Posted on by Zack Albert

The hillside layout of Sonoma Raceway will have plenty of new mixed with a dash of the familiar when the NASCAR Cup Series returns to wine country this weekend. Foremost among the new is another road-course application for the Next Gen car, which will make just its second appearance at that track type this season.

The seventh-generation racer will get another test of its durability and performance in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (4 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM). Early expectations assert that the style of racing may mimic that from earlier this year at Circuit of The Americas, the 20-turn twist palace in Austin, Texas.

“I would expect it to be just as aggressive. These cars allow us to do that,” said Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch. “Everybody knows that all of these cars are the same – they all come from the same place. It’s up to you to make it go, and so you are going to push the car’s limits.”

RELATED: Weekend schedule | Buy Sonoma tickets

Those limits will get their pushing on a revised layout that has some recent familiarity. For the last two Sonoma races – 2019 and 2021, with a lost year in between because of the COVID-19 pandemic – the event was contested on the longer 2.52-mile configuration with the sweeping carousel. This year, the Cup Series will revert to the 1.99-mile short course used from 1998-2018, incorporating the chute spanning Turns 4 and 7.

Should the limit-pushing turn into actual pushing on the shorter circuit, the flex of the composite body panels should absorb some of the framming and bamming.

“It can take a beating,” said William Byron, who participated in a Goodyear tire test at the Watkins Glen International road course last month. “I think Watkins Glen is going to be really fast. You’re gonna have a hard time setting guys up, but I think if you get close, you’ll see big dive bombs. But yeah, Sonoma is a perfect track for this car – fall-off in the tires, but also really good brakes and really good transmission.”

Those beefed-up brakes and the transmission – changed with the new car to a five-speed sequential shift from the former H-pattern four-speed – should alter the shift rhythms and braking points that might be more customary to drivers. A handful of Cup Series drivers are double-dipping into the Camping World Truck Series for Saturday’s DoorDash 250 (7:30 p.m. ET) for extra track time – Alex Bowman, Harrison Burton, Austin Dillon, Ross Chastain and Busch among them.

MORE: Cup Series standings

From that list, Bowman and Chastain figured most prominently in the Next Gen road-racing debut at COTA. Chastain bruised his way past both Bowman and AJ Allmendinger to emerge from a three-car dice on the final lap and secure his first Cup Series win. Bowman held on for second, but Allmendinger – who prevailed in last weekend’s Xfinity Series debut at Portland International Raceway – dropped to 33rd at the finish.

Bowman also challenged for the Camping World Trucks win at COTA, showing signs of growth in the road-racing category.

“I think that’s just going to continue to bring confidence to Sonoma,” No. 48 crew chief Greg Ives told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio this week. “Obviously we’re going into more right-hand turns than left-hand turns but ultimately, I think the confidence of the braking zones, confidence of this car and how hard you can drive it is something that really suits Alex’s style. That’s the number one thing I have to do is just put a solid car under him. He gets better throughout the whole race as laps go down, and he’s gonna be running out there trying to better his craft and hopefully we can come out of there with a win.

“But all in all, strategies and sometimes luck when those cautions fall and if you’re on pit road are not in the right spot helps, but if you have a fast car, it definitely makes it easier. And I think Alex puts a lot of emphasis on trying to go there with a lot of confidence and a lot of speed. So, looking forward to getting there for sure.”

Posted on by IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — There’s lots of anticipation for the increased convergence coming in 2023 between the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. But there are already plenty of IMSA-affiliated drivers and other story lines for IMSA fans to follow this weekend when the 24 Hours of Le Mans is staged for the 90th time.

Nineteen full-time IMSA drivers and three teams are taking a break from their “day jobs” to compete at Le Mans, one of the world’s premier endurance races in company with the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts, and Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. There are also at least a dozen other names familiar to followers of the WeatherTech Championship through their frequent participation in rounds of IMSA’s Michelin Endurance Cup.

RELATED: NASCAR, Hendrick pursue Garage 56 in 2023 | More Le Mans coverage from IMSA

America’s strongest, most consistent and most patriotic hope lies with Corvette Racing, which has split its effort this year between the WeatherTech Championship and WEC, running one car in each series. That’s an indication of how seriously Corvette Racing takes Le Mans, a race in which it has earned the class victory eight times since 2001, the last coming in 2015.

The Jordan Taylor/Antonio Garcia/Nicky Catsburg entry finished second in class in 2021 in the Le Mans debut of the mid-engine Corvette C8.R, and Corvette Racing is using its full-time WEC presence this year to be better prepared for the slight differences in technical regulations, pit stop rules and other procedures between IMSA and WEC competition. The WEC version of the C8.R is also slightly different than the car that competes in the GTD PRO class in IMSA, with marginally more power, bespoke Michelin tires and the removal of ABS anti-lock braking.

Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy and endurance driver Alexander Sims finished second in the WEC 1000 Miles of Sebring in March and rank third in the 2022 WEC GTE point standings. With Le Mans awarding double points, it’s an important race for them in the overall context of the championship.

Sims was fastest in the Le Mans test day on Sunday, lapping the unique 8.47-mile circuit through the French countryside in 3 minutes, 54.001 seconds (130.239 mph) in the No. 64 Corvette. The seven-car GTE field was packed within half a second.

“For sure, having everything and everyone ready from doing the previous two WEC races has given us a head start,” observed Tandy. “We’re coming into Le Mans with the best level of preparation Corvette Racing has ever had, and we’ve definitely started with our best foot forward.”

“We’re racing a much different car in IMSA these days, so working with a different tire and no ABS is definitely an adjustment,” Taylor said after the No. 63 Corvette clocked a lap at 3:54.504. “It was nice that all of us got a good amount of running today.”

Here are some other IMSA-related story lines to follow at Le Mans:

Penske Preview: Team Penske has fielded a Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) in WEC this year in preparation for Porsche Penske Motorsport’s 2023 LMDh program that is expected to compete in both the WeatherTech Championship and WEC. Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr, both former WeatherTech Championship titlists, are teamed with Emmanuel Collard in the No. 5 ORECA.

Team player: Three-time WeatherTech Championship champion Ricky Taylor was nominated by chassis constructor ORECA as the reserve driver for all of its Le Mans entries. Taylor, who has made seven previous Le Mans starts, will share the No. 37 Cool Racing ORECA with Yifei Ye and Niklas Kruetten.

“Le Mans is a massive event,” Taylor said. “I think if you win the race, no matter which class, it goes right to the top of your resume.”

All-IMSA: United Autosport USA’s No. 23 LMP2 entry features a driver lineup comprised completely of WeatherTech Championship full-timers: Alex Lynn (No. 02 Cadillac Racing DPi), Oliver Jarvis (No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura DPi), and 16-year-old Josh Pierson (No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports LMP2) will split the 24 hours. Filipe Albuquerque (No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura DPi) is one-third of the driving team for United’s No. 22 entry.

LMGTE Pro is IMSA-Packed: Fifteen of the 21 drivers in the category have competed in a WeatherTech Championship race in 2022, including full-timers Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Felipe Fraga. The team fielding Fraga’s Le Mans entry – the No. 74 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO shared with Sam Bird and Shane Van Gisbergen – is also an IMSA full-timer. Riley Motorsports is the entrant of the No. 74 Ligier JS P320 that Gar Robinson drove to the 2021 IMSA Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) title.

The No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari at Le Mans features the same driver lineup of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Daniel Serra that finished second in GTD PRO in the 2022 Rolex 24.

No rest for the winners: Arriving somewhat late for the Le Mans test day Sunday was a small price to pay for three of the four winning drivers in Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, the WeatherTech Championship race at Belle Isle. Sebastien Bourdais (a Le Mans native who will co-drive the No. 10 Vector Sport LMP2) and Renger van der Zande (No. 66 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE Am) shared the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) win in Detroit and, along with Ben Barnicoat, the GT Daytona (GTD) class winner (No. 56 Team Project 1 Porsche in LMGTE Am), all departed for Paris immediately after wrapping up their celebrations and media obligations.

Busman’s holiday: While the field for IMSA endurance races often includes full-time WEC drivers, the opposite phenomenon happens at Le Mans. The list of moonlighting IMSA full-timers not already mentioned includes DPi regulars Pipo Derani, Olivier Pla and Richard Westbrook, all driving for the Glickenhaus Hypercar team, plus Tristan Vautier (No. 44 ARC Bratislava LMP2). Steven Thomas is moonlighting from his full-season gig in the Era Motorsport LMP2 to co-drive the No. 45 Algarve Pro Racing LMP2.

Weather Tech Championship GTD PRO pilots Cooper MacNeil (No. 79 WeatherTech Racing) and Matt Campbell (No. 93 Proton Competition), along with GTD driver Jan Heylen (No. 88 Dempsey-Proton Racing), will all run Porsche 911 RSR-19s in the LMGTE Am class.

Other Le Mans drivers who have recently run IMSA races include defending WEC Hypercar champions Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez [No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing]; Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre, Gianmaria Bruni and Frederic Makowiecki in LMGTE Pro [all in Porsches]; and Harry Tincknell, Zacharie Robichon, Mikkel Jensen and Ben Keating in LMGTE Am.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials reinstated Carson Ware on Tuesday, ending his suspension as part of a behavioral penalty issued last October.

Competition officials indicated Ware had “successfully completed the terms and conditions mandated for reinstatement.” The decision restores his NASCAR membership privileges.

Ware, 22, has competed in nine NASCAR Xfinity Series races, including six last season for a trio of teams. He was suspended Oct. 21, 2021 after his arrest earlier that day, when the Rowan County (N.C.) Sheriff’s Office gave him a $1,000 secured bond related to charges of assault on a woman, simple assault and damage to personal property.

NASCAR suspended Ware for violation of the Member Conduct Guidelines as outlined in the NASCAR Rule Book. Ware was also suspended by the SS Green Light Racing No. 17 team that had entered him in four races last year.

Also in the week’s penalty report, officials penalized the No. 13 ThorSport Racing team in the Camping World Truck Series for a single unsecured lug nut, found post-race at World Wide Technology Raceway. Carl Joiner Jr., crew chief for the No. 13 team and driver Johnny Sauter, was fined $2,500.

Posted on by Terrin Waack

Break out the old No. 19 gear. Cole Pearn is back on Joe Gibbs Racing’s roster.

The championship-winning crew chief has been added as an engineer to Martin Truex Jr.’s road team for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway (4 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The pairing is a familiar one, as Pearn and Truex spent five full-time seasons together from 2015-19. Their joint tenure was highlighted by the 2017 title after an eight-win year.

RELATED: All of Martin Truex Jr.’s career wins

James Small, who took over atop the box in 2020, is still listed as Truex’s crew chief. Small and Truex have won five races since then.

A Joe Gibbs Racing spokesperson said Pearn’s return would be a one-week arrangement. Nick Burton, the No. 19 team’s regular engineer, will miss this Sunday’s race to attend a wedding. That prompted Small to ask Pearn to fill in.

This won’t be the first time Pearn and Truex have been reunited since the former retired after the 2019 season. Pearn came back in 2021 as a spotter on the No. 19 team for the Round of 12 elimination race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which used the Roval layout. Like the Roval, where he finished 19th, Sonoma is also a road course.

Pearn and Truex earned 24 wins in total — three of which came on road courses. They won at Watkins Glen International in 2017 and at Sonoma in 2018 and 2019.

With 15 races down and 11 to go, Truex currently sits fifth in the regular-season standings, 37 points off leader Chase Elliott.

The catch, there have been 11 different winners so far. The playoff field allows only 16. And those with a win already have a provisional berth. That leaves five postseason tickets remaining.

Truex, as of right now, is not guaranteed a spot.

RELATED: Martin Truex Jr. mulling over NASCAR future


Posted on by Zack Albert

A top NASCAR competition official said Tuesday the sanctioning body would monitor any further developments among Ross Chastain and his rivals, saying officials would step in as needed to prevent the matter from escalating.

The remarks came from Scott Miller, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, during an appearance Tuesday morning on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

RELATED: Chastain battles Hamlin, Elliott | Cup Series standings

Chastain had drawn the ire of both Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott in the first half of last Sunday’s Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway, making contact with both drivers in his No. 1 Trackhouse Chevrolet. Both Hamlin and Elliott made maneuvers in retaliation, with Hamlin repeatedly crowding or blocking Chastain in the laps that followed.

Hamlin’s actions drew a mid-race rebuke from NASCAR race control, which in effect told the Joe Gibbs Racing driver that he’d proven his point with his first brushback move. Tuesday, Miller said competition officials would discuss the matter during their weekend debrief and could call the drivers in for a conference in the officials’ hauler in an attempt to defuse the situation.

“I mean, certainly we don’t like to see things like that, but there’s a certain amount of … we kind of have to let them handle it on their own somewhat,” Miller told SiriusXM. “And what we saw, while we were annoyed by it, there was no real contact. Neither one. I mean, they tried to make life miserable for Ross, we all witnessed that. But at least we didn’t see a blatant take-out or anything like that. And it was obvious from Ross’ post-race comments that he’s made some mistakes out there and wants to make it right, but it’s kind of up to those guys to sort it out and how it moves forward from there.

“We’ll obviously keep a close eye on them as we do in all these situations. Probably will, may have them in the trailer face to face to talk about it as we’ve done before. We have our debrief, actually just after this call of the race weekends. We do that on Tuesday mornings, and we’ll discuss that situation further and decide how we’re going to move forward with it.”

Miller indicated competition officials had not consulted with Chastain, Hamlin or Elliott since the conclusion of the Enjoy Illinois 300.

“We haven’t spoken to any of the parties,” Miller said. “It’s usually better to kind of let things die down and speak to him before we hit the track again, rather than do it at the race track. We’ll do that if absolutely necessary, but in this situation where there was no sort of blatant take-out in retaliation, best to kind of let that calm down a bit, and then have a word with him later.”

In other topics discussed Tuesday:

— Miller addressed the emergency response to a last-lap crash in Saturday’s Camping World Truck Series race at WWT Raceway. The stack-up left 19-year-old Carson Hocevar with unspecified injuries to his lower-right extremity, and he was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

Hocevar gave a thumbs-up as he was wheeled to the ambulance on a stretcher. He had lowered his window net as a signal to the safety crew that he was alert, but Hocevar could be heard on his team communications calling out for assistance.

RELATED: Updates from Carson Hocevar, Niece Motorsports

“I think that that is their signal to us, that it doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re not going to try to hurry to get to the scene of the accident, but it does let us know that they’re obviously conscious, coherent, and that sort of thing,” said Miller, who added officials in race control review replays and crash footage as safety personnel are dispatched. “So it’s good to know that as they’re responding to an incident. One thing that everybody needs to know is the ambulance doesn’t have to be there for a doctor to be on the scene. There’s doctors in each of our chase vehicles, and we try to dispatch those as quickly as obviously as we can to the scene of the accident. There is traffic out there still, and we don’t want to compound the situation by forcing one of our vehicles up into race traffic that’s slowing down. So there’s just a lot of moving parts right there, and we certainly try to respond as quickly as we can, that’s obvious.

“We look at each situation and try to improve. We always look at where our stuff, where our equipment is located, and we’ll do it again, the debrief today on all of that and see if maybe there’s some place or positioning, or something that we could have done better. That’s one thing we certainly do at NASCAR every time is try to learn from every weekend, whether it’s good or something that we need to improve upon. So we always try to put our best foot forward.”

— Miller also addressed the issues of tire trouble with the Next Gen car, with speculation centering on teams pushing the limits of the air-pressure settings recommended by Goodyear, the series’ tire supplier. Miller said NASCAR officials would collaborate with the teams and with Goodyear, which he said was exploring an updated tire construction for its racing rubber.

“We review what Goodyear is seeing, we review all of the camber settings from all of the cars, because that’s part of our inspection process and kind of look at who was where and try to correlate problems with things — do the tire issues correlate with some of some of the setup parameters that that we’re able to see on our inspection process — and then just get with Goodyear,” Miller said. “Goodyear obviously has an at-track sort of inspection of the tires that failed, and even inspecting tires that didn’t fail by cutting them apart and seeing if there was any inherent damage and the situation maybe about to happen. So we look at all of those things very, very closely.

“I think we continually get the question of, well, should you check the pressures before they go on the cars? Trying to do that with 36 or 38 cars up and down pit road and do that accurately is really not something that is even in the realm of possibility. You can’t have your eyes on the teams at every second, and it only takes one second to hit that valve core and let air out. So that’s an unrealistic expectation that some people sailing in. It just isn’t practical and can’t happen. So it’s really up to Goodyear, us and the teams to figure this deal out. … So it is a little bit in the hands of the teams, no question. We’re not saying it’s all a team problem, but I think on that right now, they can do a lot to control their destiny there.”

Posted on by Staff Report

This story was originally published on June 2, 2022:

NASCAR returns to Sonoma Raceway for a June 10-12 weekend of racing, with a packed schedule awaiting fans visiting California’s wine country. The three-day festival includes events for the Camping World Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series West and a Cup Series main event — the Toyota/Save Mart 350 — on June 12 (4 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM).

The weekend marks just the second road-course event of the year for the Cup Series so far, plus a return to a semblance of normalcy for the track after two-plus years of pandemic-related uncertainty. But it also marks a spot worth circling on the schedule as summer travel season approaches.

RELATED: Scenic views of Sonoma | Buy tickets now

To preview the race weekend, Sonoma Raceway executive vice president and general manager Jill Gregory sat down with NASCAR.com to discuss what to expect at the popular Bay Area facility.

2021 June3 Jill Gregory 1 Image
Jeff Speer | Sonoma Raceway

Q: Just for starters, this appears to be the first event back at Sonoma minus restrictions and COVID protocols and things of that nature. For those coming back, what’s new, and how ready are you guys to host fans back in earnest this year?

A: Well, I would say we’re not only ready, we can’t wait. I think that we all saw this in the past couple of years, that being in the live-event business whether you’re on the track side or on the NASCAR side, we missed that excitement of a full race weekend. And so for us, it will be the first one since 2019. So no events at all in 2020, and then at reduced capacity last year, and then the schedule itself was reduced even when we did have reduced capacity with fans last year. So we really haven’t gotten to take a crack at a full NASCAR weekend, and with all the kind of excitement and the fan experience focus this year, I think us being able to show off Sonoma Raceway to the fans and to the industry, we can’t wait. I mean, there’s a lot to do in the next several days, depending on which day you’re circling, but we can’t wait because it’ll be great to see everybody back here.

Q: When people do come back to Sonoma, they should be able to expect some familiar surroundings, but what’s new as well in terms of fan amenities? What else is kind of blending in with what’s existing?

A: So what we’re really trying to do is keep the things about Sonoma Raceway that everybody loves, which obviously is the setting, where they get to stay nearby and maybe taste some wine. But I think that we’re also kind of shaking the dust off a little bit, not having raced here for a while. There’s some things that needed some attention. So we’re going to bring back a lot of things that fans really loved about being here like the Patriot Jet Team air show, but we’ve got a little bit of a smaller footprint to focus on here. So we want to maximize everything that fans are going to get. We’re not only going to have a pre-race concert that has not been announced yet, but we’re going to have a concert each night. So we’ll have entertainment throughout the property.

We’re going to create different areas, so you know, if you’ve been out here before, you know that we’ve got a lot of ground to cover. So if you’re up on the hill in Turn 3, or you’re on Turn 9, it’s much different than what you see in the paddock. So you know, fans want to roam the whole facility, and they definitely can, but we’re also going to have entertainment and food and drink in each of those neighborhoods, if you will, so that if they don’t want to come down and they’re happy kind of hanging with their friends and having a cold one up on the Turn 9 terrace, that they have everything that they need right there. So I think we’re really trying to create an entire experience and not just have activities limited to the frontstretch or the grandstand. And I think that fans will see that probably as a big point of difference.

Carmen Mandato | Getty Images
Carmen Mandato | Getty Images

Q: Road-course races tend to have a festival atmosphere, but some of what makes Sonoma a little bit different from other races seems to be how much of a destination event it is. There are a lot of surroundings to take in, but how do you describe it for someone who may not have been and is thinking about going?

A: It’s kind of the best of both worlds. You can have a racing-themed or a NASCAR-themed vacation, blended with what you might do on a normal three-day weekend. And you know, you get the best of both worlds because you can get your NASCAR fix on Saturday or Sunday, but then when you kind of return to your hotel or wherever you’re staying within the local community, you have amazing restaurants, you’ve got wine tasting, you can jump on a bike and ride around town in Sonoma or Napa, so I think that the race isn’t the only thing going on, which I think kind of gives fans a reason to circle it on our calendar, let alone the kind of the beautiful surroundings. What happens on track is always pretty exciting, but you also can kind of check two boxes by having a really nice non-racing experience.

Q: The Camping World Truck Series is back for the first time since 1998. What factored in to having that series make its return to Sonoma?

A: Well, we’ve always had a pretty standard schedule out here at Sonoma Raceway, and it did allow for a little more wine tasting during the Saturday afternoon hours. But we wanted to provide the fans with more content. We have a really robust group of fans camping who are very passionate, and they camp across the street in our campground called 50 Acres or up on the sides of the hills, which is great. So you know, they’re looking for content, and cars on the race track is what they want. So the Truck Series, the DoorDash 250 will be the first time that the Camping World Truck Series returns here since ’98 as you mentioned, but there are a ton of West Coast ties to the Truck Series and names like Hornaday and Harvick. Maybe some people don’t think of that immediately, but I thought when I got out here, wow, how great would it be to have the trucks out here. The racing would be incredible because a lot of those drivers — if not most, or all — probably were toddlers when this race was run here before. They’re gonna have to learn it on iRacing, and so how exciting is that going to be just kind of seeing them navigate this track.

Maddie Meyer | Getty Images
Maddie Meyer | Getty Images

Q: Another returning feature is that the track is going back to the shorter 1.99-mile course layout with the chute there connecting Turns 4 and 7 as well. What went into that decision, and what also do you expect from that on the racing end?

A: It’s the fans, and we had a lot of feedback from them about running the longer course with the carousel. I think generally speaking, it was good, it was a novelty, it was something different. But overwhelmingly, there were requests for us to bring the chute back, and then we coupled that with some feedback from drivers. You know there will always be a differing opinion of each driver, depending on who you ask, but generally speaking, the drivers were interested in having the chute back also. So I think it’s something that provides more laps around the track, which means more opportunities for action in Turn 11, and action in Turn 4 with the new car going to test the limits up there at the top of the hill.

Q: Sonoma typically has some kickoff events in downtown San Francisco, and this has been a tradition since before your tenure started there. Why is it important to keep that going, and how has the city of San Francisco has really embraced Sonoma as a sports neighbor as well?

A: I think that was one thing that I looked at, having been an attendee at many of those San Francisco-based events in the past. I think that the connection, while Sonoma seems far away when you’re out here, we’re just 30 miles or so from San Francisco. I think being a part of the Bay Area sports community has been important for us. We’ve always been kind of a fixture on this weekend in the city, whether it’s been at Fisherman’s Wharf or at other key iconic locations. So we want to make sure to take advantage of that. and I think it’ll just be a great chance to kind of soak in the Bay Area before we head up to the track and the track surroundings.

Posted on by Adam Fenwick

Derek Kneeland long ago gave up his dream of being a full-time race car driver.

The native of Windham, Maine, bid adieu to his racing dream at the age of 17 at the end of 2005. It was a selfless decision, one he made to prevent his family from pouring their life savings into his racing career.

“As it goes, the cost of things go up, and we don’t own a family company or come from a lot of money like that,” said Kneeland, who now works as a spotter for multiple race teams at every level of NASCAR competition. “I told my parents, ‘I don’t want to keep spending your money if I can’t come up with the sponsor money.’ They still needed to retire one day. I pulled the plug on racing myself.”

Kneeland, whose father Jeff Kneeland was also a race car driver in the 1970s, may have thought at the time he was done as a race car driver.

It turned out that wasn’t the case.

Fast-forward to 2022, and Kneeland races his own Late Model in his limited free time. He’ll make his first start of the season this Wednesday in the Money in the Bank 150 at Michigan’s Berlin Raceway.

RELATED: Watch the Money in the Bank live on FloRacing

It was a long road back behind the wheel of a race car for Kneeland, who got his big opportunity as a spotter when he worked with Brian Scott during an ARCA event at Pocono Raceway in 2008.

“I went and did it, they liked me, they hired me and just like anything people can pick up a head set and a radio and listen,” Kneeland said. “I’ve gotten a lot of opportunities since. I’ve just tried to make the best of them.”

That opportunity eventually led him to his current career, where he works with teams in the NASCAR Cup Series (Tyler Reddick), NASCAR Xfinity Series (Austin Hill), NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (Corey Heim) and ARCA Menards Series (Daniel Dye).

As his career in motorsports gained momentum, Kneeland eventually made the decision to jump back behind the wheel of a race car during his spare time.

In his limited opportunities to race, Kneeland has focused mainly on Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway. He has qualified for the legendary Oxford 250, one of the biggest Late Model races in the United States, twice.

Last year he raced twice at another legendary short track, North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway, and this season he is broadening his schedule even more.

As Kneeland was looking at schedules trying to decide when and where he would be able to race this year, it was a comment on one of Kneeland’s Facebook posts that put the idea of racing in the Money in the Bank 150 in his head.

“Jeff Striegle, a buddy of mine who is actually the general manager at Berlin, and he’s also the voice of MRN, so I see him every weekend,” Kneeland recalled. “We’re friends on Facebook, and he saw my post and he put, ‘Berlin Raceway, June 8.’”

Derek Kneeland sits in his race car ahead of an event at North Carolina's Hickory Motor Speedway in 2021. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
Derek Kneeland sits in his race car ahead of an event at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway in 2021. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

Kneeland didn’t immediately commit to the idea of racing at Berlin. After all, Berlin is a 15-hour drive away from Kneeland’s home in Maine.

A conversation with his cousin and fellow racer, Rusty Poland, is what eventually helped Kneeland decide to tackle the Money in the Bank 150.

“I kind of ignored it at first,” Kneeland continued. “I talked with my cousin, Rusty Poland, who races up here as well and is my crew chief whenever I race. He’s like, ‘Man, that’s a long ways away.’ We went back and forth on it and I was like, ‘You know what, I want to do something completely different. Let’s go ahead and change it up totally.’”

The Money in the Bank 150 is first of three races on Kneeland’s schedule this year. The second will be a $10,000-to-win race at New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway that is also scheduled to include Reddick and Corey LaJoie.

His third and final race will be the Snowflake 100 on Dec. 3, the annual precursor to the Snowball Derby at Florida’s Five Flags Speedway.

Poland will be with Kneeland for each race as crew chief. He has also had help from his father Jeff Kneeland and friend Nick Brown, who have made sure his car will be ready for Wednesday’s race.

His car will carry sponsorship from several businesses, including Sumerian Irrigation and Bonang Concrete, that are making his three-race schedule possible.

Kneeland expects there to be fierce competition just to qualify for the Money in the Bank 150. The entry list features several NASCAR stars, including NASCAR Cup Series regulars William Byron and Erik Jones.

Other familiar names on the entry list include NASCAR Camping World Truck Series star Ty Majeski and defending ARCA Menards Series East champion Sammy Smith.

Bubba Pollard, Terry Senneker, Kyle Crump, Boris Jurkovic, Tyler Roahrig, Mike Garvey and Brian Campbell are among the Late Model stars also entered.

“Excitement isn’t the word. I think I’m very much looking forward to it,” Kneeland said about the Money in the Bank 150. “I think my biggest goal is just go in honestly. I’m not one of those guys who gets in their mind and says, ‘I’m going to go win.’

“My biggest thing is make the race and make all the laps and wherever we finish, we finish. Hopefully we’ll earn some respect from those guys.”

Posted on by Brandon White

One year ago, veteran Berlin Raceway competitor Boris Jurkovic was unsure if he would ever turn another lap around any track in the country.

A violent accident during a weekly race in May of 2021 that saw a stationary Jurkovic get hit by the oncoming car of David Fretz close to full speed ended up sending both drivers to a nearby hospital, with Jurkvoic suffering patella fractures in both of his legs.

The months following the accident have been some of the most physically and mentally exhausting of Jurkovic’s life, but he was not about to let his injuries prematurely end a career that has seen him claim victories in both the All American 400 and Winchester 400.

That determination is the main reason why Jurkovic will be among the best Super Late Model competitors in the country for Berlin’s prestigious Money in the Bank 150 on Wednesday evening.

“It’s been a journey,” Jurkovic said. “We’ve come a long way, and we continue to get better every day. This isn’t something that’s going to get better quickly, but I’ve felt a lot better these past couple of months than I did at the beginning of the year.”

FLORACING: Watch the Money in the Bank 150 at Berlin Raceway

While patella fractures typically take three to six months to fully heal, Jurkvoic knew his recovery period would likely be longer, as the force from Fretz’ impact shattered both of his knees to the point where they could not be fully reconstructed in surgery.

The injuries were only one of Jurkovic’s immediate concerns, as he had to quickly figure out what to do with his Super Late Model program while he recovered.

After losing a car in the accident with Fretz, Jurkovic then had to sell a new one that had not yet been raced since its design would have put too much stress on his knees. Jurkovic currently has two cars in his shop — another new Super Late Model more comfortable for him to sit in and one used by his nephew Eric White.

While getting everything with his Super Late Model operation squared away, Jurkovic was applying an equal amount of focus toward rehabbing his broken patellas so he could return to racing sooner rather than later.

It took Jurkovic time, but he was finally back racing in his own car during the last few months of 2021 and has gradually gotten more comfortable behind the wheel with every passing race.

“Everything is going great,” Jurkovic said. “This was a traumatic injury that doesn’t heal easily, and that’s the problem. It was the joints, and those aren’t something that can be replaced; they had to be repaired, and that’s way more expensive.

“I’m doing good even though I’m not quite at 100 percent. I’d say I’m closer to 85 percent.”

Jurkovic2
Boris Jurkovic makes a lap around Berlin Raceway during the Money in the Bank 150 qualifier on May 28. (Ally Ross/NASCAR)

Despite returning to regular competition only a few months after shattering his patellas, Jurkovic admitted the transition has been far from seamless.

During his first few races, Jurkovic regularly struggled to climb in and out of his car while also dealing with consistent pain in both of his knees. He initially had issues feeling the brake pressures but said that problem has subsided in recent weeks.

Jurkovic also admitted to over-exerting himself at times, adding that he needed more laps under his belt to be fully ready for the 2021 Snowball Derby, for which he failed to qualify.

Through the pain and rust, Jurkovic has persevered to keep his Super Late Model program on par with the other top teams in the country, all while having the support of Berlin’s drivers, fanbase and employees every step of the way.

Berlin general manager Jeff Streigle is familiar with Jurkovic’s driving style having raced alongside him for many years. He said battling against Jurkovic often served as a measuring stick for where a driver’s respective program was, and that his passion for auto racing earned him the respect of everyone at Berlin.

“[Boris] is a tough guy,” Striegle said. “He’s one of the toughest guys behind the wheel you’re going to get. He’ll race you fair, but he’s always going to be right there competing for wins. Boris grew up with racing, understands the sport and is always going to unload a car that is capable of winning.”

When Striegle saw the accident unfold last May, he was horrified that Jurkovic had potentially lost his life. Once he discovered that Jurkovic’s condition was non-life threatening, Striegle immediately began offering his support as Jurkovic embarked on a long and arduous recovery.

Being able to talk with Jurkovic in the weeks and months after the accident provided Striegle a strong perspective into the severity of his injuries, but he knew Jurkovic was more than capable of putting in the necessary commitment that would get him back to race-winning form.

As he gradually worked to find a consistent rhythm again, Jurkovic remained active at Berlin helping White obtain valuable track time while also waiting for the right opportunity to compete in another race himself at the track.

RACING REFERENCE: Career NASCAR stats for Jurkovic

Jurkovic planned for his first race at Berlin following the crash to take place at the venue’s season-opening Icebreaker, but after significantly damaging his car in a crash a few weeks earlier at Florida’s Five Flags Speedway, Jurkovic had to postpone his return until Memorial Day weekend for the Money in the Bank Qualifier.

Although he only brought home a 19th place finish that evening, being welcomed by Berlin and its fans was one of the most cathartic moments of Jurkovic’s life knowing all the hard work toward getting back into a Super Late Model ended up paying off.

“I was pretty emotional last week [at Berlin],” Jurkovic said. “I didn’t think I would get emotional over it, but I did. There were a lot more emotions than I thought there would be, and I’m not a very emotional person. I want to put all of this behind me soon, but last weekend was definitely an experience.”

Striegle said Jurkovic looked no different on track Saturday evening compared to all his other starts at Berlin prior to his accident, and he believes Jurkovic will be a contender for the win Wednesday against drivers that include William Byron, Erik Jones and Bubba Pollard.

“We were so proud to see [Boris] return over Memorial Day weekend,” Striegle said. “We expect him to run up front all night long, and we absolutely think he can win on Wednesday. Knowing what he went through in order to make this return just makes his story even more special.

Being able to enter the Money in the Bank 150 is something that Jurkovic knows would not be possible without the support his family, friends and prominent figures in the industry like Kyle Busch provided to ensure that he could in fact continue competing at Berlin and other tracks around the country.

Although he will have a strong group of competitors to deal with in the Money in the Bank 150, Jurkovic has high expectations for Wednesday’s feature and wants nothing more than to cement his comeback with a cathartic victory in front of the Berlin faithful.

“If everything falls my way, we have a shot to win,” Jurkovic said. “I’m not expecting anything less from [the Money in the Bank 150].”

The long road to recovery is ongoing for Jurkovic even as he makes final preparations for the Money in the Bank 150. The pain in Jurkovic’s knees is still prevalent, and he admitted driving is coming to him much easier as opposed to simply walking around.

Jurkovic does not know how much longer his body will allow him to regularly compete in Super Late Models, but he intends to make the most of his remaining time and keep adding more chapters to his prestigious racing career.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Kyle Busch had a well-connected pusher behind him for the final restart at World Wide Technology Raceway — a fellow Toyota driver, a de facto teammate, one with a shared last name. But his defeat in Sunday’s inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at the 1.25-mile St. Louis track had plenty to do with a hand signal he never made.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

Instead, Joey Logano got the necessary shove off the restart from teammate Ryan Blaney that ultimately lifted his No. 22 Team Penske Ford to victory in the Enjoy Illinois 300. Busch’s brother, Kurt, wasn’t close enough behind his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to provide the same launch for the two-lap overtime dash.

Kyle battled back and nearly executed a clean crossover before the white-flag lap, but couldn’t make the move stick through Turns 3 and 4, allowing Logano to scoot free. He settled for second and his brother claimed third, edging Blaney by a fender at the checkered flag.

“Not even close. Did you see me about wreck off of (Turn) 4?” Kyle told FOX Sports about his next-to-last-lap maneuver. “Way better than Phoenix, though, I guess. For as bad as Phoenix was, JGR, the Toyota guys, did a good job have getting us some improvements there and at least being able to keep up and have a shot at the win. Our car just took too long to come in. Better on the long run. Better up top. Top is not good to fire off on, but great job by the Snickers guys. Again, we stayed in the running all day long and fought hard and thought maybe we could, but that was it.”

When Kevin Harvick crashed with six laps remaining to extend the race distance, Kyle selected the top lane for the restart. That left the front row on the low lane available for Logano, who had a chance to redeem himself after a low-groove choice went awry on the previous restart. Blaney picked next and went low, filing his No. 12 Ford in behind Logano. Kurt then picked the top lane, aligning his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota behind the allied car of his brother.

2022 June5 Kyle Kurt Busch Main Image
James Thomas | NASCAR Digital Media

Kyle said he had intended to make a hand signal to Kurt outside his driver’s side window, but ultimately opted against it, suspecting Logano was lagging behind him on pace laps to intercept any strategy calls.

“I was going to put my hand out the window and signal to Kurt to push me along and Joey was half a car back out my window trying to see it, so the hand signal was going to be irrelevant, so I didn’t do it, which kind of made Kurt too far back,” said Kyle, who led a race-high 66 laps. “Got into Turn 1 by myself and was too far back. When you are the guy on the inside, you just flush the guy on the outside and it’s over. I got a crossover though but threw it into (Turn) 3 too far. It chattered all four tires. Just didn’t have any grip to get off the corner well enough to be on his outside, so I don’t know.”

Instead, the Logano-Blaney pairing got the two-car tandem locomotion that the two brothers wished they’d had.

“I thought there was going to be a hand signal on when it was going to be go time, and I was going to push the hell out of the 18,” said Kurt, who led 12 laps and won Stage 2, but was left to discuss the near-miss with his brother on pit road post-race. “We did the whole brother miscommunication. We should have won that. There should have been a Toyota in Victory Lane, a Busch in Victory Lane. Logano, he didn’t do anything smart – we just messed up on getting the launch. Then I wanted Kyle all on my own running 1-2, but what an awesome day for our Monster Toyota. We won a stage. I gambled on that, and then the team had my back.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

MADISON, Ill. – In front of packed grandstands at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Joey Logano beat Kyle Busch in an intense overtime battle, and Ross Chastain ate a gigantic piece of humble pie.

After a brake rotor failure sent Kevin Harvick’s Ford rocketing into the Turn 3 wall on Lap 236 of a scheduled 240 in Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300, Busch, as the leader, picked the outside lane. Logano lined up beside Busch to the inside, with teammate Ryan Blaney behind him.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

After the overtime restart — with Blaney giving Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford a serendipitous shove — Logano and Busch swapped the lead until Busch washed up the track in Turns 3 and 4 on the white-flag lap.

That enabled Logano to secure the victory by .655 seconds and indulged his penchant for winning debut races in the NASCAR Cup Series. Last year, Logano won the inaugural event on the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Track.

“Thanks for coming out, guys,” Logano said, acknowledging the sellout crowd. “I hope you enjoyed that race. It doesn’t get much better than that. Racing for the lead like that with Kyle, one of the best. It was a lot of fun. Crossing each other back and forth. I knew it was coming. I did it to him; I knew he was going to do it to me. We crossed back and forth there a couple of times…

“What a great car, though. Really fast. I kind of messed up in qualifying, and (crew chief) Paul (Wolfe) made a great call putting two tires on (during the No. 22 Team Penske Ford’s final pit stop). Blaney did a great job with the push down into (Turn) 1, which kept me close at least and being able to make the move. Good racing there.”

The victory was Logano’s second of the season and the 29th of his career. Kurt Busch ran third behind Logano and Kyle Bush, with Ryan Blaney coming home fourth and Aric Almirola fifth.

The overtime didn’t favor Kyle Busch’s car, which performed best on long runs.

“Our car just took too long to come in,” Busch said. “Better on the long run. Better up top. Top is not good to fire off on, but great job by the Snickers guys. Again, we stayed in the running all day long and fought hard and thought maybe we could — but that was it.”

MORE: Busch brothers’ miscommunication

As riveting as the drama of the overtime turned out to be, the subplot involving Chastain and his two primary victims — Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott — drew the lion’s share of the focus as the race developed.

On Lap 64, Chastain drove hard into Turn 1 behind Hamlin and knocked the No. 11 Toyota up the track and into the wall, ending Hamlin’s chance at a strong finish. Hamlin subsequently expressed his displeasure by running Chastain down to the apron on the backstretch.

On Lap 101, contact from Chastain’s Chevrolet turned Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro and sent it spinning into the inside barrier off Turn 4. On the subsequent restart, Elliott got a measure of revenge when he rubbed Chastain’s Chevy and moved it up the track.

Chastain rallied to finish eighth and expressed his remorse after the race. Elliott took 21st, and Hamlin – last weekend’s winner of the Coca-Cola 600 – was 34th, 11 laps down.

Chase Briscoe started from the pole position and led the first 27 laps until his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford suffered a flat tire. He lost a lap after a pit stop and finished 24th on the lead lap.

Zane Smith, a late-hour sub in the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford after Chris Buescher contracted COVID-19 last week, finished 17th in his Cup Series debut. Smith was bumped into a pit-road spin by Michael McDowell’s No. 34 Ford during the Stage 1 intermission, but he continued with minimal damage.

Martin Truex Jr. finished sixth, followed by Erik Jones, Chastain, Christopher Bell and AJ Allmendinger, who won Saturday’s debut Xfinity Series race at Portland International Raceway and started from the rear of the field with no prior laps on the track after flying to St. Louis for the Cup event.

The NASCAR Cup Series’ next race is scheduled next Sunday (4 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM) at Sonoma Raceway.

NOTE: There were no issues found in NASCAR’s post-race inspection, thus confirming Logano as the winner.

Contributing: Staff reports