Posted on by Staff Report

MASSACHUSETTS BASED COMPANY WILL AWARD “BIG STICK” TO EACH POLE WINNING CREW CHIEF

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers will have an extra incentive in their search of pole awards during the 2019 season.

Mayhew Tools, a Massachusetts-based company that produces tools that serve the industrial, automotive and hardware industries across the globe, will sponsor the pole award in 2019 for the Whelen Modified Tour.

Drivers will chase the top qualifying spot in 17 championship points events, but the drivers won’t be the only ones to benefit from winning a pole award. Mayhew is bringing the crew chiefs into the fray by announcing they will produce a “Big Stick” to each crew chief who turns the wrenches on a pole winning car.

The “Big Stick” is the largest pry bar that Mayhew has ever created.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MAYHEW: About The Team

“We have a patented line of these pry bars, and sometimes the mechanics can abuse the tools, but these products have a system with a medal cap on the end so they can beat on them with a hammer,” John Lawless, the President of Mayhew Tools, said. “We ended up taking it up to five-feet long at one point, but now, we are making one that is a heavier weight than all of the others.”

Mayhew Tools is no stranger to success on the Whelen Modified Tour. The company sponsored Bob Garbarino’s famed Mystic Missile with Jimmy Blewett behind the wheel in 2016, before making the move to Mike Smeriglio Racing as the primary sponsor of then four-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby at the beginning of the 2017 season. In their first year as partners with Coby, they were celebrating Coby’s fourth straight title and fifth overall — and they were also on the car for Coby’s third-place finish in the 2018 championship standings.

RELATED: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 2019 Schedule Announced

“It’s a tight-knit group,” Lawless said of the Whelen Modified Tour community. “It’s a lot of fun. We have only been around for a short period of time, but it has made a big difference for us. People are recognizing the Mayhew name more, and still it’s a long journey. Even though people know Mayhew, they need to know what we make.”

Lawless is also excited about the opportunity to continue to increase brand awareness for Mayhew — a company that provides tools to mechanics throughout the garage area. For Mayhew, the chance to give something to each pole winning crew chief was one of the most important parts of the deal.

“NASCAR has been great to work with. This will be a good opportunity for us to get more visibility,” Lawless said. “The drivers get the awards, but we make the tools for the guys that work on the cars. We would like to give some sort of a reward to the crew chief because he is very involved in the whole process.”

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season begins on Saturday, March 16, at Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina. The first event of the season, the Performance Plus 150, will be followed by the return of NASCAR Whelen Modifieds to South Boston Speedway on March 30.

About Mayhew Tools

Mayhew Steel Products (Mayhew Tools), founded in 1856, is the oldest punch and chisel manufacturer in the United States. Headquartered in Turners Falls, MA, the company‘s transition from a small tool house to industry leader comes as a direct result of their dedication, quality, reliability, and craftsmanship. While their passion for manufacturing quality hand tools has continued to fuel its century-old product line growth. Mayhew Tools, serving primarily the Industrial, Automotive and Hardware industries, are sold globally through an extensive distributor network.

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Posted on by Staff Report

Two car chiefs were ejected from Atlanta Motor Speedway after their teams’ respective cars failed pre-qualifying inspection multiple times and a third car chief was ejected on Sunday morning after their car failed pre-race inspection multiple times.

The No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford of driver Matt Tifft and No. 52 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet of driver BJ McLeod failed inspection multiple times Friday prior to three rounds of Busch Pole qualifying. Their car chiefs — Brandon Lee (36) and Mike Chance (52), respectively — won’t be able to return to the garage during the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 weekend.

The No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet of driver Garrett Smithley failed inspection multiple times Sunday prior the start of the race. His car chief — Shane Callis — won’t be able to be in the garage area for the rest of the day.

Previously, a car chief was not ejected unless a team failed inspection three times. Under NASCAR’s 2019 deterrence model, two failures lead to a car chief ejection.

Last month NASCAR introduced a system where race-winning teams found in violation of the rule book post-race would be disqualified. Additionally, post-race inspection is done at track following the event, with penalties — if any — handed out then instead of following a mid-week teardown at the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Posted on by Team Release

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FL. (Feb 22, 2019) – Las Vegas is known for their Air Force military presence – but this time there will be a new “wave” coming to town. US Naval Academy graduate and US Navy officer LT Jesse Iwuji will be making his first ever Las Vegas Motor Speedway start in the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series race. LT Jesse Iwuji will be the only current military member racing in NASCAR that entire weekend and doing so with Reaume Bros Racing.

“I have a new partnership this race with FUELTRAX and this one’s special to me. FUELTRAX is a US company that has pioneered and led the industry in marine fuel management systems which speaks my mariner language. And to top it off, over 50 percent of their operations based out of my native country, Nigeria.” said LT Iwuji.

For their part, FUELTRAX couldn’t be prouder to be teaming up with LT Iwuji.

“It’s always been a passion for both me and my wife Michelle to give back to young men and women and help them reach their dreams,” said Anthony George, CEO of FUELTRAX.  “LT Iwuji is a big dreamer and a hard worker, and we are honored to help him continue on his journey to success in NASCAR.”

“We are so grateful for our Nigerian-based marine operators and proud to support Lt. Iwuji both as one of our very own from our community, and as a first-generation American pursing his dreams. Nigerians everywhere should be proud of Jesse’s success,” said Bene Okorie, West Africa Operations Manager of FUELTRAX.

From its inception in 2004, FUELTRAX has grown to be the leading universal fuel management solution for offshore marine vessels, compatible with any class, engine or fuel type. Available in any location in the world, FUELTRAX has grown recently in Nigeria by combating fuel accountability challenges for local operators. Together with its cloud-based data and analytics service, FUELNET, it reduces costs and sets the standard for data-driven decisions.

“FUELTRAX is such an authentic fit. High performance and advance technology go hand and hand with NASCAR,” said Matt Casto, LT Iwuji’s agent. “And since LT Iwuji’s family is from Nigeria, he has a strong connection with the same community FUELTRAX serves. To make things even better, LT Iwuji has a deep understanding of vessels as a current Surface Warfare Officer. Let me also just continue to mention how exciting it is to have a current driver racing at the national levels that has served our country. We’ve been getting great support from the most patriotic fan base in all sports leagues.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick invited Jimmie Johnson to be a guest on his weekly radio show this week. Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he explained his reasoning, saying he wanted a greater audience to appreciate Johnson’s greatness while his career was still active.

Johnson’s guest appearance came on this week’s edition of Harvick’s “Happy Hours” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“It was great because I feel like, in my opinion, Jimmie’s one of the most disrespected great drivers that have ever come through this garage. Jimmie Johnson’s just a good, old-fashioned great guy and helps people, and has done great things in the garage and in the race car, out of the race car, and I think sometimes we forget … a lot of people forget that he’s won seven championships and all the races that he’s won and all the great things that he’s done, and it’s not like he came from a rich daddy or a family that had a lot of money.

“I mean, he came from the bottom all the way to the top and worked hard, had a lot of success with it and won as many championships as Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty, and I never feel like he’s on that pedestal next to those guys appropriately. Sometimes I feel like as a group, from a fan standpoint, I feel like you’re just letting it go by and not ever realizing that you’re watching one of the greatest careers that’s ever going to come through the garage.”

RELATED: Full schedule for Atlanta

Harvick said that he felt like with the fluid state of the NASCAR fan base, some reintroduction is sometimes necessary for newer fans who may not realize Johnson’s credentials as a future NASCAR Hall of Famer. That’s why, Harvick said, he chose to focus on asking about Johnson’s origins and interests.

“Once you hear the Jimmie Johnson story and how he got to where he is, a lot of people know what he’s done here, but it’s not like it was handed to him,” Harvick said. “So that’s always kind of our goal is to do something different, and I just feel like, I don’t want the fans to not realize what they’re watching with Jimmie, because of the fact that he has done so many great things and is such a great person, a really fun guy, and he always gets the knock for not being the super-fun, he’s the buttoned-up, tight-laced guy. That couldn’t be further from the truth than anybody could possibly understand.

“We only had 20 minutes, so it’s not easy to explain all those things in 20 minutes, but I feel like we touched on some of those things, but it’s always fun to hear those guys talk about stuff like that.”

RELATED: Johnson’s all-time wins in Cup | Harvick’s all-time wins in Cup 

Johnson made an appearance Friday in the 1.54-mile track’s media center after Harvick’s availability. Though he didn’t know the context of Harvick’s remarks, Johnson said he appreciated Harvick’s kind words.

“I’ve had a great run, accomplished a lot of great things, more than I really ever imagined that I would,” Johnson said. “I feel like every driver has something that they probably deserve and something they don’t deserve along the way of progressing through this sport. I’ve had my good and my bad and it is what it is, and honestly I quit paying attention to a lot of the public opinion stuff years ago. It doesn’t do me any good. I’m just going to keep my head down and keep working. Some weekends, I think things go your way and you get the praises that you would hope to, and other weekends it doesn’t. It’s just kind of the evolution of the sport.”


Posted on by Staff Report

Clint Bowyer showed the way atop the leaderboard Friday, leading a 1-2 sweep for Stewart-Haas Racing in opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Bowyer put the SHR No. 14 Ford through its paces with a best lap of 180.152 mph on the 1.54-mile Georgia track, making him the only driver to eclipse the 180-mph barrier. Teammate Aric Almirola was second-fastest at 179.988 mph in Stewart-Haas’ No. 10 Ford.

RELATED: Practice 1 speeds | 10-lap averages | Full Atlanta schedule

Austin Dillon (179.772 mph), Kurt Busch (179.406) and Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin (178.931) completed the top five in opening practice for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM), the second race of the Monster Energy Series season.

Reigning series champ Joey Logano claimed the ninth-best lap in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford. Defending race winner Kevin Harvick clocked in 29th on the leaderboard in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford.

Sunday’s 500-miler is the first race for the series’ 2019 rules package, which increases aerodynamic downforce and reduces horsepower in an effort to foster closer competition. Teams will compete with engines targeted for 550 horsepower, plus aero devices that include a larger spoiler and splitter, plus a wider radiator pan. Last year’s fastest lap in opening practice was 186.384 mph, more than 6 mph faster that Friday’s best lap.

MORE: Atlanta weekend 101

Busch Pole Qualifying for the Monster Energy Series is scheduled later Friday at 5:10 p.m. ET (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM).

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR and TrüNorth Warranty announced today a multi-year agreement designating the company as the “Official Commercial Truck Warranty of NASCAR” expanding its investment in the sport.

TrüNorth is a leading provider of limited liability warranties for commercial medium and heavy-duty trucks including work trucks, construction and agricultural equipment. The company is dedicated to shortening the time-to-action at every step in the repair claims process, as well as meeting all truck warranty needs to get commercial vehicles and equipment back working as quickly as possible.

TrüNorth also competes in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series with Niece Motorsports and drivers Ross Chastain and Reid Wilson.

“TrüNorth’s expanded commitment reinforces the value that NASCAR provides to brands investing across the sport,” said Jon Tuck, chief revenue officer, NASCAR. “The combination of a team and sanctioning body partnership will effectively enhance TrüNorth’s brand awareness and help them reach new customers.”

The multi-year agreement provides TrüNorth additional promotional rights to build around its existing relationship with Niece Motorsports, driving brand awareness and business. TrüNorth will also host key customers and prospects at-track with VIP hospitality events at NASCAR races throughout the year. As part of the partnership, TrüNorth joins the NASCAR Fuel for Business Council®, bringing together an exclusive group of more than 50 Official NASCAR Partners to buy and sell products and services from one another.

“NASCAR’s commitment to quality, excellence and fan experience, combined with their outstanding value, reminded us of our own business dynamic and drew us to the sport,” said William Eskridge, CEO, TrüNorth Global. “We’re looking forward to working with NASCAR to help build the TrüNorth brand.”

As part of TrüNorth’s partnership with Niece Motorsports, TrüNorth engaged Paul Teutul Jr. of Paul Jr. Designs and star of “American Chopper” to design the No. 45 TrüNorth Paul Jr. Designs Chevrolet Silverado, which finished third in its debut at Daytona International Speedway with Ross Chastain at the wheel.

TrüNorth and the renowned custom motorcycle designer have an ongoing relationship, teaming up last year to create the TrüNorth custom bike, which will be on display at TrüNorth’s hospitality area in the Atlanta Motor Speedway infield as well as other NASCAR events throughout the season. TrüNorth also unveiled a second bike by Paul Jr. last week at Daytona in conjunction with the launch of its newest warranty brand, MyTruckWarranty.com, powered by TrüNorth.

The No. 45 TrüNorth Chevrolet piloted by Ross Chastain will return to the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Atlanta 200 on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and MRN.

Posted on by Kenny Bruce

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Christopher Bell wants to be the first NASCAR driver to put the new Toyota Supra in Victory Lane and he isn’t approaching the opportunity lightly.

“I remember when (Jason) Leffler won the first Xfinity race for Toyota in the Camry at IRP,” Bell said of the 2007 highlight at Indianapolis Raceway Park. “And Kyle Busch won the first Cup race in Atlanta (in ’08).”

Bell is 24 and driver of the No. 20 Toyota Supra in the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing. He won the Gander Outdoors Truck Series championship for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2017 and finished fourth in the Xfinity Series title battle last season.

“I have the opportunity to be the first winner in a Toyota Supra,” Bell said. “That would be really cool and really special.”

PHOTOS: Get an up close look at the Toyota Supra

The Supra made its NASCAR debut last weekend at Daytona International Speedway, replacing the Camry for Xfinity Series competition. Meanwhile, the Camry will continue to lead the way for Toyota in the Monster Energy Cup Series, as it has since 2007.

JGR teammate Brandon Jones finished highest among the Supra entries at Daytona with a third-place run. Bell was sixth while Jeffrey Earnhardt led 29 laps and finished 15th. Others Supra teams were scattered a bit further back in the 38-car field.

Opportunity No. 2 for win No. 1 comes this weekend as the Xfinity Series lands at Atlanta Motor Speedway for Saturday’s Rinnai 250 (2 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Full schedule for Atlanta

Daytona was an aberration in that the rules package used there won’t be seen again this year. Instead, a higher downforce platform will be in play and teams are still grappling with how those changes will affect performance.

Adding an entirely new model to the mix could be troubling – Chevrolet teams struggled with the switch to the Camaro ZL1 in the Cup Series last season, winning only four times.

Jason Ratcliff, Bell’s crew chief on the No. 20, isn’t anticipating any issues for his group, however.

“My hope is we get to Atlanta and we pick up right where we left off late last year which was running strong at the intermediate tracks, or really everywhere,” he said. “As we get more time with the Supra, I think it will be no different – it will just get better.

“We run the intermediate tracks so much more than we do speedways. I think we will have a lot better feel for the work we’ve put into it this winter and what we can expect. But so far everything looks really positive.”

  • Did you know: The “S” in the Supra logo is fashioned after a section of track on the legendary Nurburgring race course in Germany known as Wehrseifen.

The Supra joins the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang in the Xfinity Series. The Camaro was incorporated into Cup competition last season, while Ford’s Cup teams made the switch this year from the Fusion to the Mustang.

Officials with Toyota say it’s not a given that the Supra will eventually become a Cup entry although they acknowledge that there is currently more room to incorporate style points into the Cup car than its Xfinity counterpart based on current rules.

“In that garage, (using) that rule book, we’re limited on what we can do,” said David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development (TRD) USA. “We put all of our expression in the upper part of the nose; the lower (portion) is common among all manufacturers. … In Cup we have essentially the whole front end we can play with and (that) gives us more latitude from a styling perspective.”

MORE: Xfinity Series Preview Show

But those are concerns for another day – 2021 perhaps, when NASCAR hopes to roll out the new Gen-7 car.

Now, it’s all about the Supra making its mark in the Xfinity Series.

Having gone through the NASCAR approval process on multiple occasions made life a bit easier when it came to getting the Supra off the drawing board and onto the race track. “We’ve become very comfortable with the process,” Wilson said.

“The challenge is making sure that along the way, while we’re thrilled with having this great-looking car, that we don’t stumble out of the gate, which can be a possibility if we don’t do a good enough job.

“We talk about wanting the performance to be better each time you do this and that’s true. But the reality is, given the box all of us have to work in … it’s not that it’s better, it’s that it’s not worse than (before).

“That’s really the goal – that we get to have Supra and we’re still competitive.”

  • Did You Know: The first 2020 Supra production car recently sold for $2.1 million as part of a charity effort at the Barrett-Jackson auto auction in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The Supra is a global car, meaning it will be sold worldwide. It may eventually race worldwide as well.

“Supra will race somewhere else,” Wilson said. “More than likely in a GT4 category, which is a global sports car class.

“Hopefully we will see it in sports car racing, but for now it’s only in NASCAR.”

And only in the Xfinity Series.

Bell, who finished third in Atlanta last year, said he is looking forward to racing the Supra beyond the high banks and long straightaways of Daytona.

“I’m really happy with how (the car) turned out,” he said. “Performance-wise I think it’s going to be right there. … We won’t really know what we’ve got until we get to some of the downforce tracks. But we’ll be in the hunt.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Cole Moore has been racing super late models at All American Speedway for about five years, and with the track returning to the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series this year, he’s excited to now get to compete for a title, and bragging rights at home.

Moore races at the track against his dad, John Moore, who raced at the speedway the last time it was NASCAR sanctioned.

“It’s awesome. A lot of people think that we’d race each other clean but we actually race each other really hard,” Cole Moore said of racing against his dad. “We can trust each other to race hard and not wreck each other. It makes it very entertaining I think for the crowd.”

All American 3

All American Speedway, located just 20 minutes from California’s capitol in Sacramento, is a third-mile track that hosted NASCAR K&N Pro Series West events from 1977-1982. Promoter Bill McAnally began renting the facility in 2008, and he’s hosted late models and two K&N races a year ever since. The county-owned track was recently bought by an events company that had no knowledge of racing, so McAnally signed a long-term contract last April that would allow him to host weekly races.

This year, All American will be sanctioned by NASCAR Whelen All-American Series for the first time under McAnally. They’ll host 14 races, starting on April 13 and ending on November 2.

McAnally won the 1990 NASCAR Winston Racing Series championship at All American in 1990. He credits winning that championship at the Roseville, California, race track with helping him to be able to move up in the world of racing and get bigger sponsors.

Now, as a promoter, McAnally is trying to give that same opportunity to other young drivers at the same track where he grew up.

“I think it’s fantastic to be able to give our local racers the opportunity to have the same direction that I had followed to race for a weekly championship now and a state championship and a national championship,” McAnally said. “It’ll give them recognition not only locally but statewide and nationally.”

The 21-year-old Moore lives about 10 minutes from the track, and plans to race there as well as in the SRL Southwest Tour. While he’ll travel quite a bit this summer on both tours, there’s nothing like seeing a packed crowd at his home track.

“I think it’s been awesome since Bill has taken over the track. There’s been an extreme amount of fans that show up,” he said. “He literally sells out the crowd every night. I’ve been racing for a long time and it makes it a lot more fun when you’re racing in front of a full grandstand, especially if it’s your hometown and everybody knows you.”

All American averaged about 3,000 spectators a race last season, and McAnally said the community has really embraced what they’re trying to do to keep it successful.

The Moores join a growing list of drivers expected at the track this season. The speedway finished last year with 82 cars after starting the summer with just 30.

“I know it’s going to be some good competition,” Moore said. “Word travels fast. There was good racing there last year.”

All American is the only weekly track in the Sacramento area, with the closest other NASCAR sanctioned track nearly five hours away. McAnally said he’s happy he can not only provide a place for local drivers, like the Moores, to get the chance to race in front of friends and family, but also provide them with NASCAR’s insurance, publicity, and awards.

The track has even partnered with NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick, whose KH Management team will provide a cash award to weekly racers.

“Somebody like Kevin Harvick that came out of NASCAR weekly racing and used the NASCAR ladder to go regional racing and then national racing, it shows our local racers that they can follow his footsteps,” McAnally said. “For him to want to share that and to want to keep track of what’s going on at our weekly track in Northern California says a lot for what he’s given back. And the racers notice that and it creates a lot of excitement that a NASCAR Cup champion cares enough to support the local racers and wants to give back and help continue it growing weekly.”

Beyond the winnings and championships though, All American will most importantly be a place drivers can get on the track, and maybe even strengthen a family bond.

“It’s obviously thrilling for us to race against each other, especially at home on the home track in front of our family and all the friends watching,” Moore said. “We really have a good time. I’m smiling from ear-to-ear every time we’re out there together.”

All American 2

Posted on by Staff Report

FansChoice.TV has quickly become the place for NASCAR fans to watch regional series and local NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action each weekend.

That will increase exponentially this year.

FansChoice.TV announced Friday that the streaming digital platform will air the entire NASCAR regional series schedule live in 2019.

They will air the complete NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West schedules – including the two summer combination races — as well as the  17-race schedule for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

FansChoice.TV aired the season-opener for the K&N Pro Series East on Sunday, February 10 at New Smyrna Speedway — a race won by Derek Kraus. They also aired all nine nights of the 53rd annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna.

Fans will be able to watch K&N Pro Series West drivers open their season on Thursday, February 28 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track, before watching Whelen Modified Tour teams kick-off 2019 at South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach Speedway on March 16. The next time the K&N Pro Series East hits the track is at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 6.

With events airing live, fans will have the opportunity to stay up-to-date with all of the action from the track, while also following behind the scenes content via NASCAR Home Tracks on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Fans can also get complete FansChoice.tv updates on their social channels: Twitter and Facebook. In addition to NASCAR, FansChoice.tv streams select IMSA content as well as American Flat Track.

With the entirety of each schedule airing, fans can watch champions be crowned in all three divisions. The K&N Pro Series East season ends at Dover International Speedway on October 4, while the Whelen Modified Tour crowns their champion at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on October 13. The K&N Pro Series West returns to Arizona and ISM Raceway on Saturday, November 9 to crown their new title holder.

RELATED: NASCAR & NBCSN Announces Regional Series Coverage

NBCSN’s coverage will remain unchanged. They will cover a total of 37 races between the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and Whelen Modified Tour via a tape-delayed broadcast. NBCSN already aired the East opener at New Smyrna, and will air the opener for the West and the Whelen Modified Tour just days after the races conclude.

The West opener at Las Vegas will air on NBCSN on Tuesday, March 5, at 6 p.m., while the Whelen Modified Tour opener airs on Thursday, March 21, at 6 p.m.

Following the  NBCSN airings, the regional races will be archived and available on FansChoice.tv.