NASCAR notebook
Donnie Allison to join IMHoF in '09
TALLADEGA Donnie Allison was almost speechless, and that says something.
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 Slideshow: ARCA RE/MAX 250 View photos from the ARCA RE/MAX 250 race at Talladega Superspeedway. |
Allison, an original member of the "Alabama Gang" who has never been slow to tell a story, was introduced Friday as part of the newest inductees into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame Class of 2009.
He is joined by driver Jerry Cook and owners J.C. Agajanian, Bud Moore and Raymond Parks. They will be formally inducted April 24 at the SPEED Dome.
Allison's enshrinement gives him a place in the Hall alongside brother Bobby (Class of 1993), who once told him he'd never be a racecar driver. Bobby became the more accomplished driver, but Donnie's resume includes a win in the 1970 World 600 and a fourth-place finish in the Indy 500 that season, earning him rookie of the year honors.
"It's kind of hard to put into words," Allison said of his induction. "It's probably, without a doubt, the biggest honor ever bestowed on me and I've had the good fortune to have a few of them.
"It's a very elite group and to be inducted you have to have some pretty good credentials. I'm a little bit lost for words, believe it or not."
Agajanian's cars set four track records and won the Indy 500 twice. He also was prominent in the development of the air jack.
Cook is one of only a handful of drivers to win more than five driving titles in a racing division. Named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers, he won six Modified titles in the 1970s.
Moore was car owner for some of the most successful drivers in NASCAR history, including Buddy Baker, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Darrell Waltrip and the Allisons.
"He always had a car that any driver would want to drive, because it was a good competitive car," Donnie Allison said. "Bud Moore was at the top of the class. The Woods got a lot of credit, but a lot came from this man sitting here."
You won't get Moore to say who his best driver was, although he did allow that Earnhardt and Bobby Allison would be on the list.
"It'd be hard for me to say," Moore said. "I had 43 different drivers for me over 50 years. Who's to say who was the best driver? They all were."
He has no doubt, however, where the best racing took place.
"This is the best racing that goes on," he said of Talladega. "When we raced here, you had at least three or four races going on at the same time ... This was what the crowd was really thrilled about because they could see this kind of racing ... They still put on a good show today."
Parks won his first race as an owner in 1938. He shut down his racing operations after being called to duty in World War II, but resumed it after his discharge in 1946, and three years later won the first NASCAR Grand National championship.
ANOTHER NOTCH: Young gun Joey Logano will pick up the third piece of his NASCAR experience today when he runs in the Mountain Dew 250 Craftsman Truck Series race. The 18-year-old wunderkid made his first Nationwide start at Dover in May and his first Sprint Cup start at New Hampshire.
He'll start today's race from the sixth position.
"I think it's going to be great to get a lot of experience," Logano said after Friday's truck qualifying. "These trucks, just going off (Thursday) with what I know, the draft is a bunch of fun with this thing ... The race is going to be really awesome. I'm really excited to get out there with the truck."
GIVE IT AWAY: In one of the neater giveaways this weekend, Dodge will be giving 60 lucky fans an array of prizes in the final third of Sunday's Amp Energy 500.
It's called the 'Dodge 60 to Go' promotion and more than 270,000 fans have registered. One prize per lap will be given away, and the process is all random.
All prizes are valued at at least $100. The grand prize a 60th edition Dodge Challenger R/T, estimated at a $30,000 will be given away on the last lap.
Among the other prizes are autographed racing items, gas cards of different values and even a year's supply of Wrigley chewing gum.
SEAT TIME: In the final Sprint Cup Series practice, the result sheet showed two names beside the No. 5 car: Casey Mears and Brad Keselowski.
As none of these cars are equipped with two seats, there had to be another explanation.
The rest of the story well, Casey Mears and Trisha Grablander are expecting their first child, and it could happen this weekend.
Therefore, Mears could have to make a B-line out of Talladega at any moment. In an effort to find a replacement driver, the Pop Tarts/Carquest team tabbed Keselowski to be on call.
NASCAR suggested Keselowski, a Nationwide Series JR Motorsports driver, get some seat time before having to climb into the car at the last minute. He was actually slated to make his Cup debut at Charlotte.
And there you have it, the rest of the story.
HELPING HAND: When a car wrecks at Talladega Superspeedway, most of the time what results is carnage. Mangled sheet metal either has to be cut away or pounded back into shape as quickly as possible.
And by as many people as possible.
While that is usually the case, it was still odd during Friday's ARCA RE/MAX 250 to see one set of helping hands on Landon Cassill's No. 99 AFLAC car. Those hands? Tony Stewart.
The 2002 point series champion was in jeans and a black shirt under the car with a hammer beating the car's nose back into shape. The team finally got the car back on the track and managed a 39th-place finish.
PRACTICE? I'M TALKIN' BOUT PRACTICE: The last time the Sprint Cup series rolled into Talladega Superspeedway, Toyota rolled out of the track with a victory.
Kyle Busch picked up in the win, which was in the middle of his early-season domination that saw him dominate the standings.
When the Sprint Cup found its way back to Talladega Superspeedway on Friday, it was a Toyota again that was fastest.
In the final practice session for Sunday's Amp Energy 500, 2004 winner Brian Vickers was fastest by 0.08 mph over Kasey Kahne, a Dodge driver.
Mike Skinner, Vickers' teammate, logged the most practice laps (13), and for good reason. It will be his first time in the car after A.J. Allmendinger left the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota. Scott Speed, who finished 23rd in Friday's ARCA race, will fill that seat next season.
Practice times are not always indicative of the race situations, as some drivers choose to accomplish different things with practice, and many of them run different numbers of laps.
JIMMIE'S DILEMMA: Jimmie Johnson called the indictment of his attorney in connection with Helio Castroneves' tax evasion case "shocking" but said he will take a wait-and-see approach.
"I have an outside tax group that I use, so he really is my attorney," Johnson said of Alan Miller. "As of now, everything is still the same. I'm learning a lot as time goes on here, and there is still a lot to be investigated and covered moving forward.
"So I'll certainly keep my eyes on the subject and try to figure out what's going on."
Miller was indicted Thursday for helping IndyCar Series driver Castroneves to hide millions of dollars in income. A Federal indictment accuses the driver of failing to report $5.55 million in income between 1999 and 2002.
The driver faces up to 20 years in prison.
Miller represents several NASCAR drivers, including Casey Mears. He's been Johnson's attorney and friend for about 15 years.
"I've never seen anything out of character for him, so I'm shocked," Johnson said. "I know he is shocked."
LIVING THE DREAM: Talladega Superspeedway employee Donna Prince sang the National Anthem before Friday's ARCA Series race. Prince, who lives in Eastaboga, is assistant to the vice president for operations.
