Otto Linton is the final inductee to the Legends of The Glen for 2013.  Linton entered a 1934 MGJ4 Competition two-seater in the 1948 Jr. Prix and Grand Prix.  The formal announcement will be made during the PrixView Party Thursday night at Watkins Glen International.

“It is a pleasure to induct Otto Linton as a Legend of The Glen leading into the Glenora Wine Cellars U.S. Vintage Grand Prix presented by Welliver Weekend,” said Michael Printup, president of Watkins Glen International.  “Linton is a valuable member of our Watkins Glen International racing community.”

Linton competed in the first officially sanctioned race in Watkins Glen on the 6.6-mile street course in 1948.  Linton came back year after year through the late 1950s to participate in a number of events including Jr. Prix races, the Seneca Cup and Queen Catherine Cup.  Linton’s best finish was third in the 1956 Queen Catherine Cup race. 

In these events, Linton drove a variety of cars, including a Frazer Nash TT Replica, a Siata Sport, a Siata 208 CS and an OSCA MT4 throughout the late 50s.

Since 2008, Watkins Glen International has selected drivers from all racing backgrounds to the elite class known as The Legends of The Glen.  Geoff Bodine took his place among The Legends of The Glen during the Cheez-It™ 355 at The Glen in August.

WGI PR

Heading to Iowa...Ben Kennedy will attempt to make his second career start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) on Sunday, September 8.  While Kennedy is attempting to make his first career NCWTS start at Iowa Speedway, he's no stranger to the Newton, Iowa track. Kennedy has five starts at Iowa in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE). He's been there twice this year already, with a best finish of ninth in the June NKNPSE race. Kennedy's No. 96 truck entry is not locked in on owner's points and he will have to qualify his way into the race on time.

This Week's Silverado...This weekend's No. 96 ModSpace Motorsports/Fresh from Florida Chevrolet Silverado has been prepared by Turner Scott Motorsports. The No. 96 Ben Kennedy Racing team will unload chassis TSM-230 at Iowa. This is the same chassis Kennedy raced at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) earlier this year in his NCWTS debut.

Recapping Bristol...Ben Kennedy, a 21-year-old Daytona Beach, Fla. native, made his first start in one of NASCAR's top-three national series at BMS in the NCWTS on August 21, 2013. Kennedy worked with veteran crew chief Chris Carrier for his debut at the 0.533-mile high-banked concrete oval. Kennedy was able to keep his truck clean throughout both practice sessions and qualified his No. 96 ModSpace Motorsports/Fresh from Florida Chevy 19th for the UNOH 200.  The looming rain shower held off and Kennedy was able to gain experience in the Truck Series, bringing his No. 96 ModSpace Motorsports/Fresh from Florida Chevrolet Silverado home in the 20th position for Ben Kennedy Racing.

Watch and Listen...The NCWTS goes Sunday afternoon racing for the second week in a row with the Fan Appreciation 200 presented by New Holland at Iowa. The race can be seen live on Sunday, September 8 on FOX Sports 1. Race coverage will begin at 1:30 p.m. EDT. The event can also be heard live on MRN Radio as well as SiriusXM Satellite Radio, channel 90.

Crew Chief Chris Carrier on Ben Kennedy and Racing at Iowa:

"I'm looking forward to getting to Iowa [Speedway] with Ben [Kennedy].He did a great job at Bristol [Motor Speedway] a few weeks ago of learning the truck in race conditions and keeping it clean. He raced a very smart race there. I think he will be very comfortable at Iowa. He's had a few starts there in a K&N car, so that will work to our advantage since he's comfortable with the track."

Ben Kennedy on Racing at Iowa Speedway:

"I can't wait to get to Iowa [Speedway]. I've been there a few times in a K&N car, so that will give me a little bit of an advantage when it comes to qualifying and racing there. It will be my second race with crew chief Chris Carrier and I'm looking forward to working with him again this weekend."

TSM PR

Phoenix International Raceway announced today that the grandstands will be open to the public for the Goodyear tire test on Tuesday, September 10. Five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams are expected to participate in the test.

The tire test is expected to run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and admission is free. Fans can enter the facility through Gate 7 and sit in the Bryan Grandstands. Limited concessions locations will be open and PIR staff will be on-site to answer any questions.

The Gate 7 ticket office will be open during testing hours for fans who have not yet purchased their tickets for the November race weekend.

Ricky Ehrgott will attempt to make his NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) debut this Friday night at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, driving the No. 86 Rev1 Power Services / Platinum Wealth Partners Chevrolet Camaro for Deware Racing Group (DRG).

Last month, the former United States Auto Club (USAC) standout made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) debut at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, but an early race accident hindered any hopes of showing his racing potential and a good finish.

Friday night’s Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at RIR, however, offers an opportunity for Ehrgott to rebound from Pocono and return to his short track roots, a style of racing he’s very accustomed to.

If you chat with the Huntersville, North Carolina resident, he will tell you he’s just lucky to have the opportunity to make the foray into NASCAR. In 2009, Ehrgott tore an artery in his neck during a USAC qualifying session at Kokomo Speedway, which saw his dirt midget hit a rut and flip 30 feet into the air before crashing to the ground. The incident immediately halted his successful career in racing. Since then, it’s been a slow, but successful recovery for him.

Ehrgott, the winner of the 2012 edition of the Circle Track’s Fast Track Blue Collar Driver Challenge hosted by Rockingham Speedway president and former ARCA champion Andy Hillenburg, has competed in two ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards races this year at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, respectively, finishing third in the season-opener driving for Coulter Motorsports. He also finished ninth at Talladega.

The Fordham University at Lincoln Center graduate knows though that the NASCAR Nationwide Series is bred with some of the best upcoming racers in the world and he now has the potential to showcase his talent in front of a lot of people. However, the 25-year old is remaining focused on the duties at hand.

With a current field of 42 entries expected for Friday night’s 40-car field, the former Brandon, Florida native will have to out-qualify two cars to earn a berth into the 25^th race of the season. Once qualified for the event, Ehrgott must finish the Virginia 529 College Savings 250. If he can complete both tasks, it will be a considered a successful debut for the former open-wheeler.

“I’m elated to get the opportunity to (hopefully) run in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway on Friday night,” said the soft-spoken Ehrgott. “Being from a USAC background, short track racing has been a major part of my past experience. I’m confident that my experience will help me.”

He added, “I have to manage my expectations for the race. I am naturally a fiercely competitive person, but I have to realize that this opportunity is all about gaining valuable and priceless experience. To do that, I must finish the race. I will have to be cautiously aggressive. I think with that approach and of course, a little luck it should yield a strong finish.”

Ehrgott is hopeful to run more NASCAR races this season, but is refraining from making any further commitments or announcements until after Richmond.

“NASCAR is where I want to be,” sounded Ehrgott. “I love racing and I love NASCAR. Everyone’s been very supportive and I cannot tell you what that means to me. At this point, I want to focus on one race at a time and then we can regroup and see what the next step is for me and my sponsors. It’s all positive though.”

In addition to Rev1 Power Services and Platinum Wealth Partners, Ehrgott will also have marketing partnership support from BigSteelRack.com and Qello.

Rick Markle will serve as Ehrgott’s crew chief this weekend. 

Ricky Ehrgott PR

Contending for a championship is not what Mark Martin had in mind when the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season dawned. The 40-time Sprint Cup race winner last ran a full season in 2011 and has since set his championship aspirations aside. Nonetheless, Martin could very well find himself battling for a title during the final 10 races of the season depending on how Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway unfolds.

Martin, driving in place of the injured Tony Stewart, will make just his third start behind the wheel of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) when cars hit the track on Friday for practice and qualifying at the .75-mile oval. While Martin is not in a position to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the team he’s driving for is.

The owner championship follows the same point system used to determine the winner of the 12-driver Chase. Like the driver points in the Chase, the owner points are reset following round No. 26 at Richmond, with only the top-10 in owner points and two wild cards in contention for the owner championship.

By virtue of their win June 2 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 team is very much in the hunt for one of the two wild-card spots.

The team currently sits 15^th in the owner standings with 696 points, only 23 points behind the 10^th-place No. 78 team of Furniture Row Racing. With seven teams already locked in, up to 12 different teams are vying for one of the remaining five spots that will make up the field of teams competing for the owner championship. 

While it is a high pressure situation, the No. 14 team has a history of rising to the occasion. In both 2011 and 2012 the No. 14 team entered the last race before the Chase with its position in the championship battle uncertain. At this race one year ago, the team traveled to Richmond 10^th in points before turning in a fourth-place effort to lock down their fourth straight Chase appearance. One year earlier, the team not only parlayed a seventh-place finish at Richmond into a Chase berth, but they used it as a springboard for scoring the 2011 Sprint Cup title.

Matching the No. 14 team’s Chase familiarity is Martin’s experience at Richmond. Since competing as a rookie in 1981, Martin has made 55 Sprint Cup starts at Richmond, earning one win (February 1990), five poles, 18 top-fives and 30 top-10s. He’s led a total of 449 laps and completed a whopping 21,203 of the 21,859 laps run for a lap completion rate of 97 percent.

Martin may not have envisioned competing for a championship in February, but if both driver and team compete at a level at which they’re accustomed to in September, October and November, then championship aspirations may very well become reality.

TSC PR

No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota driver Clint Bowyer heads to Richmond International Raceway for Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race ranked second in the standings trailing leader Jimmie Johnson by 28 points.

Bowyer secured his second consecutive Chase berth at Michael Waltrip Racing two weeks ago, but he is one of three drivers in the top-10 without a victory in 2013. Taking home the at Richmond would also garner him thee bonus points for the start of the Chase.

BOWYER ON THE CHASE: “I know we have our work cut out for us going into the Chase since we haven’t won a race to get bonus points, but those 10 races have always been good to me. I always say getting in is tough, but once we get in anything can happen. Last year we stubbed our toe at Talladega in the Chase, and if it wasn’t for that we would have been battling right to the end. We’ve always done well once we get in, we have a great team around us and I trust (crew chief Brian) Pattie completely to do what we need to win and I expect the same this year. We’ll do everything we can to be there at the end and push for a championship.”

RICHMOND: “I love going to Richmond. It’s a great racetrack and I wish we had a bunch more just like it around the country. It’s a fun track for us to race and I’ve won there. If I had one track to pick to try and get bonus points before the Chase this would be it. I’ve won here before, including at this race last year, so we are pretty confident going in and we are going to throw everything we have at it so we can get some bonus points. That said, you just never know what’s going to happen. Last year we got wrecked and thought our day was done, but it actually put us in a better position we won the thing.”

MWR PR

Diet Mountain Dew® is putting the pedal to the metal and giving one lucky fan the chance to win the ultimate road trip ride: Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s classic Diet Mountain Dew-inspired Chevy Nomad restored by the crew at Gas Monkey Garage from Discovery Channel’s popular ‘Fast N’ Loud’ TV show. Dale Jr. worked closely with Diet Mountain Dew and the Gas Monkey Garage team to restore the iconic Chevy Nomad, which is painted in signature Diet Mountain Dew green and customized by Gas Monkey Garage’s Richard Rawlings and Aaron Kaufman. The restoration and customization of the Chevy Nomad debuted on the first episode of season two of ‘Fast N’ Loud,’ on September 2. 

“I’ve always appreciated the work that the guys at Gas Monkey Garage do, so it has been a great experience to work with them on this Diet Mountain Dew-inspired Chevy Nomad,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr., currently 7th in racing point standings. “It’s pretty awesome that Diet Mountain Dew is giving one lucky fan the chance to take the Chevy Nomad home. I would love to add this ride to my collection, but think it would look even nicer in the garage of a Dew Crew fan.”

The classic Chevy Nomad is one of Dale Jr.’s favorite rides, reminding him of family road trips when he was younger. Currently on air, Dale Jr. worked closely with Mountain Dew® on his own commercial, part of DEW’s Living Portraits campaign, which showcases some of his other favorite and defining aspects of his life. Fans can checkout Dale Jr.’s spot at MountainDew.com/portraits.

VIDEO LINK:  Dale Earnhardt Jr. ‘Living Portrait’

PepsiCo PR

Reed Sorenson will pilot the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing (LFR) Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) event this weekend at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Sorenson will drive for Leavine Family Racing this weekend and for the foreseeable future - with the exception of the Dover International Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway events.

Leavine Family Racing is in discussions with multiple drivers in search for a driver of the No. 95 car for the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup season

LFR PR

When fans flock to Richmond International Raceway this weekend, they will enjoy many free amenities and fan-favorite activities. Those who don’t already have tickets for the Federated Auto Parts 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and the Virginia529 College Savings 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race can click here for tickets. Here is a list of the great amenities awaiting fans:

Free Parking

General automobile parking at Richmond International Raceway has always been and continues to be absolutely FREE.

Bring Your Own Food & Beverage

Did you know fans are allowed to bring in their own food and beverage inside the gates of Richmond International Raceway? The maximum allowed cooler size is 14”x14”x14” – large enough for 36 12-oz beverages. No glass containers are allowed.

Driver Appearances

Click here for a comprehensive list of free driver appearances on race weekend.

Video Scoring Tower

RIR’s Video Scoring Tower remains one of the most impressive in NASCAR, displaying live race action, pre-race ceremonies, post-race Chase celebration and various events happening on Raceway property. Additionally, fans can stick around after the checkered flag to watch Gatorade Victory Lane celebrations and post-race driver interviews from the Media Center.

Virginia529 Kids Zone powered by the Science Museum of Virginia

Kids 12 and younger can enjoy their race day in the Virginia529 Kids Zone powered by the Science Museum of Virginia, which is a playful and educational environment featuring inflatable moon bounces, as well as scientific exhibits that will enrich their minds. While there, parents can sign their kids up for the free RIR Kids Club, with benefits including an official membership card, Kids Club gift, e-newsletter, birthday e-card, special ticket offers and contest opportunities. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano will be reading a book to children at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Mobile App

Available on Apple and Android devices, RIR’s free mobile app provides fans with a customizable schedule with reminder notifications; interactive GPS map with search capabilities; detailed Midway, parking and facility maps; seating charts; first aid, Will Call and ATM locations; “Friend Finder” to locate your friends on property and a race weekend postcard where you can take a photo with an RIR background to upload to your social media accounts.

Miller Lite Party Zone

Miller Lite brings the ultimate tailgate party to fans on race weekend, featuring live music, tailgate games, a mechanical bull, the Miller Lite show car and cash bar serving great tasting Miller Lite and food items for sale. Located near the Midway on the Amphitheater Hill, the Miller Lite Party Zone is the place to be from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Friday and 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. While in there, fans have access to the Miller Lite Party Bar, which is loaded with big screen televisions.

Concourse Televisions

More than twenty 42” televisions have been installed throughout the concourse, underneath the grandstands.

The Midway

Outside of the grandstands, Richmond International Raceway offers one of the best interactive and shopping experiences in all of racing, the Midway. The Midway features track and driver souvenir merchandise rigs, interactive displays, games, giveaways, music and more.

V.I.B.E.

The Virginia Industry Business Expo (VIBE), located on the Midway, adjacent to the Old Dominion Building, is an indoor display area, featuring displays and exhibitions from regional businesses, open to the public on Friday and Saturday.

Before the racing action begins, check out the FREE RVA’s Stars of NASCAR Festival, featuring a public Q&A session with NASCAR drivers, food trucks and live music. All the information is available by clicking here.

RIR PR