Posted on by Staff Report

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


All times ET

Monday, Sept. 21
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, FOX Sports 1
2 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2

Tuesday, Sept. 22
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, FOX Sports 1
2 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2

Wednesday, Sept. 23
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, FOX Sports 1
2 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2

Thursday, Sept. 24
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, FOX Sports 1
7 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour: South Boston (tape), NBCSN
2 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2

Friday, Sept. 25
6 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
7 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBCSN
Noon, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, NBCSN
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice, FOX Sports 1
2:30 p.m., 1979 Daytona 500 (re-air), FOX Sports 1
3 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FOX Sports 1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, NBCSN
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, NBCSN

Saturday, Sept. 26
9 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, CNBC
10 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1
11:30 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, CNBC
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Setup, FOX Sports 1
1 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 175, FOX Sports 1
4:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying (re-air), NBCSN
7:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Countdown to Green, NBCSN
8 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300, NBCSN

Sunday, Sept. 27
11:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Day, FOX Sports 1
1 p.m., Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge – Circuit of the Americas (tape), FOX Sports 1
1 p.m., NASCAR America Sunday, NBCSN
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Countdown to Green, NBCSN
2 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300, NBCSN
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Post-Race Show, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lap, NBCSN
11:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lap (re-air), NBCSN
12:30 a.m., NASCAR Victory Lane, FOX Sports 1


Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: See a photo timeline of the incident

 

JOLIET, Ill. — Any diplomacy among at least two of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver nations just found its way out the window.

 

With the dawn of the playoffs raising the competition and its associated pressures to a new level of intensity, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson provided an element of intrigue and a budding postseason rivalry Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. Mid-race contact in the first of 10 playoff races stoked the hostilities, leaving Harvick with a wrecked race car, a freshly prodded temper and a 42nd-place finish to open his Sprint Cup title defense with a thud.

 

The bitterness spilled over into the motorcoach lot after Sunday’s myAFibRisk.com 400, when Harvick confronted Johnson with angry words and a shove. Johnson disengaged from the incident and walked away, while Harvick was restrained by his business manager, Josh Jones, before making his exit.

 

On pit road before the incident, both drivers spoke in measured tones about the altercation that prompted the mess. After the race’s third caution period, Harvick was lined up on the inside lane for a Lap 135 restart alongside leader Kyle Busch. Johnson, running third with Joey Logano pressing behind him, dove low to the frontstretch apron as the battle for the top spot fanned out three-wide.

 

As the three neared Turn 1, Johnson forced his way back onto the banking, his No. 48 Chevrolet clanging fenders with Harvick’s No. 4, which soon showed smoke from a tire rub. The smoke subsided, but four laps later, Harvick looped into the Turn 3 wall with severe damage.

 

“I got a pretty good restart and obviously there was … the 22 (Logano) and 48 got a run and then I just held my line and the 48 just slammed into the side of my door,” said Harvick, who wound up 58 laps down at the checkered flag after extensive repairs. “That’s pretty much it.”


RELATED: Harvick discusses the restart and his day


Johnson — who opened his bid for a record-tying seventh Cup title by finishing where he started Sunday, in 11th place — said his move was borne from necessity.

 

“He didn’t leave me any space. He was pinning me down, and I’ve got to get back on the track,” Johnson said. “I wouldn’t say what he did is different from any other situations I’ve been in like that. When you’re in Kevin’s situation, you want to give the inside car a bad angle so they’ve got 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.”

 

Logano, the third Chase nation involved in the border skirmish, said he didn’t make contact with Johnson’s car after an initial push at the drop of the green flag.

 

“I don’t know. I was a little behind it,” said Logano, who finished sixth in the Chase opener. “I just saw the 48 go three-wide bottom, and I was just trying to protect my position and figure out what lane I wanted to go in from there.”

 

After the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 crew replaced a significant amount of sheet metal in the Chicagoland garage, Harvick returned to the track, gesturing out the driver’s side window at the No. 48 pit box as he inched his way down pit road. He also asked crew chief Rodney Childers and his spotter to indicate if he was close to Johnson’s car during the final stretch, but the two completed the race without further on-track incidents.

 

Besides the war of words, the aftermath leaves one of the pre-Chase favorites facing a significant deficit — 43 points off the top spot and 22 points behind 12th in the standings — in order to advance from the Challenger Round, the playoffs’ opening three-race segment.

MORE: Chase picture update | Series standings


“It’s pretty simple. You just go win one of the next two and get on with it,” Childers said. “It’s definitely disappointing. We just came to halfway, and honestly I just didn’t think — as much as we work together — Jimmie would’ve done that on the restart. I was expecting him just to push us and move on, but it’s disappointing, for sure. Guys did a good job getting it fixed and getting back out there and Kevin kept his head in the game and at least went out there and finished it out.

 

“He was just trying to banzai it in there on the restart, but it’s racing. It’s part of it. They’re here to win and we’re here to win, but I think at that point, they knew our car was a lot faster and with it only being halfway, I just assumed that he was going to push us and get us out front, but it’s part of it and we ended up with a torn-up race car.”

 

Anyone who complained about NASCAR’s regular season lacking fireworks, you’ve got them now. After all the group photos, media sessions and smiling for the camera, the getting-down-to-business end of the Chase’s first weekend lived up to the pre-race hype.

 

Informed of the Harvick-Johnson confrontation post-race, Childers wasn’t terribly worried about any carry-over of hard feelings for the series’ next race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

 

“I think you’ve just got to go and race next weekend and at Dover and see how it turns out from there,” Childers said. “It’s hard to say what’ll happen after that. We’ve just got to go concentrate on the next two weeks, try to win one of those and move on.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: NASCAR to patrol restarts more closely

 

JOLIET, Ill. — One day after NASCAR officials expanded their monitoring of the restart zone, the rules governing restarts came into clearer focus during Sunday’s pre-race drivers’ and crew chiefs’ meeting.

 

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Managing Director Richard Buck reiterated the procedures just hours before Sunday’s myAFibRisk.com 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM), the opening race in the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. In doing so, he mentioned the use of a dedicated camera and official to keep closer watch on the zone, a practice that went into place during XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series races Saturday at the 1.5-mile track.

“There’s been a lot of dialogue and a lot of discussion, and we thank you for that, but we want to be clear on the restart rule,” Buck said. “We understand the stakes are very high, so we want to be crystal clear on the restart rules and how they will be enforced. The restart rules have not changed. We will continue to monitor every restart using the technology available to us. We’ve allocated some more resources. We have an additional dedicated camera that’s dedicated on the restart zone. We also have a senior NASCAR official at the restart zone on the ground.”

 

“We will monitor the restarts diligently. If a restart is under review, we will announce it over race control and we will follow with a ruling. The rules for restarts, as in the video, the leader is the control car. The leader must maintain caution car speed. The leader cannot restart before the double red lines at the beginning of the restart zone. If the leader does not restart the race by the single red line, the starter will restart the race.”

Restart procedures have been the subject of considerable discussion in recent weeks as late-season gamesmanship has increased. Matt Kenseth‘s unpenalized advantage over Joey Logano on the final restart last weekend in the regular-season finale at Richmond only stoked the flames.
 
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, addressed the topic during the “NASCAR America Sunday” pre-race show on NBCSN. He hinted that the measures of adding a camera and an official to monitor restarts was a short-term solution for the Chase, but that over the long term, NASCAR would explore solutions through the use of technology.
 
“We’ve got a bunch of technology in race control as well,” O’Donnell said. “This is just an additional step to have that frozen camera on this area and to have a senior official there. An extra set of eyes never hurts. Again, we don’t want to make a penalty, but rest assured we will if we’ve got to.”
 
Buck also singled out certain rules for emphasis during his remarks in the drivers’ meeting:
 
— Rule 10.7.1, the “side skirt” rule. Buck said that any unapproved mid-race modifications to or flaring of the sheet metal ahead of the rear tires would be penalized.
 
— Lining up properly, nose to tail and door to door. Buck stressed the importance of listening to spotters and race control to get in the correct order, then emphasized tightening up the double-file formation throughout the field. “Remember everybody, it is all our responsibilities. Drivers, it’s your responsibility to restart correctly. This is your warning.”
 
— Entry and exit on pit road. Buck reminded drivers of the location and procedures for committing to pit road and the process for blending back onto the race track at the exit of Turn 2. Jeff Gordon, making the final Chicagoland Speedway start of his career, asked two follow-up questions about the blend-line process; he was told that an official would monitor the area and that drivers are to keep all four tires below the solid white line until reaching the dotted line near the backstretch.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Race results | Updated series standings | Chase standings update
SHOP: Hamlin gear, die-casts

JOLIET, Ill. — In the theater, using the expression “Break a leg” is a way to wish an actor good luck on opening night. 


Twelve days before Sunday’s opening Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway, Denny Hamlin tore the ACL in his right leg playing basketball.



Late in the myAFibRisk.com 400 at the 1.5-mile track, Hamlin found his good fortune in the form of a serendipitous pit call on the part of crew chief Dave Rogers. 


Staying out on old tires, Hamlin grabbed the lead moments after a restart with five laps left and streaked away to a .963-second victory over Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards, who surged from sixth to second during that restart on Lap 263 of 267. 


Hamlin saw an opening as the cars roared toward Turn 1 on the restart.



“It was ballsy, but I’d been stuck so many times three-wide in the middle,” Hamlin said of the winning move. “The front cars almost have a disadvantage to the back cars the way it all plays out. 


“We got a great restart, and I just held it wide open through (Turns) 1 and 2, and it stuck. We were able to get in that clean air and take off.”



WATCH: Hamlin asks reporters, ‘Whose bracket did I break?’



Remarkably, Hamlin won from the 29th starting position, rallying from a spin on Lap 2 that left him a lap down. Hamlin didn’t get back on the lead lap until he took advantage of a wave-around before a restart on Lap 129.



“Luckily, that one caution (for debris on the backstretch on Lap 122) came out that allowed us to get the wave-around and get back on the lead lap,” Hamlin said. “We had a fast car, and that was the most important thing. We stretched out there at the end even with no tires. 


“I’m proud of this effort. The pit crew did a phenomenal job again and now we’re looking forward to the next round.”



Hamlin’s first victory at Chicagoland, his second of the season and the 16th of his career ensured the driver of the No. 11 JGR Toyota will advance from the Challenger Round to the Contender Round of the Chase, as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to New Hampshire and the second race of the postseason. 



Reigning champion Kevin Harvick wasn’t as fortunate. The driver who vowed to pound the JGR drivers into the ground three days before the Chase began instead pounded the Turn 3 wall with the rear of his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet after contact with Jimmie Johnson‘s No. 48 Chevy during a Lap 135 restart flattened Harvick’s left rear tire. 


“I got a pretty good restart, and obviously, the 22 (Joey Logano) and 48 got a good run, and I just held my line and the 48 just slammed into the side of my door,” Harvick said. “That was pretty much it.” 


Johnson had a simple explanation for the contact. 


“He was pinning me down, and I’ve got to get back up on the track,” Johnson said. “I wouldn’t say that what he did is any different than other situations I’ve been in like that. When you’re in Kevin’s situation, you want to give that inside car a bad angle, so they’ve got to lift.



“I was fine with lifting, but I had to get back on the race track. So I worked my way back onto the track… I pulled down inside of him, and then we were door-to-door, and then, as I moved back into the racing groove, that’s when we touched door-to-door, tire-to-tire.” 


WATCH: Harvick confronts, shoves Johnson after race


Now last in the Chase standings, Harvick feels he must win one of the next two races to advance to the Contender Round. That’s not a new position for the driver of the No. 4 Chevy. Last year he triumphed in a must-win situation at Phoenix before taking the checkered flag at Homestead to secure his first premier series title.



“We can win anywhere,” Harvick said after the race. “We could have won today. It’s just a matter of putting a couple of days together and being able to come back to Victory Lane. Same thing as last year.”



After the race, Harvick, who finished 42nd, confronted Johnson and pounded the six-time Sprint Cup champion with a blow to the chest. Kept apart by one of Harvick’s lieutenants, the drivers then went their separate ways without further incident. 


Kurt Busch, who like Hamlin stayed out on old tires, led the field to green on Lap 263 after the sixth caution for debris in Turn 1 slowed the race. Busch fell to third at the finish, followed by 2014 Chase runner-up Ryan Newman, who posted his first top-five finish since April at Bristol.



Matt Kenseth ran fifth and assumed the series lead, bolstered by 12 bonus points earned for four victories in the 26-race regular season.

Posted on by Daytona International Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — BRP, the manufacturer of world renowned motorized recreational vehicles and engines, will serve as the title sponsor for the 150-mile qualifying races for the DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway (DIS), part of Speedweeks 2016. The races will be known as the Can-Am Duel At Daytona.

The Can-Am Duel At Daytona, scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 18, are a pair of 150-mile qualifying races that finalize the starting lineup for the 58th annual DAYTONA 500, the prestigious NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season-opening event on Sunday, Feb. 21. The Can-Am Duel At Daytona will feature every DAYTONA 500 entrant battling for a coveted starting spot in “The Great American Race.”

“We’re excited about developing this new partnership with BRP, the world leader in recreational vehicles,” Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III said. “With two thrilling and unpredictable 150-mile qualifying races, the Can-Am Duel At Daytona will provide a great platform for BRP to promote their Can-Am products at the ‘World Center of Racing.’ “

“BRP and its Can-Am products are synonymous with innovation and performance in the powersports industry,” said Anne Bélec, senior vice-president, Global Brands and Strategy. “We feel that there’s a natural fit with NASCAR racers and their fans. Thanks to our association with Kappa, Cyclops Gear and the GOFAS race team, we are now a sponsor in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the title sponsor of the Can-Am Duel, the ultimate test before the Daytona 500,” she concluded.

With Can-Am ATVs, side-by-side vehicles and Spyder roadsters, BRP is carrying on a long tradition of conquests. More than 30 years ago, the world discovered the Can-Am brand through revolutionary motocross bikes and its legend and winning spirit live on — with passion and exhilaration.

The events during Speedweeks 2016 will be the first to be held at Daytona International Speedway following the completion of the $400 million DAYTONA Rising frontstretch 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.

Tickets for the Can-Am Duel At Daytona as well as other Speedweeks 2016 events are available at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com 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 www.daytonarising.com.

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Watch Gordon’s first Chicagoland win

 

JOLIET, Ill. — Jeff Gordon made his 788th consecutive start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Sunday, equaling the series record established by former driver Ricky Rudd.

Barring some catastrophic occurrence, a week from now at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the 44-year-old will break Rudd’s longstanding mark.

From his first start on Nov. 20, 1992 through this weekend’s myAFibRisk.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, Gordon has been one of the few constants in the series.

Primary sponsorship of the series has changed — what was Winston Cup is now Sprint Cup; tracks have been added and subtracted; cars have evolved, rules have been re-written. Champions have come and champions have gone.

Gordon, however, has persevered.

Since his first start in Sprint Cup, he has always driven the No. 24 Chevrolet and he has always driven for owner Rick Hendrick.

“That’s one of those things I feel strange talking about because I do appreciate and respect the safety of this sport and the side that it can be taken away from you at any time,” Gordon said of the milestone. “I want to break that record. I think it’s a huge accomplishment because it’s not that easy to do. It’s easier today I think because the sport is safer.

“I look at Ricky Rudd; what he went through to make it is pretty extraordinary so I can’t quite compare to that, but I’ve been in this sport a long time, I’ve been in every single race and that is definitely a stat that I will look back on and be very proud of when we accomplish that at New Hampshire.”

NASCAR Hall of Fame member and 1988 series champion Bill Elliott won the race at Atlanta in which Gordon made his first Sprint Cup start. In an unusual twist, Chase Elliott, Bill’s son, will take over the driving duties of the No. 24 entry beginning next season as Gordon steps aside to begin a career outside the car that will include a stint in the broadcast booth with FOX Sports.

“How old is Jeff, 50?” fellow driver Clint Bowyer quipped earlier this week during a break in testing at Kansas Speedway. “It seems like he ought to be 60 as long as he’s been in this sport.

“When you think about the bruisers, the tough guys of this sport, Ricky Rudd was always that guy, you know? For Jeff to be in it as long as he has, and to stay safe as long as he has, it says a lot about the cars he is driving, the people that are working on those cars, the safety innovations in this sport; that’s the reason that you can do those things and he can continue to do it at the age he’s doing it. Stay sharp and on top of his game like he has.”


RELATED: Rudd and other drivers who have raced injured


Six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson, Gordon’s teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, couldn’t resist a playful dig when asked about Gordon’s record-equaling accomplishment.

“He’s old,” Johnson said with a laugh.

“I can’t believe it. It’s amazing how fast the time goes. I’m sure Jeff would say the same.”

When Johnson moved into Cup fulltime in ’02, Gordon was coming off his fourth championship and was already a winner of 58 races.

“It’s crazy to think that in 270-some races (before ’02) … I can’t believe what he had accomplished in that window of time,” Johnson said.

“He’s had an amazing career and I hate to see him go. I wish he was still going to be around but I know he’s fired up about for what’s next in life. He’s been doing it a long time.

“The success he’s had, and especially right off the bat, is really impressive.”

Rudd’s streak began Jan. 1, 1981 at Riverside (Calif.) Raceway with a DiGard team owned by Bill Gardner. It didn’t end until Sept. 20, 2005 at Homestead-Miami Speedway while paired with Wood Brothers Racing.

Rudd, Gordon and Bobby Labonte (704) are the only drivers with more than 700 consecutive starts.

Matt Kenseth, with 538 consecutive starts, is next in line among those drivers still competing fulltime in the series.

“I look at Ricky Rudd, what he went through to make it is pretty extraordinary so I can’t quite compare to that, but I’ve been in this sport a long time,” Gordon said. “I’ve been in every single race and that is definitely a stat that I will look back on and be very proud of when we accomplish that at New Hampshire.”

There were times, he said, when the possibility of missing a race existed, but they were few and far between, due to health concerns rather than performance-based issues.

One that quickly comes to mind, he said, was a blown right-front tire at Texas Motor Speedway in 1999 that sent Gordon’s Chevrolet hard into the outside wall and left the driver with a rib injury.

“No SAFER barrier, no HANS device, seats were not what they are today, seat belts were not what they are today,” Gordon said. “That could have been a very serious injury. It ended up being bruised ribs and I was hurting but we had a weekend off so I was able to recover enough to go to Bristol the next race.”

“Of course the back issue that I had last year at Charlotte — I wasn’t prepared for that. When I got back in the car on Saturday and it hurt as bad as it did, I was scared that I might not make it into that race … the next day.

“Luckily I had some great doctors that got me through it, we did the injections and I was able to make it through that race.”

Week after week, year after year, Gordon has continued to show up, suit up and race as hard as he did that first Sunday at Atlanta more than two decades ago.

“What are mine?” Bowyer asked of his own number of consecutive starts.

Told 351, Bowyer seemed stunned.

“Three fifty one to 787? Whoa! I’ll be 60 (by then),” he said.

“No, it really is a hell of an accomplishment; what a career and he’s done a lot for our sport and everybody involved in it. It really is crazy to think next year there will not be a Jeff Gordon (on the track).”

No other full-time driver competing today was also in the field that day in Atlanta. So Bowyer not only spoke for himself but for the other 41 drivers in today’s race. “He’s been in every single (Sprint Cup) race that I’ve ever been a part of.”

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Timeline of Dillon’s wreck at Daytona

JOLIET, Ill. — Daytona International Speedway track president Joie Chitwood III said Saturday that other than the necessary repairs, no changes were made to the fencing at Daytona in the wake of Austin Dillon‘s scary crash there in July.
 
Medical personnel evaluated 13 fans after Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet went airborne and slammed into the fence on the frontstretch of the 2.5-mile speedway during a final green-white-checkered finish.
 
Eight fans declined medical attention, four were evaluated on-site and one was transported to an area hospital following the completion of the Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
 
“We’ve re-installed all the appropriate poles, mesh fence, the cable, all those elements,” Chitwood said following a press conference at Chicagoland Speedway. “We completed that a couple of weeks after the event.

“We … went through an analysis with NASCAR, brought in our experts to review everything. (The fencing) did what it was supposed to; we went quickly to repairing it so that we’re ready for racing.”
 
The fencing at Daytona and other International Speedway Corp. properties was last upgraded in 2009, according to Chitwood.
 
Changes to the crossover areas, allowing foot-traffic flow between the grandstands and infield, were made following a similar incident involving Kyle Larson in an XFINITY Series event in 2013.
 
The $400 million “Daytona Rising” project, expected to be completed around next year’s Rolex 24 test in early January, includes changes that create slightly more distance between the fans and the race track while fencing off the area known as the ring road will remove foot traffic from the area.
 
“We felt good about where we are, but we wanted to get the rest of the property done,” Chitwood said. “So the other half of the property, with the setback and the height elevation of the first row, and with the catch fence we feel pretty good about going into next year.”
 
Approximately 15 additional feet now separate the first row of seats in the grandstands, although Chitwood said the actual distance might vary depending on location on the frontstretch. The lowest row of seats is also approximately 10 feet higher with the rebuild.
 
• With series sponsor Sprint scheduled to leave the sport after the 2016 season, Chitwood and his group at Daytona will be looking for sponsorship for what’s currently known as the Sprint Unlimited, the annual non-points event that kicks off Speedweeks each February.
 
Saturday, Chitwood and officials with BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products) announced that Can-Am is replacing Budweiser as the title sponsor of the two qualifying races that help set the field for the Daytona 500 next season. Can-Am is the motorcycle division of BRP.
 
“Obviously we were disappointed when Sprint chose not to come back,” he said. “For us, we’ve got to figure out what partner we’d like to be on that event. It never stops. Whether it’s the Sprint Unlimited or the Duel, we never stop figuring out what partner we’d like to be at Daytona.”

Posted on by Nascar

JOLIET, Ill. — Joey Logano is enjoying a third consecutive season in which he has qualified for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
 
For the second season in a row, his No. 22 Ford has been to Victory Lane on multiple occasions. His 16 top-five finishes equals his career-best earned last season, and with 20 top 10s, he’s just two shy of last year’s top-10s total of 22.
 
He has 10 races to improve upon those marks, 10 races to try and accomplish something bigger — win his first championship.
 
And yet in the midst of all the excitement and determination, the focus and attention on the job ahead, the 25-year-old is also hoping for something more.
 
The Joey Logano Foundation, through a new platform known as Chasing Second Chances, will award grants and support to selected charities in various markets along this year’s final 10 races.
 
The endeavor, which officially kicked off last weekend in Richmond, has tabbed Bear Necessities as a recipient for this weekend’s myAFibRisk.com 400 (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Chicagoland Speedway.
 
Next week, when the series travels to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, it will be David’s House. A week later, in Dover, Mission 22/Elder Heart will be the focus.
 
It will continue week after week, through the conclusion of the Chase in late November at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
 
Some might think it’s a distraction. Some might believe it’s unwise to focus on anything other than trying to win the Sprint Cup championship
 
Logano, obviously, feels otherwise.
 
“It takes time, no doubt,” Logano said Friday at Chicagoland. “But there is nothing more rewarding than that.
 
“If you put a Sprint cup trophy in front of me and the opportunity to change someone’s life, and you had to pick one or the other, it’d be pretty selfish to pick the Sprint Cup trophy, that’s all I’ve got to say.
 
“You have to look at the big picture in life sometimes. Yes, I want to win a championship, but that doesn’t make you a champion in life. You know what I mean? A champion in life is using the tools that God’s given me to help others.”
 
The foundation will celebrate its third year next spring at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the closest site the Connecticut native has in the series to a home track. His current goal for the foundation is to reach $1 million in donations.
 
“We have to get our foot in the gas a little bit and figure out how we’re going to do that,” Logano said. “We want to do it in a creative way and a way that fits with our mission of giving second chances and helping people in the racing community and race track areas.”
 
His time spent with his team might be valuable, but Logano said his time spent working with programs such as Chasing Second Chances is just as important. Sometimes it’s an appearance at a particular venue, on other occasions it might be providing funds necessary to help a charitable organization continue to provide help and assistance to a community.
 
“I’ve learned that I can have just as big of an impact by meeting someone and talking to them, trying to lift them up, as a check does,” he said. “If you can do both, that’s what we’re going to do.
 
“I’m trying to do my part and donate my time, but obviously a lot of the supporters of the foundation, we want to make sure their money is going to the right places and doing the right things. If we can put both of those together, we can do some amazing things for sure.”
 
More than two dozen organizations receive support from The Joey Logano Foundation.
 
“Whether it’s a homeless (situation) or it’s an illness a child has come down with — if you’re the family it’s really hard. When their child is in a hospital three hours down the road and you can’t go to work, well, how do you pay the bills?
 
“We’re working with an organization that helps that part out. It’s a little different than actually helping the child. But the family needs help as well. So we’re thinking outside the box with things like that.”
 
Logano himself got something of a second chance when he landed at Team Penske after four full seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing. Paired with crew chief Todd Gordon, he quickly rewarded team owner Roger Penske by qualifying for the Chase his first year, then winning five times and advancing all the way to the Championship 4 last season.
 
Now, he’s embarking on an opportunity to become one of the series’ youngest champions. But his desire to help others won’t take a backseat during his latest run for the title. He’s making sure of that.
 
“I want to see the foundation grow a lot. I want it to be a nationwide organization that people know and want to donate to,” he said. “I realize that’s going to take a lot of time and it’s not going to be easy. But it’s a challenge I want to pursue when I look at years and years down the road.
 
“We want to hit that million-dollar mark when we get to our third anniversary. Down the road we’re going to want to be over $1 million every year. But we have to be methodical with the steps we make, really think them out. Because it is running a business, there’s money coming in and money going out.
 
“You’ve got to think of it like a business but you get to run it with your heart — which is pretty fun.”

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It’s one of the hazards when you work in the pits, there’s always the chance of getting hit during a stop. Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck race at Chicagoland Speedway produced another one of those nasty hits, but fortunately both crewmen walked away.  

Daniel Hemric, driver of the No. 14 Chevrolet for NTS Motorsports, lost his brakes and hit jackman Graham Molatch and front changer Steve Price during the American Ethanol e15 225.

Both Molatch and Price, who also work in the pits in the Sprint Cup Series, were taken to the infield care and released.

Molatch is the starting jackman on the No. 42 car for Kyle Larson and Price is a changer for the No. 7 of Alex Bowman.

“Man, I’m a little bruised up but I think I’m OK.” Price said. “Most of my pain is on my left foot. I took a decent shot there, but I think it’s alright.”

Read more at PitTalks.com

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JOLIET, Ill. — Kyle Busch‘s most recent NASCAR XFINITY Series victory came with a slightly sour post-race taste Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway after the winning car was found to be too low in a post-race technical inspection.
 
A NASCAR spokesman said that the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota failed to meet the minimum height requirement on all four corners of the car. Any potential penalties would be determined after further inspection of the car early next week at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.
 
In the past, such violations have warranted P2-level violations according to the NASCAR deterrence system that was introduced before the 2014 season.
 
Busch led 102 of 200 laps in Saturday’s Furious 7 300 to notch his fourth XFINITY victory of the season and the series-leading 74th of his career.