Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR XFINITY Series will head to Road America while the Camping World Truck Series will be racing at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this week. The Sprint Cup Series is off for the week.

RACES
XFINITY Series: Road America 180 Fired by Johnsonville (Saturday Aug. 29, 3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/Live Extra, MRN Radio, SiriusXM)
Camping World Truck Series: Chevrolet Silverado 250 (Sunday Aug. 30, 1:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM)


WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Click here for on-track times and leaderboards.

RACE DAY
• NXS leaderboard
• NCWTS leaderboard
• NXS Lap-by-Lap
• NCWTS Lap-by-Lap

PRODUCTS
• Scanner: In-car audio only.
• Mobile Apps: Follow the leaderboards live from your device.

NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA
Web stream: NBC Sports Live Extra
Mobile app: iOS/Android

 

NBC Sports Live Extra will stream NASCAR coverage on NBC and NBCSN via “TV Everywhere”, giving consumers additional value to for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The NBC Sports Live Extra app is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store and Apple TV. For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra.

FOX SPORTS GO

The Camping World Truck Series race will also be available through FOX Sports GO; which is an online and mobile streaming product that allows subscribers of participating TV providers to watch live sports and shows from FOX, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2 and FOX Deportes.  FOX Sports GO is currently available for download on iTunes for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices or can be accessed online at FOXSportsGO.com. The app is also available via Google Play, Kindle Fire and from the Windows Store.


Access to programming in FOX Sports GO requires a pay TV subscription of FOX Sports 1 with a participating TV provider. Login credentials are the same username and password used to access online accounts with your TV provider.

FANTASY
• NASCAR Fantasy Live: Catch up on how you have fared this season, check your progress
• Streak to the Finish: Play in all the national series that are in action this week
 

Stay tuned to NASCAR.com throughout the weekend for the latest news.

Posted on by Staff Report

Anheuser-Busch confirmed Tuesday that it will be shifting its brand on reigning Sprint Cup Champion Kevin Harvick‘s No. 4 Chevy from Budweiser to Busch for the 2016 season.


“NASCAR continues to be a priority platform for our beer portfolio,” said Lucas Herscovici, vice president of consumer connections at Anheuser-Busch. “We are committed to the sport of racing, the fans and the Stewart-Haas Racing team we support — specifically the No. 4 car of Kevin Harvick.


“To that point, and given we evaluate all of our sports properties on an annual basis, we will be shifting our brand equity in Harvick’s car and team from Budweiser to our Busch beer portfolio for the 2016 NASCAR season.


“The Busch brand is well positioned for this partnership given the brand’s storied history with the sport. We have a lot of exciting plans in development with SHR for 2016 and will share those details once finalized.”


Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing team similarly celebrated the decision to bring one of the sport’s iconic brands back to the spotlight.


“Anheuser-Busch and specifically the Budweiser team has been a valuable team partner for the No. 4 car driven by Kevin Harvick,” SHR Executive Vice President Brett Frood said.


“We’ve had tremendous successes with their logo donning our car and look for that to continue as we close out the 2015 racing season. With that said, we are excited to celebrate the Busch brand not only returning to NASCAR, but returning to the sport on our team.”


Busch beer was the longtime sponsor (1984-2007) of what is now called the XFINITY Series.

Posted on by Zack Albert

MORE: Burton discusses throwback scheme and more on “Dirty Air Podcast”

When Jeb Burton decided to join the wave of throwback paint schemes for Labor Day weekend at Darlington Raceway, he didn’t have far to look for inspiration.
 
BK Racing announced Tuesday that Burton’s BK Racing entry for the 66th running of the Bojangles’ Southern 500 will pay tribute to the career of his father, Ward Burton, a two-time winner at NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway. But the tradition-rich race will also feature another notable switch: The Ron Devine-owned team also announced Tuesday that it will make an intrateam driver swap starting at Darlington, with Burton taking over the No. 23 Toyota from J.J. Yeley, who will drive the No. 26 Toyota.


RELATED: See all the throwback looks for Darlington
 
The change in driving duties puts the younger Burton that much closer numbers-wise to the Bill Davis Racing No. 22 that his father campaigned during his heyday from 1999-2003. The yellow-and-black paint scheme for team sponsor Estes Trucking — with its similar corporate colors to his father’s longtime sponsor Caterpillar — leans heavily on his family’s racing tradition.
 
“I saw all the throwback stuff and Estes has the same colors as Dad had, so I just thought about the idea and I got the PR team to come up with a design,” Jeb Burton said. “I saw it and I thought it’d be a cool idea so we went on with it.”
 
Ward Burton caught his first glimpse of the car’s vintage look ahead of last weekend’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The resemblance — both in colors and its similarly styled numbers — is uncanny.
 
“It’s really cool,” the 53-year-old Burton said. “We had a lot of success at Darlington, but more importantly I really appreciate Jeb thinking about me.”
 
Ward Burton flew the Caterpillar flag for his most prominent wins in NASCAR’s premier series, foremost among them the 2002 Daytona 500. The yellow-and-black look was also front and center for Burton and crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr. when the Davis-owned team found a sweet spot at Darlington, yielding two victories at the 1.366-mile track, including the 2001 Southern 500.
 
“Tommy and I’d hit a set-up at Darlington. For about three years there, we were on the top of the board whenever we showed up,” Burton said. “Rain got us twice, a wreck got us one other time, a lug nut got us another, but we had the car to beat many times. I liked that place ever since I went there.”
 
Jeb Burton, 23, hopes the knack for the “Lady in Black” doesn’t skip a generation as he prepares for his first Darlington start. His uncle, Jeff Burton, also won twice at Darlington, sweeping the season’s two events there in 1999.
 
The younger Burton got his first taste of driving the treacherous egg-shaped oval in an open test for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on June 10.
 
“Darlington is its own animal,” Burton said. “We went there and tested, and I struggled a little bit and was running the track a little wrong. Right there at the end of the session, I got behind Joey Logano and learned a lot, followed him and actually kept up with him. I thought that was really good, and our team did their best.”
 
BK Racing aims to jump-start its performance with next weekend’s driver shakeup. Burton’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidacy has been a rocky path thus far, with the No. 26 missing seven races and cracking the top 30 just twice this season. He ranks 39th in the driver standings. Yeley has run 23 of 24 in the Sprint Cup Series this season but is eligible for championship points only in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. (The team made a driver switch at Richmond with Burton in the No. 23 instead of Yeley.) The No. 23 team stands 39th in the car owner points; BK’s No. 26 sits 44th after Bristol.

Patrick Donahue will remain the crew chief on the No. 26 team, while Joe Williams will remain the crew chief on the No. 23 team.
 
It’s all been a learning process for Burton, who made the jump to Sprint Cup this year after two solid seasons in the Camping World Truck Series.
 
“Coming into it, I didn’t think it’d be as tough as it was because I had somewhat success,” Burton said, “but in the Truck Series and the (XFINITY) Series, the competition level is high up front, but it’s … one through 43 in the Cup Series is the best of the best. The best people, the best drivers, the best teams. You’ve got to be on it and our guys are working hard as a low-budget team. We’re getting better every week.”

Posted on by Pat DeCola
In addition to his two wins, Harvick has 10 (10!) runner-up finishes in 2015. Imagine for a second — if even half of those resulted in wins, the champ could’ve been rolling into the Chase with at least seven wins. The momentum he’s got built up ain’t too shabby.

MORE: Harvick nabs 10th 2015 runner-up finish

Logano has now won two of the past three races, his victories coming at two of NASCAR’s toughest tracks in Watkins Glen and Bristol. Sure seems like he’ll be battling at least Kevin Harvick at Homestead in November.

MORE: Never too early to talk Homestead

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/kyle-busch/
KyleBusch
-1
Joe Gibbs Racing
Busch led 192 laps but came away with just an eighth-place finish. Overall a good race — he showed how dominant he can be, but stayed cautious enough to avoid trouble.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/dale-earnhardt-jr/
DaleEarnhardt Jr.
Hendrick Motorsports
Earnhardt has been consistently fast all summer, and win No. 3 feels imminent, despite overall performance woes at Hendrick. Junior makes a good sleeper pick to earn his first Southern 500 win — and just think how much that would mean to him.

MORE: Junior reveals Darlington throwback

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/brad-keselowski/
BradKeselowski
Team Penske
Keselowski is about as supportive a teammate as they come, but don’t think for a second he isn’t well aware of the fact that Joey Logano has three wins to his one.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/jimmie-johnson/
JimmieJohnson
2
Hendrick Motorsports
Over the weekend Johnson acknowledged he knows full well that his No. 48 team tends to dip in the summer. He responded with his first top five since Daytona.
Two wins in the three races ahead of Bristol and a win at the Last Great Colosseum earlier this year certainly makes Kenseth’s engine failure a little more palatable for him.
With an average finish of 20.89 stretching back to Sonoma, Truex is due for a solid run. The low-downforce package would seem to play into his favor at Darlington, but it’s tough to tell if it’ll benefit him enough — he’s only managed three top 10s in nine starts there.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/denny-hamlin/
DennyHamlin
1
Joe Gibbs Racing
With his third-place finish, Hamlin showed his short track chops are still finely-tuned. Those will come in handy sometime around November 1.
Busch isn’t running poorly enough to worry just yet, but it does seem that he’s lacking the speed he had earlier in the season.
Edwards continues to be a top performer at Bristol — just like he is at Darlington. No, he’s never won the Southern 500, but he’s also finished outside the top 10 just four times in 11 starts.
Remember how fast McMurray was at times during the Chase last year — despite not being in it? It’s hard to envision him not being in the postseason this time around, and his consistency might help him make some noise.
Newman’s No. 31 Chevrolet hasn’t been the fastest of the bunch by any means, but it’s easy to say it has been as consistent as they come.
Many dreams were crushed when fans realized Gordon wouldn’t be wheeling his No. 24 throwback rainbow paint scheme Chevy to Victory Lane in its final go-about, but bigger issues remain. Gordon is in dangerous territory. Like, 15th-in-the-Chase-Grid-out-of-16-drivers dangerous territory.

MORE: Leo Gordon gets behind the wheel

As poor of shape that Jeff Gordon is in, his teammate, Kasey Kahne is in even worse shape. The No. 5 driver wouldn’t even make the Chase if it started today.

MORE: Chase Bubble: Who’s in, out?

Menard is still in a good position, but a 24th-place finish at Bristol ahead of one of his worst tracks in Darlington (no top 10s) doesn’t bode well for him.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/clint-bowyer/
ClintBowyer
1
Stewart-Haas Racing
A win at Bristol amid everything that is ongoing at Michael Waltrip Racing would’ve been the ultimate for Bowyer, but a top five is almost as good.

MORE: NASCAR addresses MWR situation

Almirola knows he’s only been getting top-15 cars from his race shop — and has been fulfilling that for the most part — but he also knows he’ll need faster rides to compete in the Chase.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/austin-dillon/
AustinDillon
1
Richard Childress Racing
Dillon has really shown his strength for most of the past nine races and he’s coming along well — at just the right time.
Larson, on the other hand, is struggling badly and doesn’t look bound for the Chase for the second time in his two Sprint Cup Series seasons.
Posted on by Staff Report

IndyCar racer dies at age 37 following wreck

RELATED: Stewart lends support to Wilson’s family

IndyCar driver Justin Wilson died Monday evening from head injuries sustained Sunday during a race at Pocono Raceway. He was 37.

During Sunday’s race, Wilson appeared to be struck in the head by debris from a late-race crash involving Sage Karam in the first turn at the 2.5-mile track. The Andretti Autosport driver’s car then veered left off the racing surface, where it bounced off the inside wall.

Wilson was part of the winning team for the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2012 with fellow drivers AJ Allmendinger, Oswaldo Negri Jr. and John Pew while competing for Michael Shank Racing. He had 17 career starts in GRAND-AM/ALMS/IMSA events.

NASCAR drivers and others in the industry took to Twitter to share condolences with Wilson’s family and to post remembrances of a fellow racer.

A trust fund has been created for Wilson’s children. Donations may be sent to the address below.

Posted on by Staff Report

See what’s coming this week to NASCAR.com

Here’s what you’ll see on NASCAR.com this week:

MONDAY: Dale Earnhardt Jr. reveals his throwback paint scheme for Darlington, and it’s a nod to Cale Yarborough … The Weekend in GIFs recaps Bristol through GIF form … Clint Bowyer joins Junior in revealing his new look for the "Lady in Black."

TUESDAY: Power Rankings presented by Outback may be in line for a new No. 1 after Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick dueled at Bristol … you’ll get a double dose of @nascarcasm today, with him presenting Joey Logano‘s race-winning Facebook page as well as Madden ratings for certain drivers to coincide with the popular video game’s release.

WEDNESDAY: New paint schemes will be on display this weekend at Road America and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, and we’ll have them all in Paint Scheme Preview … The Sprint Cup Series is off this week, but we’ll give you the Darlington schemes that have already been revealed … High 5 presents the best NASCAR content from around the web.

THURSDAY: A special edition of Driver Reports highlights those drivers on the Chase bubble … We’ll revisit @nascarcasm taking drivers of today and photoshopping them into photos of yesterday … Senior writer Holly Cain talks to driver Chase Elliott, who recently got his license. His pilot’s license.

FRIDAY: Landon Cassill and Josh Wise will compete in the triathlon world championship Saturday, and Holly Cain will tell their story … The NASCAR XFINITY Series gets on track at Road America with a couple of practices … 8 Tweets highlights the best from social media in the past week.

Also coming this week: Holly Cain will cover Wednesday’s open test at Homestead-Miami Speedway … Tuesday will have the best sounds from the scanner.

Posted on by Staff Report

See the No. 15 Toyota’s paint scheme for Labor Day weekend

MORE: Buy tickets for Darlington | See more throwback paint schemes for Darlington
SHOP: Darlington gear

Clint Bowyer is really turning the clocks back with his throwback paint scheme for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 (Sept. 6, 7 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Darlington Raceway.

Bowyer took to Instagram to reveal details about the look his No. 15 Toyota will sport. As Bowyer wrote on Instagram: "The scheme connects two of the sport’s very best, car owner Bud Moore and the late Buddy Baker. To make it a TRUE throwback this baby is totally hand painted front to back. Now let’s go make buddy proud!!!"

In another post, the Michael Waltrip Racing driver added, "All my old dirt cars were hand painted. Can’t wait for yall to see it."


Here’s a look at the car Baker drove in 1974 that Bowyer’s look is based off of.

Entering next weekend’s race, Bowyer holds the final spot in the provisional Chase Grid with just two regular-season races left before the 16-driver field for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is set.

Bowyer has one top-10 finish in nine career starts at the 1.366-mile track in South Carolina.

 

 

Posted on by Nascar

Former NASCAR driver James Massey passed away Friday, Aug. 21, 2015 at Alamance Regional Medical Center in Burlington, North Carolina.

Massey, 85, made 51 starts in what is now the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, earning 12 top-five and 28 top-10 finishes.

During his seven-year tenure in NASCAR, Massey drove for several teams, including Petty Enterprises and Wood Brothers Racing. Both of his career-best runner-up finishes came with the legendary Wood Brothers organization and both came at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

In 1957 he finished second to Bob Welborn while driving a No. 11 Ford for the Stuart, Va.-based organization. Three years later, in 1960, he finished second to Richard Petty while piloting the team’s familiar No. 21 entry.

Massey earned one career pole, in 1958, at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway while driving for car owner A.L. Bumgarner.

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Drivers react to Wilson’s death

NASCAR drivers, teams and others within the industry responded with care and concern Sunday after IndyCar driver Justin Wilson was critically injured in a crash during the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway.

Officials with Stewart-Haas Racing confirmed Monday that three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart provided his private plane and pilots to the Wilson family to allow members to travel from Indianapolis to the hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where Wilson had been transported. Wilson died late Monday at age 37 from a head injury, according to The Associated Press.

It’s not the first time Stewart, 44, has reached out to help those in need. But similar to previous instances, Stewart provided the assistance privately.

That didn’t keep others from taking to social media to note his generosity.

IndyCar driver Graham Rahal, second in points, took to Twitter to thank Stewart, co-owner and driver at SHR, for the gesture, writing “You’re a hell of a man for donating your plane for JWs family. Hats off to you, you’re a very generous human being!”

Beccy Hunter-Reay, wife of former IndyCar champ and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay also cited Stewart’s generosity, tweeting “words can’t describe how thankful the @IndyCar community is for your generosity in helping JWs family.”

Wilson was injured when he appeared to be struck in the head by debris from a late-race crash involving Sage Karam in the first turn at the 2.5-mile track. The Andretti Autosport driver’s car then veered left off the racing surface where it bounced off the inside wall.

Emergency workers were quickly on the scene, and Wilson was transported by helicopter to a nearby hospital.

Jamie McMurray, who drives for team owner Chip Ganassi in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, tweeted: “Praying for @justin_wilson. He is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. Amazing driver as well.”

Ganassi is a longtime IndyCar team owner, and Karam was one of four Ganassi drivers competing in Sunday’s event.

Kurt Busch, the 2004 Sprint Cup champion, also took to Twitter to say “Praying hard for @justin_wilson. Thinking of his family and everyone at @FollowAndetti & @IndyCar.”

Busch competed in the Indianapolis 500 in 2014 for Andretti Autosport, finishing sixth in his open-wheel debut.

Wilson was part of the winning team for the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2012 with fellow drivers AJ Allmendinger, Oswaldo Negri Jr. and John Pew while competing for Michael Shank Racing.

He had 17 career starts in GRAND-AM/ALMS/IMSA events.

Posted on by Nascar

MORE: Buy tickets for Darlington
SHOP: Darlington gear | Dale Jr. Valvoline gear


DARLINGTON, S.C. — One of the former drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. has said he respected as a youngster was NASCAR Hall of Fame member and three-time premier series champion Cale Yarborough.
 
When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Darlington for this year’s Bojangles’ Southern 500, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 6 (7 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Earnhardt and his Hendrick Motorsports team will pay homage to the five-time winner of the series’ oldest superspeedway event.
 
Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet will feature a paint scheme reminiscent of the Valvoline look run by Yarborough in 1981-82 while competing for car owner M.C. Anderson. It will also honor others who ran the familiar red, blue and white colors such as Buddy Baker and Neil Bonnett.
 
The endeavor is part of Darlington Raceway’s throwback celebration surrounding the return of the Bojangles’ Southern 500 to the Labor Day weekend race date, as well as a kick-off for Valvoline’s upcoming Legacy celebration of the brand’s 150th anniversary next season.

RELATED: See more throwback paint schemes for Darlington
“I’ve always been a fan of Cale’s and the car that we run on the Sprint Cup side right now with the Nationwide colors is sort of inspired by his 1977 paint scheme,” Earnhardt Jr. said during a recent video shoot at the legendary facility.
 
“I admired his style and how he approached driving, definitely admired the accomplishments he had in the sport.”
 
Earnhardt, Yarborough and former championship-winning crew chief Ray Evernham took part in the day-long process at the 1.366-mile track.
 
Yarborough, inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012, was the first driver to win three consecutive premier series titles. He is sixth on the all-time win list with 83 career victories.
 
Earnhardt was involved in the development of the car’s paint scheme as well as his fire suit, which also pays tribute to the former drivers that sported Valvoline colors.
 
Even the shoes to be worn by Earnhardt have a throwback tie-in, specifically to those used by Yarborough.
 
“The suit is just like his,” said Earnhardt. “And he had this (blue) color shoes. There’s a picture of him with his car at Daytona in the grass before the 500 and he’s wearing Carolina blue (shoes) — he doesn’t call ’em Carolina blue, being from Timmonsville — but they sort of match this part of the V (in the Valvoline logo); I think that’s what they were going for.”

RELATED: Junior shares influence on Michigan look
 
Valvoline has been a major associate sponsor of Hendrick Motorsports, which fields four full-time entries in the Sprint Cup Series, since 2014. Next month’s race will be its first as a primary sponsor since aligning with Hendrick, but it has a deep history in auto racing.
 
“A lot of it came together, actually, at the urging of Dale,” Jamal Muashsher, Director Brand Marketing for Valvoline, said of the program. “He obviously knows the history of the brand and the legacy that Valvoline has had in the sport. He approached us about trying to come back with a paint scheme, especially with this special race that Darlington has coming up next month.
 
“Obviously we were very interested. It was a great opportunity … as we get ready for our 150th anniversary. It’s a great way to celebrate our history as well as pay homage to the legacy of the brand over that time.”
 
According to Muashsher, the special paint scheme will be just one part of the program celebrating the company’s rich auto racing history. A series of videos featuring Earnhardt, Yarborough and three-time championship winning crew chief Ray Evernham will be located on the Valvoline YouTube channel. Limited-edition die-casts of the No. 88 Chevrolet entry featuring the paint scheme will be available in participating Walmart stores beginning Aug. 31.
 
“There is a lot of great history there,” Muashsher said, “and a lot of great imagery from an amazing group of drivers that Valvoline has had the opportunity to work with.”
 
Yarborough said his association with Valvoline actually began in 1966, when he competed in the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie.

RELATED: Learn more about Cale Yarborough
 
“When I came back to NASCAR, I brought them with me,” he said. “They were a part of my career for almost the entire time. They were a good company to work with, good people and a good product and I just enjoyed my association with them.
 
“It’s an honor to have Dale Jr. driving the Valvoline car.”
 
Earnhardt said initial talks about Valvoline coming on board as a primary sponsor began late last season. The announcement of the Darlington throwback program was a bonus that helped put the idea on the fast track.
 
“The car looks great and it’s awesome to be able to include Cale,” Earnhardt said. “I hope that he is enjoying being a part of it.
 
“It’s good to have Ray here. He’s sort of the glue that holds it all together. … It’s been fun. I’ve been really surprised that this came together so well.”

Photo credit: Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Twitter account, @DaleJr