Posted on by Staff Report

Martin Truex Jr. notched the fastest time in Thursday afternoon’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice at Daytona International Speedway prior to Sunday afternoon’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (1 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Final practice results | Best 10-lap averages

Truex flew around the 2.5-mile Daytona Beach, Florida, superspeedway at a top speed of 205.936 mph in the No. 19 Toyota. Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones made it a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep of the top-three spots, finishing up the session with respective times of 205.738 mph and 205.724 mph.

Toyota grabbed fourth as well, with Matt DiBenedetto clocking a speed of 205.381 mph in his No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota. Matt Tifft rounded out the top five with a speed of 205.292 mph. In total, six cars eclipsed the 205-mph mark.

A big moment in practice occurred when William Byron saved the No. 24 Chevy from spinning after contact from Brad Keselowski at the entrance of Turn 3. Byron did receive right-rear damage on the car in the process of avoiding a spin after more contact, while Keselowski also received light damage on the front bumper. Keselowski indicated the incident was his way of sending a message to the field: “I’m not lifting.”

RELATED: Byron, Keselowski tangle in final practice

Practice 1

Kyle Busch raced his way to the top of the board in an abbreviated first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice Thursday at Daytona.

Before practice was cut short due to lightning strikes in the area, Busch sped his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to a fast lap of 200.754 mph. Busch currently sits second in the point standings, 18 points behind series leader Joey Logano, who clocked in at 199.911 mph — good for 15th-best in the field.

RELATED: First practice results | Best 10-lap averages | Full Daytona schedule

Ty Dillon (No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet, 200.682 mph) and Chris Buescher (No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet, 200.638 mph) also landed near the top of the board, finishing second and third respectively. Jimmie Johnson, coming off a fourth-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway — his best finish of the season — came in at 200.352 mph in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, while fellow Chevrolet driver Austin Dillon (No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet) at 200.347 mph rounded out the top five. All told, 13 drivers topped the 200 mph mark in the session.

Practice ended about 12 minutes early due to a lightning strike in the area.

Posted on by Terrin Waack

The last time and really the only other time two teammates won four races apiece at this point in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season — 17 races down, 19 to go — one of them went on to hoist the championship trophy at the end of it all.

In 2007, Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon each made a trip to Victory Lane four times before July. Johnson took the checkered flag first at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, then repeated at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway and Richmond Raceway. Gordon got his streak going at ISM Raceway (then known as Phoenix International Raceway) and kept it alive at Talladega Superspeedway, Darlington Raceway and Pocono Raceway.

RELATED: Full Daytona schedule | Daytona paint schemes

Johnson, thanks to his final points standing after four consecutive playoff victories, was ultimately crowned that season’s champion. Gordon just so happened to finish right behind him in second.

Fast forward 12 years, Joe Gibbs Racing has its own set of drivers following suit — so far. Kyle Busch has wins at ISM Raceway, Auto Club Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Pocono, while Martin Truex Jr.’s triumphs have happened at Richmond, Dover International Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Sonoma Raceway. Busch and Truex are currently second (659 points) and fifth (581 points), respectively, in the standings and locked into the playoffs.

What really takes this comparison to a new level is that both teams had 10 victories overall after 68 starts on the dot. Casey Mears (Charlotte) and Busch (Bristol) — his last season before switching from HMS to JGR — notched the other two for Hendrick Motorsports in 2007. Denny Hamlin (Daytona International Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway) is responsible for bringing Joe Gibbs Racing into double digits this year already.

The only team to ever top that win count so quickly was Carl Kiekhaefer Racing in 1956 with 13 out of 17 total.

All Hendrick Motorsports drivers combined for 18 wins in 2007. That number still stands as the single-season record by a team in NASCAR’s modern era.

Busch and Truex, along with the rest of their team and other competitors, take on Daytona this Sunday for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 (1 p.m. ET; NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Erik Jones, who’s also a part of Joe Gibbs Racing, won this race last year.

Team Hendrick Motorsports Joe Gibbs Racing
Season 2007 2019
Races 17 17
Starts 68 68
Wins 10 10
Top 5 26 28
Top 10 38 44
Laps Led 1,585 1,458
Average Finish 14.7 10.8

Stats courtesy of Racing Insights

Posted on by Staff Report

It’s all business for rising NASCAR K&N Pro Series star Hailie Deegan behind the wheel, but away from the track, she never misses an opportunity to create a few laughs.

In a recent trip to a grocery store, Deegan stumbled upon a cardboard version of Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 car.

In her best effort to hide underneath the car, she ran into one problem.

Posted on by Staff Report

Plenty of fireworks are expected in the annual Independence Day-week trip to Daytona International Speedway as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series gears up for Sunday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (1 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Here’s everything you need to know for the Daytona night race.

RELATED: Full Daytona schedule | Who’s the favorite?

TRACK DETAILS

Daytona International Speedway is a 2.5-mile tri-oval with 31 degrees of banking in the turns and 18 degrees of banking at the start-finish line.

RULES PACKAGE

Teams will use the 2019 rules package with new tweaks specifically tailored for superspeedway racing at Daytona — the first time used at the track following restrictor plate usage at the Daytona 500. The package includes a 0.922-inch tapered spacer (replacing the restrictor plate), 9-inch rear spoiler, 1-inch bolt-on track bar mount, a tapered radiator pan, two-inch splitter overhang and aero ducts. Just as at Talladega in April, teams will use a 1-inch wicker extension placed on top of the 9-inch spoiler.

Cup Series teams also will participate with a new left-side tire compound for the Goodyear Eagle superspeedway radial, a construction update that makes its debut this weekend. The update was recommended after a two-day test at Daytona in February. Teams will be provided with two sets of tires for practice, one set for qualifying and seven sets for Sunday’s race — six race sets plus one set transferred from qualifying or practice.

“The goal was to incorporate the basic elements of the 2019 rules package into the aerodynamic configuration for the superspeedways of Daytona and Talladega, so they are no longer unique in that perspective,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “With that alignment established early in the test, we took the same approach to the tires. The result was a tire combination with the same constructions we run at the intermediate tracks, married with the tread compounds run at Daytona in February.”

STATS

• Only five drivers have won the Daytona 500 and Coke Zero Sugar 400 in the same season. The last to do so was Jimmie Johnson in 2013. As a reminder, Denny Hamlin won this season’s Daytona 500.

• Three of the last four races at Daytona were won by drivers under the age of 30 — including Erik Jones last season (22 years, 1 month, 7 days) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 2017 (29 years, 8 months, 29 days).

• Michael McDowell has had seven top-10 finishes in the Monster Energy Series — and six of them have come at Daytona.

• Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest superspeedway team, with 27 wins all-time at Daytona and Talladega. Richard Childress Racing is a distant second, with 18 wins.

Stats courtesy of Racing Insights

LIVE COVERAGE

The Coke Zero Sugar 400 will air on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 7. Fans can also follow along on the live leaderboard on NASCAR.com, get in-car audio on RaceView and watch in-car cameras on NASCAR Drive. Be sure to set your Fantasy Live lineup and sub in your garage pick (if needed) before the end of Stage 2 when rosters lock for good.

2018 RACE WINNER

Erik Jones led one lap of the 2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400 — the final one. Jones passed Martin Truex Jr. on the final lap and won by .125 seconds — battling back from damage sustained in a multi-car wreck earlier in the race. In all, only 20 of the 40 cars that started the race were running at the finish, thanks to some substantial wrecks.

ACTIVE DAYTONA WINNERS

DRIVER WINS
Jimmie Johnson 3
Kevin Harvick 2
Denny Hamlin 2
David Ragan 1
Joey Logano 1
Brad Keselowski 1
Aric Almirola 1
Erik Jones 1
Ryan Newman 1
Austin Dillon 1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1
Kurt Busch 1
Kyle Busch 1
Posted on by Staff Report

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will race in Sunday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway (1 p.m. ET; NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in a unique paint scheme that pays homage to a United States military veteran.

The new design was first revealed last month in historic downtown Mooresville, North Carolina, in front of a large audience of local veterans near the Welcome Home Veterans Living Military Museum at Richard’s Coffee Shop. The coffee shop was founded in 1995 by Richard Warren, a retired U.S. Army combat pilot who toured in Vietnam. The shop, now a living military museum, is dedicated to supporting former and current service members — including the late Richard Warren who dedicated his time and resources to directly serve veterans and their families for the final 14 years of his life.

RELATED: Full Daytona schedule

Larson’s scheme for the July 7 race – the final event in the NASCAR Salutes initiative – celebrates Independence Day and pays special tribute to Warren with unique logos and decals. Warren’s name will be displayed above the right window, with the Richard’s Coffee Shop 10th Anniversary logo laid out on the decklid. A burst of red, white and gray stars and streaks line the sides.

“I’m truly honored to be a part of a team that is committed to commemorating our nation’s military veterans like Richard, who dedicated the last years of his life preserving the stories and livelihood of all veterans,” Larson said. “We hope to honor his legacy with this special paint scheme and proudly race with Richard’s name and logo.”

Credit One Bank, a dedicated sponsor of NASCAR and its initiatives, worked closely with Larson and the Chip Ganassi Racing team to organize the paint scheme reveal and highlight Warren’s legacy.

“Richard made a home for veterans at the coffee shop,” said John Coombe, senior vice president of communications, Credit One Bank. “He created a community and support system for veterans to share stories, camaraderie, and a good cup of coffee. We’re happy that Credit One Bank was able to find a fitting way to celebrate his accomplishments and the coffee shop’s anniversary today in partnership with our sponsored driver Kyle Larson.”

While in Mooresville, Larson met with veterans and local members of the community after the reveal to pose for pictures and sign autographs outside of the iconic museum. Our State, the official magazine of North Carolina, named Richard’s Coffee Shop “The Most Patriotic Coffee Shop in America.” The shop is the lone combination of a living military museum and a non-profit coffee shop in the entire U.S.

Posted on by Staff Report

Everyone knows how thrilling a NASCAR race can be, but which race is the best?

USA Today’s 10Best.com wants to know. The website is asking fans to vote for their favorite race among all motorsports — which includes F1, IndyCar, endurance and NASCAR races. They’ve narrowed it down to 20 races, six of which are NASCAR races.

Among the NASCAR nominees:

Voting ends Monday, July 15 and the winner will be announced on 10Best.com on July 26.

Check out the current leaderboard — and start voting!

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR penalized one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team and one NASCAR Xfinity Series team on Tuesday for each having one lug nut not safe and secure following the weekend’s races at Chicagoland Speedway.

The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for Monster Energy Series driver Denny Hamlin and the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford for Xfinity Series driver Cole Custer both were found with lug nut violations during post-race inspection at the track.

MORE: Biggest takeaways from Chicagoland

As a result, both crew chiefs were fined — a $10,000 fine to Chris Gabehart, crew chief of the No. 11, and a $5,000 fine to Mike Shiplett, crew chief of the No. 00.

Both series return to the track this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.

Posted on by Terrin Waack

NASCAR has switched things up for this weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Stage lengths are going to be longer Sunday for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 (1 p.m. ET; NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Stages 1 and 2 are both set to increase by 10 laps, with Stage 1 now ending on Lap 50 and Stage 2 now ending on Lap 100. As a result, the final stage will technically become shorter, coming in at just 60 laps rather than 80 since the checkered flag will still wave on Lap 160 — if all goes according to plan.

RELATED: Full Daytona schedule

The difference should prevent fuel mileage from dictating stage results.

This change comes on top of the fact drivers will also race the 2.5-mile trioval without restrictor plates for the first time since 1987. The Daytona 500 season opener, which Denny Hamlin won, saw the last of that back in February. Stages then were 60, 60 and 80 laps, with an additional seven overtime laps.

The Monster Energy Series took on Talladega Superspeedway without restrictor plates earlier this season, instead using a heightened spoiler and tapered spacers. April’s GEICO 500 broke its stages down into 55, 55 and 78 laps. Chase Elliott ended up victorious.

NASCAR first introduced its stage-racing format with the 2017 season.

Posted on by PJ Walsh

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content
partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to Daytona International Speedway on Sunday for its traditional Fourth of July weekend shootout.

With Daytona comes excitement, yet unpredictability. This provides an incredible viewing experience, but a much more difficult environment for projecting how the race will play out.

To make my NASCAR Props Challenge picks this week, I’ll be leaning heavily on performance from recent races run at Daytona — specifically the July races held at Daytona as opposed to the season-opening Daytona 500.

1. Will Saturday’s race winner be decided by a last-lap pass? Yes or No?

This is completely a gut-feel pick, but with the playoffs fast approaching and drivers getting desperate for wins, I expect calamity late in Sunday’s race … especially on the last lap.

Pick: Yes

2. O/U 27.5 lead changes?

It’s important to remember that the July race at Daytona is 400 miles, compared to February’s Daytona 500. This has a major effect on what we can expect in terms of number of lead changes.

Looking at previous races, just one of the past seven July Daytona races has exceeded 27.5 lead changes.

Pick: Under

3. Will the race winner also win a stage? Yes or No?

While stage racing has been around for only two years, neither of those two winners at Daytona in July (Erik Jones in 2018 and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 2017) won stages.

Pick: No

4. Which three-car team will have the highest finishing driver? Team Penske or Front Row?

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get the rest of PJ Walsh’s NASCAR Props Challenge Picks.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

Although each race track has provided its share of variables throughout the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, Hendrick Motorsports’ day at Chicagoland Speedway was a sign of things to come.

For the second time this season, all four drivers finished in the top 11 positions — the first coming in the Coca-Cola 600, where all drivers finished in the top 10 at 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Following Alex Bowman’s first career victory on Sunday night, No. 88 crew chief Greg Ives feels the organization’s recent growth in performance is a credit to improved synergy within the walls of the Concord, North Carolina, shop.

RELATED: Full race results

“I think we were all behind trying to think that we were smarter than all of us put together,” Ives said. “I appreciate the 48 team, the 9 team, the 24 from my camp to help bounce ideas off of and build confidence off of some of the best in the garage.”

Scoring six top 10s in the past eight races, Bowman is on a hot streak, but NASCAR’s newest winner noted that Hendrick’s uptick in speed was tough because the working balance among teammates wasn’t initially present.

“I think the hardest part was the beginning of the year we were typically finishing the best or one of the best in our team, and then the rest of our team found a lot of speed, and we struggled to find that same speed they did,” Bowman said. “That was the hardest part for me was just mentally staying patient, Greg and I staying on the same page through some of that and the struggles that come with the three other cars in the organization finding speed and us continuing to struggle.

“But Greg and I kind of sat down, got back on the same page,” Bowman said. “As soon as we did that, it was like a light switch for us over that off week to just regroup and be really good ever since then.”

RELATED: All-time winners for Hendrick Motorsports

Jimmie Johnson’s season-high fourth-place finish at Chicagoland also serves as indication that Hendrick Motorsports has come to play for good — the result backing up finishes of sixth and eighth at Kansas and Charlotte, respectively. As he and crew chief Kevin Meendering continue to find a rhythm in their first season as a pair, information sharing with the 88 team has worked in everyone’s favor.

“The 88 and 48 have been really close in setups the last few weeks,” Johnson said. “So to have us running up front, the 88 was going to be there before long. I’m happy for our company. …

“Very happy for Alex. His story of climbing up through the ranks … and taking his shot is like a working man’s story. He’s done an amazing job of whether some tough years, even at Hendrick they haven’t been easy years. I’m happy for him today, but hopefully next week is my week.”

For William Byron, the last seven races have included four top-10 finishes with two Busch Pole Awards, a sign that he and crew chief Chad Knaus are really starting to find their groove.

“We’re kind of the newest team put together here, besides Jimmie and his team,” Byron said. “I think we’re kind of neck-and-neck. It’s all part of us gaining and learning together and I think that’s really what’s coming together. This (Chicagoland) is the best mile-and-a-half performance we’ve had for this kind of race track, so I’m really excited.”

As the series heads to Daytona International Speedway for Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the playoff picture for Hendrick Motorsports drivers is looking up. While Chase Elliott and Bowman are locked into the postseason with wins, Johnson’s Chicagoland result moved him from one point below the cutoff to 14th in the standings, five points in front of Clint Bowyer on the bubble. Byron owns a little more cushion, sitting 12th in the rankings, 23 points ahead of 16th.

MORE: Full Playoffs picture

Byron feels the Hendrick momentum can continue in Daytona Beach, Florida, if the team can execute a similar game plan that saw Elliott and Bowman finish 1-2 at Talladega earlier this year.

“I’ve been able to run pretty good there (Daytona),” Byron said. “Hopefully our car is good there. I know it’s going to be fast. If we can just keep it up front and work together like we did at Talladega with all the Chevrolets, I think that’s going to be a great plan.”