Forum Activity for @dave-fulton

Danica Doesn't Want to Race in Japan (and Tony Stewart's Crude Comments to AP Writer)

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Hmm.... "Moldy Bread" - I like that.

Danica Doesn't Want to Race in Japan (and Tony Stewart's Crude Comments to AP Writer)

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Tonymay run #14, but AJ he's not. Now I have got to wondering, if NASCAR can fine Denny Hamlin $50,000 for tweets they thought derogatory to NASCAR, what dollar amount would you put on the Tony intereview?

Danica Doesn't Want to Race in Japan (and Tony Stewart's Crude Comments to AP Writer)

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Here's the Tony Stewart Richmond Interview... you decide if he is being a jerk....

Danica Doesn't Want to Race in Japan (and Tony Stewart's Crude Comments to AP Writer)

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Viewpoint of Motorsports Writer Monte Dutton in The Gaston Gazette Regarding Tony Stewart at RIR

RICHMOND, Va. Television has carte blanche. It can do what it wants.

ESPN cut in on the so-called garage-area media availability of Tony Stewart in the Richmond International Raceway on Friday, and it caught Stewart basically berating the Associated Presss Jenna Fryer live. Stewart also turned in the opposite direction after going off on one of his garden-variety diatribes considering his educated evaluation of journalism and what constitutes a good question.

As soon as Stewart finished cuffing the woman reporter around, he quickly went the other way and lavishly praised ESPNs Marty Smith, who asked the next question.

It couldnt have been planned, but from King Televisions point of view, it certainly was convenient.

Stewart took issue at being asked about the Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway, suggesting that Fryer should take what he said before the last seven races.

Sorry, Tony, but asking a question about the race at the track where the interview is taking place is acceptable.



Read more: http://www.gastongazette.com/articles/tussle-60712-notebook-stewart.html#ixzz1XZAT0b6S

Danica Doesn't Want to Race in Japan (and Tony Stewart's Crude Comments to AP Writer)

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Leftover is better, lol!

Danica Doesn't Want to Race in Japan (and Tony Stewart's Crude Comments to AP Writer)

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PKL,

I am so glad somebody else heard that deal from Tony. And I could eat meatloaf 7 days a week! Typical guy I guess. I often order it out and that irritates my wife for some reason - and she makes an excellent meatloaf using my late mom's recipe. Not having been around the circuit for many years, I don't know if Tony and Jenna have "past history" or not. I know I had a little "incident" with Tony the first time I met him back in the early 90s. We ran at Richmond a combined USAC Silver Crown and Midget event and Tony came to RIR for the first time. We decided to staff that June night USACdoubleheader just like it was a bigtime NASCAR show and I had full press support just like for a NASCAR weekend. Harold Pearson, former president of the National Motorsports Press Association and motorsports writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch was my head "pit notes" gatherer for the assembled media. Tony refused to speak to Harold when he fell out of the race and Harold called me in the press box to express his disgust with this "newcomer". Later, Dick Jordan of USAC and I attempted to explain to Tony that he was no longer at a Saturday night Indiana short track and we were trying to do he and his sponsor a favor by including them in our pit notes. I never had any use for Tony after that incident when he acted so hateful for no reason. Funny thing, one of my very closest friends later became Vice President of Public Relations for Home Depot and attempted to re-explain to Tony why you cooperate with the press. I've never met Jenna, but I thought Tony's comments to her today on live tv were cheapshot, chicken---- and juvenile. It absolutely amazes me why a sponsor would put up with such behavior, regardless of the driving talent..

Danica Doesn't Want to Race in Japan (and Tony Stewart's Crude Comments to AP Writer)

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From the Richmond NASCAR Busch Series garage today comes this Jenna Fryer AP report on Danica and IndyCar... and did any of you see Tony Stewart ream Jenna a new one today when he was being interviewed on NASCAR Now, telling her MartySmith knew how to ask intelligent questions, but she asked the same one for seven straight weeks? Think I have to agree with Danica's point of view.

Tony Stewart Berates AP Reporter Jenna Fryer (blonde on left) at Richmond Friday

Sep 9, 1:32 PM EDT

Patrick concerned about racing next week in Japan

By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Danica Patrick said Friday she is concerned about traveling to Japan for the Sept. 18 IndyCar race at Twin Ring Motegi.

MotoGP postponed its April race until October because of concerns stemming from the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country earlier this year. But IndyCar is going forward with its event and Patrick questioned the wisdom of that decision.

"I don't want to make anyone mad, but heck yeah, I'm concerned," Patrick said at Richmond International Raceway. "MotoGP has made a big fuss about going there, and their race got delayed, and is still after ours next weekend. They had a study done that seemed it was relatively safe. The radiation seems OK."

But Patrick said she is concerned about the food and water, as well as the earthquakes that have occurred since the March disaster. She and her husband plan to pack as much food and water as possible.

"They say don't eat beef, which probably means don't eat vegetables and fruit," she said. "I read something about nine times the radiation in mushrooms so far out of Fukushima in that area. And there's earthquakes every week. It seems every other week there's a pretty big one."

Patrick has just three IndyCar races remaining before she makes a full-time move to NASCAR next season. She's scheduled to drive a full Nationwide Series schedule with JR Motorsports, and up to 10 Sprint Cup races with Stewart-Haas Racing.

Her only victory in the IndyCar Series came at Japan, in 2008, on the oval track. IndyCar can't run next week's race on the oval because of safety concerns, so the race was shifted to a road course.

"I think there's a general concern for the safety of being over there," she said. "I'm told IndyCar has an emergency plan if something happens and we need to all get out. Which is terrible to think about it. I guess it's that we've compromised on the track, (and) IndyCar isn't going back after this year anyway.

"It just seems like a lot of forced things to make it happen. I'm just a driver and I show up where I have to show up."

updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM

Kannapolis Trumps Paris for Ambrose

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World-traveling Ambrose finds home in NASCAR, North Carolina

By: Paul Woody
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Published: September 09, 2011

When he was growing up, Marcos Ambrose called Launceton, on the island-state of Tasmania, Australia home.

When he had achieved all he could in motorsports in Australia, he moved to England, where he lived for 2 years.

Then, he moved to Paris for a year, all the time racing throughout Europe.

Ambrose and his family wife Sonja and two daughters get around.

And when you ask him to pick the favorite among the places he has called home during his travels, he puts Kannapolis, N.C. at the top of the list.

Pardon?

Paris vs. Kannapolis? And Kannapolis wins?

Ambrose, 35, might be the only person in the world to say the charm of Kannapolis outweighs the allure of Paris.

"Paris is beautiful, but it's not for me," he said. "I felt a bit boxed in. I had a flat that was about as big as a fuel cell in one of these cup cars. There was no room and people everywhere. But it was good experience to live in a big city like that."

But Kannapolis, that is the place for Ambrose.

"I've really enjoyed my time in North Carolina," Ambrose said. "It's a beautiful place, and there are great people. We've got more bang for our dollar living there than any place I've ever been. Homes are reasonably priced, there's lot of things to do and the weather's great.

"It's a great country, America."

Ambrose, who drives the No. 9 Sprint Cup car for Richard Petty Motorsports, is one of the few NASCAR drivers who can make international comparisons.

He has raced Down Under, on the other side of the pond and throughout Europe.

"Racing's taken me all over the world," Ambrose said. "I will go wherever the races take me, and do whatever I need to do to be competitive.

"I'm only the fourth international driver to win in NASCAR's premier series. I'm one of the few to come across and make it stick."

Ambrose just wishes he'd been able to stick more victories and points onto his totals for this season. He has one victory, on the road course at Watkins Glen, but stands 21st in points. To be eligible for one of the two wild cards for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, a driver has to have at least one victory and be within the top 20 in points.

Ambrose trails the man currently in place to take the second wild-card spot, Denny Hamlin, by 59 points.

Ambrose is in his sixth year in NASCAR and says, "I've paid my dues. I've been in some good deals and bad deals along the way. But I just put my head down and tried to learn the sport as best I can and apply myself.

"I try to be a good person whilst doing it, but not to be a pushover, all those things you've got to do. It's been a satisfying period in my life, no doubt. I've enjoyed myself. Racing's worked out well."

Ambrose took a bit of a chance this season. He left JTG Daugherty Racing for Richard Petty Motorsports. Ambrose had been affiliated with Daugherty since he arrived in the United States. He went to RPM uncertain about a major sponsor.

"It was a chance for both of us and a risk for both of us," Ambrose said. "I needed to shake things up a bit. I felt like I was getting stale and if I was going to get the most out of myself, I needed to step up and do something different.

"I wanted to know where I stood. I wanted to jump in with a new group."

So far, things have been OK. Ambrose has his Sprint victory at Watkins Glen he's always a threat road courses and a Nationwide victory in Montreal.

"We had a great month," Ambrose said of August. "But racing's all about the next race, not the last one. I'd like to feel we've stepped up in sport, but nothing's for certain. Nothing's forever."

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Ambrose begins conversations by saying, "Hello, mate," and ends them by saying, "Thanks, mate."

updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM

Southside Rises : Chesterfield's old speedway keeps a Friday night tradition alive. by Scott Bass

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Since the first summer night in 1964 when I saw Ray Hendrick in his cherry red Flying #11 Jack Tant / Clayton Mitchell owned Modified Chevy Coupe race side by side down the back chute with Sonny Hutchins in the Donlavey blue #90 Modified Ford Coupe owned by legendary Junie Donlavey, I have never seen better racing anywhere in the United States of America than I saw at Southside Speedway and I have been to a LOT of racetracks. Thanks for posting the article, Dennis. How I miss those powerful fuel injectedNASCAR Modified coupes, with the big Hillborn injection stacks and the blue flame powered by nitro methane and alcohol pouring from cherry red exhaust dumps! They came from everywhere to race at Southside on Friday night. I got to see both Bobby and Donnie Allison win Virginia 400 races in NASCAR Mods at Southside. The list of drivers from up and down the eastern seaboard is legendary. What a place!

25 Years after the Last Petty Win at Richmond, Kyle Has Mellowed as Life has Changed

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Lee Petty won the first Cup(GN) race ever run at Richmond in 1953. Richard Petty is the all-time Richmond winner with 13 Cup victories. At Richmond in 1986 - 25 years ago - Kyle Petty scored his first Cup win, returning the famed Wood Brothers to victory lane and becoming the ONLY third generation Cup winner in the same family. I was fortunate to be working with Kyle and the Wood Brothers at the time and that victory lane was very special. Richmond is the only track in NASCAR where three generations of the same family have won. The Pettys have faced family tragedy since that day with the loss of Adam Petty and today Kyle's mom and Richard's wife, Lynda battles severe illness. Kyle's sister married former Busch Series driver, Charlie Luck, who used to live in the Petty's home and today they reside in Richmond. The place is pretty special to the Petty family. Today's Richmond paper has a nice piece updating Kyle Petty's current racing participation and his take on life.

Kyle Pettystarted 829 races on NASCAR's top circuit, fifth all-time in NASCAR history. He won eight races and had 173 top-10 finishes.

With plenty to do, Kyle Petty happily keeps moving forward

By: Paul Woody

Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: September 09, 2011

For many, Kyle Petty is a guy on television, SPEED TV mostly, who talks and talks and talks about racing.

Some might be aware that "Petty" is a name that has some history in NASCAR, but they're not exactly sure what that history is.

Anyway, this Kyle Petty guy, well he sure can talk and he seems to know what he's talking about. And, he certainly seems to be having fun.

Time passes. Things change. The Petty name once was the name in NASCAR. Lee Petty started the dynasty. Lee's son Richard, still known as The King to his devoted fans, won 200 races, the most in NASCAR history.

Kyle, 51, is Richard's son, Lee's grandson, and was no slouch behind the wheel either. Kyle started 829 races on NASCAR's top circuit, fifth all-time in NASCAR history.

In a career that stretched from 1979 through 2008, Kyle won eight times, had 52 top-five finishes and 173 top-10 finishes.

"My joke is that when I was racing, everyone knew me as Richard Petty's son," Kyle said. "Now, people know me as a guy on television. They still don't know I ever drove.

"But, yeah, I drove a long time for a lot of different people and did a lot of different stuff."

Petty drove for established teams, helped a team running a part-time schedule go full-time, helped start a team, started his own team and eventually merged his team with his father's team at Petty Enterprises.

The man got around.

As is evident from his television work, Petty can talk about all he learned from being around racing.

"I never dreamed of doing TV," he said. "Why or how I got here, I don't know. I guess they figured I run my mouth enough they thought I could sit in front of a camera and run my mouth."

Some athletes start to talk as their careers ebb and the possibility of a television career emerges. Petty always talked. He was, and is, among the most gregarious people ever involved in NASCAR.

He will talk at length on racing and on the extensive media coverage racing receives now compared to when he drove. He will hold forth on his family's distinguished racing history. He will talk at length on Victory Junction Gang Camp.

He does not shy away from talking of one of the great tragedies in his life, the death of his son Adam in a racing accident during a practice at the track in Loudoun, N.H. Adam was a fourth-generation Petty driver. He was 19.

"I don't think any parent ever gets over it," Petty said. "It skews your perspective on life. You're little and you have parents and grandparents. You watch an old tree die and a new tree's born. You watch your grandparents pass away and you know your parents are the next ones and you're in line and it's your children after that.

"It's just the circle of life, to quote 'The Lion King.' So, when the circle is broken and it's out of order, it makes you question what else is out of order. Things you value, tenets you've held your whole life to be true and cast in stone are not true."

Kyle and Patti Petty have two other children, a son, Austin, 29, who runs Victory Junction Gang Camp, and daughter Montgomery Lee, who is married to budding country-music singer Randy Montana.

The Pettys had no intention of letting Adam's memory fade. In his honor, they started the Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman, N.C. The camp occupies 84 acres, land donated by Richard and Lynda Petty, Adam's grandparents.

Victory Junction Gang Camp is for children with chronic or serious illnesses, and provides them the opportunity to swim, play, fish and ride horses. Every child who comes to the camp comes free of charge.

When he's not on television or radio Petty also does "Inside NASCAR" for Showtime and a radio show on Monday nights on Performance Racing Network Petty is raising money for Victory Junction.

"It takes about $5.5 million per year to operate," he said. "The camp goes year-round. We have about 60 full-time employees, and in the summers, we have about 140-150 employees.

"When we started it, most everybody said there would be no way we'd be able to raise that much money, no way people would support it. But when you think about it, we were in the fundraising business. We just raised money to race cars. If you're already in the business of going in and asking for money and showing the potential of their dollar buy, it fell right into what we already did."

Petty will keep doing what he's doing. One day, he might even be talking about a fifth- or sixth-generation Petty driver. You never know.

Petty does know one valuable lesson he learned from racing.

"Last week was last week," he said. "Next week, there's another race. No matter what went on last week or five months or five years or 15 years ago, I can't change that. It's past.

"You have to keep moving forward. You can keep moving forward and be miserable or move forward and have fun.

"I always try to have fun."

updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM