HEMBREE: Media Tour Moments

Some of the best disclosures from the Charlotte Motor Speedway preseason tour…

Mike Hembree | Posted January 25, 2013 Charlotte, NC

Numerous versions of the new Gen-Six race car were on display this week during the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Photo: SPEED)

Revelations from the annual Charlotte Motor Speedway Sprint Media Tour, which ended Thursday with a couple hundred weary, overfed journalists stumbling to their cars and flights:

1. Everyone is excited. Very excited. So excited. The most excited? Joe Gibbs, who used the word at least six times in a two-minute span.

2. The new Gen-Six race car essentially has been declared a roaring success before it makes one competitive lap on a track. So far, everyone is in love with it and seems pretty convinced it will fix everything that might be wrong with NASCAR. It’s apparently the most popular vehicle since the first street car with cup holders.

3. Kasey Kahne, who showed up at the Hendrick Motorsports tour stop with a strange new haircut, needs a new barber.

4. One driver dating another driver? That’s the sort of news we don’t get too often.

5. The sartorial statement of the week was made by Travis Pastrana, who followed Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – all in sharp black suits – on stage dressed in a wild jacket possibly fabricated from a quilt.

6. Wrong use of a new sponsor: Chip Ganassi used an airport hangar to introduce his team’s big new sponsor, Cessna, which brought along one of its new jets. After two tough seasons, Ganassi needs speed on the race track, not in the air.

7. Confidence oozed from everyone at the Hendrick Motorsports tour stop. Even the janitors seemed to have an extra bounce. Look for big things from that address this year.

8. Ford Racing’s new dynamic will be interesting to follow this year as team owners Jack Roush and newbie Roger Penske try to cooperate with each other while also trying to beat each other to a pulp. Stay tuned.

9. At Joe Gibbs Racing, all the talk was about Denny Hamlin’s new baby and Kyle Busch’s new contract. The other “new” is driver Matt Kenseth, who was the team’s star in Daytona testing and might be the team’s best championship contender.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 31 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mike Hembree

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR

CUP: Johnson Destroys Another Format
For a record fourth time, Jimmie Johnson rolls home first in Sprint…
CUP: Busches Falter In Final Shootout
Kyle, Kurt Busch lose top spots on pit road prior to 10-lap finale……
CUP: McMurray, Stenhouse Advance To All-Star
Jamie McMurray dominates Showdown to move into All-Star field with…