Posted on by Kenny Bruce

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Many NASCAR competitors can trace their racing roots to family members, those from a generation or so removed who raced on either the local or national stage.

Daniel Hemric, driver of the Richard Childress Racing No. 8 Chevrolet in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, has a different sports heritage. And it’s a fitting one to note this weekend as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four gets under way in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Hemric, 28, will start 26th in Sunday’s Food City 500 here at Bristol Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Bristol starting lineup | Starting lineup in photos

Race fans might not recognize the name Dickie Hemric. He never won the Southern 500 or the Daytona 500 or any other legendary NASCAR event. But Dickie Hemric etched his name in the record books of both the NCAA as well as the NBA.

“He was my grandfather’s first cousin,” Daniel Hemric told the NASCAR Wire Service. “My grandfather, my dad’s dad, I think he was 6-foot-3, 6-4. Obviously, Dickie Hemric (at 6-6) was in that realm. (The height gene) definitely skipped me.”

Dickie Hemric held the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) scoring record for 50 years, totaling 2,587 points as a Wake Forest Demon Deacon. He was named player of the year during the first two seasons of the ACC’s existence (1954-55). The mark stood until 2006 when it was finally broken by J.J. Reddick of Duke University.

His 1,802 career rebounds still stands as a conference record.

A third-team All-American as a junior and a second-team All-American selection as a senior, Hemric was a member of the Boston Celtics’ first championship-winning team in 1956-57.

Daniel Hemric had no idea of his relative’s exploits on the court until taking in a college game with current RCR teammate Austin Dillon and younger brother Ty Dillon.

“I found out about it, believe it or not, this goes way back,” Hemric recalled. “Almost 13 years ago. I went to my first college basketball game and I went with Austin and Ty. We went to see North Carolina and Wake Forest. We get there inside the arena and I see Hemric hanging from the rafters, the jersey. I had no idea.

“It was something I started doing a little research on after I got out of that situation. It was pretty cool to find out.”

Racing won out over other endeavors when he suffered a knee injury as a teenager.

“That’s something that sidelined me a little bit, led me to staying on four wheels, sitting in the seat,” he said. “I figured that was my path and my knee showed me that. So that’s what I ended up doing.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Joey Logano led the way in the final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, pushing his No. 22 Team Penske Ford around the track at 128.830 mph.

RELATED: Final practice results

The practice was the final one in preparation for Sunday’s Food City 500 (2 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Jimmie Johnson was second-fastest, turning his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet around the track at 128.571 mph. Austin Dillon in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet (128.563 mph), Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford (128.477 mph) and Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (128.185 mph) completed the top five.

The 50-minute session included a few mishaps, but no significant damage to any car.

Polesitter Chase Elliott scraped the right side of his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on the wall about five minutes into the session, and his crew quickly worked to repair the damage; he was back on the track 13 minutes later. His lap of 127.529 mph was 16th-fastest in the session.

WATCH: Elliott scrapes wall

Kyle Larson also scraped the right side of  his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet about 39 minutes into the practice, but continued turning laps.

Ryan Preece’s No. 47 Chevrolet began smoking with about 10 minutes left in the session, and his crew worked to assess damage. FOX reported that Preece will have to go to a backup car because of damage from a blown tire.

 

EARLY PRACTICE

Erik Jones topped the leaderboard for Saturday’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway after wheeling his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota around the track at 129.903 mph.

Jones was one of three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers in the top five for the second practice session in preparation for Sunday’s Food City 500 (2 p.m., FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Practice results

Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 JGR Toyota was second-fastest in the session (129.850 mph) while Kyle Busch was fifth in the No. 18 JGR Toyota (129.186 mph)

Daniel Suarez was third-fastest in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford (129.482 mph) while Joey Logano was fourth in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford (129.195 mph).

The caution came out once in the 55-minute session, with about 23 minutes remaining, for debris.

Additional PJ-1 traction compound was applied to the track before the practice session.

Posted on by Jordan Bianchi

The speed has been present nearly every race. There is no disputing that, as Ryan Blaney has had a fast car capable of contending in all seven Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races this season.

But while Blaney has had speed and led the third-most laps, that speed has not translated into winning. Instead, happenstance and miscues have contributed to what Blaney acknowledges has been a frustrating season heading into the Food City 500 on Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“There are moments you get frustrated at it,” Blaney said. “You just wish stuff would stop happening.

“The good thing is we’ve had speed all year. Honestly, I think we’ve had cars good enough to win almost every single one of them – at least have a shot at them.”

Blaney’s season began by crashing-out of the Daytona 500, a race he spent the majority of running up front before being collected in a multi-car accident with 10 laps remaining. Then came consecutive 22nd-place finishes at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where again Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford was among the fastest cars on the track but mistakes and luck prevented him from contending.

Pushing aside three races in a row where the results were not indicative of performance, Blaney rebounded by posting three consecutive top-five finishes. Everything seemed to be pointing upward.

Then came last week, when the gremlins that inflicted Blaney to start the season returned at Texas Motor Speedway. He was leading when his car began billowing smoke, later diagnosed as a parts failure that caused the water to leak out and caused the engine to blow. In a race where he led 45 laps, Blaney finished 37th.

It has just been that kind of season thus far for Blaney. He is third in laps led and only three other drivers have more top-five finishes, except those totals are offset by him having finished 22nd or worse in the other four Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races this season.

“We had that run there of really good finishes like we finished where we had been running,” Blaney said. “I wouldn’t say it’s relieving, but it was nice to finally actually not have anything go wrong in those races. And then, you look at last week leading the race and a part falls off and we end up blowing up. That part is frustrating.”

Amid what has been roller coaster year, Blaney says he doesn’t let himself dwell on the lows for any considerable amount of time. He attempts to find solace in the number of times he’s been in contention and how well Team Penske has executed in 2019, with teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano having combined for three wins already this season. (Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have won the other four races.)

And as Blaney reminds himself, things could be worse. That Penske has had such speed gives the impression that his first victory of the season could occur any week. And all it takes is for one win to change the complexion of his season.

“When we have so much speed right now as a whole group, yeah, you want to capitalize on it,” Blaney said. “You want to rack (wins) up as much as you can as quick as you can when you can.

“But I’d rather have fast cars and things happening when we’re in contention to win races than be running 15th and wondering, scratching our heads where the speed is at. They’re both frustrating, but I’d rather be in this position and you just keep having fast cars and running up front.”

Posted on by Kenny Bruce

Natalie Decker, 21, will make her NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway, competing in the Zombie Auto 150 for DGR-Crosley. A native of Eagle River, Wisconsin, Decker recently returned from Spain where she was one of 28 finalists competing for 18 spots in the new, all-female W Series.

While she failed to make the final cut, Decker said the experience was unforgettable.

“It was amazing and so wonderful,” Decker said. “I’m so happy I did it. I have a lot to learn in road racing; I had never done that before.

“It was really cool to get that experience and I learned a lot. Maybe one day I can race an F3 car, but I really don’t want to do that now. I really want to focus on (NASCAR). I really wanted to do the W Series just because of what they were doing for women and being a part of that.”

Decker has made three starts for the DGR-Crosley team this year in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Her best finish was 13th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

MORE: Decker joins DGR-Crosley, to race across three series

Bristol’s fast, high-banked, 0.533-mile layout left a quick impression.

“When I first pulled in, I was getting dizzy just trying to look at everything,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine what it would be like when I got out on the track.

“It was totally different. I come from short-track racing, but this is a whole new level of short-track racing. I’ve raced at Slinger Speedway (in Wisconsin) and that’s a really banked track but this is just totally different.”

Posted on by Kenny Bruce

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Saturday’s Alsco 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race brings additional incentive for four drivers – the series’ seventh race is the first for this year’s Dash 4 Cash bonus program.

Tyler Reddick (Richard Childress Racing No. 2 Chevrolet), Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota), Chase Briscoe (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 98 Ford) and Michael Annett (JR Motorsports No. 1 Chevrolet) qualified for the opening round of the program based on their respective finishes a week earlier at Texas Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Dash 4 Cash 101

The highest finishing Dash 4 Cash-eligible driver in any of the four races – consecutive stops at Bristol, Richmond Raceway, Talladega Superspeedway and Dover International Speedway – earns a $100,000 bonus.

The drivers agree on one thing – competing in a Dash 4 Cash event is very similar to NASCAR’s season-ending playoffs. The goal is to win the race but finishing ahead of the other qualifiers will be enough to collect the six-figure bonus.

“At the beginning … you still want to win the race,” Bell noted. “But at the end of the race, if you’re not in position to win, then it really changes. It almost kind of relates to the final four at Homestead because you’re only racing three other competitors.”

Reddick says his approach is the same as it would be for any race, but that “you kind of look at it like a cutoff (elimination) race.

“I’ll pay closer attention to Chase and Michael than I have in the past … obviously me and Christopher have been pretty even about everywhere we’ve gone this year.”

Said Annett: “I definitely think it comes into play when it’s not your day, you can turn it into it and not necessarily have to win the race. That’s the biggest thing – taking chances that you probably wouldn’t for a fifth- or sixth-place finish.”

Posted on by Kenny Bruce

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Forget about the superspeedways. Chase Elliott roared to his first pole of the season Friday, capturing the No. 1 starting spot for Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Elliott, driver of the No 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, toured the 0.533-mile, high-banked track with his final round run of 14.568 seconds at 131.713 mph. Prior to Friday’s effort, all four of Elliott’s previous poles had come on what had been the series’ restrictor-plate tracks – three at Daytona International Speedway and one at Talladega Superspeedway.

“I’ve been wanting a pole outside of Daytona and Talladega for quite some time now,” Elliott, a three-time Cup race winner, said. “I felt like I was able to deliver a pole to my team that really deserves it, on way more than one occasion over the years. I felt like I haven’t (done) my part.”

RELATED: Qualifying results

Elliott was eighth quickest in the opening round that saw the 24 fastest advance; he was second fastest in the second round to advance to the final 12.

He had been eighth in the day’s lone practice.

“I think Ryan probably threw me a bone, it looked like he messed up,” Elliott said of fellow competitor Ryan Blaney. “He had a pretty good lap going.

“The starting spot is great, but it’s also just a starting spot. I think the first pit box down there is probably more important than anything.

“Our car has pace so I think if we can get it driving good, I think we have a chance (on Sunday).”

Blaney, driver of the Team Penske No. 12 Ford, was “One Lap Blaney” through the first two rounds, racing his way to the top of the scoreboard with single-lap efforts. But the final round proved to be a different story.

“I got greedy,” Blaney admitted. “Got greedy into (Turn) 3 and missed it. Probably would have run about a (14).45. Got loose out of (the turn) and lost it just a little bit.”

As a result, Blaney will start behind Elliott, third on the 37-car grid. His second-round run of 14.528 seconds at 132.076 mph did top the mark of 131.407 mph established by Denny Hamlin in 2015 for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, to set a new Bristol qualifying record.

William Byron will start alongside Elliott, his HMS teammate, after locking down the No. 2 starting spot. It was the second consecutive race in which Byron had qualified on the outside of the front row.

Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing will begin the race in fourth and fifth.

Kurt Busch, winner of last year’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol, struggled in qualifying and failed to make it out of the first round. The former series champion will start 27th Sunday.

“Car was loose; we didn’t get a good time,” Busch said. “That’s all I have. I did one lap and I’m in here talking for 30th. Car was loose. We didn’t get a good time.”

Points leader Kyle Busch did not advance to the final round and will start 17th. Busch is a seven-time winner at BMS and is the defending champion of the Food City 500.

Posted on by Jordan Bianchi

Already Denny Hamlin has won twice in seven Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races this season, demonstrating such high-level consistency that he is second in the standings heading into Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

And yet, despite a stellar a start to the season, Hamlin prefers not to rejoice over what his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota team has thus far accomplished. Instead, Hamlin prefers to look ahead, adamant that he and his team can – and will – be even better as the season progresses.

Hamlin’s belief is supported by the fact while he has two wins — the season-opening Daytona 500 and last week’s race at Texas Motor Speedway – he and his No. 11 team have actually been quite mistake-prone. The team has been penalized four times in the past three races for rules infractions on pit road – two for Hamlin speeding, and two for the pit crew having an uncontrolled tire. Last week, Hamlin had to twice rally back from penalties to win at Texas.

ANALYSIS: Hamlin’s speeding woes no laughing matter

Nonetheless, Hamlin’s two wins are tied for most in the series and he’s finished in the top 10 in every race but one. He trails JGR teammate Kyle Busch, who’s also won twice this season, by a mere eight points in the standings.

“I’m confident that if we can still have those kind of results with those kind of shortfalls, that we’re a team that can battle back and once we do have clean races, we’re going to have dominant races,” Hamlin said. “… I just feel like we’re definitely going to be better a few months from now than what we are now.”

It isn’t just the penalties Hamlin looks at as why he and the No. 11 team will be better in the future. Hamlin is in his first season working with crew chief Chris Gabehart, a first-year crew chief in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Obviously, based on the results, Hamlin and Gabehart have clicked well enough that Hamlin is off to the best start of his 14-year career. But that all-important chemistry between driver and crew chief, so often the difference from a team being very good and being excellent is still developing, says Hamlin. He credits Gabehart for helping him evolve as a driver by bringing a different approach than what he’s accustomed to, coinciding with NASCAR implementing a new aerodynamic rules package this season that has required further adjustments.

Ultimately, Hamlin wants to replicate the kind of relationship that Busch has with his crew chief, Adam Stevens. That will take time, though it is not lost on Hamlin that Busch and Stevens won the 2015 Cup championship in their first season together.

“I just feel confident in that and knowing that certainly with a little bit more execution and more learning with me and Chris we’ve continued to get better and better every race track we’ve gone to,” Hamlin said. “We’re really learning each other more and more.

“I feel like we’re not even close to the level of relationship that like Kyle and Adam are at; that’s where obviously you want to go with it. We’re miles apart from them as far as that aspect, but we’re not miles apart as far as how we’re running right now.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

BRISTOL, Tenn. — After a heavy, emotion-intense press conference where Darrell Waltrip announced his retirement from broadcasting at season’s end, there was a desire for some much-needed levity. Staying on brand, Waltrip provided.

The NASCAR legend was asked Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway about his television career being so closely associated with a three-word catchphrase and the inspiration behind it. That question wound up being the perfect lob, and Waltrip dunked it home with a rollicking story.

RELATED: Waltrip’s FOX colleagues pay tribute

So here, we present the unabridged origin story of “Boogity, boogity, boogity,” as told by its inventor:

“It was (former FOX Sports chairman) David Hill that kind of motivated me to do that. I said, ‘David, we’re doing these races and they’re exciting to do, but they start the race and all I hear is, “… and the green flag is in the air.”‘ I said, ‘Are you kidding me? As a driver, I’m coming down to take the green flag, I got my hand on that shifter, I’m shaking all over, I’m getting ready to go race off into the first turn and I don’t know if it’s going to stick or not, and all we hear on the P.A. (public address system) is, “… and the green flag is in the air.”‘ I said, ‘That’s not good enough for me.’ He said, ‘Well, you’re a smart kid. Come up with something.’

“Ray Stevens, one of my best friends, I was in the motorcoach on Sunday morning at Darlington, I’ll never forget, and the song, ‘The Streak,’ came on. ‘Here they come, boogity, boogity. There they go, boogity, boogity.’ I said, ‘That’s it, that’s it.’ Of course, I added one — ‘Boogity, boogity, boogity. Let’s go racin’, boys,’ and it stuck. Did I think when I did that that 19 years later, I’d still be doing that?

“It’s a blessing and a curse. Some people love it. Some people, they don’t even know how to start a race unless they start it that way. Other people think it’s the dumbest thing they’ve ever heard, so I’m caught in a trap. Some people want you to quit doing it, and other people said, ‘Please, please, don’t quit doing that!’ So you can’t make everybody happy.

“And my boss, I don’t run FOX Sports, I work at FOX Sports. If they didn’t like it, they would tell me, ‘Don’t do that anymore.’ If some of these people, Mike Helton or any of these people didn’t like it, they’d tell me, ‘Don’t do that anymore.’ They don’t tell you that. And so I do what I do. I feel like it’s part of my legacy. Kyle Petty told me this not long ago, ‘How’s it feel to be known as the man that says Boogity, boogity, boogity, let’s go racin’, boys, and nobody every knew you drove a race car?” It’s kind of the dilemma I find myself in sometimes.”

The next dilemma for the FOX Sports booth might come this weekend. Bristol Motor Speedway asked Waltrip to wave the green flag for Sunday’s Food City 500 (2 p.m. ET, FS1 PRN, SiriusXM), begging the obvious question.

“That’s the first I’ve heard about this, so immediately, I said, ‘Who’s saying boogity, boogity, boogity?'” said FOX Sports colleague Jeff Gordon. “I think they’ve got a plan for that. I don’t want to ruin it, but I think they have a plan. It’s not going to be me, no. There’s only one guy that can say, ‘Boogity, boogity, boogity.’ “

Posted on by Staff Report

Darrell Waltrip formally announced Friday his retirement from the FOX Sports booth following the June race at Sonoma Raceway, saying farewell in a press conference that was emotional, passionate and from the heart — just like the man himself.

Waltrip got plenty of laughs during his opening statement, and there may have been a few tears by the end as well. And naturally, there was a piece of news when the 72-year-old Hall of Famer agreed to wave the green flag at the start of Sunday’s race (2 p.m., FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at the “Last Great Colosseum.”

From Mike Joy’s introduction, to Mike Helton’s moving words to DW being DW, the full press conference is a must-watch. You can watch the embedded video below, or visit our YouTube channel.