2015-02-01

Jimmy Nadeau, une histoire de famille et d’amitié!


Jimmy Nadeau, une histoire de famille et d'amitié!





Dans les articles que nous vous avons déjà présentés sur nos pilotes, vous avez pu constater que plusieurs pilotes ont débuté dans le monde de la course souvent par une passion familiale ayant un père, un oncle, un frère, un ami pilote. Ce n'est pas le cas pour Jimmy Nadeau. 

Sa sœur France, se souvient que Jimmy écoutait en boucle les émissions de « Shérif fais-moi peur » au point où la cassette sur lequel les épisodes étaient enregistrésn'a pas survécue! Il se construisait des pistes à obstacles miniatures où il s'amusait à faire des courses avec ses petites voitures jusqu'au jour où leurs parents les ont amenés voir des courses à obstacles à Beauceville. Ce jour-là, la passion de Jimmy s'est confirmée. 

« À 15 ans, Jimmy achetait son premier pick-up pour s'amuser dans le champ derrière la maison pour finalement participer à des courses à obstacles à St-Alfred»se remémore France Nadeau.

Il a progressé dans le monde des courses jusqu'en 2007 où il sera de la première édition de la Série Sportsman Québec fondépar André Poulin. Avec 81 courses à son actif avec la série, il détient le record du nombre de courses. 

C'est un pilote patient, respectueux et très persévérant. Il a développé au fil des années de très bons réflexes en piste ce qui l'amène à progresser de saison en saison. 

On ne pourrait passer sous silence ses 8 prix de la plus belle voiture de l'année remis lors des banquets de fin de saison et votépar les officiels et pilotes. Il y a le design de la voiture oui, mais ce prix, c'est plus que ça. Le #17 Jimmy Nadeau est minutieux et perfectionniste. Il a le souci du travail bien faitet ce dans tout ce qu'il entreprend. Vous ne serez pas surpris si je vous dis que sa voiture, c'est sa fierté ! 

S'entourant année après année de gens en qui il a une grande confiance, dans le « Team Racing 17 » tout le monde travaille dans le même sens. Une équipe composée de son père, son oncle, sa mère et des amis de longue dateune équipe tricotée serrée!

La saison 2014 aura amené à Jimmy son lot de malchancesmais jamais il n'a baissé les bras. Travaillant entre chaque programme pour revenir en piste et atteindre les buts que l'équipe s'est fixés. Certes,il aurait aimé atteindre le podium, mais ce n'est que partie remise ! 

Que peut-on souhaiter au #17 Jimmy Nadeau ainsi qu'à son équipe pour la saison 2015? Assurément continuer à suivre cette passion qui l'habite dans le plaisir entouré de son monde accompagné de quelques podiums et pourquoi pas le championnat ! 

Une belle saison au Team Racing #17; que les résultats soient à la hauteur de tout le travail que vous y mettez! 

Photos courtoisies Marco Bédard.

Marie-Claude Levasseur, Relationniste. 

 


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Benedict Racing Prepares for an Exciting 2015 Season

Benedict Racing Prepares for an Exciting 2015 Season

By Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media

 

It was the year the provincial motorsports community took notice of a young Mini Stock racer named Danny Benedict.

 

After campaigning a Honda Civic and Prelude at Central Ontario venues like Kawartha and Peterborough Speedways in the early stages of his career, the talented teenager from Orono, Ontario – a graduate of the Kawartha-Durham Kart Club – unveiled the first rear-wheeled drive machine in the team's history to kick-off the 2014 campaign at Canada's Toughest 3rd of a Mile Paved Oval. Suffering through a few weeks of the typical new car blues, things really came together during a mid-season hot streak that saw the driver of the #54 Mustang become one of the region's most talked about runners. Team owner and the driver's father Doug Benedict says it was a very rewarding time.

 

"The checkered flags at Peterborough, Sunset and Capital City made all of the struggles worthwhile," admitted Benedict during an off-season break at the team's shop. "It took us a while to get all of our ducks in a row, but once we did, things worked out really well. Scoring wins at tracks where we don't usually run – against some tough competition – gave us a real boost and helped Danny's confidence."

 

For 2015, the driver nicknamed "The Showstopper" – after winning the final weekly Mini Stock features ever run at Kawartha and Mosport/Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Speedways – will have a new racing home. When the green flag waves to kick-off the next campaign, fans will look for Danny Benedict plying his trade in weekly action at Sunset Speedway. The 18 year-old, who is about to wrap-up his first year of studies in the Powerline Technician course at Algonquin College says he's looking forward to making the change.

 

"We had a lot of fun and made some great friends at Peterborough Speedway, but decided it was time for something new," said the driver. "I had a couple of decent runs at Sunset last year, so I'm excited about being a regular there this season."

 

Before they roll onto the track for opening night, the crew at Benedict Racing will be putting in some long hours in the shop getting the car ready. After the final checkered flag of 2014, the machine was stripped-down to the frame and cage. The immediate goal is find a way to cut some weight off the chassis that took Danny Benedict to 9thplace in the Peterborough standings and the Most Sportsmanlike Driver award. The team will also welcome a new marketing partner to the sponsorship line-up, as Dent Dynamics joins Don's Auto Shop, Integrity Driven Solutions, Wallace Auto Supply - Carquest, Mayhew Graphics, Mark Rainford of Roger Swan Auto Sales, Camsport Truck Caps & Accessories, B & W Enterprises, Kim Irwin of Irwin Tax, Baudo Auto Services and Clarke Motorsports Communications.

 

"Chris Mitchell at Dent Dynamics has watched Danny grow-up at the track from when I raced an endurance car to when he started running himself," said Doug Benedict. "It's important to him to see the sport grow and this is a great way to give back and possibly help get our program to the next level. We're happy to have him as part of the team."

 

Photo attachment: Jim Clarke – Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media

The lad and his dad – Danny and Doug Benedict – celebrate a 2014 qualifying heat win at Peterborough Speedway. The #54 team will make the transition to Sunset Speedway for the 2015 campaign.

 

Prepared by: Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media


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2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Honors Five Iconic Wheelmen


2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Honors Five Iconic Wheelmen

Elliott, Lorenzen, Scott, Weatherly, White Officially Enshrined

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 30, 2015) – Five legendary drivers with distinct styles and contributions to NASCAR were enshrined into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina tonight during the Induction Ceremony held in the Crown Ball Room at the Charlotte Convention Center.

 

Those who added their names to the list of now 30 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees, included: Bill Elliott, Fred Lorenzen, Wendell Scott, Joe Weatherly and Rex White. 

 

The group makes up the Hall's sixth class in its history.

 

Bill Elliott – a fan-favorite with a record 16 NASCAR Most Popular Driver Awards – compiled numerous accolades that put him near the top of many all-time NASCAR lists. In his 37-year driving career, "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville" notched 44 wins (16th in NASCAR history) and 55 poles (eighth), but his most prestigious accomplishment came when he won the 1988 premier series championship. Elliott always performed on the biggest of stages, winning the Daytona 500 twice and the Southern 500 three times. 

 

"One thing I look at out here today is one common bond with all these racers, it's the hard work and the dedication all these guys had," Elliott said. "I mean, for me to stand up here among the guys that have already been here, it's just totally incredible."

 

Fred Lorenzen – one of the first "outsiders" to capture the fancy of NASCAR's early southeastern crowds – was one of the sport's first true superstars, even though he never ran more than 29 of the season's 50-plus races. The Elmhurst, Illinois, native won 26 races from 1961-67, with his best overall season coming in 1963 as he finished with six wins, 21 top fives and 23 top 10s in 29 starts. The victor of the 1965 Daytona 500 and World 600, Lorenzen boasts the fifth-highest career winning percentage (16.86) in NASCAR history.

 

"Dad always said, 'The sky is the limit and don't let anyone tell you otherwise,'" said Lorenzen's son, Chris, who spoke on his behalf. "That has been dad's most important saying in life, and he certainly lived by it. He also believed people made their own luck and that luck just doesn't fall upon people." 

 

A true trailblazer, Wendell Scott was the first African-American to race fulltime in NASCAR's premier series, as well as the first to win a NASCAR premier series race. Scott posted 147 top 10s in 495 starts, as well as finished four seasons in the top 10 of the championship points standings. He won more than 100 races at local tracks before making his premier series debut, including 22 races at Southside Speedway in Richmond, Virginia, in 1959 en route to capturing both the Sportsman Division and NASCAR Virginia Sportsman championships.

"The legacy of Wendell Scott depicts him as one the great vanguards of the sport of NASCAR racing," said the late Scott's son, Franklin, who accepted the induction on his behalf. "Daddy was a man of great honor. He didn't let his circumstances define who he was." 

 

Joe Weatherly claimed consecutive premier series championships in 1962-63 and won 25 career races before his untimely death in January 1964 at Riverside (Calif.) Raceway. Known as the "Clown Prince of Racing" due to his jovial personality, Weatherly displayed impressive versatility beyond his premier series dominance. A decade earlier in 1952-53, he won 101 races in the NASCAR Modified division, capturing that championship in 1953. He even tried his hand in NASCAR's short-lived Convertible Division from 1956-59, winning 12 times.

 

"He loved his family and he was very generous, but I am sure there are many memories the fans could share as well, maybe ones of the practical jokes he enjoyed playing on fellow drivers," said Joy Barbee, Weatherly's niece. "He definitely had a sense of humor, he loved a good laugh and he loved to have a good time. He always had a big smile on his face; he was a character to be around and definitely lived up to the title given to him – the 'Clown Prince of Racing.'"

 

One of the greatest short-track racers ever, consistency was the hallmark of Rex White's NASCAR career. He finished among the top five in nearly half of his 233 races and outside the top 10 only 30 percent of the time. Of his 28 career wins in NASCAR's premier series, only two came on tracks longer than a mile in length. Driving his own equipment, White won six times during his 1960 championship season, posting 35 top 10s in 40 starts. He finished in the top 10 six of his nine years in the series, including a runner-up finish in 1961.

 

"Words can't express how honored I am to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame along with the other Hall of Fame members, especially my 2015 fellow inductees," White said. "No driver wins a championship by himself and nobody enters the Hall of Fame alone. I am the symbol of a team effort."

 

Each of the five inductees had an inductor who officially welcomed them into the hall. The inductors for the five inductees: Ray Evernham for Bill Elliott; Amanda Gardstrom (daughter) for Fred Lorenzen; Wendell Scott Jr. for Wendell Scott; Bud Moore for Joe Weatherly; and James Hylton for Rex White.

 

Active drivers introduced each inductee during tonight's program: Kasey Kahne for Bill Elliott; Tony Stewart for Fred Lorenzen; Jeff Gordon for Wendell Scott; Brad Keselowski for Joe Weatherly; and Kevin Harvick for Rex White.

 

In addition to the five inductees enshrined on Friday night, Anne B. France was awarded the inaugural Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR. 

 

France, paired with her husband, NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., created what today is one of the largest and most popular sports in the world. Anne played a huge role in the family business. "Big Bill" organized and promoted races; she took care of the financial end of the business. She first served as secretary and treasurer of NASCAR, and when Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959, served in the same roles for the International Speedway Corporation. She also managed the speedway's ticket office. France remained active in family and business life until her passing in 1992.

 

Prior to tonight's Induction Ceremony, long-time Charlotte Observer reporter Tom Higgins was awarded the third Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence. 

 

Higgins was the first beat writer to cover every race on the NASCAR schedule, a role he held from 1980 until his retirement in 1997. He started his journalism career in 1957 at the weekly Canton (N.C.) Enterprise where he covered racing for the first time. Higgins joined the sports staff at The Observer in 1964 as an outdoors writer and soon began covering stock car racing as well. He has continued to write motorsports nostalgia columns for the newspaper and its website ThatsRacin.com since his retirement.

 

About NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States. NASCAR consists of three national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), four regional series, one local grassroots series and three international series. The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) governs the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, the premier U.S. sports car series. Based in Daytona Beach, Fla., with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and follow NASCAR at www.Facebook.com/NASCAR and Twitter: @NASCAR.

 

About NASCAR Hall of Fame

Conveniently located in uptown Charlotte, N.C., the 150,000-square-foot NASCAR Hall of Fame is an interactive, entertainment attraction honoring the history and heritage of NASCAR. The high-tech venue, designed to educate and entertain race fans and non-fans alike, opened May 11, 2010 and includes artifacts, hands-on exhibits, 278-person state-of-the-art theater, Hall of Honor, Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, NASCAR Hall of Fame Gear Shop and NASCAR Media Group-operated broadcast studio. The venue is opened 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. seven days a week and has an attached parking garage on Brevard Street. The five-acre site also includes a privately developed 19-story office tower and 102,000- square-foot expansion to the Charlotte Convention Center, highlighted by a 40,000 square-foot ballroom. The NASCAR Hall of Fame is owned by the City of Charlotte, licensed by NASCAR and operated by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority. www.NASCARHall.com.

 

Contact:                                                                                              

Josh Hamilton

NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications


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