INDIANA NATIVE NEWMAN CELEBRATES FIRST 400 VICTORY at IMS By: Ims.Com
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SPORTS MARKETING NEWS, PRODUCTS AND EVENTS FROM LINCOLN ELECTRIC August 2013 INDIANA NATIVE NEWMAN CELEBRATES FIRST 400 VICTORY AT IMS By: ims.com Ryan Newman joined his team owner, Tony Stewart, as the only Indiana natives to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, holding off Jimmie Johnson to win the Crown Royal Presents the Samuel Deeds 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com Sunday, July 28. Newman, from South Bend, Ind., beat four-time Brickyard winner Johnson to the finish by 2.657 seconds in the No. 39 Quicken Loans/The Smurfs Chevrolet. Newman became just the third driver to win from the pole in the race’s 20-year history, joining Kevin Harvick (2003) and Johnson (2008). “This is a dream come true for me,” Newman said. “I can’t wait to push my lips on those bricks. I don’t realize it yet. It’s a dream come Greg Biffle at Maggiano’s Little Italy true. It will take a week or so for this to set in. Just a great run today. We needed this.” Newman led four times for 45 laps and took the lead for good on Lap 149 of the 160-lap race when leader Brad Keselowski made his final pit stop. But the groundwork for Newman’s victory was created on his final pit stop on Lap 134. His Stewart-Haas Racing pit crew completed service in just 11 seconds, while Johnson’s final stop on Lap 133 took 18 seconds due to a slow right-rear tire change on the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet. That helped Newman erase a 1.675-second gap to Johnson on Lap 131 and paved his route to kissing the famous Yard of Bricks after the race. “There’s definitely disappointment there,” Johnson said of his final pit stop. “But that’s racing – it happens. I’ve given away a few out there this year, too. Ryan was fast all day long. I can’t take anything away from him. He was plenty fast.” So was Johnson. He led four times for a race-high 73 laps in a race slowed just three times by caution periods, but he couldn’t make history by becoming the first driver to win this race five times. Kyle Busch, who won the Indiana 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday at IMS, finished 10th Ryan Newman at the Lincoln Suite in his No. 18 M&M’s Red-White-Blue M-Prove America Toyota. 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya finished ninth in the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, while 2005 Indianapolis 500 Chase Rookie of the Year Danica Patrick finished 30th in the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet in her first Sprint Cup start at IMS. Once again, Lincoln Electric played host to a new set of customers this year at the 20th running of the Brickyard 400. Coming in from all corners of the United States, distributors filled the suite on Gasoline Alley at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The weekend began as customers started arriving at Indianapolis and were greeted by Lincoln personnel at the hotel. The group made its way to Maggiano’s Saturday night where guest speaker and friend of Lincoln Electric, Greg Biffle, paid a visit to talk to the group and stayed for pictures. Race Day morning started out in fashion with a police escort to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway passing miles of stopped traffic , which was then followed by guided tours through the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage. Making the weekend even more special, NASCAR driver and owner personalities (shown to the right) came to the suite and spent time to welcome the group, talk race Roger Penske and Brad Keselowski strategy, take photos and sign autographs. at the #2 Hauler PAGE 1 1 August 2013 ‘PERFECT FINISH’ FOR DIXON ON STREETS OF TORONTO By: INDYCAR.com Toronto, ON (July 14th) -- Scott Dixon was dominant in Race 2 of the Honda Indy Toronto -- from the first standing start in IZOD IndyCar Series history to the completion of 85 laps for a Perfect Finish. Dixon, who won Race 1 of the Honda Indy Toronto by 1.7 seconds over Sebastien Bourdais following a Lap 84 restart, faced a similar situation in Race 2 and won under caution to sweep the weekend doubleheader and earn the $100,000 SONAX Perfect Finish Award. "It's been a long time since I've had such a dominant day," said Dixon, who led 81 laps. "I'm just happy for the team." It was the third consecutive victory for the two-time series champion, who celebrated his 33rd birthday July 22. His last three-in-a-row stretch was in 2007 (Watkins Glen, Nashville, Mid-Ohio), and the last in the series was accomplished by Ryan Hunter-Reay (Milwaukee, Iowa, Toronto) en route to his 2012 series championship. Dixon also earned his 32nd Indy car victory to overtake Dario Franchitti, Bourdais and Paul Tracy for seventh on the all-time list. He's won three races since Franchitti won his last in the 2012 Indianapolis 500. Bourdais' last Indy car victory was Nov. 11, 2007, in Mexico City. Tracy, who is retired from Indy car racing, last won on June 24, 2007, at Cleveland. Al Unser Jr. is next up with 34 victories (nine on ovals, 25 of road/street courses). Of Dixon's total, 17 have been on ovals and 15 on road/street courses. Dixon made his first Indy car start at Monterrey, Mexico, on March 11, 2001, and picked up his maiden victory at Nazareth less than two months later in a PacWest Racing car. He’s been with Target Chip Ganassi Racing since ’03. “If we can get more victories, we're obviously doing something right,” Dixon said. “I credit a lot of that to the team." Helio Castroneves, who entered the race with a 39-point lead over Hunter-Reay in the championship standings, finished second and is 29 points clear of Dixon, who entered the July 7 race at Pocono Raceway seventh in the standings (92 points back). CAPPS CAPTURES WIN IN SONOMA By: NHRA.com TOP FUEL PTS FUNNY CAR PTS In an exciting Funny Car final, Ron Capps raced to his second win of the season July 28th and continued his recent domination at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals. Shawn Langdon 1210 Matt Hagan 1034 Spencer Massey 1108 Ron Capps 1007 Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), Vincent Nobile (Pro Stock), and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were winners of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event, the 15th of 24 Tony Schumacher 1106 Cruz Pedregon 983 in the 2013 season. Doug Kalitta 924 John Force 961 Capps powered his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger to his fourth win at the scenic Bay Area track with a holeshot performance of 4.085 seconds at 307.79 mph to hold off the Castrol GTX Antron Brown 904 Johnny Gray 945 Ford Mustang of 15-time world champion John Force Khalid Albalooshi 865 Jack Beckman 910 in the final round. It marked the 40th career win for the California native. "You're not just racing any car Clay Millican 769 Courtney Force 910 in the final — you're racing John Force,” said Capps, who has won at Sonoma Raceway three of the last Morgan Lucas 768 Tim Wilkerson 804 four seasons. “It can be intimidating to a lot of Bob Vandergriff Jr. 726 Del Worsham 799 people." Lincoln Electric is the Steve Torrence 688 Robert Hight 782 exclusive welder of Don Schumacher Racing PAGE 2 AugustMay 2013 MUDSUMMER CLASSIC SETS PACE FOR FUTURE DIRT RACES By: NASCAR.com Rossburg, OH -- NASCAR ended a 42-year run on the hardtop on July 24th running of the Camping World Truck Series’ MudSummer Classic at Eldora Speedway. Now the question becomes -- will it be a one-time stop for the series or can dirt-track competition, once a staple for stock cars, find favor and footing among today’s NASCAR faithful? “We wouldn’t have done this for one race if we didn’t think that this was something that could potentially go further down the road,” track owner Tony Stewart said hours before the race got underway. “If it only goes one year and we only get one opportunity to do it, is all the time, effort and worrying worth it? Absolutely. Fans snatched up tickets for the two-day event, with track officials announcing a sellout crowd of approximately 18,000 at this legendary half-mile dirt track built in 1954. By the time qualifying began, the main grandstands had already filled in; when the first of five heat races to determine the starting lineup got under way, the adjoining hillsides were likewise packed. No top touring series sanctioned by NASCAR had competed on dirt since 1970. But was it merely the novelty of the event that brought the fans out at Eldora? Or could dirt-track racing really fill a need and find a home on the NASCAR schedule? “Our goal, anywhere we go, is not to just to go in and out in one year,” Steve O’Donnell, senior vice president of operations for NASCAR, said. “We realize, especially for Eldora, a lot of things had to take place for the track. They really stepped up and did a lot of things for us. “When we looked at the facility and the opportunity back in 2012, it was with the anticipation that yeah, we have to see how it goes, but ultimately we anticipated that it would be a success and that if Tony would like to have us back we would want to continue coming back.” Drivers seemed thrilled at the chance to compete not just on dirt, but on dirt at Eldora, praising NASCAR for putting the stop on the schedule and praising Stewart and his track group for the work to make it happen.