Posted on by Zack Albert

A 2015 rewind and a 2016 preview for the top five finishers last season in the NASCAR XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series. Today: Matt Crafton, the third-place finisher in the truck series standings.
Team: ThorSport Racing No. 88 Toyota.

Wins: 6 (Atlanta, Kansas, Texas-1, Kentucky, Martinsville-2, Homestead)

Strides: Victory Lane. Lots of times. The ThorSport No. 88 was nearly unstoppable on 1.5-mile tracks, scoring five of the team’s six wins on intermediate tracks and helping Crafton more than double his career win total.

Setbacks: Very few things on the team’s minus side for 2015, but four finishes outside the top 20 hampered Crafton’s progress and ended his stellar run of two consecutive Camping World Truck Series titles.

Quoteworthy: “We had a phenomenal season. Six wins and 700 — I think they said 780 laps we led. That’s a pretty good season. We just had one column that was bad for us: DNFs. I made mistakes and everybody made mistakes. But I promise you one thing, it’s going to make us stronger for 2016.”

What’s next: The two-time champ turns 40 this summer and remains plenty hungry for more. After Johnny Sauter‘s offseason departure, Crafton will have a 1-2 punch of young teammates to mentor — returning ThorSport driver Cameron Hayley, 19, plus 18-year-old newcomer Ben Rhodes.

Posted on by Team Release

CONCORD, N.C. (Jan. 12, 2016) — Panasonic Toughbook will become a primary sponsor of the No. 5 Chevrolet SS team of driver Kasey Kahne in 2016, continuing its nearly decade-long relationship with 11-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions Hendrick Motorsports.

This season, Panasonic will be featured as a No. 5 team primary sponsor in two Sprint Cup races — Feb. 28 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Oct. 2 at Dover International Speedway — and as an associate-level partner in all other events.


“We’ve partnered with Hendrick Motorsports for almost a decade because they exemplify the attributes the Panasonic and Toughbook brands represent — quality, performance, reliability and leadership,” said Jan Ruderman, vice president, Business Mobility Group, Panasonic System Communications Company of North America. “Kasey is an extension of the Hendrick Motorsports brand and an exemplary competitor in his own right. As we enter the 2016 NASCAR season, we believe our partnership with Kasey, his team and Hendrick Motorsports will deliver great results both on and off the track.”

Panasonic became a Hendrick Motorsports technology partner in 2007 and expanded its program in 2014 by adding on-car sponsorship. It was a two-race primary sponsor of the No. 24 Sprint Cup team in 2014 and 2015 as part of its current three-year agreement that runs through 2016.

Panasonic leverages the Hendrick Motorsports relationship to promote its Toughbook mobility products and other technology solutions for business. Throughout its Concord facility and at racetracks across the United States, Hendrick Motorsports employs Panasonic innovations, including Toughbook computers, Toughpad tablets, cameras, displays, digital signage and projection units. The team also utilizes Panasonic’s professional video products to support its in-house content production capabilities.

“The partnership influences all areas of our company,” said Patrick Perkins, Hendrick Motorsports‘ vice president of marketing. “Panasonic products are used in every Hendrick Motorsports department, from competition to marketing, and we’ve seen the results. We’re proud to continue the relationship and look forward to more wins together in 2016 and beyond.”

Since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2012, Kahne, 35, has earned three Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup berths and five race wins with the No. 5 team. The Enumclaw, Washington, native has 17 career wins, 27 pole positions and 156 top-10 finishes in NASCAR’s top division.

“I’m happy to be part of Panasonic’s continued relationship with Hendrick Motorsports,” Kahne said. “They’re a worldwide brand, and their technology helps with our performance every day, both on and off of the racetrack. It’s a partnership that directly impacts our whole organization and will help give us every opportunity for success in 2016.”

Posted on by Team Release

WELCOME, N.C. – Building on the triumphs from 2015, Menards will continue its partnership with Richard Childress Racing‘s NASCAR XFINITY Series program as a primary sponsor for select races with both the No. 2 Chevrolet with Paul Menard and the No. 33 Chevrolet with Brandon Jones for the 2016 season.
 
Menards, the third-largest home improvement store in the United States, has been prevalent in RCR’s XFINITY Series campaign since 2012.
 
“We are excited to be back for another season of NASCAR XFINITY Series racing with RCR. Last year proved to be a success with Paul Menard‘s win in our home state of Wisconsin at Road America along with four top-five and eight top-10 finishes with Menard and Brandon Jones behind the wheel,” said Jeff Abbott, Menards Promotion Manager. “We are proud of the caliber of race cars Richard Childress and his team bring to the race track each weekend. We look forward to another exciting season in 2016 with Jones and Menard behind the wheel again.”
 
Menard will drive the No. 2 Richmond/Menards Chevrolet Camaro for select events in 2016, while maintaining a full-time schedule in the No. 27 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entry for RCR. The Eau Claire, Wisconsin-native is a three-time XFINITY Series race winner with five pole awards, 34 top-five and 87 top-10 finishes. Menard will kick off the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, making his 200th XFINITY Series start.
 
Danny Stockman will return as crew chief of the No. 2 Richmond/Menards Chevrolet team with Menard. The duo captured the win at Road America, earning Menard a victory in his home state of Wisconsin in 2015.
 
As previously announced, Jones, an 18-year-old driver hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, will compete on a full-time basis in the XFINITY Series in 2016. Jones made his XFINITY Series debut with RCR at Iowa Speedway in 2015. The rookie driver earned one top-five and two top-10 finishes with a total of 16 laps led in five starts last season.
 
Mike Hillman Jr. has been named crew chief for Jones and the No. 33 team. Hillman Jr.’s 12 years of experience will help guide the young driver in his rookie season in the series. The veteran crew chief joined RCR in 2015 and recorded 18 top-five starting positions, resulting in six top-five and 18 top-10 finishes throughout the 2015 season. Menards will be Jones’ primary sponsor at the season opener at Daytona International Speedway on February 20th.
 
“Menards’ continued support this season with Paul Menard and Brandon Jones in the XFINITY Series is a true testament to their commitment to RCR and this sport,” said Richard Childress, CEO and Chairman of Richard Childress Racing. “The Menards racing team found success last season with Paul winning in his home state of Wisconsin and Brandon’s solid finishes on track. We hope to build on that success this year and provide Menards an opportunity to be a winning company both on and off the race track.”
 
Menards has a long, successful history as a racing sponsor dating back to the 1970’s which includes one of NASCAR’s crown jewels, the 2011 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with driver Paul Menard. A family-owned company started in 1960 and headquartered in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Menards has 297 retail store locations throughout the Midwest.

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RELATED: Learn more about the NASCAR Hall of Fame

Jerry Cook never intended to support his family driving a modified stock car. It kind of snuck up on the young resident of Rome, New York.
 
Cook, who built his first modified at the age of 13, took the wheel by happenstance, when his hired driver wrecked two of the race cars he owned. That was in 1963, well before Cook won his first of six NASCAR modified championships.
 
But Cook soon discovered he had a knack for winning races – and finishing well enough to cash a decent check when he didn’t.
 
“Every time I reached into my pocket, it had money in it,” Cook would say later. “So I kept racing.”
 
And indeed Cook did – all the way into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, into which he’ll be inducted Jan. 22 as part of the Class of 2016 that also includes Bobby Isaac, Terry Labonte, O. Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner. Induction ceremonies will be live on NBCSN, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

 

MORE ON 2016 CLASS: Bobby Isaac | Terry Labonte | Bruton Smith | Curtis Turner

 
Cook won modified championships in 1971-72 and 1974-77. Before retiring at the conclusion of the 1982 season, Cook also posted six championship points finishes of second and two of third. He won 342 NASCAR modified races in 1,474 career starts – and countless other non-sanctioned events. Cook finished among the top 10 an amazing 85% of the time.
 
Cook joins fellow Roman and career-long modified racing rival Richie Evans in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The late Evans, a nine-time NASCAR modified champion, was inducted in 2012 as the first Hall member whose career wasn’t connected to NASCAR’s premier series. Cook is the second.
 
“We’ve now finished off the battle of Rome,” said Cook. “For me and Ritchie to both be in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, it kind of tops it off.”
 
Cook and Evans made upstate New York the epicenter of NASCAR modified racing in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. Each driver had his legion of fans – vociferous on behalf of the merits of their favorite charioteer.
 
Cook and Evans were respectful of each other and friends off the track, yet as different as night and day.
 
Evans was the flamboyant one, famous for living life to its fullest with rock and roll music as the race shop’s background noise. A writer calling Cook’s home, however, would find the telephone answered by the driver’s wife, Sue, who would refer him to the backyard garage where preparing or repairing Cook’s red cars was quietly taking place.
 
Ray Evernham, a former modified driver, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship crew chief and television analyst had this to say about Cook: “Jerry was not a guy who raced on the edge. Jerry won his share no doubt. But if he didn’t win, he was still going to be in the top five.”
 
In some years, Cook’s team would run nearly 100 races, at up to 19 tracks of all sizes, shapes and surfaces from New England to Virginia.
 
Some of Cook’s signature wins took place outside New York and New England. Cook’s first major victory was the 1969 Dogwood 500 at Martinsville Speedway. He won a trio of 200-lap races at the tough, Bowman-Gray Stadium (in North Carolina) quarter mile between 1977 and 1980.
 
The closest Cook came to the NASCAR premier series was a Daytona 500 qualifying race in 1973. His car’s engine blew seven laps from the end. Cook, with a wife and two children, took a look at what non-factory-supported drivers were winning and decided to stay in the modifieds.
 
“So that’s why I stuck with what I did best,” he said.
 
Cook retired after winning the Spencer Speedway championship in 1982. For more than 30 years he was a key member of NASCAR’s competition department and was instrumental in the formation of the current NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
 
Cook, 72, was named one of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers in 1998. He is a member of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame and New York Stock Car Hall of Fame.

Posted on by Nascar

One of Richard Petty Motorsports‘ two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will not only have a new driver and crew chief combination for 2016, but it will also feature a change in car number.
 
Officials with the two-team organization announced Monday that it will change its No. 9 team to the No. 44 for the 2016 season. The team features former XFINITY Series driver Brian Scott and crew chief Chris Heroy, both new to the organization.


“After the 2015 season, we had an opportunity to make some changes and get the No. 44 back. We felt that it was good timing. We really wanted to get that number back in the Petty family where it really belongs,” Richard Petty said Monday. “Brian (Scott) is coming on board, and he really hasn’t had a number in the Sprint Cup Series. Everything has just come together to really bring back a Petty tradition.



“For us, the numbers are more than just a number, you could say. They really represent our family history, our legacy and everyone who has worked for us or raced for us. We take a lot of pride in that and are glad to have the 44 back home.”


 
The RPM lineup also includes driver Aric Almirola in the group’s iconic No. 43 Ford.

 
The Petty organization first used the No. 44 in 1954 for a single race with driver Bob Welborn. It wasn’t used in a full-time capacity by the organization until ’93, following the retirement of seven-time series champion Richard Petty. Petty’s No. 43 was renumbered 44 for a single season with driver Rick Wilson behind the wheel. That team returned to its original number, 43, the following year.
 
The last full season a Petty entry featured the No. 44 was 2009 with driver AJ Allmendinger. The group began using the No. 9 as well after merging with Gillett Evernham Motorsports in ’09. 

Entries bearing the No. 44 have won 13 times in NASCAR’s premier series, most recently by Terry Labonte (1986) when the NASCAR Hall of Fame driver was competing for car owner Billy Hagan.
 
Cars featuring the No. 9 have won 53 times, including the final four times by RPM drivers Kasey Kahne (2009) and Marcos Ambrose (’11, ’12).

Posted on by Holly Cain

A 2015 rewind and a 2016 preview for the top five finishers last season in the NASCAR XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series. Today: Regan Smith, the fourth-place finisher in the XFINITY Series standings.
 
Team: JR Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet (in 2015), plans unknown for 2016
 
Wins: 2 (Mid-Ohio and Dover)
 
Strides: High expectations accompanied the 2015 season for the 2014 championship runner-up. Smith answered with a pair of wins and 13 consecutive top-10 efforts to close out the season in yet another legitimate run toward the XFINITY Series title. But a rough start put him in catch-up mode right off the bat. While he came up short, Smith again proved himself an elite-level competitor on the verge of hoisting a championship trophy.
 
Setbacks: Finishing just shy of the title despite an impressive season — only four times in 33 races did he finish worse than 13th place — would normally be considered a good year. Team changes at JRM, however, have left the proven veteran and former series runner-up still looking for a 2016 ride.
 
Quoteworthy: “You never know ’til it’s all said and done and everything’s pieced together. I would think it will be a sad day in the sport when guys running up front and consistently winning races, pretty sad if they don’t have a ride the next year — especially at my age. I’m just coming into my prime and feel like someone could capitalize on me learning what I’ve needed to learn over the years. Obviously nothing is a lock until it’s said and done, but we’re working hard to solidify that.”
 
What’s next: This is the million-dollar question for the talented 32-year-old. Smith has proven himself a winner in both the Cup and XFINITY ranks but is still looking for the right opportunity for 2016.

Posted on by Staff Report

Sherry Pollex tweeted on Monday that, after 17 months, she’s had her final bout of chemotherapy.

 

The longtime girlfriend of Martin Truex Jr. was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in August 2014. She rang the bell after her last session, saying she’s ready “to live my life!!!!”

Pollex continued her role as an advocate for those suffering with cancer even after her diagnosis, taking the fight to Washington, D.C. She and Truex also put on the “Catwalk for Cause” event to raise money for pediatric cancer.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Darlington’s 2015 throwback paint schemes 

 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been inspired by Buddy Baker’s ‘Gray Ghost’ scheme for some time now. He said his 2016 Nationwide scheme is a nod to the car that won the 1980 Daytona 500, with gray side panels.

 

As early as that paint scheme reveal in October, he also has been hinting about using the ‘Gray Ghost’ as a tribute paint scheme in the 2016 Bojangles’ Southern 500 . Darlington again will be celebrating the race with a throwback theme — an event that caught the inudstry’s and fans’ imaginations and emotions in 2015.

 

RELATED: Dale Jr.’s 2016 Nationwide paint scheme revealed

 

Monday, Junior dropped more hints about working on a tribute to Buddy Baker’s legendary No. 28 at this year’s Southern 500. In 2015, he ran a Valvoline scheme with a nod to Cale Yarborough. 

 

 

In December, Earnhardt Jr. discussed this plan for the Southern 500 via Twitter with a fan, saying a nod to the Gray Ghost was “on the top of my wish list for the @TooToughToTame race this year.”

 

MORE: Dale Jr. discusses Gray Ghost, favorite Christmas presents

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: From college football mainstay to No. 88 rear tire carrier

 

As you may have heard, there’s a big football game happening Monday night.

 

Watch the above video to learn more about the Univeristy of Alabama and Clemson University’s ties to NASCAR and then vote in the poll below with who you think will win tonight’s national championship game.

 

One thing’s for sure: we know Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be watching.

 

Now that Junior’s NFL love, the Washington Redskins, has been knocked out of the playoffs, it’s time for the Hendrick Motorsports driver to pick himself up, get back on that horse and choose who he’s rooting for in Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship between the Crimson Tide and Tigers.

Junior chose to stand with JR Motorsports Brand and Communications Director Mike Davis — a notable Alabama fan — and for good reason.

 

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: More photos of the 2016 Ford Fusion

The Ford Fusion fielded by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams this season will have a slightly different look, with changes to the front end of the car incorporated to more accurately resemble similar changes to the 2017 production model.
 
Officials with Ford Motor Co. unveiled the automaker’s 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entry Monday evening during the opening day of the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The street version of the vehicle had been unveiled during a morning event.
 
“There’s no mistaking we’re here to win races and championships,” Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance, said in a release announcing the new Fusion entry. “And we believe the new NASCAR Fusion will be a powerful tool in the hands of our teams and drivers.
 
“Aerodynamics are more important than ever at the speeds these cars run, so we used some of the best wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamics technology available to create this new Fusion. Fortunately, the Ford design team gave us a great car with which to start.”
 
From an appearance standpoint, the lower portion of the grille of the new Fusion is more rounded than previous models, while the inset area beneath the grille and above the splitter has undergone alterations as well.
 
It is the third body change for the Fusion, which has been Ford’s NASCAR premier series entry of choice since 2006. Since then, Ford drivers have won 71 times.
 
Seven organizations fielded Ford entries in 2015, with Team Penske drivers earning seven victories.
 
Brad Keselowski (Penske) will be the first to put the new Fusion on the track as he is scheduled to take part in a two-day Goodyear tire test Tuesday and Wednesday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
 
The move to allow automakers Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota to incorporate changes to their race cars that more closely resembled their production vehicles began prior to 2013 and resulted in the debut of the Gen-6 car.