What: 19th annual Sylvania 300.
Where: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, 1.058-mile oval in Loudon, New Hampshire. | Learn more about the track.
Green flag time: 2:15 p.m. ET (NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Forecast: Patchy fog, then sunny; High of 70 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
National anthem: Caroline Carter, Winner of the Speedway Star Competition
Grand marshal: Julian Dench, Senior Vice President and General Manager, OSRAM SYLVANIA.
Distance: 300 laps, 317.4 miles.
Pit road speed: 45 mph.
Caution car speed: 50 mph.
On the front row
1. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (137.980 mph).
2. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet (137.845 mph).
RELATED: See the full lineup
Fastest in practice
First practice: Carl Edwards, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (136.894 mph). | Results
Second practice: Carl Edwards, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (133.516 mph). | Results
Final practice: Kevin Harvick No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet (134.577 mph). | Results
Key story lines
1. Johnson, Harvick open up on Chicagoland scuffle
2. Gordon on verge of breaking Ricky Rudd’s Iron Man record
3. Penalty just the latest setback for Bowyer, MWR
Former winners in the field
Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart (3); Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano (2); Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski (1).
They said it
“I don’t look back. I just do what we have to do to focus on what we need to do looking forward. We are not going to use (the media) to make threats. I can do that myself.”
— Kevin Harvick on incident with Jimmie Johnson
Photo credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography courtesy of Joe Gibbs Racing
SPARTA, Ky. — Joe Gibbs knows how valuable a solid backup quarterback can be from his stints as the head coach for the NFL’s Washington Redskins. And a solid fill-in and spot driver can be just about the same.
Drew Herring was at Kentucky Speedway this weekend shaking down the No. 54 Toyota in practice and qualifying for Erik Jones ahead of Saturday night’s NASCAR XFINITY Series VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Jones competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway before flying to Kentucky for the XFINITY race.
Herring has played this role before in 2015. He practiced and qualified for Jones’ in both Iowa events, even winning the pole in the No. 20 Toyota in May. He also practiced in the No. 54 Toyota at Chicagoland Speedway in June, helping to get the No. 54 setup for Jones’ victory at the 1.5-mile track.
So how does Herring prepare for his fill-in gig?
“It helps that all of these guys (the JGR crew) are the best in the business and that we’re driving good race cars, fast race cars and we unload close,” Herring told NASCAR.com at Kentucky.
“I’m not having to take our first run and really get acclimated and try and figure out what the car is doing because it’s all so close. It really helps me out and then I just try to go back and watch races, talk with Erik (Jones), talk with Chris (Gayle, crew chief of the No. 54 Toyota in the XFINITY Series).
“We’ve gone through things that happened the first race, what they looked for and what happened from practice to race. All those things just for me to download and to be as prepared as I can to give them the best read in the car and do the best job I can.”
On Friday, Herring showed off some speed and saving skills. He topped a rain-shortened final practice was a fast lap of 175.959 mph. He also made a great save in the latter minutes of final practice when he got loose coming off of Turn 4.
“It’s fun to get to drive these cars. It’s not much fun getting out on race day but it’s a whole lot better than sitting at home and watching.”
The 28-year-old North Carolina native has made 15 career XFINITY Series starts with the last start coming in the 2013 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He has five top fives with his best result a fourth-place run at Kentucky in September of 2012. Herring remains on the lookout for an opportunity that can put him in a car on a consistent basis.
“I want nothing more than to be behind the wheel of a race car every weekend as much as I can. This is what I love to do. I’ve been doing it since I was nine. It’s a true passion of mine and I thoroughly enjoy coming to the racetrack.
“We are working on it but it all comes down unfortunately to not the talent side as much it comes down to the funding and the monetary side. We are constantly on the lookout for sponsors and trying to get people to want to be involved. For me, its just trying to find someone that wants to win races and championships because I know if we can get somebody on board, we’ll do that for them. It’s tough. There’s a lot of people that are doing the same thing I am.”
SPARTA, Ky. — Coming to Kentucky Speedway is a homecoming of sorts for Louisville, Kentucky native Ben Rhodes. It’s so much of one that there will be a big contingent of supporters — the size of say, one’s high school — for the young driver in the stands.
“I know we will have a lot of people in the stands coming out,” Rhodes said during a media availability ahead of Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “I actually have my old high school coming, friends, family.”
In total, Rhodes estimated he will have roughly a 6,000-fan strong support section.
Rhodes graduated from Holy Cross High School in May, although he missed that ceremony to make his XFINITY Series debut at Iowa Speedway. That finish, a seventh-place result, is his best this season.
And while he hasn’t yet run a NASCAR event at Kentucky, he did race in the ARCA Racing Series event last year and he hopes to pull from that previous experience at the 1.5-mile oval.
The year as a whole has been quite the learning experience for Rhodes, who is piloting the JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet this weekend. The 18-year-old has been soaking up information like a sponge from everyone around him. He has spent time on spotters’ stands watching races and also picked the brain of JRM co-owner and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Rhodes described meeting Dale Jr. as “very surreal at first because I’ve watched this guy on TV. I think everybody has if you are a fan of racing.
“When I got to first meet him, it was overwhelming, but then I got to sit down and talk to him. I remember the first race I was at with Dale. We were just talking and we had about an hour talk, just kind of welcoming me into the family, the team. That was really cool for me because I have never associated or been around anyone in the Sprint Cup ranks before. So that was really neat. He has been very open with his knowledge, sharing everything and making sure I am picking everything up correctly.”
And driving the JRM No. 88 “All-Star” car as Earnhardt has described it in the past, can be a daunting task when the drivers include NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne.
“I feel the pressure when I am in it because of the other performances they’ve had,” Rhodes said.
The Kentucky race will mark his eighth start of the 2015 XFINITY Series season. Rhodes is also slated to be in the field next weekend at Dover International Speedway and in the season-finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. With each time out, Rhodes is looking to make strides.
“The goal for the whole season has just been consistent top 10 finishes. We haven’t got those consistently. We have some top-10 finishes, but not consistent. A top-10 finish would be great, but man, I’d love to get a win for the hometown crowd. That’d be great. I told Mr. Mark Simendinger (Kentucky Speedway‘s general manager) we might want to get the fire extinguishers ready. The crowd might go crazy.”
Competing in a NASCAR event here is a dream come true for Rhodes and a victory would potentially render the driver speechless.
“I rode past this place when I was seven, eight years old going to go-kart races and didn’t quite understand what it was about at the time but I dreamed about racing here. I did it last year in the ARCA race, but to do it in NASCAR, with a huge crowd, would be awesome. I don’t know if there’s words to describe it.”
WATCH: Harvick jokes, moves on from Chicago incident
LOUDON, N.H. — A calm and measured Jimmie Johnson spoke to reporters late Friday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first time since he was involved in a post-race confrontation with reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champ Kevin Harvick last week in the Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway.
Harvick, on the contrary, was less eager to discuss the situation.
The defending champion, clearly not wanting to talk about the not-too-distant past in which he put shoved, punched — whatever you want to call it — Johnson following a wreck that relegated him to a 42nd-place finish in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup opener, didn’t say much else.
“I don’t have a lot to say about any of it. I’m here to race and to do what I need to do the next two weeks,” Harvick said Friday after qualifying second for Sunday’s Sylvania 300 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN/Live Extra) at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “I don’t look back. I just do what we have to do to focus on what we need to do looking forward. I’m not going to use (the media) to make threats, I can do that myself.”
Meanwhile, in the New Hampshire garage, the six-time champ Johnson acknowledged it was in an unpredictable situation for him to try and discuss the accident with Harvick last week, but he felt like it was the right thing to do.
“Obviously I wanted to go to his motorhome and try to talk to him about the situation at that point in time,” Johnson said. “I’ve been on the flipside of that before and although I wasn’t happy to see whoever it was, it meant something to me and I appreciated the fact they came to my bus to see me. That’s all I was trying to do.”
RELATED: Harvick confronts, shoves Johnson after race
Johnson, who video shows walking away rather calmly from the agitated Harvick, said he fully expected a volatile situation.
“I wasn’t surprised he was that upset,” Johnson said. “Believe me, I knew good and well going over there that he wasn’t going to be in the best mood. It was just important to me to try and make contact with him, to talk to him based on experiences I’ve had.”
Johnson, who qualified fifth for the Sunday’s Sylvania 300 said he and Harvick have not spoken since the confrontation — “nothing yet” — but reiterated his stance that the whole incident between them was unintentional and a result of hard racing on a restart in the playoffs.
“It really was a racing incident,” Johnson said. “I was just trying to get back on the racetrack. Unfortunately that contact took place and it just sucks for those guys. I feel for Kevin, I feel for (crew chief) Rodney (Childers), for the Stewart-Haas folks, for Tony (Stewart) and for Gene (Haas).
“That’s not the situation any of us wanted to have happen. Unfortunately, that was racing and there was a lot of crazy stuff happening on that restart.
“I knew he wasn’t going to be in the best mood. I was expecting anything and everything. I didn’t go over there to fight. I went over to handle the situation the way I thought it was handled well with me in the past and hoping it would have the same impact.”
RELATED: Logano mum on Johnson-Harvick fracas
Harvick now stands 15th in the standings with two races before the first elimination occurs, narrowing the field of Chase drivers to 12. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver showed he can win a race when his back is against the wall – which might be the case here – as we saw when he needed a win at Phoenix in 2014’s penultimate race to advance to the championship at Homestead.
“I still think there’s a few different ways I can make it into the next round,” Harvick said. “In this situation last year when we were in Phoenix and a second-place finish still wouldn’t have gotten us to where we needed to be to get into the (Championship 4) without a win.
“I think you still have to go out with the mentality of trying to win a race. I think everybody around us knows that. We’re very aware of the aggressive nature that we need to go after that win.”
RELATED: Watch Harvick’s shove, Jimmie’s reaction
LOUDON, N.H. — When asked about his teammate Jimmie Johnson‘s post-race dust-up last week at Chicago, Jeff Gordon took both the high road and the middle ground.
Gordon, who had his own highly publicized, oft-replayed scuffle in last year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with Brad Keselowski at Texas, was asked about a confrontation between his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Johnson and fellow Chevrolet driver Kevin Harvick after the two collided in the Chase opener at Chicagoland.
RELATED: Relive the Gordon-Keselowski brawl
After the race, Harvick was seen on video shoving Johnson after the six-time champ came over to discuss the incident. After pushing Johnson, Harvick was restrained by his business manager while Johnson walked away from the situation.
How would Gordon have reacted?
“I wasn’t in that situation so you don’t know how you’re going to react in those situations until you’re in them,” Gordon said Friday from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “We all agree maybe Jimmie should have waited a little longer before he approached Kevin on that one.
“When I look at Jimmie, his sincerity of trying to patch things up with somebody I believe he respects on the track and give his side of it is admirable, just maybe off on the timing of it.”
Gordon said he also understood Harvick’s extreme frustration. After the contact with Johnson’s car, Harvick’s car blew a tire and hit the wall, suffering enough damage to send the team to the garage for an extended amount of time. He returned to the track but finished 42nd — putting him in a big deficit with two races left to advance to the next elimination round.
“On the flip side with Kevin, I can completely understand the frustration and anger that would be built up in a situation like that,” Gordon said. “I can’t see where he did anything wrong. He tried to restart and didn’t get as good a restart as he wanted. Someone got inside of him and he’s holding his ground and they made contact.
“It was a racing incident in my opinion.”
And, Gordon conceded, the whole situation held a familiar feel.
“It does remind me of the incident I had with Keselowski last year where a guy’s being aggressive and making a move and that’s all fine and good until your tire blows,” Gordon said. “You need to understand the level of anger that’s going to be built from that, especially if it takes you out of the Chase.
“That’s why I reacted the way I reacted and probably why Kevin did as well.”
RELATED: Harvick confronts, shoves Johnson after race
LOUDON, N.H. — Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth shook off reporters’ questions.
Both Logano and Kenseth downplayed the post-race confrontation between Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick. The incident took place after last week’s opener for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup at Chicagoland.
“Didn’t see it, don’t know,” Kenseth said, referring to a video clip that showed Harvick shoving Johnson in the garage.
RELATED: Watch: Harvick shoves Johnson after the race
Logano, who has previously had his own post-race confrontation with Harvick, was equally unwilling to offer an opinion.
“I really don’t have much of a reaction to be honest with you, I’m focused on my own thing,” Logano said Friday morning before opening practice for Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“It is what it is. That’s what seems to happen in the Chase. Emotions seem to get fired up pretty quick and I don’t really have a reaction. I’m not surprised. I’m not anything. It is what it is.”
Logano was actually in the catbird seat for the Johnson and Harvick on-track collision that precipitated the off-track situation.
Johnson said his car was hit from behind by Logano on a re-start and that sent him down onto the track apron three-wide with Harvick.
Johnson tried to get that bottom lane on-track back and that’s when his and Harvick’s Chevrolets touched just briefly, leaving Harvick with a smoking tire. A few laps later Harvick’s car hit the wall, suffering significant damage and leaving him with a 42nd-place finish.
Harvick took issue with what he thought was Johnson forcing his way back on track. Logano told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on pit road after the race that he did not touch Johnson and wasn’t involved in any way.
After the race, the six-time Cup champ Johnson, still dressed in his driver’s suit, waited outside Harvick’s motorcoach to speak with the reigning champ about the incident. A video replay shows Harvick push Johnson in the chest and then him being restrained as Johnson calmly walked away from the situation.
Neither Logano nor Kenseth is willing to count Harvick out of the championship picture despite the fact his Chicagoland afternoon puts the champ on the outside looking in with two races left to determine the top 12 drivers who advance to the next Chase round (the Contender Round).
Harvick is in 15th position in the standings — 22 points behind Gordon in 12th place. He was ranked 16th until Clint Bowyer received a hefty 25-point penalty from NASCAR this week dropping him behind Harvick in points.
RELATED: Bowyer drops to 16th in Chase standings after penalty
The defending race winner Logano, meanwhile, is ranked sixth in the standings and was very confident in his Team Penske squad, keeping Kenseth’s Joe Gibbs Racing team honest.
Since Kyle Busch‘s victory July 19 at the New Hampshire mile, every Cup race has been won by Gibbs’ four-car Toyota organization or Penske’s two-car Ford effort. But both Logano and Kenseth noted Harvick’s speed at Chicago.
“I wouldn’t consider them out at this point by no means,” Logano said of Harvick. “They’re still a very strong team and they’ll be up there racing hard and trying to get to the next round.
“If you look at the big picture, obviously you want the fastest cars out because it gives you the best chance when you get to (the championship finale at) Homestead. But I’m not gonna change or do anything different out there. I’ve still got to get myself there. That’s Priority 1, getting our team to Homestead.”
Practice 2 recap | Practice 2 results
Closing out Friday’s practice runs, Austin Dillon continued his speedy streak and led the final session at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, topping the leaderboard with a speed of 133.166 mph.
Dillon led the series’ opening practice on Friday with a speed of 131.311 mph.
Spencer Gallagher was second-fastest in the closing session with a speed of 132.720 mph.
Cameron Hayley (132.577 mph), Matt Crafton (132.406 mph) and Kyle Busch (132.232 mph) completed the top-five fastest during the one hour, 25-minute session.
Defending race winner Cole Custer came in as ninth-fastest (131.597 mph). Custer was 11th-fastest in the opening round.
Series points leader Erik Jones finished seventh in final practice.
The Camping World Truck Series returns to the track on Saturday at 10:10 a.m. ET for Keystone Light Pole Qualifying with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1. The series’ UNOH 175 will also take place Saturday at 1 p.m. ET (FS1).
Practice 1 recap | Practice 1 results
Austin Dillon led the opening NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Friday with a high speed of 131.311 mph.
The Sprint Cup Series regular topped the leaderboard on Lap 12 of 14.
Current Truck Series points leader Erik Jones was second-fastest with a speed of 130.995 mph.
Timothy Peters (130.788 mph), Matt Crafton (130.604 mph) and Kyle Busch (130.434 mph) rounded out the top-five fastest on the leaderboard.
Busch is one of two drivers in this weekend’s field that has won at the New England track. The KB Motorsports driver has been victorious at Loudon in the Truck Series from 2009 to 2011.
Last year Cole Custer earned his first Truck Series win of his career at Loudon and become the series’ youngest winner (he was 16 years old at the time). This year, the JR Motorsports driver was 11th-fastest (129.252 mph) in the opening session.
The Truck Series returns to the track this afternoon at 3 p.m. ET with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1.
RELATED: Practice 2 results
SPARTA, Ky. — Rain ended Friday’s on-track activity early for the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Kentucky Speedway. Final practice was set to run from 6 p.m. to 7:25 p.m. ET, but a red flag for wet weather came out around 30 minutes in with NASCAR calling it shortly thereafter.
At the time of the stoppage, Drew Herring (175.959 mph) was at the top of the speed chart. Herring is practicing and qualifying the No. 54 Toyota for Erik Jones and Joe Gibbs Racing at Kentucky. Jones will be in the No. 54 for the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Ryan Blaney (175.661 mph) and Daniel Suarez (175.593 mph) were in the top three in the final practice session.
Brian Scott topped the opening practice with a speed of 178.159 mph, followed by his RCR teammates of Ty Dillon (177.439 mph) and Brandon Jones (177.194 mph).
Chris Buescher enters this weekend’s race with a 25-point lead on Dillon and a 28-point lead on defending series champion Chase Elliott in the driver championship standings. Brendan Gaughan is the defending race winner.
The VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 is the final standalone of the 2015 XFINITY Series schedule.
XFINITY Coors Light Pole Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 4:45 p.m. ET (NBCSN/Live Extra) with the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
Brad Keselowski won the July XFINITY Series race at Kentucky in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford. That car will be driven this weekend by Ryan Blaney, who won this race in 2013 for his first career XFINITY Series win.
It has been a rainy NASCAR season for the 1.5-mile oval track as much of the NASCAR tripleheader schedule in July was washed out by rain. All three national series races were run at their scheduled times, but most practice and qualifying sessions were rained out.
RELATED: Practice 1 results
Brian Scott topped the leaderboard during the final minutes of opening NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Kentucky Speedway. In the series’ final stand-alone event of the year, Scott had a fastest lap of 178.159 mph in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Scott’s RCR teammate, Ty Dillon, was right behind him, wheeling his No. 3 Chevrolet around the 1.5-mile track with a fastest lap of 177.439 mph.
Next was Brandon Jones, who finished with the third-fastest lap (177.194 mph) after topping the leaderboard for much of the first session.
Ryan Blaney (176.840 mph) and Daniel Suarez (176.811 mph) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Defending race winner Brendan Gaughan was ninth-fastest, pulling a fastest lap of 175.279 mph.
The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing pit crew for Martin Truex Jr‘s Chevrolet will have replacement tire changers in the second Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Front-tire changer Dave Collins is out for Sunday’s Sylvania 300 after suffering an ankle injury during a Wednesday practice session. Josh Franko, a Michael Waltrip Racing backup pit-crew member, will be his replacement.
The rear-tire changing duties are also changing hands as Adam Hartman will take over for Kyle Turner. Hartman is also a backup crewmember for MWR.
The Furniture Row Racing over-the-wall crew works from the MWR shop in Cornelius, North Carolina.
RELATED: First practice results | Complete weekend schedule
Making a late run in Friday’s opening practice session at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Carl Edwards soared to the top the leaderboard, his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota turning a fast lap of 136.894 mph.
Jimmie Johnson paced the field the majority of the session, taking the lead in the first 30 minutes of the session. As drivers began to make mock qualifying runs, Johnson’s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet tumbled down the charts, until a late run put him back in the second spot (136.311 mph).
Brad Keselowski‘s No. 2 Team Penske Ford briefly led the field, ultimately settling into the third spot on the leaderboard by the end of the two-and-a-half-hour session with a fastest lap of 136.155 mph.
Kyle Larson‘s impressive 136.058-mph lap late in the session sent the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet to the fourth spot on the speed charts.
Kurt Busch rounded out the top group, wheeling the fifth-fastest speed (136.019 mph) in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.
Reigning Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick‘s fast lap of 135.434 mph put him 11th on the leaderboard in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.
The Sprint Cup Series is back on track at 4:45 p.m. ET for Coors Light Pole Qualifying (NBCSN).