Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 3, 2016) – NASCAR today announced several changes within its leadership structure.


Effective immediately, Steve Phelps will assume the role as NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Global Sales and Marketing Officer. The business areas that Phelps will oversee include Global Marketing, Partnership and Series Marketing, Business Development, Integrated Marketing Communications, Licensing & Consumer Products, and NASCAR Digital Media. He will continue to serve as NASCAR’s top Officer in the Charlotte office.


NASCAR has enjoyed tremendous global growth and is now being distributed in 185 countries and territories around the world. Phelps will now lead a strategic global marketing effort, as NASCAR digital and social platforms create the potential to lead further global growth and direct engagement through NASCAR.com and key social platforms. The strategy will be to transition International admirers of the sport into more engaged, passionate fans.


Jill Gregory has been named Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. Gregory joined NASCAR in July 2007 after working in executive roles at Bank of America and Sprint. She was among the inaugural group of executives honored as “Game Changers” in 2011 by Sports Business Journal, recognizing the top female executives in the sports world. The business areas that Gregory will oversee include Brand and Consumer Marketing, Brand Platforms, Entertainment Marketing, Driver Marketing, Team Marketing, Social Media and Analytics and Insights.


Gregory revised NASCAR’s marketing strategy this year so the organization now leads with fan engagement and digital and social media first, which has been reflected in the popular “Ready. Set. Race” marketing campaign. The #Hashtag500 social media program that Gregory spearheaded saw the highest volume of NASCAR-related conversation ever measured on record, while NASCAR also won three Silver CLIO Sports Awards this year for Integrated Campaign, Social Media and Film.


Norris Scott has been named Vice President, Analytics and Insights, a new position within NASCAR. Scott, who joined NASCAR in 2005 in Partnership Marketing after working at ESPN and the NFL, now will oversee the growing consumer research functions at NASCAR including Social Analytics (NASCAR Fan & Media Engagement Center), Digital Research, Sponsorship Valuation, and Media and Market Research. NASCAR’s research activities will continue to evolve and expand to serve the industry with best-in-class analytics and insights. Under his leadership, Scott will take this function to the next level.


Lou Garate has been promoted to Vice President, Partnership Marketing. Garate has been at NASCAR for nearly 10 years, working closely with official partners such as Chevrolet, Ford, Goodyear, MillerCoors and Toyota. He has developed and strengthened many partner assets including the Coors Light Pole Award, Coors Light Silver Bullet Bash, NASCAR Evening Series and Victory Lap fueled by Sunoco. Garate is an industry veteran with experience on the property side (NFL) and agency side (Millsport). He now will expand his role working with NASCAR’s growing stable of sponsors and partners.


“We’ve been bold in our efforts to modernize and diversify our business and executive team, and these changes further reflect that fact,”said Brian France, NASCAR chairman and CEO. “Today’s announcement underlines the importance that NASCAR puts on specific areas of our business, and has been done in sync with structure and personnel changes made last month in the racing area.


“I’m delighted to see the growth of a number of our colleagues throughout NASCAR. All changes announced today will pay significant and immediate dividends for the sport.”

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 3, 2016) – Today, in association with Panini America, the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company, NASCAR fans and collectors alike can purchase the first of four officially licensed trading card products expected in 2016. To coincide with the release, NASCAR Sunoco Rookie of the Year frontrunner Chase Elliott will attend the Panini VIP Party at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, later this week.


The new NASCAR trading cards, a classically licensed-product, are meticulously produced by Panini and will continue to be a nostalgic collectible for fans. The first line of officially licensed trading cards, available today, encompasses teams and drivers across the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series™, NASCAR XFINITY Series™ and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™.


“We’re thrilled to be aligned with Panini, which will provide a fresh approach and reenergize this category,” said Blake Davidson, vice president of licensing and consumer products, NASCAR. “Partnering with a leader in the space was an important strategy for NASCAR, producing top-quality product for NASCAR fans, kids and collectors alike.”


Through this multi-year agreement, NASCAR Team Properties and Panini will deliver high-quality trading card products each year. NASCAR trading cards are available at Walmart, Target and hobby stores nationwide in addition to the Fanatics Trackside Superstore and NASCAR.com Superstore.


“We are excited to bring NASCAR trading cards back into the marketplace,” said Mark Warsop, CEO of Panini America. “NASCAR fans are some of the most passionate in all of sport, and we look forward to delivering an assortment of products across a broad range of price points that meet the needs of collectors and race fans alike.”


2016 NASCAR sets include:

• 2016 Panini Prizm NASCAR – Available now
• 2016 Panini Torque NASCAR – Early September
• 2016 Panini Certified NASCAR – Early October
• 2016 Panini National Treasures NASCAR – Early November

Posted on by Team Release

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Aug. 2, 2016) — Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson will wear the Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope, which features five charities working to improve K-12 public education, this weekend during the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International. In addition, his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet will feature a special Jimmie Johnson Foundation 10th Anniversary paint scheme.

“I am proud to highlight the great work of these charities on my Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope this weekend,” Johnson said. “Because of the generosity of our amazing partners, Chandra (wife) and I have been able to support some incredible schools and non-profits in the 10 years since we launched the Foundation. We’d like to thank Lowe’s for allowing us to run the Foundation paint scheme for the eleventh time and Blue Bunny for sponsoring the Helmet of Hope program again this year. We are so grateful.”

The Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope program allows fans and consumers across the country to nominate and vote on not-for-profit (501c3) organizations that support K-12 public education. Each of the recipients was also awarded a $25,000 grant and a Blue Bunny Ice Cream party.

The 5 recipient charities are:


ArtWell in Philadelphia
Carlos Gilbert Elementary Parents! Teachers! Kids! in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Change for Kids in New York
Inside the Outdoors Foundation in Costa Mesa, California
Mercy Child Advocacy Center in Sioux City, Iowa


“We are extremely proud to once again support the incredible work and commitment displayed by each of the organizations to assist K-12 public education,” Wells said. “The passion around the mission of each of these organizations is evident through the rallying of their supporters to vote and ultimately secure additional needed funding. It never ceases to amaze me at how creative and driven all of the organizations are to securing the votes needed.”

In addition to the Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope program, the Foundation operates the Champions Grant program in partnership with Lowe’s, which provides cash grants to schools in the Johnson’s hometowns and where they currently live; Team Up For Technology, a $48,000 technology makeover open to schools nationwide; and the Jimmie Johnson Foundation Wellness Challenge, a series of three athletic events in Charlotte, N.C. as well as a virtual triathlon. To date, the Jimmie Johnson Foundation has contributed more than $8.8 million to schools and non-profits across the country.

Posted on by Nascar

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It is perhaps the most memorable paint scheme among many for the organization, but when your team has been around from the beginning, the options are no doubt plentiful.

 

“When I look at that car, I immediately think of David Pearson,” Leonard Wood said Tuesday at the Hall of Fame while standing in front of the iconic No. 21 Ford.

 

Pearson and Wood enjoyed a lengthy tenure, the Silver Fox winning 43 times for the team with Wood calling the shots as crew chief. The paint scheme chosen for this year’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway is a nod to the 1976 season, a highlight year among many for both Pearson and the WBR organization.

 

The 2016 Ford Fusion that will unload for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Labor Day weekend features the same red and white paint scheme with blue piping down the sides as the Mercury Montego wheeled by Pearson.

 

The Pearson name adorns the driver’s side door below the window just as before; the wheels are silver and the No. 21 lettering has the gold foil look that became so familiar.

 

Driver Ryan Blaney’s uniform mimics that of Pearson’s as well, a white outfit with blue across the right shoulder and stripes of red, blue and red again running down off the left shoulder. On Tuesday, Blaney was even outfitted in alligator loafers similar to those worn by Pearson during his driving days.

 

Eddie Wood, who today oversees the operation of the team along with brother Len and sister Kim Wood Hall, said the choice of the 1976 look was “the right thing to do” to celebrate the accomplishments of four decades ago. “This is pretty much as close as you can get to (the look of) that car in ’76,” he said.

 

The car on display Tuesday even carried five sticks of Wrigley’s gum taped to the dash, a staple for Pearson during his tenure with the team. One stick for each 100 miles.

 

Pearson’s alligator footwear came from a local business, Price’s, in his hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina.

 

“They had thick heels on them,” Eddie Pearson, David’s son, said. “He’d take them back in about every six or eight months and have them re-soled.”

 

Because the team did not run the entire schedule during his tenure, Pearson, a three-time premier series champion and member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, did not win a title with the Wood Brothers.

 

But he won plenty of races. And the ’76 season was perhaps the highlight of his stay with the legendary organization.

 

Among his 10 victories that year were the Daytona 500, World (now Coca-Cola) 600 and Southern 500, earning him NASCAR version of the Triple Crown. The Daytona 500 victory featured a last-lap crash with Richard Petty as the two came off the final turn, both sliding to the infield as they fought for the win.

 

“I remember asking him, ‘Can you get him?'” Eddie Wood said of the incredible finish. “He was running second (on the white flag lap). He said ‘I’m going to try’ or something like that. You never knew what he was going to do … how much he had left.”

 

With no television monitors in the pits to track the action on the track, the team had no idea what was taking place after the field zoomed past.

 

“When they got to Turn 3, the crowd starts to stand,” Wood recalled. “Things are really going nuts. And he said, ‘I got him’ on the radio. They come off of (Turn) 4 and he says, “Richard’s under me. He got under me.’ And then he said ‘We hit.’

 

“The whole place goes nuts, me included. … We didn’t know what was happening, you couldn’t see. Then we saw Richard come sliding (across the infield), and here comes David … he’s spinning backwards – he actually hit a car that was coming down pit road … and that kind of straightened him up and helped him back out into the infield. But he said ‘Where’s Richard?'”

 

Told Petty was stopped in the infield grass along the frontstretch, Pearson told Wood, ‘Well, I’m coming.’ He got going and won the race.”

 

It remains one of NASCAR’s most incredible, unforgettable finishes.

 

“To understand it all, he’s spinning backwards and his (radio) button was on his shoulder harness, it wasn’t on the steering wheel like it is now,” Wood said. “He knocked the car out of gear, had the awareness to ask where (Richard) was – he almost needed like three hands (to do all that). But there was never, never any emotion, just matter of fact. Like talking on the telephone.”

 

Wins also came that year at Atlanta and Ontario, and Pearson swept races at Riverside, Michigan and Darlington. His 10 wins came in only 22 starts in what was then a 30-race season.

 

Blaney, competing for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors this season, was excited to see the new look his car will carry.

 

“It’s awesome,” Blaney said. “I love the whole throwback concept at Darlington. To be able to do this really cool paint scheme this year – I think we’re going to have the best-looking race car out there.

 

“I’ve always enjoyed the Wood Brothers cars; they’re simple, but I think they’re the best looking ones.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: See all the Darlington throwbacks
BUY TICKETS: Darlington

Wood Brothers Racing revealed their Darlington throwback scheme for Ryan Blaney on Tuesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, in an event that was live streamed on NASCAR.com.


Photo credit: Wood Brothers/Ford Motorcraft

The look that their No. 21 Ford will sport for the 2016 Bojangles’ Southern 500 (Sept. 4, 6 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is reminiscent of one David Pearson drove during the 1976 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

During that year, Pearson won 10 races, including the Southern 500 at Darlington. The Wood Brothers must be hoping some of that success will carry over to Blaney, a Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate.

Blaney is tied with Trevor Bayne for 17th place in the point standings, 28 points behind Kyle Larson, the final driver in the provisional Chase Grid. Blaney’s one career Sprint Cup appearance at Darlington came last year when he started ninth and finished 30th.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Latest updates, timeline on Dale Jr.

Jeff Gordon will be behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevrolet for the next two races as Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms, Hendrick Motorsports announced Tuesday.

 

Earnhardt Jr. underwent further evaluation Tuesday at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program, according to the team, and posted an encouraging tweet later Tuesday evening.

 

“We have a break in the schedule after Watkins Glen, so the extra week of recovery time will certainly be a benefit,” team owner Rick Hendrick said in a press release. “Dale will be back when he’s ready, and we’re looking forward to that happening, but the priority continues to be his health and well-being. We’ll keep our focus on that and let the doctors guide us.”

 

RELATED: Read more about Junior’s recovery here

 

Gordon will drive the No. 88 Chevrolet when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series comes to Watkins Glen International for the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen this weekend (Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Watkins Glen will be his 800th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start.


Following an off week, Gordon will then pilot the No. 88 at Bristol in the annual night race on Aug. 20. 

Watkins Glen and Bristol are the fourth and fifth races, respectively, that Earnhardt Jr. will miss due to concussion-like symptoms. Junior opened up about his recovery, the process, protocol and much more on this week’s edition of “The Dale Jr. Download.”

Last weekend at Pocono Raceway, Gordon indicated he looked at his stint in the No. 88 “as a very temporary thing” but is willing to remain in the role “as long as they need me.”

The four-time series champion later added: “I wouldn’t be here in Pocono if I wasn’t committed to be there for Hendrick Motorsports and this team in any way that they need me. I think there is a balance between trying to make this transition. First of all, you want Dale to have the comfort of knowing that somebody is there for him. He doesn’t have to worry about that aspect of it through this process. 

“… Then there is the side of who is the best person to be in the car to get the most points. And then there is the sponsorship side of it as well. So far, from what Rick (Hendrick, team owner) is telling me, that seems to be me. That is why I was at Indy and that is why I’m here.”


Gordon has driven the No. 88 the past two races at Pocono (27th) and Indianapolis (13th). Alex Bowman drove the car at New Hampshire to a 26th-place finish. 

In his career, Gordon has four wins in 23 starts at the New York road course and nine total road-course wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He also has five wins at Bristol.

First practice at Watkins Glen is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET Friday on NBCSN, when Gordon will climb into the No. 88 for the third consecutive week — one day after his 45th birthday.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: See the full Chase Grid

 

Here’s a breakdown of the Chase Grid and bubble picture following Monday’s Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway.

BUESCHER’S STANDING

Chris Buescher’s win at Pocono Raceway puts him on the cusp of Chase eligibility as he finds himself just outside the top 30 in points. If a driver has a win, the top-30 points position is a requirement to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Buescher, the reigning XFINITY Series champion, has five races to get into the top 30 and lock in his playoff spot. He is 31st in the standings, just six points behind 30th-place David Ragan.


LOCKED IN

According to numbers crunched Monday, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin have clinched Chase spots. Those drivers, all of whom have one victory this year, join Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson, who all have multiple wins, in the Chase field.

 

WIN, BASICALLY IN

With one win, Tony Stewart has all but claimed one of the remaining six spots. That accounts for 11 drivers in the 16-driver postseason field, leaving five spots up for grabs via points, with Buescher being outside the top 30 in the standings. Here’s how that picture looks post-Pocono.

 

BUBBLE WATCH

 

Editor’s note: The standings below are the Chase Grid standings, not the Sprint Cup Series drivers standings.

CHASE BUBBLE WATCH

Standing Driver Points differential from cutoff
12. Austin Dillon +61
13. Ryan Newman +49
14. Chase Elliott +45
15. Jamie McMurray +29
16. Kyle Larson +20
————————– CUT-OFF LINE ————————–
17. Kasey Kahne -20
18. Trevor Bayne -28
19. Ryan Blaney -28
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -36
21. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -47
22. AJ Allmendinger -59
23. Greg Biffle -94
24. Paul Menard -105
25. Danica Patrick -116
26. Clint Bowyer -134
27. Aric Almirola -143
28. Casey Mears -178
29. Landon Cassill -192
30. David Ragan -221
31. Chris Buescher* (1 win) -227
Posted on by Pat DeCola

While he hasn’t won since Phoenix, Harvick’s 12 top-10 finishes in his last 15 races are remarkable, especially considering two of the three races that didn’t result in one came at restrictor-plate tracks.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/brad-keselowski/
BradKeselowski
1
Team Penske

Keselowski may have won had the race gone the full length, but he’ll continue to have shots if he’s leading laps as he has in the past five races.

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

With a pair of top-two finishes at Watkins Glen in the past three years (one of which was a win in 2013), Busch’s recent road course prowess should get him back to looking dominant this weekend.

After a couple of down races at Loudon and Indy (22nd and 16th), Busch landed back in the top 10 at Pocono.

Apart from Kyle Larson’s 8.0 average finish in just two races, Edwards’ 8.4 mark in 11 Watkins Glen starts is best in the series.

Tough break at Pocono after a run-in with the No. 24, but Logano is the defending Watkins Glen winner and should rebound.


More: Logano, Elliott wreck at Pocono

Pocono didn’t go well for Kenseth, who may slip again next week with just six top-10 finishes in 16 starts at Watkins Glen.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/jimmie-johnson/
JimmieJohnson
0
Hendrick Motorsports

This tends to be the part of the season we see a swoon from the No. 48 team. With just one top-10 from Pocono to Pocono, 2016 is no different.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/denny-hamlin/
DennyHamlin
1
Joe Gibbs Racing

Hamlin may have lost his way for a bit, but his three-straight top 10s suggest he may have righted the ship.

At some point, Truex’s luck has to take a turn for the better, right? The No. 78 team looks great every week — until it doesn’t, by some fluke.


More: Truex hit with more bad luck

"Smoke" remains hot after another top-five finish at Pocono. And guess what? Watkins Glen is his best track on the circuit, with five wins at the road course.

The Larsonaissance continued at Pocono, where for a bit of time it looked like he’d be picking up his first Sprint Cup victory, not Chris Buescher.

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

Like Larson, Dillon showed up at Pocono — we’ll know if he’s for real if it continutes at WGI, where the Richard Childress Racing driver has an average finish of 26.0 in two starts.

Newman followed two top 10s with two non-top 10s, but hey, it sounds like he could be back with RCR next year.


More: Newman on future with RCR

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/chase-elliott/
ChaseElliott
-4
Hendrick Motorsports

Elliott’s downturn continued at Pocono after getting into it with Joey Logano. To make matters worse, he has a pretty steep debt to pay off to a fellow rookie.

More: Does Elliott owe Blaney dinner?

While his top 10s are few and far between, McMurray has finished in the top 20 in eight of his last 10 starts.

With Kahne battling for a Chase spot, he can’t afford to repeat last year’s 42nd-place result at Watkins Glen. With 40 cars in the field, he has a good shot.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/dale-earnhardt-jr/
DaleEarnhardt Jr.
-1
Hendrick Motorsports

Still no official word on Earnhardt’s return, but his symptoms have at least "plateaued." Meanwhile, he continues to drop in the rankings (and standings).


More: Junior provides health update

Blaney has had more bad days than good ones lately, but his second 11th-place finish in three races put him back in the Chase mix.

Last season’s XFINITY Series champ appeared in these Power Rankings in the preseason, but this win was unexpected. If Buescher can get into the top 30 in points, it’ll have huge Chase implications.


More: Buescher wins first career race

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Pocono results | Standings | Updated Chase Grid


LONG POND, Pa. — NASCAR officials impounded six Sprint Cup Series cars following Monday’s Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway and will transport the vehicles back to its Research & Development Center for additional analysis.



Steve O’Donnell, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer for NASCAR, said two cars from each manufacturer — Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota — were taken for study in the wind tunnel and to gauge engine performance.



Those impounded were the cars of Brad Keselowski (Team Penske No. 2 Ford) and Greg Biffle (Roush Fenway Racing No. 16 Ford), Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet) and Kasey Kahne (Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet), Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota) and Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota).



“It’s really a mid-season evaluation for us,” O’Donnell said. “If you look at where the midseason falls, typically you’re at Daytona, a superspeedway race, then we were at Kentucky with the new rules package. So Pocono presented the best opportunity to us to really evaluate where we are from both an aero and engine standpoint.”



Keselowski, Harvick, Hamlin and Busch finished in the top 10 in Monday’s weather-shortened event.



It’s not the first time NASCAR has impounded cars from each manufacturer for evaluation.



“We did this at the (Sprint) All-Star Race (in May) but (that’s) obviously a shorter race,” O’Donnell said. “This was our first chance to really take a look mid-season, get the cars exactly as they were on the race track, take them from here and then perform the analysis.”



NASCAR officials do an at-track inspection of the top-five cars following each race, but only the first-and second-place entries, as well as a random selection, are transported to the R&D Center to complete the post-race inspection process.