Dick Berggren named ninth Squier-Hall Award Recipient

Posted on July 5, 2019 by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 5, 2019) — Longtime NASCAR pit reporter and magazine editor Dick Berggren has been named the recipient of the 2020 Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence. Berggren becomes the ninth journalist to win the prestigious award named after Ken Squier and Barney Hall, the first two recipients.

Berggren will be honored during NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony festivities on Jan. 31, 2020 and featured in an exhibit in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Tickets to the Induction Weekend events go on sale to the public on Saturday, July 6 at 10 a.m. A special presale is available to NASCAR Hall of Fame members through Friday, July 5 at 11:59 p.m. Tickets to Induction Ceremony events begin at $75 per person (plus tax and applicable service fees).

RELATED: NASCAR Hall of Fame

“For more than three decades, Dick Berggren helped bring fans closer to the action across all levels of motorsports,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France. “Though best known for his role as a pit reporter for NASCAR national series races, Berggren’s dedication to the grass roots level of racing helped shape his legend. His work with short track racing magazines brought life to the many series that make up the soul of NASCAR.”

Easily identified by his trademark flat cap, Berggren was a fixture on NASCAR television coverage from 1981 through his retirement in 2012. He began his television career as a pit reporter for ESPN in 1981 and appeared on CBS, TBS and TNN broadcasts before closing his career with a 12-year stint as the lead pit announcer for NASCAR on FOX.

Beyond his television work, Berggren dedicated his craft to short tracks, simultaneous serving as editors of both Stock Car Racing and Open Wheel magazines. He also went on to found Speedway Illustrated, which touts itself as “America’s favorite monthly short track racing magazine.”

RELATED: Class of 2020 revealed

A college professor by trade, Berggren began his motorsports announcing career as the PA announcer at Arundel Speedway in Maine. Prior to that, he raced a variety of cars, including stock cars and modifieds.

Berggren is a member of the Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Hall of Fame and was named National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Writer of the Year in 1999.

Berggren was among eight nominees voted upon by a panel comprised of NASCAR and NASCAR Hall of Fame executives, journalists, public relations representatives and former drivers. The Squier-Hall Award was created in 2012 to honor the contributions of media to the success of the sport. Chris Economaki, Tom Higgins, Steve Byrnes, Benny Phillips, Norma “Dusty” Brandel and Steve Waid also have won the award.

The other seven nominees for the 2020 award were:

Russ Catlin, one of the best-known early racing writers and historians; editor of Speed Age Magazine

George Cunningham, long-time beat writer for The Charlotte Observer, Atlanta Constitution and NASCAR Scene; is the namesake for the annual NMPA award for Excellence in Writing

Shav Glick, covered motorsports for the Los Angeles Times for 37 years bringing NASCAR coverage to the West Coast

Mike Harris, spent 30 years as the lead motorsports writer for the Associated Press

Bob Jenkins, served as the lead NASCAR lap-by-lap anchor at ESPN from 1982-2000.

Bob Moore, spent more than 20 years as a NASCAR beat writer including stints with the Daytona Beach News-Journal and The Charlotte Observer.

T. Taylor Warren, best known for his three-wide photo of the 1959 Daytona 500 finish, he covered every Daytona 500 until his death in 2008.

Posted on July 5, 2019July 6, 2019 by Zack Albert

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Brad Keselowski has had enough. As one of stock-car racing’s very best at the superspeedway brand of racing, he comes thoroughly qualified to take exception to the tactics of other drivers.

And so it happened that the tipping point arrived on an otherwise sleepy Thursday, before Sunday’s summer classic, the Coke Zero Sugar 400 (1 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). William Byron’s blocking technique irked Keselowski during a charged-up final practice, but that moment wasn’t his only trigger. It was the culmination of a series of devil-may-care chop-blocks from others, and crashes that had placed his Team Penske No. 2 Ford on the wrecker’s hook for four of the last five races at Daytona International Speedway.

RELATED: Keselowski, Byron tangle

So Keselowski pushed back and stayed on the gas Thursday when Byron’s No. 24 changed lanes in front of him, all in the name of making a point at 200-plus mph.

“I’ve been put in positions these last few plate races — not just by William but a handful of other people — where I’ve had to make a decision to risk myself on being loaded up on the trailer and watching the end of the race or drive through the guy in front of me,” Keselowski said after an hour-long cooling-off period in the No. 2 team’s hauler. “I’ve been too conservative and ended up watching too many of these plate races from the back of the trailer, and that is not the responsible thing to do for my team.

“I’m not going to do that anymore. I’ve made that commitment. And if you’re gonna make that commitment, you make that commitment today and make that commitment in the race as well.”

Keselowski insisted Thursday’s contact was “nothing personal” toward Byron, the 21-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver making just his fourth Daytona start this weekend. But Byron figured into the drama from last year’s 400-miler at nearly the same point on the 2.5-mile track.

In the 2018 version, Byron moved to block a substantial swell of momentum from Keselowski and Ford partner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to keep his lead. When Keselowski’s eased off the throttle to avoid Byron’s maneuver, Stenhouse’s push became too great. Keselowski’s No. 2 slid into the path of the oncoming pack, and 25 more cars crashed in its wake.

MORE: Keselowski exits in 2018 Daytona crash

Keselowski took the blame for that accident, but vowed no more. “I’m just not wrecking enough people,” Keselowski said last July after emerging from the infield care center unhurt. “I need to wreck more people so they’ll stop throwing bad blocks.”

Thursday, he kept his word.

“There’s two types of blocking. There’s blocking that makes someone lift and there’s blocking that doesn’t,” Keselowski said. “When you know the difference, you can be successful at these races. …

“If you’re forcing someone to lift, that means they’re going to get run over from behind. And that means I’m sitting on the trailer. I’m tired of sitting on the trailer. I’m not watching the end of these races.”

Keselowski has some history with not lifting. He delivered his first major-league win by keeping the gas pedal mashed and not budging when Carl Edwards tried to force him below the out-of-bounds line at Talladega Superspeedway in 2009. Edwards pirouetted toward the retaining fence, and Keselowski sailed unimpeded to the checkered flag.

For Keselowski, those rules of engagement are back. Time will tell if the message sent with Thursday’s purpose pitch was received.

“You’ve got to put a line in the sand, and that’s not fun to do, but it’s important to do if you’re going to win these races,” Keselowski said. “I plan on winning these races for my team, they deserve that.”

Posted on July 5, 2019July 6, 2019 by Staff Report

Want to watch the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) from a different perspective? Go for a 360-degree view in William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on NASCAR Drive.

You’ll see the high banks of the “World Center of Racing” like you’ve never seen them before at the 2.5-mile superspeedway from the perspective of the No. 24.

The second-year Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver scored the pole for the Daytona 500 back in February. He has been on a strong points run of late — earning the eighth-most points in the past eight races and rising from 19th to 12th in the point standings during that stretch. That run has also seen him score four top 10s in the past eight races after notching just one in the opening nine races of the season.

For a view of what the 360 experience looks like, watch the video above.

Posted on July 4, 2019July 4, 2019 by Reid Spencer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It’s not hard to fathom why AJ Allmendinger would put aside a fulfilling gig with NBC Sports for a few weeks and race a NASCAR Xfinity Series stock car on road courses.

After all, the road circuits are his specialty, accounting for Allmendinger’s only Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory (at Watkins Glen in 2014) and his only two Xfinity Series wins (Road America and Mid-Ohio in his only two starts in 2013).

But why Daytona, where cars run within inches of each other at 200 mph, and every turn of the wheel can spell disaster?

After all, Allmendinger is enjoying his stint on TV, where, by his count, he has now called races in six different series. In the meantime, he has lowered his golf handicap index to an enviable 6.5.

Nevertheless, Friday’s Circle K Firecracker 250 at Daytona (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is part of the four-race deal Allmendinger struck with Kaulig Racing, a schedule that includes three road courses—Mid-Ohio (Aug. 10), Road America (Aug. 24) and the Charlotte Roval (Sept. 28).

“I don’t know how they talked me into this,” Allmendinger joked about his imminent return at Daytona, where temperatures in the greenhouse of his No. 10 Chevrolet are likely to exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit. “They asked, ‘Please!’ and I was like, ‘Road courses seem pretty cool.’

“And they said, ‘Let’s do Daytona.’ I said, ‘You sure?’ And they talked me into it.”

All kidding aside, Allmendinger has an impressive record at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. His three Cup series top fives at Daytona are tied for his most at a single track, matching Watkins Glen. Allmendinger’s first career top five came at Daytona. So did his last two, the final one coming in 2018, his last full season with JTG Daugherty Racing.

And don’t forget, Allmendinger also was the anchor driver of the winning team in the 50th Rolex 24 Hours on the Daytona road course in 2012. So making a return to competition at Daytona isn’t such a stretch for the road course ace. And it helps that Allmendinger has confidence in the equipment he’ll be driving for Kaulig, as he proved in Thursday’s opening practice by topping the speed chart with a lap at 194.902 mph.

“You have to have a fast race car to go out there and have an opportunity to at least put yourself in position to win a race,” he said. “I’ve watched enough of these races, and the way guys run these races is a little bit different, probably a little more aggressive—some young guys—so I’ll try to ease into that as the race goes on.

The revival of Allmendinger’s stock car career started with a phone call.

“I was eating some sandwiches, trying to work on my TV body, and they called me,” Allmendinger said. “They said, ‘Hey, you want to get back in a race car?’ I was like, ‘This sandwich is really good.’ They were looking to do the road course events, and we started talking, and I told them, ‘Hey, I love to race, so whenever you have an opportunity and want me to do that, I’m willing to do that.

“We’ve talked about some other races besides road course races and Daytona, and we’ll kind of see how it plays out.”

Posted on July 4, 2019July 6, 2019 by Staff Report

Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron made a tremendous save during the final practice Thursday at Daytona International Speedway, keeping his car (mostly) straight after contact from the No. 2 of Brad Keselowski — contact both drivers ceded was intentional.

Keselowski’s Ford smacked the left rear of Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet, sending it spinning onto the apron and putting the car in the garage for repairs.

RELATED: Final practice results | Speeds high

“Just had a big run,” Keselowski told NBCSN when he brought his car back to the garage. “He put me in a position where I had to lift, and I keep telling these guys I’m not lifting. Just trying to send a message. I’m not lifting.

“I’m tired of getting wrecked at these (superspeedway) tracks,” he added. “They’re all watching. They know.”

The conflict between the two stems from last year’s July race at Daytona. Byron was leading then, switching lanes from top to bottom. He moved low to block Keselowski, an incident that ended with the No. 2 Ford spinning high and smashing the wall.

“I need to wreck more people so they’ll stop throwing bad blocks,” Keselowski said then.

He made good on his word Thursday.

“It’s practice,” Byron said after climbing from his car. “I don’t think that was really necessary to turn us there. … I didn’t really expect that, but that’s all right. It wasn’t like I changed four lanes down the backstretch and blocked him. I was just kind of holding my lane, and he just used his run to drive into my left rear.”

The No. 24 team will go to a backup car for Sunday afternoon’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (1 p.m. ET; NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Watch Byron’s full interview

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

After months of anticipation, NASCAR and 704Games will join together Saturday at Daytona International Speedway to unveil the fourth installment in the NASCAR Heat franchise.

Before the Coke Zero Sugar 400, the veil of secrecy will be lifted to showcase the new NASCAR Heat 4 cover athlete as well as game upgrades that will bring users an enhanced experience. Race fans in attendance can witness the event at the UNOH FanZone Main Stage at 3:15 p.m. ET.

Past cover athletes include Carl Edwards (NASCAR Heat Evolution), Kyle Busch (NASCAR Heat 2) and the Hendrick Motorsports lineup of Jimmie Johnson, Chase Elliott, William Byron and Alex Bowman (NASCAR Heat 3).

NASCAR Heat 4 will be available for pre-order on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC immediately after Saturday’s unveil.

For more information, stay tuned to eNASCAR.com and NASCARHeat.com.

Posted on July 4, 2019July 4, 2019 by Holly Cain

The championship situation in the NASCAR Xfinity Series continues to be an intense game of one-upmanship among three of the brightest young racing stars.

Friday night’s Circle K Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) may be a good opportunity for a new driver to celebrate in Victory Lane and earn a shot at this year’s title.

RELATED: Full Daytona schedule | Series standings

Entering the race, three drivers – Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer and Christopher Bell – have combined to win 11 of the season’s 15 races, including Custer’s win at Chicagoland Speedway just last week. A member of this trio has hoisted trophies in the last nine consecutive races.

But Daytona International Speedway always presents a unique challenge and opportunity. Only one time in the last decade has an Xfinity Series regular won this summer Daytona race – William Byron in his 2017 Xfinity championship season. Last year, Cup star Kyle Larson held off Xfinity title contender Elliott Sadler by a mere .005-second in the closest July race finish in history.

Ironically, Reddick’s win in February 2018 – also over Sadler – marked the closest finish in NASCAR national series history: a .0004-second photo finish. The driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet is the only one of this year’s Triumphant Trio who has won an Xfinity race previously at Daytona. He has a pair of top-10 finishes in five starts there.

Bell, who drives the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, has two top-10 finishes in three Daytona starts, and his team is undoubtedly eager to rebound from a disqualification last week at Chicago that dropped him from second to third in the title standings.

Custer, the driver of the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, has yet to earn a top-10 in five starts at Daytona. His best showing is 14th, and he has done that twice – in February 2018 and 2019.

Five other drivers scored their best result of the season at Daytona earlier this year, including Justin Allgaier – a five-time race winner in 2018 – who is still looking for his first victory of the year. He finished runner-up this February.

Posted on July 4, 2019July 6, 2019 by Staff Report

Martin Truex Jr. notched the fastest time in Thursday afternoon’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice at Daytona International Speedway prior to Sunday afternoon’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (1 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Truex flew around the 2.5-mile Daytona Beach, Florida, superspeedway at a top speed of 205.936 mph in the No. 19 Toyota. Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones made it a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep of the top-three spots, finishing up the session with respective times of 205.738 mph and 205.724 mph.

Toyota grabbed fourth as well, with Matt DiBenedetto clocking a speed of 205.381 mph in his No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota. Matt Tifft rounded out the top five with a speed of 205.292 mph. In total, six cars eclipsed the 205-mph mark.

A big moment in practice occurred when William Byron saved the No. 24 Chevy from spinning after contact from Brad Keselowski at the entrance of Turn 3. Byron did receive right-rear damage on the car in the process of avoiding a spin after more contact, while Keselowski also received light damage on the front bumper. Keselowski indicated the incident was his way of sending a message to the field: “I’m not lifting.”

Practice 1

Kyle Busch raced his way to the top of the board in an abbreviated first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice Thursday at Daytona.

Before practice was cut short due to lightning strikes in the area, Busch sped his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to a fast lap of 200.754 mph. Busch currently sits second in the point standings, 18 points behind series leader Joey Logano, who clocked in at 199.911 mph — good for 15th-best in the field.

Ty Dillon (No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet, 200.682 mph) and Chris Buescher (No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet, 200.638 mph) also landed near the top of the board, finishing second and third respectively. Jimmie Johnson, coming off a fourth-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway — his best finish of the season — came in at 200.352 mph in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, while fellow Chevrolet driver Austin Dillon (No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet) at 200.347 mph rounded out the top five. All told, 13 drivers topped the 200 mph mark in the session.

Practice ended about 12 minutes early due to a lightning strike in the area.

Posted on July 4, 2019July 6, 2019 by Terrin Waack

The last time and really the only other time two teammates won four races apiece at this point in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season — 17 races down, 19 to go — one of them went on to hoist the championship trophy at the end of it all.

In 2007, Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon each made a trip to Victory Lane four times before July. Johnson took the checkered flag first at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, then repeated at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway and Richmond Raceway. Gordon got his streak going at ISM Raceway (then known as Phoenix International Raceway) and kept it alive at Talladega Superspeedway, Darlington Raceway and Pocono Raceway.

Johnson, thanks to his final points standing after four consecutive playoff victories, was ultimately crowned that season’s champion. Gordon just so happened to finish right behind him in second.

Fast forward 12 years, Joe Gibbs Racing has its own set of drivers following suit — so far. Kyle Busch has wins at ISM Raceway, Auto Club Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Pocono, while Martin Truex Jr.’s triumphs have happened at Richmond, Dover International Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Sonoma Raceway. Busch and Truex are currently second (659 points) and fifth (581 points), respectively, in the standings and locked into the playoffs.

What really takes this comparison to a new level is that both teams had 10 victories overall after 68 starts on the dot. Casey Mears (Charlotte) and Busch (Bristol) — his last season before switching from HMS to JGR — notched the other two for Hendrick Motorsports in 2007. Denny Hamlin (Daytona International Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway) is responsible for bringing Joe Gibbs Racing into double digits this year already.

The only team to ever top that win count so quickly was Carl Kiekhaefer Racing in 1956 with 13 out of 17 total.

All Hendrick Motorsports drivers combined for 18 wins in 2007. That number still stands as the single-season record by a team in NASCAR’s modern era.

Busch and Truex, along with the rest of their team and other competitors, take on Daytona this Sunday for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 (1 p.m. ET; NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Erik Jones, who’s also a part of Joe Gibbs Racing, won this race last year.

Team	Hendrick Motorsports	Joe Gibbs Racing
Season	2007	2019
Races	17	17
Starts	68	68
Wins	10	10
Top 5	26	28
Top 10	38	44
Laps Led	1,585	1,458
Average Finish	14.7	10.8

Stats courtesy of Racing Insights

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

It’s all business for rising NASCAR K&N Pro Series star Hailie Deegan behind the wheel, but away from the track, she never misses an opportunity to create a few laughs.

In a recent trip to a grocery store, Deegan stumbled upon a cardboard version of Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 car.

In her best effort to hide underneath the car, she ran into one problem.

@keselowski I need a bigger car😂😂 pic.twitter.com/EqrZ3W1sm1

— Hailie Deegan (@HailieDeegan) July 4, 2019