Posted on by Zack Albert

Aric Almirola says he spoke with Joey Logano on Monday night, ironing out their differences after an on-track dust-up last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

Almirola had pointed words for Logano after their close-quarters battle for position late in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500. Logano drove on to a third-place finish, while Almirola lost momentum and dipped to eighth place in the final order.

RELATED: Playoff standings | NASCAR.com roundtable on incident

Almirola’s post-race interview Sunday contained hints at possible revenge, but in an interview Tuesday with NASCAR.com, the driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford said that he’s on better terms with his Team Penske rival after their Monday evening phone conversation.

“I think we both know where each of us stands and I feel good about it,” Almirola said. “I know a lot of people are confused at why I was upset when you look at the replay, but the reality is that as race car drivers, we both know the situation that we were in, and he knows kind of where my head was at and what I was thinking and I know where his head was at and what he was thinking, and we’ll move on. We’ll go from there.”

Moving on for now involves just two more races on the Monster Energy Series calendar, this Sunday’s Can Am 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at ISM Raceway in Phoenix and the championship finale Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Logano is locked into the four-driver hunt for the title, thanks to his victory late last month at Martinsville Speedway. Almirola sits in a must-win scenario at Phoenix to qualify for one of the two remaining Championship 4 slots.

RELATED: Phoenix schedule | Where is Almirola in this week’s Power Rankings?

Almirola said he didn’t quite have enough oomph to contend with eventual race winner Kevin Harvick or runner-up Ryan Blaney, but indicated that had he gotten past Logano for third place, he would have been in prime position had something happened between the two front-runners.

Almirola chalked up another portion of the conflict to the difficulties with racing two-abreast at the 1.5-mile Texas track, causing his car to get loose entering Turn 3 as he ran to the low side of Logano. With Logano already cleared for the Homestead finale, Almirola said he didn’t expect such a hard-fought contest for the spot.

“I was hoping he’d cut me a break to be quite honest and that didn’t happen to be the case,” Almirola said. “I feel like if we go to Homestead and for whatever reason I wasn’t in the championship that he would expect the same out of me. He would expect me to cut him a break if we restarted with 30 laps to go and he was third and I was fourth, I feel like he would expect me to cut him a break and let him go race for a championship, and that’s kind of what I was hoping for. Whether that was wrong or right of me is beside the point. I was mad and upset, and it didn’t work out for me.”

Almirola admittedly was bitter in his post-race interviews, having lost a chance to capitalize on any possible Harvick-Blaney trouble over the final laps. His tumble out of the top five also cost the Stewart-Haas Racing driver precious points in his fight to stay alive in the Monster Energy Series playoff picture.

“These are high-pressure times and the intensity level is incredibly high, and emotions run high in situations like this,” Almirola said. “I got cameras and microphones stuck in my face immediately upon getting out of the car and being upset, and everybody heard it.”

That heat-of-the moment response created some reaction of its own, with broadcast commentators and others on social media critical of Almirola’s stance on being raced hard in a late-race situation. The 34-year-old driver said he hasn’t let the opinions of others ruffle him as he continues to chase his first premier series title.

“If I worried about what other people thought, I wouldn’t be here where I’m at today,” Almirola said. “People are always going to criticize, especially on social media. It gives people that their opinions mean absolutely nothing still a platform to say whatever it is that they want. I really could care less what anybody thinks about what I said or what I did or anything about Texas or otherwise.

“The people’s opinions that matter the most to me are (team owners) Tony Stewart, Gene Haas, all the guys on my 10 team and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing, the people at Smithfield, Ford Motor Company — the people that directly impact my life and my career. All that outside stuff is just noise.”

Posted on by Steve Luvender

Getting Dirty with Clint Bowyer

While iRacing is traditionally known for its NASCAR-style stock car racing roots, it also offers a diverse platform of different racing disciplines, including road racing and dirt racing.

Newly minted iRacing dirt champion Zach Leonhardi won an experience of a lifetime: teaming up with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver and dirt aficionado Clint Bowyer to tear up some dirt on the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Other drivers expressed their respect for the program that gave an iRacer an exciting shot in a real race car.

Dale Jr. Talks Sim Racing’s Role

Longtime iRacing community member Dale Earnhardt Jr. spoke about the importance of online racing in developing his own team — including meeting his longtime spotter, TJ Majors, and late model driver Josh Berry.

 

While Junior’s racing online a little less frequently these days — you know, family obligations, a recent book release, and his job with NBC Sports — he admitted he still turns some practice laps from time to time.

Roval Progress

iRacing shared a work-in-progress screenshot of the Charlotte road course, expected for release soon.

Look out for those turtles!

Bubba’s Battlestation

Maybe we’ll catch Bubba Wallace turn some laps on iRacing with his sweet updated PC setup — in between streaming Call of Duty, of course.


NASCAR PEAK ANTIFREEZE iRACING SERIES UPDATE

The NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series crowned Ray Alfalla as 2018 champion two weeks ago, holding off defending champ Ryan Luza in a thrilling late-race battle.

The now-four-time champ will accept his $10,000 prize and a NASCAR championship ring at Homestead-Miami Speedway during Ford Championship Weekend.

Relive the season finale in three minutes:

The start of the off-season means Most Popular Driver voting for iRacing Series has opened.

Speaking of virtual NASCAR champions, recently-crowned eNASCAR Ignite Series champ Zack Novak stopped by Martinsville Speedway for some recognition at the site of where he clinched his title.


IRACING PAINT SCHEMES OF THE WEEK

While Jimmie Johnson’s official new Ally Financial paint scheme hasn’t been unveiled yet, that hasn’t stopped creative iRacing painters from using their imaginations in creating their own fictional design concepts.

Scott Pierchorowicz assembled a design worthy of consideration, down to the iconic yellow No. 48 numbers.

Anthony Mahone took a different approach with his design concept.

Painter Justin Bland tweaked a classic mid-2000s Hendrick Motorsports design to create a new paint scheme idea.

 

DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME

Everybody can agree flying race cars are a bad thing, even in the virtual world. Check out this close call, in which a car flips over another, somehow not taking out an innocent bystander car.

We have a lot of questions.

Posted on by Jordan Bianchi

Ahead of Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) — the final race in the Round of 8 — we take a look back on the 2014 race that propelled Kevin Harvick into the Championship 4 with a win, and Ryan Newman into the title mix with a late-race dump-and-run.

Coming Wednesday: A look back at the 2015 race.

The scene

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rolled into Phoenix for the Round of 8 elimination race with no drivers having clinched a spot in the Championship 4 the next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Non-playoff drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Martinsville) and Jimmie Johnson (Texas) had won the previous two races in the round.

In the first year of NASCAR’s new multi-round, elimination playoffs format, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin were tied atop the series standings by a two-point margin over third-place Ryan Newman, with Jeff Gordon provisionally holding the fourth and final transfer position. Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth each trailed Gordon by point, with Brad Keselowski 17 points back and Kevin Harvick 18 points back.

RELATED: Current playoff standings

That Harvick found himself teetering on playoff elimination was a surprise as he had dominated the regular season and postseason and was considered the championship favorite. He found himself in a sizeable points hole, however, due to a crash in the Round of 8 opener at Martinsville, and entered ISM facing a virtual must-win scenario. Working in Harvick’s favor, ISM presented an ideal track for him to maintain his championship eligibility by winning, as he had won there earlier in the season and three of the past four overall.

Logano and Hamlin seemed like good bets to qualify for the championship finale at Homestead, but still found themselves vulnerable if they had a disastrous result at ISM. The remaining drivers were in more tenuous situations, either needing a win to clinch a berth or misfortune to befall other title contenders.

MORE: Full results from 2014 Phoenix

The action

Conventional wisdom suggested Harvick would be the driver to beat and he wasted little time fulfilling that expectation. After qualifying third he moved into the lead for the first time on Lap 44, then proceeded to lead all but five laps the remainder of the way.

While Harvick dominated to secure one of the four available transfer spots, the battle for the other three slots intensified and was compounded by both Hamlin and Logano encountering various issues.

MORE: Harvick’s winning move last week

A flat tire forced Hamlin to make an unscheduled pit stop early, and on two occasions he would go down a lap. He rallied to finish fifth. Logano was penalized for removing equipment outside of his pit stall, eventually fell a lap behind and narrowly missed being collected in an accident. He too rallied and finished sixth. Both drivers advanced.

The battle for the final position was between Gordon and Newman, with Gordon seemingly set to claim the spot through a second-place finish. But a desperate Newman completed a brazen pass on Kyle Larson on the final lap that saw Newman dive-bomb going into Turn 3 then slide up the track and into Larson, whose car body-slammed the wall. By advancing his position Newman gained one point, the difference he needed to break a tie with Gordon and qualify for the Championship 4.

Ryan Newman is all smiles
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

The winner

Harvick led nearly 85 percent of the laps on the afternoon — including the final 187 — and won by a comfortable 1.6 seconds over Gordon. It was Harvick’s fourth win of the season and third straight at ISM. And considering the circumstances it was as clutch a performance as any in recent NASCAR history.

“Wow, I guess that’s what it feels like to hit a walk-off in extra innings there,” Harvick said. “I could tell that we were probably going to have to win, because everybody was running up in the front of the pack that we were racing against. I think this says a lot about our team. We had our backs against the wall. We’re in Victory Lane and we get to go on.”

The impact

Harvick, Hamlin, Logano and Newman — none of whom had ever won a premier series title — were the four drivers who advanced to Homestead with their championship aspirations intact. And in a thrilling finale where each of the title contenders ran near the front for much of the race, Harvick prevailed. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver did so with an inspired charge where he was 12th after making his final pit stop to passing Hamlin for the lead with eight laps remaining, then held off Newman on a restart with three laps remaining.

Posted on by Staff Report

Goodyear Racing will bring a new right-side tire for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race this weekend at ISM Raceway in Phoenix for the Round of 8 finale.

The tire features a slight construction update for Sunday’s Can Am 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the ninth of 10 postseason races for NASCAR’s top division. The switch is intended to promote adequate cooling on a 1-mile track where braking and brake heat are often a factor. The left-side tire code remains the same one that has been in place since March 2016.

RELATED: Full schedule for Phoenix

The decision stemmed from a tire test Oct. 2-3 at the Arizona track. Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson and Paul Menard participated in the two-day session.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series also will hold races this weekend that will determine the four-driver championship field for each circuit. The tire combination for both of those series remains unchanged from their most recent race at ISM Raceway.

Posted on by Staff Report

One race and three more spots are up for grabs in the Championship 4 for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will see seven drivers compete for the final spots available in the postseason finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 18.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

• Kyle Busch: Busch would clinch with 31 points and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick or a non-playoff driver), he would clinch with 28 points. With a win, he would clinch.

• Martin Truex Jr.: Truex would clinch with 34 points and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick or a non-playoff driver), he would clinch with 31 points. With a win, he would clinch.

• Kevin Harvick: If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. or a non-playoff driver), he would clinch with 53 points. With a win, he would clinch. Harvick could also clinch on points with a new winner, but would need help depending on the winner.

RELATED: Playoff standings | Full schedule for ISM Raceway

• Kurt Busch: The only guaranteed result that gives Kurt Busch a Championship 4 spot is a win. Busch could also clinch on points, but would need help depending on the winner.

• Chase Elliott: The only guaranteed result that gives Elliott a Championship 4 spot is a win. Elliott could also clinch on points, but would need help depending on the winner.

• Aric Almirola: Almirola can only clinch a spot with a win.

• Clint Bowyer: Bowyer can only clinch a spot with a win.

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Cole Custer won at Texas and Christopher Bell prevailed in a must-win scenario at Phoenix to seal automatic berths in the Championship 4. Daniel Hemric and Tyler Reddick advanced to the Homestead-Miami finale on the basis of points, completing a field of four drivers from four organizations for the title battle.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Johnny Sauter locked up a Championship 4 spot with a win at Martinsville, while Justin Haley prevailed at Texas to secure his fate in Miami. Brett Moffitt won at ISM Raceway to lock in, while Noah Gragson reached the Championship 4 on points.

Posted on by Staff Report

There’s plenty of pressure mounting as the NASCAR Playoffs head into the penultimate race of the season at the newly configured ISM Raceway in Phoenix. With one more chance left to punch an automatic ticket to the championship race in Miami, it’s understandable if drivers’ nerves are becoming a bit frayed.

Aric Almirola, who is 57 points below the playoff cutline after Sunday’s race at Texas, made no bones about his displeasure toward Joey Logano for a late-race move that left the driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford feeling miffed. With Almirola running in the top five, Logano appeared to bring the No. 22 Team Penske Ford down toward Almirola’s vehicle, taking some air off it and resulting in a bobble that shuffled Almirola back in the pack.

RELATED: Full race results

Almirola finished in eighth place while Logano came home third, and in his post-race interview with NBCSN, Almirola said, “When Homestead comes around, if I’m not in, he’ll know it.” When asked to elaborate, Almirola said, “I will just make it real difficult on him.” Almirola ended by saying about Phoenix, “I’m fired up, let’s go!”

Alrighty then! Were Almirola’s hard feelings toward Logano warranted? NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola, Jonathan Merryman and George Winkler debate.

PD: Aric Almirola is a nice guy. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt here and I’ve been wracking my brain trying to see this from his viewpoint, but I just can’t get behind it.

Sure, he can be displeased that Logano perhaps came down on him a little too close for comfort, but, for starters, there was no contact made and, secondly, what else does he expect a race car driver to do in a race, but to … race?

This playoff format is exciting for tons of reasons, one of which is exactly this situation. Logano is already locked into Miami so *conceivably* he could lay off the gas (pun intended) and coast into the title race. But that’s not how race car drivers are born and bred, and that’s certainly not how Logano — arguably the sport’s most-aggressive driver — would ever act on a race track.

RELATED: Updated playoff standings

Video games are way less fun when you change them to the easiest difficulty, and that’s essentially what Almirola is expecting out of his opponent. Unwarranted.

GW: I’m also having a hard time getting behind Almirola, but Logano’s aggressive driving gets under people’s skin. Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and now Almirola are some of the drivers who’ve come away either miffed — or in some cases swinging their fists — at Logano after he races them hard to the finish.

Whether or not Almirola’s hard feelings are warranted, it’s legitimate to wonder whether racing hard for third place at Texas will cost Logano in the end at Homestead-Miami. Because unless Almirola pulls off a clutch win at ISM Raceway this weekend, he likely will be out of it. And that will free him up to make life difficult for Logano, who will be racing for a championship.

So maybe next time in the interest of the bigger goal, Logano should leave the little battles alone and settle for a fifth-place finish or whatever. Hey, I’m all for competing hard for the win, but sometimes you have to be smart and make sure you don’t add another enemy to your list. And right now, that list of enemies is pretty long for Mr. Logano.

RELATED: Logano, Truex swap texts

JM: Joey Logano’s job is to put Roger Penske in a position to race for a championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway. I suspect Aric Almirola’s job requirements are to make sure he’s got a chance at a Cup title for his owner Tony Stewart.

That being said, just because Joey Logano is locked into the playoff finale set for later this month in South Florida doesn’t mean he needs to pull over to give another drive a shot at a win.

Logano is paid to win, something he has done 20 times in his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career. He’s done this by being a hard-nosed, never-give-an-inch racer, so don’t be surprised when he doesn’t let you by.

In the closing laps of the AAA Texas 500, Almirola said over his radio “That (expletive) won’t get a break at all from me when we get to Homestead, I  guarantee you that.”

Good. He shouldn’t. But that should be due to the fact he’s paid to drive a race car to the best finish possible every week, and not because he’s mad at Joey for doing just that.

RELATED: Almirola vows payback 

Posted on by Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — One race. Two championship bids remain.

There is so much anticipation as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to the new-look ISM Raceway in Phoenix this week to set the final two positions eligible for the series Championship 4.

MORE: Full Phoenix schedule | TV listings

Kevin Harvick won Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway to secure his fourth championship run in five seasons. Team Penske’s Joey Logano won at Martinsville Speedway two weeks ago to punch his first ticket to the title race in two years.

That leaves two positions remaining to earn a chance in the title bout. Regular season champion Kyle Busch holds a 28-point edge on the field going to Phoenix. And reigning series champion Martin Truex Jr. sits 25 points to the good.

Chase Elliott and Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer round out the list of eight eligible Playoff drivers, who will essentially need to hoist a trophy at ISM Raceway to earn their opportunity at the 2018 Monster Energy Series title.

MORE: Full NASCAR Playoffs standings

If the race winner of Sunday’s Can-Am 500 (at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio – Channel 90) is one of the eight championship eligible drivers, he would automatically earn a position in the Championship 4. If not, then two drivers from that group of eight would advance based on points.

All four Stewart-Haas Racing Fords are among those still vying for a title — Harvick, Kurt Busch, Almirola and Bowyer — and it’s the only four-car team to have all its drivers advance this far in the title run.

“Just the fact that we were able to get all four of them this far is an accomplishment, a huge year for our company,” team co-owner Tony Stewart said Sunday.

“Couldn’t be more proud of everybody. But the reality is we knew, everybody knew, when they started the playoffs that those first three spots were already for the most part taken unless they had a natural disaster happen.

“I guess from our standpoint now, I mean, we got one in. There’s one more race left. We got one more opportunity to get one more of those three in. No matter what, it’s been a record breaking year for our company in so many ways. There’s so many different records that have been broken, if Kevin is the only one that ends up in there, it’s still been a great season.”

Of the four drivers essentially needing a victory to break into the top-four in the standings, only Kurt Busch has won at ISM Raceway before. His brother Kyle and Joey Logano each have a victory, too. Harvick scored his ninth win at ISM Raceway this spring – most among the field; double that of any driver entered this week (Jimmie Johnson is next best with four wins).

Harvick’s Phoenix mastery includes a massive 1,522 laps led at the track compared to 827 for Kyle Busch — the two largest lap totals among the current eight Playoff drivers. Kurt Busch is next with 757 laps out front.

Among those still looking for that first Phoenix trophy, Truex has led only 104 laps in 25 starts. Elliott – the lone Chevrolet still running for the crown – has led 140 laps in only five ISM Raceway starts. Bowyer has led only 22 laps in 26 Phoenix races and Almirola is still looking for his first lap out front in what will be his 16th start.

Counting Harvick’s victory on Sunday, six of the eight Playoff drivers finished among the top-10 at Texas. Kyle Busch was 17th and Bowyer, who qualified on the outside pole position, was 26th.

“That stinks, first corner of the race,” Bowyer said of contact on the opening lap with Denny Hamlin.

“I’m sick. It wasn’t what we were hoping for today. We were having to turn right to get into the corner and were ploughing in the middle. I think something was going on with the car when it was getting in the corner.

“We’ll go to Phoenix and try to win. This isn’t over yet,” said Bowyer.

Past statistics certainly may not predict the outcome this week either. The track is debuting an incredible $178 million makeover featuring not only new fan amenities, but the one-mile oval itself will present differently. The start-finish line is essentially flip-flopped with it now located where Turn 2 used to be. 

RELATED: Revamped ISM Raceway set to awe

Whether Harvick’s previous amazing work at the track can be replicated on the fresh layout remains to be seen. Certainly there is plenty of motivation from the other Playoff drivers realizing this is their last opportunity to “win” their way in to a shot at the sport’s biggest trophy. 

The entire slate of championship chasers turned in good showings at Phoenix earlier this year. All four of the drivers essentially needing to win to secure a championship position scored top-10 finishes there this March. Kurt Busch was 10th, Elliott was third, Almirola was seventh and Bowyer was sixth.

Truex, the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota, was fifth in the spring and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was runner-up – his fifth top-five at Phoenix in the last six races. 

“I feel okay about where we are and feel like we’re in decent shape going to Phoenix,” Truex said Sunday. “We’ll go there and race hard again and see what we can do. I think we need a little more speed to run with the Fords – they’re clearly really, really fast right now and if we’re off just a little bit we can’t run with them.

“On the short run, they (Fords) were really fast, but on the long run I thought we were as good as anybody, but just never got to show it. Track position was so hard to get.”

Even needing to overcome a 25-point deficit, Kurt Busch seemed optimistic about his chances to rally into the championship field.

“We are in a good position,” Busch said. “There are a lot of other people I would like to be right here.”

It all comes down to one thing.

“We’ve got to win, simple,” Chase Elliott said.

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FORT WORTH, Texas — For winner Kevin Harvick, Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway was an opportunity capitalized: He ran a strong race and punched his ticket to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

For other NASCAR Playoffs contenders, the overtime event was a series of struggles, mistakes and, ultimately, missed opportunities with only one race remaining until Miami.

Call it pressure from the playoffs, or simply human error, that led to mistakes. But they hurt — and some worse than the others.

RELATED: Complete race results | Playoff standings | Harvick dominates 

“We had two mistakes today and they were a driver error and a pit crew error,” said No. 18 crew chief Adam Stevens, whose driver Kyle Busch finished 17th. “Mistakes happen. There’s never a good time for them and we had two of them today.

“You speed on pit road, you go to the back and you have a loose wheel under green then lose a couple laps and we just couldn’t get back on the lead lap. Obviously at the very end we did, but it didn’t matter at that point with only a green-white-checkered to finish. Felt like we had something we could have raced for.”

Fellow playoff contender Martin Truex Jr. also made a crucial mistake when he drove through too many pit boxes after pitting for a loose wheel. The No. 78 team had been looking for redemption after last week’s heartbreak at Martinsville Speedway. Instead of battling up front for the win, Truex finished ninth and sits 25 points above the cutline.

“I’m telling you, God is testing us,” Truex said. “There’s no question. Had to start at the back, got to the front, hung around there for a while and then had a loose wheel there again. Just a tough day. …Proud of everybody on this Bass Pro/5-hour ENERGY Toyota and feel like we’re in decent shape going to Phoenix. We’ll go there and race hard again and see what we can do.”

RELATED: Truex being tested

While Truex was able to maintain a decent position in the standings despite the mishaps, Clint Bowyer wasn’t as fortunate. The No. 14 driver experienced problems early when he made contact with Denny Hamlin in the opening laps, putting the team two laps down. After using strategy to gain back a lap, his day worsened when he was penalized for a crew member over the wall too soon at Lap 164. Six laps later, he was penalized again for pitting before pit road was open.

The mistakes put Bowyer last in the playoff standings – 73 points from the cutline – and in a must-win situation heading into the penultimate race at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. After finishing 26th, the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing driver was visibly frustrated.

“It was a good weekend for us and bad day,” he said.

Next week’s race at ISM Raceway is a chance for Harvick and Logano, who was locked into the Championship 4 at Martinsville, to gain another win and perhaps some good, old-fashioned momentum heading into the finale.

For the six other Championship 4 hopefuls, next Sunday’s event is a last-chance, all-or-nothing opportunity to battle for the title at Miami.

As Bowyer said walking away at Texas, “Go get ‘em.”

Posted on by

FORT WORTH, Texas — Crew chief Chad Knaus and other Hendrick Motorsports personnel visited the NASCAR hauler following Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway to meet with NASCAR officials after the No. 48 team was mistakenly sent to the rear of the field pre-race for failing inspection.

NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell issued an apology to the No. 48 team and said league officials would work to better the communication in the future.

RELATED: Complete race results

“It’s unacceptable on our part,” O’Donnell said. “There was a communication breakdown that happened right before the start of the race between the ground and race control, where I think there was an assumption there was a third failure. There wasn’t, there were only two. In that case, the 48 (of driver Jimmie Johnson) shouldn’t have started in the back.

“So, at this point, what we can do is put processes in place to fix that so it never happens again. It’s disappointing. It’s not something you can fix during the race, unfortunately. So all we can do is own up to it and fix it.”

Johnson had qualified 23rd for Sunday’s event in the Lone Star State. His No. 48 Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection two times, which calls for a loss of practice time.

NASCAR officials announced over the radio that the No. 48 was to drop to the rear after it was recorded as three failures.

“It’s very difficult,” said Knaus, who was atop the pit box calling the race for Johnson for the 600th time Sunday. “We had some communication with one of our officials. He didn’t think that was the case, so that’s why I kept Jimmie in his position with one lap to go before we took the green flag. At that point, NASCAR was very adamant that we needed to go to the rear. Which, with the information the race director had at that point, we needed to go to the rear.

“So, it was just a miscommunication.”

O’Donnell said by the time they’d realized the mistake, the race already had begun.

“It was written down as a third failure. So, that’s where it broke down,” O’Donnell said. “When it goes out and it’s during the parade laps and there’s a lot going on … we didn’t hear from the team at that point, or maybe we missed it. So, at that point once we recognized in race control a mistake had happened, we already started the race.”

Hendrick Motorsports Vice President of Competition Jeff Andrews and No. 48 team co-owner Jeff Gordon also visited the NASCAR hauler with Knaus, who spoke to the group’s conversation on how to remedy the situation moving forward.

“As an industry, we need to try to figure out a way to make that happen a little bit better,” Knaus said. “(NASCAR is) working on looking into a way to try to make it where we have a direct line of communication.

“NASCAR sees the error and mistake, and they’re going to work to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick had a big day Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, winning the AAA Texas 500 with maximum bonus points and locking into the Championship 4 — but pulling a kid out of the stands and taking a selfie on the track was maybe an even bigger hit with fans.

The boy’s name is Joel Cram III and Harvick plucked him from the stands after taking the checkered flag and doing a finish-line interview on television.

Havick said later he hopes it’s a moment Joel will never forget. Pretty safe bet.

Kevin Harvick takes a selfie with a young fan at Texas Motor Speedway.
Twitter: @ilovesandwiche

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