Posted on by Nascar

The defending race-winner isn’t letting early struggles get to him

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Tony Stewart’s demeanor was more similar to a driver leading the points than one currently 24th in the standings.

There’s a difference, he said, between panic and concern.

Yes, the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion acknowledged, he is concerned that he finds himself mired deep in the points after the season’s first four races.

But he’s not ready to strip his No. 14 team down to bare bones and start over. This isn’t the first rodeo for Stewart, now in his fifth year as co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing. With the arrival of NASCAR’s Generation-6 car, it was inevitable, he said, that some teams would come out of the gate faster than others.

“We knew there were teams that would probably figure the (new) package out (and) teams that would struggle,” Stewart said March 20 during an appearance at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. “… It’s not that there’s no emphasis on catching up, that focus is already there … but we want to win races, too. We know we can get caught up; it’s just a matter of going through the process.”

Stewart, 41, finished 41st at Daytona after he was caught up in an early accident; damage from a flat tire early last weekend at Bristol sent him to the garage for an extended period and left him 31st in the 43-car field. In between, he managed an eighth-place run at Phoenix and was 11th a week later at Las Vegas.

“I don’t care how many cautions you have,” he said of the Bristol setback, “you’re not going to get back on the lead lap from that.”

So the team made the repairs it could, sent its driver back out onto the track, and in large part due to attrition, saw him pick up a dozen spots by the end of the day.

"If you’re not concerned, you’re not doing your job."

—Tony Stewart on his early-season struggles

Teammates Ryan Newman (23rd in points) and rookie Danica Patrick (28th) have had their share of struggles this year as well. Playing catch-up, Stewart said, might mean leaning a bit more on Hendrick Motorsports, the organization that provides the cars and engines, as well as some engineering assistance.

“We’d be foolish not to at this point,” he said. “We’ve got a great working relationship with those guys. This is a time that it can come into play for us, for sure. … We have to do a little better job of taking that information and executing.”

Cup teams head west once again this weekend for the Auto Club 400, slated for March 24 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Stewart is the defending race winner and has won two of the last three Cup races at the 2-mile track. 

Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson (five wins) and Jeff Gordon (three) are also multiple winners at ACS, as is Joe Gibbs Racing driver Matt Kenseth (three).

“The good thing (about going back to ACS) is I know what my car needs to feel like to have a good day on Sunday,” Stewart said. “I know what it needs to feel like on Saturday to do that. The way we ran last year – we had an awesome, awesome race car. … It will be disappointing if we don’t run well there.”

With 22 races remaining before the field is set for this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, Stewart knows there’s plenty of time to get his program headed back in the right direction.

Concerned? Sure. But there’s no reason to panic.

“Are you concerned when you go home and your wife’s mad at you?” Stewart asks. “Do you panic? Same thing.

“If you’re not concerned, you’re not doing your job; if you panic, you’ve got just as much opportunity to go backward as you do forward.

“We’ve got a lot of races to get these points caught up.”

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Posted on by Staff Report

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Posted on by Staff Report

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Performing well is the best way Logano can pay back Hamlin

Watching the replay, it’s difficult to judge intent. Did Denny Hamlin mean to nudge Joey Logano just enough to move him out of the way in the kind of racing fans have clamored for at Bristol Motor Speedway? Or, given recent history between the two drivers, was there a little more involved? Things happen fast in the close quarters of the half-mile track, never more so than now thanks to a record-setting new Sprint Cup car, and the end result Sunday was the yellow No. 22 going around, its back end impacting the outside wall.

And afterward — well, we all know what happened then. Logano climbed out of his vehicle, stormed over to the No. 11 car parked conveniently near the media center, and started shouting into the cockpit before crews intervened and shoving ensued. Just another memorable day at Bristol, where the fireworks above the track are often outshined by those popping off below. Sunday’s antics came seven months after Tony Stewart capped the previous Bristol race by tossing his helmet at Matt Kenseth’s car.

And yet, that earlier episode was provided a certain gravity by the fact the combatants shared four premier-series championships between them and were viewed more or less as antagonists on equal footing. Neither driver was in a position to simply dismiss the other, a common thread seen throughout so many Bristol feuds, be it Dale Earnhardt against Rusty Wallace or Kevin Harvick against Greg Biffle or Kenseth against Jeff Gordon. So often, those thrown water bottles or tossed helmets or pit-road shoves have been exchanged between competitors who viewed one another as peers.

Was that the case Sunday? It’s difficult to believe so, given Hamlin’s reaction. “He said he’s coming for me,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said of his former teammate. “I usually don’t see him, so it’s usually not a factor.” It was a cutting response that underscored the stark differences in on-track accomplishments between the two drivers — one with 22 victories who’s made the Chase for the Sprint Cup every year, another who’s won twice and never qualified for the playoff. Fair or not, NASCAR is a performance-based sport, and performance matters even if only to solidify the ground on which a driver attempts to take a stand.

Granted, this doesn’t seem to have much to do with who was right and who was wrong Sunday at Bristol, which on the surface appeared to be one of those racing deals on a short track that punches them out with regularity. But even if he does feel like the victim here, there’s only one way for a driver like Logano to get even with a driver like Hamlin, and that’s to consistently outrun him — or run even with him — on the race track. Until he gets to that point, words alone simply can’t carry enough weight, particularly in a situation where it’s unclear who exactly is at fault.

"It’s frustrating when you’ve got a car that can possibly win it, and to get taken out from something like that is just frustrating."

— Joey Logano

No question Logano is trying to get there, and that effort clearly plays into all this, given that he was running among the leaders when the incident occurred. Understandably, he views the race as a missed opportunity. “It’s frustrating when you’ve got a car that can possibly win it, and to get taken out from something like that is just frustrating,” he said Sunday. “This team deserves better. We’ve run better than we’ve finished every week so far. We should have at least four top 10s in my eyes.” Instead, he has yet to finish better than 12th.

Now, none of this should be seen as an indictment of Logano, whom no less than Roger Penske and Brad Keselowski thought enough of make him a teammate to the reigning Sprint Cup champion. The 22-year-old broke in at such at early age, and has been around NASCAR so long already that it’s easy to forget how young he is and how much potential he still has ahead of him. He already seems more comfortable and confident in his current ride than he did during his days with Gibbs. True to his word, he’s more of a threat to win races now than he’s ever been.

But that doesn’t change the fact that with actions like Sunday’s, he’s only setting himself up. His remark three years ago about Harvick’s wife wearing the firesuit in the family — great line at the time, no question — got turned around on him when DeLana Harvick started using it on T-shirts. Now Bristol, and Hamlin dismissing him in so many words. Even compliments can come out backhanded: “He’s a good little racer,” Kyle Busch said of Logano, in what was intended as a term of affection. It all paints a scenario akin to a younger brother who the big kids won’t take seriously until he starts beating them.

Toward that end, an opportunity presents itself every week. Sure, some folks will clamor for Logano to seek revenge. But Auto Club Speedway, a lightning-fast layout where the Generation-6 car promises to smash another track record, is not the place to look for it. Martinsville looms two weeks later, but taking out Hamlin on a track where he’s a favorite to win is a sure way to lose the moral high ground. Besides, which would make more of a statement — Logano dumping Hamlin, or outrunning him at a facility where he’s won four times?

Easy answer. The former entrenches a reputation of a young driver impatient to break through, the latter shows a more seasoned competitor in the midst of doing just that. And the next time Joey Logano leans into someone else’s car to voice displeasure, his adversary will have no choice but to listen. Because in NASCAR, nothing speaks louder than performance.

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Posted on by NASCAR Official Release

Lesa France Kennedy and Glenn S. Ritchey appointed to board of directors

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — At The NASCAR Foundation Board of Directors’ meeting today, Lesa France Kennedy and Glenn S. Ritchey, were elected as the two newest board members.

Kennedy is CEO and Vice Chairperson of the Board of Directors for International Speedway Corporation, as well as a Vice Chairperson for NASCAR. She is actively involved with several civic organizations in the Daytona Beach area, including the Chamber of Commerce, Seaside Music Theater, Leadership Daytona, the Civic League of the Halifax Area and the United Way. She also supports Victory Junction, the American Heart Association, Daytona Beach Museum of Arts and Sciences and Moffitt Cancer Center, where she is on the Board of Advisors.

Kennedy’s long list of honors include, among others, being named “Most Powerful Woman in Sports” in 2009 by Forbes, “Most Influential Woman in Business” in 2006 by Volusia Flagler Business Report, “Most Influential Woman in Sports Business” in 2005 by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal and “Female Sports Executive of the Year” in 2001 by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal.    

Ritchey is the President and CEO of the Jon Hall Automotive Group/Ritchey Autos Southeast Automotive Management, one of the nation’s most successful automotive companies. The former two-term Daytona Beach mayor is on numerous boards and has served as Chairman of the following: Daytona Beach’s Board of Adjustments, Halifax Hospital Medical Center and its Foundation, Lively Arts Center, GMAC’s Dealer Advisory Board, Crime Stoppers, The Civic League of the Halifax Area, Halifax Area Chamber of Commerce and the Daytona Beach Rotary Club. He also serves as a Trustee on the Board of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

Ritchey has been presented the GM Dealer of the Year Award every year from 2002-2012, and the Genuine Leader Award from Chevrolet Motor Division every year since its inception in 1999. Among many other distinctions, he has also been honored with the Martin Luther King Chairman’s Leadership Award (2011), NAACP Humanitarian of the Year Award (2010) and the VCard Citizen of the Year Award (2008). 

“This is a proud day for me on a personal and professional level,” said Betty Jane France, chairwoman of The NASCAR Foundation. “My daughter Lesa France Kennedy has become one of the country’s leading sports executives. Glenn Ritchey has excelled in the business world and community service. Collectively, they bring a wealth of expertise to The NASCAR Foundation. And then, most importantly, they both are simply good, caring individuals who personify what the foundation is all about.”

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Posted on by Jason Lofing

After starting on the pole, Lindsey led 153 laps

Marcus Lindsey finally put it all together. After spending much his first year in the NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship underachieving and running mid-pack, Lindsey finally broke through with a dominating performance at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the second round of the 2013 championship. His #1 Chevy SS was dominant, and Lindsey took full advantage by starting on pole and leading 153 of 167 laps.

Steve Sheehan put the pressure on with 15 laps to go, but could not find his way by and had to settle for second, just .085 of a second behind. Ray Alfalla rebounded from a disappointing Daytona result for third ahead of Tyler Hudson as Kevin King held-off Brian Schoenburg and Carson McClelland for fifth.

Lindsey held a comfortable lead for most of the online race and was rarely challenged until Sheehan gave him a run for it at the end.

“Well, not sure what to say,” Lindsey said. “Really excited. Glad I was able to win the race straight up. Had never led a lap or qualified in the top five prior to this race, and everything went the right way to get a pole, lead a lot of laps, and seal it off with a win.”
Only four cautions slowed the field for 16 laps. Three of the four yellows waved soon after the start, the first coming on Lap Four when Thomas Lewandowski went for a spin in front of most of the field. Luckily no one else hit the spinning #16 car. On the ensuing restart, John Gorlinsky spun exiting Turn Two right in front of Daytona winner Adam Gilliland. With nowhere to go, Gilliland was collected in the crash and suffered considerable damage. He limped home in twenty-fourth.

"Everything went the right way to get a pole, lead a lot of laps, and seal it off with a win."

—Marcus Lindsey

After the flurry of yellows to start the race, the last of which came on Lap 18, the field settled down and the race went the next 97 laps caution free. Lindsey, who was sixth at the restart on Lap 23 after losing some spots on pit road, only took five laps to drive back to the front and passed Alfalla in Turn Three to re-assume the lead.

The long run included green flag pit stops, with some drivers opting to short pit in order to gain track position while others tried to stretch their fuel for as long as possible. No matter what strategy drivers chose, no one could touch Lindsey as he steadily pulled away.

His big lead evaporated on Lap 118 when Patrick Baldwin lost control off of Turn Two, bringing-out the fourth and final caution of the evening. The yellow allowed everyone to pit and take-on enough fuel to make it to the end. When Lindsey won the race off pit road, the other drivers knew it would be a tall task to stay with him, much less try to pass.

When the race restarted with 47 laps to go, Alfalla tried to attack. For nearly 20 laps the two-time defending series champion’s Ford Fusion stayed right on Lindsey’s bumper, but was unable to make the pass. All the hard driving took a toll on Alfalla’s tires and he gave way to Sheehan with 21 laps to go. Sheehan, like Alfalla, could get to Lindsey’s rear bumper but could not find a way by before time ran out.

The race resulted in shake-up in the early season points race. Hudson now leads the standings by eight points over Brandon Kettle, who has quietly recorded two solid finishes at Daytona and Vegas. Matt Bussa and McClelland are tied for third, 10 points back while Gilliland falls to fifth, 11 points out of the lead.

With the first two races decided by less than a tenth of a second, the NiSWC heads to Phoenix International Raceway for the first short track race of the season. PIR, much like Vegas, is all about track position so a good qualifying run will be important. The races at Phoenix often have many accidents as well, especially right after a restart so drivers who know how to keep their car clean until the end normally run well here.

With such an exciting start to the season, the action should be just as intense at the tight confines of PIR. Can Hudson keep his points lead with another consistent finish? Will Lindsey keep his momentum going, or will Alfalla find his championship form? Find out in two weeks live on iRacing Live and MRN.com.

            Average Lap Time Laps Completed Cautions Caution Laps Lead Changes         
            36.759 167 4 16 7         
Fin Pos Driver Start Pos Car # Interval Laps Led Average Lap Time Fastest Lap Time Fast Lap # Laps Comp Pts Status
1 Marcus Lindsey 1 1 0 153 36.759 29.782 121 167 48 Running
2 Steve Sheehan 10 6 -0.085 0 35.307 29.63 121 167 42 Running
3 Ray Alfalla 9 2 -0.0452 5 36.755 29.671 2 167 42 Running
4 Tyler D Hudson 13 1 -1.1372 0 36.757 29.762 121 167 40 Running
5 Kevin King 2 29 -1.1566 1 36.767 29.655 121 167 40 Running
6 Brian Schoenburg 32 55 -1.729 0 36.745 29.675 78 167 38 Running
7 Carson McClelland 15 24 -1.762 0 36.759 29.726 121 167 37 Running
8 Carson Downs 26 97 -1.815 0 36.751 29.762 121 167 37 Running
9 Dustin Montgomery 19 8 -2.339 2 36.759 29.755 24 167 36 Running
10 Jake Stergios 23 41 -3.754 0 36.765 29.753 121 167 34 Running
11 Brad Davies 21 11 -5.108 0 36.774 29.749 121 167 33 Running
12 Brandon Kettelle 22 80 -5.787 0 36.777 29.841 121 167 32 Running
13 Peter Bennett 12 69 -5.879 2 36.786 29.804 121 167 32 Running
14 Casey Malone 39 92 -6.01 0 36.764 29.887 2 167 30 Running
15 Matt Bussa 33 34 -7.309 0 36.778 29.874 121 167 29 Running
16 Thomas Lewandowski 7 16 -7.628 0 36.8 29.721 2 167 28 Running
17 Robert Hall 24 30 -7.94 0 36.789 36.789 64 167 27 Running
18 Cody Byus 30 27 -8.158 0 36.786 29.861 79 167 26 Running
19 Jon Adams 34 84 -8.301 0 36.427 29.724 78 167 25 Running
20 Philipp Geiss 43 66 -8.389 0 36.775 29.884 75 167 24 Running
21 Richard Dusett 8 96 -10.429 0 36.817 29.757 74 167 23 Running
22 Michael Conti 6 5 -10.772 0 36.82 29.639 64 167 22 Running
23 Joey Brown 3 12 -11.519 0 36.826 29.856 2 167 21 Running
24 Adam Gilliland 29 81 -13.971 0 35.173 29.982 79 167 20 Running
25 Paul Kusheba 37 32 -16.459 0 36.52 29.816 2 167 19 Running
26 Jason Karlavige 35 60 -21.463 0 36.861 29.772 2 167 18 Running
27 Brandon Schmidt 28 3 -1L 0 37.055 29.936 2 166 17 Running
28 Danny Hansen 17 20 -1L 0 37.044 29.785 2 166 16 Running
29 Chris Main 14 38 -1L 4 37.097 29.764 62 166 16 Running
30 Michael J Johnson 27 39 -1L 0 36.472 29.964 2 166 14 Running
31 Matt Whitten 42 18 -1L 0 37.112 29.742 135 166 13 Running
32 Andrew Fayash III 41 77 -2L 0 37.2 29.803 2 165 12 Running
33 Nick Ottinger 38 5 -2L 0 35.935 29.697 2 165 11 Running
34 Chad J Laughton 5 26 -2L 0 36.944 29.711 121 165 10 Running
35 Alex Warren 36 82 -2L 0 35.613 29.76 2 165 9 Running
36 Joshua Laughton 16 40 -8L 0 37.293 29.705 136 159 8 Running
37 Byron Daley 40 93 -13L 0 38.78 29.829 15 154 7 Running
38 Patrick Baldwin 4 52 -51L 0 37.515 29.892 15 116 6 Disconnected
39 Josh Berry 25 91 -120L 0 56.204 29.811 32 47 5 Running
40 John Gorlinksy 11 21 -126L 0 48.709 29.83 2 41 4 Disconnected
41 Jared Crawford 18 83 -148L 0 56.954 29.888 15 19 3 Disconnected
42 Landon Huffman 20 75 -150L 0 58.899 29.97 2 17 2 Disconnected
43 Derek Crone 31 7 -159L 0 01:01.5 29.993 2 8 1 Running





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Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR on FOX nominated for three Sports Emmy® Awards, ESPN earns promotional nod

NASCAR Productions received two Emmy nominations on Wednesday, and broadcast partner FOX earned three nods ahead of the 34th Annual Sports Emmy® Awards.

"Inside the Headsets," a television program which aired following the 28th annual NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Race last May, was nominated for Live Event Turnaround. The show, which aired on SPEED and earned the network a nod as well, has won four of the last six years.

NASCAR Productions and SPEED also received an Outstanding Edited Sports Special nomination for "Michael Waltrip Racing All Access — Inside Michael Waltrip Racing: A Championship Quest."

NASCAR Productions is a full-service video and digital production company that offers a complete array of services from script to screen for a wide variety of industry-leading clients in racing and other competitive arenas across North America. NASCAR Productions headquarters and state-of-the art production studios are located in the NASCAR Plaza in Charlotte, N.C., with an office in Los Angeles.

NASCAR on FOX received nominations for Outstanding Live Sports Series, Outstanding Live Event Audio/Sound and The George Wensel Technical Achievement Award for the 3D Cutaway Car featured on the broadcasts. FOX has earned 15 Emmy Awards, including three for Outstanding Live Sports Series (2001, 2005 and 2007) and five for Outstanding Live Event Audio Sound (2002, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010).

In its 13th season, NASCAR on FOX heads to Fontana, Calif. this weekend for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 400 on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT on FOX.

ESPN’s "Nothing Beats First Place" NASCAR campaign also was honored with a nomination in the category of Outstanding Sports Promotional Announcement – Institutional.

The spots featured NASCAR drivers Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson pulling pranks on fellow drivers in order to win. The 2012 campaign marked the second season of the "Nothing Beats First Place" advertisements promoting ESPN’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series slate, which begins July 28 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The awards will be presented on May 7 at Lincoln Center in New York City.

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Posted on by Staff Report

How are you watching the races at Auto Club Speedway? Find out how to get the latest from wherever you.

WATCHING AT HOME?
GOING TO THE RACE?
GOING MOBILE?
PLAYING FANTASY?

Even if you’re not at the track, you can keep up with all the live action on TV and at NASCAR.com. (All times Eastern, unless noted.)

Watch practices and the race on TV:

SPRINT CUP SERIES:

Friday, March 22:

Practice on SPEED, 2:30 p.m.

Coors Light Pole qualifying on SPEED, 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 23:

Practice on SPEED, 12:30 p.m.

Final practice on SPEED, 3:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 24:

Auto Club 400 on FOX, 3 p.m.

NATIONWIDE SERIES:

Friday, March 22:

Practice on SPEED, 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 23:

Coors Light Pole qualifying on SPEED, 1:30 p.m.

Royal Purple 300 on ESPN, 5 p.m.

Get inside the garage:

GarageCam will be live streaming on Friday, March 22 from the Sprint Cup garages at 2 p.m. and the Nationwide garages at 4 p.m. ET.

Keep an eye on the media center:

Press Pass will have live news conferences. All times local.

Friday, March 22

Kyle Larson | 10 a.m.

Clint Bowyer | 10:15 a.m.

Jimmie Johnson | 10:30 a.m.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 10:45 a.m.

Brad Keselowski | 11 a.m.

Sprint Cup Series post-qualifying driver news conferences | 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 23

Nationwide Series post-race driver news conferences | 4:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 24

Sprint Cup Series post-race driver news conferences | 3 p.m.

Want more?

Get lap-by-lap updates on NASCAR.com during practice laps, qualifying and races.

Re-live the race:

Watch race highlights from your favorite driver and top moments shortly after the race using Race Replay  delivered by FedEx Racing.

Want to attend the races this weekend? Buy tickets to the Auto Club 400 and Royal Purple 300.

Know the track:

Check out our Auto Club Speedway track page to take a video tour of the track and explore the best fan views.

Want to meet a driver?

Here is a list of appearances. (List subject to change, all times local.)

Friday, March 22:

Tony Stewart Walk of Fame induction | 10:40 a.m., outside of Gate 12.

Austin Dillon, Trevor Bayne, Travis Pastrana, Regan Smith, Brian Vickers, Brad Sweet, Josh Wise, Sam Hornish Jr., Dakoda Armstrong, Ryan Reed and Parker Kligerman autograph session | 4:30 p.m. in the garage area.

Saturday, March 23:

Kyle Larson | 9:45 a.m., Lefty’s Fun Zone

Juan Pablo Montoya | 10:30 a.m., Garage fence line along Terrace Road. Pre-race pit pass required.

Sunday, March 24:

Joey Logano Q&A | Main Auto Club display in the Auto Club Speedway FanZone, 8:30 a.m.

Clint Bowyer autograph session | Garage fence line along Terrace Road, 8:30 a.m. Pre-race pit pass required.

Marcos Ambrose autograph session | Garage fence line along Terrace Road, 9:05 a.m. Pre-race pit pass required.

Mark Martin autograph session | Garage fence line along Terrace Road, 9:10 a.m. Pre-race pit pass required.

Martin Truex Jr. autograph session | Garage fence line along Terrace Road, 9:10 a.m. Pre-race pit pass required.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Q&A | Sprint Unlimited Experience in the Auto Club Speedway FanZone, 9:15 a.m.

Carl Edwards | Ford display in the Auto Club Speedway FanZone, 9:30 a.m.

Get packing:

The weather in Fontana is:

Click for Fontana, California Forecast

Built by Roger Penske and Kaiser, Auto Club Speedway is a two-mile, d-shaped oval track in Southern California.

Keep all eyes on the race:

With RaceView Premium and NASCAR RaceView Mobile ’13, formerly RaceView 360, you can watch live, virtual 3-D video with in-car audio as well as national radio broadcasts, telemetry data and real-time stats.

Follow from anywhere:

NASCAR Mobile ’13: This new app is free to download with an upcoming in-app subscription for premium content including live driver audio, live advanced leaderboards and live alternate camera angles (when available).

Buddy system:

Watch live enhanced coverage with 10 HD cameras, a live chat and live standings for this week’s Nationwide series races with RaceBuddy.

Play NASCAR FANTASY LIVE:

Don’t forget to do your research and set your lineup.

Expert tip of the week:

This week, favorites and dark horses will both come from NASCAR’s superteams. Two-mile tracks require a perfect marriage of speed and handling and financial security is the key to a strong relationship. Get more tips from Dan Beaver’s fantasy blog.

Keep up with the latest:

Use our weekly Driver Reports for a quick breakdown of how each driver is looking. Also each week, our writers vote on which drivers are making moves. Read the resulting driver Power Rankings to help power up your lineup.

Last year’s top three finishers:

1. Tony Stewart

2. Kyle Busch

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

See the complete results from last year’s event here.

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Hill, team looking to grow together

After making three starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series last season for Frank Stoddard’s race team, Timmy Hill is back in the No. 32 car for this weekend’s event at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California. And this year, the plan is to get him plenty more seat time in the vehicle.

Hill takes over the FAS Lane Racing Ford this weekend at Fontana, and with a few exceptions will be the team’s primary driver for the remainder of the season. The 20-year-old from Port Tobacco, Md., has five previous Sprint Cup starts to his name, the best a 22nd-place finish for Stoddard at Kansas Speedway in October of last season.

“He’s a good young kid,” Stoddard said. “He certainly wants to do it. His dad came to me last year and asked if he could get in the car a few times, so we made an arrangement and tried to work him in there, and I thought he did a really good job. He had a top-25 finish at Kansas City. He didn’t tear the car up, didn’t put a scratch on it in the races. His feedback was good. He had as good a speed as we’ve had with anybody in the car. … So I think there’s room for him to grow and get better, and that’s what we’re looking for.”

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

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FAS Lane still has remaining obligations to two other drivers, Ken Schrader and Terry Labonte. Schrader will start the April 7 event at Martinsville Speedway with Federated Auto Parts on the car, while Labonte will run the remaining restrictor-plate races backed by C&J Energy Services. Hill will be in the No. 32 car for the balance of the schedule.

His sponsor will be a company new to NASCAR — OXYwater, a hydration beverage brand launched last year out of Columbus, Ohio. FAS Lane has announced that the company will back the No. 32 car for 24 races this year, as well as the full season in 2014 and 2015. The company debuted on Labonte’s car last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, where the two-time champion finished 25th.

The sponsorship commitment “allows us to continue to work on the cars and start improving them,” Stoddard said. “We need to start improving them, we need to get some engineering and stuff. We’re not going to be able to ramp this thing up and just snap our fingers and fix everything that ails us. But we’re certainly going to be in the mix to, in six months, be able to improve the program. That’s really our main goal right now.”

Placing Hill in the seat is separate from the sponsorship deal, Stoddard said. The driver will join Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Danica Patrick as candidates for the circuit’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year award. Contenders for the award earn points based on their 17 best finishes of the season.

“We’re going to run really hard with Timmy here, and hopefully make a little bit of a charge toward Rookie of the Year,” Stoddard said. “I know it’s going to be difficult with him running fewer races, but nonetheless, that’s our plan right now, and hopefully that goes off well.”

Stoddard, a former crew chief with 14 career race wins on NASCAR’s top circuit, founded his race team in 2011. He now partners with OXYwater, whose founders include former Ohio State linebacker Preston Harrison.

“We’ve always been a team that’s come to the race track and raced, and it took a lot of money out of our pockets to go do that,” Stoddard said. “So now we’re asking the NASCAR fans to get behind us and … show that they’ll come out and support the brands that support NASCAR. That’s the way to get new companies in there. We have to continue to get the NASCAR fans to support the companies that are supporting us.”

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Champ overtakes Johnson in points, rankings; Edwards, Stewart stumble

Driver                    Change            High/Low            Last race

         

1. Brad Keselowski    

  

Outlook: Well, that didn’t take long. After finishing in the top five in every race thus far, the reigning Sprint Cup Series champion has overtaken Jimmie Johnson in the standings. It could be a short-lived stay at the top, however, as he struggles at Auto Club Speedway, while Johnson stands above the crowd at the track in his home state.
Standings: 1st, 166 points

2. Jimmie Johnson       

  

Outlook: Johnson had a bit of a rough day at Bristol, finishing out of the top 10 for the first time this season after blowing a tire and hitting the wall. But hey, at least he can laugh it off.
Standings: 3rd, 151 points

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 

  

Outlook: Earnhardt is off to his best start since 2008, but much of the credit has to go to crew chief Steve Letarte. The Hendrick Motorsports driver credited his sixth-place finish at Bristol to late pit calls made by the veteran chief.
Standings: 2nd, 157 points

4. Kasey Kahne            

  

Outlook: It’s merely a coincidence, but it’s funny how on the same night that Kahne made a cameo on "The Cleveland Show" that made him look like an incompetent driver, he ended up in Victory Lane.
Standings: 7th, 124 points

5. Kyle Busch                

  

Outlook: There may be no hotter driver than Busch right now, as he nearly swept the weekend by setting the new qualifying record at Bristol, winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series race and finishing second on Sunday. He’s this week’s Mobil 1 Driver of the Race.
Standings: 10th, 115 points

Related Links:

Entry list for Auto Club 400

Video: Race Rewind — Food City 500

Kahne clinches long-awaited Bristol win

Video: Weekend Top 5 — Bristol

Post-Food City 500 driver reports

Video: Post race reactions — Food City 500

Video: Final Laps — Kahne grabs first win at Bristol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Matt Kenseth           

  

Outlook: Kenseth was the unfortunate victim of Jeff Gordon’s blown tire, and his fall in these rankings has more to do with the emergences of Kahne and Busch than his 35th-place finish.
Standings: 13th, 103 points

7. Clint Bowyer            

  

Outlook: Bowyer’s fifth-place finish vaulted him back toward the top of the standings, yet the driver seemed to be more concerned about what he’d be putting in his stomach. Hey, whatever works.
Standings: 4th, 128 points

8. Denny Hamlin            

  

Outlook: Oh, Denny boy. Hamlin is making plenty of headlines these days, but not for winning races. It’s fair to assume Joey Logano was one of the drivers that didn’t stand up for Hamlin following his recent $25,000 fine. And he likely won’t be in the future, either.
Standings: 6th, 125 points

 

9. Greg Biffle                

  

Outlook: Biffle was a big fan of how his car was running this weekend, which is a good sign, but from the sounds of it, there was some strategy that backfired. "Finally had a good car at Bristol, just lost track position at the end and got ate up by new tires behind us!! Team did a great job".
Standings: 5th, 126 points

10. Kevin Harvick           

  

Outlook: Harvick’s choice to take four tires late in the race contributed to a huge downturn of positioning, but for most of the day he was a solid competitor. However he is in good position for next week’s race, as he has a favorable past in Fontana.
Standings: 17th, 98 points

 

11. Jeff Gordon              

  

Outlook: Gordon was having a good week. He was the darling of the Internet with his test drive video and had a solid hold on the lead in the Food City 500 before blowing a tire and crashing. Take his 34th-place finish with a grain of salt.
Standings: 21st, 90 points

 

12. Carl Edwards            

  

Outlook: Really rough outing for Edwards at Bristol. First, he barely managed to wiggle out of a wreck caused by Jeff Burton, then got sick while driving, finishing in 18th place. 
Standings: 8th, 124 points

 

13. Martin Truex Jr.        

  

Outlook: After a rough restart late, Truex Jr. ended up finishing just outside of the top 10, but ran inside it for most of the day.
Standings: 18th, 96 points

 

14. Joey Logano             

  

Outlook: It’s what everybody was talking about post-race, and for good reason. Logano angrily trying to stick his head into the window of Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 is one of the most vivid images of this young season.
Standings: 12th, 104 points

 

15. Tony Stewart           

  

Outlook: Stewart’s bad luck continued at Bristol, blowing a tire a mere nine laps in. He finished 31st, but could rebound next week, as he’s been wildly successful at Auto Club Speedway in the past.
Standings: 24th, 85 points

 

16. Paul Menard            

  

Outlook: Despite losing a spot in the rankings, Menard is the only Richard Childress Racing driver in the top 15 in points, the fourth straight season he’s been in the top 10 after four races.
Standings: 9th, 118 points

 

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

  

Outlook: Considering he had to start at the back of the pack following an engine change, a 16th-place finish is more than respectable for the rookie.
Standings: 11th, 115 points

 

18. Kurt Busch               

  

Outlook: Hello, 2013. Meet Kurt Busch. The five-time Bristol winner is always great at Thunder Valley and used the Food City 500 to thrust himself into significance.
Standings: 16th, 98 points

19. Ryan Newman       

  

Outlook: Newman saw his Bristol qualifying record set in 2003 broken by Kyle Busch, but rebounded by finishing seventh in the Food City 500. You win some, you lose some.
Standings: 23rd, 87 points

 

20. Jamie McMurray        

  

Outlook: After an encouraging 10th-place finish, McMurray makes his first appearance in the top 20 and out of ‘In the Rearview’. His start at Auto Club Speedway in 2012 was disastrous, so his stay might be a short one.
Standings: 14th, 100 points

       

In the rearview

 

Note: These rankings have been determined by a poll that included writers Kenny Bruce, Holly Cain, David Caraviello and Zack Albert, and video host Alan Cavanna. Tell us what you think about the Power Rankings. Use the hashtag #NASCARPOWER.

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We apologize. We are having technical issues with our comment sections and fan community and it is temporarily unavailable. We are actively working on these issues and hope to have it up and running soon. We are also working on enhancements to provide a better forum for our fans. We appreciate your patience and apologize for the inconvenience.