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
Series: 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
Series: 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
Series: 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…
As the 2013 racing season charges ever so closer to the finish line, the good people who manage the CV Trackside Program are pumped for yet another weekend of action. From the three NASCAR races at Chicagoland to a race in Maine and another one in Indiana, our crew is in the pits this weekend to support the drivers, race teams and fans alike. If you’re in the neighborhood and can get your hands on one of those coveted pit passes, be sure to stop by and say hello.
Brad Keselowski may not have made the 2013 Chase but he will make a start in the Camping World Truck Series this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, while two-time Chicagoland series winner Kyle Busch will run triple duty this weekend, beginning with Friday night’s stint in the No. 51 truck.
The old saying that the cream always rises to the top certainly is an accurate statement for the PASS 400 Weekend at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine. September 15 marks the 9th anniversary of the event at one of Maine’s premiere facilities, located just a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean seacoast. When you think of Maine, you think of lobster and fresh seafood. When you think of auto racing in Maine, you think of the PASS 400 Weekend at Beech Ridge. When the checkered flag falls on Sunday, will it be an Ironman veteran, or and up and coming young racer sitting in victory lane?
The battle for the SCOTT Rookie Challenge title, with just three races to go in the 2013 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season, is tied at the top. Mason Mingus is tied with Justin Boston – each with 392 points – heading into this Saturday’s Kentuckiana Ford Dealers Fall Classic. This weekend’s race marks the 94th appearance of the ARCA Racing Series at Salem since debuting on the historic high-banked, half-mile oval in 1955. No track has appeared more on ARCA’s schedule over the years than Salem.
Kenny Wallace will attempt his 900th Nationwide series start this weekend when he lines up for the Dollar General 300. His milestone start will come one night after starting in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series EnjoyIllinois.com 225 for his 899th overall start.
The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is a sprint, not a test of endurance. That’s why Sunday’s GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway (2 p.m. ET, ESPN, MRN Radio, SiriusXM Radio) could loom crucial among the 10 events making up this year’s Chase. Since becoming the postseason’s opening race, the GEICO 400’s two winners – Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart – have gone on to capture the Cup championship. Kurt Busch also won the Chase opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway en route to the 2004 title. This year’s top three seeds – Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch – have a total of one win at the 1.5-mile track located in Joliet, Ill. Busch, the No. 3 seed with 2,012 points, won in 2008 but has posted an average finish of 19.0 in four subsequent starts.
