Gillett Evernham Motorsports

Boris Said suffered the same fate this weekend as Dale Earnhardt Jr. did almost five years ago while in the American Le Mans Series race.  Said's car, like Junior's before him, burst into flames with just a few minutes left in the race.

Said, in his No. 28 LG Motorsports Corvette, was driving in the AMLS for car owner Lou Gigliotti.  Said's race car had had some contact with a BMW going into a turn prior to the car bursting into flames.

Apparently, this contact resulted in some damage to the car, which ultimately resulted in the fire.  Said was able to exit quickly from the car and the safety crews did their work admirably.

At first, it appeared that Said was not injured.  The safety crews examined him carefully and Said was able to leave under his own power.

Said waved to the crowd and gingerly got into the medical aid car.  Unfortunately, he was burned more severely than anyone knew at the time.

For many NASCAR fans, Said's crash brought back vivid memories of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s fiery wreck in the same series and make of car.  In 2004, Junior was also racing in a Corvette in the American Le Mans Series race at Infineon.

Again, after some contact, Earnhardt, Jr.'s Corvette burst into flames.  As with Said, it initially appeared that Junior was not badly injured.

But later it was revealed that Earnhardt's burns were more serious.  He had second degree burns on his chin, neck and legs.

Earnhardt, Jr. said, "It was bad. They have sensors in the car.  It went from 155 degrees to 750 degrees in a second-and-a-half".

Junior continued, "And then the sensor burned out.  So, it was probably a lot hotter than that".  Nascar's most popular driver spent weeks of painful recuperation from the inferno.

It now appears that Said will have a similar road to recovery.  Car owner Lou Gigliotti advised that "Boris is OK but he will have a few weeks of sleepless nights with burns on his arms and eyes".

Gigliotti continued, "His face is swollen today and he is not happy".

Former crew chief and NASCAR team owner Ray Evernham revealed that he too had spoken to Said.  He advised his arms and hands were burned and sore and that his eyes were swollen shut.

But Evernham shared that Said's sense of humor remained intact.  In fact, the driver said that the fire did not do any further damage to his face than what was already there.

Evernham can empathize greatly with Said. He too suffered a fiery crash as a driver.  He had just taken on a full load of fuel when a car plowed into him, igniting the race car.

Evernham vividly recalled the heat and the smell of his burning fire suit and flesh.  To this day, the fire haunts him and he knows exactly what Said is going through.

Evernham also acknowledged that as a new race track owner, he is pretty strict on his fire safety precautions.  In fact, he recently got into an intense verbal argument with a driver at his track who refused to get fire- retardant underwear.

Most race car drivers will say that they do not fear the wrecks, including barrel rolling or flipping, as much as they fear fire.  It is the one element that truly gives them pause.

As Earnhardt, Jr. said after his fiery scare, “At that moment, you think of everything. You know, you think, ‘I could die here.’" 

Junior continued, “This could be how I go. This would really suck if it's the way I'm going out."

There is no doubt that Boris Said is experiencing similar sentiments after his encounter with the fire in his cockpit.  As with Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the hope will be that Said can recover just as quickly and return to the seat of a race car as soon as possible.

All race fans, from the American Le Mans Series to NASCAR, wish him the speediest of recoveries.

 Source:  The Nascar Files; The Associated Press; CBS News

Looking back in NASCAR archives, there has been one sponsor there since the birth of the sport on television.

The first race televised was in 1979 when Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison battled it out for the win in the 1979 Daytona 500. Allison was in a car sponsored by Hawaiian Tropic, which left the sport in the mid 1980's.

Yarborough was sponsored by a company who has been the staple of sponsorship since 1979, Anheuser-Busch. The Busch brand was on Yarborough's car that afternoon.

Since 1979, Budweiser and Busch have been associated with NASCAR in a way no other company has. Budweiser continued to sponsor Junior Johnson's No. 11 until 1994, when it left for Hendrick Motorsports.

Not only was Budweiser on Johnson's No. 11, they also sponsored a second entry, the No. 12 car driven mostly by the late Neil Bonnett.

If that isn't enough, in 1982 a second division of stock cars came into place, which was also sponsored by Anheuser-Busch.

The NASCAR Busch Series, started in 1982 and has grown significantly since the early days, into what is now the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Busch stopped sponsoring the series after the 2007 season.

Not only that, when ever a driver won a pole, it was known, for several years as the Bud Pole Award. If you won a Bud Pole, you were eligibly for the Busch Clash, or what was recently called the Budweiser Shootout.

The Race at Watkins Glen, from 1987 to 1995 was always known as the Bud at the Glen. They also sponsored the a race at Dover International Speedway from 1983 to 1994. From 1982-1988, they sponsored one race a year at Riverside International Speedway. From 1980-1993 Anheuser Busch sponsored a race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

After Budweiser left Johnson's team, they moved to Hendrick Motorsports for three seasons with drivers Ken Schrader, Ricky Craven, and Randy LaJoie.

In 1999, they moved to a DEI Cup entry driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr., and sponsored the sport's most popular driver in the No. 8 car from 1999-2007.

In 2008, they moved to the No. 9 car of Kasey Kahne.

Now, after all Anheuser-Busch has done for this sport, rumors are they are going to move out entirely. Including off of the No. 9 of Kahne as early as the end of the year.

Budweiser?

Seriously?

According to Jayski.com, Anheuser-Busch sold their company in the middle of 2008, to Inbev. Since Inbev has bought the company, they have laid off 1,000 workers, which is 6 percent of their workforce. Reports are that they are going to lay off 15 percent of their workforce.

It's sad to see what this economy is doing to NASCAR. Our best sponsor the last 30 years has been Budweiser. Let's remember everything they did for our sport and applaud Budweiser for being a great sponsor!

Ever wanted to win a custom-built chopper? Well here's your chance.

The Kasey Kahne Foundation and the Sonoma (Calif.) Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities are partnering on an exciting fundraiser to give away a custom-built chopper to one lucky racing fan.

The fundraiser will occur at this year's Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend at Infineon Raceway June 19-21.

The Kasey Kahne Custom Chopper Raffle officially kicked off Feb. 27, when a red-and-white chopper—built for Kahne by the world-famous Orange County Choppers—was unveiled.

"I am excited to team up with Infineon Raceway to raffle off this cool chopper to raise money for the Kasey Kahne Foundation and Speedway Children's Charities," Kahne said.

"Sunoco had this bike built by the guys at Orange County Choppers and it turned out great," Kahne went on to say. The lucky fan who wins the bike is going to be cruising around on one of the best looking choppers around."

It's no surprise that raffle tickets will be $9 each—the number of Kahne's Budweiser Dodge.

Tickets can be purchased by calling (800) 870-RACE. Kahne will select the winning ticket in the Winner's Circle at Infineon Raceway June 21.

"This is a terrific promotion and we're very grateful to Kasey for the opportunity to work together and benefit two great causes," said Steve Page, president and general manager of Infineon Raceway. "We look forward to handing this beautiful bike over to one of our fans in June."

Proceeds from the raffle will benefit the Kasey Kahne Foundation, while Speedway Children's Charities proceeds will be distributed to qualified youth groups in Sonoma County.

The Sonoma Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities has distributed more than $3 million to youth groups in Sonoma County since 2002.

For more information on the "Kasey Kahne Custom Chopper Raffle," visit www.infineonraceway.com, www.speedwaycharities.org, or www.kaseykahnefoundation.org, or call (800) 870-RACE.

Kasey Kahne had a rough Daytona 500. While being able to miss “The Big One”, which in this year’s race was the 10-car pile up that was the aftermath of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brian Vickers tangling up in the front of the pack.

Kahne was not as fortunate to make it through the entire race unscathed, however. In the race’s later stages, Kahne got caught up in a wreck behind the number eight car of Aric Almiroa from DEI. Kahne’s car hadn’t been one of the strongest cars on the day, but he had been making a charge to the front at the time of the wreck.

Kahne was the only Richard Petty Motorsports car not to finish in the Top 10. For the “star” of the team, this certainly needs to turn around and fast.

To be fair of course, the wreck wasn’t Kahne’s fault. That’s just how it goes at Daytona. However, being 29^th in the standings is still 29^th in the standings.

Along comes the Auto Club 500 in Fontana. After Saturday’s qualifying, Kahne will start 22^nd.

Kahne’s career at Fontana has been rather good for him. He has an average finish of 13^th, with seven top 10s, three top 5s and one win at California, according to NASCAR.com.

While Kahne’s starting position certainly isn’t ideal. However, I think that given his history at Fontana, he will be able to figure out the track and probably contend for a Top 10 finish.

Richard Petty Motorsports is coming off a stellar weekend in Daytona for the 19, 43 and 44 teams. The boys for Budweiser were left out on that party, but I think they’ll be celebrating a good finish after the Auto Club 500 is finished.

Kahne still needs to find some consistency if he wants to make the Chase this year. Granted, it’s only the second race of the season, but getting consistently good finishes can never start too early.

Sources: Hardcoreracefans.com, Jayski, NASCAR.com, Racing Reference, News-Press out of Fort Meyer, Florida and ReedSorensononline.com for the quotes and facts used in this article.

Kyle Petty was ousted from his Petty Enterprises ride when the team merged with Gillett Evernham during the offseason. And if you think the 48-year-old is going to walk away peacefully—you're wrong.

"I was crushed," the younger Petty said. "I was hurt and I'm not going to get over it for a while."

"The 43 and Richard Petty is at GEM, but not Petty Enterprises. So as far as I'm concerned the last year Petty Enterprises was in existence which I consider was 2007," he said.

Despite selling majority ownership to Boston Ventures last season, the struggling economy once again struck NASCAR and forced them to merge with GEM, now controlled by billionaire George Gillett.

"Petty Enterprises, when they left Level Cross, N.C., it became just another race team, they weren't Petty Enterprises anymore. So when I look at where our sport is and my father's business is, we've not existed in the guise of Petty Enterprises for a year or more because we moved away from where we were," Kyle Petty explained.

The team, renamed Richard Petty Motorsports, sported the No. 44 Valvoline Dodge in the same colors that Kyle Petty started—and won—his first race, an ARCA event at Daytona, with. But Petty still wasn't pleased.

“They did not ask me about the paint scheme,” he said. “That was my paint job and my car and my number and my stuff for my first win—not for Petty Enterprises or GEM or whoever that is. They can look at it how they want to, but I didn't get a call and that's worse.”

However, Petty said their was "no bitterness."

"If I was 22 years old I would be bitter as hell, OK. I'm 48 years old. I'm at the back side of a career, not the front side. So everything runs its course; it is a part of life. I started doing TV two years ago anticipating this day would come and I would not be a full-time driver and I would have to go do something else."

Petty also said he wouldn't watch the event on TV. His father, however, hopes things will eventually smooth over.

"I spoke to him a couple of times on the phone. He talked to his mother, and he was really crushed that we didn't include him in that part of it (the 44 car paint scheme). I understand that. We were so busy getting the deal done...it feel through the cracks, and I'm sorry that it did,'' The King said. 

"He's been doing things on his own," the elder Petty also said. "I've not seen him since Christmas. He's been so busy, and I've been so busy. We never really got together.

When No. 43 driver Reed Sorenson, now driving a red car instead of the infamous Petty blue, was the fastest car in Happy Hour, Petty said it meant "nothing to me" and went on to say he believed the team was "still Ray (Evernham)'s team."

"I won't watch it on TV," he added.

Leaving the track for his home in North Carolina, the third generation Petty missed his father's team finishing third, fifth, and ninth in the biggest NASCAR race of the season. The No. 43 crew also won the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award after spending the least amount of time on pit road.

A.J. Allmendinger, who almost didn't drive for the famous team, feels for Petty.

“I think it’s a big deal,” Allmendinger said. “It was a tough offseason for everybody. It was a long offseason. There’s a lot of stuff that went on throughout the team with the merger. We came here and I think it shows how strong the team is now.”

Thanks to NASCAR.com, The Virginian-Pilot, The New York Times, USA Today, and Motorsports.com for the information and quotes used in this piece.

They didn't win the Daytona 500, even though with 54 laps to go, it looked like one of them would.

But Richard Petty Motorsports drivers Elliot Sadler, A.J. Allmendinger, and Reed Sorenson all put up impressive numbers during Speedweeks and into the Great American Race.

It began with teamwork. Sadler and Sorenson drafted with Allmendinger during their Gatorade Duel. Falling back to draft with him, the famed No. 43 of Sorenson started 34th.

Sorenson was also fastest in Happy Hour.

"Everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports building great cars. I was hoping it was going to rain when Elliott was leading and Reed was second and I was fourth. That would have been a really great result for the team," Allmendinger said after the race.

I was trying to push Reed and Elliott as much as I could," he added. "They are the ones that got me into the race. It was my turn to return the favor and try to get them the win."

"I'm going to be honest with you," Sadler said later in the press conference. "I'm not going to lie to you. I was getting pretty emotional under the caution when it was raining a little bit in turn one and two.

"I thought it was going to be called a little bit earlier than it was. I was getting emotional in the car thinking, 'Wouldn't this be the coolest story?' I came down here as a fan the first time in 1979 and (then) finished second to Ward Burton, and now to have a chance to win the race.

"Seen guys like Harvick and Newman and them celebrate the last couple years on last lap passes, and how fun it looks like to me in Victory Lane. I had a lot of that cool stuff going through my head. But, you know, just wasn't meant to be."

The fourth teammate, Kasey Kahne in the No. 9 Budweiser, was caught up in a late race incident with Aric Almirola and finished 29th.

Things didn't have to be this way. Sadler was told in December that he would be replaced by the man he helped qualify for the 500. The Virginian fought, kept his job, and is looking to put the incident behind him for the good of the team.

"You've got to be a man about these things," Sadler said of the off-season turmoil. "Kasey Kahne is the flagship driver of Richard Petty Motorsports. But I'm the most experienced, oldest…been here the longest…if I don't lead by example and set good ways for the drivers to go by, who will?

"A lot of times you have to…race what's good for you and your company."

Sorenson, the youngest of the RPM drivers at just 23, is feeling the pressure of getting Petty's famous No. 43 back into the Winner's Circle.

"They haven't had a lot of success since (Petty) got out, so I'm trying to bring a little bit of that back.

"I'm not the only one who knows that I'm driving the 43, our team is part of the 43. The tire guys know it, the tire changers know it, my car chief knows it, my crew chief knows it. Everybody knows it. We all feel the pressure but it's exciting. We have something to represent."

If Daytona is any indication of the season ahead for the former Petty Enterprises and Gillett Evernham Motorsports, then you better believe this season is going to be a great one.

Thanks to NASCAR.com, St. Petersburg Times, Inside Track Breaking News Blog, and ESPNEWS for the quotes and information used in this piece.

Elliott Sadler may not be the fastest driver in the garage, but he demonstrated on Thursday why he is a fan favorite.

Elliott's Richard Petty Motorsports teammate, A.J. Allmendinger, had a bit of a shock when he arrived at Daytona for Speedweeks.  Because of all the owner point swapping, the new driver of the No. 44 Dodge suddenly found himself outside the top 35, and not guanteed a starting spot in the Daytona 500.

"...that was one of the big reasons Valvoline signed on (as sponsor). They thought they were in the 500," said Allmendinger.  "Coming down here to learn they weren't was tough."

So Allmendinger promised Valvoline that he would race his way in to the Daytona 500.  A promise he might not have been able to fulfill if not for his teammates—Sadler and Reed Sorenson.

"I think early in the race Elliott had a chance to be up front. It looked like he had a chance to go win the race. I watched him fall back to come back to me," said Allmendinger.

"I dropped back and helped him," Sadler added. "... trying to do everything I could as a good teammate to get him in the Daytona 500. That's what good teammates do."

Allmendinger went on to make the Daytona 500 based on his finish in the second of the Gatorade Dual races.

This could be a nice, feel-good story about new teammates in a newly reoganized organization learning to work together.  What makes this a great story that is catching media attention is the preseason history between Sadler and Allmendinger.

Just six short weeks ago, before the merger which brought in a fourth car, Gillette Evernham Motorsports had decided to replace Sadler with Allmendinger, despite the fact that Sadler's contract doesn't expire until 2010.  Sadler threatened legal action against both GEM and Allmendinger.  Sadler kept his seat in the No. 19, and Allmendinger was added to drive the No. 44 once the merger with Petty Enterprises was complete.

I wonder what it must be like to go to work every day for an organization who tried to get rid of you.

Elliott Sadler insists there are no hard feelings with Allmendinger. "We sat down when we first got down here—our buses are parked beside each other—and said, 'Look, we need to work together. We need to help each other. Let bygones be bygones.'"

"You've got to be a man about these things," Sadler continued. "Kasey Kahne is the flagship driver of Richard Petty Motorsports. But I'm the most experienced, the oldest...been here the longest. If I don't lead by example and set good ways for the drivers to go by, who will? A lot of times you have to be the bigger man—race the way that's not only good for you but your company—and hopefully everyone will benefit in the future. That's what I did [Thursday]."

Allmendinger chimes in, "Like I've said from day one, I've never had a problem with Elliott. I think he's a great race car driver. He's a great teammate. Obviously, there was a lot of stuff that happened over the last two months. Honestly, it was probably out of both of our hands. Really, neither of us could do anything about it. We happened to be the two guys put in the middle."

Elliott Sadler has something to prove this year; does he deserve to stay in the No. 19?  Only time will tell if his finishes will improve from the last two years.  However, if Richard Petty Motorsports needs a driver who will be a team player, they need to look no further.

*All quotes taken from NASCAR.com*

Practice speeds are often irrelevant at Daytona. For one driver, however, it was a relief to get off to a fast start after a tumultuous off-season.

Elliott Sadler, who nearly lost his ride in December, turned in the fastest performance by a Dodge in the Daytona 500 morning qualifying session. There will be one more practice for pole qualifying in the afternoon.

This was a session with cars going on solo qualifying runs, so the speeds are more relevant than they would be in a drafting practice.

Since the introduction of the new car, Dodge traditionally qualifies all of its cars well toward the back of the field.

They simply don't have the horsepower to compete in superspeedway (Talladega, Daytona) qualifying, but Dodge's superior handling at these same tracks usually brings them quickly to the front.

Sadler was 17th in the morning practice, far faster than his teammates (Reed Sorenson at 29th, A.J. Allmendinger at 30th, and Kasey Kahne at 38th).

The Richard Petty Motorports cars were the four fastest Dodges, further displaying the manufacturer's struggles with speed on single-car runs.

Bill Elliott turned in a surprising performance for the Wood Brothers (nearly shuttered at the end of 2008) in the No. 21 Little Debbie Ford to grab the top speed in the session.

Ford also had the second-fastest car with another "old guy," Bobby Labonte in the No. 96 for Yates Racing.  Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five.

Since only the top two cars will lock themselves into the Daytona field tomorrow, the speeds are not particularly important for the Dodges, who have no realistic shot at the pole.

It is vitally important for Sadler to get off to a good start this season in an effort to silence the critics who believe he doesn't deserve to be in the ride.

He will start second (by draw) in tonight's Bud Shootout, but next Sunday is when the real pressure will begin.

After the first Daytona 500 qualifying practice, so far, so good.

With the 2009 NASCAR season on the horizon, kicking off with the Budweiser Shootout on Saturday night, I think it is time for a little preview article about my favorite driver, Kasey Kahne.

2008 was a tough year for Kahne. He had two poles and two victories, as well as winning the non-points All Star race and finished 14th in points. However, what he really lacked was consistency.

He started off at with top-tens at Daytona, California and Las Vegas. Then he started to get pretty inconsistent with a 28th-place finish at Atlanta, then seventh at Bristol. He had eight races when he finished 30th or worse.

The team just never hit their groove right to be a consistent threat in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings. After a great weekend in Charlotte where Kahne won the All-Star race and the Coca-Cola 600, he finished 31st at Dover.

Then a win at Pocono and a second at Michigan were followed by a 33rd and 30th at Sonoma and New Hampshire, respectively.

Over the off-season, the big news was Richard Petty merging with Evernham Motorsports, creating the new Richard Petty Motorsports. Joining Kahne in the 9 and Elliot Sadler in the 19 are Reed Sorenson in the 43 and AJ Allmendinger in the 44.

I think that this merger can only provide good support and experience for Kahne. The Budweiser Dodge team wants to have a recurrence of Kahne’s six-win, six-pole season of 2006, when he finished eighth in the points and made the cut for the Chase.

With Richard Petty on board to add to the great foundation that Kahne has developed,  Kahne can only go up from here.

In the 2009 season, as long as they can get some consistency going early in the year and get off to a good start, I see good things happening for this team this year.

I’m going to predict at least four wins, and you’ll see the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge competing for the championship as he makes the Chase.

I know from a fan and journalist’s standpoint, I am ridiculously excited for the Bud Shootout, the Gatorade Duels, and of course the start of the season on Feb. 15 with the Daytona 500.