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Pocono Raceway officials have announced the completion of a project that has added more than 5,000 feet of Steel and Foam Energy Resistant (SAFER) barrier around the 2.5-mile track.

 

The barrier was put in place along the 3,740-foot frontstretch as well as areas between Turns 2 and 3, according to a track release.

 

In addition, each of the track’s three crossover gates have been upgraded and now consist of SAFER materials.

 

The upgrade comes one year after officials installed more than 6,000 feet of SAFER barrier around the track and brings the total to more than 23,000 feet for the facility.

 

Pocono Raceway has hosted Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races annually since 1974. The track will host two race weekends for the series this season, the Pocono 400 on June 11 and the Pennsylvania 400 on July 30. The 2.5-mile venue also hosts a NASCAR XFINITY Series race in June and a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race as part of its July race weekend.


RELATED: Pocono to hold qualifying, race on same day for July event

It is the only track hosting the series that features three turns, hence the facility’s “Tricky Triangle” nickname.

 

Kurt Busch won last year’s June event while Chris Buescher scored his first career win in the series second stop last August.

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RELATED: Read more Inside Groove


Another race in the books! It was a blast watching drivers make 500 laps around the this past Sunday.

There was a lot of beating and banging during the race. I couldn’t believe it when got into !

What surprised me most was that this race was the first time that .

How about Brad Keselowski? I really when he wins. In a perfect world, , if you ask me.

The weekend was a real disappointment for , who had a promising run that was cut short due to the fault of others. If I learned one thing, it’s that .

Short track racing is type of racing because .

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Kevin Harvick will run the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race on June 24 at Sonoma Raceway, the driver announced via his SiriusXM Radio Show "Happy Hours" on Tuesday night.

"(I’m) going to be the old guy that shows up," said Harvick, who will fittingly pilot the No. 4 ride. "I have fun when I go do those events. You’d love to win and you want to go out and do that obviously to be competitive, but it’s really, it’s just a series that gave me several breaks and several opportunities to showcase what I did as a kid."

Harvick hasn’t raced a fulltime season in the K&N Pro Series West since 1997. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver last raced in the series in 2007 at Iowa, where he celebrated his seventh series win. He said he wants to shine some light on a series where young drivers have to go through many ranks to eventually be successful in racing.

"It’s hard for young kids to come up," Harvick said. "So, if we can go out there and have fun and bring the west series some exposure and bring some attention to that, that would really be my main goal; to bring some attention to the race, the competitors, all the people that are a part of that series."

Harvick will head to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 (Sunday, April 9, 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX).

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RELATED: Full race results | Race recap

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – When it came to Chase Elliott’s performance in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway, the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was suffering from a severe lack of self-esteem.


After Sunday’s STP 500 at the .526-mile short track, Elliott will have to reevaluate.


Starting on the outside of the front row after rain washed out Friday’s qualifying, Elliott ran in the top five for the bulk of the afternoon and rolled home third, by far his best result in four Monster Energy Series starts at the iconic track.


In fact, Elliott has shown steady improvement since running 38th in his 2015 debut at the track. In last year’s races, he was 20th, then 12th. And his third-place finish on Sunday followed a victory in a 250-lapper in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.


"We started the race, and for whatever reason, my car would not turn at all for the first three or four laps, and I about knocked whoever was on the outside of me back to Charlotte a couple times, and I thought we were going to drop like a rock," Elliott said. "Fortunately, I don’t know if it was just being on the splitter or whatever it was, but actually our car kind of came to life and started turning pretty good.


"From there, it drove pretty similar throughout the entire day. Like I said, I hope it’s a consistent trend, that we can continue to run decent here. Obviously, we’d love to kind of take that next step and try to contend for a win. But from where I’ve been here in the past, night and day, so I was really happy and proud of that."


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Talk about being sent to voicemail.


Dale Earnhardt Jr. declined a post-race phone call from pal and neighbor Ryan Blaney after the two were involved in an on-track incident Sunday at Martinsville, and then let the whole world know about it — or at least his more than two million Twitter followers.



Ouch, ol boy.


Sunday was the second time in three weeks these two had on-track issues. On a post-race live video stream, Junior said he was disappointed in the incident, which you can watch above.


Blaney has not yet responded publicly, but props for being the first to reach out Sunday night. We’re confident these two will be able to move forward.


The real question, here: How is Bubba Wallace in the middle of all this?!


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RELATED: Full race results | Race recap

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Ryan Newman’s victory at Phoenix Raceway, made possible by staying out on old tires, seemingly came out of nowhere. After all, no Richard Childress Racing driver had won an event in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series since 2013 before Newman took the checkered flag at Phoenix.



But the speed in the RCR cars has improved, as both Austin Dillon and Newman proved in Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Dillon came home fifth, his first top five since running fourth at Bristol last August. Newman contributed an eighth-place finish.



"We didn’t have the speed the first couple practices, which for some reason I never do here," Dillon said. "It’s just a trend. I can’t go fast enough to start, and then we consistently get better throughout practice and the race. It’s nice to do that, but I wish I could not give the field half a race before we get up through there.



"Starting 20th was big for us because our last practice was good. Our car had takeoff speed the whole day. It’s the first race car we’ve had that can actually restart and go for the first five laps, and that’s a lot of fun, and we’ve got to focus on that. I think the way the new racing is with the stages and stuff, short-run speed is key, and if you have long run speed, falloff, it really doesn’t matter because you’re going to get a caution at some point."

ANALYSIS: Stage racing considered a hit



Dillon was strong during the final 64-lap green-flag run but couldn’t catch the cars of race winner Brad Keselowski or runner-up Kyle Busch.



"I thought we were going to have a little something for the two leaders, but in middle of the run, our car just lacked a little bit more turn and forward drive," Dillon said. "Then at the end we could come back to them again. I think I was running the 22 (fourth-place finisher Joey Logano) back down there at the end.



"Just proud of my guys and thankful for this run – we needed it."

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Goodyear officials have postponed this week’s two-day tire test scheduled at Michigan International Speedway due to the chance of inclement weather.



The test originally was scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. A new date for the test has yet to be determined.



Three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams were slated to take part — the Richard Childress Racing No. 27 Chevrolet with driver Paul Menard, the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with Danica Patrick and the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota with driver Martin Truex Jr.



MIS, a wide, two-mile oval located in Brooklyn, Michigan, will host the Firekeepers Casino 400 June 18 and the Pure Michigan 400 on August 13.



This week’s test would have been the second of 2017 for the NASCAR’s official tire supplier. Additional tests are scheduled for Indianapolis (April 25-26), Kentucky (May 9-10) and Chicago (June 6-7).



A Goodyear tire test scheduled for Atlanta in August is expected to be canceled now that track officials have announced they will delay a repaving project for the 1.54-mile venue.

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RELATED: Keselowski wins at Martinsville | No. 2 crew on the win

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – It didn’t take long for a decision to appeal a post-race penalty handed down to the No. 2 Team Penske Team to pay dividends.



Driver Brad Keselowski’s appearance in Victory Lane on Sunday following the STP 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race was proof enough of that.



So, too, it seems, was crew chief Paul Wolfe’s attendance on the team’s pit box.



"Look, I need him on that box every weekend," team owner Roger Penske said of Wolfe. "I told him I’d pay him to be on that box every weekend, not to be sitting in his motor home looking at a bunch of monitors.



"But … really the strategy was that we’d take a race off last week and then make the appeal and I guess we’ll be coming back here. … So it was good to get the experience here on this track, obviously, because it’ll be in the Chase."



The No. 2 team failed post-race inspection following last month’s Camping World 500 at Phoenix Raceway. As a result, Wolfe was fined $65,000 and suspended for three races. Keselowski was assessed with the loss of 35 driver points and Penske 35 car owner points.


RELATED: Keselowski penalized after Phoenix

No decision on filing an appeal was made until the team had the opportunity to inspect the car at its headquarters in Mooresville, North Carolina. In the meantime, Brian Wilson served as the team’s interim crew chief at Auto Club Speedway. Keselowski rallied from early problems to finish second in the Auto Club 400.



Wednesday, two days before the start of the Martinsville race weekend, Team Penske officials announced they had requested an appeal hearing and to defer the two remaining races of Wolfe’s suspension "until the results of our appeal are known."



"It’s tough when you’re not there," Wolfe said Sunday evening. "You try to communicate the best with the guys, but there’s that little bit that you miss when you’re just not sitting on the box and being able to communicate with Brad during the race.



"It’s tough not being there, and that’s part of why ‑‑ that’s the penalty they hand down, because they know it is. I’m just proud of the effort today. It was a good way to come back after not being on the box last week."



Keselowski, the 2012 series champion, said he hadn’t considered how he might have fared Sunday without the services of Wolfe.



"Who knows?" he said. "I ain’t thinking about that; I’m just glad I got a checkered flag and a clock."

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Two-time NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Sam Ard passed away Sunday, April 2. The Asheboro, North Carolina, native was 78.
 
Ard had compiled an impressive record in the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series before that circuit was retooled and renamed in 1982. In the series that today is known as the XFINITY Series, Ard scored 22 victories and won titles in 1983 and ’84.

"For many years, Sam Ard’s persona was that of a tough-as-nails racer," NASCAR said in a statement. "No matter the track or the competition, he battled to the end. That fighter’s mentality lasted throughout his life, and far beyond the confines of a race car. Sam battled on and off the track with the same ferocity that earned him two championships in what is today the NASCAR XFINITY Series as well as countless victories in the Late Model Sportsman Series. NASCAR extends its deepest condolences to Sam’s family and friends. He will be dearly missed, and his memory cherished."
 
Ard’s career was cut short due to injuries sustained in a crash at North Carolina Motor Speedway (Rockingham) in October of 1984. Just 14 laps into the Komfort Koach 200, the engine in Ard’s entry blew in Turn 3 and ignited a six-car crash. He was transported to a local hospital where he was diagnosed with a dislocated right shoulder and head injuries.

 

In June the following year Ard announced his retirement from NASCAR, although he competed in three more local Late Model shows, the first of which he was flagged the winner.
 
His 22 wins, in the No. 00 Oldsmobile fielded by owner Howard Thomas, came in just 92 career starts and left him with an incredible 5.5 average finishing position.

 

His 10 wins in 1983 stood as the series record for single-season wins until Kyle Busch tied the mark in 2008. In 2010, Busch set the series record with 13 victories.

Ard’s streak of four consecutive victories in 1983 remains the series record and his three consecutive poles is tied for second.
 
Kevin Harvick, the 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, won two titles and has 46 victories in the XFINITY Series. In 2006, he won nine times, nearly tying Ard’s mark.
 
"I know my wife (DeLana) is happy about that," Harvick said at the time. "She’s a huge Sam Ard fan.
 
"A lot of people don’t understand how hard those people raced and how much different it was then than it is now. In one way, you want to win every race you can, but in another sense, it kind of leaves that early part of the … series untouched. I think that’s kind of neat because of the heritage and what those guys did. Sometimes a lot of new fans and new drivers don’t respect what those guys did to get our sport to where it is right now."
 
After his driving career ended, Ard spent six years as a car owner, scoring two wins with Jimmy Hensley and one with Jeff Burton. All three victories came at Martinsville Speedway. Burton’s victory was his first in the XFINITY Series.

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RELATED: FAQ for race format

In an effort to stay on the lead lap, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made contact with leader Kyle Busch, sending his No. 18 Toyota high on the final lap of Stage 2 and allowing Chase Elliott to sneak ahead for the lead and Stage 2 win in Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Busch had been at the front of the field for 108 laps until the contact with Stenhouse Jr.

 

Elliott earned 10 races points and a playoff point with the stage victory. Busch came up second, while Brad Keselowski ended Stage 2 in third.


Fighting off the powerful cars of Denny Hamlin and Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. held on to the top spot to win Stage 1 of the STP 500 on Sunday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway. The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing driver led 42 laps en route to the stage win, earning a playoff bonus point as well as 10 race points. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Hamlin and Kyle Busch rounded out the top three, respectively. 

The top 10 finishers in Stages 1 and 2 also received race points, as distributed in the table below. The race winner will receive 40 points and five playoff points at the conclusion of the Final Stage.

 

MORE: Watch Stage 1 ending | 2017 season stage points