Posted on by Staff Report


Dale Earnhardt Jr. spent Wednesday fishing with fiancee Amy Reimann on his property while filming some shots for sponsor Nationwide. 


The shoot included the Sprint Cup Series driver’s 2016 No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, featuring a new paint scheme, and his accompanying helmet.


On Thursday, Junior’s sponsor, Nationwide, released the first-ever look at the No. 88 driver’s firesuit for 2016. 

Pretty snazzy, right?

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Stewart-Haas Racing hired former Michael Waltrip Racing pit coach Walt Smith for the 2016 season. According to SHR, he will join coordinator Joe Piette and coach Kevin Sharpe in their pit department.

Smith is an experienced coach who has spent time at Hendrick Motorsports, Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing and MWR. He’s joining a pit crew team at SHR that has won championships with Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick and back-to-back Mechanix Wear MVP awards with the Nos. 4 and 41 teams.

For more pit crew news, visit PitTalks.com.

Posted on by Nascar

Joe Gibbs knows it’s important to enjoy the moment. Appreciate the accomplishment, savor it and soak it all in.

Because the end of one season means the beginning of another is much closer.

That’s how it was when he was head coach for the Washington Redskins, with whom he won three Super Bowls. And that’s how it’s been each time his Joe Gibbs Racing organization has won NASCAR Sprint Cup Series titles, something its drivers have now done four times.

Kyle Busch and the No. 18 team gave JGR title No. 4 this season, wrapping up the title with a victory last month at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Busch joins former JGR drivers Tony Stewart (’02, ’05) and Bobby Labonte (’00) as series champion.

“My favorite story on that,” Gibbs, 75, said, “is we’d just won the Super Bowl, just walked off the field. I’d done the press stuff. My wife Pat and I were going to a party and had gotten in a limo.

“And all of a sudden a fan throws open the door, looked back at us and said ‘We’ve got to get ’em next year!’

“And I (said), ‘It’s been 10 minutes!'”

JGR drivers have won 128 races since the organization was formed in 1992. Labonte and Stewart won when the group fielded Pontiac entries; Stewart’s ’05 title came with Chevrolet. Busch’s title was the first for automaker Toyota, which joined JGR in ’08.

The organization added a fourth team for ’15, with driver Carl Edwards and all four drivers — Busch, Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin — qualified for this season’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Busch won the title in spite of injuries that kept the 30-year-old sidelined for the season’s first 11 points races.

Winning the championship is a huge accomplishment, and it goes much further than just within the walls of the shop as Gibbs explained.

“I think one of the biggest (positives) is the people that go with you, and by that I mean (sponsors) Mars, Stanley Black & Decker, Monster, Interstate Batteries, all those companies,” he said. “They invest a lot with us. It takes a lot to race these cars. Then to see them get the benefit of that is just … you can’t even put it into words.

“Then Toyota getting its first (Sprint Cup championship) is a huge deal. All that they’ve invested and the time and work they’ve put into it.

“So I think it’s all the people that get to go with you (on the journey), but particularly in this sport because we’re so dependent (on sponsorship). This sport is totally different. We’ve got to have great partners, great sponsors, people that are willing to work with you and put resources into this. To get a championship is a big deal.”

Interstate has been a partner with JGR since the beginning. Mars joined in ’08 when Busch came on board.

Fielding a championship team not only generates interest among others outside the organization who may be looking to improve their own situations, it also can make it more difficult to hold on to talented personnel already in-house.

It’s a situation Gibbs discovered early on as a team owner. Talented folks want to work for a winner. Other folks want to hire your talented folks.

“We’ve got kind of a tough situation with key employees and people that mean a lot to you because we’re all right in Charlotte,” he said. “And nobody has to move. They just have to roll next door. So you’re constantly faced with that.”

To combat it, he said, “You have to try and make the job as good as you can make it. You try to give them as many benefits as you can.

“But you have to realize too, that when you have really good people, sometimes you lose them.”

For now though, it’s time to enjoy the recognition. Fleeting as it may be.

“We’ll enjoy this as much as we can,” Gibbs said. “The problem is, we don’t have much of an offseason. (The next one) comes quick.”

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Photo courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports Twitter account, @TeamHendrick

Meet Dean “Squirrel” Mozingo, the long-time transporter driver for the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team. The story behind his nickname? Worthy of a King.


•   •   •

“Back in ’97, ’98 – I was working for the Pettys at the time – and Richard (Petty) and I always had a really close relationship. Actually, it started with Lee Petty, (he) was the original Squirrel, which you can go back and see on top of his car. So, that’s what they called him and when Richard started driving, he became Squirrel Jr.


… I was living with Kyle (Petty) – his son – at the time, so we were like family back then … And when I started working for Richard – like I said, we have a very close relationship – he had snuck into Rockingham one morning and put these little gray squirrels on the door of my tractor … I still could remember seeing the feathers on his hat go by the grille of the truck, so I knew he was there doing something and when I got up there, there was this little gray squirrel on the door and he said, ‘You’re squirrel from now on.’ And I said, ‘Yes sir.’


So, that’s where I got it from: Richard Petty.



…(Chase Elliott) already calls me Squirrel, he’s already called me Squirrel a couple times when he’s been on the trailer … He’s already used to it. Kyle Busch actually texted me the other day and he called me it. I mean, all of them – everybody calls me Squirrel.



I don’t even think they know I’ve got a real name – I think they just think that’s my name anyways. Jeff (Gordon)’s kids call me Squirrel, for God’s sake. (Team owner) Mr. Hendrick calls me Squirrel … he came up to me the other day, he said, ‘Squirrel, the legend’ and he was laughing.



… I think people just find it fun … I’ve had people make me stickers over the years and sent them to me of what they portray me as … I’d like to trademark a little squirrel, that’s a good point because I’ve had my daughter work on a little squirrel. She’s an artist so I’m getting her to draw me one. I’m going to trademark it.



… James Bickford told me the other day. He said, ‘Squirrel, you’re going to be the first truck driver to make the Hall of Fame … you’re more famous that most drivers.’

I said, ‘You never know, man.’ “

Posted on by Staff Report

Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed part of his 2016 XFINITY Series schedule on Monday, noting a return to Richmond International Raceway for the first time in over a decade. 

 

After indicating over the weekend that he currently had two races on the docket for next season over the weekend, the 13-time NMPA Sprint Most Popular Driver tweeted that he “Just figured out I will be running the April 23rd XFINITY race at Richmond International Raceway for Hellmann’s” in the No. 88 JR Motorsports entry.

 

Earnhardt hasn’t said what the other race will be yet — or if he’s looking to add more — so stay tuned as that information becomes available.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: NBC Sports Live Extra


All times ET

Tuesday, Dec. 8
7 a.m., NASCAR America: The States of NASCAR (re-air), NBCSN
7:30 a.m., NASCAR America: The States of NASCAR (re-air), NBCSN
4:30 p.m., NASCAR The List: Iconic Cars, NBCSN
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Stories of NASCAR #1, NBCSN

Wednesday, Dec. 9
7 a.m., NASCAR America: Stories of NASCAR #1 (re-air), NBCSN
7:30 a.m., NASCAR The List: Dale Earnhardt Sr. Moments (re-air), NBCSN
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Stories of NASCAR #2, NBCSN

Thursday, Dec. 10
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Stories of NASCAR #3, NBCSN

 

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR Nation was buzzing Sunday and into Monday about the results of the 48th annual Snowball Derby Super Late Model Race.
 
Specifically, the chatter was regarding race winner Chase Elliott and the driver who crossed the start/finish line first. The two were not the same.
 
Christopher Bell, who won at Eldora in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in July, took the checkered flag in his Kyle Busch-owned entry before being disqualified less than an hour later for failing post-race technical inspection. That led to Elliott, who finished second to Bell, being declared the official winner — Bell was formally scored 37th, last in the field.
 

 
The 300-lap race on a half-mile oval in Pensacola, Florida, is the Super Bowl of late model races and has launched the careers of several drivers. Elliott won the event in 2011, and Erik Jones — now a rising NASCAR star — turned heads in 2012 when he outdueled Kyle Busch for the win.
 
The event had a distinct NASCAR flavor, with the following drivers also competing in the main event: Dalton Sargeant (fourth), William Byron (eighth), Kaz Grala (10th), Daniel Hemric (11th), Johanna Long (20th) and 2014 winner John Hunter Nemechek (21st).
 
Busch, who won the race in 2009, shared his disappointment and frustration via Twitter.
 

Posted on by Nascar

LAS VEGAS — For 10 weeks, Martin Truex Jr. was the forgotten man, the guy seemingly racing in the shadows, there but not quite there.

 

He wasn’t the defending series champion; he wasn’t the four-time champ seeking to go out on top; he wasn’t the once-broken but far from beaten fellow scripting the most incredible comeback story.

 

Others were battling for a chance at the title. Truex, the Furniture Row Racing driver, was racing to stave off elimination. Or so we thought.

 

He was there but not quite there.

 

Friday night, Truex found himself back in the shadows once more. Which was the biggest shame of all on a night of celebration for NASCAR and it’s Sprint Cup Series.

 

Moments after somehow holding himself together while giving an emotionally-charged speech that touched the hearts of many inside the Wynn Las Vegas, the 35-year-old entered the workroom across the way, ready to address the media for a final time before officially calling it a season.

 

Instead, nearly everyone inside the workroom was focused on the television screen, watching a tearful Jeff Gordon accept accolades from mega-actor Tom Cruise. The annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Ceremony rolled onward.

 

Even Truex seemed impressed, lingering long enough to note “How about Cole Friggin’ Trickle being here? You believe that?”

 

After a brief question or two, he departed, returning to join long-time girlfriend Sherry Pollex back inside the ballroom.

 

Overshadowed once more. There but not quite there.

 

The New Jersey native had much to be proud of — having proven the naysayers wrong by continuing to advance through each round of the Chase to eventually find himself, along with Kevin Harvick, Gordon and Kyle Busch, battling for the championship in the season-ending race.

 

But addressing the crowd that filled the ballroom earlier, Truex eventually spoke of matters much closer to the heart.

 

He thanked team owner Barney Visser (“They said it couldn’t be done out of Denver. You showed them, didn’t you? Good job, buddy.”), and a long list of others, from Chevrolet officials for whom he had driven previously to Toyota partners that will come on board next season.

 

He thanked family members, sponsors, and “especially the millions of fans who watch our sport each week.”

 

Racing is his livelihood, but it’s not his life. There’s much more, matters much more personal that puts what occurs each Sunday in perspective.

 

“Most of us are faced with challenges at some point in our life,” Truex said. “As most of you know, last year my long time partner Sherry was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

 

“As I’m sure you can imagine, the past year has been the most challenging time of our lives. Since Sherry’s diagnosis, our priorities have changed. We’ve learned that life isn’t just about living it’s about being alive. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.

 

“You’ve heard the saying, ‘don’t sweat the small stuff.’ Well,” he said somehow managing a chuckle, “we’re trying not to sweat the big stuff either.”

 

The experience, he said, “has made us both better people,” and truthfully, it’s those of us who have watched the couple that should have been made better, just by the lessons they’ve shown us in dealing with adversity.

 

“It’s made me a better driver and most of all made us thankful for all the people around and try to give back as much as we can,” he said.

 

“So the only advice I have for you tonight is to enjoy every moment, celebrate life, help others, and never give up. …

 

“Sherry, thank you for being my life. You’re my inspiration and I love you very much.”

 

Truex didn’t win this year’s Sprint Cup Series title. He wasn’t lauded, as was Harvick, for his role as the defending series champ. He wasn’t bid a fond farewell, as was Gordon, who retires after a stellar 23-year career. Nor was he celebrated for rallying from injuries to wear the crown of champion, as was Busch.

 

What he and Sherry did was much bigger.

 

And we’re the ones worse off for not noticing.