BoobiTrap to sponsor Truck Series ride at Homestead

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Staff Report

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team Peck Motorsports announced a new partnership with BoobiTrap — a unique hands-free cell phone holder — on Monday.

The company and its unmissable logo will serve as a primary sponsor for driver Todd Peck at the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 20. The Glenville, Pennsylvania-based team also announced that BoobiTrap’s hot pink colors will adorn the No. 40 Truck as an associate sponsor.

“We’re thrilled to have BoobiTrap come on board with Peck Motorsports,” Peck said in a team release. “They offer a one-of-a-kind product that NASCAR fans are going to love. There is always a lot of attention and excitement surrounding the race at Homestead-Miami, so this should be a great opportunity to showcase this new product.”

“This is going to be a great way to complete our season,” general manager and crew chief Keith Wolfe said. “We’ve taken many steps forward in our race program’s development throughout 2015, and a company like BoobiTrap has noticed. Having them join us in Homestead shows our progress on and off the track.”

Peck has competed in the Truck Series on a part-time basis for family-owned Peck Motorsports since 2011, making 16 starts.

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Staff Report

Appearing on the “Dan Patrick Show” Monday morning, race winner Denny Hamlin gave his take on Sunday’s Kevin Harvick–Jimmie Johnson incident — who was in the wrong, and who would win in a boxing match.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had different answers for both.

“I would have Kevin,” Hamlin said when asked about the two drivers squaring off in the ring. “I’m with Jimmie on this incident, but I’m with Kevin if you’re gonna have to box. I think he’s probably more experienced. Kudos to Jimmie for kind of being the better man there and just kind of walking away.”

On-track contact between Johnson’s No. 48 and Harvick’s No. 4 left Harvick with a smoking tire, eventually resulting in his car spinning and smacking the outside wall. It left the 2014 Sprint Cup Series champion with a 42nd-place finish, and he’s in danger of not advancing out of the Challenger Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Johnson went to Harvick’s motorhome in the driver’s lot for a post-race explanation, and was given a hard punch to the chest when Harvick confronted him.

“Usually things like this, what happens is Kevin goes in there, gets his car half-assed fixed and he goes out there and tries to wreck Jimmie,” Hamlin said. “That’s how it’s gone the last few years, but it didn’t happen. I appreciate that part of what Kevin did, he kept it professional on the race track.

“In my opinion, Kevin didn’t leave Jimmie any room, and Kevin had a lot of room on the outside. It was just hard racing.”

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Staff Report

One day after Kevin Harvick shoved Jimmie Johnson in the driver’s lot following an on-track incident in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup opener at Chicagoland Speedway, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell told NASCAR.com he doesn’t anticipate action from the sanctioning body.

“Don’t expect any penalties to come from that,” O’Donnell said. “I think that’s emotion coming from an incident that happened on the track. Huge stakes are on the line, as we all know, our reigning champion had a tough day and that’s some emotion coming out. We don’t expect to issue any penalties from what we’ve seen.”

Contact between Johnson’s No. 48 and Harvick’s No. 4 resulted in a smoking tire for the 2014 Sprint Cup Series champion. The problem appeared to get better for Harvick, but one lap later his car spun and smashed the outside wall.

The incident led to a 42nd-place finish, putting Harvick on the outside of advancing in the Chase with two races remaining in the Challenger Round — four drivers will be eliminated prior to the next of four rounds, the Contender Round.

It means Harvick may need to win one of the next two races to advance, and certainly has to at least log top-five finishes. O’Donnell will be at Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to see first-hand if the No. 4 team gains ground.

“He (Harvick) is going to be out there competing for a win, like he always does,” O’Donnell said. “We usually see a lot of things happen at New Hampshire and I expect to see that this weekend as well.”

• While at New Hampshire, O’Donnell confirmed he will also meet with stakeholders — team representatives, drivers, Goodyear, engine builders, manufacturers — for a conversation on the 2016 rules package.

Prior to that, O’Donnell said he has two meetings this week with tracks to work on finalizing the 2016 NASCAR schedule.

O’Donnell said he hopes to release both the 2016 schedule and the 2016 rules package within the next two weeks.

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Zack Albert

JOLIET, Ill. — If not for an inopportune late-race caution period Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, Kurt Busch might’ve had the come-from-behind victory in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup opener that instead went to Denny Hamlin. The consolation prize was still a positive one, another character-building moment in a season stocked with them to kick off the playoffs.

Busch rallied from early trouble, then survived a rock ’em-sock ’em restart with five laps remaining to get his Chase off to a solid start, collecting a third-place finish in the first of 10 postseason events. It wasn’t quite the win that would have automatically transferred him to the round of 12, but it provided a slight buffer and more substantial confidence booster on a day when most playoff-eligible drivers avoided catastrophe.

Busch took the lead for the final time at Lap 245 of 267 and appeared headed for victory when the yellow flag flew for debris. His crew chief, Tony Gibson, ordered Busch to keep his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 out to keep his position, making the former premier series champ one of just three lead-lap drivers — the others being Hamlin and Jeff Gordon — to shun pit road.

“You hope it goes green to the end and a yellow popped out,” Busch said. “The crew chief’s like, ‘let’s stay out,’ and I’m like, ‘yeah, I think that’ll work,’ but you’ve got to remember these restarts, we’re so boxed in and if somebody’s got a little bit fresher grip to gain momentum on a restart, they’re going to jump on you. So Jeff left the inside open, let the guys with fresh tires get to the inside, and it was a tough battle after that. But real proud of our team to bring it home third.”

Gibson wasn’t second-guessing his decision to keep his driver on the track, saying that the tires for the eventual race winner were just as worn as Busch’s.

“I figured a lot of them were going to do the opposite of whatever I do, so you’re kind of a sitting duck anyway,” Gibson said. “I pit and take on four (tires) and come out fourth or fifth; in five laps, can I make it through all that crap and make it back? Those are the things you’ve got to think about, but I don’t regret what I did. I think at the time with the information that I had, guys were talking on the radio about they’re going to do the opposite of what I do, so I’m screwed either way.”

Busch initially expressed his surprise with the strategy call over the team’s radio, saying, “I can’t believe we stayed out.” Post-race on pit road, Busch struck a tone of solidarity when discussing his veteran crew chief’s decision.

“Gibson said stay out and we work as a team,” Busch said. “We win as a team; we lose as a team. Great points day.”

But beyond the decisive restart was a day of resilience. Busch pitted on the 87th lap after scraping the wall with a flat right-rear tire. A long green-flag run helped Busch to eventually return to the lead lap and to sync up with the same pit-stop cycle as the other front-runners.

Gibson & Co. gave the car a once-over on its next stop, checking a spot of concern on the right-side fenders. Any damage was minimal; by Lap 184, Busch took the lead for the first time, remaining a force for the rest of the day.

“We never give up, and we’ve had great finishes this year with Kurt when we’ve had things happen, but we’re able to rally back and get good finishes,” Gibson said. “That’s usually what wins championships. The 48 (six-time champion Jimmie Johnson) does it a lot. That was our game plan coming into today, and it’s still our game plan when we leave.”

With playoff-eligible drivers taking eight of the top nine spots in Sunday’s myAFibRisk.com 400, there was little movement in the upper reaches of the Chase standings. But Busch is firmly there, ranking fifth in a top 10 that’s separated by just 14 points.

Last season, Busch was among the first four drivers eliminated when the field was pared to 12 after the opening Challenger Round. Next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the former series champion aims to further solidify his footing at a track where he’s won three times.

“Led some laps, showed some strength, so we’ll take that on to Loudon,” Gibson said of the series’ next race. “As long as you transfer to the next round, it doesn’t matter how many you’ve won. You can win two of these first ones and still get knocked out in the second round. We’re trying to build momentum and build steam and confidence, and today was the day we did that.”

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Nascar

JOLIET, Ill. — Jeff Gordon tied one mark but the title he was really after slipped away like a worn set of Goodyear tires.

On a final restart.

With the race on the line.

“It’s the best I’ve run all year long,” Gordon said, trying to find the silver lining in the dark cloud of a 14th-place finish Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.

It was the opening race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the first of 10 stops that will determine this year’s champion.

It’s the last Chase for Gordon, who will step aside at year’s end. He’s 44 and nearly all of that time has been spent behind the wheel of a race car.

He equaled former driver Ricky Rudd’s record for consecutive starts, at 788, when he fired up the engine on his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Sunday.

PHOTOS: Gordon through the years

He led laps in the myAFibRisk.com 400 — 41 by day’s end.

But a decision to stay out under caution, wagering four used tires and track position might be enough to take him back to victory lane for a 93rd time, failed to materialize.

Second alongside Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing) on the Lap 263 restart, Gordon was unable to hold his line as the field raced across the start/finish line and off into Turn 1 on the 1.5-mile track. His Chevrolet pushed up the track, higher and higher, losing momentum and losing positions.

Nothing else could be done but to gather it back in and hold off those he could during the final five-lap dash.

Busch and Denny Hamlin also chose not to pit prior to the final restart. Hamlin shot underneath Gordon and raced past Busch to take the lead in Turns 1 and 2 and there was no catching the Joe Gibbs Racing driver after that.

“I was just trying to hold pace with Kurt; I knew I had Denny behind me on older tires as well,” Gordon said later. “I was somewhat encouraged for that. (Denny) got a good run on me. I blocked him. He’s pushing me and we’re on the apron. I felt like I did a good job, I just came up off the apron a little too early.

“He was just able to motor right on by me on the inside. Once I got three wide, we were done. It was over at that point.”

The result left Gordon 12th in points with two races remaining – next week’s stop at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Dover International Speedway the following week – in the opening Challenger Round of the Chase. Only the top 12, including any Chase driver with a win, advance.

Three of those trailing Gordon have yet to win this season. The fourth, defending series champion Kevin Harvick, has two wins and more runnerup finishes (10) than anyone since Bobby Allison in 1972.

It was the most laps led in a race by Gordon since the spring race earlier this year at Talladega Superspeedway and his first time at the front in his last four starts.

“One thing you have to understand is we haven’t been running the way we’ve been running from a lack of effort,” Gordon said. “And we didn’t run the way we did today without putting a lot of hard work into bringing better race cars to the race track.

“I’m extremely encouraged by that. … Everybody’s been working together to make improvements because we know we’ve been behind. Today was extremely encouraging.”

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Nascar

JOLIET, Ill. — NASCAR beefed up its policing of the restart zone this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, but just how much help the addition of a high-definition camera manned by a “senior NASCAR official” provided remained open for debate following Sunday’s myAFibRisk.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

A restart on Lap 145 saw second-place Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports) wrest the lead away from Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing), and left the JGR group feeling as if they had been snookered.

Gordon saw it differently, saying afterward that it wasn’t about beating Busch, but that “it was about the guys behind me.”

“I started to roll a little bit and he decided not to go,” Gordon said. “When we got to the second set of hash marks (indicating the end of the zone), I just went, knowing that’s the rule.

“I don’t know if he spun the tires or what happened there. It seemed like he was trying to get a penalty put to me by not going.

“He didn’t go. The guy in second … the whole thing is just a mess because the box is too small. All I’m trying to do is not get beat from behind. If we roll up there slow, everybody else just hangs way back, gets huge momentum and then they take you three wide and you’re either wrecked or you’re going back 8-10 spots.”

NASCAR officials notified teams via radio that the restart “was under review” and later said the review had been completed. No action was taken.

Sprint Cup Series Managing Director Richard Buck said that overall, “I thought everybody did a good job (on the restarts) and it kept getting better and better.”

The Gordon incident, he said, “was close, and all of our resources, especially our new resources that we were able to pull in, that helped us make the decision. We’re happy about the decision, confident.”

Several laps were run between the time officials announced that the restart was under review and the decision that no action was warranted.

“The most important thing for us is to get it right and be consistent,” Buck said. “And we hear that loud and clear and that’s our goal. So we will take whatever measures necessary to make sure we get it right.

“But part of this process of letting the … competition know, they know now it’s under review. So that gives us the opportunity to really look at it and make the right decision on the call.”

This weekend’s Camping World Truck, XFINITY and Sprint Cup events at Chicagoland used the HD camera manned by an official on the ground to monitor restarts.

MORE: Best photos from Chicagoland

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Nascar

JOLIET, Ill. — NASCAR officials are expected to meet with auto manufacturers, owners and drivers and others within the industry next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in an effort to finalize the 2016 rules package.

As the sanctioning body kicks off its Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, the aerodynamic package for ’16 and next year’s schedule remain undisclosed.

Representatives of each of the automakers — Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota — competing in NASCAR’s premier series stopped short of voicing an opinion in favor of where NASCAR will land with the ’16 rules when meeting with the media before Sunday’s race.

“I think (the low downforce package) has a lot of potential,” Jim Campbell, Chevrolet’s U.S. vice president, performance vehicles and motorsports, said. “But it depends on the track. That’s the key, depending on the track configuration I think is where’s we’re going to directionally head up to get a match on the aero packages without creating some infinite number of packages.

“That one, the drivers seem to like it, the fans seem to like it. I think that one has a bright future for sure.”

Teams began the season with a new rules package that featured less downforce (brought about in part by aerodynamic changes) and less horsepower. It was to be utilized at all tracks except Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. A move to take additional downforce away resulted in a second package used only at Kentucky and Darlington as officials attempted to get a handle on what the ’16 package might look like.

“We all want the same thing. We want better racing and we want to be as competitive as possible,” Dave Pericak, director of Ford Performance, said. “I applaud NASCAR for taking the steps they are taking to figure out how to make it a better race.

“At the end of the day … they’ve been very inclusive of the OEMs and of the teams. All the right things are happening to end up in the right place for 2016.”

Stu Grant, general manager of Global Race Tires for Goodyear, said he is hopeful that “by the end of that (New Hampshire) meeting we’ve landed at a place that we know what the rules package is going to be because by the end of October we’re going to be starting to make tires for Daytona in 2016. We’re getting into our manufacturing for 2016 pretty darn quick.

“So my expectation is we will have dialogue … to make sure that everybody is all together on the same page and then move forward with the ’16 rules package.”

— No confirmation about manufacturer movement came out of Sunday’s gathering, although it is expected that Furniture Row Racing, with driver Martin Truex Jr., will switch from Chevrolet to Toyota for next season.

“Stay tuned,” Ed Laukes, vice president of marketing, performance and guest experience for Toyota Motor Sales USA, said when asked about potential lineup changes.

“We’re not in a position to comment on the 2016 season,” Pericak said of Ford. “We’re focused on this season right now.”

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Staff Report

RELATED: Full standings | Chicagoland race results

Advancing: Denny Hamlin rebounded from a 29th-place starting position and an early spin to win Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in the opener for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. As a result, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver advanced to the Contender Round.

It was Hamlin’s first win in 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Chicagoland, and it came a little more than a week since the Joe Gibbs Racing driver tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee playing basketball.

Four out: These four drivers would not advance to the next round (Contender) if the Challenger Round ended today. (Note: The Challenger Round ends in two weeks at Dover International Speedway.)

Jamie McMurray (two points behind 12th-place driver)
Paul Menard (-3)
Clint Bowyer (-5)
Kevin Harvick (-22)

Reason for hope: Ryan Newman kept his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet out of trouble on Sunday and posted a fourth-place finish, his ninth top-10 finish in 14 starts at Chicagoland. He moved up to eighth place in the Chase standings and is 12 points ahead of McMurray, who is in 13th place.

Reason for worry: Defending champion Kevin Harvick ran into trouble on Lap 135 when his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet came into contact with Jimmie Johnson‘s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet SS. A few laps later Harvick’s tire went down and caused him to spin and wreck. He had to go to the garage and finished 42nd. Now Harvick needs a win in the next two races — or to be near-perfect and see someone else fall behind in points — for him to advance.

Up next: Sylvania 300, 2 p.m. ET, Sept. 27 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM)

Who it favors
Most wins: 3 — Jeff Gordon , Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson , Ryan Newman
Best driver rating: 106.7 — Jeff Gordon
Best average finish: 10.2 — Brad Keselowski

Who it hurts
Fewest top 10s: 6 — Jamie McMurray (in 25 starts), Carl Edwards (22), Martin Truex Jr. (19)
Worst driver rating: 61.4 — Paul Menard
Worst average finish: 20.7 — Jamie McMurray

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson made contact on a Lap 135 restart, leaving Harvick’s No. 4 with a smoking tire and eventually resulting in Harvick spinning and smacking the wall. He drove his battered No. 4 Chevrolet to the garage for repairs, falling to 42nd place in the process.

The 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion faces a steep climb over the next two races in the Challenger Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup as he looks to defend his championship.

The incident was sparked by the No. 22 of Joey Logano, who shoved Johnson on the restart, leading to contact between the two Chevrolets.

Rodney Childers, crew chief for the No. 4 team, said on the radio: “(Johnson) was off of him, and turned back into him — right in front of him, on purpose.”

Harvick returned to the race on Lap 196 in his repaired No. 4 Chevrolet, pointing his finger at Jimmie Johnson‘s pit crew as he drove down pit road. He was scored 57 laps down at the time.

After the race, Harvick told NBCSN of the contact with Johnson, “I got a fairly good restart … saw those guys coming on the apron, got together and had a good run up. Stood my ground and he just slammed into the side of the door like I wasn’t even there”

For his part, Johnson said, “I wouldn’t say that what he did was any different than other situations I’ve been in like that. When you are in his position, you want to get the inside car in a bad angle so they have to lift. I was fine with lifting, but I had to get back on the race track, so I worked my way back up on the track.”

Things got even more heated as Johnson went to the driver’s lot to discuss the incident with Harvick and the defending series champion shoved the six-time champion and had to be restrained.

MORE: Best photos from Chicagoland

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Staff Report

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will all race this week, with the Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and the XFINITY Series at Kentucky Speedway.

Sprint Cup Series and XFINITY Series practices, qualifying sessions and races can be watched on NBC Sports Live Extra. All events for the Camping World Truck Series can be found on FOX Sports 1. Check out the full schedule below.

All times are ET

SUNDAY, SEPT. 27:

PRE-RACE SCHEDULE
—11:00:00 a.m.: Concert by: Brett Eldredge (45 mins)
—12:00:00 p.m.: NSCS Driver Crew Chief Meeting (NCWTS Garage)
—1:25:00 p.m.: NSCS Drivers Introductions with NASCAR Special Awards
—2:00:00 p.m.: Intro Presentation of Colors: Combined Services
—2:00:20 p.m.: Invocation: Curt Schilling, for Boston Red Sox pitcher
—2:00:45 p.m.: Intro National Anthem
—2:01:00 p.m.: National Anthem: Caroline Carter, Winner of the Speedway Star Competition
—2:07:30 p.m.: “Drivers, Start Your Engines” by: Julian Dench, Senior Vice President and General Manager, OSRAM Sylvania
—2:15:00 p.m.: Start of the Sylvania 300 (300 Laps, 317.4 Miles)

ON TRACK: NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
— 2 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 (300 laps, 317.4 miles), NBCSN/Live Extra (Results)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 5:15 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race

FRIDAY, SEPT. 25:

ON TRACK: NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
— Noon-1:25 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, NBCSN/Live Extra (Results)
— 1:30-2:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series practice, FOX Sports 1 (Results)
— 3-4:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series final practice, FOX Sports 1 (Results)
— 4:45 p.m: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBCSN/Live Extra (Results)

GARAGECAM
— 11:30 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
— 1 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

PRESS CONFERENCES
–10:45 a.m.: Joey Logano
–11 a.m.: Cole Custer, John Hunter Nemechek
–11:15 a.m.: Matt Kenseth
–3 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
–3:30 p.m.: Ryan Newman
— 5:45 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying

ON TRACK: KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
— 3:30-4:25 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, NBCSN/Live Extra (Results)
— 6-7:25 p.m. NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice, NBCSN/Live Extra (Results, called early for rain)

SATURDAY, SEPT. 26:

ON TRACK: NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
— 9-9:55 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, CNBC/Live Extra (Results)
— 10:10 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1 (Results)
— 11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, CNBC/Live Extra (Results)
— 1 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 175 (175 laps, 185.15 miles), FOX Sports 1 (Results)

PRESS CONFERENCES
— 3 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race

ON TRACK: KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
— 4:45 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBCSN/Live Extra (Results)
— 8 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 (200 laps, 300 miles), NBCSN/Live Extra (Results)