Patrick Carpentier Atlanta Preview

ATLANTA, GA - Patrick Carpentier will make his fifth career start this weekend driving the No. 10 Cintas Dodge at Atlanta Motor Speedway for Gillett Evernham Motorsports. Carpentier made his first start of the 2008 season Sunday finishing 40th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after qualifying 12th then enduring a hard hit on the backstretch after making contact with another driver.

Carpentier once again faces the daunting challenge of making the 43-car field solely on his qualifying time. He is 47th in car owner points.

DRIVE PATRICK CARPENTIER QUOTES:

OUTLOOK FOR THE NO. 10 TEAM: "We knew this wasn't going to be easy. But the great thing about Gillett Evernham Motorsports is that we have everyone behind us. This is such a great team. Everyone is doing their best. I've had great guidance from my team director, Mike [Shiplett] as well as my teammates. Elliott Sadler has been really helpful to me. He has gone out of his way to talk to me about the tracks we've been racing at. He was great help at Daytona in learning the draft and last week at Las Vegas he gave me some good pointers. All the pieces are here to get the Cintas Dodge Charger in the top-35 we just need to put them together each week."

LOOKING AHEAD TO ATLANTA: "Atlanta is the first track on the schedule that we haven't tested at. This is going to be a challenging weekend for us. But we're ready for it. I know it's a driver friendly racetrack. You can use the multi grooves through the corners to find where your car works the best. It's also one of the fastest tracks we go to so I'm excited. This is also the first week I'm bringing my whole family with me to the track. Both my wife and my two children will be in Atlanta this weekend. So that will make the weekend a little more comfortable for me. Having my family there is special."

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO GET LAPS IN THE DODGE CHARGER: "It is. I mean, at Vegas, the way I used the brakes and the throttle and the way I drive the car in the corner was much better at the end of the race than it was at the beginning. That's why it's important to make these races, you know, and I was a lot smoother going into one and two and three and four and I was keeping the car under me more. Unlike at the beginning when I was really coming off both brake and throttle. It was good. The car got better, everything got better, but we just needed the points. About midway through the race at Vegas we were consistently running the same lap times at the guys in the top-10. So we're getting there. I just need as much seat time as possible."

CINTAS: "We are excited about having Cintas joins us this year. It might be a bit hard for fans and media to tell our car but hopefully we will be out front and easy to see for everyone."

From Heath White // Team Communications // Gillett Evernham Motorsports
Photo by Greg MacPherson / Inside Track Motorsport News

Allmendinger benched in favour of Skinner... or, as our James Neilson said, "Red Bull did not give HIM wings."

Red Bull Racing Team has confirmed that veteran NASCAR driver Mike Skinner will temporarily replace AJ Allmendinger in the No. 84 Red Bull Camry in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series effective this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Skinner, a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, currently races full-time in the No. 5 Toyota Tundra.

"We’re at a crossroads where we need to make a change that will elevate the No. 84 team to success,” said VP and General Manager Jay Frye. “AJ’s our guy and he’s a talented driver, but there’s a lot being asked of him. In order for him to be successful, we have to get this team pointed in the right direction. We hope we can do that with the help of a veteran driver.”

Skinner’s history with Red Bull Racing Team dates back to 2006 when he served as a test driver for the team. Skinner’s history with Allmendinger also dates back to 2006, when he mentored teammate Allmendinger during the rookie’s part-time ride with Bill Davis Racing NCTS team.

Frye hopes with the help of Skinner, that RBRT will have the program turned around and the ride returned to Allmendinger in no time.

AJ Allmendinger, No. 84 Red Bull Driver: “Let’s not kid ourselves; I’m a racer and I want to be racing, but I get the big picture here and obviously we need to improve our program. Do I want to be out of the car? No. But, I know Skinner can help both me and my team. All I can say is he better be prepared for me to eat, drink, and sleep with him. Ok, well maybe not the sleeping part, but I’m ready to attach myself to him and learn everything I can.”

From Red Bull Racing USA

The Sports Car Club of BC (SCCBC) Newsletter

Click here for the March edition of the Sports Car Club of BC 'Pit Pass' newsletter (download is a 2.5 Mb PDF file). Thanks to the club's Peter Weedon for sending it along.

Nice shot of DJ Kennington in Vegas

Canadian photographer Perry Nelson was in Las Vegas this past weekend and caught this nice shot of our own DJ Kennington in NASCAR Nationwide Series action. Kennington, from St. Thomas, ON, started 34th and finished 29th in Saturday's Sam's Town 300.

Aprilia USA Wins SunTrust MOTO-ST Series Season Opener at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - Aprilia USA/Lloyd Brothers Motorsports remains the team to beat in the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series following their second straight victory in the Daytona 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday.

Ty Howard of Weatherford, Tex. and Mike Himmelsbach of Quakertown, Penn. rode the No. 1 Aprilia Tuono 1000R to a 4.573-second victory over the No. 75 Touring Sport Ducati 848 of Camarillo, Calif.'s Doug Polen and Columbia, S.C. racer Peter Friedland in the 108-lap race around Daytona's 2.90-mile road course.

The Aprilia USA/Lloyd Brothers Motorsports team won the Buell Motorcycle Company SuperSport Twins (SST) Team championship in last year's SunTrust MOTO-ST Series. Although the team also won the Daytona season opener, Howard was not part of the winning crew.

"I've been here so many years and it seems I've always been the fastest guy, but I never seem to finish up front," Howard said. "It's great to finally be here in victory lane."

The No. 4 BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta BMW R1200 of Englishman Richard Cooper and Marietta, Ga.'s Nate Kern finished third overall and in SST.

Howard took the lead on lap 96 when Polen had to make a final stop for fuel with the Ducati. He then cruised to the finish, easing up in the final laps as he tried to conserve gas.

"We were more or less out of gas on the stop before, so I backed it down at the finish just to be safe," Howard added. "With that sort of lead there was no sense in pushing it."

The No. 75 Ducati ran near the front all race with Polen doing most of the riding. But teammate Friedland, making his debut in the SST class, couldn�t match the pace of the former World Superbike Champion.

Polen didn't push it in his final stint, hopeful that the leading Aprilia would have to make a final stop for a splash of fuel.

"I didn't know how far they could go," he said, "so I just ran the same sort of lap times I had been doing all race."

Polen did set the fastest lap of the race at one minute, 45.350 seconds, earning the No. 75 Ducati team the Performance Under Gear Performer of the Race Award.

Cooper grabbed third on the BMW in the waning laps when the No. 6 Aprilia USA/Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Aprilia 1000R ridden by Henry Wiles ran into fuel trouble. Cooper and Kern were riding a back-up R1200 after their primary bike was destroyed in a crash on Saturday morning.

"As soon as I had him [Wiles] in my sights, that was it," Cooper said. "I think I could have caught him anyway. The bike was faultless."

Wiles and teammate Zac Chapman of Weatherford, Tex. salvaged fourth place.

Fifth went to the No. 18 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki SV1000S of Chris Ulrich of Lake Elsinore, Calif., Cory West of Vista, Calif. and Boca Raton, Fla.'s Michael Barnes. The team had to make an extra pit stop early in the race due to a brake lever problem.

The sister No. 3 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki crashed out of the race on lap 30 in the most serious incident of the afternoon. Rider Robertino Pietri of Caracas, Venezuela suffered a broken scaphoid on his left hand in the incident.

The No. 20 Wagner Motorsports Racing Ducati 1000 SS shared by Mark Reynolds of Woodstock, Conn. and Boston's Gus Holcomb won the BMW GrandSport Twins (GST) class after the top two finishers on the road were penalized for exceeding the class horsepower limit of 90 hp.

The No. 70 James Gang Racing/Hoban Brothers Buell XB12R of Minneapolis rider Jeff Johnson and Paul James of Waukesha, Wis. claimed the runner-up position and third went to the No. 7 Richie Morris Racing Buell XB12R of Elkhart Lake, Wis. racer Clint Brotz and Tripp Nobles of Macon, Ga.

The No. 43 Cycle Dynamics Kawasaki EX650 of James Rispoli of Attica, N.Y. and Atlanta's Ted Cobb claimed the Sport Twins win after a good battle most of the way with the defending champion No. 9 Pair-A-Nines Kawasaki EX650.

The win was an emotional one for Rispoli, whose mother died recently.

"I want to dedicate this race to my mom," he said. "She was always there for me. She'd love to be here, she was so into the racing."

Jay Springsteen of Lapeer, Mich. and Modesto, Calif.'s Jimmy Filice finished second on the No. 9 Kawasaki, 19.460 seconds behind the No. 43 Cycle Dynamics bike.

Third in class was the No. 66 M4 Avteq Racing Suzuki SV650 ridden by Russ Wikle of Huntsville, Ala. and Dallas rider Ryan O'Donnell.

Contingency awards also went to the No. 8 Bruce Rossmeyer's Daytona Racing Buell team, which picked up $250 from Roaring Toyz for having the best looking team, and the No. 86 SpeedWerks.com Suzuki squad, which won the Lucky 13 from Czaia & Gallagher, P.A. for finishing 13th in the overall results.

The No. 17 Mid-Illini Motorsports/Repsol Suzuki won $250 from PIAA for gaining the most positions during the course of the race.

The SunTrust MOTO-ST Series continues with the VIR 500k at Virginia International Raceway on April 27.

The SunTrust MOTO-ST Series is organized and sanctioned by Professional Motorsports Productions (PMP) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the Grand American Road Racing Association, based in Daytona Beach, Fla., provides the series with administrative and commercial support. Learn more about MOTO-ST at http://www.moto-st.com/.

From Penny Nicolai, SunTrust MOTO-ST Series Public Relations & Gene Crouch, Grand-Am Internet and Communications Services Coordinator

Merrittville Speedway: 55 days until the green

Thorold, Ontario (March 2) - Merrittville Speedway's 2008 Season Opener is 55 Days away and counting down and one L. St. Amand Enterprises 358 Modified Rookie will be looking to draw on his team-mates and family for success in his #55.
 
Todd Kendrick is part of a three car team owned by his family – his brother Darren and their father Wayne - who are no strangers to the Southern Ontario and Western New York Racing scene.
 
Neither are his team-mates as Scott George scored an impressive win last season at Merrittville after returning to a Kendrick-owned car and Tim Jones - another 2007 Feature winner in his own car when the Lucas Oil Shootout visited Genesee Speedway. Jones also won the Jeno Begolo - Ivan Little Award as Most Improved Driver last season at the Saturday Night show place capping off an impressive season.
 
"With our family's racing over the years I've enjoyed many visits to Victory Lane as a crew member," cherishes Todd, "but for the first time as a driver 2 years ago … it's something I'll never forget."
 
For the last few seasons Kendrick has competed in the Lucas Oil Open Wheel Lite Division along with his brother-in-law Lorne Collings and earned a Feature win in 2006. Last season's efforts however were stalled when as a result of an on track incident, the London firefighter suffered a broken arm.
 
"We've been trying to put the pieces together for a few seasons," relates Kendrick, adding, "thanks to Global Warranty Corporation and Strickland Automart … each of the cars are brand new 2008 Bicknell Racing Products Chassis'."
 
Kendrick will be going to school literally as he learns the new division and that will start with the Bicknell Racing Products Chassis Seminar and Pete Bicknell Driving School.
 
"I'm getting a little anxious," said Kendrick while traveling to Niagara to attend the Wedding reception of (Lucas Oil Open Wheel Lite Driver) Adam and Lisa Murphy, "and so are my two boys - they can't wait for the season to start either!"
 
As the Count Down to green continues and Kendrick gets some all important 'seat time' through the school and practice day – not to mention the Baron Roofing Spring Sizzler 100 - we will learn more about his experience as the new and expanded Kendrick Race Team and Merrittville Speedway prepare to welcome Global Warranty Corporation to the first 5 Division Dirt Weekly Race Series Card of the new year - Saturday May 3rd.
 
Your local Dirt Track is where it's at and it's at Merrittville Speedway in just 55 Days - Saturday April 26th.
 
The star studded 358 Modified Super DIRTcar Series Stars are set to challenge our home town heroes in the Spring Sizzler 100 presented by Baron Roofing.
 
With plenty of free camping - it puts Merrittville Speedway on the map as a must see event and it's just the start of 2008 – you won't want to miss a single event all season!
 
To learn more call 905-685-7223 until April 1st or visit www.merrittvillespeedway.com.

From Jim Irvine - Merrittville Speedway Public Relations - 905-685-7223 - Winter Office

Paul Tracy on Wind Tunnel... hoping that Forsythe changes his mind

On Sunday evening, Paul Tracy went on Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain to discuss his future in the wake of Gerry Forsythe's decision not to move his team in IndyCar in 2008.

PT said he is under contract to Forsythe regardless and it's his hope that Forsythe changes his mind and decides to go racing this season. If that doesn't work out, he hopes to explore other options. Tracy noted that Forsythe has a history of reversing his decisions, although he moves at his own pace and can't be pushed.

PT said he's spoken with Forsythe since he made his announcement and he appears optimistic / hopeful that the decision not to move to IndyCar isn't set in stone.