Posted on by Staff Report

The race-winning No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. has passed post-race inspection at Dover International Speedway with no issues.

The No. 19 Toyota was found to be compliant with the 2019 NASCAR Rule Book after Monday’s Gander RV 400. The only post-race issues were two teams found with one unsecured lug nut each — the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of 11th-place finisher Daniel Suarez and the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet of third-place Kyle Larson. Both of those infractions should merit $10,000 fines for the respective crew chiefs, according to the rule book guidelines.

RELATED: Official results | Truex sails at Dover

With the post-race teardown complete, the race results from the Monster Mile are official. Truex’s second victory of the season and the 21st of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career will stand.

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 time frame to complete their scrutineering. 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.

Posted on by Marissa Fuller

DOVER, Del. — Alex Bowman recorded his second consecutive runner-up finish in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, battling from the rear of the field in Monday’s Gander RV 400 at Dover International Speedway.

Bowman, driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, first earned a top-five finish this year during last weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway. He qualified fifth for Monday’s race, but was sent to the rear of the field for multiple inspection failures. But that didn’t stop him from hanging out with the front-runners at the 1-mile track.

RELATED: Race results | Updated stage points

“We needed this, for sure,” Bowman said. “Talladega is a speedway, it’s a lot of luck involved. To come here to, in my opinion, the hardest race track we go to, run like that from the back of all things, was pretty special. Just proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for all the improvement we’ve made over the last year or so. We’re going to keep it going.”

Bowman has yet to win a race in his five-year Cup Series career, but with the continued improvement, it might not be too much longer for the 26-year-old.

“So proud of (crew chief) Greg Ives, everybody on this 88 team,” Bowman said. “We had a miserable start to the season. We did a really good job resetting over the off-week. We’ve come out strong since then.”

RELATED: Truex, Bowman battle for Stage 2 win

Dover is considered one of the most physically challenging tracks on the circuit for drivers and with the new rules package on display this weekend, the speeds were fast. Bowman made sure he was able to keep up — but it wasn’t a simple task.

“I’m worn out,” Bowman said. “This is the physically hardest race of the year for me, for sure. We at least had a shot at it. That’s really all you can ask for.”

His other Hendrick Motorsports teammates all have seen improvement the last few weeks, as well, starting with Chase Elliott winning last weekend’s race at Talladega and continuing on to win the Busch Pole Award for Dover.

William Byron started in second, sitting on the front row with Elliott, and Jimmie Johnson started in 12th. All four Hendrick drivers competed in the top 10 today, with Elliott finishing fifth, Byron eighth and Johnson 14th.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

DOVER, Del. — If anyone loves a rainy day, it’s Martin Truex Jr.

The Mayetta, New Jersey driver won his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway after a rain delay pushed the event to Monday, June 4, 2007.

On Monday at the Monster Mile, Truex won for the 21st time in the rain-delayed Gander RV 400, beating runner-up Alex Bowman to the finish line by 9.501 seconds, topping the 7.355-second margin he achieved in his inaugural win 12 years ago.

RELATED: Race results | Shop Truex gear

The size of Truex’s second victory of the season — and third at Dover overall — was all the more impressive because the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota had to start at the rear of the field after two pre-race inspection failures.

“Man, it feels incredible,” said Truex, who led the last 53 laps and 132 overall, second only to pole winner and fifth-place finisher Chase Elliott’s 146. “I’m so thankful for this team. What a race car we had today.

“We have one hell of a team. We came here with a new setup this time because we kind of had an older setup that we won with in 2016, and we’d been good, but not good enough.

“Thanks to all these fans that came out today, on a Monday. It’s just awesome.”

Truex had remarked before the race that coming through the field wouldn’t be easy. Even though he made it look that way, Truex had to put in a hard day’s work at one of NASCAR’s most physically demanding tracks.

“I promise it wasn’t easy,” Truex said. “It was a lot of work. It was tough. This race car, man, it was just incredible.”

Kyle Larson ran third, scoring his first top five of the season, and Kevin Harvick finished fourth. Erik Jones, Joey Logano, William Byron, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch completed the top 10.

For Busch, the top 10 was his 11th straight to start the season, matching the record set by Morgan Shepherd in 1990. Busch will attempt to break the tie next Sunday at Kansas, where he has finished in the top 10 in his last eight starts.

RELATED: Drivers with most top-10 finishes to start season

Elliott dominated the race from the green flag, leading the first 107 laps, but a caution for Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s hard contact with the Turn 1 wall put strategy into play. Logano and Byron each took two tires under the yellow and led the field to a Lap 111 restart.

Logano was able to hold the top spot through the Lap 120 end of Stage 1, collecting his fifth stage win of the season in a one-lap shootout after Quin Houff’s accident between Turns 1 and 2. In need of fresh left-side tires, however, both Logano and Byron were forced to pit during the stage break, and they restarted 24th and 25th, respectively, on Lap 130.

It took Logano most of Stage 2 to break into the top 15, as the second 120 laps of the race evolved into a battle between Elliott, Bowman, Harvick and Truex. Elliott held the top spot after a cycle of green-flag pit stops ended on Lap 191, but he surrendered the lead to Bowman on Lap 224, when Bowman sustained a huge run through Turns 3 and 4 and crossed over on the frontstretch to take the point.

Bowman stayed out front until the final lap of the stage, when Truex shot past and took the green/checkered flag for his first stage win of the season. Coincidentally, both Truex and Bowman had started the race form the rear of the field after each of their cars failed pre-race inspection twice.

RELATED: Truex, Bowman battle for Stage 2 win

After pit stops, Truex and Bowman restarted 1-2 on Lap 250 and maintained those positions until Denny Hamlin cut a tire after scraping the wall and spun in Turn 2 on Lap 265. On the subsequent restart, Harvick charged from fourth to second, leaving Bowman and Larson in his wake.

In an exchange of green-flag pit stops with 50 laps left, however, Bowman regained the second position, and Larson overtook Harvick for third. Truex extended his advantage to more than four seconds with 44 laps left, and there was no change in the running order of the top four over the balance of the event.

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, May 6
1:30 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Allied Steel Buildings 200 (re-air) FS1/FOX Sports App
Noon, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Gander RV 400, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN2)
6 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, May 7
5 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Wednesday, May 8
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Thursday, May 9
3 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air) FS1/FOX Sports App
4 a.m. NASCAR Xfinity Series Allied Steel Buildings 200 (re-air) FS1/FOX Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR America Motorsports Hour, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Friday, May 10
3 p.m., NASCAR Monster Cup Series Final Practice, FS1/FOX Sports App
4 p.m. NASCAR Race Hub:Weekend Edition, FS1/FOX Sports App
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Qualifying, FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
6:30 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada, TSN App)
8 p.m., NASCAR Raceday NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, FS1/FOX Sports App
8:30 p.m. NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Digital Ally 250, FS1/FOX Sports App

Saturday, May 11
6 a.m. NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Digital Ally 250 (re-air),  FS1/FOX Sports App
7 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FS1/FOX Sports App
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Monster Energy Series Digital Ally 400, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada, TSN 1/ TSN 3)

Sunday, May 12
6:30 a.m.,NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Digital Ally 250 (re-air) FS1/FOX Sports App
8:30 a.m., NASCAR Monster Energy Series Digital Ally 400 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
3 p.m., The 600: History of NASCAR’s Toughest Race,FS1/FOX Sports App
4 p.m., NASCAR Monster Energy Series Digital Ally 400 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

Posted on by Staff Report

Martin Truex Jr. overtook Alex Bowman on the final lap to win Stage 2 on Monday at Dover International Speedway. It was a battle between cars that started the race at the back of the pack after multiple failures in pre-race inspection. For Truex it was his first stage win of the season, and it denied Bowman of his first career stage win.

Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five in Stage 2. For Elliott, it was the second straight stage in which he could not hold on for the win, but he led a race-high 142 laps through the opening stanzas.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Bowman was a man on the move throughout Stage 2, using a bump-and-run maneuver to get past Kyle Larson and into fourth place early in the session. Bowman later passed Harvick for third place and overtook teammate Elliott for the lead with 17 laps to go.

Joey Logano and William Byron were the only drivers who pitted during the break between Stage 1 and Stage 2. Logano started Stage 2 in 24th place while Byron was 25th. They finished the stage 14th and 15th, respectively.

Finish Driver Team Points
1 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing 10
2 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports 9
3 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 8
4 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 7
5 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 6
6 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing 5
7 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 4
8 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 3
9 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing 2
10 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing 1

STAGE 1

Polesitter Chase Elliott was cruising out front until a couple of late cautions changed everything in Stage 1. That allowed Joey Logano to win the stage in a one-lap shootout following a caution on Lap 115 when the No. 77 Chevrolet of Quin Houff hit the wall in Turn 2.

Logano had taken the lead from Elliott during an earlier caution when his team opted for two tires instead of the customary four. Logano then beat Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski off the line on the final restart and drove away for the stage win. Elliott, Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. brought out a caution on Lap 105 when his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford banged the wall in Turn 1. Stenhouse’s car sustained damage to the right-front fender, but not enough to knock him out of the race.

Stage 1 featured some nifty saves as drivers got loose racing close to each other. Those included Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet whose car wobbled when he moved up the track in front of Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on Lap 10.

Four cars started from the rear for multiple failures in pre-race inspection. Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 19 JGR Toyota, was among those drivers, but he moved up to 12th place by the end of the stage.

There was also a caution at Lap 40 for a competition check of track conditions after Sunday’s rain.

Finish Driver Team Points
1 Joey Logano Team Penske 10
2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 9
3 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 8
4 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing 7
5 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 6
6 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports 5
7 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports 4
8 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 3
9 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing 2
10 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing 1
Posted on by Staff Report

Current NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Jeff Rocco will have a new primary sponsor when he unloads his No. 1 machine this Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway.

Rocco, a Wallingford, Connecticut, driver, currently competes for Eddie Harvey, and will welcome Monster Energy to the side of the car beginning with the 48th annual NAPA Spring Sizzler.

Monster Energy is the sponsor of NASCAR’s premiere class, the Monster Energy Cup Series, as well as Chip Ganassi Racing driver Kurt Busch.

“Monster Energy is a big name in this sport, so I think it’s advantageous for the Whelen Modified Tour to have them on our car as a sponsor. It just shows you the amount of spotlight that the Modifieds get really matters,” Rocco said.

“We lettered up the car and it looked similar to Kurt Busch’s Cup car, and a few phone calls later, Monster Energy was on board with us. Sponsorship is what makes the whole deal go around, so to have support from a major sponsor with Monster Energy, it gives us stability, and the ability to grow with the right resources.”

Rocco is a former winner in the SK Modifieds and Late Models in New England. He competes part-time for Harvey on the Whelen Modified Tour, and Stafford will be his first start of the season.

“We are very excited about this opportunity to have Monster,” Harvey said. “There were a few phone calls, and the next thing I knew, we had this opportunity in front of us. It should be a great time for all of us.”

Rocco, his new sponsor, and the entire NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will look to complete the 48th annual NAPA Spring Sizzler this Friday night. The event was originally slated for April 27-28, but rain forced the postponement of the race until May 4-5. With more rain in the forecast, officials postponed the prestigious event to May 10.

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 6, 2019) – NASCAR® today announced a new content partnership with The Action Network, the most trusted source for sports betting insights and analytics, as part of the sport’s continued push to educate and engage fans around legalized sports betting.

Each week, NASCAR.com will feature editorial content and analysis from The Action Network including expert PJ Walsh’s picks for NASCAR’s new props game, the NASCAR Props Challenge™. The Action Network will also share recommended picks and value bets for race winners and head-to-head driver matchups via race-day content published on NASCAR’s digital platform.

With the deal, NASCAR becomes the first sports league to partner with The Action Network around shared sports betting content.

“Sports betting presents a unique opportunity for NASCAR, so we want to immerse our fans in engaging and educational content around legalized gaming,” said Scott Warfield, NASCAR managing director of gaming. “We’re focused on strengthening NASCAR gaming content across platforms and The Action Network and its team of experts represent an integral part of our strategy.”

The NASCAR Props Challenge launched before the start of the 2019 race season as the sport’s first props-style game for fans. Leading up to each Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series™ race, The Action Network will share tips on NASCAR.com and ActionNetwork.com/NASCAR to help players as they attempt to earn points and win prizes in the 10-question game.

The Action Network content will also help fans strategize around NASCAR Fantasy Live, NASCAR’s fantasy game revamped in 2018 to allow players to engage live during races and adjust driver rosters in real-time.

“NASCAR has always been at the leading edge of innovation,” said Chad Millman, Chief Content Officer, The Action Network. “We’re thrilled to be their partner as they continue to engage their audience with new and forward-thinking ideas.”

Today’s announcement is the latest in a series of partnerships designed to prepare NASCAR, the industry and fans for the future of sports betting in the U.S.

Last week, NASCAR announced a landmark partnership with Genius Sports to develop an official NASCAR gaming offering for legal sportsbooks. With access to NASCAR’s official data feed, Genius Sports will create a real-time gaming platform that provides up-to-the-minute odds as well as a suite of traditional wagers and prop bets.

NASCAR signed an integrity deal with Sportradar in 2018 to develop a comprehensive sports gambling policy for the industry. In another key move, the sanctioning body granted all teams and tracks the ability to sell marketing sponsorships to sports-betting companies and licensed sportsbooks.

Posted on by Staff Report

DOVER, Del. — Persistent rain on Sunday foiled NASCAR’s attempts to start the Gander RV 400 at Dover International Speedway, forcing postponement of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race until noon Monday, to be broadcast on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

The cars started rolling before 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, but the rain, which had stopped long enough to dry the track, picked up again as the field took pace laps around the Monster Mile.

RELATED: Dover starting lineup | Four cars to rear

Accordingly, pole winner Chase Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, the second-place qualifier, will lead the field to the green flag on Monday.

Pre-race inspection issues, however, caused a shakeup within the field behind them.

The cars of fifth-place qualifier Alex Bowman, 13th-place Martin Truex Jr., 29th-place Ryan Preece and 32nd-place Matt Tifft all failed inspection twice and must drop to the rear for the start of the race.

MORE: Worth the wait — drivers who won on Monday

Truex, from Mayetta, New Jersey, considers Dover his home track. It was at the Monster Mile in 2007 that the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion picked up his first Cup victory in a race delayed by rain. Truex won that Monday, June 4 race by a whopping 7.355 seconds. In 2016, Truex added a second win at the one-mile concrete track.

But trying to advance from the back of the field will be a challenging proposition.

“It’s going to be tough,” Truex acknowledged before driver introductions on Sunday. “We couldn’t have picked a worse place to start in the back, for sure. It’s going to be difficult because, generally, this is the toughest place to pass there is, because it’s so fast through the center of the corner. And now we’re faster than we’ve ever been.

“So, it’s going to be difficult, for sure. But if we’re good on long runs, we can make it happen.”

During Saturday’s practice, Truex and crew chief Cole Pearn tried to make their car as versatile as possible, given the importance of finding speed both on the bottom and the top of the track.

“Everybody is going to be in traffic, and that’s going to make you pick different options,” Truex said.

“We tried to work hard yesterday on having a car we could move around with, because we knew it was going to be hard to pass, and you were going to have to find some air somehow. We’ll have to wait and see, but it’s going to be tough.”

Elliott is the most recent winner at Dover, having broken through in last year’s fall race. Kevin Harvick, who will start sixth, is the defending race winner.

Posted on by Staff Report

Ever want to design a hauler? Fans will have a voice in choosing what this year’s NASCAR Salutes #MackAnthem will look like before its unveiled at Charlotte Motor Speeedway before the Coca-Cola 600 weekend. The wrap will be used from the Coca-Cola 600 weekend (race is May 26 at 6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) until the end of NASCAR Salutes at Daytona International Speedway with the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on July 6 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Fans can vote via NASCAR’s social channels on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and via a poll on the Mack Trucks Twitter handle. Voting has already opened and lasts until Tuesday, May 7 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Below are the different designs for the haulers as well as the poll to vote in.

Posted on by Staff Report

Inclement weather delayed the start of Sunday’s Gander RV 400 at Dover International Speedway (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Rain in the area was the culprit, and the original green-flag time of 2:10 p.m. ET passed.

Six Air Titans, four jet dryers, two track vacuums and two tractor brooms were used to dry the track. Drivers went through intros and were called to cars, and cars got on the track. But cars were called back to pit road and the race was officially postponed until Monday at noon ET (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The race is scheduled for 400 laps with the opening two stages being 120 laps apiece. Chase Elliott will start on the pole in the No. 9 NAPA Brakes Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. Teammate William Byron is also on the front row, in the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet.

RELATED: Starting lineup in photos | Weather radar

The defending winner of this race, Kevin Harvick, will start sixth in the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing. Points leader Kyle Busch will start 22nd in the No. 18 Pedigree Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.