Scott Speed Joins Leavine Family Racing

Scott Speed has joined Leavine Family Racing (LFR) for a limited 15-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule for 2012 in the No. 95 Ford.

A veteran of all three of NASCAR’s premier national touring series, Speed joins Leavine Family Racing after making 13 Sprint Cup starts with Whitney Motorsports’ in the No. 46 Ford.

Speed will be competing in his fifth Sprint Cup Series season. The California native competed full-time with Red Bull Racing in 2010; earning two top-10 finishes and leading 21 laps.

"We are pleased to have Scott Speed join our team," team owner Bob Leavine said. "We, as a team, want to give Scott the equipment and the resources he needs to win – and that is what I believe he will do for us in return.”

“Scott is a proven driver. He was the first American to race in Formula One since Michael Andretti and has a lot to offer our program as a teammate and a competitor."

Speed has made 18 starts in the Nationwide Series and 16 starts in the Camping World Truck Series over the past four years. He posted a truck series win at the Dover International Speedway in 2008. His best Nationwide Series finish came on the road course at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve last year where he placed sixth. Speed earned career first pole in the series in 2009.

Speed began his racing career in Karting at the age of 10. Making his way through the open-wheel racing ranks throughout the West Coast, he made his Formula One debut in 2001. From there he has successfully competed in Formula One making 28 career starts before making the transition to stock-car racing in 2007 with the ARCA Racing Series.

The 28-year-old driver is thrilled to have the opportunity to compete with Leavine Family Racing.

"I am excited to team up with Bob Leavine and his guys at Leavine Family Racing,” Speed said. They have a solid group of guys working on the team and I think it will be a real fun deal. Our goal is to build this race team to become competitive. We know it will be baby steps, but we are all excited to get it rolling."

- Leavine Family Racing Press Release

Petty's Garage Launches The Richard Petty Signature Series Mustang

Loyal fans of the King, Richard Petty, know his championship heritage isn’t limited to Chrysler products. Back in the ‘60s the King was racing and winning with Fords, and the NASCAR team he leads today races under the Blue Oval exclusively. So it’s only natural that Petty’s Garage has expanded its lineup of high-performance street machines, which already features the Signature Series Dodge Challenger and Superbird, to include a hot new Ford Mustang as well.

The Richard Petty Signature Series Mustang is a limited edition build powered by a supercharged 624-hp, 5.0L V8 engine package factory-engineered by Ford Racing and coupled to a 6-speed manual gearbox. Hardcore driveline upgrades and a brake package specially engineered by StopTech help to harness the extreme power and put it to the ground, while a handling package developed by Petty’s Garage and Pedders Suspension elevates the Mustang GT’s road manners to world-class status. Elegant Forgeline 3-piece wheels and ExtremeContact™ DW Continental Tires cap off the mechanical upgrades performed by the legendary race shop down in Level Cross, North Carolina.

In the appearance department, the Signature Series Mustang features a special rear spoiler, Ford Racing front and rear fascias, and unique Petty’s Garage badging. Other appointments include custom leather seats spec’d out by the King himself, a short-throw racing shifter, and much, much more. The 50 serialized cars will each come standard with a Petty graphics package designed to complement any stock Mustang exterior color. Petty Blue exterior paint and special graphics featuring the King’s iconic signature on both quarter panels are available options. The retail price for the installed package is $33,500 (plus your stock 2011-2012 Mustang GT) and is offered through Petty’s Garage.

For all the specs on the Petty Mustang click on the link: Pettys-garage.com/richard-petty-mustang

- Richard Petty Motorsports Press Release

Bill France Jr. To Be Inducted Into Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame

Bill France Jr., who served as head of NASCAR from 1972 to 2003, will be inducted into the Sport Video Group’s Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame tonight, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 at 7 p.m. ET at the New York Hilton Hotel. In addition to Bill Jr., this year’s class includes legendary broadcaster Jack Buck; former NBC executive Dick Ebersol; NEP Supershooter’s Deb Honkus and George Hoover; IMG founder Mark McCormack; NFL Films great Steve Sabol; and visionary audio mixer Ron Scalise, a lynchpin at ESPN.

Elected by a group of 80 past and present industry leaders, the 2011 class will be the fifth in SVG’s Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame and will join such luminaries as Roone Arledge, John Madden, Don Ohlmeyer, Pete Rozelle, Vin Scully, Charlie Steinberg, George Wensel, and more than 30 other industry legends.

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France will accept the Sport Video Group’s Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame induction on behalf of his father Bill France Jr.

- NASCAR Media Release 

Top 10 Best-Selling NASCAR Diecast Cars of 2011.

Lionel NASCAR Collectables has released its list of the top 10 best-selling NASCAR die-cast cars of 2011.

List of the Top 10: 

1. Jeff Gordon - No. 24 AARP/Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet

2. Kevin Harvick - No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet

3. Trevor Bayne - No. 21 Motorcraft Daytona Win Ford

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - No. 88 Amp Energy Chevrolet

5. Tony Stewart - No. 14 Mobil 1 Chevrolet

6. Dale Earnhardt - No. 96 Cardinal Tractor Ford

7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - No. 88 National Guard Heritage Chevrolet

8. Tony Stewart - No. 14 Office Depot Chevrolet

9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - No. 88 Dale Jr. Foundation/Vh1 Save the Music Chevrolet

10. Kevin Harvick - No. 29 Budweiser Military Tribute Chevrolet

You can see a slide show of the cars at LionelNascar.com

NASCAR's Top 10 Moments of 2011

Tony Stewart’s championship-clinching victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway has been voted the Top Moment of 2011. Members of NASCARMedia.com voted in the week-long poll, casting ballots for the top-10 moments from the just-completed NASCAR season.

  

1-Tony Stewart’s Homestead-Miami Clincher

Stewart trailed Carl Edwards by three points entering the 10th and final race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™. Both drivers had predicted the championship wouldn’t be decided until the final lap, and they were right. Edwards, who started on the pole, led the most laps while Stewart yo-yoed through the field after fixing damage to the front of his Chevrolet. Amazingly, Stewart took the lead with 36 laps remaining. Edwards, in second place, stayed in full-out pursuit mode until the checkered flag waved, but finished 1.306 seconds behind Stewart. Both drivers scored 2,403 points with the tiebreaker – five wins to one – falling in Stewart’s favor.

2-Trevor Bayne’s Daytona 500 Win

Winning The Great American Race is a career achievement no matter how many races or championships are won elsewhere. Example: Seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt needed 20 starts to win his Daytona 500 at age 46. All of which made Bayne’s victory both surprising and historic. Bayne, at age 20 years and one day, was making just his second NASCAR Sprint Cup start, although his team – the legendary Wood Brothers – had won the Daytona 500 on four previous occasions. Bayne, who started 32nd and led only the final six laps as a record 74 lead changes were recorded became the youngest Daytona 500 winner and just the seventh to make the race his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory. The win was Ford’s 600th and 98th for the Wood Brothers.

3-Brad Keselowski’s Wreckers-to-Checkers Win at Pocono

Playing hurt is the measure of athletic success, as Brad Keselowski won August’s Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono Raceway just days after breaking his left ankle in a road course testing accident. Few might have projected a healthy Keselowski as a Pocono favorite. He’d won at Kansas Speedway earlier in the summer, but came to Pennsylvania ranked 21st in points. The race turned out to be a coming-out party for the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion, who followed the performance with three more top-three finishes capped by a Bristol victory, a Chase wild card berth and a fifth place finish in final NASCAR Sprint Cup standings.

4-Jeff Gordon’s 85th NASCAR Sprint Cup Win

Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon fell short in his title bid, but the 2011 season was his first with multiple victories since 2007. He broke a 66-race winless streak at Phoenix International Raceway in February, added another win at Pocono Raceway in June and scored a historic 85th career victory in a weather-delayed AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in September. Atlanta’s victory gave Gordon sole possession of third among all NASCAR Sprint Cup winners, breaking a tie with NASCAR Hall of Fame member Bobby Allison and soon-to-be-inducted Darrell Waltrip.

5-Regan Smith’s Southern 500 Win

What Trevor Bayne began in February, Regan Smith continued in May. Smith entered Darlington Raceway’s SHOWTIME Southern 500 with a lean resume to say the least: no wins, top fives or top 10s in 104 NASCAR Sprint Cup starts. Smith, then 27, became the upset winner of NASCAR’s oldest "crown jewel." He led just the final 11 laps and held off Carl Edwards by 0.196 seconds to give Furniture Row Racing – a team headquartered in Colorado – its first series victory.

6-Jimmie Johnson’s Aaron’s 499 Win at Talladega

At the time, Jimmie Johnson’s final-lap victory – with an assist by teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. – appeared to be an early harbinger of a sixth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. Johnson’s second Talladega Superspeedway win – and 54th overall – boosted him from fourth to second in the point standings. The race matched records for lead changes (88) and margin of victory under electronic scoring (0.002 seconds).

7-Paul Menard Holds Off Jeff Gordon to Win Brickyard 400

Surprise winners in 2011, take three. For much of its 19 years, Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Brickyard 400 had been won by the greatest names in NASCAR: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Jarrett, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt, bill Elliott – champions all. No first-time winners in the bunch – until this July. Midwesterner Paul Menard wound up kissing the start-finish line bricks after prevailing in a torrid battle with four-time Brickyard 400 winner Jeff Gordon. Menard joined Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne and SHOWTIME Southern 500 winner Regan Smith to score a first victory on the schedule’s largest stages.

8-Austin Dillon Becomes Youngest NASCAR Camping World Truck Champion

Though a number of young drivers have used their experience in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series as a springboard to NASCAR Sprint Cup success – think Carl Edwards, among others – veteran drivers, for the most part, have had a stranglehold on its championships. Only Travis Kvapil (age 27 in 2003) was younger than 30 in the series’ first 16 seasons. All that changed in 2011 as third-generation driver Austin Dillon, 21, became the youngest to win an NCWTS title. Dillon, a two-time winner, finished six points ahead of NASCAR national series veteran Johnny Sauter. Dillon, Richard Childress’ grandson, returned a title to RCR that Mike Skinner won in the series’ 1995 inaugural season.

9-Danica Patrick Posts Best Finish in NASCAR by a Female Driver

All agreed that Danica Patrick’s part-time NASCAR career was on the upswing in its second season. Patrick proved that with an exclamation point on March 5 with a solid, fourth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The performance was record-setting: Patrick became not only the highest-finishing female driver in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race but also in any NASCAR national series event. Patrick’s feat broke a record from NASCAR’s earliest years – Sara Christian’s fifth-place finish in a NASCAR Sprint Cup (then Strictly Stock) race on Oct. 2, 1949 at Heidelberg, Pa.

10-2010 Sunoco Rookies-of-the-Year Win Championship

Two NASCAR national series champions gave media and fans yet another reason to keep an eye on the newcomers. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., whose uneven performance nearly cost him his job with Roush Fenway Racing in 2010, recovered to claim NASCAR Nationwide Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors. Roush’s faith was rewarded as Stenhouse won twice en route to the 2011 championship. Austin Dillon’s rookie of the year run in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series wasn’t quite so dramatic but like Stenhouse, he "graduated" to the champion’s chair. The season marked the first time that both Nationwide and truck rookies became champions in their sophomore years.

-NASCAR Media Release

Merry Christmas from The Dignans

The Holiday Times

Click on any photo to enlarge and view gallery

   OAK LAWN ­__ The Dignan’s have had another exciting year in 2011.  Marcy is doing well, although her back still gives her problems from time to time. She still goes to therapy a few days a week. Her biggest challenge is taking care of her Mom who turned 86 this year. Bette spent a little time in assisted care for a recent fall that took its toll on her, but now says we all need to get over to Dine and Sign for the holidays.  Marcy and Tom get over to Stadium Club for lunch on Thursday’s, join them if you’re in the area! Marcy still loves sudoku and her lap top computer, she’s on Facebook as Marcy Ryan Dignan. August 3rd  was the Dignan’s 37th  wedding anniversary! Time flies!!

Jake and Papa, Thanksgiving

  Tom is doing fine and is enjoying being retired from the Teamsters and Ford, although he is looking for another job. He spends time in Long Beach and lots of time in the gardens at both houses. He still constantly updates fans of Nascar on the social media pages of Facebook/Tom Dignan Sr and Twitter @TomDignanSr, and has added an internet blog, covering mostly racing, tomsrjustsayin.blogspot.com.

Papa and Jake at the race track

A lot of his time is spent with right hand man, grandson Jake. He’s still in great health as proven by his recent cardio checkup and ability to get in and out of a race car. Jake was right with him the entire time at the race track and wanted to go in the car with him.


It’ll be 3 years in January since his Mom has been gone and 13 since his Dad passed away.

Molly, Maggie and Matt

Tom Jr. and Eileen are doing well also. Tom is still teaching English at Riverside-Brookfield and coached the sophomore  football team this year. He doesn’t get to sing as much as he used to.

Tom's family keeps him real busy. Molly is 7 and started 1^st grade, Matt is 5 and in pre-school and Maggie is 2 and a ½.  Molly and Matt love being in all the sports programs and were active in soccer, t-ball and softball.

  

Haley and Mike

Mike and Haley live in Virginia and Mike is still with the Air Force at Andrews Air Force base. He is still assigned to the Dept. of Defense and leads the communications team for Defense Secretary Panetta. He gets to travel extensively around the world, which takes him away from the family all the time. Liam and Jack keep the two of them real busy also!

Jack and Liam

Liam is 8 and keeps little brother Jack , 2 and a ½ years old, entertained. Mike’s other kids, Bailey and Kyleigh still live in Alaska on a military base with their Mom and step sister Drew.

Taylor, Sandy, Shawn, Robb and Jack

Shawn and Robb still live in DePere and work together as managers for a company that manages group homes for adults with disabilities. They try to come in to Chicago for visits as often as possible, but school and the jobs don’t always allow it. We’re looking forward to seeing them at Christmas this year for the whole week. Robb's Mom was able to come in for Laura's wedding also in July!

Taylor and Jack

Taylor is 9, loves being in 4^th grade learning cursive writing and math and has been taking tennis lessons. Jack is 2 and a ½ years old and is up and running around constantly and spends his days in day care.

Brian, Laura and Jake

 Laura and Brian got married in July and the family was all together for the reception at Beverly Country Club. Their home in Alsip has been the site of many parties. Laura’s back still gives her problems and has just had a 3^rd surgery to remove the “bolts” from her back. She’s resting now and getting ready for her 1^st Christmas in her new home. Jake is in day care 3 days a week and loves it. Brian is still at Little Company hospital working in  ICU.

Jake

The event was the highlight of the summer with Laura's 4 year old son, Jake, as the ring bearer in his tuxedo.

Yes, these are all our grand kids!!

The family had a great summer, and was able to spend a week together again in Long Beach on July 4^th. The highlight again for the week was all the friends and relatives who stop by the “Sam House”, nicknamed by Taylor because of the life size Uncle Sam that sings and dances. Of course the wedding July 8^th was a resounding success after all the long months of preparation. In October we spent a week at Disney World Old Key West resort and toured Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. Yes, those are all the grand kids!

No doors, Tom had to climb in the race car!

As a special Christmas and Birthday gift from the kids,Tom was able to drive a NASCAR race car at Orlando Speedway while in Florida in October. Having been to Disney before, he said racing the car was the best part of the vacation. Jake said he did better in the little go carts himself, though!

Jake, Laura and Tom

After speeding around the track in a Richard Petty NASCAR race car at 124 mph for 10 laps, Tom still has a huge smile on his face. The kids said it was the best gift they ever gave their Dad!

We are now looking forward to quality time with our wonderful family and great friends over the holidays. Please send us an e-mail to keep in touch, tjdigs@aol.com or ycram6@aol.com, we always love to hear from everyone. We would like to wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Merry Christmas

Marcy and Tom

Joe Gibbs Racing Names Darian Grubb Crew Chief for No. 11 Sprint Cup Series Team

Joe Gibbs Racing announced today that Darian Grubb has been named crew chief for its No. 11 FedEx Toyota NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team.

“Darian is a great addition to our organization and person to lead our No. 11 FedEx team,” said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. “Obviously he has proven the ability to guide a team to a championship and we are excited to have him working with Denny (Hamlin) toward achieving that goal here at Joe Gibbs Racing.”

Grubb is coming off an impressive championship run with driver Tony Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing which included winning five of the 10 Chase races en route to capturing the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title. He spent the past three seasons as crew chief for Stewart on the No. 14 car after the driver left JGR to start his own race operation. Prior to joining Stewart-Haas Racing, Grubb spent six years with Hendrick Motorsports; rising through the organization’s engineering ranks and gaining invaluable crew chief experience.

“I’m thrilled to join Joe Gibbs Racing,” said Grubb. “The chance to work with Denny is something I’m excited about. When you sit down with Joe and J.D. Gibbs you can’t help but be excited about this opportunity and the team aspects of JGR. There is no question about the level of support you get here and I’m looking forward to working with everyone across the entire organization.”

Over the past three seasons as crew chief for Stewart, Grubb has helped lead the team to 11 victories, while amassing 33 top-five and 59 top-ten finishes over that time. Prior to joining Stewart-Haas Racing, Grubb gained previous crew chief experience while with Hendrick Motorsports. He was crew chief to Casey Mears in 2007, helping to lead the driver to his first Sprint Cup Series career victory with a win that season in the prestigious Coca-Cola 600. The team also won the pole at Chicagoland Speedway that year, while earning five top-five and 10 top-ten finishes. He also served as interim crew chief for Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 car for the first four races of the 2006 season with the team winning two of those four including the Daytona 500.

- Joe Gibbs Racing Press Release