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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.

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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.


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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

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Let’s look back at the key moments for the 16 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers from 2016, plus XFINITY champion Daniel Suarez and Camping World Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter. Come back for updates.

JIMMIE JOHNSON
The 2016 season was a history-making one for Johnson as he moved up the all-time wins board and topped the campaign off with a seventh championship to match a mark shared by Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty. Read more

JOEY LOGANO

With a NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race among his paydays, Joey Logano added three more points-paying victories to his season haul in 2016. A timely surge in the Chase playoffs placed him among the quartet of championship contenders in the Homestead-Miami finale. Read more

KYLE BUSCH

Coming off his first premier series championship in 2015, Busch started off the season strong with a pair of sweeps during the Martinsville and Texas race weekends. He went on to earn four wins total in addition to a Championship 4 berth. Read more

CARL EDWARDS
In his second season at Joe Gibbs Racing, Edwards produced three wins and a career high six poles. Making the Championship 4, things seemed to be going great for him until a late restart in the title race. Read more

MATT KENSETH
The veteran driver earned two wins in 2016 as he closes in on 40 premier series victories for his career. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver came up heartbreakingly short of advancing to the Championship 4. Read more

DENNY HAMLIN
It was a season of firsts for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver thanks to a split-second win in the Daytona 500 and the first road-course win of his premier series career coming at Watkins Glen. Read more

KURT BUSCH
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver got off to a monster start, including an early win at Pocono that helped him qualify for the Chase. He advanced to the Round of 8 before his title hopes ended. Read more

KEVIN HARVICK
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver was extremely consistent during the regular season and pulled off two clutch Chase wins to advance in the postseason before being eliminated in the Round of 8. Read more

KYLE LARSON
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver enjoyed a rebound season during which he won his first premier series race and qualified for the Chase. Plus, he showed off his dirt-racing skills with a win at Eldora in the Camping World Truck Series. Read more

CHASE ELLIOTT
The Hendrick Motorsports driver started fast with the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500 and never let up. In addition to being the top rookie, Elliott made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Read more

MARTIN TRUEX JR.
What a story the 2016 season was for the Furniture Row Racing driver who led the most laps in the premier series and won four races, including marquee events at Charlotte and Darlington. Read more

BRAD KESELOWSKI
The Team Penske driver racked up four wins, including at restrictor-plate tracks Daytona and Talladega, but his championship hopes ended in a steaming car after a wreck at Kansas. Read more

JAMIE MCMURRAY
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver made the Chase for the second straight season, but he couldn’t get past the first round when his engine blew in the Round of 16 finale at Dover. Read more

AUSTIN DILLON
The Richard Childress Racing driver made his first Chase in his third season. He advanced past the opening round by finishing eighth at Dover during a season of breakthroughs. Read more

TONY STEWART
He started the season late because of a back injury, but a win at Sonoma propelled him to a Chase berth in his final season. And there were some surprises along the way (looking at you, Eddie). Read more

CHRIS BUESCHER
Look Mom, we’re headed to the Chase as Buescher celebrated a fog-shortened win at Pocono to help him qualify for the postseason and joined fellow rookie Chase Elliott in the field. Read more

DANIEL SUAREZ, XFINITY CHAMPION
Suarez did Joe Gibbs Racing and his country proud as he became the first Latin American champion in a NASCAR national series during a season in which he won three races, including the Miami finale. Read more

JOHNNY SAUTER, CAMPING WORLD TRUCK CHAMPION
From start (Daytona win) to finish (first national series championship), Johnny Sauter’s first season with GMS Racing was one for the driver with strong racing roots to remember. Read more

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Christmas may be over this year, but the NASCAR community still has the holiday spirit.

Fans lined up as early as 8:45 p.m. on Christmas outside the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the annual UnDeck the Hall event on Dec. 26. Once the doors opened at 10 a.m., fans were permitted to enter for 45 seconds and select a NASCAR-themed gift off one of the decorated Christmas trees inside. Gifts included autographed items, die-casts, sheet metal, race tickets and more.

The event runs until all the gifts are gone and the Hall of Fame closes at 5 p.m. ET.