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Future seven-time champ finished 22nd in sport’s longest race 40 years ago

Dale Earnhardt wasn’t a NASCAR legend in 1975. He hadn’t earned the nickname "The Intimidator," won a Cup championship or even driven the iconic black No. 3 ride. 

Forty years ago, the man who would one day hoist seven Cup championship trophies was just a racer from Kannapolis, North Carolina, trying to compete in NASCAR’s premier series.

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Earnhardt strapped into his pale blue and yellow No. 8 Dodge for his first start in NASCAR’s premier series on May 25, 1975 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The task that lay ahead of the 24-year-old driver was a daunting one, as Earnhardt was getting set to compete in the World 600 — NASCAR’s longest race. Even for the most experienced wheelmen, the 600-mile event was a grueling mission.

Coming from the back, Earnhardt lined up 33rd for the drop of the green flag. Only seven cars stood between Earnhardt and the tail end of the field, but as NASCAR would one day discover, a little thing like qualifying position never stopped "The Intimidator."

In a race that spanned more than four hours, Earnhardt fought his way toward the front. He eventually finished a modest 22nd with the legendary Richard Petty taking the checkered that day. Earnhardt also finished one spot above someone who he would come to know very well one day — his future car owner Richard Childress.

•   •   •

A 22nd-place finish wasn’t something extraordinary. But for Earnhardt, it was the first spark in a blazing career that would forever change the world of NASCAR.

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Joey Logano will also start from the front row in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600

RELATED: Full starting lineup | See all 43 cars

CONCORD, N.C. – After powering to his second pole of the season on Thursday night, Matt Kenseth will start NASCAR’s longest race from the most advantageous position—with his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota getting serviced in the most advantageous pit stall.
 
Kenseth ran his fastest lap of the night (194.252 mph) in the third and final round of knockout qualifying at Charlotte Motor Speedway and secured the top spot on the grid for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM), the 12th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season.

The Coors Light Pole Award was Kenseth’s first at Charlotte and the 15th of his career. Kenseth, who covered the 1.5-mile distance in 27.799 seconds, was a whopping .204 seconds faster than Joey Logano (192.836 mph), whose No. 22 Team Penske Ford will start beside Kenseth’s Camry on the front row.
 
"I think starting up front is important at this track," Kenseth said. "It typically goes through a lot of changes here, especially if the sun is out for the beginning of the race. You want to have good track position, good pit selection—all those things—so if you get a little bit off and you’re chasing the setup, or the track changes, you have a little bit of a buffer being toward the front, hopefully…
 
"All the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas had some speed tonight, and that was encouraging."

SHOP: Kenseth gear
 
Carl Edwards (192.733 mph) was third in his No. 19 JGR Toyota, followed by Greg Biffle in his No. 16 Roush Fenway Ford (192.226 mph) and NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race winner Denny Hamlin in his No. 11 JGR Toyota (192.007 mph).
 
Surprisingly, in consecutive seasons that have seen domination of the intermediate speedways by the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet of reigning series champion Kevin Harvick and the No. 48 Chevy of six-time champ Jimmie Johnson, Toyotas and Fords claimed the top seven qualifying positions for the 600.
 
To Logano, however, the absence of a Chevrolet from the top five spots on the grid for the first time this season isn’t hugely significant.
 
"Those guys have been fast in the race—that’s where their speed really shines," Logano said. "They qualify good–don’t get me wrong—but in the race they shine a little bit more. You’re talking about the 4, the 41 (Kurt Busch) and the 48. Those are the ones that stand out.
 
"And I’m sure they’ll be fast when it comes to race time. Qualifying’s a different animal. You use a completely different setup, and qualifying can kind of mask over some issues you have in race trim a lot of times. … I wouldn’t (read) too much into it."
 
Notes: All four Hendrick Motorsports entries failed to advance to the final round of knockout qualifying, but Kasey Kahne had a valid excuse. A cut tire prevented him from posting a quick qualifying laps. As a result, the three-time winner of the Coca-Cola 600 will start 33rd on Sunday … Jeb Burton, Mike Bliss, Travis Kvapil, Jeff Green and Brendan Gaughan failed to make the 43-car field. The 48-car turnout for qualifying was the largest since 49 entries showed up for the season-opening Daytona 500.  

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Darrell Wallace Jr. topped the leaderboard in Thursday’s opening session

Final practice

RELATED: Final practice results

After posting the 10th-fastest speed in the opening practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Ty Dillon found a bit more momentum early in Thursday’s final session, shooting to the top of the leaderboard at 181.068 mph in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ride.

Opening practice leader Darrell Wallace Jr. continued to post fast lap times, using a high speed of 181.020 mph in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford to snag the second spot on the leaderboard.

Dillon’s Richard Childress Racing teammate Brendan Gaughan also found speed in the final practice, his 180.995 mph-lap qualifying him for the third-fastest speed in the field.

The elder Dillon — Austin Dillon — had posted a top-five speed earlier in the day and continued his strong run in the final session with a high speed of 180.246 mph from his No. 33 Chevrolet to grab the fourth-fastest ranking.

Rounding out the top five was Ryan Blaney, whose No. 22 Team Penske Ford whirled around the 1.5-mile oval at 179.033 mph.

Sprint Cup Series veteran Kasey Kahne managed to find his way into the top 10 this session, recording a high speed of 177.288 mph in his No. 5 JR Motorsports ride to claim the sixth-fastest speed.

Current series champion Chase Elliott managed to maintain a top-10 speed, maneuvering his No. 9 JR Motorsports ride at 177.784 mph for the final spot in the top 10.

Coors Light Pole Qualifying is set for Saturday at 11:15 a.m. on FOX Sports 1.

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Practice 1

RELATED: Full practice 1 results

Turning his first laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a XFINITY Series car this weekend Darrell Wallace Jr. experienced a stroke of beginner’s luck on Thursday, soaring to the top of the leaderboard during opening practice for the Hisense 300 (Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM). The Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate propelled his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing ride at 180.536 mph around the 1.5-mile track early in the session to snag the top spot.

Just behind Wallace was Sprint Cup regular Austin Dillon, who posted a high speed of 180.469 mph in his No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Dillon also will compete in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).

Richard Childress Racing‘s Brian Scott (179.778 mph), current points leader and Roush Fenway Racing‘s Chris Buescher (179.772 mph) and Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Erik Jones (179.521 mph) completed the top five.

Reigning XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott showed plenty of momentum during opening practice, recording the seventh-fastest speed in the field (179.027 mph) in his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Like Dillon, Elliott is also performing a double-header this weekend, as he looks to make his third Sprint Cup start as a part-time rookie for Hendrick Motorsports.

The track was peppered with several Sprint Cup regulars during opening practice, all of whom will be competing in Saturday’s Hisense 300. The list included Kyle Larson (eighth-fastest), Denny Hamlin (ninth-fastest), 2014 Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick (13th-fastest), Kasey Kahne (14th-fastest) and Aric Almirola (18th-fastest).

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See where all 43 drivers will pit in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX)

RELATED: Full starting lineup | See all 43 cars

Matt Kenseth won his second Coors Light Pole of the season for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM) at Charlotte Motor Speedway and chose the first pit stall entering Turn 1, which is also the pit stall closest to the pit road exit.

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Kenseth’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin joined him in the top five in qualifying and will start third and fifth, respectively. The No. 19 took the first stall in the second section of pits behind the Turn 1 entrance, and Hamlin picked a pit stall next to a break near the start-finish line with a rear opening.

Team Penske driver Joey Logano starts second and will pit the No. 22 Ford in the second pit stall heading into Turn 1.

Another Ford, Roush Fenway Racing‘s No. 16 driven by Greg Biffle will start fourth. Biffle will be using a pit stall with a rear opening at the tail of the section of pits heading into Turn 1.

David Ragan (starting seventh) and Kyle Larson (starting ninth) also have openings in front of them on pit road, while Kevin Harvick (starting eighth) will have an opening behind him, making it easier for him to pull into his pit stall.

Brad Keselowski, who qualified sixth, chose the first stall coming onto pit road for service on the No. 2 Team Penske Ford.

 

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Hendrick Motorsports teammates Johnson, Kahne rounded out top three

Related: Practice 1 results

Carl Edwards soared to the top of the leaderboard late in Thursday’s opening practice for the Coca-Cola 600 (Sunday, 6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM) at Charlotte Motor Speedway, propelling his No. Joe Gibbs Racing 19 ride at 192.273 mph to snag the premier spot.

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Reigning Coca-Cola 600 champion Jimmie Johnson — one of the first to head onto the track for practice — sat on top of the leaderboard for most the the afternoon, with a high speed of 191.673 mph. He settled into the second-place slot after Edwards’ late run knocked him off the top position.

Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne came up third-fastest in the field with a high speed of 191.639 mph. Kahne was also one of the first drivers to wheel his No. 5 ride onto the track for practice.

Rounding out the top five were 2014 Sprint Cup champion and Stewart-Haas Racing‘s Kevin Harvick (191.442 mph) and Michael Waltrip Racing‘s David Ragan (191.435 mph).

Following his 11-race absense from Sprint Cup racing, Kyle Busch returned to the race track last weekend for the Sprint All-Star Race and will be making his first Cup start in a points race this season at Charlotte. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver posted the 21st-fastest speed (190.081 mph) in his No. 18 Toyota during opening practice.

Making his third Sprint Cup start this weekend, part-time Hendrick Motorsports rookie Chase Elliott posted the 27th-fastest time in the field, wheeling his No. 25 car at 189.142 mph. The current XFINITY champion will compete in the series’ Hisense 300 on Saturday (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM) at Charlotte.

The Sprint Cup Series is back on track at 7:15 p.m. ET for Coors Light Pole Qualifying with coverage on FOX Sports 1.

SHOP: Carl Edwards gear

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Official partners team up to create NASCAR-themed retail program

RELATED: NASCAR Salutes page

Shoppers at the Fort Bragg Commissary South were welcomed by a special guest on Tuesday, and an opportunity to win tickets to the Coca-Cola 600.

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Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Fusion and member of the Coca-Cola Racing Family, visited the commissary at Fort Bragg to meet-and-greet shoppers and give away eight tickets to this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The appearance was part of a collaboration between NASCAR, Coca-Cola, Mars Chocolate North America and 3M with DeCA (Defense Commissary Agency) to create a NASCAR-themed retail program at over 180 military commissaries across the country, as well as NASCAR: An American Salute.

As part of this retail program, commissary shoppers can also enter the 2015 Champions Week Sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip for two to the 2015 NASCAR Champion’s Week in Las Vegas by visiting www.ChampionsWeek2015.com or by texting "NASCARSALUTE" to 313131.

 

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Earnhardt Jr. thirsty for a win in Coca-Cola 600

CONCORD, N.C. — There’s good reason Dale Earnhardt Jr. holds Charlotte Motor Speedway in high regard, much of it owed to the proximity to his family’s hometown of Kannapolis, which shares a border to its south with Concord, the track’s longtime address.

The 10-day stretch of springtime racing that culminates with Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 is often considered a home game for the NASCAR industry with its hub in the Charlotte metro area. But for no other driver does the track hit as close to home as Earnhardt, who wears his North Carolina pride on his sleeve and its flag above his driver’s door.

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Earnhardt aims to fill a major void in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series resume with a win Sunday in stock-car racing’s longest event. Though he’s entered Charlotte’s Victory Lane as an All-Star conqueror back in 2000 and a winner in the preliminary Sprint Showdown in 2012, his career record stands at 0-for-30 in points-paying races at the 1.5-mile oval.
 
"It’s been on my list for a very long time," Earnhardt said Tuesday in a promotional appearance at the speedway. "This is our home track. We live 20, 30 minutes down the road and I’ve been coming here ever since I was a little kid, and have just dreamed of being able to go into Victory Circle here after that 600 and celebrate. Really working hard and I think we’ve got a great shot."
 
Earnhardt’s earliest memories of coming to the Charlotte track date back to 1981. He was just 6 years old at the time of that year’s 600. Earnhardt said his family typically parked on the ridge associated with the track’s infield road course, alongside longtime family friends the Eurys, and that he often spent his hours at the track playing by rolling scaled-down plastic Ertl-brand cars — lookalikes to those driven by names like Allison and Yarborough — down the hill.
 
As vivid as those childhood remembrances were, Earnhardt’s other lasting memories were watching his father — inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame class member and three-time Coca-Cola 600 winner Dale Earnhardt — race in the family’s virtual backyard and how difficult victories were to come by.
 
It’s a distant memory, but one that still holds true today.
 
"It’s such a tough race track," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I learned that watching Dad race here, year after year through the late ’80s and into the ’90s and it was always kind of a fickle, hit-and-miss kind of thing as far as the balance and the setup of the car and the speed that he would have. Sometimes he would show up and be able to really get relatively competitive and other times they would struggle."
 
Earnhardt Jr.’s own Charlotte troubles have been well documented, none more so than his brush with tough luck in the 2011 running of the 600. In that May classic, the Hendrick Motorsports driver ran out of fuel on the final lap, prolonging a nearly three-year losing skid as Kevin Harvick skipped by for the checkered flag.
 
Bad breaks aside, finding the proper handle might be the more elusive goal for Earnhardt, who has finished no better than third in points-paying events at Charlotte.
 
"Just a real hard track to master as far as a setup and a balance of the race car goes, and it’s always kind of been that way for me," Earnhardt Jr. said." We’ve had some good cars here and we’ve had some cars that’ve been a bit of a struggle with. Six hundred miles, so once you’re strapped in that thing and it’s not working, it’s a long night."

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Co-owner Len Wood admits team could run full slate, but it would be tough

CONCORD, N.C. — Officials with Wood Brothers Racing said Thursday that the legendary team could run a full 36-race schedule today in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, something the team hasn’t done since 2006.
 
But, said co-owner Len Wood at Charlotte Motor Speedway, "you’ve got to pay for it.
 
"We could go run ’em all (now), but it wouldn’t be pretty.
 
"And with that being said, I don’t think you could keep a sponsor like that either."

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The organization is scheduled to compete in 18 of this year’s 36 points races with driver Ryan Blaney. A new three-year package with Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center covers 12 of those events while the affiliation with Team Penske, which began this year, provided the opportunity to add six races. Blaney is a development driver for the Penske group.
 
"We know pretty much where we’re going and set our schedule based on where we think we can run the best — which are the speedways and the intermediates," Wood said. "We try to be more efficient about it. Not have to go buy two sets of short track brakes to go run one short-track race, things like that.
 
"If more races were to come up, then we’re ready. We’d get more cars from Team Penske, more parts and away we’d go."
 
Penske, whose group fields Fords for 2012 Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski and teammate Joey Logano, told the Associated Press last week that he was not interested in expanding Team Penske to three full-time teams.
 
"If we can get sponsorship for (Blaney), that gives him a chance to take a look at extending that through a full season next year. That would be our goal," Penske told the AP.
 
Blaney replaced 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne in the red and white No. 21 Ford when Bayne was named to drive full-time for Roush Fenway Racing this season in the No. 6 Ford.
 
Blaney finished fourth at Talladega earlier this year, one of his four Sprint Cup starts so far this season.
 
Wood Brothers Racing, which has been competing in NASCAR practically since the sanctioning body’s inception in 1949, has 98 wins in more than 1,400 starts.
 
The team was founded by NASCAR Hall of Fame member Glen Wood and originally based in Stuart, Virginia.
 
The affiliation with Team Penske has already provided improved results on the track.
 
"The situation we have with Ryan and Team Penske, when we come to the race track, we feel like we’ve got a shot every week," Len Wood said. "Not just at the speedways … when we leave the shop we feel like we can win."

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Four-time champion makes announcement on FOX Sports 1

RELATED: Full coverage of Gordon’s final full-time season, announcement

CONCORD, N.C. – When Jeff Gordon steps out of the race car and into the television booth next season, he’ll still be competing. Only this time it could be with himself instead of 42 other NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers.
 
The four-time series champion and Hendrick Motorsports driver will be an integral part of the FOX NASCAR broadcast team full time next season as a race analyst. Gordon made the announcement Thursday on FOX Sports 1’s "Race Hub" prior to LiftMaster Pole Night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
 
Gordon will join fellow analyst Darrell Waltrip and play-by-play announcer Mike Joy when FOX opens the 2016 season with the coverage of SpeedWeeks from Daytona International Speedway. He will help call races, practices and qualifying sessions for the network.

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Former crew chief Larry McReynolds, who currently works alongside Joy and Waltrip, will move to the on-site studio, known as the Hollywood Hotel, where he will be paired with Chris Myers and Michael Waltrip.
 
"I will tell you that being up in the booth, there was an adrenalin rush … it’s exciting," Gordon said after qualifying 18th for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR, 6 p.m.). "I enjoyed it. The competition might be with myself trying to always improve and be better, do the best that I can and push myself."
 
According to a FOX release, Gordon has agreed to a multi-year contract that begins this season. He will serve as the in-race reporter during select Sprint Cup Series events for the remainder of the ’15 season.
 
He is one of four drivers so far to join FOX broadcasters in the booth for XFINITY Series races this season. Gordon’s schedule saw him in the booth at Texas, Bristol and Talladega, where he joined host Adam Alexander and Michael Waltrip.
 
"I was very nervous the first race in Texas and I was not feeling well; I was under the weather unfortunately," Gordon said. "That one I was more nervous. The next one (at Bristol) I was a little more comfortable and Talladega, I got to enjoy it. The racing was fun to talk about, and I thought the experience was enjoyable and I was a little more relaxed. I look forward to gaining that confidence and being … more relaxed."

SHOP: Gordon gear

Gordon will end a stellar driving career at the season’s end, having won premier series championships in 1995, ’97-98 and ’01. His 92 career victories are tops among active drivers and third on the series’ all-time list, trailing only NASCAR Hall of Fame members Richard Petty (200) and David Pearson (105).
 
In addition to his television work, he is expected to continue to contribute to Hendrick Motorsports, where he has spent his entire Sprint Cup career.
 
"I had already made the decision that I was going to step away (from competing full-time) because I have some good options," Gordon, 43, said, "my role at Hendrick Motorsports, my role with (sponsor) Axalta, not to mention some other partners that have interest.
 
"… I didn’t know if it was going to happen to be honest. It was going back and forth for a while whether it was going to happen. Eventually all the right things came together."
 
The relationship with Hendrick won’t be an issue, he said, but added, "it’s going to be something that I’m going to have to respect.
 
"It’s something I would never want to overstep the boundaries. I’m going to be conscious of it. But I also feel like it’s going to help me stay current and up to speed on the knowledge of what is going on. As long as I’m not sharing too many details, I think just speaking in general, it’s going to be a huge advantage for me to have that tie … to be able to bring some of that to the booth."
 
Erik Shanks, FOX Sports President, COO and Executive Producer, called Gordon "not only a champion but an icon of a racing generation.
 
"We are thrilled he has chosen to become a part of the FOX family and pair his experience with Darrell.
 
"Each is credited with helping elevate NASCAR to the popularity it attained during in his respective era, and alongside Mike Joy, this duo will treat fans to unmatched insights each and every week."
 
Gordon’s familiar red No. 24 Chevrolet will be driven by 2014 XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott beginning next season.
 
FOX Sports is in the first year of a new, 10-year media rights agreement that consists of coverage of each season’s first 16 Sprint Cup Series points races as well as the first 14 XFINITY Series events and all Camping World Truck Series races.
 
NBC holds the rights to the season’s final 20 Sprint Cup events.

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Fans, drivers have chance to win $100,000

RELATED: 100,000 reasons to win | Learn more about Dash 4 Cash

CONCORD, N.C. — Roush Fenway Racing‘s Chris Buescher picked up his second win in the NASCAR XFINITY Series last weekend at Iowa Speedway and took over the series points lead, but he said Thursday the only regret he had from the performance was that it didn’t come this week in the Dash 4 Cash qualifier.

Saturday’s Hisense 300 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, Sirius XM) at Charlotte Motor Speedway marks the first step in the 2015 Dash 4 Cash as Buescher and other drivers who are eligible for XFINITY Series points will get a chance to race into the program’s opener next weekend at Dover International Speedway. 

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The Dash 4 Cash is a yearly contest that sparks excitement in the form of a $100,000 paycheck to the highest-finishing eligible driver in four select XFINITY Series races. This year’s Dash 4 Cash includes races next week at Dover, July 25 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Aug. 21 at Bristol Motor Speedway and Sept. 5 at Darlington Raceway. 

"I love short track racing and to have Dover and Darlington and Bristol in there is awesome, because those are three of my top five race tracks," Buescher said. "If we’re fortunate enough to qualify in for it, I think the red banner on the windshield and the spoiler will match our paint scheme quite nicely."

Yes, the red banner and spoiler on Dash 4 Cash-eligible cars will replace the blue ones that were used last year when Nationwide ran the show. But that isn’t the only change Comcast made since taking over the program.

The qualifier race is new to Charlotte, as is the finale at Darlington — last year’s finale at Iowa was won by Trevor Bayne — and the inclusion of Dover and Bristol is also a change. Plus, the schedule is more spread out than usual, allowing Bristol and Darlington to get into the mix.

But what remains the same is that fans can enter the NASCAR XFINITY Series $100,000 Sweepstakes at www.nascar.com/Dash4Cash for a chance to take home their own stack of cash if they are paired up with the winning driver at Darlington. 

"There’s a lot of hype around it and it’s cool for fan engagement and for the drivers to try and put a little extra pressure on themselves and our teams," Buescher said of the Dash 4 Cash. "It’s going to be a little bit more spread out this year, which I think is a good thing. I think it gives a little more time to prepare and plan for it."

First, drivers like Buescher need to qualify for the event and that means finishing in the top four among eligible drivers on Saturday. Buescher admitted that will be a tough task, because he said the track at Charlotte changes a lot throughout the weekend.

Buescher has had two top-10 finishes in his three XFINITY Series starts at Charlotte, and even though it’s a small sample size, it’s something to build on for the 22-year-old Texas native.

Plus, since he’s coming to Charlotte fresh off the win in Iowa, he said he’s feeling pretty confident about his chances.

"It’s been a good start to the season for us, for sure," Buescher said. "We’ve had new people on board this year, new teammates in Elliott (Sadler) and Bubba (Wallace). I feel like it’s coming together quite nicely this year. We have race cars that are coming to the race track a lot quicker than they were at the beginning of last year at this point in time, and we’re in a much better points position not missing Daytona for sure and being able to get a win early in the season."

It’s worth something, in more ways than one, to see if Buescher can carry that momentum into Saturday. 

For more information on the Dash 4 Cash, go to https://www.nascar.com/dash4cash.html.