NASCAR After The Lap returns to Las Vegas for seventh straight year

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Staff Report

Good news race fans — NASCAR After The Lap, presented by Ford and Sprint, is headed back to Las Vegas for its seventh straight year. The event, which features all 16 drivers competing in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, has become one of the major highlights of Champions Week, as well as an opportunity for fans to engage with the season’s best drivers in a most unique and fun atmosphere.

The event, which will take place at the Pearl Palms Concert Theater inside the Palms Casino Hotel, has been known as the time where drivers let loose on the season celebration in a tell-all panel. From Jeff Gordon showing off his break-dancing skills, to Tony Stewart‘s push-up contest victory and many other signature moments, you never know what you might get at NASCAR After The Lap.

Also starting today, NASCAR Nation has the opportunity to participate in the NASCAR After The Lap Sweepstakes, and with that comes the chance for fans to win some truly once-in-a-lifetime prizes. Starting today through November 22, fans can enter to win a 2016 Ford F-150 or an all-inclusive trip for two to Las Vegas to attend the NASCAR After The Lap event, among other great prizes.

Tickets for NASCAR After The Lap are priced at $20 and will go on sale September 21, but fans not able to attend can also tune in to the live stream of the event on NASCAR.com. To enter the NASCAR After The Lap sweepstakes or learn more about December’s event, visit www.NASCARafterthelap.com.

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Zack Albert

RELATED: Full practice results

Carl Edwards rose to the top of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series leaderboard in Friday’s opening practice at Michigan International Speedway.

Edwards drove the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota to a fast lap of 196.046 mph on the 2-mile track. He set the time with a mock qualifying run in the last half-hour of practice.

Defending Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick was second-fastest with a 194.858 mph lap in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet. Austin Dillon, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin completed the top five in preparation for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM).

The 2-hour, 25-minute practice session marked the Michigan debut for the high-drag aerodynamic package, which was used last month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The rules package, which features an extended rear spoiler among other aerodynamic tweaks, did not receive much of a trial run for race conditions as teams focused on single-car laps.

Aric Almirola sat out the bulk of Friday’s opening practice, battling what his Richard Petty Motorsports team hoped was a 24-hour virus. Two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton filled in for the early portions of the practice in the RPM No. 43 Ford. The car wound up 29th-fastest on the leaderboard.

Defending race winner Jeff Gordon, scheduled to make his last Michigan start Sunday, was 15th-fastest in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet. Kurt Busch, the most recent Michigan winner in June, was 12th-fastest in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet. Busch also had the best 10-lap average, running 188.212 mph on his 21st to 30th laps in the session.

Joey Logano, last week’s winner at Watkins Glen International, was 11th-fastest in the Team Penske No. 22, the fastest Ford on the leaderboard.

The 44 cars that hit the track in the opening session participated with commemorative decals to honor NASCAR legend Buddy Baker, who died Monday at 74.

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AUGUST 14, 2015) — NASCAR® announced today that NASCAR After The Lap, sponsored by Ford and Sprint, will return to Las Vegas for its seventh-consecutive year. The event will once again take place at the Pearl Palms Concert Theater inside the Palms Casino Hotel on Thursday, December 3.

Now in the second year of the expanded field of challengers competing in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, attendees will be able to see this year’s best drivers – all 16 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup contenders – in what has become a highly anticipated event during the week-long season-end celebration.

“Every year, NASCAR After The Lap serves as a key moment where fans can engage with their favorite NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers in a unique way not typically experienced throughout the season,” said Tim Duerr, motorsports marketing manager for Ford Performance. “At Ford, we engage with NASCAR drivers and teams on and off-the-track throughout the season and know how special these moments are, which is why we’ve been proud to serve as event sponsor for NASCAR After The Lap for the past seven years.”

NASCAR After The Lap provides fans with an opportunity to win once-in-a-lifetime prizes and NASCAR experiences. Starting today through November 22, NASCAR fans entering the NASCAR After The Lap sweepstakes will have the opportunity to win a 2016 Ford F-150. Additionally, two winners will receive an all-inclusive VIP trip for two to NASCAR After The Lap, including roundtrip airfare, hotel, ground transportation and VIP event access. NASCAR fans can enter for a chance to win by visiting www.NASCARafterthelap.com.

Tickets for NASCAR After The Lap are priced at $20 and go on sale on Monday, September 21. For fans unable to attend NASCAR After The Lap, NASCAR.com will offer a live stream of the event.

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Reid Spencer

BROOKLYN, Mich. – Beyond planning to run the NASCAR XFINITY Series for Joe Gibbs Racing next year, 19-year-old phenom Erik Jones doesn’t have any specifics about his 2016 deal.

But two trips in a Sprint Cup Series car—the first in a relief role for Denny Hamlin at Bristol, the second as a sub for injured Kyle Busch at Kansas—have heightened Jones’ eagerness to drive in NASCAR’s top series.

RELATED: Jones talks personal impact of Gordon

“JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) is working on a lot of things—a lot of things I honestly don’t know,” said Jones, who is competing for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title this year. “I’m kind of waiting to see how the rest of the year progresses.

“I do know that I’ll be racing XFINITY next year, but I don’t know sponsor, number or any kind of information like that. No plans this year (for additional Sprint Cup races), but I hope I get another shot soon. It was fun.”

Jones is currently third in the Truck Series points standings, trailing leader Tyler Reddick by 16 points and two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton by five.

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Reid Spencer

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Matt Kenseth‘s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota crew woke a sleeping giant just in time for qualifying for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN) at Michigan International Speedway.

But Kenseth jokingly credited a sleepless night — brought on by worry over teammate Denny Hamlin‘s lack of punctuality — for his pole-winning effort in Friday’s time trials at the two-mile track.

Getting the most out of the high-drag aerodynamic package in force at the event at Michigan, Kenseth covered the distance in 36.458 seconds (197.488 mph) to win his third Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his first at MIS and the 16th of his career.

Hamlin (196.990 mph) was second fastest, and Carl Edwards (196.276 mph) claimed the third starting spot, as Joe Gibbs Racing swept the top three positions on the grid for the 23rd Sprint Cup race of the season.

Austin Dillon (195.918 mph) qualified fourth as the top Chevrolet in the field, followed by Tony Stewart (195.477 mph) in a Chevrolet and Kyle Busch (195.450 mph) in the fourth JGR Toyota. Joey Logano, last week’s winner at Watkins Glen, qualified 10th as the only Ford driver to crack the top 12.

Based on practice speed, Edwards was a favorite to win the pole, but Kenseth, who was 10th on the speed chart in the opening practice session, closed the gap in time from qualifying.

“We were a long ways off Carl in practice, and I don’t even know what changes they made, but they changed a lot of stuff that really woke this thing up and had some speed,” Kenseth said. “I knew I got through (Turns) 1 and 2 good, but Denny put up such a fast lap, and I got into (Turn) 3, and I was bound and determined that I was going to make it wide open.

“I had the first half of the corner. It was the second half that was starting to get exciting. I got sliding up the track and bogged down a little bit. I wasn’t sure that we were going have it, but I have to say thanks to those guys (the crew). They gave me a car with a lot of speed.”

In Hamlin’s view, Busch’s return from an injury has achieved a critical mass of four talented, veteran drivers at JGR who can benefit from each other’s expertise.

“When you have drivers that you can feed off of, like the three teammates that I have, it makes a difference, and so that’s where you’re seeing the results,” Hamlin said.

That didn’t prevent the driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry from throwing a barb toward the 43-year-old teammate who beat him for the pole.

“Matt was probably too old to remember to lift there,” Hamlin said of Kenseth’s qualifying run.

Kenseth provided a different perspective.

“I could say it’s because I didn’t get enough sleep,” Kenseth said. “I flew up with Denny today, and he likes to come to everything at the last minute. I didn’t sleep last night thinking that we weren’t going to make it up here, so it’s really just for lack of sleep. I get to credit Denny for the pole.”

Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Logano completed the top 10. Reed Sorenson failed to make the 43-car field.

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Pat DeCola

LEXINGTON, Ohio — Team owner Jack Roush sparked rumors that XFINITY Series points leader Chris Buescher could soon be competing for a Sprint Cup Series title in a Wednesday night interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, noting that the 22-year-old is “ready” for Cup racing and there’s consideration for putting him in a car “sooner, rather than later.”

This was all news to Buescher.

“(We’ve talked about) absolutely nothing. That has caught me so off-guard,” Buescher said Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, site of Saturday’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM). “My dad called me and asked me about it and I said ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about right now.’ And then the radio interview … came up, and it’s nice to hear. It’s awesome being recognized or being considered to move up.”

It’s easy to see why Buescher would garner consideration from the longtime Roush Fenway Racing owner, given that his career has taken off at a tremendous rate since picking up his first career national series victory in this very race a year ago. A 2014 season that started with him failing to qualify for the season opener at Daytona hit its stride midway at Mid-Ohio with a win, sparking a streak of dominance that has seen him lead the series’ regulars with an average finish of 8.4 in 2015.

RELATED: Buescher seeks separation in standings at Mid-Ohio

While it’s hard to resist the temptation to think about where he could be racing next year, Buescher is keeping his expectations tempered.

“Sooner rather than later is a very broad statement,” said Buescher, the only XFINITY regular with multiple wins this year. “I don’t know when that would be, by any means. My progression has typically been a little slower than a lot of the guys that I’ve grown up racing around, when you look at a lot of the guys that are in this series, they typically don’t spend as much time in each series as I have. I’m OK with that, though. I like the fact that I’ve been able to get a lot of seat time in each division that I’ve run and been able to move up when I feel like I’m ready.”

Set in motion from Kyle Busch‘s injury to start the season, Buescher has six Sprint Cup starts under his belt this year, which have mostly come when he hopped in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports ride previously inhabited by David Ragan, who filled in for Busch in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18. His average finish in six races is 26.7, but he’s managed to finish better than where he started in every race except last weekend at Watkins Glen.

Buescher also mentioned there are no current plans for him to get any more Cup seat time this year, but didn’t rule out spot starts as necessary.

Either way, he knows the extra laps behind the wheel amidst the stronger competition are just as important as finishing position right now, and he’s willing to put in the time to learning the ropes.

“I’ve had a lot of fun doing the Cup races with Front Row Motorsports. I think it has been a very big learning experience. I’ve learned a lot going through it. I realized it’s not a ‘drop in, good to go, go win a race,’ it’s going to be a learning curve for me,” Buescher said. “I’m ready for the challenge, but it will be a challenge and lot of learning that will go along with it, whenever it may be … I think I’ll be ready for it. We’ll find out sooner than later.”

For now, Buescher is focused on pursuing a championship in the XFINITY Series. In that regard, the series points leader says that the on-track incidents with teammate and championship hopeful Darrell Wallace Jr. are a thing of the past.

“We’ve got everything rolling along pretty smooth right now,” he said. “We’ve taken care of all of our issues. We feel like, or we know that the best way to make all of our teams competitive is to work together and we’ve had meetings to to basically very firmly say that and get that out there. It’s all good and we’ve all been over-working on sim before this race; watching video, trying to review; going around on some pace car rides this morning with all of our teammates. We feel good about where we’re at right now.

“Obviously it wasn’t so much fun earlier, but it’s on the right path. We feel like we’re focused on going out there are getting more wins for our organization. This year’s been really good for us on the XFINITY side. We’re the only organization that has any XFINITY regulars with any wins, which is pretty special to me, I would say.”

Posted on August 14, 2015 by George Winkler

BROOKLYN, Mich. — NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell announced Friday at Michigan International Speedway that the rules package for the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup will not include either the low-downforce package or the high-drag package.

The low-downforce package was used in June at Kentucky Speedway, and will be in use next month at Darlington Raceway.

The high-drag package is being used this weekend at Michigan International Speedway, and O’Donnell spent time with drivers, teams and manufacturers following Friday’s qualifying to gather feedback.

“The specific topic we wanted to cover with the industry was regarding the Chase, and our decision to keep the 2015 rules package as it is for the Chase and a lot of discussions we had with the industry, that includes a number of folks: The tracks, the drivers, the race teams, the OEMs, all believe that that was in the best interest of the sport,” O’Donnell said. “Excited about the Chase, excited about the package and what’s to come in the Chase, especially when you look back to last year. So that was really the main point we wanted to talk about.”

O’Donnell said the intention all along was to keep the Chase where it was with the 2015 rules package, but some teams wanted to push forward after getting a look at the packages used at Kentucky and Indianapolis. But instead the sanctioning body will gather information from Sunday’s race at Michigan and the Labor Day weekend race at Darlington and use that when formulating the 2016 rules package.

The Kentucky race in particular garnered positive feedback, with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Carl Edwards saying at the time that he was sold on it even after just one look in the Quaker State 400. That wasn’t lost on NASCAR.

“So absolutely a lot of great things happened during that race, but that was one race and one that we want to learn from and take forward and apply what we can to Darlington and do the same thing,” O’Donnell said. “So I would say a ton of positives we saw from Kentucky, but we’ve got to take the time to dial those things in and make sure that everybody is on the same page. We’ve got the best package to put forth, especially as we look to ’16, so that does have a lot of momentum and lot of positives that we can apply to Darlington and then make some calls post Darlington as well.”

As far as using more races or tests in the future to try out new rules packages, O’Donnell said he didn’t anticipate that would be necessary, that after Michigan and Darlington and more simulation tests and discussions with the major players that the sanctioning body would be in position to make a decision fairly quickly during the offseason. That in turn would give teams the needed time to make adjustments for 2016.

“I think the intent would be that we see what happens during the race here Sunday, talk to all of our partners, do the same in Darlington, and then take that information, have a direction, which we feel pretty good about where we may head based on what we’ll see on the racetrack, and then go in and do some sim work with all of our partners directionally on those packages to see if we can fine-tune that,” O’Donnell said.

Earlier this week, O’Donnell issued a pair of timelines for a pair of important decisions. One was the Chase rules package; the second was the 2016 schedule, which he said should be announced in three to four weeks.

O’Donnell said he did not anticipate major changes with the schedule. He cited the West Coast swing as a positive development in the 2015 schedule, along with attendance at Watkins Glen and Michigan. He said NASCAR would work on striving for consistency going forward.

O’Donnell also was asked whether there’d be changes for the October race at Talladega based on the wreck involving Austin Dillon at the July race at Daytona.

“We’re still having some discussion with the industry heading into Talladega,” O’Donnell said. “Have not settled on anything yet, but I think you can anticipate something.”

Posted on August 14, 2015 by George Winkler

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Roush Fenway Racing‘s Greg Biffle likely needs a win in the next four races to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, but he’ll have to do so while working with a new spotter.

According to RFR, Jason Reiner will replace Joel Edmonds as Biffle’s spotter this weekend at Michigan International Speedway for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM). Reiner has spotted for Chase Elliott.

“It is not one of the changes I was looking for, but it was time to head down a different path for the company,” Biffle said.

“Like I said, it was not preferable to start with a new spotter, especially with Bristol next weekend and four races before the Chase, but it is a business and we will work for it the best we can to get up to speed with listening to a new guy up top.”

Biffle leads active drivers with four Cup victories at Michigan, with his most recent win coming in 2013. He has 15 top-10 finishes in 25 Cup races at the track.

Biffle is 80 points behind Clint Bowyer for the 16th and final Chase slot. He finished in the top five two races ago at Pocono Raceway, one of two top-five finishes this season (the other coming at Charlotte).

“Greg has won two of the most significant races we’ve won here — the 100th anniversary for Ford Motor Company and the 1,000th win for Ford,” team owner Jack Roush said about Biffle’s success at Michigan. “We are looking forward to the new setup here with the aero and we look forward to seeing what we can do.”

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Brad Norman

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Drivers are taking a wait-and-see approach to handling for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 (2:30 p.m. Sunday, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) with the high drag package making its debut at Michigan International Speedway.

Two veteran drivers, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth, agreed that experience with the package at Indianapolis gives very little indication of how the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars will perform at Michigan since the 2-mile paved oval is so different from Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.5-mile flat rectangle.

“Indy is really one lane,” Biffle said Friday morning before the opening Sprint Cup practice session. “It was difficult to get close to that car in front of you because of the extra spoiler and extension on the bumper cover. It made it more difficult to get close to a guy to get a run on him. Here, I think that may change with the different lanes, but we will have to wait and see.

“The car is much looser to drive behind another car, as well, so that is why you look for clean air.”

MIS has wide, sweeping corners, making predicting how the high drag package will affect the cars harder to predict after the experience at Indianapolis.

“I don’t know that it will be a lot different in terms of what you feel in traffic and that type of thing,” Kenseth said of the new package at Michigan compared with Indy. “The race tracks are just massively different. Indy is all by itself. And it’s one of the toughest tracks to pass at no matter what package we bring. We’ll just have to see what it looks like on Sunday.”

The package for Michigan includes a 9-inch spoiler on the rear deck (increased from six inches) with a 1-inch wicker bill; a rear fascia extension panel similar to those used for superspeedway events, a 2-inch leading edge on the splitter and a 43-inch splitter extension panel (radiator pan).

“The original (aero) package … was for Michigan; we had built this package specifically for Michigan and then worked to implement it into Indianapolis,” Steve O’Donnell, executive vice president and chief racing development officer for NASCAR, told NASCAR.com on Tuesday. “We feel comfortable with the package we have set up … but we certainly learned some things at Indy.”

O’Donnell left open the possibility of tweaks to the package after Friday’s practice and qualifying sessions.

“I thought I knew what it was going to look like at Indy, and I was a little bit off, but I am looking forward to today and seeing how it drives,” Biffle said, adding race day would still be a bit of a surprise. “Really the first time we race around cars is when the green flag drops.”

One thing NASCAR heard about the package at Indianapolis was higher heat inside the cars. The sanctioning body reacted by adding NACA ducts to right-side windows to allow greater air flow inside the cars at the Michigan race.

“The race really wasn’t that bad for me at Indy, so I don’t foresee any problems,” Kenseth said of concerns about heat.

Kenseth noted that teams had the option to put in extra air ducts before, but those that did have trouble with heat wanted the extra NACA ducts to be part of the rules package so all the cars would be slowed the same amount.

Temperatures at Michigan are expected to reach highs of 85-90 degrees over the race weekend, similar to the weather during the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard.

“Mainly the tail extension doesn’t let the air come out from underneath the car,” Kenseth explained as to why the extra heat builds up. “I think there’s a lot less under body air flow and the heat just stays there from the exhaust pipes and the oil lines and everything that’s making heat.”

Posted on August 13, 2015 by

In the summer months, NASCAR introduced new rules packages for a handful of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. A new aerodynamic package with less downforce on the cars to create more side-by-side competition and put more in the hands of the driver was used at Kentucky Speedway in July. A similar package will be used at Darlington Raceway on Labor Day weekend for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 on Sept. 6 (7 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM).  

A high drag rules package was used at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month and will be used again this weekend at Michigan International Speedway for the Pure Michigan 400 (Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM). This rules package reduced the speeds a bit in an effort to create more pack-style competition and drafting.  

Drivers have been vocal about their opinions on each new package immediately after using it in a race. And if the drivers have an opinion, surely we do as well. NASCAR.com’s Kenny Bruce and RJ Kraft are back to debate which rules package has been better: The high-drag setup or the low downforce package?

DRIVERS GIVE REVIEWS: Kentucky package | Indianapolis package

Kraft: Well, from our last H2H Kenny, you know I was no fan of tweaking the rules even for one race but I was converted after watching the Kentucky race last month. That race had a track-record number of green-flag passes (22) for the lead and a total of 2,665 green-flag passes overall, creating the exact effect the sport’s governing body wanted: More side-by-side competition and more passing. The racing itself was tremendous and the late-race duel between Joey Logano and Kyle Busch was the best racing we’ve seen all season. The high-drag package did not seem to have any real effect on passing and there wasn’t much drafting to speak. Frankly, if Kyle Busch didn’t score his third straight win, the Indianapolis race doesn’t stand out for any reason. And we can’t forget that the setup on the cars seemed to have a major effect on how hot it got inside the driver’s seat. While a change has been made for an additional NACA duct to be mounted on the right-side window for Michigan, we still need to see if that has a cooling effect greater than what we saw at Indianapolis.

RELATED: Impact of heat at Indy causes slight change to cars for Michigan

Bruce: You want cool drivers or better racing, RJ? Truthfully, I do realize the heat generated is a concern, but nothing a few tweaks here and there likely won’t eliminate. I don’t think officials expected the changes to have an immediate impact on the racing on the track — a slight improvement was probably more hoped for or anticipated. There’s a lot of real-time data to digest that otherwise wouldn’t have been acquired. You can’t get to Point B without going through Point A first. And don’t forget the tire situation — while the Kentucky package seemed to provide better racing even without tires that were built for the low downforce package, those built for Indy weren’t tested with the high drag package either. Just another piece of the puzzle that’s still being built.

TECH TALK: High drag package built specifically for Michigan

Kraft: How about the driver reaction? Despite limited practice time with the low downforce package at Kentucky, pretty much all the drivers loved it and were quite vocal about how much they enjoyed racing with that particular rules package. Drivers liked the fact that they had more control and that there was more passing. As a fan it was exciting to see how often there were cars three-wide and four-wide in that race. And if the drivers are happy and pleased with the rules that are in place, that speaks volumes. While some wanted further tweaks with the low downforce package, the garage seemed to think the Kentucky results were one heck of a first step. That wasn’t the case at Indianapolis after the high-drag package was run. I suppose we should wait until it’s run a second time this weekend before we condemn it, especially since officials have said this package was specifically built for Michigan.

 Bruce: There is a world of difference in Kentucky and Indianapolis. Just because the high drag rules didn’t totally change the action at Indy is no reason to toss it out. No doubt some things were learned from the weekend. Michigan is a much wider track with better opportunities to work in another racing groove. Maybe it wasn’t the final answer for Indy, but let’s give it a chance before say it won’t work elsewhere. As Jeff Gordon noted, as long as drivers have room to maneuver around the cars in the turns the package has potential. As teams get more opportunities to work with the different set-ups, some will be able to make them work faster than others, and that’s always been the case. It may not be the final answer, but it might be a step. And we won’t know until we see it in action some more.