Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials released information Tuesday about starting lineup and pit-selection procedures, plus a modified competition caution process to allow for more wide-ranging adjustments for upcoming events scheduled without practice or qualifying.

RELATED: Field sizes grow in select Xfinity, Gander Trucks races

Three of the next four events on the revised NASCAR Cup Series schedule will be held without Busch Pole Qualifying to determine a starting lineup; only the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24 will include time trials to set the field. The decision was made to host multiple events without practice and limited qualifying to restrict exposure and at-track time for crews in the wake of the coronavirus health crisis.

Starting lineup procedures for events without qualifying

When the series hosts its first event after the pandemic outbreak on May 17 at Darlington Raceway, the lineup will be determined in part by a random draw for starting positions:

  • Positions 1-12 will be determined by a random draw from charter teams in those positions in team owner points
  • Positions 13-24: Random draw among charter teams in those positions in owner points
  • Positions 25-36: Random draw among charter teams in those positions in owner points
  • Positions 37-40 will be filled out by open, non-chartered teams in order of owner points

The starting lineup for the next Cup Series event, scheduled May 20 at Darlington, will use the finishing order from May 17 as the basis for the lineup with one inversion:

  • Starting positions 1-20: The top 20 finishers from the May 17 event will be inverted for the start of the May 20 race
  • Starting positions 21-40: The bottom 20 finishers from the May 17 event will start from their finishing positions for the start of the May 20 race; any new entries will be placed at the tail of the field

Pit-stall selection for the May 17 event will be based on charter team owner points, then open team owner points. Pit selection for May 20 will be determined by the finishing order of the May 17 race.

For the two NASCAR Cup Series events scheduled at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the starting lineup will be determined by:

  • May 24: Same-day qualifying for the Coca-Cola 600
  • May 27: An inversion of positions 1-20, then positions 21-40 from the Coca-Cola 600 results

Pit-selection for Charlotte events will be determined May 24 by qualifying and then May 27 by the results of Coca-Cola 600.

Modified competition caution process introduced for events with no practice

All three NASCAR national series will have a modified competition caution in the early portions of each race. Those stoppages will include freezing the field to accommodate longer pit stops, allowing teams to make more extended in-race adjustments that might normally be made during practice.

That modified competition caution procedure includes:

  • Freezing the running order at the time of the caution period
  • Granting the free pass for the first car one lap down
  • No wave-around rule will be in effect for the competition caution
  • Pit road opens to the top 20, then the next 20 on the following lap
  • Each car will keep its position at the time of the caution, provided it beats the pace car off pit road
  • The pit cycle repeats, with the top 20 then next 20 allowed to pit a second time
  • Teams that do not beat the pace car off pit road will lose a lap and restart at the tail of the field; teams that pit more than twice or outside of their designated pit window will also restart at the tail of the field.
  • The lineup will be reset according to the frozen running order for the restart

The competition cautions will occur at or around the following laps:

  • May 17: Cup Series, Darlington: Lap 30
  • May 19: Xfinity Series, Darlington: Lap 15
  • May 20: Cup Series, Darlington: TBD
  • May 24: Cup Series, Charlotte: TBD
  • May 25: Xfinity Series, Charlotte: TBD
  • May 26: Gander Trucks, Charlotte: TBD
  • May 27: Cup Series, Charlotte: TBD

Xfinity, Gander Trucks lineup procedures

The Xfinity Series and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series will use random draws in part to determine starting lineups for their upcoming events without qualifying.

For the Xfinity Series’ May 19 event at Darlington and May 25 race at Charlotte:

  • Starting positions 1-12 among teams in those positions in owner points will be determined by a random draw
  • Starting positions 12-24 among teams in those positions in owner points will be determined by a random draw
  • Starting positions 25-36 among teams in those positions in owner points will be determined by a random draw
  • Starting positions 37-40 among teams in those positions in owner points will be assigned starting positions based on their order of eligibility

Pit selection for the Xfinity Series race at Darlington will be based on qualifying from the series’ most recent race, at Phoenix Raceway, which gives the first selection to the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota.

The Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series will use a similar system to determine the starting lineup for its May 26 return at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Teams will draw for starting position based on groups in team owner points:

  • Starting positions 1-10 among teams in those positions in owner points
  • Starting positions 11-21 among teams in those positions in owner points
  • Starting positions 22-32 among teams in those positions in owner points
  • Starting positions 33-40 among teams in those positions in owner points, followed by a draw among new teams without owner points

The order of pit selection for the May 26 Gander Trucks event will be determined by the qualifying results from the series’ most recent race, Feb. 21 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That means the ThorSport Racing No. 13 Ford entry of Johnny Sauter will have the first selection.

MORE: NASCAR reveals revised May schedule

Posted on by George Winkler

Welcome back, old friend. Or, for some of you, welcome aboard as you follow NASCAR for the very first time. We want to make this an enjoyable experience for all of you as we get back to providing the world’s best racing for your entertainment.

Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, NASCAR has not been on the track since the March 8 Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway. However, with NASCAR set to return in the safest manner possible on May 17 at Darlington Raceway (without fans in the stands and with strict guidelines in place), we would like to share some tips on how to follow the races.

WHERE TO WATCH

Besides the coverage on NASCAR.com, which we will explain in the next section, here are the broadcast details for the revised May schedule that NASCAR recently released:

Date Series Venue Time TV Radio
May 17 Cup Series Darlington 3:30 p.m.* FOX MRN/Sirius
May 19 Xfinity Darlington 8 p.m. FS1 MRN/Sirius
May 20 Cup Series Darlington 7:30 p.m. FS1 MRN/Sirius
May 24 Cup Series Charlotte 6 p.m. FOX PRN/Sirius
May 25 Xfinity Charlotte 7:30 p.m. FS1 PRN/Sirius
May 26 Gander Charlotte 8 p.m. FS1 MRN/Sirius
May 27 Cup Series Charlotte 8 p.m. FS1 PRN/Sirius

* = All times are ET.

We will provide more schedule updates as they become available (Update: They are available). Log on to NASCAR.com and visit the following pages regularly for the latest news:

Full NASCAR schedule

TV schedule

Weekend track schedule

NASCAR.COM COVERAGE

Besides news, video and analysis from a talented group of content producers, NASCAR.com offers these highlights to our race coverage:

Race Center: During any of our national series races — Cup Series, Xfinity Series or Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series — Race Center is the best place to be for live leaderboard look-ins that include live lap times, lap-by-lap notes and in-race highlights. Customize the leaderboard experience and see the stats you like most displayed prominently. Bonus: Free for the next two months, listen to radio broadcast, NASCAR officials, and driver team communications during Cup, Xfinity, and Truck races with Scanner, sponsored by Sugarlands. For more details on how to follow NASCAR and to log-in to Scanner, visit our Follow Live page.

NASCAR Mobile: The official app of NASCAR. Access all the Race Center features listed above in addition to Scanner with enhanced telemetry and NASCAR Drive in-car cameras. Purchase a subscription and get an ad-free experience (no commercials or ads). Bonus: You can also listen for free here to radio broadcast, officials, and driver team communications during Cup, Xfinity, and Truck races, qualifying sessions and practices for May and June.

NASCAR Drive: Live video of up to six driver in-car cameras and other cameras (battle cams, stationary cams, aerial cams) streamed throughout the race. Free access for all NASCAR Cup Series races and companion Xfinity Series races. Available on desktop and mobile web at www.nascar.com/drive or inside the NASCAR Mobile app (iOS and Android phone and tablet) by clicking on the Drive icon in the navigation.

NASCAR SOCIAL CHANNELS

Interact with NASCAR’s social team on a variety of different topics and get live updates during the races. Pick your preferred social media outlet and become a loyal follower:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube

GAMING

The NASCAR Finish Line app by Penn Gaming is free to play and your chance to win $25,000 during every race. Pick the correct drivers in the categories and you will be well on your way to big bucks, big bucks, and no whammies! It’s that simple.

NASCAR Fantasy Live is back, and now is the perfect time to begin a new league — or pick up where you left off in an existing league. Our “garage pick” gives players the option to replace an underperforming driver during the race — a “do over” because who couldn’t use a “do over” every once in a while?

ENASCAR

Don’t forget these talented athletes! iRacing has provided fans with a large measure of enjoyment during a difficult time. Don’t worry, they aren’t going away.

Watch the Coca-Cola iRacing Series compete on NASCAR tracks every other Tuesday from now until the championship race on Nov. 1 on eNASCAR.com/live.

On Wednesdays, tune in to the NASCAR Heat Pro League, also on eNASCAR.com/live. Drivers will compete in two sessions, one for PS4 and the other for Xbox One.

NASCAR ROOTS

Keep tabs on the hottest prospects coming up the NASCAR ranks, including Hailie Deegan. See them before they become stars and celebrate the sport’s Saturday night roots with full ARCA Menards Series coverage and more.

NASCAR TERMINOLOGY

First-time follower? Let’s get you up to speed with the lingo. We’ll guide you through the NASCAR terms that may seem odd at first so you can be talking like a pro in no time.

Camber: The amount a tire is tilted in or out from vertical. Described in degrees, either positive or negative.

Dirty air: Aerodynamic term for the turbulent air currents caused by fast-moving cars that can cause a particular car to lose control.

Downforce: A combination of aerodynamic and centrifugal forces. The more downforce, the more grip a car has. But more downforce also means more drag, which can rob a race car of speed.

LEARN MORE TERMS

GETTING BACK UP TO SPEED

Series Recent race winner Venue Standings leader ’19 champ
Cup Joey Logano Phoenix Kevin Harvick* Kyle Busch
Xfinity Brandon Jones Phoenix Harrison Burton* Tyler Reddick
Gander Kyle Busch Las Vegas Austin Hill* Matt Crafton

* = Click on the standings leader to get access to standings, other stats.

For more details on how to follow NASCAR, visit our Follow Live page.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials announced Friday three tracks will have races reassigned to Darlington Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway later this month as the sport attempts to hold its first events since the COVID-19 outbreak.

The realignment shifts events away from Chicagoland Speedway, Richmond Raceway (spring) and Sonoma Raceway on the 2020 calendar. According to officials from the sanctioning body, future adjustments to this season’s schedule “will be released in the near future.”

NASCAR initially announced portions of a revised May schedule on April 30, adding national series events at Darlington and Charlotte. Those tracks were chosen for NASCAR’s return to competition in part because of their proximity to the industry’s Charlotte-area hub, as officials try to minimize travel demands and limit the amount of at-track personnel with one-day events.

MORE: NASCAR revises May schedule

“Due to the current pandemic, NASCAR has faced several difficult decisions, including realigning race dates from several race tracks,” the NASCAR statement read. “These decisions were made following thorough collaboration with local and state government officials from across the country, including the areas of the affected race tracks. We thank all our fans for their support, and we look forward to our return to racing.”

Further details about the changes to the 2020 racing schedule:

• Chicagoland’s NASCAR Cup Series race — originally set for June 21 — has been reassigned to Darlington on May 17. The 1.5-mile Illinois track’s Xfinity Series race that was scheduled June 20 will be held May 19 at Darlington. Chicagoland was also set to host the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series (June 19) and ARCA Menards Series (June 18); officials indicated those races will be reassigned at a later date.

• Richmond Raceway’s springtime Cup Series event on the initial schedule for April 19 has been moved to Darlington on May 20. A Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race that was to be run April 18 remains postponed, with officials saying details would come later for rescheduling. The .75-mile Virginia track’s Sept. 11-12 race weekend remains on the schedule.

• Sonoma Raceway’s Cup Series date for June 14 has been moved to Charlotte on May 27. Officials for the road course said in a release they had worked with NASCAR to find an alternate date on the schedule, but a suitable replacement could not be reached, “given the ongoing uncertainty around large events in California.”

Each of the three tracks released statements, saying ticketholders for the canceled races would receive a full refund or a 120-percent credit toward a future event.

• Chicagoland Speedway president Scott Paddock: “The difficult decision to realign our race events was a combination of where we fell on the schedule, proximity to NASCAR’s teams and the safety and well-being of our community and larger NASCAR industry. We will miss the roar of the engines at Chicagoland Speedway this season, but we will be rooting for and supporting our NASCAR colleagues at Darlington Raceway as competition returns on Sunday, May 17.”

• Richmond Raceway president Dennis Bickmeier: “As a sport, we continue to be united in the best interests of the safety and well-being of our fans, competitors, stakeholders, and track personnel. There will be brighter and healthier days ahead in the greater Richmond region when NASCAR returns to Richmond Raceway for the NASCAR Playoff Race Weekend on Sept. 11-12. We look forward to NASCAR’s best getting back on the track at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, May 17 as we launch a new countdown to the return of racing in RVA this fall.”

• Sonoma Raceway president and general manager Steve Page: “We work all year for this event, so this is a huge disappointment for us, for our fans and our sponsors, but we realize it’s part of a larger challenge facing our nation and everyone in the live events business. We are excited that NASCAR is coming back to broadcast television and are ready to support the upcoming events at our Speedway Motorsports tracks. We look forward to NASCAR’s return to Sonoma in 2021.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Three-time Grammy Award-winning country music artist Darius Rucker is set to perform the national anthem before Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Ways to follow NASCAR from home

Rucker recently performed the pre-race concert before this year’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February. The Charleston, South Carolina, native is longtime NASCAR fan and expressed excitement for the opportunity to perform leading up to the race in his home state.

First achieving multi-platinum status as lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the iconic pop-rock band, Hootie & the Blowfish, Rucker has also enjoyed success as a solo artist. Rucker has earned four No. 1 albums on the Billboard country chart and nine No. 1 singles at country radio, including his eight-time platinum version of Old Crow Medicine’s “Wagon Wheel.”

Sunday’s 400.2-mile event at the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval restarts the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season after a halt due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Posted on by Steve Luvender

Jimmie Johnson’s time in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series was off to a rough start.

The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 83-time race winner is considered among the greatest stock car drivers of all time — and rightfully so. Naturally, when racing paused amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson put himself up to the challenge of competing against his peers virtually in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, despite zero prior sim racing experience.

RELATED: Learn about the Pro Invitational Series  | Recap every Cup win of Johnson’s career

However, as Johnson quickly learned, getting up to speed in iRacing requires a bit of a different skill set than what made him one of NASCAR’s all-time greats. 

Johnson’s iRacing debut at Homestead-Miami Speedway was, in a word, memorable. Not in the gutsy-drive-to-win-a-seventh-championship sense, but, well … let’s just say it provided some meme fodder. 

It was clear after his Pro Invitational Series debut that Seven-Time needed some remedial lessons in virtual racing. That’s when one G.O.A.T. connected with another. 

Ray Alfalla, four-time eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion, knows how to get the job done when it comes to sim racing. He’s racked up 24 victories — the most of anybody, and by a lot — in the Coca-Cola Series, NASCAR and iRacing’s elite level of professional gaming. He’s unquestionably the most successful driver in series history — the Jimmie Johnson of iRacing, if you will. If there were an iRacing Hall of Fame, he’d be a unanimous first-ballot lock.

RELATED: Catch Alfalla in the Coca-Cola iRacing Series 

Alfalla also is a coach for Virtual Racing School, a platform where sim racing pros provide tools and training for racers looking for more speed. And, when you think about it, who’s more qualified to teach than someone so immersed — not to mention successful — in iRacing? The raised-on-sim-racing 30-year-old cut his teeth racing online in pre-iRacing titles and even scored a championship in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s invitation-only DMP Racing League as a teenager. 

It was Dale Jr. who helped Alfalla make the connection with his newest student, Jimmie Johnson.

“Props to Junior for getting this going,” Alfalla said of pairing up with Johnson. “After seeing Jimmie struggle at Homestead, I went to Dale and asked him to put me in contact. Dale did, and Jimmie was immediately receptive to help.”

The duo’s first week was less focused on racing and more centered around navigating iRacing’s technical requirements — the computery part of it all. Walking before running. 

“The biggest challenge was probably operating Windows,” Alfalla laughed. “Getting him used to all the little details, from downloading third-party software, to learning how to navigate iRacing. All these things take time, and he had to do it within a few days.”

When Johnson eventually did hit the track with Alfalla, however, it was quickly evident that some of those natural racing skills transferred to the virtual world.

“His race craft was immediately there,” Alfalla said of his first on-track race session with Johnson. “He made several bold moves and left everyone quite impressed — but not surprised. He’s Jimmie freakin’ Johnson, after all.”

Still, there are adjustments — particularly around comfort and feeling — a driver needs to make in the transition from real-world racing to sim racing. Even a skilled champion like Jimmie Johnson isn’t immune to the learning curve. 

“Getting him used to not having a seat-of-the-pants feel was the biggest challenge,” Alfalla said. “Most real-world drivers are used to feeling the car with their entire body, and finding the grip limit that way. On iRacing, it’s mostly visual, with some feedback on the wheel and some auditory cues.”

After some initial lessons, Alfalla continued to support Johnson by working alongside real-world No. 48 crew chief Cliff Daniels on Pro Invitational Series race day. 

The improvement Johnson showed with just a week under Alfalla’s tutelage was impressive. In a week’s time, Seven-Time went from clueless to competent, putting up some not-half-bad efforts in the Pro Invitational events at Texas Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway, as well as an IndyCar crossover event. 

The iRacing champ might have even learned a thing or two himself from Seven-Time. 

“I learned quite a bit about Jimmie’s driving style, with input from his crew chief Cliff Daniels,” Alfalla said. “I had questions about how the real cars drove, and how they compared to what we have on iRacing; needless to say, Jimmie and Cliff had insightful answers.”

RELATED: Daniels details how the 48 team is prepping for return

Jimmie Johnson iRacing
NASCAR via Getty Images

Now, as the NASCAR Cup Series prepares to return to action May 17 at Darlington Raceway, Alfalla turns his focus back from coaching Jimmie Johnson to his own eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season, where he currently sits tied for 14th in points after six races in 2020. 

Like Johnson, Alfalla has struggled to reach Victory Lane recently; his last win came in the 2018 championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway — Alfalla’s home track, where he watched Johnson hoist all seven of his NASCAR Cup Series championship trophies.

“We’ve had very successful careers and get called G.O.A.T.,” Alfalla said of his similarities with Johnson. “With that being said, both of us have had a couple rough years and we’re looking to get back on top.”

Regardless, Alfalla’s goal to win a fifth Coca-Cola Series title and the champion’s $100,000 prize remains steadfast — once he reaches the top eight in points to become eligible for playoffs in October first, of course.

“Once you make that coveted top eight, anything can happen in those final four races. OK, fine — the goal is the championship.”

Catch the next round of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series from Charlotte Motor Speedway Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET at eNASCAR.com/live.

 

Posted on by Terrin Waack

This is the second installment in a series where NASCAR.com looks back at each race this season and gets you caught up for Sunday’s return at Darlington Raceway. The Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube took place on Feb. 23, 2020 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 

WINNER: Joey Logano won this race for the second season in a row, securing the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series champion a spot in this year’s playoffs. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford led 54 of the 267 laps, including the final two after a late-race restart. 

KEY MOMENTS: Ross Chastain spun in Turn 2 on Lap 263 to bring out the eighth caution of the afternoon. Joey Logano was one of seven lead-lap drivers who stayed out on older tires. It was a two-lap dash to the finish then. Logano was able to keep his lead position and pull away from the pack after a solid restart push from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. There was also a multi-car wreck on the frontstretch during that final restart, so the race finished under caution.

Chase Elliott won both stages earlier in the race and led 70 laps overall. The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet then went spinning into the Turn 1 wall with a flat left rear tire on Lap 220. He recovered only to finish 26th.

RELATED: Full results from race 

KEY DRIVERS: Ryan Blaney showed speed in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford, leading 19 laps, but ultimately finished 11th. Brad Keselowski was then seventh in Team Penske’s No. 2 Ford. Matt DiBenedetto finished second in only his second race driving the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. Wood Brothers is affiliated with Team Penske, so it was a good day across the board for the parent organization.

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

1. Team Penske’s decision to change up the driver-crew chief pairings paid off. Joey Logano and Paul Wolfe already made it to Victory Lane together — twice actually, as they were victorious at Phoenix Raceway two weeks after this Las Vegas trip. Ryan Blaney and Todd Gordon were working well together, evident by Blaney’s time atop the points standings after this race. Brad Keselowski and Jeremy Bullins aren’t doing too bad either, with a top five and two top 10s in the four events prior to the COVID-19 pause.

2. Las Vegas showed Hendrick Motorsports was also doing well. Chase Elliott had the two stage wins and is now at three overall to lead stage points. Jimmie Johnson finished fifth, his first top-five performance since he ran third at Daytona International Speedway in July 2019. William Byron was in the lead battle on the final restart before a tire rub sent him back to 22nd. Alex Bowman came in 13th and was challenging Blaney for the lead prior to the final caution. He would go on to win the next week at Auto Club Speedway.

3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had a hot start in the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet — won the Daytona 500 pole and then finished third at Las Vegas — but the fire must have fizzed out. He was 20th at Auto Club, then 22nd at Phoenix. Remember, this is Stenhouse’s first season in the No. 47. He drove the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford from 2013-19. Chris Buescher is now in that ride.

4. Las Vegas marked the first of three races Ross Chastain filled in for Ryan Newman, who was injured during the Daytona 500 in February and medically cleared to race again in April, with the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Chastain finished 27th at Las Vegas but was able to nab a stage point for the team after placing 10th in Stage 1, which was a happy surprise for the full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver. He was then 17th at Auto Club and 23rd at Phoenix.

5. Toyota struggled at the first 1.5-mile track. The highest finisher was Kyle Busch in 15th. Denny Hamlin, the Daytona 500 winner, was then 17th. Martin Truex Jr. was 20th. Erik Jones was 23rd. The three others — Daniel Suarez, Christopher Bell and Timmy Hill — were all 30th or worse.

2020 SEASON REFRESHERS

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR competition officials announced Monday that the field size for Xfinity and Gander Trucks races temporarily will be expanded to a maximum of 40 vehicles each. The change will be in place for events scheduled without qualifying as the sanctioning body attempts to hold its first races after the outbreak of COVID-19.

The temporary procedure change increases the field from Xfinity Series’ customary 36 entries and the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series’ usual 32. No changes were made to the NASCAR Cup Series’ field size, which remains at a maximum 40 cars.

RELATED: NASCAR’s revised May schedule | Stage lengths for May races

NASCAR officials recently unveiled a revised schedule to return to racing with events scheduled at Darlington Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway later this month. Races at both tracks will be held with safety precautions in place, including restricting track time, travel time and exposure for essential personnel by forgoing pole qualifying at the majority of rescheduled events.

Officials indicated that the sanctioning body did not want to punish part-time or new teams in each series by continuing to limit the field without the opportunity to qualify. The two series plan to return to their normal field sizes once restrictions begin to lift and qualifying is restored as part of the event schedule.

“This move is critical for the long-term health of the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition. “There are many new full-time and part-time team owners who have made significant commitments to our sport and secured sponsorship to participate this season. NASCAR wants to enable these teams to fulfill their commitments and grow their businesses without being affected by circumstances out of their control.”

Section 1.6 of the 2020 NASCAR Rule Book allows for the sanctioning body to adapt to unforeseen and/or extraordinary circumstances under the “EIRI” clause — “Except In Rare Instances” — which applies to the current public-health crisis and unprecedented NASCAR industry work stoppage.

The temporary change will not dramatically alter the points structure for each race. In the Xfinity Series, officials will continue to award a baseline of 40 championship points for first place and one point for 36th (formerly last) place; teams finishing 37th through 40th in the expanded field will also receive one point. In Gander Trucks, first place will continue to earn 40 points with five points for 32nd (formerly last) place; teams finishing 33rd through 40th in the expanded field will each receive five points.

A NASCAR spokesperson indicated that post-deadline entries will not be eligible for these events.

Posted on by Terrin Waack

Denny Hamlin is going to do as he’s told at Darlington Raceway when NASCAR returns May 17 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Toyota expects all of the other Cup Series drivers present to cooperate in the same way. There’s too much on the line to not. Live racing is almost back, and no one wants to lose it again.

Race-day protocol is obviously going to be different. There will not only be an absence of fans, but team personnel will also be limited. Rosters are limited to 16 people, which includes those required such the driver, spotter and crew chief. The owner even counts if attending.

RELATED: Stage lengths, at-track procedures revealed | FAQ’s for NASCAR’s return

That’s only the beginning of the precautions the sanctioning body is implementing and everyone involved in the sport is taking seriously amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Obviously there will be a huge microscope on how we’re doing things,” Hamlin said Saturday after his second win in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. “For all of us, it’s just the unknown of making sure we’re doing it the right way.”

RELATED: Pro Invitational Series results from North Wilkesboro Speedway

The aspect of the unknown bleeds into the on-track competition, too.

None of these drivers have had actual seat time since Joey Logano’s win more than two months ago on March 8 at Phoenix Raceway. They also won’t have any practice time at Darlington prior to the drop of the green flag for the 400.2-mile race. They don’t even qualify. NASCAR truly wanted this to be a one-day event.

“I envision people are going to be pretty timid, at least for the first few laps, just trying to understand, checking your travels,” Hamlin said. “There’s plenty of times where these things unload, the cars are hitting the race track, you’re not ready to be in a pack quite yet. That will certainly be different.”

Darlington is known as the track “Too Tough to Tame.”

“I mean, it will be a challenge,” Hamlin said. “I think every driver thinks they have an advantage, right?  But I like that there’s so many unknowns.”

Hamlin has won twice at Darlington in his 14 career starts there so far — 2010 and 2017. He also already has a 2020 win thanks to his third Daytona 500 victory back in February. That means he’s locked into this season’s NASCAR Playoffs, as are Alex Bowman (who won at Fontana) and Joey Logano (who won at Las Vegas and Phoenix). They were the three drivers to win before the competition pause hit in March due to COVID-19, halting the season for two-plus months.

Darlington will welcome back postseason repercussions to the racing world. A playoff berth is on the line. Amid all of the other changes, that part has remained the same.

There can’t be any post-race pit-road dust-ups, though, which will make things interesting if drivers get heated during the waning laps. Social-distancing rules rule the day and prevent any type of physical contact; people must be six feet apart at all times. Revenge will have to wait, or at least carry over to a later event.

“If there’s ever a time to be aggressive, ruffle some feathers, this is probably the time to do it,” Hamlin said, “because you don’t have to face the consequences after the race.”

Posted on by RJ Kraft

This is the first installment in a series where NASCAR.com looks back at each race this season and gets you caught up for Sunday’s return at Darlington Raceway. We start with the Daytona 500, which took place Feb. 17, 2020 at Daytona International Speedway. 

WINNER: Denny Hamlin won his third Daytona 500 and became the fourth driver to win “The Great American Race” in back-to-back years and the first since Sterling Marlin did so in 1994-95. Hamlin led a race-high 79 laps and was engaged in a back-and-forth battle with Ryan Blaney and Ryan Newman in a NASCAR Overtime finish.

KEY MOMENTS: The second closest finish in Daytona 500 history saw Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney and Ryan Newman trading the lead in the two-lap finish. Newman held the lead coming off of Turn 4 when contact from Blaney sent Newman up the track, into the wall and saw his car flip over with sparks flying. Blaney and Hamlin raced side-by-side to the line with the Joe Gibbs Racing driver edging out the Team Penske driver. Newman was taken to a local hospital after the last-lap wreck, and he would be released from Halifax Medical Center two days later.

A chain-reaction crash that started when Joey Logano bumped Aric Almirola into Brad Keselowski on Lap 184 involved 19 of the 37 cars still in the race and eliminated Keselowski and seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson from contention. This was the first of four cautions in the final 25 laps. 

RELATED: Full results from race

KEY DRIVERS: Ryan Blaney finished as the runner-up, and despite a strong show of speed from him to open 2020, this is his only top-five and top-10 finish so far in the season. In his first NASCAR Cup Series race back at Roush Fenway Racing, Chris Buescher finished third. Ryan Newman finished ninth even with his involvement in a last-lap wreck. Jimmie Johnson opened his final full-time season with a 35th-place finish after he was in a wreck on Lap 184.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:
1. Ryan Newman’s last-lap wreck sidelined him for the next three races. Ross Chastain filled in for Newman while during that time, but last month, the veteran driver was medically cleared to return when the season resumes.

2. Denny Hamlin strengthened his Hall of Fame case with a third Daytona 500 crown. The other drivers with at least three Daytona 500 wins – Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty – are all in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Unlike those five, Hamlin does not yet have a NASCAR Cup Series title. The victory looked to be a sign of Joe Gibbs Racing picking up where it left off from 2019, but to date, it’s the organization’s lone Cup Series win of the season.

3. Ryan Blaney’s crew-chief change pays early dividends. The speed shown at Daytona by Blaney was a trend NASCAR would see over the early weeks with new crew chief Todd Gordon. Blaney was strong at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway before late-race misfortunes impacted his finishing position in those races.

4. Chris Buescher scored his first NASCAR Cup Series top five since 2018 in his first start with Roush Fenway Racing. The 27-year-old made the move back to the Roush program after three seasons with JTG Daugherty Racing, and his season-opening top five served noticed that he would be a points factor in the playoff race.

5. David Ragan, Brendan Gaughan and Corey LaJoie nabbed top-10 finishes to open the season. LaJoie is the only one of the three who is running full time, while Gaughan has become strictly a superspeedway racer (and 2020 is his final year of that) and Ragan just retired from full-time racing after 2019. Ragan finished fourth, while Gaughan finished seventh and LaJoie finished eighth. John Hunter Nemechek was the highest finishing rookie – 11th – in a trend that would show the driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford routinely getting the most out of his ride.

6. William Byron was the trendy breakout pick for the 2020 season, but the 2020 Bluegreen Vacations Duel No. 2 winner finished last in the Daytona 500 in what amounted to a junior-year jinx. The 2020 season has started slow for Byron with his lone top 10 coming in the last of the four races so far (Phoenix Raceway) and his 19th-place position in the standings being the lowest of all four Hendrick Motorsports cars – the other three are all in the top five in points.

2020 SEASON REFRESHERS

Posted on by Team Release

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Gaunt Brothers Racing, which fields the No. 96 Toyota Camry for driver Daniel Suárez in the NASCAR Cup Series, has hired Nick Ollila (pronounced Oh-li-lah) as its technical director, with the motorsports veteran overseeing the team’s engineering department.

Ollila comes to Gaunt Brothers Racing after a three-year stint as the technical director for Kelly Racing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. The Warren, Michigan-native returned to the United States late last week in time for the resumption of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, which begins May 17 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway as NASCAR becomes one of the first major North American sports to return to action since the COVID-19 pandemic.

MORE: Stage lengths, procedures for May events

“Nick brings considerable insight into what we’re doing with our current inventory of race cars and what we’ll be doing with our Next Gen car in 2022,” said Marty Gaunt, president and CEO, Gaunt Brothers Racing. “He has deep experience in all forms of motorsports, specifically in embracing technology and managing people. Nick also has a strong rapport with our partner Toyota, as many of the people he worked with when he was at Red Bull are the same people there today. He’ll be able to hit the ground running, which is good, because with two to three races a week, we’re all going to be running.”

Gaunt first worked with Ollila in 1997 when the two were at Kranefuss-Haas Racing. Gaunt was the general manager of the NASCAR Cup Series team and Ollila was its chief engineer. Their NASCAR paths crossed again 10 years later when both worked at Red Bull Racing – Gaunt as general manager and Ollila as chief aerodynamicist.

“It’s the people who make the cars go, and Nick has been making cars go since the early ‘70s,” Gaunt said. “We’re lucky to have a lot of long-term employees who have been with us for 10 years, but scaling up from running a part-time schedule to a full schedule meant bringing in more people. Coming up with the recipe of having all the right people in all the right places isn’t easy, but Nick is a good chef.”

NASCAR is where Ollila has spent the bulk of his career, which includes being the drivetrain specialist at Rod Osterlund Racing in 1980 when Dale Earnhardt won the first of his seven NASCAR Cup Series championships.

“Motorsports is my passion, and I’m proud to have turned it into a career,” Ollila said. “I’ve spent time in a variety of racing series, but NASCAR is the one that intrigues me the most. The level of competition is unmatched, so success is very satisfying. I’ve known and worked with Marty Gaunt and many of the people at Gaunt Brothers Racing for years. They’ve got a great foundation and they’re building for the future, and I’m very happy to be a part of shaping that future.”

Ollila’s racing career began at Team Penske in 1972 as a mechanic. He prepared cars for each of the series in which the organization competed; a lineup that included IndyCar, NASCAR, Can-Am, Formula 5000, sports cars and Formula One.

NASCAR became Ollila’s focus in late 1976. He joined DiGard Racing as the team’s drivetrain specialist, working with NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip until the end of the 1978 season, whereupon he went to work for Osterlund.

IndyCar and Penske beckoned in 1982, and Ollila returned as the team’s engine builder, enjoying four championships (1982, 1983, 1985 and 1988) and four Indianapolis 500 victories (1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988).