Posted on by Zack Albert

Joe Gibbs Racing driver meets with media, says he’ll ‘be back’

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RELATED: Timeline of Busch’s injury, recovery | What has Busch been up to?

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Kyle Busch walked, gingerly, to a director’s chair Wednesday afternoon in making his first media appearance since his severe crash nearly two months ago at Daytona International Raceway, a step slower than he used to be, but counting himself fortunate to be walking at all.
 
"I’m thankful that it wasn’t worse than what it was," Busch said more than once during his 55-minute session, grateful to be in improving health.
 
Busch, speaking at the headquarters of his Joe Gibbs Racing team, held his first news conference since suffering multiple leg fractures in a crash Feb. 21 at Daytona International Speedway in the season-opening race for the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Despite his frustration at being out of action and lacking a firm timetable for a return to the seat of his No. 18 Toyota, Busch was in lifted spirits as he continues to make strides in his rehabilitation.
 
"First and foremost, I’ve got to please my doctors, and they say my recovery is going faster than they expected," Busch said. "They won’t release me a timetable. It’s week by week and what I can show them I can do."

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Before addressing questions, the 29-year-old driver — who has since undergone two surgeries and extensive physical therapy since the accident — conducted a nearly frame-by-frame analysis of his frightening wreck, talking openly and in painstaking detail about the circumstances that have sidelined one of stock-car racing’s biggest stars.
 
Busch, winner of 141 NASCAR national series races, was ruled out indefinitely after suffering a compound fracture of his lower right leg and a broken left foot in a wild, multicar crash in the late stages of the XFINITY Series opener at Daytona. His JGR No. 54 Toyota veered off course onto the infield grass and into a concrete retaining wall — located on the track’s interior, lining the short chute from the tri-oval area to Turn 1 — at nearly a head-on angle.
 
In an eerie coincidence that he said might seem "absolutely bona fide crazy," Busch said he looked to his left during the warm-up laps, noticing the first time the same area that he would hit 111 laps later.
 
"I saw the tire wall, and I was like, ‘wow, I never really noticed it over there,’ " Busch recalled. "Then I saw the wall that was unprotected and I’m like, ‘Man, if somebody hits that, that’s really going to hurt.’ I mean, that happened — I’m not crazy."

RELATED: Busch breaks down Daytona wreck | See video of the crash at Daytona
 
Channeling his inner telestrator in analyzing film of the crash, the chilling specifics emerged. Busch said his car left the course at a speed of 176 mph, hitting the concrete barrier at 90 mph, unleashing a force of 90 Gs on impact — "a whale of a hit, the hardest I’ve ever had in NASCAR," he said. With only a split second to react, Busch said he positioned his legs in a way to hopefully minimize the potential injury, but that after the heavy hit, he knew immediately that his leg was broken.
 
Busch was extracted from the wreck and rushed to nearby Halifax Health Medical Center, where doctors performed surgery on his right leg. After surgery to repair his left foot fracture four days later in a Charlotte-area hospital, Busch went home Feb. 27.
 
Busch’s crash and absence have had several repercussions on the 2015 season, both in the realm of safety and on the Sprint Cup driver roster. After Busch’s hit into a concrete wall unprotected by the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barrier system, Daytona track president Joie Chitwood III vowed to ring his 2.5-mile speedway with energy-absorbing walls, no matter the cost.
 
Daytona officials added tire-pack barriers to the crash area overnight, in time for the season-opening Daytona 500 for the Sprint Cup Series. Several other tracks on the NASCAR circuit have followed suit in the weeks since the wreck, covering unprotected walls with either tire packs or the SAFER system — measures that Busch said left him "encouraged."

Busch’s departure also triggered a domino effect of interim drivers across the NASCAR garage. Two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton was Busch’s late-hour replacement in the No. 18 Toyota for the Daytona 500. David Ragan took temporary leave of his regular ride at Front Row Motorsports in the days that followed, inheriting driving duties for the No. 18 since the series’ second race of the season.

HERMAN UNPLUGGED: Busch should sit out 2015
 
Busch’s appearance comes at a time of major life change, as he and his wife, Samantha, await the birth of their first child in mid-May. The couple announced the impending addition to their family last October, then indicated in late November that they were expecting a boy.
 
While Busch said he’s been frustrated at times being outside the race car, the positive flip side has been spending more time at home.
 
"It’s discouraging. It stinks to be sitting on the sideline, but to be honest with you, the silver lining is to be home, to be with Samantha and to prep for our son coming. I think that’s been the most fun."

Busch said there was never a doubt that he would try to return to the driver’s seat, though at the moment of crash, the thought crossed his mind that the extent of his injury could be career-ending. His left foot remains in a boot, but he demonstrated some of his renewed range of motion in his right ankle, flexing much in the way he’d depress the accelerator behind the wheel.
 
Busch said his most recent X-ray of his right leg two weeks ago still showed a break, but that healing was progressing. He said his most recent scan of his left foot was even more positive. He said he has a third surgery planned in December to remove plates and screws from his left foot.
 
Along the way, Busch said he’s counted the strides he’s made in rehabilitation as "moral victories." While his timetable for working toward medical clearance is on a day-to-day basis, Busch said his doctors have opted for a week-by-week pace in pinpointing his comeback.
 
"You can’t allow yourself to overspeed your return, just based off the fact of knowing that I’ve got a long career ahead of me, and there’s no sense in trying to rush it," Busch said. "But we’ll be smart about it when we’re able to come back."

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Posted on by Nascar

2014 Kentucky winner Brad Keselowski also participates in test session

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SPARTA, Ky. – Brad Keselowski’s last visit to Kentucky Speedway ended with a quick trip to the infield care center, an unusual occurrence for a race winner.
 
On Wednesday, the Team Penske driver was back at the 1.5-mile track, joining nine other NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers for an open test session.

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"It was an eventful three days," Keselowski, 31, said of last year’s race weekend. "I ran all three races …a great three races for us. It was kind of funny, the Truck race I think was my worst finish, then the XFINITY race I ran second and then won the Cup race. I guess we saved the best for last."
 
He finished fifth in the Camping World Truck Series event in one of only three starts for the series’ team owner/driver in ’14.
 
It was following the Sprint Cup win that Keselowski sliced open his hand while trying to open a champagne bottle in Winner’s Circle, thus the trip to the care center.
 
"It was a heck of a weekend and I’ll never look at a champagne bottle the same again," he said. "Lesson learned."
 
Keselowski was testing with the No. 22 team of teammate Joey Logano instead of his own No. 2 squad at Kentucky. Logano was originally scheduled to participate but was unable to attend.
 
Also taking part in the open test were Greg Biffle (Roush Fenway Racing), Ryan Newman (Richard Childress Racing), Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates), Brett Moffitt (Michael Waltrip Racing), Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing), Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Hendrick Motorsports), Danica Patrick (Stewart-Haas Racing) and Sam Hornish Jr. (Richard Petty Motorsports).
 
Biffle, Newman, McMurray and Moffitt also took part in a two-day Goodyear tire test at the track Monday and Tuesday.
 
Keselowski, the 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion, is a two-time winner at Kentucky in the Cup Series and has a pair of XFINITY Series wins here as well.
 
"I like the fact that it’s really rough in the corners," he said. "A track that’s very rough in the corners requires something different out of the driver, it requires something a little different out of the setup of the car as well. And that seems to really fit my style."
 
Keselowski’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed by Earnhardt Jr., who said crew chief Greg Ives arrived at the track with a laundry list of changes to try on the No. 88 Chevrolet.
 
"I think we can get better here," he said. "We definitely all got spanked by Keselowski (last year) so we look forward to the opportunity to get some laps here and trying to find out how we can get faster. We thought we had a top 10 car here last year but definitely need to be a little bit quicker."
 
To help try and accomplish that, Earnhardt said he needs to take an active part in the process.
 
"I think I can help, if I mentally plug in to what they’re doing and get real serious about the test, I need to do whatever I can to give Greg the opportunity to make the test productive," he said. "I don’t really learn anything myself; we’ve got so many laps here, we’ve come here and tested for years and years before they ever had a (Cup) race here.
 
"I need to be driving the car instead of someone else, Greg needs that good feedback and I need to be as productive as I can so I have to plug in mentally and try to give him the information he’s looking for after every run. He’s making a lot of small … changes on the car and he wants that feedback on what that’s doing. It’s a little more than just going out there and making laps and letting them figure it out with the data on the computers. He wants that personal feedback."
 
Wednesday’s test was the fourth for teams in 2015 under the NASCAR National Series Unified Test Schedule. The sanctioning body banned private testing after the 2014 season in an effort to help teams control costs.
 
Open tests have been held at Atlanta, Charlotte and Richmond. The next scheduled test is set for April 29 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
 
In the day’s only mishap, Moffitt sustained damage to his No. 55 Toyota during the morning session after contact with the wall, requiring the team to bring out a backup entry for the remainder of the day.

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2012 champ says real deterrent would be continuous checking

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SPARTA, Ky. – After conducting tire audits following three consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, officials did not take any tires from teams following last weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.
 
With an appeal scheduled Thursday for Richard Childress Racing, the only team penalized thus far for illegally manipulating air pressures, has NASCAR’s message been sent and received?

RELATED: RCR, No. 31 team await penalty hearing

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"It’s not fair for me to speak on NASCAR and how they feel," 2012 Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski said Thursday during a break in testing at Kentucky Speedway.
 
"I do know that they’ve sent a very strong message, not just with the penalties they’ve levied to the 31 team but with some of the threats they gave competitors at the end of last year and the start of this year to make sure they didn’t go down this road."
 
The real deterrent, he said, would be the continuous checking of an item, no different than the scheduled technical inspections that take place during the course of each race weekend.
 
"I think it really takes a three-pronged attack … and taking tires is part of that," he said. "I don’t think it would hurt anyone’s feelings to see NASCAR just make it a regular habit to check them all the time and we could be assured that there was a level playing field which is so important for our sport."
 
Officials took tires from the teams of Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing) and Joey Logano (Team Penske) following this year’s Phoenix race; a week later at Auto Club Speedway, tires were taken back to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, from the teams of Harvick, teammate Kurt Busch, RCR’s Newman and teammate Paul Menard.
 
At Martinsville, tires were taken from the teams of Logano, AJ Allmendinger (JTG Daugherty Racing), Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing).
 
Only those taken at Auto Club were sent to an outside party for further evaluation. NASCAR has not said which tires or how many were included.
 
Such tire audits are not commonplace in the sport, but continued concerns that some teams were illegally tampering with air pressures eventually pushed officials to take action.
 
In spite of NASCAR’s rigorous inspection process, and the threat of fines and penalties, Keselowski said there is always a concern among competitors that something is getting by officials.
 
"Oh yeah, it’s natural," he said.
 
"The way the inspection process works is very similar to how the police work, you try to be a deterrent because you know you can’t catch everything. If you’re speeding down the highway, probably nine times out of 10 you’re going to get away with it. … But it’s that 10th time and the penalty for it that is so severe that it makes you not want to get too crazy the other nine times.
 
"It’s important to have that constant threat to keep everyone in line. In this case, there’s a lot of ‘excessive speeding’ going down this highway and I don’t think it would hurt at all to continue the process in showing the face that this is something that’s going to be taken very seriously."

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Posted on by Nascar

The team was penalized following a tire audit of Auto Club 400 tires

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Related: No. 33 penalty reduced to P2 | Where the No. 31 penalty ranks

Richard Childress Racing’s appeal of penalties levied against its No. 31 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team will be heard Thursday by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel at the sanctioning body’s Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

RCR officials are contesting penalties handed down following an audit of tires used by the team during this year’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

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Concern over teams modifying tires, or hardware, to allow air pressure to remain at a more consistent level during a race run, has grown since the closing races of the 2014 season. NASCAR officials have not addressed the specific findings following the investigation of the No. 31 team’s tires, only the resulting penalties.

Driver Ryan Newman and car owner Richard Childress were penalized with the loss of 75 driver and owner points, respectively; crew chief Luke Lambert was fined $125,000, suspended for six Sprint Cup Series points races (as well as any non-points events contested during that time) and placed on probation through Dec. 31; team tire technician James Bender and team engineer Philip Surgen were also suspended for six Sprint Cup Series points races (as well as any non-points events contested during that time) and placed on probation through Dec. 31.

As a result, Newman dropped from sixth to 26th in the points standings. Because the team has appealed the penalties, the suspensions of Lambert, Bender and Surgen have been deferred until the hearing; however, the loss of points for Newman and the team remain in place.

NASCAR officials have conducted tire audits this year following races at Las Vegas, Phoenix, Auto Club and Martinsville, taking tires from several teams for further evaluation at the R&D center. At least some of those taken from the Auto Club race were also sent to an outside group for examination.

RELATED: Meet the National Motorsports Appeals Panel

Following the announcement of the penalties, RCR president Torrey Galida said the organization “has been one of the most outspoken opponents against ‘tire bleeding’ since the rumors began to surface last season.”

Last week, Childress issued a statement saying his group is “confident we have a very compelling case to present to the appeals panel.

“We strongly believe in the intent of the rules and the integrity of our own teams while following those same rules.”

On March 31, NASCAR penalized the team for violating the following sections of the 2015 NASCAR rulebook:

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.

Because of the nature of the infractions, the violations are categorized as P5 level, among the most serious in the sport.

A three-member panel will hear the case; should RCR lose its appeal, it has the option of requesting a final appeal before National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer Bryan Moss.

The hearing is expected to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 15.

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Posted on by Holly Cain

NASCAR rallies around FOX broadcaster as he continues cancer fight

RELATED: Drivers wish Byrnes happy birthday on social media

It’s Steve Byrnes’ birthday today.

It hasn’t always been a day the popular, longtime FOX NASCAR broadcaster would get too carried away with. But every birthday becomes a big deal when you’re battling cancer.

"I look at it this way, I celebrate every day as a birthday,” said Byrnes, who turns 56.

"Some people say, ‘Oh no, another year older.’ To me, that’s a privilege, an absolute privilege.”

For many cancer patients, time kind of naturally ends up being marked in 21-day spans between chemotherapy treatments or hours hooked up to the chemo infusion or the minutes of daily radiation therapy.

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More preferably it’s measured in the number of days you feel like yourself between the treatments, how many minutes your child’s hug can linger or the seconds it takes to read a friend’s text just when you needed a little uplift most.

I know this because I am in the middle of treatment for advanced stage breast cancer. And Steve was one of the very first people to reach out to me and offer his shoulder when I was diagnosed last summer.

He was in remission from head-and-neck cancer and wise to all the medical lingo, compassionate about the emotions I would experience and empathetic about the way my life was going to change.

His son Bryson and my two children are of similar age, all three navigating that tricky-enough stretch of middle school.

Steve’s message from the beginning was to be present and live in the moment — something everyone could stand a dose of whether you’re sick or not. That means stopping to take in an especially beautiful sunset, it means attending every lacrosse or soccer game you can and welcoming any interruptions to daily life that may result in a hug or laugh.

It means choosing to be positive in all aspects of life.

And while Steve was sending texts or calling to encourage and comfort me during the depths of my harsh chemo, surgeries and setbacks during the past eight months, his cancer returned. And has spread.

The only thing more difficult than telling your 10-year old son that you have cancer, is two years later telling that 12-year-old it’s back.

So it’s our turn to be there for Steve. And his wife Karen. And their 12-year old son Bryson, whose own spirit is inspiring!

This birthday, all of NASCAR is going big for Steve and his precious family.

Bristol Motor Speedway and Food City have renamed Sunday’s Sprint Cup race the "Food City 500 In Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up to Cancer."

"It’s more than overwhelming,” Steve said when I congratulated him on the news.

He laughed recalling when he initially found out about the race name, "My first reaction was there must be somebody else named Steve Byrnes who spells it with a ‘y.’ "

And when he told his son?

"Bryson immediately said, ‘What are you talking about?’

"I said, they put my name as part of the name of the race and he said, ‘Are you sure this is right?’

"I said, ‘Yes son, and I have a logo to prove it.’ "

He sure does, and that’s just the beginning. FOX Sports Supports is the charitable arm of the network, whose own employees selected the SU2C (Stand Up to Cancer) organization along with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America as a focus for resources and attention. And this was a perfect opportunity to honor their own and bring awareness to the cause.

As it does too often everywhere, cancer has impacted the NASCAR community. In addition to Byrnes and myself, several others are dealing with cancer right now including driver Martin Truex Jr.’s longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex (ovarian cancer) and popular driver Shawna Robinson (breast cancer).

So when FOX approached Speedway Motorsports Inc. CEO Marcus Smith with the idea, it was immediately well-received by the race track as well as longtime sponsor Food City.

"We are honored to play a role in the entire thing,” Bristol Motor Speedway General Manager Jerry Caldwell said. "It’s fun to be able to honor a guy like Steve and do something that will bring all the fans together and the sport together.

"It’s one of the many reasons I love NASCAR. What other sport would you be able to do something like this? For our sport to be able to name one of our events and rally around one of our own through the event is humbling to be a part of."

NASCAR was also right on board.

"I think you see the outpouring of emotion around Steve Byrnes, and that’s a testament to what kind of person he is not only in the industry, a true friend of the industry, but a true family guy, he has the respect of all involved in the industry,” NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said.

"So when you see something like that take place at Bristol, it’s something I’m proud of in our sport that everybody rallies behind not just Steve Byrnes, anyone in need. We’re all certainly thinking about him and now it’s our job to put on the greatest racing possible this weekend as we continue to think about him and his family."

For Byrnes it has been a humbling and moving gesture. And yet it is really a reflection of what he means and how one person can inspire and remind us of such a powerful message: to live in the now and appreciate every day like it’s your birthday.

"So many fans reach out to me with personal stories about cancer,” Byrnes said. "Just today, I got one from a three-time head-and-neck survivor, telling me, ‘You can do it.’ So many people have shared heart-warming stories or have questions for me because they are at the beginning of their journey. I read every one.

"It just reminds you how connected we can be with each other if we want to."

"I’ve been in NASCAR 30 years,” he continued. "I’ve always wanted drivers to respect me instead of liking me, and it’s just turned out I’ve got a lot of good relationships over the years.

"You do your job and go home and do it again the next week, but you never really know what kind of impact you have on people. I got a text message from (NASCAR Vice Chairman) Mike Helton the other day. Certainly that means the world. It’s just pleasing to know I guess I’ve done my job right, and it makes me happy they care enough about me to reach out when they have such busy lives."

So many do care.

I will end this column as I often do my texts with Byrnes.

There have been many times when our chemo treatments fall on the same day, and we text one another to help the time pass and make things less uncomfortable.

One conversation never fails to make us laugh despite our reality at the moment.

It involves the live FOX television interview Steve did at Fontana, California, two years ago with Tony Stewart after the champ’s pit road confrontation with Joey Logano.

Walking alongside Stewart in the garage moments after the incident, Steve asks for details and reaction. And Stewart — still obviously angry — drops a couple curse words and tells his side of the story.

When he’s done, Steve politely turns and says, "Thanks Tony." And Stewart, as if remembering his manners, pauses in the heat of his frustration and says to Steve, "Thank YOU."

Remembering the exchange has buoyed spirits when they needed it most.

So Steve, "Thank YOU."

And a very Happy Birthday.

Editor’s note: On the morning of his birthday, Steve Byrnes tweeted that he was returning to intensive care with respiratory issues.

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Posted on by Staff Report

No. 88 team is stronger and driver wants to show it

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. is pleased with a third-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway but is embarrassed about sitting seventh in the points standings heading into Bristol Motor Speedway.

Junior complimented his team and the Hendrick Motorsports cars on the "Dale Jr. Download" on Dirty Mo Radio, saying the No. 88 should be in the top three in the driver points standings.

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"Our team’s a little stronger than we were last year, and I want to be able to show it," Earnhardt said on this week’s radio show.

Earnhardt says he likes Bristol, which is up next on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series calendar and offers the No. 88 team an opportunity to show its improvement. He posted finishes of 24th in the spring race there last season and 39th in August. But his average finish at Bristol is 12.9 in 30 starts.

Earnhardt says having consistently good cars allows him to be aggressive — something his crew chiefs have asked of him in the past.

"When your car’s fast, you can be as aggressive as you want to. Get out of my way, I’m comin’ through," Earnhardt said. "You can’t be aggressive in a car that’s going backwards."

Several teams had issues with loose lug nuts at Texas, including Earnhardt, Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne and Richard Childress Racing‘s Ryan Newman.

The 2015 season is the first in which officials are not monitoring whether pit crews get all five lug nuts on the wheels.

Related: Debate over lug nuts continues

"We had issues on pit road with some lug nuts," Earnhardt said. "But the boys were honest about it and we got it fixed. That’s the way you gotta be. I’m proud of them boys for the way they handled it."

Earnhardt said he enjoyed the Duck Commander 500 and worked his track bar all night on the roller-coaster surface at Texas Motor Speedway.

"It traveled a mile, one inch at a time," Earnhardt said, adding he enjoys running 500 miles at Texas.

With consistently fast cars and confidence coming out of strong practices, he hopes to build on the top-five finish at Texas and climb the points standings.

"Bristol’s coming up, lookin’ forward to it," Earnhardt said, closing out this week’s ‘Download.’

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Estes Express Lines to be primary sponsor on No. 26 Toyota at Richmond

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Jeb Burton will have a familiar sponsor on his No. 26 Toyota at Richmond International Raceway for the Toyota Owners 400 (Saturday, April 25, 7 p.m. ET on FOX), BK Racing announced on Tuesday.

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Estes Express Lines has partnered with BK Racing starting with the Richmond race. The company was a primary sponsor for most of Burton’s 2014 campaign in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with ThorSport Racing.

"I am excited to have Estes Express Lines back on board with me for the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season," Burton said in a release provided by the team. "Estes is a great company and has been a great supporter of my racing. I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of my No. 26 Estes Express Lines Toyota and race under the light at Richmond. Who doesn’t love some short track racing?"

Burton, 22, is a Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender in the Sprint Cup Series. He has made five starts this season with a 29th-place result at Martinsville Speedway being his best finish.

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Sponsor and track work together for fifth year on initiative

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FedEx Corp., Autism Speaks and Dover International Speedway announced Tuesday that they will work together for the fifth consecutive year to raise awareness for an important cause with the FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks on May 31 (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1).

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"We couldn’t be happier to have FedEx back on board as title sponsor for our spring NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event," Michael Tatoian, president and CEO of Dover International Speedway, said in a track release. "Their involvement helps elevate the weekend to the next level, and their support of Autism Speaks should not go unnoticed. They truly are engaged in this effort and an exemplary corporate citizen."

FedEx also sponsors Denny Hamlin‘s No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, and his Camry has sported a special paint scheme for the race in years past.

Autism Speaks Day at the Races will return for the fourth year, providing the opportunity for those on the autism spectrum and their families to attend a NASCAR race in a safe environment.

In addition to pre-race appearances by NASCAR drivers and personalities and educational events, a reserved area near the air-conditioned seats include a quiet zone, with muted lighting and sound, to allow attendees to take breaks.

All three NASCAR touring series will take the track that weekend, and several vehicles will feature Autism Speaks decals. It’s the ninth consecutive year that the world’s leading autism science and advocacy organization has partnered with the track to raise funds and awareness.

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Driver of the No. 3 RCR Chevrolet holds points lead going into Bristol

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Ty Dillon is the focus of a new video produced by XFINITY to showcase rising stars in the series that boasts "Names are made here." After featuring Darrell Wallace Jr. last month, XFINITY will feature reigning series champ Chase Elliott next. Check out the Dillon video below.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

"We created these videos as a part of our campaign to promote the NASCAR XFINITY Series and the quest of the young stars within the series to be the next NASCAR legend," Matt Lederer, senior director for sports marketing for Comcast, parent company of XFINITY, said.

"It is important for us to promote the younger drivers, as their talent and desire is truly what makes the XFINITY Series appealing to fans. Comcast is excited and proud to support this unique series where drivers like Ty Dillon, Chase Elliott, Darrell Wallace, Jr. can make their names and compete alongside the top talent in the sport today."

Entering the Drive to Stop Diabetes 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway (Saturday, 1:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1), Dillon holds the series points lead by a margin of two over Roush Fenway Racing‘s Chris Buescher.

On the season so far, Dillon has two top-five finishes and four top-10 finishes through six events.

In his first full-time season in the series in 2014, Dillon finished fifth in the standings with seven top-five finishes and 24 top-10s in 33 races. He also earned his first career win in the series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Dillon’s brother, Austin, won the 2013 title in his second full-time season.

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