Posted on by Staff Report

Driver-turned-broadcaster Kyle Petty and his wife, Morgan, announced Monday the arrival of their first child together.

Kyle Petty revealed the birth of their son, Overton Owens Petty, on Sunday, reporting through his Twitter account that both mother and newborn are “doing GREAT!” The birth came one day after Petty’s 58th birthday.

RELATED: Charity ride keeps Petty coming back

It’s the fourth child for Petty, who won eight times in NASCAR’s premier series before making the transition to broadcasting. Petty currently works as an analyst for NBC Sports. He’s also given back to the community through the Victory Junction Camp and the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America.

Kyle and Morgan Petty married in December 2015.

Posted on by Kathy Sheldon

The 2018 NASCAR Salutes Refreshed by Coca-Cola initiative will focus on honoring military spouses and their commitment to supporting our military, their families and communities. In partnership with the USO’s Salute to Military Spouses campaign, NASCAR fans will learn about these spouses through a weekly content series.

And Coca-Cola Racing Family drivers will experience life on the other side of the microphone as Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Bubba Wallace will do the asking of questions over this six-week stretch, with each driver interviewing a military spouse to help share their respective stories.

NASCAR and Coca-Cola will host each spouse at a race through the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, strengthening the bond that already exists between NASCAR and the armed forces. NASCAR and Coca-Cola will also donate, on behalf of each spouse, to the United Service Organizations to help directly support efforts that positively impact military families.

Recently, Hamlin interviewed Jolynn Lee, the Armed Forces Insurance Marine Spouse of the Year, and hosted Jolynn and family at Pocono Raceway.

Lee has been married to the Marine Corps for nearly 30 years, since her freshman year of college at age 18. An educator who taught for 10 years, Lee’s passion is connecting with, and offering support to, active duty military members and families that are going through trauma. A traumatic event while on duty impacts both the servicemember and his or her family, meaning the entire group often needs assistance.

As Lee details to Hamlin, her work is inspired by the resiliency of military spouses.

NASCAR and Coca-Cola’s donation, on behalf of Lee, will go to programs like the USO’s Bob Hope Legacy Reading Program that helps military kids stay connected to their parents through reading. Imagine that a servicemember is able to read a newborn child a bedtime story from Kuwait, or any place else around the globe. Servicemembers can walk into participating USO locations, record themselves reading their child’s favorite story and have that recording shipped home.

Austin Dillon interviews Shelia Brookins

Brookins is the 2018 Armed Forces Insurance National Guard Military Spouse of the Year, who describes herself as a “proud wife of a Kentucky National Guard (KYARNG) soldier.” She and Dillon discuss family sacrifices, resilience, patience and faith | Read more and see the interview

Ryan Newman interviews Stacy Bilodeau

Bilodeau is the Armed Forces Insurance 2018 Coast Guard Military Spouse of the Year. Her work with the USO Care Package Program harkens back to the USO’s early years, when Americans packed boxes full of little “tastes of home.”  | Read more and see the interview

Kyle Larson interviews Brian Alvarado

Alvarado’s platform as Military Spouse of the Year focuses on employment. “Being a Navy spouse is truly the honor of my life” Alvarado tells Larson in this wide-ranging interview. | Read more and see the interview

Bubba Wallace interviews Kristen Christy

Christy is the daughter of an Airman, lost her first husband who served in the Air Force and now is married to an Air Force reservist. Her focus as the Air Force Military Spouse on the Year is suicide prevention after her first husband committed suicide following his service in Iraq. | Read more and see the interview

Joey Logano interviews Krista Anderson

A Gold Star spouse herself, Anderson’s focus as the overall Armed Forces Insurance 2018 Military Spouse of the Year is helping other families of the fallen “in order to give back to the very community that showed their unwavering support in our darkest days.” | Read more and see the interview

Posted on by Staff Report

Pit road performance was crucial during Sunday’s Pocono 400, a race in which teams often get ‘tricky’ with their pit strategies. Martin Truex Jr. took advantage of his team’s stout performance on pit road to pick up his second win of the season.

Fans now have the ability to get in-depth data on every pit stop from the previous weekend’s race. Use the program below to explore a team’s set of pit stops — use the arrows to toggle between drivers (Aric Almirola is the default), or even races, and explore pit stop times, flag state and how many tires a team took on every stop.

Pit road stats: Pocono

      Posted on by Reid Spencer

      LONG POND, Pa. — The anticipation Bubba Wallace felt on returning to the track where he made his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut last season soon turned to disappointment when the engine in his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet expired after 108 laps, the result of a missed shift.

      That terminal failure followed a pit-road speeding violation that forced Wallace to serve a pass-through penalty, putting the prospect of a strong finish in jeopardy.

      “I made a mistake on pit road speeding again here at Pocono,” Wallace said ruefully after steering his car to the garage. “We took the wave-around, and we were on older stuff (tires). The No. 95 (Kasey Kahne) was a little bit better than us, well, for sure better. I just tucked in behind him so we didn’t waste too much time and kind of did like a long shift and gave up a little bit of time.”

      That led to the costly miscue.

      “I did it earlier in the race around some cars and had no trouble with it. I just had too much weight and pulled to the left and went from third (gear) to second. I really hate it, and I have never done it before. It’s a bummer. She screamed pretty loud for a second and that was it. It didn’t re-fire after that.”

      The mistake led to a clever retort from team owner Richard Petty after the race:

      “(Crew chief) Drew (Blickensderfer) came up with a good strategy to make us rebound from that penalty that we had, and I thought we were going to set ourselves up for a decent finish,” Wallace added. “That’s what we needed. We kind of struggled with some front grip all weekend long, but we started hitting on it right there at the end.”

      Posted on by RJ Kraft

      LONG POND, Pa. – Most of the talk entering Sunday’s Pocono 400, and for the bulk of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season so far, centered around how Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch had dominated with nine wins in the first 13 races.

      That discussion seemed to leave Martin Truex Jr., last year’s series champion, as somewhat of a forgotten man. All weekend long, the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota maintained a steady confidence that his team was “right there” despite not having the treasure trove of playoff points he had built up last year. He cited how at this time last year he only had two wins (he went on to win eight times in 2017), while this year he came into Pocono with just one win.

      The 37-year-old New Jersey native scored another win Sunday at Pocono Raceway, one of his handful of home tracks. In the process, he served notice that the 2018 championship picture is far from a two-car conclusion between Harvick and Busch.

      RELATED: Truex takes Pocono | See how Truex got the victory 

      “It’s always fun to win,” Truex said. “But especially when you beat the best guys out there. These two guys (Busch and Harvick) were so fast today. Honestly, we were all really equal. It was a matter of who could get out front. The 4 and I stayed on tires. We felt like in practice we were really fast on scuffs. Cole (Pearn, his crew chief) made a good call to stay out and once I got in clean air, this thing was a rocket ship.”

      Despite a string of incidents and bad luck early in the spring, Truex has nine top fives on the season – tied for second-most in the series. And unlike last year, when it seemed like everything that could go right for the No. 78 team did, nagging issues such as lost spots on pit road and blown tires have happened, but the team has not lost its way as Sunday proved.

      “We’ve had more battles this year,” Truex said. “We’ve had more adversity. Last year I felt like things just ‑ it was almost like we couldn’t do anything wrong. This year we’ve had to really work a lot harder for it, but I feel like we’re still right there.”

      Through the season’s first 14 races, the trio of Truex, Harvick and Busch have combined for 11 wins and 2,105 laps led. Together, the trio has taken top-five spots together in four races this season and have a combined 28 top fives on the season. They rank first through third in playoff points gathered thus far and all three were part of last year’s Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

      So is it fair to say the three of them are in a league of their own after they comprised 75 percent of the top four with Kyle Larson taking the runner-up spot?

      “I think three out of the four have definitely been the best,” Larson said of Harvick, Busch and Truex. “I mean, I’m the only one that doesn’t have a win in the front four. … I think that three of those guys are definitely head over heels better than the rest of us.”

      RELATED: Harvick’s headway fades in late going | Series standings | Every 2018 winner

      Sunday’s race saw the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Harvick, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Busch and the No. 78 of Truex all take turns at the front with Harvick leading a race-high 89 laps. Truex overcame a slow pit stop on the left rear after the end of Stage 1. Before that, he ran down Harvick for the lead and playoff point with seven laps to go to take the stage win.

      Truex also capitalized on staying out under a Lap 140 caution and made the older tires hold up over the final 21 laps and three cautions. The decision to stay out did not work out as well for Harvick, who fell to fourth at the end. Busch took four tires for fresh rubber, restarting eighth and surged to a third-place finish.

      “Every single weekend this year, I’ve felt like we can show up and win,” Truex said. “In this sport, as tough as it is and as competitive as it is, that’s really what you look for. Any time you’re in a situation like that, I think you’re in a good place.”

      As the crew chief of the No. 78 team, Pearn is confident that the team is continuing to make strides week to week as the season progresses.

      “Ultimately, you can only control your own destiny, so I think it’s just a matter of continuing to work on the areas that we know we need to improve,” Pearn said. “It’s a matter of staying after it, and if you manage your own inputs, the output is going to be the best that you can hope for.

      “Obviously those guys, the 4 and the 18, have done an unbelievable job all year, and we’ve been close for sure, and today was a great step in the right direction and let us know that we were kind of working the right way.”

      Posted on by Staff Report

      Kevin Harvick seemed poised to check off one of the two tracks missing from his career win list Sunday at Pocono Raceway, staying in command for most of the 160 laps. But another chance at filling that void will have to wait until NASCAR’s return trip to the Pennsylvania track in July.

      Harvick led a race-high 89 laps but slipped back to a fourth-place finish behind winner Martin Truex Jr. in the Pocono 400. The result gave Harvick five top-five efforts in the last six Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races, but he left the 2.5-mile with an 0-for-35 career mark there.

      RELATED: Race results | Truex outlasts Pocono field

      Harvick slid to second behind Kyle Busch in the running order after an exchange of pit stops on Lap 127. His Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford was unable to make up the ground in a flurry of four restarts before the finish, and he wound up in close pursuit of runner-up Kyle Larson and third-place Busch at the checkered flag.

      “We had a good car all day, just came down to really losing control of the race on the last pit stop,” said Harvick, who joined Truex in staying on the track while others pitted during the 140th lap. “Really not pitting or pitting didn’t really seem to matter. We lost control to the 18 and wound up losing a couple more spots on the restart starting on the inside, and that was the end of the day. Car was fast and everybody did a great job, it just didn’t work out.”

      Pocono and Kentucky Speedway remain the only two active tracks where Harvick has not won in his career. The 42-year-old driver will have the opportunity to cross off both next month with 400-milers at Kentucky (July 14) and Pocono (July 29) coming up on the schedule.

      Busch achieved the career circuit sweep in the previous weekend’s Coca-Cola 600, finally ticking the box for Charlotte Motor Speedway in a points-paying event.

      Posted on by Reid Spencer

      LONG POND, Pa. — Taking charge of Sunday’s Pocono 400 by staying out under caution on Lap 140 of 160, reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, Martin Truex Jr. pulled away after a restart with seven laps left to win the race and inject himself emphatically into the title conversation.

      The outcome was all about control. Five-time winner Kevin Harvick had it for most of the event, leading a race-high 89 laps. Four-time winner Kyle Busch had it late, winning the race off pit road on Lap 126 and leading Truex and Harvick until a debris caution slowed the action on Lap 139 and changed the course of the race.

      Busch finished third and Harvick fourth, as Kyle Larson grabbed second place after a Lap 144 restart and held the rest of the way, finishing 2.496 seconds behind Truex. With the victory, the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota made sure NASCAR’s Dominant Duo of Harvick and Busch can rightfully now be renamed the Big Three.

      RELATED: Race results | Stages recap
      SHOP: Truex Jr. gear

      The Mayetta, New Jersey, driver won for the second time at Pocono, the second time this season and the 17th time in his career. Collectively, Harvick, Busch and Truex have triumphed in 11 of the 14 Cup races this year.

      Truex was running second to Busch when NASCAR called the debris caution on Lap 139, after a parade of cars ran over a shiny object in Turn 1. When crew chief Adam Stevens called Busch to pit road — and Truex, Harvick, Chase Elliott and Larson remained on the track, Truex had control of the race — and made the most of it.

      “It’s been a really good weekend overall,” said Truex, who led 31 laps and overcame a slow pit stop that dropped him to 14th after he won the race’s first stage. “I feel like we’re getting back to where we were last year (when Truex won eight races).

      “It’s always fun to win, but especially when you beat the best guys out there. These two guys (Busch and Harvick) were so fast today. Honestly, we were all really equal. It was a matter of who could get out front. The 4 (Harvick) and I stayed on tires. We felt like in practice we were really fast on scuffs. (Crew chief) Cole (Pearn) made a good call to stay out, and once I got in clean air, this thing was a rocket ship.”

      WATCH: Truex on competing with Harvick, Busch

      Busch lost last year’s spring race at Pocono when he stayed out on old tires. Stevens made the opposite call on Sunday, but fresh rubber didn’t produce the benefit he and Busch had expected.

      “We decided to pit and put tires on again right there, because we had about 10 or 11 laps on tires,” Busch said. “And that’s where we got burned here in this race in that exact situation last year. So we didn’t want to make the same mistake again.

      “But once I got back there, I just couldn’t pass those guys. I was just stuck where I was at. The four tires just didn’t do anything today. It was certainly all about being out front.”

      Harvick held the lead when Derrike Cope spun off Larson’s front bumper on Lap 124, causing the third caution of the afternoon and the first for a racing incident. Harvick was blocked in his pits by pole winner Ryan Blaney and lost the lead to Busch. For Harvick, the die was cast from that point on.

      WATCH: Larson sends Cope for a spin

      “We had a good car all day,” Harvick said. “Just came down to really losing control of the race on the last pit stop. Really not pitting or pitting didn’t really seem to matter. We lost control to the 18 (Busch) and wound up losing a couple more spots on the restart starting on the inside, and that was the end of the day.

      “Car was fast, and everybody did a great job. It just didn’t work out.”

      Brad Keselowski ran fifth, followed by Blaney, Aric Almirola and Jimmie Johnson, who led his first two laps of the season during the first exchange of green-flag pit stops. Busch leads the series by 87 points over Harvick in second and 90 over Joey Logano (ninth Sunday) in third.

      Larson acknowledged that his runner-up finish was serendipitous.

      WATCH: Larson talks ‘Big Three’

      “We weren’t quite as fast as what I thought we’d be after practice,” Larson said. “I ran probably sixth or seventh all day long and finished second. Was happy about that, because I felt like, obviously, we were at a little bit of a disadvantage on tires there, but the track position overcame that.

      “But I felt like if I didn’t have a good restart on any one of those, I would have fell back outside the top five from those guys on fresher tires. Happy we finished second but needed a lot more to kind of compete with the three guys that ran up front all day.”

      In other words, Larson has work to do before the Big Three can become the Fabulous Four.

      Posted on by Staff Report

      The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series head to Michigan International Speedway this weekend, while the Camping World Truck Series is at Texas Motor Speedway. Check out the full schedule below, subject to change.

      Note: All times are ET

      Sunday, June 10
      ON TRACK: MICHIGAN
      –Noon: Driver/Crew chief meeting
      –1:20 pm.: Driver introductions
      –1:58:30: Canadian National Anthem, MIS’s Lisa Bascom
      –2:00:00: Presentation of the Colors: Michigan State Police
      –2:00:20: Invocation, St. Francis de Sales High School, Father Geoff Rose
      –2:01:00: National anthem, Lisa Bascom
      –2:02:30: Fly-by: C-130H Hercules, 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown, Ohio Air Reserve Station
      –2:07:30: “Drivers, start your engines” command by Trace Adkins, country music star
      –2:26:30: Green flag, FireKeepers Casino 400 (200 laps, 400 miles), (Results) FOX  (Canada: TSN 1, TSN3)

      PRESS PASS (Watch live)
      5 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race

      Saturday, June 9
      ON TRACK: MICHIGAN
      — 9:05 (when track is dry)-9:55 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN2)
      — 10:05 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Pole Qualifying (Canceled)
      — 11:30 a.m.-12:50 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, FS2 (joined in progress at noon ET) (Canceled) (Canada: TSN2)
      — 4:45 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series LTi Printing 250, FS2 (Results) (Canada: TSN2)

      PRESS PASS (Watch live)
      3:30 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Xfinity Series race

       

      ______

      Thursday, June 7
      ON TRACK: TEXAS
      — 4:05-4:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series practice (Results)
      — 6:05-6:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series final practice (Canceled)

      Friday, June 8
      ON TRACK: MICHIGAN
      —       11:40 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, FS2 (Results) (Canada: TSN1)
      — 1:05-1:55 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series practice, FS2 (Results) (Canada: TSN GO)
      — 3:05-3:55 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN GO)
      — 4:05 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pole Qualifying, FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN2)

      PRESS PASS (Watch live)
      10:30 a.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
      10:45 a.m.: Kyle Larson
      11:15 a.m.: Austin Cindric, Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones and Vinnie Miller
      1 p.m.: Erik Jones
      1:30 p.m.: Brad Keselowski
      5 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying

      ON TRACK: TEXAS
      — 5:45 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Pole Qualifying, FS2 (Results)
      — 9 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series PPG 400, FS1 (Results)

      Posted on by Staff Report

      Where should you tune in for NASCAR races this week? We have the answer for that and provide all the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

      Note: All times are ET. 

      MORE: Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1, FS2 | Get Fox Sports GO | How to find NBCSN 

      Monday, June 4
      3 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400, FS1 (re-air)
      6 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

      Tuesday, June 5
      6 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

      Wednesday, June 6
      6 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
      7 p.m.: NASCAR Wheelen Series: Seekonk Speedway, NBCSN

      Thursday, June 7
      6 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

      Friday, June 8
      11:30 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, FS2 (Canada: TSN  1)
      12:30 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub Weekend Edition, FS2
      1 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series practice, FS2 (Canada: TSN GO)
      2:30 p.m.: Race Hub Weekend Edition, FS1
      3 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, FS1 (CanadA: TSN GO)
      4 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pole qualifying, FS1 (Canada: TSN2)
      5:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Pole qualifying, FS2
      8 p.m: NASCAR RaceDay: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, FS1
      9 p.m. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series PPG 400, FS1

      Saturday, June 9
      5:30 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Rattlesnake 400, FS1 (re-air)
      8 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pole qualifying, FS1 (re-air)
      9 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, FS1 (Canada: TSN2)
      10 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Pole qualifying, FS1 (Canada: TSN GO) CANCELED (Re-airing Friday’s Xfinity Series final practice)
      12 p.m. (joined in progress): Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, FS2 (Canada: TSN2) CANCELED (Re-airing Friday’s Monster Energy Series qualifying)
      1 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Pre-Race Show, FOX
      4:45 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity LTi Printing 250, FS2 (Canada: TSN2)

      Sunday, June 10
      8 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series LTi Printing 250, FS1 (re-air)
      1:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pre-Race Show, FOX
      2 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400, FOX (Canada: TSN1, 3) UNDERWAY AFTER DELAY
      11:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400, FS1 (re-air)

      Posted on by Staff Report

      Stage 2

      Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick nabbed his series-leading seventh stage win of the season Sunday at Pocono Raceway, cruising to a substantial lead ahead of second-place Kyle Busch in the 50-lap stage.

      Harvick started Sunday afternoon’s race on the front row alongside pole-sitter Ryan Blaney, and he’s led a race-high 63 laps.

      RELATED: Full Stage 2 results

      In addition to the 10 race points earned for winning Stage 2, the 2014 series champ adds a playoff point toward his growing postseason total as well.

      Harvick’s SHR teammate Clint Bowyer and Stage 1 winner Martin Truex Jr. claimed third and fourth in Stage 2 with Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott completing the top five.

      Finish Driver Team Race points
      1  Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 10
      2  Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 9
      3 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing 8
      4 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing 7
      5 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 6
      6 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing 5
      7 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 4
      8 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 3
      9 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 2
      10 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports 1

       

      Stage 1

      Furniture Row Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. nabbed his third stage win of the season Sunday at Pocono Raceway, narrowly beating Kevin Harvick to the start/finish line after a thrilling final few circuits of the 50-lap stage.

      Truex started Sunday afternoon’s race from the fourth position, and he nabbed the lead from the Stewart-Haas Racing driver with less than 10 laps to go. Harvick finished second after leading a race-high 23 laps.

      RELATED: Full Stage 1 results

      In addition to the 10 race points earned for winning Stage 1, the defending series champion adds a playoff point toward his growing postseason total as well.

      Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and SHR’s Clint Bowyer claimed third and fourth in Stage 1 with JGR’s Denny Hamlin taking fifth.

      Ryan Blaney led 11 laps from the pole, but faded to seventh.

      Finish Driver Team Race points
      1  Martin Truex Jr.  Furniture Row Racing 10
      2  Kevin Harvick  Stewart-Haas Racing 9
      3  Kyle Busch  Joe Gibbs Racing 8
      4 Clint Bowyer  Stewart-Haas Racing 7
      5 Denny Hamlin  Joe Gibbs Racing 6
      6 Chase Elliott  Hendrick Motorsports 5
      7 Ryan Blaney  Team Penske 4
      8 Kyle Larson  Chip Ganassi Racing 3
      9 Jimmie Johnson  Hendrick Motorsports 2
      10 Brad Keselowski  Team Penske 1