Posted on by Staff Report

Richard Buck, managing director of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and The Weather Channel’s Kait Parker explain how and why wind speeds factor into racing.

MORE: How does temperature affect a race | Why does cloud coverage matter in a race?

“Wind and air is definitely a big part of our sport,” Buck shared. “The drivers definitely use it. They understand it, and they can use that to their advantage. They can also use it to disadvantage the competitor they’re racing.”

Creating a strategy that factors in the weather conditions is vital, according to Parker. Teams will consult with meteorologists before races to make sure everything is lined up for the days ahead.

Posted on by Steve Luvender

Keegan Leahy outright dominated Pocono Raceway two weeks ago to claim his third victory of 2018, leading 85 of 100 laps, and moving to second in points behind Ray Alfalla. As a result, Leahy moved up three spots in our driver rankings as the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series gets ready to race at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday at Texas Motor Speedway.

1: Ray Alfalla (–)

Ray Alfalla is something of a Texas expert (Texpert?), boasting two wins and five podium finishes, although his 18th-place finish in 2017 was the first time in his eight career races there that he didn’t lead laps.

2: Keegan Leahy (+3)

Canada’s Keegan Leahy has had a breakout season, tying for the series lead with three victories in 2018. While Leahy won at Kansas — like Texas a 1.5-mile track — all of his non-top-10 finishes this season have come at 1.5-milers — 27th at Chicagoland, 30th at Charlotte and 36th at Las Vegas.

3: Ryan Luza (-1)

The 2017 champ heads home to Texas Tuesday, where he led 73 laps last year, though he finished deep in the field. Expect him to rebound and continue his impressive streak of top-10 finishes that dates back to March.

4: Bobby Zalenski (-1)

Pocono was a disaster for Bobby Zalenski, but he has a comfortable margin in points to remain in the top eight with two races before the playoffs. Slip Angle Motorsports is solid at 1.5-mile tracks, so expect a satisfactory run Tuesday.

5: Michael Conti (-1)

Last year’s Texas polesitter is coming off back-to-back ninth-place finishes. While a win has eluded him, he’s showed speed in previous races.

6: Zack Novak (–)

After a hot-and-cold start to the season, Zack Novak has finally landed in a rhythm, scoring three consecutive top-10 finishes. He’ll need a bit of luck in the next two races to make up ground in the points in the playoffs — and his lone start in Texas was a 22nd-place finish last year.

7: Nickolas Shelton (NR)

We dropped Nick Shelton from our Power Rankings last week after a spell of mediocre finishes made us wonder if his Charlotte victory was just a flash in the pan — but he showed promise at Pocono, starting in the top five and finishing sixth. Plus, we’re heading to a 1.5-mile track, where Shelton has claimed three podium finishes this year. Sorry we underestimated you, Nick.

8: Nick Ottinger (–)

Unlike his teammate Matt Bussa, Nick Ottinger has shown consistency lately, scoring three eighth-place finishes in the last four races (so it’s only appropriate we rank him eighth). The 2013 Texas winner will need a bit more speed to compete with the playoffs ahead.

9: Christian Challiner (NR)

Great Britain’s Christian Challiner showed he belongs in the playoff conversation after scoring the pole at Pocono, leading laps, and finishing second behind Keegan Leahy. Challiner’s only other start at Texas ended in disaster, however — a 38th-place finish last year.

10: Matt Bussa (-3)

Matt Bussa finished outside the top 20 in consecutive races following Pocono, and has never scored a top-10 finish at Texas in five starts. He’ll need a miracle — and quickly — to salvage his season.

Posted on by Staff Report

Richard Buck, managing director of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and The Weather Channel’s Kait Parker break down how and why temperature affects the science of racing.

MORE: How does cloud coverage affect racing? | Why does wind speed matter?

“In NASCAR, track temperature is everything,” Parker explains. “If the track is too hot, the oil seeps out of the asphalt and it makes it greasy and it’s tough for the tires to grip. If it’s too cold, the tires can be too hard and then you also have a problem driving. You want a happy medium.”

On-track activity isn’t the only way temperature can factor into racing. With temperatures that can range upward to 130 degrees inside the vehicles, Buck says the athletes behind the wheel must deal with the fluctuating weather, too.

Posted on by Brad Norman

Richard Buck, managing director of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and The Weather Channel’s Kait Parker break down how and why cloud coverage affects racing.

MORE: How does temperature affect a race? | Why does cloud coverage matter?

“When you’re dealing with hundreds of thousands of seconds separating a few positions every little bit counts,” Buck explained. ” … You’ll hear the crew chief and spotters and drivers sit on the end of pit road during the qualifying session to catch a glimpse of the cloud coverage to put down their best lap.”

Clouds can change the temperature by nearly 20 degrees, and according to Parker, a car will perform much better with under cloudy conditions rather than direct sunlight.

Posted on by Staff Report

Denny Hamlin’s paint scheme for Darlington Raceway will be a familiar sight to family and friends who watched him start working his way up the ranks more than 20 years ago.

The Chesterfield, Virginia, native revealed a special throwback scheme for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 on Sept. 2 (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) from the NASCAR studios in Charlotte — a ride that is a spitting image of his first mini stock car he drove in 1997 at Langley Speedway and Southside Speedway.

Denny Hamlin Darlington paint scheme

RELATED: Darlington throwback schemes | See Hamlin’s first ride

“Oddly enough, I’ve always driven a purple-and-white No. 11, whether it was go-karts or race cars,” Hamlin told NASCAR.com during the live stream event. “… For me, this is our family car. This is the very first race car I ever owned and it’s special to me that FedEx is able to give us this canvas to throw back to my very first race car.”

The scheme is a match made in stock car heaven. Ironically enough, the purple paint and orange trim he ran on his mini stock back in the day is similar to the purple-and-orange trim on his Joe Gibbs Racing Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car, long before the FedEx sponsorship.

“We made the paint schemes back then very simple because we planned on crashing a lot,” said Hamlin. “So you wanted to have it pretty basic back then with your paint scheme.

“We just gravitated toward the purple,” he added. “One of my dad’s best friends was a painter back then and he’s like, ‘hey man, I got this beautiful color that you should try.’ For no particular reason we thought, yeah, the purple looks good. We did that and it had the orange stripe on it. It’s so crazy how it all worked out and I get to race this car again.”

The simplicity of the paint scheme is a symbol of Hamlin’s grassroots, along with the mismatched fire suit and helmet he will sport during the Labor Day weekend. Both hearken back to his humble beginnings in racing where the family business, Chesterfield Trailer and Hitch, ran by his father Dennis, funded the race team. The business logo will be prominently featured on the throwback scheme in honor of the journey.

“We did the best with what we could, for sure,” said Hamlin. “It’s very exciting to see this car, the real thing and the replica of everything I have sitting in my garage at home. It’s identical. The font and everything is perfect. Man, this car is very special.”

The original car made its rounds long after Hamlin made it to NASCAR’s highest level. But one day someone contacted his mother, Mary Lou, asking if he had any interest purchasing the car back.

“At the time, I didn’t appreciate the history or anything of it, so I was like I don’t even know where I’m going to put it,” Hamlin said. “I had a very moderate house at the time and no garage space, so I didn’t know what I was going to do with the thing. So I said no, I really don’t want it so tell them to go ahead and sell it.”

The car Hamlin raced to track championships at Langley and Southside now has a special spot at house, one with much more room for display. But that wouldn’t be the case if it wasn’t for team owner Joe Gibbs.

“Everyone knows I have the best boss in the world,” Hamlin said. “They sold it (the car), but they sold it to Joe Gibbs. He bought the car, restored it for me and gave it back to me as a gift.”

Hamlin will have the opportunity to add to the legacy of the paint scheme if he can defend his 2017 Darlington triumph and break into Victory Lane once again.

Hamlin currently is 10th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings with two regular-season races to go. He can clinch a playoff spot at Darlington with a win or if there is a repeat winner.

This story will be updated.

Denny Hamlin mini stock

Posted on by Staff Report

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin will unveil his 2018 Darlington throwback at 11 a.m. ET on Monday from NASCAR’s own studios.

Bookmark this link to watch Hamlin and host Alex Weaver pull the cover off his Darlington ride.

Hamlin, a throwback racer in his own right, is one of the series’ best drivers at the “Track Too Tough to Tame.” With two wins and 10 top-10 finishes in 12 career races, Hamlin will attempt to go back-to-back in this year’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 (Sept. 2, 6 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

LIVE LINK: www.nascar.com/11at11

Posted on by Sponsored Content

Preparing for your first NASCAR race is quite the journey, as Conor Daly can attest — and he will have visual proof. Through a video series launching Aug. 15 on NASCAR’s YouTube channel, you too can see what the driver goes through to get ready for his NASCAR national series debut at Road America on Aug. 25 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

For the race at Road America, Daly will have sponsorship from Lilly Diabetes on his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Like one of his Roush teammates for the race, Ryan Reed, Daly also competes while managing his Type 1 diabetes. Reed is sponsored by Lilly Diabetes as well in his No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford as he competes for an Xfinity Series championship.

“I’m very excited for this opportunity to be partnered again with Lilly Diabetes and to be able to drive a Jack Roush Ford,” Daly said when news of his start was announced on May 10. “I’ve raced at Road America almost every year since I was 16 and have won there. I have driven almost every form of car, but this will be my first stock car experience.”

Daly, a 26-year-old Indiana native, has 42 career starts in the Verizon IndyCar Series — a series that has seen Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya and Sam Hornish Jr. among those to make the shift from open-wheel racing to the stock car world of NASCAR. Daly finished 18th each of the past two IndyCar campaigns, driving last year for team owner A.J. Foyt.

The video series will be five episodes and lead up to Daly’s start at Road America.

EPISODE 2

It takes a lot more than just driving fast to race in NASCAR. Watch as Conor Daly puts in work at the gym and gets some advice from AJ Allmendinger before he makes his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Road America.

EPISODE 1

IndyCar driver Conor Daly is preparing for his first NASCAR race at Road America. The transition from open wheel to stock car can be tough, but Conor is no stranger to overcoming challenges. He lives and races with Type 1 diabetes. Follow along as he battles down the Road to Road America.

Posted on by Zack Albert

BRISTOL, Tenn. — There was anguish in Kyle Busch’s voice over the team radio, regret over a miscalculation that ended the night of quasi-teammate Martin Truex Jr. just 69 laps from the finish Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The contact in a charged battle for second place was the highest-profile hurdle in a night full of them for Busch, the pre-race favorite bidding for his third-straight win at the .533-mile track. He left with a crumpled No. 18 Toyota that figured prominently in three of the six incidents in the Bristol Night Race.

RELATED: Full race results | Playoff standings

“That was just a misjudgment on my behalf. I crashed the 78 (of Truex),” said Busch, who survived for a 20th-place finish, three laps down. “That was my bad, totally. Totally misjudged that one just coming off the corner. Knowing there were still plenty of laps left, I wasn’t even in a hurry. I just misjudged it by four or six inches, whatever it was, clipped him and sent him for a ride. He knows that wasn’t intentional at all, and we’ve worked really, really, really, really good together these last two, three years, so that shouldn’t ruin anything between us.”

Busch was forced to chip away at a race-long disadvantage in the annual nighttime showdown after a Lap 2 spin and stack-up left him with heavy damage and a two-lap deficit. A later crash racing among the top five ended any hopes for a mammoth rally.

Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing crew managed the damage each time. With Truex and his Furniture Row Racing crew chief Cole Pearn, Busch said more damage control probably won’t be necessary to mend any fences. Truex kicked his car in frustration after emerging from the crash but was gracious after cooling off for post-race interviews. Their two teams share a technical alliance through Toyota.

WATCH: Truex shows frustration after wreck

“Cole’s really cool, Martin’s really cool. I think they’re fine,” Busch said. “Maybe I’ll send them a sorry cake to the Denver shop for the guys having to work extra. They’ll probably throw that one away anyway. It ruined their day of being able to get a win or even a second.”

Truex, for his part, split the blame.

“Probably didn’t obviously do it on purpose, but it’s hard Bristol racing,” Truex said. “Probably could’ve shown a little bit more patience. He was a lot faster than me at that point in time. He just caught me and probably another lap or so he would’ve went right by. Half his fault, half my fault for following the 14 (of Clint Bowyer) so long. I should’ve knocked his butt out of the way because he held me up for 15-20 laps and burnt my front tires off screwing with him.

“Played too nice and got the crappy end of the stick.”

RELATED: Truex reflects on cause of wreck

Adam Stevens, Busch’s crew chief, said he assumed the No. 78 team was frustrated by the contact, inadvertent or not. “They got wrecked out of a race. I’d be upset. That’s all there is to it. …

“When you’re fast and you’re competitive, you’re going to race with people. We’re fast, competitive and race with people,” Stevens added. “Kyle made a mistake. I don’t know what he said. I haven’t heard his quote, but on our radio, he said he made a mistake. That’s all you can do: Move on.”

The flagman had barely put the green flag away when Busch’s first mistake bit him. His No. 18 Toyota sustained sizable damage after the car skated loose, struggling to find grip in the low lane inside Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Ford. Rain earlier Saturday made the PJ1 traction additive much more of a variable, and Busch’s car didn’t stick through Turns 3 and 4.

WATCH: Busch wrecks on Lap 2

With his car crossways on the frontstretch, several others piled in. Truex’s No. 78 clipped the nose of Busch’s car, but the vehicles of Michael McDowell and Jesse Little did further damage with broadside hits.

With the air seemingly out of the three-peat bid’s bubble, Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing crew went to work on the left-side and rear damage. The work wrapped up before the crash clock expired and Busch was soon back up to competitive speed, but two laps in arrears in 35th place.

Busch returned to contention with the help of a wave-around to regain one lap in the race’s fourth caution period, then earned the free pass to return to the lead lap on the fifth yellow. But Busch faced an obstacle on each pit stop with a fueling issue. Crash damage impaired the fuel hose bracing, forcing the team to take extra time and effort with each stop for service.

“I don’t even know what to think. I’m proud of the effort. I’m proud of the car we put on the race track,” Stevens said. “Had we been able to put fuel in it in a timely manner, it would’ve been a whole different race. … Every time we came down pit road, we’d pretty much lose the tail end of the lead lap at that point. Hard to win a race when you’ve got to pass every car on the lead lap every run. Frustrating, but it shows what the team’s capable of, I guess.”

Busch agreed.

“We certainly were going to way overachieve tonight,” he said, “but we just didn’t get to.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers officially clinched playoff berths by virtue of points following Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, joining nine other drivers in the field by virtue of victories.

Team Penske drivers Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski, along with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson, have qualified for the 16-driver postseason field via points. All three have an insurmountable lead over a pair of winless drivers in the standings with two regular-season races remaining.

RELATED: Full Bristol results

Even if two drivers currently outside the top 16 in the points standings win at Darlington Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway to close the regular season, Blaney, Keselowski and Larson are guaranteed to finish above Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman in the regular-season standings, which is how they have clinched. Johnson and Bowman, both of Hendrick Motorsports, currently occupy the final two spots in the playoff field.

Larson finished second at Bristol on Sunday, with Blaney logging a seventh-place result and Keselowski finishing 16th.

RELATED: Full series standings

Additionally, Kurt Busch won the Bristol Night Race to earn his spot in the field. He joins previous winners Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones and Austin Dillon in the playoff field as 2018 race winners.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

BRISTOL, Tenn. – “Old guys rule!” screamed 40-year-old Kurt Busch after he took the checkered flag in an action-filled Bristol Night Race on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Busch’s first victory since the 2017 Daytona 500 overshadowed a miraculous drive by brother Kyle Busch, whose car came back to life after a Lap 2 wreck like a relentless horror movie villain.

RELATED: Full race results | SHOP: Kurt Busch gear

Starting on the inside lane, Busch grabbed the lead from Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Clint Bowyer on a Lap 478 restart, after Brad Keselowski’s flat-tire-induced spin caused the sixth caution of the night.

“It was up to Bowyer to choose the lane,” Busch said. “He chose the outside, and we got a perfect start on the inside. I dug it perfect right into Turn 1 and 2, and the spotter said, ‘Take it. Take it.’ Which meant go to the wall on exit, and I didn’t even bother to look in the mirror.

“He said, ‘Take it,’ and when you trust your team to give you the right stuff setup-wise, you’ve got to trust the spotter the same way. Tony Raines. He’s a racer. That’s why he’s my spotter, and it worked out perfect.”

The driver of the No. 41 Ford survived another restart on Lap 488, with Kyle Larson surging into second place on 30-lap better tires. But even with fresher rubber, Larson couldn’t catch Busch, who crossed the finish line .367 seconds ahead of the runner-up car.

The victory was Busch’s sixth at the .533-mile short track and the 30th of his career, 26th on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series all-time list. The win was the 10th in 24 races for Stewart-Haas. Kurt and Kyle Busch are the first pair of brothers to reach 30 victories each at NASCAR’s highest level.

WATCH: Truex Jr. wrecks, shows frustration

“It’s awesome to do it at Bristol,” said Busch, whose crew chief, Billy Scott, picked up his first victory in NASCAR’s premier series. “I love this place. We now have won six times here and I have great teams that have always helped me win.”

The victory locked Busch into the playoffs. With insurmountable points margins with two races left, non-winners Larson, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski also clinched playoff spots.

Chase Elliott ran third, followed by Joey Logano and Erik Jones, as Bowyer slipped to sixth at the finish.

It was Kyle Busch’s amazing run from the back of the field to the top five that provided the most compelling action until his charge to the front met its Waterloo on Lap 481 after side-to-side contact with Chris Buescher’s Chevrolet in a three-wide dance on the backstretch cut Busch’s left-rear tire and knocked him out of contention.

“That was just me and this team and never giving up and being able to drive up through the field like that,” Busch said. “This M&M’s Camry was fast, even torn up and wrecked and everything else, it was fast. We had a shot to win the race there, just got to racing with guys three-wide and couldn’t get clear of them and was boxed in by the 11 (Denny Hamlin) …

MORE: Best wreck photos from the Bristol thriller

“We probably finished where we should have, but we had a shot anyways. Congratulations to Kurt (Busch), that’s cool, but he forgot his helmet on the roof and just chunked his helmet.”

Busch’s demise, however, didn’t come early enough for Martin Truex Jr., who was running second to Bowyer on Lap 432 when Kyle Busch clipped him in the middle of the frontstretch. Truex crashed out in 30th place for the second straight Bristol race.

RELATED: Busch wrecks Truex

“It’s just Bristol,” said a resigned Truex, who kicked his car in disgust after the wreck. “Trying to get that first short-track win. This place has been so hard on us. I mean, I can’t even explain it to you how good we’ve run here in the past three or four years, and crap like this every single time. It’s like just one thing after another.

“Sucks that it happened, but at the end of the day, it’s racing at Bristol. I feel like I probably should’ve took the lead there. I probably should’ve bumped the 14 (Bowyer) out of the way just to get the lead and I wouldn’t have been in that position. Sometimes you’re the nice guy and you get knocked out of the way. We’ll just have to race him a little harder next time.”

Bubba Wallace, who made a heroic run to the front in the spring race at Bristol, never had a chance on Saturday night. When Kyle Busch spun off Turn 4 on Lap 2 and blocked the track, he ignited a 15-car pileup on the frontstretch.

Wallace’s No. 43 Chevrolet was damaged beyond repair, ending his race on Lap 3.

“Before my spotter called it, I had run into the back of the No. 47 (AJ Allmendinger),” Wallace said. “But then I got checked-up enough to pull down out line and just kept getting shoved into cars.

“It’s unfortunate. I was super excited to run tonight and see how we stacked up, but fate had other plans.”

Clearly, Kurt Busch was glad that was the case.