Archive for the ‘NASCAR’ tag
ALMS: Testing Days A Good Sign For Tucker And His Level 5 Team
October 2011 – Tucker and his Level 5 team have been taking full advantage of testing days for this weekend’s Petit Le Mans. Racking up the odometers on the team’s brand new Honda prototypes is paramount for the race at Road Atlanta, effectively the championship of the American Le Mans Series, which has been on Tucker’s to-do list all year. The new cars, two Honda Performance Development/Wirth Research-made Le Mans Prototype 2 models, were a long-awaited addition to the team that involved some risk, but one that has proven worthwhile since the cars were rolled out of the box a week ago.
Tucker and teammates took the first-place podium spot at last weekend’s Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) National Championship Runoffs at Road America, an historical win for Tucker, who has now won three consecutive Runoffs championships. The race was the HPD ARX-01g’s debut run, but you wouldn’t have known it if the prototype hadn’t been eagerly anticipated in media coverage. The car’s performance was flawless, and so far, at testing for Petit Le Mans, its performance is also consistent.
The team, which includes drivers Tucker, Luis Diaz, Christophe Bouchut, Joao Barbosa and Marino Franchitti, posted the fastest lap times in the first pair of testing days at Road Atlanta. Tucker, Barbosa and Bouchut tackled the first session Sunday in the team’s Microsoft Office-sponsored No. 33 HPD ARX-01g, recording 99 laps, one of which was a class leader at 1:17.799. The same trio posted a solid 1:13.729 during the last session on Monday.
The team’s other entry, the No. 055 HPD ARX-01g, also driven by Tucker along with Franchitti and Diaz, only made an appearance Monday, but what an appearance it was: The drivers again topped the LMP2 class with a 1:13.291. Because only the No. 33 car had been raced before, the practice time was especially important for the No. 55 entry. But its wheel couldn’t have been put in more able hands: Franchitti has extensive experience not only in the LMP2 class but in nearly every iteration of the HPD ARX prototypes, starting with the ARX-01a. Diaz also has a background in the LMP2 class, winning the class championship in 2009 with another team before joining Level 5 in 2011.
The Level 5 Motorsports team has already clinched the LMP2 class championship with the most points scored in the season, so they now look for a podium finish in their LMP2 debut at the 14th annual Petit Le Mans and a powerful delivery from their new prototypes.
“We’re all very happy with how testing has gone,” Tucker said. “Especially since the No. 055 hasn’t seen any track time, we’re extremely pleased with its performance. We have a long week and a long race ahead of us, but I don’t think we could have a better starting position at this point.”
The 10 hours or 1,000 miles of Petit Le Mans will begin Saturday. The Level 5 Motorsports team is well stocked for a sizzling LMP2 debut, having acquired the new prototypes and Franchitti just in time for the competition. Last year at Petit Le Mans, the Level 5 team won the LMP class championship, which bumped them to the LMP2 division. With all the work that’s gone into preparing for Petit Le Mans this season, it’s clear that Tucker and Level 5 are aiming to move up the ranks again and truly compete on the next level of racing.
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The Le Mans Prototype gets brought back to America
The story of Scott Tucker’s career is what some would call a Cinderella story. A successful private equity investor from Kansas enters his first professional motorsports race at age 44, and five years later, he’s constantly atop the podium after races in multiple series-Grand-Am, Ferrari, American Le Mans Series and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Earlier this year, Tucker made podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in his debut season in the LMP2 class.
Clearly, not just any person could pull off the kind of late-bloomer success Tucker has achieved. His skill level, endurance, technique and depth of knowledge would not exist if not for an enormous passion for the sport. Scott Tucker loves cars-before he had the opportunity to race, he built a sort-of car museum in his Leawood, Kansas home. So it’s fitting that Tucker, the unlikely American Le Mans hero, would be the first American to enter his team in the Le Mans Prototype class in nearly 25 years.
“Breaking into the Le Mans series has always been on my mind,” Tucker said. “I could wait another 10 years for the time to be right, but we got an opportunity and decided to go for it.”
The Le Mans Prototype, or LMP, are the fastest closed-wheel racing cars on circuit racing tracks. Their cost and technology are comparable to that of Formula One cars, but LMP vehicles top out at even higher speeds than Formula One cars. No wonder Tucker couldn’t wait to get in one. After he barreled through the LMP series, Tucker moved into the LMP2 class. Mid-season, a Honda Performance Development/Wirth Research partnership was finishing work on a cost-capped prototype that would allow for increased speeds compared to other LMP2 engines. It wasn’t any wonder when Tucker reserved the first 2 out of development.
The Le Mans Prototype was used for the first time at the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans, when a small field of competitors caused the race to be open to small, open-cockpit race cars using production road car engines in an attempt to expand the field. At the end of that year, the World Sportscar Championship and the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship organizations dissolved, which left expensive Group C prototypes without much competition beyond Le Mans races, which were few and far between. As Group C became obsolete, the Le Mans Prototype class was created. In 1999, the American Le Mans Series was created, allowing for a much broader competitor base because more Le Mans races would be held each season.
A driver can race in an LMP, LMP2 or LMP1 class, in two of which Tucker has made his mark. In 2010, during his debut season in the Le Mans series, Tucker took the LMP championship and won rookie of the year. Moving forward in to LMP2 for the 2011 season, Tucker started racking up podium finishes at breakneck speed, with impressive finishes at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, Infineon and 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Tucker and his Level 5 Motorsports team might be just what the United States needs to bring more attention to racing. With NASCAR largely dominating motorsports interest and not even a single Le Mans Prototype entry coming from the nation in a quarter century, there’s been a lack of depth in auto racing coverage. Tucker’s compelling story, his own obvious excitement for the sport and his unwavering success are a verifiable formula for a figure whom the public could get behind.
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NASCAR Legend David Pearson: The Silver Fox
South Carolina’s Darlington Raceway is an egg shaped terror that has become known as the track too tough to tame. If thats true, David Pearson came pretty close–during his illustrious career, he posted 10 victories and 12 poles at Darlington. These are both records for one of NASCAR’s most unforgiving tracks. Pearson’s ability at Darlington bordered on the unreal, and he was able to follow the conventional wisdom about performing well there better than anyone. The old saying is that you need to race the track, not the other drivers, but that’s a lot easier said than done. Pearson, however, made it look easy.
David Pearson was born on December 22,1934 in Whitney, SC–a textile town near Spartanburg. Like most of the locals, his parents worked in the local cotton mill and did their best to provide. David dropped out of school after the 10th grade to work in the mill, but soon quit that life as well–he was drawn to racing cars and began running at short tracks in the Carolinas. He ran his first race on 9/19/52 in Woodruff South Carolina. Within a few years, he won his first championship at the Greenville/Pickens Speedway in’59.
Pearson never sought out stock car racing immortality, but some of his friends had other ideas. They began raising money to buy a car to race in the NASCAR Grand National series (the forerunner to today’s Sprint Cup). With a patchwork of financial backing, David began racing a limited schedule on the Grand National circuit and was named the’60 rookie of the year. In’61,he attracted sponsors and started to race a full time schedule. Not long after, he was considered among the best in the sport winning Grand National titles in’66,’68 and’69.
The’70s saw Pearson cut back his schedule somewhat, focusing on superspeedways. In’72, he started driving for the Wood Brothers in the #21 car that he was to make a legend. In’73, he won 11 races in’ starts”an incredible feat even by today’s standards. Through the end of the’70s, Pearson won 43 races. In addition to his mastery of Darlingon, he posted remarkable numbers all over the circuit. He is one of two men to have won more than 100 races, and his 105 is second only to The King Richard Petty’s 200 wins. Hes also second on career poles (113) to Petty. Head to head, however, he has a slight edge over NASCARs legendary King: in races where he and Petty finished 1-2, Pearson won 33 to Petty’s 30. His 11 consecutive poles at Charlotte is a feat that will likely never be matched. Another record that may never be broken is his’.29% winning percentage, as well as his record of starting from the pole in 20% of the races he ran.
In March, 2000, SC Highway 221 through Spartanburg County was renamed David Pearson Boulevard in his honor. He lives in Spartanburg to this day. Pearson still takes to the track occasionally–he and current NASCAR driver Carl Edwards were the first to race on the newly repaved Darlington Raceway last Spring. We should all hope to be able to run with a 20 something NASCAR driver when we’re in our mid 70′s. Incidentally, he got the nickname Silver Fox due to his prematurely gray hair and cunning style behind the wheel.
Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.
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NASCAR: Humble Beginnings
NASCAR began in back yards and back streets. It began in Daytona Beach, Florida, in the early 1900′s. By 1935, its renown had spread to Washington, D.C. A mechanic from that area named William France, Sr., became aware of the street racing going on in Daytona, and just had to become a part of it. He relocated for that purpose, and by 1936, had placed fifth in a local race. Shortly thereafter he called a meeting of those who supported racers and raced in the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) because he sensed its already significant fan base was beginning to expand, and because he felt the current drivers were being taken advantage of by the “supporters” of the sport, who would often simply refuse to pay their drivers, and the winners of the races. That meeting was held in the Ebony Bar, in the Streamline Hotel of Daytona Beach, and was memorialized by notes taken on a bar napkin.
Since its inception in 1948, NASCAR has grown, involving itself in various types of racing in various locations across the country. Likely a portion of NASCAR’s incredible success has been its versatile ticketing system. Not only does a fan with a NASCAR ticket have access to the largest stock car race in the country, that fan also gets to have fun at a national racing series, of which there are three: the Sprint Cup, the Nationwide Series, and the Craftsmen Truck Series. That same ticket also allows access to regional fun, such as the Whelen All-American Series (amateur auto racing); the Whelen Modified Tour (NASCAR modified division); and the NASCAR Local Racing (four geographic series).
NASCAR: THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
NASCAR’s popularity has driven itself quite literally around the world. This sport is currently broadcast in over 150 countries and has held exhibition races in both Australia and Japan. Based on popularity, and in large part on its estimated three billion dollar product and ticket sales, NASCAR has parked itself in the number two spot for most popular sports watched on TV – second only to the National Football League. It would seem, however, that there is no place quite like home. NASCAR has several offices in North Carolina, and two international cities, but nothing at all like you might expect from such a profitable and popular sport. Despite its profits, and its popularity, NASCAR’s roots remain right where they were first planted – in Daytona Beach, Florida.
NASCAR: BE IT EVER SO HUMBLE, YOU CAN NOT WATCH IT FROM HOME
NASCAR knows why it is what it is: the fans. The fans even know why NASCAR it what it is: THE FANS! It’s why a race must be seen at the track: THE FANS! They’re loud, they’re proud, and they make NASCAR what it is.
The fans truly are NASCAR. They create the excitement, because it’s real for them. They create the anticipation, because it’s real for them. They’ve waited an entire off-season for the chance to buy their hot dogs and beer, and holler with their fellow fans. No matter the weather, a real NASCAR fan will be there. It’s a way of life.
You call yourself a NASCAR fan – so where’s your ticket? The season starts on February 12, 2009 at Daytona Beach, and the tickets are going fast. If you’re truly a fan, then you’d better buy your ticket now. Be where the sport itself started, when the season starts. Don’t be the only one sitting at home.
Because you can bet that all the REAL fans will be where the action is. In fact, you can bet that most of the REAL fans have already purchased their tickets. They’ll be watching the Sprint Cup, the Nationwide, or the Craftsmen Truck – whichever one they want. Because they’ll have the ticket!! It’s the ONLY way to see it ALL!
BE who everyone wants to be – a NASCAR ticket holder; BE where everyone wants to be – in Daytona on February 12th; BE the envy of EVERYONE – BUY your tickets, and BUY them NOW!
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