Posted on by Team Release

LEVEL CROSS, N.C. — Petty’s Garage will expand the Level Cross, North Carolina, speed shop with a $2.4 million investment. The expansion will include renovations to the shop and the addition of 17 new jobs over the next two years. Construction is slated for the first quarter of 2017. The expansion will allow the team to continue their high-quality performance parts, restorations and custom builds that are fit for “The King.”

 

The added renovations will increase capacity for manufacturing automotive parts, as well as restoring and modifying cars and specialty builds to decrease the service wait time and meet demand. The added jobs will include technicians, as well as management positions, and marketing and sales jobs to the existing Petty’s Garage team of 33 employees.

 

“We’re thrilled to announce the expansion of Petty’s Garage,” said Richard Petty, owner of Petty’s Garage. “Petty’s Garage is the shop where I grew up building racecars and it is very special to me. It’s great that we’ve now built the demand to expand our team and increase our capabilities. We want to continue the tradition of renovation and innovation. To add to the economic development of Randolph County, and bring new jobs to the community, is something we’re extremely proud of as well.”

 

Petty’s Garage was founded by Petty as a way to keep his competitive spirit alive. Petty — representing the second of four generations of Petty racers — won 200 NASCAR races in his career, a record many believe will never be broken. He also holds the record for most wins (27) in a season in 1967, including a record-setting 10 consecutive wins.

About Petty’s Garage

In June 2008 Petty’s Garage, a Level Cross, North Carolina-based company, was born to begin restorations on racecar chassis from owner Richard Petty’s private collection. Petty’s Garage is currently bringing “The King’s” winning tradition to a wide variety of high-performance automobiles from production-based Richard Petty Signature Series to custom builds and restorations. Petty’s Garage is a high performance speed shop focused on spectacular performance automobiles.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: NASCAR reveals new brand identity

 

Combining a history that stretches more than 65 years with a future infused with a new premier series entitlement sponsor and a next generation of stars, NASCAR unveiled a new brand identity Monday via its social and digital media platforms.

 

In addition, NASCAR also unveiled the mark and name for its premier series, which will become the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series beginning in 2017.

 

The new brand identity — which replaces the familiar bar mark that had been in place since 1976 — uses the colors and feel of past marks, while modernizing it to fit with the new era the sanctioning body enters in 2017.

 

NASCAR began the process of designing a new mark early in 2016. It becomes the fifth mark in NASCAR history.

 

“Our new NASCAR mark is modern, timeless, and embraces the heritage of our sport,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “It was important for us to recognize our history and implement a piece of each previous mark in the new design. Our goal was to evolve the sport’s visual identity to make it concise, relevant and functional, while respecting and maintaining the unique qualities of the original mark.”

 

The new mark incorporates pieces of each of NASCAR’s previous marks, including the red, yellow and blue coloring from the first three marks, respectively, and the ‘racing bars’ that accompany the acronym ‘NASCAR’ from the prior iteration.

 

Monday’s announcement also ended the wait for the highly anticipated name of NASCAR’s premier series. NASCAR and Monster Energy announced a multi-year partnership on Dec. 1 in Las Vegas, one that made Monster Energy the entitlement sponsor of NASCAR’s top series, the title sponsor of the NASCAR All-Star Race and the Official Energy Drink of NASCAR.

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

RELATED: New premier series mark, name revealed

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR today unveiled a new official brand identity which will replace the bar mark used by the sanctioning body since 1976. The announcement was made in conjunction with the news that Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series™ will be the new name of the sport’s premier series beginning January 1, 2017.

The new brand mark and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series mark, which prominently features the iconic Monster Energy logo, together represent a new era in NASCAR and were first shared today across NASCAR social and digital media channels.

 

The NASCAR brand identity has been in development since early 2016 as part of a broader effort to refresh the NASCAR brand. It was designed to pay tribute to the storied history of NASCAR, incorporating elements of all four previous marks since the company’s inaugural season of 1948.

 

“Our new NASCAR mark is modern, timeless, and embraces the heritage of our sport,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “It was important for us to recognize our history and implement a piece of each previous mark in the new design. Our goal was to evolve the sport’s visual identity to make it concise, relevant and functional, while respecting and maintaining the unique qualities of the original mark.”

 

The first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points race will be the 59th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 26 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Tickets are available at NASCAR.com/tickets.

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

Monday, December 19
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of the Year (re-air), FS1

Tuesday, December 20
9 a.m., Empty Cup: Quest for the 1992 NASCAR Championship (re-air), FS1
5 p.m., NASCAR Scan All 43: Championship Edition, NBCSN
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Scan All 43: Best of Scan All, NBCSN
6 p.m., Stories of NASCAR: Champions of 2016, NBCSN
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Top Moments of 2016, NBCSN

Wednesday, December 21
2:30 a.m., Stories of NASCAR: Behind the Wheel (re-air), NBCSN
8 a.m., 1979 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1
8:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of the Year (re-air), FS1
4 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of the Year, FS1

Thursday, December 22
8 a.m., NASCAR Race Classic: The 1993 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1
8:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of the Year (re-air), FS1

Friday, December 23
8 a.m., Empty Cup: Quest for the 1992 NASCAR Championship (re-air), FS1

Saturday, December 24
3 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of the Year (re-air), FS1
5 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Toyota/Save Mart 350 (re-air), FS1
8:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of the Year (re-air), FS1
9:30 p.m., The 600: History of NASCAR’s Toughest Race (re-air), FS1
10:30 p.m., NASCAR Masters of the Clock: The Legend of Martinsville (re-air), FS1
11:30 p.m., One Hot Night: The NASCAR 1992 All-Star Race

Sunday, December 25
12:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of the Year (re-air), FS1
1:30 a.m., Untold Stories: Daytona (re-air), FS1
2:30 a.m., A Perfect Storm: The 1979 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1
4 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of the Year (re-air), FS1
5 a.m., The 600: History of NASCAR’s Toughest Race (re-air), FS1

 



Posted on by Staff Report

Richard Petty Motorsports announced Friday that it will field one car next season in NASCAR’s premier series with hopes of returning to a two-car stable in 2018.
 
The Richard Petty-owned operation plans to focus its efforts on its flagship No. 43 Ford driven by Aric Almirola next year. Brian Moffitt, the organization’s CEO, indicated in a statement Friday that the team plans to lease one of its two charters it has in NASCAR’s top division.
 
“At the conclusion of the 2016 season, we evaluated how to best improve our on-track product. We feel that it’s in the best interest of our partners and for Richard Petty Motorsports to focus our resources on the No. 43 Ford Fusion and Aric in 2017. A concentrated effort on one team will position us for improvement while giving us adequate time to re-establish our two-car team in 2018. For the interim, we will lease one of our two charters.”
 
The realignment temporarily shutters the No. 44 Ford team most recently driven by Brian Scott, who retired from full-time competition at season’s end.
 
Almirola has been with the Petty organization since 2012. He scored his first premier series victory in July 2014 at Daytona International Speedway, landing the No. 43 team its first win since 1999 and punching the ticket for RPM’s only appearance in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.

 

The Mooresville, North Carolina-based team began producing its own chassis before last season, then endured a significant performance dropoff in 2016. Almirola tumbled from 17th to 26th in the series’ final standings, and Scott managed only a 31st-place result overall in his only season with the team. Almirola and Scott posted just one top-10 finish each in the 36-race campaign.

 

Friday’s announcement follows two competition changes for RPM in the second half of last season. On Aug. 31, the organization replaced Sammy Johns, its director of operations, with Philippe Lopez and Scott McDougall to oversee competition duties. The organization also made a crew chief change for the No. 43 team on Sept. 13, replacing Trent Owens with Drew Blickensderfer for the final 10 races of the season.

Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: 2017 driver tracker

 

Front Row Motorsports announced Friday its driver lineup for NASCAR’s premier series in 2017, bringing Landon Cassill and David Ragan back to its roster.

Cassill, 27, is back for his second straight season driving for team owner Bob Jenkins, but will shift to the team’s No. 34 Ford. Ragan, 30, last drove for the team in the 2015 Daytona 500 and will take over driving duties on Front Row’s No. 38 Ford.

Ragan, a 10-year veteran in NASCAR’s premier series, brought Front Row Motorsports its first victory in May 2013 at Talladega Superspeedway. Cassill will be entering his seventh full-time season in NASCAR’s top division.

“These are two hard-working guys, both in the car and away from the car working with our partners,” Jenkins said in a release provided by the team. “We went out and got Landon last season because we knew he was talented and we wanted him in our race car, and now we’re really happy he will be back another year.

“And we’re really excited to have David back. He’s a big part of Front Row’s history, bringing us our first win. He’s got a lot of experience in his career — things that you can’t teach — that will be big assets to us and our partners.”

The Statesville, North Carolina-based operation will maintain its technical alliance with Roush Fenway Racing, keeping Roush Yates Engines as its engine provider. The organization indicated that its sponsorship alignment for 2017 will be announced soon.

Ragan drove for the team for three full seasons from 2012-2014, then joined Joe Gibbs Racing after the 2015 Daytona 500 to substitute for Kyle Busch, who suffered severe leg injuries in the season-opening XFINITY Series race at Daytona. After a nine-race fill-in stint with JGR, Ragan completed the year with Michael Waltrip Racing.

He ran one season for BK Racing in 2016, announcing last week that the two sides had parted ways. Ragan fills the vacancy created when Chris Buescher was optioned to JTG Daugherty Racing for 2017.

“It’s a nice homecoming, coming back to Front Row Motorsports,” Ragan said in the team’s news release. “I’ve always had a great deal of respect for Bob Jenkins, how he put together his team and grew it the right way over the years. We’ve celebrated some pretty big highlights together, and now we need to go make more.”

Cassill made his debut in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2010 and also spent one season (2012) with BK Racing. He joined Front Row in 2016 after three seasons driving for car owners Joe Falk and Mike Hillman Sr.

Despite sharing experience driving for BK Racing, Cassill and Ragan will mark their first season as teammates in 2017.

“I’m really looking forward to working with David,” Cassill said. “I’ve raced alongside him for years and respect him as a competitor. He has a ton of experience with different teams and manufacturers that will make him a great teammate. I’m really proud of what our team accomplished in 2016 in our first year together, and I’m really excited to go and build on that.”

Said Ragan: “Landon was a great addition to the team last year. He’s a smart driver with a lot of good experience, and I’m looking forward to working with him.”

 

Posted on by Nascar

NASCAR premier series driver Ryan Blaney and the Wood Brothers Racing team will be guaranteed a spot in all 36 races in 2017 now that the organization has obtained a Charter through a lease agreement with Go FAS Racing.

 

Blaney qualified for all 36 races this past season based on his qualifying times in the No. 21 Ford. Two years ago the team missed three races when inclement weather forced the cancellation of qualifying and the field was set per the NASCAR rule book.

Team officials indicated that having a guaranteed starting position takes weather and other concerns that could impact making the starting field off the table going forward.

Go FAS Racing, owned by Archie St. Hilaire, fields the No. 32 Ford in NASCAR’s premier series. Eight drivers made at least one start for the team in 2016, although officials announced Thursday that Matt DiBenedetto would be the team’s driver of record for the ’17 season.

MORE: DiBenedetto joins Go Fas Racing for 2017

While the team leased the No. 32 Charter to the Wood Brothers group, it has also since leased the No. 44 Charter from Richard Petty Motorsports, thus guaranteeing DiBenedetto a starting position as well. Officials with RPM, which also fields the No. 43 for driver Aric Almirola, have not indicated the status of the No. 44 team since the unexpected retirement of former driver Brian Scott at the conclusion of ’16.

“A couple of months ago we were evaluating where we were going to go,” St. Hilaire told SiriusXM NASCAR on Thursday. “We looked at it — I’m good friends with Eddie and Len (Wood) … we said ‘Look, let’s lease the Charter for a year, regroup and see what we want to do long term. …

“The opportunity arose with the departure of Brian Scott that there was an opening for the charter on the 44 team. After we had already signed with the Wood Brothers a few months ago, this opportunity came up.”

The Charter system, which was unveiled before the start of the ’16 season, awarded guaranteed starting positions to those teams that had attempted to qualify for all races from 2013 through 2015. Thirty-six teams met that criteria, leaving four positions available for Open (non-Chartered) teams.

The Wood Brothers team, one of the longest-tenured organizations in NASCAR, ran a limited schedule from 2009 through 2015. It resumed running the full 36-race schedule this past season, one which saw rookie Blaney finish 20th in points.