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RELATED: Series standings | How the XFINITY Chase Grid looks
Brennan Poole remembers his last restrictor-plate race: The one he won and then lost.
The driver of the No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing-owned, DC Solar-sponsored Chevrolet survived a chaotic overtime finish in April’s Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway to cross the finish line first.
He took what was thought to be a celebratory victory lap around the 2.66-mile superspeedway. He drove back to the finish line and waited patiently to be handed the checkered flag.
But officials determined that Poole wasn’t out front when the caution appeared for a crash involving race leader Joey Logano, second-place Elliott Sadler and Blake Koch as the field rushed toward the finish line.
Logano ended up in the wall. Sadler kept his foot in the gas. Poole zoomed past both and thought he took the checkered flag.
But after checking replays and conferring, officials eventually determined it was Sadler in the lead when the caution lights came on.
And so it was Sadler (JR Motorsports) celebrating in the winner’s circle.
Poole, in just his fourth career restrictor-plate start, finished a career-best third.
Sour grapes? Not from the 25-year-old native of Woodlands, Texas.
“We basically won the race … for five minutes which was awesome,” Poole told NASCAR.com.
Coming off an eighth-place finish at Iowa two weeks ago and heading to Daytona International Speedway, Poole likes his chances as the NASCAR XFINITY Series returns to another restrictor-plate track.
As a matter of fact, Poole, who is eighth in points, would like his chances no matter where the series was headed this week.
“I really believed in this team and the group of guys we put together for this year,” he said. “I really trust everyone on this team and I think that’s important.
“I knew it was probably going to take us a few races to get going.”
His first start as a full-time driver in the series (he ran a limited schedule in ’15), began with a disappointing 27th-place result at Daytona, site of Friday’s Subway Firecracker 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
He has finished 14th or higher in all but one race since then.
“Once we cleaned up those little mistakes and learned how to work together … I really feel that any week we could be that team that wins the race,” he said. “And we’ve been really close. … We’re still working on our car having a little bit more speed more consistently, but I still feel like we’re a team that can win any week.
“I think when you start getting that confidence and as a team you start believing that this could be our week … it doesn’t really change your approach to the race but it just changes the feel of the weekend. I don’t know how to explain it, it’s just this feeling. You get like this extra (pop) in your step; you just feel like you can win, like you can beat these guys. When you have that as a team and everyone feels that way, it’s just really special.”
He returns to Daytona hunting not only for that first career win, but a spot in the series’ Chase as well.
The XFINITY Series Chase, in its debut this season, will consist of 12 teams competing in the elimination-style playoff over the final seven races for the championship. Stops at Kentucky, Dover and Charlotte make up the first round, from which eight drivers will advance.
Kansas, Texas and Phoenix will determine the final four that will race for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Thus far, only three full-time XFINITY Series drivers have earned wins this season – Sadler, Erik Jones (2) and Daniel Suarez.
“I feel like we’re coming off another top 10, we feel like we should be a car in the top 10 every single week and we feel like we should contend for wins,” he said. “If we can hit our stride as soon as that Chase starts then we’re going to be really tough.”
Poole’s car, as well as that of the organization’s No. 42 driven this week by Justin Marks, will feature a digital camouflage paint scheme at Daytona, honoring those that have served or are currently serving in the U.S. military.
RELATED: See Poole’s paint scheme for this weekend
The names of active military units and installations will be featured on all NASCAR XFINITY Series entries this weekend, displayed on the windshields of the cars, as part of the NASCAR: An American Salute program.
“I have a bunch of friends in the military … and wanted to do something cool for them, as well as those who are continuing to fight for our freedom,” Poole said. “It was just something that was special to me. It’s an honor.”
Darrell Wallace Jr. didn’t spend his XFINITY Series off-weekend lounging on a Caribbean beach or roaming a new city away from the race track.
Instead, the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing driver was behind the wheel.
Of a go-kart, that is.
“Actually got right into (racing) but not with my (No. 6) guys,” Wallace said Wednesday at one of NASCAR’s offices in Charlotte, North Carolina. “I went go-kart racing, just try to get back into that and have some fun. Locals whooped me, but still had a lot of fun being able to do that. So, I was still racing, but nothing on the major scale.
“(I was) able to learn all the hard (stuff) that went along with go-kart racing. God, it was so tough. I forgot everything that I remember from 13 years ago. Just putting that all together was actually a lot of fun – we had some speed, just the driver forgot how to drive a go-kart,” he joked.
Lucky for Bubba, this weekend’s stage at Daytona International Speedway will be slightly bigger, faster and with a lot more drafting. And while it’s not one of Wallace’s favorite tracks, it appears he hasn’t forgotten how to wheel a superspeedway car: the sophomore driver kicked off the 2016 season with a solid sixth-place result at the Florida track and led multiple laps in the ’15 season-opener.
Combined with his most recent pair of consecutive top-10 finishes and a runner-up at Dover in May, this weekend’s forecast looks more sunny than stormy for the No. 6 driver.
“We’re just trying to look in-depth at what we’re doing for our program and see how we can be better,” Wallace said. “We know we’re a top-10 race team each and every weekend. We’ve had some bad luck and some of it’s been on us, that we’ve jeopardized those races and we’ve ended up outside of that.
“But (to have) these last two, now it’s starting to get the second half of the season, after that the Chase is starting. So we have to start coming up with a good game plan that we need to bring to each and every track and each and every weekend, so we can unload with a lot of speed and what we need to be competitive. We’ve been doing that (recently).”
They’ve had additional support off-track as well: Loudmouth Exhaust Systems made its debut on the No. 6 car at Dover International Speedway, where Bubba recorded a career-best second-place result. Since then, the company has graced the car as a primary sponsor for three races and will adorn the No. 6 this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.
In a world where sponsorship puts cars on track and lack of it takes names off entry lists, the new partnership has been huge for the 22-year-old racer, who has been transparent about his team’s struggles to find primary partners.
“Sponsorship is the name of the game,” Wallace said. “We’re still working hard to find that full-time primary sponsor, but Loudmouth has been a great partner of ours for a number of races now … They’ve been a huge help to our program to keep us going to the race track each and every weekend. (I’m) trying to do everything I can, as possible, to land that big-time sponsor.”
Wallace’s sponsor schedule has come with some uncertainty — he said he doesn’t even know who is sponsoring his next XFINITY Series race at Kentucky Speedway on July 8. With the goal of landing a full-time sponsor, he’s taken a more involved approach than many drivers do, whether it’s grabbing lunch with potential partners or meeting with those ready to sign on the dotted line.
“I try to be more hands-on, just so I can get a better understanding of what we’ve got and how I can be better at representing myself for my brand and my team,” Wallace said.
“I think one thing that’s powerful is the drivers gain this personal relationship with the sponsor,” he added. “And that’s when you see the Lowe’s that’s with Jimmie Johnson, you see those M&M’s with Kyle (Busch) — they have this great relationship with the driver. There’s no middle man and I think that’s important.”
He’ll have another chance to impress Loudmouth — as well as other potential partners that Wallace says are in the works — this weekend at Daytona International Speedway with Friday’s Subway Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Another top 10 would be great, but a win would be even better for the young driver.
“(I’m) excited to have them back on the car at Daytona,” Wallace said. “Hopefully we can bring the same amount of luck with them and get a win.”
PJ Stergios (ineX Racing) won his third NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series race of the 2016 season, beating Slip Angle Motorsports’ driver Ray Alfalla at Chicagoland Speedway. The two were the class of the field in the series’ first race after the summer break, but Stergios pulled-off the victory with better long-run speed and a superior pit strategy.
Alfalla settled for second, 2.2 seconds behind the winner after starting from the pole and leading a race-high 90 of 167 laps. Chris Overland was third, more than seven seconds behind Stergios.
Taylor Hurst and Justin Bolton rounded out the top five.
On the short runs Alfalla was in a class of his own, but the race came down to long-run speed with only one caution being thrown for Timmy Hill’s (Aftermath) spin entering pit road during the first round of stops. Alfalla, who was the leader at the time of the caution, led the field down pit road but lost the lead to Dylan Duval (The TEAM) on the pit exchange.
On the ensuing restart Duval held-off Alfalla for six laps before finally giving way as he simply could not match the speed of two time champion’s Ford Fusion. However, as the run wore on Stergios began to reel Alfalla in. By the time green-flag pit stops were imminent, Stergios’ Ford was right on Alfalla’s bumper and inherited the lead when Alfalla was the first to pit.
Due to pitting a lap sooner than Stergios, Alfalla returned with a sizable margin over his nearest competitor. Stergios almost immediately started cutting into the margin and by the time 25 laps had elapsed in the run he was within striking distance of the lead again. On Lap 98 Stergios made his move to the bottom in Turn Three in an attempt to take the lead but Alfalla hung tough on the outside to keep Stergios at bay.
Unable to clear Alfalla, Stergios devised a new plan to take the lead. On this run Stergios pitted a lap before Alfalla; this allowed him to take the lead and build a gap of nearly three seconds. With only one more pit stop needed before the finish, Alfalla was now chasing the lead for the first time all race.
On this run Alfalla had more speed and began to reel Stergios in despite a near disaster with Overland that saw Alfalla on the receiving end of an inadvertent tap from behind entering Turn One. The contact sent Alfalla into a slide but he masterfully recovered and continued his pursuit of Stergios.
Alfalla was only a couple car lengths behind Stergios when the final pit window opened and once again it was Stergios getting the jump on Alfalla on pit road. By pitting a lap earlier for the second run in a row, Stergios saw his lead grow to over four seconds. Alfalla started to close the gap again but stalled-out midway through the run and was unable to mount a challenge.
The win could prove critical for Stergios’ championship hopes as he cut into Alfalla’s points lead. Alfalla now leads by just 11 points as the top two continue pulling away from the rest of the field. Kenny Humpe retained third place in the standings but lost ground after a twenty-eighth place finish due to a blend line violation while leaving pit road. Humpe’s poor result allowed Jake Stergios to move into a tie for third in the standings despite finishing P14 in the Windy City. However, Humpe and Jake now sit a distant 85 points behind Alfalla. Overland bookends the top five, jumping in front of Corey Vincent and making for three ineX Racing drivers in the first five positions.
Week 10 of the 2016 NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze season takes the sim racers to another 1.5-mile track: Kentucky Speedway. While Chicagoland and Kentucky are equal in length, the similarities end there. Kentucky’s surface is very rough, flat, and wide making it a challenge to create an optimal setup. Will Stergios and Alfalla continue to duel for the victory or can Humpe or another driver spoil the party at the front? Be sure and catch all the sim racing action in two weeks on iRacingLive when the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series drivers take on Kentucky!
RELATED: Watch the incident from Gateway
NASCAR penalized drivers John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher on Wednesday for their roles in an incident in Saturday night’s Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park.
After a review of the on-track altercation and ensuing physical quarrel in the Drivin for Linemen 200, competition officials fined Townley $15,000 and assessed Gallagher a $12,500 fine. Both of the drivers have been placed on probation until Dec. 31.
The two drivers collided in the 145 of 200 laps Saturday night, with Gallagher’s GMS Racing No. 23 Chevrolet sending Townley’s No. 05 Athenian Motorsports Chevy for a spin in Turn 1. The two made contact again 10 laps later in the same turn, leaving both trucks with heavy damage after impact with the outside retaining wall.
After both drivers exited their trucks unhurt, a brief verbal spat escalated to a wrestling match on the track with Townley landing a smattering of punches before the two were separated. Gallagher finished 22nd and Townley 23rd in the 32-truck field.
Among other penalties announced Wednesday, the teams of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth received written warnings for failing pre-qualifying inspection at Sonoma Raceway.
The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota team for Kenseth was issued a warning for failing two trips through the Laser Inspection Station (LIS) before Coors Light Pole Qualifying. The Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet team of Earnhardt failed body template inspection twice before Friday’s Sonoma qualifying.
Beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, NASCAR.com will be streaming a special edition XFINITY Series GarageCam from Daytona International Speedway that will honor NASCAR Salutes.
The segment will be 30 minutes long, featuring co-hosts Jonathan Merryman and Chuck Bush, along with special guest, Jesse Iwuji, an aspiring NASCAR driver who’s currently a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy.
The show will also include a scrolling ticker highlighting the units from the four branches of the military. Watch the live show today at 1:30 p.m. ET here.
SHOP: Darlington race tickets
Darlington Raceway announced Wednesday that it has named Kerry Tharp as president of the historic 1.366-mile South Carolina track.
Tharp, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, transitions from his previous role as Senior Director of Communications for NASCAR. He replaces Chip Wile, who was appointed president of Daytona International Speedway on April 25 after a tenure of nearly three years.
Tharp begins work at his new post effective July 18.
Tharp has deep ties to the Palmetto State, having lived in South Carolina for more than 31 years and serving as associate athletics director at the University of South Carolina from 1985-2005.
After his time with the Gamecocks, Tharp joined NASCAR’s communications department, forging important relationships within the industry in both his official role as senior director and his unofficial role as NASCAR’s “Commander.”
“I am deeply humbled and honored to have this opportunity,” Tharp said. “I love the state of South Carolina and its people. I know how special Darlington Raceway is to this state and to the sport of NASCAR. The track’s rich tradition, history, and popularity resonate with the competitors, partners, media and most importantly the fans. I look forward to working with our team to help keep Darlington as one of our sport’s crown jewels.”
Darlington Raceway plays host to the Bojangles’ Southern 500 on Sept. 4, a Labor Day weekend tradition that was restored on the NASCAR scheduled last season.
The track instituted a popular NASCAR Throwback initiative last year, kicking off a nostalgia-filled celebration of the speedway’s heritage. In acknowledgement, Darlington was honored with the 2015 NMPA Myers Brothers Award for its outstanding contributions to the sport of stock-car racing.
RELATED: Recap all of Stewart’s wins
Greg Zipadelli sat high atop Tony Stewart ‘s pit box, nervously watching his long-time friend and teammate work the field over the final laps of Sunday’s Toyota – Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.
Zipadelli spent 10 years as Stewart’s crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing, and together they won 33 races and a pair of Sprint Cup championships. Now, he is the vice president of competition at Stewart’s own Stewart-Haas Racing team.
As he watched Stewart lead the field in the closing laps, then get passed by Denny Hamlin midway through the last lap and then see Stewart dramatically re-take the lead in the final corner, Zipadelli was visibly balancing that deep and long friendship with Stewart with his genuine excitement for the organization’s success.
When it was over, it was time to exhale and reflect — and be genuinely happy.
After three years of Stewart’s off-track challenges, including a serious back injury the three-time champ suffered in January, this victory was as emotional as it was validating.
“Personally, it’s just unbelievable to me he did it,” Zipadelli said while watching Stewart take photos in Sonoma‘s Victory Lane.
“I’m just so proud of him and his effort, especially in the last three to four weeks. You’ve seen him turn a corner with his efforts, his attitude, learning these cars and running up front.
“I’ve been telling these guys forever: He’ll turn it on like a switch and you’ll sit back and go, ‘What in the hell?’ It just happens. I’ve seen it for 18 years. Hopefully this is the switch and he’ll have a good, strong run the rest of his career.”
RELATED: Stewart in his own words post-victory
Stewart is coming off his first back-to-back, top-10 runs since 2014 with a seventh-place finish at Michigan in the previous race. He now has that required victory for an automatic position in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship, but is still nine points out of the necessary top-30 points position as the series heads to Daytona International Speedway for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola (7:45 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
But Stewart – who missed the first eight races this year recovering from that back injury suffered in an off-season all-terrain vehicle accident — has until the final race of the regular season Sept. 10 at Richmond (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) to get into the top 30 in points.
Zipadelli couldn’t be more encouraged.
“I’m really proud of this group,” Zipadelli said. “[Stewart’s crew chief] Mike [Bugarewicz] has done a great job this year keeping this group together and slowly picking away at it, unloading with race cars with more speed, learning what Tony wants.
“They got a little bit behind, but played the pit calls right. We had a bad pit stop, we took it away from him and he went back and got it back for us.
“We think about [Stewart winning] every day, we talk about it. It’s huge for our company having three cars most likely going into the Chase.
“It’s a big hats-off to all the guys back at Stewart-Haas, building these cars and allowing us to race. They’re back there grinding sun up to sun down. We’ve got a lot going on with our company and they haven’t taken their eye off the ball, so I couldn’t be prouder of our people.”
RELATED: Rookie crew chief Bugarewicz reflects on Stewart’s win
RELATED: Matt Tifft, NASCAR Next driver
Joe Gibbs Racing issued a medical update on XFINITY Series and NASCAR Next driver Matt Tifft on Tuesday, announcing the 20-year-old will undergo surgery for removal of a low-grade glioma in the brain.
Per the team release, the slow-growing tumor was found during treatment and evaluation for a recent disc condition in his back. Tifft is expected to undergo surgery and rehabilitation soon and once cleared by physicians is expected to return to racing. The release noted the JGR rookie is anxious to return to the race track as soon as possible.
As stated, I will be undergoing a brain tumor removal surgery after a scan during back procedure. No correlation pic.twitter.com/6dnox6arj6
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Matt Tifft (@Matt_Tifft)
June 28, 2016
In six series starts this season, the driver has two top-10 finishes and earned the 21 Means 21 Pole Award at Talladega.
Tifft was replaced by interim driver Sam Hornish Jr. earlier this month at Iowa Speedway. Hornish won the race, leading 183 of 250 laps.
David Ragan has been enlisted to drive the No. 18 Surface Sunscreen/Rugged Maniac Toyota Camry XFINITY series entry for Joe Gibbs Racing for Friday’s Subway Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN).