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Dave and Ryan Blaney Richmond International Raceway 2012Brad Keselowski Racing to Field Two Full-Time Entries in the 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 

Team Takes Aim at Drivers’ and Owners’ Championships

 MOORESVILLE, NC (January 15, 2013) – Brad Keselowski Racing (BKR) announced today that the team owned by the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) champion will field two full-time entries in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) for the 2013 season. The move to two full-time teams comes in the organization’s sixth season in the Series.

Similar to the Penske Racing team for which Keselowski drives in the NSCS and NASCAR Nationwide Series, 2013 will see BKR take to the track in the Ford camp. 2012 was a banner year for BKR, which claimed its first victory behind the skillful driving of Penske Racing development driver Ryan Blaney, who became the youngest winner in NCWTS history at Iowa Speedway in September.

Michigan-based Cooper Standard, a leading global supplier of systems and components for the automotive industry, has enhanced its 2011 and 2012 involvement with BKR and will serve as the primary partner on the No. 29 Ford for the entire 2013 season. Blaney will be behind the wheel for the full schedule with the team competing for both the NCWTS drivers’ and owners’ championships. The No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford team will be led once again by veteran crew chief, Doug Randolph.

“We are excited to partner with Brad Keselowski and the BKR team again for the 2013 season,” said Keith Stephenson, Chief Operating Officer, Cooper Standard. “Racing has proven to be a useful business tool for our company with both customers and employees and continues to help build the Cooper Standard Brand.”

Cequent Consumer Products and Cequent Performance Products (Cequent Group), leading designers, manufacturers, and marketers of a broad range of vehicle and trailer products among other automotive products, have also increased their 2013 BKR program and will be the primary partner on the No. 19 BKR Ford for 15 races split between the two companies.

The No. 19 entry will feature various Cequent Group brands and products throughout the season including Draw-Tite, Reese Towpower, Reese Towpower Carbon Forged, Bulldog, and Harper. The No. 19 BKR Ford, led by new crew chief Chad Kendrick, will have multiple drivers as it competes for the 2013 NCWTS owners’ championship. Keselowski and his NSCS Penske Racing teammate, Joey Logano, are scheduled to run multiple races. Blaney’s father, NSCS veteran and World of Outlaws champion Dave Blaney, will race the No. 19 in the NCWTS’ first ever dirt race at Eldora Speedway on July 24th.

“The Cequent Performance team and its Draw-Tite®, Reese®, and Bulldog® brands are proud to be a part of the 2013 BKR racing season and their move to Ford trucks,” said Tom Benson, President, Cequent Performance Products. “It is great to be able to share in the excitement that professional motorsports brings our customers.  We are looking forward to being trackside to witness the determination and positive attitude that Brad and his team show their fans in the year ahead.”

“Cequent Consumer is excited to show race fans a few different logos on our trucks this year including Carbon Forged from Reese Towpower, which is a new weld-free ball mount with increased towing capacity, in addition our new cleaning tool brand, Harper and of course the Reese Towpower truck,” said John Aleva, President Cequent Consumer Products. “Kicking off race season with a winner like Brad Keselowski is good for all of our brands as race fans get to know our products through this incredible sport.”

BKR also welcomes Florida native Ross Chastain to its stable of drivers for 15 races in the No. 19 Ford. Chastain will fly the Melon 1 primary partnership colors to the No. 19 Truck for five (5) of his 15 races with BKR.  The specific races for Keselowski, Logano, and Chastain will be announced at a later date.

“Melon 1 is proud to continue our support of Ross Chastain with his new team at Brad Keselowski Racing,” said John Lapide, President, Melon 1. “Ross has generated great awareness of the healthy benefits and great taste of watermelons, while promoting the whole watermelon industry. We look forward to watching the number 19 truck run for the owners’ championship.”

“I couldn’t be more pleased with the way 2013 is shaping up for BKR,” said Keselowski. “With enhanced support from our long time returning partners, Cooper Standard and Cequent Group, we are poised for a successful season. We have been able to retain and attract top notch personnel. The crew chiefs, drivers, and team members all put their hearts into this organization. Hard work equals results, and I am proud of each and every teammate’s passion for excellence. Last season was a huge stepping stone for the organization as we claimed our first victory. We are looking forward to building on last year’s success this season.”

Blaney and Chastain will represent BKR on the track for the 2013 season opener at Daytona International Speedway on February 22nd.

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2012 Vegas Portrait Brad Keselowski SunglassesCharlotte, NC (January 14, 2013) – It is often said, “To the victor go the spoils.” As the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Brad Keselowski has done many things he may have never thought he would have the opportunity to do.

The latest is one that he is sure to enjoy.

On Friday, January 25, Keselowski will slide into the deejay chair at WEND 106.5 FM The End, an alternative rock station in Charlotte, NC, to fulfill a lifelong fantasy of becoming one of the voices he often hears on the local radio station. DZL, the afternoon drive host for the station, will turn over his seat to the 28-year-old from “Detroit Rock City.”

“This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid,” said Keselowski. “I always thought that radio deejays, along with racecar drivers, had one of the coolest jobs around. Why wouldn’t you like fast cars and rock and roll?”

Keselowski, who hails from the Detroit suburb of Rochester Hills, Mich. quickly became a fan of 106.5 FM after making the move to the area in 2007.

“I’m a fan of all types of music, but a lot of what I listen to is rock and alternative rock,” continued Keselowski. “We love our loud rock music in Detroit. WEND is a station that I quickly became a fan of when I moved here.”

For WEND, it’s not an everyday occurrence to have the current Cup Series champion eager to learn the nuances of running a radio station.

“It all started during the 2012 NASCAR Season,” stated DZL. “Brad and I were backstage at Food Lion Speed Street (a race festival in uptown Charlotte during All-Star week.)  He suggested I play more of ‘this band or that band’ on my afternoon drive radio show here in Charlotte.  I told him to worry about winning the Sprint Cup championship. If he did that I’d let him come in and play whatever he wanted!”

“He obviously held up his END of the bargain so I guess I’ll have to hold up mine,” continued DZL. “On Friday, January 25TH, I’m handing Brad the keys to my race car and letting him turn a few laps during the equivalent to my Bristol race… a Friday DRIVETIME (5p-6p!)  Who knows what will happen. I just hope he doesn’t hit the wall with my race car!”

In addition, fans can partake in an online auction to meet Keselowski at the WEND station that day. The money raised from the auction will benefit the Checkered Flag Foundation (CFF). Started in 2010 by Keselowski, the foundation assists wounded military and first-responders, along with their families. Keselowski will also take song requests via Twitter, provided those making the request make a donation to the CFF.

“I really just wanted to play some music, but the guys at 106.5 wanted to make a bigger deal about it to benefit my foundation,” said Keselowski. “That meant a lot to me. Music people have always been very generous. I hope to be able to return the favor.”

 The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season officially takes the green flag on Sunday, February 24 with the 55th Running of the Daytona 500.

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Collaboration With HP Brought Online
 
2013 Fan And Media Engagement Center UnveilDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 14, 2013) – NASCAR and HP today unveiled the new NASCAR Fan and Media Engagement Center presented by HP. This first-of-its-kind resource will enable NASCAR to better serve its industry, partners and fans through a cutting-edge technology platform that facilitates near real-time response and analytics of traditional, digital and social media.
NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France and HP Enterprise Services Vice President Charles Salameh were on hand to cut the ceremonial ribbon to officially open the center at NASCAR Plaza in Charlotte, N.C.
“The Fan and Media Engagement Center build has been a thorough process more than a year in the making, and we are excited to see it come to life,” France said. “We believe this tool has the potential to be the best of its kind in sports – the first ever to combine not only social, but also traditional and broadcast media analysis. We’ll be able to use this to help our industry and business partners and better connect with NASCAR fans across the world. It’s another example of our commitment to innovation.”
HP collaborated with NASCAR to design and build the Fan and Media Engagement Center. The center is a showpiece on the 8th floor of NASCAR Plaza, where NASCAR’s Digital team operates. Physical features of the FMEC include all-glass walls, a monitor bank of 13 47-inch HP displays, and the latest in touchscreen and AV technology. Behind the scenes, HP’s custom-developed technology and services, based on its Autonomy analytics solutions, is the engine that processes a massive amount of data into relevant, actionable insights.
“The FMEC is the culmination of a collaboration between NASCAR and HP,” said Salameh, vice president – Americas region, Communications, Media and Entertainment Industry, Enterprise Services, HP. “HP’s integrated solution not only benefits NASCAR’s complex ecosystem by allowing real-time data capture and analysis across a wide variety of media, traditional as well as digital, tailored to specific audiences within the industry.”
The FMEC will provide NASCAR the ability to monitor, analyze and better understand the current media landscape in order to respond more effectively and efficiently to fans and respond more rapidly to national, local and global media.
Measurement also will be a key function of the Fan and Media Engagement Center. Those capabilities will expand across qualitative and quantitative measurements, including tonality, volume, proximity and other coverage attributes in regular reports the FMEC will generate for its industry.

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Danica Patrick climbs in at Daytona TestingFYI WIRZ: Daytona Thunder days have big test, big crash, bigger results

by Dwight Drum at Racetake.com 

The mood and expectations were high for the much anticipated Daytona Thunder Fan Fest and testing for the new Gen-6 NASCAR Sprint Cup stock car in early January. No better place to test new equipment than the legendary 2.5-mile tri-oval high-bank track at Daytona International Speedway.
The appearance of new and unique manufacturer designs for the 2013 stock cars attracted buoyant fans for infield festivities.
Practice sessions were divided into single-car runs and drafting packs. The first day of testing had no grouping for the 18 teams that transported 35 cars to the unseasonably warm Florida weather.
Drafting practice on the second day was proceeding smoothly for about 18 cars on track when Dale Earnhardt’s attempt at bump-drafting caused a 12-car crash. The “Big One” arrived early in 2013.
PHOTO CREDIT: DWIGHT DRUM RACETAKE.COM
As this new car inventory is in limited production right now and another test is coming soon in Charlotte, some teams packed up broken cars and headed back to North Carolina.
Jeff Gordon was among other drivers answering questions from this reporter and explained the logistics.
“You need a lot of energy over the off-season,” Gordon said. “Those guys work really, really hard while the drivers might get some rest, the crew chiefs and the team guys are getting very little rest because they’re preparing for the new season. You add on top of that a new car—there is a lot of work to be done. We don’t have a lot of these cars sitting in our shops right now.”
On the third day of testing only 21 cars drove the high Daytona banks and all were in single-car run mode. Some teams including Jimmie Johnson’s No 48 car and Danica Patrick’s No. 10 full-time ride for 2013 purposely avoided the pack testing—a move that was beneficial for data gathering as they both avoided the big multi-car crash.
NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton shared his optimism for the new Gen-6 car.
“We feel like we’re in a way better place than we were a year ago with a lot of different things, not just the speedways, but the unrestricted racetracks also, “ Pemberton said. “Remains to be seen when the cars get in the teams’ hands and what they do with them at the racetrack. But we’re overly optimistic it’s going to be pretty good, really good.”
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series director John Darby pointed out what an enormous task that changing race car design can be.
“At the end of the day, any project that we take on, the race fans come into a huge concern for us, and one of the things that we couldn’t stumble on was keeping the balance of competition equal,” Darby said. “Right now we’re feeling pretty good about it.
“I truly believe there’s not another racing series in the world that could accomplish what these guys did since we left Homestead.”
The result of one big test, despite a big crash, or maybe even including the crash effects has likely produced much needed data for top NASCAR teams. The biggest result is that teams now take their new cars into Charlotte for testing on an intermediate track. Data gained there will amplify the present data and give drivers more of a chance to hone driving habits to suit the track behavior of the newly designed car.
Long-time NASCAR fan, Craig Drum, has strayed from viewing racing events in the past two years. Attendance in the ample NASCAR stands has shown many vacant seats throughout the long season across the U.S as well. Some of that is surely the effect of a struggling economy, but it may not be the single cause.
The new cars that look like production models have excited Drum. “I’ll watch more races now because the new cars look so good,” Drum said. “The past few years, I’ve only watched NASCAR during the Chase.”
Many fans seem to be attracted to the new cars that NASCAR is testing. If drivers have to forget their bump-drafting skills at Daytona and focus on other skills, that won’t disturb many NASCAR fans. They have shown their dislike for that tandem dance and NASCAR is doing everything it can to eliminate it.
The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, Brad Keselowski, pointed out the need for seat-time on the first day of testing at Daytona.
“There are a lot of things going on including the new car that will get a lot of buzz here, deservedly so,” Keselowski said. “We are all working hard to figure out things together. Track time helps us to work through that and so far we are getting track time in.”
One huge result from Daytona Thunder testing is that drivers will have to change some of the ways they raced on the superspeedways—Daytona and Talladega.
With the running of the Daytona 500 in late February, it appears most NASCAR fans will eagerly welcome the lack of two-car pushing and the exciting appearance of the Gen-6 stock cars as the new cars take over the Sprint Cup racing world.
The first green flag in 2013 may bring renewed excitement for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing Series that originated in 1948.
FYI WIRZ is the select presentation of motorsports topics by Dwight Drum at Racetake.com. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained from personal interviews or official release materials provided by sanctions, teams or track representatives.