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MORE: Live radar | Friday on-track action canceled due to weather

 

CONCORD, N.C. — Kyle Busch has celebrated in Victory Lane at 21 different race tracks in the Sprint Cup Series, from superspeedways to short tracks to road courses.

But in his 13-year Sprint Cup Series career, two tracks have eluded the No. 18 driver: Pocono Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s Bank of America 500 (12 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“It would certainly mean a lot,” Busch said on reaching Charlotte’s Victory Lane on Thursday at the 1.5-mile speedway. “We’ve been trying here for a long, long time and we’ve been close a few times and it just hasn’t all quite worked out the way we would have wanted it to I guess at the end of some of the races. So certainly we feel as though there’s no better opportunity to win a Charlotte race than in the Chase.”

A win at Charlotte would do more than check a box off Busch’s lengthy list of racing accomplishments: It would punch his ticket to the Round of 8 drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

With wildcard Talladega looming at the end of the three-race round, that security is especially coveted.

“Somebody’s going to leave here really happy and I hope it’s me,” Carl Edwards said Friday at Charlotte. “This round I believe is probably the toughest one just with Talladega out there and these mile-and-a-halves. It’s so competitive right now. We saw it with the first round. You’d think that making the 12-out-of-16 would be easy. It’s actually — it was a pretty good battle there, so we hope to get a victory here.”


One of the biggest competitors for the Joe Gibbs Racing duo? The JGR-affiliated car of Martin Truex Jr., who has won three of the last five Sprint Cup races. His three recent trips to Victory Lane equal the four-car JGR’s total Sprint Cup wins in the last 10 races.

 

For Edwards, the No. 78 success foreshadows Joe Gibbs Racing‘s performances to come in the Chase.

“If we didn’t know what engines and chassis and setups those guys had, it’d be really easy to say they’ve got something (that) they’ve got something special that we don’t have,” Edwards said.

 

“But knowing what they have and knowing what they’re able to do with it, that’s a motivator and I’ve been telling people this week I really believe you’re going to see … the four JGR cars really step it up because Martin (Truex Jr.) is … that rabbit out there that we’re all chasing and we know it can be done and I think in the end that’s a gift to have somebody in your camp or close to you that can do that.”

The four Joe Gibbs Racing cars also have access to the No. 78 team’s notes from their dominant Coca-Cola 600 win, something Busch believes is an advantage with limited practice time due to inclement weather. 


“They were really, really good,” Busch said on the No. 78’s winning Coca-Cola 600 run. “So we feel like we’ve got a good baseline to base ourselves off of.”

“If we could get Cole (Pearn, crew chief for Truex Jr.) to tell us everything, that would help,” Edwards said with a smile. “But I mean seriously those guys are so good that it gives us a lot of optimism, because there’s no — everybody’s looking up, looking forward.”

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MORE: No. 48 pit crew coach discusses recent pit road mishaps

In a building filled with banners, trophies and famed race cars, five newcomers entered Hendrick Motorsports‘ Nos. 48 and 88 shop as part of their induction to the decorated four-car organization, carving out their own slice of history.

These five young men, coming from various backgrounds, stood together — a united group — as part of the Hendrick’s 2017 pit crew class for its second annual signing day.


Completing the class are: TJ Semke, Mason Harris, Austin Holland, Timmy Hall and Dylan Intemann.


The quintet were joined by Andy Papathanassiou, Director of Human Performance, and Keith Flynn, Developmental Pit Crew Director.


“To me the reason why we decided on a formal presentation of our pit crew recruits is because this really is, in my explanation, the completion of a dream, Papathanassiou said Thursday, looking at the 2017 class. “And to have something like NASCAR come in … and say, ‘Hey, you can fufill your dream of being a professional athlete.’ “

The goal of this program is to have the recruits work their way up to eventually lining up behind the wall for one of Hendrick’s Sprint Cup teams. 


“Over 100 guys came through and (only) five guys made it,” Flynn revealed, highlighting the difficulties of the rigorous program that he manages.


One of the inductees, Hall, says his four-year professional hockey career — Hendrick’s first hockey player recruit — helped him prepare for not only the program, but also the NASCAR industry as a whole.


“I think a ton of stuff translated over,” the tire carrier hopeful revealed. “Obviously, just the practice and preparation that you are used to with hockey … there’s a lot of hand-eye coordination and hand skills involved. I think that really translates with tire changing, especially.”


All five Hendrick Motorsports recruits have extensive athletic backgrounds: Semke played football for three years at the University of Kansas; Harris was a four-year football player for the University of South Carolina; Holland briefly provided behind-the-wall support at Roush Fenway Racing; and Intemann was an offensive lineman at Wake Forest University.


Papathanassiou — and the entire HMS organization — are confident in this group, envisioning a promising future for the five in their motorsports careers. 


“They found us as much as we found them. And you’re seeing the fruits of the labor of our constant year-after-year recruiting process.” 

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RELATED: Cast your vote now

 

In the midst of the inaugural Chase for both the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, drivers from each series will begin chasing more than just the championship as voting has officially opened for the 2016 Most Popular Driver Award. 

 

The NASCAR XFINITY Series Most Popular driver race is wide open with past two-time winner Chase Elliott advancing to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this year. Notable drivers who made their name in the series by winning the Most Popular Driver Award include Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1999), Kevin Harvick (2001), Martin Truex Jr. (2004-05), Carl Edwards (2007), Brad Keselowski (2008-10) and Danica Patrick (2012).  

 

John Hunter Nemechek will try to defend his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Most Popular Driver Award. If Nemechek were to win the award, he would become only the second driver in series history to be honored multiple times, joining former series champion Johnny Benson Jr. Other notable Most Popular Driver Award winners include Greg Biffle (2000), Austin Dillon (2011), Ty Dillon (2013) and Ryan Blaney (2014).

 

Voting is open and runs through Friday, Nov. 18, for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Saturday, Nov. 19, for the NASCAR XFINITY Series, prior to the respective season finale races at Homestead-Miami Speedway during Ford Championship Weekend.

 

Fans can vote once per day online for the Most Popular Driver Awards at www.NASCAR.com/mostpopulardriver. 

 

The winners will be announced at the 2016 NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Awards. The combined postseason gala will take place at the Loews in Miami Beach, Florida, on Monday, Nov. 21.

 

To be eligible to receive Most Popular Driver votes, drivers must have selected either the NASCAR XFINITY Series or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to receive 2016 championship driver points. Additionally, drivers must have attempted at least half of each series’ races this season.

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Stewart-Haas Racing announced Friday that it had extended its partnership with ExxonMobil in a new multi-year deal that will make Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 Chevrolet the team’s lead Mobil 1 car in the future.


Mobil 1 primarily has been on the hood of Tony Stewart, who will retire at the end of this season. Clint Bowyer will replace Stewart in the No. 14 Chevrolet.


Harvick will be the “lead driver,” as the team said, but Mobil 1 will be on the hood of all four drivers at some point in 2017. Kurt Busch and Danica Patrick, in the Nos. 41 and 10, respectively, fill out the Stewart-Haas roster.


Additionally, Mobil 1 will serve as an associate sponsor for the team’s new NASCAR XFINITY Series program with Cole Custer.

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“Daytona International Speedway experienced moderate damage from Hurricane Matthew with impacts to lights, speakers, signage, fences, gates, awnings and palm trees. Daytona International Speedway Ticket Office and Tours and the Richard Petty Driving Experience will be closed on Saturday and Sunday for facility cleanup. We will provide more updates through the weekend.”

 

“Pictures of a past weather event at Daytona International Speedway have been circulating on social media during the storm. Those pictures are from a weather event in 2009. There was no flood damage to the facility from Hurricane Matthew.”

 

“We are working with local, regional and state officials on recovery efforts following Hurricane Matthew. Daytona International Speedway is once again serving as a staging site for Florida Power & Light crews. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has been impacted by this weather system.”

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MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) announced today that 18-year-old Las Vegas native Noah Gragson will compete full time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series next season driving one of the team’s Toyota Tundras.

 

The NASCAR Next product cut his racing teeth on the same grounds as KBM owner Kyle Busch, getting his start at the age of 13 in the Bandoleros division at the Bullring – a 0.375-mile paved oval at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway. After finding success in the Bandoleros, Gragson moved up to the Legends division in 2014 where he won the Young Lion Road Course championship and also began racing in the Super Late Model division at the Nevada track.

 

Gragson graduated to the K&N Pro Series West as a 16-year-old in 2015 and visited victory lane at Tucson (Ariz.) Speedway in just his third start. He went on to earn Rookie of the Year honors after producing two wins, one pole, seven top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in 13 starts while finishing second in the championship standings. In 2016, he has collected a combined four wins, 11 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes across 26 starts while competing in both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and Pro Series West divisions.  

“It’s hard to believe that about four years ago I toured Kyle Busch Motorsports as a young fan and aspiring driver in awe of the massive trophy collection, how immaculate the shop was and getting the chance to meet Darrell Wallace Jr. — now just a short time later I’m going to be competing for them full time in the Camping World Truck Series,” Gragson said. “The last few years KBM has developed some of the best young talent in all of NASCAR and I know that I’m going to be stepping into fast Toyota Tundras that are capable of running up front, competing for wins and that if I’m able to do my part that I’ll be able to add to the trophy cases I gazed into not long ago. As an up-and-coming driver that is all I can ask for as I try to continue my climb up the racing ladder with the ultimate goal of one day following in Kyle’s path from Las Vegas to the Cup Series.

 

“I can’t thank everyone at Jefferson Pitts Racing enough for their hard work the past two seasons, without them I wouldn’t be in the position I am today. I also have to thank Toyota and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) for welcoming me into their racing family for the next step of my career.”

 

“It’s been very rewarding the last few years that Samantha and I have been able to provide an opportunity for young drivers to break into the Truck Series and with Noah being from Las Vegas and getting his start in racing at the Bullring like I did, you could say this one really hits home for me,” Busch said. “He’s already proven capable of winning races while running in both the K&N Pro Series East and West, so we’re looking forward to having him behind the wheel of our Tundras next season.”

 

Gragson’s sponsors, truck number and crew chief will be announced at a later date.

 

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RELATED: Practice 1 results | Practice 2 results


CONCORD, N.C. — Ty Dillon finds himself in an unexpected position this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, outside the cutline for advancement in the inaugural XFINITY Series Chase.

He isn’t alone. Erik Jones, winner of four races heading into the Chase, sits below the eight-team cutoff as well.

Four teams will see their hopes of a championship end here this weekend when the 1.5-mile track hosts the Drive for the Cure 300. 

Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, sits ninth in points and trails eighth-place Brennan Poole by three (2,057-2,054). Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota) is 10th, four behind Poole.

Dillon finished second last week at Dover after a crash at Kentucky in the Chase opener left him 27th in the rundown. But he said Thursday at CMS that he can’t avoid the obvious — he needs a strong finish this weekend to survive and move on to the Round of 8.

“I’d be lying to you if I said I hadn’t been thinking about it,” Dillon, 24, said. “To win a championship would mean the world to me; it’s what I want to do.

“Being on the outside and coming into a cutoff race you’re obviously thinking about it and thinking about the situation. But I’ve been able to distract myself.”

Family matters have helped deflect any attention — Dillon’s wife, Haley, competed in Thursday’s Better Half Dash charity race and “I’ve been over here practicing with her,” he said.

MORE: Better Half Dash results

Relatives from out of town have come in for the race, “so we have four little nephews that are here so we get to hang out with them. It’s been fun, keeping my mind off of this,” he said.

“Hopefully we leave here Friday and we’re all happy and we’re going to the next round.”


Dillon’s record at Charlotte is solid, with four top-10 finishes in five starts. He finished eighth here in May. On Thursday, his WESCO Chevrolet was second-fastest in the opening round of practice and eighth overall in the final shakedown.

Jones finished second here last fall, but a crash in the May race earlier this year left him 31st. He won at Chicagoland, the last race before the Chase got underway, but was involved in the same crash with Dillon at Kentucky, leaving him 28th. He took 16th place at last week’s Dover.

“We have a good team,” Jones said earlier. “We just have to do it right.

“I know this 20 team builds fast cars and I know this weekend at Charlotte will be no different. We just need to go out and execute and hopefully get into the next round.”

There’s pressure, he admitted, “but I think we can do it.”

Jones was quick on the track Thursday as well, third and second in the two sessions.

JGR teammate Daniel Suarez leads the points, and scored his second win of the year last weekend at Dover. JR Motorsports teammates Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier are second and third, respectively.

Brendan Gaughan (Richard Childress Racing), Ryan Reed (Roush Fenway Racing), Darrell Wallace (RFR), Blake Koch (Kaulig Racing) and Poole (Chip Ganassi Racing) complete the top eight.

Trailing Dillon and Jones on the outside are Ryan Sieg (RSS Racing) and Brandon Jones (RCR).

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CONCORD, N.C. — Joey Logano, driver of the Team Penske No. 22 Ford, is the defending winner of Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
 
Logano is also the defending race winner of next weekend’s stop at Kansas Speedway.
 
A week later, when the series rolls into Talladega? Yep, Logano will be the defending race winner there, too.
 
His sweep of last year’s Round of 12 in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup was remarkable. In addition to earning Logano the right to advance to the following round, the sweep also kept others from doing the same. For everyone except Logano, crew chief Todd Gordon and the No. 22 team, the round suddenly became a three-race points battle.
 
“Last year we talked a lot about not making mistakes in the first round,” Logano said earlier this week. “I feel like we were able to do that last year.
 
“This round coming up, (it) was obviously incredible sweeping it. We want to be able to do that again, right?”
 
The elimination element has only been a part of the Chase format since 2014. Winning consecutive Chase races isn’t unheard of, but Logano has been the only driver to do it under the current format. Tony Stewart won five of 10 Chase races en route to the title in 2011; Jimmie Johnson won three in a row in ’04, then four straight in ’07.
 
Outside of another sweep, choice No. 2 for Logano and his team would be to win one of the first two races in the round, anything that would guarantee a spot in the Round of 8. Hopefully before the round-ending stop at wildcard Talladega.
 
“Winning one of these next two races before Talladega, we all know, is very important,” he said. “You won’t get much sleep if you don’t.
 
“These next two races, a lot of times we talk about them as the most important races in the Chase because in this round someone always gets knocked out that has a chance and is a threat. … Someone that you think you’re going to see in the final four most likely is going to get knocked out in this round. Because there have been unknowns in each race … you never know what’s going to happen.
 
“We have to go out there and race aggressively; that’s the way the 22 car races and we’re not going to change that. But I think also eliminating mistakes and execution becomes key.”
 
Logano managed three top-10 finishes in the opening round a year ago before going on his second-round tear. The results have been similar this time around, which, according to Logano, has been according to plan.
 
“The first round, Todd has preached to me and to the whole team, I think at least a thousand times — base hits,” he said. “And we did that.
 
“We had a second, an 11th and a sixth which would be in the base-hit category, which gets you through to the next round. And that’s the goal. The goal is to get through rounds and get to Homestead and race for a championship.
 
“As the Chase goes on, base hits don’t do it anymore. You’ve got to be hitting some … triples and home runs.
 
“I think we’re ready for that.”
 
Saturday’s Bank of America 500 is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET start (NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).

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RELATED: Truex, no. 78 team land new sponsor

 

CONCORD, N.C. — The coveted Coca-Cola 600 trophy Martin Truex Jr. claimed back in May still remains displayed in his house. It’s a symbol of power and victory, as Truex dominated the Crown Jewel event by leading 392 of 400 laps of the series’ longest race.

It’s also a reminder.

“Those are wins you never forget,” Truex said Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. ” … It’s something every time you walk by (the trophy), you understand what it took to get here and what it took to win that race and how many times I’ve tried before I finally got it, so definitely it’s a special one.”

With new sponsor Maaco adorning the quarter panel of his No. 78 Toyota, he’ll have another reminder of his Coca-Cola 600 win this weekend, as crew chief Cole Pearn has brought back the winning chassis to compete in Sunday’s Bank of America 500 (12 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) race at Charlotte. His dominance in his last cameo at the 1.5-mile speedway gives him confidence — but Truex knows nothing is a guarantee.

“I think we feel like we can use a lot of what we learned here last time around to be competitive,” Truex said. “But at the same time that was a long time ago. There was a lot of races between then and now and everybody has worked on their stuff to get better — we certainly have — so for us the focus is how do we take what we learned there, apply the things we’ve learned since and try to be better overall.”


The No. 78 team is riding a wave of momentum, having won three of the last five Sprint Cup events. Two of those events — at Chicagoland and Dover — were Chase events that solidified Truex’s admittance into the second round.

“It’s been pretty incredible the last five weeks just to be part of such a historic run for our race team, so it’s been a lot of fun,” Truex said. “We’ve been working hard. It’s always fun when you’re winning races and running up front each and every week.”

But that round has come and gone, and Truex knows he has no safety net entering this next round of three races at Charlotte, Kansas and, of course, the foreboding Talladega.

“I … think if you win more than one race in the first round, you should get a bye in the next round,” Truex said with a grin.

“… It would be nice to be in this position and have those two wins kind of mean something, but at the same time you understand going in that’s the way it works and you know I think for us this is just a repeat of Chicagoland weekend, you know? We’re here, we know everybody is at zero and we’ve got to perform, so I think we’re prepared.”

While the Chase brings uncertainty for all competitors, one thing is for certain: the one-car team out of Denver is beginning to prove itself as a dominant team. They’ve proved their competitiveness by winning races, outlasted a string of bad luck in the summer and brought more sponsors on board, an area that Truex identified before the season as key for the once-single sponsor team.

The success has allowed Truex, the dark horse in the Championship 4 in last year’s Chase, to begin to shed the underdog label — and emerge as a title favorite.

“I think that ultimately we feel like we’re in a lot better position this year to go win the championship,” Truex said. “Last year, I think our goal was, ‘OK, how do we get to Homestead and what do we do to put ourselves in our best position to have a shot at it?’ I think this year it’s more, ‘OK, how do we not screw this up and make sure we get there so we can have a chance to show everybody what we’re made of?’

 

“So it’s a little bit different mindset, but our approach and our mentality is really the same and that’s take it one week at a time, try to do the best we can each week and hopefully at the end of the day we’ll be where we want to be.”