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See where your favorite driver will pit on Friday night (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1)

RELATED: Full race lineup

The pit stall assignments are out for Friday night’s Toyota Tundra 250 (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM) and 21 Means 21 Pole Award winner Erik Jones had his pick of stalls on pit road.

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Jones will have the pit stall closest to the pit road exit and will have no one in front of him when he goes to exit his stall.

Two-time defending NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton will have an opening in front of him on pit road as well. The ThorSport Racing driver will start on the front row next to Jones.

Brandon Jones (starting third), Johnny Sauter (starting seventh), Cameron Hayley (starting ninth), Spencer Gallagher (starting 14th) and Ray Black Jr. (starting 16th) have openings in front of them on pit road.

Tyler Young (starting 17th) has the first pit stall closest to the entrance of pit road.

The Toyota Tundra 250 is the fourth of 23 races in the 2015 Camping World Truck Series season.

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Hamlin, Johnson, Logano, Patrick among those prepping for May 31 race

RELATED: 2015 NASCAR Cup testing explained

NASCAR and Goodyear will be hosting a test at Dover International Speedway next Monday through Wednesday with a rain date on Thursday ahead of the May 31 FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).

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The first two days will be a closed test for the 2015 and 2016 packages with AJ Allmendinger from JTG Daugherty Racing, Denny Hamlin from Joe Gibbs Racing, Joey Logano with Team Penske and Danica Patrick with Stewart-Haas Racing.

On Wednesday, eight more drivers and teams will join for an open test day, including Aric Almirola with Richard Petty Motorsports, Greg Biffle with Roush Fenway Racing, Jeb Burton with BK Racing, Austin Dillon with Richard Childress Racing, Jimmie Johnson with Hendrick Motorsports, Jamie McMurray with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Casey Mears with Germain Racing and David Ragan with Michael Waltrip Racing.

Johnson is the all-time leader with nine victories at the Monster Mile. Of the 11 other drivers, only Greg Biffle has won there in the Sprint Cup Series with two trips to Sunoco Victory Lane.

Fans are invited to watch Wednesday’s test from enclosed, climate-controlled seating on the third floor of the Dover Downs Hotel & Casino and can access the area by following signs to the Dover International Speedway ticket office and proceeding to the third floor.

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XFINITY Series regular welcomes sixth daughter, returns to TriStar team

Eric McClure had a double dose of good news Friday, welcoming a new addition to the family and a familiar new ride in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

McClure and his wife, Miranda, welcomed the couple’s sixth daughter Friday morning, announcing the birth of Meraline Everleigh over Twitter. The child weighed 6 pounds, 1.8 ounces, measured 17 1/2 inches, and kept the family tradition of first names starting with "M." The newborn’s older sisters are named Mabreigh, Maryleigh, Mirabella, Merritt and Myanna.

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Hours after the family news, TriStar Motorsports announced that McClure would return to the team, driving the No. 24 Toyota for the rest of the XFINITY season. Longtime sponsors Reynolds Wrap and Hefty will follow the driver to TriStar, according to a release provided by McClure’s representatives.

The reunion will make its official return May 17 in the 3M 250 at Iowa Speedway.

"I’m really looking forward to returning to TriStar Motorsports," McClure said. "We spent four seasons with the organization and the relationships formed with Mark Smith and his family are very dear to me. As a sponsorship marketing agency, TMI (Team McClure, Inc.) has prided ourselves on professional representation of our partners and rejoining TriStar allows us the best environment to honor that commitment.

"As a driver, I’m looking forward to being in a familiar environment that has produced my best runs and am excited for the remainder of the season."

McClure’s previous stint with the Mark Smith-owned TriStar team lasted from 2011 to 2014. The 36-year-old driver signed with JGL Racing in the offseason, but according to the release, the two sides amicably parted ways after nine races, ending their relationship after last weekend’s event at Talladega Superspeedway.

"I have a lot of respect for Eric and his family and we wish him nothing but the best as he continues his racing career with TriStar Motorsports," said James Whitener, JGL Racing owner. "We have a vision of what we want to build with this race team and it just wasn’t working out with Eric for the direction that we wanted to go. We are committed to the continued growth of JGL Racing and will do everything in our powers to progress that forward."

JGL Racing officials indicated that they would continue to field two full-time cars (Nos. 26 and 28) in the XFINITY Series, with a third entry (No. 93) running at select events. Whitener said the team would use a rotation of drivers to replace McClure, who reached an agreement with JGL to carry his No. 24 over to his TriStar ride.

JGL Racing celebrated its best-ever finish in the XFINITY Series last weekend, with JJ Yeley driving to a fourth-place finish at Talladega.

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Teenager grabs 21 Means 21 Award; Keselowski’s trucks crash

RELATED: Full starting lineup

Erik Jones won the 21 Means 21 Pole Award in Friday afternoon qualifying for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, an eventful session highlighted by a crash of both Brad Keselowski Racing entries at Kansas Speedway.

Jones sped to a track-record lap of 179.396 mph mph in the final, five-minute session on the 1.5-mile track, marking his first pole position of the season and third of his truck series career. He’ll lead the 32-truck field to the green flag in Friday night’s Toyota Tundra 250 (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).

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"Nice to start out front," said Jones, driver of the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Toyota. "Hope we can stay out there and control the race."

Two-time defending series champion and current standings leader Matt Crafton was second-fastest at 177.509 mph in the ThorSport Racing No. 88 Toyota. Rookie Brandon Jones, Sprint Cup Series regular Ryan Newman and last year’s top rookie Ben Kennedy completed the top five.

Qualifying was interrupted at the 3:39 mark of the 10-minute second round by a heavy crash between the two BKR teammates, Tyler Reddick and Austin Theriault. Reddick lost control of his No. 19 Ford in Turn 2 and scraped the outside wall, later sliding down into the path of Theriault’s No. 29.

Theriault’s truck slammed into his teammate’s entry, spraying the track with debris. The team unloaded both reserve trucks for Friday night’s race, where they’ll have to start from the rear of the field.

"That was my first big hit," Theriault said. "We’re going pretty fast at these mile and a halfs. Both teams strive to bring really fast trucks to the race track, and I really didn’t have anywhere to go."

Reddick, who enters Friday night’s event second in the series standings, admitted he was having trouble in the opening round of qualifying with his truck’s handling. After the wreck, he admitted, "it’s not a very good start to our night" — a statement backed up to a certain degree by Chad Kendrick, Theriault’s crew chief.

"This is more of a challenge down the road, actually," Kendrick said, pointing toward the series’ race next weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "Both teams had two really good backups ready to go. … From that point, more concerned with starting at the back now."

Crafton was the fastest in the first of three rounds of group qualifying, edging Reddick for the top spot in the 20-minute session. Erik Jones set the pace in the second session.

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Kyle Busch’s 18-year-old sub impresses ahead of Sprint Cup debut

RELATED: Practice 1 results | Final practice results

Newcomer Erik Jones launched to the top of the leaderboard in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice Friday afternoon at Kansas Speedway.

Jones, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota in place of the injured Kyle Busch, logged a fast lap of 191.306 mph on the 1.5-mile track. The 18-year-old driver, a regular in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, will be making his first official Sprint Cup Series start in Saturday night’s SpongeBob SquarePants 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).

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"There’s been a lot of people involved in the last two weeks getting ready for this," Jones said after the 55-minute session. "Just really, really proud of this team … I think we’ve got a good shot at the pole, honestly. We’ll see how it goes."

Jeff Gordon, the race’s defending winner, was second-fastest in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet at 191.184 mph. Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed the top five.

Coors Light Pole Qualifying is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. ET, televised on FOX Sports 1.

Harvick fast early in Kansas tune-up

Points leader Kevin Harvick set the early pace in opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice Friday afternoon at Kansas Speedway.

Harvick, the defending Sprint Cup champion in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet, registered a fast lap of 190.772 mph in overcast conditions at the 1.5-mile track. The speed was well below the track record of 197.612 mph, set by Harvick in Coors Light Pole Qualifying last fall.

Joey Logano, the winner in the most recent race at Kansas last October, was second-fastest in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford with a mock qualifying run of 190.375 mph late in the 85-minute session. Carl Edwards was third-fastest, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota to a lap of 190.268 mph in preparation for Saturday night’s SpongeBob SquarePants 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM), the 11th of 36 races for the Sprint Cup Series this season.

Owner/driver Tony Stewart, a two-time Kansas winner, was fourth-fastest, with Dale Earnhardt Jr., last weekend’s winner at Talladega Superspeedway, completing the top five.

Erik Jones was ninth-fastest in preparation for his official NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut, substituting for the injured Kyle Busch in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota. Jones, a regular in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, got his first taste of Sprint Cup racing last month at Bristol Motor Speedway in relief of JGR driver Denny Hamlin, but was not credited with a premier-series start.

David Ragan, who has driven as a fill-in for Busch in the past nine races, was 23rd-fastest in his first stint in place of Brian Vickers in the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 55 Toyota. Ragan was named as a more permanent substitute for Vickers, who remains sidelined indefinitely after a recurrence of blood clots in March.

Jeff Gordon, the defending race winner and the track’s only three-time victor, was 21st-fastest in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet.

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Camping World Truck Series drivers visit middle school with ‘3 D’s of Speed’

RELATED: Join NASCAR Acceleration Nation

Seventh graders at Kansas City’s Argentine Middle School were treated to a lesson in NASCAR on Thursday as part of a special visit from The NASCAR Foundation and NASCAR Acceleration Nation. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series drivers Ben Kennedy, Scott Lagasse Jr. and John Hunter Nemechek joined Kansas Speedway President Pat Warren and other industry professionals to talk to students about the "3 D’s of Speed" — drafting, downforce and drag.

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NASCAR Acceleration Nation, launched in February as the sport’s first national youth platform, was created to make learning STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fun and engaging for kids by bringing the science behind NASCAR into the classroom. Through a partnership with Scholastic, more than 12,000 elementary and middle school classrooms across the country are integrating the program’s NASCAR-themed learning materials into teacher lesson plans.
 
At Argentine Middle, drivers took questions from students and explained how principles of aerodynamics make their race cars go faster. Dion Williams, front tire carrier for Jeff Gordon‘s No. 24 Chevrolet SS team, served as the event’s master of ceremonies.
 
The school visit was the next stop in a national classroom initiative started by The NASCAR Foundation. Argentine Middle School and several other schools in the Kansas City area were the recipients of technology equipment donations, provided by the Foundation, including 3D printers, tablets and scientific calculators.
 
The NASCAR Acceleration Nation interactive experience will be open to fans and their children this weekend leading up to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway.

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Significant damage reported from Thursday night blaze

Fire struck the race shop of the Leavine Family Racing organization Thursday night, causing "significant damage," according to officials with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team.

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The team, which fields the No. 95 Ford for driver Michael McDowell, has been a part-time competitor in NASCAR’s top division since 2011. The team was on site Friday at Kansas Speedway in advance of Saturday night’s Spongebob Squarepants 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM), the operation’s sixth race of the season.
 
"We can confirm there was a fire at our Concord, North Carolina, shop," LFR team officials said in a statement. "Luckily no one was injured. We are working with the fire department and local officials to determine what happened. We’ve heard from the fire department there was significant damage to the back of the race shop. As you can imagine, we are still working to assess the full situation."
 
Late Friday, the team issued another statement noting the team may need to move.

"After receiving more information from a restoration company that inspected the fire damage at the shop today, we were informed that structural damage may cause us to move our racing operations," LFR team officials said in a statement. "We are currently exploring all options.

"We do not anticipate this to impact the team’s competition schedule. Our next race is the Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Four race cars were damaged in the fire – these were primarily back-up cars.  A complete investigation is taking place to assess the overall damage and cause of the fire."

Car owner Bob Leavine said before the season that the small team — which employs 14 people, by his count — planned to compete in a minimum of 20 Sprint Cup events this year. The 2015 season marks the second year of Leavine’s partnership with McDowell and the second year of a technical alliance with Team Penske, which also fields Fords in NASCAR’s premier series.

Crew chief Wally Rogers said Friday morning at Kansas Speedway that the portion of the shop sustaining the most damage was a storage area in the rear of the building.
 
"We have four or five cars there, uniforms are stored back there," he said. "From the pictures I was sent, it looks like it was pretty intense. The cars are backup cars; the only primary was one we planned for the road-course races later this year."
 
As far as the next few races — the Sprint Cup Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Sprint All-Star and Coca-Cola 600 races before turning to Dover International Speedway — Rogers said cars for those events weren’t among those damaged.
 
Rogers said team personnel told him they arrived at the shop Friday morning and noticed "something smelled like it was burning."
 
"It wasn’t in the front (of the building)," he said of the fire, "but the good thing is the sprinklers and safety measures were working and no one was hurt."

— Kenny Bruce contributed to this story

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ISC CEO to be featured on ‘CBS Sunday Morning,’ May 10, 9 a.m. ET

RELATED: Join NASCAR in celebrating Mother’s Day

Lesa France Kennedy says 2007 was the toughest year of her life, but she and son Ben, who is closing in on his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win, have persevered. NASCAR Vice Chairperson and International Speedway Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer discusses her family and DAYTONA Rising, the $400 million reimagining of an American icon, on the Mother’s Day edition of "CBS Sunday Morning," this Sunday, May 10, at 9 a.m. ET.

Eight years ago, Lesa France Kennedy lost her father Bill France Jr., a member of the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, in June and her husband, Dr. Bruce Kennedy, in a plane crash in July.

Named "The Most Powerful Woman in Sports" by "Forbes" just two years after suffering these losses, Kennedy described a more personal side of her leadership as she helped her son and family through that difficult time.

"Ben was 15 so we focused on school and trying to get back into the groove with school was the first priority," Kennedy said. "And then as a mother, you can’t afford to take time out. You just have to get going again. My husband, and I [were] married for 20 years. He was a great dad. He was a great husband, and he loved NASCAR."

WATCH: Lesa France Kennedy discusses the challenges of 2007 as well as special moments with her son

Kennedy’s vision for the next 50 years of the Daytona International Speedway is taking shape in the most significant investment for the company and in the scale of the construction, which includes frontstretch grandstands nearly one mile in length. With technology at the forefront of DAYTONA Rising, the groundwork has been laid to offer the latest innovations when the "World Center of Racing" sets the bar for the industry as the first true motorsports stadium and welcomes the 2016 Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 58th running of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500.

The biggest challenge has been operating the facility during construction, and the traditional Fourth of July weekend will go on as scheduled with an additional 10,000 new seats for the NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 400 Powered by Coca-Cola on July 4 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola on July 5.

(Right to left) ISC CEO Lesa France Kennedy celebrates son Ben Kennedy‘s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East victory in 2013 at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with uncle and ISC Chairman and NASCAR Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President Jim France.

As Lesa France Kennedy follows in the footsteps of NASCAR and ISC founder Bill France Sr. with the complete renovation of the track he built, Ben Kennedy follows in his tire tracks as he attempts to get his first NASCAR national series victory.

"His great-grandfather was a racer so [a win] would really carry it into the next generation," Lesa France Kennedy said.

"I think it would be just absolutely overwhelming, and I would love to see that day. I would absolutely love to see that day for him. When your child puts so much of himself into a particular passion, you want to see them succeed, and I think that would really make his career. It would set him in a really good place regardless if he continued on the race track or maybe took it in a different direction. But I think that’s the accomplishment he’s looking for. ‘I did it!’"

WATCH: Lesa France Kennedy talks about her son and his career on the track and off

"CBS Sunday Morning" is the 2015 winner of the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Morning Program, and Michelle Miller and her crew captured the full Speedweeks experience in February from attending the NASCAR Diversity Luncheon …

… to meeting actor and Daytona 500 grand marshal Vince Vaughn …

… to spending time with drivers …

… to taking selfies before the Great American Race with Lesa France Kennedy and the Harley J. Earl Trophy.

 

DAYTONA Rising will provide more opportunities for fans to share their experience with three new concourses and 11 football field-sized social areas, called "neighborhoods," which will feature open sightlines and dozens of video screens. Fans can sit, chat, eat, drink and access Wi-Fi, all while never missing any of the on-track action.

Tune in this Sunday morning, May 10, at 9 a.m. ET/PT to watch the entire feature on "CBS Sunday Morning."

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Jones after leading 151 laps: ‘We had by far the best truck’

RELATED: Jones’ Cup focus lies in Kansas start alone

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — No one had a faster truck than Erik Jones in Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway.

But speed requires fuel, and with only a handful of laps remaining, the fuel cell in Jones’ No. 4 Toyota ran dry. His lead, and a dominating performance, evaporated.

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"It just sucks," a disappointed Jones said afterward. "We had by far the best truck; we were up to an 11-second lead at one point.

"It’s just so terrible for these (Kyle Busch Motorsports) guys when we bring that fast of a truck."

Jones, who finished 11th, wasn’t alone in his misery. Almost as soon as second-place Tyler Reddick moved into the top spot, his No. 19 Ford (Brad Keselowski Racing) began to sputter. He led seven laps and had the lead from 162-164 of the 167-lap race, before he too was out of gas. 

Incredibly, Daniel Suarez suffered the same fate – when Reddick slowed, Suarez, also in a KBM Toyota, inherited the lead. One lap later, and just two laps from the finish, the orange No. 51 entry’s tank ran dry.

All of which left two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton out front, and two laps later, headed to the winner’s circle. 

Jones, who started on the pole and will make his Sprint Cup Series debut in Saturday’s SpongeBob SquarePants 400, led five times. Before his fuel problems, he lost the lead only on pit road.

"No, I didn’t know how short (on fuel) we were," he said. "I knew the fuel window. I knew we had to save. I couldn’t give the lead up to the 19 (of Reddick) at that point, if a caution had come out (and knowing) how big track position is if we’d have lost the lead we’d never been able to get it back. 

"It’s just a shame, I saved as much as I could there later on and it just wasn’t enough."

Reddick’s charge to the front was almost as impressive as that of Jones. The winner at Daytona International Speedway in the series’ opener, Reddick and teammate Austin Theriault both started Friday’s race in backup entries after crashing during qualifying.

WATCH: Teammates crash in qualifying

"I wouldn’t say I’m frustrated," Reddick said. "All of our guys … they went above and beyond getting our backup out in a hurry and getting the thing prepared.

"Our backup truck was so good. It’s a testament of how much work our guys put in at the shop and how prepared we were in case that ever happened."

Playing it safe wasn’t an option, according to Reddick, who finished 13th. A potential top 10 wouldn’t be as satisfying as making the turn into Victory Lane.

"We played it right. Well, we thought we played it right," he said. "Just a little off at the end there."

Having such a strong truck wasn’t much consolation for Jones, even though he said later that he’d seen wins slip away before.

"Probably not that close to the end (of a race)," he said. "There have been races where I felt like we had the best car but it broke it early on. But eight laps from the finish? I guess it hurts even worse, especially when you lead as many laps as we did. 

"We had by far the best truck, just couldn’t bring it home."

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After Richmond fire, over-the-wall crews get head socks

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Crew members going over the wall for Richard Childress Racing teams will be wearing flame resistant head socks when the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 gets underway at Kansas Speedway.

Some will also be wearing a new style helmet.

The changes come in the wake of a pit road fire at Richmond International Speedway last month that hospitalized two RCR crewmen and sent a third from another team off site for treatment as well during and XFINITY Series event.

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Mike Dillon, Vice President of Competition for RCR said Friday at Kansas Speedway that all over-the-wall crew members, "whether they’re working on the front of the car or the back, we’re requiring them to wear a (flame-resistant) head sock."

The new helmet features a "skirt" for additional protection but is not currently mandated by the organization for all over-the-wall crew.

RCR fields full-time Sprint Cup Series teams for drivers Austin Dillon, Paul Menard and Ryan Newman, as well as XFINITY Series teams for Brian Scott, Ty Dillon and Brendan Gaughan.

"We’re working on some full (face) helmets," Mike Dillon said. "You’ll see a dozen of them on pit road this weekend. The whole No. 3 team (of Austin Dillon) I think decided to wear them.

Gas men and anyone handling fuel cans on the non-active side of the pit wall are required by NASCAR to wear full-face helmets with face shields as part of their safety equipment.

"The biggest thing is their field of view; these (over-the-wall) guys want to see the cars coming at them, the cars coming in and out (of the pits)," Dillon said. The full face helmets "block your peripheral vision. That’s their biggest complaint."

It was Gaughan’s No. 62 Chevrolet that erupted in flames during a pit stop at Richmond International Speedway.

Anthony O’Brien, the team’s rear-tire changer, and gasman Josh Wittman, suffered burns when spilled fuel ignited during a pit stop on Lap 113. Wittman was kept overnight while O’Brien was released three days after the incident.

Clifford Turner (JGL Racing) covered O’Brien in an attempt to smother the flames when the tire changer jumped back across pit wall. He was treated and released after inhaling fire extinguisher chemicals.

Dillon said the fuel spill was due to a parts malfunction in the head of the gas can. "The … valve has a screw in it that holds it in and it pulled the threads out," he said.

"When that happened, it allowed it to open up and it was just a solid stream of fuel flowing out of the can. … It just dumped 5-6 gallons of fuel on the ground pretty quick."

To correct the situation, the valve pieces are now bolted in place.

"It’s probably just a case of you just (perform) maintenance on them so often, we’re shortening the life expectancy of them, too." he said. "So we’ve changed from that generation now on the Cup side … to a newer version.

"I think taking it apart, and in and out of the opening so often (led to the failure). Every time you tighten it, you’re stretching those threads."

The SpongeBob SquarePants 400 is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. ET start (FOX Sports 1, MRN, Sirius XM).