Auto Racing Capsules: Roush crash shows teams must plan for catastrophe
BROOKLYN, Mich. — When Jack Roush returned to the racetrack after being released from the hospital, he went out of his way to praise his team for not missing a beat while he recovered after being seriously injured in a plane crash last month.
With layers of experienced management running the competition and business aspects of Roush Fenway Racing, the NASCAR team was well-equipped to handle nearly losing its leader — a scenario it had already faced in 2002, when another plane the owner was flying crashed into a pond in Alabama.
"Roush Fenway Racing will outlive me, and it will outlive anybody else that is with the company today," Roush said last weekend at Michigan International Speedway. "We’ve got the plans in place for that. This was a little test case. How can you do without Jack? Well, it’s bigger than me. It’s bigger than anybody. The organization has been very strong."
Roush’s team isn’t the only one in NASCAR that has shown strength in the face of catastrophe.
A Hendrick Motorsports plane crashed in 2004, killing 10 people — including the son, brother and two nieces of team owner Rick Hendrick, along with two team executives. The tragedy took a heavy emotional toll on the Hendrick family and its employees, but the team never faltered on the racetrack.
In the wake of those incidents, having a succession plan in place has become a bigger priority for NASCAR teams — which today function as midsize corporations instead of the grass-roots, weekend-warrior operations that built the sport.
"I would say it’s been more recent," said Jay Frye, general manager of Red Bull Racing. "Obviously, these are big businesses now, and it’s changed over the last 10 years. There’s got to be a what-if plan in place."
As remarkably as Roush and Hendrick handled their challenges, the fate of Dale Earnhardt Inc. provides a cautionary tale.
The team tried to stay competitive after Dale Earnhardt’s death in 2001, but its leaders — including Earnhardt’s widow, Teresa — eventually decided to merge with Chip Ganassi’s team.
Roush Fenway president Geoff Smith said having layers of experienced managers in place might be the main reason why Roush and Hendrick, which were bigger and more established than DEI, managed to avoid turmoil.
"In the case of Hendrick and us, we understood how corporate America works on succession, and attempted not to build our organization around one person or personality and (say), ‘Don’t worry about it, because nothing will ever happen,"’ Smith said. "No matter how strong a single individual is, or powerful in marketing in the case of Dale Earnhardt, I’ll say this: If I was advising Mrs. Earnhardt, my advice would have been, ‘You are not the right type of successor for this kind of business, and you should not do this.’ But with Rick and with us, we’re layered with these managers."
Smith said the team’s management learned lessons from nearly losing its leader the first time around, in 2002. They were capable of handling Roush’s absence on the competition side back then, but decided they needed to do more long-term planning to ensure the team’s financial future.
"The 2002 accident just highlighted for me that there had to be some more affirmative planning," Smith said.
The team developed more senior managers, then made a big move to secure its long-term future in 2007, partnering with the Fenway Sports Group.
Smith said the move was necessary because NASCAR teams don’t have the same inherent value as franchises in sports such as the NFL and Major League Baseball, where the limit on the number of teams drives up their worth. In NASCAR, anyone, theoretically at least, can form a team and try to qualify for a race, so there’s far less incentive for a prospective NASCAR owner to buy an existing team.
"These businesses, whether they were designed on purpose this way by NASCAR or not, they’re set up to fail," Smith said. "In the end, they’re set up to fail. The idea is to exhaust all the money that you have from sponsorship, and then all your personal wealth, and when that’s all gone, then you have to retire, right?"
Smith said the alliance with Fenway Sports Group gives the team the financial security it needs to go on with or without its owner.
"I’d been advocating that you get a partner in the middle of the life cycle of an organization, that has the institutional ability to carry on, then there’s no reason at all why your team can’t go on infinitely, like other big corporations can do — or a franchise sport can do," Smith said.
And while Roush and Hendrick are NASCAR’s heavyweights, every team must be ready for the worst-case scenario.
Driver/owner Tony Stewart said he hasn’t been around his team’s shop much in recent weeks because of his sprint car racing commitments and hasn’t been missed.
"It’s proof that my organization doesn’t have to have me to operate," Stewart said. "Yeah, there are provisions in place if something should happen. You have to have that in place. Our team will do the same thing. Our team will continue on whether I’m here or not."
Trucks
Kyle Busch wins NASCAR Trucks race at BMS
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — Kyle Busch won his third straight NASCAR Trucks race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday night.
Busch, who won the pole position for the O'Reilly 200, was relegated to a 35th at the start because of an engine change after qualifying. It took him only 91 laps to power his way from the back of the field to the race lead.
The No. 18 Toyota driver then appeared to be cruising until a seven-truck crash on lap 198, put the race into overtime and a green-white checkered restart.
With his fuel level low, Busch was able to hold off Aric Almirola for his 19th Truck Series victory in 77 career starts.
"It ran out of fuel on the second-to-last restart and it ran out on the last restart," Busch said. "I was worried."
Behind the two Toyotas was Ron Hornaday Jr. in third in a Chevrolet and Mike Skinner fourth in a Toyota.
Busch sliced his way through the field, passing seven cars on the first lap and moving up to 17th by lap 17. By lap 56, he had moved to second place and 35 laps later, he inherited the lead from Skinner who made a pit stop.
It was Busch's seventh Bristol win overall with three wins in the Sprint Cup Series and one win in the Nationwide Series.
Points leader Todd Bodine, who came into Wednesday's race looking for a third straight victory, finished fifth.
Soon after Busch crossed the finish line, Matt Crafton and Austin Dillon crashed at the exit of turn four, leading to a post-race confrontation between the two drivers' crews.
"They were upset," said Crafton, who finished 10th. "I can understand why they'd be upset. The last thing I wanted to do was to wreck him."
Dillon, who finished 17th, was still upset minutes after the accident.
"Coming off the corner, he kept pushing me and pushing me. I couldn't save it," Dillon said. "There was no need to tear up a bunch of trucks like that."
Sprint Cup Series star Ryan Newman passed seven-time Modified champion Mike Stefanik with 20 laps to go to win a 150-lap race for the NASCAR Modified Series earlier in the evening.
Nationwide
Almirola hired by JR Motorsports for 2011
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — JR Motorsports signed Aric Almirola on Wednesday to drive its flagship No. 88 Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series starting next season.
The team said Almirola could get some starts in the car before the end of this season.
"If there is a quintessential JR Motorsports driver, we feel it’s Aric Almirola," said team co-owner Kelley Earnhardt. "The way he drives, the ambition he carries, the way he represents himself on and off the track, it all fits within our company’s dynamics, our core objectives, and the values of our sponsorship partners."
Almirola has raced sporadically in NASCAR’s top three series the past several seasons.
He had a full-time Nationwide ride with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2007, and is credited with a victory that season at the Milwaukee Mile, when Denny Hamlin arrived late and replaced Almirola in the car midway through the race.
Almirola landed a Sprint Cup deal the next season with Dale Earnhardt Inc, splitting seat time with Mark Martin. He lost the ride when the team folded due to lack of sponsorship in 2008.
This season, Almirola has been the standby driver in the Sprint Cup Series for both Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon while their wives were awaiting the births of their babies. He’s also been driving for Billy Ballew Motorsports in the Truck Series, and has two wins in 15 starts.
He is currently second in the championship point standings.
JR Motorsports has used several different drivers in the No. 88 this season since firing Kelly Bires in the spring. Danica Patrick drives the team’s second car on a limited basis.
Nashville track to host 2011 NASCAR doubleheaders
GLADEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Nashville Superspeedway will host two doubleheader of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2011.
The doubleheaders will take place April 22-23 and July 22-23, marking the first time in the track's 11-year history that it will host two NASCAR doubleheaders in a season.
The first weekend will feature a 200-mile trucks race on Friday and a 300-mile Nationwide Series race on Saturday. The second weekend will include another 200-mile trucks race on Friday and the Federated Auto Parts 300 the following night.
IndyCar
Revitalized Power eyeing IndyCar title
Will Power swears his name is not a joke or a carefully crafted moniker put together by a public relations team.
To be honest, the IndyCar driver’s mother wanted to call him Liam. His father suggested they instead name their son after his great grandfather.
As a kid they called him Willie. It wasn’t until he grew up a little, dropped the "ie" and moved from Australia to the U.S. looking for work that Power realized his name was a little different.
The first time Team Penske president Tim Cindric saw Will Power flash across the screen during a race in the now defunct ChampCar Series he thought it was a put-on.
"I was just shaking my head at now they’re getting drivers with a name like that," Cindric said.
It wasn’t a marketing ploy and it turns out Power’s parents were on to something. A year after a horrific crash that threatened his suddenly blossoming career, the 29-year-old heads to Sonoma atop the IndyCar standings.
Willpower indeed.
Power came to Sonoma last summer hoping to impress owner Roger Penske enough to earn a full-time ride with Team Penske in 2011. He ended up leaving in a helicopter after smashing into Nelson Philippe during practice, his back in tatters.
A year later he returns to Infineon Raceway with a 41-point lead over defending champion Dario Franchitti with five races left in the season.
The storybook ending is out there. Power knows it’s up to him to write it.
"This was never the plan," he said. "It just sort of evolved."
And it’s evolved quickly. Power basically spent five months out of a racecar after the accident. Penske stuck by Power, however, telling him he’d found the money to put him in the No. 12 car in 2010.
Power spent some of the offseason at Sebring trying to work his way back into shape. He won the season-opener in Brazil and hasn’t looked back. He’s been in the points lead after 11 of the 12 races this season and is IndyCar’s king of the road, capturing the series’ first road racing championship after finishing second in Mid-Ohio two weeks ago.
He’s done it by avoiding mishaps, and by getting a little lucky. He spun out in practice at Mid-Ohio, banging up his primary car. No biggie. Three hours later he won the pole in his backup.
"We’ve certainly had some consistency there," Cindric said. "Usually there’s some kind of setback. Maybe he hasn’t had his turn yet. He certainly hasn’t made the big mistakes that put you out of the championship race."
Maybe Power figures karma owed him one. The nasty accident at Sonoma left him battered but undaunted even if Cindric admits there is always a concern about a driver’s confidence following a major crash.
"That edge is the difference between first and 10th sometimes," Cindric said.
There have been no such issues with Power, though he acknowledged having jitters during a test session at the track last Friday.
"If I saw some dust kick up from another car, I was a little bit wary," he said.
Of course, that’s during practice. During road races, he hasn’t had to deal with people driving in front of him that often. He’s won four road events this season, and Sonoma presents his last opportunity to widen the gap over Franchitti before the season ends with four oval races, a discipline in which Power is still learning.
He freely admits he’s not sure what makes a good oval racer, though he’s been solid if not spectacular this season. He knows it simply takes time and experience, something he rarely got while driving primarily road courses before coming to IndyCar.
If he needs some pointers, he need only ask teammates Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe, who have welcomed the somewhat introverted Power with open arms.
It’s an interesting mix. Castroneves is the smiling, dancing, dazzling star who is the face of the series. Briscoe is a rising star with a TV personality for a wife. Both drivers are avid tweeters. Not Power, who admits he rarely gets recognized in public outside of Indianapolis.
Sorry, he doesn’t think the world needs to know what he had for breakfast.
"I try to keep my name off the Internet as much as possible," he said with a laugh.
Despite the quiet focus he brings to the track, Power can be engaging when he’s away from it.
Though his younger brother is a standup comedian — who has even worked a bit into his act about his older brother’s name — Power insists that he’s the funny one.
When asked how he reacts when people tease him about his name, Power starts riffing on all the people he’s sued.
"I’ve been in and out of court a lot on the name-calling thing," he said. "If they’re going to (tease me) they’re going to end up in court and sued for a lot of money."
Not that he’s going to need it. The driver who basically drove for food when he came to the States is now tasting the good life. Don’t expect him to go anywhere either. He remembers being bored while dominating Formula 4 races in Australia. He’s never going back.
"I love competition, I love to win," he said. "... I just love racing."
-- Will Graves
Auto Racing Glance
NASCAR
Irwin Tools Night Race
Site: Bristol, Tenn.
Schedule: Friday, practice (Speed, 11-2:30 p.m.), qualifying (ESPN, 4:30-6 p.m.); Saturday, race, 6:30 p.m.(ABC, 6-10 p.m.).
Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (oval, 0.533 miles).
Race distance: 500 miles, 266.5 laps.
Last year: Kyle Busch completed a season sweep at Bristol Motor Speedway, holding off Mark Martin by 0.098 seconds in a frantic four-lap sprint.
Last week: Points leader Kevin Harvick raced to his third victory of the season, passing Denny Hamlin with 11 laps to go at Michigan International Speedway. Harvick also won at Talladega and Daytona for Richard Childress Racing.
Fast facts: Harvick has a 293-point lead over second-place Jeff Gordon with three races left before the 10-race, 12-driver Chase. Hamlin and three-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson (fifth in the standings) lead the series with five victories, with each worth 10 bonus points when the points are reset for the Chase. Clint Bowyer is 12th, 35 points ahead of No. 13 Martin and 129 ahead of No. 17 Dale Earnhardt Jr. ... In March, Johnson won for the first time at Bristol, powering from sixth to first in three laps after a late four-tire stop. Tony Stewart finished second, and Kurt Busch was relegated to third after leading 278 laps. ... The race is the 100th Cup event at Bristol. Darrell Waltrip holds the track record with 12 victories, winning seven straight races from 1980-84. Gordon and Kurt Busch each have five Bristol wins to top the active drivers. Kyle Busch has won three of the last seven Bristol races.
Next race: Emory Healthcare 500, Sept. 5, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Ga.
Online: http://www.nascar.com
NATIONWIDE
Food City 250
Site: Bristol, Tenn.
Schedule: Friday, practice (Speed, 9:30 a.m.- 11 a.m.), qualifying (Speed, 3-4:30 p.m.), race, 7 p.m.(ESPN, 6-9:30 p.m.).
Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (oval, 0.533 miles).
Race distance: 250 miles, 133.25 laps.
Last year: David Ragan held off Roush Fenway teammate Carl Edwards in a two-lap sprint to the finish.
Last week: Michigan driver Brad Keselowski won at Michigan International Speedway, holding off rival Edwards. Keselowski has four victories this year and leads the season standings, 347 points ahead of second-place Edwards.
Fast facts: Kyle Busch has nine victories this season, one short of the series record he shares (2008) with Sam Ard (1983). Busch is second in series history with 39 victories — nine behind Mark Martin. Busch isn't running for the championship after taking the season title last year. ... In March at the track, Justin Allgaier raced to his first NASCAR victory, holding off Keselowski in Penske Racing's first 1-2 finish in the Nationwide Series. Keselowski won the August 2008 race. ... Kevin Harvick, the series leader with five Bristol victories, is skipping the race. Elliott Sadler will drive Kevin Harvick Inc.'s No. 33 Chevrolet.
Next race: NAPA Auto Parts 200, Aug. 29, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal.
Online: http://www.nascar.com
INDYCAR
Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma
Site: Sonoma, Calif.
Schedule: Friday, practice; Saturday, practice, qualifying (Versus, 5-6 p.m.); Sunday, race, 4:30 p.m.(Versus, 4-7 p.m.).
Track: Infineon Raceway (road course, 2.303 miles).
Race distance: 184.2 miles, 80 laps.
Last year: Target Chip Ganassi's Dario Franchitti raced to the fourth of his five 2009 victories en route to the season title, leading from start to finish.
Last race: Franchitti won at Mid-Ohio on Aug. 8. The Indianapolis 500 winner in May, Franchitti tied Gordon Johncock for 12th place on the open-wheel victory list with 25. Series leader Will Power was second.
Fast facts: Power leads the series with four victories — all on street and road courses — and tops the standings with 461 points. The Penske driver swept the season-opening races in Sao Paulo and St. Petersburg and also won consecutive events at Watkins Glen and Toronto. ... Franchitti is second with 420 points.
Next race: PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300, Aug. 28, Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Ill.
Online: http://www.indycar.com
FORMULA ONE
Next race: Belgian Grand Prix, Aug. 29, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.
Last race: Mark Webber won the Hungarian Grand Prix on Aug. 1 for his fourth victory of the year, taking advantage of a penalty against Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel. Webber took the lead in the series standings, four points ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. Vettel was given a drive-through penalty for falling more than 10 car-lengths behind the safety car.
NHRA FULL THROTTLE
Next event: Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, Sept. 1-6, O'Reilly Raceway Park, Clermont, Ind.
Last event: Top Fuel points leader Larry Dixon remained perfect in final-round appearances in 2010 by defeating Cory McClenathan at the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minn. Bob Bode (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won.
Online: http://www.nhra.com
OTHER RACES
AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES: American Le Mans Series powered by eStar, Sunday (Speed, 2-5 p.m.), Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. Online: http://www.americanlemans.com
ARCA RE/MAX SERIES: Allen Crowe 100, Sunday, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Macon, Ill. Online: http://www.arcaracing.com
U.S. AUTO RACING CLUB: Silver Crown, Tony Bettenhausen 100, Saturday, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Macon, Ill.; Sprint Car, Sunday, Winchester Speedway, Winchester, Ind. Online: http://www.usacracing.com
WORLD OF OUTLAWS: Sprint Car, Magic City Showdown, Friday-Saturday, Nodak Speedway, Minot, N.D.; Late Model, Thursday, Rolling Wheels Raceway, Elbridge, N.Y., and Friday-Saturday, Mohawk International Raceway, Akwesasne, N.Y. Online: http://www.worldofoutlaws.com
