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The 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season has been filled with photo finishes, strong on-track racing and a long list of winners. In just 15 races there have been 10 winners — Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch and Joey Logano.


A win virtually grants a team a berth for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, so who will be next? NASCAR.com’s Jessica Ruffin and Maggie MacKenzie debate the next driver to join the elite list. 


RUFFIN: As incredible as the 2016 season has been thus far, it’s about to get even better the next few weeks. All of our 10 winners this year are veterans of the sport who have notched a ‘W’ in the win column at some point during their careers. But watch out for the young stars of our sport, who have gotten closer and closer to victory as the season has progressed. The leader of that charge? Rookie Chase Elliott. Based on his recent performances — most notably a runner-up at Michigan last weekend — Elliott will be celebrating in Victory Lane sooner rather than later.


MACKENZIE: I agree with you, Jessica, that we need to look out for the young stars. They are the future of the sport and many are already contenders for the win week-after-week. However, as strong as Elliott has been thus far — in that famous No. 24 — I believe Austin Dillon will beat him to the checkered flag in his equally famous No. 3. 

Dillon is in his third full-time Sprint Cup season for Richard Childress Racing and sits quite comfortably in 13th on the Chase Grid thanks to a slew of top-10 finishes — and he’s showing no signs of slowing down. 


RUFFIN: Dillon has surprised me this season. After recording only one top five last season, he’s certainly bounced back with a vengeance. But while his top 10s have been impressive, he hasn’t done as much to contend for the win — which is really what counts. Elliott has been up front week after week, and if it hadn’t been for a shaky restart, he might have clinched a Chase berth last weekend with a win at Michigan.


MACKENZIE: Despite having opportunities to lock in the win, Elliott has yet to head to Victory Lane and this will remain true if, as you stated above, he cannot master restarts. Dillon, too, has been toward the front of the pack plenty of times — he was the polesitter at Fontana and started on the front row at Talladega as well. And let’s not forget, Daytona is coming up and Dillon has been quite successful here with a top five, four top 10s and a pole in just six starts. 


RUFFIN: The final laps at Michigan were simply a glitch for the No. 24 team, it seemed. Crew chief Alan Gustafson told me afterwards that the team got “98 things of 100 right” in the Irish Hills. With ample resources and skilled personnel, they’ll use the off-week to regroup and come back swinging. And Elliott is just hungry for a win: The 20-year-old has a fire under him that allowed him to pull off his recent string of six straight top-10 finishes. Even without a win, he’s sitting sixth in the standings, the highest of all winless drivers and above all three of his veteran Hendrick Motorsports teammates. When you’re ahead of a six-time Sprint Cup champion like Jimmie Johnson, I’d say your near future is pretty bright.


MACKENZIE: I couldn’t agree more with you about Elliott’s bright future, but checking “98 things” off the list doesn’t necessarily guarantee a win. I’m looking ahead at the schedule and Dillon has proven strong at many upcoming tracks and his experience will benefit the No. 3 team when it comes to taking the checkered. And, let’s not forget, he has crew chief Richard “Slugger” Labbe in his ear. 


RELATED: Dillon, crew chief’s relationship linked to strong start to ’16


And, hey, Dillon’s hungry for a win, too; which should make for strong on-track racing for the rest of the summer stretch. 

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This past weekend at Michigan International Speedway, Kevin Harvick‘s No. 4 pit crew had a new front tire changer, Tim Sheets.


Sheets’ move to the No. 4 came late in the week and is a long-term change. Stewart-Haas Racing‘s No. 4 crew has always been a top pit crew, but has struggled a bit this year. Harvick finished fifth in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400.


Sheets was once the front changer for the No. 31 of Ryan Newman and after he split from Richard Childress Racing joined Casey Mears‘ No. 13 team before taking the role on the No. 4 team.

Additionally, Stan Doolittle will serve as the jackman for the No. 4 team. Doolittle replaces Mike Casto. 

For more pit crew information, visit PitTalks.com.



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NASCAR XFINITY Series crew chief for the No. 22 team, Brian Wilson, was fined $7,500 by NASCAR for failing the post-race Laser Inspection Station measurements following Saturday’s Menard’s 250 presented by Valvoline at Michigan International Speedway. 

 

The No. 22 Team Penske Ford, which was driven by Joey Logano this past weekend, was also assessed with the loss of 10 championship owner points. This is a P2 penalty (Sections 12-1; 20.17.3.1.2).

 

A penalty and a warning also came down in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Wednesday for the Nos. 11 and 23 teams after their standalone event last Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.

 

Scott Zipadelli, crew chief for the No. 11, was fined $5,000, suspended from all NASCAR Series Championship points events through June 22 and placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31 for not having the truck’s lug nuts properly installed. This is a P3 penalty (Sections 12-1; 10.11.3.4 a).

 

The No. 23 team, piloted by Spencer Gallagher, received its second written warning of the season for the truck trailing arm U-bolts and U-bolt mounting saddles not conforming to specified rule book drawings in pre-qualifying inspection.

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NASCAR assessed a P3 penalty to the No. 42 Sprint Cup Series team (Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates) on Wednesday for violating sections 12-1 and 20.17.3.1.2 of the NASCAR rulebook during events last weekend at Michigan International Speedway.

Larson finished third in the FireKeepers Casino 400 with interim crew chief Philip Surgen atop the pit box, the 23-year-old driver’s second-best finish of the season.

NASCAR fined Surgen $25,000 and docked the team 15 championship driver points and 15 championship owner points. Surgen was filling in for Chad Johnston, who was suspended after a lug-nut violation following the Axalta ‘We Paint Winners’ 400 on June 5 at Pocono Raceway.

The No. 42 was in violation of sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 20.17.3.1.2 (vehicle inspection measurements) of the rulebook. Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet failed post-race inspection.

NASCAR also gave a written warning and took 15 minutes of practice time away from the Nos. 2 (Brad Keselowski), 16 (Greg Biffle), 23 (David Ragan) and 46 (Michael Annett) Sprint Cup teams on Wednesday for failing laser inspection three times before qualifying at Michigan. It was the second warning for the Nos. 2, 23 and 46 and first for the No. 16 team.

The No. 15 team (Clint Bowyer) received a written warning for failing laser inspection twice before the race at Michigan. It was that team’s first warning.

The Nos. 32 (Jeffrey Earnhardt), 44 (Brian Scott), 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) and 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) teams received written warnings for failing laser inspection twice before qualifying at Michigan. It was the third warning for the No. 44 team, the second for the No. 32 and the first for the Nos. 78 and 88 teams.


And the Nos. 14 (Tony Stewart), 17 (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.), 24 (Chase Elliott), 34 (Chris Buescher), 41 (Kurt Busch), 47 (AJ Allmendinger), 55 (Cole Whitt) and 78 (Truex) teams received written warnings for failing template inspection twice before qualifying. It was the second warning for the No. 14, 17, 24 and 47 teams and the first for the Nos. 34, 41 and 55 teams. It was the fourth for the 78, which lost its pit stall selection at Michigan.

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Photo credit: @FS1
 
Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Michigan International Speedway saw the much-anticipated debut of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the broadcast booth alongside Adam Alexander and Michael Waltrip. 

Earnhardt talked about his experience contributing to FS1’s race telecast on Dirty Mo Radio’s “The Dale Jr. Download.”

“I had been procrastating about going in there and doing that,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’d been asked for a couple years to do it. My great friend Michael Waltrip was really encouraging me, Jeff Gordon, couple other people, Darrell (Waltrip). A lot of people in the industry, producers and so forth that I’m friends with were very encouraging to try it out and I’ve watched all my peers go up in the booth to do that and they all do such a great job, so I felt like that I had to try it once. It doesn’t sound like a big deal but for me, personally, I am really shy, so for me putting myself out there like that was a really challenging thing. 


“I had way more fun than I thought I’d have. My eyes were open to a lot of things that were happening up there.”

Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer and Danica Patrick are among the drivers who have served as race analysts this season for NASCAR on FOX’s XFINITY race coverage.

Junior’s broadcast day started with a 7 a.m. ET production meeting, but the most hectic part came when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice came to an end at 12:55 p.m. ET. He had to shower and get to the booth ahead of the 1:30 p.m. ET start time for the XFINITY event — not to mention cool down from a hot race car. 

“Hustling up there was tough,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I got that shirt and tie on and I was sweating like crazy having come out of that car. The car was 140 degrees on Saturday in practice so it took me a while to cool off. 

“Michael and those guys were great, gracious, so supportive. My dad and Michael were great friends, so being up there with him made the whole thing a lot sweeter and way more comfortable for me. I felt like I was just standing there with a friend and we were just talking about the race. Adam’s a pro. He’s up there doing all the hard work and gives you a ton of confidence. Those guys just tee you right up to help you spit out a thought.”

Dale Jr. is open to a return visit to the booth and was glad that he had this experience at Michigan. 

“I enjoyed the hell out of being in the booth and talking about the race,” he said. “I really got consumed with the race, itself, and really enjoyed trying to give my take on what I was seeing. And I think that if I spent more time with it and put a little more preparation and effort into it, I’d really enjoy it. I don’t know if that’s something in my future. Now that I went up there and did this, I know that I have more interest in it. I didn’t know whether I’d like it before I did. So now that I know I did enjoy it, I’m going to try and learn more.

“… I don’t know when I’ll do another race but more than likely I’ll talk myself into another race before you know it.”

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Online automotive platform Wheelwell joins Ben Kennedy and GMS Racing as a 2016 primary sponsor for the No. 33 Chevrolet in the Camping World Truck Series, the team announced Tuesday. The new partner will make its debut on the No. 33 Truck this weekend in the Speediatrics 200 at Iowa Speedway.


Based in San Francisco, California, Wheelwell offers automotive enthusiasts and industry professionals an online forum to research products, build their ideal models or improve car performance.


“We are thrilled to partner with Ben and GMS Racing in the NASCAR Camping World TruckSeries,” Wheelwell Chief Executive Officer Michael B. Gonzales said in a release. “NASCAR racing is at the pinnacle of automotive performance and Ben is a talented driver with a true passion for cars. Ben and GMS Racing make the perfect partners to represent Wheelwell’s community of enthusiasts sharing their knowledge and favorite automotive products.”

This weekend’s Truck Series event at Iowa will mark Kennedy’s 58th start in the Camping World Truck Series and fifth race with GMS Racing, which he joined in May. In his four races under the GMS Racing umbrella, Kennedy has recorded four straight top-15 finishes, including a season-best fourth-place result at Texas Motor Speedway. In the span of his four-year career in the Truck Series, the 24-year-old driver has seven top-fives, 18 top-10s and one pole position.


“I am looking forward to introducing Wheelwell to millions of NASCAR fans and fellow car enthusiasts,” Kennedy said. “Like many others in the racing community, I have a few ongoing vehicle projects and Wheelwell.com allows me to keep organized, seek help and learn from other members who are building, restoring or enhancing their vehicles.”

Race coverage for the Speediatrics 200 at Iowa Speedway begins Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

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RELATED: Harvick on revamped Kentucky: ‘So far, so good’


PARTA, Ky. — There was a bit more of a racing groove here at Kentucky Speedway for the second and final day of an organizational test for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams, thanks in part to yesterday’s on-track activity as well as high temperatures.

“It’s changed a lot, really changed in a good direction,” Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, said Tuesday. “Yesterday there was really no grip at all and it just took time. By the end of the day it was starting to get pretty good. Today there’s even more rubber on the track.

“I think a good thing about this is it’s hot and the rubber is laying down. When we come back, hopefully it’s hot. I think if it’s hot it will create a much better race and let us kind of move around and lay more rubber on the race track.”

The 1.5-mile track, owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., underwent a complete repave recently and this week’s activities are the first since work was completed.

In addition to the new asphalt, changes were also made to Turns 1 and 2, where the banking has been increased from 14 degrees to 17 degrees. The pit exit lane has been widened (from 14 feet to 30 feet), and as a result the width of the racing surface in 1 and 2 has shrunk from 74 feet to 56 feet.

Officials also rebuilt the drainage system underneath the facility to better handle water runoff and weepers that have created problems here in the past.

“Once you get in the gray (where no rubber has been put down) you just give up and wait until you get to the straightaway,” Kahne explained. “If you don’t, you will crash.

“Come race time it will be a lot different. More cars (on the track), you’ll be able to move up more, but right now if you get all four up in the gray, you just kind of wait until you get back in the lane and then go.”

Fourteen teams were on hand Monday, with only the No. 78 Toyota of Furniture Row Racing with driver Martin Truex Jr., not returning for the final day.

“It’s a good test for us,” Kahne said. “We needed some testing to run through a lot of different things, try stuff. There is a lot of data we’ll be able to look at, I’ll be able to look at and my teammates as well … to be a little bit more prepared when we do come back.”

Kevin Harvick, quickest on Monday, continued to post the top unofficial lap times Tuesday, with lap times quickly dipping into the 28-second bracket during the morning session.

Kyle Busch, AJ Allmendinger, Joey Logano and Kahne also posted sub-29 second laps.

“It’s getting there,” Logano, driver of the Team Penske No. 2 Ford and the series’ most recent race winner, said of the track surface. “It’s taken awhile, but it definitely is starting to grip up, which is good.

“Yesterday was like ice skating on dull blades down there (in Turns 3 and 4).”

The use of a different aggregate in the makeup of the asphalt and application of lime to help age the track and pull oil from the new surface “makes sense,” Logano said.

“I think it might take a race or two to understand if it actually helps or not. Hopefully it does. But right now we’re in the process of cleaning all that up.

“When you’re laying rubber down the first time, it’s so hard to judge what’s going to happen because it’s so different.”

Tuesday’s practice was slowed only twice by on-track incidents. Logano’s Ford dropped fluid on the track near the end of the session for the first stoppage while Greg Biffle sustained damage to the rear of the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford in a separate incident.

This week’s test is the first of five organizational tests for Sprint Cup Series teams this season. Only one team per organization is allowed to participate. Future tests this year are scheduled for Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 12-13), Watkins Glen International (July 26-27), Chicagoland Speedway (Aug. 23-24) and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Oct. 18-19).

The same aerodynamic package featuring a shorter rear spoiler that was used this past weekend at Michigan International Speedway is being used at Kentucky and will be in place when the series returns to compete here next month (July 7-9).

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams are off this weekend and will be back in action June 26 for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

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RELATED: Full results from Michigan | Updated Chase Grid

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Kevin Harvick‘s weekend troubles all started with a yellow caution flag.

It was the yellow flag that waved for a debris caution and wreck during last Friday’s Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying at Michigan International Raceway, saddling the team with a 29th-place starting position. It was the yellow flag that flew twice during Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Firekeepers Casino 400 at an unfortunate time.


“It was just really hard to pass all day and we kind of made some ground up and started getting midway up there and had a caution come out when we didn’t need it to,” crew chief Rodney Childers recalled in the garage after the race. “Kind of put us in a bad position where we had to do the wave-around and we drove back up there and got to about 13th or 14th again, and the same thing happened again and had to go back to 24th and do the wave-around again.”

But, truth be told, the No. 4 team may have welcomed just one more caution flag in the closing laps for another shot at a final restart.

“I got loose on the (Lap 194) restart where we restarted third,” Harvick said after finishing fifth in Sunday’s 400-miler. “But I’ve just got to say thank you to everybody from Stewart-Haas Racing, especially on the No. 4 Outback Chevrolet, and everybody from Busch, and Jimmy John’s and Mobil 1 and everybody who helps this car.

“It seems like the weekend of cautions; that’s what got us in our starting spot, anyway. But all-in-all, everybody kept their heads up and kept digging and we got a good finish out of it.”

Digging seems to be something the No. 4 team has done quite well this season. In the 15 races thus far, Harvick has improved or equaled his finishing spot from his starting position in all but four races — and two of those were races he was sitting on the pole. Sunday was no different, as the Stewart-Haas Racing driver climbed 24 spots to earn his 12th top-10 result of the year.

The resilience has gone beyond the driver’s seat: Pit stops have seemed to be the downfall for the No. 4 team throughout the year, notably during the AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway on May 15.

“We need to learn how to make a (expletive) pit stop,” Harvick said during the Dover race via in-car radio. “Track position means a whole lot.”

But on Sunday, the pit crew seemed to be back in championship form in the Irish Hills.

“The guys did a great job on pit road. We worked really hard on our pit stops and they were really good today,” Childers said.

The improvements will be crucial for the team moving forward, as the months until the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins wind down. With a win at Phoenix International Raceway in March, Harvick is virtually locked into the championship battle, the team trying for its second Cup title.

By the looks of the past weekend, they’ll be ready.

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Joe Gibbs Racing announced Tuesday a driver change for the XFINITY Series’ American Ethanol E15 Presented by Enogen at Iowa Speedway (June 19, 1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). 


Under recommendations from his doctor, Matt Tifft will sit out for the main event as he undergoes treatment for a disc condition in his back, as reported via a team release from the organization.


Instead, Sam Hornish Jr. will sit in the driver’s seat of the No. 18 Toyota for the 250-lap event. 


Tifft, a Joe Gibbs Racing development driver, has had six starts in the NASCAR XFINITY Series this season, including top-10 finishes in his last two races, at Talladega and Dover.


Hornish Jr., a full-time Sprint Cup Series driver in 2015, also competed in three XFINITY Series events last season for Biagi-DenBeste Racing.


Tifft also had been scheduled to run the NASCAR Camping World Series’ Speediatrics 200 in the No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota, and German Quiroga will fill in for him in that series.


Quiroga drove the No. 11 Toyota at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend, bringing the Red Horse Racing Tundra home in eighth place.


“I’m really excited to have the chance to race at Iowa this weekend. It wasn’t originally in the plan, so I’m thankful to Tom DeLoach and Red Horse Racing for giving me this opportunity,” Quiroga said in a team release. “I’ve been successful at Iowa in the past, so I’m confident that we’ll have a good Toyota Tundra and be able to pick up a good result.”