Roush Fenway Racing driver sees a drop after poor Pocono showing
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No. 17 of Timothy Peters, No. 6 of Norm Benning hit with penalties
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The No. 17 team that competes in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has been penalized for a rules violation discovered during opening day inspection July 31 at Pocono Raceway.
The infraction is a P3 level penalty and violates sections:
• 12-1: Actions detrimental to stock car racing;
• 20B-5.10.1(6): Throttle Shafts: The combined thickness of the throttle shaft and the throttle plates (butterflies) must not be less than 0.197 inch.
As a result of this violation, crew chief Paul Richmond has been fined $7,500 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.
The No. 6 team has been penalized for a rules violation that took place during the race on Aug. 2. The infraction is a P1 level penalty and violates sections:
• 12-1: Actions detrimental to stock car racing;
• 9-15J: Only two NASCAR-approved ½ inch drive air wrenches, with a single socket and with a hex design capable of removing or attaching one lug nut at a time, must be used to change tires/wheels during any pit stops: Improper use of a battery powered impact wrench.
The team will be penalized with loss of track time during the opening practice at Michigan International Speedway Aug. 15.
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Local manufacturing company has sponsored track since 1993
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On Saturday, Watkins Glen International will host the Zippo 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race (2 p.m. ET, ESPN) for the 10th consecutive season. The entitlement sponsor plans to celebrate the milestone with a commemorative item up for bid for charity and a deal for fans on a new grill.
In March, Zippo Manufacturing Company announced a multi-year renewal with the track to extend the third longest running sponsorship of a Nationwide race. Zippo, based two hours from the Glen in Bradford, Pennsylvania, is the longest continuous sponsor of WGI, beginning its relationship with the road-racing facility in 1993.
Twenty-years ago, Zippo became the inaugural sponsor of the U.S. Vintage Grand Prix and helped grow it into one of the largest vintage racing events in the U.S. In 2005, the company increased its support by sponsoring the Zippo 200 Nationwide event.
"Zippo has been a fantastic partner for more than 20 years and we are thrilled to continue that relationship," WGI President Michael Printup said. "Both the Zippo and Watkins Glen International brands are known for their quality of product, history and longevity. Words cannot express our gratitude for their renewal or the excitement that we feel as we prepare to celebrate this 10th anniversary sponsorship milestone. We know that our fans love their products, so their involvement with our track over the years is a real benefit to everyone involved."
In honor of the milestone race, Zippo will produce a commemorative item for fans to bid on at the Zippo 200 with all proceeds to be donated to charity. Also, fans can grab a Sahlen’s hot dog sample fresh off of the Zippo Outdoor All-Terrain grill, trade in grills for $50 toward a new one and enter the Fire Up the Grill Sweepstakes.
The Zippo Hot Spot is one of the most popular interactive vendor displays on manufacturers’ row, offering new product challenges and demonstrations, lighter fill-ups, minor repairs, and a wide selection of Zippo windproof lighters. Stop by the company’s display all weekend to play the bean bag toss game, win prizes and meet the Zippo team.
"From the beginning, our partnership with WGI has been a great fit for both of us," Greg Booth, Zippo president and CEO, said. "Racing fans, especially NASCAR fans, have the same loyalty and passion for their sport as Zippo lighter fans have for our product. The introduction of our Zippo Outdoor line of products makes even more sense as we reach out to the thousands of avid fans who pack the campgrounds during race weekend at the Glen."
Zippo has unveiled many of its new products at WGI during the NASCAR weekends, including the award-winning Zippo refillable handwarmer. In 2011, the company debuted the Zippo Jeep, a 2011 Jeep Wrangler modified by West Coast Customs to embody the attributes of the Zippo brand and serve as promotional ambassador for the emerging Zippo Outdoor line of products.
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Punishment phase after Camping World Truck Series’ Pocono weekend
NASCAR handed down penalties Tuesday to two teams in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for violations during last weekend’s event at Pocono Raceway.
The heaviest punishment went to the Red Horse Racing team after officials confiscated the carburetor base plate from the No. 17 Toyota driven by Timothy Peters during an opening day inspection. The NASCAR rulebook states that the combined thickness of the throttle shaft and the throttle plates (butterflies) must not be less than 0.197 inch.
The violation falls under the heading of a P3 penalty according to NASCAR’s new deterrence system, implemented during the offseason.
As a result, crew chief Paul Richmond was fined $7,500 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.
Peters led the series after the first two races of the season but left last weekend in eighth after a 12th-place finish in the Pocono Mountains 150.
NASCAR officials also penalized owner/driver Norm Benning after his crew participated in Saturday’s race with an unapproved air gun. The NASCAR rulebook states that only two NASCAR-approved half-inch air wenches, with a single socket and with a hex design capable of removing or attaching one lug nut at a time, must be used to change tires/wheels during any pit stops.
The team will be penalized with a loss of track time during opening practice for the Careers for Veterans 200 on Aug. 16 (12:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1) at Michigan International Speedway.
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Ballast violation found in Iowa Speedway inspection
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NASCAR issued penalties Tuesday to the No. 23 team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for violations found in the circuit’s most recent race at Iowa Speedway.
Carl Long drove the Rick Ware Racing-sponsored car to a 32nd-place finish in the U.S. Cellular 250 presented by New Holland on the .875-mile track, but his No. 23 Chevrolet was found with illegal ballast during practice Aug. 1 at Iowa Speedway.
The NASCAR rulebook states that any weight added to the car must be bolted inside the body shell in an approved weight container and in a position acceptable to NASCAR officials. In Long’s No. 23, the weight was not properly attached and fell out during practice, resulting in a P3 level penalty.
Crew chief George Church was fined $10,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.
The series’ next race is Saturday’s Zippo 200 at The Glen (2:15 p.m. ET, ABC) from Watkins Glen International.
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No. 4 team rallied after wreck, clinched Chase berth
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Kevin Harvick would probably tell you he hasn’t been gone, so proclamations that the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team is "back" would be descriptive but incorrect.
Harvick, once deemed hands down the hottest driver with the fastest car this season, finished second for the fourth time this year in Sunday’s GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway. Coming on the heels of an eighth-place run at Indianapolis, it was the second consecutive top-10 finish for a team that had done no better than 20th in three of the previous four races.
But it’s been that kind of season for Harvick — nearly always fast, but not always fortunate.
He and his SHR outfit, run by crew chief Rodney Childers, have a pair of wins but have also run the table on "what can go wrong next" scenarios this season. From pit-road problems to mechanical issues to getting caught up in a mess created by someone else, it’s been difficult for the group to find its rhythm.
On the surface, Sunday’s race didn’t appear to be any different. A fast car had the 38-year-old in sight of the front during the early going, until a pit-road speeding penalty just past the halfway point in the race dropped Harvick from inside the top 10 to outside the top 25.
He was back inside the top 20 by Lap 117 when a 13-car pileup sent his No. 4 Chevrolet into the inside wall, bouncing across a drainage grate on the apron and eventually to pit road for repairs.
Yet unlike other times this season when trouble found Harvick, this time the team was able to battle back. And that ability, he said, will be crucial later this year when the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup gets underway.
"I think today was very important," Harvick said after clinching a spot in this year’s Chase field. "I think last week (at Indy) was kind of the same way. We didn’t have the car that we wanted; I felt like we had a top-three car today … we were going to need track position and things were not really going well. They were able to fix the car after we wrecked it. That’s what we talked about as we came back from the (off week) … just scrambling, being able to scramble and get a good finish of some sort to get something out of the day.
"That’s what you’re going to have to do the last 10 weeks and … we were able to accomplish that. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come."
Because he pitted to repair his damaged car, Harvick eventually gained track position as others had to come to pit road for their final stops. By the time the field lined up for a final three-lap charge to the finish, Harvick’s scarred Chevrolet was second, and seemingly just as fast as that of race leader Dale Earnhardt Jr.
"I timed the last (restart) pretty good and was able to get into Turn 1, but I just couldn’t turn into the corner like I needed to," he said. "He was able to carry (that) momentum."
Harvick became the seventh driver to clinch a spot in the 16-team Chase, as long as he attempts to qualify for the remaining five regular-season races. He joins Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano.
Kicking off the final five races leading up to the Chase is this week’s stop at Watkins Glen International, the final road course event of the season for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series.
Clinching a berth won’t change how he and his SHR team approach the remaining races.
"I think it’s just trying to get yourself ready for the last 10 weeks," he said, "to know that you’re not going to win every race, you’re going to have days … where you have to scramble, you’re going to have practices where your car is off, you’re going to have things that are going to go wrong.
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Check out the lineup of NASCAR programming for the week
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All times ET
Monday, August 4
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 1
8 p.m., NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race at Colorado (re-air), FOX Sports 2
Tuesday, August 5
11:30 a.m., The 10: NASCAR’s Wildest Throw-Downs (re-air), FOX Sports 1
Noon, NASCAR Race Hub Special (re-air), FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2
8 p.m., Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Race at Indianapolis (re-air), FOX Sports 1
Wednesday, August 6
1 p.m., Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Race at Indianapolis (re-air), FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
6:30 p.m., Empty Cup: Quest for the 1992 NASCAR Championship (re-air), FOX Sports 2
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2
8 p.m., NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race at Colorado (re-air), FOX Sports 2
Thursday, August 7
1 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub Special (re-air), FOX Sports 1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Pocono (re-air), FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2
8 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Eldora (re-air), FOX Sports 2
9 p.m., NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race at Columbus (re-air), FOX Sports 2
10 p.m., Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Race at Indianapolis (re-air), FOX Sports 2
Friday, August 8
9 a.m., FOX Sports 1 on 1: Jimmie Johnson (re-air), FOX Sports 1
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Nationwide Series Practice, FOX Sports 1
11 a.m., NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race at Iowa, FOX Sports 1
Noon, NASCAR Live, FOX Sports 1
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Practice, FOX Sports 1
2 p.m., NASCAR Nationwide Series Final Practice, FOX Sports 1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Live, FOX Sports 1
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Final Practice, FOX Sports 1
6:30 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
3 a.m. (Sat.), NASCAR Nationwide Series Final Practice (re-air), FOX Sports 1
4:30 a.m. (Sat.), NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Final Practice (re-air), FOX Sports 1
Saturday, August 9
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, ESPN2
11:30 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, ESPN2
2 p.m., NNS Countdown, ABC
2:15 p.m., NASCAR Nationwide Series Race at Watkins Glen, ABC
Sunday, August 10
11 a.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FOX Sports 2
Noon, NSCS Countdown, ESPN
1 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race at Watkins Glen, ESPN
6:30 p.m., TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Race at Road America, FOX Sports 1
9:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lane, FOX Sports 1
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Junior’s Daytona 500 win, Pocono sweep have him locked in for Chase
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When team owner Rick Hendrick introduced Dale Earnhardt Jr. in June 2007 as the latest addition to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver roster at Hendrick Motorsports, he said all the right things.
Hendrick asserted he wanted to help Earnhardt achieve what the legions of fans who comprise Earnhardt Nation crave most — Earnhardt in Victory Lane on a regular basis and ultimately holding the Sprint Cup trophy.
"I can’t tell you how thrilled I am and how much pressure I feel," Hendrick said at the time. "He’s such an icon. There’s pressure because I want to deliver, and there’s going to be a lot of people watching."
Indeed. People watched. And for the better part of six years, they waited.
Driving the No. 88 Chevrolet, Earnhardt won the Sprint Unlimited non-points exhibition race in his maiden voyage for Hendrick in February 2008. That victory only served to heighten expectations.
But Earnhardt’s only other win that year came in a fuel-mileage race at Michigan. In contrast, the driver Earnhardt replaced, a highly motivated Kyle Busch, won eight of the first 22 races in 2008 for new boss Joe Gibbs.
If 2008 was a lean year for Earnhardt, 2009 and 2010 were unmitigated disasters. The No. 88 team produced five top-fives in those two winless seasons combined and finished 25th and 21st in the final standings, respectively.
A crew chief change in June 2009, from Earnhardt’s cousin Tony Eury Jr. to Lance McGrew, didn’t help.
The disappointment of 2010 brought another change, as Hendrick made wholesale changes to his driver/crew chief lineup for 2011, pairing Earnhardt with Steve Letarte. Though Earnhardt remained winless in 2011, his fortunes improved.
Earnhardt qualified for the Chase and finished seventh in the final standings, collecting a dozen top 10s along the way.
Nevertheless, the idea that Earnhardt would win regularly and contend for a championship still seemed more wishful thinking than realistic expectation.
After winning Sunday’s GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway, Earnhardt said he wouldn’t have been surprised if Hendrick had replaced him during the lean years.
"We went through struggles, and he had every right in the world to replace me with another driver, and nobody would have said a thing about it," Earnhardt said. "Because we weren’t running good enough, and it would have made perfect sense to everybody if he would have went that route."
Well, not exactly. Hendrick doubtless knew that the quickest way to become NASCAR’s most unpopular owner would be to fire the sport’s perennial most popular driver. In fact, in 2011, Earnhardt signed an extension that will keep him in the No. 88 Chevy through 2017.
With Letarte on the pit box, Earnhardt slowly began to accomplish what he and Hendrick envisioned together in 2007. In 2012, Earnhardt and Letarte won their first race together, at Michigan. And though they didn’t get to the winner’s circle in 2013, Earnhardt’s performance made a quantum leap.
After an engine failure in the first Chase race at Chicagoland Speedway effectively knocking Earnhardt out of the title picture, he rattled off eight top 10s in the next nine races, finishing the season 2-4-3 at Texas, Phoenix and Homestead.
That was merely a prelude to 2014, Earnhardt’s first multiple-win season in a decade. With a victory in the season-opening Daytona 500 and a sweep of the Pocono races, Earnhardt is locked and loaded for the Chase.
The peak performance is there, and so is the consistency, making Earnhardt one of the strong favorites to win the championship this year.
Make no mistake, Earnhardt has always been a favorite. This year, however, he’s more than just a sentimental one — much more.
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The 10-year partnership will focus on helping NASCAR secure and manage comprehensive international broadcast business beginning in 2015
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 4, 2014) — Having recently solidified the sport’s domestic television future as part of record-breaking media rights partnerships with the FOX Sports and NBC Sports groups, NASCAR® announced today that it has selected IMG to assist the sanctioning body in establishing a long-term and sustainable global commercial broadcast media distribution strategy.
"This long-term partnership with IMG Media signals to the world our strong intentions to grow the sport in every corner of the world."
—Brent Dewar, NASCAR chief operating officer
As NASCAR’s international media representative, IMG will be responsible for helping the sport increase its footprint, audience base and revenues outside of North America and South America. In addition to leveraging the popularity of motorsports in key international territories like Western Europe and Australia, IMG will further develop NASCAR television rights commercially in markets where motorsports are less widely known such as Southeast Asia, China and Eastern Europe.
"NASCAR, already a global brand with deep international appeal, is positioning itself for robust growth beyond our borders by partnering with the world’s television and digital media content delivery leader," said Brent Dewar, NASCAR chief operating officer. "This long-term partnership with IMG Media signals to the world our strong intentions to grow the sport in every corner of the world."
Currently, NASCAR races are broadcast in more than 175 countries through more than 20 broadcast partners worldwide. All of NASCAR’s current international broadcast rights will expire at the end of the 2014 season and IMG will begin assisting NASCAR with creating and executing a new international media strategy for 2015 and beyond.
Hillary Mandel, senior vice president, Head of Media North America, IMG, said: "We have a history of working with ‘blue chip’ world-class sports in the U.S. and developing brands internationally. This experience and expertise will ensure the right broadcasters embrace NASCAR for the renowned sports property it is. Our dedicated team will work with NASCAR and alongside our unrivaled global sales force in more than 30 offices worldwide to ensure both extensive media coverage across all platforms and increased awareness worldwide. We are extremely excited by the opportunities that lie ahead."
As its agent, IMG will work with NASCAR to secure broadcast exposure for NASCAR’s national series as well as other NASCAR series in hundreds of countries across the globe beginning in 2015, including expanding into countries which have not broadcast NASCAR content in the past.
These new international broadcasting rights will coincide with the domestic broadcasting rights partnerships with FOX and NBC announced last summer. Beginning in 2015, FOX Sports holds the rights to the first 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series™ points races, the first 14 NASCAR Nationwide Series™ races and the entire NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™ season. Starting the same year, the NBC family of networks will be home to the final 20 races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, including its season-ending championship event which will return to network television in 2015 for the first time since 2009. Among other NASCAR series, NBC holds the rights to the final 19 races of the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
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Driver’s start at Watkins Glen will mark first in a national series this season
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Nelson Piquet Jr. is set to make his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut this weekend at Watkins Glen International, his first national series start of the season.
Piquet, a Brazilian native, will drive the Randy Humphrey Racing No. 77 Ford in Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen. Since 43 cars are listed for the 43-car event, Piquet will not need to qualify based on his speed in Coors Light Pole Qualifying unless another team files a late entry.
The 29-year-old driver competed in two full seasons in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series from 2011-12, then raced full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2013. This year, he’s been competing in Rallycross events, including taking the bronze medal at the X-Games in June.
Sunday’s race also marks the return of the Randy Humphrey-owned organization to the Sprint Cup circuit. Dave Blaney has driven the car in four events this season, but the team either failed to qualify or withdrew from 11 other races.
Humphrey said in June that the team would take a hiatus, starting with the event at Sonoma Raceway, while it was "retooling things."
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