Posted on by Staff Report

HAMPTON, Ga. — Twenty years after it was last resurfaced, Atlanta Motor Speedway‘s historic racing surface is scheduled to be repaved this spring, following the March 3-5 NASCAR Weekend tripleheader. Work is scheduled to begin in late March with an expected completion in mid-April.

 

The current asphalt at AMS is the second-oldest racing surface on the entire circuit, and officials credit its longevity to a combination of the mild Georgia winters and a meticulous maintenance program over its entire two-decade lifetime.

 

Since its last repave in 1997, the track has hosted 31 premier NASCAR series races, 19 NASCAR XFINITY Series races, 15 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races, eight ARCA Racing Series races, four IndyCar Series races and countless U.S. Legends and Bandolero car races on its quarter-mile "Thunder Ring."

 

Despite the wear and tear of aging in recent years, the track has been a favorite of many competitors who have raved about the challenging nature of the track. Its aged surface, slick driving conditions and multiple racing grooves have produced not only exciting races and close finishes for fans in attendance, but a technical challenge for drivers who have battled slick corners, fast straightaways and ample opportunity for passing.

 

Some of the most notable NASCAR races have taken place on the current surface, including Dale Earnhardt’s 0.010-second margin of victory over Bobby Labonte in 2000, Kevin Harvick‘s emotional and record-setting 0.006-second margin of victory over Jeff Gordon in Earnhardt’s Richard Childress Racing car the following year, Carl Edwards’ first Cup Series victory in 2005 and subsequent season sweep of both Atlanta races that year and the first-ever Atlanta night race in 2009.

 

Geoff Bodine’s amazing AMS qualifying record was set at the very first race on the current surface in 1997, when he blazed around the track in 28.074 seconds at an average speed of 197.478 mph. And currently, Bobby Labonte and seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson are tied at five for the most Cup Series victories on the surface. Johnson can break the tie in the final race on the surface at the 2017 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 as he attempts his third consecutive victory at Atlanta.

 

"Many of NASCAR’s greatest moments have occurred on this racing surface, and I have no doubt the world’s best drivers will give it a proper final event before the new surface comes to life," said AMS president Ed Clark. "Whichever driver can take home the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 trophy in 2017 will mark the end of one era of great racing in AMS history and the beginning of another."

 

The repaving project calls for a brand-new asphalt surface to be lain over top of the current surface. AMS’s quad-oval layout and 24-degree banking in the turns will remain unchanged.

 

While a smoother surface and blended seams will accompany the new repave, the high speeds and multiple racing grooves unique to Atlanta Motor Speedway are expected to endure and produce the same, thrilling racing experience for both fans and drivers for many years to come.

 

Drivers who have enjoyed the unique quality of the existing AMS racing surface will have one more opportunity to etch their name in the track record books when NASCAR returns March 3-5.

 

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying will kick off the weekend on Friday, March 3 before the only same-day doubleheader will take to the track on Saturday, March 4 with the back-to-back Rinnai 250 XFINITY Series and Active Pest Control 200 Camping World Truck Series races. The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Cup Series race will round out the weekend on Sunday, March 5 with a scheduled 2:30 p.m. green flag.

 

For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the Atlanta Motor Speedway ticket office at (770) 946-4211, (877) 9-AMS-TIX or visit www.atlantamotorspeedway.com.

Posted on by Staff Report

Name: Kevin
Current City: Sioux Falls, S.D.
Member since: 2011

Getting to know Kevin:

Q. Why did you join the Official NASCAR Fan Council?

"I viewed it as a tremendous opportunity to provide input and feedback to NASCAR for the sport that so many of us enjoy every week. I value that NASCAR takes input from the fans and Fan Council and does a wonderful job making the sport truly enjoyable whether fans are able to go to a race in person or watch on TV."

Q. How did you first become interested in NASCAR?

"I was 11 years old and flipping through the channels and I saw this car race on. I stopped flipping the channels and decided to watch because it caught my attention and looked cool. I watched the race until the end and have been hooked on NASCAR ever since. I have always loved cars and racing and things that go fast and wanted to see what this sport was all about."

Q. What makes NASCAR special for you?

"It is an amazing sport, first of all. NASCAR and the racing community as a whole is a family. We’re just one big family and I feel like I am part of that family. When I go to a race I always meet the most amazing people who are just like me. They love this sport and are hardworking people. It is our passion and enjoyment. The fans are the most amazing people you will ever meet. NASCAR is such a fan-friendly sport, more than any other sport out there and that’s so amazing. NASCAR does so much for their fans, the military and the community and you won’t find that with any other sport."

Q: Do you have any favorite NASCAR memories or traditions?

"The Iowa Race on Father’s Day weekend June 2016. My Dad has had "attend a NASCAR Race" on his "bucket list" for a number of years and I got to take him to the NASCAR Camping World Truck and NASCAR XFINITY Series races at Iowa Speedway for Father’s Day this year."

Q: Do you have a favorite in any of the following categories?

Driver: "Dale Earnhardt Jr."

Track: "Talladega"

Memorabilia: "I have a number of Dale Sr. and Dale Jr. framed pictures, and I’ve been yelled at for getting another 88 Hauler for the display rack. At the March 2007 Bristol Race, I actually was able to get Rutledge Wood to sign my prized Dale Jr. baseball cap that is now a segment of "my favorite" collectibles."

Q: If you could go to any NASCAR race/track, where would you go?

"I have to go to Daytona."

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?

"NASCAR, hunting, fishing — definitely in that order."

Q: Tell us about your family. Do you have children and/or pets?

"My wife is a Carl Edwards fan, my oldest daughter is a Kasey Kahne fan, my youngest daughter is a Jamie McMurray fan. (Yes — we covered the gamut of race car numbers when we attended races.)"

Q: What’s your dream car?

"1969 Camaro"

Q: If you could go anywhere in the world on a dream vacation, where would you want to go?

"Daytona 500, Talladega Race (either the Spring or Fall), or Bristol (Spring Race)."

From all of us at NASCAR, we thank Kevin for his continued support and look forward to hearing from him in 2017.

Posted on by Staff Report

Forbes Magazine has selected NASCAR Next driver Julia Landauer to this year’s Sports 30 Under 30, a list of the "brightest young entrepreneurs, innovators and game changers."


Forbes released its selections Tuesday, highlighting 600 outstanding figures under age 30 from 20 industries. The honorees were chosen by a panel of prominent reporters, legends in each field and former 30 Under 30 recipients.


Landauer, 25, completed her first full season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West in 2016. She finished fourth in the overall standings, sealing top-10 finishes in all but one of her 14 starts.


Landauer, a Stanford University graduate, has also excelled through professional speaking engagements, where she has shared her experiences in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math and their applications in her racing career. She was also a contestant on "Survivor: Caramoan," the 26th season of the reality TV show.



Landauer joins NFL standouts Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr., the NBA’s Draymond Green and Kyrie Irving and four-time Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles on the 30 Under 30 list of sports figures.


Posted on by Staff Report

What channel is the NASCAR race on this week? We answer that and provide all the weekly NASCAR television listings here.

 

RELATED: Find NBCSN in your area


All times ET


Tuesday, January 3
9 a.m., 1979 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1

Thursday, January 5
8:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Year (re-air), FS1
5 p.m., NASCAR Scan All 43: Championship Edition (re-air), NBCSN
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Scan All 43: Best of Scan All (re-air), NBCSN
6 p.m., Stories of NASCAR: Champions of 2016 (re-air), NBCSN

Friday, January 6
8:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Year (re-air), FS1
5 p.m., Stories of NASCAR: Behind the Wheel (re-air), NBCSN
5:30 p.m., Stories of NASCAR — Legend: Tony Stewart (re-air), NBCSN

 

 

 

Posted on by Staff Report

Some of us raised glasses to toast the New Year, but those at Stewart-Haas Racing were also raising a new flag at their headquarters in Kannapolis, North Carolina, to kick off the 2017 season.

SHR’s transition to a new manufacturer will be one of the key story lines for fans to watch this year. And as you’ll see below SHR seems excited about taking on that challenge.

MORE: Harvick bullish on SHR’s changes

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Driver Tracker for 2017

 

Trent Owens will serve as crew chief for JTG Daugherty Racing‘s new No. 37 Chevrolet team and driver Chris Buescher this year in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

 

A spokesperson for JTG Daugherty confirmed the news Monday afternoon. The personnel move was first reported by Motorsport.com.

 

Owens, who will celebrate his 42nd birthday on Wednesday, most recently oversaw Aric Almirola‘s efforts in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford. That partnership netted the first premier series victory for both driver and crew chief at Daytona International Speedway in 2014, their first year together.

 

A decline in performance last season led to restructuring at RPM last fall, when Drew Blickensderfer replaced Owens as the No. 43 crew chief. The Richard Petty-owned organization will compete as a single-car team this season and indicated its intentions to return to a two-car operation in 2018.

 

Owens’ arrival shores up one of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ newest teams. JTG Daugherty announced its expansion to a two-car outfit on Nov. 29, adding Buescher as a teammate to AJ Allmendinger through an arrangement with Roush Fenway Racing.

 

Buescher, 24, was the only Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate to win a race last season, lifting Front Row Motorsports to an upset victory at Pocono Raceway in a fog-shortened race last August.

 

Owens has visited Victory Lane five times as a crew chief with five different drivers in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. One of those wins was with James Buescher — Chris’ cousin — in the 2012 season opener at Daytona. Owens has also shared XFINITY victory laurels with Dave Blaney, Mark Martin, Reed Sorenson and Nelson Piquet Jr.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: See photos from the big day

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and fiancée Amy Reimann married Saturday night on New Year’s Eve in front of family and friends that included scores of NASCAR drivers and personalities. The two awoke in 2017 as a married couple, thanking friends and fans for support on social media.



The celebration appears to have lasted deep into the night (and morning) as well. At 11:45 a.m. ET on New Year’s Day, Amy — who changed her last name to Earnhardt on Twitter — was still waiting for her husband to wake up.



Drivers such as Danica Patrick (who caught the bouquet!), Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and plenty of others shared sparse photos of the event, a black-tie affair that was heavy on the disco balls.


The two were engaged for nearly 18 months, with Earnhardt Jr. popping the question in June 2015 while on vacation in Germany. It was at an old Lutheran church that Earnhardt’s relatives had attended hundreds of years prior where the 14-time most popular driver dropped to one knee.


It was at Champion’s Week in Las Vegas where Junior and his now wife confirmed the date.


“I’m really excited and have enjoyed going through the process,” Earnhardt Jr. said at the time. “I’ve never been married before and I’m excited to be marrying Amy.”


The wedding was the capstone of what previously had been a tough year for the two-time Daytona 500 winner. Midway through the season, Earnhardt Jr. was out of his No. 88 Chevrolet after experiencing concussion-like symptoms. He would not drive again for the rest of the year, but previously announced — also earlier this month — that he has been cleared for 2017.


Earnhardt Jr. shared updates of his recovery on social media, and credited Amy with helping fuel his desire to get back in the car.


Posted on by Staff Report

Great racing dominated 2016, from multiple tracks records for most passes in a single race to two of the closest finishes in NASCAR history.

 

In the deep freeze of the offseason, and with the holidays here, it seems an appropriate time for reflection, NASCAR-style.

 

So fire up the popcorn kettle, sit back and enjoy these full-race replays of some of the top races of the season.

Schedule:
Dec. 23: Daytona
Dec. 26: Phoenix spring race
Dec. 27: California
Dec. 28: Dover spring race
Dec. 29: Sonoma
Dec. 30: Miami

Miami


In the highly-anticipated season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jimmie Johnson took the checkered flag to earn his record-tying seventh championship.


Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Joey Logano completed the championship-contending quartet and the four put on quite the show — from swapping positions on the track to creating some fiery wrecks.


Johnson’s first win at the Miami track marked his 80th victory in NASCAR’s premier series.


RELATED: Click here to open the video in a new browser

Sonoma

Sonoma Raceway has given us plenty of action over the years — but how about action and history? 

The June race at the road course had arguably the best finish of the season, seeing recently-retired and likely future NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart bulldoze former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin out of the way into the outside wall in Turn 11 to execute a last-lap pass for the victory.

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver came into the race riding an 84-start winless streak, and the victory proved to be his 49th and final one to close out an illustrious career that saw three Sprint Cup Series titles, to boot.

RELATED: Click here to open the video in a new browser

Dover spring race

NASCAR’s now met its future in the AAA 400 Drive For Autism at Dover International Raceway in May. On a restart with 45 laps to go, a game-changing caution occurred when an accident involving 18 cars resulted in a pileup on the frontstretch that took out some strong race-win contenders. That left the three cars of Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott as the prime candidates for the victory. At the time, Larson and Elliott were in search of their first premier series wins — Larson later got his first premier win at Michigan in August — and both youngings were giving Kenseth all he could handle. 

In the end though, Kenseth, the JGR veteran was able to navigate his way to Victory Lane for his first of two wins in 2016. The victory was also part of a stretch from the Martinsville race in April to the Coca-Cola 600 over Memorial Day weekend that saw Toyota win seven of eight premier series point races. 

RELATED: Click here to open the video in a new browser

Auto Club

Jimmie Johnson had several factors going for him in March in his home state, not the least of which was a special Superman paint scheme. With a Man of Steel persona working its mojo, Johnson rocketed from third place on an overtime restart to hold off Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin in the Auto Club 400.

Johnson — who fittingly donned a cape in Victory Lane — notched the 77th victory of his career, pushing him past NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt on the premier series’ all-time win list. The milestone capped a packed day of 26 lead changes, with drivers slipping and sliding on the worn California asphalt.

RELATED: Click here to open the video in a new browser

Phoenix spring race

The spring race at Phoenix International Raceway saw the closest finish in track history, with Kevin Harvick edging Carl Edwards by 0.010 seconds across the start-finish line.

Fresh Goodyear tires allowed Edwards to reach leader Harvick by the final lap to contend from the win — and that’s where the excitement reached its pinnacle. Edwards dove to the inside of Harvick, bumping the No. 4 Chevrolet and edging slightly in front. Harvick gave it right back to the No. 19 Toyota, as the pair crossed the start-finish line inches apart from one another. Harvick was declared the victor, earning his first win thus far of the 2016 season.

RELATED: Click here to open the video in a new browser

Daytona 500


The biggest race of the year never disappoints, and this one had it all. There was a rookie starting on the pole in a historic number. There was a late charge — and wreck — from Dale Earnhardt Jr., sending “Amelia” back to the shop for good. And there was a photo finish that came after Denny Hamlin knocked teammate Matt Kenseth out of the way, then held off Martin Truex Jr. at the strip. It was as good as it gets.


VIDEO: Click here to open the video in a new browser