Backstretch Motorsports

Still the Scottish Racer

The complaints of the Camry’s NNS success have been loud. NASCAR acted on the complaints. There will be far-reaching effects because of it.

In today’s announcement from NASCAR R&D amending the Nationwide Series Rule Book: section 20A – 5.10.4 is amended as follows:

“At all Events, unless otherwise specified, all engines with a cylinder bore spacing less than 4.470 inches must compete using a tapered spacer with four (4) 1.125-inch diameter holes. At all Events, unless otherwise specified, all engines with a cylinder bore spacing of 4.470 inches or more must compete using a tapered spacer with four (4) 1.100-inch diameter holes. Unless otherwise authorized, the carburetor restrictor will be issued by NASCAR.”

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JR Motorsports Names Interim Crew Chief for No. 5 Nationwide Team

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – JR Motorsports announced today that Cam Strader will assume crew chief duties for the No. 5 NASCAR Nationwide Series team starting this weekend at O’Reilly Raceway Park. He replaces Chad Walter, who has resigned.

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Q: You are heading back to some familiar grounds in Indianapolis. What are your thoughts going into the weekend, this time in a Cup Car?
A: I am really looking forward to it. I guess I don’t know what to expect, I don’t have an opportunity to go and test there so there are a lot of unknowns for me. I am really happy I have had the opportunity to not only run there in IndyCar, but now I am getting the opportunity now to get in a Stock Car. I think that it’s going to be a really good weekend for us. Regardless of the on-track stuff, just the opportunity to be back in Indianapolis should be really fun.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 23, 2008) – NASCAR issued a technical bulletin Tuesday amending the NASCAR Nationwide Series Rule Book. Effective as of July 23, 2008, section 20A – 5.10.4 is amended as follows:

“At all Events, unless otherwise specified, all engines with a cylinder bore spacing less than 4.470 inches must compete using a tapered spacer with four (4) 1.125-inch diameter holes. At all Events, unless otherwise specified, all engines with a cylinder bore spacing of 4.470 inches or more must compete using a tapered spacer with four (4) 1.100-inch diameter holes. Unless otherwise authorized, the carburetor restrictor will be issued by NASCAR.”

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SONOMA, Calif. – There aren’t many synonyms for the word “dominant” that haven’t already been used to describe Tony Schumacher. Perhaps none exist.

Schumacher, the 38-year-old son of team owner and drag racing pioneer Don Schumacher, took only three years to prove himself as a professional driver after his Top Fuel debut in Indianapolis, the oldest and most storied stop on the NHRA POWERade Series tour, in 1996.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 21, 2008) – Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Victory Lane has transformed itself into a Hall of Fame of sorts.
The list of winners reads like a who’s who of NASCAR. Of the 14 races, 12 have been won by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions.
The only Brickyard winners who are not also series champions are Ricky Rudd (1997) and Kevin Harvick (2003).
Also, “Kissing the Bricks” – the traditional celebration of the winning team – often foreshadows a series championship. Six winners in the 14-race history of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard have gone on to win the series championship in the same year:

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LEXINGTON, Ohio (July 20, 2008) – Tommy Archer, of Duluth, Minn., led every lap Sunday to win the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course SPEED GT Presented by Remington race, Round Five of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship. Brandon Davis, of Huntington Beach, Calif., and Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., completed the top three.

Starting from the pole in his No. 13 Foametix/Woodhouse Performance Dodge Viper, Archer got away cleanly from the standing start to lead second starting Davis’ No. 10 ACS/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra. Davis was never far from Archer, but he was unable to mount a challenge for the lead despite the race being slowed by three cautions.

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KENT, Wash. – After a shaky first half of the season that included six DNQs, Tony Bartone (shown left) raced to his first NHRA POWERade Series victory Sunday at the 21st annual Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals after more than six years of professional racing.

Bartone defeated veteran driver Ron Capps, also looking to break out of a winless streak that dates back to Richmond 2007, in the final round. Bartone powered his Canidae Pet Foods Chevy Monte Carlo to a 4.454-second pass at 238.17 mph to get the long-awaited win, while Capps posted a 4.708 at 227.46 in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger R/T.

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LEXINGTON, Ohio, Sunday, July 20, 2008 - Ryan Briscoe earned his second IndyCar Series victory of the season, and Helio Castroneves finished second in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance to earn Team Penske a sweep.

The teammates started in reverse order on the front row for the 85-lap race on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn circuit. Castroneves led the first five laps on rain tires, but relinquished the lead to Vitor Meira on Lap 6 after the Panther Racing driver pitted earlier to change to racing slicks.

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (July 20, 2008) – With track temperatures soaring over 120 degrees, the Lexus duo of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas remained the hottest thing on the track as they registered their sixth Rolex Sports Car Series victory of the season in Sunday’s Porsche 250 at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.

The win comes in just the ninth race of the season for the #01 Ganassi/Lexus team and gives both the drivers and the team a commanding 60-point championship lead with just five races remaining. In addition, Lexus stretched out its manufacturer’s championship to 16 points.

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