Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Best tweets, pics, video of the day

It’s not a surprise attack, but there’s definitely an element of surprise in Tuesday’s NASCAR XFINITY takeover of Philadelphia.

 

Fresh from a fourth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Ben Kennedy envisioned the reaction of passersby to burnouts on the streets of the City of Brotherly Love.

 

“We’re going to do it around lunchtime,” Kennedy said of a planned stock car parade, complete with a smoke show, in downtown Philadelphia. “Naturally, people are probably going to be going to lunch. They might have an hour off where they can walk around and take in the city.

 

“They might happen to stumble upon it and see this stuff. That part will be pretty neat, and we’re all looking forward to it. … They’re going to shut down several streets here during lunchtime right in the heart of Philadelphia, right where all the action is going on, right where all the good restaurants and big businesses are.”

 

Kennedy is one of 12 NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers who flew into Philadelphia on Tuesday morning to raise awareness of NASCAR racing on the East Coast — but not through a traditional media blitz with in-studio appearances on television and radio.

 

Instead, through the coordination of Pocono Raceway and Dover International Speedway, the series entitlement sponsor — XFINITY — and the sanctioning body, the drivers were making stops that are representative of the fabric of Philadelphia life.

 

There was a STEM-focused question-and-answer session at the Franklin Institute, followed by a meet-and-greet autograph session with fans at the Comcast Center Front Plaza. Then came the parade through downtown Philly, featuring pit stops at City Hall followed by burnouts on Market Street.

 

Several drivers, including Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., took part in a cook-off featuring Pat’s and Geno’s, two renowned purveyors of Philly cheesesteaks.

 

Wallace answered the question that has occupied Philadelphians for decades, though he didn’t have a real basis for comparison.

 

“Geno’s,” Wallace said. “I had a Philly cheesesteak there. I didn’t have one at Pat’s, so Geno’s is No. 1 in my book. I was hungry, and it was really good.”

 

After landing in Philadelphia, Wallace had to work up an appetite.

 

“We were at the Franklin Institute, passing out tickets to families and kids to get them to Pocono and Dover events,” Wallace said. “That was a lot of fun.”

 

Wallace was happy to spend the day helping to promote his sport.

 

“You get a lot of weird looks when you’ve got a bunch of guys walking around in fire suits,” he said. “Everybody was wondering what’s up. And they definitely stopped to ask questions. We had a lot of tickets to hand out, and it’ll be cool to get some new faces out there in the stands.

 

“It’s all about promotion these days and getting the word out there. We’re continuing to try to get new faces and a new demographic and keep pushing those efforts. NASCAR has been doing everything they can to make that happen, using the young guns and XFINITY Series regulars.”

RELATED: Free Kids Tix for XFINITY races

 

More appearances followed, as drivers were scheduled to fan out to Thomas Edison High School, the Reading Terminal Market, an XFINITY Store grand opening at King of Prussia, an XFINITY live stint and, finally, the Philadelphia Phillies baseball game against the Seattle Mariners.

 

Roush Fenway Racing driver and two-time Daytona winner Ryan Reed was afforded the honor of throwing out the first pitch.

 

“They asked if I’d do it, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it,’ ” Reed said after landing in Philadelphia on Tuesday morning. “I’m a little nervous. I was texting with somebody, and they said, ‘Don’t bounce it. Don’t bounce it in. Put some heat on it, whatever you do.’ ”

 

Previously, Reed had thrown a first pitch at a Birmingham Barons minor-league game but never before in the majors.

 

“I’m going out there cold,” Reed said. “I didn’t practice at all. You know, I might try to find a baseball if we get a break at some point and try to throw it somewhere. In downtown Philly, there’s not a lot of places to throw a baseball, but maybe I’ll get to the stadium a little early.”

 

Kennedy, the grandson of late NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr. and the son of International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa France Kennedy, sees similarities between the Philadelphia takeover and some of the annual Champion’s Week festivities.

 

“It reminds me of being able to visit New York a while back,” Kennedy said. “Hopefully, this is kind of a tradition and something we can do throughout the years. It’s really a pretty neat setup that they’ve got going on here. It’s pretty neat to have XFINITY and (parent company) Comcast so involved as well.”

Posted on by Track Release

CONCORD, N.C. — Drenched in Coca-Cola, sweat and confetti after winning the Coca-Cola 600 on May 29, 2016, Martin Truex Jr. noticed a large, red-and-white Coca-Cola vending machine entering Charlotte Motor Speedway’s winner’s circle. Truex initially thought it made for a nice photo-op, but he could barely contain his excitement when he learned that the decades-old vending machine was his to keep.

“That’s nice to hear,” Terry Kimble said from his office in Grayson, Georgia, nearly a year later. “I never know what the drivers think of them. I don’t really get to meet them. I know that we work hard, though.”

RELATED: Truex Jr. makes history in Coca-Cola 600 victory

Kimble owns and operates Remember When Restorations, a small company that restores vintage Coca-Cola vending machines. He realized nearly 30 years ago that the demand for old Coke memorabilia spans the globe. A member of the Atlanta Police Department for 17 years, Kimble left the force at age 39 to work full time on restorations in 1989.

What steered the Charleston, West Virginia, native — who has restored roughly 600 vending machines — to NASCAR was a suggestion from Irish golfer Padraig Harrington.

Harrington met with Coca-Cola Sports Marketing Director Ben Reiling and a group of people at an event during the PGA’s TOUR Championship in 2009. Harrington, an aficionado of antique vending machines, suggested that Coca-Cola give one to the winner of the TOUR Championship every year. Reiling shared the idea with one of Coca-Cola’s leaders, Bea Perez, who signed off on the concept.

Reiling joined Coca-Cola’s PGA team of John Egan and Kasia Horner and after a weekend of hard work, presented 2009 TOUR Championship winner Phil Mickelson with an antique vending machine. The next May, Kurt Busch won the Coca-Cola 600, the Bruton Smith Trophy and a vintage Coca-Cola machine.

Kimble is Coca-Cola’s point man for the restorations.

“It takes approximately 60 days to restore one from start to finish,” Kimble said. “We try to do two or three at a time. It’s a very in-depth process because we take a machine completely apart. Even the insulation comes out. We take it and have it sandblasted after it’s taken apart, get all the old paint and rust off it and then our painter, Jeremy Black in most cases, does his thing. …

“We’re very particular about the color of red paint we use. After it’s painted, we get parts re-chromed, we use new gaskets and screws. We put a new compressor in it to make sure that years from now it’s going to work fine. We’re really particular about authenticity. We’re really particular about the decals we use from that era — which is usually the 1950s — and about everything. I want it to be as authentic as possible. It’s like a classic car.”

The winner of this year’s Coca-Cola 600 will receive a Cavalier 51 model. Truex, who will chase his second machine on May 28, keeps last year’s prize in his Mooresville, North Carolina, office.

“I guess you can say we received a classic piece of history for winning a classic race in historical fashion,” Truex said. “It might have felt like a dream-kind-of win, but it was the real thing.”

Posted on by Nascar

CONCORD, N.C. — L1-level penalties levied against the Team Penske No. 2 Ford team competing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series were upheld here Tuesday following a Final Appeal hearing at the NASCAR Research & Development Center.

As a result of the ruling, Paul Wolfe, crew chief of the No. 2 team, is suspended for this weekend’s race, the Go Bowling 400 scheduled for Saturday, May 13 at Kansas Speedway.

“We are disappointed in the outcome of today’s final appeal hearing,” Team Penske officials said in a statement issued following the decision. “While we appreciate the process that NASCAR and the National Motorsports Appeals Panel has put in place to resolve issues like this, we felt like the penalties received following the March event at Phoenix were unjust.

“Brian Wilson will once again serve as Brad Keselowski’s crew chief this weekend at Kansas Speedway. We’re happy to finally have this behind us as the No. 2 team focuses its efforts on another Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship.”

Wolfe was fined $65,000 and suspended for three Monster Energy Cup Series races while driver Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 team were docked 35 driver and owner points, respectively, for a rules violation uncovered during post-race inspection following the Camping World 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

The No. 2 entry failed the post-race rear wheel steer on the LIS (Laser Inspection Station).

Wolfe has already sat out two races — the Auto Club 400 as Penske officials filed the initial appeal and asked for his suspension to be deferred, and most recently the Geico 500 at Talladega before Tuesday’s final appeal hearing.

In his absence, Wilson, a team engineer, had served as interim crew chief for the No. 2 team.

A three-member National Motorsports Appeals Panel had upheld the original penalties on April 12.

Tuesday’s meeting, which began at 7:45 a.m. ET, lasted slightly more than four hours. Among those present were team owner Roger Penske and Competition Director Travis Geisler.

Keselowski is third in the championship driver points standings through the season’s first 10 races and the No. 2 team is third in the championship owner standings. The points deductions were factored into the driver and team point totals upon the initial announcement of the penalties, thus Tuesday’s decision did not result in any movement in the standings.

The 2012 series champion, Keselowski already has two wins this season, at Atlanta and Martinsville, all but guaranteeing he and his team a spot in this season’s 10-race playoff.

Roger Werner, chairman of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States (ACCUS), served as the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer on Tuesday. Werner ruled on the appeal in place of Bryan Moss, who was unable to attend the hearing.

Posted on by Staff Report

BUY TICKETS: See the races in Pocono | See the races in Dover
RELATED: See the drivers in Philly

Drivers in the XFINITY Series hit the streets of Philadelphia on Tuesday for the second year in a row to celebrate NASCAR in advance of upcoming races near Comcast headquarters, the NASCAR XFINITY Series entitlement partner, at Pocono and Dover.

Follow along via tweets, which will be updated throughout the day:

Posted on by Nascar

BUY TICKETS: See the races at Kentucky | Get kids tickets to races

Goodyear officials will look to do more than verify the tire package for this year’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway when they hold a two-day test Tuesday and Wednesday at the 1.5-mile track.

“We’ve also got some things to try to actually promote a little more wear on a repaved surface, which is something we haven’t been able to do,” Greg Stucker, director of race tire sales for Goodyear, told NASCAR.com on Sunday. “The guys have kind of taken a different approach on compound formulation to see if we can’t actually generate some wear on what we project to be a fairly smooth surface.”

Kentucky Speedway will host the Quaker State 400 on Saturday, July 8 and will be preceded by NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (July 6) and XFINITY Series (July 7) races.

The 1.5-mile track was repaved before last year’s tripleheader; a portion of the asphalt has since been replaced.

“From my understanding they re-did the top two inches of it; they didn’t go down and take up everything, they put a new top coat on,” Stucker said of the changes. “We’re going to go there with the same package that we raced last year. At the same time, we feel like that was probably conservative. … We admit it was probably conservative but that’s OK, it was a repave and I’d rather be that way than not.

“So we’ll go back and see how different the surface is — it’s supposed to be the same (asphalt) mix. We’re going to verify that.”

Teams from Chip Ganassi Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing and Furniture Row Racing are scheduled to take part in the test. Drivers expected to be on hand are Jamie McMurray (CGR), Austin Dillon (RCR), Kurt Busch (SHR) and Erik Jones (FRR).

Two tire tests have been held this season, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A test at Michigan was postponed due to weather and has been rescheduled for July 10-11. Because of the date change, the MIS test will now be dealing with potential ’18 changes rather than focused on this year’s races at the 2-mile track.

Posted on by Kathy Sheldon

BUY TICKETS: See the races at Kansas

When a winning Rolex Grand-Am Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series driver tells Carl Edwards he just did something “crazy,” that carries some weight.

 

Craig Stanton, a champion road racer and regular test driver for Toyota Racing Development, and Edwards got a Toyota Land Cruiser (heavily modified, of course) up above 230 mph at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.

 

Crazy really is the only word for it.

 

“We just did something pretty crazy. We drove an SUV over 230 mph. But I’m telling you, at 225 mph the thing was wandering a little bit, and trying to keep my foot in it,” Edwards says.

 

Edwards gives credit to his driving partner after joking before the test run that he really didn’t ask Stanton enough questions before agreeing to the driving task.

 

“Craig Stanton said, ‘No matter what, keep your foot in it, and we got 230 mph,’ ” Edwards explained after the run. “It’s an unofficial record, but I think it’s safe to say it’s the fastest SUV on the planet.”
You can watch the record unfold in the video below.

 

 

What’s next for the driver who stepped away from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series after the 2016 season?

“I got about 1,800 acres of soybeans to plant, but that’s about it for right now,” Edwards told Tom Jensen of Fox Sports.com.

 

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Full race results | Stenhouse seizes the moment at Talladega

 

TALLADEGA, Ala. — His son had just won his first career race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, so Ricky Stenhouse Sr. did what any other proud father would do — he tried to scale the fence surrounding the 2.66-mile Talladega Superpeedway.

 

The elder Stenhouse had watched Sunday’s GEICO 500 from atop an RV on the backstretch, according to Stenhouse Jr. And when the fence climb proved too difficult, he quickly ran around the track’s outer perimeter road, hoping to get in through the tunnel and to Victory Lane to celebrate with his son.

 

Foot traffic, however, is not allowed through the tunnel located in Turn 4.

 

Stenhouse Sr. was detained by concerned officials, who weren’t sure why a middle-aged man would be rushing to get into a track after the race.

 

“He was extremely excited about his son winning today,” track spokesman Russell Branham said, “and naturally so. … He wants to go through the tunnel and get in here. Our guys saw it, naturally they stopped him, asked him who he was, said ‘Would you get in the car.’ “

 

Once he explained to officials who he was and why he was in such a hurry to get into the track and to Victory Lane, calls were made and Stenhouse Sr. was eventually transported inside.

 

The younger Stenhouse, who scored his first win in 158 career starts in the series for Roush Fenway Racing, said his father had climbed the fence at Kentucky Speedway after Stenhouse Jr. won for the first time in the ARCA Series in 2008.

 

“And I climbed the other side and met him at the top,” he recalled.

 

So Sunday, he said, “I went down the back straightaway after the race was over and looked up to see if he was there, but I didn’t see him. 

 

“My dad has done so much for me in my career. Everything that I’ve learned is from him, and you know, making sure that you have the right people around you is one of the things that he’s all about, making sure that you have people that respect you, that will do anything for you, and man, he sacrificed a lot for me and my career.

 

“Everything that I know about racing I learned from him, and I’m glad that he was able to be here in Victory Lane.”

 

Posted on by Staff Report

BUY TICKETS: See the races at Kansas
RELATED: Full race results | Stenhouse seizes the moment at Talladega

 

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Before Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Roush Fenway Racing hadn’t won a race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in the organization’s last 101 starts.

 

It had been so long, in fact, that its last winning driver was Carl Edwards, who departed Roush at the end of 2014, went to Joe Gibbs Racing, and won five times during a two-year span before announcing he would not compete in 2017. For Gibbs or anyone else.

 

Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart were still competing full-time when a Roush driver last took a checkered flag in NASCAR’s elite series.

 

Roush Fenway Racing has struggled. It has failed to put a driver in the 10-race season-ending playoff the past two seasons.

 

But this year? This year’s been different. A three-car organization became a two-car outfit when RFR officials jettisoned the No. 16 team, keeping youngsters Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (No. 17) and Trevor Bayne (No. 6) to drive its Fords.

RELATED: See the standings post-Talladega

 

Between the two, there was one career victory — Bayne’s 2011 Daytona 500 title while he was driving for Wood Brothers Racing. But there has been improvement if not wins.

 

Sunday, Stenhouse removed the “if not.”

 

Making his 158th career start in the series, the 29-year-old powered past 2015 series champ Kyle Busch (JGR) on the final lap of a race that went three laps beyond its scheduled 188-lap distance to score his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory.


RELATED: Kyle Busch discusses last-lap pass by Stenhouse

 

Roush-owned entries have now won 136 times in the series with a variety of talented drivers. None likely enjoyed any win more than Stenhouse did on Sunday.

 

Is Roush Fenway Racing back?

 

They’ve talked of speed and skill and a better on-track product almost since the season began, but even Stenhouse admitted the results have been somewhat surprising.

 

“I do think that we started a little stronger than we thought we would,” Stenhouse, twice a champion in the XFINITY Series, said. “But then we’ve also continued to make gains and continued to up our performance.”

 

The victory was his third consecutive top 10, and his fourth in his last five starts. He’s 12th in points and on track for a spot in this year’s 10-race championship playoff.

 

Bayne, while not as consistent, has seven finishes inside the top 15 and currently sits 16th in points.


RELATED: Stenhouse’s season in-depth | Bayne’s season in-depth

 

It was on the backs of others, Roush said, that his organization rose to the top (it won back-to-back championships in 2003-04), “and I’ve never doubted that we would win more races,” he said.

 

“I just didn’t know if it was going to be today.”

 

Stenhouse had a fast car — on Saturday he won the pole — but Roush also noted that at Talladega “you’ve got to have luck going for you, and the stars lined up to be able to be successful.

 

“But I was confident that Ricky would win a race this year.”

 

The team has struggled from time to time on pit road, he said, “and that’s really the only question that I had was whether the team would be able to support Ricky in his effort to win a race and Brian (Pattie, crew chief) and all of his detail and his preparation.

 

“But I knew that we had the right mix of people in the right places this year, and if we’d just — if it would gel and we’d have a little bit of good fortune that we would win races, and we’ll win a race with Trevor before the year is over unless I miss my guess.

 

“But hopefully we can get ourselves ready for this last 10 races to make a championship run. That’s what I’m thinking.”

 

Posted on by Staff Report

BUY TICKETS: See the races at Pocono | See the races at Dover

SEE: Inaugural event in photos

It’s that time of the year again. On Tuesday, May 9, Pocono Raceway, Dover International Speedway and Comcast are coming together for the second year in a row to bring NASCAR to the city in a major way for the NASCAR XFINITY Philadelphia Takeover. For the entire day, fans are invited to tag along at numerous events at key locations across Philadelphia, celebrating the sport in advance of upcoming races near Comcast headquarters, the NASCAR XFINITY Series entitlement partner, at Pocono and Dover.

Most notably among the day’s festivities, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series cars from participating teams JR Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing and Richard Childress Racing will be taking over the city streets during the midday hours, making a pit stop in front of Philadelphia City Hall and putting on a show for fans along the way. That was one of the highlights of last year’s trip, with Ty Dillon putting on a smoke show, burning down the tires in his Chevrolet.

A large cast of drivers from the NASCAR XFINITY Series will be spread across the city throughout the day, visiting the Franklin Institute, Reading Terminal Market, Thomas Edison High School and Philadelphia Phillies game that evening.

A star-studded lineup of drivers is expected to be in attendance for the day, including Ryan Reed, Darrell “Bubba” Wallace, Jr., William Byron, Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Daniel Hemric, Ben Kennedy, Brennan Poole, Cole Custer and Blake Koch.

New for this year, fans are invited to participate in an expanded fan fest, located at the Comcast Center on the front plaza. Throughout the entire day, families will have the opportunity to receive free tickets to the upcoming NASCAR XFINITY Series races at Dover and Pocono. In fact, kids ages 12 and younger are admitted free to all NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races, making it easier for families to create memories at the racetrack.

Back-to-back race weekends at nearby venues in the month of June will give fans from the Philadelphia area and beyond the opportunity to see their racing heroes following the NASCAR XFINITY Philadelphia Takeover. First, the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Dover International Speedway on June 3, followed by the Pocono Green 250 at Pocono Raceway on June 10.

Fans are encouraged to follow along with the events of the day via social media and use #XFINITYTakeover to join the conversation. On Twitter, @XFINITYRacing, @PoconoRaceway, @MonsterMile and @NASCAR_XFINITY will all carry updates, along with Pocono Raceway and Dover International Speedway on Facebook.  

Posted on by Staff Report

BUY TICKETS: See the Monster Energy All-Star Race at Charlotte

RELATED: Fan Vote now open for Monster Energy All-Star Race

 

Go Fas Racing is proud to announce that “the front page of the internet,” Reddit, will be represented on the No. 32 Ford Fusion at the Monster Energy Open, the race to gain entry into the Monster Energy All-Star Race.

 

Reddit is an online social community where people can vote on user-submitted stories and text, which can be upvoted or downvoted to raise interesting content to the top of each page. There are many “subreddits” where users can browse more specific content catered to their individual interests. Matt has done many AMA’s (Ask Me Anything), which is essentially a question and answer session between Reddit users and Matt.

 

“I’ve really gotten to know the Reddit community over the last couple years,” DiBenedetto said. “I first got wind of the site when Josh Wise ran the paint scheme a few years ago, and since then have been browsing the site and speaking with users pretty regularly. I’ve found that not only do they have a great understanding of the sport and its news, but they also have a great sense of humor about much of it. It’s a lot of fun to go on there and just talk with them about the sport.”

 

“Matt first approached us earlier this year about doing something like this,” team owner Archie St. Hilaire said. “We’re definitely familiar with the site and most of our team has been on quite actively. We know that Matt has a lot of fans and friends on Reddit and we really wanted to give back to the community that has supported his career in big moments like these.”

 

 

Last year, DiBenedetto was narrowly beat out by a few other drivers in fan votes. This year, Matt and the Go Fas Racing team hope to capitalize on their recent successes to gain the votes needed to make it into the Monster Energy All-Star Race. With Matt’s outgoing, relatable personality and the hardworking Go Fas team, the odds have never been better.