These may be the most meaningful gloves Austin Dillon has ever received — and we’re not talking about the ones he wears inside a race car.
The Richard Childress Racing driver, still floating from his Coca-Cola 600 win at Charlotte Motor Speedway, received a humbling letter earlier this week from Lt. Col. Philip Pearsall.
The full-page dispatch also contained an autographed pair of Lt. Col. Pearsall’s gloves. Gloves he wore during every single combat mission in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2003-06. The gloves, Pearsall wrote, represent “sacrifice, sweat, dedication and hard work” — traits Dillon himself owned in earning his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win.
In exchange, Pearsall suggested a swap of gloves — which Dillon gladly accepted, according to his Instagram post Tuesday night.
“One of the coolest things I’ve ever received came through the mail today,” Dillon wrote. “Hope you guys read the letter. It’s so awesome knowing that our true heroes that defend our country are the biggest NASCAR fans.”
Dillon’s win in the Coca-Cola 600 was the first race in the NASCAR Salutes Refreshed by Coca-Cola platform, a six-week initiative encapsulating the industry’s collective expression of respect and gratitude to our armed forces.
Ryan Blaney’s breakthrough onto the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ list of race winners prompted a positive reaction from many in the Pocono Raceway grandstands. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s response to his fellow competitor and close friend’s first win was much the same, but included helpful tips in planning the victory celebration.
Earnhardt detailed his connection to Blaney and his own eventful Pocono weekend in Tuesday’s edition of the “Dale Jr. Download” on his Dirty Mo Radio network.
Earnhardt said Blaney texted him for advice on how best to toast Sunday’s win. Earnhardt told Blaney just to open his own doors to invite close friends, a group that included Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Danica Patrick and members of his Wood Brothers Racing team.
That party went well into Monday morning’s wee hours, but Earnhardt said there was plenty of cause for celebration.
“He’s a good guy, easy to like, has a great story, driving with the Wood Brothers,” Earnhardt said. “I think any time the Wood Brothers win, that’s going to be a popular win, but you tie Ryan Blaney into that, that kind of makes him a little bit of a hero for a lot of folks that the new fan and the old-school core fan can kind of grasp onto that.”
Earnhardt said he had taken notice of Blaney early on, mentioning a strong seventh-place result in his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut (Richmond, 2012) as a launching pad to becoming a winner in all three NASCAR national series. Blaney’s talent was a known quantity, Earnhardt said, but his deft handling of off-track obligations has set him apart.
“Another thing I like about Ryan, and we talked about this last week on the podcast, is his ability to interact with the fans on social media, his willingness to go represent and promote the sport outside of the NASCAR bubble even, on TV shows and so forth,” Earnhardt said. “You have to have guys like that. That’s not the most important part of the job. The fact that he’s talented and good inside the car is great — that’s the most important part. But he goes out of his way, really, to market the sport and himself.”
And Earnhardt picked up on what’s become a recurring theme: the 23-year-old’s victory as part of the infusion of young drivers into the mix.
“That’s just the cycle of youth coming into the sport,” Earnhardt said. “This is a new generation of drivers. It’s their time. It’s the beginning of their careers. It’s just like when we saw Jeff Gordon come into the sport and win his first race or Jeff Burton, those kind of guys. You’re seeing some new talent, new guys coming in to stake their claim.”
Among other topics from Earnhardt’s podcast:
• Earnhardt left Pocono happy for his friend, but lamenting his own 38th-place finish, the result of his second engine failure and missed shift of the weekend. His Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet crew assured him post-race that nothing was different with the transmission housing, the shifter handle or the gear-shift pattern.
“That really leaves me with no answers on why this keeps happening. It’s really embarrassing because racing’s a team sport, you don’t want to be that guy. You don’t want to go out there and work hard all day and be the guy that costs everybody the game, right? If you’re in a team sport, there’s days where you’re going to be that guy, so you’ve got to be able to deal with it but it’s really not a lot of fun.
“I just told the team that it was on me, we’ll work hard to figure out what we can do to make sure this doesn’t happen when we come back (to Pocono on July 30).”
• Earnhardt also answered a fan’s question during the mailbag segment on whether car owner Rick Hendrick would change the team’s car number from No. 88 back to No. 25 after the driver’s retirement at the end of the season.
“I would be fine with whatever Rick wanted,” Earnhardt said. “If he wants to bring the 25 back, but I think he’ll keep the 88 because the 88 has some value to the partner, a lot of value to the Nationwide partner, and I think that has value also for HMS.”
With the 2012 championship and 22 of his 23 race trophies coming as a Team Penske driver, Brad Keselowski confirmed Tuesday that his hope and intention is to re-up with Roger Penske and extend his contract with the team.
Asked in a Tuesday teleconference why a new agreement to drive the famous No. 2 Miller Lite Ford hasn’t been signed yet, the soon-to-be free agent Keselowski chuckled a bit before assuring that he feels a contract extension with his team is imminent.
“Well, that’s a great question, one that I hope to have answered very, very soon,” Keselowski allowed. “And I can tell you that I’ve gone a long ways in my life and career with the help of Roger and all Team Penske and I hope to continue to do so. So I think that’s all I can say really at the moment.”
Since taking a job at Penske, Keselowski, 33, has provided plenty of reasons for the team to re-sign him to a contract. In addition to the wins and championship, Keselowski has 126 top-10 finishes in 283 starts – 44 percent of his race starts – and he has won Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at 15 of the circuit’s 23 tracks.
The series visits one track still to be checked off the win list for the former champ, Keselowski’s home-state Michigan International Speedway – site of Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM).
Keselowski conceded that earlier in his eight-year full-time Cup career, he felt a lot of pressure – from himself and others – to score a win at Michigan. Now, the years and the accomplishments have helped form perspective, and the Rochester Hills native says he is in a great place headed to the track this week.
“You know, earlier in my career it used to feel like a ton of pressure,” Keselowski said. “But as of late, I don’t seem to feel quite as pressured by it. I think maybe that’s just changes in my life or changes in the status of my career as I’ve become more established.
“But now I just look at it and I think of how amazing it is to run well there, and I don’t seem to get stressed about if I don’t run well there. And that’s been good. But I would say it certainly affects people in different ways. And in my case it’s affected me differently as I’ve grown older.”
Keselowski already has two wins this season and snapped a two-race DNF streak with a fifth-place showing at Pocono Raceway on Sunday. In addition to his two wins, Keselowski has three runner-up finishes in 2017 and is fifth in the season points standings.
He’s finished no worse than ninth in his last six starts at the 2-mile Michigan track – with top-five showings in his last two. He was fourth in this race in 2016 and third in the second Michigan race.
And the summer beyond looks encouraging: He is the defending winner of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway and has three wins at Kentucky, two venues that start the series’ July swing.
“There’s some great charts that show that a driver’s best years are right around age 39,” Keselowski said. “… so I still have six of the best years of my career left. And I want to see those to fruition. I’m driven to win multiple championships, and I have that opportunity.
“And it’s more of a waste for me to not see that opportunity and make the most of it or at least take it than it would be to even have an injury in that time span.
“So I’m going to make the most of it and I’m looking forward to it.”
NASCAR’s first of two annual visits to the most triangular race course on the Monster Energy Cup Series circuit, Pocono Raceway, left fans with a nail-biting finish and a first-time winner.
THUMBS UP to Ryan Blaney for winning the race despite being unable to communicate with his team through radio.
It was beautifully appropriate that the oldest active team in NASCAR had to rely on some old-school communication when Ryan Blaney wasn’t able to communicate with his team throughout the race Sunday.
That meant communicating in a way that would make the old-school Wood Brothers proud: Telling their driver to place his hand on the roof of the car if he’s battling a loose condition, or outside the window, on the door of the car, if the car was tight.
.@Blaney with radio issues. Team says, if you're still loose, put your hand on the roof #NASCAR
Whatever the case, animals, please take heed: it’s best to stay away from the parts of a motorsports facility where loud, fast race cars congregate.
THUMBS UP to Bubba Wallace celebrating his friend’s win.
Darrell Wallace Jr. made his much anticipated Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut at Pocono Sunday—and when his good friend Ryan Blaney took the checkered flag, he was naturally there to partake in post-race celebrations.
THUMBS DOWN for fans having a collective heart attack when Mike Joy shouted out “CAUTION!” with two laps to go, in the midst of a heated battle for a victory—while there wasn’t really a caution.
I know, I know. Running a race broadcast is no easy feat. You’ve got to keep an eye on action all over the track, stay calm while producers are shouting things in your ear, and help quash nostalgic conversations when Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip get carried away reminiscing about the good old days—all while keeping millions of TV viewers informed and entertained.
In the tense closing laps, Kevin Harvick trailed Ryan Blaney closely. Everyone was focused on the battle between the veteran champion and the Cup Series newcomer—one false move could have changed the outcome of the race.
Suddenly, while the two leaders approached the white flag, lead announcer Mike Joy shouted, “Caution!” when Cole Whitt’s car went up in smoke.
But the yellow flag never actually came out as Whitt’s car made it off track safely. It turns out Mike Joy had some bad intel. The cars raced to the finish and Ryan Blaney held on for his first victory.
BIGGEST THUMBS UP OF THE WEEK goes to Brad Keselowski performing the Victory Lane interview with Ryan Blaney. This was too cool.
The day before his big win, Blaney was part of FOX’s all-driver TV broadcast of the XFINITY Series race at Pocono, acting as a pit reporter for the day—which, of course, included the duty of interviewing eventual race winner (and Blaney’s quasi-teammate), Brad Keselowski.
The next day, of course, Blaney scored his first victory, and the roles were reversed—Brad Keselowski performed an impromptu Victory Lane interview with Ryan Blaney.
Nobody expected Keselowski to put on his reporter’s hat, but it was the cherry on top of an exciting weekend of racing.
Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Team Penske group will go back in time at Darlington Raceway this year, with a paint scheme to match.
Darlington Raceway’s Twitter handle revealed Keselowski’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford he’ll pilot for the Bojangles’ Southern 500, a sleek, black look that honors Rusty Wallace. Keselowski ran a similar scheme at Michigan in 2015.
— Darlington Raceway (@TooToughToTame) June 12, 2017
This season marks the third year that Darlington will host a throwback-themed Southern 500 event. This year’s event will focus on the 1985-1989 era, considered a time of growth and exposure for the sport.
LONG POND, Pa. – From Kyle Larson to Brad Keselowski to Ryan Blaney’s best friend Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., the good wishes filled Victory Lane – hugs, back slaps, and high fives for NASCAR’s newest first-time victor.
And for all the in-person celebration he was caught up in, Blaney’s eyes brightened and his smile widened when he was told during his victory press conference that Mario Andretti had also sent congratulations via Twitter for the 23-year-old’s maiden Monster Energy NASCAR Cup win Sunday at Pocono Raceway.
The great champion Andretti particularly appreciated a win with Blaney’s historic Wood Brothers Racing team and was – like so many other NASCAR fans – genuinely excited about Sunday’s race finish.
“Truly enjoyed watching some awesome driving.” Andretti said.
Blaney’s first victory earned the great Wood Brothers team its 99th Cup trophy. This was the team’s first win since a then 20-year-old Trevor Bayne stunned the racing world by winning the 2011 Daytona 500 in his first try.
Despite all the revelry and good vibes, it certainly wasn’t an easy win for Blaney. And that’s perhaps what made the outcome even sweeter.
Jeff Zelevansky, Getty Images Sport
In the closing laps, he had to get around Kyle Busch for the race lead then hold off Kevin Harvick to take his first checkered flag. Neither of those Cup champions – Busch and Harvick – has won yet this season, so the motivation for all three drivers was immense.
Yet, in some ways, as Blaney drove across the start/finish line and turned in the victory lap he undoubtedly started thinking about as a kid – it still felt a bit like a “throwback” victory for the six-decade-old Woods Brothers team, which has hoisted trophies with Hall of Famers David Pearson and Cale Yarborough. Even unintentionally, the win was reminiscent of an earlier time.
Blaney’s crew chief Jeremy Bullins confirmed that radio communication with his driver ceased about 40 laps into Sunday’s 160-lap race, joking that they used “a lot of Morse code.” Blaney could hear his team, but they could not hear him.
Adapting to the situation, they went back to communicating the way the Wood Brothers teams of decades ago would surely appreciate: Good ol’ hand signals – thumbs up and thumbs down.
“It was just like us going back to the old days with no radios,” Eddie Wood said with a smile. “We used to have a piece of gray tape on the dash that would have ‘roof loose, door push,’ and that’s what you went by. It just kind of took me back, and then right there at the end, the way (Blaney) was trying to get away from Harvick and dropping down to the inside like that. Neil Bonnett did that in 1980 here, and went on to win the race.
“I don’t know, it was just like I had flashbacks. It was really cool.”
“I didn’t really drive any differently than I would have before,” Blaney insisted, regarding his holding off a hard-charging Harvick in the closing laps. “You just try not to make mistakes. One little mistake and he was going to get by us pretty easy.
“You just try the best you can to focus and do what you do all day, which is hit your marks and try not to make mistakes.”
The result was definitely one of the sport’s most popular wins – for Blaney, who has been an all-class breath of fresh air and youthful optimism. And for the Wood Brothers, a legendary team and family who celebrated Sunday alongside a second-generation driver (his dad is former Cup driver Dave Blaney) who is respectful of where he’s come and eager about where he’s going.
By Monday morning the photos of Blaney reveling in his win back home in North Carolina (he rents from Dale Earnhardt Jr.) had appeared on Twitter. In one photo, Blaney’s good friends Wallace, Earnhardt, Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were among those raising a toast and flashing the No. 1 sign in honor of the first-time winner.
“It’s a huge year for the rookies, and then Bubba making his first start this weekend, that’s a big deal,” Blaney said. “It’s nice to be part of kind of this younger group of drivers, and I think we’re all kind of coming into our own.
“I think it’s pretty neat to just be part of the group. You always want to be part of the group, and luckily we’re able to finally get in Victory Lane because I’ve been pretty jealous of (Kyle) Larson and Austin (Dillon) and Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) for them getting to Victory Lane, them being young guys, as well, and now we can finally add our name to that group.”
It’s truly a great sign for the sport. This win in particular celebrates the best of NASCAR tradition with the Wood Brothers and serves a reminder of the talented generation “next” that is already rapidly becoming generation “now.”
There are worse neighbors to have than Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver helped kick the celebration of his neighborhood pal Ryan Blaney’s first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win up a notch on Sunday night/Monday morning by bringing the beer. And lots of it.
“Dale’s a damn good friend, man,” Blaney said in an Instagram Live video Monday morning. “He dropped off four coolers of beer. Four damn coolers. That was really special.”
It’s a good thing, too, as apparently the Wood Brothers Racing driver’s bash lasted well into the wee hours of the morning. Check out the time stamp on Darrell Wallace Jr.’s star-studded tweet.
Talk about a cause worth partying all night for — not only was it Blaney’s first win in what’s shaping up to be a promising career, it was also the 99th Monster Energy Series win for the Wood Brothers, and first since Trevor Bayne’s 2011 Daytona 500 victory.
So raise a glass to win No. 99 while you still can — the way Blaney is racing, No. 100 should be just around the corner.
We did it!! Such a great privilege to driver for the Wood Brothers. Good times with good friends is all I can ask for. Let’s go for win 100! pic.twitter.com/3joF2o2uAe
There have been three first-time winners at NASCAR’s highest level through 14 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races this season. It’s the first time since 2011 there have been that many drivers to win their first Monster Energy Series race in one year, and Wood Brothers Racing is a thread that runs through both seasons.
Ryan Blaney’s Pocono performance on Sunday sent him to Victory Lane — in the historic No. 21, no less — for the first time in his Monster Energy Series career. It follows career-firsts from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Dillon with 22 races still remaining this year.
As for that 2011 group … take a look below for a quick look at both this season and that one.
FIRST-TIME WINNERS, 2017
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr., May 7, Talladega. Stenhouse Jr. qualified on the Coors Light Pole and passed Kyle Busch on the last lap for a breakthrough win. | Go in-depth on this race
• Austin Dillon, May 28, Charlotte. It was a fuel-mileage decision, but no one would hold it against Austin Dillon when he steered the No. 3 back into Victory Lane in the prestigious Coca-Cola 600. | Go in-depth on this race
• Ryan Blaney, June 11, Pocono. This was as old-school as it gets. Blaney’s headset wasn’t working, so he couldn’t communicate with his crew during the race. No matter. He passed former champ Kyle Busch, then held off former champ Kevin Harvick to put the No. 21 in Victory Lane. | Go in-depth on this race
FIRST-TIME WINNERS, 2011
• Trevor Bayne, Feb. 20, Daytona. Widely considered the biggest upset in NASCAR history, Bayne launched his career when he won the biggest NASCAR race of them all one day after he turned 20 years old. It was the first win for Wood Brothers Racing in 10 years. | Go in-depth on this race
• Regan Smith, May 7, Darlington. Smith stayed out on a late caution, then paid the gamble off by holding off the field on the final restart at one of the trickiest — and most iconic — tracks on the circuit. It was the first-ever win for then-upstart Furniture Row Racing. | Go in-depth on this race
• David Ragan, July 2, Daytona. Two 2011 races at Daytona, two big upsets — this time it was David Ragan powering through for team owner Jack Roush. | Go in-depth on this race
• Paul Menard, July 31, Indianapolis. There’s no bigger track than Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Menard family, which made Paul’s conquest in 2011 extra sweet. | Go in-depth on this race
• Marcos Ambrose, Aug. 15, Watkins Glen. Considered one of the best road racers in NASCAR, Ambrose outdueled Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch in the waning laps for a thrilling victory. | Go in-depth on this race
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. –704Games, NASCAR Team Properties’ exclusive console simulation-style video game licensee, has announced that, in addition to the traditional Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the upcoming NASCAR Heat 2 will feature the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. These series offer new styles of gameplay, new drivers and vehicles, and six new tracks, including three road courses, two ovals and one dirt track.
Developed by Monster Games, NASCAR Heat 2 expands on the core experience of last year’s NASCAR Heat Evolution with a deeper career mode supporting all three national racing series, upgraded visuals, physics and damage models, expanded online multiplayer functionality, and the return to the franchise of two-player local multiplayer.
704Games recently revealed that Kyle Busch will grace the cover of NASCAR Heat 2 after winning a head-to-head competition between Toyota drivers during the Monster Energy All-Star Race™ in May.
NASCAR Heat 2 is expected to launch in North America on Sept. 12, 2017 for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and Windows PC.
Additional information on NASCAR Heat 2 will be available throughout the summer on the game’s official website: www.NASCARHeat.com. Fans can also follow NASCAR Heat 2 on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates.
LONG POND, Pa. – Erik Jones got a taste of the high life on Sunday at Pocono Raceway.
Running third in the closing laps of the Axalta presents the Pocono 400, Jones watched Ryan Blaney outduel Kevin Harvick for the victory – and wanted to be up there with them.
Third was a career best for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender, but Jones has his sights set on loftier goals.
“It’s great to run up there and it feels really good to get a top five, but, man, when you’re that close and you’re seeing them battle for the win and you’re right there trying to pounce and make a move, it definitely makes you eager to go up there and try to get it.
“Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come, and hopefully we can keep running well and keep getting in contention for more.”
The race unfolded in nearly ideal fashion for the No. 77 Furniture Row Racing team. The Toyota was a long-run car, and there were plenty of long runs in Sunday’s race. And Jones held his position after the final caution on Lap 141 despite taking two tires on the last pit stop.
“We needed a lot of green flag runs and we got that today,” Jones said. “We got plenty of green flag runs. It worked out really good.
“The late caution, I kind of thought that was going to throw a kink in our day. Obviously, I was pretty content with where we were running. Came in, luckily two tires worked out for us just fine. We were able to get clear up into third and kind of hang out there for the rest of the race.”
