NASCAR marks first partner for Facebook’s Venue

Posted on May 29, 2020May 29, 2020 by Staff Report

NASCAR has announced a partnership with Facebook that makes it the first partner for Venue, a new iOS and Android app that is set to enhance the live event experience by bringing fans and expert commentators together in an interactive way.

Created by Facebook’s New Product Experimentation team, which researches, tests and refines new product experiences, Venue aims to offer fans an improved second screen experience while watching their favorite sporting event. Fans will be able to interact with the expert commentators, such as well-known personalities like journalists, current or former athletes or aspiring “fan-analysts,” who will host a venue for each race. During the race, those commentators will provide commentary, pose interactive questions and polls and open up short chats around specific moments of the event. Fans will also be able to communicate with each other and enjoy multiple venues during a given race, offering different takes depending on their favorite expert commentary.

GET FACEBOOK’S VENUE FOR: APPLE iOS | GOOGLE PLAY

“As NASCAR makes its return to action over the coming weeks, Venue will provide users with a unique and exciting way to connect with fellow race fans from around the globe — all from the safety and comfort of their own homes,” said Tim Clark, SVP and Chief Digital Officer at NASCAR. “NASCAR was built on innovation, and we couldn’t be more excited to help a great partner like Facebook’s New Product Experimentation team innovate around new platforms.”

“Facebook’s New Product Experimentation team is launching Venue to bring fans and creators together around live events, starting with NASCAR,” said Ime Archibong, Head of Facebook’s New Product Experimentation team. “Digital spaces can connect us when we can’t be together in person, and Venue is one way to feel the energy of watching live events with other fans.”

Expert commentators will be able to create “Moments” during the race – short-lived, digital opportunities for fans to connect based on something interesting that happened on the track. Fans will be notified when a new Moment is created so they don’t miss a second of their favorite commentary while watching the race and interacting within the app. Social media personality @nascarcasm will serve as the expert commentator for Sunday’s Food City 500, with NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Landon Cassill and FOX Sports NASCAR reporter Alan Cavanna slated to appear in the app in future weeks.

Venue is now available on iOS and Android in the United States. Fans can enjoy the augmented experience for the first time beginning with Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on May 29, 2020May 29, 2020 by Staff Report

The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Chase Elliott passed post-race technical inspection Thursday after winning the Alsco Uniforms 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Official race results

Elliott’s race-winning car was found to be compliant with the 2020 NASCAR Rule Book after the 208-lap event at the 1.5-mile track. With no other issues and post-race teardown complete, the race results are official.

This is the second year of a post-race process to bring a more timely approach to inspection for all three NASCAR national series. Competition officials announced before the 2019 season that thorough post-race inspections would take place shortly after the checkered flag at the track instead of midweek at the NASCAR Research & Development Center. Those inspections come with a stiffer deterrence structure that includes disqualification for significant rules infractions.

NASCAR will still inspect cars at the R&D Center as needed to monitor trends and parts compliance.

Posted on May 28, 2020May 29, 2020 by Reid Spencer

Lightning struck near Charlotte Motor Speedway on Thursday night. Bad luck didn’t, where Chase Elliott was concerned.

After two crushing defeats since the re-opening of NASCAR’s 2020 season May 17 at Darlington, Elliott got to the checkered flag without incident and won the rescheduled Alsco Uniforms 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at the 1.5-mile intermediate track.

In an event contested at 500 kilometers (312 miles), Elliott passed fading Kevin Harvick for the lead on Lap 181 of 208 and cruised to a 2.208-second victory over fast-closing Denny Hamlin, who passed Ryan Blaney for the runner-up position on the final lap.

The win was a welcome relief for the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, who was wrecked by Kyle Busch while running second May 20 at Darlington and was KO’d by a late caution in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on Sunday while leading with two laps left.

“It feels awesome,” said a relieved Elliott, who won for the first time this season, the first time on the Charlotte oval and the seventh time in his career. “Man, it was a tough week for sure. We’ve had some tough losses, but that deal on Sunday night was a heartbreaker. It’s not the Coke 600, but any win in the Cup Series is really hard to get.”

Crew chief Alan Gustafson made astute adjustments to Elliott’s Camaro on the team’s final pit stop on Lap 146, under caution for Timmy Hill’s accident in Turn 4. The car took off, and 32 laps after the final restart, Elliott passed Harvick, whose No. 4 Ford faded during long runs.

Even with a Chevrolet that was running up front, Elliott didn’t think he was home-free until he saw the checkered flag.

“Alan made a great call there at the end to get it tuned up, and luckily the run went long, and I think that fell in our favor,” Elliott said of the final 59-lap green-flag run. “I was just waiting for the caution to come out, to be honest with you. I thought the caution was going to come out, I was going to break something, or I was going to crash.

“Just after the last couple of weeks, I didn’t think, truly, it was going to go green to the end. I’m just glad it did and glad we’re, hopefully, back on the right path.”

The start of the race was delayed from Wednesday when Tropical Depression Bertha invaded the Carolinas. Nor was Thursday race free from weather issues. Lightning in the area of the Concord, North Carolina, track interrupted the proceedings for 75 minutes after NASCAR called a caution on Lap 28 for Matt Kenseth’s spin in Turn 4. After the resumption at 9:07 p.m., Harvick had the dominant car, piling up a race-high 63 laps led.

But Harvick’s car was set up for short runs, and the final stint went long.

“It just fell off at Lap 30,” Harvick said. “We knew that’s what we had, and it went straight 60-some laps. (The team) did a really good job of turning the car around — the total opposite of what we raced last Sunday. So it was a good test session for us. We just didn’t need a long run.”

Blaney ran third behind Elliott and Hamlin, who was driving without the services of his crew chief, car chief and lead engineer after the team was penalized for the accidental dropping of tungsten ballast on the warm-up laps for the Coca-Cola 600.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came home fourth, posting his first top five since running third at Las Vegas before the coronavirus pandemic brought the season to a temporary halt. Kurt Busch was fifth, followed by Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Martin Truex Jr. and Harvick.

Logano won Stage 1, with Alex Bowman picking up his fourth stage win at Charlotte this week with a victory in Stage 2 after leading 51 laps. Bowman, however, clobbered the Turn 4 wall while chasing Harvick on Lap 136 and finished 31st, two laps down.

The Cup Series’ next race is scheduled Sunday, the Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on May 28, 2020May 28, 2020 by Staff Report

Alex Bowman surged to a Stage 2 win in Thursday night’s Alsco Uniforms 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Bowman’s Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet led 41 laps in the stage, which ended with 115 of a scheduled 208 laps complete. The result was his fourth stage win of the season, tops in the NASCAR Cup Series.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Ryan Blaney held on for second place for the second straight stage, with Team Penske teammate Joey Logano right behind him in third. Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five in Stage 2 in order.

Kyle Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota suffered left-rear fender damage and a cut tire during a restart scramble at the start of the stage. He made an unscheduled pit stop and returned to the race in 38th place, two laps off the pace.

The only caution flag of the stage flew for a Lap 73 incident involving Quin Houff and Brennan Poole.

Stage 2 results

Finish	Driver	Team	Points
1	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	10
2	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	9
3	Joey Logano	Team Penske	8
4	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	7
5	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	6
6	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	5
7	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	4
8	John Hunter Nemechek	Front Row Motorsports	3
9	Christopher Bell	Leavine Family Racing	2
10	Bubba Wallace	Richard Petty Motorsports	1

Logano prevails in opening stage

Joey Logano rose up to grab victory in an eventful opening stage in Thursday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

Logano led 33 of the 55 laps in the opening stage of the Alsco Uniforms 500. The outcome marked the second stage win of the 2020 season for the driver of the Team Penske No. 22 Ford.

Logano teammate Ryan Blaney took second place in the stage with Matt DiBenedetto third and Kevin Harvick completing a top-four sweep by Ford drivers. Alex Bowman was fifth in the top-running Chevrolet.

Pole-starter William Byron led 11 laps before a round of pit stops after a competition caution flew on Lap 20. But Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet made contact with Corey LaJoie’s Go Fas Racing No. 32 Ford on pit road, forcing Byron to pit road for an additional stop. The pit-stop cycle also drew speeding penalties for two drivers: Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer.

Two incidents and a weather-related stoppage slowed the first stage. Joey Gase and Garrett Smithley tangled in a Lap 1 crash, severely damaging both cars. Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford cut a tire and Matt Kenseth’s No. 42 Chevrolet spun in his wake in Turn 4 on Lap 29.

Keselowski was penalized for pitting too soon and his Team Penske entry suffered damage to the right-front fender because of his tire trouble.

The event was red-flagged for 74 minutes with just 30 laps complete because of lightning and rain from a nearby storm. The event was postponed from a scheduled Wednesday night start because of rain associated with Tropical Storm Bertha.

The race began with no practice or qualifying. Byron started first after an inversion of the top 20 finishers from Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, a procedure that placed race winner Keselowski 20th for Thursday’s start.

Stage 1 results

Finish	Driver	Team	Points
1	Joey Logano	Team Penske	10
2	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	9
3	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	8
4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	7
5	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	6
6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG-Daugherty Racing	5
7	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	4
8	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	3
9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	2
10	Chris Buescher	Roush Fenway Racing	1

Posted on May 28, 2020May 28, 2020 by Staff Report

Thursday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway is on hold because of lightning and rain in the area.

RELATED: Leaderboard

The race was already under a red flag because of a lightning strike in the vicinity of the 1.5-mile track, but a rain shower and a severe thunderstorm warning for the area further delayed the event.

Joey Logano was shown as the leader with 30 of the scheduled 208 laps complete. Three yellow flags — one for a competition caution and two for incidents — slowed the early going.

The race was also postponed from a scheduled Wednesday night start because of inclement weather from Tropical Depression Bertha.

This story will be updated.

Posted on May 28, 2020 by Staff Report

The No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Aric Almirola will drop to the rear because of unapproved adjustments before Thursday night’s Alsco Uniforms 500 (7 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Almirola was slated to start sixth in the race.

RELATED: Starting lineup | Charlotte schedule

Two other cars — the No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet and the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet will also start at the rear for driver changes. JJ Yeley was going to start 21st in the No. 77, which was driven by Ross Chastain on Sunday night in the Coca-Cola 600. Josh Bilicki was going to start 37th in the No. 7, which was driven by Yeley.

Of note, Sunday’s race winner, Brad Keselowski came from the back to win the Coca-Cola 600. However, this race is only 208 laps as opposed to the 400 laps of Sunday’s show.

Posted on May 28, 2020 by Alex Weaver

The 2000 Coca-Cola 600 was a Memorial Day weekend that Matt Kenseth will never forget. It was a rookie battle between Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the longest race of the season, which was made even longer due to rain.

Earnhardt Jr. looked like the car to beat. He started from the pole and led six different times. But after dominating most of the race, his crew made a poor adjustment on the final pit stop and he couldn’t challenge Kenseth for the victory.

Kenseth, who started 21st, came back from deeper in the field than any other previous winner at the time. He used two quick pit stops to put himself into contention for the win and passed leader Bobby Labonte on Lap 375.

After taking the checkered flag, Kenseth circled back around the track and cut doughnuts in the grass on the Coca-Cola logo.

Kenseth is back racing in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2020– this time with Chip Ganassi Racing in the No. 42 Chevrolet. Relive his first career NASCAR Cup Series win in this Classic NASCAR Full Race Replay.

Posted on May 28, 2020 by Press Release

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (May 28, 2020) — On Monday, June 1 during the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Xfinity will salute military community employees from across the company that are working to keep communities safe and connected. Among those recognized are 23 employees actively serving in the National Guard who are responding to the current crisis.

Xfinity will replace its logo that typically adorns each windshield with these selfless Comcast employees’ names and a patriotic red, white and blue design.

“This global crisis has challenged everyone to step up and prioritize those around us, so we wanted to showcase our pride and salute the selfless efforts of our employees with this unique recognition on all NASCAR Xfinity Series race cars,” said Matt Lederer, Comcast’s Vice President of Brand Partnerships & Activation. “Comcast is proud of our employees nationwide that are coming together to support our customers and communities during this national crisis.”

A few of the honorees include: Deeva Williams, a recently mobilized National Guard soldier who distributes prepackaged meals at mobile food banks in Tacoma, Wash., Rachel Cabanting, who is assisting with National Guard safety programs and procedures at testing centers in the state of Florida — while also collaborating on other key operations to minimize risk during the mission, Stephen Rolston, whose National Guard unit is directly assisting the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and Ashley Farmer, a third-generation service member that utilizes her military experience to propel her teammates forward — earning business results and recognition from her co-workers.

“Our company is proud of its military community employees, both veterans and those serving today in the National Guard and reserve, who are on the frontlines of the fight against the pandemic,” said Brigadier General (Ret.) Carol Eggert, Senior Vice President of Military and Veteran Affairs at Comcast NBCUniversal. “The dedication of these military employees as they leave an impact in our communities showcases Comcast’s core service values in these difficult times and represents a unique and powerful way our teammates continue to respond to this global crisis.”

Nationally, approximately 50,000 National Guard and reserve service members are mobilized in response to the pandemic and more than 2,000 Comcast NBCUniversal employees serve in the National Guard and reserve. As a military-ready company, Comcast NBCUniversal is committed to ensuring these teammates have the resources and support they need to answer the call to service.

In addition, as the NASCAR Xfinity Series kicks off Dash 4 Cash at Bristol with Monday’s qualifier, Xfinity plans to make donations in each Dash 4 Cash race market that reaffirms their companywide commitment of connecting families, veterans and seniors to the digital tools necessary for navigating these challenging times.

Throughout the week, Xfinity will recognize these frontline heroes’ stories using #XfinitySalutes and on @XfinityRacing’s Twitter and Instagram outlets. For more information around Xfinity’s crisis response, visit Xfinity.com/prepare.

Posted on May 27, 2020May 27, 2020 by Staff Report

Persistent rain associated with Tropical Depression Bertha has postponed Wednesday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The Alsco Uniforms 500 was rescheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. ET (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The 208-lap, 312-mile race is the fourth Cup Series event in stock-car racing’s return since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. All those events have been held without fans in attendance, without practice and with Busch Pole Qualifying for only one race — last Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.

The postponement also forced NASCAR officials to move the next NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway from Saturday to Monday. The Cheddar’s 300 presented by Alsco is now scheduled for 7 p.m. ET Monday (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

William Byron will take the green flag first when Thursday’s race at Charlotte gets underway. He received the No. 1 starting spot after the top 20 finishers from the Coca-Cola 600 were inverted to set the Alsco Uniforms 500 lineup. Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman will start second Thursday after placing 19th in the 600.

The event was scheduled as the fourth NASCAR national series race in four nights at the 1.5-mile track.

Posted on May 27, 2020May 27, 2020 by Staff Report

NASCAR officials released information Wednesday about starting lineup and pit-selection procedures for the next slate of races in all three NASCAR national series, while also announcing a NASCAR Cup Series Saturday practice in advance of the series’ race at Talladega Superspeedway on June 21.

There are 11 total races scheduled at Bristol Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway from May 30-June 21 as NASCAR continues its return from the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the league, and all of sports, to pause its on-track action.

Here is a quick breakdown of the announced policies:

Starting lineup determination

NASCAR Cup Series

There will be a random draw for the next five NASCAR Cup Series races. For races at Bristol (May 31), Atlanta (June 7), Martinsville (June 10), Miami (June 14) and Talladega (June 21), the lineup will be determined in the following way:

• Positions 1-12: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points

• Positions 13-24: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points

• Positions 25-36: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points

• Positions 37-40: Open teams in order of owners points

RELATED: 2020 Xfinity Series schedule

NASCAR Xfinity Series

The next five Xfinity Series races will include four random draws for the starting lineup and one inversion for the doubleheader weekend at Miami.

Here is the policy for the four random draws for races at Bristol (June 1), Atlanta (June 6), Miami (June 13) and Talladega (June 20):

• Positions 1-12: The first 12 NXS Teams based on the Adverse Conditions Line Up Eligibility will be assigned starting positions 1st – 12th using a random draw.

• Positions 13-24: The next 12 NXS Teams based on the Adverse Conditions Line Up eligibility will be assigned starting positions 12th- 24th using a random draw.

• Starting positions 25-36: The next 12 NXS Teams based on the Adverse Conditions Line Up eligibility will be assigned starting positions 25th -36th using a random draw.

• Any vehicles that are eligible for the Event in positions 37th – 40th will be assigned starting positions based on their order of eligibility.

The June 14 race at Miami will follow a different policy. Because the series races twice at Miami in two days, the second race will use an inversion to determine the starting lineup:

• Positions 1-15: Invert the top 15 from the June 13 race at Homestead

• Positions 16-40: In finishing order from the June 13 race at Homestead, followed by new entries

RELATED: 2020 Gander Trucks schedule

NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series

The lineup will be set for the two Gander Trucks races through mid-June (Atlanta, June 6; Miami, June 13) in the following manner:

• Positions 1-10: Random draw of teams in those positions in owner points

• Positions 11-21: Random draw of teams in those positions in owner points

• Positions 22-32: Random draw of teams in those positions in owner points

• Any vehicles that are eligible for the Event in position 33rd – 40th will be assigned starting positions based on their order of eligibility.

Pit stall selection

For all three series, pit stall selections will be ordered based on finishing positions from the series’ previous race, followed by new entries in order of points.

For example, whichever team wins the May 31 NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol would have the first pit stall selection for the June 7 race at Atlanta, the next event on the schedule. The team that finishes second at Bristol would have the second pit stall selection for the next race at Atlanta, etc.

Practice

As noted previously, there will be one NASCAR Cup Series practice session for Talladega Superspeedway, held on Saturday, June 20, from 11:35 a.m.-12:25 p.m. The race is the next day. It is the first scheduled practice for any NASCAR Cup Series event since the sport’s return to action earlier this month.