Pastrana Waltrip Racing today issued the following statements from No. 99 crew chief Jerry Baxter and owner Michael Waltrip following a pit lane encounter between Baxter and Steve Wallace after Saturday’s Montreal Nationwide race.

JERRY BAXTER – “I’m sorry for what happened after the race on Saturday and I take responsibility for my own actions. I called Steve (Wallace) today and apologized. I was just very frustrated and let my emotions get to me. That was Patrick’s (Carpentier) last race and we wanted to make it special. We really thought he had a shot for the win and everything boiled over when that chance went away in the wreck. Everyone was just racing hard and there was no intent to wreck anyone. There’s no excuse for what I did after the race and I apologize to everyone.”

Continue reading “Pastrana Waltrip Racing Crew Chief Apologizes to Steve Wallace”

Star Power Personified
The Montreal entry list reads like a motorsports’ who’s who.

There are the top series regulars, led by points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He’s the lone driver among the top three in the standings – second-place Reed Sorenson (-10) and third-place Elliott Sadler (-24) – who has run at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, finishing 24th last year.

Danica Patrick returns to series competition, making her stock-car debut on a road course. This will be her first series race since July at Daytona, where she finished 10th. Another former open-wheel racer, Scott Speed, will make his first series start since 2009, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc.

Continue reading “Montreal Entry List has Star Power”

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 99 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Patrick Carpentier returns to the NASCAR Nationwide Series for the final time this weekend at his home track of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. The 39-year-old driver plans to retire after this weekend’s race. The Joliette (Quebec) native enjoyed a 27-year racing career where he won five IndyCar races and grabbed a Sprint Cup Series pole at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2008.

Carpentier has had great success at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. In 2007 he won the pole then led 14 laps in his series debut. In just four races on the road course, he has back-to-back runner up finishes and ran at the front of the field the last two years before mechanical issues ended his day.

Continue reading “Patrick Carpentier retiring after Montreal this weekend”