Truex Jr.: Miami results ‘even out’ over past two years

Posted on November 28, 2018November 29, 2018 by Reid Spencer

LAS VEGAS — Martin Truex Jr. thought he had the Championship 4 race won — until a late caution intervened and gave Joey Logano the chance he needed to deny Truex a second straight title.

“No question,” Truex said. “If it wasn’t for a bad pit stop on the (earlier) green-flag stop… we had a straightaway lead at that point. We were running those guys down really fast.

“I had already passed the 22 (Logano) for second, and I was catching the 4 car (Harvick) three or four tenths (of a second) a lap. I mean, it wasn’t going to take long — but it doesn’t really matter now, does it?”

Truex didn’t have the fastest car last year, but he managed to hold off Kyle Busch in the championship race.

“It’s hard to get completely devastated about a race working out that way,’ said Truex, who will be driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2019. “We did all we could do. We put ourselves in position, made the right decisions.

“The year before, we were the second-best car. Kyle had it won, and the pit strategy — the way we played it out — we caught the caution at the right time and got the lead and were able to hold him off. So it’s like you win one you maybe shouldn’t have, and you lose one you maybe shouldn’t have. They kind of even out.”

Posted on November 28, 2018November 29, 2018 by Reid Spencer

LAS VEGAS — What was a dream to Joey Logano became an ambition, and on Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, ambition became reality.

The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford won the season finale at the South Florida track to claim his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship, and the reality of that first title sank in as soon as Logano crossed the finish line.

RELATED: Logano soaking in title

“This is what we’ve worked for our whole life,” Logano said on Wednesday at the Wynn Las Vegas after the NMPA Myers Brothers Awards. “Not 10 years that we’ve been trying at the Cup level, but it started in ’95 when I first got behind the wheel of a go-kart. That’s when this goal started.

PHOTOS: Sights from Logano’s Vegas tour

“There was never a second thing that I was going to try to do. This was it — NASCAR champion.”

Not that Logano considered a Cup championship a possibility when he was 5 years old — but he could dream.

“You’re a kid, and it’s a dream,” Logano said. “Maybe a goal is a little different. It’s a dream at that point. A lot of kids want to be NASCAR champion, and I’m here to say it can happen, as long as you keep working hard and taking advantage of the opportunities in front of you.

“When I went to elementary school, and they said, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’, it was always race car driver.”

MORE: Full Champion’s Week schedule

Posted on November 28, 2018November 29, 2018 by Reid Spencer

LAS VEGAS — During his recent car swap in Bahrain with former Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso, seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson was impressive in his first stint in an F1 car, running only two tenths of a second slower that Alonso’s fastest lap.

But Alonso impressed Johnson in a stock car, too — and surprised the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

“One thing that really surprised me was how good he was at sliding the car around,” Johnson said. “In Formula 1, you don’t really slide those cars, but I rode with him in some type of McLaren sports car on some hot laps, and he was dead sideways the entire time.

“I said, ‘I thought you drive a Formula 1 car straight,’ and he said, ‘You do, but I like to slide.’ So, the entire time, he was boiling the tires in the sports car. And when he got in the Cup car, I don’t think he ever went straight. He was sliding and drifting through every turn, amazing car control …

“I don’t think he knows what his plans are for 2019, but I’d love to have him in NASCAR.”

Posted on November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 by Staff Report

The NMPA Myers Brothers Awards were held on Wednesday, November 28 at the Wynn Las Vegas. Here’s a rundown of who took home the awards.

Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award: William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Champion Buddy Shuman Award: Grant Lynch, Talladega Superspeedway Chairman
Busch Pole Award: Kurt Busch, No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
NASCAR Marketing Achievement Award: ExxonMobil’s Mobil 1 brand
Mechanix Wear Pit Crew of the Year: No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew
MOOG Go the Extra Mile Crew Chief of the Year Award: Adam Stevens, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
MAHLE Clevite Engine Builder of the Year Award: Doug Yates, Roush Yates Engines for performance of No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Mobil 1 Performance Award: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Sunoco Diamond Performance Award: Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Goodyear NASCAR Series Champion Award: Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Sponsor Award: Shell-Pennzoil
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Crew Crew Award: Todd Gordon, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
NMPA Myers Brothers Award: NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France

Posted on November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 by Zack Albert

LAS VEGAS — NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France was presented Wednesday with the 2018 NMPA Myers Brothers Award for outstanding contributions to the sport of stock-car racing.

France, 74, has served on the board of the International Speedway Corporation for more than four decades, leading the transformation of a number of tracks, including the $400 million re-imagining of Daytona International Speedway as a motorsports showplace. He is the son of NASCAR founder William H.G. “Big Bill” France.

The announcement came Wednesday at the Encore Theater at the Wynn Las Vegas as part of Champion’s Week festivities. The events will be capped by Thursday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards, where Joey Logano and his team will be celebrated as the 2018 champs.

PHOTOS: Scenes from Champion’s Week

“Holy smokes,” France said after taking the stage. He then recounted his memories of spending the summers of his youth watching both Billy and Bobby Myers compete at historic Bowman Gray Stadium.

“To receive this honor in their name is very special,” France said. “I’ve had the opportunity the last part of this season to spend a lot of time again in the garage area and pits of our racing series, and I’d like to pass on one quick observation. From the 1950s in the pits at Bowman Gray Stadium to the 2018 pits in the NASCAR Monster Energy Series, that NASCAR spirit, a competitive spirit of the drivers and teams, is alive and well, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

France was presented with the NASCAR Hall of Fame Landmark Award in 2018. That honor was introduced in 2015 to recognize individuals who have made “significant contributions to the growth and esteem of NASCAR.”

France has been instrumental in leading two key motorsports mergers during his tenure. In 2012, he brought Grand-Am Road Racing together with the American Le Mans Series under the IMSA banner. In April, he helped to announce NASCAR’s acquisition of the ARCA stock-car circuit.

France assumed the role of NASCAR Chairman and CEO in August. He replaced Brian France, who has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the company.

NASCAR President Steve Phelps lauded France’s contributions and his involvement with the stock-car racing industry during a season-ending address Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“Jim is a man who has lived NASCAR his entire life,” Phelps said. “He is a racer through and through. He raced himself. He loves racing. He loves NASCAR. The top of that pyramid, the top of the structure is incredibly strong.”

The Myers Brothers Awards also recognized newly crowned Cup champion Joey Logano, who received the Sunoco Diamond Performance Award and the Goodyear gold car – a replica of his championship-winning No. 22 Ford – for his efforts in securing his first title.

Logano couldn’t take his eyes of the gold trophy, which gleamed from the stage in the theater.

“That is the coolest trophy in all of sports,” Logano said, who preceded his crew chief, Todd Gordon, to the dais.

“What a great year to be a part of Team Penske,” Gordon said. “(Team owner) Roger (Penske) was voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Will Power won our 17th Indianapolis 500, Brad Keselowski won our first Brickyard 400, Ryan Blaney won the inaugural Charlotte Roval race, Scott McLaughlin won the Australia Supercars championship, and we checked off the last current Cup track that Penkse hadn’t won at with a win and championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway.”

Talladega Superspeedway president Grant Lynch was the recipient of the 2018 Buddy Shuman Award, which recognizes individuals who have played vital roles in ensuring the continued growth and popularity of NASCAR racing.

“Man, y’all can keep a secret,” said Lynch in an emotional speech. “I never thought I would get where I did, and you don’t get there without people who put their faith behind you.”

First-year Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron took Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, but he was eager to put his status as a neophyte behind him.

“No more rookie meetings, and that’s a freedom I haven’t had in my short NASCAR career so far,” Byron said. “With that being said, I’m ready to have a little fun tomorrow when I turn 21 and take those rookie stripes off.”

Contributing: Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Posted on November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 by Jonathan Merryman

LAS VEGAS — They say the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. For 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Joey Logano, the grass is, indeed, greener as the NASCAR champion in Las Vegas.

“It’s been fun so far,” Logano said Wednesday during a tour of Las Vegas during NASCAR Champion’s Week. “We have stopped at a couple of (famous Vegas landmarks), the Las Vegas sign and now here at the Bellagio. It’s really neat being able to experience everything here at Champion’s Week.”

MORE: Full Champion’s Week schedule | Preview

Logano missed the playoffs last year after came up short in the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2014 and 2016. The Team Penske driver made sure to make his third shot at the title count.

“I guess you really don’t enjoy (Champion’s Week) much if you don’t win,” he said. “I have been on that side more times than not so to be able to do all of the fun stuff and enjoy it, I have really been looking forward to it for the last week and a half or so.”

During the reigning champ’s two stops on his Las Vegas landmark tour, he made sure to stop and take photos with fans in front of the famous “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign and his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. The trip then took the 28-year-old to the Bellagio fountain for more photos with his crew chief Todd Gordon, who takes the experience as motivation to be back at the head table next season.

“I’m anxious to get on stage because I know we both talk about it every year and sit in the crowd,” said Gordon. “It’s motivation to want to get out of the crowd and up on stage. That will be a really cool moment.”

Posted on November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 by Alex Weaver

ORLANDO, Fla. — Adrenaline pumping, 90-degree angles, a drop of 25 stories and reaching 70 mph. No, we’re not talking about racing — at least not in a stock car.

Welcome to Universal Studios Florida, where 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick was living it up Tuesday on the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit Roller Coaster. Reddick celebrated his championship with coasters, a taste of the Butterbeer at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and a virtual Jimmy Fallon and the Roots on a race through New York.

PHOTOS: Behind the scenes of Reddick’s day

Reddick, who won the title driving the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, spent the day reminiscing on the special victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway that won him the trophy.

The backdrop of palm trees and sunny Universal Orlando resort put the champ in a much-deserved vacation mood. If his childhood dreams weren’t already fulfilled by winning a NASCAR championship, being the grand marshal in the Universal parade surely did the trick. So, too, did the long line of NASCAR enthusiasts who lined the streets of the park’s main plaza for an autograph session and photos with Reddick.

The day wouldn’t be complete without hitting all of the rides the park had to offer. Reddick, a thrill seeker, attacked the biggest coasters first and closed the day with characters from “The Grinch,” “Harry Potter” and “The Simpsons.”

So, how was his day? Reddick answered that with a bold prediction for 2019.

“Amazing — and I’ll see you guys again for the same Champ’s tour, this time, next year,” he said.

Posted on November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 by Staff Report

In the spirit of giving back to the community in the holiday season, The NASCAR Foundation hosted its second annual “Speedy Bear Brigade” on Tuesday, Nov. 27, a day designated as “Giving Tuesday.”

More than 60 volunteers across all NASCAR office locations and select NASCAR tracks delivered 1,000 Speedy Bears to children receiving treatment at 24 hospital locations across the country.

“The ‘Speedy Bear Brigade’ truly demonstrates the generosity of NASCAR Nation,” The NASCAR Foundation Executive Director Nichole Krieger said. “The bears we are providing will put smiles on the faces of so many children in the hospital and will hopefully ease some of the pain that they may be going through.”

Noah Gragson spent time at the Teddy Bear Clinic at Levine Children’s Hospital. | Photo via Tyson Winter

In addition to employee volunteers, several NASCAR drivers joined The NASCAR Foundation’s efforts, including NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Noah Gragson, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Jennifer Jo Cobb, NASCAR Next drivers Ryan Vargas and Anthony Alfredo and NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and NASCAR Whelen All-American Super Late Model Series driver Cassie Gannis.

“I’m really excited to be working with The NASCAR Foundation this week for Giving Tuesday,” Gragson said following his visit to Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. “To be able to visit the children’s hospital and spend time with all the kids is a great experience. It is so cool to be able to see the smiles on their faces.

“Whenever I get to meet these great people at the children’s hospital, that brings a lot of happiness to me and really puts life in perspective. These children and families have been through a lot, and if I can help put a smile on their faces, then that’s the most important thing I can be doing.”

Volunteers from NASCAR’s headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida, made several stops in conjunction with Halifax Health: the Speediatrics inpatient pediatric unit and pediatric emergency department, the Keech Neighborhood Health Clinic and Brooks Pediatric Outpatient Rehabilitation Center.

“We love when the Speedy Bear Brigade stops by to deliver Speedy Bears to our patients and their families. Speedy Bears bring so much comfort and joy to our patients,” said Amy Christie, pediatric nurse manager at Halifax Health. “They also serve as a great teaching tool prior to procedures. When a patient needs an I.V. and is scared to get one, but then sees their own Speedy Bear get one, too, it helps them to be a little less afraid to receive the care they need to get well.”

NASCAR Next driver Ryan Vargas was a big part of Giving Tuesday. | Photo by Jasmine Neely

The second annual Speedy Bear Brigade is organized through The NASCAR Foundation’s Speediatrics Children’s Fund, which supports needs expressed by hospitals, specialty clinics, camps and others providing children’s medical and health care services.

Additional participating locations in the Speedy Bear Brigade include: Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Dover International Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Iowa Speedway, ISM Raceway, Kansas Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Richmond Raceway, Road Atlanta, Sebring International Raceway, Talladega Superspeedway, Watkins Glen International and NASCAR offices in Charlotte, Concord, Daytona New York and Los Angeles.

To join the efforts, visit NASCARfoundation.org/GivingTuesday to make a contribution to further the organization’s efforts to bring smiles to children in the hospital.

Photo courtesy of Sydnei Fryson

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Staff Report

Elliott Sadler has been named the NASCAR Xfinity Series Most Popular Driver for the third consecutive year.

Sadler retired from full-time NASCAR national series competition following the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, ending a 23-year tenure that saw him compete in 853 races across the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series.

RELATED: Final Xfinity Series standings

The driver of the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet finished fifth in the final Xfinity Series standings after making it through to the Round of 8 in the Playoffs, concluding his last season with 14 top-five and 24 top-10 finishes.

The award for Sadler, 43, continues a seven-year run for JR Motorsports drivers. Other former JRM drivers to earn the honor during that time include Chase Elliott (2014-15), Regan Smith (2013) and Danica Patrick (2012). The Virginia native also won the award in 2011.

Sadler will be honored at the Xfinity Series Awards banquet on Dec. 8 in Charlotte.

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Staff Report

Noah Gragson has been voted the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Most Popular Driver in his second full-time season.

Gragson ended the year second in the final standings, finishing runner-up to Truck Series champion Brett Moffitt after making the Championship 4 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

RELATED: Final Truck Series standings

The driver of the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota finished the year with one victory, eight top-five and 17 top-10 finishes. Along the way, he captivated and entertained fans through his humor and openness on social media platforms.

The 20-year-old is set to move up to the Xfinity Series with the Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned JR Motorsports, taking over the No. 1 Chevrolet following Elliott Sadler’s retirement from full-time competition.

Gragson will be honored at the Camping World Truck Series banquet on Dec. 8 in Charlotte.