Author: Tim Newey

Motorsports on TV This Weekend: April 22-24, 2011

All times are Pacific Time.


Lucas Oil Motorsports Hour
Saturday: 1:00 – 2:00pm, 2:00 – 3:00pm on Versus.

Lucas Oil Series Off Road Racing from Chandler, Arizona
Saturday: 3:00 – 4:00pm on SPEED TV.
Sunday: 12:00 – 1:00am, 1:00 – 2:00am on SPEED TV.


Mobil 1 The Grid
Saturday: 4:00-4:30am on Speed TV.
Saturday: 6:00-6:30pm on KVIE.
 


NCWTS Setup
Friday: 4:30 – 5:00pm, 8:30 – 9:00pm on SPEED TV.
 


NASCAR Camping World Truck Series from Nashville SuperSpeedway
Qualifying: Friday, 2:00 – 3:00pm on SPEED TV.
Race: Friday, 5:00 – 7:30pm, 9:00 – 11:30pm on SPEED TV.
 

NASCAR Countdown
Saturday: 11:00am – 12:00pm on ESPN2.


NASCAR Nationwide Series from Nashville SuperSpeedway
Qualifying : Saturday, 9:00 – 10:00am on ESPN.
Race: Saturday, 12:00 – 3:00pm on ESPN
Race: Sunday, 12:00 – 2:00am on ESPN2.


NASCAR Now
Friday: 3:00 – 3:30pm on ESPN2.


NHRA 4-Wide Drag Racing from Myrtle Beach
Highlights: Sunday, 3:00 – 4:00pm on ESPN2.


Racer TV
Sunday: 12:00 – 12:30pm, 12:30 – 1:00pm on Versus TV.


Speed Center on Speed TV
Friday: 4:00 – 4:30pm.
Saturday: 4:00 – 4:30pm.
Sunday: 4:00 – 5:00pm, 8:00 – 9:00pm.


Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain
Sunday: 6:00-7:00pm, 10:00-11:00pm on Speed TV.

NorCal Drivers Racing Highlights: April 16-17, 2011

There was lots of action this last weekend with the NASCAR Sprint Cup & Nationwide Series competing at the Talladega Speedway as well as the K&N Pro Series in Roseville, the NHRA was at Myrtle Beach, the American Le Mans Series, and the Indy Cars were at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The World of Outlaws races were rained out.

Joey Hand from Sacramento, CA. Photo by Ken Barton.
Joey Hand from Sacramento, CA "NorCal Driver of the Week". Photo by Ken Barton.

Our selection for “NorCal Driver of the Week” goes to Joey Hand from Sacramento, CA competing in the American Le Mans Series race in Long Beach. Joey Hand in the BMW Team RLL BMW M3 GT with co-driver Dirk Mueller won for the second time this year. Off to a great start they are the early leaders in the GT Class points standings.

#56 BMW M3 GT2 driven by Sacramento Native Joey Hand. Photo courtesy of Ken Barton.
#56 BMW M3 GT2 driven by Sacramento Native Joey Hand. Photo courtesy of Ken Barton.

“If you don’t like ALMS GT racing, you don’t like racing,” Hand said of the thrilling GT race. “If I was a spectator, I’d love to see what is going on out there. At one point I was in third and Long was going to the inside of Gavin into a turn and I was thinking, ‘This isn’t going to work out for them.’ I race to put on a show for people watching at home, and I think that’s what we all did.”

J.R. Hildebrand from Sausalito struggled a little in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach but it was great to see him battle clear to the last lap. J.R. was able to keep ahead of Mike Conway and stay on the lead lap and finish in the 17th position. He dropped 3 spots to 16th in the points standings but actually increased his lead in the rookie of the year standings.

A.J. Allmendinger from Los Gatos survived a wild and always unpredictable race at Talladega to finish in 11th place. A.J. had this to say on Twitter a day later: “Exciting day of 200mph chicken for the Best Buy Ford yesterday. Happy to get out of Dega clean. On my way to Dover for a tire test.” It is a rough weekend when you finish 11th in the race and still drop 2 spots in the points standings. A.J. is now in the 15th position.

Jeff Gordon from Vallejo participated in one of the most exciting finishes ever at Talladega. He took the white flag as the leader but was part of an amazing 8 car, 4 wide dash to the finish ending up in 3rd place. Jeff won his 70th career pole and moved up a spot to 13th in the points standings.

Jason Fensler from Wilton, CA. Photo courtesy of www.hometracks.nascar.com.
Jason Fensler from Wilton, CA. Photo courtesy of www.hometracks.nascar.com.

Jason Fensler from Wilton, CA won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at 1/3 mile All American Speedway in Roseville, CA. Racing a part time schedule for Team Cass Racing Jason won in his first race of the year. Other NorCal drivers in the top 10 were Eric Schmidt from Roseville in 5th, Eric Holmes from Escalon in 6th, and Ryan Philpott from Tracy in 9th place.

Our thanks to Kenneth Barton Motorsports Photography for the generous use of his photos.

Brian Thiel from Pleasant Grove, Rice Farmer and Drag Racer

Brian Thiel, a rice farmer from Pleasant Grove, CA (north of Sacramento) is competing in his first full year in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in the Funny Car division. Brian and his wife, Randi own R&B Farms, a 4,000 acre rice farm in Northern California.

The Lucas Cattle Company funny car driven by Brian Thiel of Pleasant Grove, CA.
The Lucas Cattle Company funny car driven by Brian Thiel of Pleasant Grove, CA.

In between the 2009 and 2010 seasons Brian set out to build a first class drag racing team to compete in the Full Throttle Series full time. Veteran crew chief Johnny West from Chandler, Arizona, joined the team half way through last season. The 2011 season will be the first full season for Brian Thiel Racing in the series. After a bit of a rough weekend at the 4-Wide Nationals in Myrtle Beach, Brian currently sits in 18th place in the points standings. His best weekend so far was at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida where he made it through qualifying to round one of eliminations on Sunday.

Brian Thiel on his rice farm in Northern California.
Brian Thiel on his rice farm in Northern California.

Brian Thiel’s farming background has helped him secure sponsorship and promote the agriculture industry that he loves. Brian had this to say before last weekend’s race: “As a newly established team, performance is number one, and Johnny West and my crew are working very hard to get the Lucas Cattle Company entry some round wins this upcoming weekend. It is also equally and personally important to me that we promote brands and companies that we truly believe in, such as the National FFA Organization, Lucas Oil, Case IH, and Lucas Cattle Company.” Brian and his race team always encourage all NHRA and agriculture involved fans to stop by the Brian Thiel Racing pits and say hello.

Here is a short interview Brian did after last weekend’s racing.

We will continue to follow the progress of Brian and his race team towards the Auto Club Road to the Future (NHRA rookie of the year) award.

For more information please visit: Brian Thiel Racing.

N&S Tractor from Merced is one of Brian’s long time local sponsors. To support them please visit them in Merced, Turlock, Dos Palos or by visiting their website: http://www.nstractor.com/.