Chase Elliott the 'weakest link' at Hendrick in 2016?

Posted on October 29, 2015 by RJ Kraft

HAMPTON, Ga. — Chase Elliott as the weakest link?

It’s hard to imagine that being the case for the reigning XFINITY Series champion, but Elliott was upfront with this feeling that will indeed be the case in 2016 when he embarks on his first full-time season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team.

“I know for a fact going to the 24 team next year, I’m going to be by far the weakest link in the chain,” Elliott said during a media availability at Atlanta Motor Speedway during a NASCAR open team test.

“I just really feel like that’s a good group and I feel like if I can step up and do my job, there’s no reason why we can’t give ourselves a chance to compete for a win. I think that would be great but I just have a real long ways to go myself, personally to get to that point right now.”

Elliott was at Atlanta to test the 2016 rules package that will see reduced downforce as a prevalent part of the package. He also tested the package at Michigan International Speedway last week.

In a race he admitted he’d “like to forget” due to a 41st-place finish, Elliott drove with the reduced downforce package over Labor Day weekend at Darlington Raceway. Elliott made five starts this season in the No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (Martinsville in March, Richmond in April, Charlotte in May, Indianapolis in July and Darlington in September). His best finish was a 16th-place result at Richmond.

“Those five races that we ran this year were not where I wanted to be by any means,” Elliott said. “I didn’t feel like I did a very good job at all to be completely honest with you. I thought I did very, very poorly, personally in the Cup races that we ran this year.

The 19-year-old doesn’t believe he is being hard on himself, just honest.

“I just like to be honest with myself and the situation,” Elliott explained. “When you show up to the racetrack like we have this year, for those Cup races, showing up in really good equipment, there’s no excuse to go and not run better for me. I look at that across the board. I just try to be honest with myself and if I don’t feel like I did the job I need to do, I like to just be upfront with my mind and myself personally first.”

And while he is his toughest critic at times, his dream of becoming a full-time driver in the sport’s top series is moving closer and closer.

Prior to the start of the 2015 season after four-time premier series champion Jeff Gordon had already announced that 2015 would be his final full-time season, Hendrick tapped Elliott to drive the No. 24 Chevrolet starting in 2016.

“I’m really looking forward to next season,” Elliott said. “The more days we spend doing tests like this I think it starts to set in for me that the next time we come to this track will be next year in the 24 car we’ll be racing Sprint Cup, full-time. All those things are things I’ve dreamed of doing for a very long time. …

“I just hope to make the most of a great opportunity that’s in front of me.”

Posted on October 29, 2015 by RJ Kraft

HAMPTON, Ga. — With the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in full swing, it’s easy for drivers outside the postseason to get overlooked.

And while the battle for the championship is down to four races, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is coming into his own during the latter stretch of his third full-time season.

In the past five weeks, the 28-year-old has scored two top 10s (an eighth-place finish at Dover and a ninth-place finish last weekend at Talladega). His five straight top-15 finishes are the first time he has accomplished that in his Sprint Cup career. To put that in perspective, Stenhouse had just five top-15 finishes in the first 27 races of the season.

Since the Richmond race in September, the 2013 Sunoco Rookie of the Year has jumped up five spots in the standings to 24th and is only two points behind Danica Patrick for 23rd.

“My team is doing a great job. Nick (Sandler, crew chief) and my engineers and my car chief are all working together making sure that we are being as consistent as we can be,” Stenhouse said during a media availability at a NASCAR open team test at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Thursday.

“That’s doing everything in the shop, making sure that everything gets done the way it needs to. We’re going to the track each week with a set gameplan and trying to stick to that gameplan every week. Our cars are getting better as well, so it’s a combination of just a lot of hard work throughout this year.

“We really wanted to start the year running off inside the top 15 and work on it from there and get it even better, but we started the year off and it just wasn’t there. It’s been a good last month and a half or so for us and looking forward to finishing the year strong.”

The Roush Fenway Racing driver touched on the program’s struggles over 2015 but thinks there are plenty of reasons for optimism moving forward.

“I think we’ve definitely been behind for a couple of years now and we’re trying to put a lot of people in place. I think we’ve got some good hires that are going to come in this off-season that I’m real excited about to hopefully make our program better and build better race cars. Hopefully, this ending to the year that we’re having, hopefully we can start next year really similar.”

And with a new rules package in place for 2016, Stenhouse thinks that the low downforce package will help his team build off its late surge.

“I think everything we’ve been doing lately will really kind of go hand in hand with the issues that we are going to have next year with balance and the way the car handles. So I’m encouraged with the things that we have done that will also help for next year.”

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Daytona International Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — PowerShares QQQ has entered into a multi-year partnership to serve as the title sponsor for the NASCAR XFINITY Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway (DIS), part of Speedweeks 2016. The 120-lap, 300-mile race will be known as the PowerShares QQQ 300, taking place February 20, 2016. PowerShares QQQ^™ is an exchange-traded fund based on the Nasdaq-100 Index^®.

“We’re excited about forming this new relationship with PowerShares QQQ,” Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III said. “Daytona International Speedway and DAYTONA Rising, our $400 million redevelopment project, are great platforms for new partners to showcase their brands to our passionate NASCAR race fans at the ‘World Center of Racing.’ “

“Invesco PowerShares QQQ ETF was created on the core principles of powerful performance, deep technology experience and building a sustainable track record,” said Dan Draper, Global Head of Invesco PowerShares. “As technology evolves and the ETF business becomes faster while needing to maintain precision, we see great synergies between our goals of continuing to deliver on that track record in the same sense that NASCAR aims to execute through its races.”

The events during Speedweeks 2016 will be the first to be held at DIS following the completion of the $400 million DAYTONA Rising redevelopment project. Race fans will experience new amenities such as wider and more comfortable seats, spacious concourses, escalators and elevators, twice as many restrooms and three times as many concessions and merchandise stands and two new larger video display boards.

Tickets for the PowerShares QQQ 300 as well as other Speedweeks 2016 events are available here or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP. Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube for the latest news throughout the season. Fans also can follow the latest on DAYTONA Rising, the $400 million frontstretch renovation at the “World Center of Racing” by using #DAYTONARising on Twitter or visiting here.

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Nascar

Imagine you’re behind the wheel of a race car, headed toward the start/finish line for a green, white, checkered restart, and your entire season rests on the outcome of the final two laps.

Finish high enough and you stay in contention for the championship.

Give up too many positions and everything you and your team have worked for all season effectively comes to an end.

And then you realize you have a tire going down.

Or a loose wheel.

Or an engine that’s gone sour.

Do you pull out of line and let everyone, and everything, go rushing past?

Or do you stay in line and hope for the best?

Kevin Harvick chose the latter, and when his underpowered Chevrolet triggered a multicar crash Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, the final race of Contender Round of this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup ended under a cloud of controversy.

Did Harvick intentionally cause the crash in an attempt to maintain his position and thus escape elimination?

NASCAR officials said Tuesday that they could find no evidence to support such claims.

Several drivers, including two that saw their title hopes dashed, believed otherwise.

Harvick’s actions make for great debate. They also raise another question — what is considered acceptable racing under today’s Chase format?

Even the drivers are still trying to figure that one out. And doing so on the fly.

“When the competition is at the level that it’s at, and you’re seeing that opportunity either slip away or in your grasp, the things that you will go to, the level that you’ll take it, you don’t even know yourself until you’re in that position,” four-time series champion Jeff Gordon said Tuesday during media day activities at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

What’s at stake hasn’t changed, he said, only the format. “And that’s changed things slightly in the urgency of things.

“It’s just the opportunity that presents itself that’s there in front of you. I don’t think that would be any different 20 years ago versus today.”

Matt Kenseth, a former champion and one of the four latest Chase casualties, said after Sunday’s race that NASCAR officials had “lost total control.”

“I got wrecked out two weeks in a row from people doing what they had to do to make the Chase, but call it what you want,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said.

A week earlier, contact from Joey Logano knocked Kenseth out of the lead in the closing laps at Kansas Speedway. Sunday’s finish was the final nail in the coffin.

Perhaps less control is by design. “That’s part of the fun of it, but it does need some control,” Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski said. “As to whether it’s the appropriate amount that we’ve seen lately, who am I to judge?

“When you get to these elimination races you’ve got essentially your whole season on the line. It certainly is going to stretch what you’re willing to do, but that’s not a bad thing, that’s a good thing. That’s what NASCAR wants. That’s why they created this format.”

The format, which debuted in 2004, was last revised after 2013 in an attempt to create more “Game 7” type opportunities, with the stakes increasing as each round nears completion.

That much appears to have been accomplished.

But to what extremes drivers and teams will go to advance, and equally important, how such moves are policed, remains open for discussion.

How much is too much? How far is too far?

“I think everybody’s going to keep ramping it up, racing more aggressively, racing harder, take more chances,” Furniture Row Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. said. “But you don’t want to go overboard and just run people over and take people out of the race. That’s not fair.

“Everybody has the same opportunity. Everybody has the same right to be on that race track.”

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Staff Report

Justin Allgaier will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro in 2016 in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, JR Motorsports announced Wednesday. The team will also enter into a multiyear partnership with BRANDT.

Allgaier currently sits in the No. 51 Chevrolet SS for HScott Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series and hasn’t driven in the XFINITY Series since 2013. In 174 career XFINITY Series starts, Allgaier has three wins, 84 top 10s and four poles.

“JR Motorsports is privileged to bring BRANDT and Justin back into the XFINITY Series,” said Kelley Earnhardt Miller, general manager of JRM, in a team press release. “Much like JRM, BRANDT is also a family business that prides itself on being an industry leader. We’re excited to give both BRANDT and Justin a renewed avenue for success and look forward to what lies ahead in 2016 and beyond.”

Allgaier will replace Regan Smith, who has piloted the No. 7 full-time for the past three seasons and finished second in the XFINITY Series standings in 2014.

Allgaier will join a JRM team that also includes Elliott Sadler, who is taking over for Sprint Cup-bound Chase Elliott.

JRM will also field a third full-time XFIINITY car, the No. 88, that will be driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Elliott, among others.

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Staff Report

Tickets for the 2016 Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola

On Sale Thursday, Oct. 29

~ Independence Day Holiday Weekend Classic To Be Held In New Motorsports Stadium For The First Time ~

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Tickets for the 58th annual Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, the first following the completion of the $400 million DAYTONA Rising redevelopment project, will officially go on sale Thursday, Oct. 29 at 9 a.m. EDT.

Fans will be able to purchase tickets to the Independence Day holiday weekend classic scheduled for Saturday, July 2 in one of three convenient ways:

• Online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com

• By calling 1-800-PITSHOP

• Visiting the Daytona International Speedway Ticket and Tours Building

The new motorsports stadium will feature 101,500 new, wider more comfortable seats, thousands of premium club seats, 40 escalators and 17 elevators, 60 luxury suites, social “neighborhoods” and three concourse levels that will span the nearly mile-long frontstretch.

Reserved stadium seats for the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola start at $55. Reserved stadium seats for children ages 12 and under are $20 and kids 12 and under are free in the Sprint FANZONE.

The Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola will feature 43 stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series battling for a coveted victory in the 160-lap, 400-mile race, which will be capped off by the largest fireworks show in the Southeast.

About DAYTONA Rising

DAYTONA Rising is a $400 million reimagining of an American icon – Daytona International Speedway. Five expanded and redesigned entrances, or “injectors,” will lead fans to a series of escalators and elevators, transporting them to three different concourse levels. Each level features spacious social areas, or “neighborhoods,” along the nearly mile-long frontstretch. At the conclusion of the redevelopment, Daytona International Speedway will have approximately 101,500 permanent, wider and more comfortable seats, twice as many restrooms and three times as many concession stands. In addition, the Speedway will feature over 60 luxury suites with trackside views and a completely revamped hospitality experience for corporate guests. DAYTONA Rising: Reimagining an American Icon, expected to create 6,300 jobs, $300 million in labor income and over $85 million in tax revenue, will be completed in time for the 2016 Rolex 24 At Daytona and DAYTONA 500.

Toyota, Florida Hospital, Chevrolet and Sunoco are Founding Partners of DAYTONA Rising, joining the Speedway to help provide the very best experience for fans through more than 80,000 total square feet of engagement areas, branding rights for four of the injectors/entrances and four of the new neighborhoods.

Barton Malow is serving as the design-builder for the project. In addition to DAYTONA Rising, Barton Malow has renovated the University of Michigan “Big House” and the Rose Bowl.

ROSSETTI is the architect for DAYTONA Rising. ROSSETTI is an award-winning architectural design and planning firm with 46 years of expertise in sports and entertainment projects including the Green Bay Packers Titletown, renovations for the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field, a new headquarters for the LA Lakers, five MLS stadiums and the new retractable roof over the USTA’s Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Race fans can follow the progress of the DAYTONA Rising project by visiting www.DAYTONARising.com and connecting with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube. Also, fans can see the construction project up close by taking one of the daily tours available at the Speedway on non-event days throughout the year. Visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/tours or the Speedway Ticket and Tours Building for more information. For tickets and more information on Daytona International Speedway events, visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or call 1-800-PITSHOP.

About Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway is the home of “The Great American Race” – the DAYTONA 500. Though the season-opening NASCAR Sprint Cup event garners most of the attention – as well as the largest audience in motorsports – the approximately 500-acre motorsports complex boasts the most diverse schedule of racing on the globe, thus earning it the title of “World Center of Racing.” In addition to eight major weekends of racing activity, rarely a week goes by that the Speedway grounds are not used for events that include civic and social gatherings, car shows, photo shoots, production vehicle testing and police motorcycle training.

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Posted on October 28, 2015 by Staff Report

Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, Kid Rock, Hank Williams, Jr., Billy Currington, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lee Brice, Martina McBride, Gary Allan, Tyler Farr and Many More at

First-Ever Dega Jam Music Festival at Talladega Superspeedway,

July 1-3, 2016

Tickets, VIP Packages and Travel Packages on Sale Now

Early-Bird Pricing for 3-Day Passes Available for a Limited Time

(Talladega, Ala.) – October 25, 2015 – Dega Jam, the first-ever country music festival held at Talladega Superspeedway, announced a monster lineup for the first-time event. Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, Kid Rock, Hank Williams, Jr., Billy Currington, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lee Brice, Martina McBride, Gary Allan, Kip Moore, Tyler Farr and dozens more will keep the party rocking over Fourth of July weekend, July 1, 2 & 3, 2016 at the famed Talladega Superspeedway.

Dega Jam, which will take place in the infield of the biggest NASCAR track in the country, will feature a huge music lineup over three days and nights, programmed on three specially designed performance stages. The mega-music festival will offer fans a thrilling new annual way to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday weekend. General Admission 3-day passes, VIP packages and travel packages are all on sale now. Early-bird pricing for weekend passes is available for a limited time. Camping opportunities will be available for purchase starting October 29. Visit DegaJam.com for all festival information, including participating hotels.

The full 2016 Dega Jam lineup includes: Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, Kid Rock, Hank Williams, Jr., Billy Currington, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lee Brice, Martina McBride, Gary Allan, Kip Moore, Tyler Farr, Chase Rice, Chris Janson, Dwight Yoakam, Frankie Ballard, Jamey Johnson, Easton Corbin, Jerrod Niemann, Sara Evans, The Time Jumpers featuring Vince Gill, Kenny Sears, and Ranger Doug Green, Montgomery Gentry, Marty Stuart, Eli Young Band, Colt Ford, Brothers Osborne, Brandy Clark, Clare Dunn, John Anderson, Kristian Bush, The Cadillac Three, Aaron Lewis, Pat Green, Josh Thompson, RaeLynn, Mac Powell, Rodney Atkins, Cassadee Pope, Shooter Jennings The Swon Brothers, Mo Pitney, Frank Foster, Whiskey Myers, and Ruthie Collins.

Quint Davis, producer/director said, “Dega Jam is coming to join the thunder that rocks Talladega Superspeedway. From the opening night strains of ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd to Eric Church and his mega-hit ‘Talladega’ on Saturday night, to taking it home with Kid Rock’s ‘Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long,’ the Dega Jam will live up to its namesake. A country festival like no other, Dega Jam headlines Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, Kid Rock, Hank Williams, Jr., and 40 more stars from all branches of country music. In the infield of the Superspeedway, on three stages for three days, country music will be celebrated from modern superstar Martina McBride, to legendary rocker Dwight Yoakam, and everything in between, including Lee Brice, Billy Currington, Gary Allan, Montgomery Gentry, Tyler Farr, native Alabamians Sara Evans and Jamey Johnson. Even Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill brings his Time Jumpers to the party. And a party it will be; for sure there is something for everyone. All tickets go on sale today. Be one of the lucky few that get to actually camp out in the infield, inside the Festival itself, where the party really never stops. Hey, it’s not just a music Festival, it’s Talladega!”

“Being the biggest race track in NASCAR and having nearly 3,000 acres of unlimited camping opportunities, Dega Jam is uniquely positioned to become one of the – if not the – biggest country music festival in the country,” said Grant Lynch, Chairman of Talladega Superspeedway. “More than 70 percent of our NASCAR customers come from outside of the state, generating more than $380 million annually for Alabama tourism, and we expect Dega Jam to add significantly to this economic impact. When these fans make their journey to Dega Jam, they will find that ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ has lots more to offer, too. From delicious food delicacies to incredible road-trip destinations, Alabama has it all. We can’t wait for July 2016.”

Just as it is for the races at Talladega, Dega Jam will allow fans to camp in the infield, literally inside the festival. A full-range of camping opportunities is available for virtually any budget, from pitching a tent to deluxe RV locations adjacent to the stages.

Special VIP packages – the “Crew Chief VIP Experience” and “VIP Pit Pass” – will allow for a variety of special privileges, depending upon which package is selected: an exclusive upfront, golden-circle viewing area at the main stage and with VIP viewing at the other stages; access to the White Lightning VIP Club offering a comfortable hospitality tent and private cash bar; and other comforts and amenities. VIP packages will be available in limited quantities.

Fans at the festival will also have the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of their favorite country stars at artist meet-and-greets located throughout pit road and inside NASCAR garages. Numerous other features—a select festival menu sold from food booths and food trucks; carnival rides; arcade games; country-and-western merchandise; cool zone water elements; and more—will all be a part of the festival, as Dega Jam transforms Talladega Superspeedway into a festival-goer’s paradise.

Be part of the Dega Jam community at any of the following:

AEG Live along with Festival Productions, Inc. – New Orleans are partnering with the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) to produce the Dega Jam.

PLEASE NOTE: Artist b-roll video is available at https://vimeo.com/141839637.

Festival Contact: Matthew Goldman, 504-410-4100, [email protected]

Talladega Contact: Russell Branham, 256-315-4556, [email protected]

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DEGA JAM

WEEKEND FESTIVAL PASSES

3-DAY GENERAL ADMISSION WEEKEND PASS – ($179 early bird all-in pricing)

• 3-day general admission; passes are non-transferable

• Includes access to over 40 bands on three festival stages, a select menu of food and beverage offerings available for purchase from food booths and food trucks, carnival rides, arcade games, country and western merchandise, official festival merchandise, a myriad of shade and water elements and much more

VIP PIT PASS – ($599 all-in pricing)

• 3-day admission; passes are non-transferable

• Access to the Pit, an exclusive upfront, golden circle viewing area at the Dega Jam Stage and VIP viewing at the Sweet Home Dega Stage and Honky Tonk Hall

• Access to the White Lightning VIP Club, a private hospitality tent where guests can cool of in the shade with access to exclusive beverage for purchase, private merchandise stand, cell phone charging stations and more

• Private air-conditioned flushable restrooms

• Exclusive festival merchandise item

• Express VIP entrance with re-entry all weekend

• Exclusive opportunity to purchase a VIP parking space

• On-site experience concierge

CREW CHIEF VIP EXPERIENCE – ($999 all-in pricing)

• 3-day admission; non-transferable

• Access to the Pit, an exclusive upfront, golden circle viewing area at the Dega Jam Stage and VIP viewing at the Sweet Home Dega Stage and Honky Tonk Hall

• Exclusive access to the Crew Chief Super VIP Deck at the Dega Jam Stage featuring a covered viewing platform with premium views of the main stage, open bar featuring select wine, beer and spirits, complimentary light snacks and refreshments, and air-conditioned restrooms

• Crew Chief VIP-only exclusive festival merchandise items

• Crew Chief VIP only festival merchandise item

• Express VIP entrance with re-entry all weekend

• Exclusive opportunity to purchase a VIP parking space

• On-site experience concierge

Plus a few surprises!

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Zack Albert

NASCAR’s decision to truncate its overtime process for last weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway reduced the number of green-white-checkered attempts from its customary three to one. Thanks to a perfect storm of factors in the waning laps, it did not decrease the carnage or the confusion.

The remaining eight drivers alive in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs did their best to sort it out Tuesday, examining the rare and peculiar aborted non-attempt and the actual final restart attempt — both of which resulted in multicar crashes before the field ever reached the flagstand. The spectacle even left NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France to call the ending “strange” in a Tuesday afternoon appearance on NBCSN’s “NASCAR America.”

The double-whammy of race-ending anticlimax raised the question — if NASCAR’s big-leaguers can take the initial start without issue, then make mid-race restarts with relative ease, why don’t late-race restarts go off without a hitch?

“Because we’re idiots, every one of us,” Harvick said Tuesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “We’re pushing and shoving. You’re pushing past the limits. You’re pushing past everything you’re supposed to do. You know it’s wrong.”

Granted, it’s a small sample size — one procedural rules change for one race — with the noble intention of improving safety at Talladega, where restrictor-plate engine rules slow the field at one of the circuit’s fastest tracks. The change came about at least partly in response to Austin Dillon‘s frightening crash at sister track Daytona International Speedway in an overtime finish in July.

Though Sunday’s ending quashed the hopes of a two-lap dash under the green flag, the decision for one green-white-checkered attempt still found favor among the remaining eight Chasers.

“Just from the driver standpoint, I think it’s too much risk that’s involved to do multiple green-white-checkereds,” said four-time series champion Jeff Gordon. “Each time you have a green-white-checkered, there’s so much aggression that goes on on those restarts. You’re putting everyone in a position to not lift, to not hold back, to do things outside their comfort zone. That’s what’s going to cause some big wrecks. I think doing it one time is enough.”

Before the rules change ever went into effect, 2012 series champion Brad Keselowski was among the proponents of shortening overtime at Talladega, saying he’d be content with just one green-white-checkered attempt. The outcome of Sunday’s race didn’t sway his opinion.

“NFL and some other sports have an overtime, but that’s only if the score is tied. I don’t consider a yellow flag in the closing stages of the race to be a tie,” Keselowski said. “I consider it to be a stoppage of play. In that sense, when the cars go the scheduled race distance, to me, the race is over. Yeah, does it stink when it happens under yellow? Absolutely, but those things happen and that’s why you’ve got to make a pass before you run out of time.”

NASCAR competition officials have a little less than four months to determine whether similar overtime restrictions will be in place for the 2016 season-opening Daytona 500. Even less clear was whether the decision-making process that led to Sunday’s waved-off restart would eventually become an ironclad part of race procedure.

The one constant — no matter how many overtime attempts — remains the ratcheted pressure of the Chase, especially during restarts with the laps ticking down.

“It’s the end of the race. Look at how important every point is,” Harvick said. “In those situations you have to be overly aggressive. You have to go over the edge.”

Posted on October 28, 2015 by

· The No. 33 team has been penalized for an infraction that occurred during pre-qualifying inspection on Oct. 23. This is a P4 level penalty (Sections 20.4.12.2; 20.20.a; 20.4.f; P4, 12.5.3.4. b&d, Penalty Options; P4, 12.5.3.4.1 d&f, Penalty Examples). Crew chief Shane Huffman has been fined $10,000, suspended for the next three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship events, plus any non-championship races or special events which might occur during that period, and placed on NASCAR probation for a six-month period following the issuance of the penalty. The team has also been assessed with the loss of 25 championship driver (Brandon Jones) and 25 championship owner (Maurice Gallagher Jr.) points.