Posted on by Zack Albert

CONCORD, N.C. — Competition officials Saturday morning announced updates to the in-race penalty procedures for this weekend’s NASCAR events on the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.

The updated race procedures specifically involve penalties for shortcuts at the 2.28-mile track’s two chicanes, marked as Turns 11-12 and Turns 15-17. The decision was reached after receiving feedback from teams and drivers after Friday’s on-track activity.

Both sections are outlined by curbing. The latter chicane, just beyond the pit entrance and the oval track’s Turn 4, is also defined by synthetic turf.

Should a driver cut the course in the Turn 11-12 chicane, the penalty would require drivers to come to a full stop in the restart zone alongside Turns 15-17. If a driver cuts the Turns 15-17 chicane, they would be required to stop on the apron off the racing surface before the start-finish line.

RELATED: Charlotte road course 101 | Turn-by-turn analysis

Teams would be assessed a pass-through penalty if drivers fail to serve their penalties by stopping in the designated areas. Pass-through penalties would also be issued if, in NASCAR’s discretion, drivers intentionally cut the chicanes.

NASCAR will also use its discretion to determine whether drivers should be penalized for missing either chicane if they are attempting to avoid an accident. In that case, NASCAR officials would forgo penalties and re-order the lineup based on running position before the evasive action.

In the previously outlined procedures, officials were to either issue a pass-through penalty on pit road or assess a 30-second time infraction if the penalty was unable to be served during the race distance. The 30-second penalty still applies to violations under the new procedures.

The updated procedures will be in place for Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 200 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM) for the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Sunday’s inaugural Bank of America Roval 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM) in the Monster Energy Series.

Competition and track officials also applied rubber to two areas of the track before Saturday’s on-track activity. The “Tire Dragon” machine, designed to enhance grip by dragging used tires onto the racing surface, was used in Turns 3-4 and 5-6 after Friday’s Busch Pole Qualifying and before Saturday’s Monster Energy Series practice.

Posted on by Staff Report

Trackside Live is heading back to Charlotte Motor Speedway to help celebrate the first Roval weekend in NASCAR history. The two shows will be on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET and Sunday, Sept. 30 at 10:15 a.m. ET.

WATCH: Trackside Live | MORE: Full schedule for Roval | Buy your tickets

Don’t miss your chance to meet your favorite drivers and get in on the playoff action!

Posted on by Zack Albert

CONCORD, N.C. — Kyle Larson has qualified among the top five for the last three Watkins Glen races and won the pole position at Sonoma Raceway two years running.

So perhaps Friday’s fifth-place qualifying effort ahead of Sunday’s inaugural Bank of America Roval 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) shouldn’t present such a striking surprise for the driver of Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 Chevrolet. Still, Larson was hesitant to take on the label of road-race specialist ahead of the first Monster Energy Series event on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s combination road course and oval layout.

RELATED: Turn-by-turn at the Roval | See every car in the field

“Maybe a qualifying expert, but not a race expert, that’s for sure,” Larson said. “I seem to struggle when it comes to racing on road courses. For whatever reason, I feel like our cars always qualify good on short tracks and road courses. We’ve gotten better in race conditions, so hopefully this weekend we can have a decent balance on it and not be too out of control and keep from making a mistake. We’ve seen a lot of people have issues already, so just try to be cautious to not make a bad day out of Sunday.”

Larson was involved in test sessions at the 2.28-mile course then rolled to the sixth-best time in Friday’s opening Monster Energy Series practice. But the Roval circuit continues to be a mystery for the 40-car field in terms of what to expect in race conditions.

RELATED: Full schedule for Charlotte | Starting lineup

With drivers not yet pushing the limits to complete passes, side-by-side action has been limited so far. That’s why Larson says he’ll be a curious observer in Saturday’s preliminary event, the Drive for the Cure 200 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) for the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

“I’m definitely going to be paying attention to the Xfinity race to see how they start that thing,” Larson said, “then also just seeing how we go down to the end of pit road.” The layout requires a sharp left at the commitment line, a tight turn if cars are running abreast.

Whatever the outcome, the week has already been a memorable one in the life-event category for Larson, with Sunday’s event coming on the heels of his Wednesday wedding to longtime girlfriend Katelyn Sweet. The couple was engaged last December and has two children, 3 1/2-year-old son Owen and 4-month-old daughter Audrey.

MORE: Larson, Sweet tie the knot

Friday afternoon on pit road, Larson reflected on the nuptials with equal parts elation and relief.

“I feel like our lives are so, there’s no certain schedule or stuff,” Larson said. “We’re pretty crazy and just go with the flow of things, so having a midweek wedding in the middle of the season, middle of the playoffs is just normal life. It’s just cool to get it done, and it went perfect. It was a lot of fun. Glad to have it over with, though. I slept a bunch yesterday. I’m ready to go home and sleep some more.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

CONCORD, N.C. – Kurt Busch and his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford crashed the Chevrolet party at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Friday, winning the pole for a race in which the word “crash” could be commonplace.

Running late in the final round, Busch toured the 2.28-mile, 17-corner course in 76.805 seconds (106.868 mph) to edge road-course ace AJ Allmendinger (76.846 seconds at 106.811 mph) for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Full results | Weekend schedule | Best photos

On a track that will host its first NASCAR events this weekend, Busch earned his fourth Busch Pole Award of the season and the 26th of his career, after spending time on the Ford simulator preparing for the debut race.

“This is really special to win any inaugural race or pole,” Busch said. “To have this little trophy next to me means a lot. It brings me back to my past, when you go into a new event and you’re a rookie, you have to execute with fundamentals and an open mind. 

“The way our team on the 41 car approached this weekend was to make sure that we had all bases covered, with front cambers, rear shocks — the setup in general and all those little things. Behind the scenes, I spent over two days at the Ford simulator, working on the Roval, making sure my shift points were proper, braking zones. …

“When you have such good technology available to you, it’s a matter of utilizing it. I turned 40 this year, and here I am on the simulator, acting like it’s a video game. You have to do those things, and I’m really happy that it panned out today.” 

Led by Allmendinger, Chevrolets claimed the next five starting spots and eight of the top 12. Alex Bowman (106.800 mph) qualified third, followed by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott (106.596 mph). Both drivers are in vulnerable positions entering the Round of 16 cutoff race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Playoff drivers Kyle Larson and Jimmie Johnson earned the fifth and sixth spots on the grid for what should prove an action-packed race, based on a continuous succession of incidents in opening practice. 

WATCH: All the opening practice incidents

“We’re going to see two races, I think,” said Allmendinger, who said he probably could have nit-picked his final-round lap and found an extra half second, provided he stayed mistake-free. “You’re either going to see everybody get so cautious because of all the accidents in practice, and people are on the cutoff line for the playoffs; or we’re race car drivers, and we’re not very smart and we just go out there and get crazy and tear up a lot of stuff.

“Either one could happen, and I think it’ll probably be the second.” 

WATCH: Drivers’ thoughts on Roval: ‘We’ll deliver in a big way’

Playoff drivers Clint Bowyer and Ryan Blaney qualified seventh and ninth, respectively, in Fords, with Erik Jones taking the 12th starting position in the only Toyota in the top 12.

Chevrolet driver Chis Buescher qualified 10th, followed by Daniel Hemric, who was announced on Friday as the full-time driver of the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, starting in 2019. Hemric is driving the No. 8 RCR Chevy for his second Cup start this weekend.

None of NASCAR’s Big 3 advanced to the final round. Martin Truex Jr. claimed the 13th starting spot, missing the final 12 by .040 seconds. Kyle Busch will start 14th and fellow seven-time winner Kevin Harvick 19th.

Joey Logano earned the 15th spot, with fellow playoff drivers Aric Almirola 20th, Austin Dillon 24th, Brad Keselowski 25th and Denny Hamlin 27th.

Hamlin, who entered the weekend ranked last among 16 playoff drivers, encountered trouble early in the first round on his initial qualifying lap as he clipped the barrier wall on the backstretch chicane that sent him careening into the outside wall and causing damage to the rear of his car. Hamlin and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing crew was able to repair his Toyota for him to make another qualifying lap, but his speed was still worst among playoff drivers. He will go to a backup car for Sunday’s race and start from the rear.

Moments later, Jones tagged that same wall — the one that also caused damage to Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet in practice earlier in the day — but continued on, despite some damage. He still managed the 11th-fastest lap in the first round.

Brad Keselowski also damaged the side skirt on his No. 2 Team Penske Ford when he ran over a “turtle” bumper at an awkward angle in his initial qualifying lap.

Contributing: Staff Reports

Posted on by Holly Cain

For the first time in his seven-year full-time career, Aric Almirola is on his way to advancing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. He’s not just making an appearance on the big stage, he’s ready to contend. 

The 34-year old Tampa, Florida, native is in his first season driving the No. 10 Ford for the championship-winning Stewart-Haas Racing team. And there is a smile on his face and confidence in his heart as he prepares for Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course (at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Almirola is ranked sixth among the 16 playoff drivers with a 23-point cushion on the cut line – only two points behind fifth-place Joey Logano and six points over seventh-place Kyle Larson. 

RELATED: Playoff standings

He didn’t luck his way into contention and he hasn’t coasted on the first-year accomplishment with his team.

“I think we (home) in on what we do and we show up and put our head down and go to work, and some weekends it’s good enough to run up front and win, and some weekends it’s not,” Almirola said. “But our goal is to go and maximize every week and these last couple weeks we’ve showed up to the race track with speed and run up front — and we’ve been kind of riding that high and riding the momentum.” 

With eight races remaining in the 2018 season, Almirola already has almost twice as many top-10 finishes (12) as his next best full season effort (seven in 2014). His 116 laps led this year is almost equal to his total (118) of the previous six full seasons combined.

This is the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs he has qualified for since his lone premier series victory in 2014 in Daytona. And having this most legitimate and promising opportunity to contend at the highest level is clearly something Almirola could get used to. 

He has two top-10 finishes — sixth at Las Vegas and fifth at Richmond – in the two opening playoff races, and earned a healthy points cushion as the series debuts on the 2.28-mile, 17-turn Charlotte road course this weekend.

“We’ve been kind of riding that high and that momentum from showing up at all sorts of different race tracks with speed, and our team is coming together,” Almirola explained.

“Our team is jelling. (Crew chief) Johnny (Klausmeier) and myself are getting on the same page. We’re a young team. Most of our guys on our team are in their late 20s and early 30s. It’s Johnny’s first year of being a crew chief at anything. … And this is my first year with the organization, so we’ve kind of gone through some growing pains and continue to go through some. But building together and working together has been so much fun and I feel like we’ve had a lot of success and we’ve run really good, and our ceiling for potential is so high.”

Almirola conceded that the elimination race this weekend will be a good test for himself and the team. He’s never won on a road course. His best showing on either of the Monster Energy Series’ longtime road courses — in Sonoma or Watkins Glen – is an eighth-place finish at Sonoma just this summer.

In fact, Almirola noted that in preparation for this job with SHR, he had made it a personal priority to raise his road-course skills.

“Going into this year, I would say on a scale of 1-10 (I was) about a two,” Almirola said, laughing. “Slightly above novice, but I have put so much work and so much effort into it this year, knowing that I would be the weak link, knowing that the cars were gonna be good, and knowing that I was gonna have the tools and resources at my disposal to get better, and to have teammates that are really good at it to lean on.

“That’s the first time in my career that I’ve had the car, the tools, the people, the teammates and so I’ve put a full-out effort on getting better at road-course racing because I knew that has been my weakest link on all the tracks that we go to, and I feel like I’m probably a seven now.

“I don’t think I’m even close to being good enough to challenge to win on the road courses that we go to, but I think that I’m very competitive.”

This weekend, Almirola doesn’t necessarily have to win to sustain what’s been a career-best season. He’s proven every bit up for the new job at Stewart-Haas Racing, which has all four Fords qualified for the playoffs: fourth-place Kevin Harvick (seven wins), eighth-place Kurt Busch (one win) and 13th-place Clint Bowyer (two wins), who sits only four points shy of that transfer position. They are the only team in the Monster Energy Series with all four cars in the postseason. 

“I think we’ve proven that the last couple weeks with the runs that we’ve had, and then kind of riding that high and that momentum — and then this week announcing we’ve got a new partnership with Valley Technical Academy — it just feels right,” Almirola said. “Like everything is going right. And you see that in sports and especially in racing, where when things get on a roll they just kind of continue to go. And I feel like we’re right there.

“I feel like we’re on the brink of just continuing to keep this momentum going.”

 

Posted on by Zack Albert

CONCORD, N.C. — NASCAR’s frenetic season of rumor mill movement and personnel changes continues in full swing, including two more moves announced Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Chris Buescher, for one, is glad his name isn’t in play.

JTG Daugherty Racing co-owner Tad Geschickter indicated Friday that Buescher would return for a third season in the team’s No. 37 Chevrolet, continuing a multiyear deal already in place. The official word came during a Friday morning news conference where the organization tapped Ryan Preece to its No. 47 Chevy in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2019.

RELATED: Silly Season moves

“There’s a mess this season with everything going on,” Buescher said after Friday’s opening practice for Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM). “It is nice to be able to have some continuity, being able to know I’m coming back to the same team to be able to build on what we’ve been able to do the last few years. Honestly, I haven’t run more than two years with a single team since my ARCA days. It seems like it’s always been so much switching around and moving that it’s so hard to build any momentum that way. We’ve been able to find some success in doing it, but it’s really hard.

“To be able to know that we don’t have to go through that process again, that we have a group over here that we know and understand each other and we can work on that for next year, it makes it that much simpler going through the off-season.”

Buescher will have a new teammate in Preece, 27 and two years his elder. The Connecticut native will replace AJ Allmendinger at season’s end, advancing to his first full Monster Energy Series campaign next year.

RELATED: Preece moves up in 2019 | Full schedule for Charlotte

Though he doesn’t know his new JTG Daugherty stablemate that well yet, Buescher says he’s liked what he’s seen from Preece so far in Whelen Modified Tour and Xfinity Series competition. He also says he appreciates his can-do spirit.

“I think he’ll bring something to the table that reminds me a little bit of myself,” Buescher said. “He works on his stuff, he knows (cars) in and out. It’s not one of those deals where he’s just bringing this big sponsor in and that’s how everything happened. It’s somebody that has talent and can go out there and get the job done.”

Another news nugget dropped by Geschickter in Friday’s media session is that the team will switch to Hendrick Motorsports engines next season. It’s a technology connection that Buescher hopes will help lift the two-car team from its current rank of 23rd and 24th in the team owner standings.

“That’s something that has been the works for a long time and really glad that everybody was able to make that happen,” Buescher said. “Everybody at JTG and HMS, to get that deal in place so that we can go into next year and feel like we can have the most horsepower we can possibly get. … I think that’ll be really good for us going forward to have that alliance. At the same time, we’re trying to do a lot ourselves and trying to be as independent as we can be, but being smart about it.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Only four points separate 12th-place Ryan Blaney and 13th-place Clint Bowyer heading into the season’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff elimination race, however neither driver seemed overly concerned or palpably troubled about the high stakes playoff implications of Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 (at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Only the top 12 drivers following the race will continue on in the playoffs, championship eligible. But the fact is — no one truly knows what to expect for Sunday’s debut of the 17-turn, 2.28-mile track at Charlotte Motor Speedway that includes a brand-new, infield road course as well as portions of the traditional 1.5-mile speedway.

RELATED: Playoff standings

It’s a big weekend for racers and race track.

The veteran Bowyer is making his first playoff appearance since 2015 and carries a pair of 2018 trophies (at Martinsville and Michigan) in his quest. He had been ranked among the top 10 of the standings all year before suffering some tough playoff luck in the last two weeks’ opening pair of championship races.

He finished 23rd at the Las Vegas Playoff opener and 10th at Richmond last week. However, far from being panicked, the always-affable Bowyer insisted Friday morning before opening practice at the Charlotte road course that he was in a good place competitively and ready to make up that point gap. 

“I think any time you have something new like this, you have to look at it like an opportunity and I need an opportunity,” said Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford who spent 10 weeks as one of only four drivers with multiple wins this season. 

“Four points out of the playoffs and you need a good opportunity and that’s exactly what this track is. We had a good test here and I made a lot of laps that were relatively comfortable and I enjoyed it. 

“I’m going to enjoy this weekend. The opportunity is there and we’ve got to go out there and take it.

In the morning trackside news conferences, both drivers were asked more questions about the new playoff road course than about their particular precarious position in the standings. 

Alex Bowman sits only one more point to the good than Blaney, the first-year Hendrick Motorsports driver holding a five-point edge on the playoff cutoff position. His veteran Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson is ranked 14th, only six points behind Blaney and seven behind Bowman.

Both Bowyer and Johnson – two veterans — have won a Cup road course race in their careers; neither Blaney nor Bowman have. Bowyer won at Sonoma in 2012. The seven-time Cup champion Johnson won there in 2010. Blaney’s best road course finish in three full-time seasons of Cup competition was an eighth-place finish at Watkins Glen in 2017. Bowman’s best showing in his three full-time seasons was a ninth at Sonoma this summer. 

Johnson has a series-high eight wins on the Charlotte 1.5-miler, Bowyer has one. Neither Blaney nor Bowman has won at the Cup level there. 

Yet as teams prepared for opening practice on Friday – with the threat of rain creating another variable — the great unknown of the venue dominated talk of who would advance to the next round of the playoffs. 

WATCH: First Roval practice incidents

“It is what it is,” said Blaney, the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. “It’s a race track and we have our job to do.  … You have to make the best of it and I don’t think you can judge it really at all right now. You just have to get on it, race it and overcome it. 

“If you have a bad outlook at it you’re already kinda behind the 8-ball. You have to be positive about it and just try to do the best job you can, especially when you’re in our position. We’ve got to have a really good day Sunday to try and advance to the next round.” 

Bowyer was also quick to bring up another element to this weekend’s competition: The fans. His Stewart-Haas Racing team held a big fan Open House this week since the race was in NASCAR’s Charlotte hub and he said the excitement for the venue was readily evident. And, he reminded, that would be a good thing to build upon. 

“You know this was a good gauge for me,” Bowyer said. “Yesterday we did a fan day at the shop at Stewart-Haas Racing and the turnout was phenomenal. It really took me back pre-2008 in the world and especially our world of NASCAR, the energy, the turnout, the crowd that’s the way I remember the height of this baby. 

“We finally have something new to sell to a fan and let me tell you, they’re excited to see it. That got me excited. I think (Charlotte Motor Speedway executive) Marcus (Smith) has done a good job of turning this into an “event,” not just another race. 

“I think we’re all going to be excited to see the crowd that shows up for this race. We’re all going to see something new and it’s exciting to be on the forefront of this. 

“We’re trying something new in our sport and I’m happy our sport is doing that.” 

Especially so, Bowyer said smiling, if the new venue results in his ticket to keep advancing in the playoffs.

Posted on by Staff Report

Richard Childress Racing stayed in-house to fill the vacancy on its No. 31 Chevrolet in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, tabbing Daniel Hemric to man the seat beginning in 2019.

Hemric, a native of Kannapolis, North Carolina, is in his second year with RCR as a full-time driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He qualified for the playoffs in both years in the No. 21 Chevrolet, advancing to the Championship 4 in 2017 as a rookie.

His promotion was announced Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Hemric couldn’t even complete his opening statement of the press conference before the emotions took over. His voice cracked and he wiped his eyes before composing himself.

“That’s what it’s all about, right?” he asked. “I always had faith it would work out. It’s incredibly humbling to know this is my family moving forward.

RELATED: Key Silly Season players

The 27-year-old will make his second career start in the Monster Energy Series this weekend at the Charlotte road course. He also drove the No. 8 Chevrolet for RCR in the spring at Richmond. He’ll join Austin Dillon (No. 3 Chevrolet) in the Childress Cup stable full time next year.

“Ever since I was a kid growing up in Kannapolis, I followed and rooted for RCR,” Hemric said in a team release. “I enjoyed competing against Austin (Dillon) and Ty (Dillon) years ago and we became close friends along the way. My dream has always been to race for championships in the NASCAR Cup Series. I have worked hard to get here and those who know me and have supported me, know I take nothing for granted. The time has come to take that next step, and I want to thank Richard for believing in me and providing such an amazing opportunity.”

In 60 Xfinity Series starts with Childress, Hemric has 20 top-five finishes and 33 top 20s. Three of those top fives are runner-up finishes.

The No. 31 Chevrolet is open with veteran Ryan Newman leaving the company at the end of the season to join Roush Fenway Racing following a five-year stint with Childress.

Hemric will become just the third driver to pilot the No. 31 since 2005, joining Newman and Jeff Burton during this stretch.

The team said it would announce sponsorship and other details at a later date.

Team owner Richard Childress compared Hemric’s ability to what he saw years prior in drivers like Austin Dillon, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick, all of whom came up through the RCR ranks.

“I look at what (drivers) have in their heart,” Childress said in his selection of Hemric. “He has what it takes to become a winner. You have to have heart and you have to sacrifice. I know how much Daniel and his family have sacrificed.

“He will win races and will compete for championships.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Busch led an eventful first practice on the Charlotte road course Friday, speeding around a lap at 106.397 mph in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Erik Jones was second in the No. 20 JGR Toyota, making his way around the Roval at 106.382 mph. Joey Logano (106.122 mph), Daniel Hemric (106.081 mph) and Clint Bowyer (106.012 mph) rounded out the top five.

RELATED: Full practice results | Scenes from the Charlotte road course

The first real look at the new Roval course brought a fair amount of incidents as drivers searched to figure out how to maneuver through turns, around walls and over bumpers. Trouble struck early, about 10 minutes after the green flag dropped, as Aric Almirola spun on Turn 3, sustaining some damage to his No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

Minutes later, Denny Hamlin suffered damage to the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota when he skipped over one of the blue, artificial bumpers on a turn.

MORE: Roval 101 | Turn-by-turn analysis of the course

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. drove his No. 17 Ford off the track at Turn 4 and hit the wall — necessitating a move to a backup car. The list of cars that spun or veered off track included Bubba Wallace (twice), Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch.

Dillon suffered damage to the left front of his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet when he caught the wall jutting out from the backstretch chicane, and Ryan Blaney scraped his No. 12 Team Penske Ford in the same place on the track.

NBCSN reported that Ryan Newman and Chase Elliott also reported damage to their cars after making practice laps.

The Monster Energy Series returns to the track at 4:45 p.m. ET for Busch Pole Qualifying (NBCSN/NBC Sports App).