Posted on by Zack Albert

A good crew chief knows how to play to a driver’s strengths. So it came to pass that when Ryan “Rudy” Fugle and driver William Byron had one of their first meetings to discuss their pairing on Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 24 team next season, the crew chief made one of his first calls of his NASCAR Cup Series tenure — where to break bread … or in this case, breaded poultry.

“Rudy knows I’m a pretty picky eater,” Byron said, noting their meeting at a TGI Fridays not far from the HMS campus. “So he chose that one because they have chicken tenders and fries, so it was perfect.”

RELATED: On the Move: Next year’s changes | 2021 Cup Series schedule

With his first winning strategy call in hand, Fugle will become Byron’s third Cup Series crew chief in four seasons in 2021, building on the foundation established by predecessors Chad Knaus and Darian Grubb — both of whom now preside over in-house managerial roles in Hendrick’s competition department. The combination marks a reunion for the two, who first came together nearly five years ago for Byron’s introduction to the national NASCAR stage.

So far, their reconnection — on teamwork, their aspirations and menu choices — has been a near-seamless one.

“I think the influence has already been noticeable,” Byron says. “I mean, we’ve met two or three times over the last couple weeks, and the influence has already been there and we’ve kind of picked up where we left off with communication and stuff. Yeah, we do have to be out on the race track to kind of see the fruits of that, but you can plan accordingly and have a really good plan, and that’s a good start.”

Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

Fugle was atop the pit box for Byron’s first full national-series season, a title-caliber NASCAR Camping World Truck Series campaign for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2016. The two assembled a series-best seven wins together, and only an engine failure in the penultimate race kept Byron from reaching the championship round.

A year later, both Byron and Fugle were crowned champions in new arrangements. Byron won the 2017 Xfinity Series title after making the shift to JR Motorsports and Chevrolet in advance of his move to the Cup Series with Hendrick Motorsports. Fugle remained at KBM, and his pairing with up-and-comer Christopher Bell resulted in his second Truck title as a crew chief in three years.

Even as Byron graduated to the Cup Series, he kept Fugle in mind, bringing up his name for a potential engineering position at Hendrick in previous years. When mentor Jeff Gordon mentioned Fugle as Knaus’ successor late last summer, Byron embraced the idea. Hendrick announced Fugle’s new role Oct. 26.

It’s a new series and a new era for Fugle, whose work with Byron at KBM was focused on shaping a fresh-faced 18-year-old talent into a proven winner. Fugle’s first impressions, he recalled, was that of a well-prepared, inquisitive teenager who became sharper and more aggressive as his comfort grew behind the wheel. Flashing forward to the current day, Fugle will work with a still fresh-faced, but more experienced 23-year-old with three years vested in his Cup career.

His approach, Fugle says, is something he expects to bridge from those different points in time.

“Our year of working together, I think one of the biggest things is just always learning how to push somebody, how to push their buttons the right way, how to motivate, encourage and read their emotions,” Fugle says. “That’s one thing about him is we can be pretty real with each other. I’m a pretty straightforward guy and William takes that really well. We have a really good communication style and that’s made it easy to be friends with him.”

Byron has qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs the last two years, and the 2020 season yielded his first major-league win — a clutch victory in the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway. But he’s returning to a reimagined Hendrick Motorsports lineup, one that will be missing seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, one that adds a new teammate in Kyle Larson and shifts Alex Bowman to the No. 48, and one that has the sport’s newest champ in Chase Elliott.

MORE: Byron’s 2020 season in review

That last aspect is something that resonates with Byron, who is intent to match Elliott as the standard-bearer for both Hendrick and the series. That starts, Byron says, with improving on zero-win and one-win seasons to being a threat for scratching the win column multiple times in 2021.

“It’s definitely hit us. I think seeing Chase go out there and win the championship like that was definitely a sign that obviously we’re capable,” Byron said. “Yeah, the bar has been set, for sure. Things have really evolved – I think the first year when I was here in 2018, how many growing pains there were for me, but also the race team to kind of find our footing with really three new drivers and one veteran guy. So now, it’s four new guys. I feel like three of us have been here for a while now and really established kind of our trends, our feelings inside the team and what we want in our race cars.

“I think the bar has definitely been set now and it’s about just going out there and trying to achieve that.”

Posted on by Press Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 3, 2020) – In 2021, The NASCAR Foundation’s Betty Jane France Memorial High Speed Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament traditionally held in Daytona Beach during Daytona Speedweeks Presented by AdventHealth will transition to a virtual partnership with World Poker Tour®. The high stakes evening, hosted online on Jan. 13, will feature NASCAR Cup Series champions Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex, Jr., professional poker stars Maria Ho and Phil Hellmuth, and actor Michael Rooker, among other celebrities and participants.

The final table will be streamed at a later date to be determined, with Maria Ho serving as host and commentator. A silent auction and donation drive will round out the event’s programming.

“This year has certainly presented its challenges,” stated The NASCAR Foundation Chairman Mike Helton. “But it has also created new opportunities and we are very excited to host our first virtual poker tournament allowing greater participation as we raise funds to help the children in our racing communities.”

LEARN MORE: The NASCAR Foundation

Utilizing the World Poker Tour’s online sweepstakes-based poker platform, ClubWPT™, the tournament will allow for two playing styles to happen simultaneously – Sit and Go tables and Multi-Tables. The final table will feature six players including two NASCAR Cup Series drivers, one professional poker player, one celebrity and two participants. Participating NASCAR Cup Series drivers will have a chance to earn funds for their charities with the first place finishing driver receiving a $25,000 donation, the second place finishing driver a $15,000 donation and the third place finishing driver a $10,000 donation.

“The World Poker Tour looks forward to extending its online poker partnerships on ClubWPT with The NASCAR Foundation for this event,” said Adam Pliska, CEO of the World Poker Tour. “Philanthropy is top of mind at the WPT®, and the WPT Foundation along with its $27 million raised since 2012, is partnering with The NASCAR Foundation to raise awareness for a great cause and provide a safe environment to play.”

Proceeds from the tournament benefit The NASCAR Foundation’s Speediatrics Children’s Fund, a program that aims to provide health care resources and wellness programs for children.

For more details on sponsorship opportunities and participation, please visit NASCARfoundation.org/poker.

Posted on by Staff Report

At every racetrack Gracie Trotter goes to with her dad, the two have a moment where they just sit back and ask “Did you ever think we‘d be here today?”

The 2020 season was surreal to Trotter, and she said the success she saw still hadn‘t hit her. Trotter won in the ARCA Menards Series West, and was the only driver in the series to finish in the top 10 in all 11 races this year. She also won another late model race at her home track, Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina.

Trotter was also this year‘s recipient of the 2020 Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award, an annual award given to an outstanding minority or female driver in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, as chosen by a committed and nominated by drivers, crew members, and track operators based on the driver‘s finals standings in the top 500 drivers, as well as on-track performance, sportsmanship, and community service.

Trotter was just the second female to win a race in the West Series, and the fourth to win a late model race at Hickory. She has driven for Rev Racing and is part of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Program.

“That means a lot to me,” Trotter said of the Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award. “I‘ve seen a couple of my teammates over the last few years win that award.

“Being a part of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program has been awesome. They‘ve helped me with my career on and off the track, building a family over at Rev Racing and part of the diversity program. It‘s just a big family over there and everyone does everything to help you out. They‘ve been a huge part of my journey in the racing world and I couldn‘t be more grateful for that in NASCAR.”

The 19-year-old Trotter is a Toyota Racing Development driver, and has seen how much of an emphasis the company puts on finding diverse drivers.

“They‘re trying to get more females and minorities into the sport which is really good,” she said. “What I‘m hoping, and what everyone else is, is that eventually it‘ll become a norm and it won‘t be talked about, that it‘s not normal for females to be in the sport.”

Trotter has been racing since she was eight years old, but this year, to her, was the turning point where the sport went from just a childhood hobby to a potential career. Her first year with TRD in 2016 felt like she was stepping into something bigger, but racing ARCA this year what when racing felt like it clicked.

The North Carolina resident raced on the west coast for the first time, running with Bill McAnally Racing, and started the season strong, coming away with fourth and third place finishes before the season was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.

The season wasn‘t all highs, though. The pandemic made it tough for Trotter to get comfortable in a new series with a new team. She didn‘t get to the west coast for more than two months, spending most of her time iRacing, which was good practice but far from the real thing.

“Spending time away from the team, that kind of hurt a lot,” she said. “And going back only having 30 minutes to an hour in practice… Doing that in my rookie year definitely hurt me a lot, especially since none of these track I‘d ever been to. So learning new tracks that quickly and trying to communicate with your crew chief and team, it‘s hard to get to know each other and get to know these cars when you don‘t have much practice time and you‘re trying to rush.

“That definitely hurt a lot, but I felt like me and the team really executed as well as we could with what we were given.”

It was a second trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway where Trotter saw her luck turn. She first competed at Vegas in 2017 in a Legends car, so going back this year in ARCA made the track seem smaller and more manageable.

“In a legends car it felt like Daytona,” she said.

The first time racing at Vegas was a struggle, but fun nonetheless.

“I was like, ‘I really like this track in an ARCA car. Next time we come here we‘re definitely going to go win,‘” she said.

With other tracks canceling races, the ARCA Series returned to Vegas in late September. Trotter started the race ninth after struggling to find the right speed in practice.

She got together with her team and worked out the kinks, and in the end Trotter‘s predictions came true, scoring a victory over her BMR teammates.

“It‘s just special to me because I had my dad there with me and also my longtime crew chief that has crew chiefed me in super late models and late model stocks,” Trotter said. “He was there on the radio with me talking to me throughout the race, so it was really special to have both of them there because those are the two people who have helped me most with my career and I wouldn‘t be where I am today if it wasn‘t for those two.”

Even though Trotter raced across the country in new series with a new team, she learned how to deal with frustrations on and off the track.

“There was a lot of that this year with it being short practice and we‘re having to rush trying to get the car better. It‘s always going to get frustrating,” she said. “So that‘s one thing you have to look for. Once you‘re out on the track for a race everyone has what they have and you have to go out there and race with the best ability you can. I‘ve got to go out there with the best me I can give to the team and everybody there.

“That‘s my biggest thing, is even though you‘re frustrated and it‘s not going good, you‘ll have more bad days than good. You have to go out there with a clear mind and give yourself the best you.”

Trotter‘s family connection to the track was also solidified on September 17 when she won at Hickory, the place her dad raced when he first moved to North Carolina. Winning at Hickory gave her a chance to get to victory lane in front of family who has been there from the beginning.

It also helped her win at the track where it all started for her, and proved she‘s where she needs to be, but there is still work to be done.

“My dad told me, ‘If you want to make racing a career, I can get you to the front gates of Hickory Motor Speedway and you can race my old late model and we can race that once a month or so. That‘s all I can do for you, but if you want to go racing for your career you‘re going to have to work for the rest of it.”” she said.

“TRD has given me a really great opportunity every year, so I just have to keep performing my best and they keep having me on the team.”

Finishing 2020 with two wins boosted Trotter’s confidence as she continues to move through the second phase of her racing career.

While she can relish in the victories and accolades, this season was also a reminder of why she started racing in the first place.

“It makes you realize why you do it,” she said. “Because the feeling of winning is like no other feeling that I‘ve ever experienced. Just winning, the competition, the challenge of the racing, when you go out there you have to be the best you can and it all comes down to the talent, and also what you have in your car too. But once you put your mind to it, the challenges. That‘s what I love about it.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Peyton Sellers has made a habit of having his name near the top of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series standings the last decade.

Even though 2020 was a different year for Sellers and his late model team, the finish was much the same. The 2005 national champion finished second in the Division I national and took home a track championship.

The COVID-19 pandemic made the season difficult for Sellers from the start. A five-time track champion at South Boston Speedway, he was unable to race at his home after the Virginia track canceled the season.

Opting to travel and find a new home, Sellers won a track championship at Dominion Raceway in northern Virginia, completing every lap and never finishing below fourth. It was Sellers’s first time in his career racing for a championship at Dominion.

Sellers won 10 races and had 26 top-five finishes in 30 NASCAR starts, and was the 2020 Virginia champion.

“2020 has been kind of doom and gloom for a lot of people. I have a soft spot for any business that has been shut down due to COVID, but honestly our race team and our construction company both have been able to succeed and have a good year this year,” Sellers said. “Racing started off slow, we started off the year kind of loaded and ready to go out and try to win races at Myrtle Beach back in February. We went down there and had a pretty solid top 10 effort, and then we had to sit at home for two months due to COVID.

“All in all we had an excellent year considering all we‘ve been through.”

The added travel made finding and getting to races complicated at times. Sellers said there were several weekends they would race at either Dominion or Langley Speedway near Virginia Beach on Saturday, and then travel down to Southern National Motorsports Park in North Carolina on Sunday.

Good car counts everywhere they went helped with gaining more national points.

It was the work of the team, though, that helped Sellers push to the top of the pack.

“Just a lot of dedication from my guys that work on our cars,” Sellers said. “They put in a lot of hours this year. Obviously everybody was faced with a difficult situation this year and I had some loyal guys that stayed with me and they traveled with me on weekends to race.

“My brother, H.C., he‘s kind of the glue that holds it all together. He puts in a lot of man-hours and a lot of time every year preparing us fast cars. It feels nice to be able to be competitive every year and being able to run for national championships is all somebody can ask for at this level. We‘ve been able to do that now and we‘ve been in the top 10 for several years running.”

Sellers hopes he’s able to stay local for races next season, in part to help his local sponsors Clarence‘s Steakhouse and Danville Toyota. While he said it‘s hard to say if they‘ll go out and try to run for a national championship in 2021, his shop has three national titles in all — his, and one each by Matt Bowling and Philip Morris — so they know what it takes to make it happen if they decide to try again.

“As long as our sponsors and all the people that are helping us are willing to do that,” Sellers said.

“We‘ve been blessed. That‘s about the only thing you can say about it. We‘ve been fortunate and we‘ll look back at 2020 and see the bad and the good, but we had a lot of good and a lot to be thankful for.”

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Posted on by Staff Report

Ryan Millington came out of the gate swinging, winning six races and leading the national points when they were released for the first time in August.

Even though Millington and his late model team fell off a bit in the final couple of months, he still finished with the highest national points of his career, coming away third in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series standings.

“We, I‘d say, had the best first half of the season out of everybody,” Millington said. “We just didn‘t really have the manpower and equipment and everything to keep up with them boys. It was still a really good year. We worked hard and made a lot of progress all season long. I‘m just really thankful for the season we had this year.”

Ryan Millington

Millington also won his second track championship at Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina. He finished the year with six wins and 20 top-five finishes in 26 starts.

Running for national points for the first time proved to be more stressful than Millington had anticipated. He got a new car for the final four races, which he said kind of threw his team “a little curveball”.

The pace of the season, knowing the team had to be at the top of their game every week, added pressure.

“You can‘t really sit here and think about it too much, you‘ve just go to the track every week and keep racing because it can change in an instant and it definitely did just that,” Millington said. “Points racing is an all year long thing. Just being able to put 14, 18, 20 races together, it‘s really tough. Being able to go out and do that all year long, it takes a lot. That is the stressful part, but you can‘t sit there and be comfortable with where you‘re running until really the points are done at the end of the year.”

Now that Millington has gotten the chance to run for a national championship, he‘s ready to fight again and try to do even better in 2021. He plans to travel around to rack up points at more tracks.

He‘s looking forward to going into next season with everything he and the team learned in 2020.

“I think we‘ll really be able to have an excellent year next year and better this year‘s result,” he said. “Try to be more prepared next year instead of deciding at the last minute to do it. Just having equipment ready is the big thing, so we‘re working hard on that, trying to put a new car together. Just have a better year next year than this year.

“The one thing about finishing third is you‘ve always got progress to get better. We‘ve been working hard the past month. We‘ve been at the track 10 or 15 times just trying to get better, find speed, and really improve on what we learned this year, and I think we‘ve made our stuff better so we‘re just going to keep working all offseason and hopefully chase a national championship next year.”

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Posted on by Staff Report

A year after winning a national championship, Jacob Goede went into 2020 racing for a repeat.

While early struggles held him back from a second title, Goede was still able to get into the top five, finishing fourth in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I standings.

The coronavirus pandemic forced Goede away from Elko Speedway, his home track in Minnesota, for the first few months of the season. Traveling several hours away to La Crosse Speedway in Wisconsin, Goede said he didn‘t run quite as well as he would have hoped to start the year.

“It threw us all for a little bit of a loop,” Goede said of trying to find tracks where he could race this season. “It was a different year, that‘s for sure.”

Once he got back to Elko in August, though, Goede bounced back, winning five races at the track on the way to a seventh straight track title.

In all, Goede had eight wins and 24 top-5 finishes in 32 starts this season between Elko, Lacrosse, and Madison International Speedway in Wisconsin.

“Honestly the season could have went better overall. We missed out on some wins and just didn‘t have the car quite good enough,” Goede said.

“Overall it was a good year…can‘t complain too much, but I always know there is room for improvement.”

Trying to repeat 2019‘s success proved to Goede just how special that season was.

“2019 was super special. I didn‘t ever think it would really be possible to do, so doing that, that was a really amazing year,” he said. “So then trying to repeat it was like, well how do we even top that? We came close, so overall it was good but at the same time I wanted more. Yea, a top five is good, but we want to be in the top three. If we‘re going to work that hard you want to try to make it pay off. We worked hard and did everything we could, but sometimes things just don‘t work out.

We missed it a little bit, we weren‘t quite as good as we needed to be all the time and that‘s what it takes. The guys are good and they racked up an amazing season, so it‘s hard to compete with that. You‘ve got to be on your game and we just missed it a little bit.”

Even though Goede didn‘t finish in the top 3 in the nation like he hoped, he did keep an important streak alive. He won a seventh straight Minnesota NASCAR title.

Adding an eighth title to that streak is at the top of Goede‘s list in 2021.

“It could end at any given time, but we‘re going to enjoy the streak while we can,” he said. “But at the same time I don‘t want to be done yet. I don‘t want the streak to be done quite yet. I would like to get to 10 and then maybe call it quits or something… We‘re going to keep working hard to see if we can make it.”

Goede thanked his sponsors and help for their support this season: Suburban GM Parts and Chevrolet Performance, TJ Exteriors, The Car Lot of New Prague, Getz Trucking, Northern Racing Products, Murgic Racing Engines, HEI Collision, Lefthander Chassis, and Baby Gowdy.

Other than going for a state title, Goede isn‘t sure of his own plans for next season. He does, however, know the plans for the rest of his family. His 8-year-old daughter is wanting to get on the track herself, and he plans to help her in her first season racing quarter midgets.

“That‘ll kind of cut into my racing a little bit, and I‘m okay with that,” he said. “I‘m excited. Probably almost more excited than she is.”

Even though he‘ll be helping his daughter on Sundays, expect to see Goede at his home track of Elko Speedway on Saturdays. He has some streaks to protect.

When it comes to racing for another high finish in the national points, though, he‘ll never say never.

“We get enough races at Elko. If I have a really good season there‘s no reason we can‘t compete for a top-3 in the country again just running closer to home,” he said. “We‘ll see how it plays out, and honestly once it gets down to that August time frame or late July and things are looking good maybe we‘ll try to hit a few more, but we‘ll kind of take it one step at a time.”

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Posted on by Staff Report

Brian Robie has only been racing for five years, but 2020 was by far the best of his career.

Before this season, Robie had only won one championship in his career. In 2020 he won three.

Robie was the Division I track champion at Claremont, Monadnock, and Hudson Speedways in New Hampshire. He won 10 races — tied for second most among any driver in the top 15 nationally — and had 29 top-five finishes in 31 races on the way to a fifth-place finish in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I standings.

Robie and his team started the 2020 season with a lot of uncertainty. They lost two engines in their modified the first race of the season at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida. He then went back home to the north and had to race at Hudson in the first year the track hosted modifieds.

It didn‘t take long to get on the right track though. Once he got back to a routine with weekly racing, Robie said “everything just took off from there.”

“We stayed consistent, we got a couple wins early, and then it was a little while before we got back to Victory Lane. Then it was a bunch at the end of the year, but we stayed consistent.”

It was that consistency that Robie said was the key for his team this season. That and going through the cars over the winter and coming into the season more prepared than in years past.

“The learning curve is still pretty steep, but it seemed like we got a pretty decent handle on what we needed to do to the cars at all three tracks to be consistent and finish up front,” he said.

Robie‘s real goal coming into the season was the New Hampshire state championship, an achievement he won by 16 points. Going for a state title was why he raced so many times at three tracks.

“The state championship, to me, is kind of one of those bigger accomplishments that people can be really proud of. I‘ve seen other guys win it and it was just one of those things I felt like I wanted to accomplish as least once. I wasn‘t necessarily sure if we could do it this year, but the way it turned out it played right into our hands and kind of exceeded expectations.”

It just so happened his strong racing week-to-week helped him find his name near the top of the national points, something that wasn‘t his intention and was a nice surprise.

“It worked out great,” he said. “I was really happy we were up in the top three for most of the year. It was kind of surprising, and certainly a neat thing to see.

“I certainly couldn‘t be happier with the way that all turned out.”

Five years into his racing career, Robie said his team has many accomplishments to be proud of. He knows there are a lot of racers who are in the sport a long time and never reach his level of success.

That doesn‘t mean he‘s satisfied, though.

“I‘m definitely proud of what we‘ve done and what we‘ve accomplished. What makes me feel even better about everything is I feel like we have even more left. I feel like we can do even better,” Robie said.

“It seems like every year we get better. If we can improve even a fraction of what we did from this year to next year we‘ll be in really great shape in general, regardless of where we run.”

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Posted on by Zack Albert

As the slick social media video that Kaulig Racing dropped Tuesday morning indicated, AJ Allmendinger could have alternated weekends in his semi-retirement years either dabbling with his spot stock-car starts or duffing golf balls into the second cut of rough.

Instead, the versatile 38-year-old veteran indicated that the competitive juices still flow on the back nine of his career. He’ll go from part-time duty to a full-season campaign for Matt Kaulig’s operation in 2021.

RELATED: On the Move: Sizing up next season | 2021 Xfinity Series schedule

Two main factors are driving him to return and potentially reinvent his career in NASCAR’s Xfinity tour: The appetite for the national-series title that’s so far eluded him and a sense of belonging with the tight-knit Kaulig group, which will expand to three full-time cars for the first time next year.

“It’s because I really wanted a shot to at least go after a championship. In my NASCAR life, quite honestly, I’ve never been in that position,” said Allmendinger, whose career has been largely spent with teams in either start-up or rebuilding mode. “So I’ve really enjoyed it. That’s it. In a way, it’s rejuvenated me of my love of NASCAR racing and being there. I just truly enjoy being at Kaulig Racing. It was like a fun start in 2019 and then this year, I wanted to keep doing more races because I was enjoying it. So when Matt Kaulig gave me this opportunity, I had to do it.”

Fun is the opposite of where Allmendinger seemed to be in September 2018, rounding out his last season in NASCAR’s Cup Series, 24th in the standings and with his departure from JTG Daugherty Racing looming after a five-year run. Back then, he addressed his future at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a press conference that took on a hushed, almost overwrought sense of loss. “You make it sound like I’m dying up here,” Allmendinger said, laughing to break the tension. “I just don’t have a job right now. That’s not my plan. I’m not leaving.”

Allmendinger never fully left motorsports, quickly finding a position with NBC Sports as part of its sports-car racing coverage team. He then linked up with Kaulig for a five-race slate in 2019 and bulked up his schedule to 11 Xfinity Series events last season. That scattering of races produced three wins, performances that synced up with Kaulig Racing’s rise in the circuit’s pecking order.

RELATED: Kaulig’s roster making waves (July 9)

Multiple trips to Victory Lane helped to stoke Allmendinger’s sense of revival, but so have the bonds he’s forged the last two seasons, starting with leadership from the front office of car owner Kaulig and team president Chris Rice. Allmendinger lauded their ability to encourage, but also their tendency not to sugarcoat expectations, sometimes in brutally honest terms — a “tough love” quality that the veteran driver says he freely returns.

The relationship has such a sense of mutual understanding that each side struck a deal with the other before committing to a full 33-race ride with the No. 16 Chevrolet — Allmendinger making sure that Kaulig’s resources weren’t spread too thin with an expansion to three full-time teams, and Rice making certain that Allmendinger had a way to opt out if a full schedule began to resemble drudgery.

“That’s what he wants me to make sure that every weekend, it’s not a job. This is fun,” Allmendinger said. “… I put all the pressure of the world on my shoulders, no matter whether I believe we truly have a shot to win a race or we don’t, it’s on my shoulders I feel like to try to make us better and to go that next step, so I’m still going to have that to a certain degree, but the fact is that if Chris — and he told me right away — he said if he sees it on my face, if he sees it in my demeanor and my actions, then we don’t need to keep doing this on my side of it, and we can go back to part-time and all that. I made that deal with him, and I’m in a different place in my life and I’m enjoying it.

“Sure, when I get to the race track and strap the helmet on, I’m going to put all the pressure on myself, just like I do in the part-time schedule. But away from it, it’s all about improving.”

Improvement has accompanied growth for Kaulig Racing, which fielded just one full-time Xfinity Series team as recently as 2019. Last season’s maturation to a two-car outfit also included Kaulig’s first venture into the Cup Series — a one-off effort for Justin Haley in the season-opening Daytona 500.

Allmendinger says he’s been involved in “small discussions” about a possible future for Kaulig Racing in NASCAR’s top series, but noted that the team’s most recent goals were focused on landing Jeb Burton for the team’s No. 10 ride, sealing Allmendinger’s full-time status for 2021 and concentrating on Haley’s championship bid in last month’s Xfinity Series finale.

In the shorter term, Allmendinger’s own title pursuit next year will face a powerful returning cast of Xfinity Series contenders, including defending champ Austin Cindric of Team Penske, plus stacked established lineups at JR Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing among the worthy challengers.

MORE: Cindric honored as 2020 champion

Allmendinger says he doesn’t expect the pressure he places on himself each race to change, but says he anticipates Kaulig, Rice and his teammates to keep the fun factor going — even if some tough love is involved.

“We know at the end of the day, we have each other’s backs, and it’s not finger-pointing against each other, it’s all going the same direction and that’s ultimately to try to win races and try to win a championship, and that’s what I love about it,” Allmendinger said. “But in the meantime, while we do that, it’s very enjoyable — whether we’re at the race track or at the shop or just hanging out, it’s just very enjoyable. And that’s why I love all the men and women at Kaulig Racing.”

Posted on by Staff Report

It was a season in which the term “new normal” wore out its welcome, but the 2020 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series crowned 33 Division I track champions, along with 24 U.S. state and Canadian provincial champions.

There were plenty of repeat names, like Keith Rocco, Erica Thiering and Craig Von Dohren — whose title collection has ranged into double digits. There were former national champions such as Rocco, Peyton Sellers and Jacob Goede who continue to reign at their home tracks.

Rocco etched his name in the NASCAR record book as his fifth SK Modified Division championship at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway gave him 18 NASCAR Division I titles for his career. The Wallingford, Connecticut, driver, who also made his ARCA Menards Series racing debut in the fall, had been tied with another former national champion, Nebraska’s Joe Kosiski, for the most track titles in NASCAR’s modern weekly series era (1982-present).

That spot belongs to Rocco alone now.

But there were plenty of new names and faces, raising their first NASCAR championships — from teenagers Dean Thompson in California and Cameron Bolin in South Carolina to 63-year-old John Cote in New York.

Brian Robie was the only driver win multiple track titles – claiming the Sportsman Modified championships at New Hampshire’s Claremont Motorsports Park, Hudson Speedway and Monadnock Speedway.

PHOTO GALLERY: 2020 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I Champions

Here’s a recap of the 2020 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I champions, by state/province:

Stu Laidlaw had eight top fives in all eight starts to edge former champion Tim Workman by four points for the Alaska championship. Laidlaw, from Anchorage, took home the GCI Late Model title at Alaska Raceway Park.

Thiering won her 11th track championship at Edmonton International Raceway, with five wins and nine top fives in nine Super Stock Division races. The Sherwood Park driver also won her 11th provincial crown.

Kole Raz, the 2019 Arizona rookie of the year, took both the Super Late Model championship at Arizona’s Tucson Speedway as well as the state title. The Lake Oswego, Oregon, driver, had five wins, nine top fives and nine top 10s in 10 starts. He won the state title on a tiebreaker (more wins) over Paul Banghart.

Dean Thompson won five of his first eight starts to the season en route to the LKQ Pick Your Parts Late Model title at California’s Irwindale Speedway. The Anaheim Hills teen also won the state championship on the strength of five wins, 13 top fives and 13 top 10s in 14 starts. Another teenager, Cole Moore, earned the Late Model championship at All American Speedway in Roseville. The Granite Bay driver had seven wins, 11 top fives and 12 top 10s in 12 starts.

Eddie Vecchiarelli won his first state title in Colorado, holding off Jonathan Knee, defending track champion Brett Yackey and seven-time state champion Bruce Yackey. Vecchiarelli, from Brighton, had nine wins and 13 top fives in 13 starts to win the Mountain States Fire Protection Super Late Model title at Colorado National Speedway.

Keith Rocco finished ninth in the national standings — the 13th time in the last 14 years he has been in the top 10. He had six wins, 10 top fives and 14 top 10s in 14 races, clinching Stafford’s SK Modified championship with a race remaining in the season. The 2010 national champion has won 12 of the last 13 Connecticut championships. He has won a track title every year but one (2012) since 2007.

Brad May started off the season winning Super Late Model Division of the the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway for the first time in his storied career. He finished by taking home his fourth track title at New Smyrna — on a tiebreaker with Michael Atwell — and his fourth Florida crown. The latter mark tied him with the late David Rogers, whose name now adorns the division at New Smyrna.

Eric Rhead collected nine wins, 17 top fives and 20 top 10s in 20 starts to win the ICCU Modified Division championship at Idaho’s Magic Valley Speedway. The North Salt Lake, Utah, driver also won his first Idaho title by beating out defending state champion Zach Webster. Brendan Fries won six times and had 17 top fives in 17 starts to earn the PitstopUSA.com Modified championship at Meridian Speedway.

Mike Beyer and Jon Reynolds Jr. split the honors in Illinois. Beyer had six top fives and 10 top 10s in 10 races to edge Reynolds by four points for the Machesney Park driver’s first state title. Reynolds picked up his third Late Model championship at Rockford Speedway on the strength of two wins, seven top fives and 10 top 10s.

Jesse Dennis had five wins, 11 top fives and 11 top 10s in 12 starts to win the championships for Iowa and the Poet Bio-Refining Modified Division at Adams County Speedway in his home town of Corning for the second straight year.

Defending national champion Jacob Goede rolled off five wins, 13 top fives and 17 top 10s in 18 races at Elko Speedway to win his seventh straight Late Model title at Elko. The Carver driver also extended his record with a seventh straight Minnesota crown.

Ben Schaller had a win, five top fives and six top 10s in six races at I-80 Speedway in Omaha, Nebraska, to win the Super Late Model championship. The dirt track veteran from Norfolk, also added a state championship to go with the one he won in 2016.

Brian Robie rolled in New Hampshire, piling up 10 wins, 29 top fives and 10 top 10s in 31 starts en route to Sportsman Modified titles at Claremont Motorsports Park, Hudson Speedway and Monadnock Speedway. The Sunapee driver also won the state title. Frankie Eldredge claimed the Rodfather Late Model Sportsman title at Lee USA Speedway. The Portsmouth driver had 10 wins and 11 top fives in 11 races.

Tom Rogers Jr. won his fifth track title at Riverhead Raceway and finally earned his first New York championship. The Modified driver had three wins, 10 top fives and 11 top 10s in 12 starts and edged Dylan Slepian by just six points for the state honors. John Cote, who has more than 100 feature wins on the dirt at Bethel Motor Speedway, added three more wins and 13 top fives in 13 starts. The New Milford, Connecticut, driver, has multiple Bethel championships over the years and won his first NASCAR title.

Josh Berry won the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national title thanks to his success in North Carolina. He won 19 of his 22 races in the Tar Heel State, adding 27 top fives in 27 starts between Southern National Raceway Park in Kenly and Hickory Motor Speedway. A 2012 track champion at Virginia’s Motor Mile and 2017 champion at Hickory, the Statesville driver added his first NASCAR state title to his resume. Ryan Millington used six wins, 20 top fives and 21 top 10s in 23 starts to win the Late Model Stock Car title at Hickory. The Washington driver also won the Hickory championship in 2017, when he became the youngest champion in track history. Mason Diaz took his second track title at Southern National, with a win and 12 top fives in 12 races. The Manassas driver also won the title at his home track in 2017.

Like Illinois, Oklahoma had split champions. Greg Skaggs had four top five finishes and eight top 10s in 13 starts to win the Lakeland Real Estate NE OK Modified champion at Salina Highbanks Speedway. The Broken Arrow driver edged Jared Russell by 18 points. Russell, though, won his first state title with three wins, 10 top fives in 12 starts.

Brody Montgomery used two wins and 12 top fives in 12 starts to sweep the America’s Mattress Super Late Model Division at Coos Bay Speedway and the Oregon championships. The Brandon driver also won the state title in 2018.

Craig Von Dohren had two wins, 10 top fives and 13 top 10s in 14 starts in the TP Trailers Modified Division at Grandview Speedway in Bechtesville, Pennsylvania. It was enough to give Von Dohren his 11th track championship at Grandview and his fifth state title. The Oley driver won the latter by just four points over five-time track champion Duane Howard.

Sam Yarborough and Cameron Bolin won track honors, while Will Burns took the big prize in South Carolina. Yarborough had six wins in seven races in winning his sixth title at his home town track, Myrtle Beach Speedway, in the track’s final year. Bolin had three wins, 15 top fives and 17 top 10s in 17 races at Greenville Pickens Speedway as the Sharon, North Carolina, driver added his name to the wall of champions at the historic track. Burns, the 2017 Greenville champion, from Simpsonville, had three wins, 11 top fives and 12 top 10s in 13 starts between Greenville and Myrtle Beach.

Kres Van Dyke had a record-breaking year at Kingsport Speedway. The 40-year-old Abingdon driver closed the year with 15 straight wins. He easily won the Late Model Stock Car championship at Kingsport and his fourth Tennessee title.

Jake Wright celebrated Houston Motorsports Park’s return to NASCAR with the Advance Auto Parts Pro Truck Series championship. The Waxahachie driver had four wins and top fives in all seven races to also win the Texas title.

Former national champion Peyton Sellers has five track titles at South Boston Speedway. The Danville driver turned his attention to another Virginia track, winning 10 times and picking up 24 top fives and top 10s in 25 stars at Dominion Speedway for the track and state championships. Brendan Queen won the year’s biggest event at Langley Speedway, the Hampton Heat, and then closed out the Taylor Waste Services Late Model Stock Car championship with a win, 14 top fives and 15 top 10s in 15 races.

Daniel Moore and Tyson Lang split trophies in Washington. Both had a win and six top fives in six races at Evergreen Speedway. Moore won the state title by six points over Lang. Lang, the son of five-time track Naima Lang, won his first Speedway Chevrolet Pro Late Model championship by 16 points over Moore and Dario Retych.

Nick Murgic has won plenty over his career, including the Dick Trickle 99 Super Late Model race at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway last year. The son of former NASCAR regional series champion Steve Murgic, Nick had three wins, 14 top fives and 17 top 10s in 18 starts at Lacrosse to take the Kwik Trip Late Model championship over multi-time champion Steve Carlson. Nick Murgic also won his first Wisconsin title.

 

 

 

Posted on by Zack Albert

Kaulig Racing announced Tuesday that AJ Allmendinger will return to full-time competition in the NASCAR Xfinity Series next season, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet in all 33 races.

The move brings the Matt Kaulig-owned organization up to three full-time entries in the Xfinity Series. Allmendinger, 38, joins fellow full-timer Justin Haley and newcomer Jeb Burton on the team’s driver roster for next year.

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Allmendinger indicated in a video posted from his social-media accounts Sunday he would return to Kaulig Racing in 2021 but said he didn’t have “a set schedule next year” for his driving workload. The campaign will mark Allmendinger’s first full NASCAR season since 2018, when he competed in the Cup Series for JTG-Daugherty Racing.

“As a part-time driver for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity series, I have really enjoyed working with all the women and men in the organization these past two years,” Allmendinger said in a statement provided by the team. “The love of showing up to NASCAR races has returned for me, and I truly have enjoyed myself on and off the race track. It starts with Matt Kaulig and (team president) Chris Rice. I can’t thank them enough for giving me a call at the start of 2019 and offering me races that continued into 2020.

Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

“More than anything, I have really loved being part of the team and watching the growth of the organization, and because of that, the opportunity to come back full time in 2021 was something I just could not pass up.”

Allmendinger won twice in Kaulig equipment last season, competing in 11 events — an increase from his five-race slate for the team in 2019. Those victories included his first national-series victory on an oval track as he prevailed at Atlanta Motor Speedway in June, then a repeat triumph in his road-racing wheelhouse on the soggy Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in October.

“Having AJ race full time for Kaulig Racing will only elevate our program to another level,” said Rice, who has been team president of Kaulig Racing since February 2019. “I truly believe his veteran experience has helped us in every race he has ever run with us, and that is evident in his finishes. I’m sure he will complement our other two great drivers we already have, as he’s been a great teammate since day one. I love the challenge in front of us to go after the championship in 2021 with all three of our drivers.”

Kaulig Racing started as a single-car operation in 2016 and grew to two full-time entries last season. Allmendinger has produced three of Kaulig Racing’s seven Xfinity Series wins, with Justin Haley (three wins) and Ross Chastain (one win) scoring the others.

Kaulig Racing indicated sponsorship for Allmendinger’s No. 16 Chevrolet would be announced at a later date.