Posted on by Eric Johnson

Riley Herbst is set to run a full NASCAR Xfinity Series season in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in 2020. The 20-year-old chatted with Eric Johnson about the announcement, his goals, his relationship with Kyle Busch and much more.

Q: The big news with you is that you’ll be in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing car and racing full-time in the 2020 Xfinity Series. In the racing media, it’s been mentioned more than once that it’s the fulfillment of a dream for you.

A: Yeah, man, this is absolutely crazy. I never really would have believed this was going to come true. It’s just been an awesome opportunity to work with everyone at Gibbs and the guys over at Monster and stuff like that. The seat opened up and we were there for the negotiation and we made it happen. To be in the iconic No. 18 car for next year for Joe Gibbs Racing is something special and I’m really honored to drive it.

RELATED: Herbst lands full ride with JGR | Key players in Silly Season

Q: You came out of the Toyota Racing Development and NASCAR Next programs. Did they prepare you well along the way?

A: Yeah, it is pretty cool because a lot of the people that we train with and study with and things like that we are good friends with. It was cool because we all learned off of each other, but we also try to be better than them.

Q: 2019 was pretty tumultuous for you. You ran a random schedule of ARCA races with JGR, Xfinity races for JGR and the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series with Kyle Busch Motorsports. This doesn’t even include the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races you lined up. Was it difficult to constantly be stepping in and out of different equipment?

A: Man, I would say 2019 has probably been one of the hardest years of racing I’ve ever had. I’ve had great opportunities, but it was tough, like you said, to switch from each vehicle. We also had some bad luck that you can’t control. Other than that, it was a lot of fun, to say the least, but it definitely was difficult to switch between cars so often.

Q: How different is the racing as well as the racers you are out there battling with in ARCA, Xfinity and Trucks? Does the racing and even the talent vary from series to series?

A: I would definitely say the competition is stronger the higher you go up, obviously. The Cup Series and to be a Cup Series champion is the ultimate goal. The competition is tough. The ARCA Series is tough and Truck Series is that much harder and the Xfinity Series is that much harder on top of the Trucks. It’s cool to learn from, but it’s a learning curve each time you step up, for sure.  

Q: In your mind’s eye, what were the highlights of your 2019 season? You almost won in the Truck Series at Talladega and had several other strong top five and top 10 finishes in the cars.

A: Yeah, I ran really well at Pocono ARCA (second overall). Yeah, the Truck race at Talladega, we kind of got that one stolen from us. Kansas and some of the others I felt like we had good results at, but we had stuff go wrong that was not in our control.

Q: Some fans or even people involved in the sport may not realize that you come from a prolific off-road racing family.

A: Yes, it’s pretty cool. It’s like 180-degrees different from most forms of racing, but racing is racing. My family was into off-road racing down in Mexico and on the West Coast. It’s really cool. I definitely had an opportunity to go drive those cars, but I wanted to see if I could try to make a career out of stock car racing back here on the East Coast. We’re giving it our best shot, for sure.

Q:  I know it’s still relatively early, but how are you going to approach the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series? Are you forming a master plan in your head?

A: A little bit. I definitely have great resources around me. I’ve got a very knowledgeable and veteran crew chief with Dave Rogers. I’ve also made some friends over the last few years such as Christopher Bell. I’m not going to be afraid to reach out and ask him questions because he’s one of the best in the Xfinity Series and a really good driver. I definitely have to use my resources. I think that’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned – you definitely can’t be afraid to use your resources. The people that use their resources the most definitely win the most races. That’s what I’m going to try and do next year.        

Q: Las Vegas, Nevada. You’re from the same metropolis as the Busch brothers. That’s kind of cool.

A: Yeah, it is really cool. Las Vegas has produced a lot of racers and a lot of racing. Sin City has some race car drivers in it. Kurt and Kyle Busch have definitely been my idols since I was a young kid. I know Kyle pretty well because I’ve ran his Trucks and he’s helped me out with advice on where to put your race car or how to think and stuff like that, so that helps me out a lot for a young driver like myself. He’s a super-cool dude.        

Q: What are the goals you want to achieve in NASCAR?

A: Man, I want to be good. I want to be a Cup Series champion and I want to say that I beat the best. I want to have a championship against all the best drivers in the world, for sure.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Bill Simpson, a trail blazer in the world of motorsports safety, died Monday. He was 79.

Simpson’s passing was confirmed by the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, which said that he had recently suffered a stroke. He was enshrined there in 2003 and was inducted to the Auto Racing Hall of Fame in Indianapolis in 2014.

Simpson, a native of Hermosa Beach, California, began his racing career in drag racing, then made 52 starts in USAC and Champ Car competition from 1968-77, recording 11 top-10 finishes. That included one start in the Indianapolis 500, where he started 20th and finished 13th in 1974.

But Simpson’s calling card was his devotion to safety, where he made major advancements in fire suits, helmets and harnesses. He illustrated his faith in the effectiveness of his products to an extraordinary degree by lighting himself afire while wearing a Simpson-brand fire suit.

“There I sat on a metal chair as they poured the gas on me and George Snider threw the match in,” Simpson said in a catalog for his equipment, referring to one of his flamboyant demonstrations in 1976. “Now I’m on fire. And the next thing I see is Johnny Rutherford or somebody standing there sticking a hot dog into the fire. Pretty soon after that, every one of those guys was wearing my stuff.”

Simpson began his own company in 1959 after an accident at San Fernando Dragway in his home state. He soon developed a parachute system to help slow dragsters at the end of their quarter-mile runs.

Simpson’s sons Dave and Jeff also raced, with Dave Simpson making seven starts in what is now the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 1988-89. “My interest is that when my boys strap into their cars that they come out,” Bill Simpson told the Associated Press in 1989.

Remembrances poured in Monday afternoon to honor Simpson, with Mario Andretti, Chip Ganassi, Tony Stewart, Rusty Wallace and Jeff Burton among those memorializing him. Simpson’s life was documented in an autobiography co-authored by Bones Bourcier in 2000, a book titled, “Racing Safely, Living Dangerously.”

“Bill Simpson’s innovative spirit in the world of motorsports safety made a profound impact on our sport,” said NASCAR president Steve Phelps. “His legacy continues in the work all of motorsports does to protect its competitors. Our thoughts are with Bill’s friends and family as we remember his many accomplishments.”

Posted on by Staff Report

It had been at least four years since Nathan Crews drive a pure stock car at South Boston Speedway.

Crews has been racing at South Boston, a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series sanctioned 0.4-mile asphalt banked oval track in South Boston, Virginia, for 12 years, and moved up to the track’s top late model division a few years ago.

Funding and sponsors moved him back to the pure stock division for 2019, and he wasted no time regaining his comfort in the car. Crews won nine races on the way to a commanding Pure Stock Championship, his first at South Boston.

Crews’s 571 points was 88 better than second place.

Nathan Crews

“It was probably the most fun I’ve had in any racing season,” Crews said. “And also probably the most work because we put in anywhere from 90-100 hours every week to get both cars ready. And I was helping other people with their cars too so it was a full time job.”

Peyton Sellers won a track-record third straight Late Model Stock Car division title and his fifth overall. He finished sixth in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Division I national standings. Kevin Currin won his second straight Budweiser Hornets Division title with three wins and a top five in all 12 of the division’s races. Danny Willis Jr. took home the Limited Sportsman Division championship.

Crews ran both pure stocks and late models for a couple race, and while he found success, switching between the two cars wasn’t easy.

“You do drive them totally different,” he said. “It’s really hard when you get out of the late model and get back in it because it feels like you’re kind of not going as fast as you really are and you could make mistakes very easily. Those (pure stock) cars you pretty much just drift them around there. If you just push it a little bit too hard you can just slide way too much and that just kills all your momentum and speed. They’re more of a finesse versus driving the late models.”

South Boston Speedway | Facebook | Twitter

The success on the track came from what Crews called “a little bit of luck” and a good car that had fewer mechanical failures than in the past. In other years, he would run good but his equipment would sometimes let him down and cost him wins.

On championship night, Crews nearly had the title locked up, but it wasn’t a given. He knew he needed to at least finish the race, and hopefully finish near the front, to make sure he had the championship in hand.

But while he needed to just finish, car trouble made even that a difficult task. When he got the car to the track, they found it had power steering issues, and they couldn’t find the parts to fix it.

“I actually didn’t know if we should even qualify the car and everybody talked me into it,” Crews said.

Crews was able to win the pole without power steering, “which was pretty cool,” he said.

He still had to start the feature midway through the pack because of his wins during the season. While he ran the late model race, Crews’s team got the power steering hose and fixed the pure stock car well enough for the feature.

“I just hopped in it and went out there,” he said. “It took a couple laps to get all the air and everything out of the steering, but after that it was pretty good and we went on and won the race.”

Nathan Crews

Going into this season, Crews knew he would be focusing on trying to win the pure stock championship, but he always wanted to make sure he took a step back to soak up the joy of just racing and being at the race track. He didn’t want to get so caught up in chasing points he didn’t take the time to have fun.

“I think that played a big role in me being more relaxed and I was able to see and understand things a lot differently and it just really helped me as a driver,” he said. “Being able to relax and actually enjoy it was probably the best part out of all of it this year.”

“You actually do a lot better and you feel the car better and everything when you’re not so tensed up. Don’t get me wrong you’ve still got a lot of adrenaline going and everything, but instead of me being so focused on little things you’re able to relax and see more of the picture and it just helps you get things done a lot better.”

Working on the car was a full-time job for Crews, who helps his father on a farm a few days a week and spends the rest of the time in the garage.

Crews has his dad, Bruce Crews, helping him most days and all races, and friends Daniel Pierce, Daniel Shelton, and Sam Walker who help around the shop and on race day from time-to-time.

For the most part, though, Crews is a one-man band when it comes to getting his car ready through the week.

“I try to just put everything and the focus on racing and trying to make it somewhere in racing,” he said. “I’m the only guy that pretty much gets everything ready, builds the cars and does all the work to them when they get tore up. It’s a full time job just trying to do all that and keep up with these other teams that have hired help and everything.”

Crews knows, though, that being hands-on with the car and understanding it inside and out makes him a better driver.

“It definitely wasn’t just given to us. It took a lot of hard work and there was a lot of times we just thought about kind of giving up. If we would have slacked on any bit of it we definitely wouldn’t have been in it in the end.”

Just last week Crews was in the garage tinkering with cars and thinking about next season. He thanked everybody at CNC Racing and Troy Cook for helping him stay on the track. He’s currently working on getting sponsors for 2020, and hopes to move back to a late model and tour around, while continuing to run his pure stock as well.

He’s also stepping back and taking time, again, to enjoy his first championships.

“When everything was actually going on I really didn’t have time to think about it,” he said. “We were just trying to look at weekend-to-weekend what we had to do and all, but actually now that I’ve got a little time to look back at it it’s pretty incredible everything we went through and what all we achieved out of it.

“We were planning on running for the championship, but I actually wasn’t planning on winning this much.”

Posted on by Terrin Waack

Matt Crafton hasn’t missed a Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race since 2000, when he made his NASCAR debut with a single event. The next year, he became a full-time driver. And 452 starts later, he’s still there.

Gander Trucks, for Crafton, is home.

“It’s the greatest race in NASCAR,” Crafton said at the NASCAR Awards in Charlotte, North Carolina, back in November. “Just ask all the fans to be totally honest. I remember back in 1995 whenever I used to watch truck races I was like, ‘Man, those truck races. I hopefully one day can be a part of it.’ Now that I’m a part of it and able to do it, it’s amazing.”

Not only is Crafton a part of the series, he’s a three-time champion.

RELATED: Gander Truck Series standings | Crafton secures third title

Crafton took home the title for the first time in 2013 with the help of one lone victory, seven top-five showings and an average 7.9 finish. He then went back-to-back in 2014 and improved all those marks to two wins, 13 top fives and a 7.0 average finish. His most recent championship came in 2019, when he managed to survive the playoff format and score the title without any wins. He did have seven top-five and 18 top-10 performances, though, while averaging an 8.8 finish.

There is only one driver with more Gander Truck Series championships — Ron Hornaday Jr. in 1996, 1998, 2007 and 2009 — and he was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame just last year.

“I’ll worry about that when I’m all done,” Crafton said. “At the end of the day, I still have a lot left in me.”

Crafton, who drives the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford, is 43 years old. Hornaday completed his last full-time Gander Truck Series season in 2013 at the age of 55.

“If you think about it, back in the day with the Dale Earnhardts and Darrell Waltrips, those guys were late 40s or 50s and they were still kicking butt,” Crafton said. “It’s just the generation of a lot younger drivers that are coming up and getting the opportunity.

“To be where I’m at right now at 43, I feel very competitive and each and every weekend know I can beat them.”

Crafton has won 14 races in his Gander Truck Series career. Six were in 2015 alone, but he placed third that season overall. He has finished top five in the final standings 10 times.

Also on his resume are two Cup Series (2015 and 2019) and four Xfinity Series (2013-14) starts. Those tallies look insignificant when compared to the triple digits reached in the Gander Truck Series. And that number is only going to continue to grow considering Crafton has no plans on retiring any time soon, nor is he really looking to switch circuits.

“It’s been 19 years,” Crafton said. “I’d say I’m here to stay.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Jimmie Johnson grew up as a California boy racing whatever he was allowed to drive. In only his 13th start, he secured his first NASCAR Cup Series win at his home track, California Speedway in Fontana, California.

The 2002 season was Johnson’s rookie run, and his numbers for a newcomer were strong. Johnson started from the pole four times during his rookie season, including the Daytona 500, Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. He also achieved three wins, six top fives and 21 top-10 finishes driving for Rick Hendrick.

RELATED: Johnson through the years | Johnson sets retirement date

Johnson has lit the NASCAR world on fire during his career. His nickname is “Seven-Time” after winning seven NASCAR championships, and with a year left in the NASCAR Cup Series, he will go down as one of the greatest of all time.

In this full race replay, relive Johnson’s first-ever NASCAR Cup Series win in which he held off Kurt Busch to cross the finish line with a 0.62-second advantage to take home the NAPA Auto Parts 500 trophy.

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 16
4 a.m., Twin Turbos: NASCAR Dreams – Joey Logano (re-air), Discovery Channel
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive, FS1/FOX Sports App
7 p.m., Unrivaled: Earnhardt vs. Gordon (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, December 17
3 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Posted on by Staff Report

This has been quite the busy week for John Hunter Nemechek.

On Tuesday, it was announced that he will drive the No. 38 Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series and compete for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors with Front Row Motorsports in 2020.

RELATED: Nemechek readies for rookie battle | Front Row sets 2020 lineup 

On Saturday, the driver revealed via social media that he is now engaged to Taylor Stier. Congrats to the couple.

Posted on by Staff Report

Team owner Joe Gibbs will add another achievement to his storied career when he’s inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as a member of the 2020 class.

But before Coach Gibbs is honored on Jan. 31 in Charlotte, the Joe Gibbs Racing team decided to pay homage with a different kind of horsepower, creating a parody video of the popular song “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X.

RELATED: Gibbs named to NFL 100 All-Time Team | Gibbs honored with Bill France Award of Excellence

Check it out below as 2019 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones and others trade in their race cars and fire suits for a horse and cowboy attire to recognize the three-time Super Bowl-winning coach and five-time NASCAR championship-winning owner.

Posted on by Team Release

STATESVILLE, N.C. — GMS Racing announced Friday their crew chief and number lineup for their four full-time NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series entries for the 2020 season.

Chad Norris has been named crew chief for Brett Moffitt and the No. 23 Chevrolet team, Chad Walter will lead Tyler Ankrum and the No. 26 team, Kevin “Bono” Manion will call the shots for Zane Smith, who will drive the No. 21 entry, and Jeff Stankiewicz will remain as the crew chief for the No. 2 team piloted by Sheldon Creed.

RELATED: 2020 Gander Trucks schedule

Norris has been with the Statesville, N.C.-based organization for two years. He led GMS Racing to their first NASCAR Xfinity Series win with Spencer Gallagher at Talladega Superspeedway in 2018. The Iowa native has experience in all three NASCAR Series and has called the shots for many successful drivers such as Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin. Most of his experience came in the Xfinity Series where has called the shots for 23 different drivers and has accumulated four wins, 39 top fives, 132 top 10s and five poles.

Walter, who served as an engineer for Ankrum last year, will step up to lead the team. Walter is no stranger to the crew chief role, he has served as a crew chief in seven Cup Series and 208 Xfinity Series events since 2005 for Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and many others. In 208 Xfinity Series starts he claimed five wins, 42 top fives, 101 top 10s and eight poles.

MORE: Key figures in Silly Season moves

Manion has called the shots atop the pit box for many notable top-name NASCAR drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and many others. Over all three NASCAR series, Manion has accumulated five Cup Series wins, 27 top-fives, 65 top-10s, and 10 poles, 15 Xfinity Series wins, 36 top-fives, 53 top-10’s, and nine poles, two Xfinity Championships with Martin Truex Jr. in 2004 and 2005 and four Gander Trucks wins, 16 top fives, 28 top 10s and one pole.

Stankiewicz will remain as crew chief for Sheldon Creed after the team hired him on partway through the 2019 season. The duo accumulated seven starts, two top fives, four top 10s, and led 36 laps. In 2018, Creed won four races and earned 11 top-five, 12 top-10 finishes and three poles with Stankiewicz atop the pit box en route to the 2018 ARCA championship. Stankiewicz was previously with GMS Racing from 2015-2017 and led the team to an ARCA Championship in 2015 with Grant Enfinger.

“All four of our teams have veteran crew chiefs to lead the way and I don’t think we could get a better group,” said Mike Beam, President of GMS Racing. “All of them have the knowledge and experience to lead each of their teams to success this year and I am excited to see what they can do.”

Posted on by Jonathan Merryman

When Dale Earnhardt Jr. asks for something, you just don’t sit on your hands. You do it.

Earnhardt, who was on hand at North Wilkesboro in early December to prep the speedway for iRacing’s highly anticipated scan and digital build-out took to Twitter and asked for any photo or videos to help the iRacing team recreate the magic of Wilkesboro in 1987.

https://twitter.com/DaleJr/status/1204493168890327046

NASCAR.com answered the call with not just one, but two full race replays from North Wilkesboro Speedway from 1987.

RELATED: Dale Jr., crew clean up North Wilkesboro for iRacing scan

The 1987 First Union 400 was run on Sunday, April 5, 1987 and won by Dale Earnhardt Sr. Earnhardt dominated the day, leading 319 of the 400 laps after taking the lead early from Bill Elliott.

2019 Nwilkesboro Main2The fall race at Wilkesboro that year was a bit of a redemption story for Terry Labonte. Labonte, who took pace laps in the spring and was replaced by Brett Bodine for that race came back to Wilkesboro with a vengeance winning the Holly Farms 400 on October 4, 1987. Earnhardt would finish second this day.

With all that said, it’s time to sit back, relax and take in all of what North Wilkesboro Speedway had to offer in 1987 as we all wait patiently for iRacing’s retro build of one of NASCAR’s most legendary tracks.