Posted on by Nascar

LAS VEGAS — Dale Earnhardt Jr. collected his 13th consecutive NMPA Sprint Most Popular Driver award Friday during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ annual Awards Ceremony held at the Wynn Las Vegas.


Earnhardt is the only driver to have won the award since 16-time winner Bill Elliott was named the recipient at the conclusion of the 2002 season. Earnhardt was awarded the trophy and the National Motorsports Press Association will donate $10,000 in Earnhardt’s name to the charity of his choice.


“They work tirelessly to support our team, not only in voting for the Most Popular Driver but throughout the whole year,” the Hendrick Motorsports driver said. “They’re at the race track every week supporting us. I knew that they were going to fight hard to get us a 13th in a row, but you just never assume anything.”


NASCAR fans cast 410,000 votes during the year’s 11-week voting window that ended with the Sprint Cup Series finale race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 22.


“I’m floored,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It makes me happy to be able to see that support and feel that love. It motivates our team, it really does. … I think their support and motivation has a direct effect on the performance of our team. When I see and feel their enthusiasm, when you talk and react on social media (or) whether it’s at the race track in the grandstands before the race, it fires me up and I work harder. I try to go give the best I can with that motivation that they give and it does affect how we race.


“I appreciate it, especially when the chips are down. When the chips are down it makes you work harder because you know you’ve got a lot of people counting on you. If you didn’t have a lot of people in your corner it would be easy to give up when the chips are down. But it helps me push harder when things aren’t going our way to try to find a way to make things work. I really appreciate it. You never take it for granted.”

The NMPA Sprint Most Popular Driver award completed its 63rd season, making it one of the oldest awards presented in NASCAR. The fan-driven contest is the only major award in NASCAR determined solely by race fans.


“NASCAR fans are the greatest in all of sports,” said NMPA President Brian Nelson, “and I’m delighted that Sprint and the NMPA have given them an opportunity to voice their support. The fans spoke loud and clear, and it’s obvious they support Dale Jr.”


Voting totals increased 14 percent over 2014 in spite of a shorter voting window, and more than 40 Sprint Cup Series drivers received one or more votes this season. Race fans were encouraged to vote daily online and using the NASCAR Mobile app.


“It is our duty as an organization to provide NASCAR fans with the best possible platform in which to participate, and to provide them with the best possible experience,” said Nelson.


The award is sponsored by Sprint, the entitlement sponsor and official wireless partner of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Posted on by Holly Cain

GALLERY: Red Carpet at NASCAR Awards Show



LAS VEGAS — Jeff Gordon appeared as amazed and surprised as the rest of the people filling the massive banquet hall when actor Tom Cruise walked on stage at Friday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Banquet to introduce the retiring driver and reflect on the four-time champion’s storied career.

Gordon, sitting in the audience with his wife, Ingrid and two young children, looked completely stunned as Cruise took the stage at the Wynn Las Vegas. And he got steadily emotional from there.

“When you are treated to excellence every day for 23 years, that doesn’t go away easily,” Cruise said to Gordon.

He talked about “transcendence” and how Gordon has made that happen in his career and in the sport.

“He felt as comfortable discussing a championship with George Bush as breaking down Homestead with Kyle Busch, as at-ease with discussing SNL skits with Jimmy Fallon as racing door-to-door with Jimmie Johnson,” Cruise said. “And with that, he brought joy to millions, used his immense and deserved popularity for the betterment of the world both at home and abroad. 

“Transcendence. Few reach it. He did.

“And although many of us want to say we’ll miss you, what we really mean is we thank you.”

After Cruise’s inspiring tribute, NASCAR Chairman Brian France came on stage to present the 93-time winner with the special and rarely bestowed, “Bill France Award of Excellence” for a spectacular career. Gordon’s time in the sport has truly been both of those things.

Interestingly enough, the last time the award was presented was to Gordon’s team owner Rick Hendrick in 2009.

As Gordon took the stage, he and Cruise embraced and shared a fairly lengthy private conversation before Gordon approached the microphone for his final speech as a NASCAR driver. He had clearly been crying. And there would be more to come.

“I knew that it was going to be a rough night, but that made it tougher,” Gordon said.

Absorbing the adoration in the room, Gordon succinctly summed up his certain and imminent Hall of Fame career, “It’s been absolutely amazing.”

Gordon then thanked a litany of people that launched, sustained, bolstered and punctuated his career before pausing and tearing up again as he looked at Rick and Linda Hendrick — the only Cup team owner he has ever had.

“Thank you so much for choosing me as your driver,” a tearful Gordon said. “I’m so proud to say I drove for one car owner, the best car owner, my entire Sprint Cup career.”

After thanking his parents, acknowledging the fans and smiling widely as he recognized his family in the audience, Gordon finished his impassioned final speech asking, “Am I going to miss it? There’s no doubt.”

And then the good-natured, wildly popular competitor spoke about the things he wouldn’t miss as a driver — the 90-degree daytime practices for a night race, being the last car on old tires and finally he shared, “debris cautions.”

But NASCAR’s modern era master promised that as a broadcaster beginning next year, he promised to raise all those issues.

“Thank you,” he said in closing and received a lengthy standing ovation.

Posted on by Staff Report

GMS Racing announced its full driver-crew chief lineup for the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.

The initial announcement was made via a video release on the team’s Twitter account.

Driving for the team will be Johnny Sauter, Spencer Gallagher and Grant Enfinger, who will pilot a third GMS Racing entry. In a previously announced move, Sauter joins the organization after seven years at ThorSport Racing, where he recorded 10 wins and five top-five finishes in the point standings. Gallagher enters his second full-time season, while Enfinger, the 2015 ARCA Racing Series champion, has six career starts in the series.

Marcus Richmond joins GMS Racing to serve as Sauter’s crew chief, in a move that the veteran driver discussed last week at the NASCAR XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series awards banquet.

“Marcus Richmond’s going to come over and be the crew chief and he’s got some key people that he thinks are going to help the program,” Sauter said. ” … Lot of work to be done in a few short months, but they’re working hard.”

Richmond spent the past two seasons at Red Horse Racing as the crew chief for Timothy Peters. He has eight wins atop the pit box in the Truck Series.

Also joining GMS Racing is Jeff Hensley, who will be paired with Gallagher. Hensley spent the past season working with ThorSport Racing and rookie Cameron Hayley. He has also worked with Sauter for 10 races in 2014, recording one win with him. In his extensive crew chief career, Hensley has 24 NASCAR national series wins atop the pit box (11 in the XFINITY Series, 13 in the Camping World Truck Series).

Jeff Stankiewicz shifts over from Gallagher’s pit box to guide Enfinger’s effort. Stankiewicz worked with Enfinger for 11 ARCA races, recording six wins, two poles, 10 top-fives and 10 top-10’s.

The 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season begins on Feb. 19 at Daytona International Speedway.

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — If there’s one team on pit road that embodies the essence of old-time NASCAR, it’s the No. 41 crew for Stewart-Haas Racing. Led by Crew Chief Tony Gibson, AKA the “Old Man” and Pit Coordinator Joe Piette Jr., the boys on the No. 41 are one of the most hands-on pit crews in racing. Not only are these guys over-the-wall on race day, they also hold positions in the shop at Stewart-Haas Racing.

As modern pit crews evolve with star-studded athletes, this 6-man force of mechanics, fabricators and hardened racers are proving there’s more to pit stops than natural agility. You won’t find modified impact wrenches here; standard Ingersoll Rand impact guns get the job done just fine. It’s the old-school racer mentality of deep focus and confidence from experience that led the No. 41 SHR team to be honored the Most Valuable Pit Crew of 2015.

The No. 41 SHR pit crew, led Piette, will take home Mechanix Wear’s prestigious MVPC award and a check for $100,000 for their outstanding performance on pit road. Mechanix Wear’s Most Valuable Pit Crew award is the longest-running and most-coveted pit crew award in NASCAR. The MVPC award serves as a testament to consistent performance on pit road.

Each quarter of the Sprint Cup season, NASCAR Crew Chiefs vote for the pit crew contributing the most to the success of their team on race day. Each quarter of the season a semi-finalist is awarded a check for $5,000 and a opportunity to win Mechanix Wear’s Most Valuable Pit Crew award and $100,000 at the end of the season.

No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Over-the-Wall Pit Crew  

Shayne Pipala
Front Tire Changer
Welder & Fabricator

Jon Bernal
Tire Carrier
Fabricator

Sean Cotten
Jackman
Pit Coach

Coleman Dollarhide
Rear Tire Changer
Shop Mechanic

Dwayne Moore
Rear Tire Carrier
Shop Mechanic

Rick Pigeon
Gasman
Suspension Shop Manager

Joe Piette
Pit Crew Coordinator

Posted on by Holly Cain

LAS VEGAS — A day before he is officially crowned NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series champion, Kyle Busch confirmed he will be having surgery Dec. 17.

The new Sprint Cup champion told reporters after Thursday’s Myers Brothers Luncheon that his next surgery will include removing the plate, screws and rod that were placed in his right leg and left foot after being injured in a frightening crash in the season-opening XFINITY Series race Feb. 21 at Daytona International Speedway.


He missed 11 Sprint Cup Series races before returning to the seat of his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota then winning five times on his way to earning his first series championship.

“I’m ecstatic for the opportunity to be cut open and have blood and guts all over the place again this offseason,” Busch joked to reporters about the back-to-back surgery schedule.

“No, but I am looking forward to the surgery. I’m looking forward to getting everything out and being able to go through the rehab to try to get back to somewhat normal and being able to not have pain every day and take the medication I have to take every day and all that.”

Busch was upbeat about the medical situation and had high expectations.

“For it being nine months and me feeling how I feel right now, I’m pretty confident I’ll be back to normal nine months after surgery. I still have pain today and every day; it still continues to get better.

“The doctors are pretty shocked at how well I feel right now with the stuff that’s still in the foot. The leg feels fine, it’s normal except on a 20-degree day – it’s got a weird feeling with the broken spot on the bone.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Chip Wile accepts award | Clay Campbell receives award


LAS VEGAS — A packed and enthusiastic crowd filled the Encore ballroom at the Wynn Las Vegas for Thursday’s annual NMPA Myers Brothers luncheon. Darlington Raceway earned the big namesake award, and NASCAR’s full slate of Chase drivers and other dignitaries enjoyed Day 4 of the sport’s championship celebration week.


NASCAR Chairman Brian France opened the event by recognizing the now-retired Jeff Gordon as a “role model for other drivers” then praised the sport’s accomplishments over another news-making season.


Calling it a “pivot” from usual remarks, France said he had “never been more excited about the future.” He praised the sport not only for its keen technological advances like the Air Titan track dryers used all too often this season, but also noting the sport has raised the level of competition. “We will have an exceptional future,” he vowed.


After the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award nominees were introduced, and videos were shown about the four’s charitable commitments, the rest of the day centered on racing awards.


Brett Moffitt accepted the Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year award from Sunoco, humbly thanking all the team owners this year who put him in Cup cars (his best finish was eighth at Atlanta) this year.


WATCH: Moffitt accepts his award


Four-time champion Gordon was mentioned throughout the luncheon with various speakers honoring his impact on the sport. Chevrolet executive Jim Campbell presented a “Lifetime Achievement Award” to the driver, and Chevrolet donated a 2016 Corvette ZO6 to be used as a fundraiser in the Jeff Gordon Foundation.


The NMPA Myers Brothers Award was presented to Darlington Raceway as it was recognized for organizing a fun and extremely popular throwback theme at the track’s annual Fall 500-miler this year. The Southern 500 returned to its traditional Labor Day date this year.


The 2014 champion, and this year’s runner-up, Kevin Harvick, won an afternoon high of five awards, including the Mobil 1 “Driver of the Year Award” for his 2,294 laps led and season-best 23 top-five finishes.


There was plenty of humor on the stage to go along with the moving tributes. For example, Matt Kenseth, who received the Fastest Lap Award remarked that he was “really looking forward to running full-time next year” — taking a little jab at his two-race NASCAR suspension for wrecking Joey Logano during the Chase for the Championship at Martinsville Speedway.


This year’s season champion Kyle Busch was presented with a bottle of “Burnt Rubber” cologne — a nod to the commercial starring Jimmie Johnson. After accepting the gold car from Goodyear, Busch joked that Johnson could run a heat race with all the gold cars (six) he’s received.


WATCH: Busch admits his wife loves his smell


Busch’s crew chief Adam Stevens, who received the top crew chief award from Champion, joked that he was also an “unlicensed psychologist and weatherman” in his work leading Busch’s team, referencing the weather posing numerous challenges throughout the 2015 season.


Denny Hamlin was the only one of the 16 Chase drivers not in attendance. Instead, he is recovering from No. 30 surgery to repair his right knee. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament while playing recreational basketball back in September.


Camping World Truck Series champion Erik Jones filled in for Hamlin Thursday afternoon when the Chase drivers drove down the Las Vegas Strip doing burnouts for thousands who lined the city’s famous streets.

Here is the complete list of Thursday’s award winners from the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Awards Luncheon:
 
· NMPA Myers Brothers Award: Darlington Raceway
· Buddy Shuman Award: Clay Campbell, President Martinsville Speedway
· NASCAR Marketing Achievement Award: Sunoco
· Chevrolet Lifetime Achievement Award: Jeff Gordon
· 3M Lap Leader Award: Kevin Harvick
· American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kevin Harvick
· Coors Light Pole Award: Joey Logano
· Duralast Brakes “Brake in the Race” Award: Kevin Harvick
· Freescale “Wide Open” Award: Kevin Harvick
· Goodyear Tires Award: Kyle Busch
· Ingersoll Rand Power Move Award: No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet team
· MAHLE Clevite Engine Builder of the Year Award: Sam Vernatter, Hendrick Engines No. 4 team
· Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew Award: Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 team
· Mobil 1 Driver of the Year Award: Kevin Harvick
· MOOG Steering & Suspension Problem Solver of the Year Award: Greg Ives, crew chief No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team
· Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap Award: Matt Kenseth
· Sunoco Diamond Performance Award: Kyle Busch
· Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award: Brett Moffitt
· Champion Sponsor Award: Mars, Inc.

Posted on by Staff Report

Eldora Speedway announced Thursday that it has reached an agreement with Major League Baseball Properties, Inc., that will change the name of the annual NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the half-mile dirt track.
 
The Rossburg, Ohio facility will discontinue the names “Mudsummer Classic” and “Mud Summer Classic” for NASCAR’s only national series event on dirt. The race name was tweaked to “Mud Summer” for 2015 in an effort to further distance the event from the Major League Baseball All-Star Game’s nickname of “Midsummer Classic.”
 
The play on words was part of the race’s name since Eldora joined the Camping World Truck Series schedule in 2013. Roger Slack, Eldora’s general manager, didn’t let the name go without one last swipe.
 
“We hope all of the baseball fans who traveled to Rossburg, Ohio the past three years in anticipation of the MLB All-Star Game enjoyed the race and the $2 beers,” Slack said in a statement provided by the track.
 
Tickets for the not-yet-renamed Camping World Truck Series race — scheduled July 20, 2016 — go on sale Monday, Dec. 14 at 10 a.m. ET.

Posted on by Staff Report

Darrell Wallace Jr. was named to Ebony’s Power 100 list this week. The Roush Fenway Racing driver just completed his first full-time season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

In his young NASCAR career, Wallace has five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series wins. In his rookie season in the XFINITY Series, the 22-year-old finished seventh in the point standings driving the No. 6 Ford for RFR.

The list honors heroes of the black community within the fields of arts, politics, education, community activist, media, medicine and sports.

Among those on the magazine’s Power 100 list are musicians John Legend and Drake, “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah as well as actresses Jada Pinkett Smith and Viola Davis.

To see all the honorees, click here.

Posted on by Staff Report

LAS VEGAS — Darlington Raceway moved forward by going back in 2015.

NASCAR’s first paved superspeedway paid homage to stock car racing’s past when it launched a “throwback” program for this year’s Bojangles’ Southern 500, and the move proved to be one of the most talked about, most popular events of the year. So much so that the program has earned the track the National Motorsports Press Association’s 2015 Myers Brothers Award.

The award was announced Thursday during the annual NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers luncheon at the Wynn Las Vegas.

Presented annually by the NMPA, the Myers Brothers Award is named in honor of former NASCAR competitors Billy and Bobby Myers. Its’ purpose is to recognize individuals and/or groups who have provided outstanding contributions to the sport of stock car racing.

Others receiving votes for this year’s award were four-time series champion Jeff Gordon and 2015 Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch.

Darlington Raceway has hosted one or more NASCAR premier series events since 1950. The Southern 500, which returned to its long-held Labor Day weekend date this past season, is considered one of the series’ “crown jewel” events.

RELATED: Best throwback images | See all the Darlington paint schemes


More than 30 cars in this year’s 43-car field featured throwback schemes, honoring everything from long-time sponsors to drivers and popular paint schemes from the early 1970s. Several teams got in the act by wearing crew uniforms similar to those worn at the time; concession stand fare included items that were offered at the time and tickets in some sections were even priced similar to that specific time period.

Even television partner NBC got in the act, bringing back former announcers Ken Squier and two-time champion Ned Jarrett to call a portion of the race from the broadcast booth. Jarrett’s son, Dale — a former series champion as well — joined his father in the booth, marking the first time the two had called a race together.


RELATED: Legends in the booth | How Darlington idea came together


Track President Chip Wile said at the time that the throwback program is “a five-year platform; this isn’t a one-year deal.

“We felt like if we could get eight or 10 teams on board to really showcase what we’re trying to accomplish, we felt like in 2016 we could get more, in 2017 we would get more and so on,” he said. “But the response that we’ve gotten from everyone in the industry has been incredible.”

  

Myers Brothers Award Winners

2015, Darlington Raceway; 2014, Dale Earnhardt Jr.; 2013, Tony Stewart; 2012, Jeff Gordon; 2011, Drs. Joseph & Rose Mattioli; 2010, Jim Hunter; 2009, Barney Hall; 2008, Thomas Taylor Warren; 2007, Bill France Jr.; 2006, Benny Parsons; 2005, Rusty Wallace; 2004, Kyle and Patti Petty;

2003, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; 2002, Mike Helton; 2001, Dale Earnhardt; 2000, Kyle Petty; 1999, Junie Donlavey; 1998, T. Wayne Robertson; 1997, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; 1996, Rick Hendrick; 1995, TNN: The Nashville Network; 1994, Brickyard 400/Indianapolis Motor Speedway; 1993, Goody’s Manufacturing Co.;

1992, Richard and Lynda Petty; 1991, Harry Gant; 1990; Dick Beaty; 1989, Bill France Jr.; 1988 Richmond International Raceway; 1987, ESPN; 1986, Hayride 500; 1985, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; 1984, Charlotte Motor Speedway; 1983, CBS-TV; 1982, Motor Racing Network; 1981, Junior Johnson; 1980, STP & Champion Spark Plug Co.;

1979, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; 1978, Busch Beer; 1977, First National City Travelers Checks; 1976, Junior Johnson; 1975, Bill France Sr.; 1974, H. Clay Earles; 1973, Wood Brothers; 1972, Winston Cigarettes; 1971, Richard Petty; 1970, Richard Howard;

1969, David Pearson; 1968, Wood Brothers; 1967, Richard Petty; 1966, Norris Friel; 1965, Ned Jarrett; 1964, Richard Petty; 1963, Marvin Panch; 1962, Hank Schoolfield; 1961, Ned Jarrett; 1960, Russ Catlin; 1959, Lee Petty; 1958, Bob Colvin.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

The 2015 NASCAR season wasn’t just about hitting important metrics, though the sport did precisely that.
 
As NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Brent Dewar noted on Wednesday at the SportsBusiness Journal’s Daytona Rising/NASCAR Motorsports Marketing Forum, the 2015 season has been one of change, both in terms of business models and the sanctioning body’s quest for a new entitlement sponsor for its foremost series.
 
Dewar said he talks almost daily with Race Team Alliance leader Rob Kauffman, and those discussions have far-ranging implications for the ownership model in the sport, including a possible charter system for team ownership.
 
“Like Rob, I’m cautiously optimistic that we can get something that really helps provide a foundation for the future,” Dewar said, stressing the importance of building stability in the sport.
 
In that same vein, Dewar expressed pride in the recently completed and unprecedented five-year sanctioning agreements with race tracks that host NASCAR events.
 
Asserting that NASCAR racing is more popular today than ever before, Dewar noted that the sanctioning body is in an excellent position to broaden its base of potential replacements for Sprint, which will leave its role as title sponsor for the Sprint Cup Series after 2016.
 
Fundamental changes in the sport, such as an elimination-based Chase format, give NASCAR executives the opportunity to re-introduce the sport to a wider audience.
 
“If you haven’t been around NASCAR in the last two or three years, you really haven’t been around NASCAR,” Dewar said. “It’s really allowing us an opportunity to talk to a wide group, whether it’s blue-chip domestic companies, to internationals, to regional companies — and we have a great story to tell.
 
“It’s casting a wide net. We’re in a nice place, and we’ve been to some really cool companies, talking about our sport. We hope to find a partner that will deliver equally the strength that we’ve gotten from Sprint.”
 
Dewar said there’s no specific timetable for finding a new partner but added that, “I’m as excited today as I’ve ever been in the sport.”