Results tagged “Daytona International Speedway” from Haddock in the Paddock

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be pulling double duty at Daytona with his new team, Hendrick Motorsports.
Earnhardt Jr. will race the team's No. 5 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway, the season opener for the series.
The car is being prepared jointly by Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports, the team owned by Earnhardt Jr. Landon Cassill will drive the No. 5 car for 19 Nationwide Series in 2008. Earnhardt Jr. will race in two, Daytona and the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The car is sponsored by the Army National Guard for those 21 races.
"We are extremely proud to have the Army National Guard as such a prominent partner with us, not only in support of the No. 5 Nationwide cars in 2008, but also as a co-primary for Dale in the Sprint Cup Series," said Kelley Elledge, vice president and general manager of JR Motorsports. "They have an unquestionable commitment to this program, and the enthusiasm they exude with both the JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports teams is extremely gratifying."
JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports combined NASCAR oerations following the conclusion of the 2007 season. The No. 5 Chevrolets will be fielded full-time under the JR Motorsports banner in 2008.
Cassill, 18, will make his first start for the team at the Nationwide Series race at California Speedway Feb. 23. He will be a candidate for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year in the Nationwide Series.
"I know Dale and Landon will represent the men and women of the National Guard well as drivers of the No. 5 Chevrolet, and we look forward to an exciting 2008 season for JR Motorsports," Elledge said.

It's not exactly stock car racing, but Jamie McMurray is at Daytona International Speedway for a race, more than a month before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500.
McMurray, driver of the No. 26 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing, is entered in one of the races for the Daytona KartWeek by Cometic Gasket.
He will be competing in the World Karting Association's Sprint Championships on the half-mile track in between turns 3 and 4 at Daytona International Speedway this weekend.
His dad, Jim McMurray, is entered in the Elite Karting Championships on the 3.56-mile road course at Daytona.
“I’ve been trying to get him to come back because this is where we actually started,” said Jim McMurray, who has been a regular fixture to Daytona KartWeek events since the late 1970s. “We started racing karts when he was seven. There are so many people to thank in the karting industry that has actually helped us get to the level of where we’re at now.”
This will be Jamie McMurray's first visit to Daytona since winning the Pepsi 400 in July. It was his only win in 2007 and the second Cup win of his NASCAR career.
“I remember taking off from here in July at 3 in the morning or whatever,” McMurray said. “There’s not really anything that compares to Daytona. Certainly winning at Charlotte at home is a big deal and winning at the Brickyard would be a big deal but Daytona, that’s our race. The only one bigger for me would be winning the 500.”
McMurray said kart racing has changed a lot since he returned about six months ago for a race in Pennsylvania.
“Go karting is so much more advanced than it was when I raced,” McMurray said. “When I raced karts, it was literally a hobby, a mom and pop thing. Man, you come here, there are teams. You drive for a team. The karts are so fast. It’s just unbelievable how much faster and the load, it’s really hard on your body to do this. I just really enjoy this. It’s fun.”
The Daytona 500, the first race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, is Jan. 16 and culminates weeks of races at Daytona, including twin 150 qualifying races and the Budweiser Shootout, for Cup Series pole winners in 2007.
“Daytona, there’s something every year when you come here,” McMurray said. “You’re so excited and I had that yesterday when I got here. But you are here for so long (during DIRECTV Speedweeks) that you are ready to go home. I’m hoping that the two or three extra days that I’m spending here karting is not going to burn me out too soon but you can’t beat it, it’s beautiful weather here.”
Tickets for Daytona KartWeek by Cometic Gasket are available at the gate. Race tickets for any Daytona International Speedway events are available online at www.racetickets.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

Juan Pablo Montoya, the open-wheel star turned NASCAR rookie last year, was part of the winning team in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the opening race in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car stories.
He will be back for the 2008 race in a car for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.
Montoya will be teamed with Dario Franchitti, another open-wheel star moving to NASCAR, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas in the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Daytona Prototype for the 24-hours endurance race Jan. 26-27 at Daytona International Speedway.
Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon, Salvador Duran and Alex Lloyd will drive the No. 02 Daytona Prototype car for Ganassi.
Pruett, a NASCAR road-racing specialist, and Rojas tested last week at Daytona in preparation for the race next month.
“(Chip’s) stable is just full of a lot of talent on the NASCAR side, on the IRL side, on the Grand-Am side,” Pruett said last week during the test. “For us coming here with this commitment and this organization is going to be nothing less than stellar. We’re going to go for the win.”
Pruett and Rojas spent Dec. 10 and 11 at Daytona fine tuning their Lexus Riley after struggling during the Grand-Am November Test Days at DIS. Rojas crashed the team's car during the Dec. 11 session, hitting a chicane and causing front end damage to the car. Despite the setback, Pruett said he has happy with the team's progress.
“We had a lot of problems at the earlier test,” Pruett said. “We just didn’t get much track time at all. In fact, we only got about a half of a day running. We opted to come back here and it’s been very valuable learning a lot about what the car wants with the new Pirelli tires.”

A replica of the truck Ron Hornaday drove to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship will be part of the Daytona 500 Experience at Daytona International Speedway.
Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc., won his third career Truck Series championship. It was his first for KHI. His previous two came when he was driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc.
“We are extremely pleased to have been asked by Daytona International Speedway to display the No. 33 Camping World Silverado in their attraction,” said Camping World President and CEO Marcus Lemonis. “Our NASCAR truck program with KHI is very important to our company and we are eager to share it with the hundreds of thousands of fans who tour Daytona USA each year.”
Fans can see Hornaday's truck at the attraction beginning Dec. 14. The Daytona 500 Experience is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.