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Darian Grubb, who spent the past four years as a crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing, says his time there could be beneficial as Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson attempts to win a record-tying seventh Sprint Cup Series title this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“I hope so,” said Grubb, now the vehicle production manager at HMS. “If nothing else, it helps me to understand a little bit more about how their mentality was and how they approached races and what they did to prepare. Some of the strategies and the choices you would make going into a championship race, I know what they had done in the past.”
Johnson is the lone HMS representative in this year’s Championship 4 and is going into battle against a pair of JGR drivers in defending series champion Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, as well as Team Penske representative Joey Logano.
“The sport changes so much day to day, year to year; I don’t know that it’s a huge advantage but hopefully it’s something I can help Jimmie and Chad (Knaus, crew chief) a little bit with,” Grubb told NASCAR.com on Tuesday. “Just ‘Here’s what their old mindset was and how they would approach things in the past.’ Just so they can think about it.”
Since the beginning of 2016, chassis production and body hanging programs have been under Grubb’s watch at HMS. He also provides engineering consultation and support to all four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams fielded by the organization.
He understands the race-day pressure, having weathered the storm from atop the pit box. Grubb was the lead engineer for the 48 of Johnson and the 24 of then-driver Jeff Gordon in 2006 when he was pressed into service after Knaus received a four-race suspension for violations before the Daytona 500.
Grubb helped guide Johnson to the Daytona 500 win as well as a win three weeks later in Las Vegas. Johnson went on to capture the first of five consecutive championships that season.
RELATED: Why Johnson will win the 2016 championship
He moved to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009, and two years later Grubb was a part of one of the biggest comebacks in series history as driver Tony Stewart won five of 10 Chase races, including the season-ending event at Homestead. Stewart beat Edwards to win his third series crown.
In an unusual turn of events, Grubb was released by SHR following the ’11 season, a move that had been determined before the start of the 10-race playoff.
During his four-year tenure at JGR, Grubb led Denny Hamlin to seven victories; paired with Edwards last year, the No. 19 team won twice and finished fifth in the overall standings.
Monday evening, Grubb got the chance to relive the 2011 championship as NBCSN replayed the race and Stewart chimed in via Twitter throughout the event.
“Watching it on TV, it all came back to me,” Grubb said. “I felt like I was living in the moment again. There was just so much drama that happened.
“It was so much fun to be there, honestly. We had nothing to lose; we could not finish worse than second no matter what happened. And we knew if we won, there was no way that Carl could win the championship regardless of leading the most laps and all those other things. We just had to win and that was our mindset.
“We went to the back I think three times. Had some bad pit stops and all kinds of damage to the car that we overcame — then the rain two times. It was just fun. We could smile and laugh about it the whole weekend and just never get really stressed out. That’s what made it so much more enjoyable when it was all done.”
At one point Monday evening, Grubb tweeted that he hoped Johnson was watching the replay “to get fired up.”
“Because I got so fired up watching that to go to Homestead now,” he said. “That track is so awesome; to be able to run so many different lines and three- and four-wide passes. Just knowing what Jimmie is capable of, I think it’s going to be hard for anybody to count him out. We just have to make sure we don’t do anything to take ourselves out and let Jimmie go out there and earn it.”
Can Johnson win No. 7 at Homestead, one of four tracks where he has yet to visit Victory Lane?
The No. 48 entry will be one that’s been run elsewhere with good results. “It’s been back to the wind tunnel and had some more love applied to it,” Grubb said. “We’re hoping it goes out there and unloads fast.
“We’ve got Jimmie Johnson so that’ll put us a leg up on anybody at any given time.”
The season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 is scheduled for Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET (NBC, MRN, SiriusXN NASCAR).
RELATED: Chase Grid entering Miami | All of Johnson’s wins
MORE: Buy tickets for Homestead-Miami Championship Weekend
Jimmie Johnson might be the most accomplished NASCAR racing champion of his era, but the six-time Sprint Cup champ has also had to be one of its most adaptive.
No one in the history of NASCAR has won titles in so many variations of the title Chase – from fluctuating numbers of championship-eligible drivers to navigating a new elimination-style format.
And this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Ford EcoBoost 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Johnson will go for a record-tying seventh trophy in his first appearance in the three-year old version of the Championship 4. He’ll have to best the other three title-eligible drivers Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch in a one-race showdown.
It’s a championship scenario like no other for Johnson.
“It’s definitely different, there’s just no way around that,” Johnson said with a slight laugh. “The way I’ve won championships before, it was a 10-race, stressful environment.
“The way things unfolded for me this year, I had three stressful races worrying about points. I won Charlotte, had a couple weeks off, then I won Martinsville, had a couple weeks off, and then go back to the stress again.
“I think it’s different for every driver and every team every year just because you have these little three-race increments to fight through.”
Yet, listening to the tone of Johnson’s voice as he sizes up the newest championship situation, there is an unmistakeable confidence. It comes from owning six of the sport’s most coveted trophies already and having now earned a shot of reaching a historical milestone shared only by Hall of Famers Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt.
RELATED: How Johnson became ‘Six-Time’
After clinching the first of the four championship berths for the Homestead-Miami season finale, Johnson and his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet team have had plenty of time to prepare – mechanically and mentally. And, he insists, there is something to that.
“I would have to say yes, there is some advantage to it, but every team works a little differently,” Johnson said. “Some teams operate better under pressure, from executing pit calls to driving the car, to pit stops, but this is giving us a bit of time to just focus on Homestead that we wouldn’t normally have.
“I know from my preparation side, I glanced at my Texas race notes, glanced at my Phoenix notes, but I’ve been all-in on Homestead for two weeks now. I’ve read my notes multiple times, watched videos over and over and over, and was doing it again last night so it has given me more time to prepare.
“There’s a little something in that. But who knows until it’s all said and done.”
RELATED: Inside Johnson’s quest for 80 wins
Of the four drivers who will be competing this week, only Edwards participated in NASCAR’s test at the site of the season finale last month. Although not behind the wheel, Johnson was on-site the second day of testing and got some valuable feedback from his teammate Chase Elliott, who represented the Hendrick Motorsports organization at track.
“If I was able to get in the car and test there, it would have helped me without a doubt,” Johnson said. “I watched Chase and was on the radio, studying lines and data and all the things I could do.
“So I’ve at least been there and picked up the South Florida vibes,” he added with a laugh.
The new “must win” format suits Johnson well, he says, even though he has never needed to pull out a victory at Homestead to hoist the big trophy. His runner-up showing to Edwards still produced the 2010 championship (a race he entered 15 points behind Denny Hamlin in the standings) and is his best finish there to date. He has three consecutive ninth-place showings entering Sunday’s race.
RELATED: See every Miami winner
Yet, in his unprecedented five consecutive championship years between 2006-2010, Johnson won the title by a combined 382 points. The slimmest margin was 39 points over Denny Hamlin in 2010. The greatest margin was 141 points over Mark Martin in 2009. He won again in 2013 by 19 points over Matt Kenseth.
Of his two near-misses, Johnson finished runner-up to Kenseth by 90 points in 2003 and a paltry eight-points to Kurt Busch in 2004. The oh-so-close loss to Busch in 2004 and a third-place finish in the standings (by one point to runner-up Clint Bowyer and 40 to champion Brad Keselowski) in 2012 were among the closest things have been in Homestead for Johnson.
Two of his competitors this week, Edwards and Kyle Busch, would appear more experienced with the pressure that exists in ultra-close championship situations. Edwards finished runner-up to Johnson in 2008 and again in 2011, losing a tiebreaker with champ Tony Stewart. And Busch won his title last season in this new format – winning at Homestead.
RELATED: Jimmie through the years
But Johnson truly isn’t phased.
“I guess Carl’s year with Tony was a must-win situation,” Johnson recalled. “For myself, in 2012 with Brad, we were in a must-win. They were leading the race and we had a problem with an oil leak in the rear end. One of the lines was rubbing and it wore a hole in the line.
“So, I feel like the times we’ve had to go down and be aggressive, we’ve been in the mix. We had to go down there and beat Denny [Hamlin] once. I feel like we can answer the call. I really do. It is different than any championship environment I’ve had down there but I also feel like I have a big advantage mentally.
“I kind of joked about this on the TV broadcast over the weekend. Worse case scenario, I still have six championships.
“I really feel like I have the most open mind and the most pure approach out of the drivers to come in. … I’m all about the racing, I don’t have any additional pressure. The pressure I felt in ’03, and ’04 and failed both times and the pressure I felt in ’06 and ’07 to win again, each year the pressure has come down more and more. I really hope that’s an advantage I can carry with me through Homestead weekend.
And, he added, “The other thing about being calm and relaxed. … when you’re prepared you’re more at ease and relaxed. I’m going to be more prepared for Homestead than I’ve ever been. Getting ready for this Chase and the things I’ve done … I’ve never been this involved, this committed and this intense.
“Hopefully it will allow me to be even more relaxed and to operate from the right place at Homestead.”
RELATED: Honoring ‘Smoke’ through video
MORE: Buy tickets for Homestead-Miami Championship Weekend
Tony Stewart is accustomed to holding court in the media center or from pit road during a TV interview. Days before perhaps his final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, he again was in command, but in a most unfamiliar territory — on social media.
Stewart, who joined Twitter in April 2009, has approximately 575 tweets from his @TonyStewart handle. That’s an average of about six tweets per month over the entirety of his account.
Monday night, over the span of two hours, “Smoke” delighted his fan base and nearly 600,000 followers with a 31-tweet barrage that was full of typical Stewart things — humor and candid observations, mainly.
It all was in celebration of his 2011 championship five years ago. NBCSN aired that race over two hours, and Stewart tweeted his thoughts for an event that has become one of the most iconic races in NASCAR. Stewart won five times during the 2011 Chase, including the final race in Miami to win the title over Carl Edwards … on a tiebreaker.
From the pre-race chatter, to the points battle to the weather to critical calls on pit road, the 2011 race had it all.
NASCAR.com will take a deeper dive into the 2011 season finale on Wednesday. Until then, re-live the race below through the eyes of “Smoke.”
.@RickAllenracing @NBCSN One of the most amazing races I’ve ever been in.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
Crazy thing about this race is that if someone said “You’re going to win 5 races and championship” I would’ve lost that bet every time.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
We came into this race with nothing to lose. It was so different from 2002 and 2005. There was never a time I got wound up.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
During that rain delay I told Jack Roush: “Tell your boy to get up on the wheel because I’m coming.” He looked at me like I had 3 heads.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
It felt like I passed half the state of Florida in this race.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
Been told I’m supposed to be using a hashtag. So, here #NASCARthrowback
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
Just heard @DaleJarrett say I was sliding the corner. I was using the cushion. #NASCARthrowback …and the hashtag. ����
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
And here comes the rain. #NASCARthrowback
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
.@dariangrubb‘s call to pit the lap before rain was THE CALL. I could let it all hang out and put it on the line with this restart.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
I wonder if Bob at the Dairy Queen in Columbus will give away free ice cream again tonight like he did back in 2011.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
So, if you haven’t bought a ticket yet for Sunday @HomesteadMiami, will this make you do it? Carl’s got another shot. Just sayin.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
Seeing all this makes me appreciate, again, the opportunity Gene Haas provided & what @dariangrubb did to make this race possible.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
Back when @StewartHaasRcng was just an idea, Rick Hendrick told me: “I will not let this fail.” This championship was proof of that.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
Well that was fun. Cool to see all that again. And I learned about hashtags! #Hashtag
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
MORE: Buy tickets for Homestead-Miami Championship Weekend
With drivers Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano all set to compete for the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship Sunday at Miami (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio), NASCAR.com brings you up close with them, their crew chiefs and Miss Sprint Cup this week.
WEDNESDAY
Meet the Championship 4 crew chiefs in a live stream from 11 a.m. to noon ET on NASCAR.com. Dave Rogers, who sits atop the No. 19 pit box guiding Edwards’ team starts things off first at 11 a.m., followed by Todd Gordon (Logano, No. 22 team) at 11:15 a.m.; Chad Knaus (Johnson, No. 48 team) at 11:30 a.m. and Adam Stevens (Busch, No. 18 team) at 11:45 a.m. Go to www.nascar.com/champ4.
THURSDAY
Continue the live inside access with Media Day with the Championship 4 drivers at 3:05 p.m. ET, also streaming here on NASCAR.com. Then wrap up the day as the Championship 4 drivers chat with Miss Sprint Cup Julianna White from 4:15-4:50 p.m. ET streaming here.
Keep up with all the Chase finale action from Miami on NASCAR.com and the NASCAR Mobile App.
Chat with fans this weekend during the NASCAR action at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
RELATED: Honoring ‘Smoke’ through video
MORE: Buy tickets for Homestead-Miami Championship Weekend
Tony Stewart is accustomed to holding court in the media center or from pit road during a TV interview. Days before perhaps his final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, he again was in command, but in a most unfamiliar territory — on social media.
Stewart, who joined Twitter in April 2009, has approximately 575 tweets from his @TonyStewart handle. That’s an average of about six tweets per month over the entirety of his account.
Monday night, over the span of two hours, “Smoke” delighted his fan base and nearly 600,000 followers with a 31-tweet barrage that was full of typical Stewart things — humor and candid observations, mainly.
It all was in celebration of his 2011 championship five years ago. NBCSN aired that race over two hours, and Stewart tweeted his thoughts for an event that has become one of the most iconic races in NASCAR. Stewart won five times during the 2011 Chase, including the final race in Miami to win the title over Carl Edwards … on a tiebreaker.
From the pre-race chatter, to the points battle to the weather to critical calls on pit road, the 2011 race had it all.
NASCAR.com will take a deeper dive into the 2011 season finale on Wednesday. Until then, re-live the race below through the eyes of “Smoke.”
.@RickAllenracing @NBCSN One of the most amazing races I’ve ever been in.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
Crazy thing about this race is that if someone said “You’re going to win 5 races and championship” I would’ve lost that bet every time.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
We came into this race with nothing to lose. It was so different from 2002 and 2005. There was never a time I got wound up.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
During that rain delay I told Jack Roush: “Tell your boy to get up on the wheel because I’m coming.” He looked at me like I had 3 heads.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
It felt like I passed half the state of Florida in this race.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
Been told I’m supposed to be using a hashtag. So, here #NASCARthrowback
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
Just heard @DaleJarrett say I was sliding the corner. I was using the cushion. #NASCARthrowback …and the hashtag. ����
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
And here comes the rain. #NASCARthrowback
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
.@dariangrubb‘s call to pit the lap before rain was THE CALL. I could let it all hang out and put it on the line with this restart.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
I wonder if Bob at the Dairy Queen in Columbus will give away free ice cream again tonight like he did back in 2011.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
So, if you haven’t bought a ticket yet for Sunday @HomesteadMiami, will this make you do it? Carl’s got another shot. Just sayin.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
Seeing all this makes me appreciate, again, the opportunity Gene Haas provided & what @dariangrubb did to make this race possible.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
Back when @StewartHaasRcng was just an idea, Rick Hendrick told me: “I will not let this fail.” This championship was proof of that.
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
Well that was fun. Cool to see all that again. And I learned about hashtags! #Hashtag
—
Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart)
November 15, 2016
MORE: Buy tickets for Homestead-Miami Championship Weekend
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A record-setting season on social media continues Nov. 20 when NASCAR celebrates the final race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup like never before on Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Millions of Snapchat users will receive a behind-the-scenes look at the Ford Ecoboost 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) from NASCAR fans sharing their race-day experiences from Homestead-Miami Speedway as part of a Snapchat Live Story.
During the race, NASCAR will stream the in-car camera from Tony Stewart‘s No. 14 Chevrolet on Facebook Live as the legendary driver wraps up his full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career.
“Nothing in sports beats attending a NASCAR race live, but wherever fans are on Sunday we’ll have unique Chase experiences available for them across multiple social platforms,” said NASCAR Managing Director, Social Media, Scott Warfield. “NASCAR is a vibrant, content-rich sport, and we’ve seen unprecedented social engagement this season by bringing that content straight to our fans.”
So far in 2016, NASCAR’s elevated focus on social media including new platform partnerships has resulted in 236 million engagements — an 89 percent increase year-over-year — and 3.8 billion impressions.
Social activation leading up to and during Ford Championship Weekend include the following:
· Facebook: The live stream of Stewart’s in-car camera can be viewed on the NASCAR Facebook page and will feature a special message from the driver to fans. The Facebook Live activation is one of several tributes planned as part of 14 Days of Smoke, a celebration of Stewart’s 18-year NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career.
· Snapchat: On Championship 4 race day, thousands of submitted Snaps from Homestead-Miami Speedway will be curated and packaged by Snapchat into a video stream, offering fans a look at the sport through the lens of fans and drivers. The Live Story will be available to view on Snapchat for 24 hours.
· Twitter: To bring tweets to life throughout The Chase, Twitter and NASCAR created a special, Chase-specific Twitter emoji. Fans are encouraged to join the Chase conversation this weekend and connect with teams, drivers and fans by tweeting with, and searching for #TheChase.
· Instagram: NASCAR commissioned illustrators to create custom Instagram images during The Chase. Fans will get a peek into the illustrators’ creative process through NASCAR’s Instagram Story.
The next installment of the Ready. Set. Chase digital film series, re-enacting the on-track storylines of the Round of 8, will debut on social media and NASCAR.com/TheChase during Ford Championship Weekend. A fifth and final film will recap the entire Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and be released next week.
NASCAR will crown its 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion at the Ford Ecoboost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the fourth and final round of The Chase on Nov. 20 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Tickets are available at NASCAR.com/tickets.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Nov. 15, 2016) — JR Motorsports race operations manager Mike Bumgarner will serve as crew chief of the No. 1 OneMain Financial team this Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway as driver Elliott Sadler vies for the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship.
Bumgarner will fill the role normally occupied by Kevin Meendering. Meendering is serving a one-race suspension as it was determined last Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway that two lugnuts were not satisfactorily fastened to the No. 1 car at the end of the Ticket Galaxy 200. NASCAR announced the infraction and penalty following the event.
“We let Kevin ultimately make this decision because it’s his team,” said general manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller. “Kevin chose Mike to sit in the crew chief’s seat and for good reason — he is experienced atop the pit box and very dependable. We have a great deal of confidence in Mike to give Elliott his best opportunity to win on Saturday.”
As one of the drivers left standing in the XFINITY Series Championship 4, Sadler can win his first NASCAR title in Saturday’s season finale. The Emporia, Virginia, native enters the race with three wins in 2016, 13 top-fives and 28 top-10s in 32 starts. He will compete against JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier and Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez.
Bumgarner, a native of Huntersville, N.C., is a 22-year veteran in NASCAR. He spent 18 years at Hendrick Motorsports, where he worked on cars for Terry Labonte, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch. In 2007, he was crew chief on Busch’s No. 5 Chevrolet, which won four races and three pole awards. Bumgarner came to JRM in 2013 as crew chief for Kasey Kahne and Brad Sweet in the No. 5 NXS entry. The following year he was promoted to oversee race operations for all JR Motorsports teams.
Logano continues to be the best driver in this Chase format, and his clutch Phoenix win – after nearly having it all end on the first lap after contact with Kyle Larson – was about as impressive as they come.
MORE: Logano wins Phoenix, advances
3
Joe Gibbs Racing
Busch advanced at the expense of his teammate Matt Kenseth, but once he gets over that awkwardness he’ll be happy to know he has a shot to become the first back-to-back or two-time winner in the current iteration of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
-2
Hendrick Motorsports
Johnson has a shot at NASCAR history in less than a week, with a 1-in-4 chance to become the sport’s third seven-time champion. He’s finished ninth in the past three Miami races, however, which likely won’t cut it.
-1
With his three other competitors riding a wave of momentum as the most recent winner, most recent champion, and most recent six-time title-winner, Edwards will likely be looked at as the Championship 4 underdog. He’ll let his Miami numbers (series-high 568 laps led to go with two wins) do the talking.
MORE: Meet the Championship 4
-3
The law of averages finally caught up to Harvick at Phoenix, and his failure to win his sixth of eight races in the desert will prevent him from being the only driver to advance to the Championship 4 in every year since its 2014 inception.
Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin said they’d wreck a teammate to move on, and we now know which teammate: Kenseth, albeit unintentionally. The No. 20 car was poised to move on to Miami late at Phoenix before a chain reaction from contact between the Nos. 18 and 88 took him out of it.
Busch was another Stewart-Haas Racing driver who turned in a valiant performance that came up just short at Phoenix. Both he and Harvick basically needed a win to advance, and neither did.
-1
Joe Gibbs Racing
A late strategy to stay out during a caution nearly worked for the No. 11 crew … until another caution followed quickly after. Hamlin was unable to move on, which is a shame for him because Homestead is among his best tracks.
1
Team Penske
Keselowski will certainly do everything he can to ensure Team Penske cohort Joey Logano lands in Victory Lane at Homestead, but if there’s one driver out there who wouldn’t mind playing Chase spoiler, it’s him. A No. 2 win is a major possibility if it isn’t for the No. 22.
Truex had a rough weekend at Phoenix from the get-go, and things didn’t improve for him in the race. A costly penalty and ultimately a wreck ended his chances of playing Chase spoiler at Phoenix.
MORE: Truex penalty explained
0
Hendrick Motorsports
Elliott has one race left to avoid being winless in his rookie season. Even if he fails to land in Victory Lane on Sunday, the young driver still met or exceeded just about all expectations of him.
Larson spun on the very first lap at Phoenix, and later mixed it up a bit with Ryan Newman (again!). Check out where he finished, though: third. Kid’s got talent, but we already knew that.
-1
Richard Childress Racing
While Dillon has recently found a knack to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, we saw major improvement from the No. 3 driver in 2016 and it’s not a stretch to think he could be battling for a title late in the Chase next season.
Unless things turn around at Miami, McMurray’s 14 laps led in 2016 will be the lowest of his career. He even led more (97) in just six starts in 2002.
Stewart appears to be doing all he can to quietly bow out of his final season with grace. That’s great and all, but that’s not the "Smoke" we know. Here’s hoping he shakes things up in Miami.
One more week and Buescher and Co. can look back on 2016 as a relative success and focus on next season. Until then, expect another finish in the high 20s/low 30s.