Posted on by Team Release

STATESVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 27, 2020) — GMS Racing officials announced today that NASCAR champion and two-time Southern 500 winner, Greg Biffle, will pilot the No. 24 Chevrolet for the upcoming NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race at Darlington Speedway.

Biffle has accumulated an impressive resume throughout his NASCAR career with two championships and 56 wins across all three national series. The 50-year-old has six years of experience in the Gander Trucks and has collected one championship, 17 wins, 43 top fives, 55 top 10s and 12 pole awards in the series.

“I’m excited to get back behind the wheel of a Gander Truck,” said Biffle. “GMS Racing produces competitive trucks week in and week out. So needless to say when I got the chance to drive one of their Chevrolets, at one of my favorite tracks, I couldn’t turn it down. I’m thankful for this opportunity and I can’t wait to get to Darlington with this GMS Racing team.”

Biffle will take to the track in The South Carolina Education Lottery 200 at 2 p.m. ET on Sept. 6 at Darlington Raceway (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Biffle’s sponsorship and paint scheme will be announced at a later date.

Posted on by Staff Report

Noah Gragson will return to JR Motorsports and the No. 9 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the 2021 season.

RELATED: Key players in Silly Season

The news was conveyed via a video on Twitter starring Gragson and team co-owner Kelley Earnhardt Miller.

https://twitter.com/NoahGragson/status/1299056191377747968

 

Gragson stirred social media into a frenzy with an Instagram Live last night and tweet involving a pen emoji that hinted at big news for the 22-year-old.

https://twitter.com/NoahGragson/status/1298839338604789761

The 2020 season marks Gragson second with JRM. He has already won two races this season to qualify for the playoffs and ranks third in the standings.

“I’m so glad we were able to get this deal done,” Gragson said in a Friday news release from JR Motorsports. “This year has been great as we have a couple wins and are sitting third in the championship standings with a few races left before the playoffs. The No. 9 team along with everyone at the shop prepares fast cars every week and I can’t wait to drive their cars again next year. I’m so thankful for Kelley, Dale and everyone else at JRM. They treat everyone like family and they have become an extended family of mine.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Jeffrey Earnhardt revealed a Darlington throwback scheme that will not only honor seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt but also pay homage to Kerry Earnhardt, Jeffrey Earnhardt’s father. The sharp, golden look will be on Jeffrey Earnhardt’s No. 0 JD Motorsports Chevrolet for the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 on Sept. 5 at Darlington Raceway (12:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The scheme is a replica of a Bass Pro Shops look that both the ‘Intimidator’ and Kerry Earnhardt used at different times in the NASCAR Cup Series. First, here’s Jeffrey’s scheme for this season:

Jdm Jeffrey Earnhardt Darlington

And here are the cars of Dale and Kerry that Jeffrey’s car is emulating:

Jdm Dale Kerry Earnhardt Scheme

Posted on by Staff Report

There is one NASCAR Cup Series regular-season race remaining before the start of the NASCAR Playoffs. Entering Saturday’s race at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), here’s who is locked into the field and who can clinch on points — and who must win their way into the postseason.

RELATED: Full weekend schedule

Already clinched

The following 13 drivers have clinched a spot in the 16-driver postseason field: Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and Cole Custer.

Can clinch via points

If there is a new winner, the following drivers could clinch by being ahead of the sixth winless driver in the standings.

• Clint Bowyer: Would clinch with 3 points (so he could clinch as early as the end of Stage 1)
• Matt DiBenedetto: Would clinch with 51 points
• William Byron: Could only clinch with help
• Jimmie Johnson: Could only clinch with help

If there is a repeat winner, the following drivers could clinch by being ahead of the seventh winless driver in the standings. They would also clinch if there was a new winner among (Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Matt DiBenedetto or William Byron) and being ahead of the sixth winless driver in the standings.

• Clint Bowyer: Would clinch regardless of finish
• Matt DiBenedetto: Would clinch with 47 points
• William Byron: Would clinch with 52 points
• Jimmie Johnson: Could only clinch with help
• Erik Jones: Could only clinch with help

Can clinch via a win

The following drivers would clinch on their win alone: Clint Bowyer, Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron, Jimmie Johnson, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Ryan Newman, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece.

The following driver could clinch with a win and some help clinching a Top 30 position: Daniel Suarez

Posted on by Staff Report

Martin Truex Jr. revealed a Darlington throwback paint scheme Wednesday that harkens back to Hank Parker Jr. and Bass Pro Shops’ first full primary sponsorship. Parker ran the scheme for Chance2 Motorsports at the NASCAR Xfinity Series race in 2003 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Darlington throwback paint schemes

Truex, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 19 Toyota, will sport the look for the NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener Sept. 6 at Darlington Raceway in the Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 26, 2020) — NASCAR announced today a multiyear Official Partnership with Oura Health, the technology company behind the smart ring that provides users with biometrics and analysis into their sleep and overall health to improve performance and monitor for potential illness. Through the partnership, Oura becomes an Official Health Technology Partner of NASCAR.

After rigorous vetting by NASCAR, Oura emerged as an accurate and efficient solution to advance the organization’s approach to health and wellness. As part of the agreement, NASCAR Cup Series drivers and key operational employees across the sanctioning body will be provided with an Oura Ring, which delivers personalized readiness, activity and sleep insights to provide a holistic picture of a person’s health.

By monitoring changes in an individual’s temperature, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV) and respiratory rate, Oura Rings can also potentially detect abnormal fluctuations in asymptomatic carriers as well as previously healthy individuals who are experiencing the onset of a disease. Oura Rings have been used in TemPredict, a study at University of California, San Francisco, and in a separate study at the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI) West Virginia University — contributing to a growing body of research on illness detection, symptom profiles, and recovery.

“In today’s challenging environment Oura Rings provide an edge to keep our athletes and employees safe,” said John Bobo, Vice President, Racing Operations. “Oura’s advanced technology will work glove in hand with NASCAR’s safety protocols. What impressed us was the quality of data that Oura collects, and how high performing athletes and individuals can use that to improve their performance. We also look forward to a long-term partnership and what we can learn from Oura in the years ahead.”

Building on significant advancements in research, and its long-standing Oura Teams product, Oura has developed the Health Risk Management (HRM) platform to help support NASCAR’s safety protocols. This platform assigns a unique Risk Score to participating athletes and staff members. The score indicates the likelihood that an individual is experiencing symptoms that correlate with illness. In the event someone is experiencing symptoms, Oura will send an alert directly to the individual and inform them of the recommended next steps, such as taking a COVID-19 test, seeking further medical attention or isolating themselves from others.

“We are thrilled to join NASCAR in its effort to provide employees and athletes with the most accurate data and insights to help improve their overall health and assist in detecting the early onset of illness,” said Harpreet Singh Rai, CEO, Oura Health. “Our goal is to help NASCAR and its industry make more informed decisions as they enter the Playoffs, with an eye towards the future and the performance benefits our technology can provide.”

To protect the privacy of participants, the HRM platform is designed to be 100% voluntary and opt-in only. Drivers and league personnel can ask to be removed from the program at any time. All biometric data collected will remain private. Additionally, the Oura Ring does not track user location.

Fittings for the initial phase of the Oura Ring deployment in NASCAR are scheduled to begin in the coming week, with the goal of all participating NASCAR Cup Series drivers and employees being outfitted by the first round of the Playoffs.

Posted on by Staff Report

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season has been an unusual one, and a pivotal moment arrives this weekend at Daytona International Speedway. The historic 2.5-mile track hosts the regular-season finale for the first time with Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Daytona will also hold a race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series before the weekend culminates in the track’s annual 400-miler, moved from its usual Independence Day slot. The 16-driver field for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will be determined after the event. Three spots are still up for grabs.

Here’s all the info for taking in the Cup Series’ 26th points-paying race of the season:

RELATED: How to follow the races | Daytona weekend schedule

TRACK DETAILS

Daytona International Speedway, the “World Center of Racing,” is a 2.5-mile superspeedway that opened for racing in 1959. The 3,800-foot frontstretch has a tri-oval bend at the start-finish line that’s banked at 18 degrees. The backstretch measures 3,000 feet, and the turns are banked at a 31-degree tilt.

Bob Welborn is listed as the track’s first Cup Series winner on Feb. 20, 1959, claiming a 100-mile Daytona 500 qualifying race, which for years counted as an official event. The first Daytona 500 crown-jewel race was held two days later with NASCAR Hall of Famer Lee Petty taking the laurels in a photo finish over Johnny Beauchamp.

Saturday’s event will mark the 147th official Cup Series race at the 2.5-mile track, which replaced speed trials and a beach-road course on the shores of the Atlantic. The track has scheduled its summertime event to be held under the lights since 1998.

STAGE LENGTHS

Stage 1 is set to end at Lap 50, Stage 2 at Lap 100, with the full distance scheduled for 160 laps (400 miles).

STARTING LINEUP

For the third weekend this year, the starting lineup and pit-stall selection are determined by three weighted performance metrics. The competition-based formula replaces the grouped random-draw element that was used during the bulk of the 2020 regular season. Competition officials announced July 21 all three national series would continue to race without practice or qualifying through the end of the year.

The formula uses three performance metrics, which will be weighted and averaged to determine the lineup and pit selection order:

  • Finishing position from the previous race (weighted 50%)
  • Ranking in team owner points standings (35%)
  • Fastest lap from the previous race (15%)

The competition-based formula also brings back the awarding of the Busch Pole Award in the NASCAR Cup Series.

RELATED: Official lineup | Pit stall selections

RULES PACKAGE

A revised 2020 NASCAR rules package for superspeedways will be in effect, with engine restrictions designed for a target horsepower around 510 with a smaller throttle body. Changes were made to reduce the closing rate of cars making dramatic aerodynamic gains. The cars will not be equipped with aero ducts. Other aerodynamic measures — including a 9-inch rear spoiler plus wicker and a two-inch splitter overhang — will be used. Officials added other superspeedway safety measures May 1 before the series’ most recent race at sister track Talladega Superspeedway.

No choose rule will be in effect for restarts this weekend. The choose procedure — implemented for most national-series races in an Aug. 6 announcement — does not apply to superspeedways or road courses.

GOODYEAR TIRES

Teams in both the Cup and Xfinity Series will compete on the same Goodyear Eagle Superspeedway Radials that were used during Daytona’s Speedweeks in February. The tire setup first debuted in the Cup Series in July 2019, when the tire construction was last updated. The last refinement to the tread compound came in July 2017, when both left- and right-side tires were modified to increase grip.

“Having mechanical grip in the tires gives the cars the needed stability with the tight-style racing we see at Daytona,” said Greg Stucker, director of Goodyear’s racing operations. “We build in mechanical grip with the tread compounds we choose. We fine-tuned that choice for Daytona in 2017 and then followed up with a test the day after the 2019 Daytona 500, which led us to updating the constructions of the tires in this set-up as well.  Those constructions added a little more stagger to this set-up, which also enhances the handling of the cars through the corners.”

Cup Series teams will have seven sets of tires allotted for their Saturday night race. Xfinity Series teams will be allotted four sets of tires their 100-lap, 250-mile race Friday night.

STATS TO KNOW

— Three playoff berths remain for the claiming in the regular-season finale. Clint Bowyer sits 14th on the provisional playoff grid with enough of a points cushion to clinch, barring a catastrophe and other unlikely fates aligning for his pursuers. Matt DiBenedetto ranks 15th, just five points ahead of William Byron in 16th and nine points ahead of Jimmie Johnson, who lurks just outside the provisional field. The possibility also remains for an eligible driver well outside the playoff bubble to clinch a spot with a last-minute Daytona victory.

— Martin Truex Jr.’s consistency knows few bounds as his most recent finishes, dating to Kansas Speedway on July 23, read like this: 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2. It’s the longest streak of top-three finishes without a win in Cup Series history. Truex aims to end another streak Saturday — 0-for-61 for his Cup Series career in superspeedway races,. the longest drought among active drivers.

— Toyota has won three of the last four Cup Series races at Daytona, including two consecutive Daytona 500 wins from Denny Hamlin. Chevrolet’s most recent Daytona win came as a rain-shortened upset in this race last year by Justin Haley and Spire Motorsports. Ford last won at Daytona with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 2017, during his time with Roush Fenway Racing.

— Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney has the hot hand at the series’ big ovals, finishing first or second in the last three superspeedway events. That streak includes a pair of Talladega wins and a runner-up result in the season-opening Daytona 500.

— Starting position hasn’t had a huge impact on determining a Daytona winner in recent years. The starting positions of the last five Daytona victors: 14th, 29th, 10th, 34th, 21st. The last time a driver won from the pole position came in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s triumph in the summer of 2015.

— The last driver to sweep Daytona’s two annual events was Jimmie Johnson, who went 2-for-2 in 2013. Before that, the most recent driver to seal a Daytona season sweep was Bobby Allison in 1982.

Source: Racing Insights, NASCAR statistics

LIVE COVERAGE

Daytona’s weekend schedule begins with Friday night’s Xfinity Series race, the Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

On Saturday, the NASCAR Cup Series holds the Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

In other national-series events, the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series visits World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway for a Sunday start (noon ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The ARCA Menards Series also returns to the 1.25-mile Gateway track for a Saturday evening show (6:15 p.m. ET on NBC TrackPass Gold and MRN).

RELATED: Ways to follow the races

For a more interactive experience, steer 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 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.

ACTIVE DAYTONA WINNERS

Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson (three wins); Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth (two wins); Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Justin Haley, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (one win).

Posted on by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick sped his way to the Busch Pole Award for Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App) following a sterling performance in the second race of a Dover doubleheader.

The lineup was determined using NASCAR’s new competition-based formula, which takes into account finishing position from the previous race (weighted 50%), ranking in team owner points (35%) and the fastest lap from the previous race (15%) — and Harvick placed first in all categories.

RELATED: Learn more about the new lineup formula | Regular Season champ gear

Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, will join him on the front row after a strong weekend at Dover that included runner-up finishes in both NASCAR Cup Series races.

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.

An example of how the math works: Harvick finished first in the last race (1 x 0.5), is first in owner points (1 x 0.35) and his fastest lap in Sunday’s race at Dover ranked first in the field (1 x 0.15). His metric total is a perfect 1.00. Truex Jr., meanwhile, had a metric total of 3.9 to claim second; he finished second Sunday to Harvick (2 x 0.5), is fourth in owner points (4 x 0.35) and scored the 10th-fastest lap of the race (10 x 0.15).

Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, widely considered two of the best superspeedway racers in the garage, will line up third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Jimmie Johnson — in the thick of the playoff hunt — will both start inside the top 10 at sixth and seventh, respectively.

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

Starting spot Driver Car # Team
1 Kevin Harvick 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
2 Martin Truex Jr. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
3 Joey Logano 22 Team Penske
4 Brad Keselowski 2 Team Penske
5 Aric Almirola 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
6 William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports
7 Jimmie Johnson 48 Hendrick Motorsports
8 Alex Bowman 88 Hendrick Motorsports
9 Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske
10 Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
11 Kyle Busch 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
12 Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing
13 Kurt Busch 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
14 Clint Bowyer 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
15 Matt DiBenedetto 21 Wood Brothers Racing
16 Cole Custer 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
17 Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway Racing
18 Tyler Reddick 8 Richard Childress Racing
19 Matt Kenseth 42 Chip Ganassi Racing
20 Erik Jones 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
21 Bubba Wallace 43 Richard Petty Motorsports
22 Ryan Newman 6 Roush Fenway Racing
23 Christopher Bell 95 Leavine Family Racing
24 John Hunter Nemechek 38 Front Row Motorsports
25 Corey LaJoie 32 GoFas Racing
26 Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports
27 Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports
28 Ryan Preece 37 JTG Daugherty Racing
29 Ty Dillon 13 Germain Racing
30 Daniel Suarez 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing
31 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
32 Brennan Poole 15 Premium Motorsports
33 JJ Yeley 27 Rick Ware Racing
34 Quin Houff 00 StarCom Racing
35 Timmy Hill 66 Motorsports Business Management
36 Ross Chastain 77 Spire Motorsports
37 Joey Gase 53 Rick Ware Racing
38 James Davison 51 Petty Ware Racing
39 Josh Bilicki 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing
40 Brendan Gaughan 62 BeardMotorsports

 

Posted on by Zack Albert

Cole Custer soaked in his first experience with NASCAR’s Next Gen model for the 2022 Cup Series in a two-day test held Monday and Tuesday at Dover International Speedway.

First impressions? The Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate has them, but for now the more lasting takeaway is the physical toll of tacking on a pair of test days — goal: 500 miles — to a weekend doubleheader of 311-mile races.

RELATED: Next Gen photos (March 2-3)

“Right now, I’m wore the hell out,” Custer said with a laugh. “We’ve surpassed 1,000 miles in four days at Dover and it’s probably the toughest track for that physically.”

The Monday-Tuesday sessions at the Monster Mile marked the fifth on-track test for the proposed 2022 model and the first since the outbreak of COVID-19 scrubbed a March 16-17 session at Atlanta with Clint Bowyer, a teammate of Custer’s at Stewart-Haas Racing. It’s also the second test for the “P3” prototype, the third test car built as a collaboration with Richard Childress Racing and the team at the NASCAR Research & Development Center.

Custer said NASCAR and team officials tested a similar package to the current Cup Series setup for Dover. He indicated that the biggest difference he could sense was in the steering, which produced a lighter feel to the steering wheel with the rack-and-pinion system versus the current car’s steering box.

Custer also indicated a best lap time estimated at 23.8 seconds around the 1-mile track, a clocking that would translate to a speed of just better than 151 mph. That speed is slightly slower than the best lap of 154.746 mph that SHR teammate Kevin Harvick posted on the way to his seventh win of the season in Sunday’s Drydene 311.

Custer said that it was too soon to make a judgment about how the Next Gen model might perform with passing attempts in traffic.

“Now I feel like we have all the bugs worked out and you can go run competitive lap times, and now we’re just trying to figure out what makes it generally setup-wise what’s gonna make it go faster, what’s gonna make it gain lap time and what’s gonna be best for the long run,” Custer said during a Tuesday lunch break between test runs. “Right now we’re just trying to knock out big picture things setup-wise, but, overall, I feel like it’s too early to tell how it’s gonna work in traffic. We’re too early in the going I feel like right now, so that’s gonna come a little bit later on.

“There’s nothing that jumps out at me that’s totally bad or totally good, either. It’s just a matter of trying to figure out what’s gonna make it good setup-wise and what’s gonna make it go faster.”

John Probst, NASCAR Senior VP of Innovation and Racing Development, said the Dover test has checked off several goals for Next Gen development, including adding a new organization into the mix with SHR’s participation both days. Other objectives, Probst said, were testing durability on Dover’s high-load concrete layout, putting miles on final-production parts in the driveline and validating how the car would react to adjustments.

Probst acknowledged having to make the prudent decision to suspend testing after the arrival of the pandemic, which also delayed the car’s debut to 2022. But he said he was also encouraged by the timetable of next steps in the Next Gen car’s development, including giving manufacturer-specific bodies the R&D Center’s OK.

“Right now, the most important part of the project is getting all of the OEM bodies approved by the end of September,” Probst said. “That is a really big milestone for us, and we’re on track to hit it. In terms of on-track testing, we still want to get to a superspeedway, and we’re looking at something at Daytona after the season ends. There is also significant enough interest that we may look into doing other on-track tests.”

So far, Next Gen prototypes have been shaken down at a variety of tracks. On-track sessions began with Austin Dillon at .75-mile Richmond on Oct. 18-19 of last year, then continued with Joey Logano at 1-mile Phoenix (Dec. 9-10), Erik Jones at 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami (Jan. 15-16) and William Byron at 2-mile Auto Club Speedway (March 2-3).

Now add what Custer called a mostly issue-free test at the rigorous mile at Dover to that list.

“It’s just a matter of trying to go to all the different race tracks and figure out what the different bugs they have to work out at these different race tracks because every single one is gonna have their own kind of thing,” Custer said. “So just the more that they can go to different racetracks and test, the better it’s gonna be. I think at this point, you can go out there and run laps and you can probably put some cars out there together, but the next stage is gonna find out aero-wise what they do in traffic and what’s gonna make them better or worse.”