Music City Classic: Nashville to host Monster Energy Series Awards in 2019

Posted on March 6, 2019 by Staff Report

Buckle up, NASCAR fans — the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards are headed to Music City.

Nashville is the new host city for Champion’s Week and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards, the annual postseason celebration that sees drivers, industry luminaries and celebrities alike strut the red carpet and formally crown the series champion. The Awards will be held Thursday, Dec. 5, at the Music City Center in downtown Nashville.

Other Champion’s Week events will be announced at a later date, but fans should expect to have more access at the Awards than ever before.

“This year, we set a course to look at everything we do through a different lens, including how we celebrate the champions of our sport,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR President. “Nashville’s energy, vibrant entertainment scene, and deep-rooted lineage in motorsports informed our decision and we believe our fans and industry will embrace the move to the Music City.”

Photo credit: Music City Center

The formal postseason Awards is a tradition that stretches back to 1981, when the event was held in New York City. It relocated to Las Vegas in 2009 and will now call Nashville its home for 2019.

NASCAR and Nashville have a history, too. Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville hosted 42 Monster Energy Series races from 1958-1984, with the circuit visiting twice a year from 1973-84. Tennessee native Darrell Waltrip made the venue his own personal playground, winning eight races there — including four in a row from 1981-83, and five of the last seven Cup races held there. Nashville also hosted what is now the Local Series Awards for a number of years.

“Nashville’s history with NASCAR is indisputable, and coupled with our event experience we are a perfect match for NASCAR Champions Week,” said Butch Spyridon, President and CEO, Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. “We look forward to welcoming NASCAR back home to Music City.”

Additionally, dates for the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and NASCAR Regional, International and Local Awards will shift and be held before the Monster Energy Series Awards. Once again held at the Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, the 2019 Xfinity Series and Gander Outdoors Truck Series Awards are Friday, Nov. 22, following by the Regional, International and Local Awards on Nov. 23.

Those events will be held the week after the NASCAR national series crown three champions in Miami, but before Thanksgiving.

Posted on March 6, 2019March 6, 2019 by Staff Report

Ryan Newman hasn’t won a race in two years, a span of 71 races where the 41-year-old has gone without lifting a trophy in Victory Lane. He also is in his first season driving for Roush Fenway Racing.

And those two factors are precisely why Newman should be considered among the favorites to win this weekend at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.

Consider the following stats from Racing Insights:

Newman has two wins at ISM Raceway in his career, one in 2017 and one in 2010.

The 2017 victory snapped a 127-race winless streak. It was his first win with Richard Childress Racing, which he had been driving for since 2014.

The 2010 victory snapped a 77-race winless streak. And it was his first win with Stewart-Haas Racing, the team he drove for from 2009-2013.

Sound familiar?

A long winless streak. A new team. ISM Raceway.

Sure sounds like a recipe for success for Newman.

MORE: Drivers who ended long winless streaks in the desert

Posted on March 5, 2019April 1, 2021 by Staff Report

The racing dream for late model drivers Austin McDaniel and Connor Mosack both started at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Now, both drivers will be competing just an hour up the road at Hickory Motor Speedway.

Hickory Motor Speedway, a .363-mile semi-banked oval asphalt track located in Hickory, North Carolina, has become a jumping off point for many young late model drivers in the south. McDaniel started racing limited late models there in 2010 when he was just 16 years old.

Now, nine years later, the 24-year-old feels like a veteran.

“Age-wise, I’m probably at the top of the age group now,” McDaniel said. “As I’ve raced over the years there’s been more and more kids, and more and more younger kids, at that, that have kind of started racing at Hickory.I’m probably one of the older ones there, and one of the most experienced, but the kids, by the time they move up to late models they’ve been racing in general for so many years they’re pretty tough coming right out of the gate.”

Hickory Motor Speedway will open the 2019 season on Saturday with Twin 40 lap late model races, limited late models, street stock, super trucks and renegades.

HMS Season Schedule

McDaniel grew up in Charlotte, where he said it was impossible to not fall in love with racing. It’s become a lifelong love too. He studied mechanical engineering at UNC Charlotte, and works full time at GMS Racing.

“Just growing up in the area that I did, I lived two or three miles from Charlotte Motor Speedway, so just being around the area definitely helps, and you grow up with it so much around you you just kind of grow into it,” he said. “There’s a lot of opportunities with being so close to so many race teams and shops. It just kind of caught my attention early and I’ve been hooked ever since and had the bug.”

The bug caught Mosack at a later age, but Charlotte had a lot to do with it for him too. Mosack did a Mario Andretti racing experience at CMS for his 16th birthday, and fell in love with the sport instantly.

Now 19, he will be one of those younger drivers on the track at Hickory this year. He drove legends cars the last two years, but will run a full season at Hickory this year in a late model for the first time.

“I’ve been doing it since and started having a little bit of success last year and and wanted to take it on to the next level,” he said.

Being so close to Charlotte, Hickory provides a good spot for McDaniel, Mosack and other young up-and-comers to live out their racing dreams less than 60 miles from the city. McDaniel will only run a partial schedule there, while also traveling to other tracks like Myrtle Beach, Tri-County and South Boston. But to him, Hickory will always be home.

“For the most part the competition is really good, especially at some of the bigger races that Hickory has. We really like Hickory,” he said.

“I’ve got to race with a lot of different people in a lot of different age groups and experience levels. Over the years the guys who have moved up to the higher ranks of racing, just getting to race against all sorts of experience levels, different car counts, I have grown over the years as a driver in myself. The competition has not gotten any easier the more I’ve gotten experience. There’s still a big challenge, cars are getting better, crews are getting better, the kids are learning as they go on. So even though I feel like we have an upper hand having a lot more experience at Hickory, the competition is still just as tough.”

Those experiences will be new for Mosack this year. So far, he’s only tested at Hickory a couple of times, and he’s still getting used to the bigger and more powerful car and learning how to conserve tires.

He’s used to learning curves though. He attributes his age to helping him learn how to deal with issues better.

“The first year that I raced it wasn’t on the best team. I didn’t have the best equipment so I had to deal with a lot of the car not being how I like it, so dealing with that the first year and getting used to how to drive it when the car is not good,” Mosack said. “And then this past year I got with (team owner) Dennis Lambert, he’s the best there is in legend cars, so making that transition I was able to use his coaching and learn from bad cars and do well in the good cars. And me being a little bit older than other kids helped me have a faster learning curve because I was able to understand things faster.”

Hickory Motor Speedway | HMS Facebook | HMS Twitter

This season, Mosack is just focused on getting better as the season goes on. Starting with just completing all the laps early on, getting experience, and working his way towards the front.

“Then hopefully by the middle of the summer we should be upfront most of the time and hopefully get a couple of wins,” he said. “I think if I can do well there it will pay off at other places and help me out the most.”

Racing is just a hobby for McDaniel, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t also working to get to Victory Lane this season.

“Having such a good time at it is what’s kept me around. Just really enjoying it, getting to work and go to the track with my family. We’re a family owned team, we own all our own stuff, and besides a couple of guys who help with us it’s all our family helping us,” he said. “The biggest thing this year is to just be competitive every week and being upfront in the top 3. Because once you’re in the top 3 anything can happen, and hopefully end up in victory lane a couple of times this year.”

OTHER OPENINGS THIS WEEK:

Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama, North Carolina, will also open its season this weekend with the CARS Tour Solid Rock 300, featuring late model and super late model 150 races on the .4-mile oval.

Southern National Motorsports Park | SNMP Schedule

Southern National’s first NASCAR Whelen All-American Series event is the Easter Bunny 240 on April 20, which will be headlined by twin 40-lap Late Model Stock Car features.

Out West, California’s Irwindale Speedway and Nevada’s Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway get their seasons underway.

Irwindale is a half-mile with graduated banking and located just outside Los Angeles. It will host the City of Irwindale Night highlighted by two features for its Division I LKQ Pick Your Part Late Model class.

The Bullring, a .375-mile banked oval on the grounds of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, holds four classes of Whelen All-American Series racing, led by Super Late Models.

Posted on March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 by Staff Report

NASCAR cited a pair of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams for violations incurred following Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Post-race inspection revealed that the Nos. 41 (of Daniel Suarez) and 95 (of Matt DiBenedetto) each had one lug nut not properly installed. NASCAR fined crew chiefs Billy Scott and Mike Wheeler, respectively, $10,000 each, per Sections 10.9.10.4: Tires and Wheels of the NASCAR Rule Book.

RELATED: Las Vegas results | Standings

Suarez finished in 17th place and is in 18th place in the standings during his first season with Stewart-Haas Racing. DiBenedetto, meanwhile, finished in 21st place and is 24th in the standings in his first season with Leavine Family Racing.

The series now heads to ISM Raceway in Phoenix for Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on March 4, 2019April 1, 2021 by Staff Report

New Faces in New Places; Growing List of Rising Rookies, New Track Additions & Incoming Pole Award Sponsor Headline 2019 Whelen Modified Tour Season

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Five months after Justin Bonsignore clinched his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship, his title defense is set to commence. Bonsignore leads a stout group of drivers into the 35th season of Whelen Modified Tour action — but he’s far from the only storyline heading into the newest campaign.

As always, a fresh list of driver and team combinations has slowly, but surely, come to the front of the discussion as the season gets ready to take the green flag at Myrtle Beach Speedway on March 16. But, there are also a list of drivers who will remain with their same team in hopes of continuing 2018 success, or steering themselves back in the right direction.

WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR: 2019 Schedule | Race Center | Latest News

New Faces, in New Places

After a stout season in 2018, Chase Dowling has moved on from his tenure with LFR Chassis and Rob Fuller Motorsports and will be competing part-time for Jamie Tomaino in 2019. The Roxbury, Connecticut, driver picked up his first Whelen Modified Tour win in the inaugural Musket 250 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September and finished inside the top-10 in all but three races.

He also finished in the runner-up position in the final championship standings. But, after parting ways with Fuller, Dowling landed with Tomaino in a combination that will showcase the youth talent and veteran core that the Whelen Modified Tour has to offer, all in one. Tomaino has 621 career starts over 34 years, and stands as the only driver to make at least one start in each Tour season since the beginning of the modern era in 1985. Dowling, who joins the stable of the 1990 series champion, has just 57 starts and one win — but has quickly made it clear he plans to be around a while with over 30 top-10 finishes in his short career.

It might come across as a surprise to some, but the combination of Matt Swanson and Boehler Racing could certainly be one that sparks a cinderella story rather quickly. Swanson, of Acton, Massachusetts, has 49 career Whelen Modified Tour starts across four years — but a majority of them came with his family-owned car out of the family shop.

When Rowan Pennink retired late last year, Swanson was tabbed to drive the famed “Ole Blue” No. 3 — and didn’t let the team regret making the move. Swanson finished second in his first start in the car while Pennink was celebrating the birth of his first child, but after Pennink officially hung up the helmet, Swanson competed in the final five races of the season, ending it with a seventh-place finish at Thompson’s World Series. With the team on path to jell even more when the season begins, the combination of Swanson — the youngest Sunoco Rookie of the Year in series history — and the veteran core group of the Boehler racing family — who have been around for more than four decades — it could spell glory.

Veteran Jimmy Blewett, who has run part-time in his family-owned car over the last two years, could be in position to make a run at the title again if all the stars align for him. Blewett teamed with Gershow Motorsports in February and the combination went south to New Smyrna Speedway’s 53rd annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. Blewett finished third in the final point standings for the week, and wrapped the five nights of Modified racing with a second-place effort in the Richie Evans Memorial 100.

After some discussion internally, Blewett and the team announced via Facebook that they would be running the opener at Myrtle Beach together. If all goes well, it certainly could mean Blewett will be in the car for the season. Bertuccio’s Gershow Motorsports team competed last year with Ronnie Williams at the controls — capturing two poles and five top-10 finishes in 15 starts.

Kyle Benjamin, who has two top five finishes in eight starts in NASCAR Xfinity Series action for Joe Gibbs Racing in the past, will run a partial schedule for Rob Fuller and LFR Chassis. With Dowling leaving the team, Fuller is giving Benjamin a chance to compete in his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour attempts. Benjamin also has five career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East victories.

“Kyle seems to be a great kid with a ton of talent,” Fuller said in a team release. “I‘m looking forward to introducing him to the Modified community and scoring some great finishes for our team and sponsors.”

Sunoco Rookie Contenders Ready To Rise

Last year it was Tommy Catalano who snagged Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors after only planning to run a few races. This year, another Catalano is hoping to keep that newfound family tradition rolling.

Timmy Catalano, Tommy’s brother, is going to chase the Rookie of the Year honors driving the family-owned No. 45 in all 17 events. With backing from his fellow family members, and advice about some of the tracks he’s never been to before coming from his brother, Timmy is hoping the new venture ends with celebration.

But he is far from the only rising star looking to make a name for himself in 2019. Sam Rameau, who moves from the tour-type Modified ranks of New England up to the Whelen Modified Tour, has some brief experience in the series. He competed in the Sunoco World Series 150 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park last year — getting his feet wet in the season-finale with a 17th place finish in a 33-car field. Rameau was a front-runner on the Valenti Modified Racing Series in New England last year.

“My dad raced Enduro cars and Street Stocks his whole life,” Rameau told RaceDayCT.com in February. “I never dreamed of racing an open wheeled Modified — nevermind on the Whelen Modified Tour with guys like Ryan Preece, Doug Coby, Justin Bonsignore and Timmy Solomito. Racing with these guys is a dream come true. I just can‘t believe I‘m doing it.”

READ MORE ON RACEDAYCT: Sammy Rameau Excited To Get Rookie Season Rolling

Joey Mucciacciaro, a Super Late Model competitor in the south, also has plans to run the full NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour slate as he first reported to RaceDayCT. The team will use a chassis out of the LFR shop — a chassis department that won 11 events last year.

Welcome Mayhew Tools as Pole Award Sponsor

Mayhew Tools, a Massachusetts-based company that produces tools used around the globe, will sponsor the pole award for teams this year. Even though the driver is often recognized as the winner of the pole, the team also plays a major role in the speed of the car on the track.

This year, crew chiefs are also going to be rewarded when their driver wins the pole.

[NEWS] Mayhew Tools To Sponsor Whelen Modified Tour Pole Award

ud83dudcdd https://t.co/9gCCWxvic6 #NWMT | @mayhewtools pic.twitter.com/dn03IFcMTM

— NASCAR Home Tracks (@NASCARHomeTrack) February 22, 2019

Mayhew Tools will provide the “Big Stick” to each pole-winning crew chief immediately following the conclusion of qualifying. The “Big Stick” is the largest pry bar the company has ever produced.

Just for example, Justin Bonsignore won five pole awards last year, and if he can accomplish the same goal in 2019, his crew chief Ryan Stone would have five “Big Sticks” in the shop.

South Boston, Wall Stadium Added To Schedule

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour teams may have their fair share of the same tracks this season, but there are also two new facilities on the schedule. South Boston Speedway, a .4-mile oval in Virginia, played host to 11 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour races between 2009 and 2016. In those events, a select few drivers gained experience that might pay off for them now.

Kyle Bonsignore, who picked up his first Whelen Modified Tour win at Stafford Motor Speedway last fall, has two top five finishes in three starts at the Virginia oval. Patrick Emerling, Eric Goodale, Burt Myers and Andy Seuss are also among drivers who have prior starts at the track.

LEARN MORE: Wall Stadium | South Boston Speedway

Wall Stadium, a third-mile oval in New Jersey, returns for a date on May 18. In three previous Whelen Modified Tour events there, three different drivers visited Victory Lane — including two from the Blewett family.

John Blewett III won the inaugural race in 2003, while Reggie Ruggerio broke into the winner’s circle in the second event in 2004. Jimmy Blewett, who since has titles at Wall during weekly competition, won the event in 2007. Blewett has been running Wall weekly over the last few years, so will certainly be among the top contenders when the Whelen Modified Tour enters town.

Additional Tidbits of Offseason News

FansChoice.TV announced in February they will air each and every NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race on their website via a live stream in 2019. The events will also air on NBCSN, typically scheduled for the week following the conclusion.

After a successful first Full Throttle Weekend last September, New Hampshire Motor Speedway will again play host to the Musket 250 in 2019. The 2018 edition, which was the longest race in Whelen Modified Tour history, saw Chase Dowling edge Patrick Emerling across the line after Ryan Preece and Justin Bonsignore collided racing for the lead on the final lap.

This year, Whelen Engineering, the supporting sponsor of the Whelen Modified Tour, is taking the event to the next level, as they announced they will become the primary sponsor of the race.

Phil Kurze, a longtime executive with Whelen Engineering, passed in December following a long illness. Kurze helped to push NASCAR regional, international and local racing to extreme heights after helping to seal deals with the NASCAR Modified Tour, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. He was committed to helping put the local, short-track level of racing on a platform like never before.

Mary Hodge, a photographer who spent countless years covering the Whelen Modified Tour circuit with her late husband Howie, passed away in February. Hodge spent more than 40 years photographing races across the country.

Posted on March 3, 2019March 3, 2019 by Zack Albert

LAS VEGAS — Sunday’s race with both the tapered spacer and aero ducts as part of the 2019 rules package for NASCAR’s top series was as unpredictable as anticipated at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But the setup’s performance was also noteworthy for how several of those pre-race forecasts didn’t take.

At day’s end, Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, said the package won’t be judged by Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 alone. O’Donnell said he saw positive indicators at the 1.5-mile track, but the package will continue to be a work in progress.

“We’ve said from the beginning that this is going to be a season that we’re going to analyze,” O’Donnell said. “We’re not going to go every race and say, ‘Was that a good race, was that not?’ I know fans do that, but for us, directionally are you improving upon where you wanted to be. And if you look at last year versus this year, I would say we are.

“Was it tremendous improvement? Probably not. But again as a fan, you want to see lead changes. We saw that today, and I think if you would’ve looked in the past with no cautions, we would’ve seen someone check out all race long and we wouldn’t have seen a lead change.”

Sunday’s race was an extension of the previous weekend’s event at another intermediate track in Atlanta Motor Speedway, with increased downforce and a reduction in horsepower. The Las Vegas event went a step further with the addition of aerodynamic ducts to produce a larger wake from a leading car to trailing cars.

An organizational test, qualifying and practice fed a variety of pre-race predictions, but the package’s predicted resemblance to restrictor-plate-style racing on a smaller-scale track didn’t quite pan out, with only glimpses of pack-style competition during restarts. Prophecies of mass destruction and multi-car crashes faded with a caution-free race, save for the two stage breaks. And the prognosis for an underdog surprise also fizzled, with an array of heavyweights making a clean sweep of the top five.

“You go back even before the race — and I think even some of the media and it probably came from the garage: ‘We’re going to wreck the entire field, this isn’t going to be a race.’ Didn’t happen,” O’Donnell said. “Some said NASCAR’s goal is pack racing. Not the case. Our goal was to bring cars closer together, have more lead changes, but again, (I) was surprised. I think if we had more green-flag restarts, I think you probably would’ve seen one or two wrecks, but we’ll see. It’s early, again. I’d rather err on the side of not wrecking cars and having some lead changes versus having that happen through accidents.”

O’Donnell said the 400-miler almost played out as a tale of two races, with a tamer Stage 1 as a prelude to slightly more intense competition in the next two portions. The race featured 19 lead changes, a figure that was down from the 23 that occurred in sweltering conditions last September, but the highest for the annual March event at Vegas since 2016 (see chart below for more).

Date	Winner	Leaders/ Lead changes	Green flag (GF) passes	GF passes for the lead	GF laps to end the race
2019	Logano	9/19	3,341	47	100
2018	Harvick	6/11	2,379	9	73
2017	Truex Jr.	6/14	1,982	15	9
2016	Keselowski	10/20	2,210	22	35
2015	Harvick	10/19	3,054	18	69

Not surprisingly, Joey Logano savored how the package played out from his premium perch in Victory Lane. Other drivers expressed difficulty with passing ability, saying teams are still trying to establish a better understanding of how the package will unfold. Sunday, drivers were still trying to digest the early impacts.

“The package was insane on restarts,” said Kurt Busch, who wound up fifth. “The adrenaline and the activity, everyone racing harder, with three-wide. I mean, you didn’t know where cars were going to come from, and then yes, we did get strung out, but handling comes back into play. You’ve got to make your car handle and we had just enough handle on our car to get a top five today.”

The full package will return in two weeks at Auto Club Speedway for the Monster Energy Series’ first trip to a 2-mile track this season. Though O’Donnell said there was still work to be done, he was pressed post-race for what he wanted to see from the package’s performance.

“I think it’s not really up to me, right? It’s the fans,” O’Donnell said. “You want higher ratings and you want more butts in seats ultimately. You want rivalries out there and drivers getting after it, and I think what happens in that situation is you have more passes for the lead and you have cars closer together, so I think we’re on the march to do that. I think we saw some of that today, but we can continue to improve on it.”

Posted on March 3, 2019March 3, 2019 by Reid Spencer

LAS VEGAS — For the second straight week, Kevin Harvick looked dominant in the early stages of a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.

Harvick was the class of the field in the first stage of the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, leading Laps 1-43 from the pole and closing out the stage after green-flag pit stops by leading Laps 62-80.

RELATED: Full results | Stage results

In the second half of the race, however, Harvick lost the handle on his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford and fell to fourth at the finish. The arc of the Las Vegas event mirrored that of the Atlanta Cup race a week earlier, when Harvick won the second stage before fading to fourth.

“The second half of the race, it’s happened to us two weeks in a row,” Harvick said. “The last two weeks, we’ve just been way off to start practice, based on where everybody thought we should start. And we just weren’t even in the ballpark, making huge changes to get in the ballpark.

“They’ve done a great job of getting the car close. When we get some baseline stuff here, we can start working on the details and not scrambling so much. But they’re doing a great job, and we knew that was going to be a possibility, and we didn’t know where we’d be with our cars.

“We qualified decent and had a good first half of the race two weeks in a row, but just got tighter as the race went on.”

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Reid Spencer

LAS VEGAS – Kurt Busch was struggling in dirty air early in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The solution? Trade the dirty air for clean air at the front of the pack.

Busch and crew chief Matt McCall opted to stay on track as long as possible during the second stage of the race, pitting for tires and fuel with 15 laps left in the segment. That enable Busch to keep his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet on the track while others came to pit road for the stage break.

Busch led the field to green on Lap 168 before losing the lead briefly to eventual race winner Joey Logano for one lap. Busch then held the top spot on older tires despite huge pressure from Kevin Harvick before Harvick took the lead on Lap 188. Busch held on for a fifth-place finish in his third race with his new team.

“We got really tight in traffic, and our pit strategist was saying that, if we stayed long in the second stage, then we could stay out,” Busch said. “It played out to where we got clean air, and it completely changed the complexion of the car…

“It gave us a lot to learn from today, and I’m really proud of everybody to get a top five. Now we’ve got two top fives to year, but we know we’ve got some more work to do.”

Posted on March 3, 2019March 3, 2019 by Staff Report

The race-winning Team Penske No. 22 Ford of Joey Logano passed post-race inspection at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with no issues.

The No. 22 was found to be compliant with the NASCAR Rule Book. With the post-race teardown complete, the race results are official.

RELATED: Las Vegas race results

Two cars were found with one unsecured lug nut — the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota of Matt DiBenedetto, who finished 21st, and the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Daniel Suarez, who finished 17th. The penalty for that typically is just a fine to the crew chief and is announced Monday.

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.

RELATED: 1-2 finishes for Brad, Joey

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.

Posted on March 3, 2019March 3, 2019 by Staff Report

Kyle Busch had just taken the lead midway through the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and seemed headed toward his third win in three days at his hometown track when he brought his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in for a green-flag pit stop.

That routine move proved to be his undoing in thwarting his attempt at a tripleheader sweep when he came onto pit road too fast, smoke billowing and tires screeching.

RELATED: Las Vegas race results

Busch was nabbed for traveling too fast on pit road on Lap 129 of the 267-lap race, and forced to serve a pass-through penalty.

Busch fell to 24th and one lap down after the mistake, but it didn’t mean the end of his opportunity at the trophy. He managed to work his way into the top five with about 65 laps remaining, but couldn’t manage one final push to the lead as he was held up by the lapped car of Corey LaJoie. He finished third.

“I certainly screwed up our day coming to pit road there,” he said after the race. “We tried a different brake package for us this weekend and trying to make up time in order to get a bigger jump on the guys behind me coming to pit road there and just ruined it for us and we had to come from the back. I think we passed the most cars today so I think we were the most impressive today, but that doesn’t matter because we don’t have a trophy.”

His crew chief Adam Stevens did take positives from the speed of the No. 18 Toyota, as it rallied from the back.

“Mistakes happen, you know,” Stevens said of the pit road error after the race. “He just got into pit road a little hot, locked ’em up and couldn’t get slowed down in time and sped in the first section. It’s not the first time we’ve seen that in this sport. He was trying to get all he could get. It’s part of it.

“But (we’re) pleased with the speed we had in our car and the balance was close, so as a team I felt like we did a good job, and he did a good job on the race track overcoming from that. Kind of ran out of laps there. I think we had speed equal to the car that finished in front of us, but kind of gave our track position away.”

Busch is the only driver in NASCAR history to have won races in three national series at the same track in the same weekend. Both of those came at Bristol Motor Speedway, first in 2010 and most recently in 2017.

— Contributing: NASCAR Wire Service