Posted on by Reid Spencer

FONTANA, Calif. – With the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying field thinned significantly by inspection issues, Martin Truex Jr. won his second straight pole of the season in Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Auto Club Speedway.

Avoiding the trouble from the seams between lanes that tripped up first- and second-round leader Kevin Harvick in the final round, Truex covered the two-mile distance in 38.592 seconds (186.567 mph) in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota, edging fellow Camry driver Kyle Busch (186.437 mph) by .027 seconds for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Qualifying results | See every car in the field

During time trials that saw only 24 of the 37 cars entered pass inspection and make qualifying attempts, Truex won the first Busch Pole Award of the season under sponsorship announced this week. The pole was Truex’s second of the season, following last week’s at Phoenix, and the 17th of his career.

“I felt really good about our chances after practice,” Truex said. “We opted to stay on one set of tires the whole practice and ran our fastest lap on scuffs… I felt like that was a big advantage for us. We ran the fastest lap of anyone on scuffed tires and felt like that would bode well for us in qualifying.

“We really just had to put it all together.”

Harvick, who will try for his fourth consecutive victory on Sunday, posted the fastest lap of the day in the first round, running 188.744 mph (38.147 seconds), eclipsing Denny Hamlin’s track-record 188.511 mph (38.194 seconds) set in March 2016. But the handling of Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford deteriorated, and he fell to 10th in the final round. 

“We were just tight as we went through every round,” Harvick said. “We had the same thing in practice, where the second round was just so much tighter than the first round. We tried to adjust on it and we made it better entering the corner and through the middle of the corner. 

“But as we got to the exit, right at that three-quarter mark, I just kept getting tighter and tighter, and then I got up the race track and got hung on the seam and got loose and kind of screwed it up.”

RELATED: Harvick ‘extremely confident’ No. 4 team has shot at history

Kyle Larson qualified third, followed by Erik Jones, giving Toyota’s three of the top four starting spots. Austin Dillon earned the fifth position on the grid, followed by Joey Logano, Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney. 

None of the four Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets made it through inspection in time to make a qualifying attempt. Two of Harvick’s teammates — Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola — were sidelined for the session by inspection failures after posting top-five speeds in Friday’s opening practice. 

The silver lining for the cars that will start 25th on back on owner points, led by Denny Hamlin in 25th, is a tire advantage. Cars that took laps in qualifying will start on their scuffed qualifying tires. Those who didn’t take times will start on new tires, and Truex considers that a significant advantage. 

“It’s a huge advantage on that first run, especially if it goes long,” Truex said. “In my mind, if you’re not probably in the top four, you’re better off being 25th. It’s going to be a big deal. For us, hopefully we can get out front and get a big lead early in clean air and kind of get separated… 

“I know in Atlanta we started on stickers, and it was like a video game those first five laps, because you had so much more grip than everybody else.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

FONTANA, Calif. — Hours before he turned his first official laps around Auto Club Speedway, John Hunter Nemechek was getting an early Friday tutorial from one heck of a mentor: fellow Chip Ganassi Racing driver Kyle Larson.

Larson, who swept the weekend doubleheader at the 2-mile track last season, was behind the wheel of the pace car with Nemechek in the passenger’s seat before the track opened for practice. The two discussed proper turn-in points and other nuances of the well-worn pavement ahead of Saturday’s Roseanne 300 (5 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Full schedule for Auto Club

Though the 300-miler will mark only Nemechek’s second career start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he’s already finding comfort in his first season with the Ganassi team, where he’s pulling part-time duty in the operation’s stout No. 42 Chevrolet.

“They’ve given me every tool that I’ve been able to ask for, especially from being able to go and be ‘open notes’ with Jamie (McMurray) and Kyle and looking at all their stuff from years past and going over race data from years past,” Nemechek told NASCAR.com after Friday’s opening Xfinity practice. “… Those guys have definitely been a huge help, but I think in general, the whole Chip Ganassi Racing team, their motto is, ‘One team, one goal,’ so it’s all open book. Anything I need to see from going and looking at Cup data to talking to the crew chiefs and engineers to try and fill my brain with their knowledge and experience at different race tracks, it’s definitely a huge help.”

So far Larson says he likes what he sees out of the 20-year-old rookie, who is getting his first taste of Xfinity competition after scoring five wins in the Camping World Truck Series.

“I think any time when you’re young and you’re getting your first opportunity in Trucks or Xfinity, you’re really excited and you want to take full advantage of that,” Larson said. “John Hunter, he’s been great to get to work with. I mean, he’s in the gym every day, constantly watching video and learning and asking questions. So he’s very self-motivated, which is nice to see and he’s a very aggressive and fast race car driver. It’s cool to get to work with him a little bit and try to help out in any way I can.”

RELATED: Nemechek battles back for top-five finish in Xfinity debut

So far, Nemechek has been a fast study. He placed fourth in his Xfinity Series debut last month at Atlanta Motor Speedway, rallying from a one-lap deficit after suffering a cut tire in the race’s first stage. He said the experience taught him the power of patience when facing adversity, and his resilience was rewarded with a top-five result.

Nemechek has spent the last four seasons multi-tasking with his family’s truck operation, extracting maximum performance from a plucky underdog team with an employee count in the single digits. He’s still keeping his hand in the family-owned effort this year, racing in two of the Truck Series’ three events thus far.

The Xfinity Series duty, however, has helped Nemechek sharpen his focus, with the depth and assets of the Chip Ganassi-owned organization allowing him to direct his full attention to driving.

“I don’t necessarily want to say ‘luxury’ because you still have to work at it each and every day, but just being able to utilize all the resources they have,” Nemechek said. “Our truck team definitely was good. It helped me learn a lot throughout the year on how to manage your equipment, how to make the most out of your vehicle.

“So now, being able to switch over here, talk with all the guys and utilize them, just being able to go through the day-to-day routine over at the shop, going through different meetings and talking about what we’re focusing on each weekend, I definitely think that helps as a driver, just being able to focus on the driver instead of having to work on everything and focus on driving. I definitely think that’s all going to help.”

RELATED: Nemechek details decision to join Chip Ganassi Racing

Posted on by Reid Spencer

FONTANA, Calif. — NASCAR drivers who stayed out West during the #NASCARGoesWest swing found a variety of ways to spend their time between races. 

Brad Keselowski went off the grid to climb mountains and marvel at the majesty of California’s giant sequoias. Keselowski’s Team Penske teammate, Ryan Blaney, did something altogether different.

RELATED: Live from LA: The ‘Glass Case of Emotion’ podcast

A Star Wars and adventure fiction enthusiast as well as a comic book collector, Blaney visited the offices of DC Comics in Burbank, California, where he got a rare treat.

“I got to go in their archives and see some Superman No. 1’s, No. 2’s, things like that,” Blaney told NASCAR Wire Service during an announcement of NASCAR’s expanded partnership with Twitter at the sanctioning body’s offices in Century City. “That was so cool to me. Those archives  — there are three people that have keys to that thing. 

“It was super cool. And then to let us go in and look at it first-hand. Every single comic they’ve ever had is in this archive. They had a Richard Petty comic in there — it was pretty old. That was super cool to see.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Since a spectacular and celebrated runner-up finish in his season-opening Daytona 500 debut, Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. says he’s found a necessary balance between huge optimism and a big dose of confidence that comes with such a fantastic season start and the harsher reality of a steep, not unexpected rookie learning curve thereafter.

Since his historic run at Daytona International Speedway last month, Wallace has had finishes of 32nd (at Atlanta), 21st (at Las Vegas) and 28th (at Phoenix) in the three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup races afterward. He’s ranked 18th in the standings and still holds a nine-point lead over fellow high-profile rookie, William Byron entering Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at California’s Auto Club Speedway (at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Earlier this week, Wallace broke up the three-week #NASCARGoesWest swing with a “field trip” of sorts with his team owner, NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty. He rode snowmobiles and bonded with “The King” in Wyoming. The Alabama native had never visited the state before and he figures the timing and the time spent with Petty presented a good reset for the early season.

“It’s been actually really good,” Wallace said Friday, addressing reporters before opening practice in California.
“Ever since Daytona all the way up to that was just crazy madness and now I’ve been able to kind of relax and stay focused on what we need to do without any extra cameras or attention or anything.”

Of his season to date?

“Personal grade? I don’t know,” Wallace said. “It’s a learning curve, that is what I’m going to label it as. We are trying to figure everything out. I’m laying my head down at night not leaving a stone unturned, so in that regard I give myself an A+.

“But, we are just not hitting on all cylinders right now as a team. We are still figuring everything out from the switch, so it’s going to take us a couple of races. We are going to have some really good races, we are going to have some bad races, but we are going to keep our heads up and keep digging.”

It’s a positive outlook that has served him well over the years. And it will likely come in handy this week at the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway as Wallace makes his Cup debut on the track.

Wallace said he feels comfortable at the track despite the fact his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Camaro is a Chevrolet and his previous starts were in a Ford. He said he still remained particularly encouraged and optimistic about the weekend considering he finished third there in the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series race and sixth in last year’s Xfinity race.

“We have had a lot of success here, a lot of good runs here in the Xfinity stuff,” Wallace said. “Just trying to utilize some of that and take that into today and learn throughout this weekend.

“This place is so wide, so many grooves and the biggest thing is tire fall-off. Once that happens, start moving up to the fence. Just got to manage it the best we can and take care of it all day.”

Wallace smiled about Auto Club Speedway scheduling only an hour of opening practice at a time he feels he needs the most time on track, “It goes by quick,” he allowed.

RELATED: See all the photos from Auto Club

It’s possible that Wallace’s time away from the track with the great champion Petty this week will compensate some for the high technical learning curve. The two spent time bonding outdoors and inside, even playing board games. The conversations and lessons learned were more “real life” than racing oriented.

“He might be the boss, but I’m still competitive,” Wallace said smiling and noting he beat Petty in a game of Rummikub.

“But, just seeing that and being able to have those in-depth conversations about racing, about life and what not, is really special.

Most important thing Petty has taught Wallace in their time together thus far?

“You can overcome a lot of things if you put your mind to it and you have the will to do it, but you can never overcome fate,” Wallace said. “That is the biggest thing that has stuck out to me. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. If it’s not then, move on.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick, winner of the last three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races, continued his speedy ways at Auto Club Speedway as he raced his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to the fastest time in Friday’s practice session, recording a lap at 189.066 mph.

Harvick’s lap was faster than the official track record of 188.511 mph set by Denny Hamlin in the 2016 qualifying session.

RELATED: Practice results

Two of Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammates — Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola — also were among the top five as Bowyer was second-fastest in his No. 14 Ford at 188.211 mph while Almirola was third-fastest in his No. 10 Ford at 187.936 mph.

Ryan Newman was fourth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet at 187.798 mph while defending Auto Club Speedway winner Kyle Larson rounded out the top five in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet at 187.744 mph.

Daniel Suarez’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sustained heavy damage to the right side about midway through the session when his car appeared to get loose and slammed into the outside wall.

WATCH: Suarez hits wall

Suarez’s No. 19 team raced to ready his backup car for qualifying, which begins at 7:15 p.m. ET on FS1.

One car served a practice hold — the No. 55 of Reed Sorenson sat for 15 minutes at the end of the session.

Posted on by

FONTANA, Calif. — Jimmie Johnson ain’t going anywhere, folks.

The Hendrick Motorsports mainstay said he viewed news that longtime sponsor Lowe’s will depart sponsorship of his No. 48 Chevrolet in 2019 as “an opportunity” to find a new sponsor who will support a proven, seven-time NASCAR champion, and reiterated that retirement isn’t anywhere on his 42-year-old horizon.

 RELATED: Jimmie to have new sponsor

“Oh, the desire to keep racing is absolutely there,” Johnson said Friday at Auto Club Speedway. “Races, championships, and being a part of this great sport of ours; I’m going to be around for a while. I’m excited about that. … This is really a unique opportunity. It’s a great learning and growing opportunity for myself. When I started at age 25 and Lowe’s came on board, it was an entirely different environment.” 

Johnson has partnered with Lowe’s for 18 years. He thanked his longtime sponsor for its support and said he has already been “heavily involved” in the search for a new partner. 

“First of all, what a run to have an 18-year relationship with such an amazing company,” he said. “The friendships, the relationships, the way we’ve been able to deliver to their marketing efforts, the history we’ve made in our own sport, the chance I had to even drive a Cup car because of them. There are so many levels to it that I am very, very thankful for and proud of. Of course, I wish we could finish it out together, but that’s not the circumstance. But then, to look forward, I’m very optimistic about the future and myself and our race team.”

RELATED: Johnson’s career stats

The news is a shakeup to one of the most consistent dynamics in stock car racing over the past decade and a half-plus — in sports, it’s always jarring to see a long-tenured athlete don a new uniform/fire suit, a la Joe Montana in a Kansas City Chiefs jersey or Willie Mays in blue and orange New York Mets garb — but Johnson made sure to point out that he sees the future prospects of stock car racing to be in a good spot. 

“I see our sport growing,” he said. “I see many new sponsors coming into Hendrick Motorsports. I see a returning sponsor coming to NASCAR. I’ve seen full grandstands. It’s been an exciting start to the season. I really don’t feel it has a reflection on the sport. It’s a business decision that Lowe’s needed to make and that stuff happens. … There’s great optimism that we’ll land a sponsor and really be able to provide for whoever that might be.”

 MORE: See photos from ‘Seven-Time’s’ wins

And as for why the Johnson, the oldest full-time Monster Energy Series driver, doesn’t view this as an opening to announce this might be his final year of competition?

“I’m not done, man,” Johnson laughed. “Do you want me to go away? 

“I guess maybe it’s the eternal optimist that I am. I have more to do and I enjoy the process and Hendrick is home and retirement hasn’t been on my mind. I want to win. I want to win an eighth championship. … I’m the elder statesman in a company with three young guys. If I was to have this be the end, put Hendrick Motorsports in a very awkward position and I don’t know. There are just a lot of different ways I could look at it and say that it’s the absolute wrong time.

“But I guess at the end of the day it’s really my desire to compete and to compete at a high level. I’m not done yet.” 

The race to eight continues, no matter what fire suit he’ll be wearing.

Posted on by Emily Bradley

CONCORD, N.C.– Two additional drivers will join Rev Racing’s youth driver class as part of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Youth Driver Development Program. Regina Sirvent, 17, and Lavar Scott, 16, will compete with previously announced Rev Racing youth drivers Rajah Caruth and Blake Lothian. All four drivers will compete at the Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The youth program targets drivers age 12 to 17 to compete in the INEX Legend Cars and serves as an entry point to the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program. Selected youth drivers are year-long members of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity team roster.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>.<a href=”https://twitter.com/NASCARDiversity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@NASCARDiversity</a> Youth Driver Class announced! <a href=”https://twitter.com/reginasirvent?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@reginasirvent</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/rajahcaruth_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@rajahcaruth_</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/LavarScott?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@LavarScott</a> and <a href=”https://twitter.com/blake_lothian?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@blake_lothian</a> will kick off their season this coming Tuesday during the Summer Shootout <a href=”https://twitter.com/CLTMotorSpdwy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@CLTMotorSpdwy</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/USLegendCars?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@USLegendCars</a> <a href=”https://t.co/elIxWaQVr7″>pic.twitter.com/elIxWaQVr7</a></p>&mdash; Rev Racing (@RevRacin) <a href=”https://twitter.com/RevRacin/status/1269414136481529856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 6, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

After several months of evaluation, youth drivers are chosen based on recommendation, historical success, and overall driving performance.

“As it remains a goal of ours to focus on the growth and development of both our academy-style program and youth participants, we want to connect with these drivers as early as possible,” said Max Siegel, owner of Rev Racing. “The sooner we can start providing the proper guidance to these individuals, the more prepared they are to grow into different series.”

Rajah Caruth, 17, is currently running full-time in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series with Rev Racing. Caruth participated in the Youth Driver Development Program in 2019, where he compiled two heat wins in the Bojangles Summer Shootout Series along with two top 10’s and a 13th place finish in points. Currently, Caruth is top 25 in the eNASCAR Ignite Series after 5 races. Caruth won the Road to Pro Homestead-Miami race (5th split). Overall in 2020 he has 29 total wins, 114 top 5s and 1750 laps led in 257 starts. Caruth’s Legend car performance ultimately earned him a chance to compete in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Combine and secure a season-long ride in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series with Rev Racing. Caruth will debut in the NASCAR Whelen All- American Series June 20th at Hickory Speedway.

Blake Lothian, 16, from Wellesley, Massachusetts, will join the Rev Racing roster and the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Youth Driver Development Program for the second year in a row. Lothian started go-karting at age five and even at this young age it was clear he could hold his own on the track with adult racers. Lothian finished top-15 in 2019 Bojangles Summer Shootout point standings in the INEX US Legends Car Semi-Pro Division where he logged 5 top 10’s along with a heat victory in his 2019 campaign.

Lavar Scott, from Carney’s Point, New Jersey, will join the Rev Racing roster and the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Youth Driver Development Program for the first time this year. Scott began his career racing in a 600 Micro Sprint. At just 12 years old, he raced in the Tulsa Shootout in December 2015. In May of 2018, Scott finished 1st at Airport Speedway in the 600 Micro Class. Scott was a participant in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Youth Driver Development Combine in 2019. Evaluators saw potential in his abilities and tested with Scott throughout the 2019 season. Scott also was invited to the 2019 NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Stock Car Combine in October, and was offered a seat in a U.S. Legend car with Rev Racing in their youth development program for the 2020 season.

Regina Sirvent, from Mexico, City Mexico, will participate in the 2020 Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway and select number of other races with Rev Racing. Sirvent started racing karts when she was 9 years old on a road course in Cuernavaca, Morelos. After winning the local championship, she started racing at RokCup Mexico where she finished 2nd in the championship. She also participated in the Florida Winter Tour in 2014 and 2016, Junior Kart for the Rotax and Vortex championship, and most recently FB Bohn Mikel’s Trucks by NASCAR Peak Mexico Series where she garnered a top-10 finish in her first year.

“The NASCAR Drive for Diversity program cultivates growth and seizes the opportunity for development of minority and female drivers at the earliest age possible,” said Jusan M. Hamilton, NASCAR Director of Racing Operations and Event Management. “Now more than ever, this strong class of diverse drivers represents the future of NASCAR. Their success on track and growth into professionals is what the partnership between NASCAR and Rev Racing is built on and will measure our success as a program.”

The 2020 Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway will kick-off with a practice session on June 8. See http://legendsnation.com/2020/05/27/major-summer-shootout-information-announced-for-june/ for more details.

About Rev Racing: Rev Racing seeks to obtain the highest quality applicants representing diverse backgrounds and develop them into successful NASCAR drivers. Started by Max Siegel in 2009, Rev Racing manages the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program. Rev Racing currently operates and manages drivers in the ARCA Menards Series East, NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and a youth racing initiative.

Posted on by Emily Bradley

NASCAR Cup Series driver Ty Dillon has been one of NASCAR’s leading voices as civil unrest continues throughout the country.

Using his platform to take a stand against racial inequality, Dillon and fellow Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace recently hosted a 30-minute Instagram Live session to discuss racism and life experiences.

Expect it to be the first of several difficult conversations Dillon brings into the light as he commits to using his voice for good.

RELATED: Ty Dillon, Bubba Wallace have insightful talk

“To hear the stories about how Bubba was treated in some of those situations and knowing Bubba’s character and knowing him as a human being, that blew my mind because I would have never thought Bubba, as a person, would have gone through anything like that,” Dillon said. “But, I think that’s just what it is. I think sometimes it’s easy for us who don’t know, as a white man or a white person, in general, we don’t know these stories. We don’t all the time ask the right questions to become informed.”

Dillon also applauded Wallace for being willing to speak up during a difficult time for the nation.

“I’m just proud of him as a friend, knowing him his whole career, too, and I think we’re going to see great things come out of this generation of NASCAR of who is in the sport right now,” Dillon said. “Hopefully it sets the tone for who comes after us. And for all of us, that would be the most important thing that we do.”

Dillon has made a conscious effort to understand what he and the NASCAR community must do in order to assist in positive change, reaching out to fellow drivers and NASCAR executives to create an objective for sparking a movement.

RELATED: NASCAR statement on civil unrest

He feels it’s going to take a collective effort from the entire industry for that to happen, but that now is the perfect opportunity to make those changes.

“I think it does take, as a group, saying that we don’t stand for it,” Dillon said. “And once we all know that we’re all on the same page as saying we don’t stand for it, we come together with a united voice saying that we don’t tolerate hate, racism, bigotry in our sport and that it’s not OK.

“… There are great conversations going on with the folks in our sport. … And I’m very proud of that. Our sport is doing a good job, but it also takes the individuals who aren’t afraid to step out and say this isn’t about me anymore.”

While the feedback has been mostly positive, Dillon acknowledged that not everyone will be comfortable with what he has to say. That’s not going to stop him from openly discussing an uncomfortable topic that matters to him, though.

For Dillon, the reward of working toward racial equality is worth taking a stand.

<blockquote class=”instagram-media” data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=”https://www.instagram.com/p/CA2juFHpJZ0/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading” data-instgrm-version=”12″ style=” background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% – 2px); width:calc(100% – 2px);”><div style=”padding:16px;”> <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/CA2juFHpJZ0/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading” style=” background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;” target=”_blank”> <div style=” display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;”> <div style=”background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;”></div> <div style=”display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;”> <div style=” background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;”></div> <div style=” background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;”></div></div></div><div style=”padding: 19% 0;”></div> <div style=”display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;”><svg width=”50px” height=”50px” viewBox=”0 0 60 60″ version=”1.1″ xmlns=”https://www.w3.org/2000/svg” xmlns:xlink=”https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink”><g stroke=”none” stroke-width=”1″ fill=”none” fill-rule=”evenodd”><g transform=”translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)” fill=”#000000″><g><path d=”M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631″></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style=”padding-top: 8px;”> <div style=” color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;”> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style=”padding: 12.5% 0;”></div> <div style=”display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;”><div> <div style=”background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);”></div> <div style=”background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;”></div> <div style=”background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);”></div></div><div style=”margin-left: 8px;”> <div style=” background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;”></div> <div style=” width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)”></div></div><div style=”margin-left: auto;”> <div style=” width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);”></div> <div style=” background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);”></div> <div style=” width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);”></div></div></div></a> <p style=” margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;”> <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/CA2juFHpJZ0/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading” style=” color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;” target=”_blank”>🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻</a></p> <p style=” color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;”>A post shared by <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/ty_dillon/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading” style=” color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;” target=”_blank”> Ty Dillon</a> (@ty_dillon) on <time style=” font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;” datetime=”2020-05-31T12:36:35+00:00″>May 31, 2020 at 5:36am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async src=”//www.instagram.com/embed.js”></script>

“For me, I can tell you about my heart on it and for me, I don’t care if I ever win a race or a championship in my life or lose every follower I have on Instagram, but when my children grow older and I take my last breath, I want it to be made sure that I was on the right side of what I felt is going on in history,” Dillon said. “And that means way more than acquiring fame and trophies and wins. Those things all fade away. But the impact you had on human beings in your life, the relationship lasts forever. So, that’s my heart behind this.

“… I just wanted to stop, in the middle of my career, and say ‘Hey, this is where I stand.’ There is the taunting in your head of what if I lose this or what if something happens. But, I know at the end of the day, this is what I believe in and I’ll stand up for what I believe in.”