Some call him lucky. Others call him skilled. But from now on, they’ll call him CHAMP.
Daniel Buttafuoco, better known as LuckyDog385 in the gaming world, captured his first-ever eNASCAR Heat Pro League championship Wednesday night courtesy of a classic bump-and-run move on title rival Justin Brooks.
The Germain Gaming driver made the pass with two laps to go at Bristol Motor Speedway and left no room for retaliation, quickly powering away from Brooks to earn the 2020 title and a $30,000 payday.
“It’s an unreal feeling. I’m humbled and honored to be the champion,” said Buttafuoco. “A lot of emotion, as you can see. I worked very hard to get to this level … There was so much stress leading up to these races. I put so much pressure on myself because I want to win, I want to be the best.”
Buttafuoco was forced to survive a unique elimination-style format that saw the night start with eight championship contenders and three races on the horizon, before ultimately whittling down to a Final 4 showdown at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The first race at Michigan International Speedway saw Team Penske eSports’ Brian Tedeschi and Gibbs Gaming’s Josh Parker get knocked out of contention, followed by a race at Phoenix Raceway which KO’d Wood Brothers Gaming’s Slade Gravitt and Chip Ganassi Gaming’s Maxwell Castro.
This left Buttafuoco, Brooks (JTG Daugherty), Stewart-Haas eSports’ Brandyn Gritton and Leavine Family Gaming’s Josh Harbin to battle it out for the crown.
Gritton, who won the inaugural title last year, and Harbin showed speed early in the final race at Bristol but ultimately lacked the speed needed to compete with the top two.
The championship run for Buttafuoco, and a stout season from his teammate Kyle Arnold also propelled Germain Gaming to the 2020 team championship.
The No. 2 Team Penske Ford is set to feature the same livery Keselowski ran in the 2010 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. That year marked not only Keselowski’s first NASCAR championship, but also team owner Roger Penske’s first title in NASCAR. Keselowski won six races and nabbed 29 top-10 finishes in 35 races to secure the title that year, two years before he’d win the championship at NASCAR’s top level.
The paint scheme was revealed Wednesday on FS1’s Race Hub. The Southern 500 throwback race is scheduled for Sept. 6 in Darlington, South Carolina (6 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Keselowski’s sponsor, Discount Tire, will once again be onboard for support, just like it was 10 years ago.
NASCAR Cup Series cars will have tweaks to the right-side passenger windows this weekend at Dover International Speedway in an effort to improve air flow inside the vehicles. The change comes in advance of a doubleheader weekend at a high-load track in Dover, a high-banked, 1-mile concrete oval.
A portion of the right-side window will be removed; details were spelled out in a memo to teams Wednesday. NASCAR officials will monitor the impact of the changes this weekend before deciding if the move is permanent.
Heat was a factor last weekend at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, with multiple drivers across all three national series needing treatment after the event.
A red flag for lightning during the NASCAR Cup Series race allowed drivers to exit their cars, allowing for a mid-race respite.
“Oh, it was hot, no doubt,” Martin Truex Jr. said after his third-place run Sunday. “It was crazy hot. … Just to put it in perspective, when we get out of the car, that feels like air‑conditioning.”
Six races in three days will make up this weekend’s full slate of racing at Dover International Speedway.
The NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series both have doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday, while the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series East will race on Friday afternoon.
Here’s everything you need to know for all the Cup Series action at the “Monster Mile.”
Dover International Speedway, nicknamed the “Monster Mile,” is a 1-mile race track located in Dover, Delaware. Opened in 1969, the NASCAR Cup Series’ first race was on July 6 of the same year, won by seven-time champion Richard Petty.
Richard Petty won the first two Cup Series races held at Dover in 1969-70. Credit: ISC Images Archives via Getty Images
The banking in the turns is 24 degrees. The 1,076-foot straightaways are set at 9 degrees.
The track was initially an asphalt track until a concrete surface was laid in 1995, serving as the oldest concrete surface on the circuit. The track will host its 101st and 102nd Cup Series races with the doubleheader set for this weekend.
The track was originally named Dover Downs International Speedway, designed as a dual-purpose facility to accommodate both harness racing and motorsports events. In 2002, the track was re-named to Dover International Speedway as the gaming side of the company split off and Dover Motorsports, Inc. was created to exclusively oversee racing.
The track also has a mascot, named “Miles the Monster.” A 46-foot tall sculpture was introduced in 2008, located in Victory Plaza outside of the track. The trophy awarded to the winner of each race is a replica of the statue.
STAGE LENGTHS
For both Cup Series races on Saturday and Sunday: Stage 1 is set to end at Lap 70, Stage 2 at Lap 185, with the final stage slated to conclude on Lap 311.
STARTING LINEUP
For the second time this year, the starting lineup and pit-stall selection were determined by a competition-based formula, eliminating the random-draw element from all three national series through the end of the 2020 season.
The formula uses three performance metrics, which will be weighted and averaged to determine the lineup and pit selection order for the Saturday event:
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.
For Sunday’s race, the top 20 from Saturday’s event will be inverted, with the 20th-place finisher starting first and so on. The remaining positions — 21-40 — will be determined by the same three performance metrics.
The 2020 NASCAR rules package for short tracks and road courses will be in effect, a reduced downforce package that features a 1.17-inch tapered spacer used to achieve a target of 750 horsepower, significantly smaller rear spoiler at 2.75 inches, a quarter-inch front splitter overhang with approximately 2-inch wings and alterations to the radiator pan and the removal of its vertical fencing to reduce front-end downforce.
GOODYEAR TIRES
Between the rules package and the steep banking and high speeds, the amount of load on the right-front tire must be a focus. Goodyear will be working with Cup teams leading into the event and throughout the two days at the track to emphasize the importance of the minimum recommended air pressure. Going below the minimum may get a car more grip, but that is clearly a risk vs. reward proposition. Low-air pressure under the conditions teams will face at Dover can damage the tire and result in air loss. With no practice leading into Saturday’s race, teams must be especially mindful with their initial set-ups, and then not crank up the aggression as they move to Sunday.
“While we all have some experience with running this rules package on fast, high-banked tracks, having run Dover and Bristol in 2019 and Bristol again this season, it is always important to keep on top of the delicate balance between performance and durability,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “Dover, with this current package, is a big challenge for all of us, so we will be working with the teams to re-emphasize the data. Gaining as much grip as possible is always front and center for these teams, and one tuning tool they use to accomplish that is air pressure. But as they say, ‘to finish first, you must first finish.’”
New tire set for Dover: Teams in the Cup, Xfinity and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series will run the same tire set-up — a new combination of left- and right-side tires. These teams have previously used the left-side tire code at Auto Club Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway this season. Compared to what was run at Dover last Fall, the new tire code features a construction update on both sides of the car and a compound change on the left-side for more grip. The tires will also have standard inner liners.
STATS TO KNOW
— If Kyle Busch leaves Dover without a win, 2020 will serve as the first season in his Cup Series career that he has failed to win before the 26th race.
— Brad Keselowski’s 16 top 10s are his most ever through 23 races in 2020.
— Denny Hamlin’s 13 top fives are a career-high through 23 races in 2020.
— Kevin Harvick has won three of the last four races on doubleheader weekends (Pocono-1, both Michigan races).
— Johnson leads active drivers in these categories at Dover: wins (11), top fives (17), top 10s (25) and laps led (3,110).
— Chase Elliott only has two finishes outside the top five in his eight Dover starts, winning there in October 2018.
— Clint Bowyer has finished in the top 10 in four of the last five races at Dover.
Source: Racing Insights, NASCAR statistics
LIVE COVERAGE
The ARCA Menards Series East will kick things off on Friday at 2 p.m. ET for the General Tire 125 on TrackPass and MRN, followed by the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series KDI Office Technology 200 (5 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
On Saturday, the NASCAR Xfinity Series takes off in the Drydene 200 (12:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), then the NASCAR Cup Series will take the stage in the Drydene 311 (4 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
A pair of doubleheaders are on Sunday’s slate with the Xfinity Series Drydene 200 (1 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and the Cup Series Drydene 311 (4 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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).
Jimmie Johnson (11 wins); Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr. (three wins); Kevin Harvick (two wins); Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski (one win)
See where your favorite driver will pit for Saturday’s Drydene 311 (4 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Dover International Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson will take his throwback paint scheme to a legendary level in his final race at Darlington Raceway.
The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion unveiled his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the Southern 500 throwback race on Sept. 6 (6 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), paying tribute to his tie with other seven-time champions Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty.
The scheme, revealed on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s “Dale Jr. Download” Dirty Mo Media podcast, features a mix of his own throwback scheme, along with features from Earnhardt’s black No. 3 and Richard Petty’s iconic No. 43.
Johnson is racing in his final full-time Cup Series season. With three races remaining in the regular season, Johnson is currently 25 points below Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron on the playoff cutline. The 83-time race winner heads to this weekend’s doubleheader at Dover International Speedway looking to break his 117-race winless streak for an automatic postseason bid, a track where he has 11 career wins.
Chase Elliott won the Busch Pole Award for Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway (4 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App), the first of two in a weekend 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%).
After crunching the numbers, Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is this week’s Busch Pole Award winner and will lead the field to the green flag for this week’s 311-lap race. Denny Hamlin, in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, will join him on the front row, starting P2 for the second consecutive race.
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: Elliott finished first in the last race (1 x 0.5), is fourth in owner points (1 x 0.35) and his fastest lap in Sunday’s race at the Daytona Road Course ranked first in the field(1 x .15). His metric total is 2.05. That was enough to beat Hamlin, whose metric total was 2.6; he finished second last Sunday to Elliott (2 x 0.5), is second in owner points (2 x 0.35) and scored the sixth-fastest lap of the race (6 x 0.15).
The difference? Elliott’s first-place run.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer make up the second row, powered by their finishes of third and sixth, respectively, at Daytona.
See the full starting lineup for Saturday’s race below.
Note: Austin Dillon is the official driver of entry for the No. 3 team, but he has not yet been medically cleared to return after self-reporting a positive COVID-19 test result. Because Dillon missed last week’s race at Daytona, he would be given “41” as his finishing position and fastest lap — it would rank worst in a 40-car field, since he did not participate in the race.
NASCAR officials issued penalties to two Cup Series teams Tuesday for lug-nut violations after Sunday’s Go Bowling 235 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.
Competition officials discovered one lug nut not safely secured on two cars in a post-race check:
The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Kevin Harvick
The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr.
As a result, Rodney Childers (No. 4 crew chief) and James Small (No. 19 crew chief) were each fined $10,000 for the safety violations of Section 10.9.10.4 in the NASCAR Rule Book.
No other penalties were announced from the NASCAR tripleheader weekend, which also included races for the Xfinity Series and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series.
Wednesday night. The culmination of a season’s worth of work for the fastest console gamers will come down to a high-stakes, elimination-style championship event featuring three races in one historic evening.
For the first time in Heat Pro League history, all 28 drivers — 14 from the Xbox One platform and 14 from PlayStation 4 — will race together in the same event simultaneously using the newly-released NASCAR Heat 5 game. ASUS, the official gaming hardware of eNASCAR, will provide each of the drivers with an ASUS ROG Strix G15CK PC, ASUS ROG Strix PG248 monitor and ASUS ROG Strix GO 2.4 headset for the championship event. Combined with Fanatec ClubSport steering wheels officially licensed by NASCAR, it’ll be a unique showing of what the gamers can do on equally-matched equipment.
The Contenders
All eyes, however, will be on the eight drivers competing for the title.
Justin Brooks, JTG Daugherty Throttlers
Daniel Buttafuoco, Germain Gaming
Maxwell Castro, Chip Ganassi Gaming
Slade Gravitt, Wood Brothers Gaming
Brandyn Gritton, Stewart-Haas eSports
Josh Harbin, Leavine Family Gaming
Josh Parker, Gibbs Gaming
Brian Tedeschi, Team Penske eSports
These eight drivers separated themselves throughout the course of the regular Heat Pro League season, clinching their place in the championship by either winning a three-race segment throughout the year — or, in the cases of Tedeschi and Harbin, winning a wildcard race at Daytona following Segment 3.
Race Format
For the first time in Heat Pro League history, three races will be used to determine the series champion. The eight championship contenders enter on equal footing with two rounds of eliminations cutting two drivers each, whittling the field to a final four.
Drivers will need to showcase their skills across totally different types of race tracks, too. Who said it would be easy?
The first round takes place at Michigan International Speedway: a high-speed, 2-mile oval where working the draft is key to success. Eight championship finalists will enter this round, but only six will leave. (Well, technically, the entire field of 28 will leave and compete all night; just six will remain in title contention!)
Phoenix Raceway plays host to the second round, and shares almost no characteristics with Michigan; it’s a flat 1-mile tri-oval. Handling, patience and race strategy will reign supreme. The field of six will become the final four following Phoenix.
Finally, the championship race will take place at Bristol Motor Speedway — the high-banked, concrete short track that’s been the site of too many bump-and-run maneuvers to count in NASCAR. Really, anything can happen.
Big Money at Stake
In addition to bringing home a championship trophy and a name etched in eNASCAR history, there’s quite a bit of cash at stake — $70,000 — but who’s counting?
The champion will win a $30,000 slice for first place. Not a bad payday for an evening of virtual racing.
There’s also a Team Championship at stake Wednesday. The team scoring the most points over the course of the entire season will wear the crown, combined from the entire season to date with the three championship races. Currently, Germain Gaming leads the JTG Daugherty Throttlers by 62 points — but it’s far from over, especially considering the fact that JTG’s Justin Brooks has won an insane seven times in 2020.
How to Watch
Catch the eNASCAR Heat Pro League championship finale live Wed., Aug. 19, at 8:00 p.m. ET on:
It all comes down to Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday. Eight drivers fought tooth-and-nail all season long throughout the eNASCAR Heat Pro League’s second tour to reach the tripleheader championship event — Michigan, Phoenix, and Bristol. Here’s how the contenders stack up before they race with $70,000 on the line.
8. Brian Tedeschi, Team Penske eSports
Team Penske eSports driver Brian Tedeschi made it to the championship — but it took until the wildcard last-chance race at Daytona to reach that point. He’s the lone championship contender who didn’t win a race in 2020, but maybe he’s just saving what he’s got for the finale. You never know.
7. Maxwell Castro, Chip Ganassi Gaming
Not only did 15th-overall draft pick Maxwell Castro pick up a victory this year, he did it at the Watkins Glen road course — not the easiest track to master compared to many of the oval tracks. Furthermore, he put himself in position to contend for a championship, scoring seven top-five finishes throughout the 2020 tour. Not too shabby for a rookie!
6. Josh Harbin, Leavine Family Gaming
Well, that was close! Josh Harbin had to transfer to the finale via the Daytona wildcard race, but hey, a win’s a win. It’s worth noting Harbin’s other 2020 victory came at New Hampshire, a flat mile-long track not too unlike Phoenix. If he can survive Michigan and repeat his New Hampshire performance at Phoenix, we might just be looking at a Harbin championship. Don’t sleep on him.
5. Josh Parker, Gibbs Gaming
One of Parker’s two wins this season came at Fontana, a track with many similarities to Michigan. As for Phoenix, he’s won there in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series — though that was back in 2010. Parker should be a contender to make the final four, perhaps by experience alone. At the very least, he’ll be competing against fellow PS4 driver Josh Harbin for top-Josh honors.
4. Slade Gravitt, Wood Brothers Gaming
Slade Gravitt’s got one distinct advantage heading into Wednesday night’s tripleheader, and that’s his consistency. Remarkably, he’s put his Wood Brothers Gaming Ford in the top 10 in all 13 regular-season races. When the name of the game is survival, Gravitt’s knack to not, well, Spin (sorry, it’s such an easy sponsor plug) will come in handy.
3. Brandyn Gritton, Stewart-Haas eSports
He’s got what no other championship contender has: a title. Half of the inaugural Heat Pro League championship-winning team, Brandyn Gritton knows what it’s like to face the pressure of a nerve-wracking finale. Oh, and those two wins and 11 top 10s show he can still get the job done in 2020. Perhaps Gritton will add a second championship trophy to his shelf.
2. Daniel Buttafuoco, Germain Gaming
Nobody scored more top-five finishes in the 2020 season than Daniel Buttafuoco; he did it 10 times in 13 races. Combined with his tendency to find Victory Lane — he won three races this season — Buttafuoco’s easily a favorite to win the title and pick up the $30,000 first-place prize.. It’s hardly a wonder Germain Gaming has such an impressive lead in team points with this guy in their corner.
1. Justin Brooks, JTG Daugherty Throttlers
Winning more than half the season — seven races, to be exact — has made the Justin Brooks 2020 season the gold standard in Heat Pro League competition. We could rattle off all the tracks at which he’s won this year, but it would sound an awful lot like a verse in Johnny Cash’s “I’ve Been Everywhere.” To put it simply, Brooks is the guy everybody’s chasing Wednesday, though we’ve learned this season that just about anything can happen.
Catch the eNASCAR Heat Pro League Season 2 finale Wed., Aug. 19 at 8 p.m. ET at eNASCAR.com/live.
