Posted on by Zack Albert

Driver walks up track after wreck at Dover

RELATED: NASCAR issues penalties following Dover races

NASCAR issued penalties Wednesday to driver Jennifer Jo Cobb for her actions during Friday’s Camping World Truck Series event at Dover International Speedway, where she walked onto the racing surface, counter to the direction of safety officials.

Cobb, the owner/driver of the No. 10 Chevrolet, was fined $5,000 and placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31.

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Cobb was sidelined after completing just 12 laps in the Lucas Oil 200 when her truck made heavy contact with the inside retaining wall on the mile-long track’s frontstretch. The incident occurred shortly after eventual race winner Tyler Reddick closed quickly in an effort to put Cobb a lap down.

After her truck came to rest, Cobb made several steps up from the apron of the track to express her unhappiness during the race’s first caution period. When the field made another lap, Cobb again gestured toward Reddick’s truck but was restrained by safety personnel.

The rule regarding safety procedures after crashes is presented as a reminder during each pre-race drivers’ meeting. The guidelines were formalized last August through a bulletin added to the NASCAR Rule Book shortly after a sprint car incident involving former NASCAR champion Tony Stewart and New York short track driver Kevin Ward Jr. Ward left his car to confront Stewart on foot during a caution period before he was fatally struck.

The rule allows a driver to dismount before the arrival of safety crews in the event of extenuating circumstances, such as fire.

Cobb’s infraction came two days before a similar incident at Dover involving Sprint Cup Series driver Trevor Bayne, who emerged from his wrecked vehicle before the safety team’s arrival and walked down the Turn 1 track surface after a three-car crash. Cobb and Bayne were each summoned to the NASCAR officials’ hauler for consultation after the incidents.

"Obviously, that’s an infraction," Elton Sawyer, the Camping World Truck Series’ managing director, said after Friday’s 200-mile race. "We take safety very seriously and we discussed it with her, and we’ll get back to the office in the R&D Center and see what the next steps are."

Cobb placed last in the 32-truck field, recording her first failure to finish this season.

Posted on by Nascar

Plus, No. 4 team gets used to car going to R&D Center

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will shift gears, literally and figuratively, this week as they move from the banked 1-mile oval of Dover International Speedway to the 2.5-mile triangle of Pocono Raceway.

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That quick boost of acceleration off the corners of the uniquely shaped track often comes with a price — the potential for parts breakage.
 
"It (raises) durability concerns because that’s one more part, one more abuse cycle you’re going through every time you shift," Darian Grubb, crew chief for the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota for driver Carl Edwards, said Tuesday. "It’s more parts that can break."
 
Performance may not be affected if a driver chooses not to shift, he said, but "to get the maximum lap times you pretty much have to.
 
"We’re still curious to see with this engine package and aero package going there is it going to be mandatory where you have to (shift) every lap or you’re going to get run over, or is it going to kind of mute it out a little bit and make handling that more important? I’m not sure.
 
"There have been a lot of tracks where people have shifted so far this year where we really haven’t because we didn’t see much of an advantage to it."
 
Shifting also can dramatically change the balance of the car, Grubb said, because of the specific gear ratios required by NASCAR. "If you have a tight car, you can make it loose by downshifting and breaking your rear tires loose.
 
"It’s actually something we try to push at Pocono, having our drivers practice shifting and non-shifting laps in all three turns to know where we stand on balance if we (make certain changes)."
 
Historically, data doesn’t seem to favor either option.
 
"I think it’s all a matter of setup, driver timing and driver preference," Grubb said. "You have a lot of teams there that shift in all three corners and a lot of drivers that shifting in the tunnel turn is the last thing they want to do because it’s already white knuckles (through there)."
 
Satellite Shop For No. 4 — NASCAR R&D
 
The Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 entry of Kevin Harvick that finished second at Dover on Sunday was one of three cars taken back to the NASCAR Research & Development Center for final inspection.
 
Also taken were the cars of race winner Jimmie Johnson and 21st-place finisher Denny Hamlin. NASCAR officials said Tuesday that all three cars had been inspected and no issues were found.
 
It marked the 10th time this season one of Harvick’s cars had been sent to the R&D center following a race, something crew chief Rodney Childers said he has become accustomed to. His cars made the trip back to Concord, North Carolina at least a dozen times last season.
 
"It’s not that big of a deal," Childers told NASCAR.com recently. "It works out fine. It always sounds bad when you hear how many times we’ve been over there since this team was started, but I’d rather have it that way. They always take first, second and a random, and we’ve been first or second a lot."
 
Childers said crewmen from the team take the car apart for officials as the final inspection process begins.
 
"We take all the suspension off, the motor out, fuel cell out, pretty much every little piece and part and they inspect all of it," he said. "When we get it back to the shop, it’s almost halfway disassembled, which is a good thing. We would be doing that anyway."
 
The first- and second-place entries, and often a random, are taken back to the R&D center by NASCAR officials after all events except for the season-opening Daytona 500 and the season-ending finale at Homestead.
 
The Daytona 500 winning car, in the most recent case the No. 22 of Team Penske driver Joey Logano, goes through final inspection at the track so that it may be put on display at DIS for one year.
 
At Homestead, the four cars competing in the season finale for the Chase also go through final inspection at the track to expedite official championship results.
 
When Push Comes To Shove
 
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams have been penalized 12 times this season for driving through more than three pit stalls, a violation that results in a pass-thru penalty. But for the first time this season, a team was penalized for pushing a car through more than three pit stalls.
 
The HScott Motorsports No. 46 team, with driver Michael Annett, was flagged for the infraction this past weekend at Dover, on Lap 279 of the 400-lap race.
 
Goodyear Stands Pat At Pocono, Texas
 
The Goodyear tire combination provided to teams for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 is the same that’s been used exclusively at the 2.5-mile track since 2012.
 
Camping World Truck Series teams, competing at Texas Motor Speedway, will have the same tire combination used last season. Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series teams ran the combination, which includes right side tires featuring a multi-zone construction, at Texas earlier this season.

Posted on by Staff Report

Dirty Mo Radio: Discusses key pit-road speeding penalty

Carrying the very unofficial title of NASCAR’s official grillmaster, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has plenty of experience getting the timing right in his frequent barbecues. Perhaps that’s why overcooking his entry onto pit road last weekend at Dover International Speedway left such a sour taste.

A crucial pit-road speeding penalty just past the halfway point proved to be an insurmountable obstacle to Earnhardt’s chances in the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks. But Earnhardt, in his weekly analysis on the "Dale Jr. Download" podcast on Dirty Mo Radio, said that he was pleased with the speed in his Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet as he twice rallied from deep in the field to a 14th-place finish.

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"I still had fun driving the car. I hate I fouled up there and screwed up coming onto pit road and disappointed the guys," Earnhardt said. "We just worked so hard to get all that ground back and get back on the lead lap, and I sort of screwed it all up. So that’s difficult to deal with but you’ve got to put it behind you to be able to move on to the next event, and we’re going to some tracks where I think we can do really well and I’m looking forward to it."
 
Earnhardt started from the rear of the 43-car field, dropping back during pace laps after the crew was forced to make repairs to the No. 88’s rear gearing during Saturday’s final practice. Earnhardt lost a lap early, but regained it with some savvy pit strategy from crew chief Greg Ives and the fortunate timing of the race’s second caution period. That lead-lap advantage, however, went away with a penalty during the next round of green-flag pit stops.
 
Earnhardt lost two laps in the process, but the net effect wasn’t terribly costly in the scope of the season. The 40-year-old driver has already all but sealed his berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs after posting a regular-season win at Talladega Superspeedway last month, allowing him to take more chances ahead of the 10-race championship fight.
 
"Trying to get everything we can," Earnhardt said. "We can be real aggressive with pretty much everything we do since we have the win and we’re locked into the Chase. Sometimes, that’s going to bite us, and it bit me today. After that we just worked real hard to get everything else we could out of the race. Ended up gaining a bunch more spots and getting back into the top 15 there, but definitely had a much better car — a top-five car for sure."
 
While the result was less than desirable, Earnhardt emerged confident that the performance should carry over to the series’ October visit to Dover, site of the finale to the Chase-opening Challenger Round. Earnhardt and Co. finished a disappointing 17th at the Monster Mile last fall, but hopes Sunday’s comeback-filled effort is something the team can build upon.
 
"Starting in the back definitely made things difficult for us, so I’m pretty happy with the speed in the car," Earnhardt said. "Once we found out we were starting in the back, I really wrote off the result no matter what it was and just wanted to make sure we had good speed, because that track is where we really stumbled last year in the Chase. So we need to run better there for sure later in the season, and I think we’ve got a good baseline of something that’ll work."
 
Before Dover ever comes into view, Earnhardt has more pressing matters in Sunday’s Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Pocono Raceway, where he has a recent hot streak cooking. Earnhardt was 0-for-28 for his career at the Tricky Triangle until last season, when he swept both annual events at the Pennsylvania track.
 
If Earnhardt is able to connect for a third straight victory at Pocono, he’ll join elite company in NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison and the late Tim Richmond as the track’s only three-in-a-row winners. Pocono Raceway president Brandon Igdalsky, on hand in Victory Lane for both ends of Earnhardt’s double last season, told Dirty Mo Radio that the effect of his success was palpable.
 
"He takes the lead, and any track, anywhere — the place goes bonkers and it was the same thing here last year, watching fans’ reaction," Igdalsky said. "Then to see him do it a second time and now to be trying to go for what only two drivers have accomplished with winning three in a row, it’s going to be quite a feat if he can do it."

Posted on by Staff Report

See the look he will sport for first road course race of 2015

Stewart-Haas Racing unveiled the patriotic look Kevin Harvick will be sporting for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 28 (3 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, PRN, SiriusXM).

Harvick’s No. 4 Outback/Budweiser Chevrolet will have the Folds of Honor Foundation logo and wording on the hood of the car for the first road course race of the Sprint Cup Series season.

The Bakersfield, California native has three top fives and five top 10s in 14 starts at Sonoma.

 

Posted on by Zack Albert

Monster Mile race winner hopes to find common ground with Wallace Jr.

MORE: Bubba on Buescher: ‘We’re not shaking hands yet’ | See what happened late at Dover

Three days after ruffling feelings and fenders in his NASCAR XFINITY Series victory last weekend, Chris Buescher said Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that the raw emotions between himself and teammate Darrell Wallace Jr. still need time to cool before the two drivers see eye to eye.
 
Buescher, appearing on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s "Tradin’ Paint" program, said that late-race contact between the two at Dover International Speedway made for an unusual team meeting earlier this week at Roush Fenway Racing.

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"I don’t know if awkward’s the word," Buescher said, "but obviously not as smooth as we’d want it to go."
 
Buescher and Wallace — both racing on similar pit-stop and fuel conservation strategies — bumped twice as they contested the lead with nine laps remaining in Saturday’s Buckle Up 200. Buescher drove away after the contact to score his second XFINITY win of the season, but pole-starter Wallace slowed with a flat tire and faded to a 17th-place finish, three laps down.
 
"When you come down to the end and you have two cars with the same organization with a chance to win a race, and both on similar strategies, it gets a little rough sometimes," said Buescher, an XFINITY winner in two of the last three races. "Not ideal, and I hate that it went the way it did. And honestly, I had no clue that some of the things that happened after the contact happened, so that’s a shame. We were both in contention and both had fast race cars for the day."
 
Wallace expressed his displeasure with abrupt, measured comments to reporters on pit road after the race. Buescher, meanwhile, said in Saturday’s post-race news conference that he hoped to talk out the incident with his teammate on the plane ride back to North Carolina.

RELATED: Post-race tension caused by teammate tussle
 
Tuesday on SiriusXM, Buescher indicated that the two have yet to find common ground, but that he hoped they could resolve their differences before the series’ next race, June 13 at Michigan International Speedway (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).
 
"We’ve got to cool down a little bit is where it stands," Buescher said. "I’ve tried to express my view on the situation and I think it’s just too soon. Once we get everything calmed down, we’ve got an off weekend to go relax a little bit and we’ll come back to it and get it resolved before Michigan, but it’s still fresh on everyone’s mind. And I think both of us have opinions on what went on and I don’t know that we agree completely with the situation, but we’ll get it figured out.
 
"It’s part of racing and part of having as many teammates as we do over at Roush Fenway. You’re going to run into situations every now and then, and unfortunately, it’s part of it and we’re going to try to right the situation as quickly as possible."
 
Wallace appeared on FOX Sports 1’s "Race Hub" program Monday, saying that he had not shaken hands and mended fences with Buescher yet.
 
"Just good thing there’s a week off," Wallace said. "Got time to settle down and refocus back on the big picture."

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https://www.nascar.com/drivers/jimmie-johnson/
JimmieJohnson
5
Hendrick Motorsports
Johnson was No. 1 at Dover last weekend and he’s back to No. 1 in the rankings. The No. 48 driver’s win at the Monster Mile put him at four victories for the season — twice the amount of reigning Cup champ Kevin Harvick. If “Six-Time” keeps up this trend, he may be contending for his seventh title.
Like his runner-up finish at Dover, Harvick just couldn’t quite hold onto that top spot in the rankings. But with the most top fives of any driver this year and impressive consistency, the 2014 champ is definitely a frontrunner for the title.
Truex Jr. showed his aggression again at Dover this week, increasing his laps led in the past three points races to an impressive 357. This, along with his 2015 consistency, insinuates it’s only a matter of time before Truex finds Victory Lane this season.
While he just missed a top-10 result at Dover, Logano has recorded solid finishes for most of the year, posting nine of 13 finishes in the top 10. He is likely to put on a strong performance at Pocono, where he’s nabbed top 10s in three of the past four races.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/dale-earnhardt-jr/
DaleEarnhardt Jr.
2
Hendrick Motorsports
A 14th-place showing at Dover wasn’t stellar, but Earnhardt Jr. does deserve a hat tip for his fight from starting from the rear to the front. And with Junior having swept Pocono in 2014, we’ll be looking for him and crew chief Greg Ives to make some magic on Sunday.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/brad-keselowski/
BradKeselowski
-2
Team Penske
After his win at Auto Club back in March, Keselowski has been on-and-off depending on the week. He couldn’t do too much at Dover, but still managed to lead 28 laps. As the runner-up in this Pocono race last season, this week might be a good one for Kes.
Busch spent much of Dover running in the top 10, but couldn’t avoid a late-race wreck that left him with a 31st-place result. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver could bounce back at Pocono, as he’s recorded third-place finishes at two of his past three races there.
Kenseth’s 39th-place finish at Dover may have looked very different if his No. 20 ride hadn’t experienced a mechanical problem that took him out of the race. He showed speed throughout the weekend, and we expect that to be the case for the remainder of the year for the JGR team.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/denny-hamlin/
DennyHamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
The Monster Mile polesitter took quite a beating Sunday, as he was caught up in a late-race wreck after leading 118 laps. Expect him to make up for it this week, as Hamlin is a four-time winner at Pocono. And with a win under his belt, he can afford to take chances.
What was poised to be a promising final season for Gordon has turned into a year of heartbreakers and struggles with the new rules package. Could Pocono be the place to turn Gordon’s season around? The stats look good — he’s the all-time winner with six victories and Hendrick Motorsports has nabbed five straight Tricky Triangle wins.
Edwards proved his move to Joe Gibbs Racing was a good one by winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. His follow-up at Dover was ruined by two key pit road mishaps, but what’s important for the No. 19 driver is he’s confident again. And confidence is key.
Making a quiet run to the front, Kahne surprised everyone by contending for the win at Dover. While he wasn’t able to get it done, the No. 5 team has showed speed for the most part this season and could bring home a victory at Pocono — a track where Kahne has won twice.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/kyle-busch/
KyleBusch
-2
Joe Gibbs Racing
Busch’s return to the track was met with anticipation and curiousity of how he would bounce back. So far, so good as far as endurance and competitiveness goes. But after wrecking while running in the top bracket last week at Dover, Busch bumps down a bit.
Newman has been consistent this year, having an average finishing position of 11.9. But the Richard Childress Racing driver has yet to really contend for a win and his 18th-place finish at Dover sets him back in the rankings.
A seventh-place finish at Dover matches McMurray’s current seventh-place ranking in the point standings. Considering he doesn’t have a win yet, this is a mark of consistency, which bodes for a bright season and possible Chase bid if it continues.
Almirola impressed at Dover by earning not only his first top-10 of the season, but also his first top-five. A good weekend or premonition of a stronger second half to his season? Only time will tell.
Having struggled to find his groove this season, Larson earned some stripes at Dover with a third-place result. The No. 42 driver has a long way to go if he wants to make the Chase, though. Third-place won’t cut it — he needs a win.
While the leader of the Roush Fenway Racing cars this year, Biffle’s season has been mediocre with flashes of success. His runner-up finish was strong at Charlotte, but his follow at Dover (17th-place after involvement in a wreck) wasn’t too impressive.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/clint-bowyer/
ClintBowyer
Stewart-Haas Racing
Hopes were high for Bowyer at Dover, as it is one of his strong tracks in recent years. And while the Michael Waltrip Racing driver didn’t grab a win or top-five finish, he did manage a ninth-place result, a far cry from the trio of 20th-place-or-worse finishes he posted in the three points races before his Monster Mile result.
Menard has quietly recorded top-15 finishes in seven of the last 10 races, making him another poster child for consistency. While he doesn’t run inside the top 10 often, his strong eighth-place finish at Dover last week keeps him in the rankings.
Posted on by Holly Cain

Initial frustration gives way to encouragement over Dover results

RELATED: ‘Six-time’ wins 10th time at Dover | Race results | Updated standings

DOVER, Del. – Kasey Kahne and Martin Truex Jr. may have initially been frustrated coming up short on a potential first win of the 2015 season in Sunday’s FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks. But once given some time to think big picture both Chevrolet drivers seemed decidedly more encouraged than disappointed by their top-six efforts.

While they may not have had much for eventual race winner Jimmie Johnson in the end, Kahne and Truex raced each other hard in the closing laps – so hard on one restart that after the race, a miffed Truex showed his displeasure by giving Kahne’s No. 5 Farmers Chevrolet a little bump on the cool-down lap.

By the time the drivers emerged from their cars, neither was still particularly upset.

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"Our car was inside him and he ran me down to the apron so I either had to let off or wreck all of us so I decided to let off," said Truex, who finished sixth but for the third consecutive points race led the most laps (131) without winning.

Kahne calmly explained the situation from his perspective.

"He was back behind me to get a run on me, obviously," Kahne said. "The spotter said I was clear, so I just went to the bottom getting into [turn] one. I think he was a little upset. He gave me a bump after the race. But I didn’t really know what else to do other than to go there with guys on my outside and stuff."

In the end, Kahne’s fourth-place finish matched his best result of the season (he also finished fourth at Phoenix in March) despite a disappointing qualifying effort.

"Started 25th and drove forward throughout the whole race," Kahne said. "We got to 12th or 13th and kind of stood there for a little while and [crew chief] Keith [Rodden] found us a way to get track position on the end.

"I was able to get to second on the outside on the restart and basically the guy in fourth got to second on the outside and I ended up fourth. It was kind of just the way it goes late in the race on old tires. We did all we could. We had a pretty good run. … we just came up fourth."

SHOP: Kahne gear | Truex items

In the previous two races, Truex led the most laps and felt like he had the car that should have driven in Victory Lane but didn’t. This week he conceded the car may not have been a race winner and in this case, salvaging a top-six – his series best 12th top-10 [tying race runner-up Kevin Harvick] was a productive day.

"We had a good car today, but it was never right,’" Truex said of his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet. "We were never right yesterday through practice. We made some changes today and we made some gains on it, but never really got it where we needed it.

"Clean air was huge. When we were out front, we were OK. It just never turned good all day long and it just eventually caught up to us."

With only one-third of the 36-race schedule completed, the 389 laps led ranks third in a season for Truex. He led 581 laps in 2007 and 434 in 2012.

He remains second in driver points, 44 behind leader Harvick and 32 ahead of third place Johnson – the only multi-race winners on the season.