The other weekend at the NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, there were some awesome events to see. Cars with pink highlights or just doused in pink altogether, various teams were showing support and bringing awareness to the issues of breast cancer.
With ratings of around 4 million viewers, there’s hope some folks will see this campaign and eyebrows will go up. Awareness for a few will become a fact. And that’s cool… every single person who helps the cause can matter.
But during this particular Saturday night race, site visitor Melissa left a comment on my site at NASCAR Campaigns for Breast Cancer Awareness saying:
“Why isn’t there any gear for Nascar Pink Ribbon, Breast Cancer Awareness??? I have searched for over an hour and found nothing. There’s a very unique pink ribbon with nascar in the design. I would love to have a tee-shirt with that on it. Nascar is supporting this cause in so many ways at the track, but has offered nothing for the fans to purchase, and show their support as well. PLEAE MAKE GEAR FOR THE FANS!!”
I never thought of it, but then I started digging around the web looking for anything that NASCAR might be selling to help support the cause. And sure enough, awareness has been bolstered, but I could not find anything for the NASCAR fan to buy to support the cause, except for a few diecasts and a tee-shirt for a Kevin Harvick effort.
That’s it. OH!!! Wait gang! I did find something! Over at The NASCAR foundation, they have a page called NASCAR Unites for Kids Affected by Breast Cancer. They have a lanyard you can snag if you want something.
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On Monday, October 17th, twelve NASCAR Sprint Cup teams took to the the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway to run some tests on the EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) engine systems that will be deployed in the 2012 season.
Of the twelve NASCAR teams that participated in the tests included four teams from Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Roush Fenway Racing, Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, NEMCO Motorsports, two (both? All?) teams from Stewart-Haas Racing and Richard Childress Racing.
The fastest on-track car during the test was the No. 6 Roush Fenway Ford with Trevor Bayne behind the wheel. This was also Kasey Kahne’s first chance to wield a HMS car.
“The entire NASCAR community has worked very closely together in developing the EFI system,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president for competition. “Today was a positive step in the right direction for us. We have associated ourselves with some world-class technology partners, including McLaren, Freescale and Holley, and going to EFI next season is only going to enhance the racing. The horsepower should be about the same, or perhaps slightly more, the cars will be more fuel efficient, and it’s the right thing to do from an environmental standpoint. Plus, it helps us become more relevant with the production cars that our fans drive every day.”
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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and NASCAR is headed to Charlotte Motor Speedway this upcoming weekend, with the Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Bank of America 500 and Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage; and the NASCAR Truck Series will have its Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Smith’s 350.
Please take a quick moment, even if you’re not a NASCAR fan, to peruse this quick article.
October, being breast cancer awareness month means is that this month various organizations concentrate on getting the message out in more aggressive campaigns. The goal is to get people to think about it and maybe get some people to help out a little bit in the battle against this insidious evil.
Breast cancer strikes 1 in 8 women.
During the upcoming NASCAR events, the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series vehicles will have pink accents added to their race vehicles.
· Race cars and trucks will carry a NASCAR Breast Cancer Awareness ribbon logo on A-posts
· NASCAR officials will wear pink lanyards and gloves in the garage area throughout the weekend
· NASCAR officials’ fire suits will carry NASCAR Breast Cancer Awareness patches
· NASCAR partner Mechanix Wear will provide pink gloves that will later be signed by drivers to auction off on the NASCAR Unites website (NASCAR.COM/Unites)
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So what happened last week that caught my eye in the sport of NASCAR?
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First up, I caught a wiff that Bank of America Charitable Foundation will be giving $1 million to education programs. This nice deed is connected with their sponsorship of the October race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Any time schools can get money is a nice thing, considering schools seem to take the brunt of budget cuts when money needs to be saved.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Sponsor Swap
Word on the street is that Amp Energy is dripping off the hood of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s hood and will be replaced for 16 races in the 2012 season by Diet Mountain Dew.
When Diet Mountain Dew is on the the hood of the No. 88 Chevy, Amp will be an associate sponsor.
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The 2011 Coca-Cola 600 fr NASCAR
Race Notes and Results
The 2011 Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway was the culmination of a very long day of auto racing viewing. Monte Carlo, Indianapolis 500 and then this, the longest race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the Coca-Cola 600. This is a long race, in fact it became the longest race ever in NASCAR. It started around 3 something in the afternoon and tore in into the evening, coming up on 8 at night.
So yea, today was an auto racing fan’s dream come true. That and my butt hurts!
But as the Coca-Cola 600 wound down, the question of fuel mileage started finding itself being pitched by the race announcers. Who had enough, who was told to put their foot in it and who was being told to save gas. At least that was the tactic with 10 laps to go, barely over 20 cars on the lead lap, and then with 8 laps to go, Matt Kenseth hit the pits for a splash of fuel, starting the cycle of green flag pits.
Then Jeff Gordon pits, while others were guessing the Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were good to go for the last five laps. And yet with 5 to go, Jimmie Johnson‘s engine blows up, throwing the suspense of cars trying to make it under a green flag out the window and now we had to worry about if yellow flag laps was going to affect the front-runners. That and some crew chief foul language being let slip out into the airwaves.
Under caution, a few cars stayed out, the rest came in for gas and tires. This didn’t bode well for Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and 8 other cars who stayed out. And then “Junior Nation” starts to worry because Dale Jr is turning off his engine to save fuel under yellow… but then he couldn’t get it going for a bit. Biffle had to buckle and pit under caution.
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I think Michael Bay needs to take note when a studio puts money into a NASCAR sponsorship that lasts more than one race! (And I don’t mean that in a bad way.) At least that’s the case with the new Cowboys & Aliens sponsorship taking place on the JD Motorsports NASCAR Series car driven by Mike Wallace! This is a first! Check out the article below and see why some call me your “go-to guy” on matters of movie marketing, product placement and NASCAR!
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JD Motorsports has partnered up with the movie Cowboys & Aliens, starring Daniel Craig and directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man). The movie is due in movie theaters on July 29th. What’s unique about this sponsorship compared to the dozens of other movie, TV and product sponsorships we’ve seen in NASCAR previously is this is a NASCAR first for the fact that the sponsor will be on the hood of the car for more than one race, in fact, the car will carry the sponsor for ten races. May 28th will be the first event, at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
What’s more, fans will have the opportunity to have their submitted photos grace the car’s paint scheme in one of those totally awesome mosaics they do with itty bitty little images that make up one bigger image. After fans submit their photos, the mosaic scheme will show up at the July 1st race at Daytona. (I’ve had my name on several paint schemes that incorporated fan names and paint schemes. It’s fun to find where they put you on the paint scheme!)
If you want to participate, go check out the film’s official Facebook page (www.facebook.com/cowboysandaliens) or website (www.cowboysandaliensmovie.com) or enter via your mobile devices by texting “RACE” to 90210. Or if you’re at the races where the car will be, you can use your smart phones to scan a QR code that will be visible on the hauler, car and hero cards at the races.
(Yes, attendees can hang around the cars, garages, track and pit stalls during non-race & practice hours.)
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If you think a 60-inch HDTV is big, that ain’t nuthin. There’s also the Panasonic 152-inch TV, but nah, that’s not what I’m talking about.
I’m talking about the 720p LCS HDTV that was unveiled at Charlotte Motor Speedway located in North Carolina!
This big mama is made up of 158 LCD panels that is lit up by 9 million LEDs. It measures 200 by 80 feet, giving up 16,000 square feet of screen space and it weighs just under 333 tons. NOW THAT’s A TV!
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Charlotte Motor Speedway Rewards Navy SEALS
In a grand gesture of NASCAR sports fans, a program is in place where fans can contribute to a cause that will allow more than 1,000 U.S. Navy SEALS and their families to attend the May 29th NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Charlotte.
Fans and sponsors alike are buying the tickets and donating them to the Navy personnel, in a much needed THANK YOU for their work last Sunday.
If you want to contribute, you can call 1-800-455-FANS or you can buy tickets for the military online at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com.
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Kurt Busch Will Probably be Apologizing To His Team Later
During the NASCAR Richmond race last weekend, apparently Kurt Busch was on a tirade and tearing into his team over the radio about his cars’ inability to perform.
Part of the problem is that the rant went out on a channel that the public was following.
But what’s up with Kurt? Sure, every driver encounters a challenge every now and then but I have to wonder if Kyle’s blood doesn’t run closer to the surface in Kurt than we first thought. Or was being pulled out of the blue deuce possibly have something to do with it?
Eh, who knows, but I’m hoping he’ll pull it together so he and his team can get back to work.
thatsracin.com
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NASCAR Autograph / Public Appearance Alerts
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If you’re headed to Charlotte this weekend for the NASCAR events and the only night race in the Chase event, you might want to find some extra time to try and check out some of the driver autographs / appearances scheduled for the weekend!
Check it out:
JR Motorsports Autographs:
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Thursday, October 14, 2010 from 10:30 – 11:30am Eastern.
There will be a limit of around 200 guaranteed autograph wristbands and there will be no photo with the driver ops.
Wristbands can be snagged from JR Nation Retail Store at JR Motorsports beginning Wednesday, October 13 at 8:30am, and they’re on a first-come first-served basis.
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When I first wrote a piece about the new dates that Phoenix, Kansas, CA and Atlanta are looking at, it sort of went right over my head on some of the nuances that went into Kansas Speedway getting a 2nd NASCAR Sprint Cup Series date in the season. But then I started encountering some interesting perspectives on the track.
According to a few Kansas locals on bulletin boards and radio call-ins, Kansas hasn’t sold out the one race they have each year. Despite that, if you recall, consolidating to improve seat sales was a factor that was floated out there for consolidating Fontana’s dates into one day in 2011. It makes perfect sense.
Then it hit me… ISC is adding a casino to the track and they need more butts in the casino, so why not add a 2nd Cup date! It’s the only logic that makes any sense about adding a 2nd date to a venue that isn’t already selling out.
Granted, if I ran a business and wanted more customers in my newest venue, I’d probably do the same thing. It’s a smart business move. It really is, I get it.
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