Posted on by RJ Kraft

Chase format has delivered similar situations for NASCAR

Editor’s Note: Kraft’s Korner will offer a take on a current hot topic in sports.

Game 7. Often one of the most anticipated times in sports. It’s a do-or-die situation. Win or go home. If we are lucky, it lives up to the hype, stirring goosebumps and chills.

 Game 7s are nervous times for fans as a season hangs in the balance of one game, one moment, one shot, one call.

Saturday’s night Game 7 in the NBA between the Los Angeles Clippers and the San Antonio Spurs was the epic culmination of a tremendous first round — yes, first round — series. 



The game had everything: 31 lead changes, end-to-end action, stars raising their games, role players stepping up and two high profile coaches doing their best to help their teams advance. 



Chris Paul, the star point guard for the Clippers, fought through a hamstring injury that kept him out for part of the first half. He went on to make a great shot with one second left that served as the game-winning basket to lift the Clippers to a 111-109 victory and a date with the Houston Rockets in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.

When it was all over, pundits were left to ponder if this was the end of an era for the Spurs, who were the defending NBA champions and have won five titles in 17 years. Could this be it for the championship trio of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and underrated sure-fire Hall of Famer Tim Duncan and their coach Gregg Popovich? Only time will tell.



Baseball saw a tremendous 2014 World Series come down to a seventh game between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants with the Giants getting a pitching performance for the ages from Madison Bumgarner and their third title in five years.



It got me thinking. The revamped Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup has produced some great "Game 7"-esque moments in only one season. And there should be more to come this fall.



It’s hard to forget how Brad Keselowski needed a win at Talladega Superspeedway last fall to keep his championship hopes alive. The 2012 champion came through in a big way at one of the sport’s most unpredictable tracks with a victory in October’s GEICO 500 that advanced him to the Eliminator 8.

However, no one delivered more in "Game 7" moments than Kevin Harvick. The defending series champion earned his title with wins in the final two races at Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Harvick had to get a win at Phoenix, a track he has been superb at in recent years, to advance to the Championship 4. And he did just that, leading 264 of 312 laps for the win and a chance to race for the championship.



The following week at Homestead, Harvick scored the win after Rodney Childers made the call to come for fresh tires late in the race. Harvick used those four fresh Goodyears to get past Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin to take the lead and eventually hold off Newman for the championship. 



Fans love Game 7s. The tension, the drama, the chance for an everlasting moment. The hype is hard to live up to, but in NASCAR’s case last season with the new Chase format and more recently, with the Clippers-Series series, when it does live up to the billing, it is a phenomenal sight for sports fans to behold.

Posted on by Staff Report

Keep tabs on the activity at Kansas Speedway

This weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be rounding laps at Kansas Speedway.

The Sprint Cup Series SpongeBob SquarePants 400 will be held on Saturday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. ET, with coverage on FOX Sports 1. 

The Camping World Truck Series Toyota Tundra 250 is on Friday, May 8, at 8:30 p.m. ET with coverage on FOX Sports 1.

For more information on track times, press conferences and GarageCam, you can check out the full weekend schedule.

We know you may not have the time to watch the race action without any interruptions, so if you’re on the go, here’s how to keep up at Kansas.

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NASCAR.com’s live Sprint Cup Series leaderboard and Camping World Truck Series leaderboard update in real-time and offer constant text updates of lead changes, cautions, strategies, strong runs and everything in between. From the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series leaderboard, fans can also access live standings. On the go? Download the NASCAR Mobile app to follow the leaderboards live from your device.

Lap-by-Lap will keep you caught up even if you can only take a peek here and there. Check in to read back through all the laps you’ve missed, or keep an eye on the feed for real-time race updates.

We’ll also send race updates via Twitter through the official @NASCAR and @NASCARStats handles.

RaceBuddy will have enhanced views and coverage for the Sprint Cup Series and for most XFINITY Series races with 10 HD live race views, including up to eight in-car cameras, two mosaic views, live leaderboard and interactive chat.

Haven’t tried RaceView yet? If you sign up, you’ll get virtual videos of cars on the track from various angles and hear what your favorite team is saying over the radio in both the Sprint Cup and select XFINITY Series races. Use it as a second screen or as your only screen. Just want to scan the radios? You can have that too with Scanner (formerly RaceView Audio). On a mobile device? Get RaceView Mobile here.

If you want to be more involved in the on-track action, you can manage your fantasy team on NASCAR.com and follow your team’s performance in NASCAR Fantasy Live. Mobile users can also download NASCAR Connect, a game from OneUp Sports that allows users to play other fans with race predictions for some off-track competition while drivers battle it out on the track.

Live Press Pass video streams will keep the NASCAR action rolling even after the winner goes in and out of Victory Lane. Catch interviews with the top finishers and series champions immediately following the checkered flag for both national series events, and stay tuned to NASCAR.com throughout the week for the latest news.

Posted on by Staff Report

Richard Petty Motorsports announces crew chief change effective for Kansas

Sam Hornish Jr. will have a new crew chief on the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford with Kevin "Bono" Manion coming aboard to be the team’s new pit boss.

The move takes effect immediately ahead of Saturday’s SpongeBob SquarePants 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1) at Kansas Speedway.

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Manion comes to Richard Petty Motorsports after serving as Alex Bowman‘s crew chief for the No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing team for nine races this season. In his career, Manion has been atop the pit box for 328 Sprint Cup races with five victories including wins in the 2010 Daytona 500 and at Indianapolis, Charlotte and Talladega with Jamie McMurray behind the wheel. Manion also guided Martin Truex Jr. to his first career premier series win at Dover in June of 2007. Manion also has 15 wins as a crew chief in what is now known as the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

With Manion departing the No. 7 team, TBR team owner Tommy Baldwin will take over as crew chief for Bowman, starting immediately according to a press release from the team.

"I’m very happy for Bono; we’ve been friends a long time," Baldwin said Tuesday. "I wish him nothing but the best. Climbing atop the pit box is somewhat of a familiar role for me, and I look forward to working with Alex."

Drew Blickensderfer, who has been with Richard Petty Motorsports since the end of the 2012 season, was the crew chief for the first 10 races this season with Hornish. Blickensderfer has three wins atop the pit box including the opening two races of the 2009 season (including the 2009 Daytona 500 with Matt Kenseth) but his last victory as a crew chief came in 2011 with David Ragan at the July Daytona race.

Blickensderfer has been offered another position in the organization, according to a release provided by RPM.

"We began the season with changes to the No. 9 race team, most notably with the addition of Sam as our driver," Sammy Johns, the Petty team’s director of competition said in a release. "We are now looking to give Sam all the tools he needed to be successful. We feel that Kevin will bring some new ideas to help better our performance. We welcome him to the Petty family."

Hornish is coming off a sixth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, his first top-10 with Richard Petty Motorsports. The 35-year-old is currently 28th in the point standings.

Posted on by Staff Report

Sprint Cup veteran will pilot No. 8 Chevrolet in Toyota Tundra 250

SWM-NEMCO Motorsports announced Tuesday that Ryan Newman will make his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start since 2013 for the team this weekend at Kansas Speedway.

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Newman, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular, will drive the No. 8 Chevrolet for team co-owners Joe Nemechek and Sidney Mauldin in Friday night’s Toyota Tundra 250 (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1).
 
"As part of the Chevrolet family, we welcome Ryan Newman into SWM-NEMCO Motorsports to drive our No. 8 Chevrolet Silverado," Nemechek said in a release provided by the team. "Ryan has won in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series before, and will be able to provide valuable feedback for our team."
 
Newman’s last truck start was a third-place finish in the series’ inaugural dirt-track race at Eldora Speedway on July 24, 2013. His lone win came in his truck series debut in October 2008 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
 
Newman’s No. 8 truck Friday night will carry the logo of Rescue Ranch, a charity organization for humane, environmental and wildlife causes that he founded in 2012 with his wife, Krissie.
 
SWM-NEMCO’s No. 8 ranks tied for 19th place in the Camping World Truck Series team owner standings after three races this season. Father Joe Nemechek has driven the truck in two races (Daytona, Atlanta), with his 17-year-old son, John Hunter, taking the reins for the other (Martinsville).

Posted on by Staff Report

XFINITY Series champ will look to race his way into Sprint All-Star Race

Chase Elliott will attempt to make next weekend’s Sprint All-Star Race by running in the Sprint Showdown on May 15 (7 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1), Hendrick Motorsports announced on Tuesday.

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Elliott must win one of the two 20-lap segments in the No. 25 Chevrolet SS to make the Sprint All-Star Race on May 16.

"I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to run the Showdown," Elliott said in a release provided by the team. "It allows me to gain more experience with my NAPA Auto Parts team before we race again at Charlotte a week later."

The 19-year-old will be busy the weekend of the Sprint Showdown as the NASCAR XFINITY Series will be at Iowa Speedway that weekend as well. Elliott will go back-and-forth between Iowa and North Carolina that weekend.

"I’m grateful to Mr. Hendrick and everyone at NAPA for the chance to do it," he said.

Elliott has made two Sprint Cup Series starts already with a third coming the week after the All-Star Race in the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24.

"Those additional laps will be a tremendous benefit when it’s time to run 600 miles," Elliott said.

The defending XFINITY Series champion is also slated to make starts this summer at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Darlington Raceway.

Hendrick’s four full-time drivers: Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne are already locked into participating in the Sprint All-Star Race.

Posted on by Staff Report

Wisconsin road course adds fresh asphalt, video displays

Road America announced a repaving project and other major improvements for fans ahead of its motorsports season, including the return of the NASCAR XFINITY Series on Aug. 29 (3 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network).

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Track officials announced Monday that the historic 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, would have fresh asphalt in Turns 5, 6, 8 and 14 in time for a vintage sports car event May 15-17. Officials also said the repaving did not include any changes to the width of the racing surface.
 
"We take great pride in not only improving the facility for fans, but for competitors as well," George Bruggenthies, Road America president and general manager, said in a press release provided by the track. "We have many club events, schools, vehicle tests and private events at Road America and the integrity of the racing surface is just as important as our amenities, concessions, programs and many entertainment offerings.
 
"This new resurfacing project wasn’t immediately necessary but we wanted to make the improvements now to keep up with the demands that our 4-mile road course endures throughout the season and we guarantee the track will be ready for our first event."
 
Road America also announced the addition of four high-definition video displays, permanently installed in Turns 1, 3, 12 and the area between Turns 7 and 8. The networked LED displays supplement the track’s existing video board in Turn 5.
 
The 2015 season will mark the sixth consecutive year of racing for the XFINITY Series at Road America, but also a shift from its customary mid-June race date to late August. Last year, Brendan Gaughan became the fifth winner in five XFINITY events on the Wisconsin road course.

Posted on by Zack Albert

O’Donnell: Potential for youth and diversity initiatives to merge

RELATED: NASCAR Next class unveiled | More on NASCAR Next
GALLERY: Meet the NASCAR Next Class of 2015

Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, was among the sanctioning body’s presenters during Tuesday’s debut of the NASCAR Next 2015-16 roster of young drivers. If the process for identifying new up-and-comers for driving opportunities continues to grow, the group’s composition could evolve in the years ahead.
 
The newest NASCAR Next class of 12 drivers — five returning members and seven first-time participants — made their grand introduction Tuesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Two members — Nicole Behar and Ruben Garcia Jr. — were also participants in last fall’s NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine, a proving ground for multicultural drivers and women hoping to make their mark in the sport.

The NASCAR Next campaign is in its fifth season; the D4D initiative has been in effect since 2004. O’Donnell said each program has momentum, but that there is potential for a merged program in the future that combines the best of both.
 
"I think it’s part and parcel," O’Donnell said. "I think eventually the hope is that it could grow just to one, but I think the D4D program is still running strong, still provides us with an opportunity those who may have not been in a car at 4 and 5 years old, didn’t have that opportunity and then were able to do that through the Rev Racing program, so we’ve seen some success and we’re still seeing that.
 
"I think this is an opportunity to recognize some drivers who are in the Late Models and have had some success and continue to grow and we can work with them as well. So, two successful programs, but eventually we’d love to see it just be one."
 
Since the Next program began under the moniker of NASCAR’s Next 9 in 2011, several notable alumni — Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Darrell Wallace Jr. and Alex Bowman among them — have found regular rides in one of the three NASCAR national series. O’Donnell said the movement to identify and promote the new wave of stock-car driving talent has been a collaborative effort, drawing on the recommendations of former drivers, track owners and other racing officials.
 
Though O’Donnell hinted at the program’s evolution, five years later the objective for NASCAR Next remains the same.
 
"The goal of it is to graduate a driver from the touring to the national series level," O’Donnell said. "As we’ve seen, that’s always been a struggle of getting names out there about their talent. They’re so difficult in this day and age, so I think this has been a help to just get some drivers who may not have been recognized that, hey, let’s get an owner to take look at a driver and advance them to the next level as well."
 
Among other topics O’Donnell fielded Tuesday in an open Q&A with reporters:
 
— On the criticisms lobbed by defending series champion Kevin Harvick last weekend, stating that the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule was "stagnant": "We’re happy with the schedule we have. We certainly look at what’s available to us, but the scheduled that we have in place, I think that the tracks are doing a tremendous job of helping to promote the sport. Talladega was a great success for us this weekend, and we’ll roll into Kansas and Charlotte. We certainly have dialogue with Kevin and everyone’s got an opinion on the schedule, but we’re happy with where we’re at right now."
 
— On why the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race won’t be run as a high-profile test of next year’s rules package: "I think we’re still developing what the 2016 package could be. It could very well be the 2015 package, so to go down a path that we felt potentially needed testing, we didn’t think was the right thing to do, and put essentially a test out there for a big race on our schedule. So we elected to stay where we’re at and continue to monitor the racing under this package right now."
 
— O’Donnell also indicated that NASCAR competition officials are targeting August 1 as a deadline for settling on a 2016 rules package. He also said that he expects national series schedules to be released on a similar time frame to last year as well.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Cousin of Jeff Gordon part of NASCAR Next class

RELATED: Meet the new NASCAR Next class | More on NASCAR Next

At age 17, James Bickford hasn’t had to do much waiting for success in NASCAR’s developmental ranks to come his way. But even his first taste of triumph in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West had an unintended test of his patience.
 
A first-time win would be memorable enough on its own merit, but oh, what the Victory Lane photos could have been. Shortly after Bickford flashed under the checkered flag first last July at State Line Speedway in Post Falls, Idaho, he felt a trickle of blood from his nose just before the post-race ceremonies were about to start.

WATCH: NASCAR Next class introduced

"As long as I’m in a race car, I’m happy"

— James Bickford

"I don’t know what it was from — it was either yelling or I hit myself on something when I was getting out, but I had to wait inside the car," said Bickford, who also contended with the complicating matter of losing his voice. "People were like, ‘What’s going on?’ I’m holding it and am just, ‘I’ve got a bloody nose and I can’t get out of the car right now.’ We had to wait and everybody’s standing around the car and they all have their cameras ready. That’s a story a lot of people don’t know.
 
"It was definitely very exciting. It was unbelievable, definitely one of the biggest wins I’ve had in my career so far. It was definitely an eye-opening experience, for sure."
 
Tuesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, after another holding pattern that he described as "nerve-wracking," Bickford made another major step forward in his racing career as one of the 12 members unveiled for the NASCAR Next youth initiative. Again, the wait — which spanned months after his initial application for the program — was a tough one to take, but a gratifying one in the end.
 
"I knew everybody knew, but it was just waiting to see the e-mail whether I was in it or not," Bickford said of the long days that followed the committee’s voting process. "When I got the e-mail, I was just so happy because this is just such a great opportunity to be a part of a program like this."
 
Bickford has already been afforded the luxury of plenty of great opportunities, including his top-flight ride in the K&N Pro Series West with the Bob Bruncati-owned No. 6 Ford team. But he also has a connection to stock-car royalty, owing to family ties with his cousin, Jeff Gordon.
 
Bickford’s uncle is John Bickford, Gordon’s stepfather and a guiding force behind the four-time NASCAR champion’s racing career. While the younger Bickford says the bond with Gordon is a special one, he’s also eager to make his name stand out on its own.
 
"Definitely carve my own niche," James Bickford said. "It’s an asset in terms of advice. He’s been to some of the tracks that we race at, like Phoenix and Sonoma, so when we go to those tracks, he’s definitely a huge help with advice and connections, with him being able to introduce me to people that are important to my success. It definitely helps a ton."
 
Bickford is already balancing the rigors of his K&N racing schedule with online studies as a junior in high school, while delving into the realm of business ownership. His involvement as part of the NASCAR Next 2015-16 roster will only increase his obligations, but his visibility in the racing industry should take a similar spike.
 
And while the racing schedule is still in the early stages, well into the heart of springtime, Bickford said it’s not too early to start thinking about 2016. A handful of his NASCAR Next classmates — Cole Custer, Austin Hill and John Hunter Nemechek among them — have already embarked on part-time duty in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the first rung of the national series ladder. A similar career arc would suit Bickford just fine.
 
"We’re always searching," Bickford said. "Most likely, when we’re putting efforts in, we’re putting them toward next year. But if the opportunity arose, then I would be willing to step into a truck just like anybody else. Honestly, I’d be willing to race anything and everything. As long as I’m in a race car, I’m happy."

Posted on by Zack Albert

Team had been hit with P5 penalty for Auto Club infraction

When the penalties assessed to the Richard Childress Racing No. 31 team were left unchanged in severity but diminished only slightly in cost after an initial appeal, crew chief Luke Lambert made a statement that clocked in at a tidy 100 words — 102, if you were to count the "thank you" at the end.
 
One word kept coming up — "facts." Lambert said it four times.

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Whether or not the repetition was a gesture of special emphasis or an unintentional echo, Lambert and his RCR crew will have their last chance to prove their case Wednesday in the final appeal of P5 penalties against the No. 31 Chevrolet team and driver Ryan Newman. The team’s last attempt to have the punishment either reduced or rescinded will be heard at the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina by National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer Bryan Moss.
 
Richard Childress Racing was first assessed the P5 penalties — the second-harshest in NASCAR’s deterrence system — on March 31, nine days after the Sprint Cup Series’ race at Auto Club Speedway in California. During the race, NASCAR officials confiscated tires from the No. 31 organization, later subjecting them to an off-site tire audit. The move came after weeks of swirling suspicion about teams illegally altering or "bleeding" tires to better regulate air pressures over the course of a green-flag run.
 
NASCAR handed down a six-race suspension and probation to Lambert and two RCR crew members, a $125,000 fine, and a deduction of 75 championship points in both the driver and team owner standings. The punishment hit the upper reaches of the NASCAR Rule Book’s deterrence scale because the infraction fell under one of three so-called "no man’s land" technical areas — tires, engine and fuel.
 
Childress appealed the decision to the three-member National Motorsports Appeals Panel on April 16, rolling in tires and lugging thick binders and placards into the R&D Center as supporting evidence. After a hearing that lasted several hours, the panel opted to lessen the fine to $75,000 and cut the deduction in the standings to 50 points. The ruling, however, kept the penalty’s severity at a P5 grade, leaving the six-race suspensions and probation through Dec. 31 intact for all three RCR personnel.

WATCH: Luke Lambert responds to appeal decision
 
The Childress operation indicated the next day that it would seek a final appeal, deferring Lambert’s suspension and keeping him atop the pit box.
 
The final appeal will be the second one heard by Moss, the former president of Gulfstream Aerospace who accepted the role in NASCAR’s appeals process last season. In February, Moss heard the final appeal of a behavioral penalty assessed to Kurt Busch and ultimately decided to uphold NASCAR’s ruling.
 
Unlike the No. 31 team’s previous appeal, the burden of proof now shifts to Richard Childress Racing‘s responsibility. In the earlier hearing, the burden of proof rested on NASCAR’s shoulders.
 
If Childress’ appeal is successful and the team’s points are restored, Newman — who has four top-five finishes in 10 races this year — would rise in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver standings from 14th place to fifth. Such a move would slot Newman below fourth-place Joey Logano, the Daytona 500 winner, and would bump Dale Earnhardt Jr., last weekend’s winner at Talladega Superspeedway, down to sixth.

Posted on by Nascar

No. 48 driver says he did all he could to catch the 88 at Talladega

CONCORD, N.C. – Asked to pick a winner for this year’s Sprint All-Star race, Jimmie Johnson was quick with his response.

“Since I let Junior win last week,” the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion joked Tuesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, site of this year’s non-points race.

Former All-Star race winners Michael Waltrip and Rusty Wallace, crew chief Chad Knaus, Charlotte Motor Speedway president Marcus Smith and Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, joined Johnson at CMS for the press event. Each spent time on stage surrounded by $1 million, the winner’s take for this year’s race.

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Johnson has heard the comments this week and seen the chatter on social media. He didn’t pull out and try to pass Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the end of Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, some have said, because his teammate pushed him to a win years ago.

It was a favor returned.

Or was it?

Johnson has two victories and a spot in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup in his pocket. Until Sunday, Earnhardt had been winless through this year’s first nine races.

Make no mistake, Johnson said. Those facts had nothing to do with Sunday’s outcome.

"Absolutely not. That’s the most ridiculous thing ever," he said.

"If I didn’t win, absolutely I’’d want it to be the 88 or the 24 (of teammate Jeff Gordon) or the 5 (of teammate Kasey Kahne)."

The four are teammates at Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson’s cars are prepped in the same shop as Earnhardt’s. Kahne and Gordon’s cars reside in another building. The teams share information and resources. But when a win is on the line?

"On that side I’m stoked for him and stoked for the shop," Johnson said. "But man I was doing everything within my power to set up a pass for the win. I didn’t know that he had debris on the grille … that’s only going to speed his car up. Then we had such a small group of guys in line there just wasn’t any energy. I drug the brake a few times and backed up to the cars behind me; I just got this small run off of their push. Junior was easily able to defend that."

There was no three- or four-wide, last lap battle for the lead after the leaders took the white flag in Sunday’s race. Instead, for much of the final lap, most stayed in line, waiting until the finish line and checkered flag was in sight before attempting to make a pass.

By then, it was too late.

Running second to Earnhardt, Johnson’s strategy was to wait only until the field came off the fourth turn. Previous lessons taught him as much.

"I have pulled out in second going down the back straightaway and I’ve finished 15th. Every time. Or worse" he said.

"So I’m like ‘OK, I’m going to be patient; this is Talladega, the finish line is further around the race track than Daytona so you need to wait longer … everybody stayed in line and I tried … and man I didn’t even get to his bumper with the energy that happened behind me.

"I gave it my all but it just wasn’t in the cards. He did a great job, too, of controlling the race and taking to the top like that. If enough guys got frustrated … if enough cars went to the bottom, the bottom is a lot faster. But everybody’s afraid to pull out of line because their spot would get filled.

"Junior played it perfectly. Having that small six- or seven-car breakaway played into his hands as well."

WATCH: Johnson’s postrace comments | Junior on the fans, his dad, the win

Sunday’s race featured just 27 lead changes, far fewer than what fans have come to expect at the 2.66-mile track. The last time a Sprint Cup race there had fewer was in 2002 when the top spot was swapped only 26 times.

Johnson said he thinks it’s what restrictor-plate racing has become in recent years. What was thought to be a rarity now appears to be a trend.

"Inside the car at Daytona and Talladega, there’s so much frustration created by the restrictor plate,” he said. "I’ve really put the uneventful finish in the hands of restrictor plate racing. It’s a necessary evil, we need it on the cars but it promotes a certain style of racing.

"If the leader decides to go up top and there isn’t a long enough line that’s willing to go to the bottom and find their way to the front and be committed to it, it’s going to finish like that. There’s no way around it; we’ve seen it a couple of times now. I blame it on plate racing."

The idea that it was a payback of some sort might have a certain charm he said, but that wasn’t the case.

"That’s what Junior Nation thinks," he said, grinning. "If it makes them happy, that’s cool. I’m afraid to have them on my side because they’ve hated me forever, so I don’t know if I really want all this."