Posted on by Staff Report

Defending race winner Chase Elliott recorded the fastest practice lap in the final 50-minute session at Watkins Glen International, moving his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet around the track at 126.901 mph on Saturday afternoon.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch also cracked the top five in the session, with Truex racing his No. 19 Toyota 125.418 mph for second-fastest and Busch moving his No. 18 Toyota 125.074 mph for fifth-fastest.

RELATED: Sort through 5- and 10-lap averages | Final practice results

Matt DiBenedetto, who led for most of the practice until a late-run surge, was third-fastest in his  No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota at 125.391 mph.

Michael McDowell was fourth in the session after his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford went around the 2.45-mile road course 125.259 mph.

The Monster Energy Series returns to the track at 6:40 p.m. ET for Busch Pole Qualifying (NBCSN/NBC Sports App) to determine the starting order for Sunday’s GoBowling at The Glen (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

FIRST PRACTICE
Alex Bowman snuck in the fastest first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice lap just as the 50-minute session was concluding at Watkins Glen International on Saturday, wheeling his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet around the 2.45-mile road course at 125.888 mph.

Bowman, who made the final lap in qualifying trim, edged out Kyle Busch for the fastest time. Busch recorded a fast lap of 125.786 mph in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on Saturday morning, just ahead of teammate Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 JGR Toyota at 125.643 mph.

RELATED: First practice results

Defending race winner Chase Elliott was fourth-fastest at 125.623 mph in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, while Kyle Larson rounded out the top five in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet at 125.568 mph in the practice session in advance of Sunday’s GoBowling at The Glen (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

The caution came out briefly when Matt Tifft spun his No. 36 Ford coming out of the carousel about seven minutes into the 50-minute session, and Elliott had to maneuver quickly to the left to avoid wrecking. Neither car made impact with anything, but Tifft brought his car to the garage before returning to the track.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

Stewart Friesen punched his golden ticket into the 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs with his first career victory in Thursday night’s Eldora Dirt Derby.

That’s bad news for the rest of the competition with just one race remaining in the regular season.

RELATED: Friesen wins at Eldora | Race results | Playoff standings

Six drivers are now locked into the eight-driver postseason before the Corrigan Oil 200 on Aug. 10 at Michigan International Speedway (1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriuxXM NASCAR Radio) — race winners Friesen, Austin Hill, Johnny Sauter, Ross Chastain, Brett Moffitt and Tyler Ankrum.

Although two playoffs spots are technically available, ThorSport Racing’s Grant Enfinger is set to clinch his first Gander Trucks Regular Season Championship by just starting next Saturday’s finale, and currently holds a 52-point lead over Matt Crafton. That gives Enfinger the seventh slot before the race turns one lap old.

What bodes well for Crafton is how it’s mathematically impossible for the No. 88 ThorSport Racing driver to be caught on points, as he’s ahead by 63 points on teammate Ben Rhodes, who sits fifth in the standings. Friesen and Moffitt (third and fourth in the standings, respectively) are already locked into the postseason with race wins.

A run-in with Tyler Dippel in Thursday’s showdown at Eldora Speedway shuffled Rhodes back to a 14th-place finishing position after he showed promise for a top-10 run the majority of the night. Now forced into a must-win scenario to make the playoffs, Rhodes let his frustrations be known after another tough race.

“Daytona we got wrecked, Kentucky we got wrecked, here (Eldora) we got wrecked, engine blew at Chicago, transmission issue at Texas, I mean I can go on with this list,” a frustrated Rhodes said outside his hauler Thursday night. “Things out of our control are taking us out of the playoffs.”

“I’m just sad that people can eliminate you that quick,” he added.

Behind Rhodes in the standings are Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland and Sheldon Creed, drivers who are all faced with the same situation — win or miss the big dance. With a postseason bid on the line, those drivers will be in desperation mode until the very end Saturday in the Irish Hills.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

ROSSBURG, Ohio — As fireworks ignited on the backstretch moments after Thursday night’s Eldora Dirt Derby, a heated exchange between Ben Rhodes and Tyler Dippel provided a different kind of fiery display.

After climbing out of a heavily damaged No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford, Rhodes immediately ran toward Dippel’s No. 02 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet, reaching into the cockpit before a NASCAR official and crew members separated them.

The altercation stemmed from an incident after the final restart with two laps remaining in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series showdown at Eldora Speedway. Dippel slid into Rhodes coming off of Turn 2, sending him into the outside fence. The pair traded paint and sheet metal on the cool down lap before it came to a head.

RELATED: Race results | Series standings | Friesen wins Eldora Dirt Derby

Dippel didn’t mince words regarding his stance on the conflict.

“It was green-white-checkered, it was time to go,” Dippel said after his eighth-place finish. “That’s all it was, it was time to go. He came up after me before I could even get out of the truck. Probably the only way he could do anything because he probably weighs 140 pounds soaking wet.

“He’s a (expletive),” Dippel added. “That’s pretty much just it. He complains about pretty much everyone every week. It’s probably going to be cool to see a person like him miss the playoffs in really good equipment.”

For Rhodes, it wasn’t just Dippel he was frustrated with in the 150-lap feature.

“It was multiple guys on the track,” Rhodes said. “It’s just sad because nobody races with respect on the race track anymore. I didn’t touch a soul all night unless they were wrecking around me and I had to somehow touch them to get away from the wreck. Other than that, I didn’t touch a soul. I raced everyone with respect and the way that I wanted to be raced. We’re racing for a championship and there’s just guys that come here and just clean you out.”

Rhodes also noted Sheldon Creed, driver of the No. 2 GMS Racing Chevrolet, roughed him up in Turn 2, resulting in significant damage to the left side of Rhodes’ machine.

“The 2 didn’t even try to make the corner,” Rhodes said. “Put me in the fence and hit me so hard my mirror was pointed toward the sky … the inside mirror … that’s how hard he hit me. Then the 02 did the exact same thing. It’s just bad racing. I don’t know how to fix that with the guys. Nobody has respect on the track and I don’t know what to do to change it.”

“It’s honestly been building for a few years,” he added. “I’ve seen it get a little worse each year, then this year I just don’t know why it is the way it is. It’s been building for a while and the cup is kind of running over. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I know I got cleaned out on the track several times today.”

This year’s regular season, which concludes for the Gander Trucks next week at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 10, has been a trying one for Rhodes. While he has five top fives and nine top-10 finishes, six finishes of 14th or worse put Rhodes in a must-win position as he sits 63 points below the playoff cutline following the 14th-place result at Eldora.

“I hate it for my guys,” Rhodes said. “… Things out of our control are taking us out of the playoffs.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

First at last.

Canadian Stewart Friesen held off Sheldon Creed by .728 seconds in the Eldora Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway to earn his first career NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series victory Thursday night.

It was a typical Eldora night of close racing, hot tempers and high drama on the Rossburg, Ohio, half-miler. Friesen, the driver of the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet took the lead on Lap 94 of the 150-lap race and held off the field despite multiple caution periods and restarts – before prevailing in a two-lap shootout to the checkered flag.

RELATED: Official Eldora results | Complete at-track gallery

Championship points leader Grant Enfinger finished third, followed by Mike Marlar and Todd Gilliland in order. Defending Eldora winner Chase Briscoe, who led a race-high 94 laps, finished seventh. Briscoe and Friesen were the only two race leaders.

“Oh man, thank you to all the race fans that stuck with us,” Friesen said in Victory Lane. “Today, this is the day. This is the week. Thanks to everybody. This is meant to be. We needed to get it done on the dirt. Thanks to everyone. What a special event.”

The race certainly had its share of excitement.

Briscoe, last week’s NASCAR Xfinity Series winner at Iowa Speedway, won both the first and second stages but was then caught up in multiple incidents. He managed to keep his truck racing to take a hard-earned top-10 finish.

For many of the usual frontrunners, the unique Eldora challenge presented new obstacles. It was the dirt debut for several full-time drivers, including three-race winner Ross Chastain, who ran impressively among the top five early in the race, spun out on his own after the Stage 2 restart but rallied to a 12th-place finish.

Sunoco Rookie Harrison Burton was running eighth when he spun and brought out the fourth caution flag of the night and then was collected in another multi-truck accident. He eventually had to retire his No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota and suffer a 31st-place finish in the 32-truck field.

As for Friesen, who had been a symbol of “coming so close” to victory, this was finally his career highlight night. He has six runner-up finishes in the last three seasons, including two earlier this year. A last-place finish last weekend at Pocono Raceway had really put him in championship peril, dropping him to last among the current eight eligible drivers. Instead, with Thursday’s win, he has an automatic berth to contend for the title.

The series moves to Michigan International Speedway for the regular-season finale next Saturday.

Posted on by Staff Report

Here are the qualifying results from Eldora Speedway prior to Thursday night’s Eldora Dirty Derby.

Qualifying Race 1: RESULTS

Finishing spot Truck # Driver
1 27 Chase Briscoe
2 13 Johnny Sauter
3 18 Harrison Burton
4 8 Colt Gilliam
5 44 Jeffrey Abbey
6 22 Austin Wayne Self
7 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb

Qualifying Race 2: RESULTS

Finishing spot Truck # Driver
1 88 Matt Crafton
2 02 Tyler Dippel
3 45 Ross Chastain
4 51 Christian Eckes
5 20 Landon Huffman
6 17 Tyler Ankrum
7 74 Darwin Peters Jr.

Qualifying Race 3: RESULTS

Finishing spot Truck # Driver
1 24 Brett Moffitt
2 4 Todd Gilliland
3 3 Carson Hocevar
4 03 Jake Griffin
5 33 Mike Marlar
6 32 Devin Dodson

Qualifying Race 4: RESULTS

Finishing spot Truck # Driver
1 52 Stewart Friesen
2 99 Ben Rhodes
3 80 Justin Shipley
4 16 Austin Hill
5 38 Mark Smith
6 6 Norm Benning

Qualifying Race 5: RESULTS

Finishing spot Truck # Driver
1 54 Kyle Strickler
2 2 Sheldon Creed
3 98 Grant Enfinger
4 12 Gus Dean
5 08 Tim Ward
6 34 Mason Massey IV

 Last Chance Race: RESULTS

All seven of the Last Chance Race drivers made the field, but the Last Chance Race determined their starting spots.

Starting spot Truck # Driver
1 17 Tyler Ankrum
2 6 Norm Benning
3 34 Mason Massey IV
4 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb
5 74 Darwin Peters Jr.
6 32 Devin Dodson
7 22 Austin Wayne Self

 

 

HOW ELDORA RACE LINEUP IS DETERMINED
STARTING SPOT/DRIVER
 HOW DETERMINED
1. Chase Briscoe Top finisher in Qualifying Race #1
2. Matt Crafton Top finisher in Qualifying Race #2
3. Brett Moffitt Top finisher in Qualifying Race #3
4. Stewart Friesen Top finisher in Qualifying Race #4
5. Kyle Strickler Top finisher in Qualifying Race #5
6. Johnny Sauter Second finisher in Qualifying Race #1
7. Tyler Dippel Second finisher in Qualifying Race #2
8. Todd Gilliland Second finisher in Qualifying Race #3
9. Ben Rhodes Second finisher in Qualifying Race #4
10. Sheldon Creed Second finisher in Qualifying Race #5
11. Harrison Burton Third finisher in Qualifying Race #1
12. Ross Chastain Third finisher in Qualifying Race #2
13. Carson Hocevar Third finisher in Qualifying Race #3
14. Justin Shipley Third finisher in Qualifying Race #4
15. Grant Enfinger Third finisher in Qualifying Race #5
16. Colt Gilliam Fourth finisher in Qualifying Race #1
17. Christian Eckes Fourth finisher in Qualifying Race #2
18. Jake Griffin Fourth finisher in Qualifying Race #3
19. Austin Hill Fourth finisher in Qualifying Race #4
20. Gus Dean Fourth finisher in Qualifying Race #5
21. Jeffrey Abbey Fifth finisher in Qualifying Race #1
22. Landon Huffman Fifth finisher in Qualifying Race #2
23. Mike Marlar Fifth finisher in Qualifying Race #3
24. Mark Smith Fifth finisher in Qualifying Race #4
25. Tim Ward Fifth finisher in Qualifying Race #5
26. Tyler Ankrum Top finisher in Last Chance
27. Norm Benning Second finisher in Last Chance
28. Mason Massey IV Owner points
29. Jennifer Jo Cobb Owner points
30. Darwin Peters Jr. Owner points
31. Devin Dodson Owner points
32. Austin Wayne Self Owner points
Posted on by Holly Cain

The first of four upcoming road course events for the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Saturday’s Zippo 200 at The Glen (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is always a must-see event pitting series championship contenders against Cup regulars and quite often against road course ringers just competing for the chance to win at the historic track.

MORE: Full Watkins Glen schedule | Entry list

Team Penske’s Joey Logano has won three of the last four races, but won’t be competing this weekend. Instead his Monster Energy Series teammate Ryan Blaney – who won last year’s inaugural ROVAL Cup Series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway infield road course – will drive the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Kyle Busch, who won this race in 2017, is entered for Joe Gibbs Racing, as is Cup rookie Ryan Preece, who will drive for JR Motorsports.

The current three top Xfinity series championship contenders certainly would like to stop the run of Cup winners, however experience at the track is not in their favor. Points leader Tyler Reddick has only one start at Watkins Glen – an 11th place finish last year. Both Christopher Bell and Cole Custer – in second and third place in the championship standings – are averaging a 9.0 average finish at Watkins Glen also in limited starts.

Reddick has never finished in the top five on any NASCAR road course race. Last year, Bell was fifth at the Charlotte ROVAL and Custer was fourth at Road America. Custer’s best road course finish was a very dramatic runner-up showing to John Hunter Nemechek at the 2016 Bowmanville, Ontario NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race.

Justin Allgaier, who is ranked fourth in the championship standings, is still looking for his first win of the season after a career-best five wins in 2018. And the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet is a favorite on any road course. He has finished top-10 in the last five races at The Glen. Allgaier won two of the four road course races last year – at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Road America.

Austin Cindric, who is ranked fifth in the championship, is another driver bringing well-earned road course skills to the series. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford won the pole position at both Mid-Ohio and the Charlotte ROVAL races last year and finished runner-up at Mid-Ohio and third at the ROVAL.

Posted on by Staff Report

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Corey LaJoie is making some noise on social media for what he won’t be making in the near future — his salary.

The pilot of the No. 32 Go Fas Racing Ford Mustang has opted to waive getting paid for a full month in order to put a charitable cause he believes in on the car for this weekend’s events at Watkins Glen International. LaJoie and his wife Kelly have teamed up with Samaritan’s Feet, an organization founded in 2003 to provide shoes to children and individuals in need to inspire hope and encouragement.

RELATED: Watkins Glen weekend schedule

More than 1.5 billion people, or 24% of the world’s population, are infected with soil-transmitted helminth infections worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. People without shoes face dangers such as laceration, fungus, and insect bites that can lead to infection, disease, and even death.

Since its founding in 2003, Samaritan’s Feet and its partners have distributed over 7 million pairs of shoes in 108 countries and more than 389 U.S. cities.

“There is absolutely no better fit being that my longtime racing nickname is ‘SuperShoe.’ Now being a ‘SuperShoe’ is being a part of something bigger than myself to bring the gift of a new pair of shoes,” LaJoie said in a news release. “I can’t wait to get kick off the alliance with Samaritan’s Feet this week by having them on the race car as well as being a Hope Giver for their campaign from August to November. I genuinely care enough about their mission to feel called to personally commit financially to give Samaritan’s Feet the platform they deserve.”

LaJoie hopes to spread the mission and raise awareness of this enormous undertaking throughout the weekend at The Glen, the second of three road courses on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule. To help spread the message, any donor of any amount will have their name personally written on the car by LaJoie.

The gesture has caught the attention of some big names around the sport, as well.

The organization also took a trip to the Go Fas shop for a tour with LaJoie.

It’s a good thing NASCAR drivers have a lot of Sharpie experience from signing so many autographs — LaJoie has a lot of writing to do, but he’s making progress.

Posted on by NASCAR.com

Name: Alexandra
Current City: Denver, Colorado
Member Since: 2015
Getting to know Alexandra:
​
Q.​ How did you first become interested in NASCAR? 

“In 2006, my parents piled me and my sister into the back of our Trailblazer and took us to the drive-in theater to see the Pixar flick, Cars. I fell in love right there with racing. The sights, the sounds, the thrill … it was all so beautiful to my 11-year-old self! To say I became obsessed with Lightning McQueen would be an understatement. Then, in 2007, my dad was channel surfing and happened upon the Daytona 500. I was captivated. Could real-life racing really be as exciting as the movie Cars? Turns out it was even better. That race ended with a battle between Harvick and Martin for the win and a massive wreck on the last lap. Needless to say, I was a goner for NASCAR at this point. I decided to watch the next race, and then the next and the next and… well, here I am 11 years later, a racing and automotive fanatic. NASCAR literally set the course of my life.”

Q. What is your favorite NASCAR memory?

“I live in Colorado, so going to a race is a rare treat for me. The first race I ever attended was the Phoenix night race in the spring of 2009. My dad and I flew out in time for Friday (then Sprint Cup) practice. I could hardly wait to bust into the track and experience the unfiltered sound of the engines for real. I remember dancing around like a giddy puppy, unsure of what to do with myself as we neared the racetrack itself. As we ascended the stairs to the track, my dad said, ‘Are you ready for your first taste of NASCAR?’ No sooner were the words out of his mouth did the No. 88 of Dale Jr. rip past. (He was my driver at the time.)”

Q: Do you have a favorite in any of the following categories?

Drivers: “Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott.”

Memorabilia: “I have a friend who used to be on a pit crew. He got me a lug nut off Dale Jr.’s winning Phoenix car from 2015. It’s on a necklace and yes I do wear it.”

Q. What are some of your hobbies? 

“I’ve been an avid horseback rider for most of my life, so I’m on a horse as much as I can be. I like to draw (race cars mostly), and I’m working on a science fiction novel centered around racing because I have been gifted with a talent and passion for writing. I’m currently learning everything I can about restoring classic cars because I have a 1977 Trans Am in my garage waiting to be fixed up. My friends know not to bug me at night because I’m usually buried deep in the Xbox. (It’s usually a racing game. Go figure.)”

​FROM ALL OF US AT NASCAR, WE THANK ALEXANDRA FOR HER CONTINUED SUPPORT AND LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM HER IN 2019!

Look for Alexandra on the Official NASCAR Fan Council page on NASCAR.COM.

Posted on by Terrin Waack

Upon first, second and – heck – even third glance, it looks like Kyle Busch should be leading the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship point standings.

The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is tied for most victories (four), owns the most stage wins (eight) and has led the most laps (1,015). He’s down for 818 points overall, and that’s good for second place.

Joey Logano, holding the No. 1 spot after 21 races in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford, boasts 824 points. The series’ reigning champion has won two races (Martin Truex Jr. is the one who matches Busch) and seven stages. He has led 609 laps.

RELATED: Complete look at championship standings

Points decide the standings and are determined by race and stage results. The winner of a race is awarded 40 points, second then gets 35, third gets 34, fourth gets 33 and so on through the entire field. Only the top 10 stage finishers collect additional points, with the winner earning 10 and each person after receiving one less.

Busch, who’s averaging a 7.2 finish this season, has 642 points from race outcomes. Logano’s 9.4 average finish has brought him 588 points. The barometer is skewed 54 points in Busch’s favor here.

Where Logano makes up ground is stage points. He leads all his competitors with 226, whereas Busch comes in at 176. That brings Busch to his current 818 mark when added up. Logano comes to 814, cutting Busch’s advantage down to just four points.

Here’s what ultimately pushes Logano ahead of Busch: Logano won the Gander RV Duel 2 at Daytona International Speedway before the season officially started with the Daytona 500. The makeshift victory gave him 10 points straight from the get-go. Add that to the previous number and – lo and behold – Logano is at his current 824 total.

—

Joey Logano vs. Kyle Busch: Battle through 21 races

Category Joey Logano Kyle Busch
Rank 1 2
Overall Points 824 818
Race Points 588 642
Stage Points 226 176
Wins 2 4
Stage Wins 7 8
Top 5s 9 11
Top 10s 14 18
Stage 1 Top 10s 18 13
Stage 2 Top 10s 15 14
Laps Led 609 1,015
Average Stage 1 Finish 5.5 9
Average Stage 2 Finish 8.3 9.1
Average Finish 9.4 7.2

—

There are five races left in the regular season, starting with a trip to Watkins Glen International this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Both Logano and Busch are locked into the NASCAR Playoffs, which will begin Sept. 15 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, thanks to their respective victories. The regular-season crown, given to the driver with the most points, is still up for grabs.

RELATED: Playoff outlook | Watkins Glen schedule

Right now, the six-point difference after 21 races between Logano and Busch is the tightest battle in the sport’s elimination era (2014-present) and second closest in the modern era (1972-present). Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth had five points separating them in the 2012 season. There was no Regular Season Champion at that time, though. The honor was introduced in 2017.

Truex took home the inaugural award and then went on to win the ultimate title at Homestead-Miami Speedway later that season. Busch was actually last year’s regular-season titleholder and later finished fourth in the final standings.

Since the playoff system was implemented in 2004, there have been four instances among three drivers where the standings leader at this point ended up winning the end-of-season championship. Obviously, there was Truex. Jimmie Johnson also did so in 2006 and 2013, with Tony Stewart pulling if off in 2005.

The No. 2 driver has won the championship once: Johnson in 2009.

Logano (2018) and Busch (2015) each have one title.

—

Playoff Era: Points through 21 races

Season Leader (final rank) Second (final rank) Behind Leader
2019 Joey Logano Kyle Busch 6
2018 *Kyle Busch (4) Kevin Harvick (3) 48
2017 *Martin Truex Jr. (1) Kyle Larson (8) 85
2016 Kevin Harvick (8) Brad Keselowski (12) 22
2015 Kevin Harvick (2) Joey Logano (6) 46
2014 Jeff Gordon (6) Dale Earnhardt Jr. (8) 17
2013 Jimmie Johnson (1) Clint Bowyer (7) 77
2012 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (12) Matt Kenseth (7) 5
2011 Carl Edwards (2) Jimmie Johnson (6) 9
2010 Kevin Harvick (3) Jeff Gordon (9) 189
2009 Tony Stewart (6) Jimmie Johnson (1) 197
2008 Kyle Busch (10) Dale Earnhardt Jr. (12) 176
2007 Jeff Gordon (2) Denny Hamlin (12) 366
2006 Jimmie Johnson (1) Matt Kenseth (2) 107
2005 Tony Stewart (1) Jimmie Johnson (5) 75
2004 Jimmie Johnson (2) Jeff Gordon (3) 97

*Regular Season Champion; Note: The points system was simplified to a 43-1 format with a one-point per finishing position in 2011; the system was further revamped with the advent of stages in 2017.

Posted on by Staff Report

William Byron helped unveil his retro No. 24 paint scheme Thursday, channeling Tom Cruise in a Days of Thunder-inspired video reveal ahead of next month’s throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway.

RELATED: Buy tickets to Darlington
Byron ‘Days of Thunder’ gear

The retro No. 24 Chevrolet poster with Days of Thunder design for Darlington Raceway.
Harris Lue | NASCAR Creative Design

Byron and crew chief Chad Knaus co-starred in the short video, pulling the wraps off a green and yellow City Chevrolet/Hendrick Autoguard sponsored No. 24 Chevy. The 21-year-old driver will use the throwback design in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 on Sept. 1 (6 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM).

Byron and Knaus borrowed lines from the opening scenes of the 1990 drama with a Hendrick-prepared car that was used in filming as a backdrop. Tom Cruise starred as aspiring driver Cole Trickle opposite Robert Duvall as crew chief Harry Hogge in the movie.

MORE: Darlington paint schemes