Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch win stages in Bristol

Posted on August 19, 2017August 19, 2017 by Staff Report

Matt Kenseth collected 10 much-needed race points when he grabbed his third stage victory of the season by winning Stage 2 at Bristol Motor Speedway’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race on Saturday.

Kenseth was one of a handful of cars not to come to pit road after a caution on Lap 231, clearing the way for the playoff-bubble driver to nab the stage win when it ended on Lap 250.

Kyle Busch, who led 37 laps beginning on Lap 204, surrendered the lead to come to pit road just before the end of Stage 2. Busch is attempting to win all three NASCAR series races this weekend after also winning the Camping World Truck and XFINITY Series races in Bristol.

Martin Truex Jr. went two laps down in Stage 2 after he was forced to return to pit road after stops on Lap 202. He then was levied with an uncontrolled tire penalty, and the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota dropped from fifth to 29th by the time it was over.

The No. 3 of Austin Dillon and the No. 33 of Jeffrey Earnhardt collided on Lap 231, causing significant damage to both cars.

Finish	Driver	Team	Race points
1.	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	10
2.	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	9
3.	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	8
4.	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	7
5.	Erik Jones	Furniture Row Racing	6
6.	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	5
7.	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	4
8.	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	3
9.	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	2
10.	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	1

MORE: Full Stage 1 results

Kyle Busch collected his 10th stage win of the season by winning Stage 1 of Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Busch, who is attempting to sweep all three NASCAR series races this weekend, nudged leader Kyle Larson out of the way just before Stage 1 ended on Lap 125 to nab the stage win.

Larson led a race-high 70 laps after taking the top spot from pole-sitter Erik Jones on Lap 65. Jones led 49 of the first 64 laps.

The No. 2 Team Penske Ford of Brad Keselowski suffered an early issue in Stage 1 when the left front tire went down on Lap 5. After stopping to make repairs, Keselowski was three laps down at the end of the first stage.

Stage 2 ends at Lap 250; the final stage is scheduled to conclude at Lap 500.

Finish	Driver	Team	Race points
1.	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	10
2.	Erik Jones	Furniture Row Racing	9
3.	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	8
4.	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	7
5.	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	6
6.	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	5
7.	Ryan Blaney	Wood Brothers Racing	4
8.	Joey Logano	Team Penske	3
9.	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	2
10.	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	1

Posted on August 19, 2017August 20, 2017 by Track Release

As the electricity builds towards the green flag of the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, Bristol Motor Speedway’s fan-favorite driver introductions feature a musical lineup unlike any other.

The combination of hard rock, rap and country showcase the diverse personalities of the stars of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series before they strap in to conquer The Last Great Colosseum.

Erik Jones, who claimed his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole, will salute his Furniture Row Racing team’s pole-winning effort with DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win.” He’s hoping to use that phrase to claim his first Cup Series victory.

Kyle Larson, who has been one of the strongest competitors this season, starts second and is still searching for his first career Bristol win. He pays homage to his dirt tracking days with Kenny Montgomery’s “Dirt Track Thang.”

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne decided to take a risk and chose each other’s songs. Earnhardt Jr. will walk out to “Stuntin’ Like My Daddy” and Kahne’s will be “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone” by Brooks & Dunn.

Defending race winner Kevin Harvick is channeling his nickname of “Happy Harvick” with “Happy” by Pharrell while April’s Food City 500 winner Jimmie Johnson is using Snoop Dogg’s “What’s My Name.”

Five-time Bristol winner Kyle Busch is going for the sweep this weekend (after winning the UNOH 200 and Food City 300) and is using the popular hit “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons.

Here is the list of the 2017 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race driver introduction song choices:

Starting Position	Driver	Artist	Song
1	Erik Jones	DJ Khaled	All I Do Is Win
2	Kyle Larson	Kenny Montgomery	Dirt Track Thing
3	Kasey Kahne	Brooks & Dunn	You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone
4	Chase Elliott	Jeff Bates	Chevy Don’t Let Me Down
5	Matt Kenseth	Metallica	Halo on Fire
6	Martin Truex Jr.	Florida Georgia Line	That’s How We Do Around Here
7	Denny Hamlin	Drake	Jumpman
8	Joey Logano	Drake	Energy
9	Clint Bowyer	Randy Houser	How Country Feels
10	Ryan Blaney	Sturgill Simpson	Life Ain’t Fair and The World is Mean
11	Jamie McMurray	Imagine Dragons	Believer
12	Daniel Suarez		El Mariachi Loco
13	Ryan Newman	Luke Bryan	Huntin, Fishin & Lovin Everyday
14	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Alan Jackson	Chattahoochee
15	Chris Buescher	Matt Mason	E
16	Austin Dillon	Rick Ross	Ain’t No Mercy
17	Brad Keselowski	Van Halen	Right Now
18	Kyle Busch	Imagine Dragons	Thunder
19	David Ragan	Tracey Byrd	I’m From the Country
20	Trevor Bayne	KB Ft. Lecrae	Sideways
21	Jimmie Johnson	Snoop Dogg	What’s My Name
22	Ty Dillon	Petey Pablo	Rise Up
23	AJ Allmendinger	Linkin Park	Paper Cut
24	Danica Patrick	Warren G	Regulate
25	Kurt Busch	Aerosmith	Sweet Emotion
26	Michael McDowell	Thi’sl	Dream Team
27	Paul Menard	Lamb of God	512
28	Aric Almirola	Pitbull	Green Light
29	Kevin Harvick	Pharrell	Happy
30	JJ Yeley	Sonny & Cher	I Got You Babe
31	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Birdman & Little Wayne	Stuntin’ Like My Daddy
32	Cole Whitt	Sir Mix-A-Lot	Baby Got Back
33	Landon Cassill	Hawthorne Heights	Silver Nights
34	Matt DiBenedetto	X	Gon Give It To Ya
35	Corey LaJoie	Jason Aldean	Lights Come On
36	BJ McLeod	Motley Crue	Kickstart My Heart
37	Gray Gaulding	Bon Jovi	Wanted Dead or Alive
38	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Tyler Hatley & the Little Mountain Band	Good Life
39	Reed Sorenson	Five Finger Death Punch	Over and Under It
40	Joey Gase	Black Eyed Peas	I Gotta Feeling

Posted on August 19, 2017August 20, 2017 by

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Tab Boyd was grinning from ear-to-ear.

The No. 22 spotter has spent his weekends for the last five years perched atop hills and high-as-the-sky towers at race tracks across the country and guiding Joey Logano’s Shell-Pennzoil Ford on track.

But he had never seen Bristol Motor Speedway from a hot air balloon until Saturday afternoon – nor did he ever think he ever would.

“That’s one thing about this job,” Boyd told NASCAR.com with a laugh, while airborne. “It’s never dull and it’s always full of surprises.”

The Pensacola, Florida, native is no stranger to racing; he grew up around the sport and has memories going to tracks around the Southeast with his father. The tiny Tennessee short track known as Bristol was always a place he looked forward to seeing.

Being able to spot for a living at this special place is “pretty much a dream come true.”

“It’s a very unique place, it’s always been,” Boyd said. “Bristol’s always been somewhere I’ve loved to come since I was a little kid, so it’s neat to come here and help be part of the show.”

But the Bristol show is one that isn’t so seamless; the small track equates to small spaces to move and even smaller tempers from drivers as they bump and rub one another’s cars.

It makes a spotter’s job even more crucial.

“It’s very challenging here at Bristol,” he said. “Being in this hot air balloon is a pretty cool experience to see a different perspective of the speedway rather than the spotter’s stand, but it’s so intense; everybody’s doing everything they can to pass each other every second they can around the track. So, just being alert and being on the game is the hard part at Bristol.”

Boyd points out the spotter’s stand from the hot air balloon, an area to the right of the Bass Pro Shops-emblazoned tower. He shows a picture that he took from the spotter’s stand looking at the hot air balloon.

“So that was from there to here. As a matter of fact, I’m going to take one from here to there,” he said, snapping a photo of the iconic colosseum.

“The view from the Bristol spotter stand is really good, but I tell you what, I’d like to get this A11 to bring this thing to Watkins Glen or something like that,” he said later with a grin. “To go way above a road course, that would be pretty handy.”

Tonight’s race (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will present an additional challenge for the No. 22 team, as it marks one of three races left for Logano to win his way into NASCAR’s playoffs. With his win at Richmond encumbered, Logano currently sits 18th in the playoff standings, two spots out from the 16-car field.

But while that creates pressure for the team, some of that goes away when the green flag is dropped, Boyd said.

Because, after all, it’s Bristol, baby.

“It’s really important to do well each and every week but knowing that we’re about to wrap up the regular season, it’s more important for us to be able to get a win,” Boyd said. “Once the race starts, that kind of all goes out the window and you get in your zone and you do the best you can to get in good positions and be up front.

“So, that’s the fun part about Bristol, is being here and the intensity and the crowd and hearing them roar whenever a big pass is made, so that’s what it’s all about.”

Posted on August 19, 2017August 19, 2017 by Staff Report

See where your favorite driver will pit for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on August 18, 2017August 18, 2017 by Staff Report

Kyle Busch completed the second leg in a potential Bristol Motor Speedway tripleheader sweep, rallying to victory in the NASCAR XFINITY Series on Friday night.

Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota led a race-high 186 of 300 laps in the Food City 300. He also converted a come-from-behind victory Wednesday in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Busch was bitten by a pit-road speeding penalty during the intermission after his Stage 1 win, forcing him to restart in 19th place. But Busch roared back to the front — much like he did in his midweek truck win — in 58 laps to take Stage 2 and position himself for another victory on the .533-mile track.

“At least I didn’t have to come through in the last stage because everybody was pretty fast there tonight in the last stage,” said Busch, whose Truck Series comeback came in the final stage. “I don’t know if I would have been able to make it all the way back up through there.”

Busch’s fifth XFINITY win of the season was his ninth at Bristol and the 91st of his career. He’ll go for the tripleheader sweep in Saturday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series main event (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), a Bristol feat he also accomplished in 2010.

“I think we can, yeah,” Busch said of his chances, starting 18th in Bristol’s annual night race. “We’ve got a fast car. We just have to make the right adjustments overnight here and get it ready for tomorrow.”

Daniel Suarez, Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, netted second place in the No. 20 Toyota, finishing 1.181 seconds behind Busch at the checkered flag.

Series points leader Elliott Sadler finished third, clinching a playoff spot by ensuring himself a top-20 result in the regular-season standings. Ty Dillon and Justin Allgaier completed the top five.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 13th, one lap down, in his first XFINITY start since winning at Richmond in April of 2016. After the race, Earnhardt was treated with fluids for dehydration and hand cramps in the infield care center.

The series’ next race is scheduled Aug. 27 at Road America, the sprawling 4.048-mile road course in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Contributing: NASCAR Wire Service

Posted on August 18, 2017August 19, 2017 by Nascar

What: Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race No. 24)

Where: Bristol Motor Speedway, .533-mile oval in Bristol, Tenn.

Green flag: 7:48 p.m. ET

TV/Radio: NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Forecast: Sunny with a high near 86. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. (NOAA.gov)

National anthem: Motor Racing Outreach children

Grand Marshals: Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops Founder and CEO; Dale Hall, CEO Ducks Unlimited; Ed Carter, Executive Director, TWRA

Honorary starter: Joe Gregory, former CEO King Pharmaceuticals

Race distance: 500 laps, 266.5 miles

Pit road speed: 30 mph

Caution car speed: 35 mph

Stage lengths: Stage 1 ends at Lap 125; Stage 2 ends at Lap 250; Final stage scheduled to end at Lap 500.

Posted on August 18, 2017August 19, 2017 by Staff Report

Rookie Erik Jones scooted to his first Coors Light Pole Award in Friday qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Jones, 21, guided the Furniture Row Racing No. 77 Toyota to a fast lap of 128.082 mph in the final round of elimination-style time trials, claiming the first starting position for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). His first career pole comes as he prepares for his 27th start in NASCAR’s top division.

“I was hoping we were going to be able to accomplish a few things this year and this was one of our goals – at least one of my goals for sure,” Jones said. “Pretty awesome you know, especially at Bristol. It’s a cool place to get your first pole.”

Kyle Larson, second in the standings and last week’s winner at Michigan International Speedway, secured the second-fastest lap at the .533-mile track, driving the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet to a 128.057 mph clocking. He wound up just .003 seconds off Jones’ pole-winning time.

“I wish I could have gone just a few thousandths faster, but ended up second,” said Larson, a three-time winner this season. “So, not bad. I really wanted that pole there just because I was doing something different than everybody, but we’ll start on the front row tomorrow and hopefully be there at the end.”

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kasey Kahne and Chase Elliott qualified third and fourth respectively, with four-time Bristol winner Matt Kenseth completing the top five.

Series points leader Martin Truex Jr. qualified sixth in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota. Truex, who boasts a sizable lead in the standings, has a chance to clinch the regular-season championship in Saturday night’s 500-lapper.

A handful of top-tier drivers surprisingly failed to advance past the first round of knockout qualifying. Kurt Busch just missed the 24-driver cut-off, and will start 25th on Saturday night. His Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick also logged a subpar 29th-fastest lap, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is scheduled to start 31st in what’s likely his final Bristol race.

Timmy Hill, driving the MBM Motorsports No. 66 Chevrolet, failed to qualify for the 40-car field.

Posted on August 18, 2017August 18, 2017 by

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Money isn’t the solution to everything – but in the business world, it certainly helps.

Profitability wasn’t the only factor in Brad Keselowski’s decision to close the doors of his Camping World Truck Series team Brad Keselowski Racing, which he announced Thursday.

However, the Team Penske driver did note Friday morning at Bristol Motor Speedway that he “probably (would) not” have closed the team could it have been more lucrative.

“There were a lot of decisions that went into it,” Keselowski told media in front of the No. 2 hauler. “There wasn’t really one reason, but certainly at some point every business needs to have some profitability, but I never went into it expecting to make money, so I can’t really blame that … Everybody is losing a little, but that was one of the factors. I wouldn’t say it was the only one.”

The biggest factor was his long-term plan: Keselowski elaborated on his earlier comments that indicated his decision was also affected by his eventual goal to own a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team, and that he intends to use the former Brad Keselowski Racing facility for that at some point.

While he recognized that “is many years down the line,” he also said he has a plan for the future, an endeavor that will he hopes will sustain long after he hangs up his fire suit.

“It’s a little bit of a counter-offensive with respect to if you look at all the business owners at this level – and really all three of these levels – they have a sustainable, profitable business outside of motorsports and that’s going to remain the key for any owner to have success because the reality is I can only be a race car driver for so long,” Keselowski said. “When that time comes up, my business would have had to shut down because I don’t have a profit center, and having that profit center is what helps you get through the ebbs and flows that every race team has, so I need to have one of those profit centers.

“That doesn’t mean that I’ll be a Cup owner one day, but that means when the time is right if we achieve the goals that I have, I’ll have the opportunity to make that decision myself and not have it made for me.”

But he remained somewhat tight-lipped as to specifics.

“We’re not ready to announce anything, but I know where I want to go and we’re in the middle of putting all that together,” Keselowski said. “Until it’s together, I don’t want to get too far down the road with it, but I know that I’m committed to the facility and the community to have an operational and functioning business in that area and plan to do just that. Hopefully, that opens a spot to retain a good number of our people.”

Keselowski also acknowledged the pain that comes with closing a team for drivers Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe and the employees.

“It’s very difficult,” he said. “I feel like we’ll be able to find a good home for probably 75 percent of the group, whether that’s new business opportunities, Team Penske or different things I still need people for within the fold that I have. I feel really bad for the 25 percent that I’m not gonna be able to find a spot for, but I’m wishing them the best and thankful for their help over the years.

“Being a business owner, it’s more about the people than anything else,” he said later. “You care about them and they give you their all, and you want to give them your all. In some ways you feel like you’re letting them down when you’re not able to keep it going, so that’s never any fun.”

With the difficult news announcement out in the open, Keselowski sets his sights on his future in the sport.

“The biggest thing is I want to be positioned to have the best opportunities possible when I get done being a race car driver, and one of those opportunities is to be a team owner,” he said. “For that to have any chance of being successful, it’s going to be critical for me to have all of my ducks in a row specific to having other income-generating businesses.

“This is the only way I could get the opportunity to do that, so I feel like it’s the right decision.”

Posted on August 18, 2017August 18, 2017 by Staff Report

Take a look at the stats from drivers that attempted a run of 10 consecutive laps in practices at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend.

Practice 1 results

Pos	Car	Driver	From Lap	To Lap	Avg Speed
1	1	Jamie McMurray	3	12	126.604
2	11	Denny Hamlin	17	26	126.469
3	19	Daniel Suarez #	3	12	126.387
4	42	Kyle Larson	23	32	126.271
5	48	Jimmie Johnson	3	12	126.134
6	77	Erik Jones #	1	10	125.853
7	18	Kyle Busch	34	43	125.401
8	14	Clint Bowyer	23	32	125.332
9	43	Aric Almirola	16	25	125.277
10	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	7	16	125.169
11	78	Martin Truex Jr.	28	37	124.852
12	31	Ryan Newman	28	37	124.651
13	21	Ryan Blaney	38	47	124.621
14	41	Kurt Busch	36	45	124.544
15	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	43	52	124.120
16	5	Kasey Kahne	1	10	123.876
17	47	AJ Allmendinger	32	41	123.648
18	95	Michael McDowell	29	38	123.486
19	24	Chase Elliott	35	44	123.404
20	2	Brad Keselowski	30	39	123.075
21	6	Trevor Bayne	1	10	122.848
22	10	Danica Patrick	25	34	122.535
23	32	Matt DiBenedetto	39	48	122.363
24	34	Landon Cassill	43	52	121.008
25	27	Paul Menard	35	44	119.929
26	23	Joey Gase(i)	43	52	119.635
27	13	Ty Dillon #	63	72	118.947

Final practice results

Pos	Car	Driver	From Lap	To Lap	Avg Speed
1	20	Matt Kenseth	40	49	125.930
2	18	Kyle Busch	28	37	125.601
3	77	Erik Jones #	8	17	125.097
4	21	Ryan Blaney	6	15	124.991
5	48	Jimmie Johnson	21	30	124.978
6	42	Kyle Larson	8	17	124.813
7	24	Chase Elliott	4	13	124.784
8	11	Denny Hamlin	50	59	124.738
9	2	Brad Keselowski	2	11	124.635
10	4	Kevin Harvick	7	16	124.535
11	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	11	20	124.429
12	37	Chris Buescher	45	54	124.397
13	31	Ryan Newman	3	12	124.333
14	1	Jamie McMurray	5	14	124.324
15	14	Clint Bowyer	2	11	124.303
16	41	Kurt Busch	45	54	124.291
17	19	Daniel Suarez #	1	10	124.242
18	3	Austin Dillon	4	13	123.935
19	22	Joey Logano	25	34	123.766
20	27	Paul Menard	7	16	123.584
21	6	Trevor Bayne	12	21	123.408
22	13	Ty Dillon #	9	18	123.408
23	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	5	14	123.394
24	5	Kasey Kahne	5	14	123.316
25	32	Matt DiBenedetto	2	11	123.238
26	43	Aric Almirola	51	60	123.028
27	95	Michael McDowell	5	14	122.930
28	38	David Ragan	45	54	122.366
29	34	Landon Cassill	1	10	121.897
30	47	AJ Allmendinger	20	29	121.654
31	10	Danica Patrick	46	55	121.630
32	33	Jeffrey Earnhardt	26	35	120.601
33	23	Joey Gase(i)	56	65	116.283

Posted on August 18, 2017August 19, 2017 by Nascar

BRISTOL, Tenn. – No news isn’t good news for Matt Kenseth. It’s just, well, no news.

Kenseth, 45, is a former series champion and has 38 wins in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He is also a four-time winner here at Bristol Motor Speedway, site of Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).

And he’s being pushed out of the seat of the No. 20 Toyota fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing in 2018 for a much younger driver, 21-year-old Erik Jones.

Asked about plans to compete beyond this year, Kenseth said Friday at Bristol that he had nothing “at the moment.”

“When I do I’ll tweet something, like on a Monday,” he said. “No plans right now, just raise kids and hang out with my family.”

Kenseth is in his fifth season with JGR, where he has won 14 times. But he’s winless this season and currently holding down the final position for this year’s 10-race playoffs.

A victory in the next three races would guarantee him a playoff spot; he’s qualified for NASCAR’s postseason 13 out of 14 years.

“I’m not worried about it even really one percent anymore to be honest with you,” he said of ‘18. “I’m just not concerned about it. … I’m really concerned about 2017 and that’s the truth. I mean we’ve got 13 races or something left. Three to try to get … into the playoffs. We’re not in there yet.”

A four-race streak of top-10 finishes, including a runner-up at Watkins Glen, ended last weekend at Michigan where Kenseth said he “kind of got ran over at the end of the race … by the 24 (Chase Elliott) trying to race him.”

Kenseth was third for a final, two-lap shootout at MIS, Elliott fifth. He finished 24^th while Elliott wound up eighth.

“Hopefully we get a win, get in the playoffs and try to race for a championship,” Kenseth said. “That’s our goal every year and really that’s what I’m been concentrating on.”

Jones won the Camping World Truck Series championship in 2015 and finished fourth last year competing for JGR in the XFINITY Series. He currently drives the No. 77 Toyota for Furniture Row Racing, which has a technical alliance with JGR.

Last month JGR officials announced Jones would take over the No. 20 beginning next year.

“Matt isn’t just a championship caliber driver,” David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development (TRD), told NASCAR.com Friday. “He has done as much for the team off the track as he’s done on the track; he’s the leader.

“I still remember his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota in 2013 and him walking into the first competition meeting and calling out one of our drivers because he was five minutes late.

“With Matt you are never quite sure whether he’s just having a go at you or if he’s serious. But ultimately what we learned is he takes the sport very seriously. His presence, his maturity – not his age per se – has been great for Joe Gibbs Racing and for the partnerships that JGR has with Furniture Row now.”

Toyota officials would like to see Kenseth continue to compete for the automaker, but it’s not a situation the company controls. Currently the OEM’s involvement in the MENCS extends to JGR and its four teams and the two-team Furniture Row operation.

“This notion, why doesn’t Toyota just step in? I wish we could,” Wilson said. “I wish it were that easy. The reality is it’s not. It is a microcosm of what’s going on with the sport as a whole.

“We do provide a tremendous amount of support to the teams and to the drivers but we can’t carry a driver on our back at this level of the sport. That would just not be appropriate and we’re just not capable.

“For drivers at this level, obviously those decisions are made by team owners and as a partner we’re a party to them but there’s only so much we can do.”