It’s music festival season! That means beautiful weather, unforgettable musical performances, and light beer consumption that would make even Brad Keselowski’s 2012 championship celebration look tame. When you hit the road this summer, instead of lying about which up-and-coming bands you saw play at whichever music festival is cool these days, try dropping the name of a NASCAR-themed band. Even the most musically inclined haven’t heard of “Buescher and the Texas Boys” or “D.E.B.R.I.S”.
Finally, you can get your own totally made-up, randomly generated NASCAR band name to impress your friends.
All her life, Macy Causey has heard the old family tales, the ones that shed some light on where her love for racing might have been born. Usually, they start with stories about Diane Teel, Macy’s grandmother, who was the first woman to win a NASCAR-sanctioned event at Langley Speedway.
Macy’s father, Rette, grew up watching Teel drive at their mutual home track of Langley Speedway in Virginia before he ever knew her or married her daughter, and he remembers the reaction of the crowd every time Teel did well in a race car.
“Oh, they’d boo,” Rette Causey said. “They’d boo big-time. They’d hope for her to get taken out and when she’d get taken out, everyone — including my dad, I’m sure — they would cheer. It was just a culture. Nobody wants the woman to be out there, so when they spin her out, they cheer.”
Rette Causey was just a child then and didn’t know he was watching the woman who would pave the way for his own daughter in racing, who would absorb the worst while she waited for the world to change.
Because when 16-year-old Macy Causey became the first woman to win a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series late-model race at South Boston (Virginia) Speedway on May 17, the reaction was unlike anything Teel experienced or imagined.
“If it’s a thousand fans up there, 999 love Macy,” Teel gushed. “They go crazy over Macy. I bet you that out of everybody in the stands Saturday night, there weren’t 10 people who didn’t hoop and holler and scream.”
That was true for the crowd at Langley Speedway, too, where they announced that the homegrown Causey had won for the first time, and fans erupted in raucous applause.
“It’s just great that the sport has changed that much,” Teel said. “But as a driver, whether you’re a female or male, you have to earn the respect of the other drivers. And Macy has earned that.”
After all, Macy has been driving since she was a child, a passion fueled from being a third-generation driver. She started hanging out with her father in the garage when she was 5 while he worked on the Legend cars he raced, and she hasn’t wanted to be far from cars since.
Macy Causey poses with her family in Victory Lane at South Boston (Virginia) Speedway.
“Like the Mannings grew up around football, for us, we grew up around racing,” Rette Causey said.
Teel’s daughter, Dee, started racing go-karts when she was 19 after a lifetime spent trying to avoid the inevitable. When she was 21, she met Rette Causey at a go-kart race. They hated each other at first, clashing on the track and confronting each other off of it.
Then Rette asked Dee on a date, and they were engaged a month and a half later.
Their eldest daughter, Brooke took up cheerleading. But Macy asked for a Bandolero for her eighth birthday, and began racing competitively from the start.
“We about burned each other out,” Rette Causey said. “We scaled it way back the next year.”
Macy started racing on dirt. That was the year, Rette said, when he knew his daughter was hooked on the sport.
“You could see her really smiling about what she was doing,” he said. “She was old enough to understand what it was that she was accomplishing. From there, it’s just escalated.”
Rette Causey quit his own racing career to begin supporting his daughter’s endeavors full time. This year, Macy Causey is part of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program. She moved to Charlotte in February and began competing with Rev Racing. She lives with family friends, works in the shop five days a week, competes on weekends, and squeezes in homeschooling in her down time. She’s on track to graduate from high school next year, and plans to study engineering in college.
“It was tough at first, but I’ve always been independent,” Macy said. “I definitely miss them (my parents) a lot, but I also come home a lot and I see them every weekend at my races.”
Her father and grandmother have not missed a single race in Macy’s career, and both Macy’s parents and her grandparents were on hand at South Boston Speedway two weekends ago when she made history. All of them were on pins and needles in the final four laps when Macy was running third and the two drivers ahead of her wrecked and took each other out.
Restarts have been a weakness for Macy at times, and Teel said she had one thought during the red flag before the final laps of the 75-lap race.
“I was praying for rain,” she said with a laugh. “I just wanted it so bad for her. I know that she was capable of doing it, but my heart was in my throat and I was worried about her.”
Macy actually fell behind Brandon Pierce on the restart, but surged ahead on the final lap to nab the victory by 0.286 seconds.
Once in Victory Lane, the announcer asked Macy what this victory meant to her. She looked down, looked to the side, and when she looked up, she began bawling and rushed to hug her mom.
“How do you put into words everything that she’s worked for all her life to get here?” Rette Causey said. “We didn’t expect it to come this quickly and it did. We were caught off-guard, I guess, is the best way to put it.”
Added Teel: “It was the greatest feeling in the world to see my baby win.”
When asked what the win meant to her, Macy Causey shared a heartfelt, emotional response.
Two days later, Macy was back at the home of Kyle and Leah Beattie, the Charlotte family she lives with, when she said she didn’t feel well. She had a temperature of 104 degrees, and was about to go to a medical clinic when she passed out.
An ambulance ride and short stay at Carolinas HealthCare System University later, Macy Causey learned she had strep throat, a sinus infection and was dehydrated. The symptoms began to appear while she raced Saturday.
“We had no clue,” Rette Causey said. “Macy’s really good about holding in when she’s in pain or something’s wrong. She just doesn’t complain.”
That’s something else she has in common with her trailblazing grandmother, Teel, who never grumbled about the treatment she received when she did well on the track. Teel was the first woman to compete in what is now the XFINITY Series in 1982, and she’s sure Macy has the ability to compete at the highest levels, too.
“I paved the way a little bit for her but she has her own ability,” Teel said. “I know what she wants. She wants what I wanted — but I had a family and I couldn’t pursue it.
“I can see my dream come true in my grandchild. It’s a dream I always had. It was always my dream to run Daytona. If I can see Macy do that then I’ll be happy. Macy will make it, I’m sure.”
All her life, Macy Causey has heard all the tales of her racing pedigree, and now she’s adding her own chapter to the family storybook.
The significance of Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr.’s new job driving the iconic No. 43 Ford for Richard Petty this summer has not been lost on the young driver … or his closest friends.
After five determined years climbing NASCAR’s national series ladder, the 23-year-old makes his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend at Pocono Raceway (Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – the ultimate opportunity on NASCAR’s biggest stage.
One of his best friends – 23-year-old Ryan Blaney – drives another of the sport’s most historic cars, the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Ford. Like most other 20-somethings, that mutual, happy circumstance is something the pair plan to savor and remember by capturing and sharing the moment on social media.
This isn’t just historic. It’s really cool.
“Yeah, that’s huge,” Wallace said Tuesday. “It’s funny, Blaney texted me this morning, actually woke me up this morning, he wants a picture this weekend.
“I was like, OK. He was like, ‘We’re driving the two most iconic cars in the sport this weekend. We definitely have to capitalize on that.’ ”
And so Wallace will be steering a car number used by the sport’s “King,” the 79-year-old Petty, responsible for seven Cup championships and a historic 200-win total. He’ll line up with Blaney, whose number has been campaigned by 105-race winner David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Dale Jarrett and Junior Johnson – like Petty, all NASCAR Hall of Famers.
ISC Archives via Getty Images
Undoubtedly the best way for the friends to capitalize on their history-rich rides would be for either Blaney’s No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford or Wallace’s No. 43 Smithfield Ford to wind up in Victory Lane after 400 tough miles at Pocono on Sunday afternoon.
But Wallace knows he doesn’t necessarily have to win this weekend to benefit both his career and the team, in the interim. In fact, he doesn’t “have to win” at all.
This is widely considered to be Wallace’s big-league audition, giving him the chance to show he also belongs with the drivers in their talented 20s crowding the Cup grid.
When he lines up to race Sunday, he will join Blaney, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Ty Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon and Chris Buescher (the most recent Pocono winner) in that group of 20-year-olds already providing transitional optimism.
Wallace, clearly thrilled to join this young, elite group, beamed with enthusiasm in a tweet earlier this week: “Couldn’t be any more excited to jump in the iconic 43 car for @RPMotorsports while Aric recovers. Thank you all for the support since day 1! ”
Often that’s the emotional range in big-time auto racing. The happy ending – the chance to compete at the Cup level for Richard Petty Motorsports – begins now.
“That’s huge,” Wallace said. “That’s awesome for me to get my first start driving the No. 43 for Richard Petty and everybody at RPM. Then the other side of it is [being] the first African-American since 2006. That’s a lot of history behind it.
“I’ve always said dealing with that, I like to let the results speak for itself, let the results come in, let the history fall in behind that, not focus on the big spotlight, the African-American side, the iconic number.
“Let all that funnel in after we have our good runs, get out there on the racetrack and show everybody we can do it.
After spending much of Tuesday announcing the big news in media interviews – a national teleconference, satellite feeds and television sit-downs – Wallace tweeted out one final, emotional summation, “Today was a down right kick-ass day… ”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 8, 2017) – Tickets for the 60th annual DAYTONA 500 will officially go on sale Monday, June 12 at 9 a.m. ET. For the past two years, the season-opening race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season has sold out.
This milestone running of “The Great American Race” is also notable for a date shift that moves the event back to its previous longstanding (1968-2011) placement on Presidents Day weekend, on Sunday, Feb. 18. The DAYTONA 500 will be preceded by another return to tradition on Sunday, Feb. 11 – a doubleheader featuring the Advance Auto Parts Clash and DAYTONA 500 Qualifying Presented By Kroger.
Race fans will have the opportunity to experience the 2018 DAYTONA 500 in the world’s only motorsports stadium with unprecedented amenities that include 101,500 new, wider seats, thousands of premium club seats, 40 escalators and 17 elevators, 60 luxury suites, social “neighborhoods” and three concourse levels that span the nearly mile-long frontstretch.
Those wishing to attend “The Great American Race” in person should make their plans early
— Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-PITSHOP or visiting DAYTONA500.com.
— Hospitality and premium seat packages, including the Rolex 24 Lounge, Harley J’s, Trioval Club, DAYTONA 500 Club and President’s Row are available, as well as UNOH Fanzone/Pre-race wristbands.
— For all other Speedweeks events, children 12 and under are $10 in reserved stadium seating and free in general admission areas and in the UNOH Fanzone.
— Fans can also visit PrimeSport.com, the official ticket exchange and travel package provider of Daytona International Speedway, where they can find multiple options for tickets, lodging and hospitality.
In addition to tickets for the DAYTONA 500, fans can also purchase tickets and multi-day ticket packages for other events during Speedweeks, which kicks off on Jan. 27-28 with the 56th Rolex 24 At Daytona, the season-opener for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and Snapchat, and by downloading Daytona International Speedway’s mobile app, for the latest Speedway news throughout the season.
All three NASCAR national series are in action this weekend, but at two sites. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series will travel to Pocono Raceway, while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will tangle at Texas Motor Speedway.
For his final full-time season as a driver, NASCAR.com will offer an analytical preview on Dale Earnhardt Jr. ahead of every remaining Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.
Race: Axalta presents the Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway
Date: June 11, 3 p.m. ET (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Previous five results at Pocono: 2nd, 4th, 11th, 1st, 1st
Notable: Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s career average finish at Pocono equals 14.4 – but his average finish in the last five races is 3.8. He swept the track with a pair of wins in 2014 and most recently nabbed a runner-up victory in last year’s June races won by Kurt Busch. Junior has also seen consistency in recent years at the Tricky Triangle; he has only finished one race outside the top 11 in his past 11 races.
Memorable moment: Clever pit strategy by then-crew chief Steve Letarte played into Earnhardt Jr.’s win at Pocono in August 2014 that gave him a season sweep of the Tricky Triangle. With 39 laps to go, Letarte instructed the crew to put four fresh tires on the No. 88 before taking a splash of fuel — rather than a full tank — 10 laps later to put him ahead of the field. Junior held off a fast-charging Kevin Harvick for the remainder of the race to win the GoBowling.com 400 by .228 seconds. It marked Earnhardt’s second sweep of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career (the first at Talladega in 2006).
Quotable: “Pocono is a good track for us,” Earnhardt said in a team release. “I like both Pocono and Michigan, so we have some solid tracks coming up for the No. 88 gang. We were in the simulator this week working on Pocono. We’ve been working really, really hard the last three weeks. It’s been going great – the cars have gotten better in practice and we’re seeing some good improvements, so we’re going to keep grinding. We’re going in the right direction.”
WELCOME, N.C. – VELVEETA® Shells & Cheese is partnering with Richard Childress Racing (RCR) and the No. 31 Chevrolet SS team to give NASCAR fans a taste of the one and only LIQUID GOLD. VELVEETA Shells & Cheese will serve as primary sponsor for select races, beginning June 18 at Michigan International Speedway, and associate sponsorship for the remainder of the 2017 season. The paint scheme was unveiled live on FS1’s “NASCAR Race Hub” on Wednesday evening.
The partnership is highlighted by a comprehensive marketing and content program, including a national sweepstakes that will grant one lucky grand prize winner the LIQUID GOLD championship experience: an all-expenses paid VIP weekend at the NASCAR Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Entrants will also have the chance to win more than 100 autographed swag items, including mini replicas of Ryan Newman’s race helmet and race-worn fire suits from the No. 31 Chevrolet pit crew. Details and call-to-action for the sweepstakes, which launches this month and will continue through the summer, are being distributed on more than three million boxes of VELVEETA Shells & Cheese.
“There’s nothing quite like LIQUID GOLD, and the same goes for NASCAR,” said Jessica Gilbertson, Head of Meals at Kraft Heinz. “Partnering with Ryan Newman and Richard Childress Racing perfectly marries the existing fandom of VELVEETA Shells & Cheese and NASCAR, providing our fans with once-in-a-lifetime experiences.”
VELVEETA Shells & Cheese will utilize digital, social and retail activation assets to engage consumers in key markets. Fans will have the opportunity to see the No. 31 VELVEETA Shells & Cheese Chevrolet SS show car up close and in person, at local market pop-up events held throughout the season. More information with exact locations and times will be released at a later date.
“Our loyal fans are heavily engaged with brands throughout our sport, and the VELVEETA Shells & Cheese brand is a perfect fit for those millions of NASCAR fans,” said Ben Schlosser, chief marketing officer for Richard Childress Racing.
“American families enjoy the convenience and tastiness of VELVEETA Shells & Cheese every day of the week, and now they’ll have the opportunity to win a VIP trip to our season finale in Miami, while engaging with ‘LIQUID GOLD’ content throughout the season featuring Ryan (Newman), crew chief Luke Lambert, the No. 31 VELVEETA Shells & Cheese crew members and other RCR personalities.”
The Kraft Heinz Co., which owns and operates the VELVEETA Shells & Cheese brand, is the third-largest food and beverage company in North America. It joins Caterpillar, Grainger and Kalahari Resorts & Conventions as primary sponsors on the No. 31 Chevrolet SS driven by NASCAR veteran Ryan Newman. Newman won earlier this season at Phoenix International Raceway and locked himself into the NASCAR playoffs which are set to begin on Sept. 16 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson matched Cale Yarborough’s win total Sunday at Dover with career victory No. 83 and now we sit and ask ourselves just how many more victories does ol’ Seven-Time have left in the tank?
Certainly enough to catch and pass Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip, who sit fourth on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ career wins list with 84 apiece. The Hendrick Motorsports driver could find himself ahead of them before the 2017 season ends.
Allison, the 1983 series champion, tied Yarborough with a win in the summer race at Daytona in 1987. He won the Daytona 500 the following year to take sole possession of fourth place before a career-ending crash at Pocono later that season.
Waltrip matched Yarborough with a win in the night race at Bristol in ’92, then won No. 84 the following week at Darlington. Although he competed for eight more seasons, Waltrip never made it back into the winner’s circle.
Past Allison and Waltrip, the trip up the win ladder gets a bit tougher. Former Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon is third on the all-time win list, winning 93 times before moving from the driver’s seat to the broadcast booth after the 2015 season.
Gordon remained competitive right up until his final start, but it’s worth noting that his final 11 wins came during a five-year stretch.
Johnson wins with a frequency rarely seen in NASCAR, especially in recent years. The competitiveness of the series makes single-season, double-digit wins the exception today. Still, Johnson has averaged five wins a season for his career. The last driver to win 10 or more races in a single season was, in fact, Johnson in 2007.
The No. 48 might slow on occasion, but it continues to move forward. Gordon’s mark is far from safe.
Are 100 wins attainable? Or 105, the number of races won by David Pearson and No. 2 on the all-time win list? No one’s cracked the century mark since Pearson, who did most of his damage in the ’70s while driving for Wood Brothers Racing and running a limited schedule.
Johnson would need 22 more wins to pull off that feat and tie the Silver Fox. That’s at least five good years. Five really, really good years. But as he has proven time and time again, Johnson has been able to win consistently.
Johnson turns 42 in September, but his workout regimen would severely test someone much younger. About two decades younger, in fact. He bikes, he swims, he runs. He pushes others to bike, to swim, to run. He’s been known to go on long rides before practice and long runs the morning after races.
Behind the wheel? He’s one of the best at car control and dancing along that razor-thin edge.
But his 83 wins say just as much about his team as they do the driver. Crew chief Chad Knaus has been there from the beginning, pushing his driver and his crew to excel. So too has car chief Ron Malec. So too has primary sponsor Lowe’s and orchestrating it all behind the scenes has been team owner Rick Hendrick.
Take away any one of those and maybe we aren’t wondering how many more wins Johnson can collect. Maybe we aren’t talking about Johnson at all.
The trail beyond Pearson is an unfamiliar one, and used only once.
Richard Petty made it to 105 wins in the ’70s and never tapped the brake. By the time he finally hung up his helmet, Petty had 200 wins and a record that will never be broken.
The King earned his wins against small fields and large fields, on dirt and on pavement, running 50-60 races some years and fewer than 30 during others.
Johnson won’t catch Petty. No one will. The evolution of the sport just won’t allow it.
But the others? Allison and Waltrip and Gordon and Pearson?
Johnson can catch them. He will catch some of them. But all?
It’s certainly possible. So, too, is an eighth championship, something that would put him alone at the top. But would an eighth title quench the fire and leave Johnson and his team with little else to prove?
Only Johnson can answer that. For now, he’s made it to 83 and showing no signs of slowing down.
NASCAR penalized the No. 18 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team after a safety violation during events last weekend at Dover International Speedway.
Crew chief Adam Stevens, tire changer Jacob Seminara and tire carrier Kenneth Barber were suspended from all NASCAR Series Championship Points Events for four races after a tire came off the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driven by Kyle Busch during the AAA 400 Drive for Autism. Busch’s pit crew appeared to drop the jack before the lug nuts were secure on the left-rear tire during a scheduled pit stop, causing the tire to come off on the track after Busch had left pit road.
According to a spokesperson at Joe Gibbs Racing, the team does not have plans to appeal and Ben Beshore will serve as the interim crew chief.
NASCAR also penalized the No. 29 Camping World Truck Series team of Chase Briscoe for a similar infraction where a tire came off during Friday’s event at Dover International Speedway. No. 29 crew chief Mike Hillman Jr and the team’s tire carrier Eric Pinkiert and tire changer Wesley McPherson were suspended from all points-paying events for four races.
In a statement issued by Brad Keselowski Racing, the team was considering options under the appeals process outlined in the NASCAR Rule Book. Buddy Sisco will serve as Briscoe’s crew chief in the interim.
Both improper installation penalties were set per the NASCAR Rule Book, Sections 10.9.10.4.c: Tires and Wheels; 12.5.2.6.3.c Minimum Safety Penalty Options. NASCAR implemented these rules for safety reasons, in order to prevent teams from leaving lug nuts loose on a tire in order to gain track position.
The XFINITY Series No. 19 crew chief Matt Beckman was also fined $5,000 for a Sections 10.9.10.4 violation where the lug nuts on the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota were not properly installed.
DOVER, Del. — The “Tricky Triangle” does things a bit differently.
Family owned Pocono Raceway has brought a unique spin to motorsports since its inception in 1971. Just look at the track itself – its three turns and bizarre shape has led to the phrase, “What Turn 4?” and brings fans out in droves to its twice-annual summer races.
With its upcoming race weekend starting Friday, things are about to get even more interesting.
The track is kicking things off with “Free Can Friday,” in which fans can bring an empty can of Monster Energy to turn in and recycle for entry to Friday’s at-track activity.
“Literally, it’s as simple as go to a local store, buy a can of Monster, drink your can of Monster, bring your empty can of Monster to Pocono Raceway,” Pocono Raceway President and CEO Brandon Igdalsky told NASCAR.com on Sunday at Dover International Speedway. “When you come to our ticket booth, there will be some folks there collecting the cans, putting them in some recycling bins and handing you a ticket on the way in. It’s that simple. It seems too easy.”
It does seem too easy. But it works.
“It’s a great program and Monster has had success at other sports events when they’ve tried it,” Igdalsky continued, “so we saw it and said ‘hey, let’s give it a try at Pocono and see what happens.’ The response so far from both fans and industry has been great.”
The Long Pond, Pennsylvania, venue has a sterling reputation as being at the forefront of the sustainability movement that goes hand-in-hand with the sanctioning body’s own NASCAR Green initiative.
You’d better believe all aluminum is being recycled and eventually put to good use, with Igdalsky leading the charge and setting the gold green standard for the rest of the sporting world.
“We’re going to continue doing what we’ve been doing,” said Igdalsky. “All of our power is made on site at our solar farm. We’ve ramped up our recycling efforts the last couple of years and we’ve got more recycling bins this year. This year we’ve ramped up our composting.
“Our goal by the end of next season is to be 75 percent waste diversion and we’re well on our way to that, with the ultimate goal that in three-to-five years you won’t see a trash can at Pocono Raceway. Everything coming in will be compostable or recyclable of the stuff that we can control.”
And this isn’t some initiative that looks good on paper but isn’t really enacted. Igdalsky says the fans have come to “really embrace it,” and are filling up multiple recycling bags provided by the track per party throughout the course of the weekend, separating their recyclables from waste on their own.
On top of the sustainability the track is aiming toward, it’s also looking to spice things up in typical Pocono-quirky ways. The independence of the track, which Igdalsky mentioned allows he and his team to “think out of the box and do crazy little things,” will be on full display this weekend in a novel way — for fans watching from home.
Saturday’s Pocono Green 250 XFINITY Series race (coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX) will see a first-of-its-kind, all-driver broadcast, led by booth commentators and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competitors Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Igdalsky said. “When FOX came to us with the idea, I thought it was a great concept. … It’s going to be a complete disaster, knowing the drivers … but I think it’s going to be a disaster in a fun way. I think it’s going to be the kind of things that fans love to see. It’s going to come off the rails at some point, but in a really fun way.
“And they have the right crew of drivers that they brought on board to do this; the right personalities to butt heads and have fun and be a little silly. You’re going to see their personalities really coming out.”
Harvick, Logano and Bowyer will be joined by Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as pit road reporters, and Danica Patrick and Denny Hamlin host the coverage from the Hollywood Hotel mobile studio.
And for the fans who come out to Pocono Raceway to catch the racing action live and in person?
“I still want all the fans to come out to the track, of course,” Igdalsky said. “DVR it and watch it on Monday, but come out to the track and then you can actually watch what happened with the drivers afterward.”
