Posted on by Kathy Sheldon

Isla Rose already has the ‘Earnhardt smirk’ down. At least according to her dad.

It’s been one week since Dale Earnhardt Jr. and wife Amy welcomed home their new bundle of joy, and the first seven days of fatherhood have been a whirlwind.

MORE: Junior, Amy through the years

“I feel like everything that’s going to come out of my mouth is so cliche,” Earnhardt Jr. said during the most recent episode of “The Dale Jr. Download” podcast. “The love that you have is more than ever. This person … I don’t know what it is. It’s hard to explain. You feel this love for this baby that is not a love that you’ve felt for anyone else. I love my wife to death. I love my parents, my father and my sister. … It’s a 100 times more than that.”

The couple, who wed on New Year’s Eve in 2016, announced the pregnancy in October 2017 and had the racing world on pins and needles as the due date got closer.

The newest little Earnhardt was born April 30, just one day after what would have been Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s 67th birthday.

“I was really emotional, more so than Amy” he said. “This whole week I keep telling Amy she reminds me of a pit crew. The car comes down pit row, hops in the box … it’s like clockwork. It hits this line, the crew jumps over, goes to work, does the work, crew goes over wall, car leaves and everyone is back watching the race.

RELATED: Drivers offer fatherhood advice to Junior

“It’s instinctual. That’s the way she’s been. Baby comes out, she knows what to do, she’s doing it. She’s not crying, not emotional. She’s just doing her mother thing. I’m just a basket of nerves and crying.”

And it didn’t take long for Junior to find a little personality in his daughter either.

“She smirks the ‘Earnhardt smirk’ some, where she does it off to the side,” he proudly shared. “… I like to tell Amy that’s the Earnhardt in her coming out, because that’s how Daddy always smiled.”

RELATED: Dale’s sister on fatherhood: ‘He gets it, now’

Posted on by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, a four-time winner already in the 2018 season and the most recent race winner Sunday at Dover International Speedway. Safe to say he’s used to pressure and to meeting those expectations.

But a seemingly sweet and innocent tweet from Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Tuesday led to Harvick admitting that even he sometimes feels the burden to do well for others.

Specifically, for Mammaw.

Martha (Mammaw) Earnhardt, Dale Jr.’s grandmother and the mother of Dale Earnhardt, visited Junior’s newborn daughter, Isla, and happened to mention that she still watches every Monster Energy Series race and still pulls for Harvick, who drove for Richard Childress Racing in the renumbered No. 29 car after Earnhardt was killed in a 2001 wreck in the Daytona 500.

This was news to Harvick, who was quick to react, complete with emoji.

Harvick was asked about this on Friday at Kansas Speedway and smiled widely as he talked about it.

“Seeing the reaction from a lot of fans is a lot of responsibility, honestly. As I said on the show Tuesday night (“Happy Hours” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), when you look at the Earnhardt family in general, the legacy they have in our sport. … it’s a major backbone of what has happened in this sport,” Harvick said.

“When you look at that, I feel like I have a small part of where that changed, took place and where it’s going.

“For me, there’s a lot of pressure but also a lot of pride in that as well, trying to do right, whether it’s for the family or those old Senior fans, you want to do to the right thing. I haven’t always done the right thing but I feel like as you go through the years you transition more into the right direction than you did in the beginning so for me, personally, that feels good.”

Harvick, of course, honored Earnhardt earlier this year after he won in Atlanta, the same track where he earned his first premier series win in his third career start in the series.

Contributing: NASCAR Wire Service

Posted on by Staff Report

The third NASCAR Xfinity Series Philadelphia Takeover hit the streets of the City of Brotherly Love on Tuesday. A record 21 drivers across 12 teams were in Philadelphia to greet fans while promoting next month’s Pocono Green 250 (June 2 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). In addition to Pocono Raceway, Dover International Speedway — site of the most recent Xfinity Series race — was involved in this event.

MORE: Scenes from the Philadelphia #XfinityTakeover

Drivers explored the city through various activities that included going to the Franklin Institute for a STEM-focused Q&A, meet and greets at the Comcast Center Front Plaza and Xfinity Live, visiting the steps made famous by Rocky Balboa, stopping by Pat’s & Geno’s, serving up food at the Reading Terminal Market, taking in a Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball game and the smoke show in Center City complete with burnouts. Keep tabs on how the day was spent below.

Posted on by Steve Luvender

Editor’s Note: The NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series is back in action on May 8 at Kansas Speedway.

Josh Bilicki: noted road racer, Xfinity Series driver with two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts under his belt, and iRacing driving coach, apparently.

 

Spencer Boyd logged some laps at the virtual Dover International Speedway before competing in the Xfinity Series race at the real Dover last weekend, too.

Check out Austin Dillon using iRacing to talk through a lap around the Monster Mile.

And why is the iRacing van visiting Travis Pastrana’s house?

NASCAR PEAK ANTIFREEZE iRACING SERIES UPDATE

The best iRacers in the world face off Tuesday night for Race 6 of the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series season at Kansas Speedway.

Last race, at Richmond Raceway, three-time series champion Ray Alfalla put an end to Ryan Luza’s hopes of three consecutive wins, making a late pass for his first victory of 2018.

Alfalla currently leads the series standings by six points over Luza and 27 points over rookie Keegan Leahy.

RELATED: Who is atop the Race 6 Power Rankings?

The series hasn’t visited Kansas Speedway since 2013, when Nick Ottinger claimed the checkers. Ottinger currently sits seventh in series points after winning the season opener at Daytona. He hasn’t cracked the top 10 otherwise.

iRACING PAINT SCHEMES OF THE WEEK

Ryan Williams painted Noah Gragson’s super-sharp Xfinity Series Switch Toyota Camry — not only for iRacing, but for Gragson’s actual car, too. It’s Williams’ first paint scheme to hit the track in real life.

Erik Le painted the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Chevrolet Kasey Kahne raced at Dover — but re-imagined as an Xfinity Series car.

If you’re feeling nostalgic (or hungry), Ken Huff creatively reconfigured Ken Schrader’s 1987 Red Baron race car onto an iRacing NASCAR Camping World Truck Series truck.

DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME

Check out this camera work and video editing by Reddit user /u/dankfisch to capture an intense moment in the Xfinity Series-style cars at Dover.


Watch the lead car barely use the outside wall as an assist after wheeling the car through the corner. The competition on iRacing is no joke!

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR and Camping World have expanded their agreement to provide Gander Outdoors naming rights to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Beginning in 2019, the national series will be rebranded as the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.

Camping World originally became title sponsor of the Truck Series in 2009. In 2014, NASCAR and Camping World signed a landmark seven-year agreement, continuing the partnership through 2022. This newly expanded agreement provides official NASCAR status and naming rights to Camping World’s partner brand, Gander Outdoors. The remaining years on the deal are still intact.

RELATED: Truck Series standings

“Gander Outdoors’ customer base has an affinity to the outdoor lifestyle and will transition seamlessly as the title sponsor of our national series in 2019,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR Chief Operating Officer. “The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has a consistent and dedicated fan base that will embrace the Gander Outdoors brand. This expanded agreement demonstrates our partners’ confidence in the on-track product and the power of our brand loyal fan base.”

Gander Outdoors, formerly known as Gander Mountain, was purchased and rebranded by Marcus Lemonis, Chairman of Camping World, in May 2017. Earlier this year, Gander Outdoors announced its title sponsorship of two races at Pocono Raceway; the Gander Outdoors 150 (NASCAR Camping World Truck Series) on July 28 and the Gander Outdoors 400 (Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) on July 29.

“Nearly a decade ago we felt strongly our entitlement sponsorship would dramatically increase Camping World’s customer base and it’s delivered,” said Marcus Lemonis, Chairman of Camping World. “We expect the passionate fans of NASCAR will embrace Gander Outdoors the same way they supported Camping World and we couldn’t be more excited about the future of the series.”

Additionally, as part of the newly expanded agreement, Camping World partner brands Overton’s and The House Outdoor Gear will also receive official NASCAR status. The newly signed agreement includes rights to activate across all retail locations nationwide.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

CONCORD, N.C. — For the third straight year, NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers will travel to Philadelphia for the NASCAR Xfinity Philadelphia Takeover on Tuesday.

This year will see a record 21 drivers across 12 teams head to the City of Brotherly Love to greet fans while promoting next month’s Pocono Green 250 (June 2 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). In addition to Pocono Raceway, Dover International Speedway  — site of the most recent Xfinity Series race — is involved in this event.

Drivers will explore the city through various events that include going to the Franklin Institute for a STEM-focused Q&A, meet and greets at the Comcast Center Front Plaza and Xfinity Live, the steps made famous by Rocky Balboa, Pat & Geno’s, serving up food at the Reading Terminal Market and taking in a Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball game.

The highlight, though, is the parade at lunchtime through downtown Philadelphia that includes a smoke show on Market Street. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Ford, is most excited for that.

“It’s really cool because we get to do burnouts on the street,” Custer said. “There’s people in their windows and the skyscrapers looking out. It’s a really cool event.”

The 2018 season marks the fourth with Xfinity as the series’ entitlement sponsor. NASCAR and the Comcast company agreed to a 10-year deal that started with the 2015 season for the sport’s No. 2 series.

“Just getting to spend a day with the Xfinity group will be enjoyable,” Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell (driver of the No. 20 Toyota) said. “They’ve done a lot for this sport. It’s an honor to be able to race with the Xfinity Series. It’s been really cool to see just how involved they are with their drivers and the NASCAR peers. It’s something that we can do to help promote their company and I’m glad we are able to give back to them because they sure do give a lot to us.” 

The 21 Xfinity Series drivers for Tuesday’s event are scheduled to be: Bell, Spencer Boyd, Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Custer, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Joey Gase, Kaz Grala, Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, Shane Lee, Dylan Lupton, Ty Majeski, Vinnie Miller, Matt Mills, John-Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Reed, Garrett Smithley, Ryan Truex and J.J. Yeley.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

CONCORD, N.C. – What a difference 18 hours makes.

Kyle Larson dropped the news on Sunday during a Dover rain delay that John Hunter Nemechek would be on standby for him at Kansas Speedway if Larson’s fiancée Katelyn Sweet was giving birth to their second child. Fast forward to Monday afternoon, and Larson had taken to Twitter to reveal the birth of Audrey Layne Larson.

RELATED: Larson, Sweet welcome second child

“It’s definitely an honor,” Nemechek told NASCAR.com during a break in the NASCAR Xfinity Series test at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Monday. “Thankful for Kyle, Chad (Johnston, Larson’s crew chief), Chip (Ganassi, team owner) and Max (Jones, managing director of team’s NASCAR operations) and everyone at Ganassi for believing in me and actually giving me the opportunity to sit on standby just in case.”

With the baby’s early-week arrival, Nemechek’s services will likely not be needed.

“I doubt it now. I figured from the start it was going to be hard to get him out of the seat even if she was having the baby,” Nemechek said. “We’ll still be around, still be around the Cup hauler, those guys and learning as much as we can.”

IN HIS OWN WORDS: Nemechek on his move to Chip Ganassi Racing

While the opportunity to log some Monster Energy Series practice or race laps won’t happen just yet, the 20-year-old is keeping plenty busy. He’ll be back behind the wheel of his family-owned NEMCO Motorsports truck this Friday at Kansas in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in the 37 Kind Days 250 (May 11, 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Nemechek won his most recent start in the series at Martinsville in March.

On top of that, he is running a part-time schedule in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In Monday’s test, Nemechek posted three of the top five single-lap times in the morning session.

To date, he has run six of the season’s first 10 races with a best finish of fourth in his series debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February. In those races, he has two top 10s and an average finish of 13.3.

“This year has definitely had its ups and downs,” Nemechek said when reflecting on his runs with the No. 42 Xfinity team thus far. “We’ve been fast, we’ve had tire issues and we haven’t had the finishes we’ve needed. We’re fast each and every weekend that we go to the race track; we just have to figure out how to close it out.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Bring on baby No. 2!

Kyle Larson and fiancee Katelyn Sweet announced the birth of their second child, daughter Audrey Layne Larson, on Monday, one day after the Chip Ganassi driver shared that John Hunter Nemechek was on standby to pilot the No. 42 at Kansas if needed. Turns out … he’s not needed.

MORE: Check out Larson’s climb to the top 

The couple got engaged in December 2017 before jetsetting down to Australia to celebrate the holidays and their son Owen’s third birthday.

Larson and Sweet joined the list of expecting NASCAR parents in November after they confirmed (with special help from the newest big brother) that the newest addition to the family clan would arrive in May 2018.

Welcome to the world, Audrey Layne! We’ll see you at the track soon.

Posted on by Steve Luvender

Ray Alfalla won Race 5 of the 2018 season after a caution-filled event at Richmond Raceway. The NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series heads to Kansas Speedway for the series’ first trip to the virtual 1.5-mile oval since 2013.

1: Ray Alfalla (+1)

After a big win at Richmond, Ray Alfalla appears to be back to true form — though, I don’t think anybody ever counted him out.

2: Ryan Luza (-1)

Luza didn’t score his third victory in a row, but he came close. As the series heads into Kansas, Luza has won every single race at a 1.5-mile track this season. I mean, there was only one of them, but technically this is a factually-accurate statement.

3: Keegan Leahy (+1)

Another race, another top five for the rookie — and a couple of lap-leading stints at Richmond to boot. Look for another solid run at Kansas. Between Leahy and Luza, Phenom Racing Team sort of looks like Stewart-Haas Racing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

4: Logan Clampitt (+1)

With an eighth-place finish at Richmond Raceway — the site of his sponsor — Logan Clampitt vaulted to sixth in points. Clampitt’s Toyota had a few extra dents on it than he might have liked — but, hey, it’s short track racing.

5: Michael Conti (-2)

21-year-old Michael Conti is one of the few drivers in our fine Power Rankings list who started the last NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series race at Kansas Speedway in 2013, when he was barely old enough to drive a car.

6: Bobby Zalenski (+2)

Bobby Zalenski has been the model of consistency in 2018, cautiously working his way up to fourth in points. If you saw his crash avoidance video from Richmond, you’d agree his rise in points position was the only cautious thing he’s done.

7: Matt Bussa (NR)

In a 200-lap race that was slowed for 69 caution laps (where’s Greg Biffle?), Matt Bussa somehow emerged as one of just four drivers with clean cars by the end of the night. That feat, combined with leading 49 laps and having a serious shot at the win, showed Bussa’s a contender.

8: Christian Challiner (NR)

While it seems the sophomore slump is real for Christian Challiner, the United Kingdom-based driver scored a solid fifth-place finish at Richmond — his only top-five finish since Daytona.

9: Casey Kirwan (NR)

Carolina Club’s Casey Kirwan landed just outside the Top-10 in NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series points after a seventh-place effort at Richmond. He’s been a consistent top-15 car at downforce-heavy tracks this season, so it’s not unreasonable to think Kirwan could keep the momentum rolling at Kansas.

10: Brad Davies (–)

While Richmond was a bit of a disaster for Brad Davies — a 22nd-place finish — he’s worth a watch at Kansas after a string of top-10 finishes at Phoenix, Auto Club, and Las Vegas leading up to Richmond.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

DOVER, Del. – The only thing that could have stopped Kevin Harvick on Sunday at Dover International Speedway was a sudden rainstorm.

And even that failed.

Eight laps after Sunday’s AAA 400 restarted from a rain delay of more than 40 minutes, Harvick passed Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Clint Bowyer for the lead and pulled away to win his fourth race of the season by a whopping 7.450 seconds.

All told, Harvick led 201 of the 400 laps, swept all three stages and reestablished his No. 4 Ford as the dominant car in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

RELATED: Full results | Photos from Dover
SHOP: Kevin Harvick gear

“It’s fun racing your teammate,” said Harvick, who won for the second time at the Monster Mile and the 41st time in his career, breaking a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin and taking sole possession of 18th all-time.

In fact, Harvick and Bowyer are close enough to have ribbed each other throughout the weekend.

“I’m thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’ve talked so much trash to him all weekend, and he’s already told me that the karma train is going to run me over’ when it started raining,” Harvick quipped. “But we had a fun weekend, just because when you come to Dover, I feel like when you come to Dover, I feel like Clint is going to be one of the people that you have to beat just because of the fact that he’s been so good for so many years here.

“To be able to race with Clint for a win is for me, like I told him, I said, ‘If I’m not going to win this race today, you need to win this race, so get up there and go after it,’ because at that point we didn’t know what was going to happen during the (final) pit stop (after the rain). To be able to race with him is a lot of fun, and I’d much rather keep it within the house than racing with somebody else.”

Bowyer was relegated to second place after leading when NASCAR red-flagged the race for rain after 320 laps. But the rain abated, the track dried and Harvick made short work of his teammate after the resumption.

“If we’d had a chance to adjust our car in clean air…” Bowyer said. “He (Harvick) had that luxury all day long. I knew, man. (My car) took off, and it was turning really, really good. And it kind of needs to be tight and work into that. I knew when it took off as good as it did and was rotating as good as it did that I was in trouble.

“I just got way too loose. But it’s fun to be running like this again and competitive and up front and in the limelight.”

WATCH: Bowyer talks about finishing second

Daniel Suarez finished third, a personal best on an oval track and matching his career-best third-place run last year at Watkins Glen. Martin Truex Jr. came home third, and Stewart-Haas driver Kurt Busch ran fifth, placing three SHR drivers in the top five in a race for the first time in the organization’s history.

Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Larson completed the top 10.

Larson won the pole on Friday but didn’t start there. When his car failed pre-race inspection for the third time on Sunday, car chief David Bryant was ejected from the track, and Larson was sent to the rear for the start of the race, joining Austin Dillon and Alex Bowman, whose cars also were three-time losers in the inspection process.

RELATED: Larson, Bowman car chiefs ejected

Larson spent the majority of the race a lap down after drawing a penalty for an uncontrolled tire on a Lap 97 green-flag pit stop. The driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet finally returned to the lead lap as the beneficiary on Lap 272 but couldn’t fight his way through traffic late in the race.

Series leader Kyle Busch exited the race after the drive shaft on his No. 18 Toyota broke on Lap 272, causing the seventh caution of the race. Though he finished 35th, Busch retained the points lead by 22 over 13th-place finisher joey Logano and by 40 over Harvick.

WATCH: Broken drive shaft ends Busch’s day