Posted on by Nascar

CONCORD, N.C. — Chad Knaus acknowledges that his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team with driver Jimmie Johnson has endured “a tough, tough summer,” but remains confident that the team can and will again be a contender when this year’s NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup arrives.

“It’s been horrible; we could have just stayed home,” the longtime crew chief said Wednesday at the organization’s No. 48 shop. “We’ve had great performances … Indianapolis we were running really, really well, thought we had a great shot at it. Michigan … Dover we should have won, we had a transmission problem there and crashed.

“We’ve had a lot of really weird things happen. Some by our own fault, and others by things that happened like last Sunday at Watkins Glen. … But the beauty of it is going into the Chase, those are tracks that we are really comfortable with.

“Chicago? We’re great there. Dover (where Johnson has 10 career victories); Loudon, we sat on the pole (in July). Name ’em. Martinsville? We love it. All those races kind of cater to us so we’re excited about it.”

Johnson and Knaus have won six Sprint Cup championships since the team’s debut in 2001, and Knaus called the shots for 75 of Johnson’s 77 career victories. Two of those came earlier this year, at Atlanta and Auto Club Speedway, and Johnson sat third in points after the season’s first 13 races.

But in the nine races that have followed, there has been just one top 10 and an uncharacteristically-high four DNFs. While he secured one of the 16 spots in this year’s Chase field with his third-place finish at Indy, Johnson has fallen seven spots in the points, and currently sits 10th overall.

His two victories this season extended Johnson’s streak of multiple-win seasons to 15. But early-season wins aren’t unusual for the series’ winningest active driver. Thirty-eight of his 77 career wins have come between the months of February and June.

He’s been just as successful late in the year, with 31 victories between September and November.

July and August haven’t been as kind with just eight career wins during the annual summer stretch.

This year, Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski won back to back at Daytona and Kentucky to kick off July; Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and most recently Denny Hamlin swept three of the last four Sprint Cup Series events. JGR drivers have won 10 of 22 races this season.

“You can’t compare yourself to (JGR),” Knaus said. “We don’t really look at their performance; we look at ours. That’s what we have to do. If we try to focus our efforts outside of what it is we’re doing, we’re just taking away from what it is that we do. So we look internally and try to improve upon what we have and don’t worry too much about what everybody else has.”

Resistance to change isn’t the problem, he said, noting that, “We try things every weekend, everywhere.

“That’s just what you do,” Knaus continued. “If you don’t, you’re never going to be competitive. … That’s just the nature of our industry.

“What else are you going to do? Are you going to change your driver? No. Are you going to change me? I hope not. We’re not going to change our pit crew, they’re solid.

“Our cars (are) always evolving. We’re always changing and ever-changing.”

The winner of a NASCAR-record five consecutive championships (2006-10), Johnson added a sixth in 2013. However, he’s finished 10th and 11th in the two previous seasons, years in which NASCAR officials re-tooled the Chase to include an elimination-style format.

Four races remain before the start of this year’s Chase, beginning with the Aug. 20 running of the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).

From there, it’s a return trip to Michigan, on to Darlington and finally Richmond before the green flag falls on this year’s 10-race Chase at Chicago.

Recapturing that early-season momentum has almost become expected from the No. 48 team. That doesn’t make it any less difficult.

“You’ve got to get your feet,” Knaus said. “Obviously right now it’s pretty darn difficult.

“But the good thing about this group is (while) we have some young players on the team, the core group of guys is pretty solid, have been here for a long time. So they understand what it is that we are going through. They understand the ups and the downs, the ebb and flow of racing.

“So. once we get going it’s not going to be that big of a deal I don’t think. We throw in a couple of top 10s, then a top five and then I think everything is going to be just fine.”

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: See all the Darlington throwbacks | BUY TICKETS: Darlington

CONCORD, N.C. — The throwback paint scheme featured on the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson for this year’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 pays tribute to a pair of former series champions and NASCAR Hall of Fame members.

Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports entry will carry a familiar blue and yellow scheme reminiscent of the colors associated with Dale Earnhardt in which he captured rookie of the year honors for NASCAR’s premier series in 1979 and the first of his seven series championships a year later. Earnhardt drove for team owner Rod Osterlund at that time.

Earnhardt did not compete in the ’79 Southern 500, the fourth and final race of the season he was forced to miss due to injuries sustained in a hard crash earlier that season at Pocono Raceway. Subbing for the team in those four events was three-time NASCAR premier series champion and Hall of Fame member David Pearson.

Pearson finished second at Talladega, fourth at Michigan and seventh at Bristol before putting the team in victory lane at Darlington Raceway. It was his ninth title at Darlington, long considered the series’ most difficult track to master, and his third in the Labor Day classic.

“I think it’s really cool,” Chad Knaus, crew chief for Johnson, said Wednesday during the unveiling of the car. “I can remember the car and scheme from when I was younger, seeing it on television.

“Obviously Dale’s first championship (in 1980) came in a paint scheme similar to this.”

Earnhardt’s nine Darlington wins are second only to Pearson’s 10; he also won three Southern 500 titles.

Lowe’s Home Improvement, longtime sponsor of Johnson and the No. 48 HMS team, has a tie-in as well, providing funding for the No. 2 entry at Talladega in ’79.

More than two dozen throwback paint schemes for this year’s running of the Bojangles’ 500 (Sunday, Sept. 4, 6 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR) have been announced. The program launched last season and is expected to continue for the next several seasons.

“The whole Darlington thing is a lot of fun, the environment is full of energy,” Knaus, who’ll sport a throwback-styled firesuit similar to that of his driver, said. “Maybe I’ll get a couple of stopwatches (to time cars), too.”

Johnson, a six-time series champion, has three Darlington wins, two in the 500.

“To get another victory there,” Knaus said, “would be fantastic.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — The weekend announcement that up-and-coming star Erik Jones will drive a second Furniture Row Racing car in 2017 was one of the worst-kept secrets in recent big-time NASCAR news. And that’s a real compliment to Jones and to the organization.

 

People are intently interested in the championship-worthy team’s expansion. All the buzz and grins speak largely about the team’s firm place among Sprint Cup Series top shelf. Expansion is a logical next step.

 

And looking around at team executives, its drivers and Toyota bigwigs last weekend at Watkins Glen International when Jones’ new No. 77 5-hour Energy Camry was unveiled, there are both high hopes and high expectations.

 

“Today has been a long time coming for Furniture Row Racing,” team owner Barney Visser acknowledged over the weekend.

 

Jones, the 20-year-old reigning Camping World Truck Series champion, currently is contending for the XFINITY Series title with three wins this season while driving a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

 

His ticket to the Sprint Cup was inevitable.

 

This will be an important step for the young Jones, but also for the Denver-based Furniture Row Racing team that already is hard at work preparing its shop to house and operate a second team — which, Visser said Wednesday night on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, may only house Jones for one season.

 

“With how we’re running, we will get a very, very good driver after he leaves, if he leaves, and I’m fairly certain he will,” Visser said. “We will attract one of the best drivers in the garage for that second slot, I am confident. The cars are just going to be running too well.”

 

When asked again about the likelihood of Jones leaving after one year, Visser said: “I think that’s most likely. We’re working on that. What I am saying is the team will go on no matter what and people need to understand that when they come looking for jobs.”

From Toyota’s standpoint, at least for 2017, this is as natural an evolution as possible. Jones has been “their guy.” Pairing him with veteran Martin Truex Jr., driver of the team’s current No. 78 Toyota, is the right development right now for manufacturer, team and driver. 

 

From Toyota’s perspective, Jones also is truly the first driver the manufacturer has groomed from development series to big league.

 

“I think it’s a great story for Toyota, but probably a greater story for NASCAR and the future of our sport,” Toyota Racing Development President David Wilson said at Watkins Glen. “We’re all really proud of Erik and think a lot of him not just as a talent, but as a person.

 

“With Erik, obviously he’s a rookie and we like the chemistry of having the veteran Martin Truex side-by-side. And the other great thing is we have the Gibbs drivers to lean on. Our intention is Erik will sit in the competition meetings as early as this season and observe and learn.

 

“The point we really wanted to make was for Toyota and for Furniture Row adding an additional team, this isn’t a one-year deal. My intention is to run at least six Toyotas in the (Sprint) Cup Series from 2017 running forward.”

 

And while initially the expectations will be tightly controlled, below the surface, a real feeling of progress and hope appeared after speaking with the team’s executives, and its current championship caliber driver, Truex.

 

“This goes into the very beginning when we started Furniture Row,” team president Joe Garone said. “We just gradually have ramped it up and built the relationships that we felt we’ve needed to be successful. That comes back to Barney’s commitment to invest in the team and our sponsors that Barney brought to the team, Denver Mattress and Furniture Row. … To finally get to a platform that will support multiple cars.

 

“It’s huge. It’s at the sacrifice of a lot of hours and a lot of hard work from a lot of people. We’re just really excited to be at this platform right now.”

 

Truex, who has qualified for this year’s Chase courtesy of one of the most dominating performances in recent years — he led all but eight laps of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte — acknowledged the change in logistics and said, “It’s going to be a little more work getting off the ground, but fortunately it’s early enough this season to get the cars built and ready for next year.”

 

Truex signed a two-year contract extension with the team earlier last week, as well.

 

“The biggest thing is I’m excited for Barney and Furniture Row to grow the program,” he said. “It’s nice to see the success and him having fun with it and able to expand. Two teams should be a more efficient way of doing business and it should make sure we’re around for a long time.

 

“This is no different than the JGR guys welcoming us into the system. We’ll all work as one to make our team the best it can be. Erik seems like a great kid and obviously has a lot of talent.”

Posted on by Staff Report

PJ Stergios (ineX Racing) came out on top at Watkins Glen in one of the most exciting NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series races in recent memory, passing both Michael Conti (Team Conti) and Nick Ottinger (Gale Force Racing) on the final lap to take his fourth win of the season.


Stergios took the white flag in third behind Conti and Ottinger but had fresher tires due to his pit strategy. He quickly closed on Ottinger heading up through the Esses and made his move exiting Turn 4 when Ottinger got loose and lost momentum, allowing Stergios to pass without a fight.


With Ottinger out of the way, Stergios set his sights on Conti as the two made their way around Turn 5. Like Ottinger, Conti got loose on exit, but was able to take a defensive line, giving him the preferred line into Turn 6. Conti held the lead through Turn 6 and again took a defensive line entering the final corner, Turn 7. This time, Stergios got into the back of Conti under braking, moving the No. 5 car up the track and into the outside wall, allowing Stergios to move past for the victory. Ottinger was second.


Conti had to settle for third after leading 23 laps and coming ever-so close to his first victory of 2016. Jake Stergios came home fourth ahead of Logan Clampitt (High Performance Motorsports) and erstwhile championship leader Ray Alfalla (Slip Angle Motorsports).


The thrilling finish was made possible in part by differing pit strategies among the leaders. The Stergios brothers chose to stop twice for tires while Conti, Ottinger, and much of the rest of the field opted for only a single pit stop.


Ottinger started on pole but was passed in Turn 1 by PJ Stergios, who then quickly moved away from the field during the opening laps. His gap was short-lived though as Conti had moved up from fourth on the grid to challenge for the race lead. The 2014 series champion looked to have the faster car but Stergios drove mistake-free before relinquishing his lead on Lap 16 to make his first pit stop.


Conti was not due to pit until Lap 22, and used the clean track in front of him to maintain his gap to Ottinger, who visited pit road on Lap 24 — effectively splitting the race in half.


After completing their service, the two were once again chasing PJ Stergios, now joined by his brother Jake, who was on the same strategy. Conti quickly closed the gap thanks to his fresh tires — and some nifty moves in traffic — to draw alongside PJ Stergios into Turn 6 on Lap 33. Stergios did not put up a fight as he was due to pit.


The pass put Conti in the lead with 17 laps remaining; seven seconds clear of Ottinger and nearly 30 ahead of the Stergios duo. With their fresh tires, it was a foregone conclusion that PJ and Jake Stergios would start closing the gap, but time was not on their side. However, the Stergios brothers caught a break with six laps to go when Allen Boes and Clampitt made contact trying to pass in Turn 5. Their battle continued into Turn 6 and when the dust cleared, the brothers were clear of both Boes and Clampitt with nothing but clean air between themselves and Ottinger once The TEAM’s Kenny Humpe dropped out with connection issues.


With the win, Stergios passed Alfalla in the series points standings and now leads by three points with four races to go. Jake Stergios is third, 67 points back, while Dylan Duval and Chris Overland, are tied for fourth, 24 points behind Jake Stergios.


Week 13 sees the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series return to ovals with Michigan International Speedway the next stop on the schedule. The wide, two-mile oval offers room to pass and brings some interesting pit strategy into play should the race go green. With only three points separating the front two in the championship, look for Stergios and Alfalla to be strong once again. Can last year’s Michigan winner Humpe spoil the party, or will Stergios and Alfalla be battling for the win once more? Find out in two weeks on iRacingLive when the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series visits MIS.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR gave written warnings to two Sprint Cup Series teams on Wednesday following last weekend’s action at Watkins Glen International for the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen.

The Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 team for Kyle Larson received a written warning for failing template inspection twice pre-qualifying. It was the team’s first warning.

The Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 team for Ryan Blaney got written warnings for twice failing pre-race laser inspection and for failing pre-qualifying laser inspection twice. Those were the fourth warnings for the team in each category.

Also, crew member Michael Casto of the No. 4 Stewart-Hass Racing team for Kevin Harvick was suspended indefinitely for violation of sections 12.1; 19 (behavioral) in the NASCAR Rule Book.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: See all the Darlington throwbacks | BUY TICKETS: Darlington

 

Joe Gibbs Racing, often ahead of the curve when it comes to social media, used a modern technological method — that’d be Facebook Live — to give fans a look at something honoring the past on Wednesday.

 

The team used the live stream to unveil Denny Hamlin‘s No. 11 Toyota paint scheme that will be used at the Bojangles’ Southern 500, which will again have the old-school, throwback theme. The Sept. 4 event will honor the years 1975-84. Hamlin’s scheme Pays tribute to Darrell Waltrip’s early rides.

 

Hamlin’s No. 11 was the third of four JGR schemes to be revealed. Previously, the No. 18 of Kyle Busch and the No. 11 of Carl Edwards showed off their historic looks.

Posted on by Team Release

Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick and Mark Martin, all of whom will be inducted into the 2017 class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, will serve as Grand Marshals for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, Sept. 4.

All three will give the command to start engines accompanied by Bojangles’ CEO Clifton Rutledge. Childress, Hendrick and Martin’s involvement in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 further enhances the track’s throwback platform of celebrating the history and heritage of the sport.

Childress and Hendrick are two of the most successful owners in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history.

“Darlington Raceway is one of my favorite racetracks. I remember going there when I was very young and seeing some of my heroes race there,” Childress said. “Now, it’s really neat to say that I’m going to be the grand marshal for the race, and I couldn’t think of two better people to do it alongside of than Mark Martin and Rick Hendrick. The race weekend is already special enough with the ‘throwback’ theme, but this will make it that much more special.”

Childress and his team, Richard Childress Racing, have posted 105 NSCS wins since he founded the team in 1969. His team has recorded 472 top-five NSCS finishes and won 12 national series championships, which is second all-time in the sport’s history. RCR is the first organization to win championships in all three of NASCAR’s national series. Much of his success came with driver Dale Earnhardt, who won 67 career Cup races for RCR, including eight victories at Darlington Raceway.

Hendrick, founder of Hendrick Motorsports in 1984, owns an all-time record 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car owner championship titles — six with Jimmie Johnson, four with Jeff Gordon and one with Terry Labonte. Hendrick also has 14 total NASCAR national series owner championships, which is most in NASCAR history. His drivers have won 242 NSCS races with 1,000 top-five finishes.

He has 14 NASCAR Cup wins at Darlington Raceway, including seven with Gordon. Johnson’s victory at Darlington in 2012 gave Hendrick his 200th career NSCS win in the sport.

“Darlington is very special to me, and I’m so grateful to the track for this honor,” Hendrick said. “It’s still sinking in that I’m a part of such an incredible Hall of Fame class. Richard and Mark are great friends and competitors, and it means a lot to share these experiences with them.”

In a 31-year career, Martin won 40 career NASCAR Cup races, including the 1993 and 2009 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. He also won eight NASCAR XFINITY Series races at Darlington, which is still the most in series history.

“It is my honor to be co-grand marshal for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 with two of my heroes,” said Martin. “Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick are two of my favorite people in racing. I’m also looking forward to being inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame with them, along with Benny Parsons and Raymond Parks in January.”

Rutledge, who has served as Bojangles’ CEO for the past three years, will say the command alongside three of the sports legends. Rutledge gave the command with 2016 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Terry Labonte before last year’s Bojangles’ Southern 500.

“I am blessed to represent Bojangles’ and give the command to start the Bojangles’ Southern 500 alongside three legends of the sport, Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick and Mark Martin,” Rutledge said. “Bojangles’ is proud to be the entitlement partner of the Southern 500, a partnership we’ve enjoyed since 2012.”

The Famous Chicken ‘n’ Biscuits restaurant chain has more than 680 locations throughout the Southeast. Bojangles’ has the naming rights to the Southern 500 through the 2019 season.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame inductions ceremonies will take place in January of 2017 in Charlotte, N.C.

The Tradition Continues on Labor Day weekend as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500® is set for Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016. The NASCAR XFINITY Series VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 will race on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016. Tickets are still available for all events.

Posted on by Nascar

NASCAR may soon require drivers to curtail their celebratory burnouts to avoid excess damage to the winning vehicles before the post-race inspection process.

 

Steve O’Donnell, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer for the sanctioning body, told SiriusXM NASCAR on Tuesday that officials were examining incidents such as Denny Hamlin‘s post-race winning celebration following Sunday’s victory in the Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International.

 

Hamlin’s lengthy post-race burnout along the frontstretch and subsequent spins left him unable to drive his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota into Victory Lane.

 

“It’s something that’s been out there that we are trying to avoid yet balance the celebration,” O’Donnell said. “I think (we will see something) in the very near future, and this isn’t putting it all on the 11 car, this is something we’ve talked about, it’s a trend we don’t like to see.”

 

Last October, NASCAR officials said there was no plan to regulate such post-race celebrations, saying such instances gave drivers an “opportunity to express their enthusiasm for their win and give fans an exclamation point to the victory.”

 

While such incidents have raised concerns that teams were intentionally damaging their entries in an effort to keep officials from uncovering possible rules violations during post-race inspections, no recent inspections have uncovered any wrongdoing.

 

After Kevin Harvick‘s dominating victory in last fall’s Chase race at Dover, Del., the Stewart-Haas Racing driver appeared to make contact with the wall during his post-race celebration. However, the No. 4 Chevrolet passed inspection at the track as well as two days later when the car went through a more thorough inspection at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C.

 

Asked about Harvick’s burnout the following week, Hamlin noted that “what he did was really, really impressive.

 

“But obviously, as all the other competitors, whoever doesn’t win each week wants to make sure they’re on a level playing field with whoever did win,” Hamlin said.

 

Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski, the 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion, said at the time that he had “definitely blown tires out.

 

“I think every driver has done something to do some kind of damage to their car,” Keselowski said.

 

O’Donnell said officials want to continue to allow winning drivers and teams, as well as the fans, to enjoy the accomplishment, but, he added, without creating unnecessary damage to the winning vehicle.

 

“We want to see a celebration and we think that drivers can celebrate without doing that,” he said. “You’ll probably see us sooner than later put something in place that covers us for that as you head into the last quarter of the season.

 

“Again, not there yet, we’re talking to a lot of the teams about it but I think everybody is on board with the direction we want to go in.”

 

According to the 2016 NASCAR rulebook for its Sprint Cup Series, winning vehicles are allowed to “engage in appropriate celebratory activity … prior to reporting to victory circle.”

 

Those activities include a victory lap, burnout(s) or donuts.

 

Once the drivers have taken the checkered flag (or the race is declared complete), all vehicles competing in a NASCAR-sanctioned race are “considered under impound” and “must not be altered or adjusted in any manner during the cool-down lap or on pit road prior to reporting to the inspection area(s).”