Posted on by Staff Report

The Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America went big for its 25th anniversary edition, with the longest route in the history of the philanthropic event. Tuesday, the charity indicated that its impact posted momentous numbers, both in mileage and fund-raising.

The charity ride announced Tuesday that this year’s event raised more than $1.7 million to support the Victory Junction camp for children with chronic illnesses. Additionally, a $2 million donation was provided to the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Trust by the family of late charity rider David Andreas.

MORE: Inside Petty’s plans for 25th charity ride (May 1)

Riders stay in formation with mountainscapes behind them in the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America.
Kevin Kane Photography

Petty, the 59-year-old former driver who now works for NBC Sports as a broadcaster and analyst, was among 250 participants in this year’s ride, which stretched some 3,700 miles from Seattle, Washington to Key Largo, Florida from May 3-11. Along the way, ride officials reported being honored by 15 mayoral appearances, making proclamations or offering keys to the city.

“This year’s Ride was amazing! We had beautiful views, crowds at every stop, police escorts the entire trip, a little rain, fun visits with Victory Junction campers, great food and lots of laughs with friends for nine straight days,” Petty said in a release provided by the charitable organization. “When you get 250 people together that care about kids, want to help others and love to ride motorcycles, it’s going to be fun! Riding corner to corner across America just made it more special.”

The Kyle Petty Charity Ride has raised $18.5 million for children’s charities since it began in 1995. Since 2004, it has primarily benefited the Victory Junction camp, established in Randleman, North Carolina to honor the memory of Petty’s son Adam.

Posted on by Zack Albert

NASCAR officials issued a one-race suspension to Gander Outdoors Truck Series driver Johnny Sauter on Tuesday for his actions during last weekend’s event at Iowa Speedway.

Sauter was involved in an on-track altercation with driver Austin Hill that resulted in NASCAR race control parking him for the remainder of Sunday’s M&M’s 200. Competition officials reported Tuesday that the suspension would not impact Sauter’s postseason eligibility.

RELATED: Sauter crashes into Hill under caution

“We look back at the history of everything we’ve done and try to react with the precedents that we’ve set and then obviously tailoring those to the situation that we have at hand,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition. “In this case, we felt like his actions certainly warranted being sat down for an event, but it felt a little too harsh to take him straight out of the championship, so we think we landed on what we feel is fair and a deterrent.”

The penalty will sideline Sauter for this Saturday’s event at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Madison, Illinois. On Thursday, the team announced that Myatt Snider will pilot the truck at Gateway with Sauter suspended.

RELATED: Snider to step into No. 13 at Gateway

Trucks driven by Hill and Sauter initially made contact early in the final stage of the race, triggering a retaliatory bump from Hill’s Hattori Racing Enterprises No. 16 Toyota. That contact sent Sauter’s ThorSport Racing No. 13 Ford careening into the outside retaining wall, prompting the last of four yellow flags at the .875-mile track.

During the caution period, Sauter meted out payback with a prolonged ramming of Hill’s truck, carrying both vehicles into the wall. NASCAR officials ordered Sauter off the track, ending his day after 137 of the race’s 200 laps.

“We tend to look at incidents under caution as more of a retaliatory thing,” Miller said. “Obviously, him driving half a track with a smoking truck and winding through a few cars to get to the 16 and then running over him, then bouncing off the wall and running into his door, it was pretty aggressive. It was definitely not anything that could in any way, shape or form be defended as a racing incident.”

Miller said competition officials considered sanctions against Hill for the intent of his bump that sparked Sauter’s flare-up.

“We did talk about that,” Miller said, “and while we haven’t typically reacted in the form of a penalty to those things, there will certainly be further discussions with the driver of the 16 and he will definitely be placed under a little bit more of a microscope as far as us watching his actions on the race track.”

Sauter was scored 27th in the final rundown, while Hill righted his damaged truck to place 12th in the 32-truck field. Both drivers were summoned to the NASCAR officials’ hauler after Sunday’s race for consultation, something Miller said would likely happen again to prevent further escalation of their rivalry.

“Those conversations will take place again before they are placed on the race track again together,” Miller said, “and there will be a pretty good understanding that we don’t want to see any more contact or aggressive behavior out of either one of them  — toward each other or other competitors.”

Sauter ranks eighth in the Gander Trucks driver standings. His victory May 3 at Dover International Speedway virtually clinched a berth in the series’ postseason field, which will consist of eight drivers.

Hill sits seventh in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series standings, just eight points ahead of Sauter. Hill opened his second full-time campaign in the Gander Trucks ranks with a victory in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway.

After the penalty was announced, Sauter indicated Tuesday afternoon through his personal Twitter account that he planned to enter the Dick Trickle 99 race for Super Late Model cars at Dells Raceway Park in his home state of Wisconsin.

Note: NASCAR cited the No. 88 of Matt Crafton for one lug nut not safe and secure for the Iowa race. Crew chief Carl Joiner was fined $2,500.

Posted on by Staff Report

Darrell Waltrip will wrap up a prolific broadcasting career as NASCAR on FOX closes out its portion of the NASCAR schedule this weekend at Sonoma Raceway and the tributes are starting to come in.

Roush Fenway Racing showed off its No. 17 Ford Mustang driven by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with a special message and paint scheme for DW on Tuesday.

The car is a nod to Waltrip’s No. 17 Western Auto/Parts America Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet that he ran in the early to mid-1990s. Stenhouse also honored Waltrip in the 2016 Southern 500 at Darlington for its throwback weekend program.

MORE: Leavine Family Racing No. 95 to offer DW tribute

Waltrip will wrap up 19 years in the broadcast booth after Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

Later on Tuesday, Front Row Motorsports unveiled their offering to the NASCAR Hall of Famer, which pays tribute to a 1997 scheme of Waltrips.

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.

If you’re looking for a unique take on stock car racing, Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway is for you.

For the first time this season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will go road racing, which means turning both left and right.
Obviously, the skills needed to perform well at road courses differ from those at traditional ovals, making both the racing and strategy quite different. With this in mind, here are my NASCAR Props Challenge picks for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.

1. The last two Sonoma winners did not score any stage points? Will this trend continue? Yes or No?

Because of strategy at road courses, it makes sense for drivers to pit when they hit their fuel windows instead of trying to stay out and earn stage points.

As a result, I think the winner will once again fail to score stage points.

Pick: Yes

2. O/U 11.5 lead changes?

Over the past six races at Sonoma, just two events have finished with 12 or more lead changes.

Pick: Under

3. Which driver will score more race points at Sonoma? Chase Elliott or Denny Hamlin?

Since 2016, Hamlin has clearly been better than Elliott at Sonoma. Denny has the better finish and average running position while running considerably more fast laps.

Pick: Hamlin

4. O/U 1.5 drivers lead 25 laps?

Two of the past three races at Sonoma finished with just one driver managing 25 laps led, so let’s go under.

Pick: Under

5. Will the polesitter lead the first eight laps of the race? Yes or No?

Download the FREE Action Network app to finish reading this article and
get the rest of PJ Walsh’s NASCAR Props Challenge Picks.

Posted on by Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – New venue, new winner. First stop. First win. That’s certainly what a substantial portion of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series field is hoping for this weekend at the season’s first road course event at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California.

The series returns from a Father’s Day off-weekend and heads West to California’s scenic wine country for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway (Sunday, June 23 at 3 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). And while the season’s four-time winner Kyle Busch and three-time victors Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski have been collecting trophies left and right, the season’s first true test of left-and-right may be just what some other of the consensus championship contenders need to score that first win of 2019.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. arrives in Northern California as the defending race winner and his JGR teammate Kyle Busch has a pair of wins at the track as well. But there are four other drivers ranked among the Playoffs Top 16 who have won at Sonoma before, still looking for a first sip of winner’s wine this weekend as they march towards the Fall Playoffs.

RELATED: Full Cup standings

Four former Sonoma winners – Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson – are all winless on the season, but ranked inside that Playoff’s Top 16 arriving in California. By their standards a win this week isn’t just do-able, it’s over-due.

Harvick won at Sonoma in 2017 and was runner-up to Truex last year. The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang earned eight wins a year ago in his valiant challenge for the 2018 title and had scored five trophies by Father’s Day. But this season, Harvick shows up in his native California eager and highly motivated to earn his first victory of the season and restore his championship mojo.

Harvick has finished in the top-10 or better in four of the last five Sonoma races. His Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Clint Bowyer boasts the same favorable statistic – in fact, the 2012 Sonoma winner was third last year, runner-up in 2017 and third in 2015. His eight top-five finishes are most in the field this week.

MORE: Active road course winners 

Kurt Busch, who drives for Chip Ganassi Racing, won at Sonoma in 2011 and has finished in the top-10 in seven of the last eight races there – including runner-up to his younger brother Kyle in 2015.

Perhaps no driver in the top 16 is more motivated to sip a glass of winner’s wine and hoist a trophy then seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson, who is looking for his first victory in over two seasons. He won at Sonoma in 2010 and had top-10s in 2014 and 2015.

It’s an interesting evolution for road racing in NASCAR. In the early days of the sport, drivers tended to be all-in or way-off when it came to the non-oval venues. Some certainly adapted well to the road course challenges, others worked hard at it and even attended Bob Bondurant race schools to bone up. Some had previous road course experience in other series.

Ricky Rudd, who always liked road course racing, won the very first Sonoma race in 1989 and NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace – another who took to this form of racing well – won the next year. Each of the two drivers won twice at Sonoma over their careers. Ernie Irvan, another Californian, scored two wins at Sonoma in the early 1990s and NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin won at Sonoma in 1997.

RELATED: All-time road course winners

Even in the years thereafter, renowned road racers such as Robby Gordon (2003), and Juan Pablo Montoya (2007) scored Sonoma trophies and set the bar. And new NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon, who was born minutes away from the Sonoma course, also took to that brand of competition, winning a track record five times in his career – including three consecutive times from 1998-2000.

But as the sport evolved and the championship format changed – essentially shortening the regular season by 10 races to make way for the Playoffs – it became essential for all the Monster Energy Series drivers to shift their road course game into a higher gear.

At the series’ other traditional road course track, the historic Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, there have been five different winners in the last five races from A.J. Allmendinger in 2014 (his first series victory) to first-time road course winners Joey Logano in 2015, Denny Hamlin in 2016, Truex in 2017 and Chase Elliott in 2018. Ryan Blaney scored his first non-oval series win on the Charlotte ROVAL’s debut last year – a hybrid course of infield turns and the Charlotte Motor Speedway banking.

The unique challenges presented by Sonoma’s road course – including the reintroduction of the famed “Carousel” turn – present a prime opportunity for some of the sport’s biggest names and championship hopefuls to break into the Busch-Truex-Keselowski “Big Winner’s” party this season. And it makes this week’s stop even more crucial in the championship setting.

Posted on by Staff Report

Editor’s note: On Tuesday, we’ll showcase the best and most iconic drivers from Nos. 91-09 in the final week of our Driver by Number project. The selection of the No. 99 will be unveiled Monday at 6 p.m. ET exclusively on “NASCAR Race Hub” on FS1.

Who wore it best? As it applies to NASCAR, that age-old question might refer to fire suits, driving gloves or helmets.

This summer, NASCAR.com is taking a different tack — with car numbers. Our Driver by Number project will ask: Which driver either had the most success or was most emblematic with the closest association to every car number ever run in NASCAR’s top division.

MORE: All Driver by Number content

We’ll be counting up all summer long with weekly Tuesday morning reveals and features, from Nos. 1 to 99 and all the aughts (No. 0, 00, 01 … ) taken 10 at a time. Check in every Tuesday to see who made our Driver by Number list, determined by statistical analysis and research from our archives. Then feel free to chime in with your picks and join the time-worn debate of who wore each car number the best.

Sample some of the content from Driver by Number and be sure to return to NASCAR.com every Tuesday for more:

— Photos: Best drivers, Nos. 1-50
— Debate: Best 4? Harvick or White?
— Debate: Best 2? Wallace or Keselowski?
— Debate: No. 17, Kenseth or Pearson?
— Insight: Hemric on No. 3 and No. 8
— Debate: The best in the No. 11?
— Insight: No. 21, Pearson and the Wood Brothers
— Insight: Gordon’s impact with No. 24
— Debate: No. 28’s links to Allison, Lorenzen
— Insight: Hailing Harvick at No. 29
— Photos: ‘Handsome’ Harry Gant through the years
— Photos: Iconic No. 43 paint schemes
— Photos: Janet Guthrie’s historic career
— Photos: Key wins in the No. 88

Posted on by Marissa Fuller

Harrison Burton’s race weekend at Iowa Speedway was not only busy, as the 18-year-old pulled double duty at the 0.875-mile track, but it was also a career day.

Burton, who ran in both the postponed NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series races on Sunday, found himself sitting in the top five when both checkered flags waved.

Starting 10th in the Gander Trucks race, Burton matched his career-best finish of third-place in the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota. This marked Burton’s fourth top-five result of the season.

“We had a tough race because we had really high expectations for Iowa. We had a chance to win last year and ran fourth this year, which isn’t bad. Had a good points day overall, just really had to battle there,” Burton said after the Gander Trucks race. “Pretty fun. I love this race track. It’s a lot of fun to pull slide jobs on people and things like that – it’s like a dirt track sometimes. I’m proud of the way we fought and had good pit stops and made it work.”

He finished third earlier this season at Dover and twice in 2018. One of those finishes was at Iowa last season when he ran eight select races for KBM and started on the pole.

RELATED: Gander Trucks results | Xfinity results

The excitement didn’t end there for Burton, though, going straight from the Gander Trucks race to qualifying for the Xfinity Series.

Sunday’s race marked only his second-career start in the series for Joe Gibbs Racing and he qualified 10th. His debut came earlier this season at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he started fifth and finished 10th.

Today’s fourth-place finish in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was much, much sweeter.

“Yeah, I wanted to win one of these things. We had a really good run and I had a lot of fun doing it. Me and (Justin) Allgaier had a really fun race there at the end” Burton said. “I just had a lot of fun driving this Xfinity car. These cars really match my style and this race track matches my style. I had a lot of fun today and I hope to be able to come back and do it again soon.”

Burton wasn’t the only young gun to finish in the top 10, either. Zane Smith was behind the wheel of the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet for the fifth time this season and also grabbed his career-best finish in the Xfinity Series in fifth.

The 20-year-old qualified third and ran in the top 10 for most of the day.

Posted on by Staff Report

NEWTON, Iowa — Christopher Bell knows a lot about long, dominant runs.

The seasoned, open-wheel racer won the last three Chili Bowl Nationals in his native, Oklahoma — and led an astounding 186 laps during Sunday’s CircuitCity.com 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race, cruising to a commanding victory at Iowa Speedway.

The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing/Ruud Toyota pulled away from Cole Custer on the final restart with 10 laps to go and powered to his series-leading fourth victory of the season on Father’s Day.

RELATED: Race results 

“Man, I got to win at Dover on Mother’s Day weekend, or, I guess it was the week before with my mom there,” said Bell, who has won five of the past eight short track races in the series. “Now I just won on Father’s Day with my dad here, so it was pretty special.”

Custer settled for second and adopted a no-hard-feelings approach to the slight contact from Bell that preceded losing his brief late lead.

“I think it was racing,” said Custer, who led the first 53 laps before Bell seized near-total control. “I think every driver will agree that this place puts on the best racing that we go to, so it was fun. Christopher (Bell) and them had the best car all day. I feel like we caught up to them a good amount. We just need a little more time to work on it.”

Justin Allgaier — who edged Bell in this race a year ago — took third. Harrison Burton and Zane Smith rounded out the top five. Tyler Reddick, who finished 15th after battling early car trouble, saw his points lead over Bell shaved from 89 to 51.

RELATED: Burton pulls double duty at Iowa

Bell has won two straight races at Iowa.

“This Ruud Supra was outstanding,” Bell said. “Hopefully we can continue to bring these type of race cars to the race track.”

Bell won all three stages. He led 160 consecutive laps at one point, but Custer narrowly edged him in the race off pit road with 28 laps to go. That gave Custer the favored line up high, but Bell eventually found enough grip on the bottom to regain the lead six laps later.

Still, he couldn’t fully breathe easy. Custer gamely tried to mount a challenge on the low side, but Bell’s car again proved to be too fast and nimble to be overtaken. Custer posted his eighth top-five finish of the season. Both he and Reddick — who along with Bell make up the series’ so-called “Big Three” in 2019 — own three wins each this season.

“We’re close,” Custer said. “We’re just gonna come back better next time.”

Bell’s second straight series victory at Iowa ended a streak in which there had been nine different winners in a row at the 0.875-mile track.

And other than Custer, no one stood a chance at preventing Bell’s repeat triumph in the heartland.

“I think our potential is really high,” Bell said. “Our big track stuff, I feel like we still need to gain on a little bit and obviously we’re working hard to do that. This was a much-needed win.”

But what’s the next step?

Bell was asked about whether he deserves a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series ride, but he wouldn’t bite.

“My dream was to make a living driving a race car,” Bell said. “And I’ve been able to do that for numerous years now. So if I’m truck racing, sprint car racing, midget racing, I’m already fulfilling my dream. So whether I’m running Xfinity or Cup, I’m living my dream right now, so I’ll be happy.” 

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give you the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App | How to find NBCSN

Monday, June 17
5 p.m., NASCAR America Monday, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, June 18
5 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Wednesday, June 19
5 p.m., NASCAR America: “Motormouths,” NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
Noon: NASCAR Coast to Coast

Thursday, June 20
5 p.m., NASCAR America: “The Motorsports Hour,” NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Friday, June 21
3 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Practice at Sonoma Raceway, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN2)
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition, FS1/FOX Sports App
5:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Final Practice at Sonoma Raceway, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN App)

Saturday, June 22
3 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying at Sonoma Raceway, FS1/FOX Sports App (tape delayed) (Canada: TSN App)
9:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Day, FS2/FOX Sports App
10 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Gateway 200 presented by CK Power, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
9:30 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Gateway 200 presented by CK Power

Sunday, June 23
2 p.m., NASCAR Race Day, FS1/FOX Sports App
3 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN4/ TSN5)
8:30 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Gateway 200 presented by CK Power, FS2/FOX Sports App (re-air)

Posted on by Staff Report

The No. 44 Niece Motorsports race-winning truck of Ross Chastain failed post-race inspection at Iowa Speedway and was officially disqualified from Sunday’s Gander Outdoors Truck Series race.

NASCAR officials discovered the No. 44 truck was too low in the front during post-race technical inspection, according to a NASCAR spokesperson. Chastain will not receive credit for the victory and will be scored as earning last-place points for the race. He will lose the points earned from the victory and the seven playoff bonus points as a result.

RELATED: Race results | Recap the Gander Trucks race

The second-place finishers in both stages received 10 race points associated with respective stage wins as well as the playoff point for a stage win. Matt Crafton has been awarded the stage win for Stage 1, while Ben Rhodes collected the same for Stage 2.

The team can appeal the penalty in an expedited process up until noon ET on Monday, according to NASCAR. Niece Motorsports confirmed in an official team statement they will appeal the disqualification.

Brett Moffitt was officially declared the winner of Sunday’s M&M’s 200 at Iowa, earning his first victory of the 2019 season with GMS Racing in his first season with the organization. Moffitt will also collect the $50,000 bonus for the Triple Truck Challenge program. He won this race last season as well.

The post-race process is part of a new, more timely approach to inspection for all three NASCAR national series. Competition officials announced in February that thorough post-race inspections would take place shortly after the checkered flag at the track instead of midweek at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Those inspections come with a stiffer deterrence structure that includes disqualification for significant rules infractions — “a total culture change,” according to Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer. In the past, race-winning teams found in violation of the rules were penalized with post-race fines, points deductions and/or suspensions, but victories were allowed to stand.

Competition officials introduced the quicker post-race inspection timetable in an effort to make the results official on race day, aiming for a 90-minute target timeframe to complete their process. The new post-race inspection process was also designed to deal with potential violations more promptly, avoiding any midweek news that might cloud the previous week’s results or the build-up to the following week’s event.

NASCAR will still inspect cars and parts at the R&D Center as needed, but the more comprehensive at-track inspection will take priority.

According to NASCAR statistical archives, the last time a premier series driver was disqualified occurred in 1973, when early retiree Buddy Baker was demoted to last place in the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The last time an apparent race winner in NASCAR’s top division was disqualified came on April 17, 1960, when Emanuel Zervakis’ victory at Wilson (N.C.) Speedway was thrown out because of an oversized fuel tank on his No. 85 Chevrolet.