Scott Speed from Manteca, CA with his wife, Amanda.
CHARLOTTE, NC (August 22, 2011) – Scott Speed has signed on with Whitney Motorsports to run the rest of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) races in the No. 46 Ford Fusion.
Speed has recently been driving the No. 37 Ford Fusion and has qualified for all three NSCS races that he has attempted. Speed also just came off of a sixth place finish for Kevin Harvick Inc. this past weekend in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Montreal.
The No. 46 Ford Fusion, with the FR9 Roush Yates engines, owned by Dusty Whitney, plans to run the remainder of the races this season in the NSCS starting at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend.
“I really like Dusty and his guys,” said Speed. “They work really hard with the little amount that they have. There is a lot of passion over here and I love how tight of a group we are, we are the underdogs and I love it.”
Speed has 79 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, with one top-five and three top-10s, nine top-10s in 14 starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and one win, four top-fives and nine top-10s in 16 starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
“Scott has shown us what a tremendous asset he is,” said Dusty Whitney, owner of Whitney Motorsports. “We are extremely excited about having him drive our car. He is a great guy with an amazing talent. We hope to make our mark before the season is over.”
“We have sponsors lined up for Atlanta and Kansas, and are on the prowl for the other races. I feel that Scott and this team have a lot to offer anyone that wants to get into the sport of NASCAR.”
The No. 46 Ford Fusion sits outside the top-35 in the NSCS Owners Points, therefore Scott Speed will have to qualify the car at each race.
Andy Forsberg from Auburn, CA driving the No. x1 car for F & F Racing wins his 4th points race out of 9 so far at Placerville Speedway.
F&F Racing's Andy Forsberg Wins in Placerville. Photo by Donna Peter.
PLACERVILLE, CA (8-20-11) – “So are they getting tired of me yet,” were the words uttered by Auburn’s Andy Forsberg as he climbed from his sprint car in victory lane before a crowd that bellowed a mix of cheers and jeers. For Forsberg, the wins just keep on coming at both Placerville Speedway and various venues this season bringing his overall total up to an even dozen. Saturday’s win was the fourth of the season at Placerville as Forsberg is just two weeks away from taking home his third track title here.
“I know a lot of people have their opinions and tonight I’m sure there are plenty since I started on the front row,” said Forsberg. “The bottom line is, I don’t make the rules we just go by them and if the luck of the draw puts on the front row we’re not complaining. We’re having a great year. Last year I could barely win a race at this time so this feels really good to have this team come together like it has.”
Saturday night was Riebes Auto Parts Night at Placerville Speedway and Forsberg started on the outside of the front row following a straight up inversion. Fast qualifier Billy Strange of Rancho Cordova started on the pole of the 25-lap feature event on a night that would become a career best for Strange.
At the waving of the green flag, Forsberg powered his way ahead of Strange off of the high line of the track as they raced their way through the first set of turns and down the backstretch. Reaching lapped traffic just after the five lap mark, Forsberg sliced and diced his way through the field with Strange in hot pursuit with third place starter Jimmy Trulli of Placerville right in the mix as well trying to overtake Strange for the bridesmaid position and veteran Greg DeCaires racing for the fourth position in the early half of the race.
While Forsberg, Strange and Trulli raced amongst one another out in front, DeCaires went to battle with Chico’s Brett Miller who eventually overtook the former track champion for the fourth position. At the finish line Forsberg brought the field across the line while Strange finished a career best second place over Trulli, Miller and DeCaires. Placerville’s CJ Humphreys finished one spot out of the top five.
“Billy was really fast tonight,” said Forsberg. “I got around him there on the start but I knew he wasn’t far behind me if I made a mistake. Tonight I get to celebrate this win with my good friend Tom Arbogast in the late models. This is a good night for the Auburn guys.” Tom Arbogast from Auburn, CA. Photo by Donna Peter.
In the Limited Late Model class, Tom Arbogast posted his second win of the season to pad his recent point lead as the season heads into its final two weeks. Arbogast powered his way around Matt Micheli and Les Friend earlier in the race to launch a battle with Friend that lasted up until the 8 lap mark after contact damaged Friend’s front suspension and he was forced to park for the night.
Once in front, Arbogast fended off the challenges of Micheli to the line who was followed by Charlie Marrs of Yuba City, Matt Davis of Auburn and Dan Brown Jr. of Grass Valley.
“This was a great night,” said Arbogast. “My family is here in the stands and I have a special friend up in the pits that came to watch me tonight, Sleepy Stevens. Sleepy is an old time racers that use to prep this track up until the early 90’s. He told me once I got fast he would come watch me. It was really special to bring him with us tonight and get the win.” Dominic Stone from Folsom, CA. Photo by Donna Peter.
In the Pure Stock Division, Dominic Stone of Folsom drove his way to his first career win. For Stone, he started in the second row and drove to second place on the opening lap behind early leader Mike McClure of Nevada City. With three laps complete, Stone muscled his way around McClure for the lead he would never relinquish, yet, still had to work extremely hard to maintain as one of the divisions most competition drivers was hot on his tail until the end.
Starting fourth, Tom Tilford of Citrus Heights powered his way into second place behind Stone and the two drivers raced bumper to bumper for the lead in an excellent display of aggression, patience and sportsmanship that included some occasional paint trading which kept the fans on the edge of their seats.
On the final lap, Tilford had a right front tire go down which allowed Clarence Holbrook III of Galt to take the second position to try and reel in Stone. At the line Stone was followed by Holbrook, Tilford, Chris Curtiss of Placerville and Chris Van Roekel of Grass Valley.
“It feels really good to finally get a win like this,” said Stone. “To know I held of Tom Tilford feels even better, he is tough to beat at this place and they have helped me a lot over the past two years. I have to thank Marek Bernert for his help in getting me out there and making me fast too. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without all his help.” Ryan Winter from Galt, CA. Photo by Donna Peter.
The three track regulars were joined Saturday night by the Nor Cal Dwarf Cars. In this visiting division Ryan Winter of Galt powered his way to the lead after the waving of the green flag. Racing his way through lapped traffic, Winter held off the challenged of Ballico’s Brett Barstow, Kevin Bender of Rocklin, Jeremy Blackshire of Marysville who rolled over during the race and rallied back to fifth. Scott Dahlgren of Ballico rounded out the top five.
Next week, racing returns to Placerville Speedway with the first of just two remaining point races of the year. The grandstands will open at 5 p.m. with qualifying starting at 6:30. Watch www.placervillespeedway.com. for additional information on this event in the coming days.
Former Formula One driver, Scott Speed from Manteca, CA.
Driver Scott Speed will join the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) team this weekend as the NASCAR Nationwide Series heads north to Canada. Speed will pilot the Rheem Chevrolet Impala at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, the third and final road-course event of the season. The California native has 13 starts in the series with one pole (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 2009) and eight top-10 finishes. This will be his first Nationwide Series start since the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2009.
FIRST TIME: Speed will sport yellow rookie stripes on the back on the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet this weekend marking the driver’s first Nationwide Series start at the 15-turn road course. Speed has two starts in Formula One at Montreal with a best finish of 10th in 2006.
KHI AT MONTREAL: KHI has made a total of five starts at the Montreal, Canada track since the inaugural event in 2007 with three top-five finishes. Max Papis earned the highest-finishing spot for the organization in 2010 with a second-place finish.
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Rheem team will utilize chassis No. 077 for this weekend’s race in Montreal. This chassis is new to competition this season, but it was previously prepared as the back-up car for this season’s road-course events at Road America and Watkins Glen International.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Paul Menard returned to the driver’s seat of the No. 33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet Impala for the Nationwide Series race at Watkins Glen International. Menard put the KHI Chevrolet in the seventh position to start the road-course event. The driver remained in the top 10 throughout the race to bring home a sixth-place finish.
COMMENTS FROM THE DRIVER: SCOTT SPEED
“I am super excited to get back to Montreal. It has always been one of my favorite cities in the world. It is going to be very interesting to run on a track in a stock car where I’ve run in a Formula One car, I look forward to it though. We are going there with one goal, and that is to win for KHI and Rheem. I’m thankful for this opportunity and I hope to make them proud.”
About Rheem:
Rheem Manufacturing Company (www.rheem.com) is privately held with headquarters in Atlanta. In its 86th year of operation, the company manufactures a full-line of eco-friendly, technologically advanced residential and commercial heating and cooling systems; tank, tankless, solar and hybrid heat pump water heaters; whole-home standby generators, controls, swimming pool and spa heaters; indoor air-purification products; and commercial boilers throughout North America and world markets. The company’s premium brands, including Raypak, Ruud and Rheem, have been recognized with countless industry and consumer awards for reliability, innovative design and high quality. Rheem is the official heating, cooling and water-heating supplier to Richard Childress Racing (RCR), Kevin Harvick, Inc. (KHI) and is a primary sponsor of RCR’s No. 29 Sprint Cup Series car and KHI’s No. 33 Nationwide Series car and Camping World Truck Series No. 2 truck. Harvick was named Nationwide Series “Driver of the Decade” in 2010.
