Posted on by Staff Report

Crew chief suspended for a race; team owner docked 15 points

RELATED: NASCAR’s official release

NASCAR handed down a P3-level penalty Wednesday to the Premium Motorsports No. 98 Ford team for failure to properly attach weight during last weekend’s Sprint Cup Series event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

The No. 98 car, driven by Timmy Hill for the second straight week in last Sunday’s Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400, lost a piece of tungsten during Friday practice near the pit-road exit on the 2.5-mile track. The dropped weight was a violation of three sections of the 2015 NASCAR Rule Book (Sections 12:1; 12.5.3.3.1; 20.3.5).
 
NASCAR officials suspended crew chief Scott Eggleston for one Sprint Cup Series race and fined him $25,000. NASCAR also suspended car chief Kevin Eagle for one race. Both were placed on probation through Dec. 31.
 
Mike Curb, the listed team owner for the Premium No. 98, was also docked 15 championship points in the car owner standings.
 
The No. 98 began the year under the Phil Parsons Racing umbrella before Premium Motorsports took ownership in the spring. Josh Wise failed to qualify the car for the season-opening Daytona 500, but competed in the next 17 races before announcing that he had parted ways with the team. Hill has driven for the team the last two weekends.

Posted on by Nascar

Edwards: “This is like the first practice session”

BRISTOL, Tenn. — More than one dozen NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams spent Wednesday testing at Bristol Motor Speedway, preparing for next month’s return when the high-banked, half-mile track hosts the Irwin Tools Night Race.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

"The surface here doesn’t change a lot, but the groove changes a lot," Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Carl Edwards said of the concrete racing surface during a break in the eight-hour session. "People end up racing right up against the fence.

"We’re not really able to do that today. Basically, this is like the first practice session (of a race weekend) — when we show up (in August), the race track will be like this."

Still, with only six races remaining before the field is officially set for this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, any opportunity to improve one’s chances for one of the six events isn’t taken lightly. 

"Seventy-five percent (of what we do today) is relevant," Edwards said. "We’re just not really able to run up there to that high groove."

Edwards, a winner in this year’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, hasn’t officially locked in a spot in the 16-team Chase field, but for he and a handful of others that have already won this year, it’s a formality.

Three of Edwards’ 24 career wins in Sprint Cup have come at BMS and he was fast here on Wednesday. He also cut a tire down during the afternoon session, and contact with the wall did a bit of cosmetic damage to the No. 19 Toyota. 

"We know exactly what we were lacking when we came here the last race," he said, "so it gives us the opportunity to work on some things." 

In addition to Edwards, other teams taking part in the test were Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing), Joey Logano (Team Penske), Aric Almirola (Richard Petty Motorsports), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing), Paul Menard (Richard Childress Racing), David Ragan (Michael Waltrip Racing), Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates), Danica Patrick (Stewart-Haas Racing), Travis Kvapil (TMG), Kasey Kahne (Hendrick Motorsports) and Landon Cassill (Mike Hillman Racing).

Logano and Kahne are also previous winners at Bristol. 

Stenhouse is still searching for his first Sprint Cup win; the fast BMS track seems to suit his driving style. The 27-year-old has finished sixth or higher in his last three starts here.

"It’s just fun," Stenhouse Jr. said. "I like running the top, it kind of reminds me of a dirt track the way you can really kind of turn to the right getting into the corner once we get some rubber down on the top lane. We haven’t gotten it quite high enough today, but we’ve worked pretty far up there." 

The RFR driver is 27th in points, and his fourth-place finish here earlier this year has been his only top 10.

"Honestly, being 18th or 19th in points or where we are, if you don’t have a win, you’re still outside (the Chase)," he said. "I could be eight spots better and it really wouldn’t do me any good other than obviously we’re getting better finishes, better results."

A two-time XFINITY Series champion, Stenhouse said the No. 17 team has improved — "I think we’re getting better," he said — but the gap between his group and the leaders is still a wide one.

"That’s why we really kind of embraced coming to this test," he said. "It’s been a good race for us in the past. Out of the races that are left, it’s probably our best shot to catch a break.

"We’ve been close (here); we know we’re not exactly there yet. But we know if we make the right adjustments and get the car a little better, then we’ll have the opportunity. And really, that’s all you can ask for."

The Irwin Tools Night Race is scheduled for Aug. 22 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Nascar

Both drivers docked 15 minutes of on-track practice time

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams of Germain Racing with Casey Mears and Richard Childress Racing with Ryan Newman will serve 15-minute penalties during this weekend’s opening practice at Pocono (Pennsylvania) Raceway, according to NASCAR officials.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

The two teams received written warnings during this past weekend’s race activities at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of the Crown Royal presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard.
 
The warning for the No. 13 team of Mears was a result of qualifying inspection issues while Newman’s group required additional trips through the inspection line during pre-race inspection. Opening practice at Pocono is scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m. ET.
 
NASCAR began the process of issuing written warnings earlier this year to teams that failed to pass pre-qualifying or pre-race technical inspection twice during an event. Such warnings are part of the sanctioning body’s Deterrence Policy, which categorizes individual infractions (Level 1 through Level 6) for penalty purposes.
 
Two written warnings during one event or a single warning during two consecutive events is considered a P1 level infraction. Penalties may include a deduction in track time for practice or qualifying, delay in the order of inspection or last choice in the pit selection process.
 
Officials also said that post-race technical inspection at the NASCAR Research and Development Center for the cars of race winner Kyle Busch, runner-up Joey Logano and Kyle Larson (random) had been completed with no issues.
 
Pocono is hosting the Windows 10 400 on Sunday (1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Nascar

Drivers debate aero rules while at open test at Bristol Motor Speedway

Maybe they aren’t completely sold on the high drag package that debuted this past weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but after a couple of days to chew on the results, drivers seemed a bit less vocal in their level of disappointment with the platform.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

"I applaud NASCAR for trying, doing everything they can," Joe Gibbs Racing driver Carl Edwards said during a break in Wednesday’s open test at Bristol Motor Speedway.

"They’re trying all these different things to produce the best racing they can."

Not exactly an endorsement for the Indy package, which will also be used in August when the Sprint Cup Series returns to Michigan International Speedway, but an understanding of what NASCAR officials are hoping to develop.

However, Edwards, who finished 13th at Indy after winning the pole, remains steadfast in his belief that the continued reduction in downforce is the best route.

"I believe the racing as we lose aero dependency, as they take downforce away, you’re just going to see better and better racing," he said. "… I really think the more we go back toward that, the better off we’re going to be."

The high drag package featured a 9-inch spoiler (a 3-inch increase) as well as other aero changes. Downforce was impacted, but only slightly. Instead, the taller spoiler created a larger wake of air behind the cars.

Ryan Blaney, 12th at Indy, said he thought the high drag package "showed promise."

"There are good things and bad things you can take away from each package," the Wood Brothers Racing driver said. "That’s what it’s always going to be no matter what package you bring; there’s always going to be positives and negatives and drivers are going to have different feedback about every one.

"I thought the high drag package really helped us get big runs down the straightaways behind other cars and you could make a move getting in the corner. But Indy being a single-lane race track it was hard to kind of make a move in the corner. You had to kind of set yourself up for the straightaway."

Michael Waltrip Racing driver David Ragan agreed that the taller spoiler and other configurations made for a better closing rate on others when coming off the corners and onto the long straightaways at Indy.

"But once you got to their back bumper, once you pulled out, you really couldn’t do anything with that run," Ragan, who finished 21st, said.

"It was real easy to stall out. I’m not an aero specialist so I don’t know if we could tweak on that … I thought the cars changed balance a lot behind other cars. … When I could run by myself, my car would be a little on the tight side and when I would catch a car, or if I caught two cars side-by-side in front of me, my car would shift to really, really loose really quick.

"I think just all the air off of their cars was disruptive and I didn’t have any consistent air on mine. You had to be on the wheel and on top of it making adjustments certainly when you were in traffic or by yourself."

While Indy’s 2.5-mile course is tight, one-groove and without much banking, Michigan should be a better barometer for the package.

"I think you will see some bigger packs at Michigan," Ragan said. "You’ve got a little more grip in the race track, you’ve got a little more banking, definitely more grooves so I think you’ve got more options to run two- and three-wide in the corners.

"But I think my big concern is the handling for those guys that are in the middle of the pack. The cars in the top four or five are going to have a very good advantage just from the fact of having clean air. Those guys running 20th are going to have to fight a different fight because of handling.

"It will definitely be, in my opinion, a little better going to Michigan just because the race track will promote a little better racing."

Tire Chatter

Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series teams competing at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway this weekend will run the same Goodyear tire codes and a combination that’s been used at the 2.5-mile, three-turn track since 2012. According to Goodyear, the tire combination is used only at Pocono.

Meanwhile, XFINITY Series teams competing this weekend at Iowa Speedway will use the same combination used there earlier this season.

Indy Violations

There were 31 pit-road penalties handed down during Sunday’s Crown Royal presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard, nearly half of which were due to team pitting before pit road was open.

NASCAR officials announced a P3-level penalty Wednesday levied against the No. 98 Premium Motorsports team for an unattached weight that fell of the car during practice at IMS.

Posted on by Nascar

Driver ‘kept having flashbacks’ after giving up lead on final lap

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Ryan Blaney said he “didn’t sleep a lot Saturday night” as he played the ending of the NASCAR XFINITY Series race over and over in his mind.
 
“I kept having flashbacks of Turn 2 and that’s not what you want to do,” the Wood Brothers Racing driver said Wednesday during a break in testing at Bristol (Tennessee) Motor Speedway.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

“Especially when you have a (Sprint) Cup race the next day; especially when it’s the Brickyard … your Brickyard debut.”
 
Blaney is scheduled to compete in 18 Sprint Cup Series races this season for Wood Brothers Racing. The 21-year old is also running select XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series events this season for Team Penske and Brad Keselowski Racing, respectively.
 
After leading 24 of the final 25 laps in Saturday’s Lilly Diabetes 250 at IMS, Blaney lost the lead to race winner Kyle Busch on the final trip around the legendary 2.5-mile track.
 
A two-time winner in the XFINITY Series, Blaney was looking for his first trip to Victory Lane this season. Instead, it was Busch’s second win in the series since returning from injuries suffered in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway.
 
A miscue by Blaney – he missed his mark as he and Busch rolled into Turn 2 – opened the door for Busch, who shot underneath the leader to take over the top spot on the backstretch.
 
“I thought about it all the way up until I got in the race car (on Sunday), then I forgot about it,” Blaney said of the misstep.
 
His Sunday run in the Crown Royal presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard likely helped ease the disappointment. In only his eighth start of the season (rain kept the team out of two events when qualifying was cancelled), Blaney raced his way to a 12th place finish.
 
“You just have to put that stuff in the back of your mind and forget about it,” he said. “The support that not only Team Penske showed me, but the Wood Brothers and other competitors has really helped me out.
 
“You can only take away the learning experience from it, learn not to do that the next time.”
 
Blaney and the Wood Brothers were one of 13 teams testing Wednesday at BMS. NASCAR returns to the 0.533-mile track next month for the Aug. 22 running of the Irwin Tools Night Race.

Posted on by Nascar

Interim driver hoping to continue in No. 55 ride

RELATED: Toyota not sure what MWR will do

BRISTOL, Tenn. — David Ragan, 10 starts into his role as driver of the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 55 Toyota, said he’s yet to speak with MWR officials, or anyone else, about his future role with the organization.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

Ragan joined MWR earlier this season after a nine-race stint with Joe Gibbs Racing as interim driver for the No. 18 team of Kyle Busch. His first start of the year, the Daytona 500 in February, came with Front Row Motorsports.
 
"I haven’t talked about next year with anybody for anything," Ragan said before the start of an open test on Wednesday at Bristol Motor Speedway. "In regards to some of the rumors that are out there, I’ve read just like everybody else has online, but all I can do is the best I can do week in and week out and hopefully everything will take care of themselves."
 
Ragan qualified third for the second consecutive race this past weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was his fourth top-10 start in the past five races. However, he has only two finishes inside the top 15 since joining the team in a relief role for driver Brian Vickers, who remains sidelined due to medical issues.
 
Aaron’s, a long-time MWR sponsor and currently the primary sponsor for the No. 55 entry, has yet to announce its plans beyond the 2015 season.
 
In addition to the No. 55, MWR also fields the No. 15 Sprint Cup entry with driver Clint Bowyer. Sponsorship is provided by 5-hour ENERGY and both Bowyer and the sponsor are in the first year of multi-year agreements with the organization.
 
Ragan, 29, is a two-time winner in the Sprint Cup Series. His first win came in July of 2011 at Daytona with Roush Fenway Racing. In 2013, he put Front Row Motorsports in Victory Lane for the first time when he won at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
 
MWR is said to be considering a split from Toyota, which has provided engines and technical support to the organization since the automaker moved into Sprint Cup in 2007.
 
Dave Wilson, President & General Manager, Toyota Racing Development, USA, told NASCAR.com that he did not know if the relationship with MWR would continue beyond 2015.
 
In the meantime, Ragan said he would like to remain at MWR going forward if that is an option.
 
"I like everyone at MWR and the Aaron’s folks have been great to work with," he said. "We’ve got a good thing going … hopefully we can keep it going. That’d be fun."

Posted on by Holly Cain

No. 18 team is clicking, winning four of last five races

RELATED: Where Busch’s streak ranks | Kyle’s post-Indy Facebook page

Two days after a dramatic and dazzling victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — his third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup win and fourth in five weeks — Kyle Busch still sounded awed and amazed.

The 30-year-old confessed Tuesday in a national teleconference with reporters that there was a time when he thought his season was over before it started and insisted the guiding force in his recent historic high performance was as much because of the people around him — doctors, his wife Samantha and crew chief Adam Stevens — as it was something he’s been doing differently.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

"It was a natural reaction initially," Busch conceded, thinking he wouldn’t race again in 2015 after suffering serious injuries — broken leg and foot — in the Feb. 21 season-opening XFINITY Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

"Fortunately, everything came to plan actually quicker than we all anticipated, and for me, once I started listening to doctors and understanding what all was going on and what all I was going to go through, I realized, ‘OK, I’m going to be back this year.’ "
"They didn’t want to rush me coming back too soon and take a chance of reinjuring something. We made the right decisions. I think everything just kind of came together and fell nicely."

And that’s the understatement of the season.

Busch said he will be having further offseason surgery to have plates taken out of his left foot and screws removed from his right leg. And if he responds to that surgery and recovery like he has this season, the competition should be very worried.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is on a rare and impressive run that seldom happens in NASCAR’s most competitive ranks. After missing the first 11 races of the season, Busch has won four times in the nine events he’s started.

By winning Sunday’s Brickyard 400 — the first victory ever for Toyota in the race — Busch cut a 58-point deficit to 30th place in the standings to 23 points with six races remaining to decide the 16-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff field.

When Busch received a Chase eligibility waiver from NASCAR upon his return, it came with two conditions: that he win a race and be ranked among the top 30 in the drivers standings. When Busch returned to competition in May, he was 179 points behind then 30th place driver Tony Stewart. He’s made up 156 points in nine races.

Asked on Tuesday if he credits his current win streak and ability to overcome the setbacks to a more mature mentality or extra motivation, the new father Busch had a much simpler answer: people.

"I think I would point more so towards the relationship with Adam Stevens and myself," Busch said thoughtfully.

"There was never a time and there was never a weekend that we weren’t able to speak to one another (when Busch was recovering from injury).

"I think that really helps fortify a relationship as much as we could without me being in the race. Then since I’ve been in the car, just trusting what he’s doing and giving him all the feedback I possibly can and letting him go to work.

"He’s done a really good job — the whole team (has) of everything that they’ve put together for me.

"Maybe it was a little bit of other stuff, too, studying the racing and seeing what was going on and being hungry for it and wanting it and knowing that this is what I want to do. I don’t have anything else in life that interests me as much as driving race cars."

The result has been nothing short of amazing — to watch, to cheer, to chronicle and understandably to take part in.

"I definitely think the whole company is really jacked up," Busch said. "Everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing feels everything going and coming together as a whole. Even my teammates, we went to lunch the other day and everybody is just kind of gelling and happy.

"Everyone is smiling and they’re happy for me and the success that we’ve had at the 18-car but also the success that the company is starting to put together as well with a bunch of us finishing in the top 10 each and every week.

"It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication. Adam Stevens and his group of guys on the 18 have really come together and come full circle. It actually started out real tough with them and they were down in the dumps maybe and really weren’t sure what was going to happen or who the driver was going to be week-to-week. But Matt Crafton, David Ragan and Erik Jones did a fantastic job filling in for me. And once I’ve gotten back maybe it took a couple weeks to kind of knock the rust off a little bit, but since then it seems like we’re running on all eight cylinders and just have done a fantastic job being able to get our M&Ms Crispy as well as our Skittles Camry into Victory Lane."

 

Posted on by Staff Report

Single-car team to debut at Iowa Speedway this weekend

RELATED: Get more NASCAR K&N Pro Series East coverage with Home Tracks

NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers Eric McClure and Hal Martin announced Tuesday that they have joined forces to field a single-car team for developmental drivers in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.

Martin-McClure Racing is scheduled to debut with Chad Finchum at the wheel of the No. 39 entry this weekend at Iowa Speedway, which plays host to Friday’s #ThanksKenny 150, a combination race for the K&N Pro Series’ East and West tours.
 
"This team is something Eric and I have discussed in great depth over the past few months and the timing is right for us to enter competition and lay the foundation for an organization that will meet the long-term goals we’ve laid out," Martin said in a release provided by the team. "It’s an opportunity for us to give back to the sport we love, while providing a competitive and professional environment for young drivers as they transition from their respective backgrounds to the NASCAR national series."
 
Finchum, 20, has 10 K&N starts spread over a part-time schedule since 2011. He also claimed two track championships (at Kingsport Speedway in Tennessee and Lonesome Pine Raceway in Virginia) in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series competition last season.
 
"Since I started driving go-karts at age 6, I’ve always wanted to compete as a driver in the top levels of NASCAR," Finchum said. "This is a step forward in achieving that goal. It’s hard to put into words what this opportunity means to me, but I think competing for MMR is a great fit. I’ve never been to Iowa Speedway, but I’m looking forward to getting there and getting on track."
 
The Martin-McClure team also plans to compete in the season-ending race for the K&N East Series on Oct. 2 at Dover International Speedway.
 
McClure, 36, currently ranks 20th in the NASCAR XFINITY Series driver standings. Martin, 29, competed in 17 XFINITY events from 2012-14.

Posted on by Staff Report

TRD president: ‘Not sure what Michael Waltrip Racing is going to do’

With four victories in the last five races, thanks to Kyle Busch, and Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates also holding wins that practically put them into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Toyota is on a roll. David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Tuesday that the manufacturer has its sights set on more teams making the 2015 Chase while also looking ahead to its 2016 lineup.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

Wilson compared Toyota’s comeback to JGR’s own, saying the seeds for 2015 success were sown during one of its worst seasons since joining the Sprint Cup Series in 2007.

"2014 was one of our worst years since we came into the sport, into the Sprint Cup Series and certainly one of Joe Gibbs Racing‘s worst years," Wilson said. "But we started that turnaround last summer literally. That was when we got the big wake-up call. We just missed it on this no ride-height rule. Our engines were a little bit off, and we buckled down.

"Really the turnaround started, I trace it to Chicago of last year, almost a full year ago where our performance gradually started getting better. We were able to get the three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers into the Chase. Denny nearly won the championship at Miami, but that was, to be fair, more to do with the format of the Chase."

Last Sunday, the manufacturer earned its first Brickyard 400 win, the last of the 23 premier series circuits where it hadn’t won a race. Rather than resting on its laurels, Toyota is looking to add more cars to NASCAR’s playoffs. If Busch moves into the top 30 in points, a quarter of the field will be driving Camrys, but Wilson is shooting for closer to half of the 16 drivers.

"I’ve said as one of three manufacturers that statistically we need to load that funnel at Chicago, arguably with five, six, seven Toyotas," Wilson.

Michael Waltrip Racing with Clint Bowyer‘s No. 15 team and David Ragan‘s No. 55 are the manufacturer’s two highest-ranked drivers without wins, sitting 15th and 24th respectively in the standings. Based on points, the No. 15 driver is currently in the provisional Chase Grid, but if Busch makes the top 30, Bowyer will be bounced without a win.

As the manufacturer attempts to add those MWR teams to this year’s Chase, Wilson wasn’t certain about the organization’s future with Toyota.

"We are talking to a number of organizations about the future, and certainly in the near-term, we’re not sure what Michael Waltrip Racing is going to do," Wilson said. "They’ve yet to announce their plans. Certainly we have had a rich history in the sport together. We got our butts kicked together in 2007, our first year, and you forge very close and personal relationships when you have those trials together.

"Whatever they decide to do, we certainly wish nothing but the best for them."

Wilson has acknowledged discussions with Furniture Row Racing owner Barney Visser about the Denver-based team’s potential manufacturer move from Chevrolet to Toyota. But the TRD president suggested that Furniture Row, like Toyota itself, was focused on its 2015 Chase efforts.

"Regarding Furniture Row Racing, again they haven’t announced their plans for next year certainly," Wilson said. "I imagine they’re focusing on getting Martin Truex well-positioned in the Chase as well and competitive."