Posted on by Nascar

Two days after the fact, Kyle Larson didn’t sound as if he looked back on his latest runner-up finish with any regrets.

Disappointed, sure, but regretting nothing about how he handled the closing laps of Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway

Second for a fourth time in his still-blossoming NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career, the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates driver was unable to overtake Matt Kenseth in the waning laps, eventually stopping his No. 42 Chevrolet on pit road instead of victory lane.

The “should he or shouldn’t he” question was inevitable. Contact with Kenseth might have made Larson a winner for the first time since stepping up to the premier series in 2013. But it was a price the 23-year-old said he wasn’t willing to pay.

“I felt like I did everything I could do to get by him without getting into him,” Larson said during a break in Tuesday’s Goodyear tire test at Michigan International Speedway. “I’ve always felt like Matt’s raced me with a ton of respect so I wanted to do my part, racing him with a lot of respect as well. It was a fun battle. …

“I did have a couple of chances to get into him but that’s not really how I want to win my first one. I want to do it the right way. I don’t regret it; maybe it could come back to haunt me, but you never know.”

CGR fields two Sprint Cup teams, the No. 42 for Larson and the No. 1 for teammate Jamie McMurray, a seven-time winner in the series.

From a statistical standpoint, the Dover finish was the closest yet for Larson, who trailed the Joe Gibbs Racing winner by .187 seconds at the line.

Two years ago, it was Kyle Busch throwing a final-lap block at Auto Club Speedway that foiled Larson’s advances. Later that season, it was Joey Logano driving away on a green-white-checkered finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Again in ’14, this time at Kansas in The Chase, Larson was unable to reel in Logano during a final 26-lap green-flag run.

Others have weathered similar storms: Kasey Kahne finished second six times before his first Sprint Cup win and NASCAR Hall of Fame member Bill Elliott was a bridesmaid eight times before winning. The record for near-misses before victory belongs to former driver Lennie Pond, who was second on 12 occasions.

Tabbed as a can’t-miss prospect by veterans such as three-time champion Tony Stewart, Larson scored eight top-fives and 17 top-10 finishes during his rookie season — more than several of those who finished ahead of him in the points battle. But ’15 wasn’t as kind, his numbers dropped and even through the beginning of the current season his results seemed to lag.

More recent efforts, however, have been encouraging.

“Our cars just haven’t been quite as fast as they were in 2014,” Larson said. “We’d kind of fallen behind a little bit on building the bodies the way they need to be and maybe chassis stuff a little bit. But we brought in some smart people over the offseason.”

The addition of crew chief Chad Johnston and engineer Phil Surgen “has really brought a lot of influence to (both) our race teams,” he said.

Larson heads into Friday night’s Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway (7:10 p.m. ET, FS1) as one of the favorites to earn one of the transfer spots into Saturday’s annual Sprint All-Star Race.

“I definitely feel like I’m a smarter racer now, a better race car driver,” he said.

“I feel like over the last several years I’ve kept that same aggressiveness, but gotten my patience a little bit better.

“To be a championship driver, I think you have to put the whole package together and patience is a big part of that.”

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MOORESVILLE, N.C. — It’s not every day that dozens of Sprint Cup Series drivers enter a room and aren’t the ones creating the spectacle, but that was the case for 2016’s “Catwalk for a Cause” hosted by the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation on Wednesday night. 


Who were the stars, then? Davis, Chloe, Braylon, Natalia, Sam, BreeLee, Ava, Leland and Brynn were, of course.

The fashion show’s guests of honor — all children — are battling cancer, something that hits home for Truex and his longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex, who just completed chemotherapy in January after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in August 2014. 



The Martin Truex Jr. Foundation, along with its partnernship with Levine Children’s Hospital, hosts “Catwalk” each year to affirm its commitment to finding a cure for pediatric cancer. 


Before the seventh annual fashion show began, Pollex got up on stage, with Truex beside her, to mention that the night was also one to remember four of the heroes from last year’s show who had lost their battles with cancer between the 2015 and 2016 events.

“We lost four of our kids this year. … We are going to honor them,” Pollex said. 

Elijah Aschbrenner’s presence was felt with several audience members sporting the bright red hair with which he lit up the 2015 event. Elijah passed away November 10.


Once the 2016 event got underway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano and Danica Patrick were among the drivers who swapped their firesuits for cocktail attire and waltzed down the runway, each holding the hand of one of the nine children battling cancer. Although seeing Junior dancing on stage was easily a highlight of the night, the infectious smiles of the children stole the show.

One of the night’s most special moments occurred when Pollex took off her long, blonde wig and walked down the stage with her natural, short pixie cut — her hair returning after the treatments she just completed — with the utmost confidence. The entire room applauded.


The night included a pre-show raffle as well as a live auction when drivers tried to outbid one another. 


To top it all off, the event raised $370,000 (compared to last year’s $253,000), according to Sandy Plemmons, director of the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation. 


Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Elliott will ‘never forget’ Earnhardt move

 

The starting grid for the 1987 Winston All-Star Race looked a lot like an exhibit befitting the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

 

This was The All-Star Race for the ages.

 

Hall of Famers Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, Terry Labonte, Rusty Wallace and Bill Elliott all competed. 

 

Greats such as Neil Bonnett, Harry Gant, Ricky Rudd, Buddy Baker, and Benny Parsons were on the 20-driver starting grid, too.

 

A young Davey Allison and a new Daytona 500 winner Geoffrey Bodine lined up alongside these iconic names. The fast and famed Tim Richmond was on the grid, too, in what was his final season of NASCAR competition.

 

And don’t forget about Kyle Petty, Bobby Hillin Jr. and Greg Sacks.

 

The only driver on that famed All-Star lineup still NASCAR racing today is Morgan Shepherd, who drove a car fielded by drag racing legend Kenny Bernstein — and his seventh-place finish that day in his first All-Star Race remains his best showing.

 

That starting lineup was a true convergence of NASCAR’s best — sentimental favorites, crusty veterans, future Hall of Famers and young stars out to make their big names.

 

It had personality. It had top-line credentials. In only its third running, the 1987 race showed exactly the pizzazz that would help forge the All-Star Race into the can’t-miss annual event that will be on full display Saturday in the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

 

For all its historical allure, amazingly in that famed 1987 race only four drivers even led a lap — the winner Earnhardt (10), the day’s dominant driver Elliott (121), Bodine (3) and Kyle Petty (1).

 

The great seven-time Cup champ Richard Petty crashed with the late superstar Neil Bonnett on Lap 66. As dominant and successful as Petty was, it’s easy to forget he never won an All-Star Race.

 

Among the most memorable aspects of this race will undoubtedly be the day’s winner Earnhardt’s “Pass in the Grass” of Elliott. It wasn’t actually a pass at all, but Earnhardt maneuvering to hold onto his late race lead over Elliott in the day’s most dominant car.

 

It was the first of three All-Star wins for Earnhardt. And the gritty, hard-nosed final laps racing launched this — then still young — event into a bona fide can’t-miss rite of spring.

 

The above photo itself has become quite a piece of NASCAR lore. When this group of 20 drivers came together for this indelible image, these are the numbers they would leave behind: 812 premier series victories, 26 premier series championships, 11 All-Star Race wins … and one urban legend.

Morgan Shepherd

No. 26 Quaker State Buick


1987 stats: Shepherd drove a Buick owned by drag racing legend Kenny Bernstein. Larry McReynolds was the crew chief, and the team’s best showing that year was a runner-up in the Coca-Cola 600 . Shepherd had seven top-five finishes but a hefty 13 DNFs in the 29-race season.

Wow to know: The 1987 version of The Winston was Shepherd’s first of 18 tries. His seventh-place finish in that inaugural start remains his best showing to date.

Where are they now: At 74 years old, he is the only driver that competed in this The Winston of 1987 who is still racing in NASCAR today.

Tim Richmond

No. 25 Folger’s Coffee Chevrolet


1987 stats: Richmond only competed in eight races in what was his final season on the circuit and amazingly won the first two he entered — at Pocono and Riverside, California. He won from the pole position at Pocono and had six top-11 runs for team owner Rick Hendrick. He did not finish the only other two races he competed in because of engine woes.

Wow to know: Richmond finished third in the 1987 All-Star Race and had top-five finishes in all three of the All-Star Races he entered.

Where are they now: Richmond died Aug. 13, 1989, at age 34 from complications of AIDS.

Neil Bonnett

No. 75 RahMoc Valvoline Pontiac


1987 stats: Alabama Gang racer Bonnett only started 26 of the 29 races that season, his campaign shortened when he broke his hip in a crash during the series’ return trip to Charlotte in October. His four third-place finishes were a 1987 highlight. He and Richard Petty crashed on Lap 3 of the All-Star Race, and Bonnett officially finished last in the 20-car field. 

Wow to know: Bonnett only competed in three full Cup seasons in his career but still collected 18 wins, tying him with Harry Gant and Geoffrey Bodine on the premier series’ all-time wins list.

Where are they now: Bonnett was killed during a practice session accident on Feb. 11, 1994, at Daytona International Speedway.

Bobby Allison

No. 22 Stavola Brothers Miller Buick

 

1987 stats: The 1983 champion’s only win in the ’87 season was at Daytona in July, but he had a runner-up effort at Charlotte in the fall after winning the pole there. It was his last full-time season. He finished eighth after starting 14th in The Winston.

Wow to know: Allison would win his third and final Daytona 500 the following year, beating out his son Davey, who finished runner-up. Only four months later, Bobby Allison was involved in a near-fatal crash at Pocono and never competed again in NASCAR’s top division.

Where are they now: Allison was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011 and is a frequent visitor to NASCAR races.

Darrell Waltrip

No. 17 Tide Chevrolet


1987 stats: After a mid-pack ninth-place run in The Winston, Waltrip won at Martinsville, Va., in the fall for team owner Rick Hendrick and finished fourth in the title run. Two years later, he won his only Daytona 500 .

Wow to know: Jeff Hammond took over crew chief duties from Waddell Wilson on Week 13 in time for the Riverside, California, road-course race, where Waltrip finished 30th after starting third.

Where are they now: Waltrip, a 2012 inductee into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, is one of the original broadcasters hired for FOX Sports telecasts of the series and anchors the play-by-play duties with Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon for the network’s portion of the Sprint Cup schedule.

Harry Gant

No. 33 Skoal Bandit Chevrolet


1987 stats: Gant finished 17th in The Winston, parking his Chevy after engine problems. After a runner-up finish in the 1984 Cup championship to Terry Labonte , this was an off year highlighted by a pole position at the spring Bristol race driving the famed Skoal Bandit for the legendary Hal Needham. “Handsome Harry,” as he is still known, went on to win four consecutive races in 1991.

Wow to know: As good as the 18-race winner was, the 1987 season was actually among the worst of this great driver’s career. He amassed 21 DNFs in 29 starts, including eight of the final nine races.

Where are they now: Gant, 76, is content living on his vast 300-acre ranch in North Carolina. He is a regular participant in Kyle Petty’s annual Charity Ride Across America.

Terry “The Iceman” Labonte

No. 11 Budweiser Chevrolet

 

1987 stats: The future NASCAR Hall of Famer wowed with 22 top-10 finishes in the 29-race season including a win for team owner and hometown favorite Junior Johnson at the North Wilkesboro fall race. He added four pole positions and finished third in points behind Dale Earnhardt and Bill Elliott.

Wow to know: Labonte finished runner-up to Earnhardt in The Winston in 1987, but prevailed the following year for the first of two career All-Star victories.

Where are they now: Labonte was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015. He owns a Chevrolet dealership in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Ricky Rudd

No. 15 Motorcraft Ford

 

1987 stats: Rudd won two races that season — at Atlanta and Dover — for car owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Bud Moore. He finished 11th in The Winston as the last driver on the lead lap.

Wow to know: Rudd held the record for consecutive starts (788 between 1981 and 2005) before Jeff Gordon upped the longevity mark last year to 797.

Where are they now: Rudd, 59, spends many days at a local Charlotte go-kart track where he still enjoys going wheel-to-wheel with many of NASCAR’s best, competing regularly in a senior league.

Kyle Petty

No. 21 Citgo Ford

 

1987 stats: An eight-time winner in his premier-series career, Petty scored a victory for his Wood Brothers team at the Charlotte 600-miler that year and finished seventh in the points standings.

Wow to know: Petty finished sixth in The Winston — one of his nine top-10 runs in 23 versions of the event.

Where are they now: Petty, 55, has been a television regular since retiring from NASCAR competition. He is currently a contributor on NBCSN’s NASCAR America show. He also leads a Charity Ride across the country every year raising money for the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

Davey Allison

No. 28 Havoline Ford


1987 stats: This was both his rookie and his breakout season. Although he only competed in 22 of the 29 races, Allison won twice — at Talladega and Dover. He won four pole positions, including back-to-back efforts at Michigan and Darlington, and was easily the 1987 Rookie of the Year. He fared 12th-best in The Winston.

Wow to know: Allison only competed in five full seasons of Cup racing — his best finish in the championship was third place in both 1991 and 1992.

Where are they now: Allison died in a helicopter crash at Talladega in 1993 at the age of 32. He had won earlier in the season at Richmond and was ranked fifth in the championship standings at the time of his accident.

Dale Earnhardt

No. 3 Wrangler Jeans Chevrolet

 

1987 stats: The season was easily one of the most impressive driving performances in NASCAR history and perhaps Earnhardt’s personal best. He won 11 times in 29 races on the way to his third Cup championship — his second in a row. Earnhardt finished fifth in the season-opening Daytona 500 then won the next race at Rockingham and never surrendered the points lead thereafter. At one point between that Rockingham victory and a win at Martinsville he won six races in a seven-event span.

Wow to know: Earnhardt won the 1987 Winston, his first of three times hoisting that race trophy. His victory is credited with the famed “Pass in the Grass” during the race although actually he was in front of the field at the time and veered slightly onto the grass to hold off Bill Elliott. Earnhardt and Elliott battled side-by-side in the final 10-lap segment and Elliott’s car ended up having to pit for a flat tire as Earnhardt cruised in for his first All-Star triumph.

Where are they now: The seven-time Cup champion and inaugural Hall of Fame inductee was killed in a racing accident on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 .

Benny Parsons

No. 35 Folgers Chevrolet


1987 stats: Although Parsons won 21 races in his career, including the 1975 Daytona 500 , he was winless this season with three runner-up finishes — including a second-place finish in the 1987 Daytona 500 . He finished 10th in The Winston and had nine top 10s on the season along with 12 DNFs for car owner Rick Hendrick and legendary crew chief Harry Hyde. It turned out to be the next-to-last full-time season for Parsons, who later enjoyed a robust career as a racing broadcaster.

Wow to know: Parsons made his first Cup start at the age of 22 in 1964, but he didn’t make another until 1969.

Where are they now: In addition to a great post-racing career in the TV booth, Parsons started a winery in his Wilkes County, North Carolina, hometown shortly before his death in 2007 of lung cancer.

Geoffrey Bodine

No. 5 Levi Garrett Chevrolet

 

1987 stats: Having won the 1986 Daytona 500 , much was expected of Bodine in Rick Hendrick’s Chevy. He had 10 top-10 finishes and 10 DNFs, although he won two poles (at Martinsville, and Riverside). His best finish in 1987 was runner-up at Richmond. He was fourth in The Winston — one of only four drivers to lead laps in the race so dominated by Bill Elliott.

Wow to know: After suffering serious injuries in the first-ever NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway in 2000, Bodine made his final Daytona 500 start in 2002 and finished third behind winner Ward Burton and runner-up Elliott Sadler . 

Where are they now: Bodine, 67, officially retired from NASCAR competition in 2012. He helped create the Bo-Dyn Bobsleds that famously and successfully competed in the Winter Olympics. He now lives in Florida.

Buddy Baker

No. 88 Crisco Oldsmobile

 

1987 stats: In this season, Baker — the 1980 Daytona 500 winner — made only 20 starts for his own team but scored 10 top-10 finishes. Transmission problems relegated him to an 18th-place finish in The Winston.

Wow to know: Amazingly for all his accomplishments (19 wins), Baker only ran three full seasons — 1976, 1977 and 1985.

Where are they now: Baker, a hugely popular television and radio analyst after his racing career, died last August from lung cancer.

Bill Elliott

No. 9 Coors Ford

 

1987 stats: This was a stellar year for Elliott, who won the season-opening Daytona 500 from the pole position and closed up the schedule winning at Atlanta from the pole. Elliott won six races and had eight pole positions en route to 16 top-five finishes. Even with five DNFs, Elliott finished runner-up to Earnhardt in the championship.

Wow to know: Elliott won the pole for The Winston and led a dominating 121 of the 135 laps. But he cut a tire with six laps remaining just after dueling door-to-door with Earnhardt, who was famously credited with the “Pass in the Grass.” Elliott ultimately finished 14th, one lap down.

Where are they now: Elliott, a 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, raced full time in the premier series until 2003. He continued competing on a part-time basis until 2012 — giving him an incredible 37 consecutive seasons of Cup racing. Now he’s at the race track encouraging his son Chase, a rookie Sprint Cup driver who steers the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Bobby Hillin Jr.

No. 8 Miller American Buick

 

1987 stats: A teammate to Bobby Allison with the Stavola Brothers, the 22-year old Hillin finished 16th in The Winston.  It was a tough season for the young driver, who had only one top-five run and collected 13 DNFs.

Wow to know: Hillin’s 1986 win at Talladega turned out to be the only victory of his career — 334 starts between 1982 and 2000 — and his ninth-place finish in the points standings that year was also a career best. At the time, he was the youngest Cup winner in history at age 22.

Where are they now: Hillin is CEO of a Texas company working in the Gulf of Mexico oil industry.

Rusty Wallace

No. 27 Kodiak Pontiac

 

1987 stats: The season prior, future NASCAR Hall of Famer Wallace earned his first career victory and he added two more in ’87, proving himself a road course ringer with wins at both Watkins Glen and Riverside. He had nine top-five finishes that season and finished fifth in The Winston for car owner Raymond Beadle.

Wow to know: Wallace earned his only Cup championship in 1989.

Where are they now: A 2013 NASCAR Hall of Famer, Wallace has transitioned to the television and radio booth. He currently works Sprint Cup Series races for MRN radio. He owns multiple car dealerships and helped design the Iowa Speedway, where NASCAR’s XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series race.

Cale Yarborough

No. 29 Hardee’s Oldsmobile


1987 stats: The three-time champion and 83-race winner owned the car he drove this season. He competed in only a portion of the scheduled races (16 of 29) with nine DNFs. He finished 13th in The Winston and retired from the sport after running 10 races the next year, 1988.

Wow to know: Another NASCAR Hall of Famer (Class of 2012), he is one of only two drivers ( Jimmie Johnson is the other) to win three consecutive premier-series titles. Yarborough is a three-time Daytona 500 winner and won 13 pole positions at the track, including four consecutive from 1969-1970. He only ran full time in seven of the 31 seasons he competed in the Cup series.

Where are they now: Yarborough has owned a Honda dealership in Florence, S.C., for decades.

Richard Petty

No. 43 STP Pontiac


1987 stats: By then driving in the later stages of his career, inaugural NASCAR Hall of Famer and the sport’s all-time most prolific winner (200) Petty crashed with Neil Bonnett on the third lap of The Winston and finished 19th. The season was one of his better late-career efforts with nine top-five and 14 top-10s. He finished eighth in the points standings, his last top-10 points showing.

Wow to know: Petty scored his 200th and final win three years earlier in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona.

Where are they now: A part of the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame class in 2010, Petty still owns a pair of cars (No. 43 and No. 44) competing in the Sprint Cup Series and another in the XFINITY Series and is a visible and vocal advocate for the sport and his team’s multiple sponsors.

Greg Sacks

No. 50 Valvoline Pontiac

 

1987 stats: Two years earlier Sacks picked up the only victory of his career in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. He only competed in half the 1987 season and recorded 11 DNFs in 16 starts. He had only two top-20 finishes, making his 15th-place run (three laps down) in The Winston a season highlight.

Wow to know: Sacks ran just one full season in 263 starts between 1983 and 2006.

Where are they now: Sacks lives in Florida and works in the family business, Grand Touring Vodka. The brand was a sponsor on Dale Earnhardt Jr. ‘s XFINITY Series car in 2011.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Weather updates from the track

 

The start of Thursday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practices were delayed due to wet weather at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but a persistent fleet of Air Titan track-drying units got trucks on the track at 6:45 p.m. ET for a one-hour session.

The opening one-hour session was set to begin at 12:30 p.m. ET, but was unable to get underway as crews worked to dry the 1.5-mile track. A second practice, originally set to commence at 2:30 p.m. ET, also was canceled. The final practice, scheduled for 4:30-5:55 p.m., got moved back but ultimately went into the books.


A NASCAR spokesperson said there were 12 Air Titans and eight conventional jet dryers on hand this weekend. Two more jet dryers were en route from Martinsville Speedway on Thursday afternoon.

Friday’s NC Education Lottery 200 is set for 8:30 p.m. ET with television coverage on FS1 and radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Qualifying is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET on Friday with TV coverage on FS1.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: New format puts emphasis on intrigue


This year’s Sprint All-Star Race (Saturday, 9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) format gets a fresh coat of paint when cars hit the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway.


For starters, there are three different segments composed of: an opening 50-lap segment, a second 50-lap segment and then a final 13-lap sprint to the finish of a third segment. Here’s how it all works.


THE RULES, SEGMENT 1

The lineup for Segment 1 is determined by qualifying run earlier Saturday night.


There is a mandatory green-flag pit stop for a minimum of two tires (teams can choose to take two or four) during the opening 50 laps.


After Segment 1, there is a 3-5 minute break. Cars must pit and take a minimum of two tires.


THE RULES, SEGMENT 2

The starting order for Segment 2 is set by the pit-road exit from the mandatory pit stop after Segment 1.


During Segment 2, there is a mandatory green-flag pit stop for a minimum of two tires during this set of 50 laps. The twist here is that the pit stop must occur before Lap 85.


After Segment 2 concludes, there is another 3-5 minute break.


THE RULES, SEGMENT 3

During the break between Segments 2 and 3, there is a random drawing in which the number 9, 10 or 11 is selected. That number determines the number of cars from the 20-car field (starting from whoever is leading the race) which must pit for a mandatory four-tire stop. Pit road is closed to the additional cars.


Those who did not pit will be on older tires and at the front of the field. The order off pit road sets the running order behind those cars. So it will be older tires at the front and fresher tires (and likely faster cars) at the rear. Plenty of strategy to be had.


Only green-flag laps count in Segment 3, and NASCAR Overtime procedures apply.


WHO HAS QUALIFIED?

Drivers who won points races in 2015 or thus far in 2016, plus previous Sprint All-Star winners and former series champions still driving.


SO THOSE LOCKED IN ARE … 

Eligible drivers

Driver How qualified
Joey Logano 2015 winner
Jimmie Johnson 2015 winner
Kevin Harvick 2015 winner
Brad Keselowski 2015 winner
Denny Hamlin 2015 winner
Matt Kenseth 2015 winner
Kurt Busch 2015 winner
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2015 winner
Carl Edwards 2015 winner
Martin Truex Jr. 2015 winner
Kyle Busch 2015 winner
Jamie McMurray Past All-Star winner
Ryan Newman Past All-Star winner
Kasey Kahne Past All-Star winner
Tony Stewart Premier series champion
Trevor Bayne Sprint Showdown Segment #1 winner
Greg Biffle Sprint Showdown Segment #2 winner
Kyle Larson Sprint Showdown Segment #3 winner
Chase Elliott Sprint Fan Vote winner
Danica Patrick Sprint Fan Vote runner-up

HOW ELSE CAN A DRIVER MAKE THE RACE?

The Sprint Showdown (Saturday, 11 a.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will have three transfer spots into Saturday’s race — the winners of Segment 1 (Trevor Bayne), Segment 2 (Greg Biffle) and Segment 3 (Kyle Larson) of the Sprint Showdown earn a spot in the main event.


From there, the top two finishers (Chase Elliott and Danica Patrick) in the Sprint Fan Vote will complete the 20-car field.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Daytona through the years



Daytona International Speedway won Facility of the Year at the 2016 SportsBusiness Journal Sports Business Awards, held Wednesday night at the Marriott Marquis in New York City’s Time Square.
 
The win came as a result of its $400-million Daytona Rising project. The world’s first motorsports stadium was unveiled at the 2016 Daytona 500 as the sell-out crowd witnessed Denny Hamlin win by the closest margin of victory in the race’s history.
 
Daytona International Speedway beat out the San Jose Earthquakes’ Avaya Stadium, Kansas State’s Bill Snyder Stadium, Texas A&M’s Kyle Field and the San Diego Padres’ Petco Park for the accolade.
 
“The incredible transformation of our flagship facility would not have been possible without the hard work and support of our employees, fans, partners, and the entire NASCAR industry,” said International Speedway Corporation Chief Executive Officer Lesa France Kennedy. “I’m so proud of Joie Chitwood and the Daytona International Speedway and ISC team. They truly earned this prestigious award.”
 


The evening saw many members of the NASCAR industry nominated, including: NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France (Executive of the Year), NASCAR (League of the Year), Darlington’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 (Event of the Year) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Social Media in Sports)
 
Daytona Rising, which broke ground in 2013, produced five expanded and redesigned fan entrances called “injectors,” three new concourse levels for fans that span the frontstretch of the track, 40 new escalators, 17 elevators and 60 new trackside suites. The project also created 11 football field-sized social “neighborhoods” filled with video screens, widened 101,500 stadium seats, doubled the number of restrooms and tripled concessions and merchandise points of sale to deliver a more convenient fan experience.
 
The impact of the upgraded facility transcends sports. Daytona Rising’s economic impact provides 6,300 new jobs, $300 million in labor income and more than $85 million in new tax revenue. A plethora of companies have agreed to naming rights deals with Daytona International Speedway, including Toyota, Florida Hospital, Chevrolet, Sunoco and Axalta.
 
Remarkably, the facility remained open for business throughout the almost three-year period it took to rebuild its nearly mile-long fronstretch.  During this time, the facility held two NASCAR events, the 2016 Rolex 24, 2015 Bike Week and hundreds of civic and social gatherings.
 
Launched in 2008 by SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily, the Sports Business Awards recognize leaders and visionaries who personify excellence in the business of sports. The nominees were judged by their achievements from March 1, 2015 through Feb. 29, 2016.

Posted on by Zack Albert

CONCORD, N.C. — Being a two-time champion in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has its share of perks for Matt Crafton. But besides the laurels, there’s also a certain amount of responsibility, one that involves helping the next generation of drivers learn their way.



For the third straight season, Crafton has helped preside over the series’ rookie orientation meetings, joining series director Elton Sawyer in providing insights for the truck tour’s new crop of talent.



In recent years, the duty has fallen to the reigning series champion, which Crafton achieved with consecutive titles in 2013 and 2014. But with last year’s champ, Erik Jones, shifting to the NASCAR XFINITY Series full-time this season, Crafton was asked back.



“If it’s something where I feel I can help the rookies and possibly make it better racing, that’s what it’s all about,” said Crafton, who’s back on top as the series’ points leader after last weekend’s victory at Dover International Speedway. “I remember being a rookie and going to some of these places and not having a damn clue what I was doing or what to expect on some new race tracks, so if you can give them a little bit of insight as a group and then I always tell them at the end, if you ever have any questions, they’re always free to ask me whatever they need to ask me in the trailer afterward. It’s part of it.”



It’s been 15 years since the 39-year-old Crafton was a truck series newbie, almost as long as the lifespan of some members of this year’s rookie crop. When Crafton was on the other side of the first-year drivers’ orientation, he learned from a rotation of the series’ pioneers — Ron Hornaday Jr., Mike Skinner, Todd Bodine.



Times may have changed over the course of Crafton’s career, with the driver roster seemingly skewing younger. But it’s also tilted to an even more ambitious and talented class in one of NASCAR’s most competitive divisions.



“Just to think they’re racing in the Camping World Truck Series at 16 years old like they can do, it’s nuts,” Crafton says. “It’s just crazy the amount of pressure that’s on these kids. The thing is, they’re in great, great equipment. I can honestly say, everybody always says each and every week that, ‘oh, there’s such a great group of rookies out there.’ There’s been a great group of rookies a lot of years in the Camping World Truck Series since I’ve been here, but not all of them have always been in great equipment.”



On this damp Thursday morning, Sawyer and Crafton hold court in the suites over Charlotte Motor Speedway‘s pit road. A group of 15 young drivers — some true rookies and some who were preparing for their first start on the 1.5-mile track — circled around, awaiting direction over the racket of the Air Titans drying the pavement.



Before diving into a discussion about race procedure, Sawyer singled out John Hunter Nemechek, attending his last required rookie meeting at Charlotte — the last track missing from his truck series portfolio. “I thought Elton was going to bring me a cake this week, a certificate or something for graduating,” the 18-year-old Nemechek joked later. “He said he forgot, so I may have to get a cake in to him that says ‘Race Director’ or something on it.”



Sawyer emphasized the high notes from the crew chief’s handout, providing watch-outs about gamesmanship on restarts and other procedures. But he also ceded plenty of time to Crafton, who answered a question from ThorSport Racing teammate Rico Abreu about the blend zone off pit road and how hard he could hustle back onto the race track.



The inquiry led to a detailed description from Crafton about one of the most finicky tracks on the circuit. In vivid terms, Crafton explained the speedway’s character, how much the groove widens in time, how delicate side-by-side racing can be, and what he called the “gnarliest” transition as trucks dive into the Turn 1 banking.



“When we go to a new race track, it’s just learning the basics of the things that we need to look out for, especially here,” says 18-year-old rookie William Byron, who became the series’ newest first-time winner two weeks ago at Kansas Speedway. “He’s talking about the transitions and just things to watch out for in the race. It’s good to have a broad perspective of what it’s going to be like racing here. It gets you a little bit more comfortable.”



Even Nemechek, already a two-time truck series winner on intermediate-sized tracks, has seen the benefits.



“It was a good experience. They all helped every time you went,” Nemechek says. “… Any veteran that you can get and talk to and listen to that you know is going to shoot you somewhat straight when you come to a new place, it can only help you — from race trends to how to get on and off pit road to the characteristics of the race track.”



Crafton’s 366 career starts — an all-time series best — count as an encyclopedic amount of experience, and the back-to-back titles speak to his success. But the longtime veteran says he still finds time to pick up on things from the cub drivers with single-digit starts on their record.



What does he learn?



“Some of these kids nowadays, they just know more than we do,” Crafton says with a playfully satirical grin. “I have a daughter who’s 3 and she already knows more than me.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: Harvick through the years

Stewart-Haas Racing announced Thursday that it has signed Kevin Harvick to a long-term contract extension, scuttling any outlying speculation about his future with the team. Details of the deal were not released.

Harvick, 40, is in his third year with the SHR No. 4 Chevrolet team and crew chief Rodney Childers. Harvick won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in 2014, his first year with the operation co-owned by Tony Stewart and Gene Haas.

“It was a big decision to join Stewart-Haas Racing and it has turned out to be my best decision,” Harvick said in a release provided by the team. “I came to Stewart-Haas Racing to win championships. We have one, but that only made us hungry for more. I’m very happy to have my future secure with a team so dedicated to winning.”

Thursday’s news quashes speculation that Harvick might leave the team, which is moving from Chevrolet to Ford for the 2017 season. Harvick has made 550 starts in NASCAR’s top division, all in Chevrolets.

“Kevin’s results speak for themselves, and in addition to those numbers, he brings a presence to our team that makes everyone want to work harder,” Stewart said in the release. “Kevin Harvick has made Stewart-Haas Racing a better team and he will continue to be an integral part of our future.”

Childers signed a multi-year contract with the No. 4 team last June. Thursday’s announcement promises to keep one of the series’ most successful driver-crew chiefs pairings together for the indefinite future.

 

Harvick has notched nine of his 32 career Sprint Cup wins in Stewart-Haas equipment. Since making the transition to SHR, he has finished first (2014) and second (2015) in the driver standings, and ranks as the top point-earner so far this season.

Harvick will address the media Friday at 1:15 p.m. ET in the media center at Charlotte Motor Speedway, site of Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM). Video of the news conference will be live-streamed on NASCAR.com.

Posted on by Nascar

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Championships are nothing new for Joe Gibbs Racing. The organization won three premier series titles during a six-year stretch with drivers Bobby Labonte (2000) and Tony Stewart (2002, ’05).
 
But domination? Now, that’s something different.
 
“It’s one of those deals where you pinch yourself to try and find out if it’s real,” said Jimmy Makar, Senior Vice President of Racing Operations for the four-team outfit on Tuesday.
 
Makar, along with driver Kyle Busch and other team principals, was on hand at the NASCAR Hall of Fame to unveil the No. 18 team’s throwback paint scheme for this year’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The look harkens back to 1993, when driver Dale Jarrett earned the organization its first win with a victory in the Daytona 500.
 
But while the focus was on the past, the present couldn’t be ignored.
 
JGR folks tread lightly around the subject. But the numbers say what officials won’t — that since the midpoint of the 2015 Sprint Cup Series season, no organization has been as consistent or as successful as Joe Gibbs Racing.
 
The four-team effort with drivers Busch, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth won 11 of the final 21 races of the ’15 season, a year that ended with Busch claiming the championship.
 
Through this year’s first 12 races, those drivers already have won seven times, including six of the last seven. As a result, all four drivers are all but guaranteed a spot in this year’s 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup.
 
It’s no overnight success story, Busch said, noting that the organization didn’t sit idle in early 2013 while engine supplier Toyota Racing Development (TRD) sorted though various engine issues.
 
“We worked on our cars, we worked on our setups, we worked on driver-crew chief communications,” he said. “We worked on all that stuff to get our cars better. And when the engines came, then it was all there. We had the total package.
 
“I feel like we’ve been able to take advantage of all that the last couple of years, of having all the right pieces in place.”
 
The 2013 season was the first that TRD began supplying engines to JGR teams. That was also when Kenseth came on board, winning seven times during his debut season in the No. 20 Toyota. Edwards won twice in ’15 after the Mooresville, N.C.-based organization expanded to four teams with the addition of the No. 19 entry.
 
For the better part of the past decade, it has been Hendrick Motorsports setting the standard among NASCAR’s competitors. So it’s not surprising that both Makar and Busch referenced HMS on Tuesday when talk of domination surfaced.
 
“You think about their runs that they have had over the years and how we’ve always tried to get like that,” Makar said. “Here we find ourselves in not exactly the same position but something where we seem to be on top of our game right now and people chasing us. It’s kind of fun.”
 
Busch was a part of the HMS program while it was the leader of the pack, earning the first four of his 37 career victories with Hendrick.
 
“This sport goes in cycles,” Busch said. “Hendrick was on top for a long, long time. I don’t want to hear about complaining that we’re on top and dominating and bad for the sport because I remember years that Hendrick won 12, 13, 14 races, whatever it was. And they won seven out of eight championships or something like that.”
 
Having top-shelf parts and pieces and some of the most talented drivers isn’t always a recipe for success. The difference today at JGR, it seems, is the willingness among the four teams to share information as well as opinions.
 
Each driver has a distinct personality, from fiery to subdued, as well as a different approach to racing.
 
“But the thing of it is, they work so well together,” Makar said. “That’s the one common thing that we’ve got going on — they share information with each other, they don’t hide things.
 
“The crew chiefs do the same thing. We try to emphasize that. Sometimes you can talk about it all day long but if the guys don’t want to do it, it doesn’t work.”
 
How long will it last? How long can it last?
 
“You always think about, when you’re on top, what’s it going to take to stay there,” Makar said. “It’s the hardest thing in the world to stay on top once you get there. Everybody’s working even harder to try and beat you. You have to make sure you don’t get any sense of overconfidence and quit pushing the limits … that’s the only thing you worry about, is if complacency sets in.
 
“Other than that, it’s what more can we find? How can we get faster and better, make our cars better and compete better? That’s what we do every day … whether you’re running 10th every week or first. The whole goal is to get better as a team. Make our race teams better from the inside and keep trying to push ourselves to be better.”
 
Gibbs, a Super Bowl-winning coach as well as a championship-winning car owner, perhaps understands the pitfalls better than most. That, and the drive to be on top.
 
“If you get to thinking you’re pretty good, that goes against you,” he said. “It takes hard work. The other teams are looking at you and they’re coming. … There are so many cars that are strong right now.”
 
Kenseth’s win at Dover on Sunday, he said, was a perfect example of the level of competition. An exciting battle between the veteran and youngster Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing) left the final outcome in question in the final laps.
 
“It came down at the end there, we’re (side-by-side) with the 42. Who’s going to win? The 42 or us?” Gibbs said. “I do think that’s what is exciting about our sport. People love that. It’s the greatest reality show in the world because we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
 
Busch doesn’t know what the summer months will bring, but he’s confident that the JGR group “is the strongest one.”
 
“I say that because I think Toyota is the best manufacturer in the sport,” he said. “I feel like all four drivers are probably among the best six or seven drivers in the sport, and we’re all on the same team working together. … You’ve got Joe, who is one of the best bosses in the sport, who pushes all of us, is a real people guy and he knows about putting the right people in the right places.
 
“Then too, the things that we all do to work together, not hide anything, share anything we possibly can.”
 
These days, that includes trips to Victory Lane.

 

Editor’s note: Table shows victories by organization from the 2015 Coca-Cola 600 through Sunday’s AAA 400 (does not include non-points events).
Organization Wins
Joe Gibbs Racing 19
Hendrick Motorsports 7
Team Penske 7
Stewart-Haas Racing 3
Furniture Row Racing 1