ESPN May Not Bid on Entire Nationwide Series Television Package

Rights to the Nationwide Series could be in play this summer when NASCAR opens its negotiations with ESPN, according to several sources.

ESPN and NASCAR have not begun formal talks about renewing a media rights package that includes the Nationwide Series’ entire 33-race season and 17 Sprint Cup races. But ESPN has had internal conversations about bidding only on the Nationwide races that overlap with its Sprint Cup schedule instead of the entire season.

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Michael Annett Released From Hospital

After a successful surgery to repair a fractured and dislocated sternum, Richard Petty Motorsports NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Michael Annett has been released from the hospital in Charlotte, N.C. He is now resting at his home.

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July Nationwide Race Renamed Firecracker 250

The July NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Daytona International Speedway will bear a legendary name in 2013 – the Subway Firecracker 250 Powered By Coca-Cola.

Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III, SUBWAY® Famous Fan Carl Edwards and Jared the SUBWAY® guy joined Coca-Cola in announcing the rebranding at a press conference at the Daytona International Speedway Infield Media Center.

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McClure to Make 200th Nationwide Start

Eric McClure Quotes:

What are your expectations for the 2013 season, especially entering the new season with a new crew chief?

“I have high expectations for the 2013 season. We ran really well at the end of 2012 and I am looking to continue that momentum through this year. Entering a season with a new crew chief is tough, but I believe our personalities will mesh really well and quickly so I don’t foresee any issues. John (Monsam) is experienced and has a good track record, so I think he’s really going to be an asset to the team.”

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SR² Motorsports Adds Jason White to Driver Line-Up

SR² Motorsports continues adding strength and stability to its organization. The team announced today that Jason White will join Blake Koch as the driver of one of the squad’s three Toyota Camrys in its 2013 lineup. The number of races that White will compete in is not finalized, but his first race with the Buford, Ga.-based team will be the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 23. All of White’s 2013 Nationwide Series starts will be with SR² Motorsports.

“I’m excited to be with SR² Motorsports,” White said. “The commitment they’ve shown to improve and build upon is impressive. They exceeded expectations in their first season and we look forward to raising the bar this season. There’s lots of potential and promise as we head into 2013.”

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Richard Childress Racing Picks Up Nationwide Sponsors

Richard Childress Racing and AdvancePierre Foods have reached agreement on a partnership program that will see multiple brands from the Cincinnati-based company serving as primary sponsors of multiple race teams in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Advance Pierre’s Fast Fixin’ brand will be the primary sponsor for Brian Scott and the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro team for two races (July 21 at Chicagoland Speedway and Oct. 5 at Kansas Speedway) and one with Kevin Harvick and the No. 33 team (Oct. 12 at Charlotte Motor Speedway). Steak-EZE will sponsor Harvick and the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro team Sept. 29 at Dover International Speedway.

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Ryan Reed to Run Limited Number of Nationwide Races

Ryan’s Mission, founded by driver Ryan Reed, has announced collaboration with the American Diabetes Association for the Drive to Stop Diabetes SM awareness campaign.

Reed will compete in a number of NASCAR Nationwide Series races for Roush Fenway in 2013, driving the No. 16 Ford Mustang. Reed has type 1diabetes and his car will feature an American Diabetes Association: Drive to Stop Diabetes paint scheme, with his first race currently set for Richmond International Raceway on April 26, 2013.

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Kyle Larson to Make Nationwide Series Debut at Daytona

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (EGR) announces today that Kyle Larson, the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) Champion will look to run a full-time NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) schedule in 2013. Larson, the 20-year-old driver from Elk Grove, Calif. will attempt to make his series debut behind the wheel of the No. 32 Clorox Chevy Camaro fielded by Turner Scott Motorsports during Daytona Speedweeks in the DRIVE4COPD 300 NNS race on Feb. 23.

The EGR development driver turned heads in NASCAR competition in 2012 when he won the NKNPSE Championship in his first year of driving stock cars. Larson, who is of Japanese-American descent, also claimed the first series championship for one of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Program drivers.

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Jimmie Johnson To Compete In Nationwide Race at Phoenix

Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will compete in the March 2 Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway for JR Motorsports, general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller announced today.

Johnson will drive the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet in the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 (4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2). This will mark Johnson’s first Nationwide Series race since finishing second in a JR Motorsports car at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 13, 2011. Johnson is a four-time winner at Phoenix in the Sprint Cup Series, where he drives the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

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Chili Bowl Champ to Compete in 15 NASCAR Nationwide Series Races

After competing for NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) team Biagi-DenBeste Racing last year at Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kevin Swindell will return to the team for select NNS races in 2013. The team plans to compete in 15 NNS events this season and will first race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 9.

Swindell, a sprint car standout, has been building his stock car experience, competing in the NNS, NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and the ARCA Racing Series, earning his first NASCAR pole in 2010 and taking home his first stock car win last year at Chicagoland Speedway. The recently crowned four-time consecutive Chili Bowl Champion competed in two of the final three NNS races for Biagi-DenBeste Racing in 2012, earning a best finish of ninth at Texas Motor Speedway.

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Nationwide Series Start Times Announced

NASCAR has released the start times and television networks for 2013 Nationwide series races.

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Converservative political group to sponsor car at Texas

Per Star-Telegram, The No. 81 car in the Nationwide O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 on Friday night will feature messages that sponsors hope will encourage conservative NASCAR fans to register to vote and cast ballots this year.

"We believe in free market, free enterprise, individual liberty," said Drew Ryun, president of American Majority Action, the group sponsoring the No. 81 car driven by Jason Bowles in 33 NASCAR races this year. "We believe the NASCAR crowd believes as we believe, and we want to make sure they are fully engaged. We want to make sure their voices are heard at the polls."

Increasingly, politicians and political causes are sponsoring race cars to get their name or message out to NASCAR fans, who number in the millions.

In February, then GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum sponsored the No. 26 Ford Fusion driven by Tony Raines in the Daytona 500. "I know that when you sponsor a NASCAR car, as we did in the Daytona 500, you're supporting a sport that people want to watch, and so you're out there on the side of the folks that you want to relate to," Santorum said this year.

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ESPN rejects commerical, driver loses sponsorship

Per SportingNews.com, ESPN rejected the advertisement from Blake Koch’s sponsor, the Rise Up and Register Campaign, which is designed to educate people about the importance of registering to vote in upcoming elections.

Koch said the network rejected the advertisement, in part, because of his religious activism. A devout Christian, the 26-year-old driver often speaks at churches on race weekends, at numerous religious outreach events and on television shows.

“Their whole campaign was to run that commercial on ESPN, and they wanted to get in front of the NASCAR fans,” Koch said about his sponsor in a phone interview Thursday. “They didn’t care about any other network.

"We found out Friday at Daytona (in February) that they weren’t going to air the commercials due to political and religious overtones, and they said particularly on (my) BlakeKoch.com website.”

While the campaign's website does not promote specific religions, it does include links to Koch's site, which promotes his ministry and other religious programs.

ESPN issued a statement Thursday, saying, “The spot did not meet our guidelines in regard to advocacy messaging. Blake Koch’s personal religious beliefs played no role in our evaluation.”

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Trevor Bayne lands Nationwide ride for Bristol race

Per NASCAR.com, Trevor Bayne has been entered for Saturday's Ford EcoBoost 300 Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The No. 60 Ford was added to the Nationwide Series entry list on Tuesday.

Bayne finished fourth at Las Vegas, and is currently fourth in the points. However, all of Bayne's race in 2012 have been run without sponsorship -- and the Las Vegas race was scheduled to be his last guaranteed Nationwide start this season.

However, Roush Fenway Racing officials apparently had a change of heart and have confirmed that Bayne will be going to Bristol.

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Ryan Truex to run seven races for Joe Gibbs Racing in Nationwide

Will Pilot Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota In Seven Races

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 13, 2012) – After a successful entry into NASCAR at Daytona, Grime Boss, a new brand from Nice Pak will sponsor the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 18 Toyota driven by Ryan Truex for seven NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) races during the 2012 season beginning with this weekend’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“Having Grime Boss on the car at Daytona was awesome,” said Truex. “Now they are committing to sponsoring me for an additional seven races with Joe Gibbs Racing. I’m appreciative of the opportunity that Tommy Baldwin Racing gave me at Daytona, without them, this would not have happened.  I’m also thrilled to get back behind the wheel with JGR and will do my absolute best to put the Grime Boss Toyota in Victory Lane.”

“Nice-Pak is proud to partner with Joe Gibbs Racing and excited to support Ryan Truex for seven NNS races in 2012,” said Tom Hernquist, President of Nice-Pak.  “We believe that Ryan has a tremendous future in racing, and we know that with JGR’s premier racing organization he will run at the front in 2012. Grime Boss is a new heavy duty wet wipe that will clean all the toughest messes, yet they are gentle and moisturizing for  hands.  We know that NASCAR fans will love them!”

Ryan Truex came up through the NASCAR ranks with impressive results,  winning back-to-back NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Championships in 2009 and 2010. The 2009 campaign also earned him Rookie of the Year honors and gave Michael Waltrip Racing its first NASCAR championship. Truex became the second driver in series history to win both honors in the same year; Joey Logano was the other. In 2011, NASCAR honored Truex as one of the “Top-10 Drivers of the First 25 Years of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.” He was the youngest racer to make the list.

Truex, younger brother of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Martin Truex, Jr., spent the first half of the 2011 NNS season in the No. 99 car for Pastrana-Waltrip Racing, earning a top-20 finish in eight of the ten races. He jumped at the chance to race the No. 20 Toyota for the Joe Gibbs Racing stable starting in September of last season. He finished in the top-15 in all six of his races with JGR, including four top-10 finishes., Ryan captured the Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award in all six of those races.

“Ryan was impressive in the races he drove for us last year and it’s exciting to be able to partner with Nice-Pak to get him back behind the wheel again this season,” said J.D. Gibbs, President of Joe Gibbs Racing. “We think Ryan has a bright future in the sport and I know all of our guys in our Nationwide shop are working hard to give him every opportunity to put the Grime Boss Toyota in victory lane.”

In addition to Bristol this weekend, Truex is slated to run the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on May 5 inTalladega, September 15 in Chicago and November 10 in Phoenix.  He will also run the No. 18 JGR Nationwide Series entry in Dover on June 2, New Hampshire on July 14, and Watkins Glen on August 11.

For more information on Ryan Truex, follow him on Facebook.com/RyanTruex and Twitter, @Ryan_Truex.Follow Joe Gibbs Racing  on  Twitter at @joegibbsracing.

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NASCAR Nationwide entry list for Las Vegas

1 - Mike Wallace
2 - Elliott Sadler
3 - Austin Dillon
4 - Danny Efland
6 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
7 - Danica Patrick
8 - Tim Andrews
09 - Kenny Wallace
10 - Jeff Green
11 - Brian Scott
12 - Sam Hornish Jr.
13 - Jennifer Jo Cobb
14 - Eric McClure
18 - Mark Martin
19 - Tayler Malsam
22 - Brad Keselowski
23 - Robert Richardson
24 - Benny Gordon
27 - TBA
28 - JJ Yeley
30 - James Buescher
31 - Justin Allgaier
33 - Brandon Gaughan
38 - Kasey Kahne
39 - Joey Gase
40 - Erik Darnell
41 - Blake Koch
42 - Josh Wise
43 - Michael Annett
44 - Mike Bliss
46 - Chase Miller
47 - Scott Speed
50 - TJ Bell
51 - Jeremy Clements
52 - Tim Schendel
54 - Kyle Busch
60 - Trevor Bayne
70 - Johanna Long
74 - Mike Harmon
81 - Jason Bowles
87 - Joe Nemechek
88 - Cole Whitt
89 - Morgan Shepherd 

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2012 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Weekend Track Event Schedule

LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY 2012
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
EVENT SCHEDULE

Thursday, March 8th

11:30 AM            NNS HAULERS ENTER
12:30 PM            NNS REGISTRATION OPENS
1:00 PM             NNS GARAGE OPENS
5:00 PM             NNS REGISTRATION CLOSES
7:00 PM             NSCS HAULERS ENTER
7:00 PM             NNS GARAGE CLOSES

Friday, March 9th

6:00 AM             NSCS REGISTRATION OPENS
6:30 AM             NSCS GARAGE OPENS
8:00 AM             NNS GARAGE & REGISTRATION OPENS
9:00 AM             TRACK SERVICES MEETING (Petty Schools Garage)
9:30 AM             NNS ROOKIE & SPOTTER MEETINGS &
                    DRAWING FOR QUALIFYING ORDER
10:30 AM 11:50 AM   NNS PRACTICE
11:00 AM            NSCS ROOKIE & SPOTTER MEETINGS &
                    DRAWING FOR QUALIFYING ORDER
11:30 AM            NSCS ** HOT PASS IN EFFECT **
12:00 PM 1:30 PM    NSCS PRACTICE
2:00 PM 3:30 PM     NNS FINAL PRACTICE
3:10 PM             NSCS ** HOT PASS IN EFFECT **
3:40 PM (6:40 PM)   NSCS QUALIFYING (TWO LAPS, ALL POSITIONS)
5:00 PM             NNS & NSCS REGISTRATION CLOSES
5:30 PM             NNS GARAGE CLOSES
6:00 PM             NSCS GARAGE CLOSES

Saturday, March 10th

7:00 AM             NNS GARAGE & REGISTRATION OPENS
7:30 AM             NSCS GARAGE & REGISTRATION OPENS
8:00 AM             TRACK SERVICES MEETING (Petty Schools Garage)
9:00 AM             NSCS ** HOT PASS IN EFFECT **
9:30 AM 10:25 AM    NSCS PRACTICE
10:35 AM (1:35 PM)  NNS QUALIFYING ( TWO LAPS, ALL POSITIONS)
11:50 AM            NSCS ** HOT PASS IN EFFECT **
11:45 AM 12:15 PM   TV EXHIBITION RUN
12:00 PM            NNS DRIVER / CREW CHIEF MEETING (MEDIA CENTER )
12:20 PM 1:20 PM    NSCS FINAL PRACTICE
12:30 PM            TRACK SERVICES MEETING- PIT ROAD
1:30 PM             NNS DRIVER INTRODUCTIONS-SECURITY – CLEAR PIT ROAD
2:00 PM (5:00 PM)   NNS RACE (200 LAPS, 300 MILES)
2:30 PM             NNS REGISTRATION CLOSES
4:00 PM             NSCS GARAGE & REGISTRATION CLOSES

Sunday, March 11th

6:30 AM 7:30 AM     NASCAR Pace Car Rides
7:00 AM             NSCS GARAGE & REGISTRATION OPENS
7:00 AM 10:30 AM    NSCS Minor’s Admitted in the NASCAR Garage Area
8:30 AM 9:30 AM     Speedway Children’s Charity Track Walk
9:00 AM             TRACK SERVICES MEETING (Petty School Garage)
10:00 AM            NSCS DRIVER / CREW CHIEF MEETING (NEON GARAGE)
11:00 AM            NSCS ** HOT PASS IN EFFECT ** UNTIL ONE HOUR AFTER RACE
11:30 AM            NSCS DRIVER INTRODUCTIONS-SECURITY – CLEAR PIT ROAD
12:00 PM (3:00 PM)  NSCS RACE (267 LAPS, 400.5 MILES)
12:30 PM            NSCS REGISTRATION CLOSES
                    *With Proper Credentials
         (EASTERN)

ALL TIMES ARE LISTED IN LOCAL / PACIFIC TIME ZONE
TENTATIVE, SUBJECT TO CHANGE

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