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Bruce: ‘NASCAR exists today because of them’

Quietly, they slip through the cracks of NASCAR like some long-forgotten track, unnoticed by many of today’s fans, with names that fail to stir memories of fantastic finishes or incredible accomplishments.

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You probably won’t find them on highlight reels, unless it’s in the background. The Hall of Fame hasn’t come calling.

But the contributions of drivers such as Jabe Thomas and Jim Vandiver, small as they may seem to some, were just as important to NASCAR during their time in the sport as the contributions of the better known, more successful drivers they competed against.

For every Petty or Allison, Yarborough, Baker or Pearson, there was a Thomas and Vandiver, an Arrington and a McDuffie. Through the years, generations have come and gone. Success in NASCAR followed some while turning a cold shoulder to others. But still they came.

Thomas, father of former Rookie of the Year Ronnie Thomas, passed away June 4. His career as a driver in NASCAR’s premier series lasted 14 years, and while it produced no wins, Thomas, a Christiansburg, Virginia, native, did finish eighth or better in the points standings for four consecutive years.

RELATED: Jabe Thomas passes away at 85

Vandiver, who called Huntersville, North Carolina, home, passed away last week at the age of 75. He, too, competed for 14 seasons, but never on a full-time basis. His record shows only 85 career starts during his time in NASCAR. In 1972, Vandiver started a career best 16 races; there were 31 on that season’s schedule.

But in 1969, he led 102 laps en route to a runnerup finish at Talladega Superspeedway, back when it was known as Alabama International Motor Speedway.

Turns out it was one of the most pivotal races ever contested by the sanctioning body.

When the series’ top stars of the day deemed the new 2.66-mile track unsafe for competition, they withdrew. It’s been the only time in the history of NASCAR that drivers have boycotted an event en masse.

Vandiver chose to stick around. He piloted a 1969 Dodge fielded by owner Ray Fox and in his first Grand National start on a superspeedway, he finished second to Richard Brickhouse.

But it wasn’t just the Talladega result that etched Vandiver’s name in that often-overlooked segment of NASCAR lore. Nor the top-10 points finishes for Thomas, impressive as they were.

It was because of the efforts and appearances of such fiercely independent drivers that the sport was able to keep churning forward. NASCAR needed traction, and they were there to help supply it.

They were drivers who relished the opportunity to compete against the bigger, often factory-backed teams of the day. They raced against them at Daytona and Talladega, Charlotte and Atlanta. And they raced against them at lesser-known stops as well — places like Macon and Montgomery, Hillsville and Islip, too.

Thomas and Vandiver were just two of many who could be counted on to show up, maybe under-funded and over-matched, but they showed up just the same. There would be a race, and whenever possible, they would be there, lined up and hoping for the best.

Of the 184 drivers who have posted at least one victory in NASCAR’s premier series, 60 never won more than once. It’s likely that hundreds of others had careers that never saw a single trip to the winner’s circle.

That didn’t make them any less worthy of recognition then and it doesn’t make them any less worthy now. Drivers such as Richard Petty and Bobby Allison and David Pearson went on to become legends in the sport, but they did so with the help of guys like Thomas, Vandiver and a host of others.

NASCAR’s history is filled with them. And lest we forget, NASCAR exists today because of them.

They weren’t household names. They were racers. And thank goodness for that.

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NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola and Jessica Ruffin debate the proposal

NASCAR makes its annual trip out west to California wine country this weekend when the Sprint Cup Series hits up Sonoma Raceway for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350. As such, with so much focus and excitement surrounding last season’s revamped Chase for the Sprint Cup, it’s time to ask if the excitement can be elevated once more — by adding a road course such as Sonoma to the Chase.

In the latest Head-to-Head, Pat DeCola and Jessica Ruffin offer their views on this controversial matter, and thankfully they keep things civil. Mostly. Read their opinions, then duke it out for yourself in the comments section below.

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DeCola: Hey Jessica, I want to apologize in advance for disproving all of your points. You gave it a good effort, but it’s pretty clear — there should absolutely, positively, without a doubt be a road course race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Otherwise, what would be the point of having two during the regular season? It’s not like Major League Baseball plays 162 regular-season games on a big-league field, then decides to play the World Series at Williamsport when the Little Leaguers are done with it.

Ruffin: Tell me how you really feel, Pat! You make a valid point in that there are two road courses in the regular season, so putting one in the Chase is a fair suggestion. But I’m going to have to disagree. First of all, the 10 tracks in the Chase aren’t Little League-caliber, so I don’t believe it’s fair to say that the Sprint Cup Series downgrades by not throwing a road course into the championship mix — you’ve got tracks like Talladega, Martinsville and Dover and none of those are for the faint of heart. To add to that, which track would you take out to make room for a road course? Because to me, that would be the biggest problem. Unless you plan on adding another race to the championship schedule — or moving either Watkins Glen or Sonoma regular-season events to the championship run, I can’t imagine any of the Chase tracks would be happy about giving up their coveted slot on the schedule to another venue.

DeCola: Oh, no they definitely wouldn’t be happy. But you know who would be? Kyle Busch, if say, his annual postseason spoiler Kansas Speedway was magically removed from the Chase and replaced with Watkins Glen, where he has two wins and is among his best tracks. Eight out of the 10 races in the Chase are at venues that already held a Cup event earlier in the year (nine if you want to count Chicagoland’s XFINITY Series standalone). Meanwhile, Sonoma comes while people are gearing up for their big Fourth of July getaways and Watkins Glen lands in early August when people are either vacationing or spending their weekends going back-to-school shopping. (Suggestion for fans: Watch the race while you shop at the NASCAR Superstore!) Giving the added wrinkle of road course racing during the stretch of the season when more eyes are focused on NASCAR just seems like a smart move.

Ruffin: Don’t get me wrong — I would love an excuse to travel to the wine country of Sonoma in the fall! Having a road course race during the Chase would yield higher audiences than its regular-season slots, no doubt. But if we’re going to get specific with drivers, let’s talk the fan favorite: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junior is well-known for having a dislike of road courses and would likely be unhappy with that Chase addition. Lucky for the No. 88, road courses only make up less than 10 percent of the of the 26-race regular season. This entails that road course races don’t really represent the Sprint Cup season as a whole, making their addition to the Chase questionable. In the past 50 races at road course tracks, there have only been seven instances where the future champion that year has taken the checkered. That’s because these events sometimes reward the best open-wheel racer — rather than the most skilled stock car wheelman — in Victory Lane.

DeCola: While I agree with you that in the past, adding a road course to the Chase — which is still only a decade old, mind you — may not have made the most sense given that they lent themselves to being more geared toward drivers with open-wheel backgrounds, that’s no longer the case. Drivers are becoming more well-rounded overall — including Earnhardt, who finished third at Sonoma last year — and it’d be cool to see every track configuration NASCAR races at represented in the Chase. Not only that, we’re no longer seeing the large amount of ‘ringers’ brought in for road course races because of the emphasis put on winning to get into the Chase, giving smaller teams a shot. What’s the point of having a driver like AJ Allmendinger race his heart out to get in with a win at Watkins Glen — arguably one of the top moments of the 2014 season — just to give him no shot at a title because the type of course he excels at isn’t included? One of the biggest appeals of the new Chase format is that any driver in the top 30 in points can get in with a win. It creates excitement and builds names. If they’re given a fighting chance in the postseason, it’s good for the sport.

Ruffin: Road courses are exciting — they’re tough and make for interesting playgrounds for the drivers during the regular season. But that’s where they need to stay. We already have one wild-card, crapshoot-style track with Talladega in the Chase and the nature of a road course has the potential to go that route. With the championship being divided into playoff-style rounds, a win for any eligible driver during that time solidifies their advancement to the next round. You’re right — AJ Allmendinger gave an impressive performance at Watkins Glen last season, gaining his first career Cup win in 242 starts and a Chase spot. But he fell out the first round because he couldn’t keep up with the rest of the championship contenders in the non-road-course races. Putting one in the Chase increases the odds that someone who primarily excels at road courses sneaks in — and takes the spot of someone who has proven they can race at a variety of tracks. Drivers like Jeff Gordon — the all-time road course leader — are able to perform at all types of venues and can win a championship with or without a Chase road course. A true Sprint Cup champion should be well-rounded and versatile enough that they don’t need a road course in the Chase to be given a fighting chance — they’ve got 10 chances on 10 other tracks to get it done. That being said, if NASCAR does put a road course in the Chase, I admit I’ll be tuning in — exciting nature of road courses, plus the Chase, equals plenty of racing thrills!

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Changes to take effect immediately for both teams

Ty Dillon, currently second in the NASCAR XFINITY Series points standings, will have a new crew chief calling the shots for his team when the series returns to action next week at Daytona International Speedway.

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Nick Harrison, previously crew chief for the Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet, will now be heading up Dillon’s No. 3 team. Harrison replaces Danny Stockman, who will move over to RCR’s No. 33 entry that has featured Austin Dillon, Paul Menard and Brandon Jones behind the wheel this season.

"Like many teams this time of year, we are making some mid-season personnel changes to improve the overall performance of our teams this season," Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of Richard Childress Racing, said in a statement issued by the organization.

"This will also give us an opportunity to get an early look at what our personnel lineup might look like for the 2016 season."

Ty Dillon trails Chris Buescher (Roush Fenway Racing) by 29 points through this season’s first 14 races. A one-time winner in the XFINITY Series, Dillon has 10 top-10 finishes but has yet to score a victory this year.

Older brother Austin Dillon has made 10 starts in the No. 33 with Harrison at the helm, and has won twice – at Las Vegas and Charlotte.

He currently competes for RCR in the Sprint Cup Series on a full-time basis and thus earns no driver points in the XFINITY Series.

Ty Dillon, 23, is hoping to make the move up to a full-time Cup ride as early as next season. He has made four starts in the series this year and six overall.

RCR also fields the No. 2 for driver Brian Scott and the No. 62 for Brendan Gaughan in the XFINITY Series as well as its three-team Sprint Cup effort with Dillon, Menard and Ryan Newman.

Wednesday’s move comes little more than a week after RCR officials named Richard "Slugger" Labbe crew chief for Austin Dillon‘s Sprint Cup team. Labbe, who had headed up the group’s research and development effort, replaced Gil Martin. Martin was expected to fill Labbe’s R&D role.

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O’Donnell discusses pit road protocol, plus a look at Sonoma strategy

You go by what you see and not what you hear. That’s the message NASCAR officials relay to drivers and crew chiefs each week during pre-race driver’s meetings, and it arose during this past weekend’s XFINITY Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.

When the caution flag was displayed following an incident involving Dylan Lupton on lap 151 of the 200-lap race, 19 teams were subsequently penalized for pitting before pit road was officially open, including eventual race winner Erik Jones.

Most teams made the decision to pit based on information coming from officials in the scoring tower, and the message from the tower was that pit road was open. However, the official stationed at the pit road opening was displaying a red flag and the indicator light at the entrance was still red, both of which signified that pit road was still officially closed.

The penalty for pitting too soon under caution is restarting the race at the tail end of the field. Had the race been under green, drivers would have been required to serve a pass-through penalty by returning to pit road a second time.

"When you looked at it, the tower did come over the radio and say pit road was open," Steve O’Donnell, Vice President of Competition and Racing Development for NASCAR, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Monday. "But if you go back to the driver’s meeting, what we say in every driver’s meeting is that the light and the flag are what dictates whether it’s open or not.

"The person at the opening did not hear the radio communication so the red flag and the light were still on. And in that case if anyone comes down pit road, when it’s technically closed via the light or the flag, they’ll receive a penalty for pitting too soon."

Although Jones fell out of the lead when he and the others dropped to the rear for the following restart, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver eventually made his way back to the front by lap 190 and led the final 11 laps of the race to score the win.

"It’s certainly something we’ll continue to look at," O’Donnell said. "We’ve always put it ultimately in the driver’s hands. They’re the last person that can see (if the light is red). They know or should know that if it’s red, it’s closed. That’s something we like to see completely line up over the radio and match up with the technology."

Running the Race Backwards?

Teams often use a somewhat different pit-stop strategy when competing on road courses, as will be the case this weekend. It’s known as running the race backwards.

What does it mean?

On a course where passing opportunities are limited, track position and fuel mileage are crucial factors.

For those that hope to complete the race on only two pit stops, after calculating fuel mileage they subtract that number (typically between 37 and 42 laps) from the total number of laps in the race.

So under normal circumstances, a driver who can run approximately 37 laps on a full tank of fuel would have to make his final stop in the 110-lap race at lap 73. That means his first stop, under green-flag conditions, would come at lap 36.

But should better mileage, or mileage management, allow a driver to run as many as 42 laps, his final stop would fall at lap 68 while his first would come on lap 26.

In that instance, the track position a driver would gain after pitting as others eventually made their way to pit road later in the run could prove to be the difference between contending for the win or having to work his or her way back through traffic.

RELATED: Greg Ives predicts Junior will win at Sonoma

New Tire for Sonoma

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will be competing with a new tire code for this weekend’s Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

According to Goodyear, the code (D-4638) is being used for the first time and it features an increase in tread thickness for better wear.

Goodyear will also have wet weather tires on hand in case of inclement weather. However, the forecast calls for sunny skies and temperatures in the high 70s to mid-80s through the weekend for the area with no mention of rain.

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Drivers’ council may be new, but Grubb says pit bosses discuss concerns too

RELATED: How the 19 team was built

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers now have an official group that can bring their concerns, beliefs and ideas to officials on a regular basis.

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The formation of a drivers’ council was news several weeks ago, when a handful of competitors met with NASCAR officials while at Dover International Speedway.

There has been a less formal crew chief council for much longer.

"I think we get together every week to share our sorrows," joked Darian Grubb, crew chief for the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota of driver Carl Edwards.

Actually, NASCAR has hosted a monthly conference call with crew chiefs and representatives from the three auto manufacturers — Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota — to discuss topics of concern for some time now, according to Grubb.

"We have that opportunity and an open floor," he said. "If someone doesn’t want to speak, that’s their own prerogative. NASCAR has done a really good job about making sure they keep us informed and it’s an open forum. If you want to ask a question, it’s there."

Members of NASCAR’s competition group, including Richard Buck, Sprint Cup Series Managing Director, and Robin Pemberton, Senior Vice President of Competition and Racing Development, participate in the monthly calls.

"Overall, it’s usually just about consistency in the garage," Grubb said. "Knowing everybody is on the same page for rules and enforcement.

"You’re always wondering what everyone else is getting away with versus us; that’s our nature. We’re all trying to push the limits of performance every day. So you automatically assume if somebody beats you, they got a different advantage and you know you have to work harder to try to overcome that."

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Inside how the pit crew of Carl Edwards was assembled

RELATED: Full team info for all four of JGR’s squads

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – When Joe Gibbs Racing officials began putting together the over-the-wall pit crew for a fourth team during the latter portion of 2014, five of the six crewmen the organization hired came from Hendrick Motorsports. And three of the five came from the No. 88 team of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
 
It wasn’t a raid, Darian Grubb said. It was an opportunity.
 
"No matter what it is, you’re always looking for the best talent," Grubb, who made the transition from crew chief for Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 JGR team to the No. 19 of Edwards, told NASCAR.com recently.

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Three members of Edwards’ 2015 pit crew – front tire changer Clay Robinson, front tire carrier Kevin Harris and rear tire carrier Matt Ver Meer – handled the same duties for Earnhardt in ’14.
 
Rear tire changer Kip Wolfmeier spent only the first half of ’14 with Hendrick teammate Kasey Kahne while jack man Trey Burklin returned to JGR after a one-year hiatus working with Kahne on the No. 5 team.
 
Fueler Kenneth Purcell was the only JGR over-the-wall crewman to make the transition from the No. 11 to the 19.

RELATED: Crew chief chats with NASCAR are common
 
Grubb said he had plenty of input into the buildup of the "A team," the mechanics and personnel that arrive at the track days before the race, but the over-the-wall group was already in place when he was named crew chief in December.
 
Todd Meredith, COO at JGR and a former pit crewman, made those hires, according to Grubb.
 
Bringing in his pit crew from the No. 11 team would have been ideal, he said, "because I know how good those guys are.
 
"But I can’t ask for a better bunch of guys that we ended up picking up. … It’s just one of those things they wanted to keep (the 11 crewmen) together and of course Denny did too.
 
"After it was all said and done and I knew who the guys were, I’d worked with Clay before," Grubb said. "I did not know Ver Meer and Harris; I’d never met them. Kip Wolfmeier … I knew him; I’d worked with him over there (at Hendrick) as well.
 
"So two of the five guys total that came from Hendrick I knew but had not had any dealings with for four or five years."
 
While Greg Ives stepped in to replace Steve Letarte as crew chief for Earnhardt Jr., the change had little impact on the crewmen’s decision to go elsewhere. Letarte announced early in the season that he would be stepping down at the end of ’14 to join NBC’s broadcast team for its NASCAR coverage in ’15.

RELATED: NBC’s booth has fresh off-the-track perspective
 
"I think we just saw there was a good opportunity with Carl, with brand new sponsors, and obviously up and down pit road you hear nothing but unbelievable things about Joe Gibbs Racing and how they treat their people, how happy guys are," Harris said.
 
"I think we just all looked at our current situation and thought it was an opportunity to improve that and that’s what we did. It wasn’t a collective decision, but we all kind of knew whose contracts were up."
 
Harris, an accounts manager at JGR during the week, said the ability to work elsewhere within the organization played a big role.
 
"I work in the front office as well and they offered that," he said. "They actually welcome that – they want you to have dual roles and wear many hats at Joe Gibbs. So I jumped on it immediately."
 
The opportunity to work for team owner Joe Gibbs was a key factor as well.

"There’s not one person I’ve run into in the past four and a half years of working in NASCAR that’s had one bad thing to say about that company or about Joe himself," Harris said. "I felt like I wanted to be a part of that."
 
With the Sprint Cup Series headed to Sonoma for this weekend’s Toyota/SaveMart 350 (FOX Sports 1, PRN, SiriusXM), Grubb said his crew "hit the ground running" back in February and hasn’t disappointed.
 
In his opinion, they’re one of the top five in the series and their quick work on pit road this season backs up his belief.
 
"I think we still have our fastest recorded pit stop during a race event, I think it was a 10.44 (seconds) at Auto Club Speedway," Grubb said. "The guys were phenomenal. That was not even pushing to try hard or anything. … Knowing that they have that speed potential, they have had some really impressive stops but they are also able to get all the adjustments I need to get done every week as well."
 
Of course, there have been situations when everything didn’t go exactly as planned.
 
During the team’s first live pit stop in this year’s second Budweiser Duel qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway, Edwards shot through his pit box and had to back up before the crew could begin to service the car.
 
"I jump off the wall … and Carl blows through the box," Harris said. "And I’m like high-stepping to get out of the way. It was hilarious. In my four years with Dale, he never did that. He never blew through the box like that.
 
"In my mind, I was just thinking about making sure the sponsors could all see and were good to go; you want them to be excited about their first race and their first pit stop. Then it was, ‘Whoa, I hope this doesn’t keep going every weekend.’ But we had a brake issue that week so it wasn’t that big of a deal."
 
At Dover in May, a broken piece in the car caused a wrench to become stuck when making a wedge adjustment, and as a result, Edwards had to make an additional trip to pit road.

RELATED: Crew member OK after being pulled out of pit box
 
In the heated rush of pitting a car, such mishaps are "becoming more commonplace," Grubb said.
 
"Because you’ve got guys trying to do all this in an 11-second span," he said. "Before, with a 13-second stop, those two seconds gave you a lot of extra time to do things. Now, if we want to put tape on the grille, the guy basically has to lay his life on the line to lay in front of the car because that car is going to drop and go. It’s tough."

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Nemechek looks ahead to Kentucky, Crafton eyes Truck record

GMS Racing is spinning a nice story in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this season. 

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Following Spencer Gallagher‘s career-best second-place finish at Gateway Motorsports Park, teammate Brandon Jones equaled the feat with a career-best second-place finish last week at Iowa Speedway.

Gallagher, 25 and from Las Vegas, is sixth in the driver standings after his seventh-place finish at Iowa, and his three top-10 finishes this season mark a career high. With his next start Gallagher will surpass his most starts in a season in NCWTS.

Meanwhile, Jones, who is 18 and from Atlanta, led four laps at Iowa and gambled on a late pit stop, taking two tires instead of four and contending for the lead during the race’s final 40 laps. 



"I think we’ve had speed all year long, and it’s starting to come around for us," Jones said. "We’re making some gains on the KBM trucks and making a lot of speed, so I’m looking forward to these next couple of races."



Nemechek’s next step

John Hunter Nemechek turned 18 on June 11, and that made him eligible to participate on tracks that are longer than 1.25 miles. His first chance to drive on a 1.5-mile track in the Truck Series will come in the series’ next event, the July 9 UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).



"I feel like we’re better prepared this year and our program’s better than last year, but we don’t have the finishes yet to show it," Nemechek said. "I’m really excited. I get to run from here on out in the Truck Series, getting to go to most of these bigger tracks that I’ve grown up watching."



Nemechek took over full-time for his dad Joe in the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet two weeks ago at Gateway (1.25 miles). Nemechek nabbed his best finish of the season at Gateway (fourth) then qualified second at Iowa (.875 miles).

Nemechek was running well at Iowa but wrecked on Lap 157 when he tried to make a move and wasn’t clear of Caleb Holman‘s No. 75 Chevrolet, finishing 23rd 

Crafton hits 200

Matt Crafton‘s fourth-place finish in Friday’s American Ethanol 200 at Iowa Speedway marked the driver’s 200th career top 10 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Crafton trails four-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr., who leads the all-time list 234 top 10s. 



Crafton has scored a top 10 in eight of nine races this season; his only miss being a 21st-place finish two weeks ago at Gateway. If he keeps up his current pace, Crafton will need about 39 more starts to equal Hornaday’s mark, provided Hornaday doesn’t come back and compile more top 10s. Crafton could reach 39 more starts sometime during the 2017 season.

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Ernest Pierce indefinitely suspended for violating substance abuse policy

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 23, 2015) – Ernest Pierce, a crew member in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body’s Substance Abuse Policy.

On June 17, 2015, Pierce was found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 19 (violation of the NASCAR Substance Abuse Policy) of the 2015 NASCAR Rule Book.