Scott Miller, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, joined SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s The Morning Drive to discuss details of the infraction levied against the No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing team of driver-owner Brad Keselowski.
On March 24, an L2-level penalty was given to RFK’s No. 6 Ford in violation of Sections 14.1 and 14.5 of the NASCAR Rule Book — both headings that relate to the modification of a single-source supplied part for the Next Gen stock car. It resulted in a 100-point hit in the driver and owner standings, a 10-point deduction in playoff points, a four-race suspension for crew chief Matt McCall and a $100,000 fine.
The penalties were upheld following an April 7 appeal hearing by a three-member group from the National Motorsports Appeals Panel. The deadline for RFK Racing to file a final appeal was Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET, but the team elected not to move forward.
With the book now closed, Miller made it a point to be transparent about what was found that led to the substantial consequence, which was a repair to a tail panel that wasn’t up to code.
“The repair policy is very straightforward,” Miller said Wednesday. “Any repair that’s done is to bring the part back to the original specification. On this part, that was not adhered to. There are body mounting landings that are part of the rear fascia that weren’t brought back to the original specifications. That’s a key design feature of the part. The repair policy was not followed. That’s really what it comes down to. A critical dimension of the part was altered.”
Miller noted that a strict deterrence model was requested by NASCAR Cup Series drivers and teams during the Next Gen development process.
“As we worked through what the NextGen car was going to be over that long journey with the teams, one of the things was the single-source parts had to be strictly enforced or we’ll get right back to the place where we were with the other car — of constant development,” Miller said. “A strict deterrence model was asked for by the folks in the garage, and it was our job to do that.”
The dust — and there was plenty of it – hadn’t even settled on last year’s inaugural dirt-track race at Bristol Motor Speedway when the announcement came that the format would return for 2022. Track officials interjected the news on the public-address system during the Stage 2 intermission.
One year later, that second edition has arrived with teams set to load in before Sunday’s Food City Dirt Race (7 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM). Teams learned plenty about the nuances of racing Cup Series cars on a packed dirt surface in the first go-around, but the amount of uncertainty remains high for the second running — especially with the new Next Gen car primed for its unpaved debut.
“I had fun last year,” said Joey Logano, who has good reason to say so since he won the inaugural Bristol Dirt Race. “You just kind of have to go with it. There’s still a lot of unknowns. We might know a little bit more than we did last year, but you have a whole new car now and there are areas I still want to be better at. That’s why I’m running the Truck race, so I don’t know. We’ll just kind of get up there and go racing like we do every other week.”
As new a concept as mud-slinging a stock car is, Cup Series drivers have sought out ways to sharpen their dirt skills, and the entry list of Saturday’s Camping World Truck Series race (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) is dotted with their names. Team DGR will field trucks for Logano and fellow Cup Series regular Harrison Burton, and Chase Elliott (Spire Motorsports) and Austin Dillon (Young’s Motorsports) also plan to participate.
Reigning Cup Series champ and dirt aficionado Kyle Larson isn’t on that list, but he has already tried his hand at Bristol’s surface this year. He won a qualifying heat and had a best main-event finish of fourth in two nights of Late Model competition at the Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals on April 1-2.
“The entries of the corners seem to be a little more sweeping, so a lot easier to run wide open in the late model,” Larson said last weekend at Martinsville Speedway. “So I don’t know if that’s good or bad or what it means for the racing, I felt like the track needs some character, some bumps and stuff, but natural kind of bumps. But I think they’ve learned a lot with track prep and things. And I felt like the track was really close to being really good, the two nights I was there. So, excited to get the cars on there.”
Truck Series regular Stewart Friesen, an avid dirt-track racer, shook down the Next Gen P3 test car last week at Bristol as NASCAR officials tried multiple configurations – grille openings, windshield settings and diffuser adjustments among them — to dial the car in. This followed an initial dirt-track test for the car Dec. 10 at Lancaster Motor Speedway in South Carolina.
Another change in place for the 2022 edition is a shift to a nighttime event. The inaugural, which was pushed to a Monday start because of race-day rain and flooding, was run during sunny, daytime conditions. The shift is expected to help keep the track from drying out and stirring dust, aiding visibility for drivers and fans alike.
Covering Bristol’s concrete surface with dirt is still a novelty for NASCAR, but it has origins that predate this recent revival. World of Outlaws sprint cars and Late Models competed on Bristol’s dirt from 2000-01, something that stuck with Tyler Reddick.
“As a dirt racer myself growing up, just the thought of having dirt Bristol back just in itself and having other dirt cars out there in itself was a really huge deal for me, because that’s something I never thought I’d see in my lifetime,” Reddick said. “Just only able to hear stories about it from the drivers who got to do it. So again, to be a part of it was really cool, but it is really, really important for it to be a good race. From my perspective being more of the dirt background, we don’t want to make dirt racing look like, you know … we don’t want to make the racing product look bad. It’s always been really good.”
Whether Bristol returns in its current form for 2023 is still undecided, but the race – just the second on dirt in the modern era for NASCAR’s top division – furthers the recent trend of the sanctioning body expanding its palate for new venues.
Last season’s adventurous schedule tackled dirt and a handful of new ovals and road circuits – Nashville Superspeedway, Road America and Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course among them. This year topped that cake with a kick-off Clash exhibition inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a revamped Atlanta Motor Speedway, plus race dates to come in St. Louis and – for the Xfinity Series – an expansion to the Pacific Northwest in Portland, Oregon.
So far, there has been an appetite for the newness – paved or not.
“The fact that NASCAR is going to different things … we just ran the Clash. I thought that was crazy, but it was actually pretty good and really big for our sport,” Logano said. “What’s next? We can race anywhere. We’ve proven we can put on a great race and an entertaining race for the fans, and a competitive race for the competitors out there. I don’t care where we go. Let’s do it. I think it’s great and if that’s on dirt, fine. If it’s at a local dirt track or Bristol, I don’t care. I’m gonna go race where they tell me to race and try to win and I think, honestly, it’s been pretty good here the last few years of the unknowns.
“When we go to those new tracks – Road America, the place packs out. Go back to Nashville after not going there for 10 years or so, the place packs out. So there’s something to that on bringing races to different markets that we haven’t gone to and bringing the races to the fans, whether it’s on whatever kind of track.”
For roughly five years, Joey Gase says he constantly thought about what it would be like to become a NASCAR team owner. Now, he’s living his dream.
Last November, Gase announced the formation of Joey Gase Racing, which would run the No. 35 car full time in the Xfinity Series. Over a month later, the team added veteran Whelen Modified Tour driver Patrick Emerling as a co-owner. Thus, Emerling-Gase Motorsports came to life.
“Of all years, this was the best year to do it and probably the worst year, all at the same time,” Gase recently told NASCAR.com. “The competition this year is by far the strongest it’s ever been since I’ve been in the Xfinity Series.”
Since 2014, Gase has made sporadic starts in the Cup Series. During the last couple of seasons, it became his priority, primarily competing for Rick Ware Racing — a schedule that included 33 races in 2020.
But with the implementation of the Next Gen car, Gase needed to find something new. He wasn’t sure that his sponsors would be able to pay the bills to foot him a ride in the Cup Series.
“I knew it was going to be really hard to stay in the Cup Series,” Gase stated. “At the same time, I’ve been in the Xfinity Series a lot, and running my own team is something I’ve always had in the back of my mind.”
Last fall, though, Gase had no equipment. So he took a gander at Shane Lee’s race shop, which consisted of a plethora of parts and pieces from the former H2 Motorsports operation. Gase believes Lee had roughly 75% of the tools it took to start a team, including three chassis.
Not knowing if he would obtain any of it, Gase left with his hands full.
“I wasn’t expecting to buy all of it; I thought I was only going to buy some parts and pieces,” Gase said. “We got talking to the Lees and ended up buying all of it.”
Adam Glanzman | NASCAR
The next goal was to get a race shop. A mutual friend of both Gase and Emerling introduced the two. They both shared a common interest, which led to a conversation about becoming co-owners of a race team. After all, Emerling, who ran the No. 23 Our Motorsports team last season, had a chunk of equipment that Gase didn’t have, including the hauler. He also had ownership of the points from the No. 23 team, which finished 20th in the owners’ standings last year.
Since 2011, Emerling’s family has fielded a competitive Whelen Modified Tour team. In 126 starts, he’s earned four victories, three of which came last season on the way to finishing runner-up in the championship standings. In the last two years, he’s competed in a quartet of Xfinity races, with a best effort of 24th last fall at Kansas.
“Racing has always been my passion,” Emerling stated. “I always wanted to get to the next level as a driver. Teaming up with Joey made a lot of sense. It’s a situation where you don’t know if you don’t try. We came together and so far, so good.”
The team, which has five full-time employees and two part-timers, didn’t even get into its race shop until January. It had to hustle just to have a car – let alone two – ready for the season opener at Daytona for both Gase and Lee.
Because the team came together so late, the team’s first challenge was to find quality employees. But Gase believes that’s hard for any start-up team.
“Finding good people right now is really hard,” he said. “Finding enough people is the hardest thing. And good people. We have a good core group of people right now, but we are hiring and trying to find a few more. We’re looking.”
Unfortunately for EGM, the team does not have a technical alliance with any manufacturer, thus they are running whichever suits them best for a given weekend. For instance, in the season opener at Daytona, the No. 35 was a Toyota and Gase drove the No. 53 Ford.
Because the team doesn’t have the same resources as one of the series’ elites, admittedly, a top-20 finish is the equivalent to a top-five run. And in nine starts this season, the team has accomplished that feat three times, including Parker Kligerman’s 12th-place run at Circuit of The Americas.
“If we can finish in the top 25 in points this year, we’ll be really happy,” Gase added.
Emerling, who plans to run the majority of the Whelen Modified races in 2022, won’t let that schedule conflict with his Xfinity starts. Fortunately for him, he has people in place to run the modified program, so he can focus his attention on the Xfinity schedule.
“It is quite the task balancing both race teams, along with my real estate business,” he said. “The Xfinity team is definitely my main focus. With the competition in the series today, I believe it is as difficult as ever to form a new team in the series, especially on a budget.
“Owning a team allows you to control the situation. That’s all my family and I ever did.”
Through the first eight races of the season, the No. 35 car sits 29th in the owners’ standings, just 12 points below Gase’s goal of 25th. The team has had a few hiccups early on, but also had consecutive top-20 results between Atlanta and COTA. Like Daytona, the team plans to also run the No. 53 car in the series’ next race at Talladega.
Regardless of the results, the duo shares the same vision moving forward.
“To survive, make a living off of it and make it into something we’re proud of,” Gase said of his hopes for the team. “The overall goal is to become a team that can go out and compete for the win every week. That’s something that doesn’t happen overnight.
“It doesn’t matter how much money you have – we don’t have all that money yet – but it’s something that takes time. I don’t care what level of racing you’ve been at before, late models, modifieds, ARCA or whatever it might be, everyone that’s here has won before at what they’ve done. So when everyone is here and everyone is winners, it’s a lot harder competition.”
For competitors in the state of Michigan, the racing season gets underway Saturday, April 23, with the running of the Icebreaker at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan.
The opening race of the 72nd season for the 7/16-mile paved oval provides racers in the Super Late Model, Limited Late Model, Sportsman and 4 Cylinder divisions opportunities to begin the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series season with a bang.
The event is headlined by a 75-lap, $5,000-to-win Super Late Model event that will kick off a busy season that features racing through mid-September.
All of the Icebreaker feature racing action can be seen live on FloRacing. Below is the schedule for this year’s kickoff to the short-track racing season at Berlin Raceway.
What TV channel is the Berlin Icebreaker on in 2022?
All feature racing action from the 2022 Icebreaker at Berlin Raceway can be viewed live on FloRacing, the new streaming home of all NASCAR Roots properties.
The Icebreaker will not be shown on a television network.
Below is the complete schedule for Icebreaker coverage on FloRacing.
Berlin Raceway’s Icebreaker is a packed one-day show that begins with rotating practice starting at 2 p.m. ET.
Qualifying for the headlining Super Late Model division is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET, with feature racing for the four divisions set to follow. The Limited Late Model, Sportsman and 4 Cylinder classes will each run double features.
Below is the complete track schedule for the 2022 Icebreaker at Berlin Raceway.
Saturday, April 23
Time
Event
11:30 a.m.
Pit Pass Window Opens
12 p.m.
Pit Gate Open
12:30 p.m.
4 Cylinder Tech (Turn 1)
1:30 p.m.
Sportsman Tech (Turn 1)
2 – 2:30 p.m.
Super Late Model Practice (30 min)
2:30 – 2:40 p.m.
Sportsman Practice (10 min)
2:30 p.m.
Super Late Model Tech
2:50 – 3 p.m.
Limited Late Model Practice (10 min)
3 – 3:10 p.m.
4 Cylinder Practice (10 min)
3:10 – 3:20 p.m.
Sportsman Practice (10 min)
3:20 – 3:30 p.m.
Limited Late Model Practice (10 min)
3:30 p.m.
Super Late Model Qualifying
3:57 p.m.
Invocation (Larry Bush); National Anthem (Davin Risk)
4 p.m.
Features (4 Cylinder Feature 1: 15 laps/15 min … Sportsman Feature 1: 20 laps/20 min … Limited Late Model Feature 1: 25 laps/25 min … Super Late Model Scuff Session … 4 Cylinder Feature 2: 15 laps/15 min … Sportsman Feature 2: 20 laps/20 min … Limited Late Model Feature 2: 25 laps/25 min … Super Late Model Feature: 75 laps/60 min)
Berlin Raceway at first glance appears to be your typical short track, a paved oval slightly less than a half-mile in length.
In reality, for drivers, the 7/16-mile track in Marne, Michigan, is one of the toughest short tracks in the nation.
Berlin is classified as an oval even though its rounded straightaways give drivers the feel of a circle. There is no time for rest on the nine-degree banked straights before diving into the 13-degree corners.
Oh, and the backstretch wall? It does not exist. Which can be convenient as it relates to the damage cars could sustain hitting a wall, but the lack of a barrier often leads to drivers losing position as they slide into the grass.
Below is everything to know about Berlin Raceway, which begins its 72nd season of racing this Saturday with the annual running of the Icebreaker.
13 degrees in turns; nine degrees in straightaways
Chester Mysliwiec and his family opened Berlin Raceway, located within the Berlin Fairgrounds, as a dirt track in 1951. In 1966, track was paved and configured as the 7/16-mile oval we recognize today. It was repaved in 1990.
Berlin had been hosting successful grass roots racing for 50 years when the West Michigan Whitecaps purchased the track in 2001 and invested in the infrastructure. The improvements included new restrooms, a sound system, private party areas, a catch fence and other amenities to ensure Berlin would remain the premier track in the Midwest and become the most fan-friendly.
The West Michigan Whitecaps in 2008 sold the the track to businessman Michael Blackmer, who after making even more structural improvements sold it to DBD Ventures in 2011.
In 2014, Berlin Raceway became Berlin Raceway and Entertainment Complex with a multi-million dollar facility upgrade and additional events like concerts and monster truck shows. Berlin became a NASCAR-sanctioned Home Track in 2016.
These days, Berlin hosts racing every Saturday night from April through September. The divisions include Super Late Models, Outlaw Late Models, Limited Late Models, Sportsman, 4 Cylinders, Vintage Racing and Mini Wedges.
The track has also hosted the ARCA Menards Series multiple times dating back to 1958, with Daniel Dye winning the most recent visit by the series to the track in 2021. The series is slated to return to Berlin in 2022 on June 18.
In addition, the track hosts a number of major late model races each season. It starts this Saturday with the annual running of the Icebreaker featuring the Super Late Model, Limited Late Model, Sportsman and 4 Cylinder divisions.
Other big events every year at Berlin include the Money in the Bank 150 on June 8 as well as the Battle at Berlin on Aug. 10.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitor Carson Hocevar has won the last two Money in the Bank 150s while Kyle Crump is the defending winner of the Battle at Berlin.
LEE, N.H. – Kevin Rice, auto racing reporter for Area Auto Racing News, is boosting the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour purse for the Granite State Derby at Lee USA Speedway on May 21 by selling lap money.
With the addition of the funds, the total purse for the Granite State Derby 175 alone will push over $115,000.
Each lap is a minimum of $100 to purchase, with half of the money going to the leader of that specific lap and the other half to a random top-10 car. Laps are available for the first 100 green flag laps of the race. If a driver was to lead all of the first 100 green flag laps, they would go home with more than $5,000 in just lap money alone. Multiple laps have already been purchased for more than $100 and more are expected. Caution laps will not see any lap money distributed.
Anyone interested in purchasing a lap should contact Kevin Rice directly at [email protected] for more information.
“When I spoke with NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour car owner Danny Watts and he went over some of the costs associated with racing this year, it really spoke volumes to me,” Kevin Rice, who has been collecting bonus awards for many years, said. “We need to help these teams to get through the 2022 season. The lap money gives fans, businesses and those in the racing industry a chance to help, while also continuing to add to the anticipation for the Whelen Modified Tour return to New Hampshire’s Center of Speed next month.”
Nocella Paving has also posted a $1,000 award to the highest finishing driver in the race that has never been to Victory Lane in a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race. Carl Rice has posted a $300 bonus award to the highest finishing father in the 175-lap race. Anyone who would like to post an additional award outside of lap money may also do so by contacting Rice.
Upon purchasing each lap, purchasers will have the chance to pick what they would like the lap to say. Most have selected to purchase laps in memory of others, while some have put their business name. A full list of laps that are currently taken is available at jdvproductions.com/granite-state-derby.
“The opportunity to remember some of the best in the sport who have passed, such as Venetta Narducci, who we recently lost to cancer, is a good feeling and is a big part of this,” Rice said. “Venetta was an amazing woman, who not only embraced everyone she ever met, but she also helped keep race teams on track, just like we are trying to do with this bonus money.”
The inaugural Granite State Derby at Lee USA Speedway will take place on Saturday, May 21. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will headline the day with their 175-lap race, returning to the New Hampshire oval for the first time since 1998. The race will serve as the fourth event of the season for NASCAR’s oldest touring series. On top of the Whelen Modified Tour, fans will be able to see countless other divisions, with just about every type of race car a fan could ask for.
“We’re excited to see Kevin and all of the fans and businesses adding to the bonus funds to give back to the dedicated teams of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour,” Josh Vanada, owner of JDV Productions, said. “We are always happy to reward the teams who commit to racing in one of the toughest divisions in the whole country. With the strategy element and tire conservation that often plays a major role in racing at Lee, drivers will now have more incentive than ever to race as hard as possible to collect the extra cash in the pot.”
The Granite State Pro Stock Series will be joined by the NHSTRA Mini Stocks in a Battle For The Belt race, the NEMA Lites and Pro 4 Modifieds as house divisions. Racing will begin at 2:45 p.m. and last into the evening, capped off by the Granite State Derby 175.
Tickets are available in advance today by visiting JDVProductions.com, where fans can also purchase tickets to the JDV Experience – a behind the scenes view with a private autograph session, inspection tour, marquee seating and more.
NASCAR officials fined Ty Gibbs $15,000 for a behavioral violation Tuesday for hitting another competitor’s car on pit road after Friday night’s Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
Gibbs was shuffled out of contention in a final overtime attempt in Friday’s Call 811 Before You Dig 250, handing the race victory to teammate Brandon Jones and the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus to AJ Allmendinger. Gibbs took out his frustration on the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet of rival Sam Mayer, delivering bumper contact on the cool-down lap that spilled over to pit road. The two emerged from their cars and fought before officials separated them.
The bumping from Gibbs’ No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota occurred while crews, officials and other personnel were waiting for the cars to stop on Martinsville’s tight pit lane post-race. The violation fell under the heading of Section 4.3.A&E (NASCAR Member Conduct) and Section 8.8.8 (Crew member/Servicing) in the NASCAR Rule Book.
Both Gibbs and Mayer were also summoned to the Xfinity Series officials’ hauler for a consultation after Friday night’s event. They went their separate ways after a 10-minute talk.
The No. 54 JGR team was also penalized after the car was found with a single unsecured lug nut after Friday’s race. Crew chief Chris Gayle was fined $5,000.
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
NASCAR officials also issued four-week suspensions Tuesday to three members of the Richard Childress Racing No. 2 team in the Xfinity Series for a ballast violation at Martinsville.
The safety infraction fell under Section 10.5.2.5.F, which relates to the “loss or separation of added ballast from the vehicle.” As a result, the following crew members were suspended for the next four races: crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz, car chief Kris McCabe and engineer Sam Bowers.
The violation occurred during Thursday practice, before Friday’s race. Sheldon Creed started fifth and finished 30th.
There were no penalties stemming from Saturday’s Cup Series event at Martinsville. Competition officials announced post-race the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford and the No. 43 Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet would be taken back to the NASCAR Research & Development Center for further inspection.
Editor’s note: Bozi Tatarevic is a professional racing mechanic and pit-crew member. He will provide technical analysis for NASCAR.com throughout the 2022 season.
The NASCAR Next Gen car is set to race on dirt for the first time later this week at Bristol Motor Speedway, and like the previous generation car, it required some changes in order to make the shift from pavement to dirt. Most of these changes are pretty straightforward with the ultimate goal of not collecting dirt on body panels and suspension components.
Bozi Tatarevic
Rules Bulletin No. 8 was released a couple of weeks ago, and it jumped into many details of what the specs would look like for dirt racing with the Next Gen car. The first updates are seen in the safety section and show us our first view of some of the unique components for the Bristol dirt race. One such example is the panel that sits below the engine, so the rules have been updated to add specific wording and diagram on how that engine panel must be tethered to the chassis, including the specific anchors that must be used.
An array of approved parts has also been added to the “Dirt Event Debris Shields” section under rule 14.6, which lists approved panels that must come from Fibreworks, along with shims and mounts that teams may supply on their own. In addition to the parts list, updates have been added for specific changes related to the underwing and diffuser, including parts that will be omitted for dirt events, such as the diffuser flap cable, diffuser flap assembly and diffuser scoop extension panel.
As many of the composite parts used for the rest of the schedule are being replaced with metal pieces for dirt events, there is now also an added clause stating that “deburring and breaking sharp edges will be permitted within reason on all metal parts” as tied to internal heat shielding and bracing. In addition to those changes, additional shielding will be permitted from the front firewall forward to prevent mud and dirt from collecting in the engine bay. Screens will also be permitted for rocker box vents and rear wheel tub vent. The exhaust exit shrouds must be mounted on the inside of the rocker boxes versus their typical mounting on the outside, which is likely to prevent dirt catching on them. The final update will be welcomed by fans of color-matched side skirts and rocker boxes as it states “paint or vinyl will be permitted on the outside vertical surface of the rocker boxes” for dirt events.
On the suspension side, another rule has also been added in that section that will allow spring bags to be installed on the damper assembly for dirt events. Installing spring bags is likely being allowed because it would prevent dirt from getting behind the springs and inside the dampers as it would fully cover them.
Dirt event details have been added to the vehicle inspection measurement pages as well, and as with other races, the wheelbase specification is 110 inches. However, for dirt, the allowable tolerances have been adjusted by a few tenths of an inch specifically for that surface, but the upper and lower limits remain within less than an inch of each other.
The other update is in the ground clearance section that states skid blocks, commonly called rub blocks, must be removed for all dirt events. A cover plate that is 0.125 inches thick must be added in lieu of the skid blocks to protect the recovery strap location and conical receiver reference surface.
Most of these components were tested and validated at Lancaster Speedway last year and finalized in the months since then. Once the final package was assembled, the test car was sent to Bristol with Stewart Friesen behind the wheel again and tested in conditions similar to what we will see in the race in order to confirm the parts and pieces. In addition to the components that were previously approved, replacing the windshield with a mesh screen was also tested but not chosen at this time due to the requirement for more research from the safety side and the likelihood of having to build some type of deflection cover for the driver’s hands.
The Next Gen car looked very much at home on the dirt at Bristol as Friesen tested, and initial videos appear to show the Cup car has picked up some speed over what we saw last year. That wouldn’t be surprising considering the range of adjustments available with the new car, especially when it comes to the independent rear suspension. Seeing a full field of Next Gen cars on the dirt this weekend should provide for a great show as drivers try to slide their way to a victory.
Alex Bowman helped out at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Tuesday to pull the wraps off the retro-look No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet he’ll drive at Darlington Raceway next month. The car pays tribute to one of the Hall of Fame’s own — Class of 2017 inductee Mark Martin.
The No. 48 Ally Chevrolet will shift from its traditional purple hues to a red, white and blue look for the Goodyear 400 on May 8 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM), the main event for the annual NASCAR Throwback Weekend tripleheader. The design takes its inspiration from Martin’s 1993 victory in the Southern 500, the track’s long-running Labor Day classic.
Bowman recalled first meeting Martin at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2013, Martin’s last season in the NASCAR Cup Series. In the years since, he’s become better acquainted with Martin’s place in the sport’s history, telling his story through his interviews and podcast appearances. He also said Martin has kept in touch with him during his more recent visits to the track, always taking time to say hello – “which blows my mind,” Bowman says.
“To me, it’s just really cool to be able to throw back to a guy like that,” Bowman said. “There aren’t many racers left. And it’s cool to be able to throw back to an era where he was so on the mechanical side of things just like he was on the driver’s side of things.”
Zack Albert | NASCAR Digital Media
Bowman said he first mentioned the No. 48 tribute to Martin during the race weekend at the Circuit of The Americas last month. Martin was on hand for Tuesday’s unveiling, albeit virtually – piped in through a video teleconference from Montana – and said he was flattered by the gesture.
“I was really caught off guard. And it’s a really cool thing,” said Martin, who drove for Hendrick Motorsports from 2009-2011. “I don’t know if you guys can really realize what it means to us old-timers to just be remembered. It’s such an incredible honor, and Darlington is such a historic race track. You know, this is just perfect. I was really surprised that Alex chose my car. Really happy that Ally allowed him to do it, and they collaborated on this project. It’s just a true honor to me. And Alex is on, he’s on a roll right now. So this thing could roll right up into Victory Lane, just like it did in 1993.”
That long-ago Darlington win marked the 11th of Martin’s 40 Cup Series victories, but it also capped one of the most prolific stretches of his career – a four-race win streak during the height of his heyday with team owner Jack Roush.
Bowman’s recent run of success that Martin alluded to might be more modest, but he’s caught stride with five of his seven Cup Series victories arriving in the last 12 months. That stretch includes a triumph earlier this season at Las Vegas that virtually sealed a berth in the Cup Series Playoffs. He’s finished among the top 15 in each of the five races that have been held since.
“You know, we’ve had speed everywhere,” said Bowman, who is tied for sixth place in the Cup Series standings with Martin Truex Jr. “Martinsville and Phoenix have really been our two worst races of the year, and I would say we finished 14th and 12th. So we’ve been pretty good each and every week. Need to execute a little better, but I think things are going really well.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla — NASCAR is continuing to deliver on its commitment to introduce the best racing in the world to fans around the globe through a multi-year cooperation with racing and gaming seat company Playseat®.
Playseat®’s technology driven innovation will create more opportunities for fans to experience NASCAR in ways not possible before. Going forward, NASCAR orientated racing simulators and gaming seats will be released over the course of the relationship, allowing fans to get as close as possible to the real NASCAR experience.
“We’re excited to team up with NASCAR over the course of multiple years and to unlock the true racing experience.” Said Fernando Smit, Founder and President of Playseat®. “As founder of the racing simulator solutions, Playseat® has always been connecting the real and virtual world. Working with real drivers to making first-class products and then making that knowledge and performance available to everyone in the world.
As part of the collaboration, NASCAR and eNASCAR orientated racing simulators will be released, allowing eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series drivers, the best simulation drivers in the world, to upgrade their driving equipment and performance.
“Through this partnership, Playseat® is helping us introduce the sport to a new generation of fans, allowing a younger and more diverse audience to see the opportunities that sim racing and NASCAR both offer,” said Ray Smith, Director, Gaming and Esports. “Playseat® provides sim racers with elite equipment that will optimize performance and enhance the overall experience.”
“The entries of the corners seem to be a little more sweeping, so a lot easier to run wide open in the late model,” Larson said last weekend at Martinsville Speedway. “So I don’t know if that’s good or bad or what it means for the racing, I felt like the track needs some character, some bumps and stuff, but natural kind of bumps. But I think they’ve learned a lot with track prep and things. And I felt like the track was really close to being really good, the two nights I was there. So, excited to get the cars on there.”
