After a national search, NHRA has hired motorsports executive Tony Driscoll to become vice president of sales and business development. Driscoll will be based in Charlotte and will report to Gary Darcy, NHRA senior vice president of sales and marketing.

Driscoll has spent more than 10 years working in motorsports, most recently as senior director of partnership and integrated media sales for International Speedway Corp. (ISC). ISC, whose primary business is the ownership and management of 13 NASCAR racetracks, is a leading promoter of motorsports activities. In his role as senior director, Driscoll was responsible for developing integrated partnership for Corporate America. Driscoll has worked in ISC’s corporate office in Daytona, Fla., since 2003 and spent the last six years working in various capacities, including as director of licensing business development.

“Bringing somebody of Tony’s caliber with his background and experience to our sales team rounds out our commitment to increase NHRA’s visibility among Corporate America and increase sponsorship development,” said NHRA President Tom Compton.

“NHRA offers an incredible value proposition, and we believe we have a significant opportunity to expand our sponsorship base both at the league and team level,” said Darcy. “With the addition of Tony, coupled with IMG and our current sales team in-house, we are poised to aggressively and proactively make an immediate impact on the national sports sponsorship community.” NHRA’s internal sales team will report directly to Driscoll.

NHRA will maintain its strategic alliance with IMG, which began in 2008, as its exclusive outside sponsorship marketing agent at the league level. Driscoll will split time between NHRA’s corporate headquarters in Glendora, Calif., and his permanent location in Charlotte. Coupled with IMG’s strong presence in New York, NHRA now boasts a strong sales effort presence in New York, Charlotte, and Southern California.

The list of companies that Driscoll has worked with is a who’s who of Corporate America and includes some of the most recognizable brands in the world. His relationships with key decision makers in sports sponsorships are ideally suited to support NHRA’s recent commitment to drive broader awareness for the sport in corporate boardrooms.

“I’m excited to join NHRA and am anxious to get started on meeting the current partners and immediately make an impact on developing new partnerships,” said Driscoll. “This is an incredible opportunity, and I believe my experience will allow me to contribute to the continued success of NHRA.”

Driscoll graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing.
 

Yes, He With The Chin Hair vs. He With The Muscles is even more obvious than last week's McMurray-Montoya feud, but that Barbaro has been beaten enough. He's getting tired.

Instead, let's talk about Atlanta Motor Speedway, site of He With the Chin Hair's flip on Sunday.

Why Atlanta? Well, because Atlanta seems to be the odds-on favorite to lose a race date to Kentucky Speedway.

So should Atlanta go on an all-out jihad against Kentucky, finding a way to slip the grease from the Varsity's grease traps into the water at the Jim Beam distillery in an attempt to sabotage the state's reputation? (Cue the "does Kentucky have a reputation enough to salvage?" jokes.)

Probably not. Kentucky Speedway is owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc., the same track that owns Atlanta. If NASCAR and Bruton Smith, the chairman of SMI, can get their legal battles smoothed over, Kentucky's getting a race, and the only way that Kentucky can get a race is if another SMI track sacrifices a race date.

That's not going to happen at Charlotte, which is NASCAR's hub, or New Hampshire, which is the only NASCAR presence in the Northeast. And if Bruton even so much as threatened to take away a race date from Bristol -- a ridiculously farfetched idea to begin with given the attendance -- NASCAR fans would get even more riled up than they do when Junior's in the lead.

According to various estimates, Atlanta had anywhere from 60,000-70,000 people at Sunday's race, and the track capacity is roughly 100,000. The logical scenario is to let Atlanta keep the Labor Day weekend date, allowing the Southeast to keep the tradition (I know, I know, it's not Darlington) and transferring the spring date to Kentucky. Of course, March may be a little chilly that time of year near the Ohio River, but the 2011 schedule isn't going to look much like the 2010 one.

NHRA and Safety-Kleen Systems Inc. have announced an agreement to provide containers and disposal of properly segregated nonhazardous waste materials free of charge to the race teams attending this weekend’s Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals. Safety-Kleen also has been named the preferred provider for environmental services, fluid waste disposal, and parts cleaner service at Gainesville Raceway.

Earlier this year, NHRA announced a new environmental management policy for NHRA events and/or facilities. Teams are now fully responsible for following all laws and regulations and the NHRA rule. Teams must maintain separate waste streams and maintain an environmental management system in their respective pit areas.

NHRA and Safety-Kleen Systems will provide containers and secondary containment devices as well as proper labels for segregation and accumulation of waste generated by the teams. Safety-Kleen also will service its disposal. Although NHRA and Safety-Kleen are providing the containers and waste disposal, all teams must follow the policy announced by NHRA earlier this year. Under the new policy, teams are encouraged not to generate any hazardous waste. Although nonhazardous materials will be removed without cost to teams, any team generating hazardous waste will be subject to management and disposal costs that will be its sole responsibility. In addition, any team found in violation of the rules and procedures will be subject to governmental fines as well as penalties under the NHRA rule.

Related stories:
NHRA announces environmental management responsibility for all participants

Craig Treble returns to Don Schumacher Racing to ride the Valvoline Motorcycle Oils Suzuki at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Pro Stock Motorcycle season opener this weekend, the 41st annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville.

Treble last rode a DSR motorcycle in a limited season in 2008, winning once in one final round and reaching the semifinals two times. In his career, he has won 14 national events in 29 final rounds, including two victories in three final rounds in 2009 running his own team.

Longtime DSR Pro Stock Motorcycle crew chief Steve Tartaglia will tune the Valvoline Motorcycle Oils Suzuki.

“I’m thrilled to be back with Schumacher and with Steve Tartaglia,” said Treble, who will relocate from New Orleans to Brownsburg, Ind. “The NHRA has given the Suzukis 100ccs, which is a huge deal. The way I see it, I’m pretty much on the fastest Suzuki in the class, if history repeats itself. And the 100ccs may be what we need to get a real shot at coming after the V-Twins. They’ve been beating the class up pretty good for the last couple of years.” Matt Smith rode the same Suzuki to one final round in 2009 and qualified No. 1 twice, ending the season fourth in the standings on the top Suzuki in the class.

“We’re pleased to have Valvoline Motorcycle Oils come onboard to sponsor the Suzuki in the first two races of the 2010 season,” said team owner Don Schumacher. “It will help raise the awareness among motorcycle owners that Valvoline offers a high-quality motorcycle oil that is available in retail auto-parts stores. We will continue to pursue other sponsorship for Treble to continue to compete for the rest of 2010.”

“It ought to be a very interesting year, to say the least,” added Treble. “We have to come out swinging and kick some butt in the first couple of races. Hopefully we can give Valvoline Motorcycle Oils a good value for their investment. I know we’re going to have a fast bike, and Steve is a very smart man.”

“We at Valvoline love racing and love engines of all types — cars, trucks, and certainly motorcycles,” said John Stotz, Valvoline global brands director. “Having Valvoline on and inside Craig’s bike is a great way to remind users of Valvoline Motorcycle Oil that they’re using the best.

“Being with Don Schumacher Racing in Pro Stock Motorcycle brings together two winners,” Stotz continued. “When it comes to drag racing, DSR is unmatched, and when it comes to motorcycle oil, Valvoline is the No. 1 brand in retail auto channels. It’s a perfect fit.”
 

Last night around 5:15PM (Pacific) as Don Kay went off the Air from his weekly Autosport Radio Show, he threw out the little tidbit that Junior Strous who was apparently in the audience would be driving for HVM Racing and an announcement would be following shortly… So here’s the Press Release that was awaiting me this morning in the No Fenders mailbox.

HVM Racing Launches Indy Lights Program with Strous
Dutch Driver Eager to Take Winning Ways to IZOD IndyCar Series
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (March 10, 2010) -
HVM Racing will participate in the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights season with a car driven by Junior Strous, with the intention of progressing the Dutch racer to the IZOD IndyCar Series. The 23-year-old driver won two races and led the FIL championship standings in 2009 before having to stop his season early. He will pilot the Shell/HVM Racing car, beginning with the series-opening Streets of St. Petersburg (Fla.) on March 28.

HVM Racing team principal and owner Keith Wiggins recognizes the benefits of a ladder system to develop drivers for the premier-level IZOD IndyCar Series and welcomes the opportunity to work with the young driver.

"Junior is a proven talent," Wiggins said. "He's won races, so we know he has good skills behind the wheel. We will start him in a (Firestone Indy) Lights car and plan to do some testing with him in the big car at some point this season also. I have no doubt that with continued development he will be in an IZOD IndyCar Series car in the future."

"I'm now closer to reaching my ultimate goal and that's racing the big IndyCars," Strous said. "If I have a chance to improve my position, I'll always go for it. The HVM partnership offers me good opportunities both for the short and long term in my racing career. HVM is the place to be to achieve my goals."

Strous will run with sponsorship from Shell and the European-based Car Channel Television Network. Car Channel has acquired the live television broadcasting rights for the IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights in the Netherlands.

"The IZOD IndyCar Series has a large fan base in Europe," said Etienne Marijnissen, CEO of Car Channel. "Junior driving for Keith Wiggins and HVM is a great development for European televisions viewers, who will get a better understanding and feeling for the fast and exciting Indy Racing League. We will follow Junior and the team on and off track. It will be an exciting racing season in the highest level of motorsports."

HVM Racing currently fields the No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds/HVM Racing entry, driven by Simona De Silvestro, in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Hey, dig this! Dale Earnhardt Jr. is going to be a cartoon on the Handy Manny Show! First announced at the Daytona 500, "Handy Manny Big Race" is now officially on the Disney Channel slate for March 20. 

Now, I don't know much about Handy Manny -- I'm a Spongebob Man myself -- but according to the plot summary, Manny and his tools will serve as a pit crew at the Wood Valley 500 race. (Must have been a tough year in Wood Valley; no sponsorship packages.) OK, so here's the deal: "Manny and the tools have to help Elliot fix up his used race car in order to enter the race, and luckily the car turns out better than expected, but not Elliot! Elliot is too nervous to drive!" (Hey, you would be too, if Carl Edwards was on the track.)

So anyway, enter Junior. "Dale’s character, Chase Davis, must step in to help out and Manny gets behind the wheel to try to win the race for the entire team." (Hey, why isn't Dale driving? He's a NASCAR driver, and ... oh. Never mind.)

Anyway, check the show out on March 20th on the Disney Channel. And send us clips. Please.

Those of you complaining about the Edwards/Keselowski drama, cheer up -- at least we're talking about on-track action. Could be worse; remember that this time last year, we were about to descend into discussion of meth use and urine tests, courtesy of one Jeremy Mayfield.

Alas, the story's not done yet, and won't be for some time. Quick version: Mayfield failed a drug test in May, was suspended, protested, was reinstated, failed another drug test, and was suspended again. Court cases and accusations of everything from home meth labs to murder followed; you can see a complete timeline here.

One particularly fascinating aspect of the case is the defamation lawsuit that Lisa Mayfield filed against her stepson after Jeremy accused her of being involved in the 2007 death of his father. According to Scene Daily, Lisa Mayfield's attorney is now seeking to depose ESPN.com reporter David Newton: "ESPN reporter David Newton and ESPN are essential and material witnesses to the facts and circumstances involved in this cause of action," Lisa Mayfield's attorney wrote in a request to the North Carolina Superior Court.

And in related -- literally speaking -- news, Mayfield's former brother-in-law was one of two crewmen suspended on Tuesday for violations of NASCAR's substance-abuse policy. William David Keith, spotter for David Gilliland and brother of Mayfield's first wife, was suspended, as was Matthew Huffstetler, a crew member on the Daisy Ramirez Motorsports No. 1 Camping World Truck series team.

Keith has been involved Mayfield's ongoing legal problems; he claimed in a deposition last year that he saw Mayfield using methamphetamine on multiple occasions. Keith's statements were part of NASCAR's motion to force Mayfield to undergo a comprehensive physical and mental examination; that motion is pending.

Of course, one might expect that seeing a significant witness in a drug-use case get tagged himself for drug use might weaken said case. NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston tried to put a positive spin on the situation in a statement to Scene Daily: "It just shows that anyone can be tested at any time, and a positive test results in an immediate suspension." Front Row Motorsports expressed disappointment with Keith.

Bottom line, the Mayfield story won't be resolved for many months yet, if ever. Here's hoping it doesn't wreck too many more lives along the way.

So ... quiet days in NASCAR these days, huh?

We've had the Edwards/Keselowski Atlanta spin, we've had Dale Earnhardt Jr. failing to live up to his pole position, we've had Jimmie Johnson not winning! And we've had plenty of new visitors to our site this week. If you're one of them, welcome. This is where we hang to talk about anything and everything, NASCAR or not.

Oh, and after reading through the first hundred or so of the thousands of driveby comments, well, I kinda lost it. Not so much "lost it" as decided to offer up a few responses, via Twitter, on the most common quickie comments. Yes, it got fun on Monday night.  (Yes, this is a shameless bid to get you to sign up for Twitter and follow me at @jaybusbee. Trust me, if you like The Marbles, the Twitter feed is like the must-see DVD extras.) Anyway, here's what I had to say on Twitter Monday night:

Notes for commenters: 1. Calling it "CRAPCAR" or "NA$CAR" isn't nearly as funny as you think it is. 2. Racing was NOT better in... (cont'd)....the "old days." It wasn't. Deal with it. 3. If you say you're giving up on NASCAR, beat it. Nobody wants to hear your whine. (cont'd) 4.NASCAR IS a sport. And even if it wasn't, who cares? Does any other sport have this many whiners? (Well, Duke hoops, but it's the team.)

I feel so much better now ... though it's looking like I may need to offer up a sequel after Tuesday's NASCAR statement on Edwards. Feel free to leave your own rants in the comments below, and we'll see you back here soon!