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First major Chinese firm in NASCAR to sponsor Hamlin’s ride, Charlotte race

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HAMPTON, Ga. — Hisense, one of the world’s leading consumer electronics manufacturers, announced sponsorship agreements with Joe Gibbs Racing and Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday, adding to a relationship currently in place with Atlanta Motor Speedway.

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Hisense is the entitlement sponsor for today’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race, the Hisense 250, at AMS.
 
The Chinese company will serve as the primary sponsor for JGR driver Denny Hamlin in two XFINITY events later this year at Richmond International Raceway (April 24) and Bristol Motor Speedway (Aug. 21).
 
It will also be the title sponsor for the upcoming XFINITY race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Hisense 300, slated for May 23.
 
"I don’t venture into the XFINITY Series too often so when I do it’s usually a situation like this, where you want to represent a great company that’s coming into NASCAR," Hamlin said.
 
"I’m excited about it. Obviously with new rules in (the Sprint) Cup Series, those cars are going to drive a lot more like the XFINITY cars, and I believe driving this Hisense car for a couple of races will reap benefits for us in the long run."
 
Hamlin, a full-time competitor for JGR in Sprint Cup, has 11 career wins through 142 career starts in XFINITY competition.
 
Marcus Smith, president and general manager of CMS, said the involvement of Hisense marked an exciting time for JGR, Speedway Motorsports Inc. (which owns CMS as well as seven other venues that host NASCAR-sanctioned events) and NASCAR.
 
"I didn’t realize this … but Hisense is the first major Chinese company to actually be a sponsor in NASCAR," Smith said. "It’s something I think we can all be proud of … this is a huge step and one of the first I’m sure."
 
The NASCAR affiliation isn’t the first in the sports world for Hisense. The company has also been involved in pro tennis, Formula One, rugby and soccer, according to Jerry Liu, general manager for Hisense USA.
 
"We feel now is the right time to do something on the marketing side … to be involved in NASCAR," Liu said. "(There are) a lot of similarities — the spirit of the game, speed of the car and the passion of the driver, everybody trying to challenge themselves to achieve a new level.
 
"That’s a perfect match for Hisense and NASCAR."

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Team owner fielded entries in several NASCAR national series

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – "NASCAR extends its sincere condolences to the family and friends of Thee Dixon, a passionate team owner whose love for racing fueled his unmatched positive spirit. Dixon was one of NASCAR’s early African-American team owners, fielding teams in NASCAR’s Sportsman Series, Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from the late 1980s through the turn of the century. He was universally admired by all who knew him, a friendly presence on pit road and in garages throughout the series, and his dedication to the sport will forever serve as an example for the NASCAR family."

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Reddick: ‘I (have) more confidence in our mile-and-a-half package’

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HAMPTON, Ga. — An understated piece of history happened last weekend at Daytona International Speedway when Ford Racing swept all three NASCAR national series races to open the NASCAR season, fresh off a victory in the prestigious Rolex 24 a few weeks prior.

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For the NASCAR national series portion, it all started with 19-year-old Tyler Reddick.

The Brad Keselowski Racing driver wasted no time picking up his first win of the year — first of his career, too — when he took the checkered flag in the Camping World Truck Series season-opening NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway last Friday. The victory continued a dominant Daytona showing for Ford, which, following the Jamie McMurray/Kyle Larson-fueled Rolex win, saw a one-two Roush Fenway Racing finish for Ryan Reed (his first, too) and Chris Buescher in the XFINITY Series opener Alert Today Florida 300 and Joey Logano’s first Daytona 500 win on Sunday.

"It was really awesome for Ford to be able to sweep at Daytona," Reddick said Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. "I believe it’s the first time a manufacturer has been able to … and it was nice to be able to break the Toyota streak at Daytona for the Fords, and was able to get them a win in the Truck Series, which is great. 

"It was an ideal weekend for Ford and I was just really happy to just be a part of that and be the second step out of the four. I’m just really happy for everybody. Doug Yates, Jeff Clark, there are a lot of great people over at Roush Yates and I’m just really happy to get (a win) for them and the rest of the people over at Ford.”

As exciting as last week was for the young driver, he’s already got Georgia on his mind — specifically Saturday’s Hyundai Construction Equipment 200 (5:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1).

The Truck Series didn’t run at Atlanta in 2014 — this race will be the second of a rare NASCAR national series double-header, combined with an earlier XFINITY race — so it’s not like we can look at last year’s results to see how Reddick will fare at the 1.5-mile track.

Looking at his stats, however, it’s clear the California native is comfortable on this configuration, as two of his three career top-five finishes before Daytona came at Chicagoland Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.

Not only that — the BKR prodigy noted that his Ford F-150 team’s intermediate package is even better than their superspeedway set.

"Honestly, I (have) more confidence in our mile-and-a-half package," Reddick said. "We had a really outstanding superspeedway package, but superspeedways are kind of a wild card and anything can happen on those type of race tracks. I was more looking forward to getting back to the mile-and-a-halves than anything. We were really good on them as we closed out the year. 

"I’m really excited to be at Atlanta for the first time. I’ve seen a lot of great racing here over the years. There have been a lot of great finishes and hopefully we can add to that list of great finishes and good runs Saturday.”

In an ideal world for Reddick, he’d finish first and his boss — Brad Keselowski, also running the race — would be right behind him in his own No. 29 BKR ride.

Knowing Keselowski’s goofy, joking nature, you’d almost expect the 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion to be ribbing his young protégé all week at the shop, but Reddick laughed off any good-natured trash talk, "no, not at all."

It might be because Keselowski thinks so highly of him.

"Tyler is just a natural behind the wheel, plain and simple," Keselowski said Friday in his blog at BradRacing.com. "You can’t teach some of the things he can do in a race car." 

Trash talk or no trash talk, Reddick knows having his boss out on the track with him is going to be an invaluable experience.

"I’m really excited to be racing against my boss Saturday night," said Reddick. "It’ll be nice to race against Brad and I’m definitely gonna be able to get a lot of help from him. If it would go perfectly I’d like to build on (the Daytona) win with another win, but, realistically, we’ve got to come in here and do everything we can to leave with another top-five finish. 

"I’m really confident in my crew and in our truck," Reddick said before adding one last quip. "I’ll see you guys back here (in the media center) on Saturday."

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Sets out to inform others about being prepared for organ donation

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HAMPTON, Ga. — Athletes far and wide often have charitable causes that are important to them — many of which actually hit home because of a personal experience.

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Between Brian Vickers’ Blood Clot Awareness commercials for Xarelto and several drivers who have worked with various Autism Awareness programs because of family members affected by the condition, community outreach runs deep in NASCAR, too.

Twenty-two-year-old NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Joey Gase may not yet be one of the sport’s household names, but he and his cause certainly deserve to be.

When the Cedar Rapids, Iowa native was 18, his mother, Mary Jo, succumbed to a brain aneurism and passed away. With his parents having been divorced, Gase was then faced with a decision more difficult than anything someone that age should have to make.

"I’d just turned 18 years old and my mom was single and the doctors asked us if she would want to be an organ/tissue donor," Gase said Friday morning at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"At the time, we didn’t really know what my mom would want. We knew she was a really healthy and caring person. We said yes and after that, I found out she was able to help and improve the lives of 66 people and that was just amazing to us, knowing that she was able to help that many people and that she was able to keep on living on through them."

The driver of the No. 52 Chevrolet mentioned that he wanted to do something to honor his mother after she passed, so he decided to figure out what he could do to promote donations knowing how many people she had helped. He went to all of his local Donate Life centers — such as LifeLink — to team up to promote donation options "so hopefully no one is ever in the same situation I was in, but if they are again hopefully they’re more prepared and know about donation to be able to make the right decision for their loved one."

The No. 52 will sport a special logo this weekend at Atlanta, along with the photos of donors, recipients and those on the wait list.

Gase has also gotten families who’ve had organ and/or tissue donation impact their lives to come to the racetrack with him, saying that it’s cool because it’s not to often he gets to meet someone who knows or has experienced what he has.

With NASCAR as his platform, the driver is set on increasing the general population’s awareness of how many people can be helped through organ donation and what it’s all about, other than "just a quick yes or no question … at the DMV.

"NASCAR has helped a ton. They were able to set up an ESPN interview two years ago that was shot during the pre-race show at Iowa Speedway and that got us … so much attention for donation. My Twitter and Facebook and everything blew up. Even got the attention of Jeff Gordon and he even made comments on it and that was really amazing and special to see.

We even got him on board with it now. NASCAR just helps us so much. All of the people at the races and the races being live on TV helps a ton."

On Thursday at a local hospital, the driver met a little boy in need of a heart whose grandfather actually raced at Talladega Superspeedway in the 1940s, winning the race for a grand prize of $450.

These invaluable experiences that Gase has encountered since becoming involved are clearly important to him, but none more special than when he was able to meet Jordan Shaw at Iowa Speedway last year ahead of the U.S. Cellular 250 XFINITY Series race — the same Jordan Shaw that is living because of the kidney Gase’s mother donated.

"It’s so amazing and special when you meet (people that have received my mother’s organs)," said Gase, who has also met the recipient of his mother’s liver. "You know your mom’s inside them and not only that; if it wasn’t for my mom, they most likely wouldn’t be here and alive today. Seeing how thankful they are and how good of people they are, it just makes it … I won’t say it makes it better, it makes it a little bit easier knowing that your mom was able to help them.

"She’s still living on through them."

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Daytona 500 winner and runner-up will line up 1-2 at Atlanta

RELATED: Full race lineup | Photos of the full 43-car field

HAMPTON, Ga. — When you’re hot, you’re hot.
 
Joey Logano, last week’s Daytona 500 winner, didn’t slow down one iota on Friday in the first competition of the year at an open-motor track.
 
With a lap at 194.683 mph in the final round of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series knockout qualifying at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Logano put his No. 22 Team Penske Ford on the pole for Sunday’s Fold of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET on FOX).

Logano toured the 1.54-mile intermediate speedway in 28.477 seconds, .131 seconds faster than the lap at 193.793 mph posted by reigning Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick.
 
Jamie McMurray was third fastest at 193.623 mph. Denny Hamlin (193.400 mph) qualified fourth for the second race of the season, followed by new Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards (193.137 mph).
 
Like Logano, Jeff Gordon was hot, but for a completely different reason. Gordon was one of 13 drivers whose car failed to clear inspection before time trials began, even though NASCAR delayed the start of qualifying for 15 minutes.
 
Accordingly, Gordon was not allowed to make a qualifying attempt in the first round. The list of those who failed to pass pre-qualifying inspection included three other past champions: Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart.
 
Logano and his team, on the other hand, did everything right. And he defied conventional wisdom on a track with old pavement that typically abrades tires. Logano posted his fastest lap of the session in the third and final round.
 
"Our first run today in practice, we were faster on our second run on scuffs, so I knew that the grip would stay in the tires for at least two runs," said Logano, who won his first Coors Light Pole Award at Atlanta and the ninth of his career. "I didn’t know about the third run, but apparently the third run also…
 
"It was probably right at the limit, though. Probably the next run after that, it would have taken a pretty big jump down."
 
Though Harvick qualified second, he believes he’ll have a strong long-run car in Sunday’s race. Even so, Harvick felt he left some speed out on the race track.
 
"I just did a bad job," he said. "In Round 1 I missed Turn 1, and in the last round, I missed Turn 1 again and just didn’t get to the bottom like I needed to in order to get back in the throttle."
 
Note: Mike Wallace, Matt DiBenedetto, Michael Annett and Reed Sorenson failed to qualify for Sunday’s race.

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

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The pit stall assignments are out for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX).

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Joey Logano, who won the Coors Light Pole Award for the race, had his pick of all the pit stalls on pit road. The Daytona 500 winner chose the pit stall closest to the exit of pit road. That will give Logano a quick exit off pit road in Sunday’s race.

Kevin Harvick (starting second) will also have an opening in front of him on pit road, which will allow him not to be blocked in by other cars pitting. Ryan Newman (starting seventh) and Denny Hamlin (starting fourth) also have the same advantage.

Jamie McMurray (starting third) chose the pit stall closest to the pit road entrance. He will be able to pull in quick for service before having to travel all the way down pit road to exit.

The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 is the second race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

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Wife tweets that Joe Gibbs Racing leaves the hospital, on team’s mind at track

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Following successful foot surgery Wednesday night, Kyle Busch is heading home for the first time since an accident last Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series opener at Daytona International Speedway knocked him out of his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Sprint Cup ride for the Daytona 500 and an undetermined number of races going forward.

The team said that the surgery on Busch’s left mid-foot fracture was performed by Dr. Robert Anderson of OrthoCarolina. The driver remained hospitalized for observation until Friday morning when his wife, Samantha, tweeted about his release.

A JGR team rep at Atlanta Motor Speedway, site of the second Sprint Cup race of the season Sunday, confirmed Busch’s release from the hospital.

In the accident, Busch also suffered a compound fracture of his right lower leg in a crash and underwent surgery last Saturday night at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida before being transported to a Charlotte hospital on Tuesday.

The team announced Tuesday that David Ragan will serve as interim driver in place of injured Busch for the next several weeks beginning this weekend at Atlanta in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX). Erik Jones will sub for Busch in JGR’s No. 54 car in the XFINITY Series’ Hisense 250 (Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1).

Joe Gibbs Racing and sponsor M&M/Mars are remembering their driver on the back of the No. 18 ride as seen in the garage at Atlanta.

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Last year’s top rookie edges Harvick on Atlanta leaderboard

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Kyle Larson, last year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, rocketed to the top of the leaderboard in opening practice Friday afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

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Larson, driving the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet, registered a fast lap of 192.989 mph on the 1.54-mile track. He finished eighth in the series’ most recent race at Atlanta last September.

His lap was a hair better than defending series champion Kevin Harvick, who clocked a second-fastest lap of 192.607 mph in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet. Harvick, the runner-up in last weekend’s season-opening Daytona 500, won the pole position and led a race-high 195 laps at Atlanta last September before fading to a 19th-place finish after crashing in a late restart.

Two high-profile substitutes had mixed fortunes in Friday’s first track time at Atlanta. David Ragan — filling in for Kyle Busch, who was injured in last weekend’s NASCAR XFINITY Series opener — drove the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota to the third-fastest lap at 192.547 mph. Regan Smith, subbing for the suspended Kurt Busch, piloted the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet to the 16th-best spot on the leaderboard at 190.876 mph.

Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano was fourth-fastest in opening practice for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX), the second race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Denny Hamlin completed the top five in opening practice in another Joe Gibbs-owned Toyota.

Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the Sprint Cup Series is scheduled later Friday at 5:45 p.m. ET (FOX Sports 1).

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Daytona 500 winner tops both leaderboards in Team Penske’s No. 22

Related: Play NASCAR Fantasy Live | Results: Practice 1 | Practice 2

Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano swept top leaderboard honors in a pair of NASCAR XFINITY Series practices Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

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Logano, driving the Team Penske No. 22 Ford, turned a fast lap of 182.807 mph in the 55-minute first session, then led the way on the 1.54-mile track in the 85-minute second stint with a slightly slower lap at 182.105 mph. Saturday’s Hisense 250 (2 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1) is scheduled to be Logano’s first start of the season in the XFINITY Series.

Ty Dillon, celebrating his 23rd birthday Friday, was second-fastest in the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet at 182.639 mph in the first session. Kevin Harvick, winner of the last two XFINITY Series races at Atlanta, clocked the third-fastest lap (182.591) in the JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevy.

Matt Kenseth was fourth-fastest with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones completing the top five in the opening session. Jones, subbing for the injured Kyle Busch in the JGR No. 54 Toyota, will be making just his fifth XFINITY Series start in Saturday’s race.

In the second session, Brendan Gaughan posted the second-fastest lap at 180.857 mph with his RCR Chevrolet teammate Paul Menard claiming third on the leaderboard at 180.463. Rookie Daniel Suarez was fourth-best in the JGR No. 18 Toyota, with defending series champion Chase Elliott completing the top five in final practice.

Only 27 drivers hit the track in first practice, but all 40 entrants logged track time in the second session.

Coors Light Pole Qualifying is scheduled Saturday at 9:10 a.m. ET, with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1.

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Team withdraws from Atlanta race; car later found

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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the car being found.

Team Xtreme confirmed Friday that its No. 44 entry for this weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway was stolen in the morning hours outside the team’s hotel.

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Travis Kvapil, who was scheduled to drive the team’s Chevrolet this weekend at the 1.54-mile track, offered details through his Twitter account, saying the car was inside an enclosed, white 26-foot trailer attached to a black Ford dually truck, both with New Jersey license plates. The truck and trailer were parked overnight at a hotel in Morrow, Georgia, approximately 16 miles north of the speedway.

"What a crazy story," Kvapil told FOX Sports 1. "I got some voicemails and some texts this morning, and I kind of thought the guys were just screwing with me, said they had problems with the car and I guess they had big problems with the car — it was stolen."

By Thursday, the team’s hauler was already at the Atlanta track, leaving early to escape the wintry weather forecast for the greater Charlotte area on Wednesday evening. The primary car was brought separately from the organization’s North Carolina shop, arriving Thursday at approximately 11 p.m. ET. The team said hotel surveillance video showed that the alleged theft happened Friday at 5:32 a.m. ET.

NASCAR confirmed Friday after that Team Xtreme had withdrawn from Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX). Team officials said the operation hoped to regroup in time for the third race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, March 8 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"Real setback for Team Xtreme, (team owner) John Cohen and all the guys that worked so hard to get us here coming off a decent Daytona race," Kvapil said. "This is a big setback for this little team."

Reed Sorenson drove the No. 44 entry to a 32nd-place finish in last weekend’s season-opening Daytona 500, capping a week of hard work to prepare a backup car after a crash during Coors Light Pole Qualifying.

"While this is obviously a setback for this weekend, our plans remain to compete in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season," Cohen said. "We are working closely with the Morrow police in hopes that our truck, trailer and race car are safely returned."

Sunday’s race was scheduled to be the first Sprint Cup start of the season for Kvapil, who finished 15th last weekend in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series opener at Daytona International Speedway.

The car was later found, dumped off the side of the road, the team announced via Twitter early Saturday morning.

 

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