NASCARS Love For Stickers Continues To Stick Around
Do you remember as kid growing up that un-profound love that you had for stickers? You would put them anywhere there was an open spot, on your school books, lunchboxes, bikes, lockers, and they even showed up on your dad and mom’s new car.
Stickers have always played some sort of role in our everyday lives, with one of the most common uses being they are a great way to advertise. You see them on phone booths advertising taxi companies; you see them at colleges advertising rooms for rent, and you even see them on boarded up storefronts.
But the classic is on the back windows of motor homes or R.V.’s letting the whole world know where you have vacationed at.
America has always had a love for stickers, and NASCAR is not immune from that love with the way they have utilized them for the sport.
We already know how important sponsorship is to the sport, because this is where the teams get their money from to able to race week after week.
The sponsors needed a way to advertise their products so that the public knows who they are, and NASCAR needed a way to give them as much exposure as possible. So what better way than to utilize these stickers which are not only durable, but they are also a lot cheaper to make than to actually paint the sponsors logo on the car which is very time consuming as well as expensive.
Stickers can be made in any shape, size, or color depending on what the sponsor’s logo is, and they can be made in just a few minutes once the pattern is designed.
Stickermania has taken NASCAR by storm, and it’s evident because we see them on every race car as well as the transporters that carry our favorite driver’s cars around the country week after week.
The placement of each sticker also plays a very significant role, because they just can’t be put anywhere on the car.
Every sponsor has their own individual spot on the car that they paid for; examples such as Sunoco, Hurst, AutoMeter, Goodyear, as well as the other major sponsors pay big bucks to have their stickers put in prime locations on the car.
Along with the sponsors, NASCAR has also mandated that their own stickers be put on select areas as well.
As each car goes through tech inspection, NASCAR makes sure that each sticker is exactly where it belongs such as Goodyear which will always be placed over the front tires, and if not the car fails until each sticker is properly placed.
NASCAR also pays out contingency money to the drivers that can bring in extra revenue through sponsorship, which is why the more popular drivers will have additional stickers that might not be found on a less popular driver’s car.
Along with the sponsorship stickers that adorn the hood, trunk and sides of the car, there are also the big numbers that are not only positioned on both sides of the car but the roof as well. The roof number faces inward towards pit row so that as the car is going down the backstretch, the NASCAR officials who were in charge of counting laps could easily tell where the car was that they were assigned to.
NASCAR now uses electronic scoring via a box called a transponder, which is actually a device that sits next to the fuel cell with electronic wires that are embedded in the track.
Whenever a car runs over those wires, the transponder picks up the signal sending back to a computer letting the scoring official know exactly when they ran it over.
This system of scoring also helps whenever a caution comes out and the field is frozen, by letting the scorer know exactly how to realign the cars before the green is waved again.
NASCAR still has scorers that count each lap that a car completes, just in case of a power failure to the system or some unseen occurrence happens that doesn’t allow the transponders to do their job.
Modern technology sure has changed our sport that derived from the use of a simple sticker, to having the luxury of just pushing a few buttons to get any kind of information from who has led the most laps, to the race leader, and all the way to who is running the fastest laps.
It’s hard to imagine all the trouble the scorers had as each car pitted, or when the yellow came out and they had to realign the field by using a set of binoculars, and relying on a piece of paper with a number glued to the top of the roof.
Something as simple as a sticker, but yet it is one of the most important tools that NASCAR makes the most of even in today’s modern world. .
1 Up 0 Down
Penske names crew chiefs for both Keselowski cars
Guy will lead Cup effort; Wolfe controls Nationwide side
MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Penske Racing has announced that both Jay Guy and Paul Wolfe have joined the organization as crew chiefs working with driver Brad Keselowski for the 2010 season.
Furniture Row Racing
Guy
Roy McCauley, who has served as a Cup Series crew chief for the past four years with the team, will remain with Penske Racing and assume a leadership role within the organization.
Guy will lead the No. 12 Cup Series team, while Wolfe will serve as crew chief for the No. 22 squad that will compete full time in the Nationwide Series with Keselowski behind the wheel.
Guy, 36, most recently worked as the crew chief on the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing car driven by Regan Smith in Cup Series competition. A native of Lancaster, Penn., Guy is an experienced crew chief that has worked in the Truck Series, Nationwide Series and at the Cup Series level.
"I am really excited to join Penske Racing and I'm looking forward to the opportunities that lie ahead with the No. 12 team," Guy said. "Over the years, the No. 12 team has had a lot of success, including winning the 2008 Daytona 500, and we certainly want to build on that tradition of winning. Brad is one of the most talented drivers in NASCAR and we will work together to develop his skills and make this team the best it can be."
CJM Racing
Wolfe
Wolfe, a former competitor on the track, will team with Keselowski to pursue the 2010 Nationwide Series championship with the No. 22 team. The 32-year-old native of Milford, N.Y., raced in the Nationwide Series and completed his fourth season as a crew chief in 2009 as he led the charge for the No. 11 CJM Racing team with drivers Scott Lagasse Jr., Denny Hamlin and others.
"The chance to work with Penske Racing and a driver as skilled as Brad is a tremendous opportunity," Wolfe said. "With the team that we will have in place, we know that 2010 will be a special season for the No. 22 and we will work hard to make sure we are ready to meet the challenge."
"Both Jay and Paul have a lot of experience throughout all levels of motorsports competition and they each seem to get the most out of the teams and drivers that they work with," Keselowski said. "I'm really looking forward to working with Jay next season in my first full season of Cup Series competition. We are also excited to race for the Nationwide Series title with Paul and the No. 22 team in 2010."
Also: Furniture Row Racing parts with crew chief Guy
Johnson feasts with fans before heading to Vegas
And now, on to Las Vegas.
Jimmie Johnson completed his Champion's Week visits in Southern California on Tuesday. The four-time Cup Series champion readies for three days of festivities that begin with Wednesday's Chasers for the Charity Fanfest and roast beginning at 10 a.m. PT in the Neon Garage at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Johnson is slated to be the guest of honor -- or, better said, the one on the hot seat -- when stand-up comic Kevin Burke, who currently stars in the Broadway hit "Defending the Caveman," along with the champion's fellow competitors turn up the heat by roasting Johnson in the name of charity at 1:30 p.m. PT.
Getty Images
Four-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson makes a new friend Tuesday during Day 2 of Champion's Week in Fontana, Calif.
Day 2 of Champion's Week consisted of an appearance at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana where Johnson had breakfast with and conducted a Q&A with 700 of the track's invited guests. He also participated in several media functions. Johnson has won four NASCAR Sprint Cup races at the track including the last three runnings of its Pepsi 500.
"You couldn't have scripted it any better," Johnson said of this year's Champion's Week, being held for the first time in Las Vegas and offering fans and media in two states the opportunity to celebrate with the champion. "I've definitely been able to work in a little more sleep," said Johnson comparing this year's event with his previous Champion's Week trips to New York. "Of course, when we get to Vegas that may change.
"It's neat to hit different areas of the country and get the opportunity to visit with all of our great fans, which have supported me on this journey all along."
Mayor Randy Voepel and the City Council of Santee, Calif., proclaimed Monday "Jimmie Johnson Day" as the champion's latest accomplishments were celebrated at a homecoming party at a Lowe's store in the San Diego suburb. The event attracted nearly 3,000 fans, Johnson's family and former motocross and off-road legends Rick Johnson and Ivan "Ironman" Stewart.
Johnson, who grew up in nearby El Cajon, suggested that the community's speed limits, currently 45 mph, be raised to 48. Voepel responded "we'll work on that tomorrow."
• Joey Logano made the rounds of Las Vegas print, affiliate and broadcast media on Tuesday..
For Logano, the 2009 season was his one opportunity to make a good first impression.
"It's really an honor to be the Raybestos Rookie of the Year. It was one of our goals this year and I'm glad I did it since I don't get a second shot at it," said the 19-year-old Connecticut native, who joined Richard Petty, David Pearson, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace and Jeff Gordon among winners of the ROY title.
"It was the opportunity of a lifetime to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing," said Logano, who won once in 2009, at New Hampshire. "It was really cool to jump into a car with a team that had success." The No. 20 team won championships in 2002 and 2005 with Tony Stewart behind the wheel.
Logano also offered congratulations to Johnson on his fourth consecutive Cup Series title. "It's impressive to accomplish something like that. It makes me want to keep digging so I can try and beat him," he said. Logano has a date Wednesday to fly with the U.S. Air Force's famed Thunderbirds.
Wednesday
The champion's Las Vegas celebration begins at 10 a.m. PT with the Chasers for Charity Fanfest at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's Neon Garage. The free-admission portion of the event includes a red-carpet walk by the champion and other 2009 Chase drivers, car displays, live music, reduced-price concessions and a raffle drawing.
A Charity Roast of Johnson will be held at 1:30 p.m. PT in the speedway's Blackjack Club and is open to the first 300 people who respond (information at www.lvms.com). A $250 tax-deductible donation to Speedway Children's Charities includes a private reception with Johnson and Chase participants plus reserved seats and parking. The event will be shown on closed-circuit television in the Neon Garage.
Thursday
The annual NMPA Myers Brothers Awards event will be held from 1-2:45 p.m. PT in the Venetian Showroom at The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino. Johnson will be joined by the rest of the top 12 drivers in the 2009 Chase, plus Raybestos Rookie of the Year Joey Logano and other annual award winners.
Race fans will get to see Johnson and fellow Chase drivers participate in a Victory Lap parade in their show cars on Las Vegas Boulevard -- the city's legendary "Strip" -- beginning at 3:15 p.m. PT at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. "Mr. Las Vegas," Wayne Newton, will drop the green flag to start the event. The lap includes a pit stop and "burnout" at the Spring Mountain Road intersection before returning to the MGM Grand at 4 p.m. PT. Sirius Radio will carry live coverage of the Victory Lap.
Following the Victory Lap, fans will have the opportunity to have their questions answered by the Chase drivers at the NASCAR After the Lap presented by Tissot from 4:30-5:30 p.m. PT (doors open at 3 p.m.) at the MGM/Hollywood Theater.
The Official Partners of NASCAR now have the ability to utilize Champion's Week to culminate their fan-centric promotions (i.e. Unilever's Real Fan of the Year, Ford I Drive One promotion and Ask.com's year-long Trivia Challenge). This week, fans will be able to submit their questions via Street Tour, AFLAC Pit Stop and Twitter to their favorite Chase drivers and hear the drivers respond to those questions at this event. Sirius will broadcast the event live and NASCAR.COM will be producing Video on Demand.
The Tissot Watch presentation to the top 12 drivers will also take place at this event. From 7-9 p.m. PT, Johnson and other Chase drivers will join Tony Stewart at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino as he presents the third annual "Stewie Awards," live on Sirius. The event, which honors the best, boldest and funniest moments of the 2009 NASCAR season, will take place at the Rio's Masquerade Village and is open to the public.
Friday
Johnson formally accepts his Cup Series championship awards. He, his family and his Hendrick Motorsports team will participate in traditional photos during the afternoon, before attending the awards ceremony that evening at Wynn's Las Vegas. SPEED will televise the event live from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. ET.
Sirius and MRN also will broadcast the ceremony live.
