Tony Stewart takes part in Lip Sync Challenge with hometown police department

Posted on July 30, 2018July 30, 2018 by Staff Report

Tony Stewart, lip sync artist?

Turns out the three-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion has some skills, as shown off in a Lip Sync Challenge video posted by the Columbus, Indiana, police department. The Indiana town is Stewart’s hometown, and the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing had fun with his appearance.

Had fun shooting this video for my local police department in Columbus Indiana. Proud of everything they do to keep us all safe.https://t.co/mHDzbNKWi3

— Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart) July 30, 2018

Who knew Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” was a jam for “Smoke?” Watch below for the cameo which happens at the start.

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Holly Cain

Veteran Kyle Busch may have secured yet another victory for the 2018 “Big Three” Monster Energy NASCAR Cup championship heavy hitters on Sunday at Pocono Raceway, but he was surrounded at the checkered flag by a group of 20-somethings that made a strong statement about the future of the sport, too.

Three drivers – including runner-up Daniel Suarez, third-place finisher Alex Bowman and sixth-place finisher William Byron – turned in career-best efforts at Pocono. Five of the seven top finishers were 26-years old or younger.

“Well, it was about time,” Suarez, 26, said smiling after his career-best showing in the sport’s top series. “I feel like we are late.

“But you know, Kyle (Busch), Martin (Truex Jr.), Kevin (Harvick), they are great drivers, a lot of experience with great race teams. They have the whole package, and sometimes for a newer driver it’s a little bit more difficult to build that package, and I feel like it takes time. It’s not like a switch that you just have to turn it on and you are going to be running great. It takes time, and it’s a process.”

It was a long-awaited podium finish for Bowman, who joined the Hendrick Motorsports team full-time this season driving the No. 88 Chevrolet formerly fielded by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Bowman has been open about his personal high expectations with this opportunity. He is currently in the 16th and final playoff-eligible position in the standings with a solid 56-point lead over 17th place Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

It marks the first time the Hendrick team has had three cars in the top-10 since October of 2017 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. And for much of the day, it looked like they would have all four cars among the top-10 – veteran Jimmie Johnson ended up 17th after the two late overtime restarts.

“Obviously it was a great points day for us, but on top of that, it’s proof that we’re improving each and every week and continually getting better,” Bowman said.

“We’re not doing it as quickly as we want to, but days like today make all the hard work for the guys back at the shop, the engine shop, the chassis shop, body shop, the whole road crew, days like today make it worth it.

“Very glad, especially considering how bad we were when we started the weekend and how bad we qualified. To come out of here with a solid top five is a great day.”

Suarez’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammate Erik Jones, 22, finished fifth Sunday – his fifth top-10 in the last six races. A winner at Daytona in July, he is one of only four drivers other than Busch, Harvick and Truex to win outright and secure a place in the Playoffs.

Byron, 20, the youngest of Sunday’s high-achieving group, not only turned in his career-best Monster Energy Series effort, but led 10 laps in the No. 24 Chevrolet. He has led 53 laps this season, 22 of them in the last four races (12 at Daytona).

“There are a lot of big positives,” said Byron, who leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings. “I feel there are a couple of things we could have worked on and we’ll keep working on those things.

“Our cars are just getting faster. Now we have the speed to run in the top 10, which makes it a lot easier to do things and allows us to be more aggressive and allows me to drive the car the way I know how to drive it. I feel like our speed is just starting to get us in a position to be more aggressive, which is really good.”

Byron’s teammate Chase Elliott, 22, finished seventh Sunday and won his second stage of the season – all encouraging accomplishments. It was his second straight top-10 finish and fifth in the last eight races. He has 10 top-10s through 21 races and five top-fives. And Sunday’s result, in combination with Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates Bowman and Byron also brings confidence to the team.

“I don’t even know why some race tracks seem to be more suitable for what we have, and some don’t,” Elliott said. “We think we’re better as a whole, but I think we still have some work to do.”

There is reason for all these drivers to feel optimistic as the series heads to its second road course race of the season, at Watkins Glen International this weekend. Elliott has a pair of 13th-place finishes there, Bowman notched a ninth-place finish at the Sonoma road course in June and Jones has a pair of top-10s in his most recent road course races – 10th at The Glen last year and seventh at Sonoma this year. And Suarez is undoubtedly eager to get to New York. His first career top-five Monster Energy Series finish came at The Glen, a third-place there last summer.

Posted on July 30, 2018July 30, 2018 by Team Release

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – JR Motorsports announced today a crew chief change for driver Michael Annett and the No. 5 Pilot Flying J team. Travis Mack will assume crew chief duties from Jason Stockert, beginning with this weekend’s Zippo 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International (Aug. 4).

Mack, a 35-year-old native of Louisville, Kentucky, is a former employee of Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports, dating back to 2004. During the 2014-15 season, Mack held the role of car chief on JRM’s No. 9 NXS entry and was part of the team’s 2014 championship campaign. Mack returns to the organization from Levine Family Racing, where he served as crew chief for Kasey Kahne and the No. 95 team in the NASCAR Cup Series.

“We are constantly building toward the team’s future,” said Ryan Pemberton, JRM’s director of competition. “At this point in the season it was time for us to evaluate where the No. 5 team was and where we wanted it to be moving forward. It became clear a change was necessary.

“I want to thank Jason (Stockert) for all he’s done for the organization in building the No. 5 team from the ground up. But we’re also looking forward to a new chapter with Travis (Mack). He’s a familiar face to many within the company and we’re excited to put his talents to use with Michael and the Pilot Flying J team.”

Stockert, who has been with JRM since 2017, will move into another role within the organization.

Following a 14th-place finish at Iowa Speedway last weekend, Annett is currently 14th in the season point standings, 40 points outside of the top 12.

“I’m very grateful to be able to return to JR Motorsports,” said Mack. “To have been here previously as car chief and now to come back as a crew chief is a tremendous opportunity. I can’t thank Dale Jr. and Kelley enough for that. I’m looking forward to getting started with the No. 5 team this weekend.”

Posted on July 30, 2018July 30, 2018 by Staff Report

At least five Toyotas came to pit road before the end of Stage 2 in Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway. And at the time, all five of those cars — driven by Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez, were setting themselves up for the final stage rather than racking up the immediate benefits of stage points.

It was a move that put all the cards out on the table, and perhaps one that had Fantasy Live owners for these drivers pulling their hair out, but track position was cited in post-race interviews as being an important factor in being competitive at the 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle.” For some, that meant it was OK to pass up the stage points and go for the win.

So, how did the strategy turn out when the smoke cleared from race-winner Kyle Busch’s celebratory burnout?

RELATED: Complete race results

Well, pretty darn good, if we don’t say so ourselves.

As mentioned, Kyle Busch won the race, but teammate Suarez also posted a career-best runner-up finish, Jones finished fifth and Hamlin was 10th — a huge day for JGR. Meanwhile, Truex Jr. was the only real disappointment coming in 15th (though most people not named Martin Truex would be happy with that result).

Part of what makes the strategy effective, however, is not having any issues on pit road, and for the most part, these Toyota teams were on point. Check out the pit stats for Suarez below and use the drop-down menus to see how the other drivers performed.

Posted on July 29, 2018June 16, 2021 by Reid Spencer

LONG POND, Pa. – Even the drivers who beat him to the checkered flag acknowledged that Kevin Harvick had the fastest car in Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway.

But with a litany of issues to overcome, Harvick could do no better than fourth behind race winner Kyle Busch, runner-up Daniel Suarez and third-place finisher Alex Bowman.

After he posted the fastest lap in Saturday’s time trials, Harvick’s car failed inspection, and his time was disallowed, bumping the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to 29th in the starting order.

It didn’t take the six-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner long to race his way to the front. Harvick won the second stage, but pit strategy by the Toyota camp left him ninth for the final-stage restart on Lap 106.

Contact with teammate Aric Almirola damaged the No. 4 Ford, and Harvick had to make multiple trips to pit road to repair the sheet metal. Though he raced his way to fourth at the finish—nearly catching Bowman on the last lap—Harvick was disappointed with the result.

“It was eventful,” Harvick said wryly. “I think we went to the back twice and made our way back to the front each time. We made a good race out of it, but it’s hard to swallow on a day like that when our Mobil 1 Ford was the class of the field.

“You never know what is going to happen on these days. It’s hard to put them together, and you win some and lose some.”

Posted on July 29, 2018 by Reid Spencer

LONG POND, Pa. — Erik Jones made an all-or-nothing move in an overtime restart in Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway.

Teammate Kyle Busch led the field to green on Lap 163, with another teammate, Daniel Suarez, to his inside. Rather than push Suarez, Jones opted to take Busch and Suarez three-wide into Turn 1, but pinned to the inside, Jones ultimately slipped back to fifth at the finish.

“I think at that point, if I stayed and pushed the 19 (Suarez), I run the same spot I do now,” Jones said. “I mean, if we make the move we did, we at least had a shot, and we have a chance to go down there and clear, so we had to do what we had to do to win, and that was our one chance in the Reser’s Camry.

“It just didn’t work out, so still, a good, top-five day. We ran up in the top-five all day and just had a good car, so need to probably be a little bit better. I think the 4 (Kevin Harvick) was the class of the field today, but, you know, it was good to run up there in the top five and lead some laps.”

With Busch winning, Suarez running second and Denny Hamlin finishing 10th, Joe Gibbs Racing placed all four of its cars in the top 10.

Posted on July 29, 2018July 29, 2018 by Reid Spencer

LONG POND, Pa. — Alex Bowman finished third in Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway, a high-water mark in his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career.

Teammate William Byron came home sixth, also a career best for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender.

And with Chase Elliott finishing seventh, Hendrick Motorsports placed three drivers in the top 10 for the first time since October of last year at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Bowman was fourth for the final restart in overtime, but grabbed third at the stripe, narrowly holding off six-time winner Kevin Harvick.

“Obviously it was a great points day for us, but on top of that, it’s proof that we’re improving each and every week and continually getting better,” Bowman said. “Obviously, we’re not doing it as quickly as we want to, but days like today make all the hard work for the guys back at the shop, the engine shop, the chassis shop, body shop, the whole road crew—days like today make it worth it.

“Very glad, especially considering how bad we were when we started the weekend and how bad we qualified. To come out of here with a solid top five is a great day. Obviously, wish it would have been a little better, but I think we kind of had Pocono circled as a place that we thought we had pretty good race cars, and the 9 (Elliott) was really good, especially last race. We knew we were going to be pretty strong here.”

It showed, and the performance left Bowman 15th in the series standings, enhancing his playoff prospects.

Posted on July 29, 2018July 29, 2018 by Staff Report

With Sunday’s win in the Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway, Kyle Busch earned the 49th victory of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career, tying Tony Stewart for 13th on the all-time wins list.

Afterward, Stewart took to Twitter to offer his congratulations on the feat.

Congrats on win #49 today @KyleBusch . There’s many more to come. Proud of you 👍🏼👍🏼

— Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart) July 29, 2018

Stewart earned 49 victories in 597 starts over the course of his 18-year career, while Busch recorded the same number of wins in 483 total starts.

“That’s awesome,” Kyle Busch said about tying Stewart. “And you keep reaching higher up the ladder and you keep reaching milestone drivers, and Tony Stewart is one of the all-time best — and one of the drivers that I was a fan of as well growing up so it’s awesome to be able to tie him.”

Busch would tie Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett with a 50th career victory.

Below is a snapshot shot of where Busch and Stewart rank among other drivers on the coveted list:

Driver	Number of wins
Richard Petty	200
David Pearson	105
Jeff Gordon	93
Bobby Allison	84
Darrell Waltrip	84
Jimmie Johnson	83
Cale Yarborough	83
Dale Earnhardt	76
Rusty Wallace	55
Lee Petty	54
Ned Jarrett	50
Junior Johnson	50
Kyle Busch	49
Tony Stewart	49
Herb Thomas	48
Buck Baker	46
Bill Elliott	44
Kevin Harvick	43

Posted on July 29, 2018July 4, 2019 by Jessica Ruffin

LONG POND, Pa. – All Daniel Suarez needed was a little help.

A slight push from his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones and Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway may have crowned a first-time winner in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

That’s racing, he said – but also acknowledged how it hurts to be that close, as he stood on pit road while his mentor and race winner Kyle Busch celebrated the victory.

“Sometimes as a driver you’re on offense or you are on defense, and myself in the second part of the race, I was most of the time on offense, and I was just attacking as hard as I can,” Suarez said, finishing a career-best second. “Many times my spotter was telling me what was going on behind me, and one or two times I was very, very close to telling him, hey, I don’t care what’s going on behind me, just tell me what’s going on with the 18.

“You know, we did a good job. I feel like we put ourselves in position. We just have to put ourselves in position more often. If this starts to happen often, we are going to get one.”

Suarez lined his No. 19 Toyota up beside Busch in second for the final green-white-checkered attempt in NASCAR Overtime. He restarted well and began side-drafting Busch’s No. 18 for the lead. But then-third-place Jones flared out in an attempt to take the top spot and forced Suarez to battle with the No. 20, while Busch extended his lead.

Sure, Suarez was going to race his JGR teammate Busch clean, just as Busch races him. But he had gotten a shot at it, he would have taken it, he said; the 26-year-old sits on the outside of the playoff bubble, 96 points behind the final spot with five races remaining in the regular season.

A win is what he needed Sunday.

“I was going to do anything,” Suarez said. “Anything I could. If I could make (Busch) lose or give him a little bump, I was going to do it. But I never got close enough. The only time I was close enough side by side was in the last restart and when the 20 got on my inside, I had to worry about him instead of worrying about the 18. …

“Definitely helps a lot to have this kind of performance from my race team because as you know, we’ve been struggling lately – the last couple months or so – but very proud of my guys,” he said later. “Like I said on the radio today, second place is good, but I didn’t care if we were second, third or fifth, I really wanted to win. We needed that win, but, you know, that’s part of racing.”

The weekend was a banner weekend for the No. 19, as he also earned his first pole in the Monster Energy Series after Kevin Harvick’s top speed was disallowed after failing inspection. He faded back after some pit road damage early in the final stage, but battled back to the front in the waning laps.

His strong run impressed many, but notably Busch, who has served as Suarez’s longtime mentor since the Monterrey, Mexico, native began racing in NASCAR.

“He could have won. I mean, he was right there with us all day long,” Busch said. “He trailed us that whole run, and I couldn’t shake him. I couldn’t get away from him, and I was trying, but he was right there that whole time, and he stayed in front of Chase. Like he was good. … With Daniel and those guys, they had an awesome run, and they should be proud of that.”

After the race and the crowds cleared, Suarez debriefed with crew chief Scott Graves on pit road for a few minutes, exchanging quick words with team owner Joe Gibbs. The run is a confidence-booster for the team as they draw closer to the playoffs, Graves said.

“We felt like we had the ability to run like this and just haven’t executed in races and finally today we were able to put a whole one together,” Graves told NASCAR.com and ESPN. “It’s the first time we’ve had a trouble-free race I would say since Dover when we finished third. We know we can do it; we’ve just got to get more of the consistency and be able to run the track position and stay like that. …”

“He’s just very determined and mentally tough that he’s going to make this work and he’s going to be successful and that he’s going to do it. He doesn’t give up, even when we’ve had the struggles we’ve had this year. Sometimes it gets uncomfortable, but you’ve got to talk about it and figure it out and look at the details of what’s going on and what we’re doing wrong and how to fix it. Like I said, he doesn’t give up and he’s always been open to listening to everything, the good and the bad, and trying to figure things out.”

As the No. 19 group heads into next weekend’s race at Watkins Glen International, they’ll look to extend the momentum from Sunday to the twists and turns of the New York road course. And just maybe, they’ll turn a career-best run into a first-time, playoff-spot-clinching victory. He did finish third there last summer and earned a stage win in that race.

“I wish these kind of races were happening two months ago and everything was going to be easier,” Suarez said. “But that happens sometimes. We’re still a new team and we still figure things out sometimes and that’s part of racing. But we’re going to get there, we just have to keep working.

“The next race, Watkins Glen, that’s a very good track for me, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we could get another shot at it.”

Posted on July 29, 2018July 29, 2018 by Reid Spencer

LONG POND, Pa. – A post-qualifying inspection failure? No problem.

A starting position deep in the field for Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway? Just another challenge for Kyle Busch to overcome.

Holding off a determined charge from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Suarez in two late restarts—the first after a brutal wreck that sidelined Bubba Wallace—Kyle Busch powered his No. 18 Toyota to his sixth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season, tying fourth-place finisher Kevin Harvick for the series lead.

RELATED: Series standings | Race results
SHOP: Kyle Busch gear

Suarez started from the pole and finished a career-best second, 1.788 seconds behind Busch, who collected his second victory at the 2.5-mile Tricky Triangle and the 49th of his career, tying him with Tony Stewart for 13th on the all-time win list.

With the triumph, Busch completed a weekend sweep at Pocono, having tied NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career lead at 51 with his win in Saturday’s Gander Outdoors 150.

After his celebratory burnout, Busch had nothing but praise for his teammate.

“Suarez, man, I can’t say enough about my teammate,” Busch said. “He was probably the third-best car. Harvick was the best car, and we were second-best car, and I think Suarez was the third-best car. He gave us a run for our money there on that last restart.”

“The last restart I spun my tires a little bit too much and he got a really good run. I think that gave (JGR teammate and fifth-place finisher Erik) Jones an opportunity to make it three-wide going into (Turn) 1. They got into racing (each other), and I kind of got away.”

On tying Stewart with 49 wins, Busch said, “That’s awesome. You keep reaching up the ladder, and you keep reaching more milestone drivers. Tony Stewart is one of the all-time best and one of the drivers I was a fan of growing up as well. It’s awesome to tie him.”

Alex Bowman ran third, a career-best finish that left 15th in the series standings and enhanced his chances of qualifying for the Playoffs.

Harvick and Busch posted the two fastest laps in Saturday’s qualifying session, but their times were disallowed because of subsequent inspection failures—along with those of 11 other drivers. Busch started 28th and Harvick 29th.

Harvick won Stage 2, but the Toyotas of Busch, Suarez, Jones, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. pitted three laps before the end of the stage and stayed out under the subsequent caution, putting Harvick back in traffic for a restart on Lap 106.

A collision with Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola on pit road sent Harvick to the back of the field once more, but he was able to drive up to fourth before running out of laps at the finish.

“It definitely changed the course of the race,” Adam Stevens, Busch’s crew chief, said of the Toyotas pitting in masse before the end of Stage 2. But Stevens demurred when asked if it was a group decision.

Suarez did all he could to catch his teammate after Busch took the lead on Lap 108 of 164, but to no avail.

“Sometimes, as a driver, you’re on offense, or you are on defense, and myself, in the second part of the race, I was most of the time on offense, and I was just attacking as hard as I can,” Suarez said. “Many times, my spotter was telling me what was going on behind me, and one or two times I was very, very close to telling him, ‘Hey, I don’t care what’s going on behind me—just tell me what’s going on with the 18 (Busch).

“You know, we did a good job. I feel like we put ourselves in position. We just have to put ourselves in position more often. If this starts to happen often, we are going to get one. We just have to keep working hard, and maybe next time we can get a little bit more help from behind. I feel like that was all it was going to take, just a little bit more push.”

Busch held a comfortable lead over Suarez on Lap 154, when Wallace, running 22nd at the time, slammed into the Turn 1 wall with bone-jarring impact.

“No brakes—oh (expletive)!,” Wallace screamed over his radio as his car lurched to the left at the end of the frontstretch, slid through the grass and smashed into the SAFER barrier on the passenger’s side. A tense minute passed before Wallace lowered his window net; he was conscious and able to move within the car.

Wallace climbed from the crippled car with the aid of safety workers and sat on the asphalt, his back against the driver’s door, and climbed into a waiting ambulance for a trip to the infield care center.

“Hardest one of my career,” Wallace said of the impact. “I was just telling them here (in the care center) there is no feeling like being helpless in that situation going off into Turn 1, and it scared the hell out of me. I didn’t know if I was going to remember if I hit or not, so we are good.

“Bit my cheek, banged my foot off the pedal. I’m OK, though. I’ll wake up tomorrow and be a little sore, but the safety has come a long way. It’s good to be able to climb out of the car. The EMT’s were worried that I didn’t let the window net down fast enough, and I was like ‘Hell, that was the last thing I thought about—I’m sorry.’

“Everything was good. They gave me an ultrasound—no twins or anything, so I’m good.”