Danny Bohn drives No. 30 Toyota Tundra to eighth-place finish at Martinsville Speedway

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Data Skrive

Danny Bohn placed eighth in the NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 at Martinsville Speedway, adding 31 points to his season total. Bohn now sits at 31 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 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.

Bohn qualified in 19th position at 93.539 mph. The first-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.

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Posted on October 28, 2019 by Data Skrive

Timmy Hill placed fifth in the NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 at Martinsville Speedway.

Todd Gilliland came away with the victory in the race, with Ross Chastain finishing second, and Johnny Sauter crossing the finish line third.

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.

Hill qualified in 22nd position at 93.433 mph. He still is looking for career victory No. 1, but boasts one top-five finish and two finishes in the top 10.

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

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Posted on October 28, 2019 by Data Skrive

Ross Chastain finished second in the NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 at Martinsville Speedway, adding 43 points to his season total.

Chastain now sits at No. 3 in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series playoff standings with 3082 points. He’s posted nine top-five finishes in 2019.

Todd Gilliland finished first in the race, with 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.

Chastain qualified in 12th position at 94.402 mph. He led on two occasions for a total of 68 laps. The ninth-year driver has collected three career victories, 14 top-five finishes and has placed in the top 10 in 32 races.

Chastain battled 31 other cars in the field and the race saw 12 cautions and 80 caution laps. There were eight lead changes before the checkered flag.

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Posted on October 28, 2019 by Data Skrive

Corey LaJoie placed 18th in the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway, adding 19 points to his season total.

LaJoie now sits at 392 points on the season.

Martin Truex Jr came away with the victory in the race, with William Byron finishing second, and Brad Keselowski crossing the finish line third. Denny Hamlin took fourth place, followed by Ryan Blaney to round out the top five.

Truex Jr won each of the race’s first two stages, and has advanced to the next round of the Cup Series playoffs.

LaJoie qualified in 36th position. The fourth-year driver still is in search of career win No. 1, but has placed in the top 10 in two races.

LaJoie battled 37 other cars in the field and the race saw 11 cautions and 69 caution laps. There were three lead changes before the checkered flag.

Toyota added 40 points to its season total with Truex’s victory. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 1207 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 1161. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 1128 points on the season.

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Posted on October 28, 2019 by Data Skrive

Bubba Wallace placed 13th in the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway, adding 24 points to his season total.

Wallace now sits at 459 points on the season.

Martin Truex Jr earned the checkered flag in the race, with William Byron finishing second, and Brad Keselowski placing third. Denny Hamlin took fourth place, followed by Ryan Blaney to round out the top five.

Truex has advanced to the next round of the Cup Series playoffs.

Truex Jr won each of the race’s first two stages.

Wallace qualified in 26th position at 95.849 mph. He still is looking for career victory No. 1, but owns two top-five finishes and four finishes in the top 10.

There were 38 cars in the field, and the race endured 11 cautions and 69 caution laps. There were three lead changes.

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Posted on October 28, 2019 by Data Skrive

David Ragan placed 11th in the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway, adding 26 points to his season total.

Ragan now sits at 375 points on the season.

Martin Truex Jr came away with the victory in the race, with William Byron finishing second, and Brad Keselowski placing third. Denny Hamlin brought home fourth place, followed by Ryan Blaney in the No. 5 spot.

Truex Jr won each of the race’s first two stages, and has advanced to the next round of the playoffs.

Ragan qualified in 17th position at 96.519 mph. The 14th-year driver has collected two career victories, 15 top-five finishes and has placed in the top 10 in 40 races.

There were 38 cars in the field, and the race endured 11 cautions and 69 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag there were three lead changes.

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Posted on October 28, 2019 by Data Skrive

Denny Hamlin placed fourth in the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway, adding 45 points to his season total.

Hamlin now sits at No. 2 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings with 4082 points. He’s collected 18 top-five finishes in 2019.

Martin Truex Jr came away with the victory in the race, with William Byron taking second, and Brad Keselowski placing third. Ryan Blaney followed in fifth.

Truex Jr won each of the race’s first two stages, and has advanced to the next round of the playoffs.

Hamlin qualified in the pole position at 97.840 mph. The 15th-year driver has piled up 36 career victories, 160 top-five finishes and has placed in the top 10 in 257 races.

There were 38 cars in the field, and the race endured 11 cautions and 69 caution laps. There were three lead changes.

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Posted on October 28, 2019 by Data Skrive

William Byron finished second in the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway, adding 45 points to his season total.

Byron now sits at No. 10 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings with 2226 points. He’s collected five top-five finishes in 2019.

Martin Truex Jr finished first in the race, with Brad Keselowski crossing the finish line third. Denny Hamlin brought home fourth place, followed by Ryan Blaney in the No. 5 spot.

Truex Jr won each of the race’s first two stages, and has advanced to the next round of the playoffs.

Byron qualified in 11th position at 96.983 mph. He still is looking for career win No. 1, but boasts five top-five finishes and 17 finishes in the top 10.

There were 38 cars in the field, and the race endured 11 cautions and 69 caution laps. There were three lead changes.

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Posted on October 28, 2019 by Team Release

For the first time since Nov. 20, 2016 when the checkered flag waved on the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Tony Stewart will be back in a stock car.

On Thursday, Oct. 31 at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, Stewart will strap back into his No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Mustang from Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) to make a demonstration run on the 3.426-mile, 20-turn track in advance of the United States Grand Prix. But unlike any other time he drove in the NASCAR Cup Series in a career spanning 18 years that included three championships, 49 points-paying victories and more than 12,800 laps led, Stewart’s Ford Mustang will be outfitted with a passenger seat as he will show Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen how to wheel a 3,200-pound race car around America’s only purpose-built Formula One track.

“It’s kind of hard to believe that it’s been three years since I last drove a stock car, but seeing some of these road-course races – especially the Roval at Charlotte – have piqued my interest a bit, so this is a good way to sort of satisfy that hunger,” said Stewart, whose racing exploits earned him membership into the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2020, where he will be officially inducted on Jan. 31. “I’ve never been to COTA. All I know about it is what I’ve seen on TV and on my iRacing simulator. I kind of like that. Even after two decades in NASCAR, there’s still new stuff to experience. I haven’t driven that race track and Kevin and Romain haven’t ever driven a stock car. We’ll figure it out together.”

While Stewart retired as a NASCAR driver following the 2016 season finale at Homestead, he did not retire from racing. The 48-year-old from Columbus, Indiana, has returned to his first passion – sprint car racing. Stewart has won 16 sprint car races in various series since 2017, including 10 this year in a schedule that has Stewart in a sprint car for nearly 100 races.

RELATED: Stewart headlines HOF class

“People sometimes say, ‘We miss seeing you behind the wheel,” and I’m like, ‘Well, you’re going to the wrong places now,’ ” Stewart said. “I’m racing 100 times a year. You’ve just got to come watch me in a different car.”

It was in a sprint car where Stewart last served as a driving coach to Haas F1 Team when he showed Magnussen how to handle a 1,350-pound sprint car with 750 horsepower.

“I found my feet in that sprint car last October pretty quickly thanks to his advice, and also thanks to him jumping in the car and showing how it’s done before I got in,” said Magnussen prior to last year’s United States Grand Prix when he stopped by Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, North Carolina, for his dirt-track tutorial. “I had a great time with Tony. He’s a great driving instructor and he knows his way around these things. His experience and knowledge when it comes to stock cars is probably just as impressive.”

When it comes to driving a race car with a roof and fenders, both Magnussen and Grosjean have limited experience. Grosjean drove a Ford GT1 in the 2010 FIA GT1 championship while Magnussen drove a GT2 car once and tested a DTM car, but he knows there’s a stark difference between those cars and a stock car.

“A DTM car is very aerodynamic,” Magnussen said. “They have a lot of downforce. A stock car hardly has any downforce. So, I don’t have any idea how it’ll be. I’ve never driven a NASCAR (stock car) before. I’m pretty certain it’s going to be very different to the other car I drive around COTA. It’s going to be a very interesting experience. A NASCAR (stock car) is such an iconic racecar. I’ve always been eager to try one. Of course, it’s usually in its element on an oval, but they do race on road courses, as well. It’ll be interesting to have a go and have a bit of fun.”

Despite his lack of stock-car experience, Grosjean is well aware of how different a stock car will feel, particularly when it comes to slowing it down.

“I think we just need to slam the brakes a bit earlier than we do with a Formula One car,” Grosjean said. “We’ll see how the engine responds to throttle application. I can’t wait. The sound of it’s going to be great. I think it’s going to be a good experience. I think having Tony Stewart helping us and giving us advice is going to be bloody amazing.”

When Stewart’s work at COTA is completed, he’ll jet over to Fort Worth, Texas, where by day he’ll be a NASCAR team owner and at night a sprint car driver.

Stewart co-owns SHR with Haas Automation founder Gene Haas, hence the connection to Haas F1 Team. SHR’s four NASCAR Cup Series drivers – Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer and Daniel Suárez – are all competing in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. SHR also fields two NASCAR Xfinity Series teams for drivers Cole Custer and Chase Briscoe, who will race on Saturday at Texas in the undercard O’Reilly Auto Parts 300.

But before any of those cars turn a wheel on the 1.5-mile oval, Stewart will turn left to go right on the .4-mile Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. Stewart will climb behind the wheel of the same kind of sprint car Netflix viewers saw in Episode 9 of last year’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive series where Stewart showed Magnussen the fundamentals of dirt-track racing.

“It’s the best of both worlds for me,” said Stewart, who will compete Thursday and Friday night in the Texas Sprint Car Nationals. “I get to be with our NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series teams during the day, but each night I get to go over to the Dirt Track. It’s fun for our crew guys too. They’re racers who have dirt-track blood in their veins. They come over and watch the race. It just makes for a perfect weekend.”

It’s part of an intense four days in the Lone Star State beginning with Stewart’s stock car return at COTA on Thursday and includes an induction into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame on Saturday.

“It does mean a lot to me,” said Stewart about this most recent accolade. “It’s nothing you think about as a driver. It’s not your aspiration while you’re driving to be in the Hall of Fame. When you’re a driver, all you want to do is win big races and win championships, and to still have that opportunity and still be able to race and compete at the same time as we’re joining the Hall of Fame is pretty cool.”

Stewart’s Texas schedule is as follows:

Thursday, Oct. 31:

NASCAR demonstration laps at COTA (12-1 p.m. CDT)
Texas Sprint Car Nationals at Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track (begins at 7 p.m. CDT)

Friday, Nov. 1:

Texas Sprint Car Nationals at Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track (begins at 7 p.m. CDT)

Saturday, Nov. 2:

Induction into Texas Motor Speedway Hall of Fame at Texas Motor Speedway (begins at 11:30 a.m. CDT)
Oversight of two-car NASCAR Xfinity Series team in O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 (race starts at 7:30 p.m. CDT)

Sunday, Nov. 3:

Oversight of four-car NASCAR Cup Series team in AAA Texas 500 (race starts at 2 p.m. CST)

Posted on October 28, 2019October 28, 2019 by Staff Report

NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell hinted Monday morning on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that a penalty was likely coming following a pit-road fracas between Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin that saw a crew member from the No. 22 team take Hamlin to the ground.

“We know emotions are going to run high, especially at this time of the season,” O’Donnell said during his weekly morning appearance. “We don’t encourage it, but we know the drivers are going to address each other after the race when they have an incident. Then unfortunately, instead of breaking up a fight, I think what we saw was an aggressive move by a crew member. … I think in this case, you have a crew member who was maybe trying to break it up, but certainly an aggressive move we viewed on our part and unfortunately, we’ll probably have to take some action to address that today or tomorrow.”

MORE: Logano, Hamlin square off

The two drivers had a pointed but relatively calm talk after Sunday’s Round of 8 opener, attempting to sort out the late-race contact that caused a tire rub and eventually a spin for Logano’s Team Penske No. 22 Ford. The difference of opinion seemed to reach a stalemate until Logano added a chat-ending smack to Hamlin’s right shoulder.

Hamlin took exception, lunging toward the retreating Logano as crew members interceded. In the video above, you can see a crew member for the No. 22 team yank Hamlin backward to the ground as he pulls the drivers apart.

“I think in this case, you had a crew member who I think honestly didn’t realize the force with which he made that move,” O’Donnell added.

NASCAR officials called that crew member, who has not been identified, along with No. 22 crew chief Todd Gordon (also on the video attempting to de-escalate the situation) and Team Penske Competition Director Travis Geisler to the hauler for a chat following the pit-road incident.

“We have some light drivers and some big crew members,” O’Donnell said. “And unfortunately that’s what happens when those situations take place. I think (Team Penske) understands what’s coming. It’s not something we want to see or encourage, but we’ll have to address it.”

Gordon joined SiriusXM later in the morning for his weekly appearance and delivered his take.

“I probably take some of the ownership myself to start with,” Gordon said. “Stopped Joey when he got out of the car and he’s frustrated. He got run up in the wall with 50 to go and was frustrated about it and justifiably so. I went back and rewatched it. He pretty much got put in the wall on a straightaway. There’s frustration with that. …

“The direction that our organization has is separate drivers. We don’t want to have drivers beating on each other. We’ve had the conversation internally, we want situations diffused and separated. Unfortunately, in this situation that happened there, the separation was with too much power afterwards and I don’t think the crew member … he was trying to separate the drivers and did so with probably more force than he anticipated and he’s regretful of that.

“See what NASCAR does that and where it goes. There weren’t any punches or anything pulled. Denny got pulled out there and got pulled down pretty hard. Apologized to Denny for that and how that was handled. Ultimately, I’ll put that one back on me to start with. I shouldn’t have let Joey down there to start with. I probably made a poor decision in letting him go down and talk.”