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John Andretti News - March 2009
myAutoloan.com to Sponsor Front Row Motorsports #34 Chevrolet Impala at NASCAR's Sprint Cup Race the Samsung 500 at TMS
IRVING, TEXAS March 30, 2009
(PRLEAP.COM) Irving, Texas 75063 - myAutoloan.com will be the primary sponsor of the #34 Front Row Motorsports entry driven by John Andretti at Texas Motor Speedway, for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup race, the Samsung 500.
"I look forward to driving the #34 myAutoloan.com Chevrolet Impala at Texas Motor Speedway," commented driver John Andretti. "The guys in the shop have spent a lot of time the last couple of weeks getting the car ready for the race and branding it for myAutoloan.com this weekend. Texas is a fast track and we have a great car, I’m confident we will put together a superior effort."
myAutoloan.com is a division of Horizon Digital Finance, L.L.C., and began operation in 2003. The company is a privately held, direct-to-consumer, internet-based financing marketplace that helps consumers take control of the research, finance and buy process for Auto Loans, Auto Refinance and Motorcycle loans, resulting consumers obtaining direct loans. Offering a wide range of funding alternatives, consumers are provided with a secure and confidential process to obtain up to four loan offers online.
"We appreciate the partnership with Front Row Motorsports for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Samsung 500 and have enjoyed our experience with the Front Row Motorsports team and NASCAR. We think the partnership is a good fit for our company and look forward to an exciting weekend of racing," said Greg Thibodeau Chief Executive Officer of myAutoloan.com. "Putting together this NASCAR Sprint Cup race opportunity with the #34 myAutoloan.com Chevrolet Impala with John Andretti driving in the face of our current economic conditions signals to our industry, partners, affiliates, and customers that we are optimistic about our industry and overall economy."
"We are grateful for the support of myAutoloan.com for the Texas race," said Front Row Motorsports team owner Bob Jenkins. "There is no doubt the Sprint Cup Series is as tough as it has ever been, but great partners like myAutoloan.com, make it possible for us to go to the track week after week."
Full story on PRLeap.com
Drivers Favor Current Testing Policy
Labonte and Andretti Discuss Benefits of 2009 Rules
Huntersville, N.C. (March 25, 2009) – In response to the economic downturn, NASCAR implemented a new policy for the 2009 season that banned testing at NASCAR sanctioned tracks. Although several teams were skeptical of the change when it was first administered, most teams now agree that it has helped make everyone more competitive with their given budget. NASCAR drivers Bobby Labonte and John Andretti discuss the effects of the new policy.
Bobby Labonte, Sprint Cup Driver and President of Breaking Limits:
“I think the new policy that NASCAR implemented this year was the right thing to do. Looking back on it, if they (NASCAR) didn’t do anything and we were testing like normal, it would be disastrous for a lot of teams. I’m sure it’s saving them a lot of money in that area. I’m sure they’re spending it in another. I can’t see the difference in the race track, basically. I’m not sure that you’d want to do this every year, but it’s definitely been good not having some teams waste or spend their money. At this point in time, all the teams are pretty strong because they’ve been able to figure things out pretty fast and they’ve adapted quickly to it.”
John Andretti, Driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet:
“I think the new testing policy has served its purpose. It’s helped reduce the separation between the ‘haves’, ‘have-nots’ and even the ‘have-less.’ Some of the more well-funded teams have found ways to test. There are still tracks that you can test at that might help you prepare for an upcoming race, but it’s only a slight advantage. When you arrive for a race weekend, there won’t be a team with a head and shoulders advantage over anyone else. Everyone will begin at nearly the same starting point and that’s because of the testing policy, so it’s definitely helped keep the playing field level in the tough economic times.”
Front Row Motorsports eyes full season, hires Steve Lane as crew chief
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor, SceneDaily.com
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Front Row Motorsports has hired Steve Lane from Earnhardt Ganassi Racing to be its crew chief and is still focused on running the entire season, team owner Bob Jenkins said.
Driver John Andretti is 33rd in driver points and the team is 33rd in owner points for Jenkins, whose team, prior to this year, had qualified for 34 of 135 Cup races it attempted from 2005 through 2008.
The team started 2009 locked into the first five races with the points from the Dale Earnhardt Inc. No. 15 car as part of an alliance with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. That brought Lane and other EGR crewmen over to work with the team, and some have now become permanent employees.
“We’ve tried to fly under the radar screen and not create a lot of noise about what we’re doing,” Jenkins said Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “I feel like we can stay locked in once we’re there. [EGR] ran Daytona. It was their operation. Since then, we’ve ran it, and John would have made every one of those races on time anyway. I feel good about that. I just don’t want to get to the point where we have to make it on time.”
Jenkins has attempted to compete in Cup events since 2005, a year when his team attempted all 36 races and made 13 Cup starts. Front Row made 13 more in running the full 2006 season but only three out of 29 attempts in 2007 and then five out of 24 attempts in 2008.
“Having done this first-five-races thing the past few years, I learned a valuable lesson,” Jenkins said. “What you do in those first five races really cements your future beyond that. … We’re focusing on how do we run well during the race, not so much as how do we get into the race.
“That’s been the biggest difference. Last year, from the time we unloaded, we were focusing on just trying to make the race. And once you make it, it’s then, how do we race? We could not make that transition.”
The team bought some cars from EGR but also has raced its own cars this year. It also has been using Pro Motors, except for the races at Daytona and Atlanta, where it used Earnhardt Childress Racing Technologies engines.
“When we started this deal, we did a technical alliance with them [at EGR] and shared information both ways,” Jenkins said. “We don’t get full-blown engineering support. We have our own folks to do that.
“But there has been information-sharing. I think it has helped us and also maybe has helped them. It gives them a chance to test some things at a lower risk [than] if they were doing it on the 1 [of Martin Truex Jr.] or 42 car [of Juan Pablo Montoya].”
Knowing that it was in the first five races, Front Row was able to secure sponsorship for four events from Window World. The team is currently unsponsored, but Jenkins hopes to have Window World back on the car.
“They won’t do all the races,” Jenkins said. “They could do as many as 10. We don’t know at this point. For sure, they’re going to do Richmond. Beyond that, we’re still working on stuff.”
The team’s Cup operation is based in Statesville, N.C., at Travis Carter’s shop. The Nationwide team, with Tony Raines behind the wheel, is in Denver, N.C.
“We’re pretty excited,” Jenkins said. “We think we’ve got a decent chance. We’ve worked real hard to put ourselves in this position. We’ll know more after Martinsville, but there probably is not a scenario where we don’t run the full [Cup] schedule.”
Andretti most likely won’t run the full schedule. He plans to compete in the Indianapolis 500 in May and probably will miss two events. Jenkins hasn’t named a driver for those races, but Raines could step into the seat, he said.
Raines is competing this weekend at Martinsville in a second Front Row car because the Nationwide Series is off, but that car likely won’t run much again this year, Jenkins said.
Jenkins said that he has continued the Cup team because he’s “just passionate about it” and is seeing that passion for racing reap rewards with a team currently in the top 35.
You would not believe the chemistry with this group,” Jenkins said. “It’s such a group of overachievers, plus the talent base is there. They have the talent and the skill. … A lot of people think we would be happy to be a top-35 car, but Steve Lane and these guys would like to be a top-20 car. Their goals are higher than just being part of the top 35.
With a race to go before the 2009 Owners Points lock the top 35 in for Martinsville [still using 2008 owners points thru Bristol] a few teams who were guaranteed in the first five races are outside with a race to go.
30) #34-Andretti/Earnhardt Ganassi: 336 +59
31) #77-Hornish/Penske Racing: 328 +51
32) #39-Newman/Stewart Haas: 324 +47
33) #20-Logano/Gibbs Racing: 321 +44
34) #71-Gilliland/TRG: 301 +24 [new team]
35) #5-Martin/Hendrick: 286 +11
These teams/ drivers are looking to get back in the top 35 after Bristol or they must qualify by speed:
36) #8-Almirola/Earnhardt Ganassi: 277, 11 out of 35th
37) #82-Speed/Red Bull Racing: 256 -30
38) #98-Menard/Yates Racing: 238 -48
39) #28-Kvapil/Yates Racing: 214 -72
40) #78-Smith/Furniture Row: 206 -80 [only 2 attempts]
For the owner points standings, see Drivers/Owners Points Standings page.(3-8-2009) Jayski.com
Atlanta: John Andretti preview
Racing series NASCAR-CUP
Date 2009-03-03
John Andretti, Driver of the No. 34 Window World Impala, Atlanta Motor Speedway Fast Facts:
* Andretti has made 22 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway
* Andretti's best Sprint Cup finish at AMS is 13th-place (1994, No. 43 Petty Enterprises Pontiac)
* Andretti has one pole at AMS (1998, No. 43 Petty Enterprises Pontiac)
* In Sprint Cup competition, Andretti has an average starting position of 22.7 and an average finish of 24.7
* Andretti has led 45 laps in Sprint Cup competition at AMS
* On intermediate tracks (1 - 2 mi.), Andretti has recorded two top-five finishes, 12 top-10 finishes and three poles
John Andretti Comments on Atlanta Motor Speedway:
"Had our circumstances been different in Las Vegas, we could have easily gotten a top-20. The Window World Chevrolet was definitely quick enough to be in the top-20. We had some bad luck. We picked up a bad vibration. I'm not sure if we lost a wheel weight or what, but the car started vibrating. We had to pit early and then the caution came out, so we had two bad things happen in that run. If that hadn't happened we would have been on the lead lap, everything would have been fine and we could have finished a lot higher. I feel like we made a great stride forward in that race, not just the race team, but me, too. I'm getting good seat time in the new car. I had never driven one around (Las) Vegas (Motor Speedway) before. There's a lot to be learned and we're getting there. I think we took a good step forward last weekend and hopefully we can take another step forward in Atlanta, then we can take full advantage of it and get the results we deserve.
"Atlanta (Motor Speedway) is always a lot of fun. You can always count on there being a lot of lead changes. The track has really evened itself out. It's low in grip, and any time a track is low in grip, you have to search for it. When you have to search for it, it makes the groove stretch from the bottom to the top, similar to California (Speedway). We saw in Vegas the same thing, drivers searching all over for it. Atlanta, though, you can be good on both ends of the race track whether you're racing at the top or the bottom. Sometimes you can be good at the top on one end and be good at the bottom on the other end. You're just always looking. I've seen Kasey Kahne win a race running in the middle of the track. It's a bumpy race track, now with low grip. You'll see a lot of lead changes because you don't have to follow a guy through a groove. You've got plenty of options when you need to make your way around someone. No doubt it's an exciting place to race."
-credit: frm
Labonte, Andretti - team interview 2009-03-03
Racing series NASCAR-CUP
Date 2009-03-03
John Andretti, Driver of the No. 34 Window World/Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet:
"Trust me, guys like Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Newman will not be there long. These teams know they aren't bad teams, but it shows that everyone can have some bad luck. Right now, it's like a lottery. The points are going to bounce all around and you're going to see some guys jump up big and fall down big.
"A team like Front Row Motorsports, we are being smart. We are keeping in the top-35 and doing that by being smart on the track. We run hard, finish all the laps and get a good points day. That is really helping us. I look behind us and know there are some guys coming in the points. We just have to keep building and getting better. We've proven a lot already.
"I'm sure the fans have to love this. You see more teams up front and it's great. You never want to see someone stink up the show. It's early, but it's a good sign to see a lot of different guys running up front."