Rule Changes, Driver Contracts and Danica: NASCAR Preseason
fanhouse.com
Filed under: Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Sprint Cup, Danica Patrick
CONCORD, N.C. — Not so long ago, NASCAR preseason interview opportunities used to consist of a few local Florida writers who roamed the Daytona International Speedway garages during winter test days and joined the drivers for lunch and informal chats in the back of a team trailer.
It has since morphed into the current “Media Tour” which boasts three busloads of journalists from as far away as Germany — representing outlets from USA Today to the tiny newspaper in Johnson City, Tenn.
Bloggers and broadcasters also gathered this week at a hotel a half-mile from Charlotte Motor Speedway, where formal question-and-answer periods are held in grand ballrooms. The highlight of each day is a trip to one of the race team’s shops or a local landmark like Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Whiskey River nightclub or the NASCAR Hall of Fame, which is under construction in downtown Charlotte. On Tuesday, Roush Fenway Racing drivers gave reporters e-ticket rides in Mustangs around the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.
The season-ending banquet was just five weeks ago and already the drivers and team owners are in full 2010 mode.