PIR Gives Fans Access to NASCAR Stars as Part of Entertainment Offering!

Phoenix-area resident Danica Patrick – set to make her Phoenix International Raceway NASCAR debut during the upcoming Kobalt Tools 500 race weekend – will participate in a fan Q&A at PIR’s Budweiser ROLL-BAR stage on Nov. 12. The event will be open to all ticketed race fans, with a special front-stage section reserved for PIR season-ticket holders.

Other drivers scheduled to interact directly with NASCAR fans at PIR include:

·         Rusty Wallace, the 1989 Sprint Cup champion, and his son, Nationwide Series driver Steve Wallace
·         Kevin Harvick, one of three favorites currently competing for the 2010 Sprint Cup
·         Clint Bowyer, winner of two Chase for the Sprint Cup NASCAR playoff races in 2010
·         Ryan Newman, winner of April’s SUBWAY Fresh Fit 600™ at PIR
·         Kasey Kahne and Robby Gordon, two Sprint Cup fan favorites from the West Coast
·         Ricky Carmichael, the former motocross champion turned NASCAR driver (all driver appearance details listed in schedule below)

PIR also offers a host of live music for fans, headlined by the Restrictor Plates – an Atlanta-based Southern Rock experience led by touring slide-guitar ace Benji Shanks. The Restrictor plates will bring race fans a set list of classic Southern Rock from the Budweiser ROLL-BAR stage at 11 a.m. on Sunday Nov. 14, just before Kobalt Tools 500 pre-race ceremonies commence. The weekend kicks off Thursday, Nov. 11 in the SPEED Cantina with PIR fan favorite Harry Luge, Jr. The singer/songwriter and regular on the “Country Thunder” Festival circuit, mixes Southern Rock and Country to create what he calls Arizona’s “own” country music. The Queen Creek native takes the stage from 9 to 11 p.m. at SPEED Cantina both Thursday and Friday nights. Local favorites the Crown Kings, Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band Freebird and popular NASCAR writer/country crooner Monte Dutton are all also scheduled to perform at various venues throughout the race weekend.

The weekend’s full schedule of entertainment is listed below. Please note that events scheduled within the Budweiser ROLL-BAR Club or the Trackside Club requires patrons to purchase a ticket to those areas.

Tickets to Budweiser ROLL-BAR Club are available for advance purchase at $89 for Nov. 13 and $139 for Nov. 14. Additional purchase of a grandstand ticket is still required for track admission. Tickets for a full weekend package in Trackside Club are $699. A three-day package for Octane is $2,400 per person and includes unlimited food/beverage and many other plush accommodations. Tickets to Budweiser ROLL-BAR, Octane, and Trackside Club are available online at PhoenixRaceway.com, or by calling 1-866-408-RACE (7223).

ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE FOR KOBALT TOOLS 500

Friday, November 12, 2010

Noon – West Series Open House begins outside Turn 2
2:30pm – Q&A’s begin – West Series Open House
3:00pm – Driver autograph session – West Series Open House
3:00pm – NASCAR Smarts, SPEED Display on Fan Midway
3:00pm – Danica Patrick Q&A, Budweiser ROLL-BAR Stage
4:00pm – SPEED Talent Autograph Session, SPEED Display on Fan Midway
5:30pm – Trackside LIVE, SPEED Display on Fan Midway
Checkered Flag – Freebird, The Ultimate Lynyrd Skynyrd Experience, Budweiser ROLL-BAR Stage (Fireworks at Checkered Flag)
9:00pm – Rhythm Night at SPEED Cantina featuring Harry Luge, Jr.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

11:00am – Rusty & Steve Wallace Q&A, Trackside Club
11:30am – Ricky Carmichael Q&A, Inside Budweiser ROLL-BAR Club
Noon – Ricky Carmichael Q&A, Octane
Noon – Chad Freeman & Redline, Budweiser ROLL-BAR Stage
5:00pm – NASCAR Live, SPEED Display on Fan Midway
9:00pm to 11:00pm – 3 Amigos Tequila Night at SPEED Cantina featuring the Crown Kings
TBD Time – Colin Braun Q&A, Ford Racing Display on Fan Midway
TBD Time – Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford Racing Display on Fan Midway
TBD Time – Miss Sprint Cup, Inside Budweiser ROLL-BAR Club

Sunday, November 14, 2010

9:00am – #31 Pit Crew Autograph Session, Chevy Display on Fan Midway
9:30am – Robby Gordon Q&A, Octane
9:30am – Kevin Harvick Q&A, Inside Budweiser ROLL-BAR Club
9:30am – Ryan Newman Q&A, Trackside Club
9:45am – AJ Allmendinger Q&A, Inside Budweiser ROLL-BAR Club
9:50am to 10:05am – Ryan Newman Q&A, Chevy Display on Fan Midway
10:00am – Kasey Kahne Q&A, Inside Budweiser ROLL-BAR Club
10:00am – NASCAR RaceDay, SPEED Display on Fan Midway
11:00am to Noon – The Restrictor Plates, Budweiser ROLL-BAR Stage
TBD Time – Clint Bowyer Q&A, Inside Budweiser ROLL-BAR Club
TBD Time – Greg Biffle Q&A, Ford Racing Display on Fan Midway
TBD Time – AJ Allmendinger Q&A, Ford Racing Display on Fan Midway
TBD Time – Miss Sprint Cup, Trackside Club

For fan schedule updates, please visit http://PhoenixRaceway.com. Schedule subject to change.

Kasey Khane, Clint Bowyer, and Others Appearing at PIR’S Budweiser ROLL-BAR!

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star and Budweiser driver Kasey Kahne will appear at Phoenix International Raceway’s Budweiser ROLL-BAR for a question-and-answer session with NASCAR fans before the SUBWAY Fresh Fit 600™ on Saturday, April 10.

Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Budweiser Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports, qualified for the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup – his second such distinction. Kahne has three top-10 finishes in 11 Sprint Cup Series starts at Phoenix International Raceway.

Fellow Sprint Cup competitors Clint Bowyer, Robby Gordon, and A.J. Allmendinger will also appear at Budweiser ROLL-BAR over the weekend. Each driver will be scheduled to participate for 15 minutes, and appearance times will be confirmed shortly and announced on PhoenixRaceway.com.  More driver appearances will be announced soon.

Budweiser ROLL-BAR is located just behind the Bobby Allison Grandstands on the west side of the track, and features the best in live entertainment each day and night throughout the SUBWAY Fresh Fit 600™ NASCAR weekend and appearances by some of NASCAR’s top personalities.

The innovative hospitality environment at Budweiser ROLL-BAR includes a special VIP section for guests, featuring high-end furniture on a raised platform. A number of unique custom structures – including a bar to house a replica of the No. 9 Budweiser Ford driven by Kahne – adorn the beer garden area and highlight the Budweiser branding seen throughout the club.

Single-day tickets to Budweiser ROLL-BAR are available for $89 on Friday, April 9 and for $139 on Saturday, April 10. Additional purchase of a grandstand ticket is still required for track admission.

Tickets for the April 10 SUBWAY Fresh Fit 600™ – with prices as low as $25 – and all other events throughout the first NASCAR event weekend of 2010 at Phoenix International Raceway are still available at www.phoenixraceway.com or by calling 1-866-408-RACE (7223).

Matt Kenseth Finds Victory Lane at the Daytona 500!

Matt Kenseth, winless a year ago, added the biggest jewel in NASCAR to his trophy collection Sunday, winning a dramatic, rain-shortened Daytona 500 before a capacity crowd of some 200,000 at Daytona International Speedway, plus a Fox national television audience.

Kenseth somehow dodged a huge pileup shortly after lap 125 that easily could have sent him to the scrap-pile like it did young sensation Kyle Busch.

Busch, who had led 88 laps to clearly establish himself as the race favorite, was a victim in a 10-car wreck that had cars sliding through the backstretch infield apron and down the end of the backstretch straightaway in a huge cloud of smoke and debris.

The accident was triggered when Brian Vickers moved over to block Dale Earnhardt, Jr. near the end of the backstretch. Earnhardt was forced off the track onto the apron and into the grass. When Earnhardt tried to steer his sliding car back on the track, he clipped the rear end of Vickers’ Toyota, sending Vickers shooting across the track directly in front of the oncoming field of 200-mph stock cars. At that point, it was pure havoc.  No one was injured, but the accident sent a number of cars to the junk heap.

Besides Busch, who finished 41st, others involved included Carl Edwards (18th), Kurt Busch (10th), Vickers (39th), Earnhardt (27th), Jamie McMurray (37th), Jimmie Johnson (31st), Robby Gordon (34th), and Denny Hamlin (26th).

Kenseth started the race from 39th position after his crew had to change an engine in his Jack Roush Ford sponsored by DeWalt.

Ironically, the runner-up in the abbreviated race — 152 out of a scheduled 200 laps were completed — and winner of the Daytona 500 two years ago, Kevin Harvick, also started in the rear of the field due to engine problems.

Third-place finisher AJ Allmindinger had a storybook finish since he just hooked up with the Valvoline Dodge team several weeks ago. His performance Sunday should help him find additional sponsorship.

Clint Bowyer finished fourth, Elliott Sadler fifth, David Ragan sixth, former Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip seventh, Tony Stewart eighth, and Reed Sorensen ninth. Truex was 11th.

It was a cool, overcast afternoon when the 51st running of this classic got underway. Drivers mashed the gas to the floor right from the git-go and three different drivers led the first three laps, Truex, Martin and “wild thing” Busch, who took over on the third lap and was leading when Almirola spun by himself on the eighth circuit.

When racing resumed, Busch remained out front with Martin, Labonte, Earnhardt and Edwards right behind.

A mandatory caution at lap 26 allowed the teams to check their tire wear after rain washed the rubber off the track Saturday night and Sunday morning. NASCAR officials informed the teams at the start of the race of the mandatory caution.

Once all the teams had pitted, Busch resumed his lead with Earnhardt on his bumper. Gordon was third, Hamlin fourth and Martin fifth.

Jeremy Mayfield, who started his own team about a month ago and was one of the feelgood stories in making the race, had his luck change at lap 33 when a problem cropped up with his motor.

At 40 laps, Busch had Kenseth on his bumper, who had started from the rear after changing motors. Ragan had moved to third, Earnhardt was fourth, Hamlin fifth and Ragan sixth.

Robbie Gordon dropped from the middle of the pack to 42nd when a punctured tire prompted an unscheduled pit stop.

At 50 laps, Busch still led and looked as though he clearly had the fastest car in the field but Earnhardt and Stewart were just a car length behind. Earnhardt and Stewart, however, blew past Busch on lap 53. One lap later, Busch pushed Stewart past Earnhardt. On the next lap, Travis Kvapil smacked the wall, bringing out the afternoon’s second caution.

When the green flag fell again, it was Stewart out front with Gordon second. Busch was third. Also running in the front pack was McMurray, Hamlin, Edwards, Martin, Kenseth, Vickers, Ragan and Kurt Busch, who finished second in this race last year.

Earnhardt, who completely missed his pit stall and had to go around the track again, was way back in 35th on the restart.

By lap 70, Gordon led, followed by Busch, Hamlin, McMurray, Kenseth, Edwards, Vickers, Stewart, who was shuffled backwards by one of the famous Daytona drafts, Martin and Allmindinger.

Stewart’s teammate and defending champion of the Daytona 500, spent considerable time in the pits and lost several laps, which pretty much ended his chance for winning “The Great American Race” again.

On lap 81, rookie Joey Logano, running back in the field to gain some experience, was in the wrong place at the right time. Another rookie, former Formula One driver Scott Speed, got loose coming out of four and had to ease off the throttle. Logano, right behind him, had to make a jerky turn left to stay off Speed and spun across the track. He smashed into the inside retaining wall almost head-on, tearing his Home Depot machine to smithereens. Logano was not injured.

On the restart at lap 85, it was Busch again and Hamlin moved into second. Allmindinger was third with Truex fourth. Gordon held on in fifth, followed by Edwards, Kenseth, Stewart, Ragan, McMurray and Burton.

The best race drivers in the world were mixing it up as though it was the last lap, rather than halfway. Gordon went from fifth to second with a nifty slingshot move down the backstretch, which resulted in Truex getting shoved back to 20th spot. Once Gordon made his move, others tucked in on his bumper and formed a freight train back to where Truex wound up.

The competition in the first half of this event was similar to what fans had seen in the Twin Gatorade 150 Qualifying Races last Thursday.

Thanks to NASCAR.com for this press release.