2009 - Charlotte Schedule and Driver Appearances

CHECK BACK OFTEN FOR NEW DRIVER APPEARANCES OR UPDATES TO THE EXISTING LIST. MORE WILL BE ADDED AS THEY ARE POSTED ONLINE.
Dates added 5/10/09

We will be video blogging from Charlotte - Learn how you can help us out.
Don't Get Lost - This maps shows many of the hotspots.

Friday May 15th 2009

• 9:00 am Martin Truex Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya, and Aric Almirola are scheduled to sign autographs at Dale Earnhardt Day. Event to be held at DEI's headquarters in Mooresville, NC. If you want a chance at an autograph you must have a wristband. 300 wristbands will be given out beginning at 8:00am. Event to last from 8-5pm.
• 5:10 PM - All Star race qualifying followed by the NC Education Lottery 200 (Truck Series)
  

Saturday May 16th 2009

• TBD - Kurt Busch will be signing autographs at the Miller Lite souvenir hauler prior to the All Star Race (via kurtbusch.com)
• 7:00 pm - NASCAR Sprint Showdown - Lowe's Motor Speedway
• 8:30 pm - NASCAR Sprint Cup All Star Race - Lowe's Motor Speedway

Tuesday May 19th 2009

• 2:00 - 6:00pm - The Windstream Green Truck Tour will be in the parking lot of Concord Mills. Junior Johnson will sign autographs from 4-6pm. Enter to win a pair of tickets on the frontstretch to the Coke 600 and a family 4 pack of tickets to Windstream Pole Night. Must be present to win.

Wednesday May 20, 2009

• 11:00 am - 1:00 pm - Michael Waltrip, David Reutimann, Marcos Ambrose, Scott Speed, Ryan Truex, and JTG Daugherty Team Owners Tad and Jodi Geschickter and Brad Daugherty will be signing autographs at the 2nd annual Fan Appreciation Day at Michael Waltrip Racing/ Race World USA . 300 wristbands will be distributed Tuesday May 19th between 10 am and 5 pm and again on May 20th starting at 10am. Will be given out at the Raceworld USA retail store. (via jayski
  
• 6:00 - 8:00 pm - David Ragan, Artist Sam Bass, and Larry McReynolds will be at the NASCAR Speedpark at Concord Mills in Concord, NC. Fans can purchase go cart rides against David Ragan with proceeds going to the Shriner's charity. Silent auction and autograph session will also occur. (via jayski)
  

Thursday May 21st 2009

• 10am - Roush Fenway Racing hosts Fan Appreciation Days at complex in Concord. Scheduled to appear 10 am - Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, and David Ragan ; 11am - Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.; 12 pm - Colin Braun, Eric Darnell, and Jack Roush. (via Roush-Fenway Racing)
  
• 7:10 pm - Windstream Pole Night - Qualifying for the Coca-Cola 600 (Sprint Cup)
• 9:00 pm - Speed Street Festival - Uptown Charlotte Bell Biv DeVoe to perform on the Coca-Cola stage. (MUSICAL ACT)
• 9:30 pm - Speed Street Festival - Uptown Charlotte Jason Aldean to perform on the Miller Lite Stage (MUSICAL ACT)

Friday May 22nd 2009

• TBD - Kevin Harvick will be at the Speed Street Festival...will update when time is announced
  
• 10:00 am - Bobby Labonte, Paul Menard, and Doug Yates are scheduled to sign autographs as part of the Inagural Yates Racing Fan Day. Vendors will be on site with free giveaways also (via jayski)
  
• 11:00 am - Richard Petty, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, AJ Allmendinger, and Reed Sorenson will be appearing at the Richard Petty Mortorsports Fan Appreciation Day being held at the RPM race shop in Statesville (Formerly the Gilette-Evernham shop). Autograph signings will begin at 11 am. 500 tickets will be give out at 10am. (via Jayski)
• 11:00 am - 2pm - Clint Bowyer, Kyle Petty, Bobby Alison and Food Network Star Tyler Florence are scheduled to participate in the "Quarter Mile Cookout" at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Free food and fun for race fans will be served up by Florence and several drivers. Event is Free and open to all ticket and annual credential holders for the 5oth running of the Coke 600. Will happen on the race track near the start/finish line. (via jayski)
• 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm - Kyle Busch will be appearing at the Speed Street Festival in Uptown Charlotte - will post which booth when noted online
  
• 2:00 pm Kurt Busch to sign autographs in downtown Moorseville, NC - location TBD (via kurtbusch.com)
  
• 3:45 pm - Kurt Busch to appear at Wal-Mart in Charlotte area - location TBD (via kurtbusch.com)
  
• 5:00 - 7:00 pm - Joey Logano will be signing autographs at the Home Depot in Cornelius, NC. Home Depot located at 17111 Statesville Rd Cornelius, NC. (via Jayski)
• 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm - Dale Jr is Scheduled to host QVC's "For Race Fans Only" from Whisky River - Reserved tickets go on sell 4/30 for $20 - 200 tickets are avaliable for standing room only. Limit 6 tickets per customer - Must be 21 years or older.
  
• 9:15 pm - Speed Street Festival - Uptown Charlotte - Rodney Atkins to perform on the Coca-Cola stage (MUSICAL ACT)
• 9:15 pm - Speed Street Festival - Uptown Charlotte - Lifehouse to Perform at the Miller Lite Stage (MUSICAL ACT)
  

Satuday May 23rd 2009

• 7:30 pm - Carquest Autoparts 300 (Nationwide Series)
• 9:15 pm - Speed Street Festival - Uptown Charlotte - Clint Black will perform on the Coca-Cola Stage (MUSICAL ACT)
• 9:30 pm - Speed Street Festival - Uptown Charlotte - Gavin DeGraw will perform on the Miller Lite Stage (MUSICAL ACT)
  

Sunday May 24th 2009

• TBD - Kurt Busch will be signing autographs at the Miller Lite souvenir hauler prior to the Coke 600.
• 5:45 pm - Coca-Cola 600 - (Sprint Cup)
  

IF YOU KNOW OF A DRIVER APPEARANCE WE ARE MISSING PLEASE LET US KNOW SO THAT IT CAN BE ADDED TO OUR LIST. SEND A MESSAGE VIA TWITTER OR EMAIL TO THEBIFFFILES@GMAIL.COM

Guide to Charlotte: Roush-Fenway Racing

No trip to Charlotte would be complete without a trip to Roush-Fenway Racing. Over the last twenty years Roush has been one of the most competetive teams in all of NASCAR. From Mark Martin who drove the #6 to victory numerous times to today's teams, Roush-Fenway Racing is one place you have to visit if you are heading to the Charlotte area.

Roush's Trophy from Kurt Busch's Nextel Cup

Matt Kenseth's 2003 Winston Cup Trophy

• Roush-Fenway Racing is located at 4600 Roush Place NW Concord, NC 28027. Directions and a map of the facility can be found below.
• The Sprint Cup shop is home to the #6-David Ragan, #16-Greg Biffle, #17-Matt Kenseth, #26-Jamie McMurray, and #99-Carl Edwards. This shop is the first one you will come to when you pull onto Aviation Road
• The Sprint Cup shop is very disappointing compared with most. The shop is very large but what you can see as a fan is minimal. There are a couple small viewing windows in the lobby of the Sprint Cup shop but you can't see much. When we were there they had a bunch of cars crammed up near the window so you could not see anything going on.
  
• The Nationwide and Truck Series teams are housed in the large shop directly across from the Cup Series shop. Bad news for fans. This shop is not open to the public.
  
• The best part about visiting Roush-Fenway Racing is the Museum which is located behind the race shops (check out the map below). Open from 9am to 5pm Monday - Friday the Roush Fenway Musuem is worth visiting even if the race shop itself is disappointing.
  
• The Roush Fenway Museum is free and open to the public.
  
• The Museum features a theater where fans can catch some great Roush-Fenway racing from the past two decades of racing.
  
• On display your will find Matt Kenseth's Winston Cup trophie as well as the Owner trophy presented to Jack Roush when Kurt Busch won the 2004 Nextel Cup Championship.
• There are several cars driven by current and past Roush Drivers on display.
  
• The gift shop is smaller than many but there are still plenty of things to buy including a wide selection of die cast cars, clothing, and other fan gear.

We visited Roush Fenway Racing during their fan appreciation day in May 2008. Even though there were hundreds of people there that day there was still plenty of room to park. I believe it was the Friday before the Coke 600 that we were there but I'm not 100 pecent sure of the day. Maybe Jenn will remember. There were autograph sessions scheduled to start at 10pm but you had to be there very early to get a place in line. Only a limited number of tickets were given out and you could only have a ticket for one driver. We weren't there early enough to get in line but we still visited the Museum, checked out the gift shop, and looked through the small windows in the viewing area of the race shop. All in all it wasn't our favorite place to visit but it was still worth the time.

Roush-Fenway has a larger facility in Michigan which Jenn has visited, maybe I can talk her into writing a review about it sometime.

Have you visited Roush-Fenway Racing? Tell us what you thought.

Here's the map and directions:


Have you checked out the other raceshop reviews? Check out the sidebar for our reviews of other race shops in the Charlotte area!

Straight Talk With The Biff

Not getting enough Greg Biffle on Saturday and Sunday? Why not check out his weekly radio show? Each Monday night following a Sprint Cup race Biff hosts his brand new radio show Straight Talk With The Biff.

The show airs Monday nights at 9PM on GregBiffle.com and covers everything from the race weekend to what he does on his off time. It's an open and honest show where Biff doesn't pull any punches.

If you want to get in on the action call into the show on Monday nights or send an email to The Biff. Wonder if he will answer my question?

Phone: 866-990-2216
Email: talktothebiff@gmail.com

Mark Martin Says...

I know that Katy briefly touched on this in an earlier post, but I thought I’d post a little about it too. If you follow this blog at all, or get to know us in person you might hear us make the comment, “Mark Martin say…” followed by something completely ridiculous. By this point we have good old Mark saying everything from “anal sex is great” to “I hate the traffic in Louisville”.

On our first trip to Charlotte I brought along my copy of NASCAR for Dummies, which was co-written by Martin. The book itself is so bad that I should do a review of it at some point. The book is so old now that in their drivers to watch section, they list Kenseth, Stewart and Junior. It also directed us to an area of town where there were once race shops, but sadly most have now moved.

However he does give some useful tips about what to do at the track, driving to the track, etc. It started out simply enough with me rushing Katy out of the hotel room the morning of the race. “Mark Martin says…if you wait until a few hours before the race, you’ll be sitting in traffic when it starts”. Somehow that kick started the goofy part of my brain where I consistently make odd and off the wall comments. So I started making constant references to MM.

Katy in turn found it hilarious because to people outside the conversation, it sounded like we actually knew the man. “Mark Martin said that we’d love these seats at the track.” It’s only spiraled from there. Now we constantly make references that begin with “Mark Martin says…” and if we ever write a NASCAR book, that will probably be the title.

Today it’s something we use quite a bit on our trips to tracks and races. We also have the habit of insinuated that I have something of a sexual relationship with the man, mainly because it makes us laugh…that and the fact that I’m twice in size in terms of height. If you’re ever lucky enough to meet us in person, be prepared to hear the most infamous words, “Mark Martin says…”

Guide to Charlotte: Joe Gibbs Racing

Prior to 1992 the only thing Joe Gibbs was known for was his football coaching career, but that soon changed. Drivers like Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte once called Joe Gibbs Racing home. Of course no one can forget that it was Joe Gibbs who gave two time cup winner Tony Stewart a home driving the #20 Home Depot car. While these drivers have moved on to other teams, Joe Gibbs Racing has three of the most recognized names in NASCAR driving for him.

When we headed to Charlotte in 2008 Jenn and I knew that we had to visit Joe Gibbs Racing. Her mom loves Tony Stewart and Jenn and I both were on the way to becoming huge Kyle Busch fans. At the time we made our visit Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch were the three driving under the JGR banner. While Tony has moved to his own team the #20 Home Depot car, now driven by rookie Joey Logano, is still alive and kicking. I'm sure that even with the changes much at JGR has remained the same.

• Joe Gibbs Racing is located in Huntersville, NC. It's the only race shop located in Huntersville but it's still worth making the short drive. Depending on where you are staying in the Charlotte area it should only take you 15 to 20 minutes to reach the shop. Here are the directions just in case you need them.
• JGR is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm
• Parking is located directly in front of the entrance. There are plenty of spaces on most days but if you are visting during Coke 600 week you might have to park on the road in front of the building. Still you should not have a problem.
  
• The entrance of JGR is filled with cars from past and current drivers. When we were there they had a Bobby Labonte Interstate Batteries car and a few others on display.
  
• The walls in the entry area are covered with large display cases. There is a display case for each of the current drivers. The display cases hold the drivers fire suits as well as trophies that have been won while driving for JGR. Another display case holds a huge selection of driver helmets worn over the years.
• The observation area where you can look down into the race shop is located off the entrance and is wide enough for many people to see the action taking place below.
  
• The walls in the observation area are lined with more trophies and memorbilia.
• The race shop isn't open like others we have visited but you can still see plenty of stuff going on. You are seperated from the shop floor by a giant window so it's not great for taking pictures but you still might be able to get a few decent ones.
  
• The JGR gift shop is located next to the observation area and is open from 8:30am to 4:30pm Monday - Friday.
  
• The gift shop has everything a fan could want. Jenn was bound and determined not to leave without a race used tire. Luckily there wasn't room for it in the car. (I joke that she is building a race car one used piece at a time). Nearly every item that can be purchased in the gift shop can also be purchase online so if you can't make it to the shop you can still get the great merchandise.

Whether you love or hate the current drivers racing for Gibbs JGR is worth a visit. It's not as large as some other race shops but you won't be disappointed. I can't wait to go back this year!

Have you been to Joe Gibbs Racing? Tell us your story!

Mark Martin Proves He's Got What It Takes

Mark Martin says, “I’ve still got it.” Maybe that’s not exactly what Mark said following his win Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway but in my mind that’s what he was thinking.

By the time most drivers reach the age of fifty they are either jaded or resigned to finishing at the back of the pack. A few years ago Mark Martin was ready to throw in the towel. He wasn’t winning races and was sharing a ride with other drivers. While Mark’s fans were happy to hear he’d be joining the Hendrick Motorsports team for 2009 some thought he would not be able to compete with his teammates.

While Martin’s season up to this point hasn’t been great he’s still gotten a lot of notice for earning three poles. He’s had poor luck behind the wheel of the number 5 car when it comes to racing but his fans have always had faith in him. He might just have the most loyal fans in all of Nascar.

This weekend his fans got what they and Martin have been waiting for, a victory. After battling Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart for most of the race Martin became the oldest driver to win at Phoenix and showed young drivers that even a fifty year old has what it takes to win.

Congrats Mark on your win!

Here are the top 10 finishers from Saturday’s Sprint Cup Race
Mark Martin
Tony Stewart
Kurt Busch – 300th career start
Jimmie Johnson
Greg Biffle
Denny Hamlin
Martin Truex Jr.
David Reutimann
Sam Hornish Jr.
Carl Edwards

Nationwide: Congrats to Greg Biffle for his win in Friday night’s Nationwide Series race which was the 100th victory for Roush in the Nationwide Series. Also, congrats to Kyle Busch for fighting back from 2 laps down. While he didn’t win he was able to make the best of a bad situation and steal the Nationwide points lead from Edwards.

Good News for AJ

One driver I'm impressed with this year is AJ Allmendinger. After being let go by Red Bull Racing last year AJ bounced around to a few different teams at the end of the season. Coming into this season he was looking for a ride when Richard Petty Motorsports offered him a spot. Some thought he would one of the worst performers on the team but early in the season Allmendinger has shown that he has what it takes to get the job done behind the wheel, as long as someone gives him a chance.

Coming into this weekend's race it was just announced that AJ will be with the Richard Petty Motorsports team through 2010. That's good news. Now if Yahoo sports would just bring back his twice a month column like he had last year. That would make me happy. He was funny and honest.