NASCAR Media Tour Notes

The first event taking place over the weeklong festivities was the National Motorsports Press Association’s Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. Rusty Wallace, Jack Roush, Roger Penske, and Robert Yates were the 2010 honorees. Many people who have helped build the sport including Mike Helton, Dale Jarrett, Harry Gant, and Bobby Allison attended the dinner. Dale Inman, Tommy Houston, Jack Ingram, and Jerry Cook were more of the old guard on hand representing years of dedication to NASCAR.

Jimmie Johnson won the Richard Petty driver of the year award. Even though he has been retired from driving for eighteen years, Petty still carries a large presence. When ‘The King’ entered the room the luncheon was held in, many in attendance directed their attention and made an effort to catch a glimpse of the seven-time champ.

SceneDaily.com writer Bob Pockrass won the George Cunningham Writer of the Year award at the NMPA awards dinner. Pockrass had some warm heartfelt remarks about his former co-workers at the now closed NASCAR Scene.

Vice president of communications for NASCAR Jim Hunter is recovering well. Hunter was diagnosed with cancer last October and is now undergoing chemotherapy. According to Brian France, Hunter’s treatments are progressing nicely.

John Darby is reassigned to a position within NASCAR’s Research and Development department. His open position as the Sprint Cup Series competition director is yet to be filled.

The Camping World East and West Series will now be known as the K & N Pro Series. The East and West divisions have a seven-year sponsorship agreement with the automotive Filter Company. Look for Chad Boat to see some time in this series. Father Billy is a former Indycar driver.

East Series director Kip Childress acknowledged their long-standing fan base in the New England region. The tour has evolved from the once northeast-based Busch North Series.

The Nationwide Series Car of Tomorrow will have a test at Daytona in May and make its competitive debut there in July. Additional races this year will be Michigan in August, Richmond in September, and Charlotte in October. A full 2011 schedule is expected.

Nationwide crew limits at the track are being imposed. A total of fifteen will include the driver, crew chief, spotter, and seven over-the-wall members.

The Truck Series will use double-file restarts and conventional pitting procedures. A self-venting fuel dump can requires only six crewmen on pit stops. A sealed spec engine will be available for use on tracks of a mile-and-a-quarter and under.

The Cup Series will relax regulations on superspeedway bump drafting but the yellow line rule will still be enforced. A 63/64-inch restrictor plate will also be utilized, giving drivers more throttle response. This is the biggest plate used since 1989.

Cup’s COT will undergo a spoiler test at Charlotte Motor Speedway in March. The first official race with the spoiler could be a short track in the spring with Texas as a possible downforce track premiere.

According to Mike Helton “over two dozen changes have been made” to the COT. “None of those were visible. The change from a wing to a spoiler is very visible.” It was done for aesthetics and hopefully will improve competition.

Fuel injection is being researched and 2011 is the goal for the rollout.

Robin Pemberton stated that some stability pieces have been added to cars and have increased drag. This led in part to the bigger plate decision.

Tommy Baldwin Racing has switched from Toyotas to Chevrolets.

Larry McReynolds commented his son Brandon is looking for sponsorship for 2010. The young up-and-coming driver has several years of racing under his belt but needs some backing to continue for this season.

Fox sports and Speed TV’s Krista Voda got married this weekend. Hearts were heard breaking across NASCAR Nation. Sorry guys.

(Patrick Reynolds is the co-host of the One and Done auto racing talk show Tuesdays at 11am ET. Listen in at www.wsicweb.com)