Archives For Trackside Program

CV Products Trackside Notes for The First Week of October 2014

CV Products —  October 2, 2014 | Category: Trackside Program | Comment

This weekend sees the CV Products Trackside crew split between three states with deep roots in stock car racing — Kansas, Georgia and Virginia. Kansas alone has us supporting three different races, while we’re equally pumped to be able to help out the drivers and teams competing in the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, and the MDCU 300 at Martinsville Speedway.

Here’s the full rundown of where to find us and how to follow all the racing action from home:

Petit Le Mans — Powered by Mazda

petit-le-mans-road-atlantaSeries: Tudor United SportsCar Championship
When: Thurs., Oct. 2 – Sat., Oct. 4
How to watch from home: Visit www.imsa.com at 11am ET on Oct. 3; FOX Sports 2 at 3pm ET on Oct. 4; and FOX at 8am ET on Oct. 5
Racetrack: Road Atlanta — Braselton, Ga.

What you need to know: The Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda (that’s French for little Le Mans) is one of the world’s leading sports car endurance races, and is held annually at Road Atlanta. It uses the rules established for the 24 hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), which are slightly modified if necessary, mainly to allow additional cars to compete. This year it all comes down to a ten-hour showdown. The inaugural TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup season finale will be one of the most exciting weekends in sports car endurance racing history. Over 50 entries in four different classes of competition will take the green flag on Saturday, Oct. 4, for a ten-hour battle into the night.

ARCA’s 98.9 Race

ARCA989Series: ARCA Racing Series
When: Fri., Oct. 3
How to watch from home: 8:30pm ET on FOX Sports 2
Racetrack: Kansas Speedway — Kansas City, Kan.

What you need to know: The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is closing its 2014 season at Kansas Speedway this week and crowning a new champion. Mason Mitchell holds a 200-point lead entering the ARCA 98.9. If he takes the green flag to start the race, Mitchell will most likely clinch the series title and, at 20-years-old, become the third-youngest series champion in the 62-year history of ARCA. Chris Buescher and Ty Dillon were 19 when they clinched their titles. Friday will mark the third consecutive season that ARCA has closed out its campaign by crowning a champion at Kansas. Frank Kimmel won the race and the secured his title last season. Chris Buescher won the 2012 series title and finished eighth in the race.

Kansas Lottery 300

kansas_lottery_300Series: NASCAR Nationwide Series
When: Sat., Oct. 4
How to watch from home: 3:30pm ET on ESPN2
Racetrack: Kansas Speedway — Kansas City, Kan.

What you need to know: Two notable drivers who will attempt to compete this weekend are Jennifer Jo Cobb and Milka Duno. This will be Cobb’s season debut in the series; she has made five previous NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) starts at Kansas posting a best finish of 22nd in 2012. Duno returns to the NNS for her third attempt at making her career series debut. Time is running out for Regan Smith to Continue reading…

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CV Products Trackside Program Visits Chicagoland and Charlotte

CV Products —  September 13, 2014 | Category: Trackside Program | Comment

Chicagoland and Charlotte are just two of the stops this weekend for the CV Products Trackside program. In addition to those venues, you can find us in the pits this Saturday and Sunday at Salem Speedway (Salem, Illinois) and Gresham Motorsports Park (Jefferson, Georgia). It’s just your average weekend for the hardest working trackside crew in professional and semi-pro auto and NHRA racing.

Here’s where to find us:

Lucas Oil 225

lucasoil225atclsSeries: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
When: Saturday, September 13
Racetrack: Chicagoland Speedway — Joliet, Illinois
How to watch from home: 
What you need to know: Rain hit the Joliet area earlier in the day today washing out qualifying and forcing tonight’s Lucas Oil 225 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to move to Saturday evening at 7pm EST. Johnny Sauter has made the upper echelon of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings his home this season. He currently leads the driver points standings over ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton (-7) and remains the only driver to appear in the top five all season. Trailing Sauter and Crafton in the standings are Ryan Blaney (-13), Darrell Wallace Jr. (-38) and German Quiroga (-48). Don’t plan on Sauter falling from his perch atop the standings anytime soon. That’s because he has a combined average finish of 9.2 at the remaining eight tracks, and if he can hold on to the No. 1 spot, he will clinch his first NCWTS title. His previous high championship finishes were a runner-up showing in 2011 and a third-place performance in 2010. Last season, he finished fourth after posting a career-high three wins.

Pep Boys NHRA Carolina Nationals

NHRA_pepboys_NC_NationalsSeries: NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Schedule
When: Friday, September 12 – Sunday, September 14
Racetrack: zMAX Dragway — Charlotte, North Carolina
How to watch from home: 8:30pm EST on ESPN2
What you need to know: As competitive as every race on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series circuit is, the start of the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship creates a palpable increase in intensity. Morgan Lucas (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were last year’s winners of the NHRA Carolina Nationals. It’s also the kickoff event of the six-race Countdown to the Championship, as the top 10 in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle compete to win world championships in their respective categories.

Jimmy John’s Freaky Fast 300

freakyfast300_on_light copySeries: NASCAR Nationwide Series
When: Saturday, September 13
Racetrack: Chicagoland Speedway — Joliet, Illinois
How to watch from home: ESPN2 @ 3:30pm EST
What you need to know: For the first time, car owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. might be facing a problem most NASCAR Nationwide Series car owners would love to have — his two cars are fighting it out for the Nationwide Series title in the final races of the season. But Earnhardt surely knows that his biggest task will be keep his organization from becoming a house divided, because only one of his drivers can bring home the title. But which one? Regan Smith, second in the series standings, has eight races left in the season to catch his teammate Chase Elliott who is a comfortable 19 points ahead in the standings lead. Smith’s consistency has brought him to this point in the season, but out placing Elliott will be crucial in these final eight races if Smith wants the title. Unfortunately for Smith, Elliott’s stronghold on the point standings has been Continue reading…

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CV Products Trackside Notes For August 8-10 2014

CV Products —  August 9, 2014 | Category: Trackside Program | Comment

watkins_glen_c_thumbIt’s a busy weekend for the CV Products Trackside Program. We’re at four different racetracks in four different states providing trackside support at 11 different races between now and Sunday evening.

Going into tonight’s NASCAR K&N East race at Watkins Glen — the Bully Hill Vineyard 125 — much of the talk was focused on how the driver of the No. 96 car, Kenzie Ruston, would perform after her second-place finish at Iowa Speedway. Ruston, a member of the NASCAR Next class, has three top-five and six top-10 finishes in 12 races and was sitting in sixth position in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship standings going into tonight’s race. Her finish at Iowa, by the way, was the highest for a female driver in K&N Pro Series history!

Want to know how Kenzie Ruston fared? Check out the write-up below, along with all the other information we’re providing about this weekend’s CV Products Trackside stops.

BullyHillVineyards200Bully Hill Vineyards 125

Series: NASCAR K&N East
When: Friday, August 8
Racetrack: Watkins Glen International — Watkins Glen, NY
How this one played out: In its first race at Watkins Glen in four years, the NASCAR K&N East gave race fans a lot to cheer about. And Kenzie Ruston didn’t disappoint. While she didn’t win tonight’s Bully Hill Vineyards 125, she did gather up another top 10 finish by coming in ninth. Second-year driver Scott Heckert was able to get past leader Andrew Ranger and second-place Cole Custer on restart of a green-white-checkered attempt to score his first career victory in the action-packed Bully Hill Vineyards 125 on Friday. After a late race caution was given to the field on Lap 50 for contact between Daniel Suarez and several cars, Ranger led Custer on the final restart at the line. The two battled side by side until Heckert found an opportunity to make his move and get by both drivers just before the white flag. Custer made one last attempt to pass Heckert for the lead, but he lost control and hit the sand barrels at the end of pit road to bring out the final caution of the race. For Heckert, it was his first win in 27 career K&N Pro Series East starts.

Continental Tire Road Race Showcase_logoContinental Tire Road Race Showcase

Series: Tudor United SportsCar Series
When: Friday, August 8 – Sunday, August 10
Racetrack: Road America — Elkhart Lake, WI
How to watch from home: 5:20pm EST on Saturday on IMSA.com, and 6:30pm EST on Sunday on FOX Sports 1
What you need to know: The Continental Tire Road Race Showcase takes over Road America’s 4-mile circuit for what will undoubtedly be one of the most incredible weekends of sports car racing this season. Fans will get to see the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race on Saturday, with the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship event on Sunday, plus races from the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge, IMSA Prototype Lites and the Mazda MX-5 Cup all weekend.

zippo200_thumbZippo 200 at the Glen

Series: NASCAR Nationwide Series
When: Saturday, August 9
Racetrack: Watkins Glen International — Watkins Glen, NY
How to watch from home: ABC at 2pm EST, or Sirius XM Ch. 90
What to watch for: Joe Nemechek will attempt to make his 1,100th NASCAR national series start this weekend. Nemechek is third on the all-time NASCAR national series starts list behind Richard Petty (1,182) and Mark Martin (1,142).

Berlin-Raceway-Logo_000Federated Auto Parts 200

Series: ARCA Racing Series
When: Saturday, August 9
Racetrack: Berlin Raceway — Marne, MI
How to watch from home: ARCARacing.com
What to watch for: Justin Boston is in the hunt for his second career ARCA Racing Series victory. Boston has started all 13 races in the ARCA Series this season and has moved into the fifth spot in the driver championship point standings. He has five top-five finishes and seven top-ten finishes, plus two Menards pole awards.

2014 World Crown 300_Logo2014 World Crown 300

Series: Southern Super Series
When: Saturday, August 9
Racetrack: Gresham Motorsports Park — Jefferson, GA
How to watch from home:
What you need to know: The 2014 World Crown 300 get underway on Wednesday, with the opening of Gresham’s campground area. Thursday saw the first on-track action with an optional test for all Super Late Models, Outlaw Late Models and Pro Trucks. A second optional test was held earlier this evening. Pole position qualifying starts at 5:30pm Saturday, with the first race of this year’s World Crown 300 rolling off at 7pm.

cheezit355thumbCheez-IT 355 at the Glen

Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
When: Sunday, August 10
Racetrack: Watkins Glen International — Watkins Glen, NY
How to watch from home: ESPN at 1pm EST, or Sirius XM Ch. 90
What to watch for: Nelson Piquet Jr., son of former Formula 1 champ Nelson Piquet, will be making his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut this weekend at Watkins Glen driving the No. 77 Ford for car owner Randy Humphrey. Piquet has three NASCAR national series wins in his career, including in a NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2012 at a race at Road America.

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Dominating Performances Marked CV Products’ Trackside Weekend

CV Products —  May 20, 2014 | Category: Trackside Program | Comment

Dominating performances were on tap this past weekend, as the winners of all three major NASCAR series’ races — and the winner of the ARCA race — didn’t flinch an inch in the final stretches before capturing their respective checkered flags. And CV Products Trackside was there for all the action.

Here’s where we were and what we saw:

NC LOTTO 200 2008North Carolina Education Lottery 200

Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
When: Friday, May 16
Racetrack: Charlotte Motor Speedway  — Charlotte, NC
Race recap: After Friday night’s dominating performance at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch appears to be untouchable, at least where the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is concerned. Leading 130 of 134 laps after starting his truck on the pole for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200, Busch claimed his third truck series win in as many starts this season and his fourth consecutive going back to last year’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The victory was Busch’s 38th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and his sixth at Charlotte. If only Busch’s odds were as good elsewhere. The Las Vegas-born driver is attempting to become the first driver to complete the IndyCar-NASCAR 1,100-mile double since 2001, and just yesterday crashed during practice for the Indianapolis 500.

NASCAR14_allstar_14Sprint All-Star Race

Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
When: Saturday, May 17
Racetrack: Charlotte Motor Speedway — Charlotte, NC
Race recap: Pulling away from an intense battle with polesitter Carl Edwards to open the final 10-lap segment Saturday night, Jamie McMurray won the Sprint All-Star Race — and get this… the million-dollar-plus prize that goes with the victory. McMurray held off Kevin Harvick, who crossed the finish line just .696 seconds behind. Matt Kenseth finished third, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson. Though  Edwards and  McMurray inched ahead of each other at various junctures after the final restart, McMurray led at the finish line for each of the final 10 laps. Once he cleared Edwards three laps into the run, McMurray pulled away for good. The 31 laps McMurray led Saturday night were the first he had ever led in the All-Star Race.

GetToKnowNewton_250Get to Know Newton 250 presented by Sherwin Williams

Series: NASCAR Nationwide Series
When: Sunday, May 18
Racetrack: Iowa Speedway — Newton, IA
Race recap: Sam Hornish, Jr. dominated the field in the Get to Know Newton 250, leading 167 of the race’s 250 laps at the 7/8-mile track at Iowa Speedway. The rare Sunday Nationwide Series race saw Hornish pull away from his only competition, pole sitter Ryan Blaney, on a lap 229 restart. From there it was smooth driving for the part-time Joe Gibbs Racing driver who previously finished second, third or fourth in his last three starts at Iowa. Blaney, who led 80 laps, finished second, while Regan Smith, who hasn’t finished outside the top 10 all season, took third. NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader Chase Elliott and Elliott Sadler finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care

menards200logoSeries: ARCA Racing Series
When: Sunday, May 18
Racetrack: Toledo Speedway — Toledo, OH
Race recap: It was a festival atmosphere at Toledo Speedway on Sunday for the Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care. Nashville band Lucy Angel performed a free concert; thousands of fans lined up for autographs; and, the perfect weather in Toledo had fans, race teams and drivers all on the edge of their seats for the 200 lap race. Justin Boston took the lead from Grant Enfinger on lap 181 and held off a charge from pole winner Mason Mitchell to take the checkered flag. It was Venturini Motorsports first win at Toledo since team owner Bill Venturini himself went to victory lane as a driver in 1987.

CV Products Trackside will visit Charlotte Motor Speedway again this weekend when we’re in town to support the Coca-Cola 600 and History 300 NASCAR races. Look for a preview of this weekend’s action to appear here on our blog later this week.

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CV Products Trackside Program Visits Kansas Speedway

CV Products —  May 9, 2014 | Category: Trackside Program | Comment

297679Kansas Speedway plays hosts to the CV Products Trackside Program this weekend. Tonight found us supporting NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series’ drivers and their teams as they made their way around Kansas Speedway’s 1.5-mile tri-oval. The race — the SFP 250 — was marred by one caution after another (nine in all, or about one caution for every 18 laps). See below for a recap.

Next up for CV Trackside at Kansas is Saturday’s 5-Hour Energy 400 Sprint Cup Series race benefiting the Special Operations Warrior Foundation — a Tampa, Fla.-based nonprofit that provides college scholarship grants, along with financial aid and educational counseling, to the children of Special Operations personnel who were killed in an operational mission or training accident.

Here’s the complete scoop:

297678SFP 250

Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
When: Friday, May 9
Racetrack: Kansas Speedway — Kansas City, KS
Note: CV’s trailer is in the pits and available for people with pit passes only.
Race-day insight: After racing only twice so far this season, the 2014 Camping World Truck Series schedule will get hopping over the next couple of weeks. For the first time this season, the series will be in action in back-to-back weekends with the SFP 250 tonight at Kansas Speedway and next week at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200.
Race recap and results: Kyle Busch led a race-best 104 laps and easily won tonight’s Camping World Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway. The victory, which came by 3.021 seconds over second-place finisher and last year’s race winner Matt Crafton, was the second of the season in a truck for Busch, and his 37th in the series overall. Busch’s former Sprint Cup teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, Joey Logano, finished third, while Austin Dillon finished fourth and Tayler Malsam fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Jeb Burton, German Quiroga, Ron Hornaday Jr., Joe Nemechek and Mason Mingus.

5-Hour Energy 400 Benefiting Special Operations Warrior Foundation

297675Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
When: Saturday, May 10
Racetrack: Kansas Speedway — Kansas City, KS
How to find us: Our trailer will be in the pits but you’ll need a Pitt Pass to get there.
Race-day facts: This past Sunday, Clint Bowyer scored his best finish of the 2014 Sprint Cup Series season, a third at Talladega. And on Monday he announced that he and his wife were expecting their first child. That same day, his team owner signed Bowyer to a multi-year contract extension. Now the Emporia, Kansas, native heads back to his home state for a major career milestone — his 300th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start. Over the first 299, Bowyer has accumulated eight wins, 52 top fives and 140 top 10 finishes. He’s also made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup five times in his eight full-time seasons, including in 2012 when he finished second in championship points.
How to watch from home: FOX Television will broadcast the race starting at 7pm (EDT). If you’re not in front of the television, listen in on Sirus XM Channel 90 or via the Motor Racing Network.

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Easter Weekend Schedule for CV Products Trackside

CV Products —  April 18, 2014 | Category: Trackside Program | Comment

This Easter Weekend is a slow one for the Trackside team here at CV Products. While you can normally find us at multiple tracks supporting many different racing series, this Easter Weekend CV Products will be trackside for just one event — the Pro All Stars Series’ Easter Bunny 150, which you can learn about below. But before we get there, here’s a recap of what’s happened so far this race season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:

Much has been said and written about the seven different winners to start the Sprint Cup season, a streak broken this past weekend at Darlington Raceway when Kevin Harvick became the year’s first two-time winner. Overshadowed somewhat has been a concurrent revolving door, in the form of eight different Coors Light Pole winners to open the season, tied for the series’ longest season-opening streak of different pole winners.

Is competition better than ever? There are statistics supporting that notion:

  • All three manufacturers have won races thus far, led by Chevrolet’s four victories.
  • An average of 12 different leaders per race, compared to 8.6 at this point last year.
  • An average of 25.6 lead changes per race, compared to 17.4 in 2013.
  • Total of 29,541 green flag passes, compared to 23,178 in 2013.
  • Total of 346 green flag passes for the lead, compared to 181 in 2013.
  • And… an average margin of victory of 0.588 seconds, the smallest since 2008.

In addition, it’s even easier to argue that the competition has received a boost in interest because of the nuances of the new championship-deciding Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format. Race winners are virtually assured a berth in the 16-driver Chase, unless there are more than 16 different winners, whereupon the series points could be used to determine which race winners get into the “playoffs.” Number of race victories, though, will be the first “tiebreaker.” And don’t forget about this: the series points leader after 26 races – the “regular season’ champion so to speak – will get in, with or without having a race victory.

After eight races, three of the top five drivers in the series standings are winless – Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson. Between them, those three drivers have won 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships, but right now they’re sharing a seat that perhaps isn’t really hot just yet, but definitely is getting warm.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule resumes next Saturday night at three-quarters mile Richmond International Raceway. Richmond has been called, through the years, “the perfect track” which means there’s a good chance at an interesting season is about to become even more so.

In the meantime, here’s where to find CV Products Trackside this weekend:

Easter Bunny 150

Series: Pro All Stars Series
When: Saturday, April 19
Racetrack: Hickory Motor Speedway — Hickory, NC
Where to find us: In the pits (Pit Pass required for entry)
What you need to know: The Pro All Stars Series announced earlier this week that the Easter Bunny 150 would be televised via PASS TV powered by MotorsportsBroadcasting.com and Race22.com. The live pay-per-view broadcast from the legendary Hickory Motor Speedway will utilize MSB’s years of expertise in covering short track racing events and will also feature fan interaction through Race22’s live race updates throughout the day from Hickory. Fans can purchase the broadcast for just $25 by visiting either ProAllStarsSeries.com or Race22.com. As for the race itself, a great group of drivers have already filed pre-entries, including PASS South points leader and Hickory native, Tyler Church; PASS South points contenders Cole Timm, Jared Irvan, Trevor Noles and Tyler Dippel; and, a strong contingent of Northern drivers including Ben Rowe, Joey Doiron, Austin Theriault, Trevor Sanborn, and Ryan Moore.

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