Gordon Will Host "Live" For Tenth Time
Jeff Gordon is scheduled to make his 10th appearance as co-host on the popular daytime talk show “Live with Regis and Kelly” on Monday, July 9. The four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet will fill in for host Regis Philbin. “Live with Regis and Kelly” is in its 19th year of national syndication and continues to wake up millions of Americans each day. “Live with Regis and Kelly” is executive produced by Michael Gelman and distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television. Produced by WABC-TV in New York, “Live with Regis and Kelly” airs in over 200 markets across the country. Check local listings for time and channel.
Ford Wins Crew Chief Award
After a pressure filled season with the No. 11 FedEx Ground Chevrolet team getting painstakingly close to victory on many occasions, crew chief, Mike Ford, and his young driver, Denny Hamlin, combined to give the Joe Gibbs Race Crew their first taste of victory for the 2007 season. A gutsy call by Ford during the final stages of the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 put Hamlin in a position to take the win. For his race winning pit strategy and “never give up” determination, Ford won the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Race.
Between leading numerous laps throughout the season and providing the car to beat at prior races, the No. 11 team was primed to go the extra step and take the checkered flag in New Hampshire. An earlier two-tire pit stop had deemed successful for Ford; therefore, when a caution 46 laps from the end of the race brought the front runners down pit road for servicing, he opted again for a two-tire change in an attempt to pick up track position. The No. 11 team sent Hamlin off pit road in first place after hovering in the top five in the latter stages of the race. Hamlin was able to hold of several charges from those behind to pick up his third career victory.
“I knew we had a top five car today, but didn’t think we could catch the front runners,” said Ford at the conclusion of the race. “So we went for two tires again to get some good track position, which we did, and hoped that Denny could hold them off. It is great to finally get that victory that we have been so close to reaching many times this year.”
A panel of voters, including a member of the local media, Kenny Francis, Robbie Reiser, Tony Eury Jr. and a WYPALL* Wipers representative, all agreed Ford’s call was deserving for him to be awarded the crew chief of the race. “Mike [Ford] knew he had to do something to get to the front and have a shot at the win,” said Reiser on Ford’s race winning strategy. “He really set the team up for a victory and his driver came through with the goods at the end.”
As the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Race, Ford received $1,000. Earning his second crew chief of the race award puts Ford tied for first place in the overall standings. Mike Ford, Donnie Wingo, Robbie Reiser and Chad Knaus are tied for first, each with two wins. Tony Gibson, Steve Letarte, Mike Nelson, Darian Grubb, Larry Carter, Alan Gustafson, Chip Bolin, Ryan Pemberton and Tony Eury Jr. each have one win. At the end of the season, the crew chief with the most wins will receive $20,000 and be crowned WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Year.
NASCAR Confiscates Two Cars
The Chevys of Kyle Busch (11th) and Johnny Sauter (14th) failed postrace inspections for being too low and were taken to NASCAR's Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., for further examination. On Friday, Toyota driver Brian Vickers' 28th-fastest qualifying speed of 127.338 mph was disallowed when his Camry failed an inspection for being too low. "We don't consider this a tampering with the Car of Tomorrow-type penalty," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said.(USA Today)
Race and Commercial Breakdown For The Lenox 300
Total number of commercials: 139
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 77
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 26
Total number of companies or entities advertised in brief promos or crawlers: 17 (companies: Goodyear, Sprint, Wendy’s, Ford, Principal Financial, nascar.com (ringtones for your phone, TNT’s Wide Open Coverage of the Pepsi 400, nascar.com (Track Pass Race View), AFLAC racing, DirecTV, Burger King, Miller Lite, ‘Transformers’ movie, nascar.com (superstore), Denny Hamlin’s helmets auctioned for Victory Junction Gang Camp, PepsiRacing.com, Subway, Coors Light, Auto Zone)
Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 2 min. 5 sec.
Also, there are the following race statistics during the broadcast, sponsored by companies:
Budweiser ‘Bud Pole Award’
AT&T ‘Race Talk Question’
Pepsi ‘Pit Command’
NASCAR Hot Pass on DirecTV ‘Race Summary’
Auto Zone ‘In the Zone’
AFLAC ‘Trivia Question’
Miller Lite ‘Race Fact’
Nextel ‘Getting it Done Call of the Race’
Nextel ‘Call of the Race’
Start time to record race/commercial periods 07/01/07: 2:30 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods 07/01/07: 5:42 PM
Total minutes: 192
Minutes of race broadcast: 130
Minutes of commercials: 62... MORE AT...(cawsnjaws.com)
Earnhardt Wins Lap Lead Award
Dale Earnhardt Jr. led six times for 64 laps to earn WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors in the LENOX Industrial Tools 300. He captured the award the second time this season. Earnhardt Jr. also captured the honor at Martinsville, Va. (race No. 6). Earnhardt Jr. has led 302 total laps in seven races this season.
Earnhardt Jr. finished fourth in today’s race, his third top-five and seventh top-10 of the 2007 season. He racked up his second top-10 in the last three races.
UNOFFICIALLY Earnhardt Jr. is 12th in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings. He trails 11th-place Clint Bowyer by one point and leads 13th-place Ryan Newman by 127.
EARNHARDT JR. QUOTES: “I’m real proud of Tony Gibson for the job he did as interim crew chief. He filled in really good for me and done a great job. The whole team owes an incredible debt to Tony for taking on that role and doing as good of a job as he did. My car was handling great for the first half of the race. We got a little tight at the end. I was just real good all day long. The car was running good. As it cooled off we got tight. I’m in the car and can’t tell what the weather’s doing [smiles]. So I didn’t ask for no changes obviously to get the car freed up there at the end as the track got tight.” IT’S NO SMALL FEAT TO LEAD THE MOST LAPS HERE. “I’m proud of my day, I really am, my team, the way we drove, the way we had our car setup, everything.”
Jeff Gordon leads the overall WIX Filters Lap Leader standings by one race (4-3) over Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson.
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