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Full-time replacement driver not yet determined

Austin Dillon will drive Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Michigan International Speedway, Stewart-Haas Racing announced Monday afternoon.

Dillon, a former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion and the current points leader in the Nationwide Series, has made nine previous starts at NASCAR’s premier level with a best finish of 11th at Michigan earlier this year. Max Papis drove the No. 14 car to a 15th-place finish Sunday on the road course at Watkins Glen International, the first race Stewart missed after breaking two bones in his lower right leg in a sprint car crash Aug. 5.

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“I’ve watched Austin for many years and at each stage of his racing career he’s been successful,” Stewart said in a release. “He’s proven to be a very fast learner, and he’s able to adapt quickly. Being the youngest champion in the history of the Truck Series is proof of that. His background in dirt racing is an asset, and off the track we share many of the same interests, specifically, hunting and fishing. I know he’ll perform well at Michigan and I’m just as confident in his ability to properly represent Mobil 1 and Bass Pro Shops throughout the race weekend.”

SHR has not named a driver for the Aug. 24 race at Bristol or beyond, nor established a timetable for the three-time Sprint Cup champion’s return. Stewart was released from a North Carolina hospital on Sunday after a second surgery to repair a broken tibia and fibula fractured in a crash during a sprint car race at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. Doctors estimate the normal recovery time for such an injury to be at least four to six weeks.

Dillon, 23, has two career Nationwide victories and five Truck Series triumphs — the most recent coming last month at the Eldora Speedway dirt track owned by Stewart. Although Stewart will fall out of Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup contention during his absence, Papis maintained an 11th-place position in series owners’ points with his finish in the No. 14 car this past weekend.

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Driver couldn’t take advantage of road-course races

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — As the laps went on in the Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International, Marcos Ambrose looked indestructible. His No. 9 DeWalt Ford dominated the first 51 laps of the race, leading the pack and springing ahead on each restart. The day before, Ambrose’s team had taken a car the driver was unhappy with and turned it into a race-winning car.

But by the time a caution hit later in the race, Ambrose was left with a car he wasn’t sure about, and the Aussie road racing veteran restarted 14th with 27 laps to go. What appeared to be minor involvement in a wreck that took out Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. turned out to be a much bigger problem than anticipated.

“I’m just really disappointed for my Stanley team,” Ambrose said. “Something was wrong with the car there and I just couldn’t get going. I could feel on the roll-around lap that something had broken, but I just feel bad for the guys who got caught up in all that mess. That’s not the way we wanted our day to finish.”

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Ambrose was unable to weave through traffic once he fell back, and stagnated there until he began noticing issues with his car. The driver had expressed concern over a tire before the restart, but after some discussion and examining the car from a distance, the team decided to continue without pitting to better judge the situation.

“I thought something was wrong,” Ambrose said. “I was talking to the guys about it on the radio and we decided to stay out there just to see if it was gonna be drivable, but it wasn’t. I was in the way heading up to the hill and got dumped by somebody. I’m not sure who it was and I just ended up in the fence.”

Ambrose spun and hit the wall head-on, with more damage to his car than could be repaired in the remaining laps. After tossing down the window net and exiting the remains of the yellow and black No. 9, Ambrose threw his helmet and neck support into his car and sat on the rail before being summoned to the ambulance to the care center, as is mandatory when a driver wrecks.

His departure from the race with six laps to go left the No. 9 with a 31st-place finish. Ambrose came into the race with the Coors Light Pole position on a track where he feels very comfortable and had a car he believed was capable of winning.

“When you go road racing, it’s more about just getting the car even and not doing anything crazy… for me, when you go road racing it’s not so much about setting the car up to the very edge, it’s more about just making it easy to drive and then I’ll do the rest.”

As that easily maneuverable car began to get away from Ambrose, so did his opportunity at winning three races in a row at a track where he is a favorite. But the bigger issue the team now faces is the result’s impact on their hopes in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

A win would have bumped Ambrose up in the standings — likely to 20th with 548 points — but more importantly would have put him the third in line for one of the two Wild Card positions, assuming Tony Stewart does not return to his car this season after breaking his leg in a sprint car crash last week. The gap between Ambrose and Ryan Newman would have closed significantly; instead, Newman, the final Wild Card position and Ambrose’s first appearance in the Chase are now 90 points away.

And without a win on either of the season’s road courses — Ambrose finished seventh at Sonoma — the team’s strongest tracks have passed. His recent showings at the remaining four tracks don’t bode well for the team. With a 19th-place finish at Bristol, 42nd-place at Richmond and 23rd at Michigan earlier this year, and 17th last year at Atlanta, the team’s biggest opportunity to drive their way into the Chase also has passed them by.

“We put on a strong showing and I’m proud of my Stanley team and everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports for giving me the opportunity to run well,” Ambrose said. “It wasn’t our day, but we’ve had plenty of good days here. We just need to reflect on this and we’ll wake up tomorrow and just press on and go to the next one.”

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Posted on by Holly Cain

Newman carries the flag for SHR’s Chase hopes, saying there’s work to be done

With four races remaining before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Ryan Newman‘s odds at securing a berth in the 12-driver field  improved last week.

But not by design. And certainly not the way he’d prefer.

Newman’s Stewart-Haas Racing team owner and teammate, Tony Stewart, severely broke his leg in a sprint car race last Monday and will be out of action indefinitely while recovering.

Newman and Kasey Kahne are the drivers currently in the two Wild Card spots as Stewart is out of the car and dropped dramatically in the standings after Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Newman drove the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevy to a 14th-place showing at The Glen to hold steady in his 14th-place ranking. Kahne, who is ranked 12th, has two wins and would hold the top Wild Card spot.

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Newman could also race his way into a guaranteed Chase berth by cracking the top-10 in the standings; Newman trails 10th-place Martin Truex Jr. by only 20 points.

Sipping a soft drink, and shaking his head at it all, Newman spoke candidly about his whirlwind last four weeks — from getting the news he won’t be returning to SHR in 2014, to winning the Brickyard 400 at his home track Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to now being the team’s only hope for a Chase run.
 
Beyond being worried about Stewart’s health, what does his injury mean for your Race to the Chase?

Newman: "It doesn’t change anything with respect to me; it just changes the potential that I have to make the Chase. We did have the opportunity to get two cars in and we now have the opportunity to get one car in.

"The one car has a better chance because of his misfortunes, unfortunately. But this (situation) doesn’t make any kind of guarantees.  We still have a lot of work. We’re still outside of that (guaranteed top-10) number.

"It does give us a better opportunity of making the Chase either via a Wild Card or a points position."
 
Obviously this has turned out to be a curve ball no one was expecting:

Newman: "Yes. It’s unfortunate for him (Stewart) and fortunate for me, and he’d sit here and tell you the same thing if the positions were reversed. It’s not like we want to see it happen.
 
What does this do to the pressure you have as Stewart-Haas Racing’s only shot at the Chase?

Newman: "I don’t see it that way (any more pressure or expectation). I know from the outside it may look that way, but I don’t see it that way. I have a job to do regardless, whether Tony Stewart is injured or not, whether I have 42 sponsors or zero. I have the responsibility to do the very best job I can do for myself."
 
This is the time of season where testing becomes crucial and SHR has shown direct results from the places you’ve tested, opting not to hold your tests off until the Chase. What are the immediate plans and your mindset about testing?

Newman: "We were in a position where we needed to use those tests and you can use them to your advantage if you have good tests before the Chase. You have to be careful because if you wait you can overload yourself in the Chase. I think some teams, like Hendrick have waited to use theirs and if you’re prepared for that, it’s fine. But we were in a position for a couple double-hitters like Loudon (N.H.) and Pocono (Pa.) that pay off by helping you in the Chase and again in the Chase."
 
What is the outlook for your No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevy in Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway. You won back-to-back races there in 2003-04 and a pole position in 2005. You’ve had three top-10 finishes in your last five starts there and were 18th earlier this season after recovering from a flat tire?

Newman: "I look forward to it. We’ve been pretty competitive at the bigger race tracks this year. We were competitive at Michigan earlier this year and I look forward to going there because Quicken Loans is headquartered there and Chevrolet. I used to consider it my home track before the Brickyard was even there (on the schedule).”
 
And finally, is there any news to report in terms of the 2014 season?

Newman: "There are always developments, but there are no answers right now. There is development."

 

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Posted on by Nascar

Austin Dillon, who won at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway last month, will step in for an injured Stewart this weekend

Experience and sponsorship landed Austin Dillon in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

With three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart sidelined indefinitely with a broken right leg, SHR officials selected Dillon because he has competed in seven events at the 2-mile track, and because his Richard Childress Racing team has strong ties to and funding from sponsor Bass Pro Shops.

Stewart also has sponsorship from Bass Pro and a solid relationship with company founder Johnny Morris.

In addition to competing in the Pure Michigan 400 (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN) at MIS, Dillon, the NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader will also travel to Lexington, Ohio to compete in this weekend’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 (Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN).

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“We went down through the list, saw who was available, saw who had track time, who was doing double-duty and who was willing to try to work out a schedule that would work for both sides,” Greg Zipadelli, competition director for SHR, said Monday.

“(Austin) has a strong relationship with Bass Pro Shops and … a big part of how we go through this is going to be making sure that our partners are happy with what we’re doing, as far as who we’re putting in the car and will represent their brands in the way they want it represented.

“Austin did a great job in the past at Michigan and we just thought it was a good fit for us.”

The 2011 champion in the Camping World Truck Series, Dillon has nine career starts in Cup — including two at MIS. He finished 11th in his most recent start there in June of this year. He also has three Nationwide and two NCWTS starts at MIS.

The wide, fast oval is “one of my favorite tracks,” Dillon, 23, said. “We led all the laps in the Nationwide race there this year until we had the left rear flat and ran well in the Cup race. So I’m really looking forward to it.

“I think it’s a place that we can really go out and have a good run at this weekend.”

Max Papis finished 15th at Watkins Glen this past weekend for the SHR team. Stewart, who saw a string of 521 consecutive starts in Cup end, lost seven points positions, falling from 11th to 17th.

Zipadelli left the door open for more possible driver moves as the organization awaits word on how long the co-owner/driver will be on the sidelines. Approximately 50 people contacted the team, some that Zipadelli admitted, “I didn’t even know raced.

“And we appreciate everybody reaching out and willing to help,” he said. “But it’s been interesting, let’s leave it at that.”

For now, he said, “It’s going to be a weekly occurrence here for a little while. We’ll evaluate each race as it comes and do the best job we can with putting someone in it we feel will do a good job for Stewart‑Haas and all of our partners.

“We will probably know more next week. Tony has a doctor’s appointment Wednesday … to just kind of go over things, and at that point we’ll have a lot better idea of what we’re doing. But for right now it will probably be a week‑by‑week decision as far as who is in the car.”

Could a good result from Dillon open the door for future races while Stewart is on the mend?

“Absolutely. We’re (also) talking about other races,” Zipadelli said. “We just kind of want to get through this week here and then plan ahead.

“Like I said, things are a little slow. We’ve got a little bit more time this week. We’ll be able to plan weeks out here once we get this Michigan stuff done. Last week was kind of a short week, and we just really focused and concentrated on Watkins Glen and doing the best we could there.”

 

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Posted on by Staff Report

Michael Waltrip Racing will have a Brian Vickers announcement live at 10 a.m. ET Tuesday

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Posted on by Staff Report

Event times, TV coverage and other information for this weekend’s NASCAR action

SPECIAL: FOX Sports 1 PROGRAMMING GUIDE (NASCAR coverage on FOX Sports 1 starts this weekend.)

All times ET

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15

ON TRACK
— 9 a.m.-noon ET, NASCAR Nationwide Series practice (Get results)
— 1:30-4 p.m. ET, NASCAR Nationwide Series practice
(Get results)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 16

ON TRACK
— 10:30-11:50 a.m. ET, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice (Get results)
— 11-noon p.m. ET, NASCAR Nationwide Series practice (Get results)
— Noon-1:30 p.m. ET, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, SPEED (Get results)
— 1:30-3:30 p.m. ET, NASCAR Nationwide Series final practice (Get results)
— 2-3:20 p.m. ET, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, SPEED (Get results)
— 3:40 p.m. ET, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, SPEED (Get results)

PRESS CONFERENCES
WATCH LIVE
— 10 a.m. — Kyle Busch
— 10:25 a.m. — Austin Dillon and Greg Zipadelli
— 10:40 a.m. — Jimmie Johnson
— 10:55 a.m. — Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle
— 2:15 p.m. — Martin Truex Jr.
— 5 p.m. — Post-NSCS qualifying

GARAGE CAM
WATCH LIVE
— Sprint Cup: 11:30 a.m. ET
— Nationwide, 1 p.m. ET

SATURDAY, AUGUST 17


SPECIAL: FOX Sports 1 PROGRAMMING GUIDE (NASCAR coverage on FOX Sports 1 starts this weekend.)

ON TRACK
— 8:30-9:25 a.m. ET, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 9:30 a.m. ET, NASCAR Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, ESPN2 (Get results)
— 9:35 a.m. ET, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 11-11:55 a.m. ET, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 12:30 p.m. ET, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Michigan National Guard 200 (100 laps, 200 miles), FOX Sports 1 on air at noon (Get results)
— 2:30 p.m. ET, NASCAR Nationwide Series Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 (90 laps, 203.2 miles), ESPN on air at 2 (Get results)

PRESS CONFERENCES
WATCH LIVE
— 2 p.m. — Post-NCWTS race (approximately)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 18

ON TRACK
— 1 p.m. ET, Pure Michigan 400 (200 laps, 400 miles), ESPN on air at noon ET (Get results)

PRESS CONFERENCES
WATCH LIVE
— 4 p.m. — Post-NSCS race

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Note: Links will be added as information becomes available.

Sprint Cup: Season schedule | Standings | Entry list | Lineup | Pit stall assignments | Results
Nationwide: Season schedule | Standings | Entry list | Lineup | Results
Camping World Truck: Season schedule | Standings | Entry list | Lineup | Pit stall assignments | Results

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Posted on by Staff Report

 

Camping World Truck Series entry list for Michigan National Guard 200

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Click here to see the entry list for the Pure Michigan 400

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Posted on by Staff Report

Logano records another top-10; Newman enters Chase field

Joey Logano continued his hot streak, finishing seventh Sunday at Watkins Glen to pace the Coca-Cola Racing Family.

Logano now has three consecutive top-10s as he competes for a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Speaking of hot streaks, Ryan Newman continued his as well. He finished 14th — not bad, considering the intricacies of the 2.450-mile road course — and now holds one of two Wild Cards into the postseason.

A roundup on the Coca-Cola Racing Family in order of how they finished at Watkins Glen:

Joey Logano (No. 22)

Penske Racing, Ford

Recap: With the exception of two races, Joey Logano has been the most consistent driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since Charlotte. He’s recorded eight top-10s in the past 11 races, and also finished 11th once. The problem, though, is that his misses have been drastic. Consecutive 40th-place finishes due to tire problems has knocked him down — but not out — of the Chase race. He proved that much at Watkins Glen, handling the road course with skill.
Quotable: “Anytime you come to a road course you never know what’s gonna happen and obviously there are a lot more guys out there that had really fast race cars and got wrecked, so survival is always key to get through these things. Our Shell/Pennzoil Ford was about where we finished. I felt like our strategy worked out decent. It wasn’t stellar, but we didn’t catch the cautions perfectly as some guys did. I could have done a little better job on the restarts earlier in the race, but, overall, seventh out of a kind of crapshoot of a race track, you never know what’s gonna happen, so to get seventh and have a solid points day was important for our goal of getting in the Chase.”
His standing: Logano is 16th in the standings with 598 points.
Outlook: With four races until the postseason is set, Logano is very much a darkhorse contended for the Chase. He almost certainly needs a win; if not, four top-fives could also do the trick.

Ryan Newman (No. 39)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: For the third consecutive week, Newman finished exactly where he qualified — good for 14th at Watkins Glen. Newman also earned enough ground in the standings to grab the second of two Wild Card berths, so it’s tough to complain about his day. Still, it was tough to swallow after Newman was one of several drivers who was ruled to have pitted after pit road had closed during a caution flag. That penalty send him to the end of the longest line, although he recovered.
Quotable: “I haven’t seen the reply of when the lights went from green to red at the pit opening, but I feel confident that we were on pit road before the light changed. But we were sent to the tail end of the longest line. It is what it is. We didn’t get the finish that I feel we were going to get, but a lot of the guys that we’re racing for points had misfortune, and that allowed us to gain some ground in the standings. We really could have capitalized had it not been for that penalty, but we can’t do anything about that now. We’ll head to Michigan next week and look to continue climbing our way into contention for making the Chase field.”
His standing: Newman is 14th in the standings with 605 points.
Outlook: With the unfortunate accident to Tony Stewart, Newman currently owns the second Wild Card spot. It’s not set in stone, though. If Martin Truex Jr. slips out of the top 10, he’d likely grab that position from Newman. All the No. 39 can do is drive the wheels off.

Greg Biffle (No. 16)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford 

Recap: Biffle actually gained ground at Watkins Glen, despite being involved in an accident and finishing 16th. That’s important, because every place in the standings is important with the points battle so close.
Quotable: Biffle was unavailable for comment.
His standing: Biffle is ninth in the standings with 627 points.
Outlook: Biffle is heading to perhaps his best track this week at Michigan. Not only is he the defending race champion, but he won at Michigan earlier in 2013. He’s looking to win three in a row at the 2-mile oval.

Denny Hamlin (No. 11)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Recap: What has happened to Denny Hamlin? His Chase chances are totally gone, and he finished 19th at Watkins Glen. Then again, in the past eight races, Hamlin has finished inside the top 20 just twice — on Sunday, and an 18th-place showing at Indianapolis.
His standing: Hamlin is 25th in the standings with 414 points.
Quotable: Hamlin was unavailable for comment
Outlook: The No. 11 Toyota finished 30th at Michigan earlier this season, giving the team something for which to improve upon this time around.

Danica Patrick (No. 10)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: Patrick finished a respectable 20th at Watkins Glen, not bad at all for her first time on the track. In fact, Danica’s had a steady showing the past few races, but seemed to get involved in a wreck or something that caused her to finish more poorly than she drove.
Quotable: “I think at the end of the day, there was a lot going on, especially at the end. Really just trying to finish and really just trying to not get frustrated, no matter what is going on out there, and just taking what the car will give you. So I just tried to stay calm and stay focused on not making any mistakes. It was really easy to make mistakes out there, and we worked on the car, and I feel like we have a direction for next time. We didn’t nail it today, that is for sure, but I think we made gains, for sure, from the beginning of practice until the end of the race. It’s just a matter of using that for next time and getting better.”
Her standing: Patrick is 27th in the standings with 397 points.
Outlook: Patrick finished 13th at Michigan earlier this year, and the bigger tracks suit her style. This race could net the driver her second top-10 of the season.

Tony Stewart (No. 14)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: Stewart likely watched the race at Watkins Glen from his television in the hospital. A broken leg — suffered during a sprint car crash — will keep the driver out for an extended period of time.
His standing: Stewart is 17th in the standings with 594 points.
Outlook: Smoke’s next move is picking a full-time replacement for his No. 14 Chevrolet. Austin Dillon will drive the car at Michigan.

Posted on by George Winkler

Busch throws curve at fantasy owners with his road-course performances

Related: Play NASCAR Fantasy Live

Two road courses. Two different results for Kyle Busch. After finishing 35th at Sonoma earlier this season, Busch came away with the victory Sunday at Watkins Glen. This was consistent with the No. 18’s past performances at both of the tracks, so fantasy owners who were keen to that knowledge no doubt benefited from Busch’s presence in their lineups.

Busch scored the most points in the NASCAR Fantasy Live game at 79.5, and that was a whopping 19.5 points more than what second-place Carl Edwards had. Busch led all drivers in fantasy points for fast laps and was second only to Marcos Ambrose in laps led. And although the finish was close between Busch and Brad Keselowski in real life, Busch was 23 points better than Keselowski in fantasy.



That was a big gap to overcome on a road course where fantasy points were at a premium. But if you did study those previous stats, you would have known better. In nine career Cup races at Sonoma, Busch had one win — but just two top-10 finishes. Now, in nine Cup races at Watkins Glen, he has two wins and eight top-10s. That’s a stark contrast despite the tracks being a similar genre.

It’s an interesting point to take forward when setting your lineup. Never take a previous performance at a similar genre track for granted.

Of course, Busch might not have fared as well had it not been for a Lap 59 pit stop that came fortuitously before a Lap 60 caution flag. That meant leaders like Ambrose had to come in to pit while Busch was on his way out and grabbing an advantage. 



That key moment shuffled the standings around quite a bit in fantasy leagues. And that made fantasy owners either famously fortunate, like Busch, or fittingly frustrated, like Ambrose, who was spun by Max Papis on a late restart — or road-course king Jeff Gordon, who met an even worse fantasy fate. For more on Gordon, let’s move ahead with our story …  

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Key Fantasy Moment: It came on Lap 14 when Jeff Gordon, with a series-leading nine road-course wins, got off track and out of control and slammed into an inside barrier (watch video). Gordon managed to get back in the race and finish 36th, but it was a far cry from what fantasy owners were expecting from the four-time Cup champion. In fact, Gordon did not score a single fantasy point thanks to minus-8 in place differential that wiped out the points he gained by his finishing position.

Best value: Forgive us if you’ve heard this before, but it was Casey Mears, who qualified 30th but moved up to a 12th-place finish. For that he scored 51 fantasy points and was the seventh-highest scorer this week. That was slightly better than Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch but at a fraction of the cost at $11.25. Owners who saw Mears’ best average finish for his Cup career was at Watkins Glen did well to take advantage of that stat.

Biggest bust: Let’s make it plural and say it was the two Hendrick Motorsports cars that got tangled up with each other on Lap 81. Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne made contact, Kahne spun and got slammed into by Junior (watch video). Both Hendrick machines received significant damage and led to Junior finishing 31st in fantasy points and Kahne 38th — with just a single fantasy point. That qualifies as "ugh" for two drivers who cost $26.50 and $24.75, respectively.

Tip to take forward: There are no more road courses on the schedule this season, so it’s time to jettison Marcos Ambrose and perhaps even Juan Pablo Montoya — and any of the other road experts — from your roster. It’s unfortunate because they are value picks and allow for roster flexibility. But now that the road courses are in the rearview mirror, fantasy owners can focus the alternating intermediate tracks and short tracks in the next four races before the chase, including Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond.

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