{"id":17753,"date":"2018-05-24T18:00:25","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T23:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=17753"},"modified":"2018-05-24T22:43:05","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T03:43:05","slug":"nascar-thursday-charlotte-notebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/24\/nascar-thursday-charlotte-notebook\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR: Thursday Charlotte Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

A new primary sponsor for Jimmie Johnson? Get in line<\/b><\/p>\n

CONCORD, N.C.<\/b> \u2013 Asked about potential new sponsors for his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson seemed positively nonchalant.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Jimmie Johnson drives the #48 Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 24, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe have six ready to go\u2014we\u2019re just waiting for you guys to ask us when,\u201d the seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion quipped during a Thursday question-and-answer session with reporters at Charlotte Motor Speedway. \u201cIt\u2019s going really well. We will hopefully have something to announce in the near future.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the excitement about the No. 48 car, the multiple companies that are interested and the ideas and the ways that people would like to use us are very exciting and encouraging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Lowe\u2019s told team owner Rick Hendrick it would end its 17-year tenure as primary sponsor of Johnson\u2019s car. The home improvement giant has been with Johnson through his record-tying seven championships and 83 Cup victories, most by far among active drivers and tied with NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough, one of Johnson\u2019s childhood heroes, for sixth all-time.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, we don\u2019t want to see Lowe\u2019s leave,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had such an amazing run with them, and there\u2019s a little bit of fear associated with such a big sponsor and such an integral part of Hendrick Motorsports leaving, but the response has been very strong and very well. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Mr. Hendrick makes his decision and we\u2019re able to kind of ink what opportunities are out there, obviously those announcements will be made, but things have been going very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no wonder sponsors are eager to discuss opportunities with Johnson\u2019s camp. If Johnson happens to win an eighth title after 2018\u2014breaking a tie with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr.\u2014an inordinate degree of attention would accrue to the company on the hood of the No. 48 car when that happens.<\/p>\n

An eighth championship aside, Johnson is all but certain to eclipse the 84 victories attained by NASCAR Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison. Johnson\u2019s current contract with Hendrick extends through the 2020 season.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

BRAD KESELOWSKI\u2019S BOSS GETS WELL-DESERVED HONOR<\/b><\/p>\n

Perhaps no single individual in motorsports has achieved the panoply of accomplishments that has typified Roger Penske\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

For his contributions to NASCAR racing, \u201cThe Captain\u201d was elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Wednesday, but driver Brad Keselowski, who delivered Team Penske\u2019s sole Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2012, thinks his owner\u2019s resume is too broad to be readily pigeon-holed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a legacy that\u2019s harder to define than most everyone else in the Hall of Fame because of his background \u2013 not just as a team owner, but he has a background as owning the tracks, his background of owning businesses that can help sponsor the sport, and beyond that,\u201d Keselowski said on Thursday during an announcement of his Checkered Flag Foundation\u2019s support of a jobs initiative through the Paralyzed Veterans of America.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo he has such a diverse background and there\u2019s really not a part of this sport that I can think of that he hasn\u2019t touched. I think he deserves a lot of credit for that, and it\u2019s great to see him get the recognition of the Hall of Fame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starting with Sunday\u2019s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Keselowski\u2019s foundation will donate $1,000 to the Paving Access for Veterans Employment (PAVE) program for every Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stage win Keselowski collects through the July 7 event at Daytona International Speedway.<\/p>\n

SHORT STROKES<\/b><\/p>\n

Denny Hamlin topped the speed chart in Thursday\u2019s opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway, touring the 1.5-mile track in 28.401 seconds (190.134 mph). Ryan Blaney was second at 189.673 mph, followed by Brad Keselowski and defending Coca-Cola 600 winner Austin Dillon\u2026<\/p>\n

Enhancing FOX Sports\u2019 coverage of Sunday\u2019s race will be a Mega Trax 500 robotic \u201cRail Cam\u201d capable of going from 0-60 mph in three seconds and topping out at nearly 100 mph. The camera will move along an 850-foot rail behind the inside wall on the backstretch and provide viewers with a unique look at the racing action. FOX Sports tested the Rail Cam successfully at Auto Club Speedway earlier this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service A new primary sponsor for Jimmie Johnson? Get in line CONCORD, N.C. \u2013 Asked about potential new sponsors for his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson seemed positively nonchalant. \u201cWe have six ready to go\u2014we\u2019re just waiting for you guys to ask us when,\u201d the seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17755,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[233,245,16],"class_list":["post-17753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-charlotte-motor-speedway","tag-coca-cola-600","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Photos_JimmieJohnson_052418.jpg?fit=3587%2C2388","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-4Cl","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17753"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17758,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17753\/revisions\/17758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}