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The Indiana Business Journal reported this week that Crown Royal may be in negotiations with Indianapolis Motor Speedway to become the title sponsor of the Brickyard 400 weekend.  According to their report the deal could be the richest title sponsorship in NASCAR at around $1.5 million annually.  The multi-year deal could be announced in as soon as two weeks at the upcoming 400.  If true, it would make the recent moves made by IMS make a lot more sense.

It was announced officially last week that the Nationwide Series would not return to Lucas Oil Raceway Park in 2012, and instead would shift over to IMS as part of the Brickyard 400 weekend.  Also a part of the event, IMS has added a GRAND-AM Series race on the track’s road course.  Both moves now appear to be an effort by IMS to sweeten the deal for Crown Royal.  With waning attendance in recent years, the track had to do something to justify a price tag north of $1 million.

This report comes just two weeks after Crown Royal announced it would not return to Roush Fenway Racing next season as sponsor of Matt Kenseth’s #17 Ford.  Along with their team sponsorship, Crown Royal had also been a title sponsor at Richmond with their “Your Name Here” 400 program.  The announcement had some interesting phrasing regarding the future of this part of their NASCAR program:

The changes are made to allow Diageo to shift resources toward its annual “Your Name Here” program, in which Crown Royal awards naming rights to a Sprint Cup event to an adult fan, recently with a military background. “We look forward to elevating this program as well as continuing our presence in the sport through an experience that our fans have grown to love,” Briese said.

Details about next year’s race sponsorship will be announced at a later date, she added. The “Your Name Here” event has traditionally been held at Richmond International Raceway, but there was no information immediately available Tuesday as to what track would host the race in 2012 and beyond.

Knowing what we know now, it would appear that Crown Royal may be preparing to use the Brickyard sponsorship to escalate the “Your Name Here” program.

The loss of the NNS and Truck events from LORP has been an unpopular move (we wrote about it here and here).  Initially, the move appeared to just be IMS attempting to boost fading ticket sales.  But now, the changes make a lot more sense.  While the track certainly hopes to see a boost at the gates, the added races make the sponsorship deal much more valuable for Crown Royal.

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GRAND-AM Continental Tire Series driver Billy Johnson will make his Nationwide Series debut next weekend at Watkins Glen with Roush Fenway Racing.  Johnson, who co-drives the #61 Roush Performance Mustang in the Continental Tire Challenge Series with Jack Roush Jr., will pilot the #6 Citi Financial Ford.  The race will be the first NASCAR event for the 24 year old from Torrance, CA.

Johnson is currently fifth in the Continental Tire Challenge Series points on the strength of wins at Homestead and New Jersey Motorsports Park.  He partnered with Roush Jr. part way through the 2009 season, and he has six career wins in GRAND-AM.  He is also an instructor at the Skip Barber Driving School.

We’ve heard that leading up to his debut, Johnson has done some road course and oval track testing for RFR.  No word on if he may run more races.

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The teams have a short trip this weekend, as the Truck and Cup Series head to Martinsville, VA.  The teams are also spending the week getting some spoiler testing done at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  And while they work, we’ve got another round of questions and answers.  If you don’t know what this post is, we answer any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here.  So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us.  On to the questions…

1. From Lee:

It is my understanding that Goodyear brings the tires that will be used for that race to the track.  Do the teams get the tires from Goodyear at the track, then take them and mount and balance them on their own? Or do they bring their rims to Goodyear, and they mount and balance the tires for the team?

A company called Champion Tire & Wheel hauls all the wheels to the track.  Once there, Goodyear takes them and mounts and balances all the tires for the teams.  After the race, all the tires are returned to Goodyear.  They are then broken down and loaded back up.  Champion checks the wheels for damage, cleans them, and hauls them to the next race. – T.C.

2. From Ric:

Do crew members and drivers travel together or separate? I know it various from team to team, race to race. Just looking for in general.

Generally crew members travel together. Of course most teams have A team and B team guys that come into the race track different times during the weekend, but those groups do travel together. Drivers generally come in to the race track by themselves, but that’s not always the case; especially for the ones who don’t have private planes, or access to a private plane. – Journo

3. From Eddie:

With the 12 Hrs at Sebring this weekend, is it possible in the future for a NASCAR driver to race that event and still race the Sprint Cup event on Sunday? Also have any NASCAR drivers raced in the ALMS series before?

Probably not. The reason I say that is because the weekends don’t really work well together. Running in the 12 hours would screw up practice and qualifying on the Cup side, which would require teams to find someone to fill in. This is something a team owner wouldn’t be too keen to do. The 24 Hours of Daytona works because it’s out of season and Indy and the 600 were able to work because of how spread out things were. I don’t see this working though. To your second question the answer is yes. IMSA (the current sanctioning body of the ALMS which was formed in 1999) ran the 24 Hours of Daytona for many years until the creation of Grand Am. I can’t think of anybody driving in it recently, but Roger Penske had an ALMS team until 2008 (they ran Grand-Am in 2009). – Journo

4. From Ray in NJ:

Hey TC, I have a question regarding the spoiler change for Martinsville etc.  If I remember correctly when the COT was first created the drivers were complaining about not enough downforce on the car and handling extremely poor…remember Kyle Busch complaining each time he won…..as a result NASCAR decided to add the wing and then during testing the drivers commented it was much better…..now people are saying the wing is causing or enticing the car to go airborne when turned around…so it makes me think we are going to keep the car on the track…but handling and downforce could be a problem again…what do you think?

During some of the initial COT testing, the car had a spoiler.  But the COT was never actually raced in competition with a spoiler.  It always had the wing.  So saying the car is going to revert back to how it handled in the beginning isn’t necessarily accurate.  The teams are definitely going to have to relearn how to set these cars up, but I don’t foresee huge problems with handling and downforce. – T.C.

5. From Michele:

Hi T.C. and Journo! Hearing lots about the Legend race @ Bristol running “faster more dangerous” cars than current Sprint & N’wide drivers. Is there anything to that or just ‘Hot Air’? Thanks for a great column!

I believe that the Legends race at Bristol had the drivers just running crate motor late models.  The cars don’t have as much horsepower and are lighter then a Cup or Nationwide car, but their setup makes them easier to drive.  I believe that is why we saw lap times that were as fast or faster then the other series.  On a short track they are fast, but I don’t know if we can call them more dangerous.  The incident with Pearson and Glotzbach was just an unfortunate accident I believe. - T.C.

Remember too this race wasn’t sanctioned by NASCAR. The race was put on by BMS. – Journo

6. From Mike:

How does the payout system work? I see at Bristol that Truex finished 12th with 500 laps earning $89,475 whereas Kahne finished 34th with 432 laps earning $123,390. Neither driver led a lap.

The reason some drivers make more then others depends on what contingency programs a team is involved in, and in what payout plan a team is in.  I believe NASCAR has four different plans setup, and each team fits into one of those plans.  I don’t know specific details, but the plans award prize money based on not only where you finish, but also past performance and longevity. – T.C.

7. From djones:

Hi TC & Journo, Two questions if OK. Regarding tire tests. If Goodyear brings tire ABC to test , why do they bring tire XYZ to run the race at the track they tested at? I am referring to comments made by Regan Smith at Bristol. Also, why use an Indy tire (flat track) at Bristol (high banked)? Why don’t the tire changers where some kind of dust mask? Doesn’t that brake dust cause health problems? Thanks guys. Read you every week.

Goodyear uses tire tests to try different compounds and combinations.  Their data from the test will tell them what they need to know to select a tire.  They may bring ABC to the test, but realize later that XYZ will be better for the race.  And just because a tire is used at Indy doesn’t mean it won’t work for Bristol.  Goodyear decided that the conditions the Indy tire was built for would also work at Bristol.  There are a ton of factors that go into selecting a tire.  And I don’t really know why changers don’t wear dust masks.  You will see some front changers wearing full face helmets because of the brake dust.  I’m sure inhaling the dust isn’t good for you, but I’ve never heard of specific health problems caused by it. – T.C.

And that brings yet another “Ask The Insiders Wednesday” to a close.  Thanks to everyone who sent in questions.  And remember, if you’d like to be a part of next week, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send your question in!

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We’ve still got a ways to go before the Sprint Cup season has ended and we crown our champion, but never fear if you’re looking for a good conclusion to a motorsports season we’ve got three this weekend.

The ARCA Re/Max, IndyCar, and Grand-Am seasons all come to an end this weekend; and all three are locked into tight battles between the top two or three teams. If you’ve been watching any of them this season you know what I’m talking about.

IndyCar Series

Wrapping up at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend, the IndyCar Series has been one to watch this season.

True the battle is between just two teams and three drivers, but it’s still been exciting.

The Target Chip Ganassi teams of Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti sit one, two in the points and have been that way for most of the season. In fact the two swapped points every week there for several weeks. They have a combined nine wins this season (Dixon leads with five) and are only five points apart, with Dixon in the lead.

Despite Dixon’s lead Franchitti has the better average finish of 4.9.

The only driver who has been able to keep up with those two is Ryan Briscoe over at TCGR rival Penske Racing. Briscoe has four poles and three wins on the season with an average finish of 5.6. He’s only eight points out of the lead.

Long story short it’s all going to come down to who finishes ahead of who. Considering the dominance of all three of these teams it is sure to be an exciting finish to the season. Check it out Saturday at 4 p.m. on Versus.

Grand-Am

Also closing out their season at Homestead-Miami this weekend is the Grand-Am Series. There’s not much of a points race going on in the Grand Touring Series, but the Daytona Prototype Series is a squeaker.

Reigning champs Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas are just 10 points back from leaders Jon Fogerty and Alex Gurney in third. Eight points back in second are Brian Friselle and Max Angelelli.

The CGR team of Pruett and Rojas has been solid this season leading a total of 406 laps, but they only have two wins to the Gainsco team’s four. The Suntrust Team of Angelelli and Friselle have a similar record to Ganassi and also have two wins.

Given that these three teams finished 1-2-3 in order the last time they raced, and all of these drivers are very competitive with each other, Homestead is sure to thrill. Check it out Saturday at 1 p.m. on Speed.

ARCA

Finally if you’re not into sports car or open wheel racing the ARCA Re/Max Series season also comes to a close this weekend at Rockingham Speedway.

Penske development driver Parker Kligerman and Eddie Sharp Racing’s Justin Lofton have been battling all season for the championship trophy.

Kligerman has eight wins, including a string of four in a row between Michigan and Kentucky earlier this year and last week at Kansas. He has an average finish of 5.2 this season and sits just 15 points behind Lofton.

Lofton has six wins this season, most recently at Salem Speedway. He was looking to make it seven last week, but Kligerman, who was in second snookered him on the restart. He has an average finish of 5.3 and has led an astounding 1,005 laps.

There are no guarantees we’re going to see a repeat of last season (Ricky Stenhouse wrecks, either on purpose or accidentally depending on your view, Scott Speed; Speed then wrecks Stenhouse; Justin Allgaier wins the championship), but this is another one that looks to be a great battle. These are two very talented, intense young drivers and it will be exciting to see what happens. Check this one out (not live) at 10 p.m. Sunday on Speed.

I hope you enjoy your weekend of racing. Oh and don’t forget there’s a Cup and Nationwide race this weekend too.