Bleacher Report - Articles by Hotfoot Lori

Our Racing Dream.com Could Be Your Racing Dream!

Hotfoot Lori — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:06:53 -0400

Do you enjoy NASCAR truck racing? I do. The Craftsman Truck Series offers some of the best racing in NASCAR today. Would you like to change the way you watch truck racing by becoming involved personally? If so, I have something amazing to tell you about.

Our Racing Dream Motor sports, or ORD Motor sports, is a non-profit race team based out of Charlotte, NC, and debuted during the Speed Street Festival in Charlotte this past weekend on May 21 through May 23, 2009. Truck series drivers Todd Bodine and Jason White made autograph session appearances at the ORD tent for the grand opening.

Sammy Lopez, President and Director of Marketing, summed up the Speed Streets grand opening weekend to me in an e-mail today. “We had over 20 members in two days signup, and there were so many people that came to see Todd Bodine that he ran out of hero cards to sign. Right now we are up to 28 members and we are really just looking to create a fun community of race fans and go truck racing.”

How can it be your dream? ORD Motorsports Inc. is a Registered Non-Profit 501c(3) Organization whose mission is to provide the ultimate, most unique interactive adventure of a race fans’ lifetime, while acting as a primary conduit for charitable organizations by donating the paint scheme to a different charitable organization chosen by members every race weekend.

For only $25.00 your tax-deductible yearly membership fee allows you to be part of this unique racing community and donate to a great cause.

"With sponsorship struggles in NASCAR these days there couldn’t be a better time to introduce a new, unique way to bring the fans closer to an ever expanding sport," says Sammy Lopez, President and Director of Marketing of ORD.

"Not only can we tap into the heartbeat of the racing fan’s passion," adds Chris Graham, President / Director of Business Development, "but the team acts as a true conduit for charitable organizations bringing awareness and national media attention to their cause. It’s a win-win, and a great way to give back to the sport so many people enjoy."

Do you have questions about the truck team such as who will be the driver? What paint scheme and sponsor will they run? Who goes over the wall to pit the truck? Watch this video from OurRacingDream.com by Speed TV personality Krista Voda for the answers:

I love what Krista Voda says in the video. No more screaming at the TV. Why? When you become a member, you become part of the team and have input on those decisions.

This effort is an out-of-the-box, forward thinking way to integrate NASCAR with social media and connect with fans on a whole different level. Connect with members via their profile pages on OurRacingDream.com. Besides sharing your ideas and opinions for the truck team, membership guarantees many exciting perks including the chance to win autographed memorabilia, the chance to have VIP race tickets, and much more.

If you are on Twitter, please follow OurRacingDream to connect with the members and founders of the team. They will be glad to give you more information or answer your questions. More importantly, you will enjoy them immensely. Additionally, look the team up on Facebook.

I'm very excited to have introduced you to OurRacingDream.com and hope that you will take advantage of getting in on the ground floor of this one-of-a-kind experience. We all want to be winners, so click on over to learn more and join!

My deepest appreciation goes out to Mr. Lopez for his contributions and information for this article.

In The Groove: Coca-Cola 415.5

Hotfoot Lori — Mon, 25 May 2009 20:46:12 -0400

In The Groove is dedicated to bring you a peek at the Highs and Lows of racing randomness from Charlotte USA. Welcome to the washing machine edition for the 50th anniversary of the Coca-Cola 600.

We started the endurance race on the soak cycle on Sunday, with zero laps being run. I've seen that referred to as the Coke Zero. NASCAR made the call to postpone until today. So, we continued on to the rinse and spin edition on Memorial Day. The cars got rinsed, spun around for a while, got rinsed again. You get the picture. Rinse and repeat.

The High Groove

Running first in the High Groove is David Reutimann who brought home the 250 lb. trophy. Wow, what a call to stay out on that final rain caution/red flag.

Points of interest: The No. 00 had never been to victory until today; this was The Franchise's 75th career start, and this was the franchise's first Cup victory, ever. Additionally, this was the first win for Michael Waltrip as an owner. Congrats to Michael and to David Reutimann!

Running second in the High Groove is "Rocket Man" Ryan Newman who started on the pole and chose the outside line to bring the field to the green flag.

Newman had a pit problem early in the race but came back to finish second with the call to stay out at the end. Newman continues his top five finishes and now sits in seventh in the points. Good job.

Running third in the High Groove is the decision by NASCAR to throw the caution for the Memorial Day Remembrance moment of silence at 3pm EST. Very classy. I found it very respectful and moving.

Thanks NASCAR.

Honorable mentions: Robby Gordon and Brian Vickers

The Middle Groove

P1 for the Middle Groove is Dave Blaney. What, you say? Blaney finished this race. He did not park it on lap 49. He was only one lap down and even received five bonus points!

Blaney had the same sponsor this week as the winning car, Aaron's Dream Machine. I'm feeling tingly all over. Will it happen again this year?

P2 for the Middle Groove is Joey Logano. Logano, after having brake issues early in the race, was running in the top five when the last caution came out, but cycled through pit stops for a ninth place finish.

Logano is looking better and better, and I think the confidence will continue to grow. Kudos.

The Low Groove

P1 in the Low Groove is Mother Nature, of course. I believe the jet dryers logged more laps than the cars.

P2 in the Low Groove is Mike Bliss. Bliss was our Nationwide series winner on Saturday night due to a rain call, pretty much the same way as Reutimann won today.

However, Bliss was the first (and only) car to cut out on the Cup race today. Dern Dodge engine.

P3 for the Low Groove is Kevin Harvick. Harvick made contact with Sam Hornish Jr., hit the wall twice, and was black flagged for speeding. Was DeLana on the pit box again?

Dishonorable Mentions: Dale Jr. and Kurt Busch.

And for the checkered flag we have In The Groove’s thought for the day:

What can I say, Kyle Busch probably should have won both the Nationwide and Cup race this weekend. He was leading both races when caution came out for rain and the race was called early. I don't know why Kyle didn't stay out today to see if the race would have been called.

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot, twice.

Quote of the week: "Billy Bad Butt." - Tony Stewart

We should be hearing some news by late tomorrow about the mandatory meeting called by NASCAR to meet with the drivers, teams, well, everyone. See you again after the Monster Mile.

Where in the World is Cale Gale?

Hotfoot Lori — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:22:24 -0400

Where in the world is Cale Gale? Canada. Eventually. It has been announced that Mobile, Alabama native Cale Gale will be crossing the border to compete in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. Gale will be driving for Farwell Racing Inc (FRI) in the No. 13 Rheem Chevy Impala for 2009.

Cale Gale (yes, he was named after Cale Yarborough) is still under contract, however, with Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) and is slated to drive the No. 33 Nationwide car sponsored by Rheem at Nashville on June 6th.

Finally!

Gale showed great promise behind the wheel of the No. 33 last year in the Nationwide series, and I kept wondering if we would get to see him this year. I remember Kevin Harvick talking about trying to "sell" Gale to the sponsors last year, but now it seems that he has placed his faith in Gale driving for him for a long time.

June 6th is also the same day as the season opening race for the Canadian series. Since Gale can't attend the season opener, Nik Lapcevich will be piloting the No. 13 entry.

Gale's thoughts on this transition to a different series, in a different country?

"I'm really excited to drive for FRI and Rheem in the (NASCAR) Canadian Tire Series and in front of the Canadian fans," Gale said. "From what I have been told, there are a lot of great drivers in this series and I look forward to competing with them. I grew up driving on short tracks, so it will be great to get back on them. I'm also looking forward to gaining more experience on Canada's challenging road courses."

I guess it is time for me to learn about, and follow, another series. Not that its bad thing. I'm so happy to see Cale have this opportunity and hope he finds success there this year. It can only help to further his career in NASCAR—here in the states!

Good luck, ay.

(story credits: www.stockcarxpress.com)

In The Groove: Richmond

Hotfoot Lori — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:32:20 -0400

In The Groove is dedicated to bring you a peek at the highs and lows of racing randomness from Richmond, Va. Welcome.

The High Groove

Running first in the High Groove is Kyle Busch, naturally. The Show stole the show, all weekend. Richmond and Kyle Busch proved to be a fascinating "combo."

I wonder how many more records Rowdy will break or tie by his 25th birthday. Congrats, again.

Running second in the High Groove is Stewart-Haas Racing. SHR’s drivers Tony Stewart (second) and Ryan Newman (fourth) were competitive and on their game Saturday night.

Although Smoke said they "backed into" their finishing position of second, I ain’t buying it. Smoke usually doesn’t get hot until about Daytona in July. There is something much more magical going on with him this year.

Even Newman moved into the top 10 in points. Of course, the contest now is to see which of these drivers will get a big "W" first. There will be more Saturday night racing this weekend, so we might just find out.

Running third in the High Groove is Casey Mears. I honestly do not know how he did it, really. Casey Mears finished ninth. Surely after changing organizations, teams, numbers, uniforms, etc., time and time again, one could excuse away his poor career. But, there Mears is—week after week.

Still plodding along. Harvick’s and Mears’ entire crews were switched before the Richmond weekend, and maybe Richard Childress had another stroke of genius.

No, I’m not holding my breath just yet, but it was good to see. Kudos for your top 10 finish.

Honorable mentions: Jeff Burton (third), Juan Pablo Montoya (10th), and Marcos Ambrose (11th)

The Low Groove

Position one in the Low Groove is Jimmie Johnson. Johnson was ready to hightail it out of Alabama and move on to Virginia. However, the defending champion had a rough go of it in Richmond. From speeding penalties, to no brakes, to getting caught up in an accident, Jimmie just could not get out of his own way.

He finished in the 36th position, 32 laps down. I wonder if he thinks this track sucks too?

Position two in the Low Groove is Dave Blaney. Shocking, I know. Blaney wrecked before I could say start and park.

I truly do not understand why the team/crew did not get him back out on the track as there appeared to be minimal damage. We saw how well Marcos Ambrose, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin, and others ran after getting some damage to their cars.

Position three for the Low Groove is Kevin Harvick. Harvick blew a tire and smacked the wall, finishing in the 34th position, six laps down. Did you know that DeLana was sitting atop the pit box again this weekend? Why is DeLana jinxing him like that?

Dishonorable Mentions: David Stremme a.k.a. Wrecking Ball, Denny Hamlin’s pit crew, and Brian Vickers for missing his pit stall.

In The Groove’s thought for the day

Junior nation, do you remember how irate and how vocal you were as a group this time last year?

Kyle Busch wrecked Junior at Richmond and, goodness, we didn’t hear the end of that for a long time. Heck, people were still talking about it before the drop of the green flag this Saturday night.

This year, Junior made pretty much the exact same move underneath Jeff Burton during the race, wrecking him, and yet I don’t hear the Burton brigade throwing tirades. Maybe a mention, but not an all-out call for Junior’s neck. Weird.

Quote of the week

"...as odd as this is going to sound, I've really been impressed with how good, Goodyear’s working really hard and they continue to not sit on their hands and they keep trying different things, and they keep trying to find combinations that make it better for us..."—Tony Stewart

We have Saturday night racing up again this weekend at Darlington, the track "Too Tough To Tame."

If you tried to be tough to tame growing up and your mom had to give you a few of those (Darlington) stripes, remember your Mom for Mother’s Day this Sunday and, if you can, tell her thanks for her unconditional love.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!

In The Groove: The Highs and Lows From Talladega

Hotfoot Lori — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:37:12 -0400

In The Groove is dedicated to bring you a peek at the Highs and Lows of racing randomness from Talladega, Alabama. Welcome.

The High Groove

Running first in the High Groove is Brad Keselowski! Way to go BK! Wow. I sure did not see that one coming. I have been cheering for this young man for a while and watching the underdog win sure is glorious, especially at Talladega.

Savor it Brad, no one can ever take that away from you. Congrats.

Running second in the High Groove is David Ragan for winning the Nationwide race. Congrats on your first ever victory in NASCAR! Besides that, David looked like he might get a push from Joey Logano again on Sunday and be able to make it interesting for the win.

Surely, former UPS-Sponsored driver Dale Jarrett must have given this fine young man lots of great pointers about restrictor plate racing.

Running third in the High Groove is Alli Owens. Young Ms. Owens finished sixth in the ARCA race at Dega, her best finish this year, in the No. 19 entry for D’Hondt Motorsports.

Alli started racing on bikes, moved to dirt racing, then to asphalt, and isn’t looking back! Alli has her own Web site, a weekly column on RacingOne.com, and can be found on Twitter. It is not hard to find her if you would like to more information.

Let’s hope this young lady keeps moving forward and we see her in the top NASCAR series in the future, not fade away like so many before her.

Honorable mentions: Marcos Ambrose, Scott Speed, and Joey Logano.

The Low Groove

P1 in the Low Groove is Ryan Newman. Okey dokey. This is a tough one. Ryan was in contention for the big W in both the Nationwide race and the Cup race this weekend at ‘Dega. But, he didn’t get to VL in either race. He suffered last lap passes in both races. Bummer.

However, as a slight "attaboy," he did put that KHI No. 33 in contention in the NNS race to keep that teams' momentum sailing, as well as getting a better finish than his boss in the Cup race.

P2 in the Low Groove is, wait—I can’t put Dave Blaney? Blaney wasn’t even in the field this week. However, neither was his replacement Michael McDowell. I like you Mee McDee, but you have to do better than that and get that car in the show! After that, you could have left after lap 49.

P3 for the Low Groove is the fact that the past two races at Talladega have been decided by the "yellow line rule."

Thought of the day

And for the checkered flag we have In The Groove’s thought for the day. Did anyone else notice that Morgan Shepherd finished on the lead lap of the Nationwide race Saturday? That was amazing to watch in person!

Quote of the week

"We had a lot of fun tonight," said Brad Keselowski. (Hey, BK, this isn’t short track Saturday night racing anymore. Welcome to the Big Sunday Show!!)

Up next on the racing schedule are two great short tracks—Richmond and Darlington. Oh, and Kurt Busch (what the heck?) is now the points leader.

In the Groove: Texas Samsung 500

Hotfoot Lori — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:41:47 -0400

In The Groove is dedicated to bring you a peek at the Highs and Lows of racing randomness. Welcome.

The High Groove

With Easter upon us this weekend, we are running full throttle in The High Groove with the theme of giving back and supporting our NASCAR Community.

Running first in the High Groove is Elliott Sadler. Sadler was sporting his beautifully designed Autism Awareness helmet at Texas, which will be worn at every race this month.

Autism awareness is a cause very near and dear to Sadler, as his niece was diagnosed with autism in 2001. The helmet will be put up for auction on Sadler’s birthday, April 30th, to raise money for autism-related charities and further research.

If you would like more information on the auction, please visit www.SadlerFoundation.org.

Running second in the High Groove is Benny Parsons’ Rendezvous Ridge. Instead of popping open the champagne to celebrate Gordon’s win, how about popping open some wine? (Merlot is always my choice).

The vineyard is donating $5 per bottle of wine sold during the months March, April, May and June, 2009 to the Greg Biffle Foundation. Even if you don’t make a purchase, by visiting http://www.rendezvousridge.com/ you will get to reminisce about the late and great Benny Parsons.

Running third in the High Groove is, well, The Greg Biffle Foundation. The foundation was founded in 2005 by Greg and his wife Nicole to "create awareness and serve as an advocate to improve the well-being of animals by engaging the power and passion of the motor sports industry."

In addition to the Foundation’s website, you can visit Ebay.com here on the 16th day of every month when the Foundation lists various items, including autographed items, for auction to benefit the Foundation.

The Low Groove

P1 in the Low Groove is Bruton Smith for getting his way. How many of you saw the Championship Banquet being moved to Las Vegas? Most of you, that is how many. We saw it coming years ago.

P2 in the Low Groove is, unfortunately, the fact that Kyle Busch is a copy-cat. Did you see him perform the Unwind Lap after the Nationwide race? No, don’t jump in and say, but he couldn’t do his burnout—the sealed engine rule remember?

Well, true. However, surely Rowdy is more creative than that? He even had to make a comment that he was NOT copying his brother with that celebration, he just wanted to show some love to the Turn One fans. Really.

P3 for the Low Groove goes to the mechanical issues, bad pit calls, two tires instead of four tires, running over air hoses, lug nuts popping off, and snappy loose cars in the race at Texas.

Michael Waltrip Racing was the biggest victim, as Reuttywas on the pole then running in the top 10, along with Marcos Ambrose. Then...boom. Carl Edwards, Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, and countless others were also showing signs of greatness on Sunday, but it just didn’t come to fruition for these guys.

And for the checkered flag we have In The Groove’s thought for the day...in percentages, how much would Morgan Shepherd’s performance improve with a full time sponsor, more than five people back at the shop, and a skilled pit crew?

Quote of the week: "I thought he was past his prime." (3rd place finisher Greg Biffle giving his thoughts, jokingly, about Jeff Gordon winning at Texas)

Happy Easter Everyone!

In The Groove: Martinsville

Hotfoot Lori — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:41:26 -0400

In The Groove is dedicated to bring you a peek at the Highs and Lows of racing randomness. Welcome.

The High Groove

Running first in the High Groove is Jamie McMurray. Jamie McMurray brushed off Juan Pablo Montoya Friday morning in Martinsville and didn’t care to listen to anything he had to say about their incident the prior week. Seems "Cupcake" is now more like the new Klondike bar with a thicker shell.

Should we now call him the Klondike Cupcake? Bite me JPM!

Running second in the High Groove is Incredible Pizza Company for their "The Incredible Heroes" campaign. Incredible Pizza is the incredible sponsor for the Nationwide Series entry of CJM Racing’s No. 11 Toyota, with driver Scott Lagasse, Jr.

The Incredible Heroes campaign is recognizing incredible people throughout the 2009 Nationwide series and coincides with cities along the racing circuit. The most recent recipient is a Dallas/Ft. Worth area gentleman who saved a man’s life from his vehicle, which had crashed and was engulfed with flames.

Want to read the full story?

Running third in the High Groove is Marcos Ambrose. My love affair with this Aussie just gets stronger as this year progresses. I would say that this love affair is one-sided, but it would not be true.

Ambrose respects and loves this sport and its' fans, and gave a lot of his time this past weekend to us through Speed TV’s Trackside program Friday night and Raceday on Sunday morning.

I know now what "fizzed up," "screen," and "tin tops" are. Oh, and using some newly found Martinsville muscle, Ambrose drove his butt off with NO brakes at 40 laps to go, plus no new tires.

His finish position at this rough and tough short track—14th!

The Low Groove

P1 in the Low Groove is Kyle Busch’s lack of maturity after the truck race yesterday. Running from the track? We are sorry that you had a bad weekend overall at this track, but grow up!!

P2 in the Low Groove is, unfortunately, Dave Blaney. Why is the Buckeye Bullet out there only running 50 laps of a 500 lap race? Yes, he led a lap. And? That’s another $69,665.00 into the fleeing moth fund for Prism Motorsports.

P3 for the Low Groove goes to Obama, for sounding like Mr. Bill France. "It’s my way or the highway."

And for the checkered flag we have In The Groove’s thought for the day...will McMurray succeed in gaining access to his frozen accounts and pay his taxes by April 15?

Quote of the week: "Welcome to tear down, boys."