Posted on by Staff Report

Champion crew chief Cole Pearn, one of the leading figures atop NASCAR pit boxes, caused a Silly Season stir late Monday with his departure from Joe Gibbs Racing.

The Canada-born Pearn cited spending more time with his family as the reason for his departure. Pearn spent five years as the crew chief for driver Martin Truex Jr., a pairing that was among the most successful in recent NASCAR history.

Pearn started with Colorado-based Furniture Row Racing in 2010 as a race engineer. He was promoted to crew chief in 2015, kicking off a tenure that netted 17 wins and the 2017 Cup Series championship for Barney Visser’s No. 78 group. He added seven more wins with Truex last season, their first with JGR’s No. 19 team.

RELATED: Truex Jr. reacts

Pearn’s dry sense of humor was one of his calling cards, as was his understated but often acerbic social-media presence. But the other trademarks were his savvy in the garage and a chemistry that clicked with Truex, who toasted his crew chief on social media Monday evening.

“I cannot say enough good things about Cole and what he has meant for my career,” Truex said in a release provided by the team. “I appreciate his hard work and dedication to our race team over the past six years going back to when he was my engineer at Furniture Row. Our friendship is what matters most to me and I’m happy that he’s doing what’s best for him and his family.”

MORE: Most crew chief wins since 2015

The personnel move opens a high-profile vacancy with an organization that set a single-season record with 19 wins in the 2019 campaign. Pearn was the No. 19 team’s fourth crew chief in five years, following Darian Grubb, Dave Rogers and Scott Graves. The organization indicated that Pearn’s successor would be announced at a later date.

Truex is the third driver of the JGR No. 19 Toyota, which began competition when Coach Joe Gibbs expanded to a four-team operation in 2015.

Carl Edwards was the No. 19’s first driver, scoring five wins in 2015-16 before his surprise retirement before the 2017 season. Daniel Suarez replaced him and drove the No. 19 for two years before he was succeeded by Truex after Furniture Row disbanded.

RELATED: 2020 NASCAR schedule

Posted on by Staff Report

It’s happening.

After months of planning, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and an assembled crew paid a visit to North Wilkesboro Speedway on Monday to clean up the .625-mile track in preparation for an iRacing track scan.

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Earnhardt was joined by a host of others, including Speedway Motorsports Inc. president Marcus Smith, iRacing executive vice president and executive producer Steve Myers, NASCAR Cup Series driver Chris Buescher, Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series driver Myatt Snider, NBC Sports’ Rick Allen and Marty Snider, William Byron’s spotter Tab Boyd, Austin Dillon’s spotter Andy Houston, among others.

Despite inclement weather, the team cleared weeds and other debris from the track in order for iRacing to perform an adequate scan with the end goal of making the closed North Carolina track available for iRacing users to compete.

The NASCAR Cup Series last competed at the facility on Sept. 29, 1996. Jeff Gordon was the last driver to claim victory before it was dropped from the schedule.

Posted on by Staff Report

Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon and wife Whitney are expecting their first child, the couple announced Monday morning via Instagram.

Married in December 2017, the two found a creative way to spread the news by using images from a photoshoot at Charlotte Motor Speedway, site of Dillon’s first career NASCAR Cup Series victory in the 2017 Coca-Cola 600.

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Congrats to the future Mama and Daddy Dillon.

Posted on by Terrin Waack

The more laps, the better.

Or at least that’s Ross Chastain’s mindset. He ran 77 races last season across NASCAR’s top three series. Without drop-off, too. Chastain finished second in the final standings of the Gander Outdoors Truck Series, where he competed full time for points.

“It’s weird,” Chastain said at the NASCAR Awards in Charlotte, North Carolina. “It’s just the adrenaline of thinking you’re going to go and compete in every national NASCAR race that weekend. Plus, I think it helps my driving. I’m not naturally Kyle Busch (the Cup Series’ 2019 champion). I’m not, and I accepted that probably before I ever raced at 12 years old.”

RELATED: Silly Season updates | Gander Truck Series rankings

Chastain made his NASCAR debut in 2011 and has since notched 311 starts overall. The 77 this past season topped the 74 mark in 2018 and broke down into all 23 events in the Gander Truck Series, 19 in the Xfinity Series and 35 in the Cup Series. He piloted the Nos. 38, 44 and 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolets full time in the Gander Truck Series, moved among the Nos. 10 and 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolets and the No. 4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series and then bounced between the Nos. 15 and 27 Premium Motorsports Chevrolets in the Cup Series.

Through it all, Chastain has two wins in the Xfinity Series — the first was at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2018 and then Daytona International Speedway in 2019 — and three in the Gander Truck Series — all in 2019 at Kansas Speedway, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and Pocono Raceway. He has one top 10 in the Cup Series.

“If I’m going to make it in this sport, I’m putting in the work now to hopefully make that next step in a couple of years,” Chastain said.

The first step was made back in October when Chastain and Kaulig Racing announced the 27-year-old will race for the Xfinity Series championship full time in 2020 with the No. 10 entry. As of the banquet in November, a crew chief had not been officially decided on.

Chastain still plans to run in the Gander Truck and Cup Series next season, in as many events as he possibly can and is allowed.

“We’re having those conversations right now,” Chastain said. “But I tell every team when I first meet them, get to know them and before I ever drive for them, OK, you’re going to have some hard days to deal with me. Here’s what I think it will be, and then you tell me ahead of time what you think it’ll be. And then we’ll go through that. Because I don’t want any surprises. … Different teams want me to run less and some teams want me to run more. It depends on their personal opinion.”

The argument is whether Chastain should focus solely on one circuit. He doesn’t think so and needs teams that understand even if they don’t fully agree. His goal is to improve, and he believes this is the way.

Because, ideally, he’d eventually like to earn a competitive full-time ride in the Cup Series.

“Whatever happens, happens,” Chastain said. “I’ve probably already out-kicked my coverage on my career.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Joey Logano is scheduled to drive the NASCAR Cup Series’ Next Gen car in its second on-track test Monday and Tuesday at ISM Raceway near Phoenix.

Logano will pilot the same prototype that first hit the track Oct. 8-9 at Richmond Raceway, with Austin Dillon behind the wheel. That test car was built by Richard Childress Racing in collaboration with NASCAR.

The car is scheduled for its competition debut in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.

RELATED: 2020 NASCAR schedule

Logano offered a preview of his drive during Champion’s Week media availabilities last week in Nashville, Tennessee, saying he was entering the test without preconceived notions about the Next Gen car.

“I think I need to leave my mind open,” Logano said Wednesday. “I think a lot of it is just understanding, for one, just some durability stuff but also just understanding what works and what doesn’t. I’d like to, once we get to some point, I’d like to make some longer runs just to kind of see where things go, but I think there’s just so many differences with the car that we need to understand.

“I think there’s some aero package differences, some tires we’re changing will be a little different and some drivability things, but I think it’s still very much in the beginnings of the development process. With only having one car out there, it’s hard to say one aero package over another besides just an aero balance, so I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to getting back in a race car. It’s been a few weeks, so I like doing that, and just curious more than anything of just how this thing’s going to drive.”

Richmond offered the first glimpse of the Next Gen racer, which debuted with a camouflage wrap, larger wheels and a new profile. NASCAR president Steve Phelps said in his 2019 “State of the Sport” address that the new car was intended to correlate more closely with its highway-going counterparts, saying “We are going to put the ‘stock’ back in stock car.”

Phelps added that the car is on target for its 2021 debut at Daytona Speedweeks, and that some type of electrification or energy-recovery system will also be a component of its development.

Another test of the Next Gen car is scheduled in January at 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway. The 1-mile ISM Raceway track will host two Cup Series race weekends in 2020, including the season finale Nov. 8.

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

Monday, December 9
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Pop Quiz, FS1/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, December 10
On MRN
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Friday, December 13
2 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Fans Choice Awards (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
3 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Pop Quiz (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

Sunday, December 15
2 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Pop Quiz (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
3 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Fans Choice Awards (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

Posted on by Staff Report

It’s been quite the week for Joe Gibbs.

The longtime NASCAR team owner of Joe Gibbs Racing saw three of his drivers feted at Thursday’s NASCAR Awards in Nashville, Tennessee — one of which was crowned a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion in Kyle Busch — along with taking home the prestigious Bill France Award of Excellence for his own contributions to the sport.

MORE: Joe Gibbs wins Bill France Award of Excellence | Best photos from NASCAR Awards

Gibbs was recognized Friday for his contributions of excellence to another sport as well, being named to the National Football League’s NFL 100 All-Time team. One of just 10 coaches to be named to the group, the former Washington Redskins play-caller claimed a 154-94 career record as the franchise’s winningest coach over his 16 seasons. Gibbs led the Redskins to all three of the team’s Super Bowl victories and was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996.

“It means so much to me,” Gibbs said on NFL Network shortly after the announcement. “Just to be mentioned in that group of all the great coaches who went down through history, it’s a thrill for me.”

“Joe was a very disciplined coach,” said New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, according to Redskins.com. “He really popularized the one-back offense. He really believed in the running game, but they threw it down the field as well.”

Gibbs, a five-time Cup Series champion as owner of JGR, first coached the Redskins from 1981-92 and again from 2004-07. He’s the first coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl with three different quarterbacks.

As part of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2020, the accolades will only continue for Coach Gibbs, who is surely starting to run out of room to house his expansive trophy collection.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Kyle Busch clearly was the star of Thursday night’s show at the Music City Center — though other drivers and NASCAR stakeholders certainly had their moments, too. 

The gathering in Nashville — the first time the NASCAR Awards had traveled to Music City — honored Busch, who drove to his second NASCAR Cup Series championship Nov. 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

PHOTOS: Scenes from the ‘red’ carpet | Busch takes hardware around Nashville 

In a season of remarkable accomplishments, Joe Gibbs Racing, however, competed with sadness for the loss of team president J.D. Gibbs, son of founder Joe Gibbs, who died in January after a long battle against a neurological disorder.

That was one of the first things Busch acknowledged after receiving his championship ring from NASCAR chairman and CEO Jim France.

“Every single person dug a little deeper and gave a little more, even though they raced with heavy hearts,” said Busch, who had nothing but praise for crew chief Adam Stevens and his No. 18 Toyota team.

“No matter what was thrown at them, they never gave up. They were able to finish off that final race at Homestead with their best performance.”

As did the driver.

NASCAR president Steve Phelps introduced champion owner Joe Gibbs with the words, “He was dominant, rewriting the NASCAR record book,” a reference to JGR’s unprecedented 19 victories in 36 points races in NASCAR’s top series.

Much of the credit for that achievement belonged to Busch, as a five-time winner this year, and Gibbs was quick to express his gratitude.

“Kyle, thanks for your passion, the way you approach things and your talent,” Gibbs said.

That wasn’t the first time Gibbs had been to the podium. Earlier in the evening he received the prestigious Bill France Award of Excellence for his contributions to the sport.   

Busch was one of three JGR drivers who qualified for the Championship 4 race at Miami. Denny Hamlin finished fourth in the final standings after his team gambled with extra tape on the grille of Hamlin’s Toyota, causing an overheating issues that forced an unscheduled pit stop. 

To “commemorate” that moment, Hamlin brought a piece of tape to the stage and placed it over his mouth. But that was merely levity at the end of an extremely successful season that brought six victories, including a dramatic win in the Round of 8 cutoff race at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.

“The fact is that, every week, we were a factor, and that’s all you can ask for as a driver,” said Hamlin, particularly hard-hit by the death of J.D. Gibbs, who was instrumental in bringing Hamlin to the organization.


“This season was going to be about one thing — and that was J.D. Gibbs and his legacy,” Hamlin said.

Joe Gibbs echoed Hamlin’s sentiment.

“We miss him, but we could feel J.D.’s presence all year long,” Gibbs said.

After county singer Danielle Bradbery introduced third-place finisher and four-time winner Kevin Harvick as “one of the elder statemen of NASCAR,” Miami runner-up and seven-time winner Martin Truex Jr. followed, still lamenting the pit-road snafu that cost him a shot at the title.

“Man, second again,” said Truex, who was runner-up in 2018 after winning the title in 2017. “I think I hate second more than Kyle — I think that’s possible.”

To no one’s surprise, Chase Elliott won his second straight NMPA Most Popular Driver Award for the Cup Series, via online voting by NASCAR fans.

“It’s more than a trophy or a sticker or an award,” said Elliott, whose father, Bill Elliott, received the honor a record 16 times. “I really enjoyed this past season and seeing all the people at the race track who wanted us to do good.

“Hopefully, I can make everybody proud next year, too.”

RELATED: Elliott wins Most Popular Driver Award 

Dave Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development U.S.A., accepted the manufacturer’s championship for the car maker. And an emotional — also surprised — Darrell Waltrip was honored with the NMPA Myers Brothers Award for his contributions to the sport as a driver, team owner and broadcaster.

Waltrip called his last race from the FOX Sports booth this year.

“This is a huge surprise,” said Waltrip. “To tell you the truth, (wife) Stevie and I almost didn’t come. That would have been pretty embarrassing. What a thrill. I thought retirement kind of sucked, but with things like this, I’ll probably enjoy it more.”

RELATED: Waltrip wins Myers Brothers Award | Vaughn earns Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award

Joe Vaughan, long-time volunteer and leader of the South Carolina-based Project HOPE Foundation, was selected from a group of four finalists as the recipient of The NASCAR Foundation’s Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award and the $100,000 grant that goes with it.

The Project HOPE Foundation performs a crucial function within the autism community and is an excellent fit with the Betty Jane France Award, which honors the philanthropic ideals and vision of The NASCAR Foundation’s late founder and chairperson and is annually presented to a NASCAR fan who embodies those ideals. 

In its first year in Nashville after a long stint in Las Vegas, the NASCAR Awards celebration seemed an ideal fit with the capital of country music. The succession of introducers was replete with recording artists in a program that also included performances by Cole Swindell and co-host Cassadee Pope.

No doubt the festivities took their toll on more than a few participants.

“We’ve got to figure out how to have this banquet first,” playoff driver Clint Bowyer said, “because there’s a lot of hungover people here.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Multiple signs dot the downtown streets to point out where the live music venues are, but they are hardly needed. The sound gives the directions.

The blare along Broadway’s crowded sidewalks happens morning, noon and night. And it’s not just country, but blues, honky-tonk, rock, alt-rock, classic rock, alt-country, new country, hick-hop, alt-metal. All sorts of music gets played here.

That enduring vibrance mixed with the raucous sound of revving engines, the smell of smoking tires, and the glow of cell-phone cameras for NASCAR Champion’s Week. After a decade of hosting the year-end awards in the glitz of Las Vegas, stock-car racing’s powers that be shifted to something new, but also familiar — a backdrop replete with much of the same neon, but with the addition of twang.

RELATED: ‘Red’ carpet photos from Nashville

NASCAR played the big room Thursday night in the majestic Music City Center, toasting 2019 champion Kyle Busch, a Vegas transplant who made himself at home this week in the Tennessee capital. He wasn’t alone.

“It feels really comfortable,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has advocated for NASCAR to restore its footprint in Nashville in more ways than just the postseason banquet.

The feel was new, and a welcome change. Vegas’ year-end awards celebration was martini glasses and Sinatra crooning and a place where the wink-and-point move came as second nature. The nickname NashVegas crops up now and again, but this year’s setting has a touch of blue collar, with a constant strum and a rekindled connection to stock-car racing’s regional roots.

The intertwining made complete sense. High octane meets hi-fi sound. A place where Yoakam meets Yocum.

“This has that intimate Southern feel,” Kurt Busch said. “You have that Southern hospitality here, not that the hospitality wasn’t great in Las Vegas or New York over the years, but the fans have been incredible. Just walking down Broadway, people come up, grab selfies, been signing autographs and it’s a cool town, cool vibe.”

Five blocks of live music and cold beer, with some boot shops and museums in between. Wednesday night, the dive-bar dwellers hung from the balconies and crammed behind the temporary barriers to get a better look at the spectacle of tire-squealing burnouts on Nashville’s historic main drag.

NASCAR left its imprint on the country-music hub, an impression that went beyond the labyrinth of skid marks applied to the city center pavement. And Nashville returned the embrace, delivering its brand of boozy recreation and late-night entertainment.

“We have had the limit of fun,” said Clint Bowyer, who seemed to test the limit most nights this week. “… Everybody was Nashvilled.”

There’s a small-town vibe amid the metropolitan atmosphere, but pro sports lives here, too, with the NFL’s Titans, the Predators of the NHL and a Major League Soccer expansion team coming in 2020. Big-league racing could be waiting on deck, if the murmurs about a potential return continue to carry weight.

“I do think this town has really welcomed us with open arms, which I thought was really cool,” said Chase Elliott, who was crowned Most Popular Driver for a second straight year. “I feel like we fit in here, and I think hopefully we can have this event here for a long time. Better yet, I’d love to have a race up here. That’s the end goal.”

RELATED: Elliott takes home second straight Most Popular Driver Award

For a rousing first week back in Nashville, the city showed it knew how to throw a party. Here’s hoping for a return invitation, maybe more than just once a year.

The sound could give directions. Nashville’s like that.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The fans have spoken, and the legacy lives on for another year. Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott was named the 2019 NMPA Most Popular Driver on Thursday night during the year-end Champion’s Week banquet.

The annual award is determined 100% by fan voting, and Elliott, 24, topped the ballot for the second consecutive year.

RELATED: All-time Most Popular Driver winners

“Just an honor, really, and just a big thank you to everybody who voted,” Elliott said after the awards celebration. “Obviously it took a lot of votes to make it happen and everybody that took time to do that, I do really appreciate it. Like I said out there, too, it’s more than a trophy or a sticker or an award, really and truly. So I just really enjoyed this past season and just seeing all the people that were at the race track that wanted to see us do good. And you can genuinely feel that, and that goes a long way. So I appreciate it, and hopefully try to make everybody proud next year, too.”

There’s a history there, of course. Elliott’s father, Bill, won the award a record 16 times, including 10 consecutive years from 1991-2000.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the award 15 times, all consecutively from 2002-17 before his retirement, paving the way for Chase Elliott, who drives the No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, as the heir apparent.

“First off, it was really cool that Dale retired a year early,” Elliott said. “I think all Elliott fans appreciated that, so I think that’s really cool. To have now, I guess 18 awards going back to Dawsonville (Georgia) is pretty cool, and obviously I think a lot of that is due to him and his career and what he and his family built. It certainly isn’t all just me and what I’ve done. I haven’t done anything a drop in the bucket compared to what they did, and that’s the real reason where the core Elliott fan is, I feel like, is recognizing that.”

All told, the Earnhardt and Elliott families have held the award for 34 total years, nearly all of it consecutively. Only Darrell Waltrip’s back-to-back honors in 1989-90 broke up a run that began in 1984 when Bill Elliott won the award for the first time.

Chase Elliott won three races for the second straight year in 2019 and had 11 top-five finishes and 15 top 10s. His win at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval in the Round of 16 finale led to one of the most memorable burnouts and celebrations of the year.

MORE: Allgaier wins Xfinity Most Popular honor | Chastain takes home Gander Trucks Most Popular Driver