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PHOTOS: Big-name drivers in No. 88 | Junior through the years
For at least the next two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, starting this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon will be behind the wheel of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet as Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms.
The high-profile changing of seats prompts several questions — for the recovering Earnhardt Jr., the returning Jeff Gordon and the No. 88 team itself. NASCAR.com reporters Holly Cain and Zack Albert tackle a handful of these questions in a quick reporter roundtable.
1. Will Dale Jr. still make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs?
HC: Of course, this depends on the length of time doctors would like Earnhardt to heal. But should he return in two weeks’ time, I still think it’s absolutely a good bet he makes the Chase, perhaps even wins a race. He’s won seven races in the last two seasons. And he has five wins at tracks that would still be on the schedule to set the Chase field — a pair at Michigan and three victories at the regular-season finale venue, Richmond.
ZA: Getting healthy — not even necessarily for a return to NASCAR, but in general — remains the overall priority for Earnhardt Jr., but the team must press on regardless of who is in the driver’s seat. A two-week absence will drop Earnhardt from the 16-driver provisional Chase grid, placing urgency on winning when he potentially returns. The almost certain granting of a Chase eligibility waiver from NASCAR competition officials should guarantee that the opportunity exists. But should his absence last longer, the thought of shelving this season in favor of a full-fledged 2017 return may make the most sense.
2. What do we expect from Jeff Gordon ?
HC: Frankly, how could our expectations be too high here? Especially at Indy, where Gordon is the all-time winningest driver with five trophies. He is the dream substitute — a pillar of the Hendrick Motorsports organization, fresh off a Chase final-four season and trackside all year in his role as a FOX Sports race analyst.
Earnhardt’s Chevrolet will be in good hands. The biggest issue may only be making sure Gordon doesn’t pull into Chase Elliott ‘s No. 24 pit stall.
ZA: This isn’t exactly Michael Jordan puttering around in a Washington Wizards jersey. Half a season off doesn’t exactly allow for the accumulation of rust, especially when considering that Gordon, one of the sport’s all-time greats, retired from full-time competition at the height of his game.
The expectation is for Gordon to be sharp as ever. The results are anyone’s guess.
3. What does this do for both drivers’ legacies?
HC: Even should Gordon pull off an amazing victory in Earnhardt’s car this week at Indy or next at Pocono, the four-time Cup champ’s legacy is already NASCAR Hall of Fame bound. For Earnhardt, getting out of the car and setting a standard in the sport’s concussion treatment will be as important a legacy as his two Daytona 500 victories and 24 other Cup wins. He is the sport’s reigning superstar and his responsible and inspiring actions only increase his stature. And that’s saying something!
ZA: Jeff Gordon ‘s legacy in the sport is already secure in quick-drying cement. His comeback’s only possible augmentations (and they’d be nominal boosts to his already transcendent portfolio) would be another victory or reaching the 800-starts plateau, a mere three appearances away.
Earnhardt Jr.’s legacy — and popularity — may only grow as he continues to lead the charge in the research of sport-related brain trauma. That contribution to stock-car racing is far greater than any possible unchecked boxes on his career list of on-track accomplishments.
Dirt-track experience isn’t a must for those competing in this week’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, the Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby, at Eldora Speedway.
But it certainly doesn’t hurt.
“I think that it’s very beneficial to have dirt experience when you’re running hot laps and when you’re qualifying,” Tyler Reddick , driver of the No. 29 Ford for Brad Keselowski Racing, told NASCAR.com. “And a little bit in the heat race, depending on which heat race you’re in — if you’re in the first (heat), the track will be a little wetter than it will be in the sixth and it probably means more.
“Definitely as you get into the feature, the dirt experience doesn’t mean as much, but I’d hate to say it doesn’t mean much because if you look at the top three at the end of the race last year, three of the dirt guys in that race (finished) 1-2-3. So I’d hate to tell you that it doesn’t mean a lot.”
Christopher Bell (Kyle Busch Motorsports), Bobby Pierce (MB Motorsports) and Reddick took the top three spots in last year’s annual pilgrimage to the historic Rossburg, Ohio, venue.
Bell came up through the USAC circuit, competing in sprints before making the transition to NASCAR and asphalt. Pierce went the Late Model route as did Reddick, each grooming himself for the next step.
Reddick is currently seventh in points and seeking his first win of the season. He finished 11th at Eldora in 2014 before his third-place run a year ago.
The 11th stop of the season for the series is scheduled to get underway at 9 p.m. ET (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Keeping up with the changing track conditions is crucial, Reddick said, but it’s also easy to out-think oneself.
“One of my mistakes last year was relying on what the old Eldora would have done,” he said. “They watered the bottom pretty good last year in that race and I started up toward the front. I made the mistake of going to the top too soon. The bottom hung around for I felt like 20-25 laps. It may not have been that long but it felt that way because I was getting freight trained because I went to the top too soon and everyone was passing me on the bottom.
“I guess that’s the new Eldora, with less banking the bottom sticks around a bit longer.”
Two-time series champion Matt Crafton and John Hunter Nemechek , this year’s Atlanta race winner, are among the few in the field that have run well consistently at the half-mile track, logging top-10 finishes each season.
“Hopefully we break into that top five, maybe top three,” Nemechek said. “I felt like we had a great truck last year; we got behind on a couple of adjustments on the first break, (then) we made our truck better.”
This year’s 150-lap feature will be run in three segments of 40, 50 and 60 laps. There will be a competition caution between each segment.
“I think that will play a major part in who gambles and who doesn’t for track position, when to come take tires,” Nemechek said of the format. “Do you take tires both times or stay out and come in for the last one? It’s going to put a whole different perspective on it and a whole different strategy for each team.”
Reddick said he’s a fan of the longer final segment but agreed with Nemechek’s assessment of varying pit strategies. Track position will likely be key, he said, adding that “as much fun as it is to race there and as easy as you would think it would be to pass, it’s actually pretty hard to pass there.
“Track position is important. … The tires are pretty bullet-proof but you can still wear them out I’m sure.”
Matt Kenseth won the prestigious Slinger Nationals title Tuesday night, moving his NASCAR teammate Erik Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing) out of the way in a move that had Kenseth apologizing.
A late-race restart at Slinger Speedway — a quarter-mile high-banked track located in Slinger, Wisconsin — led to a hearty bump in the renowned Super Late Model, non-NASCAR event. (In the video below, Kenseth is in the No. 8 and Jones is in the No. 20.
“My move wasn’t a very good one,” Kenseth told the Sentinel-Journal newspaper. “It was definitely uncalled for. I hit him way too hard. … It was definitely way too extreme, way too hard. I was just trying to move him up off the bottom a little bit and overshot it a bit.”
It was the seventh Slinger Nationals title for Kenseth, a Wisconsin native.
“That’s not really short-track racing in my book,” Erik Jones told the Milwaukee newspaper, which reported the two drivers spoke after the race.
Kenseth and Jones will both head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway next for this week’s respective NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series races.
RELATED: Eldora race format
Eldora is unique in both racing surface and format, especially when it comes to setting the starting lineup.
Keystone Light Pole Qualifying determined the official pole winner ( Caleb Holman ), but it doesn’t determine the starting order for the race, or even who starts first. It simply sets the lineups of the ensuing qualifying races, of which there are five. The finishing order from those events, plus a Last Chance Qualifying Race, sets the final order for the 32-truck field.
Follow along with us here. We’ll continually update results from the qualifying races and update the starting lineup, found at the bottom of this article.
Qualifying Race 1: Results
| Position | Number | Driver | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 63 | Bobby Pierce | Chevrolet |
| 2. | 75 | Caleb Holman | Chevrolet |
| 3. | 11 | Jake Griffin | Toyota |
| 4. | 05 | Brady Boswell | Chevrolet |
| 5. | 8 | John Hunter Nemechek | Chevrolet |
| 6. | 49 | Wayne Edwards | Chevrolet |
| 7. | 66 | Jordan Anderson | Chevrolet |
| 8. | 10 | Caleb Roark | Chevrolet |
Qualifying Race 2: Results
| Position | Number | Driver | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 29 | Tyler Reddick | Ford |
| 2. | 24 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet |
| 3. | 16 | Stewart Friesen | Chevrolet |
| 4. | 33 | Ben Kennedy | Chevrolet |
| 5. | 88 | Matt Crafton | Toyota |
| 6. | 22 | Austin Wayne Self | Toyota |
| 7. | 43 | Korbin Forrister | Ford |
| 8. | 51 | Cody Coughlin | Toyota |
Qualifying race 3: Results
| Position | Number | Driver | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 71 | Ken Schrader | Toyota |
| 2. | 21 | Johnny Sauter | Chevrolet |
| 3. | 80 | Justin Shipley | Ford |
| 4. | 9 | William Byron | Toyota |
| 5. | 00 | Cole Custer | Chevrolet |
| 6. | 98 | Rico Abreu | Toyota |
| 7. | 50 | Travis Kvapil | Chevrolet |
Qualifying Race 4: Results
| Position | Number | Driver | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 44 | JR Heffner | Chevrolet |
| 2. | 23 | Spencer Gallagher | Chevrolet |
| 3. | 86 | Brandon Brown | Chevrolet |
| 4. | 17 | Timothy Peters | Toyota |
| 5. | 02 | Tyler Young | Chevrolet |
| 6. | 78 | Chris Fontaine | Toyota |
| 7. | 6 | Norm Benning | Chevrolet |
Qualifying Race 5: Results
| Position | Number | Driver | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 41 | Ben Rhodes | Toyota |
| 2. | 4 | Christopher Bell | Toyota |
| 3. | 19 | Daniel Hemric | Ford |
| 4. | 13 | Cameron Hayley | Toyota |
| 5. | 07 | Sheldon Creed | Chevrolet |
| 6. | 82 | Sean Corr | Chevrolet |
| 7. | 1 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | Chevrolet |
Last Chance Qualifying Race: Results
| Position | Number | Driver | Manufacturer | Advance to race? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 51 | Cody Coughlin | Toyota | Yes |
| 2. | 98 | Rico Abreu | Toyota | Yes |
| 3. | 22 | Austin Wayne Self | Toyota | Yes (owner points) |
| 4. | 78 | Chris Fontaine | Toyota | No |
| 5. | 43 | Korbin Forrister | Ford | No |
| 6. | 49 | Wayne Edwards | Chevrolet | Yes (owner points) |
| 7. | 6 | Norm Benning | Chevrolet | No |
| 8. | 1 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | Chevrolet | Yes (owner points) |
| 9. | 82 | Sean Corr | Chevrolet | No |
| 10. | 66 | Jordan Anderson | Chevrolet | Yes (owner points) |
| 11. | 50 | Travis Kvapil | Chevrolet | Yes (owner points) |
| 12. | 10 | Caleb Roark | Chevrolet | No |
Eldora starting lineup
| Starting Position | Driver | How Determined |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Bobby Pierce | Top finisher in Qualifying Race 1 |
| 2. | Tyler Reddick | Top finisher in Qualifying Race 2 |
| 3. | Ken Schrader | Top finisher in Qualifying Race 3 |
| 4. | JR Heffner | Top finisher in Qualifying Race 4 |
| 5. | Ben Rhodes | Top finisher in Qualifying Race 5 |
| 6. | Caleb Holman | Second finisher in Qualifying Race 1 |
| 7. | Kyle Larson | Second finisher in Qualifying Race 2 |
| 8. | Johnny Sauter | Second finisher in Qualifying Race 3 |
| 9. | Spencer Gallagher | Second finisher in Qualifying Race 4 |
| 10. | Christopher Bell | Second finisher in Qualifying Race 5 |
| 11. | Jake Griffin | Third finisher in Qualifying Race 1 |
| 12. | Stewart Friesen | Third finisher in Qualifying Race 2 |
| 13. | Justin Shipley | Third finisher in Qualifying Race 3 |
| 14. | Brandon Brown | Third finisher in Qualifying Race 4 |
| 15. | Daniel Hemric | Third finisher in Qualifying Race 5 |
| 16. | Brady Boswell | Fourth finisher in Qualifying Race 1 |
| 17. | Ben Kennedy | Fourth finisher in Qualifying Race 2 |
| 18. | William Byron | Fourth finisher in Qualifying Race 3 |
| 19. | Timothy Peters | Fourth finisher in Qualifying Race 4 |
| 20. | Cameron Hayley | Fourth finisher in Qualifying Race 5 |
| 21. | John Hunter Nemechek | Fifth finisher in Qualifying Race 1 |
| 22. | Matt Crafton | Fifth finisher in Qualifying Race 2 |
| 23. | Cole Custer | Fifth finisher in Qualifying Race 3 |
| 24. | Tyler Young | Fifth finisher in Qualifying Race 4 |
| 25. | Sheldon Creed | Fifth finisher in Qualifying Race 5 |
| 26. | Cody Coughlin | Top finisher in Last Chance |
| 27. | Rico Abreu | Second finisher in Last Chance |
| 28. | Austin Wayne Self | Owner points |
| 29. | Wayne Edwards | Owner points |
| 30. | Jennifer Jo Cobb | Past series champ/Owner points |
| 31. | Jordan Anderson | Owner points |
| 32. | Travis Kvapil | Owner points |
RELATED: Pictures of Gordon through the years | Junior through the years
Jeff Gordon is not done after all.
The recently retired Hendrick Motorsports driver will compete for the first time this year Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. , who will be sidelined at least two more weeks due to concussion-like symptoms, according to a team release. Gordon will also sub for Earnhardt Jr. the following week at Pocono.
Earnhardt Jr. missed last Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Alex Bowman piloted his No. 88 Chevrolet as a replacement, but Hendrick general manager Doug Duchardt revealed last week that Gordon would sub for Earnhardt at Indianapolis if needed.
Hendrick Motorsports said Wednesday morning that Earnhardt has not been cleared to resume competition. In addition to this weekend’s Sprint Cup event at Indianapolis, Gordon will also drive the No. 88 Chevrolet in the series’ event July 31 at Pocono Raceway.
Gordon retired at the end of the 2015 season and joined the FOX broadcast booth. Sunday will be his 798th Sprint Cup Series start, and his first in a number other than the 24 he made so iconic.
Gordon’s history at the Brickyard makes him a natural pick for Sunday’s Crown Royal Presents The Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, IMS, SiriusXM). The four-time series champion has a NASCAR-record five Indy wins, the most recent coming in 2014.
“Jeff’s a team player,” longtime car owner Rick Hendrick said in a statement provided by the team. “I know he’ll be ready, and I know Dale has incredible trust in him. It’s going to be an emotional weekend (at Indianapolis) with Dale not being there and seeing Jeff back behind the wheel. (Crew chief) Greg (Ives) and the team did a great job at New Hampshire, and they have the full support of our organization.”
Earnhardt was evaluated Tuesday at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program after missing last weekend’s New Hampshire 301, according to a team release. On Monday, the 41-year-old driver provided an update on his condition during his “Dale Jr. Download” podcast, saying he had been struggling with balance and nausea in the days leading up to the New Hampshire event.
Earnhardt also said Monday that there was no firm timetable for his return. NASCAR officials indicated last weekend that the sanctioning body would require notice from an independent board-certified neurologist with at least five years’ experience in the field of sports-related head injuries before Earnhardt would be cleared to return to competition.
“Our focus is giving Dale all the time he needs to recover,” Hendrick said. “There’s nothing we want more than to see him back in the race car, but we’ll continue to listen to the doctors and follow their lead. What’s best for Dale is what’s best for Hendrick Motorsports and everyone involved with the team. We’re all proud of him and looking forward to having him racing soon.”
NASCAR has made neurocognitive testing mandatory for its drivers since 2013.
Earnhardt also missed time in the 2012 season after sustaining two concussions in a six-week stretch. Regan Smith replaced him for two races — Charlotte and Kansas — in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs that year.
After sitting out last weekend, Earnhardt slipped two spots to 15th in the Sprint Cup driver standings, also fading to the 16th and final spot in the provisional Chase postseason grid. The Hendrick organization indicated that Earnhardt will not travel with the team to either Indianapolis or Pocono.
NASCAR levied penalties to the race-winning Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota team Wednesday after last weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
As a result of infractions found in a post-race pass through the laser inspection station (LIS), the No. 20 team was docked 15 championship points in the team owner standings and driver Matt Kenseth absorbed a 15-point deduction in the Sprint Cup drivers’ standings. The points penalty moved Kenseth, a two-time winner this year, from eighth to ninth place in the standings.
The P3-grade penalty also carries a $25,000 fine for No. 20 crew chief Jason Ratcliff.
The No. 20 Toyota driven to victory by Kenseth in the New Hampshire 301 was found out of compliance during Sunday’s post-race trip through the LIS platform. The car was sent to the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further evaluation this week.
A host of other teams were issued written warnings Wednesday by the sanctioning body:
— The Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet team for driver Austin Dillon and the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevy for driver Kevin Harvick were both handed written warnings and docked 15 minutes of practice time during this weekend’s activities at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The No. 3 team failed LIS three times pre-race and pushed their current warning total to four. The No. 4 entry failed body template inspection three times pre-qualifying.
— The Team Penske No. 22 Ford team for driver Joey Logano and the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota of driver Carl Edwards both failed LIS twice. The No. 22’s violation came in pre-race inspection; the No. 19’s was in pre-qualifying. Both teams received written warnings (their first).
— The following Sprint Cup teams received written warnings for failing pre-qualifying template inspection twice: Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 1 (driver Jamie McMurray ) and No. 42 ( Kyle Larson ), Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 ( Austin Dillon ), Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 6 ( Trevor Bayne ), Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 10 ( Danica Patrick ) and No. 14 ( Tony Stewart ), HScott Motorsports’ No. 15 (Clint Bowyer), Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 ( Carl Edwards ), Wood Brothers Racing’s No. 21 ( Ryan Blaney ), JTG Daugherty Racing’s No. 47 (AJ Allmendinger) and BK Racing’s No. 83 (Matt DiBenedetto).
— The Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet team for driver Ty Dillon in the NASCAR XFINITY Series was also issued a written warning for failing template inspection three times before qualifying.
RELATED: Results | Standings | Updated Chase Grid
ROSSBURG, Ohio — Battling back from all kinds of adversity, Kyle Larson sailed away on a late race restart with 16 laps to go to win Wednesday night’s fourth annual Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby 150 at Eldora Speedway.
“It means a lot, especially losing the way I did the two years I ran,” said Larson from Victory Lane. “Thanks to everyone on this GMS Racing team, DC Solar for coming on-board for this, this is very special for them. I knew running a blue No. 24 I had to run hard here at Eldora. Rico (Abreu) does a really good job in a Sprint car with that. I had to put on a show.
RELATED: Larson puts on a show
“We got the flat tire there early, I knew we would get a lucky dog, I just didn’t know if I could get back to the top-three as quick as I did. It just worked out where I got by (Christopher) Bell when he got in the wall and I think Bobby (Pierce) had a gear issue. He was definitely better than I was for sure.
The win didn’t come easy though.
Larson took the lead from last year’s runner-up Bobby Pierce following the second caution on Lap 35 and appeared to be in control of the event, but while leading, Larson spun in Turn 4 on Lap 52 to bring out the fourth caution of the night.
Adding fuel to his fire, Larson was docked one lap by NASCAR for intentionally causing the yellow after spinning and stopping on the race track.
Two cautions later, however, Larson found himself back on the lead lap courtesy of the free pass and his mission to rally from the back to the front began.
Chasing down Pierce for the race lead, Larson took advantage of Pierce’s transmission being stuck in fourth gear to take the lead with 30 laps to go, Pierce attempted to take the lead back three laps later, but slammed the outside Turn 4 wall, ending his night and bringing out the final caution of the event.
RELATED: Pierce discusses late-race woes
Despite a late race charge from Bell on the restart, Larson pulled away as the laps dwindled away and earned a 0.767-second advantage to win his second NCWTS race in his 12th start.
“I guess I didn’t really hold him (Pierce) off, he slid in there and hit the wall and got a flat I think,” Larson said. “I hated that I couldn’t race with him, but I was happy when he was out. I almost gave it away again after that restart. I went to the middle of three and four in third gear and I missed a shift off Turn 4 and Bell got into my back bumper. Thankfully, he wasn’t inside of me, because he would have got the lead there and probably would be standing where I am.”
Bell, last year’s winner, was disappointed with second but knew he gained crucial points towards his championship chase.
“Tony (Stewart, Eldora Speedway owner) did an awesome job with the race track tonight,” said Bell. “It was really technical, it was really tough to get around and it was really fun, too. Kyle’s been trying to win this race for a long time and it was cool for him to win tonight. The guys at KBM ( Kyle Busch Motorsports) worked really hard to put me in this position. I was disappointed we couldn’t repeat.”
Pierce who led a commanding 102 laps finished 25th in likely his final truck race of the season.
“The carburetor was flooded and I couldn’t get off the corner at all. Larson drove a great race,” Pierce said. “When that happened on the restart, I caught him a little bit, he hit the wall and I tried to slide him. I went in there a little too hard, it was super-slick and I got the wall and knocked the right-rear off the rim and that was that.”
Notes: The event was halted for seven minutes, 29 seconds for a nine truck accident in Turn 3 on Lap 38. … The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to competition at Pocono Raceway on July 30 for the running of the Pocono Mountains 150 (1 p.m., FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Kyle Busch is the defending champion.