Snapshot: New Hampshire

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Nascar

Get caught up quickly before Sunday’s 5-hour ENERGY 301 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN)

What: 23rd Annual 5-hour ENERGY 301
Where: New Hampshire Motor Speedway; Loudon, New Hampshire
When: Sunday, July 19, 2015
TV/Radio: NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 301 laps (318.46 miles)
Green Flag Time: 1:45 p.m. ET

Pit Road Speed: 45 mph
Caution Car Speed: 50 mph

On The Front Row | See the full starting lineup | Check out all 43 cars
1. Carl Edwards, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota (135.164 mph)
2. Joey Logano, Team Penske No. 22 Ford (135.021 mph)

Failed To Qualify
Reed Sorenson, Premium Motorsports No. 62 Chevrolet

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Fastest in Practice
First practice: Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates No. 42 Chevrolet (133.708 mph) | Full results
Second practice: Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet (132.094 mph) | Full results
Final practice: Carl Edwards, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota (133.110 mph) | Full results

Looking for a First
Kyle Larson is hoping to join a list of drivers that include Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman here at New Hampshire. The three earned their first Sprint Cup Series win at the 1.058-mile track. Larson, still searching for that first trip to Victory Lane in Sprint Cup, finished third and second, respectively, in his only two starts here a year ago.

Trouble in the Garage
Saturday’s opening practice proved to be a short one for Jeff Gordon as the four-time Sprint Cup champion’s No. 24 Chevrolet sustained heavy damage to the right rear quarter panel when Gordon backed out of his pit stall into the path of Clint Bowyer. Bowyer’s No. 15 Toyota suffered only slight damage to the nose; Gordon, 21st fastest before the incident, missed the remainder of the session while the team repaired the car. | RELATED: Learn more about the incident

Unlucky 13? Not for this Guy
Hillman Racing driver Landon Cassill will start 13th, his best starting spot of the season in the No. 40 Chevrolet. "Really a heroic effort for our team," Cassill said. "We have really been looking forward to this race because we run so well on short tracks. It’s really cool to see that kind of anticipation pay off."

One to keep an eye on
David Ragan qualified third in the MWR No. 55 Toyota, the team’s best starting spot of the season. The organization’s last Sprint Cup victory came here with Brian Vickers behind the wheel of the No. 55 in 2013. "It’s still encouraging for our team to know that we’ve won here recently," said Ragan. "… A lot of guys on our pit crew were part of that team that went to Victory Lane."

Young and not-so-young
Joey Logano became the Sprint Cup Series’ youngest winner in 2009 when he scored his first victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He was 19. Mark Martin holds the distinction of being the oldest winner here, whipping the field that same season at the age of 50.

Nothing to Lose
"That’s the beauty of running part-time … you can go for wins and not have to worry about anything else. That’s what we’re here to do, we’re here to win and we’re going to try the best that we can. Guys will be pretty aggressive the last handful of laps and we’ll be right there being as aggressive as we can, too." – Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. | RELATED: Blaney happy to make the field

Defending 5-hour ENERGY 301 Champion
Brad Keselowski, Team Penske No. 2 Ford

Former New Hampshire Winners In Field
Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart (3); Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer (2); Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski (1).

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Nascar

Former New Hampshire winners absorb damage in collision

LOUDON, N.H. — Clint Bowyer called it the "damnedest thing I’ve ever seen."

Jeff Gordon didn’t disagree.

Bowyer ran into the four-time Sprint Cup Series champion’s No. 24 Chevrolet as Gordon was backing out of his own garage stall here at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday morning.

Bowyer’s Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota sustained only minor damage to the front end and was eventually able to return to the track. Gordon’s car, meanwhile, required significant repairs to the right-rear quarter panel. The repairs were not completed by the end of the session.

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"The whole weekend hasn’t gone very well so far," Gordon said after wrapping up final practice for Sunday’s 5-hour ENERGY 301 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM).

Gordon will start 23rd. He hasn’t started outside the top 20 in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race here at the 1.058-mile track since 2005.

Bowyer will start 18th.

"There are so many people in here," Bowyer said. "Hell, I glanced up … all that (equipment) was there; that guy backing him out, I think he glanced up for a second but when I got there he wasn’t even looking.

"There’s just so much going on (in the garage). It’s a wonder that stuff doesn’t happen more often."

RELATED: See where Gordon, Bowyer are on the Chase Grid

Gordon was able to return for the final practice and finished 22nd-fastest in a session cut approximately 12 minutes short due to rain.

A pit cart, used to ferry equipment from the team’s transporter to the garage stall, blocked the view of Gordon’s car as it rolled out of its stall.

WATCH: Gordon, Bowyer get heated in Phoenix in 2012

"The guy that backs me out looked over, I guess he was just starting to back me out … I crept out there and he cleared me, but the No. 15 (Bowyer), probably couldn’t really see me because of that pit cart," Gordon said.

"I don’t know if he kind of glanced away or what, but when he looked back, I was just right there and couldn’t go anywhere. It’s kind of a combination of, I guess, both of us could take fault in that."

"I love seeing my crew chief (Alan Gustafson) get in there and get dirty, but not for that reason. And, that practice went a little bit better than the other one. So, we’re gaining on it.”

MORE: Breaking down the New Hampshire contenders

Gordon, 43, is in his final season with Hendrick Motorsports and will embark on a NASCAR broadcasting career with FOX Sports next season.

His 92 career wins is most among active drivers and No. 3 on NASCAR’s all-time win list, trailing only Richard Petty (200) and David Pearson (105).

He is a three-time winner at NHMS.

"I don’t want to say it can’t get worse, but I know it can," Gordon said of the mishap. "So, I’m not going to say that. But hopefully this will all pay off for us tomorrow."

Posted on July 17, 2015 by

Driver still has some foot pain but says ‘Winning cures all’

LOUDON, N.H. — "Winning cures all."

That was the message that two-time 2015 winner Kyle Busch reiterated Friday morning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s 5-hour ENERGY 301 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, PRN, SiriusXM).

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Last week’s Kentucky Speedway Sprint Cup Series victor might be repeating the phrase to subconsciously trick his mind into believing that he is fully healed from a brutal crash in the season-opening NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona International Speedway that left him with lower extremity injuries requiring surgery — even if he isn’t.

Busch maintains that he is at 100 percent behind the wheel, but that some pain still lingers when he jumps out of the cockpit of his No. 18 Toyota Camry.

"Winning cures all and it seems like last week at Kentucky the good runs we had there, my foot has felt a lot better," Busch said. "… Early on I probably mentioned at Charlotte (his first race back) that I wasn’t dealing with much pain and I really wasn’t. There’s times where it flares up and it gets bad and you have some good days and you have some bad days. The more and more we get going here, the more and more good days I seem to have. Just trying to get through the inflammation and stuff like that, that I had in my foot and ankle and everything has gotten a lot better."

Any concerns about Busch returning to racing too soon were quickly put to bed at Sonoma Raceway a few weeks ago when the Joe Gibbs Racing driver won in just his fifth race back after missing the first 11.

"I can push the brakes real well — I think we saw that at Sonoma. I started to feel a little bit of pain with about 25 (laps) to go, but then you get the adrenaline to take over and get going when you’re having a shot at the win and you don’t feel anything until the next day afterwards when everything kind of calms back down.

"Last week at Kentucky everything went real well, real smooth, actually. Got out of the car and walked around for all the media stuff afterwards and didn’t really feel any ill effects. It’s getting better."

MORE: Timeline of Busch’s injury and recovery

From a medical standpoint, it sounds as it Busch still has a ways to go until he gets the full clean bill of health. The 31-time Cup Series winner mentioned at Kentucky that he’s planning on more surgery in the offseason to remove plates from his left foot, with an estimated recovery period of four weeks.

It’s the foot pain that continues to linger.

"The foot has definitely been a lot worse. If it was only the leg that got injured in Daytona," Busch said, "I probably would have been back three weeks sooner than I was. I felt like Texas the leg was ready to go, but the foot has just kind of been a little bit worse just because there’s so many bones in your foot. I think there’s over 100 muscles in your foot, but there’s over 30 bones or something in your foot. It’s complicated down there, that’s what the doctor said, it’s complicated."

With all of the downtime that Busch suddenly found on his hands since he was unable to race, it allowed the driver to be a little more introspective than perhaps he’s been in years past.

Since his return, it’s been clear that the now-30-year-old isn’t the same Kyle Busch that we’ve seen since he broke into the sport as a teenager. Credit the injury, his new son Brexton and a newfound gratitude overall.

"I think anytime any person that goes through the kind of setbacks that I went through — I think it always changes you a little bit. Some look towards the brighter side of things and others tend to look towards the darker side of things. Fortunately for me and everybody that I’ve had around me, including my wife and now my son and family, friends — it’s been really, really fun to come out of this experience and to be able to grow and learn a little bit," Busch said.

"Just maybe enjoy things a little bit differently and that’s what it’s been all about. More so than just all that, you get back in the race car and you run well and you’re happy with your team and then you win races — winning cures all."

Posted on July 17, 2015 by

Driver says ‘it’s very hard to stay enthusiastic’ with RFR’s topsy-turvy year

LOUDON, N.H. — NASCAR has never seen a driver win a championship at each of its three national series levels, but there was a time when it looked as if Greg Biffle could be the first.

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With his XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series titles already locked up in 2002 and 2000, respectively, the Roush Fenway Racing mainstay appeared primed to complete NASCAR’s version of the triple crown after 2012, when a career-best average finish of 10.2 propelled him to 21 top 10s — another career high — 12 top-five finishes and a pair of wins.

But with just a single win (Michigan, June 2013), eight top fives and 26 top 10s in 90 races since, the triple crown seems like nothing but a pipe dream for Biffle at this point. The NASCAR veteran has been but a blip on the radar of other drivers as they pass him both on the track — and in performance.

"(The stats are) probably one of the toughest things for us to look at," Biffle said Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s 5-hour ENERGY 301 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, PRN, SiriusXM Radio). "We look at the same stats you’re looking at and we look around us and the cars we’re racing with and it’s definitely frustrating, but, at the same time, we’re working as hard as we can to try and figure out what we need for speed — what we have to do with these cars.

"To be quite honest with you, we don’t know what to do to them and we don’t know where the speed is at so it makes it really difficult to fix it."

One of the most frustrating wrinkles of the drop in performance for Biffle and Roush as a whole has to be the success that other Ford-backed organizations have enjoyed in increasingly dramatic fashion.

Roush holds Ford’s most recent NASCAR championship (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s 2012 XFINITY title), but rival stable Team Penske has racked up a whopping 15 Cup wins — including a Daytona 500 — between drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano since Penske made the switch from Dodge to Ford following Keselowski’s title run in 2012. Toss in Logano’s Championship 4 appearance at Homestead-Miami Speedway last fall and it’s enough for Jack Roush to pull out whatever hair he has left.

That trend has carried throughout this year as well, with the Penske duo sitting pretty near the top of the standings with a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup berth a near certainty, as both have wins. Biffle, meanwhile is struggling to stay afloat in the Chase picture at all, currently 18th in the points standings with one less spot up for grabs if/when Kyle Busch enters the top 30.

The 19-time Cup Series winner and his Roush teammates, Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne, even sit behind fellow Ford driver Aric Almirola, who races for the smaller and less-funded Richard Petty Motorsports.

"It’s very hard to stay enthusiastic, it is," Biffle said. "I wouldn’t say it’s like one arm tied behind your back, but it is difficult to get dressed, buckled in there, and get out on the race track, but every time we do we’re searching for that speed, so we’re back at the shop working on stuff, we’re testing, and then we’re bringing it to see what it does competing to that next guy."

When Ford rolled out its revamped version of the Gen-6 Fusion at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year, initial reviews by Biffle and Co. were positive. A 17th-place finish doesn’t seem like much, but with an average finish of 26.0 the previous three races, it was a step in the right direction.

A few weeks later, Biffle notched his best finish of the past two seasons when he placed second to former teammate Carl Edwards in the Coca-Cola 600. Things appeared to be rounding into form then, but the performance hasn’t materialized since.

"We were all jumping up and down and all excited about Texas, and we brought it out and we saw more consistent drive in it," Biffle said. "It wasn’t like it was doing four different things trying to drive it, so it calmed that down, but it didn’t have any more speed. So then we took another version of it, an updated version of it to I don’t remember where and it showed a little bit of promise, and then Charlotte it showed a lot of promise. We qualified up front and ran up front a lot of the race, and ended up finishing second on fuel mileage but we were about a 10th-place car. We were like, ‘OK, we’ve got this thing figured out now,’ so now we’ve moved into the top 10 or close to it and now we can start scratching at the rest of it.

"Then Pocono we were fair and then we went to Michigan and were all foaming at the mouth and we were 36th, two laps down. We had no idea what happened, so back to the drawing board for us. We’re kind of pinging around it and trying to find that moving target and every time we feel like we’re getting closer, we get knocked back down to the bottom rung again and start back up."

At this point in the season, it appears unlikely that Biffle and the Roush group can regain the speed that one of NASCAR’s premier organizations once boasted, nor does it seem like he’ll have the opportunity to finish off his triple crown and hold that elusive Sprint Cup in Miami at season’s end.

Still, with the nature of the Chase format, anything can happen if the dominoes fall just right. Biffle, a former winner at the "Magic Mile," could steal a win on Sunday and gain berth to the sport’s playoffs and make a run at a title.

"Yeah, that sounds really good," Biffle said. "I’m gonna go with that plan right now."

Posted on July 17, 2015 by

Joe Gibbs Racing driver scores first pole since 2013

LOUDON, N.H. — As Carl Edwards put it, "things just feel right."

That was Edwards’ take on the state of affairs at Joe Gibbs Racing, after he put his No. 19 Toyota on the pole for Sunday’s 5-hour ENERGY 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN).

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"Right now it just feels right," said Edwards, who toured the Magic Mile in 28.179 seconds (135.164 mph) in Friday’s qualifying session to earn his first Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his first at New Hampshire and the 14th of his career.

"It’s just cool, man. My expectation is to do the best we can (on Sunday). My hope is that we win this thing. … We’ve been working very hard to bring this team together to be the best that we can be. It just feels right. This is cool. It’s a lot of fun."

With JGR teammate Kyle Busch winning last Saturday’s event at Kentucky, the organization placed all its drivers in the top five, with Denny Hamlin, Edwards and Matt Kenseth trailing second-place Joey Logano of Team Penske.

Coincidentally, Logano (135.021 mph) qualified second to Edwards on Friday, with Michael Waltrip Racing‘s David Ragan third (also at 135.021 mph) and Busch (134.025 mph) and Hamlin (134.601 mph) fourth and fifth, respectively.

Edwards, who improved dramatically on his previous average starting position of 14.9 at New Hampshire, didn’t believe initially that he had won the pole until he got reassurance from crew chief Darian Grubb.

On the other hand, Logano wasn’t particularly thrilled to run second to a Gibbs driver for the second time in six days.

"Second — it seems like the story of our week, coming off Kentucky with a strong second-place run and then qualifying second here as well," Logano said. "Not that I’m complaining about it, but it’s not much fun finishing second, being so close to getting trophies and pole flags and all the fun stuff.

"There’s not really much fun that happens when you finish second, but we’re close. We’ve got speed in our race car once again."

Danica Patrick advanced to the second round of knockout qualifying and will start 20th, one spot behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jeff Gordon, still seeking his first victory in his last season of full-time Sprint Cup racing, will start 23rd.

"Yeah, it’s not been a good day for us with the No. 24 car," Gordon acknowledged. "We’ve been struggling getting the car to do what we need it to do. Just real tight through the center, need to get it to rotate, need some front grip, so we will go to work on it (Saturday in practice).

"It’s disappointing that we didn’t qualify better. We typically qualify well here and perform well here. We’ll put this day behind us and go work on it tomorrow and get it ready for Sunday."

Reed Sorenson, this week’s driver in the Premium Motorsports No. 62 Chevrolet, failed to qualify for the 43-car field for the fifth time this season.

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Staff Report

See where all 43 cars will pit Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

Joe Gibbs Racing will start this week’s 5-hour Energy 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Sunday, 1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR) pretty close to where they finished last Saturday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

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For the first time in the organization’s history, all four cars finished in the top five last week, and on Friday at Loudon, New Hampshire, three of the four qualified in the top five with Matt Kenseth qualifying eighth.

As the Coors Light Pole Award winner, JGR’s Carl Edwards chose the first stall at the exit of pit road, heading into Turn 1. Teammate Kyle Busch qualified fourth and selected the 19th stall with an opening in front of him. Denny Hamlin will start fifth and selected the 31st stall with an opening behind him. Kenseth will also have an opening behind him as he’ll get his service in the 41st stall at the entrance to pit road.

Sitting on the outside pole, the defending winner of this race, New England native Joey Logano, chose the second stall and will pit right next to Edwards. Starting third, David Ragan selected the 32nd stall with an opening in front of him. Ragan’s No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing ride won this race two years ago with Brian Vickers behind the wheel.

Sixth-place qualifier Kurt Busch from Stewart-Haas Racing will pit in the 29th stall with an opening in front of him. Six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports was seventh-fastest and earned the 43rd stall, the first pit box at the entrance to pit road.

Johnson’s teammate, Kasey Kahne, qualified ninth and selected the 18th stall with an opening behind him, and Logano’s Team Penske teammate, Brad Keselowski, rounded out the top 10. He’ll pit in the ninth stall in the middle of the first section of stalls.

Of the top 10 qualifiers, all but Edwards and Ragan have won a Sprint Cup race at the Magic Mile.

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Staff Report

Mike, Matt and Chrissy Wallace set a racing first, as well

Proud papa Mike Wallace was in the NASCAR XFINITY Series garage on Friday as son Matt prepares to make his national series debut in Saturday’s Lakes Region 200 (4 p.m. ET NBC Sports Network, PRN, SiriusXM).

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Three months after heart surgery, the elder Wallace said he’d rather be racing but watching his son step into the No. 26 JGL Racing Ford is a proud moment.

RELATED: Kenny Wallace subs for brother at Talladega

Wallace also proudly announced that Matt would be racing alongside brother Kenny Wallace at Iowa, which will be the last NASCAR national series race for Kenny, he announced earlier this week.

And for trivia buffs, Mike Wallace points out that his family sets a new mark this weekend with Matt’s XFINITY debut. Mike, Matt and Chrissy Wallace make up the first father-daughter-son team to all compete in a national series.

Chrissy made two XFINITY Series starts in 2010, finishing 43rd at Daytona and 24th at Talladega. Mike has 494 XFINITY Series races under his belt, with four wins, 22 top-five finishes and 66 top 10s. He also has 197 Sprint Cup Series starts.

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Staff Report

Driver to pilot No. 32 Go Green Racing at Indianapolis

Josh Wise will drive the No. 32 Go Green Racing Ford next weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, returning to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series after leaving the No. 98 Premium Motorsports ride last Monday.

Wise announced the news of his new ride on Twitter, just as he had revealed he would be leaving his former team after 17 races in 2015 and 35 races a year ago. In those 52 starts for Phil Parsons Racing and Premium Motorsports, Wise earned a career-best 10th-place finish at Talladega in May. Timmy Hill replaced Wise in the No. 98 ride this week.

I am happy to be wheeling this hot rod for @GoGreenRacing at @IMS next week �� pic.twitter.com/GELmbjNoWe

— Josh Wise (@Josh_Wise) July 17, 2015

In 16 starts this season, Go Green Racing’s No. 32 has been raced by six drivers with a seventh, Massachusetts native Eddie MacDonald, attempting to make Sunday’s 5-hour Energy 301 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM) at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Former NASCAR premier series champion Bobby Labonte turned in the team’s best result of 2015 with a 24th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500. Mike Bliss, Joey Gase, Will Kimmel, Travis Kvapil and Boris Said have also piloted the Ford Fusion this year.

At Indianapolis, Wise has three starts, improving each season over the past three years. In 2012, he failed to make the finish with a 40th-place result. In 2013, he finished 38th, and last year, he earned a 29th-place finish.

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Staff Report

Michigan International Speedway employee for 27 years dies at 55

Duane Barnes, who drove the jet dryer that caught fire after contact with Juan Pablo Montoya during the 2012 Daytona 500, passed away on Tuesday at age 55.

For the past 27 years, Barnes worked at Michigan International Speedway, serving as chief "UNO 1" jet dryer operator, fabricator and heavy equipment operator. He also served as a jet dryer operator at other International Speedway Corporation tracks.

With 40 laps to go in the Great American Race three years ago, Barnes was drying the track against the Turn 3 wall during a caution period when a mechanical malfunction on the No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing (now known as Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet) saw Montoya veer into the rear of the dryer.

Following evaluation at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida, Barnes was released. Two days after the 2012 accident, MIS issued a statement on his behalf.

"I appreciate everyone for taking the time to write, call and ask how I am," Barnes said. "I am OK and I am amazed at how many people have wished me well. I am also glad Juan Montoya is OK, and thank him for his concern."

An avid NASCAR fan and hunter, Barnes also enjoyed farming and gardening. He is survived by his wife, two children, four step-children, 14 grandchildren, his mother, two brothers, one sister, two nephews and one niece.

On Barnes’ passing, Michigan International Speedway President Roger Curtis issued the following statement:

"Our condolences are with Duane’s family and friends. Duane was a trusted, respected and most important part of our MIS family and the NASCAR community for almost 30 years, and we will miss him tremendously. We’re a tight group, and I can only hope the wonderful memories of Duane will help comfort us and his family during this difficult time."

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Staff Report

McReynolds remembers driver on anniversary of his passing

As New Hampshire Motor Speedway celebrates its 25th anniversary, FOX NASCAR analyst Larry McReynolds, a guest on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, remembered another Magic Mile milestone: the first premier series race at the track, which was the last event for Davey Allison before a helicopter accident claimed his life.

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After falling 63 points shy of the 1992 NASCAR championship, Allison’s No. 28 Robert Yates Racing Ford got off to a slow start, according to McReynolds, who served as its crew chief.

"I think we kind of got lazy between the ’92 and the ’93 season because we ran so well in 1992," McReynolds said. "We didn’t work to make ourselves better, and we were struggling when ’93 started."

The Slick 50 300 at a new New England venue offered an opportunity for the team to turn the corner, and it gave the team reason to be optimistic for the inaugural premier series race.

"We finally built a brand new car and went to Loudon, and we were leading that race with 30 laps to go and we had a car that was good on the long run," McReynolds said.

"A caution comes out for debris with 30 laps to go. We were in a bit of a box. We had to pit so we pitted, and we ended up finishing third to Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin."

It was the team’s first top-five finish in a month and sixth in the first 16 races of the season. An upbeat Allison did something on the way home that surprised his crew chief and fellow Alabama native as the No. 28 team headed to Charlotte and then on to Allison’s home in Hueytown, Alabama.

"Davey did something that night that I had never seen him do," McReynolds said. "He always flew his own plane. I think it’s how he kind of took out his anxiety of the day, but he told his pilot and his dad, Bobby, ‘You guys fly the airplane. I’m going to sit in the back with the guys.’

"…we sat back there and he was so excited and happy because I think like he felt like we finally had hit on something that we had been missing most of 1993. He told me when we landed in Charlotte, ‘You won’t be able to get in touch with me tomorrow. I think I’m going to fly up to Talladega to watch David Bonnett, Neil Bonnett’s son, test a car.’

"I said, ‘No problem. I’ll call you on Tuesday.’

"Well, unfortunately, I never got to make that call because the next day was when he was killed in a helicopter crash at Talladega."

Later that season, Ernie Irvan took over the No. 28 ride, driving the car through the first 20 races of the 1994 season before a crash at Michigan International Speedway sidelined him for for more than a year.

When Irvan returned to the No. 28 car in 1996, McReynolds was his crew chief, and that July, Irvan and McReynolds went to Victory Lane at Loudon, New Hampshire, for an emotional celebration in honor of the driver’s comeback and to commemorate the three-year anniversary of Allison’s passing.