Posted on by Staff Report

 


Jimmie Johnson is the face of fitness in NASCAR.

The six-time Sprint Cup Series champion recently let Gatorade and its ‘Beat the Heat’ program tag along with him for the race weekend at Watkins Glen International — a race weekend in which Johnson is known for taking a mammoth bike ride of 65 miles the Saturday before the race under the hot August sun.

“As I’ve kind of evolved in the sport and grew in the sport, I can see how I can do a better job as an individual to be as sharp in the car physically, mentally,” Johnson said. “I’ve been through a few different variations of the type of training that I’ve done … if you want to be fast, you’ve got to suffer.”

NASCAR has evolved over the years; now, drivers and the crew members make fitness, nutrition and hydration a big part of their preparation and routine to gain an edge on their competition.

Johnson specifically has started doing triathlons to help refine his car driving skills; endurance training both physically and mentally prepares him for the intensity of a race. Each race weekend, Johnson bikes and runs several miles between practice, qualifying and the race to keep in top shape for driving his car. The NASCAR community has developed a group of crew members and drivers who gather each race weekend for a long cycling ride, around 60 miles, to take in the surrounding area.

 

RELATED: Junior breaks one of Jimmie’s bikes

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Updated Chase Grid

 

Ain’t no party like a NASCAR party! As the regular season nears its end and The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup rapidly approaches, so too does the annual fan celebration to mark its beginning — NASCAR Chase Fest.

 

Taking place, once again, in Chicago on Sept. 17 ahead of the first Challenger Round race at Chicagoland Speedway, Chase Fest sponsored by Toyota and Sprint provides a free outdoor fan fest featuring appearances and autograph sessions with all 16 Chase drivers and other NASCAR personalities.

 

Grammy-nominated 3 Doors Down will help keep the party flowing with a concert, as well as a performance by Chicago’s popular country cover band, the Suburban Cowboys.

 

Fans in attendance also will have a plethora of meal and drink options, with food being provided by Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and beverages by Coors Light. Additional entertainment will include the Toyota Ferris Wheel and the NASCAR on NBC Sports Bumper Cars.

 

The events of the day will be covered by NBCSN, including Krista Voda, Kyle Petty, Marty Snider and Rutledge Wood, for the network’s live broadcast of “NASCAR America.”

 

Chase Fest will take place on Weed Street between Fremont and Kingsbury streets from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time. For full details on this year’s Chase Fest, click here. 

Posted on by Staff Report

Busch on Twitter: ‘I found the love of my life’

Kurt Busch is getting married.

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver made that announcement in a Twitter post Wednesday evening, with fiancée Ashley Van Metre sporting her new engagement ring.

Van Metre, 24, is a renowned polo player. The two began dating in November, according to motorsport.com, and became public in February when Van Metre was at Daytona Speedweeks.

Busch is in the midst of one of his best seasons in years. He’s clinched a spot in the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup by virtue of his two victories; he also has eight top-five finishes and 13 top 10s in 21 starts.

SHR co-owner Tony Stewart said the team hoped to "soon" finalize a new contract with the 37-year-old driver.

Posted on by Staff Report

Moment of silence, decals to pay tribute at XFINITY, NCWTS events

NASCAR will honor fallen IndyCar driver Justin Wilson at this weekend’s events in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and the Camping World Truck Series with a moment of silence and decals that drivers can place on their helmets and/or the B-post of their vehicles.

Wilson, 37, died late Monday after injuries sustained in Sunday’s ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway after he was apparently struck in the head by debris from a late-race crash at the 2.5-mile track.

NASCAR drivers took to social media upon hearing the news of Wilson’s death and shared an outpouring of support for Wilson’s family.

AJ Allmendinger, one of the drivers who raced with Wilson in the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway, had a special friendship with Wilson and mentioned him being one of the greats and a "badass" race car driver.

That sentiment was incorporated into the design of the Wilson tribute decal that will appear in Saturday’s Road America 180 Fired up by Johnsonville (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) and Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).

The moment of silence will occur before the invocation and national anthem at both races.

Posted on by Nascar

Almost two full years after the rule was amended, NASCAR drivers are still voicing concerns about the policing of restarts during races.



The subject came up during the Sprint Cup Series’ pre-race drivers’ meeting Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway, three days after Ryan Blaney was penalized for jumping the restart during the Aug. 19 Camping World Truck Series race at BMS.



Prior to the beginning of the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2013, NASCAR eliminated the rule that stated the second-place car could not cross the start/finish line before the race leader on a restart.



However, the race leader is still the “control car,” meaning the second-place car can’t take off before the leader in the restart zone located before the start/finish line.



“We wanted to really put it in the driver’s hands where the leader starts the race,” Steve O’Donnell, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, told NASCAR.com Monday. “The second-place car in this case, if we don’t believe they’ve jumped the restart, can beat the leader to the start/finish line.



“Obviously, some questions have come up. We’ve reviewed each of the calls we’ve made and feel confident based on the technology we’ve used to make those calls that they were the right calls. But anytime there’s dialogue with the industry, we’ll continue to monitor that. If we don’t have to change it, we’d like to keep it consistent throughout the year, but we always review each and every call for each race.”


RELATED: Restarts a hot topic at Bristol drivers’ meeting



In the NCWTS event, Blaney was penalized for jumping the start on Lap 38. Although he was the race leader, officials ruled Blaney re-started before he was in the restart zone.



The subsequent pass-through penalty put the Brad Keselowski Racing driver one lap down. Blaney managed to bounce back from the penalty, however, and won the race.



“I had to kind of compose myself there,” crew chief Chad Kendrick admitted afterward. “I was trying to tell (Ryan) on the radio, ‘Don’t worry about it, alright, it’s done, over.’ I was pretty upset about the call.”



Blaney said Cole Custer, running second and lined up to his inside on the restart, “didn’t maintain caution car speed at all.



“As soon as the caution car pulled off, he stopped pretty much,” said Blaney. “And I maintained (my) speed. He was going to try to get a run, just like everyone tries to do, which is what you have to do on the bottom if you want to have a shot at it. And I wasn’t going to give him that run; I wasn’t going to let him start creeping forward. So I went as soon as I got to the mark, maybe a half a car length early. It made it look worse than it was with him being so slow for sure. 



“But I’m pretty sure you have to have a warning. From every restart I’ve seen with people maybe going a little bit early I’ve seen ’em get a warning. That honestly shocked me when they black-flagged us with no warning. When it wasn’t five car lengths before the line or anything, when it was something really small like that, it kind of surprised me. Luckily it worked out for us.”



Two Sprint Cup teams have been penalized this season for either jumping the start or passing before crossing the start/finish line on a restart. Two penalties have also been handed down in the XFINITY Series for similar infractions while the penalty has been called seven times in the NCWTS.



MORE: Herman Unplugged: Talking restarts, quiet Harvick



Joey Logano, winner of Saturday night’s Irwin Tools Night Race at BMS, said he had spent “a lot of time” with officials recently, “trying to understand what I can and can’t do … understand where their head is at and what they’re thinking when you look at a restart.”



“You’ve got to understand the rules,” the Team Penske driver said.



If it Ain’t Broke …



NASCAR XFINITY Series teams competing this weekend at Road America will run the same tire code used at the road course since 2013. The tire was previously used this season at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio.



Wet weather tires will also be available should conditions require their use, which was the case during last year’s event.



Likewise, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams will run the same tire code used since ’13 for the series’ stop at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The tire has previously been run on the right side at Martinsville in ’13 and ’14.


MORE: Complete schedule for Road America and Canada



Testing, 1-2-3



NASCAR Sprint Cup teams wrap up their 12th open test of the season Wednesday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.



According to HMS officials, 10 teams are set to take part in the test — Joey Logano (Team Penske), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Hendrick Motorsports), Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates), Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing), Clint Bowyer (Michael Waltrip Racing), Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing), Trevor Bayne (Roush Fenway Racing), Ty Dillon (Richard Childress Racing), Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing).



Dillon, Larson, Bayne and Bowyer were slated to take part in a two-day Goodyear tire test at the 1.5-mile track, site of the season-ending race, on Monday and Tuesday.



Three tests are scheduled for remainder of year, at Kansas (Sept. 14-16), Phoenix (Oct. 12-14) and Auto Club Speedway (Oct. 27-29).

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Homestead-Miami hosting Goodyear tire test


HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Waiting out a morning shower in the Homestead-Miami Speedway garage on Wednesday, reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick was dressed casually but clearly at work, talking with his Stewart-Haas Racing crew as they hovered over laptop computers and gestured toward his plain gray No. 4 Chevrolet SS.



The last time this group was at this track, they were getting showered in champagne, not rain, celebrating Harvick’s 2014 Sprint Cup Series championship title, thanks to a victory in the season finale here.



But it was all business for Harvick Wednesday as he and nine other drivers came to the 1.5-mile track for a one-day open test for Sprint Cup teams, attended by three of last year’s four championship contenders, also including last week’s winner Joey Logano (Team Penske) and Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing).

RELATED: Anheuser-Busch to change look of SHR’s No. 4 car in 2016



“You know, I actually hadn’t even thought about it to tell you the truth,” a smiling Harvick said of his first time back at Homestead since his title-winning performance last November. “I know that doesn’t make for a great story, but no one [on the team] has even mentioned it. Everything happens so fast in this sport from a week-to-week basis and you get so caught up in what you need to do the next week.



“We’re always trying to look forward so I really hadn’t thought about everything that happened last year. We’re so focused on being in position, to hopefully have a chance to do that again and get back here.”



Harvick’s primary championship challengers were of similar mindset. And like all of the 10 drivers here — also including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Clint Bowyer and Trevor Bayne — the lone opportunity to turn some extra test laps at Homestead is something not to be missed, even if track time boiled down to a couple late morning hours before heavier rains interrupted the schedule.



With the elimination-style format of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs heading into its second year, the importance of the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway has increased exponentially.



When the Sprint Cup Series arrives in South Florida in three months, four drivers will be eligible for the title – the highest finisher in this race will be crowned champion. Last year, Harvick won the race and therefore, the season trophy.



Logano, who collected his third win in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford last weekend at Bristol, also spoke about the emphasis teams now place specifically on being prepared for Homestead.


MORE: Logano victorious in Bristol night race



“Hopefully this test is very important for us,” Logano said with a slight laugh. “You hope it is [because that means you’re in the championship hunt.] Just getting to here (season finale) is a challenge.



“If we do, then this test today will be the most important test of the year. So we definitely want to put a lot into it and make sure we get a lot out of it and really understand what we learned out of it.”



Logano’s three wins would rank him right behind the season’s four-time winners Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch for the start of the Chase on Sept. 20 at Chicagoland Speedway and like Harvick, Logano believes his team is right where it needs to be at this point in the season.



“Right now, we’re peaking at the right spot, and getting a couple wins in the last three weeks is what we need to do heading into the Chase,” said Logano, who finished 16th in the 2014 Homestead race. “Winning the Bristol night race last year kind of propelled us into the Chase, I thought, and gave us good momentum into the Chase. Getting all the way to here [Homestead] was a heck of an accomplishment. And we just need to focus on what we need to do. I feel like as a team we learned a lot in terms of how to execute a championship weekend.”


RELATED: Harvick scores another runner-up finish

It looks like everyone will have to raise their game to dethrone Harvick, however, who has a pair of wins and a series-best 17 top-five finishes highlighted by 10 runner-up showings already this season.



“We’ve struck a pretty good course in terms of being able to have a plan in place for the Chase, and everyone has done a good job in terms of being prepared when it comes time for Chicago,” Harvick said. “We’ve been ready every week. We’ve just got to keep doing those things. … No different than last year when we made it happen when it counted.”


WATCH: Harvick chases Logano in the closing laps at Bristol

Posted on by Staff Report

Ray Alfalla from Slipangle Motorsports held off a late charge from Gale Force Racing‘s Nick Ottinger at Phoenix International Raceway en route to his second victory in the 2015 NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series Powered by iRacing. Ottinger had to settle for second, less than one tenth of a second behind and a single position short in his quest for a third straight win. Polesitter Casey Tucker (Last Row Motorsports) finished third, followed by series championship leader Kenny Humpe (The TEAM) and PJ Stergios.

Alfalla, who led a race-high 86 of 156 laps, took advantage of some timely cautions and a solid pit strategy and found the winner’s circle for the first time since the season opener at Daytona. Ottinger appeared to have a slightly better car than anyone else on the long run but a decision to short-pit cost him when a caution flew for a wreck before the rest of the front runners made their stops. The untimely yellow trapped Ottinger back in traffic with just 45 laps to go which, later, lead him to remark that his second place finish “felt like a win.”

The night got underway with Humpe taking the lead on Lap Three and quickly opening a one second margin over the field. Humpe held the lead until the first yellow flew on Lap 29 and the field pitted for fresh tires and fuel. Humpe’s crew was sluggish, losing him three positions in the pits and handing the lead back to Tucker.

On the restart Ottinger jumped to the lead but, after a flurry of cautions, Alfalla went to the point as he raced hard for the clean air out front.  After a few laps it was Ottinger who prevailed and the race settled into the longest green flag run of the night.

With nobody able to make it on fuel to the end, Ottinger decided to play some pit strategy and short-pitted as soon as his fuel window opened. The move was risky as it put him a lap down but if the pit stop cycle completed he would own a massive lead thanks to his fresh tires. Unfortunately for Ottinger, a crash on the frontstretch on Lap 104 trapped him a lap down as Alfalla and a handful of other cars had yet to make their stops. Ottinger would get back on the lead lap by taking the wave around but now had older tires than Alfalla and the rest of the frontrunners.

Ottinger received some help by way of another caution just 11 laps after taking the wave around which allowed him to pit for tires. When the race restarted with 31 laps remaining Ottinger was in fifteenth but now had fresher tires than the leaders and began charging back to the front. In just seven laps Ottinger was already up to eighth and yet another caution bunched the field up, playing right into his favor.

As so often happens at short tracks, cautions breed cautions and the frequent yellows at the end of the race enabled Ottinger to maximize the benefit of his fresh tires. After going from fifteenth to eighth, he picked up two more spots on the next restart and three additional places on the next before the ninth and final yellow flag of the night flew, setting-up a five lap shootout for the win.

Alfalla still led, Tucker was second, and Ottinger was behind the front row in third as the race went green. Ottinger made quick work of Tucker and started reeling-in Alfalla. By the time the white flag flew Alfalla had a mirror full of the 05 car but would not be denied as he calmly negotiated Turns Three and Four a final time to take the checkered flag with Ottinger right on his bumper.

The win allowed Alfalla to slightly close on Humpe in the championship standings but Humpe still enjoys a massive 109-point advantage.  Alfalla also distanced himself from Stergios, who is now 39 points adrift in third. Bryan Blackford and Matt Bussa are tied for fifth, 23 points behind Stergios and three points in front of Chris Overland who fell in the standings due to last night’s disappointing 30th place finish.

With just three races remaining in the 2015 NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series the series shifts to Darlington Raceway, one of the toughest tracks on the circuit. Humpe will have a chance to officially clinch the championship if he can leave “The Lady in Black” with a 97 point lead, leaving Alfalla with some work to do if he hopes to keep the pressure on an additional week. Darlington generally favors the veteran sim racers so it would be no surprise to see Alfalla, Ottinger, and Humpe battling for the win once again. Can anyone else break up the dominant threesome? Tune into iRacingLive in two weeks’ time to find out!

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

PHILADELPHIA — As part of its long-term partnership with NASCAR, Comcast announced today the creation of the Comcast Community Champion of the Year Award, honoring NASCAR team members for their outstanding charitable endeavors.



The annual award will celebrate the philanthropic efforts being made by race teams across all three national series. An individual from each national series will be honored, with one of the three earning the Comcast Community Champion of the Year Award. In recognition of their efforts, a donation of $60,000 will be made in the winner’s name to his or her affiliated charitable organization. A $30,000 contribution will be made to each of the remaining finalists’ charitable organizations.



“The Comcast Community Champion of the Year Award honors those members of NASCAR teams who share our commitment and give back to the communities we serve,” said Peter Intermaggio, Comcast Senior Vice President, Marketing Communications. “At Comcast, we work hard to make a difference in the places where our employees and customers live and work, and we want to recognize and encourage others who demonstrate that same community commitment.”



Nominations are to be submitted by NASCAR team members. Eligible recipients include team owners, drivers and all NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team employees. 



“Our teams are competitive by nature, but have a unified goal to benefit the lives of people in need,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. “Comcast shares our passion for community service, and we appreciate the effort to shine a light on the inspirational work being done by our teams.”



Nominees will be narrowed down to three finalists, with a panel of judges comprised of executives from Comcast, The NASCAR Foundation, a former NASCAR driver and a member of the national motorsports media, to determine the recipient of the award. The award will be presented at the NASCAR XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series Banquet at the end of the season in South Florida. 



Comcast has a long track record of community service, aiding in the advancement of local organizations, developing programs and partnerships, mobilizing resources to connect people and inspiring positive and substantive change. Comcast’s annual corporate service day, known as Comcast Cares Day, is the largest corporate service effort of its kind. This year, NASCAR drivers Brad Keselowski, Ty Dillon and Cale Conley participated in a local Comcast Cares Day project restoring the local Boys and Girls Club in Richmond, Virginia.



Comcast’s XFINITY brand is the title sponsor of the NASCAR XFINITY Series and Comcast’s NBCUniversal is a NASCAR broadcast partner through the 2024 season.

Posted on by Holly Cain

In the painful initial minutes after hearing Monday night’s news that his good friend and former teammate Justin Wilson had died of injuries suffered in an IndyCar Series racing accident, NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger shared his raw and emotional reaction on social media.

“Life isn’t fair. We lost one of the great ones today.” Allmendinger said on Twitter.

He accompanied his tribute with a wonderfully telling old photo of himself — at 5-feet, 6-inches — standing on a racing tire alongside a smiling 6-foot-4 Wilson.

 

It was so appropriate because Wilson, 37, was a person that Allmendinger — and so many others — looked up to figuratively, literally, on-track and off.

“Justin was such a quiet guy, and the general public probably doesn’t know much about him, so I want to let them know he was such an amazing person,” Allmendinger said. “I want people to know he was a badass race car driver that, I felt, never got the credit he deserved. But the most important thing is as good as he was on the race track, he was so much better off it.”

“I truly looked up to him,” Allmendinger added, acknowledging the pun.

While the quiet Brit may not be a super familiar personality to many NASCAR fans, there are plenty of stock car connections to Wilson.

 

Sprint Cup drivers Danica Patrick and Allmendinger competed alongside Wilson in Champ Car and later the IndyCar Series, where Wilson was a seven-time winner.

RELATED: Drivers mourn the loss of Justin Wilson

Cup driver Michael McDowell and former Cup racer Marcos Ambrose teamed with Wilson in Rolex 24 at Daytona sports car races as did former Camping World Truck Series competitor Max Papis, who also raced against Wilson in the open-wheel ranks.

Allmendinger shared a seat with Wilson in five Rolex 24 races, and they were teammates as the long-shot small team Michael Shank Racing won the 50th anniversary edition of the Rolex 24. Wilson finished runner-up in Daytona’s 24-hour race in 2010 driving for Cup owner Chip Ganassi.

Of course, you didn’t have to have know Wilson to appreciate the kind of racer and the kind of person he was.

That’s evident in the racing community with all the supportive social media tributes and well wishes sent by NASCAR drivers past and present many who never even met Wilson. In the hours immediately after Sunday’s accident, three-time Cup champ Tony Stewart sent his plane to transport Wilson’s younger brother Stefan to be at his brother’s side in the hospital.

RELATED: Stewart lends support to Wilson’s family

In many ways, Wilson’s racing career — and the way he went about it — spoke much more loudly than the reserved Wilson ever needed to.

 

Allmendinger recalls that he and Wilson were rookies together in Champ Car, except that Wilson was four years older than the young Californian at the time and fresh off a season in Formula One.

“I was intimidated by him,” Allmendinger said. “This guy was badass. It messed me up because I was so intimidated by it that all I wanted to do was beat him, because I knew if I beat him I was doing something pretty special.”

And Allmendinger considers his first major race win (2006 at Portland, Ore.) all the more special because it came after an intense duel with Wilson.

“Here he had just finished second place and yet he was the first to come into Victory Lane and hug me,” Allmendinger said. “It happened to come down to me and him battling for the win. I had just beat him and as I’m getting out of the car, he runs up and hugs me. That’s the type of guy he was.”

It’s a recurring theme when people speak of Wilson. He was one of those rare and exceptional individuals whom you never heard a harsh word spoken about. He was well respected as a person and a competitor, the latter sometimes under-appreciated.

Despite the impressive resume Wilson brought to America, he mostly drove for underfunded, smaller teams. But he succeeded against the odds and always provided the underdog a legitimate shot.

His win in 2012 at Texas Motor Speedway came for the small Dale Coyne Racing team. And just a few weeks ago — in the midst of a part-time ride with Andretti Autosport with little to no testing in the cars — he finished runner-up to Graham Rahal at Mid-Ohio. It was vintage Wilson.

“He was a guy that never got a great opportunity especially late in his career, I always hoped Penske or Ganassi would pick him up,” Allmendinger reflected Tuesday. “He was one of the best out there. But you know what, he always made the most out of it and never complained about it.”

I was always struck by what a strong family man he was — a doting husband, devoted dad to his two girls and a proud big brother to Stefan, a promising young racer in his own right.

“Justin was so good and always made me want to be at my best because I respect him so much,” Allmendinger said. “He always made sure you were happy, you were OK. Always pumped me up. It drove me to be the best I could.”

 

And now Allmendinger and so many others in the racing community will honor their friend by doing the same for Wilson’s family.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Homestead tire test | Updated Chase Grid


As Dale Earnhardt Jr. enters the final idle weekend for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, he acknowledges that his Hendrick Motorsports team needs to do some homework to improve their chances in the postseason Chase. But on a personal level, he’s also going to take time to do his own homework, gathering ideas for how his upcoming wedding might unfold.



Earnhardt recounted an eventful night at Bristol Motor Speedway, assessed his team’s playoff hopes and talked nuptials during this Tuesday’s edition of the “Dale Jr. Download” podcast on Dirty Mo Radio.



Earnhardt Jr.’s playoff eligibility is safe, thanks to two regular-season victories that have sealed his spot on the 16-driver Chase Grid. But the 40-year-old driver said his No. 88 team needs to make headway against its rivals in the performance department. Joe Gibbs Racing has won six of the last nine Sprint Cup events, and Team Penske‘s Joey Logano has captured two of the last three checkered flags.



“We’ve got to work on this Chase. We’ve got to get ready for that,” Earnhardt said. “We’ve got a couple of races left before that happens, so we’ll try to learn as much as we can. I think that it’s been commented on in the media, and Jeff (Gordon) and myself and (Hendrick Motorsports GM Doug) Duchardt and all the people at Hendrick are certainly aware that we need to make some gains and work real hard to try to improve to put ourselves in a more comfortable position going into the Chase so we’re more confident about our opportunity to win a championship because we’re definitely seeing some teams perform really well right now and just trying to figure out where we need to improve to give them a hell of a run for it.



“Not too concerned. You know the sport can cycle pretty quickly, and hopefully we’ll peak at the right time.”



Before joining the Sprint Cup circuit in taking a rare weekend off, Earnhardt said he would participate in an open test at Homestead-Miami Speedway, site of the championship finale race Nov. 22. Then it’s off to be a part of a friend’s wedding, which he said could prepare him for the planning stages with fiancée Amy Reimann.



“Looking forward to that. Maybe I’ll take some notes and try to recharge our batteries this last off weekend for the rest of the season. This season went by pretty fast and I think the end of it’s going to go by just as quick.”