Live Nationwide qualifying leaderboard from Richmond, Friday, Sept. 6, 4:05 p.m. ET

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

View all articles
View all videos
View all photos

MORE:

READ: Paint scheme preview:
Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Fantasy Showdown: Richmond

READ: Weekend schedule for Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Preview Show: Richmond


Watch live press conference from Richmond, Friday, Sept. 6, 2:15 p .m. ET

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

View all articles
View all videos
View all photos

READ MORE:

READ: Paint scheme preview:
Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Fantasy Showdown: Richmond

READ: Weekend schedule for Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Preview Show: Richmond

 

Watch Sprint Cup Series GarageCam, live from Richmond, Friday, Sept. 6, 11:30 a.m. ET

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

View all articles
View all videos
View all photos

READ MORE:

READ: Paint scheme preview:
Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Fantasy Showdown: Richmond

READ: Weekend schedule for Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Preview Show: Richmond

Keselowski knows what’s needed of him to get to the Chase and prepares for Richmond 

RICHMOND, Va. — Brad Keselowski is big on lists.

The reigning champion of NASCAR’s top series isn’t shy about giving team owner Roger Penske lists of things he thinks the organization could improve on. Should Keselowski fail to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup on Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway — and the odds are stacked against him — his next list could be a long one indeed.

“Obviously,” Keselowski said Thursday, on the eve of NASCAR’s regular-season finale. “I have a long list of things I know we can do better, and we haven’t. We’ve got to find those things and hit them and be better not just next year if that’s the scenario, but right now. Because whether we make the Chase or miss it, I still plan on going out and trying to win the next 10 races. I think we can have a shot at doing that.”

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

View all articles
View all videos
View all photos

Last weekend’s engine failure at Atlanta put Keselowski in a desperate situation, and in real danger of becoming only the second defending champion (joining Tony Stewart in 2006) to miss the sport’s 10-race playoff. The mathematics that can get Keselowski into the Chase are complicated, but the bottom line is he has to win the race — something he hasn’t done yet this year — and hope Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr. finish deeper in the field.

It’s a long shot at best, a situation even more dire than the one Jeff Gordon overcame last season to make the Chase by three points. There are a number of factors that have Keselowski in this position, among them a penalty that cost him 25 points for a rear-end violation at Texas, and another six for the car being too low at Dover. There were wrecks like that at Bristol that hampered his chances. But if the reigning champion is left on the outside looking in Saturday night, his list is more likely to focus on factors he and his No. 2 team could control rather than those it couldn’t.

Asked how much of what put him in his current position is correctable, Keselowski surmised roughly 50 percent. “I know I did all I could do at Atlanta. I know I did all I could do at Bristol,” he said. “The items that disappoint me or really weigh heavily on my mind are the ones I could control and didn’t do the best I could. Like Pocono, when we finished sixth or seventh with a third-place car. Those are the ones that stand out.”

The net result of all that is the very real possibility that Keselowski will be unable to defend his championship. How would he handle that? Keselowski jokes that he’s built a boxing ring, and will get in and start punching something. In reality, he won’t really know until if and when it happens.

“I do know I feel great about the majority of the people that are around me,” Keselowski said. “I think different circumstances, and we could be having a lot different conversations. But we’re not. I see the glass being at least half full and not half empty. But either way, not making the Chase would obviously be a disappointment, and our expectations as a team are to make the Chase.”

If that doesn’t happen? Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano believes Keselowski would emerge more resolute than ever.

“Brad’s tough. Brad’s mentally very, very tough,” he said. “I don’t think it would affect him. Obviously, that would be a big blow for him, yes. But I don’t see him curling up into a ball and you’re not going to see him the rest of the season. He’s going to be out there still trying to win races, and probably win a few by the end of the season just to show everybody, because that’s the competitor that he is. I’d be willing to put money on that after last week, he’s twice as motivated to come to Richmond and win this thing and get in the Chase and prove everybody wrong. That’s how tough he is.”

Even so, the frustration last weekend at Atlanta — where Keselowski was leading when his engine began to fail — was evident. A team that opened the season by nearly winning the Daytona 500 despite being involved in two accidents has battled one hurdle after another: penalties at Texas and Dover, a misfiring engine at Fontana, a phantom vibration at Darlington, a dropped transmission in the All-Star Race, a slide into the frontstretch wall at Charlotte, a lost cylinder at Richmond in the spring, and on and on and on.

The No. 2 team found some footing in the late summer to give itself a chance, but the sorely-needed victory never came, and the margin remained thin. “We’ve left a lot more on the table than just 25 points,” Keselowski said when asked about the long-term impact of the Texas penalty, which viewed in the context of the full season seems just one more nagging problem that’s prevented the champ from getting up to full speed.

“These are scenarios that are just frankly outside your control. You combine those with one or two mistakes, and it all just stacks up really quickly,” Keselowski said.

“I feel like we’re a great team. … We’ve had a lot of bad luck, and there have been some times we haven’t executed. The shortfall of execution hasn’t made up for the luck issues. I know … we can turn a corner tomorrow and win the next five or six races. That’s where we’re at as a team. Obviously it hasn’t happened, and it hasn’t clicked that way. But that doesn’t mean we’re not capable of it. What’s happened to us this year could quite honestly happen to any team.”

This year, though, it’s happened to his. Whether or makes the Chase or not Saturday night, Keselowski will go on.

“My career is dictated by much more than this weekend,” he said. “I plan on running in this sport a very long time. I feel I have the people around me to be successful for a very long period of time.”

MORE:

READ: Paint scheme preview:
Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Fantasy Showdown: Richmond

READ: Weekend schedule for Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Preview Show: Richmond

Couple will balance new baby with new NASCAR life

Lyn-z Adams Hawkins Pastrana announced on social media that her and husband Travis Pastrana are the parents of a healthy baby girl. The couple’s first child arrived Monday, Sept. 2. The two posted the following photo on Facebook and Twitter to announce the birth of "199-and-a-half," nicknamed so until the pair reveals her name — one the two have long decided on, but kept within their close circle of family and freinds.

 

The photo accompanied the following Tweet by Lyn-Z: ".@TravisPastrana & I are stoked to have welcomed our baby girl into this world 9/2/13 #199andAhalf #babyPastrana."

Lyn-Z spoke with NASCAR.com before the newest Pastrana’s arrival. See what she had to say about her and Travis introducing their child to their non-stop lifestyle below.

—————————————-

Aug. 15, 2013 — Lyn-z Adams Hawkins Pastrana was 9 months old when she took her first steps. Her husband, NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Travis Pastrana, was walking by 7 months.

No matter which gene pool their baby pulls from, the two will have their hands full come September when their first child — a daughter — is born. And that’s on top of the hectic schedules of two action sports stars and a NASCAR driver.

Yet there is a surprising amount of normalcy between the couple, who have a combined 13 X Games gold medals in their household — they met at the X Games after hearing of the other from motocross rider Ashley Fiolek. In October of 2011, they were married.

This year, with Travis in the No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford full time, Lyn-z has added NASCAR wife to her list of responsibilities. Just like her husband entered the sport with a yellow-and-pink car with a bare hood awaiting the right sponsor, Lyn-z is also doing things her way. She’s not standing on pit road in heels; she’s more often matching her husband’s car.

"I want our daughter to see both of us being passionate about something that we love … as long as you love what you’re doing, then that’s a great job for you to have."

— Lyn-z Pastrana

“I can agree that I’m definitely not the typical NASCAR wife,” she said. “But I’ve become friends with a lot of them, and I don’t feel like an outcast or anything like that — I just do my own thing, and I don’t really worry about fitting the norm.”

She seems to fit in without trying to fit that norm, befriending several fiancées and wives and joking about starting a NASCAR “Mommies and Me” club for all the expecting and recent mothers in the sport. She’s jumped right into the NASCAR world, surprising herself by standing up and shouting at her husband on the track, and picking up knowledge of how the sport works with each week.

On top of being a chance for Lyn-z to learn her husband’s new sport, race weekends — despite being some of the busiest days of the week — have also doubled as the time the couple spends together.

“… Especially this year, being at the track is kind of our only time that we have just the two of us together, because we have such a hectic household and he’s got a lot of stuff going on during the week that we don’t get to spend a lot of time just the two of us,” she said. “So, we make sure we utilize our time at the track for that.”

But Lyn-z also knows what it takes to be competitive, and understands the sacrifices both Pastranas must make for the other’s career to be successful. For the wife of the man who didn’t get the dress code at his introduction as part of the Roush team in January, helping Travis pack falls in that category.

“He just kind of throws things in, and then I go through and make sure he’s got the right sponsor shirts, that he has the right stuff for the actual weather, because he’d just kind of pack a pair of jeans and a t-shirt for everywhere. So I’m the one that looks at weather and goes, ‘OK, you need a jacket or a pair of shorts.’ ”

With less than a month until the baby’s due date in the first week of September and Lyn-z staying home in Maryland, the two have been planning how and when Travis will get home should she go into labor on a race weekend.

For these competitors, missing a race is out of the question. Travis may not even know his wife is about to have their baby.

“We’ll just have some sort of helicopter or plane on hand at the next few races, just even if it’s talking to one of the other drivers who’s got their plane out there …” she said. “But let’s say I go into labor the morning of the race, I probably won’t tell him. I’ll just tell someone who can help arrange everything and after the race they can be like, ‘Well, your wife’s in labor, let’s go!’

“I don’t know if it would really affect him, his mindset driving at all … I’d rather him not feel bad that he’s not already there or anything like that.”

Their daughter — who has been nicknamed “199-and-a-half” after the number Travis has worn since his early days in action sports — will get to experience her parents’ lifestyle early. They’re both going to be on the Nitro Circus Live European and North American tours, heading off to the former tour just after the finale at Homestead. Lyn-z will skateboard on the latter tour, which begins Jan. 3, 2014.

“That’ll give us about four months to pull ourselves together, and Travis will be on that tour as well, so we’ll just take it on as a family and I think it will be awesome,” said Lyn-z, who has been working out during her pregnancy to ease the transition back into training. “I probably won’t be skating as much as I used to, but I definitely want to continue to skate and I want our daughter to see both of us being passionate about something that we love and show her that as long as you love what you’re doing, then that’s a great job for you to have.”

Despite being such a hard-working pair, Lyn-z and Travis don’t let their work take over their life as a couple. When they’re on the road after the baby arrives, the Pastranas will be a family, but mom and dad will still keep some time to themselves.

“We both agree that it’s important to keep that (time) and you know, we love each other and we enjoy each other’s company and we’re each other’s best friend, so I don’t want that to go away and neither does he,” she said. “I think that’s one of his biggest worries.”

That worry is lessened by having family members willing to babysit the newest Pastrana — especially both grandmothers. Travis and Lyn-z are also looking for a place to stay near Charlotte, N.C., where Travis can be closer to the work he does in the garage and spend more time with his daughter when the three are at home together.

Lyn-z and Travis Pastrana before qualifying at Daytona International Speedway.

With a lot of talent to inherit from both her parents and exposure to the excitement of NASCAR and action sports, 199-and-a-half will nearly be born with the same love of the sport. But it may be her dad who she’ll have to talk into letting her follow his career path.

“I think I’ll be more excited than Travis; he will be a little more wary,” the mother-to-be said. “Either of us, there’s definitely some things and career paths we’ve taken that we hope she doesn’t, just because of how much work it is and how much it takes over your life and all the sacrifices we all will make and things like that. We want to make sure she has a childhood, where the two of us kind of had careers instead of childhoods.

“We’ll support her in whatever she wants to do, and Travis hopes she golfs. I hope she wants to do all the fun action sports things that we do, but if she doesn’t choose to have a career in it, we’ll definitely be OK with it. And if she does, then off to the skate contests or the motor racing we go.”

MORE:

WATCH: Kyle Busch
Final Laps

VIEW: Full Watkins
Glen coverage

WATCH: Watkins Glen
video highlights

WATCH: What Drives
the 5?

Elliott becomes the youngest driver in series history to win a race, booting out Blaney 

Last Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, Chase Elliott claimed his first career victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in only his sixth start.

In doing so, Elliott became the youngest driver in series history to win a race at 17 years, nine months and four days. He eclipsed Ryan Blaney who previously set the mark last year at Iowa Speedway — 18 years, eight months and 15 days.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

View all articles
View all videos
View all photos

Blaney also won at Pocono earlier this year. Elliott and Blaney join Kyle Larson (Rockingham) and Jeb Burton (Texas) as four drivers under the age of 21 who have won in 2013. Previous to this season, only one time in series history had a driver under 21 won a race — Blaney’s victory last season at Iowa.

This Sunday, the trucks return to Iowa for the Fan Appreciation 200 presented by New Holland (2 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1) where Elliott will compete in his third consecutive race.

In Elliott’s first six truck races of his career, he has finished no lower than sixth, which came in his first contest at Martinsville. Since then he has finishes of fifth (Rockingham), fourth (Dover), fifth (Iowa), fifth (Bristol) and first last weekend for an average finishing position of 4.3. 

He has led laps in three of the six races for a total of 100 laps, including 22 in his race-winning performance at CTMP where he finished with personal-best driver rating of 132.4.

After Iowa, Elliott, who is currently 21st in the standings, plans to make two more starts this season in the No. 94 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet — Martinsville and Phoenix.

MORE:

READ: Paint scheme preview:
Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Fantasy Showdown: Richmond

READ: Weekend schedule for Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Preview Show: Richmond

Hornish Jr. and Dillon plan to use Nationwide’s 1,000th race to get ahead

NASCAR’s No. 2 series has played host to some of the most exciting on-track action in motorsports with its unique blend of veteran drivers and those trying to earn a seat in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

The first 999 races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series has seen many epic battles occur and records fall, but its 1,000th race, Friday night’s Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), at Richmond International Raceway should provide a showdown that’s worthy of its predecessors.

Sam Hornish Jr. and Austin Dillon have temporarily separated themselves from the rest of the contenders, but the competition for the title is still close with nine races remaining and there could be plenty of points shakeups between now and Homestead in November.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

View all articles
View all videos
View all photos

In six series starts at Richmond, Hornish’s best finish is a fifth in April 2012. He also has a pair of seventh-place performances, including one in April 2013.

“In the last race, we had a fast Ford Mustang but had difficulty in the pits,” Hornish said. “Since then we’ve improved our short-track program, and our pit crew has been rock steady. Looking at the spring race here and knowing where we are as a team, I could not be any more optimistic.”

The former IndyCar Series champion and Indy 500 winner has led 83 laps at the .75-mile track, his third-highest total among all tracks in the series. He’s led 114 at Las Vegas and 91 at Iowa. With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series he only visited Richmond seven times, finishing a personal-best sixth in May 2009.

Dillon has competed at Richmond four times in the NASCAR Nationwide Series with a best finish of sixth in September 2012. His other finishes are ninth, 26th and 35th. An accident in April’s race ended his day early and relegated him to a 35th-place finish. His driver rating of 87.5 is slightly better than Hornish’s 86.3.

Hornish leads Dillon by 10 points with Elliott Sadler 16 points further back. Regan Smith (-29) and Justin Allgaier (-47) round out the top five.

MORE:

READ: Paint scheme preview:
Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Fantasy Showdown: Richmond

READ: Weekend schedule for Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Preview Show: Richmond

Hightlighting the top 10 moments in Nationwide history, the series rings in its 1,000th race

Related: Watch live press conference honoring Nationwide Series at 11:50 a.m. ET, Friday, Sept. 6

In honor of the Nationwide Series reaching its 1,000th race this weekend at Richmond International Raceway, it only seems appropriate to reflect on the moments that brought the Nationwide Series to this milestone.

Emerging from NASCAR’s Sportsman division in 1950 as a short track division, the Nationwide Series has carried many titles. From being called the Late Model Sportsman series in 1968, to the NASCAR Busch Series in 1984, the series eventually advanced to featuring races on larger tracks.

Today, the Nationwide Series is known as the "minor league" of racing and a proving ground for drivers who wish to take the next step to the Sprint Cup Series. With a diverse blend of rookie and veteran drivers, the Nationwide Series has always brought thrill, excitement and suspense to spectators.

Over the last 32 years and 999 races, the Nationwide Series has seen its fair share of compelling triumphs. Here’s a look into the past at the Nationwide Series’ top 10 moments in history:

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

View all articles
View all videos
View all photos

1982: Leave it to the late and great Dale Earnhardt to find his way to Victory Lane during the first race in what is now known as the Nationwide Series. Driving the No. 15 Wrangler Jeans Pontiac, Earnhardt started fifth and finished first, bringing home the trophy for the Goody’s 300 on Feb. 13, 1982 at Daytona International Speedway.

1983: Becoming the first driver to win back-to-back championships in 1983 and 1984, Sam Ard set the bar high for fellow Nationwide Series drivers to match. In 30 years, Ard’s four-race winning streak in 1983 has yet to be topped. His fourth win came on Oct. 8, 1983 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

2005: While on his way to his second consecutive series title, Martin Truex Jr. won the Nationwide Series’ first points race that was held outside of the United States. Truex Jr. took home first at the inaugural race in Mexico City on March 6.

2007: Making his way into NASCAR from Formula One racing, Juan Pablo Montoya is internationally known for dabbling in a bit of everything. In 2007 Montoya became the first series driver of hispanic origin to win the seres after pushing teammate Scott Pruett aside for the win at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City on March 4.

2007: In what was known as one of the most controversial races, Kevin Harvick took the Aug. 8 Circuit Gilles Villeneuve inaugural race. The two-time series champion made history for two different reasons. For one, winning the first race ever featured at this location. But also, because Robby Gordon claimed to have won this race due to complications involving an on-circuit altercation with fellow driver, Marcos Ambrose.  

2008: After 16 NASCAR starts, the "greatest thing since sliced bread," Joey Logano, toasted the Nationwide Series from Victory Lane at the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway on June 14. This win made Logano the youngest winner in series history at just 18 years, 21 days old.

2010: Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the Nationwide Series debut race at Daytona International Speedway on July 2. This race went down in history as the first race featuring the new NASCAR Nationwide Series models. Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet carried the same paint scheme that his father made memorable early in his career.

2011: In 2011, Danica Patrick became the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ Most Popular Driver as well as the second woman in series history to win a pole in 2012. A year prior, on March 5, Patrick earned the best finish by a woman in series history by finishing fourth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

2011: A bizarre and interesting moment that many NASCAR fans will never forget, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Carl Edwards made history Aug. 6, 2011 at Iowa Speedway. While leading the final lap, Stenhouse Jr. blew an engine on Turn 4, but was rammed from behind by Edwards, who ended up pushing Stenhouse Jr. to the finish line for his incredible win. Later, Edwards said that he tried to avoid the collision, but couldn’t because Stenhouse Jr.’s car slicked down the track with oil.

2011: On Aug. 26 2011 at the Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch won his 50th race, breaking Mark Martin‘s record for series wins (49). Busch still holds the record for most wins in the Nationwide Series, as he notched his 60th victory on Aug. 23, 2013 at Bristol.

MORE:

READ: Paint scheme preview:
Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Fantasy Showdown: Richmond

READ: Weekend schedule for Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Preview Show: Richmond

SHR starts forming a plan for upcoming season while Newman stays quiet

RICHMOND, Va. –While the make-up of the Stewart-Haas Racing organization continues to take shape for 2014, its departing driver, Ryan Newman remained coy about his plans for next year.

Kurt Busch, who joins SHR next season as the team’s fourth driver, told the crowd attending Thursday’s Wild Card contenders Fan Question and Answer event outside Richmond International Raceway that Mark Martin will continue to work with the team next year. He may help out with preseason testing and/or serve in a mentor capacity for Danica Patrick in what would be her sophomore season.

Martin is currently driving 12 of this season’s final 13 races in SHR’s No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet filling in for three-time champ Tony Stewart, who will miss the rest of the schedule while recoveringfrom a severely broken leg.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

View all articles
View all videos
View all photos

“It’s an opportunity of a lifetime to be teamed up with [Kevin] Harvick, with Tony, Danica, us four in the same meetings, it could be hell or could be great — I’m just kidding about the hell part,’’ Busch told fans. “There’s a lot of respect for Tony being the top guy on the totem pole and then Harvick and I are coming in at the same time, and then Mark Martin is in the mix. He’s going to be there helping out Danica next year.’’

Newman, meanwhile, offered little more than a grin and a couple evasive quips to reporters about where he’ll be working in 2014, after finding out in August that he won’t be returning to SHR.

He would only grin as reporters peppered him with cleverly-phrased questions to try to get him to divulges any news.

“Signed contract? Letter of intent? A promise? An agreement?”

All he did was smile.

Asked later privately if he understood the natural inclination to assume his plans would be forthcoming Newman again smiled and nodded.

Busch’s exit to SHR next year leaves an open seat in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevy. And Wednesday, veteran Jeff Burton announced he would not be back behind the wheel of the Richard Childress Racing’s No. 31 Caterpillar Chevy, leaving another prime seat vacant.

“Absolutely, I can see that [people are expecting my announcement would be next),’’ Newman said. “I see that from different sides but there is more than one opportunity out there.’’

It’s long been rumored Newman would move to RCR, but Thursday he refused to acknowledge as much. Or, he was at least intent on reminding that that there are multiple options for the 2008 Daytona 500 winner.

Newman enters the weekend ranked 14th in points, 20 points behind 10th place Kurt Busch. His victory last month in NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway puts him in position to earn a Wild Card berth in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at the three-quarter mile track.

A victory in the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevy at Richmond would assure him of one of the two Wild Card positions. He is also a legitimate contender to race his way into the top-10 in the Sprint Cup Series standings.

 “I’m focused on this weekend,’’ Newman said gamely dodging questions about the timing of any upcoming announcement.

READ MORE:

READ: Paint scheme preview:
Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Fantasy Showdown: Richmond

READ: Weekend schedule for Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Preview Show: Richmond

 

Watch: Live press conferences from Richmond

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

View all articles
View all videos
View all photos

READ MORE:

READ: Paint scheme preview:
Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Fantasy Showdown: Richmond

READ: Weekend schedule for Richmond and Iowa

WATCH: Preview Show: Richmond