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Buy Dega Jam Tickets Now!


TALLADEGA, Ala. — Country music superstars Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith and Kid Rock will headline the first annual Dega Jam music festival, officials announced in a press conference Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. The festival will take place at Talladega July 1-3, 2016.

“We’ve heard that Talladega Superspeedway is the biggest and baddest track of them all,” said Quint Davis, producer/director of Dega Jam. “If we’re going to come here with a country music festival, it better be the biggest and the baddest of them all.”
 
In addition to the headliners, the extensive festival lineup features 45 groups and artists. There will be 15 bands on three stages per day during the weekend, with Hank Williams Jr., Lynyrd Skynyrd, Billy Currington, Lee Brice, Martina McBride and Sara Evans also among playing.
 
“If you think about that line-up, and you’re picking a place in the southeastern United States that could host a whole bunch of people, and there just happened to be a little short track down in Alabama that’s got about 2,700 acres of useable land … we can handle bigger crowds than probably any other facility because we have all that land,” said Grant Lynch, chairman of Talladega Superspeedway. “Virtually, we have unlimited camping, that’s going to be a big part of this festival.”
 
“… I think it’s a perfect fit for a race track to serve in this role. Quint and his team are going to be the best partners we could have reached out to.”
 
Tickets and VIP packages are available for purchase now, with early-bird weekend passes offered for a limited time. Visit DegaJam.com to purchase tickets, view the full line-up and learn more about the weekend.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Talladega race recap | Full results

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team was penalized for having too many men over the wall during a round of green flag pit stops on Lap 121 of Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500, and it was a factor in keeping the Hendrick Motorsports driver from advancing in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup

Earnhardt needed to come back to pit road to serve a pass-through penalty to put him at the tail end of the lead lap.

“Don’t panic; things will work out,” Earnhardt told his team over his radio. “Shake it off. You’ve been doing great all day.”

They almost did work out, as Earnhardt found himself back in the lead with 30 laps to go, then lined up side-by-side with race-winner Joey Logano on the final, green-white-checkered restart before a wreck behind him forced the No. 88 to a second-place finish.

The HMS driver needed to win the race to advance, and thus has been eliminated from the Chase.

Junior led a race-high 61 laps.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Talladega race recap | Full results


Part of the roof of Denny Hamlin‘s No. 11 Toyota started to break off midway through Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, forcing the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to pit road to fix the issue.

Hamlin took his Camry to pit road on Lap 88 after NASCAR told the team to bring the car in because his roof hatch was coming off, but in an effort to make a quick adjustment and not lose a lap, the fix was not secure enough and he had to come back in.

 

Roof hatches are not used in all races. They are installed at superspeedways as a safety measure to give drivers an alternate exit from the car.

Because the issue took Hamlin off the lead lap, it hindered Hamlin’s chances of continuing on in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.


The JGR driver recuperated to get back on the lead lap, but was caught up in a wreck on the final restart, relegating him to a 37th-place finish, putting him out of the Chase.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Complete results | Standings |
New green-white-checkered rule comes into play

The CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway represented the final race of the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, and Joey Logano officially swept the round by winning at Charlotte, Kansas and now Talladega. See who advanced to the Eliminator Round and whose title dreams have come to an end.

Advancing:
Joey Logano
Carl Edwards
Brad Keselowski
Jeff Gordon
Kurt Busch
Martin Truex Jr.
Kevin Harvick
Kyle Busch


Eliminated:
Ryan Newman
Denny Hamlin
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Matt Kenseth


RELATED: Junior’s Chase run ends

Up next:
Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500, 1:15 p.m. ET, Nov. 1 at Martinsville Speedway (NBCSN/Live Extra, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). This will be the opening race of the Eliminator Round, and the advancing drivers will see their point totals reset to 4,000.

Who it favors
Most wins: 8 — Jeff Gordon
Best driver rating: 119.1 — Jeff Gordon
Best average finish: 6.9 — Jeff Gordon

Who it hurts
Fewest top 10s: 5 — Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Carl Edwards
Worst driver rating: 70.1 — Martin Truex Jr.
Worst average finish: 22.2 — Martin Truex Jr.

Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series are at Martinsville Speedway this week, while the NASCAR XFINITY Series is off. Sprint Cup Series practice, qualifying and the race can be watched on NBCSN and CNBC as well as NBC Sports Live Extra. Camping World Truck Series events will be televised on FS1.


All times are ET

SUNDAY, NOV. 1:


ON TRACK
— 1:02:30 p.m.: Intro Presentation of Colors by: Seymour Johnson Air Force Base Color Guard Team
— 1:02:50 p.m.: Invocation by: Jonathan Falwell, Sr Pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA
— 1:03:30 p.m.: National Anthem by: NC State Marching Band, “The Power Sound of the South”
— 1:05:00 p.m.: Flyby TOT: The Bandit Flight Team (Turn 4 to 1)
— 1:10:00 p.m.: “Drivers, Start Your Engines” by seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and long-time Goody’s spokesperson: Richard Petty Circle K Southeast Director of Marketing Tom Harman
— 1:15 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500  (500 laps, 263 miles), NBCSN/Live Extra (Results)



PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 9:30 a.m.: Jerry Cook and David Gilliland
— 10:30 a.m.: Ned Jarrett
— 10:45 a.m.: Goody’s with Dale Earnhardt Jr.
— 5:15 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race



FRIDAY, OCT. 30:


ON TRACK
— 11:30 a.m.-12:55 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, NBCSN/Live Extra (Results)
— 1-1:55 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice, FS1 (Results)
— 2:30-3:50 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FS1 (Results)
— 4:20 p.m: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, Live Extra, CSN Mid Atlantic, CSN Chicago, CSN Northwest, CSN Bay Area, TCN (Philadelphia) (Results) (Note: This will be shown live on Live Extra, and on tape delay at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.)


GARAGECAM (Watch live)
— 11 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
— 2 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 10 a.m.: Stewart-Haas Racing announcement with Danica Patrick
— 10:30 a.m.: Joey Logano
— 10:45 a.m.: Timothy Peters
— 1 p.m.: Carl Edwards
— 2 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
— 5:45 p.m. Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying


SATURDAY, OCT. 31:

ON TRACK

— 9-9:55 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, CNBC/Live Extra (Results)
— 10:15 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FS1 (Results)
— noon-12:50 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, CNBC/Live Extra (Results)
— 1:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 (200 laps, 105.2 miles), FS1 (Results)


PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 3:15 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: See the full weekend schedule | NBC Sports Live Extra


All times ET

Monday, Oct. 26
6 a.m., NASCAR Victory Lap (re-air), NBCSN
7 a.m., NASCAR Victory Lap (re-air), NBCSN
8 a.m., NASCAR Victory Lap (re-air), NBCSN
2 p.m., NASCAR 120, NBCSN
5 p.m., NASCAR America Live, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
2 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS2

Tuesday, Oct. 27
6 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
7 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
8 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
5 p.m., NASCAR America Live, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
2 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS2

Wednesday, Oct. 28
6 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
7 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
5 p.m., NASCAR America Live, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
2 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS2

Thursday, Oct. 29
6 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
7 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
5 p.m., NASCAR America Live, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Friday, Oct. 30
6 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
7 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
11:30 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, NBCSN
1 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice, FS1
2 p.m., The 10: Greatest Truck Series Moments, FS1
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FS1
4 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBC Sports Live Extra, CSN Mid Atlantic, CSN Chicago, CSN Northwest, CSN Bay Area, TCN (Philadelphia)
6 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBCSN (tape delay) (Note: This can be seen live at 4:20 p.m. ET on Live Extra.)

Saturday, Oct. 31
9 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, CNBC
10 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FS1
Noon, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, CNBC
1 p.m., NCWTS Setup, FS1
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200, FS1

Sunday, Nov. 1
10 a.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
11 a.m., NASCAR America Sunday, NBCSN
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Countdown to Green, NBCSN
1:15 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500, NBCSN
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Post-Race, NBCSN
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lane, FS1
11 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lap, NBCSN
3 a.m., NASCAR Victory Lane (re-air), FS1

 

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Complete results


TALLADEGA, Ala. — Through no fault of his own, Joey Logano may have achieved the most unpopular sweep in NASCAR history on Sunday afternoon.



Why? Because his victory in the CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway knocked Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup — by a matter of inches.



When NASCAR threw the third caution of the race moments after the first bona fide attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag restart on Lap 195 — with Kevin Harvick‘s engine turning sour and cars wrecking behind him — Logano was inches ahead Earnhardt.



That call ended the race, giving Logano his third straight victory in the Chase’s Contender Round, the first time since the elimination format was instituted last season that a driver has won all three races in a single round.



The victory was Logano’s series-best sixth of the season, his first at Talladega and the 14th of his career.



“I had a good start, and then the 24 was pushing me and the plan worked perfectly but the inside lane started pulling back up,” Logano said of the final restart. “I saw the (caution) lights come on when I was still in the lead, and I thought we had it.



“It’s all about how the timing loops are and the camera makes sure that is what happened. It’s such a crazy race. There were such long green flag runs, you never see that. To pull it into victory lane here at Talladega is so cool.”



In addition to Logano, Carl Edwards (fifth on Sunday), Jeff Gordon (third), Kurt Busch (10th), Brad Keselowski (fourth), Martin Truex Jr. (seventh), Harvick (15th) and Kyle Busch (11th) advanced to the Eliminator Round of the Chase.



As formidable as Logano’s achievement was, it didn’t sit well with the heavily partisan Earnhardt crowd in the Talladega grandstands. Catcalls, debris and thumbs-down gestures greeted Logano’s celebratory burnout after NASCAR declared him the winner.



The green-white-checkered-flag restart came four laps after NASCAR extended a yellow-flag period when cars began wrecking in the tri-oval before the leaders crossed the start/finish line coming to green to start Lap 191.



Though NASCAR had amended a rule before the race, limiting the number of attempts at a green-white-checkered to one (down from three), the sanctioning body ruled the first try was not a bona fide attempt since the yellow waved before the first cars reached the stripe.



Earnhardt supported the amended rule before the race, and he continued to do so afterward, despite the outcome.



“Everybody is going to ask me a hundred times how I feel about the green-white-checkered rule now,” Earnhardt said. “I feel good about it. It was a good safe call. The race ended per the rules, and I’m totally OK with that.



“They decided officially who won the race, and Joey won it. He has had an awesome round. Unbelievable, really. We did everything we could today. Almost perfect, tried really hard.”



Earnhardt, who needed to win the race to advance to the Chase’s Eliminator Round, wasn’t the only casualty on Sunday. Matt Kenseth, in the same position as Earnhardt entering the race, was bounced from the Chase after wrecking on the green-white-checkered attempt and finishing 26th.



Ryan Newman (12th on Saturday) and Denny Hamlin were the other two drivers eliminated, Hamlin after the escape hatch above his driver’s seat dislodged during the race, requiring repeated repairs on pit road. Hamlin lost three laps in the process, got wrecked on the last restart and finished 37th to drop from second to 10th in the Chase standings.

Posted on by Brad Norman

RELATED: Chase Grid heading into Eliminator Round | Talladega results

Talladega was a wild ride on Sunday. Here’s what you need to know to sound literate at the water cooler — or to help you unfurl the events if you’re still confused after watching Joey Logano head to Victory Lane after the CampingWorld.com 500.

The Setup:

Before Sunday’s race, NASCAR ruled that only one attempt would be made at a green-white-checkered finish, and that approach came into play as the field wrecked before that one attempt could even be made. The actual green-white-checkered finish was fueled by controversy, as well, when a “Big One” erupted behind leaders Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Read more: New G-W-C rule comes into play in wild Talladega finish
Watch: Junior supports rule but says, ‘I was gonna win the race for sure’

The Chase Field Narrows:

Earnhardt Jr. looked like he was in position to get past Logano and win the race — thus gaining a berth in the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. But just after the green flag dropped for the final restart, Kevin Harvick made contact with Trevor Bayne. Harvick’s 15th-place result in the race put him seventh in the standings and a part of the final eight moving onto the third round of the Chase. Junior’s second-place finish ended his Chase run.

Read more: Junior’s championship hopes up in smoke
Watch: Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty review restart

The Questions:

Several drivers were upset after the race. Denny Hamlin‘s car was on fire, and he had endured early trouble with a roof hatch. Matt Kenseth‘s No. 20 was caught up in the final wreck. And Earnhardt Jr. was disappointed not to advance in the Chase. Frustration fueled questions about whether Harvick manipulated the finishing order to gain a berth in the Chase’s third round. His No. 4 was ailing, and if the race had made it for the full G-W-C, he might have fallen too far back to make the cut.

Read more: Did Harvick cause wreck? | Drivers question finish, laud Dale Jr.

After NASCAR officials went to video to determine the winner of the CampingWorld.com 500 and sort out the finishing order of the rest of the field, Logano was the winner. Four drivers failed to advance to the Eliminator Round, starting next week at Martinsville: Ryan Newman, Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr. and Kenseth.

Read more: Logano sweeps Contender Round | Chase Bubble Watch
Watch: JGR drivers react to Talladega finish

The Followup:

It will be an interesting week at the NASCAR R&D center. All four Stewart-Haas cars had problems Saturday during inspection. And NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton said in post-race comments that in his experience, things come out of the woodwork after races like this.

Watch: Helton answers questions after Talladega finish
Read more: SHR cars have inspection woes

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WATCH: Wildest rides of 2015



TALLADEGA, Ala. — The “Big One” hit in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, and it had an impact as massive as the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway oval itself.



The championship race took a sharp turn when the No. 51 of Matt Tifft came down from the top line into a dense pack of trucks on Lap 92 (of 98), triggering a 10-vehicle incident that brought out the red flag for nearly 15 minutes.



It was the last and worst shot to Matt Crafton, who led 43 laps but was involved in that incident that sent him tumbling down the leaderboard.



Crafton, who trailed Erik Jones by four points entering the fred’s 250 Presented by Coca-Cola, wound up 23 points behind the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver after finishing 24th. Four races remain in the 2015 season.



Jones finished fourth. Fellow title contender Tyler Reddick (Brad Keselowski Racing) was also involved in the wreck, but he rallied for a fifth-place result and is second in the standings, 18 points behind Jones.



Two-time defending series champion Crafton was aggravated over the radio at the Talladega-style racing — “it’s the greatest (expletive) racing,” he said sarcastically – and brief in his analysis on the points battle following the race.


“I had my problems,” Crafton said. “If (Jones and Tyler Reddick ) have their problems … I’m not worried about it. We’re going to try and go win the next four and see what happens.”



Crafton was plagued by a spate of bad incidents Saturday that put his hopes for a three-peat as series champion in serious jeopardy.



First, there was the large piece of debris that affixed itself to the front of Crafton’s No. 88 Toyota, which caused the driver — in the lead at the time — to drop back in the field behind the pack, so that the air from the pack would sweep the trash off.



That was successful in freeing the debris, but being in the back presented problems on Lap 86 when Stanton Barrett got into the wall, hitting Crafton’s truck in the process. The ThorSport Racing driver was making his way up through the field before being drilled and sent into the inside wall, all of which preceded the final blow of the “Big One.”



Jones led six laps and was up front nearly the entire day after qualifying third. The 19-year-old ran 1-2 with Crafton prior to the No. 88 falling to the back to clean debris and extended his streak of consecutive top-10 finishes to 11, a run that began with his win at Iowa Speedway in June.


“Never would have thought that we could have come out of this race that far ahead,” Jones said of the points battle. “Everything from the best to the worst can happen here, and fortunately the best happened for us.”

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TALLADEGA, Ala. — All four Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolets failed pre-qualifying inspection Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway due to the same issue — improper assembly of the radiator inlet duct panels, which did not conform to NASCAR rules, according to a NASCAR spokesperson.

All four teams — the No. 4 of Kevin Harvick, the No. 10 of Danica Patrick, the No. 14 of Tony Stewart and the No. 41 of Kurt Busch — had to replace the duct panels, a lengthy process that caused the Nos. 4 and 41 teams to still be in the garage working under the hood 90 minutes before qualifying began.

Those two cars were the last out of the garage, getting final approval less than an hour before single-car qualifying began at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.

Any penalties would be announced next week, according to a NASCAR spokesperson. If there are points penalties, a potential appeal would also be expedited due to Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup points implications.

Rodney Childers, crew chief of the No. 4, doesn’t expect a points deduction, though.

Harvick finished seventh in Saturday’s qualifying, the highest of the SHR vehicles. Stewart was 12th, Busch was 14th and Patrick was 20th.

 

Patrick and Stewart will start from the rear, though. The No. 10 team changed transmissions Sunday morning, and the No. 14 team made adjustments.

 

Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon will lead the field to green in Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) after winning his 81st career Coors Light Pole Award.