Posted on by Staff Report

Team will field two Ford GTs in full IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship in 2016

Chip Ganassi has achieved legendary status as a team owner in NASCAR, sports cars and IndyCar racing, with victories in many of the world’s most prestigious races, including the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

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Ganassi joined top Ford executives in announcing an ambitious new program for the Ford GT race car at a press conference Friday in Le Mans, France, ahead of this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. With Ford’s backing, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates will field two Ford GTs in the full IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship in 2016, beginning with the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 30-31. The team also will field two cars in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

All four cars are expected to compete in the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, marking the 50th Anniversary of Ford’s overall victory in the prestigious endurance race.

"At Ganassi Racing, we’ve won 17 major championships over the years; over 160 races," said Ganassi. "We’ve won the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the Twelve Hours of Sebring, but we’ve never run at Le Mans. I can tell you, we want to win this race, and when Ford presented us that opportunity, a chance to compete here, well, what race team wouldn’t want to be a part of that?"

The seeds for this opportunity with Ford were sown in 2013, when the team announced a new partnership with Ford to supply the team’s Riley Daytona Prototypes with 3.5-liter, twin-turbo, V-6 EcoBoost power.

Only those on the inside had any inkling that this racing program was doubling as a development program for an engine that will power not only the new Ford GT race car, but also the production version of the Ford GT race car that was launched to overwhelming fanfare at the North American International Auto Show this past January. A couple of weeks after that new car was introduced, NASCAR stars Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray combined with IndyCar stars Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan to win the Rolex 24 At Daytona in Ganassi’s No. 02 Ford EcoBoost/Riley DP.

"We spent the last year and a half getting a better understanding of each other’s strengths, while jointly developing the engine that will be in the race car and the road car," Ganassi said. "We’re very proud of that."

Ganassi isn’t the only one. IMSA CEO Ed Bennett was in the audience for Friday’s highly anticipated announcement and was equally proud of the attention given to the technology transfer story.

"It’s an exciting time with a really exciting car," Bennett said. "The fact that the engine technology was developed in the Daytona Prototype the last couple of years with the EcoBoost V6 and now it’s being applied to this car, it’s the ultimate validation of what a racing program can do."

Everybody will get their first opportunity to see what this new racing program can do for the first time next Jan. 30-31 in the 54th Rolex 24 At Daytona.

"It shows a clear commitment from Ford for sports car racing, and it’s obviously a fantastic, significant development for the TUDOR Championship," Bennett said. "We couldn’t be more proud that the first place this car will race is at the 2016 Rolex 24 At Daytona, which will also be the first chance to show off the new Daytona Rising upgrades to the facility.

"A brand-new facility, and a brand-new Ford GT racing program – for all that to happen together, in a 24-hour environment – will be very exciting, and very special."

Posted on by Staff Report

See where your favorite driver will pit on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1)

RELATED: Full starting lineup | See all 43 cars

The pit stall assignments are out for Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).

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Coors Light Pole Award winner Kasey Kahne got first pick of a stall on pit road and the Hendrick Motorsports driver chose the pit stall closest to the exit of pit road. Kahne will have a clear path off pit road to get back out to the 2-mile track.

Kevin Harvick (starting second) has the pit stall right behind Kahne, which could make for some interesting races off pit road.

Carl Edwards (starting fourth) and Ryan Blaney (starting fifth) have openings in front of them on pit road.

Jeff Gordon (starting sixth) chose the pit stall closest to the entrance of pit road.

Posted on by Staff Report

Driver paces field with best speed of 191.215 mph

RELATED: Full practice results

Chase Elliott came out of nowhere to squeak to the top of the leaderboard in the final seconds of the day’s only XFINITY Series practice on Friday, making his way around Michigan International Speedway at a blistering pace of 191.215 mph.

Aric Almirola had just bumped his way to the top seconds earlier to finish second at 190.446 mph.

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Brian Scott and Chris Buescher had been tied atop the leaderboard for most of the session before falling to third and fourth, respectively. The pair of series regulars finished with a 190.285 mph clip around the 2-mile track, enough to best Buescher’s Roush Fenway Racing teammate Darrell Wallace Jr. (190.134 mph, who placed fifth) and Scott’s Richard Childress Racing teammate and defending race winner Paul Menard (190.114 mph, who placed sixth)

Kyle Busch, making his first return to XFINITY Series competition since a crash in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway sidelined him for several months, was seventh on the chart 190.019 mph.

After rain washed out the first practice session, the final practice started nine minutes early and ran until 3:55 p.m. ET.

Qualifying for Saturday’s Great Clips 250 Benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1) is set to begin earlier in the day at 10:15 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

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Wet weather impacts opening Sprint Cup practice, delays XFINITY Series

RELATED: Live weather updates from Michigan

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Rain came and went during Friday’s opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Michigan International Speedway, and then the wet weather washed out the opening 60-minute NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, which was slated to run from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET.

XFINITY Series cars were able to hit the track for the scheduled final practice. Actually, the track went green about eight minutes before the scheduled start time of 2:30 p.m. ET, giving the teams a little extra time. Final XFINITY practice was set to run until 3:55 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 ahead of Saturday’s Great Clips 250 benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).

On-track activity started at 11:30 a.m. ET start at the 2-mile track in preparation for Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM), the 15th of 36 races this season. But light rain under gray, threatening skies placed practice on hold two different times. Defending Sprint Cup Series champion and current point standings leader Kevin Harvick topped the session.
 
Coors Light Pole Qualifying for Sprint Cup cars is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2.

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SHR driver paces session with best speed of 202.094 mph

RELATED: Live weather updates from Michigan | Practice 1 results

Rain halted the opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Michigan International Speedway twice on Friday afternoon, but Kevin Harvick had already established a formidable speed atop the leaderboard that stuck through the remainder of the session.

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The Stewart-Haas Racing driver paced the field with a best speed of 202.492 mph, achieved in just five laps in prep for Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).

Joey Logano was second in the session at 201.607 mph, followed by last week’s winner Martin Truex Jr. (201.157 mph), Denny Hamlin (200.921 mph) and Jeff Gordon (200.781 mph).

Clint Bowyer struggled in the session with his new crew chief, Billy Scott, as the No. 15 Toyota came in 27th on the leaderboard at 197.055 mph.

With 25 minutes left in the session, Kurt Busch lost control of his No. 41 Chevrolet, sending it into the outside wall.

"Went down in there and was a little twitchier when it turned in and then it went full on left," Busch radioed to his team after the hit. "Sorry … it’s pretty much ruined."

Crew chief Tony Gibson decided to switch to a backup car, which the 2004 Cup champion will test run during Coors Light Pole Qualifying at 4:15 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2.

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Phoenix International Raceway to be called Jeff Gordon Raceway for one day

BUY: Phoenix tickets

Phoenix International Raceway will be called Jeff Gordon Raceway for the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Nov. 15, a track representative announced Friday. The race is No. 35 of 36 in the 2015 season and also Gordon’s penultimate race as a full-time driver.

Gordon has two wins and 23 top 10s in 33 career Cup starts at Phoenix. It was also the site of one of the most controversial moments of his distinguished career in 2012 when he wrecked championship contender Clint Bowyer in the closing laps.

Since he announced his intention to step down from full-time competition (although he still hasn’t used the word "retire") in January, tracks have honored Gordon in a variety of ways.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway gave him a customized blackjack table and changed the speed limit around its facility to 24 mph; Atlanta Motor Speedway offered a red No. 24 Bandolero car, with the names of Gordon’s two children, Ella Sofia and Leo, over each door; and Bristol Motor Speedway had Ella Sofia and Leo give the command prior to its April race.

This story will be updated.

Posted on by Zack Albert

GM Joe Garone discusses whether team is looking to change manufacturers

RELATED: Chevrolet address Furniture Row rumors

BROOKLYN, Mich. — A matter of weeks ago, the direction of Furniture Row Racing centered on potentially expanding to a multi-car organization. Now, just days removed from the team’s first victory in four years, the tenor of that discussion surrounds which automaker’s badges will be on those cars.
 
Furniture and mattress magnate Barney Visser told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio earlier this week that his No. 78 Chevrolet team was exploring a potential change in manufacturers. The car owner’s remarks came while the Colorado-based team was still in the honeymoon phase of Martin Truex Jr.’s feel-good victory last weekend at Pocono Raceway.

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Friday at Michigan International Speedway, Furniture Row general manager Joe Garone elaborated on the team’s exploration, saying that it was looking into options that make financial sense.
 
"It is. It’s about business," Garone said. "We are in a sport that is real expensive. We truly can’t afford to do it. We can do it. When I say we can’t afford to do it, I mean at the level we want to push it to in order to be able to be in position to win a championship. We need more resources. Chevrolet has been a great partner. We have been together for 10 years now. But they are spread across … they do a great job; look at all the championships they have won. But to get to the level we need to get to, we need to get a lot more support. We are open and have been looking to try and get that just to push our team forward further."
 
Going further would mark an even more pronounced performance pick-up for Truex, who has run at the front of the pack in recent weeks, leading gobs of laps before finally cashing in last weekend at Pocono. The victory virtually assured Truex a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs, where Furniture Row will make only its second appearance since the organization’s formation in 2005.

MORE: Truex takes long road back to Victory Lane
 
From those origins, however, the team has been exclusively linked to Chevrolet for its decade-plus in NASCAR’s top division. For the majority of the team’s lifetime, it has also carried the colors of Furniture Row and Denver Mattress, Visser’s own companies. Garone — who was quick to distinguish that the operation was definitely looking, not definitely changing automakers — said that the scope of the team’s search included both new manufacturers and new sponsors.
 
"One of the things about the No. 78 car is because it has always had Furniture Row and Denver Mattress on it, everybody assumes it is sponsored," Garone said. "It has made it tough to find partners, but again Barney owns those companies. We need to get the word out that we are actively looking for sponsorship to come on board. Not just for the No. 78, but to expand the company into a multi-car team. It is for the long-term growth of the team. We will just see what plays out and just keep pushing the button and try to expand this thing."

RELATED: Is second car in the cars for Furniture Row?
 
For Truex, his focus remains trained on improving over the second half of the regular season and making a move for his first Sprint Cup championship in the 10-race Chase. But he also acknowledged that teams, regardless of their position in the garage’s pecking order, are continually searching for an edge.
 
"More of what we are doing and just continuing to get better and push hard and try to find more speed," Truex said. "I think everybody is looking right now. Everybody is constantly working hard. Things change a lot in this garage area. There are a lot of smart people that are always working and always pushing to find more. We just have to keep doing that. I think that we have shown this year that we are capable of it. Certainly the last four weeks have been great. I feel like we have shown and proved that we can battle with them week in and week out.
 
"Honestly we just have to keep our eye on the prize, stay focused and keep working hard. I know for a fact the team has it in them. It’s just a matter of whether we get it done or not."

Posted on by Zack Albert

Roush teammates move past Monster Mile incident, look towards Michigan

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Chris Buescher and Darrell Wallace Jr., teammates-turned-rivals two weeks ago, said Friday they’ve put their Dover differences behind them, turning their focus toward an all-important track for their Roush Fenway Racing organization.
 
Buescher enters Saturday’s Great Clips 250 Benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1) at Michigan International Speedway as the NASCAR XFINITY Series points leader. Wallace, in his first year driving for Roush Fenway, ranks 49 points behind his teammate in fifth place.

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Their proximity in the standings aside, the two teammates were not exactly chummy after clanging fenders in the latter stages of the series’ most recent race at Dover International Speedway. Buescher drove away to his second victory of the season while Wallace faded with a flat tire.
 
The run-in made the Roush Fenway camp’s Monday morning meeting after Dover an awkward one, but two weeks later, the waters appear to have smoothed.
 
"It was hard racing is what it comes down to," Buescher told NASCAR.com before Friday’s rain-delayed XFINITY practice on the 2-mile track. "We’ve had a talk about it and obviously it was not an ideal situation and we don’t ever want to be in the same situation again. We’ve talked and we’re going to put it behind us. We’re going to go into Michigan and treat it as another race where we need to go be teammates again and go perform at our highest level. And we’ll be OK. We’ve talked about it a little bit, and it’s just a racing deal, you know? You’ll go through that sometimes."
 
Wallace’s easy-going Friday demeanor was in direct contrast to his dismay after the checkered flag at Dover. After joking about how "interesting" the Monday meeting was, Wallace said the team was ready to move forward.
 
"Dover’s definitely behind us," Wallace said. "We didn’t see eye-to-eye in that meeting. We still know we’ve got to be smart, but I told them they’ve got a lot more to lose than me."
 
Both Roush Fenway drivers may be feeling more burden to perform this weekend at Michigan, a longtime stronghold for team owner Jack Roush. The premium on running well in the showcase event for manufacturers Ford and Chevrolet is a tall order, a team edict that places a little more pressure on Saturday’s 250-miler.
 
"Every time we talk about Michigan, this exact subject comes up," Buescher said. "It’s Jack’s home track, it’s Ford’s home track — we’re expected to come here and perform at our highest level. This is one that, it’s a tough race to win. It’s a lot of momentum, it’s a lot of drafting, which has been difficult for me to get a hold of at a place like this. We try really hard to make sure we bring the best stuff possible here and get the win.
 
"There is pressure here. We keep it circled. We know that we need to come and win this race, not only for Jack but for Ford and for our race team."
 
Wallace said he participated in a private fantasy league among family members growing up, making sure to stock his lineup with heavily favored Roush drivers for each Michigan race. While Roush Fenway’s XFINITY efforts — with three drivers in the top eight in standings — may be outpacing their Sprint Cup Series brethren (no drivers better than 18th), Wallace suggests that side of the operation may be ready to turn the corner.
 
"We’ve actually found speed fairly quick," Wallace said of his XFINITY No. 6 team. "It’s been cool to see (Greg) Biffle finish second in the 600 there, and he was strong during the All-Star Race. They continue to show speed. It’s starting to improve, so it’s cool to see that for the future. Hopefully we can continue to find more speed as a team overall."

Posted on by Nascar

Truex Jr., Gordon, Kahne and Edwards speak out on possible changes

BROOKLYN, Mich. – The on-again, off-again 2016 rules package for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series appears to be on again.

Only this time, teams might put the package on the track before 2016 arrives.

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Talk in the garage Friday at Michigan International Speedway indicated that the package could be put into play next month when the series visits Kentucky Speedway on July 11. And it would be only for that event.

"We’ll have to see how that goes," Martin Truex Jr. said Friday at Michigan, site of Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM). "I don’t know. I have as many questions about it as everybody else. What’s it going to be like? Is it going to do what they think and what some of the drivers think it’s going to do?" 

NASCAR officials initially considered implementing the changes, which are expected to further reduce downforce, for this year’s Sprint All-Star Race, a non-points-paying event hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway last month. That idea was eventually tabled. 

"You always want to be able to go and test it and understand it," four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon said. "I’m fine with what I’m hearing about a reduction in downforce if they can bring a softer tire. To me that is the whole key in kind of where we are at today. 

"We knew the power was being reduced. A lot of the drivers were really asking for less downforce if the power was going to be reduced, but the key component to that was being able to get Goodyear to match the tire up for that to have a little bit more grip at the beginning of a run and maybe have some fall off. That has been one of the biggest challenges this year is that we are actually running harder tires." 

NASCAR officials would not confirm that a change would be forthcoming during the 2015 season but acknowledged that the sanctioning body has been actively involved in dialog with teams with the goal of making racing as exciting as possible. As such, they are looking at various scenarios to accomplish that goal.

RELATED: Steve O’Donnell addresses the state of the 2016 rules package

Steve O’Donnell, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer for NASCAR, said earlier this year that rising corner speeds, an unintended consequence of the current rules package, was a concern and the ’16 package would be fashioned to "affect the aero … and match that up with the tire."

While straightaway speeds have fallen this season, drivers can drive deeper into the corners and don’t have to stay off-throttle as long, resulting in the higher corner speeds. 

Speaking with "Downforce Radio" recently, O’Donnell broached the possibility of track-specific rules package for the series.

"Not to have it be 36 individual packages, but potentially look at some lower downforce at some (tracks) … kind of cater it to certain tracks," he said.

The ’16 aero package was tested briefly earlier this year at Charlotte. Kasey Kahne, the pole winner for Sunday’s race, was one of those participating.

"I really liked it," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said. "I ran by myself and felt like it was the first time I could really drive the car, control the car, lift and things to make the car work rather than just run super hard like we’re doing. …When I came into the sport, that’s how it was, you drove more with both feet. You found speed in different spots in the corner and you weren’t wide open."

While drivers might see the move as beneficial, on-track testing with the setup was halted earlier this year, so the risk of the unknown has some in the garage not as eager to see the rules package modified during the middle of the season. No extensive wind tunnel testing has been done, and there is some concern that the changes could benefit one of the three automakers in the series, Chevrolet, Ford or Toyota, more than others. 

It’s also been noted that implementing changes for a points-paying race could adversely impact one or more team’s chances at qualifying for this year’s 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. 

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Carl Edwards, already all but locked into the 16-team Chase field with a victory at Charlotte, said he has no such concerns.

"I really feel that the way racing works, as long as the teams are able to implement the changes logistically and financially without a huge burden, change anything you want anytime you want," he said. "As long as it’s the same for everyone, who cares? 

"As far as I’m concerned, you could make up rules or have changes five minutes before the race starts."

Posted on by Nascar

After heated exchange at Pocono, the pair look ahead to Michigan

BROOKLYN, Mich. — The much ballyhooed “heated” radio conversation between four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon and crew chief Alan Gustafson has been put to rest.

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“If anything,“ Gordon said Friday at Michigan International Speedway, “I think it’s been more positive that we kind of got that out there and had this heated moment and said some things and got them off our chest. I think it’s actually helped us coming into this weekend really focused and excited about it.”

During the eighth and final caution of Sunday’s Axalta 400 at Pocono Raceway, and with Gordon running 21st, Gustafson called his driver in for four tires.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver questioned the decision, and the radio conversation quickly became heated before spotter Eddit D’Hondt stepped in to try and settle the pair down.

“It’s intense out there,” Gordon said Friday. “We had a car far better than what we finished (14th). I would say (it was) a little bit of a build-up with the type of season we’ve had so far.

“It seems like every time we have a car that’s capable of either winning or running in the top five some circumstances come about that take us kind of out of that. That’s frustrating. When you’re in the closing laps of a race, coming down to kind of the final pit stops and you’re making choices and decisions you’re not always going to like those decisions. You have to play a role in it. At that point, I think both Alan was frustrated and I was frustrated. The restarts weren’t going great; we took a risk on the pit strategy (earlier), the caution came out that blew that strategy and that put us back. We saw how hard it was to pass, track position being really, really important especially in that final run.”

The winningest active driver competing in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series today with 92 career victories, Gordon, 43, is stepping out of the car following the 2015 season. While he is 10th in points heading into Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 (1 p.m. FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR), he’s yet to win a race this season. To qualify for this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, a driver must be in the top 16 in points or have at least one win after the 26th race of the year.

Gordon said he felt his car was good enough to stay out and maintain its track position at that point in the Pocono race.

“I rarely ever question those calls — he’s the crew chief and he makes great calls,” Gordon said. “But at that point I felt like I needed to stay out. It got a little heated.

“But it’s all good. We’re big boys; we respect the heck out of one other. We’ve had great conversations this week.”