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Sprint Cup champion, President Obama talk about family

RELATED: Harvick atop 2015 points standings 

WASHINGTON — Kevin Harvick said he and President Obama talked "a lot about family."

Car owner Tony Stewart offered to let the President take the No. 4 Chevrolet for a spin.

And crew chief Rodney Childers soaked it all in, from sightseeing around the Capitol to meeting the President to a private tour of the White House.

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As he has done on several occasions, President Obama welcomed the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions to the White House Wednesday. This time it was to honor and celebrate the Stewart-Haas Racing team’s 2014 Sprint Cup title.

"As the season started, Kevin had a new team, a new crew chief to adjust to," the President noted. "It usually takes a little time for a driver and a crew chief to find their groove, but Kevin and Rodney seemed to figure out each other in a hurry — sort of like when (Vice President) Joe Biden joined my team."

"There were blown tires, engine failures, cut oil lines, a slew of obstacles that held the ‘4 Car’ from finishing any higher than 36th in three out of four straight races. But Kevin and Rodney stuck with it, and by the time the Chase rolled around, this team was ready.

"A win at Homestead capped a season where Kevin picked up five wins, led more laps than anybody on the grid – picking up his first Sprint Cup championship.

“And by the looks of it, with two quick wins and the points lead already in place, 2015 isn’t shaping up to be too much different.”

Harvick, 39, won five times last season en route to capturing his first Sprint Cup Series championship, and did so under an elimination-style format that sent four drivers into the season’s final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a shot at the title.

 

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions’ visits to the White House.

Prior to joining SHR, Harvick won 23 races while driving for Richard Childress Racing, finishing as high as third in points (2010-11, ’13).

“It’s just different when you’re celebrating your own championship and not somebody else’s,” Harvick said after posing for pictures with the President in front of the red-and-white No. 4 Chevrolet.

“It’s a huge honor to be here, and for the guys on the team it’s really an honor to see how excited they are, the things that are happening, to see them take it all in is pretty neat.

“Really (family) was the majority of the conversation (with the President). The family life and the change over the past four or five years (for myself and Delana) to get to this point.”

Stewart made the trip as car owner – he and Gene Haas co-own the four-team Stewart-Haas Racing organization. In 2012, he made the visit to Washington as both winning car owner and driver following his 2011 championship at SHR.

“It’s the chance of a lifetime,” Stewart said of Tuesday’s visit. “To have this honor to come up here for a day and acknowledge what our team’s accomplished is a huge honor to come here.”

As for the President getting behind the wheel of the No. 4?

“I said, ‘Well I’m the car owner so you have my permission,’” Stewart said. “But I think there are a lot of other people he has to convince other than me; but definitely the offer’s there.”

Childers said winning the championship “is something that we all dream about as you grow up … it makes you proud and these guys did an awesome job.

“Meeting the President? It’s something that may be a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Seeing the White House, the Capitol building, everything that goes on is just amazing to me.”

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Posted on by Nascar

More on April showers; steering wheel swap; cars heading to the R&D Center

Play: NASCAR Fantasy Live

Related: Drivers react to late-race call

With less than 10 laps remaining and rain beginning to fall, NASCAR officials didn’t want to red-flag Sunday night’s Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes at Bristol Motor Speedway.

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Instead, they hoped that by keeping cars circling the track as the brief shower passed, the surface would stay dry and racing could quickly resume following the event’s 11th caution period.
 
Eventually, cars had to be brought to pit road after running several laps at caution speed as track dryers were dispatched.
 
Austin Dillon ran out of fuel during the slowdown; others were getting close.
 
“That’s a balance,” NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell told Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio Monday morning in an exclusive interview on the networks’ Morning Drive show. “You’ve got some drivers who are full of fuel and strategy and different things that play into it.
 
“We obviously need to manage how many laps you’re running under caution in that situation before you red flag it. You don’t want to red flag it if you don’t have to because you’re ultimately going to lose the track in that situation.
 
“If you can keep the cars out on the track, it helps us keep the track in somewhat raceable condition and can get us back earlier. In that situation, it just became too much.”
 
Stealers Wheel?
 
The supposed steering wheel swap in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota during a red-flag period at Bristol Sunday didn’t take place, according to the team and Toyota officials.
 
At the second stoppage of the race for rain, the No. 11 team was prepared to exchange the car’s steering wheel, a move necessitated because XFINITY Series driver Erik Jones had replaced Denny Hamlin in the car.
 
During the television broadcast, video of a crewman walking back to the team’s pit stall with a steering wheel in his hand was shown. Initially it was described as the steering wheel that had been replaced. Moments later, it was said to be the one that would go in the car.
 
The latter was correct, but the team never got the chance to make the switch.
 
“We thought at the (second) red flag that I would be able to swap it out and hopefully change the positioning of it,” Jones said after the race, “but unfortunately I didn’t get to because (the delay) was so short and I didn’t even get out of the car.
 
“Just kind of dealt with it and moved my hands around and figured it out.”
 
Jones, who is expected to make his official Sprint Cup debut for JGR later this year, was called into action after Hamlin began experiencing back and neck pain.
 
His first laps in the Sprint Cup car came as the race resumed after the initial delay. Asked about comfort and possible changes, Jones noted that he was having issues with the steering wheel.
 
“The (steering) wheel’s too close … hurting my arm; hard to turn the wheel,” he radioed to crew chief Dave Rogers.
 
Goodyear Getting a Grip
 
NASCAR’s 2015 low downforce rules package has kept Goodyear officials busy as the official tire supplier attempts to dial in the best tire combinations for upcoming stops on the 2015 Sprint Cup Series schedule while working toward further changes that will be put into place for ’16.
 
Last week, Goodyear officials conducted a two-day test at Kentucky Speedway; next week, it’s off to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a two-day test (April 27-28).
 
“The main objective of the Kentucky test was to bring the right-side tire there in line with several of the other high-speed mile-and-a-half speedways,” said Greg Stucker, Director of Racing for Goodyear.
 
“What we tested incorporated a different mold shape and construction from what we raced there in the past. Additionally, with the lower downforce of the 2015 rules package, we felt a left-side compound adjustment to increase grip was justified.”
 
Drivers taking part in the Kentucky test were Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman, Brett Moffitt and Jamie McMurray.
 
Teams slated to participate in the Indy test will come from BK Racing, Furniture Row Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Petty Motorsports.
 
“The surface of the (Indy) track is very abrasive, so getting the correct compounds and constructions to generate the desired wear characteristics, while maintaining the level of grip for competitive racing, is critical,” said Stucker.
 
Bristol Pit Road Fallout
 
Nearly one-half (15) of the 38 penalties handed down at Bristol Sunday were for pitting before pit road was open, a typical infraction on a short track when making repairs is more important than the loss of track position that comes with the penalty.
 
And a sizeable number of speeding penalties (11) were called, second most of the season.
 
Headed to the R&D
 
The cars of BMS race winner Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing) and runnerup Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports) were taken to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further evaluation as well as the No. 17 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing).
 
Stenhouse Jr. finished a season-best fourth.
 
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Posted on by Pat DeCola
The reigning champ led a race-high 184 laps on Sunday and only finished 38th because he couldn’t stop in time to avoid a turned David Ragan. No reason to move him down for the poor result.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/jimmie-johnson/
JimmieJohnson
2
Hendrick Motorsports
We’re still not exactly sure how Johnson muscled his way back to the front after running into multiple issues over the course of the race, especially considering it was at one of his worst tracks. Then again, he IS a six-time champion for a reason.
When Logano ran into his wrecked teammate just 19 laps into Sunday’s Bristol race, it was even more disappointing because he was a favorite to win after leading every circuit in Saturday’s XFINITY Race.
With his third-place finish at Bristol, the four-time champ has now improved his finishing position for four straight weeks. Still winless in 2015, it’s only a matter of time before his 15-race drought will end.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/brad-keselowski/
BradKeselowski
-1
Team Penske
After starting on the front row, many pegged Keselowski as a potential race-winner. We never got to see if he had the car to do it, as a spinout and wreck on Lap 19 all-but-ruined his No. 2 Ford.
Sadly, Truex Jr.’s streak of top-10 finishes to start the season ended at seven. Guess what? So did Joey Logano’s and Kevin Harvick’s, who were the only other two drivers to be enjoying such a streak.
Newman’s No. 31 Chevrolet performed much better down the stretch than earlier in the race, putting him in contention for the win late. It’ll be interesting to see how Newman’s performance maintains itself if/when crew chief Luke Lambert has to serve his six-race suspension.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/dale-earnhardt-jr/
DaleEarnhardt Jr.
1
Hendrick Motorsports
Earnhardt has now alternated finishes outside and inside the top 10 for the past five races, so if that pattern holds a solid finish should be in store for him at Richmond, where he has three wins.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/denny-hamlin/
DennyHamlin
-1
Joe Gibbs Racing
For the third consecutive season, Hamlin has missed at least part of a race due to injury. It’s hard to fault him for that, but while replacement driver Erik Jones’ 26th-place finish in his Cup debut is great for an 18-year-old, it didn’t help the No. 11 driver in points, for which he was still the driver of credit.
Look past the 24th-place finish. A week after securing his first top 10 of the season, Edwards looked like he had a car that could truly compete for a win, leading 86 laps – all of which came in the second half of the race.
Now that Kenseth has a 51-race winless streak off his mind – and it definitely was; how could it not? – watch out. The season is still early, and he won a series-high seven races just two years ago.
Busch led 98 laps and appeared to have the race wrapped up before a questionable pit call by a committee on the pit box to replace unfortunate kidney-stone recipient Tony ‘Oldman’ Gibson. With his normal chief back on top next week at Richmond, expect the momentum to continue.
Kahne has been above average this year, finishing worse than 17th just once. Unfortunately that came this week at Bristol and it dropped him two spots in the standings.
A 14th-place finish dropped McMurray in the standings, but it’s not the end of the world. He’s still 12th in the point standings and on pace to make his first career Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Larson has repeatedly stated that his health is fine after passing out at Martinsville and his performance at Bristol showed it. His 90 laps led were a career high and more than doubled his career total.
Menard recovered from a 41st-place finish at Texas and maintained his finishes much closer to the top 10 than away from it.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/danica-patrick/
DanicaPatrick
1
Stewart-Haas Racing
Setting the Cup record for top 10s for a woman is great. Doing it at the type of track known for making the measure of a man is exceptional.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/clint-bowyer/
ClintBowyer
Stewart-Haas Racing
Along with a seventh-place finish at Daytona and a 13th-place showing at Martinsville, Bristol was one of a select few times Bowyer’s No. 15 has looked competitive. Now, if only ALL the races took place at superspeedways and short tracks.
Sure, Stewart usally starts slow, but no top 10s through the first seven races isn’t typical of “Smoke”. Neither is keeping his emotions in check at Bristol, but he did so on Sunday and rode to a sixth-place finish.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/austin-dillon/
AustinDillon
1
Richard Childress Racing
Dillon would be happy with a top 10 at Bristol most days. That 3 car was in position to compete for the win before running out of gas during overtime caution laps while waiting out the rain. Heart-breaker.
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Weeklong campaign highlights how industry helps protect environment

RELATED: Learn more about #NASCARGreen

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 20, 2015) — To commemorate one of the most innovative and holistic sustainability platforms in the country, NASCAR® announced its third annual NASCAR Race to Green™ initiative. Beginning today and culminating with Saturday’s TOYOTA OWNERS 400 at Richmond International Raceway, NASCAR Race to Green will build awareness around the programs the governing body, industry and multiple partners have created to help protect and preserve the environment.

This year, NASCAR and the Environmental Protection Agency are inviting fans to measure their environmental impact at NASCAR.com/green and receive tips from Official Partners on how to reduce their carbon footprint. NASCAR drivers will reward select fans who complete the online tool with personalized messages on social media using the campaign’s hashtag #NASCARGreen.

"NASCAR has the largest renewable energy, recycling and clean air programs in sports, but our sustainability platform is also about empowering fans to adopt new green-friendly behaviors," said Brent Dewar, Chief Operating Officer, NASCAR. "NASCAR Race to Green celebrates the collective efforts of our industry and partners while teaching fans how they can contribute to a cleaner environment."

Since 2008, NASCAR Green has planted enough trees to completely offset carbon emissions for all NASCAR national series racing for the past five years, plus the next 40 years; put more than seven million competition miles on Sunoco Green E15, a biofuel blended with 15 percent American-made ethanol from American-grown corn; and features some of the largest renewable energy projects in the world, including Pocono Raceway‘s 3MW Solar Farm, the track’s primary electric energy source powering more than 250 homes.

Recent research shows NASCAR Green initiatives align with fan values. According to Experian Marketing Services’ 2014 Simmons National Consumer Study, two out of three NASCAR fans agree that each person has a personal obligation to be environmentally responsible, and four out of five fans indicate their household recycles. Additionally, a 2014 study commissioned by NASCAR and conducted by Toluna revealed that NASCAR fans are over 75 percent more likely than non-fans to support the use of ethanol blended with gasoline to fuel their own cars.

During NASCAR Race to Green week the color green will be prominently displayed on race vehicles and at tracks across NASCAR national series, NASCAR Home Tracks and International Series. The NASCAR Green mark will be featured on the A-post of race cars, pit boxes, hauler flags and NASCAR officials’ uniforms. Drivers Austin Dillon and Elliott Sadler will run green-themed paint schemes during the weekend’s national series events.

NASCAR Race to Green will also highlight the sustainability efforts of NASCAR Official Partners, who work closely with NASCAR, year-round, to amplify the reach of NASCAR Green. While NASCAR Green initiatives have and will continue to span the entire year, the following additional activities will take place throughout this week-long effort:

• American Ethanol will celebrate five years as a NASCAR Official Partner and more than seven million miles of racing on Sunoco Green E15, the equivalent of almost 30 trips from the earth to the moon. 

• As part of national "Comcast Cares Day," NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers will join nearly 200 volunteers from Comcast for a cleanup project at the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Richmond.

• Mobil 1 will work with NASCAR to provide lubricant technology expertise to the broadcast compound power generators and vehicle. 

• Chevrolet will come together with Pocono Raceway and NASCAR Green to build sustainable habitats for threatened bats by repurposing recycled Chevrolet Volt battery covers. At Pocono Kids day in June local children will be able to visit the Team Chevy display and build a habitat.

• Ford’s 20,000-square-foot display at Richmond International Raceway will "go green" and feature its line of hybrid and electric vehicles.

• At the track each weekend Toyota Tundras house the Air Titan 2.0, NASCAR’s innovative track-drying system. The Air Titan 2.0 consumes 78 percent less fuel per hour and emits 80 percent less CO2 per hour than its predecessor. Additionally, Toyota will feature a Toyota Prius Hybrid at its at-track display, Toyota PitPass.

• As part of a food waste diversion initiative, Richmond International Raceway, together with Sustainable America, will donate unused food to local food banks and compost used food items.

• NASCAR and Daytona International Speedway (DIS) employees will come together on Earth Day to plant trees at Lenox Park in Daytona Beach, Fla. in continued support of NASCAR Green’s "Clean Air Tree Planting Program" which plants trees in reforestation projects across the country.

• A comprehensive recycling effort has accounted for approximately 120,000 Goodyear tires recycled across NASCAR’s top three national series each year; more than 200,000 gallons of oil at tracks and team shops recycled annually by Safety-Kleen; and more than more 25 million bottles and cans cumulatively recycled over the past six years through collaborations with Coca-Cola and Coors Light.  

For more information about NASCAR Race to Green, visit NASCAR.com/Green.

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Posted on by RJ Kraft

News and notes for the full 43-car field at the Tennessee short track

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid

1. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. The polesitter led the final 34 laps (and 47 for the race) as he snapped 51-race winless streak in the Sprint Cup Series. After the checkered flag, crew chief Jason Ratcliff told Kenseth over the radio, "I’m speechless. You fought your guts out."

 | See how Kenseth won

2. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. He led no laps, but somehow the six-time champion, who hasn’t won at Bristol since 2010, nearly stole one. And that came after he had some contact with Jeb Burton on Lap 311 that set off a wreck and saw Johnson vent about lapped traffic. 

| Johnson weighs in on runner-up result

3. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon had a pit stop for a loose wheel at Lap 209 that dropped him back from seventh to 29th. That was the only real hiccup on the night as he scored his fifth straight top-10 and his best finish of his final full-time season to date. Gordon was worried that he may not have enough gas for the green-white-checkered finish, but the 24 team only lost one spot on the final restart. | Gordon discusses finish

4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. What is it about Bristol and Stenhouse? For the third straight time in the foothills of Tennessee, Stenhouse scored a finish inside the top six. The driver seems to have a comfort level at Bristol, and perhaps it can carry over for him at another short track in Richmond this weekend.

5. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. With caution laps continuing to lead into a green-white-checkered finish, it looked like Newman was best positioned on fuel to take advantage of any overtime racing. But the veteran driver struggled on the restart and had to settle for a top-five finish.

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6. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. When plenty of others were finding trouble, Stewart avoided it en route to his best finish in 2015. That result bumped him up four spots on the standings to 28th.

7. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. The No. 42 team used some strategy to get to the front and led 90 laps; the most Larson has ever led in a race. Heck, he only led 53 laps in 36 races last year. His time in Victory Lane is coming soon.

8. Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Allgaier scored the best finish of his Sprint Cup career at Bristol, not to mention his first top-10 in the sport’s premier series. The finish was also team owner Harry Scott Jr.’s best in the Sprint Cup Series.

9. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick quietly battled her way to a top-10 finish, her first at Bristol. She also set a record for most top-10 finishes by a female driver as she now has six, breaking the tie with Janet Guthrie. She told her team over the radio after the race, "Great job. What a great finish after a rough weekend." | For more in-car audio, sign up for RaceView and/or Scanner today

10. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon ran out of fuel during the caution laps before the final restart, but still scored his first top-10 of the season.

11. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard came into Bristol with top-10s in five of his past six starts at the Tennessee short track. The leader of the "Neon Knights" nearly made it six in seven starts as he finished just outside the top 10.

12. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. Bowyer had one of his best runs of the season at Bristol and was running in the top 10 before a Lap 473 wreck. He scored a lead-lap finish, and his 76 green-flag passes were the most in the race.

13. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola continues to churn out top-15 finishes — this was his fifth of the season.

14. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. McMurray spent much of the race in the top 10, but his involvement in a wreck that was set off by his blown tire hurt his chances at a fourth top-10 finish in five races. | See the wreck McMurray was involved in

15. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. With crew chief Tony Gibson battling a kidney stone, fill-in pit bosses Greg Zipadelli and John Klausmeier guided Busch to a strong effort at Bristol that was undermined by damage in a late wreck with Carl Edwards. Busch led 98 laps on the day but scored his third straight finish outside the top 10. | Busch discusses decision to pit late

16. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Tire issues set Junior back early and he couldn’t make up the laps, but there is something to be said for grinding out a respectable finish on a day when plenty of others had issues.

17. Brett Moffitt, No. 55 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. The Iowa native was the highest finishing rookie of the race. The result was much improved from his 42nd-place showing there last summer.

18. David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Gilliland carried the flag for Front Row at a track where he has an average finish of 26.5. In fact, the result was just his second top-20 finish all season and first since Daytona.

19. Sam Hornish Jr., No. 9 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Hornish stayed out of trouble to earn his best finish since a 12th-place result at Daytona. It was also his best finish in eight career Sprint Cup starts at Bristol.

20. Alex Bowman, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Bowman’s 20th-place finish was the best of his early stint with Tommy Baldwin Racing and also the second-best finish of the soon-to-be 22-year-old’s Sprint Cup career.

21. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. In his fifth Cup start, DiBenedetto scored his best finish in the premier series and was the best of the three cars that BK Racing had at Bristol.

22. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Ford, Leavine Family Racing. McDowell scored his best finish of the season at Bristol. The finish was also his second-best at Bristol in 10 starts there.

23. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett recorded his best finish since the season-opener at Daytona despite starting 36th in the field.

24. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards led 86 laps but got loose and into the wall on Lap 494 before Kurt Busch rammed into him. Every time this team has a promising run, something seems to happen. Over the radio Edwards told the team, "First time I got loose like that. Definitely my fault. It kind of surprised me." | See what happened to Edwards late

25. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Buescher’s result was his third top-25 finish for Front Row in four starts. Not bad for the XFINITY Series regular’s initial Cup starts.

26. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Neck spasms forced Hamlin from the car after the initial red flag of nearly four hours. Youngster Erik Jones filled in and got quite the education in his maiden voyage in a Cup car.
 | Jones fills in for Hamlin

27. Cole Whitt, No. 35 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Whitt’s result at Bristol was the best of his career at the 0.533-mile Tennessee short track.

28. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. After two straight top-20 finishes, Bayne slipped back but maintained his streak of improving from his starting position with his end result for the eighth straight race.

29. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Chevrolet, Furniture Row Racing. Truex’s streak of top-10s to open the season came to an end due to a vibration from a loose front right tire that left him several laps down.

30. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle led six laps in the race, his first laps out front since Daytona, thanks to an early strategy play. However, Biffle never recovered from getting trapped several laps down after a caution came out when he came to pit road.

31. Mike Bliss, No. 32 Ford, Go FAS Racing. Bliss’ quiet run matched his best finish of the season (Atlanta).

32. J.J. Yeley, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. The veteran driver’s second-best starting spot of the season (29th) resulted in his third-best finish of 2015.

33. Alex Kennedy, No. 33 Chevrolet, Circle Sport. The 33rd-place result matched Kennedy’s best Sprint Cup finish of the season; the other came at Martinsville last month.

34. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. A late wreck sent Allmendinger to his third finish of 34th-or-worse in the past four races. It’s a stretch that has seen him go from fifth to 25th in the points standings. | See the late wreck

35. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski’s day was derailed early by a wreck with his Penske teammate Logano. The 2012 champion told his team over the radio, "I don’t know what happened, it just took off on me." | For more in-car audio, sign up for RaceView and/or Scanner today

36. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears’ worst finish of the season was a product of a late wreck with Kasey Kahne and AJ Allmendinger.

37. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne showed speed in practice all weekend and ran in the top 10 for most of the first half of the race before a Lap 483 wreck with AJ Allmendinger ended his day.

 | See the late wreck

38. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick led a race-high 184 laps but couldn’t avoid hitting David Ragan‘s car in a Lap 311 incident as he told his team over the radio, "I’m sorry guys. I just couldn’t stop." The result ended Harvick’s stretch of 10 straight top-10 finishes dating back to last fall’s Chase race at Texas. | See what happened to derail Harvick’s day

39. Josh Wise, No. 98 Ford, Phil Parsons Racing. Wise was involved in a Lap 473 wreck after hitting into Jamie McMurray. The resulting wreck knocked Wise from the race.

40. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano’s streak of seven top-10 finishes to open the season came to a crashing halt when he was involved in a Lap 19 accident with teammate Brad Keselowski that left his car with significant damage. Logano’s streak of 24 lead-lap finishes also came to a close as the 22 team had to go behind the wall for extensive repairs.

 | See the early wreck between Penske teammates

41. David Ragan, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Ragan suffered heavy damage from a Lap 311 incident that also involved Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Jeb Burton. This was his worst finish for Joe Gibbs Racing since his began filling in for Kyle Busch. | See Ragan get caught up in wreck


42. Jeb Burton, No. 26 Toyota, BK Racing. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate was involved in the Lap 311 incident after some contact from Jimmie Johnson. The damage led to him having his worst finish in six Sprint Cup starts.

43. Landon Cassill, No. 40 Chevrolet, Hillman Smith Motorsports. Cassill fell off the pace early when the race resumed from the red flag period and was on the receiving end of some contact from then-leader Kyle Larson on Lap 367. | Cassill makes hard contact with the wall

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Posted on by Staff Report

O’Donnell discusses potential for three consecutive short-track races

As NASCAR prepares for its third short-track race in four weeks at Richmond International Raceway (Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, FOX), NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell talked with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio about whether NASCAR would ever run the three races consecutively, similar to the NASCAR Goes West swing.

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• Latest news
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"The difference when you look out west is you’ve got a little bit more space in between with Vegas, Phoenix and California," O’Donnell said. "When you look at Bristol, Martinsville and Richmond, all really in a pretty small area, all have great capacity crowds and great interest.

"It’s something we look at, but we’re pretty happy right now where we’re at. We’ll see how these two work back to back and talk to the tracks. This was a new schedule for us so it’s still in the early stages, but we’ll talk to the tracks as we get through the first half of the season and see what they may want to look at for 2016."

Speaking of next season’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series slate, O’Donnell noted the work began last year in setting the 2016 schedule. As the sanctioning body continues to receive feedback, the next few weeks will help determine the plan for next year’s race dates.

"Each year, we try and map out, if we can, what we’d like to see three and five years out potentially, so we’re in the beginning phases of having that discussion with the tracks," O’Donnell said. "The good news is a lot of folks so far — we’re only eight races in — but they like what they’ve seen from a track perspective so we’ll continue on.

"Usually around the next two weeks, we sit down with the tracks and have those discussions ultimately with the third quarter of the year wanting to get the schedules out."

For now, NASCAR’s sights are set on Richmond, which has seen a recent streak of different drivers heading to Victory Lane, and it will host the second Sprint Cup start for Chase Elliott, the reigning XFINITY Series champion.

"The fans have been pretty vocal, liking this short-track action back to back," O’Donnell said. "We’ve seen six different winners in the past six races at Richmond. Obviously a great place, a great action track.

"Chase Elliott is making his second career (Sprint Cup) start. The XFINITY Series continues to show some young talent with Daniel Suarez finishing second this past weekend. Richmond tends to put on some great racing each and every night so we’re looking forward to some more great short-track action."

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See what’s coming this week to NASCAR.com

Here’s what you’ll see on NASCAR.com this week:

MONDAY: Kurt Busch pitted late and wrecked late. He’ll discuss the late-race strategy that didn’t pay off. Other content includes Bristol entry lists for the Cup and XFINITY races; plus @nascarcasm tries the Carbon-Footprint Calculator.

TUESDAY: Will Kevin Harvick‘s finish outside the top 35 at Bristol be enough to knock him from the top of Power Rankings? Jimmie Johnson also relives his eventful night at Bristol that resulted in a second-place finish, and the best sounds from the scanner should provide a unique look at the Bristol race.

WEDNESDAY: Check out which paint schemes will be on display at Richmond International Raceway. We’ll have a feature on Kyle Larson, off a strong run at Bristol, and Rico Abreu, the Chili Bowl winner turned K&N Pro Series driver. Plus, @nascarcasm will dream up what Matt Kenseth‘s Facebook page might have looked like after winning the Food City 500.

THURSDAY: Last year’s Brad Keselowski–Matt Kenseth feud reached a boiling point at Charlotte, but it actually began at Richmond — site of this week’s race. We’ll take you back to that incident. Also check out a gallery of April’s best #TBT posts, plus a retrospective of Kasey Kahne‘s first career Cup win, which came 10 years ago at Richmond.

FRIDAY: Get all the on-track action slated for Richmond — including the XFINITY Series race — throughout the day and evening.

Also coming this week: Goldberg was at Bristol, which led us to wonder which professional wrestler NASCAR’s top drivers match up to … Tech Talk will hit on everything you need to know from a competition perspective … @nascarcasm creates his own Power Rankings, based off driver anagrams.

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Brad Keselowski to run scheme in next month’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race

BUY: Get Cheers to 25 Years throwback die-casts

In March, Team Penske and longtime partner MillerCoors announced plans to celebrate 25 years together in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with promotions and special paint schemes throughout 2015.

The team and Miller Lite gave fans the chance to select Keselowski’s paint scheme for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (May 16, 7 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1). On Cheersto25Years.NASCAR.com, fans chose from three iterations of the "Blue Deuce," which is now known as the "Blanco Deuce" with the body and number colors inverted on the current ride.

With 43 percent of the vote, the winner was "The Original" Miller Lite Blue Deuce, which made its debut with Team Penske on the No. 2 entry back in 1997 with driver Rusty Wallace. That season, the Blue Deuce went to Victory Lane at Richmond International Raceway.

In second place with 37 percent was the "Gold" car. For the 2007 Daytona Shootout and NASCAR All-Star Race, Miller Lite unveiled this special gold color paint scheme to celebrate Miller Lite’s fourth gold award in the American-Style Light lager category at the World Beer Cup.

The "Classic Pour" scheme earned the remaining 20 percent. From 2010-2012, there were plenty of trips to Victory Lane to celebrate in different variations of this paint scheme, including a 2010 sweep of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and Coca-Cola 600 as well as Miller Lite and Team Penske‘s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in 2012.

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