Toyota thanks MWR, focuses on 2015 Chase

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Nascar

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Toyota officials made their first official comments concerning the demise of Michael Waltrip Racing Thursday, citing the automaker’s long relationship with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series organization.

“We want to thank everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing for a great partnership and for being a part of our ‘freshman class’ — one of the race teams that helped us enter the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series nine years ago,” Ed Laukes, Vice President marketing, performance and guest experience for Toyota Motor Sales, USA, said in a statement.

“Clint Bowyer has been a valuable member of the Toyota Racing family for the past four years, and we will continue to support him, and the rest of the MWR team through the end of the 2015 season.

MORE: Bowyer free to pursue other opportunities for 2016

The two-car organization, which currently fields Toyota Camry entries for drivers Bowyer and David Ragan in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, announced Tuesday that Bowyer would not return for 2016 and the group would not field a full-time team beyond this season.

MWR is co-owned by Rob Kauffman and Michael Waltrip . Its drivers have won seven Sprint Cup Series events with four drivers. Bowyer, who has driven the team’s No. 15 entry since 2012, finished a career-best second in the points standings in 2012 and enters this weekend’s event at Bristol Motor Speedway 15th in points and looking to secure one of the 16 available spots in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Ragan has been with the organization since May of this season, filling in for former driver Brian Vickers , who has been sidelined this season due to health issues.

Toyota made the move into Sprint Cup competition in 2007 and MWR, along with Red Bull Racing and Bill Davis Racing, was one of three organizations to field Toyota entries. The automaker moved into what is now the XFINITY Series in ’07 as well. It began competing in the Camping World Truck Series in 2004.

“We wish everyone associated with the team the best of luck in the future and we look forward to closing out the season focused on competing for a championship,” said Laukes.

MWR fielded three full-time Sprint Cup Series teams as recently as 2013. But after the group was penalized prior to the start of the ’13 Chase for manipulating the outcome of the final regular-season event at Richmond International Raceway, primary sponsor NAPA departed at the end of the year, forcing the group to scale back to two teams.

Toyota has three drivers sitting firmly in the Chase entering Brisol in Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards. Kyle Busch, who has four wins, also is poised to make NASCAR’s playoffs as long as he can remain in the top 30 in the drivers points standings. He enters Brisol in 29th place, 23 points ahead of 31st-place driver Cole Whitt.

MORE: Updated Chase Grid standings

Posted on August 20, 2015 by

It seemed as though Terry Labonte had the 1995 Goody’s 500 won, as he propelled around Bristol Motor Speedway in his No. 5 Chevrolet. The Hendrick Motorsports wheelman had led 59 of 500 laps at the historic short track and had developed a lengthy lead over the second-place car of Dale Earnhardt.

Granted, the black No. 3 is likely not the car any driver wanted to see in their review mirror in those days.

As the laps dwindled down, Earnhardt continued to shave away at Labonte’s lead, lessening the gap to 1.6 seconds with eight laps to go. But with Bristol only 0.533 miles in length, the task seemed daunting, even for the ruthless “Intimidator.”

As the white flag was waved, Labonte began to battle lapped traffic, allowing Earnhardt to reach his bumper. In the final corner, the “Intimidator” tapped Labonte’s bumper, turning the No. 5 car sideways — but still first across the finish line to take the checkered.

The front end completely destroyed and leaking fluid, Labonte drove his No. 5 Chevrolet into Victory Lane, ready to commemorate what would become one of NASCAR’s most memorable finishes.

“That was a finish, wasn’t it?” Labonte said with a grin in Victory Lane.”… (Earnhardt) gave me a little shot in the back there, I just stood in the gas and we beat him across the line.

” … Think I used up a pretty good race car, but we’ll get another one.”

In great spirits, Labonte then climbed out of his heavily damaged car, the Kellogg’s rooster on the front bent in several directions and the front end smoking.

“I think I ran all night long, didn’t put a scratch on it until the end, but that’s the way it goes.” Labonte said, smiling. “We won.”

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Holly Cain

Not to be lost in a week of highly emotional and impactful news of the sport, is the encouraging and positive outcome from the reigning Sprint Cup champion Stewart-Haas Racing.

Because what’s good for Danica Patrick and good for that team is actually also good for all of NASCAR.

Tuesday’s announcement that Nature’s Bakery will begin a multiyear primary sponsorship of Patrick’s No. 10 Chevrolet beginning in 2016, is a significant sign for the sport.

It’s a fresh start and prime opportunity for this young and ambitious company, and a real indication that NASCAR is considered a thriving destination and viable option for a diverse group of potential corporate partners — not just for the petroleum, tire and tool brands that have historically laid the foundation.

“To have somebody new to this sport, that’s a victory on top of a victory, just getting a new partner,” Stewart-Haas Racing owner Tony Stewart said Tuesday after the team’s formal announcement.

“To bring somebody new into the sport, I think that shows the sport is still solid, it’s still marketable and we have a lot of good things going on in this series.”

Even the way this partnership materialized feels serendipitous.

The bakery’s two production facilities in St. Louis and Nevada use products supplied by Haas Automation, SHR co-owner Gene Haas’ company.

The company executives are longtime NASCAR fans and … one relatively innocuous conversation between a bakery representative and a Haas representative led to another, which led to a Patrick “taste test,” which rather quickly led to a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal between an up-and-coming company and one of the country’s most marketable professional athletes.

“Roughly about 100 days from beginning to end,” said Nature’s Bakery co-founder Dave Marson, who called it a “kind of a crazy idea that we’ve made reality here today.”

Marson explained, “We flew out, we met with Tony and Danica and instantly we knew that this was right. We were honest with them and said, ‘Hey, we’re not Coca-Cola. If you’re looking for Coca-Cola, if you’re looking for General Mills, you’ve got the wrong people, but if you believe in an up-and-coming brand in a category that’s growing, we’re your guys.’

“They believed in us.”

MORE: Herman Unplugged: Danica deal proves sport’s strength

In many ways Nature’s Bakery — which started as a family-owned bakery and now bakes and sells healthy snack bars in 22 countries — embodies exactly the kind of spirit and fundamentals that NASCAR fans embrace. The fact that it’s a family-owned American company with 420 employees — not 50,000 — is a concept well received.

This is a sport whose fans appreciate the underdog and cheer for those putting in the hard work.

“This is the next natural level and evolution of our brand,” said Marson. “It brings us to the forefront. It lets us play with the big boys now, so we’re ready for it.”

On a practical level, this buoys Patrick’s confidence in her pursuit of NASCAR success and it allows SHR to continue its focus on defending its 2014 championship run with one less major distraction.

And for Patrick and Stewart, sealing a deal between them was the only option considered.

“I just think it makes everything seamless to where we’re just continuing business as usual,” Stewart said. “There’s no change; she just gets to keep building on what she’s been doing up to this point with us. For us, it’s the same deal, too, we don’t have to worry about a transition.”

Added Stewart, “We continue to see progress in her.

“Everyone puts so much pressure on her that everything that she does — or if she makes a mistake — it’s magnified by everybody, so I think considering that, she’s done a pretty damn good job up to this point.”

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Staff Report

Regan Smith defined what it meant to pull a 180 at Mid-Ohio last Saturday.

One week after nearly coming to blows with Ty Dillon on pit road at Watkins Glen, Smith found himself smiling and pumping his fist triumphantly in Victory Lane.

“This is an incredible feeling, just an awesome feeling,” Smith exclaimed after winning for the first time in 52 starts.

On Friday, Smith will try to celebrate for the second consecutive week by winning the Food City 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN).

“Once you do it (win a race) once, you want to do that every week,” Smith said. “That moment when you pull up to the pit wall and do a burnout with your guys standing there, who put so much time and effort into everything that you get to go out there and showcase, there’s no moment like that, nothing that compares to that, no feeling or sensation.”

Currently fourth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, Smith trails his JR Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott (+26 points), Ty Dillon (+27) and Chris Buescher (+51) for the lead. Bristol is a prime place for Smith to gain ground on his young adversaries. He has made as many starts (11) at the .533-mile track as Elliott, Dillon and Buescher have combined.

RELATED: Series standings

Also on the line for Smith is the $100,000 NASCAR XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash bonus. To earn the extra money Smith must finish ahead of Daniel Suárez, Ryan Blaney and Elliott Sadler. He grabbed the first two Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonuses at Dover and Indianapolis, so if Smith earns the bonus this weekend, he can win $1 million through the Dash 4 Cash program by winning the XFINITY race at Darlington on Labor Day weekend.

“We want to win this weekend, for sure, with the XFINITY Dash 4 Cash on the line, and there’s no better place for it than Bristol,” Smith said. “We’re looking forward to it.”

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Staff Report

RELATED: Chase Grid | Updated standings

Only three races remain before the 16-driver Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field is set. Here are the scenarios for clinching a Chase berth at Bristol Motor Speedway:

Below is the complete list of drivers currently in the Chase Grid.

Drivers with wins who have clinched a spot in the Chase as long as they stay in the top 30 in points:

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. Kyle Busch

3. Matt Kenseth

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Joey Logano

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

7. Kurt Busch

8. Martin Truex Jr.

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Denny Hamlin

11. Carl Edwards

Drivers currently in the top 16:

12. Jamie McMurray

13. Paul Menard

14. Ryan Newman

15. Jeff Gordon

16. Clint Bowyer

If a winless driver goes to Victory Lane at Bristol, he or she would clinch a spot only if that driver is 97 points ahead of 31st place. No driver who remains winless after Bristol will clinch a spot.

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Zack Albert

BRISTOL, Tenn. — The SWM-NEMCO Motorsports crew checked out the light damage on the corners of its No. 8 truck, finding nothing more than cosmetic scrapes in the aftermath at Bristol Motor Speedway, a track known for chewing up fenders and young drivers alike. “That’ll buff out” seemed to be the happy consensus.

Few were happier about that development Wednesday night than all-smiles John Hunter Nemechek, who turned his second Bristol start into his career-best finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. His third-place result was just behind race winner Ryan Blaney and runner-up Kyle Busch, two drivers with the benefit of far fresher tires down the stretch in the UNOH 200.

“It was one of those deals … don’t do anything stupid. Just, you had to let them go,” Nemechek said of ceding late-race positions to the front two. “You couldn’t race them hard just because of tires. One way or another, he’s going to get around you, if he has to move you, dump you, whatever. Decided to play it smart and we know what we need for next time.”

Nemechek had more to withstand in the late going after the fifth and final caution flag with five laps left extended the race distance by an extra two laps. Though the green-white-checkered attempt was completed on the first try, the frantic competition among the front-runners made Nemechek’s feat of finishing where he restarted no easy task.

“I spun the tires there on that last restart and I was kind of beating myself up about it going into Turn 1,” Nemechek said, “and then they all stacked up and I had a chance to get underneath of them so I took it. We got under them and made the pass.”

Nemechek’s growth as a driver — three top-10s in just eight starts this year — has been measured in progress that goes well beyond his 18 years of age. The veteran poise doesn’t fall far from the family tree, owing at least a nod to his father, Joe Nemechek.

“He’s had a good teacher, his dad,” said Gere Kennon, crew chief of the SWM-NEMCO No. 8. “… I’m proud to help him because I’ve raced just like Joe — his whole life, my whole life. He listens. He’s doing good and he’s adapted to this very, very well. We help on the Late Model car, too, and he’s consistent there. Haven’t seen that in a long time. He’s the real deal, I think.”

The younger Nemechek, who took over full-time driving duties for the team after his 18th birthday in June, has nine races ahead of him to close out the 2015 season. He’s improved upon his career-best with each of his top-five finishes thus far, but said more improvement in the results column — or even the win column — is a reachable goal.

“I hope we can have a couple more top-fives, but hopefully we can get a win under our belt,” Nemechek said. “I feel like we have the potential to do so. We’ve just got to have Lady Luck on our side.”

Posted on August 19, 2015 by

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Nascar

It’s no longer the pits, figuratively speaking, when setting up shop in a pit stall on the backstretch at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Because it is the only track that still features pit stalls on the front (Nos. 1-22) and back (Nos. 23-43) of the track, teams forced to pit on the backside of the tiny, half-mile bullring often found themselves at a competitive disadvantage, hitting pit road only after those stopping on the frontstretch had already been in for service.

Teams pitting on the frontstretch entered pit road at the exit of Turn 4 while those pitting on the back remained behind the pace car until they reached the exit of Turn 2 and were allowed to drop down onto the backstretch of pit road.

That changed in 2002 when track officials began requiring all cars to enter pit road in Turn 2, regardless of where their pit stall was located.

Now, teams pitting on the frontstretch must maintain pit road speed all the way around to their respective pit stalls before returning to the track in Turn 1.

Those pitting on the backstretch get service first, but must also maintain pit road speed all the way back around to Turn 1, still utilizing pit road, before returning to the track as well.

It hasn’t lessened the advantage of qualifying on the pole and choosing the first pit stall closest to the pit-out area in Turn 1 – that remains a prime piece of real estate regardless of track location. Matt Kenseth, winner of the spring race at BMS, started on the pole and was pitted in pit stall No. 1.

But Kenseth also won from a backstretch pit stall (in the 2013 night race at BMS) as did Kasey Kahne (in the spring race of ’13).

Four of those finishing in the top 10 in this year’s spring race at Bristol pitted on the backstretch.

When under green, teams pitting on the frontstretch enter pit road off of Turn 4 while those pitting on the backside of the track enter at Turn 2.

BMS hosts the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Wednesday night with the running of the UNOH 200. The Food City 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race is set for Friday night and on Saturday the track hosts the annual Irwin Tools Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM).

Split Decision

NASCAR officials took no action beyond obtaining the splitters from the Team Penske No. 2 and 22 entries prior to last weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway, leaving most folks to wonder what all the fuss was about.

On Sunday morning, officials said the splitters on the cars of Brad Keselowski (No. 2) and teammate Joey Logano (22) were “so close … we just asked the team to err on the safe side and asked them to switch to a clean splitter.”

The two pieces were evaluated this week at the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C.

A Reason for Increase in Violations

There number of violations on pit road this past weekend at Michigan tripled compared to the series’ visit there in June. However, the June race was cut short by rain, with only 138 of the scheduled 200 laps completed.

This past weekend’s race saw 24 penalties handed down for pit road miscues compared with eight in the series’ first stop at the 2-mile track.

Tires Good to Go

The tire codes for this weekend’s Sprint Cup, XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series races at Bristol are unchanged from recent combinations used at the concrete half-mile, according to Goodyear officials.

It is the only track where this particular set of tire codes are currently used.

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Holly Cain

Wednesday’s news that Michael Waltrip Racing won’t be fielding full-time Sprint Cup Series teams in 2016 essentially turns the team’s lead driver, Clint Bowyer, into one of NASCAR’s highest profile free agents.

MWR and Bowyer agreed to mutually part ways at the end of the season, freeing the 2012 championship runner-up to look for a new ride and making his current title run an important resume-builder.

Bowyer is currently ranked 16th in the 16-driver Chase Grid standings with a slim 23-point edge over Aric Almirola for the final Chase berth with three races remaining to set the field.

MORE: Toyota thanks MWR, supports Bowyer

“I am looking forward to what future opportunities may come but for now we have a championship to pursue in 2015 and we owe it to every one of our sponsors, partners, employees and fans to deliver on and off the track,” Bowyer said in a statement released Tuesday announcing his and the MWR team’s plans.

“I want to thank Michael, Rob (Kauffman) and everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing that made these past four years special. After extensive discussions with Rob and MWR, we came to the point that we mutually agreed our paths in the future just didn’t align, but I think we all agreed on the next steps in a very professional manner.”

It’s clear they are committed to that path. Waltrip discussed Bowyer’s Chase scenario and his inspired motivation on FOX Sports 1 this morning after spending time with Bowyer at the team shop Wednesday morning.

“I’m going to tell you, that’s how fast your Chase world can change,” Waltrip said. “Clint was not only 15th in the points, some 60 to the good, he was within striking distance of being 11th, up there where Jamie McMurray is. And had a crash at Michigan with a really fast car, had a crash and it set him back.

“But I tell ya, it’s inspired Bowyer. I know there’s a lot of news around Michael Waltrip Racing, but he was at the shop today, talking to the team and said, ‘Boys, we’re going to race our way into this Chase, and when we get there, we’re gonna go some rounds.’ And that’s the kind of attitude you need from your race car driver and that’s the kind of attitude Clint has.”

Beyond his showing in this year’s championship run, the big question is what’s next for Bowyer, considered one of the NASCAR’s top-shelf competitors and one of its most popular personalities.

There will be plenty of speculation, however, Bowyer hasn’t said anything beyond the statement issued Tuesday.

The 36-year-old Kansas native is the 2008 XFINITY Series champion and has eight wins in 10 full-time Cup seasons, finishing second to Brad Keselowski in the 2012 championship, his first year with MWR.

It’s reasonable to consider one option for Bowyer is to follow his boss Kauffman to the Chip Ganassi Racing stable next season and bring his longtime sponsor 5-hour Energy to a third Chevrolet there.

Sponsor 5-hour Energy released a statement about the MWR news, as well.”5-Hour ENERGY has enjoyed a great relationship with Michael Waltrip Racing and Clint Bowyer since joining forces in 2012. MWR and Clint have delivered above and beyond with our partnership and we thank them for their dedication. Clint is a great amassador for our products, customers and retailers,” the release read. “The MWR team and Clint will continue to remain focused on getting 5-hour ENERGY in the Chase. We will make no further comment until we are ready to announce our future plans.”

Kauffman, who became a co-owner and major investor in MWR in 2007, announced earlier this month that he had also invested in the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team. Sabates confirmed that the organization would expand to three cars in 2016, but no further details have been released.

Another option down the road for Bowyer may include Furniture Row Racing, which is reportedly considering expanding to two teams. However, the team’s general manager, Joe Garone told FOXSports in June that adding a second car wasn’t realistic until at least 2017 and even then, it would be ambitious. The team’s current driver, another former MWR driver, Martin Truex Jr. , is having a career year with the team and ranks eighth in the Chase Grid.

There is also speculation that Bowyer’s future could include a job at Stewart-Haas Racing should its co-owner and three-time championship driver Tony Stewart retire and leave an open seat. However Stewart has not publicly indicated he has any timetable to retire.

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Staff Report

BRISTOL, Tenn — A spin with four laps to go in Wednesday night’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway proved to be the saving grace for Brad Keselowski Racing’s Ryan Blaney, who grabbed the lead on a green-white-checkered restart to win his first race of the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.

Blaney recovered from an early race penalty for jumping a restart to find himself closing on leader Matt Crafton with five laps remaining. When Ty Dillon spun on Lap 196, it triggered the final caution of the night and the opportunity for Blaney to steal Crafton’s thunder. On the final restart, Crafton’s truck sputtered, failing to come up to speed, allowing Blaney to take off and seal his fourth career NCWTS victory.

“It feels really good,” Blaney said. “I’m proud of everyone on this No. 29 team. I’ve had a chance to drive this truck four times this year and we’ve come really, really close every single time and to finally get it to Victory Lane, my last start of the year for this truck, it really means a lot to get Chad (Kendrick, crew chief) and Brad (Keselowski, team owner) back to Victory Lane.

“To do that in that fashion coming from a lap down and being able to drive through the field like that says a lot about our race team and a lot about what as an organization we can do.”

Keystone Light Pole Award winner Kyle Busch‘s slow start allowed outside pole-sitter Blaney to steal the lead early by the exit of Turn 1, controlling the field through the first caution on Lap 31 for a spin in Turn 2.

On the restart, Blaney roared away from the field, but a few laps later, NASCAR black-flagged him on Lap 37 for jumping the restart, forcing a pass-through penalty, giving the lead to Cole Custer.

Busch, who restarted fifth, methodically worked his way forward and attempted to take the lead away from the young NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner, but Custer kept Busch at bay through the race’s second caution on Lap 79 for debris in Turn 1.

Busch and Johnny Sauter would trade the lead following the caution, before Custer returned to the top spot on lap 90.

A more than 1.5-second lead for Custer would be erased when Ray Black Jr. and Caleb Holman crashed in Turn 4 on lap 112.

With darkening skies overhead and the threat of rain approaching the World’s Fastest Half-Mile, a majority of the teams elected to stay out. Despite his best efforts, Crafton tried to snatch the lead away from the JR Motorsports driver, but to no avail.

Custer slowly saw Crafton become a diminishing factor in his rear-view mirror until he hit heavy lap traffic with 50 laps remaining. That’s when Spencer Gallagher spun in Turns 3 and 4, and Custer found himself trapped in the high-line and collided with Gallagher.

Heavy front-end damage sent the No. 00 Chevrolet to pit road for repairs, eliminating the NASCAR Next driver from competition. As the accident happened, Crafton slipped by on the inside and took the lead — which he held until the green-white-checkered restart that lost him the race.

While under yellow for the fourth time of the night, heavy rain began to fall, causing a red flag for 45 minutes, 50 seconds while the track was dried.

Next up for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is the Aug. 30 race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the third-annual Chevrolet Silverado 250. Blaney is the defending champion.

MORE: Nemechek gets career-best finish