In big-league, North Carolina-based NASCAR, geographically challenged Furniture Row Racing of Denver continues to put up a valiant fight. Always looking to improve, the only Sprint Cup team west of the Mississippi made another significant change this week, replacing crew chief Ryan Coniam with Pete Rondeau.
Rondeau, who will call the shots for driver Regan Smith in Sunday’s Coca- Cola 600, is Furniture Row’s fourth crew chief. He follows Joe Garone, who held the position when the team qualified for its first Cup race in 2005, Jay Guy (2007-09) and Coniam (2010).
“The crew-chief change just has to do with experience and the direction we want to go,” said Garone, now the team manager. “Ryan was on board before the season in a smaller capacity, and he really wanted to step up in that position, and he’s a rookie. After 12 races, we just thought we need some experience to push us ahead. Ryan didn’t do anything wrong. These are moves you sometimes just have to make.”
Rondeau, 44, joined Furniture Row in the offseason from Richard Petty Motorsports, where he had served as director of research and development from 2005-09. Before that, the Maine native worked in various positions for Dale Earnhardt Inc. (2001-05) and Jasper Motorsports (1998-2001). With DEI, he served as crew chief for drivers Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Smith, who is among 34 drivers to have started all 12 races this year, is 31st in the standings. Furniture Row is in its first year of using Richard Childress Racing cars and third season with Hendrick Motorsports engines. Furniture Row used to build its own cars and motors in Denver.
“I have great anticipation in my role as crew chief due mainly to the commitment of Furniture Row Racing and the strong driving talent of Regan Smith,” Rondeau said in a release.
Rondeau is coming in on the heels of Furniture Row’s best — albeit brief — run of the season. In last Saturday’s Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Smith started 11th, charged to the front and was running fourth when he was slammed into the wall by Juan Pablo Montoya.
Granted, the field didn’t include teams already set to compete in the ensuing all-star race, but “Saturday night was a blast, the most fun we’ve had in a Cup car,” Gar- one said. “It only lasted 17 laps, but the car was fast and Regan really went to work.”
The team hopes to be even better in Sunday’s 600-miler, which will begin in the afternoon and end under dark skies.
“It’s a little different scenario because of the length of the race and the time of day, but we like where we’re at,” Gar- one said. “We’re certainly at an upward slope, getting better each week as Regan continues to adapt to the RCR cars and our pit-crew times improve.”
Century night for CNS.
Colorado National Speedway hopes the weather cooperates Saturday night to stage its second late-models feature of the season, and a big one at that. The track’s premier division is scheduled to run a 100-lap feature, concluding a holiday-weekend show that includes pro trucks, super stocks, super modifieds and figure-eights.
SPOTLIGHT
Justin Wilson
Wilson’s goal: top 10 at Indy
The IndyCar driver from Sheffield, England, still resides in Longmont, where he moved in 2005 when he joined Loveland-based RuSport of the former Champ Car World Series.
Wilson, 31, is driving for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and appears to be fast enough to challenge for a top-10 finish in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500. He qualified 11th, and among the 33 starters, he’s one of 11 to produce a four-lap average qualifying speed of at least 225 mph. “We have a good opportunity,” Wilson said from Indianapolis on Thursday. “You need luck to pull it off, but we just want to be in the top 10 in the end.”
Wilson is married with two daughters, ages 2 years and 4 months. The family lives close to Colorado National Speedway in Dacono, a track Wilson visits frequently. “We love Colorado, the weather and all the outdoor stuff you can do,” he said.
Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
ON THE MOVE
Roger Penske
The power of Penske
Racing’s most successful car owner has been having a good month. He is still the king at Indianapolis, where his drivers will start first (Helio Castroneves), second (Will Power) and fourth (Ryan Briscoe) in Sunday’s Indy 500. Penske, 73, is looking for his record-extending 16th 500-mile checkered flag at the famed Brickyard. Castroneves won for Penske a year ago.
Penske, a hands-on owner and former driver, also is celebrating his team’s NASCAR All-Star Race victory last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After watching Castroneves, Power and Briscoe qualify at Indy on Saturday, Penske flew to Charlotte, N.C., in his private jet to watch Kurt Busch capture the $1 million winning purse in the all-star shootout.
The following drivers have won the Indy 500 with Penske Racing:
1972, Mark Donohue; 1979, Rick Mears; 1981, Bobby Unser; 1984, Mears; 1985, Danny Sullivan; 1987, Al Unser Sr.; 1988, Mears; 1991, Mears; 1993, Emerson Fittipaldi; 1994, Al Unser Jr.; 2001, Castroneves; 2002, Castroneves; 2003, Gil de Ferran; 2006, Sam Hornish Jr.; 2009, Castroneves.
Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
Races to watch
The following Front Range motorsports venues are located within 50 miles of Denver and offer weekly races:
Bandimere Speedway (quarter-mile drag strip, Morrison) 303-697-6001 or
Colorado Motorsports Park (one-third-mile dirt oval, Byers) 720-422-5244 or colorado-
Colorado National Speedway (three-eighths-mile paved oval, Dacono) 303-665-4173 or
I-76 Speedway (quarter-mile dirt track, Fort Morgan) 970-867-2101 or
Thunder Valley (motocross park, Lakewood) 303-697-1003 or
Watkins Motocross (motocross park, Watkins) 303-341-6309 or
