Posted on by Staff Report

Edwards, Busch fastest among “Tricky Triangle” competitors

RELATED: Practice 3 results | Sunday’s Pocono starting lineup

Kyle Busch slapped the right side wall hard midway through the final Sprint Cup Series practice session at Pocono Raceway on Saturday.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver brought his No. 18 Toyota back to the garage for major damage fixes. After the repairs, his team sent the Coors Light Pole Award winner back out onto the track — where he zoomed to the top of the leaderboard.

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In an all-JGR sweep across two sessions, Busch joined Carl Edwards as a practice topper with a best speed of 175.240 mph. “Rowdy”, winner of three straight races, was followed by his brother, Kurt, at 175.067 mph.

Edwards (174.920 mph), Kevin Harvick (174.771 mph) and Jimmie Johnson (174.584 mph) rounded out the top five.

Early in the session, Jeb Burton lost control of his No. 26 ride and rocketed toward pit road, hitting the inside wall in a bizarre accident.

“That was my fault,” Burton told NASCAR on NBC. “ … I just screwed up.”

Burton will switch to a backup car and start at the tail of the field.

Tony Stewart’s team also decided to switch out the transmission in his No. 14 Chevrolet. He was 18th in the session at 173.157 mph.

Tune in Sunday for the Windows 10 400 at Pocono (1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN/Live Extra).

Practice 2 | Results

Joe Gibbs Racing continued its streak of recent dominance, placing its four drivers atop the leaderboard in Saturday’s first Sprint Cup Series practice session at Pocono Raceway.

It’s Kyle Busch that has won the past three races, but it was Carl Edwards (175.812 mph) that earned the best speed nod. Matt Kenseth was next at 175.418 mph, followed by Busch (175.408 mph) and Denny Hamlin (175.298 mph). Busch will start first in Sunday’s Windows 10 400 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN/Live Extra) after winning Friday’s Coors Light Pole Award.

Kurt Busch (175.285 mph) and Ryan Newman (175.104 mph) rounded out the top five.

Martin Truex Jr., the spring Pocono winner, was 11th at 174.547 mph.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. swept the "Tricky Triangle" last year but has not found that same speed this weekend, placing 23rd in Saturday’s opening session at 173.718 mph.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Ryan Reed post-race: ‘I told him we can race like that and I’m totally fine’

NEWTON, Iowa — What opened up as a reasonably clean, meandering NASCAR XFINITY Series race turned into a regular Saturday night showdown, a swashbuckling smashfest in three acts that left bruises on fenders and egos alike at Iowa Speedway.
 
After traveling 205 of an overtime 260 laps with a harmless three caution periods, short-track bedlam erupted in the late stages, potentially re-opening an old rift between teammates, ruffling the feathers of the defending series champion and sparking a post-race shove further back in the pack.

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The earliest sign that the U.S. Cellular 250 would not go quietly into the good Iowa night came with 21 laps left in regulation, when reigning champ Chase Elliott tangled with rookie Brandon Jones on the frontstretch in a contest for sixth place. Elliott, already frustrated by his late fade as the only front-runner to make a two-tire stop in the last exchange, keyed his radio to tell his JR Motorsports crew: "I’m pretty upset right now. That’s all I’m going to say."
 
Told that Jones accepted full blame over the his own radio, Elliott replied: "Yeeeeppp. They can tell that to the points tally."
 
Jones was apologetic again after the race, telling NASCAR.com that he felt he was clear as he slid up the race track on the exit of Turn 4. He said he didn’t have a chance to issue an apology in person with ninth-place finisher Elliott after the race.
 
"I think he probably went back to his hauler, but I’ll get back up with him (later) and try to explain what happened, for sure," said Jones, who finished 20th in just his second XFINITY start. "Me and Chase are really good friends and I didn’t mean for that to happen, but can’t do anything now about it. We’ll go to the next one."
 
The next one in terms of post-race flare-ups should make for another interesting team meeting this week at Roush Fenway Racing. Points leader Chris Buescher and teammate Bubba Wallace, who locked horns in May at Dover International Speedway, collided again with two laps left, pushing the race into overtime. Wallace, damaged in an earlier incident with Erik Jones entering pit road, caught the worst of it with fellow teammate Ryan Reed and the retiring Kenny Wallace sliding behind him in the aftermath.
 
Wallace dismounted from his No. 6 Ford post-race, exchanged words with Buescher’s crew chief Scott Graves, and leaned in to Buescher’s window for a succinct post-race talk.
 
"I think he said, ‘good job.’ I just grabbed him really quick," Wallace said. "We screwed up so bad in this race. It was miserable. I let my guys down. I got into Erik there on pit road and that put us in a corner. Just hate it, man. I screwed up tonight. Just paying for it."
 
Asked about any potential tension within the Roush ranks, Wallace smiled and shrugged: "He’s racing. We’re racing hard. That’s it. Nothing to it. I just told him good job and we’ll go to Watkins Glen."
 
Buescher, the winner here at the .875-mile track in May, was aiming for a rare Iowa season sweep, but on the first green-white-checkered attempt that followed, his No. 60 was heavily damaged by the sliding car of Brennan Poole. He limped home to a 13th-place finish, two spots behind Wallace, but retained his lead in the XFINITY standings.
 
"Our guys did a heck of a job and we brought back a heck of a car to Iowa and we should’ve been in really good contention for this thing," Buescher said. "You know, it’s just tough. We had so many restarts there late. Guys are just, they’re tough — just dive-bomb it in there and it’s tough."
 
Pressed for specifics about his contact with Wallace, Buescher declined to tell: "I’m not talking about that one. … Nope. Nothing to say."
 
Caught in part of the crossfire was Reed, who soldiered to a 19th-place finish and had fireworks of his own to come. In trying to assess the hard-nosed racing between Buescher and Wallace, he said he felt certain the issues would be resolved in time.
 
"They’re both great drivers and I have a lot of respect for both of them and get along with both of ’em. I can’t really get in the middle of it, but at the same time, I understand how it can be racing teammates," Reed said. "You want to run everyone as hard as you can, just seems, like you said, they’re magnets and I’m not sure why it’s like that. They’re both great drivers, I have a lot of respect for them, and I’m sure they’ll get through it."
 
Reed’s issues weren’t over, though, as his No. 16 Ford scraped across the start-finish line in 19th-place at the checkered flag. Very little cool-down happened on the cool-down lap, with Reed marching over to the No. 4 Chevrolet and giving its driver, Ross Chastain, a swift shove.
 
"There were a lot of wrecks there at the end. It’s part of short-track racing," Reed said. "My getting at the 4, like I said in my other interview, it’s kind of the pot calling the kettle black because I got into the 20 (Kenny Wallace), but the 20 was very unintentional. I just went up to the 4 and he just flat-out told me, ‘Hey man, it was a green-white-checkered,’ so I have a hard time with that. I have a really hard time with going in there and just intentionally banzai-ing someone and punting them out of the way. It’s fine. I told him we can race like that and I’m totally fine with that."
 
Chastain claimed said he wanted to see video of the incident before making a judgment call.
 
"I haven’t seen a replay yet, so I can’t say too much. I don’t want to because I don’t want to overstep what I don’t know," Chastain told NASCAR.com. "What I remember — and it might be completely wrong — is I got to the bottom of (Turn) 1 and the 16 was right outside of me. I thought we were pretty low on the race track and we might’ve gotten together a little bit. It looks like there’s a little mark on my fender, and I just got by him and there was mayhem and chaos everywhere. I don’t know. Until I see a replay, I don’t know.
 
"Me and him have raced hard all year. It’s good for us that we’re racing against guys like that because people think we shouldn’t be, but we are. When we come to a track like Iowa, we can show what this team’s made out of. I’m proud of my guys. I hate it that he got torn up, but I didn’t feel like I was too in the wrong, but I’ll have to watch a replay to see."

Posted on by Zack Albert

Saturday’s race start of favorable stretch for points leader

NEWTON, Iowa — The last time Chris Buescher visited Iowa Speedway, he was savoring the laurels of his second career victory and leaving the track as the new NASCAR XFINITY Series points leader.

Back in Iowa some 10 weeks and eight races later, he’s still atop the XFINITY heap without much major movement in the standings since. With the season entering its second half, no one — either Buescher or the other title contenders — has been able to manufacture a significant charge.

"I hope it’s us," Buescher said of the likelihood of a late-season points swing. "There’s really no telling right now. I don’t know where these next races are going to go. I know from our side of it, we’re prepared for it and we are looking forward to it. We feel like this could be a really good stretch for us. We’ll see how it plays out."

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Buescher aims to retain or build upon his 25-point lead over defending series champion Chase Elliott in Saturday night’s U.S. Cellular 250 presented by New Holland (8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, MRN, SiriusXM). He’ll try to accomplish that goal at a .875-mile track that’s been kind to his Roush Fenway Racing team (five wins in the last nine Iowa races) and Ford teams in general (seven wins in 11 Iowa races total).

"We’ve had some pretty good runs here in the XFINITY Series. It’s just a place that we seem to have something that works pretty well for all of our teams," Buescher said. "We come here each and every time and we always have some kind of shot with one of our team cars to be able to get a win. It is nice. It’s a good short track. We love coming to race here. It puts on some of the best racing that we have all year."

Buescher’s springtime spike — which included a stretch of eight top-10 finishes in a 10-race span — has cooled off somewhat as summer temperatures have risen. The 22-year-old Texas native has gone four races without a top 10 and hasn’t led a lap in six weeks.

But if anything, Buescher said the five races coming up on the XFINITY schedule might be considered a favorable stretch. Among them are three road courses (Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio and Road America) and two short tracks (Iowa and Bristol). He’ll also return to Mid-Ohio as the defending race winner, aiming to repeat at the site of his first XFINITY victory.

With five drivers within 57 points of the lead, it would be hard to blame Buescher for playing the racing equivalent of a prevent defense for the 15 races left in the 33-race schedule. But Buescher insists that the No. 60 team’s approach is unlikely to waver down the stretch.

"The points are something you have to pay attention to, to an extent," Buescher said. "I don’t particularly like points racing. It’s not our focus. That’s not the one thing that we’re going to go chase each and every week. We’re out here to go win races and be competitive every week, and if you can do that, you end up in a really good spot in the points battle and you can play it from there. So we’re to a point in the year where we’ve put ourselves in the right situations.

"We’ve got a little bit of a cushion — not much — and we can look at that when we go to races. For weekends that we don’t have the best run or the run we were hoping for — like we had at Indy, we were able to salvage and not lose much. When we get into races like that, you have to pay attention to it and know that when it comes down to the end, every point’s going to count. At the same time, when we’re trying to go out here and win these races, you can’t lean on the points too much. You’ve got to go try and maximize everything you can. If you can win a race, you’re going to get more points than anybody else."

Posted on by Fraser Nye

MWR co-owner not leaving team, ‘taking anything’ to CGR

LONG POND, Pa. — Michael Waltrip Racing co-owner Rob Kauffman said on Saturday at Pocono Raceway that he plans to integrate MWR and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, in which he has purchased an interest.

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Meeting with media for the first time since MWR issued a statement two days ago that the team and CGR would "operate separately and compete agains each other for the remainder of the 2015 season" while "evaluating ways to field the most competitive race teams possible" for 2016 and beyond, Kauffman emphasized that he continued to work with Waltrip.

"First and foremost, I think it’s important to realize that Michael and I own Michael Waltrip Racing," Kauffman said. "We control Michael Waltrip Racing together. We’re business partners. We’re great personal friends. So any idea that like I’m leaving or taking anything is actually misplaced. 

"What we’re really doing is integrating the businesses, trying to get the most competitive product on track, do the best for all of our partners and that’s really our focus. It’s a competitive business as everybody knows. It’s competitive on track as well as off track."

The timing of the statement was an attempt to keep both organizations focused on 2015, "getting hopefully one to two cars in the Chase and doing a great job for our partners," Kauffman said.

"We’ve been very excited about the developments over the summer we’ve had with the teams," Kauffman continued. "They’re running well. And there’s hundreds of people working back in Charlotte. We want to keep them focused on what they need to do."

Through the first 20 races, CGR’s Jamie McMurray sits 11th in the provisional Chase Grid, the top winless driver in the points standings. MWR’s Clint Bowyer holds the final spot in the Chase in 16th place. McMurray’s teammate, Kyle Larson, is 20th, and MWR’s David Ragan is 24th in points. With all four teams in the top 30 in the standings, each one is a victory away from making the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Looking to the future of the two race teams, Kauffman said those plans are still under consideration with their performance helping determine 2016 plans.

"In terms of our plans, whether we have three cars, four cars; two roofs, one roof, that’s all yet to be determined," Kauffman said. "And how we do in the 2015 season will help determine whether that happens. If we do a great job, that will be one outcome. If we do a less great job, probably another. I think it will be pretty obvious to people."

Posted on by Fraser Nye

Catch up before Sunday’s Windows 10 400 (1:30 p.m ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM)

What: 42nd annual Windows 10 400

Where: Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania

When: Sunday, August 2, 2015

TV/Radio: NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR

Distance: 160 laps (400 miles)

Green Flag: 1:46 p.m. ET

Pit Road Speed: 55 mph

Caution Car Speed: 70 mph

Fuel Window: 32 laps

Competition caution: Lap 15 (Track was washed Saturday night)

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On The Front Row (Full lineup)

1. Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota (178.416 mph)
2. Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet (178.168 mph)

To the rear

Jeb Burton, BK Racing No. 26 Toyota (going to backup car)

Failed to Qualify

None

Fastest in Practice (Full practice results)
First Practice: Brad Keselowski, Team Penske No. 2 Ford (176.606 mph)
Second Practice: Carl Edwards, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota (175.812 mph)
Third Practice: Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota (175.240 mph)

Bumps be gone

Two months ago, drivers complained about bumps in Turn 2 over Pocono’s new waterfall entrance. The track paved over the section, and the racers have recognized the work done. "They did a great job repairing or improving the bumps and issues they had over in the Tunnel (Turn) especially on the apron," said an appreciative Dale Earnhardt Jr. But June winner Martin Truex Jr. may have lost an advantage, saying, "A few differences in the race track with the Tunnel Turn being smooth again, I think that certainly makes it a little bit easier on everybody else."

Second consecutive sweep?

Earnhardt won both races in 2014, and Truex will attempt to become the eighth driver to complete the season sweep at the Tricky Triangle. In addition to the two Juniors, the six other drivers who have achieved the Pocono sweep are Bobby Allison (1982), Bill Elliott (1985), Tim Richmond (1986), Bobby Labonte (1999), Jimmie Johnson (2004) and Denny Hamlin (2006). 

Four-Time’s last time

The all-time wins leader at Pocono, Jeff Gordon, will attempt to make his seventh trip to Richard Petty Victory Lane in his last start at the track. Gordon’s last win at the Tricky Triangle came three years ago in this race when he snapped a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott for lead. The facility incorporated "GORDON" into the start/finish line, and it has a "Thank you Jeff 24" sign greeting patrons and race teams as they drive out of the track under the Tunnel Turn.

Birthday bonanza

A win would be an early birthday present for Gordon, who turns 44 next Tuesday, as well as his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, who turns 40 next Wednesday when fellow Hendrick crew chief, Chad Knaus, turns 44 as well. Last year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year winner, Kyle Larson, celebrated his 23rd birthday on Friday, and 38th-place qualifier Jeb Burton will join him at that age next Thursday. A two-time Pocono winner, Kurt Busch, turns 37 next Tuesday.

Four in a row

Coors Light Pole Award winner Kyle Busch will attempt to become the first driver to win four consecutive Sprint Cup Series races since Jimmie Johnson won four Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup races in a row in the fall of 2007. Other drivers with wins across a month of consecutive Sundays include NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott, David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough. Others to turn the trick have been Harry Gant, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Billy Wade. If Busch wins, he’ll go for five in a row at Watkins Glen and try to become the first driver to accomplish the feat since another NASCAR Hall of Famer, Bobby Allison, did it in 1971. Richard Petty holds the record with 10.

Taking the fifth

Kyle Busch and Harvick haven’t won on five of 23 Sprint Cup Series tracks, and Pocono is one they have in common. In addition to the Tricky Triangle, Harvick is winless at Dover, Kentucky, Sonoma and Texas while Busch hasn’t gone to Victory Lane at Charlotte, Homestead-Miami, Kansas and Martinsville.

Chevy seeks milestone

The Bowtie Brigade has won six consecutive races at the track, and if it wins on Sunday, it will make the 750th victory for the manufacturer. Seventy-six different drivers have won in a Chevy, which has claimed 38 manufacturer titles including the last 12. Gordon boasts the most wins with 92, followed by Johnson with 74, Earnhardt (73), Waltrip (60) and Yarborough (48).

Next new winner? 

Through 20 races, 10 drivers have won their way into the Chase with Kyle Busch on the cusp of making the top 30 and becoming the 11th driver to make the playoffs, leaving five spots with six events until the field is set. Of top 30 drivers without a win in 2015, Larson has the best average finish of eighth. The second-best driver in that group is two-time Pocono winner, Stewart, with a 12.1 average finish. Another former winner, Ryan Newman, is third with a 12.4 average finish.

Double-duty dudes

JJ Yeley skipped Saturday’s practices to head to Iowa and run the XFINITY race. Four drivers competed in Saturday’s Camping World Truck Series race at Pocono: Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Harvick and Brad Keselowski. 

Driver Rating

Best driver rating average at Pocono based on races since 2005:

1. Denny Hamlin, 108.3
2. Jimmie Johnson, 106.9
3. Kurt Busch, 105.9

Defending race winner

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet

Former Pocono winners in the field

Jeff Gordon (6); Denny Hamlin (4); Jimmie Johnson (3); Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards (2); Ryan Newman, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Greg Biffle, Martin Truex Jr. (1).

Posted on by RJ Kraft

Hendrick driver gives honest assessment of where organization is right now

RELATED: Complete lineup for Sunday’s race | See all 43 paint schemes

LONG POND, Pa. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the only driver other than Kyle Busch to win one of the past five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. 

However, the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is aware that the four-team organization he calls home has been a bit off in recent weeks, especially compared to that of Joe Gibbs Racing, in its first year of fielding four cars.

"I think you got to be honest with yourself," Earnhardt Jr. said Friday at Pocono. "The Gibbs guys have found more speed. They look like over the last couple of weeks to be a lot stronger and that we’re not on top of the mountain anymore, by ourselves anymore at least. They found some speed and we need to combat that with speed of our own."

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In the past five races, JGR has four wins (all by Busch) and nine top fives. During that same stretch, Hendrick has just one win and three top fives (Earnhardt won at Daytona and has another top-five finish).

And since that win at Daytona, Hendrick Motorsports as an organization has led just two laps in the past three races, while JGR has led 330.

"It’s business as usual as far as I can see," Earnhardt said. "We definitely understand when we don’t perform well. Last week was frustrating. I don’t think we’ve been too thrilled over the last month about how things have gone for us. From Rick (Hendrick) on down, you get the impression that things need to be better and everyone needs to work harder.

"We have meetings every Tuesday. We had that meeting with the team and then we have a meeting that all the drivers and the crew chiefs are together, Rick’s there. We have that meeting every Tuesday and everybody, whether we are all running great, we talk about how to get better. And if we aren’t running well at all, we talk about how to get better. Even when things are going good, you see areas where you need to keep working. Because you know it cycles in this sport."

Things do indeed cycle around. Last season, Hendrick won 13 races to JGR’s two. And this season both organizations have six wins. As things stand now, if Busch can get into the top 30 in points by the regular-season finale at Richmond, JGR will likely send all four of its drivers into the Chase. And while Jimmie Johnson and Earnhardt have clinched spots in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne are still looking for that elusive win, although each hold spots in the provisional Chase Grid based on their point positions.

"It’s a never-ending pursuit to build the fastest race car week in, week out," Earnhardt said. "And it looks like right now it’s a mad scramble to get ready for the Chase. I’d love to be sitting here three-tenths faster than everybody and fighting only my teammates for the win. We need to work a little harder to get a little more and be ready for the Chase to be able to get out there and compete.

"It definitely looks like our competition has improved and so I think we can be honest with ourselves. We definitely aren’t where we want to be. But I’ve seen it before. These guys are working on it every single day trying to find that speed and make that difference back up and put ourselves back to have the advantage on the straightaways and in the corners. I’m not too worried about it. We got the best resources. We got the best bossman, and he doesn’t quit and he doesn’t settle for second. He’s in there pushing everybody everyday."

The sport’s most popular driver will look to turn the recent fortunes of the organization around on Sunday in the Windows 10 400 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) at Pocono Raceway where he qualified 15th.

Junior has a favorable history in recent years at Pocono, completing the season sweep of both NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events last year, and has four top fives in his past five races here. In June, he finished 11th in a race won by Martin Truex Jr, which snapped a five-race win streak at Pocono for Hendrick.

After finishing the opening practice session in 14th place, Earnhardt was a bit disappointed but said the team learned what was needed for race trim.

"We will see what we have (Saturday)," said Earnhardt. "I’m really anxious to get ourselves back into race trim for those practices (Saturday) and see how we can sort our stuff out and see where we really are. We’ve always run good here, there shouldn’t be any issues. We showed up with some issues. I’m anxious to get to work on the car and see where we can figure out where we are going to be and be competitive."

Posted on by RJ Kraft

New at-track shopping experience begins at Pocono

RELATED: See photos of the new merchandise experience

LONG POND, Pa. — A new era in NASCAR shopping has officially launched with the new "Trackside Superstore." 



A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday at Pocono Raceway officially ushered in the new retail model as the sport moves away from merchandise haulers and into an at-track shopping experience that is faster and features more selections for fans.


Defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick, Pocono June race winner Martin Truex Jr., Ross Tannenbaum, president of Fanatics Authentic, Brandon Igdalsky, president of Pocono Raceway, and Blake Davidson, vice president of Licensing and Consumer Products for NASCAR, spoke before fans rushed in to experience the store. Vice Chairman of NASCAR Mike Helton also checked out the "Trackside Superstore."


The "Trackside Superstore," which is run by Fanatics, totals 60,000 square feet, has specific sections for most drivers and carries $2.5 million in retail inventory, while also carrying a 50 percent increase in product assortment for most of the drivers. There also are dedicated specialty shops for ladies, kids, collectibles and tailgate.

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There are still some select haulers, most notably for Team Penske and Brad Keselowski merchandise.


"This NASCAR superstore is like nothing I’ve ever seen," Igdalsky told the crowd. "I’m so excited that we were able to launch this year at Pocono. NASCAR has done a great job of enhancing the fan experience, and this is just the next level."


The ease of the shopper experience at the "Trackside Superstore" was something that immediately struck Truex.

"I’m super excited about this," Truex said. "I can’t tell you how many questions I’ve had this year on Twitter just about, ‘Hey, where do I get that hat? Where do I get that shirt?’ This makes it easy. Everybody goes in there, finds their favorite driver, finds what they’re looking for very easily."



He later jokingly added that, "I feel like it’s welcome to 2015 everybody."

Harvick echoed Truex’s thoughts, while also adding his own perspective from when Kevin Harvick Incorporated handled his merchandise.



"You come in and walk through your section and you realize how simple the process is to go about finding your driver and checkout," Harvick said. "The thing I noticed the most was just how easily you can see everything and how there might have been a whole bunch of products before that you didn’t know where on the trailers. It’s definitely like Martin said, it’s welcome to 2015. … It’s a huge step for everybody.



"Having the experience that we had running our own merchandise stuff for several years at KHI and now seeing this, it’s really something that’s really neat. You understand the undertaking it takes to get to this point."



Davidson indicated this has been a year-long project, from seeking proposals to revealing Fanatics as the selection to running the business in January to today’s opening.



"We’ve been working on this a long time," Davidson said. "And we walked in and saw what they put together. Fanatics has done a tremendous job. It’s really blown us away, the breadth of product. The ability of the fans to touch and feel the product, which we knew they would be able to do. There’s so much here, there’s so much new product here that we’ve never had a track before. I think people are really going to be excited when they get here."



Cayce and Mark Votek have been coming to Pocono for the past 10 years. Cayce, a fan of Denny Hamlin, liked that even with the new setup there was still a feel of familiarity.



"I was a little skeptical at first," Cayce said. "I do like that I can touch the stuff first. That’s actually really cool, probably dangerous for me because now I just grab it all. I know all of the people from Denny’s hauler because I go there all the time and I actually ran into one, so I like that they’re still here. There’s still some familiarity. So far, so good."


In addition to being able to touch and feel the products, Tannenbaum touted the reduced wait times fans will have to buy merchandise. The Fanatics executive estimated that in peak times the wait at a hauler was between 45 minutes and an hour.

However, he acknowledged that this new model wasn’t without his challenges when compared to running merchandise at other events like the NHL Winter Classic or the SEC Championship Game.



"From a process, this is absolutely the most challenging one we’ve had and I think will ever have," Tannenbaum said.

 "When you think about it, go set up the Super Bowl and then break it down 38 times and set up again the next week. That’s what makes it the most challenging. At Fanatics, it was an exciting challenge. It was ‘go for a solution to this and make this work.’ And what we presented to NASCAR and where we ended up today is very different because we learned so much."
 


Tannenbaum added that Fanatics has three different tent structures, two different sets of fixtures to hold merchandise and one set of inventory for the trackside superstore. Next weekend’s race at Watkins Glen will have a slightly different setup and a team is already up there to set it up. A team from Pocono will drive to Watkins Glen when the Tricky Triangle race weekend ends to build the setup out with the inventory.



"What you are seeing here is going to be the standard superstore for all tracks," Tannenbaum said. "What is going to happen is there will be more locations and satellite locations at tracks that do either more revenue or less revenue, wider tracks. I use Richmond as the example. This store at Richmond, everybody walks into that front, it’s pretty straightforward. At Daytona or the really big tracks, you are going to have to have multiple locations to meet the consumers’ demand. We are going to look at what revenues are at the track, what the flow of traffic is and make sure that we can manage all of that. But this will be the central point for all of the stores."



And while the new setup may take some time for fans to get used to, Truex said this was a good change for the long run.


"I know a lot of NASCAR fans are worried about things changing, but I assure them this is a change for the better and I think it looks great."

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Defending race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. will line up 15th

RELATED: Complete lineup for Sunday’s race | See all 43 paint schemes

LONG POND, Pa. – He did it again.

Riding a wave of success unprecedented in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career, Kyle Busch streaked to the pole position on Friday at Pocono Raceway, edging Kevin Harvick for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Windows 10 400 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN. SiriusXM).

Touring the 2.5-mile triangular track in 50.444 seconds (178.416 mph), Busch won his first Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his second at Pocono (the first coming in 2010) and the 17th of his career.

Busch is gunning for his fourth straight victory in the series after returning from an 11-race injury absence, and he’s savoring every minute of his extraordinary run of good fortune.

"I’ve had plenty of times in my career when things have all gone in the wrong direction, so this is a sweet change from that," Busch said. "Sometimes it happens for you, and you’re not exactly sure why, but if you look back at the past couple of years, especially in the summer months, we couldn’t hit anything right.

"This year we’ve got four out of five wins. You just take it when you can get it… We’re just trying to ride that wave as long as it’ll carry us—just hope it’ll last another 16 weeks (through the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup)."

Joey Logano (177.837 mph) was third fastest in the final round of knockout qualifying, followed by Austin Dillon (177.658 mph) and Tony Stewart (177.630 mph), who earned a top-five starting position for the second straight week.

Before time trials, Busch wasn’t sure he even had a shot at the pole.

"I knew I had a fast car, but I wasn’t sure we could get the balance of it right," Busch said. "But that last run was the best it’s been all day. (Crew chief) Adam Stevens and these guys, they did it again. Like I said, I knew we had some speed. We just had to put it in the right perspective for the three corners of this race track."

Harvick posted his best lap of the afternoon moments before Busch knocked him off the provisional pole.

"You never know, with the way the qualifying session is, how much faster everybody’s going to go," Harvick said. "I knew our fastest lap needed to be the last time on the race track, so I knew that we had done a good job.

"I probably gave up just a little bit of time, just the slightest bit of chatter through Turn 1, but (Turns) 2 and 3 were pretty good, and that’s what we needed to do."

Notes: Jeff Gordon qualified 10th for his final start at the Tricky Triangle, a track that has accounted for six of his 92 career victories… June Pocono winner Martin Truex Jr. just missed advancing to the final round and will start 13th… Dale Earnhardt Jr., who swept both Pocono Cup races last year, lines up 15th, five spots in front of Danica Patrick.

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KBM trucks close behind in P2, P3

RELATED: Full practice results

Defending race winner Austin Dillon snuck up the leaderboard late Friday afternoon to top Pocono Raceway’s sole Camping World Truck Series practice ahaead of Saturday’s Pocono Mountains 150 (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1).

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Dillon’s best speed was a blistering 166.482 mph.

Rookie Erik Jones was off Dillon’s pace at 165.612 mph, followed closely by his boss and mentor, Kyle Busch, at 165.023 mph.

Saturday’s race will be Busch’s first Truck Series start of the season, after a crash in the XFINITY Series opener at Daytona left him with injuries that sidelined him for several months.

Timothy Peters (164.087 mph) was next on the leaderboard, followed by Johnny Sauter (164.045 mph) to round out the top five.

Reigning Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick failed to enter the top 10, placing 12th on the charts at 163.245 mph.

The practice was halted and the red flag displayed with a little more than 30 minutes left in the 2-hour, 25-minute session when Jennifer Jo Cobb‘s No. 10 truck lost an engine and started billowing smoke.

The green flag for Keystone Light Pole Qualifying drops at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday on FOX Sports 1.

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Dillon, Suarez both looking for first Iowa win

RELATED: Practice 2 results

After running fourth in Friday’s first practice, Ty Dillon topped the leaderboard in the second practice with an impressive fastest lap of 133.012 mph in 23.682 seconds. The No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet completed a total of 67 laps for the session.

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NASCAR XFINITY Series veteran Brendan Gaughan was second on the leaderboard for Friday’s final practice session with his No. 62 Chevrolet coming in hot with a fastest lap of 132.704 mph in 23.737 seconds.

T.J. Bell rounded out the top three with a lap of 131.871 mph (23.887 seconds). This weekend will mark the first time Bell has lined up for a NASCAR XFINITY Series race since 2012’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway.

Next on the leaderboard was Drew Herring in his No. 6 Ford. Herring had a fastest lap of 131.519 mph (23.951). This will be his first NASCAR XFINITY appearance since 2013’s Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

And completing the top five for this session was Brian Scott in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a lap of 131.403 mph.

Daniel Suarez, who topped the first practice, finished ninth in the Friday night’s practice (131.026 mph). The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing driver will be on the lookout for his fourth consecutive top-five finish this weekend at Iowa Speedway.

Kenny Wallace, who will be competing in his last race in the series this weekend at Iowa, finished 15th. Wallace is looking for his 10th career win at Saturday’s U.S. Cellular Presented by New Holland (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, SiriusXM).

NXS action continues Saturday with the Coors Light Pole Qualifying at 4:45 p.m. ET.

RELATED: Practice 1 results

Daniel Suarez topped the leaderboard in the NASCAR XFINITY Series opening practice on Friday at Iowa Speedway. The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota posted a fastest lap of 133.367 mph.

Next was fellow rookie Brandon Jones in his No. 33 Chevrolet with a fastest lap of 131.965 mph. Saturday’s U.S. Cellular 250 Presented by New Holland marks Jones’ second start in the XFINITY Series. His first race was at Iowa’s May race, the 3M 250, where he finished eighth.

Rounding out the first session’s top three was Ben Rhodes. Rhodes had a fastest lap of 131.744 mph.

Ty Dillon (131.546 mph) and Darrell Wallace Jr. (131.486 mph) came in fourth and fifth, respectively. 

XFINITY Series points leader, Chris Buescher finished practice in the seventh spot, posting a fastest lap of 130.332 mph.

Johanna Long, finished 30th in the first session. This is Long’s first 2015 appearance as she hasn’t raced since 2013’s Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

On-track action continues at 7 p.m. ET with the NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice on NBCSN.