Posted on by RJ Kraft

Persistence, consistency pay off for Whelen Southern Modified Champ

MORE: Seuss gets engaged in Victory Lane
RELATED: Home Tracks | Learn more on the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour

CONCORD, N.C. — For six seasons, Andy Seuss couldn’t quite get over the hump in the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour (NWSMT). He had six straight top-five finishes in the final standings to go with 15 victories coming into this season but the championship always seemed just out of reach.



For some of those seasons, George Brunnhoelzl III was in his way, racking up four titles in six years (2009, 2011-13). Seuss finished as the runner-up to him in 2009 and 2011, but 2014 was a different story and it was Seuss’ time to shine.

Entering the Southern Slam 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the NWSMT season finale, Seuss (pronounced "SICE") needed to finish 12th or better to clinch the title. He did better than that with a fifth-place effort to finish 14 points ahead of Brunnhoelzl to take home the championship, the first for the New Hampshire native.

"It’s very special to be the only people to dethrone the 28 team (Brunnhoelzl) because they’ve been so strong," Seuss said. "I’m sure they walk around thinking they have a target on their back because everyone shoots for them. We had a great end of last year and in the offseason, we gained even more.

"

From his season-opening win at Caraway, where he led the entire race, Seuss was dialed in. He won three of series’ first five races and nearly led wire-to-wire in the point standings, as he was out of first place just one week. In his three victories, Seuss led 449 of a possible 450 laps.



"We knew we had to come out of the gate swinging," Seuss said.



Seuss showed remarkable consistency all season long, finishing in the top nine in all 14 races and never starting worse than seventh.



Burt Myers, who secured the tour title in 2010 and won the race at Charlotte, said that Seuss performed well all year and that becoming a first-time champion is a tremendous accomplishment.



"That’s something to be proud of," Myers said. "It’s something that nobody can ever take away from you. Like I said, it will get him later. That team has run good all year; they’ve run good in the past and it just came together for them this year."

Seuss’ title driving for car owner Ed Harvey was the capstone for the special bond the two have formed over the past four years together.



"Andy has become like a little brother that I never had," Harvey said sitting with Seuss in the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Center. "And as far as I’m concerned, I’ve said it 100 times, I’ve put it out there in print, that red 11 car is Andy Seuss’ ride as long as Andy Seuss wants that ride. If Andy decides to quit one day or move up one day or have the opportunity to move up, that’s one thing. But until he tells me anything different, I’ve told him it’s his ride for the rest of his life."



The celebration and the evening took on an extra meaning for Seuss for several reasons.


Just before joining the No. 11 team for Harvey, Seuss spent three seasons driving the No. 47 car for David Riggs, who was a longtime team owner in the Southern Modified Tour. Riggs passed away from a long battle with cancer in the days leading up to the season finale, something Seuss described as "heartbreaking."

Seuss continued to use some of Riggs’ cars while running for Harvey. Riggs quit his full-time racing operation after the 2010 season following the unexpected death of his son Jeff.

"He gave me my big break when I went from running for our family, No. 70, to driving for a professional team," Seuss said of Riggs. "I think he really did help me the last few days. If nothing else, but he told me to ”shut up and drive’ and not think. I couldn’t think about it and it really, it was thrown at me a few times, but for the most part I didn’t really wear the burden … would’ve been awesome to have him here but really cool to dedicate it to him as well."



Seuss’ celebration also took on special significance of a romantic sort as he proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Jenn DeMarco, in Victory Lane at Charlotte. She said yes.



"That’s a pretty special deal," Seuss said. "I hadn’t told anybody. Me and my mother had texted about it. We haven’t even spoken about it. Maybe, because of the pressure I put on myself but I wanted it to be an extra special day with the championship.



"My dad took the last two weeks off, traveling the whole country. We went up to Rhode Island to work on the chassis and back and forth and it was just the two of us in the truck. I feel terrible I didn’t let him know. I know he knew through my mom but I couldn’t get the words out because of just everything that this day meant."

It was a night filled with lasting memories for Seuss and a night he won’t soon forget.

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Posted on by Staff Report

17-year-old will compete in two more 2014 Camping World Truck Series races

Brandon Jones is joining GMS Racing to run two more NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races this season.

Jones will pilot the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado in the Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 25 as well as the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway on Nov. 7. Shane Huffman will serve as crew chief.

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"I couldn’t be more excited to continue our NCWTS efforts this season with GMS Racing at Martinsville and Phoenix," Jones said in a release. "The opportunity to start our relationship at a familiar track like Martinsville is a great benefit and I’m incredibly excited to tackle Phoenix for the first time. GMS Racing has had impressive performances this year and I can’t wait to get back on track working with Shane Huffman and the entire organization."

Jones has made six previous Camping World Truck Series starts in his career, including three this year, all for Turner Scott Motorsports. His best finish was a fourth-place result at Dover this past spring. Jones has made two previous starts at Martinsville and has an average finish of 17.0 at the track.

The 17-year-old Atlanta native competed full-time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East circuit this season and finished fourth in the final standings. He won his first K&N Pro Series East race at Iowa Speedway in August. Huffman served as the crew chief for most of his races on that circuit and has also been the crew chief for all three of Jones’ starts this season in the Truck Series.

"Everyone at GMS Racing is thrilled to welcome Brandon into the fold of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado," Nic Moncher, the general manager of GMS Racing, said in a team release. "He has shown a great deal of talent this season across every series he has competed in, and we’re both looking forward to great performances together at both Martinsville and Phoenix. Brandon has all the tools you like to see in a young driver and he will be a great asset to our Truck Series program."

This season, GMS Racing has fielded a full-time truck for Joey Coulter (No. 21), while Max Gresham and Spencer Gallagher have split time in the No. 23 entry.

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Team owner, TV analyst works with the Southern Conference to feed families

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JTG Daugherty Racing team owner, ESPN analyst and former basketball star Brad Daugherty helped launch a campaign on Wednesday called Hoops Against Hunger to raise $1 million to fight hunger.

The first overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft who wore the No. 43 to honor seven-time premier series champion Richard Petty helped provide more than 10,000 meals last Thanksgiving in Western North Carolina as part of his Brad Daugherty Foundation. In addition to working with Eblen Charities and the Southern Conference’s SoCon for Hoops Against Hunger, he plans to reach out to his basketball and NASCAR contacts to raise $1 million.

"I’m honored to have the opportunity to work with Eblen and the Southern Conference, and to provide a platform where we can feed our children," Daugherty told the Asheville Citizen-Times.

The collection of food and funds will culminate with the SoCon Basketball Championships in March 2015 in Asheville, North Carolina.

At the annual Southern Conference Basketball media day at the Biltmore Estate, Daugherty also shared that he will return to covering basketball games, both college and NBA, beginning in December after ESPN’s NASCAR coverage ends in November.

Daugherty’s No. 47 team with driver AJ Allmendinger earned its first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at Watkins Glen International in August and advanced to its first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The team was eliminated from NASCAR’s playoffs in the first round at Dover International Speedway.

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Posted on by Staff Report

Jackman Nate Bolling out for the year after injury at Charlotte

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Denny Hamlin‘s pit crew, which consistently ranks among the swiftest on the circuit, will be without jackman Nate Bolling for the rest of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

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Bolling had surgery earlier this week to repair the torn right tricep he suffered on the second pit stop in Saturday’s Bank of America 500. He is expected to make a full recovery and be available for the 2015 Daytona 500.

The No. 11 team will turn to backup jackman Kenneth Purcell. Purcell was a part of four championship-winning seasons with the No. 48 team of Jimmie Johnson.

Hamlin, who won the spring race at Talladega, is seventh in the standings. Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, ESPN) at the 2.66-mile superspeedway is the final of three races in the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Eight drivers will advance into the three-race Eliminator Round.

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Posted on by Staff Report

Defending series champion holds 19-point lead over teammate

Equipped with a 19-point lead over his ThorSport teammate Johnny Sauter with five races left in the season, Matt Crafton seems well on his way to becoming the first repeat champion in the 20-year history of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

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Despite his lead and momentum from a trio of consecutive top-three finishes, the 38-year-old does not want to set his sights on his second driver points championship just yet.

"I’m looking forward to the next thing we’re going to do at Talladega. We get through that and then I’ll start looking (toward Homestead)," Crafton said. "I’m not even going to worry about it to be honest. I’m going to go into each and every race to just go to win. If we get through Talladega, I’ll feel a lot better at that point."

Crafton has struggled at Talladega throughout his career. In eight starts at the 2.66-mile track, he claims an average finish of 15.5 — almost four places lower than his career mark of 11.8. The driver most likely to catch him, Sauter, boasts a 7.0 average finish at Talladega and took the checkered flag in last year’s race there.

"I’m not even a little bit worried about 19 points," Crafton said. "It could be one point. I could be 19 points back. I’m not even worried about that to be totally honest. I’m worried about just going each and every week, do what we keep doing, do what we started doing at the beginning of the year, go there to win races and the points will come."

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Driver of the No. 88 in a win-or-go-home situation in Contender Round finale

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As the Sprint Cup Series rolls into Talladega Superspeedway for the GEICO 500 (Sunday at 2 p.m. ET, ESPN), several drivers are desperate to make a big move and keep themselves in the postseason. One of those drivers is Dale Earnhardt Jr.



Earnhardt Jr. comes into Talladega 12th in the points standings and so far on the outside looking in at the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. He is 26 points behind Kasey Kahne, who holds the final transfer spot to the next round. So the surest — and in all likelihood only — way for Junior to advance is with a win.



With plenty on the line and only two spots locked up for the Eliminator Round, the expectation is for a wilder race than normal.

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"I think Talladega is going to be pretty crazy — I expect guys are going to have to take some pretty big chances to continue to move on into the later rounds of the Chase, and Talladega is a track where we are all pretty much on top of each other in the draft and guys are going to have every opportunity to make things pretty interesting, so I expect that race to get pretty wild," Earnhardt Jr. said when asked about the Contender Round finale.



The recently turned 40-year-old has had his share of success at Talladega with five wins in 29 starts at the 2.66-mile track, but he has not won there since 2004. He has led laps, though, in all but three of his starts at the Alabama track. And while he won’t need to lead plenty, he will need to be leading at the end in order to keep his championship hopes alive. So what is his strategy?



"I think you got to get in there and just run as hard as you can and try and take every opportunity you can to just keep moving forward and take every position you can take," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We’ve thought at times that a more relaxed and patient attitude will be more beneficial, but I haven’t really ever had that pay off for me and good results with that race track. The races where I’ve ran my best is where I’ve been more proactive and aggressive, trying to move forward and trying to make passes and trying to keep track position, so I think that’s what we’ll try to do this time."

Steve Letarte, Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief for the past four seasons, echoed those thoughts in an interview earlier this week on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s "The Morning Drive."



"We’re going to be that team that’s aggressive. Aggressive with our fuel strategy, aggressive with our pit strategy. Try to keep the lead, try to assume track position does matter at Talladega. Try to be in the lead when it matters and then Dale’s gonna have to do his thing and then we’re going to have to get some help from the guys behind us. That’s the one unfortunate part about speedway racing, is that no matter how good you are, you are going to need some commitment from the people pushing you. That’s the scenario we didn’t want to have happen, but you know, we’re here."


Letarte is leaving the No. 88 team after this season to move to the broadcast booth with NBC Sports’ coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2015. He says the team knows what has to be done.



"I don’t think there’s anymore pressure than there was going to Charlotte," Letarte said. Dale Jr. called his own shot of winning the Bank of America 500, but a broken shifter derailed his day and led to a 20th-place finish.

Letarte added that the No. 88 team’s position in the standings lends itself to a go for broke mentality.

"The guys that are in, that could fall out, they’re going to have a more stressful day, in my opinion, at Talladega than the guys that are way out hoping to get in, because we’ve kind of made our bed."



Should the No. 88 team not advance, Letarte says not to expect them to lay down for the final four races.



"We’re not giving up by any means," Letarte said. "Even if we fall out at Talladega, we are still not giving up. We race to win and I know the championship was the big buzz all year long and its great, but there’s a lot of years you don’t race for a championship. There’s a lot of guys that miss the Chase. You look at the 42 car, he’s not laying down. He’s racing to win and I think you’re going to see it out of the four teams that don’t make it out of Talladega."

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Posted on by Zack Albert

Colombian teenager joins Combine, hopes to continue impressive run

MORE: NASCAR Home Tracks | Recapping the D4D combine: Day 2 | Day 1

Juan Garcia Duarte’s first footsteps into the world of grass-roots stock-car racing have earned him frequent-flyer miles by the handful, but he’s also earned plenty of respect with his driving talent along the way.

If the 17-year-old native of Bogota, Colombia, finds his path to the top levels of NASCAR, he’ll have a countryman with the same first name to thank for paving the way.

Garcia relished the chance to showcase his skills in this week’s NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine, an all-encompassing workshop at Langley Speedway in Virginia for up-and-coming drivers and an audition for a spot in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series with the Rev Racing team next season. If he continues climbing the ladder, he’ll be the first Colombian driver since Juan Pablo Montoya to make an impact on the U.S.-based sport.

"I think for every young driver in Colombia, his goals are to be in Formula One or IndyCar, but when I tried at age 14 or 15 to get into NASCAR, it’s just way different and much harder than you think," Garcia said, noting that Montoya has since moved on but that his legacy in NASCAR remains. "What Juan Pablo showed me, there could be another way to live through driving, so I decided to try the world of NASCAR. It’s like any new experience, and driving is not the same all the time so I prefer that, and with Rev Racing, I think I will achieve it."

While each of the 20 drivers participating in the Combine welcomed the chance for more seat time and exposure, Garcia has already made headlines in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series competition in the states. As a relative newcomer in the Super Late Model class at Irwindale Speedway in California, Garcia became the half-mile oval’s youngest main event winner at 16 years old last season, edging three-time track champ Rip Michels by .003 seconds with a power move on the high side.

The victory defied even the youngster’s modest expectations, but added fuel to his lofty aspirations while impressing his peers. The veteran Michels, now 49, was among those giving the teenager a thumbs-up in Victory Lane.

"To be racing against Rip Michels, it was really … I don’t know. I was just really happy when I won it," Garcia said. "It was really close, by just a foot. I didn’t expect to win that race against him because it was something like six races in a row he’d won and it was my first time in Super Late Models. It gave me the hope that I could be a NASCAR driver."

That hope was first kindled 10 years ago with Garcia’s first foray into karting in his homeland. He quickly made strides and held sway as a three-time champion by age 11.

While the formative stages of his career are far different than his current seat in a full-bodied stock car, it served him with valuable lessons in car control.

"It’s helped to feel the car and learn how to save it in case it goes away," Garcia said. "It helps you learn the pace that every driver needs to have and you can start at a young age. I think it’s real important; those are really the essential things that have helped me become a better driver."

Garcia said participating in a hands-on event such as the D4D Combine was another in a long series of new experiences — "in media, in driving, in everything" — that he’s put to use toward becoming a professional racer. While he’s faced some of the same challenges that most teenaged drivers do in balancing school and approaching young adulthood, the circumstance of being an international participant has raised the degree of difficulty.

While his 2015 plans remain fluid, Garcia is hoping that an offseason appointment from the Max Siegel-owned Rev Racing team would eliminate any uncertainty as he pursues his goals.

"The idea is to go to K&N to get more experience," Garcia said. "We have been racing Super Late Models but we think that it’s the time to make one more step to the K&N Pro Series. If Rev Racing accepts me, I will do everything to show them that it’s the best decision for me in K&N."

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Posted on by Holly Cain

‘Topping out’ ceremony latest marker as construction carries on

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Photo courtesy of Daytona International Speedway‘s Facebook page

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — In keeping with a long-held construction tradition, Daytona International Speedway participated in a "topping out" ceremony this afternoon to install the highest piece of steel in the $400 million Daytona Rising project.

And in keeping with the bigger-is-better tradition of NASCAR’s crown jewel race facility, Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood marked the occasion in a unique way — enlisting the help of NASCAR’s founding France family and hundreds of employees and construction workers.

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"When we found out about that, we said, let’s ‘Daytona-ize’ that, let’s have some fun with it,’" Chitwood said. "So I reached out to the (France) family and they definitely wanted to participate so we created a really nice activity so the family can truly put their stamp on this construction.

"We’ve got a really nice plaque that will go on this piece of steel and have all the family members sign this piece of steel.

"Then when you lift it into place, everyone blows whistles during the lift and install.

"It also commemorates our halfway point so it’s hard to believe we are halfway through our project and have only 15 more months to go. There’s a lot of work to do but this is a great way to keep our momentum going as we cross the halfway point."

International Speedway Corporation Chairman of the Board Jim France, along with ISC CEO Lesa France Kennedy and her son, Camping World Truck Series driver Ben Kennedy are among those from the family who signed the plaque to commemorate the "topping out" occasion. The $400 million construction project represents the largest infrastructure investment in ISC history.

New seating is among the massive state-of-the-art improvement plan and Chitwood said 40,000 of the new seats will be in place for the 2015 Daytona 500 in February.

"I think it’s really important to celebrate these milestones because it’s such a significant project," Chitwood said. "As we kind of walk in the footsteps of Bill [France] Sr. and reimagine this icon, these are the times to celebrate what we’ve done so far. And it’s impressive. The steel looks great, the structure is awesome, the concourses are exactly what we thought it would be and this is another way to stay excited for what 2015 will be."

The highest point steel beam will include signatures from the France family on a special plaque and it will fly a DIS flag and American flag as well as a tree, per tradition.

Chitwood said the construction is top speed right now with the rainy summer season in Florida finished. The Daytona 500 is still five months away and this is the longest stretch without being "race ready."

"To think a year and three months ago there was no structure above the ground or below the ground, no structure anywhere,’" Chitwood said. "We’ve done all this in a little more than a year and it’s amazing how much work has happened.

"It also gives you a sense of how enormous this will be when it’s done, the magnitude of it. All the designs look great, the creative, but to see it in reality and how big it is and how much steel it is, it really makes you understand we’re involved in something very special."

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Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer speak at Phoenix testing on Charlotte incident

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The post-race melee at Charlotte was a hot topic at Phoenix International Raceway, where drivers from several NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams were testing this week.

In fact, it didn’t take long for questions to surface about the incidents that led to NASCAR fining Brad Keselowski $50,000 and Tony Stewart $25,000 and also putting both drivers on probation.

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When asked for his thoughts when he saw Matt Kenseth was involved in the fracas, Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, said playfully: "If Matt Kenseth comes running at you and puts you in a headlock and punches you in the nose, there’s no jury needed, there’s no judge needed. You’re guilty. Period.

"This is the nicest guy in the garage and if you can get him to that breaking point, there’s no sense of even saying anything. Just take your beating and go home."

Bowyer was referring to the incident in the garage area Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway when Kenseth went after Keselowski in a fight between haulers that ended with Keselowski’s crew chief Paul Wolfe stepping in to hold back Kenseth.

The incident was indicative of the intensity that is building during the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup as the revamped playoffs move toward this weekend’s elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway. The field of 12 Chase drivers will be whittled to eight by the end of Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, ESPN), and some drivers are desperate for a win in order to advance.

Kenseth, who is one point behind Kasey Kahne for the eighth and final spot in the Eliminator Round, and Keselowski are both locked in a tense situation where a lot will be on the line Sunday.

To see the intensity boil over was not surprising to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who likely needs a win at Talladega in order to advance. And Junior wasn’t surprised to see Kenseth react the way he did on Saturday night, either.

"I think he had a nickname when he ran on short tracks called ‘Matt the Brat’," Earnhardt Jr. said of Kenseth. "So there’s a side of Matt that maybe not all you guys know. He’s got a fiery temper and definitely the kind of guy that’s going to stand up for himself and not let anyone push him around if he feels wronged."

The new Chase format lends itself to some tense moments that play well on TV.

Said Earnhardt: "I think it’s very dramatic and has served us well from an exposure standpoint. We need fans to tune in week in and week out. This has done a good thing on that end of it."

As for why two drivers would get so riled up after a race, especially one without a history of doing so like Kenseth, Bowyer offered perspective from his infamous dust-up with Jeff Gordon at PIR in the second-to-last race of the 2012 season.

"It’s like my deal with Gordon, I raced a guy seven, eight years and we were fine, and then we got into it, into a deal that lasted six months," Bowyer said. " Seems like we couldn’t get away from each other. You’re focused on winning that championship and seemed like everything you did you were racing the 24 car. It seems like God’s way of having a little bit of fun."

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Posted on by Nascar

Bruce: Did the officials make the right decision?

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"Settle your differences outside the car" seemed to be the essence of the message delivered by NASCAR on Tuesday after the sanctioning body announced fines and probation for drivers Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart.

The two former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions were among four competitors involved in separate incidents following the completion of Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Keselowski, driver of the Team Penske No. 2 Ford, was fined $50,000 and placed on probation through Nov. 12 for his post-race actions.

Stewart, co-owner and driver of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet, was fined $25,000 and also placed on probation through Nov. 12.

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Both drivers were involved in post-race contact as the field was making its way onto pit road, and that, according to Robin Pemberton, NASCAR senior vice president, competition and racing development, was the reasoning behind the penalties.

Drivers were dropping window nets and loosening — if not unhooking — safety items such as harnesses and HANS devices. Crewmen, various NASCAR personnel and others were making their way onto pit road. After a 500-mile race that lasted nearly three-and-a-half hours, everyone’s guard was down, no different than after the completion of any NASCAR race.

When Keselowski drove up and into the side of Kenseth’s No. 20 Toyota, and when Stewart put his car in reverse and backed into the front of Keselowski’s Ford, the safety of not only drivers but also others in the area was compromised.

Pemberton said the penalties "are about maintaining a safe environment following the race. … The safety of our drivers, crew members, officials and workers is paramount and we will react when that safety could be compromised."

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth were not penalized, although Kenseth eventually was involved in a physical confrontation with Keselowski.

Were the penalties to Keselowski and Stewart justified? Should Kenseth and Hamlin (the latter tracked Keselowski through the garage before the Team Penske driver pulled away after initially stopping in a garage bay) have been punished as well?

Contact on pit road after the conclusion of an event can’t be tolerated, regardless of whether drivers have begun to unbuckle safety equipment or if they’re still seated securely in their cars.

Had Keselowski turned Hamlin on the cool-down lap, as he unsuccessfully attempted to do, then continued on into the garage, it is likely NASCAR would not have issued anything more severe than a warning.

But to hit other cars once they have begun to come off the track was too dangerous to ignore.

And while Stewart may have been reacting to an incident he didn’t create, the fact remains that he reacted. If officials found fault with Keselowski’s actions, how could they overlook those of Stewart?

The cases of Hamlin and Kenseth are less clear, although officials apparently determined Hamlin did nothing malicious or dangerous as he followed Keselowski’s car through the garage. Without knowing what evidence they had at their disposal, it’s difficult to determine how they came to their decision.

Kenseth rushed up and nearly tackled Keselowski, an incident that quickly sent crewmembers and officials rushing in to separate the two drivers.

No punches appeared to be thrown, unlike earlier this season when Marcos Ambrose punched Casey Mears following a race at Richmond International Raceway.

Both those drivers were fined and placed on probation, Ambrose for the punch and Mears for what officials described as instigating the altercation.

Were Kenseth’s actions seen as a reaction to Keselowski’s earlier contact? The evidence would seem to indicate that was the case, and perhaps reason enough for NASCAR officials to take no action against Kenseth.

Such flare-ups weren’t unexpected given the nature of this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format, where drivers and teams must navigate their way through a trio of three-race segments to advance to Homestead-Miami Speedway, where only four of the original 16 will have an opportunity to contend for the championship.

Three of the four involved in Saturday night’s post-race scrapes — Keselowski, Kenseth and Hamlin — are among the 12 still attempting to advance to the next round.

The racing on the track and the drivers’ emotions have increased substantially under the new format. Officials walk a razor’s edge in trying to police such incidents without legislating the passion out of the sport.

"We knew that the new Chase format was likely going to raise the intensity level," Pemberton said, "and we want our drivers to continue to be themselves."

Did officials make the right call with Tuesday’s decision?

Fans of the sport either believe they did or did not, depending on where their allegiances lie.

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