Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR ejected Ryan Bergenty, the car chief for Kurt Busch in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, after the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet failed OSS (Optical Scanning Station) inspection twice on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. The team will also incur a 15-minute hold in practice next weekend at Dover International Speedway.

RELATED: Full schedule for Talladega | NASCAR confiscates No. 3 deck lid

The No. 1 passed inspection on the third time through as cars will be impounded after Saturday’s Busch Pole Qualifying and released before Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Busch is seventh in the Monster Energy Series standings entering Sunday’s race. He has six top-10 finishes and three top-five finishes in the first nine races.

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TALLADEGA, Ala. — NASCAR officials confiscated the rear deck lid of the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet for driver Austin Dillon on Friday, taking the offending part into the Monster Energy Series hauler in the Talladega Superspeedway garage.

RELATED: Full schedule for Talladega

Officials found the No. 3’s rear deck to be out of compliance with the NASCAR Rule Book. They took the piece of sheet metal — black with sanded edges — to the officials’ hauler for further review.

A NASCAR spokesperson indicated that any potential penalties for either crew chief Danny Stockman or the team would come after this Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM).

With a new deck lid in place on the No. 3 Chevy for Saturday’s qualifying, Dillon claimed the Busch Pole Award for the second time this year.

“I knew it wasn’t going to hurt our performance. From a speed penalty-wise, it wasn’t,” Dillon said after qualifying. “We were just fixing a problem and it turned out we didn’t need to do that. I’m sure Stockman was spun out about it, but speed-wise, I knew it wasn’t going to hurt us. Moving forward, I hope that NASCAR takes into effect the entire story of it, and whatever is dealt our way, we’ll handle it and go on from there. I’m just happy that RCR has brought a lot of speed to the track this year. We’re running toward the front more where I feel like as a driver, as a team, we can compete with these guys.”

Dillon sits in a tie for 14th place with Ryan Newman in the Monster Energy Series standings. He has two top-10 finishes this year and now two pole positions, the first coming at Auto Club Speedway in March.

Posted on by Staff Report

STAFFORD, Conn. — Due to the expected heavy rain, Sunday, May 5th‘s NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzleru00ae Whelen Modified Tour 200 has been moved to Friday, May 10th, under the lights. Racing will still take place this Saturday, May 4th as Stafford‘s 5 Weekly divisions and the Vintage Modifieds will run a full schedule in an afternoon racing format for Stafford‘s first event of 2019.

All tickets purchased for the NAPA Spring Sizzleru00ae will be honored Friday, May 10th. NAPA Auto Parts ticket holder buffet will be held from 5:30pm to 7:30pm Friday May, 10th. Stafford‘s five weekly divisions will also be on hand Friday, May 10th in a feature only format. The Top-18 cars in points will be locked into their respective feature events.

Saturday, May 4th will play host to Opening Day at Stafford. Pit gates will open at 10:00AM and General Admission gates at 11:00AM. Qualifying races will kick-off at 1:30PM with feature racing slated to begin at 2:30PM. See full schedule below. General Admission ticket pricing for Saturday‘s event will be $18.50 for adults, kids 6-14 $5, and 5 & under free. Reserved seating is $20 for all ages and paddock passes will be $30 for NASCAR members and $35 for non-NASCAR members.

The Open Modified 80 event scheduled for May 10th has been moved to May 24th in conjunction with Dunleavy‘s Truck and Trailer Repair Modifiedz Night.

“We appreciate all of our teams working with us,” explained Stafford GM Mark Arute. “This weather has been tough but we want to get a race in for all the teams, drivers, and fans. It made the most sense to bring the Modified Tour back next Friday for a one day show. Hopefully we can put the bad weather behind us.”

For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783, visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com, or contact us on social media.

STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT - APRIL 27: A general view of the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour NAPA Spring Sizzler 200 at Stafford Motor Speedway on April 27, 2019 in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)

Posted on by Staff Report
Order Car Driver Team
1 51 Cody Ware(i) JACOB Companies Ford
2 27 * Reed Sorenson Low-T Centers Chevrolet
3 32 Corey LaJoie Schuler Systems Ford
4 52 Stanton Barrett HUSKI CHOCOLATE Chevrolet
5 77 Justin Haley(i) Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet
6 96 * Parker Kligerman(i) TRD 40th Anniversary Toyota
7 81 * Jeffrey Earnhardt(i) Xtreme Concepts Toyota
8 00 Landon Cassill(i) Home Town Lenders Chevrolet
9 15 Ross Chastain(i) Chevrolet
10 37 Chris Buescher Tide Pods Chevrolet
11 2 Brad Keselowski Snap On Ford
12 22 Joey Logano MoneyLion Ford
13 14 Clint Bowyer Toco Warranty Ford
14 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Knauf Ford
15 62 * Brendan Gaughan(i) Beard Oil Distributing/South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet
16 43 Bubba Wallace World Wide Technology Chevrolet
17 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet
18 41 Daniel Suarez Coca-Cola Orange Vanilla Ford
19 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Beer Flannel Ford
20 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet
21 3 Austin Dillon Dow Chevrolet
22 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet
23 42 Kyle Larson Clover Chevrolet
24 8 Daniel Hemric # Caterpillar Chevrolet
25 88 Alex Bowman Nationwide Chevrolet
26 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota
27 95 Matt DiBenedetto Procore Toyota
28 21 Paul Menard Quick Land Tire & Auto Center Ford
29 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford
30 24 William Byron Hertz Chevrolet
31 9 Chase Elliott Mountain Dew/Little Caesar’s Chevrolet
32 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford
33 38 David Ragan Shriners Hospital for Children Ford
34 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet
35 20 Erik Jones STANLEY Toyota
36 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Chocolate Bar Toyota
37 36 Matt Tifft # Surface Suncreen/Tunity Ford
38 19 Martin Truex Jr Bass Pro Shops Toyota
39 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Fifth Third Bank Ford
40 6 Ryan Newman Acorns Ford

* Required to qualify on time, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Posted on by Zack Albert

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Friday afternoon’s ARCA Menards Series race provided a boost for Todd Gilliland, who held off fellow NASCAR Next alum Riley Herbst for his first win of 2019. It also added a special father-son moment for the family as David Gilliland had two reasons to beam — one as a proud pop, the other as the winning car owner.

The elder Gilliland cheered from atop the DGR-Crosley No. 4 team pit box at Talladega Superspeedway as his son captured his first ARCA Series win since 2015. The victory pepped up the 18-year-old driver, who has had a slower than desired start to his first full-time NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series campaign.

“This is really big for us,” Todd Gilliland said. “Obviously, my confidence has been down a little bit, but racing with these DGR-Crosley guys is definitely something special. Being able to come to the race track with such confidence in myself and everyone around me is huge. I think as soon as we can get that on the truck side, it’s definitely going to be a lot of wins coming.”

Gilliland made just his second ARCA start of the year at Talladega, following his runner-up effort in the series opener at Daytona International Speedway. It was just his seventh ARCA appearance overall; he prevailed in his debut at Toledo Speedway four years ago, setting a youth mark for the venerable series as a 15-year-old.

His move to Gander Trucks, which included 19 of 23 races last season, has been a steeper learning curve. That’s added pressure, some self-imposed and some from team owner Kyle Busch, who fields his No. 4 Toyota entry in the tailgate tour.

“It’s been a struggle,” says Gilliland, a two-time champ in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. “Just, I give 110% every single time I go to the race track. The last year, it’s gotten me in trouble sometimes, and sometimes right when I start to go 98% and race under my truck, I need to go harder. I don’t know. It’s just the balance I need to learn. I come to the ARCA Series or the K&N Series, I have so much confidence that when it comes down to a late-race restart, I can beat them. I don’t know how or what, but I need to be able to take that to the truck and just have confidence in myself.”

Friday’s triumph gave a needed lift, both for father and son.

“After the year he’s had, with all of the ups and downs, it’s great for him to come here and get a win like this,” David Gilliland said. “I had some really good runs here and finished second behind my teammate here one time. But watching this was better. Todd is a fighter. He’s a winner. He never gives up and I think this will be the boost he needs for the rest of the year.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Kyle Larson’s start to the 2019 season has been “pretty crappy” by his own admission, making that characterization after being the first driver out two weeks ago at Richmond Raceway and limping into the Easter off weekend.

Several factors have contributed to the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 team’s sluggish opening act to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. One component that’s not a concern in Larson’s view: Crew chief Chad Johnston, who is in his fourth season atop the No. 42 pit box.

RELATED: Kyle Larson season stats | Full schedule for Talladega

Larson offered a vote of confidence for Johnston on Friday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway, site of Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The remarks came in response to comments from fellow competitor Kevin Harvick during his weekly “Happy Hours” program on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio earlier this week.

“I have all the confidence in the world in Chad,” Larson told NASCAR.com. “I think he’s an amazing crew chief. I mean, you can just look at the performance from when he came to our team and we were way better than we were the first couple years. As of late, I think people forget, they just look at the results and don’t look at what’s happened to us in the races to put us back where we were. Texas, I felt like we had a really fast car and we blew a right-front. Bristol, we had a loose wheel and then a pit-road penalty during that and we went three laps down and fought back to get to the lead lap, then had another flat tire. Richmond, me and the 8 car got together and we had a flat.

“So I don’t think our string of bad finishes have anything to do with our team other than just bad luck. Chad builds great cars and calls great races, so I’ve never had any doubt in him. It’s just been a bad month and a half or whatever it’s been now, so hopefully we can turn our luck around. That break came at a good time, so excited to get back going.”

Larson sits 19th in the Monster Energy Series standings, with just two top-10 finishes in nine races thus far. He headed into the off weekend with two last-place results in the previous three races.

RELATED: Season standings | Opening odds at Talladega

Harvick, on his show, reiterated his praise for Larson’s talent, but said that he needed proper guidance to pull out of the team’s current tailspin. Harvick added that he wasn’t sure if that would come from Johnston, who has called the shots for all five of Larson’s premier-series wins.

“I think when you look at his environment, I look at his crew chief,” Harvick said. “I don’t think he’s the most positive guy in the world. When you have a driver that is in a slump, I don’t think it’s going to come from his crew chief. I think Chad is a pretty low-key guy that kind of complains a fair amount. I think as you look at that, I don’t know if it’s going to come from his crew chief.”

Johnston spent two seasons (2014-15) at Stewart-Haas Racing as Tony Stewart’s crew chief before joining the Ganassi organization to work with Larson. His tenure there overlapped with Harvick’s first two seasons at SHR.

“Kevin’s gotten to work around him, so I’m sure he formed some sort of opinion on him then,” Larson said, “but I don’t think he can really know what goes on between our team or the 1 team.

“You can make judgments. I mean, I can make judgments on other teams as well and be totally wrong. I think I’ve proven that in the past.” Larson added with a chuckle as his eyes panned the Talladega garage. “It’s just, everybody’s got opinions.”

Posted on by RJ Kraft

TALLADEGA, Ala. – The No. 8 holds a special distinction at Talladega Superspeedway thanks to Dale Earnhardt Jr.

That car number has six wins at the Alabama track — with Junior providing five of the triumphs, including four straight from 2001 to 2003. The car number’s only other win came from Bobby Hillin Jr in 1986.

RELATED: Every Earnhardt win at Talladega | Full schedule for Talladega

Earnhardt’s success is not lost on Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric, the current driver of the car bearing that number. The 28-year-old Kannapolis, North Carolina, native knows firsthand how big Earnhardt leading and winning at Talladega was. The No. 8 made its return to full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racing this season after an 11-year absence from the top series’ field; Aric Almirola last drove the number in Talladega in 2008.

“Throughout the last couple weeks, a lot of the hype of the 8 being back again and all that kind of dwindled out and personally it felt like we were just going to the race track to race the car with that number,” Hemric said. “When you come into this place, I remember as a kid watching Junior take the lead here and the place go crazy.

“I felt a certain pride when I pulled through the tunnel (Friday) morning at Talladega because of that. I know there’s a lot of fans that want to see the number back in Victory Lane and that’s why we come here to try and give ourselves a shot and our fans a shot to get in Victory Lane.”

Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will mark Hemric’s first Cup race at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender has had some rookie bumps in his maiden run at the top level with with a best finish of 18th (at Phoenix) while he is 28th in the standings.

RELATED: Hemric has family history in hardwood | Drivers of the No. 8 in NASCAR

A promising run was foiled by a flat tire at Atlanta, where he was running in the top five late in the final stage. A good qualifying effort at Texas (seventh) went by the wayside after contact with the wall.

“I haven’t put a full race together I don’t feel like, from a mistake-free standpoint — pit road, whether it’s on the race track, whether it’s bad timing pulling out of line to make a move. On that side of it, I just haven’t fully done my job.”

All that adds up to Hemric assessing the first-quarter of his rookie year with brutal honesty.

“I’d give myself about a D,” Hemric said of his first nine races in 2019. “I’ve made more mistakes here in the past five to six weeks than in all of my personal career. I feel like our race cars have been 10 to 15 spots better averaging finishing quality than where I’ve finished with them and that’s the opposite of what I’ve tried to pride myself off of.

“It’s all about putting one foot back in front of the other and that’s what we’ve been doing through Richmond and hopefully we can do the same thing this weekend.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

It was the last question reporters asked Martin Truex Jr. on Friday before opening practice at Talladega Superspeedway and it was the biggest smile they received.

How important was it for the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champion to score his first win of the season – and first since joining Joe Gibbs Racing team – two weeks ago at Richmond Raceway?

“It definitely felt good’’ Truex said, adding a grin. “It was nice to go into an off-weekend with a win under your belt and be a winner for two weeks instead of one.

“But, you know, I think just getting that first one of the season out of the way, it always seems to be the toughest one and especially this year being on the new team and all that comes with it. It was definitely a big boost for our team and for all of us. So good confidence builder and definitely a good time to win and hopeful that we can continue to put ourselves in position.’’

Richmond also marked Truex’s first career short-track win – a milestone he’d like to complement with his first superspeedway victory in Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

He currently sits sixth in the championship standings with six top-10 and three top-five finishes through the opening nine races. He’s led 200 laps across three races – but 186 came in his convincing showing at Richmond.

As with several of his fellow drivers, Truex insisted he arrived at Talladega without specific expectations. That is a common approach for drivers because of the nature of pack racing, but it is especially true as the series debuts a new technical package this weekend on the wide, high banks.

MORE: Talladega rules 101

Ford drivers have won the past seven consecutive races at Talladega. And Truex acknowledged the style of racing at the big tracks is often dictated by drafting partners. This weekend may not be much different.

Or it may be very different. That’s the nature of this track.

“It definitely could change this weekend,’’ Truex said. “You know, I think there’s already a lot of talk about tandem possibly being able to happen and if it does and it fits the way to go, then you know, teamwork for certain kind of goes through a whole other level where you have to kind of commit to just one guy.

“As far as Toyota kind of starting the teamwork deal back at Daytona a couple of years ago, I think how it’s changed is that everybody’s caught on to it manufacturer-wise. And for us at Toyota, there’s a lot less Toyotas than anything else. So its changes a lot for us. I would say more than anyone.

“Strength in numbers I think has been, you know, kind of against us. But in general, the manufacturer really worked hard at getting their teams all together and try and do the best job they can and get their manufacturer to Victory Lane.’’

This year’s Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin was the last Toyota driver to celebrate in Talladega Victory Lane – hoisting the 2014 trophy. Counting retired Chevy driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s win in 2015 – Fords have won eight of the past nine races.

Talladega has been a rare thorn in Truex’s side, specifically. In 28 career Cup races at the big track, Truex has 13 DNFs (Did Not Finish) – the most among the current top-ranked 16 drivers. For perspective, Kyle Busch has 27 starts and only six DNFs.

Truex spoke with the media only minutes before jumping in his No. 19 JGR Toyota Camry for opening practice – something he believes will set the tone for the weekend and the race specifically.

“I think we’ll get a good idea, but race conditions are always different,’’ Truex said. “The race, the win is on the line – a lot of changes, you know the energy gets going and the guys are willing to take a lot more risk. I think you’ll get a good idea of it today (in two practice sessions). But you know Sunday has opportunities to be a little bit different.’’

RELATED: Full Talladega schedule

Posted on by Staff Report

Following a consultation with teams after opening practice at Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR officials tweaked the rules package for the 2.66-mile track, adding a 1-inch wicker to the cars’ spoiler in an effort to quell concerns with engine rev and closing speeds.

With the addition of the wicker — an angled metal strip attached to the top end of the spoiler to increase drag — teams also have the options of changing gears without being penalized, provided that change occurs before qualifying.

RELATED: Talladega 101: Rules, tires, more

Kurt Busch led opening practice Friday, putting his No. 1 Chevrolet to the top of the board at 202.654 mph. All told, 21 drivers recorded laps of 200 mph or faster in that session, and eight topped the 202 mph mark.

Friday’s session was the first at a superspeedway under the 2019 rules package, which uses 0.922-inch tapered spacers instead of restrictor plates, a 9-inch rear spoiler and a 1-inch bolt-on track bar mount, which raises the rear of the car by an inch.

NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller and Jay Fabian, managing director of the Monster Energy Series, made rounds in the garage during opening practice to check in with teams and to seek feedback on the speeds and cars.

Fabian was in the garage prior to final practice Friday afternoon showing teams how to install the wicker.

MORE: Photos from the track

Posted on by Staff Report

Roush Fenway Racing led the way in a speedy final practice Friday at Talladega Superspeedway as Ryan Newman topped the charts with a lap of 204.157 mph in his No. 6  Ford. Teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was right behind him in his No. 17 Ford at 204.127 mph.

RELATED: Final practice results

The two Fords were among six cars to log a lap of 204 mph or faster in a session that also included 24 drivers, in all, that circled the track at 200 mph or faster.

Those fast laps came even after the final practice included tweaks to the superspeedway rules package — namely, adding a 1-inch wicker to the cars’ spoilers in an effort to quell concerns with engine rev and speeds. The change was made after NASCAR officials consulted with teams following the opening practice at Talladega.

RELATED: NASCAR tweaks rules package

Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (204.114 mph) , Matt Tifft in the No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford (204.092 mph) and Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (204.079 mph) rounded out the top five in the 50-minute practice session.

The Monster Energy Series returns to the track Saturday at approximately 4:40 p.m. ET for Busch Pole Qualifying (FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

FIRST PRACTICE

Kurt Busch led five Chevrolets in the top 10 when he paced the leaderboard in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ first look at Talladega Superspeedway with the 2019 rules package in Friday afternoon’s first practice.

RELATED: First practice results

Busch wheeled his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet around the 2.66-mile track at 202.671 mph in the first practice in preparation for Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

David Ragan in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford and Erik Jones in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota were both just behind, logging equal laps of 202.654 mph.

Michael McDowell in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford (202.641 mph) and Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (202.624 mph) rounded out the top five.

In all, 21 drivers recorded laps of 200 mph or better in the practice session.

This practice was the first look at the 2019 rules package for superspeedway racing at Talladega. The package includes a 0.922-inch tapered spacer (replacing the restrictor plate), 9-inch rear spoiler, 1-inch bolt-on track bar mount (raising the rear of the car by an inch), a tapered radiator pan, 2-inch splitter overhang and aero ducts.

The spoiler and rear-end aerodynamic guidelines were altered after a two-day, three-car test session at Daytona International Speedway following this year’s Daytona 500. Findings from that three-car session prompted NASCAR officials to increase the height of the rear spoiler from 8 to 9 inches, along with the track-bar mount addition to create more drag in an effort to slow the cars down.