Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

NEW YORK — The NASCAR Foundation will donate $1 million to NYU Langone Medical Center, as part of a multi-year partnership to benefit hospitalized children. Through this partnership, The NASCAR Foundation will enhance the Child Life Program at the Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital of New York at NYU Langone.

The partnership will be commemorated at the first-ever NASCAR Foundation Honors Gala taking place at The Marriott Marquis in New York on Sept. 27.

This is The NASCAR Foundation’s first multi-year partnership with a New York area hospital and marks its commitment to reach more kids nationally. NASCAR’s charitable arm has donated $25 million and impacted more than one million children since its inception in 2006.

“This is an important partnership for The NASCAR Foundation,” said NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton. “The work being done by the NYU Langone Medical Center is changing lives, each and every day. The NASCAR Foundation is proud to have an opportunity to support that important work and expand our commitment to improving the lives of children in need.”

Through this partnership, the Child Life Program will ease the anxiety of children and their families during their hospital stay, which is essential to recovery. The NASCAR Foundation will support an enhanced child and family experience, fund two Child Life specialists, and provide resources, equipment and supplies to complement the wide-range of supportive and therapeutic activities currently offered at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at no charge to patients.

This marks an expansion of The NASCAR Foundation’s commitment to supporting children with Child Life programming as part of its signature Speediatrics program, which has provided more than 500,000 children with state-of-the-art medical care.

“As leaders in the field of pediatrics, we’re proud to partner with The NASCAR Foundation whose generous philanthropic support provides extensive and meaningful programs to help children and their families,” said Catherine S. Manno, MD, the Pat and John Rosenwald Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at NYU Langone. “This sponsorship, in concert with our Sala Institute for Child and Family Centered Care, will strengthen our national exemplar model of care for children and their families.”

The NASCAR Foundation Honors Gala, which was planned to celebrate “10 Years of Giving,” has taken on additional significance following the unexpected passing of its Founder and Chairwoman Emeritus Betty Jane France last month.

The Gala will be a tribute to Betty Jane France’s life and is being hosted by the France family including NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France (son) and his wife Amy France, International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa France Kennedy (daughter) and NASCAR Vice Chairman and International Speedway Corporation Chairman Jim France (brother-in-law).

At the Honors Gala, various awards will be bestowed, including:

— Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award presented by Nationwide: One of four finalists will be announced as the winner following a fan vote which has taken place since July 13. The NASCAR Foundation will donate a total of $175,000 to the charities represented by the finalists — with the winner’s charity receiving a $100,000 donation. This year’s finalists include Jim Giaccone of Bayville, New York, representing Tuesday’s Children; Andy Hoffman of Atkinson, Nebraska, founder of the Team Jack Foundation; Logan Houptley of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a founding member of Mikayla’s Voice; and Parker White of Greensboro, North Carolina, founder of BackPack Beginnings. Since the award’s inception, nearly $900,000 has been contributed to charities represented by the finalists.

— Children’s Champion Award: Dr. Howard B. Ginsburg: The William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Associate Professor of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, and Division Chief, Pediatric Surgery at NYU Langone, will receive the award recognizing his commitment to children.

— Founder’s Award: NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus will receive the award recognizing his contributions to philanthropy.

The Honors Gala will be headlined by Grammy® and Tony® nominated singer Sara Bareilles.

The following NASCAR champions and rising stars will be in attendance: six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson, seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Richard Petty, reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Kyle Busch, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace, two-time NASCAR XFINITY Series Champions Martin Truex Jr. and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Danica Patrick, Kyle Larson, Kasey Kahne, Ben Kennedy and Julia Landauer.

This event builds on NASCAR’s long history in New York. The racing organization opened its first office in Manhattan in 1996 and is based out of the newly renovated New York headquarters at 590 Madison Avenue.

This partnership also marks further collaboration between NYU and NASCAR. In March, Brian France participated in NYU’s first Social Responsibility of Sports Conference where he pledged NASCAR’s support to improve social responsibility in sports.

For ticket information or table sponsorships, please visit www.nascarfoundation.org/honors-gala.

Posted on by George Winkler

Here are the hot topics, trending news and key story lines to get you ready for this weekend’s races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Kentucky Speedway, including the Chase openers for the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.



WEATHER



The weekend forecast for Loudon, New Hampshire, looks mostly clear for on-track activity. Friday for Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole qualifying there is a 48 percent chance for precipitation. For the Camping World Truck race on Saturday, skies will be partly cloudy and the high is expected to be 64 degrees. And for the Sprint Cup race on Sunday, we’re looking at clear skies and a high of 61.

For Sparta, Kentucky, site of this weekend’s XFINITY events, it will be clear and 89 degrees for the start of Friday’s practices. And on Saturday it will be clear and 78 degrees for the start of the race.

KEY TIMES



Sprint Cup Series: The Sprint Cup Series holds its first practice Friday at 11:30 a.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App) followed by Coors Light Pole qualifying at 4:45 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App).

 The Bad Boy Off Road 300 is at 2 p.m. ET Sunday (NBCSN/NBC Sports App/PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

XFINITY Series: The XFINITY Series opens practice on Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App) and qualifies Saturday at 4:45 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App). The VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 is on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET (NBC/NBC Sports App).



Camping World Truck Series: The Camping World Truck Series is scheduled for a Keystone Light Pole qualifying session at 10:10 a.m. ET on FS1 Saturday followed by the UNOH 175 race at 1 p.m. ET (FS1).



CATCH DRIVERS LIVE



We’ll stream every driver press conference in the New Hampshire media center at NASCAR.com/presspass. Click here for a full schedule. Click here to tune into the live stream.


LAST TIME

In September of 2015, Matt Kenseth outlasted Kevin Harvick, who ran out of fuel with three laps to go, to capture the victory in the Sylvania 300 and punch his ticket to the second round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Kenseth backed up that win with another at New Hampshire in July of this season. In that one, Kenseth pulled away from Tony Stewart to win by 1.982 seconds.


YOU SHOULD KNOW


• Chris Buescher (-12 from 12th place), Kyle Larson (-2), Kevin Harvick (-1) and Austin Dillon (-1) are all on the outside looking in as far as the Chase Grid standings are concerned. Of those drivers, Harvick is the only one who owns a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at New Hampshire (fall of 2006). Harvick has finished in the top four in three of his past four races at Loudon, with the only exception being the 21st-place finish in the Chase race here last season.



• New England native Joey Logano considers New Hampshire to be his home track and high on his list as far as valued victories. Logano has won here twice, in the 2014 Chase race and in 2009 when he notched his first-ever Sprint Cup Series victory as a member of Joe Gibbs Racing. At this time last year, Logano was hitting his stride in a season in which he captured six Sprint Cup victories. Although this season hasn’t been as dominant, his second-place finish at Chicago gives him momentum coming into Sunday.

• Erik Jones comes to Kentucky atop the Chase standings in the XFINITY Series thanks to his four victories this season. And chances are he’ll get his Chase off to a good start there. In three races at Kentucky, Jones has an average finish of 4.7, and earlier this season, he finished fourth. Jones is trying to back up last year’s Camping World Truck Series championship with an XFINITY title before moving to Sprint Cup with Furniture Row Racing next season.

• Cole Custer is the only Camping World Truck Series regular who has a win at New Hampshire, but he’s not in the Chase after his controversial run-in with John Hunter Nemechek at the end of the Sept. 4 race at Canadian Tire Motor Sport Park. Could Custer take out his frustrations on Nemechek now that the Chase in underway? We shall see. Interestingly, Nemechek’s average finish of 5.0 (in two races) at New Hampshire is bested only by Johnny Sauter‘s 4.8 (in five races) entering this weekend.

THE FAVORITE

 

Matt Kenseth. It just has to be the driver of the No. 20, who has won the last two races at New Hampshire. Granted he’s not the hottest driver coming into this race, but you can’t argue with the most recent results at this track.

Others to consider: Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin.

THE SLEEPER

 

Tony Stewart. Sticking with ‘Smoke’ like last week because he’s tied for the lead among active drivers with three victories at New Hampshire. Plus, he finished second here in July to help solidify his spot in the standings in order to get a chance to “Chase” a fourth title.

Others to consider: Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson.

STAFF PICKS

Joey Logano: 3
Kevin Harvick: 2
Matt Kenseth: 2
Denny Hamlin: 2
Brad Keselowski: 1

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials handed down a P3 penalty to both the No. 43 team of driver Aric Almirola and the No. 16 team of Greg Biffle on Wednesday for not having lug nuts properly installed during the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

The infraction also brought fines of $10,000 to crew chiefs Drew Blickensderfer and Brian Pattie.

The No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team received a written warning for failing the pre-race template inspection three times and lost 15 minutes of practice time.

The fellow Stewart-Haas Racing cars of No. 10 Danica Patrick and No. 41 Kurt Busch received warnings for failing pre-race LIS.

The cars of Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman failed pre-race template inspection twice and received warnings.

Other warnings or penalties issued after last weekend’s events at Chicagoland included:

The No. 2 XFINITY Series team was warned for failing pre-race template inspection three times.

Kyle Busch‘s No. 18 Camping World Truck Series team received a P2 penalty for having tailgate inspection height measurements outside NASCAR allowed tolerances. The No. 18 crew chief Wes Ward was fined $6,000 and the team docked 10 owner points.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR announced Wednesday that it will solidify its post-race inspection penalty structure for infractions stemming from the laser inspection station (LIS), eliminating the P2 and P3 levels for those violations. The P4 level for LIS infractions remains, and violations at this level will remain encumbered.

NASCAR also announced that neither the No. 78 driven by Martin Truex Jr. nor the No. 48 driven by Jimmie Johnson will be penalized for failing post-race LIS following last Sunday’s Chicagoland Speedway.

“The use of the LIS platform in post-race was really driven by the industry,” NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said in a teleconference Wednesday evening. “We had everyone collaborating to create the appropriate deterrent penalties if there was a a violation. As we headed toward the Chase, we were asked to further develop an enhanced deterrent for the Chase. … The important development was the new language surrounding the concept of an encumbered win.”

Martin Truex Jr. won the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400, assuring the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team of a berth in the Round of 12 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Jimmie Johnson finished Sunday’s race in 12th place in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Both would have been assessed P2-level penalties for infractions discovered in post-race laser inspection. Those penalties were minor in nature, most people in the inudstry would agree, O’Donnell said. But assessing both teams penalties would be inherently unfair given the Chase structure. So NASCAR decided not to penalize either team and going forward will punish only P4-level post-race inspection infractions, which would be considered egregious.

“This was the most fair decision we could get to,” said O’Donnell, explaining that a points penalty assessed to a team still trying to get into the next round of the Chase would have dramatically different effects than on a team that is already locked into the Round of 12 with a win at Chicago. “Those penalties will not have the same impact on the competitors, based on the Chase format and the increased emphasis on win bonuses.”

Posted on by Track Release

MIAMI — In 2015, NASCAR witnessed one of the most remarkable comebacks in the sports’ history, as Kyle Busch collected his first career Sprint Cup Series championship by emerging victorious in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Regardless of which of the 16 Chase drivers are part of the Championship 4 at the 2016 Ford EcoBoost 400 on Sunday, November 20, there is guaranteed to be another comeback completed that day.

Hot off the release of their new single “Comeback Kid,” Grammy® Award-winning superstar sibling trio — The Band Perry — will make a special live performance prior to this year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship race. The Band Perry will be featured in Homestead-Miami Speedway‘s pre-race show, which airs on Countdown to Green on NBC that Sunday. The Ford EcoBoost 400 championship race, which is televised in 185 countries and territories, will be broadcast on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio at 2:30 p.m. ET.

The Band Perry, which consists of siblings Kimberly Perry, Neil Perry and Reid Perry, are an unstoppable presence in music. The trio has released two studio albums, The Band Perry (2010) and Pioneer (2013). Their first album went certified platinum and included the sextuple-platinum chart-topper, “If I Die Young,” the platinum-selling “You Lie” and “All Your Life” (a No. 1 single). Their second album Pioneer was certified gold and also featured two No. 1 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with the song “Better Dig Two” and “DONE”, a first No. 1 for brothers Reid and Neil as songwriters. In February 2015, The Band Perry won their first Grammy®Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance and have also earned multiple awards from the likes of The Country Music Association, CMT Music Awards, the American Country Awards and the Academy of Country Music. Recently named ambassadors for Teen Cancer America (a charity founded by The Who’s Roger Daltrey), The Band Perry recently launched a million-dollar fundraising campaign with the nonprofit to benefit Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital to expand the Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer program in Nashville. They are currently putting the finishing touches on their third studio album.

“We are thrilled to have The Band Perry performing in what will be an exciting day at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which will be capped off with the Ford EcoBoost 400 championship race on Sunday,” said Homestead-Miami Speedway President Matthew Becherer. “The Band Perry has become a household name in country music, and having them kick off the Sprint Cup Series championship race with a pre-race concert will be an electrifying experience for NASCAR and all of our fans. We can’t wait to see the show they put on in November.”

Tickets for 2016 Ford Championship Weekend, which will be held November 18-20, are now available and can be purchased by calling (866) 409-RACE (7223) or visiting www.HomesteadMiamiSpeedway.com.

Posted on by

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a first-person account from NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano about his childhood memories attending New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as well as his successful career at his home race track. New Hampshire will host Sunday’s Sprint Cup race, the Bad Boy Off Road 300 (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).


I remember the first time I went to New Hampshire was in 1997, when I was seven years old. My family camped out by Turn 2, back there behind all the midway activities for the weekend. We were there for the weekend and watched the modified race, the Busch North race — at the time that’s what the K&N Pro Series East was called — and the Sprint Cup race. My family actually still has a photo album of the trip. I got pictures of the cars when they came out and practiced. Looking back on it, I guess that really was my first memory of NASCAR racing. It’s cool that I remember it, but I think everyone remembers the time you go to your first NASCAR race.

One thing I remember is when I got to meet Jeff Gordon that weekend, which was awesome because I grew up a huge Jeff Gordon fan. He was leaving an appearance and I was one of those people that kind of sat there on the side, waiting for him to come out. There he was and I got a picture with him. It’s funny — I still have the picture. We talked about it and showed it on a couple of NASCAR shows last year when Jeff was doing his farewell tour. My Mom’s thumb got over the lens of the camera, so it’s one of those pictures with a thumb in it. My Mom got Jeff to sign the photo a couple of years back and she framed it for me with another photo of Jeff and I sitting on the pit wall before driver intros. It’s a pretty cool memento and something that links one of my first memories with where I am today.

To me, New Hampshire is something special. Really special. Every driver out there has their favorite track and a place that means more to them than others, even if they don’t always tell you. New Hampshire is that place for me. I guess it started when I was just a fan and I went to that race and met Jeff Gordon. Then, when I moved into driving, things still just happened there. I started my first Sprint Cup race there in the No. 96 car back in 2008. Then I won my first Sprint Cup race there the next year in the No. 20. 

But the most memorable moment to me was when we won there a couple of years ago in the fall race of 2014. That win was hands down the coolest win of my career. The Daytona 500 was neat. I mean who doesn’t grow up wanting to be a racecar driver and not want to win the Daytona 500? But the New Hampshire win beats it in my opinion. I think you can start to see why. For one, it’s my home track. Any win any driver gets at their home track is special. That is why my teammate Brad Keselowski wants to win at Michigan so bad. It’s on every driver’s bucket list. On top of that, it was the most challenging, most difficult track I went to as a driver. I sucked there. I literally did not know how to go fast. I remember one time we unloaded there and I started complaining about how bad the car was. Then, I look up and we were P1 on the board. I said, “I don’t know how to do this then. I don’t know what to tell you, because to me, it drives awful and we’re fast.”

So over time, I started figuring out that I need this and I need that, and got the car kind of feeling the way it’s supposed to. I had a lot of conversations with my crew chief Todd Gordon and we’ve worked together to make it better. Eventually, we conquered the hardest track for me — and my home track — so it’s all just worked out and it showed on the track.

That win in 2014 was just awesome for me personally. I don’t ever get out of the car at the start finish line (after a win). I just want to get to Victory Lane and celebrate with the team. But that was one of those moments where I thought: “I’m getting out of the car, I’m standing on top of it, I’m going to enjoy this moment. It’s going to be hard to have a win that’s larger than that.”

  

Something else that I love about New Hampshire is the fans. They love NASCAR racing and racing in general in the Northeast. It’s what got me to be a fan of the sport. I hope they grab some tickets and come out for an amazing weekend of racing when we go back up there this weekend. You go to Loudon as a New England guy and those are your people.

So we try to take advantage of every situation when we’re up there to look for ways to help, especially with the “Chasing Second Chances” initiative through the Joey Logano Foundation. We did our golf tournament in Connecticut with the spring race, and a lot of people were able to come to it. To me, all of this racing stuff is great and all, but it’s a platform to change people’s lives. I feel like it’s my calling. I’m supposed to use that.

It’s a privilege to have that opportunity to do what you’re supposed to do in this world. So, yeah, I want to win races and I want to win championships, but I want to do something more with the platform that God’s given me. So through the Joey Logano Foundation and through the Chasing Second Chances program, we’re trying to give people another shot at life in the New England area who were the victims of something out of their control or just made a bad decision and are working to make their life better.

In all honesty, the whole Chasing Second Chances throughout the next nine weeks (of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup) is a big deal. A lot of cool things for the next nine weeks. For more on Chasing Second Chances, click here.

As told to the NASCAR Wire Service’s Reid Spencer.

Posted on by Mobil 1

Mobil 1 technology proves itself every single weekend in some of the world’s top race cars. That’s why more than half of all NASCAR teams choose Mobil 1 for proven performance in the most extreme conditions on the race track.

As the Official Motor Oil of NASCAR, Mobil 1 is also proven every weekend in the unsung vehicles that make racing possible — pace cars, service trucks, track dryers, EMT vehicles, tow trucks, and more.

In the second instalment of the Mobil 1 “Our Normal Drives” video series on NASCAR.com, we examine a day on the job with NASCAR XFINITY Series Pace Car driver Mike Dolan. Each race weekend, Dolan’s anything-but-normal drive involves leading the 40-car NASCAR XFINITY Series field around the track.

Watch today’s video, which is part of NASCAR Inside Track presented by Mobil 1, then come back throughout the season for more in-depth looks at NASCAR from Mobil 1.

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: See the XFINITY Chase Grid | Every ’16 winner | Get to know the field

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Of the 12 drivers that make up this year’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase field, only three won races during the “regular” season, so the fact that the three appeared to be feeling pretty good about their chances Tuesday during media day activities at the NASCAR Hall of Fame came as no surprise.

Erik Jones, 20, won more races than anyone not named Kyle Busch, four to be exact, and most folks here seemed to agree, some more grudgingly than others, that the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 team is the one to beat.

Veteran Elliott Sadler won twice, and the Emporia, Virginia native has been around the track a few times. His career, in fact, was already underway when the Jones family welcomed young Erik into the world. Sadler’s wins in the No. 1 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports came this year at Talladega and Darlington and Sadler is the only guy in the field who can say he was in the inaugural Chase for both the premier series and the XFINITY Series.

Daniel Suarez, Jones’ teammate, earned his first series victory at Michigan. He enters the seven-race playoff, which begins with this weekend’s VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), with three top-five finishes in his last four starts. The other result was a top-10 so Suarez and the No. 19 team appear to be on top of their game as well.

No one is conceding anything just yet however. Not the Richard Childress Racing trio of Ty Dillon, Brendan Gaughan or Brandon Jones; Sadler’s JRM teammate Justin Allgaier or Roush Fenway Racing’s Darrell Wallace Jr. and Ryan Reed. Even single-team entrants Brennan Poole (Chip Ganassi Racing), Ryan Sieg (RSS Racing), and Blake Koch (Kaulig Racing) spoke of the potential for advancing from one round to the next and keeping title hopes alive.

“I don’t know if that’s good or bad,” a grinning Sadler said of his dual Chase experience. “I do remember being part of the first ever (Sprint) Cup Chase and now this one. It’s pretty cool.”

The benefits of that 2004 experience are limited, but useful nonetheless.

“It’s not like I’m a seasoned quarterback that can read the defense better than a rookie quarterback,” Sadler said. “I think that’s when experience plays a part. Now it’s just about which teams can get their cars the fastest, what driver can give the best information and not make mistakes on the track. Everybody that’s part of this Chase can do just as good of a job as anybody else, no matter their age or where they are from or how many years they’ve raced. I don’t think that’s a big part of it.

“The only thing I think I know is the difference in the intensity level; that’s the biggest thing I remember about being a part of the (Sprint Cup) Chase. The next week it was like ‘holy cow, it’s flipped the switch.’ Not only racing other guys but your team, what they are going through, the driver, the communication. It’s like everything is set to fast forward … and you have to understand how to communicate at such a different level.”

Jones is coming off a 2015 season that saw the Byron, Michigan native win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title, and he’s headed for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in ’17 as a teammate with Martin Truex Jr. at Furniture Row Racing.

Six times this season, he and Suarez have finished a race with both cars in the top five. In 13 other races, at least one of the two have finished fifth or higher.

The teammate tag doesn’t go out the window with the Chase now at hand. But both, along with 10 others, are racing for a shot at a single prize.

“It’s tough; the teammate deal is always tough in racing,” Jones said. “… There are times when you have to race like teammates and times your race as competitors. It’s a tough balance for sure, but it’s also nice when you go to the race track and you have other drivers to lean on, you can get information from and better each other.

“Hopefully we’re both in Homestead chasing the championship.”

Suarez also understands the benefits that come with a competitive teammate and agreed that “it’s hard to balance out because both of us want to race hard for wins.

“I think we’re going to be in good shape,” he said. “Both of us have a good shot to be competitive every single weekend for the Chase.”