Posted on by Kathy Sheldon

RELATED: NSCS ready to race in the rain

Most NASCAR drivers cringe at the sight of rain in the forecast. Not this weekend. At least not Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The No. 88 driver wants to put on the Goodyear radials and fire up those windshield wipers at Watkins Glen.

“There’s a lttle rain in the forecast for Watkins Glen. I know it’s early, but that would be crazy,” he said on the Dale Jr. Download on Dirty Mo Radio after returning from Sunday’s race at Pocono. “I’ve never raced in the rain and a lot of guys haven’t and I’m excited about that opportunity to do that. That would be fun.”

Several current Sprint Cup drivers have run a bit in the rain. The rain tires came out for the 2008 NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Steve Wallace all finished in the top 10 of that race, won by road course specialist Ron Fellows, who was driving for JR Motorsports.

 

“I’ve run the 24 hours of Daytona in the rain but never drove a big, heavy stock car around a track in the rain. I’m anxious to do that, to be honest with you.”

Junior raced in that rainy 24 Hours of Daytona in 2004 on a team with Tony Stewart and Andy Wallace, a British racer, piloting a Chevrolet-powered Crawford.

After that event he said, “I love it. I was looking forward to driving in the rain. I spun it out there once, but I held my position, and that’s all I care about.”

The Wallace-Stewart-Earnhardt Jr. team finished fifth.

Posted on by Holly Cain

Dillon on ‘Today’ show: sore but recovering well, upset by Ty’s dismay

RELATED: Austin Dillon in his own words about crash

Insisting he didn’t have so much as a headache 24 hours after a heart-stoppingly wild crash on the last lap of Monday morning’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, Austin Dillon spoke with the national media Tuesday morning having had a day to collect his thoughts and count his blessings.

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Dillon said he’s watched multiple video views and replays of his crash since, ”I took a shower, cooled down and I was like, ‘all right, here we go, let’s start watching ’em.’ ”

His No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevy was hit during a final lap green-white-checkered final run to the checkered flag and launched upward over two lines of cars and into the catch-fence in front of the frontstretch grandstands. After hitting the fencing, Dillon’s car repelled back on track upside down and was hit again by the spinning car of Brad Keselowski. Dillon’s car finally came to rest on a paved portion of the infield track between the end of pit road and the frontstretch; its still-smoking engine landed 20 yards or so away from the crumpled car.

Crew members left their pit road positions and ran over to Dillon’s car to offer aid. After a few gut-wrenching minutes, Dillon emerged and walked away on his own, stopping to wave to the crowd with both hands overhead.

The Speedway evaluated 14 fans in the grandstands for possible injury. Eight of them declined any treatment, one was transported to a local hospital in good condition.

"I watched a lot of videos and just watching it in live speed, it is violent looking,” Dillon said. "It’s a wicked crash."

RELATED: Dillon Shaken, but OK after massive wreck

The cord connecting Dillon’s radio to his team for communication ripped off during the various impacts. He could hear his team — including his grandfather, the team owner Richard Childress — ask repeatedly if he was OK but he had no way to communicate back and reassure them.

"I think it was way worse for everyone at home watching and for him [Childress] watching it,” Dillon said. "The worst part for family members is you want to let them know you’re OK after a wreck through the radio. I could hear them, but they couldn’t hear me so it was one of those deals where I knew they were upset and I felt bad because I couldn’t get to them.

"I was saying ‘I’m OK, I’m OK,’ but it wasn’t going through and I could hear in their voice how scared they were. Luckily, the guys had gotten there fast enough and gave everyone the thumbs up to let them know that I was fine.”

Perhaps most upsetting to Dillon was the eventual reaction from his younger brother, 23-year-old XFINITY Series racer Ty Dillon, who was home watching the race on television.

"When I talked to my brother, it was another level because he was upset and hearing him on the phone upset, it was like, ‘Man, I’m going to have to watch this,’ because he’s a tough guy and to hear him be upset about it and worried about me, it was like, ‘All right I need to look at this wreck.’ I did and you can see where a guy watching it from home not knowing how I was and the pit crew kind of running out to the car, it was pretty dramatic right there for 38 seconds or so. 

"But I feel like it was the safety that made it possible for me to be here today.”

Dillon, who finished seventh in the race, said except for a sore tailbone and groin, he was remarkably fine considering the seriousness of the accident. He said he immediately thanked the team shop guys for "keeping all the bolts tight" on the car and said the carbon fiber seat and his own fitness level made a big difference in the positive outcome.

He also credited the safety improvements both NASCAR and the various tracks have made since the last driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing entry, Dale Earnhardt, was tragically killed racing on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

"The way I look at it is I think from what I’ve learned from those crashes, for instance, what happened to Dale, our sport has taken a whole turn of 360 degrees and it’s all about safety and we’ve been able to learn from our mistakes in the past and that’s what you have to do,” Dillon said.

"You have to learn from history and develop and innovate new ways to make our sport safe. And technology has come a long way."

RELATED: France: ‘Working to make racing safer and better’

But, Dillon said he expects more to be learned from his incident, too, with more immediate remedies if necessary.

"The drivers themselves would like to see things done to make our cars stay on the ground,” Dillon said. "No one wants to see them put in the air and everybody wants to still walk away from wrecks like that.

"The good part is our cars are safe. It did its job. But I think we can keep things on the ground moving forward.

"For me, I think we can make subtle adjustments to improve by Talladega (the next restrictor plate race, Oct. 25). I’m not sure what they’ll be. I don’t know if we have to come back with the same package, but I’ll be ready for it. I think all the drivers will be, too."

Dillon started his day on Tuesday as a guest on NBC’s "Today" show, taking tough questions from host Matt Lauer about the dangers of restrictor plate racing. But the 25-year-old handled the line of questioning well.

Lauer reminded him that veterans such as Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon were adamantly critical of the situation, voicing strong opinions after the race.

RELATED: Drivers react to wreck | Dale Jr: ‘It scared the (expletive) out of me’

"I have to make my own opinion, first of all,” Dillon said. "I have a lot of respect for NASCAR and the drivers. Going through something like that, there’s other drivers that have gone through wrecks similar.

"This is probably one of the most violent ones, obviously, and I feel like my opinion is I’m here today, talking to you guys and right now my groin is a little sore and my tailbone is a little sore but other than that, my head and my neck, which is the most important to me, I have no headache.

"I think it’s pretty impressive to see how far we’ve come after learning from other wrecks. … the roof — like like the cage itself — held up well. The catchfence did its job. It kicked things back into the track where we needed to.

"A lot of things have innovated to make everybody still safe today. Luckily the fans are all in good shape. We’re obviously going to probably enhance more safety after this and we’ll keep developing as our sport grows.”

Asked several times in different ways if — after this experience — he was still confident and comfortable suiting up for another round of speedway racing, Dillon consistently responded that he was.

"For me, I try and put it in the back of my head, forget about it and move on,” Dillon said. "You have to be able to move on and trust in the safety equipment. Like I said, if I can take a lick like that and feel as good as I do right now, I feel like I can do anything.

"You feel like Superman."

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee to leave SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

NASCAR Hall of Famer Buddy Baker announced Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that he has lung cancer and will be leaving the network’s "Late Shift" and "Tradin’ Paint" shows.

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Last November, Baker was treated for what he thought was a rotator cuff injury. During an operation on his shoulder, doctors realized the true cause of his pain.

"As they started to really get inside me, the problems, the pain was getting worse and worse and worse," Baker said. "They went, ‘Wait a minute, what is this on the righthand side here?’ And they said, ‘My God, it’s a huge tumor’ in my lung."

Known as the "Gentle Giant" at 6 feet, 6 inches tall, the towering figure on and off the track joined co-host Brad Gillie to deliver the news to his listeners and express his gratitude for their love and support.

"Basically I started then realizing what a blessed person I’ve been as far as being able to be with my family, which is the racing family," Baker said. "Watch three or four generations of drivers and compete against at least three of them myself. And the great friends I’ve made through Sirius."

Blessed with a gift for storytelling, Baker spun a tale about the conversation he had with his doctor about the prognosis for his inoperable cancer.

"But there comes a time, just like in my racing career, there comes a time when you talk to the doctor, and you say, ‘What are my chances?’"

"There’s a dead silence."

"’How long?’"

"’Well, we don’t own the hotel so we don’t know when you check out, but it’s something that we cannot fix.’"

The 74-year-old broadcaster said he couldn’t continue to produce the high quality of work required of a SiriusXM NASCAR Radio host — using a analogy coined by a NASCAR Hall of Famer — but he’ll continue to live his life away from the microphone and be a fan of the network.

"What you hear right now, it’s kind of like Bobby Allison said one day," Baker said. "He started out as an 8 cylinder, and I’m a 6 cylinder now. Well, I’m about a 4 1/2 cylinder. By golly, what I have left works."

Son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Buck Baker, "Leadfoot" was at his best in the big races. Of his 19 wins in 699 starts in NASCAR’s premier series from 1959 to 1992, he captured the 1970 Southern 500, 1980 Daytona 500 and back-to-back World 600s in 1972 and 1973. He became the first driver to break the 200 mph barrier on a closed course while testing at Talladega Superspeedway in 1970. In 1998, NASCAR recognized Baker as one of the sport’s 50 greatest drivers.

The 1972 World 600 win came during a two-year stint where he drove for Petty Enterprises. The Petty family issued a statement on Wednesday that read: "Buddy has been a part of the NASCAR family for a long, long time, and he’s also a part of our family. He raced with us, shared his stories with us and became our friend. Our thoughts and prayers are with Buddy and his family at this time."

Moving from the cockpit to the TV booth, Baker served as a commentator for The Nashville Network and CBS before joining SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. He compared leaving broadcasting to retiring from racing.

"I think I retired five different times," Baker said. "Why? Because you build this trust and love for a sport that I don’t care what anybody tells you, there is no other form of auto racing in the world that can entertain and bring the stars that we have in our sport.

"And to have a long career like I’ve had, do not shed a tear. Give a smile when you say my name."

Posted on by Staff Report

R&D Center poring over data that came through in Daytona wreck

MORE: Dillon discusses how he is feeling | Exclusive video of wreck, 88 crew reacts

On Tuesday, the sports world was still buzzing about Austin Dillon‘s spectacular wreck on the last lap of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Meanwhile, NASCAR was busy investigating the incident for potential safety improvements.



NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s "The Morning Drive" and explained some of the processes that were taking place in reaction to the wreck, which Dillon walked away from after waving to fans to signal that he was OK.

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O’Donnell said Dillon’s car and all the parts were at the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, where they were under investigation.


"The incident data recorder that we have will give us over 10,000 samples per second of that incident, and that goes for 20 seconds," O’Donnell said. "(The people at R&D) are going to be poring over that data, looking at what improvements we can make from the car. Two things you never want to see, how did it get up in the air and how did it get into the fence. Both of those we need to work on, and we are doing that."



O’Donnell said NASCAR also was concerned with the debris that entered the grandstand. Thirteen spectators were seen at the track after the accident. Eight declined treatment, four were treated at the track and one spectator was taken to a nearby hospital, treated and later released.



"And the second piece (of the investigation) is what can we do from a technology standpoint to keep any debris from going into the grandstand," O’Donnell said. "We know this is an inherently dangerous sport, but the fans go there to be entertained. So what we can do to lead in this area and come up with some new technology that will benefit the sport and especially the race track."



O’Donnell also was asked whether NASCAR planned any penalties for the crew members who rushed onto the track and went to check on Dillon.



"Nobody is going to be penalized," O’Donnell said. "We took some hard cards, and the reason for that is we want to have some conversations with those folks. Listen, we all applaud everybody who wants to run to a scene and help out. That’s something that I think is really cool about our industry in terms of people caring about their fellow athletes.



"We just want to talk about the safety aspect of it. We have got to dispatch our safety equipment; those folks are experts and to be able to get to Austin as quickly as possible, assess the scene. Any second we can’t do that because the car might be surrounded is a challenge."


O’Donnell addressed a couple of other topics during the radio show.



On what went into the decision to run the race Sunday night instead of Monday, O’Donnell said:



"I know Brian (France) said it, 10:45-to-11:15 we thought we’d back with green flag racing. We missed that a little bit. Definitely started a little later than we had hoped or wanted, but when you looked in the stands and how many people remained for the race, big night for NBC, folks had been there for a long, long time, we thought it was in our best interest, knowing it was a work day the next day, to try to get that in if there was any way possible."



And finally on whether the Coke Zero 400 would ever go back to being a daytime event:



"I don’t think so, the sport is so big now and there are so many partners that are involved. I think that worked for a time, and that was neat. I’ve lived in Florida for a long time and the showers are usually one hour and out of here. (The weather) was a bit unusual Sunday night. That’s a huge opportunity for us, for the fans who come, for our television partners, it was a big moment for the sport to be able to race on Sunday night. We have to take those opportunities when we can if we want to continue to grow the sport."

Posted on by Staff Report

Keep tabs on this weekend’s national series activity

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series all head to Kentucky Speedway this week. Here’s more info on how you can follow along all weekend.

RACES

Sprint Cup Series: Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts (Saturday, July 11, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM)
XFINITY Series: Kentucky XFINITY Series 30 (Friday, July 10, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, MRN, SiriusXM)
Camping World Truck Series: UNOH 225 (Thursday, July 9, 7:30 p.m. FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM)

 

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

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

RACE DAY

• NSCS leaderboard
• NXS leaderboard
• NCWTS leaderboard
• NSCS Lap-by-Lap
• NXS Lap-by-Lap
• NCWTS 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.

FOX SPORTS GO

The Camping World Truck Series UNOH 225 will be available through FOX Sports GO; which is an online and mobile streaming product that allows subscribers of participating TV providers to watch live sports and shows from FOX, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2 and FOX Deportes.  FOX Sports GO is currently available for download on iTunes for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices or can be accessed online at FOXSportsGO.com. The app is also available via Google Play, Kindle Fire and from the Windows Store.

Access to programming in FOX Sports GO requires a pay TV subscription of FOX Sports 1 with a participating TV provider. Login credentials are the same username and password used to access online accounts with your TV provider. 

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

Cars will feature yellow windshield header, spoiler, valance and logo

BUY: Chase die-cast cars

Teams who make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup will sport a special paint scheme for the second consecutive season. The teams provided feedback after the inaugural season with the new look and NASCAR has made adjustments based on those suggestions.

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Along with a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup logo and rounds (Challenger, Contender, Eliminator or Championship), taking the place of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series logo and NASCAR racecar decal, cars eligible for NASCAR’s playoffs will be highlighted in Chase yellow.

The windshield header, front valance and — new for 2015 — rear spoiler of each of the cars will carry the color. In 2014, the roof number was Sprint yellow as well, but the teams will keep their regular paint scheme atop their cars.

Chase-eligible drivers also will receive a unique Winner decal for each win they accumulate during the Chase rounds.

RELATED: Chase Grid

Through the first 16 races of the season, 10 drivers have all but clinched spots in the 10-race championship battle. In Chase Grid order, those drivers are six-time champion Jimmie Johnson, reigning champion Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2004 champion Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., 2012 champion Brad Keselowski, 2003 champion Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards.

BUY: Chicagoland tickets

The first race of The Chase and the first chance to see the special schemes will be at Chicagoland Speedway on Sept. 20 (3 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, MRN, SiriusXM).

Posted on by Nascar

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Darlington, Indianapolis, Michigan, Richmond join Kentucky in seeing changes

RELATED: Tech Talk: Lots to be learned at Kentucky

A low downforce rules package similar to that scheduled for use by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams this weekend at Kentucky Speedway will be run in September at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, according to Steve O’Donnell, Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer for the sanctioning body.

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In addition, teams will compete with a higher drag rules package at both Indianapolis Motor Speedway later this month as well as Michigan International Speedway in August.

This weekend’s Kentucky aero package features a shorter spoiler (reduced from 6 inches to 3-1/2 inches) and a splitter extension panel (radiator pan) reduction from 38 inches to 25 inches. The splitter will have 1-3/4 inches less overhang that what has previously been used this season.

Combined, the aero changes are expected to lessen the amount of downforce on the cars by approximately 1,000 pounds.

Teams have a four-hour extended practice scheduled for Wednesday at Kentucky to acclimate themselves to the new package.

"The ideal package for us is matching the tire with lower downforce, and when we looked at the schedule, the most ideal venue for that was Darlington, so we feel like we have the lead time for Goodyear to come in and build that specific tire, so that’s why we moved forward on the Darlington package," O’Donnell said.

While the Darlington setup will be similar to that slated for this weekend’s Quaker State 400, there are differences. The spoiler will be 3-1/2 (instead of 3 inches) inches and the splitter will feature a 1/4-inch leading edge. There is no change in the size of the splitter extension panel (25 inches).

Although the tires used this weekend at Kentucky were not tested at the 1.5-mile track with the lower downforce platform during an April tire test, Goodyear officials were able to determine a tire for the Darlington package during a one-day test last week with drivers Tony Stewart (Stewart-Haas Racing), Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Brad Keselowski (Team Penske).

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

Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon set the track qualifying record at Michigan last year with a lap of 206.558 mph. The high drag package scheduled for use is expected to slow speeds by nearly 10 mph.

"You’ll see some significant mile‑per‑hour differences," O’Donnell said. "That’ll change depending on single-car (runs) and the draft, but I think we’re looking at over 200 (mph) before and kind of the 191 range that we’d be looking at now."

Gordon was asked about high-drag changes for this past weekend while at Daytona International Speedway.

"I think it is obvious to all of us that (Indy) is one of the hardest places we have to pass," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said.

"I think we are all in favor of trying a low downforce package and we want to try the opposite of that; I think Indy and Michigan are good tracks to try that out. We will just have to see what happens. …

"If we can get the speeds right, then what it is going to do is create a really massive hole in the air for you to draft up to down the straightaway. Those are long straightaways at both of those tracks. The question is still what is going to happen when you are behind another car through a corner.

"The magic is there, we just have to figure out how to pull it off."

Indy is a 2.5-mile track while MIS is a 2-mile venue.

O’Donnell said additional track time would be added to the race-weekend schedule at those venues affected by the rules changes.

"There won’t be earlier test dates (at the individual tracks)," he said. "It’ll be built into the race weekend like Kentucky. … Michigan you can see us add an hour, hour and a half practice time. Same thing around Indy."

There are no scheduled aero changes for the upcoming race at Richmond International Raceway, the final race before the start of this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, however Goodyear will not return with a multi-zone tread compound tire that had been used there recently.

"I think all of this shows that we remain committed to putting the best racing on in the world, and each of these, including Kentucky this weekend, I think shows everybody that we’ve got several components that make up a rules package each week, and they can certainly be adjusted, and we will do that if we can do something that we believe will improve the racing for the fans at each track," O’Donnell said.

The changes are not currently scheduled for use at any tracks hosting Chase races.

Posted on by Nascar

News and notes from around the garage

RELATED: New rules for Darlington, 3 more tracks this season

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. said a lot will be learned from this weekend’s race at Kentucky Speedway, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver doesn’t expect the different aero package to "reveal a lot of obvious answers on the way we need to go."
 
The Kentucky package will feature a shorter spoiler as well as changes to the splitter and splitter extension panel (radiator pan), moves that will lessen the amount of downforce on the cars by approximately 1,000 pounds, and, it is hoped, create an improved product on the track.

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Earnhardt, speaking Saturday at Daytona International Speedway, said not having a tire to match up with the low downforce package is the issue.
 
Sprint Cup Series teams will compete in the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts on Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).
 
"The tire is a bit better, but not quite enough," he said. "I think that is understood amongst NASCAR, ourselves and Goodyear. The Kentucky weekend won’t be a weekend we take a ton of stock in as far as what this package is really going to be able to lend us and if it would work somewhere else."
 
Goodyear officials already had produced the 2,200 tires needed for Kentucky before the decision to use the low downforce package was finalized. The tire that will be used does have more grip but was not used specifically with this package when teams tested there in April.
 
Steve O’Donnell, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer for NASCAR, told SiriusXM NASCAR that officials believe the change will be effective for the 1.5-mile track.
 
"We’re going to look at the measurements we look at every day: were there more passes, who was able to compete, how did the field look throughout the race, obviously fan measurements post-race," he said.

Goodyear Prepped for Darlington
 
Goodyear officials returned to Darlington Raceway on June 30 for a one-day tire test featuring NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars running a low downforce package related to that which is being used this weekend at Kentucky.
 
Three drivers — Tony Stewart (Stewart-Haas Racing), Brad Keselowski (Team Penske) and Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing) — took part in the test at the 1.366-mile track.
 
"The goal was to evaluate the low downforce package, similar to what is going to be run at Kentucky, and see if we couldn’t match a tire to that package," Greg Stucker, Director of Race Tire Sales for Goodyear, said Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.
 
"When I say match, I mean replace aero grip with mechanical grip. Try to basically do it one for one and we feel like we did that. It was between three quarters of a second and a second slower just with aero downforce reduction and we feel like we gave about three-fourths to a second back. That was our goal, to do it one for one."
 
Tuesday, NASCAR’s Steve O’Donnell announced that a low-downforce package would indeed be used at Darlington.

However, the changes doesn’t mirror those being used this weekend at Kentucky — the spoiler will be 3-1/2 inches instead of 3-inches and the splitter will have a 1/4-inch leading edge.

The tire tested at Darlington features a softer compound as well as a construction change. Stucker said it was similar to the Kentucky right-side tire and the left-side tire used at Indianapolis.
 
"I think the drivers felt like they had plenty of grip," Stucker said. "We got them together about noon and made sure that it seemed like we were moving in the right direction … we left there feeling pretty good about our part of it. I think wear might be up a little bit with a softer package … but you would expect that."

Infractions Aplenty at Daytona
 
There were a season-high 65 penalties doled out during Sunday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, with the majority (35) for pitting before pit road was open.
 
That infraction isn’t unusual when multi-car crashes leave plenty of cars with damaged sheet metal, which definitely was the case at Daytona.
 
The overall total eclipsed the previous high mark of 43 set earlier this year at Martinsville Speedway.

Posted on by Nascar

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Jimmie Johnson said there is nothing unusual about his latest contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports and that the new, two-year deal mirrors that of primary sponsor Lowe’s.

Hendrick Motorsports officials announced two-year extensions, to run through 2017, with Johnson and Lowe’s on Monday. It was mentioned in the announcement that crew chief Chad Knaus had previously signed an extension to remain with the team through 2018.

Johnson, participating in an open test for Sprint Cup Series teams Wednesday at Kansas Speedway, said his contract is through ’17 but that it does not include a third-year option. That doesn’t mean it’s his last contract, however.

“Not that I’m aware of,” he said.

 

“Mine is a two-year deal and it parallels the Lowe’s extension,” he said. “I think the number has created some concern or questions among fans but my contracts have always really paralleled the length of time that the sponsor’s contract has been there.

“People can speculate, good or bad or whatever … there’s really nothing behind it. I’ve got two more years and hopefully in a year or so we will re-up with Lowe’s once again and extend longer.”

 

Lowe’s has been the primary sponsor of the No. 48 Chevrolet since Johnson moved into Sprint Cup competition in 2002.

Johnson, who turns 40 on Sept. 17, is attempting to become just the third driver in the history of the Sprint Cup Series to win seven championships, a mark currently held by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. He is the only driver to win five consecutive titles (2006-10), and his 74 career victories is just two shy of Earnhardt’s 76 career total.

The re-signing of Knaus didn’t have any bearing on his own contract talks with team owner Rick Hendrick, according to Johnson.

“No, ideally we wanted everything done and together and announced at the Lowe’s industry meeting that takes place in January,” he said. “So (by) January ’15 we wanted to have that done.

“The contract did change a little bit between Rick and I, and with the automotive side it just took a while to get everything in place for that.”

Auto dealership ownership, similar to that done with teammate Jeff Gordon earlier in his career, was reportedly a part of the latest contract extension.

“They got Chad’s done and out of the way and finally got mine done,” he said. “Once we got busy racing, we were focused on racing and forgot about the contract because we’re all three so secure with our situation.

“To be honest, it’s just a very casual situation — sponsor, team, driver, I think we all feel highly committed together … it just happened a little later than … what we had in mind.”

Hendrick Motorsports teams have won 11 premier series championships and 237 races since debuting in NASCAR in 1984.

In addition to Johnson, the organization, located in Concord, N.C., also fields Sprint Cup Series entries for drivers Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne.

Gordon, a four-time series champion, will retire from driving at the end of 2015 and will be replaced by defending NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott.

Earnhardt Jr. is signed through the ’17 season, Kahne through ’18.

Johnson, Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon are among this year’s 16 drivers competing in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, which kicks off this weekend with the myAFibRisk.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).