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John Andretti News - January 2010

Three NASCAR Teams On The Front Row

Jerry Freeze, general manager of Front Row Motorsports, announced the organization will field three full-time teams in 2010 during a luncheon with Wood Brothers Racing at The Speedway Club at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

Travis Kvapil will drive the No. 34 Ford, with Steven Lane as crew chief and Long John Silver's as the sponsor for most races

Kevin Conway will drive the No. 37 Ford, with Peter Sospenzo as crew chief and ExtenZe as sponsor for all 36 races.

David Gilliland will drive most of the races in the No. 38 Ford, with a crew chief to be announced soon. Robert Richardson Jr. will drive the car in three races, both Daytona events and the first Talladega race, and John Andretti may get behind the wheel of the No. 38 for a few races as well. Taco Bell will sponsor the car for most races. Roush Yates Engines will supply the power for all three cars.

Is team owner Bob Jenkins crazy?

"I guess that remains to be seen," Jenkins said. "I just feel like there's so many good people available. I really believe in my guys. As long as we can continue to add quality people, we can build a program for a sponsor. The neat thing about a two- or three-car program is the shared knowledge. When you've got one team with one crew chief and one engineer, you basically are limited to what those guys know.

"When each team has an engineer and a crew chief, you get some more management by committee and everything you do, from the pull-down rig to the wind tunnel, everything takes on a whole new flavor when you can share information."

Full Story on PaddockTalk.com

No Looking Back: Andretti Eyes The Big Two Of 500s

Jonathan Ingram | Senior Writer, RacinToday.com
Tuesday, 12 January 2010

Nobody ever bridged the gap between Indy car racing and NASCAR the way John Andretti did in 1994 when he become the first driver to compete at the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte on the same day.

For a second straight year, Andretti will again divide his time between the Indy 500 and NASCAR events, starting with the Daytona 500.

“I’ve always like jumping around rather than staying in one place,” said Andretti, who will turn 47 in March. “I don’t mean that in the sense of team to team, but moving between different series.”

Last year Andretti drove in the Sprint Cup Series for the Front Row Motorsports team of Bob Jenkins – except for two weekends in May, when he competed at Indy with Richard Petty as his car owner.

Despite missing two Sprint Cup races, Andretti finished 36th in points and the Jenkins team finished 35th in its first full season, giving it a guaranteed starting spot in the first five races of the 2010 season. But Jenkins has decided to expand his operation under sponsorship brought by driver Travis Kvapil and Andretti finds himself looking at new options.

That suits Andretti fine, he said, because he’d prefer to hit the high notes of the major races and not concentrate on one series. He may continue to run selected Sprint Cup events with Jenkins and is also looking at occasional appearances in the Camping World Truck Series.

“I think it was a little bit of both,” said Andretti when asked if he and Jenkins each liked the idea of a different program in 2010. “We accomplished everything we started out to do last year. Funding is important to get bigger and I think he’s going to move forward.”

Andretti, who brought Front Row more than $3 million in purse money last year, said he is ready to spend more time with his family, including a son and two daughters. “You make some sacrifices sometimes for financial gain,” he said. “I’m ready to not do that.”

A relatively short entry list is expected for this year’s Daytona 500, plus there are numbers available that would guarantee a start. Andretti anticipates driving a car with one of the car numbers that finished in the Top 35 last year, but declined to talk about his options specifically. Numbers are available because two team owners, Richard Childress and Jack Roush, are dropping one entry in 2010 while a third, Hall of Fame Racing, has yet to make its plans clear.

“You want to be locked into the race,” said Andretti. “The strategy has been to get into that position. Numbers are being bought and sold. That situation is moving pretty fast.”

A winner at Daytona in the summer race of 1997 while driving for Cale Yarborough, Andretti is also eligible to race in the Bud Shootout under its new format, providing another incentive for a car owner.

Andretti’s career has always been fluid and fast-moving. He won a GT Prototype race at Watkins Glen in the Camel GT Series in his first season with the BMW factory team at the age of 23. In his first start with the CART team of legendary team owner Jim Hall, Andretti won at Surfer’s Paradise. In a brief stint in the NHRA, Andretti went to the semi-finals at the Atlanta Dragway in the Top Fuel bracket by beating Joe Amato before losing to Eddie Hill.

Moving to NASCAR, Andretti beat Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon to the punch with his Indy-Charlotte double. That helped him land a full-time ride in the Sprint Cup, where his victory at Martinsville in 1999 was the last one scored by Petty Enterprises.

Andretti is not one to move for the sake of moving or greener pastures. He acknowledges he stayed at Petty Enterprises more out of loyalty than career considerations at a time when his stock in Sprint Cup was quite high. A little more than a year after his win at Martinsville, Adam Petty was killed in a crash at New Hampshire.

“I was there and trying to help build Petty Enterprises back up,” said Andretti. “Unfortunately, when Adam was killed some of the fire to rebuild wasn’t there and the team and everybody there went through a difficult period.”

When the team continued to founder, Kyle Petty elected to fire Andretti, who just three years earlier had been paid a six-figure bonus for his victory at Martinsville. At the time, Kyle Petty said he needed to change the team chemistry. Andretti says he understood the difficulties faced by Kyle. “You have to understand that Kyle and Adam were really, really close. It was more than father and son,” said Andretti, who became a part-timer in the Sprint Cup in 2003. “I don’t know how I would be able to deal with what happened to the Pettys if it happened to me.”

After four seasons of driving part-time for eight different Sprint Cup car owners, including Petty Enterprises, Andretti returned to the Indy 500 in 2008 with the team of Canadian Marty Roth. The son of Aldo Andretti, Mario Andretti’s twin brother, John had grown up in Indianapolis at the height of the Indy 500’s popularity amidst one of the event’s most celebrated families. His return to the race rejuvenated him, he said. Once back in NASCAR events, Andretti said he began driving like a teen-ager.

“Two years ago, I went to Indianapolis and then did five more races,” he said. “I had a ball. When I drive an Indy car, I turn into an 18-year-old kid. Every inch is worth getting and every risk is worth it.”

There is no irony in the ongoing relationship between Richard Petty and Andretti, who delighted in putting together the deal that brought “The King” of stock car racing to the Indy 500 as a car owner last year. For many years, Petty had made appearances at Indy as part of his sponsorship agreement with STP, but due to his NASCAR obligations had never been able to particpate beyond that, particularly on race day. Andretti was happy to give “The King” the opportunity.

“As I’ve gone through life, there’s certain people I’ve tried to emulate and had the most respect for. Richard Petty and Lynda Petty are some of those people,” said Andretti. “I feel like I’m a member of their family as much as I’m a member of the Andretti family. Richard and I have a relationship that goes beyond motorsports.”

The deal to return to Indy, where the Andretti/Petty entry ran under the banner of the Dryer & Reinbold, has yet to be put together. But as so often in his career, Andretti is confident about working out the details as each season comes along.

“I’d like to think we can put together a program similar to what we had last year,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the month of May.”

– Jonathan Ingram can be reached at jingram@racintoday.com

Full Story at RacinToday.com

Front Row Motorsports Announces 2010 Plans

Will Field Two-Car Team, Joins Ford Racing
January 6, 2010

STATESVILLE, NC (January 6, 2010) - Front Row Motorsports announced today it will continue its growth by adding an additional full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup program in 2010. The teams will be the newest members of Ford Racing and receive engines from Roush/Yates Racing Engines and technical support from Ford Racing.

"We're pleased to have Front Row Motorsports switching to Ford for the 2010 season," said Jamie Allison, director, Ford North America Motorsports. "We have said all along that we wanted to add additional teams to our program, and are pleased Front Row will transition to Ford cars, engines and technology support in 2010. We welcome Front Row to the Ford family and will do all we can to assist them, and look forward to a long and mutually-beneficial relationship."

The team also confirmed that Travis Kvapil will pilot the Long John Silver's Ford and Kevin Conway, who will compete for Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors, will drive a second full-time entry in the Sprint Cup Series with sponsorship to be announced in the coming weeks. Both teams will make their debut at the Daytona 500 in February.

"Obviously this is the next step for our guys and the organization," said Bob Jenkins, team owner. "To have support from Ford, along with the quality engines from Roush/Yates, this is a big leap forward for us. Travis is a champion and a veteran of this series. We expect him to take us to the next level and at the same time be a great mentor to Kevin who is competing for rookie of the year. I have confidence that they can help us get to the next level."

Kvapil, 33, returns to the Sprint Cup Series after a successful 2008 season at Yates Racing where he finished 23 in driver in points with four top-10 finishes. He has a total of six top-10 finishes and one pole on his Sprint Cup resume. Kvapil is also the 2003 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion.

"It's great to be back racing on the Sprint Cup tour again with Front Row Motorsports and Ford Racing," said Kvapil. "This is a team that created a real solid base last year. They have a lot of talented guys at the shop and the addition of Ford and their support will only allow the guys to get better. I have experience with Ford and Roush/Yates Racing Engines and I feel good about what we can do on the track this season."

Conway, 30, will make his Sprint Cup Series debut with Front Row Motorsports this season. He has experience at various levels of NASCAR racing including numerous starts in the Nationwide Series in 2009. His goal is to compete for Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors in 2010.

"This is a great opportunity to compete at the highest levels of NASCAR," said Conway. "The goal is to gain experience as quickly as possible with the cars and compete for solid finishes as the season goes along. Having Travis as a teammate and being backed by Ford and Roush/Yates Racing Engines gives me a lot of confidence that we can perform up to the highest standards."

Courtesy of Breaking Limits PR

Andretti's 2010 Plans to be "Free Bird"

According to a NASCAR.com article, John Andretti's 2010 plans are still uncertain beyond Daytona in February. His plan is to be in Daytona for both the Shootout and 500, however, the details are yet to be determined. Andretti hopes to have something finalized this week. The second focus after Daytona will be the Indy 500 in May and possibly some one-off starts in the Sprint Cup and/or other series, similar to the schedule he ran in 2008.

Read the NASCAR.com article here.

JohnAndrettiNews.com

Kvapil, Conway May Sneak Up on Competition in 2010

Somewhere, deep in the heart of NASCAR Country, in an undisclosed location, a new NASCAR superteam is being assembled. Nobody knows about it. Nobody is paying attention. And this new team is getting ready to sneak up on the competition in 2010.

Alright, so it’s not exactly like that. There is no superteam being assembled, and it’s not like nobody is paying attention. But there is a small team of competitive drivers that may sneak up on the competition in 2010 that not many people are paying attention to.

Independent team Front Row Motorsports, who finished 35th in the 2009 Sprint Cup standings with John Andretti, is expanding its operation into a 2-car team for the 2010 season. And there are plenty of changes going on in the shop.

For starters, the whole doubling-the-size-of-the-team thing. FRM ran a single-car operation a year ago, and was fairly competitive, beating out Red Bull driver Scott Speed for the final spot in the top 35 in points. The #34 car, however, will be getting a new driver in Travis Kvapil, the 2003 Truck Series champion.

The #34 car will also be getting a new teammate in rookie Kevin Conway, who will drive the #37 Extense mens’ health supplement car. I know, you’re already turned on to this team. Conway, as of now, will be the only driver competing for Rookie of the Year honors in 2010.

On top of that, FRR will be getting a manufacturer change, switching from Chevy to Ford, and getting technical support from Roush-Yates, a step up from the zero technical support they got a year ago. The switch will not only give them better equipment, but will allow them to share notes with two of NASCAR’s best teams, Roush-Fenway Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports.

Finally, the team will have two experienced crew chiefs. Steven Lane, who worked with Kvapil some in 2009, will be atop the #34 pit box. And though nothing is official, it appears that Peter Sospenzo, former Chip Ganassi Racing crew chief, may join the #37 team, with the rookie Conway.

All of this is going on during NASCAR’s quiet time. Not too many people are keeping an eye on the situation. In fact, Fox Sports is the only major media outlet that has had any coverage of this.

So even though this may not be a championship caliber team just yet, don’t be surprised if Travis Kvapil, Kevin Conway, and the whole Front Row Motorsports team sneak up on the competition in 2010.

Full Story on StockCarSpin.com

Kvapil joins Front Row Motorsports

Updated Jan 1, 2010 9:23 AM EDT

Front Row Motorsports will enter the New Year with a new look all the way around.

The organization will run under the Ford Motorsports banner in 2010 with Travis Kvapil driving the No. 34 with Steven Lane as his crew chief, sources told FOXSports.com. Kevin Conway will pilot the No. 37 Ford with a crew chief to be named later.

"I'm happy to have the opportunity because there's not many opportunities out there," Kvapil said. "The Front Row Motorsports team has a lot of good things going for them. Sponsorship is critical to the survival of a race team but despite what type of sponsorship has been brought in in the past, Bob Jenkins, the owner, has always been committed to running a full-time deal.

"There's a lot of work to be done (with changing manufacturers) but the team has taken another step forward in its progression."

Kvapil, 33, returns to the Ford brand after amicably parting ways with Yates Racing following the spring race at Bristol last year when the team ran out of funding. Kvapil won the NASCAR truck series title in 2003.

Although he hasn't worked with Lane in the past, he witnessed first hand the veteran crew chief's work ethic when Kvapil attempted three races in the No. 37 FRM car at the end of last season.

"He's well respected in the garage and a very hard working guy," Kvapil added. "I'm excited about that. I'm not afraid to dive in there and work hard too. I think it's going to be a good situation."

Conway, 31, ran 12 races with the Extenze sponsorship in the Nationwide Series last season for three different owners -- Joe Nemechek, Robert Richardson and Dusty Whitney. His best finish was 15th at Kentucky in the No. 87 Chevrolet.

The short list for Conway's crew chief candidates include Peter Sospenzo, who worked with Tony Raines on the No. 37 last season, as well as Larry Carter and Derrick Findley.

Full Story on FoxSports.com