Posted on by

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 3, 2017) – Today, at the NASCAR Fuel For Business meetings in New York City, NASCAR® and ExxonMobil announced the renewal of a long-standing partnership that will continue to designate the Mobil 1™ brand as the “Official Motor Oil of NASCAR®.” The newly signed agreement will extend the successful partnership to 20 years, which has been highlighted by marketing and technological innovation that has catalyzed growth across both entities.

“Mobil 1 is one of the most recognizable brands in the world and we are pleased to continue our longstanding partnership for years to come,” said Lou Garate, vice president, partnership marketing, NASCAR. “Our partner utilizes its official status as a powerful part of its marketing mix through advertising, packaging, point-of-sale and promotions, helping market NASCAR to millions of Americans.”

RELATED: Harvick, Mutombo team up

The continued partnership with NASCAR is increasingly beneficial to the Mobil 1 brand. A recent study from Turnkey sports and entertainment found that at the end of the 2016 race season, the number of NASCAR race fans identifying Mobil 1 as the “Official Motor Oil of NASCAR” was at a three year high, increasing steadily among avid and casual NASCAR fans each year since the end of the 2014 season. The proportion of avid NASCAR fans stating they would be more likely to purchase a product from an Official NASCAR Partner has also increased 13% over the same period.

According to a recent independent study from Simmons Research, NASCAR fans are 30% more likely than non-fans to add or change motor oil themselves or have another household member do so.

“We are delighted to continue to serve as the ‘Official Motor Oil of NASCAR’,” said Kai Decker, global motorsports manager at ExxonMobil. “The renewed partnership allows us to connect with racing of the most popular and exciting motorsport series in the country. NASCAR has also been integral in helping support the launch of Mobil 1™ Annual Protection motor oil.”

According to ExxonMobil, Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil is used by more than 50% of teams competing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR XFINITY Series™ and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™. The use of these oils across all three NASCAR national series provides a testing ground for ExxonMobil engineers, who create products for race fans and general consumers, which are proven to perform under the most challenging of conditions.

ExxonMobil extensively utilized Mobil 1’s “Official Motor Oil of NASCAR” status to help launch Mobil 1 Annual Protection, which allows drivers to go one full year – or 20,000 miles whichever comes first – between oil changes. For the breakout product’s nationwide advertising campaign, Stewart-Haas Racing driver, Kevin Harvick, features as the hero of the commercials, while also being featured in a prominent video series on social media. A new digital video series featuring the entire Stewart-Haas Racing team is also supporting the new product. Furthermore, the Mobil 1 Annual Protection product appeared as primary sponsor on a hood for each of the Stewart-Haas Racing drivers at NASCAR tracks throughout the 2017 season.

To further support the launch of Mobil 1 Annual Protection motor oil, ExxonMobil will host a fan friendly event at Plaza33 outside New York City’s most iconic basketball arena on Wednesday, August 16. Kevin Harvick will be in attendance and fans will have the opportunity to meet the driver of the No. 4 car, while also taking part in unique activities. 

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season will continue with the I Love New York 355 at The Glen on Sunday, August 6 at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Posted on by Team Release

Huntersville, N.C. – BK Racing announced today that Brett Moffitt will take over as driver of the No. 83 Toyota Camry this weekend for the I Love New York 355 at Watkins Glen International and in next week’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway. JAS Expedited Trucking will be the primary sponsor on board the No. 83 for Watkins Glen.

Moffitt comes to BK Racing with an impressive racing resume. From 2009 to 2013, Moffitt competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East where he amassed nine wins, 33 top fives, and 44 top tens. Moffitt has 38 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts. In 2015, racing for Michael Waltrip Racing and Front Row Motorsports, Moffitt was named Rookie of the Year in the Monster Energy Series. He also has 13 Truck Series starts, winning once last season at Michigan International Speedway.

“I’m very excited to be back in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car for the next two weekends, and I can’t thank BK Racing and JAS Expedited Trucking enough for making it happen,” said Moffitt. “I have only raced Watkins Glen once in a K&N car, but it was a great race and I finished 3rd. I can’t wait to race the Glen in the No. 83 Toyota Camry this weekend and Michigan next week.”

“I have been watching Brett display his ability to drive at the Cup level for many years,” said Ron Devine, Owner of BK Racing. “He is a big part of the Toyota family, and we are very excited to have him in our car for the next two races.”

Posted on by Pat DeCola

RELATED: Final No. 88 paint scheme for Junior revealed

As Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career winds down and he looks back on the highlights, there are two tracks likely to be left off the reel.

Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International.

The pair of road courses on NASCAR’s premier series circuit have yielded a goose egg for Junior in his 34 combined starts on them throughout the years, with an unimpressive average finish of 18.2 at Sonoma ranking as the better of the two (he’s averaged a finish of 21.7 at WGI.)

RELATED: Dale Jr.’s career stats at Watkins Glen

But things have taken a turn for the better — both left and right — for Earnhardt at road courses over the past few seasons.

Why the sudden uptick in performance?

“Well, we just quit testing,” Earnhardt laughed Saturday at Pocono Raceway. “That was really why we started running better because we stopped trying so hard. We’d go to Road Atlanta and just run ourselves into the ground for two days trying to figure out how to become great at road course races.

“And finally, I told (former crew chief Steve) Letarte and I said ‘Let’s just quit testing’ because it ain’t getting us anywhere but wore out. And it’s two days of the week when it’s making the guys tired because we’re cramming it in between races and we’re not really getting anywhere. So, we just quit trying and we’d just show up. And we started running great.”

Less is more. Interesting strategy.

Hard to argue with the results, however. Since 2012, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has averaged a finish of 7.8 at Sonoma with a best finish of third, and for each of his past two races at Watkins Glen, he’s started seventh and finished 11th at The Glen.

Junior also credits cars that “have been really quick,” as well, but a fast car can only be taken so far by a middling driver.

Earnhardt needs to be ready to admit that maybe, somehow, miraculously — he’s finally developed into a competent road racer.

RELATED: Winless drivers that can punch playoff ticket at Watkins Glen

It’d make sense, since he got a boatload of advice from the best out there.

“I went to school with Ron (Fellows, road course ace) a bunch. We went to Bondurant and we ran Corvettes and tested Corvettes together,” he continued. “He drove for (Dale Earnhardt Incorporated) and we would go over set-ups and notes and we just did a lot.

“We spent a lot of time talking to Boris (Said) as well and tested with him and shared information. Boris was an open book. I would be struggling at Sonoma and I’d go over to Boris and say ‘What do I need to do? I just can’t figure it out.’ And he would give me the set-up. He’d say here’s my set-up. And we’d put it in. I’d put it in there and pick-up four-tenths. I’m like, ‘All right!’ That’s how good and nice those guys are. Andy Pilgrim was another guy I spent a lot of time with. So, I leaned on a lot of guys that I thought gave me great information and wanted to help me.”

With the end of his final full-time season quickly approaching, does The Glen — as strange as it feels to say this — offer one of the better chance we have of seeing NASCAR’s reigning Most Popular driver land in Victory Lane one last time?

The answer is “maybe,” but we can at least expect him to be competitive.

“When the cars are there and the cars are superb, I can do a good job with it,” he said. “So, I think we can go into the Glen and be top 10. We should be top 10 without a problem.

“If we’re not, I think that’s falling short of my expectations for us.”

Posted on by Kathy Sheldon

Editor’s note: This story originally ran in August 2015.

Dale Earnhardt earned his “Intimidator” nickname by handing out some lickings on the race track, but he could take one, too, as he proved in 1996 at Watkins Glen.

Earnhardt couldn’t breathe and he couldn’t raise his right arm as NASCAR’s premier series headed to the road course in New York. He had been in a hard wreck at Talladega two weeks earlier, and suffered a dislocated sternum and broken collarbone. But he wanted to both qualify and race at The Glen after running just six laps at Indianapolis one week earlier before handing over the No. 3 to relief driver Mike Skinner.

Dr. Jerry Punch recalled in 2013 for NASCAR.com how he was called to the motorhome with Dale and Teresa Earnhardt and Richard Childress as the debate went on about whether Dale would pilot the Goodwrench Chevrolet that weekend.

“In spite of us telling him how dangerous it was, and how painful it was, he wanted to be in that car,” Punch said. “Richard and Teresa were getting me to help convince him to not get in the car, for his own safety. He looked right at Richard and said, ‘If you tell me, Richard, I’m going to hurt this race team by being in your race car, I won’t get in it.’ Richard said, ‘Are you kidding me? You’re Dale Earnhardt. I can’t tell you you’re going to hurt my race team by being in my car.’ And Dale said, ‘All right, it’s done.’ “

A loose sternum was very disconcerting at the road course, as any impact could send bone fragments into nearby vital organs — the heart and lungs.

But those around Earnhardt seemed more worried about his body, while he concentrated hard on the racing. All that shifting and steering didn’t stop the tough-as-nails driver, who reportedly used his knees to help steer on his way to winning the pole for The Bud at The Glen.

Earnhardt stayed in the car for the whole race on Aug. 11, 1996, as well — despite Jeff Green standing by in case he needed or wanted relief. The No. 3 finished sixth.

After finishing the 220.5-mile race, Earnhardt said, “It hurts. But it’s a good hurt.”

That season he wound up fourth in the points standings.

Posted on by Nascar

SHOP: Dale Jr. gear for final full-time race

The final paint scheme of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career will look very similar to his first paint scheme, which debuted in 1999 when he made his debut in the sport’s top series.

RELATED: Best No. 8 looks | Best No. 88 looks

Sponsor Axalta will adorn the rear quarter panels of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and be featured across the hood. But the color scheme, which features a red body, black roof and posts and black stripes down both sides of the car, is clearly modeled after his former No. 8 Budweiser-sponsored entry fielded by his father’s Dale Earnhardt Inc.-owned organization.

The paint scheme will be run in the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway on Sunday, Nov. 19. Earnhardt unveiled the car Wednesday night during a one-hour Dale Earnhardt Jr. Appreci88ion Tour special on QVC.

RELATED: Track gifts for Dale Jr. | Dale Jr. forecasts what kind of broadcaster he’ll be

After missing the last half of the 2016 season due to injury, Earnhardt, 42, announced earlier this year that he will retire from full-time competition in the Monster Energy Series at season’s end. He currently is scheduled to compete in at least two NASCAR XFINITY Series races in 2018.

The son of seven-time NASCAR champion and inaugural Hall of Fame member Dale Earnhardt, the younger Earnhardt has won 26 times in 616 starts at NASCAR’s highest level. He has 149 top-five and 256 top-10 finishes as well as 14 Coors Light Pole Awards.

Earnhardt also is a two-time champion in the XFINITY Series (1998-99), where he has 24 career victories.

Posted on by Staff Report

“Super sub” Regan Smith may be called into duty again this weekend. The veteran driver is on standby for Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, who is on baby watch.

With longtime girlfriend Jordan Fish nearing her due date, Hamlin has insurance in a couple of ways. The first is that, if Fish goes into labor, Smith will drive Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota, so no worries there. The second is due to Hamlin’s win at New Hampshire earlier this summer, he’s firmly locked into the playoff field.

RELATED: Playoff outlook | Fish’s pregnancy announcement

“As far as I’m concerned if and when I get the call I’ll go just immediately,” Hamlin said Saturday at Watkins Glen International. “It really doesn’t matter to me when it particularly is. I mean, short of it being in the pace laps then I would try to run one lap and then come in, but any other time I would just go right away. I’m not really sure how it all will work, but I assume that my people will be gotten ahold of as soon as I need to go.”

Hamlin, who has a jet on standby just in case, also noted that Smith is at The Glen in the No. 11 hauler ready to go if needed. Fish’s due date is Thursday (Aug. 10th) and Hamlin says she will not induce, so the baby could come at “any time.”

Smith drove the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford in place of the injured Aric Almirola at Charlotte and Dover earlier this year. He previously has subbed for Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson.

Hamlin won the race at Watkins Glen last year. He is sixth in the driver standings with one win, seven top fives and 11 top-10 finishes.

— NASCAR.com’s Jessica Ruffin contributed to this report

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full schedule

Zack Novak parlayed a gusty strategy call into a victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for his first career NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series win. With 12 laps to go and his tires worn, Novak decided to stay out under caution and keep the lead, forgoing fresh rubber despite high tire falloff. The call worked perfectly, as 16 other drivers stayed out and two more wrecks slowed the progress of the drivers who pitted.

The race would be decided on a four-lap shootout, though Novak only had to hold the lead for two corners before the caution waved for David Rattler’s spin. The yellow flag ended the race and allowed Novak to coast to the checkered flag behind the pace car with Ryan Luza behind in second. Ryan Lowe came from a thirty-ninth-place starting spot to finish third, followed by Chris Overland who started forty-first. Taylor Hurst rounded out the top five.

Novak started from the pole and paced the field for much of the race, leading 65 of 100 laps. Although Novak would wind up leading more than half the laps, Ray Alfalla had the best car early and on Lap 11 he moved past Novak and into the race lead. His lead was short-lived however, as a caution brought the field to pit road and Novak’s number one pit selection paid off as he regained the top spot.

On the next run Novak’s car held on a bit longer but Alfalla was once again the best long-run car, regaining the lead on Lap 37. Another crash slowed the pace and kept Alfalla from getting too big of an advantage and he lost positions in the pits again, this time do to a driver error as he overshot his pit stall. Novak won the race off pit road but he would only restart fifth as four cars had already pitted under green and stayed out, hoping their slightly older tires would hold up.

Michael Johnson and the others had no chance at holding Novak at bay as it took him just over four laps to pass all of them and recapture the lead. Of course, a caution right on cue let Alfalla get the jump on a Lap 68 restart and he went to the front for the third time. In what was becoming a bit of a broken record, neither driver could keep the lead as Alfalla slid through his box again on Lap 75.

This time the error proved costly to Alfalla as it mired him back in traffic and he was involved in a wreck on Lap 92 when he was trying to push Blake Reynolds down the backstretch. The damage relegated Alfalla to twenty-eighth at the finish, hurting his quest to win the regular season points title.

Meanwhile, Novak had fared much better on the late restarts at the front, holding off the challenge of Luza with some help from the cautions.

Bobby Zalenski had a rather quiet fifteenth-place effort at Indy, but extended his points lead after Alfalla found trouble. He leads Alfalla by 31 points with one race to go in the regular season. Luza is third followed by Corey Vincent in fourth. Novak climbed to fifth with his win. Marcus Richardson, Christian Challiner, and Logan Clampitt complete the top eight and hold the final three playoff positions.

The NPAS will head to Michigan International Speedway for the regular season finale in what has potential to be one of the tightest races of the season. The wide-open spaces at MIS promote three and four wide racing and with drivers desperate to advance into the playoffs risks will likely be taken. Who will qualify for the first ever NPAS playoffs? Find out in two weeks on iRacing Live as the NPAS regular season reaches its conclusion!

 

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR has standardized the location of the Overtime Line as the start/finish line, a decision that will be implemented immediately ahead of this weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series races at Watkins Glen International.

“NASCAR has been looking at the Overtime procedure for quite some time,” NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said in a statement. “After many discussions with key figures throughout the industry, we recognize that having the start/finish line serve as the standard Overtime Line position will benefit the race — and, most importantly, our fans. We are implementing this immediately, starting with this weekend’s races at Watkins Glen International.”

VIDEO: Indy wreck forces NASCAR Overtime | Wild spin for Bowyer

Prior to today’s announcement, NASCAR had typically placed the Overtime Line near the entrance of turn 3 on oval tracks. That process is now a consistent location for tracks of all types, with the leader now needing to complete a full lap in NASCAR Overtime before a race can be considered complete.

In an event that goes past the advertised distance, drivers must reach the Overtime Line (now consistently the start/finish line) under green-flag conditions following the restart. If the leader does that, the next flag will end the race. If the leader does not reach the Overtime Line under green, that will force another restart.

“This has been something we’ve discussed for a while now, and it’s a balance to ensure the most fair competition for our drivers and the best race for the fans,” NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller told NASCAR.com. “… Obviously, it’s been a hot topic of late, and we’re aware of the discussions. We take that very seriously, especially the fan feedback. We’ve shown that we’ll act decisively if we think it’ll result in the best racing for the fans.

“Much like the original placement of the Overtime Line, the industry had a voice in this decision. It was certainly a collaborative effort between NASCAR and the industry. We’re all working toward the same goal, and that’s been the case for awhile now.”

The procedure is similar to the previous green-white-checkered restart rules, but there no longer is a maximum number of attempts at the finish.

NASCAR’s goal for races is to finish under green; depending on weather, visibility and other unforeseen variables, the sanctioning body can end the race under yellow if it deems necessary.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: On-track schedule | TV schedule

See your favorite drivers at this weekend’s Watkins Glen Fan Fest. Kicking off at 6 p.m. ET after the NASCAR K&N Pro Series races, these drivers will participate in a question and answer session with an MRN media member before giving out swag to the fans at the infield concert stage.

It’s a part of NASCAR’s enhanced race weekend schedule at Watkins Glen International.

– Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Erik Jones: 6:45-7:15 p.m. ET
– Clint Bowyer, Ty Dillon, and Joey Logano: 7:45-8:15 p.m. ET

MORE: Buy tickets for Watkins Glen

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full schedule for Watkins Glen | How the playoff picture looks

The No. 77 Furniture Row Racing team received an L1-level penalty on Wednesday following the Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway. Erik Jones’s eighth-place finish was ruled encumbered after the Toyota he was driving was found to have a rear-suspension violation per Section 20.14.2 of the NASCAR Rule Book.

Crew chief Chris Gayle was fined $50,000 and suspended for two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship points events. The team also was assessed with the loss of 25 owner points and 25 driver points.

The team will not appeal the penalty, according to a statement released Wednesday evening . A 25-point drop in driver points put Jones 150 points below the playoff cutline.

“We understand and accept NASCAR’s penalty to our No. 77 team. We will not appeal the unintentional infraction with the rear suspension and will move on with team engineer James Small taking over as the interim crew chief for the next two races.”

Fines also were handed out to three other teams in the Monster Energy Series for lug-nut violations at Pocono. The No. 18 of race-winning driver Kyle Busch, the No. 17 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the No. 6 of Trevor Bayne were all found to have one lug nut improperly installed.

The result of those safety violations were $10,000 fines for each crew chief — Adam Stevens, Brian Pattie and Matt Puccia, respectively.

In addition, the crew chiefs for the No. 16 in the XFINITY Series (Phil Gould, $5,000) and the No. 52 in the Camping World Truck Series (Trip Bruce, $2,500) were fined for lug-nut violations in their respective events last weekend at Iowa Speedway and Pocono Raceway.