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Parrott named Director of Competition for RCR’s XFINITY Series program

Former championship-winning crew chief Todd Parrott has been hired by Richard Childress Racing as its NASCAR XFINTIY Series Competition Director, effective immediately, the team announced Saturday.

RELATED: Drivers and crew chiefs on the move in 2015

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Parrott, who most recently led Tommy Baldwin Racing‘s No. 36 Sprint Cup Series team with driver Reed Sorenson, brings a wealth of experience to RCR with 20 years as a crew chief at Cup level. During that time, he won 31 races while earning 144 top-five and 230 top-10 finishes. Through a span of 606 starts, Parrott also led teams to 23 pole awards and finished in the top five driver points standings six times.

His best season was in 1999 when he led NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett to the Sprint Cup championship.

"This is an incredible opportunity for me and I am looking forward to working with RCR’s XFINITY Series drivers, crew chiefs, (RCR Director of Competition) Dr. (Eric) Warren and everyone involved with the team," Parrott said in a team release. "I have known Richard Childress and Mike Dillon for many years and our families go back a long time.

"They already have a solid program and it’s now up to me to take the ball and run with it for next year. I’m looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead, winning several races and adding another championship for the organization."

Parrott, 50, is a native of Charlotte, North Carolina and followed in the footsteps of his father, Buddy Parrott, who won 49 races in 511 Sprint Cup Series starts during a 22-year career. The second-generation crew chief will report to Dr. Eric Warren, Director of Competition for RCR.

"I worked with Todd Parrott for several years at a prior team and I have never met a more passionate person when it comes to working hard and winning races," Warren said. "Todd is organized and has great instincts about how to get performance out of both cars and teams. He is a proven winner with championship talent and has always overachieved with every team for whom he’s worked."

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Testing sessions sparse, but extended practices in the works

While NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will have numerous opportunities to take part in open team tests in 2015, organizations competing in the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series will also get additional track time.

But unlike the Sprint Cup sessions, which will coincide with Goodyear tire and NASCAR tests, the two series will be provided extended practice sessions during race weekends.

The only off-site test currently scheduled for XFINITY and the NCWTS is a Goodyear tire test set for May 5 at Iowa Speedway.

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Representatives from Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing, which finished 1-2 in owner points in what was previously known as the Nationwide Series, are slated to take part in the Iowa test along with those from Kyle Busch Motorsports and ThorSport Racing (1-2 in the NCWTS).

The use of extended practice sessions "is a cost-effective way for giving XFINITY and Trucks testing without sending them off on a separate trip," NASCAR Senior Vice President of Innovation and Racing Development Gene Stefanyshyn said. "So we’re giving those two series where cost is a bigger concern extends practice sessions, which we will fit into the race-schedule weekends.

"We’re not going to add days (at the track) and all that; we’re going to figure out how to stuff it in there."

The extended sessions will be only for XFINITY and NCWTS teams, although sessions for Sprint Cup have been altered in the past when necessary (such as due to weather issues).

The length of the extended sessions will vary, depending on at-track activities for each event, with a maximum of three hours.

Stefanyshyn said the sanctioning body also has a "bucket" of testing called rookie development sessions that currently is for the NCWTS only but can be adapted to the XFINITY Series if necessary.

Additionally, there is a new organization testing piece that "is applicable to all three series," he said. "Although in reality most people come through truck and work their way up.

"We think we’ve got a good balance here of providing the Sprint Cup teams lower costs, higher value testing, but at the same time if you look at it very holistically, we’re providing XFINITY and Trucks a very cost-effective way to do what they need to do, take care of rookies and take care of the organizations."

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New officers include dynamic leaders from across several key departments

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR today announced it has promoted five leaders in its Daytona Beach, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina, offices to Vice President, in recognition of their various achievements and leadership roles in key business units.

The five promoted today include: David Higdon, Integrated Marketing Communications (Daytona Beach); Cory Posocco, NASCAR Events Group (Daytona Beach); Chad Seigler, Team Marketing Services (Charlotte); Colin Smith, NASCAR Digital Media (Charlotte); and Tshneka Tate, Legal (Charlotte).

"We have developed a very strong and deep leadership team that has provided expertise and strong results during a period of unique challenge and opportunity for our industry," said Brian France, NASCAR chairman and chief executive officer. "Each of these individuals has demonstrated success in driving key initiatives across NASCAR and now become part of an overall leadership group that has us well positioned for the future."

• David Higdon, Vice President, Integrated Marketing Communications — Since joining NASCAR in 2011, Higdon has overseen several divisions within IMC and led numerous marketing communications campaigns and public affairs initiatives for the company and industry. He has also played a lead role in crisis communications and provided senior communications counsel and leadership during the creation of IMSA, which unified sports car racing in America, and through its inaugural season in 2014.

• Cory Posocco, Vice President, NASCAR Events Group — After beginning his career as Stafford Speedway’s marketing / public relations director and special events coordinator, Posocco joined NASCAR in 2000. Since then he has steadily taken on greater roles in orchestrating special events, including NASCAR’s annual Sprint Cup Series Awards show, Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and countless other events at every level of NASCAR racing.

• Chad Seigler, Vice President, Team Marketing Services — As a senior leader who helped create the Industry Services function at NASCAR, Seigler currently oversees Team Marketing Services, which helps drive sponsorship sales for race teams at all three national series levels and ensures the deployment of broad NASCAR resources to support various team initiatives. He joined NASCAR in 2007 after two years at Nextel and five seasons with the Carolina Panthers.

• Colin Smith, Vice President, NASCAR Digital Media — Joining NASCAR in 2012 after 14 years in various roles focused on college sports at RAYCOM, Smith has overseen the dramatic growth of NASCAR’s digital platform, including NASCAR.com and a suite of touted mobile applications. He plays a key role in driving integration of the digital portfolio across various NASCAR departments and the broader industry, as well as digital distribution of NASCAR content through various products and channels.

• Tshneka Tate, Vice President, Senior Assistant General Counsel — A member of NASCAR’s legal team since 2000, Tate has risen to become senior in-house counsel with oversight of all legal issues for NASCAR Media Group, NASCAR Productions and NASCAR Digital Media. Recently, she played a key role in new rights agreements with FOX, NBC, IMG and was lead counsel on the transition of digital rights from Turner Sports back to NASCAR in 2012. Before joining NASCAR, Tate worked in the Maryland Attorney General’s office.

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Dylan Kwasniewski will also get behind wheel of No. 42

Team owners Chip Ganassi and Harry Scott Jr. announced a formal merger of their partnership in the NASCAR XFINITY Series on Thursday, forging a single-car team under the new name of HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi for 2015.

The team announced that Kyle Larson, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year, and NASCAR Next alumnus Dylan Kwasniewski will be among the drivers of the No. 42 Chevrolet. Mike Shiplett — who has worked as a crew chief and car chief for Richard Petty Motorsports, Turner Scott Motorsports and Gillett Evernham Motorsports — will be the team’s crew chief.

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Larson, 22, scored two wins for the team last season under its former Turner Scott Motorsports umbrella, breaking through at Auto Club Speedway in his home state of California for his first victory in the Nationwide Series, which will be backed by XFINITY in 2015. Larson prevailed again at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

Kwasniewski competed in a full rookie season on the Nationwide Series circuit last year, driving 28 of 33 races in Turner Scott’s No. 31 Chevy and the rest in the No. 42. The 19-year-old Las Vegas native won the pole position for the season opener at Daytona International Speedway and wound up 11th in the final 2014 standings.

Ganassi, a former IndyCar driver who became a team owner in the premier NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2001, fielded teams in what is now the XFINITY Series from 2004-08, netting six wins among four drivers — Reed Sorenson, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears and Juan Pablo Montoya.

The team will operate out of the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates race shop in Concord, North Carolina.

Scott also announced a partnership with road racer Justin Marks for a four-car operation in the developmental NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks will field entries for returning driver Scott Heckert and three rookie contenders — William Byron, 17; J.J. Haley, 15; and Dalton Sargeant, 16.

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Driver to join TriStar Motorsports for full XFINITY Series slate

TriStar Motorsports announced Thursday morning that Cale Conley will make the jump to a full-time ride in the NASCAR XFINITY Series next season.

Conley, 22, competed in 11 races last season in the Nationwide Series — which is transferring title sponsorship to Comcast’s XFINITY brand in 2015. His best finish in Richard Childress Racing‘s No. 33 Chevrolet was sixth at Kentucky Speedway in September.

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"I am looking forward to working with people that are excited to work with me and help me mature as a driver and competitor in this series," Conley said. "I am grateful to Mark Smith and TriStar Motorsports for being willing to take a chance with me and let me race weekend after weekend after weekend, so I can get one step closer to my ultimate dream of being a NASCAR Sprint Cup champion."

TriStar, owned by Mark Smith, fielded 13 drivers in its four-car operation last season, with Mike Bliss, Eric McClure, Blake Koch and Jeff Green making the majority of the starts in the team’s Toyotas. Mooresville, North Carolina-based team’s best finish was a ninth-place from David Starr at Talladega Superspeedway in the spring.

A spokesperson for TriStar said that more announcements regarding the team’s driver lineup for 2015 were coming in the next two weeks.

Conley brought his rich sprint-car background to NASCAR competition in 2011, gaining experience in the K&N Pro Series before venturing into Nationwide races. The West Virginia native notched his first victory on the K&N circuit at Columbus Motor Speedway in 2012.

In addition to his growth on the track last season, Conley made waves off the track when he settled a bet with Emma Blaney by wearing a dress. The campaign to add to Conley’s Twitter following and the ensuing pictures prompted the social media hashtag #DriverInADress.

Conley is scheduled to appear as a guest on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90) on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. ET.

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Driver expects to make full recovery by 2015 season opener

Kyle Busch underwent surgery on his left foot on Thursday morning and is expected to make a full recovery in time for the start of the 2015 NASCAR season in February. The scheduled procedure to relieve inflammation was performed by Dr. Robert Anderson of OrthoCarolina, according to a team release from Joe Gibbs Racing.

Busch is coming off a 2014 season when he finished 10th in the final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings. In 36 Cup starts, he posted one win (Fontana), nine top-five finishes, 15 top-10s and three Coors Light Pole Awards.

JGR shuffled its crew chief lineup for 2015, pairing Busch with Adam Stevens, who is making the move from the Nationwide Series. Dave Rogers, who was Busch’s previous crew chief, will work as Denny Hamlin‘s crew chief in 2015.

RELATED: JGR announces crew chief changes

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Posted on by Zack Albert

Driver’s back not healed 100 percent, but Gordon feels just fine in the car

Had it been spoken in more than a mostly joking manner, Jeff Gordon‘s off-the-cuff statement back in January that he’d ride off into stock-car racing retirement if he won his fifth title in NASCAR’s premier series would likely have been the bombshell of the year.

"I wish I was standing here with that issue right now," Gordon said after accepting sixth-place honors at last week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards show in Las Vegas.

After coming oh-so-close to cashing in on that big if, a rejuvenated Gordon said that his heart was never in it to walk away and close the books on his Hall of Fame-worthy career. After enjoying a season with four wins and a championship bid that thrived until the next-to-last race, the 43-year-old veteran is eager to keep the momentum — and a near-record streak — rolling next year in what will be his 23rd season at NASCAR’s top level.

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"I never had any intentions of doing that," Gordon said at mention of the word retirement. "I love this sport, I love being competitive. Yeah, I had that health scare with my back in May but was able to pull it all back together and go on and have a great year and not have to miss that race. I was asked that question and I answered it as honestly as I could, but also I’m having some fun with it, and I’d have liked to have had that issue, like I said.

"Don’t worry, I’ll be back next year. Maybe I’ll say the same joke in January and we’ll see where it goes."

The Hendrick Motorsports driver has a streak of consecutive starts that currently stands at 761. He is expected to tie the all-time record of 788 set by Ricky Rudd next season in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs opener Sept. 20 at Chicagoland Speedway; he’d break the mark the following weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

But the back ailment Gordon referenced threw that ironman streak into peril last spring, when spasms during Coors Light Pole Qualifying caused him to sit out practice on the eve of the Coca-Cola 600, the series’ longest race. Gordon eventually completed all 600 miles. His back, though, still isn’t quite without lingering pain.

"No — 100 percent? That was a long time ago," Gordon said. "But it doesn’t seem to affect me inside the car and that’s the most important thing. It hurts afterward, it hurts during the week, but once I’m inside the car, I’m able to focus on what I need to do."

While Gordon drew a fair amount of teasing because of his age during some of Champion’s Week’s more candid moments, his stature among his peers was unquestioned. During the NASCAR After the Lap tell-all, all 16 Chase qualifiers were asked if they were fans of Gordon as they took their first steps into the sport; nearly every hand went up.

"It was humbling, I’ll be honest," Gordon said. "Maybe even if they were (fans), they might not want to admit it. The fact they were admitting it means a lot to me."

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Sanctioning body, Goodyear team up for sessions throughout the season

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series organizations will be allowed to participate in 13 one-day "open" tests in 2015 as part of a revamped testing policy for the series.

The tests will be part of a 14-track Goodyear tire test schedule, and will be held the day after almost all of the scheduled two-day tire tests by the tire supplier.

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The NASCAR National Series Unified Testing policy, outlined in the 2015 rule book, breaks down the schedule into three types of tests — NASCAR-approved tire manufacturer tire tests, NASCAR tests and Open Team tests.

"I think we’ve got a system here that can breathe and evolve as the industry requires," Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR vice president innovation and racing development, told NASCAR.com. "I think we’ve got enough flexibility to manage this. It’s all in the electronic rule book now so everybody can understand it, the schedules will be there so hopefully we can also communicate very, very well with everybody."

NASCAR announced earlier this year that it was eliminating private team testing beginning with the conclusion of the 2014 racing season. Previously, organizations were provided four open NASCAR tests at tracks that hosted Sprint Cup Series events, and were allowed to test as often as they chose on tracks not hosting NASCAR-sanctioned events.

After meeting with teams in July, Stefanyshyn said the general consensus was that testing was expensive, its value was questionable because of the venues and "it was very time and travel intensive."

"It doesn’t necessarily line up with Goodyear testing and because it’s unlimited it can drive some inequity between big teams and small teams," Stefanyshyn said officials were told.

When NASCAR announced the testing ban, he said, what was lost in the conversation was the fact that the sanctioning body was trying to develop a consolidated testing plan going forward.

When the 2015 rules package was announced in September, "we announced the ban on private testing," he said. "But at the same time we did signal to everybody that we were … in flight on trying to develop a new proposal for testing.

RELATED: NASCAR announces 2015 rules package

"At the time when we said … it was banned, I think that might have been lost to a few people. They didn’t hear the ‘we’re trying to work … to come up with a better alternative.’ "

Four teams (unless otherwise specified) will participate in each Goodyear tire test based on their position in the 2015 NASCAR owners’ points standings.

One representative from each of the four will take part, and that team will be the only one allowed to participate from that organization in the open test at that track. The open tests are not mandatory.

The team pairings for the Goodyear tests are broken down into the following three groups:

Stewart-Haas Racing, JTG Daugherty Racing, Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing;

Richard Childress Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates; Roush Fenway Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing;

Hendrick Motorsports, Furniture Row Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, BK Racing.

Most organizations will be involved in five Goodyear tests, although the grouping of Hendrick, Furniture Row, RPM and BK Racing will take part in only four.

The only variations to the policy thus far come at Las Vegas, which will host a Goodyear tire test only (Jan. 19) with individual teams from SHR, JTG, Penske and JGR taking part; and there will be an open team test on Thursday, Feb. 26, at Atlanta Motor Speedway leading into that track’s race weekend activities.

"The … beauty of this is, we were all three (NASCAR, Goodyear and the individual teams) going off independently, doing things," Stefanyshyn said. "Goodyear’s trying to do a tire test, they’re trying to get teams to participate, teams are busy going off testing (elsewhere), so they have difficulty getting the participation they want.

"We try to put a NASCAR test together and we’ve got to get Goodyear and the teams to come and they’re all busy. And then you’ve got the teams that are doing their testing on tracks they’re not going to run on.

"So … we’ve created a schedule for the whole of next year that enables everybody to do their testing but also we can now work together on the things we need to work together on. If I need 10 cars, the cars are there and the tires are there. It gives us more ability to do more work together and it gets rid of a lot of the organizational friction of trying to bring people together."

No tests are scheduled for nine of the 23 tracks hosting Sprint Cup events in 2015.

Here’s a complete look at the 2015 testing schedule:

Date Track Type Teams
Jan. 19 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Goodyear Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR); JTG Daugherty Racing (JTGD); Team Penske (TP); Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR)
Feb. 26 Atlanta Motor Speedway Team One car/one driver from any organization
March 10 Charlotte Motor Speedway Goodyear Hendrick Motorsports (HMS); Furniture Row Racing (FRR); Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM); BK Racing (BK)
March 11 Charlotte Motor Speedway Team One car/one driver from any organization
April 7 Richmond International Raceway Goodyear SHR, JTGD, TP, JGR
April 8 Richmond International Raceway Team One car/one driver from any organization
April 13-14 Kentucky Speedway Goodyear RCR, CGR, RFR, MWR
April 15 Kentucky Speedway Team One car/one driver from any organization
April 27-28 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Goodyear HMS, FRR, RPM, BK
April 29 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Team One car/one driver from any organization
May 11-12 Dover International Speedway Goodyear SHR, JTGD, TP, JGR
May 13 Dover International Speedway Team One car/one driver from any organization
June 9-10 Darlington Raceway Goodyear RCR, CGR, RFR, MWR
June 11 Darlington Raceway Team One car/one driver from any organization
July 13-14 Chicagoland Speedway Goodyear HMS, FRR, RPM, BK
July 15 Chicagoland Speedway Team One car/one driver from any organization
July 28-29 Bristol Motor Speedway Goodyear SHR, JTGD, TP, JGR
July 30 Bristol Motor Speedway Team One car/one driver from any organization
Aug. 24-25 Homestead-Miami Speedway Goodyear RCR, CGR, RFR, MWR
Aug. 26 Homestead-Miami Speedway Team One car/one driver from any organization
Sept. 14-15 Kansas Speedway Goodyear HMS, FRR, RPM, BK
Sept. 16 Kansas Speedway Team One car/one driver from any organization
Oct. 12-13 Phoenix International Raceway Goodyear SHR, JTGD, TP, JGR
Oct. 14 Phoenix International Raceway Team One car/one driver from any organization
Oct. 27-28 Auto Club Speedway Goodyear RCR, CGR, RFR, MWR
Oct. 29 Auto Club Speedway Team One car/one driver from any organization

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Earnhardt Miller on who taught her to drive: ‘I know my dad gave me lots of pointers’

When your last name is Earnhardt, it’s highly likely that you might be a racer, have raced, or work in the racing industry.

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It’s also possible that you started driving at a relatively young age. At least that’s the case for Kelley Earnhardt Miller, daughter of seven-time NASCAR premier series champion Dale Earnhardt. Along with her brother, current NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Sprint Cup team owner Rick Hendrick, she is co-owner of JR Motorsports, an organization that fields three full-time teams in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Earnhardt Miller traveled with the group’s No. 9 team this week to Columbus, Ohio where, along with driver Chase Elliott, it was recognized for winning the 2014 series championship.

At one point in a question-and-answer session with Nationwide Insurance employees, she was asked who taught her to drive and how young she was when she first got behind the wheel.

"I know my dad gave me lots of pointers just because that’s just the way he was," she said of the legendary racer and NASCAR Hall of Fame member. "He told us how to do everything.

"This isn’t a good insurance topic, but I was actually on the streets, on the road, before I was 16."

Her reasoning was sound, if not exactly going by the letter of the law. And it brought laughs from those in the audience.

"It was, I don’t know, more legal back then," she said. "… We’ve always driven since we were kids, and I had a little Volkswagen on the farm, driving it around when I was 12 or 13. Every now and then I’d drive on the main road."

Of course, Earnhardt Miller wasn’t the only guest who confessed to being behind the wheel well before they were lawfully licensed. Elliott, who celebrated his 19th birthday in November, also admitted to being behind the wheel at an early age, although he wasn’t exactly handling the driving duties by himself.

"I remember riding down the road and sitting in my dad’s lap (behind the wheel), as far back as I can remember," he said of trips with his father, NASCAR Hall of Fame member Bill Elliott. "I don’t know how old I was, though."

Earnhardt Miller said the Nationwide relationship has been an enjoyable one for her family – the company won’t return as series sponsor in 2015, but will sponsor Earnhardt Jr. on the Sprint Cup level and maintain its sponsorship of the series’ race at Mid-Ohio.

"It’s pretty special to us," she said.

"I’ve told this story a lot. First it was 30 years ago, now it’s 35. I remember when I was 16 and going to get my driver’s license. It was four o’clock … and we didn’t have our insurance paperwork together. So they wouldn’t give me my license. I was very disappointed.

"Our (Nationwide Insurance) agent was in Kannapolis so they met us halfway (and) got us everything that we needed. That really set in for me. Nationwide was on my side right then. I’ll never forget that.

"It is really just natural, authentic. It’s a product everybody needs and a product we believe in and can share."

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Organization will run three trucks next season

Kyle Busch Motorsports will shuffle its crew chiefs ahead of the 2015 Camping World Truck Series season, the organization announced on Thursday.

Veteran crew chief Jerry Baxter, who was teamed with Darrell Wallace Jr. for five wins over the past two seasons, will serve as the crew chief for the No. 51 truck. That truck has won back-to-back owner’s championships in the series and will be driven by team owner Kyle Busch, Matt Tifft and Daniel Suarez in 2015.

RELATED: KBM sets 2015 lineup

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"Jerry came to KBM with a history of success working with young drivers, and Darrell thrived under his tutelage the last two seasons," Busch said in a team release. "Now, he’ll get the chance to mentor Daniel (Suarez) and Matt (Tifft) — two more young guys with a lot of potential — and with Eric’s (Phillips) departure, he and Rudy will take on some added responsibility on the competition side."

Phillips moved up to the XFINITY Series and will serve as a crew chief for the No. 18 entry to be driven by Suarez.

RELATED: JGR sets crew chief lineup for 2015

Shannon Rursch, who spent the past season as a crew chief for Turner Scott Motorsports in both the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, will be the crew chief for the No. 54 entry to be driven by Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Justin Boston.

"I’m really honored to be joining KBM — an organization that has a proven track record of being able to win races and championships," Rursch said in a team release. "I’m looking forward to the opportunity to come in and learn what has made them so successful and hopefully bring a few things to the table. I don’t see any reason why Justin can’t go out and win some races and be a leading contender for the Rookie of the Year Award with the equipment we have in place and the resources available to us from Toyota."

As previously announced, Ryan "Rudy" Fugle will be the pit boss for Erik Jones‘ first full-time campaign in the series. The two teamed together for Jones’ first national series win in 2013 at Phoenix. Jones will drive the No. 4 Toyota Tundra.

Last season, Jones, Wallace Jr. and Busch combined for 14 wins, the most ever by an organization in a single season of Camping World Truck Series competition.

The 2015 season will kick off on Feb. 20 at Daytona International Speedway.

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