NHRA’s Antron Brown to test out NASCAR

Defending NHRA champ Antron Brown informed the media today that he’ll be testing out a NASCAR K&N car for Rev Racing next week Tuesday (May 28th) at Motor Mile Speedway in Virginia. Rev Racing CEO Max Siegel says that this is the initial step, and if it goes well, it could lead to more testing, and maybe even some racing.

According to Siegel, the plan for him to test has been in the works for a few years now. “We’ve been talking for 3 years,” Siegel said. “What we wanted to do was put together a training program that takes him from the very beginning stages of assessing his ability and talent. He definitely has a passion and interest to compete on a national scale. I think what we don’t want to do is put the cart before the horse.”

This is of course, just the beginning, but it will be exciting to track Brown’s progress. The 37 year old has racked up 39 NHRA titles (23 in top fuel, 16 in pro stock motorcycle), and is currently 3rd this season in the top fuel points.

Charlotte’s fall race has a “70% Chance” of moving, says Bruton Smith

Speedway Motorsports owner and promoter Bruton Smith told WBTV (Charlotte) that there’s a 70% shot of him petitioning to move October’s Charlotte race to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Why the change? Money.

“When the game is over, it’ll be money, money, money. Money will move it. I’d say (the odds of moving the race) are about 70%/30%,” Smith said to the WBTV. “I’ve been having strong conversations about one of these events being moved. Las Vegas is a great place – the entertainment capital of the world – they want another event”.

Smith owns 8 major NASCAR tracks, including both Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. Vegas currently holds 1 Cup race a year, Charlotte 2, not including the All-Star race weekend.

Some think it’s a front though. USA Today reporter Jeff Gluck thinks it’s a front:

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) May 20, 2013

 

We’ll keep you posted on any updates. Follow us on Twitter for the latest.

Race in GIFs: The Bojangles’ Southern 500 from Darlington

It was a pretty dull race for the most part, so here’s all you need to know about last night’s race at Darlington.

Kyle Busch led a lot of laps, until Matt Kenseth blew by him for the lead very late in the race. Then Kyle dropped like a ton of bricks, finishing 6th.

Matt Kenseth grabbed the checkered.

Then created a little smoke.

Then celebrated.

And there’s your race!

Matt Kenseth & Joe Gibbs Racing get their penalties reduced

Huge victory out of the Joe Gibbs Racing camp, as fines for Matt Kenseth and Joe Gibbs racing have been drastically reduced. The penalties were originally given to JGR for engines issues found in the No. 20 car after Kenseth’s victory in Kansas on April 21st.

His reduction in penalties is as follows:

  • The original fine at 50 driver points has now been reduced to 12
  • The original fine at 50 car owner points has now been reduced to 12
  • Crew chief Jason Ratcliff is now only suspended to one (points) race
  • All other penalties have been rescinded.

Matt Kenseth now moves from 11th to 4th in points. His win in Kansas now officially counts towards the Chase and wildcard standing.

After 10 races, here’s how NASCAR drivers compare to last year

10 races are now complete in the 2013 season, how are your drivers faring? We took the stats of driver finishes so far in 2013, and compared them to their finishes in 2012. Here’s how they fare:

If you want to know the stats of any other drivers, leave it in the comments.

Chris Myers was a bit of a douche to a NASCAR fan last night

Because of the on-and-off rain, it was a long race yesterday in Talladega. Coverage lasted for about 8 hours yesterday, and it’s not always fun to be live on-air for that amount of time. The end of the race was pretty unexpected with lesser-known race team Front Row Motorsports drivers David Ragan and David Gilliland finishing 1st and 2nd respectively.

After the win, NASCAR on FOX reporter Chris Myers referred to Front Row Motorsports as “Front Row Racing”. Considering the amount of team names he’d been spewing out for the last 8 hours, this was a simple mistake. It’s what happened after that made this mistake worse.

A Twitter user named Anthony (@turbojunker) sent Myers a tweet with the following:


Was the caps lock needed? Probably not, but Myers decided to send Anthony a private message with the following statement, and then proceeded to block him from any future communication:

Really insulting to the Twitter user and Front Row Motorsports, and also not professional on Chris Myers’ part.