Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver AJ Allmendinger will participate in the 2018 edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona with Michael Shank Racing. The race takes place Jan. 27-28 at Daytona International Speedway.
This will mark the fourth time in five years Allmendinger has participated in the sports car race organized by IMSA as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
“I am pumped to be back racing for Shank in the 24!” Allmendinger said in a team release. “I missed the race last year and I hated to, so I’m really glad to be back. His whole team did an awesome job with the Acura last year and it is awesome to be back with him for the Rolex.
“After racing for the overall win so many years in Prototypes, it will be a completely different experience to be racing in the GTD class, but I’m looking forward to it. Mike (Shank) always puts an awesome team together and this year is no different so I am counting down to get my first shot in this car.”
Allmendinger will be joined in the team’s No. 93 Acura NXS GT3 entry by Justin Marks, Lawson Aschenbach and Mario Farnbacher. Marks has dabbled in NASCAR’s national series and won the 2016 XFINITY Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Aschenbach has one career XFINITY Series start, while Farnbacher has made no NASCAR national series starts.
The Rolex 24 has been run since 1962 and is considered North America’s most prestigious sports car race. The day to night to day race pushes a driver’s and machine’s limits across Daytona’s 3.56-mile road course over 24 hours. A three-day test, the Roar Before the Rolex 24 on Jan. 5-7, serves as a test for competitors three weeks before the race.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – For a 17-year-old, Todd Gilliland was in a familiar situation when he took the stage at the Charlotte Convention Center at the NASCAR Hall of Fame Friday night.
He had, after all, done this all before. Just one year ago.
“Ever since I was little, all I wanted to do was drive a race car,” Gilliland said. “When I got that chance to do that for Bill McAnally Racing, I really wanted to win him a championship. And now I’m here giving my speech for my second year in a row; 2017 has been a dream season.”
Gilliland wasn’t the only familiar face honored at the NASCAR Home Tracks Awards, officially receiving their NASCAR championship rings and trophies. Doug Coby received the hardware for his fifth NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship, Lee Pulliam picked up his fourth NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship trophy and Mexico’s Abraham Calderón took home his second NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series title trophy.
They were joined by first-time champions Harrison Burton (NASCAR K&N Pro Series East), Alon Day (NASCAR Whelen Euro Series) and Alex Labbe (NASCAR Pinty’s Series).
Whether they came from Israel and Quebec or North Carolina and Virginia, there was a common theme that was echoed throughout the night of celebration.
Dreams realized. And the support behind chasing the drivers chasing them.
“This season has created so many memories that will stay with me my whole life,” said Burton. “So much has gone into winning this championship, and it’s awesome to just slow down and celebrate it with my team, friends and family.”
“What a journey,” said Day. “To end up here tonight as a NASCAR champion. Who would have thought an unknown driver from a small country in the Middle East would one day wind up being a NASCAR champion. That achievement never would have been reached without the help of so many people.”
It was a night that celebrated the future of NASCAR and toasted the historic achievements of NASCAR veterans.
A year after becoming the youngest champion in NASCAR touring or national series history, Gilliland became the first driver to win back-to-back NASCAR K&N Pro Series West championships since Mike Duncan in 2004-05. He nearly became the first driver to sweep the K&N Pro Series East and West titles, but Burton overcame an eight-point gap by winning the East season finale. In the process, he broke Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano’s record as the youngest champion in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East history.
Both Gilliland and Burton also ran several NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races in 2017 as they look to move up the racing ladder.
Canadian Labbe is also eying a move up, but first he had unfinished business in Canada. After a disappointing end to 2016, the 24-year-old bounced back with a decisive 2017 campaign that saw him finish sixth or better in all but the finale en route to the Pinty’s Series title – the national stock car racing championship in Canada.
Alex Labbe shares a chuckle with Mike Helton. (Streeter Lecka | Getty Images)
“It means a lot — I’ve been working on it for a long, long time,” said Labbe. “To finally get that championship, to get the trophy at the end of the year: It’s a dream. It’s something that I’m going to have with me all my life.”
Likewise, Calderón took home his country’s stock car national championship. While he won his first title in 2014 without winning a race, he had a series-high five victories this year, including four in a six-race summer stretch to take command of the series lead.
“For me and my team, it’s something huge — it means a lot — to be here celebrating our second NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series championship. It’s something we’ll never forget,” said Calderón. “I remember the last race in Mexico City, it was a stunning event. I’d like to explain with words what it felt like crossing the finish line but I cannot. It’s something that just flows through your body and makes you feel alive. It was just really, really amazing.”
Day finished second in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series in 2015 and third in 2016 before a magical run in 2017. He made his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup debut at Sonoma, and then won three of the final four races of the Whelen Euro season to edge two-time champion Anthony Kumpen.
For Coby, though, the year started like a nightmare. He was involved in wrecks in his first two races, and four races into the season he was still 51 points out of the championship lead. The Milford, Connecticut, driver didn’t mind that everybody was looking to knock him off the perch.
“I’d rather be the guy with the bull’s eye on his back than the one swinging at it,” said Coby, who scored top fives in 10 of the last 12 races to earn his fourth straight title and fifth in the last six years.
Coby joined NASCAR Hall of Famers Jerry Cook and Richie Evans, NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Mike Stefanik along with Tony Hirschman Jr., as the only drivers in NASCAR Modified history with five or more titles.
“I’m just racing against who I’m racing against and doing thing best I can do in this era,” Coby said.
“It’s a testament to what you’ve done in the sport,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, told Coby. “When you look back at the series and who can represent the sport the best, (the Modifieds are) where legends are made. You’ve heard Doug talk about just concentrating on the present. But it’s fitting we’re here in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. With five championships, you’re well on your way to an historic career.”
Alon Day, the 2017 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series champion, has made five starts in NASCAR’s three national series. (Streeter Lecka | Getty Images)
Likewise, Pulliam moved closer to one of short track’s indelible records.
Piling up 155 Late Model wins in 290 starts since 2011, the North Carolina native tied Philip Morris for second most national titles. He’s one behind NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee, the late Larry Phillips. Phillips won five titles between 1989-96.
“Before you become legendary, you’ve got to be successful,” Helton told Pulliam. “I think you’ve laid the foundation on becoming one of the legends in NASCAR.”
Pulliam won 14 times at Myrtle Beach Speedway on his way to the track and South Carolina titles. He finished with 19 wins, 36 top fives and 43 top 10s in 45 starts at eight different tracks across the southeast.
“You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but it gets me every time,” said Pulliam. “I told my wife in 2017, I was going as hard as I can to win national championship number four. As Michelangelo once said, the greatest danger for most of us is not from setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and hitting our mark.
“Chasing a national championship requires help and sacrifice from so many people. Many nights we saw the sun come up, with no sleep. My guys never gave up. We fought, clawed and battled as a team to accomplish this. This championship was won by people banding together and not stopping until the goal was accomplished.”
Pulliam noted that at 29 years old, he feels he has plenty of racing left.
“And I think I’ve got more titles in me,” said Pulliam.
The championship car owners and crew chiefs were also recognized Friday night.
There were plenty of other trophies handed out, too.
Missouri’s Cody Jolly (Division II), Ontario’s Eric Yorke (Division III), Michigan’s Cole Roelofs (Division IV) and Iowa’s Dustin Thompson (Division V) joined Pulliam in receiving their NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national titles. The night got underway with the awarding of 34 U.S. state and Canadian province championships, along with 59 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Division I track champion trophies.
In addition to the championship awards, each series rookie of the year was honored. Calvin Carroll (NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour), Derek Kraus (NASCAR K&N Pro Series West) and Chase Purdy (NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) were the Sunoco Rookies of the Year in their respective series; Adam Martin (NASCAR Pinty’s Series) and Mitch Keeter (NASCAR Whelen All-American Series) received their Josten’s Rookie of the Year for their series; and Stienes Longin was awarded the Junior “Jerome Sarran” Trophy by the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series as the series’ top young driver. Enrique Baca was the top rookie in the NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series.
Ryan Vargas, another rising star who is moving from Late Models in California to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East next year as part of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity and Rev Racing, won the Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award for the second straight year. The award is given to the top performing minority or female driver in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.
The 2018 season will see Earnhardt in the broadcast booth with NBC’s NASCAR coverage as well as plans to run a NASCAR XFINITY Series race for JR Motorsports, the organization he co-owns. Alex Bowman will step into the No. 88 for Hendrick Motorsports in 2018.
As the saying goes, to be the man, you have to beat the man.
For Ricky Stenhouse Jr., in order to become the man he wanted to be at Roush-Fenway Racing, he needed to get to Victory Lane first.
Now, thanks to his first two wins in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and his first playoff berth, Stenhouse says he’s closer to finding his voice and filling the leadership role at RFR that once was held by Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth.
“Having a little bit more confidence of running well, leading laps, winning races, and getting back to the playoffs, I think that helps,” Stenhouse said during Champion’s Week in Las Vegas. “People listen, but it also gives me confidence when giving input that I feel like it’s right.”
Stenhouse says he’s been giving more input lately as the No. 17 Ford team excitedly looks forward to the 2018 season and the 60th running of the Daytona 500. With both of his wins in 2017 coming on superspeedways, Stenhouse says he’s never felt this confident that “The Great American Race” could lead to a great start for his team.
Stenhouse has finished in the top five in four of his past six restrictor-plate races, including the wins last season in the spring at Talladega and in July at Daytona. However, making a deeper run in the playoffs (Stenhouse made the Round of 12) would entail similar success on restrictor plates, combined with better consistency on 1.5-mile tracks and short tracks in 2018.
It also will require learning from his first playoff experience when he finished no better than 13th (at Charlotte) in any of the first six races before he was eliminated from contention at Kansas.
“The intensity was real high,” Stenhouse said of the playoffs. “I didn’t think it was going to be a thing. I kind of felt stressed out a little bit (laughs). I didn’t really see that coming. I thought it was going to be show up like any other race.
“And I think when we got knocked out of the playoffs and zeroed in and focused on what got us to that point, (it was) consistency and running well.”
Stenhouse got back to that consistency toward the end of last season. The final four races all netted finishes of 15th or better, including an eighth-place result at Phoenix that was his best in that stretch.
“It really sets us up for the offseason,” Stenhouse said. “The guys are pumped up at the shop and ready to go back to work.”
Richard Petty Motorsports will field Chevrolet entries in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series beginning in 2018 and form an alliance with Richard Childress Racing, according to a Friday announcement from RPM team officials.
The organization, co-owned by seven-time series champion Richard Petty and Andrew Murstein, will field the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for driver Darrell “Bubba” Wallace.
As part of the move to Chevrolet, RPM will align with Richard Childress Racing for engine and chassis support and permanently move its shop to Welcome, North Carolina to be adjacent to the RCR shop. RCR fields multiple cars in both the Monster Energy Series and XFINITY Series. The move will begin immediately and be completed by January.
“We’ve had a tremendous amount of success through our team partnerships over the past several seasons”, said Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of RCR in a team release. “To bring a storied organization like Richard Petty Motorsports on-board as an alliance partner is a win for each of our organizations.”
The 2018 season will be the first for teams utilizing the Camaro body style in NASCAR’s top series. From 2013 through 2017, Chevy teams campaigned with the Chevrolet SS body.
Proud to say that I’ll be racing the No. 43 @chevrolet Camaro in 2018! I’m also incredibly excited about our new alliance with @RCRracing. The Petty’s and I have had a lot of success with Chevy, including wins in my first ever K&N Pro Series race, and my last truck race! pic.twitter.com/6ewPvPMRCf
“This is our next chapter of Petty racing,” said Richard Petty, co-owner, Richard Petty Motorsports in the release. “We need to provide Bubba, Drew (Blickensderfer, crew chief) and the rest of the team with the tools necessary to be successful on the track, and I feel strongly this is the best move for RPM, our partners and everyone involved with our team. Chevrolet has been a consistent winner in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series for a long time and we’re proud to be a part of the GM family again. We feel we can immediately win with Chevrolet and our new alliance with RCR.”
RPM will remain an independent race operation, according the release, but the change allows for the team to collaborate with RCR. The move also unites two of the sport’s most iconic teams and cars. RPM’s No. 43 and RCR’s No. 3 will now work together for the first time to push forward both organizations’ goals of winning races and championships.
Wallace is replacing Aric Almirola as driver of the No. 43 for RPM. A former regular in the XFINITY Series, Wallace made four starts for the team in 2017 while Almirola recovered from a back injury.
“I’ve had some great memories with Chevrolet and I’m ready to make a lot more,” added Wallace Jr. “The entire RPM team is ready for 2018, and now we have a big piece of the puzzle put in place. We’re all eager to start preparing our No. 43 Camaro for 2018, working and creating new ideas with RCR. This is a new journey and we’re all ready to begin it.”
Almirola was the most recent winner for RPM, scoring a victory in the 2014 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway and qualifying for the playoffs that year.
RPM had fielded Ford entries on a full-time basis since 2010.
Every young driver with a cool, new ride needs a slick paint job to go along with it.
Well, that’s exactly what Alex Bowman revealed during an Axalta photo shoot as he showed off a new paint scheme on the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) announced Thursday that Rheem will sponsor Christopher Bell and Ryan Preece in the NASCAR XFINITY Series in 2018.
Rheem, a 10-year NASCAR sponsor, will have NASCAR’s 2017 Camping World Truck Series Champion Christopher Bell at the wheel for 23 races in JGR’s No. 20 Toyota Camry and breakthrough sensation Ryan Preece in the No. 18 Toyota Camry for 10 races.
“We are delighted to partner with Joe Gibbs Racing. Joe Gibbs’ life, business accomplishments and his company’s values fit well with Rheem’s culture of innovation, integrity and philanthropy. We are also pleased to join JGR’s partner family comprised of some of the world’s most successful, innovative companies that are also committed to leading and winning. We look forward to working and winning with Coach Gibbs and his team,” said Chris Peel, Rheem President and COO.
The Rheem and Ruud brands will represent the company’s family of quality brands on NASCAR race tracks in 2018 as Rheem kicks off its second decade of racing with two new paint schemes. The new designs are intended to say ‘thanks to NASCAR fans for allowing us to support the sport you love’ as well as promising that ‘Rheem is taking leading and winning to a whole new level.’
“We’re thrilled to partner with Rheem,” said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. “They have built a winning company in their industry with many of the same attributes we hold valuable at our race team. Rheem has a long history in our sport and they understand what it takes to be successful. We think Christopher (Bell) and Ryan (Preece) will represent them well both on and off the track.”
It’s beginning to look a lot like … not Christmas, but the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season at Hendrick Motorsports.
The team revealed on Twitter a new look at its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, and let’s just say this for Chase Elliott fans, they’ve got your number!
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 7, 2017) — NASCAR and Whelen Engineering, Inc. announced today multi-year extensions to continue its entitlement sponsorship of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series through 2024. Additionally, Whelen will also extend its designation as the “Official Warning Lights of NASCAR.”
“More than a decade of successful partnership has resulted in Whelen Engineering being deeply connected to many levels of our sport,” said Jim Cassidy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations. “The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Whelen Euro Series are critical to reaching fans, developing talent and delivering great racing both domestically and abroad.”
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, NASCAR’s oldest division of racecars, is the premiere asphalt modified circuit in the nation. With a history dating back to Daytona Beach in 1948, the tour features a mix of passionate, veteran drivers with emerging young talent and includes races from New England to South Carolina.
“Whelen Engineering has played a big role in NASCAR for many years and we are ecstatic to continue to support the sport with this extended relationship,” said Phil Kurze, Whelen Engineering vice president of motorsports. “Our ability to build brand and product recognition nationally and internationally due to our partnership helps drive our business and reach new customers.”
The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, the official NASCAR series based in Europe, has global appeal with 21 nations represented. Since becoming a NASCAR touring series in 2012 and obtaining the Whelen entitlement in July 2013, U.S. drivers such as Bobby Labonte, Jeffrey Earnhardt and Ben Kennedy have competed abroad. NASCAR Whelen Euro Series cars are also featured in the annual international Race of Champions.
“The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is honored to have Whelen Engineering continue its title sponsorship,” said Jerome Galpin, NASCAR Euro Series president. “Whelen has helped NASCAR introduce exciting, door-to-door, American racing to a passionate motorsports fan base in Europe and we look forward to growing the series together in the years to come.”
A 10-year renewal with the NASCAR Hall of Fame as the title sponsor of the “Whelen Hall of Champions” was also announced today. Since opening in 2014, the exhibit has honored nearly 600 national and regional championships from the sport’s current and past series. The Hall also houses the “Everyday Champions” display, which honors first responders from across the country.
“We are thrilled with the multiyear extension of the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s partnership with Whelen Engineering. Through the Whelen Hall of Champions exhibit, we recognize every national and touring series champion in NASCAR history to date,” said Winston Kelley, NASCAR Hall of Fame executive director. “The ceremonial unveiling each year in association with the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and NASCAR Touring Series banquet has become a celebrated moment for this partnership.”
Whelen Engineering is a leading manufacturer of automotive, aviation, industrial and emergency vehicle lighting. In addition to its entitlement, Whelen will continue to showcase their products across NASCAR tracks and pace cars.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will honor their champions at the NASCAR Home Tracks Champions Awards on Friday, Dec. 8 at North Carolina’s Charlotte Convention Center.
