It was announced at Daytona that Michael Waltrip would drive a Swan Racing Toyota in the Daytona 500 to raise awareness and support for Newtown, Conn. and Sandy Hook Elementary School.
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. – A couple of weeks ago, drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch gushed about how excited they were with a change at their Joe Gibbs Racing team.
The addition of Matt Kenseth for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season would add depth and experience to the team and, possibly, make it a stronger championship contender.
Both said Kenseth’s championship lineage (he won the Sprint Cup title in 2002) and his wealth of knowledge would contribute greatly to Gibbs, so effectively that all three of its teams should be even better than in the past.
OK, Matt, now you know what it expected of you. So what do you expect from the Gibbs organization? Have Busch and Hamlin got the right idea?
“I hope they’re right,” Kenseth said at the annual NASCAR Media Day on Feb. 14. “I hope their expectations aren’t too high.”
You really can’t fault Busch and Hamlin, or anyone else at Gibbs, if they feel Kenseth will raise the bar.
The Wisconsin native has competed in all of his 15 years in Sprint Cup racing with Roush Fenway Racing.
He has 24 career victories and, as said, the 2002 championship. Only twice in his career has he finished out of the top 10 in the final point standings. He was seventh in 2012.
Now, consider that he is coming on board a team that, with Hamlin and Busch, has long been successful.
Yes, neither driver has won a title. But Hamlin joined Gibbs in 2006 and has won 22 races since. He won eight times in 2010 and five in 2012.
NASCAR CEO Brian France Jr. (center) was in Newtown for meetings on the Sandy Hook initiative and he and his wife have donated $50,000 to the cause.
He’s been out of the top 10 only once in his seven years with Gibbs and wound up sixth in 2012.
Then there’s Busch. He joined Gibbs in 2008, the year he won eight races. He’s gone on to win 16 more. However, he’s finished among the top 10 only once.
He slipped last year, losing a spot in the Chase at the last moment to Jeff Gordon.
Still, it doesn’t take a whole lot of brainpower to reach the conclusion that with the healthy numbers its drivers have put up over the years, Gibbs has to rate as a title contender.
“I think whenever you have a big team and teammates you try to utilize every tool you have,” Kenseth said. “You try to work together. You try to make the organization as good as it can be. You try to get all three cars to run up front.”
If that is how it is, Kenseth said, then the result is it offers each individual team more opportunity.
“Yes, hopefully, with your respective team you can figure out a way to win,” he said. “But it’s all about getting the company to run good. If that happens, then it will be so much the better for me and so much the better for the others.
“We can get to the point where all three teams contend for the wins and, hopefully, a championship.”
Right now, many observers are thinking that the odds are good that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
OBSERVATIONS: At Media Day, it was announced that NASCAR, Swan Racing and two-time Daytona 500 champion Michael Waltrip would conduct a special tribute to raise awareness and contributions for the Sandy Hook School Support Fund.
Following a private meeting with town officials, community leaders, first responders and victims’ families last week in Newtown, Conn., NASCAR, Swan Racing and Waltrip announced that the No. 30 Lean1 Swan Racing Toyota will instead become the No. 26 Sandy Hook School Support Fund Toyota to honor the 26 victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School and prominently feature a call-to-action decal encouraging the NASCAR community to make $10 donations by texting NEWTOWN to 80888.
The contributions – 100 percent of them – will benefit the Sandy Hook School Support Fund, which supports the healing process for so many Newtown citizens.
In addition to driving the Newtown car in the Daytona 500, Waltrip confirmed that all three Michael Waltrip Racing entries will run the “text NEWTOWN to 80888” decal in the race.
NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France also announced that he and his wife Amy would personally kick off the NASCAR industry support with a $50,000 donation that will be matched by The NASCAR Foundation.
Now, we all have seen charity programs in which cars and drivers have been selected to help drum up support. Over the years there have been scores of them.
This is different.
As Waltrip and others spoke about the meeting in Newtown, none failed to note the emotional change it brought about in the audience as they listened to what was said.
Many smiled – and they hadn’t done so since the terrible Dec. 14 incident in which 20 children and six adults perished.
Those who conducted the meeting said it became abundantly clear that the Newtown citizens were not so much concerned with money.
Rather, they were excited over an event that would bolster their spirits and provide them with a central source of pride.
Newtown will have its own car in the Daytona 500. It will be driven by a two-time Daytona winner. It will be a source of unity, spirit and healing for the community.
Even if not a single dime is contributed, that’s the way it will be. I think that is more important to the citizens of Newtown than money.
This is what makes this effort different. It’s not about charity as much as it is caring, support and renewal.
In NASCAR, it’s never been done like this before – and is worthy of the highest commendation.
—- In voting that closed last night, fans voted on the first component of The Sprint Unlimited – the length of the race’s three segments – to be set at 30 laps, 25 laps and 20 laps.
For the first time in the sport’s 65-year history, NASCAR and Sprint announced last month that fans would vote to decide several key competition elements in the race at Daytona, set for Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET.
The winning combination for the segment lengths received 55 percent of the votes, while the option for 40 laps, 20 laps and 15 laps finished second with 23 percent. In last place was the option for 35 laps, 30 laps and 10 laps with 22 percent.
Huh?
I was one of many that felt fans would surely vote in favor of a 10-lap “shootout.”
“Hey, I thought there would be a ‘shootout,’ too,” said driver Aric Almirola.
Fans still have time to vote on the use, or non-use, of a pit stop – and the type it will be – the possible elimination of drivers and, by golly, which firesuit Miss Sprint Cup will wear in victory lane.
URL การเชื่อมโยงกลับ
เกี่ยวกับการเชื่อมโยงย้อนกลับ
ในท้องถิ่น
Kenseths เปิด: ใช่ Gibbs ได้ยิงดีที่ชนะ แชมป์