Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 19, 2017) – NASCAR announced today a return to Las Vegas for the ninth consecutive year with the annual postseason culmination of Champion’s Week — the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards — to be held at Wynn Las Vegas on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017.

“Las Vegas is especially excited to welcome the NASCAR world back for this year’s Champion’s Week,” said Rossi Ralenkotter, president/CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “It’s been a tremendous year for NASCAR in Las Vegas, with another great Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race this spring and the announcement that we’ll become the only destination on the NASCAR schedule with two triple-header weekends starting in 2018. We’ve had a long and successful partnership with NASCAR and look forward to having fans join us for the events of Champion’s Week this year.”

A full lineup of activities for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion’s Week in Las Vegas will be announced at a later date.

“Awards season is a time when our entire industry, along with our passionate fan base, come together to formally crown a champion and celebrate a memorable season,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR Executive Vice President and chief global sales and marketing officer. “The prestige of our Awards grows each year, and with the return to Las Vegas for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards that trend promises to continue.”

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards will air on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Posted on by

STAMFORD, Conn. — As part of NBCSN’s comprehensive coverage of the 2017 NASCAR season, NBCSN’s daily motorsports show, NASCAR America, will present a live show each week from the NASCAR Hall of Fame, in Charlotte, North Carolina, beginning Wednesday, July 5 at 5 p.m. ET. Each live episode from the Hall of Fame will include an in-depth interview with an active driver, and highlight their journey to professional racing.

The weekly telecasts, from the heart of Uptown Charlotte, will take place every Tuesday or Wednesday throughout NBC Sports’ portion of the 2017 NASCAR season. NASCAR on NBC’s lead race announcer Rick Allen (@Rickallenracing) will serve as the primary host of the specialty shows, alongside “The Mayor” of NASCAR Jeff Burton (@Jeffburton), auto racing icon Kyle Petty (@Kylepetty), and Hall of Fame driver Dale Jarrett (@DaleJarrett).

“We believe our new weekly Hall of Fame shows will provide us yet another unique tool to showcase the thoughts and personalities of NASCAR’s biggest stars,” said Jeff Behnke, VP of NASCAR Production, NBC Sports Group. “By hosting an active driver each week at the Hall of Fame, our shows will incorporate even more long-form discussions with the stars moving this sport, and allow viewers an inside look at the home where the history of NASCAR is preserved and celebrated.”

“We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome NASCAR America to the Hall every week beginning this summer. This partnership provides an excellent opportunity for us to showcase today’s top talent and blend it with an iconic backdrop that celebrates the sport’s history and heritage,” said NASCAR Hall of Fame Executive Director, Winston Kelley. “The show will also provide up-close and memorable experiences for our guests to interact with the legends from the past, now some of the most prominent broadcast voices for the sport, and the stars of today who aspire to be future NASCAR Hall inductees.”

NBCSN’S DAILY MOTORSPORTS SHOW SHIFTS ONE HOUR EARLIER

NASCAR America, NBCSN’s daily motorsports show dedicated to speed and stock car racing, shifts one hour earlier to 5 p.m. ET, beginning Monday, July 3. Viewers can catch comprehensive NASCAR news, highlights and driver interviews each evening, delivered by NBC Sports Group’s team of NASCAR hosts, analysts and reporters.

Posted on by Team Release

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Richard Petty Motorsports announced Monday that IMSA Ford driver Billy Johnson will pilot the No. 43 Smithfield Ford at Sonoma Raceway and fill in for the injured Aric Almirola. Fresh from competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Johnson will make his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start this weekend, but this isn’t the first time he worked in NASCAR. Johnson made five starts in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and scored a career-best eighth-place finish in Montreal in 2012.

A road course specialist, Johnson has 10 years of road racing experience. He worked with Almirola on his road course racing at the Ford Performance racing school at Miller Motorsports Park in a curriculum he developed with other instructors at the school. He has worked with over 20 Ford drivers to improve their road racing skills in the last six years.

“It is going to be awesome. It will be my first NASCAR Cup race and to debut in the 43 car, one of the most iconic numbers to ever race in NASCAR, is a huge honor,” said Johnson. “Richard Petty Motorsports is a great organization. To have the chance to make my Cup debut for the King is surreal, and I appreciate them putting me in the car.

“I have run a lot of XFINITY races, but this will be my first Cup race. It is awesome that RPM and everyone at Ford Performance has the confidence in me to take on Sonoma. I have run pretty well in the XFINITY road course races I have done, so I hope that translates into a good showing this weekend.”

“We are so excited about Billy Johnson making his Cup debut. He drove great for us in Le Mans this past weekend, has been a champion for us in the past in the GT350, and he’s been one of our development drivers for a while,” said Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance.

“To be able to put him in a Cup car, at the highest level of NASCAR, in the iconic No. 43 Fusion, and to let him show his skills at Sonoma, well, we couldn’t be happier for him to have this chance.”

Richard Petty Motorsports has success at Sonoma. The team has one win, two poles, three Top Fives and nine Top 10s. Kasey Kahne scored a win in 2009 and a pole in 2010, while Marcos Ambrose won the pole in 2012. Since Almirola’s injury, the team has worked with drivers Regan Smith and Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr.

“It’s been important for us to put ourselves in the most competitive spot while Aric is recovering,” said CEO Brian Moffitt. “We’ve worked with Ford and Smithfield to put the best driver available in the car each week. Both Regan (Smith) and Bubba (Wallace) have done a great job for us the last five weeks. We feel that Billy’s experience on a road course will help us be competitive this weekend.”

Wallace will return to the No. 43 Smithfield Ford at Daytona International Speedway and will compete with the team until Almirola is able to return to the seat.

Posted on by Staff Report

Tony Stewart and Kyle Larson are friends off the track, and they often are considered similar-type drivers who love racing anything, any time, any place.

They never have worked together in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, though, which appears to be something Stewart, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, would love to change.

Stewart, a 49-time winner at NASCAR’s top level, fired off a handful of tweets Sunday night following Larson’s second win of the year at Michigan.

RELATED: Larson wins at Michigan

Here’s what “Smoke” said to a fan who asked why Larson wasn’t in the SHR stable:

 

Independent of that tweet, Stewart also posted this note about Larson: “He’s a friend of mine. And even if he doesn’t drive for me, I care and am happy for him.”

Larson, 24, is in the midst of a breakthrough year and currently leads the series points standings. With NASCAR’s silly season in full swing, he’s been connected to the open No. 88 ride at Hendrick Motorsports, but previously said he’s thrilled to be with Chip Ganassi Racing.

Seems like Stewart may have something to say about that.

Posted on by Staff Report

Joey Logano announced to the world — or at least those with a Twitter account — Sunday evening that he and wife Brittany are expecting their first child in January.

The adulation rolled in from throughout the industry, including a congrats from DeLana Harvick. DeLana, Kevin Harvick’s wife, had a little bit of fun with her reply, too.

She is referring, of course, to the now infamous interview following a 2010 Logano-Kevin Harvick on-track incident in which a much younger Joey quipped “It’s probably not his fault. His wife wears the fire suit in the family.”

Years later, the comment seems to strike both as funny. DeLana gifted Brittany a T-shirt that said “I wear the fire suit in this family!” when the two got married in 2014, and Logano responded to her Sunday tweet with one of his own.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings
MORE: Get VIP Tickets

BROOKLYN, Mich. – Denny Hamlin feels his fortunes are on an upswing, and he had reason for optimism even before he took the green flag in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

On Saturday afternoon, Hamlin outdueled William Byron in a side-by-side race to the finish line to take home the trophy from the Irish Hills 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race. On Sunday, he backed that up with a satisfying fourth-place run in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event at the 2-mile track.

Hamlin was 10th for a restart on Lap 155 of 200 but worked his way forward over the final 45 laps, which were punctuated by three additional cautions.

“Really good car,” Hamlin acknowledged after the race. “Everything we needed to do we did. Had one little hiccup on pit road, but for the most part, we ran really well all day, had good speed in our Camry and pretty happy.”

The result was Hamlin’s second-best of the season, eclipsed only by his third-place run at Richmond in late April. More important, Hamlin believes he’s close to getting his first win of the season—and the first season victory for Joe Gibbs Racing.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “I mean, you keep battling in the top-five and eventually you’ll have your chance.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: Results | Series standings | Get VIP Tickets

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Finishing second typically hasn’t left a pleasant taste for Chase Elliott, who still is seeking the first victory of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career. Sunday, a second-place run that exceeded his expectations was quite the consolation.

Elliott raced to a season-best, runner-up finish in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, finishing .993 seconds behind race winner Kyle Larson. The 21-year-old driver has made three premier-series starts at Michigan; he’s finished second in all three.

Elliott emerged from a cluster of three intense restarts in the final 15 laps to secure his fifth top-five performance of the season. Though he couldn’t catch Larson down the stretch, there was some salvation to be found in a finish he wasn’t sure he’d see at the start of the day.

“I didn’t think we had a very good car coming into the day and the guys made a lot of gains,” Elliott said of his Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet crew, adding he felt the team “overachieved” from the weekend’s starting point. “I was able to run just outside the top five and into the top five there toward the end. Had unbelievable pit stops on pit road today, which was great and hopefully we can carry some of that forward.”

Momentum has been a relatively new commodity for Elliott, who endured a dreadful four-race stretch from late April through May with a quartet of finishes of 24th or worse. That span included a pair of crash-related DNFs.

His most recent three-race stint boasts results of fifth, eighth and Sunday’s second.

“I look back to the month of May, and it’s not like we ran really, really bad,” Elliott said. “We had a lot of things that didn’t go our way. We had some fast cars through that month, didn’t have very good results to show for it. I don’t necessarily think that our performance has changed just in the past three weeks. I think we’ve had those kind of opportunities in the few race prior to that that just never really showed.”

RELATED: Larson jumps ahead on restart

The result helped solidify his fifth-place stature in the series’ points standings, but he’s still among a host of other contenders lacking a regular-season win to fortify their playoff hopes. That crowded list of thus-far winless elite includes two drivers ahead of him in the points — Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick — with hopes of locking down their berths in the 16-driver postseason field.

Elliott insisted that playoff implications aren’t at the forefront during the course of the race, and that he’s not scoreboard-watching … yet.

“I guess you could get caught up in it. You can think about it, worry about it all you want,” Elliott said. “I mean, really, the people who run good, the people that put themselves in position are going to win, period. That’s the way it is. That’s the deal. You might as well just go ahead and count on the guys that consistently run well. You can pretty much count on them winning.

“Wherever that shakes out, it’s going to shake you out. I think if you run well enough every week, you’re probably going to get a (winner’s) sticker before too long.”

 

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Get VIP Tickets

NASCAR tried a new form of driver introductions Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, and there’s already at least one avid fan: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Typically, drivers stand in the bed of pickup trucks as they circle the track for pre-race introductions as a way to allow as many fans as possible in the grandstands catch a glimpse of everyone.

But prior to the FireKeepers Casino 400, the trucks drove through the middle of the infield.

“Ain’t never done that before,” Earnhardt Jr. said in his post-race Periscope after finishing ninth. “That was pretty cool. I imagine they’ll do that every week next year, everywhere.”

Fans were lined up along the roadway as drivers waved from the trucks, with campers and RVs close behind.

“The fans sure loved the hell out of that,” Junior continued. “There’s tons of them in the infield looking for us, lined up. That was pretty awesome.”

 

Posted on by Staff Report

Third-place finisher Joey Logano might not have won Sunday’s FireKeeper Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, but he and his wife Brittany do have some other big news this Father’s Day.

Joey and Brittany wed in December 2014 and this will be their first child together.

Congratulations to the soon-to-be-parents!

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Results | Series standings | Detailed breakdown
SHOP: Larson gear | VIP Tickets

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Two weeks ago at Dover, Kyle Larson took a painful master class in restarts from Professor Jimmie Johnson.

In Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Larson graduated with high honors, using a series of exceptional restarts to win his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season and his second in a row, dating to last August, at the 2-mile track in the Irish Hills.

At Dover, Larson lost a race in which he had the dominant car when Johnson snookered him on a late restart and seized control of the race.

On Sunday, with a strong push from Ryan Blaney in the bottom lane during a restart on Lap 186 of 200, polesitter Larson cleared Kyle Busch for the lead through the first two corners and stayed out front the rest of the way — through two more quick cautions — to win for the third time in his career.

For everyone else, the bottom lane meant guaranteed lost positions, making Larson’s decisive restart all the more impressive — almost as impressive as his post-race burnout, as Larson spun his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, laying rubber across Victory Lane.

WATCH: Kyle Larson’s Victory Lane burnout

“Yeah, Ryan Blaney gave me a heck of a push,” Larson said of the decisive restart. “So I’ve really got to thank him a ton. I knew the Penske cars took off good, so I was happy to see him behind me. For us to withstand a few restarts there with some tough competitors there was pretty important. I can’t thank these guys enough.”

Larson said that, though restarts are quite different at Michigan than they are at Dover, he studied video of the Dover race and learned from the experience.

“I definitely watched the replay,” Larson said. “We looked at Jimmie’s driver data versus mine from the final restart at Dover, learned a little bit from that stuff.

“Honestly, I knew what I did wrong as soon as we took the green at Dover. But, yeah, here at Michigan, it’s different. You have a long straightaway. The frontstretch at Dover is pretty bumpy, so it’s hard to get grip. It’s not hard to get grip here at Michigan. It’s kind of just a drag race.”

The difference was that, on Sunday, it was a drag race Larson won.

Nor was the occasion lost on Larson, who has been bringing his 2-year-old son Owen to press conferences of late.

“What a great Father’s Day present for myself and all the other fathers out there,” Larson said. “My dad is here today, too. So I’m looking forward to celebrating with him. We’ve been so close to so many other wins. This is our second Cup win of the year, but we’ve had five second-place finishes. All-in-all, it’s a good season so far and we’ll continue to keep building on what we’ve got.”

WATCH: Larson celebrates Father’s Day with son Owen

Both Sunday’s victory and Larson’s win at Auto Club Speedway (Fontana, Calif.) in March came from the pole, and all three of his triumphs have come on two-mile tracks.

Larson got to the finish line .993 seconds ahead of Chase Elliott, who, like third-place finisher Joey Logano, felt he got the most out of his car.

“From where we started the day to where we ended up, I was really proud of our effort,” Elliott said. “I really think we overachieved today from what we had on Friday and Saturday, and even last night, I was getting a little nervous about how the day was going to go.

“So I’m happy that we could have a solid day and put ourselves in position and kind of rely on some late-race restarts. We had a couple of opportunities to get the lead. And, unfortunately, it just didn’t work out. But we’ll move on. Congratulations to Kyle (Larson). He had a fast car today and we’ll try to go get ’em next week.”

Star-crossed Kyle Busch had a 1.4-second lead when NASCAR called a caution on Lap 180 because of debris in Turn 2. After Larson passed him for the lead on the Lap 186 restart, Busch ultimately faded to seventh at the finish, still searching for his first victory of the season.

Denny Hamlin restarted beside Larson on Lap 196 but lost the third-place battle to Logano. Jamie McMurray, Larson’s teammate, ran fifth. Martin Truex Jr. came home fifth despite leading 62 laps (second only to Larson’s 96) and was victimized by a succession of late-race restarts in the bottom lane.

Though Truex won both the first and second 60-lap stages and increased his stash of playoff points to a series-leading 20, Larson regained the lead in championship points by five over Truex. Kyle Busch is 130 points back in third place.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson completed the top 10.

Notes: Johnson started from the rear of the field because he went to a backup car after a crash in practice … Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch also were sent to the rear for the start because of unapproved body modifications before the race. Busch finished 12th and Harvick 14th, the latter after late-race contact with Ryan Blaney during a four-wide dust-up on the backstretch.