SPARTA, Ky. — Last year, a repaved, reconfigured racing surface at Kentucky Speedway greeted drivers for the July tripleheader weekend at the 1.5-mile track.
This year, drivers will have to contend with another two-inch overlay of asphalt, which was added last October to prolong the life of a repaving job from the previous spring.
Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones and Jamie McMurray tested tires for Goodyear at Kentucky on May 9-10. With the NASCAR Camping World Truck and XFINITY Series also scheduled to race this weekend, Jones hopes the track will be broken in for Saturday’s Quaker State 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN).
Toward that end, the speedway also has made extensive use of the tire dragon to lay rubber on the asphalt prior to this weekend.
“It’s back to a full repave again, essentially,” Jones said on Thursday at Kentucky. “They came and they did the tire dragon before we got on track (for the test in May), but it rained the entire first day so it washed it all off and then had to kind of run it back in, so it felt like Texas really – just a full repave.
“Hopefully, with the trucks being out there all day (Wednesday), the truck race (Thursday night), XFINITY practice today (which was canceled), it’ll be pretty worked in for the Cup cars here (for Friday practice). But it’s still a whole new repave, a whole new deal again.”
So is the right-side tire Goodyear has supplied for the Quaker State 400. It features a softer compound that should provide more grip but will wear more quickly than last year’s right sides.
Ty Dillon and his wife Haley announced a few weeks ago that a little Dillon will be arriving this fall, and on Thursday revealed they are expecting a baby girl. Well, they formally announced they were having a baby girl — something Ty let slip in May.
This has me absolutely cracking up we haven’t formally announced it but we are so excited to be having a baby girl!! https://t.co/Jlb0hhrJIe
Haley posted on Instagram that the couple had their first ultrasound on Wednesday and have chosen the name Oakley Ray Dillon for their first child. Oakley is expected to arrive in November.
Busch Beer will pay homage to its past with Kevin Harvick’s throwback paint scheme for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
The Sept. 3 race will see Harvick pilot a No. 4 Ford with a design inspired by the Busch Beer look from the 1980s. Stewart-Haas Racing had been teasing the car reveal this week by posting the classic “head for the mountains” Busch Beer commercials on its social media channels.
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) July 6, 2017
This season marks the third consecutive year Darlington is hosting a throwback weekend. The celebrated time period is 1985-89.
Harvick won the prestigious race in dominating fashion in 2014, his first year with Stewart-Haas. After starting on the pole, Harvick led 238 of 374 laps for his first Darlington victory. In the last five races at the 1.366-mile track, Harvick has finished no worse than fifth and has led a total of 488 laps.
Last year, in a Busch Beer car resembling Cale Yarborough’s car from 1979, Harvick finished second after leading over 200 laps.
Rain has altered the schedule for all Thursday’s on-track activity at Kentucky Speedway, washing out four afternoon sessions and delaying the start of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 for just about three hours before going green.
The opening of on-track activity for the NASCAR XFINITY Series was scheduled for 2 p.m. ET. But ominous skies opened up in the afternoon, drenching the 1.5-mile track.
A total of three XFINITY Series practices were scheduled Thursday ahead of Friday’s race, the Alsco 300 (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The first two practice sessions were not held despite persistent track-drying efforts. The series will get on-track time with a 85-minute practice scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Friday.
Keystone Light Pole Qualifying for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was also washed away, leaving the starting lineup to be set by the 2017 NASCAR Rule Book. That means series points leader Johnny Sauter will lead the field to the green flag for the Buckle Up in Your Truck 225, which was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the first race in a tripleheader weekend for NASCAR’s national tours.
The weekend is capped off with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts on Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
A sizable contingent of track-drying equipment is available at the Kentucky track. Those provisions include a group of 11 NASCAR Air Titans, eight jet dryers, two track vacuums and one Elgin sweeper truck.
PARK CITY, Utah – Almost as soon as Toyota officials announced the automaker had become an official partner with the U.S. Winter Olympic effort, Nick Ammazzalorso began thinking about NASCAR.
Not as an Olympic event. But the crossover appeal was undeniable.
“Right when we signed these partnerships we thought there was a great opportunity for us to bring (NASCAR) drivers through the paces of sports that use not necessarily similar technology but … that are similar and really introduce them to that,” said Ammazzalorso, marketing communications manager for Toyota Motor North America.
Toyota is an official partner sponsor for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Earlier this year, officials with Toyota announced National Governing Body partnerships with U.S. Figure Skating and U.S. Speed Skating. It already enjoys a partnership with USA Hockey.
“Because Toyota is a global Olympic partner we know that we’re going to be doing a lot in the coming years so this is kind of the introduction, the tip of the iceberg,” Ammazzalorso said.
Credit: Toyota Racing
On the NASCAR side, Toyota is one of three manufacturers currently providing factory support to teams and its lineup includes Furniture Row Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, two multicar organizations competing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
So for two days between events at Michigan International Speedway and Sonoma Raceway last month, officials held an “immersion” with FRR drivers Martin Truex Jr., teammate Erik Jones, their crew chiefs Cole Pearn and Chris Gayle, and fellow driver Daniel Suarez of JGR, putting them front and center with U.S. Winter Olympic athletes in their respective training centers here and in nearby Kearns, Utah.
“The camaraderie between athletes is important to us, the synergy,” Ammazzalorso said. “We believe in not just putting our name on a banner. We want this to be a totally integrated partnership and our Olympic partners have been great to us so far.
“This is a thank you to them but it’s also an introduction to our NASCAR drivers of what’s outside, beyond the NASCAR world for Toyota. We sponsor a lot of different things across the country and across the world but we’re really passionate about our Olympics partnership so bringing two of our big passion points together made sense.”
Day One consisted of a trip to the Center of Excellence, the training center for athletes competing in ski and snowboard events and included participation on a ski simulator as well as various balance and power workouts.
Skiers Ashley Caldwell (freestyle), Bryan Fletcher (Nordic combined) and River Radamus (alpine) were on hand to give demonstrations and provide a bit of coaching.
Truex leaned on his crew chief for advice as he attempted to use the ski simulator to snowboard.
“Same as every week. Don’t crash,” Truex said of Pearn’s instructions.
Truex said his last time on a snowboard was nearly a decade ago, adding “When they started to pay me to drive race cars I gave it up.”
Michael Bingaman, a strength and conditioning coach with men’s alpine, put the short training program together and said he was impressed with how well the drivers and crew chiefs fared.
“I spent the entire first time I was on the ski simulator with my hands on the (balance) bar,” Bingaman said. “Everyone here that stood up has done better than I did.”
Credit: Toyota Racing
Day Two began with a stop at Utah Olympic Park to watch freestyle competitors train by completing their jumps off a variety of ramps before landing in a pool; take a trip down the noisy concrete bobsled run and a visit to the top of the mountain where ski jumpers in training launch themselves into space.
Later, Olympian Mitch Whitmore and other speed skaters greeted the NASCAR group at the Utah Olympic Oval where short track and distance training was under way.
Pearn said talking with the various athletes about the technical aspects of their different sports was one of the more interesting things to come out of the two-day program.
“What are the variables they’re looking at and what are the obstacles they have to face to gain more performance?” Pearn said. “It’s kind of neat (comparing it) to what we do in NASCAR.”
That it came in the middle of the week, and the middle of the year, made it “a pretty awesome trip for sure,” Pearn said.
“To be able to do this in June on such amazing venues is a pretty great experience.”
Editor’s note: This story originally ran May 12. It has been updated.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s victory last weekend at Daytona International Speedway, his second of the season, was more than another triumph for Roush Fenway Racing. It was another sign of success for the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program.
Three members of Stenhouse’s No. 17 pit crew are graduates of the Drive for Diversity program, having worked themselves up the ladder to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series level. Kevin Richardson is the front tire carrier; Mike Russell serves as the jackman; and Rafael Diaz is the rear tire changer.
“It feels great,” said Richardson, who played football at Appalachian State, about winning at NASCAR’s highest level. “Football, one team is going to win, one team is going to lose. But NASCAR, it’s 40 cars out there. It’s hard to win.”
Both Richardson and Diaz had goals of being professional athletes, but NASCAR wasn’t on the radar. After Richardson got hurt playing football in Canada, he returned home and discovered the sport. A tryout with the Drive for Diversity program came when Richardson heard about it while working at Hendrick Motorsports.
Diaz wanted to be a soccer player, a sport he had played a majority of his life. He, too, got hurt at a young age. Always interested in cars, the Drive for Diversity program was suggested to Diaz while attending the NASCAR Technical Institute.
“I never thought I was going to be doing this for the rest of my life, but it puts you in a spot where anybody can do this if you have the determination,” Diaz said. “The program works if you want it bad enough, and it helps with all those fundamentals you need to have.”
Many associate the Drive for Diversity program, and its success, with opening the door for young drivers looking for an opportunity. Kyle Larson and Darrell Wallace Jr. are two often mentioned having come through it. However, the program is just as useful to developing pit crew members by providing individuals with over the wall training and coaching.
“The program was great because it taught fundamentals, and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about,” Richardson said. “You can try and do new tricks, new trades, and all that cool stuff, but putting on tires is about being fundamental. NASCAR and football are totally different, especially on the pit crew end.”
In addition to all three individuals having won twice at the Monster Energy Series level, Richardson and Russell also were part of Chris Buescher’s 2015 XFINITY Series championship team at Roush Fenway.
“The Talladega win was amazing, it was my first Cup win in the seven years I’ve been in the sport,” Russell told NASCAR.com in May. “I’m really fortunate to have been in the position to get my first win because I was asked to fill the position when the team had a primary jackman go out for an injury … I really feel that my training and guidance I got from the Drive for Diversity program set me up for a great future in NASCAR.”
A future Diaz wants to see the Drive for Diversity program make happen for others.
“Starting the program and going to all those races to get experience, from ARCA to trucks, starting at the bottom, and realizing one day you’re going to be able to complete at this level and win these big races everyone wants to win, it’s been a really exciting journey,” Diaz said. “I hope more kids come through it. Anybody can do it, and they’ll get to this level and win races if they want it bad enough. It’s a very good thing we have in NASCAR.”
Editor’s note: This story is part of our Fit Row series that focuses on the health and fitness aspects of racing and its superstar drivers. Presented by Lilly Diabetes, the exclusive diabetes health partner of NASCAR, the series will feature 10 themed stories.
When he’s not spinning around the race track going close to 200 mph in a race car, you can find Kevin Harvick — spinning?
Taking spin classes is the latest fitness fix for the 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion. It’s something new and helps keep him close to his family, but it might not be what one would expect from a guy whose KHI Management Company has MMA fighters Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Miesha Tate in its portfolio.
“I’m one of those guys that gets bored with things pretty fast, so I’ve got to keep it mixed up,” Harvick says. “I’ve done everything like Tae Kwon Do, but right now I like to go to this spin class. It’s close to my house, and I can go early in the morning and have the spin class done before everybody gets out of bed.”
Sounds like a reasonable “dad” thing to do, and it means Harvick is back in time to eat breakfast with his wife DeLana and son Keelan before shuttling Keelan off to school.
While most of us are catching some extra z’s, Harvick is making extra laps on an exercise bike, but it’s not unusual for the driver of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 to show such a passion for fitness. Harvick says it has become a priority for him over the past 5-6 years of his racing career.
“I think some of that comes with age, with life in general, to try to keep yourself as healthy as possible,” Harvick, 41, says. “I’m still not the best at it. I still like to eat crappy food, but I do 70 percent better in that category.
“(Fitness is) not necessarily going to make you a better race car driver, but it’s going to make you more mentally stable I would say, more mentally focused as the year goes on,” Harvick says. “Because this is a grind and it’s important to get through the year, maintain your body and do the things that it takes to keep up with the season, especially through the summer. If you let your guard down, it will catch up to you fast.”
Speaking of letting your guard down, one way you probably won’t see Harvick staying fit is with a UFC-style workout.
“I’ve done some of that, but it just takes so much time to do it right,” Harvick says. “I wind up wanting to punch things hard or kick things hard, and I wind up with a technique that’s not really good and with a sore wrist, hurt fingers, bruised up feet, knees and shins. So, I need to be a little bit cautious with what I do. I’m a little bit tame compared to all those guys.”
Of course, the last thing a driver wants is sore hands when he’s trying to wrestle a race car around the track. That is a workout unto itself, says Harvick, who laughs at those who think driving a race car isn’t a physical sport.
“That’s pretty funny, just for the fact I posted after the (The Clash), I think I burned like 1,000 calories, had a max heart rate of 168 and my resting heart rate is around 40 or 44,” Harvick says. “It’s a very intense atmosphere. … Put you in there for 3-4 hours at a time, and I end up burning 2,500 to 3,500 calories, just depends on how many cautions there are in the race on any given weekend.”
Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson are among five drivers in the world of racing to be nominated for the 2017 ESPY in the Best Driver category.
Truex won four races last season — including three in the months of September and October. So far in 2017, the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota has two wins and has notched the most playoff points thus far (21).
Johnson is coming off his record-tying seventh championship in the Monster Energy Series in which he won three races (giving him five total for the 2016 season) in NASCAR’s 10-race playoff. This season, the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet already has three wins.
In addition to Truex and Johnson, Simon Pagenaud (IndyCar), Ron Capps (NHRA Funny Car) and Lewis Hamilton (Formula 1) are also on the ballot.
Fans can make their votes here, ahead of the July 12 show, airing on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.
Chase Elliott’s wild ride in the Coke Zero 400 on Saturday night led to some testy words over the radio — words that Michael McDowell fired back at on Twitter Wednesday.
An accident on the backstretch on Lap 98 involving Elliott, McDowell, Kasey Kahne and Trevor Bayne saw the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet go sliding through the grass.
That incident led to Elliott saying this over the radio to his team, as can be heard on NASCAR.com’s Scanner Sounds: “That damn 95 (McDowell) wrecks me one more time man. Damnit. …What in the hell is that (expletive’s) problem, man? That is the biggest dumb ass I’ve ever seen in my life. That (expletive) can’t drive a wooden screw.”
For his part, McDowell can be heard on Scanner Sounds saying: “The 5 knocked me into the 24 there.”
The driver of the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet returned some heat of his own Wednesday morning via Twitter.
Sitting in the shade outside his motorhome at Daytona International Speedway before qualifying for the Coke Zero 400 last weekend, Kasey Kahne was all smiles and optimism.
And that’s saying a lot considering the 17-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup winner was in the midst of a you-gotta-be-kidding-me stretch of four DNFs in the previous five races. A victim of weird parts failures and last lap side-swipes.
Yet Kahne knew his No. 5 Chevrolet was stout at the speedway, and he proved it qualifying fourth and leading the race late into the night — his 12 laps out front the first time he led since the Daytona 500, where he posted a seventh-place finish.
When you are part of the esteemed, championship Hendrick Motorsports team, a lot is expected. And a winner since he first started competing as a kid in Enumclaw, Washington, Kahne absolutely shares those expectations.
It is what has made the early summer run tough. But turning that adversity around is what compels Kahne and his No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevy team, the bold opportunity to remind everyone he can be a championship contender.
“I think that in wrecks so often you can look at it and see how you could have done something differently and not wrecked,” Kahne said. “What’s crazy about my last five weeks, those four wrecks I couldn’t have done anything differently.
“I gave more than enough room at Dover and I still was hit by a car that hit the wall, drove all the way across the track and plowed into me and destroyed us. The same at Sonoma. I gave tons and tons of room and he went the wrong way when we got to the corner and took us out.
“The other two were part failures, not wrecks. I mean I’ve been in the care center for a month straight and I hadn’t even seen the care center in a year and a half. … So it’s been kind of a crazy last little while. You just can’t always control it.
“It’s all a part of racing. Things happen.”
While there have been rumors in the garage about Kahne’s future, the Hendrick Motorsports team confirmed again this week, his contract goes through the 2018 season.
And Kahne’s team has nothing but high expectations for their on-track leader.
His crew chief, Keith Rodden, has worked with the 37-year-old Kahne in various positions through tenures at Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Richard Petty Motorsports and Red Bull Racing. And like the driver, he has full confidence in the team’s ability to qualify for NASCAR’s playoffs.
And Saturday night’s showing at Daytona only encourages the team.
“Already some of the guys have some pep in their step because of Daytona,” Rodden said. “It validates the work they do and they want to see that. They want to see their work rewarded. Being able to drive from the back to the front three times and lead the race, that’s real important to them.”
“I think the guys on the team stay focused on the right stuff. If they bring anything up they might hear [rumors], I tell them we don’t even need to worry about it. Fortunately, some of us on the team have been together for a while so we’ve been through it all from Gillett Evernham, to Petty to Red Bull … and we know at the end of the day, you have to perform, you have to race smart. You can’t have parts break because of building them improperly. And you have to finish.
“You’re judged by finishing position and so we have to figure out how to finish better and once we do that I think we can really surprise some people.”
Kahne, who finished a career best fourth in the 2012 championship, has victories at five of the nine race tracks the series will visit before setting the playoff field – including Michigan, Loudon, Pocono, Bristol and Richmond.
“I think with the experience I have now, that win could be anywhere,” Kahne said. “I don’t really have any tracks that I don’t like. In the past, I might not have liked a track because I didn’t run as well there as I would like. But over the years I have that experience and feel like we can run well at every track we race at.
“It could happen at any time. And we’ve seen that already this year with a couple guys. That’s encouraging. The other thing is speed in the car and doing right things for entire race. We need to put the entire thing together on the track and off the track. If we do, we can definitely win. We’ve done that in the past. We just need to execute.
“And all the races leading to Richmond we could do it at any of those race tracks and I feel very confident of that.”
