Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As stock car racing’s brightest stars prepare for the grueling, 10-week road to Ford Championship Weekend, NASCAR® is showcasing all the drama and intensity of the 2017 NASCAR Playoffs with a new, integrated marketing campaign.

From the first green flag to the final burnout, the 2017 NASCAR Playoffs campaign will engage fans across platforms with the rigors of the journey, the ferocity of the competition, and the thrill of victory — all from the perspective of the drivers.

Fans can visit the NASCAR Playoffs Leaderboard at NASCAR.com/playoffs and follow NASCAR on social media (#NASCARPlayoffs) for first-hand driver perspectives on navigating “Playoff Road” en route to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series™ championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19.

The first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series television spot, “Challenge of Champions,” debuted Saturday during the final regular-season race at Richmond Raceway.

“NASCAR drivers share a bond with fans that’s unlike anything else in sports, so for us it made sense to have our stars set the stage for the 2017 NASCAR Playoffs,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “The excitement of stage racing will be on full display during the playoffs, so we’re creating content that takes fans inside the minds of our drivers for a more intimate, behind-the-scenes experience.”

The NASCAR Playoffs Leaderboard will feature short videos for all 16 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs drivers, each sharing their own, unique perspective on what it takes to win a championship. Drivers will also discuss their individual paths to this year’s playoffs as part of a special “Backroads” video series, available on NASCAR social media channels.

Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota are once again inviting fans to participate in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Promotion* on NASCAR.com, for a chance to win new trucks and VIP trips to NASCAR Champion’s Week in Las Vegas in November.

Fans can visit NASCAR.com/playoffspromo to register for a chance to win a 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 2018 Ford F-150 Lariat and 2018 Toyota Tundra TRD Sport. New this year, fans also have the chance to win manufacturer-specific experiential prizes during each round of the NASCAR Playoffs and view exclusive “Truck Talk” promotional spots from the OEMs, each featuring playoffs drivers.

“Chevy, Ford and Toyota are among the most dedicated partners in the sport, so it’s great to have all three on board again this year to further elevate the NASCAR Playoffs experience for our fans,” said Gregory.

Continuing the momentum on social media following last year’s record-setting postseason, the playoffs will be promoted heavily across all social channels, including with a #NASCARPlayoffs emoji on Twitter and driver takeovers on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Last month, NASCAR announced plans to live-stream one in-car camera on Twitter for all 10 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs races. Beginning this week, fans have access to customized Twitter emojis and hashtags for all 16 playoffs drivers, whose input helped create the personalized artwork.

The broader playoffs campaign, developed with 77 Ventures, will also include creative and content promoting the NASCAR XFINITY Series™ and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™ Playoffs.

NASCAR will crown its 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion at the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the fourth and final round of the NASCAR Playoffs on Nov. 19 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Tickets for playoffs events across all three NASCAR national series are available at NASCAR.com/tickets.

The 2017 NASCAR Playoffs kick off with The Tales of the Turtles 400 on Sunday, Sept. 17 at 3 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast live on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (channel 90), with additional coverage on NASCAR.com.

Posted on by Holly Cain

While much of Florida sustained some damage from Hurricane Irma, Homestead-Miami Speedway confirmed Monday that it expects to be fully functional and ready to host NASCAR’s Nov. 17-19 Ford Championship Weekend.

The speedway said Monday that it suffered “minor” damage in the weekend storm that affected so much of Florida.

“During the course of Hurricane Irma, Homestead-Miami Speedway sustained minor and cosmetic damage to non-essential parts of the speedway,’” the speedway said in a statement issued Monday afternoon. “None of this damage is expected to impact our ability to host Ford Championship Weekend.

“We are working with city and county officials to fully assess the situation, as all of South Florida was affected by this event.  We are ready to assist local officials in Miami-Dade County with any available resources to aid the community in the recovery efforts from the storm.

“We will have further updates as more information becomes available. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone throughout the state of Florida and elsewhere who have been impacted by this hurricane.”

Much of the race track’s history is associated with this newsworthy weather. Miami businessman and Homestead-Miami Speedway founder Ralph Sanchez broke ground at Homestead in 1993 in the wake of Hurricane Andrew, which devastated the area a year earlier, but has served as an inspiring hurricane-associated history since.

Not only was the facility built after a major hurricane but it survived 2005’s Hurricane Wilma and has continued to host NASCAR’s championship weekend for the past 15 years.

Daytona International Speedway, located up Florida’s East Coast, confirmed it suffered “moderate damage” from the storm, calling it “cosmetic” in nature and reassuring it will not affect the track’s schedule, including NASCAR’s 2018 season-opening Feb. 18 Daytona 500.

On Tuesday, Homestead-Miami Speedway tweeted out a video of the track.

Posted on by Brad Norman

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs start Sunday at Chicagoland — and now everyone can amp up their Twitter game thanks to customized emojis plus hashtags for all 16 drivers in the hunt and a special nod to Junior’s Appreci88ion Tour.

MORE: Check out all 16 driver emojis, hashtags | Analytical break down of playoff field

Even though driver Landon Cassill didn’t make the playoff cut this year, he still chimed in on the emoji reveal on Twitter.

We must agree, Matt Kenseth’s emoji is a bit cheesy.

The No. 20 driver may not know what an emoji is, but he sure is excited about it.

And it sounds like Jaime McMurray is really pleased with how his emoji turned out — McMurray has officially left the … race track anyone?

Check out how some of the other drivers reacted to their emoji and hashtag unveiling:

Check this out! Twitter gave us our own emoji when you use #Appreci88ion now through Homestead. pic.twitter.com/sdJIs0V394

— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) September 11, 2017

Posted on by Nascar

Based on his initial results through eight of the 10 stops making up this year’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Ryan Blaney seems to have his work cut out for himself and the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford team.

His average finish at those tracks the first time around this season was an unappealing 22.25.

Chicagoland Speedway, which hosts the playoff opener Sunday, Sept. 17, and Homestead Miami Speedway, site of the Nov. 19 season finale, are the only tracks in the playoffs where the series has yet to visit this season. The others, New Hampshire and Dover and Charlotte and Talladega and so forth, will be return visits. But with much more at stake.

Crew chief Jeremy Bullins says he’s not concerned with past results, and adds that in most cases those numbers from this year’s first visits don’t tell the entire story.

“You look at Dover for example, I think we were running in the top 10 and broke an axle,” Bullins said Monday during a teleconference featuring himself and WBR co-owners Eddie and Len Wood. 

“The same thing at Charlotte, we were running in the top five and had an axle failure there.”

The incidents occurred after Blaney had finished in the top 10 in the opening stages of both races. He went on to finish 32nd at Dover and 24th at Charlotte. 

Talladega, where restrictor plates limit speeds but also create pack racing, “is hit or miss,” Bullins said. “You’re either going to run well or get caught up in a wreck.”

It was the latter this past spring, and Blaney wound up 39th in the 40-car field — after finishing in the top 10 in the first two stages.

“I’m not concerned at all,” Bullins added. “I feel like it’s just a matter of putting races together and not having some of the things go wrong that have gone wrong in the past and if we do that, we’ll be in good shape.”

This year’s Playoffs will be the first for Blaney and the Wood Brothers, a legendary team that’s been around nearly as long as NASCAR itself. Blaney gave the group career win No. 99 earlier this year at Pocono, a victory that was his first in the series.

He’ll be joined by other first-time winners Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing) and Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing) and the three will be among those considered underdogs when it comes to advancing through the various stages en route to Homestead and the championship race.

Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing), Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing) and Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) are the favorites, having won often, run consistently and piled up more bonus points through victories and stage wins than anyone else. The gap between Truex and 16th-place Jamie McMurray is 50 points. 

But strange things can happen when the playoffs get underway and the pressure begins to mount.

“Those guys could have some problems early and all of a sudden those extra points they’ve got could disappear pretty quick if the right guy doesn’t have a good day,” Eddie Wood said.

“This is very special to us because this is the first time we’ve actually been involved in the new format. It’s kind of a do-or-die format. You’ve got three races to do well in to advance to the next round and that puts a lot of pressure on everyone, but I think we’re ready for it.” 

Posted on by Kelly Crandall

RELATED: Playoff standings

Elliott Sadler clinched the regular-season championship last weekend, but the XFINITY Series playoff field is not yet set.

The Chicagoland 300 (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will lock in the last three drivers to compete for this season’s championship. William Byron currently leads the way with a series-leading three victories while two of his other three JR Motorsports teammates are also postseason bound. But two drivers who were in last year’s title hunt go into this weekend feeling the pressure.

Let’s break it down.

WHO’S IN

Rookie sensation William Byron sits atop the playoff standings on the strength of three wins and 17 playoff points. He’s followed by teammate Justin Allgaier, who has a win and the second-most playoff points going into Chicago with eight. Also locked in through wins are Ryan Reed and Jeremy Clements.

The best of the non-winners is Elliott Sadler, the series points leader. However, Sadler’s position will greatly improve following the race as he will be awarded 15 playoff points (to go with the five he currently has) for being the regular-season champion. Behind Sadler comes Brennan Poole, as well as three more rookies in Daniel Hemric, Cole Custer and Matt Tifft.

The final three spots are still up for grabs. After just narrowly missing the final four last year, Blake Koch sits 10th in the playoff standings with a healthy 51-point advantage. Michael Annett, who will look to ensure all four JRM cars make the playoffs, is 11th. And veteran Brendan Gaughan holds down the final playoff spot at 12th place.

BUBBLE WATCH

The good news for Dakoda Armstrong is he does not have to win Saturday’s race to earn a playoff spot. Armstrong is just 25 points behind Gaughan and 26 behind Annett. A mistake or bad day for either of those two drivers puts Armstrong and JGL Racing in a position to strike.

It’s a different story for JJ Yeley on back. Yeley sits 14th in the standings for TriStar Motorsports, but he’s 65 points below the cut line. JD Motorsports driver Ross Chastain sits 15th while Ryan Sieg from the single-car entry of RSS Racing is 16th. Making the playoffs would be a huge accomplishment for any of these teams while rookie Brandon Jones in 17th hopes to join his Richard Childress Racing teammates at the front of the pack.

OUTLOOK

With a good point advantage on those sitting on the outside, Koch looks all but assured of again making the playoffs. Annett and Gaughan, however, will be sweating it out for 300 miles. With both drivers having outrun Armstrong through much of the season, that should not be a problem one more time.

What none of the three drivers on the bubble can be sure about, though, is a new winner. If Armstrong or anyone else currently without a playoff spot wins — and is also in the top 20 in points — that driver automatically takes a postseason position. A tall task yes, but not impossible. Especially when considering this race is off limits to Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competitors with more than five years of experience, such as the drivers who have won the last two XFINITY Series races: Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin.

Plus, the series will be in Chicago and if the Cubs can win the World Series after 108 years, an XFINITY Series regular can also pull off a much-needed victory.

Posted on by Kelly Crandall

RELATED: Playoff standings

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series isn’t done delivering the drama.

Friday night the playoff field will be set in the Chicagoland 225 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Seven drivers have already clinched their postseason spots with just one more driver getting the opportunity to join them. Meanwhile, Christopher Bell will look to pad his already impressive playoff point bank.

Let’s break it down.

WHO’S IN

Seven of the eight playoff spots have been filled, six of which came through victories. Bell leads the series with four wins and 24 playoff points. He can add 15 more playoff points to that figure should he also wrap up the regular-season championship.

John Hunter Nemechek’s two wins have him second in the playoff standings. The series’ two most recent champions, Johnny Sauter (2016) and Matt Crafton (2014 – ’15), will also again be in the title fight. Also locked in are three rookies in Austin Cindric, Kaz Grala and Chase Briscoe. Briscoe is the only driver locked in who does not have a victory, but he does have a stage win and critical playoff point.

The driver on the hot seat is series sophomore Ben Rhodes. The ThorSport Racing driver has had an up-and-down year to land on the bubble. But with eight top-10 finishes, including three in the last four races, Rhodes won-t give up the final spot without a fight and 1.5-mile tracks, like Chicago, have been where he’s excelled.

BUBBLE WATCH

Seven points is all that separates Rhodes from Ryan Truex, the first driver on the outside looking in. The first-ever playoff berth for Hattori Racing Enterprises could come with Truex if he’s able to outrun Rhodes or finally break through with a victory.

A win is most likely the way to go for Grant Enfinger, who is 31 points behind Rhodes, and most certainly for those behind him. Enfinger is 10th in the playoff standings with fellow rookies Noah Gragson (11th) in a 47-point deficit and Justin Haley (12th) behind by 119 points.

OUTLOOK

Friday night will be all about where Rhodes is and what he has going on. Only seven points to the good, Rhodes cannot afford a mistake or a DNF if he wants to earn a playoff berth. Look for the No. 27 to be in contention and for Rhodes to push with all he’s got.

For Truex, he has nothing to lose and can also afford to push hard. By pressuring Rhodes, it may lead to the opening Truex needs. Or he can go for one last gamble to grab the checkered flag. Unfortunately for Truex, that will be the same mentality for Enfinger, Gragson, Haley and every other driver in the top 20 in points.

The “win and you’re in” stipulation has never meant more than it will this weekend in the Windy City.

Posted on by Staff Report

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, and playoffs open the following week for the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Here’s what you need to know:

WHAT’S THE SAME? THE STRUCTURE
For all three NASCAR national series, the Championship 4 drivers race “straight-up” for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway — the first to cross the line of the four championship-eligible drivers is crowned the champion!

How they got here:
“Win and you’re in.” Championship-eligible drivers who won a race during the regular season, attempted to qualify for all regular-season races and met a minimum points position (Monster Energy Series: Top 30; NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Top 20) qualify for the Playoffs.

If there are fewer unique race winners than open spots in the Playoffs, the remaining positions will be filled based on regular-season points.

Round-by-round:

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
– 16 drivers, four rounds
– Playoffs begin Sept. 17 at Chicagoland Speedway
– Cutoff races, where four drivers are eliminated from the playoffs: Dover International Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Phoenix Raceway

NASCAR XFINITY Series
– 12 drivers, three rounds
– Playoffs begin at Kentucky Speedway, Sept. 23
– Cutoff races, where four drivers are eliminated from the playoffs: Charlotte Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
– 8 drivers, three rounds
– Playoffs begin at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sept. 23
– Cutoff races, where two drivers are eliminated from the playoffs: Talladega Superspeedway and Phoenix Raceway

WHAT’S NEW? THE POINTS
Throughout the regular season, drivers in all three national series earned “playoff points” to be used in the postseason. The playoff points procedure is uniform across all three national series and continues in the Playoffs for drivers who remain in contention.

Ways drivers earn playoff points:
• Win Stage 1 or Stage 2 in a race: 1 playoff point (point awarded per stage win)
• Win a race: 5 playoff points
• Win the regular-season championship: 15 playoff points

Second place in the final regular-season standings earns 10 playoff points, third place receives eight points, and the points awarded decline to one point for 10th 
(4th = 7 points, 5th = 6 points, etc.).

Championship-contending drivers can accumulate additional playoff points throughout the Playoffs via stage and race wins and may use all the playoff points they earn, from both the regular season and the Playoffs, to advance all the way up to the Championship 4.

Playoff points take effect during the … Playoffs:

Playoff points are added to a championship-contending driver’s reset points total at the start of every round of the Playoffs until they are eliminated from championship contention.

If a driver accumulates playoff points during the regular season, but does not qualify for the Playoffs, their playoff points are eliminated from the scoreboard.

At Homestead-Miami, playoff points are off the table and the Championship 4 drivers enter the “winner-take-all” race all even.

How the points are reset:

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

– First round: 2,000 points + playoff points
– Second round: 3,000 points + playoff points
– Third round: 4,000 points + playoff points
– Championship 4: 5,000 points (no playoff points added)

NASCAR XFINITY Series

– First round: 2,000 points + playoff points
– Second round: 3,000 points + playoff points
– Championship 4: 4,000 points (no playoff points added)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
– First round: 2,000 points + playoff points
– Second round: 3,000 points + playoff points
– Championship 4: 4,000 points (no playoff points added)

Posted on by Brad Norman

It’s been 16 years since the United States was under attack on Sept. 11, and the NASCAR community continues to show its outpouring of support and patriotism on the difficult anniversary.

Several drivers including Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson shared their emotional remembrance of the tragic events, using the social media hashtag #NeverForget.

#911remembrance #NeverForget 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/hneg0cPVli

— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) September 11, 2017

Posted on by Steve Luvender

Racing at Richmond is always a blast. You’ve got short-track tempers, racing to reach the playoffs, a treacherous pit road entrance, and that certain something about racing under the lights. Richmond’s worthy of receiving only a thumbs-up, but that’s not how things work.

Thumbs Up: Diversifying your portfolio

Believe it or not, prior to Saturday’s win at Richmond, Kyle Larson had never won at a track that wasn’t a 2-mile D-shaped oval (Michigan or Fontana).

When Larson swiped the victory in the late stages of the Federated Auto Parts 400 Saturday night, it marked his first short track win and his first night race victory.

Thumbs up to Kyle Larson for mixing it up a little bit. It won’t be long until he’s bringing home checkered flags on more types of tracks. Maybe Target can hook him up with his own version of Supermarket Sweep, which he’d probably win.

Thumbs Down: Clowns

Clowns are weird. Like, the very idea of a grown adult dressing up in eccentric, oversized clothing, colorful wigs and full face makeup is very strange.

After contact with race-dominant Martin Truex Jr. on the final lap, Denny Hamlin took total responsibility for the crash, describing himself as a clown.

RELATED: Hamlin: ‘Tonight, I was a clown’

Denny, you would have earned a thumbs-up for taking ownership for a mistake, but instead, you get a thumbs down for being a clown, which is something weird and scary. Sorry, Dennywise.

Thumbs Up: Four-wide salute to the fans

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers started the Federated Auto Parts 400 with a four-wide salute to the fans prior to the green flag.

The four-wide fan appreciation salute is a fixture in dirt racing. Maybe that’s why noted dirt racer Kyle Larson won the race.

Thumbs up for a cool racing spectacle on a Saturday night short track.

Thumbs Down: Coming up short

It must be frustrating to work all season toward one goal, only to fall short. That was the reality for Erik Jones, Clint Bowyer, and Joey Logano, who didn’t quite make the playoffs despite their expectations.

Erik Jones had a solid race go south after a bad restart at the end of the race, relegating the No. 77 car to a sixth-place finish.

RELATED: Jones misses third gear on restart

Clint Bowyer didn’t pull off the win he wanted, but at least he’ll be in teammate mode for the rest of the season.

And, as for Joey Logano, he came up one position shy of winning at Richmond, which would have put the No. 22 in the playoffs. Instead, Logano’s on the outside looking in.

At least there’s a silver lining for the rest of us, thanks to an old bet made back in May.


Thumbs down for not quite sealing the deal.

Biggest Thumbs Up of the Week: Having a lot of playoff points

Martin Truex Jr.’s night may have ended early at Richmond, but you’ve got to hand it to the No. 78 team: they’re very well-prepared for the playoffs.

That’s what winning 18 stages, four races, and the regular season championship will do.

Thumbs up for earning a lot of playoff points — 53 points, in fact — for a stellar regular season. This essentially equates to one free race during each round of the playoffs.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

RELATED: Race results | Playoff field | Scenes from Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave it all he could to get to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series postseason in his final full-time season, but ultimately struggles throughout the 2017 season dug too deep a hole for the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team.

Earnhardt spent much of the night in the top 10 at Richmond Raceway and was out front for 13 laps (his most in a race all year, Laps 335-347) as part of a strategy play to stay out as long as possible and hold the lead. However, that came during the longest green flag run of the night (Laps 263-397) and ultimately, the strategy didn’t play out as hoped.

“We were having a great night, but we weren’t going to pass those top five guys so we needed that kind of strategy to try and leap frog them on pit road and we needed the yellow to come out leading,” Earnhardt explained after the race.

“We had everybody trapped down a lap and they would have ended up pitting and getting tires, and the other guys would have gotten the wave around but we would have had that track position finally. We would have come out of pit road after the stop in first or second and that might have set us up good for a run to the finish. We had a car that I think could have won the race if we had that track position.”

Despite spending much of the night in the top 10, Earnhardt settled for a 13th-place finish under interim crew chief Travis Mack. Greg Ives, the regular crew chief for the No. 88 team, was suspended for one race due to a safety violation for missing lug nuts following a post-race check last weekend at Darlington Raceway.

The 42-year-old was reflective about his season to this point and what had led the No. 88 team to be in a must-win spot in the Federated Auto Parts 400. Earnhardt sits 22nd in the point standings and has just four top 10s on the season.

“I’m disappointed,” Earnhardt said about not making the playoffs. “We had some odd luck, but when we didn’t have bad luck, we didn’t capitalize. We had a long summer. We just didn’t capitalize. We didn’t run like we should have. We ran like we should have tonight. If we would have ran like that all year, like we did the last several years, we would have made it, but we didn’t.

“It’s on us. We can’t really put it on anybody else. We just didn’t do the job. We’ll try these next 10 to keep running well. I’d love to win a race but damn, if we can just run as well as we did tonight in the next several races that would be great for all of these guys. They got another year coming up with Alex (Bowman) and they got to get buckled in and get going again.”