Posted on by Terrin Waack

Cassadee Pope has the opportunity to combine her country and racing roots. The Grammy-nominated, Platinum-certified singer-songwriter will co-host the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards alongside NBC’s Rutledge Wood. The show is set to take place Dec. 5 at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

“I’m nervous, but I’m excited,” Pope told NASCAR.com on Wednesday. “I’m excited to be co-hosting with somebody that I really respect — Rutledge Wood is great — and co-hosting on a subject I do know a good amount about.

“I’ve already been prepping. I’ve already been keeping track of what’s going on and all the little fights, all the little dramas that happen in NASCAR because I’m definitely going to pick on some people. I’m excited. It’s going to be fun.”

RELATED: Official Champions Week website

Pope, the former lead vocalist of Hey Monday, grew up watching NASCAR with her grandfather, who raced stock cars himself at Lernerville Speedway in Pennsylvania. She sang her first national anthem in 2009 prior to a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Auto Club Speedway and has since done so before multiple Monster Energy Series events.

After winning Season 3 of “The Voice,” Pope signed in 2013 with Big Machine Label Group, which was a Chip Ganassi Racing sponsor at the time. That tie helped Pope build her NASCAR connections and relationships.

“My all-time favorite driver is (Dale) Earnhardt,” Pope said. “It’s really freaky how much my grandpa looks like him. When I was a kid and I’d watch races, I’d think it was pre-recorded because I was like, ‘Oh, you were racing today. Look at you. You’re on TV.’ I was a kid thinking my grandpa was Earnhardt.”

RELATED: Champion’s Week coming into focus

Pope’s grandfather was second only to her mother to find out about the co-hosting gig.

“I screamed when I saw the email because it’s just not something I ever could have seen happening for myself,” Pope said. “And I love those moments in my career where it’s just so unfathomable that I was just like, oh, I didn’t even realize that was an option let alone it would ever happen to me.”

Once she fully committed to country music, Pope’s career blew up. She quickly came out with her No. 1 debut album, “Frame By Frame,” highlighted by her Platinum-selling single “Wasting All These Tears” that earned “Breakthrough Video of the Year” at the 2014 CMT Music Awards. She then paired up with Chris Young for “Think of You,” which received a 2017 Grammy nomination for “Best Country Duo/Group.”

Pope recently released her second solo album, “STAGES,” featuring singles “Take You Home,” “One More Red Light” and “If My Heart Had A Heart.”

Now, she’s adding NASCAR co-host to her resume.

“I can’t think of two things that go together better than country music and NASCAR,” Pope said. “That’s why I was (excited) it’s the first year they’re having the NASCAR Awards in Nashville. I think those two go together: NASCAR is a family sport, country music is a family genre.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads west for a crucial clash at Texas Motor Speedway in the AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

RELATED: Full schedule for Texas | Ranking the final eight

TRACK DETAILS

Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile oval with a minimum width of 58 feet. The banking is 20 degrees in Turns 1 and 2 and 24 degrees in Turns 3 and 4, with five degrees of banking in the straightaways. The asphalt surface was repaved before the spring race in 2017.

Since the repave, five drivers have an average finish below 10: Kevin Harvick (3.2), Joey Logano (7.2), Kurt Busch (8.4), Erik Jones (8.8) and Chase Elliott (9.4).

The stages for Sunday’s race will be as follows: Stage 1 will end on Lap 85, Stage 2 will end on Lap 170 and the final stage is scheduled to end on Lap 334.

RULES PACKAGE

Texas will see cars modeled with aero ducts and use a tapered-spacer engine that is targeted to generate around 550 horsepower. Teams will be allowed three Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials for practice, one set for qualifying and 10 sets for the race (nine new race sets plus one transferred from practice or qualifying).

The newly repaved and therefore smoother surface is more difficult for tires to lay down rubber and create additional groves early in the race. The use of PJ1 will be instrumental in providing grip on new areas of the track.

“Since its repave a couple years ago, Texas is one of the more ‘smooth’ surfaces we race on in NASCAR,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “The right-side tire we bring to Texas is the same one we’ve run at other tracks where we want to introduce wear or rubber-in the track. The track will also apply PJ1 to the surface this weekend to help create a second groove and give drivers options.”

MORE STATS

– With Martin Truex Jr. clinching a spot in the Championship 4 with his win at Martinsville, Toyota became the only make to have at least one driver in the Championship 4 each season since its inception in 2014.

– In just seven Monster Energy Series starts at Texas, Chase Elliott has finished in the top 10 five times and has an average finish of eighth.

– Kyle Busch is in the midst of a 19-race winless streak, his sixth longest as a driver for JGR. Since his last win, Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones have all won a race. Truex has won four including three playoff races in that stretch, while Hamlin has won three times including one playoff race over that span

– In spite of his recent two-year winless drought, Jimmie Johnson still leads drivers in all-time wins at 1.5-mile tracks with 28 — 13 more than the next-closest active driver, Kevin Harvick.

– Hendrick Motorsports currently has the longest streak with at least one driver finishing inside the top-10 at Texas at 26 races. The streak is the longest all-time.

Source: Racing Insights

LIVE COVERAGE

Tune in to the second race in the Monster Energy Series Round of 8 on Sunday at 3 p.m. with coverage on NBCSN and the NBC Sports App. Also, follow along on NASCAR.com for live Lap-by-Lap coverage, the live leaderboard, Drive (featuring in-car cameras) and RaceView (subscription: in-car audio, stats, more). Be sure to set your lineup in Fantasy Live and make your picks in the Props Challenge.

2018 RACE WINNER

Kevin Harvick led a career-high 177 laps at Texas in last fall’s playoff victory, securing his position at Homestead for the season finale. Harvick took command early after starting in third, sweeping both stages en route to his second victory at the track.

ACTIVE TEXAS WINNERS

Jimmie Johnson (seven); Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin (three each); Kevin Harvick (two); Joey Logano, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman (one each).

Posted on by Team Release

CONCORD, N.C. & PITTSBURGH & CHICAGO – Everyone’s favorite name in racing, O-S-C-A-R, is extending its sponsorship of the No. 6 Oscar Mayer Ford Mustang with driver Ryan Newman and Roush Fenway Racing through the 2021 season.

Oscar Mayer will return as the primary partner on the No. 6 Ford for multiple races during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, beginning at the TicketGuardian 500 in Phoenix on March 8, 2020.

“After a strong 2019 season, we at Oscar Mayer couldn’t be prouder to continue our season-long sponsorship of driver Ryan Newman and Roush Fenway Racing,” said Matt Riezman, associate director for Oscar Mayer. “Through our sponsorship, we’re able to connect with fans in a whole new way from our paint schemes to pre-race celebrations. We look forward to supporting the sport and No. 6 over the next two seasons and feeding people’s love of meat, both on and off the track.”

Fans can catch Ryan sizzling around the track in NASCAR’s tastiest paint schemes highlighting Oscar Mayer’s quality meat offerings for the whole family, including bacon, hot dogs and cold cuts.

To celebrate the two-year extension, Oscar Mayer is giving fans the chance to design a 2020 paint scheme for the No. 6 Oscar Mayer Ford Mustang. Starting today, meat-loving fans can head to Oscar Mayer’s social channels (Facebook, Twitter or Instagram) to download a car template and put their creative pedal to the metal by designing their own meat-inspired paint scheme. The winning design will race at the TicketGuardian 500 in Phoenix on March 8, 2020. Interested fans can keep an eye on Oscar Mayer’s social channels for more details on how to submit their designs and when the window for submission will close.

“We’re obviously excited to continue our relationship with such a great brand in Oscar Mayer and the Kraft-Heinz Company,” said Newman. “The Oscar Mayer team and everyone at Roush Fenway has done a great job on collaborating on various innovative ideas throughout this season, and we’re looking forward to more creative excitement both on and off the track in the future.”

Oscar Mayer made its return to Roush Fenway in 2018 at the famed Darlington Raceway and served as the primary sponsor for seven races during Newman’s run to the 2019 NASCAR Playoffs.

Newman has scored three top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 2019. He has finished inside the top 15 in 20 races in 2019 and came inches short of putting the No. 6 in Victory Lane two weeks ago at Talladega Superspeedway.

Before last season, Oscar Mayer appeared as a primary sponsor on NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Mark Martin’s Ford in 2004 and served as an associate partner with Roush Fenway Racing in the early 2000s and was featured on Matt Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford and Kurt Busch’s No. 97 Ford, when NASCAR Hall-of-Fame owner Jack Roush led the team to back-to-back Cup championships in 2003 and 2004.

Along with the Oscar Mayer red and yellow displayed across the No. 6 Mustang this season, Oscar Mayer will bring miles of smiles to fans throughout the 2020 season with the help of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and the Hotdoggers. To keep up with the vehicle and see exactly what races it will be at, follow along at https://www.oscarmayer.com/wienermobile.

For more information about Oscar Mayer bacon, Deli Fresh and hot dogs, visit OscarMayer.com or Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Posted on by PJ Walsh

After securing his seventh win of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season at Martinsville Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. locked himself into the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in three weeks.

Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano are currently above the playoff cut line heading into Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, with Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott on the outside looking in.

While most of the focus this weekend will be on playoff drivers, I like a driver matchup at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook between two drivers already eliminated from NASCAR’s postseason.

William Byron (-110) over Kurt Busch

Head-to-head driver matchups are graded solely on which driver finishes ahead of the other. So we’re not necessarily looking for race winners, but situations in which one driver will outperform the other.

To do this, I looked at stats from the two most recent races run at 1.5-mile racetracks: Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sept. 15 and Kansas Speedway two races ago.

While the MENCS does run at plenty of similar racetracks, the last event at a 1.5-miler prior to Las Vegas was back on July 13, and so much changes in this sport over the course of the season I chose to instead focus on more recent races that better reflect the equipment and setups teams will bring to Texas.

Here’s how Byron and Busch shake out over those two races in a few key statistical categories:

And even though the MENCS last visited Texas back in March, it’s still worth taking a look at how drivers performed there in order to confirm what we’ve seen in recent races at 1.5-mile tracks.

Here’s how Byron and Busch performed at the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas on March 31.

These two drivers were closer together last go-round at Texas, but Byron still held the edge. In fact, only one driver (Kyle Busch) had a better average running position than Byron, while Kurt Busch’s 13.0 ranked just 14th in the field.

Byron has a big edge over Busch at recent 1.5-mile races, and was still faster at Texas in March, yet current odds have at -110 on both sides.

If you’re looking for an early value play, Byron should get a look in this driver matchup.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Front Row Motorsports announced Tuesday that rookie driver Matt Tifft will miss the rest of the season after suffering a medical episode Saturday at Martinsville Speedway. The organization announced that John Hunter Nemechek will drive the No. 36 Ford in the final three races of the Monster Energy Series season.

Tifft, 23, posted a video update on social media shortly after the team’s announcement, saying that he “blacked out” in the team’s hauler and suffered a seizure. The team said Tifft was consulting with doctors and NASCAR medical staff in hopes of ultimately returning to competition.

Nemechek will make his Monster Energy Series debut this weekend. The 22-year-old driver is rounding out his first full season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with GMS Racing. He has one Xfinity win and six victories in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series.

“This isn’t the way any driver wants to make their Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut,” Nemechek said in a release provided by Front Row. “I am hoping that Matt feels better and can get back in his car as soon as possible. That is what is important. Hopefully I can learn a lot and make Matt, the Front Row Motorsports team and its partners proud.”

Tifft indicated that test results Monday showed no recurrence of a brain tumor that forced him to have surgery on July 1, 2016. Tifft returned to racing 10 weeks later.

RELATED: More from Martinsville weekend

Tiff has one top-10 finish in 32 races this year, recording a ninth-place result at Daytona International Speedway in July. Gander Trucks veteran Matt Crafton filled in for Tifft at Martinsville, recording the team’s fourth 25th-place finish in the last five races.

In his brief video, Tifft expressed his thanks for the support and well-wishes he has received in recent days.

“Want to wish Front Row Motorsports and the whole 36 team the best of luck the rest of this year,” Tifft said. “Hate that I have to miss out the rest of my rookie season, but the most important thing right now is my health and figuring out what is going on and hopefully get to the bottom of this here soon.”

Posted on by
No. Driver Sponsor Make Organization
00 Landon Cassill Pop-A-Lock Chevrolet StarCom Racing
1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet Chip Ganassi Racing
2 Brad Keselowski Wurth Ford Team Penske
3 Austin Dillon RigUp Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
4 Kevin Harvick Busch Beer / Ducks Unlimited Ford Stewart-Haas Racing
6 Ryan Newman Roush Performance Ford Roush Fenway Racing
8 Daniel Hemric Cat Dozers Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports
10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford Stewart-Haas Racing
11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing
12 Ryan Blaney Wabash National Ford Team Penske
13 Ty Dillon GEICO Military Chevrolet Germain Racing
14 Clint Bowyer Mobil 1 / Rush Truck Centers Ford Stewart-Haas Racing
15 Joe Nemechek Xchange of America Chevrolet Premium Motorsports
17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford Roush Fenway Racing
18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Hazelnut Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing
19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing
20 Erik Jones Sport Clips Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing
21 Paul Menard Menards / Jack Links Ford Wood Brothers Racing
22 Joey Logano AAA Insurance Ford Team Penske
24 William Byron Axalta Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports
27 Ross Chastain Low T Center Chevrolet Premium Motorsports
32 Corey LaJoie Schluter Systems Ford Go Fas Racing
34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford Front Row Motorsports
36 John Hunter Nemechek Speedy Cash Ford Front Row Motorsports
37 Chris Buescher Slim Jim Chevrolet JTG Daugherty Racing
38 David Ragan Mystik Lubricants Ford Front Row Motorsports
41 Daniel Suarez Walmart Family Mobile Ford Stewart-Haas Racing
42 Kyle Larson McDonald’s Chevrolet Chip Ganassi Racing
43 Bubba Wallace Covert Auto Group Chevrolet Richard Petty Motorsports
47 Ryan Preece Kroger Chevrolet JTG Daugherty Racing
48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports
51 Josh Bilicki Jacob Companies Chevrolet Petty Ware Racing
52 Garrett Smithley Victory Lane / Kendal Oil Ford Rick Ware Racing
53 JJ Yeley Factor One Source Pharmacy Ford Rick Ware Racing
66 Timmy Hill Tex Talk Toyota MBM Motorsports
77 Quin Houff Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Spire Motorsports
88 Alex Bowman Valvoline Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports
95 Matt DiBenedetto Procore Toyota Leavine Family Racing
96 Parker Kligerman TRD 40th Anniversary Toyota Gaunt Brothers Racing
Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials penalized a Team Penske crew member Monday for his role in a post-race scuffle between drivers Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin at Martinsville Speedway.

Competition officials suspended Dave Nichols Jr., a tire technician for Logano’s No. 22 team, for the next Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race for his role in an altercation after Sunday’s First Data 500. He was found in violation of Section 12.8.1.C of the 2019 NASCAR Rule Book, a behavioral penalty that addresses “member-to-member confrontation with physical violence.”

RELATED: Hamlin, Logano spar at Martinsville

Crew members for both organizations intervened after a post-race discussion between Hamlin and Logano turned physical. The two drivers had been debating their sides of a late-race collision when a shove from Logano escalated the fray on pit road. Video replays showed Nichols grabbing the back of Hamlin’s fire suit and pulling him to the ground.

Nichols was among the Team Penske team members called to the NASCAR competition hauler for a post-race consultation Sunday. The others were Travis Geisler, Penske’s NASCAR competition director, and Todd Gordon, crew chief for the No. 22 Ford. Neither driver was summoned to the hauler.

NASCAR also handed out penalties to four teams that were found with one lug nut not safely secured in a post-race check. Those teams each drew a $10,000 fine for their respective crew chiefs.

Those teams and crew chiefs with lug-nut infractions at Martinsville:

• The No. 12 Team Penske Ford of Ryan Blaney (crew chief Jeremy Bullins)
• The No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (crew chief Brian Pattie)
• The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Kyle Busch (crew chief Adam Stevens)
• The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of William Byron (crew chief Chad Knaus)

Posted on by Staff Report

Crew chief Danny Stockman will step down as the pit boss for the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team at the end of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, RCR announced on Monday. Justin Alexander will serve as the crew chief for the No. 3 team of driver Austin Dillon in 2020.

Stockman will remain with the team in a role to be revealed at a later date, the team said in a statement posted on Twitter.

RELATED: Key driver moves in Silly Season

This was Stockman’s first full season as a full-time crew chief at the Cup level. He had two one-off races with Dillon in 2011 and 2018 and served as a crew chief for Paul Menard for 12 races in 2016. The pairing of Stockman-Dillon had previously reached highs in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series with a 2011 championship and the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a title in 2013. This season, though, Dillon has just five top-10 finishes and missed the playoffs for the first time in four years.

The move brings Alexander back to the No. 3 pit box — a role he held in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He was the crew chief for Dillon’s two premier-series wins to date: The 2017 Coca-Cola 600 and the 2018 Daytona 500. This season, Alexander has been the crew chief for the organization’s part-time Xfinity Series car — the No. 21 Chevrolet driven by Kaz Grala and Joe Graf Jr.

Posted on by Data Skrive

Codie Rohrbaugh finished tenth in the NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 at Martinsville Speedway, adding 27 points to his season total.

Rohrbaugh now sits at 133 points on the season.

Todd Gilliland came away with the victory in the race, with Ross Chastain finishing second, and Johnny Sauter placing third. Grant Enfinger brought home fourth place, followed by Timmy Hill in the No. 5 spot.

Gilliland has advanced to the next round of the Truck Series playoffs.

Brett Moffitt came away victorious in Stage 1, and Sam Mayer took Stage 2.

Rohrbaugh qualified in 18th position at 93.622 mph. The second-year driver still is in search of career win No. 1, but has placed in the top 10 in one race.

There were 32 cars in the field, and the race endured 12 cautions and 80 caution laps. There were eight lead changes.

Toyota added 40 points to its season total with Gilliland’s victory. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 785 points, followed by Chevrolet in the No. 2 spot with 771. Ford sits at No. 3 with 691 points on the season.

Race Center

Posted on by Data Skrive

Jeb Burton finished ninth in the NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 at Martinsville Speedway.

Todd Gilliland came away with the victory in the race, with Ross Chastain following in second, and Johnny Sauter placing third. Grant Enfinger took fourth place, followed by Timmy Hill in the No. 5 spot.

Gilliland has advanced to the next round of the Truck Series playoffs.

Brett Moffitt came away victorious in Stage 1, and Sam Mayer finished out front in Stage 2.

Burton qualified in 24th position at 92.420 mph. The seventh-year driver has piled up one career victory, seven top-five finishes and has placed in the top 10 in 21 races.

There were 32 cars in the field, and the race endured 12 cautions and 80 caution laps. There were eight lead changes.

Toyota added 40 points to its season total with Gilliland’s victory. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 785 points, followed by Chevrolet in the No. 2 spot with 771. Ford sits at No. 3 with 691 points on the season.

Race Center