NASCAR Race Mom to Race Matt!

I don’t know if you remember or not, but back in April, I was lucky enough to be selected to participate in the Crown Royal 'Capture the Crown ' event.

The ‘Capture the Crown’ was a two-day-event held at the Richmond International Raceway during the Crown Royal “Your Name Here” 400. The program featured nine online ‘influencers’ competing in team play in a Scavenger Hunt to accomplish tasks for points. The team with the highest number of points at the end of the race was named the winner. NASCAR Race Mom (NRM) had a blast!

Well, luckily it appears that lightning can strike twice! NASCAR Race Mom is excitingly getting ready for her flight to Las Vegas tomorrow. Crown Royal has arranged another once-of-a-lifetime experience!

This weekend, NASCAR Race Mom will be meeting up with writers from The Smoking Jacket; Complex; Midwest Sports Fans; Hot For NASCAR; The Rugged; Bleacher Report; Gunaxin and Daddy Tips.


The Itinerary: Friday night is reserved for the 2011 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo to check out the Crown Royal Riders. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending how you look at it, NASCAR Race Mom had previously been invited to the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series black-tie Awards Ceremony, which is held at the same time. Therefore, I will have to skip the rodeo!

We are scheduled to go to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday morning. There we will be joined by the three Crown Royal “Race Matt” Sweepstakes Grand Prize Winners. We all will participate in the Richard Petty Driving Experience and for a timed trial race against NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Matt Kenseth! The media member with the fastest time will be able to donate $2,500 from Crown Royal to a charity: either Operation Patriot or Honoring Heroes.

During the weekend, Crown Royal will also be treating us to numerous fine dining experiences at Wolfgang Puck, Sea Blue, Centrifuge and more. Of course I will be blogging at www.nascarracemom.blogspot.com and posting updates to facebook! Additionally, be sure to follow us on twitter – we will be using hash tags #racematt #crownroyal. My twitter id is @zwriter.



Full disclosure: expenses for this trip are provided by Diageo, the parent company of Crown Royal.

Photos taken at the Crown Royal 'Capture the Crown ' event - April 2011
1-The Royal Chasers in the Crown Royal Trailer with Rodney Atkins and Matthew Hansen
2-My Crown Royal Host, Zack and I .
3-Matt and Katie Kenseth participating in the Opening Ceremonies (Richmond International Raceway - April 30, 2011)

Simplified Points System

Touring Series Will Intergrate National Series Structure

NASCAR announced today that the points system all NASCAR national series began using this year will be instituted in the regional touring level for 2012.

The points system was simplified to make it easier for fans, competitors and the industry to understand.

Beginning in 2012, the system will be integrated into the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and NASCAR Mexico Series.

The new structure awards points in one-point increments. As an example, race winners earn 43 points, plus three bonus points for the win. Drivers also can earn an extra point for leading a lap and leading the most laps, bringing the race-winning total to a possible maximum of 48 points.

All other drivers in a finishing order are separated by one-point increments. A second-place finisher earns 42 points, a third-place driver 41 points, and so on.

“Implementing the simplified points system at the regional touring level will make the points structure consistent with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series,” said George Silbermann, NASCAR vice president, regional and touring series. “The change at the national level was welcomed in the industry this year and has provided a points system that is much easier for everyone to understand.”

This year’s NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup ™ demonstrated that use of the new points structure is viable with a shorter schedule, such as with each touring series.

“Considering the tight competition in NASCAR’s touring series, we anticipate that with the new points system in place we will see close championship battles similar to the ones this year in all NASCAR national series,” Silbermann said.

The move to bring the simplified points system from NASCAR’s national series to the regional touring level is part of an effort to integrate uniform race formats and procedures throughout the NASCAR ranks. Earlier this year, two race procedures were changed to bring the touring series in line with the national series. One of those procedures stipulated that if a green-white-checkered finish is necessary, a maximum of three attempts will be made. The other change directed that on all restarts, passing will not be permitted until the car reached the start-finish line.

In some cases, race procedures developed at the touring level have been adopted at the national level. In 2009, the double-file restarts that had come about in the regional series, became a part of the national series race procedures.

Source

Crown Royal & the 2011 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo

Will you in Las Vegas for the 2011 NASCAR Championship week? Are you wondering if there is anything else new or exciting to do while there. Why not check out the 2011 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo!?!

The 1st National Finals Rodeo (NFR) was held in Dallas in 1959. Later, it was held in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City before coming to Las Vegas in 1985 with the help of Las Vegas visionary Benny Binion.

The Wrangler NFR is one of the hottest tickets in town, and it has sold out its last 220 performances (over 20 years worth). Held at the Tom & Mack Center of the University of Las Vegas, Nevada the NFR awards the best in bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, steer wrestling, barrel roping, team and tie-down roping. It is the largest prize money rodeo in the world. In fact, it paid out over $5.5 million to contestants just last year.

For the fourth consecutive year MGM Grand is “Home of the Champions” as the resort hosts more than 25 cowboys throughout the 10 days of competition. The resort will offer guests the opportunity to watch the telecast live each night inside the 740-seat Hollywood Theatre. All NFR fans in attendance will enjoy nightly contestant appearances, drink specials, door prizes and giveaways.

Throughout the 10-day event, fans can visit the “Crown Royal Gold Buckle Zone” located at Centrifuge, the resort’s entertainment bar featuring live music, dancing, shows, drink specials and drawings in an energetic environment, where eight-time All-Around World Champion Trevor Brazile’s Championship Gold Buckles and Saddles will be on display

Crown Royal® is the proud sponsor of the most talented teams and individuals in sports today. The Crown Royal Riders line-up includes:

• Clayton Williams (Carthage, TX) Bull Rider
• Cody Whitney (Asher, OK) Bull Rider
• Steve Woolsey (Payson, UT) Bull Rider and Saddle Bronc Rider
• Tilden Hooper (Carthage, TX) Bareback Rider
• Wesley Silcox (Santaquin, UT) 2007 PRCA World Champion Bull Rider

2011 Wrangler National Finals

Wrangler National Finals Rodeo to be held December 1-10, 2011