2015 XFINITY Series driver tracker

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Staff Report

Find out which drivers are piloting each car for full-time teams

RELATED: Full-time driver trackers for Sprint Cup Series | Camping World Truck Series

*Note: Kyle Busch is out for an "undetermined period of time" after sustaining a compound fracture of the right lower leg in the NASCAR XFINITY Series opener at Daytona.

Car #	Driver	Manufacturer	Team
0	Harrison Rhodes	Chevrolet	JD Motorsports with Gary Keller
01	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	JD Motorsports with Gary Keller
1	Elliott Sadler	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing
2	Brian Scott	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
3	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
4	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	JD Motorsports with Gary Keller
6	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing
7	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	JR Motorsports
8	Blake Koch	Toyota	TriStar Motorsports
9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	JR Motorsports
14	Cale Conley	Toyota	TriStar Motorsports
16	Ryan Reed	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing
17	Tanner Berryhill	Toyota	Vision Racing
18	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
19	Scott Lagasse Jr./Mike Bliss	Toyota	TriStar Motorsports
20	Erik Jones/Matt Kenseth	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
22	Ryan Blaney/Brad Keselowski/Joey Logano	Ford	Team Penske
24	Eric McClure	Toyota	JGL Racing
25	John Wes Townley/Dylan Lupton	Chevrolet	Athenian Motorsports
28	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	JGL Racing
33	Brandon Jones/Austin Dillon/Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
39	Ryan Sieg	Chevrolet	RSS Racing
42	Kyle Larson/Brennan Poole/Dylan Kwasniewski	Chevrolet	HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi
43	Dakoda Armstrong	Ford	Richard Petty Motorsports
44	David Starr	Toyota	TriStar Motorsports
51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	Jeremy Clements Racing
52	Joey Gase	Chevrolet	Jimmy Means Racing
54	Kyle Busch*	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
55	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	Viva Auto Group
60	Chris Buescher	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing
62	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
88	Dale Earnhardt Jr./Kevin Harvick/Kasey Kahne/Ben Rhodes	Chevrolet	JR Motorsports
90	Martin Roy	Chevrolet	King Autosport

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Staff Report

Paul Menard will lead the Sprint Unlimited field to green

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The lineup has been set for Saturday’s Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway (8:15 p.m. ET, FOX).

Paul Menard and Kasey Kahne will be on the front row as was revealed during a lineup drawing Friday afternoon.

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The 75-lap race will be split into two segments this season with a competition caution coming at Lap 25 to separate the segments of the non-points event.

Denny Hamlin won the race last season, edging Brad Keselowski by 0.197 seconds for the victory.

This year’s field was expanded to 25 drivers with eligible drivers including all 2014 Coors Light Pole Award winners, 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers as well as former Sprint Unlimited race winners and former Daytona 500 pole winners who competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series full-time in 2014. The remaining spots in the field were filled by drivers highest in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver standings who are not already eligible.

Four eligible drivers chose not to participate in this year’s event: Brian Scott, David Gilliland, Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger. Their absences opened up spots for Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Casey Mears and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to make the field via 2014 driver points.

The full lineup of 25 drivers is as follows:

Pos	Car	Driver	Team
1	No. 27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing
2	No. 5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports
3	No. 22	Joey Logano	Team Penske
4	No. 2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske
5	No. 18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
6	No. 3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing
7	No. 16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing
8	No. 4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing
9	No. 11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing
10	No. 78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing
11	No. 24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
12	No. 31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing
13	No. 41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing
14	No. 19	Carl Edwards	Joe Gibbs Racing
15	No. 10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing
16	No. 20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing
17	No. 48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
18	No. 15	Clint Bowyer	Michael Waltrip Racing
19	No. 43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports
20	No. 17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing
21	No. 1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing
22	No. 14	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing
23	No. 13	Casey Mears	Germain Racing
24	No. 88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports
25	No. 42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Zack Albert

Driver receives black flag after not taking mandatory driver weigh-in

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — On-track performance might weigh on Tony Stewart’s mind. But off-the-track weighing clearly wasn’t on his mind before Friday’s Sprint Unlimited practice at Daytona International Speedway.

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Stewart was the subject of the season’s first summons to the NASCAR hauler, just after opening practice began on the 2.5-mile track. The consultation came moments after his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet received the black flag.

The three-time Sprint Cup Series champion had neglected to take the mandatory driver weigh-in before the track was open. He initially ignored a radio communication to report back to the garage, resulting in the hauler call.

Stewart brushed past reporters, vehemently refusing comment after series officials bent his ear. But Stewart issued a statement of sorts via Twitter:

Well NASCAR felt compelled to make me the first to be called to the trailer 10 min into the first practice of the year. #greatstart #NASCAR

— Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart) February 14, 2015

Stewart wasn’t the only driver who failed to pay a visit to the scales before Friday’s pair of Sprint Unlimited practices. Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer were both required to weigh in after initially getting into their cars and taking to the track.

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Zack Albert

Kennedy makes Red Horse Racing debut in NextEra Energy Resources 250

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ben Kennedy’s balancing act of full-time driver with full-time team owner entered its next chapter Friday morning with the unveiling of its 2015 plans.

Kennedy, 23, took the wraps off his team’s entry in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, debuting the No. 3 Toyota that will be driven by 16-year-old driver Kaz Grala, fresh from his rookie season in the series. Sponsorship will be provided by Kiklos Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Though Kennedy still qualifies as a young adult as a recent graduate of the University of Florida, fielding a car for Grala — who only has his learner’s permit to drive on the streets of his home state of Massachusetts — has given him some perspective on the relative attributes of age.

"He makes me feel old," Kennedy said with a laugh. "He’s 16 years old, but he doesn’t seem like it, though, because he handles himself so well. But Kaz is really a great driver and I’m looking forward to having him on board. He really impressed everyone last year."

There’s also an element of mutual admiration from Grala, as well as a shared background. Kennedy and Grala both drove for Turner Scott Motorsports last season before that team disbanded, leaving both to seek new opportunities this season. Kennedy found his opening last December by joining Red Horse Racing full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series; Grala found his with Kennedy.

"I think he’s a really good driver and a really great team owner," Grala said. "He’s hired some great people for this team. I think this is a top-notch group and I really think that’s going to show in the results. Haven’t turned a lap in the car, so it’s all still a little bit of mystery, but I am really confident in them. After seeing the way they’ve prepared this car in the offseason, if our results are anything like the preparation of this car, I think it’ll be top-level."

At his tidy Daytona Beach race shop, just a stone’s throw from the shores of the Halifax River, the great-grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. proudly wears the role of team ownership. Banners heralding the accomplishments of Kennedy’s team sway from the ceiling, all part of a friendly competition for rafter space with his great-uncle, Jim France, and the partnered IMSA VisitFlorida.com Racing team, which shares space in the same city block.

Maintaining dual interests in driving duties and the business side of things bear the risk of spreading Kennedy thin, but it’s more a matter of keeping his options open — if one career arc falters, it never hurts to be invested in a backup plan.

"Ben is a racer and he’s totally passionate about it. When you talk to him about the business, he’s totally focused on racing right now," said Lesa France Kennedy, Ben’s mother and the CEO of International Speedway Corporation. "That’s all I’ve heard from him. He’s got ambitions in that area and having said that, he’s learning an awful lot about the business through this whole effort and the background here. I think regardless of what he gets involved in down the road, whether it’s the business of NASCAR, maybe he takes it and does something different. I’m open to that; he’s open to that. He’ll have a really deep background."

Both prongs to Kennedy’s 2015 plans set sail in the coming days, both in proximity to his modest shop. Grala will be competing in Sunday night’s K&N East opener at New Smyrna Speedway, and Kennedy will make his Red Horse Racing debut when the Camping World Truck Series lifts the curtain on the season in next Friday night’s NextEra Energy Resources 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1) at Daytona International Speedway.

Both sides have kept Kennedy busy, but it’s a rush the driver/owner welcomes.

"I think just all of it together is a great experience," Kennedy said. "I’m the type of person that I can never stay still — I always want to be doing something, so having this on the side, too, just adds that much more excitement to it. At one point, I had college going on, I was racing, and then I had this team, too. It’s just all this stuff going on. I was really just kind of hitting it off and enjoying it. It came together again this year and it worked out."

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Nascar

Bruce: Can SHR star join Johnson as drivers to defend title in Chase-era?

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — For the first time since he was suddenly thrust into NASCAR’s premier series back in 2001, Kevin Harvick begins the new racing season wearing the title of defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion.

Thus far the 39-year-old seems to wear it well. Whether it will wear on him, or his Stewart-Haas Racing team, remains one of many unanswered questions before the season gets underway.

Defending a title is tricky business in NASCAR, made even more so with the arrival of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the subsequent re-tooling of the original 10-race format and most recently the tweaking of the subsequent retooling of the program.

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Format changes have been just one issue standing between drivers, teams and the title. Jeff Gordon, a four-time champ back in the pre-Chase days, has yet to celebrate a title won under the 10-race system. Thus he’s had no Chase title to defend.

Likewise, Matt Kenseth won the last outright "points" title, but so far has been unable to solve the riddle of the Chase despite his many attempts.

Kurt Busch won the first title back in in the days of Chase 1.0, but has rarely been heard from since.

Others were more fortunate. Tony Stewart was the first to show a team that could win straight up could also win when put into a 10-race showdown, winning a pre-Chase crown, then two more during seasons after the field was reset.

Jimmie Johnson has often been lauded (cursed?) for he and his team’s ability to dominate in the "postseason," and while it’s a fact that all six of the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s titles came after the arrival of the Chase, Johnson’s No. 48 was no ugly duckling before that — as his record shows.

With Johnson winning so often, few others have had the opportunity to defend a championship, and none done so successfully. Can Harvick turn the tide?

Stewart, who co-owns Harvick’s SHR team, says teams can do two things after winning a title, either become complacent with what’s been accomplished and ease off the throttle or continue to feed off the thrill of the battle and the success.

One goal has been met, Harvick said, but others remain.

Situations change. Rules change. Times change. Harvick, it appears, thrives on those changes.

A former team owner himself, Harvick put away his Nationwide (now XFINITY) and Camping World Truck Series teams to focus on his own quest for a championship after the 2011 season.

For the first time in his Sprint Cup career, he changed teams, moving from Richard Childress Racing to SHR before the start of 2014.

His personal life has had major transformations as well, with the birth of a son and most recently a re-location to the Charlotte area.

"In the end, we changed our whole life to try to accomplish everything that we did last year," Harvick said. "We were able to pull that off and in three years, basically, change everything that we have done. So, that’s very rewarding for all the people … everybody who has been involved in it."

While 25 teams will return to the track here this weekend at Daytona International Speedway for Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited (8:15 p.m. ET, FOX), the official start of the season begins next week with the season-opening Daytona 500, scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 22 (1 p.m. ET, FOX).

The list of NASCAR premier series champions is a short one — Harvick is just the 30th to wear the crown.

It’s more important that he got here, he said, than that it took him so long to finally arrive.

"I think I respect it a lot more and understand how hard it is to get to this point and really know the work and effort that and how many people it takes to be a part of it," he said.

That hard work and effort paid off. Now it’s time to see if success is fleeting, or if the driver and team that ended 2014 on top can continue to be the best.

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Staff Report

Catch up on the latest driver and crew chief movements

RELATED: Sprint Cup drivers and crew chiefs on the move in 2015
RELATED: Full-time driver trackers for XFINITY Series | Camping World Truck Series

Full-time teams listed. Items in red indicate a change from the previous season.

*Note: NASCAR has suspended Kurt Busch indefinitely. Stewart-Haas Racing has announced that Regan Smith will be the interim driver at Daytona and Atlanta.

**Note: Kyle Busch is out for an "undetermined period of time" after sustaining a compound fracture of the right lower leg in the NASCAR XFINITY Series opener at Daytona.

***Note: David Ragan is subbing for Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Toyota starting at Atlanta. A sub for the No. 34 Ford is not known at this time.

Car #	Driver	Crew Chief	Manufacturer	Team
1	Jamie McMurray	Matt McCall	Chevrolet	Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
2	Brad Keselowski	Paul Wolfe	Ford	Team Penske
3	Austin Dillon	Gil Martin	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
4	Kevin Harvick	Rodney Childers	Chevrolet	Stewart-Haas Racing
5	Kasey Kahne	Keith Rodden	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
6	Trevor Bayne	Bob Osborne	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing
7	Alex Bowman	Kevin Manion	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing
9	Sam Hornish Jr.	Drew Blickensderfer	Ford	Richard Petty Motorsports
10	Danica Patrick	Daniel Knost	Chevrolet	Stewart-Haas Racing
11	Denny Hamlin	Dave Rogers	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
13	Casey Mears	Bootie Barker	Chevrolet	Germain Racing
14	Tony Stewart	Chad Johnston	Chevrolet	Stewart-Haas Racing
15	Clint Bowyer	Brian Pattie	Toyota	Michael Waltrip Racing
16	Greg Biffle	Matt Puccia	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing
17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Nick Sandler	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing
18	Kyle Busch**	Adam Stevens	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
19	Carl Edwards	Darian Grubb	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
20	Matt Kenseth	Jason Ratcliff	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
22	Joey Logano	Todd Gordon	Ford	Team Penske
23	J.J. Yeley	Joe Williams	Toyota	BK Racing
24	Jeff Gordon	Alan Gustafson	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
26	Jeb Burton	Patrick Donahue	Toyota	BK Racing
27	Paul Menard	Justin Alexander	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
30	Ron Hornaday Jr.	Pat Tryson	Chevrolet	The Motorsports Group
31	Ryan Newman	Luke Lambert	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
32	Bobby Labonte/Mike Bliss/Boris Said	Frank Stoddard/Clint Cram	Ford	Go FAS Racing
34	David Ragan***	Derrick Finley	Ford	Front Row Motorsports
35	Cole Whitt	Randy Cox	Ford	Front Row Motorsports
38	David Gilliland	Donnie Wingo	Ford	Front Row Motorsports
40	Landon Cassill	Mark Hillman	Chevrolet	Hillman Smith Motorsports
41	Kurt Busch*	Tony Gibson	Chevrolet	Stewart-Haas Racing
42	Kyle Larson	Chris Heroy	Chevrolet	Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
43	Aric Almirola	Trent Owens	Ford	Richard Petty Motorsports
46	Michael Annett	Jay Guy	Chevrolet	HScott Motorsports
47	AJ Allmendinger	Brian Burns	Chevrolet	JTG Daugherty Racing
48	Jimmie Johnson	Chad Knaus	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
51	Justin Alllgaier	Steve Addington	Chevrolet	HScott Motorsports
55	Brian Vickers	Billy Scott	Toyota	Michael Waltrip Racing
62	Brian Scott/Brendan Gaughan	Zach McGowan	Chevrolet	Premium Motorsports
78	Martin Truex Jr.	Cole Pearn	Chevrolet	Furniture Row Racing
88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Greg Ives	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
98	Josh Wise	Gene Nead	Chevrolet	Phil Parsons Racing

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Brad Norman

A look at where you do — and don’t — want your favorite driver to finish

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Editor’s note: This story has been updated throughout.

There are no points awarded for performance in the Sprint Unlimited, but there’s still plenty at stake. History has proven that.

Not only is it incredibly likely that the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion is in Saturday night’s field, but it’s also likely that he or she will perform well in the 25-car, 75-lap exhibition at Daytona International Speedway that kicks off the season.

Here’s where you want your driver to finish on Feb. 14 (8 p.m. ET, FOX) if you want him or her to have the best chance to be standing on the championship podium in November. Oh, and where you don’t want them to finish? We’ll go over that, too.

Keep this handy when you watch Saturday’s action, and check back for an updated version of this story after the race ends.

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The Good

• There have been 36 Sprint Unlimited races, with the first one coming in 1979. In 33 of 36 races (91.7 percent), the eventual series champion for that year was in the field.

1st or 4th

• The most common finishing position in a Sprint Unlimited for a driver who would go on to win the championship that same year? It’s a tie between first and fourth — there have been seven instances of each (19.4 percent each). Dale Earnhardt won the Sprint Unlimited (then called the Busch Clash) in four of his seven championship seasons. The most recent driver to accomplish this feat is Tony Stewart in 2002. The most recent driver to finish fourth in the Unlimited and then win the title that same year is Brad Keselowski in 2012.

Editor’s note: Matt Kenseth won Saturday night’s race, and Casey Mears finished fourth.

5.8

• The average finish in the Sprint Unlimited for a driver who won the title that same year is 5.8.

Editor’s note: Kyle Larson finished fifth Saturday night, and Joey Logano finished sixth.

The OK

5th place

• A driver has finished fifth place in the Unlimited and then gone on to win the title in four different instances (11 percent). The most recent driver to do this was Kevin Harvick last year.

3rd, 11th, 14th

• Future champions have finished third, 11th and 14th in the Sprint Unlimited three times apiece. The latest: Jimmie Johnson finished 14th in 2013, Tony Stewart finished 11th in 2011 and Johnson finished third in 2008.

Editor’s note: Carl Edwards finished third Saturday night; Kevin Harvick finished 11th and Greg Biffle was 14th.

The Ugly

DNF

• Worried about your favorite driver possibly getting in a wreck or having car problems? The odds are long, but three times a driver did not complete the exhibition race but still won the title that year — Bobby Allison in 1983, Jeff Gordon in 1998 and Johnson in 2013.

Editor’s note: Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray and Brad Keselowski did not finish Saturday’s race.

No chance

• Numbers to watch out for. A driver has never finished 16th or worse in the Unlimited and won the title. Other finishing positions that have never produced a future champion: seventh, 10th and 12th.

Editor’s note: Jeff Gordon finished seventh, Danica Patrick finished 10th and Ryan Newman finished 14th.

Posted on February 12, 2015 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 February 12, 2015 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 February 12, 2015 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."