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No. 18 driver Chase eligible; but must meet two requirements

RELATED: Busch gets waiver, is Chase eligible

Kyle Busch got back in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 at the Sprint All-Star Race – faster than most expected after his foot and leg injuries in the season-opening XFINITY race at Daytona. And he was granted a waiver, making him Chase eligible. 

Whether Busch makes the Chase for the Sprint Cup depends on two factors: He must win a regular-season race; and he must crack the top 30 in the driver points standings.

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With two 2015 Sprint Cup points races under his belt and 13 remaining to meet those requirements, NASCAR.com began analyzing whether Busch can make it into the Challenger Round, which begins Sept. 20 at Chicagoland Speedway.

George Winkler and Kathy Sheldon have their opinions on whether Busch can make it four-for-four among his JGR teammates, who all have one win this season already.  Do you think ‘Rowdy’ can cap off his quick recovery with a playoffs run? Tell us in the comments section below.

Sheldon: Always fun to go H2H with you, George. Almost as fun as watching Kyle Busch push the limits on the track. Unfortunately, I don’t think his season will recover as fully as his body has — and we’re all thankful he’s OK. Busch clearly has the talent and the equipment, and after Dover he has that first post-surgery wreck out of the way, which seemed to leave him unfazed. But that wreck, which gave him a 36th-place finish, all but doomed his chances of being in the top 30 in points after Richmond. He pretty much had one mulligan, and it’s used, through no fault of his own. That’s the problem, for me: Too may factors remain out of the driver’s control for Busch to achieve the 15.8th-place average over 15 races necessary to reach that 30th-place barrier.

Winkler: If I were a betting man, and I’m not, the smart money is on Busch not making the Chase. Like you say, he’s used up his mulligan and will be hard-pressed not only to avoid any bad luck but also to get the win he needs to advance to the Chase. That said, I have enormous respect for Busch’s driving ability, and he’s in top-notch equipment. This is a gut feeling, but I feel like when backed into a corner, the great ones react by overcoming the odds. Just look back to last year’s Chase. Did anyone think Kevin Harvick was going to win the championship after his 33rd-place finish at Martinsville during the Eliminator Round? Probably not, but he pulled out wins at Phoenix and Homestead to get the job done. I think Kyle can be in that same class with Kevin — and make a comeback for the ages (said in Jim Nantz voice).

Sheldon: I’m not a gambling girl, either. But if I were, I’d put money on Busch getting a win, as well. But his bold checkers-or-wreckers approach to driving will cost him as he tries to climb out of this points hole. Even at Bristol, where he has five wins and 12 top-10 finishes, he wrecked out at the 2014 fall race and finished 29th in the spring race. And we have Sonoma in the next 13 races, where Busch has an average finish of 25th place over the last six races.

Winkler: It’s interesting that his average finish is that low in recent races at Sonoma, because Busch has been good at the other road course, Watkins Glen — with two wins and eight top-10 finishes in 10 attempts. You mentioned Bristol, where Busch has five wins, but he also has four wins at Richmond to go along with a 7.4 average finish. However, Busch’s best chance for a win might be at Kentucky, where he has an average finish of 4.5. While there are spots where Busch might not do as well as he needs to, there are plenty of others where he could boost that average and/or pick up a win. Granted, it’s a tall order to make the Chase, but again, you gotta believe! 

Sheldon: George, I think we agree that Busch making the Chase would be a good thing. Fans would love it — be they Kyle lovers or Kyle haters — because no one likes to see a serious wreck injure a driver and we all enjoy great comeback stories. But one more factor out of his control is mechanical trouble. Teammate Matt Kenseth was bit by that bug at Dover, and an engine failure in the first trip to Pocono last year left Busch with a 42nd-place finish. Pocono beats up cars with bursts of speed off the corners and more shifting, as JGR crew chief Darian Grubb for Carl Edwards explains in this week’s Tech Talk. Counting that engine failure and two race-ending crashes between June and September last year, Busch was left with a 23rd-place average finish in the 13 races preceding the Chase. That won’t get him into the top 30.

Winkler: Busch had some room to play with last year since he posted a win early in the season at Auto Club Speedway. He probably won’t take as many chances this year given his current situation with the margin of error being so slim. As one of NASCAR’s most talented drivers, he has shown he can have success on different courses. The only question will be whether he can maintain a high level of consistency, because he has proven, at least to me, that health won’t be an issue. Yes, some fans would love it if Busch could make the Chase, but would Brad Keselowski? That might be the real question we should be debating, but all kidding aside, their rivalry is yet another reason to root for Busch to make the Chase.

Posted on by NASCAR Official Release

Teams in all three national series get docked

MORE: Bayne penalized after Dover race | Cobb fined | Two NXS teams penalized

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
• Trevor Bayne, driver of the No. 6 car, has received a penalty for his actions during the May 31 race (Sections 12.1, 12.8 b and 10.4.2.1 in the 2015 NASCAR rule book). Bayne has been fined $20,000 and placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31.


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FULL SERIES COVERAGE

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• Standings
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• The No. 4 team has been assessed a P1 level penalty for receiving written warnings in two consecutive events (Section 12.5.3.1b,c NASCAR rule book). The team will receive the last choice in the pit selection process for this weekend’s event at Pocono Raceway.

NASCAR XFINITY Series
• The No. 97 team has been penalized for an infraction occurring during practice on May 29. It is a P3 level penalty (Sections 12.1 and 20.17.2.1b NASCAR rule book). Crew chief John Monsam has been fined $15,000, suspended from the next championship points race, and placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31. Car chief David Jones has been suspended from the next championship points race and placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31. Driver Peyton Sellers and owner Victor Obaika lose 15 series championship driver and owner points, respectively.

• The No. 33 car failed post-race inspection on May 30. This is a P2 level penalty (Sections 12.1 and 20.17.3.2.2b NASCAR rule book). Crew chief Nick Harrison has been fined $7,500 and placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31. Car owner Richard Childress loses 10 series championship owner points.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
• Jennifer Jo Cobb, driver of the No. 10 truck, has received a penalty for her actions during the May 29 race (Sections 12-1, 12.8 b and 10.4.2.1 NASCAR rule book).  Cobb has been fined $5,000 and placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31.

Posted on by Jason Lofing

Bolton kept him honest, but Humpe was in a class of his own

Kenny Humpe drove a nearly perfect race and returned to victory lane at Dover International Speedway for his fourth win in the 2015 NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series Powered by iRacing.

Humpe held-off Justin Bolton on a green-white-checkered restart to secure the win. After starting second, Humpe overhauled polesitter and teammate Bolton 30 laps into the race. This wound-up being the only lead change of the race as Humpe led the final 170 circuits in yet another dominating performance to further enhance his commanding lead in the series points race.

Kevin King bounced back from some rough luck on restarts to claim third. Brad Mahar and Bryan Blackford finished fourth and fifth respectively, the first top five run of the season for each sim racer.

Bolton started on pole and looked to have a good car for the short run but as the laps wore on Humpe became stronger and Bolton let him go on Lap 31. Humpe built a sizeable margin over the next 35 laps before a spin by Brad Davies brought out the caution for the first time.

Humpe’s pit crew gave him a fantastic stop and allowed him to maintain the lead, giving him the clean air on the restart. Now out in the clear, Humpe took control of the race and jumped out to a half-straightaway lead over Bolton before the yellow flag waved again on Lap 113. The caution flew just inside the fuel window which eliminated fuel strategy from the equation.

As expected, the pace and intensity picked-up after drivers knew they could make it to the end on fuel. Humpe once again sprinted out to a comfortable lead but the battle for the rest of the top ten was close and competitive.  Ray Alfalla, Nick Ottinger, and Tyler Hudson joined the fray as the race wore on and each looked to have the potential to finish in the top five.

Just as the field began to organize another yellow slowed the pace on Lap 154, erasing Humpe’s lead and drawing the leaders to pit for tires. Surprisingly, none of the lead lap cars stayed out on old tires, nor did any of the frontrunners gamble on a two tire stop for track position which allowed Humpe to maintain the lead off pit road for the third time.

The last quarter of the race was marred by several incidents which involved drivers who came into Dover high in the championship standings. Alfalla, Chad Laughton, Chris Overland, and Patrick Crabtree all found trouble. Laughton found the most trouble when he became involved in an incident after Cody Byus and Benjamin Burmeister made contact. Laughton wound up with serious damage and finished thirty-third.

All the trouble allowed Humpe to extend his lead in the championship which now sits at a whopping 76 points as the 2015 NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series hits the halfway point of the season. Alfalla remains second after late race contact cost him a top ten finish. Overland is third, 30 points back of Alfalla, after being shuffled out of the top five on a late-race restart. Laughton and Crabtree are tied for fifth and sit just a single marker behind Overland.

With half the season in the books, Humpe is clearly the class of the field. In eight races he has won four times to go along with seven top five finishes and three poles. His advantage in the laps led category is staggering:  664 laps compared to Laughton’s mark of just 153 laps … which is fewer than Humpe led at Dover alone.

The second half of the season kicks-off with the series’ annual visit to Michigan International Speedway, along with a new build which could slightly change the handling of the cars. Thus far, Humpe and his team have been churning out great setups week after week, but can they keep it up with the new build or will a new team find a package that can dominate? Tune into iRacing Live to catch all the action from MIS!

Posted on by Staff Report

Rules to take effect in all three series starting this weekend

NASCAR formalized expanded standards for pit road safety apparel Wednesday, making specially certified gloves, head socks and underwear mandatory for over-the-wall pit crew personnel in all three national series.

The move became official through a bulletin added Wednesday to the NASCAR Rule Book. The requirements go into effect beginning with this weekend’s events for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Pocono Raceway and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway.
 
The measures were spurred by a major pit-road fire, which injured three crew members during an XFINITY Series race April 24 at Richmond International Raceway. Two members of the Richard Childress Racing No. 62 team for driver Brendan Gaughan were briefly hospitalized; a third crewman, working in a neighboring pit stall for the JGL Racing team, was treated and released the same night from the track’s infield care center.
 
NASCAR competition officials had already recommended that teams use the apparel approved by the SFI Foundation, a California-based organization that sets motorsports industry standards for racing equipment. Teams in all three national series were notified May 13 that the recommendations would soon become a rule.
 
Robin Pemberton, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition and Racing Development, said last month that many teams were already in compliance with the new rule. The three weeks from when teams were notified until the rule went into effect, Pemberton said, were meant to allow teams and manufacturers of safety equipment enough time to get crew members up to code.
 
"We were going down this path anyway," Pemberton said. "I use the (phrase) ‘you get a tap on the shoulder every now and then’ … (the Richmond incident) helped to put it on the fast track. We’ve all worked together and a lot of times it’s better if we throw a rule out there for everybody to comply."

Posted on by Staff Report

Keep tabs on this weekend’s activity

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Pocono Raceway this week while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has a stand-alone event at Texas Motor Speedway. The NASCAR XFINITY Series is off. Here’s more info on how you can follow along all weekend.

RACES

Sprint Cup Series: Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 (Sunday, June 7, 1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM)
Camping World Truck Series: WinStar World Casino 400 (Friday, June 5, 9 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM)

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

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

RACE DAY

• Cup Series leaderboard
• Truck Series leaderboard
• Cup Series live standings
• Cup Series Lap-by-Lap
• Truck Series Lap-by-Lap

PRODUCTS

• RaceBuddy: Live in-car coverage with 10 HD views. Up to eight in-car cameras for Cup races, and four for XFINITY races.
• RaceView: Watch virtual video of cars on track and listen to the scanner.
• RaceView Mobile: On your phone? Try RaceView here.
• Scanner: In-car audio only.
• Mobile Apps: Follow the leaderboards live from your device.

FANTASY

• NASCAR Fantasy Live: Set your lineups, check your progress
• Streak to the Finish: Play in all three national series

LIVE INTERVIEWS

PressPass: Watch exclusive post-race interviews.

Stay tuned to NASCAR.com throughout the weekend for the latest news.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Childress, Obaika operations docked for Dover infractions

RELATED: NASCAR issues penalties following Dover races

NASCAR announced penalties Wednesday for two XFINITY Series teams for infractions — one pre-race and one post-race — during last weekend’s event at Dover International Speedway.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

The Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet team of driver Austin Dillon was issued a P2-level penalty after the car failed post-race inspection after Saturday’s Buckle Up 200 presented by Click It or Ticket. Officials determined the No. 33 car, driven to a fourth-place finish by Dillon in the 200-miler, to be too low on both sides in the rear.

As a result, NASCAR fined crew chief Nick Harrison $7,500 and placed him on probation through Dec. 31. Car owner Richard Childress was docked 10 series championship owner points.

NASCAR rescinded rules governing ride heights in the Sprint Cup Series ahead of the 2014 season, but those regulations remain in place in the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series. The most recent ride-height punishment in a NASCAR national series was a P2-grade penalty for the JR Motorsports No. 00 team in the truck series after its win last month at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

NASCAR also penalized the Obaika Racing No. 97 Chevrolet team for a dropped weight during opening XFINITY Series practice at Dover. The loose piece of tungsten off the car driven by Peyton Sellers punctured the radiator of the No. 13 Dodge driven by Carl Long, causing a crash and forcing the veteran to a backup car for the race.

NASCAR reacted by handing the No. 97 team a P3-level penalty. Crew chief John Monsam has been fined $15,000, suspended for the next championship points race (Great Clips 250 Benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America, June 13, 1:30 p.m. at Michigan International Speedway) and placed on NASCAR probabtion through Dec. 31. Car chief David Jones was also suspended for the next championship points race and placed on probation through Dec. 31. Sellers loses 15 points in the drivers points standings, and owner Victor Obaika also was docked 15 points in the owner standings.

The incident marked the second time in the past three weeks where an uncontrolled weight has dropped from a vehicle in the XFINITY Series. The JD Motorsports No. 4 team was hit with a P3 penalty May 19 after an errant weight from its car severely damaged owner/driver Jamie Dick‘s car the previous weekend at Iowa Speedway.

Posted on by Zack Albert

No. 6 driver climbs out of wrecked car before safety crew arrives

RELATED: NASCAR issues penalties following Dover races

MORE: NASCAR’s Steve O’Donnell discusses safety issue | Bayne wrecks, called to hauler

NASCAR handed down penalties Wednesday to Sprint Cup Series driver Trevor Bayne for exiting his car without the supervision of safety officials during last Sunday’s race at Dover International Speedway.

Bayne, in his first full Sprint Cup season for Roush Fenway Racing‘s No. 6 Ford team, was fined $20,000 and placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31.

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A three-car crash in the 174th lap of Sunday’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks tangled up Bayne and HScott Motorsports teammates Michael Annett and Justin Allgaier. After Bayne’s car skidded to a stop with severe front-end damage, he dismounted during the caution period and walked down the banked track surface in Turn 1 to the awaiting ambulance for the mandatory ride to the infield care center. 

NASCAR formalized the rule, which is presented as a reminder during each pre-race drivers’ meeting, last August after a fatal accident involving three-time premier series champion Tony Stewart. Stewart was driving a sprint car at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park’s half-mile dirt track when driver Kevin Ward Jr. exited his car after a crash and was struck and killed.

The rule allows a driver to leave his or her vehicle before the arrival of safety personnel in the event of extenuating circumstances, such as fire.

Bayne’s infraction came two days after a similar incident involving driver Jennifer Jo Cobb, who walked onto the track surface to express displeasure with eventual NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner Tyler Reddick as vehicles circled during the yellow flag.

WATCH: Cobb unhappy with Reddick after spin

Race officials summoned Bayne to the NASCAR hauler Sunday for consultation. Monday morning, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell told NASCAR.com in its weekly debrief that punishment was likely pending.

"Both drivers were called to the hauler and we’ll look at both of those incidents, like we always do Tuesday but for us it’s a safety issue,” O’Donnell said. "We want to keep the race track as safe as possible for the competitors."

Bayne finished last in the 43-car field.

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.