Posted on by George Winkler

Kevin and DeLana Harvick announced on Saturday the birth of daughter Piper Grace on Thursday night. The 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion sent out this photo featuring the proud papa and equally ecstatic big brother Keelan.

Cheers to the Harvicks as they ring in the New Year with a new member of their family.

MORE: Harvick 2017 recap | Career highlights

Posted on by Team Release

RELATED: Truex’s 2017 season in review | Truex through the years

DENVER, Colo. (Dec. 29, 2017) – NASCAR champion Martin Truex Jr. has been named Colorado’s 2017 Sportsperson of the Year, the top honor awarded annually by Mile High Sports.

The Furniture Row Racing driver, who graces the cover in the recent issue of Mile High Sports Magazine, was also named Colorado’s “Fan Favorite” Athlete of the Year in a fan vote conducted at MileHighSports.com.

The Denver-based Furniture Row Racing also was cited for excellence, claiming the Mile High Sports honor as Colorado’s Team of the Year. Joe Garone, Furniture Row Racing team president, was a finalist in the Executive of the Year category.

Truex, who had eight wins in 2017 and led in virtually every major statistical category as the driver of the No. 78 Toyota Camry, captured the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship with a dramatic victory in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“What Martin Truex Jr. and Furniture Row Racing did this year was not only unprecedented for the team and the state, but it was hands down the best sports story of the year,” said Doug Ottewill, editor-in-chief of Mile High Sports Magazine. “What he had to go through personally, what the team had to overcome along the way – all of it made our choice for Sportsperson of the Year an easy one.

“This is our highest honor – the big one, the one that the likes of John Elway, Peyton Manning, Missy Franklin and Chauncey Billups have won – and it thrills me to be able to add Martin Truex Jr to that list.”

As he has been with winning other major honors for his dream season, Truex was both humbled and honored with the Colorado awards.

“Individual honors in a team sport are a result of the people you are surrounded with,” said Truex. “I feel blessed to be part of an outstanding organization led by our owner Barney Visser, team president Joe Garone and crew chief Cole Pearn.

“These honors represent the hard work by the talented individuals at our Denver race shop. I want to thank Mile High Sports and all our passionate Colorado race fans for the support they have given our team through the years.”

When Visser formed his NASCAR entry out of a Denver race shop in 2005, the naysayers were out in force questioning the viability of operating a team 1,500 miles from the race hub in Charlotte.

“I guess we have heard ’that’s impossible, you will never do that’ for the last time,” said Visser. “We are very proud of our Denver roots and to receive these prestigious awards in our home state makes it even more special. The Colorado fans have been loyal followers of our team and we are honored to bring a major championship to the state.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Busch jokes about converting Dale Jr. fans

It wasn’t a total makeover, but Toyota teams competing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series did put a redesigned Camry on the track in 2017.

Changes in the NASCAR product were made to bring the car more in line with what was being offered to the general public, from an appearance standpoint.

The NASCAR entry was described as “aggressive” by Toyota officials.

Aggressive in the looks department, and by season’s end, quite successful on the track.

Toyota teams won 16 of the 36 points races, tops in the series for the second consecutive year. And for the second time in three years, a Toyota team won the series championship – Kyle Busch in 2015 and Martin Truex Jr. this past season.

Breaking in the new Camry took some time, according to Busch, driver of the No. 18 for Joe Gibbs Racing. Toyota teams won just two of the season’s first 17 races, both belonging to Truex and his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing group.

“It seemed like the 78 bunch was ready to go a lot quicker than we were,” Busch said recently. “They were really fast early in the season. They won Las Vegas, they were really quick at California. … It took us probably until about May or June (to catch up).”

Not that Busch and his team, led by crew chief Adam Stevens, struggled. Busch posted five top-five results in the opening third of the season, including runner-up finishes at Martinsville and Charlotte.

MORE: Busch wins 2017 Snowball Derby

“There were races,” Busch said. “I mean we should have won Phoenix (where he finished third) back in March, but there were times were just kind of off and kind of slow. And our ‘off’ was fourth or fifth place.

“We just didn’t have the raw speed to just go out there and lead laps and be up front and win. That really didn’t show up until about May or June.”

For the third consecutive season, Busch won multiple races – beginning at Pocono, sweeping at Bristol and then knocking out Playoff victories at New Hampshire, Dover and Martinsville on the way to Homestead and another shot at winning the championship. There, only Truex was better, capturing both the race and the title while Busch finished second.

RELATED: Recap Busch’s 2017 season | Kyle Busch through the years

Chevrolet teams will debut a new car model in 2018 as the Camaro ZL1 replaces the SS. Busch said it’s difficult to estimate how long it may take Chevrolet teams to get up to speed.

“Look at the (Stewart-Haas Racing) guys and they kind of struggled with the build of their Ford and trying to figure out what was going on with it,” Busch said. “They tried things that they knew worked on a Chevy and it was the exact opposite of what they thought it would be for the Ford body.

“It just depends on what the body build is like and what all happens and goes on in their research and development and making their cars better.

“Obviously when you have a model change it’s supposed to be better than the current model you have, so they should come out of the box just fine.”

SHR made the swap from Chevrolet to Ford for the ’17 season. Kevin Harvick won twice and made the Championship 4 while teammate Kurt Busch won the season-opening Daytona 500.

Based on his own team’s overall results, Kyle Busch said ’17 was “a good year,” but expects improvement in ’18.

“Many would consider a great year but certainly in the end there was a lot of disappointment there and aggravation,” he said. “But that only fuels the fire for what’s going to happen in 2018.”

Heading into ’18, Busch has 43 career victories in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series, second only to seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson (83).

He has advanced to the Championship 4 for three consecutive years, missing only in ’14 when the Playoff format debuted.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Galloway learns new kind of speed in pit road practice

College football bowl season is in full swing. For the participants of Friday’s Belk Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina, Wake Forest University and Texas A&M University, that meant a trip to the track on Tuesday.

Players from both schools got to take part in the Richard Petty Driving Experience at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a tradition that has become commonplace for the two schools in the Belk Bowl each year.


The teams also spent time at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Tuesday evening for the players reception.

Posted on by Staff Report

Christmas lasted an extra day for NASCAR fans with the annual Undeck the Hall event at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

Doors opened at 10 a.m. ET for a long line of fans that had formed outside the Hall. Some had camped out since the day before. Each person was able to select a gift one of the trees decorated with NASCAR-themed items like autographed souvenirs, die-cast cars, race tickets, sheet metal and much more including some fun surprises to be found. The event continued until all the gifts were gone on Tuesday.

The event was free to fans with a paid admission to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: What were drivers texting Santa? | Snowy NASCAR tracks

For NASCAR stars past and present, Christmas Eve and Christmas were spent in a variety of different ways. Some traveled abroad while some took to the slopes and others stayed right at home. Here’s a look at how their holidays were spent.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Hendrick reveals ’18 paint schemes | Keep up with Silly Season moves

They were not the first runner-up finishes of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career, but Chase Elliott said he believes he learned a lot more from this year’s near-misses than those of 2016.

“Absolutely,” the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports said. “Learning the hard way for sure, but you definitely do learn things from those situations. I definitely have.”

The 2016 Sunoco Rookie of the Year, Elliott scored 10 top-five finishes in his debut season with HMS, including runner-up results at Michigan in June and again in August. He qualified for the Playoffs and finished 10th in points. His first victory, it seemed, was just around the corner.

While 2017 saw continued improvement from Elliott, the second-place finishes continued to mount. But still no breakthrough victory. Twelve top-five results, this time five that saw him finish one spot behind the race winner.

Again, he qualified for the Playoffs and this time nearly made it to the Championship 4. But not quite.

RELATED: Elliott through the years | Recap Chase’s 2017 season

His most recent second-place finish? That came at Phoenix, the final race of the Round of 8. His final landing spot in the points was an impressive fifth.

“A lot of those situations were very different from one another,” Elliott, 22, said of the runner-up results. “I think back to some of the races and the races I was more disappointed in – being in the lead in some of those situations and losing it in the closing laps. Others being kind of on offense in the closing laps and being able to set to second (place).

“They’re all different and I think you can learn from each one of them. I definitely think I have.”

The son of 1988 series champion and NASCAR Hall of Fame member Bill Elliott, Chase has inherited something of a veteran status among the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers heading into 2018.

The past three seasons have seen the departure of Hendrick staples Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne.

At 42, seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson is the group’s elder statesman. He returns for a 17th season to try and add to his 83-win total and break a championship tie with fellow seven-timers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

Alex Bowman, 24, has two year’s Cup experience with BK Racing but spent the last year doing simulator work after filling in for 10 races in ’16 in the No. 88 of HMS driver Earnhardt Jr. The three top-10 finishes and a pole at Phoenix put him in the driver’s seat, literally, as the frontrunner for taking over the seat once Earnhardt Jr. announced he was stepping aside for good.

Elliott has four fewer starts in the series than Bowman, but won the Xfinity Series title in ’14 while the fourth member of the group, William Byron has yet to make his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start.

The 20-year-old Byron does have a championship in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and seven victories in the Camping World Truck Series.

After piloting the No. 24 entry in ‘16-17, Elliott will field the No. 9 for HMS in ’18, a nod to his father’s racing success. It’s a move that will take the No. 5 entry, which was the first for team owner Rick Hendrick, out of the rotation.

Byron will compete in the No. 24 previously attached to Elliott.

“Definitely it’s going to be different,” Elliott said of the group’s new look.

“Bowman and Byron have ‘proven they know how to race’,” he said. “They don’t need any help to be good race car drivers. They’re going to win races and be contenders, I have no doubt. Alex proved that last year; he proved it again in just a couple of Xfinity Series starts this season. Give that guy what he needs to go fast and he’s going to go fast.

“William too. The run he made this year to win that (Xfinity) championship was impressive. I think it surprised a lot of people. I don’t think people expected him to go and do that. I loved seeing him prove people wrong. As a racer, there’s nothing better.”

Posted on by Brad Norman

Katelyn Sweet got quite the present this holiday season.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson announced his engagement to Sweet, his longtime girlfriend, on social media early Friday morning as the couple and their son Owen jet off to the land down under this offseason.

The driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet joked that the proposal has been in the works for quite awhile. The soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Larson also are expecting their second child in May 2018.

Posted on by Team Release

RELATED: New looks for 2018

WELCOME, N.C. – The South Point Hotel & Casino will return to Richard Childress Racing as the primary sponsor on the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro, piloted by Daniel Hemric, for the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. The 2018 season marks the seventh year of a partnership between RCR and the Las Vegas-based hotel and casino.

“The South Point Hotel & Casino is excited to be continuing our partnership with Richard Childress Racing in the 2018 season,” said Michael Gaughan, owner of the South Point. “Watching Brendan carry our colors these past couple of years on the track and into Victory Lane has been a lot fun. We’re looking forward to continuing the accomplishments during this coming season with Daniel Hemric. Daniel is a great driver and we know he will represent the South Point well both on and off the track.”

The South Point’s partnership with RCR began in 2012, when Brendan Gaughan ran a limited Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule with the historic organization. In the most recent season of competition, Gaughan and the South Point Hotel & Casino team earned a top-10 finish in the driver championship point standings after making the 2017 Xfinity Series Playoffs.

The South Point will serve as the primary partner on Hemric’s No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for all 33 Xfinity Series races during the 2018 season. Hemric, who will compete for the Series championship, finished fourth in the 2017 Xfinity Series season after making it to the Championship 4 round of the NASCAR Playoffs. During his rookie season, the 26-year-old driver also recorded one pole award, seven top-five and 16 top-10 finishes.

“RCR and the Gaughan Family have had a special relationship that we’re thrilled to be able to continue,” said Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of RCR. “As with RCR, the South Point Hotel and Casino has a rich history in stock car racing and it is a part of our heritage. Daniel made it to the Xfinity Series Championship 4 this past season and we look forward to another season of watching him compete for the championship.”

For additional information on today’s announcement, and all that’s happening at RCR, please visit rcrracing.com.

Posted on by Brad Norman

Game. On.

Earlier this week, Kyle Busch and wife Samantha posted their version of a lip sync battle featuring songs from the Bee Gees, Smash Mouth and more. They went out all with themed costumes and choreography.

Little did we know Joe Gibbs Racing put together a massive compilation of drivers and crew members busting a move inside their Toyota Camry’s and released the internet gold for everyone to see. Talk about grinding during the offseason.

Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece and Erik Jones among those also featured in the video, and we must say … Bell can rock a blonde wig with the best of them. With songs from everyone’s favorite Disney movie ‘Frozen’ and the ultimate boy band ‘NYSNC’ it doesn’t get much better than this.

Which group locked down your vote for best performance?