Posted on by Nascar



RELATED: Townley, Gallagher fight at Gateway

NASCAR driver John Wes Townley has issued an apology for his involvement in an on-track altercation a week ago during a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Illinois.

 

Townley was fined $15,000 and placed on probation through Dec. 31, 2016 for his involvement in the altercation with fellow driver Spencer Gallagher during the Drivin for Lineman 200.

 

Gallagher was fined $12,500 and placed on probation through the end of the year.

 

“I want to apologize to NASCAR and my fans,” Townley said in the statement. “That’s not the way I want to represent myself, (sponsor) Zaxby’s or Jive Communications. I’ll try my best to make sure it never happens again.”

 

The drivers were involved in two separate incidents during the race. The first contact brought out the caution flag on Lap 145 of the 160-lap race. Approximately 10 laps later, they were involved in a second incident, which eventually brought the race under the red flag.

 

Following the second incident, both drivers climbed from their respective trucks and approached one another, with Townley then grabbing Gallagher around the head and wrestling him to the ground.

 

Townley tried several times to punch Gallagher as the pair stood on the lower portion of the racing surface as the fracas continued.

 

Originally scheduled to compete in this weekend’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race for Athenian Motorsports at Daytona International Speedway, Townley, 26, and the team eventually withdrew the entry.

 

“Honestly, we went into this season with our sights set on running strong in the Truck Series and ARCA,” Townley said. “We’ve always said that. And we, as a team, don’t need to overlook those goals. … But considering that we have a Truck race (at Kentucky Speedway) and an ARCA race next week (at Iowa Speedway), we felt it was better to pour our time and resources into getting ready for next week.”

 

Gallagher, who is competing at Daytona this weekend, issued a statement on Monday, June 27, apologizing to Townley.

 

“Additionally, to his team and fans, I am sorry,” Gallagher said. “The incident earlier in the race was not intentional and certainly was not meant to cause bigger problems later in the event.

 

“My crew, who have worked so hard to get me to where I am this season, did not deserve to have their night ended in that way. My teammates and all of the guys back at the shop deserve more respect than was shown Saturday night.”

 

Gallagher said he was “ashamed” he was involved in an incident “that has allowed so many to view what we do in a negative light.”

 

Townley, currently 18th in points, has one career win in the Truck Series in 101 career starts. He is winless in 76 attempts in the XFINITY Series.

 

Gallagher, 26, is winless in 44 career starts in the Truck Series and four in the XFINITY Series. He is 11th in points in the Truck Series.


Posted on by Holly Cain



RELATED: Results | Standings | Updated Chase Grid

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR’s XFINITY Series points leader Daniel Suarez wrecked out of Friday night’s Subway Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway midway through the event.


The accident left Suarez with a season-low 32nd place finish after posting an impressive season start highlighted by 12 top-10 finishes in the first 14 races. That run included his historic maiden victory at Michigan two weeks ago making Suarez the first Mexican-born driver to win a premier series race.


His fortune on the Daytona high banks, however, was a low point of his season and threatened to dethrone him from his lead in the series standings. However, Elliott Sadler ran out of gas before NASCAR Overtime got underway in Friday’s race and finished 18th, allowing Suarez to hold a six-point lead in the standings after the Daytona event. 


It was not entirely a surprising outcome according to Suarez who said the racing Friday night was extremely aggressive from the drop of the green flag.


“I’m good, I’m just really disappointed,” Suarez said after emerging from the infield care center with a clean bill of health.


“That’s the consequences I guess when racing so hard so early. They were bumping very hard, being aggressive, trying to gain positions before the competition caution.


“They were racing like it was the last 10 laps, but it was too early for that.”


The accident that ultimately sidelined Suarez was his second of the young night. His No. 19 Arris Toyota was initially damaged when Suarez was collected in a 14-car accident on Lap 16 that brought out a 7-minute, 40-second red flag period.


He was running in the back half of the field later when his car snapped toward the left and hit the SAFER Barrier lining the track’s inside retaining wall.


“The car was not right,” Suarez said. “I had a car very close to my right side, I was very tight but feel like I barely touched him and I went around unfortunately. I guess that’s how it is sometimes on superspeedways.”


“Everyone wanted track position even before the competition caution. But it was crazy — three wide — everyone was bumping. I think I called it one lap before. I told my spotter, ‘everything is getting crazy here.’


“But I’m fine. NASCAR does a very good job with safety on these cars.”


Posted on by Holly Cain



DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Since Denny Hamlin first arrived in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series full time in 2006 he had an immediate positive relationship with Daytona International Speedway winning his first-ever Budweiser Shootout as a rookie in the days leading up to the season-opening Daytona 500.

Since then, Hamlin has won that event two more times including this February — just 8 days before he pulled off an amazing last lap pass to claim his maiden Daytona 500 victory in the closest finish in the race’s great 58-year history.

A win in Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 would give Hamlin another unique claim to Daytona fame — a season sweep of the Sprint Cup events plus a win in the Shootout giving him three victories (including both points races) at the track in a single season.

Only Bobby Allison (1982) and Fireball Roberts (1962) have swept both Daytona premier series races and won an exhibition event too. Jimmie Johnson (2013), Cale Yarborough (1968) and LeeRoy Yarbrough (1969) are the other drivers to win both Sprint Cup races in a year.

“It was about five years ago that something happened on the restrictor plate race tracks where I just — it clicked and I got it,” Hamlin said Thursday. “I can name a few instances it’s really helped me, but I don’t want to necessarily say that, but I just feel comfortable. I feel like I know what I’m doing and the results have showed it.”

The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota hasn’t finished worse than sixth in his last five Daytona starts, including a runner-up in the 2014 Daytona 500 and a third place showing in last year’s Coke Zero 400 — a streak of success even better than one of the track’s true superstars, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt has a pair of Cup race wins during that same five-race span — including the 2014 Daytona 500 and this race last year — but finished 36th in this year’s Daytona 500 and 14th in this race in 2014.

Despite the impressive numbers, Hamlin is well aware that his current success streak is a rare outcome at a restrictor plate track.

“Eventually, we’re going to get in a wreck,” Hamlin allowed with a slight smile. “I think we did at — yeah, we did at Talladega, but I’ve just been very fortunate on superspeedways and the bad finishes that I’ve had it’s not because something I feel like I did. It was something that I could caught up in, so I’ve been fortunate.

“It’s been a great battle with the 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) probably the last four years with me and him. There’s been a lot of one-two finishes with us and hopefully I’d love to complete the sweep winning the Unlimited, the 500 and the July race. I feel like I gift basket-ed him that dual win on Thursday this year, so I’d like to get him back here in July.”

A win this weekend would be key not just in Daytona historical context. Other than a fantastic runner-up finish to Tony Stewart on the Sonoma Raceway road course last week, Hamlin hasn’t posted the kind of consistently good showings he might have liked. Especially with the way the season began.

In the last seven races, Hamlin has three top-10s and three finishes of 30th or worse — two of those sub-par finishes, a result of crashes.

But just looking at Hamlin’s face and his demeanor, it’s easy to tell he brings an unmistakable confidence to Daytona Beach. And he’s earned it honestly.

He’ll start ninth in the Coke Zero 400 — surrounded by all his three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates who qualified second (Carl Edwards), third (Kyle Busch) and seventh (Matt Kenseth). Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr., who Hamlin edged for the Daytona win in February, will start 15th.

“Anytime we can work together, I try for sure,” Hamlin said of his Toyota teammates. “I don’t know that it was a plot to take out one car by any means. I thought we showed a lot of speed with just our cars in practice looking at lap times with what we would run as a group of five. Simple math says what the pack was going to run and I knew that if we could stay in a line and commit to each other, it would be tough for others to pass us. It worked out well.

“Legitimately there were five Toyotas out to win on the final lap and that’s really all we could have asked for. It was something that was in the works for a long time and it was executed perfectly by our whole organization and it worked out. Obviously any time you are successful like that you try to repeat it, but the competitors have a lot of say in that, so there are others who are going to have issue with what our plan is.”

“Really this track has been very good to me throughout my career,” Hamlin said. “We hope to complete the sweep this weekend.”


Posted on by Staff Report



Matt Tifft underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor on Friday afternoon and the NASCAR XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series driver came out of surgery Friday night and is recovering, according to his personal Twitter account.

Tifft was supposed to drive the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at Daytona International Speedway in Friday night’s Subway Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola but JGR announced early in the week that Tifft would not make the start as the 20-year-old will undergo surgery for removal of a low-grade glioma in the brain. David Ragan drove the No. 18 to the pole and the team kept Tifft’s name above the door.

Per JGR’s announcement on Tuesday, 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.

In six series starts this season, the driver has two top-10 finishes and earned the 21 Means 21 Pole Award at Talladega.


Posted on by Staff Report



RELATED: Live weather updates from Daytona

Inclement weather rolled into Daytona International Speedway on Friday, interrupting NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying midway through the first of two scheduled rounds. Twenty-two cars attempted laps before NASCAR halted the session for lightning with David Ragan atop the leaderboard. Qualifying did resume shortly after 3:30 p.m. ET


NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying got underway at 4:50 p.m. ET (NBCSN, Live Extra).

Weather washed out most of Thursday’s on-track activity, as only one NASCAR XFINITY Series practice was completed. Two Sprint Cup practices and XFINITY final practice were canceled on Thursday.

The Sprint Cup cars were on the track Friday morning for a rescheduled practice, the only practice before Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola (7:45 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Brian Scottt led that practice, a 45-minute session during which Kyle Busch wrecked hard into the outside wall. Busch was evaluated and released from the infield care center, but he will have to go to a backup car.

The XFINITY Series’ Subway Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola is scheduled for Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).


Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full practice results

 

Brian Scott topped the charts with a speed of 199.349 mph in his No. 44 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford in Friday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, which also saw speeds for two cars in the top 10 disallowed.

The session at Daytona International Speedway was rescheduled for Friday after rain washed out most of Thursday’s action, and it represented the only Sprint Cup practice before Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola (7:45 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

 

David Gilliland initially finished fifth in the session, and Josh Wise initially finished ninth. Both cars were too heavy in the rear on the post-practice scales, so their times were disallowed. Wise was scored 40th in the session, Gilliland 41st.

During the 45-minute practice Kyle Busch cut a tire in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and made hard contact with the wall. Busch was released from the infield care center and will go to a backup car.

Right behind Scott was Austin Dillon in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet at 199.344 mph.

Rounding out the top five were Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and David Gilliland.

Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET on Friday (NBCSN, Live Extra).

Posted on by Staff Report



Car No. Car Driver Team
1 35 * David Gilliland Shaw’s Southern Belle Frozen Food Ford
2 30 * Josh Wise Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet
3 32 Bobby Labonte Ford
4 83 Matt DiBenedetto Dustless Blasting Toyota
5 1 Jamie McMurray Credit One Chevrolet
6 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet
7 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger/Drumstick/Outshine Chevrolet
8 13 Casey Mears GEICO Military Chevrolet
9 7 Regan Smith Golden Corral Chevrolet
10 31 Ryan Newman Florida Lottery Chevrolet
11 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Beer Chevrolet
12 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide Chevrolet
13 78 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota
14 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Toyota
15 19 Carl Edwards Subway Toyota
16 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota
17 38 Landon Cassill Taco Bell Ford
18 20 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Toyota
19 24 Chase Elliott # SunEnergy1 Chevrolet
20 27 Paul Menard Duracell/Menards Chevrolet
21 46 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet
22 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
23 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet
24 41 Kurt Busch Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet
25 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet
26 95 Michael McDowell KLOVE Radio Chevrolet
27 55 * Reed Sorenson RoyalTeakCollection.com Toyota
28 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford
29 16 Greg Biffle Ford EcoBoost Ford
30 23 David Ragan Shriners Hospital Toyota
31 98 * Cole Whitt RTIC Coolers Toyota
32 15 Clint Bowyer AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet
33 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fifth Third Bank Ford
34 10 Danica Patrick Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet
35 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford
36 34 Chris Buescher # Love’s Travel Stops Ford
37 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford
38 21 * Ryan Blaney # Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford
39 2 Brad Keselowski Detroit Genuine Parts Ford
40 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/NRA Museum Chevrolet
41 44 Brian Scott # Albertsons Co./Shore Lodge Ford

*Required to qualify on time


Posted on by Reid Spencer



RELATED: Results | Standings | Updated Chase Grid

SHOP: Almirola gear


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Aric Almirola won his second NASCAR XFINITY Series race by much less than a nose.

 

But to the driver of the No. 98 Fred Biagi-owned Ford, that was a vast improvement over his first victory in the series — when he wasn’t even in the car when the race ended.

 

In Friday night’s Subway Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway, Almirola was inches ahead of Justin Allgaier off the final corner in overtime when NASCAR called the eighth caution of the race and froze the field because of a wild wreck on the backstretch involving polesitter David Ragan.

 

Though Almirola was credited with a 2007 win at the Milwaukee Mile, where he started the race in place of Denny Hamlin, who was commuting from the Sprint Cup Series venue at Sonoma. But Hamlin took the checkered flag after taking over the car, and Almirola has never felt the win was rightfully his.

 

“I’m so glad to be back in Victory Lane here at Daytona,” Almirola said. “This is such a special place for me. I won my first Cup race here two years ago, and for me, this is my first XFINITY win. I know I have a win, but there’s always been an asterisk next to it…

 

“I hated the fact that I got credit for that. When they called me the winner, I didn’t want any of the credit. (Crew chief) Dave Rogers actually got the trophy. They tried to give me the trophy, but I didn’t want it. I didn’t think I deserved to win the race, because I wasn’t in the car when the race was over.

 

“But tonight I was. Tonight we went to Victory Lane, and I’m here, and I was in the car — so this is my first XFINITY win.”


RELATED: See all the 2016 winners


Almirola already was one of 26 drivers who have won at least one race in each of NASCAR’s top three series. Now he can feel good about it.

 

Allgaier, on the other hand was on the short end of the video that showed Almirola in the lead when the caution was called.

 

“When you lose ’em by that little bit, it’s frustrating,” said Allgaier, who estimated he lost the event by “a sixteenth of a foot.

 

“But when you’re disappointed with second, it’s still a good day… Man, when you’re that close, it’s really, really tough. We’ll keeping digging. At some point we’ve got to maybe pull one of these off.”

 

Ryan Sieg finished third, matching the career-best result he achieved in this race two years ago. Joey Logano led a race-high 46 of 103 laps but was shuffled back with fewer than 20 laps left and recovered to run fourth. Brendan Gaughan came home fifth.

 

Ragan led the field to green to start the overtime but quickly lost his drafting partner and surrendered the top spot. Subbing for Matt Tifft, who had come out of brain surgery for a tumor just before the race began, Ragan tried to block the outside lane on the final lap and finished 21st in a demolished Toyota.

 

“I was kind of a sitting duck,” Ragan said. “My teammate, Erik Jones, did a great job on that white-flag lap, but we just got separated. And I didn’t really know that third lane was coming as fast as they were, and I saw that the 98 (Almirola) and the 7 (Allgaier) had a decent run, but I thought I could block the very top, and you only have so much room.

 

“That was just a product of speedway racing.”

 

Points leader Daniel Suarez was the victim of a hard crash into the inside SAFER barrier on the backstretch on Lap 49 and finished 32nd but maintained a six-point lead in the standings over Elliott Sadler, who had to pit for fuel before the overtime and came home 18th.


Posted on by Reid Spencer



RELATED: Starting lineup | See all 40 cars


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Greg Biffle came out of nowhere.

Winless since 2013 and without a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole since the fall Charlotte race in 2012, the driver of the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford scorched Daytona International Speedway on Friday to claim the top starting spot for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 (at 7:45 p.m. ET on NBC).

In the second and final round of knockout qualifying, Biffle toured the 2.5-mile restrictor-plate track in 46.643 seconds (192.955 mph) to wrestle the Coors Light Pole Award from former RFR teammate Carl Edwards (192.748 mph) by .050 seconds.

The pole was Biffle’s second at a plate track, the first coming when he led the field to green in the 2004 Daytona 500, not quite eight months after Biffle won the only plate race of his career — the 2003 Coke Zero 400. Both were career-firsts for the Biff.

All told, Biffle has won 13 poles in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but Friday’s was particularly significant because of the boost it give his organization, which has been struggling for the past few years to find speed in the wake of the departure of veterans Matt Kenseth and Edwards to Joe Gibbs Racing.

“It is a huge confidence-builder, and coming out of here with a good finish, that’s a lot of momentum for the team,” Biffle said. “Qualifying on the pole, getting a good run and moving on to the next race — we need that.

“We need those good finishes and momentum and encouragement. Winning the pole is all smiles on those guys pushing the car up there and getting the pictures. They’re pumped right now. We’ll be ready to go tomorrow night.”

In a backup car with no practice laps because of a wreck in Saturday morning’s practice, Kyle Busch (192.336 mph) qualified third. Biffle’s teammate, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (192.320 mph), earned the fourth starting spot, followed by Brad Keselowski (192.254 mph) and Austin Dillon (192.254 mph), who lost the fifth spot to Keselowski on an owner points tiebreaker.

Defending race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. failed to make the top 12 and will start 16th. Jimmie Johnson (eighth) was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to advance to the second round, just as Kurt Busch (10th) was the only Stewart-Haas Racing entry to do so.

Earnhardt, however, wasn’t particularly concerned about his starting position.

“I think we’ll be good,” he said. “We worked on our car to try and help it drive better. That might take some straight-line speed out of it, but it’s going to hopefully help us be able to make moves we need to make in the race. 

“It’s going to be slick in the race, and handling is going to be real important. I’m more concerned really with the car driving good. Might not be the fastest car out there, (but) that’s not the car that is going to win the race. I think (that’s going to be) the guy that’s got the best handling package. This place is going to be pretty slick.”

Biffle was fastest in both rounds of qualifying, pacing the first session at 192.629 mph.

“After that first session, I knew we had to be worried about (Greg),” Edwards said. “We ran a really good lap in the second session, but those guys were fast. They put the hard work in, they deserve it and I know how hard those guys work over there.

“And I guess in a way, it’s cool to see them have success. You hate to get beat by anyone, but knowing those guys and knowing how much they work, it’s good to see them have this day.”