Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: See the race that led to Martinsville changes


MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Martinsville Speedway track president Clay Campbell remembers the tipping point well. Watching from outside Turn 4 as Jeff Gordon led the final laps of last November’s rain-delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series playoff race practically by candlelight, Campbell knew big changes were needed.

“It looked like a rock concert with people taking pictures with their phones and the (auxiliary) lights in the grandstand,” Campbell said. “I knew then that being in the Chase, such a critical point in the season, and thinking what would’ve happened if we hadn’t finished that race? We don’t want to be in that position, so there’s our reason.”

With that eventful race as a fulcrum, Martinsville Speedway announced Wednesday that it will have an LED lighting system in place for its NASCAR weekends next year. Campbell made the announcement Wednesday as part of an early kickoff to the historic short track’s 70th anniversary season in 2017.

Campbell said that the track did not currently have plans in place for nighttime races, with its premier series dates in 2017 already locked in to start at 2 p.m. ET (in April) and 1 p.m. ET (October). But Campbell indicated that the $5 million initiative — which he described an “insurance policy” against late-afternoon finishes in diminished sunlight — should provide flexibility in case of inclement weather.

“It’s a race that all the drivers really want to win because of the uniqueness of the track and the history of the trophy as well, so adding lights can only add to its legacy and the special-ness that this place has held for so long,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr., part of the delegation helping to make the announcement at the .526-mile track. “I’m really happy for the track. Believe that it’ll, like I say, open up a lot of possibilities for the future.

“The fans can come knowing that if we are pushed back early in the day, there’s still a great opportunity if we get good weather throughout the remainder of the day, we’ve got time to get the race in and can run late and you won’t have an issue. … I think it’s awesome and a long time coming.”

The announcement means that 16 of the 23 tracks that host NASCAR premier series events in 2017 will have lights in place.

Campbell said that the choice of LED lights over conventional halogen lighting is an example of “doing so much more with less,” providing better illumination with less power. The track indicated that the project will use an estimated 750 lights mounted from both inside and outside the track.

With a project of this magnitude, Campbell said, one of the largest challenges has been keeping the details under wraps for so long.

“It’s been hard because we’ve been working on it for months,” Campbell said. “As we got closer and closer, it’s tough because it’s a huge deal with a lot of people involved in making this happen.“

Posted on by Jason Lofing

RELATED: Full iRacing schedule, results

Ray Alfalla (Slip Angle Motorsports) captured his third NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series championship, capping a remarkable season with a second-place finish in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. PJ Stergios (ineX Racing), Alfalla’s competition for the championship, won the race in a clutch performance but fell two points short of winning his first championship.

The difference in the championship came down to laps led, with Alfalla’s 50 giving him the bonus point for leading the most laps while Stergios could manage only 34 circuits at the front of the field. If Stergios had led 17 more laps, he would have taken the championship on a tiebreaker.

The night started off with Alfalla starting on pole while Stergios rolled off 13th. Pole position gave Alfalla an immediate advantage in that he would have a very good chance at leading a lap early on and picking up an all-important bonus point. When the race went green, Alfalla did exactly that by jumping out to an early lead over Michael Conti and Justin Bolton.

As the first run wore on, Alfalla’s lead stabilized at around 1.5 seconds over Brad Davies, who overhauled Conti for second on Lap 28. Further back, Stergios had moved into the top five. A few laps later sim racers started heading into the pits for tires, but the two championship contenders stayed on the track not wanting to get trapped a lap down in case a caution flew.

On Lap 41 the two pitted together with Alfalla winning the battle off pit road. However, due to running several additional laps Alfalla lost the lead to Conti with Nick Ottinger (Gale Force Sim Racing) in second.

The first caution flag flew on Lap 58 when Ottinger was battling Davies and Kenny Humpe (The TEAM) for second. Davies got loose under Ottinger coming off Turn 2, hit Ottinger, and spun down into Humpe. Humpe got the worst of it, smashing into the inside wall and ending his night. Ottinger continued without damage and won the race off pit road during the yellow, earning the race lead.

Alfalla did not wait long to reclaim the lead, doing so on a Lap 75 restart just before a massive crash happened behind him when Kevin King was hooked in front of the field. Nearly a dozen cars piled into the melee on the backstretch, but both Alfalla and Stergios were unscathed.

After trailing Alfalla for much of the race, Stergios made his move on the next round of green flag pit stops. Stergios pitted before Alfalla and jumped in front thanks to his fresher tires. When the field cycled through pit stops, Stergios held the lead with Conti leading Alfalla for second.

Stergios looked to be in prime position to threaten Alfalla’s laps-led mark but another caution flew for a crash on the front stretch and bunched the field up again. Stergios hung on, though, winning the race off pit road and maintaining the lead on the restart only for the yellow light to flash again, forcing him and Alfalla to pit road again for another set of fresh tires.

With 17 laps to go, the race resumed, this time with Taylor Hurst in the lead courtesy of a two-tire pit stop. Stergios and Alfalla both looked to pounce on the restart with the fresh tires and the next 10 laps featured phenomenal sim racing among Hurst, Alfalla, Stergios and Ottinger. Stergios finally took the lead from Hurst with nine laps to go, but was unable to secure the bonus point for most laps led.

Alfalla also came through for second with Ottinger finishing third ahead of Cody Byus as Hurst slipped to fifth at the checkers.

Alfalla’s third championship brings to six the number of consecutive top-two finishes in the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series standings, dating back to 2011. Stergios, to his credit, had the second-best year ever in series history. Both drivers had an average finish of fourth to go along with 13 top-10s in 16 races, but Alfalla was more consistent and had a better average starting position (sixth versus 12th).

Jake Stergios won the battle for third in the standings, though he was well back of the top two. Chris Overland took fourth despite finishing 27th at Homestead as Dylan Duval also found trouble, finishing 31st, but taking fifth in the standings over Ottinger.

With another season in the books, the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series enters into hibernation until March 2017. Alfalla will once again bask in the glow of being crowned the best oval sim racer in the world at Homestead-Miami Speedway during the Ford Championship Weekend (where he will collect a check for $10,000 prize and third NASCAR championship ring), while the rest of the field has to wonder what they can do to knock him off his perch. His success is truly unprecedented in a field that is loaded with talent and gets more competitive each year.

Congratulations to Ray Alfalla, 2016 NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series champion!

Posted on by
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/jimmie-johnson/
JimmieJohnson
4
Hendrick Motorsports

A win at Charlotte puts Johnson one major step closer to achieving his seventh Sprint Cup title, a goal that seems more and more obtainable with the No. 48 team’s recent momentum.

RELATED: Johnson locks up Round of 8 spot at Charlotte

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/brad-keselowski/
BradKeselowski
0
Team Penske

Keselowski has been relatively quiet in his 2016 Chase run, but the numbers are a bit louder: 5.0 average finish and four straight top 10s since the Chase began (seven straight counting races before the Chase).

Coca-Cola 600 winner Truex couldn’t recreate his Charlotte dominance Sunday, settling for a 13th-place result — and not much love from Austin Dillon.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/kyle-busch/
KyleBusch
-1
Joe Gibbs Racing

"Rowdy" rallied at Charlotte from a faulty tire for his fifth straight top-10. While his entire history at Kansas isn’t stellar, he’s the most recent race winner at the Midwestern track.

Kenseth savored a solid runner-up at Charlotte and now looks to Kansas, a track where he’s a two-time winner. High expectations for the No. 20.

Charlotte marked the second straight 37th-or-worse finish for Harvick. Good news? He’s only eight points behind the cutoff after multiple Chase drivers had issues Sunday.

RELATED: Engine problem plagues Harvick

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/chase-elliott/
ChaseElliott
-1
Hendrick Motorsports

Elliott led 103 laps before falling victim to a messy restart at Charlotte. With the team’s recent resurgance, don’t expect Johnson to be the only Hendrick driver up front.

RELATED: Restart woes for Elliott, Dillon

Tire issues on Sunday plagued the No. 22 team, which now sits 11th on the Chase Grid. But having swept this round last season, Logano is capable of a last-minute save.

RELATED: Tire issues for Logano at Charlotte

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/denny-hamlin/
DennyHamlin
0
Joe Gibbs Racing

A late blown engine hampered Hamlin’s run at Charlotte, and his Kansas outlook is iffy at best, with an average finish of 16.8 at the Midwestern track.

WATCH: Hamlin’s engine expires at Charlotte

While he’s never won at Kansas, Edwards has certainly experienced strong runs there, finishing four of his last six races in the top 10.

Busch has been quiet, but steady, in recent weeks and now heads to Kansas, where he’ll look to continue a three-race top-10 streak at the Midwestern track.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/austin-dillon/
AustinDillon
0
Richard Childress Racing

A two-tire gamble might have worked for Dillon & Co. at Charlotte, but it went south fast when Truex’s No. 78 got into the back of the No. 3.

RELATED: Elliott, Dillon wreck at Charlotte

After being eliminated from the Chase at Dover, Larson powered his way to a fifth-place result at Charlotte. A second win could be in the cards for the No. 42.

Stewart found some rhythm again at Charlotte with a ninth-place result and now sets his sights on Kansas, where he is a two-time winner.

Despite his Chase elimination, McMurray has an opportunity to end his season on a high note — just maybe not at Kansas, where he has an average finish of 20.2.

Buscher’s 16th-place run at Charlotte marked the rookie’s best finish since Bristol in August. 

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED:  Johnson locks up Round of 8 berth | ‘Six-Time’ through the years


As Jimmie Johnson took the checkered flag at Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday — for the eighth time in his career — he was full of emotion and adrenaline. It is his well-earned Fast Pass ticket into the next round of the championship, which amazingly will be the farthest he’s advanced under NASCAR’s newest title Chase format.


The victory also ended the longest winless streak in the six-time Sprint Cup champion’s career — a 25-race span. It has been six whole months since the most accomplished driver of his era hoisted a trophy in Victory Lane. The seasons are practically ready to change. Massive worry has been averted.


Please.


“Nobody ever gave up, we know what a champion Jimmie is,” said team owner and 2017 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Rick Hendrick, adding with a smile, “I’ve never taken the champagne bath in 30-something years, so it was like our first race (victory) again.”


This win for Johnson wasn’t just another trophy, another confetti moment in his surefire Hall of Fame career. This was a concerted effort to make good on this team’s own high standards.


It was the product of hard work from behind the scenes at the No. 48 Lowe’s team and all of Hendrick Motorsports. And the result was verification that the sport’s most celebrated champion of the time is not done yet.


“There wasn’t any fist pounding per se, but what we did do was try to get together with all the heads of state, let’s say,” Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus explained. “… what we were trying to do was identify where our weaknesses were, and once we started to hone in on where we thought we needed to get some gains, we started to allocate the resources to where we needed it.


“We’ve put responsibility in some different areas that maybe we hadn’t in the past and I think that all of Hendrick Motorsports is definitely going to feel a lot of responsibility for this victory, which is great for all of us.”


And a long time coming.


RELATED: Power Rankings after Charlotte


Johnson — who qualified for the Chase with wins at Atlanta (in February) and California (in March) — has led the most laps (363) of any competitor in the first four races of the Chase. Only two-time Chase winner Martin Truex Jr. is  near that total (360 laps). The best of the rest hasn’t even resulted in 200 laps out front.


Still pit road miscues — speeding penalties, crew mistakes — ultimately derailed Johnson’s trophy moments no matter how many laps he has led in the Chase. His finishes of 12th, eighth and seventh, have not been indicative of how competitive he was in the opening Chase Round of 16.


He has been competitive but too often gutted with the result.


This win Sunday wasn’t just the breathe-a-little-easier ticket to the Round of 8. It was a rebirth, a reminder of what this organization is capable of.


In the last two years, Johnson has famously and painfully been eliminated from the Chase in by the second round.


And now, he is six races away from a chance to tie NASCAR’s all-time greatest drivers —  Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt — with seven Sprint Cup titles.


Some — probably Johnson and Knaus — would say it’s much too early to start thinking in those terms. But part of the allure and amazement in earning so many championships is the work it takes to even be in position for them.


With so many changes in NASCAR’s title structure throughout Johnson’s career — more so than what Petty and Earnhardt faced even — it has been an accomplishment to even realistically contend for the big trophy. And there is no time to leave anything on the table.


“There’s no way I could have dreamed about this,” Johnson allowed Sunday. “To have one sponsor (Lowe’s), one manufacturer (Chevrolet), one crew chief (Knaus), being at one team (Hendrick), this is fairy-tale stuff. It’s been really special.”


But Johnson is the first to insist those are deep thoughts reserved for November.


RELATED: Chase Grid after Charlotte


Right now, he’s got some races to win, messages to send, trophies to hoist, and history to make.


“You know, I’ve always raced for the experience I’ve had in the car,” Johnson said Sunday in Charlotte. “It hasn’t been about stats or the previous trophies that I’ve won or what’s really ahead of me. There’s an experience that I have in the car that I chase and I love.


“The community that’s created on a race team, the bond and friendship that you have with the crew chief and teammates, that’s the stuff that keeps me going.”


“And,” he added. “we’re doing what we need to and that brings a lot of optimism to the team. You get this machine of Hendrick Motorsports rolling and some momentum on our side, we can accomplish a lot and I think all four cars are showing that.


“We’ve got a lot more to show the rest of the year.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Chase Elliott‘s 2017 NAPA Auto Parts paint scheme for the No. 24 Chevrolet was revealed by the driver and Hendrick Motorsports on Tuesday.



The 2017 season will mark Elliott’s second season in the No. 24 car. This season he has the car that he took over from sure-fire Hall of Fame driver Jeff Gordon in the Round of 12 of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and looking to advance even further in the Chase.


Still pursuing his first win in the legendary ride, Elliott has accumulated nine top fives and 15 top 10s in his rookie Sprint Cup season. He ran well at Charlotte on Sunday leading 103 laps, but was collected in a pileup on a Lap 259 restart. 

RELATED: Elliott, Austin pick up pieces after big wreck at Charlotte

Posted on by Staff Report

Chase Elliott‘s 2017 NAPA Auto Parts paint scheme for the No. 24 Chevrolet was revealed by the driver and Hendrick Motorsports on Tuesday.



The 2017 season will mark Elliott’s second season in the No. 24 car. This season he has the car that he took over from sure-fire Hall of Fame driver Jeff Gordon in the Round of 12 of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and looking to advance even further in the Chase.


Still pursuing his first win in the legendary ride, Elliott has accumulated nine top fives and 15 top 10s in his rookie Sprint Cup season. He ran well at Charlotte on Sunday leading 103 laps, but was collected in a pileup on a Lap 259 restart. 

RELATED: Elliott, Austin pick up pieces after big wreck at Charlotte

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Getting to know the 2016-17 NASCAR Next class


KHI Management announced Tuesday that the marketing agency has signed NASCAR Next driver Harrison Burton to its list of clients.

Burton, who turned 16 on Sunday, is the son of former Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Burton, who currently provides on-air analysis for NBC Sports. He also is a member of the current class of drivers in the NASCAR Next program, an initiative designed to highlight the young crop of new talent climbing the stock-car racing ladder.

The younger Burton, who has already established himself as a talent in asphalt Late Model competition, is scheduled to make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut for Kyle Busch Motorsports on Oct. 29 at Martinsville Speedway. Burton logged a seventh-place finish in the standings this year in his first full season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.

KHI Management — co-owned by DeLana and Kevin Harvick — represents several prominent figures in the sports, broadcasting and music industries. In addition to both Jeff and Harrison Burton, KHI Management counts celebrities in MMA, motocross, golf and country music among its clients.

Posted on by Staff Report

Chase Elliott‘s 2017 NAPA Auto Parts paint scheme for the No. 24 Chevrolet was revealed by the driver and Hendrick Motorsports on Tuesday.



The 2017 season will mark Elliott’s second season in the No. 24 car. This season he has the car that he took over from sure-fire Hall of Fame driver Jeff Gordon in the Round of 12 of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and looking to advance even further in the Chase.


Still pursuing his first win in the legendary ride, Elliott has accumulated nine top fives and 15 top 10s in his rookie Sprint Cup season. He ran well at Charlotte on Sunday leading 103 laps, but was collected in a pileup on a Lap 259 restart. 

RELATED: Elliott, Austin pick up pieces after big wreck at Charlotte

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid

CONCORD, N.C. – Talladega? A bigger crapshoot than Charlotte?

Might want to re-think that.

Given the strange nature of Sunday’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, it seems there is no safe haven for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors this season. Trouble lurked around every turn of the 1.5-mile track.

For those that have said this year’s Chase has lacked any drama, this one churned it out in spades.

Five of the 12 Chase drivers limped out of CMS licking their wounds after finishes of 30th or worse. Kevin Harvick finished 38th, sidelined by the most unfortunate of circumstances. It wasn’t driver error or a mistake by the pit crew. Instead it was parts breakage that silenced the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.


RELATED: Every lap matters, and drivers say this Chase has been intense

Joey Logano played tag with the outside wall and lost. He finished 36th.

Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon were top-five contenders until a Lap 259 restart bottled up the field and sent both young drivers ricocheting off anything that was moving and some things that were not.

Denny Hamlin seems to be able to find new ways to fall out of contention – this one, much like Harvick’s, was out of his control. Parts breakage sent a plume of smoke from underneath the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with less than 30 laps remaining and while Hamlin was running second.

“It’s just my time and it’s usually Chase time when I have these things happen,” Hamlin lamented. He was not alone in his disappointment.

Even those who fared much better had to overcome their share of obstacles on a bright, sunny day at Charlotte.

Race runner-up Matt Kenseth was scheduled to start 17th; instead, pre-race issues with his No. 20 Toyota sent the 2003 champ to the rear before the first lap had been run. He was working his way through the field when a pit-road penalty sent Kenseth to the rear a second time.


RELATED: Driver grades for Charlotte

Teammate Kyle Busch had a tire problem at Lap 90 and lost a lap. He made it up but then scrubbed the wall. More damage followed. Somehow, he and his No. 18 team battled back to finish sixth.

“It was fast,” Busch said of his Toyota. “It had speed even after we were crashed; we just needed to be in clean air.”

Carl Edwards? He finished 12th even though exhaust issues led to an exhausting day.

Martin Truex Jr., winner of two races in the Round of 16 and unbelievably dominant here in May (leading all but eight laps in the 400-lap Coca-Cola 600), went from third to 16th during the eighth and final caution of the race when the clutch in his Furniture Row Racing entry decided to balk while on pit road.

That he still managed a 13th-place finish was a stroke of good fortune.

Nearly every Chase driver has spoken of the importance of Charlotte and Kansas, where getting a win, or at the very least solid finishes, would provide a bit of breathing room when the series heads to Talladega.

But as Harvick correctly noted earlier this week, trouble can strike anywhere. That certainly was the case here Sunday.

“Definitely this seems like it has been a troublesome day for a lot of guys,” Elliott, who led three times for 103 laps, said. “Hopefully we can just try to have another car like we had today and not make any mistakes next week.”


WATCH: Elliott, Dillon talk about day-ending wreck at Charlotte

It’s a bit of optimism and confidence shared by many hoping to advance on to the next round.

Only race winner Jimmie Johnson departed Sunday feeling fit as a fiddle, his move into the Round of 8 already guaranteed.

“It lets me go to Talladega and not worry about anything,” the six-time champion said, “which is fantastic.”

Others can only imagine the feeling.