Posted on by Staff Report

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel upheld a behavior penalty to NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Mike Wallace for violating its member conduct guidelines.

NASCAR issued an indefinite suspension to Wallace on Sept. 10 for a social media post that the 61-year-old driver made.

According to the original penalty report, Wallace violated NASCAR Rule Book Sections 12.1, 12.8 and 12.8.1.e (Member Conduct Guidelines), the last of which states:

“Member actions that could result in a fine and/or indefinite suspension, or termination:

“Public statement and/or communication that criticizes, ridicules, or otherwise disparages another person based upon that person’s race, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, or handicapping condition.”

Wallace was ordered to do sensitivity training in order to be eligible for reinstatement.

The panel consisted of the following three individuals:

— Mr. Dixon Johnston
— Mr. Bill Lester
— Mr. Kevin Whitaker

The appellant has the right to appeal the decision of the National Motorsports Appeal Panel to the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer in accordance with Section 15 of the NASCAR Rule Book.

Wallace has driven the No. 0 Chevrolet for owner Johnny Davis in three NASCAR Xfinity Series events this season and has four wins in 497 Xfinity starts as part of his national series career.

Posted on by Sean Montgomery

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the “Entertainment Capital of the World” for the Round of 12 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET (NCBSN/NBC Sports App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Before this weekend’s Sin City showcase, check out a few important things to know.

RELATED: Full Las Vegas schedule | Paint Scheme Preview

TRACK DETAILS

Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile oval located in Las Vegas Valley, Nevada. First opened in 1996, the track is relatively new compared to many on the current circuit, but it still has its share of electric history. Adopted by NASCAR’s premier series in 1998, Mark Martin powered his way to the first ever victory at the track — and in its 25-race history, no one has more wins than Jimmie Johnson (four).

Las Vegas boasts an asphalt racing surface with 20-degree banking in the turns and 9- to 12-degree baking in the straights.

STAGE LENGTHS

Stage 1 will end at Lap 80, Stage 2 at Lap 160 and the Final Stage at Lap 267.

STARTING LINEUP

Playoff points leader Kevin Harvick will wheel the No. 4 Steward-Haas Ford out in front of the field Sunday, earning his fifth Busch Pole Award of the season and second of the playoffs. Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola and Joey Logano complete the top five.

The lineup was determined by four performance metrics from the Cup Series’ previous race: 15% based on fastest lap time position, 25% of the driver’s final race finish position, 25% of the owner’s final race position and 35% of the owner points position.

RELATED: Full starting lineup | Pit-stall assignments

RULES PACKAGE

Cup Series cars will feature the same 1.5-mile racing package used in 2019 and the 2020 spring Vegas race, with aero ducts and a tapered-spacer engine generating a targeted 550 horsepower.

GOODYEAR TIRES

Each Cup team will have nine sets of Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials for the race.

With limited on-track practice time and testing, Goodyear Racing has relied even more heavily on feedback from the drivers and their teams to develop an effective compound at each track. After receiving this feedback at the conclusion of the first half of the season, changes were made to the right-side compound for a series of tracks, starting this weekend at Las Vegas. Increased grip at tracks with lower tire wear will be an increased focus with the new compound to allow optimum performance.

“Key to making the optimum tire recommendation is the review of all the data that is generated, whether it be from practices throughout a weekend, testing, or as is the only opportunity right now, from the actual races,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “What we’ve seen and heard at several of the low-wear tracks, is the Cup cars could stand to have a little more grip, so we have made a step in that direction for Las Vegas, as well as Kansas and Texas. Vegas and Texas shared the same tire set-up at their earlier races, and we brought that same right-side to Kansas as well, so they have been basically aligned all season.  They remain so with this new right side as we enhance the grip level at all three.”

PLAYOFF STATS TO KNOW

— Kevin Harvick holds the longest active streak of NASCAR Playoffs victories with nine consecutive seasons featuring at least one trip to Victory Lane. Jimmie Johnson is the all-time record holder at 13 in a row.

— Ford dominated the Round of 16, winning each of the three races: Kevin Harvick winning twice (Darlington Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway) and Brad Keselowski once (Richmond Raceway).

— Only two of the 163 NASCAR Playoffs races were won by drivers getting their first win: Clint Bowyer in 2007 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Brian Vickers in 2006 at Talladega Superspeedway.

— Nine of the remaining playoff drivers have wins at tracks in the Round of 12, but only six of them have ever made it to the Championship 4.

Source: Racing Insights

INTERACTIVE COVERAGE

For a more interactive experience, head over to NASCAR.com or the NASCAR app to check out an enhanced Race Center, live Lap-by-Lap coverage, the customizable live leaderboard with Scanner (which is FREE for both races) and the return of Drive (featuring in-car cameras).

Be sure to set your lineup in Fantasy Live and make your picks in the NASCAR Finish Line App.

2019 RACE WINNER

Martin Truex Jr. sped away from Kevin Harvick in last year’s playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Truex and the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team put forth an exceptional effort all afternoon, charging forward from a 24th starting position and leading 32 laps to secure their fifth checkered flag of the season.

RELATED: Vegas odds, lines

ACTIVE LAS VEGAS WINNERS

Jimmie Johnson (four wins); Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski (three each); Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano (two each); Kyle Busch (one).

 

Posted on by Pat DeCola

For the past handful of years, The Martin Truex Jr. Foundation has auctioned off race-used, autographed steering wheels as a fundraising program to generate awareness and funding for childhood and ovarian cancers.

Like with many things in 2020, COVID-19 had other plans.

“We planned on doing that again and keeping that going but with COVID it was turning into a big problem to get the steering wheels because they’re made in Italy,” Truex Jr. told NASCAR.com.

The brains at the MTJF got together and devised an audible, working with The NASCAR Foundation to implement the Honor A Cancer Hero program, an online auction to put the names of cancer victims, survivors, medical personnel and caregivers on the signature panel of cars in this weekend’s races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. September is childhood and ovarian cancer awareness month, and those nominated will get the chance to “ride” with their favorite drivers.

MORE: MTJ Foundation, The NASCAR Foundation team up

In total, the joint effort netted more than $90,000 after seeing more than 50 drivers across all three national series donate their signature panel above their driver and passenger side windows – where their name typically lies.

“Kind of had to shift gears there and come up with another idea and the people at the Foundation came up with this. It’s a great idea and it’s worked well and just really thankful for everybody that participated and for NASCAR getting involved.

“From the teams, the sponsors, the drivers, everybody that allowed us to do this, it’s really special. Obviously, it’s been a tough year to raise money for the Foundation and this is a way to hopefully try to make up for some of that.”

The NASCAR garage is a tight one, and it’s not uncommon to see the collective join together for the greater good. The drivers, the crews, the teams … they’re all competitors. Causes like this, however, transcend sport.

MORE: See the cancer heroes being honored

“I think we’ve seen it time and time again, you know? It doesn’t matter, if somebody is up against something or somebody is going through a bad time or trying to raise money to help other people, I feel like as an industry we always get together and help each other any way we can,” Truex said. “We’ve seen it in the past and as a person who helps run the Foundation, I’m just really thankful for everybody that participates.

“Not surprised at all, but very thankful as always.”

Posted on by Track Release

PHOENIX — Beginning Saturday, August 1, the Arizona Lottery introduced the first-ever NASCAR Championship Weekend Fast Play ticket and an all-new Players Club promotion. Only $2 to play, every ticket, both winning and non-winning, may be entered to win monthly cash prizes and VIP NASCAR experiences at Phoenix Raceway.

The ticket features a starting progressive jackpot of $3,000 and includes over $2 million in total prizes. Players can also enter other eligible $1, $2 and $5 Fast Play tickets for more entries into the promotion, receiving five entries for each $5 ticket, two entries for each $2 ticket, and one entry for each $1 ticket (up to 20 tickets daily). However, the $2 NASCAR Championship Weekend Fast Play ticket is worth five times the entries.

“This is an extremely unique promotional opportunity for Phoenix Raceway and for our sport,” said Phoenix Raceway President Julie Giese. “The Arizona Lottery is an amazing partner and we’re honored to have our own Fast Play ticket hit the market throughout Arizona. Not only can fans play for the chance to win amazing cash prizes and priceless VIP fan experiences here at Phoenix Raceway, but they’re also supporting Arizona Lottery’s important mission in giving back to our communities through a variety of charitable programs.”

In the Players Club promotion, 10 lucky players will win $5,000 cash and a VIP experience during NASCAR Championship Weekend at Phoenix Raceway. At the end of the promotion, one winner will take home $10,000. Players can enter on the Players Club app or at AZPlayersClub.com.

“Hosting NASCAR Championship Weekend is an amazing opportunity to showcase Arizona to the racing world and the pulse-pounding Arizona Lottery 100 will again highlight some of the best young talent in NASCAR,” said Arizona Lottery Executive Director Gregg Edgar. “What better way could there be to bring our players along for this wild ride than with an exciting new NASCAR Championship Weekend themed Fast Play ticket and second chance promotion. We are proud of our long-standing partnership with Phoenix Raceway that has helped fuel more than a dozen vital Arizona programs for years, from higher education to supporting foster children. It’s a win-win for everyone!”

For more information on the Arizona Lottery and the new NASCAR Championship Weekend Fast Play ticket, visit ArizonaLottery.com.

Posted on by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick won the Busch Pole Award for Sunday’s South Point 400 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The lineup was determined using NASCAR’s competition-based formula, which is a total number based on the previous event: 15% of a fastest lap time position, 25% of the driver’s final race finish position, 25% of the owner’s final race position and 35% of the Owner Points position.

RELATED: Learn more about the new lineup formula | ADVANCING through the playoffs

The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford driver will be joined by Kyle Busch on the front row in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

In the majority of national series events since NASCAR’s May return, starting lineups have been set by random draws. The new structure draws on performance from both individual races and season-long results, rather than leaving a range of starting spots up to chance.

See the full starting lineup for Sunday’s race below.

Starting spot Driver Car # Team
1 Kevin Harvick (P) 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
2 Kyle Busch (P) 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
3 Chase Elliott (P) 9 Hendrick Motorsports
4 Aric Almirola (P) 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
5 Joey Logano (P) 22 Team Penske
6 Clint Bowyer (P) 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
7 Austin Dillon (P) 3 Richard Childress Racing
8 Alex Bowman (P) 88 Hendrick Motorsports
9 Kurt Busch (P) 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
10 Denny Hamlin (P) 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
11 Martin Truex Jr. (P) 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
12 Brad Keselowski (P) 2 Team Penske
13 Erik Jones 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
14 Tyler Reddick 8 Richard Childress Racing
15 Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske
16 Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway Racing
17 Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports
18 Jimmie Johnson 48 Hendrick Motorsports
19 Matt DiBenedetto 21 Wood Brothers Racing
20 Matt Kenseth 42 Chip Ganassi Racing
21 Ryan Preece 37 JTG Daugherty Racing
22 Cole Custer 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
23 Bubba Wallace 43 Richard Petty Motorsports
24 Ty Dillon 13 Germain Racing
25 John Hunter Nemechek 38 Front Row Motorsports
26 Christopher Bell 95 Leavine Family Racing
27 Ryan Newman 6 Roush Fenway Racing
28 William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports
29 Daniel Suarez 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing
30 Gray Gaulding 27 Rick Ware Racing
31 Corey LaJoie 32 Go Fas Racing
32 Quin Houff 00 StarCom Racing
33 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
34 Joey Gase 51 Petty Ware Racing
35 Brennan Poole 15 Premium Motorsports
36 Timmy Hill 66 Motorsports Business Management
37 JJ Yeley 77 Spire Motorsports
38 Josh Bilicki 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing
39 Chad Finchum 49 Motorsports Business Management
Posted on by Staff Report

Reaction to the entrance of Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin into the ranks of NASCAR team ownership with Bubba Wallace as their driver for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series was wide-ranging after Monday night’s blockbuster news.

The single-car team won’t hit the track until next year, but the reaction through social media was already overwhelmingly positive. A sampling:

Posted on by Terrin Waack

As the playoffs kick off this weekend, Ross Chastain can’t afford to lose sight of his season-long goal: the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship. It’s just seven races away now.

On Monday, however, Chip Ganassi Racing announced Chastain will take over its No. 42 Chevrolet for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.

RELATED: Chip Ganassi Racing taps Ross Chastain for 2021

“I don’t know, if I’m being honest, that I can truthfully say right now or throughout the week it’s not a little bit of a distraction,” Chastain said Tuesday during the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs Media Day. “There’s more eyeballs. There’s more talk in and around us.

“But I know this group – the 10 and 11 teams at Kaulig Racing – is 100 percent committed to these seven races.”

Chastain qualified for the postseason on the basis of points. He’s the eighth seed with 10 bonus points, and teammate Justin Haley in the No. 11 Kaulig car sits sixth. Four of the 12 drivers will be cut after the opening Round of 12, meaning Chastain currently sits in the hot spot.

The No. 10 Chevrolet has yet to make it to Victory Lane. Instead, Chastain has 13 top-five and 23 top-10 performances – good for a 7.9 average finish.

“Narrowing in on this Xfinity Series run with the 42 car out in front of us, I’m staring down the barrel of a championship run with this 10 team that is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” Chastain said. “I was able to experience a lot last year with Niece Motorsports and our championship run, but it wasn’t building. We didn’t have the mentality that we’re building for Phoenix all year. It came late. … This has been methodical, planned out over the course of the year to build a notebook to be ready for Phoenix. That’s all I can focus on right now. Next year will happen in due time.”

In 2019, Chastain ran the No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet full time in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series to a runner-up showing in the final standings. He was part time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In 19 starts – six of which were with Kaulig Racing – he won one race and tallied two top fives and five top 10s.

As someone who normally tries to race in as many national-series events as he can – he tallied 77 races last year – Chastain hopes he can still get seat time with Kaulig Racing in 2021.

“It’s not lost on me what this team has done,” Chastain said. “Without this team, I don’t know that I get the nod back with Chip and the 42 car to be honest.”

RELATED: Silly Season’s key figures | Xfinity Series standings

Matt Kenseth drives the No. 42 entry right now, but he was signed as a fill-in after Chip Ganassi Racing ended its relationship with Kyle Larson during NASCAR’s COVID-19 shutdown earlier this season. The car needed a new driver for next year, and Chastain already had a relationship with Ganassi.

But, as Chastain said, he’s not fully thinking about 2021 yet. There are things he needs to see through first.

Chastain’s 2020 title pursuit continues Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the Alsco 300 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“Just be the best I can inside that 10 car this weekend on Saturday, that’s all I can do,” Chastain said. “The best part about being a race-car driver is when I put my Bell helmet on and I latch that chin strap, it changes. It changes me, it changes my mentality. There’s nothing else in the world that matters.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Basking in victory, Joey Gase couldn’t resist the light-hearted dig.

The 27-year-old Gase, who has taken some degree of scorn from Kyle Busch for his pace in underfunded equipment in the NASCAR Cup Series, won in the DNQ Karting Series on Monday night at Millbridge Speedway near Salisbury, North Carolina. On social media, Gase said he pulled a last-lap crossover move to pass Mike Contarino, who has a number in common with Busch — No. 18.

Gase is still looking for his first top-10 finish in the Cup Series, but proudly showed off the trophy he brought home Monday to twin sons Jace and Carson.

Posted on by Staff Report

Majority owner Michael Jordan and minority owner Denny Hamlin announced Sept. 22 their formation of a single-car team, with Bubba Wallace as the driver. Jordan and Hamlin have agreed to purchase a Charter, paving the way for the team’s creation.

RELATED: Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin to start team with Bubba Wallace

It was on Feb. 9, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina, that NASCAR executives and team owners stood together to announce a landmark long-term agreement on an owner Charter system.

The agreement provided teams with an increased business certainty and the ability to work more closely with NASCAR to continue to produce best-in-class racing.

Below are a few key points about the Charter agreement:

— This was announced in 2016 as a long-term agreement. Earlier in 2020, NASCAR President Steve Phelps announced an extension of the Charter system through 2024. “The Charter agreement is delivering stability and long-term value to existing team owners while providing a clear path for ownership in the NASCAR Cup Series,” Phelps said.  ” … A healthy ownership structure ensures strong, competitive racing for our fans, which is a goal the industry collectively shares.”

— There are 36 Charter teams. The number 36 was not pre-determined — back in 2016, NASCAR analyzed which teams showed a long-term commitment to the sport by attempting to qualify every week for the past three years. That criteria yielded 36 Charters.

— A Charter guarantees entry (and therefore, a portion of the purse) into the field of every NASCAR Cup Series points race.

— Teams may sell their Charters on the open market.

— Charter owners may transfer their Charter to another team, for one full season, once over the first five years of the agreement.

— Charter teams are held to a minimum performance standard. If a Charter team finishes in the bottom three of the owner standings among all 36 Charter teams for three consecutive years, NASCAR has a right to remove the charter.

— Organizations now have a hard cap of four cars; there no longer is the ability to run a fifth car for rookie drivers.

— NASCAR Cup Series fields consist of 40 cars — a change made, from 43 cars previously, when the Charter system was initially announced. That means 36 Charter teams are guaranteed to make every points race, and four non-Charter (or “open”) teams will complete the rest of the field.