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NASCAR Notes: Irwin Tools to become new sponsor for Bristol night race

Published August 22nd, 2009 | 0 Comments

BRISTOL, Tenn.—The partnership between Newell Rubbermaid and Bristol Motor Speedway is continuing, but the August night race will have a new sponsor, and a new name, starting in 2010.

Jeff Byrd, president and general manager of BMS, announced Saturday afternoon that Newell Rubbermaid would be sponsoring the Irwin Tools Night Race, beginning next year.

“There were a lot of races run at night but there was only one true night race and that’s at Bristol and that’s tonight,” Byrd said. “We really like the name.

“If it’s a really good race like last night’s, we can do 600 or 700 laps. We didn’t put a number on it.”

Newell Rubbermaid owns a variety of brands, including Sharpie, the outgoing sponsor of the night race. Other brand names under its domain include Calphalon, Goody and Rolodex.

“These guys aren’t rookies, they’ve been around the sport, they’ve had a great relationship with Roush Fenway,” Byrd said. “They could pick and choose with whom they wanted to partner and I couldn’t be happier we’re going to extend this Newell Rubbermaid partnership.”

The new agreement might mean bad news for Jack Roush’s organization. Irwin Tools currently is the primary sponsor for Jamie McMurray’s No. 26 car.

"We'll continue through the remainder of this year and we'll announce our status next year," Irwin President Neil Eibeler said. "We'll decide what driver or if we continue the relationship with Roush going forward."

It won't take long for the new sponsorship agreement to make its present felt at the BMS facility.

"You'll see some physical evidence of this relationship as early as tomorrow," Byrd said, hinting it could even happen at 12:01 A.M. Sunday morning. "Tomorrow comes real, real early at Bristol Motor Speedway sometimes. Look around when you leave tonight, and I think you'll see some blue and yellow and other things."

MUSIC MEN: There was a change of pace for driver introductions for the Sharpie 500. Each driver got to make his own entrance in an aisle set up in turn three—World Wrestling Entertainment style—and pick his own theme music. He also got to introduce himself.

“Thunderstruck” was the most popular choice. Three drivers came out to some version of the AC/DC song, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson. Despite the identical tune choice, the reaction to both was starkly different.

Brian Vickers, who ripped Kyle Busch yesterday during the driver availability, ended up in the same pickup truck with Busch after they made their entrances.

Oh, the irony.

Read John Moorehouse’s thoughts on the driver entrances at http://www.timesnews.net/blogger.php?id=59&postid=7479 target="_blank">his “Orange Clockwork” blog.

Vickers and Busch ended up in the same truck after making their entrances.

Juan Pablo Montoya made the only real verbal miscue, introducing himself as driving the “Texaco Chevrolet.” Montoya previously drove a car with a Texaco paint scheme but he now is sponsored by Target.

IN THE CARDS: Mark Martin was recognized prior to the start of the race for making his 1,000th NASCAR start.

The folks at BMS honored Martin with the latest card stunt. The fans between turn 1 and 2 revealed a message that read “The 1000 Mark.” Martin also received a special commemorative trophy from BMS president and general manager Jeff Byrd, who also gave Martin a thousand gallons of gas for his airplane

NOT SO HAPPY: It was another difficult night for Richard Childress Racing, and Kevin Harvick in particular.

Harvick’s night ended early in a distant 38th-place finish after he got caught up in a frontstretch accident with about 60 laps to go. The wreck collected Childress teammates Casey Mears and Clint Bowyer, and Harvick’s car made contact with Bowyer’s to calamitous effect.

“I didn’t want to be the one to ruin (Bowyer’s) Chase stuff,” Harvick said. So, I was just trying to give him a little extra room and wound up crashing myself.”

Harvick said such things happen when you run in the middle of the pack. Mediocrity has defined Harvick’s 2009 season. He is 25th in points with no wins and two top fives as part of three top-10 finishes.

REUNITED: In last year’s Sharpie 500, Bowyer called Michael Waltrip the “worst driver in NASCAR” after an accident that wreaked havoc on the top 12 in points.

Late in Saturday night’s race, an accident involving Bowyer and Waltrip crippled Waltrip’s Toyota and brought out the red flag with just eight laps to go.

COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN: Nothing went right for points leader Tony Stewart. He essentially was cut off from communicating with his crew for the first half of Saturday night’s race due to a malfunctioning radio.

Two of them, to be precise.

“This was like an episode of the Twilight Zone,” said Stewart, who said the problems started when he switched to Ryan Newman’s channel to wish him luck. “Every channel I went to, it was still them. And then I switched to the second radio, which is our backup radio, and I hadn’t even touched it, and it was them. … So the first 240 laps, well for the first 200 laps, I’m listening to Ryan and his dad, the spotter.”

Stewart said the only reason he didn’t just shut the radio off was because he figured Newman’s spotter would provide him with warning if a caution came out.

After resolving the radio issue, an electrical problem dealt Stewart another blow and led to multiple trips to the pits.

“Nobody gave up or was yelling and screaming,” Stewart noted. “That’s the first fire drill we’ve had to go through during a race and I thought, considering, that everybody did a good job. I couldn’t do anything until I got back to the pit box and they did an awesome job of tearing through it and trying to figure out what it was.”

WAS IT ENOUGH?: Scott Wimmer stated on Friday that a top-25 finish in the Sharpie 500 was his goal, after Wimmer got the Morgan-McClure Chevrolet into the field for the Sprint Cup race.

Wimmer fell short of his objective, finishing in 29th place. Wimmer began the race 26th and spent most of his time running between 30th and 35th.

Morgan-McClure is trying to attract sponsorship for the 2010 season.

LAST LAPS: Joey Logano brought out the first caution on lap 112, when he lost a tire and went careening into the wall in turn one. Logano previously got into the wall in the backstretch but maintained control of his vehicle. … Sam Hornish had never finished better than 29th in a Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. He was in line for a new career-best performance at BMS, starting in 38th and climbing up as high as 16th before getting into trouble in turn two on lap 458. Hornish finished 35th as a result. … Dave Blaney had to qualify on field to run in the Sharpie 500 and posted the surprising fourth-best time. Blaney’s luck was restricted to qualifying. He finished 43rd, dead last.

Check back throughout the afternoon and evening for more live updates from the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

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