Posted on by @KESELOWSKI

BUY TICKETS: See the races in Bristol 

Erik Jones looked poised for his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory as he lined up second behind Martin Truex Jr. on the final restart Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.

And he almost did. After Kyle Larson jolted past Truex for the lead, the 21-year-old rookie held on for a still-solid third-place finish.

But for a brief, fleeting moment, he caught glimpse of victory.

“We were kind of in our own league there for a long time – were kind of matching lap times, he would go faster and I would go faster,” Jones said of the Furniture Row Racing cars. “I really thought that whoever was out front was going to win, unfortunately neither of us got it done. Neither of us really got going great after that last restart. I spun my tires, he spun his and it just wasn’t what we needed at the end.”

Lucky for Jones & Co., the Monster Energy Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this week, a track where Jones has flexed his muscle in the past. He has two wins there in the XFINITY Series, the most recent one the spring race earlier this season. In his lone Monster Energy Series start at “The Last Great Colosseum,” he finished 17th, but ran with the leaders the majority of the day.

This provides a bit of confidence.

“We looked back to the spring race, we ran really well – I thought we were really fast all weekend long in practice, didn’t get to qualify due to rain,” Jones told NASCAR.com. “But ran up front, ran in the top three all day long, right there with the 78 and the 42.

“So that just gives us a lot of confidence going back; I think we’re going to have that speed again. Hopefully, the track is doing the same thing with the PJ1 and applying it on the bottom that we’ll be able to bring back the same package and hopefully have similar speed that we did there a few months ago.”

Jones will also have crew chief Chris Gayle back atop the pit box, as Gayle has served his two-race suspension for a Pocono infraction. The No. 77 team currently sits 16th in the driver standings, but 19th in the playoff standings, a position where Jones essentially needs a win to make the playoffs.

RELATED: Full playoff standings

Having a familiar voice call the shots on the radio bodes well for the young star in this position — Jones will need all the chips available as he looks to gamble his way into the playoffs with three races to go before the field is set.

And gamble they will, Jones said.

“You’ve got to be aggressive,” Jones said. “As a driver, I have to be aggressive, as a crew chief, Chris Gayle has to be aggressive. …We’re not racing for top 10s anymore – we’re racing to just try to snag a win. That’s the only thing that really means anything to us at this point in the season. …

“You know, it’s unfortunate, I think back to a lot of races on the year where we didn’t get the finish we could have gotten or had a DNF that wasn’t necessarily our fault. It’s frustrating to pick out those races and think if they would have went a little bit differently, we could be in a lot better position. But (we’re) definitely being aggressive and trying to snag the win right now.”

While the team views all remaining tracks – Bristol, Darlington and Richmond – as opportunities to create its own destiny, Jones said the short track in northeast Tennessee is the one they are especially focusing on.

“I think we’ve all got Bristol circled as a team,” Jones said. “We ran really well there in the spring. We didn’t get the finish we wanted, but we had a really fast race car.

“Obviously it’s a huge goal to make the playoffs, and I know we’re capable of it,” he said later. “We’ve just got to go out and make it happen, and it goes back to execution. We’ve had fast race cars at a multiple number of races, we just haven’t put the whole day together, whether it be we didn’t qualify well or we qualified well and had a bad stop late or whatever else.

“It’s just going to take putting an entire weekend together. It starts on Friday and ends with a good day on Sunday.”

Or in this case, Saturday night under the lights.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

RELATED: Fit Row Presented by Lilly Diabetes launches

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.

Joey Galloway knows speed. The former college football standout at Ohio State University and NFL wide receiver knows how to move the chains, too. An avid NASCAR fan that has attended some “30 to 40 races,” the now-ESPN college football analyst gained further appreciation for the job of a pit crew member.

Galloway spent a cool morning during the offseason at the headquarters of Joe Gibbs Racing working out with some of the team’s crew members and learning the ins and outs of pit stops – like when to go over the wall and how to serve as a tire carrier or change a tire on a race car.

The visit to JGR’s Huntersville, North Carolina-based shop came from a long-standing invite of driver Matt Kenseth and his crew chief Jason Ratcliff. At one race, Galloway stood near the wall for a pit stop and called it the “most exciting thing I’ve ever seen in sports.”

“Because I had that experience, doing this out here today was great,” Galloway told NASCAR.com. “The car’s coming in and I didn’t go because that car is coming faster than you think it is. When you are there at eye level, you see that car coming at you, it’s tough to jump out there in front of it because now you are trusting that other guy is going to stop the car before it takes you out.”

Galloway also appreciated learning additional knowledge about a sport he loves – such as the intricacies of applying lug nuts on a pit stop and the skill level required to execute fast pit stops of around 11 seconds.

“The appreciation for the skill level that these guys have because after I got us through about a 45-second pit stop and then to watch the professionals do it and how quickly, you get a big appreciation for what they’re doing,” Galloway said.

Speaking of Galloway’s performance in the pit drills, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Senior Athletic Advisor Mike Lepp was very complimentary.

“We saw some really good things out there,” Lepp told NASCAR.com. “Great foot speed. Hitting lug nuts is something he’s never done (Galloway hit three). We have tire changers that are a little less accurate but they have great foot speed and that kind of erases missing lug nuts because they are great to the car and around the car. Joey was great with that – kind of a natural.”

Using former college athletes on pit road, usually former football players, has been a rising trend in NASCAR. Lepp said as a result of the competition to gain spots on pit road, the importance of the athletic component on pit road has evolved over the last 10 years.

“Can you take a guy that was fast and quick in another sport and evolve him into this?” Lepp said. “Certainly, we do. If you look at our pit crews, a lot of them are ex-college athletes, things like that. I think most teams have evolved to that.”

JGR has a full athletic facility for the pit crews to work out in over the course of a grueling 38-week season and the organization, like many in NASCAR, takes great steps to keep their crews as healthy as possible

As a receiver, Galloway had 701 receptions over a 16-year NFL career in some high-pressure environments playing for the Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots and Washington Redskins. Being on pit road is a pressure-packed gig and the 45-year-old thinks that former college athletes bring a special skill set to the job.

“Athletes have an ability to deal with pressure,” Galloway said. “We have an ability to deal with harsh coaching and an ability to deal with direct communication.”

Lepp went one step further on that thought.

“Usually with athletes, you’ll have what we call the athletic mindset,” Lepp said. “That mindset is usually what separates the guys that make it from not making it. … Everybody is going to make mistakes in 38 races but who comes back from that mistake, who’s fast again.

“Every pit stop is filmed and when you make that mistake, it’s going to get played over and over and over again. It’s kind of like military special ops – I always say pit crews are like that. If you make a mistake, everybody knows about you. If you did your job, nobody knows your name. The driver goes to Victory Lane, you are kind of off to the side.”

Posted on by NASCAR Wire Service

RELATED: Race results | Standings | Detailed breakdown | Playoff picture

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Not even a NASCAR overtime could stop Kyle Busch from rallying back from a speeding penalty at the end of Stage 2 to win Wednesday night’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Busch, forced to the back of the field under penalty to start the final stage, put on a clinic on a Lap 119 restart and utilized the high line to roar through the field and find himself back in the top-10 by Lap 136.

Nearly 30 laps later, Busch found himself on the tails of leaders Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton. Taking second from Sauter on Lap 163, Busch moved back into the lead four laps later slicing and dicing through lap traffic.

When Austin Wayne Self and Justin Haley tangled with five laps, the final restart left the field one more attempt to swipe the lead away from Busch.

The now five-time Bristol Truck Series winner, however, would have none of it pulling away from Crafton at the Lap 201 restart and cruised to his third NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win of the year and 49th of his career.

“I knew once I got that penalty that I had to go somewhere, other than where everyone else was,” said Busch. “I just started grooming the top and it took about 15 laps for it to come in and then it started going, it was pretty fast.”

“I can’t say enough about all these guys on this Banfield Pet Hospital Tundra, it was awesome. It was awesome when we unloaded. We made some fine-tune adjustments to it. She was really good all-day long.”

Looking like a superhero with his comeback, Busch, who isn’t expected to compete in anymore Camping World Truck Series races this season, said he learned enough from the penalty that could give him a potential advantage towards earning a second triple-weekend sweep at Bristol. The first came in August 2010.

“It was a lot of fun to come through the field like that, it kinda gave me some ideas about the rest of the week,” added Busch. “Probably showed a bunch of stuff too. That’s what it’s all about. This is the start of the triple, hopefully we can get it.”

While many welcomed the event’s final caution, Crafton didn’t want to see the yellow flag, as he was sure he was catching Busch as the final laps counted away.

“I searched the top, searched the bottom, and went back to the old faithful bottom,” said Crafton. “One thing I’ve done, I’ve finished second to Kyle way too many times here. All in all, it was a very good truck and we have nothing to hang our heads about.

“We were running him down there at the end. I didn’t want to see that yellow because we were running him down, we were so good on old tires. And then that restart, when you are starting on the outside you’re going ‘oh man this could be really really bad’ and he has that grip to take off on the bottom and I was sitting up there spinning the tires.” 

Busch led the field to green after nearly a two-hour rain delay and dominated the first stage leading all 55 laps.

The Brad Keselowski Racing trucks of Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric pitted on Lap 27 and restarted 1-2 for the Lap 64 restart, but Matt Crafton used the bump and run on Cindric and took control a lap after the beginning of Stage 2 and led until Busch caught Crafton in lap traffic and re-inherited the lead at Lap 105 and sailed away to the Stage 2 win.  

Busch led the field off pit road but was busted by NASCAR for speeding in section 4, handing the lead back to Crafton for the start of Stage 3 and the eventual comeback for Busch.

The Truck Series will take a one-week break before returning to action north of the border at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the running of the Silverado 250 on Sun., Sept. 3.

 

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Qualifying results

Weather in the area delayed the start of the Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway for 1 hour, 58 minutes.

The green flag was scheduled to drop at 8:46 p.m. ET Wednesday, but that start time was postponed thanks to lighting in the area of “The Last Great Colosseum.” The crowd was cleared and personnel were asked to seek shelter.

Rain began to fall shortly after the track was cleared. NASCAR had on hand an armada of track-drying equipment for the .533-mile track after the rain stopped, including eight NASCAR Toyota Air Titans, five jet dryers, two track vacuums and one Elgin sweeper.

The green flag fell at 10:44 p.m. ET

Kyle Busch started on the pole. He is a four-time winner in the Camping World Truck Series at Bristol, and has won two of six races he has started in the series this season.

 

Posted on by Track Release

DARLINGTON, S.C. — In celebrating the legacy of Dale Earnhardt Sr. and honoring Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his final NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 start, Darlington Raceway is dedicating its Turn 3 suite towers in their names, respectively.

Earnhardt Towers will feature an assortment of graphics that depict memorable moments of Earnhardt Sr. and Earnhardt Jr., featured on the backside of each tower. The Earnhardt Towers name also will be proudly displayed on the front of the towers facing the track.

Earnhardt Towers will join a great tradition of historical names that the Lady in Black has given to its facilities, including:

  • Brasington Tower Grandstands (Turn 1) – named after Darlington Raceway’s founder and first president Harold Brasington
  • Colvin Grandstands (backstretch) – named after Bob Colvin, Darlington Raceway’s president from 1952-67
  • Tyler Tower Grandstands – named after W.D. “Red” Tyler, Darlington Raceway’s president from 1982-89
  • Jim H. Hunter Media Center – named after Jim Hunter, Darlington Raceway’s president from 1993-01
  • Pearson Tower Grandstands – named after David Pearson, NASCAR Hall of Famer and Darlington Raceway’s all-time wins leader (10) in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
  • Cale Yarborough Garage – Darlington’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series garage is named after the Timmonsville, S.C., native, who holds five victories in the famed Bojangles’ Southern 500

“Darlington Raceway is fortunate to have many of the sport’s legends honored throughout our property,” said track president Kerry Tharp. “We felt that it was fitting to honor Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for their positive impact on the sport and on the track Too Tough To Tame. Earnhardt Towers will forever celebrate and recognize their achievements and be a lasting landmark at our tradition-rich facility.”

As part of the dedication, Darlington Raceway will hold a special ceremony on Friday morning of race weekend (Sept. 1), featuring track president Kerry Tharp and Kelley Earnhardt Miller, co-owner of JR Motorsports and daughter of Earnhardt Sr.

The towers will be dedicated just before cars hit the track for NASCAR XFINITY Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 and Bojangles’ Southern 500 practice sessions, which are free to the public if fans bring an empty Monster Energy can to the track as part of its Free Can Friday initiative (http://www.darlingtonraceway.com/Articles/2017/08/Monster.aspx).

Earnhardt Sr. held Darlington Raceway in high regard and always cherished a victory at the track Too Tough To Tame. His nine Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins at Darlington rank second all-time (David Pearson had 10 wins). He won races at the Lady in Black in 1982, 1986, 1987 (2), 1989, 1990 (2), 1993 and 1994. He also won three NASCAR XFINITY Series races at the track (1986, 1987 and 1991).

Earnhardt Jr. will be racing in his final Bojangles’ Southern 500 on Sunday, Sept. 3 (6 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM). He has four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes at the track in 21 career starts. He has been a loyal supporter of the track’s throwback campaign, which honors the history and heritage of the sport.

Darlington Raceway’s award-winning throwback campaign is now The Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR featuring the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500® on Sunday, Sept. 3. The NASCAR XFINITY Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 will race on Saturday, Sept. 2. Tickets are on sale now by calling 866-459-7223 or visiting DarlingtonRaceway.com. Children 12 and under can get in free to Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race.

Posted on by Staff Report

Denny Hamlin and girlfriend Jordan Fish have welcomed their second child into the world, Molly Gold Hamlin born on Aug. 15, 2017.

The couple took to Twitter to share the news. Jordan revealed that the couple was expecting on the day of the Daytona 500.

Hamlin and Fish also have a 4-year-old daughter, Taylor.

Hamlin likely will now have two things on his mind as he heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the annual night race (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) — winning and getting back home to spend more time with his newborn.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings

Joe Gibbs Racing has transferred management responsibility of the pit crews for the Nos. 77 and 78 Toyotas to Furniture Row Racing, a JGR spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday. Gibbs provides the pit crews for the two Furniture Row cars driven by rookie Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr. as part of its technical alliance with the Denver, Colorado-based organization.

However, while management decisions for the Furniture Row pit crews will now be made in-house, the crewmembers will continue to train at JGR.

The arrangement between the two organizations was cast into a new light last month at Indianapolis.

Kyle Busch and Truex crashed while racing for the lead in Turn 1 off a restart on Lap 112 of the Brickyard 400. Following a confrontation between Busch’s crew chief Adam Stevens and several members of Truex’s team, JGR suspended two No. 78 crewmembers – front tire changer Chris Taylor and rear tire changer Lee Cunningham, JGR employees – for three weeks.

Those suspended crewmembers return to action Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Mobil 1 to continue as ‘Official Motor Oil of NASCAR’

NASCAR and basketball fans who happened to pass by New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Wednesday were in for a treat.

In a special event hosted by Mobil 1 called “The Drive,” 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick and NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo were on hand to give fans an experience they will never forget.

RELATED: Harvick, Mutombo team up with Mobil 1

Fans had the opportunity to test Mutombo’s defensive skills on a pop-up basketball court, and one lucky fan even rode shotgun with Harvick around Manhattan in a Mobil 1 Annual Protection-branded Ford Fusion.

Check out all the action as the worlds of racing and basketball collided thanks to Mobil 1.

Katey Dietz/NASCAR

Posted on by Jason Lofing

RELATED: Full schedule

Michael Conti snapped a winless streak that dated back to August 2014 by winning the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series race at Michigan International Speedway on Tuesday night. The former series champion started fifth and was strong all evening, leading 57 of 125 laps. Conti outdueled polesitter Zack Novak, who spent 50 laps at the point before falling to Conti on pit strategy on the last run.

Novak crossed the line 2.7 seconds behind Conti. Novak pitted one lap early and briefly took the lead thanks to his fresh tires. However, Conti’s one-lap fresher tires made all the difference as the 2014 champ reeled him in, flew around Novak on the outside, and pulled way for victory.

Logan Clampitt finished third and clenched a spot in the NPAS playoffs. Taylor Hurst came home fourth and Dylan Duval was fifth.

Novak had the quickest car early, leading the first 24 laps from the pole as Conti settled into second. A caution for Brad Davies’ spin slowed the field for the only time in the race and brought the field to the pits for tires and fuel. Novak kept the lead with a solid stop, but he no longer had the luxury of a comfortable lead.

This time, Conti had the speed to keep up and stuck to Novak’s back bumper as the run wore on. Conti finally made his move on Lap 42, taking the lead off Turn 2. Novak would not go quietly and on Lap 45 Novak returned the favor in Turn 2, recapturing the top spot.

The two ran nose to tail once again until Conti capitalized on Novak’s mistake off Turn 4 on Lap 51 and took the lead for the second time. Conti would continue to lead until he pitted for tires and fuel on Lap 55 under green. Novak followed three laps later, but the differing strategies let Conti pull out to a lead of over half the front straightaway.

Fresher tires and a fast car allowed Novak to slowly chase Conti down and by Lap 88 he was once again on his bumper. Instead of passing for the lead Novak decided to undercut Conti and pit on Lap 89, one lap before the leader. The stop gave Novak the lead for a moment before Conti motored by on Lap 95.

Michigan also marked the end of the regular season, and the top eight drivers in the standings will now do battle in the first ever NPAS playoffs. Ryan Luza will lead the eight into the postseason with his three victories, followed by Bobby Zalenski and Ray Alfalla with two each. Novak is seeded fourth with one win. Corey Vincent, Marcus Richardson, Logan Clampitt, and Christian Challiner also qualified for the playoffs but have not won a race thus far in 2017.

The playoffs will kick off at Darlington Raceway and with Zalenski’s regular season points lead erased, it truly is an eight-driver fight for the title. Luza comes in as the odds-on favorite but Alfalla has the experience of a close championship battle under his belt. Zalenski and Novak should not be discounted either as both have shown race-winning speed in several races this season.

Who will get the playoffs started off on the right foot and who will have work to do when the NPAS leaves Darlington? Find out in two weeks when the series visits Darlington, the track Too Tough to Tame!

Playoff Contenders:
Ryan Luza
Ray Alfalla
Bobby Zalenski
Zack Novak
Logan Clampitt
Christian Challiner
Corey Vincent
Marcus Richardson

Details on the playoff format can be found here: http://www.iracing.com/nascar-peak-antifreeze-series/

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: See the action at Chicagoland

Ten teams took part in a two-day Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series test on Tuesday and Wednesday at Chicagoland Speedway, site of the playoff opener set for Sunday, Sept. 17. Chief among the goals for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and several others were preparation for the playoffs.

With wins at Daytona and Talladega, Stenhouse and his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford team will be part of the 16-driver postseason. Given his dirt background, Stenhouse is a fan of the aging track surface at the 1.5-mile track.

“Finally, we are in the playoffs,” Stenhouse during a break in testing. “We always come to Chicago and the last few years, we’ve always kind of said as a team and acting like we were in the playoffs and tried to put the best 10-race stretch we could together. I feel like we got a little practice, even though we were not in the playoffs the last couple of years, but I think we’re ready.

“There’s some good tracks for us in the playoffs starting here in Chicago. … Nice being able to come here and test and see if we can improve our car for when we show up.”

Ryan Blaney, who will be in the 16-driver playoff as well thanks to his Pocono win in June, felt the test was beneficial to get prepared for not just the start of the playoffs, but the fact that half of the 10 postseason races are on 1.5-mile tracks.

“This place is a really, really fun race track and it’s only of those places you can run on the bottom all the way to the wall,” Blaney said during a break in testing. “You’re constantly moving every single lap and those are some of the best 1.5-mile tracks we have and this is definitely one of the better ones.

“I think it’s a great place to kick off the playoffs and that’s another great thing about testing here, being in the playoffs you can kind of get a head start on what is going to be like, hopefully.”

On hand to represent their respective organizations were seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports), Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing), Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing), Ty Dillon (Germain Racing), Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing), Brad Keselowski (Team Penske), Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing), Aric Almirola (Richard Petty Motorsports), Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing) and Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing).

In addition to the teams testing, Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota had their respective wheel force cars on hand at the 1.5-mile track to gather data. Alex Bowman (Chevrolet), David Ragan (Ford) and Drew Herring (Toyota) handled the testing work for their respective manufacturers.

According to the NASCAR National Series Master Unified Test policy, no more than one team from each company may take part in an organizational test. Two more organizational tests remain: Oct. 10-11 at Martinsville Speedway and Oct. 24-25 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.