Hillman announces partnership to form Hillman Smith Motorsports

Mike Hillman, founder of Hillman Racing and the current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series No. 40 team, has added West Coast businessman Gordon Smith as co-owner of the newly rebranded Hillman Smith Motorsports, which will continue to field the No. 40 Chevrolet SS for driver Landon Cassill. The addition of Smith as co-owner of HS Motorsports has allowed the organization to expand in the off-season securing additional RCR (Richard Childress Racing) race cars, ECR engines for the entire 2015 Sprint Cup season, as well as adding an in-house, on-site engineering group. Smith, through his aviation and maritime companies, began his involvement with team owner Mike Hillman and the No. 40 team at the start of the 2014 season.

"Adding Gordon Smith as a partner to the racing organization will only strengthen the foundation we have built over the past three years," Hillman said.  "From finishing 12th in last year's Daytona 500 to our best finish of fourth last fall at Talladega with Landon behind the wheel, we have seen great results with limited resources. Gordon has shown a passion for the sport and demonstrated a loyalty to our employees that convinced me elevating him to an equity stakeholder will allow us to take the next step in the Sprint Cup arena. Gordon has built two great companies from the ground up, and by adding a race team to his portfolio, he will truly be covering land, sea and air."

Hillman acquired the championship-winning NASCAR Camping World Truck Series assets following the conclusion of the 2011 season and assumed the dual role of owner and general manager of Hillman Racing at the start of 2012. Midway through the 2013 season, Hillman added the No. 40 Sprint Cup Series team to the organization with driver Landon Cassill. Throughout his career, Hillman has worked as a crew chief and general manager in each of NASCAR's top three series, including drivers as Tommy Ellis, Dick Trickle, Kyle Petty, Joe Nemechek, Mike Wallace, Robby Gordon, and brothers Brett and Todd Bodine. In 1988, Hillman earned a NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship with driver Tommy Ellis, and secured two Truck Series Championships with driver Todd Bodine in 2006 and 2010.

"This partnership is the culmination of a relationship that started with Landon a few years back," stated Smith. "Landon was driving for Mike Hillman in the Cup Series, so we were introduced and I was immediately welcomed into the fold. I believe the intimate feeling of the organization not only attracts sponsors to the team, but I've watched over the past year as the involvement of each sponsor has grown. Mike Hillman has established a great team that not only puts a good product on the race track, but makes every event an experience that brings people back to the track. I'm looking forward to being involved in the operation and adding to it."

The new partnership kicks off this weekend with qualifying for the 57th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 15. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 will be broadcast live on FOX from Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 22, with pre-race coverage beginning at 12:00 p.m. EST.

Hillman Smith Motorsports Racing is housed in a 22,000-square-foot facility in Mooresville, N.C., and will field the No. 40 Chevrolet SS in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition in 2015 with driver Landon Cassill.

Source: http://www.foxsports.com/nascar/story/hillman-announces-partnership-to-form-hillman-smith-motorsports-021215

NASCAR Duels Live Stream: Watch Online Budweiser Duel Daytona Streaming Races Fox Sports 1

The NASCAR Budweiser Duels start on Thursday to set the Daytona 500 after Jeff Gordon won the pole ahead of Jimmie Johnson for the Great American Race in Florida and things will be on TV from Fox Sports 1 and streaming from FS1 online from the Foxt Spors Go website as the field gets set for the first major race of the season.

Gordon had the best time during a wild qualifying session earlier in the week and now the Duel races will set the rest of the field. The pressure is on the field to get into the race and drivers like Johnson and Carl Edwards already have spots, while David Ragan needs to qualify to get in. Gordon will be on the pole for the first Duel on the schedule and that comes with  Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick all solid from that set.

Johnson leads Duel 2 and that has drivers like Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Sam Hornish Jr., Michael Waltrip, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Greg Biffle in solid position. Gordon won the pole for the Daytona 500 and it comes as he is getting ready to start his final season and he ended up on top after the wild knockout sessions. The qualifying was controversial for some drivers after an accident marred one of the runs and Gordon now comes in at the top spot alongside Johnson.

The knockout format had some drivers angry at the way it turned out, with Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick both coming out to criticize the qualifying. Gordon is at the pole position, but he is by no means the favorite, as no one has won the Great American Race from the pole position since 2000. Only one driver has even finished in the top five during that run of time and the fact that it's the last run for Gordon at Dayton makes it even tougher for him.

Gordon was very fast in qualifying and ended up past 200 mph, making him the first since 1987 to pass that mark, according to ESPN.com, Many drivers felt that the knockout was tough to deal with and said they felt the single car format was better for Daytona. Danica Patrick dealt with a crash in qualifying and that happened early in practice on Wednesday and now she will be the backup car.

Patrick previously was on the pole back in 2013 and now she will have to deal with just getting into the field. Johnson comes in after another strong year and he will start alongside Gordon in the front of the field. The Duels are always interesting and this year things get started past 7 pm ET on Fox Sports 1 at Daytona International Speedway.

Source: http://www.sportsworldreport.com/articles/44366/20150219/nascar-duels-live-stream-watch-online-budweiser-duel-daytona-streaming-races-fox-sports-1.htm

SHR: Teamwork pays off at Daytona

Haas Automation driver helps teammate’s cause in Budweiser Duel

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), was in position to contend for the win in the second Budweiser Duel Thursday night at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway until a pair of late-race incidents would change his priorities over the closing laps.

While running second, Busch was issued a late-race penalty for dropping below the double-yellow line to make a pass, which required him to make a pass-through down pit road. A handful of laps after he served his penalty, a multicar incident occurred that collected his SHR teammate Danica Patrick, who needed to race her way into Sunday’s 57th Daytona 500.

At that point, Busch’s focus changed from winning his second career Budweiser Duel to ensuring that Patrick’s No. 10 Chevrolet would be on the grid Sunday afternoon. When crew chief Tony Gibson called Busch to pit road to take on four fresh tires, the Las Vegas native kept an eye on the scoring pylon, in tune with the perilous position in which his teammate found herself.

    We don’t have a single scratch or scrape on our racecar; we’ll protect it in the next few practices. We’ll put a new engine in it for the Daytona 500.

    Kurt Busch

When green-flag racing resumed, Busch positioned himself to provide Patrick with the drafting help she needed to overcome the setback dealt when her racecar was damaged in the incident. The teammates were able to advance quickly, with Patrick vaulting to finish 10th and Busch 12th.

“What a great Haas Automation Chevrolet we have,” Busch said. “It’s been prepared to the specs of Tony Gibson and all the guys on this No. 41 team. They know how to restrictor-plate race. I’m very proud of the effort they’ve put forth. We don’t have a single scratch or scrape on our racecar; we’ll protect it in the next few practices. We’ll put a new engine in it for the Daytona 500.

“When we found ourselves out of contention to win the race, our focus changed to ensuring that Danica Patrick would be able to overcome what happened to her in the closing laps,” Busch said. “I was happy to be in a position to help our teammate make the Daytona 500.”

Tony Stewart led the way for SHR Thursday night by finishing fourth in his Budweiser Duel race, the first of twin qualifying races that set the 43-car field for the season-opening Daytona 500. Stewart’s fourth-place result slots him and his No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS seventh for the 57th Daytona 500 on Sunday.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS for SHR, joined Stewart in the first Budweiser Duel race. Harvick finished sixth and will start 11th in the Daytona 500.

SHR’s Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS, and Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, competed in the second Duel. Patrick finished 10th and will start 20th in the Daytona 500, while Busch finished 12th and will start 24th in the Daytona 500.

Patrick, who had to race her way into the Daytona 500 with a backup racecar, rebounded from a late-race incident that caused left-rear damage to her GoDaddy Chevrolet. Patrick restarted 18th with just three laps remaining, but with drafting help from teammate Busch, Patrick rallied to a 10th-place finish and a Daytona 500 starting spot.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the first Budweiser Duel by .165 of a second over Jeff Gordon. Joey Logano, Stewart and Clint Bowyer took spots three through five. The rest of the top-10 consisted of Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Landon Cassill and Cole Whitt.

Jimmie Johnson won the second Budweiser Duel by .125 of a second over Kyle Busch. Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, and Martin Truex Jr. took spots three through five. The rest of the top-10 consisted of Ryan Blaney, Reed Sorenson, Mike Wallace, Justin Allgaier and Patrick.

With the Budweiser Duel now complete, the field for the Daytona 500 is set. On the pole is Jeff Gordon, and alongside him is Jimmie Johnson. By notching the two quickest times during qualifying on Sunday, both drivers were able to lock themselves into the front row for the Daytona 500.

Failing to qualify for the Daytona 500 were Alex Bowman, Jeb Burton, Ron Hornaday Jr., Justin Marks, Brian Scott and Josh Wise.

The Daytona 500 gets underway at 1 p.m. EST Sunday, Feb. 22, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its prerace show at noon.

Source:  http://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/news/shr-teamwork-pays-off-at-daytona/