RELATED: Sadler sits atop points standings

NASCAR XFINITY Series points leader Elliott Sadler is using the absence of his JR Motorsports team owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., as a source of inspiration and motivation in his quest for a first championship.

“We’ve kind of been racing for him these last couple weeks … a month or so,” said Sadler, who leads the XFINITY standings by 47 points over second-place Daniel Suarez. “We kind of know what our boss is going through. We talk about it on our race team at the race track some. When you watch practice on TV, or the watch the (Sprint Cup) race on Sunday, and he’s not in the race car, it affects us.

“We want the best for him. He’s given all of us a great opportunity. We want him to enjoy the same fun, the same competitive spirit that we’re having week-in and week-out. So we definitely talk about it as a team and wish him nothing but the best coming back. And it definitely gives us some incentive to finish on a high note, now that he’s out of the car.”

Sadler is locked into the inaugural XFINITY Chase, and the veteran driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet got more recent good news — his primary sponsor, OneMain Financial, will return for another season on the car in 2017. Sadler will next race in Saturday’s VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NEW YORK – Nickelodeon today announced that NASCAR XFINITY Series star Daniel Suárez has signed on to drive a custom Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle paint scheme during the Drive for Safety 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. Nickelodeon is the entitlement sponsor of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday, Sept. 18, dubbed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400. The track will feature a weekend of action, activities and fun for the entire family with the iconic Heroes in a Half Shell.

Suárez, competing in his second full year in the NASCAR XFINITY Series for Joe Gibbs Racing, will pilot the No. 19 ARRIS/TMNT Michelangelo Toyota Camry. The pizza-loving “Mikey” is ready to take on the Foot Clan in his orange mask with his signature nunchucks, while Suárez looks to repeat his winning performance at Michigan Speedway earlier this year with a victory at Chicagoland Speedway.

Suárez will join the already announced Darrell Wallace, driving the No. 6 Shredder Ford Mustang, in the NASCAR XFINITY Series race for an epic battle between #TeamTurtle and #TeamFoot.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Danica Patrick is set to drive the No. 10 April O’Neil/Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400. Additional drivers will be announced to compete with Patrick in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

This Sept. 15-18 marks the sixth consecutive year that Chicagoland Speedway will kick off the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The Nickelodeon partnership will include sponsorship of the 2017 kickoff race, as well.

“We are excited to partner with Daniel Suárez, he’s a proven winner in the NASCAR XFINITY Series,” said Anthony DiCosmo, Senior Vice President, Sports Marketing and Development, Nickelodeon. “Just as we did with last season’s SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 will continue to expand our relationship with NASCAR, while working with another best-in-class ISC track to give fans a unique and engaging race experience that the whole family can enjoy. And, we’re excited to work with Joe Gibbs Racing and our long-term partner Toyota to share the excitement of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with NASCAR fans.”

During the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 race weekend, attendees will be able to enjoy fun family activities in the Nickelodeon Kids Zone, located in Champion’s Park. The area will feature appearances from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costumed characters, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles photo station and more.

Nickelodeon has a long-standing relationship with NASCAR, teaming up with the motorsports giant on several programming and racing events. On the track, the network has sponsored the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway in 2015; brought the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 2014; participated in the Bank of America 500 week in 2012; and the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, NC in 2004. NASCAR has also contributed talent and content to Nickelodeon programming such as the Kids’ Choice Awards (Danica Patrick, 2012 and 2013), Kids’ Choice Sports Awards (Danica Patrick, 2014, Ben Kennedy, 2015), Team Umizoomi (Jeff Gordon, 2012), Hammer Down (2014), which aired on Nicktoon’s NickSports block, and an upcoming Bubble Guppies episode (Jimmie Johnson, 2015).

Currently in its fourth season, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is seen in over 170 countries and territories and translated in 50-plus languages. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles follows four mutant turtles — Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo — trained in the art of ninjutsu by their mutant rat sensei, Master Splinter, who teaches the turtles to battle evil from the New York City sewers. Executive produced by Ciro Nieli and Brandon Auman, the series is created at Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, California.

Name: Eric

Hometown: Lakeland, Florida
​
Current City: ​South Riding, Virginia (currently deployed in Afghanistan)

Member since:  2016

Getting to know ERIC

Q. Why did you join the Official NASCAR Fan Council?

“I wanted to participate in the NASCAR Fan Council since it provides the fans an active voice and engagement directly with the sanctioning body, as they try to ensure the quality of competition is always top-notch.”

Q. How did you first become interested in NASCAR?

“My grandfather raced in the 1950s at short tracks throughout South Florida, and I was the first-born grandson.  Naturally, when I was old enough, it was straight to karts and we would spend Saturday nights at our local tracks, and Sunday was watching or attending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.”

Q. What makes NASCAR special for you?

“To me, it’s the camaraderie and competition in the garage among the teams.  There is nothing greater than cars racing into Turn 1 every week. The personalities, and being able to relate to them, is what makes NASCAR great — the never-give-up attitudes, and the underdog story we all pull for every week.”

Q: Do you have any favorite NASCAR memories or traditions?

“I have many fond memories at the racetrack. The 1998 Pepsi 400 at Daytona, which was delayed due to the wildfires. I had the opportunity to meet Dave Marcis and spend several minutes talking with him about how far the sport had come at that time. The 2012 spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway, I had the opportunity to stand in the bed of the truck during the parade lap at driver introductions with Kyle Busch and Marcos Ambrose. By far, my most favorite memory was being able to talk with NASCAR Hall of Fame Driver Bobby Allison about races in the 1950s at Medley Speedway, Key West and other locations in South Florida. My wife (who wasn’t a fan until her first race at Bristol in 2012) and I make a point to attend Richmond and Martinsville for both races every year, because of the hospitality Dennis Bickmeier and Clay Campbell provide to the fans!”

Q: Do you have a favorite in any of the following categories?

Tracks: “Martinsville and Watkins Glen”

Q: If you could go to any NASCAR race/track, where would you go?

“Sonoma and Talladega”  

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?

“I love spending my time at racetracks.  I race Legend cars on ovals and road courses throughout the mid-Atlantic, and when I’m not doing that I’m a spotter in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series for David Polenz at Dominion Raceway in Virginia.”

Q: Tell us about your family. Do you have children and/or pets?

“My wife, Christine, and I have been married for two years.  We don’t have kids yet, but we do have a beagle, Max, and a basset hound, Sadie Belle.”

Q: What’s your dream car?

“A McLaren 650S, but I’m trying to convince my wife the new Corvettes are practical.”

From all of us at NASCAR, we thank Eric for his continued support and look forward to hearing from him in 2016.  

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Perhaps the only thing more striking about Betty Jane France than her perpetual smile was the vast size of her compassionate heart.
 
Married to the late NASCAR Chairman Bill France Jr., Betty Jane was interested in more than just running the family’s famous racing business, although she helped with that, too. She was equally as concerned with caring for the people in the business — and beyond.
 
That was evident in the many personal relationships she held so dearly and the people she would touch through decades of devotion raising money for charitable works.
 
France, who passed away Monday, was the mother of NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France and International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa France Kennedy. She touched countless lives with her commitment to children’s causes, such as the “Speediatrics” children’s care unit at Halifax Health in Daytona Beach — where a bronze statue of her likeness stands just outside the hospital tower that bears her family’s name — and at Homestead Hospital in Homestead, Florida.

Betty Jane France (right) with son Brian, Chairman & CEO of NASCAR, and his wife, Amy.

She also was named chairwoman of the NASCAR Foundation upon its inception in 2006, leading and shepherding the organization’s massive good works, which includes donating $25 million to more than one million children over the past 10 years. And she is so aptly the namesake for the sport’s prestigious Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award for outstanding charitable and volunteer efforts of NASCAR fans
 
On Thursday in Daytona Beach, France was remembered for a life of philanthropy and compassion that literally touched thousands of souls and inspired countless more. Her legacy will be both celebrated and revered for the impact it has made and will inspire going forward.
 
“She was ahead of her time,” said Rick Hendrick, the France family’s longtime friend and NASCAR team owner. “Back then in the beginning, you just didn’t see people reaching out with a cause or organizing everyone to get behind it. The money Betty Jane raised is one thing, but the awareness is sometimes more important than the money is. So she made a point to let people know there is a need there. She’d show up and be right in the middle of it, she didn’t just let people use her name.
 
“People can give money or give a check, but when you walk in and see the situation first-hand, the faces of the people you touched, you know the stories. That means something to you and that really needs to be your legacy in life, that you are a caring, giving person that looked after others.
 
“I’d think that would be the legacy you’d want to live by.  And she did.”
 
Like Hendrick, legendary team owner Richard Childress was also a decades-long friend of the Frances, having come from the same part of North Carolina — the city of Winston-Salem — as Betty Jane herself. Childress and his wife, Judy, and the Frances traveled together frequently over the years and were close confidantes.    
 
“She’s going to be missed so greatly not only for all her giving, but the kindness she shared with everyone anytime you met her,” Childress said. “She was the kindest, classiest lady I’ve ever met.
 
“Even in the hard times, she managed to pull that Betty Jane smile out.”
 
As much as she considered all of NASCAR to be her dear family, France was particularly proud of her own. Daughter Lesa France Kennedy runs the family’s International Speedway Corporation, and son Brian is NASCAR’s Chairman & CEO, just as his father and grandfather were before him.
 
“Last night, the NASCAR family lost a mother, a grandmother, a friend and the light that guided the sport’s charitable arm,” Brian France said Tuesday. “My mother taught us incredible values, that of love, patience, compassion and joy. She embraced life every day, and nothing fueled her passion more than children. Her unmatched efforts in building The NASCAR Foundation improved the lives of millions of children throughout this country. And because of that, her legacy will live forever.
 
“My father leaned on my mother throughout his life, relying on her wisdom and calming demeanor to help grow the sport of NASCAR. She was there, every step of the way. When we lost my father (in 2007), her positive presence remained, as she used her immense skill to grow NASCAR’s heart and soul, The NASCAR Foundation.
 
“Our family thanks you for all of your thoughts, prayers and well wishes. My mother was a special woman, and an impressive person, and she will be dearly missed.”
 

Betty Jane France surprised grandson Ben Kennedy by celebrating with him at the shop following his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win at Bristol Motor Speedway.

As timing would somehow graciously have it, one of the final things France did was celebrate her grandson Ben Kennedy‘s maiden NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway.
 
Kennedy’s win marked the first time a member of the France family has won a NASCAR national series race. Last week Betty Jane France flew up to the team’s North Carolina shop to revel in the moment with her grandson.
 
“What was really special was my mom and my grandma and a bunch of other people coming up to surprise me,” Kennedy said. “I was totally surprised. I kind of thought my mom might come, but I had no idea my grandma was going to be there, so to have her there to help celebrate at the victory dinner was something I’ll never forget.
 
“It was really special to not only see her but on such a very high note in such great spirits.”
 
Kennedy proudly acknowledges and appreciates what France’s leadership has meant to the sport he so loves. But she was first and foremost a loving, encouraging grandmother to him.
 
“At the end of the day, she’s family and meant a lot to me, my mom and my uncle and my entire family,” Kennedy said. “It’s definitely unfortunate to lose her, but we all know she’s in a better place and I’m so thankful for having the time I got to spend with her throughout my life. I’m 24 years old now and I got to spend 24 years around her and getting to know her.
 
“She was always smiling, always in a good mood. I can’t even really think of a moment she wasn’t in a good mood or having a good time. And she was so funny. She could carry on for hours making everyone around the table laugh. She was always in good spirits. I don’t think I ever saw her without a smile on her face at some point.”
 
It’s a shared sentiment by all those that interacted with France.
 
Some of her longtime friends may remember her life-changing time as “Miss Bowman Gray” — a 1957 competition which qualified her to enter a “Miss NASCAR” contest. She had been recruited by none other than a young Bill France Jr., who signed her up for the competition shortly after meeting her.
 
They dated, and married seven months later.
 
And as the story famously goes, France’s father “Big Bill” France told people that Betty Jane “didn’t win ‘Miss NASCAR,’ but she did win NASCAR.”
 
“Actually, both Bill Sr. and my Bill picked that phrase up and would use it. They both thought it was so endearing,” Betty Jane said in Herb Branham’s book, “Bill France Jr.: The Man Who Made NASCAR.”

Endearing would be an appropriate word to describe Betty Jane France as well. She was endearing and engaging — important attributes in a life so often spent bettering the lives of others.
 
“She was very elegant, very respectful and never met a stranger,” said NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton, who had also known France for years. “I think there’s a lot of things that we take for granted today that Betty Jane was very impactful in creating, like a culture of NASCAR in the days of growing the sport. She was very much alongside Bill Jr. on a lot of steps along the way.
 
“Betty Jane was very significant in keeping us all planted and reminding us to be good citizens in the community we were in and inside our organizations.”
 
As Hendrick described her, “She was such a real positive person and I never heard her talking about the down times, or woe is me. She saw everything through a positive light and she had a big heart that wanted to take care of others.”
 
If there is a common theme in remembering France, it was her genuine zest for life. She showed how a smile can ease a heart and make a friend. She showed that generosity and concern could make a true difference.
 
In that regard, Betty Jane France made a true difference that will carry long into the future, both inside NASCAR and beyond.

PHOTOS: Remembering Betty Jane France

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR employees sat alongside community leaders. Race team owners shared pews with Betty Jane France’s many, many friends. Her beloved and close-knit family members — including her brother-in-law Jim France, NASCAR Chairman Brian France and his family, and International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa France Kennedy and her son, Ben — were among the more than 500 people who gathered to wish Betty Jane France a proper and heartfelt farewell.

Anyone driving into Volusia County on Thursday morning surely noticed the prevailing Tropical Storm Hermine clouds often parted in spots revealing blue sky, a fitting natural tribute to one of NASCAR’s brightest personalities.

Richard Petty, Rick Hendrick, Richard Childress, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, sportscar star Hurley Haywood and all of NASCAR’s executives were among those gathered to pay respects to France.

Bouquets of white orchids, lillies, hydrangeas, and roses decorated the church alter, and the calming scent of seeded eucalyptus came from floral arrangements adorning the ends of the pews. 

Former Daytona Beach Mayor Glenn Ritchey spoke of France’s great ability to inject humor and bring smiles to her work, yet she always had the ability to “make us feel special.”

Several times he brought the crowded church sanctuary — and nearly 100 others seated in an extra wing watching the service on closed circuit — to laughter, reminiscing about France and her husband, former NASCAR Chairman Bill France Jr. He told the story of how the couple would often find itself waiting in a long line to go up the elevators at Daytona International Speedway.

Track workers offered to escort the Frances around the line, but Betty Jane always refused to get in front of anyone else. Bill France, Ritchey said smiling and drawing laughter, might have politely gone along with his wife’s wishes, but probably would have preferred the short cut.

Several times he used the word, “impact” in describing France’s many contributions. And that was the decided theme injecting Betty Jane France’s sunshine this cloudy Thursday morning.

Brian France also addressed the church and spoke eloquently and lovingly of his mom, reminding, “Her life was a gift to us.’”

He shared the three things that seemed most important to Betty Jane — her family (her marriage, children and grandchildren), her devotion to the local community, and her commitment to the NASCAR community at large.

He graciously thanked all the people for caring and for coming and told the congregation, “we should all be so lucky” to have lived as his mother did.

After the nearly hour-long service at the Seabreeze United Church of Christ, people mulled around, shaking hands, smiling and sharing their Betty Jane stories of generosity and goodwill.

“Betty Jane was charming, beautiful, intelligent and she played her role in NASCAR to perfection,” Waltrip said. “She was the right person to do all she had to do.

“Just a great lady.”

And as the track presidents mingled with business leaders and community members shook hands with Petty and Waltrip, there was a prevailing sense of gratitude to Betty Jane, for all she has done and all she inspires us to do.

RELATED: Sign the petition to create National First Responders Day

Alongside Greg Biffle and his No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford throwback scheme for the Darlington race, Hooters has partnered with the National Association of Police Organizations, the National Black Police Association and Thankyoufirstresponder.org to create a National First Responders Day, a day to honor and recognize the contribution and sacrifice of First Responders across America.

Hooters was inspired by Andrew Collier, brother of slain MIT police officer Sean Collier who gave his life protecting his community during the Boston Marathon bombing tragedy, and has been lobbying Congress to designate one day to the recognition of First Responders. 

Along with those efforts, FirstRespondersDay.org has been created for Americans to express their gratitude and share support for FirstResponders, as well as sign a petition formally requesting that Congress pass, and the president sign, legislation creating a National First Responders Day.

Biffle, along with MLB Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, politician and activist Ambassador Andrew Young, ESPN football analyst Jon Gruden, UFC President Dana White, UFC Hall of Famer Forrest Griffin and UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic are among the many supporters who have teamed up to encourage Americans to sign the petition.

Hooters is expressing its gratitude to first responders by treating them to a free entrée on Tuesday, Sept. 20. First Responders can select an item from a special menu that will include buffalo chicken salad, buffalo chicken sandwich, Hooters burger, 10-piece traditional wings and 10-piece boneless wings if they are in uniform or present  valid credentials at any Hooters restaurant across the nation.

A brand with deep roots in NASCAR, Hooters returns as sponsor of a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car just in time for one of the most anticipated races of the year. Twenty-four years ago, Alan Kulwicki drove his Hooters-sponsored car to the 1992 championship.