Boes pulls Pocono upset

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Jason Lofing

Winner played fuel-strategy game to notch first NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze win

Allen Boes scored the first win of his NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series Powered by iRacing career on Tuesday night at Pocono Raceway, becoming the most improbable winner thus far in 2015. Boes ran near the back for most of the race and narrowly avoided two wrecks before pit strategy enabled him to stay out for the last run of the race and attempt to stretch his fuel mileage to the finish. The gamble paid off, barely, as Boes crossed under the checkers running on fumes. Danny Hansen played the same strategy and finished second despite two spins early in the race. Series point leader Kenny Humpe settled for third after once again having the dominant car, while Tyler Hill and Landon Harrison rounded — out the top five.

"Just kept hoping that I could make it and it held on." — Allen Boes

After a disappointing start to the season, Boes was relieved to finally have a good day, even if it did take a lucky break or two. "I have no clue how I made it on fuel," he conceded. "Just kept hoping that I could make it and it held on and gave up right at the finish line."

The race got underway in familiar fashion: with Humpe leading the field to the green after winning his third pole in six races. However, outside polesitter Ray Alfalla was not about to let Humpe drive away from the field and mounted a strong challenge in the early laps. On the third lap Humpe made a rare mistake off Turn Three and Alfalla took full advantage, accomplishing a feat not seen much in 2015 – passing Humpe under green.

Alfalla’s time at the front was short-lived though as Humpe had the stronger long run car and retook the lead on Lap 14 before caution on Lap 20 saw a new face make his way to the lead. Just before the yellow flag flew, Brian Schoenburg decided to short pit the moment his fuel window opened. The caution was a lucky break as at Pocono it is possible to pit and not lose a lap which cycled Schoenburg to P1 when the rest of the lead lap cars pitted under caution.

Once the green flag flew again Schoenburg’s lead only lasted a couple corners as Nick Ottinger and Humpe passed him just before another yellow came out for a wreck in Turn Two. On the next restart Humpe used the outside line to his advantage and passed Ottinger for the lead and began to distance himself from the field, only to have his margin erased by another caution on Lap 49. The yellow brought the field back to pit road and it appeared everyone would need one more stop to make it to the finish.

However, two more quick cautions produced a split strategy. The top dozen cars decided track position was more important and stayed out, while the majority of the drivers running further back chose to pit under both cautions and top off. This turned out to be the race-winning call for Boes as the last 35 laps ran without a caution flag which forced Humpe, Alfalla, and the rest of the leaders to pit under green.

Though the victory eluded him Humpe still gained ground in the championship standings. He now leads Alfalla by 35 points with Chad Laughton slipping 51 points adrift after finishing tenth. Patrick Crabtree and Chris Overland occupy fourth and fifth respectively.

The next stop for the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series is under the lights at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the longest race of the season. The 300 mile event normally sees its fair share of comers and goers as drivers fight to stay ahead in the strategy game while managing setup adjustments. In last year’s running Danny Hansen led just 19 of 200 laps on his way to his first career win. Will Humpe return to his winning ways or will Charlotte have another surprise victor? Be sure to catch all the action under the lights on iRacingLive and MRN.com!

Posted on May 6, 2015 by

The committee upholds the previously revised penalty against RCR

Today the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer, Mr. Bryan Moss, heard and considered the appeal of a P5 penalty issued on March 31, 2015 to Richard Childress (owner), Ryan Newman (driver), Lucas Lambert (crew chief), James Bender (tire technician) and Philip Surgen (race engineer) relative to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series vehicle #31 at Auto Club Speedway.

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The penalty concerns the following sections in the 2015 NASCAR rule book:

12.1: Actions detrimental to stock car racing
20.16: Wheels and tires
A. Any device, modification, or procedure to the tire or wheel, including the valve stem hardware, that is used to release pressure, beyond normal pressure adjustments, from the tire and/or inner shield, will not be permitted.
20.16.2: Tires
F. Modifications to the tires, by treatment or any other means, will not be permitted.

12.5.3.5.2: Minimum P5 Penalty Options (includes all four points below):
            A. Loss of 50 championship driver and owner points, regardless of whether the violation occurred during a Championship race or not
            B. $75,000-$125,000 fine
            C. Suspension for the next six series Championship Races, plus any non-championship races or special events which might occur during that time period, for the crew chief and any other team members as determined by NASCAR
            D. Probation through the end of the calendar year for all suspended members, or for a six-month period following the issuance of the penalty notice if that period spans across two consecutive seasons

12.5.3.5.3: P5 Level infractions detected during post-race inspection:
If the infraction is detected during post-race inspection, then the following penalty elements will be added to those listed previously in this section:
A. Loss of an additional 25 Championship driver and owner points; regardless of whether it was a Championship Race or not
B. Loss of an additional $50,000

The original penalty assessed included a $125,000 ($75,000 plus $50,000) fine, six-race suspension and probation through Dec. 31 to Lambert; six-race suspension and probation through Dec. 31 to both Bender and Surgen; and the loss of 75 (50 plus 25) championship car owner and 75 (50 plus 25) championship driver points to both Childress and Newman.

On April 16, a three-person National Motorsports Appeals Panel heard the appeal and made the following decisions:

1. The Appellants violated the Rule or Rules set forth in the Penalty Notice and it is a P5 level violation.
2. The Panel amends the original Penalty levied by NASCAR because there is no written explanation of what constitutes a post-race inspection. Therefore the Penalty elements added under Section 12.5.3.5.3. are removed and the Penalty adjusted to:
-Loss of 50 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Car Owner points for Richard Childress.
-Loss of 50 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Driver points for Ryan Newman.
-$75,000 fine. Suspended for the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Races, plus any non-Championship Races or Special Events which might occur during that time period. Placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31 for crew chief Lucas Lambert.
– Suspended for the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Races, plus any non-Championship Races or Special Events which might occur during that time period. Placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31 for Tire Technician James Bender.
-Suspended for the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Races, plus any non-Championship Races or Special Events which might occur during that time period. Placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31 for Race Engineer Philip Surgen.

Upon hearing today’s testimony, Bryan Moss, the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer, made the following decisions:
• Based on a preponderance of evidence, the Appellants violated the Rules.
• Based on a preponderance of evidence, the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer upholds the penalty as amended by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel.

The decision of the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer is final and binding on all parties.

Posted on May 6, 2015 by

NASCAR levies P3 penalty for rules violation found at Talladega

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 6, 2015) — The No. 40 team that competes in the NASCAR XFINITY Series has been penalized for a rule infraction discovered during pre-race inspection May 2 at Talladega Superspeedway

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The infraction is a P3 level penalty and violates the following Sections in the 2015 NASCAR rule book:

12.1: Actions detrimental to stock car racing

20.17.2.1: Overall vehicle weight

B. Any and all ballast added to the vehicle must be bolted inside an added ballast container, inside the main frame rails, and/or inside the front sway bar mounting tube.

As a result of this violation, crew chief Kevyn Rebolledo has been placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31. Additionally, driver/owner Derek White has been docked 15 NASCAR XFINITY Championship driver and car owner points.

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Staff Report

Sprint Cup driver has won four of five Camping World Truck starts

JR Motorsports announced Wednesday that Kasey Kahne will drive the team’s No. 00 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series next weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Kahne, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teammate to JRM co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports, is scheduled to making his first start in the Truck Series since 2012 on May 15 in the N.C. Education Lottery 200 (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1). The move was announced by Kelley Earnhardt Miller, general manager for the Mooresville, N.C.-based team.

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"I’m looking forward to running the Truck race at Charlotte for JR Motorsports," said Kahne, who has led 307 of 686 laps in his Truck Series career. "They had a fast truck in the Martinsville race and have a great program going over there. Thanks to Kelley, Dale Jr. and Gene Haas for putting this deal together. I haven’t been in a truck race in a long time, but I always enjoy racing in that series."

Kahne boasts a nearly undefeated record in Truck Series competition with four victories — twice at Darlington, and once each at Homestead-Miami and Rockingham — in five career starts. His only non-winning appearance in the Camping World Truck Series was a second-place effort at Pocono Raceway in 2010.

JR Motorsports had previously set a 10-race schedule this year for 17-year-old Cole Custer, who was announced as a returning member to the NASCAR Next youth initiative Wednesday. Custer, the youngest winner in NASCAR national series history, was the driver for JRM’s Truck Series debut in March at Martinsville Speedway.

"Getting Kasey behind the wheel of the No. 00 is going to be a true asset for the team and Cole," Earnhardt Miller said in a release provided by the team. "With Cole’s age, he’s not eligible to compete on some of the bigger tracks, so we had to limit the schedule based on that fact. This opportunity to have Kasey in the truck will help the team evaluate our program on an intermediate track. And Kasey’s stats in that series really speak to his talent."

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Staff Report

Tony Stewart takes you behind the scenes at Richmond

Have you ever wondered what goes into bringing great NASCAR races to your television set every week?

Find out the answer, as Tony Stewart joins NASCAR VP of Operations/Technical Productions Steve Stum for a tour of the broadcast compound.

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the operation and learn about the NASCAR Green initative, which gets support from Mobil 1.

Watch today’s video, which is part of NASCAR Inside Track presented by Mobil 1, then come back throughout the season for more behind-the-scenes videos from Mobil 1 and NASCAR.

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Staff Report

Agreement for No. 24 starts in 2016 for driver’s full-time Sprint Cup debut

RELATED: Elliott adds to 2015 schedule

Hendrick Motorsports announced Tuesday evening that NAPA Auto Parts will be the majority sponsor of the No. 24 team and Chase Elliott, starting next season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

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The three-year deal, announced in Las Vegas at a convention for the auto parts distributor, will place the blue and yellow NAPA colors on the No. 24 Chevrolet as primary sponsor for 24 races each year, including the season-opening Daytona 500. The company will be an associate sponsor for the remaining events.

"I’m so fortunate to work with a company like NAPA," Elliott said in a release provided by the team. "They’ve been behind me 100 percent, and I never take that support for granted. Continuing the relationship means a lot, and I know the entire team is focused on making it as successful as possible. It’s going to be a lot of fun."

Elliott, the defending NASCAR XFINITY Series champion, will be a Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate next season, taking over the Hendrick No. 24 ride from four-time premier series champion Jeff Gordon.

Elliott has already made two Sprint Cup starts this season (38th place at Martinsville, 16th at Richmond) in a six-race tune-up for next season. His 2015 slate grew Monday with the addition of the non-points-paying Sprint Showdown, a preliminary to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Zack Albert

No. 4 SHR driver to wheel throwback Budweiser scheme at Darlington

Kevin Harvick voiced his thoughts openly last weekend about the state of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, painting his vision of what a revamped season of events could look like in broad strokes. Wednesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the defending Sprint Cup champion sounded his approval for a do-over schedule change a long time in the making.

Harvick helped to unveil a throwback paint scheme for his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet, a nostalgic Budweiser look that he’ll use to defend his Southern 500 win this September at Darlington Raceway. The retro graphics are part of an industry-wide push for a classic throwback weekend at NASCAR’s original superspeedway, with opportunities for teams, drivers and fans to participate.

The celebration of tradition dovetails nicely with NASCAR’s 2015 schedule, which restored the South Carolina track to its customary Labor Day spot on the racing calendar. Though Harvick’s proposed schedule alterations included new tracks, potential additions of more road courses and other revisions, moving Darlington isn’t on his list.

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"Well, it should’ve never been moved in the beginning," Harvick said. "Now that it’s back where it belongs as the Southern 500 date, you see so many of the race tracks that have come from one race, gone to two races and then gone back to one — and there’s several more of them that need to go from two races to one and find some fresh places to show off our sport and generate some excitement with new fans in new places across the country."

Darlington Raceway president Chip Wile helped the track announce its decision to incorporate classic touches to its lone race on the Sprint Cup schedule last April, well before the move back to Labor Day was made final. With both well-received developments coming to fruition in 2015, Wile said the reverberations were felt beyond the boundaries of the Palmetto State.

"I think everybody in the sport agreed that moving the Southern 500 back to Labor Day was the right move, and in our community, it’s been such great news," Wile said. "Everybody has embraced us as a race track again and are engaged in all the different things that we’re doing."

While Harvick has opened up about the rhythms of the NASCAR schedule, he said he hasn’t closely followed the drumbeat around shortening races, a topic NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France broached late last month in a meeting with Associated Press Sports Editors. One race that will most certainly remain intact length-wise is at Darlington, where the premier series — then called "Grand National" — ran its first 500-mile event in 1950.

"I haven’t been down the shorten-races path too far," Harvick said with a smile. "I’ve been on the schedule rant, so I think as you look at the races and the length of the races, obviously, it seems to have been successful for some of the other race tracks to shorten them up a little bit. Things sometimes happen a lot slower, I’ve learned, in the business world than the way that (wife) DeLana and I ran our business. When we had a problem, we would fix it overnight. So that’s not how it works in the big business world."

Wednesday, though, was all about celebrating Stewart-Haas’ foray into the realm of a classic feel for NASCAR’s oldest 500-mile race. Team officials indicated that retro paint schemes for its remaining three Sprint Cup cars — driven by Kurt Busch, Danica Patrick and owner/driver Tony Stewart — were soon to be released.

Harvick was assisted in pulling the cover off his old-school Chevrolet by NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Rex White — who drove his own bright No. 4 Chevy, nicknamed "Gold Thunder," for much of his storied career. White, 85, came closest to winning the Southern 500 with a runner-up finish in 1960, the year of his lone premier-series championship.

"The Southern 500 had to be the No. 1 because it was the only superspeedway at that time, until Charlotte and Atlanta got built," White said. "A lot of people say, ‘well, what was your favorite superspeedway?’ There was only one and that was Darlington."

Harvick’s No. 4 included a handful of other nostalgic touches — including the first look at period-style, white-letter Goodyear tires that will be used in the Sept. 6 race and an original, winged "NASCAR International" logo on the car’s A-pillar. According to Wile, the emerging details are just a sampling of what’s coming ahead of Labor Day.

"What we’ve said to the teams is just to do something retro, do something that really celebrates something you’ve done, your team’s done that gives people that old-school feel," Wile said. "This thing continues to build. NASCAR is getting involved, the teams are getting involved, some of the official partners are getting involved, so this is something that everyone seems to be rallying around and it’s just going to be incredible."

SHOP: Harvick throwback die-cast

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Zack Albert

Camping World Truck Series driver says track can be a ‘cruel teacher’

Even after crashing out of his two previous Kansas Speedway starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Spencer Gallagher still sees the intermediate-sized track in the Midwest plains as a favorable venue.

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It’s a love-hate relationship that could understandably veer toward hate, but for Gallagher, the love side of the spectrum still wins out.

"I’ve had some ridiculous things happen to me at my career at Kansas, but I still love the place," Gallagher says. "She can be a cruel teacher, but it really is a great race track."

Gallagher and the rest of the Truck Series regulars get their chance to learn more Kansas lessons, shaking off a five-week layoff in Friday night’s Toyota Tundra 250 (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1), the fourth of 23 races this season for the tailgate tour.

Spins, wrecks, and other heartaches tell only part of the tale of Gallagher’s backstory with the 1.5-mile speedway. The 25-year-old Las Vegas native also claims Kansas as the site of his first win in the ARCA stock-car series last season, but also as the home to his truck series debut in 2013.

Though that first Truck race was marked by a dead-last starting spot and a crash-abbreviated 22nd-place finish, it still serves as a reminder for how far Gallagher has come from his partial-schedule beginnings to his full-time role with GMS Racing in the No. 23 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet this season.

"What a disaster that race was," Gallagher said, pointing out a photo on the wall of his race shop that shows him making a pit stop during his debut. "It’s funny, if you go back and look at my record at Kansas, I have had some of the dumbest stuff I’ve every had happen to me in my entire race car driving career happen at Kansas, but I still love the place. By all rights, I really shouldn’t be because it hasn’t been kind to me all that much. I still love going around it.

"It feels like a whole lifetime ago. That was a different team really with a completely different way of doing things than we are now. We’ve come so far. We’re so much better than the team we were a couple of years ago. I really catch myself thinking and feeling that a lot, that wow, all that stuff feels like a lifetime ago."

Fast forward two years later and Gallagher has reason for optimism in his first full season in a NASCAR national series. Though he notes that the results haven’t reflected the team’s performance so far, Gallagher still ranks eighth in the truck standings with plenty of racing left — just three races into a season-long contest.

Gallagher hasn’t lacked for motivation, identifying himself as "the goal-setting type." This season’s aim is a finish in the top five in the Camping World Truck Series standings, a feat he sees as achievable.

"We have made leaps-and-bounds improvements over the stuff that we were running even last year. It’s been nothing short of a revolution for us in the offseason," he says. "So I try to be a goal-oriented person. I find that helps me get things done a lot better. If you have a clear goal in mind, that keeps your mind from wandering and it keep you on focus."

The other factor that’s helped him sharpen both his focus and his driving skills has been a newfound interest in dirt-track racing, where he’s a self-described "new convert to the gospel" of slinging a late model around clay bullrings as an extracurricular diversion.

Gallagher said he’s enamored with the compact time frame of dirt-track racing, which allows him to shoehorn an event into his schedule with relative ease. After Friday night’s Truck race, he plans to compete at Friendship Speedway in Elkin, North Carolina, in an effort to fit in more seat time.

Though the Kansas high banks are paved and contain a decent amount of grip, Gallagher said he sees some parallels with dirt-track racing, comparing the two styles of running on the ragged edge. Friday night, he’ll see if the hobby translates to success in his full-time ride.

"We’re going to get to find that out at Kansas," Gallagher said. "That’s going to be the first real test I’m going to have since I started. I totally see what people mean when they say it helps a driver’s feel so much because you’re so out of control constantly in those things. You have to develop a good ‘butt feel,’ as it were to just be able to get around the race track."

In just 15 career Truck Series races, Gallagher has a best finish of third place, secured last fall in a mad scramble of a finish at Talladega Superspeedway. This season, he’s still in search of his first top-10 run, but he’s emphasized making the focus about his team’s fortunes and not his personal aspirations.

"I kind of come secondary. If I’m having a great day, wonderful, but I want to make sure GMS Racing’s having a great day," Gallagher said. "… Week in, week out, we’ve taken cars to the race track that have had great speed with them, and that’s the important bit. If we can keep that consistency going through the rest of the season, good things happen, man. Good things are all about consistency, and that’s what’s important. That’s what I like about it."

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Nascar

Crew chief Lambert, two other crew members to miss next six races

CONCORD, N.C. — National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer Bryan Moss let stand penalties against driver Ryan Newman and his Richard Childress Racing No. 31 team here Wednesday after hearing more than nine hours of testimony from officials with the Sprint Cup Series organization and the sanctioning body.

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The meeting, which got underway at 8:30 a.m. ET at the NASCAR Research and Development Center, was the second attempt by RCR officials to have penalties against Newman and team owner Richard Childress, crew chief Luke Lambert and two other members of the No. 31 team overturned.

Instead, Moss ruled "based on a preponderance of evidence, the appellants violated the rules;" and "based on a preponderance of evidence the penalties are upheld as amended by the National Motorsports Appeals panel."

As a result, the loss of 50 championship driver and owner points will stand, as will Lambert’s $75,000 fine and the six-week suspensions of Lambert, team engineer Philip Surgen and tire technician James Bender. Lambert, Surgen and Bender will remain on probation through Dec. 31 as well.

In a prepared statement read to members of the media following the decision, RCR spokesman Tim Packman stated, "We do not agree with the final ruling.

"We feel we had a compelling case; we still feel we were in the right and the facts presented today would have proved that. We appreciate the opportunity to be heard.

"We stand behind our suspended team members and look forward to their return. We will now move on, continue our goals of winning races and making the Chase for the Championship."

With Lambert now sidelined until the series returns to Daytona in July, the No. 31 team will be run by veteran crew chief Todd Parrott.

The case stemmed from penalties handed down March 31 following a tire audit conducted following the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. NASCAR officials took tires from several teams following that event, eventually sending some to an outside agency for further evaluation.

Initially, the No. 31 team was assessed P5 penalties that included the loss of 75 championship driver and owner points as well as a $125,000 fine for Lambert. However, a three-member NASCAR Appeals Panel later reduced the points penalty to 50 for Newman and Childress while reducing Lambert’s fine to $75,000. The panel let stand the six-race suspensions and probation.

As a result of Wednesday’s ruling, Newman remains 14th in driver points as the series prepares to travel to Kansas Speedway for Saturday night’s SpongeBob SquarePants 400 (FOX Sports 1, 7:30 p.m. ET).

The decision of Moss, his second ruling since taking over the role last season, is final.

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Staff Report

Team owner: ‘We stand behind our suspended team members’

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"We do not agree with the final appeal ruling. We feel we had a compelling case and still fell we were in the right and the facts presented today would have proved that. We do appreciate the opportunity to be heard.

"We stand behind our suspended team members and look forward to their return. We will now move on and continue or goals of winning races and making the Chase for the Champion."