Dakoda Armstrong renews with RPM for 2015

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Staff Report

Driver will continue to pilot No. 43 in XFINITY Series

Richard Petty Motorsports announced Tuesday that it has re-signed Dakoda Armstrong as driver of the team’s No. 43 Ford in the NASCAR XFINITY Series for 2015.

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The team said that Frank Kerr, who was most recently paired with David Gilliland on the Front Row Motorsports No. 38 in the Sprint Cup Series, will serve as crew chief for Armstrong’s second season at RPM. Kerr replaces Philippe Lopez, who has been promoted to operations manager for the Richard Petty-owned organization.

"I’m excited to continue racing for The King," Armstrong said in a statement released by the team. "Philippe and I had a good relationship and I feel like I learned a lot in my rookie season with the No. 43 team. I’m looking forward to continuing that growth into my second season. Now with Frankie (Kerr) coming on board I think we’ll be able to get our communication more in sync. We both come from an open-wheel background and he can relate the open-wheel style of driving to the stock cars."

The team also announced that WinField will return as a primary sponsor for 23 of the 33 XFINITY races this season. The agricultural company based in Shoreview, Minnesota, is scheduled to mark its second year with the Petty team and its third season backing Armstrong at the NASCAR national series level.

Armstrong, 23, finished 13th last year in his first full season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, which now carries title sponsorship from Comcast’s XFINITY brand. The Indiana native registered three top-10 finishes and notched a season highlight by winning the Coors Light Pole Award for the series’ July race at Daytona International Speedway.

Kerr, who has been a regular atop the pit box in the Sprint Cup Series since 2007, enters his first full season at a crew chief in the XFINITY Series. The 54-year-old veteran served as crew chief for two of Marcos Ambrose‘s XFINITY victories at Watkins Glen International with the JTG-Daugherty Racing team.

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Staff Report

Police complete their investigation of domestic assault allegations

The Dover (Delaware) Police Department said Tuesday that its investigation of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch is complete, with the case’s next phase in the hands of the county’s attorney general, according to a statement released by the department.

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The department announced Nov. 7 that it was investigating allegations of domestic assault against the 36-year-old driver. The matter was brought to the attention of the Dover Police two days earlier.

Tuesday morning, Dover Police said the attorney general would determine the next course in the two-month-old case.

"The Dover Police Department completed the investigation of Kurt Busch a few weeks ago and has since forwarded their findings along with all evidence and statements to the Kent County Attorney General’s Office," the department said in a statement. "Their office will review the findings of investigation and make a decision whether Mr. Busch will be charged or not."

Busch, the 2004 champion of NASCAR’s premier series, qualified for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup last season in his first year with Stewart-Haas Racing. Busch, who eclipsed the 500-start plateau last year, wound up 12th in the 2014 standings.

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Staff Report

VF Imagewear will be primary sponsor for select races on Ty Dillon’s car

Ty Dillon will have a familiar sponsor back on his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in the XFINITY Series for 2015.

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VF Imagewear, Inc., a leading manfacturer of workwear apparel and a division of VF Corporation, the world’s largest apparel company, has renewed its partnership with RCR. VF Imagewear’s brands, which include Red Kap, Bulwark, Horace Small and Wrangler Workwear, will be primary sponsors for select races during the 2015 XFINITY Series season.

Red Kap also serves as the official workwear provider for RCR and ECR Engines employees.

"We are proud to further our long-standing relationship with VF Imagewear," team owner Richard Childress said in a team release. "Through this partnership, VF Imagewear has driver customer connections to their industry-leading brands and services. We will continue to showcase VF Imagewear’s powerful workwear brands, which have outfitted millions of Americans in a wide variety of industries."

In 2014, Dillon’s first full season in the XFINITY Series, he won at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and finished fifth in the final standings.

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Nascar

Widespread changes ahead for Roush Fenway Racing in 2015

MORE: See who is on the move for 2015

Former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew chief Bob Osborne will return to the pit box in 2015, as Roush Fenway Racing officials have announced their 2015 driver/crew chief lineup for the Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series.

Osborne, who guided former RFR driver Carl Edwards to 18 Sprint Cup victories between 2004 and 2012, will serve as crew chief for Trevor Bayne and the No. 6 RFR Ford team in the Sprint Cup Series.

The move was one of two lineup changes announced involving RFR Sprint Cup teams. In addition to the return of Osborne, Nick Sandler, former lead engineer under Jimmy Fennig on the No. 99 team of Edwards, has been named crew chief for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the No. 17 team. He replaces Mike Kelley, who will serve as car chief for the Stenhouse team.

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Veteran driver Greg Biffle will once again be teamed with crew chief Greg Puccia.

In a release announcing the changes, team co-owner Jack Roush said the organization was excited about the 2015 crew chief lineup.

"Much like our driver lineup, our crew chief assembly features a quality mix of veteran leadership and youthful insight," Roush said. "We feel this lineup, combined with the addition of Kevin Kidd to oversee our Sprint Cup efforts, is a big step forward in the direction of placing our teams up front and contending week-in and week-out."

Osborne, 40, helped guide Edwards to four top-five points finishes during his previous tenure with the team, including runner-up finishes in 2008 and ’11. In July of 2012, he stepped down from his role due to health reasons but has remained an important part of the RFR engineering team.

"Bob Osborne is a proven commodity," Roush said. "He will bring a strong veteran presence to the No. 6 … team, as Trevor Bayne makes the transition to full-time Sprint Cup racing."

Bayne finished sixth in points in the XFINITY Series in 2013-14 with RFR, while also running a limited Sprint Cup Series schedule with Wood Brothers Racing. The Knoxville, Tennessee native won the 2011 Daytona 500 while paired with the Wood Brothers.

Stenhouse Jr., twice a NASCAR Nationwide (now XFINITY) Series champion, has struggled since making the move to Sprint Cup in 2013. Initially paired with crew chief Scott Graves, he finished 19th in points. Kelley, who steered Stenhouse Jr. to the two titles, was brought on board for 2014, but Stenhouse fell to 27th in points.

Sandler, a native of Asheville, North Carolina, "has a strong engineering background with the company," said Roush, "and his time working hand-in-hand with Jimmy Fennig over the past few seasons will prove invaluable as the takes the helm of the No. 17."

Fennig, the long-time crew chief who stepped down at the end of ’14, has been named research and development coordinator for RFR. Fennig was the 2004 championship-winning crew chief with driver Kurt Busch. Included among his 40 career wins as a crew chief are two Daytona 500 victories — in 1988 with NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bobby Allison and in 2012 with Matt Kenseth.

"Jimmy’s experience is unparalleled in our sport and I anticipate his input in this new role will have a major influence in a positive direction across the board with all of our teams going forward," Roush said.

For the XFINITY Series, the driver/crew chief pairings of Ryan Reed and Seth Barbour, Chris Buescher and Scott Graves will remain unchanged.

Elliott Sadler, who made the move from Joe Gibbs Racing to RFR during the offseason, will be paired with Phil Gould, former crew chief for Brian Scott at Richard Childress Racing.

And Darrell Wallace Jr., third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings last season with Kyle Busch Motorsports, will be paired with crew chief Chad Norris as he runs an XFINITY Series slate for the organization.

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Nascar

RCR driver looks to nab elusive win in XFINITY Series

MORE: Full schedule of season previews

Team: Richard Childress Racing No. 2 Chevrolet

Rank in final 2014 standings: Fourth

Wins: 0

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Strides: His fifth full season in the series resulted in a number of high-water marks for the 26-year-old native of Boise, Idaho. In his second year with RCR, Scott scored career bests in top-fives (6), top-10s (23) and final points position (fourth).

His average starting position (6.5) and finishing position (9.3) were also career bests. With the help of crew chief Phil Gould and the No. 2 crew, Scott was never lower than 10th in points after the season’s first race, and was fifth or higher for much of the second half of the season, thanks to 10 consecutive top-10 runs to end the year.

"I feel like I grow every race," Scott said. "Now that we sit here and look at a year and if we have to encapsulate all that into a timeframe, I’ve grown tremendously. But I grow tremendously every single race. I feel like I get better in traffic, I feel like I get better on restarts, I feel like I get to be a better leader, I communicate better to my team. Those are things that I feel like are always improving race by race by race."

It’s no surprise, then, that Scott says he is looking forward to the 2015 season.

"I’m looking forward to Daytona, the first race, and then the next race," he said. "I look forward to going race by race next year and continuing to improve and hopefully by the end of the year I’ve done a good enough job and I’ve improved enough through the course of the season to be sitting there at the championship table."

Setbacks: In spite of his continued improvement, Scott has yet to land in the winner’s circle after 175 career starts in the series. At least one area he said he hopes to improve upon is restarts, which often provide the best chance for improving one’s position on the track.

"You’re never perfect on restarts … every driver will tell you that," he said. "If a driver tells you ‘I’m perfect on every restart’ then I envy them because they’ve got it figured out and I don’t.

"There are so many things that can happen on a restart; it’s the best opportunity that you have throughout the course of a race to gain positions or to lose positions. I feel like more often than not, I either maintain or I lose a position or two. And I want to get to be the type of driver where every restart, no matter how my car is handling, I’m able to be aggressive and push the envelope and try to gain positions."

Quoteworthy: "We have to work at this thing 33 weeks a year and communication … is a big part of that. Obviously you need to have speed and you need to have talent. I think we have those pieces. I always can be a better driver and I need to be a better driver for my team going forward."

What’s next: Mike Hillman Jr. replaces Gould as crew chief for the No. 2 team as Gould departed to reunite with Elliott Sadler at Roush Fenway Racing. Hillman is no newcomer, having won two championships and 20 career wins in the Camping World Truck Series.

Scott hopes to once again compete in several Sprint Cup events in ’15 (he made six starts in ’14), a bit of extracurricular activity that he said he believes to be very beneficial.

"When you get in (an XFINITY Series) car after you’ve just got out of a Cup car where you’ve been going 200 (mph) at the end of the straightaways and … you’re going 180, it feels like everything slows down," he said. "It really feels like you’re able to utilize your talents … more effectively.

"For me, that’s the greatest benefit I get."

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Staff Report

Hisense 250 will run on Feb. 28, 2015

MORE: Complete schedule | Buy tickets for Atlanta

The XFINITY Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be sponsored by Hisense and the event will be named the Hisense 250. The race is set to be run on Saturday, February 28 with television coverage on FOX Sports 1.

The race will be the second XFINITY Series race of the 2015 season and the first part of a rare XFINITY Series-Camping World Truck Series doubleheader.

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Hisense is a multinational electronics manufacturer based in Qingdao, China. Hisense USA operates a Georgia-based R&D center in Georgia.

"We are beyond delighted to welcome Hisense as the title sponsor for the XFINITY Series race in Atlanta on Feb. 28, as it continues its global development in the U.S.," said Ed Clark, Atlanta Motor Speedway president and GM. "Hisense provides a full range of quality electronic products to a worldwide market, and we look forward to a partnership that will continue to fuel its expanding reach across the U.S. and provide a quality event for fans attending the Hisense 250."

Atlanta is hosting a Truck Series event for the first time since 2012 and the race weekend was moved up to follow the Daytona opening weekend as part of several changes to the schedule.

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Staff Report

Veteran pit boss to serve as crew chief for David Gilliland and the No. 38 team

MORE: Find out who else is on the move in 2015

Donnie Wingo has joined Front Row Motorsports for the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season as crew chief for the No. 38 Ford and driver David Gilliland.

Several news organizations reported the news Monday afternoon, and a spokesperson for the Statesville, North Carolina-based team confirmed the reports independently to NASCAR.com.

Wingo, 54, has worked with the venerable Wood Brothers Racing team for the past four seasons, a span that produced his biggest win — the 2011 Daytona 500 with Trevor Bayne at the wheel. Wingo has seven victories during his 25-year tenure as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.

Gilliland tweeted his excitement over the news on Monday afternoon.

Super excited to have @donniewingo for my crew chief. Going to be a great addition to @FrontRowNASCAR #cantwait

— David Gilliland (@DavidGilliland) January 5, 2015

Gilliland, 38, worked with crew chief Frank Kerr for the first 30 races last year, then closed out 2014 with Jay Guy atop the pit box. Gilliland, a teammate to David Ragan on the Bob Jenkins-owned Front Row team, wound up 30th in the final Sprint Cup standings with a best finish of 17th place at Pocono Raceway in August.

Gilliland, who joined the Sprint Cup circuit in 2006, spent the holidays driving cross-country to his home state of California. On social media, he has documented visits to at least 20 Love’s Travel Stops — one of his primary sponsors — along the way.

As previously announced, Wingo will be replaced by Jeremy Bullins as crew chief for the Wood Brothers’ famed No. 21 Ford and the team’s new driver, Ryan Blaney. Last season, Bullins helped guide the Team Penske No. 22 to six victories and the team owner championship in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, now the XFINITY Series.

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Staff Report

Veteran driver will pilot No. 24 car for JGL Racing

NASCAR veteran Eric McClure will compete full-time in the NASCAR XFINITY Series in 2015 as driver of the No. 24 JGL Toyota, according to a team release.

McClure, 36, has 254 career starts in the series with a best finish of eighth at Daytona International Speedway in 2013. From 2011 through 2014, the Chilhowie, Virginia native competed for team owner Mark Smith and TriStar Motorsports.

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Jay Guy, previously a crew chief at Front Row Motorsports, will serve as crew chief for McClure and the No. 24 team.

JGL, a two-car operation fielded by James Whitener and Gregg Mixon, debuted in 2014 and featured numerous drivers behind the wheel of its Nos. 28 and 93 entries during the year.

The organization fielded Dodge entries in 2014.

"It’s a privilege to compete at this level of motorsports, and to have the opportunity to return to full-time competition is truly a blessing," said McClure, who hasn’t run a full schedule since 2011. "I’m excited about the new partnership with JGL Racing. They are an organization comprised of experienced individuals sharing a deep-rooted competitive spirit. I could not be more excited about the upcoming season."

Reynolds Consumer Products, through its Hefty and Reynolds Wrap brands, will serve as primary sponsor of the team for a minimum of 25 events, according to the team.

"Eric’s a talented driver who’s had success on and off the race track over the course of his career," Whitener said, "and it’s exciting to add another veteran driver and national brands to our organization.

"We look forward to continuing to build on things accomplished in 2014 and growing our team together."

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Staff Report

See the full schedule of NASCAR.com previews for all three series

With the 2015 NASCAR season fast approaching, NASCAR.com will preview the top returning drivers in each series as we get closer to cars hitting the track at Daytona International Speedway.

Below is the full schedule for the season previews by series. Check back on each date to see the latest preview. (The previews will be linked as the date.)

CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
Jan. 8: Timothy Peters | 2015 preview
Jan. 15: Johnny Sauter | 2015 preview
Jan. 23: Matt Crafton | 2015 preview | Relive Crafton’s title run

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Zack Albert

Interim tag dropped from Knost; pair together for final three races of ’14

MORE: Danica dons Mardi Gras mask | See who else in on the move in 2015

Daniel Knost will serve as crew chief for Danica Patrick in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

A spokesperson for her Stewart-Haas Racing team confirmed to NASCAR.com on Monday afternoon that the interim tag had been removed from Knost’s title.

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Patrick, 32, completed her second full Sprint Cup season last year with three top-10 finishes and a final rank of 28th in the driver standings. She was paired with Tony Gibson for the bulk of her two seasons in the Stewart-Haas No. 10 Chevrolet until a late-season switch teamed her with Knost for the last three races of 2014.

As part of her offseason travel, Patrick served as grand marshal of the parade ahead of Sunday’s GoDaddy Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. During a break in the college football festivities, Patrick told the website AL.com that the potential for success with Knost has her anxious for what the new season may hold.

"I think something new is both scary but also exciting. Until you go there you don’t know how great it could be," Patrick told AL.com. "We worked together a little bit at the end of last season. I think that was a really good thing to do in preparation for 2015. Everybody at Stewart-Haas has been working very hard to make sure that every team is as good from top to bottom as possible, and we’ll probably have some changes for next year within the team, but it’s like I said, you never know what you can have until you dare to try something different. Daniel is a very smart guy and I’m excited to see what we can do."

Knost, 36, began his first year as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series working with Kurt Busch on the team’s No. 41 Chevrolet. The pairing paid dividends early on with a regular-season victory at Martinsville Speedway that clinched a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff berth for Busch, but the two struggled to find consistency in Busch’s first year with the team. Busch netted six top-five finishes in 2014, but was among the first four drivers eliminated in the new Chase format.

Patrick showed signs of progress during Gibson’s tenure with the No. 10 team as she twice bettered her career-bests during last season — first with a seventh place at Kansas in May, then with a sixth-place run at Atlanta on Labor Day weekend. But consistency was again a precious commodity: Patrick finished on the lead lap in just 19 of the year’s 36 races.

Hoping to jump-start both teams, Greg Zipadelli — Stewart-Haas Racing‘s vice president of competition — announced in October at Martinsville that for the year’s final three races, Knost would pair with Patrick on an interim basis and that Gibson would work with Busch. Patrick closed out the season with finishes of 36th, 22nd and 18th; Busch posted results of eighth, seventh and 11th over the same span.

With Monday’s confirmation by the team, Patrick will enter her third full season at stock-car racing’s highest level paired with Knost’s deep background in engineering. Gibson, her former crew chief, will continue to bring his old-school sensibilities to Busch’s efforts.

"I think long-term it’s the right thing," Zipadelli said last fall, after news of the switch was announced. "There might be a step back while they learn each other and they grow, but long-term — a full year, two years from now — I think their personalities between Daniel and Danica will work together much better, and I think at the same time, the same thing will happen on the 41 car."