Bill Elliott can relate to Chase Elliott’s runner-up heartache

Posted on October 6, 2017October 6, 2017 by Zack Albert

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The Dover loss still smarts for Chase Elliott. The Hendrick Motorsports driver shouldered the grand share of the blame for last weekend’s narrow runner-up finish, his fifth in his thus-far winless Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career.

Elliott apologized to his crew afterward, then — true to form — was forthright in accepting responsibility for surrendering the lead to eventual race winner Kyle Busch just prior to taking the white flag.

Elliott may be his own worst critic — overly so, some say. But the 21-year-old driver says it isn’t a matter of beating himself up over on-track setbacks. For Elliott, it’s simply calling it like he sees it.

MORE: Elliott dejected after win slips away | Drivers with most runner-ups before first win

“Look, I’m just honest,” Elliott said Thursday from Hendrick Motorsports’ 2018 paint scheme reveal. “People say, ‘ah, you’re too hard on yourself.’ That’s one thing about sports and things that frustrate me is people watch and they say, ‘well, he should’ve done this,’ watching a football game. ‘He should’ve done that, and he’s not doing his job right. So-and-so should’ve handed the ball off instead of passing it.’ Look, we don’t know. I don’t know anything about football. If those guys are in a situation and they do what they think is best, that’s their decision, and nobody knows the situation that I was in better than me at the end of the day.

“So it’s my decision. I want to face it. And it’s also my decision to realize if it’s my fault or not. And when it is my fault, I’m going to own up to it. I think us losing that race in the closing laps on Sunday was my fault and I believe strongly in that. It’s a fact. I messed up, and I’m going to be the first one to say that. That’s just the way I see it. You don’t have to agree with me, but I was in the situation and I know what happened, and that’s what happened.”

Elliott’s chance to rebound comes quickly in Sunday’s Bank of America 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race kicks off the Round of 12, the next three-race elimination phase of the postseason.

Elliott’s father, Bill, can relate to his son’s heartache in some ways. The NASCAR Hall of Famer had eight runner-up finishes in seven partial seasons before finally breaking through for his first win in the 1983 season finale.

“And I didn’t have all this social media following me around either saying how bad he felt or how good he felt,” the elder Elliott said. “I went back to Dawsonville and nobody could find my butt.”

Bill Elliott’s early-career near-misses came in an era of far less scrutiny. Not all the races were broadcast on TV, and the level of driver-fan interaction through social media means was decades away from becoming reality. Stepping out of the car and beating a hasty, quiet retreat back home to Georgia home is less and less viable an option these days.

“We all deal with things differently; we all have a DNA in our system, how we deal with things, how we process it, day to day things that happen,” Bill Elliott said. “If somebody comes up to you and provokes you, one day you can take it, the next day you can’t. It’s just a part of how we’re made up. I can’t say it’s right, wrong or indifferent.

“Yeah, I think he’s hard on himself, but he goes on, goes to the next race and continues on. But he wants to win, he wants to do that, he wants to race.”

Chase Elliott said he won’t forget the feeling from Sunday’s defeat, and that playing “the what-if game” of what he could have done differently over the final stages is inevitable. Fortunately for Elliott, he’s had a shoulder to lean on and a sage source of advice within his team in seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson was among the first to console Elliott after Sunday’s 400-miler. He was also a sounding board for Elliott in another conversation later Sunday evening.

“Nobody knows it better than him and I think he said it best: You have to go home, you have to move on, but you have to find the lesson that came along with losing that race in the closing laps on Sunday,” Elliott said. “You just have to figure that out and realize that if you’re ever in that situation again, what you would do differently to change the outcome.

“I’m a big believer in things coming full circle, especially in racing they have in the past in my career. I think that applies to this situation as well.”

Posted on October 5, 2017 by Zack Albert

SHOP: 2018 Hendrick Motorsports gear

Team owner Rick Hendrick says that he still has plenty of goals for his racing organization to accomplish with seven races left this season. But there was palpable anticipation in getting a jump on 2018’s season of transition Thursday night, with a glitzy introduction to the Hendrick Motorsports paint schemes and drivers.

The twinkle of spotlights and dramatic unveilings against the backdrop of pulsing music were the story Thursday evening in the Charlotte Convention Center’s Crown Ballroom, where all four Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 race cars took the stage for the first time. The new Camaro models, the two new drivers and four all-new looks signaled the next chapter in Hendrick Motorsports’ story.

“The more we talked about it, we’re changing the numbers and bringing in new drivers and there’s so much change, we thought this would be really cool,” Hendrick said, giving due credit to his marketing staff to go full-force with a four-car reveal. “We had to get the cars ready for the sponsors’ pictures and all that, so I thought it was a great idea. Now I think it’s an even better idea.”

The 2018 driver lineup has been known for some time, with veteran Jimmie Johnson and youngsters Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and William Byron forming the Hendrick roster for next year. The only thing missing was that new car smell from the four car unveils, which borrowed from NASCAR history in some instances and pushed the paint schemes forward with sleek, clean designs in others.

The design prompting perhaps the loudest reaction from the sold-out fan section was the reimagined No. 24 for Byron, whose eyes grew big as it was revealed. The rookie was accompanied on the stage by four-time series champion Jeff Gordon, who made the bright flames a next-gen trademark after his debut with the iconic Rainbow Warrior schemes.

“This is really the first time I’ve seen the paint scheme,” Byron said of the splashy colors against a deep blue. “I’d seen parts of it, I’ve seen a rough draft and things like that, but it was a shock to me how it looks in person. It really made me light up, and really all four cars look amazing. It’s exciting and can’t wait for it.”

For Gordon, the flames on the 2018 No. 24 brought back fond memories. He told the story about working with sponsor Axalta and artist Sam Bass to bring the original scheme to life, paying homage to a black racing helmet with orange and yellow flames from his youth. Next season, a new take on those flames will ride again in NASCAR’s premier series.

“The car started, when I started in ’93 with this base of blue. This blue is even more beautiful than that and I think it’s going to allow those flames to pop really nice,” Gordon said. “It’s cool to see. I think the 24 car should have flames on it because that’s the way I always envisioned it.”

Elliott returns for 2018, but his new spin is a change to the No. 9 that his father, Bill, campaigned for years — a move that “feels like home to me,” he said. Elliott said he contributed to the design process, looking through NAPA-sponsored cars through the years and making a nod toward the company’s delivery vehicles.

“I really was big pusher of that because I wanted with this number change and the things going on next year and changing to the Camaro,” Elliott said, “I saw it as an opportunity to do something different and really knock a paint scheme out of the park to change the look of what has been the norm for the NAPA colors over the years, and I think we did that.”

Bowman steps back into the No. 88 that he drove for 10 races in 2016 as Dale Earnhardt Jr. recovered from concussion-related symptoms. This time, the classic blue-and-white look will have Bowman’s name over the driver’s door, something that hit home for Earnhardt on Thursday night.

“It’s a new feeling for sure,” Earnhardt said. “A little sad, but super-excited for Alex. I’m reminded of that excitement when we do things like this. As much as it’s a little sad for me, it reminds me about what’s great to look forward to.”

Johnson’s No. 48 for next season marks a departure from the predominantly blue schemes from years past. The neon yellow numerals remain, but against a black base with sponsorship from Lowes For Pros.

Though he’s still battling for a championship this season, Johnson said he had little reservations — at least for now — for the organization’s jump-start to 2018.

“This is different. This is early,” Johnson said. “From a superstitious standpoint, we’ll reserve our opinion until next year and see what happens.”

Posted on October 5, 2017October 5, 2017 by Zack Albert

In fairly short order, Jeff Gordon was able to laugh about his exchange of post-race words with Ryan Newman last weekend at Dover International Speedway. Four days after the mild flare-up and mending of fences between the former foes, Gordon was still finding amusement about how it unfolded.

Gordon sat atop a Hendrick Motorsports pit box last Sunday, watching Chase Elliott — his successor in the No. 24 Chevrolet — vying with Kyle Busch for his first victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Newman fought hard to stay on the lead lap in the late stages, impeding Elliott’s progress; Busch scooted by on the next-to-last lap for his second straight win.

Gordon’s chance encounter with Newman on pit road was caught by television cameras after the Apache Warrior 400. The two patched things up moments later at the track, and Gordon remained jocular when discussing their interactions at Hendrick’s 2018 Daytona 500 paint scheme reveal Thursday night.

RELATED: Shop HMS gear

“What’s interesting about that is that you get caught up in your own little bubble of what’s going — and I’m sitting on top of that 24 box, seeing the race unfold the way it did, and obviously a lot of disappointment — and you get caught up in that emotion,” Gordon said. “I’ve raced with Ryan Newman for many years and he’s a hard guy to pass, so I was a little frustrated there.

“But after he and I had our little exchange and just the talk that we had even shortly after that, he had a lot on the line and he was doing everything that he needed to do to try to make it to the next round. So we laughed about it. It’s all good.”

Gordon hung up his helmet as a full-time driver after the 2015 season, transitioning to the FOX Sports booth as an analyst. His competitive spirit clearly still remains, but the four-time series champion said he may reconsider his post-race level of engagement if a similar situation arises in the future.

“You know, I’ve been known to bring a little drama to the sport,” Gordon said with another hearty chuckle. “I prefer the drivers do that themselves on the track. I probably from now on will just walk by a situation. I thought that’s what I was doing, but didn’t work out that way.”

Posted on October 5, 2017October 6, 2017 by

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DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. (Oct. 5, 2017) – The NASCAR Foundation announced on Thursday the four finalists for its seventh annual Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award Presented by Nationwide, which honors NASCAR fans who are also accomplished volunteers working for children’s causes in their communities throughout the United States.

The award winner will be determined via an online vote now underway and running through Nov. 29 at 5 p.m. ET at NASCAR.com/award. The award will be presented on Nov. 30 during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards at Wynn Las Vegas. The NASCAR Foundation will donate $100,000 to the charity represented by the award winner and $25,000 to each of the other three finalists’ charities. The award honors the memory and the philanthropic legacy of the foundation’s late founder, Betty Jane France, who passed away last August.

This year’s finalists hail from three areas that host NASCAR races (Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Talladega, Alabama). Those finalists include:

• Shannon Goldwater of Scottsdale, Arizona, the founder of Feeding Matters, which furthers advances in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric feeding disorders.

• Julian Maha of Vestavia Hills, Alabama, the founder of KultureCity, an organization seeking to improve – and save – the lives of children with autism, while also educating society about inclusion of children with autism.

• Tammy Richardson of Las Vegas, representing the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation that provides 25 pediatric programs and services to more than 450 children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

• Chante Gonzalez Vido of Jamul, California, a two-time cancer survivor and head counselor at a camp for young cancer patients that is operated by The Seany Foundation, which strives to bring relief and happiness to children and their families battling cancer.

“Betty Jane France would be especially proud of this year’s finalists,” said NASCAR Foundation Chairman Mike Helton. “All four have considerable accomplishments and would be a deserving winner of the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award. We urge NASCAR fans everywhere to vote for these NASCAR fans. Our finalists represent not only their respective charities but also the very best attributes our sport has to offer.”

Since the award’s inception, The NASCAR Foundation has impacted the lives of more than 200,000 children by providing more than $1 million in contributions to charities represented by finalists for the award.

“This year’s finalists have gone above and beyond to improve the lives of those that live in their respective communities,” said Mike Boyd, senior vice president of Marketing for Nationwide. “Nationwide is honored to help raise the level of national awareness for their different charities and look forward to celebrating their accomplishments in Las Vegas later this year.”

To learn more about The NASCAR Foundation’s Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award presented by Nationwide and each of the national finalists, please visit: www.NASCAR.com/Award.

Posted on October 5, 2017October 5, 2017 by Staff Report

Charlotte Motor Speedway’s surface is rough and bumpy. Sunday’s Bank of America 500 opens the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs.

Combine the challenging surface and aggressive post-season driving, and you have a situation where a win is difficult to come by.

In this video, a few former winners at the track — Austin Dillon, Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick — tell all about the skill that’s needed to navigate the 1.5-mile track that opens the second round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

“Charlotte’s a challenge, but it’s one of my favorite challenges we go to,” Dillon said.

Posted on October 5, 2017October 5, 2017 by Team Release

WELCOME, N.C. (October 5, 2017) – Richard Childress Racing has signed Matt Tifft to a multi-year agreement to join RCR’s NASCAR XFINITY Series driver lineup. Tifft will pilot the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro beginning in 2018 and will compete for the 2018 driver championship. The 21-year-old driver is currently a contender in the XFINITY Series Playoffs in his rookie season.

Tifft, a native of Hinckley, Ohio, has made 70 starts across NASCAR’s top three national touring series dating back to 2013, including 39 in the XFINITY Series. Tifft’s racing background includes dirt late model and super late model racing on dirt tracks in Ohio and Michigan. His asphalt racing experience includes 26 starts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and 25 starts in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. Tifft was awarded Rookie of the Year honors in the ARCA Racing Midwest Tour.

“I am very appreciative and grateful for the opportunity to race for a championship and grow as a driver under one the most successful and historic teams in NASCAR,” said Tifft. “RCR has a long history of developing partnerships through its XFINITY Series program. I am looking forward to being a part of the family and applying what I have learned in my first full-time XFINITY Series season while continuing to grow with the goal of competing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in the future.”

“Matt is a talented race car driver and an even better young man,” said Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of RCR. “I’ve watched him race for the past few years and we were impressed by his ability. We look forward to welcoming Matt to our XFINITY Series program and having him compete for a championship with RCR.”

An announcement regarding sponsorship and crew chief for Tifft and the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro will come at a later date.

Posted on October 5, 2017October 16, 2017 by Nascar

CONCORD, N.C. – Mix 18 turns with 2.4 miles of asphalt, add a pair of chicanes and a generous helping of synthetic (yes, synthetic) turf and you’ve got yourself a road course.

Specifically, a Charlotte Motor Speedway road course, and one that will be utilized during the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

The frontstretch chicane, located between Turn 4 and the start/finish line, was officially unveiled Thursday as was the synthetic turf placed between the frontstretch and chicane. For safety purposes, a temporary concrete barrier will be installed between the chicane and pit road prior to next year’s race.

In addition to looking nearly perfect, the synthetic grass area is expected to slow down cars that spin off the track and also lessen the amount of debris that is kicked up on the racing surface.

“Cars are going to get on it an awful lot and create a lot of debris in the chicane which we felt like would be a problem with competition,” Marcus Smith, president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., said. “It’s something that does exist in Formula One and now it will happen in NASCAR, which I think is going to be a great step forward.”

Smith said the idea for the turf came from 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick. Sports Fields Inc., headquartered in Canton, Georgia, handled the installation.

A Goodyear tire test is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 17-18 at CMS on the new road-course layout. Track officials said fans will be allowed to view the Oct. 18 portion of the test.

“We’re incredibly excited from a NASCAR standpoint for the fans,” Steve O’Donnell, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, said. “We applaud Marcus for the vision for putting this together. … The fans wanted road courses in the playoffs, this does just that. (It has) a lot of exciting elements.”

The turf project features 42,000 square feet of synthetic turf, 300,000 pounds of sand, 1,100 gallons of glue — and required 900 man hours of planning and installation. In addition to the chicane on the frontstretch, a similar “break” is in place on the backstretch and will slow competitors as they head into Turn 3.

The road course race will consist of 130 laps.

Former driver Jeff Burton, now a NASCAR analyst for NBC, said his initial thought when told of the changes to the 1.5-mile track was, “What the hell are you doing?”

Burton is a two-time winner of the Coca-Cola 600 at CMS, and won the fall event here in 2008.

“Then coming over here and actually driving the race track, a lightbulb went off and I thought, ‘This is an exciting track,'” Burton said. “All the misconceptions I had about the track being too narrow, the no-passing zones, you can’t do this, you can’t do that, they slowly started going away once I got here and actually saw the track and drove on the track.

“I look at things as if I’m still a driver but I look at them as a fan, too. I think this will create an extremely exciting race.”

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams compete on two road courses during the regular season – at Sonoma, California, and Watkins Glen, New York. Next year’s event at Charlotte will mark the first time a road course has hosted a playoff race.

“I think there are certainly risks with anything you do,” O’Donnell said. “But then there are calculated risks. For (NASCAR), we’ve got enough data we can look at … we feel comfortable that this course is very suitable to what we want to do.

“You never know what’s going to happen, right? But from a pure road-course layout, we thought it was great. We think the fans are going to be able to see the whole course, which is terrific. Much more upside, we think, than anything else.”

CMS will host two NASCAR Playoffs races this weekend, Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series event (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and Sunday’s Bank of America 500 (2 p.m., NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It is the first elimination race for XFINITY Series teams and the opening race of the Round of 12 for Monster Energy Series teams.

Posted on October 5, 2017October 12, 2017 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. ($10,900) – Some Fantasy NASCAR players might have been disappointed by Truex’s 69 fantasy points last week. Think about that. Disappointment over 69 points tells you everything you need to know. Truex’s average running position of second was the best at Dover. (6.5 FPPK)

2. Kyle Busch ($10,600) – Truex is more consistent, but Busch seems to be faster. In the last intermediate track race (Chicago), Busch was the car to beat. After a loose wheel and a pit crew penalty, his day was toast. Busch is the fastest, but he is haunted by pit road mistakes. (5.8 FPPK)

3. Kyle Larson ($10,400) – Not to be left out, Larson once again proved he’s right up there with Truex and Busch. He outscored both with 95 points at Dover. Larson has been at his best at the short tracks and the two-mile tracks. At 1.5-mile tracks, he’s a smidge behind Truex and Busch. (5.7 FPPK)

4. Jimmie Johnson ($10,000) – Fantasy NASCAR rewards laps led and fast laps. Typically, Jimmie Johnson doesn’t even register in these statistical categories. There are exceptions, and Charlotte is one of them. Johnson has over 20 fast lap points in each of the last three Charlotte races. (3.8 FPPK)

5. Chase Elliott ($9,400) – At Chicago, Elliott was fast, but his car was found to have unapproved aerodynamic modifications, ruling his finish encumbered. At Dover, he was fast again, but his car passed the pre-race inspection last. At any rate, the No. 24 team has found something, and it cannot be ignored. (4.1 FPPK)

6. Denny Hamlin ($9,200) – Darlington is the only intermediate track race where Hamlin was a part of the optimal daily fantasy NASCAR lineup. He also happened to “push the edge” with his setup in that race. Truex and Busch are so far ahead, however. (4.0 FPPK)

7. Matt Kenseth ($8,600) – Short tracks have been Kenseth’s strong suit this season. His average finish at the intermediate tracks ranks 12th. He only has two top-five finishes at the 1.5-mile tracks this season. One of those top-fives was at Charlotte in May. (3.6 FPPK)

8. Erik Jones ($7,900) – The Rookie of the Year favorite has finished sixth or better in five of the last seven races. He’s finished 12th or better in eight of the last nine races. Jones has run six or more fast laps in each of the last six intermediate track races. That’s not a lot, but he’s faster than most of the field. (4.2 FPPK)

9. Daniel Suarez ($7,500) – This season has been a lot like Carl Edwards’ first year at JGR. Suarez will not lead laps, he will not win, but he runs up front. He’s finished 12th or better in eight of the last 10 races this season. (4.1 FPPK)

10. Aric Almirola ($5,800) – There are a handful of drivers around $6,000 that catch the eye of fantasy NASCAR players. Most don’t pay off, but every week, one of them does. Almirola is routinely qualifying near 20th, which hurts his value. But does it really? It’s easier to hold your spot, then to gain a spot. (4.2 FPPK)|

11. Kevin Harvick ($10,200) – This team improves every week, but it still has a ways to go to catch Truex and Kyle Busch. Harvick defaulted into some laps led points at Chicago when Truex and Kyle Busch made mistakes. This car isn’t the best, but it’s getting closer. (4.1 FPPK)

12. Ryan Newman ($7,100) – Drivers have always said that Newman is the hardest driver to pass in NASCAR. If anyone is still in doubt, ask Chase Elliott. It’s easier for a driver to hold their position than to pass. That’s why Newman is a solid pick each week. He does not lose spots. (4.4 FPPK)

13. Ty Dillon ($6,700) – Before the Chicago intermediate track race in mid-September, Dillon had earned top-20 fantasy points in eight of the 10 intermediate track races (including Michigan and Fontana). Chicago was an extremely green race. A couple of cautions and Dillon may have been fine. (4.5 FPPK)

14. Austin Dillon ($7,700) – Getting eliminated from the playoffs may be the best thing that could have happen to Dillon. He no longer has to race safe. He can take chances. Do not be surprised to see Dillon use pit strategy to earn a top-five. In the last Charlotte race, Dillon schemed his way to a win. (3.6 FPPK)

15. Jamie McMurray ($8,800) – Last week, McMurray qualified poorly, but he had top-five speed in practice. He was a no-brainer pick. That’s not likely to happen again. McMurray has the seventh best average finish this season. (3.5 FPPK)

16. Joey Logano ($9,600) – In 2015, Logano ran away with the day race at Charlotte (134 points). That finish is almost meaningless. That was two rules packages ago. This is a Toyota world. Logano has one top-five at an intermediate track in the last six months. (3.3 FPPK)

17. Kurt Busch ($8,300) – This has been a crazy season. Busch won the Daytona 500, then did nothing for the entire season. He got hot the month before the playoffs, then went ice cold in the playoffs. Another hot streak is around the corner. Kurt has five straight top-10s at Charlotte. (3.1 FPPK)

18. Clint Bowyer ($8,100) – Last week, Bowyer was way too expensive for a borderline top-10 driver. His 16th-place average finish at intermediate tracks is the ninth best in NASCAR. With a top-10 finish and a handful of place differential points, Bowyer could finish with 40-50 fantasy points. (3.5 FPPK)

19. Brad Keselowski ($9,900) – After three playoff races, Keselowski has three top-10s. This is Keselowski’s plan. He can worry about beating the Toyotas at Homestead in November. For now, the plan is to get top-10s, stage points and advance each round. (4.2 FPPK)

20. Ryan Blaney ($9,000) – In the spring, Blaney led laps at Texas and Kansas. He started those races on the front row. If he’s in the catbird seat this week, then he could finish with a top-five fantasy score. At $9,000, Blaney needs to qualify first or close to last. (2.7 fppk)

Posted on October 5, 2017October 5, 2017 by Team Release

WELCOME, N.C. — Kannapolis, North Carolina, native and current playoff contender Daniel Hemric will return to Richard Childress Racing for the 2018 season to again compete for the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship, driving the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro.

“It is always a special time when you can re-sign with a team like Richard Childress Racing that has done so much in our sport,” Hemric said. “I’ve learned a lot from Richard both about racing and life in general, many lessons that I will never forget. While we still are contending for the XFINITY Series championship this year, and have unfinished business in the final five races, I’m fortunate that I will again be running for the Series championship in 2018 with RCR and Richard in my corner.”

In his rookie campaign in 2017, Hemric’s performance during the regular season earned him a position in the XFINITY Series Playoffs. Through the first 26 regular season races, Hemric earned five top-five and 12 top-10 finishes, one pole award and two stage wins. He led 70 laps and earned the XFINITY Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“Richard made a vow to me that he believes in me, and I believe in the entire RCR organization,” Hemric said. “It is such a humbling feeling to know I have an owner that believes in me and what we can accomplish together. I look forward to representing RCR and all of the organization’s great partners.”

“Daniel is a special driver that we’re thrilled to have back for the 2018 season,” said Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of RCR. “He works hard at being the best race car driver he can possibly be. There aren’t too many other drivers that have a work ethic like he does, which we value here at RCR. Daniel is constantly in the race shop meeting with his crew chief, our engineers, the simulation team and his teammates to understand how to get better. On top of that, Daniel is an excellent ambassador for RCR’s partners. He carries himself well, treats everyone with respect and understands the importance of sponsorship.”

Prior to making his NASCAR debut, Hemric earned multiple championships across various Legend Car and Late Model series. He was crowned the track champion at Concord Speedway, recorded back-to-back Legend Car Pro championships (2008 and 2009), two Summer Shootout Series championships (2009 and 2012), Champion Racing Association JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour championship (2012) and the Southern Super Series championship (2013).

Along with Hemric’s impressive list of championships, he also claimed the victory in the inaugural Legends Million at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2010. Hemric won the largest one-of-a-kind grassroots event in racing history after taking the lead with 11 laps to go in the 100-lap A-Feature.

Posted on October 5, 2017October 5, 2017 by

LOS ANGELES – The Monster Energy Bellator MMA Fight Series heads to the legendary Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, for its third event on Friday, Oct. 13. For the first time, fighters will step into the cage after the sun has set on Friday evening, kicking off an exciting weekend for fans that culminates with the fifth race of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on Sunday.

Ahead of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Alabama 500 on Sunday, Oct. 15, the Monster Energy Bellator MMA Fight Series will feature MMA action on Friday evening beginning at 8:30 p.m. CT at the Monster Energy Fan Zone in the Talladega Infield, immediately following the track’s “Big One on the Blvd” parade and party. Talladega Infield access is required for admission.

Additionally, on Friday, October 13 from 3-4 p.m. CT, fans will have the opportunity to meet former Bellator lightweight champion and Monster Energy athlete “Iron” Michael Chandler, as well as heavyweight fan-favorite Roy “Big Country” Nelson, at the Monster Energy Fan Zone in the Talladega Fan Zone, directly outside admission gates behind the north end of the grandstands.

“The Monster Energy Bellator MMA Fight Series has been a great way for us to share MMA, as well as the Bellator brand, with an entirely new fan base this year,” said Bellator President Scott Coker. “With the support of Monster Energy, we’ve already seen the crossover appeal these events offer. I’m excited to head to one of the most iconic tracks in motorsports with Hans Molenkamp, Aaron Quesada, Austin Hodges and the entire Monster Energy team to bring Bellator MMA action to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs at Talladega.”

Through Bellator MMA, alongside longstanding partner Monster Energy, mixed martial arts will be included as a pre-race activation exclusively for fans in attendance. The lineup on Friday will consist of four MMA bouts featuring some of the best regional up-and-coming talent, with the main event prospects in consideration to be signed to a multi-fight Bellator MMA contract.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Alabama 500 at Talladega takes place Sunday, October 15 at 1 p.m. CT. Tickets to the race are available at ‪NASCAR.com/tickets, TalladegaSuperspeedway.com/tickets or by calling Talladega Superspeedway at 1-855-518-RACE (7223).

Updated Monster Energy Bellator MMA Fight Series at Talladega Superspeedway Fight Card:
Lightweight Main Event: Omar Johnson (8-1, Birmingham, Ala.) vs. Jonathan Pearce (5-3, Johnson City, Tenn.)
Heavyweight Bout: Frank Tate (4-4, Birmingham, Ala.) vs. Kem Oti (2-1, Decatur, Ala.)
Middleweight Bout: Marcel Stamps (1-0, Birmingham, Ala.) vs. Derek Wilson (Pro Debut, Atlanta, Ga.)
Heavyweight Amateur Bout: Christian Echols (2-0, Cullman, Ala.) vs. Billy Swanson (7-1, Cleveland, Tenn.)

Please visit Bellator.com for details.

*Event schedule subject to change