Posted on by Staff Report

Aric Almirola surged atop the speed chart in Friday’s final Monster Energy Series practice at Texas Motor Speedway.

Almirola’s Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Ford snared the top spot with a best lap of 188.561 mph at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth oval. The effort bookended another chart-topping performance the Stewart-Haas organization, which led the way with Clint Bowyer in the opening session.

RELATED: Final practice results | Sortable lap averages

Denny Hamlin claimed the second-fastest lap at 188.350 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota. He’ll be vying for a season sweep of Texas’ two races in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM)

Bowyer followed his earlier showing up with a third-fastest lap in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Ford in final practice. Fellow SHR driver Kevin Harvick, a two-time Texas winner, was fourth-fastest with Kurt Busch completing the top five.

Sunday’s race is the eighth of 10 races in the Monster Energy Series Playoffs. It’s the second event in the Round of 8, the final three-race series that will determine the four-driver championship field for the Nov. 17 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Rookie John Hunter Nemechek was 32nd-fastest in the Front Row Motorsports No. 36 Ford ahead of what’s set to be his Monster Energy Series debut. The Xfinity Series regular was announced Tuesday as the team’s fill-in driver for the final three races, taking the place of Matt Tifft, who is recovering from a seizure suffered last weekend at Martinsville.

Coors Light Pole Qualifying to set the starting lineup is scheduled for Saturday at 7:05 p.m. ET.=

Bowyer best in first Texas practice

Clint Bowyer stepped up to the top of the Monster Energy Series leaderboard Friday in opening practice at Texas Motor Speedway.

Bowyer sealed a best speed of 188.679 mph in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Ford to pace the 50-minute session, the first on-track activity ahead of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Practice 1 results | Sortable lap averages | Full schedule for Texas

Kurt Busch was the second-fastest driver on the speed chart with a lap of 188.574 mph in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet. Denny Hamlin, a winner at the Fort Worth venue’s most recent race in March, was third-fastest in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. landed the fourth-best lap with Erik Jones completing the top five.

Kevin Harvick, winner of the last two November races at the 1.5-mile track, was 10th-fastest in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford.

Two teams were penalized with 15-minute practice deductions for being late out of the garage for qualifying last Saturday at Martinsville: The No. 12 Team Penske Ford for driver Ryan Blaney and the No. 53 Rick Ware Racing Ford for JJ Yeley.

Posted on by Press Release

Statesville, NC (Nov. 1, 2019) – Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation and Autotrader announced the return of the Tribute 2 Veterans presented by Autotrader program which will honor America’s heroes during a 2020 race weekend.

Starting today, friends and family of former service members can submit a veteran’s name to be featured on the No. 2 Autotrader Ford Mustang that Keselowski will pilot during the March 2020 race weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“Carrying the names of veterans to Victory Lane on my Autotrader Ford Mustang last year was one of the highlights of my 2019 season,” said Keselowski. “I’m incredibly thankful to have sponsors like Autotrader that provide my family and the Checkered Flag Foundation the opportunity to honor veterans in unique ways. We are always looking for creative opportunities to honor the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedom. Featuring veterans’ names on my car again next season at Atlanta Motor Speedway is just one small way for us to honor these heroes, while also raising funds that will allow the foundation to continue its mission.”

RELATED: Brad’s blog on tribute

The tax deductible donation cost is $100 per submission to be part of the campaign, with proceeds benefiting the Checkered Flag Foundation in its mission to honor and assist those who have sacrificed for our country and our communities. Each veteran submission will receive a personalized certificate and a commemorative poster of the No. 2 Autotrader Ford Mustang displaying the names of the veterans along with a letter of thanks from Keselowski.

Those wishing to submit a veteran’s name can do so via www.CheckeredFlagFoundation.org. Submissions will be accepted through Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019.

Participating individuals in the program can use #Tribute2Veterans on social media to show their involvement and support of the program.

Posted on by Staff Report

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.

Posted on by Team Release

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.

Posted on by Staff Report

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.

Posted on by Nascar

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.

Posted on by Holly Cain

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.”

Posted on by Staff Report

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

Posted on by Team Release

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.