Posted on by Staff Report

Two-time Camping World Truck champ and sponsor together for 11th consecutive season

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Matt Crafton, winner of the last two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championships, and longtime sponsor Menards announced Thursday that their partnership will extend to 11 years in 2015.

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The No. 88 ThorSport Toyota Tundra driver has sported Menards’ day-glow colors for both titles and all five career series wins.

"To be able to continue our partnership with Menards for the 2015 season is incredible," Crafton said in a team release. "We’ve been together at ThorSport Racing since 2005, and it speaks to the longevity of everyone involved. In this era, long-running partnerships are rare, and incredibly valuable. It shows how committed ThorSport Racing is to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and how committed Menards and their partners are to our No. 88 team."

Menards, a Midwest home-improvement store chain with a long history in racing, has three stock-car championships. In addition to Crafton’s titles, the company also earned one in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards with driver Frank Kimmel in the ThorSport Racing No. 44 Toyota (2013).

"Over the last couple years, we’ve seen the No. 88 team step up and compete at the highest level," team owner Duke Thorson said in a team release. "Our relationship with Menards and their vendor partners is the cornerstone of this program, and we’ve been thrilled to deliver two championships to them in the last two seasons.

"It’s important to the success of ThorSport Racing to keep Matt and the No. 88 Menards team together, and renewing our partnership shows the value the NCWTS and our race program offers our partners year after year. Going into 2015, we’re honored to represent Menards, and their partners both on and off the track."

Posted on by Staff Report

Team will now be called Hillman Smith Motorsports

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Hillman Racing has undergone some rebranding with the addition of West Coast businessman Gordon Smith as the co-owner of the team with Mike Hillman. The team is now known as Hillman Smith Motorsports.

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The addition of Smith as a co-owner has allowed the organization to expand this offseason as they have secured additional Richard Childress Racing race cars, Earnhardt Childress Racing engines for the full 2015 Sprint Cup Series schedule as well as the addition of an in-house, on-site engineering group.

Smith began his involvement with the organization at the start of the 2014 season.

"Adding Gordon Smith as a partner to the racing organization will only strengthen the foundation we have built over the past three years," Hillman said in a release provided by the team. "From finishing 12th in last year’s Daytona 500 to our best finish of fourth last fall at Talladega with Landon behind the wheel, we have seen great results with limited resources. Gordon has shown a passion for the sport and demonstrated a loyalty to our employees that convinced me elevating him to an equity stakeholder will allow us to take the next step in the Sprint Cup arena."

The team will continue to field the No. 40 Chevrolet SS for Landon Cassill out of its Mooresville, North Carolina, shop. The 25-year-old made 34 starts last season in the No. 40 with his best result being a fourth-place finish at Talladega. The result was Cassill’s first career top-five finish in the Sprint Cup Series.

"This partnership is the culmination of a relationship that started with Landon a few years back," Smith said in a team release. "Landon was driving for Mike Hillman in the Cup Series, so we were introduced and I was immediately welcomed into the fold. I believe the intimate feeling of the organization not only attracts sponsors to the team, but I’ve watched over the past year as the involvement of each sponsor has grown. Mike Hillman has established a great team that not only puts a good product on the race track, but makes every event an experience that brings people back to the track. I’m looking forward to being involved in the operation and adding to it."

Posted on by Staff Report

‘Play It Safe’ campaign returns to the No. 34 Ford Fusion in 2015

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For the third consecutive season, CSX and Front Row Motorsports will team up to spread the railroad’s "Play It Safe" message. The company will ride along on Ragan’s Ford Fusion for eight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this season.

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The familiar blue-and-yellow paint scheme will debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway (March 1, 1 p.m. ET, FOX). Other events include the April date at Bristol Motor Speedway, Fourth of July weekend at Daytona International Speedway and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"I’ve really enjoyed working with all the great people at CSX," Ragan said in a team release. "I’ve gotten to visit some rail yards and meet the professionals who keep the trains moving and do it with safety as their top priority. We’re excited to keep spreading the message about playing it safe around trains and railroad tracks with our No. 34 CSX Ford program."

The Jacksonville, Florida-based company works with Front Row’s NASCAR team to reach the Milennial generation of 18-to-34-year-old males, who are most likely to be involved crossing collisions or trespassing on tracks.
 
"If we save just one life, this program is well worth it," CSX Global Director, Brand & Digital Media, John Claybrooks said in a team release. "There are a lot of parallels surrounding the importance of safety on the race track and around railroad tracks. The No. 34 Ford is a great partner communicating this message thoughtfully and creatively."
 
Team owner Bob Jenkins is proud of how his team is the right fit for CSX’s needs.
 
"It will be great to have David and CSX teamed up once again in 2015," Jenkins said. "They’ve done a lot of great work together, not just at the track, but in schools and rail yards talking with kids and CSX employees. We’re really proud of the platform that we’ve been able to offer to get their message out. It’s a great partner success story for our team."

Posted on by Staff Report

Idaho native teams up with company from his home state on Chevrolets

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Boise, Idaho’s Brian Scott will team up with Albertsons from his home state on rides in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the XFINITY Series. Combined with Safeway, the two grocery stores make up the second-largest supermarket chain in North America.

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Richard Childress Racing will partner with the chain on the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro in the XFINITY Series while Scott will drive select Sprint Cup events in the No. 33 Circle Sport Racing Chevrolet SS with Albertsons as a primary sponsor.

Scott has a history with the brand, winning his first Camping World Truck Series race in 2009 at Dover International Speedway with the company on his ride.

"The relationship between Albertsons and my family is a very special one," Scott said in a team release. "This partnership will give me the opportunity to expand those relationships with the company and gain new ones with their associates. Albertsons was a part of my first NASCAR win, and if all things go well, they’ll be a part of my first XFINITY Series win as well."
 
With more than 2,200 stores, 250,000 employees and 27 distribution centers across 34 states, Albertsons’ growth reminds RCR CEO and Chairman Richard Childress of his company’s own rise from a single-car team run by a driver-owner.

"Albertsons is a company rich with history and known for its quality supermarkets, innovation and people," Childress said in a team release. "Joe Albertson opened his first store in 1939 and built the company with a simple philosophy: ‘whatever you do, take care of the customer.’ It’s something we strive to do at RCR every day and we’re proud to represent the Albertsons’ legacy and their 250,000 associates. They are a terrific addition to our family of blue-chip partners here at RCR."

Scott begins his sixth consecutive full-time season in the XFINITY Series, finishing a career-high fourth in the 2014 driver point standings.

Posted on by Staff Report

Rule book polices impeding qualifying attempts, defines side-skirt penalties

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On the eve of the 2015 season, NASCAR issued a bulletin that outlined updates for qualifying procedures, race violations and assessment of unapproved vehicle/mechanical adjustments, modifications, or failures penalty (including the flaring of side skirts).

Updates are highlighted.

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9.3.1. QUALIFYING PROCEDURES
f. All vehicles must remain in the lower lane of the race track while accelerating to an appropriate speed before merging into traffic.

g. Any Competitor that intentionally impedes or interferes with another competitor’s qualifying attempt, or otherwise engages in any unsafe act while on the racing surface (including pit road) during a Qualifying attempt, may be subject to disciplinary action by NASCAR in order to protect the safety and integrity of the Qualifying procedures. Such action by NASCAR may include, but is not limited to disallowing such competitor’s posted qualifying speed(s) and/or removing the vehicle from any additional qualifying round(s) for this Event.

10.7.1. RACE VIOLATIONS
c. Unapproved vehicle/mechanical adjustment(s), modifications, or failures will not be permitted during an Event.

d. Examples of unapproved vehicle/mechanical adjustments(s) or modifications include, but are not limited to the following body/vehicle components as determined by NASCAR XYZ Series Managing Director in his/her sole judgment: (Examples listed)

e. Failure(s) include, but are not limited to, any of the above components detaching, deforming, moving, loosening, breaking and/or otherwise failing to maintain their shape, integrity and intended function, unless attributable, in NASCAR’s judgment, to race contact or the normal demands of racing (i.e. cracked splitter).

10.7.1.1. ASSESSMENT OF UNAPPROVED VEHICLE/MECHANICAL ADJUSTMENT(S), MODIFICATION(S), OR FAILURE(S) PENALTY
a. When the observed vehicle is determined to have an unapproved mechanical adjustment(s), modification, or failure(s) by the NASCAR XYZ Series Managing Director, a directive is given to the Crew Chief for his/her vehicle to report to their assigned pit stall to perform a satisfactory repair to all applicable components before the vehicle will be released back into competition. All repairs must be satisfactory to the NASCAR Officials.

b. When the satisfactory repair is completed during a yellow flag / caution condition the vehicle must restart the race with all other penalty vehicles in respective order, take the green flag on the race track and then serve a green flag pass-thru penalty.

c. When the satisfactory repair(s) penalty is assessed under a green flag condition in the Event, the vehicle must report to their assigned pit stall until all components are repaired. When the NASCAR Official determines all repairs are satisfactory, he/she will release the vehicle back to competition.

d. If any crew member(s) is observed/involved in the cause of the unapproved vehicle/mechanical adjustment(s), modification or failure(s), whether to the team’s vehicle or to another competitor’s vehicle, then that member and the team is subject to a written warning (and any resulting Penalty, if applicable) per Section 12.5.3.1 Warnings and P1 Penalty Options, as determined by the NASCAR XYZ Series Managing Director.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Who does the 2012 champ consider to be the best driver in the sport?

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — What started life as an innocent answer later morphed into a revealing insight from Brad Keselowski about how he rated his peers. But it also illustrated that if there were such a thing as a talent podium of NASCAR drivers, Keselowski has himself on it, but behind reigning Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick and his No. 1 pick, Carl Edwards.

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Keselowski, celebrating his 31st birthday Thursday at NASCAR Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, said his progress in NASCAR’s big leagues led him to the self-assessment that he considered himself a top-three driver in the sport. Pressed to name the other two, the always candid Keselowski complied, putting Edwards atop his list with Harvick a close second.
 
"I personally think just from watching, and I’m not afraid to say it, that Carl Edwards right now is the best driver in the Sprint Cup," Keselowski said. "That’s my personal opinion; it doesn’t make it law or fact. To go with that, you could probably place an argument for Kevin (Harvick) as the second best."
 
Edwards’ efforts in his final season at Roush Fenway Racing were maddeningly inconsistent, and though the veteran struggled with performance at times in 2014, he was able to scratch out two victories — at Bristol Motor Speedway and Sonoma Raceway — and advance to the Eliminator 8 in the new-look Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.
 
"I’ve seen what Carl’s done in cars that didn’t have the speed," Keselowski said. "He has a very diverse skill set. He’s been able to win at tracks like Sonoma and has won at every type of track, I should say, and I feel like he does the best job of any driver I’ve seen out there taking a car that is not fast and finding speed out of it. I think when the times have come that he’s had dominant cars, he’s had dominant performances. He’s shown to me the skill set at every level to be a top driver."
 
His uncanny ability to do less with more made an impression on Keselowski, who said that he considers Edwards a favorite for the 2015 championship in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing. Harvick and new team Stewart-Haas Racing struck similar gold in their first year together last season.
 
"It would not surprise me if they were the team to beat this year," Keselowski said of JGR’s No. 19 Toyota, Edwards’ new team. "There’s something about those new teams — magic comes together."

Posted on by Zack Albert

Organization acknowledges team has contingency plan in place

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kurt Busch said Thursday that he has no timetable for a possible resolution to the legal issues that have shrouded his offseason, but that his team has a contingency plan in place should the matter impact his racing career.
 
Busch spoke at length about the legal proceedings Thursday at the annual NASCAR Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, expressing some mild frustration that the case is now entering its third month. Allegations of domestic assault brought by Busch’s ex-girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll, first surfaced over 90 days ago.

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"The days in court, and now that we’re going close to Day 100 as far as all of the proceedings go, normal situations that happen around these type of situations take 30 minutes, so sometimes preferential treatment can go the wrong way," Busch said. "… So we all have to be patient, we all have to understand that there’s a process that we have to respect, and the fact that no announcement has come out, each day that goes by continues to be good news.
 
"And with the team and their support — they’ve been fantastic, (team co-owner) Gene Haas especially — it’s amazing to have the comfort level that I have, as well as to have told them the truth and understanding of everything, it’s easy to be here and be pumped up about the season that’s 10 days away."
 
Busch will have racing on his mind with starting Friday with the opening of on-track activity at Daytona, heading to Saturday’s Sprint Unlimited (8 p.m. ET, FOX) and the Feb. 22 Daytona 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX). But in the interim, the 36-year-old driver has made multiple offseason trips to a Delaware courtroom for hearings.
 
Driscoll has sought a no-contact order in court related to her claim of an alleged physical confrontation at Dover International Speedway last September. The Delaware state attorney general’s office has yet to rule on the alleged altercation and whether any charges will be handed down.
 
Team co-owner Tony Stewart — like Busch, a former Sprint Cup Series champion — said that his Stewart-Haas Racing team has prepared a backup plan in case the legal proceedings involving Kurt Busch have an unfavorable outcome. Neither NASCAR nor the team have made movement toward removing Busch from his role as full-time driver of the Stewart-Haas No. 41 Chevrolet, opting to let the legal process play out before taking any action.
 
Stewart said that while the team has a contingency plan, he hopes it doesn’t come to that.
 
"We do, but we’re kind of waiting to see, and I’m very hopeful that we won’t have to worry about it," Stewart said. "I feel bad that he’s in that situation right now — that they’re both in that situation — so we have to be smart and we have to have a plan in place if it doesn’t work out for whatever reason."
 
Busch first spoke publicly about the case late last month at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented by Technocom. Thursday in Daytona, he reiterated the theme of his comments from January.
 
"It’s a matter of knowing that the truth has been told and we’ll see how things unfold," Busch said. "The process, we have to wait on what their decision’s going to be."

Posted on by Zack Albert

Driver motivated by last year’s questioning; no such feelings in 2015

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The chatter around Kyle Larson in last year’s "meet the press" session at Daytona International Speedway had a specific tenor to it, with the only thing certain being the uncertainty.

How would the bright-eyed rookie perform, and was team owner Chip Ganassi bringing him to NASCAR’s top-level Sprint Cup Series too early? After last year’s breakout, when he came ultra-close to knocking down the wall for his first big-league stock car win, Larson said there’s some validation to quieting his former detractors.

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"This Media Day’s a lot different than last year’s, for sure — a lot different questions," Larson said Thursday at Daytona International Speedway. "I definitely paid attention to it, people doubting what we were going to be able to do last year and it fueled our team to go out and prove them wrong. I didn’t let it get to me or anything like that.

"Just like anything else, I just go out there and do the best job I can, and I’m going to try to do the same thing this year."

He returns to Daytona this year with more maturity backing his 22 years, some of which comes with being a new father, just weeks after he and girlfriend Katelyn Sweet celebrated the Dec. 22 birth of young Owen Miyata. In terms of racing performance, he’s also matured quickly on the track, wrapping the year with top-10 finishes in nearly half (17 of 36) of the Sprint Cup schedule last season.

After finishing second three times last year and becoming a more regular contender near the front of the pack, the outlook for 2015 is even brighter.

"Last year, nobody had any expectations for me except failing," Larson said. "The expectations are different this year, a little more pressure, but our team’s not paying attention to any of those expectations. We’re just going to go out there and do the best we can. I think we can run up front every week, hopefully, be competitive and try and get a couple wins."

Posted on by Zack Albert

Driver thought commercial was funny, didn’t mean to offend anyone

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Danica Patrick said Thursday she was "definitely disappointed" that a commercial for her sponsor, GoDaddy, did not air as planned during the Super Bowl on Feb. 1.
 
Patrick, appearing at the annual NASCAR Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, was included in an ad that raised the hackles of animal rights activists, upset over a puppy being sold online. When GoDaddy board director Blake Irving decided to pull the commercial from the broadcast, it kept Patrick from padding her record of appearances in Super Bowl commercials (13).

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"I wasn’t in the Super Bowl for a commercial, but I was in a Super Bowl commercial," Patrick said. "It just didn’t run."
 
Patrick also scuttled the notion that GoDaddy intentionally created a controversial commercial in order to draw attention to the company.
 
"GoDaddy had every intention to run that commercial, and I feel like I heard from a lot of people that it was choreographed and it was planned," Patrick said." I think that’s so funny. We thought it was a really funny, slightly left-side joke, but it really was not intentional.
 
"So was I surprised? I don’t think anything in this culture surprises me any more. People have opinions about everything, and especially when you get into that world of animal rights, tree rights or whatever rights. They all have an opinion."
 
The Arizona-based Internet domain registrar said when it withdrew the commercial that the puppy, named Buddy, came from a "reputable and loving breeder." But GoDaddy found one notable side benefit from filming the ad — the company wound up adopting the commercial’s star pooch with the job title of Chief Companion Officer.
 
"I think that Blake handled it as great as he could have," Patrick said of the company’s board director. "I feel like he made the most of the moment and showed the character of GoDaddy and of himself and said fine, we’re not here to rock the boat, we’re not here to make people angry and we’ll pull the commercial and run something else."
 
Though Patrick co-starred with Buddy, the dog she shares with boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr. still has her heart. The miniature Siberian Husky — named Dallas Stenhouse, with just fewer than 4,500 followers on Twitter — came from a breeder in Asheville, North Carolina, a fact that Patrick offered a faux apology for Thursday.
 
"I looked hard to find my dog online. Sorry. I did," she said. "I love my dog and I take great care of her. I was up at 1:45 in the morning taking her for a walk in the dark last night because she had to go out. She found a good home, so how bad can it really be? The Internet is a source for information. It was really hard to find a miniature Siberian Husky, but we found one."

Posted on by Nascar

No. 48 driver tells story of how instrumental Gordon was in his early career

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As Jimmie Johnson continues his pursuit of a seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title, teammate Jeff Gordon renews his own pursuit for a fifth championship.
 
The biggest difference, outside the career totals, is that Johnson, at 39, has time on his side.
 
Gordon, at 43, does not. But not because of his age, as his highly competitive 2014 effort proved. While his career could be extended by several years, Gordon announced last month that that would not be the case. The 2015 season will be his last.

MORE: Full coverage of Gordon’s final full-time season

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"I look at my own arc in life and in motorsports," Johnson said Thursday during the annual NASCAR Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, "and the fact that he gave me my chance, created a team for me to go racing, and then what has happened from there.
 
"You won’t see another competitor out there singing his praises, I think, like me."
 
Before Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick offered Gordon a piece of a new Sprint Cup team that would debut in 2001, there was no No. 48 team at HMS. Johnson, a former off-road racer, was a level below Sprint Cup, looking for a break.
 
Gordon, already a three-time champion, was a fellow racer from the west coast, one of the first to successfully make the crossover from open wheel sprints to the heavier stock cars. He might not have known who Johnson was, but Johnson surely knew of Gordon’s exploits.
 
"I doubt he’ll remember and we never had a chance to formally meet," Johnson said, but at test sessions, I guess in ’99 and even in 2000 when he was running some (XFINITY) stuff … every now and then the 24 car would be there and I would always try to linger by his pit and try to introduce myself to him, and it never worked out."
 
Eventually, Johnson said he took matter into his own hands. His team at the time, owned by William Herzog, was exiting the series and he needed career advice.

RELATED: Johnson reflects on Chase format a year later
 
At Michigan in the summer of 2000, he got more than that.
 
"The only opportunities I had involved switching manufacturers … and I knew Jeff left Bill Davis and Ford and went to Rick Hendrick and Chevy and I thought he had like the magic answer, so I introduced myself at the drivers’ meeting, asked him for a few minutes of time," Johnson said. "He brought me back to the transporter, we talked briefly before the start of the race, and after I told him my situation, he gave me some advice, and then said, ‘you’re not going to believe this, but we’re talking about starting a fourth team, and your name is the only name that’s been brought up.’
 
"So just in a 30‑minute window of time, what all went on, starting out trying to work up the nerve to introduce myself to him, looking for some advice, and then practically leaving with the job was just insane. It was the wildest 30 minutes of my life."
 
But it’s not only the impact on his own career, Johnson said, that stands out. Gordon opened the door for NASCAR on a number of levels on and off the race track.

RELATED: Find out how Kahne learned of Gordon’s decision
 
"I think now since we know it’s his final year, we’re all looking back and having some ‘aha’ moments,” Johnson said.
 
"He really was instrumental, in my opinion, in helping car owners and sponsors realize that there are drivers far and wide that can come in and be competitive, and he opened the door for (Tony) Stewart, and Stewart opened the door further for myself and Kasey Kahne, Ricky Stenhouse. Now we have more drivers from the state of California than any other state; it’s wild to think in NASCAR that that’s the case, and I think Jeff is responsible for that trend happening.
 
"You look at when Jeff and Dale Earnhardt and their competitive nature in our sport, kind of falling into mainstream media at that point — we needed a clean‑cut, well‑spoken person to kind of carry the sport. Jeff was that guy. His dominance helped our sport."