Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full practice results

Reaching a top speed of 169.470 mph in his No. 42 HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi Chevrolet, Kyle Larson topped the leaderboard early in Friday’s final NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Sprint Cup Series regular is making his 14th and final XFINITY start of the season.

Roush Fenway Racing‘s Elliott Sadler — who will drive for Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned JR Motorsports next season — nabbed the second spot on the charts, piloting his No. 1 Ford at 169.231 mph. Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Erik Jones laid down a lap of 168.676 mph in the opening lap to earn the third-fastest spot. The Dillon brothers rounded out the top five, with Austin in the fourth spot (168.287 mph) and Ty in the fifth (167.780 mph).

For the fastest 10 lap consecutive average speed, it was Kyle Busch leading the way at 163.597 mph. Larson was second, followed by Austin Dillon , Ryan Blaney and Aric Almirola .


Points leader and title contender Chris Buescher ranked 11th on the speed charts, his No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford coming in at 165.873 mph. Reigning series champion — and Buescher’s primary competition for the title — Chase Elliott was 16th-fastest (165.042 mph) in his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

The practice began later than anticipated, as track officials worked to dry the track from the rainfall that had halted Sprint Cup practice minutes before. Cars began rolling off the grid at 1:45 p.m.

The XFINTY Series is back on track Saturday for Coors Light Pole qualifying (11:15 a.m. ET CNBC/Live Extra).

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full practice results

Rain interrupted Friday’s opening Sprint Cup Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Carl Edwards was awarded the top spot after his No. 19 Toyota topped the charts early in the session. The caution was waved twice for weather around 1 p.m. ET, and NASCAR ultimately called practice at 1:30 p.m. ET after an attempt to dry the track late in the session. The practice was originally scheduled to run from noon-1:25 p.m. ET.

Edwards — who was eliminated from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup last week at Phoenix International Raceway after rain ended the race prematurely — wheeled his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at 175.143 mph for the top position.

Team Penske‘s Brad Keselowski was next on the charts, posting a fast lap of 174.452 mph in his No. 2 Ford.

Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest of the four Chase contenders, his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet propelling around the 1.5-mile track at 174.374 mph to nab the third spot. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. (173.689 mph) and Jimmie Johnson (173.678 mph) rounded out the top five, respectively.

Keselowski was also fastest in the 10 consecutive lap average speed at 169.664 mph. Kyle Larson was second, followed by Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray and Austin Dillon.

Of the four Chase Contenders, Jeff Gordon came up slowest, his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet ranking 30th on the leaderboard with a top speed of 170.127 mph. Chase drivers Kevin Harvick (173.550 mph) and Kyle Busch (172.177 mph) posted the seventh and 16th-fastest speeds, respectively.

The Sprint Cup Series is back on track at 6:15 p.m. ET for Coors Light Pole qualifying (NBCSN/Live Extra).

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Practice results


Daniel Hemric (No. 14 NTS Motorsports Chevrolet) topped the lone NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice session at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The rookie paced the 145-minute session with a fast lap of 168.908 mph.

Tyler Reddick (No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford) came in second with a speed of 168.824 mph. Reddick enters the final race of the season 19 points back of Erik Jones (No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota) for the championship lead. Jones placed fifth in the session (167.447 mph). Spencer Gallagher (No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet) was third (168.418 mph) and Crafton (167.452 mph) came in fourth.

 

Jones had the fastest 10-lap average speed among seven drivers at 161.716 mph from Laps 11-20; Crafton was second at 160.629 mph, followed by Christopher Bell (159.862 mph), Hemric (159.644 mph) and Daniel Suarez (158.886 mph).

Jones will lock up the title with a finish of 15th or better in Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM); 16th with at least one lap led; or 17th with the most laps led. Jones or Reddick would become the youngest driver to win the Camping World Truck Series championship, while also dethroning two-time defending champion Matt Crafton (No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota) in the process.

Austin Theriault (No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford), who is set to make his first start since a major crash last month at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finished the session 11th. Earlier in the week, Theriault was medically cleared to return to racing after suffering a 10 percent compression fracture of the lower back on Oct. 3 during the Rhino Linings 350.

Keystone Light Pole Qualifying is set for 4:10 p.m. ET (FS1).

Posted on by Staff Report

Michael Waltrip Racing will run its final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The two-car team is shuttering its doors at the end of the season.

Team owner Michael Waltrip was in a sentimental mood on Twitter late Thursday night and shared some thoughts:

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR has partnered with the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE), a recently formed alliance of major sports leagues, associations, media networks and educators created to promote diversity and equality through sports.
 
NASCAR Chairman Brian France will help steer the new initiative, established by Miami Dolphins majority owner Stephen Ross, as a founding member of the RISE Board of Directors, serving alongside the commissioners of the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB, and other top sports executives. The board will convene for its first meeting today.
 
“I applaud Stephen Ross for launching RISE and am honored to serve on the Board of Directors. Diversity is one of our top priorities at NASCAR and we have made tremendous strides in recent years,” said France.
 
The partnership reinforces NASCAR’s overall commitment to diversity and inclusion during what’s been a strong year for the sport. The national series now feature three driver graduates of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity development program including NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Larson and pair of NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers — Daniel Suarez and Darrell Wallace Jr. — who are in competition for 2015 Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.
 
In addition, more than 25 NASCAR Drive for Diversity crew member alums have pitted for national series race teams this season. On Saturday, Mike Russell, jackman for the No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing team, could become the first African-American graduate to win a national series title as Chris Buescher tries to clinch the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series championship.
 
“The NASCAR Drive for Diversity program has produced some of our sport’s top drivers and crew members, and the RISE partnership will have a tremendous impact on our continued expansion in the long-term,” said France. “Perhaps most importantly, we look forward to working with all of the other major sports leagues and television networks to lead on this important social issue.”
 
Ross’ vision for RISE focuses on leveraging the power of sport — and prominent voices across the sports landscape — to build a “nation of understanding, respect and equality.” The non-profit organization seeks to create meaningful dialogue around racial relations and timely issues, as well as educational programming that will help athletes, coaches and executives promote racial sensitivity.
 
LeBron James and Tom Brady are among the top tier athletes pledging support for RISE, and multiple stars appear in a national public service announcement campaign on RISEtoWin.org.
 
“We are pleased to have NASCAR join the unprecedented alliance of professional sports leagues and organizations, media networks, educators and athletes that have joined RISE. Together we will work to harness the unifying power of sport to advance race relations and we are grateful for their partnership and support,” said Ross.

Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: Race results | Series standings


HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Neither the reigning two-time champion nor the plucky driver in his first full season took a spot on the big stage Friday night. But for Matt Crafton and Tyler Reddick, there was plenty of solace to go around.


Crafton and Reddick made the most of banner seasons in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series despite coming up short to newly crowned champion Erik Jones in Friday’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Crafton netted the biggest consolation prize of all, a resounding victory in the Ford EcoBoost 200. Reddick, though stinging from a runner-up finish in the standings, found silver linings in the impact of a successful two-win season.



For Crafton and his ThorSport Racing No. 88 Toyota team, the championship torch was passed to a rookie driver 20 years his junior. But the Truck Series veteran savored his most prolific season in the win column with six victories, capped by Friday night’s romp at the 1.5-mile Homestead track, where he led 93 of 134 laps from the Keystone Light Pole position.



Crafton wound up third in the final series standings, 22 points behind Jones, but relished a year flush with dominance and laps led, doubling the amount of victories in both championship seasons combined.



“This year, I said these guys are unbelievable what they build these trucks up there in Sandusky, Ohio and what (team owners) Duke and Rhonda (Thorson) give us to be able to go out and win six races,” said Crafton, who led the standings from late March through late July. “I say it each and every race, I don’t worry about the points, and I haven’t worried about the points. The last five races, six races, I knew I was going to have to be that much more aggressive, and I was.”



Reddick kicked off his first full season in the Brad Keselowski Racing No. 19 Ford with a victory in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway. He added a win three months later at Dover, but lamented a handful of subpar finishes (19th at Mosport, 15th at New Hampshire) in the season’s second half that left him at a deficit in the series’ pecking order.



Reddick still ended up second in the standings, 15 points off the top and exceedingly close to the lofty goals he set for himself back in the winter.


“Going into this year, our standards were set very high,” Reddick said. “We wanted to win the championship and obviously a lot of people — I feel like a lot of people didn’t think we were capable of that. We didn’t end up being capable of it. As you see, we were runner-up. We were always very strong throughout the season. We were always right there. Unfortunately we were just a little too short there coming into Homestead to really mix it up in the last race.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Though the gravity of the end of his stellar NASCAR career is becoming more and more real, Jeff Gordon has maintained that the full impact won’t be felt until the checkered flag falls on Sunday’s finale. The same could be said for his longtime team owner, Rick Hendrick, who claims at least partial responsibility for keeping Gordon’s career going to this point.
 
Hendrick, who helped bring Gordon to NASCAR’s big leagues in 1993, has coaxed a handful of extra seasons out of the 44-year-old driver in the twilight of his career, so much so that he’s actually turned “one more year” into a verb. On the plane ride back from last Sunday’s race at Phoenix, which left one more weekend ahead of them as driver and owner, Hendrick couldn’t resist one more playful request for a 2016 return to the No. 24 Chevrolet.
 
Gordon declined, especially at peace with his decision with one more championship to pursue.
 
“It’s hard to believe,” Hendrick said Thursday, days ahead of Gordon’s 797th start in NASCAR’s top division. “It just seems like yesterday that he got started. … He just doesn’t look like he’s ready to retire. When I look at him and how young he looks, how good he is, it’s like, man, but I’ve one-more-yeared him a couple of times, so I think I ran out of rope.”
 
The rope might end Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM), but Gordon won’t be completely forgoing a career in motorsports. He’ll be staying with Hendrick Motorsports to groom successor Chase Elliott in his transition to the No. 24 ride and will remain a fixture in the TV booth with NASCAR broadcast partner FOX Sports.
 
But Gordon also left open the possibility for potential driving detail on the horizon, in a part-time role.
 
“That’s the beautiful thing about racing. It doesn’t mean that I won’t ever drive a race car again,” Gordon said. “There’s a lot of different types of series and cars out there that I maybe have never driven before and may have an interest in doing that. But currently, you know, I’m very content with the decision. I don’t plan on doing any Cup races in the future. I know what a disruption that is to Hendrick Motorsports and the team that I’m still going to be involved with, and I’ve got enough things on my plate that are going to keep me very, very busy.”

Plenty of those busy activities — watching his kids’ soccer games, spending more time at home and being there with his family — won’t take place inside the microcosm of the race track. Admittedly, it was a decision Gordon had lobbied for earlier, but one where the timing never quite sorted itself out.
 
When Gordon made his final announcement Jan. 22, Gordon sat poised to improve upon 2014, a season where he racked up four wins but fell short of the championship round by a single point. As the farewell gifts stacked up this season, the wins didn’t, but Gordon & Co. still relied on their remarkable consistency and scrappy spirit.
 
When the No. 24 finally broke through, clinching a title berth with a rousing victory at Martinsville Speedway, Gordon received further confidence that his career-altering decision was the right one.
 
“That win in Martinsville, solidifying our chance to come here as a championship contender, that just sealed it for me,” Gordon said. “I was more disappointed of how earlier in the season we weren’t getting the results. We weren’t putting the performances together. We weren’t running as good as we wanted to. I was making some mistakes. I was thinking to myself, man, I don’t want to go out like this, I want to go out being competitive, battling for wins. That’s what would make me happy.
 
“And we did — all through the Chase we’ve been able to step up and perform the way I was hoping that we would, and then of course the Martinsville win, and now here we are with that same opportunity. That’s how you want to go out, and that’s how I hope I can.”
 
Gordon’s demonstrative celebration at Martinsville might have warranted a penalty in the NFL, but the jubilation was nowhere near excessive considering the impact on one of the sport’s greatest drivers with a chance for a fifth series championship.
 
Should that crowning achievement come true Sunday, Hendrick said the moment would mark a celebration — much like this season — worth sticking around for.
 
“You know, that’s going to be an emotion that’ll happen — I think we’ll all go bananas,” Hendrick said. “It’ll be just like what you saw at Martinsville on steroids, because everybody will be so proud and happy for him and the fact that he can — and some of you guys are the ones that said it to me early; it’s a walk-off home run, and I don’t know how it could get any sweeter than to see a guy, especially for me, that meant so much to me personally, to our organization, could end his career that way. It would just be a fairy-tale story. I think it would be probably the biggest championship won in the last I don’t know how many years.”

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RELATED: Race results  | Series standings

 

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — As strong as he was in winning Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200, Matt Crafton was already looking ahead to 2016.

Crafton, whose hopes for a third consecutive NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship were dashed by a crash at Phoenix last week, won his sixth race of the season, holding off John Hunter Nemechek and Tyler Reddick in the season finale.

Although Crafton’s No. 88 Toyota Tundra finished 2.9 seconds ahead of Nemechek and more than six seconds ahead of Reddick, the 39-year-old veteran still wound up third in the point standings, 15 behind 19-year-old Erik Jones.

“I was having so much fun there at the end of this race,” said Crafton after his first career victory at HMS. “Six wins with as many laps as we’ve led — it’s been awesome this season. We just made too many mistakes. I made too many mistakes. … I promise one thing: It’s going to make us stronger in 2016.”

Crafton said he was happy to be able to “take the gloves off” and go all out for a win at HMS. “That was lot of fun,” he said. “It’s amazing what Junior (crew chief Joiner) can do with these trucks. On that last run, we hit a home run there.”

Ultimately, Kyle Busch‘s eye for youthful talent paid off as Jones did what he needed to in becoming the youngest driver ever to claim a NCWTS title (19 years, 5 months, 21 days) and first NASCAR Next alum. He also became the first to win a driver’s title for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

“He put it to me when he beat me in a Super Late Model race,” recalled Busch, who will race for the Sprint Cup title on Sunday. “I tend to pick up on the talent of younger kids. Actually, the first time he raced against me, he blew my doors off, then blew up 40 laps later. I said, ‘Good. I don’t have to race (against) this one.’ “

There was no blowing up Friday night.

Jones entered the race 19 points ahead of Reddick, his nearest competitor, and 32 points ahead of Crafton, the Keystone Light Pole-sitter. Making his first HMS start, Jones needed only to avoid trouble and finish 15th or higher to claim the series crown.

Jones, who notched three wins this season and has seven career NCWTS victories, finished sixth in the race behind Ben Kennedy and Timothy Peters. He qualified fifth and was content to race safely and efficiently, remaining in the top 10 for most of the race and avoiding any calamity on the track.

“I can’t think of a better way to repay these guys. I can’t think of a better ending than that,” said Jones, who expects to drive full-time in the XFINITY Series for Joe Gibbs Racing next year after parts of three seasons with Kyle Busch Motorsports.

“Eric’s done a lot of growing up in a short period of time,” Busch said. “I’m glad he stuck with me and our plan. I think he has a lot of bigger and greater things ahead on his plate.”

NASCAR Drive for Diversity and NASCAR Next alum Daniel Suarez appeared to have the strongest truck early in Friday’s race, charging from sixth to the lead. But Suarez slid up the track into the truck of Dexter Stacey on Lap 61, falling back to 15th, then found the wall again on Lap 83.

That left Crafton in position to dominate the race. He led 93 of the 134 laps, leaving NASCAR Next driver Nemechek (Chevrolet) and Reddick (Ford) in his wake to battle for second.

Reddick, driving for Brad Keselowski Racing, started fourth and advanced to second behind Crafton with 40 laps to go. But by then, Jones, who briefly slid back to 14th after a caution flag shuffle, had rallied to seventh, keeping Reddick, also a 19-year-old driver, at bay in the chase for the title.

“We were very consistent this year. I’m proud about that,” Reddick said. “We just have to move on to next year. I know what second place feels like and I really don’t like it too much. If I didn’t have enough reasons to win a championship, I’ve got one more.”

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 20, 2015) — NASCAR® fans have more ways than ever to watch as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series™ champion is crowned in this year’s finale at Homestead-Miami SpeedwaySM. Innovative new broadcast and digital outlets from NASCAR and NBC allow viewers to follow both the full driver field and the CHAMPIONSHIP 4® in the ultimate multi-screen experience during the Ford EcoBoost 400.

Live coverage begins on Sunday with Countdown to Green at 1:30 p.m. ET followed by the Ford EcoBoost 400 at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBC. Viewers can also tune-in for NBCSN Hot Pass, a simultaneous live feed with up to three different camera angles trained on each of the remaining four drivers. Closely watch every pass, pit stop and burn out from defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex, Jr. as they vie for the trophy in Miami. Coverage will also be available online via NBC Sports Live Extra.

Fans have a myriad of digital options in addition to the live broadcast, including the NASCAR Mobile™ app and RaceBuddy™,  which will feature in-car cameras from each of the CHAMPIONSHIP 4 drivers. RaceBuddy offers 10 live HD race views, with backstretch and pit road cameras, while NASCAR Mobile features six in-car video feeds, a live leaderboard, in-car audio and a track position dashboard to easily follow favorite drivers during the championship race.

“Presenting new and engaging race content in a live format allows us to deliver greater value to our fans by amplifying their opportunities to consume NASCAR events,” said Tim Clark, managing director, digital platforms, NASCAR Digital Media. “With the multitude of options from both NASCAR and NBC, fans can watch from numerous viewpoints at the same time, giving them a front-row seat to what will certainly be an action-packed championship race.”

Viewers can follow @NASCAR and #TheChase or #Championship4 for real-time updates via social media on the most critical moments throughout the Ford EcoBoost 400.

Jeff Gordon fans can also supplement the race broadcast by following along with the four-time champion’s final ride via a live stream of his in-car camera this Sunday on the NASCAR YouTube page.

Tune-in to NBC at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 22, check out NBC Sports Live Extra, or listen to live coverage on Motor Racing Network (MRN) or SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90, to find out who the next champion will be in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.