It was a full house on the Dirty Air Podcast this week as Regan Smith, Matthew Dillner, Jonathan Merryman, and Chuck Bush discussed the finer points of the new downforce package among other topics including, but not limited to:
—Matt Kenseth‘s pit road communication breakdown,
—Jimmie Johnson‘s historic 76th career win,
–The gang also looks ahead to Las Vegas as NASCAR Goes West.
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Jimmie Johnson has tied Dale Earnhardt’s premier series mark of 76 wins with his win Sunday at Atlanta.
It’s an impressive accomplishment and moves “Six-Time” into a tie with the “Intimidator” for seventh place on the all-time wins list.
Johnson’s historic effort makes us wonder: Will anyone reach 76 wins again? Ever?
Join NASCAR.com’s Brad Norman and George Winkler in this debate, and vote in the poll below with your opinion.
Norman: George, I think we can probably agree that almost all active full-time Sprint Cup Series drivers are out of the running, right? Tony Stewart has 48 wins, and then guys like Matt Kenseth (36), Kyle Busch (34) and Kevin Harvick (31) trail him. That’s too far back. Someone like Joey Logano is the most likely to get there, but I’m going to say no, no one will ever win 76 races again. It’s just too difficult, and there are too many elite drivers at all levels of NASCAR for someone to win that many races over a long period of time.
Winkler: It is a huge mountain to climb, that’s for sure. But when Michael Jordan was piling up points with the Chicago Bulls it was difficult to envision someone like Kobe Bryant or LeBron James coming along and being just as dominant. James isn’t equal to Jordan in championships, but the point is you never know when a sport’s next phenom will enter the picture. Could it be Logano or Chase Elliott? Or could it be someone we haven’t even considered yet? Heck, maybe it’s someone who hasn’t even been born yet. That’s the beauty of sports, the unpredictability, and never knowing when the next great one will emerge and capture our attention.
Norman: Wait, did you compare LeBron to Jordan? That’s a whole different debate. Back in 2002, no one knew Johnson would be this good — and now he’s at 76. That is true. But I think the sport has changed since then, and will continue to change and evolve. It’s a different time and a different era. Drivers talk now about the toll racing takes on their bodies, and the celebrity of being a NASCAR driver brings with it so many opportunities outside of racing — movies, entertainment, broadcasting. It wouldn’t surprise me to see top drivers begin retiring earlier and earlier and joining Jeff Gordon in the booth.
Winkler: Racing can take a toll on the body, but with all the science and nutritional information drivers have at their disposal in this era, they might be able to have longer careers if they want to do it. When you look at what great shape drivers like Johnson are in, it’s not a stretch to think other drivers could adopt similar fitness regimens and could perform at the top of their game deep into their 40s. You know what they say, 50 is the new 40 and 40 is the new 30.
Norman: Sure, but I think the final nail in the 76-win coffin is something I’ve already brought up — the next wave of talent coming through the ranks. Logano. Elliott. Kyle Larson. Austin Dillon. Ty Dillon. Erik Jones. Darrell Wallace Jr.. Ryan Blaney. Chris Buescher. Daniel Suarez. Ben Rhodes. That’s just the beginning. Every new generation will bring loads of talented drivers for NASCAR, a once-regional sport turned national turning global. I see lots of five-or six-win seasons for all of those guys; enough for a handful of 50-win careers. No more.
Winkler: True, there is not a more competitive form of racing than NASCAR, and that makes it tough to dominate and rack up wins like Johnson did in his run of consecutive championships. But to quote the great Jedi master Yoda, there is another, and the force is strong within him. Returning to your original argument, perhaps we should not rule out the active drivers so quickly. If Kyle Busch, who is 30, averages three wins per season over the next 10 years, then that will put him on the doorstep with 64 wins. So let’s make it a date, Brad: 2025, you, me, a couple of beers and a head-to-head debate on whether ‘Rowdy’ can get it done.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will be on the track a day earlier than normal when the series returns to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Kobalt 400.
A day-long test session scheduled for Thursday at the 1.5-mile track will provide teams with a total of six hours of on-track opportunity. The first session is scheduled to run from noon until 2 p.m. ET, followed by another three-hour window from 3-6 p.m. ET.
RELATED: How cars look with the new package
The additional track time was built into this weekend’s schedule to allow teams to continue working with the new 2016 base rules package, a low-downforce configuration that features a shorter spoiler (3.5 inches) as well as changes to the front splitter (an 0.25 leading edge) and radiator pan (33 inches wide).
The package, similar to one run at Kentucky Speedway and Darlington Raceway last season, debuted last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Goodyear tested with four drivers — Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet), Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet), Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) and Brad Keselowski (Team Penske Ford) — Jan. 12-13 at LVMS to confirm the tire choice for this weekend’s race.
Teams will be provided with an additional six sets of tires for Thursday’s test. It will be the first time Sprint Cup teams have run the two tire codes at Las Vegas. According to Goodyear, the right-side tire is a multi-zone configuration, featuring two different tread compounds: The inside two inches of tread built for endurance and heat resistance, while the outer 10 inches built for traction.
The left-side tire build features a compound change in an effort to provide more grip.
Drivers gave the rules package high marks following the Atlanta race, although many expect tracks such as Las Vegas, which features a surface that isn’t as fast or as worn, will provide a better indication of what to expect from the changes.
“Because Las Vegas has a lot of grip,” Kenseth said, “it’s really fast and there’s always really bad aerodynamic effects as you get further back in the pack. The reason that you have a tough time passing at Vegas is because of the aero, so I … think this weekend will be a good base for looking at this new package.”
Sprint Cup teams will be provided five sets of tires for practice at Las Vegas and nine sets for Sunday’s race.
Kevin Harvick, the 2014 series champion, is the defending race winner.
As was the case at Atlanta, teams will have one practice on Friday, followed by qualifying, and two Saturday practices to prepare for Sunday’s 267-lap race.
RELATED: Grading every driver after Atlanta | Relive the weekend in photos
NASCAR officials have suspended crew chief Cole Pearn for one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points race and fined the Furniture Row Racing employee $50,000 for a rules violation that took place during last week’s race weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
In addition, driver Martin Truex Jr. has been penalized 15 championship driver points and team owner Barney Visser has been penalized 15 championship owner points.
The infraction, which involved the roof flap(s), was found during pre-race inspection for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at AMS.
According to a statement from Furniture Row Racing, the organization will appeal the penalty:
“Due to the severity of the P3 penalty levied against Furniture Row Racing and its crew chief Cole Pearn today (Wednesday), the No. 78 Sprint Cup team has informed NASCAR it will appeal the decision. The infraction, which was immediately corrected following technical inspection at Atlanta Motor Speedway last week, was safety related and not competition related. We sincerely appreciate that NASCAR has an appeal process so we can review the level of the penalty.”
Because the team is appealing the penalty, Pearn’s suspension and fine are temporarily deferred until the matter is heard.
The Furniture Row team was one of 10 Sprint Cup teams either fined or the recipients of warnings at Atlanta.
The loss of points drops Truex from second to ninth heading into this weekend’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Randall Burnett, crew chief of the No. 47 JTG Daugherty entry with driver AJ Allmendinger, has been fined $15,000 and placed on probation through Dec. 31 in addition to the loss of 10 championship driver and owner points. The team was penalized for rear wheel crush panel issues that came to light during pre-qualifying inspection on Friday.
Allmendinger falls from 26th to 30th with the points deduction.
Richard Childress Racing crew chiefs Slugger Labbe (No. 3), Justin Alexander (No. 27) and Luke Lambert (No. 31), as well as crew chief Dave Winston (No. 95 Circle Sport Leavine Family Racing), have also been fined $15,000 and placed on probation through Dec. 31 while also losing 10 championship owner and driver points.
According to the penalty report, those teams were in violation of Rule 20.4 e — Unless otherwise stated, all body attachment mounts and supports used to connect body components to the chassis must be constructed of magnetic steel round tubing with a minimum outside diameter of 0.168 inch and a maximum outside diameter of 0.5 inch. All body attachment mounts and supports must be non-adjustable and completely welded at both ends.
Four teams received warnings for failing template inspection on multiple occasions (Nos. 32, 83, 88 and 98).
The No. 32 Go Fas Racing with driver Jeffrey Earnhardt failed template inspection (pre-qualifying) three times; in addition to a written warning, the team will lose 15 minutes of practice time.
The No. 83 BK Racing entry with driver Matt DiBenedetto, the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports entry of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 98 of Cole Whitt (Premium Motorsports) failed template inspection twice (pre-qualifying) and received written warnings.
Truex finished second to Denny Hamlin at Daytona in the closest finish in the history of that event (0.01 second). Sunday at Atlanta, Truex finished seventh and was second in points through the season’s first two races.
RELATED: Truex comes up short at Daytona
Pearn, 33, was placed on probation through Dec. 31, 2016 following this year’s season-opening Daytona 500 for an infraction regarding the roof flap(s) on the No. 78 Toyota before Coors Pole Award qualifying.
The team was unable to make the necessary corrections in time to allow Truex to make a qualifying attempt.
Pearn said of the Daytona issue that the roof flap was “propped up too much” and rather than correct the problem on the grid, officials “wanted us to put (the car) back through templates before we adjusted it. We just didn’t have time to get back there and do that before we got back out.”
In the NASCAR XFINITY Series, crew chief Danny Stockman (RCR No. 2 Chevrolet) was fined $5,000 (rear alignment measurement issues).
Six NXS teams received written warnings for failing LIS twice during pre-race inspection — JR Motorsports No. 1 (Elliott Sadler), RCR No. 3 (Ty Dillon) and No. 33 (Brandon Jones), Kaulig Racing No. 11 (Blake Koch), JGL Racing No. 24 (Corey Lajoie) and Jeremy Clements Racing No. 51 (Jeremy Clements).
One NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team was penalized post-Atlanta — the No. 86 Brandon Brown Racing Chevrolet with driver Brandon Brown. The team received a written warning for a truck trailing arm that did not meet specifications.
April 18 will be here before we know it, but NASCAR fans don’t need to fear the deadline with TaxAct in their toolbox.
TaxAct, which sponsors NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Danica Patrick, allows you to file your taxes with confidence. For more than a decade the company has made filing easy, fast and affordable while providing step-by-step help along the way.
And now there’s extra incentive to shake the tax season blues with the Race to Your Refund Sweepstakes. A number of prizes are up for grabs, including an exclusive 2017 VIP Daytona race experience featuring Patrick and Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Tony Stewart.
Doesn’t the thought of strolling around sunny Daytona with two of NASCAR’s biggest stars help to ease those tax season woes? We thought so, too.
Here’s how to enter TaxAct’s Race to Your Refund Sweepstakes:
— First, go to www.racetoyourrefund.com and register to win.
— Then, select where you think TaxAct driver Danica Patrick will start and finish each race of the season. Make your season-long picks all at once or play week-by-week.
— Be sure to watch the race each week and check the standings to see how well you’ve done.
— Brag to your friends by sharing your winning picks via social media.
Each week you have a chance to win from a wide assortment of prizes, such as Patrick-autographed merchandise, TaxAct-branded apparel and NASCAR tickets.
The sweepstakes ends Nov. 20, 2016. And one lucky winner will be selected for the ultimate grand prize, the 2017 Daytona race weekend VIP experience.
What are you waiting for? Go to www.racetoyourrefund.com and make your picks today.
HAMPTON, Ga. — The hardest person to please for Chase Elliott is Chase Elliott.
A top-10 finish at a tricky track that had veteran drivers and his fellow rookies turning their steering wheels right almost as much as left brought accolades from as high as team owner Rick Hendrick.
Analytical and unassuming, the No. 24 Chevrolet driver’s assessment of his own eighth-place finish in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500: “I need to get better and build on that.”
Truly, though. Elliott was pleased with his first Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the home track to the Dawsonville, Georgia, native.
“It’s definitely special to be here at Atlanta and have a strong run. I’m very happy about that, and definitely a very special feeling to walk out before the race and to see the support in the stands of a lot of people,” Elliott said. “This is close to home for me and a lot of people around here supporting our race team, so that was really cool.”
Elliott pointed to a 24th-place qualifying effort Friday as an area where he can improve, but he was happy to simply finish the 2016 season’s second race after a disappointing wreck relegated him to a 37th-place finish in last week’s Daytona 500.
“Pit stops were solid, and it wasn’t a perfect day, but it was a day we can build on and try to get better,” Elliott continued.
Praise was more effusive from elsewhere.
“I was real proud of him today,” fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. said of Elliott. “I was not surprised by his run, and he’s going to just get better. They’ve got a great team. Alan (Gustafson) is an amazing crew chief and they’re going to work together really well.”
As for Hendrick himself, a rookie handling a lower downforce package at Atlanta was eye-opening, indeed.
“Chase impressed me today about as much as I’ve ever seen a young driver drive — in a race with a low downforce car that he’s never been able to experience in a race before when he’s having to race Kyle Busch and the guys he was racing, Brad (Keselowski), all day long, never make a mistake” Hendrick said. “He was just as cool on the radio as any seasoned driver, getting great feedback.
“I am really excited about that young man in the future.”
Name: Norman (Woody)
Current City: Kernersville, North Carolina
Member since: 2011
Getting to know Norman
Q. Why did you join the Official NASCAR Fan Council?
“I wanted the opportunity to let NASCAR know my opinions and feelings.”
Q. How did you first become interested in NASCAR?
“I was first introduced to NASCAR 20 years ago. I was on active duty and stationed in the great state of North Carolina @ Pope AFB. After that first Sunday afternoon of watching racing, I was hooked.”
Q. What makes NASCAR special for you?
“The opportunity for the small teams to make a difference and for the ‘out of nowhere’ drivers to become great.”
Q: Do you have any favorite NASCAR memories or traditions?
“After moving back to North Carolina, I took my wife to her first race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. We were standing at the start/finish line when the field came around after the first lap. The look on her face and the dirt on her face was amazing.”
Q: Do you have a favorite in any of the following categories?
Driver: “Denny Hamlin“
Track: “Martinsville”
Memorabilia: “The winning rear quarter panel from Hamlin’s Martinsville winning FedEx Freight car. Signed by both Coach Gibbs and Denny.”
Sponsor: “FedEx and M&M’s”
Q: If you could go to any NASCAR race/track, where would you go?
“Talladega”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
“In my free time, I’m an NCHSAA softball and football official. I also love to make the drive to the coast and fish.”
Q: Tell us about your family. Do you have children and/or pets?
“We will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary this year. We have three boys – our oldest is now in the Navy, stationed in Spain.”
Q: What’s your dream car?
“A Cobra.”
FROM ALL OF US AT NASCAR, WE THANK NORMAN FOR HIS CONTINUED SUPPORT AND LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM HIM IN 2016.
Chat with fans during the weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
RELATED: Hear in-car audio of Kenseth and Ratcliff discussing pit road penalty
Two days after a pit-road penalty and a communication mix-up left him with a midpack finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Matt Kenseth said his Joe Gibbs Racing team won’t harp on its recent misfortune.
Kenseth’s remarks came Tuesday morning on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “The Morning Drive.” The former NASCAR premier series champion said any lingering sour taste after Sunday’s 19th-place finish in the second race of the season wouldn’t carry over to team meetings ahead of this weekend’s event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
On Sunday, Kenseth drew a midrace penalty for a pit road infraction when his JGR crew’s fueler placed a tool on the rear deck of his No. 20 Toyota. While crew chief Jason Ratcliff argued the point with NASCAR officials, Kenseth continued to race without knowing that his car was being penalized. He was eventually shown the black flag with the white cross, signifying that his car was no longer being scored.
“I think when it comes to a miscue, we don’t really — I don’t, anyway — dwell on that,” Kenseth told SiriusXM. “I think everybody knows what happened, why it happened, maybe not so much the penalty. We don’t really agree with that, but once the penalty was there and we got black-flagged, we are smart enough to realize what happened there and what went wrong and what we should’ve done different and what we would do next time where it’s not something we’ve really got to sit down and talk about more or go through.”
The subpar finish also came on the heels of his Daytona 500 defeat, where he faded from the lead to a 14th-place finish on the last lap as JGR teammate Denny Hamlin marched on to victory.
RELATED: See the closing laps from Daytona
“I don’t know. Sometimes you make you own luck, sometimes things fall your way, sometimes they don’t,” said Kenseth, who ranks 12th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings after two races. “I think you just go through periods like that, and obviously the last three or four months have been a little tough as far as results go and other things going on. I think you just keep your head down and keep working on it.”
Kenseth also gave SiriusXM his assessment of the new reduced downforce aerodynamic package, which made its debut at Atlanta. He said that the 1.54-mile circuit’s worn asphalt, combined with the track-specific Goodyear tire made it difficult to draw comparisons for how the 2016 aero setup will perform at other venues.
Though he said this Sunday’s Kobalt 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) would be “a good barometer” for the new aerodynamic rules, he also told hosts Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone the ideal handling characteristics he looks for each week, delivered in classic Kenseth deadpan.
“Perfect. You know, like when you had that slot car track when you were a kid. That thing just stuck to the track,” Kenseth said. “You think I’m joking. As long as it’s better than everybody else’s car, that’s what you always aim for. Just want it to be better than everybody else’s.”
When NASCAR and Comcast partnered in 2015, it came with a promise that XFINITY would help change the way fans experience race-day action. As the Official Entertainment Provider of NASCAR, XFINITY is working to bring fans closer to the sport, providing them the opportunity to watch what they love better than ever before.
With the introduction of the XFINITY X1 Sports app NASCAR enhancements, which made its debut to XFINITY subscribers in Daytona, that promise has been fulfilled.
So what does that mean, exactly? For the 2016 season, XFINITY is providing X1 customers an enhanced, on-screen sports app experience that gives race fans an insider’s look into everything that takes place across the three national series, all on their televisions.
“We’re thrilled to now be able to give NASCAR fans a new and enhanced, on-screen sports app experience we launched through XFINITY X1 with baseball and football last year,” Comcast Executive Director of Sports Brand Marketing Matt Lederer said. “The X1 sports app is one of the most in-depth TV sports companion tools in the country. A series of real-time stats and visualizations is presented along the right-hand side of the screen in a rotating, carousel fashion just like the sports graphics and news tickers fans are familiar with watching on TV.
“The NASCAR enhancements to the X1 Sports app will give fans an insider’s look into everything from lead changes throughout the race to providing interactive ways for you to look at a driver’s stats. XFINITY X1 will truly change the way fans experience NASCAR.”
Before race day, the app hosts all the information needed to prepare for a weekend of watching NASCAR XFINITY Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing: track information, race start times, qualifying position, overall championship point standings and more will be waiting at the click of a button.
Once the green flag drops, the app will give fans access to NASCAR’s Timing & Scoring feed, which provides a live leaderboard and other up-to-the-second race stats, all while the race is being televised. Imagine having a second screen with this information, along with a deeper dive into your favorite driver’s biographical information and stats, merged onto your first screen — your television.
Once the checkered flag waves, fans have a full race recap that includes race and series championship standings.
The NASCAR enhancements to the sports app opened the season with rave reviews, as NASCAR fans proved they enjoy and value the complementary first-screen experience. During the Daytona 500 race weekend, X1 customers spent more time using the NASCAR enhancements in the sports app, for a longer period of time, than any other sport that weekend. With the ability to dive into driver-specific data, the NASCAR enhancements to the X1 Sports app is propelling fans to spend more time interacting and exploring the app and learning about the sport.
As we move into the 2016, there is a newly made promise from XFINITY: This is just the beginning.
