Racing's Home Tracks: Part 2 of a IV-part Trilogy

NASCAR's insistence everyone have a "home track" has metastasized into a full-blown epidemic.

After bringing awareness of this crisis to the masses two weeks ago, I wanted to continue with many more cringe-worthy examples.

During the recent Save Mart 300 in California, we were led to believe by PRN Radio and FoxSports1 on-air folks that at least four drivers claimed Sonoma as their home track. Though to be fair, the persistent matching of Cup drivers ... and teams ... and sponsors ... and manufacturers ... to a home track isn't limited to just PRN and FOX.

We were told Jeff Gordon began his racing career at Sonoma - despite having moved to Indiana when he was 14 years old.

The Dinger - A.J. Allmendinger - obviously claims Sonoma as his home track.

Never mind his home town of Los Gatos, California is 90 miles away.

Sophomore Cup and Target Racing driver, Kyle Larson, also claims Sonoma as his home track...allegedly.

I guess it's irrelevant his home track before making the transition to NASCAR was Calistoga Speedway.

Oh. Wait. Maybe it's Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California.

Finally, Target Racing's former driver (and current GEICO discounted participant), Casey Mears, has claimed Sonoma as his home track...

...when he wasn't claiming Auto Club Speedway in Fontana as his home track.

Mears isn't the only driver confused about his home track - nor the only Chip Ganassi Racing driver to be confused. Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway was (and still is) indeed the home track for two-time Daytona 500 winner, Sterling Marlin. After all, he was a multi-time track champion at Nashville, made his first Cup start there, piled up tons of late model wins, helped his dad Coo Coo Marlin at the track, etc. He was able to make the transition to Cup after cutting his teeth at Nashville, and he continues to race at Nashville.

But Nashville fell off the Cup schedule after 1984. No problem. Sterling was assigned Bristol as his replacement home track. The facts of (1) his never running a weekly series at the track and (2) the 5+ hour driving distance from his home made little difference to the PR folks.

The city of Chicago was poetically labeled by Carl Sandburg as The City of the Big Shoulders. That statement needs to be true to hold aloft the legacy of all the drivers who claim Chicagoland Speedway as their home track - regardless that it isn't for any of them. (The fact Chicagoland isn't even in Chicago is a different thought altogether.)

Future NASCAR Hall of Famer (tongue deeply in cheek), Danica Patrick, is originally from Roscoe, Illinois - 2 hours from Joliet, IL. Such the sweetie, she kindly adopted Chicagoland as her home track as if it were a puppy.

Danica has long since left Roscoe, and apparently now calls Scottsdale, Arizona home. I think. Regardless, Phoenix International Raceway is now her home track - simply because she bought some real estate nearby.

Paul Menard's home track is the Milwaukee Mile in his home state of Wisconsin.

Whoa, easy there you wild and crazy guy. Milwaukee isn't on NASCAR's Cup schedule and never has been. You should know better than that. Looks like his PR team learned that factoid, and NardBurns was assigned Chicagoland as his true home track.

The roots of Venturini Motorsports go back to the 1950s. The team's drivers have been stalwarts of the ARCA circuit for decades. So where is its home track? Chicagoland of course - the track that opened in 2001.

Whew, time for a sanity break.

I've never a particularly big fan of Jamie McMurray. Haven't jeered him - I just haven't pulled for him either. Normally my response to him during driver intros is a tepid ehhh. But I may now become a Big Mc fan. Jamie recognizes just because he IS from Missouri doesn't mean Kansas Speedway is his home track. Kudos Jamie, well done.

But just because Jamie Mc gets it doesn't mean others do. Let's continue...

Yuengling, the country's oldest brewery, has only been involved with NASCAR since 2014. Yet, the beer - BEER! - has a home track.

Hell, not only is it absurd for a beer to have a home track, Yuengling isn't even the original beer sponsor at Pocono. What brand was? Oh yes: Schaefer.

Speaking of a sponsor for Ty Dillon, he let loose an eye-rolling whopper in 2014 by stating Atlanta Motor Speedway is his second home track. 

Why? Because he went to AMS as a kid and it's "so close to my house in North Carolina." The distance between Atlanta and Dillon's NC home is approximately 350 miles. Ty, you were so close in your estimate of distance...or not.

The absurdity continues with this beauty from Auto Club Speedway. They announced themselves as the home track for Rusty Wallace's driving school. That "news" was about as goofy as Rusty posing as an analyst on ESPN broadcasts and MRN Radio.

Sticking with the southern California track, ACS is always stated by the lemmings as the home track for Toyota. TRD builds engines nearby, crates them, and then ships them to North Carolina.

This news asserts Martinsville Speedway was former driver Jeff Burton's home track. Burton and his brother Ward are from South Boston, Virginia. Early in their racing careers, both ran the half-mile South Boston Speedway regularly. South Boston still hosts races today. From 1960 through 1971, 10 10 Grand National / Cup races were held at the track. Until 2000, least one Busch ... errr, Xfinity Series race each year was scheduled at South Boston. Jeff raced in eight of those events and could rightfully have called South Boston his home track - but not Martinsville.

I'll close with a Triple Crown of head-scratching, home track, hilarity courtesy of Chevrolet.

The brand has been involved with racing for decades. Drivers from coast to coast and north to south have raced a Bowtie. Yet, Chevy itself has a home track? Sure, why not. And where else would it be but Michigan International Speedway.

Wait - we talkin' NASCAR or Indy car? Indy? Oh then I'm sure Chevy meant that other Michigan track - the Raceway at Belle Isle. Yes, the track where CART hosted races beginning way back in ... well, not that far back ... in 1992.

And to reinforce Chevrolet's enduring love for its home track, it has yet a third one - the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

TMC

Richard Petty Museum visit: the trophies part 2

Having about three to four hours and a butt-load of trophies to view was a bit of a sensory overload when it came to taking pictures. As noted in my previous entry, I chose to hone in on trophies from lost tracks and on wins for which I had some other memory connection.

As I started wrapping up my last entry, I strayed off topic a bit. I wanted to focus on lost tracks in that one and save current tracks for this one. But I threw in Darlington and Pocono. Oh well, sue me.

But in an effort to make up a bit for that blogging blunder, how about I let a lost track invade this current track blog. Fair and balanced, right?

North Wilkesboro - Richard won five races and the championship in 1979. The 1980 season look promising. He won two short-track races early in the season: Nashville and the Northwestern Bank 400 at North Wilkesboro. Unfortunately, he had a terrible wreck at Pocono mid-year which derailed his chances for an 8th title.

A couple of observations about the victory lane photo above:

• Richard's daughter, Rebecca, now heads up the Petty Family Foundation.
• I had the same t-shirt she is wearing, and a photo of my sporting it was even included in my high school annual!

Winston Cup trophies - Richard won seven NASCAR Grand National / Winston Cup championships. I found the 1971, 1974 and 1979 Winston Cup trophies. I did not spot the 1964, , 1967, 1972 or 1975 championship trophies - though its possible they were there and overlooked by me.

Richard earned his fourth championship in 1971 - but it was his first (and the first overall) labeled as the Winston Cup Series Champion.

Richard's fifth Cup trophy from 1974.

And Richard's seventh and final Cup trophy from 1979.

The 1979 championship win by Petty was truly remarkable. Richard went winless from mid-1977 through the end of 1978. STP had begun to doubt him, and sponsorship re-negotiations began. Because it was unresolved, the 43 car ran minimal STP decals and colors the first three races of 1979. Petty had stomach ulcer surgery after the 1978 season concluded, and his doctors recommended he not start the 1979 season. He ignored his doctors' advice, started the season and even won the Daytona 500 for the sixth time as Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crashed on the last lap. Also, Darrell Waltrip had come into his own, won seven races, and jelled with his DiGard team to grab the championship. But a funny thing happened on the way to the final race at Ontario. DiGard and DW stumbled down the stretch, and the steady-as-you-go, experienced Petty team rose to the occasion. When the checkers flew, it was the King who locked up his 7th title.

Martinsville - A key win for Richard in 1979 was the spring Virginia 500. Darrell Waltrip was on a bit of a roll. But in a rare display of humility, he even conceded before the race began that the 43 was likely the car to beat. And it was as Richard won and DW finished 3rd.

Atlanta - As a driver, Petty had plenty of success with wins at Atlanta. Interestingly, I don't think I saw any trophies from his multiple wins there. However, I did find this one - the provisional pole winner for The Atlanta Invitational in 1986. The race was the preliminary event to The Winston and was open to non-winning drivers who weren't eligible for the main event. For those newer to NASCAR, 1986 was the second year of The Winston and the only year it hasn't been raced in Charlotte.

I really enjoyed seeing the trophies from the wins in the 1960s and early 1970s - way before my time as a fan. But it was also cool seeing the trophy from the most recent win involving Richard Petty. Here is the big iron from Kasey Kahne's win in the 2009 Pep Boys 500 driving for Richard Petty Motorsports.

Source: Motorsport.com

Sonoma - Sticking with the current events theme, the museum also had the unique trophy from Kahne's win at Sonoma in June 2009. It was Petty's first win as a car owner since 1999 when John Andretti won at Martinsville.

Charlotte - Over the years, some questioned why Petty didn't win many races at Darlington. However, he did run well consistently and tallied three wins. If any criticism could be leveled about his performance on a track, perhaps it should have been Charlotte instead. Jim Paschal, Marvin Panch and Buddy Baker - drivers who raced for Petty Enterprises - won at Charlotte in Petty cars. However, Richard himself couldn't close the sale individually until the 1975 World 600. He then won again in the fall race to sweep the year. In 1977, he once again won the 600.

Interestingly, actress Elizabeth Taylor, who recently died, attended the race with her then-husband Sen. John Warner of Virginia. One or both of them was the race's grand marshal, and they joined the King in victory lane.

Hardware for Kyle's career was in short supply at the museum. Likely, it was for one of three reasons.

• One, its the RICHARD PETTY museum - not necessarily the Lee, Maurice, Kyle or Adam Petty Museum.
  
• Two, a lot of Kyle's trophies were stored at his beach home near Charleston SC. Sadly, a fire consumed the house several years ago and much of its contents.
• Three, let's face it - Kyle didn't exactly need an expanded museum to display his winnings. With only eight career wins and a few poles, he didn't have a lot to display even if it was still available. I'm a fan of all-things Petty - including Kyle's career. But that's just the honest truth.

Richmond - One of Kyle's trophies I did find at the museum was from his first Cup win in the 1986 Miller 400 at Richmond. Earnhardt wiped out DW, and the third and fourth place cars managed to get caught up in the melee too. Kyle came from 5th to 1st in the final two turns of the last lap on what was then Richmond's half-mile track.

Update 2011-04-06: As a reader rightfully pointed out to me, the Earnhardt/DW wreck and Kyle's pass for the win was NOT on the last lap. It all took place with three laps to go. Back then, races could finish under caution. So all Kyle had to do was ride around the final couple of laps to seal the win. Thanks Cam for the correction.

Daytona - The Petty family and Daytona are linked closely together. Petty Enterprises has enjoyed unbelievable success at the track since its opening in 1959. I found a couple of items that merited a picture.

Here is another trophy collected by Kyle for his winning the pole for the 1993 Daytona 500 - the first without Richard Petty in it since 1961.

Richard won the 1964 Daytona 500, and he added additional wins in the 500 in the late 60s and early 70s. However, he could never quite win the summer Firecracker 400. Finally, he won it in 1975 and did so again in 1977.

I definitely wanted a shot of this trophy. As soon as I spotted it, I laughed a bit knowing I had this victory lane photo from the race at home.

Trophies are only part of the items on display at the museum. I'll post some of the rest of what I thought in the entries to follow.

TMC

A big glass of Sonoma red

I put the Schaefer on ice for another night. Instead, I uncorked a bottle of merlot to celebrate the return of The King to victory lane. Some thoughts on the win as well as a few other items.

The win

I haven't been a big Kasey Kahne fan since he came into Cup. Don't dislike him - but he's a bit like Mark Martin for me. Just...whatever. When the shotgun marriage of Gillett-Evernham's 9 and 19 teams merged with Petty Enterprise's 43 and 44 teams, I really didn't know how to feel. If the King is involved, I want to have my heart in it. But other than Elliott Sadler being a likable guy and A.J. Allmendinger being an underfunded diamond in the rough, I really didn't care either way for Kasey in the 9 or Reed Coldsorenson in the famed 43.

But bottom line, Kasey got it done. He simply did not wither under multiple restarts and pressure from one of the best in Smoke.

And The King returned to his rightful place on the throne of victory lane.


Some other thoughts...

Ironical moment

Richard Petty has a long standing philosophy where he refuses alcohol sponsorship on "his" cars. The compromise for the merger was to continue with Bud on the 9 but no beer decals on the 43 or 44. Yet there he was today with Bud colors in victory lane taking a big slug out of the goblet of wine above the winner's trophy.

Red Bull or No?

For the 2nd time this year, Scott Speed's team owner - Red Bull Racing - leased Joe Nemechek's #87 when Speed couldn't qualify his own car into the field. I understand why Joe gave up the seat. He likely made more by leasing his car and getting a portion of Speed's winnings than he would had he driven it himself. But I don't get the Red Bull logic. Both times Scott has driven Joe's car, he's done so with the same plain blue color Joe painted it vs. dropping on Red Bull decals. Seems to me part of why RBR wants Speed in the race is to market their product. So why rent a car if you aren't going to pimp yo stuff?

Boris The Bull

Each year, much is made of the road course specialists or "ringers" hired to replace regular drivers or who enter their own cars. Boris Said is normally mentioned as one of those as a threat to win. He entered the Daytona 500 but failed to make the show. His team retreated and supposedly put all their eggs in the basket to make the Sonoma race. He made it with an excellent qualifying run. But once underway, my gosh - the cat bonzaied every corner and wrecked everyone but the pace car.

Best story I heard this weekend

P.J. Jones, son of famed road racer Parnelli Jones, qualified for this weekend's Cup race. On Speed TV, P.J. was asked about one of his greatest race stories from his dad. He laughed and said Parnelli dusted the field in qualifying at Riverside in 1967. Bill France Sr. was livid that Parnelli showed up his regular guys, deemed Parnelli's tires illegal, and ordered him to start at the rear of the field. Yet, Parnelli came through the field, won the race, found Big Bill Sr., and flipped him the bird.

Big Picture for Montoya

By his own admission, Juan Pablo Montoya and his 42 Target team admitted they would be satisfied with a top 10 vs. going hard for a win. The team wants to be in the top 12, and they accomplished their goal when the day was over. But it should disturb NASCAR deeply when one of the THE great road course racers isn't willing to go all-out on the one course at which he excels simply to build up chips in his corner for 10 races down the road.

Least meaningful stat

Late in the race, Bill Weber piped off that car numbers 5, 9, and 21 were the only ones who had run every Sonoma race without a win. What kind of stupid trivia is that? One, the Wood Brothers car wasn't even running this weekend - so out of the gate he's wrong. Two, the 5 and 9 have had multiple drivers, owners, and car makes over the years. Anyone remember Lake Speed in the Cartoon Network or SPAM #9 Melling Ford? How about hapless Casey Mears in the #5? I've actually enjoyed the TNT broadcast crew this season - especially as compared to the FOX freak show. But that particular piece of trivia was as useless as they come.

Danica

Rumors continue to flourish she's on her way to NASCAR. One story has her aligned with Chip-N-Dale (aka Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing) while another story has her signing with Roush with a pre-Cup stint in Nationwide (fat chance). I don't care if she takes over the 48 with Chad Knaus on the pit box, she's in over her head if she comes to Cup. F1 is in a state of turmoil, and her tude won't allow her to ramp up by running ARCA, Trucks, or Nationwide before taking on Cup regulars. So that leaves her right back where she is - leveraging some new deal with an IRL team.

Schaefer News

I've been on the hunt for at least the last 2 years for a photo of a Schaefer-sponsored Buick. I know the car owner - D.K. Ulrich. I know the driver - Al Loquasto. I know the race - 1981 Mountain Dew 500. I know the track - Pocono. What I DON'T know (or didn't) if is if picture existed of the car. With the help of some co-super sleuths, we've determined a picture does exist. That's the tease for now. Stay tuned for more info - the pic and an accompanying article.

TMC