Posted on by Brad Norman

Jeremy Clements found himself in Victory Lane for the first time after 256 NASCAR XFINITY Series starts on Saturday.

And the party hasn’t slowed down for the 32-year-old driver just yet.

Clements posted a photo to Instagram holding his Road America trophy tight while surrounded by family and friends — all throwing up the No. 1 finger to commemorate the ‘shocking’ win.

MORE: Did Clements pull off NASCAR’s greatest upset? | Drivers praise Clements victory

Clements also received a goodie basket from NASCAR Hall of Famer and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team owner Rick Hendrick.

 

Clements is a co-owner of his small, family-owned team and his win provided one of the season’s best underdog stories yet.

Posted on by Staff Report

Lead online racing simulation iRacing.com announced the creation of a new series that will showcase NASCAR’s rising stars currently competing in NASCAR-sanctioned series.

The NASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series will kick off Aug. 29 and includes Christopher Bell, Harrison Burton, Noah Gragson, Todd Gilliland, Blake Koch, Ryan Truex, Parker Kligerman, Ben Kennedy, Ryan Preece, Ty Majeski and Chase Briscoe in its star-studded regular lineup, as well as special guests from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and other premier racing leagues from around the world. Drivers will compete for eight weeks with a four-race schedule for bragging rights.

“We couldn’t be more excited,” Tony Gardner, president of iRacing.com, said in an official release. “NASCAR is a tremendous partner and the various NASCAR official series on iRacing are extremely popular.  Adding this series to our eSports line-up with real world professionals is thrilling and highlights the continued growth of sim racing.”

The season’s first race on Tuesday will be held at iRacing’s version of Iowa Speedway and will be broadcast live on www.iRacing.com/live at 8 p.m. ET. To continue with the iRacing theme, NASCAR Peak Antifreeze Series powered by iRacing.com will compete at iRacing’s version of Darlington Raceway immediately following the invitational event. This marks the first race of the playoffs for the Peak Antifreeze Series, which is considered the pinnacle of NASCAR’s sanctioned eSport series, and drivers compete for over $20,000 in cash and prizes.

“Through our long-term partnership with iRacing.com, NASCAR has been at the forefront of competitive gaming for years,” said Blake Davidson, NASCAR vice president of licensing and consumer products. “The NASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational will further connect our drivers to the growing fan base of e-Sports in an engaging and authentic way.”

Posted on by Brad Norman

RELATED: Blast to the past: 1985 gallery | Pick biggest NASCAR upset

Drivers and teams won’t be the only ones celebrating the throwback theme on Sunday in Darlington.

The Monster Energy Girls will channel ’80s rockers in new outfits — think Poison as the inspiration.

The @MonsterEnergy Girls are ready for a wild #NASCARThrowback weekend in Darlington… Bring on the 80’s!!! pic.twitter.com/abgQch8jwV

— Monster Energy (@MonsterEnergy) August 28, 2017

Donned in black leather, teased hair, and cut off shirts the Monster Energy Girls are taking the throwback party up a notch.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full Darlington schedule |  See the throwback looks

Jamie McMurray will pilot a red No. 1 Chevrolet that pays tribute to NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson in Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET, NBCSN), Chip Ganassi Racing announced via Twitter on Monday evening.

A 10-time winner at Darlington, Pearson piloted a No. 1 Hawaiian Tropic paint scheme to his final career victory at “The Track Too Tough to Tame” in 1980. It marked his lone win of the season, a year in which he ran nine of 31 races.

RacingOne

Pearson remains the all-time winner at Darlington, with Dale Earnhardt in second place with nine victories and Jeff Gordon with seven trips to Victory Lane at the South Carolina track. He is also the second-winningest driver in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with 105 career victories.

This marks the third season that Darlington will host a throwback-themed weekend. Click here to see the rest of the throwback looks and vote for your favorite paint scheme.

Posted on by Brad Norman

RELATED: XFINITY Series playoff standings

Jeremy Clements’ win Sunday at Road America had it all — it had late contact, was a massive upset (one of the biggest in NASCAR history, in fact) and also had major playoff implications.

For Clements, he’s got a stranglehold on one of 12 playoff berths for the NASCAR XFINITY Series playoffs. A win does that for a driver.

Other drivers on the bubble, though, saw their somewhat comfortable road become much rockier now that Clements, who is 17th in the regular-season standings, has grabbed an unexpected playoff berth.

MORE: Vote: Biggest upset ever?

Here’s what to know:

THE FIELD

Here is what the XFINITY Series playoff field would look like if the playoffs started today. We’ve handed out all bonus points for victories and stage wins, and the appropriate bonuses for final regular-season rankings as the standings sit post-Road America.

Rank Driver Projected points
1. William Byron 2,027
2. Elliott Sadler 2,020
3. Justin Allgaier 2,016
4. Daniel Hemric 2,008
5. Brennan Poole 2,007
6. Ryan Reed  2,006
7. Jeremy Clements  2,005
8. Cole Custer  2,005
9. Blake Koch  2,005
10. Matt Tifft  2,004
11. Michael Annett  2,002
12. Brendan Gaughan  2,001

BUBBLE WATCH

The battle for the final spot, currently occupied by Brendan Gaughan, is one to watch over the final three regular-season races. Here’s who to monitor:

• Blake Koch. He’s two spots above the cutoff line, but only holds a 26-point edge.

• Michael Annett. The second-to-last driver leads the first driver out by 11 points.

• Brendan Gaughan. The Las Vegas native is a scant four points above Dakoda Armstrong for the final playoff position.

• Dakoda Armstrong: From comfortably in to first driver out, his fortunes changed drastically with Clements winning. He trails Gaughan by just four points, though.

Posted on by Staff Report

*Warning: Some strong language is used in a series of tweets from Dale Earnhardt Jr’s verified Twitter account.*

UPDATE: And just like that — Uber comes back with a TKO. This fight is far from over.

______________________________

Forget Mayweather vs. McGregor.

Dale Jr. vs. Uber is the real fight of the year.

Over the weekend, Dale Jr. noticed his rating on the ride-share app was lower than expected — 4 out of 5 stars. Some might say that’s a strong score, but he wasn’t a fan of the news. He demanded answers.

However, throughout the day, his score on the app started to rebound, but Dale Jr. knew the fight wasn’t over just yet. It was his battle to lose and he wasn’t going down that easy.

After taking another ride with Uber, Dale Jr. was enraged after his driver dropped his score under four! Rightfully so since the driver did make a promise that he would rate the driver with a perfect score. He even mentioned he was “over the top nice.”

On Monday, Dale Jr. confirmed he ended his vacation with a solid 4.4 score on Uber — an impressive jump from his dip earlier in the weekend.

For Round 1, Dale Jr. gets the slight edge. He rallied and never gave up. That’s a victory for everyone.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

MORE: Clements ‘shocked’ after winning first race

Jeremy Clements shocked the NASCAR world — as well as himself — by winning Sunday at Road America for the first time across his 256 XFINITY Series starts.

An upset, for sure, but was it the biggest one the sport has seen?

Check out our list of biggest NASCAR upsets to see the top 15 of all time.

To learn more about each of the 15 listed, click the links below, then vote for your choice in our poll.

 

Posted on by Pat DeCola

MORE: Clements ‘shocked’ after winning 

Jeremy Clements’ thrilling XFINITY Series win at Road America on Sunday was as unlikely as it was unprecedented.

The driver of the No. 51 Chevrolet — a small, family-funded ride — held off the major-team backed No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Matt Tifft to secure his first career win in 256th start since 2003.

Clements said after the race that the chassis he ran in the race was nearly a decade old, first manufactured in 2008. That’s wild!

It got us thinking — is there another sports story out there along the same lines of this David vs. Goliath narrative, with a financial twist?

Insert the Oakland A’s.

Not only did Clement’s career get started in 2003, but it also marked the release of Michael Lewis’ acclaimed book, “Moneyball,” which tracked the 2002 season of the American League team from the Bay Area.

The team became famous because of a completely alternative strategy employed by general manager Billy Beane, who mixed things up by signing under-the-radar (i.e. cheap) free agents who excelled in very particular statistics (Sabermetrics), under-appreciated at the time.

The team rewarded Beane by responding with an American League record of 20 straight wins from August 13 to September 4, defying all odds to surge into the playoffs.

… Kind of like how Clements clinched his berth in the upcoming XFINITY playoffs with his unexpected win.

In the years since “Moneyball” was written, more and more teams have accepted and adopted Sabermetrics. The A’s strategy was only thrust even further into the spotlight when the book was adapted into a film starring Brad Pitt in 2011.

It’s unlikely teams will use Clements’ small-team approach as a blueprint for making the playoffs down the road.

But, hey, the story is so good, maybe somebody will write a book about it some day.

 

 

Posted on by Staff Report

MORE: Clements throws hat into playoff picture with exciting win

Jeremy Clements emerged late in Sunday’s Johnsonville 180 at Road America to land his first career NASCAR XFINITY Series win — in his 256th start.

Clements, whose first start in the series came at the age of 18 in 2003, races for his small, family-owned team, and held off Joe Gibbs Racing’s Matt Tifft in the closing laps for the victory.

NASCAR drivers love a good underdog story — who doesn’t? — and were quick to congratulate the 32-year-old on Twitter.

 

Posted on by NASCAR Wire Service

RELATED: Race results | Detailed breakdown

ELHART LAKE, Wis. — Journeyman Jeremy Clements and his small team topped big-name race organizations to clinch a first-ever victory in 256 NASCAR XFINITY Series starts.

On the second-to-last lap of the Johnsonville 180 Sunday at Road America, Clements attempted to pass Matt Tifft for the lead. He wheeled his Chevrolet to the inside of Tifft’s Toyota Camry sending both of them spinning. Clements fired his car back up faster than Tifft and seized the lead headed into the final go-around. From there, the 32-year-old XFINITY Series veteran cruised to Victory Lane, finishing 5.802 seconds ahead of runner-up Michael Annett.

Clements, who co-owns Clements Racing out of Spartanburg, South Carolina, with his father Tony Clements, was running in a Chevrolet that was built in 2008. With the victory, he earned a berth in the NASCAR XFINITY Series playoffs.

“I’m extremely pleased right now, and it feels like a dream,” said Clements, who started 24th in the 40-car field.

RELATED: ‘Shocked, don’t know what to say’

Tifft finished third. The 21-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver said he was battling a loose car in the braking zones and realized that Clements would pose a tough challenge, since he had fresher tires.

Tifft led six laps toward the end of the race before the incident with Clements, who made his final pit stop on Lap 29.

“I wish we could have raced for the white flag and been able to battle it out a little bit more,” said Tifft, who made his final pit stop on Lap 21 in the No. 19 Toyota.

“It’s funny how things work. How at Mid-Ohio you can be thrilled with a third-place finish and you’re upset about it here. All you can do is keep on trying to have great runs and one day it works out for you.”

RELATED: Tifft responds to late contact with Clements

The task was not a simple one for Clements, who held the race lead for a handful of laps when the leaders pitted early in the third stage and he was out in front for the one that mattered most in the 45-lap event.

“I was licking my chops,” Clements said. “I was just so excited, I couldn’t believe that the (win) was right there for me to get.

“I was really beating a lot of guys out of those last two corners. Especially the last corner; I could get in really deep. That’s where I thought I could pass (Tifft) at. I should have maybe been a little more patient. But it was coming on the last lap. He’s probably mad though, and I’m sorry to him.”

Sports car standout James Davison was in the wrong place at the wrong time on the final lap of the second stage. Davison led the first 11 laps of the race but tagged the retaining wall in turn 6 on Lap 19 and sustained severe damage on the No. 20 Toyota that forced the Australian to the garage. Davison, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in his third XFINITY Series start, won Stage 1 and led a race-high 11 laps.

RELATED: Davison involved in drama at end of Stage 2

Justin Marks overcame damage to his car sustained at the end of Stage 2 in a collision with Ross Chastain to finish fourth. Brendan Gaughan came in fifth. William Byron, Blake Koch, Cole Custer, Casey Mears and Parker Kligerman rounded out the top 10.

Daniel Hemric won the second stage, led 10 laps and finished 11th overall.

“I can’t believe it,” Clements said. “I’m just, is this is real?”

The XFINITY Series will be back in action for NASCAR’s throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway with the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM).

MORE: Greatest NASCAR upsets