Team Penske has no substitute driver planned at Kansas

RELATED: Brad Keselowski’s opinions on the Sprint Cup schedule

TALLADEGA, Ala. — A three-time winner at this week’s Sprint Cup Series venue, the wildly unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway, Brad Keselowski knows a thing or two about getting the timing right. When it comes to the impending birth of his first child, he’s pretty confident he’s got the timing down there, too.

Keselowski and his girlfriend, Paige White, are expecting a daughter sometime in the next two weeks, the 2012 Cup champ confirmed Friday from Talladega.

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Because he expects to be home in Charlotte for the back-to-back weekends of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race May 16 and the Coca-Cola 600 May 24, Keselowski said Team Penske has not tabbed a replacement driver for him.

"As far as contingency plans, we haven’t really made any because we’re very, very fortunate that everything at this time looks to fall directly in line with the race weeks in Charlotte, which is where we live," Keselowski said.

"Fingers crossed. We’ll see how it all plays out, but I’m looking forward to it very much."

Keselowski addressed the topic Friday during an announcement that his No. 2 Ford would carry new primary sponsorship from high tech company Avaya in next week’s race at Kansas Speedway. It’s a major get for the team and a sign of the times in NASCAR in general.

"I think NASCAR is trying very, very hard to continue to push the technical side and having more technical partners," Keselowski said. "So I think this is not just a win for Team Penske, but also a win for all of motorsports and NASCAR, in particular."

Wins are something Keselowski is familiar with at Talladega, where he scored three of his 17 career victories — including his first Cup win in 2009 and perhaps his most clutch Cup win last October.

Needing nothing less than a victory to advance to the third round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Eliminator Round, Keselowski got a push from his Penske teammate Joey Logano and held off the charging field in overtime to take the win.

The result had major championship implications with Keselowski and Logano advancing in the playoffs and three preseason favorites, Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie JohnsonDale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne having their title hopes stopped.

"Talladega, last fall was unbelievable," Keselowski said. "I think that’s probably the most emotional I ever got besides my first win in NASCAR. … That’s probably the most emotional win I’ve had in quite some time, so it certainly meant a lot to me."

"As far as the clutch factor, or whatever, I try not to read too much into that. I feel like if you get caught up in that you kind of let those emotions get to you and sometimes that’s maybe not in your best interest focus-wise.

"But all in all that was just an incredible weekend and one I’m gonna look back on for quite some time and be proud of."

Hendrick Motorsports places four cars in top five in Talladega qualifying

RELATED: Qualifying results

Jeff Gordon surged to the 80th Coors Light Pole Award of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Saturday afternoon qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway.

Gordon, in his final full season driving the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet, notched a fast lap of 194.793 mph on the 2.66-mile track. The Coors Light Pole Award was also Gordon’s third of the season and fourth at Talladega.

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All-time Coors Light Pole Awards

Rank Driver Poles
1. Richard Petty* 123
2. David Pearson* 113
3. Jeff Gordon 80
4. Cale Yarborough* 69
5. Darrell Waltrip* 59
6. Bobby Allison* 58
7. Mark Martin** 56
8. Bill Elliott* 55
9. Ryan Newman 51
10. Bobby Isaac** 49

*NASCAR Hall of Famers
**NASCAR Hall of Fame nominees

Gordon, who also won the pole position for the season-opening Daytona 500, claimed the No. 1 starting spot by .281 seconds.

"We definitely have a fast Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet," said Gordon, the last driver to make a qualifying attempt. "I think we’ve shown that all weekend long. But you never know what you’ve got until you put it on the clock. I am so proud of this pole because we got the pole in Daytona, but it was a totally different format. I knew the car was fast there. For this team to bring another car, a different car here, and all the hard work from the engine shop and what they do with the bodies, and chassis and prep. A lot of hard work goes into this and (crew chief) Alan Gustafson takes a lot of pride in these. They should, this is awesome.

"And awesome for Hendrick Motorsports to be on the front row. This was all them. I played a small role at Daytona, but I played no role today, but it was fun."

Kasey Kahne pushed the Hendrick No. 5 Chevy to a lap of 193.685 mph, snaring the second starting spot for Sunday’s GEICO 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX). Ryan Blaney qualified third at 193.611 mph in the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford. Teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson were next, placing all four Hendrick Motorsports cars in the top five starting spots.

The session was the series’ first since NASCAR mandated rules changes for qualifying on tracks where restrictor plates are used to limit engine horsepower. The group qualifying format introduced before the 2014 season often created large aerodynamic packs, gamesmanship and the threat of multi-car crashes.

After a particularly wreck-heavy Speedweeks to open the season for all three national series at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR competition officials dropped the group format for Daytona and Talladega. Instead, drivers participated in single-car runs, released to the track in staggered intervals, in two rounds — the opening round for all cars, with the final 12 advancing to the final round.

David Ragan, making his final start in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota in place of the injured Kyle Busch, was ninth-fastest in qualifying. He’ll move to the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 55 Toyota for the rest of the season, starting next weekend at Kansas Speedway, where JGR development driver Erik Jones plans to make his Sprint Cup debut in the No. 18.

In the meantime, team owner and occasional driver Michael Waltrip qualified the No. 55 ride in 23rd spot for Sunday’s 500-miler at Talladega.

Defending Sprint Cup Series champion and current points leader Kevin Harvick was 24th-fastest in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet. Defending race winner Denny Hamlin managed the 17th-fastest lap in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota.

Kyle Larson took the 13th starting spot in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet, missing out on a place in the final round by just three-thousandths of a second. Michael McDowell and rookie Jeb Burton failed to qualify for the 43-car field.

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See where all 43 drivers will pit in Sunday’s GEICO 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX)

RELATED: Starting lineup

In his next-to-last race at Talladega Superspeedway, four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon won his 80th Coors Light Pole Award and chose the first stall at pit exit in Turn 1.

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Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne qualified second and took the 17th stall with an opening in front of him. Wood Brothers Racing with Ryan Blaney nabbed third in qualifying and chose the 39th stall toward the entrance to pit road, also with front opening. The last stall with an empty spot in front is the 29th, and fourth-place qualifier Dale Earnhardt Jr. chose it.

The fourth Hendrick driver, Jimmie Johnson, qualified fifth and picked the 43rd box, the first open stall at the entrance to pit road off of Turn 4.

Stewart-Haas Racing‘s Tony Stewart tied for his best qualifying effort of the season in the sixth spot, and he chose the 38th stall with an open box behind him. Richard Childress Racing‘s Paul Menard was seventh-fastest in Saturday’s session and picked the 28th stall with a space between him and Earnhardt behind him.

Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Matt Kenseth and David Ragan qualified eighth and ninth respectively with Kenseth choosing the 41st stall and Ragan selecting the second stall.

Richard Petty Motorsports driver Sam Hornish Jr. rounded out the top 10 and chose the 16th stall with a blank space behind him.

See where your favorite driver will pit on Saturday afternoon (3 p.m. ET, FOX)

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By winning the Coors Light Pole Award at Talladega Superspeedway, Austin Dillon earned first choice of pit stalls for Saturday’s Winn-Dixie 300. The No. 33 Richard Childress Racing driver selected the second pit stall, which is the last stall on pit road, giving him an easy exit.

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The younger Dillon — Ty — will also start from the front row at Talladega. He selected the sixth pit stall, four pit stalls down from his older brother Austin.

Third-fastest in qualifying, Brian Scott selected the 17th stall, which has no stall directly in front of it. Fourth and fifth-place qualifiers Erik Jones and Boris Said chose the fourth and 16th spots, respectively. Said’s 16th spot has no stall behind it.

Reigning XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott qualified 14th and picked the 38th pit stall, which is closer to the entrance of pit road and has no stall in behind it.

The Winn-Dixie 300 at Talladega Superspeedway will begin at 3 p.m. ET with coverage on FOX.

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Penske driver posts win No. 3 of 2015; Ty Dillon holds points lead

RELATED: Race results

Joey Logano survived a wild Saturday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway, securing a thrilling NASCAR XFINITY Series victory in the Winn-Dixie 300.

Logano, driving the Team Penske No. 22 Ford, led a race-high 40 of the 113 laps and held on at the checkered flag. It marked his third victory of the season, his second on Talladega’s 2.66-mile layout and 24th of his XFINITY Series career.

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"It’s like a combination of the old school draft and the cars hooking up and bumping, so it’s kind of a combo of what’s going on out there, but it’s so fun and so intense," Logano said. "I’m still trying to catch my breath, but it’s so intense out there and you’re looking at everything in the mirror the whole time, so it was cool to get this thing in Victory Lane. Our pit coach, Brian Haaland, his dad passed away this week so we know he was riding along with us."

Brian Scott drove his smoking Richard Childress Racing No. 2 Chevrolet entry across the finish line second, just .130 seconds behind Logano at the checkered flag. Austin Dillon, winner of the Coors Light Pole Award earlier in the day, came home third in another Childress Chevy. J.J. Yeley finished fourth with Joey Gase a career-high fifth.

Ty Dillon finished a remarkable eighth to emerge with the lead in the shaken-up XFINITY Series standings after a topsy-turvy day. He started second alongside his older brother RCR teammate Austin Dillon and led 26 laps early until he was penalized for speeding during the first round of green-flag pit stops.

The younger Dillon’s day got worse in the 74th of a scheduled 113 laps when a 10-car crash erupted as the field slowed to make the second round of green-flag stops. By the time the smoke cleared, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Reed, Kenny Wallace, Aric Almirola, John Wes Townley, Chad Boat, Brendan Gaughan, Ryan Seig and Gase were also involved. The third caution period of the day eventually brought out a red flag for massive clean-up.

The crash sent cars sliding down the early segments of pit road. One of those was Gaughan’s No. 62 Chevrolet, which hit the pit wall nearly head-on as he slowed to a stop. The impact caught two crew members for the Biagi-DenBeste Racing No. 98 team. Both were sent to the track’s infield care center; one was eventually transported to a local hospital.

Dillon was in the center of another multi-car melee that brought out the eighth yellow flag on Lap 97, when contact between his car and the No. 84 of Boat sparked another stack-up off Turn 4. The cars of Kasey Kahne, Dakoda Armstrong, Darrell Wallace Jr., Mark Thompson, Benny Gordon and Blake Koch were also collected.

Defending series champion Chase Elliott hit trouble early, causing the second caution after a flat right-front tire sent him into the Turn 2 wall on the 38th lap. Elliott had just completed a green-flag pit stop, skidding onto the entrance of pit road when he locked up his brakes of his JR Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet in an attempt to slow for the 55-mph pit road speed limit.

Elliott radioed his JRM crew to say, "absolutely killed," to describe the car’s right-side damage. After emerging from the car in the XFINITY Series garage, the 19-year-old driver said the skid contributed to the tire giving way. He eventually returned to the race, but finished 37th, 29 laps down.

"Just flat-spotted the right-front coming in, and a few laps later, there she went," said Elliott, who ranked second in the XFINITY standings before the race. "I hate it. We’ll try to get it fixed. I’d say it’s pretty well done, but maybe not. We’ll try to get some points if we can. If not, we’ve got a long ways to go."

The race was in its second lap when a near-disastrous collision at the front of the field triggered the first caution. Race leader Elliott Sadler chopped down on Roush Fenway Racing teammate Darrell Wallace Jr. on the backstretch, sending both cars sliding toward the apron.

Both drivers managed to avoid a complete spin, but the cars of Brendan Gaughan and Mike Bliss tangled behind the front two, trying to avoid a major pileup.

After the major developments, Dillon stayed atop the standings, nine points ahead of Chris Buescher, who led the next-to-last lap before fading to a sixth-place finish. Elliott slipped to third in the XFINITY standings, tied with Darrell Wallace Jr., 37 points off the top.

Ty Dillon makes brotherly sweep of Talladega front row

RELATED: Qualifying results

Austin Dillon surged to the Coors Light Pole Award in Saturday qualifying for the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Talladega Superspeedway, clinching an all-Dillon front row with his younger brother, Ty.

Austin Dillon, driving the Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet, posted a lap of 180.540 mph around the 2.66-mile track. He’ll start first when the Winn-Dixie 300, the ninth of the series’ 33 races this year, takes the green flag Saturday at 3 p.m. ET (FOX).

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Series points leader Ty Dillon clinched the second starting spot in the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet with a lap of 179.892 mph. Brian Scott landed the third starting position at 179.538 mph in the No. 2 Chevy, clinching a 1-2-3 sweep in qualifying for team owner Richard Childress.

Erik Jones, set to make just his 12th XFINITY start Saturday afternoon, was fourth-fastest in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota. He was just ahead of JGR teammate Boris Said, making his first appearance in the series since 2011, driving the No. 54 Toyota in place of the injured Kyle Busch.

The session marked the first time since NASCAR competition officials scrapped the group qualifying format on tracks where restrictor plates sap engine power. The previous format, introduced before the 2014 season, has worked well on almost every other type of track, but did not translate well to stock-car racing’s largest speedways, where gamesmanship and close racing in aerodynamic packs led to multicar crashes.

After a series of stackups in qualifying for all three national series during Daytona Speedweeks in February, NASCAR’s competition department made a rules change March 30 to revise the restrictor-plate qualifying system.

Saturday, drivers made single-car runs with no more than two cars on the track at a time in a staggered start to their qualifying laps. One portion of the 2014 qualifying change remained — the knockout stages — with the fastest 12 cars from the first round advancing to the final round to determine the order for the first six rows on the starting grid.

Dakoda Armstrong, piloting the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43, was 13th-fastest in the opening round, making him the first driver to miss the final cut. Armstrong was just ahead of defending series champ Chase Elliott, who qualified 14th in the JR Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet.

Chris Cockrum, Derrike Cope, Carlos Contreras, Bobby Gerhart and Mike Harmon failed to qualify for the 40-car field.

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Kenny Wallace: ‘The whole field can’t pit at one time’

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Differing pit strategies on a high-speed race track and indecision at a crucial moment resulted in a multicar crash sweeping up 10 cars during Saturday’s Winn Dixie 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

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The wreck began on lap 74 as the field swept off the fourth turn of the 2.66-mile track; it didn’t begin to subside until the leaders had well beyond crossed the start/finish line.

“About the lap before, they said that the leaders were going to pit,” driver Kenny Wallace told FOX Sports 1 after exiting the infield care center. “And I thought, ‘Hell, the whole field can’t pit at one time, they’re all going to wreck.’ And they did.

“The whole field can’t pit (at the same time). That’s really just the bottom line. You can’t say it’s one person’s fault; you’ve got to split that stuff up. We’ve raced here for 100 years. Just had a big old wreck, the whole field trying to pit at once.”

NASCAR officials red-flagged the race for 7 minutes, 56 seconds, in order to attend to drivers and clear the debris.

While no drivers were injured, two crew men for the No. 98 Biagi-DenBeste Racing team suffered injuries when Brendan Gaughan’s No. 62 Chevrolet was hit and sent racing down pit road. Troy Brady, stationed behind pit wall and holding the pit board, was knocked to the ground when the car struck the sign; a second crewman was knocked down as well.

According to the team, both were taken to the infield care center. One was treated and released; Brady was transported to Trinity Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama for further evaluation and released Saturday night.

Gaughan, who has two wins and 126 starts in the series, said he didn’t know if it was a case of drivers not paying attention or something else.

“When you’re pitting, get the hell out of the way and get down,” he told FOX Sports 1. “Talladega is easy to come on pit road. Just get out of the way. People don’t get out of the way. People try to come from the outside. Chaos happens. …

“We’ve been running so good. I got through Richmond with a decent finish and now we’re just sitting here picking up points again. It just pisses me off. It’s not that tough to get on pit road here, and guys for some reason can’t figure it out.”

In addition to Gaughan and Wallace, drivers involved in the wreck were Harrison RhodesJohn Wes TownleyRyan Sieg, points leader Ty DillonJoey GaseRyan ReedDaniel Suarez and Chad Boat.

Brian Scott and Austin Dillon — second and third, respectively, behind race winner Joey Logano — were out front when the melee erupted.

“I looked in the mirror after that and I was just happy … because me and Brian were sitting 1-2 and I said ‘this is going to be real good,’ ” Dillon said.

“We were talking before the race and … when they say ‘wrecking behind you,’ it’s like ‘whew!’ You just take a breath. You made it through that one at least.”

Said Scott: “There’s no greater feeling on a superspeedway when you look up in your mirror and you see smoke and you’re not any part of it.”

Get caught up quickly before the GEICO 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX)

Related: Full lineup for Talladega | See the 43 cars in the field

What: 46th Annual GEICO 500
When: Sunday, May 3, 2015
TV/Radio: FOX, MRN
Distance: 188 laps (500.08 miles)
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Pit Road Speed: 55 mph
Caution Car Speed: 70 mph

On The Front Row
1. Jeff GordonHendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet (194.793 mph)
2. Kasey KahneHendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet (193.685 mph)

Failed To Qualify
Michael McDowellLeavine Family Racing No. 95 Ford; Jeb BurtonBK Racing No. 26 Toyota

Fastest In Practice
First Practice: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford (200.780 mph) | Results
Second Practice: Greg BiffleRoush Fenway Racing No. 16 Ford (197.929 mph) | Results

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You Often Find Them Out Front
Only one driver, Kevin Harvick, has led at least one lap in eight of this year’s first nine races. The only race in which the Stewart-Haas Racing driver didn’t make it to the front? The season-opening Daytona 500, the only other restrictor-plate race run thus far this season. Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have led one or more laps in seven races this year.

A Sweep? Not Quite
Hendrick Motorsports drivers qualified in four of the top five spots with Jeff Gordon (first) and Kasey Kahne (second) on the front row, teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson fourth and fifth, respectively. HMS teams have swept the top four spots in qualifying before — most recently here in 2011.

Wood Brothers Racing driver Ryan Blaney qualified third Saturday. "Looks like we broke up the (Hendrick) party," one WBR official noted.

What’s Not To Like?
On most weekends, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers are focused on things such as getting their car to handle, the best lines to run on the track, where the best opportunities might be to make a pass. That’s not quite the case at Talladega.

"You throw it all out the window," said Joe Gibbs Racing driver Carl Edwards. "You practice, you make sure the car doesn’t drag the ground, there are no big vibrations, everything works right, you can see out your mirrors well and then you just go race.

"And really the whole race is building to the final lap and being in the right position. It’s just a different style of race; it’s completely different from anything else we do."

Is it a style of racing that Edwards likes? "Ah … like I said, it’s completely different from anything else we do," he said.

Driver Rating
Best driver rating average at Talladega based on past 20 races:
Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates No. 42 Chevrolet (95.6)
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet (90.7)
Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota (89.9)
Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet (88.3)
Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet (87.5)

Coming From the Back
Jeff Gordon, a six-time Talladega winner, holds the distinction of winning after qualifying deepest in the field, taking the win after starting 36th in 2000. Gordon, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin have also won here after qualifying 34th.

Defending GEICO 500 Champion
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota

A Case of Good News, Bad News
Richard Childress Racing driver Paul Menard will start seventh at Talladega. His car, he said, is capable of going to Victory Lane.

"Oh yeah, we definitely have a winning car for Sunday," he said, "but unfortunately at Talladega about 30 other people do, too."

Practice leader But …
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fastest in Friday’s final practice. But in single-car qualifying runs, the Roush Fenway Racing driver was only 29th overall. The poor starting spot won’t alter his gameplan, however.

"If we end up on our roof, we end up on our roof, but as long as we have a shot at the win, we’re going to give it all we’ve got," Stenhouse said. "This is our best chance to get in the Chase. This is a lot of people’s best chance to get in the Chase, and if we can do that, we’re going to take advantage of it."

Former Talladega Winners In Field
Jeff Gordon (6); Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5); Brad Keselowski (3); Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray (2); David Ragan, Tony Stewart, Michael Waltrip, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Bobby Labonte (1).

Yeley’s No. 23 Toyota to display names of fallen military members

TALLADEGA, Ala. — With the Memorial Day holiday weekend just around the corner, BK Racing officials have announced a program that will allow fans to submit the names of fallen service members to be placed on the No. 23 Toyota of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver J.J. Yeley.

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The names will appear on the car during the upcoming Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, scheduled for Sunday, May 24.
 
Cost for an individual’s name to appear is $10; according to a BK Racing release, a portion of the proceeds will go to the Hope For The Warriors nonprofit group.
 
"We are going to run a program that says ‘We salute you’ on our hood," Yeley said Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. "Hopefully we will have that car completely filled for the Coca-Cola 600.
 
"Without these gentlemen and ladies doing the things they do … sometimes I feel like they don’t really get the support that they should.
 
"Last week at Richmond, there were about 18 servicemen standing on pit road … almost invisible to people. So I went over and shook everyone’s hands and thanked them. Because I know that we wouldn’t get to do what we do on a weekly basis without the protection that they give us."
 
BK Racing fields three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams for Yeley, Matt DiBenedetto and Jeb Burton. Yeley’s car is the only one that will carry the special paint scheme at CMS.
 
DiBenedetto has a brother in the military, and said he "takes a lot of pride in that.
 
"It’s exciting," he said of the BK Racing special ‘American Salute’ program. "Ron Devine, our owner, everybody is just good down-to-earth people and they truly want to give back. It will be nice to be a part of that."
 
Hope for the Warriors provides support programs for service members, veterans and military families.

Reigning Cup champ: ‘I believe that the schedule needs to be mixed up’

Related: Brad Keselowski’s opinions on the Sprint Cup schedule

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick has some specific ideas about shaking up the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule.

In answering a reporter’s question about how NASCAR could further invigorate fan interest, Harvick suggested being more open-minded and flexible with the race venues. He emphasized that races are regularly returning to their "sold out" roots, but the champion proposed more road races and even a wild-card venue each season.

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"If you want to talk about growing the sport, I believe that some venues need one race,” Harvick said Friday before opening practice at Talladega Superspeedway. "I believe that the schedule needs to be mixed up. People like things that change, they don’t like stagnant things. In my opinion the most stagnant thing in our sport is our schedule and our venues that we go to. 

" …  And sometimes you just have to change things up to keep the excitement and enthusiasm in the sport."

Asked what he would do and where he would go, this year’s championship points leader was quick with some suggestions.

"I know the first place I would go is Iowa," Harvick said of the Rusty Wallace-designed .875-mile oval that hosts two XFINITY Series and one Camping World Truck Series stand-alone. "I think that everybody wants to see more short tracks and more venues."

Further, Harvick said, "I think road racing — we have a couple of road races on the schedule and most every team has two road race cars and spends a lot of money on their road race program.

"Adding a road race here or there would definitely be something that I would vote for just for the fact internationally road racing is very recognizable to race fans. …  You could take your pick on road courses, Montreal (Canada) does a great job, you could go to Laguna Seca (California), you could go anywhere in the world and race on a road course. There are lots of good venues."


And while he’s at it, Harvick said smiling, he has an unconventional idea of rotating at least one venue every year.

"I have always been a fan of let’s go to the banquet and roll the pills around of race tracks across the country and have a wild-card race every year,” Harvick said. "Go to the ‘Milwaukee Mile’ and really you could go to test these venues and see how the markets react. 

"And see the reaction you get from the market, even if you only have 30 or 40 thousand people in the grandstands. If you put on a good event for TV and do the things that it takes to have a unique event, that is really what people want."