petrol-head » NASCAR

Kahne and Driving for the 2013 Nationwide Series Season

christophe schwartz — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 21:10:29 +0000

JR Motorsports will provide rides for Kasey Kahne and {Brad Sweet} for the upcoming Nationwide Series season this year. Great Clips will push its sponsorship from Turner Motorsports to JRM to support the Nationwide Series endeavor. Clips recently signed a support for three Sprint Cup races for Kahne’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet this year. Kahne ran 15 races for Turner Motorsports in the No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet in 2012. His eminent finish was second at Bristol in March 2012. In the 191 NNS starts, the 32-year-old racer has managed to top seven victories.

In 2012, Kahne reigned fourth in the Sprint Cup standings in his first season with the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team. His victories in many races meant Kahne became known as one of the most reliable racers in the NASCAR competition. Recently, Kahne was invited to deliver a good sportsmanship talk at the Victory Lane Players Club chalet in Miami, as part of a fund raising event. He mentioned his love for poker during his speech; saying that the sport helped him with his racing strategies. Poker, apparently, is a favorite of many well known athletes and racers, including the famous driver Stirling Moss.

Meanwhile, Kahne will be working out the season’s driving duties with Sweet, who will turn 27 on January 19. Sweet has been included in two top 10s in 18 races, including a career-high sixth-place finish at {California Speedway} last March. Sweet also raced a limited Truck schedule for Turner Motorsports.

Barnfind to be the 1970 Daytona 500 winning Hamilton Plymouth Superbird

social media — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 13:03:18 +0000

Since we published the story about the #28 Dodge Charger barnfind, the history of the car appears to have popped out really big within the MOPAR community! It looks like it is the long lost Pete Hamilton Superbird. There is a very interesting discussion about it on the Randy Ayers NASCAR modelling board. As you might guess, the modellers are much more knowledgeable about history and details of these racecars as any crew chief from back in the day may be able to recall. So here is the discussion!

And here are a few very interesting quotes!

Rocket Resto on the origin of the car :

" The article on the car is in Mopar Muscle which I just got today. Please correct me if I'm wrong here but this is the history of the car as told by the magazine (which should always be taken with a grain or 1,000,000 grains of salt):

Raced as Hamilton's Superbird
Rebodied into a 70 Road Runner (non-superbird) and brought out to the Jan 71 Riverside race
Owned by Doc Faustina on the West Coast, Bought from Petty at Riverside after Jan 71 race
Painted car dark blue #5 and raced it three times in 71 probably in Sportsman
Reskinned as a 71 Charger, was silver and white #5, raced until 76
Sold and repainted gold and brown as #28, raced at small tracks
Mystery Years………..
Bought by Chuck Shafer from barn in Iowa (pictures from link above)
Bought by Todd Werner from estate of Chuck Shafer
Restored by Petty Garage "

Aero426 on what matches and what seems a mistery :

" The original car had straight passenger door bars. The 2010 under constructon photo in the magazine shows that at some point, the car has apparently been updated with bars extending into the door cavity. When the donor car was stripped down, one would think there would be still be some witness marks on the cage where the old bars were. I have played with the color to enhance the bars. You can clearly see they do not extend into the door cavity. This photo was taken during the Daytona 125.

I am not suggesting it isn't the car. I just don't understand why things appear the way they do. "

" It would seem that they unknowingly removed an original design feature when rebuilding the front clip. Follow your red hash marks three forward of the shock tower. Those bars had the mount for the original bolt-in tubular hoop that runs across the car. The hoop was present on the donor, but moved forward for the small block. Yet the mount was still there. Why they would choose to remove an original feature showing on ALL the existing underhood shots or Pete's car is a mystery to me. The replacement bars are welded in too high. "

Bruce Kepley on the story behind the restoration:

" A bit about the article regarding the Pete Hamilton Superbird…

The article in Mopar Muscle is very in depth and the provenance of this car is pretty much without question…

Todd Werner (whom I've met several times, you've seen him on TV with his Sox and Martin original race car collection) had a friend who passed away, a genuine car guy, who had this stored for years thinking that it was one of Petty's original '70 Plymouth short track cars…he had convinced Todd so that upon his passing his estate sold the car to Todd…

Not wanting to spend money on a restoration without clarification Todd trailers the car down to Petty's shops in Randleman where they now do cars for the public…he shows the car to Richard who says that he believes it's one of his cars but he wants Maurice and Richie to look at the car….

Maurice and Richie look at the car for one afternoon and ask Todd if he can stay until the next day, which of course he does…Keep in mind that Todd is just looking for authentication that it's only a Petty car…

Maurice and Richie come back the next day with photos, pour over the car for another few hours and then call Todd into a meeting where it's revealed that it's the lost Hamilton Superbird…it has been reskined several times and the proof came out when the car was restored with Petty blue paint in the cracks and damaged areas matching damage that was later sustained on the car as a short track car…

Todd contracts Petty Enterprises to restore the car but leave some of the interior wrinkled sheet metal intact for historical reasons…I've found some rare cars in my past (71 hemi charger 4 speed export car) and, believe me, if you're a Mopar man you AUTHENTICATE everything…

So, there you are…read the article, it's amazing and today the car is a beautiful restoration of an Historic Nascar find… "

All I can say after reading this discussion on Randy Ayers is that this is better than any story written in Hollywood!

Michel Disdier’s and Sagamore Noonan’s Shake and Bake racing week-end at Le Castellet (F)

social media — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 21:45:37 +0000

These pictures are from Adrien Paviot of Com'On Racing Agency. I'll let the excellent shots speak for themselves as you can see our progress to a Top Ten finish! Shake and Bake!

Getting ready for the first qualifying session. I managed a 2.33 on the big 5.2 km Paul Ricard Grand Prix track.

Cruising down pit road for the first flying lap.

This gives you an idea of our competition. Hey, why did they all have such tiny cars ?

Fun, fun, fun 'till my mechanic takes that Charger bach to the garage!

Cheers!

Michel Disdier felt at home after just three laps. His best qualifying tilme was a 2.26!

Ready to go chase some Tupperware cars… er…. Corvettes!

Sorry, could you just move your $$$ Porsche out of the way?

Ok, time for driver change at mid-race!

Michel's turn to have fun with HEMI power and HURST brakes!

Top Ten finish and best race lap 2.24! Michel Didier is an awesome driver! Hope to see him back on an ARCA oval soon!

OLY Time! The best tasting beer in the world after such a great race!

Found in a barn in Iowa: NASCAR Dodge Charger with Petty chassis

social media — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:04:52 +0000

From time to time, well preserved former NASCAR glories surface here and there. This one has a 1974 Dodge Charger body on a late 60s or very early 70s Petty chassis. It might have well been a Superbird, but only that car can tell!

Where once a 426 HEMI bellowed, now a small block resides. This could indicate that it was raced upo until 1977, when the body was still elligible.

It looks like the restrictor plate is still under the Holley carburetor. However, this Holley does not look like a Grand National piece, but more something from a late model.

A peak of the interior, where you can see the typical Petty crossmember. It looks like the interior was red in its day.

Pop riveted inside door panels could be a hint to the late sixties origin of this MOPAR.

Three bar headrest: another hint to Petty Enterprise origin!

The front of the chassis looks newer. The original was probably replaced after a crash.

Drum brakes in the front indicate that it might have well been a super speedway car!

Now who had #28 in Grand National or Winston Cup or ARCA in 1977 ?

The typical squirrel wheel cooler for the rear end or transmission.

HEMI barbecue sauce @ Arrington Engines HEMI Shop

social media — Sun, 02 May 2010 12:29:57 +0000

With the BBQ season well on its way, here is what you need to match that HEMI car that you have in your driveway, garage, trailer or on the racetrack. It can be ordered directly from Arrington Engines out of Martinsville, Virginia, by clicking here! Here is what Shop HEMI says about this superior sauce: The original Mopar recipe to HEMI power your next meal. Next time you grill out let others know what kind of power a HEMI packs. This sauce has just the right amount of heat and comes in an 18oz collectable glass jar that makes a statement even when the barbecue sauce is gone. Get your grill on!

1st Miller High Life 500 at Ontario Speedway 1971

social media — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 23:02:03 +0000

Here is what Dick Pierson said about that little NASCAR film:

You need to go to the 4:50 to 4:56 or so, you will see a No. 41 car, that is Hershel McGriff out of Portland having a pit stop. But the real interesting part for you is – you will notice there is a guy holding up a gas fill can and at 4:55 he turns with his face directly into the camera. That is "Duck" Collins – the guy that was the brain behind the Oly Charger that ran Le Mans in 1976. We built the car is his garage at his home in NE Portland. He worked for Hershel off and on for awhile and went to Le Mans with the car.

Precision Engines Seattle NASCAR 426 HemiWedge

social media — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:21:24 +0000

Built by John Todd of Precision Engines in 1976 for the McGriff Charger. Ran at Le Mans 24 Hours, but blew a couple of pistons due to inapropriate compression ratio for low octane Le Mans gasoline!

Holman Moody builds NASCAR front clips again

social media — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:05:19 +0000

For those of you restoring a Holman Moody or Banjo Matthews NASCAR racecar from 1968 to 1975, here is the hot ticket to replace that worn, rusted or turn front clip that you might be strugling with in your restoration. Using the original blueprints, Lee Holman's shop in Charlotte, NC, built an exact piece with all the goodies, like stabilizer bar hinges and rear steer configuration. They come ready to be welded in your chassis and you can buy one for $2,500 @ Holman Moody.

Rapid Roy Blumenhagen at Langley Speedway, Canada

social media — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:43:12 +0000

Here is another local hero! Rapid Roy Blumenhagen and his red Oldsmobile Cutlass. Often sponsored by Kirby Hairstudio, although it does not look as if Rapid Roy was a frequent customer there, he later switched to a Camaro, which looked more than a cheapo batmobile wannabee and lacked the class of the Olds!

V8 power deal: buy a ride for Le Mans Classic 2010

social media — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 09:23:27 +0000

I'm selling a NASCAR inspired 1972 racecar. It is a fire breathing, loud, fast and impressive Dodge Charger. It eats Shelby Mustangs for breakfast and chews Aston Martins in no time! It is fully race prepped and well race proven. Here is your chance to buy a cool ride and go enter the coming Le Mans Classic race! If you're interested, leave a comment here below or contact me by e-mail at oly DOT express AT free DOT fr .

Here are the specifications:

V8 400 ci
833 HEMI 4 speed
Centerforce clutch
Hurst shifter
locking 8.75 with 2.94:1 gears
Chrysler 11” front disc brakes
Chrysler 11” rear drum brakes
Power steering
Aluminium Oil and water radiators
6 point FIA rollcage
ATL 80 litres FIA fuel tank
race ready weight 1580 kg
3 sets of 8×15 wheels (slicks, intermediates, rain)
Engine had 408 HP when fresh and now needs new rings and bearings after three racing seasons.

Price as is 19.900 EURO

Price with freshened engine 27.900 EURO

Phone +33 672 91 80 78