Dr. Joseph Mattioli, Pocono Raceway Founder and Chairman of the Board, passed away today at the Lehigh Valley Hospital Center, surrounded by his loving family, following a lengthy illness. He was 86. "Doc" as he was known to friends and associates, was one of the most respected and admired men in automobile racing. He founded Pocono Raceway in the early 1960's and has been at the helm of Pocono ever since. Under his leadership, the track grew in stature and has hosted 68 very successful NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Events. His passion and drive helped Pocono Raceway succeed when other tracks fell by the wayside. Pocono Raceway is the only remaining family owned and run track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. He was always concerned that race fans and race car drivers and their families were treated with the upmost respect and constantly upgraded procedures and Raceway facilities to meet that goal.
He kept his fingers on the pulse of stock car racing and read everything printed concerning the sport. He was in the office daily, until last fall, and oversaw all aspects of the Pocono Raceway operations. At age 83, Dr. Mattioli spearheaded an ambitious solar energy project. He built a three megawatt photovoltaic solar energy system on 25 acres at Pocono Raceway. It is the world's largest solar-powered sports facility, making Pocono Raceway a leader in the renewable energy and environmental fields.
Dr. Mattioli was also well respected in the community...
He served in the Pacific during World War Two as a Navy medic. Using the G.I. bill, he enrolled in the dentistry program at Temple University (where he met his soon to be wife, Rose.) Upon graduation, he developed his dental practice into a very lucrative business by working 12 to 14 hour days, six and sometimes seven days a week. He then began investing in and developing properties in Philadelphia and Northeastern Pennsylvania where he became involved in the start up of Pocono Raceway.
Dr. Mattioli is survived by his wife of 63 years, Dr. Rose, daughters Louie and Michele and son Joseph Mattioli III, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His passing leaves a void in the NASCAR community and especially to his family and extended "Pocono Raceway" family.

Miller Lite has renewed its partnership with Penske Racing. Miller Lite will continue as the season-long primary sponsor of Penske's #2 Dodge driven by Brad Keselowski, building upon an alliance that began in 1991. For Miller Lite, its sponsorship extension with Penske and Keselowski comes after an amazing 2011 season, Keselowski's second full year on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit. Keselowski and his Miller Lite team surged from deep in the driver standings as late as mid-July to win three races, qualify for the Chase and finish fifth in the championship standings...Brad Keselowski's extension with Penske Racing is for two years, with an organization option for a third year in 2015, team sources confirmed Thursday. Keselowski was entering the last year of his initial three-year deal with Penske. The team had announced Dec. 1 that an extension was signed, but no terms were disclosed. Crew chief Paul Wolfe and sponsor Miller Lite also have re-signed through 2015.

Scott Speed will drive a partial Sprint Cup Series schedule for Leavine Family Racing this season, focusing mostly on the 1.5-mile tracks and road courses. Team owner Bob Leavine was impressed with Speed's ability to out-qualify his car last season with inferior equipment and decided to give the ex-Formula One racer a shot. The team plans to avoid start-and-parking if possible and run the full races it enters, beginning with the Texas Motor Speedway race in April. "You can make more money doing (start-and-parks), for sure, but that's not what Bob wants to do," Speed said Tuesday night. "We want to be professional about it. We're going to look good, we're going to have all of our stuff right and represent our brand and what we're doing the right way and not just be another start-and-park team." Leavine gets its engines from Roush Fenway Racing (on a lower tier) and buys used Roush cars to field its #95 entry (which David Starr drove last season)...The team won't run the superspeedway races, because that requires buying a special car and hoping it survives a crapshoot race. But it will purchase a car for the road courses, Speed said, because those events are "probably more in our control."..."There are a lot of great drivers who don't have a ride," said Speed. "It's a tough time in our sport and I am lucky to have the opportunity here at Levine Family Racing because it's one of the good ones out there. We are doing 16 races and we are going to do them right including the two road course races. We are going to go out and race when we have the ability to run and run it right."(CMS Media Tour Notes)(1-26-2012)

Walmart announced Thursday that they will expand their merchandise program in 2012, the 50th anniversary of the retail giant. While the merchandise partnership isn't new, Walmart will take to the track for the first time with a Chevy built by Turner Motorsports and driven by Bill Elliott. However the effort, as of now, is for only one race; the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in July. The company wanted to get on the track this year with the #50 Chevy and Elliott to help celebrate the 50th birthday of the company in July and just wants to 'have a lot of fun with it', said Rand Waddoups, senior director Entertainment Properties and Brands for Walmart. The company has no shop has hired no personnel and has no plans beyond the single race. 'But we have six months yet', Waddoups added.

Caterpillar will be the primary sponsor on Jeff Burton's #31 Chevy for 21 of the 36 Sprint Cup races in 2012. Caterpillar also will sponsor the 31 car in three non-points events  the Budweiser Shootout and Gatorade Duels at Daytona and the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte. In all other races, Caterpillar will still have a major presence on the car...Not on the schedule is the Brickyard 400, which Caterpillar has often relinquished to other primary sponsors in the past. Towles said that race is a tough sell to Caterpillar's dealers and customers because hospitality is costly...With the departure of Clint Bowyer from Richard Childress Racing, General Mills' Wheaties brand also will be a primary sponsor for Burton this year. And on Tuesday, it was announced that BB&T, another one of Bowyer's former sponsors, will be the primary for five of Burton's races in 2012.

NASCAR will no longer fine its teams and drivers without making the fines public, the governing body announced Wednesday. NASCAR was criticized harshly last season after fining Brad Keselowski $25,000 for publicly criticizing NASCAR's switch to fuel injection and never making the fine public. The existence of the fine was uncovered by a media outlet and later confirmed by the Penske Racing driver. Other drivers have said they were fined in secret. Denny Hamlin was fined in 2010 for suggesting on Twitter that NASCAR issues phantom caution flags during races. Ryan Newman was fined that same season for critical comments about the racing at Talladega Superspeedway after a major wreck.