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Earnhardt Jr. among the drivers who tested at Chicagoland this week

RELATED: New qualifying for Indianapolis, Michigan

NASCAR isn’t likely to introduce any new aerodynamic packages for this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, but moving forward, track-specific packages are expected to become the norm for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

And Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he’s just fine with such a move.

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"Absolutely. I think that makes the racing more interesting," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said during a break in Wednesday’s open test session at Chicagoland Speedway.

"I think it’s more interesting for the fans to go through that cycle of learning about these packages and what they do and what type of racing they create. I think it would be really a feather in the cap for the networks. It would give them so much information and ammo to broadcast and put on a good show. Plus I think … it’s a good way to sort of tweak and adjust the racing to make better racing at that track."

Earnhardt was one of four drivers who spent three days testing at the 1.5-mile track. On Monday and Tuesday, Earnhardt joined Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing), Sam Hornish Jr. (Richard Petty Motorsports) and JJ Yeley (BK Racing) for a two-day Goodyear tire test.

Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing), Greg Biffle (Roush Fenway Racing), Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing), Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing), Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing), Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing), Clint Bowyer (Michael Waltrip Racing) and Brad Keselowski (Team Penske) joined the group on Wednesday for the open portion of the test.

It is, Earnhardt said, "a great time to be involved in the sport."

"For me, it’s exciting to go through these (changes)," he said. "You know, this is a three-day test and normally I hate testing, but it’s been fun trying to learn and understand, so I’m excited just to see what happens – whether this stuff works, fails, whatever – but it’s fun to go through it. Good to rearrange the furniture in the living room, so to speak, to something different.

"It was same-old, same-old for so long, so this is kind of neat and exciting – unprecedented really. They used to cut the spoilers and trim them for makes and models throughout the year and adjust to try to level the playing field, but this is a big deal, really, to change the whole thing for everybody at this track and then try something so extreme at another track."

Likewise, he said, aero package changes for Indianapolis and Michigan – where a taller spoiler will produce high drag, "is really extreme and should really alter the racing and what it looks like there. What it’ll look like, I don’t know. But it’s not going to be the same. Fans are going tune in to see that, whatever it is that happens. That’s great."

At Chicago, Goodyear officials wanted to confirm their tire selection for the upcoming kickoff to the Chase. It’s a similar tire to the one run at Texas and Homestead.

RELATED: Learn more about Chicagoland Speedway

Teams wanted to gather as much information as possible before returning here Sept. 18-20 for the start of the 10-race Chase.

On Monday, Greg Stucker, director of race tire sales for Goodyear, told SiriusXM NASCAR that the Chicago test would also include the lower downforce package used this past weekend at Kentucky Speedway.

"Not saying that it’s an option for September but we’re on the race track, let’s get a look at it and see if it shows us the same results that it did earlier in the year at Charlotte and when we tested it at Darlington just a couple of weeks ago," Stucker said.

Teams will also run a lower downforce aero package at Darlington in September.

According to Earnhardt, there were issues with the current tires using the lower downforce package at Chicago, however.

"We saw the tires tearing up," he said. "We tore up from right-front tires. (Martin) tore up one, I tore up one, (Hornish) tore up one, and when Goodyear sees that, man, the red flag comes out and you’ve got to slow down and there’s just not enough time to really prepare for the right tire and get the right tire on the car to get it ready for this race in the Chase.

"So I think we run the 2015 current package that we ran all year here, and who knows what’ll happen next year, though."

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News and notes from around the garage

When is an uncontrolled tire not an uncontrolled tire?

That was the question raised Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway after Jeremy Ogles, the front tire carrier for Brad Keselowski’s Team Penske No. 2 team, took a fall while coming around the front of the car following a two-tire stop.

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Ogles stumbled as he went to retrieve the tire, which had fallen over, just as Keselowski was pulling out of his pit stall. The tire carrier was clipped and the tire went bouncing out of the pit box before being stopped by a teammate.

The penalty for an uncontrolled tire violation is re-starting at the tail end of the field (when under yellow) or a pass-thru (green).

Keselowski wasn’t penalized and while he lost track position for the lengthy stop, eventually finished sixth in the Sprint Cup Series’ Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts.

Tires that have rolled out onto pit road and posed a hazard have resulted in penalties, as have those that have been rolled from the outer half of the pit stall back to pit wall by crewmen.

"That’s something that we’re looking at in terms of tires staying inside the car area near the wall where we haven’t called that in the past," Steve O’Donnell, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer for NASCAR, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Monday.

"Where you’ve seen us make calls it’s a tire has come across pit road and gets in the way of another car. We’ll look at that and review it, and if it’s something we can tweak for ’16, that’s certainly something we would do."

It’s a Jungle Out There

Ogles wasn’t the only crewman struck by a car during Saturday night’s race. The No. 1 of Jamie McMurray struck John Gianninoto, jack man for the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 with driver Jeff Gordon, during a round of pit stops.

Neither crewman was injured.

RELATED: Best in-car audio from Kentucky

Kentucky Rules Postmortem

Take away a little more downforce? That was an initial thought from Jason Ratcliff, crew chief for the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and driver Matt Kenseth following the Kentucky race.

"I think if we give Goodyear an opportunity to work on it, they can make it even better," Ratcliff said. "Maybe we need to go one step more. If that was a 20 percent reduction, and I’m just kicking numbers out there, maybe we need to go another 5 percent reduction on downforce, trying to keep the balance the same. Let Goodyear work on it and I think it was just a great race."

The aero package for Kentucky featured a shorter spoiler as well as changes to the splitter and splitter extension panel. A similar package will be used later this year at Darlington Raceway.

"It looked like with the aero package guys could really follow each other down in the corner and it was less sensitive. A lot of times, we see guys follow each other down and there’s just such a disadvantage to the guy in front of them, whereas tonight I thought that was closed up a bit. I like it."

Todd Gordon, crew chief for Joey Logano and the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, concurred.

"I feel like it’s something that could be a good direction for us," Gordon said. "If you’re the car behind, you’ve got a little bit of speed and you can get up on ’em and move some air behind them and you’re not stuck with that big, old bubble. I would say it’s in the right direction."

Although Goodyear was unable to produce a tire built specifically for the lower downforce package at Kentucky, there were no tire issues during the race.

"My hat’s off to everybody for making the change and taking a chance like this in race trim," Goodyear’s Greg Stucker, Director of Race Tire Sales for Goodyear, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "It’s one thing to go out and test different concepts and different packages but … really the ultimate test as we’ve always said is really the race itself. That’s really where you prove out a concept one way or the other.

"We had a lot of confidence in the package as we went in. I think everybody was prepared to take a step back if we needed to and go back to the conventional (aero) package, but I think once we all got on the race track everybody knew that this thing had a lot of potential and it was a good way to go."

Stucker said being able to gather race data from Kentucky as well as testing information from Darlington gives the tire maker "two really good bookends … we ran low downforce here at Kentucky with conventional tire grip and at Darlington we’re going to go there with low downforce and we’re going to have more grip.

"I think we have a couple of really good data points to look at and learn from and as an industry decide which way we want to go," he said.

Wind Tunnel Update

For the second time this season, NASCAR obtained additional cars to be taken to the wind tunnel for further evaluation.

The cars taken following the Quaker State 400 were those of Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski. Earlier this year, the cars of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joey Logano and Aric Almirola were chosen following the QuikTrip Folds of Honor 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

NASCAR conducts such tests to gauge aerodynamic numbers for the different makes (Chevrolet SS, Toyota Camry and Ford Fusion). The tests are conducted at the AeroDyn Wind Tunnel in Mooresville, North Carolina

NHMS Tire Selection

Tires for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will feature the same tire codes and the combination is the same that’s been run at the 1.058-mile track since 2012. This particular tire will be used only at New Hampshire.

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East teams will be using a tire combination that’s previously been run at Iowa and Phoenix. It will be the first time it’s been used at NHMS.

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Student of the sport visits Daytona facility, calls video archive the ‘Holy Grail’

It’s the room in back, hidden behind the large steel door where humidity and temperature are constantly monitored.
 
Walk down the hallway, past the trophies and timing equipment, beyond the library and the filing cabinets overflowing with photographs. Just beyond the autographed pace car and the workbench that held who knows how many toolboxes through the years.
 
Step inside and be greeted by history.
 
From floor to ceiling, on the left and right, footage of races and television shows, reel after reel after reel containing a video timeline of sorts of NASCAR is stored here.

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For a history buff such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., the room is as significant as the 2.5-mile track located barely a mile away.
 
"There’s a lot of neat stuff in here," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said while visiting the ISC Archives and Research Center, located near Daytona International Speedway, earlier this month.
 
"I think the photos are important; the film is overwhelming to me because I love to watch old races and sort of get an idea of what it was like back then and that’s really the best way to do it. It’s awesome to see this stuff being taken care of.
 
"As a collector of old races and old film, that’s sort of the Holy Grail back there."
 
Points races, special events (Busch Clash, Budweiser Duel, Sprint All-Star Race) and even movies can be found here. It’s what might or might not be here, though, that interests Earnhardt Jr.
 
His father, seven-time NASCAR premier series champion Dale Earnhardt, scored his first win at Bristol Motor Speedway in 1979. NASCAR races weren’t carried live on network television at the time and only select events, such as the Daytona 500, received abbreviated coverage.
 
The ’79 Daytona was the first to be carried live from start to finish by CBS.
 
"That (Bristol) race wasn’t televised, wasn’t broadcast. So there isn’t even a partial digital copy being traded among those … groups out there that are in those inner circles. That’s who I deal with … they are trading races that were broadcast. Someone had the opportunity to record them off television. A lot of this stuff here is just raw footage that the public doesn’t have access to. So now I know where to go."
 
Earnhardt said he has seen footage of his father’s ’79 BMS win "in highlights … so I know it exists."
 
Outside of that particular race, he said "any footage that’s unobtainable from ’79, ’80," interests him.
 
"Dad’s first two years. Besides that, I’m a big ’70s guy I guess. Any of the races from the ’70s, because a lot of stuff in the ’80s was broadcast … you can obtain it through trades and whatnot working with guys that are in those collector groups. So a lot of things in the ’70s is unique because it’s one of a kind."
 
The photo library turned up, among other things, pictures of driver Jimmy Means, a childhood hero. Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Means, Jimmy’s son, often spent race days together in the garage.
 
Herb Branham, senior manager for the Archives & Research Center, presented Earnhardt Jr. with another special memento – a framed set of photos of Earnhardt’s grandfather, Ralph Earnhardt.

 
"That’s going up on the wall," Earnhardt said proudly.
 
A final stop before heading back to the track put Earnhardt behind the desk of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. One of the latest additions to the archives, the room is a re-creation of the office used by France during much of his tenure as the head of the sanctioning body. The desk, furniture and fixtures came from France’s original office.
 
"This is one place I never thought I’d be, in Big Bill’s office sitting at his desk in his chair," Earnhardt said. "What a special place.
 
"Not only is this where you can find a lot of history, but somebody’s here taking care of it. I appreciate NASCAR, everything they do to hold onto that history and keep it in good shape."

Posted on by Staff Report

 

 

July 5: Austin Dillon crashes at the Coke Zero 400

The dramatic final lap in the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola ended with a dangerous wreck involving Austin Dillon. The No. 3 was caught in a massive multi-car accident just after the field was taking the checkered flag. Dillon, surprisingly, walked away just fine but said he was prepared to “be really sore.” | Read the full story 

 

 

July 5: Austin Dillon in his own words on Daytona crash

After much talk about Dillon’s wreck at Daytona, he finally was able to give a firsthand account of the accident and let everyone know that he was going to be just fine, physically and mentally. Austin was more concerned about the fans in the stands who were affected by the wreck. | Read the full story

July 5: Daytona president responds to wreck: ‘The fence worked’

Daytona International Speedway president, Joie Chitwood III, told reporters that following the Austin Dillon wreck, 13 spectators had to be seen by medical personnel. Chitwood said that, in terms of safety procedures, “we’ll learn from it, we’ll analyze it, and we’ll round up our engineering team and see if there’s any additional things we can learn to get better the next time.” | Read the full story

July 6: Johnson: ‘I’m shocked [he’s] even alive’

See Jimmie Johnson talk about being surprised Austin Dillon wasn’t seriously injured during a big wreck at Daytona. | Watch the video

July 6: Drivers react to dramatic wreck in Daytona finish

Watch Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Landon Cassill talk about the big crash on the final lap of the Coke Zero 400. | Watch their reactions

July 6: France responds to Daytona wreck: ‘Working to make racing safer and better’

Brian France spoke to SiriusXM Radio the Monday following the Daytona wreck stating that NASCAR is taking all precautionary measures possible. He said that NASCAR is working on solutions to avoid similar crashes in the future, at the organization’s R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina. | Read the full story

July 6: Ives breaks down moments after Dillon’s wreck

See exclusive footage of Austin Dillon’s scary crash and listen to Greg Ives break down the moments following, as as the No. 88 crew rushed to the No. 3 car’s aid. | Watch his interview

July 7: Ty Dillon‘s reaction to his brother’s wild wreck

Austin Dillon discusses his brother, Ty’s, reaction to the last-lap wreck at Daytona. | Hear what he said

July 7: Austin Dillon: ‘You feel like Superman’

Two days after the crash , Austin Dillon said that he was holding up well and feeling good. He said that he had seen the video multiple times and seen the replays. “It’s a wicked crash,” he said. | Read the full story

July 7: No Bull: Dillion explains post-wreck gesture

Austin Dillon had quite the grand entrance upon exiting his car after his emotional Daytona wreck and it left the public puzzled. He later explained his questionable gesture as a tribute to Lane Frost, who Dillon described as “one of the best bull riders of all time.” | Read the full story

July 7: O’Donnell: NASCAR looking at Dillon’s car

NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “The Morning Drive” and said that Dillon’s car and parts were at the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, where they were under investigation. | Read the full story 

July 8: Junior responds to Austin’s crash: ‘It’s an awful feeling’

Despite winning the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was more concerned about Austin Dillon than he was about celebrating in Vctory Lane. Junior admitted to being on the verge of tears the night of the wreck and wanted to make sure that everyone affected was OK. | Read the full story

July 8: 88 crew recalls frenzy to check on Dillon

Not only was Dale Earnhardt Jr. preoccupied with making sure that Austin was OK after the wreck but the entire No. 88 team was, as well. Junior’s team didn’t hold the typical post-race win celebration, but reacted with concern and worried emotions. | Read the full story

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NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee says No. 18 will battle for the title

RELATED: Timeline of Busch’s wreck and recovery

With three championships in four years (1995, ’97, ’98) as Jeff Gordon‘s crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports, Ray Evernham knows what it takes to win titles. On Tuesday, he said Kyle Busch will not only make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup but will contend for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Evernham made the prediction on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Busch has two wins in the last three races but sits 87 points out of 30th place, a spot he needs to reach to qualify for NASCAR’s postseason and a shot at his first premier series title. Evernham believes he’ll reach that goal and make a run at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

"I’ll tell you one of the things that gets great athletes to step up even more is when you take something away from them that they live for," Evernham said. "I know Kyle, and I know how hard he worked to get back in shape and to get things done. He met all those goals and made it back ahead of schedule.

"I told you that I thought he could win multiple races. He’s done that. I’m not going to go out on a limb again, but I am going to tell you that that 18 car will be one of the final four at Homestead. Mark my words."

In seven previous playoffs, Busch’s best finish was fourth in 2013, and he’s finished four of those Chase season in 10th or worse. But Evernham says Busch himself and Joe Gibbs Racing have evolved into contenders for the organization’s first Sprint Cup title since 2005 and fourth overall.

RELATED: France ‘would be surprised’ if Busch misses Chase

"I think he’s focused," Evernham said. "I like the things that (crew chief) Adam Stevens does. I like the way he thinks. And I really feel that is going to be one of the major stories at the end of the year.

"I know he knocked almost a third of the points that he needed to get to 30th the other day. And if they keep up that momentum, which I really believe they will, I’m going to tell you that 18 car is going to be in the final four."

In the first year of NASCAR’s elimination-style Chase, Busch was caught in a wreck at Talladega Superspeedway and failed to advance from the 12-driver Challenger Round to the eight racers who made the Eliminator Round. He finished the 2014 season in 10th place in the points standings. The NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee likes the No. 18 team’s chances to go all the way to the Championship 4 because the driver and JGR have raised their game and will benefit from some of NASCAR’s recent rules changes.

RELATED: What you need to know about the Chase

"I think there was a level of immaturity, there was a part of a level in Joe Gibbs’ own organization that had a lot of mechanical failures in the Chase whether that was with the 18 or the 11… whether it was sway bar issues or different things and I think those things are behind him," Evernham said. "I think the Joe Gibbs organization realized that stuff. They looked at it. I think Kyle Busch is way more mature than he was at that time. I think the Toyotas have started late and been building.

"Sometimes you’ve got to realize that they’re behind to pick up momentum, and some of these aerodynamic rule changes I believe are going to fall into a guy’s driving style where a guy has to drive the car more and it’s a more physical race. Saturday night (at Kentucky) I thought was a very physical race, and I just think that all those things fall right into line for Kyle Busch."

Evernham pointed to Busch’s reaction to finishing third in last Friday’s XFINITY Series race as a sign of his maturity and focus.

"I’m sure he would have loved to have won it, but it did what it was supposed to do: give him an education on what he needed to do to win Saturday night, and that to me is just as important or more important than running the XFINITY races," Evernham said.

Posted on by Staff Report

After months of repairs, LFR back home at site of May fire

Related: Shop fire sees Leavine move to Penske facility | Cleanup continues at LFR shop

After a fire significantly damaged the Leavine Family Racing shop in May, the team is finally back in its old stomping grounds after months of repair.

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For the past few months Leavine Family Racing has been operating out of the Team Penske headquarters in Mooresville, North Carolina after dealing with the aftermath of the May fire that caused some major damages to their shop.

Upon their return, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race team partnered with Monitronics Security, "one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing home security alarm monitoring companies," according to a team release.

Monitronics will outfit the shop with a new, state-of-the-art security and fire monitoring system and be featured as an associate on the team’s No. 95 Ford Fusion at Chicagoland Speedway in September, Charlotte Motor Speedway in October and Texas Motor Speedway in November.

The team, which fields the No. 95 Ford for driver Michael McDowell, has been a part-time competitor in NASCAR’s top division since 2011.

No one was hurt in the fire but the race cars weren’t so lucky. A total of four backup cars were damaged in the incident. 

The 14-person LFR team said that most of the damages were in a storage area in the rear of the building, which is where the backup cars and some uniforms were stored.

 

Posted on by Staff Report

Driver will return to the No. 13 Chevrolet in 2016

Casey Mears has signed a contract extension to keep him with Germain Racing for the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

Mears, 37, has been with Germain Racing since late in the 2010 season. During that time, he has one top-five finish and five top-10 finishes, all of which have come at restrictor-plate tracks.

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"I’m really happy to announce that Casey Mears is back in the No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS next year," team owner Bob Germain Jr. said in a release provided by the team. "He’s been an integral part of the team’s growth and success over the past 5 years and I am confident he can continue to help us move forward and reach our goals. We’ve come a long way as a team, and assembled a group of extremely talented people who enjoy working together. As the team owner, that’s really the thing I’m most proud of. And, of course, the long term support of GEICO has given us the stability we needed to make it all happen."

In his fifth full-time season with Germain, Mears is currently 20th in the Sprint Cup Series point standings.

"It’s really exciting to drive the No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS again in 2016," Mears said in a team release. "I think that it’s been a long time in the making here at Germain Racing, being competitive at the Cup level. It’s been a long process to get the GEICO program to where we are now. We are finally starting to see some of the benefits from all the hard work from the last four or five years. I’m very excited to carry on the GEICO relationship and to be a part of Germain Racing‘s continued growth."

In his 13 seasons in the sport’s top series, Mears has one win, which came in 2007 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600 with Hendrick Motorsports.

Posted on by Staff Report

Keep tabs on this weekend’s national series activity

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR XFINITY Series head to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this week. Here’s more info on how you can follow along all weekend.

RACES

Sprint Cup Series: 5-hour ENERGY 301 (Sunday, July 19, 1:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, PRN, SiriusXM)
XFINITY Series: Lakes Region 200 (Saturday, July 18, 4 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, PRN, SiriusXM)


 

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Click here for on-track times, press conferences, leaderboards and GarageCam.

RACE DAY

• NSCS leaderboard
• NXS leaderboard
• NSCS Lap-by-Lap
• NXS Lap-by-Lap
• NSCS live standings

PRODUCTS

• RaceBuddy: Through the remainder of the season, NASCAR RaceBuddy will feature two (2) alternate live action camera angles, along with up to six (6) in-car cameras with different driver selections for each Sprint Cup race and four (4) for XFINITY races.
• RaceView: Watch virtual video of cars on track and listen to the scanner.
• RaceView Mobile: On your phone? Try RaceView here.
• Scanner: In-car audio only.
• Mobile Apps: Follow the leaderboards live from your device.

NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA

Web stream: NBC Sports Live Extra
Mobile app: iOS/Android

NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs will provide racing fans with unparalleled interactive digital access to every NASCAR Sprint Cup series race, including exclusive camera angles, custom diver information, and insider track information.

•  Multi-view options that bring fans inside the race, combining NBC Sports Group’s race simulcast and alternative camera angles, ranging from in-car views to various key track locations. For the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on July 11, one specialty camera will offer an innovative speed shot from Turn 4, capturing the cars as they speed by.

• Dedicated full-view, on-board alternate cameras.

• Additional features on the desktop/laptop experience, bringing fans comprehensive race-day information to their fingertips, including:

        • Driver updates, cup standings, and biographies

        • Track infographics with key facts and history

NBC Sports Live Extra will stream NASCAR coverage on NBC and NBCSN via "TV Everywhere", giving consumers additional value to for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The NBC Sports Live Extra app is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store and Apple TV. For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra.

FANTASY

• NASCAR Fantasy Live: Set your lineups, check your progress
• Streak to the Finish: Play in all three national series

LIVE INTERVIEWS

PressPass: Watch exclusive post-race interviews.

Stay tuned to NASCAR.com throughout the weekend for the latest news.

Posted on by Staff Report

Veteran driver will pilot No. 20 Toyota before calling it a career

RELATED: Buy Iowa tickets | HERMAN UNPLUGGED: The retirement edition

Kenny Wallace will make the final start of his NASCAR career at Iowa Speedway in the U.S. Cellular 250 Presented by New Holland (Aug. 1, 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, MRN, SiriusXM).

The race at Iowa will mark the end of a 26-year NASCAR career and will also serve as his series-record 547th career start in the series. The veteran driver will go behind the wheel of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing at the short track. Wallace finished 23rd in the May race at Iowa and his race will be the third start of the season for the 51-year-old.

"To me, this isn’t a sad moment; I’m at a truly happy place in my life right now," Wallace said in a release from Rusty Wallace Incorporated. "After all, not too many guys get to have the privilege of being a NASCAR driver, especially for as long as I have. I really wanted to end my long career on a positive note and I’m very excited about our chances in Iowa. The No. 20 team is one of the best in the sport and I’m looking forward to having a chance to end my NASCAR career with a great finish. I really want to thank U.S. Cellular for helping me make that happen."

Wallace has made 344 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts in addition to 13 starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. However, all nine of his national series wins have come in the XFINITY Series. In 1991, Wallace finished as the runner-up in the standings for that series. Heading into the Iowa race, Wallace has completed the most laps in XFINITY Series history with 101,673.

On the Sprint Cup side, Wallace’s best finishes were a trio of runner-up showings at Loudon (in 1999), Talladega (in 2000) and Rockingham (in 2001).

In addition to still competing every so often, Wallace has served as a NASCAR analyst for FOX Sports, appearing on FOX Sports 1’s "NASCAR RaceDay" and "NASCAR Victory Lane" programs. He also does a "Herman Unplugged" feature, offering his opinions on the hot topics in the sport, for NASCAR Illustrated that appears on NASCAR.com.

"Growing up as a kid and watching my Dad race in Rolla, Missouri, I never dreamed that I’d have the chance to do what I’ve done in my life," Wallace said. "I’ve had a long and successful career and I’ve been able to support my family doing what I love. To me, it doesn’t get any better than that. I’m really proud of everything that I’ve been able to accomplish in NASCAR.

"I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to turn my NASCAR driving career into another career doing something else I love — that’s working with FOX Sports on television. Those guys have been great to me and I get a lot of happiness from being able to educate the fans about the sport that I love. I’m going to stay involved in the sport through TV and I’m going to stay behind the wheel in my dirt cars, too.

"You know, everyone experiences change at some point and I’m honestly looking forward to opening the next chapter in my life. As always, I promise that I’m going to have a lot of fun doing it."

The No. 20 XFINITY Series car has seen five drivers take turns behind the wheel this season for JGR. Erik Jones has made nine starts, while Matt Kenseth has made three, Denny Hamlin has made two and Ross Kenseth and David Ragan have each made one start in the car. Jones won at Texas, while Hamlin won at Richmond in the car for crew chief Mike Wheeler.

The No. 20 team enters the New Hampshire race weekend fourth in the owner standings for the XFINITY Series. Hamlin will pilot the car at the Magic Mile.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Analyzing what happened and where things go from here

RELATED: France: ‘Definitely an improvement’ | Drivers praise new rules package at Kentucky

Saturday night’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race with a new, lower-downforce rules package prompted almost as many questions as it answered at Kentucky Speedway, but in a good way. Based on its early reviews, the opening act could lead to potentially much wider use later this season and beyond.
 
The blight of frequent rain severely curtailed practice time on the 1.5-mile track, making a small sample size even smaller before the rules package’s race-time application in the Quaker State 400. Despite the scheduling difficulties, the weekend was capped by the most compelling intermediate-track race of the season.

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What was learned? What’s next? Who benefited the most? Measuring outcomes or making predictions from Saturday night’s show isn’t an easy task, one that would benefit from the help of a Magic 8-Ball to provide the answers.
 
With that, let’s give it a shake:

It is decidedly so: Passing increased — a lot. What the package yielded was the most competitive event in the track’s history, based on the number of lead changes and widespread passing — more than double that in the previous year’s Kentucky race — throughout the pack. Chalk some of the statistics up to a track-record 11 caution periods and the frantic restarts — with three- and four-wide racing — that followed, but the rules package deserves the bulk of the credit.

You may rely on it: Separation was still prevalent once drivers settled into a green-flag run, but the advantages of undisturbed "clean air" for a leading car was not nearly as pronounced. The decreased downforce prevented cars from being glued to the race track, placing an emphasis on driver control. With that factor at a premium and perfectly consistent lap times not easy to achieve, overtaking came more into play.

Ask again later: The next stop for the reduced-downforce package comes Sept. 6 at Darlington Raceway, but with what’s expected to be a crucial variable — a softer tire. Goodyear’s production run of Kentucky tires was already complete by the time last weekend’s rules change was announced, preventing a more exact match. By getting the downforce and tire compounds in sync for Labor Day weekend, the verdict on the rules package may be even more conclusive.

MORE: Several tracks to see new rules packages in 2015

Cannot predict now: Are further changes coming? Could the package be used in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs? Possibly. Some crew chiefs expressed that NASCAR could go even further in chopping downforce, but that more will be learned with the softer tire compound at Darlington. As for the Chase, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said last week that, "all options for us are still on the table." A rules change for the playoffs could be considered drastic, but the precedent for making bold moves has already been set midseason at Kentucky.

RELATED: NASCAR executive discusses Kentucky rules package

Outlook good: Two teams stood out from the rest in benefiting from the new package — Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske. Their half-dozen cars made a clean sweep of the top six, leading all but five laps Saturday night. Race winner Kyle Busch was the most dominant, setting the pace for 163 of the 267 laps, but the show of strength didn’t dampen the quality of the racing, both up front and in the pack.

Reply hazy, try again: For whatever reason, Chevrolet teams in general struggled to find the right combination. Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon drove the top-finishing Chevy to seventh place in his last Kentucky start.

Don’t count on it: NASCAR innovation standing pat? Not in this new era, where the decision-makers in the sanctioning body’s R&D center actively seek feedback from drivers, whether in an organized council or otherwise. Their willingness to adapt and change injected life into Saturday night’s racing, and the promise of track-specific packages offers even more potential.

Signs point to yes: Based on the reaction of most drivers and most fans through social media, Saturday’s race may best be remembered as a key building block to an improved on-track product on intermediate-sized tracks. Third-place finisher Denny Hamlin may have stated it best: "This is what race car driving’s all about. And I feel like now it’s back in the driver and crew chief’s hands to get their car handling like it’s supposed to, not just an arms race of who builds the fastest cars in the shop."