Brad Keselowski will channel Rusty Wallace on his No. 2 Team Penske Ford for the annual throwback-themed Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sept 2, 2018, the team announced Thursday via Twitter.
Wallace piloted the Raymond Beadle-owned No. 27 to a pair of wins (Charlotte and Sonoma) and back-to-back pole awards in 1990, following his 1989 championship-winning season. In addition to the 1989 premier series championship, Wallace won 55 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races in his storied career. He piloted the No. 2 — the same car number as Keselowski — from 1991 until the end of his fulltime career in 2005, driving for Roger Penske in those years.
Now in its fourth year, the annual throwback program at Darlington Raceway will celebrate “Seven Decades of NASCAR” this season in honor NASCAR’s 70th anniversary this year.
Lesa France Kennedy, CEO of International Speedway Corporation and vice chairwoman of NASCAR, was honored by Forbes magazine this week as one of the most powerful women in U.S. sports for 2018.
Kennedy’s work envisioning and guiding the $400 million rethinking of Daytona International Speedway as the first modern day motorsports stadium is one of her biggest accomplishments recently — as is the $200 million makeover at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.
The 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season is six races in. The new Fantasy Live format has been a blast and some truths have been uncovered in the initial run of races. NASCAR.com’s fantasy expert RJ Kraft shares six of his findings and fantasy beliefs that have been reinforced to help you get ready for the next batch of races after the off-week.
Plenty of fantasy owners put Kevin Harvick in the garage after his Auto Club accident. (Jonathan Ferrey | Getty Images)
1. The Garage Driver Can Save Your Day Thanks for this one, Captain Obvious. You never want to make a swap because someone is underperforming or wrecks out, but that extra spot is such a security blanket to play a hunch or to offer some insurance. For example, my Fontana lineup got saved by my garage driver – who was Clint Bowyer. I had Kevin Harvick in my lineup because I felt not having the winner of the previous three races, who also looked strong all weekend, was too risky not to do. Harvick was in a wreck of his own doing early, and I swapped in Bowyer for a solid 11th-place result to save the day. The garage pick is also a nice spot to use someone that has to start at the back like Martin Truex Jr. did at Atlanta. Having the ability to place him in the garage gave me some added comfort as he drove up from 36th to fifth.
2. Bonus Picks Matter Big Time Fantasy Fastlane’s Steve Letarte (of NBC Sports) and Jessica Ruffin have discussed this at length on our weekly show, but it bears repeating: The bonus picks in this game are huge. I’ve been fortunate to get the qualifying pick right twice – once at Daytona (Alex Bowman) and once by guessing qualifying would be washed out at Martinsville (Martin Truex Jr.). Those five points apiece are nice to have tucked away. The stage winners and race winners are far from an exact science. For the entire NASCAR Goes West swing, I put Harvick down for nearly everything. That worked out pretty well twice, not so well once. At some point, I will be trying that with Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch. For the plate races, I will make my race winner someone not in my six driver picks — mainly due to the fact that those races are so unpredictable, I like increasing my odds with a defacto seventh play for 30 points.
Martin Truex Jr. won at Fontana and had a perfect Fantasy Live driver score (Sarah Crabill | Getty Images)
3. Maximize Your Stars
The importance of maximizing the top drivers like Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson (to name several) are vital to one’s success. Races you start them in need to produce a high number of points from those individual drivers otherwise it’s a wasted use. I missed an opportunity with Truex at Fontana – he had the max 60 points a driver can earn – and I didn’t have him in since I stayed steadfast to my usage plan on him. Coincidentally, its also the only race that the winner has not been in my lineup. The point is if one of those guys is running in the back of the top 10 or worse and in your lineup, get them out and save them. I’ve been conservative in my early season use of Larson for this reason.
Don’t be shocked, Clint Bowyer is pretty strong at Martinsville. (Sarah Crabill | Getty Images)
4. Use The Data At Your Disposal
This concept helped me place Bowyer in my lineup for Martinsville — a move that paid off very well. I studied his past history at the short track and his 2017 results with SHR heading into the weekend. Studying stats has led me to determine that one driver that I plan to use more when the series returns is Ryan Blaney. I’ve only used him twice and YRB is third in points with an 8.5 average finish thus far. Texas, Talladega and Kansas all are solid places to get him into my lineups. Ford has been fast nearly everywhere so I will be looking for strategic opportunities to deploy Kurt Busch, Bowyer, Aric Almirola and Paul Menard as well. By the opposite token, I am looking to be more conservative with my usage of the Chevrolet camp (Larson, Chase Elliott, Jimmie Johnson to name a few) until the summer when I expect that stable to find its footing with the new Camaro.
5. Plan, Plan And Plan Some More
At the start of the year, I mapped out my usage for Harvick, Truex Jr., Busch, Larson and Brad Keselowski. To be honest, I plotted out a lot more than that but those were the five I zeroed in on exactly where I wanted to use their 10 races. Harvick’s hot streak caused me to call an audible at Fontana that his early wreck corrected. I stuck to my usage plan around Truex – the intermediates along with Dover and New Hampshire — and didn’t use him at Fontana to my detriment. His California performance has me re-thinking how to get him in for at least one of the Michigan races. Getting to the point though, having a plan keeps you organized heading into each race weekend. But like with any good plan, you need to be willing to adjust as necessary based on what you are seeing on track.
Thumbs up competitors. Everything’s OK. (Sarah Crabill | Getty Images)
6. Plenty Of Time To Make A Move With everyone on a different usage plan, standings will move around plenty in the coming weeks and months. Some race weekends are going to go better than others. It’s happens. So if you are in an early hole, DO NOT PANIC. There is plenty of time to gain ground on your competition. The bonus picks are a great way to potentially move up. And if you are out in front a bit, don’t start writing checks that your fantasy team can’t cash just yet. There’s still 20 weeks to go. As is the case on track it’s a marathon not a sprint.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — In big-time NASCAR racing, there are, of course, Victory Lane celebrations for the race winner.
And then there are CLINT BOWYER Victory Lane celebrations or rather, as we learned Monday … Victory Lane, grandstands, pit road, front stretch, track garage, driver motorhome lot, Stewart-Haas Racing shop and, of course, back home in Kansas celebrations.
Parties, soirees, clicking-of-the-heels. High toasts, hearty handshakes, pats on the back. Smiles all around. There was plenty of hooting and hollering too — and that was just from Bowyer, himself.
It’s all the result of one of the most popular victories in recent Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series history — Bowyer’s 1.146-second win over Kyle Busch in Monday’s snow-delayed STP 500 at the venerable Martinsville Speedway.
The big, positive vibes weren’t because the 37-year-old Bowyer bested this season’s three-time runner-up Busch — but because Bowyer simply “bested.”
It’s been nearly six years since the popular veteran won a Cup race. He’s had 24 top-fives, including six runner-up finishes since his last win — at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October, 2012, his best full season when he finished runner-up to Brad Keselowski for the championship.
It’s been 190 races and five full seasons since Bowyer last lifted a Cup trophy and he’s driven for two other teams since he last celebrated. But as Monday so dramatically demonstrated, Bowyer has found his sweet spot at Stewart-Haas Racing, where he is tight with his three other co-drivers in Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola and Kurt Busch and is especially fond of his team owners, including Tony Stewart — who last drove the same No. 14 to a Victory Lane two years ago.
“I’m not lying when I texted Tony Stewart, this is good times,” Bowyer said. “This is fun to be in this equipment. It’s fun to be alongside our teammates. I appreciate this opportunity more than … it’s hard to say, know what I mean?
“Everybody that knows me, knows that I have fun and run my mouth and I’m goofy and everything else, but I do appreciate this opportunity and appreciate the army of people that make this possible for all of us.
“Speaking of relationships, I guarantee you that’s the neatest thing about motorsports and everything, part of it, is when I get to that phone it’ll be people from Richard Childress that gave me this opportunity, to (former team owner) Michael Waltrip, who gave me an opportunity in 2012, to fast forward to Tony Stewart, the people that are giving me this opportunity today, and these guys that I’ll be able to share this stage with.
“Those are the cool things that you’ll remember forever.”
And this victory will undoubtedly fall in that category — for its timing, circumstance and the immediate, heart-warming opportunity to share with his young family. Monday was the first time Bowyer was able to celebrate a Cup win with his two children — two-and-a-half-year-old son Cash and 15-month-old daughter Presley — in Victory Lane alongside him.
There is a photograph — likely to be cherished forever by Bowyer and his wife Lorra — that shows a smiling Cash excitedly running down the track immediately after the race to meet his dad; Lorra holding Presley, approaching just behind.
On television, Bowyer picked up his son, gave him the checkered flag he’d just collected for the victory and did his live national television interview with Cash in his arms.
The setting was telling, and visually indicative of how significant Sunday’s win was for Bowyer — both personally and professionally.
“I started to put all these things together, and I was starting to reflect on this, and the one thing that’s always missing is a picture with him (Cash), you know, and that’s where it changes your thought process and actually your reasoning for racing,” Bowyer said.
“A lot of people want to think about these kids as being a distraction,” Bowyer said, dismissing that idea.
“You start to think about what really matters in life, and the one thing that I didn’t want him to go through life is not to know what this was all about.
“So to be able to have him in Victory Lane and have his No. 1 in Victory Lane, that was pretty cool, wasn’t it?”
And, Bowyer jokingly added, he was going to put the grandfather clock, traditionally awarded to Martinsville winners, on the roof of his wife’s SUV for the drive back to their Charlotte, North Carolina home.
“It meant a lot to me to be able to put it all together at this track because it’s one that I feel like I’ve lost way more than I’ve ever gained here, and I wanted that damn clock,” Bowyer said, adding as the room erupted in laughter, “How are we going to get it home? What do you do?
“I’m going to ratchet strap it to my wife’s SUV. We’re going to be the Clampetts with our trophy ratchet strapped to the roof of the SUV, but it’s coming home.”
It will represent so much. Before leaving the track to take questions from reporters in the infield, Bowyer was approached by fellow competitors. In addition to his SHR teammates, other drivers from seven-time Cup champ Jimmie Johnson to Kyle Larson to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. walked by for a handshake, pat on the back or to give Cash a thumbs-up.
Even his team owner Gene Haas’ Formula One team offered congratulations from Australia via Twitter.
“.@StewartHaasRcng is on fire,” Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean tweeted. “Well done to everyone in the team and to @ClintBowyer for another victory.”
Bowyer’s success — the fourth win for the team (Harvick has three others) in 2018 — was not only a bold statement for SHR which now boasts four drivers ranked among the top-11 in the points standings; but a bold statement that he is “back” and ready to be reckoned with.
Perhaps his win — just prior to a rare NASCAR off-weekend — came at the perfect time. Bowyer will have time to properly celebrate and to properly reclaim his groove as the series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 on April 8.
And this weekend’s victory — a career restoration, of sorts — may not be the last for Bowyer in 2018. It is the start.
“I haven’t won as many races as I needed to, but I’ve always been consistent, and that was always putting myself in position to have a shot at winning the championship at the end of the year,” Bowyer said. “I finished second, had a lot of success in this sport, and being able to shine at the end of the year when the time is right for everybody involved, and over the last few years, I haven’t been able to put all that together.
“This is a year that’s starting to shape up to where I feel like I’m accustomed to, way back when, when I was confident that we were going to go to the end of the year and we were going to compete for a championship.”
Ryan Luza looked every bit the defending champion of the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series in scoring his first win of the 2018 season at Auto Club Speedway. Luza started from the outside pole, took the lead for the first time on Lap 11, and was unchallenged for most of the race.
Luza led 82 of 125 laps and beat Taylor Hurst by 1.5 seconds as Hurst did cut into the margin slightly during the last run. Ray Alfalla continued his strong start to the season with a third-place result. Jimmy Mullis finished fourth, and polesitter Keegan Leahy came home fifth after leading the first 10 laps.
Luza spent much of the first run in command, but his race was not without adversity, as a mistake on pit road cost him the lead. On Lap 43, all lead-lap cars took advantage of the first yellow flag of the night to pit for tires and fuel. Luza slid through his box and had to back up, leading to an extended stay on pit road. He exited in ninth but wasted no time marching back to the front.
In just nine laps Luza had already climbed to second and was in hot pursuit of leader Zack Novak. The potential battle was interrupted by another caution, which drew the leaders to pit road once again. This time Luza hit his marks perfectly and his crew got him off pit road with the lead.
On the ensuing restart, Mullis made a brief bid for the lead, but Luza had too much speed and quickly opened up a healthy gap on the rest of the field. The race settled down into a long green-flag run, and it became apparent that any chance of upsetting Luza would require a caution or pit strategy.
Leahy was the first of the leaders to hit pit road on Lap 89, hoping to gain an advantage with his fresh tires. Hurst followed on Lap 92 with Luza waiting until the lap after to make his stop. The three were less than a second apart when Luza emerged from the pits with Leahy gaining a brief advantage before Luza flew by him with fresher tires. Hurst could not keep up on the short run either, and even though he looked a bit stronger than Luza on the long run, the gap was too much to overcome.
With three top fives in as many races, Leahy leads the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series standings by 11 points over Alfalla. Luza’s win boosted him to third, but a rough Daytona keeps him 20 points behind. Bobby Zalenski, Mullis, and Michael Conti complete the top five in the championship, with the latter two tied for fifth.
With his dominant win, a second championship looks like a real possibility for Luza, though the season is still young.
Next up for the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series is Las Vegas Motor Speedway, another track where downforce is a top priority. Will drivers who were strong at Auto Club Speedway also be strong at Vegas, or will the setups be different enough where some new faces will emerge at the front? Find out in two weeks when the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series continues from Las Vegas.
Go Bowling, the consumer-facing brand of the bowling industry, has partnered with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), the championship-winning NASCAR team. Go Bowling will leverage SHR’s presence in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series to promote the sport of bowling.
Go Bowling will serve as the primary sponsor of SHR’s No. 10 Ford Fusion and driver Aric Almirola during the Aug. 4-5 Go Bowling at The Glen Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race weekend at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Then on Sept. 21, Go Bowling will be the primary sponsor of SHR’s No. 00 Ford Mustang and driver Cole Custer in the Go Bowling 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
“Our racing partnerships have proven to be very effective at reinforcing the bowling brand among consumers,” said John Harbuck, president of Strike Ten Entertainment, the marketing arm of the bowling industry. “This new endeavor with Stewart-Haas Racing and primary sponsorships of its teams during our two NASCAR race weekends at Watkins Glen and Richmond allows us to drive tremendous top-of-mind awareness for bowling by reaching a huge audience with similar demographics.”
Go Bowling is an associate sponsor of the No. 10 team and Almirola throughout the 2018 season, with signage on the B-post of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion and on the team’s transporter, pit equipment and uniforms.
“Bowling and racing line up well together,” said Almirola, who has represented Go Bowling and its initiatives since 2013. “It’s a great team-building sport. Whenever we have some free time during the racing season, me and the crew will get together and go bowling. It’s a sport that brings your family and friends together too. My kids love it. We always have a great time when we go bowling.”
Go Bowling’s partnership with Custer and the No. 00 team at Richmond coincides with the Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour Championship. The PWBA’s pinnacle event is Sept. 16-19 in the historic Old Dominion Building at Richmond, giving bowling exposure throughout the race week.
“Like racing, bowling is a great sport, but it’s one everyone can play,” Custer said. “We’re proud to be associated with the bowling industry and we look forward to a great weekend on the track and on the lanes.”
GoBowling.com is the go-to site for consumers to learn more about the sport of bowling, including information about the more than 1,700 bowling centers around the country. The site helps fans find local bowling centers, promotional offers, bowling video tips, and other bowling information. To learn more about Go Bowling, visit GoBowling.com.
STAMFORD, Conn. – NBC’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. makes his debut as an analyst onNASCAR America, NBCSN’s daily motorsport show, this Monday, March 12 at 6 p.m. ET. Following his recent assignments as a contributor for NBC Sports Group’s pre-game coverage of Super Bowl LII, and NBC Olympics’ coverage of the 2018 PyeongChang Games, Earnhardt will begin his role as a NASCAR on NBC analyst and provide in-depth expertise and insight to Monday and Tuesday’s 60-minute episodes of NASCAR America, live from NBC Sports Group’s headquarters in Stamford, Conn.
Earnhardt will reunite with his former crew chief and fellow NASCAR on NBC analyst Steve Letarteto provide a complete breakdown and examination of Sunday’sMonster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at ISM Raceway, in Phoenix, Ariz.
Leigh Diffey will host NASCAR America throughout the week, and will be joined by NASCAR on NBC analysts and 21-time Cup Series winner Jeff Burton, Hall of Fame driver Dale Jarrett, and auto racing icon Kyle Petty, from NBC Sports Charlotte, in Charlotte, N.C., and Burton’s Garage, in Huntersville, N.C.
NASCAR America will air on Monday, March 12 at 6 p.m. ET, with shows on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 5 p.m. ET.
NASCAR ON NBC
After presenting more than 354 hours of live, trackside NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series coverage in 2017, NBC Sports Group returns for its fourth season of NASCAR on NBC coverage beginning Sunday, July 1 from Chicagoland Speedway.
The official home of the NASCAR Playoffs, NBC Sports Group will present the final 20 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races, final 19 NASCAR Xfinity Series races, and select NASCAR Regional & Touring Series events in 2018. NBC Sports Group’s NASCAR programming also includes NBCSN’s daily motorsports show NASCAR America, coverage of NASCAR’s Awards Ceremonies, the annual NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony, as well as original programming specials.
The Nos. 3, 12, 34 and 42 teams in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series received penalties for lug nuts not properly installed following Monday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Crew chiefs Justin Alexander (No. 3 team), Jeremy Bullins (No. 12 team), Derrick Finley (No. 34 team) and Chad Johnston (No. 42 team) were fined $10,000 each.
Austin Dillon drove the No. 3 Chevrolet to a 30th-place finish; Ryan Blaney finished third in the No. 12 Ford; Michael McDowell finished 21st in the No. 34 Ford; and Kyle Larson finished 16th in the No. 42 Chevrolet.
Ah, Martinsville. The paper clip-shaped short track that’s famous for its hot dogs and grandfather clock trophy. Here’s why we’re raising our thumbs up (and down) after a snow-delayed 500 laps.
Thumbs Up: YRB
Ryan Blaney’s blinding-neon Ford claimed Stage 2 at Martinsville — Blaney’s first stage win at a short track. While he ended up third by the end of the day, the No. 12 looked awfully sporty, leading 145 of 500 laps Monday.
Who was driving your car today @Blaney…you usually suck there!!!!🤔🤔
Thumbs up to Young Ryan Blaney for looking not-so-shabby. But that’s what Ryan Blaney does oh-so well. So dreamy.
Thumbs Down: Snow
As of last Tuesday, it’s spring. That’s supposed to mean warm temperatures and flowers, right? Not the case in Virginia, apparently.
Every now and then, a race gets delayed for weather. Whatever; it happens. Can’t race on a rainy track. But, snow? When it’s April next week? Not cool, Mother Nature.
But, hey, it’s not a first.
Snow in the forecast for Martinsville this weekend? Let’s not forget what happened the last time it decided to snow during a #NASCAR race. pic.twitter.com/5HvsiomWSe
Martinsville’s a tough track. Cramming three-dozen-plus race cars into a tiny half-mile race track for 500 laps is a test of equipment, resilience, and patience.
However, for Roush Fenway Racing, Monday’s STP 500 wasn’t the weekend for which the team had hoped.
First, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. crashed in practice, sending the No. 17 team to a backup car. Then, as Monday’s race quickly showed, the backup car didn’t quite take to the “Paper Clip” as well as Stenhouse may have hoped. Stenhouse limped home to a 37th-place finish, 19 laps off the pace.
That wasn’t the only part of Roush Fenway Racing’s tough outing to Martinsville. Trevor Bayne struggled throughout the race, and ultimately pitted under the green flag late in the race after contact to his Ford cut a tire.
The headache of the race award is going to have to go to the 17 team of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ricky's currently 17 laps off the pace and scored 36th. Teammate Trevor Bayne is P32, 11 laps off the pace after hitting the wall earlier. #NASCAR#STP500
That’ll happen at Martinsville, and it wasn’t Roush Fenway Racing’s day. Thumbs down for a rough day — Mondays, am I right?
Biggest Thumbs Up of the Week: Snapping a winless streak
One-hundred ninety races. Over five-plus seasons. Multiple teams. It’s been a long time since Clint Bowyer’s visited Victory Lane — since the 2012 fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, when everybody was rocking out to “Call Me Maybe” and “Gangnam Style.”
Bowyer finally snapped his winless streak Monday, though, leading 215 laps en route to his first victory for Stewart-Haas Racing, and his first victory in a Generation 6-style race car. (His last win was in a Car of Tomorrow-style race car — remember those?)
Oh, happy day! @ClintBowyer snaps a 190-race winless streak, capturing his ninth career #NASCAR Cup Series win and his first victory behind the wheel of the No. 14 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing.
So happy!!!!! Proud of my team. We ALL performed at our best. @BugaMike14 made perfect adjustments. Pit crew answered the call when with the pressure on the line. Hell even @SpotterBrett was on it. @StewartHaasRcng is rolling! 💪
We knew it was going to happen, but we didn’t know when. Apparently, all it took was a snow-delayed 500-lap brawl in Virginia. A Kansas-sized thumbs up for Clint Bowyer and snapping a winless streak that dates back to when LMFAO was on the Billboard Top 100 songs list.
Alex Bowman finished seventh at Martinsville Speedway on Monday.
The highest-finishing Hendrick Motorsports driver, the 24-year-old fared better than even nine-time grandfather clock owner Jimmie Johnson — not too shabby for a rookie!
Except Bowman isn’t a rookie. And this wasn’t his first rodeo at “The Paperclip” … it was his fifth.
Bowman had to explain this to Dale Earnhardt Jr after the former driver of his current No. 88 Chevrolet ride texted his congratulations and mentioned it being his “first time there.” Oops.
Hey, it happens. It’s easy to forget Bowman has a pair of full-time seasons under his belt from 2014-15 before he patiently awaited his turn behind the No. 88 wheel the next two years with a few spot starts sprinkled here and there.
NASCAR.com’s own Steve Luvender then pointed out something interesting.
“Our racing partnerships have proven to be very effective at reinforcing the bowling brand among consumers,” said John Harbuck, president of Strike Ten Entertainment, the marketing arm of the bowling industry. “This new endeavor with Stewart-Haas Racing and primary sponsorships of its teams during our two NASCAR race weekends at Watkins Glen and Richmond allows us to drive tremendous top-of-mind awareness for bowling by reaching a huge audience with similar demographics.”
