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JR Motorsports signs Aric Almirola to Multi-Year Contract

Angie

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PRESS RELEASE

08.18.10

JR Motorsports cemented an integral part of its future Wednesday by signing Aric Almirola to a multi-year driving contract for the company’s flagship No. 88 NASCAR Nationwide Series team starting in 2011, general manager Kelley Earnhardt announced today.

A 26-year-old native of Tampa, Fla., Almirola has 32 career Nationwide Series starts, including one for JR Motorsports in which he finished third at O’Reilly Raceway Park in July. Almirola’s full-time duties as the No. 88 driver will officially begin in 2011, but he could potentially fill the seat in select races this season while he continues to run for a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship.

“The chance to drive full time in the Nationwide Series with a top caliber team is something I am extremely excited about,” Almirola said. “I was at the shop yesterday, and Kelley gathered all the employees around to announce our deal. The energy and excitement was addicting. We raced at ORP together a month ago and had a really good run. There is no reason why we cannot compete like that every race, and there is no reason why we shouldn’t be running for a championship. I would expect nothing less.” Continue reading →

NASCAR Beginnings Featuring “Tiny” Lund

Angie

DeWayne Louis “Tiny” Lund was named as one of NASCAR’s 50 best drivers in 1998. The list is a mix of drivers with varying qualifications. Some won a lot of races and some won multiple championships. Often the reasons are not as obvious as numbers on a piece of paper but they all have one thing in common. Each had a huge impact on the sport of stock car racing.

Lund was born in Harlan, Iowa in 1929. He began his career racing motorcycles but later moved on to midget and sprint cars. Lund eventually found his way to the Modified Division where he quickly became a dominant force.

He made a name for himself as a hard charger who never lifted. Iowa was his proving ground and he excelled on every kind of short track. From dirt to clay, from flat track to banked, Lund became a master at his craft. No one can say for sure how many features that he won but estimates are as high as five hundred. Continue reading →

NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Richie Evans

Angie

Richard “Richie” Evans was just announced as a NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee for the second year in a row. For those of you who only follow the Sprint Cup Series drivers, his name may be unfamiliar. But his record speaks volumes about why he was included in such a prestigious class of NASCAR drivers.

Evans won nine National Modified Championships, including eight consecutive championships from 1978 to 1985. His eight straight championships still stand as a record in any NASCAR division to date. He has been hailed as the best to ever drive the asphalt modified circuit.

During his career he won more than 400 feature races and over 30 track championships. One of his best seasons was in 1979 when Evans ran 60 races capturing 54 top five finishes that included 37 victories.

The International Motorsports Hall of Fame lists his achievements as “one of the supreme accomplishments in motorsports.” Continue reading →

NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Smokey Yunick

Angie

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When we take a look back at the beginnings of NASCAR, we often focus on the legendary drivers who became the stars of the sport. But if we stop there, we’ve really only scratched the surface.

You can’t really understand NASCAR without taking a look at the talent behind the scenes.

Smokey Yunick is a perfect place to start, but be forewarned. It’s sometimes difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction when discussing this colorful character.

Yunick was involved in all aspects of racing from designer to driver but is most well-known as a mechanic, builder and crew chief. His innovations led to at least eleven patents.

Yunick was also quite famous for his ability to walk that fine line between bending and breaking the rules.

He was a familiar sight at the track and easy to spot with his trademark white uniform, cowboy hat and corncob pipe.

Henry “Smokey” Yunick was born in 1923 and grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. He dropped out of school at the age of sixteen after the death of his father.

Yunick spent his days working on the farm but built and raced motorcycles in his spare time. When a fellow competitor couldn’t remember his name, he called him “Smokey,” because the motorcycle Yunick was driving had an engine that smoked. The name stuck.

In 1941, when World War II broke out, Yunick joined the Army Air Corps and piloted a B-17 Flying Fortress. After the war, he married and moved to Daytona Beach, Florida.

After the war, he opened a garage called “The Best Damn Garage in Town.” He ran the garage for thirty years, closing it in 1987.

Yunick’s career in NASCAR began when he was approached by Marshall Teague, a local stock car team owner, who invited Yunick to join his team. Although he had never worked on stock cars, Yunick accepted the job.

He was the chief mechanic for Herb Thomas who won the Winston Cup championship in 1951 and 1953. Yunick had 61 starts as a car owner and earned eight career victories. He won more than 50 times as a crew chief, chief mechanic or engine builder.

But that’s only the beginning of Yunick’s story. Continue reading →

NASCAR Beginnings Featuring “Fireball” Roberts

Angie

How do you define greatness? Is it based on the number of wins or championships a driver has accumulated? Can you really measure the impact one particular driver has on the sport, based on statistics?

Regardless of your definition, Fireball Roberts was one of NASCAR’s most influential and successful drivers. His life and career, cut short by tragedy, left a legacy that has stood the test of time.

Edward Glenn “Fireball” Roberts, Jr. was born on January 20, 1929 in Tavares, Florida and was raised in Apopka, Florida. He reportedly played baseball there as a pitcher for the Zellwood Mud Hens.

It is commonly believed that Roberts earned the nickname “Fireball” because of his fast ball. It should be noted, however, that his baseball career and the origin of his nickname is still widely disputed.

Wherever the nickname came from, it stuck.

Roberts actually disliked the moniker and most of his friends called him by his middle name, Glenn. Among his fellow drivers, he was often referred to by a shortened version and simply called, “Balls.”

Fireball Roberts was one of NASCAR’s first stars with his aggressive driving style and his “take no prisoners” approach to racing. Continue reading →

Trevor Bayne – Working Smarter for Success

Angie

I had a chance to interview Trevor Bayne at Darlington Raceway on May 7^th to talk to him about his first season as a fulltime Nationwide Series regular.

As soon as we began talking, I was immediately impressed with the maturity and focus that this 19-year old possesses.

He had just finished qualifying and seemed pleased with his effort. Although Bayne felt he could have pushed a little harder, he explained his strategy.

“It’s our first time here so it’s better to have a car in one piece and still have a potentially qualifying top ten than it is going for a top three.”

His plan seemed to work and he earned a ninth place starting position for the Royal Purple 200 race later that evening. He finished the race in 16^th place and advanced to the 11^th position in the Nationwide Series points standings.

I asked Bayne to grade his season to date and although he was reluctant to do so, he sounded encouraged by what they have been able to accomplish thus far.

“I think we’re on the right track,” he said. “We’re definitely going in the right direction.” Continue reading →

NASCAR Beginnings: Joe Weatherly – The Clown Prince of Racing

Angie

Joe Weatherly had a short but extraordinary career. His exploits off the track were as legendary as his accomplishments on the track.

When you hear people talk about the drivers who were there at the beginning of NASCAR, you often hear them called “good old boys.”

If you’re not sure what that means, just take a close look at Joe Weatherly.

He was well known for his love of liquor, women and hard racing. Weatherly was also the king of practical jokes and became known as “The Clown Prince of Racing.”

In the days before start switches, Weatherly would sneak along pit road and steal the keys to all the cars. When the command, “Gentlemen, start your engines,” was given, only one car fired up. It didn’t take much detective work to figure out that Weatherly was the culprit. Continue reading →

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JR Motorsports signs Aric Almirola to Multi-Year Contract

NASCAR Beginnings Featuring “Tiny” Lund

NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Richie Evans

NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Smokey Yunick

NASCAR Beginnings Featuring “Fireball” Roberts

Trevor Bayne – Working Smarter for Success

NASCAR Beginnings: Joe Weatherly – The Clown Prince of Racing

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