Rain Washes Out Qualifying ~ Sends Smaller Teams Home
Being fan favorites didn't help Boris Said or Marcos Ambrose avoid the rain. Said and Ambrose, who represented two of the better stories heading into Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Watkins Glen International, both failed to qualify for the race when qualifying was rained out on Friday.

It was the third time in four years that qualifying at the Glen has been rained out, and the second time this season that Said has missed a Cup race due to a rainout. This latest stroke of awful luck will put his small team out of business, he said.

"I don't know why they couldn't just have qualifying tomorrow when it's going to be sunny," Said said. "They don't want the little guy in the sport, basically. NASCAR wants to get qualifying in, it's just the weather. But the forecast for tomorrow is great, so why not just qualify the cars tomorrow?"

It cost Said $400,000 to attempt the Daytona race and another $200,000 in lost revenue for missing the race, which had a qualifying rainout. There were similar costs for the Watkins Glen race, he said. "[As a] small team, you spend all the money to get here," he said.

Said, looking inconsolable, said he has no future plans in NASCAR after the Talladega Cup race.(scenedaily.com)

Montoya On Good Morning America
Juan Pablo Montoya and his wife Connie Montoya will be guests on ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday, August 15 promoting ABC's NASCAR in Primetime Special. The ABC News crew spent weeks with Montoya at the track and obtained minute-by-minute footage of his victory in Sonoma. The program took a glimpse into the lives of several drivers including Montoya and his Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammate David Stremme. The show captured his life away from the track, on the golf course and at home in Miami with his wife and children. The six-week, six-episode program premieres Wednesday, August 15 at 9:00 p.m./Eastern time on ABC.

Goodyear Tire Notes
NASCAR Nextel Cup teams will run the same Goodyear tire code (D-4110) on all four tire positions at Watkins Glen International this weekend -- this is the same tire code that Goodyear brought to the Nextel Cup Series' other road course race at Infineon Raceway in June -- this code is also run on the right-side at Martinsville -- this is the first time this tire has been run at Watkins Glen -- NASCAR Busch Series teams will run a different tire code (D-4112) this weekend -- as on all NASCAR road courses, teams will not run inner liners in their tires at Watkins Glen.

Dale Jr. Makes 8th Rock Video
Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants to be a rock star. The notion is by no means a stretch, as his high-profile sponsors, record-setting merchandise sales, and cross-over appeal often labels him NASCAR’s own “rock star”. That image, coupled with his well-documented appreciation for music, made Earnhardt Jr. a perfect fit to be among celebrities featured in the new music video “Rockstar” for multi-platinum rock group Nickelback. The video debuted last week and is now available on MTV.com.

This marks Earnhardt Jr.’s eighth music video and first since making a cameo appearance in Jay-Z’s heavily anticipated hip-hop single, “Show Me What You Got” in 2006. Earnhardt Jr. also has been featured in videos for artists Three Doors Down, Staind, Sheryl Crow, Trace Adkins, O.A.R., and the Matthew Good Band.

“It’s always cool to be in videos for big-time music artists, because it allows us to branch out and reach a whole group of people we might not reach through racing,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I really like Chad Kroeger and the guys from Nickelback. I met them in Richmond a few years ago. They were really cool then, and it was an honor to be asked to be in their latest video.”

The concept of Nickelback’s “Rockstar” video encapsulates the every-day aspirations of being a part of the rock star world. It includes a wide mix of people from all walks of life intertwined with famous actors, musicians, and athletes in their own respective environments lip-syncing the lyrics to the song. Earnhardt Jr. appears four times in the video, either sitting near the pumps of a vintage gas station or around wrecked body shells of previously raced cars. Other celebrities appearing in the video include rapper/musician Kid Rock, hockey great Wayne Gretzky, Gene Simmons of Kiss, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, UFC fighter Chuck Liddell, pro basketball player Grant Hill, musician Ted Nugent, and Playboy’s Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson from the E! Television series “Girls Next Door”.

“Rockstar” was part of the multi-platinum selling album “All The Right Reasons” (Roadrunner Records), which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 in October 2005. Other hit singles on the album include “Photograph”, “Savin’ Me”, and “If Everyone Cared”. The album won the Billboard Music Award for Rock Album of the Year, one of three Billboard Music Awards won by Nickelback last year.

SMI Revenue Off
Speedway Motorsports Inc. today reported lower second-quarter revenues and earnings but said it still expects to match earlier earnings expectations for the year. Total revenues for the quarter were $180.8 million in 2007 compared to $183.3 million in 2006, while net income was $40.3 million in 2007 compared to $45.5 million in 2006. Diluted earnings per share were 92 cents this year compared to $1.03 in 2006.

For the first six months of this year, total revenues were $332.9 million compared to $334.4 million in the same period of 2006, and net income was $72.2 million compared to $77.7 million last year. Diluted earnings per share were $1.64 in the period this year compared to $1.76 in 2006. In a news release, the track operator based in Concord, N.C., blamed the declines on lower revenues under NASCAR's new broadcasting rights agreement as expected and a higher effective income tax rates as expected. The release also cited the impact of the rainout of qualifying for the Nextel Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway and the cancellation of the International Race of champions event at that track.

"Our second quarter 2007 results show significant increases in most event related revenue categories, with particularly strong increases in sponsorship, advertising, radio broadcasting, camping and other corporate revenues," said SMI President and Chief Operating Officer H.A. Wheeler. Also, attendance was higher at Lowe's Motor Speedway's Coca-Cola 600 and Infineon Raceway's Toyota/Save Mart 350 Nextel Cup Series racing events."

In addition to Texas Motor Speedway, Lowe's Motor Speedway and Infineon Raceway, SMI owns and operates Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Lowe's Motor Speedway.(scenedaily.com)

3M Will Provide Free Michigan Tickets For Military
3M, title sponsor of the upcoming NASCAR Nextel Cup Series (NNCS) 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway, and the USO are helping Michigan’s military families enjoy the race weekend. 3M Performance 400 race tickets will be distributed for free to military personnel and their families at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan, on Saturday, August 11 at 4 p.m. during a Mobile USO base visit. During the event military personnel and their families may tour the Mobile USO and use the vehicle’s many amenities.

“The USO brings a home away from home to our troops every day, and this was a way for 3M Car Care to give back and say thank you,” said Greg Klausen, business manager, 3M Car Care. “The 3M Performance 400 race tickets are a gesture of our appreciation for the outstanding job that the men and women of the United States armed forces do each day.”

For more than 66 years, the USO has served our troops in traditional USO centers as well as on the road, providing morale boosting programs and services to troops and their families. In 2006, the USO took these programs and services to a higher level, with three new Mobile USOs. The Mobile USO program is designed to bring a “home away from home” directly to service members stationed in remote and isolated areas throughout the United States.

The Mobile USO is a four-wheel drive vehicle equipped with the comforts of a “brick and mortar” USO center. It features lounge areas and internal and external entertainment capabilities, gaming consoles, computer work stations with Internet connectivity and cafes.

Along with the race, 3M Car Care is also sponsoring the 3M Car Care Auto Fair located in the AAA Fan Plaza at Michigan International Speedway. The 3M Car Care Auto Fair features classic and custom cars from around the United States and Canada, NASCAR driver and celebrity appearances, automotive experts providing car care tips as well as musical entertainment. The event runs from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday, August 18 and Sunday, August 19.

For more information on the 3M Performance 400 or 3M Car Care Auto Fair, please visit (www.3Mracingmedia.com).