Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — In the midst of a year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of the iconic M&M’S® Brand, NASCAR, and Mars Chocolate North America announced today a renewed agreement that will extend their Official Partnership through 2019. As part of the renewed relationship, Mars Chocolate will continue its designation as the Official Chocolate of NASCAR®, ensuring its various brands remain a race day staple for millions of fans.


Since entering NASCAR as a team sponsor more than 25 years ago, Mars Chocolate has steadily increased its level of participation in the sport. In 2000, the company expanded its sponsorship by becoming the “Official Chocolate of NASCAR,” emphasizing to fans its dedication to the sport. In the spirit of thanking its loyal NASCAR fans, M&M’S will celebrate race fans during Richmond International Raceway‘s inaugural Fan Appreciation Weekend. To help honor its 75th Anniversary, the brand will roll out the red carpet and give fans a VIP welcome at the Front Stretch Gate on Saturday.


“Our association with NASCAR has proven to be a true win-win partnership and we’re excited to continue the relationship for the next several years,” explained William Clements, vice president, sponsorships and sports marketing, Mars Chocolate North America. “From helping M&M’S celebrate their 75th anniversary to energizing the thousands of Mars Chocolate Associates coast to coast, NASCAR is the perfect platform to fuel our business.”


With more than 15 consecutive years of Official Partnership and a historic championship run as the primary sponsor of the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota last season, Mars Chocolate is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable brands in the sport. Mars Chocolate continues to execute a fully integrated strategy that includes advertising, event marketing, social media, business to business, and associate engagement.


“Mars Chocolate has delivered creative and engaging activations that our brand loyal fans have embraced throughout the past 15 years,” said Steve Phelps, executive vice president and chief global sales and marketing officer, NASCAR. “As the Official Chocolate of NASCAR, Mars Chocolate has made race day more enjoyable for millions of fans and we are proud to continue our successful partnership.”


As the Official Chocolate of NASCAR, Mars Chocolate encourages fans to “Celebrate Race Day with M.” The campaign reminds fans to include irresistible and colorful chocolate in their race day rituals. Many of Mars’ most iconic brands belong to the category, including M&M’S®, and SNICKERS®. Additionally, a number of Mars and Petcare iconic brands are also included, such as SKITTLES® and PEDIGREE®. 


The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series™ season will continue with the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

While Harvick remains atop these Power Rankings, his No. 4 pit crew would likely be at the bottom of any such rankings that evaluated them after another subpar performance.

MORE: Harvick frustrated with crew

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

While Ford is in the midst of a bit of a dry spell, wins-wise, Keselowski continues to perform well and that should continue at Richmond, where he has the best average starting spot among active, full-time drivers (8.6).

MORE: Dry spell for Ford

While Logano’s teammate Keselowski sports the top average starting position, it’s Logano who is the defending pole-winner of the race.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/denny-hamlin/
DennyHamlin
3
Joe Gibbs Racing

Hamlin is on quite a roll right now, and comes into Richmond as the active, full-time leader in laps led at a whopping 1,405.

Edwards took a bit of a dip at "The Venue Formerly Known as Carlington," but has some good juju on his side as the spring Richmond winner.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/kyle-busch/
KyleBusch
0
Joe Gibbs Racing

Busch is the race favorite heading into Richmond, with a series-high four wins and a sizzling 6.9 average finish at the Virginia track.

Truex has a tendency to show up on the big stage, as we’ve seen at Daytona, Charlotte and Darlington. The next true big stage? Homestead.

MORE: Truex surges to Darlington win

Larson started from the pole in his first Richmond race as a rookie and should continue his hot streak with an above-average finish in each start there thus far in his career.



MORE: Larson a surprise Chase contender

Kenseth has been running at the finish of 32 of his 33 Richmond starts, but only 24 of those were on the lead lap. Buy, hey, he’s the defending winner of the race after leading 352 of 400 laps.

It’s unfortunate for Busch, but he takes a tumble this week after a had-nothing-to-do-with-him run-in with Paul Menard that saddled him with a poor finish.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/jimmie-johnson/
JimmieJohnson
-3
Hendrick Motorsports

Johnson struggled mightily at Darlington, but should rebound this week with Hendrick running better as a whole and running third in the spring Richmond race (44 laps led).

MORE: Johnson gets ‘F’ for Darlington

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

Elliott backed up another strong run at Michigan with his second-straight top 10 and should be a near-lock to make the Chase.

Stewart and Brian Scott didn’t play nice at Darlington, but don’t expect them to race near each other at Richmond. "Smoke" has the most top 10s at the track (19, tied with Harvick), among active, full-time drivers.

MORE: Stewart called to NASCAR hauler

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/austin-dillon/
AustinDillon
1
Richard Childress Racing

Dillon could really use a strong run at Richmond to ensure he gets in at the Chase, but it’s not a certainty. He’s not fared well there in the past.

Good news: Newman had a great Darlington race to close the points gap between him and Jamie McMurray. Bad news: a failed post-race inspection may negate that.

MORE: Newman’s car fails inspection

McMurray is earnestly square on the tip of the Chase bubble and needs to have a good Richmond finish to ensure he makes it.

Kahne seems to have found a little something in his No. 5 ride. Only thing — is it too little, too late?

MORE: Good news for Kahne

Buescher has yet to clinch a Chase berth and certainly can’t take it easy at Richmond, especially after he finished 34th there in the spring.

Blaney all but needs to win at Richmond to make the Chase, but it’s certainly not out of the question for the talented rookie.

It all comes down to Richmond for ‘Dinger’s Chase chances. Unfortunately for him, he has just three top 10s in 18 starts.

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RELATED: Full race results | Standings | Chase Grid

Breaking down the full field for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway:

1. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. Truex’s two victories this season are the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and now the Southern 500 … and he finished second in the Daytona 500. Even with all the bad luck he has had, Truex is having a monster year. Grade: A+


2. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. This is word-for-word — except for the number of laps led Sunday night — from the race at Dover in May when Harvick finished 15th: Harvick led a race-high 214 laps, and who knows how well he would have done if his pit crew had done its job. Harvick’s grade is an average of his A and his crew’s F. Grade: C


3. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Larson led 45 laps and was in contention to win for the second week in a row. Larson and his team are hitting their stride at the exact right time. Grade: A


4. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Breaking news: No pit-road penalties for Hamlin or his crew … just their seventh consecutive top-10 finish (5.3 average finish in the streak). Grade: A


5. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano doesn’t have a streak to rival Hamlin’s, but he now has top-10 finishes in 11 of his past 13 starts. Grade: A


6. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth was running 14th when he stayed out during the sixth caution and restarted with the lead. He was a fixture in the top 10 the rest of the night. Grade: A


7. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne’s first top-10 finish since Sonoma in June is too little too late. Unless he wins at Richmond, he likely won’t make the Chase. Grade: A


8. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Huge night for Newman. Despite having to start from the back of the field (unapproved adjustments), Newman scored a must-have top 10 and is sitting seven points behind Jamie McMurray for the final spot in the Chase. He came into the race 15 points back. Grade: A+


9. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. An early vibration and two loose wheels couldn’t keep Keselowski from his 16th top 10 of the season, tying him with Kurt Busch for third most behind Kevin Harvick (20) and Joey Logano (17). Grade: A


10. Chase Elliott, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Elliott did much better on restarts Sunday night, but he lost spots on pit road. Another good run at Richmond should net him a spot in the Chase. He is 24 points ahead of Ryan Newman and 17 ahead of Jamie McMurray. Grade: A-


11. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch missed a top-10 finish at Darlington for the first time since 2011 (also an 11th-place finish). Grade: B


12. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. An early pit-road speeding penalty had no bearing on his finish. He is nine points ahead of Jamie McMurray and 16 ahead of Ryan Newman. A good finish at Richmond should clinch a spot in the Chase. But … in five starts at Richmond, Dillion has finished 27th three times and 20th twice. If he runs to form, that might not be good enough. Grade: B –


13. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney had multiple visits with the wall, had to pit under green for a flat and had a pit-road penalty (for a crew violation) … and still finished 13th. Busy night. Grade: B-


14. Jeff Gordon, No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon scored his fourth top-15 finish in five starts for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Grade: B-


15. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. If McMurray misses the Chase by a handful of points, an extra pit stop Sunday night might turn out to be the difference. McMurray had to pit for a second time under caution on Lap 354 for a loose lug nut. Instead of restarting 13th, 13 points to the good on Ryan Newman, McMurray restarted 18th, the last car on the lead lap. Newman finished seven spots better than McMurray and trails McMurray by seven points for the final Chase-eligible spot. Grade: B-


16. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard did a nice job of moving through the field after starting from the back for unapproved adjustments. But a tire rub late in the race resulted in a flat left rear and Menard losing control of the No. 27 and wiping out Kurt Busch on Lap 327. Still, Menard’s 16th-place finish was his second best in his past nine starts. Grade: B-


17. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Buescher is not out of the woods yet. He is 11 points ahead of David Ragan for 30th in the points standings and a spot in the Chase. His task at Richmond is simple: Stay ahead of Ragan or close to him all night. It didn’t happen in the April race at Richmond, however, when Ragan finished 23rd and Buescher 34th, an 11-point difference. How’s that for coincidence? Saturday night should be fun. Grade: B


18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse was the final car on the lead lap. Grade: B


19. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards finished 19th in the JGR No. 19 Toyota for the third time, the first time this season. That’s three more times than Edwards finished 99th in No. 99 Ford in 11 seasons driving for Jack Roush. Grade: B-


20. Regan Smith, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Smith scored his third-best finish of the season. The other two are top 10s (eighth in the Daytona 500, third last month at Pocono). Grade: B


21. David Ragan, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Despite having to start from the rear of the field because of an engine change, Ragan equaled his third-best finish of the season. Grade: B


22. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Contact with Aric Almirola brought out the 10th and final caution. Fortunately for Bowyer, Almirola’s car got the worst of the encounter. Grade:  C


23. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger’s run of top-15 finishes ended at four on a night when he completed no laps in the top 15 for the second time this season (Week 4 at Phoenix). Grade: C


24. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. For the third time this season, and second time in three weeks, Patrick had the second-best finish among the four Stewart-Haas Racing cars. Grade: C


25. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing.  GEICO’s “It’s What You Do” fact of the night: RAF, as in “running at the finish.” Did you know only two Sprint Cup drivers who have started all 25 races this season have been running at the finish of each race this season? One is Brad Keselowski. The other is GEICO’s very own Casey Mears. It’s what he does. Grade: C


26. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto scored his fourth-best finish of the season, his best at a track more than a mile long. Grade: B+


27. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing. Despite an early pit-road speeding penalty on his first stop, McDowell posted his best finish at Darlington in five starts. Grade:  C


28. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett equaled his fourth-best finish of the season. Grade: C


29. Josh Wise, No. 30 Chevrolet, The Motorsports Group. The theme of the backmarkers continues: Wise also equaled his fourth-best finish of the season. Grade: C


30. Landon Cassill, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Cassill matched his lowest finish at Darlington in six starts. Grade: C


31. Reed Sorenson, No. 55 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Sorenson finished nine laps off the pace. Grade: C


32. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola was running 20th with 18 laps to go when he got into Clint Bowyer and then Bowyer hit Almirola, sending the No. 43 hard into the wall. Grade: C-


33. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The lowlight of Johnson’s night came when he lost control off of Turn 4 on Lap 214 and went for a spin. He ultimately finished 39 laps off the pace and with his 77th finish of 30th of worse in his illustrious Sprint Cup career — which also equals his Cup wins. Who knew? Well, you do now. Grade: F


34. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Busch called it a “tough, tough night.” We call it being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Paul Menard was nursing a tire going down, and Busch was next to him when it finally did. The No. 41 suffered major damage, and Busch was left with his second DNF for crashes in three weeks. Grade: C


35. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Score one for karma in Stewart’s final race at “The Lady in Black”. In a move few will dispute, Stewart wrecked Brian Scott to bring out the third caution. Then, after battling a cooling issue for a good chunk of the night, Stewart’s engine expired a shade more than 100 laps later. Grade: F


36. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle got loose in Turns 3 and 4 and hit the wall to bring out the sixth caution. The No. 16 returned to the track but was through after 295 laps run, giving Biffle his sixth DNF, tying a season high with 11 races remaining in 2016. Grade: F


37. Cole Whitt, No. 98 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Electrical issues cut short Whitt’s night after 250 laps run. Grade: F


38. Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 32 Ford, Go Fas Racing. Earnhardt hit the wall literally and figuratively on Lap 250. Grade: F


39. Brian Scott, No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Scott was running 24th on Lap 204 when Tony Stewart took exception to something Scott did or was doing and turned the No. 44, sending it crashing into the inside wall. Maybe Scott wasn’t handling his car as well as ‘Smoke’ thought he should. But no one will dispute how well Scott handled himself in his interview on NBC afterward. Grade: B


40. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne brought out the first caution when he went for a spin trying to get to pit road on Lap 95. But it was his engine that ended his night after 161 laps, leaving Bayne with his first DNF of the season. Grade: F

Posted on by Staff Report

Joe Gibbs Racing product and NASCAR Next driver Matt Tifft appears to be progressing in his recovery from brain surgery to remove a tumor, posting a photo on his Twitter account Monday showing him in full gear and in the cockpit of a race car — with the all-important thumbs-up.

 

After jumping in a go-kart on Sunday, Tifft tested a late model at Hickory Motor Speedway. He originally had planned to test last month, but confirmed to NASCAR.com that Monday’s test was his first action.

 

The team announced in June that the 20-year-old would undergo surgery for a low-grade glioma in the brain, which he did in early July. 

 

Tifft tweeted an upbeat video following the surgery and updated his condition last month, addressing the media at Bristol Motor Speedway.

 

RELATED: Tifft has renewed passion after brain surgery

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Watch the live stream here | Darlington results | Standings 



NASCAR.com will live stream post-race inspection Tuesday from 8-11:30 a.m. ET at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.


Tune in for a three-hour view of the inspection floor of the 61,000-square-foot shop, bringing you behind the scenes as NASCAR officials tear down and inspect Sprint Cup Series vehicles following Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 race at Darlington Raceway.


The three cars selected for further evaluation at the R&D Center this week are:


— The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of race winner Martin Truex Jr.
— The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet of race runner-up Kevin Harvick
— The No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of eighth-place finisher Ryan Newman.



Newman’s car was flagged in post-race inspection Sunday at the 1.366-mile track, failing its pass through the Laser Inspection System (LIS) platform.


For more details about the inspection process, click here.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full race results | Updated Chase Grid

 

NASCAR officials said that the cars of top-10 finishers Kyle Larson and Ryan Newman failed post-race inspection late Sunday night at Darlington Raceway.

Larson finished third in the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates No. 42 Chevrolet and Newman placed eighth in the Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet. But both cars failed their pass through the Laser Inspection Station (LIS) platform after the Bojangles’ Southern 500.

Any potential midweek points penalty could be a major hindrance for Newman’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff hopes. Newman currently ranks as the first driver outside the provisional 16-driver Chase field, seven points behind Jamie McMurray on the cut line.

Competition officials indicated that the cars of Newman, race winner Martin Truex Jr. and runner-up Kevin Harvick would travel to the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further evaluation this week.

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RELATED: Results | Truck Series Chase Grid

Bowmanville, Ontario, CANADA — In what has quickly become tradition for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series when it races north of the border, the Chevrolet Silverado 250 produced yet another wild and memorable finish.

This time around at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, John Hunter Nemechek and Cole Custer made contact on the last corner of the last lap and crossed the start-finish line in the grass in a virtual tie.

Following a few moments of deliberations, NASCAR officials determined Nemechek won the race by 0.034 seconds.

Daniel Hemric — who was briefly shown as the winner on the official timing and scoring feed before NASCAR officials sorted out the photo finish between Nemechek and Custer — was third, defending champion Matt Crafton finished fourth and rookie Christopher Bell came home fifth.

“It was exciting to say the least. I can’t thank all of my guys enough for the hard work they put into this truck,” Nemechek said.

Despite not leading the most laps, Nemechek’s No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet proved be a strong runner, particularly in the latter stages of the race, as the second-generation NASCAR driver led 19 laps and was able to stay in touch with the front-running Custer on consecutive late-race restarts.

“We had one fast truck. I didn’t know how long it was going to take to get past (Spencer) Gallagher but I set him up in (Turns) 5a and 5b and was able to drive underneath him going down the backstretch. Once we got by him I had clean air and was able to drive right up to Cole,” he said.

As for the contact with Custer at the finish and the ensuing tussle that took place between the two on the frontstretch post-race, Nemechek chalked it up to the burning desire to win.

“Cole and I, we’re very competitive racers and we would have done anything in the same position to make sure we get that win,” he said.

For Custer, however, the result was an especially tough one to swallow.

The 18-year-old Californian was a dominant force all weekend in the No. 00 Haas Automation Chevrolet, winning the pole in record-setting fashion and leading for a total of 39 laps during the race in a bid to secure a spot in the inaugural eight-driver NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase.

RELATED: Custer tackles Nemechek at flag stand

His anger and disappointment was palpable when he spoke with reporters afterwards.

“(Nemeche) had raced me clean and just hit me in the back on the second-last corner, and that got me out of shape, got me off the line and then he hit me again in the last corner, and that just sent us into the grass and he just drove me up against the fence.

“I was expecting it, kinda, because he’s raced a lot of people like that but it’s just a shame because it was a great chance to get into the Chase and he took it away from us,” he continued.

Despite the missed opportunity, Custer will have one more chance to qualify for the Chase if he can win the final race of the regular season at Chicagoland Speedway on Sept. 16.

Nemechek was already locked in to the Chase coming into the weekend by virtue of his win at Atlanta in February.

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid 

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Tony Stewart‘s final trip to Darlington Raceway as a Sprint Cup driver ended with a post-race visit with NASCAR officials, but the three-time series champion was smiling as he departed.
 
“Got to come in and check in once in a while,” Stewart said. “It was a happy visit.”
 
Officials had requested the presence of Stewart and crew chief Mike Bugarewicz following the race to discuss an on-track incident between the Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner and driver and fellow competitor Brian Scott (No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports).
 
Contact between the two on Lap 204 of the Bojangles’ Southern 500 brought out the caution flag for the third time in the 367-lap race. Scott, who was four laps down at the time, was on the outside of Stewart as the two came off the second turn of the 1.366-mile track. The two cars touched and Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet shot briefly to the inside, then darted back up the track and caught the left rear of Scott’s Ford.
 
The RPM entry spun to the inside where it hit the wall. Unable to return to the race, Scott finished 39th in the 40-car field.

RELATED: Examining the Chase bubble

In the garage afterward, Scott said he was attempting to let drivers on fresher tires, including Stewart, go by.
 
“I think he got inside of me and got loose there,” Scott said of the initial contact.
 
“I was pointing him to the inside to let him go. Apparently he got mad at me. … I have a lot of respect for Tony. He has always raced me really clean. … I am not sure if he thought I was trying to hold him up there; I wasn’t. I was trying to let him go. I even pointed him to the inside. Maybe he thought I was giving him the finger or something. I will talk with him. We will figure it out.”
 
Stewart, who was running 13th at the time, eventually saw his night come to an end when the engine overheated in his No. 14 Chevrolet.


Retiring from Sprint Cup competition at the end of the season, he ends his Darlington career winless in 24 career attempts. It is one of only two current tracks where he failed to score at least one Sprint Cup victory — Kentucky Speedway is the final track on his winless list.
 
Officially, he completed 317 laps and finished 35th.
 
“Overheating was the first part of it, and it finally grenaded,” Stewart said of the engine trouble. “It was 375 degrees on water temperature.
 
“There’s a screen in there that keeps all the trash from getting into the radiator and it got separated from its mount, so all the trash was getting underneath it and going up inside the radiator and it just kept blocking it until we finally lost the motor.”
 
The meeting with officials after the race was brief.
 
“We wanted to hear from Tony, get his perspective on what he saw out there,” Kurt Culbert, managing director of racing communications for NASCAR, said. “It was more about gaining information than anything else and to confirm that it will be over with once we leave here.”
 
Stewart has one victory this season, winning on the Sonoma Raceway road course, and is locked into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
 
Scott is in his first full season of Sprint Cup competition and is 33rd in points.

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Full injury timeline | Junior out for 2016

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. is continuing to make progress in his recovery from a concussion, and the Hendrick Motorsports driver says he has every intention of returning to competition once he receives medical clearance.

That, in a nutshell, was Earnhardt’s message during a visit to Darlington Raceway, site of Sunday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500.

HMS officials announced the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver had not been cleared to compete for the rest of the 2016 season.

A process that has involved daily rehabilitation and re-evaluations every two weeks will continue under the watch of Dr. Micky Collins, medical director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program, and Charlotte neurosurgeon Dr. Jerry Petty.

Sunday’s race at Darlington marked the seventh missed race for Earnhardt since the initial diagnosis was made in mid-July.

Earnhardt said the news that he wouldn’t be cleared to race again this season did not come as a surprise.

“I know how I feel and how I need to feel and how I’m supposed to feel so I’m not shocked,” Earnhardt, 41, said. “I’m not hearing things from Micky that I don’t already know about myself. … (But) I am confident about the future.”

Earnhardt has been down this road before, having missed two races in 2012 after suffering a concussion in a wreck during a test at Kansas Speedway. That experience, he said, was reason enough to believe he would be back behind the wheel sooner rather than later.

“When we first went to see Micky, I anticipated the experience to be similar to what I had in the past,” he said. “That we would work on getting better and it would happen in a relatively short period of time and I would drive a car before the end of the season.

“I think as we continued to go get evaluated we realized that it is going to be a bit more of a process … I think it’s the right decision considering how I feel personally and physically. I definitely don’t belong in a race car today by any stretch of the imagination.”

Earnhardt’s condition continues to improve, and Collins said it has accelerated since the decision to end his season now was made.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that since we made that decision we are starting to see a lot of progress here that I’m excited about,” Collins said.

“We sat down and I feel very strongly the right decision was made to take Dale out of racing, so we can focus on getting him better and reduce the stress that is associated with that. Stress and concussions don’t get along well and we see stress can really exacerbate and worsen things.”

In his absence, Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet has been driven by Jeff Gordon and Alex Bowman. The two will continue in their respective fill-in roles for the rest of the season.

Team owner Rick Hendrick has preached patience from the outset, and continued to stress that the driver’s seat remains the property of Earnhardt for as long as he wishes to race.

“We were talking before he had to get out of the car about (contract) extensions,” Hendrick said. “I want him to race with me as long as he can and he wants to be there. The seat is his and I expect, we’ve got a lot of time between now and Daytona.

“I saw him like two or three weeks ago and then I saw him last Monday and I saw him today; the improvements have been phenomenal and listening to the doctor we are excited about Dale Earnhardt Jr. being in the car at Daytona and we’ve got right much time. I’m excited about him racing beyond 2017.”

RELATED: Hendrick on Earnhardt’s future

It’s a goal Earnhardt said he has every intention of reaching. Not returning isn’t something he thinks about.

“I have the passion and desire to drive; I enjoy it,” he said. “I have an amazing team and owner. … My heart is there to continue.

“I’m only 41; I think I have some good years left.”

Collins had told him before, when he was injured in 2012, that he would recover and go on to win races. “And he was right,” Earnhardt said.

“We got well and I had some of the greatest years and greatest experiences of my career shortly after that.

“He’s telling me that this is possible again and I believe it.”

 

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RELATED: Race results | Standings | Chase Grid | Views from the day


DARLINGTON, S.C. — Tossing his water bottle on the ground, Kevin Harvick walked away quickly from the garage following his runner-up finish in Sunday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. His frustration was evident: The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet had paced the field for a race-high 214 of 367 laps only to be foiled by a series of slow stops that lost at least 17 spots all together on pit road.

With the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup beginning in two weeks, Harvick says something has to change.

“I’m over being a cheerleader,” he said after the race. “Those guys get paid a lot of money to perform on pit road. Cheerleading hasn’t been working so you have to get after them on pit road and do your job.”

The race’s seventh caution brought about the most damaging stop, when the Stewart-Haas driver — who led five times during the 367-lap event — entered pit road with the lead and left 12th due to a faulty air gun that thwarted the No. 4 team for the rest of the night. Despite the setbacks, Harvick put himself in contention for the win, battling with Martin Truex Jr. in the final laps — but missed the checkered flag by .607 seconds.

“It’s just the same old thing,” Harvick said. “You get in position where you bring a dominant car. The guys in the shop and the guys in the garage are doing a great job, and the guys on pit road are doing a terrible job. You get in a position to win races, and they continually step on their toes and don’t make it happen. You’re not going to win races like that.

“I’m really proud of the car that we brought tonight and the things that we’ve done on the race track, but you can only make so many excuses for pit road.”


For crew chief Rodney Childers, the near-win was a letdown to an evidently dominant car that he had spent hours laboring over Saturday night.

“We just had an OK car yesterday and we worked really hard last night to make sure we made the right changes going into the race and when I finally went to sleep at about 1 a.m., I knew we were going to be really good,” Childers told NASCAR.com. “I felt really good about it — I told Kevin this morning he was going to have a hot rod.

“So, we did all that stuff right and we just had a part failure inside one of our pit guns, very unusual thing — it wasn’t the changer’s fault … But definitely some things that we’ve got to clean up before (the Chase opener at) Chicago and honestly, that department’s got to do a lot better job.”


With ideal Sprint Cup pit stop times lying in the 12-seconds-or-less range, pit crew members literally have seconds to perfect each movement. It’s a synchronized dance that when one member trips, the entire routine falters.

Childers understands the mental toll that one bad stop can take on his crew for the remainder of the night. He even told his team via in-car radio in the midst of the race that they had to believe in themselves.

“It’s so easy to get off — they had great stops all night and we had one stop that was just a little bit off and when you have one that’s a little bit off it’s kind of like a mental breakdown,” Childers said. “The guys have to forget about that one and move on. They did a good job of that at Bristol and came back tonight with like a 10.8 (seconds) or something like that after our first bad stop. They were doing a good job until that gun broke.

“We’ve got to do a better job from week to week on pit road and hopefully they can get better.”