Posted on by Nascar

Name: Joshua
Current City: Huntley, Illinois
Member since: 2011


Getting to know Joshua

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

“I just wanted to have a voice in what NASCAR does for the future of the sport. Since NASCAR is driven by the fan, I knew that being selected for the Council was something I needed to do to help the sport I love.”


Q. How did you first become interested in NASCAR?

“To be honest, I was always interested in cars, but never thought about watching NASCAR. My grandpa always watched it, but I was too young to realize what it was. One Sunday, I was flipping through channels and saw that a race was on. I have been hooked ever since!”


Q. What makes NASCAR special for you?

“NASCAR is special to me because the fans almost have a personal relationship with the drivers. You cannot get that in any other major sport. We are one big family that loves one thing, racing.”


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

“My favorite tradition is the Coca-Cola 600 Memorial Day weekend ceremony before the race. It commemorates those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. One of my favorite memories is seeing Dale Jr. win in person for the first time! Of all places, that happened at Talladega Superspeedway in May 2014. Not only was the crowd ecstatic, so was I!”


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

Driver: “Dale Earnhardt Jr.”

Track: “Talladega Superspeedway“

Memorabilia: “I always collect at least 3-4 of the best looking Dale Jr. diecasts every year. All of them are located right next to my television where I watch the race every weekend. Also, when I went to Daytona, the statue of Dale Earnhardt Sr. was one of the most iconic things I have ever seen in my life. You know you are in company with a historic man and place when passing him.”


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

“Bristol Night Race”

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

“I like to play video games and see whatever is going in the world of NASCAR.”


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

“My family consists of my mom, dad, sister, and my cat, Zoe. We all go to our local track, Chicagoland Speedway, every year. In the summer, Daytona and Talladega are also annual traditions!”


Q: What’s your dream car?

“Corvette!”  

FROM ALL OF US AT NASCAR, WE THANK JOSHUA FOR HIS CONTINUED SUPPORT AND LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM HIM IN 2016.

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Talladega results | Gallery: Sunday at the track

Editor’s note: The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author.

 

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Raise your hand if your favorite driver wasn’t involved in at least one crash Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.
 

Anyone?
 

Chances are, he or she was. The GEICO 500 was one of those races … let’s see, how best to describe it?
 

Wild? Yes. Intense? Yes. Explosive? Yes. Insane and I don’t know why we continue to race there? Well …
 

It is and they do, and as long as they do, drivers and fans will continue coming back.
 

Multicar crashes certainly aren’t anything new at Talladega; the 2.66-mile track has been the site of such incidents almost from the very day the track hosted its first NASCAR-sanctioned race back in 1969.
 

As Sunday’s race wore on, the number of cars involved in one melee or another continued to mount. Three cars, then three more, then seven, and they’re probably still adding up all the ones involved in the latter stages of the event. What was it, 21 cars caught up in an incident on Lap 161? That’s more than half the starting field.
 

The crews that were able to push their cars back to the garage after the race were the fortunate ones.
 

There were far too many that arrived there on the back end of a wrecker, then were cut, lifted, twisted and rolled onto the team haulers for transport back to the various race shops.

 

It probably wasn’t worth the effort, judging by the looks of several.
 

“Body shops are gonna be plenty busy this week,” one crewman said.
 

No one was seriously injured, and for that we should all be thankful. Ever-evolving safety measures did their jobs, but that probably wasn’t going through the mind of Chris Buescher when his Front Row Racing Ford tumbled down the backstretch.
 

Or Matt Kenseth when his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota took flight, then flipped and slid on its top, the asphalt grinding sheet metal into nothingness.
 

Or Danica Patrick, whose Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet smashed into the inside wall with great force, buckling the SAFER barrier.
 

“Racing has always been that balance of daredevils and chess players,” race winner Brad Keselowski said. “Some weekends we’re chess players, some weekends we’re daredevils. This has always been the more daredevil style of track, which probably offsets some of the tracks that we go to where we’re the chess player.
 

“That’s what makes the NASCAR season so much fun and so unique.”
 

Those who win tend to see things in a positive light. But without watching replays of the incidents, the Team Penske driver admitted it would be unwise to comment on individual situations.
 

“I went flying last year at Daytona, and that’s not fun,” third-place finisher Austin Dillon recalled. “For guys that haven’t done it, it’s just not a fun thing to be a part of. I don’t know how to fix it personally. I know NASCAR will put their efforts towards fixing it. … They’ve made the car safer. That’s the reason why we’re walking away from these crashes.”
 

Chances are, there’s no “fix” for such things. Driver after driver has noted that such incidents are expected, if not quite accepted.
 

“I hate it,” defending series champion Kyle Busch said afterward. “I’d much rather sit at home.”
 

Already a winner this season, Busch noted, “I don’t need to be here.”
 

Sour grapes? Hardly. Busch finished second.
 

And on a day when the garage was quickly filling with torn-up race car after torn-up race car, second didn’t seem so bad.
 

Fans wandered through the garage, a few stopping to collect the occasional piece left behind.
 

Darkness was descending as teams wrapped up their auto-surgery. Rain was on the way.
 

But the big storm had already passed.

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Richard Childress Racing made changes to the pit crews for the No. 3 of Austin Dillon and the No. 31 of Ryan Newman.

Chase Masterson is the new front tire changer on the No. 31. RCR promoted Masterson from the No. 62 XFINITY team to replace Tim Sheets.

Sheets is now changing on the fronts of the No. 13 Germain Racing team.

Meanwhile, the No. 3 team of Austin Dillon also made a move, bringing rear carrier Justin Voss up from the No. 62 XFINITY team. Rear carrier Josh Shipplett moved from the rear of the No. 3 to the front.

For more pit-crew news, visit PitTalks.com.

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RELATED: Full race results | Updated series standings

Breaking down the full field for the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway:


1. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski stayed out of trouble all day, and that was the difference in picking up his second win of the year and fourth at Talladega. Big pushes from Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch helped, too. Keselowski led a race-high 46 laps, including the final 17. Grade: A+


2. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. The No. 18 was stout all day and kept Busch ahead of the crashes, although the 18 did receive a nudge at the outset of the 21-car wreck on Lap 161. He finished second for the second consecutive week for his eighth top-five finish of the season. Grade: A+


3. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Car chief Greg Osborne summed up Dillon’s day on Twitter: “We pitted 17 times. Wrecked 4 times. Ran out of tires. We were 32nd 1 lap down. We NEVER quit.” Dillon was thrilled with the finish and credited the team for not panicking: “It was wrecked, and we finished third!” Grade: A+


4. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Despite being collected in the 21-car wreck on Lap 161, McMurray scored his first top five of the season. It was his seventh at Talladega, tying the superspeedway with Charlotte for McMurray’s most top-five finishes. Grade: A


5. Chase Elliott, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Elliott started from the pole and led the first 13 laps and 27 overall. Even though he posted his third top-five finish in the past four races, Elliott said the No. 24 team was “pretty lucky to get where we got to.” He avoided trouble — and all the wrecks — by running near the front most of the race. Grade: A


6. Tony Stewart/Ty Dillon, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart made his second start of the season, but unlike last week at Richmond, he didn’t finish the race. Stewart, who missed the first eight races of the season because of a back injury, gave way to Dillon — as planned — during the second caution. Dillon then navigated through two big, multicar accidents to bring home the No. 14 with its second top 10 of the season. Stewart gets the points and the top-10 finish, but it doesn’t take away the spotlight from Dillon. Grade: A+


7. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Bowyer survived involvement in the 12-car wreck on Lap 161 to post his best finish of the season and second top 10 in the past three races. Grade: A


8. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Busch was the catalyst for the 21-car wreck on Lap 161 when he got into the back of Jimmie Johnson while running in the top 10. Busch emerged unscathed to restart fourth. Later, he couldn’t hold the lead after the last restart on Lap 186 and is now 0-for-61 in restrictor-plate races. Grade: C.


9. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney survived the 21-car wreck on Lap 161, and the 12-car wreck on Lap 181 happened right behind him. His good fortune resulted in his third top 10 of the season. Grade: A 


10. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. A speeding penalty on his first pit stop was no omen. Bayne spent plenty of time in the top five on Sunday, while leading 22 laps. (He led 12 laps in the previous nine races.) His average running position was 8.6, fourth best, and that — along with good fortune — kept him out of every wreck Sunday. Grade: A 

11. Landon Cassill, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Cassill had an eventful day to find himself just outside the top 10 with one lap to go after surviving a pit-road penalty on his first stop and eluding big trouble in the race’s two biggest multicar wrecks. But his grade drops a notch because it was Cassill who started the final multicar wreck. He was running 12th when he turned Cole Whitt into Kevin Harvick, touching off a seven-car wreck and a caution just before the leaders reached the finish line. Grade: B-


12. Michael Waltrip, No. 55 Toyota, Premium Motorsports. Making his 60th start at Talladega, Waltrip posted his best finish at the superspeedway since finishing fourth three years ago. Waltrip survived an early scare on Lap 59 when Joey Logano pushed Martin Truex Jr. into the back of Waltrip, who was running fifth at the time. Waltrip went onto the apron but came back onto the track and spun, narrowly avoiding contact. Grade: B+


13. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. Truex was running in the top 10 immediately behind Kurt Busch when Busch made contact with Jimmie Johnson to ignite the 21-car wreck on Lap 161. Truex’s Toyota returned to the track all taped up before sustaining even more damage in the seven-car wreck that happened just before Brad Keselowski took the checkered flag. Grade: B-


14. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. The multicar wreck at the finish had Allmendinger on his knees next to his battered Chevrolet, but it couldn’t overshadow his fourth top-15 finish at Talladega in 13 starts and his first lap led of the season. Grade: B


15. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick raced among the leaders for most of the afternoon and led four times for nine laps before sliding across the finish line sideways in a damaged car, one of seven cars involved in a crash leading up to the checkered flag. Grade: A 


16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse was able to avoid major damage in the 21-car wreck on Lap 161 but sustained heavy damage coming to the finish line when he was collected in the seven-car pileup. Grade: B


17. David Gilliland, No. 35 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Gilliland survived the late wrecks for a top-20 finish in first start of the season (he failed to qualify at Daytona). It was his best finish since an 11th in the 2015 Daytona 500. Grade: B


18. Cole Whitt, No. 98 Toyota, Premium Motorsports. Whitt was just outside the top 10 with one lap to go but couldn’t improve his position before taking a hard hit against the outside wall as he approached the finish line. It was the fifth top-20 finish of his career and first since his career-best 13th at Talladega a year ago. Grade: A


19. Bobby Labonte, No. 32 Ford, Go Fas Racing. Making his second start of the season (he finished 31st at Daytona), Labonte avoided major damage in the 12-car wreck on Lap 181 and scored his first top 20 since the 2014 Daytona 500. Grade: A


20. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. That Biffle finished 20th should come as little surprise. His average finish at Talladega is 19.7, and he finished 20th last October at Talladega, too. Grade: C


21. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing. McDowell produced his second-best finish of the season (he finished 15th at Daytona) despite being involved in two of the day’s biggest wrecks along with drawing the ire of Danica Patrick. Grade: B-


22. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The No. 48 was caught up in two wrecks, the second the 21-car monster on Lap 161, which sent the 48 to the garage for repairs. Johnson returned and finished six laps down. Grade: C


23. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hard-luck Kenseth’s eventful day didn’t end when his car got airborne after contact from Danica Patrick and came down on its roof on the backstretch with eight laps to go. Well after the race, he had heated words for nemesis Joey Logano, who had forced him below the yellow line with 15 laps to go. Those two events obscure the fact Kenseth led 39 laps, second only to winner Brad Keselowski‘s 46. Grade: B


24. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick’s race ended with her hitting the inside wall violently with eight laps to go after contact from behind by Michael McDowell. “I’ve hit the inside wall of a superspeedway I think maybe like four times now and that was the worst,” she said. “I know I got drilled from behind and turned sideways … and hello wall.”  Grade: C


25. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano was still sore from his wreck on the final lap of Saturday’s XFINITY race, and his day ended in the 12-car wreck on Lap 181. His aggressive driving initiated the second caution, and there also was his contact with Matt Kenseth that resulted in an earful from Kenseth after the race. Logano didn’t want to discuss what Kenseth said, instead saying, “Two days in a row, a couple big hits; can’t wait to get out of this place.” Grade: C-


26. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard was in the top 10 having a good run — but at the wrong time. He was running beside Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson on the outside when Busch turned Johnson right into Menard’s Chevrolet, setting off the 21-car wreck on Lap 161. Twenty laps later Menard’s day ended in the 12-car wreck on Lap 181. Grade: C


27. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola was collected in two wrecks, with the second one, a 12-car mashup on the backstretch with eight laps to go providing the knockout blow to the No. 43. Grade: C


28. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Newman was running around 15th place when the 21-car wreck on Lap 161 began right in front of him. His Chevrolet sustained damage and left the scene trailing flames. He finished 10 laps back. Grade: D


29. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Larson led nine laps and had the lead three-quarters of the way through the race. Larson was running just outside the top 10 when Kurt Busch hit the back of Jimmie Johnson two cars in front him, touching off a 21-car accident that collected his Chevrolet. Grade: C


30. Brian Scott, No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. The rookie’s promising day was derailed after the big wreck on Lap 161. He finished 16 laps back, his most off the lead this season. Grade: D


31. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin’s trouble on the track extended to pit road, where he had two incidents and several penalties. He also sustained damage in the 21-car pileup on Lap 161. Grade: D-

32. Regan Smith, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Smith was running in the top 10 with 30 laps to go but was collected the Lap 161 wreck and finished 20 laps back. Grade: D


33. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears spun into Aric Almirola on Lap 59 after he was hit by Michael Waltrip, sending the No. 13 to the garage for repairs. It wasn’t Mears’ fault, but he still finished 22 laps back. Grade: C

34. David Ragan, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Ragan was running 24th and within a second of the lead when his engine expired on Lap 151. Grade: D


35. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards’ two-race winning streak came to an abrupt halt. On Lap 110 “something let go” and the No. 19 ran up the track and pinned Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 to the wall, ending the day for both drivers. Grade: F


36. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. The No. 83 suffered damage in the first wreck of the race. Engine issues ended his day after 98 laps run. Grade: F


37. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Just past the halfway point, Buescher’s car became the first of the day to go airborne and flip. Buescher called the wreck “miserable” and a “bummer.” He was right. Grade: F


38. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett was collected in the same wreck that sent Chris Buescher flipping. Annett’s Chevrolet smashed hard into the inside wall, ending his day. Grade: F


39. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne followed his best finish of the season (fourth at Richmond) with a two-crash dud, the second a single-car accident that brought out the fifth caution. Grade: F


40. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Terrible day for the 88. Earnhardt’s first crash was similar to his crash in the Daytona 500 — the back of his car came around. “We missed something this morning,” he said. “It shouldn’t have been on the splitter that hard.” Then when he returned to the track after repairs, his steering wheel came off. On Lap 110, Earnhardt’s day ended when Carl Edwards ran up the track and smashed into his Chevrolet. Grade: F.

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Ben Kennedy has signed a multi-race deal to drive the No. 33 Chevrolet of GMS Racing in the Camping World Truck Series, the organization announced Monday. A minimum of 10 races have been secured, starting May 6 at Kansas Speedway with sponsorship from Weber.

 

Kennedy joins a stable of full- and part-time drivers at GMS that includes Johnny Sauter, Spencer Gallagher, Grant Enfinger and Kaz Grala.

 

“I am very excited to join GMS Racing for the remainder of the 2016 season,” Kennedy said in a team release. “I have watched the organization grow into a powerhouse team over the last year. All of their teams show up to the track each weekend with fast Chevrolets and I have total confidence that GMS will provide me with a solid truck each weekend. It’s a great privilege to join Johnny (Sauter), Spencer (Gallagher), Kaz (Grala) and Grant (Enfinger) in the driver lineup. I am looking forward to the accomplishments we will achieve together as a team.”

 

Jacob Companies will sponsor Kennedy’s ride. Kennedy also picked up another sponsor in Weber, the grill manufacturer, for a select number of races beginning at Kansas Speedway.

 

“I am honored and privileged to work with a company like Weber,” Kennedy said in a team release. “Their products have been in our home as long as I can remember. So this partnership means a lot, and I have confidence that the entire GMS team is determined to make their entry into NASCAR successful. I look forward to much success this season and to winning on and off the track.”

 

Kennedy, 24, parted ways with Red Horse Racing earlier this month.

 

In three Truck races with Red Horse this season, Kennedy recorded finishes of 23rd, 15th and 11th. He had joined that organization in 2015, one year after claiming Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in the series. He landed four top-five finishes in 23 races last season, and the pole position at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

 

Kennedy is the great-grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr.

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RELATED: Truck Series entry list

Clint Bowyer is scheduled to make his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start in nearly two years, running Friday night’s event as a home-state favorite at Kansas Speedway.

Bowyer — an Emporia, Kansas native — is listed as the driver of record for the GMS Racing No. 24 Chevrolet for Friday’s Toyota Tundra 250 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Bowyer is a three-time winner in the series, with his most recent victory coming on June 4, 2011 in his only Truck Series start at the 1.5-mile Kansas track. His most recent Truck Series appearance netted a fourth-place finish at Pocono Raceway in August 2014.

Bowyer will run double-duty in NASCAR national-series competition for the first time this season. He’s also set to drive the HScott Motorsports No. 15 Chevrolet in Saturday night’s GoBowling 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) for the Sprint Cup Series.

Friday’s 250.5-mile Camping World Truck Series event kicks off three consecutive weekends of racing for the Truck Series, with Dover and Charlotte to follow Kansas on the 23-race schedule.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Gallery: Sunday photos from Talladega

 

The NASCAR Research & Development Center figures to be a busy place this week, with officials investigating Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s detached steering wheel and multiple airborne crashes after an eventful race weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

 

NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said those topics would be studied in the aftermath of Sunday’s GEICO 500 at the high-speed Alabama track. O’Donnell’s comments were broadcast Monday morning during one of his regular guest appearances on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “Morning Drive” program.

 

Earnhardt Jr. finished last in the 40-car field Sunday after a pair of early crashes sidelined his No. 88 Chevrolet. But in-car video of him trying to wrangle his car under control by grabbing the steering shaft after his steering wheel detached from the column gained traction on social media, but also caught the eye of NASCAR competition officials.

A similar issue caught Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson earlier this season, when a loose steering wheel caused a crash during Coors Light Pole Qualifying at Phoenix International Raceway.



“Even if it’s an isolated incident, we’ll look at it,” O’Donnell said. “We saw the video as well and know it was trending on Twitter, so some folks want to make light of it, but to your point, it could be something that could cause issues down the road if it was a trend. We’ll talk to Junior and his team and make sure that hopefully was just what you said initially, an isolated incident and go from there. But if there’s anything we can take from that, we will certainly communicate that to all the teams because that’s something you don’t want to see, especially at speed.”


Two hours after O’Donnell’s radio experience, Earnhardt Jr. took responsibility for the incident on Twitter.





WATCH: Earnhardt Jr.’s steering wheel comes off under caution


O’Donnell also addressed the handful of multicar crashes in Sunday’s 500-miler that resulted in cars leaving the ground. The cars of Chris Buescher , Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick all either rolled, caught air or tipped over after being snared in incidents in the tight pack racing common at Talladega and Daytona, where horsepower is restricted.



O’Donnell told “Morning Drive” hosts Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone that officials at the NASCAR R&D Center would work with teams and tracks to share their findings from the crashes.



“My gut reaction is similar to yours, the drivers, the fans and everyone — you never want to see that,” O’Donnell said. “So you immediately work on, ‘OK, is everybody safe? Did the safety equipment do its job?’ and then what can we learn from that. The immediate steps are to review all the media shots that we have of those incidents, work with the race teams and then look at what may or may not be different from when we’ve been not only at Talladega, but at any other race track. We’ve had cars get in the air at other tracks as well, so we’ll look at that. We’ll study the cars as well. We’ll work with the industry. …



“With each incident, you never want to learn through those instances but you always do. Every accident is different: The angle, how fast the car was moving, what was the position of the car, yaw — you’ve got to look at all those things and then the race track, how does it factor in. That’ll all be part of our process in sitting down and reviewing that. We’ve got a great group of folks at the R&D Center who I know the folks in our industry trust to do the right thing, and we’ll continue to do that.”



O’Donnell also touched on the finish to Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race, where Elliott Sadler was declared the winner after an official review. Brennan Poole crossed the start/finish line first, but Sadler was ruled ahead when the caution lights illuminated and the running order was frozen.



O’Donnell said officials in race control considered several factors — including where cars were on the track, did Sadler maintain pace, when did the caution lights first emerge, was Sadler forced below the yellow line — before reaching their decision. But O’Donnell also said that safety was a strong consideration in throwing the yellow flag at all.



“I saw some fans ask, ‘Why the caution? Let ’em race back to the checkered,’ ” O’Donnell said. “From our perspective in the tower, things are happening so quickly. When you see the incident that we saw, you almost forget where the start/finish line is and your immediate reaction is to throw the caution as soon as you can get safety vehicles dispatched. That’s our first instinct on an incident like we saw.”

RELATED: NASCAR explains review of Talladega finish

Posted on by Staff Report

SHOP: SpongeBob NASCAR gear

Do fire suits come in size square?

 

NASCAR and Nickelodeon launched on Monday a new line of SpongeBob SquarePants-themed fan merchandise highlighting the absorbent yellow icon and his underwater cast of characters from Bikini Bottom.

 

The new offerings include apparel for kids of all ages (yes, adults too!) as well as lanyards, beach towels, flags, koozies and more. So whether you want to show your fandom for the Krusty Krab pit crew or fly your Bikini Bottom colors with pride, the NASCAR Superstore has got you covered.

 

But that’s not all. This summer, Nickelodeon will unveil a line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-themed NASCAR gear as the season heats up for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, the kick off of the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

 

Fans can grab the new merchandise at the Fanatics Trackside Superstore and the NASCAR.com Superstore.

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No team wants to be leading in pit-road penalties, but someone has to be. So far this season, pit road has claimed 179 penalties, 40 of which have been pit-crew related. Of those 179 total penalties, there are a few teams that have accumulated more than the rest. 

 

Leading the way is the No. 16 of Greg Biffle with 10 pit-road penalties, only one of which was on his pit crew. Behind Biffle is the No. 23 of David Ragan with nine, none of which were at the fault of his pit crew. Behind those two were the Nos. 7, 17, 30, 31, and 44 that all had eight penalties.

 

Leading the count of penalties accrued by pit-crew members is the No. 83 of BK Racing with four and the No. 15 of HScott Motorsports with three.

 

For more pit crew news and the full penalty chart, visit PitTalks.com.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Watch live stream here | Inside look on official NASCAR inspection


From 8-11 a.m. ET on Tuesday, NASCAR.com will live stream the post-race inspection process.


The three-hour look takes you behind the scenes as NASCAR officials inspect NASCAR Sprint Cup Series vehicles following Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.



The cars being inspected this week are: the No. 2 Ford of Brad Keselowski (winner of Sunday’s race) and the No. 18 Toyota of Kyle Busch (runner-up in Sunday’s race). There was no random car selected this week.


For more information on what the inspection process entails, click here.