Posted on by Pat DeCola

RELATED: See the races at Dover

DOVER, Delaware — Sometimes it just ain’t your day. For Chase Elliott, it just ain’t been his month.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver rolled into his sophomore Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series campaign picking up right where he left off, notching an elite average finish of 7.88 through the season’s first eight races.

In the four races since? A dismal 30.25, with zero laps led and a single finish on the lead lap.

“Yeah, it was a rough whole month of May really for us,” Elliott said Friday at Dover International Speedway, site of Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism (1 p.m. ET, FS1). “We are happy to see June here and just kind of a shot to try to improve and get some good solid finishes if nothing else or really just finish would be good.

“That is our goal this weekend; to try not to have anything stupid happen, finish and hopefully just try to move on down the road and try to get some just solid days, just good experience, execution and just exercise all the parts of the race that you have to do to run well and compete to win.”

Elliott’s Coca-Cola 600 run ended before even five percent of the 400 laps had been run, when a Jeffery Earnhardt malfunction on Lap 19 resulted in Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Team Penske rear-ending his No. 24 Chevrolet, thus ending the day for both drivers.

MORE: Elliott, Keselowski wreck ends Coca-Cola 600 early for both

It’d be easy to chalk that up to a touch of “if it weren’t for bad luck …” and adopt a woe-is-me attitude, but the wise-beyond-his-years Elliott isn’t about to seek pity.

“You can’t really change it and what’s done is done and a lot of it has just been … I don’t like using the term bad luck, because I think a lot of your luck starts when you leave the race shop, but I guess just misfortune and kind of being at a bad spot at the wrong time,” said Elliott, who has seen his points standing sink from second to seventh over this stretch. “So, I don’t like using the term bad luck, but I guess some of it has been so to speak.

“I’m not real sure what you call it, but the big thing for us is you got to keep trying to stay high on what you have going on, try to run well. If you put yourself in good position long enough I think eventually good things will happen to you. I’m a pretty strong believer in what goes around comes around and I think everything in racing, that is one thing I have learned over my career I think everything in racing comes full circle at some point.”

No sympathy-seeking there from the 21-year-old.

Still, it can’t be easy to swallow the fact that in the midst of this month-long slump, the sport has anointed two more first-time winners while Elliott — who many pinned to be the first rising star to break through for a W in 2017 — has endured arguably the most challenging stretch of his Monster Energy Series career.

It would be easy, however, to exhibit jealousy. But guess who isn’t showing it?

“You always want to win and you always want to beat the next guy, but at the same time Ricky (Stenhouse, Jr.) did a great job at Talladega, had a strong car, did a great job missing all the wrecks and putting himself in good position. He has put in due time. He is a champion in NASCAR. He has had success here, he deserves to be here and why shouldn’t he deserve to win? Happy for him.

“Happy for Austin (Dillon), also another champion that has put in his time and had an opportunity to win and did a great job, executed a great race. I hope that people don’t say, ‘Ah it was a fuel mileage race, his first win.’ I just hate hearing that because the guy has been around he has run well at times, he has had other opportunities to win, so I’m happy for him, too. I hope we can do it at some point. That would be nice, but sure, I want to beat them, but I respect it and I’m happy for them and we will have our opportunity as well.”

Stenhouse was crowned XFINITY Series champion in 2011 and ’12, followed by Dillon in 2013.

The next season? Elliott.

That trend — though bucked by 2015 champ Chris Buescher winning at Pocono last year — suggests his first appearance in Victory Lane is coming soon, possibly even beginning this weekend at the “Monster Mile.” In a pair of Dover starts last year, Elliott raced to a pair of third-place finishes.

Hoping to see if his tide was indeed turning once the calendar showed June, Elliott spent part of Thursday with Denny Hamlin at the Dover Downs casino located at the DIS premises. It, uh, did not go well.

“Yeah, struggled,” said Elliott. “I was hoping May was over and June was going to turn a new page and if the blackjack table has any frame on June, it’s not good.”

Thankfully for him, he doesn’t put too much stock in luck.

Posted on by

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: AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway

Date: June 4, 1 p.m. ET (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Previous five results at Dover: 32nd, 3rd, 14th, 17th, 9th

Notable: Dale Earnhardt Jr. has seven top-five finishes at Dover. Up until last fall’s Citizen Soldier 400, Earnhardt had raced in every Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at the Monster Mile since joining the series full time in 2000. However, that came to an end last year when Earnhardt missed the second half of the season — including the Dover race — due to a concussion. Junior has an average finish of 16.2 at Dover, but perhaps he can bring back the magic from 2001 to the concrete track this weekend.

Memorable moment: Junior has one victory at Dover International Speedway, but it was a meaningful victory for the sport. On Sept. 23, 2001, he took the checkered flag at the MBNA Cal Ripken, Jr. 400, the first NASCAR event following the tragic Sept. 11 attacks. With American pride at a peak in the grandstands, Junior led nearly half the race — 193 of the 400 laps run to win and later circled the track in celebratory fashion in his then No. 8 stock car, hoisting the American flag.

Quotable: “This sport cycles around and I never lose faith that Hendrick Motorsports will find the speed we need,” Earnhardt said in a team release. “I’m ready for Dover.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: Full Dover schedule | Series standings

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season hasn’t quite reached the quarter mark, but just five races in, there’s already a “can you top this?” vibe from the series’ two best drivers to date — Johnny Sauter and Christopher Bell.

Bell, a 22-year-old protégé at Kyle Busch Motorsports, has dazzled in the early stages of his second full truck season. The Oklahoma native, who prevailed earlier this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, has led multiple laps in all five races this year and has three Keystone Light Pole Awards to date.

Yet Bell is still staring at a 15-point deficit in the standings to Sauter, a 39-year-old Wisconsinite who won his first series championship last year and holds a three-race streak of runner-up finishes this season.

“I feel like my team’s been executing every race, and my results I feel like have been pretty great throughout the year, and then all of a sudden this 21 truck (of Sauter) is still ahead of us in points,” Bell said after finishing third — again, one spot behind Sauter — in the series’ most recent race on May 19 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “As great as my year’s been, his year’s been even better.

“Happy with our team and we’ve been able to execute. They’ve just been executing a little bit better all season long.”

The two drivers will reprise their contest atop the points in Friday’s Bar Harbor 200 (5:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Dover International Speedway. The 200-mile event is another chance for Sauter and Bell to further separate themselves from the pack; Matt Crafton, their third-place competition, sits 51 points off Sauter’s advantage at the top.

The two have been in close quarters before. Both Bell and Sauter joined Crafton and Timothy Peters in the championship-eligible quartet in last year’s finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Though there’s plenty of racing left before this season’s playoff field is decided in September, Sauter surmised in Charlotte that the two could be booking a return engagement in the final four.

“Obviously, I knew coming into the season that Christopher was going to be one of the guys you’re going to be racing for the championship, there’s no doubt about it,” said Sauter, in his second year with the GMS Racing team. “He’s a very talented young driver and obviously with a great organization. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see us racing each other down to the wire.”

The two have enjoyed success at Dover, though Sauter’s sample size is much greater. Bell finished third as a rookie last year in his only Monster Mile start. The veteran Sauter has four consecutive top-10 results at the concrete track in Delaware.

Bell is still learning, but at an advanced clip. In the midst of his second full-time season, Bell is returning to several tracks where he was a first-timer last year. And as his crew chief, Ryan “Rudy” Fugle, points out, he’s still finding a rhythm on asphalt to complement his extensive dirt-track background.

“It was one of his bright spots early, and I think it’s definitely an all-out kind of race track,” Fugle said of his driver’s return to Dover. “You’ve just got to survive and be there. Then we’ll go for it, and I think we’ll be good.”

Posted on by Track Release

WASHINGTON, DC and DAYTONA BEACH, FLA., – Today, the Professional Fighters League, together with Daytona International Speedway and NBC Sports Group, announced that Professional Fighters League: Daytona will take place on Friday, June 30, as part of the Coke Zero 400 Weekend Powered By Coca-Cola at the “World Center of Racing.” The event, which will be held in the UNOH Fanzone following the completion of the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race, will bring elite MMA talent and the excitement of televised fights to Daytona International Speedway, and will set the stage for the Professional Fighters League’s January 2018 debut in a showcase of what’s to come.

“In this first-of-its-kind partnership, the Professional Fighters League inaugural event at Daytona will bring fans of MMA
and stock car racing together – both of whom thrive on intensity and high-stakes competition,” said Carlos Silva, President, Event Production and Business Operations, Professional Fighters League. “This is the first in a series of innovative and groundbreaking league initiatives from the Professional Fighters League, and we’re proud to kick it all off at one of racing’s most iconic venues.”

NBCSN will televise the two-hour event live and admission for guests will be included in the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 race ticket.

“Partnering with Professional Fighters League and NBC Sports brings added entertainment to the already busy Coke Zero 400 Weekend,” Daytona International Speedway President Chip Wile said. “Race fans have a contagious passion and dedication to the sport of NASCAR, and we are looking forward to bringing them the excitement, thrill, and talent of professional MMA at the renowned Daytona International Speedway.”

Professional Fighters League: Daytona will feature three three-round bouts and one five-round main event. Each
fight will factor into the league rankings when it officially begins in January 2018, and the winner of the main event will
be awarded the #1 seed for his weight class. The eight fighters competing at Daytona will be among the first fighters signed to compete in the inaugural 2018 Professional Fighters League season. The first Professional Fighters League championships will be awarded in December 2018 to the fighters who emerge victorious after the post-season tournament. The final champions of the World Series of Fighting will be honored at an event this fall.

Professional Fighters League: Daytona will feature the following match-ups:

  • JON FITCH (29-7-1) vs. BRIAN FOSTER (27-9) – 170 lb Welterweight Main Event (For the 2018 #1 seed)
  • SMEALINHO RAMA (10-2) vs. RONNY MARKES (16-5) – 205 lb Light Heavyweight Bout
  • JOAO ZEFERINO (21-8) vs. HERMAN TERRADO (14-3-1) – 170 lb Welterweight Bout
  • JASON HIGH (19-5) vs. CAROS FODOR (11-5) – 155 lb Lightweight Bout

“The road to the first Professional Fighters League playoffs and post-season $1 million purse begins this January, but the winners in Daytona could have a little smoother start,” said Ray Sefo, President, Fighting Operations, Professional Fighters League. “Recruitment for 2018 continues at a strong pace and we’re looking forward to welcoming more athletes into the Professional Fighters League in the coming weeks and months.”

There will be three additional Professional Fighters League events in 2017 leading up to the start of the regular season in January. Remaining 2017 events will be on Saturday, July 29 in Everett, Washington; Saturday, October 14 in Las Vegas, Nevada; and Thursday, November 4 in Washington, D.C.

Tickets for the June 29 – July 1 Coke Zero 400 Weekend Powered By Coca-Cola can be purchased online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP. 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.

Posted on by DraftKings

Rankings below are based on a mixture of expected output and DraftKings’ NASCAR salaries for that day. The ordering is not based on highest projected fantasy totals, but rather by value of each driver.

(fppk = average fantasy points per $1,000 of salary. The typical median fppk for a 2016 race was in the 3s. Plate tracks tend to be lower and short tracks tend to run higher due to the amount of laps.)

1. Martin Truex, Jr. ($9,900) – The initial thought is that this isn’t an intermediate track, so Truex is human again. That’s wrong. He’s not human at Dover, either. In the last six Dover races, he has scored 135, 71, 34, 95, 58 and 51 fantasy points. This is his home track. (6.8 fppk)

2. Joey Logano ($9,200) – Look at the numbers. Logano has been the best short track driver this season. He led 80 laps at Phoenix before a penalty and a wreck took him out. Other than that, he has finished inside the top-five at Martinsville, Bristol and won at Richmond. (4.1 fppk)

3. Kevin Harvick ($10,100) – A mechanical failure took Harvick out in the Dover fall race. That’s about the only thing that can beat Kevin Harvick at Dover. In the four previous Dover races, Harvick scored 72, 216, 100 and 107 fantasy points. (4.3 fppk)

4. Jimmie Johnson ($10,600) – The quickest way to sort out the drivers each week is to review their current form and their track history. Jimmie won at Bristol in April (Bristol is the closest comparable track to Dover), and he has 10 career wins at Dover. (5.0 fppk)

5. Kyle Larson ($10,300) – As is the case at most tracks, Larson is getting better at Dover with each run. This track is a lot like Bristol, and Larson scored the most fantasy points at Bristol. In the spring 2016 Dover race, Larson scored over 100 fantasy points. (5.8 fppk)

6. Kyle Busch ($10,400) – Tell me if you’ve heard this story before: Kyle Busch is great at Bristol, but he wrecked and blamed the tires. If you can stomach the possibility of rogue tires ruining your fantasy NASCAR lineup, then Kyle is a great option to lead laps. (5.2 fppk)

7. Brad Keselowski ($10,000) – In the last six Dover races, Keselowski is averaging 55 fantasy points. At the flat, short tracks (not terribly similar to Dover, but they’re still short tracks), Keselowski has finished with a top-10 DFS score in all three races (ninth, second and first). (5.3 fppk)

8. Chase Elliott ($9,600) – In his rookie season at Dover, Elliott scored over 50 fantasy points in both races. He’s had terrible luck of late, but that will pass. The car looks good. The driver looks good. (3.6 fppk)

9. Denny Hamlin ($9,000) – Short tracks are Hamlin’s wheelhouse. Other than a late-race wreck at Martinsville, Hamlin has been solid at the short tracks this season (three top-10 finishes). He earned two top-10s at Dover last year. (3.3 fppk)

10. Matt Kenseth ($9,500) – JGR is back on top. They have yet to win, but they’re right there. Kenseth’s average running position at Charlotte was fourth. At the last short track race (Richmond), Kenseth led 164 laps. (3.0 fppk)

11. Ryan Newman ($7,200) – His Dover track history is about what you would expect. This season at the short tracks, Newman has been slightly better than what we expect. He stole a win at Phoenix, finished with at top-10 at Martinsville and Richmond, and was 14th at Bristol. (3.2 fppk)

12. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. ($7,600) – Dover is similar to Bristol, and that’s one of Stenhouse’s best tracks. It should not be a surprise that Stenhouse has a top-15 finish in the last three Dover races. Better yet, Stenhouse has a top-10 fantasy score in all four short track races this season. (4.8 fppk)

13. Austin Dillon ($7,400) – If you’re expecting a winning streak or Dillon’s season to miraculously turn around because of a fuel mileage win, then you’re mistaken. Dillon is in play because he’s cheap and he can sneak away with a top-10 finish, just like he did at Martinsville. (3.0 fppk)

14. Clint Bowyer ($8,800) – Fantasy NASCAR players don’t talk about Bowyer because he doesn’t lead laps. The media don’t talk about Bowyer because he’s not out front. The biggest secret in NASCAR is that Clint Bowyer has the fourth-best average finish (12th). (4.3 fppk)

15. Jamie McMurray ($8,200) – There are drivers that hog the fast laps and laps led points. There are drivers that score double-digit place differential points. McMurray is neither. Despite earning seven top-10s this season, he’s very tough to roster in daily fantasy NASCAR at his price. (3.9 fppk)

16. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. ($7,800) – Kurt Busch got booted from the top-20 this week. Junior, take notice. At Dover, Earnhardt, Jr.’s average running position has been 11th or better in four of his last five races. This season, he’s wrecked in the last three short track races. (2.2 fppk)

17. Kasey Kahne ($7,700) – The 2015 season was a wash for Kasey Kahne, but that wasn’t the case at Dover (finished sixth and fourth). Last year, Kahne finished 12th and fourth at Dover. He hasn’t finished well at the short tracks, but he has a top-15 average running position in three of the four races. (3.9 fppk)

18. Ryan Blaney ($8,700) – It’s possible that Ryan Blaney is getting too much credit. At the intermediate tracks, he’s looked great, but who wouldn’t in a Penske car? At the short tracks, he’s been average at best with an average finish of 29th. (3.4 fppk)

19. David Ragan ($5,100) – The price tag is wrong again, in my opinion. Ragan has eight top-25 finishes this season, and he comes into Dover with five straight finishes like that. During that streak, he’s finished with a top-20 fantasy score in each race (19th, 10th, 17th and 23rd). (4.6 fppk)

20. Regan Smith ($6,100) – Don’t even look at his 2016 Dover stats. That was in an inferior Tommy Baldwin Racing car. This week, he’s driving for RPM, and the 43 car has seven top-20s in the last 10 Dover races. Smith won at Dover in the fall 2015 XFINITY race. (4.5 fppk)

Posted on by Richard Childress

RELATED: RCR honors families of the fallen

Where does Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 victory rank?

Well … I look back, and it’s right there at the top with Dale Earnhardt’s Daytona 500 in 1998, and winning Indy, and winning our first race with Ricky Rudd. But it’s really special when it’s family, though. By that, it would be at the top of the board.

I’ve had so many great wins here at Richard Childress Racing and so many special, meaningful wins, but to have your grandson (Austin Dillon) win in the No. 3, knowing the pressure he’s carried inside him and on himself …

I know how hard it’s been, but Austin never shows it. And it’s extra special because he was able to win a major race, one of the three triple-crown races, which I consider to be the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Coke 600.

Another reason it was so special to me was the location.

There are only three or four drivers left from North Carolina — Austin, Ty and Dale Earnhardt Jr. come immediately to mind. We look at Charlotte as our home track, and to be able to win right there was meaningful. All of our family was there. Ty had fallen out of the race, and he had gone home, but he called Austin in the Victory Lane. It was really special for our family.

I spoke to Kelly Earnhardt (on Wednesday), and she said she was so proud of us, and she knew her dad would be proud, too. And just to hear that from her meant a whole lot.

And, of course, the big story was the return of the No. 3 to Victory Lane.

MORE: Drivers to win in all three national series

The biggest question I had in bringing the No. 3 back to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2014 was the pressure that goes along with it. We had won a couple of races with Dale Jr. (driving the No. 3 in the XFINITY Series). I know the pressure that was on him. And I knew the pressure it would put on Austin, but he had won the championship in the 3 in XFINITY, and he had won the championship in the No. 3 in the Camping World Truck Series, and I know that helped me make a decision to go ahead and do it with him. It was a big move, and it was kind of a bold move on my part, but I knew if I ever brought the 3 back, it would have to be an Earnhardt or one of the Childress family members.

We had talked about him being the first driver to win (championships) in all three series, but we’ve got to get a little more speed in our car, and I think we can do it. Our cars have run a lot better than our finishes. We had trouble in several races this year when we were running top-10, but we’re working on getting all that behind us. We showed Sunday night that we can run for 600 miles and be competitive. Austin was from sixth to 10th all night. He got points in the (Stages 2 and 3) and was 11th in the first stage, so he was right there in a good position to be able to win.

I came on the digital radio and I asked one of the engineers when I heard they were going for it on fuel mileage, “Can you make it?” And he said “We will make it,” and that really gave me a little bit of comfort, ’cause those guys are usually pretty much spot on. Those guys had it figured out: 2.7 laps (of fuel) was what he had to save. They told him three, where he could save a little extra. I knew when it got down to two (laps) to go that he had a shot. We have a fuel reserve, a light that comes on when you’re down to two laps to go, depending on the size of the track. They told him to turn the switch on, and he took off then. I knew we were going to make it at that point, and I felt he was running fast enough at that time that he could stay in front of the 78 (Martin Truex Jr., who was second until Kyle Busch passed him on the final lap).

And it was thrilling to win the Coke 600 with a Coke family driver. That was our sixth Coke 600 win. We won three with Dale, two with Kevin Harvick and one with Austin now. That’s pretty amazing for us as well. (Sponsor) Dow was just thrilled, and AAA and American Ethanol, just thrilled with the results of that win.

As soon as Austin crossed the finish line, I was screaming. I was with my wife, and we both started screaming. It was big. This Coke 600 victory is very special to our family.

As told to Reid Spencer of the NASCAR Wire Service.

Posted on by Staff Report

BUY TICKETS: See the Dover races
RELATED: Full schedule for Dover

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series are at Dover International Speedway this weekend.

Below are the stage lengths for each race. Click here to bookmark stage lengths for every race this season.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (Race is Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FS1)

Stage 1: Ends on Lap 120
Stage 2: Ends on Lap 240
Final Stage: Scheduled to end on Lap 400

XFINITY Series (Race is Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, FS1)

Stage 1: Ends on Lap 60
Stage 2: Ends on Lap 120
Final Stage: Scheduled to end on Lap 200

Camping World Truck Series (Race is Friday, 5:30 p.m. ET, FS1)
Stage 1: Ends on Lap 45
Stage 2: Ends on Lap 90
Final Stage: Ends on Lap 200

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Full Dover weekend schedule | Paint Scheme Preview

NASCAR officials confirmed Friday morning that an adhesive compound, used earlier this year at two other facilities, will not be applied before this weekend’s racing tripleheader at the 1-mile concrete track.

Dover officials previously told NASCAR.com on Wednesday morning that the application of a substance such as TrackBite had “been discussed,” but no decision had been made, and that, “if NASCAR believes it will enhance the racing here, we would certainly be supportive.”

The substance was used last year at Bristol, and again for this year’s spring race weekend in an effort to create more grip and widen the racing groove on the .533-mile track. Both Bristol and Dover feature a concrete racing surface and high-banked turns.

Officials with Charlotte Motor Speedway applied the substance in the turns of the 1.5-mile track before the recently completed Monster Energy All-Star and Coca-Cola 600 race weekends.

“It’s something we continue to learn and work with the race tracks — what’s the right application? It was the first time we’ve ever done this on asphalt,” NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said earlier this week on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “We continue to learn and as we see multiple grooves open up earlier, I think it’s something you could see us apply in the future.”

Action at Dover begins Friday with the Bar Harbor 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race while the One Main Financial 200 for the XFINITY Series is scheduled for Saturday.

The AAA 400 Drive for Autism featuring the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rounds out the racing weekend on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).

Posted on by Staff Report

Regan Smith will continue his role as interim driver of the No. 43 Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports this week, according to team officials.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series travels to Dover International Speedway for Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism (1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“I keep saying it, but I’m honored to drive the No. 43 Ford for Richard (Petty) and his team,” Smith said in a team press release. “I think we learned a lot at Charlotte and work together well. I’m looking forward to this weekend. I really like Dover. My last win in NASCAR was at Dover, so I’m really looking forward to getting back there in the Monster Energy Series this weekend.”

Smith, 33, drove for the team in the Monster Energy Open and Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway following a back injury suffered by the team’s primary driver, Aric Almirola, at Kansas Speedway May 13.

Almirola suffered a compression fracture to his T5 vertebra when he was involved in a three-car crash with fellow drivers Joey Logano (Team Penske) and Danica Patrick (Stewart-Haas Racing). Neither Logano nor Patrick were injured.

A one-time winner in the Monster Energy Series, Smith finished fourth in the Open, a last-chance qualifying race for the series’ annual non-points All-Star Race on May 20. He qualified 25th for the Coca-Cola 600 and finished 22nd this past weekend.

Smith has made five starts for Ricky Benton Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this season, and is entered in this weekend’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Dover, the Bar Harbor 200 (Friday, 5:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). He is 12th in driver points.

Almirola said May 19 that doctors have told him he can expect to be sidelined from 8-12 weeks and that if there are no issues, he may resume his driving duties at that time.

RPM is a single-car organization, having eliminated one of its two teams following the conclusion of the 2016 season. Almirola, also 33, has one win in the series in 226 career starts.

Scott McDougall will again be atop the pit box for the No. 43 team as crew chief Drew Blickensderfer serves the third race of a three-race suspension.

Blickensderfer was suspended when the team’s entry failed post-race inspection at Talladega Superspeedway.

Posted on by

JR Motorsports finish fabricator Wade Jackson has spent nearly the last 30 years of his life in NASCAR. But since he started the Kid’s Camp at Camp LUCK (Lucky Unlimited Cardiac Kids) for children with heart disease, he feels more like a mini celebrity as he walks through the garage.

Being crowned the 2016 Comcast Community Champion only amplified that.

“It’s been incredible,” Jackson said Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “I’ve had people I’ve never met … people walk up and say what a great thing we’re doing and a lot of people have offered to help and want to know what they can do.”

Jackson was selected for the Comcast Community Champion Award on Nov. 21, 2016 at the Camping World Truck Series and XFINITY Series banquet. Jackson’s wife Kim and his son Jacob, who had been diagnosed with congenital heart disease and had trouble finding a summer camp growing up that he could attend with his condition, teamed up with Jay “Bird” Thompson and René Herlong in 2010 to start the first family camp. That same year, Jacob passed away at the age of 17 from a congenital heart defect.

Comcast Community Champion Award winner Wade Jackson with his family at the 2016 Camping World Truck Series and XFINITY Series banquet

With his son’s passing, Jackson was determined to make his legacy live on through Camp LUCK; three years later, Camp LUCK opened its first Kid’s Camp, which is what the $60,000 funds from Comcast will support.

“The money from Comcast will enable us to fully fund our Kid’s Camp for this year,” Jackson said. “So, that just takes the pressure off and we do other funding through grants and stuff and we want to fulfill Jacob’s legacy of having a camp for many years to come, so this has taken a lot of pressure off.

“… I hope it’s around for many years. I hope to make my son proud and I hope my wife and daughter are proud of me being the Comcast Community Champion Award recipient,” he said, his voice slightly breaking with emotion. “And I just hope to make them all proud and I hope to make the heart kids proud and hope to have some place for them to go for a long time.”

Ray Wright and Samantha Busch at Richmond International Raceway in April

Jackson’s Kid’s Camp at Camp LUCK wasn’t the only charitable cause that received support from Comcast; the other two 2016 Comcast Community Champion Award finalists, Richard Childress Racing pit coach Ray Wright and Kyle Busch’s wife and Kyle Busch Motorsports co-owner Samantha Busch, also received $30,000 apiece for their charities.

Wright is the founder of Pit Stops for Hope, an organization that works to end child hunger in America. For Wright, his faith was the driving force behind the organization.

“We have a bible study at Richard Childress Racing every Wednesday,” Wright said. “I remember walking out of Bible Study one day (in 2013) and going, ‘What are we doing?’ We go in the same room, we talk about the same stuff – nothing really changes, we don’t really do anything – it’s just all about us. Which is the complete opposite of what our faith tells us to do, right? We did some research and it turns out that North Carolina has the highest percentage of child hunger in the country.

“So, what better way to show our faith and what better way to use the position we have in NASCAR to help kids with that problem?”

The monetary support and exposure from his nomination for the Comcast Community Champion Award, as well as support from the NASCAR community, has made a big difference in Pit Stops for Hope, Wright says.

“Now we have a lot more funds, we can really dig in deep, we can really focus on things, and what we have to do is raise awareness for poverty in America,” Wright said. “A lot of people who live in America don’t understand how bad poverty is in our country. And that’s the first step is to raise awareness.

“See, poverty is a cycle that we’ve got to break … when these kids are young in elementary school and they’re not eating, their brains can’t develop … We’ve got to start now and get the word out that poverty is growing in America and we’ve got to do something about it.”

Busch has also seen growth in Kyle and Samantha Busch Bundle of Joy Fund, a monetary award that supports couples struggling with infertility. Busch started the organization after struggling with infertility herself and undergoing IVF treatment. Now a mother to 2-year-old Brexton, the Busches wanted a way to give back to couples like themselves.

“Over the past year, the Bundle of Joy foundation has just grown,” Busch said. “We are in our second year – we’ve had 11 babies born, we’ve helped 22 families, many of which are pregnant and expecting, and we’ve hit the quarter-million dollar mark in donations. So, we’re so proud of what it’s done.

“Not only the support of fans, but from Comcast and other organizations. They’ve really put our story out there and through that, people have learned what we’re doing because IVF and infertility is not something that many people are comfortable sharing. Our goal is not only to provide the financial support to families, but to talk about it and show women and other couples struggling that they’re not alone.”

The $30,000 award from Comcast allowed the Bundle of Joy Fund to pay for IVF treatments, which Busch said could run over $20,000 per family, for two families that were struggling with infertility.

”It’s such an incredible morning when you wake up and know that you’re going to change somebody’s life,” Busch said. “So with that money, we surprised two couples; one at the actual Reach clinic and one off site. We completely ambushed them during their lunch.

“… The (first) couple (is) amazing; they’ve been trying for six years now, they’ve had three failed IVF cycles and they had completely maxed out absolutely everything and they weren’t going to be able to go forward. So with the money from Comcast, we were able to give them that chance. And another family – just as equally as heartbreaking of a story – she actually would have had her baby this week, but they had a miscarriage and IVF is their only possibility.

“So with the Comcast donation, we were able to tell them that they could go through with IVF and try for their miracle baby again.”

But for Busch, the key word in “Comcast Community Champion Award” might be community – that’s been one of the best parts, she said.

“I think it’s amazing what Comcast is doing in the NASCAR community,” Busch said. “Not only drivers, but pit crews and everybody in NASCAR has so many wonderful charities that they donate to or foundations that they’ve started. … It’s such a great sense of community, getting other people involved with each other’s works and really just all helping each other for the greater good.”