NASCAR Next development drivers Rico Abreu and William Byron are scheduled to make their first NASCAR national series start next weekend, attemping their Camping World Truck Series debuts at Phoenix International Raceway.
The 23-year-old Abreu is set to drive the No. 31 Chevrolet with for Bob Newberry-owned NTS Motorsports in the Nov. 13 Lucas Oil 150 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM). AccuDoc Solutions will provide sponsorship.
Byron, 17, will drive a new entry for Kyle Busch Motorsports, wheeling the No. 09 Toyota with sponsorship from Liberty University. The truck will be part of a four-team effort for owner Kyle Busch, who will also field entries for Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Matt Tifft at the 1-mile oval.
Byron claimed the drivers’ championship with a four-win debut season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. Abreu finished fifth in the K&N East standings with one victory in his first season.
Both Abreu and Byron were named part of the 12-driver NASCAR Next class for 2015-16 on May 5.
RELATED: Texas starting lineup
Matt Crafton landed the Keystone Light Pole Award in Friday afternoon qualifying for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Crafton, the two-time defending series champion and last weekend’s winner at Martinsville Speedway, drove the ThorSport Racing No. 88 Toyota to a pole-winning lap of 181.397 mph on the 1.5-mile track. His third pole of the season was his third at Texas and the 10th of his truck series career.
Spencer Gallagher, who posted a 180.953 mph lap in the GMS Racing No. 23 Chevrolet, will start second in Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 350 (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, PRN, SiriusXM). Rookies Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones will make up the second row, qualifying third and fourth respectively.
Series leader Erik Jones qualified fifth in the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Toyota, carrying a 10-point lead over Crafton entering the 21st of 23 races this season. Tyler Reddick will start 17th and ranks third, just 13 points off the top.
Jeb Burton, making his first truck start of the season, qualified eighth in the JR Motorsports No. 00 Chevrolet.
Crafton was fastest in the first of two rounds of single-truck qualifying with a best lap of 181.056 mph. Johnny Sauter, his ThorSport teammate, just missed the 12-driver cutoff for the final round, turning the 13th-best lap in the No. 98 Toyota.
Tyler Young‘s first-round qualifying attempt ended early when his No. 02 Chevrolet erupted with smoke under the hood. No drivers failed to qualify for the 32-truck field.
Homestead-Miami Speedway announced Friday that all seats for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale — which is expected to be Jeff Gordon‘s final race — are sold out.
According to a release provided by the 1.5-mile track, all premium seats have been sold out since September and only limited RV camping areas remain for the Nov. 22 Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM).
“There will be many story lines heading into the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway, one of which will be Jeff Gordon vying for a fifth championship title in his final Sprint Cup Series season,” said track president Matthew Becherer. “We saw last year that the new Chase format gives our fans the opportunity to truly witness history during the Ford EcoBoost 400, and we fully anticipate that again with this year’s race.”
The south Florida track joins Phoenix International Raceway among tracks announcing grandstand sellouts for Sprint Cup events in recent weeks. The field of four championship drivers will be finalized Nov. 15 at the 1-mile track in the Arizona desert.
Champions will be crowned in all three NASCAR national series during Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead. The XFINITY Series will host its final race of the season Nov. 21, and the Camping World Truck Series will conclude its 2015 campaign Nov. 20.
RELATED: Full results from practice
Austin Dillon launched atop Friday’s lone practice for the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Texas Motor Speedway.
Dillon, the 2013 series champ who is now a regular in the Sprint Cup Series, pushed the Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet to a best lap of 184.363 mph in the two-hour, 25-minute session, the only tuning prep for Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM).
Brad Keselowski was second-fastest in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford with a lap of 184.256 mph around the 1.5-mile track. Erik Jones, Regan Smith and Daniel Suarez completed the top five.
Sprint Cup regular Kyle Busch, a seven-time XFINITY Series winner at Texas, was sixth-fastest in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota.
Series leader Chris Buescher turned the 12th-fastest lap in the Roush Fenway Racing No. 60 Ford. He enters the 31st of 33 races this season with a 27-point edge on defending champ Chase Elliott (10th-fastest), a 33-point cushion on Smith and a 36-point advantage over Ty Dillon (ninth-fastest).
Darrell Wallace Jr. was seventh-fastest in practice, but scraped the right side of his Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford against the Turn 4 wall late in the session.
Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the XFINITY Series is scheduled for Saturday at 12:15 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
RELATED: Practice 1 results
Brad Keselowski rose to the top of the leaderboard in opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.
Keselowski drove the Team Penske No. 2 Ford to a best lap of 197.059 mph around the 1.5-mile track in preparation for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM), the eighth of 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.
Defending series champion Kevin Harvick, driving the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet, was second-fastest in the 85-minute session, clocking a fast lap of 196.421 mph. Carl Edwards, a three-time Texas winner, was third-best at 196.249 in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota.
Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing‘s second-year driver, was fourth-fastest. Joey Logano, who had his three-race win streak snapped last weekend after a controversial run-in with rival Matt Kenseth, drove the Team Penske No. 22 Ford to the fifth-fastest lap.
Erik Jones, the 19-year-old rookie subbing for the suspended Kenseth in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota, was eighth-fastest in first practice as he readies for his second career Sprint Cup start.
Jeff Gordon, last week’s winner at Martinsville and the first automatic qualifier for the championship finale Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, was 19th-fastest. His Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet showed minor damage and tire smoke from the left-rear fender in the early stages of first practice.
Jimmie Johnson, winner of two consecutive Texas events and four of the last six races in the Lone Star State, was 14th-fastest in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet.
The rest of the Chase contenders: Kurt Busch (10th), Kyle Busch (11th), Martin Truex Jr. (20th).
Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the Sprint Cup Series is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. ET.
In a span of three weeks, NASCAR’s list of most consecutive starts among active drivers will get quite a shake-up.
Jeff Gordon is the all-time leader, so he of course leads active drivers. After he retires from full-time competition following the season finale at Homestead, his mark will be 797 — which accounts for every start in his career.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver then moves into the non-active category, though, and the guy currently behind him is losing his spot, too.
Matt Kenseth sits at 571 consecutive starts, but that’ll be gone after Texas following NASCAR’s two-race suspension of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
So, who will assume the top spot on the list? It’s two drivers, actually.
Both Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman have 501 consecutive starts, dating back to the 2002 Daytona 500.
ST. PAUL, Minn. & DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (November 6, 2015) — NASCAR® and 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division today announced a five-year extension to their long-standing Official Partnership. As part of the agreement, 3M Automotive Aftermarket will continue its nearly two-decade NASCAR Sprint Cup Series contingency sponsorship that provides many of its innovative automotive products and solutions used in race cars and race shops throughout NASCAR.
As an Official Partner, 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division will continue to carry the NASCAR bar mark on key product categories sold to car enthusiasts everywhere and to professional auto repair shops. In addition, the division will collaborate with the NASCAR R&D Center to integrate 3M automotive products and solutions into the sport.
“For years, 3M has provided science-driven products to solve NASCAR’s toughest challenges in the garage, in the car and at the track, and we are very proud of this long-standing and successful relationship,” said Laurie Altman, vice president and general manager, 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division. “Race teams can continue to have access to advanced 3M solutions that save time in car construction, enhance the paint process and make repairs easier during a race weekend. Our customer base is rich with fans of the sport, and this relationship allows us to spend time with those fans over several race weekends.”
3M Automotive Aftermarket Division will kick off its partnership with NASCAR during the 2016 Daytona 500®.
“Our long-standing partnership is driven by the authentic integration of 3M products across our sport,” said Steve Phelps, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, NASCAR. “This agreement continues the recent trend of innovative companies partnering with NASCAR to ensure we deliver the best racing product in the world.”
3M automotive products keep the world on the move, with innovative solutions for building, repairing and maintaining vehicles. From the collision repair professional to the individual vehicle enthusiast, people around the world trust 3M products to protect, repair and keep their vehicles looking showroom new. And 3M’s commitment to this industry extends beyond product performance to a careful stewardship of the world’s resources and environment. Serving the needs of its customers has made 3M a trusted leader in vehicle care and repair, and 3M is dedicated to earning that trust each and every day.
For more information about 3M automotive products, contact 1-877-MMM-CARS, contact your local 3M Distributor or 3M Sales Representative or visit the website at www.3Mcollision.com. Follow 3M AAD on Facebook at www.facebook.com/3MCollision and on twitter @3M_Collision and Instagram @3MCollision.
Tune-in to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ Eliminator Round’s™ second race, the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and PRN, with additional coverage on NASCAR.com.
CONCORD, N.C. (Nov. 6, 2015) — There have been few bigger proponents of young racing talent anywhere in the sport than Championship race Team Owner Chip Ganassi. For over 25 years he has identified, hired and developed some of the best young racing talent from all around the world. Subsequently, Chip Ganassi and his Chip Ganassi Racing Teams (CGRT) announced today the creation of the Generation Ganassi (Gen G) racing talent identification program, a mentorship that will look to identify and assist North America’s young and talented race car drivers.
The program identifies 13-18 year old drivers as “Ones to Watch” in the world of auto racing and offers professional guidance to aid in fostering their growth within the sport of auto racing.
The first recipient of the 2016 Generation Ganassi moniker is a 15-year-old driver from Canada named Devlin Defrancesco. Defrancesco has been racing karts since 2009 where he has had much success including winning the Canadian National Junior Championship in 2013 and also named Vice-Champion of the CSAI Italian Championship. In 2015, he joined British racing team Carlin to prepare for races in the FIA Formula 4 Championship.
NOTES OF INTEREST
- • Gen G – Generation Ganassi: Each year, CGRT will identify at least 10 young drivers from karting, sprint cars, modified, midgets, late model, etc. and each will be paired with one current CGRT driver, a CGRT racing competition person and also someone from CGRT business operations to help guide them through the turbulent waters of auto racing. In addition, each Gen G winner will get the Gen G logo to display on their car, helmet and firesuit. Gen G takes its name from the Generation X, Y and Z monikers given to new demographic groups. Gen G will now refer to the young race car driver that aspires to take racing from simply a passion to a profession.
- • A History of Spotting Talent: CGRT owner Chip Ganassi has a long history for identifying and developing young driver talent, from former drivers like Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi and Juan Pablo Montoya to current talent like Scott Dixon, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson and Sage Karam. Ganassi drivers have won eight Rookie of the Year Awards with drivers Eddie Cheever (Verizon IndyCar Series), Zanardi (Verizon IndyCar Series), Montoya (Verizon IndyCar Series/NASCAR Sprint Cup Series), McMurray (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series) and Larson (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and K&N Pro Series East).
- • How To Be Considered: Gen G is open to any young drivers between the ages of 13-18 in any form of stock car or open wheel racing program anywhere in the country. Candidates must complete an online application process including basic background questions and a brief video essay answering why they should be selected to enter the program. Submission of a video that highlights their racing achievements, interaction with family and friends and personality is also encouraged. The application window for the first full class will be open today and the deadline for submissions Jan. 31, 2016 with the winners being announced in March 2016.
QUOTEBOARD
Chip Ganassi, Owner, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams:
“I have always been very passionate about trying to give back to the racing community as it has given me so much throughout my life. I have always had a real interest in finding and trying to develop young racing talent and over the years have even experienced success in doing it. This is simply an effort to give young drivers a ‘leg up’ as they navigate the turbulent waters of auto racing. The hope is that a program like this can make a difference in some drivers’ careers.”
Devlin Defrancesco, 15-year-old Kart Driver:
“I couldn’t be happier to be the first recipient of the Generation Ganassi award. To be identified by Chip Ganassi is not only an honor but also something that I will use as motivation to live up to the standards that Chip and his organization has always had for their drivers. This is a big day for me.”
RELATED: Complete race results | Updated standings
FORT WORTH, Texas – On turf that typically belongs to two-time defending NASCAR Camping World Series champion Matt Crafton, Erik Jones dominated on Friday night.
Jones led 117 of 147 laps on the way to victory in the WinStar World Casino 350 at Texas Motor Speedway, his first win at the venue, his third of the season and the seventh of his career.
In an event that featured only one caution, a track-record low, Jones finished 2.855 seconds ahead of runner-up and NASCAR Driver for Diversity alum Daniel Suarez, who matched his career-best finish. Jones extended his series from 10 to 17 points over Crafton, who ran fourth after winning the Keystone Light Pole Award. There are two more races left in the Truck Series season.
The top two finishers drove Toyotas fielded by Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Jones, who is doing triple duty this weekend at Texas, will race the No. 4 Tundra next at Phoenix, where he has won the last two races.
“Getting the win here, that’s a nice boost for everybody, not just myself but everybody at KBM,” Jones said. “We needed this to get back on track. We’ve struggled a little bit the last month, month and a half and worked hard to get back to this point.
“And now, to go out there and win one the way we did, and lead as many laps as we did, that’s a really nice statement for us. Hopefully, we can go to Phoenix and do the same kind of thing we’ve done the last two years. It’s nice to have that points lead back up closer to the 20 range than the 10 range, but we still have two more weeks, and we have to hold onto it, be strong and close this deal out.”
In recent years, Crafton’s been the dominant force in the series at 1.5-mile intermediate speedways, but Jones grabbed the lead on Lap 13 and pulled away to a lead of nearly three seconds. Jones squandered that advantage with a slow pit stop under green on Lap 47, but the lone caution on Lap 54 bunched the field and erased a lead of 5.9 seconds built by Crafton.
Jones overtook Crafton for the top spot on lap 65 and controlled the race the rest of the way, losing the lead only briefly during a cycle of green-flag pit stops around Lap 100.
The race was the shortest ever in the Truck Series at Texas, lasting just one hour, 23 minutes and 48 seconds.