RJ Kraft breaks down the top plays, sleepers and drivers to avoid for this weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway.
Auto Club Speedway traditionally has been a mighty test of horsepower and willpower for NASCAR Xfinity Series regulars, but this season, in particular, there is reason to believe that a 17-year string of Cup winners in the Xfinity race there may be stopped.
Full-time Xfinity drivers Michael Annett started the year with a victory at Daytona and Christopher Bell answered at Atlanta – the first time a season has opened with back-to-back Xfinity Series regulars winning since 2012 when James Buescher won the Daytona season-opener and Elliott Sadler won the next week at Phoenix.
RELATED: Full schedule for Auto Club
In particular – and with good timing – a pair of California drivers are leading the way in the series. Defending Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick, of Corning, California, leads the championship by four points over Christopher Bell heading into Saturday’s Production Alliance Group 300 (5 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Reddick has two top-five and three top-10 finishes in the opening four races and has led the second-most laps (75) among series regulars this season. A second championship would make him the first to earn back-to-back titles since Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 2011-12.
Fellow Californian Cole Custer, of Ladera Ranch, finished runner-up to Reddick in the 2018 Xfinity Series Championship and trails his rival by only 11 points heading to their home track. As with the Richard Childress Racing driver Reddick, Custer has a pair of top-fives and three top-10s through the opening four races with a best effort of runner-up in Atlanta.
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has the second best average finish this season (7.2) and a top-10 finish (sixth place in 2018) in two previous Xfinity starts at Auto Club Speedway.
The field will undoubtedly face a major challenge from Toyota driver Kyle Busch who begins the first of his two opportunities to score a historic 200th NASCAR national series win in this Saturday race. Busch leads all drivers with six previous wins in the Xfinity race at Auto Club Speedway.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Martin Truex Jr. quickly erased any doubts that he would mightily pursue a defense of his 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series trophy when he convincingly won from the Busch Pole position last March at this weekend’s venue, Auto Club Speedway.
Although Joey Logano ultimately won the 2018 series championship, Truex returns to California for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) as motivated as ever in his debut season driving for the Joe Gibbs Racing team.
MORE: Full Auto Club schedule
He’s already earned two runner-up finishes through the first four races of the 2019 season and that statement-making performance in California last year is on the minds of Truex and his competitors.
The New Jersey native will be inducted into the track’s Walk of Fame on Friday morning before opening practice — a nod to his triumphant past. And when opening practice begins hours later, the focus will shift to a triumphant present.
He and his longtime crew chief Cole Pearn – who also moved from Furniture Row Racing to lead the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota Camry effort – were optimistic following a preseason Goodyear tire test at the 2-mile California track back in January. Two of his teammates – Denny Hamlin in the season-opening Daytona 500 and Kyle Busch at ISM Raceway last week – have victories already and Truex is ready to join the trophy hoisting.
His win at California last year was the first of four victories in a season, where he strongly answered his 2017 title ultimately with a runner-up championship finish.
“Our team is really looking forward to getting to California this week,” Truex said. “It’s one of my favorite tracks and I felt good about the test back in January.
“Obviously, the weather is going to be different and there will be more than three cars like at the test, but we feel like we’ve learned a lot about the package since then. We need to go in there Friday and unload strong and carry that through the weekend.
“I’m excited to see if we can go back-to-back there because it’s really turned into one of the most fun tracks on the circuit.”
Truex has three top 10s – including the two runner-up showings at Atlanta and last week at Phoenix. The only mar on the season is a 35th-place finish in the Daytona 500 after his Toyota was collected in a multi-car wreck.
Truex has top-10 finishes in three of the last four races at Auto Club Speedway and led a total of 224 laps in that time. He led a dominating 125 of the 200 laps and won every stage last year. And his 11.7-second margin of victory over former race winner Kyle Larson was among the most dominating efforts of the season.
Races at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, California are a family event both in the stands and on the track. For this weekend’s opening night, brother’s Jim and Ed Coffey will both suit up in their respective modified cars, while each of their wives will stand on the roof and work as their spotters.
Racing is in the blood of the Coffey family. Both their mom and dad used to drag race in the 1960’s – “My mom won a lot more races than he did, so we like to tease him about that,” Jim Coffey said. The brothers, and their sister, Shelley, got into racing on their own when Jim was 13 and Ed was 11.
The brothers often shared a car growing up, so their days racing dirt tracks never saw them compete against one another. It wasn’t until Kern County, a half-mile asphalt oval, opened in 2013 that Jim made the move to asphalt with Ed working as his crew chief.
The following summer, Ed got the chance to ride in a modified of his own, pitting the duo against each other for the first time.
“For me, I think it’s really cool because growing up I never really got to race against my brother. We were always at the track but never got to go head to head,” Jim said. “Now it’s really cool because on the one hand you race your brother probably harder than everybody else, but on the other hand if I can’t win he’s definitely the guy I want to win the race. So it’s cool. We compete hard against each other, but at the same time we work together as teammates. We always tease everybody and say it’s always shake and bake with us.”
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Just because they’re related doesn’t mean they’re not competitive.
“We’re trying to beat each other more than anybody else,” Ed said. “But there’s been multiple time on restarts he’s been on the front row, and I’ll be on the row right behind him and I’ll be pushing him down the front straight trying to get him over everybody. So it’s been fun. I couldn’t ask for a better situation.”
Though they are brothers, the Coffeys say the couldn’t be more different both in and out of the car. Ed is more mechanically inclined, and is the go-to if there is an issue with an engine or something electrical. Jim, on the other hand, is the technical one who knows how to fix issues with the chassis or with the car’s handling.
The way they drive is very different too.
“Like the movie ‘Days of Thunder’, when they say you’ve got your calculating driver and your kamikaze driver, that’s sort of how it’s always been with us,” Ed said with a laugh. “Jim has always been the smooth, calculating, methodical driver, while I have always been ‘okay, how far can I push into this corner and when can I get on the gas?”
“I can tell you this, there is no one who drives the car harder than Ed,” Jim said. “Sometimes I’ll look and I’ll be like, ‘dude, you don’t have to drive that hard.’ But it’s fun to watch.”
Neither of the brothers’ wives grew up in racing families, but they’ve taken to the sport since the duo began driving at Kern County. Ed’s wife, Tracy, is his full-time spotter, and has been since he began. Jim’s wife, Carolyn, enjoy the camaraderie and social aspects of the track, but she will step in when his regular spotter, his sister Shelley, isn’t able to make it.
Ed also has a 5-year-old son who is starting to get into racing himself, putting three generations of Coffeys on the track.
“It’s kind of always been the common ground,” Ed said. “We’ve always been a close-knit family, but it’s the one constant that is always there. No matter if we owned a car and raced it or not, we’re always at family gatherings talking what happened with Jeff Gordon or racing. It’s always be a part of our life since we were little. So it’s been really neat.”
Kern County will open the season on Saturday for “Faith and Family Night,” with late model twins, super stocks, modifieds, hot stocks, mini dwarfs, and bandoleros.
And during the races, the Coffeys will be having another family reunion in their favorite spot.
“Even now, our parents are 75 and 79. They’re always at the track, always down in the pits,” Jim said. “We’re all really busy with our own families, and to be honest if we weren’t at the racetrack together we’d probably go three or four months without seeing each other. The racetrack is the place that we get together every couple weeks and get to hang out, so it’s pretty nice.”
Ever wonder how a NASCAR race day might look if it was shot like an actual movie? Wonder no more.
NASCAR Digital and NASCAR Productions set out to do just that last weekend at ISM Raceway in Phoenix. After being inspired by Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón and his film Roma, our crew captured the essence of a race day in a similar style as the innovative Cuarón.
Watch the movie below, or head to our YouTube channel to check it out.
The story of race day was told with long continuous shots, and we let scenes will play out naturally in the lens’ frame. For that extra special touch, the entire video is in black and white.
RELATED: More longform video on YouTube
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart and the late Neil Bonnett are among the list of new nominees eligible for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Five inductees from a list of 20 nominees will be chosen for the 2020 induction class on Voting Day, Wednesday, May 22 – the list of new honorees decided on by both the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel and a nationwide fan vote on NASCAR.com.
Stewart may join one of his former rivals and one of this year’s new inductees, four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon, who was chosen for the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
PHOTOS: New nominees through the years
Also newly added to the esteemed list released Wednesday is Bonnett, a popular member of the “Alabama Gang,” NASCAR Xfinity Series pioneer and two-time champion Sam Ard, former Daytona 500 winner Marvin Panch, short-track master Jim Paschal and the sport’s first “master mechanic,” Red Vogt. A nominating committee representing NASCAR, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, track owners and the media selected the new slate of names.
There are three new nominees for the prestigious Landmark Award as well, including Edsel Ford II, Mike Helton and Dr. Joe Mattioli, who join returning nominees Alvin Hawkins and Ralph Seagraves. This award honors competitors; “those working in the sport as a member of a racing organization, track facility, race team, sponsor, media partner;” or someone considered “a general ambassador for the sport through a professional or non-professional role.”
Here is the full list of nominees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame (listed alphabetically):
PHOTOS: Pics of every nominee
• Sam Ard, NASCAR Xfinity Series pioneer and two-time champion
• Buddy Baker, won 19 times in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the Daytona 500 and Southern 500
• Neil Bonnett, won 18 times in the NASCAR Cup Series, including consecutive Coca-Cola 600 wins
• Red Farmer, three-time Late Model Sportsman champion; 1956 Modified champion
• Ray Fox, legendary engine builder, crew chief and car owner
• Harry Gant, winner of 18 NASCAR Cup Series races, including two Southern 500 victories
• Joe Gibbs, combined for nine car owner championships in Cup and XFINITY series
• John Holman, won two NASCAR Cup Series championships as co-owner of Holman-Moody Racing
• Harry Hyde, 1970 NASCAR Cup Series championship crew chief
• Bobby Labonte, won a championship in both the Cup Series and XFINITY Series
• Hershel McGriff, 1986 NASCAR west series champion
• Ralph Moody, won two NASCAR Cup Series championships as co-owner of Holman-Moody Racing
• Marvin Panch, won 17 times in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the 1961 Daytona 500
• Jim Paschal, 23 of his 25 NASCAR Cup Series wins came on short tracks
• Larry Phillips, only five-time NASCAR weekly series national champion
• Ricky Rudd, won 23 times in NASCAR Cup Series, including the 1997 Brickyard 400
• Mike Stefanik, winner of record-tying nine NASCAR championships
• Tony Stewart, three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, two-time Brickyard 400 winner
• Red Vogt, the first master mechanic of NASCAR, and a founding member
• Waddell Wilson, won three NASCAR Cup Series championships as an engine builder
The five nominees for the Landmark Award, listed alphabetically, are as follows…
• Edsel Ford II, Ford Motor Company
• Alvin Hawkins, NASCAR’s first flagman; established NASCAR racing at Bowman Gray Stadium with Bill France Sr.
• Mike Helton, the first non-France family member to be named NASCAR President
• Dr. Joseph Mattioli, founder of Pocono Raceway
• Ralph Seagraves, formed groundbreaking Winston-NASCAR partnership as executive with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
NASCAR officials will begin enforcing the speed limit on pit road during Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying starting this weekend at Auto Club Speedway.
The same pit-road speed used for the race — which varies from track to track — will be used in qualifying.
A driver exceeding the pit-road speed exiting onto the track will be called back down pit road before becoming eligible to post a qualifying time.
A driver exceeding the pit-road speed returning to pit road will have his/her time posted on the previous set of qualifying laps disallowed.
NASCAR Digital will stream the opening practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Friday from Auto Club Speedway as it’s the fifth race of the season for both series and the final one on this year’s West Coast swing.
RELATED: Weekend schedule for Auto Club
Tune in starting at 1 p.m. ET with Monster Energy Series practice and continue at 2:05 p.m. ET for Xfinity practice. Bookmark https://www.nascar.com/live, the destination for all live practice streams this year. If you miss the practices, check out YouTube later where they will be posted in full.
Friday’s television coverage picks up at 4:35 p.m. ET on FS1 with Xfinity Series final practice and continues Friday with Monster Energy Series Busch Pole Qualifying at 5:40 p.m. ET on FS1 and MRN.
The Xfinity Series race, the Production Alliance Group 300, is at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday on FSI, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Sunday’s Monster Energy Series Auto Club 400 is at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers will complete the final leg of the three-race West Coast portion in the spring of the 2019 season this weekend at Auto Club Speedway.
Prior to Sunday’s Auto Club 400 in Fontana, here’s everything you need to know to get ready for racing in Southern California.
RELATED: Full weekend schedule for Auto Club
TRACK DETAILS
Auto Club Speedway is a 2-mile, D-shaped oval located in Fontana, Calif., less than an hour east of Los Angeles. Each of the track’s four turns have 14 degrees of banking, with 11 degrees of banking on the frontstretch and three degrees on the backstretch.
RULES PACKAGE
The Monster Energy Series will run the 2019 rules package tailored for tracks great than 1.33 miles in length. Differing from what we saw at the 1-mile ISM Raceway last weekend, a .922-inch tapered spacer will be fitted on all cars to reduce horsepower and aero ducts will be in effect, along with the larger spoiler to add roughly 50 percent more downforce. The combination of a smaller tapered spacer to reduce engine horsepower to a target goal of 550 (from 750) and aero ducts should foster tighter racing.
GOODYEAR TIRE SELECTION
Goodyear will bring a new right-side tire compound for both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series races on the 2-mile California track due to tire wear seen at Auto Club Speedway. The multi-zone rubber will feature a more durable compound on the tread’s inside two inches, with the outer 10 inches optimized for traction. The left-side tire combination will be the same as what was put into circulation at Darlington Raceway last year, another track that sees higher levels of tire wear.
“First, with NASCAR’s new rules package and more downforce on the Cup cars, observing our minimum recommended air pressures becomes even more important,” said Goodyear Director of Racing Greg Stucker. “Teams are always looking to add grip at Fontana, and one way they do that is by dropping the air pressures, particularly in the left side tires.
“Secondly at Fontana, you have a track surface that wears tires heavily, Stucker added. “The fall-off is around three seconds a lap over the course of a fuel run, so tire management will come into play all day. Tire wear generally does two things for the fans — enhance the quality of the racing by creating more passing and bringing the pit crews more into play and emphasize the team aspect of our sport as teams take four tires every chance they get.”
The change was made following results of a tire test at Auto Club Speedway in January with the 2019 rules package, which included drivers Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez and Martin Truex Jr.
LIVE COVERAGE
Sunday, March 17 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
2018 RACE WINNER
Martin Truex Jr. led 125 of the 200 total laps to win last year’s showdown in Fontana by an 11.685-second margin over second-place finisher Kyle Larson. Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano rounded out the top five, respectively.
ACTIVE RACE WINNERS
Seven active Monster Energy Series drivers have earned victory at the track, dating back to Jimmie Johnson’s first career victory in 2002 — Jimmie Johnson (6 wins), Kyle Busch (3), Kurt Busch (1), Kevin Harvick (1), Brad Keselowski (1), Kyle Larson (1), Martin Truex Jr. (1)
It wasn’t all a dream.
After eight years of trying, Justin Bonsignore finally had everything go his way last year on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
He finally could call himself a champion.
Eight wins, five poles, and top 10 finishes in all but one race was more than enough to clinch his first title. The short-track, Saturday night, veteran at Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, found his way to the top of NASCAR’s Modified ranks.
“On paper, we thought we could go out and be successful, but even looking back on it now, it’s pretty amazing what we accomplished,” Bonsignore said. “For anyone to say they were going to go out and accomplish what we did, you’d say they were crazy. We had high expectations, but we were able to go out and execute them on a weekly basis.”
WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR: 2019 Schedule | Race Center | History & Records
But as much as he enjoys looking back and celebrating, business is about to pick up back on the race track. Bonsignore enters Saturday’s Whelen Modified Tour opener, the Performance Plus 150 presented by Safety Kleen at Myrtle Beach Speedway, leading a stout list of competitors into a new season. He’s bringing back the same exact group from last year, minus one new team member that will help to drive the hauler to the track.
After an overhaul during the 2017 offseason, Bonsignore wasn’t really sure what to expect when last year started. His Kenneth Massa Motorsports team welcomed Ryan Stone as their new crew chief, as Stone moved from NASCAR Xfinity Series powerhouse JR Motorsports to New England to start working on the brand new LFR Chassis’ that Bonsignore was going to drive.
Looking back, that move might be exactly what the team needed to etch their names into the record books, and now, he’s ready to begin the second year with a crew chief he feels fits his style well.
RACING-REFERENCE: Relive Bonsignore’s Dream 2018 Season in Stats
“It all goes back to Ryan. He was really instrumental is us making the switch to LFR because he knows the ins and outs of them just as well as anyone. He’s been on numerous other teams, but this was his first shot at having his own team and I think he took a lot of pride in that opportunity,” Bonsignore said. “He pretty much just lives at the shop doing everything we need to make the cars successful. The Xfinity program probably helped him more than anything. He learned how to be thorough and when you’re at that level of racing there is someone watching every quarter-inch of the car. He learned how to be a team leader. He stepped right in at the first race and it was like he had been with us for years. He jelled with the team and he understood what I was looking for and the lingo I was using. It was just a natural transition.”
Even though Bonsignore won on a variety of different tracks last year, spanning from a clean sweep of Riverhead all the way to his victory in the non-points All-Star Shootout at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July, Bonsignore is ready to welcome two new facilities onto the calendar.
The Whelen Modified Tour will visit South Boston Speedway in Virginia on March 30 for the second race of the season. In the past, the Whelen Southern Modified Tour visited South Boston 11 times, including two stops in 2016. Justin is actually familiar with the .4-mile oval — but not in the position on the race team that you would think.
Justin Bonsignore, the spotter?
“I’m a Riverhead guy who has always run well at the short-tracks in my career. I went to South Boston for the last Southern Tour race and spotted for my cousin Kyle, and we almost won the race. I was excited for that even as the spotter,” Justin said. “I fell in love with the place without even running a lap there. Ryan has experience there with some of the southern LFR teams, so I’m confident in the setup.”
RACING-REFERENCE: Previous NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Events at Muyrtle Beach| Previous NASCAR Modified Tour Events at South Boston
After Myrtle Beach and South Boston, a trip back to New England for the 45th annual Icebreaker weekend at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park will give Bonsignore the chance to win a fifth straight race at the Connecticut oval. He swept the races at the facility last year. In May, Wall Stadium, a high-banked short-track in New Jersey, returns to the schedule on May 18.
“I’ve been there before for the Turkey Derby, so I have an understanding of the race track. Ryan has helped some customers there and won the Turkey Derby there last year crew chief on an SK car,” the Holtsville, New York, veteran said. “I know when we get there and unload we are going to be fast. I’m excited the Tour is going to new places.”
So, with the offseason nearly in the rear-view mirror, what are the Kenneth Massa Motorsports team members setting for expectations this year? Is it fair to say his dominance will continue right from the drop of the first green flag? Or will another challenger rise to the occasion?
“It’s the same as we had going into last year,” Bonsignore said of the mindset. “If you think you can do that, you’re insane. The Tour is so competitive and we will never take last year for granted, and we were even in position to win even more races. But you take some of the wins we had and we ended up capitalizing on someone else’s mistake. It’s so hard to think you can go out and win eight races.”
“The biggest goal is to defend our championship. Every year is going to be different. You have to be realistic and manage the expectations.”
One of the best parts of the whole experience, and part of the reason why some of the momentum still sits on his side entering a new season, is the fact that he was able to add his name to a long list of storied Whelen Modified Tour champions. Bonsignore broke Doug Coby’s four-straight championship streak, and now, everyone is chasing him.
“We chased Doug all of those years and he had the target on his back, and they knew it, and they succeeded with it. I hate to say it, but I do feel like that target is on our back now,” Bonsignore said. “It’s a pretty cool feeling because we’ve chased it for so long. I feel like it’s going to be tough to repeat. Doug went down to Florida to learn and compete, Timmy Solomito bought new cars, the No. 58 (Eric Goodale) is doing a lot to improve, Matt Swanson, and more… there are a lot of good teams. We really focused during the offseason on not resting on what we did this year. We just want to try the next idea, next setup. They are going to catch us at some point. That’s what makes this racing game fun.”
Bonsignore says he wants to start the season off strong for the second straight year in hopes of creating some additional success. Bonsignore led 26 laps at Myrtle Beach last year and finished fifth. What is he expecting at the gritty, South Carolina, track that is known for eating up tires?
“You always want to get off to a good start, more than anything, for the confidence and momentum,” Bonsignore said. “You don’t want to have to dig out of a whole. Myrtle Beach is really one in its own. There are so many different strategies there that could play out.”
RELATED: PIT BOX: Justin Bonsignore Begins Title Defense at Myrtle Beach
Overall, even though it’s a new season, but Bonsignore is hoping for the same result. Returning with car owner Ken Massa, and crew chief Ryan Stone, and the same group of crew members, the sky is going to be the limit starting on Saturday.
“Ken is one of my best friends, I go to him for basically anything. He’s just a guy I have always leaned on. I know he knows how I feel about my loyalty to him and wanting to accomplish this all with each other. We both remained so loyal to each other,” Bonsignore said.
“There were some years people were calling him on the way home from the World Series for my ride. We are just really good friends. We made this more of a family than anything, so, it was emotional once we clinched it. Seeing him, his family and knowing everything they’ve done for me and stuck behind me, it’s really special that after nine years, no one gave up on each other and we got the ultimate goal. I think we are in a really good place with Ryan leading the ship. I think we can have a few good years if we can keep everything together.”
MYRTLE BEACH: RACE CENTER | ENTRY LIST | TICKETS
WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR NEWS & NOTES:
- Jon McKennedy won the opener at Myrtle Beach last year, and even though he didn’t end up running the full Whelen Modified Tour slate, the Tommy Baldwin prepared No. 7 Chevrolet was in contention to win each time it hit the track. McKennedy started second and led just 12 laps, but the tire strategy he used, and his knack for saving equipment, helped him roll to his first tour win. He followed the performance up by rolling to Thompson’s Icebreaker the following weekend, where he was leading with under 10 laps to go before running dry on fuel.
- Timmy Catalano, the brother of defending Sunoco Rookie of the Year winner Tommy Catalano, will look to keep the award in the family as he runs full-time this season.
- All 17 Whelen Modified Tour events will air live on FansChoice.TV this season, and NBCSN will continue their coverage of regional touring series action throughout the season as well.
READ MORE STORYLINES: Setting the Stage: Whelen Modified Tour Ready For 35th Season
