Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Complete Miami race results | Series standings


HOMESTEAD, Fla. — With the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title now in Erik Jones‘ rear-view mirror, the immediate question becomes “What’s next for the 19-year-old prodigy?”

With a relatively nondescript, problem-free sixth-place finish in Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jones secured the series driver’s championship, as well as the owner’s title for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Discovered by Busch when he beat his future car owner as a 16-year-old in the Snowball Derby for Super Late Models, Jones delivered the championship after running two part-time seasons for KBM.

“I can’t think of a better way to repay these guys,” Jones said in Victory Lane, after securing the title by 15 points over runner-up Tyler Reddick. “I can’t think of a better way to thank Kyle for all these years (than by) getting the driver’s championship for him. He’s wanted one since the company started, and to bring it home for myself and for KBM, you couldn’t really ask for a better ending than that.”

The youngest champion in series history at 19 years, 5 months, 21 days, Jones has been earmarked for a meteoric ascent to the top level of NASCAR racing.

“It means so much more to have the opportunity to help these younger drivers and to help these kids that are coming up through the ranks to be successful,” Busch said.

“And to do that with Kyle Busch Motorsports and Toyota, there’s nothing greater than to have that feeling and to build that company from the ground up, from nothing, and take it to where it is today.”

But first things first. Team owner Joe Gibbs reiterated on Friday the plan to run Jones in a full season of NASCAR XFINITY Series racing next year, with a few selected Sprint Cup events added to the mix.

Jones has already gotten his baptism in Sprint Cup. Earlier this season, he subbed for Kyle Busch at Kansas, the last of 11 races Busch missed after breaking his right leg and left foot in the season-opening XFINITY Series event at Daytona.

Jones filled a relief role for Denny Hamlin at Bristol in April, after Hamlin’s neck locked up during a rain delay. And when Matt Kenseth earned a two-race suspension for wrecking Joey Logano on Nov. 1 at Martinsville, Jones was tabbed to replace him.

His first laps in a Sprint Cup car were hardly tentative. Behind the wheel of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota, he ran consistently in the top 10 before crashing on lap 196 of 267 at Kansas.

Subbing for Kenseth at Texas and Phoenix, Jones qualified sixth and seventh, respectively, and finished 12th and 19th against the top stock car drivers in the world.

Despite the speed he has shown in the Sprint Cup series, Jones is content to let his career take its course.

“Absolutely, I think the XFINITY Series is completely necessary,” Jones said. “I have no problem running a year there … as long as need be there. I don’t know what the exact career path is for me down the road.

“At some point, yeah, I want to race in the Cup series every weekend. I feel like there’s a plan in place for that opportunity to arise. And I’ll just keep taking what’s given to me every week and go out and try to win races.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Full lineup



HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Denny Hamlin stole the thunder from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ four Championship Round drivers, winning the pole for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBC).



Outrunning Joey Logano and championship-eligible teammate Kyle Busch for the top starting spot, Hamlin toured the 1.5-mile speedway in 30.568 seconds (176.655 mph) in the third and final round of Friday’s knockout time trials.



Logano (176.263 mph) will start beside Hamlin in the season finale, followed by Busch, the highest qualifier among the drivers competing for the series title. Chasers Jeff Gordon (175.291 mph) and Martin Truex Jr. (174.498 mph) will start fifth and 11th, respectively, with defending champion Kevin Harvick taking the green from the 13th starting spot.



Given the focus on the four contenders, Hamlin introduced himself as “Mr. Irrelevant” when he took the podium for the pole winner’s press conference. But he did relish the prospect of winning what will be Jeff Gordon‘s last race in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.



“Sitting back here and watching Jeff talk and everything, it’s like, man, you know, I thought about it before, but I didn’t think about like how awesome it would be to win his final race,” said Hamlin, who won his third Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his first at Homestead and the 23rd of his career.



“No disrespect to him, but, man, that would be awesome to win his final race. I hope he finishes third behind Kyle.”



Harvick posted the fastest lap of the day (177.848 mph) in the opening round, but his fortunes and those of Gordon moved in opposite directions for the remainder of the session. Without benefit of a mock qualifying run in opening practice, Gordon slipped outside the top 24 on his first qualifying attempt but recovered to advance to the second round with a 17th-place effort on his second run.



Gordon was sixth fastest in the second round to advance to the final session.



“That was disappointing, and I think that really affected me, that first run,” Gordon said. “I just didn’t push the car hard enough, didn’t realize how much more grip was going to be out there compared to practice, and I just wasn’t aggressive enough. The car was fine. The car was good. I just needed to go faster mainly through (Turns) 1 and 2.



“I really did not think we could go faster than that. I didn’t think the tires would have it in them. The fact that we were able to advance to the second round was huge. Kind of got me motivated and pumped up after that, and we made some adjustments, some big adjustments on the car, which we felt like we needed to do as you advance through the round and get the tires hot and air pressures start changing you know you’ve got to adjust the balance. 



“The team did an excellent, excellent job of that in those last couple laps. That last one could have been a tiny bit better, but knowing that we had one extra lap on the tires, I’m very, very proud and happy with that run.”



Harvick, on the other hand, failed to crack the top 12 in the second round by .002 seconds and will start deepest in the field of all the Chase drivers.



“Yeah, round one was really good for us, and then we went to round two and just really, really tight in the next two runs that we made,” Harvick said. “We just never really recovered from what we did in the first round to make it repeat. 



“All in all, I just think our balance was too tight. We’ll work on the race car and go from there.”



Note: Jeb Burton and Reed Sorenson failed to make the 43-car field.

Posted on by Daytona International Speedway

NEW YORK (November 19, 2015) — Anheuser-Busch announced today a multi-year partnership renewal with Daytona International Speedway (DIS) that extends its status as the exclusive official beer sponsor of DIS and the DAYTONA 500. The partnership will also provide Anheuser-Busch with naming rights to four locations within the new motorsports stadium as part of the DAYTONA Rising redevelopment project, which is scheduled to open in January 2016.

Two of the bar locations to be featured in the new “World Center of Racing” central “neighborhood” zone and spacious concourses, while the other two will be located in other parts of the stadium. All four locations will enable Anheuser-Busch to advertise multiple brands from its portfolio of beers including Busch, Budweiser, Bud Light and Stella Artois. Anheuser-Busch will also retain naming rights to the infield area — the Budweiser Bistro.

“Daytona International Speedway has been a tremendous partner for Anheuser-Busch ever since we first introduced the Busch Clash back in 1979, which was held each year at DIS the week prior to the DAYTONA 500,” said Nick Kelly, director of experiential marketing, Anheuser-Busch. “We’re looking forward to continuing this relationship that allows us to have a significant marketing presence at the track, and now we’ll be able to deliver an elevated experience to our fans as a result of the DAYTONA Rising project.”

Anheuser-Busch’s partnership with DIS continues a period of investment and rededication to the sport of racing. The Busch family of beers recently announced it is reigniting its storied past in NASCAR by sponsoring Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 team of Stewart-Haas Racing for select races during the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season beginning with the Sprint Unlimited at DIS on Feb. 13. In conjunction, Anheuser-Busch will employ a comprehensive marketing approach to celebrate Busch’s return to the sport of racing, including on-track, experiential, in-market and retail activations, as well as TV spots leading up to the DAYTONA 500.

“We’re thrilled to kick off the next chapter of our longstanding partnership with Anheuser-Busch,” said Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III. “Our new motorsports stadium will provide enhanced opportunities to market their brands and connect with race fans.”

Anheuser-Busch shares a rich history with the sport of racing as well as DIS, dating back to the late 1970s. This represents the longest-standing partnership for DIS.

For more information on Anheuser-Busch, visit www.anheuser-busch.com. To learn more about DIS, please visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com.

Posted on by Nascar

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Team owner Joe Gibbs said Thursday that he is looking forward to having driver Matt Kenseth back at the race track this weekend as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season comes to an end.



NASCAR suspended Kenseth, the 2003 NASCAR premier series champion, for two races after he intentionally took out Team Penske driver Joey Logano during a race Nov. 1 at Martinsville Speedway.



Kenseth had crashed after contact from Logano two weeks earlier at Kansas Speedway. Each incident effectively ended the Chase hopes for the two drivers.



“It’s great having Matt back in there because it’s almost like you’re missing part of the family when somebody — (when) one of our drivers is not there,” Gibbs said during Championship 4 media day activities here. ” … Having him back, yeah, we’ve talked about that, and he just kind of shared some things with me, and then I shared some things with him.  It’s the kind of things between the two of us, but I think he felt like the meeting was very beneficial, and I know I felt the same way.”



Kenseth is one of four Sprint Cup Series drivers competing for JGR, along with Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards. All four made this year’s 16-team Chase field. Only Busch has made it into the final round of four.



In addition to the two-race suspension, NASCAR officials also placed Kenseth on probation for six months, a move that was ultimately reduced to Dec. 31, 2015 upon final appeal.



Kenseth met with NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France earlier this week, and Gibbs also met with France separately. Gibbs said he has spoken by phone with Roger Penske, owner of the Logano and Keselowski entries.



The Martinsville incident was a product of something that “started weeks before,’ Gibbs said when asked if he approved of Kenseth’s actions.



“To be truthful, I don’t tell drivers about their relationship with other drivers and kind of what happens on the race track. I’ll leave that up to them. But I think in this case I kind of stated what I felt before, and I’m going to leave that there.”



“I think there are certain things that have happened in the past where you would say, ‘hey, this is definitely wrong.’ I know I have with drivers, and said, ‘look, this is not something we’re all about,’ and we have all those kinds of discussions. You go through some tough things.



“And then there are other times that you kind of feel like, ‘hey, it’s our responsibility, we’re a team, and we’re going to stand up for each other.'”



NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Erik Jones handled the driving duties for the No. 20 team during Kenseth’s absence, finishing 12th at Texas and 19th at Phoenix.

Posted on by Nascar

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Kevin Harvick, ever the prankster, the needler, the “I bet I can get under his skin” guy, took the high road Thursday during Championship 4 media day activities, choosing instead to pay homage to a four-time series champion.
 
“In the end, you don’t want to be the guy that was disrespectful at Jeff Gordon’s last press conference or say something that’s just a total jackass move,” Harvick said.
 
Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing) is the defending Sprint Cup Series champion. Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports) is a four-time winner of the title and is retiring as a full-time driver at season’s end.
 
The two, along with Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing) make up this year’s championship contenders. The highest finishing driver of the four in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway captures the title.
 
It was an unexpected tact from Harvick, who began this year’s Chase by going for the throat when asked about Joe Gibbs Racing’s perceived superiority heading into the 10-race playoff.
 
“I’ve raced against the Gibbs cars. I think we’re going to pound them into the ground, that’s what I think,” Harvick said of his No. 4 team during a pre-Chase media day gathering in Chicago. “Hopefully they can beat themselves.”
 
At last year’s pre-championship press conference, it was Team Penske’s Joey Logano who bore the brunt of the Harvick mind game, coming after what Harvick saw as questionable driving tactics at an earlier Chase race.
 
After Logano referenced the anticipated “hard racing” in the finale and added “we want to be able to win the championship the right way,” Harvick was quick to chime in.
 
“I thought you were going to say you were going to send Brad (Keselowski) out to be the moving chicane like you were at Talladega,” he said.
 
Thursday, Harvick said this year’s fellow Chase competitors deserved much success for what each has been able to accomplish this season. Truex and his single-car, Colorado-based team surviving each round of the Chase to make the finals and Busch coming back after missing the first 11 weeks of the season due to injury to not only qualify for the Chase but make it this far.
 
“There’s really no reason to ‘create’ a story. There’s no reason to ‘create’ a moment,” Harvick said.
 
Gordon, however, deserves special recognition, he said, primarily because of what he has meant to the sport for more than two decades.
 
“Sure I want to go out and win the championship and win the race, but you know in the end, this is a pretty big moment for our sport,” Harvick said.  “… Even though it’s his last race and growing up a race fan and seeing all the things that he’s accomplished in the sport and being able to be a part of (it) a little bit closer … over the last couple years with the SHR relationship with Hendrick for me has been pretty neat.
 
“I think when you look at all that, I think there’s a demand for that respect that he deserves, and it’s Jeff Gordon. So … this is a moment where it’s about the championship, but it’s also paying respect to what is going to be his last race and a pretty cool moment, whether he wins or loses, the way the year has gone for him has been pretty neat.”

Posted on by Nascar

The teams of Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch head into this weekend’s season-ending, championship-determining race with three warnings each, which could be an issue should either have trouble getting through inspection prior to Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM).

Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing team and Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing squad are two of the four teams in the Championship Round, which is the final round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Also in contention for the 2015 title are Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports) and Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing).

Teams lose their opportunity in the pit selection process following qualifying if they receive a fourth warning during inspection. Failing to clear one of the inspection checkpoints, such as the Laser Inspection Station, typically results in a warning being issued.

Rodney Childers, crew chief for Harvick, said he isn’t concerned about a potential penalty arising at Homestead this weekend.

“We’ve been at three (warnings) for a long time now,” Childers said during a teleconference on Wednesday, “and we haven’t had any issues at all. You’ve just got to be a little bit careful going through for qualifying and that type of thing. But honestly, the past month it hasn’t even been an issue at all.”

Earlier this season, teams complained that the LIS platform, which measures specific points underneath the car, wasn’t consistent. Childers said that hasn’t been the case of late.

“NASCAR is doing a really good job with that thing and changed a few lasers out on it,” he said. “(Last week) at Phoenix it was really consistent. You’ve just got to do the best job you can and play it a little bit conservative on some things and get through qualifying and get your pit selection done.”

Adam Stevens, crew chief for Busch, agreed with Childers, noting that his team will “make a couple extra trips across the platform before practice starts to make sure we know exactly where our stuff is.

“If there’s anything that’s marginal or a number we’re chasing, we’ll make sure that we’re on the short side of it rather than taking a chance of having to go around (again).”

The No. 18 team picked up its third warning last weekend when it required more than two trips through the LIS during pre-race inspection.

Other Sprint Cup teams receiving warnings for inspection issues at Phoenix were the No. 16 of Roush Fenway Racing (Greg Biffle), the No. 20 of Joe Gibbs Racing (Erik Jones, driving Matt Kenseth‘s car), the No. 10 of Stewart-Haas Racing (Danica Patrick), the No. 27 of Richard Childress Racing (Paul Menard) and the No. 46 of HScott Motorsports (Michael Annett).

The 20, 46, and 10 teams will also be docked 15 minutes of practice time Friday for failing to arrive in the inspection line on time.

Non-Chase teams heading into this weekend’s event with three warnings are the teams of Alex Bowman (Tommy Baldwin Racing), Denny Hamlin (JGR) and Jeb Burton (BK Racing), although none of those occurred last week.

When it’s time to go

 

Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing) was penalized last week at Phoenix for beating the leader to the start/finish line at the start of the race, the first time this season the infraction had been called in the Sprint Cup Series.

 

RELATED: Watch video of the incident

The NASCAR Rule Book allows a driver other than the leader to cross the line first only during a restart, not the initial green-flag start of a race.

Busch, who started the race alongside pole winner Jimmie Johnson, had to serve a pass-through penalty. Although he was able to remain on the lead lap, he fell from the front of the pack to 43rd.

While able to rally to a seventh-place finish, Busch was one of four drivers eliminated from Chase contention at PIR.

Brad Keselowski was penalized earlier this season at New Hampshire when he jumped a Lap 242 restart, beating the race leader (control car) out of the restart zone. Although he did not beat the leader, Greg Biffle, to the start/finish line, NASCAR officials judged that he accelerated through the defined restart zone ahead of Biffle.

Earlier this year, NASCAR added a camera and additional official in the restart zone area to better police restarts.

Three other drivers — AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier and Josh Wise — have been penalized for passing on a start/restart. Drivers are not allowed to change lanes or pass other cars until ther have crossed the start/finish line.

Homestead Test shortened

NASCAR officials have announced that the Goodyear tire test, originally slated for Dec. 14-15 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, has been shortened to a single-day test on Dec. 14.

Organizations scheduled to participate in the test are Stewart-Haas Racing (Chevrolet), Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet), Richard Petty Motorsports (Ford) and Furniture Row Racing (Toyota).

It will be Furniture Row Racing‘s first on-track outing under the Toyota banner. The No. 78 team, with driver Martin Truex, currently fields Chevrolet entries.

Tuesday, Dec. 15 is a scheduled rain date in case of inclement weather.

Posted on by Staff Report

Furniture Row Racing has big changes on the horizon, with a manufacturer move from Chevrolet to Toyota coming in 2016 and an expansion to two cars coming in 2017.

The team may not be done at two teams, either.

During Thursday’s live chat with Miss Sprint Cup Madison Martin, Furniture Row Racing general manager Joe Garone answered a fan question of where he saw his team in five years.

“I see three race teams, with a super strong relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing,” Garone replied.

Martin Truex Jr. currently drives the No. 78 for the single-car team. He advanced to the Championship Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, along with Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports), Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing).

The other three drivers are all on four-car teams.

Posted on by Staff Report

The following are team press releases previewing the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, Sunday, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM).

Joe Gibbs Racing:
Kyle Busch | Team preview

Stewart-Haas Racing:
Kevin Harvick | Team preview

Hendrick Motorsports:
Jeff Gordon | Team preview

Furniture Row Racing:
Martin Truex Jr. | Team preview

Posted on by Staff Report

Brad Keselowski Racing announced on Thursday that Austin Theriault has been medically cleared to return to racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

 

The 21-year-old suffered a 10 percent compression fracture of the lower back in a crash while wheeling the No. 29 BKR Ford during the Rhino Linings 350 on Oct. 3 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“I’m looking forward to getting back in the Cooper Standard Ford F-150 and being fast at Homestead,” Theriault said in a team press release.

 

Due to the incident, Theriault has been rehabilitating and staying out of competition for the last four races — Brian Keselowski, Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney have each taken turns driving the No. 29 during his absence.

 

Despite the difficulties he has faced, Theriault’s 2015 season includes two top fives and four top-10 results in eight NCWTS starts, which he will look to add to during Friday’s Ford EcoBoost 200 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM).