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contents

NASCAR POLE POSITION RACE FAN GUIDE AN OFFICIALLY LICENSED PUBLICATION OF NASCAR

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18 wHo 2 watCH 4

41 drIver ProfIles

the next generation Biggest of drivers Improvement

06 green flag: news & notes

News from around the world of NASCAR

07 tradIn’ PaInt

Team paint schemes for the 2014 season, provided by Lionel

08 Q&a: trevor Bayne

NASCAR Nationwide Series Driver

10 terMs of raCIng

Understanding the terminology of racing

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12 nasCar defIned

Behind-the-scenes photos from the track

ar C s a n EL

fU 14 taIlgatIng

Meet the fans, presented by Honda Generators

16 gear

The latest products from our advertising partners

36 lIonel raCIng

Inside the world of die-cast miniatures

58 nasCar fUel

Lifestyle tips, industry careers and fun pages!

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Schedules for NSCS, NNS and NCWTS PolePOSITIONMag.COM

green flag news & Notes

Elliott Among 2015 HoF Class

ill Elliott, Fred Lorenzen, Wendell Scott, Joe Weatherly and Rex White have been selected for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. The induction ceremony will take place Jan. 30, 2015, and will air on the NBC Sports Network. The Class of 2015: Elliott, the 1988 premier series champion, won 44 races and earned the Most Popular Driver Award 16 times; Lorenzen was one of NASCAR’s first true superstars, despite running a limited schedule; Scott was the first AfricanAmerican to race full time in NASCAR’s premier series and the first to win a series race; Weatherly won two championships (1962 and 1963) and 25 races in NASCAR’s premier series; White finished among the top five in nearly half of his 233 starts and claimed the 1960 championship.

ASCAR has reached a multiyear agreement to renew its official partnership with Safety-Kleen, which will continue in its role as the Official Environmental Services Supplier of NASCAR. Safety-Kleen, an Official NASCAR Partner since 2004, provides onsite trackside support with its cleaning products and through its oil recycling and rerefining services at more than 200 NASCAR-sanctioned races each year. This ensures all cleaning solvents, oil, fluids and lubricants used in NASCAR racing are captured and reused.

oush Fenway Racing’s iconic No. 6 Ford will return to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series next season with 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne as the driver. The team will have full-year sponsorship from AdvoCare. “I’m both excited and humbled to be a part of bringing the No. 6 back to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series,” said Bayne. “And to be able to make that move with AdvoCare makes it that much more special.”

teve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s executive vice president of racing operations, was among the speakers at the Front End of Innovation, a cross-industry conference in Boston gathering industry executives, practitioners, academics and experts in innovation, product development and research and development. Joining leaders and innovators from best-in-class companies such as Disney, Procter & Gamble, MasterCard, IBM and Microsoft, O’Donnell presented a case study on the Air Titan 2.0 track-drying technology and provided an update on NASCAR’s technology-driven pit road officiating system. “Innovation helps drive NASCAR and it is central to the sport’s evolution,” O’Donnell said.

C W

arner Bros. Consumer Products, in conjunction with DC Entertainment, has joined forces with Hendrick Motorsports in a unique three-year agreement that allows the NASCAR team and its sponsors to develop consumer promotions and original content to engage youth, drive fan excitement and energize licensed merchandise initiatives. The two companies are working with Hendrick Motorsports and its sponsors to build programs teaming drivers Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. with the mostrecognized characters in superhero lore, including Batman, Superman, The Flash and Green Lantern. The program launched in May when Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Chevrolet featured Superman. 06

POLE POSITION 2014

s part of the NASCAR Hall of Fame selection process, voters named the late Anne B. France as the inaugural recipient of the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR. France, the wife of NASCAR founder William H.G. “Big Bill” France, played a major role in the financial aspects of the family business.

n recognition of his foundation’s support of area education, six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson was recently presented a “key to the city” by Dan Clodfelter, mayor of Charlotte, N.C. The Jimmie Johnson Foundation was launched in 2006 and has contributed more than $6.7 million to various organizations.

amping World and NASCAR have reached an agreement for the company to continue its sponsorship of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series through the 2022 racing season. “Camping World and NASCAR are mutually invested in the growth of a national series that is celebrated for its exciting brand of racing and the most loyal fan base in the country,” said Marcus Lemonis, Camping World and Good Sam Enterprises chairman and CEO. “Six years ago we felt strongly that the sponsorship would dramatically increase our customer base and it’s delivered. We expect to see continued success in the coming years.”

tradin’ paint green flag

Car Designs Are Works of Art

ASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing is a very visual sport and, as a result, teams and sponsors spend countless hours producing paint scheme designs that will make their cars stand out on the race track. Not a single detail is overlooked and numerous versions are often produced before the final design is selected. A few of the paint schemes have been around for several years and are extremely familiar, while others feature sponsors that are new to the sport. Some drivers will carry the colors of a single sponsor for the entire schedule, while others will showcase multiple sponsors and paint schemes throughout the season. When the Kelley Blue Book Chevy made its on-track debut, Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove to his best finish at Sonoma Raceway, placing third in a road course contest that was filled both literally and figuratively with twists and turns.

Jeff Gordon’s all-new Panasonic Chevrolet made its first appearance on the Sonoma road course and Gordon drove the No. 24 to a second-place finish. The car is scheduled to make its second and final appearance of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway in late August.

Brian Vickers celebrated Florida State University’s first football championship since 1999 with this special ride at Daytona International Speedway. Making just one on-track appearance, Vickers’ Seminole car was a hit with fans of the powerhouse team.

Austin Dillon wheeled a red, white and blue tribute to the good ole U.S.A. when he took the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/NRA Museum Chevrolet to Daytona for a race under the lights. This race car was part of the NASCAR: An American Salute initiative, which honored U.S. military members and their families.

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green flag Q&a last tIMe yoU IntentIonally wreCKed soMeone ■ I can’t remember a time when that happened, actually. I’ve never been that type.

If yoU Had CHosen anotHer Career ■ I think I’d probably be in ministry somewhere, at this point, because I’ve had that platform now. I don’t know if I would have had that platform earlier on, but I’m sure it would have been provided.

favorIte season of tHe year

wItH nasCar Q&a natIonwIde serIes

drIver trevor Bayne

revor Bayne, who in 2011 became the youngest Daytona 500 winner at 20 years and 1 day old, has endured many ups and downs throughout his relatively short NASCAR career. Bayne discusses his health, marriage, faith and much more in this exclusive interview with veteran motorsports writer Jared Turner.

HOW HAS MARRIAGE CHANGED YOU (HE MARRIED ASHTON CLAPP IN JUNE 2013)?

Bayne: I don’t know if it has changed me a ton other than hanging my keys up when I come in the door instead of searching for them for 30 minutes when I’m getting ready

to leave. She’s got me a little bit more organized, which is really nice. HOW HAVE YOU MANAGED TO STAY SO UPBEAT AFTER BEING DIAGNOSED WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS LAST YEAR?

Bayne: Well, without my faith, I wouldn’t be upbeat about anything. Without Jesus being my foundation, I wouldn’t be able to get through this, and that’s what gets me through it. I know it’s not by chance that it happened. I know it’s for a purpose. IS THERE EVER A DAY THAT GOES BY THAT YOU DON’T REFLECT, AT LEAST BRIEFLY, ON YOUR DAYTONA 500 VICTORY?

Bayne: Oh, there are a lot of days that go by,

actually. It’s not what defines me. It was a great race to win – the Daytona 500 is the most special win I’ll probably ever have in my career – but you’re always looking for the next one. Everybody always wants more. HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE KNOWN?

Bayne: I fall short on what I’d like to be known as all the time, but I want to be a good steward of what I’ve been given, whether that’s a little bit or a lot, or whatever that might be. I want to use it well and not let opportunity go to waste.

it would be anything like this, to be honest. It was not the picture I would have painted or how I would have expected it to be. If you would have told me I would win the Daytona 500, I would have told you that you were crazy; and then if you had told me I would win the Daytona 500 and two or three years later I would still be in Nationwide, I would have said you were crazy.

■ I kind of like them all. I get bored after a long time because I like to wakeboard in the summer, I like to snowboard in the winter, football in the fall – there’s a lot of good stuff going on. Spring is nice. I don’t really hate or completely love any of them, but I feel like there’s more to do in the summer.

faMe or Money ■ Neither one. You can have them.

deMoCrat or rePUBlICan ■ More Republican, but to me it’s about the person and it’s not about the party. It’s what the person stands for and what their values are and what they believe in.

favorIte HolIday ■ Christmas, for sure.

DID YOU EVER THINK YOU’D STILL BE WITHOUT A FULL-TIME NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RIDE MORE THAN THREE YEARS AFTER WINNING DAYTONA?

Bayne: I had no idea

by jared turner 08

Pole PosItIon 2014

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green flag terms of racing

Understanding the Terminology of Racing As late summer heads into fall, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ regular season concludes and the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins. This year’s 10-race championship battle features a new format and some new terminology. There are also other words or phrases in “NASCAR lingo” that can be confusing to new or casual fans of America’s most popular form of auto racing. So, consider the following a NASCAR Pole Position study guide as these definitions will help you better understand the sport.

A-Post: The post extending from the roofline to the base of the windshield on either side of the race car. Blister: An overheating of the tread compound resulting in a bubble on the surface of a racing tire. Bodywork: The fabricated sheet metal that encloses the chassis of a NASCAR race car. Cam Shaft: A rotating shaft within the engine that opens and closes the intake 10

POLE POSITION 2014

and exhaust valves. Challenger Round: The first three races of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Only 12 drivers will remain eligible for the championship following the Challenger Round. Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup: The final 10 races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season during which 16 drivers will battle for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title.

Contender Round: Races four through six in the Chase are known as the Contender Round. Only eight championship-eligible drivers will remain following the Contender Round. Deck Lid: A slang term used to describe the trunk lid on a NASCAR race car. Dyno: Shortened term for dynamometer, a machine used to measure an engine’s horsepower.

Eliminator Round: The name for races seven through nine in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The battle for the series championship will be reduced to just four drivers by the end of the Eliminator Round. Fabricator: A person who specialize in creating the sheet metal body of a NASCAR race car. Firewall: A solid metal plate that separates the engine compartment from the driver’s compartment of a race car. Frame: The metal “skeleton” or structure of a race car on which the suspension parts and roll cage are mounted. It is also referred to as a chassis. Greenhouse: The upper area of the race car that extends from the base of the windshield in the front, the tops

of the doors on the sides and the base of the rear window in the back. It includes the A-, B- and C-posts, the entire glass area and the car’s roof. Harmonic Balancer: An element used to reduce vibrations in the crank shaft. It is located on the front of an engine. Heat Cycle: Each time a Goodyear tire is raised to operating temperature is a heat cycle. Lead Lap: The lap the race leader is currently on. NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship: This is the name now used to describe the season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where four drivers will battle head-tohead with the top finisher among the quartet claiming the series title. Quarter-Panel: The sheet metal on

both sides of the race car from the C-post to the rear bumper below the deck lid and above the wheel well. Stickers: Slang term for new tires. The name is derived from the manufacturer’s sticker that is affixed to each new tire’s contact surface. Template: A device used to check the body shape and size to ensure compliance with the rules. The template closely resembles the shape of the factory version of the car. Trading Paint: Slang term used to describe aggressive driving involving a lot of bumping and banging. Trailing Arm: The part of a race car’s rear suspension that holds the rear axle firmly fore and aft, while allowing it to travel up and down. Each car has two trailing arms.

DVX eyewear is built from the ground up to provide ANSI-rated protection and bold style that’s as comfortable at the worksite as it is at the race. DVXEYEWEAR.COM DVX, DVX Logo, WX, WILEY X (and circle logo) are trademarks of Wiley X, Inc., registered (marca registrada) or pending registration in the U.S. and other countries/jurisdictions.Packaging and Logos TM © 2011 Wiley X, Inc. All rights reserved. © 2014 Jeff Gordon, Inc.

nasCar defIned

■ Jimmie Johnson won three out of four races to put himself in the driver’s seat for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup

■ Kevin Harvick exchanges a high-ﬁve with his son, Keelan

■ Joey Logano signs autographs for some of his young fans

Pole PosItIon 2014

■ Dale Earnhardt Jr. secured his second win of the 2014 season at Pocono Raceway

PHOTOS BY CIA STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY ■ Kyle Busch fans cheer for their driver

PolePOSITIONMag.COM

green flag tailgating presented by

Race Fans Forever

Fans travel from afar to enjoy the fun before and after races by derek smith Bill Montgomery, 63, of Welcome, N.C., is known around Charlotte Motor Speedway as “Couch Man.” The race fan and a group of family friends spend four nights, twice a year, camping and tailgating near Turn 1 in the infield of the 1.5-mile track in Concord, N.C. He compares the experience of tailgating in the infield to a timeshare condominium. “Everything is reserved so you know where everybody is,” Montgomery said. His tailgating crew has been featured on SPEED and FOX Sports 1 as a part of the history of the 600-mile race each Memorial Day weekend. “For me to be the only fan they talk about was really neat,” Montgomery said. “I feel honored.”

A 1982 Chevy van serves as the camping and tailgating headquarters for Steve Dickerson, of Charlotte, N.C., when he visits Charlotte Motor Speedway for the spring and fall races. He converted his father’s work van into a race-chasing vehicle that includes an attached scaffold in order to see the cars run around the track above the infield. “[The scaffold] is probably worth more than the van,” Dickerson joked. It takes about an hour, he said, to add the rails, ladder and awning to the platform. One side of the van has a hand-painted picture of the frontstretch of the speedway. The other side features a bald eagle and an American flag with autographs of U.S. soldiers.

There has been a race at Charlotte Motor Speedway every Memorial Day weekend since 1961. Marshall Burgess, 55, of Charlotte, N.C., a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, helps to honor America’s soldiers by entertaining them as a part of the Coca-Cola 600. Burgess and a team of other vets and civilians host 25-30 soldiers and their families from the Wounded Warrior program at Fort Stewart, Ga., by providing a campsite and parking pass in the infield for the race. “We have a lot of fun and try to forget about their troubles,” he said. Burgess and the organizers solicit donations to cover the expenses with some out-of-pocket money necessary. “Their level of gratitude is unattainable,” Burgess said.

The mayor of Redneck Hill, the area between Turns 1 and 2 in the infield of Charlotte Motor Speedway, is Mike Browning, of Salisbury, N.C. He’s been camping there for 30 years and supplies the music for his fellow tailgaters. A general contractor, Browning built a large deck flanked with military camouflage netting as a tribute to all servicemen and women. Underneath the deck are audio components that rival any popular nightclub sound system. “A lot of people like Southern rock ’n’ roll so we play the classics,” he said. The night prior to the Coca-Cola 600, the party lasted until 1:30 a.m. before the music was shut off. “We just like to have a good time,” Browning said.

Home away from home for Rodney Hubbard, of Stanley, N.C., is a 31-foot RV he parks in the infield of Charlotte Motor Speedway each year. With all the amenities of a primary residence, the vehicle has a bedroom, bathroom, shower, kitchen, breakfast table, pull-out bed, satellite television, surround-sound system, awning and generator. “It’s nothing fancy but I use it a lot,” he said. “I’ve got all the comforts of home.” New to the infield scene at the Concord, N.C., track, Hubbard and his buddies have been camping and tailgating at the Memorial Day weekend race for four years. Besides the Coca-Cola 600, Hubbard has taken the RV to Daytona for the Super Bowl of stock car racing. 14

POLE POSITION 2014

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2 Reese towpower

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POLE POSITION 2014

3 lionel plastic cars

Enjoy the NASCAR season with these brand-new 1:18-scale plastic cars from Lionel Racing. The perfect plaything for the young and young at heart, these toy cars are bold, fun and indestructible. Each 1:18 car features a full plastic body, rolling wheels and is the perfect size for little ones to play with. Get your favorite driver’s car now at lionelracing.com, the NASCAR.com Superstore, trackside souvenir rigs or your hometown die-cast dealer.

4 nascar nation

Go trackside with FOX Sports broadcaster Chris Myers in NASCAR Nation. The book illustrates how racing embodies the best of what makes America great: our competitive spirit; our will to win; our love of pageantry, heroes and tradition; our willingness to face risks and build for the future. It takes fans trackside, places them in the car and in the middle of the action, and shares the sport’s finer moments. Available at the NASCAR.com Superstore.

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Chain and Cable Fluid – Penetrating Oil. A superior, cleansing, non-gumming penetrating oil for wire rope, chains, cables and general lubrication. Prevents rust and corrosion, protects brightwork and loosens rusty nuts and bolts. Excellent for drilling, tapping and sawing. Available in a 12-ounce spray can, Part No. L0135-063. Buy it today at lubriplate.com or CARQUEST Auto Parts stores.

6 dvx sunglasses

DVX Sun & Safety sunglasses, sold exclusively at Walmart, are the favorite of champion Jeff Gordon. Every pair of DVX sunglasses is ANSI rated, meaning they can be used on the job where occupational safety eyewear is required. Yet they feature great contemporary styling for use anywhere. Look for DVX on Jeff Gordon trackside haulers, and in any Walmart Vision Center. dvxeyewear.com

7 tUB o’ towels

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The Next Generation who 2 watch 4

How bright is the future of NASCAR? It’s bright enough to need shades. All metaphors aside, one must look no further than the rising crop of young, talented drivers advancing through the ranks to clearly see the sport is in good hands for years and decades to come. This season features a crowded NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie class highlighted by two heavyweights – Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson – who are expected to battle for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year title. But beyond the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and sprinkled throughout NASCAR’s lower divisions are a host of drivers with considerable promise. “Really, NASCAR’s future is in the young guys,” said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. “We have a great new crop of young guys coming up and we [at JGR] have some good ones, too.” Gibbs should know. Among Joe Gibbs Racing’s driver development program this season is 20-yearold Darrell Wallace Jr., the first African-American driver to win a NASCAR national series race in almost 50 years. And NASCAR’s group of rising stars features tremendous diversity, and not just because of Wallace. Joining him on our list of the sport’s top 11 young guns is Larson, a 22-year-old Asian-American, and

22-year-old Mexico native Daniel Suárez, who made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut for Joe Gibbs Racing at Richmond International Raceway in April. Of course, any discussion about the next generation of NASCAR stars couldn’t take place without mentioning several drivers with famous bloodlines. Those on our list with well-known pedigrees include brothers Austin and Ty Dillon (grandsons of championship team owner Richard Childress), NASCAR Nationwide Series star rookie Chase Elliott (son of 1988 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Bill Elliott), NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Ryan Blaney (son of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran Dave Blaney), second-year NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Jeb Burton (son of 2002 Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton) and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie Ben Kennedy (great-grandson of NASCAR founder William H.G. “Big Bill” France). Finally, two other young drivers – 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion James Buescher and 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series rookie Dylan Kwasniewski – also appear to be on the fast-track to potential greatness. With such a deep pool of young drivers from which to choose, the future of NASCAR has truly never looked brighter.

by jared turner 18

POLE POSITION 2014

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Life’s a Race for Larson Looking for a guy who would rather race than eat, drink or sleep? Meet Kyle Larson, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie and driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet.

arson, tapped by team owner Ganassi to replace Juan Pablo Montoya in NASCAR’s top series this season after just one full year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, brings as much promise to the plate as any rookie in recent memory. In addition to holding a reputation for being willing to race anything, anytime, anywhere, the 22-year-old graduate of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Program has proven to be a quick study. As a NASCAR Nationwide Series rookie in 2013, he finished eighth in points on the strength of 17 top-10 finishes, including nine top-fives, in 33 starts. This season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the Japanese-American driver needed only four starts to record a top-10 finish, which came at tricky Bristol

Motor Speedway in his eighth overall series start. Larson then backed that up with a career-best runner-up finish at Auto Club Speedway the following weekend. Not surprising given his penchant for wanting to race, Larson is running a significant number of NASCAR Nationwide Series races this season on companion weekends with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in order to bolster his experience. So far, the plan appears to be working. “I think it helps a little bit just knowing how the track might change throughout a race. I really think it helps for my [NASCAR] Nationwide [Series] race, running the [NASCAR Sprint] Cup [Series] stuff,” said Larson, who picked up early-season NASCAR Nationwide Series wins at Auto Club Speedway

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Kyle Larson, on his hobbies: “I’ll go and have a drink or something with my friends – just try to do normal things, but my main love is racing, so that’s what I try to put 100 percent of my time into.”

and Charlotte Motor Speedway. “Now when I get in the Nationwide car, it feels slow. Things happen slower. I have more confidence in that. That’s why I’ve been running really well in that car so far, too. I think it helps the Cup Series a little bit, but I think it helps the Nationwide Series a whole bunch.” Larson is competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for Turner Scott Motorsports, a Chevrolet team like Chip Ganassi Racing. “Chip Ganassi, he really wanted me to do double duty,” Larson said. “I think I read a stat somewhere before the year, I’ve only run 40 something stock car races in my career. I’m getting double the amount of experience in stock cars this year running both. I think it’s a good thing.”

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All Eyes on Austin As the driver of the iconic No. 3 made famous by the late Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie Austin Dillon bears a load unlike few rookies before him. But Dillon, before and since joining NASCAR’s top division ahead of the 2014 season, has proven he’s up to the task. At the tender age of 21, Dillon became the youngest champion in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series while driving for his legendary grandfather and team owner, Richard Childress. After two years in a No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet truck, Dillon moved to the NASCAR Nationwide Series where he piloted a No. 3 car to two wins and the rookie title in 2012, and then claimed the series championship in 2013. With the support of the Earnhardt family – including Dale Earnhardt Jr. and sister Kelley – Childress decided to keep Dillon in a No. 3 car when he moved to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Richard Childress Racing. “I said, ‘You sure this is what you want to do?’” Childress recalled

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asking the older of his two grandsons. “And he said, ‘Yes. Everything I’ve ever driven has had a No. 3 on it. And that’s what I want to do is race this number in the Cup [Series].’ “We had quite a few discussions on it, and sure there’s pressure with it, but I think the pressure from the number drives him. I’ll tell you what, he’s an amazing kid,” Childress added. The decision, of course, sent a ripple effect throughout the racing world since the No. 3 had not competed in NASCAR’s top series since Earnhardt’s final race – the 2001 Daytona 500. But Dillon, showing tremendous humility, has embraced the opportunity to continue with the number long synonymous with one of the sport’s greatest drivers.

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Austin Dillon wasted no time making his own mark with the No. 3 as he won the pole for the 2014 Daytona 500 – the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series outing for the iconic car number in 13 years.

“It’s a huge responsibility,” Dillon said. “Everybody knows who made this number famous. With my grandfather and [Earnhardt’s] friendship, they were able to build something great that will never be touched.” Dale Earnhardt Jr., who drove a No. 3 car in select NASCAR Nationwide Series races after his father’s death, had no objections to Dillon utilizing the number. “I would be worried if I didn’t think he’d respect it or understand the legacy, but he does,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I know he does. He appreciates it.”

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To learn more go to www.AmericanEthanolRacing.com The NASCAR American Ethanol TM logo and word mark are used under license by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. and Growth Energy The stylized No. 3 and the RCR checkered flag logo are registered trademarks of RCR Enterprises, LLC. All trademarks, personal likenesses and the likeness of the No. 3 race car are used under license from their owners.

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Elliott Turning Heads As the son of 1988 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, 18-year-old Chase Elliott certainly has the pedigree to go far in the sport.

his year, he’s proven to also have the talent. As a rookie driver for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Elliott has been a dominant force in NASCAR’s No. 2 division. A winner at Texas Motor Speedway in just his sixth series start, Elliott returned to Victory Lane the following weekend at Darlington Raceway – arguably NASCAR’s toughest track – and in the process sent a loud message that he was ready for prime time. Elliott led the series standings for five consecutive races from early April through late May as he quickly emerged as a surprise championship contender, if not the championship favorite. The rookie from

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Dawsonville, Ga., seems to be taking his fast success in stride, however. “It’s definitely been a proud effort that everybody has given,” he said. “[JR Motorsports] has made a lot of changes in the past couple years and I haven’t been there for them, but I feel like for me I jumped in at an awesome time and it’s just been an honor to drive their race cars. They’re bringing great, fast cars to the race track, and I feel like the changes that they’ve made are headed in the right direction. So we’ve just got to make sure we keep trying to improve as a team and an organization, and that goes for me too on the driving side.” Among those impressed by Elliott is

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It’s fitting that Chase Elliott is driving a No. 9 NAPAsponsored Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. His father, Bill, carried that number to great success in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from 1983-’91.

team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., who believes the young driver is a lot like his father, Bill, who will be enshrined in the NASCAR Hall of Fame with four others next year. “As Chase has grown up, I think he has taken a lot of his father’s mental makeup and intuition and certain personality traits that have been a big help to Bill in his racing career,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Just basically how calm Bill is and how much of a student to racing Bill was, I think that Chase really is very similar. He has just got a lot of talent. … Chase is really ahead of the game right now. He should continue to progress and continue to learn.”

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Ben Kennedy is no ordinary NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie. As the great-grandson of NASCAR founder William H.G. “Big Bill” France and the nephew of NASCAR Chairman Brian France, Kennedy is under a microscope far more intense than most drivers at his level face.

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“As far as the pressure stuff, it’s definitely there. It’s always there … I think it’s there for any race car driver,” said Kennedy, whose mother, Lesa France Kennedy, is the CEO of International Speedway Corp. and daughter of the late NASCAR Chairman Bill France Jr. “I don’t think it affects me much at the race track. My family’s there and we’re hanging out before the race and everything and we’re talking, and then I think once you get in the race truck and you put your seatbelts on and you throw your helmet and HANS and all that stuff on, the pressure’s there. But it all sort of goes outside the window and you’re really sort of focused on what you need to do to perform at the best of your abilities and what you need to do with the truck.” Kennedy, who made five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts in 2013 before going full time this season in Turner Scott Motorsports’ No. 31 Chevrolet, has shown he’s got the driving chops to back up his famous heritage. After finishing 15th in the 2014 truck

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opener at Daytona International Speedway, Kennedy finished third at Martinsville Speedway and had three top-10 finishes after five races. Kennedy’s Daytona result is somewhat misleading, however, as he started from the pole and led 52 of 100 laps before falling behind on pit road. “It was pretty cool,” said Kennedy, whose great-grandfather built the legendary speedway more than five decades ago. “It was a little bit wild once you got back in the pack a little bit, but being up front it’s almost just kind of quiet because everyone’s behind you, no one’s really saying much on the radio.” Plenty of folks are talking about Kennedy, who remains humble despite being born into NASCAR royalty. “Somebody of his stature could walk around with their head held high and be too big for their britches to some people, but he’s been just one of the average kids coming to talk to us,” said 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton.

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‘Bubba’ wallace: Historymaker Darrell Wallace Jr. made a huge splash last season by becoming the ﬁrst African-American driver to score a NASCAR National Touring Series victory since Wendell Scott in 1963.

ow in his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, the driver nicknamed “Bubba” doesn’t want to be defined by his first win – despite its historic significance. Waking up to the grandfather clock he was awarded for his victory last fall at Martinsville Speedway doesn’t make the 20-year-old satisfied. It just makes him hungry for more wins. “I do have the clock there to remind me every morning that I did win that race. I’ll take it [but] I’ve got to live up to it. I know I have to produce more than just one win late in the season,” Wallace said. “Last season we had a good two or three that we should have won that we didn’t, but that’s what the rookie stripes are for.” An alumnus of

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NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program and a member of Joe Gibbs Racing’s driver development program, Wallace doesn’t shy away from the extra attention that comes with being an African-American. “It’s got to be played up to a certain extent and I’ve got to carry that,” he said. Wallace also doesn’t mind being mentioned in the same breath as Scott, a NASCAR pioneer who will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015 for his contributions to the sport. “He paved the way for me,” Wallace said. “If there was nobody in front of me, it’d be ... I don’t know how it would be. I know it would be different with how the world is today, but at the same time he went out there and put it all on the line and went through a lot of stuff to get his first win.”

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As a Joe Gibbs Racing development driver, Darrell Wallace Jr. is making cameo appearances in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this season for the organization. He also made four NASCAR Nationwide Series starts for JGR in 2012.

Wallace, whose truck series team owner is NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver and occasional NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitor Kyle Busch, admits he still has plenty to learn. “Just figuring out where to be and how the aero affects you out on the race track on the mile-and-a-half stuff is what’s new to me,” he said. “I’ll pick up on that, but I feel it’s coming fairly soon and it’s going to become something where I can be up there racing Kyle for the win.”

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Big Name, Big Leap Get used to hearing the name Dylan Kwasniewski. Not that anyone would easily forget it. In any case, this kid is probably going to be around for a while.

ASCAR’s only K&N Pro Series East and West champion, 19-year-old Kwasniewski received a huge promotion prior to the 2014 season in landing a full-time NASCAR Nationwide Series ride with Turner Scott Motorsports. The promotion came just a few months after he won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East title. And Kwasniewski didn’t waste any time making a splash, winning the pole and finishing eighth in his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Daytona International Speedway. Some growing pains have since followed, however. “This year has been way different than any other racing I’ve been used to,” Kwasniewski said. “Obviously, the competition level has increased tenfold, even more. So you go out there and try to go race on these tracks that you’ve seen on TV,

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you’ve watched video of, you know what it looks like when you step onto it for the first time and you’re trying to get up to speed as quick as Kyle Busch and Joey Logano and all these other Cup drivers. It’s extremely tough.” Despite a few bumps in the road, Kwasniewski is believed to have loads of potential. The ultimate testament to that perception came in early March when Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series organization, signed the youngster to its driver development program. “This young man has impressed us from the moment we saw him,” said Ganassi, a veteran of the NASCAR and IndyCar team ownership ranks. “His poise, skill and determination on the race track are remarkable for someone so young.

Dylan Kwasniewski competed in several forms of racing, including IKF, STARS and SKUSA karts along with Bandoleros, Legend Cars and ASA Super Trucks, before making the move up to NASCAR.

I am really looking forward to seeing him grow as a driver with each increase of competition. I think Dylan has a big future ahead of him in NASCAR.” Kwasniewski picked up six wins last year en route to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East crown and he won three NASCAR K&N Pro Series West races in 2012 en route to becoming the series’ youngest champion at 17 years, 5 months and 10 days. “We obviously think Dylan is a pretty unique talent,” Ganassi said. “We’ve certainly been impressed by his statistics. … Some people say he’s a marketer’s dream, so that’s always a good thing in this sport.”

Buescher Spreads His wings James Buescher, the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, left the proverbial nest at the end of last season when he parted ways with the Turner Scott Motorsports truck team co-owned by his father-in-law, Steve Turner, in order to pursue an opportunity with RAB Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

uescher was ready for a new challenge after backing up his championship with a third-place points finish in 2013. The native of Plano, Texas, also finished third in the 2011 truck series standings. Over his five seasons in a truck, Buescher went to Victory Lane six times, all coming in the past two years. While the decision to jump ship wasn’t easy, the 24-year-old had peace about it. “In some ways it was a really difficult decision from the family aspect and everything that we’ve accomplished together at Turner Scott Motorsports – championships, race wins, poles and kind of building that organization with them, and leaving

was definitely tough,” Buescher said. “But I want to make it to the [NASCAR] Sprint Cup level and I want to be a Sprint Cup champion one day. “I have to make the moves in my career that are best for me, and I feel like coming over to RAB Racing and Toyota and being able to bring Rheem with me as a sponsor was the best situation for me to be in right now.” While Buescher is technically a first-year NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, he is no stranger to NASCAR’s No. 2 division. The youngster made 58 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts from 2008 to ’13, running a career-high 20 of 33 races in 2012. Buescher is also no stranger to Victory

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James Buescher and his wife, Kris, live in Texas where they own a fitness center and are raising one child – a son, Stetson – who the couple adopted as a newborn in July 2013.

Lane in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, having won the 2012 opener at Daytona International Speedway after dodging an 11-car accident on the last lap. “That Nationwide race at Daytona was kind of a shocking win for all of us since halfway down the back straightaway we really weren’t in position to win,” Buescher said. “We were there and we were the first ones to the finish line. It will definitely be something I will always remember as my first win in NASCAR.” Buescher is hungry to win again. “I think we have what it takes to win races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series,” he said.

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Blaney Carrying on A Family Tradition Third-generation driver Ryan Blaney has impressed during his time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, where he ran a partial schedule in 2012 before going full time last season.

ow in his second full season in NASCAR’s No. 3 division, the 20-yearold son of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran Dave Blaney is once again turning heads and appears bound for a premier series ride in the not-too-distant future. Then again, he doesn’t want to rush things. After all, he’s with a Brad Keselowski Racing organization that has the trucks and infrastructure – which includes technical support from Team Penske – to propel him to a championship. “I know that we have a truck to go out there and win every week,” said Blaney, who has dabbled in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for Team Penske the last three seasons, scoring a win in 2013. “I think everyone at the shop has done a great job

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of making sure of that and making the improvements that we’ve needed to put ourselves in that position. So it definitely gives you a lot of confidence as a driver when you know that you’re in a winning truck and that it should be good every week.” Blaney, who ran nine of the last 10 truck races of 2012 for BKR in preparation for last season’s full slate, picked up career victory No. 1 at Iowa Speedway in only his third truck start. The youngster then added a win last August at Pocono, en route to a sixth-place finish in the series standings. It truly seems that the sky is the limit for the High Point, N.C., native, who is preparing to make his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

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Ryan Blaney’s grandfather, the late Lou Blaney, was a sprint car and modified racing legend who recorded more than 600 wins during a career that earned him a Hall of Fame induction in 2000.

start this fall at Talladega Superspeedway. Blaney qualified 21st and finished 27th, four laps down, in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut during May at Kansas Speedway. A left-rear wheel slowly worked its way loose from his car during that race and ultimately proved costly for the young driver. “Looking forward to the next one in Talladega,” Blaney said. “I definitely learned a lot at Kansas. You learn a lot running those races with those best guys; learn how to maneuver around with the cars, trying to find clean air. It was a big learning curve and I was really fortunate I was able to do it.”

Another Dillon Making His Mark As the younger of team owner Richard Childress’ two grandsons, Ty Dillon has not yet progressed as far up the ladder as older brother Austin, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie.

est assured, though, Ty – who is exactly a year and 10 months Austin’s junior – is not that far behind his sibling. Now in his first full season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series competing for his grandfather’s organization, Ty Dillon spent the last two years in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where he earned three victories and twice contended for the championship while honing his skills for a planned move up. Dillon finished fourth in truck points while claiming the series’ top rookie honor in 2012. Last season, the Lewisville, N.C., native was named the series’ most popular driver and finished a distant second in the standings behind champion Matt Crafton.

Unlike his older brother, who also graduated to the NASCAR Nationwide Series after two years in trucks, Dillon missed out on winning a title in his second and final truck season with his grandfather’s team. “It was very disappointing because we ran so well every single race,” said Dillon, whose father Mike Dillon is a former NASCAR Nationwide Series driver turned VP of competition for Richard Childress Racing. “It wasn’t like we just really missed it one single week. We just had issues. We blew a motor and was leading a couple of races at the end of the race and got wrecked. It was just small situations that took us out, and really kind of gave me a new respect for running for a championship because you never

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Ty Dillon took to Twitter in late December to announce his engagement to girlfriend Haley Carey. The young couple plans to wed following the conclusion of the 2014 NASCAR season.

know what’s going to happen.” Like his brother, Ty Dillon faces the extra scrutiny that comes with being the grandson of one of NASCAR’s most famous team owners – a fact he still believes has more pros than cons. “I think there are not very many cons,” said the 22-year-old racer. “Sometimes you have people that don’t know you or have never been around you and watched you race and they automatically assume you’re just given the opportunity and can’t really perform. But that just pushes me to be a better driver, and it pushes me to work harder and show people that I really deserve the opportunity and that I can win races against the best.”

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Motivation No Problem for Burton If there’s any NASCAR driver coming up through the ranks who feels like he has something to prove, it’s probably Jeb Burton.

eb Burton, the son of 2002 Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton and nephew of 21-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner Jeff Burton, enjoyed a stellar rookie campaign last season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. With a victory at Texas Motor Speedway, a series-high seven poles and a fifth-place finish the series standings, Burton quickly established himself as one of the sport’s most promising up-and-coming drivers in 2013. However, plans to return to Turner Scott Motorsports for a second full-time truck season fell through over the winter, forcing Burton to look elsewhere for another home in the NCWTS garage. Scrambling to find a ride, Burton landed with ThorSport Racing, a three-truck powerhouse team, weeks before the seasonopening event at Daytona International Speedway. ThorSport Racing, who captured its first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship last season, has been competing in NASCAR’s third division since 1996, making them the longest-tenured team in the garage.

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Slated to pilot the No. 13 Toyota Tundra for the Sandusky, Ohio team, Burton wasn’t guaranteed to run the full season, and spent the first four races of the season searching for sponsorship to complete the 22-race schedule. Fortunately for Burton and ThorSport Racing, Estes Express Lines, a full-service freight transportation provider, announced they would step up to support the second-generation stock-car driver for the remainder of the 2014 season starting at Dover International Speedway in May. “It’s an honor to be driving the No. 13 Estes Toyota Tundra, Jeb Burton, said. “Each time I get behind the wheel, I’m not only representing the Burton family and ThorSport Racing, now I have the privilege of representing everyone at Estes which means a

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Jeb Burton scored his first career NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model feature victory at South Boston Speedway in 2012, continuing his family’s legacy at the historic Virginia short track.

team of almost 15,000 employees including more than 6,000 truck drivers.” Estes and other company leaders expressed widespread enthusiasm for their first motorsports program, anticipating the partnership will help the company raise brand visibility to a national level, while aligning with stated company values of service, performance and family. Burton, 21, completed 99.4 percent of the laps he attempted in 2013 and his first and only NCWTS win to date came in his 12th career start. The Halifax, Va. Native also made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in 2013 with an eight-place finish at Kentucky Speedway. “It’s fun to see him race,” Jeff Burton said of his nephew. “He really wants it. He’s very committed to it and wants to find a way to make a living doing it. I think he’s talented and gifted, too. It’s fun to watch. It’s cool to see that enthusiasm.”

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The Sky’s the Limit for Suárez The name Daniel Suárez may not ring a bell, but that’s about to change. The full-time NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series driver was tapped by Joe Gibbs Racing to make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in April at Richmond International Raceway.

uárez started 12th and finished 19th on the lead lap – a respectable outcome, without a doubt, for a driver who entered the weekend with no seat time in a NASCAR Nationwide Series car. “I’m very happy because I felt like I learned a lot,” said Suárez, who rallied from a right-front tire failure and commitment line violation that left him four laps down. “Definitely wasn’t the result I was looking for. Some bad luck happened with the rightfront tire, but I feel like we had a top-10 car. We were running pretty decent after that, but difficult to come back. We were getting better and better.” A member of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, as

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well as an alumnus of the NASCAR Next program, the 22-yearold Mexico native made his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut in 2011, running seven of 12 races while racing full time in the NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series. Suárez returned to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East for nine of 12 races in 2012 and scored his first East Series win last season at Columbus Motor Speedway in Ohio. He finished 2013 with six top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 14 races. Suárez was third in the series standings after winning two of the first seven races of the 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season, and captured three of the first six races of the NASCAR

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After being named one of the NASCAR drivers “25 and under” to watch in 2013 by FOXSports.com, Suárez opened 2014 with backto-back NASCAR K&N Pro Series East wins at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway and Daytona International Speedway.

Mexico Toyota Series season. While nothing was official as of press time, Suárez hoped to make some additional NASCAR Nationwide Series appearances for JGR later this year. “Daniel is certainly someone that has proven to have a lot of talent, and we are thrilled this was able to come together and allow him to make his debut at Richmond,” said J.D. Gibbs, the president of JGR. “I think it’s exciting when you look at the young talent our sport has right now, and we certainly feel that Daniel is going to be part of the future for NASCAR.”

lionel racing

Lionel Racing: Dean of the Die-Cast

Building a NASCAR stock car from the ground up requires major manpower, intense labor and precision at every point.

uilding a 1:24 or 1:64 scale die-cast race car replica from nothing requires all of the same. In some respects, it probably requires more. Starting with a photograph of a race car – sometimes the original, sometimes the one sitting in Victory Lane at the end of a long race – a group of die-cast professionals makes a living helping fans enjoy their favorite drivers’ cars. For as passionate as fans are about watching NASCAR race cars go around the track on Sunday afternoon, many are equally as gung-ho about seeing that car – albeit a smaller version – sitting in their living room on Monday morning. “I love owning a part of history,” said Chip Wilson, a 22-year-old whose collection features in the neighborhood of 2,100 die-casts. “You can watch the real car win on Sunday and own a replica of that car that looks just like it down to the smallest bit of rubber markings. Bottom line, the die-casts are just plain cool.” Die-cast fanatics must possess patience, however, when

■■ President of Lionel, Howard Hitchcock

it comes to acquiring the latest and greatest piece. Producing a die-cast from start to finish can require up to five months or longer. “I think consumers don’t really understand what it takes to make goods,” said Howard Hitchcock, senior vice president and general manager of Lionel Racing, the exclusive producer of licensed NASCAR die-casts since 2010 based in Concord, N.C., in the heart of the greater Charlotte area that is home to the majority of NASCAR teams. “I think a lot of people think a machine opens up and out drops a completed car. I may be being overly simplistic in saying that, but they really don’t understand

the complexity of how these things are actually assembled piece by piece by piece. And we do,” Hitchcock added. “We have a chassis line and the chassis is built in sequence much like you would see a production car being built. And then the roll cage is assembled, the motor is assembled on a separate line and those assemblies are all brought together and placed into one finished product. Much like you would build a true car that you get in and drive, this car is built along the same methodology.” The detailed, lengthy nature of the production process doesn’t stop Lionel from pulling out all the stops to expedite the

Electric Trains

efore Lionel got into the business of selling die-cast race cars, the company was well-known for its electric trains. “The Lionel electric train business and the NASCAR business are complementary in a lot of ways,” said Lionel’s Howard Hitchcock. “They act very similarly yet they are timed differently. The NASCAR business peaks in the first and second quarters, which are really some lighter spots for the train business. So to even out the flow of operations, it was a nice blending of two businesses.”

process. Home to the 23-year-old Racing Collectables Club of America (RCCA) and its more than 15,000 active members, Lionel carries a core philosophy focused on value, uniqueness and quality. Its leaders also understand that certain die-casts must be pushed to the front of the proverbial line. Take the example of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s 2014 Daytona 500-winning car. Within 45 minutes of the race ending, the first sales materials were distributed to gauge demand for this particular No. 88 die-cast driven by NASCAR’s 11-time most popular driver. “When we have really hot items, everybody knows to sort of pull those to the front and look at them, get them done and move them on, and that helps to take a little bit of time out of the process,” Hitchcock explained. “And then we work with the factory and identify those very hot items that need to be (manufactured and delivered) at a certain race by a certain date and we’ll ask the factory to expedite from, say, six weeks to four weeks.” Lionel Racing is the exclusive

by jared turner 36

POLE POSITION 2014

provider of RCCA ELITE die-cast cars – the most detailed of all die-cast models. Lionel, however, makes many of its products available through numerous distributors, including NASCAR.com, NASCAR souvenir stores and souvenir trailers at race tracks. Inventory ranges from standard die-casts to race-winning cars to special-event paint schemes. Much like the sport of NASCAR itself, the die-cast business has evolved in recent years as the days of a driver carrying one primary sponsor and paint scheme an entire season are all but history. Even the sport’s biggest drivers such as Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon are no longer supported by a single primary sponsor or carry one paint scheme for every race. “That has doubled the amount of work that we did five years ago,” said Gwynneth Trenck, Lionel’s director of production and a 16-year veteran of the die-cast business. “You could

now have up to nine primary paint schemes, for example, and it’s tricky with the factory to make sure that we have all of the cars molded and the chassis parts photographed.” The goal at Lionel is always to make the die-cast an exact replica of the car seen on the track – down to the finest details which include associate sponsors and, in the case of race-winning cars, any dents and tire marks that might appear on the actual car in Victory Lane. When something is occasionally missed or overlooked – often a result of a change that occurs to the real-life car once the die-cast is through production – the fans notice. “They’re very passionate about their driver,” Trenck said. “They’re very passionate about the die-cast. If we have a mix-up on a logo, we sure hear about it and we beat ourselves up over it because we know how disappointed some of them can be when there’s a logo that’s off.” The eye for detail in

production is just as critical when NASCAR introduces a new model – as it did with the Generation-6 Sprint Cup Series car in 2013. “Every time you bring out a new car there’s always challenges because you’re taking something that is a functioning machine at full size and trying to turn it into a 1:24 scale replica and you’re trying to mimic as closely as you can a lot of the features and details, and inevitably when something works in one scale and you try to make it work in another scale, it doesn’t always work properly,” Hitchcock said. “We had hood issues (with the Gen-6) where hinges weren’t quite right and the hoods were bumping into the windshields. So there are always those growing pains and challenges.” The factors that go into making a die-cast a top seller vary from consumer to consumer. Some fans, for example, will make a purchase based solely

■■ Lionel Racing Headquarters, Concord, North Carolina

on sponsor loyalty. Sometimes fans will buy a car because of a paint scheme tied to pop culture – such as Clint Bowyer’s Duck Dynasty car at the 2013 Watkins Glen race – even if the driver isn’t traditionally among the big sellers. But, more than anything else, die-cast sales are tied to major on-track developments, such as Trevor Bayne’s stunning victory in the 2011 Daytona 500, Hitchcock said. “It’s usually multiple factors,” said Kevin Harrison, a Tony Stewart fan who owns nearly 150 die-casts. “It’s mostly the driver and paint scheme. If there is a personal story behind the race, then I may purchase the car to hold that memory. “Also, I am into certain special finishes of the cars like Color Chrome. Color Chrome makes the car look like it does under the lights at a track. I just like the way it looks.” Understanding the complexity of the die-cast production

process should make collectors even more appreciative of the car they hold in their hand or display on the shelf at home. Roughly 1,000 steps are required to produce a standard die-cast, and around 500 people touch each die-cast at some point during that process. It takes three months just to complete the “tooling” process in which the rendering of the specific car – once approved by NASCAR, the team and sponsors – is used to lay out the molds from which the die-cast parts are created. Mass production of the die-cast usually falls in the six-week range but it could take longer. Even once all that is set, work remains to be done. “Until I got into this business, I never realized how much went into making a product, and the fact that we have more people making a replica than we do the actual race car is pretty funny to me,” Trenck said.

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lionel racing

■■ No. 88 National Guard Daytona 500 Raced Win

step-by-step

Model Creation: The real race car is photographed and measured from every angle and then Computer Aided Design files from the manufacturer are used to construct the die-cast model, which is twice the size of the finished 1:24 scale die-cast.

The Making of a Die-Cast From Start to Finish

Pre-Production: Using the new tooling, the car’s body is cast, as well as the chassis, engine, suspension, wheels, roll cage and interior. Samples of the car with paint scheme decoration in place are then produced, a process that takes three to five weeks. The samples are sent to the team and sponsors for approval, a process that typically takes one to two weeks. Mass Production: Once production samples are approved, the die-cast moves into mass production, which typically takes four to six weeks to complete. At this stage, the car bodies are made via injection molding and the bodies pass through a spray room to receive a thorough coat of paint in a process called “Ransburging” for the company that developed the process. Small parts and components are then finished by

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Tooling: Once the model has the manufacturer’s approval, a process that takes at least a week, it is used to lay out the tooling – which are the molds from which all die-cast parts are created. The tooling process takes three months.

POLE POSITION 2014

hand before tampo plates and decals are applied to finish the decoration. Subassembly: From the chassis to the fabric of the window net, each subassembly is constructed separately by hand. The engine shop, for example, puts all the parts of the engine together and then all the subassemblies are joined to the chassis. Finally, the car is inspected and then packaged for delivery. Die-cast Delivered: The finished die-casts are shipped to the Lionel Racing warehouse in Concord, N.C., where they are processed for shipment and sent to dealers, retailers and/or collectors. From creating new tooling to shipping to the customer, the total time to create, package and distribute a die-cast can take roughly nine months, though high-demand items can be produced in as few as five months.

All-Time Best-Selling Lionel Racing Die-Casts

ant to know the all-time best-selling die-cast race cars since Lionel became the Official Die-Cast of NASCAR in late 2010? This year’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. No. 88 National Guard Daytona 500-winning car is on track to outsell all previously offered cars and become the best-selling die-cast in the company’s history. Here’s how they currently rank:

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2012 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet Impala: In 2012, Diet Mountain Dew became a primary sponsor of the sport’s most popular driver, paving the way for this die-cast to be a top seller. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2012 Diet Mountain Dew/The Dark Knight Rises/Michigan Win Chevrolet Impala: Combine one of the hottest blockbuster movies of 2012 with one of the most exciting victories by Earnhardt Jr., and collectors have a die-cast made in heaven. This car is an example of the impact a well-timed special paint scheme can have on the industry and the sport. The die-cast is the raced-win version, meaning it is produced to replicate the winning car as it looked in Victory Lane with scratches, tire scuffs and all. Jeff Gordon 2011 AARP/Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet Impala: New paint schemes and new sponsors always drive sales and the debut of Gordon’s AARP/Drive to End Hunger paint scheme was no different. Kevin Harvick 2011 Budweiser Chevrolet Impala: Budweiser is one of the most popular sponsors in NASCAR and the company’s move to “Happy” Harvick in 2011 made this car one of the most popular die-casts among race fans. Trevor Bayne 2011 Motorcraft Daytona 500 Win Ford Fusion: Bayne’s incredible victory in the sport’s biggest race is one of the most exciting stories in NASCAR history, and his winning Daytona 500 car – which featured a retro Wood Brothers paint scheme – remains one of the most sought-after die-casts on the market today. Danica Patrick 2012 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Impala: The replica model of Patrick’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car heralded a new era in NASCAR and also a new era among die-cast collectors.

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We didn’t just throw down the gauntlet.

We kicked it. Iconic tracks and iconic events together in one championship for the first time in a generation. Welcome to the next great chapter in North American sports car racing.

2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Schedule

January 24-26 Daytona International Speedway

July 12-13 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

March 14-15 Sebring International Raceway

July 25 Indianapolis Motor Speedway

April 12 Long Beach Street Circuit

August 9-10 Road America

May 3-4 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

August 23-24 Virginia International Raceway

May 31 The Raceway at Belle Isle Park

September 20 Circuit of the Americas

June 7 Kansas Speedway

October 3-4 Road Atlanta

June 28-29 Watkins Glen International

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Jimmie Johnson Let’s face it: Jimmie Johnson and droughts don’t normally mix. A winner of multiple races in every season since moving to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2002, the Hendrick Motorsports driver usually finds himself in Victory Lane within a few weeks of the season getting started.

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info Owner Rick Hendrick Team Hendrick Motorsports Sponsors Lowe’s/ Kobalt Tools Manufacturer Chevrolet Crew Chief Chad Knaus

POLE POSITION 2014

Such was the case in 2013 when Johnson opened with a victory in the Daytona 500. Winning the sport’s biggest race set the tone for the entire year as Johnson went on to capture his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. Success didn’t come as quickly or as easily in 2014, however. Johnson started the season 0-for-11, leading observers to wonder aloud what was wrong with the El Cajon, Calif., native and his No. 48 Chad Knaus-led Chevrolet team. The short answer: Nothing that couldn’t be fixed. Instead of panicking, Knaus hunkered down and went to work on getting a better handle on the new rules package for the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars, which Johnson said his team fell a little bit behind on while focusing in its efforts toward winning the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title. Not surprisingly, when Johnson finally did kick down the door to Victory Lane this season, he did so in convincing fashion – with a dominating performance from the pole in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Then the following weekend at Dover International Speedway, Johnson – already the all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins leader at The Monster Mile - stampeded the competition by leading 272 of 400 laps en route his ninth career triumph at the one-mile concrete oval. Within a matter of eight days, Johnson went from being winless in 2014 to being one of only three drivers with multiple wins – and the only driver with back-to-back victories. Johnson, for his part, was amused by all the discussion about his “drought,” which lasted 13 races dating back to the final two races of 2013. “[Thirteen] long races,” a smiling Johnson said after winning at Charlotte. “I guess we’ve created this environment for ourselves. I honestly wasn’t stressing.” driver Photo courtesy Hendrick Motorsports

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Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick won 23 races in 13 seasons with Richard Childress Racing, including four in 2013. However, there has never been a year in the veteran driver’s career – last year included – when he’s been consistently as fast as he’s been in 2014.

CONSISTENT SPEED

INFO Owner tonY stewaRt Team stewaRt-Haas RacinG SpOnSOrS budweiseR/ JiMMY JoHn’s manufacTurer cHevRoLet crew chief RodneY cHiLdeRs

POLE POSITION 2014

In his ﬁrst season as driver of the No. 4 Chevrolet ﬁelded by Stewart-haas Racing, harvick has been a paragon of speed, leading all but three of the season’s first 14 races. And when harvick has led, it has typically been for lengthy periods; not just a few laps. To put harvick’s tendency for running up front in the proper context, consider this nugget: Over the first 14 races of 2014, the Bakersfield, Calif., native led 796 laps – more than he led over the course of an entire season in all but one year since joining NASCAR’s top series in 2001. Where is the speed coming from exactly? It’s hard to say for the outside observer, but this much is certain: harvick’s cars have been bad fast, especially when you consider he led only 269 laps over last year’s entire 36-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series campaign. By the time 2014 is in the history books, it’s safe to say that harvick will have shattered his personal record for most laps led in a season – 895 laps in 2006. “The bottom line is the organization as a whole has given us every resource that we have asked for,” said harvick, who became the season’s first two-time winner with victories at Phoenix International Raceway and Darlington Raceway. “you never talk about money, it’s just what do you need and how do we get it for you, how do we get better. They went out and recruited Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and he went out and recruited every single person on this team. They all came here for the same reasons. They all want to win races. They all want to win and race for championships, and when you put that kind of people together with that determination, everybody pushes everybody else.”

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Carl Edwards Last season, Carl Edwards finished 18th and 39th in the two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Bristol Motor Speedway. This past March, he won at Thunder Valley – and all but locked up a berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. IT’S bRISTOL, bAbY Waiting out a lengthy rain delay that forced the scheduled day race to be run at night under the lights, Edwards led the final 78 laps and held off Roush Fenway Racing teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to go to Victory Lane at the .533-mile oval. The winning move came when most of the lead-lap cars pitted, but Edwards and crew chief Jimmy Fennig decided to keep the No. 99 Ford on the track. That gave Edwards his only lead of the race, but one he never relinquished. “When Jimmy said we were gonna stay out I thought, ‘That’s a good idea,’ but then nobody stayed out around us and I thought, ‘oh boy, that might not be the greatest thing.’ But it turned out to be perfect,” Edwards said. “our car was just fast or faster than it had been all night after that, so there was no

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detriment to our performance. It didn’t hurt us in any way staying out and helped with all that track position, so that was good.” Fennig believed the call to stay out was the right one all along. “We were running the same lap times we started the run with and the wear at that time wasn’t a factor anymore once the track got rubbered in,” Fennig said. “It was pretty easy that we knew the speed was there and the wear was gonna be good, so we just stayed out.” Coincidentally, Bristol – the site of Edwards’ lone 2014 win with 14 races in the books – was one of the Missouri native’s statistically-worst tracks from last season when he never led a lap and finished a lap down in 18th in the spring race, and finished behind the wall with engine failure in the August night race.

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INFO Owner Jack RousH Team RousH FenwaY RacinG SpOnSOrS aFLac/FastenaL/ subwaY manufacTurer FoRd crew chief JiMMY FenniG

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. Since being paired with crew chief Steve Letarte in 2011, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has steadily improved his performance across the board. In their first year together at Hendrick Motorsports, Letarte led Earnhardt to a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup appearance.

INFO Owner Rick HendRick Team HendRick MotoRspoRts SpOnSOrS nationaL GuaRd/diet Mountain dew manufacTurer cHevRoLet crew chief steve LetaRte

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CLOSING THE DEAL In 2012, Earnhardt scored a dominating win in June at Michigan International Speedway where he went to Victory Lane for the first time in exactly four years. Earnhardt showed even more promise last season in posting his best points finish – fifth – under the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format and often running at or near the front, including during the Chase when he posted three second-place finishes in 10 outings. Earnhardt’s 2013 success, however, came with an asterisk. That’s because he didn’t win. But this season has been a different story. In his final year with Letarte, who is leaving Hendrick Motorsports in 2015 for a job as a NASCAR race announcer for NBC Sports, Earnhardt claimed two victories in the season’s first 14 races while recording seven top-five and nine top-10 finishes. The highlights included a huge victory in the Daytona 500, a race Earnhardt won for the first time a decade earlier while driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc.; along with his first win in 29 events at Pocono Raceway. With finishes of first or second in each of the season’s first three races, it quickly became obvious that Earnhardt and Letarte entered their final season together with the speed and confidence not only to contend for wins, but also to reach up and grab them. “We’ve been fast every week,” Earnhardt said. “We kind of started that around the middle of last year, toward the end of last year. I think we have not peaked as a team performance-wise, but we’re certainly at our highest ceiling. We’re doing some of our best work certainly right now. We should – we have a lot of passion and there’s a lot of emotion, considering this is Steve’s last year.”

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Danica Patrick Few drivers have benefited more from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ new knockout qualifying format than Danica Patrick. She has excelled under this season’s new “knockout” procedure that features multiple qualifying rounds.

QuALIFYING PERFORMANCE INFO Owner Gene Haas/ tonY stewaRt Team stewaRt-Haas RacinG SpOnSOrS GodaddY/ aspen dentaL manufacTurer cHevRoLet crew chief tonY Gibson

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Patrick’s ﬁrst top-10 qualifying performance of the season came in March at Martinsville Speedway where she qualified 10th after transferring into the final round that features just 12 cars. After going three races without a top-10 qualifying result following Martinsville, Patrick qualified seventh at Talladega Superspeedway, ninth at Kansas Speedway and fourth at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Stewart-haas Racing driver’s fourth-place qualifying result for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte was her best ever at a non-restrictor-plate track in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition. Patrick, as most observers will recall, won the pole as a rookie for the 2013 Daytona 500. But after becoming the first woman to lead the field to the green ﬂag in The Great American Race, Patrick never qualified better than 11th over the rest of the 2013 season and went the first four races of this year without a top-20 qualifying run under the new knockout format before suddenly finding her groove. “It’s obviously something that I needed to work on, but you still have to have a good car and the first top 10 was at Martinsville,” said Patrick, who as of press time had a career-best NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finish of seventh recorded during the May event at Kansas Speedway. “I would venture to say that when knockout qualifying happens and we all get done with our first run, there are a heck of a lot more times that I have been in the top 15 [than last year]. “Most of the time, when I finally get things going in knockout qualifying, then it’s like [qualifying for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway] where everybody goes out again and goes faster. So, no, it’s like I said at the beginning of the year, it all evens out in the end.”

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Jeff Gordon In each of the past two years, Jeff Gordon has made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup by the skin of his teeth after an up-and-down regular season. This season has been a different story for the four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. FAST START

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Running at or near the front early and often in 2014, Gordon was the points leader following the season’s first 14 races on the strength of 10 top-10 finishes, including five top-five finishes. Perhaps even more noteworthy, the hendrick Motorsports driver finished outside of the top 15 just once in those races. Last season, Gordon had just four top-10 finishes after 14 races and never led the standings all season. Gordon’s consistent front-running ways this season propelled him to victory at Kansas Speedway in race No. 11, all but locking down a berth in the Chase. In 2013, by comparison, Gordon and his Alan Gustafson-led No. 24 team didn’t get to Victory Lane until the season’s 33rd race held in late october at Martinsville Speedway. For Gordon, who has dealt with back pain

on and off the last few years, running so consistently well so quickly out of the gate was extremely encouraging. “The race cars that I’ve been driving are just making it a lot of fun,” said Gordon, who turned 43 on Aug. 4. “I just feel so competitive out there, and that makes me feel young again. I just see how hard these guys are working. It’s making me work harder. I’ve been really working harder on my fitness, which I think is helping me mentally and physically be more prepared out there. When the cars are that good, my back just doesn’t seem to hurt as much. “The whole retirement thing I think is thrown out there too much, and I’m probably somewhat to blame, but there’s no secret I’m going to be 43 this year. But, man, if 43 is like this, I can’t wait for 50. This is alright. I’m having a good time. That’s why I feel young, because I’m just having a great time.” INFO Owner Rick HendRick Team HendRick MotoRspoRts SpOnSOrS dRive to end HunGeR/ aXaLta/pepsi manufacTurer cHevRoLet crew chief aLan GustaFson

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Kurt busch

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41 INFO Owner Gene Haas Team stewaRt-Haas RacinG SpOnSOr Haas autoMation manufacTurer cHevRoLet crew chief danieL knost

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MARTINSVILLE Prior to this season, it had been nine long years since Kurt Busch posted a top-10 finish at Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway. In late March, the driver nicknamed “The outlaw” ended his run of Martinsville misfortune in the biggest way possible – by going head-to-head in the closing laps with the resident Martinsville master and coming out on top. Busch, whose lone previous victory at the paperclip-shaped oval had come in 2002 with Roush Fenway Racing, passed eight-time Martinsville winner Jimmie Johnson with 11 laps remaining to score his first win in only his sixth outing for Stewart-haas Racing.

Joey Logano

INFO Owner RoGeR penske Team teaM penske SpOnSOrS sHeLL/pennZoiL manufacTurer FoRd crew chief todd GoRdon

POLE POSITION 2014

WINNING ATTITuDE The 2013 season was a breakout one for ﬁrstyear Team Penske driver Joey Logano, who made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup for the first time following four missed attempts at Joe Gibbs Racing. Logano made the cut by the slimmest of margins and had to sweat it out for one of the coveted Chase spots. This season is a different story, however, as Logano – thanks to a new wins-centered method of Chase qualification and the driver’s early victories at Texas Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway – was a lock to make the Chase before the one-third mark of the season.

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Tony Stewart

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14 INFO Owner MaRGaRet Haas Team stewaRt-Haas RacinG SpOnSOr bass pRo sHops/ MobiL 1 manufacTurer cHevRoLet crew chief cHad JoHnson

DIVING bACK IN A notoriously slow starter, Tony Stewart needed 13 races to finish in the top five during 2013. It took him just four races this season – and just five races to get a second top-five. Despite missing the final 15 races of last season with a broken leg, Stewart needed little if any time to shake the dust off upon returning to racing during Daytona Speedweeks. The site of the three-time series champion’s best finish as of press time was Bristol Motor Speedway, arguably the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ most physically-demanding track. Stewart finished fourth in the Food City 500 after starting 37th.

brad Keselowski

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Owner RoGeR penske Team teaM penske SpOnSOrS MiLLeR Lite manufacTurer FoRd crew chief pauL woLFe

POLE POSITION 2014

POLE POSITIONS When it comes to NASCAR’s new-for-2014 knockout qualifying procedure, Brad Keselowski has been arguably the biggest knockout of all. At best a mediocre qualifier in his four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series seasons prior to 2014, Keselowski has adapted to the new qualifying format perhaps better than any other driver. After snaring the first knockout qualifying pole in February at Phoenix International Raceway, Keselowski missed the top five on qualifying day only twice over the next dozen races. “There are an infinite amount of variables [in knockout qualifying], and the teams that can dial in best will be in front,” Keselowski said.

Greg biffle

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16 INFO Owner Jack RousH Team RousH FenwaY RacinG SpOnSOr 3M manufacTurer FoRd crew chief Matt puccia

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PLATE PROWESS Known for most of his professional driving career as an intermediate-track ace, Greg Bifﬂe appears to have found a new realm of expertise – excelling at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. Competing for an organization in Roush Fenway Racing that has never consistently thrived at Daytona or Talladega, Bifﬂe may be changing all of that. By far his best performance from the season’s first 14 races was a second-place finish at Talladega, where he led 58 laps. The veteran driver also had one of his best runs in the Daytona 500, where he finished eighth after leading eight laps.

Clint bowyer

INFO OwnerS MicHaeL waLtRip/ Rob kauFFMan Team MicHaeL waLtRip RacinG SpOnSOr 5-HouR eneRGY manufacTurer toYota crew chief bRian pattie

STAbILITY In a season where considerable chatter has centered around the post-2014 future of Roush Fenway Racing stalwarts Carl Edwards and Greg Bifﬂe, Michael Waltrip Racing driver Clint Bowyer was able to mostly avoid all the distractions that a prominent driver faces in a contract year. Unlike Edwards and Bifﬂe, whose contract negotiations drug into the summer, Bowyer didn’t have to worry about his future after MWR announced in early May that he, crew chief Brian Pattie and primary sponsor 5-hour Energy each had signed new multi-year contracts. Peace of mind is an important element of auto racing. POLEPOSITIONMAG.COM

DRIVER PROFILES

Kyle busch

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18 INFO Owner Joe Gibbs Team Joe Gibbs RacinG SpOnSOrS M&M’s/inteRstate batteRies manufacTurer toYota crew chief dave RoGeRs

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FINISHING RACES One of the most aggressive drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Kyle Busch – despite his indisputable talent behind the wheel – has never been the greatest at preserving his equipment and finishing races. But Busch, who has matured in many areas since joining NASCAR’s top series almost a decade ago, is learning how to stay out of trouble. Likewise, his Joe Gibbs Racing team is doing a better job of giving him more reliable equipment. Need evidence? In the first 14 races of 2014, Busch had just one DNF – a crash at Dover International Speedway not of his own making.

Matt Kenseth

INFO Owner Joe Gibbs Team Joe Gibbs RacinG SpOnSOr doLLaR GeneRaL/ HoMe depot manufacTurer toYota crew chief Jason RatcLiFF

POLE POSITION 2014

CONSISTENCY Matt Kenseth enjoyed a terriﬁc 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, notching a career-high seven victories and finishing runner-up to Jimmie Johnson for the championship in his first year with Joe Gibbs Racing. But despite all that was good about Kenseth’s 2013 season, the veteran driver was wildly inconsistent in the first part of the year and recorded three DNFs in the first 13 races. This season, by comparison, Kenseth had yet to record a single DNF with 14 races in the books. This consistency left the Wisconsin native second in the standings at this juncture, despite failing to reach Victory Lane.

Denny Hamlin

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INFO Owner Joe Gibbs

DAYTONA & TALLADEGA

Team Joe Gibbs RacinG SpOnSOrS FedeX/spoRt cLips manufacTurer toYota

LOF_NASCAR_PP_Halfpg.pdf

crew chief daRian GRubb

1/24/14

2:01 PM

Denny Hamlin had never won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series restrictor-plate race before this season. you wouldn’t have known it, however, from his performance during Daytona Speedweeks and later at Talladega Superspeedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver thoroughly dominated Speedweeks, winning the Sprint Showdown and his respective Budweiser Duel and leading 16 laps in the Daytona 500 before finishing second to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hamlin put the finishing touch on his newfound restrictor-plate success at Talladega, capturing his first checkered ﬂag of 2014 in the traditional May running of the Aaron’s 499 at the high-banked Alabama track.

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nascar fuel careers

Jerame donley

race engIneer, cHIp ganassI racIng WITH felIX saBaTes

orn into a racing family and a former driver himself, Jerame Donley is quite literally living the dream. Donley, a 28-year-old native of Winston-Salem, N.C., whose father, Craig, worked with the late Dale Earnhardt, is in his second season as assistant race engineer on the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet driven by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie Kyle Larson. A 2008 mechanical engineering graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Donley has a wide range of duties with the team that includes seven-post shaker rig testing, running simulation models to set up the car chassis, and generating reports to aid Chip Ganassi

Racing’s drivers and crew chiefs in perusing data from past races at upcoming tracks. Pursuing a career in a sport he has always loved makes Donley’s busy job enjoyable. “My dad was a spotter for Dale Sr. from 1986 to ’96,” he said. “Both my grandfathers were involved in racing, from owning cars to working on them. Saying it is ‘in my blood’ is an understatement. It’s the only thing I’ve ever known how to do, and if I had to get a real job, I would be lost.” Donley’s big break came when he landed an internship at Hendrick Motorsports during his junior and senior years of college. That led to a full-time role working on the setup plate for Jimmie Johnson’s team, and Donley traveled as an underneath

mechanic for one year with Johnson’s No. 48 group. After moving to Hendrick teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 team for one year, Donley joined Ganassi, where he puts his 14 years as a short-track racer in North Carolina and Virginia to good use. “I think more than anything, I can relate to what the driver is discussing and what he is feeling in the car,” Donley said. “You can almost drive the car along with him when he starts talking. You look at his driver input data on the computer and you think back to how you drove the car and how it would react with particular driver inputs.” Donley isn’t bashful about doling out advice to aspiring NASCAR team members. “Find any racing team – late model,

trucks, whatever you can ﬁnd – and get your foot in the door and your hands dirty,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to start at the bottom – that’s where everyone starts – and don’t be afraid to work for minimum pay. The hands-on experience is invaluable. You will be so much further ahead of guys who just have engineering degrees, if you are racing savvy. “Knowing how the industry works and how race strategy happens, and how the moving parts interact with one another, how a change on the vehicle affects the handling of the car, will put you miles ahead.” Donley’s “hands-on” experience included his time as a student at UNC Charlotte. “My college experience was really aided by doing the Formula SAE competition, where you design, build and race a mini open-wheel style car,” he said. “It helped me take the design principles I learned in engineering class and apply them to real-life situations, not just a problem on paper. Internships helped me more than anything to network with fellow employees and get my foot in the door. It showed the bosses I was willing to do the entry-level positions to earn my spot on the team.”

caleB Hurd gas man/ engIneer, JOe gIBBs racIng

hen it comes to careers, it’s never a bad idea to have a backup plan. Caleb Hurd, who holds dual roles as an engineer and gas man at Joe Gibbs Racing, is living proof. Hurd, who is required to hoist an 85-pound gas can in the air multiple times during every NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, is gifted in the area of upper and lower body strength. But the 36-year-old former Virginia Tech football player can rest easy knowing when his days of putting gasoline in race cars are history, he will still have a good job as an engineer for one of NASCAR’s top organizations. Ironically, Hendrick Motorsports hired Hurd fresh out of college as an engineer. It was only later when the organization held tryouts for positions on Jimmie Johnson’s then-new No. 48 team that Hurd took on a second role as gas man. Hurd wore both hats at Hendrick through the end of 2013, when he left for Joe Gibbs Racing to become the gas man for driver Denny Hamlin on the weekends. During the week at JGR, Hurd is hard at work as an engineer specializing in the area of car design. “Your knees don’t last forever and you’ve got to have a job to lean on, so it’s nice to have that,” he said.

by jared turner 58

pOle pOsITIOn 2014

lIfesTyle nascar fuel

dOWnTIme WITH RON HORNADAY JR.

our-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. is undoubtedly in the twilight of his racing career. Hornaday, however, is hardly ready for the rocking chair. That would likely require him spending some time alone. And if there’s one thing the 56-year-old driver loathes, it’s solitude. “My wife and I have a big house and are living by ourselves, and we seem to take some strangers in and put them under our wing and we’ve got a lot of people staying at the house – different people, from drivers to PR people to friends and stuff like that,” said Hornaday, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ all-time wins leader. “I don’t think my wife and I have ever been out to dinner by ourselves. We’ve always had to go with somebody, so I’m a guy that likes a lot of people around.” With retirement in all likelihood only a few years away, Hornaday is already looking toward his next racing endeavor. “We’re putting a little UMP Modiﬁed together for my grandson, where we’ve been testing with him,” said Hornaday, a native of Palmdale, Calif. “So I’ve just been working on cars to get him going in racing.”

menTal prep WITH TONY STEWART Do you have a ritual that helps you prepare for races?

From the time I was 8 years old, I haven’t had to think about being motivated or prepared. There’s guys that run 38 Cup races a year and that’s all they do. I’m a racer. I want to race every day of the week. Seven days a week I want to be in a race car.

TraInIng WITH CASEY MEARS

ew drivers take fitness more seriously than Casey Mears, who works with a trainer twice a week. “It’s not really a CrossFit program, but it’s along those lines,” Mears said. “It’s just things that keep your strength up, your agility, working on a lot of core neck and shoulder exercises that relate to what we do. The day that I have off from the trainer, I typically get in a run or ride a bike or do something like that.” Mears believes fitness has a direct impact on his job. “There are some tracks that are pretty physically demanding and if you get a little tired in the car, you’re going to underperform, so I think it’s really important,” he said. “And not only that, I think if you’re in shape, the tracks where you get a very hot day, you can kind of pound through those days a little bit better. “The other thing is I just think it’s safer if you get in an accident,” Mears added. “If you’re in shape and you have meat on your bones and you’ve built up some strength, I feel like that if you get in an accident, you’re less likely to get injured.”

fuelIng up WITH JUSTIN ALLGAIER

Breakfast: LUNCH: “I’m an oatmeal guy. I usually like some sort of fruit with it – maybe blueberries in the oatmeal, maybe some strawberries, cantaloupe, pineapple. I’m not real picky. Whatever’s fresh and is in the fridge. But I’m not a big breakfast person or morning person in general.”

“For lunch, I would have pizza – just pepperoni or cheese. I’m pretty plain when it comes to that. It’s funny; I normally take the toppings and the cheese off of my pizza and just eat the crust and the sauce. I don’t know why. That’s just always been my thing.”

DINNER:

“I would have some sort of Mexican food, but currently it’s been grilled chicken for dinner. We do ‘Taco Tuesdays’ a lot. Or it’s enchiladas, burritos. I can eat about any of it. If it’s Mexican, I’m doing rice as a side. If it’s regular food, I’m doing green beans and mashed potatoes.”

SNACK:

“It’s got to be ice cream. Rocky Road, it’s kind of an interesting choice, and it’s got to be in a bowl. Like four scoops in a bowl. I’m a big tea person – sweet or unsweet. That’s pretty much all I drink anymore. I don’t like water and I’ve kind of kicked the soda habit.” pOlePOSITIONmag.COM

PHOTOHUNT

Study the top photo, then see if you can find the six changes that were made in the bottom photo.

POLE POSITION 2014

ANSWERS // (1) Dot on the “i” in “Sprint” has been removed, (2) Ford logo has been removed from hood of car, (3) Car number has been changed to 89, (4) Aflac logo has been flipped upside down, (5) Pylon has been added to bottom right of photo, (6) Tractor in background has been changed from yellow to black.

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crazy maze

Test your driving skills and find the exit!

wordspell How many words can you spell using only the letters that appear in this driver’s name?

parker kligerman park, man...

Match the state with the correct track.

2 3

4 5 6

_ Watkins Glen International _ Michigan Int’l Speedway _ Bristol Motor Speedway _ Talladega Superspeedway _ Pocono Raceway _ Atlanta Motor Speedway

ANSWERS // (1) Michigan Int’l Speedway, (2) Watkins Glen International, (3) Pocono Raceway, (4) Bristol Motor Speedway, (5) Talladega Superspeedway, (6) Atlanta Motor Speedway

who am i? ■■ ■■

■■

I was born in Georgia I have won two races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series I drive for Front Row Motorsports When I was 18 years old, I raced in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series I drive car No. 34 ANSWER // David Ragan

track hunt

POLEPOSITIONMAG.COM

nascar fuel fun pages

desIgn yOur OWn race car

maTcH THe drIVer

MATT KENSETH

pOle pOsITIOn 2014

Match the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver to the number that appears on his car.

CARL EDWARDS

Have fun creating a custom paint scheme!

DENNY HAMLIN

TONY STEWART

CASEY MEARS

can you draw nascar? WInner’s cIrcle

GARAGE GRIME? YES, IT CLEANS THAT!

and THe WInners are... ■ [1] Marshall P., Pennsylvania ■ [2] John B., Nevada

ow is your chance to be featured in the pages of NASCAR Pole Position! Send us your NASCAR-themed artwork. The lucky winners will receive a race jacket of their favorite driver! On a piece of paper, send us your name, age, complete mailing address, email address or phone number and the driver jacket you would like to win. No purchase necessary. All entries are eligible.

Visit PolePositionMag.com to learn more about the Winner’s Circle.

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Submissions cannot be returned. Questions? Email poleposition@ae-engine.com. Send your artwork, unfolded, in an oversized envelope to: NASCAR Pole Position Magazine c/o A.E. Engine, Attn: Stacey Foster 11880 28th St. North, Suite 101 St. Petersburg, FL 33716 pOlePOSITIONmag.COM 63 greased-lightning.com

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POLE POSITION 2014

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2014 NASCAR nationwide Series Feb. 22 March 1 March 8 March 15 March 22 April 4 April 11 April 25 May 3 May 18 May 24 May 31 June 14 June 21 June 27 July 4 July 12 July 19 July 26 Aug. 2 Aug. 9 Aug. 16 Aug. 22 Aug. 30 Sept. 5 Sept. 13 Sept. 20 Sept. 27 Oct. 4 Oct. 10 Nov. 1 Nov. 8 Nov. 15

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© 2014 Exxon Mobil Corporation. Mobil, Mobil 1 and the 1 Icon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.®2014 Stewart-Haas Racing. NASCAR® is a registered trademark of The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. Other trademarks shown are property of their respective owners.

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