Posted on by DraftKings

Rankings below are based on a mixture of expected output and DraftKings’ NASCAR salaries for that day. The ordering is not based on highest projected fantasy totals, but rather by the value of each driver.

(FPPK = average fantasy points per $1,000 of salary.)

1. Martin Truex, Jr. ($11,000) – The No. 78 car is fast everywhere, but it’s on another level at intermediate tracks. After a severe penalty forced Truex to forfeit the lead at Kansas, he rebounded to win the race. No one does that. (6.4 FPPK)

2. Kyle Busch ($10,600) – By now, we should all know the theme for the No. 18 car this season. He’s a top-three car piling up fast laps, or he’s subject to unfortunate events. At Texas, Busch suffered damage on pit road and was a non-factor. (5.7 FPPK)

3. Kyle Larson ($9,700) – In the spring, he sliced through the field, earning 30 place differential points at Texas. That’s special at a one-groove track, but not when you have a fast car and a great driver. It’s expected, not special. A top-five is expected this weekend. (5.1 FPPK)

4. Kevin Harvick ($9,800) – Way back in April, Harvick was fast at Texas. His speed disappeared soon after or the Toyotas found their rhythm. It’s likely the latter, but Harvick is catching up. He has been fast at every playoff intermediate track race. (4.4 FPPK)

5. Chase Elliott ($9,100) – Last week was the week. The stars aligned at Martinsville, but Elliott couldn’t get the win. This underscores how hard it is to win a NASCAR race at the premier series level. Winning a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race is one of the hardest feats in sports. He’ll get another try this week, and his car is fast enough to make it happen. (4.2 FPPK)

6. Jimmie Johnson ($9,600) – In the spring, Johnson earned his seventh Texas win. It was another victory after starting from the back, but like many of those wins, he was aided by the NASCAR Gods. There were four debris cautions, two stage cautions and a competition caution. There was only one real caution. (3.8 FPPK)

7. Ryan Blaney ($8,500) – In the spring, Blaney was fast at Kansas. He was fast in the fall Kansas race, too. In the spring, Blaney was the fastest driver at Texas, but he coughed up a possible win by sliding his car through his pit stall late in the race. He should be fast this weekend. (3.1 FPPK)

8. Joey Logano ($9,400) – The Penske Fords have been competitive at the short, flat tracks. They might as well be XFINITY cars at the 1.5-mile tracks. Logano is a top-10 driver at best unless he messes with pit road strategy. (3.3 FPPK)

9. Erik Jones ($8,000) – After a nice run this summer highlighted by his near win at Bristol, Jones has cooled off. He’s finished outside of the top-25 in his last three races. (3.8 FPPK)

10. Brad Keselowski ($10,000) – Team Penske doesn’t have the speed to win this race straight up, but backward pitting at Texas might work. With a freshly repaved surface, track position means everything. Keselowski turned track position into 104 laps led at a single-groove track in Michigan in August. (4.5 FPPK)

11. Matt Kenseth ($8,900) – He’s been much better at the short tracks this season. Kenseth can earn a top-10 finish by turning circles with the others, but it’s unlikely that he leads laps or runs fast laps. (3.5 FPPK)

12. Denny Hamlin ($8,800) – NASCAR might be the most emotional daily fantasy sport. After last week’s unfortunate events, some DFS players might refuse to play Hamlin. He hasn’t been great at the intermediate tracks, but it’s a JGR Toyota. He could be worth a flier. (4.1 FPPK)

13. Jamie McMurray ($8,100) – When Jamie Mac qualifies around 10th, you’ll say to yourself, “no way.” This could be a lap-turner. Place differential points might be rare. Finishing position points could be at a premium. McMurray staying in 10th all day could be the key to a GPP win. (3.2 FPPK)

14. Clint Bowyer ($8,700) – The SHR Fords are getting faster every week. Bowyer hasn’t really done much this season, but he has a good a car. As long as he’s in a top-notch ride, he’s a threat to put up top-10 daily fantasy NASCAR points each week. (3.3 FPPK)

15. AJ Allmendinger ($6,500) – Martinsville is Allmendinger’s best race track, but Texas is not that far behind. He has 13 top-25 finishes in his last 14 Texas races (average finish of 17th). He clearly likes this track. (3.6 FPPK)

16. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. ($7,900) – Sentimentality shouldn’t influence Junior’s fantasy popularity. He’s been serviceable at intermediate tracks this season. He’s earned top-20s in 11 of 13 intermediate track races. His best finish was fifth at Texas in the spring. (3.0 FPPK)

17. Kasey Kahne ($8,200) – The clock is ticking for one more win. It’s unlikely that Kahne will be a contender in the No. 95 car next year. He has a chance for one more win this weekend. Kahne has three eighth-place finishes in his last five Texas races. He was running inside the top-15 until suffering a broken axle late in the spring race. (3.2 FPPK)

18. Aric Almirola ($6,200) – In his return to Kansas, the track where Almirola broke his back months earlier, Almirola earned a top-10 finish. This is his audition for a 2018 ride. He’s focused, and his car has been a consistent top-20 ride all season. (4.5 FPPK)

19. Austin Dillon ($7,700) – The man wears a cowboy hat, he better run well at Texas. His median average running position at the intermediate tracks is 15th this season. In a possible lap-tuner, 15th will do. Don’t worry about the first Texas race, a mechanical issue ruined his day early. (3.6 FPPK)

20. Kurt Busch ($8,400) – Kansas looks better than it was. He finished second, but his average running position was 15th. Take away the late wrecks and Busch scores 26 fewer fantasy points. Texas doesn’t look like a wreck fest. (3.0 FPPK)

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Hamlin says his apology was necessary | Full Texas schedule

FORT WORTH, Texas – Chase Elliott slid into his seat at Texas Motor Speedway’s media center and judging by the look on his face, he was all ready and in anticipation of the questions to come about last week’s post-race confrontation with Denny Hamlin at Martinsville Speedway.

No.

He said he hasn’t spoken with Hamlin yet, despite Hamlin sending him a text message.

And no.

He wasn’t going to comment about any potential racing payback.

“I’m not going to be answering any questions on whether I’m going to get him back or not,” the 21-year old driver said. “Just don’t go there.”

Last week at Martinsville, the veteran Hamlin “moved” the second-year Elliott out of the racing groove to make a pass for the race lead with three laps remaining. The contact spun Elliott’s No. 24 Chevrolet off toward the wall, and Hamlin went on to finish seventh, while Elliott – who led four times for 123 laps – finished 27th.

WATCH: See the incident here

After the incident, the normally mild-mannered Elliott and the veteran Hamlin had words on pit road.

Hamlin later apologized publicly on social media for his aggressive move on track. And he said Thursday that he tried to communicate with Elliott during the week, but has still not heard back from the young driver. Elliott said his view of the situation remains unchanged.

“As far as last week goes, I don’t know my thoughts are a whole different now than they were then,” Elliott said. “I’m still pretty frustrated about it and really as the week has gone along it’s given me a lot of time to think about how close we were to going to Homestead (for the championship race).

“If anything else, that will drive you up a wall if you think about it. Definitely not happy about it and not a whole lot has changed about it.

Instead of winning a race, or at least taking a top-five finish for his good work last week, Elliott now arrives at Texas ranked last among the eight playoff drivers, 26 points behind fourth-place Kevin Harvick with two races remaining to set the four-driver Homestead-Miami Speedway championship grid.

Hamlin is seventh in the playoff standings, seven points behind the fourth-place cut-off position.

RELATED: Hamlin issues apology

During a Toyota event Thursday in the Dallas area, Hamlin again addressed the situation with Elliott.

“I think anytime I’ve seen things like that in the past and someone has an arrogance or a sense of no compassion to the guy that you just took out, it bugged me a little bit,” Hamlin said. “So I felt there was a need for me to kind of issue an apology there because it was needed. Obviously, the other side doesn’t want to hear it. It doesn’t make their day any better, but I felt like it was important for me to get what my thought process and feelings were out there.”

Elliott’s face was everywhere as he arrived at Texas Motor Speedway – home of his first career XFINITY Series victory in 2014. The track made posters featuring a large photo of Elliott, proclaiming, “Come see the People’s Champion at the Great American Speedway.’’ A smaller photo of Hamlin and Elliott having words on pit road is at the bottom of the poster.

“I wasn’t expecting to have that or hear that or see it throughout the week,’’ Elliott said of the support he’s received. “It’s been … I don’t know if refreshing is the right word but it’s been definitely pretty encouraging seeing that kind of support despite the circumstance. To seeing people encouraging you and wanting you to go win this weekend … to me the message from the fans this weekend has been the best thing you can do is go and win one of these next two weekends and give yourself a shot at Homestead. I think a lot of the people that watch our sport know that and I am looking forward to giving it my best shot.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Dale Jr. gift gallery | Full schedule for Texas

Texas Motor Speedway provided a Lone Star State-sized gift to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s season-long send-off, giving him part of the track’s scoreboard from his first win.

Track president Eddie Gossage supervised the festivities on horseback before opening practice for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (2 p.m. ET, Sunday, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM).

Earnhardt is set to make his likely final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at the 1.5-mile track, where he scored the first win of his premier series career as a rookie in 2000. Gossage unveiled a large scoreboard segment, with his former No. 8 illuminated in the first position as a parting gift.

“That’s it. That’s the one,” Earnhardt said. “Isn’t that something?”

The track also made the gift of naming a horse from a nearby therapeutic horse ranch in his honor as part of the Jr. Nation Apprecia88ion Tour. Gossage also provided a baby gift for Earnhardt and his wife, Amy — a kids’ hot-rodded push car stroller.

 

Earnhardt announced in April that this would be his final full season of competition.

Posted on by Team Release

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Team Penske and Miller Lite announced today that the original light beer will continue its relationship with the No. 2 Ford Fusion team and driver Brad Keselowski in 2018 and beyond. The renewal continues a partnership that began on the No. 2 Team Penske Ford in 1991 with driver Rusty Wallace.

The familiar white and blue Miller Lite paint scheme will adorn Keselowski’s car in 11 NASCAR Cup Series races in 2018. Miller Lite will continue to be an associate sponsor for the car and Keselowski throughout the balance of the NASCAR Cup Series season.

“Miller Lite has been a terrific partner with Team Penske for 27 years and we welcome their continued support of the No. 2 Ford team,” said Roger Penske. “There is no question that they have been a tremendous part of our NASCAR success, including winning the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series title together. We look forward to having Miller Lite back with the team as we head into the future.”

One of the most successful partnerships in NASCAR history, Team Penske and the Miller Brewing Company have combined for 65 Cup wins, 20 of which have come with Keselowski behind the wheel. Keselowski also provided the biggest highlight of the Team Penske and Miller Lite partnership when he and the No. 2 team captured the 2012 Cup title in just his third full season of competition.

“The Team Penske partnership is one of the longest in MillerCoors’ history and it continues to be one that gives us a lot of pride,” said Adam Dettman, Director of Sports and Entertainment at Miller Coors. “We are pleased to be able to continue this long-standing relationship and look forward to cheering on Brad in the No. 2.”

Keselowski took over the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion in 2011 – his second full Cup season – and he won his first series race for Team Penske in just his 13th start behind the wheel.

“Many of the biggest moments of my career have involved Miller Lite,” said Keselowski. “We have had a lot of success together and I am very proud to represent them within our sport. Many of the fans who cheer for the No. 2 on a weekly basis do it because of the Miller Lite brand. It’s an iconic look for NASCAR and a mainstay with Team Penske.”

The first primary race for the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion will be the season-opening, non-points Clash at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 11.

Posted on by H.A. Branham

RELATED: Cast your vote today!

Chante Gonzalez Vido is a two-time cancer survivor. Having beaten the beast — twice, no less — it would be understandable if she wanted to get as far away from the dreaded disease as possible. To expect that, however, would amount to not understanding this remarkable young woman and her resolve to help children facing their own cancer battles.

Gonzalez Vido, 30, is one of four finalists for The NASCAR Foundation’s Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award presented by Nationwide. The award honors NASCAR fans who are also accomplished volunteers working for children’s causes in their communities throughout the United States. It also honors the memory and the philanthropic legacy of the foundation’s late founder, Betty Jane France, who passed away in August 2016.

On Thursday, Nov. 30, the award winner will be announced during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards at Wynn Las Vegas. The winner will be determined by online voting at NASCAR.com/Award; voting ends on Nov. 29 at 5 p.m. (ET). The NASCAR Foundation donates $100,000 to the charity the winner represents and $25,000 to the other finalists’ charities.

FINALISTS
• Shannon Goldwater
• Julian Maha
• Tammy Richardson

Gonzalez Vido, from Jamul, California, represents the San Diego-based Seany Foundation, which operates “Camp Reach for the Sky” where Gonzalez Vido is the head counselor overseeing all activities and training and on-boarding of volunteers while also leading fundraising efforts.

She and the camp have some serious history, dating to her childhood. Gonzalez Vido was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia at the age of 6. Some years later she started attending the camp herself and when she turned 18, she started volunteering work at the camp. She found she was well-equipped to both relate and assist young campers. Been there, done that.

Her involvement with Camp Reach for the Sky has remained a constant — except for some time she missed in 2011, when cancer returned in another form of leukemia.

“That part made it a little more shocking, because it was so spread apart — 17 years between the first and second diagnoses,” Gonzalez Vido says.

Camp Reach for the Sky, a free summer camp for kids with cancer and their siblings, has been bolstered since 2013 by inclusion into the Seany Foundation, an organization that carries on the legacy of the late Sean Lewis Robins and his battle with Ewing sarcoma, a rare childhood cancer that affects soft tissue and bone. As Gonzalez Vido’s sometimes arduous but always inspiring journey has progressed, she has come to personify the outstanding service provided at the camp. Gonzalez Vido is a past winner of the Chris Ramirez Award, given annually to The Seany Foundation’s most dedicated and most impactful volunteer.

“I think as I’ve gotten older I’ve enjoyed the camp more, because now I’ve been a counselor longer than I was a camper,” says Gonzalez Vido, who is also an elementary school teacher.

“Most of the volunteers are former campers. You’ve grown up with these people. It’s always like a big family reunion.”

Gonzalez Vido’s own family introduced her to NASCAR. When she was growing up, watching races on television and attending races at the rough-and-tumble Barona Speedway dirt track in Ramona, California, Northeast of San Diego. Over the last decade her favorite driver has come to be seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, from nearby El Cajon.

“As a family event we’d go to Barona — that was kind of like my first introduction to auto racing,” Gonzalez Vido says. “Also on the weekend, my step dad would always have NASCAR on TV.”

Funds resulting from the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award competition will support the continued offering of Camp Reach for the Sky sessions at no charge, in addition to the expansion of psycho-social programs and the creation of a “junior council” to develop new camp activities and support systems.

“To win the award would be … there’s really no better word … than awesome,” Gonzalez Vido says.

Posted on by Team Release

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Team Penske and Discount Tire announced today that beginning in 2018, the world’s largest independent tire and wheel retailer will build on its established and successful partnership with the motorsports team and become a primary sponsor of the No. 2 Ford Fusion driven by 2012 champion Brad Keselowski in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS).

Under the new multiyear agreement, Discount Tire will provide primary partnership bookends to the 2018 MENCS season, beginning with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February and concluding with Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. Discount Tire will be featured as the primary sponsor of the No. 2 Ford for 10 races while continuing to serve as a prominent associate sponsor for the remainder of the schedule. Discount Tire will also continue as a primary sponsor of the No. 22 Ford Mustang in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) for multiple races in 2018 and beyond.

“Team Penske has enjoyed tremendous success with Discount Tire over the past eight seasons in the NASCAR XFINITY Series,” said Roger Penske. “We won our first NASCAR championship together with the 2010 XFINITY Series title and the company will always have a special place in our history. We are excited for a new challenge with Discount Tire as we look to build on that success with Brad and the No. 2 Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Cup Series.”

The partnership between Discount Tire and Team Penske began in 2010 with the No. 22 NXS team that won six races and established a series record with 26 top-five finishes on its way to the championship won by Keselowski. The relationship continued to produce titles as the No. 22 Discount Tire team earned three-consecutive NXS Owners’ Championships from 2013-2015. In total during their partnership, five Team Penske drivers have won 33 NXS races in a Discount Tire-sponsored entry, with Keselowski leading the way, posting 23 victories. The No. 22 team is also currently leading the NXS Owners’ Point Standings with three races remaining in the season.

“Our partnership with Team Penske has been incredibly successful during an exciting time for our company,” said Discount Tire Chairman Bruce T. Halle. “Roger and his team have been wonderful to work with, and of course, all of the wins and championships are fantastic. As we continue to expand Discount Tire across the country, we look forward to celebrating more successes with Brad and all of Team Penske as together we pursue the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship.”

Since 2010, Discount Tire has expanded into 13 new states and added 175 new neighborhood retail tire stores. Team Penske drivers regularly visit Discount Tire stores to interact with customers and staff, and participate in tire safety campaigns promoted by Discount Tire.

“Discount Tire has been an important part of my racing life for a long time now,” said Keselowski. “I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish together and of the relationships I have built over the years. It will be like coming full circle next year, as many of the current guys on the No. 2 Cup team were also with me during our 2010 XFINITY Championship run. It’s great to see this partnership continuing into the Cup Series while still maintaining an important place in the XFINITY Series.”

The 2018 NASCAR Cup Series regular season begins with the 60th anniversary running of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500, on Sunday, Feb. 18.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

PLANO, Texas — Kyle Busch has about as little stress as a driver going for the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship can have right now.

With his win last weekend at Martinsville Speedway in the Round of 8 opener, Busch is locked into the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 19. The 2015 champion is the first driver to make the Championship 4 in three straight years since NASCAR moved to an elimination-style, 16-driver playoff format in 2014.

“It don’t mean anything to get to Homestead,” Busch said. “You got to win it. … Just by making it to the (Championship 4) three years, I don’t think that means much.”

And that sums up the current mindset of the No. 18 team. Yes, there are two events on the schedule before the Homestead finale, but the team’s primary attention is turned to Miami, with a championship on the line.

“We’re focused on ourselves and we can focus on Homestead right now,” Busch said during a break in Toyota Motorsports Day at the company’s North American headquarters. “We know there is still Texas and there’s still Phoenix. We still have to develop our notebook for next year. If we don’t have a Martinsville win, you’ve got to be good at Texas. Things change in a 12-month period of time, obviously.

“Still, we’ve got to go out there and be able to execute and do a good job. Be able to run hard, run strong, keep ourselves up front. If we can win the thing, we just keep the rest of those guys on their toes not knowing if they are going to transfer through on points because they don’t have that win.”

The win at Martinsville came on the heels of a trying Round of 12 for the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, where Busch recorded finishes of 29th, 27th, and 10th. Entering the final race of that round, Busch was on the outside looking in for advancement, but his 10th-place result combined with some tough breaks for other playoff drivers set him up to remain in championship contention. That likely would have been a lot more difficult task in the days before the current format — introduced before the start of the 2017 season — which awards playoff points for stage wins and race wins.

“If you have a bad week or two like I had, we would have been done,” Busch said. “This keeps us alive and allows us to go forward. I think this format, too, is one of the best formats and most fair formats because it gives you the opportunity to take points from the beginning of the year and maybe being as successful as you were with all your stage points and everything else, that could help eliminate some of the stress of those bad days.”

The last two years Busch earned his way into the Championship 4 via points, which could be a nerve-wracking experience where you potentially go from in to out of the next round based on circumstance. Busch acknowledged that he felt his team was playing with “house money” in 2015 after the driver missed the first 11 races of the season with a broken leg and foot. However, he described last year’s Round of 8 finale as a much different animal based on the varying scenarios that would have put his team into the next round or not.

“You’re thinking about that and you get mentally drained in those situations,” Busch said. “So this year’s definitely going to be different.”

Posted on by RJ Kraft

RELATED: Hamlin tweets apology | Tempers flare between Elliott, Hamlin

PLANO, Texas – Denny Hamlin felt his apology tweet to Chase Elliott following their contact and Elliott’s subsequent late-race spin from the lead in the Round of 8 opener at Martinsville Speedway was absolutely necessary.

“I think anytime I’ve seen things like that in the past and someone has an arrogance or a sense of no compassion to the guy that you just took out, it bugged me a little bit,” Hamlin said during a break during Toyota Motorsports Day at the company’s North American corporate headquarters in Plano, just outside of Dallas.

“So I felt there was a need for me to kind of issue an apology there because it was needed. Obviously, the other side doesn’t want to hear it. It doesn’t make their day any better, but I felt like it was important for me to get what my thought process and feelings were out there.”

Hamlin said he has yet to talk to Elliott since their heated on-track chat following the race, although he has said he’s reached out. However, he understood why the Hendrick Motorsports driver wouldn’t want to talk.

RELATED: Dale Jr. opens driver confessional with Twitter hashtag

Elliott was leading at Martinsville with less than three laps to go in the scheduled 500-lap race when Hamlin, who had been on the No. 24’s bumper, initiated heavy contact and sent Elliott spinning up the track. The leader at the time, Elliott would finish the race 27th.

Hamlin assumed the lead, but finished seventh after losing ground on the final restart with some contact thrown his way as well. In the race, Elliott led 123 laps and looked to be closing in on that elusive first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win and a berth in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Both Elliott and Hamlin are among the drivers in the Round of 8 of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, which continues this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

“Racing has had wrecks for many, many years and I don’t see entirely where this is that much different,” Hamlin said. “The stakes are high for sure and it’s high for everyone. It’s equally as high for us as it was for the 24 and it was also was for the 2 (Brad Keselowski), who got knocked out of the way. Unfortunately, it was an incident that people were upset about it.”

After the race, Elliott drove Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota up into the wall, and the two emerged from their cars on the track following the race and exchanged words.

“I think the biggest thing is I was aggressive as everyone was,” Hamlin said in explaining his perspective of the incident, even mentioning being bumped by teammate and eventual race winner Kyle Busch in the closing laps. “Anybody with the lead was knocked out of the way in those last four laps. I felt like it was ill-timed. It was poor execution on my part but obviously there was no intent there.

“Even though people are going to try and prod you into thinking that they can’t get into your mind and understand how you think. Unless you are in the moment, unless you’re there, no one will ever understand that but me. I know that there was no intent but it worked out bad for all parties involved.”

RELATED: No. 24 crew chief warns rules of engagement with Hamlin have changed

Could an incident such as the one at Martinsville lead to a change in how others race the Joe Gibbs Racing driver? Perhaps, but that doesn’t faze the 36-year-old Virginia native.

“How people race me is really no concern to me,” Hamlin said. “I’ll drive everyone the exactly same way I always drive them, Chase included. How they choose to race me is up to them. It’s everyone’s prerogative to race any way that they want to. We’ll do the best we can to run up front and not have to worry about that stuff.”

Entering Texas, Hamlin sits in seventh in the point standings, but just eight points behind Kevin Harvick for the final transfer spot into the Championship 4 with two races left in the round. Hamlin finished 25th in the spring race on the repaved 1.5-mile track.

“We honestly did not run very well here in the spring,” Hamlin said. “I’m optimistic that we’ve turned the corner on the 1.5-mile tracks. We’ve obviously been very fast on those tracks lately.”

While Hamlin has two career wins at Texas, he has not won on a 1.5-mile track this season, He does have five straight top-five finishes at intermediate-sized tracks dating back to the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

Posted on by Brad Norman

At the end, there was everything. Strategy on when to pit, crunch-time decision-making on which lane to pick on the restarts, hard-nosed and physical racing and, yes, plenty of emotion that spilled over even after the checkered flag.

Throw in a full field of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stock cars at a historic, flat .526-mile track that has been on the NASCAR schedule since 1949, in a race that finished under brand-new LED lighting, and the event becomes all the more memorable.

Days later, as the series prepares to unload at Texas Motor Speedway, there’s still a buzz.

“What an incredible race,” NASCAR President Brent Dewar said in an interview with NASCAR.com. “Each stage was like the end of a race. They’re racing so hard up on the wheel because it’s the race within the race, and it means something. I think we’re onto something really special with this format. I think it’s generating incredible moments for the fans.

“This really was a classic Martinsville race. The format just brought it to life. That was classic NASCAR short-track racing with lots of banging and bumping, and really incredible driving.”

Kyle Busch steered his way through the late-race drama, winning his third race of the Monster Energy Series Playoffs and clinching a spot in the Championship 4 for the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Busch initiated contact with teammate Denny Hamlin following the final restart; previously, Hamlin sent Chase Elliott spinning up the track to both take the lead and bring out the final caution.

That set the scene for Elliott confronting Hamlin on the backstretch following the cool-down lap as the two drivers spoke demonstratively face to face before giving interviews, with Elliott being awash in cheers.

“I think Chase handled himself very well,” Dewar said. “I would say what we’ve seen this year is our fan base getting behind our young guns. We saw it at Pocono with Ryan Blaney’s win, we saw it in Bristol in the summer when Erik Jones was leading with fans on their feet. We clearly saw it in Martinsville. Our young drivers are not only great personalities, they’re also really good drivers.

“You saw bumping and banging between Ryan Blaney and the veterans in Martinsville, and he wasn’t backing down. You saw how Chase handled himself. I think for our core fans, how these young drivers are representing the sport is incredible. And they’re being rewarded by building their fan base.”

Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will again pit NASCAR’s young stars against its veterans, with an additional spot into the Championship 4 on the line.

Other topics Dewar discussed with NASCAR.com:

• The impact of stage racing in the playoffs: “I’ve enjoyed the stages right from the beginning. There’s some real strategy coming in. You can see the teams thinking through, ‘Is this important or not important? How is this going to play out?’ It manifests itself throughout the season, but it really comes through when you get into the playoffs and go from 16 drivers to 12 to now eight.”

• Enhanced race weekends in which Monster Energy Series teams begin practice on Saturday, qualify pre-race on Sunday and tracks host a Fan Fest event: “Our feedback has been really on the positive side. We’ve tried something different. I think there was kind of a mixed message early on, that we were cutting back the weekend. That’s the furthest thing from the truth. What we’re trying to do is be more thoughtful to having greater fan experiences. You’ll see more of this direction next year. The goal going forward is to keep innovating and try different things, and to do more of that direction.”

• Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. being named as driver of the No. 43 Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports starting in 2018: “Bubba is an incredible race car driver. He’s been with us right through the beginning, coming up through NASCAR Next and the Drive for Diversity initiative. We couldn’t be more thrilled. He’s got his own following in the sport, not only as a great race car driver, but he’s great in how he communicates and connects with his fans. We think we’ll see great things from that team next year.”

• Impending Drive for Diversity Class of 2018, to be announced next week: “Everyone in this year’s class already are accomplished drivers in their own right. They are incredible race car drivers. This gives them an opportunity to improve and find a pathway in racing, but also to learn the business side of motorsports. We think it helps as they find their own voice and not be a carbon copy of someone else but be themselves. That’s what fans want.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Repave. The most intimidating word to a NASCAR driver.

Texas Motor Speedway was both repaved and reconfigured before the NASCAR weekend in the spring, and this weekend drivers will again expect to have to tackle a treacherous track. Just how challenging can it be for the drivers still championship eligible? Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who went to Victory Lane in April, did so after spinning in qualifying.

So, slick track, different banking on each end of the speedway, and a hard tire. A few of the things Johnson along with Kyle and Kurt Busch believe will be the obstacles to overcome in the second race of the Round of 8.

Hear them discuss those in this week’s edition of “How to Win.”