Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR is teaming up with “The Real Heroes Project” to recognize and honor the courage of front-line workers who have stepped up and put others before themselves throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

After NASCAR and the rest of the sports world were sidelined in the beginning of March, athletes from 14 professional sports leagues got busy and came together to honor the real heroes using various social media platforms, community outreach and their charities. These everyday sports heroes flipped the script and became the fans for a change.

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch and 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick are the drivers participating in “The Real Heroes Project” by honoring a special healthcare hero who is helping the community on forefront of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Real Heroes Project” also invites sports fans to join these world-class athletes on social media and dedicate their personal jerseys and team apparel to a frontline individual using the hashtag #TheRealHeroes.

“Recognizing heroes and honoring those who serve, whether its members of the military or first responders, has always been very true to the DNA of our sport, our competitors, and of course, our fans,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR executive vice president and chief marketing and content officer.

RELATED: NASCAR returns on May 17 | NASCAR joins ‘The Real Heroes Project’

The multi-league public service announcement debuted across league and team platforms on Wednesday.

The PSA features athletes, including Busch and Harvick, recognizing heroes working on the front lines across the country and honoring them by sporting their names on the athletes’ most recognizable gear – their uniforms. The campaign also includes New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and United States Women’s National Soccer Team stars Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan, among many other superstar athletes across both sports and esports.

On Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing Busch Beer fire suit is Dr. Josh Hughes, an emergency medicine physician with the Mid-Atlantic Emergency Medical Associates practice and the assistant director of the emergency department at Novant Health Presbyterian in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“My day-to-day is driven by what I did beforehand, and that is taking care of sick and injured patients in our community,” Hughes said. “In the emergency department this means triaging patients, working towards a diagnosis, treating and stabilizing patients and then determining a disposition for them, whether that be at home or in the hospital. 

“With COVID-19, there are, of course, additional challenges and considerations. I have to constantly consider whether a patient could have COVID-19 regardless of their presenting symptoms, and be more vigilant about keeping myself and staff safe.”

Harvick is a friend of Dr. Hughes and has made a point to be a support system during the COVID-19 situation.

“Kevin and I enjoy road bicycling,” Hughes said. “He’s been a great friend to me and I’m not sure I’d be dealing with the COVID-19 anxiety as well as I have been without the many rides we’ve been on during this.”

Hughes and his wife, Noel, have an 8-year-old son named Dixon and a 5-year-old daughter Ellie, and he is thankful for the support system his family has provided.

Meanwhile, Busch is honoring another vital person in the fight against COVID-19. The PSA features the No. 18 driver adding “EMT Heather Pleasant” to the back of his Joe Gibbs Racing M&M’s fire suit.

Pleasant is an avid NASCAR fan whose favorite driver is Busch. She and her husband, Chad, are both EMTs where they live in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with their three children. The couple continues to serve on the front lines as first responders, helping to transport patients with COVID-19 symptoms to area hospitals.

RELATED: How industry has responded to COVID-19 response

In addition to the symbolic gestures associated with “The Real Heroes” campaign, the NASCAR industry has stepped up in other ways throughout the crisis.

NASCAR has been utilizing 3D printers at the Research & Development Center located in Concord, North Carolina, to produce face shields for healthcare workers. In total, 2,000 face shields have been sent around the country for medical professionals.

Several well-known drivers participated in a public service announcement to thank the front-line individuals, encouraging people to stay home and social distance. FOX, NBC Sports and other channels joined the effort by airing the PSA for support. 

And while the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series has been entertaining fans in the absence of on-track activity, each week The NASCAR Foundation has teamed with charities or foundations affiliated with the local tracks to lend a helping hand to those affected by the pandemic. Most recently, the Foundation joined the #GivingTuesdayNow movement, standing together in unity with people around the world sharing the same mission of helping children in need.

The Pro Invitational Series will wrap up this Saturday in the debut of iRacing’s virtual North Wilkesboro Speedway. The race will air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, FS1 and the FOX Sports App.

Posted on by Holly Cain

In a much-applauded, highly-anticipated schedule move, the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series – featuring many of the sport’s top competitors – will conclude its inaugural run with the North Wilkesboro 160 at the virtual North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday, May 9 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX (where available and subject to change), FS1 and the FOX Sports app.

Jeff Gordon, who won the last NASCAR Cup Series race at the historic former stop on the series schedule (Sept. 29, 1996), will again step away from his FOX Sports commentating duties to compete in the virtual race this week. 

“It’ll be hard to top my last race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, but I’m going to give it a try,” Gordon said in confirming his entry on Twitter this week.

RELATED: Complete entry list | Relive the last Cup race at North Wilkesboro 

Joining him on the grid is Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is largely responsible for getting the iRacing Series to add the historic North Carolina 0.625-mile oval as a virtual track option. In December, Earnhardt and friends from the racing industry cleaned up the vacant facility and prepped the track. The mostly-retired two-time Daytona 500 winner even got behind the wheel of some heavy equipment himself – all with the goal of refurbishing the one-time popular venue to be scanned and added to the iRacing group of tracks.

Martin Truex Jr., the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion, will be making his eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series debut in the No. 19 Toyota. And Jon Wood, a third-generation member of the legendary Wood Brothers Racing family will steer their No. 21 Ford in place of the team’s current NASCAR Cup Series driver Matt DiBenedetto this week. William Byron – a three-time eNASCAR iRacing Invitational Series race winner – will not be competing this week – in fact, none of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates are either. 

There is a certain amount of irony in this week’s track stop – essentially a merger between NASCAR’s historic roots and its modern-day technical opportunity.

RELATED: Pro Invitational Series Power Rankings | See the schemes for the weekend

This level of virtual competition would have been unthinkable to the drivers who turned so many laps on the track during NASCAR’s early heyday. Bob Flock won the first North Wilkesboro Speedway NASCAR Cup Series race in October of 1949. And the history of the track features some of the sport’s most interesting milestones.

For example, Lee Petty (1959-60), Rex White (1960-61) and Richard Petty (1962-63) each won three consecutive races in a nine-race span. NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip set a one-of-a-kind mark – winning five straight races from 1981-1983. He also won six of seven as well. The late Tim Richmond was the only driver to steal one away during that particular Waltrip hot streak, winning in the spring, 1984 only to have “DW” return to Victory Lane that October.

And as he does at so many venues, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty holds the win record at North Wilkesboro Speedway – hoisting 15 trophies; the first in 1962 and the last in 1981.

Gordon’s win in the final NASCAR Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro Speedway was indicative of the greatness of that era as well – a race decided by NASCAR Hall of Famers or newly-nominated candidates. Gordon took the checkered flag by 1.73-seconds over the late Dale Earnhardt. Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton and Terry Labonte rounded out the top five that day. The win padded Gordon’s championship lead to 111 points over Labonte and 182 on Earnhardt but Gordon was ultimately unable to keep Labonte from overtaking him for the championship that Fall.

This week’s race certainly has a highly-motivated entry list as well including this year’s Daytona 500 winner and virtual Homestead race winner Denny Hamlin. Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch will compete alongside former Cup champions Kevin Harvick and NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Labonte.

RELATED: Remembering North Wilkesboro

Timmy Hill, who has earned a lot of recognition for his iRacing prowess, is eager to finish the series on a high note before the NASCAR Cup Series schedule resumes at Darlington Raceway next weekend.

Hill has a victory (at virtual Texas) and five top-three finishes in the series’ six iRacing events and expects this week’s race to be as competitive as ever – despite the newness of the venue to so many. Other than Gordon, none of this week’s drivers have competed in a NASCAR Cup Series race at the track.

“I have never been there in real life or on iRacing,” Hill said Wednesday of the track. “So I’ve yet to turn laps on it.

“They [iRacing] just released it to the drivers who are participating this weekend. I was just tied up yesterday. I might get on this evening to run a few laps, maybe some tomorrow. It’s fair game.”

This entry list and classic locale certainly seems like a fitting back-drop to wave the checkered flag on the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series and ready the green flag for on-track racing at Darlington. Hill and three-time winner Byron have certainly claimed a large and hard-earned share of the spotlight and he sees that as a welcome by-product as he prepares to climb into his real time No. 66 Motorsports Business Management Toyota. 

“I think it’s definitely a confidence booster,” Hill said of his eNASCAR iRacing run during the downtime. “It gives you experience, makes yourself happy, motivated and also makes your team happy. I know speaking personally, our team MBM, they’re ecstatic that we have gotten this much publicity.

“Everybody’s talking about the success we had. Even though I’m the one driving the car, I feel like we all share the success together. I couldn’t be more thankful. We’re going into Darlington geared up. Everyone’s ecstatic, happy to go. We’re all ready to get back to racing.”

Hill will certainly need to use the enthusiastic boost this weekend. The third-place finisher last week, he and race runner-up Christopher Bell will be starting at the rear of Saturday’s grid. The race will be 160-laps with one ‘reset’. Cautions will be called manually. There will be three attempts at a Green-White-Checkered finish if necessary. And the top-10 qualifiers will be inverted at race start. Qualifying will take place at 2:50 p.m. – just before the 3 p.m. telecast start.

The popular Friday Night Thunder will take place at another popular NASCAR short track, virtual Martinsville Speedway. The race – featuring the best of NASCAR’s Xfinity and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck series – will be 125 laps with a 30-car field. Four 10-lap heat races set the first 24 spots on the grid and a 15-lap last-chance qualifier will fill the remaining six positions. The main event is at 8 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on eNASCAR.com/live or on NASCAR’s YouTube channel.

Posted on by Jonathan Merryman

The 1996 season was the final year the NASCAR Cup Series ran at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The final race at the track that year came down to two of the biggest names in stock-car racing: “Wonderboy” Jeff Gordon and the worst thing to see in your rearview mirror since police lights, “The Intimidator” Dale Earnhardt.

That’s exactly what Gordon was facing in the closing stages of the 1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400. With the laps counting down, Earnhardt was charging, hungry for any type of momentum the No. 3 team could scrape up after an 11-race stretch with no top-five finishes. That same stretch saw Earnhardt drop from the points lead to fourth in the standings.

RELATED: Full race results | North Wilkesboro racing history | Memorable moments

However, Gordon wasn’t fazed and he never let Earnhardt get close enough to make a move. Gordon went on to win the final NASCAR Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro for his 10th victory of the season — his first of three straight seasons with at least 10 wins. The win was his third straight and kept him in the points lead over Terry Labonte. “Texas Terry” would take back the points lead back for good with two races to go after the series’ race at Rockingham.

Relive the 1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400 in this week’s NASCAR Classic Full Race Replay, and don’t miss the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series‘ virtual trip to North Wilkesboro on Saturday, May 9 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX* (check local listings), FS1 and FOX Sports App.

Posted on by Zack Albert

The hum of activity is back at Hendrick Motorsports as the organization pecks away at preparing for NASCAR’s first races back since the COVID-19 outbreak. But it’s a different back-to-work feel for the organization, which is in its second week of operation with a limited number of personnel working under multi-point guidelines meant to curtail the disease’s spread.

Safety, always a priority in motorsports, remains the first order of business. Those precautions, however, have created some significant adjustments for Cliff Daniels and the rest of Hendrick’s Cup Series crew chiefs. Foremost among those modifications: Not laying eyes or hands on the No. 48 Chevrolet that they’ll bring to Darlington Raceway since, oh, mid-March.

RELATED: Johnson attempts to ‘stay fluid’ in farewell season

“We are proactively really not trying to let the two groups of our shop working force and our road-crew working force intermingle unless absolutely necessary, just to avoid risking exposure,” said Daniels, in his first full season as crew chief for seven-time series champ Jimmie Johnson. The interactions among crewmembers, instead, have come electronically — by video conferences, phone, text, and workplace chat software.

“From a crew chief perspective, it’s a little wild because not being able to physically see and touch the race car right now is definitely a big change for me and one that was tough at first, but we have a lot of great people that I trust, and we trust them to get the job done,” Daniels added. “So, thankful that we have good employees that are really willing to dig in and adapt. I don’t know that right now there’s many procedures that are business as usual, so to speak. There’s so much that we’ve had to change and adapt to that the whole thing, the whole landscape operationally is different, but we’ve put a lot of forethought and planning into it.”

Car, driver and crew chief will be reunited when the Cup Series resumes May 17 at Darlington (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), an event that touches off a busy four-race stretch in an 11-day period for the circuit. Two events at the historic South Carolina track will be quickly followed by two more at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with each race being held without fans and with strict safety protocols in place to combat the public-health crisis.

MORE: NASCAR sets revised May schedule

Though the other Hendrick crew chiefs haven’t had personal contact recently with the cars they’ll carry responsibility for at the track, Daniels says the team’s Darlington entries were already well-prepped for races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway before their postponements in March.

“Right now we’re a little bit spoiled in terms of the level of prep that was in those cars,” Daniels says, “and once we get into some weeks where you’re racing three times in seven days, the cars on the backside of that schedule, we’ll see how good we really are at executing and getting all the details met, and I’m very confident in everyone at Hendrick Motorsports that we can do that. We’ve just got to see it through.”

That next challenge will come at Darlington with a drastically reduced race-day schedule that forgoes practice and qualifying. Only one of the next four Cup Series events — the May 24 Coca-Cola 600 — will hold qualifying as racing officials attempt to limit the time that crew members and other essential personnel are gathered.

RELATED: Teams prep for Darlington return

Without practice, Daniels said that unloading and then priming each car with limited adjustments before diving into an official event will mean a “quick evolution” as the track takes rubber and shapes driver feedback. He and Johnson plan to rely on notes from previous races, simulation data and other trends to establish a baseline before the No. 48 rolls out in the Darlington garage.

“With no practice, you just have to be very specific in what you’re looking for with the balance, grip level, attitude and performance of your car,” Daniels says. “There’s the good and the bad, and there’s an opportunity to either dial yourself in or dial yourself out, so I’m excited about the challenge. We’ve taken these last eight or nine weeks to work from home and really dig into a lot of the notes and situations, just to make us better. To have that confidence in the decisions that we’re going to make for how we unload.”

The communication lines have also been open during the sports-world lockdown between Daniels and Johnson, who plans to make this campaign his last full-time season in NASCAR’s top division. But their conversations have deviated from typical driver-crew chief race-day banter, first making sure that their families are staying safe amid the recent health emergency and offering input to the organization and NASCAR’s racing operations group about revised safety procedures that will be in place in the coming weeks.

With the larger public-health concerns kept firmly in mind, the passion for the racing retains its pull on Johnson. On Tuesday, he took ESPN’s social media challenge “Dear Sports, _____” to heart, detailing how he missed it. “It’s been an interesting time for me to reflect and to really understand how much I love competition, not only as a participant, but certainly as a spectator,” Johnson said, adding he was ready to enjoy the entertainment that sports provides, but also to make his own contribution to that cause.

That feel extends to Daniels’ drive to get back to business — albeit under different circumstances — in the racing world.

“From the competitive standpoint and just for what all this has been, we have so much empathy and concern for the general public and everyone in our country and over the world affected by the virus,” Daniels says, “but if we’re able to get back and bring some entertainment to those folks and just some hope for making one day a return to normalcy and to provide a little window into our competitive world for our fans and sponsors, that’s something we want to do.

“Personally, he and I are both incredibly competitive. It’s no secret how competitive he is and how much energy and passion he has for racing and just so many aspects of his life and career,” Daniels added, saying that Johnson has been intent on staying physically fit and mentally sharp during the unforeseen break. “When we get back going, I promise you he will have a grin from ear to ear when he drives into Turn 1 at Darlington when they drop the green flag at 180 mph. That’s a guarantee. You can take that to the bank.”

Posted on by Pat DeCola

Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman will each be making their highly anticipated returns to the NASCAR Cup Series when racing resumes Sunday, May 17 at Darlington Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Two of NASCAR’s most decorated veterans, the pair of former Daytona 500 winners should inject a degree of excitement into what’s already going to be a thrilling afternoon at NASCAR’s original superspeedway.

RELATED: Kenseth to drive Ganassi’s No. 42 for rest of 2020 | Newman cleared to return

But what about beyond that race? Surely, the two drivers aren’t content to just ride out the respective twilights of their careers — Kenseth was already sitting on his couch before the rest of us were, and likely wouldn’t come back just to turn laps. Newman, not to mention, was in contention to win another “Great American Race” coming to the checkered flag just a few months ago.

The potential future Hall of Famers each find themselves in competitive rides, faced with a schedule that will trim practice and qualifying time — a caveat you’d have to think would favor the sport’s veterans with a bevy of track laps under their belts.

RELATED: NASCAR issues playoff waivers to Kenseth, Newman

Courtesy of some data from Racing Insights, here are some bullet points on a statistical pathway to the 2020 NASCAR Playoffs for two of NASCAR’s longtime stars.

Ryan Newman, No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford

  • Has amassed 36 points from finish at Daytona (29th place in the standings)
  • Will need to average 28 points/race in the next 22 races to make top 16 in points
    • 28 points with no stage points is ninth place

Matt Kenseth, No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet

  • Will need to average 30 points/race in the next 22 races to make the top 16 in points
    • 30 points with no stage points is seventh place
  • Daniel Suarez currently sits 31st in points with 32 points
    • Non-full timer David Ragan is 30th, but ineligible for the playoffs

Clearly, with the spate of races to come and the difficulty involved in averaging ninth- and seventh-place finishes for Newman and Kenseth, respectively, their best path to the postseason contention will come via a trip to Victory Lane.

For context, 2019 Cup champion Kyle Busch led the series with an average finish of 8.9 over 36 races last year. Not saying the duo — with a championship and 57 Cup wins scattered between them — isn’t capable of pulling off such a feat, it just isn’t the most likely of scenarios, by far.

The question then: where should we look for these two to cash in on for an automatic playoff berth?

NASCAR ON YOUTUBE: See all of Ryan Newman’s poles

Newman’s top five tracks by average finish

  • Darlington Raceway, 12.6
    • 0 wins, 7 top 5s, 13 top 10s
  • Pocono Raceway, 13.1
    • 1 win, 9 top 5s, 15 top 10s
  • New Hampshire Motor Speedway, 13.5
    • 3 wins, 7 top 5s, 20 top 10s
  • Kentucky Speedway, 14.4
    • 0 wins, 3 top 5s, 4 top 10s
  • Dover International Speedway, 14.6
    • 3 wins, 7 top 5s, 14 top 10s

Kenseth’s top five tracks by average finish

  • Kentucky Speedway, 8.4
    • 1 win, 3 top 5s, 6 top 10s
  • Texas Motor Speedway, 9.5
    • 2 wins, 14 top 5s, 19 top 10s
  • Michigan International Speedway, 11.3
    • 3 wins, 14 top 5s, 20 top 10s
  • New Hampshire Motor Speedway, 11.6
    • 3 wins, 12 top 5s, 21 top 10s
  • Atlanta Motor Speedway, 11.9
    • 0 wins, 11 top 5s, 17 top 10s

Based solely on the above numbers, you’d have to think Kenseth — whose career win count is more than double that of Newman’s, in only eight more starts — would be the more likely of the two that we’d see punch his ticket with a win. The 48-year-old, however, is at an age where it’s fair to question what he still has left in the tank after sitting out the entirety of last season.

Lest we forget, as well, that Newman very nearly could have already been a playoff lock with a Daytona 500 win that was within his grasp in the final seconds of that race.

Either way, the possibilities are endless at the moment and given the already topsy-turvy nature of the 2020 season, we certainly aren’t counting either out from making a run at a title, perhaps for the final time.

Posted on by Terrin Waack

Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman are both making their NASCAR Cup Series returns, and the reasons behind each of the comebacks couldn’t be more different.

On one hand, Kenseth is coming out of retirement. Chip Ganassi Racing asked the 2003 champion to take over the No. 42 Chevrolet for the remainder of the season. Kyle Larson was dismissed by the team after his use of a racial slur during an iRacing event April 12.

On the other, Newman is bouncing back from a serious injury after the driver of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford was involved in a scary last-lap wreck in the season-opening Daytona 500. He was sidelined for three races with Ross Chastain filling in as the substitute.

RELATED: NASCAR grants Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman playoff waivers 

Now that that’s settled, on to the competition aspect.

On May 17, Darlington Raceway will host NASCAR’s first race back since the COVID-19 outbreak paused the 2020 schedule (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). And here’s the best part: Kenseth won the last Cup Series event the South Carolina track hosted in the month of May. It was the 2013 Southern 500. Five of Darlington’s six premier races since then have been in September for Labor Day weekend; the other took place in April.

That was Kenseth’s only win at Darlington throughout his 18-year full-time career, which spanned from 2000-17. He took his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to Victory Lane after leading 17 of the 367 laps and beating Denny Hamlin to the finish line by 3.115 seconds.

RELATED: History of springtime racing at Darlington Raceway

Newman, meanwhile, has never finished first in 21 Darlington starts. In the 2002 Southern 500, he did come runner-up to Jeff Gordon. Newman was 1.734 seconds short of the checkered flag.

Win totals aside, though, Newman has a stronger all-around record at the 1.336-mile track. His average start (10.6) and finish (12.6) are better than Kenseth’s (19.7 and 15.8, respectively). Newman also has more top fives (seven; Kenseth: three), top 10s (13; Kenseth: 12) and laps led (334; Kenseth: 193).

Other variables to consider are seat time and overall experience. Newman was in a race car more recently than Kenseth, whose last competitive event was in November of 2018. Kenseth has a championship title (2003) to his name, while Newman does not.

There’s really no reason to pin these two drivers against each other than to see who has the superior NASCAR homecoming.

RELATED: Kenseth’s Darlington stats | Newman’s Darlington finishes

MATT KENSETH Darlington Raceway RYAN NEWMAN
25 Starts 21
1 Wins 0
3 Top-five finishes 7
12 Top-10 finishes 13
1 Poles 1
19.7 Average start 10.6
15.8 Average finish 12.6
193 Laps led 334
97.4% (8,455/8,683) Laps completed 98.4% (7,377/7,499)

NASCAR ON YOUTUBE: See all of Ryan Newman’s poles

Posted on by Track Release

CONCORD, N.C. (May 6, 2020) — Coca-Cola Racing Family driver Austin Dillon recently spent nearly an hour visiting with Special Operations Command Marines for Camp Lejeune as part of Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Mission 600 campaign to honor the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces as a prelude to the 61st running of the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend.

While the traditional Mission 600 features drivers paired with regional military bases representing all five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces completing in-person training exercises and interaction, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic shifted plans to a virtual visit.

As part of the video teleconference, the Marines hosted a rappelling demonstration and showed Dillon a video providing the driver a little more background into the life of a MARSOC Marine. Later, Dillon opened up the conference to questions from the Marines, covering a range of questions from what motivates the young driver to his feelings on welcoming his first child later this year and what it means to drive the iconic No. 3 car for his grandfather’s team.

Mission 600 continues this week with fellow Coca-Cola Racing Family driver Bubba Wallace scheduled to virtually visit airmen from South Carolina’s Shaw Air Force Base. Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman and Daniel Suarez have also recorded video shout outs to service men and women, among other content, as part of the campaign, which runs on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s social media channels through race day.

The Coca-Cola 600 is slated to go green in its traditional Memorial Day Weekend slot on Sunday, May 24. Fans can tune in on FOX or through the PRN radio network.

Posted on by Zack Albert

As Darlington Raceway’s president since 2016, Kerry Tharp has led the preparations for four editions of the Southern 500, a crown-jewel race on the NASCAR schedule each year. The month of May usually means longer-term planning for the South Carolina track’s annual Labor Day special. This year, the short-term planning for an unexpected event has arrived much sooner.

Tharp and his staff are hard at work gearing up for three NASCAR national series races in a four-day stretch that wasn’t a blip on the racing schedule when the season started. With its convenient proximity to the industry’s Charlotte-area hub, venerable Darlington is now set to play host to big-league motorsports’ first real-world race since the coronavirus pandemic shut down virtually all sports worldwide.

MORE: NASCAR sets revised May schedule

Tharp said the historic 1.366-mile venue is ready to play its part, a role he says isn’t taken casually.

“We’re excited to have the opportunity to bring live sports back to this country,” Tharp told NASCAR.com. “That’s a great opportunity; certainly it’s a privilege. We feel honored to have the chance to do that, but it’s also a big responsibility, too, because we want to make sure we get it right and make sure that we create the safest environment that we can for the competitors that are going to be here on our property the end of next week and through next week.

“We’re excited, a lot of work to do. We’re working pretty hard at it, and it’s a total team effort with a lot of good people involved.”

NASCAR makes its first steps back Sunday, May 17 at Darlington, where the Cup Series will resume nearly nine weeks after holding its most recent event (March 8 at Phoenix). Two days later, the track will host a Tuesday race for the Xfinity Series, then another Cup Series race Wednesday, May 20. NASCAR officials have not released a fully revised schedule beyond May 27, but said the Southern 500 weekend remains in place for Darlington on Sept. 6.

RELATED: Teams prep for Darlington return

These first handful of races — for Darlington and Charlotte Motor Speedway later this month — after the arrival of COVID-19 to the country will be held without fans as a safety measure meant to prevent large gatherings and to maintain social-distancing guidelines. It represents a striking change from Darlington’s annual throwback weekend, a well-attended highlight on the NASCAR calendar.

Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

“It’s going to be very different; the type of event that we’re putting on compared to what we’re used to, when we usually have 50, 60 thousand people on our property for three or four days, having a big, festival type of atmosphere,” Tharp says. “We’re not going to have that right now, but now’s not the time for that. We’re trying to get back in the best way that we can with live sports and NASCAR, and this is the step that we have to take. So, it is a great deal different than what we’re used to doing, but I feel confident in our team and all the plans that have been put in place that we’ll put on a super event.”

Those plans have been developed through a collaboration of contributors, from the support of South Carolina governor Henry McMaster, to the guidance of NASCAR medical and racing operations teams, to the input from McLeod Health’s regional network of medical staff.

South Carolina declared a state of emergency March 13, the same day that NASCAR postponed a scheduled tripleheader of events that weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. A stay-at-home order went into effect April 6, but McMaster loosened the state’s restrictions April 19 before lifting the order Monday, leaving social-distancing guidelines in place for some businesses.

Tharp singled out McMaster for his help in working with NASCAR and the track to bring stock-car racing back. But that return will be a measured one, with pre-screening for those planning to come to the track and on-site screening stations for the limited amount of personnel allowed on the property. Face masks will be required, and social distancing will be maintained with one-way walking routes and by spacing out work stalls in the Cup Series garage, the motorcoach lot and other infield areas.

“We’re going to be very strict and stringent on these protocols. Everybody’s got to be compliant with this for this to work,” Tharp says. “We’ve got a pretty good plan in place on how we’re going to get the teams, the workers, the officials, the hauler drivers — everybody who’s going to be inside the garage area — inside safely. … It’s going to look a lot different, but I think we’ve got a good plan in place, and I think it’s going to work.”

Tharp has joined some special celebrations in Victory Lane at Darlington in recent years, and he says the anticipation of returning to competition after a nearly two-month hiatus should be running high. But post-race cheers won’t ring out from the grandstands later this month, and the customary group photos and hugs all around for the winning team will be shelved to avoid personal contact.

Darlington will be the first trial run, so what will a socially distanced Victory Lane look like?

“I think it’s still a work in progress,” Tharp said. “I’m not sure yet what the racing operations team and the broadcast partners have worked out post-race. Certainly, I will tell you this: The team that wins that first race, the trophy’s going to mean a lot to them. The first race back, I think it’s going to be super special. I think the teams are going to be competing very hard for that and it’s going to be a historic moment to say that they won the first race back after the pandemic.

“I think that the teams are hungry to get back racing. It’s been about two months since they’ve been behind the wheel of a race car. I know they’ve done the iRacing and I think everybody’s done a super job with that, but now we’re talking about 3,600-pound machines that are going to be doing upward of 180 miles an hour at Darlington without practice or qualifying, and that’s pretty challenging. It’s also pretty exciting, and I think everybody’s going to look forward to seeing how that plays out.”

Posted on by Staff Report

In less than two weeks, NASCAR engines will shift from idle to full song as the 2020 racing schedule resumes May 17 at Darlington Raceway. The teams preparing for that restart date are already revving up, but with a precautionary vibe.

Last week, NASCAR officials issued a tightly condensed May itinerary for getting back up to speed after roughly two months off during the rising spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The Cup Series’ first two races back are set for the historic South Carolina track with two more to follow in quick succession at Charlotte Motor Speedway — four events in an 11-day span.

MORE: Racing set for May return | FAQ on schedule’s resumption

Teams have restarted prep work at their respective shops to get cars ready for those events, but Hendrick Motorsports, Chip Ganassi Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing are among organizations reporting that they are doing so with safeguards in place. Those protocols include regular health screenings, limiting the number of personnel on site and staggering their work schedules, practicing social distancing and requiring facemasks and other protective coverings during their shifts.

Similar health measures will be in place once teams return to the track, where those first races back will be held with social-distancing precautions and other safety directives. NASCAR officials have maintained that all 36 races will be run this season; a revised Cup Series schedule beyond a May 27 event at Charlotte has not yet been released.

RELATED: Gaunt Brothers Racing gears up during pandemic

The preparations have come as teams adhere to federal, state and local guidelines, with several organizations doing their part to help in manufacturing protective equipment. In North Carolina — the hub for most Cup Series teams — a stay-at-home order is in place through at least May 8, but Governor Roy Cooper said April 23 that race shops may operate as essential business.

That order gave teams the go-ahead to begin preparations for a busy end to May. Charlie Langenstein — a veteran, title-winning mechanic with StarCom Racing — was among those back at it Monday, detailing the team’s work and its precautionary measures on social media. Langenstein said the team took its primary No. 00 Chevrolet earmarked for the postponed Atlanta event that was scheduled March 15th and retooled it for Darlington duty; two StarCom cars were set to go to the NASCAR Research & Development Center for approval.

Langenstein reported that rigorous cleaning processes were in place at the team’s shop, both during and after shifts.

Posted on by Press Release

The Gold Edition of NASCAR Heat 5, the video game Officially Licensed by NASCAR, will launch on Tuesday, July 7, for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices, including the Xbox One X, and PC via Steam, with the Standard Edition launching on July 10th. To mark the announcement, NASCAR Heat 5’s debut trailer has been released. Entitled ‘Refuse to Lose,’ it is narrated by legendary NASCAR sportscaster Ken Squier and features the cars currently driven by the game’s cover star Chase Elliott, 2019 NASCAR Cup Series™ Champion Kyle Busch and 2014 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kevin Harvick.

Check it out now on the NASCAR Heat YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/NASCARHeat

Developed in-house at 704Games, NASCAR Heat 5 will be published by Motorsport Games, the video game company dedicated to the integration of racing game development and esports. The game features all the official teams, cars and drivers from the NASCAR Cup Series, as well as the NASCAR Xfinity Series™, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series™, and Xtreme Dirt Series. Race at 34 authentic tracks from across North America in single player, two-player split screen multiplayer, and online multiplayer for up to 40 players.

Motorsport Games has also announced that the Gold Edition of NASCAR Heat 5, available for pre-order now, will sport exclusive content featuring Tony Stewart. This will include the ability to have the NASCAR Hall of Famer as your in-game spotter, an exclusive Career contract offer from Stewart-Haas Racing, classic Tony Stewart paint schemes, the NASCAR Heat 5 Season Pass (containing four DLC packs) and in-game cash to kick-start your own team.

NASCAR Heat 5 is the definitive NASCAR video game experience, building on the foundations of the previous games with a host of gameplay additions and enhancements. The immersive Career Mode, now with improved statistics, lets you either work your way through the various series until you reach the NASCAR Cup Series, or start at the top for your favorite team. Meanwhile, the new Testing Mode allows you to perfect your car set-up for every track and hone your racing line.

With online racing support for up to 40 players, NASCAR Heat 5 is perfect for esports. The official eNASCAR Heat Pro League will race with NASCAR Heat 5 later this year.

More information about NASCAR Heat 5 will be revealed in the run up to release on Tuesday, July 7, 2020. To make sure you stay up to date with the latest news, follow NASCAR Heat on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Title: NASCAR Heat 5
Release Date: Gold Edition: Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Standard Edition: Friday, July 10, 2020
Formats: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows PC (Steam)
Multiplayer: Offline 2 player split screen, online 2-40 players
Languages: English, Spanish, Brazilian, Portuguese
Genre: Racing
Publisher: Motorsport Games
Developer: 704Games