Pick your winner for Saturday’s SpongeBob SquarePants 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Five of the six NASCAR K&N Pro Series race winners in 2015 are 21 years old or younger. The championship points leaders in both the East and West are 17 and 16, respectively. And a 17-year-old just became the highest-finishing female in the 61-year history of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.
It is fitting that as fans celebrate Jeff Gordon’s final year of competition, the ranks of NASCAR are filled with young drivers battling to one day fill that void. And on Tuesday, in a building that honors the sport’s history, NASCAR introduced some of those potential future stars of the sport.
During a ceremony at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, 12 drivers were formally announced as the newest NASCAR Next class, a group of up-and-coming talent that joins the industry program aimed at spotlighting NASCAR’s emerging stars.
“The NASCAR Next initiative spotlights the future of NASCAR, a collection of promising young talent who have shown the potential to one day reach the highest level of our sport,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR senior vice president for Industry Services. “Alumni – and current members – of the NASCAR Next program are achieving success at the national series level, and we are confident that this class will build upon that foundation of excellence for many seasons to come.”
Now in its fifth season, the career résumé of NASCAR Next alumni is impressive, highlighted by Chase Elliott’s 2014 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, Kyle Larson’s 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award, and Cole Custer’s September 2014 win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, making him the youngest winner in NASCAR national series history.
Of the 28 drivers previously selected for the program, 21 have raced in one of NASCAR’s three national series (NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), and 11 are competing full-time there in 2015.
The team was selected through an evaluation process that included input from industry executives and veteran racers. Drivers must be between the ages of 15-25, have tangible and expressed goals in eventual competition in the NASCAR Cup Series and demonstrate the potential to realize that goal.
Each driver in NASCAR Next must be actively competing in a NASCAR touring or weekly series – NASCAR K&N Pro Series East or West, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1, NASCAR Mexico Series, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series or NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitors also are eligible provided they are not slated to run a full season in their respective series.
The NASCAR Next members for 2015-16 are:
– Rico Abreu (23, Rutherford, Calif., Twitter: @Rico_Abreu) – A 2014 USAC national champion and winner of the 2015 Chili Bowl, he has two top-10 finishes in three K&N Pro Series East starts, his first season racing in stock cars.
– Nicole Behar (17, Otis Orchards, Wash., @NicoleBehar33) – Tied the series record for highest finish by a female driver in just her fifth K&N West start with her second place mark at Irwindale Event Center, and has top-10 finishes in four of six West starts.
– Kyle Benjamin (17, Easley, S.C., @kylebenjamin71) – This Roush Fenway Racing developmental driver earned his first K&N Pro Series win at Bristol Motor Speedway, and is the youngest race winner in ARCA history.
– James Bickford (17, Napa, Calif., @Bickford_James) – The 2014 K&N West Sunoco Rookie of the Year earned his first win at State Line Speedway last season and finished fifth in the season championship.
– William Byron (17, Charlotte, N.C., @WilliamByron) – With a win at Greenville Pickens Speedway and three top 10 finishes, he sits atop the K&N Pro East season championship standings.
– Cole Custer (17, Ladera Ranch, Calif., @colecuster00) – He holds the records for youngest pole award and race winner in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR’s touring series, and led late in the Truck race at Martinsville Speedway earlier this season.
– Ruben Garcia Jr. (19, Mexico City, Mex., @rubengarcia4) – The runner up in last season’s NASCAR Mexico Series season championship, he had one win and 10 top-10 finishes there while also competing in three NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
– Austin Hill (21, Winston, Ga., @_AustinHill) – Had three consecutive K&N East wins, in the final two races in 2014 and the 2015 season opener at New Smyrna Speedway where he captured his first pole award and led every lap.
– Jesse Little (18, Sherrill’s Ford, N.C., @jesselittle97) – Had a win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 2014 to finish fourth in the season standings. Won the pole at Bristol Motor Speedway in his 2015 K&N East debut.
– Dylan Lupton (21, Wilton, Calif., @LuptonDylan) – Was the 2014 K&N West championship runner up with a win at Kern County Speedway and registered 14 top-10 finishes; made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Phoenix International Raceway in March.
– John Hunter Nemechek (17, Mooresville, N.C., @JHNemechek) – Earned six top-10 finishes in 10 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts in 2014, and won the prestigious Snowball Derby Late Model race at Five Flags Speedway in December.
– Dalton Sargeant (17, Boca Raton, Fla., @DaltonSargeant) – Has a win at Kern County Raceway Park in the West this season, and four top-five finishes in five combined East and West races.
No. 88 driver reminisces on his dad, Talladega on the ‘Dan Patrick Show’
RELATED: Dan Patrick’s marriage proposal advice for Dale Jr.
The 26th-place finish during last year’s spring race at Talladega Superspeedway still haunted Dale Earnhardt Jr.
He had celebrated in Victory Lane since then – twice at Pocono Raceway and once at Martinsville. But to the Earnhardt family, Talladega had always been special.
“I was betting on the pack wrecking before we crossed the finish line and it didn’t happen and I finished 26th with a perfectly fine race car, and I just was so ashamed,” Earnhardt said on the "Dan Patrick Show" Tuesday of last year’s spring event in Alabama. “I was embarrassed and ashamed, and, you know, I learned a really, really hard lesson in that race.”
“…I can’t run conservatively for part of the race and then switch it on at the end and expect to make all the right decisions. I have to start the race with one goal and one objective and just be that way every lap.”
Aggressive racing was the answer for Dale Jr. on Sunday, as he spent most of the afternoon toward the front of the pack. The effort paid dividends, as he took the checkered flag to a roar from Junior Nation in the grandstands.
This time, his No. 88 car wasn’t in perfect condition — he went to Victory Lane with a race car spewing smoke, the result of overheating from debris on the front of his grill. With eight laps to go, Earnhardt contracted debris on his front grill, causing his car’s water temperature – and heartbeats — to skyrocket.
“Yeah, we actually saw it before the driver saw it, before Dale Jr. saw it, and we saw the debris and at that point, what are you going to do?” said Earnhardt’s spotter TJ Majors during the Dale Jr. Download on Dirty Mo Radio Tuesday. “We’re going to have to run until it blows up at that point.”
“… He said he hasn’t seen it push water yet, but I don’t know if you necessarily see it push water when you’re doing 200 miles an hour. But to me, I wasn’t going to…if he says, ‘Oh I don’t see any water in it yet’ – keep your foot in it then, just keep going.”
“Keep going” is just what Earnhardt did. And just what his father Dale Earnhardt — who earned the nickname the “Intimidator” for a reason — would have done. While Earnhardt’s driving style isn’t completely reminiscent of his hard-hitting father’s, he is learning just when he needs to play it smart – and when to turn it up.
“I feel like I’m more of a thinker,” Earnhardt said on the "Dan Patrick Show." “As far as a race car driver — I feel like I’m a smart driver. Dad had that intimidating style and nickname, and he lived up to that persona. That was him every day and how he raced on the track. He never was the kind of guy that outthought everybody and, you know, was the clever guy or the sly guy. He was just aggressive and running hard and pushing and shoving.”
But a fast race car from crew chief Greg Ives and the No. 88 shop, coupled with Earnhardt’s desire to redeem himself from last year at Talladega – boded for a more Intimidator-like Junior on Sunday. And redemption was certainly sweet for Junior on Sunday, as he took a victory lap Alan Kulwicki-style on the track, waving to a full and cheering crowd. He finally won at a track that he dominated in his early years but has been puzzled by the past decade.
“I got my confidence back now,” Earnhardt said in the post-race press conference Sunday. “I know what I need to do, and that’s run hard, not lay back, not worry about crashing out, bad points. I’d rather crash and not finish well trying than to be riding around in the back. Certainly hard lesson to learn, but I learned it.”
And to learn it at Talladega, a breeding ground for Junior Nation and a place where the Earnhardt name is revered perhaps more than any other track – was even sweeter.
“It feels like if there’s one track where we have the most supporters, it seems like Talladega has always felt that way,” Earnhardt said on the "Dan Patrick Show." “There’s just so many Earnhardt fans there. It felt that way when Dad raced there … They came there year after year and seen us either come close or be disappointing. So it was great to, you know, send them home happy, man.
“That’s what they come here to see, is us do well and win the race."
JGR driver: ‘I really think that’s the most dangerous thing’
TALLADEGA, Ala. – Carl Edwards was understandably frustrated Sunday afternoon after the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. His frustrations, however, were not just because a good day went bad in a last lap accident.
The veteran was concerned over the way his competitors navigated through his last lap accident – in some cases, seemingly failing to slow down at all while Edwards’ hobbled No. 19 ARRIS Toyota lay vulnerable on the track.
Edwards, who had been among the front-running pack of cars much of the day, was running second with 38 laps remaining. With eight laps to go, he was a very racey 10th as the intensity and urgency ramped up and finally produced a last lap accident involving a half dozen cars.
"I thought we had a great run and then Casey Mears just spun me out going into (turn) one," said Edwards, who ended up 32nd. "That was frustrating. I was driving down here and I thought we were going to have a good run and I thought we’d get a top-five and as he pushed and pushed I was just hoping he would let go.
"I tried to save it and I have to apologize to everybody for my language on the radio – I was really upset as I was saving it. There were people going by 100-plus mph and they never checked up. I really think that’s the most dangerous thing in the sport right now at these places."
Edwards said he planned to address the situation with the drivers he saw whiz by him and he seemed incredulous that the dangerous situation would even exist among the drivers at this high level in the sport.
"I was just really frustrated that I could spin out for a quarter mile over there and there are still people going by wide open," Edwards said. "Really, NASCAR does such a great job making these cars safe and these tracks safe that the biggest cause of injury is going to be one of us not checking up when there’s a guy sideways.
"I mean, I have my door facing the field and the 51 (Justin Allgaier) car I think it was went by at about 160 or 180 mph. That’s just not the way I try to race these guys when there’s a wreck."
Edwards’ Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth was among those that had to take evasive action and he was also, equally as stunned by the way the race ended and in particular the way some drove through the accident scene.
"I had to lift so I didn’t send Carl (Edwards) to the hospital," Kenseth said. "I’m just dumbfounded that NASCAR didn’t throw a caution. We were driving past wrecked cars for half a lap at 180 mph – it was a crazy ending."
For Edwards, it’s home to the Midwest this week – Kansas Speedway – to try again for that first victory with his new team. After looking so promising, Talladega ended up dropping Edwards a position in the Sprint Cup Series championship standings to 18th – two positions shy of the top-16 Chase cut-off but well inside the top-30 he needs to be should he punch that win-and-in ticket.
"Overall, great performance, but we didn’t get what we wanted," Edwards said.
"We’ll get this monkey off our backs and go win some races – Kansas is next week and I love that place."
New NASCAR Next class already making mark on track
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 5, 2015) — Five of the six NASCAR K&N Pro Series race winners in 2015 are 21 years old or younger. The championship points leaders in both the East and West are 17 and 16, respectively. And a 17-year-old just became the highest-finishing female in the 61-year history of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.
It is fitting that as fans celebrate Jeff Gordon’s final year of competition, the ranks of NASCAR are filled with young drivers battling to one day fill that void. And on Tuesday, in a building that honors the sport’s history, NASCAR introduced some of those potential future stars of the sport.
During a ceremony at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, 12 drivers were formally announced as the newest NASCAR Next class, a group of up-and-coming talent that joins the industry program aimed at spotlighting NASCAR’s emerging stars.
"The NASCAR Next initiative spotlights the future of NASCAR, a collection of promising young talent who have shown the potential to one day reach the highest level of our sport," said Jill Gregory, NASCAR senior vice president for Industry Services. "Alumni – and current members – of the NASCAR Next program are achieving success at the national series level, and we are confident that this class will build upon that foundation of excellence for many seasons to come."
Now in its fifth season, the career résumé of NASCAR Next alumni is impressive, highlighted by Chase Elliott’s 2014 NASCAR XFINITY Series championship, Kyle Larson’s 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award, and Cole Custer’s September 2014 win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, making him the youngest winner in NASCAR national series history.
Of the 28 drivers previously selected for the program, 21 have raced in one of NASCAR’s three national series (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), and 11 are competing full-time there in 2015.
The team was selected through an evaluation process that included input from industry executives and veteran racers. Drivers must be between the ages of 15-25, have tangible and expressed goals in eventual competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and demonstrate the potential to realize that goal.
Each driver in NASCAR Next must be actively competing in a NASCAR touring or weekly series – NASCAR K&N Pro Series East or West, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1, NASCAR Mexico Series, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series or NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitors also are eligible provided they are not slated to run a full season in their respective series.
The NASCAR Next members for 2015-16 are:
• Rico Abreu (23, Rutherford, Calif., Twitter: @Rico_Abreu) – A 2014 USAC national champion and winner of the 2015 Chili Bowl, he has two top-10 finishes in three K&N Pro Series East starts, his first season racing in stock cars.
• Nicole Behar (17, Otis Orchards, Wash., @NicoleBehar33) – Tied the series record for highest finish by a female driver in just her fifth K&N West start with her second place mark at Irwindale Event Center, and has top-10 finishes in four of six West starts.
• Kyle Benjamin (17, Easley, S.C., @kylebenjamin71) – This Roush Fenway Racing developmental driver earned his first K&N Pro Series win at Bristol Motor Speedway, and is the youngest race winner in ARCA history.
• James Bickford (17, Napa, Calif., @Bickford_James) – The 2014 K&N West Sunoco Rookie of the Year earned his first win at State Line Speedway last season and finished fifth in the season championship.
• William Byron (17, Charlotte, N.C., @WilliamByron) – With a win at Greenville Pickens Speedway and three top 10 finishes, he sits atop the K&N Pro East season championship standings.
• Cole Custer (17, Ladera Ranch, Calif., @colecuster00) – He holds the records for youngest pole award and race winner in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR’s touring series, and led late in the Truck race at Martinsville Speedway earlier this season.
• Ruben Garcia Jr. (19, Mexico City, Mex., @rubengarcia4) – The runner up in last season’s NASCAR Mexico Series season championship, he had one win and 10 top-10 finishes there while also competing in three NASCAR XFINITY Series races.
• Austin Hill (21, Winston, Ga., @_AustinHill) – Had three consecutive K&N East wins, in the final two races in 2014 and the 2015 season opener at New Smyrna Speedway where he captured his first pole award and led every lap.
• Jesse Little (18, Sherrill’s Ford, N.C., @jesselittle97) – Had a win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 2014 to finish fourth in the season standings. Won the pole at Bristol Motor Speedway in his 2015 K&N East debut.
• Dylan Lupton (21, Wilton, Calif., @LuptonDylan) – Was the 2014 K&N West championship runner up with a win at Kern County Speedway and registered 14 top-10 finishes; made his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut at Phoenix International Raceway in March.
• John Hunter Nemechek (17, Mooresville, N.C., @JHNemechek) – Earned six top-10 finishes in 10 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts in 2014, and won the prestigious Snowball Derby Late Model race at Five Flags Speedway in December.
• Dalton Sargeant (17, Boca Raton, Fla., @DaltonSargeant) – Has a win at Kern County Raceway Park in the West this season, and four top-five finishes in five combined East and West races.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.