Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rookie Daniel Hemric had an impressive run going at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but he just didn’t have the finish to show for it.

The Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate was running fifth in the closing laps when a tire issue forced him to pit for service on the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. That led to a 20th-place result — but that was in no way a reflection of what Hemric and his new team have been able to build in a short amount of time.

RELATED: Promising run ends for Hemric, Preece

“Every new opportunity and every new situation you find yourself in, you hope to have that moment sooner than later,” Hemric told NASCAR.com on Wednesday. “Not only personally for myself, to give myself the confidence that I can run with those guys and race with those guys and do it at that level, but also for our team. I feel like every new team needs that spark and that little bit of that drive to know that you’re building toward something that can be extremely good. That’s what a moment like what we had Sunday at Atlanta will do to this 8 team”

While much of the No. 8 squad (formally the No. 31) led by crew chief Luke Lambert stayed intact over the offseason, it was Hemric and spotter Brandon Lyons who became new additions to the RCR Cup Series entry. The 27-year-old driver credits the extensive time they all spent team bonding to their jumpstart on the year — the team went over in detail every member’s duties from early Monday morning through late Sunday night.

“We spent a lot of time in the offseason going through communication stuff, did a week-long drill of just getting to know each other from a personal side, as well as a professional side,” Hemric said. “Really going into detail on what everybody’s jobs were and really understanding everything through and through. I feel that really cut our learning curve down substantially. I’m proud that we took that time because as we’ve started the season off here, I feel like we’ve hit the ground running and don’t have that lapse of really getting to know each other. I feel like it’s paying off and it’s showing on the race track.”

RELATED: Las Vegas entry list | Full Las Vegas schedule

Heading into this Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Hemric feels that the new fully implemented rules package gives his team even more opportunity to pounce on the competition.

“The cool part about this package that we have in the Cup Series this year is every week tends to feel like a new opportunity, especially since it’s so new to everybody,” Hemric said. “It’s a new opportunity and a chance for us to do something really incredible. I’m just happy to be a part of it and know we’ve got a shot at it week in and week out.”

RELATED: Las Vegas 101: New rules package

It’s been no secret that Richard Childress Racing as a whole has struggled over the past few years, but Hemric shed light on how the rules package allows the organization to improve its program without having to play a ton of catchup compared to seasons past.

“At RCR, we’re not in denial,” Hemric said. “We know the Cup Series program hasn’t been where we want it to be over the past couple seasons. This is the time where we’ve really been given a mulligan here to re-group and really kickstart 2019 off on par with everyone else. It’s our opportunity to get caught up and do it in a way-quicker manner than what you would in seasons past.”

Although Hemric stopped short of agreeing that a new rules package is a huge advantage for rookies like he, Ryan Preece and Matt Tifft, he noted that it’s “not a hindering element by any means.”

“Having that big of a rule package change and probably the biggest rules change-up in the history of the sport it quite some time since I can remember,” Hemric said. “Because of that, it does level the playing field. It opens up the level of opportunity up substantially for other teams. …

“Being a rookie coming in to it, it does really give me that much more confidence to know that if we put the work in and have the desire to get better day in and day out, then this package could lend to helping us get over that hump,” he added. “I feel like it’s already showing that we’re more than capable of doing that; we’ve gotta go produce.”

Speaking of rookies, Preece and the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing team also had a solid run going, but a crash on pit road with B.J. McLeod late in the race saw a potential top-10 finish dashed. Hemric anticipates a neck-and-neck battle with Preece for the top rookie honors throughout the season. It comes against a competitor with which he shares a similar short-track racing background.

WATCH: Preece slams into McLeod in Atlanta

“Oh, the Rookie of the Year battle I think is one of the most incredible ones we’ve seen in the sport in quite some time,” Hemric said.

“I have a ton of respect for Ryan and his path to get to this point in the sport. Mine and his upbringings are very similar. … Hopefully both of us can do some really incredible things and shine some light on the short-track world that if you give a short track guy a shot, good things can happen.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend, with Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) serving as the capstone of a third consecutive triple-header weekend.

This is the first race of the season in which Monster Energy Series cars will use both tapered spacers, to reduce horsepower, and aero ducts to transfer air to the side of the car away from the front tires, which should foster tighter racing. That baseline rules package of tapered spacers and aero ducts will be in place on a majority of speedways measuring longer than 1 mile, but this is the first weekend of the season both are in use.

We explain that, plus much more, below to get you ready for Sin City.

RELATED: Full weekend schedule

Know the rules

NASCAR officials announced in October two baseline rules packages for the 2019 Monster Energy Series season, making a move to bolster competition with enhanced aerodynamic and engine configurations.

The different packages are tailored to the specific tracks on the Monster Energy Series circuit, with a combination of a smaller tapered spacer to reduce engine horsepower to a target goal of 550 (from 750) and aero ducts to foster tighter racing on a majority of speedways measuring longer than 1 mile.

Although both features — the tapered spacer and the aero ducts — will be in place for 17 of 36 races, five other races will have just the tapered spacer and not the aero ducts. Atlanta’s race last weekend, for example, did not utilize the aero ducts.

RECAP: Las Vegas testing

Graphic for 2019 rules packages

What about the rest?

The full-blown package that includes both tapered spacers and aero ducts debuts this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where teams tested for two days in January. Similar tracks such as Kansas Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Kentucky Speedway will also utilize both — and so will 2-milers Auto Club and Michigan — but Sunday is the first race with the full package.

Other than Atlanta, Monster Energy Series races at Pocono (both of them), Darlington and the season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway will also deploy tapered spacers, but no aero ducts.

WATCH: Las Vegas drafting practice

All about that base-line

Beyond the tapered spacers and ducts, the baseline aero elements of the 2019 rules package are a taller 8-inch by 61-inch rear spoiler, a larger front splitter with a 2-inch overhang, and a wider radiator pan that measures 37 inches wide in the front tapering to 31 inches at the rear. Those base changes will be in place at every race next season with the intent of adding downforce to stabilize handling, a break from a trend of downforce reduction from 2015-18.

“For us, it’s really a focus on getting back to a true focus on the drivers and what NASCAR is all about — close side-by-side racing and trying to deliver more of that,” NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said when the rules were announced last year.

What’s Good(year)?

NASCAR teams go from one mile-and-a-half track in Atlanta — OK, technically it’s 1.54 miles — to another in Las Vegas. Conditions will be vastly different, however. Atlanta’s old, weathered surface is notorious for chewing up tires. The surface at Las Vegas is smoother and doesn’t wear tires to the degree of Atlanta, which saw three seconds of drop-off time, per lap, over the course of a fuel run.

Goodyear officials are bringing a new tire setup for both Monster Energy Series teams and Xfinity Series teams this week. The left-side tire is brand new and hasn’t been raced on outside of testing at the track earlier this year — although Goodyear plans to use them at “many tracks” this season, according to a release. The right side tire was used last year at both Michigan and Texas, but not Las Vegas.

“Since the track surface at Las Vegas has proven over the years to be one that generates minimal tire wear, we have made a change to our tire recommendation for this weekend’s races,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “Excessive heat is really the enemy of a race tire and tire performance. On surfaces that don’t naturally promote wear, it is important to design a tire that can handle and dissipate that heat, and this right-side utilizes a tread compound formulation which does that.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Three years ago it looked like Timmy Solomito was first in line to take down champion Doug Coby on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

Solomito won four races in 2016, and followed it up with five in 2017 — coming just a mere six points from ending Coby’s reign as champion of the Whelen Modified Tour. When the season ended, Solomito and his Eric Sanderson-owned team were ready to pounce heading into the 2018 season, looking to build on momentum and come out of the gates strong en route to what he hoped would be a title run.

Things didn’t go as planned.

Solomito failed to visit Victory Lane in 16 Whelen Modified Tour races last year and even though he finished fourth in the championship standings, the campaign didn’t live up to his, or his teams, standards.

“It’s a humbling sport — there are days you are going to be on top and days you are going to be at the bottom — but that’s all part of it,” Solomito said.

RACING-REFERENCE: Timmy Solomito’s Whelen Modified Tour Career

Can Solomito draw to any specific reason why the team didn’t have the success they wanted last year?

Maybe.

Originally, he took over for current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece, in 2015, and even though the first few years went well, he hit a rough patch last year, possibly because the team didn’t capitalize on a chance to get ahead of the game in the offseason.

“I thought to myself that I had some really big shoes to fill (when I took over for Preece). We started winning races, everyone was jelling well and we almost thought to ourselves that we had it figured out, so over the winter, we didn’t really try different things,” he said.  “We went back to our same notes and thought everything was going to be the same, but everyone steps up and you’re still on your old technology and you get behind the eight-ball. It’s almost where we were. We had some races where we ran well, but we didn’t run where we were the last two years.”

As Solomito mentions, since racing is a difficult sport to accomplish your goals constantly, the Islip, New York, driver is ready to take last year and put it in the rear-view mirror. But, before the season gets underway at Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina on March 16, Solomito has already taken a leap into a new venture in racing — just not behind the wheel.

THOMPSON, CT - OCTOBER 15: Timmy Solomito, driver of the #16 Starrett Tools Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Sunoco World Series 150 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Oct 15, 2017 in Thompson, Connecticut. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)

After years working for the Goodale family company, the 27-year-old is taking what started as some work he had been doing on his own and making it a full-time reality. Solomito officially embarked on a new challenge by opening Natural Design Concepts and Apparel full-time, where he specializes in wrapping all types of race cars and creating apparel for race teams across various different divisions. And that’s only the start of it all.

VISIT SOLOMITO’S COMPANY: Natural Design Concepts & Apparel Facebook Page

“My mom runs around hours endlessly that isn’t documented, she works for free. She has been behind 110 percent,” Solomito said of the help he had getting it off the ground running.

“I worked for the Goodale family, and it was a pleasure working for them for eight and a half years. I started a side company to make a little bit of extra money, and with the support of friends and family, I took a leap into my own company as of January 1. It’s really driven by friends and family. There have definitely been some sleepless nights but it’s a good feeling to know that you built something. I’m going to keep working on that, and keep focusing on the racing.”

So, with his schedule now stacked up right through to the season-opener, it wasn’t the easiest decision for Solomito to make when he planned a trip to Florida in February. But it wasn’t for leisure — as the No. 16 team went south to New Smyrna Speedway to compete in the 53rd annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing, hoping to gain some momentum and find some new tricks on the setup under the hood. Before that, he also competed in two Indoor TQ Midget events during the winter months.

“Sly Szaban (crew chief) and the guys did a bunch of work over the winter. We are just working on the car trying to learn something to prepare for Myrtle Beach and the rest of the Tour schedule,” he said at New Smyrna. “You think an hour of time in a Whelen Modified Tour practice is a lot of time, but honestly you show up at the track with what you know is going to work. You don’t go there with something thing outside the box because you don’t wanna be so far off the pace.”

“You come down here for a week and you have some time to try some different stuff. As a driver, it builds that focus and builds the momentum going into the season. I also ran the Indoor car this year and I feel like that helped me. I felt like my reaction time is better and I’m sharper. It’s a lot of money and a lot of preparation and you can wear a car out in a week, but you almost have to do it now. Just when you think these guys can’t get any better, they get better.”

No matter what, as he enters his fifth season driving for Sanderson and the team, Solomito is jelling better than ever with his crew members. And he wants to prove on the track that those two years filled with winning were no fluke.

“That’s one thing I have to say about this team — we’ve had good years and we’ve had bad years, finishing fourth in points last year, for someone to say that it was a bad year, most guys would kill to finish fourth in points. These guys are great,” Solomito said. “They are very loyal people. They stick behind you. I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys. The first day I sat down with Eric Sanderson, I could tell everything was done with a handshake, it’s not a contract, you don’t have to sign. It’s show up to the track and give me 150 percent and you’re in it for the year. Whether you are winning races or not winning races, people are going to talk. My guys stayed positive through it all.”

WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR: 2019 Schedule | Race Center | Series History

With the season just over two weeks away, Solomito is ready to get the ball rolling as he hopes to chase his first championship. The season will be a tough test for the New York native, but, he’s ready for the challenge. It begins at Myrtle Beach Speedway, a place where Solomito went to Victory Lane in 2017.

“I like when they throw new things at you,” he said of the 2019 schedule, which includes the addition of South Boston Speedway and Wall Stadium. “It gives everyone an even playing field when you show up to the track. I feel like we are already better off than we were last year.”

MYRTLE BEACH, SC - MARCH 18: Timmy Solomito, driver of the #16 Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Whelen Modified Performance Plus 150 presented by Safety Kleen at Myrtle Beach Speedway on March 18, 2017 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/NASCAR

Posted on by Steve Luvender

Easy mode?

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

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

 

NASCAR Heat 3 2019 season update released

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

 

Your last iRacing race in a GIF

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

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

eNASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series driver Nickolas Shelton got in on the action …

… which included an epic clapback.

Speaking of the PEAK iRacing Series …

 

Tonight: eNASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series at Las Vegas

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

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

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

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

 

New paint for Burton Kligerman eSports

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

 

Race teams compete for eNASCAR Heat Pro League draft order

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

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

 

Heat Pro League Showcase races continue

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

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

 

iRacing Paint Scheme of the Week

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

 

iRacing Video of the Week

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

 

NASCAR Heat 3 Video of the Week

How about this Texas-sized final lap?

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

 

Posted on by Holly Cain

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

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

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

RELATED: Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch make milestone starts

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

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

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

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

RELATED: Drivers with 600-plus Monster Energy Series starts

For Kurt Busch, this week’s westward expansion is not only about doing well in front of the home crowd — it’s about doing well in general.

Interestingly, the only track among the three West Coast stops where Busch hasn’t won previously, is his hometown track — Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He has a pair of pole positions and four top 10s but third place is his best effort and that came back in 2005, just after he won his series title. His recent showings there — 20th or worse in six of the last seven Vegas races — certainly provide motivation.

If last Sunday’s race — his second with the Ganassi team — is a true indicator, it seems as if he’s finding his footing with his new team and new power plant. Most encouraging for him, was that it wasn’t just himself that had a good day. He led a lap, and his teammate Kyle Larson led the most on the day (142) only to receive a late race pit-road penalty that left him 12th. The opportunity is there for the fast start to continue.

Posted on by Staff Report

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

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

RELATED: Atlanta race results

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

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

Posted on by Staff Report

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

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

RELATED: Keselowski wins Atlanta | Race results

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

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

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

Posted on by Jessica Ruffin

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

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

“I wouldn’t have made this race yesterday, I was nowhere near good enough,” he said after the race. “I lost five-and-a-half, six pounds in less than 10 hours and I was going the wrong way quick. So, thankfully it all turned around late yesterday afternoon and appreciate the help of those in the care center to make it possible.”

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

RELATED: Full Atlanta results

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

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

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

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

The sense of duty to a team encourages a driver to compete because it’s bigger than just one person — it’s a whole team that has worked tirelessly on the car and is counting on the best possible shot at Victory Lane. That’s especially true for a strong group like Team Penske, whose cars aren’t considered up to par if they aren’t contending for wins. And as Keselowski noted, adrenaline helps a driver put aside those symptoms during a high-pressure event like race day.

None of that, however, can take away from the fact that Keselowski didn’t just cruise along to salvage a decent day or even nab some valuable stage points to pad out his spot in the points. He went out and battled with strong competitors – including a hard racing session with teammate and defending champion, Joey Logano. And he did it well enough to win at a slick track that’s considered one of the toughest on the circuit, becoming the winningest Team Penske driver ever with his 60th victory and recording the series’ first win with the new Ford Mustang — all while under illness.

Talk about overachieving.

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

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

NASCAR drivers have a history of being tough — Dale Earnhardt wasn’t called “The Intimidator” or “Ironhead” for nothing. Today’s safety precautions have rightfully limited just how tough drivers can be; gone are the days when Richard Petty would race with a broken neck or Ricky Rudd would tape his swollen eyeballs open to run the Daytona 500. But the mental and physical toughness required to pilot a race car at nearly 200 mph for hours, inches away from other cars, is the same.

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

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

And that’s all probably true.

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

Posted on by Staff Report

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

RELATED: Race results | Keselowski prevails

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

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

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

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

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

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

MORE: Truex irked after runner-up finish

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

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

Posted on by Reid Spencer

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

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

RELATED: Full Atlanta results

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

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

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

“What a hell of a weekend. … It was just evil-tight all day long. We just couldn’t get the tight out of it. We were battling and running the wall all day long, and that’s where I needed to be in order to make up any time. Doing that, you run close to the fence, and you run into opportunities to get yourself in trouble. Overall, salvaged a decent day, I guess. We can move on out of here with some positives.”