Posted on by @nascarcasm

So now this is a story all ’bout how / my life got flipped turned upside down / and I’d like to take a moment to run off with a pair / of my owner Dale Jr.’s Nomex underwear.

Excited to write. Been a while since the previous blog, and would like to apologize to all y’all takin’ this cray journey on the Gus Bus with me. It’s been busy since the last blog, what with Dale in the throes of his final season and me collecting an impressive horde of beef-stick wrappers under the bed in the Elvis room.

Nothing but beef-stick wrappers. That sweet aroma. I dunno why Yankee Candle hasn’t made that scent yet.

Digressing. As you all know, my owner’s farewell season is about as uplifting as “Old Yeller,” and I’m a dog so I can say that — it’s cool. Simply not getting the results he, I, or anyone in Junior Nation wanted right now. But sometimes life brings disappointment. Like when Amy and Dale are eating dinner and I’m laying low waiting for the scraps, and they say “HERE BOY!” and then hand me one of those “organic” dog treats that tastes like yard clippings and sawdust congealed into a single ghastly wad with tiling grout. I’m like I KNOW FOR A FACT YOU’RE EATING SLOW-SMOKED BRISKET AND YOU HAND ME A BALL OF HIPPIE FECULENCE THAT NOT EVEN GWYNETH PALTROW WOULD EAT. TRY AGAIN.

Nearly forgot to tell you — I asked Dale if I could have my own podcast on Dirty Mo Radio this past week, and he said he’d think about it, so I put together a sample. I called it “Dis-Gus-sions,” which is a savvy pun you wouldn’t expect out of a creature that thinks a vacuum cleaner is trying to kill him, but I digress. Recorded the first episode with Joey Logano’s dog, Luigi. Basically I asked him a series of “Gotcha” questions hoping he’d finally admit he’s a bat-dog. I mean, look at him. That’s a bat. I have a good bat-dar. The questions were like “Is Sliced Bread as good as fruit?” and “Do you feel like Joey Logano was sort of thrown into his role at Joe Gibbs Racing without proper preparation sort of like Ben Affleck was when he replaced Christian Bale?” I think it came out great, so long as you don’t mind 46 minutes of ceaseless barking. It’s gonna turn the podcast community upside-down. Which is how I assume Logano’s dog sleeps.

 

Update on my social life — remember Martin Truex Jr. AKA the guy whose motorcoach I stocked with brown trout that one time? He’s apparently doing really really well and I’m really happy for him. I’ve started hanging out with their dog, Boden. He’s a good listener and his butt smells great. We both Snapchat ourselves in sexy poses and send them to Danica’s German shepherd. She got it going on.

Dale’s gonna be replaced by Alex Bowman, whom as I mentioned in my previous blog, is a wonderful kid who took me on walks whenever Dale forced him to. He’s got this insatiable competitive drive in him that I haven’t seen in anyone since Air Bud. He’s got big shoes to fill. Speaking of filling Dale’s shoes, gimme a second ­– that organic dog treat ain’t sitting right and I’ve got a message to convey. OK, I’m back and Dale’s down a pair of Asics.

Excited for my owner to be on the TV next year! He’ll be on NBC, WHICH just so happens to air the National Dog Show, so I’m fairly certain they’ll send the private jet out for myself and Boden to show up and throw down. We got it planned — after a few beers, we’re both gonna run out on the floor and stand on our hind legs wearing only a ribbon reading “BEST IN SHOW” over our naughty bits. “NASCAR SUPERSTAR’S DOG BECOMES VIRAL SENSATION ON YOUTUBE” — I can see it now. Anyways, he’s gonna be really good on TV, and I can’t wait to bark at the tube when it’s on and wonder “Hey, why is my owner in such wonderful definition on this 72-inch box hanging on the wall?” like all dogs that bark at TVs do.

So that’s about all I got for now. Oh, nearly forgot — Danica’s German shepherd, if you’re reading this, check the first letter of every paragraph. Peace.

Gus

Posted on by Nascar

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — The season isn’t over for Darrell “Bubba” Wallace just yet.

 

Wallace, 23, returns to NASCAR’s XFINITY Series next week at Chicagoland Raceway where he is scheduled to drive the No. 98 Ford Mustang for Biagi DenBeste Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports.

 

It will be the 13th XFINITY Series start of the season for Wallace, who ran 12 races with Roush Fenway Racing earlier this year before officials shuttered the team due to a lack of sponsorship.

 

Following that setback, Wallace drove four races in the iconic No. 43 for Richard Petty Motorsports while that team’s driver, Aric Almirola, recovered from injury.

 

He also has one Camping World Truck Series start this season, at Michigan, which resulted in a win.

 

“It’s been going in a lot of different directions,” Wallace said of his season Thursday at RPM. “But it’s taught me a lot. Not only about myself but about the sport and how to go about it, carry the right attitude through whichever way you’re being pulled.

 

“We’ve been able to make the most of every opportunity this year. We were capitalizing in the XFINITY Series before it shut down; we were fourth in points and having some really good runs. I felt like we were knocking on the door for our first win.

 

“Then the 43 (opportunity) came about, kept improving each and every race and then the Michigan truck race comes about and we win that.”

 

The Chicagoland opportunity came about, in part, because Wallace has worked with Nickelodeon officials in the past — a year ago he ran a paint scheme based on the character Shredder from the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles program. This year his car will feature Nickelodeon Slime.

 

This year the Turtles are once again getting top billing — the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday, Sept. 17 is the Tales of the Turtles 400.

 

Other drivers with related paint schemes for the race weekend are Matt DiBenedetto and Jeffrey Earnhardt (MENCS), Wallace and Matt Tifft (XFINITY), and John Hunter Nemechek and Jennifer Jo Cobb (Camping World Truck Series).

 

Wallace, a six-time winner in the Truck Series, said this most recent opportunity “came together fairly quick” and he’s hopeful it will lead to more time behind the wheel.

 

“I think so,” he said. “You never know what can happen after that.

 

“If we have a really good, strong race, we could win that thing. That’s our only goal.”

 

The Biagi DenBeste Racing organization runs a limited schedule in the XFINITY Series. Almirola has won two of the organization’s three career victories — at Daytona in 2016 and ’17.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Editor’s note: This story is part of our Fit Row series that focuses on the health and fitness aspects of racing and its superstar drivers. Presented by Lilly Diabetes, the exclusive diabetes health partner of NASCAR, the series will feature 10 themed stories.

Clint Bowyer’s fitness regimen might go light on structure, but it goes heavy on staying busy. Running a 650-acre farm tends to make that a requirement.

For Bowyer, one of the most animated drivers in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, his workouts often come naturally on his ranch in rural Davie County, North Carolina. When he’s not at the race track, that’s typically where you’ll find him.

“Believe it or not, there’s weeks where if I don’t have anything going on, you’ll be heading back to the track Friday and realize you haven’t been outside your driveway all week long,” says Bowyer, driver of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Ford. “Every day, it’s something. There’s always a project. When you have over 100 head of cows and they’re blowing through the fence and you’re rebuilding it, or mowing or anything in between, it’s literally from sun-up to sundown, you’re doing something.

“There’s no couch time, but there’s never been that with me. I’ve always been wide-open, here, there and everywhere. But the more I have going on, the happier I am.”

The lifestyle has brought Bowyer plenty of joy thus far, whether it’s caring for the livestock, moving hay or the seemingly never-ending maintenance. But it also has kept him trim, free from the rigors of more organized workout patterns.

While Bowyer hasn’t subscribed to a fierce routine of Crossfit, triathlons or the road cycling wave that’s captured the fancy of several drivers in recent months, the 38-year-old veteran still has the door open for more conventional workouts when the need arises.

“You know, I run from time to time. I’m no different than anybody else,” Bowyer says. “You start feeling a little lazy, a little fat, belt’s getting a little tight … you better get your butt out there and start running, hitting the pavement. That’s the way I am.”

Staying active — in whichever form it may take — has helped Bowyer stay sharp in his first year with SHR and his best season since 2014. It’s what also has led his friends to suggest some sort of attention-deficit malady mixed in with his boundless energy.

“I just like getting after it,” Bowyer says. “I like going. I like being on the go. I don’t think I’ve ever been in one place probably in the last 10 years more than 10 days ever, even in the wintertime. … I can’t sit still.”

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR.com spent Tuesday at JTG Daugherty Racing in Harrisburg, North Carolina. During the visit, our team got to know theirs a little better, sitting down with drivers AJ Allmendinger and Chris Buescher, chatting with team owner Tad Geschickter, crew chiefs Trent Owens and Tristan Smith and more.

Stay tuned this week as NASCAR.com features unique, all-access content.

VIDEO: The anatomy of a pit stop

 

Get a first-person look at pit practice.

Buescher at home with JTG Daugherty Racing

 

Extension gives driver a level of comfort.

Buescher opens up on the move

 

Buescher looks to build up No. 37 team.

Take a tour of the JTG Daugherty Racing shop with Allmendinger and Buescher

 

Go inside the race shop with the drivers.

Liz Prestella’s heart is in wrenching at JTG Daugherty Racing

Behind the scenes with a female tire specialist.

AJ Allmendinger and Chris Buescher: JTG Daugherty Racing’s ‘Odd Couple?’
Chris Buescher, AJ Allmendinger

Who’s the best dancer, best dresser, best backseat driver?

AJ Allmendinger embraces the zen of golf
Chris Buescher, AJ Allmendinger

See how the driver unwinds from the racing world.

Allmendinger reflects on ‘rough’ 2017 season
AJ Allmendinger

Driver opens up about 2017 season.

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Hendrick drivers launch disaster relief fund with $500,000 goal

Homestead-Miami Speedway – site of NASCAR’s Nov. 17-19 Ford Championship weekend – has already begun preparation to protect itself for a potential Hurricane Irma landfall this weekend in Florida. 

It’s a tough lesson in storm caution the facility – and immediate area – knows better than most and has proven it can handle.

Officially, the track’s main telephone number answers to a recorded message, “Thanks for calling Homestead-Miami Speedway. Our offices will be closed due to Hurricane Irma until further notice. “

Neal Gulkis, the track’s director of communications, confirmed workers have already been busy taking precautionary measures at the track.

 “We began preparations from a facility standpoint in accordance with our hurricane preparedness plan yesterday,’’ Gulkis said. “They continue today (Wednesday) and in all likelihood into tomorrow.

“They include many of the same things you would do at home – i.e. putting up shutters, taking down canvas and awnings, etc.  We are also tying down or storing away anything that could become a projectile including banners on the leaderboard, garbage cans, temporary bleachers around the road course, etc.”

RELATED: Atlanta Motor Speedway opening campground for ‘Irma’ evacuees

The Homestead area has experienced and rebounded from the hardship and devastation that a major hurricane can bring. Hurricane Andrew essentially leveled it and the surrounding area in 1992 and is still considered one of the country’s worst natural disasters.

In the case of the speedway, however, the storm also inspired action.

Longtime South Florida race promoter Ralph Sanchez broke ground on the speedway a year after the storm as part of an effort to restore and rebuild the area, known as the “Gateway to the Florida Keys.” The 1.5-mile track’s first major race was NASCAR’s Busch Grand National (now XFINITY Series) finale in 1995 – an exciting, sellout event won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett.

Since 2002, the track has hosted NASCAR’s premier championship-crowning races in all three of its major series.

And yet even since then, the facility experienced and recovered from another major hurricane, Hurricane Wilma in October of 2005. Sister ISC tracks (International Speedway Corporation) such as Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway assisted getting the track not only back in working order, but ready to host the NASCAR  season finale four weeks later.

Part of the track’s catch-fence, several hundred grandstand seats and even entire hospitality suites were destroyed. Much of the massive clean-up and rebuilding work was done using generators for power in the days right after the storm.

And all the hard work paid off in time for that season’s NASCAR finale. Other than a few oddly colored seats (borrowed from another facility), a large and happy crowd watched Tony Stewart win his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title.

As for this week, weather.com currently lists the weather for Sunday in Homestead to include rain and 105-mph winds. Showers and high wind are forecast for Saturday through Monday in the immediate area.

“Our operations team – many of who have been here almost as long as the track and are from South Florida – has prepared extensively for weather systems such as this, and our emergency safety procedures are in place,” Gulkis assured.

Posted on by Team Release

RELATED: No. 88 team among Darlington penalties

CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 6, 2017) – Hendrick Motorsports will not appeal the penalty announced by NASCAR stemming from a post-race lug nut infraction Sunday at Darlington Raceway.

Travis Mack, 34, will serve as interim crew chief for the No. 88 NASCAR Cup Series team with driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. during this weekend’s event at Richmond Raceway. The Louisville, Kentucky, native has been the team’s car chief since 2015, serving under crew chief Greg Ives.

“We have a tremendous amount of confidence in Travis and everyone on the team,” said Jeff Andrews, vice president of competition at Hendrick Motorsports. “Our people have done a great job all year with the lug nut rule. We won’t dwell on it (the penalty) and will look forward to having Greg back on the box next week at Chicagoland.”

After joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2004, Mack worked as a mechanic for the Nos. 24 and 88 Cup Series teams. In 2013, he moved to Hendrick Motorsports affiliate JR Motorsports, where he served as car chief for drivers Regan Smith and Chase Elliott in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Mack earned an XFINITY Series championship in 2014 as a member of Elliott’s team.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR handed the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series an L1-level penalty following the race last weekend at Darlington Raceway for violating sections 20.14.2 (rear suspension) of the NASCAR Rule Book.

Crew chief Mike Wheeler was fined $50,000 and suspended for two races, the team was assessed with the loss of 25 owner points and 25 driver points, and Denny Hamlin’s first-place finish was ruled encumbered per Section 12.10. JGR will not appeal the penalty and Chris Gabehart (the crew chief for JGR’s No. 20 XFINITY Series team) will be on the pit box for the No. 11 team at Richmond, according to a team spokesperson.

Also in the Monster Energy Series, the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team was handed a safety violation for lug nuts not properly installed following Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s 22nd-place finish. Crew chief Greg Ives was fined $20,000 and suspended from the next race. Hendrick Motorsports will not appeal the penalty, according to a team statement. Travis Mack will serve as the No. 88’s interim crew chief.

In the NASCAR XFINITY Series, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team was handed an L1-level penalty for violating sections 20.14.2 (rear suspension). Crew chief Eric Phillips was fined $25,000 and suspended from two races, the team was assessed with the loss of 25 owner points, and Hamlin’s first-place finish was ruled encumbered. JGR will not appeal the penalty and Matt Lucas will fill in as the crew chief with the No. 18 team at Richmond, according to a team spokesperson.

Also in the XFINITY Series, the No. 22 Team Penske team was given an L1-level penalty for violating sections 20.14.2 (rear suspension). Crew chief Greg Erwin was fined $25,000 and suspended from two races, the team was assessed with the loss of 25 owner points, and Joey Logano’s second-place finish was ruled encumbered.

Posted on by Brad Norman

RELATED: Go behind the scenes at JTG Daugherty Racing

HARRISBURG, N.C. — Chris Buescher already has something heading into 2018 that he’s never had before in his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career — peace of mind. That’s because the 24-year-old knows exactly where he’ll be next year, a measure of comfort that’s been foreign in the past.

“It is a little comforting to know we’ve got a place we can drive a race car at and a place we can call home,” Buescher said earlier this week at the JTG Daugherty racing shop.

Home is here for the 24-year-old, in this shop owned by Tad and Jodi Geschickter. Home is driving the No. 37 Chevrolet, and having AJ Allmendinger for a teammate.

It hasn’t always been so clean-cut for Buescher, the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion. He was under contract long-term with Roush Fenway Racing, but was in prime position for a Monster Energy Series ride following his championship XFINITY season.

So in 2016, he drove for Front Row Motorsports — and won at Pocono to make the postseason. This year he joined JTG as the team expanded to a two-car operation. In both instances, he still was under contract with Roush.

That changed in August when Tad Geschickter confirmed Buescher had signed a multiyear deal with JTG.

“What has been difficult about it is starting over every year with new people, new teams, new cars. There are no notebooks,” Buescher said. “That’s been probably the hardest part, starting over year in, year out. It takes time. It takes the first eight or 10 races of a season to really get in a rhythm.”

The rhythm has been found. Buescher enters Richmond — where he must win to make the postseason — on an upbeat melody.

Four of the past six races have resulted in finishes of 11th or better, including a ninth-place finish at Indianapolis and a sixth at Michigan.

It’s setting the table for a strong finish to 2017, but perhaps more importantly, to greater things to come in a future that is sharper for Buescher than it’s ever been before.

“When you look at next year and beyond, we’re going to keep building this thing up,” Buescher said. “Tad and Jodie are very excited about becoming a two-car team this season and I think they’re excited to build it up from here, whether it’s going out there and being more competitive and winning races, or if its adding four teams, I don’t know. We’re going to do what we can every week to get better.

“Everyone’s attention hasn’t shifted (to 2018), but it’s divided. There’s one eye keeping an eye on next season and what’s to come, and making sure we have what we need to be competitive. You can’t skip over the rest of 2017, but I feel like we’re in the right place to be able to plan ahead.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Homestead-Miami Speedway braces for Hurricane Irma

Hurricane Irma is becoming one of the most powerful storms in the Atlantic on record — and Florida Gov. Rick Scott has already declared a state of emergency for those in its path.

On Wednesday, Atlanta Motor Speedway announced it would open up its camping facilities free of charge to any Hurricane Irma evacuees seeking temporary shelter.

Atlanta Motor Speedway will open its camping facilities free of charge to evacuees seeking temporary refuge from the approaching Hurricane Irma. The Speedway, which is equipped to handle thousands of campers during its annual NASCAR weekend, will open both RV and tent campgrounds to any interested evacuees beginning tomorrow, Sept. 7.

Talladega Superspeedway will also open facilities which will include hot shower and restroom facilities, as well as water hookups, beginning Thursday Sept. 7 at 10 a.m. ET.

Earlier this week, Hendrick Motorsports drivers launched a disaster relief fund with a $500,000 goal for hurricane victims, including those impacted by Hurricane Harvey in Houston.

Posted on by Brad Norman

MORE: Who fake texted Hamlin after win? | Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: Darlington

Rowdy’s Rebels.

8 Mile of Mullets.

WonOne.

Those are the Fantasy Football team names for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin. Although it’s pretty obvious which driver is matched to each team name, we are curious if the rookie got the last pick?

For the internet’s sake, we hope the loser will have to do something embarrassing for the whole world to see. Nothing like a Fantasy Football league group text to really kick-start some tension at Richmond this Saturday.