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NEWTON, Iowa — The team is a question mark, the number is uncertain and the logistics are still behind closed doors.

But one thing’s for certain: If he has his way, Ty Dillon will be in a Sprint Cup Series ride next season.

“I fully plan on being in the Sprint Cup Series next year full time,” Dillon said Friday at Iowa Speedway. “We’ve got a lot of options on the table. A lot of chips still left to fall before we kind of get to that point, but hopefully we’ll have something really close to getting done in a month or so.”

Dillon has made eight Sprint Cup starts this season, driving both the No. 95 Circle Sport — Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet and filling in for then-injured Tony Stewart in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing ride. He etched a season-best Cup result of 15th at Phoenix in the No. 14 Chevrolet. He also served as a relief driver for Stewart at Talladega.


RELATED: Dillon subs for Stewart


With No. 31 driver Ryan Newman’s RCR contract up after this season, it looks to be seen whether or not Dillon will take his place as the driver of the team’s third car or if organization will add a fourth car. The possibility of driving for a different team also looms.

“Talks have progressed a lot further than they have in past years,” Dillon said. “I had talks with other teams in the past couple years and had opportunities, but it’s always been my dream to drive for RCR and be teammates with my brother.


“But now it seems like the time’s more and more important. We’ve got some things going with RCR but we’re still slowly working on other options. So, I have plenty of options and we’re going to make sure it’s the right decision because I want to be able to compete and win races and I want to be part of a team I know I can do that with.”

MORE: ‘Hero’ moment for Dillon as Richard Childress makes NASCAR Hall

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NEWTON, Iowa — In the sport of NASCAR, one race can impact a driver’s entire career. One wrong move or one gutsy pass that results in a win can change the path of a racing hopeful.

Josh Berry learned that last year.

Driving the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Berry’s seventh-place finish at Richmond International Raceway in September shifted the spotlight quickly upon the young racer’s shoulders, drawing praise from team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and attention from the media.

It wasn’t Victory Lane — but for a young short track racer from Tennessee with three sporadic XFINITY starts to his name, it was pretty close.

“That race at Richmond last year, I still can’t believe how well it went,” Berry recalled on Friday at Iowa Speedway to NASCAR.com. “I can’t believe how well the race went, I can’t believe how much attention I got, I can’t believe how everything went.

“… I think all the time how if a couple things would have went a little bit better, how that would have changed the path of my career from right that moment. We had a legitimate shot to win that race. I think if we had won that race, I might be in the series full-time.”

RELATED: Berry makes strong impression at Richmond

Currently a successful Late Model racer for JR Motorsports with two 2016 wins, Berry will be making his first XFINITY Series start of the season this weekend driving the No. 88 JRM Chevrolet at Iowa Speedway in Saturday night’s US Cellular 250 (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Just like last year at Richmond, the 250-mile race will serve as an audition stage for the 25-year-old racer, who is still looking for a more expansive part-time ride or full-time deal in the XFINITY Series. 

“My whole career has been kind of race-to-race, you know?” Berry said. “I’ve never really had a lot of security. So for me, every race is like your last one. For me it’s a huge opportunity to get in a very competitive car and show that I can do the job … I know that people are paying attention to how well I run and I don’t want to let them down.”

He certainly won over bossman Dale Jr., who said after Richmond last year that with his talent, Berry was “one sponsorship away from being able to make a living as a race car driver.” Many speculated Berry would drive for JR Motorsports full-time in 2016. Junior himself even campaigned for a sponsor for the talented Berry.

But in a world where sponsorship calls the shots, talent doesn’t always pave the path to your name above the car door every weekend.

“It’s tough when you see somebody as huge as Dale Jr. is, to stick his neck out there and say, ‘hey, this is my guy, let’s find something for him,’ ” Berry said. “And it didn’t materialize. Obviously I didn’t really get my hopes up, but I really thought that … somebody would sit there and say, ‘that means something,’ We worked hard — everyone at JR Motorsports worked hard, I worked hard to try to find something, but we just couldn’t get (it).

“… It’s just tough to get the opportunities — you never know in this sport. There’s so many people that have gotten opportunities come about real quickly,” Berry said with a slight chuckle. “So, I don’t know. Every time I think I’m getting closer, sometimes you get pushed back down the stairs a little bit. But we just got to keep working at it, keep running well, especially in that Late Model … and then when I get these opportunities, (try) to make the most of them.”

While his XFINITY career in 2016 hasn’t been as extensive as he hoped, Berry is set to make another start in September for JRM at Kentucky Speedway. The time away from the series also gave Berry ample time to prepare for this weekend.


“(I’ve been able to) watch film and really study the track,” Berry said. “Went and did pit stop practice — had time to do that over the past couple weeks, which that’s something that I’m still learning.

“…But it takes laps, a couple laps to get going, that’s the thing. The car brakes differently, it accelerates differently from what I’m used to. So, really it just takes laps to get back in the feel of how the tires feel and obviously going faster at a different track and everything.”

The audition stage will be tough and pressure-filled for Berry on Saturday night in the Hawkeye State. But Berry is confident behind the wheel — and will look to impress under the bright lights, no matter who is watching.

“To see how that race (at Richmond) went and to see the publicity we got … it makes it possible knowing we could go do that here — it’s no doubt,” Berry said.

“There’s a couple things that I realized I needed to improve on and there were some things that were kind of out of my control … so for me, I just try to take what I knew I did wrong and try to make myself better for these few races this year.”

“Hopefully if everything else can go the same and I do a better job, we’ll be that much closer to getting a win.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Practice 1 results


Paul Menard, potentially benefiting in his first race weekend with a new crew chief, topped the opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice Friday at Pocono Raceway.



Menard, driving the Richard Childress Racing No. 27 Chevrolet, clocked a best lap of 177.438 mph on the 2.5-mile track. It’s the first weekend that Menard will be paired with crew chief Danny Stockman, who replaced Justin Alexander midweek.



Denny Hamlin, a four-time Pocono winner, was second-fastest at 177.406 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota. He was just ahead of defending Sprint Cup champ Kyle Busch, his teammate and last weekend’s winner at Indianapolis, in the JGR No. 18 Toyota.



Carl Edwards was fourth, keeping the line of Coach Joe Gibbs’ entries going. He was fourth-best at 176.977 mph in the No. 19 Toyota. Kevin Harvick, still seeking to end an 0-for-31 drought at the Tricky Triangle with his first Pocono win, completed the top five at 176.620 mph in preparation for Sunday’s Pennsylvania 400 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).


Danica Patrick had the best 10 consecutive lap average (171.094) with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. behind her at 167.161 mph. The two were the only drivers to run 10 consecutive practice laps.



Jeff Gordon turned the 22nd-fastest lap in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet, making his second straight appearance this weekend as an interim fill-in for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is recovering from concussion-like symptoms.



The session, originally scheduled for 85 minutes, was abbreviated to 63 minutes by water seeping up through seams in the 2.5-mile track’s surface.

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WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (July 29, 2016) — Jack Huston, star of the upcoming epic action adventure “BEN-HUR” from Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, will drive a 2016 Toyota Camry pace car to kick off the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Cheez-It™ 355 at Watkins Glen International on Sunday, August 7.

 

This will be Huston’s first time serving as an Official Pace Car drive at a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event. He will also be recognized during pre-race ceremonies and will greet each NASCAR driver on stage during driver introductions.

 

“I am excited to join NASCAR and get behind the wheel of today’s modern chariot,” said Huston.

 

“BEN-HUR” is the epic story of Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), a prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell), an officer in the Roman army. Stripped of his title, separated from his family and the woman he loves (Nazanin Boniadi), Judah is forced into slavery. After years at sea, Judah returns to his homeland to seek revenge, but finds redemption. Based on Lew Wallace’s timeless novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.  The film also stars Rodrigo Santoro, Nazanin Boniadi, Ayelet Zurer, Pilou Asbaek, Sofia Black D’Elia and Morgan Freeman.

 

Timur Bekmambetov directed the film from a screenplay by Keith Clarke and John Ridley. Sean Daniel, Joni Levin, and Duncan Henderson served as producers, with Mark Burnett, Roma Downey, Keith Clarke, John Ridley, and Jason F. Brown serving as executive producers. “BEN-HUR” will be released in theaters on August 19, 2016.

 

Huston previously starred for four seasons in HBO’s hit series, Boardwalk Empire, as the sniper with the horribly disfigured face, ‘Richard Harrow.’ In 2013, Huston appeared in the critically acclaimed and award-winning film American Hustle, where he played mobster ‘Pete Musane.’ Additionally, he starred as ‘Young Ira’ in George Tillman Jr.’s film adaption of the Nicholas Sparks novel, The Longest Ride.

 

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to Watkins Glen International August 4-7 for the Cheez-It™ 355 race weekend, which also features the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Bully Hill Vineyards 100, and the NASCAR XFINITY Series Zippo 200 at The Glen. Tickets for all of the action are available by calling 1-866-461-RACE or by logging on to www.theglen.com. Fans can also watch the Cheez-It™ 355 live on USA at 2:30 p.m. ET or listen on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

 

Located within five (5) hours (~300 miles) of 25 percent of the US population, Watkins Glen International is the premier road racing facility in North America, voted “Best NASCAR Track” by readers of USA Today. Keep up with The Glen on Facebook and Twitter. For tickets, call 866-461-RACE or visit www.theglen.com.

Posted on by Team Release

RELATED: Full entry list for road course

Go Fas Racing is pleased to announce that Boris Said will return to pilot the No. 32 Genesee Brewing Company Ford Fusion at Watkins Glen International in August. Said has 51 starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from 1999-2015. The Carlsbad, California native has 15 NSCS starts at Watkins Glen including two top-ten finishes, one top-five finish and a best finish of third which came in 2005.


Rochester, New York-based Genesee Brewing Company has agreed to once again sponsor Go Fas Racing and Boris Said. The No. 32 Ford Fusion features a design inspired by Genesee’s heritage that was first introduced in 2015.


“I’m always excited when it comes to racing at Watkins Glen,” said Boris Said. “Not only is Watkins Glen one of my favorite race tracks anywhere in the world, I just love the area, the fans, the food and everything about it! Being able to represent Genesee is a huge honor, so hopefully I can put on a good show for them.”


According to Matt Goldman, channel marketing manager for Genesee, the 138-year-old beer company, is thrilled to be a primary sponsor at The Glen for the fifth consecutive year, and third with Go Fas Racing. “We’re excited to bring both Genesee and racing legend Boris Said back to the Glen this August. Genesee is the oldest brewery in New York, and has enjoyed incredible popularity among race fans across the state. We can’t wait to connect with them once again this summer.”


“We’re extremely proud to announce the continuation of our partnership with Genesee Brewing Company for the third consecutive year at Watkins Glen”, said Team Owner Archie St. Hilaire. “The Genesee Brewery and their local distributors do a tremendous job marketing the partnership throughout the upstate New York area leading up to the race weekend with over 40 show car events and appearances. Boris will again be behind the wheel of the No.32 Genesee Ford Fusion and we couldn’t be more excited to have him driving for us again.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Qualifying results | See every car in the field


LONG POND, Pa. – Martin Truex Jr. found a lot more than light at the end of the Tunnel on Friday afternoon at Pocono Raceway.



Gaining time on the rest of the field through Turn 2—the Tunnel Turn—at the 2.5-mile triangular race track, Truex put his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota on the pole for Monday’s Pennsylvania 400 (on NBCSN at 11 a.m. ET; MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), knocking fellow Toyota Camry driver Carl Edwards out of the top starting spot.



It’s not that Truex and his team made a special point of emphasis on that particularly tricky corner. It just worked out that way, earning Truex his third Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his first at Pocono and the 10th of his career.



“For whatever reason, today—all day long—I felt comfortable there, more so than past times here,” said Truex, who ran his fastest lap of the day (179.244 mph) in the third and final round of knockout qualifying for the 21st NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season. “The first race here (in June) we really struggled in the Tunnel Turn.



“We kind of focused on it a little bit coming back, as far as just making sure it was closer to Turn 1 and Turn 3 and not something that would really handcuff us so bad. So maybe that had something to do with it—I’m not sure—but it just kind of worked out that way, for whatever reason.



“Each round I felt a little bit more comfortable and was able to gain a little more time there, and the third round I was able to just kind of sail off in there and get a little bit lucky and hit it right. It’s one of those corners that, if you take a risk going in, nine out of 10 times it doesn’t pay off coming out of the corner. This time it did, and we were able to take advantage of it.”



On the strength of his run through the Tunnel Turn, Truex covered the distance in 50.211 seconds, .104 seconds faster than Edwards (178.873 mph), who thought he had the pole won when he completed his lap in the final round.



“As I crossed the line, I felt like, ‘That’s it’,” said Edwards, who was a close second to Kyle Busch in pole qualifying last week at Indianapolis. “But after seeing what (Truex) ran, I thought ‘Well, maybe I could go back and change this or that,’ but that was a really good lap for me. It just was.



“You can always go back and pick your lap apart, but the last two weeks, Indy and here, I was pretty proud of my lap, and they just got us.”



Paul Menard (178.671 mph) qualified third, the fastest of three Richard Childress Racing drivers in the top 12, with Ryan Newman placing fifth and Austin Dillon placing 12th. That’s the first time all three RCR Chevrolets have cracked the top 12 for the same race since August of 2014 at Michigan.



Denny Hamlin claimed the fourth spot on the grid. Tony Stewart, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano will start from positions six through 10, respectively.



Subbing for ailing Dale Earnhardt Jr., six-time Pocono winner Jeff Gordon advanced to the second round but went no farther, qualifying 24th. Gordon made two runs in the first round to ensure he would make the second, and that eventually cost him.



“The first time out, the car was pretty close, a little bit tight, but we should have been better that first time out, and then we wouldn’t of had to gone out the second time,” Gordon said. “But overall just too tight over the Tunnel (Turn). 



“The car is really good down in (Turn) 1. I picked up speed every time we went out. I think having to do that last run our third time on tires didn’t really give us a good chance to advance and get the lap that we wanted. It’s still a work in progress.”



NASCAR competition officials delayed the start of qualifying by 20 minutes to allow teams extra time to make their way through the Laser Inspection Station (LIS). Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, said that a glitch early Friday forced the wait time in the inspection process.



“I’m not exactly sure of the exact technical thing that happened (with the LIS), but it got back online really quick,” Miller said. “One thing I want to make clear is, the reason we’re moving this back is because we had a little bit of ownership in it with our equipment. On a regular weekend, if everything … if we had our time block and our equipment worked fine and this was a team issue getting through templates and they didn’t get out there, we would be inclined not to extend qualifying and if they miss qualifying it’s on them.”



Despite the delay, all teams made it through inspection in time for the first 20-minute round of qualifying. The last of those was the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota team for driver Kyle Busch, who cut it close but made his first qualifying pass with roughly five minutes left in the opening session. No. 18 crew chief Adam Stevens told NBCSN that the car was initially out of tolerance with the rear-axle toe. Busch will start 16th after missing out on the 12-driver cut after qualifying’s Round 2. His brother Kurt, who won the Sprint Cup tour’s most recent race at Pocono, was 15th-fastest and will start alongside him in the eighth row.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Pat DeCola

LONG POND, Pa. — Richard Childress Racing is expected to announce its 2017 Sprint Cup Series driver lineup in the coming weeks.

Ryan Newman, in his third season as driver of the No. 31 RCR Chevrolet, isn’t quite sure if he’ll be a part of it.

“We haven’t talked about it in-depth yet, but we have talked about it,” Newman, 13th in points, said Thursday at Kalahari Resort in Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania. “Hopefully, we’ll get to sit down and talk about it soon.”

Newman has been arguably the organization’s most successful driver during his tenure with the longtime Sprint Cup Series stable, coming within a straightaway of his first championship in 2014 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

His numbers are down slightly from the past two seasons (just one top-five finish and seven finishes in the top 10), but his team, winless since he started driving the No. 31 Chevrolet, employs a consistent points-racing strategy that focuses on solid finishes rather than gambling for a victory.

It worked wonders in ’14, and with 12 finishes inside the top 15 this season and several more on the cusp, appears to be working in 2016. He sits 13th in the drivers points standings coming into Pocono. That doesn’t mean, however, that NASCAR’s “Rocket Man” isn’t looking to launch himself into Victory Lane.

“We’re kind of getting back into that zone of having better finishes, better runs,” Newman said. “We had a great run going last week (at Indianapolis) and crashed out with seven laps to go or whatever. So we feel like we’ve turned the momentum back in our favor but in the end we still have to deliver that victory.”

While Newman offers consistent, above-average production week in and week out, RCR may be faced with a tough decision as Childress’ grandson, Ty Dillon, appears ready for a full-time Sprint Cup Series ride with no clear path to a spot for him.

RELATED: Dillon talks 2017 plans, aims to make move up

Still, the team owner told NASCAR.com earlier this year at Michigan International Speedway that he’s planning on having the ’16 XFINITY Series title hopeful in a Sprint Cup car full-time in 2017, while the exact organization and ride has yet to be finalized.

Dillon has made five starts in the No. 95 Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet this season with a best finish of 20th (Texas). It’s possible Dillon could slide over to that ride full-time, but it would leave veteran Michael McDowell without a seat.

Dillon also ran three Sprint Cup Series races filling in for injured Tony Stewart in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, getting his season-best finish of 15th at Phoenix. His relief duty in the Talladega race was not credited as an official start for Dillon since Stewart began the race behind the wheel.

In a report by NBC Sports’ Dustin Long earlier this month, Childress said, “Right now, it’s just a lot of things are hanging. We’re trying to put together what’s going to be the best for everybody, not just for RCR, but for the drivers and the sponsors; we’re trying to put together good programs.”

Right now, Newman doesn’t appear to be getting his ducks in order just yet on the off chance he finds himself ousted from his ride in favor of the younger Dillon.

“I plan on (coming back),” he said. “If they’ll have me back, I’ll be there.”

Posted on by Nascar

NASCAR will implement structural enhancements to vehicles competing in the Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series next season for races at its two biggest facilities, Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, in an effort to provide additional protection to its competitors.

A rules bulletin to teams Thursday detailed the safety measures which affect the front firewall and foot box areas, rear roll cage area behind the driver as well as along the left side door area of the driver’s compartment.

Referred to as anti-intrusion panels, the thickness of the pieces has been increased for additional strength and to allow each to be welded more significantly, according to officials.

The structural changes, part of NASCAR’s on-going comprehensive safety initiative, strengthen the interior area of the car surrounding the driver.

“We’ve been doing a very significant body of work over the last year and a half,” Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR Vice President of Innovation and Racing Development, said Thursday. “… We’ve done quite a bit of analysis, crash testing and we’ve come to the point now that we believe that the package is mature and we want to introduce it.

The changes impact existing pieces already in use with one minor exception — a new piece of material has been added behind the driver that extends from the existing anti-intrusion plating on the door bars into the rear sub frame.

The changes are not expected to adversely affect the weight of the vehicle or change center of gravity, impacting balance.

“Basically we are making the structure that encapsulates the driver more robust and susceptible to manage energy in a better way,” Stefanyshyn said.

“It’s been implemented … with the teams so that it can be done in the most efficient, quickest and easiest way.”

By making the enhancements optional for 2016, they could be implemented for this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega, the only remaining event to be held on a superspeedway. The new pieces will be mandatory on superspeedways for 2017 and likely for all events in ’18.

Defending Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch suffered a broken right leg and fractured left foot in February of 2015 when his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota struck a wall front-end first during an XFINITY Series race at Daytona. Busch missed the first 11 points races of the season due to the injuries.

The area of impact in the Busch crash was not protected by SAFER barrier at the time; it has since been added. SAFER barrier is a softer, energy-dissipating material mounted on the track wall.

Earlier this year, driver Danica Patrick was involved in a similar crash at Talladega, however the wall was protected by SAFER barrier. Other than bruising and some soreness, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver was not injured.

RELATED: Danica discusses Talladega wreck

Even with the SAFER barrier, Patrick’s impact bent the gas, brake and clutch pedals inside her No. 10 Chevrolet and according to Greg Zipadelli, Vice President of Competition for SHR, “the steering column was moved a ton.

“But it was intact,” he said a week after the incident.

“They’ve been talking about doing some work in the foot box (area); I think this is the perfect case of what happened. Would that help? I think it probably would have. I think she’s lucky she has short legs. Her feet got banged up but once she got going in that direction, she said she just kind of picked her feet up.”

Patrick underwent x-rays in the infield care center at Talladega and told FOX Sports 1 a week later when the series was at Kansas Speedway that she felt “totally fine.”

“I’ve got a couple of bruises; my arm came across and bent the steering wheel,” she said. “My foot went past the clutch pedal and came back on (after hitting the wall) … I’ve got a couple of bruises but I feel really good.”

Zipadelli said the sport “has come a long way” in the area of safety.

“You think about what happened a bunch of years ago, compare these cars,” he said. “We’re going faster; these guys are hauling the mail every place we go now. When they do wreck, knock on wood, there aren’t many complaints. I think they’ve done a really good job.”

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Buy Darlington tickets | ’16 throwback schemes 


CONCORD, N.C. — When Valvoline officials queried NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Paul Menard about his racing heroes, the first name on the list was Al Unser Jr.



So Menard couldn’t be more pleased that the Valvoline-themed throwback paint scheme he will run in this year’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 pays tribute to Unser Jr.’s lone NASCAR premier series start.



Menard’s Richard Childress Racing No. 27 Chevrolet will carry the gray, orange and black color scheme used by Unser Jr. for the 1993 Daytona 500 with sponsor Valvoline featured on the hood when the series travels to Darlington Raceway for the annual Labor Day weekend classic.

“Little Al’s first NASCAR race was the Daytona 500 in 1993,” Menard said earlier this week as preparations for the unveiling of the paint scheme got underway. “The partnership with Valvoline this year — we got to talking earlier about who some of my racing heroes were and Al Jr. was right away, even without the Valvoline relationship. I’ve always been a huge fan of his. He was the guy in IndyCar that I always pulled for.”



Menard said he met the former open-wheel champion and two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 “when I was probably 12.”



“I remember; he probably doesn’t,” Menard continued. “But I pulled up (this morning) … and he was standing out in the parking lot. We were out there talking probably 10 or 15 minutes, just about the ’93 (Daytona) 500, his autocross stuff that he’s doing now, just talking about a little bit of racing.”



Unser Jr. was carrying the Valvoline colors in 1992 when he won his first Indy 500 title. Already a NASCAR sponsor, Valvoline wanted additional branding in ’93 to promote its line of synthetic products, particularly for that year’s Daytona 500.




And the Daytona 500 just happened to be on Unser Jr.’s bucket list.



“There were special races that I wanted to race in my career,” Unser Jr. said. “The Indy 500, the Daytona 500, the Daytona 24 Hours and Le Mans. Those are the ones that I really wanted to run as a kid.



“The Indy 500 is really where my heart is so we’d been doing that. But yeah, I wanted to run the Daytona 500 sometime during my career and it was just a blessing when Valvoline called me up and said, ‘You know, we’d like to do this down in Daytona. Would you like to do it?’



“I said, ‘Of course I would. It’s got to be with a great team.’



“They said, ‘We’ve contacted Hendrick Motorsports,’ and I go, ‘Awesome.’ “



At that time, the Hendrick organization consisted of three teams with drivers Ken Schrader, Ricky Rudd and rookie Jeff Gordon. The addition of Unser Jr. made it a four-team effort for the series’ most notable race.



A crash during the second of two twin qualifying races three days before the 500, however, cost Unser Jr. his primary entry and he wound up racing Schrader’s backup Chevrolet Lumina.



Instead of a gray, orange and black paint scheme, Unser Jr.’s race-day car was white with the Valvoline branding on the hood and across the rear quarter panels.



A crash with less that 50 laps remaining took Unser Jr. out of contention, and he finished 36th.



When told that Menard and Valvoline were bringing the original paint scheme back to the track for the Darlington throwback weekend, Unser said he was “just overwhelmed.”



“Mainly because this was just a one off,” he said, “not a traditional kind of car with a lot of running behind it, a lot of heritage to it. So when they contacted me and said they were thinking about doing this throwback at Darlington … it was a true blessing.”



Menard praised Valvoline for not only bringing back the paint scheme, but for the company’s long involvement in auto racing.



“The brand is iconic in our sport,” he said. “You pick out right away where that Valvoline car is on the race track, whether it’s a stock car race or IndyCar races, NHRA. They’re always around the sport. They have a huge racing legacy and I’m proud to be a part of it.”