Posted on by Staff Report

Dirt-track background pays off for 19-year-old in chaotic session

RELATED: Practice 1 results | Final practice results

Tyler Reddick claimed the top spot in final NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice Wednesday at Eldora Speedway in a spin-filled final prep for the only NASCAR national series race on dirt.

Reddick, who possesses a rich dirt-track pedigree, drove the Brad Keselowski Racing No. 19 Ford to a best lap of 89.264 mph in the 85-minute session. He enters the third annual 1-800-Car-Cash Mud Summer Classic (9 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM) in second place in the series standings, just 20 points behind two-time series champion Matt Crafton.

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NASCAR XFINITY Series regular Ty Dillon was second-fastest in the GMS Racing No. 33 Chevrolet at 88.924 mph. Timothy Peters landed the third-fastest lap at 86.248 mph on the half-mile track in the Red Horse Racing No. 17 Toyota.

Illinois dirt-track hotshot Bobby Pierce, 18, was fourth-fastest in the MB Motorsports No. 63 Chevrolet with Christopher Bell in the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 54 Toyota capping the top five.

Speeds were slightly slower than the first practice session, topped by 19-year-old Erik Jones in the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Toyota, but the amount of incidents rose sharply with several spins and some isolated instances of contact. The dirt cushion inched up closer to the outside wall, but a significant dip also developed at the exit of Turn 2, causing trucks to become unsettled as they traveled across the bump.

The trucks of Johnny Sauter, John Hunter Nemechek and Cole Custer sustained the most damage. Sauter and Nemechek both backed into the outside retaining wall after separate spins, and Custer’s No. 00 truck crunched into the back of the slowing truck of teenage newcomer Madeline Crane.

Other drivers involved in solo spins without damage (in chronological order): Matt Tifft, Ty Dillon, Chad Boat, Custer, Brad Keselowski, Jennifer Jo Cobb (twice), Jody Knowles, John Wes Townley, Christopher Bell, Jake Griffin, Nemechek and Pierce.

Former Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski managed the 16th-fastest lap among the 34 drivers to participate in final practice. Fellow Sprint Cup regular Austin Dillon, winner of the truck series’ inaugural dirt-track event in 2013, was seventh-fastest.

Crafton registered the ninth-fastest lap in the ThorSport No. 88 Toyota. Ken Schrader, the first pole winner for the annual Eldora event, was 19th-fastest in preparation for his first NASCAR national series start of the season.

Keystone Light Pole Qualifying is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. ET. Qualifying heats are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET with the 150-lap main event set for a 9 p.m. ET go.

Jones fastest in opening Eldora practice

Erik Jones topped the charts in Wednesday’s opening practice for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at muddy Eldora Speedway.

Jones drove the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Toyota to a mud-slinging lap of 89.454 mph around the historic half-mile dirt track. The 19-year-old driver was fastest in qualifying last season in his Eldora Speedway debut.

Jones’ lap edged second-fastest Austin Dillon, who turned a 89.299-mph lap in the NTS Motorsports No. 31 Chevrolet in preparation for Wednesday’s third annual 1-800-Car-Cash Mud Summer Classic (9 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM). Dillon holds the distinction as the inaugural winner in 2013 of the truck tour’s only race on dirt.

Bobby Pierce — an 18-year-old dirt Late Model driver from Illinois, prepping for his first Camping World Truck Series start — was third-fastest in the MB Motorsports No. 63 Chevrolet owned by Mike Mittler. Christopher Bell was fourth-fastest in another Kyle Busch Motorsports Tundra with two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton completing the top five in the ThorSport Racing No. 88 Toyota.

Dillon wasn’t the only Sprint Cup regular making his mark in the opening 55-minute session. Brad Keselowski, making his first Eldora start in the truck series, brushed the wall late but was 24th-fastest in the No. 29 Ford from his own race shop.

Ty Dillon, an XFINITY Series regular and part-time Sprint Cup entrant, was seventh-fastest in the GMS Racing No. 33 Chevrolet.

Ken Schrader, a longtime Sprint Cup driver now racing recreationally, was 22nd-fastest in his own No. 52 Toyota. The 60-year-old Schrader won the inaugural Keystone Light Pole Award at Eldora in 2013.

Teams furiously fought for grip in the early going as the ground-pounding trucks began to work in the damp dirt surface. The track’s characteristics, though, created plenty of tacky mud on windshields and inside the trucks’ wheel wells, caking the inside of the fenders.

Ben Kennedy had the hardest contact of the 55-minute session, slamming the right side of his Red Horse Racing No. 11 Toyota in the Turn 4 wall. Korbin Forrister continued after a pair of spins, and Pierce also looped his truck without any damage.

Posted on by Zack Albert

XFINTIY Series rookies hope to continue success at Lilly Diabetes 250

Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time might be daunting enough, even for two NASCAR XFINITY Series rookies awash in midseason momentum. But when Daniel Suarez and Darrell Wallace Jr. touch down at the fabled Brickyard, the sense of the unknown will hinge on another sizable variable.

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Saturday’s Lilly Diabetes 250 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM) will be the first for a new rules package for the XFINITY Series, which will emulate the high-drag aero setup that Sprint Cup cars will also use for the first time this season. But beyond the tweaked rules that await Suarez and Wallace is also the adjustment to racing at a historic 2.5-mile track with a layout like no other circuit on the NASCAR calendar.

"I’m really excited to get to Indy, another one of those places where I haven’t been to, so it’s going to be a pretty big challenge," Wallace said Monday during a whirlwind tour through New York City with Suarez and defending XFINITY champ Chase Elliott. "We have to not really focus on those first couple of runs on the car, it’s more a focus on me of hitting the right marks and make sure I’m getting all out of the car that I can. You have to be on it but I’m excited to get to another big track for us.

"We’re on a pretty good roll right now with three top-10s in the last four races, so we’ve just got to keep pressing forward."

MORE: Bubba, Chase and Suarez take a selfie in New York City

Wallace’s streak of success in his first year in Roush Fenway Racing‘s No. 6 Ford has some competition with Suarez’s recent tear. The Mexican-born driver of Joe Gibbs Racing‘s No. 18 Toyota has two straight top-five results on the XFINITY side heading to Indy and hasn’t finished outside of the top 10 all season in his partial schedule (seven starts thus far) in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

The last time Suarez visited Indianapolis, he said he was 14 or 15 years old and still getting his motorsports career off the ground in go-karts. Now 23, he has designs on absorbing as many lessons as possible to keep his own rookie roll going.

"It was a long time ago and now we’re coming back for the big race track with a big chance to get experience," Suarez said. "I’m excited about that and looking forward to this weekend, most of all to learn as much as possible on Friday. And after that, hopefully everything will be pretty good."

Suarez said he planned on doing his homework before Saturday’s 250-miler, watching race film as part of his customary preparation. Wallace said he’s already leaned on friends and fellow competitors Elliott and Ryan Blaney, each of whom have starts at the 2.5-mile speedway under their belts.

Standard prep work aside, both say they expect the high-drag rules package to add a new wrinkle to the build-up to Saturday’s race. Both Wallace and Suarez said they approved of NASCAR potentially implementing track-specific packages based on the type of racing they saw with a lower-downforce setup for Sprint Cup cars two weekends ago at Kentucky Speedway.

But how will the Brickyard package race? Wallace said teams and drivers won’t know for certain until cars hit the track for Friday’s pair of practices.

"Hopefully we’re ready for it and on top of our game," Wallace said. "They’re trying to produce more racing, and I’m a fan of that. Just going to see how much different the cars are going to drive and how much different the speeds are getting into the corner. Talking with Chase and Ryan, they’re talking about how it’s almost wide-open there in some corners at Indy. So I don’t know if we will be wide-open in (Turns) 2 and 4 or what, but that new package and that bigger spoiler will definitely reduce horsepower, so we’ll just have to see how it goes."

Posted on by Nascar

NASCAR writes up New Hampshire pre-qualifying and pre-race penalties

Five teams, including those of drivers Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing), Clint Bowyer (No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing) and Paul Menard (No. 27 Richard Childress Racing), received written warnings from NASCAR for an excessive number of trips through the inspection line at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this past weekend.

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Such written warnings are handed down for failure to pass either pre-qualifying or pre-race inspection twice during an event and thus requiring a third trip through the inspection line.
 
The No. 21 of Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing) and No. 32 of Eddie MacDonald (Go Green Racing) also received written warnings.
 
The teams of drivers JJ Yeley (No. 23 BK Racing), Reed Sorenson (No. 62 Premium Motorsports) and Timmy Hill (No. 98 Premium Motorsports) failed inspection three times, and will be required to serve a 15-minute loss of practice penalty this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
 
The written warnings are a part of NASCAR’s 2015 Deterrence Policy, which categorizes infractions (Level 1 through Level 6) and the applicable penalties.
 
Should a team receive two warnings during the same event or during two consecutive events, P1 penalties may include last choice in the pit selection process, a deduction in track time for practice or qualifying, a delay in the order of inspection or selection for post-race inspection.
 
The penalty may be increased to the P2 level if a team or team member receives six or more warnings during a six-month period (from the time of the first warning).
 
P2 level penalty options may include the loss of 10 championship driver and owner points and/or a fine not less than $10,000 and not more than $25,000. P2 level infractions also carry the potential for suspensions and probation.


Posted on by Nascar

Teams will hit track with a high drag platform, tall spoilers

Two weeks after debuting a new lower downforce aerodynamic package at Kentucky Speedway, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will hit the track with a high drag platform when they roll into Indianapolis Motor Speedway for this weekend’s Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard.

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Chief among the changes will be the use of a nine-inch spoiler — three inches taller than what was used this past weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and nearly six inches taller than those used at Kentucky.

NASCAR officials hope the alterations will lessen the aero impact on the trailing car and promote more passing and side-by-side racing throughout the field on the 2.5-mile track.

"In the end, it’s all about that 9-inch spoiler," Dave Wilson, President & General Manager, Toyota Racing Development, USA, told NASCAR.com. "Everything else about the package is really about balancing the car."

Wilson said he believes the changes are intended to "create this bigger pocket of air behind the car and allow for the cars behind to draft up and slingshot, go 3-4 wide, (promote more) passing and all that."

"The question that we all have," he said, "is what is it going to do once you get up to the car through the corners? There is so much air coming off that spoiler now … how does that impact the cars next to it. We don’t know."

The high drag package is also scheduled for use next month when the Sprint Cup Series returns to Michigan International Speedway.

A similar version of the lower downforce rules package used at Kentucky is earmarked for Darlington in September, and could potentially be implemented for races in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Five of the 10 Chase races will be contested on tracks 1.5 miles in length.

There are no tracks, however, to which the high drag package would relate in the Chase.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch won at Kentucky, and Toyota teams swept four of the top five spots with the lower downforce package. Wilson said that was due in part to the strength of the JGR organization, particularly at the 1.5-mile track, and because of the work done by Toyota to prepare for the aero changes. The Indy/Michigan changes are more of an unknown.

"We tried to optimize everything we could based upon what NASCAR gave us at Kentucky," Wilson said. "We’re doing the same thing (for) Indy. But we can only run one (car) in the wind tunnel, right?

"We can do some simulation. Typically we do a lot of drafting simulation to try and understand what happens to the cars behind, but you really rely on correlating that to real world, on-track experience. That’s when it all comes together. The low downforce package, we had some experience with it … we had some idea. But this is unchartered territory for everybody."

Cole Pearn, crew chief for Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 78 Chevrolet team, said while the effect of the package at Indy is still an unknown, it could produce "a full-on pack race" when the series returns to Michigan next month.

"It’s going to be close to that because we were borderline wide open in practice at least through (Turns) 1 and 2, not 3 and 4 in the first race (at MIS)," Pearn said. "Now, hands down we’re going to be wide-open. It’ll be interesting.

"It’s created a big scramble for us because it’s just all the aero-mapping that needs to be done and the amount of wind-tunnel time. It’s a good business for being in the wind-tunnel business right now."

The changes will likely lead to a greater amount of off-throttle time for drivers, according to Dave Rogers, crew chief for JGR driver Denny Hamlin.

"You’re really going to use more brake to slow down to negotiate the corner," he said. "You’re going to be off the gas a lot, so it’s really going to reward the teams that hit their setup the best, and it’s going to reward the drivers that can manage their tires the best.

"I think the aim is to create pack racing and see if that creates more excitement at those big ovals. I’m speculating here, but I’m speculating that we’ll be probing our fans to see what they want to see. Do they want to see the off-throttle time and cars slipping and sliding, or do they want to see a pack race and slingshot moves and all that? Some of the fans are going to like some, and some are going to like the other, just like us racers. Some of us like the pack and some of us like to see these drivers out there earning their paycheck.

"I’m one of those — I want to see them slipping and sliding."

In addition to the 9-inch spoiler, the Indy/MIS package will also feature a 1-inch wicker bill; a rear fascia extension panel similar to that currently used for superspeedway events; a 2-inch leading edge on the splitter; and a 43-inch splitter extension panel.

"Probably the biggest spoiler is when we had the 8-inch spoiler on these cars," Roush Fenway Racing driver Greg Biffle said. "… I’m a fan of the low downforce. Every time we’ve had shorter spoiler or less spoiler, and less side force and whatever else and the cars get sliding around a little bit and they’re not as fast in the corner, it’s just better racing and better passing, and it allows you to pass."

In addition to the aero changes, the following will also be in effect for this weekend’s Spring Cup race:

• Engine change: teams will be allowed an engine change before Saturday’s qualifying

• Data acquisition will be allowed during Friday’s three scheduled practices.

• Teams have been asked to bring four different rear-end gears; a determination of which will be used with the package will be made after Friday’s final practice. Teams are expected to start with a 3.70 gear.

No Tow, Just a Tire

When Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Newman suffered flat tires during the first two practice sessions at NHMS this past weekend, both cars remained on the track until the tires could be replaced.

According to NASCAR officials, concern over potential damage to the cars was the reason given for not having each towed back to pit road.

Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing) experienced a flat during Friday’s opening practice; Newman (Richard Childress Racing) cut a left rear during Saturday’s first session.

Posted on by Brad Norman

Bobby Pierce finishes second in first Truck Series start

RELATED: Complete race results

ROSSBURG, Ohio — The pit crew swarmed the truck; the driver climbed out and threw his hands high into the night air; the owner ran around screaming and handing out hugs.

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In the background of this scene, as fireworks exploded over Eldora Speedway’s half-mile dirt oval, race winner Christopher Bell turned victory donuts that sent plumes of dust skyward.

The fact that Bobby Pierce finished second didn’t dampen the celebration on pit road. In fact, it heightened it.

In his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut, Pierce chased Bell all over the track in a thrilling conclusion to the third annual event at the Tony Stewart-owned facility in western Ohio. He did so in a battered No. 63 MB Motorsports Chevrolet that, by the end, looked like something from a nearby junkyard.

The decklid was drooping, the back right fender was covered in dents and discoloration and tiny chunks of the body were scattered somewhere along the hard clay.

"I knew these trucks could take a lot before they started falling apart," Pierce said with a grin after hopping out of his truck. "It was a lot of fun out there. I’m out of breath, but so happy."

The 18-year-old had to spend a few moments composing himself inside the cockpit following the checkered flag, a piece of time that included third-place finisher Tyler Reddick strolling over, leaning into the window and patting him on the helmet.

A member of his pit crew walked in circles, screaming "(Expletive) yeah! Can you believe it?"

They couldn’t.

Pierce led 39 of 154 laps after starting from the pole. He was in the top five throughout the entirety of the 1-800-Car-Cash Mud Summer Classic, including the frenzied finish that saw four cautions — and thus four harrowing restarts — over a 42–lap span and resulted in a green-white-checkered finish.

Bell, 20 years old, and Pierce put on another Eldora classic. They went high into the wall, sending both sparks and dirt spraying from their trucks. They went low, dodging Reddick, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon and Matt Crafton, among others. It was reminiscent of last year’s frenzied finish, when Kyle Larson used all his truck would give him, careening into walls while attempting to chase down eventual winner Darrell Wallace Jr.

"I know a lot of people before the race were thinking I was going to be the Kyle Larson this year, probably," Pierce said. "I didn’t want to be the guy in second, but that’s how it goes."

Team owner Mike Mittler was fine with second. A team owner in the Truck Series since its inception in 1995, Wednesday was his best finish. His only other career top 10 in 213 starts was an eighth-place showing with Carl Edwards in 2002.

It was a wait of 13 years for a man well-regarded in the NASCAR community, one who helped drivers such as Brad Keselowski (who finished 28th Wednesday), Edwards, Jamie McMurray and Justin Allgaier start their careers.

After celebrating with Pierce and the crew, Mittler took a congratulatory phone call and helped wheel the truck across the infield for inspection before pausing to consider what the runner-up result meant.

"I thought if it stayed green, we’d have every opportunity to work (Bell) and get by him, but it just didn’t go that way," Mittler told NASCAR.com. "I just thought, ‘Wow, what a phenomenal opportunity after 20 years, to be in position to finally have an opportunity to win a race.’ "

The opportunity came with a driver Mittler has known for years — he is friends with Pierce’s father outside of racing — and one who watched the inaugural Eldora race on television at home, and took in last year’s event from the grandstands.

"The whole thing is pretty cool," Bell said, "because I remember we were at a local show in Illinois a year ago, and I had never heard of Bobby Pierce and I’m sure he’d never heard of me. He kicked their butt in the late model race. I never dreamed we’d be racing neck and neck at Eldora."

But they were. And on a night in which Bell cemented his place in NASCAR, Pierce’s possible NASCAR career also took flight.

"That’s why you’re in this sport, to be in contention to win," Mittler said. "It wasn’t a fluke. We were there all day. It was no fluke at all. The kid’s the real deal. He said this is a dream come true for him, and it is for me, too."

Posted on by Brad Norman

Brothers disagree on how much dirt-track racing NASCAR should have

ROSSBURG, Ohio — They’re brothers, Austin and Ty Dillon, so of course they sometimes disagree. There were certainly a few differing opinions during an Abbott and Costello-esque joint media availability with the two drivers at Eldora Speedway in advance of Wednesday night’s 1-800-Car-Cash Mud Summer Classic.

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The mid-week race is the lone yearly foray onto dirt for one of NASCAR’s three national series, and Wednesday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the half-mile, high-banked dirt oval owned by Tony Stewart is the third consecutive year the trucks stop in western Ohio.

While some of the discussion between the brothers was humorous — both considered themselves the favorite to win, with Austin asking Ty to go on the record and putting his recorded answer on Instagram — there was a very real difference of opinion on a talking point throughout the NASCAR community.

Should there be more races on dirt, and should the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and/or the NASCAR XFINITY Series be involved?

"My opinion is, I think this event has gained so much exposure and has done such a good job for the Truck Series," Ty Dillon said. "I know everyone wants to see more dirt races throughout the series, but I think we need to keep it unique to the Truck Series. What it is now is an event everybody looks forward to, and I think if you start adding too many of them, you’re going to kind of cloud the specialness of the event.

"And I think this is a prestigious event — at least it is to me and the folks in the dirt world. You start adding more to the schedule, it takes a little bit away from it for me personally."

It took less than three seconds for Ty’s older brother to offer his retort and draw in Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage — in town for the event, and hanging out in the media center — into his argument.

"I disagree — guess what, we’re brothers," Austin Dillon said with a chuckle. "I don’t know, I like these races and I think they’re fun. We’ve got a guy in the back (Gossage) who could make it happen if we wanted a dirt race in Texas.

"It brings something new to our sport, changes it up and brings new fans who are curious to see what it’s like. And it’s good racing. Look at the highlights of the last two years racing here and you could probably put that in any highlight reel that NASCAR’s had in the last 10 years."

MORE: Ty makes light of Keselowski’s asphalt background

Austin Dillon won the inaugural event in 2013, with Darrell Wallace Jr. taking top honors in 2014 after outlasting Kyle Larson; Ty Dillon finished fifth last year.

The 2013 victory for Austin Dillon, who drives the No. 3 Chevrolet full time in the Sprint Cup Series, came at NASCAR’s first national series event at a dirt track since 1970, when Richard Petty won at North Carolina State Fairgrounds.

Austin and Ty may disagree on NASCAR’s dirt future, but there was one resounding theme in which there was harmony between the two — and everyone in the garage area Wednesday agree.

"This event is very special," Austin Dillon said. "I think it’s awesome to see a dirt track develop like this. I’m really thankful for what Tony (Stewart) is doing here."

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Organizations have combined to win last four Cup races at New Hampshire

LOUDON, N.H. — The past two weeks, we’ve seen a Joe Gibbs Racing — in both cases, Kyle Busch — and Team Penske one-two finish.
 
Both organizations manhandled New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend across the Sprint Cup Series and XFINITY Series with a JGR sweep of both Coors Light Pole Awards and victories in the Lakes Region 200 and 5-hour ENERGY 301, so are we set for a battle for the ages between the six drivers when the sport returns north in September during the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup?

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If July 18 and 19 were any indication, yes.
 
Between the two races, JGR and Penske cars led a whopping 414 of 501 laps with an average finishing position of 4.7 among the 10 cars entered (Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Busch and Daniel Suarez in the XFINITY race; Hamlin, Busch, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Keselowski and Joey Logano in the Cup race).

Needless to say, both teams know their way around the "Magic Mile." With every trophy since September 2013 residing in one of their shops, it’s a near certainty that a JGR or Penske car will wind up in Sunoco Victory Lane after the Sylvania 300 (Sep. 27, 2 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, PRN, SiriusXM) — and onto the Contender 12 round of the Chase. The six Cup drivers all have wins that practically put them in the Chase, although Busch has some work left to do to meet the top-30 in the point standings requirement.

"I look at the cars that are in front of us," Joey Logano said on pit road after placing fourth. "Those are our competition. I look at the Gibbs cars.
 
"Gibbs definitely got fast (overall) the last three or four weeks. They’ve got a lot of speed in their stuff and they figured something out on both sides; their XFINITY cars are super fast, too. They figured out something that’s giving them a lot of speed."

Penske and Gibbs cars have always seemed to run especially well at New Hampshire — Brian Vickers‘ 2013 win is the only thing standing between six straight victories, since Busch finished second in that one — but it seems they’ve turned up the dial even further since last season.
 
One of the most dominant performances the sport has seen the past few seasons came during the 2012 Chase when Hamlin "called his shot" a la Babe Ruth and tweeted that he would win at New Hampshire. He backed it up by leading 193 of 300 laps en route to victory.

RELATED: Hamlin calls shot, takes New Hampshire
 
Somehow, these teams look even stronger than that right now.

"As of late, we’ve really put some good finishes together and had some strong runs with (crew chief) Darian Grubb coming over and helping on the 11 car," said Kyle Busch. "I feel like maybe that was a little bit of (why we’re so good at New Hampshire.)
          
"But Dave (Rogers, crew chief) also. We just kind of completely revamped what our thought process was for this place. When we did that, it seemed to really help us."
 
This season’s Chase is already shaping up to be something special. The oncoming battle between two of the sport’s premier organizations less than 70 days from now guarantees it will be.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

Imagining what might happen if NASCAR had a trade deadline

Major League Baseball’s trade deadline is fast approaching on July 31 with many left wondering who will sport a new uniform when the dust settles. Will the Philadelphia Phillies kick their rebuilding effort into high gear by dealing Cole Hamels? Will the Cincinnati Reds move Johnny Cueto? Which contender will make the biggest splash and what trade will come out of nowhere to stun the baseball world?



In NASCAR, we have what is called a "silly season," which is typically the time after the season where some drivers and crew chiefs move to new teams. Those moves usually happen right up until Speedweeks in Daytona. Some of the bigger moves get announced in the second half of the previous season as well. Or in the case of Chase Elliott driving the No. 24 for 2016, it gets announced a full season in advance.

What if we lived in a world where NASCAR teams made trades around the middle of the season? Would teams and organizations in Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup contention make moves to try and win in the here and now or would they stay the course and be patient? And what organizations would be "sellers" in that they would be building for the future?

Another factor to consider, would the Chase format of "win and in" lead to inactivity? And would expiring contracts play a role in any potential deals to help clear room for someone on the rise?



Imagining those scenarios, we’ve dreamed up three trade scenarios involving drivers. These are purely fantasy trades for this exercise since there is no trading in NASCAR.

Trade No. 1

Chip Ganassi Racing gets: Kasey Kahne

Hendrick Motorsports gets: Kyle Larson

Why it works: McMurray’s and Kahne’s respective crew chiefs, Matt McCall and Keith Rodden, go back quite a bit, so their teams may work together more than we’ve ever seen in the past in the sport. With McMurray in the hunt for a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Kahne provides CGR with someone also in position for a playoff spot and someone who may have something extra to prove to get out from under the shadow of the spotlight of the popular Hendrick stable. Larson has had by in large a sophomore slump this season, but the talent is absolutely there. The four-car team can certainly be a little more patient than a two-car setup. Remember, it took Joey Logano some time to reach his full potential, which was aided by his move from Joe Gibbs Racing to Team Penske. This deal would set Hendrick up for years to come with Jimmie Johnson–Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the drivers of the present and the Chase Elliott–Kyle Larson combo set up to drive the organization to its future glory. 


Trade No. 2

Stewart-Haas Racing gets: Ryan Newman

Richard Childress Racing gets: Danica Patrick

Why it works: With Tony Stewart struggling to regain his championship form, Stewart-Haas Racing is looking at another season where two drivers make the Chase and two drivers miss the Chase. Trading a team co-owner seems highly unlikely, but in Patrick, the organization has an asset who is marketable on and off the track and who could be dealt to bring in another driver currently in position to make the Chase. Bringing Newman back would be a reunion of sorts for SHR, since he drove there for five years (2009-2013), notching four wins. The veteran driver is currently in the Chase Grid not to mention he was the runner-up to Harvick in last year’s Chase. Patrick would add some spunk and star power to RCR as well as shake up their lineup a bit. And if the trade didn’t work out, since Patrick’s contract is expiring, it would be an easy way to slide Ty Dillon into a RCR car the following season.

Trade No. 3
Michael Waltrip Racing gets: Greg Biffle

Roush Fenway Racing gets: David Ragan

Why it works: MWR’s first priority in righting its ship needs to be finding a stable teammate for Clint Bowyer, who has struggled to find his form since the Richmond scandal that shook up the Chase and the organization in 2013. Since then, downsizing to two full-time cars and health issues for Brian Vickers have left Bowyer with a revolving door of teammates. Bringing over Biffle would provide that stability in the form of a veteran presence who has been through plenty. Yes, Biffle’s results have tailed off in recent years, but is that an indictment of him or of the Roush program dramatically slipping? Ragan has bounced around quite a bit this year so another move would perhaps be a bit much. But his shared history at Roush (driving for them full-time from 2007-2011) and what is essentially an expiring deal would make this trade attractive to them. He could showcase his skills for the remainder of the season, while Roush clears a path to get XFINITY Series points leader Chris Buescher behind the wheel of one of its Cup cars before someone else lures him away. In his five Cup starts for Front Row Motorsports this year, Buescher out-finished the Roush teams eight out of 15 times.

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Dale Jarrett details the first time it happened in 1996

PHOTOS: Kissing the bricks through the years

As the 20th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team prepares to pucker up and kiss the bricks after winning Sunday’s Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard (3:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network, IMS, SiriusXM), 1996 Brickyard champion Dale Jarrett described how he and crew chief Todd Parrott decided to start the tradition.

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"We always went to test before Indianapolis a few weeks before. about a month ahead of time," Jarrett said Tuesday on "NASCAR America" on NBCSN. "We had a great test there. Todd Parrott and I were in our first year. We won the Daytona 500. We had won the Coca-Cola 600 so a lot of good things were happening for us, and maybe we got a little bit cocky.

"But we were sitting around (on) a Saturday night before another race, talking about our good chance of winning the Brickyard 400. So we started talking about, ‘Hey, we’ve got to do something different. We can’t drink the milk.’"

Taking a swig of cow juice has been a longstanding tradition for Indianapolis 500 winners in Victory Lane, but Jarrett and his crew chief had other ideas in mind.

"I was like, ‘Well, let’s go out to the start/finish line, the yard of bricks that are there,’" Jarrett said. "Todd’s like ‘Yeah, that’s cool.’ I said, ‘We can get a great picture down the front straightaway with all the fans and everything.’

So the talk went on and Todd said, ‘Let’s kiss the bricks.’ I said, ‘It’s never obviously been done.’ Didn’t enter my mind so that’s how it came about."

RELATED: Kissing the bricks, a NASCAR-Indy tradition

The Robert Yates Racing No. 88 Quality Care/Ford Credit went on to win its third race of the season. Jarrett joined Jeff Gordon and fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt as the only drivers to win the prestigious race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And only Jarrett and Parrott knew what was about to happen next.

"We told no one else," Jarrett said. "Robert and Doug Yates didn’t know about it. So when we started leaving Victory Lane, our entire crew had no idea what was going on. We were the only two that knew what we were going to do.

"It’s really been cool to watch it evolve and even the IndyCar guys take it to that extent now."

Two races later at Michigan International Speedway, Jarrett got his fourth and final win of 1996 on his way to finishing third in the points behind Hendrick Motorsports drivers Terry Labonte and Gordon.

RELATED: Jarrett wins second Brickyard in 1999

Jarrett and Parrott would kiss the bricks a second time in 1999 on the way to a NASCAR premier series championship that year.

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Bell, Reddick hold an advantage with dirt-track racing backgrounds

Typically, NASCAR races take place on asphalt or concrete ovals with the occasional road course mixed in the schedule.

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This week, however, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will compete on dirt in Wednesday’s 1-800-CAR-CASH Mud Summer Classic at Eldora Speedway (9 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM). The 75-mile contest at the half-mile clay oval in Rossburg, Ohio is the only dirt track race across NASCAR’s three national series.

Two of the sport’s top prospects, Christopher Bell, 20, and Tyler Reddick, 19, hold a distinct advantage over the field. Both grew up racing sprint cars on dirt before transitioning to stock cars recently.

"I have to say that I am pumped to run the truck race at Eldora," said Bell, who logged 24 feature wins on dirt last season in non-NASCAR action. "I’ve never even gotten to run a stock car on dirt so it will be interesting to see how well it translates from sprint cars and midgets to the truck on dirt."

Bell made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut last month, posting a fifth-place finish in his debut at Iowa. He struggled in the last race at Kentucky, finishing 17th, but growing pains are typical for young drivers at 1.5-mile tracks. The No. 54 Kyle Busch Motorsports driver competed at Eldora last weekend in the Kings Royal, placing third in one sprint race and 17th in another.

Bell believes his Eldora experience will come in handy on Wednesday.

"I think it definitely gives me an advantage," he said. "The track record at Eldora in a sprint car is about 12.7 seconds, so to be running around there in sub 13-second laps and then go there in a truck where the quick time was a 19.9 last year, it’s much slower than the sprint cars ran. I think having run that fast there in a sprint car will definitely translate to running the truck there because it will slow everything down."

Reddick has caught on to NASCAR quickly. In 2012, he became the youngest driver to win a NASCAR K&N Pro Series race when he took the checkered flag in his debut at Rockingham. He nearly won the Truck Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award while running a partial schedule last season. Ten races into the 2015 campaign, he ranks second in the NCWTS points standings with two wins and eight top 10s.

On dirt, the No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing driver is the youngest driver to start the World 100 at Eldora. He began the race from the pole at 16 years old. He is also the youngest competitor to start a World of Outlaws feature event (12 years old). Reddick finished 11th in last season’s Mud Summer Classic.

"I’ve really wanted to win a race at Eldora for a long time, more than any other track," Reddick said. "And if that happens Wednesday night it would be really special."