Page 2566 – Official Site Of NASCAR

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Staff Report

Inductee for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2015

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

(b. 10/8/1955)

Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia

Championships: Premier — 1988 (driver)

Competed: 1976-2012

Starts: 828

Wins: 44

Poles: 55

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

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

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

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

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

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Staff Report

Inductee for 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame class

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

(b. 8/17/1930)

Hometown: Taylorsville, N.C.

Championships: Premier — 1960 (driver/owner)

Competed: 1956-64

Starts: 233

Wins: 28

Poles: 36

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

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

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

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

Posted on January 27, 2015December 20, 2017 by Staff Report

Inductee for 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame class

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

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

(b. 5/29/1922 — d. 1/19/1964)

Hometown: Norfolk, Virginia

Championships: Premier — 1962, ’63

Modified — 1953

Competed: 1952-64

Starts: 229

Wins: 25

Poles: 18

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

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

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

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

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

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics

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

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Staff Report

Inductee for 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame class

Wendell Scott wasn’t the first African-American to compete in NASCAR’s premier division. But the Danville, Virginia native was the first of his race to compete full time in the series, and the first to win at NASCAR’s highest level.

Scott began racing in 1947 after three years of service in the U.S. Army motor pool and experienced immediate success behind the wheel. He won over 100 races in the next decade at local area tracks and claimed the 1959 NASCAR Virginia Sportsman championship.

(b. 8/29/1921 — d. 12/23/1990)

Hometown: Danville, Virginia

Competed: 1961-73

Starts: 495

Wins: 1

Poles: 1

Scott made his first start in NASCAR’s premier series March 4, 1961 at Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He made 23 starts that season, posting five top-five finishes.

On Dec. 1, 1963 at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida, Scott became the first African-American to win a NASCAR premier series event. Scott won the third race of the 1964 season, a 100-mile feature, after starting 15th.

Over 13 years, Scott would make 495 starts, which ranks 37th on the all-time list. In his career, Scott accumulated 20 top-five finishes including eight of them in the same season he won his first career race, 1964. Scott also posted 147 top-10 finishes, more than 25 percent of the races he entered.

Scott’s legacy extends to present day with NASCAR awarding annual scholarships in his honor. In addition, the Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award is given to a diverse or female driver in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series who has demonstrated significant contributions on and off the track.

Posted on January 27, 2015December 20, 2017 by Staff Report

Inductee for 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame class

Fred Lorenzen was one of NASCAR’s first true superstars even though he was a "part-time" driver, never running more than 29 of the season’s 50-plus races.

Lorenzen got his start in NASCAR as a mechanic with the famed Holman-Moody team in 1960, and was elevated to lead driver by the end of the year. He won three races in only 15 starts the following season.

His most productive season came in 1963 as he finished with six wins, 21 top-fives and 23 top-10s in 29 starts. Despite missing 26 races that season, he finished third in the standings.

(b. 12/30/1934)

Hometown: Elmhurst, Illinois

Competed: 1956-72

Starts: 158

Wins: 26

Poles: 32

In 1964, he entered 16 of the scheduled 62 races but won eight, including five consecutive starts. During that stretch, Lorenzen led 1,679 of the possible 1,953 laps, one of the most dominant runs in NASCAR history. In 1965, he won two of NASCAR’s major events — the Daytona 500 and the World 600.

Lorenzen retired in 1967 but made a brief comeback from 1970-72. His career winning percentage of 16.86 remains fifth-best of all time.

Lorenzen was an extremely popular driver with fans, to the point that he had several nicknames — "Golden Boy," "Fearless Freddie" and "The Elmhurst Express." He was one of NASCAR’s first stars to hail from outside the sport’s Southern roots.

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

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics

Year	Age	Races	Win	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Laps	Led	AvSt	AvFn	RAF	Miles	LLF
1956	22	7 of 56	0	0	0	0	778	0	16.0	21.9	3	424.6	0
1960	26	10 of 44	0	3	5	0	2086	93	12.5	17.8	6	2563.5	1
1961	27	15 of 52	3	6	6	4	2657	781	5.9	17.3	7	3078.9	5
1962	28	19 of 53	2	11	12	3	4435	439	6.8	10.9	11	4491.2	4
1963	29	29 of 55	6	21	23	8	7484	2419	3.8	7.2	22	6679.3	15
1964	30	16 of 62	8	10	10	7	4426	2375	4.4	10.0	11	4237.8	9
1965	31	17 of 55	4	5	6	6	3677	981	3.5	15.1	6	4042.1	5
1966	32	11 of 49	2	6	6	2	3066	782	4.1	12.5	6	3473.5	3
1967	33	5 of 49	1	2	2	0	895	23	4.0	12.2	2	1417.6	2
1970	36	7 of 48	0	1	1	1	1165	50	9.6	27.1	1	1724.9	0
1971	37	14 of 48	0	7	9	1	3239	152	7.4	12.7	8	5047.5	1
1972	38	8 of 31	0	3	4	0	1801	4	9.0	14.0	4	2839.0	1
12 years		158	26	75	84	32	35709	8099	6.3	13.4	87	40019.9	46

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Staff Report

Dates for all three national series unveiled with new network partners

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

The 2015 NASCAR national series schedules (non-points races noted in parentheses):

Posted on January 27, 2015 by George Winkler

There appears to be room for improvement between Toyota teams  

RELATED: Latest from Charlotte Media Tour

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Clint Bowyer disagreed with Kyle Busch‘s style of delivery, but when Busch said the Toyota teams of Michael Waltrip Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing were "idiots" for not working as closely together as other alliances, Bowyer couldn’t deny the importance of that type of collaboration in today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing.

The success of teams like Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing working together has provided a strong example to follow, with drivers from each of those four-car super teams claiming the past two championships and three of the past four. And like it or not, that could be putting more pressure on others to follow suit.  

"I wish we could go back to no simulation, no testing, show up with a group of guys and get the most out of a weekend," Bowyer said Tuesday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented by Technocom. "Unfortunately, those days are over. … The success, I’m afraid from here on out, is going to be in numbers."

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

Those numbers grew when Joe Gibbs Racing expanded to four Cup cars for the 2015 season, adding veteran driver Carl Edwards to a team of Busch, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth. Between JGR’s four Toyotas and Michael Waltrip Racing‘s two full-time cars, the teams appear to be better positioned to work together. But that’s not what’s happening, according to Busch.

 "I’m very vocal about it because I feel like we’re idiots by not continuing to work in the right direction in order to put our companies together and do the right things for Toyota and for all of us collectively," Busch said Monday. "Nothing has happened where Joe Gibbs Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing are going to collectively work together as in-depthly as Stewart-Haas Racing and Hendrick Motorsports are."

  Bowyer admitted HMS and SHR are setting the benchmark for team alliances, because, as he says, you’re racing against eight cars and their collective information when you take on those teams on a weekly basis. So what is it that MWR and JGR can do better?  

"No doubt, more data points would be potentially more helpful," MWR co-owner Rob Kauffman said. "That’s something that if we can work with our fellow Toyota teams to collaborate in that regard, we’d certainly like to do that. It’s really a three-legged stool between MWR, JGR and Toyota TRD as they call themselves. That’s kind of how we’re organized amongst ourselves as we look at all of those three points and what can you do to raise the level of those three together."

Michael Waltrip agreed with Kauffman that more could be done between the two teams.  

"Could we collaborate on more? Yes, and I think that’s ultimately the goal," Waltrip said. "I think everyone sees the success that organizations have by working together."

  But Waltrip pointed out that the super-team approach isn’t the only way to reach success in Sprint Cup.  

"Well, then you look at Roger’s (Penske) two cars and they do pretty good and there’s only two of them," Waltrip said. "We feel like that there’s going to be some advantages by collaborating with Gibbs more and we continue to work toward that." 

Of course Bowyer, in his own tongue-in-cheek way, had a suggestion for better cooperation between the teams.  

"If we could get Kyle to work better with us, I think it would be beneficial for sure," Bowyer said with a laugh.

MORE: Bowyer on Gordon: ‘It’s kind of like a divorce’

Posted on January 26, 2015 by

Is veteran next driver to change teams, thrive?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — By the time late January rolls around, most people have long since abandoned their New Year’s resolutions, an apathetic tone clear as they think to themselves, "I guess there’s always next year."

Carl Edwards is not like most people.

In addition to a new sense of rejuvenation so apparent it was practically dripping from the sleeves of his crisp, navy blue suit, the freshly minted driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is taking the popular New Year’s resolution phrase "New Year, New You" to a new level, tossing new team, new teammates, new manufacturer and new crew chief into the mix — and he couldn’t be more thrilled.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

"This year’s a little bit different," Edwards said Monday during the Charlotte Motor Speedway NASCAR Media Tour presented by Technocom. "It reminds me of my first year full time in the Cup Series. I feel like I’ve really got to prove myself. I feel a little anxious; a little nervous about it. It’s nice. I haven’t had that feeling for a long time and it’s a motivator. I’m as focused as I’ve ever been and I’m excited as I’ve ever been. This is a neat opportunity for me.

"I’m just excited to get to learn from these guys and get to race under the JGR banner for Toyota. We had a great test at Charlotte and I’m really ready to go. I’ve been wearing my driver’s suit a lot."

The veteran sounds like a kid itching for the first day of school, right down to wearing his new clothes before he even has to.

Edwards has every right to be excited for the 2015 season. After spending his entire premier series career with Roush Fenway Racing, his racing tenure seemed to hit a high mark in 2011 when he finished runner-up to Tony Stewart, stalling somewhat in the years since.

The 35-year-old was ready for a change of scenery, but needed some assurance that making such a landmark move would be the right choice.

Seeing the success of the sport’s newest champion, Kevin Harvick, switch organizations to helm a newly formed team and create a four-car organization — sound familiar? — certainly didn’t hurt.

"To make this decision, it’s obviously the toughest decision I’ve had to make in my life, period," Edwards said. "But I looked around and all these guys were making changes and doing very well. … Kevin and Ryan (Newman) this year basically switched teams and (finished) one-two. … Even if you take Tony Stewart‘s change, when he left Joe Gibbs Racing, I thought that was crazy. That didn’t even seem like it made any sense, but it spurred great performance. Joey Logano, he made a change; huge performance. At the same time, (former Roush teammate and current JGR teammate) Matt Kenseth came over and filled Joey’s seat and his performance went through the roof.

"I didn’t understand that until we first made the announcement. I got that feeling … of ‘Man, I’ve got to go prove myself.’ That little bit of insecurity that every driver walks around with for a long time. I hadn’t had that feeling for a while and I’m curious to see if that’s it. But either way I hope I can do the same thing that those guys have done and have a great year." 

With Harvick being the ultimate example of what a change of scenery can do, Edwards perhaps will identify a little closer with Kenseth’s situation of two seasons ago.

After Kenseth made the jump to from Roush to JGR following the 2012 season, the he came out and won a career-high seven races in 2013 to lead the series and finish runner-up to Jimmie Johnson.

That said, Kenseth doesn’t know if the transition will come as easily to Edwards.

"It’s probably a little bit different of a situation because it’s starting a whole new team for Carl, but he’s a guy who’s been in one place for a while and is making a jump," Kenseth said. "That’s never easy to do, to leave some place where you’re comfortable and you understand how it works and you’ve won some races. I know what it feels like."

Even if the No. 19 team stumbles out of the gate, it’s something for which Edwards is prepared.

He also feels that the new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format plays to the benefit of newly formed teams, much like his own.

With a ban on private testing and limited seat time thus far (just a short tire test at Charlotte in December), Edwards is almost expecting to have some bugs to work out in the early going.

"It was possible that we were going to go to Daytona and not have any practice in the car. That was a little scary," he said. "But if you look at the Chase format, it allows for some growing pains. You can go 20 races and then hit your stride and still be a championship team. We feel like with this new format, there’s not a lot of pressure to start. We can go out and find our way.

"I believe the Chase format favors guys that have made changes. If you look across the board, people are probably more likely to make driver and crew chief changes, team changes really all that stuff with this format because really you can go 15 races or 20 races and figure things out and still be in the Chase and win the championship. That 4 team (of Harvick) proved it last year. Brand new team. They worked out all the bugs all year and they went and (won the championship)."

So, given that Edwards appears to be in the prime of his career, with a crew chief in Darian Grubb that he touts as a "genius" and the stars aligning the way they did for Kenseth two years ago and Harvick last season, does this mean that Edwards will finally break through for his first title? Is he the driver to beat?

"I hope so," he said. "If I take a look as objectively as I can, Darian Grubb is an amazing crew chief. He’s just amazing. … I feel like I have experience and I’ve learned a lot and I feel like I’m in the best form I’ve ever been as a driver.

"We should have opportunities to go and perform at a high level. I’m excited to be a part of a four-car team that is this stout. These guys are amazing."

Posted on January 26, 2015 by

Six drivers will compete in diverse driver development program

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR Drive for Diversity (D4D), the leading developmental platform for female and multicultural drivers and pit crew members, announced its 2015 class today. The program welcomes four talented program newcomers to the roster of six drivers striving to transition into the sport’s national series spotlight. Rev Racing, the program’s competition arm, has played a key role in the development of 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year Kyle Larson and NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers Darrell Wallace Jr. and Daniel Suarez.

"Taking steps to find and develop young female and multicultural athletes who could represent the future of NASCAR is at the core of our organization’s mission," said Jim Cassidy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations. "We were impressed by the talent displayed at the Combine [in October of 2014], and are eager to help this group develop their strengths on and off the track."

Rev Racing will field four teams in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and two in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. The 2015 class is led by returning K&N Pro Series East driver Jay Beasley and Devon Amos, who after an impressive 2014 performance in the Whelen All-American Series earned a spot in the K&N Pro Series East.

The 2015 NASCAR D4D roster includes:

Devon Amos: Returning to the team, the 23-year-old Rio Rancho, New Mexico, native will make the jump to the K&N Pro Series East after two full seasons in the Whelen All-American Series.

Jay Beasley: Finishing 13th overall and sixth in a loaded Sunoco Rookie of the Year field in the K&N Pro Series East last season, the 23-year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada will return for a second season, aiming to best his rookie campaign.

Collin Cabre: After an impressive NASCAR D4D Combine performance, the 21-year-old Thonotosassa, Florida, native will compete in the K&N Pro Series East in his first year with Rev Racing. Cabre has spent the past five years racing asphalt and dirt sprint cars.

Natalie Decker: A 17-year-old newcomer to the Rev Racing roster from Eagle River, Wisconsin, Decker collected feature wins in a limited late model and super late model, as well as earning Rookie and Sportsman of the Year honors in ARCA SCAG Midwest Truck Tour. She will compete in the Whelen All-American Series in 2015.

Kenzie Ruston: Entering her third season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and first with Rev Racing, the 22-year-old El Reno, Oklahoma, native is also a member of NASCAR Next, an industry initiative to identify tomorrow’s stars. Ruston broke her own record in 2014 as the highest finishing female driver in the K&N Pro Series East with a runner-up finish at Iowa Speedway on her way to finishing ninth in points.

Dylan Smith: The 22-year-old from Randolph, Vermont earned a spot with Rev Racing in the Whelen All-American Series after competing in his own Late Model last year. The Stewart-Haas Racing employee ran 15 races and finished 38th in the Whelen All-American Series Division I national standings.

Under Rev Racing owner and CEO Max Siegel’s leadership, the development program aligns drivers with a team of executives, athletic directors, crew chiefs and mentors tasked with helping NASCAR D4D drivers achieve career successes; thus, improving their goal of reaching one of NASCAR’s three national series.

"NASCAR Drive for Diversity goes much deeper than putting drivers behind the wheel of race cars," said Siegel. "The program is all encompassing, providing competition, athletic training and professional development opportunities for drivers who have the determination and talent to reach NASCAR’s top levels. We’ve seen this with Larson, Suarez and Wallace Jr. and are excited about the potential of this talented group of drivers."

Growth of the program extends to pit crew members under the NASCAR D4D Crew Member Development Program, also managed by Siegel. In 2014, over 30 multicultural athletes pitted fulltime for teams across all three national series.

Posted on January 26, 2015 by

No changes to postseason, but flared side skirts will be policed

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The way NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France sees it, no news is good news, as far as potential changes to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format are concerned.

In confirming that the sanctioning body will stand pat with its 10-race playoff format this year, France indicated that one of the primary governing factors in the decision to keep the Chase status quo was the overwhelming response from fans.

"I want to talk a little bit about the Chase, because it’s overwhelmingly popular with the most important stakeholder — our fans," said NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France in kicking off the Charlotte Motor Speedway NASCAR Media Tour presented by Technocom at the Charlotte Convention Center. "The research and data that we’ve got over the winter not only suggests that, it determines that loud and clear.

"They like the fact that it tightened up competition. They liked the drama down the stretch. They liked the emphasis on winning. And one of the things they told us that they really liked is the idea that we weren’t going to change anything, and they strongly suggested that we didn’t, and we’re not going to."

Accordingly, the 16-driver Chase will use the same criteria for determining driver eligibility and the same elimination format for determining the champion.

"It’s not because there aren’t a tweak or two here that we didn’t get good suggestions on," France said. "but one of the magical parts of this Chase, and we want to make sure we keep it this way, is the simplicity of it: Win and you get in; be in the top eight, top four, whatever it may be, and move on; coming down the stretch, beat the other three drivers and you win the championship.

"So whatever we would do into the future, we want to make sure that simplicity is right there."

The Chase aside, it’s not as if there won’t plenty of changes for fans to embrace in 2015. Perhaps most highly visible is the new pit road officiating system that combines video and computer technology with a smaller number of officials on pit road.

A sophisticated computer system will make cut-and-dried calls and will flag possible violations (such as pit crew members over the wall too soon) for review and verification by a team of eight officials at computer terminals in a trailer.

The input for the system consists of approximately 46 high-definition cameras mounted above the grandstands. Overall, the new officiating system promises to provide more relevant data to television partners, media and fans.

"We already know that 2015 and the edition of the Great American Race (Daytona 500) will forever have a chapter in the sport’s history," said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. "It will be the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event to utilize our new pit road technology, and if you haven’t heard of the innovation, you soon will.

"At the heart of this, its purpose is the ability to provide an extraordinary experience to our broadcast partners, the race teams, and ultimately our fans. We’re going to do this by way of statistics, video, and data during a NASCAR event. And with this technology, we know that we’re going to be safer, we’ll be more exact, and we’ll realize a fairer and more balanced playing field."

O’Donnell also addressed the issue of side skirts on the cars, which teams have used to improve the aerodynamic performance of their cars. In 2015, manipulation of the fenders and flares no longer will be permitted, and teams will be required to return to pit road when a violation is detected.

NASCAR teams will have to adapt to a new rules package on open-motor tracks this season, one that features lower downforce numbers (via a smaller spoiler) and reduced horsepower, factors NASCAR hopes will make the racing even more competitive than it was during last year’s first 16-driver Chase season.

France stressed that the new rules package is a work in progress, as NASCAR continually strives to improve the quality of its on-track product.

"It’ll always evolve, and the reason for that is the teams are always trying to gain an advantage, and that’s what they do," France said. "They go out, whatever we package we present, and they try to lead every lap and they try to have an advantage, and so our job is to make sure that the playing field is level and that more teams have a good shot at competing at a high level.

"And given that it always changes, we have to change, too, and circumstances change. Tires change, tracks wear down differently. We change tracks from time to time. So there are other variables outside of what even the teams do that will always keep us looking ahead."

Closing his speech, France spoke about NASCAR Sprint Cup Series four-time champion Jeff Gordon‘s announcement that 2015 would be his final full-time season.

"From everyone at NASCAR, I want to wish him a strong final season," France said.

NASCAR also unveiled its new Drive for Diversity class for the 2015 season. Competing under the auspices of Rev Racing will be returnees Devon Amos, 23, of Rio Rancho, New Mexico; Jay Beasley, 23, of Las Vegas, Nevada; and newcomers Collin Cabre, 21, of Thonotosassa, Florida; Dylan Smith, 22, of Randolph, Vermont; Natalie Decker, 17, of Eagle River, Wisconsin, and Kenzie Ruston, 22, of El Reno, Oklahoma.

Ruston already has two years of competition in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, where she finished ninth in the final standings last year.

Also speaking on changes at the track, Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood provided updates on Daytona Rising, the major redevelopment project at the Florida track.

"We have 40,000 new seats open and available for the Daytona 500," Chitwood said. "We’re going to change the way fans enjoy our sport."

The track now features a wider concourse for fans to walk and new escalators that will make travel to seats and concession stands easier.

NASCAR.com staff reports contributed to this story.