Posted on by Zack Albert

Biagi-DenBeste Racing announced Wednesday that Ryan Truex will drive the team’s No. 98 Ford in three NASCAR XFINITY Series races this season.

Truex, 23, will compete in the No. 98 starting Sept. 11 at Richmond International Raceway. He is also scheduled to drive at 1.5-mile tracks, Kentucky Speedway (Sept. 26) and Charlotte Motor Speedway (Oct. 9). The three-race deal was facilitated through Biagi-DenBeste’s partnership with Richard Petty Motorsports.

Truex last competed in the XFINITY Series in 2012, driving for three different car owners. His most recent NASCAR national series action was last season, participating in 23 races for BK Racing.

“I’ve had some time away from racing, and it’s given me a chance to refocus on my career,” Truex said in a release provided by Richard Petty Motorsports. “I feel more driven than ever to perform well and prove that I can race with the best in the sport. I’d like to thank the fans as well. They’ve been really supportive of me on social media, asking when I’ll be back racing again. I’m looking forward to putting on a great show for them.”

Biagi-DenBeste has competed in 11 XFINITY races this season, with RPM teammates Aric Almirola and Sam Hornish Jr. — both Sprint Cup regulars — splitting driving duties. The team’s best finish in 2015 was Almirola’s seventh-place effort in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway.

“We’re excited to join RPM in giving Ryan (Truex) this opportunity to get back to racing in the XFINITY Series,” said Fred Biagi, team co-owner. “We’ve had fast cars this season and good results with both Aric and Sam; so hopefully, we can do the same with Ryan behind the wheel at Richmond.”

Posted on by Nascar

Unsecured ballast (lead weight) that becomes detached from a race car as well as the loss of a wheel or wheels due to improper installation will now result in a mandatory minimum four-race suspension for specific team personnel, according to a bulletin issued Wednesday by the sanctioning body.



The infractions are P3 level penalties under the 2015 NASCAR Deterrence Policy. Previously the length of suspension was not specified, but listed as “for one or more races.”



According to the bulletin, the loss of a wheel or wheels due to improper installation would result in a minimum four-race suspension for the crew chief, tire changer and tire carrier of the lost wheel or wheels.



For the loss or separation of ballast weight, the crew chief, car chief and head engineer would receive four-race suspensions.



Disciplinary action for P3 penalties may also include:



• Loss of 15 championship owner and driver points and/or



• A monetary fine (varies depending on series) and/ro



• Probation until the end of the calendar year for the crew chief and/or any other team members (as determined by NASCAR) or six months if the period following the notice of the penalty spans across two seasons.



Because of the danger created by the loss of ballast or a wheel, NASCAR considers the violation a safety issue. The four-race mandatory suspension is for a first offense.



At least two incidents of unsecured ballast have occurred this season, most notably at Iowa Speedway in May when XFINITY Series driver Jamie Dick was struck in the helmet by a weight that fell off the entry being driven by Ross Chastain. Dick was not injured.



The No. 97 entry with XFINITY Series driver Peyton Sellers was also penalized this year for an improperly attached weight that fell out of Seller’s car at Dover International Speedway in May.

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED:  CMS plans ’24-day salute’ for Gordon

There will be a slightly different look to the frontstretch when NASCAR teams travel to Charlotte Motor Speedway in October for Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series events.

Track engineers and turf specialists began the process this week of installing a 6-foot wide “transition barrier” between the pavement and the grass area that separates the racing surface from pit road.

The border, which consists of a sand/soil mix with rye grass and will be the same level as the asphalt, is expected to decrease the likelihood of damage to a car should it travel off the racing surface and onto the infield grass.

“The goal is to create something similar to a fairway to rough transition you might see on a golf course,” Scott Cooper, Vice President of Communications for CMS, told NASCAR.com. “If a driver gets pinched down, he or she should have a good opportunity to get back on the track without suffering too much damage to the car.”

Current ride-height rules have Sprint Cup cars much lower than in previous years, and damage to splitters and other front-end pieces of the cars often occur after nothing more than a spin through the grass at some facilities.

Crews will put down approximately 140 tons of the sand/soil mix to complete the project.

Only the grass transition barrier will be lower – the infield grass beyond the 6-foot area where sponsor and track logos normally appear — will be unchanged.

“Hopefully, this will create another ‘Pass in the Grass’ opportunity,” Cooper said, referencing Dale Earnhardt’s brief run through the infield grass en route to winning the series’ 1997 All-Star Race.

Contact between Earnhardt and Bill Elliott as the two battled for the lead sent Earnhardt’s blue-and-yellow No. 3 briefly off-track; Earnhardt maintained control of his car and remained the leader as he shot back up onto the racing surface.

CMS will host the Bank of America Sprint Cup Series race Saturday, Oct. 10. It is the first race of the Contender Round in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.

The Drive for the Cure 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 9.

Posted on by Nascar

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Jennifer Jo Cobb has been fined $7,500 by the sanctioning body as a result of a rules violation Aug. 30 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

 

RELATED: NASCAR statement on No. 10 penalty
 
Cobb, driver of the No. 10 Chevrolet, was assessed a P3 level penalty on Tuesday for having “a non-engine electronic component” in her truck.
 
She was fined $5,000 for the infraction, as well as an additional $2,500 because she is currently on probation for a rule violation earlier this year.
 
Cobb was involved in a two-vehicle crash during final practice for Saturday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 at CTMP. After climbing from her truck, which came to rest against a tire barrier, Cobb returned to the vehicle to retrieve what appeared to be a cell phone.
 
The incident was shown during coverage of the practice on Fox Sports 1.
 
NASCAR banned cell phones and similar electronic devices from driver compartments in 2012 shortly after Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski tweeted a picture during a red-flag period in the season-opening Daytona 500. The photo, which was taken after former Sprint Cup driver Juan Pablo Montoya struck a jet dryer while the race was under the caution flag, drew national attention and increased Keselowski’s Twitter following substantially.
 
In November of that year, Keselowski was fined $25,000 and placed on probation for having a cell phone in his race car at Phoenix International Raceway. The driver, who would go on to win that year’s series championship, had once again tweeted photos from his car during a red-flag stoppage.
 
Cobb, who finished 20th in Saturday’s race, was fined $5,000 and placed on probation earlier this season for exiting her vehicle and walking onto the track before safety workers arrived on the scene at Dover International Speedway.

 

RELATED: Cobb fined, placed on probation at Dover

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Darlington throwback schemes | Fired up for throwback race

It’s 1.366 miles of character-testing asphalt; a track so demanding it required not one nickname, but two.

The Lady in Black.

Too Tough to Tame.

Welcome to Darlington Raceway, host for six and a half decades of one of the most anticipated, most difficult events on the NASCAR schedule.

The Bojangles’ Southern 500 returns to what many believe is its rightful place on the Sprint Cup Series schedule, Labor Day weekend, with history in tow. That history will be on display as the track and various teams adhere to a throwback theme, part of a five-year program that launches this weekend.

“I remember that 1968 Southern win that was on the old (layout); I wouldn’t take anything for that win and then went on to win five Southern 500s,” NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Cale Yarborough said recently.

“I just have so many fond memories of racing here. Even though I had rather win here than anywhere else — because it’s home, it’s the first superspeedway — I absolutely hated to drive this place. It was just so tough to drive. But I still would rather win here than anywhere.”

Yarborough, a three-time champion and member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, hails from nearby Timmonsville, South Carolina. He made his first Darlington start in 1957 as a teenager. More than 20 years later, he became the first driver to win five Southern 500 titles.

“I was definitely in over my head,” Yarborough said of that first start, which came with car owner Bob Weatherly. “But I came back and won five times and that record stood for 30 years. When Jeff Gordon tied my record (in 2002), I told him, ‘Jeff, you’ve got a long way to go son. Because you never won one on that old Darlington race track.’

“This is a unique place. There’s not another one like it. I think any driver would love to have a win at Darlington on his resume.”

• • •

Fast Fact I: In 1965, Ned Jarrett won the Southern 500 by a whopping 14 laps, the largest margin of victory ever recorded in NASCAR’s premier series.

• • •

The story goes that after purchasing the land for the track, owner Harold Brasington was instructed that he wasn’t to disturb a nearby minnow pond when constructing NASCAR’s first paved speedway. What resulted was a layout that features two vastly different ends of the facility, giving the track a somewhat egg-shaped appearance.

The unique design, along with the application of what was known as “bear grease,” resulted in yet another piece of NASCAR terminology — the Darlington stripe. Cars would often ricochet off the wall as they skirted along the very edge of the outside racing groove.

Because of laws that restricted certain types of commerce on Sunday, the Southern 500 was contested on Labor Day, the first Monday of September, annually from 1950 through 1983.

“I guess what they had in South Carolina at the time were what they called Blue laws. We couldn’t run on Sunday,” Dale Inman, winner of seven championships as a crew chief for Richard Petty and eight championships overall, said. “We’d practice three or four days, practice on Saturday and then we didn’t do anything on Sunday. Then we’d come back and run Labor Day.

“Golly, while we were gone they’d paint the track in bear grease, so when we started the race it was just a different world for awhile.”

The appeal was obvious. Not only was Darlington the first big paved track in NASCAR’s realm, but the purse in the early years was equally impressive as well.

“The first time I went there I think was 1951,” Inman said. “Lord, in those years they started them three abreast. They didn’t use the banking, or very few used it. It was just unheard of at that time.”

Petty won three times at Darlington, including the 1967 Southern 500. But the race that stands out in Inman’s mind came three years later in the spring event.

The track, already known as one of the most treacherous on the circuit, lived up to its billing when Petty’s blue No. 43 Plymouth came off Turn 4, broke loose and struck the inside pit wall with such force that it destroyed the concrete barrier. Petty’s car flipped violently before coming to rest on its roof.

“When we got to him, (the car) was … in the middle of the race track and cars were still going by on both sides,” Inman said. “We unhooked the seatbelt, he kind of came down pretty hard on the roof because he was laying upside down.

“Until he groaned we didn’t think he was still with us. But he did groan so we knew he was OK. The big thing was his shoulder was out of place. It knocked him out.”

Darlington favored no one. Not even NASCAR’s soon to be King.

• • •

Fast Fact II: In 1976, David Pearson won NASCAR’s version of the Triple Crown by capturing the Daytona 500, the World 600 and Southern 500.

• • •

“Bear grease” is no longer a part of track preparation, but the Darlington stripe remains very much in evidence. When track officials moved the start/finish line to what had previously been the backstretch in 1997, the difficulty in navigating the cantankerous old circuit remained unchanged.

Turn 1 didn’t become any easier simply because it was now Turn 3.

“You don’t go to race tracks … going, ‘Man, I’ve got to beat this track,’ ” Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “The track’s not even a factor, not even a part of the conversation. … But when you go to Darlington, the track is a competitor. The track becomes as big of a challenge as trying to beat the next guy in front of you or outrunning your peers.

“Darlington is one of the few ovals that can reach out and grab you if you’re not paying attention or being careful. Most of the tracks we go to you won’t really run into the wall or spin out unless you have a failure on the car. Here, if you don’t watch every corner, every little thing you do … that challenge of it, how hard it is and the odds are so bad to come here and get a win, you’re up against so much more. I think that’s what adds to the appreciation for what it means to win here.”

• • •

Fast Fact III: The movie “Days of Thunder” starring Tom Cruise debuts in 1990. Cruise’s character, Cole Trickle, scores his first NASCAR win at Darlington Raceway. Naturally.

• • •

 

At the close of the 1984 season, then series sponsor RJ Reynolds, through its Winston brand, unveiled what was known as the Winston Million, a program that offered a $1 million bonus to any driver winning three of the series “Big Four” events — the Daytona 500, the Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, the Coca-Cola 600 and the Southern 500.

Previously, only two drivers had won three of the four races in a single season — LeeRoy Yarbrough (1969) and Pearson (1976).

In the first year of the Winston Million program, Bill Elliott came to Darlington having won two of the first three, at Daytona and Talladega. In the Southern 500, the future Hall of Famer had to nimbly avoid a spin by Dale Earnhardt and a smoking Yarborough entry in the latter stages of the race to seal the victory.

It was a career-defining moment for the Dawsonville, Georgia native, earning him the nickname “Million Dollar Bill.”

It wasn’t until 1997 before another driver collected the bonus, again with a victory in the Southern 500. Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon held off a tremendous charge by Jeff Burton in the final two laps to pocket the bonus in the final year of the program.

• • •

Fast Fact IV: Johnny Mantz won only one NASCAR premier series event — the inaugural Southern 500 held Sept. 4, 1950. The race featured a 75-car starting lineup and took more than six hours to complete.

• • •

Former crew chief Ray Evernham guided Gordon to four consecutive Southern 500 wins from 1995 through 1998. The most memorable win?

“The million dollar win,” Evernham said without hesitation. “Because we did not have a car to win that day.

“We won that as a team and driver; we kept working on the car. I think we made 16 pit stops that day.

“The car was basically destroyed — front clip bent, rear clip bent, door bars … we just stayed after it and won that race and we really shouldn’t have. But we did.”

Evernham won 47 races as a crew chief for Gordon, with victories coming at nearly every stop on the schedule, including Daytona, Charlotte and Indianapolis. But Darlington, he said, holds a special place.

“I love this place,” he said. “It’s still my favorite track. It challenged me. I could make a difference as a chassis person — that’s different from being a crew chief.

“I loved making the car handle. The springs, the shocks, getting all that stuff right. You could make changes here. This is like a damn dirt track. You have to chase it. You chase it all day long — 500 miles, five hours sometimes, you chase this race track.


“You had to have a tough driver and a great pit crew. Our wins here to me are some of our best wins because we really won those races as a group. Jeff had to be the best, I had to be the best, the crew had to be the best. This place, to run as hard and as long as you do here, everything had to be just right. And when I look back at Darlington, they’re some of the most satisfying wins that I had as a crew chief.”

MORE: Photos, facts about Darlington

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: See the throwback schemes for Darlington

 

Just when it looked like Darlington Raceway‘s 1970s “throwback” promotion couldn’t get any groovier with retro race car paint schemes and a return to the track’s historical Labor Day weekend calendar spot, NBC Sports upped the game again.

 

The network announced Tuesday that iconic broadcaster Ken Squier will team with NASCAR Hall of Famers — and father and son — Ned and Dale Jarrett in the broadcast booth for a portion of Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 telecast on NBC (7 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Not only will the race look like a blast from the past, it will sound like one, too.

“Something I’m looking extremely forward to is to have a chance to call some of the race with my dad and Ken Squier, who really helped put our sport on the map,” said Dale Jarrett, who appears on NBC’s pre-race show along with Krista Voda and Kyle Petty.

Viewers can expect to be transported to a different era in the sport with approximately 30 cars running retro paint schemes and the broadcast set to adjust even fine details, like making its graphics and logo authentic to the time. The track nicknamed “Too Tough to Tame” is itself a perennial “throwback” to some of the most noteworthy historical times in NASCAR.

Described Squier, “Darlington is truly like no other, its imperfections … it’s the perfect competitive place for NASCAR.”

“Authentic” was the buzzword Tuesday afternoon as the NASCAR on NBC team shared its collective thoughts about one of the sport’s most traditional races, the Southern 500 and its long-awaited move back to its Labor Day weekend position on the schedule for the first time since 2003.

Squier called it “the best move NASCAR has made in a decade.”

Others spoke at length about how this weekend’s race at the notoriously tough Darlington venue also represents a bridge between the longtime NASCAR purists and the new generation of fans.

“I think it’s really important to understand where you came from to know where you’re going, and what a perfect weekend to do it,” NBC analyst and former Darlington winner Jeff Burton said. “At a time we look back and celebrate the past, we can celebrate what’s going on now too.”

Fellow analyst Petty agreed the weekend would please those who hang onto the memories of Richard Petty battling David Pearson, Ned Jarrett’s record 14-lap margin of victory, Dale Earnhardt’s afternoons charming “The Lady in Black” and Bill Elliott winning $1 million in the old Winston Million incentive program. At the same time, there is hope the attention generated this weekend will pique the interest of new fans who have a wide field of young new talent ready to follow in the legends footsteps here.

“It’s a time to wax nostalgic, but also an opportunity to educate fans to the history of the sport at a place that has that much history … and at the same time introduce them to what the sport has now,” Petty said. “There are certain places that evoke history and the guys that came before you, and Darlington’s that place. It’s still the exact same place my granddad drove around 50-60 years ago.

 

“I was ecstatic when they moved it back to Labor Day. … This is where it should be.

“All is right with the world this week for me because we’ll be in Darlington and it’s Labor Day.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Chase Grid | Chase Bubble Watch

Kyle Larson spent three intense days at Homestead-Miami Speedway last week logging laps, studying data and working on what could potentially be the most important homework assignment of his career. So far.

Knowing that the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion will be crowned at the Nov. 22 season-finale at the 1.5-mile speedway, the test session — a two-day Goodyear tire test followed by a one-day open test — was an essential learning tool. 

Thing is, Larson, last year’s Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year, still has to earn a spot in the 16-driver Chase field to even be among the title discussion by the time the series heads back to the South Florida track to race.

And time’s running out.

Only two chances remain to grab one of the playoff spots — this week at Darlingon and next week at Richmond. Because Larson is not currently ranked among the top-16 in the points standings, his only chance of earning a Chase berth is winning a race and making his first career trip to a Sprint Cup Victory Lane. It’s crunch time, and Larson knows it.

“We know we have to win,” Larson said. “And still right now, we have to find some more speed to compete for a win. We’ve been close a couple times this year just based on strategies.

“It could happen even with just two races left. We tested at Richmond earlier in the year and it went well. I always run just outside top-10 at Richmond and I thought I learned a lot (at the test). So we’ve got good stuff for Richmond, and Darlington is a track I like a lot.”

Having his season’s fate decided in such dramatic fashion wasn’t exactly what Larson or others predicted. Larson was widely considered a shoe-in for a title run — at least a playoff berth — after an impressive rookie season.

A natural talent from the same kind of open-wheel background as three-time Cup champ Tony Stewart and four-time champ Jeff Gordon, Larson has emerged as one of the sport’s new young headliners and is widely regarded as future championship material.

Now the 23-year-old must seal the deal.

“I’m definitely surprised it’s come down to this,” Larson said while waiting out a rain delay last week at Homestead. “The way both Jamie (McMurray, CGR teammate) and I ended last year, we thought we’d be a contender this year.

“We’ve been fast but just haven’t had any luck at all this year and that’s been really frustrating. When we have speed in the cars we run in top-10. At Bristol, for example, we blew two front tires. Last year we’d run way worse but have better finishes.”

WATCH: Rough night for Larson at Bristol

There’s no denying it’s been a no-luck, hard-knock kind of season despite the team’s best efforts. While Chip Ganassi Racing‘s other Chevrolet driven by McMurray is in promising position to earn a Chase position based on points, it’s been a tough road for the team’s second-year driver.

Larson’s third place at Dover in May is his best finish of the season and only top-five showing after a rookie year when he was regularly mixing it up at the front of the field, posting five top-three finishes, including three runner-ups.

He’s had only two top-10s in the No. 42 Target Chevrolet since Dover this spring, and his four DNFs equal the number he had all of last year.

But there is encouraging news to consider, and Larson has not conceded a thing.

His No. 42 Chevrolet was easily one of the best cars in the Chase last year with six top-10 finishes in the final 10 races, including a streak of five consecutive as the postseason kicked in.

MORE: Larson’s Darlington ‘Days of Thunder’ throwback scheme

Should Larson earn a playoff chance, he feels the team should be strong down the stretch.

“Last year I thought we were running better at this point in the season than we are now,” Larson said. “But a lot of the tracks in the Chase I really enjoy running at and I think that’s part of why we had success in the Chase.

“I think we’ll be good again this year in the Chase. It’s just right now, we’re not in it.”

He added quickly: “That could change.”

MORE: Who’s most likely to win way into Chase?

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Dale Jr. proud of JRM teams

 

Josh Berry will make his first NASCAR XFINITY Series start of 2015 for JR Motorsports on Sept. 11 at Richmond International Raceway.

Berry will pilot the No. 88 Chevrolet in the Virginia529 College Savings 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The No. 88 car will carry sponsorship from Speedco for the race.

“We’re happy to be able to put Josh in our XFINITY car again at a track he has some laps on to allow him to show what he can do,” JRM co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. said in a release provided by the team. “I felt like he performed well last year in the two races he was able to run. He’s really elevated himself as a driver this year, winning at multiple tracks in the late model to earn this opportunity and I expect him to make the most of it.” 

Berry made two XFINITY Series starts last season for JRM at Iowa (in August) and the season finale at Homestead. His best finish was a 12th-place result at Iowa.

“I’m just really excited to have another opportunity to move up,” Berry said in a team release. “We’ve had a really good season so far in the late model car, and I’m really excited to get to do another XFINITY race, especially at a race track I’ve been to before. I ran in the XFINITY Series twice last year and wasn’t sure I would have the opportunity to do it again, but luckily Speedco came on board for this race. I’m really thankful for their support and for the opportunity Dale, Kelley, L.W. (Miller) and everyone at JRM are giving me.”

Berry runs a late model for JRM and has totaled nine wins this season.

The No. 88 car is currently 10th in the owner standings in the XFINITY Series. Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Ben Rhodes all have piloted the No. 88 car this season. Harvick has driven the team to its two wins and will be behind the wheel this weekend at Darlington in the VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Staff Report

Meet Todd, Official NASCAR Fan Council member of the month

Name: Todd

Current City: Fayetteville, North Carolina

Member since: 2010

Getting to know Todd

Q. Why did you join the Official NASCAR Fan Council?

"I am very passionate about NASCAR and have been a fan for over 30 years. I joined the NASCAR Fan Council to have a voice and help improve this sport in any way I can."

Q. What comes to mind when you think of NASCAR? What’s your favorite NASCAR memory?

"I am a fan of several sports and I think that NASCAR, by far, is the best sport in the world. It is filled with passionate fans and drivers. I like the fact that drivers, whether good or bad, show their passion and emotions and NASCAR allows them to.

"I have attended many races over the years and have many great memories but my greatest memory was my very first Daytona 500 in 2007. It is a day I will never forget. I have continued to go every year since."

Q: Do you have a favorite in any of the following categories?

Driver: "Austin Dillon"

Track: "Daytona"

Memorabilia: "I have a ton of memorabilia but my two favorite items are a Dale Jarrett autographed diecast and an autographed Austin Dillon hat (I met him last year). My picture even made the NASCAR website from that one."

Q: If you could go to any NASCAR race/track, where would you go?

"A night race at Bristol"

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?

"I like to hunt, fish, watch NASCAR racing, and spend time with my family. We love to travel."

Q: Tell us about your family. Do you have children and/or pets?

"I am happily married and have two children."

Q: What’s your dream car?

"I would have to say a Corvette."

From all of us at NASCAR, we thank todd for His continued support and look forward to hearing from him in 2015! Look for Todd on the Official NASCAR Fan Council page on NASCAR.COM.