Posted on by Steve Luvender

Easy mode?

In Saturday’s Gander Outdoors Truck Series race, Kyle Busch made his march through the field look easy. Or, as Xfinity Series driver Kaz Grala put it, as if he were playing NASCAR Heat 3.

C’mon, Kaz. Crank up the difficulty settings.

 

NASCAR Heat 3 2019 season update released

Speaking of NASCAR Heat 3, 704 Games released the 2019 update, which features new drivers, teams, paint schemes, and the Ford Mustang.

 

Your last iRacing race in a GIF

iRacing invited racers to summarize their last outing in a single GIF.

At least Noah Gragson’s not racing in Easy mode — right, Kaz Grala?

eNASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series driver Nickolas Shelton got in on the action ā€¦

ā€¦ which included an epic clapback.

Speaking of the PEAK iRacing Series ā€¦

 

Tonight: eNASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series at Las Vegas

The pinnacle (um, peak?) series of iRacing heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for its second race of 2019 Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.

In the season opener at Daytona, Roush Fenway Racing’s Zack Novak edged Richmond Raceway eSports racer Jimmy Mullis in a side-by-side thriller.

There’s a change atop our power rankings heading into Sin City, too, featuring a driver who’s undefeated in the desert.

The Las Vegas race will stream live on eNASCAR.com.

 

New paint for Burton Kligerman eSports

Logan Clampitt and Ashton Crowder will sport new paint schemes starting at Las Vegas featuring sponsorship from NBC Sports, where team owners Parker Kligerman and Jeff Burton are television analysts.

 

Race teams compete for eNASCAR Heat Pro League draft order

NASCAR teams competing in the eNASCAR Heat Pro League took to social media last week to help boost their odds at a solid pick in March’s driver draft.

With voting closed, the final draft order will be announced Thursday, Feb. 28. Ā 

 

Heat Pro League Showcase races continue

The fourth and final Showcase race, where top NASCAR Heat 3 eSports drivers demonstrate their racing skills to NASCAR teams, takes place Wednesday at ISM Raceway.

https://twitter.com/patsace1/status/1100186395740700672

 

iRacing Paint Scheme of the Week

Dustin Winegardner created a beautiful rendition of Jeff Gordon’s 1990s rainbow DuPont Chevrolet on a mid-2000s stock car model. The paint scheme, one of the most recognizable in NASCAR history, was originally designed by Sam Bass, who died Feb. 16.

 

iRacing Video of the Week

NASCAR radio announcer Mike Bagley showed off his best Ryan Preece impression. Nicely done, Bagman.

 

NASCAR Heat 3 Video of the Week

How about this Texas-sized final lap?

https://twitter.com/TylerDohar/status/1099838159519735810

 

Posted on by Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kurt Buschā€™s third-place finish Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway was a high speed ā€œHow Do You Do?ā€ for his new Chip Ganassi Racing team. Two races into the new gig with Ganassi and a new manufacturer in Chevrolet, Buschā€™s performance Sunday certainly was the right start for his new start.

ā€œI could say it wasn’t anything fantastic or anything exciting, but it really was,” said Busch, who marked his 650th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start Sunday in the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. ā€œTo finish third in our second outing together and to run with the who’s who of the sport, it just shows Ganassi has got the right stuff.”

Busch has a positive habit of starting off strong with new teams. When he arrived at Team Penske in 2006 (after winning the 2004 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title in five seasons with Roush-Fenway Racing), Busch won a pole position in his second start with Penske — at Auto Club Speedway — then won in his fifth start with the team at Bristol.

RELATED: Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch make milestone starts

When Busch moved to the small, independent James Finch team in 2012, he scored a top-10 finish (fifth at Auto Club) in only his fifth start. The next season he went to Furniture Row Racing and finished fourth in his fourth start (at Bristol) and fifth in his fifth start (Auto Club) — both high marks at the time for single-car teams.

He started his five-year tenure with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014 in a similar manner — scoring his first victory with SHR (at Martinsville) in only his sixth start for the team.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series moves to Buschā€™s hometown, Las Vegas, for this weekendā€™s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (at 3:30 pm ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Itā€™s the first of three races on the West Coast, which also includes stops at ISM Raceway in Phoenix next week and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, in two weeks.

Itā€™s typically a time of great anticipation for the ever-growing number of Monster Energy Series drivers who hail from the region and a chance to shine in front of the hometown fans. Four of the eight West Coast drivers are series champions, including seven-time champ Jimmie Johnson (El Cajon, California), 2014 Cup champ Kevin Harvick (Bakersfield, California) along with 2004 champ Kurt Busch and his brother, 2015 champion Kyle Busch (both from Las Vegas, Nevada).

RELATED: Drivers with 600-plus Monster Energy Series starts

For Kurt Busch, this weekā€™s westward expansion is not only about doing well in front of the home crowd — itā€™s about doing well in general.

Interestingly, the only track among the three West Coast stops where Busch hasnā€™t won previously, is his hometown track — Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He has a pair of pole positions and four top 10s but third place is his best effort and that came back in 2005, just after he won his series title. His recent showings there — 20th or worse in six of the last seven Vegas races — certainly provide motivation.

If last Sundayā€™s race — his second with the Ganassi team — is a true indicator, it seems as if heā€™s finding his footing with his new team and new power plant. Most encouraging for him, was that it wasnā€™t just himself that had a good day. He led a lap, and his teammate Kyle Larson led the most on the day (142) only to receive a late race pit-road penalty that left him 12th. The opportunity is there for the fast start to continue.

Posted on by Staff Report

Anthony Pasut, the fueler for the JTG Daugherty Racing No. 37 Chevrolet, is home from the hospital after suffering multiple leg injuries in a pit-road incident Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Pasut suffered a broken fibula, a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and other injuries to his right leg during Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. He was struck when Ryan Preece, JTG Daugherty’s other driver, knocked B.J. McLeod’s No. 52 entry into the No. 37 team’s pit stall late in the race.

RELATED: Atlanta race results

Pasut is a Hendrick Motorsports crewmember assigned to the JTG Daugherty No. 37 team and driver Chris Buescher, who finished ninth Sunday. A Hendrick Motorsports spokesperson said Monday that Pasut had returned to the Charlotte area to further recover from his injuries.

A timetable for Pasut’s return to over-the-wall duty has not been determined, according to Hendrick Motorsports. The organization also said that a replacement gas man for his roles in all NASCAR national series would be named later in the week.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials issued penalties Monday to two teams in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and one Gander Outdoors Truck Series team for lug-nut violations at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The Leavine Family Racing No. 95 Toyota of driver Matt DiBenedetto and the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Chevrolet of driver Bubba Wallace were each found with one unsecured lug nut in a post-race check after Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. Monday, NASCAR competition officials fined No. 95 crew chief Michael Wheeler and No. 43 crew chief Derek Stamets $10,000 each.

RELATED: Keselowski wins Atlanta | Race results

Because of a miscommunication, NASCAR officials initially announced Sunday at the track that the Germain Racing No. 13 team had been penalized for a lug-nut violation, not the No. 43.

DiBenedetto finished 26th at Atlanta, one spot ahead of Wallace in 27th.

In the Truck Series, the ThorSport Racing No. 13 Ford of runner-up Johnny Sauter was also found with one unsecured lug nut after Saturday’s Ultimate Tailgating 200. Crew chief Joe Shear Jr. was issued a $2,500 fine.

Posted on by Jessica Ruffin

HAMPTON, Ga. ā€“ Brad Keselowski took nearly everyone’s sick day excuses and ran over them with his race-winning car on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Battling flu-like symptoms that caused the No. 2 driver to miss almost all of final practice Saturday and visit the infield care center for fluids, Keselowski paced the field for the final 33 laps to snatch the checkered flag in the series’ second race of the 2019 season.

ā€œI wouldnā€™t have made this race yesterday, I was nowhere near good enough,ā€ he said after the race. ā€œI lost five-and-a-half, six pounds in less than 10 hours and I was going the wrong way quick. So, thankfully it all turned around late yesterday afternoon and appreciate the help of those in the care center to make it possible.ā€

Keselowski credited the attention from the infield care center and his wife, Paige ā€“ who was also sick ā€“ with nursing him to a passable state in time for the race. Without them, he might have had to call back-up driver Austin Cindric up for duty.

RELATED: Full Atlanta results

But no one can deny the pure toughness Keselowski displayed Sunday in Georgia. After all, this isn’t the first time the Team Penske driver has prevailed swimmingly under less-than-ideal health. In 2011, he powered to victory at Pocono Raceway with a broken left ankle that he suffered at a test at Road Atlanta days prior to the race.

Keselowski grinned when reminded of his hobbled, winning run eight years ago.

ā€œI think a race car driver is who I am,ā€ he said.Ā ā€œIt’s what I do and what I love.Ā I’m not going to let anything get in the way of it.Ā With that in mind, obviously we had the team to win today.Ā Of course, things still have to go your way, but I don’t want to be the reason why they don’t.

ā€œI feel like you get a little bit of adrenaline in you and you can get over that stuff pretty quickly. And it might not be the most fun I’ve ever had as a race-car driver, but once you get to Victory Lane, you’re not going to remember the pain.ā€

The sense of duty to a team encourages a driver to compete because itā€™s bigger than just one person — itā€™s a whole team that has worked tirelessly on the car and is counting on the best possible shot at Victory Lane. Thatā€™s especially true for a strong group like Team Penske, whose cars arenā€™t considered up to par if they arenā€™t contending for wins. And as Keselowski noted, adrenaline helps a driver put aside those symptoms during a high-pressure event like race day.

None of that, however, can take away from the fact that Keselowski didnā€™t just cruise along to salvage a decent day or even nab some valuable stage points to pad out his spot in the points. He went out and battled with strong competitors ā€“ including a hard racing session with teammate and defending champion, Joey Logano. And he did it well enough to win at a slick track thatā€™s considered one of the toughest on the circuit, becoming the winningest Team Penske driver ever with his 60th victory and recording the seriesā€™ first win with the new Ford Mustang — all while under illness.

Talk about overachieving.

ā€œI’m in a little bit of a daze,ā€ the 35-year-old driver admitted.Ā ā€œIt was a long, tough race, and trying to rewind it all in my head, what all happened, and then think about what it means is a little difficult to do in the moment. ā€¦ A lot of different things going through my mind.Ā I guess it’s hard to put them all together.Ā I’m hot and tired. But it’s certainly a very special day.ā€

WATCH: Kes says he “felt good enough to get the job done”

NASCAR drivers have a history of being tough — Dale Earnhardt wasnā€™t called ā€œThe Intimidatorā€ or ā€œIronheadā€ for nothing. Todayā€™s safety precautions have rightfully limited just how tough drivers can be; gone are the days when Richard Petty would race with a broken neck or Ricky Rudd would tape his swollen eyeballs open to run the Daytona 500. But the mental and physical toughness required to pilot a race car at nearly 200 mph for hours, inches away from other cars, is the same.

ā€œThere’s always somebody fighting through something, whether it beĀ ā€‘ā€‘ I think we’ve seen drivers with torn ACLs and broken fingers and wrists and things like that,ā€ Keselowski said. ā€œI don’t think you’re ever going to see guys taping their eyeballs open again, although I do think that was pretty cool.Ā But there certainly is always going to be a part of this where you’re going to have to play when you’re not 100 percent.ā€

Most drivers will brush that impressive toughness notion aside, as Keselowski did Sunday night after his win. Theyā€™ll say itā€™s their job or theyā€™ve got a good team around them or theyā€™re always going for the win, no matter what.

And thatā€™s all probably true.

But for the fans in the stands, it’s still pretty darn extraordinary to watch.

Posted on by Staff Report

Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, talked shop shortly after Sunday’s checkered flag at Atlanta Motor Speedway, weighing in on the new rules package, a rescinded penalty for the team of runner-up Martin Truex Jr., and a scoring dispute caused by a caution period that disrupted a cycle of green-flag pit stops.

RELATED: Race results | Keselowski prevails

O’Donnell spoke with the media on pit road after Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. He first assessed the 2019 rules package: a reduced-horsepower set-up with increased downforce, which made its intermediate-track debut on Atlanta’s 1.54-mile layout.

“I saw a fairly entertaining race,” O’Donnell said. “I think like we said going into this race, we didn’t know what to expect either. We thought that this package would showcase itself more as we got to the West Coast, but with some really long green-flag runs, I think you saw the ability to get back up to the leader and make a pass, which was encouraging. So all in all, we’re satisfied with the outcome. A lot of work to do to go back and review it, though.”

O’Donnell indicated that Atlanta’s characteristics increased the pre-race uncertainty levels, especially with the track’s well-worn surface, which was last repaved in 1997.

“I think this one was more of an unknown,” O’Donnell said. “When you looked at this race going in, I think for us, this was the biggest question mark as to how it would play out, so hard to say this is exactly how we predicted. Ultimately, we wanted cars to run closer together, we wanted a battle to play out for the lead at times, which we saw during the race. Some things certainly to work on, but ultimately I think it was the direction where we wanted to go.”

Regarding a rescinded late-race penalty on the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota team, O’Donnell indicated that the Pit Road Officiating (PRO) trailer initially spotted a crew member over the pit wall too soon during Truex’s final pit stop. A further, manual review of the infraction was inconclusive and the penalty was retracted.

“It was a non-penalty, so it automatically goes to the penalty sheet regardless of whether we override it in the (scoring) tower,” O’Donnell said, “and that was one that we couldn’t confirm that the foot was down via the camera angle, so we didn’t make that call.”

MORE: Truex irked after runner-up finish

O’Donnell also touched on questions raised by Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 9 team and driver Chase Elliott about where they were scored after the last of the race’s five yellow flags flew on the 273rd of 325 laps. The timing of the caution period came mid-cycle with pit stops, catching several cars a lap down and in need of a wave-around. Elliott and Co. argued that they had returned to the track ahead of Joey Logano, who was scored as the leader for the final restart.

“It’s very clear on the camera, so we’ll show the team exactly what happened,” O’Donnell said, “but it was about a five-second differential in terms of what it was.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

HAMPTON, Ga. — Before finishing sixth in Sundayā€™s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch got a good look at both ends of the field.

The 2015 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion started from the rear in a backup No. 18 Toyota, thanks to an accident in Saturdayā€™s final practice session. Running the high line in a manner that resembled that of another Kyle ā€” Larson ā€” Busch worked his way forward, running as high as second after passing race runner-up Martin Truex Jr. on Lap 193.

RELATED: Full Atlanta results

During that green-flag run, however, Busch scraped the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2. On Lap 222, his right rear tire went flat, causing the fourth caution of the afternoon. Busch stayed on the lead lap but restarted at the rear and worked his way forward for the second time.

He was running sixth at the finish, having made a race-high 110 green-flag passes, according to NASCARā€™s loop data.

ā€œI got in the fence just a little bit in the center of (Turns) 1 and 2,ā€ Busch said. ā€œJust touched it and then kind of smelled some smoke and never saw any and thought weā€™d be OK. Overall, it just must have rubbed it and cut it down. Fortunately, we got a caution there. Caught us a break and was able to get tires on the thing and pull it back out and go back after them.

ā€œWhat a hell of a weekend. … It was just evil-tight all day long. We just couldnā€™t get the tight out of it. We were battling and running the wall all day long, and thatā€™s where I needed to be in order to make up any time. Doing that, you run close to the fence, and you run into opportunities to get yourself in trouble. Overall, salvaged a decent day, I guess. We can move on out of here with some positives.ā€

Posted on by Reid Spencer

HAMPTON, Ga. ā€“ Daniel Hemric was poised for a top-five finish in his second race as a full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver until his fortunes changed dramatically in the closing laps of Sundayā€™s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.

Hemric had his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in fourth place on Lap 309 of 325 and was closing on third-place Kurt Busch when his right front tire deflated, forcing him to bring the car to pit road for an unscheduled stop.

The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender lost a lap and finished 20th, a far cry from his running position a few laps earlier.

RELATED:Ā Full Atlanta results

ā€œItā€™s kind of heartbreaking for these guys we couldnā€™t get a solid top-five finish,” Hemric said. “I said I wanted to have an uneventful day and have a solid finish, and it was good to see that we were going to be able to run top-five there — just had a right-front tire come apart.

ā€œI made a lot of mistakes on pit road today that Iā€™ve got to get better with.ā€

But there was a silver lining. Hemric passed 97 cars under green-flag conditions, second only to Kyle Buschā€™s 110.

ā€œThe good thing is I feel like it put a little motivation in everybody here at RCR,ā€ Hemric said. ā€œThatā€™s the kind of race cars we have to have at the race track every week to give ourselves a shot. It was fun to drive, fun to pass people, and look forward to next week (at Las Vegas).ā€

If Hemric felt disheartened by his finish, what about fellow Sunoco rookie Ryan Preece, who was running in the top 10 when his race came to an abrupt end on pit road? Preece was exiting his stall on Lap 273, looking down at his tachometer, when BJ McLeod slowed in front of him, looking for his pit stall.

Preeceā€™s No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Chevrolet slammed into the back of McLeodā€™s No. 52 Camaro, damaging Preeceā€™s car beyond repair. He was credited with a 35th-place finish on a day that had gone much better for the majority of the race.

ā€œI was just trying to make sure I wasnā€™t speeding,ā€ Preece explained. ā€œAnd when I looked up, he was coming in the pits. So itā€™s a mistake. What are you going to do? Itā€™s just unfortunate for us, because we were having a really good run.

ā€œLike I said, weā€™re going to have some good cars this year. So if we can keep that up, weā€™ll be really good at Vegas, and Iā€™m just really proud of everybody with JTG and Kroger. Thereā€™s nothing else you can do other than that. So Iā€™m looking forward to next week.ā€

Posted on by Reid Spencer

Throughout much of Sundayā€™s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson had the car to beat.

Larson took the green/checkered flag to win the raceā€™s first stage. He led a race-high 142 of 325 laps and battled Kevin Harvick for the top spot throughout the second stage before trailing Harvick to the finish line.

RELATED: Larson, Harvick split stages

But Larson was guilty of speeding on pit road under caution on Lap 224. Sent to the back for the subsequent restart on Lap 228, Larson struggled in traffic with the new 2019 higher-downforce, lower-horsepower competition package and could only climb to 12thĀ in the running order before the laps counted down.

MORE: Full Atlanta results

ā€œYeah, I had a good day going until I sped,ā€ Larson said.Ā ā€œMy car handled really good, and then once I got where I had to restart in the back, I was just really tight.

ā€œYeah, I mean, clean air is even more important nowadays than in the past I think, at least at a track like this.Ā That was a little disappointing, but more just upset at myself for making a big mistake like that.ā€

Posted on by Staff Report

The race-winning Team Penske No. 2 Ford of Brad Keselowski has passed post-race inspection at Atlanta Motor Speedway with no issues.

The No. 2 Ford was found to be compliant with the 2019 NASCAR Rule Book after Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. With the post-race teardown complete, the race results are official.

RELATED: Race results

Two cars were found with one lug nut not safely secured after a post-race check: the Leavine Family Racing No. 95 Toyota of 26th-place Matt DiBenedetto and the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Chevrolet of 27th-place finisher Bubba Wallace. Both teams’ crew chiefs were fined $10,000 Monday. Because of a miscommunication, officials initially announced that the Germain Racing No. 13 team would be penalized, not the No. 43.

Competition officials also indicated that the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford of fourth-place finisher Kevin Harvick would go to the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina for further review.

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 scrutiny. The new post-race inspection process also was 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.