2011-12-26

Kurt Busch Joins Phoenix Racing

For Immediate Release

 

2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion and 24-Time Race Victor

To Compete in Full 2012 Sprint Cup Season with Car Owner James Finch

 

CHARLOTTE, N.C., (Dec. 22, 2011) – “I just want to get back to having fun in the racecar.”

 

Those were the words spoken by Kurt Busch just a few days after the season-ending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Banquet in Las Vegas. Today, the 2004 Sprint Cup champion is well on his way toward that simple goal as he’s teamed with Phoenix Racing to run the full 2012 Sprint Cup schedule.

 

“I’m very happy to join Phoenix Racing and after entertaining a lot of quality offers, there’s no better place for me,” said Busch, winner of 24 Sprint Cup races, as well as the 2010 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, the 2011 Gatorade Duel and the 2011 Budweiser Shootout. “We’re going to run the full schedule together, and we’re going to have fun doing it.

 

“It’s going to be old-school racing, where we show up, race hard and go for the win. And if we don’t win, we’ll go back to the shop, work hard and do it all over again next week. That’s the way we all started racing, and it’s great to get back to that.”

 

James Finch, owner of Phoenix Racing, celebrated his 20th year as a NASCAR team owner in 2011. His Spartanburg, S.C.-based team has won 13 NASCAR races, the most prominent of which was the April 2009 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

 

“All we want to do is win,” Finch said. “Winning is why I’ve been in racing for as long as I have, but NASCAR is a very competitive sport, and winning – especially at the Sprint Cup level – is hard. But now with Kurt Busch as our driver, we have a shot to win every week. He’s a past champion and he’s proven he can win everywhere. Our sponsors are looking forward to Kurt representing their brands.

 

“We have excellent equipment and a hard-working group of guys who want that trophy at the end of every race. Kurt’s the guy who can deliver it to them.”

 

Busch will drive the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet Impala in 2012, and his first race will be the non-points Budweiser Shootout at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway where he is the defending winner.

 

“James Finch has always had pretty stout cars for the restrictor-plate races and I know we’ll be very competitive at Daytona,” Busch said. “We’ll participate in the test down there in January to get a good handle on our Daytona 500 car, but also to win another Budweiser Shootout.

 

“Christmas came early for me this year, and I honestly can’t wait for the season to begin.”

 

The 33-year-old Busch has made the Chase for the Sprint Cup six times since the inception of the Chase in 2004, when he won the series title. His Sprint Cup championship followed the International Race of Champions (IROC) title he won in 2003. And before joining the Sprint Cup ranks in late 2000, Busch was the 1999 NASCAR Southwest Tour champion, where at age 21, he was the youngest driver to win that series’ championship. Originally from Las Vegas, Busch now makes his home in Mooresville, N.C.

 

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2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Schedule Released

For Immediate Release

 

Slate Includes Three New Venues, Six Companion Events

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 23, 2011) – NASCAR announced today the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule that features 14 races at 12 different short tracks and speedways across the eastern United States.

 

The 26th season of K&N Pro Series East competition will see NASCAR’s top developmental division visit 10 states, and will be highlighted by three additions to the calendar: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Raceway Park in Clearfield, Pa., and Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway.

 

“The NASCAR K&N Pro Series continues to establish itself as a desired destination for developing talent and the schedule has been designed with that in mind.” said George Silbermann, NASCAR Vice President of Regional & Touring Series. “With a diverse mix of historic short tracks and speedway companion events with the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series, the 2012 calendar will provide competitors with the experience they need to further their careers.”

 

The 2012 season will commence with the inaugural K&N Pro Series East event at the “World’s Fastest Half Mile,” Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, on March 17 as part of the spring NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend. It will be the third event in series history in the Volunteer State.

 

Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway is back on the schedule with both spring and fall dates for the second year in a row. The first race at the venerable half-mile is slated for March 31 with a return engagement on Sept. 3 during Labor Day weekend.

 

Iowa Speedway has also added a second date for 2012. The sixth edition of the traditional spring combination event with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West returns to the schedule on May 19 and it will be complemented with a second combo race on Aug. 3. Both events at Iowa will be held in conjunction with the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

 

In addition to Bristol and the two Iowa races, the K&N Pro Series East will have three more companion events in 2012 with NASCAR’s national series. The East will return to Richmond (Va.) International Raceway on April 26, New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., on Sept. 22, and Dover (Del.) International Speedway on Sept. 28.

 

The July 14 date at Raceway Park will mark the third time the K&N Pro Series East has visited the central Pennsylvania facility, and first since 1988. The reconfigured facility now features a .625-mile layout.

 

The 2012 season will conclude with the inaugural stand-alone race in K&N Pro Series East history at Rockingham. It will be the series’ first visit to the high-banked mile, since the East competed in combination with the Nationwide Series at “The Rock” six times from 1987-92.

 

Additional 2012 schedule notes:

·         In addition to Richmond, three other facilities that welcomed the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East for the first time in 2011 have returned to the schedule. Historic Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., is slated for June 2, Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., returns for a June 23 race and Columbus (Ohio) Motor Speedway’s event will be July 21.

·         Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga., is on the calendar for the third year in a row with a June 9 race date.

·         The event at New Hampshire moves from a Friday in recent seasons to Saturday as part of a doubleheader with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

·         The Rockingham date will be a doubleheader with the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour.

·         Bristol, Clearfield and Rockingham will bring the total of tracks in which the K&N Pro Series East has held stand-alone races to 43 since competition began in 1987.

·         All 14 events will be contested directly in - or in the coverage area of - the top 100 media markets in the nation.

 

 

2012 NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES EAST SCHEDULE

 

Date                                      Track (Length)                                                                                   Location                              

Sat., March 17                   Bristol Motor Speedway (.533-mile)                                        Bristol, Tenn.                    

Sat., March 31                   Greenville Pickens Speedway (.5-mile)                                  Greenville, S.C.                

Thu., April 26                      Richmond International Raceway (.75-mile)                         Richmond, Va.                  

Sat., May 19 *                    Iowa Speedway (.875-mile)                                                         Newton, Iowa                  

Sat., June 2                         Bowman Gray Stadium (.25-mile)                                             Winston-Salem, N.C.     

Sat., June 9                         Gresham Motorsports Park (.5-mile)                                      Jefferson, Ga.                  

Sat., June 23                       Langley Speedway (.396-mile)                                                   Hampton, Va.                   

Sat., July 14                         Raceway Park (.625-mile)                                                             Clearfield, Pa.                   

Sat., July 21                         Columbus Motor Speedway (.333-mile)                                Columbus, Ohio               

Fri., Aug. 3 *                       Iowa Speedway (.875-mile)                                                         Newton, Iowa                  

Mon., Sept. 3                     Greenville Pickens Speedway (.5-mile)                                  Greenville, S.C.                

Sat., Sept. 22                      New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-mile)                  Loudon, N.H.                    

Fri., Sept. 28                       Dover International Speedway (1-mile)                                 Dover, Del.                        

Sat., Nov. 3                         Rockingham Speedway (1.017-mile)                                        Rockingham, N.C.

 

* Combination race with NASCAR K&N Pro Series West

Tentative – Subject to Change

 

For more information, contact:

Jason Cunningham, NASCAR IMC

 


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