Chicagoland to kick off Chase as 2011 Cup schedule takes shape

For weeks we've been hearing NASCAR would be revamping the 2011 Sprint Cup schedule. Last week's announcement about Atlanta dropping down to one race weekend got the ball rolling and started to paint a picture of how the schedule might look for next season.

Today's news regarding Chicagoland Speedway has been the most significant change confirmed so far. NASCAR and track officials announced Monday the 1.5-mile track will kick off the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Chicagoland will replace Auto Club Speedway in the Chase, thereby bumping the New Hampshire, Dover and Kansas races back a week.

The track in Joliet, Ill., will host the first of NASCAR's 10-race playoffs during the Sept. 16-18 race weekend. Chicagoland traditionally held its lone NASCAR race weekend in mid-July. After hosting its third annual night race this year, the 2011 event will be run during the day Sunday. The weekend will also include a Nationwide race on Saturday.

The move allows NASCAR to fire up the Chase in the second-biggest media market on the Sprint Cup circuit, looking to make the most of the increased exposure.

“We could not be more excited,” Chicagoland Speedway president Craig Rust said in a press release. “I don’t think there’s a better location to kick off the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup than in Chicago. It’s the best sports town in the country. Every race in the Chase plays a key role in determining the championship and we’re thrilled that our fans can be part of the excitement.”

NASCAR Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Steve O’Donnell said the decision to strip Auto Club Speedway of its fall Chase race left the track with "a much better date for them, kind of back to their traditional date they used to have in the California marketplace that worked well for them.”

Auto Club Speedway used to sell out its spring race weekend from 1997 to 2006 before a second date was added. The track has struggled to sell tickets since.

The Fontana, Calif., track looks likely to return to one race weekend as its owner International Speedway Corp., which also owns Chicagoland and Kansas, is expected to add a second Cup date to Kansas Speedway. The Midwest track received approval in February to build a casino on its grounds.

As a result of moving the Chase kickoff to Chicagoland, New Hampshire Motor Speedway will not open the Chase for the first time since the format's inception in 2004. New Hampshire is scheduled to hold a press conference Wednesday, where it is expected to announce the track will host the second race in the Chase.

O'Donnell said there would be no other changes to the Chase tracks. The Chase schedule would appear to be: Chicagoland, New Hampshire, Dover, Kansas, Charlotte, Martinsville, Talladega, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead.

Other reported changes to the 2011 Sprint Cup schedule include Kentucky Speedway gaining a Cup date (a result of Atlanta losing a race) and Phoenix International Raceway moving up its spring event to the second race of the season, after Daytona. Along with Kansas, Kentucky and Phoenix are set to hold press conferences Tuesday.

Texas Motor Speedway has scheduled a press conference for Aug. 17, during which it is expected to announce one of its two Cup events will be a night race.

NASCAR will unveil the complete 2011 season schedule Aug. 18.

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Photo: Green flag waves at the Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland in July. (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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Busch vs. Busch: Richmond

Kyle Busch

Nationwide: Busch was third in final practice and took the pole for the Bubba Burger 250. This was also Busch's first Nationwide pole of 2010 and third at Richmond. Busch led until lap 59, when Brad Keselowski passed him. During the caution on lap 96, Busch lost four spots when the crew had trouble with a lug nut. With 90 to go, he was stuck in fifth place. With 61 laps left, a caution came out and his crew stepped it up, bringing him out second. Busch took the lead after a caution with six laps left but having not gone on to pit road, he couldn't beat Keselowski and his new tires. He finished fourth.

Cup: Busch was in the top five in both practices, placing fifth and first. He kept his momentum going into qualifying, first with the Nationwide pole followed by the Cup pole. He started next to fellow Toyota driver David Reutimann. Busch quickly pulled away from the rest of the pack at the drop of the green flag. He kept his lead through the first caution and kept going, lapping cars and making his lead even bigger. On lap 171 he lost the lead to Ryan Newman after a caution for debris but he took it back quickly since Newman was on two tires while Busch was on four. On lap 230, he lost the lead to Jeff Burton, who was hungry for a win. On lap 242, Busch fell further back to third place, being passed by the other Jeff (Gordon). He still didn't know what was wrong with his car. With 100 laps left, he was in fourth place. With 25 to go, Busch was in sixth after a caution. After two more cautions and 12 to go, he was in second. On the restart, Busch got a jump on Gordon and took the checkered flag.


Kurt Busch

To read the remainder of the article, visit examiner.com

This article originally appeared on LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with permission of the author.

Photo courtesy of Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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2 New Miss Sprint Cups Join Monica Palumbo

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – Feb. 10, 2010 – Sprint (NYSE:S) today introduced the 2010 Miss Sprint Cup lineup to the media, as well as fans who follow the program via social media, during Speedweeks in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Returning for her third season as Miss Sprint Cup, Monica Palumbo was joined by newcomers Paige Duke and Amanda Wright in the media center at Daytona International Speedway, as the program expands to three representatives in 2010.

Palumbo is a native of Charlotte, N.C. Duke and Wright hail from Lancaster, S.C., and York, Maine.

The program, which began as a small part of a Sprint sweepstakes promotion in 2007, has become a valuable asset for the Sprint NASCAR sponsorship, both in terms of brand exposure and fan engagement.

“It’s amazing how the fans have embraced the Miss Sprint Cup program,” said Steve Gaffney, vice president of Corporate Marketing for Sprint. “Miss Sprint Cup has become the fans’ ‘friend on the inside,’ interacting with fans both at the track and through social media. Our mission at Sprint is to help fans get closer to the sport they love, and the Miss Sprint Cup program does a tremendous job of that.”

Highly visible personalities at every NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event, the Miss Sprint Cup representatives appear throughout the weekend at the Sprint Experience mobile display, where they greet fans and interviews drivers, celebrities and other NASCAR personalities. They can also be found interacting with race-day attendees on pit road tours, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage and at driver introductions.

The program has experienced tremendous growth in the social media space during the past year and now boasts more than 71,000 fans on Facebook, 5,700 followers on Twitter, and the largest membership (approx. 64,000 members) of any “crew” in the Community section of NASCAR.com.

“We’ve made the Miss Sprint Cup program a central component of our overall social media strategy at Sprint,” said Gaffney. “We’ve been very pleased with the high volume of overwhelmingly positive two-way direct fan interaction. This new and rapidly evolving channel is a great way to interact with consumers and build brand affinity.”

Sprint also used its social media presence to build interest in the unveiling. For the past several weeks, photos of the new lineup were displayed online, with the faces obscured by question marks. A new tidbit of information about the lineup was posted to Twitter and Facebook each day to help pique fans’ interest. A trivia game on the Miss Sprint Cup Facebook page gave fans the chance to answer NASCAR-related questions. When enough followers correctly answered the questions each day, another piece of a photo “puzzle” was displayed, with the final piece revealing the faces of the three young women.

With the rise in the program’s popularity, Miss Sprint Cup now regularly receives requests from tracks, teams, charitable organizations and even other NASCAR sponsors to appear at various events. The increased time demands, both at and away from the track, spurred the decision to expand the program to include a third Miss Sprint Cup for 2010. Two of the three representatives will appear at every race, while all three will be at select events, including the Daytona 500.

The group will make its first public appearance at noon (EST) Thursday, Feb. 11, when they greet fans for the first time at the Sprint Experience in the midway of Daytona International Speedway.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving more than 48 million customers at the end of the third quarter of 2009 and the first 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The company’s customer-focused strategy has led to improved first call resolution and customer care satisfaction scores. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.

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