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RELATED: Chase Grid


FORT WORTH, Texas — Nearly a week after confronting a fellow driver post-race at Martinsville, Ben Kennedy says he’s moved on, put the incident aside and is focused on trying to stay alive in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ inaugural Chase.

The 18th-place finish a week ago at Martinsville left the GMS Racing driver in a perilous position, last among the six drivers attempting to earn one of four berths in the Championship Round later this month at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Contact from the entry of Ben Rhodes on Lap 176 of the 200-lap race led to a spin by Kennedy, who was then hit by John Wes Townley. Although Kennedy was able to continue, the damage had been done. A brief confrontation between Kennedy and Rhodes in the garage came after the race.

RELATED: Kennedy hit by Townley | Rhodes, Kennedy exchange words

The setback was forgotten “pretty quickly,” according to Kennedy.

“By the time I woke up the next morning,” he said Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway, site of Friday’s Striping Technology 350 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “Just trying to move on. It’s the past, just focus on this weekend, next weekend and hopefully getting our ticket to Homestead.”


MORE: Rhodes apologizes for incident with Kennedy


Kennedy, 24, finished fourth in the series’ first trip to the 1.5-mile TMS facility this year. It was just his first start with the GMS group after beginning the season with Red Horse Racing.

Since then, he said, the organization, which includes teammates Johnny Sauter and Spencer Gallagher, has “built a good platform as to what we’re bringing to the race tracks.

“We ran really good at Chicago and our mile-and-a-half package is pretty good right now. I’m looking forward to this weekend. We’ve got to perform, there’s no question about it if we want to make it to Homestead. Kind of down but not out after last weekend.”

Kennedy sits just 10 points out of the fourth-place transfer spot and only one point behind fifth-place — and two-time Texas winner — Matt Crafton.

Points racing, he said, likely won’t enable his team to advance. Winning will.

“I know we really monitored it in Talladega,” he said of the points situation. “… We watched it to an extent but at the same time we have to focus on ourselves. Put the blinders on; we know we have to go win this weekend, to be honest.

“I think points is going to be difficult to do at this stage. Being 10 points out (of fourth), the next guy with us is Crafton and we all know how strong Crafton is here.

“We’re coming here to not only run good and get a bunch of points, but to get a win.”

Crafton is a two-time series champion and scored back-to-back wins earlier this season at Dover and Charlotte. Sauter is the points leader and earned his ticket to the Championship Round with his win last week at Martinsville.

Christopher Bell (Kyle Busch Motorsports), Timothy Peters (Red Horse Racing) and William Byron (Kyle Busch Motorsports) are second through fourth.


Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Chase Grid


FORT WORTH, Texas — Judging by the finishing positions, Christopher Bell did everything expected of a rookie competing in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series.

In his first three starts driving the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Toyota, the 21-year-old had no finish better than 16th and was 22nd in points to start the 2016 season.

So how is it that 17 races later, Bell finds himself second in points and one of the favorites to advance into the Championship Round for the inaugural Camping World Truck Series Chase?

Those early finishes, he said, didn’t tell the entire story.

“The first three races of the year I’d actually consider ourselves pretty strong,” Bell said Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway, site of tomorrow night’s Striping Technology 350 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “We crossed the start/finish line at Daytona in position to win the race; we were leading the race in Atlanta with eight or nine (laps) to go. Then at Martinsville obviously we struggled.”

The turnaround came after the first long break for the series, with Bell finishing in the top 10 in three consecutive races (Kansas, Dover and Charlotte). He earned his second career win in the series at Gateway Motorsports Park, and he hasn’t finished worse than sixth in his last six starts.

“I think if we continue to bring fast trucks like we have been the past couple of weeks and I don’t make rookie mistakes like I did at the beginning of the year I think we will be right in the thick of things,” he said.

Johnny Sauter (GMS Racing) leads the points with two races remaining in the three-race segment that will determine who goes on to Homestead to contend for the title. Sauter’s Martinsville victory ensured that the No. 21 truck will be among them.

Bell, Timothy Peters (Red Horse Racing), William Byron (KBM), Matt Crafton (ThorSport Racing) and Ben Kennedy (GMS) round out the remaining Chase drivers.

Although he won his first race in 2015 in just his third start at Eldora Speedway. He ran only seven races for the season. That lack of experience may have made him something of a dark horse when it came to singling out Chase hopefuls for ’16.

On the flip side, he’s driving for KBM, an organization that won the ’15 title with driver Erik Jones and has 54 wins in the series.

“I would say people classify us as a dark horse,” Bell acknowledged. “But my team does not.

“I think people wrote me off after Martinsville the third race of the year because I was making mistakes and we just couldn’t finish races. But luckily with this (Chase) format change — I was actually disappointed with the format change because I felt like being with Kyle Busch Motorsports we would be able to win the championship or at least compete for the championship straight up.

“But looking back on it now, I’m really grateful because it has kept my hopes alive. We started off rocky and rough but we’re gaining and getting better as a team, I’m getting better as a driver, limiting my mistakes.”

The result?

“Here we are with three races to go,” he said, “sitting second in points.”

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Photo courtesy of Nigel Kinrade/Team Penske

 

RELATED: Meet Denny Hamlin’s spotter, Chris Lambert

 

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of interviews with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series spotters.

 

How and when did you get started spotting in NASCAR?
This is my 19th year of traveling on a race team. In the beginning, I was a tire changer on a pit crew for an XFINITY team. At that time, the driver was Ashton Lewis. We kept getting in situations where we needed a spotter. There were a lot of people at the time that worked for us that were tire changers. So I talked to Ashton and decided to go up and do a practice one day. At the time, I was tuning engines and changing tires also. Went up and spotted a practice, I liked it, it was pretty cool. And at the time, I was driving my own short track car. I had quite a bit of experience at local short tracks … I knew what was going on. I knew what he wanted to hear and at that time we needed a spotter. I went up and spotted a race and basically once I spotted a race I never changed tires again.

What, if any, other duties do you have with the team?
I work at the shop in the finish fab department a couple of days a week during the year and help get cars prepared. It’s neat that I get to work on all the cars, XFINITY and Cup, whether it’s the 2 or 22. I work on them all during the week and then come to the track with the 22.

Do you spot only in Sprint Cup or other series as well?
I spot for Johnny Sauter (GMS Racing) in the Camping World Truck Series and I spot for Joey when he runs the 22 XFINITY Series car.

How long have you been spotting for Joey?
This is my fourth year. I started spotting for him when I came to Team Penske. I spotted one race for him the year before when he was at Joe Gibbs Racing as a trial in an XFINITY Series race. It was at Charlotte and he won it. At the time I was spotting for Danica (Patrick), left there to come to Penske with Joey.

What was the first race you worked as spotter?
I’m terrible with history. I don’t know. When I was with Ashton (Lewis), that was such a small team, everybody did everything. We painted cars, we welded chassis, we hung bodies. Everybody did everything. Back then, there was very little specialization.

What’s the most bizarre thing you’ve ever seen on the spotters’ stand?
The truck catching on fire in the parking lot at Kentucky (this year) was a pretty big deal. Never seen anything like that. But just when you think you’ve seen it all, just wait a week and something else will come up. I think the most awesome thing I saw was at Talladega. A guy made a belt with 12 koozies around it and he had a 12-pack in them.

What’s been your most memorable experience as a spotter?
Winning the Daytona 500 was a huge deal. You don’t realize how big of a deal it is until you’re able to be part of it. Then you get to reap the benefits of all of the results, getting the ring, the breakfast the day after, all the things you don’t realize that come with it. Along with that, winning the two night races at Bristol is pretty awesome because ever since I was a little kid, the night race at Bristol has been the crown jewel to me because it’s short track racing, it’s night, and it’s one of the hardest tracks there is. To win two in a row there is pretty dang cool.

What is the most difficult part of your job?
Now, it’s qualifying. It’s a lot of stress in a short amount of time. There’s a lot of pressure to make sure you get the perfect hole so that you get clean air and don’t get into anybody’s way and nobody gets in your way. There are so many factors. You know that that one run, even though there are segments you have to be perfect. You can’t mess it up because that is a result that sets the base for the whole weekend — where you start, pit selection, everything that goes along with it. It’s a lot of pressure to make sure all that’s right. I think qualifying, especially at a short track, is harder than the race.

Which driver would make the best spotter and why?
Ha! From an entertainment standpoint and do-good standpoint are two totally different answers. It would be pretty funny to listen to Johnny (Sauter) spot. That’s tough. I don’t know.

What is your favorite track to work and why?
Over the last couple of years I’d say it’s been Martinsville. Because everything is close quarters, you can rub and bump, you see runs develop quickly and you don’t have much time to make a decision. I really love the short tracks and going to Richmond, Martinsville, Bristol. But the last few years I’ve really enjoyed going to Martinsville.

What is one thing the average fan might not realize about your job or what it entails?
I think the amount of experience required. Because everybody on the roof has been around a long time in the sport. Just to know basic rules and what’s going on with the flow, and getting along with everybody else. You might not get along with somebody or be friends but you have to work with every other spotter out there at some point during a race or during the year. We’re elbow-to-elbow every weekend. There are so many factors that go into it of that nature, it’s difficult. You just have to pay attention from the time the green flag drops until the checkered flag drops you have to be on it. No messing around.

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Jimmie Johnson doesn’t need to win this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway to advance to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship 4.

But that doesn’t mean the six-time premier series champion won’t be among those favored when the AAA Texas 500 gets underway Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).

Johnson’s record of late at the 1.5-mile track has been amazing, with five victories in the last eight races.

He’s won more often at Martinsville, as often at Auto Club and has a better average finish at Phoenix. But it would be hard to argue with his Texas results.

A big part of the reason for his success there, he said Wednesday, has to do with the aging of the track’s surface. And, strangely enough, past experiences on dirt.

“The last three or four years, the track’s just been great to us,” he said. “I feel like the older surfaces do that. When you think back to the old Charlotte, you look at our success at Atlanta, the old Darlington. Texas has moved into that category, the character in the track.

“My dirt background, the way we set my race cars up, are just better on rough, low-grip race tracks.”

Johnson hasn’t been on dirt in more than a dozen years, coming to NASCAR after competing in off-road desert and stadium trucks in various series. Initially, the driving styles between the two didn’t transfer.

“It hurt me for the longest damn time, it really did,” he said. “Because being sideways was just part of the gig; I didn’t realize how slow it really was in a stock car.

“But there is a sweet spot where the car is leading with the back … largely because the fuel is hanging past the rear axle. So the longer we run, the more fuel we burn, the less the car turns. So you have to start the car looser to be good on the long runs. … it’s a little uncomfortable but as the run goes on, it drives a lot better.

“Once I figured out how to make my dirt background work for me, that’s where it has come into play.”

A victory at Martinsville guaranteed his presence in this year’s Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The other three drivers are TBD. Seven drivers, three spots and two races at Texas and Phoenix equals a lot of potential heartache.

Johnson, 41, knows the feeling of being one of the odd drivers out — this year marks his first trip to the title round under the elimination-style format.

“Last year hurt pretty bad because we had a great start to those first two (Chase) races and then, looking at the way things unfolded with our win at Texas, we were like ‘We could have been in the final four. We could have been there,'” he said. “So that one hurt for sure.”

There will be no lingering ill will between Johnson and Denny Hamlin heading into this weekend’s race — Johnson said the two “had a chat Monday” to iron out any differences.


RELATED: Johnson, Hamlin explain hard racing at Martinsville

The two were battling for position in the top 10 at Martinsville on Sunday when there was contact.

Hamlin wasn’t pleased with how hard Johnson was pressing at such an early juncture in the race. Johnson said he was only trying to keep from losing multiple positions.

Johnson “thinks he’s a (expletive) king; he doesn’t do anything wrong,” Hamlin told his team on the radio before the contact.


RELATED: Hear Hamlin’s in-car audio from Martinsville

“There’s always two sides to every situation,” Johnson said Wednesday. “I just didn’t want to fall back to 14th again. I’m in the outside lane, digging along. … Evidently there was a gap behind Denny and a pretty big gap behind the 2 car (of Brad Keselowski). So his frustration was ‘Why are you racing me so hard at this point in time?'”

Their differences have been put to rest, but that didn’t stop either from having a little fun at the other’s expense the following day.

RELATED: Crown Hamlin as the king of Halloween

Hamlin retweeted a photo of Johnson wearing a crown as part of a Halloween costume on Monday, saying “Yea, I knew you wore a damn crown to bed.”

Johnson soon followed with a shot of Hamlin dressed as a Dalmatian, tweeting “Yea I knew you wore damn floppy ears to bed.”

“Bad timing on my part,” Johnson said of his own photograph, which included his wife, Chandra, and daughters, Lydia and Genevieve.

“Hamlin was primed and ready to take advantage of it.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

FORT WORTH — We get the concept. It’s the embrace that feels a little tricky.


After the race at Talladega Superspeedway two weeks ago, Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch emerged from their Toyotas feeling “good” about a mid-pack bumper-to-bumper-to-bumper finish that neither helped nor hurt their points standings to advance in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. It was a well-executed survival gamble.


Their JGR teammate, Denny Hamlin, however, was left on his own to race his heart out at NASCAR’s biggest track in hopes of earning a spot into the Chase’s Round of 8. He did, but only by virtue of besting a tiebreaker thanks to his third-place finish.


Last week, the JGR train used a similar format, sticking together nose-to-tail at Martinsville Speedway — NASCAR’s smallest track — and finishing third through fifth.


In both instances, during post-race interviews on pit road — depending on which JGR driver you were talking to — they were up to code on praising team orders. But their facial expressions perhaps revealed a little something else.


Granted, at Talladega, it’s as nerve-wracking to run at the rear of the field as it is to get into the winner’s mix. So it was as much a gamble to run together far away from the front as it was to navigate forward.


At Martinsville, there appeared to be potential for a different scenario than the Gibbs freight train, but again it successfully took the checkered flag in title contention.


The Gibbs team didn’t win at either venue, however. So, now that strategy of playing it safe and bonding together has also fundamentally altered the title hopes of at least one member of the four-car JGR contingent, as three championship bids now remain open.


Four drivers move forward to decide the trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Sunday’s winner at Martinsville, six-time champ Jimmie Johnson, has earned one of those positions.


RELATED: JGR denied in quest for Championship 4 sweep


Three JGR cars — Hamlin, Kenseth and Busch — are ranked second to fourth in the standings. Edwards finished 36th at Martinsville, suffering from a tire problem, and will essentially need to win at Texas this week or at Phoenix next week to earn a championship chance.


It will be an interesting subplot to see how JGR strategizes as the series heads to the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. Will it continue to expect its four drivers to team up, or will this virtual team restrictor plate come off?


Credit goes to the four for so obediently following team orders and thinking about the good of the whole versus the glory of the individual. But playing it safe only goes so far now.


All the teammates enthusiastically praised the way they ran at Talladega, even Hamlin who was essentially left to fend for himself.


However, Sunday at Martinsville, it appeared that the strategy was wearing a little thinner. Hamlin again led JGR’s third-through-fifth place contingent, followed by Kenseth and Busch. And it didn’t take a certified psychologist to dissect the post-race vibe.


Certainly, reigning Cup champion Busch let on that the team’s strategy was perhaps a bit troublesome at Martinsville — even if he wouldn’t just come right out and declare that it’s time for every man to fend for himself.


“You can’t wreck each other and that’s all there is to it I guess,” Busch said. “We worked so good together that we gave the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) car the win today.


“That’s how good JGR is.”


There have been arguments made that the JGR pack racing “works” at Talladega because of the nature of restrictor plate pack racing. And obviously, it was effective — even if if didn’t result in a win — at Martinsville last week.


But the Texas high banks present different challenges. And as the opportunity to secure a championship bid diminishes with each race, the JGR drivers may understandably feel more selfish in their pursuit. 


“I don’t think it changes a whole lot, honestly,” Hamlin said.


“I think that we each still have a shot, there’s just one spot taken, so three of us would still be a good number to get in that final group and we’ll do everything we can to get that done.”


It may well be the ultimate Texas Two-Step and it’s just a question of who will dance.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Famous (infamous?) NASCAR droughts

It was a game for the ages, a must-follow event that drew folks from all walks of life to their screens Wednesday night — and into Thursday morning. The Chicago Cubs vs. the Cleveland Indians. World Series. Game 7. Extra innings.

 

NASCAR drivers and the auto racing community at large took notice, with social media posts starting at the time of the opening pitch and lasting the duration of an 8-7, 10-inning Cubs win that broke a 108-year title-less streak.

 

From a big lead to a big lead blown, to questionable managerial decisions to, get this, … a rain delay (how NASCAR can you get?) … there was plenty of social media reaction, including many excellent Air Titan references.

 

Things got even more surreal as the clock ticked past midnight when, in the bottom of the 10th inning, the Chicago Cubs brought in relief pitcher … Carl Edwards Jr.

 

Read on for a full social roundup of Game 7:

Posted on by Staff Report

Busch Beer will return to Kevin Harvick‘s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing car in 2017 — and beyond. The brand announced Thursday that it is upping the number for primary sponsorship races from 12 to 16 over the next three years after the two sides extended their partnership.


Harvick, one of eight drivers remaining in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, and team announced the news via a social media video.


“From the retro look at Darlington to the blaze-orange hunting scheme at Charlotte, there’s been buzz every time one of the Busch paint schemes hits the track,” Harvick said in a press release. “The fans let us know how thrilled they were to have Busch back in the sport last year, and I’m looking forward to getting back to Victory Lane with the Busch logo on the hood in 2017 and beyond.”


Harvick also will have sponsorship from Mobil1 and Jimmy John’s next season, when SHR will switch manufacturers from Chevrolet to Ford.


Posted on by Staff Report

By the time the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season is done, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have missed 18 races because of concussion symptoms and recovery.

 

It has been a trying season, to say the least, for the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team. Some might even say it felt 108 years long.

 

It has been so trying that crew chief Greg Ives thinks his team can learn a little bit about overcoming obstacles from baseball.

 

Specifically, from those loveable-losers-no-more Chicago Cubs.

 

 

But was the “clutch” part the Cubs overcoming a 3-1 deficit to the Cleveland Indians in the best-of-7 World Series to clinch the trophy?

 

Or is it simply “clutch” to finally, long at last, win the World Series after a famously lenghty World Series title drought that lasted 108 years?

 

Perhaps both? Whatever the case, it sounds like the No. 88 team is gearing up for Earnhardt Jr.’s expected return to the car next season, already.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Chase Grid


NASCAR issued written warnings to three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams on Wednesday, including the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 of Chase contender Denny Hamlin.

The JGR No. 11 Toyota failed template inspection twice before last Friday’s qualifying at Martinsville Speedway. That brings the team’s current tally of warnings to three.

The NASCAR competition department also handed out warnings to the Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford team of driver Trevor Bayne and the BK Racing No. 93 Toyota of Matt DiBenedetto after the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 weekend.

The Roush Fenway No. 6 failed the Laser Inspection Station (LIS) twice in pre-race inspection, raising its current warning count to three. The BK Racing No. 93 absorbed its first warning by failing LIS three times before Friday’s Coors Light Pole Qualifying.