Posted on by Staff Report

Late model driver Brad Foy will make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut Saturday at Martinsville Speedway, driving the No. 0 Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet.

“I really want to thank Jennifer and the team for helping make this happen. I’m doing this not only for my love and passion for racing, but for my dad,” said Foy, whose father, Brian, was killed in his home in May. “He was taken from us 6 months ago … far too soon. I just want to make him proud and race in his memory. It would bring me more joy than I could explain right now. It’s been the worst 6 months of my life since he has been gone.”

The No. 0 truck is owned by Kenneth Grimes and has made 10 attempts in 2015, qualifying for seven races with driver Caleb Roark behind the wheel. Roark’s best finish this season was 28th at Michigan. 

Cobb received an email from Foy — a Moneta, Virginia native — and pledged to help him as much as possible to make this race happen. Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing is self-funded, as are Foy’s late model efforts.

“As a small team we can only offer Brad so much, but I assured him if he could cover some minor expenses to make this effort, we would do everything we could to fulfill his dream to make this attempt,” said Cobb. “Our team will do our best to make this an experience Brad will never forget and hopefully we can gain him some support for future racing efforts with JJCR.”

Foy will have to make the Martinsville field on qualifying speed, and he hopes to gain momentum for his racing hopes in 2016.

“It’s going to be tough but I’m excited to give it my all,” Foy said. “I know my dad would be proud to see me keep trying.”

Foy’s father was 66 when he was killed in a home invasion. The home was one of several burglarized in Franklin County, Virginia, the Roanoke Times reported in May. Daniel Percy Arnot, Brian Foy’s 30-year-old former son-in-law, was charged with first-degree murder in the case.


Arnot was indicted Sept. 16, The Franklin News-Post reported. Three others also face charges in the murder and related thefts.

Posted on by Staff Report

 

John Krasinski is scheduled to give the command on Sunday, Nov. 8, for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

 

Krasinski, who starred on NBC’s “The Office”, said, “It’s a huge honor to be asked to serve as this year’s Grand Marshal.”

 

The actor is starring in the upcoming film “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” and will be joined on the stage by Mark “Oz” Geist, Kris “Tanto” Paronto and John “Tig” Tiegen from the CIA annex security team, who fought off Islamic militants on September 11, 2012 in Benghazi, Libya. 

 

Krasinski is honored to share the stage with these men and, admittedly, is looking forward to seeing one of NASCAR’s most famous drivers and current Chase contender.

 

“I am really excited to be going to NASCAR and seeing Jeff Gordon race for one of his last outings.”

 

Click here for more information and tickets for the AAA Texas 500 (2 p.m. ET., NBC, PRN, Sirius XM). 

Posted on by Staff Report

MORE: Official NASCAR release with NXS schedule | Key highlights
RELATED: Buy tickets for 2016

 NASCAR released the 2016 schedules for two of its three national series Monday without — as expected — any major overhauls going forward. The most significant development, though, doesn’t relate to change at all, but an added layer of continuity built in for tracks.

NASCAR announced that it has reached sanctioning agreements with its host race tracks for the next five years. That means the 23 facilities that host Sprint Cup events and the 24 tracks that serve as XFINITY Series venues will remain locked in as a part of the NASCAR calendar through 2020.

According to an official release, NASCAR and the tracks will work to determine each venue’s place on the calendar in the year 2017 and beyond. The sanctioning agreement also does not preclude additional tracks from joining the Sprint Cup schedule, though such a development would likely require a more dramatic alteration to the calendar structure. The premier-series schedule has stood at a modern-era maximum of 36 races since 2001.


The Camping World Truck Series’ 2016 schedule will be released at a later date.


RELATED: NASCAR announces 2016 Truck Series schedule


The Sprint Cup season kicks off Saturday, Feb. 13 with the non-points Sprint Unlimited race at Daytona International Speedway, which will greet fans with a new look as the Daytona Rising project comes to fruition. The Can-Am Duels follow on Thursday, Feb. 18 with Daytona Speedweeks culminating in the Great American Race, the Daytona 500, scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 21.

The fan-favorite Southern 500 throwback race on Labor Day weekend will return, as will the popular NASCAR Goes West three-race swing in March. The western sweep starts March 6 with a stop in Las Vegas, followed by Phoenix on March 13 and Auto Club on March 20.

Among the notable changes for 2016:

• Keeping the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, which is as late as it can be this year, moves Dover up in the 2016 schedule, to May 15, the Sunday before the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race in Charlotte.

• Bristol Motor Speedway is adding a college football border war to its schedule this year, featuring Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee on Sept. 10. To accommodate the .533-mile oval’s transformation from race track to football venue, the annual Bristol night race is on Saturday, Aug. 20. That shifts Michigan back a week to Sunday, Aug. 28.

• Pocono adds a NASCAR XFINITY Series race for the first time in 2016. The 250-mile race is set for Saturday, June 4, part of a race weekend with the Sprint Cup Series’ Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 on June 5.

• Chicagoland Speedway, which hosted two XFINITY races annually from 2011-15, will host just one event for the series in 2016.

• Daytona’s annual event in early July returns to a Saturday night event after a rain-plagued edition on a Sunday night this season.

• Richmond’s first doubleheader weekend of the season in April will now be spread over a Saturday-Sunday schedule instead of Friday-Saturday.

The 2016 schedule features two off weeks in addition to the Easter holiday, so Sprint Cup racing will go quiet March 27, June 19 and Aug. 14 next year.

The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field again will be determined at Richmond on Sept. 10, with the 10 races from the 2015 postseason reappearing in the same order in the 2016 Chase. Elimination races are scheduled to take place at Dover, Talladega and Phoenix again next year.

The Sprint Cup Series will crown its 2016 champion at Homestead-Miami finale Sunday, Nov. 20, one day after the XFINITY finale at the south Florida track.

2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule

Date Event
Feb. 13 Sprint Unlimited
Feb. 18 Can-Am Duel at Daytona
Feb. 21 Daytona
Feb. 28 Atlanta
March 6 Las Vegas
March 13 Phoenix
March 20 Auto Club
April 3 Martinsville
April 9 Texas
April 17 Bristol
April 24 Richmond
May 1 Talladega
May 7 Kansas
May 15 Dover
May 21 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
May 29 Charlotte
June 5 Pocono
June 12 Michigan
June 26 Sonoma
July 2 Daytona
July 9 Kentucky
July 17 New Hampshire
July 24 Indianapolis
July 31 Pocono
Aug. 7 Watkins Glen
Aug. 20 Bristol
Aug. 28 Michigan
Sept. 4 Darlington
Sept. 10 Richmond
Sept. 18 Chicagoland
Sept. 25 New Hampshire
Oct. 2 Dover
Oct. 8 Charlotte
Oct. 16 Kansas
Oct. 23 Talladega
Oct. 30 Martinsville
Nov. 6 Texas
Nov. 13 Phoenix
Nov. 20 Homestead-Miami

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Watch the live stream here

 

From 8-11 a.m. ET on Tuesday, NASCAR.com will live stream the post-race inspection process at the Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

 

The three-hour look takes you behind the scenes as NASCAR officials inspect NASCAR Sprint Cup Series vehicles following Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

 

The cars at the R&D Center this week are: the No. 22 Ford of Joey Logano (won Sunday’s race), the No. 88 Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. (finished second in Sunday’s race), the No. 98 Toyota of Michael Waltrip (the random car selected), plus the No. 18 Toyota of Kyle Busch (finished 11th in Sunday’s race) and the No. 31 Chevrolet of Ryan Newman (finished 12th in Sunday’s race).

 

For more information on what the inspection process entails, click here.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid

Below is a breakdown of how the full 43-car field fared at Talladega Superspeedway:

1. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano clinched a race win under caution on the final restart, securing a sweep of the Contender Round. | RELATED: Logano discusses win in Victory Lane

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt led a race-high 61 laps but didn’t get a chance to race for the win after the field was frozen shortly after the final restart began because of a caution during the only green-white-checkered attempt. | RELATED: Junior nearly wins way into next round

3. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The drive for five is alive. Despite being winless, Jeff Gordon’s quest for a title in his final season is still in play as he advances to the Eliminator Round. | RELATED: Gordon remains in title hunt

4. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski needed a win to advance after Talladega last year, but a fourth-place finish will work just fine in 2015.

5. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Earning a better Talladega finish than his 32nd-place showing in the spring, Edwards advances to the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

6. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. The 2015 season was a good year for Menard at Talladega, as he adds a top-10 finish to his record to join his third-place finish in the spring.

7. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Chevrolet, Furniture Row Racing. Truex Jr. overcame starting from the back because of a qualifying violation to advance in the Chase. He got back on the lead lap thanks to being the beneficiary on the Lap 132 caution.

8. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. Bowyer took the lead on Lap 95 and led two laps on his way to an eighth-place finish. A two-time winner at Talladega (2010-11), he now has 11 top-10 finishes there in 20 starts.

9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Scoring his best Talladega finish since 2013, Stenhouse Jr. could carry this momentum to Martinsville next week where he has room for improvement.

10. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Earning his 15th top-10 at Talladega, Kurt Busch advances to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Eliminator Round after leading for one lap.

11. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kyle Busch advances to the Eliminator Round of the Chase and even saw the lead for 11 laps. | RELATED: See the 2015 Chase Grid

12. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Newman’s top-15 finish and one lap led was not enough to advance him to the Eliminator Round of the Chase.

13. Michael Waltrip, No. 98 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. In just his third race of the season, Waltrip had a strong showing, leading three laps on his way to a 13th-place finish after starting 33rd. It was his 59th start at Talladega, and he raised his average finish there up to 20.1.

14. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon had a respectable 14th-place finish — his second-best showing in five starts at Talladega — after starting 26th. His previous average finish there was 22.3.

15. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick ran into several issues in the race, reporting engine issues at Lap 155, a broken exhaust pipe on Lap 171 and wrecking on the final restart. | RELATED: Did Harvick cause end of race wreck?

16. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola placed nine spots higher than he started, but remains average there. He’s finished outside the top 10 in 11 of his 12 starts at ‘Dega with an average finish of 20.2.

17. Sam Hornish Jr., No. 9 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Hornish couldn’t top his spring 2015 finish of sixth at Talladega and completed the race directly behind his RPM teammate.

18. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson caused the first shot at the only attempt at a green-white-checkered finish to be put on hold after spinning out before the start/finish line, but recovered for a top-20 finish.

19. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne was out front for 18 laps — his most since Martinsville in the spring — but got shuffled back on the final restart.

20. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle played a major role in the ending of Talladega’s race as he was leading for 18 of the closing laps and eventually had to come to pit road for fuel.

21. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne started sixth overall, but was unable to come up with his second career victory — both of which would’ve been on restrictor plate tracks.

22. Cole Whitt, No. 35 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Whitt improved 12 spots from his starting position and managed to finish in the top 25 in all four restrictor-plate races this season.

23. Bobby Labonte, No. 32 Ford, GO Green Facing. The former Sprint Cup champion had his best finish of the season after restarting 21st with 49 laps to go.

24. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Larson was in third on Lap 170 but placed 24th after being rear-ended by Jimmie Johnson before the final G-W-C attempt. It was the sixth time in his last eight plate events he’s lost track position after being involved in a wreck.

25. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart dropped to the back early after starting the race 12th and couldn’t seem to find momentum needed to find speed and run up front.

26. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth needed to win to advance, but failed to do so and was one of two eliminated JGR cars. | RELATED: Kenseth reacts to elimination

27. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. After starting from the rear due to a transmission change on Sunday morning, Patrick finished on the lead lap.

28. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Ford, Leavine Family Facing. McDowell was collected in the 12-car pileup that ended the race under caution and slipped to a 28th-place finish. He was penalized on Lap 79 for driving too fast on pit road.

29. Josh Wise, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Wise battled a vibration early and then got hit for a pit road penalty (over the wall too soon), falling well short of his showing in the spring race (10th).

30. David Ragan, No. 55 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. Ragan had a strong Talladega run, even seeing the lead for one lap, but got lost in the shuffle in the closing laps and finished one lap down in 30th-place.

31. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears placed 31st, dropping his career average finish at Talladega to 21.7 in 25 career starts. He has five top-10s at ‘Dega and no top-fives

32. David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Gilliland led a couple of laps but needed an extended pit stop after taking damage from a scrape with the No. 13 of Casey Mears on pit road.

33. Alex Bowman, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Bowman fell a lap down on Lap 73 but managed to get back on the lead lap by Lap 140 before settling for a 33rd-place finish.

34. Landon Cassill, No. 40 Chevrolet, Hillman Smith Motorsports. He ran in the top 15 early on, but eventually got shuffled toward the back for a 34th-place finish.

35. Travis Kvapil, No. 33 Chevrolet, Circle Sport. Kvapil improved seven spots from his starting position in his fourth start of the season.

36. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger finished outside the top 30 for the sixth time in 12 starts at Talladega, placing 36th on Sunday. His average finish there is 23.9, with his only top five coming in 2014.

37. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin had a roof hatch issue midway through the race that never quite got fixed and wound up knocking him out of the playoffs. | RELATED: Hamlin knocked out of Chase

38. J.J. Yeley, No. 26 Toyota, BK Racing. Yeley’s 38th-place finish marks the seventh time he’s placed outside the top 20 at Talladega in 11 career starts. His average finish there is 27.6.

39. Jamie McMurray, No. 1, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. McMurray, who had won two of the previous six fall races at Talladega (2009 and 2013), ran as high as third in the late stages of Sunday’s race. He had to go to the garage on Lap 185, though, and settled for 39th after starting 24th.

40. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto reported having fuel pressure problems on Lap 71 and went to the garage on Lap 94 en route to a 40th-place finish.

41. Timmy Hill, No. 62 Ford, Premium Motorsports. In his 10th Sprint Cup Series race of the season, Hill finished 41st. His best finish this season is 36th.

42. Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Allgaier’s engine expired on Lap 131, but things started to unravel before that thanks to a pit road penalty (over the wall too soon).

43. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney started in the top 10 and looked strong early but had his engine expire on Lap 85.

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

MORE: Buy tickets for ’16 | NASCAR announces ’16 schedule | Key highlights


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 26, 2015) – NASCAR today announced agreements with 23 tracks to field NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races for the next five years. Additionally, 24 tracks will host NASCAR XFINITY Series races through 2020.

NASCAR also announced its 2016 schedule for both of these national series. The schedule and actual placement of the dates within each given season’s schedule beyond 2016 will be part of the on-going discussions between NASCAR and the tracks. Details are being finalized for the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule to be announced at a later time.

RELATED: NASCAR announces 2016 Truck Series schedule

“NASCAR and the tracks take seriously our collective responsibility to the fans and each stakeholder to ensure the sport is healthy, strong and growing, so we can deliver great racing to the fans for many decades to come,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. “The live event experience always will be important to creating a lifetime fan in NASCAR.

“Among the goals that we set out to accomplish with our track partners was to provide consistency for race fans and the industry stakeholders. We feel like we have a nice balance of that for 2016. The stability of five-year agreements positions us well to deliver fans with schedules as early as possible over the next several years. This is a new approach for our industry, and one that benefits everyone: fans, tracks, teams, drivers, OEMs, media and partners.”

NASCAR will kick off the 2016 season against the new backdrop of a completely reimagined Daytona International Speedway. DAYTONA Rising, the speedway’s $400 million redevelopment project, will be complete when both the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series launch at Daytona Speedweeks. The 2016 DAYTONA 500 will be held on February 21 and will air live on FOX.

After the DAYTONA 500, NASCAR events will be held the following week at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Both series then will travel to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Auto Club Speedway for the return of NASCAR Goes West.

“We learned that NASCAR Goes West worked very well in keeping momentum and interest for NASCAR in these markets,” O’Donnell said. “The tracks put a lot of effort behind making it successful and we think it can continue to have a positive impact as it gains traction from being an annual effort. The efficiency of conducting three consecutive events also is helpful to the teams and industry.”

Among the changes to the 2016 schedule:

•    Pocono Raceway will host its first NASCAR XFINITY Series event in June, with that series joining the Sprint Cup Series for a companion event at the famed three-turn track.

 

•    The spring events at Richmond International Raceway move to a Saturday and Sunday companion event for the XFINITY Series and Sprint Cup Series, from the previous Friday and Saturday schedule.

 

•    The first series stop at Dover International Speedway will move earlier in the schedule, to be held prior to the May events at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

 

•    NBC will usher in its 2016 race schedule in July at Daytona with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event moving back to a Saturday evening event.

 

•    The August Sprint Cup Series event at Michigan will move to later in the month.

 

2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule

Date Track
Feb. 13 Daytona International Speedway – Sprint Unlimited
Feb.14 Daytona International Speedway – Daytona 500 Qualifying
Feb. 18 Daytona International Speedway – Duel
Feb. 21 Daytona 500
Feb. 28 Atlanta Motor Speedway
March 6 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 13 Phoenix International Raceway
March 20 Auto Club Speedway
April 3 Martinsville Speedway
April 9 Texas Motor Speedway
April 17 Bristol Motor Speedway
April 24 Richmond International Raceway
May 1 Talladega Superspeedway
May 7 Kansas Speedway
May 15 Dover International Speedway
May 21 Charlotte Motor Speedway (NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race)
May 29 Charlotte Motor Speedway
June 5 Pocono Raceway
June 12 Michigan International Speedway
June 26 Sonoma Raceway
July 2 Daytona International Speedway
July 9 Kentucky Speedway
July 17 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
July 24 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
July 31 Pocono Raceway
Aug. 7 Watkins Glen International
Aug. 20 Bristol Motor Speedway
Aug. 28 Michigan International Speedway
Sept. 4 Darlington Raceway
Sept. 10 Richmond International Raceway
Sept. 18 Chicagoland Speedway
Sept. 25 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Oct. 2 Dover International Speedway
Oct. 8 Charlotte Motor Speedway
Oct. 16 Kansas Speedway
Oct. 23 Talladega Superspeedway
Oct. 30 Martinsville Speedway
Nov. 6 Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 13 Phoenix International Raceway
Nov. 20 Homestead-Miami Speedway

NASCAR XFINITY Series 2016 schedule

Date Track
Feb. 20 Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 27 Atlanta Motor Speedway
March 5 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 12 Phoenix International Raceway
March 19 Auto Club Speedway
April 8 Texas Motor Speedway
April 16 Bristol Motor Speedway
April 23 Richmond International Raceway
April 30 Talladega Superspeedway
May 14 Dover International Speedway
May 28 Charlotte Motor Speedway
June 4 Pocono Raceway
June 11 Michigan International Speedway
June 19 Iowa Speedway
July 1 Daytona International Speedway
July 8 Kentucky Speedway
July 16 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
July 23 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
July 30 Iowa Speedway
Aug. 6 Watkins Glen International
Aug. 13 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Aug. 19 Bristol Motor Speedway
Aug. 27 Road America
Sept. 3 Darlington Raceway
Sept. 9 Richmond International Raceway
Sept. 17 Chicagoland Speedway
Sept. 24 Kentucky Speedway
Oct. 1 Dover International Speedway
Oct. 7 Charlotte Motor Speedway
Oct. 15 Kansas Speedway
Nov. 5 Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 12 Phoenix International Raceway
Nov. 19 Homestead-Miami Speedway
Posted on by

RELATED: ‘The Intimidator’s Day at ‘Dega’

TALLADEGA, Ala. — An Earnhardt was charging through the field with championship implications on the line, and a raucous Talladega crowd stood and screamed at his every move.
 
What year was it again?
 
Dale Earnhardt Jr. continually controlled the draft Sunday in the CampingWorld.com 500, sweeping through the field both early and late in the race, looking every bit like his father did 15 years ago in one of “The Intimidator’s” most historic victories.
 
It was like father, like son. The only difference was the ending.
 
Junior finished second this Sunday in Alabama, as he was behind leader Joey Logano when a caution flag dropped on the green-white-checkered finish. That froze the field, relegating Earnhardt Jr. — who led 61 of 196 laps — to a runner-up result.
 
It was a second-place that ousted Earnhardt from the postseason, and also deprived him of a chance to orchestrate one final bit of magic at a track that has been, well, magical for the Earnhardt family.
 
“I was just doing everything I thought I could do,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’m real proud of myself, proud of my team. We got nothing to be disappointed about.”
 
Earnhardt spoke amid a backdrop of boos — not for him, but from the Talladega crowd that was reacting to Logano’s jubilatory burnout and trip to Victory Lane.
 
The noise came down, and then so, too, did the aluminum cans, the fans washing the track with their unfinished beer.
 
“We’ve got a lot of Earnhardt fans in Alabama,” Junior said, a lilt in his voice. “They aren’t happy unless we win, and that’s the way I like it.”
 
Those fans went home unhappy, but Earnhardt was at peace with the end-race execution.
 
The driver of the No. 88 withstood vibrations, a pit penalty and the daring decision to jump out of the single line of cars late in the race and create a second a line to push toward the lead — if no one had followed him, Earnhardt Jr. would have been freight-trained to the back of the field.
 
But he went, and then he went, picking off cars like a series of jumps in checkers, sprinting and strategizing his way to the front of the field, the crowd volume rising with each successful pass.
 
“I just told myself that I was going to work as hard as I could every single lap,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “When they lined up around the top, I’d never been in that situation to have to pass those guys when they’re lined up like that. I clawed and clawed and clawed and got up into the top three, finally into second.
 
“We did everything we had to do today, we just came up a little short.”
 
His captivating charge through the field was set up by a penalty on pit road, something that has plagued the No. 88 team throughout the Chase. This time it was his crew going over the wall too soon during green-flag pit stops on Lap 121.
 
The punishment was a pass-through penalty that sent Earnhardt Jr. from running third in the lead pack to running 27th all alone. He would have been caught and lapped if a caution did not come — and one came on Lap 132 when Justin Allgaier‘s engine expired.
 
Another caution — just the second of the day — fell on Lap 186 with Junior in third place. Leader Greg Biffle pitted for fuel, making the top four Logano, Earnhardt, Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon. Logano opted to start up top, which wasn’t the preferred line Sunday, but it kept Earnhardt from lining up directly in front of his HMS teammate Gordon, who had a powerful car all weekend and was prepared to push his teammate.
 
“I know there were a lot of people pulling for Dale Jr. today, and I was one of them,” Gordon said after climbing out of his car on pit road. “I wanted to help him so bad.”
 
Logano didn’t give him the chance, a strategic move that Gordon said was the smart play. That was of no consolation, of course, to the Earnhardt Jr. fans at the track, or the man himself.
 
A win at Talladega would have done more than send Junior to the next round of the postseason. It would have added another chapter to his Talladega tome, a book already rich with stories and success.
 
“I’m more proud of the drive I had today than the two wins this year,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
 
There’s no need to ask “What if?” either. Junior already knows what would have happened if the race had stayed green, and he had the chance to race for the win.
 
“Hell yeah I had him,” Earnhardt Jr. said of catching Logano. “Of course we had him.”

Posted on by

RELATED: Who’s in, out of the Chase?

TALLADEGA, Ala. — The new green-white-checkered finish rule at Talladega Superspeedway, which NASCAR changed from a maximum of three attempts to just one last week, figured heavily into the conclusion of — and eventual Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup eliminations in — Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500.
 
An initial effort at a green-white-checkered finish was waved off after Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Larson spun from the middle of the pack down onto the apron and in the infield. Because the field had not reached the start/finish line before the caution flag came, NASCAR ruled that did not count as the lone attempt to finish.
 
On the ensuing attempt, Kevin Harvick got into Trevor Bayne, sending Bayne’s car spinning into traffic and bringing out another yellow flag just as the lead pack entered Turn 1. That counted as the one green-white-checkered attempt, NASCAR ruled, and officials used loop data and video feeds to determine that Joey Logano was ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the time of the caution, when the field was frozen.
 
WATCH: Breakdown of final restart

Logano was declared the winner, leaving Earnhardt Jr. to claim second place — the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet needed a win to advance to the Eliminator Round.
 
It also led to confusion throughout the garage as to which four drivers had been eliminated from the postseason — and why the first incident didn’t actually count as a first attempt.
 
“We stopped the attempt before anybody crossed the green or the checkered or the start/finish line,” NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton said after emerging from the NASCAR hauler. “We just reset everybody except for the cars that were involved in the accident and the cars that pitted. Then we had the second incident — and on that one we had one attempt because we had cars that crossed the start/finish line.”
 
Driver reaction varied from acceptance to confusion.
 
Earnhardt Jr. himself, despite being on the wrong side of the tight 1-2 finish with Logano, was fine with the call — and the rule.
 
“I feel like no matter the rules, when the race is over, I can live with the result as long as everyone else is going by the same rules,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “So I felt like, per the rule book, it sorted out and I finished second. I’m OK with that.”
 
Not everyone was as diplomatic. Kyle Busch, who was the final driver to advance to the next round, finishing one point ahead of Ryan Newman, said he was surprised that the first restart attempt was waived off — but that it was NASCAR’s prerogative.
 
“It did surprise me how (NASCAR) called it, but past that — it’s their ball, it’s their field, it’s their bat, it’s their everything,” Busch said. “Play along. … I felt like either way, if the race would have gone green and we would have finished two laps, which I know never happens here, that we would have had a good shot to pass a few guys and get ourselves farther up also. There was a bunch of different scenarios there that could have and maybe would have played out a little bit differently.”

Newman reacted strongly to the situation.

“I’ll be honest. I am extremely disappointed in the situation and what all transpired,” Newman said. “I’m not happy coming up one position short under these circumstances.”

RELATED: Drivers’ reaction on social media
 
NASCAR officials announced the green-white-checkered rule change Oct. 20, citing the need to balance excitement and safety.
 
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event on Saturday also had a lone green-white-checkered ending.
 
“It is what it is,” Helton said. “I think every time we make a procedural rule, whether it’s one, two, none, as long as we do our job right, everybody’s got the same playing field.”

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TALLADEGA, Ala. — Elvis, the Care Bears and the cast of “Toy Story” were among the many characters in the driver’s lot at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday night.

 

While Talladega Boulevard thrummed with music and, uh, other activities a few hundred yards away, the kids of the NASCAR garage enjoyed a round of trick-or-treating at a Halloween event put on by Motor Racing Outreach.

 

Here are some of the costumes:

 

 

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WATCH: JGR drivers displeased with Talladega finish | Complete results

UPDATE: NASCAR statement on Talladega results


TALLADEGA, Ala. — Kevin Harvick walked away from Sunday’s elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway with a Chase berth and a fighting chance to compete for his second straight title. Harvick’s 15th-place result in the 500-mile event put him seventh in the standings and apart of the final eight moving onto the third round of the Chase.

 

But it’s the reigning Sprint Cup Series champion’s final restart — not his advancement — that had the garage buzzing hours after the checkered flag waved.

 

Harvick and Trevor Bayne wrecked on a green-white-checkered attempt to end the race, causing a “Big One” before the main pack had even reached the start/finish line. The result froze the field and, as NASCAR worked to determine which eight drivers would advance to the Eliminator Round, sent the Stewart-Haas Racing driver onward in the postseason.

 

RELATED: Drivers question finish, laud Dale Jr.

 

“I was just trying to get out of the way once I got going there,” Harvick told FOX Sports after the race. “I thought I could get going better than I did the first time and I just didn’t get going. So as I was pulling up, I was looking to the inside waiting for them to shoot the gap and I hit the 6.”

No. 4 crew chief Rodney Childers said after the race that “the motor was blowing up,” referring to Harvick’s late-race engine troubles that had caused him to fall back prior to the final restart.


“He’s trying to get out of the way, but not lose too many spots — it’s easy,” Childers said.  “We’re not the ones that invented this (expletive).”

But others weren’t so sure — many thought motor-troubled Harvick caused the wreck intentionally to end the race and thus, hold onto his Chase position.

 

WATCH: Big wreck behind leaders as Logano wins under caution

 

“That’s a crappy way for Harvick to have to get in the Chase is to wreck somebody — what I believe on purpose,” Bayne said after the race. “Maybe it wasn’t … the restart before that he had engine problems and got out of the way. I think he realized if the caution came out he was gonna be fine, so I go by and get hooked in the left-rear.

 

“Harvick is a really good driver. I think he knows the limits of his car and where it’s at, that’s why I think it was intentional.”

 

Matt Kenseth, who was one of the four drivers eliminated from the Chase on Sunday, seconded Bayne’s sentiment.

 

“(Harvick) pulled out of the way the first time because he knew he was blowing up and this time he said he was going to hold his lane, so we went up to go around him and then he clipped the 6 (Trevor Bayne),” Kenseth said after the race. “He knew if he put him in a slow spin the race was over and he’d make it.”

 

Kenseth’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, who battled problems with his car and was eliminated after getting caught up in the wreck, tweeted “What a joke we have a car with no motor wreck the field to end the race.”

 

Intentional or not, the No. 4 team’s in-car audio prior to the restart revealed the crew knew Harvick needed something drastic to happen for him to advance to the next round of the Chase.

 

“Hopefully they wreck right past the start-finish line, might end up with something,” Childers said on the radio. “If not we’ll be out. Everybody’s done a good job all day though, no matter what.”

 

Another team member piped up, saying that he knew Harvick “ain’t got much option, but I would try to block as many positions as you can because that’s really what it’s going to come down to.”

 

Officials and team members met post-race at the NASCAR hauler to review the controversial restart and determine whether or not the No. 4 car’s actions were intentional and if action was needed.

 

The conclusion was no.

 

“What we saw, there’s no evidence right now that there’s anything the 4 car did that was questionable other than moving out of line,” NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton said. “…”Obviously there are some of the teams that have questioned what the 4 car did on the restarts. We went back and walked through with him but procedurally from NASCAR, we don’t see anything there that was of suspect.”

 

“So far,” he added, saying the sanctioning body would review footage from different angles in case something fell “out of the woodwork in the next 24 hours.”