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Editor’s note: During each week of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, The Joey Logano Foundation will provide grants to a non-profit in each of the race markets in a program called “Chasing Second Chances.” Each week, Logano will detail those plans for NASCAR.com.


Hey everyone!


The tire issue hurt us early in the race at Texas. We’ve got one more shot at Phoenix to keep the #22 in the Chase!


This Week’s Cause: Cancer Awareness


Our Chasing Second Chances program will again focus this week on an organization helping families get through the life altering diagnosis of cancer. For the last blog post, I talked about perspective and the battle with cancer.  For this post, I wanted to discuss some of the things we as the community can do to help families and individuals as they are facing this challenge.


“There’s nothing more lonely in this world then getting that diagnosis.”

– Singleton Moms Recipient


I have seen this before with family and friends battling cancer. There is a fight to carry on with everyday life as they struggle with the diagnosis. Even with friends and family around, they can still feel isolated; like they are dealing with cancer on their own.


There are ways that we as a community can help these individuals and families to let them know they are not alone. It can sometimes be hard to know exactly what a person or family may need, but it shouldn’t stop us from trying to help. For many cancer patients, the acts of cooking, cleaning a house, getting kids to practice, or going to work can become overwhelming. Just offering to go grocery shopping or bringing a hot meal to the person or family can make a world of difference. If by helping you can make one evening more enjoyable or less painful, it is well worth it.


I encourage you to look into organizations providing services to cancer patients. Many times you can find non-profits in the community that offer volunteer opportunities. Many churches offer volunteer programs too or maybe you just start a meal chain for a neighbor you know has been diagnosed. Whatever way you choose to find an opportunity, you may change a person’s life through one simple act of kindness.


This Week’s Joey Logano Foundation Chasing Second Chances Partner


Singleton Moms is a small, Arizona-based non-profit with a mighty vision. They are dedicated to nurturing single parents battling cancer and their minor children. They do this by meeting the practical day-to-day needs of the entire family, while providing hope for tomorrow.



The organization uses donor support and volunteers to reach their clients. 



The following details who they support:



·       In 2009, 17,000 single parents were living with a cancer diagnosis in Arizona (source)

·       Singleton Families have an average of 2.7 children living in the home

·       70% of the parents they serve have been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer

·       The average age of the parent they support is 36 years old

·       The annual cost to support a family of four is $10,200

·       In 2013, Singleton Moms provided over 2,160 meals or 8,640 portions to Singleton Families. This means that on any day of the year at least 23 people are enjoying a nutritious family meal provided by Singleton Moms.



We were really excited to find out the organization’s founder, Jody Farley-Berens, has been nominated as a finalist for the annual CNN Heroes award. 



This award honors remarkable individuals and their non-profits helping communities all over the world. Congratulations to Jody and her team! 

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RELATED: Tire issues crop up at Texas


The tire issues that bit a handful of teams last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway aren’t expected to be cause for concern when NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams head to Homestead-Miami Speedway next week for the season’s final event.



Although Goodyear will bring the same tire to HMS as was used at Texas, officials believe a lack of on-track time to fine-tune setups and air pressures led to last week’s problems. Both practices on Saturday were canceled due to wet track conditions; the only track time for teams came on Friday during opening practice and qualifying.



“We consistently run this combination here and at Homestead, and also at Chicago,” Greg Stucker, Goodyear Director of Race Tire Sales, said last week at Texas. The majority of the Texas issues, he said, were likely due to “weather and a lack of practice.”



“Guys are always pushing the envelope and trying to take advantage of everything,” Stucker said. “That’s a lot of the things you see in practice. You see it early on and you start dialing back. They just didn’t have the ability to do that (at Texas).”



Among those stymied by tire failures at Texas were Joey Logano (Team Penske), Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates) and Ryan Newman (Richard Childress Racing).



Joe Gibbs Racing driver Carl Edwards managed to avoid any tire problems, but admitted, “I did worry about the tires that I probably wouldn’t have if I hadn’t seen what happened (to others).



“I don’t know what everybody else’s trouble was,” he said, “but with limited practice you never know what everybody was trying and what limits they were pushing.”



AMS Adding More SAFER Barrier



Nearly 5,000 feet of Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barrier will be added at Atlanta Motor Speedway before NASCAR returns to the 1.5-mile track next season, according to track officials.



Additional barriers will be installed on the outside wall along the backstretch, frontstretch and exit of Turn 4; portions of the inside walls in all four turns not currently featuring SAFER barrier is also scheduled to be upgraded.



When completed — work is scheduled to begin in January — approximately 4,742 linear feet of SAFER barrier will have been put in place.



“The safety of both drivers and fans continues to be our utmost priority,” AMS president Ed Clark said. “These additions solidify our commitment to providing the safest racing environment possible and the high-quality entertainment experience our fans deserve.”



SAFER barrier consists of steel tubes mounted to the wall, with polystyrene foam “blocks” filling the space in between the two. The system greatly reduces the force of impact when struck by a vehicle.



Prior to this year’s NASCAR weekend at AMS, officials extended the wall at the exit of pit road (near Turn 1) and added a tire barrier in Turn 4 to provide additional protection.



AMS is scheduled to host NASCAR Sprint Cup, XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series teams Feb. 26-28.



Homestead Test on Tap for December



The 2015 NASCAR season officially comes to a close next weekend in with the running of the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. But a handful of Sprint Cup Series teams will be back at the 1.5-mile track barely one month later to take part in a two-day tire test with Goodyear officials.



Organizations scheduled to participate in the test, on tap for Dec. 14-15, 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.



Wednesday, Dec. 16, is a scheduled rain date in case of inclement weather.

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“Driver code” has been a hot issue lately, but it isn’t the only set of unwritten rules in NASCAR. Pit road has its own code.

Drivers and crew members can do several things during a pit stop to hinder other teams on pit road: positioning cars, tire rolls and hoses can all come into play. Each can be — and has been — used to make tasks harder for other teams during pit stops. When this happens, crew members have been known to enforce their own code.  

This is an excerpt from the book “Money Stop” about an incident years ago involving a driver and front tire changer:

“The year was ’93-’94, somewhere in there, when Geoff Bodine drove the QVC car. Bodine came in the pits and ran over my shoe and knocked over my carrier. I told myself, ‘If I get done with this stop, and that car is still in the pits, I’m going down there.’ We ended up getting our stop done before they did and I went down there to the window and started pounding him in the head. It wasn’t something I was proud of but it happened. It cost me $2,500 bucks, but it was worth it.”

Stewart-Haas Racing pit coach Joe Piette helps explain pit road code and what exactly it means. 

“Is it in writing? Hell, no!” Piette said. “It’s just something that you learn as you pit week in and week out. Back in the day, if you were pitted next to a team you didn’t care for or had issues with, you did everything you could during a race to mess them up. 

“Leaving your sign board down to prevent the car in front of you from getting in their pit stall clean, leaving tires on pit road in the best location to be a nuisance to the team around you, not helping the team around you catch tires, it just goes on and on. 

“Heck, I’ve grabbed a sign board back when we ran glass windshields hoping to damage/crack the windshield of another team’s car because they cut us off, blocked us in, or just weren’t playing nice! Pit road is tight and teams can help or hurt each other.” 

But pit road code also allows for forgiveness when it’s followed properly, Piette explained. 

“This past weekend one of our SHR cars had two pit stops where a tire from another team rolled into our pit stall during our stops,” Piette recounted. “The first time it didn’t slow our stop down, but the second time it cost our team about 2 extra seconds. There were no post-pit stop altercations, no equipment or fists flying. Why? Because the team that made the mistakes admitted to it and apologized for what happened, both during the race and after the race.  

“I received a lengthy text message on Monday morning from one of the other team’s over-the-wall guys simply apologizing and taking full responsibility for the mistake. No doubt there was nothing intentional on their part. Hey, we are all human and we make mistakes. I appreciate the other team members reaching out to us and clearing the air. They are class acts. 

“If we end up pitted next to them again next week, there is no doubt they would help us however they can and we will do the same for them. Why do I know this, because they understand the unwritten pit crew code!”

 

For more pit crew news, visit PitTalks.com.

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: NASCAR mourns passing of Elijah Aschbrenner

 

Even at just 10 years old, Elijah Aschbrenner knew how to command a room. The cancer patient knew how to create smiles, win hearts, and most importantly of all, out-live and out-best the finest doctor estimates.

Too fittingly it feels, I found out he passed away late Tuesday night while I was looking at my texts Wednesday morning as I walked out of my own oncologist’s office.

Elijah is the son of one of the most wonderful women I know, Becky Hughes, whom I first met nearly 20 years ago while she was handling Kasey Kahne‘s NASCAR XFINITY Series public relations.

Becky always has a smile and a kind word, is always so optimistic. So was Elijah throughout his often brutal battle. So was his little brother Sam, who has been a fantastic source of strength for them all. They exuded all the love and optimism you could possibly will upon a group given the toughest existence imaginable.

Very unfortunately, we knew this outcome for Elijah. Yet Becky and her large and loyal crew outside Charlotte, North Carolina, continued to pray for a miracle while simultaneously wishing for peace and comfort for her sweet son — an exemplary example of living in the moment.

WWE wrestling superstar Titus O’Neil changed an airline flight to visit Elijah this summer, and Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton surprised him at a very early block party to celebrate the 10-year-old’s favorite holiday, Halloween.

He was feted at the October NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race weekend at Charlotte and counts drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon as his friends.

Martin Truex Jr. and his girlfriend, Sherry Pollex — who is undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer — have lent Elijah and his family planes for doctor appointments and shoulders to lean on in between.

He joked back in October that all the good will from so many made selecting a favorite driver “a minor problem because they are all so good to me.”

On Wednesday, Pollex tweeted “Go outside today and bask in the sunlight w/a loved one, help others by doing a kind deed, tell someone you love them. … do it for Elijah.”

I spoke with Elijah a month ago for a column I wrote about him for NASCAR.com. I knew his story would inspire and encourage. I also wanted him to have a chance to read it, knowing what an inspiration he had become to so many. To me.

But you don’t have to have cancer to appreciate Elijah’s large attitude and bigger spirit.

I even received notes from others who had interaction with the same rare and fatal version of childhood cancer, Epithelioid Sarcoma that Elijah so bravely battled. Just having the name printed apparently helps that cause, and I know Elijah would want that at the very least.

When I spoke with Elijah a little over a month ago, his voice was much softer than I remembered from our first meeting in May at the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation’s “Catwalk for a Cause” pediatric cancer fundraiser in Mooresville, North Carolina.

At that event Elijah was the rock star and everyone else merely his very-willing cheerleaders. He carried that unmistakable vibe — and brightly dyed hair — throughout his cancer battle and even into the deep, dark days of recent weeks when his mom was buoyed because he was still reactive to his favorite show, “Wheel of Fortune.”

Despite all Elijah was going through he made it hard for you to be sad because he was so joyful despite all the pain and fear of the unknown.

When I interviewed him for that October story, I made a point of not crying while speaking with him — even though as a mom and cancer patient myself it often proved difficult.

When we last spoke weeks ago, he was still upbeat and still inspiring. He offered all sorts of wisdom, sounding much older than his 10 years.

I asked him what advice he had for me and others: “Keep fighting and … breathe.”

His mom shared that Elijah also had advice for her — in addition to allowing a maximum of only three minutes of crying.

“There have been many days when my faith is down and I’m scared and worried and he’ll look at me and say, ‘Mama, we’re going to get through this,’ ” Hughes recalled. “Never once has his faith been in question. A few months ago, he coined the phrase, ‘Faith and believing are your cure.’

“And he really means it.”

We all owe Elijah gratitude for his inspiration, his strength, his grace and a smile and happiness that should be remembered and cherished.

We will keep fighting for you, Elijah.

Posted on by Staff Report

Inspection issues at Texas Motor Speedway will cost the Go Green Racing team with driver Joey Gase and the Premium Motorsports entry with Ryan Preece 15 minutes of practice time this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.

 

The two teams were among seven teams receiving warnings and/or time penalties prior to last week’s NASCAR events at Texas Motor Speedway.

 

Gase, who did not qualify for the AAA Texas 500, will be required to sit out the first 15 minutes of opening practice Friday at PIR after the No. 32 team failed the Laser Inspection Station (LIS) portion of pre-qualifying inspection three times.

 

The No. 98 of Preece failed the LIS four times, also during pre-qualifying, resulting in the loss of practice time.

 

The No. 88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Hendrick Motorsports), the No. 95 of Michael McDowell (Leavine Family Racing) and the No. 23 of Jeb Burton (BK Racing) received written warnings for failing the LIS twice. On the XFINITY Series side, the No. 18 of Daniel Suarez (Joe Gibbs Racing) also failed on its first two attempts.

 

The laser inspection platform, in use since the start of the 2013 season, measures specific points underneath each car, such as camber, wheelbase and rear axle positioning. Measurements are within 1/1,000th of an inch in most cases.

 

The No. 20 XFINITY Series entry with driver Erik Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing) also received a written warning.

 

The first practice for Sprint Cup Series teams this weekend at Phoenix is scheduled to get underway on Friday at 2 p.m. ET. 

Posted on by Staff Report

Elijah Aschbrenner, the 10-year-old cancer patient who stole the hearts of many NASCAR drivers, their families and fans, passed away Tuesday night.

His mother, Becky Hanson Hughes, posted the news on the Prayers for Elijah Facebook page.

 

At 10:52 p.m., my baby went to be with Jesus. Our lives will never be the same; but because of him our lives were forever changed.

Posted by Prayers for Elijah on Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer, Epithelioid Sarcoma, in May 2014, Elijah’s condition had turned for the worse in October. He was the heart of a movement, a social media campaign with the hashtag #prayersforElijah that not only sent prayers and love to Elijah, his younger brother Sam and mother, but also raised awareness about pediatric cancer.

A highlight of recent weeks for Elijah was a visit from Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton on Halloween. Elijah counted many racing stars among his friends and owned the spotlight at May’s “Catwalk for a Cause” pediatric cancer research fundraiser organized by Sherry Pollex and Martin Truex Jr.  

 

 

Elijah walked the runway at the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation event with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who posted condolences and memories on Twitter along with fiancée Amy Reimann.

 

Several drivers and family members also sent messages.

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NASCAR drivers joined people across the nation on Wednesday in sharing thanks on social media to U.S. military service members on Veterans Day.



Posted on by Staff Report

Crown Royal hosted a weeklong celebration of heroes, during which individuals across the country were honored as inaugural nominees for the brand’s annual “Your Hero’s Name Here” program. The program renames the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — scheduled to take place July 24, 2016 — after a deserving hero.

Beginning Nov. 4, celebrities, influencers and partners of Crown Royal selected deserving individuals to be recognized as inaugural nominees for the program, concluding with a special celebration of heroes in Chicago on Veteran’s Day. Each individual was given access to a special experience — receiving tickets to award shows, professional football games and NASCAR races.

For the 10th year in a row, Crown Royal will award an adult hero naming rights to a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race through the “Your Hero’s Name Here” program. The program is designed to honor individuals who go above and beyond, and give back to their communities — from firefighters and military personnel, to police officers and first responders, by offering them an once-in-a-lifetime experience during the Brickyard 400 weekend.

Consumers 21 and older can visit CrownRoyalHeroes.com to nominate their own heroes for a chance to have the Brickyard 400 renamed in their honor. Nominations will be accepted through Feb. 28 and five finalists will be chosen with a chance to win naming rights to the 2016 Brickyard 400.

From there, consumers will be able to vote for the hero they think is most deserving of the honor, and one individual will see their name in lights at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Previous winners are:

• Jeff Kyle, 2015. Kyle was deployed multiple times to Iraq and Africa while serving in the military for eight years. During his time with the 3rd Marine Division, Kyle received the Navy Achievement Medal for leading the first Marine detachment to transport a nuclear submarine through hostile waters. After leaving the military, Sergeant Kyle has dedicated his life to helping his fellow servicemen and women through his tireless efforts to bring awareness to veterans’ needs.

• John Wayne Walding, 2014. Walding, a Green Beret, served a tour in Iraq and lost part of his leg after being shot by a sniper in Afghanistan. Walding mended his own wound and continued to return before the Green Berets were rescued. Walding later became the first amputee to graduate from the Special Forces Sniper School.

• Samuel Deeds, 2013. While deployed in Iraq, Deeds came across an improvised explosive device (IED) while setting up a vehicle checkpoint. Upon seeing fellow Marines approaching, he exposed himself to the device, risking his own life to save others. He was severely injured and underwent more than 30 surgeries and procedures following the blast. Three years later, while still recovering, Deeds’ heroic instincts took charge once again when he saved the lives of three individuals caught in a rip tide off the coast of North Carolina.

• Curtiss Shaver, 2012. Shaver is a firefighter from Alabama who lost part of his left leg in a farming accident when he was 18 years old. The incident led to Shaver’s career choice as a fireman and a certified EMT.

Posted on by Zack Albert

For one day only, Phoenix International Raceway will change its name to Jeff Gordon Raceway as a tribute to the four-time NASCAR champ’s final season and last race in the Arizona desert.

His name may not be hanging above the gate on race day Sunday, but thanks to a recent run of smashing success, the 1-mile track may as well be Kevin Harvick‘s house.

The dominance of a four-race Phoenix win streak makes Harvick a heavy favorite heading into Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM), the next-to-last race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. The 312-lap event will whittle the field of title-eligible drivers from eight to four ahead of the Nov. 22 championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Harvick’s status as Phoenix’s stone-cold lock has traction, with Chase rival Kyle Busch proclaiming after last Sunday’s event in Texas: “I do not think it’s a winnable race until Kevin Harvick gets beat.” Only Gordon’s spot among the final four is secure, thanks to his victory at Martinsville.

If Harvick is such a certainty, are the remaining six Chasers vying for a solid points day and hoping for the best? The jury is still out.

“All reigns come to an end,” title contender Brad Keselowski said during a test last month at the 1-mile track. “Every driver has had a track that he dominates on and it changes. Jimmie (Johnson) dominated here for a long time and obviously that’s not been that case as of late. The way you beat somebody or break that domination is you go out, you go to work and you try to do better.”

Harvick’s track history since 2012 is unparalleled. He has scored seven of his 31 Sprint Cup wins at Phoenix and has led more than two-thirds of the laps in his most recent three victories. Last season, Harvick led 264 of 312 laps to springboard into the final race at Homestead, where he roared to his first Sprint Cup crown in the first year of the new-look Chase format.

This season, Harvick sits third in the standings — five rungs up from last year’s cellar-dweller position entering the semifinal race. Despite the potential for reduced urgency from the Stewart-Haas No. 4 camp, Harvick’s rivals aren’t expecting any let-up.

“We look at the points situation and guarantee Harvick winning that race,” Busch said, referencing a Harvick “stranglehold” on Phoenix. “Then you have to figure out who you’re racing after that to know what you have to do in order to point your way through. If we can go out there and win the race, then we will. As far as we’re concerned, that’s how we look at it.”

Four drivers still in the title hunt — Gordon, Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. — participated in an Oct. 14 open test at Phoenix, experimenting with some rules under the 2016 configuration, but keeping the primary focus on preparing for a pivotal race in the Chase. Neither Kyle Busch nor Carl Edwards — title contenders both — attended, but teammate Matt Kenseth gathered extensive data to be shared among Joe Gibbs Racing‘s four-car effort.

Practice, qualifying and the race will tell whether any of the extra rehearsal will make a dent in Harvick’s hot streak, altering the complexion of the Chase. Jimmie Johnson — who’s had his own dominant stretches at Dover and Martinsville over the course of his career — knows it won’t be easy, despite how Harvick has made it look.

“Anybody with a streak at a particular track, you’ve got to show up with realistic expectations but enough swagger knowing it’s a track that’s good for you, then go get it done,” Johnson said after last weekend’s victory at Texas Motor Speedway. “It’s so hard to make it through an entire weekend, make it through an entire race. We saw the flat tires today, mechanical issues, racing issues that can pop up.

“Phoenix is a tight little scrappy race track. The streak with four wins in a row is impressive. That’s not an easy place to get it done.”