Posted on by Holly Cain

It was a fitting set-up for Friday night’s season championship Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship race.

Restarts, lead changes and hot tempers characterized last week’s race at Martinsville Speedway to set the Championship 4 for this weekend. And 22-year-old Zane Smith earned his only win of the season – the most clutch victory of his young career – to advance to the title round.

Regular Season Champion John Hunter Nemechek, Ben Rhodes and three-time series champion Matt Crafton have also earned the right to vie for the season trophy at the 1-mile track in the Arizona desert.

PHOENIX: Full schedule | Camping World Truck Series Playoffs information

The points have all been reset for the four title-eligible drivers and whoever finishes best among them will hoist the big trophy.

As the only championship-eligible driver to win in this last round of the Playoffs – Smith actually assumes the No. 1 seed. He pulled the ultimate long shot off over the weekend. He went into the Martinsville race, ranked last among the Playoff eligible, 40 points behind the cutoff and then won the race.

And Smith brings that momentum to a track, he’s had some success. The driver of the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet boasts the top Average Finish (2.0) at Phoenix, finishing runner-up to 2020 series champ Sheldon Creed in last year’s title race. It is his only series start at Phoenix, but he led 48 laps, which ties Rhodes for most laps led there among the Championship 4. Rhodes has raced there six times, however, compared to Smith’s one.

In comparison to the Championship 4, Smith has the worst average finish (13.5) on the season, however, his 13 top-10 finishes are more than Crafton’s (12) and close to Nemechek’s and Rhodes’, who lead the series with 15 top-10s each. Smith is the only one among the four to win in the 2021 Playoffs.

Rhodes, who won the opening two races at Daytona this year, has the best season Average Finish (9.6) among the four title contenders. In addition to his two victories, he has three runner-up finishes. He had four top-10 finishes in the six Playoff races, including a best of second place at Las Vegas.

This is the first time Rhodes has earned a position in the Championship 4. In six starts at Phoenix, the driver of the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Toyota has a pair of top-five finishes and three top-10 runs. His best work is fourth place in 2019.

“We’re here for Phoenix and now this is my first time in the Final Four and I have a really good team behind me with ThorSport Racing and just really, really proud of their efforts all year,” Rhodes said after securing a position in the Championship last week.

“It comes down to one race now and I know we can do it.”

The only former champion among the four who will race for the title this weekend is 45-year-old Matt Crafton. He boasts the most top-10 Playoff race finishes (five) among the foursome. His best showings were runner-up at Gateway and fifth at Martinsville.

Though Phoenix has not necessarily been a highlight on his resume. He has six top-five finishes and 12 top-10 finishes in 20 starts there, but has led only 16 laps total. His best work is a runner-up finish in 2014. The driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota had three top 10s and two DNFs in the last six Phoenix races. He was 14th in last year’s season finale.

Nemechek, 24, driver of the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota, has been the championship frontrunner all season as he earned a career-high and series-best five victories, but after being wrecked out of the race at Martinsville – after highly-questionable contact by an non-Playoff truck – Nemechek suddenly found himself advancing to the Championship 4 Round by the slimmest of point margins.

His last win was eight races ago – this summer at Pocono – and he has three top-five finishes in the Playoffs, including a runner-up effort at Darlington. But he also has three finishes of 20th or worse, including that 39th-place finish Saturday at Martinsville.

He has four top-10 finishes in seven Phoenix starts and finished runner-up twice – in 2015 and 2017. He had DNFs, however, in his last two starts there – in 2018 and 2019. His Average Finish (13.7) at Phoenix is last among the four.

Posted on by Holly Cain

In one of the most competitive seasons in recent memory, Noah Gragson, Austin Cindric, Daniel Hemric and AJ Allmendinger have earned the right to compete for the 2021 Xfinity Series title in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway (8:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Gragson, driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet pulled off a dramatic victory at Martinsville Speedway last week to earn his first-ever shot at the series title.

He’ll contend with a pair of five-race winners in reigning series champion, Cindric of Team Penske, and this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Regular Season Champion, Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing. The steady and impressive Hemric of Joe Gibbs Racing rounds out the quartet. Only Cindric and Hemric have raced in the finale for the title previously.

RELATED: Full schedule for Phoenix | Daniel Hemric nearly snags elusive win

With his win, Gragson is the only full-time series driver to hoist a trophy in the most recent three-race Playoff round. In fact, only two of the six Playoff races – Allmendinger won at the Charlotte ROVAL – have been won by championship-eligible drivers.

Because of that win in the Round of 8, Gragson is listed as the top seed for the Championship Race. He has 20 top-10 finishes and three wins on the year. His Playoffs have tended to be “all or nothing” with four top-10 finishes and a pair of Did Not Finish (DNFs). He’s solid at Phoenix with three top-10 finishes in five starts. He was runner-up to Cindric in last year’s Championship Race (while not title eligible in that race) and has finished 11th or better in his last four starts there. 

When it comes to Phoenix, however, Cindric has been the master of this class. He is the defending championship race winner and won again this spring. He has six top-10 and four top-five finishes in seven starts and his 216 laps out front are most among the title-seekers. His 5.9 average finish in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford at Phoenix is by far the best among these four contenders.

He’s earned five wins on the year – tying Allmendinger for most. His 21 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 8.4 through 32 races are high marks for the series this season. He hasn’t won since the Indianapolis Road Course back on Aug.14, but is the only one of these championship-eligible drivers to earn top-10 finishes in all six playoff races. Three times – at the ROVAL, Kansas and Martinsville – he’s finished runner-up.

Hemric’s consistency posting five top-five finishes in the six Playoff races has earned him his third appearance in the Championship 4. Still looking for his first career victory in one of NASCAR’s national series, he has been impressive this year, especially during the Playoff run with a runner-up showing at Texas and third-place efforts at the ROVAL and last Saturday at Martinsville.

The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has four top-10 finishes at Phoenix with a best showing of runner-up there in 2018. He hasn’t finished in the top-20 in his last three Phoenix starts, however, he did lead 44 laps there in a 23rd-place finish this spring.

After a celebrated maiden full-season run in the Xfinity Series, Allmendinger, 39, is ready to top off the work with a championship trophy. He’s won five races and amassed 22 top-10 finishes with a Playoff win at the Charlotte Road Course. His only Phoenix start since 2008 in the Xfinity Series was this March and he finished fifth. In 19 NASCAR Cup Series starts, his best finish was sixth-place.

Among those drivers eliminated from Championship contention was two-time Phoenix winner Justin Allgaier, who still goes into the race a favorite. He has led at least 30 laps in seven of the last nine Phoenix races and has eight top-five finishes and 14 top-10 finishes in his 22 series starts. His 8.6 average finish at Phoenix is second only to Cindric among series regulars with more than three series starts there.

Posted on by Kyle Souza

Return to Jennerstown on Memorial Day Weekend & Monadnock Event Part of New Slate

ATTLEBORO, Mass. — NASCAR announced the full NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour calendar for the 2022 season on Wednesday and JDV Productions is pleased to announce the organization will return to promote two races for the new year.

JDV Productions will return to Jennerstown Speedway on Saturday, May 28, 2022, celebrating Memorial Day weekend with the second annual Jennerstown Salutes 150. JDV Productions will also promote the 14th Whelen Modified Tour race in the history of Monadnock Speedway on Saturday, June 18, 2022.

Both the Jennerstown and Monadnock events will include local track support divisions to join the show. The Jennerstown event will include additional divisions compared to the 2021 edition of the race, while the Monadnock race will be headlined by special races for the track’s local NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series divisions. Jennerstown is set for 150 laps, with Monadnock set for 200 circuits.

The two races are part of a 14-race schedule NASCAR presented on Wednesday, which will send teams to at least seven different states to be in front of passionate Modified race fans. Three dates on the series schedule are listed as to be announced as of Wednesday. It begins in February at New Smyrna Speedway on February 12, 2022 and ends at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia on Thursday, October 27, 2022.

“The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour showcases some of the most competitive and talented  drivers in the country,” Josh Vanada, owner of JDV Productions, said. “It’s an honor and a privilege to bring them back in front of passionate race fans for 2022. From the pomp and circumstance of the second annual Jennerstown Salutes 150 to the duel that will take place on Monadnock’s high-banks, we are already working diligently to deliver a premium product to the car owners, drivers, crews, and most importantly the race fans, of NASCAR’s oldest division.”

At Jennerstown, JDV Productions will partner with Operation Vet NOW Inc. for the second straight year. The event will remember those who have lost their lives serving the country in war, while keeping in mind those who are currently in the country, or overseas, serving. The event will once again include special appearances by Gold Star Family members and will honor countless fallen heroes. Operation Vet NOW Inc. is a non-profit organization established to reduce veteran suicide and improve the overall welness of veterans, regardless of their era served.

Tickets for both JDV Productions events are now available by visiting JDVProductions.com/tickets. Tickets are $35 for general admission for each specific race, or $60 for a bundle, which will come with both races. This special ticket value will last through the end of the 2021 calendar year. Fans are encouraged to buy their tickets in advance and mark down the dates on their calendars for these two special events.

Additional information surrounding both events will be released in the coming months. For more information on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, visit nascar.com. For more information on JDVProductions, visit JDVProductions.com and follow on Facebook for the latest updates. JDV Productions is also now on Twitter, where fans can check out the latest at @_JDVProductions. 

Posted on by Press Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 3, 2021) – NASCAR today announced 13 races in the 2022 schedule for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, with additional dates and venues to be announced in the future. The schedule features some of the most popular short tracks in the northeast as well as historic tracks in Virginia and Florida.

For the first time in series history, the season will kick off at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida on Saturday, February 12, as part of the track’s “World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing” during NASCAR’s Speedweeks. It will also be the series’ debut at the half-mile oval. The race falls on the weekend before the 64th running of the DAYTONA 500 at nearby Daytona International Speedway.

MORE: Whelen Modified Tour news

“It will be special to start the season off at New Smyrna Speedway,” said Jimmy Wilson, Senior Director, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. “The Daytona Beach area is obviously the heart of NASCAR racing. We can’t wait to add the track to our history books.”

After opening the 2021 season for the Whelen Modified Tour, Martinsville Speedway will serve as the season finale and the stage upon which the champion is crowned on Thursday, October 27. This will mark the first time in 30 years – and sixth time overall (1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991 – Martinsville has hosted the final Whelen Modified Tour race of the year.

The race adds championship flair to the NASCAR weekend at the half-mile track that also serves as the host of the penultimate races for the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series.

The series will return to Richmond Raceway (Saturday, April 1) and New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Saturday, July 16), making it three weekends in total the Whelen Modified Tour will race in conjunction with NASCAR national series events.

Riverhead Raceway will again host a trio of Saturday dates – May 14, June 25 and September 17.  In addition, the Tour will return to Thompson Speedway after a one-year hiatus in 2021 with a Wednesday night battle on August 17.

Following a three-year absence from the schedule, Langley Speedway (Hampton, Virginia) will host a race on Saturday, April 23 (Editor’s note: This race date has since been moved). Langley previously hosted the series in 2017 and 2018, and prior to that held eight NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour races. Additionally, Wall Stadium (Wall Township, New Jersey) – which has hosted five Whelen Modified Tour races (most recently in 2019) – rejoins the calendar on Saturday, July 9.

Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, New Hampshire, which hosted the series in 2020 for the 13th time, also returns, hosting a race on Saturday, June 18. The schedule is rounded out by stops at Jennerstown Speedway (Pennsylvania) on Saturday, May 28, and Oswego Speedway (New York) on Saturday, September 3.

“Riverhead and Thompson, as well as the addition of Monadnock Speedway, are key tracks for our drivers and teams who are based in the Northeast,” Wilson added. “We’re looking forward to returning to race in front of some of the most passionate fans in motorsports.”

Below is the current 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule. Schedule is subject to change. Race times and broadcast networks will be announced at a later date.

 

2022 NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR SCHEDULE

Date Race / Track
Saturday, February 12 New Smyrna Speedway
Friday, April 1 Richmond Raceway
Saturday, May 14 Riverhead Raceway
Saturday, May 21 Lee USA Speedway
Saturday, May 28 Jennerstown Speedway
Saturday, June 18 Monadnock Speedway
Saturday, June 25 Riverhead Raceway
Saturday, July 9 Wall Stadium
Saturday, July 16 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Friday, July 29 Claremont Motorsports Park
Wednesday, August 17 Thompson Speedway
Saturday, August 27 Langley Speedway
Saturday, September 3 Oswego Speedway
Saturday, September 17 Riverhead Raceway
Saturday, October 8 Thompson Speedway
Thursday, October 27 Martinsville Speedway
Posted on by Staff Report

Brad Keselowski will run his final Team Penske race in the No. 2 Ford in Sunday’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App/Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Brad Keselowski’s career stats | Recap all his Cup wins

Ahead of that start, Keselowski posted a video to social media looking back at his time with Penske and what he viewed as the key milestones of his tenure. You can watch the video below.

His playoff run came to an end following the Round of 8 race at Martinsville Speedway, where despite finishing third in the race, he was eliminated from the postseason. Keselowski spent 12 full-time seasons with Penske that saw him total 34 Cup wins (heading into Sunday’s season finale) and a 2012 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Keselowski is moving to Roush Fenway Racing in 2022 where he will drive the No. 6 Ford and serve in a driver-owner role with the longtime organization of owner Jack Roush. He is already building his new team with the announcement of Matt McCall as the team’s crew chief being made on Tuesday.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR’s Next Gen race car will hit the virtual streets for the first time on Roblox starting this Friday, Nov. 5. The new car will roar to life in Jailbreak, a highly popular cops and robbers-style virtual experience that is free to play on the Roblox platform. Jailbreak players will be able to select the NASCAR Next Gen race car and choose from several skins as they create their own customized designs in the virtual roleplaying experience.

“We’ve really begun to focus on expanding NASCAR’s presence in the metaverse and engaging with the virtual community in unique and creative ways,” said Nick Rend, Managing Director of Gaming & Esports, NASCAR. “Roblox has one of the most passionate communities out there, so when we began collaborating with Jailbreak and its development team, Badimo, it only made sense to add an element of customization to the race car to get players involved and excited for this upcoming drop.”

Last month, Jailbreak held a skin contest, encouraging all eligible players to design their own skin, or paint scheme, for the soon to be released race car. The contest closed on Monday, Nov. 1, with the top two skins being announced when the race car debuts later this week. The drop will also feature a unique NASCAR skyscraper and showroom, apparel for users’ avatars and a new NASCAR x Jailbreak race track.

“We received an overwhelming response from Jailbreak players submitting their own designs on Reddit,” said Rend. “Imaginations ran wild and the Roblox community created some awesome skins that we’re excited to reveal in the drop on Friday.”

Jailbreak launched in 2017 and within days became one of the fastest-growing experiences in Roblox history and has since been played more than five billion times. Created by the two-person development team Badimo, the open-world game allows players of all ages to choose between a cop or robber persona giving them access to explore the virtual world on their own terms.

NASCAR x Jailbreak content will become available to players on Nov. 5 at 3 p.m. ET. To access Jailbreak on Roblox, visit here.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of four stories examining why each driver could win the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Tuesday: Kyle Larson
Wednesday: Chase Elliott
Thursday: Martin Truex Jr.
Friday: Denny Hamlin

•••

Chase Elliott will win the 2021 championship because …

If another driver wants it, they have to go through him.

It’s a rarity in sports for a defending champion to return to the title-deciding event and not be the odds-on favorite, but here we are just a few days out from the championship-decider and Elliott sits at 11-4 to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson’s 7-5. Sure, that’s understandable given that Larson has nine wins to Elliott’s two — but Elliott was the runner-up in four of the No. 5’s trips to Victory Lane. It’s conceivable that perhaps Elliott didn’t take his teammate to the limit as much as he would have if, say, the No. 11 Toyota was in front of him. Maybe that distribution of wins is a bit misleading, maybe not.

RELATED: Betting odds for Phoenix title race

Either way, Larson usurped Elliott as Hendrick’s golden boy this year, and it seems silly to think Elliott won’t be carrying that chip on his shoulder entering Sunday. He’ll be out to prove he’s the defending champion for a reason, and he doesn’t care who’s standing in his way of another one, under the same roof or not.

As the two most favored drivers entering the race — with essentially the same equipment — there’s a strong chance they’ll be battling for the lead at some point, and it could be in the closing laps for the checkered flag and the title. If that’s the case? Toss the whole teammate thing out the window. It’s on. I don’t think Elliott would even hesitate to move the 5, and forget about the 11 or 19 — those are auto-punts should he be presented the opportunity on the final lap.

RELATED: Chase Elliott through the years

But what if Hamlin and Truex bring the fastest equipment? Definitely possible, but Hendrick probably has the edge here.

Martin Truex Jr. won at Phoenix earlier this year (Elliott was fifth), but the 25-year-old rode a wave of momentum last fall to claim a grandfather clock and his first Championship 4 bid at Martinsville before running roughshod over the competition in the finale with 153 laps led en route to the title win in the desert.  He and crew chief Alan Gustafson will be leaning on those notes heavily, but that’s not the only thing in the No. 9 team’s favor. An argument could be made that Elliott had a better overall season than his championship campaign, with a better average finish and already more lead-lap finishes than a year ago with one race remaining. That’s in addition to the added experience that another 35 races have provided the youngest driver in the Championship 4.

In short, the defending champion is more seasoned, enters the weekend with something to prove and won’t be afraid to show anybody out there his bumper, even if it’ll make Hendrick teammate debriefs a bit awkward for a while. He’s simply made for this moment.

Elliott has a tremendous shot to become the sport’s first back-to-back champion since a certain seven-time former teammate of his accomplished the feat with five straight from 2006-10, and he just might do it.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR issued a fine Tuesday to one Camping World Truck Series team for a lug-nut infraction found after last weekend’s events at Martinsville Speedway.

RELATED: Phoenix weekend schedule

The No. 49 CMI Motorsports Ford was cited for violation of Section 10.9.10.4 in the NASCAR Rule Book for having one lug nut improperly secured in a post-race check.

A $2,500 fine was handed down to crew chief Timothy Silva. Roger Reuse drove the entry to a 35th-place finish in Saturday’s United Rentals 200.

Note: NASCAR also suspended Our Motorsports crew member Randall Howard indefinitely for a behavioral violation. He is on the No. 23 team in the Xfinity Series.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

Team owner Rick Hendrick had a zippy response Tuesday to the feud between Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin sparked this past weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

With seven laps remaining in the scheduled distance of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 finale, Bowman made a brush with Hamlin while battling for the lead after his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet broke loose entering Turn 3. Hamlin spun out from Bowman’s contact while the 48 drove off to its fourth victory of 2021 in an overtime finish. The incident nearly ended Hamlin’s hopes for a title, but he was ultimately able to make the Championship 4.

After the race, Hamlin interrupted Bowman’s celebration on the front stretch and proceeded to blast him in his post-race interview with NBC, saying “he’s just a hack. Just an absolute hack,” among other comments stemming from the frustration.

RELATED: Denny Hamlin on Alex Bowman: ‘He’s just a hack’ | Denny Hamlin blocks burnout

On Tuesday afternoon during the Championship 4 owners’ press conference, Hendrick was quick to defend his driver.

“Describe a hack. I don’t know what a hack is,” Hendrick said. “But you know, he’s won four races this year. Denny’s won two. I think Denny just lost it Sunday and, you know, Alex races everybody clean. He’s a good soldier, the sponsors love him, the crowd loves him. I think when you’re in the middle of a disappointment and you’re frustrated and mad, you might say things that you wouldn’t say normally. But if he’s a hack I’d like to have more of them.”

The 72-year-old owner has two drivers set to battle for a title in Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) — Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott. Larson is making his first Championship 4 appearance, while Elliott looks to defend his 2020 title.

Posted on by Staff Report

The roots of Brad Keselowski’s new team with Roush Fenway Racing are starting to take shape as the organization announced that Matt McCall will come on board to serve as the crew chief for the No. 6 Ford in 2022, the team announced Tuesday. 

McCall, 40, has been a full-time crew chief for the past seven years with Chip Ganassi Racing. He first worked with Jamie McMurray for four years and guided the veteran to three playoff appearances. For the last three seasons, McCall has been paired with 2004 champion Kurt Busch. Together, the two have three wins with the most recent coming at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July of 2021. Those three wins are McCall’s only NASCAR wins atop the pit box.

RELATED: Silly Season tracker for the 2022 season | Key players in NASCAR’s Silly Season

With Ganassi closing its doors at the end of the year with the sale to Trackhouse Racing, Busch has landed at 23XI Racing and now McCall has a new gig as well.

Prior to his work at Ganassi, McCall was the lead race engineer for the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team and was part of the squad that finished runner-up in the standings with driver Ryan Newman in 2014. McCall also has a history as a driver in NASCAR’s national series as he made seven starts from 2003 to 2013 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

It was announced in July that Keselowski was joining Roush in a driver-owner role and was also assuming a leadership role within the organization on the competition committee. The move for Keselowski comes after 12 full-time seasons with Penske that saw him total 34 Cup wins (heading into Sunday’s season finale) and a 2012 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

At the press conference announcing his move, Keselowski said, “I am optimistic about what Jack (Roush), John (Henry) and I can accomplish together, especially with a new era for our sport on the horizon (with the Next Gen car). Our goal is to win races and compete for championships at NASCAR’s top level, and we plan to do just that.”

With McCall on board, Keselowski has a crew chief that can help him do just that as the Next Gen era begins.