Posted on by Staff Report

Michael Waltrip Racing turns to 22-year-old in relief role

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Brett Moffitt, who made his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut in 2014, will drive the No. 55 Aaron’s Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 1 as Brian Vickers recuperates from offseason heart surgery.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

Owner Michael Waltrip made the announcement Tuesday during his team’s stop on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour.

"He was the driver that everybody at Michael Waltrip Racing wanted to be in that car at Atlanta," Waltrip said. "They believe in him."

Moffitt said he learned of his appointment to the No. 55 Toyota two weeks ago, making it exceedingly difficult to keep his fill-in role a secret.

"It was a stressful wait to find out that I was going to be in the car, that’s for sure," Moffitt said. "I obviously wanted this opportunity really bad and I’m thankful for it."

In seven Sprint Cup starts last season, the best start and finish for the 22-year-old native of Grimes, Iowa and former NASCAR Next driver and K&N Pro Series East race winner came in his debut on June 1 at Dover International Speedway when he began the race in 18th and finished 22nd.

Though he said he has been enjoying his time as a developmental driver in the MWR system, Moffitt said he was continuing to explore options — in any of NASCAR’s three national series — that would allow him to race on a more consistent basis.

"I’m very happy with MWR. They’re very supportive of me — have been since 2011," Moffitt said. "They gave me the first opportunity to test a Cup car, they gave me the first opportunity to race one, so they’ve been huge supporters of my career and I wouldn’t be where I am without them, that’s for sure. But at the same time, I need to be in a race car more often and they’ve been willing to work with me on that, and they said hey, if you find an opportunity, we’re not going to hold you back from it."

Waltrip agreed: "We’ll let Brett do anything he wants to do in order to get laps so that he can continue to mature as a race car driver. We believe in Brett, he’s our guy, but if we can loan him out and he can race somewhere else that would make me happy."

Waltrip will drive the No. 55 Toyota in the Daytona 500 on Feb. 22 (1 p.m. ET, FOX) as he attempts to win his third Great American Race.

Despite missing the first two races of the season, Vickers received NASCAR’s blessing to run for the Sprint Cup Series championship provided he meets all other requirements for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. He will return to his ride at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the third race of the year on March 8.

Last month, doctors discovered Vickers’ body rejected a patch that was placed over a hole in his heart. They alleviated the problem and gave him clearance to race just three months after the corrective heart surgery.

"They took my heart out and replaced it with a lion heart," Vickers joked on Tuesday.

Posted on by Staff Report

Sprint Cup, XFINITY, Camping World Truck slates set for 2015

RELATED: Buy tickets for 2015 races
SCHEDULES: NSCS | NXS | NCWTS
PRINTABLE SCHEDULES: NSCS | NXS | NCWTS

NASCAR released the start times for its 2015 schedule of races for all three of its national series. Here are some of the highlights for the new season.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

Last year’s spring NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, the Duck Commander 500, was scheduled on a Sunday during the daytime to accommodate big crowds in the area for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four. This year, that isn’t the case as the race will be run on Saturday night (April 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX.) and will serve as the first scheduled night race of the Sprint Cup Series season.

Daytona International Speedway will host its traditional mid-summer Coke Zero 400 on a Sunday next season instead of the usual Saturday date. The 7:45 p.m. ET start on July 5 will extend the holiday weekend. As NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Officer Steve O’Donnell said when the date was announced last August the event will "celebrate an additional fireworks show so we thought it was a great opportunity for the fans."

This race will also mark NBC’s first Sprint Cup race under the new television deal — with Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte in the booth to call and analyze the action.

MORE: Daytona Speedweeks schedule announced

The move of Darlington’s Sprint Cup date to Sept. 6 rekindles a sense of history for NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway, which hosted stock-car racing’s first 500-mile race in 1950. The crown-jewel event and the surrounding pageantry became a staple of early September in the South Carolina sandhills until 2003. Since then, the Southern 500 has been held in November (2004), on Mother’s Day weekend (2005-13) and mid-April (2014). The Labor Day weekend race will get started at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday evening, while the XFINITY Series event moves up to a 3:30 p.m. ET start time on Saturday, Sept. 5.

In 2015, Darlington will become the next-to-last race before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup postseason begins.

The 2015 Chase will be contested on the current 10 tracks, starting Sept. 20 at Chicagoland Speedway. Richmond International Raceway will remain host to the regular-season finale on Sept. 12.

Atlanta, which had held the Labor Day weekend spot since 2009, shifts its lone Sprint Cup race to March 1 with a 1 p.m. ET start on FOX. The 1.54-mile track, which first hosted NASCAR’s top division in 1960, had held stock-car races in either March or early April with regularity from 1963 to 2010. Atlanta also adds the Truck Series to its late winter weekend; the Hampton, Georgia track last hosted the circuit in 2012.

The newly added truck race for Atlanta will form a rare same-day doubleheader with the XFINITY Series on Feb. 28. It’s the first time that a scheduled doubleheader has run at the same track since 2009 at Auto Club. The XFINITY Series race, the Hisense 250, will be run at 2 p.m. ET while the Camping World Truck Series event will be at 5:30 p.m. ET. FOX Sports 1 will have television coverage for both events.

As announced earlier, Bristol Motor Speedway‘s daytime Sprint Cup race will shift deeper into the spring on April 19, pushing it from race No. 4 this season to race No. 8 in 2015.

RELATED: Highlighting the major schedule changes for 2015

Other enhancements to the 2015 NASCAR schedules:

— Instead of crisscrossing the country four times in the early part of the schedule as in recent years, Atlanta’s move to race No. 2 on the Sprint Cup schedule allows for a Western swing before the calendar dives headlong into spring. Las Vegas Motor Speedway will remain the third race on the slate, but will be followed by Phoenix International Raceway (formerly race No. 2) and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, which stays put as the fifth race of the year. The XFINITY Series, which runs companion events with the Sprint Cup tour for races Nos. 1 through 5, shifts its schedule accordingly.

"In talking to both SMI (Speedway Motorsports Inc.) and ISC (International Speedway Corporation), looking at the promotional efforts that could be put around three races in a row versus going east, west and back and forth, a lot of the marketing assets that a lot of the companies have in terms of hospitality, being able to do some really cool things for the fans, sometimes we weren’t able to deliver that for each race market because of the travel back and forth," O’Donnell said. "Now when you’re out west for three straight weeks, the fans can expect that same cool NASCAR experience at all three venues."

— The Sprint Cup schedule will add an idle weekend at the end of August, after Bristol’s annual night race and before the Southern 500. Adding the break will provide respite for drivers and teams on what is currently a run of 17 races in 17 weeks to the end of the season. The off-weekends are April 5 (Easter), June 21 (Father’s Day) and August 30.

— The addition of a Father’s Day weekend off will move Sonoma Raceway‘s Sprint Cup date back one week, to the final weekend in June. O’Donnell said the Father’s Day off-week for the Cup Series was "a result of some stakeholder conversations with some other competing sporting events that happen to be going on that weekend as well so we just thought it was best for us. The timing worked out great for us from a Father’s Day perspective to take that weekend off. A lot of our drivers are fathers. We’ll take that week off and head into Sonoma."

— The third off-weekend for the Sprint Cup tour will become a road-racing weekend for the other two national series. The XFINITY Series’ now-annual trip to Road America in Wisconsin will slide from late June to late August, running the same weekend that the Truck Series returns for a third straight season to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Ontario.

— Kentucky Speedway‘s lone Sprint Cup race will return to early July. The track hosted its Sprint Cup debut on July 9, 2011, but has run in late June in every year since. It will continue as a tripleheader weekend for all three national series.

— Charlotte Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway will flip-flop their current October race weekends.

— The two non-points races will remain at the same dates and places on the schedule. The Sprint Unlimited kickoff race for the previous year’s Coors Light Pole Award winners and Chase drivers will be run at Daytona the week before the Daytona 500. The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race remains at Charlotte, one week ahead of the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend.

— There will be racing on July 4 as the XFINITY Series will hit the track for the Subway Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.

— NASCAR will race on the Ohio dirt of Eldora Speedway for a third straight year with the Camping World Truck Series. The third annual 1-800-CarCash Mud Summer Classic will be scheduled July 22 at 9 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

Posted on by Zack Albert

SHR driver ready for the challenge of defending his title

Registration for NASCAR Fantasy Live is now open!

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Turning the well-worn saying on its ear, the head that wears the crown is not heavy for Kevin Harvick, who enters the 2015 season with all sorts of burden removed from his shoulders. The nickname "Happy" still fits, but the description of "relaxed" also seems to apply.

Harvick’s pressure-free composure, on prime display Tuesday afternoon during the Stewart-Haas Racing portion of the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour, has plenty to do with the title of reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion after 13 years of coming up just short. But the lighter load is also equal parts being free of the controlled maelstrom from the offseason a year ago as SHR assembled the parts and pieces that made up the championship-caliber No. 4 team.

For the here and now, Harvick was grateful that his first title meant no further questions about whether this would be his year.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

"The pressure’s definitely off," Harvick said. "There’s not that pressure of being that guy who was so close to winning championships and had not won one. To be able to accomplish that and take that pressure off is a really good thing because that’s really what we wanted to accomplish in coming over to Stewart-Haas Racing. So to be fortunate enough to be able to do that is definitely a sense of relief, and now you’ve been through it, you understand it, you know the feelings, the emotions and the things that you’ve been through, and hopefully that leads to that chest full of experience that you carry around with you to just put another tool in that chest to hopefully win more."

Making the leap from the familiar turf from Richard Childress Racing, where he spent the first 13 years of his premier-series career, came with some initial gnashing of teeth but his enthusiasm for showing up to work each day had grown stagnant. Joining SHR eventually bore fruit with plenty of rejuvenating qualities, but Harvick first had to prepare himself for the jump in to the unknown.

"I didn’t want to be comfortable," Harvick said. "I wanted to experience what we experienced last year, and sometimes you have to make some bold or hard decisions in order to make things like this happen. So for me, I’m as comfortable as I’ve ever been."

For starters, Harvick won’t have to deal with the same amount of change — borne of necessity — that the team had ahead of the 2014 campaign. Partnering a new driver with new crew chief Rodney Childers during a time when the organization was expanding to a four-car operation could have stalled the process of building chemistry on the No. 4 team. It didn’t — the combination produced its first victory in just the second race of the season.

With all the parts still in place, it’s a combination that team co-owner Gene Haas has no intention of tampering with.

"He just won the championship. We’ve basically frozen the team as it is," Haas said. "So we’ve got something that works and we’re going to treat it very, very delicately and try to repeat that. There’s no use tempting fate."

One thing out of the organization’s control in the change department is the new rules package for 2015. A crucial cog to the No. 4 team’s march to the title was how well it adapted to last year’s rules package, spearheaded by the work Childers put into making that fateful December 2013 test a smashing success at the Charlotte track.

Will the new rules package throw Harvick and Co. a curve ball? In a statement that could have the competition on edge, Childers said the changes might actually benefit the team since something similar to the 2015 package was one of the test configurations that suited the car the most.

Even with that institutional knowledge in tow, Childers — one of the most relaxed workaholics in the garage — isn’t ready to adopt Harvick’s pressure-free approach.

"I don’t really feel that way at all. I mean, I always feel like my job’s on the line every single day and either you can go in there and work hard or someone else is going to take your job," Childers said. "I try to be the first one at the shop and the last one to leave, work as hard as I can while I’m there and hopefully that’ll constantly pay off as long as the years go on."

With one title under his belt, the immediate task ahead of Harvick is focusing on a repeat. The pressure might be off for now, but it certainly wasn’t the case during the elimination phases of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs, which debuted its new format last year.

Harvick responded to the intensity by turning up the wick and winning the last two races of the season to wrap up his first title. His approach might have changed in terms of the pressure, but Harvick said his aggressive nature on the track certainly won’t.

"It’s definitely going to be a challenge, as it is every year, and obviously there’s some different rules and everything that comes along with that this year as far as the engine," Harvick said, "but I think the one thing we did learn through the last half of the year is I think everybody figured out that winning a race and being aggressive is the most preferable method in order to win a championship."

Posted on by Zack Albert

Clint Bowyer shares his view on Jeff Gordon’s final full-time season

RELATED: Bowyer reacts to Kyle Busch‘s ‘idiots’ comment

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Clint Bowyer said after hearing the stunning news of Jeff Gordon‘s decision to bring his full-time NASCAR career to a close, he texted his rival to wish him well. But even more than two years removed from their infamous run-in at Phoenix International Raceway, Bowyer admits that he has a tenuous relationship with the four-time champion.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

One of the most controversial confrontations from the 2012 season still has lingering repercussions, Bowyer said Tuesday during Michael Waltrip Racing‘s portion of the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour. After an escalating series of incidents, their rivalry boiled over that November day in the desert with Gordon exacting revenge on Bowyer with an intentional late-race crash that thrashed both drivers’ cars.

Bowyer exited his car and ran at a full sprint to square off with Gordon, but crews from both teams interceded before getting into their own scrap in the Sprint Cup garage.

Time has the power to heal long-suffering grievances, but Bowyer said that restoring their relationship 100 percent might be an insurmountable hurdle.

"You’re never good with somebody when it got that ugly," Bowyer said. "We had a lot of fun together. Jeff and I hit it off right off the bat and probably away from the track at the banquets and things like that. We really enjoyed one another and even the offseason on a couple of boating trips. It’s kind of like a divorce. You may appreciate them from time to time but at the end of the day you don’t like them anymore."

Whether the fences will ever be fully mended, Bowyer hasn’t lost his sense of humor over the situation. Gordon enters his last full season of competition with four championships, multiple Daytona 500 victories and 92 total wins at NASCAR’s highest level — an impressive portfolio by any standard, but not off-limits for a playful jab from Bowyer.

"He’s got one last opportunity to try to make a name for Jeff Gordon," Bowyer quipped.

MORE: Full Gordon coverage

Posted on by Zack Albert

Driver had major heart surgery in December

RELATED: Moffitt to sub for Vickers at Atlanta | Vickers to make 2015 debut at Las Vegas

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Brian Vickers said he’s been told, "you’ll never go racing again" too many times over the course of his NASCAR career. Each time, he’s bounced back — a blessing, he calls it — to keep his goals alive.

His recurring battle with blood clots and open-heart operations has interrupted his Sprint Cup driving duties three times. Though his most recent episode will only sideline him for two events at the start of the 2015 season, the gravity of Vickers’ latest health scare came through in acute detail Tuesday in his first media session since mid-December surgery.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

Vickers said facing the latest career crossroads forced him to ask hard questions not only about his aspirations at NASCAR’s highest level, but about his overall health in the short and long term. With the backing of his medical team, Vickers said he ultimately didn’t want to second-guess what could have been on the track.

"I think my answer internally was always yes," Vickers said on the Michael Waltrip Racing portion of the annual Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour. "There were times where I thought, maybe it’s time, maybe someone’s trying to tell me something. I think maybe if I’d won a championship already, maybe I would’ve had different thoughts, but I really want to win a championship and I just love what I do.

"I think if they said I could go back racing, I kind of thought to myself: Five years from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, if the choice is yours and you make the choice not to come back racing, which are you going to regret more? Which do you have the potential to regret more — not giving it another go or giving it another go and it not working out. For me, that answer was clear."

Vickers, 31, is scheduled to return to the MWR No. 55 Toyota at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of the third race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. Though he said he was initially was skeptical of his doctors’ decision to clear him for competition so soon, he indicated that targeting Vegas for his return was actually a conservative timetable.

Team owner and part-time driver Michael Waltrip will wheel the No. 55 in the season-opening Daytona 500 (Feb. 22, 1 p.m. ET, FOX), a race he has won twice in his career. The team announced Tuesday that developmental driver Brett Moffitt will take over driving duties March 1 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the second race on the Sprint Cup schedule.

In the meantime, the healing process continues for Vickers after his latest setback, an invasive Dec. 13 procedure that involved cracking open his chest to replace an artificial patch over a hole in his heart. While the original surgery in 2010 was less intrusive, he called his most recent operation, "a full-blown emergency; it was a panic," to close the gap between his left and right atrium. A crucial component of his race-readiness is giving his wired-together sternum time to heal.

Vickers said he stayed in intensive care for a week to recover and was on bed rest orders for a few days at home. His first trip outside his house was to the MWR shop, one of the initial steps in a recovery that’s left his team owner in awe over his driver’s resilience.

"I’m impressed as a friend, too," Waltrip said. "You want your friends to live the life they dream of and he faced a tough operation, and the doctors weren’t sure exactly how it would go to be that age and know that your future is uncertain, that’s challenging. To see him bounce back, and he knows that he’s going to be better than he’s ever been. To see him bounce back like that and to do the things that he loves, that’s what you hope for all your friends."

The team’s announcement last week that Vickers would return to the driver’s seat after a two-race absence coincided with a ruling from NASCAR officials that he would also be eligible for a berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs should he meet all other postseason requirements. The decision was similar to other exemptions granted to Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart last season, the first year of the new Chase format with playoff spots open to race winners during the regular season.

Vickers didn’t lack for motivation, but it’s another gold ring within reach as he mounts another comeback.

"There’s two reasons I’m coming back: I’m coming back because I love to race," Vickers said. "I love to go fast. I love to race cars, I love the competition, I love the thrill of being in a car at over 200 mph but mostly the reason I’m coming back here, to race full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is because I want to win a championship, so being eligible for that is a big piece of it. I’m very thankful and thrilled that I was able to be back in time for that, because I think there’s a lot of people that didn’t think that was going to be the case at times, even including myself. It’s huge for me."

Posted on by Nascar

SHR driver discusses upcoming season

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kurt Busch says he’s had no problem focusing on preparations for the upcoming racing season in spite of an on-going case involving domestic assault that continues to hang over the 2004 premier series champion.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

"I feel great," Busch, 36, said Tuesday during the annual Charlotte Motor Speedway media tour. "It’s easy to be here and stand on truth and have all the people and support from behind the scenes this offseason."

Ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll submitted a request for a no-contact order late last year, accusing Busch of physical harm during a race weekend in Dover, Del., last September.

No decision has been made concerning the protective order request and the Delaware state attorney general’s office has yet to rule on the alleged altercation.

Until action is taken on those two issues, Busch will continue to prepare for the upcoming season, his second with Stewart-Haas Racing.

"I’m a racer. I love to go race … that’s the easy part and that’s where the focus stays," Busch said.

"When you have things going on in the offseason, that’s the best time for different things to happen in your life and to make those changes. It’s good to start moving forward and get a resolution to that."

A recent Goodyear tire test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he said, was a good way to not only get the new season started, but to turn the attention away from the on-going controversy.

"To put the helmet on, belt in and go out there and go 200 mph, that’s the best feeling in the world,’ he said. "It seems quieter out there (on the track); it’s an amazing feeling. When you put the helmet on it all seems quiet and you’re the only one out there."

Team co-owner Gene Haas has continued to stand behind his driver, but admitted he has considered the possibility of an unfavorable ruling against Busch.

"I’ve run that around in my mind a million times," Haas said, "and I don’t know. I think we have to wait and see.

"The authorities are going to have an opinion about what they’re going to do, and I have a feeling it’s going to be something that no one expects, you know what I’m saying? … We have to kind of see what they come back with before we can respond."

To do otherwise, he said, would be a waste of time.

"We just don’t want to speculate and add more fuel to the ol’ fire," he said.

Posted on by Nascar

Will the 2014 champ’s momentum continue into 2015?

RELATED: Complete schedule for driver previews

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

Team: JR Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet

Rank in final 2014 standings: First

Wins: Three (Texas in April; Darlington in April; Chicago in July)

Strides: Won a pole (or two)? Check. Won a race (or three)? Check. Sunoco Rookie of the Year? Check. Series champion? Absolutely.

Elliott, 19, was the surprise story of the year for the Nationwide (now XFINITY) Series, becoming the first driver to win the championship in his rookie season. The son of 1988 premier series champion Bill Elliott, the youngster drove more like an experienced veteran than a fresh-faced kid with no prior starts in the series.

"There were a lot of points in the season when people said ‘he’s a rookie, he’s going to make a mistake here or there’ and he didn’t," teammate Regan Smith said. "He drove like a veteran and it was great for him and great for JR Motorsports to see that."

As surprising as his first career win was at Texas, perhaps more impressive was following up that victory just a week later at Darlington, one of the series’ most difficult tracks, with a second consecutive win.

In addition to his three victories, Elliott ended the season with 16 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes. His average finishing position of 8.0 was No. 1 among those running full-time in the series.

Elliott was always quick to point to the efforts of others.

"I feel like all these people along the way have made me look a heck of a lot better than I really am," he said. "It’s been an honor to work with these guys … not just this year, but all along the way. It’s been fun."

Setbacks: Elliott didn’t always shine — his best finish on the superspeedways of Daytona and Talladega was 15th. But for the most part, he ran with and often outran Sprint Cup drivers making the occasional stop in the series.

Quoteworthy: "He’s so much better than I ever through about being." — Bill Elliott

What’s next: With JRM’s ties to Hendrick Motorsports, the road to a ride at the Sprint Cup level seemed to clear a bit with the recent announcement of Jeff Gordon‘s pending retirement. Before that either does or doesn’t take place however, Elliott will spend another year in the XFINITY Series.

Greg Ives, who served as crew chief, has moved up to Sprint Cup to be paired with Dale Earnhardt Jr., a co-owner of JRM. Veteran crew chief Ernie Cope will now be paired with Elliott.

"Winning more races and not letting the same people beat you every week … is the biggest thing," Elliott said of the ’15 season. "Keeping it about as simple as possible. … I see things I can improve on personally and stepping up and not letting people out‑drive you every week because I feel like that’s happened a lot this year.

"I’d like to minimize those weekends, and I feel like we have the cars, the teams, the motors, the group of people to go and contend with the best. We’ve just got to put it all together … not talk about it anymore and go do it."

Posted on by Staff Report

Inductee for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2015

There was rhyme — "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville." And there was reason — a premier series championship, enough wins to put him in the top 20 all time and the adulation of millions.

(b. 10/8/1955)

Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia

Championships: Premier — 1988 (driver)

Competed: 1976-2012

Starts: 828

Wins: 44

Poles: 55

In a 37-year driving career, Bill Elliott compiled a list of accolades that put him near the top of a number of NASCAR’s all-time lists. His 44 wins rank 16th all time and his 55 poles rank eighth. He completed 238,924 laps, fifth-most all time.

But, of course, his most prestigious accomplishment came in 1988 when he won the NASCAR premier series championship with six wins, 15 top fives and 22 top 10s in 29 races.

All that, combined with an affable demeanor, endeared him to fans. Fans adored him — and that adoration led to a record 16 Most Popular Driver Awards.

Elliott returned that love with big-stage success — and lots of it. He won the Daytona 500 twice and the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway three times. And in 1985, he won both of those along with the Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, earning him the "Winston Million" — a $1 million bonus for winning those three of four marquee events.

Elliott was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. He was elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2015 in his first year of eligibility.

Posted on by Staff Report

Inductee for 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame class

Consistency was the hallmark of Rex White’s NASCAR career. He finished among the top five in nearly a half of his 233 races and outside the top 10 only 30 percent of the time.

(b. 8/17/1930)

Hometown: Taylorsville, N.C.

Championships: Premier — 1960 (driver/owner)

Competed: 1956-64

Starts: 233

Wins: 28

Poles: 36

White was a short track specialist in an era in which those tracks dominated the schedule. Of his 28 career wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, only two came on tracks longer than a mile in length. White’s victory total ranks 24th among all-time premier series winners.

White won six times during his 1960 championship season posting 35 top 10s in 40 starts. He finished in the top 10 six of his nine years in the series including a runner-up finish in 1961. He was the fourth driver to win a premier series championship in his own equipment.

All 28 of his wins came between 1958 and 1962. No other driver had more premier seares wins during that five-year stretch.

White was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. He was elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2015 in his second year on the ballot.

Posted on by Staff Report

Inductee for 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame class

Joe Weatherly won two championships (1962-63) and 25 races in NASCAR’s premier series.

But that’s only part of his story, which is long on versatility.

(b. 5/29/1922 — d. 1/19/1964)

Hometown: Norfolk, Virginia

Championships: Premier — 1962, ’63

Modified — 1953

Competed: 1952-64

Starts: 229

Wins: 25

Poles: 18

A decade earlier in 1952-53, he won 101 races in the NASCAR Modified division, capturing that championship in 1953. He even tried his hand in NASCAR’s short-lived Convertible Division, winning 12 times from 1956-59.

Weatherly was one of the first drivers who attracted fans to NASCAR as much for his personality as his racing ability, thus his nickname the "Clown Prince of Stock Car Racing."

When he won his first NASCAR premier series championship, in 1962, he drove for NASCAR Hall of Famer Bud Moore. When he repeated as champion a year later, he drove for nine different teams. Those were the only two years Weatherly competed in the premier series full-time.

Weatherly lost his life after a crash at Riverside (California) International Raceway in the fifth race of the 1964 season.

Named one of the NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, he was elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2015 in his sixth year on the ballot.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics
Year Age Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led AvSt AvFn RAF Miles LLF
1952 30 1 of 34 0 0 0 0 376 0 38.0 16.0 1 513.6 0
1954 32 1 of 37 0 0 1 0 196 0    7.0 1 98.0 0
1955 33 6 of 45 0 1 4 0 994 141 11.3 14.8 3 865.5 1
1956 34 17 of 56 0 6 12 1 2743 0 11.5 11.4 12 2000.9 2
1957 35 14 of 53 0 5 7 0 2059 3 11.2 13.2 8 1353.4 1
1958 36 14 of 51 1 5 7 1 2692 104 14.8 14.7 9 2403.0 3
1959 37 17 of 44 0 6 10 0 2776 189 10.2 13.7 10 2164.0 2
1960 38 24 of 44 3 7 11 0 4294 246 8.7 15.9 11 3875.7 6
1961 39 25 of 52 9 14 18 3 5790 609 4.0 7.4 20 5456.2 10
1962 40 52 of 53 9 39 45 7 12431 665 5.8 5.0 47 8240.7 21
1963 41 53 of 55 3 20 35 6 11344 878 7.9 9.1 36 8691.1 7
1964 42 5 of 62 0 2 3 0 768 84 13.6 11.8 4 908.8 1
12 years    229 25 105 153 18 46463 2919 11.4 11.7 162 36570.9 54