Posted on by Steve Luvender

NASCAR K&N Series West rookie Trevor Huddleston learned how to race Sonoma Raceway on iRacing — something becoming more and more commonplace in recent years.

Unfortunately for Huddleston, his No. 22 Ford retired from the race early with electrical issues — technically sort of like when the power goes out at home when you’re turning laps on iRacing, when you think about it.

You know who else started out racing … on a computer? NASCAR Next driver and Sonoma Raceway winner Will Rodgers found somebody who did.

Richard Jobling of the iRacing development team shared some insights on a new damage model coming to the sim in the future — great news for those of us who find ourselves stuffed in barriers and sliding through the grass.

If you’re trying out any of the new dirt racing features on iRacing, keep an eye out for NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Chase Briscoe.

The eNASCAR Ignite Series, NASCAR’s iRacing series aimed at finding future stars, launched this week at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Legends Oval.

NASCAR PEAK ANTIFREEZE iRACING SERIES UPDATE

The stars of the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series head to Sonoma Raceway on Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET for the lone road-course race of the season. Bobby Zalenski is the defending race winner, while Ray Alfalla — a highly ranked driver on our Power Rankings — currently leads the standings by 36 points over rookie Keegan Leahy.

iRACING PAINT SCHEMES OF THE WEEK

Sonoma race week means road-course ringers — Boris Said immediately comes to mind, of course. Ken Huff re-created Said’s 2014 paint scheme on iRacing’s version of the Ford Fusion.

Ken Huff's recreated paint scheme of Boris Said's 2014 ride.
Ken Huff’s recreated paint scheme of Boris Said’s 2014 ride.

Last Week, Denny Hamlin described his former Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series ride as his favorite paint scheme.

Now, thanks to Erik Le, the Rockwell Automation car, circa 2007, lives on in iRacing.

Erik Le's iRacing scheme, which was Denny Hamlin's favorite.
Erik Le’s iRacing scheme, which was Denny Hamlin’s favorite.

 

DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME

What’s the fastest way to enter pit road? Well, stopping in a straight line, of course, taking care not to slide the tires or lock up the brakes.

But where’s the fun in that? Here’s a pit entry on iRacing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that earned more than a few style points.

 

Posted on by Staff Report

As you begin to unwind from the topsy-turvy racing at Sonoma Raceway and prep for four days of on-track action at Chicagoland Speedway, here are a couple of things to keep in mind.

• We’re moving to the NBC television portion of the 2018 schedule. Starting this weekend, the NBC family will pick up coverage of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. Coverage of this weekend’s practice, qualifying and racing action is on NBCSN. You can view the week’s full TV schedule here.

• NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races, qualifying sessions and practices still will be broadcast on the FOX family for the remainder of the year. The broadcast doesn’t change to NBC for the Truck Series. Friday night’s Truck Series race will be on FS1.

• While we’re here, Monster Energy Series qualifying takes place on Saturday night this week. Monster Energy Series cars will qualify for Sunday’s race on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. ET, following the Xfinity Series race.

Posted on by Sponsored Content

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Posted on by Staff Report

BOOKMARK: Watch live at 3:15 p.m. ET

Live from New York, it’s the Glass Case of Emotion!

Yes, the NASCAR Digital-produced podcast is taking its weekly show on the road, with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney and co-hosts Kim Coon and Chuck Bush hitting the Big Apple this afternoon.

The live broadcast is slated to begin at approximately 3:15 p.m. ET from New York City at the Hashtag Sports event, a popular sports media and innovation conference.

Joining those three is special guest Josh Norman, an All-Pro NFL defensive back for the Washington Redskins.

Tune in on NASCAR.com for the live show, which will be broadcast here.

 

Posted on by RJ Kraft

Editor’s note: This story originally ran in June. Autographed copies of Steve Letarte’s book “Leading the Way” are currently available for a limited time. Pick one up as the holidays approach! | Go here to purchase

When Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. came together as crew chief and driver prior to the start of the 2011 season, both were at a crossroads. Earnhardt hadn’t won a race since 2008 while Letarte was coming off a winless season with Jeff Gordon at Hendrick Motorsports.

Four years later, as Letarte was leaving the pit box for the NBC Sports broadcast booth, the duo had tallied five wins together — including the 2014 Daytona 500 — and the sport’s longtime Most Popular Driver was a title threat again.

“Our relationship was on a different level,” Letarte told NASCAR.com. “It was more as equals, more as friends, more as buddies, more as coworkers, and that instantly gave it sort of a different feel. When I look back on it, the success that Dale and I had and the relationship that he and I created was just an amazing four years to finish out my career.”

RELATED: Letarte’s stats as a crew chief | See every win of Dale Jr.’s career

Steve Letarte book cover
A look at the book cover for ‘Leading the Way.’ (Photo courtesy of Reine Digital)

In his new book “Leading the Way,” (as told to Nate Ryan of NBC Sports and available for purchase today) Letarte offers readers and fans alike a unique inside look into how he helped rebuild confidence for Earnhardt — who wrote the foreward for the book — and the No. 88 team, and how the relationship with Junior still impacts Letarte to this day.

“When Dale and I were put together, we were both at a point in our careers where we questioned privately ourselves where our careers were going,” Letarte said. “It was such a turnaround from there to 2014.

“While I looked forward to the opportunity to take my new job (at NBC), I was going to miss what I was doing greatly. After being out of it for six months or so, I kind of wanted to go back and relive it. To tell the stories to the fans, the behind-the-scenes stories and then also to the business leaders, the managers of the world about how we went about rebuilding his career and my career together.”

The book was a three-year project for Letarte and opens with the crew chief learning of his new assignment following the 2010 season, where team owner Rick Hendrick shifted him from Gordon’s No. 24 team to Earnhardt and the No. 88. Letarte candidly admits he thought he would be unemployed after that season.

Throughout the book, Letarte provides insights into the leadership and team building he utilized in helping get Earnhardt back on track to Victory Lane. In the two seasons before their pairing, Earnhardt had finished outside the top 20 in points. The key to the relationship, according to Letarte, was that it started from scratch with no preconceived notions.

RELATED: Steve Letarte offers fantasy advice on NASCAR.com

“One thing I learned with Jeff (Gordon) — the best advice I never took — was he wanted me to treat him like everyone else on the race team,” Letarte said. “And while that is great advice, I could just never do it. He was my mentor. He gave me the opportunity to crew chief. He’s the whole reason I’m in the sport.

“So when I got Dale as a driver, I was convinced that even if it didn’t work, I won’t look back on it and say that I should have done this or I should have done that. I decided I was going to do it my way. We just started with conversations and building a relationship and then took that relationship to the race track.”

Dale Jr. and Steve Letarte
There was lots of emotion for Dale Jr. and Steve Letarte after their 2012 Michigan win. (Jeff Zelevansky | Getty Images)

Early on, there were several near-victories for the pairing, with the most notable being the 2011 Coca-Cola 600 where Earnhardt ran dry on the final lap.

In 2012, each was able to snap his personal winless drought – Earnhardt’s was at 143 races, while Letarte’s was at 115 races – with their collective triumph in June 2012 at Michigan International Speedway. And while the victory was a huge sigh of relief, it also was the moment Letarte realized he wasn’t going to be a crew chief forever.

When Letarte was considering leaving the pit box for a television job with NBC, Earnhardt was one of his sounding boards. Dale Jr. showed his leadership and growth in an emergency team meeting when the news of Letarte’s move leaked out.

“Dale was one of the people that I leaned on to get his opinion,” Letarte said. “I think that proved our relationship. As a race car driver, he didn’t want me to leave. Professionally, he didn’t want me to leave, but personally, he saw how it could be great for me and my family, and I really think that is why we are going to work together again. 

“Because our friendship was much more than on the race track.”

The release of the book coincides with the start of NBC’s portion of televising the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series beginning at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend. The recently retired Earnhardt is joining the booth and re-teaming with his former crew chief once again.

And while the book shows the strength of this relationship, the television screen is sure to display it as well.

Posted on by @nascarcasm

Sadly, it was the last episode, but it was not without controversy. The word “LANAI” has become a wedge issue. Amy uses it all the time. But Dale is opposed to it. It gets pretty heated. Like, Amy’s allowed to use it because she’s a professional interior decorator, I guess. But can you picture Dale saying “lanai?” The likelihood of that is equal with that of him filling the pool with jewelry and doing a cannonball.

FIRST SEGMENT

• BACKYARD TIME. Can’t wait to see what they put back there. Probably a smaller Old West town. Oh man I hope they got approval from the town council or whatever.

RELATED: Recap of Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3

• They have Dale operating heavy machinery now. An excavator. Tearing out an old cistern. A cistern is a structure that was once used for collecting rainwater. Based on the 2018 season, they now have a new name — “race track.”

• Dale broke the excavator. Hydraulic line popped right off. For those who once saw him yank the steering wheel off of his race car, this is not a surprise.

• YES, Dale agrees that “lanai” is a dumb word. HEAR HEAR, DALE. It’s a porch. It will always be a porch. If Dale ever actually says, “Hey imma go grab me a cold one and go hang out on the lanai,” I will eat my own leg.

SECOND SEGMENT

• Amy mentions how because she (at the time of filming) was pregnant, she was unable to climb any ladders. That is PERFECT timing. Not only are you blessed with a lovely new addition to your family, but you also get out of having to do stuff. No lie — I once scheduled a hernia repair for one week before we moved into a new house just so I wouldn’t be able to lift anything over five pounds. Hey, furrow your brow all you want, IT WORKED.

• Amy’s still calling it a “lanai.” Come on. Let’s stop that.

• ACTUAL EXCHANGE DURING CONCRETE MIXING — DALE: “This ho sucks.” AMY: “Don’t blame it on the ho.” That’s like blaming the car instead of yourself. That’s my new ringtone. Oh my gosh send this clip to the Smithsonian for safe keeping.

• Look at Mason Dale go! As in, he’s actually doing concrete work. Not a Mason as he knows where the National Treasure is kept.

• They’re framing the pool now. But they tore out the cistern to do this. I mean just pour water into the cistern. You’d save so much money. But NO, we can’t do no cement pond. We gotta have a pool because we use words like “LANAI” now.

THIRD SEGMENT

• MORE SHIPLAP. The shiplappiest show ever.

• HA, one guy asks Dale why he isn’t wearing hearing protection while cutting bricks with a miter saw. Dale informs him that he’s a race car driver. ROASTED, GUY.

• Every time Dale operates a dangerous power tool without cutting off a finger, we scream “DALE YEAH!” in this household.

• DAMMIT, Dale said “lanai” again. Every time that happens a small portion of my soul dies.

• He’s operating a circular saw now on a piece of granite. He’s creating a sink out of it, but I think he’s just taunting all the race teams that can’t use a circular saw anymore.

FOURTH SEGMENT

• YES, Dale reaffirms his opposition to the word “lanai.” STAY STRONG. RESIST. IT’S A DAMN PORCH.

• MAN, this outdoor area that is not a “lanai” is lovely.

• HAAAAA they’re looking at the pool. Dale says “Part of me wants to just dive in there and let that hit me in the head.” YEAH we’ve heard that story. Not unless you wanna wear a doo-rag on TV while calling a race, bro.

• They have a bunch of people over to see the finished product, which is amazing. I’m assuming my invite got lost in the mail. Maybe blew off the mail truck heading up U.S. 1 or something.

• Well it’s all done. Dale and Amy work well together and they have a fine house. I’m now checking Airbnb to see what they’re charging. Sounds like they enjoyed it, but they’re never, ever going to renovate another house ever again. I find this somewhat relatable except through their travails I’ve decided I’m never going to renovate a house in the first place. Maybe the DIY Network will let me have a show in which I don’t renovate a house.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

Sonoma Raceway was an uphill battle for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers and teams — in more ways than one.

And navigating a car throughout the garage gives a whole new meaning to the term as crews literally have to push their race cars up a hill on the trek back to their stalls.

Following a grueling, hot day in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 on the physically demanding 1.99-mile California road course, the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports crew of William Byron faced some difficulty while pushing their car back behind the wall to load it in the hauler — that is, the momentum they got by getting a running start stalled when the vehicle in front of them pulled up.

That’s when Denny Hamlin stepped in.

Noticing the need for assistance after another car stopped in front of them, halting their momentum up the hill, Hamlin — every bit an old-school racer — walked over and started pushing.

Not only did Hamlin earn a solid 10th-place finish in Sonoma, he also earned some good karma for his random act of kindness.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

Cole Pearn took his third trip to Victory Lane this season Sunday at Sonoma Raceway, orchestrating perhaps the most inventive pit call strategy we’ve seen this season to lead Martin Truex Jr. to his third career road-course victory.

MORE: Truex wins at Sonoma after tricky pit call

Just another feather in the baseball cap atop the Furniture Row Racing crew chief’s head.

Only he wasn’t wearing his trademark cap after the race, for a very particular reason — he had a giant, open gash on his forehead.

What.

Take a look. (Sorry in advance.)

Cole Pearn's forehead
Brian Lawdermilk | Getty Images

MORE: Cole Pearn drums to his own beat

What the heck happened, man!?

Lumberjack accident? Errant hockey stick during a game of summer roller hockey? Fender-bender in the Tim Horton’s drive-thru? Something even more Canadian rock star-ish?

Nay.

“I wish I was fighting a bear or a cougar or something cool, but my wife has been on me about building this treehouse for our kids,” Pearn said post-race. “Anyways, I wanted nothing to do with it, but we were fortunate with the West Coast race we were able to fly out Friday morning, so I actually like had somewhat of a day off on Thursday and I decided to get involved.

“They kind of had it screwed up a bit from what they had done before, and we kind of took it all down and reset, and we were resetting like a four‑by‑four corner post, and I thought my wife had it and she didn’t, and I walked away to get a clamp and she yelled my name and I turned right into it and basically got KO’d by it.

“But yeah, it went right down to my skull, bled a lot, and had to get stitched on the inside, then on the outside. Was back in about an hour, and I worked until about 9 Thursday night and I finished the stupid thing, so I’m glad it’s done.”

RELATED: Childers on Pearn: ‘We’re square now’

Well, then. Not exactly the kind of hardcore story we were expecting, but impressive, nonetheless.

Maybe next time go to the resident NASCAR treehouse expert for advice, though?

At the very least, the knock to the noggin might have influenced Pearn’s pit call on Sunday that led the win, at least according to FRR team president Joe Garone.

“He probably wouldn’t have made that call,” Garone joked, “if he wouldn’t have been hit in the head.”

Posted on by Steve Luvender

Ryan Luza moved Ray Alfalla out of the way to win his third race of the season at Michigan in Race 8 of the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series. Now, the world’s best sim racers look ahead to the only road-course race of the season: Sonoma Raceway, at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

RELATED: Full iRacing schedule | Watch iRacing

1: Ray Alfalla (+1)

While Ray Alfalla’s never won a road-course race in the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series, he’s been the model of consistency in 2018 so far — his worst finish in eight races is 12th.

2: Bobby Zalenski (+3)

Not only is Bobby Zalenski the defending race winner at Sonoma, he’s also finished in the top 10 in every other race this season. That means after his 12th-place finish at Michigan, he’s due for another single-digit finish if the pattern is accurate.

3: Ryan Luza (+5)

Luza’s back. After missing two races, Ryan Luza returned to the track and picked up right where he left off after two victories early in the season, claiming the checkered flag at Michigan after a late-race bump-and-run on Ray Alfalla. Luza has one career road course start — a 38th-place DNF in last year’s race at Sonoma — but it’s tough to deny the No. 6’s momentum.

4: Keegan Leahy (-2)

Aside from two blemishes — Las Vegas and Charlotte — Keegan Leahy’s finished in the top five each race this season. It’s an impressive feat, made even more impressive when you remember the driver second-place in points is a series rookie.

5: Nickolas Shelton (-1)

Nick Shelton, racing in his first full-time season, faces a new challenge: a road-course race. Luckily for Shelton, his Slip Angle Motorsports teammates Ray Alfalla and Bobby Zalenski sit atop our Power Rankings this week. They’re almost always correct, except for the times they aren’t.

6: Logan Clampitt (-5)

A 19th-place finish wasn’t the day for which Logan Clampitt had hoped at Michigan, but he looks to rebound at Sonoma, where driver No. 46 finished in the top 10 last year.

7: Matt Bussa (-1)

Matt Bussa has scored top-10 finishes in three of the last four races this season, plus our numbers say he’s a solid road racer, finishing fourth at Sonoma last year.

8: Nick Ottinger (NR)

Nick Ottinger has slowly rebuilt his season after a slow start following his victory at Daytona. After scoring his second top-10 finish of the season at Michigan and a solid third-place finish in last year’s race at Sonoma, it’s not unreasonable to consider the seventh-place driver in points a contender in Wine Country.

9: Michael Conti (-2)

Michael Conti’s record on road courses in the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series is impressive: three top-three finishes (including a win at Watkins Glen), and one 39th-place finish.

10: Christian Challiner (–)

Christian Challiner’s a solid bet for a top-10 finish at Sonoma, where he finished eighth last year. The Dynamic Autosports driver’s riding a wave of momentum that’s carried him up to ninth in the overall points standings.

Posted on by

SONOMA, Calif. — Kevin Harvick sat on pit road wall conversing with crew chief Rodney Childers after their runner-up result in Sunday’s race at Sonoma Raceway. During their chat, race-winner Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 78 Toyota drove by en route to Victory Lane.

If not for a clever, final stage trick by No. 78 crew chief Cole Pearn that snookered the No. 4 into pitting earlier, Harvick, Childers & Co. could have been the ones celebrating in that Wine Country Victory Lane.

RELATED: Race results | Harvick: ‘We all make mistakes’

“I’ve been preaching for two days to not worry about what everybody else is doing,” Childers said. “You come to road-course races and that’s all you talk about is when’s the right time to pit. What we did last time (in 2017) won us the race, but we got done with the race last time and didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do. We kind of told ourselves going into the race that we were going to do it differently. … (We) needed to worry about ourselves and not worry about what other people were doing. …

“Ones like this hurt a little bit, you know? It’s all good. I felt like the 78 had the best car last year and we won the race and I felt like this year, we had the best car and they won the race. So, we’re square now.”

The trickery unfolded at Lap 73 when No. 78 crew chief Cole Pearn initially called then-second place Truex Jr. for a green-flag stop. The No. 78 crew readied on pit road. Childers, hearing that, opted to bring the leading No. 4 down pit road to follow suit.

At the last minute, though, Pearn told Truex to stay on the track. That differing pit strategy affected the No. 4 team’s approach for the remainder of the race — and eventually paved the way for a No. 78 victory.

No codes, Pearn said — but he hadn’t planned to bring Truex down pit road all along.

WATCH: Mutual respect between Pearn, Childers | Cole Pearn explains trickery

“The whole intention was to stay out,” Pearn said. “We had a lap in mind that we were going to pit at, and it was just trying to get ourselves off sequence from (the No. 4 team). …

“I called (Truex) off at the last second. As far as he knew we were pitting. I’d like to say that we’re smart enough to use codes, but we’re not. We probably would screw it up,” he said with a smile.

Truex joked after the race that his team had gone to “acting school this week,” since the series is in California.

“When he said pit and then stay out, I wasn’t sure what was going on to be honest,” Truex said. “I just did what he said …

“Cole and I have a great relationship. I never question him when he’s calling races, and when he has things going on when he’s talking to me in the car, it’s just, OK — it’s yes or no answers for me.”

RELATED: Truex, No. 78 team snooker the field at Sonoma

But Pearn’s acting job did fool Childers, who radioed into his team after the stop that the No. 78 team had tricked them.

“They did what they had to do,” Childers said “(If) we could have just turned our scanners off and ran our race, probably would have been better off. …

“That’s really why I like racing those guys the most; the 18, the 78, those guys are really good at what they do, they make all of us better and we make them better every week. It’s awesome what they did and I have to congratulate them for that.”

And he did, as Childers paid Truex Jr., Pearn and the No. 78 team a visit in Victory Lane to offer congratulations.

There’s a matter of respect there between both groups, Pearn said. From one elite group to another.

“I think that’s the cool thing about racing,” he said. “I think you go from this level down to short track level, at the end of the day, you’re competing against each other, but you’re all there to help each other out when you’re down. At the end of the day, we’re playing a game. I mean, it’s kind of cool to have that camaraderie, and you spend so many weeks together beside each other in the garage area working next to them, and obviously competing with them on race day and stuff.

“So I think that’s one of the cool things about motorsports from go-karts to even the Cup level is it’s kind of a family at the end of the day.”

RELATED: All the times Truex and Harvick have finished 1-2

If one extra caution had come, it might have been the No. 4 in Victory Lane instead, Pearn said. That speaks to both teams’ strengths. As the playoffs near, small, gut-like decisions such as Pearn’s play into each race outcome — and eventually, the championship.

With five wins already in 2018, the No. 4 team relishes the chance to return to Victory Lane with a smart, timely move of its own.

“Our team is strong, we had a strong car all weekend and everybody’s done a great job,” Childers said. “Felt like Michigan we gave one away and felt like we gave another one away (Sunday). That part sucks — need two more stickers above the door. But we’ll get it.”