

Continue reading “Mark Martin: The Kid Does it Again”

NSCS Recap: The Old Man and the Big D; Martin Tames Darlington
DARLINGTON, S.C. — The oldest driver in the 43-car field showed the young whippersnappers a thing or two Saturday night at fabled, old Darlington Raceway.

He won the race. Fifty-year-old Mark Martin, a throwback to the old days, charged home ahead of three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson and other younger drivers to win the Southern 500, a 367-lap marathon on what is known as NASCAR’s toughest track.

Martin, an ageless racing junkie who tried to retire a couple years ago but couldn’t, won the race in style, pulling away from Johnson at the end.

Physically fit and pumped up for the season in a Hendrick Chevrolet, Martin ran with the big dogs up front all night, keeping his car in one piece and saving the best for last.

Continue reading “Mark Martin grabs 2nd win of the season at Darlington”