A.J. Foyt has emerged as the leading candidate to drive the Indianapolis 500 pace car later this month in the wake of Donald Trump bowing out today.

Foyt said he hadn’t been contacted by Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials — “Maybe they want Mario (Andretti),” he joked — but that offer could come as soon as Friday.

A spokesperson for Foyt’s Izod IndyCar Series team said Foyt likely would be honored to serve if asked.

The 100th-anniversary race is May 29. Foyt, one of the 500’s three four-time winners, won the 50th-anniversary race in 1961.

Trump told IMS officials that he couldn’t keep his commitment, which includes pre-race testing at the track.

“I very much appreciate the honor, but time and business constraints make my appearance there impossible to fulfill,” Trump said in a statement released by IMS. “I look forward to watching the race from New York.”

Trump’s decision relieved a pressurized situation for IMS.

Backlash began when the controversial Trump selection was made April 5. It grew as he challenged President Barack Obama on his birthplace and suggested Obama wasn’t qualified to attend two Ivy League schools.

From Facebook to Twitter to old-school telephone calls and letters, IMS officials caught flak. CEO Jeff Belskus declined comment beyond a prepared statement, which came after two days of meetings on the subject.

The complaint: That the pace car driver should not be a distraction to the 100th-anniversary race or the Memorial Day weekend honoring of the past and present troops who fight for democracy.

Track spokesman Doug Boles described the public’s reaction as “a factor” in the discussions. He made it clear the fans’ wishes will be heard.

“Our fans want a former (500) winner or they want a military person,” Boles said. “When the (selection) group gets together, it will probably be a former winner.”

The selection group is led by Belskus and includes General Motors officials. Representatives of the Izod IndyCar Series and Izod, which sponsors the series and brought Trump to the pace car discussion by virtual of their business ties, will be consulted, too.

Foyt, who retired from competition in 1993, is expected to receive unanimous approval.

The Indianapolis 500 could have its first Chinese starter in the field for the race later this month, perhaps a precursor to IndyCar heading for a track in the world’s most populous country.

On Tuesday, IndyCar team owners Sam Schmidt and Jay Penske hired Ho-Pin Tung and gave him a shot to qualify for the world-famous race.

Forty-three driver-car combinations are already expected to vie for 33 starting spots in the May 29 race, and more drivers are likely be added over the next 2½ weeks.

Tung will be one of the least experienced drivers on the 2.5-mile track.

Though he has raced on European road courses, his first attempt at oval racing will come on a track best-known for its high speeds and tricky winds. Tung tested an IndyCar at Sebring last fall for the FAZZT team, which became part of Sam Schmidt Motorsports. That, too, is a road course.

But Schmidt, a former IndyCar driver, and Penske, the youngest son of racing icon Roger Penske, were impressed enough with Tung’s performance they decided to give him a shot to make the series’ marquee race.
He will be driving the No. 8 car — one of three numbers considered lucky in China.

Sam Schmidt Motorsports will provide the sponsorship. Penske’s team, Dragon Racing, will provide the car and the crew.

“THE MODERN DAY COWBOY ”TO TAKE OVER THE REINS AT PUTNAMVILLE"

Loveland, OH (May 3 2011,2011) -- Hoffman Racing is announcing today that Daron Clayton will drive the Hoffman Mean Green MOPAR Machine beginning with the USAC National Sprint Car event at Putnamville Indiana on May 7 2011.

“ One constant in life is change. Our race team has not performed up to our expectations for an extended period of time. Lack of performance is never one person’s fault, we are a team and we win together and struggle together. Understanding that we have an obligation to our sponsors and ourselves ,the time comes when you have to make a change . All of us at Hoffman racing want to thank Jerry Coons Jr. for his contributions to the success of Hoffman Racing. Together we won the 2008 USAC National Sprint Car Championship. Jerry has also won 13 USAC National races for the Hoffman Team , more than any driver in team history. He is truly one of the good guys in our sport and it has been a pleasure to work with him. We wish Jerry, Amy and their family the best in the future and we hope that change is good for all of us, ”said Richard Hoffman , President of Hoffman Racing.

Richard Hoffman continued, “ While we are saddened by Jerry’s departure, we are excited to welcome Daron Clayton to our Team. Daron has driven for Hoffman Racing twice and won a USAC National Sprint car race for us at Gas City in 2007”. Rob Hoffman commented “ He is an exciting driver with great potential. We look forward to helping Daron achieve his goals.”

Allentown, PA: CARQUEST Gasoline Alley Welcomes Weekend Winners Hunter Schuerenberg, Greg Hodnett And Ryan Watt To Monday Night's Show
By:Steve Pados, GA Motorsports Media

The extremely popular and nationally acclaimed CARQUEST Gasoline Alley TV/Internet Show cranks up the airwaves on Monday evening with another fabulous edition of their show on Monday evening show, May2nd as show hosts Ed and Steve Pados welcome another blockbuster lineup of talented racing stars and personalities who join the Gang for the fastest, funniest, and most informative racing show in the country today. The show airs from 6 to 8 PM every Monday evening on channels 103 and 137 and worldwide on the Internet. The Gang has been serving the racing world for the past nine years on the airwaves and is well noted for their well noted "theme" show format and will host the 521st edition of their show since they hit the airwaves and their 309th show since joining forces with the party channel at WALN Digital Cable and "Happy Jack" Burns on Channels 103 and 137. The Gasoline Alley Team of Ed and Steve Pados is looking forward to more of the same great format they have been following since the inception of their hit show back in 2002 as they highlight the past, present and future of auto racing with their great show.

With this edition of the show the Gang will chat with some great racing talent that enjoyed the ultimate thrill of victory over the past weekend of racing. The Gang will begin the interviews with USAC Sprint Car star Hunter Schuerenberg as the Missouri racing star captured the USAC event at the Gas City Speedway on Friday evening besting 45 cars in the process. Hunter will bring the Gang up to speed with his full schedule of racing in 2011 that includes the Eastern Swing at the end of May. The "Electric Company" Ryan Watt joins the show to talk about his second consecutive win at the Bridgeport Speedway on Saturday evening. Ryan will discuss the season thus far as he has high hopes of claiming the Bridgeport Speedway title at the end of the season and the $10,000.00 prize that goes along with it. The "Tennessee Tornado" Greg Hodnett rejoins the Gang to talk about his big win over the weekend at the Port Royal Speedway to the tune of more that $9,000.00 as he captured his first win in his new pairing with the Trone Team.

The popular award winning TV/Internet show offers a live internet video feed to all of the Internet subscribers to view the wide assortment of the many racing videos that are played while the show is in progress and to enjoy the chat sessions with the many great personalities from within the racing community who pay the Gang a visit to discuss racing. As always, a surprise or two will be expected as the Gasoline Alley Gang continues to bring the racing community the fastest, funniest and most informed racing show on the airwaves today. All shows produced by GA Motorsports Media are carefully researched, authenticated and fully scripted to produce for our loyal sponsors, guests and racing fans the best show on the airwaves today.

CARQUEST Gasoline Alley TV/Radio/Internet Show continues with its outstanding line-up of talented guests with this week's edition of the show. The Show's programming is available on WALN Digital Cable Radio, Internet www.walncableradio.com for the Audio portion and: livestream.com/walncableradio/old for the video portion. The Show is available on Service Electric Digital Cable TV, Channels 103, and 137 and is live from 6 to 8 PM and later tape delayed on Channel 50 at 11 PM.

Join the Gasoline Alley broadcasting team of Ed and Steve Pados on Monday evening May 2nd as they take you on a two-hour circular journey with their well documented, very informative and extremely funny show.

Should you have questions on how to be a part of the show through advertising, appearances or remotes, please contact Steve Pados at: 610 573 9706; Ed Pados at: 610 739 0391; or the WALN Studios at: 610 791 1818. You may also email: steveswp@ptd.net

RACING NEWS THE WAY IT IS MEANT TO BE

AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: April 29, 2011 – Gas City, Indiana – Gas City I-69 Speedway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Blake Fitzpatrick, 10, Fitzpatrick-12.656; 2. Dave Darland, 21x, Roberts/Tate-12.716; 3. Chris Windom, 5x, Baldwin-12.954; 4. Jon Stanbrough, 53, Fox-13.038; 5. Mike Spencer, 71p, Phillips-13.063; 6. Hunter Schuerenberg, 35, Byram-13.091; 7. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-13.172; 8. Bill Rose, 10T, R & B-13.203; 9. Steve Irwin, 42G, R & M-13.290; 10. Justin Grant, 40, Grant-13.435; 11. Scotty Weir, 22s, Simon-13.440; 12. Matt Westfall, 54, Westfall-13.503; 13. Bryan Clauson, 7, CTR/BCI/Curb-Agajanian-13.520; 14. Casey Riggs, 37, Indiana Underground-13.525; 15. Jerry Coons Jr., 69, Dynamics-13.544; 16. Robert Ballou, 81, MPHG-13.622; 17. Casey Shuman, 4G, Cook-13.670; 18. Kyle Larson, 11, Walker-13.696; 19. Billy Puterbaugh Jr., 16, Puterbaugh-13.719; 20. Andrew Elson, 27a, Elson-13.737; 21. Adam Nigg, 25N, Nigg-13.755; 22. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart-13.756; 23. Robbie Shuttleworth, 11x, Shuttleworth-13.802; 24. Brett Burdette, 17B, Burdette-13.850; 25. Chris Gurley,
12c, Team Automotive-13.927; 26. Travis Welpott, 18, Gorman-13.939; 27. Todd Keen, 18x, Keen-13.961; 28. Bobby East, 5, Klatt-13.990; 29. Damion Gardner, 71x, DG-14.059; 30. Josh Spencer, 66J, Spencer-14.083; 31. Shane Cottle, 10E, Edison-14.123; 32. Logan Hupp, 9H, Hupp-14.149; 33. Jason Holt, 41, SST-14.182; 34. Jonathan Hendrick, 68, Hendrick-14.191; 35. Thomas Meseraull, 57, Hazen-14.225; 36. Chad Wilson, 14x, Wilson-14.304; 37. Todd Kirkman, 16x, Kirkman-14.304; 38. Ted Hines, 12, Hines-14.347; 39. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-14.365; 40. Wes McIntyre, 83, McIntyre-14.368; 41. Brent Turner, 51, Slinkard-14.544; 42. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-14.551; 43. Landon Simon, 24, Simon-14.551; 44. A.J. Francis, 21, Francis-14.609; 45. Brian Olson, 7B, Olson-14.647; 46. Coleman Gulick, 14, Gulick-NT; 47. Damion Gardner, 71, DG-NT.

NON-QUALIFIERS RACE: (8 laps) 1. Hendrick, 2. Gulick, 3. Ted Hines, 4. Meseraull, 5. McIntyre, 6. Wilson, 7. Goodnight, 8. Turner, 9. Robbins, 10. Simon, 11. Olson, 12. Kirkman, 13. Holt. NT

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Fitzpatrick, 2. M.Spencer, 3. Shuman, 4. Gardner (#71x), 5. Clauson, 6. Hendrick, 7. Gurley, 8. Nigg, 9. Irwin. 2:20.19
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Larson, 2. Schuerenberg, 3. Jones, 4. Darland, 5. Grant, 6. Gulick, 7. Riggs, 8. J.Spencer, 9. Welpott. 2:21.07
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Windom, 2. Puterbaugh, 3. Cottle, 4. Coons, 5. Tracy Hines, 6. Ted Hines, 7. Keen, 8. Shuttleworth, 9. Weir. NT
FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Stanbrough, 2. Burdette, 3. Ballou, 4. East, 5. Westfall, 6. Meseraull, 7. Hupp, 8. Elson, 9. Rose. 2:19.89

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Tracy Hines, 2. Rose, 3. Clauson, 4. Westfall, 5. Grant, 6. Riggs, 7. Elson, 8. Ted Hines, 9. Hendrick, 10. Gurley, 11. Gulick, 12. Hupp, 13. Shuttleworth, 14. Welpott, 15. Meseraull, 16. Nigg, 17. Keen, 18. Irwin, 19. Weir, 20. J.Spencer. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Hunter Schuerenberg, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Bryan Clauson, 4. Mike Spencer, 5. Bill Rose, 6. Levi Jones, 7. Robert Ballou, 8. Dave Darland, 9. Jerry Coons Jr., 10. Tracy Hines, 11. Matt Westfall, 12. Casey Shuman, 13. Brett Burdette, 14. Billy Puterbaugh Jr., 15. Casey Riggs, 16. Damion Gardner (#71x), 17. Kyle Larson, 18. Justin Grant, 19. Bobby East, 20. Blake Fitzpatrick, 21. Shane Cottle, 22. Jon Stanbrough. NT
--------------------------------
**Gardner flipped during qualifying. Kirkman flipped during the non-qualifiers race. Stanbrough flipped on lap 7 of the feature. Larson flipped on lap 20 of the feature. Riggs flipped on the final lap of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Schuerenberg.

NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Clauson-234; 2-Schuerenberg-231; 3-Jones-231; 4-Gardner-227; 5-Stanbrough-187; 6-Fitzpatrick-180; 7-Windom-174; 8-Ballou-160; 9-Riggs-145; 10-Bud Kaeding-143.

NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: May 1 – Kokomo (IN) Speedway

A garage that once belonged to the late NASCAR legend Henry "Smokey" Yunick went up in flames tonight (April 25th) under suspicious circumstances, the Daytona Beach Fire Department said.

The building on Riverside Drive, which Stoney called the "Best Damn Garage in Town," is concrete with a tin roof, but the roof has a wood frame that burned, Stoney said.

The fire started about 7:35 p.m. and was extinguished about 10 p.m. said Daytona Beach fire Lt. Larry Stoney. Witnesses told investigators they saw people leaving about the times the flames began, but they could not give a description.

The garage has long been abandoned, but it still contained engine parts and tires, Stoney said.

Yunick, who died in 2001 at the age of 77, was a driver, mechanic and crew chief for stock cars in the 1950s and 1960s, according to smokeyyunick.com.

He was a two-time NASCAR mechanic of the year, worked on the car that won the Indianapolis 500 in 1960, flew B-17s in World War II, was a founding member and director of Embry-Riddle University and came up with several car-related inventions, according to the website.

Driver Bobby Isaac, driver/owner Cotton Owens, crew chief/co-owner Leonard Wood, NASCAR executive Les Richter and Martinsville Speedway founder H. Clay Earles joined 20 others as nominees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

The 2012 nominees, announced Tuesday night, include the 20 nominees not selected among the five inductees for the 2011 class.

A 21-member panel of NASCAR executives, hall of fame executives and track promoters selected the 25 nominees. Those 21 will be part of a 55-member voting panel that will meet June 14 to select the five-member class to be inducted in January 2012.

The 2011 class of David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Lee Petty, Bud Moore and Ned Jarrett will be inducted in May.

Wood joins brother Glen Wood among the nominees. Glen started the team with Leonard as his crew chief and engine builder. Leonard is credited with many advances in the evolution of pit stops.

Isaac won 37 races and 49 poles in 309 career starts from 1964-1977. Driving a Dodge Daytona for Nord Krauskopf, he won 11 times and had 32 top-10 finishes in 47 starts to win the 1970 title by 51 points over Bobby Allison.

Owens was a driver and an owner, and his driver David Pearson won the 1966 title with Owens as his crew chief. Owens was the runner-up for the title in 1959 and had nine career wins as a driver.

Richter, an eight-time NFL Pro Bowl selection and a 2011 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, was a co-owner and president of Riverside International Raceway, was a co-founder and chairman of the IROC Series, served as a NASCAR vice president, and played a leadership role in the building of California Speedway (now Auto Club Speedway), where he later served as executive vice president.

Earles founded Martinsville Speedway in 1947, and Martinsville is the only one of NASCAR's original tracks still in operation. Earles' grandson, Clay Campbell, is the president of the track, which was sold to International Speedway Corp. in 2004.

This year's 25 nominees:

• Buck Baker, first driver to win consecutive Cup championships
• Red Byron, first Cup champion, in 1949
• Richard Childress, 11-time car owner champion in NASCAR's three national series
• Jerry Cook, six-time Modified champion
• H. Clay Earles, founder of Martinsville Speedway
• Richie Evans, nine-time Modified champion
• Tim Flock, two-time Cup champion
• Rick Hendrick, 12-time car owner champion in NASCAR's three national series
• Jack Ingram, two-time Busch champion
• Dale Inman, eight-time Cup championship crew chief
• Bobby Isaac, 1970 Cup champion
• Fred Lorenzen, 26 wins and winner of the Daytona 500 and World 600
• Cotton Owens, driver-owner won 1966 owner championship with David Pearson
• Raymond Parks, NASCAR's first champion car owner
• Benny Parsons, 1973 Cup champion
• Les Richter, former NASCAR executive and former president of Riverside International Raceway
• Fireball Roberts, won 33 Cup races, including the 1962 Daytona 500
• T. Wayne Robertson, helped raise NASCAR popularity as R.J. Reynolds senior vice president
• Herb Thomas, first two-time Cup champion, 1951 and '53
• Curtis Turner, early personality, called the "Babe Ruth of stock car racing."
• Darrell Waltrip, winner of 84 races and three Cup championships
• Joe Weatherly, two-time Cup champion
• Glen Wood, as driver, laid foundation for Wood Brothers' future team success.
• Leonard Wood, co-owner and former crew chief for Wood Brothers who also revolutionized pit stops
• Cale Yarborough, winner of three consecutive Cup titles, 1976-78