See the order that Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series cars will go out for single-car qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night (7:05 p.m. ET on CNBC/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). You can view the list here or by clicking the printer icon above.
Denny Hamlin says he’s not sure what factors have stoked his rivalry with Joey Logano, a feud that sparked anew after their post-race squabble last weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Five days after the altercation, Hamlin still had testy words for his adversary and his Team Penske crew.
“It’s really tough to say. I’m not sure but I think he really breeds those type of things,” Hamlin said. “He’s gotten into it really with a ton of people. I have my fair share as well, but I don’t know what it is, but I certainly don’t agree with it, for sure.”
Hamlin’s remarks came during a no-nonsense media availability Friday before the first of two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practices at Texas Motor Speedway. The 1.5-mile track hosts Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the second race in the postseason’s Round of 8. Hamlin and Logano remain playoff-eligible, and both are aiming to advance to the title race Nov. 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
RELATED: Hamlin, Logano tangle | Texas schedule
Hamlin and Logano made contact late in last Sunday’s race at Martinsville, with Logano’s No. 22 Ford getting the worst of their collision. He spun and rallied from 19th to finish eighth, while Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota continued on to finish fourth.
The two drivers met for a pointed conversation on pit road after the First Data 500, a chat that escalated after Logano pushed Hamlin’s right shoulder. The two had to be separated by their crews, but both expressed a desire to fight it out.
MORE: History of Hamlin-Logano rivalry
On Monday, NASCAR officials suspended Dave Nichols Jr., a tire technician with Team Penske’s No. 22 team, for this weekend’s race at Texas. Nichols grabbed Hamlin by the back of his fire suit and threw him to the ground.
When asked if the one-race suspension was a fair penalty, Hamlin said “sure” but also knocked No. 22 crew chief Todd Gordon for a lack of control over his crew.
“My agitation with that guy (Nichols) is he’s the first one in in all Joey’s confrontations if you go back and look,” Hamlin said. “He dives in there and then starts most of this stuff.”
When asked if he thought Logano was purposely agitating him as part of a distraction strategy or mind game, Hamlin bristled. “No, he’s not that smart,” he said.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Nov. 1, 2019) — Starting with the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, Go Fas Racing (GFR) will enter into a technical alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), one of Ford’s most competitive organizations.
GFR team-owner Archie St. Hilaire has been preparing for the opportunity to take his organization to the next level since the team’s first full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2014.
“2020 will be an exciting year at GFR with the addition of SHR cars and their technical assistance,” St. Hilaire said. “I can’t thank all of the great people at SHR for the opportunity to align with them. All of this couldn’t happen without the help of our wonderful sponsors and marketing partners. GFR has improved every year in our six years in the NASCAR Cup Series and I believe that the best is yet to come for this little team and our great group of employees.”
Via this new alliance with SHR, GFR will be provided with chassis, data and technical support for the No. 32 Ford Mustang in addition to their present relationship with Ford Performance and Roush Yates Engines.
“This arrangement will allow Go Fas Racing to improve its performance in 2020 and position itself for future growth,” said Greg Zipadelli, Vice President of Competition for SHR.
To date, St. Hilaire has more than 200 NASCAR Cup Series starts under his leadership, giving a wide array of drivers the opportunity to compete at NASCAR’s level, including past champions.
2020 driver negotiations are still ongoing.
With the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway for the Round of 8, memories always seem to hark back to Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski’s memorable fracas on pit road after the 2014 playoff race.
Gordon was upset at Keselowski for forcing his way through in a move that led to a cut tire and a 29th-place finish for Gordon. Their discussion escalated into a physical altercation involving their crews. Neither driver would go on to advance to the Championship 4 that year.
RELATED: Tempers at Texas | Weekend schedule for Texas
Keselowski took to Twitter on Friday morning to recall the event in detail five years later and to explain why he still stands by his on-track maneuver.
While Jeff was speaking, at least 3 other people were talking/yelling to me at the same time. You can see the 3 at the start of the video, Michael Ribas (pr rep), Jamie little (ESPN) & Brett McMillan (PRN radio). In the process my ears were still ringing from the race as well.
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) November 1, 2019
Then the push happened… and next thing we knew it was a pile of bodies.
I remember thinking, “don’t throw a punch or you’ll get suspended.” I was rightfully under probation for losing my cool at Charlotte a few weeks prior and anything else would have made it worse.
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) November 1, 2019
Second- The move
A few weeks prior, Kasey Khane made that same move at Atlanta to win the race. I remember studying it and thinking it was pretty sweet. https://t.co/9uZcJwhfZb
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) November 1, 2019
At the time when we made contact, I was mad. I still believe their was room to make the move and for all of us to get through. Without contact, we would have won the race and Jeff would have finished in the top-5. We both would have went to Homestead for a championship.
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) November 1, 2019
We were on a little fresher tires from the pit sequence and screaming fast at the end of the race. However, The damage from the contact to my car was enough to slow it down immensely to where we couldn’t pass the 48. We finished 3rd. Not enough to move on.
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) November 1, 2019
In the end, Harvick went on to dominate in Phoenix and win in Homestead to render this moment irrelevant to the championship outcome. But it’s fun to wonder what if…
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) November 1, 2019
Name: Joseph
Current City: Harrisonburg, Virginia
Member Since:2016
Getting to KNOW Joseph:
Q. How did you first become interested in NASCAR?
“I got a NASCAR video game when I was in high school, which was what originally got me interested. Shortly thereafter, my neighbor bought a new truck, and he got tons of promotional material (flags, magazines, etc.) from the manufacture, and he gave a lot of that merchandise to me. I started watching races, and when I went to college in Richmond, was finally able to go to the track and see a race in person. I’ve been hooked ever since.”
Q. What is your favorite part about NASCAR?
“There are many things about NASCAR that I like, but my favorite thing is the overall fun feel of races. The fans are great–attending a race is like a reunion of thousands of friends who you haven’t seen in a while, even if they’re strangers. The drivers are so approachable and genuinely good people. NASCAR is a family sport–for both the competitors and the fans. And attending a race is like a state fair combined with a sporting event. There is nothing like it in other sports.”
Q. Do you have a favorite in any of the following categories?
Driver: “Denny Hamlin.”
Track: “Martinsville.”
OEM: “Toyota.”
Q. What are some of your Raceday Traditions?
“Regardless of whether the race is a day or night race, I always show up at the track right when the gates open (much to the shock of first-timers who come with me). Then we spend the whole day tailgating, doing the midway activities, and playing games before the green flag even waves. I’m already excited about the next race!”
Q. What are some of your hobbies?
“I’m an attorney, so I don’t have tons of free time, but I like going to breweries, and playing bar trivia with my friends. I also like visiting friends and family around Virginia.”
FROM ALL OF US AT NASCAR, WE THANK JOSEPH FOR HIS CONTINUED SUPPORT AND LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM HIM IN 2019! Look for Joseph on the Official NASCAR Fan Council page on NASCAR.COM.
A heated discussion at Kansas on pit road following the last NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff race between championship contenders Tyler Reddick and Cole Custer illustrated the high intensity level among competitors with only two races left to decide which four drivers will advance to the Championship 4 and compete for the season trophy.
Custer returns to Texas Motor Speedway as defending winner of Saturday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 (8:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – ironically beating Reddick to the checkered flag by a mere .162-seconds. It was the third closest finish in the race’s history on the 1.5-mile Texas high banks and there’s plenty of reason to expect that kind of close racing and high emotion again this weekend.
RELATED: Custer, Reddick tussle on pit road
Seven-time winner Christopher Bell leads the championship standings by 11 points over fellow seven-race winner Cole Custer. The defending series champion Tyler Reddick is 12 points behind Bell – the group of super talented youngsters continuing to live up to the “Big 3” designation they earned early in the season.
These three drivers have combined to win 19 of the 30 races to date. Bell has led nearly double the laps (1,775) of anyone else in the field. Custer is next with 903 laps out front. And Reddick leads all drivers in top-five (22) and top-10 (25) finishes.
Custer is the only former Texas winner among the Xfinity championship field this week and prior to his trophy performance last November, Erik Jones 2015 win marked the last time a fulltime Xfinity driver scored the victory at Texas.
While there remains pride and competitive messaging to compete for among the Big 3, the points standings are plenty close for that fourth transfer position into the Championship 4 Round. Veteran Justin Allgaier currently sits fourth, but with only a two-point edge on fifth place Chase Briscoe, a 10-point advantage on sixth place Michael Annett and a 17-point edge on rookie Noah Gragson.
RELATED: Full Texas schedule | Xfinity Preview Show
Austin Cindric, who was involved in an accident at the Kansas race that opened this three-race round, sits 30 points behind Allgaier in that fourth place transfer position. But Cindric finished third – just behind Custer and Reddick – in this race last year and brings plenty of confidence that he can either win the race or make significant ground on Allgaier.
In fact, the last two races at Texas have featured many of these Playoff drivers. Reddick was runner-up to Cup regular Kyle Busch in March. Bell and Briscoe finished third and fourth place. Annett was sixth.
In this race last November, Custer and Reddick finished 1-2, Cindric was third and Allgaier was fifth.
“We did our job at Kansas with a fourth-place finish,” said Annett, driver of the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. “We’ve been great on 1.5-mile tracks this year and Texas is the last one we’ll see before Homestead. We have to be in contention again late in the race, score as many stage points as we can to have a chance at running for a championship. That’s what we’re going to do this weekend at Texas.”
Riding the momentum from a spectacular regular-season performance that saw him defend his title as Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Champion, Kyle Busch entered the playoffs as a heavy favorite to take home another trophy at Homestead.
But if you check the series standings again, you’ll see that Busch’s playoff point cushion has nearly evaporated. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver sits third behind teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin — now only 17 points above the Championship 4 cutline with a pair of crucial races remaining in the Round of 8. He began the Round of 16 with over a 40-point cushion.
Since the playoffs opened at Las Vegas in September, Busch has struggled putting together consistent runs. He has an average finish of 14.3 through seven races after averaging a series-leading 8.2 during the 26-race regular season.
Despite top-five finishes at Richmond and Kansas, and a sixth-place finish at Dover, heavy damage (Talladega and Martinsville), a flat tire (Charlotte Roval) and a speeding penalty (Dover) have been some of the issues that caused setbacks for the No. 18 team.
A string of mechanical mishaps and damaged race cars may not be the only concern moving forward. A couple of on-track run-ins with drivers outside the Round of 8, most notably Garrett Smithley (at Vegas) and Aric Almirola (at Martinsville), could potentially prove costly in the long run.
RELATED: Almirola ‘going to make it hell’ for Kyle Busch
Perhaps even more unsettling for Busch is that he has not won a race since early June (Pocono), stretching his winless streak to 19 races. Since his last win, Busch has finished second three times, including behind Truex Jr. at Richmond in September’s playoff race.
Teammates Hamlin and Erik Jones have also won races during that span. Hamlin has won three of his five races this season since Busch’s last win, most recently winning the Round of 12 elimination race at Kansas. Jones picked up his only win of the season at Darlington on Sept. 1.
To make it to the Championship 4 at Miami, Busch will likely have to hit the reset button at a track he has had success on throughout his career. Heading to Texas will be a familiar operation for Busch, with a trio of wins and 12 top-five finishes to his name in 27 starts. His most recent win came in the spring of 2018, leading a race-high 116 laps.
With just two races left before the finale, the No. 18 camp simply cannot afford to make many more mistakes.
Source: Racing Insights
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C (October 31, 2019) – Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) announces today that NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) driver Brandon Jones has signed a contract extension and will be back behind the wheel of the No. 19 Toyota in 2020.
After his second full season at JGR and fourth complete Xfinity Series season, Jones is ready to take on the senior role and keep building on his momentum from 2019 into 2020. He made a major statement at Kansas Speedway earning his first career win in the Xfinity Series and the team feels they are poised to challenge for the 2020 NXS Championship.
RELATED: Key players in Silly Season
“I couldn’t be happier to be back and race in 2020 with Joe Gibbs Racing,” stated Brandon Jones. “I am very proud of my team and the huge strides and experience we have gained over the past two years. I am ready for this next opportunity and challenge.”
“We are excited to have Brandon back at Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in 2020 and with his experience take over as the senior driver in our NASCAR Xfinity Series program,” stated Steve deSouza, Executive Vice President of XFINITY and Development for Joe Gibbs Racing. “He has steadily improved over the past two years and has proven that he can compete with the top contenders in the series. We expect him to be a top challenger for the championship next year.”
Additional sponsorship for Brandon Jones and JGR’s No. 19 Xfinity Series Toyota Supra will be announced at a later date.
DETROIT — Chevrolet will switch to the Camaro ZL1 1LE in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2020, replacing the Camaro ZL1, which made its series debut in 2018.
Camaro ZL1 1LE — based on the fastest, most track-capable production Camaro ever – will make its competition debut next February during Daytona Speedweeks, which opens the 2020 NASCAR season.
“The ZL1 1LE is the highest performer within the Camaro production-car lineup,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president of Performance and Motorsports. “We took lessons from the production car and applied them to the new 2020 Cup car.”
Chevrolet engineers optimized aerodynamic performance by employing an array of tools, including computational fluid dynamics (CFD), simulation, and reduced-scale and full-scale wind-tunnel testing.
Camaro ZL1 1LE joins the Team Chevy family of racing Camaros already competing in NASCAR Xfinity Series; NHRA Funny Car, Pro Stock and Sportsman classes; Michelin Pilot Challenge GS Class; and Pirelli World Challenge GTS division.
Rich Camaro Racing Legacy
The outgoing Camaro ZL1 debuted in 2018 and made an immediate impact by winning the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500. That accomplishment was followed quickly by a win in the Daytona 500 a week later.
In 2019, Camaro ZL1 has produced seven wins thus far and powered five Team Chevy drivers – Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman and William Byron – into the 2019 NASCAR playoffs.
Camaro ZL1 1LE brings a racing legacy to NASCAR. The 1LE debuted on-track and in the showroom in the late 1980s for the third-gen Camaro. Fourth- and fifth-gen Camaros also featured 1LE.
The current production Camaro ZL1 1LE – with its lighter wheels and dampers, thinner rear glass and a fixed-back rear seat – sheds more than a 50-pounds than a standard ZL1 Coupe and is powered by a 650-horsepower, supercharged LT4 engine.
Camaro ZL1 1LE builds on a winning legacy: Chevrolet has won a record 39 NASCAR manufacturer championships – including 13 consecutive titles from 2003-2015. In addition, Chevrolet drivers have achieved a record 31 championships, including Jimmie Johnson’s seventh in 2016.
Camaro ZL1 1LE joins Camaro SS, which has been Chevrolet’s entry in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since 2013, winning 76 races, four driver’s championships and four manufacturer’s championships.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 31, 2019) – NASCAR and Mars, Incorporated announced a multi-year extension, continuing the iconic candy manufacturer’s long-standing partnership and designation as the “Official Chocolate of NASCAR®.” The renewed agreement ensures Mars’ various brands remain a race day staple for millions of fans and extends the relationship to more than 20 consecutive years of Official Partnership, highlighted by a fully integrated strategy that activates every corner of the sport.
Mars entered NASCAR as a team sponsor nearly 30 years ago and steadily increased its participation in the sport, becoming a NASCAR Official Partner in 2000. Through the Official Partnership, Mars builds comprehensive marketing strategies, leveraging the sport as a backdrop to debut new products, build experiential marketing platforms for consumers and drive business-to-business deals. Mars launched the M&M’S® Chocolate Bar in the United States with the DAYTONA 500 as its backdrop, unveiling a special paint scheme with Kyle Busch and the No. 18 team and an on-site activation to celebrate its release.
“We are thrilled to be continuing our partnership with NASCAR – a relationship we have been proud of for over 20 years,” said William Clements, vice president, sponsorships and sports marketing, Mars, Incorporated. “This partnership allows us to seamlessly integrate our iconic brands into the sport like no other league, and the innovative fan experiences we are able to bring to race day help to create lasting memories for fans of our brands and fans of the sport alike.”
Central to Mars’ 2019 activation was its first ever M&M’S Glampground, an experiential marketing platform that set a new standard for lifestyle brands in NASCAR. The exclusive experiences at Kentucky Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway sold out immediately, delivering the colorful fun M&M’S is known for with unforgettable experiences. The Glampground provided a turnkey, VIP option for race fans looking to experience a NASCAR race weekend like never before, featuring everything from glamping tents and garage tours to celebrity meet and greets.
RELATED: Tour the Glampground with the Busch family | Mars extends with JGR, Kyle Busch
“Mars’ has been connected to so many memorable moments in our history and its wide-ranging presence across our sport has resulted in its brands being some of the most recognizable in NASCAR,” said Lou Garate, senior vice president, partnership marketing, NASCAR. “This renewed partnership is representative of the collaboration and fully integrated approach that Mars delivers year-after-year, positioning their iconic brands as a race day favorite for millions of our brand loyal fans.”
The renewed agreement with Mars furthers the brand’s comprehensive approach to NASCAR through its Official Partnership, combining digital and social marketing, hospitality, race entitlement, and team relationships to achieve its marketing objectives. Earlier this year, Mars announced an extension of its relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing and 2015 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kyle Busch in a multi-year agreement.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs continue at Texas Motor Speedway for the AAA Texas 500 Sunday, Nov. 3 at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.