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JGR driver ready to race at Dover after Charlotte setbacks

DOVER, Del. — Bouncing back from last week’s health scare, Denny Hamlin comes to Dover International Speedway healthy for Sunday’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).

The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver suffered from an intense migraine and nausea last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which were suspected to have been brought on by dehydration. On Friday, Hamlin revealed what actually could have been the cause.

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"We had an exhaust leak in our car," Hamlin said at Dover. "We found a hole in our header and exhaust system that was leaking into our car, and that didn’t help at all either. We also had run the XFINITY race the day before, and we’re not doing that this week.

"I felt like I kept up with my fluids pretty well last week, but obviously it wasn’t enough. Obviously, the conditions of the car didn’t make things very easy for me. The headache had nothing to do with the dehydration. The migraine that I suffered I felt like was from the exhaust inside the car."
 
Hamlin was taken to the infield care center when he finished last week’s Coca-Cola 600 and later popped into the media center during Carl Edwards‘ victory press conference.

"My off day was 36 holes of golf and a full tennis match," Hamlin said after the race last Sunday. "Probably overdid it a little bit. I think the dehydration led to a migraine and I just felt nauseous the last 100 laps or so."

Hamlin won the Coors Light Pole Award at the "Monster Mile" and was the second fastest (163.532 mph) during the Sprint Cup Series opening practice session on Friday. This is the third Dover pole award for the Toyota driver, who is winless in 18 Cup starts at the 1-mile track.

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Truex Jr.: ‘I don’t think it’s too early to start thinking about it’

DOVER, Del. — When a single-car team has a driver that has already earned three top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in 12 races and is currently sitting second in the driver standings behind last season’s Sprint Cup Series champion, discussions about expanding to a two-car garage begin to stir.

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"I don’t think it’s too early to start thinking about it," Martin Truex Jr. told the media on Friday at Dover International Speedway. "I think that Barney (Visser, team owner) and Joe (Garone, general manager) have been thinking about it for a while. It’s just a matter of when is the time right.

"If the situation and everything works out the way they want it to, the way they want it to look I think it would be a good thing. I really like what we have right now. It’s working well and it’s hard to think about changing something. I think it would be a good thing for the team, and certainly they have the capabilities of making it work, I believe."

But with the Furniture Row Racing driver’s success this season, it seems as if the only missing piece of the puzzle is a win. Now with the New Jersey-native being back at his home track and the location of his first Sprint Cup Series win, perhaps a victory is in the cards. This weekend’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks (May 31, 1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM) will be the third-straight points race with the same No. 78 Chevrolet that he earned ninth- and fifth-place finishes with at Kansas and Charlotte, respectively.

"I feel like last year we were off quite a bit," Truex said of his 2014 Dover finishes (sixth and seventh place). "We came here and we still ran in the top-10 both races, really had a good run here for us last year. I kind of was looking back at that and thinking about that thinking ‘OK imagine what we can do there now.’ We will just have to see."

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Jeff Gordon: ‘We have some work to do’

DOVER, Del. — Nine-time Dover winner Jimmie Johnson blazed through Friday’s opening round of practice under an overcast Delaware sky topping the speed charts. But when it came to qualifying his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet later in the sun-drenched afternoon, Johnson only advanced to the second round and will start 14th in Sunday’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).

Still, that’s the best of his Hendrick Motorsports team, which for the second consecutive race has not had any of its four cars advance to the final round of qualifying.

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"In a sense maybe we didn’t make the changes we needed to, the car had so much speed in the first practice session,” Johnson told FOX Sports 1 following the second round of qualifying on Dover International Speedway‘s "Monster Mile."

"But the track is totally different right now. … We’ll learn and get smarter from it. This car has a lot of speed and we’ve won from much farther back, so I’m really not worried at all."

With a series-best three victories already this year (including one from a 37th-place starting position), Johnson may not be overly concerned. But his winless teammate Jeff Gordon conceded earlier in the day that his team is not performing at full potential.

Gordon will start 22nd on Sunday, and his teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne will roll off 16th and 25th, respectively.

"I wouldn’t call it urgency, but there is definitely a lot of hard work being put out to get that turned around," said the four-time Cup champ Gordon, who is retiring from full-time competition at the end of the 2015 season.

"This rule package that we have this year has not suited any of us very well. I know Jimmie has the three wins, which we all scratch our heads and are amazed that he has been able to do that. We don’t feel like we have really performed, any of us, to that level, but they (No. 48 team) have done an excellent job."

Gordon is currently Chase-qualified based on his points standings, but would prefer a win and a sure ticket in — especially in his final full-time season.

His No. 24 3M Chevrolet has a pair of top-fives and three pole positions in 12 races this season, and Gordon is a five-time Dover winner — including last fall.

"I think we are very conscious of the fact that we need to improve our performance, especially on the 1.5-mile tracks,” Gordon said. "We have not lived up to our own expectations and we are working extremely hard to fix that.

"I think right now if we execute flawlessly, we have a shot at winning. Be we haven’t been doing that either.

"We have some work to do.”

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Johnson on P1: ‘We don’t agree with what has happened’

RELATED: 3 teams penalized after Charlotte | Hendrick appeals P1 penalty on No. 48
MORE: No. 48 appeal avoids repeat of 2006 pit pick

DOVER, Del. — Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson calmly and strongly reiterated his team’s position to appeal the P1 penalty NASCAR handed down to the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team this week.

An hour before posting the fastest speed in Friday’s opening practice at Dover International Speedway, Johnson spoke to reporters for the first time since the penalty was announced Wednesday and since his team filed an appeal Thursday.

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"Definitely we don’t agree with what has happened and getting the letters and that’s why the appeal has taken place," Johnson said from Dover International Speedway before opening practice.

"I look forward to the appeal process running its course, and respect it and certainly hope for a different outcome once everything has run its course."

Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet team was penalized this week after receiving multiple written warnings from NASCAR for violations found during the May 16 Sprint All-Star Race and May 24 Coca-Cola 600 weekends at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Multiple warnings warranted a P1-level infraction that would have given Johnson one of the last pit stall selections this weekend at Dover. By appealing the penalty, Johnson will still have the ability to pick a pit stall based on his qualifying position, which is important on the small and tight pit road at the 1-mile Dover concrete oval.

"I guess there is that part of it," Johnson said. "My qualifying record as of late hasn’t been so stellar, so we won’t know implication of that (appealing the penalty) until after qualifying.

"Then," he said, pausing, " the stories can run rampant then."

Johnson was fastest in practice with a speed of 163.867 mph followed by Denny Hamlin, Hendrick teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. and David Ragan.

A victory Sunday in the FedEx 400 Benefitting Autism Speaks (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM) would be Johnson’s 10th at Dover and make him one of only five drivers (Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, David Pearson, and Dale Earnhardt) in NASCAR history to score double-digit wins on a track.

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BKR driver wins second race of 2015

RELATED: Full race results | Updated series standings

DOVER, Del. — Tyler Reddick had a score to settle with Dover International Speedway, and on Friday he did just that, winning the Lucas Oil 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in his second start at the Monster Mile.

Reddick passed Erik Jones on Lap 193 of 200 and finished 1.255 seconds ahead of Daniel Suarez, who drove past third-place finisher Jones in the closing laps to take the runner-up spot.

The victory was Reddick’s second of the season in the No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford, and in the driver’s view, it atoned for last year’s eighth-place finish in which Reddick underestimated the physical toll high-speed racing at Dover can exact.

Specifically, his leg fell asleep as the race progressed.

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"After what happened to myself last year, not knowing a lot about the g-forces in the corners here — I was kind of green when it came to asphalt racing," Reddick said. "We had a top-five truck last year, and to have something like that impede our progress in what would have been our first top five… to have something like that mess up what could have been potentially a breakout day for us are the things you can’t have happen in racing.

"I really wanted to come back here and run really strong, just like I want to run strong every given race. But (last year) gave me a little bit of extra fuel for the fire, and I knew I had to run good here — and we did."

Daniel Hemric posted a career-best fourth-place NCWTS finish in his first race at Dover. Series leader Matt Crafton ran fifth but saw his margin narrowed to 11 points by Reddick, who is second after six races.

Ben Kennedy came home sixth, followed by Keystone Light Polesitter Ryan Blaney, Brandon Jones, Johnny Sauter and Tyler Young. Suarez, Jones, Kennedy and Blaney, who finished among the top seven, are all NASCAR Next alums. 

Though Jones lost one position to Reddick in the series standings, he moved closer to Crafton, now trailing the two-time defending champion by 14 points. Sauter is fourth, 40 points behind Crafton, and could be considered the only other driver within realistic striking distance of the leader at this point in the season.

Like Jones, Suarez used a two-tire call to gain track position in the late stages of the race but felt race traffic hindered him in the closing laps.

"To be honest, I feel like we had a faster truck," said Suarez, a member of the 2014 NASCAR Drive for Diversity class, who posted his best finish to date in the series. "Traffic was everything. I was talking with my crew chief Jerry Baxter through the radio during the middle of the race. I told him, ‘I don’t care about tires, I need the track position.’

"For sure the track position was very important. Erik Jones he changed just two tires in the last pit stop and he was able to almost get the win and he was driving away, but traffic was a big problem for him and for me and I feel like for everyone. Traffic was something that was a gamble, but overall I feel like we learned some good stuff for tomorrow (in the NASCAR XFINITY Series race)."

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See where your favorite driver will pit on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1)

RELATED: Starting lineup

Denny Hamlin won the Coors Light Pole Award for Sunday’s FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM) and earned the first pick of pit stall. He’ll pit his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry in the No. 1 stall at the exit of pit road.

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New Jersey native Martin Truex Jr. was second-fastest at his home track in his No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet and had the second pit pick. He chose the 10th stall, the first box with an opening in front of him.

Kyle Larson was third in qualifying and picked the 43rd stall at the entrance to pit road to put his Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates No. 42 Chevrolet. Seven stalls in front of him will be the fourth-fastest qualifier, Matt Kenseth, who will pit his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the 36th stall.

Joey Logano was the fastest Ford in fifth, and he’ll pit his No. 22 Team Penske ride in the ninth stall with an opening behind him.

Points leader and reigning champion Kevin Harvick was sixth-fastest and chose the 41st stall while Greg Biffle was seventh in qualifying and selected the 17th stall with an opening in front of him for his No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Biffle’s teammate, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., qualified ninth and selected the 29th stall for his No. 17.

All four Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas qualified in the top 10 as eighth-fastest Carl Edwards chose the 16th stall with an opening behind him and Kyle Busch was 10th-fastest and will pit in the seventh stall.

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Free for download, app created in partnership with Microsoft

The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) launched its all-new, state-of-the-art mobile app for Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix weekend. The free app, developed in partnership with Microsoft, is available for phones and tablets using iOS, Android or Windows operating systems and features expanded content and experiences for users.

The base experience includes series news, videos and team and driver bios for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and other series sanctioned by IMSA. However, by registering for the IMSA app, users can unlock free "premium" features, including customizing their app by selecting their favorite team, instantly.

Premium registrants also have the opportunity to customize their experience by selecting their favorite manufacturers (BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Mazda and Porsche) curating the news and information they receive in-app.

The app comes to life during race weekends, allowing users to stream video and IMSA Radio audio, as well as view complete live timing and scoring. Live offerings include streaming videos of races (when available), in-car cameras and qualifying, along with IMSA Radio and live timing and scoring for select sessions in each IMSA series.

With the IMSA app, you won’t miss a minute of TUDOR United Championship action during the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic presented by Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park.

Qualifying for the Prototype, GT Daytona and Prototype Challenge classes begins Friday, May 29, at 5:10 p.m. ET on IMSA.com. The 1 hour, 40 minute Chevrolet Sports Car Classic begins at 12:05 p.m. ET, shown live on FOX Sports 2, and re-aired at 2 PM ET on FOX Sports 1.

Download the IMSA mobile app here: http://www.imsa.com/all-new-mobile-app

For more information visit http://www.IMSA.com and follow IMSA at www.Facebook.com/IMSA and Twitter: @IMSA.

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See where your favorite driver will pit on Friday (5:30 p.m. ET, FS1)

The pit stall assignments are out for Friday’s Lucas Oil 200 (5:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Dover International Speedway and polesitter Ryan Blaney had his pick of the spots on pit road.

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Blaney, who is making his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start of 2015, will have the pit stall closest to exit of pit road. The driver of the No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford will also have an opening in front of him when he goes to leave pit road.

Erik Jones (starting second), Matt Crafton (starting third), Tyler Reddick (starting fourth), John Hunter Nemechek (starting sixth), Cameron Hayley (starting seventh), Cole Custer (starting 10th), Spencer Gallagher (starting 13th) and Johnny Sauter (starting 16th) will have openings in front of them on pit road.

Crafton, the two-time defending series champion, has a 16-point lead on Jones entering this race.

Brandon Jones (starting 12th) chose the pit stall closest to the pit road entrance.

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Joe Gibbs Racing driver edges Truex in Monster Mile qualifying

RELATED: Full qualifying results

Denny Hamlin rolled to the Coors Light Pole Award in Friday afternoon’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying at Dover International Speedway.

Hamlin drove the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota to a fast lap of 160.121 mph on the 1-mile concrete oval. He’ll start first in Sunday’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).

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The pole position was Hamlin’s first of the season, third at the Monster Mile and 21st of his Sprint Cup career. The pole-winning lap was significantly slower than the track qualifying record of 164.444 mph set by Brad Keselowski in May.

"It’s great," said Hamlin, who also won the Dover pole in September 2012 and May 2013. "Obviously our car’s shown speed all day long, which is something that we haven’t had lately, so we’re kind of building and getting a little bit better and starting to figure out our setups and whatnot. So we’re getting better and obviously this kind of shows it."

Martin Truex Jr., second in the Sprint Cup standings, will share Sunday’s front row in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Chevrolet after notching the second-fastest lap at 159.723 mph. Kyle Larson, Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano completed the top five.

Defending Sprint Cup champion and current points leader Kevin Harvick qualified sixth-fastest in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet. Kyle Busch, making just his second start of the season in points-paying races since returning from serious leg injuries in a February crash at Daytona, earned the 10th starting spot in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota.

Some big names were left out of later qualifying rounds at the two elimination stages in the three-round format. Jimmie Johnson, a nine-time Dover winner in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet, was among them. After leading opening Sprint Cup practice earlier in the day, he posted just the 14th-fastest lap in Round 2, failing to make the final cut to determine the top 12 starters.

"I think, in a sense, we maybe didn’t make the changes we need to or thought we needed to change, because the car had so much speed in that first practice session, but it’s a totally different race track," Johnson said. "And we tried to plan ahead and made some small changes, but it wasn’t enough."

Kurt Busch was also in that unfortunate group, making just the 13th-best lap to miss the cut for the final, five-minute round.

Keselowski was the final driver to make the cut after Round 1, edging Kasey Kahne by .005 seconds for the 24th spot. The Team Penske driver ended up qualifying 19th. Three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart also just missed the cut, posting the 26th-fastest lap.

Jeff Green and Travis Kvapil failed to qualify for the 43-car field.

Sprint Cup drivers will have their final chance to tune up for Sunday’s 400-miler in a pair of practice sessions Saturday (10-10:55 a.m. ET and 1-1:55 p.m. ET, FS1).

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BKR driver sets track record, will share front row with Erik Jones

RELATED: Qualifying results

Ryan Blaney landed the Keystone Light Pole Award in Friday afternoon qualifying for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Dover International Speedway.

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Blaney, driving the Brad Keselowski Racing No. 29 Ford, clocked a track-record lap of 158.465 mph to secure the No. 1 starting spot in Friday’s Lucas Oil 200 (5:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM). The pole position was the fifth of his truck series career, coming in his first appearance in the series in 2015.

Erik Jones, a Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate, just missed out on his fourth career pole in the series, claiming the second starting spot after a lap of 157.985 mph in the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Toyota.

Series points leader and two-time defending champion Matt Crafton was fastest in the opening 20-minute round of qualifying, but settled for the third starting spot in the ThorSport Racing No. 88 Toyota.

Tyler Reddick was fourth-fastest in another Keselowski-owned truck, with rookie Daniel Suarez — a KBM teammate to Jones — completing the top five.

NASCAR Next driver Jesse Little, 18, qualified ninth for his national series debut.

Brandon Jones caused the only stoppage in the three-round knockout style qualifying format, looping his GMS Racing No. 33 Chevrolet in the final minute of Round 3. Jones’ prolonged slide through Turn 2 ended with slight contact with the truck’s nose against the inside wall. Jones settled for the 12th starting spot after failing to complete a lap in the five-minute round.