DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR and the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) today announced the launch of a new science and STEM learning curriculum for K-8 science teachers across the United States. The racing-themed science lessons will be available free of charge to educators nationwide on NSTA.org.
The collaboration between NASCAR and NSTA, the global leader in promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning, is designed to arm educators with fun and engaging content and activities for teaching science and STEM. NASCAR and NSTA worked together to create a series of unique science lesson plans including lessons on aerodynamics, friction and motion, light, sound, and more.
“We are thrilled to partner with NSTA, a passionate community of science educators and professionals devoted to teaching and offering science resources to kids across the country,” said Pete Jung, Chief Marketing Officer, NASCAR. “This collaboration provides NASCAR an incredible opportunity to make an impact in science education while introducing new generations to the sport.”
Teachers will be able to access 18 racing-themed lesson plans and a STEM at the Track resource guide featuring an additional three activities through a landing page available on NSTA’s website. Educators will also learn about the newly available NASCAR curriculum through an ad that will run in Science Scope, NSTA’s award-winning, peer-reviewed practitioner journal for middle level and junior high school science teachers.
For the second consecutive year, NASCAR will support the annual National Conference on Science Education, taking place in Chicago in 2022.
“It’s very important to get students excited about the everyday science around them and the partnership between NSTA and NASCAR will provide educators with tools they can use to link important science concepts, such as force and motion and energy, to key elements of a sport so many students enjoy,” said Erika Shugart, NSTA Executive Director. “We are very excited about this collaboration and urge all teachers to check out the free quality lessons and activities we have ready for them as they go back to school this fall.”
Through its relationship with NSTA, NASCAR will work to bring elementary and middle school students to race events via free and discounted tickets and special family events hosted at NASCAR racetracks.
How intertwined is Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Austin Cindric’s motorsports career? Start with his earliest memories, captured in photos, as a preschooler perched atop Helio Castroneves’ winning Indy 500 car nearly 20 years ago at the track’s famous yard of bricks. Add his connection to Sam Hornish Jr., who had long driving tenures in both NASCAR and IndyCar and won the Indy 500 in 2006. Cindric emulated Hornish by using his No. 77 in his earliest racing efforts.
“All those guys were my heroes,” Cindric says, adding Ryan Briscoe and Gil de Ferran to that starry driver list. A family move to North Carolina in his childhood gradually exposed him to how the world of stock-car racing works, and his eventual path to a career in NASCAR’s top levels was cast.
“Obviously I’ve understood a lot more from there and really, really grew to love NASCAR as well,” Cindric says. “Always paid attention as a kid but never really dove straight into it just because I’d been a big IndyCar fan, but it’s definitely a fun side of the sport, a different culture.”
Cindric’s twin racing interests converge this weekend in Indianapolis, where he’ll be again running double duty in Saturday’s Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard (4 p.m. ET, NBCSN, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and Sunday’s Cup Series Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (1 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS, SiriusXM). Team Penske confirmed Monday morning that Sunday’s event will mark Cindric’s final Cup Series start of the season before his transition to full-time Cup duty next year in the No. 2 Ford.
That send-off comes at a fitting venue, given his family’s history there. His father, Tim, who serves as Team Penske president, has been a part of eight Indianapolis 500 wins with the organization at the Speedway. Cindric also bears a connection to another longtime team owner in Jim Trueman, his grandfather on his mother’s side. Trueman fielded the winning entry at Indy in 1986 for Bobby Rahal, who dedicated the victory to his car owner in an emotional Victory Lane; Trueman died 11 days later after a bout with cancer. His paternal grandfather was also a fixture in Gasoline Alley, working as an engine builder back in the era of wooden garages at Indy.
The Cindric family with Sam Hornish Jr. at Indy in 2006 | IMS photo
No surprise then that until his NASCAR schedule became more extensive, the younger Cindric regularly attended the Indianapolis 500, missing on only rare occasions.
“I’ve been going on for quite a few years strong, so it’s a pretty special place to me, but really special to my family, really on both sides,” Cindric says, “so definitely some significance and it’s a fun place to go race at, and obviously somewhere that would be pretty cool to win.”
With such an Indy-centric family pedigree, Cindric’s route to a future in IndyCar would have seemed to be a near lock. But the 22-year-old driver’s career arc took a multi-directional path, giving him a background that’s among the sport’s most versatile. Cindric’s list of competition stops includes IMSA sports-car racing, the ARCA Menards Series, Camping World Trucks, US Formula 2000, Legends Cars, a dash of RallyCross and even a pair of starts in the Bathurst 12 Hour in Australia. Much of that time of late was spent in Ford’s development program. “It’s kind of a springboard to me into where I’m at today,” Cindric says.
Where he is now is a reliable Xfinity Series contender who has already experienced some prime Cup Series seasoning at a mix of track types. Sunday’s start will mark Cindric’s third on a road-course layout, but he’s also turned Cup Series laps at two intermediates (Atlanta, Kansas), a superspeedway (Daytona) and a short track (Richmond).
His Cup perspective has already evolved; initially tabbed for the No. 21 seat with the Penske-affiliated Wood Brothers team, Cindric is now set for Penske’s No. 2 ride after Brad Keselowski’s departure at season’s end. Though preparations remain in full swing for 2022, Cindric is concentrating his efforts on his Xfinity Series title defense. He leads the standings by a sizable 80-point margin over veteran AJ Allmendinger, and his four wins and 16 top-10 finishes lead all series regulars.
“Yeah, my job and my focus right now is to give ourselves and my team on the 22 car the best shot to win the Xfinity Series championship,” Cindric said. “So we’ve got to make it the final four. That’s the biggest box check, the closest thing we have to focus on right now in the month of August is wrapping up the regular season championship. That’s critically important, that’s a lot of playoff points, so that’s kind of the first box we need to finish checking off. We’ve done a great job so far this year but there’s a lot of racing left to go.”
That 13-race stretch to close the Xfinity Series season sets sail this weekend at Indy, a track held in high esteem by Cindric but next-level loved by his team owner. Roger Penske’s entries have claimed a record 18 Indianapolis 500 victories, and the motorsports and business mogul added a new chapter to his lifelong adoration of the track by agreeing to buy the Speedway and the IndyCar Series in November 2019.
Little wonder that Cindric’s future Cup Series teammate Ryan Blaney quipped when asked if Penske had placed any added pressure on his drivers to perform: “It doesn’t need to be said.” Unspoken or not, that’s the motivation for Penske’s charges in all three series, including the IndyCar race that’s sharing the bill in a crossover weekend between the two sanctioning bodies.
“I mean there’s no denying there’s some extra significance for winning at Indy for Roger, probably now more than ever in the history of his race team that that has some significance,” Cindric says. “So proud to be able to carry that flag, proud to be able to have a shot to do that. … So nothing would be cooler than seeing all three races swept by Team Penske race cars. We’ve got a shot to do it, and I guess (Chip) Ganassi would be the only other team with that option so it’d be pretty cool to see it all happen, but I think Ryan said it best. It doesn’t need to be said, but it’s important to go out and win at Indy.”
It appears it’s not water under the bridge between Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson following Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International.
Bell and Larson tangled in the final stage when Larson attempted to make a pass for second place on Bell going into Turn 1 when the two cars made contact, sending Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota spinning off of the racing surface. Larson went on to win his fifth race of the 2021 season, while Bell recovered for a seventh-place result.
Bell voiced his displeasure with Larson after the race on Sunday: “I haven’t seen it so I don’t know if I crowded him (Larson) at all, but he shouldn’t have been in there in the first place. He didn’t really have a run coming off of (turn) seven. We were all packed up.”
On Tuesday evening, Larson made an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio to share his side of the story after reviewing the incident and went into detail on his point of view from the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) August 10, 2021
“Initially I thought I was completely at the wrong,” Larson said. “But honestly, I think more after watching the replay, I think we both had a factor in what happened. I got in there, I didn’t dive-bomb like he said I did. I was a half-a-car-length back on him going down the frontstretch, looked to his inside the whole braking zone and was actually further forward than I actually really was. I locked the brakes up late in the braking zone when I realized he was going to turn in the corner, and really turned in like I wasn’t there.
“I’m not sure if his spotter just didn’t tell him or what happened there but, either way, I still feel bad about it. I don’t ever want to spin anybody out, especially Christopher Bell. I have a lot of respect for him on the race track and we’ve had amazing races together. Obviously, he’s upset, and I get it. But after watching more of the replays, I don’t think I was fully at the wrong.”
Larson, who apologized to Bell in his initial victory interview on-air, said he also tried to reach out to Bell to discuss the issue, but had no success.
“I reached out and tried, but I guess he’s not willing to talk to me, which is kind of whatever,” Larson said. “I think any adult in the field would at least have a conversation with you, but he doesn’t care to. So, we’ll move on from it and if he wants to get me back, that’s fine. Whatever. I’m not going to worry about it. If it makes him sleep better at night to ignore me and want to crash me or whatever, so be it.”
NASCAR officials penalized two Cup Series teams and two Xfinity Series teams Tuesday for lug-nut violations during last weekend’s events at Watkins Glen International.
Each of the two Cup Series teams was found with one unsecured lug nut in Sunday’s post-race check after the Go Bowling at The Glen, resulting in a $10,000 fine for each of the following teams/crew chiefs:
• No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (crew chief Ben Beshore; driver Kyle Busch) • No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford (crew chief Seth Barbour; driver Anthony Alfredo)
In the Xfinity Series, two teams were also found with a single unsecured lug nut after Saturday’s Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey 200, resulting in $5,000 fines for each crew chief. The offending teams were the race-winning No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (crew chief Chris Gayle; driver Ty Gibbs) and the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (crew chief Jeff Meendering; driver Brandon Jones).
Additionally, No. 36 DGM Racing crew member Joseph Keim, the team’s car chief, is suspended from the next NASCAR Xfinity Series event, this Saturday’s Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. The team was hit with a penalty per Sections 12.5.2.7.4.e: Loss or separation of an improperly installed rear axle from the vehicle. The No. 36 Chevrolet of driver Alex Labbe lost an axle during the race.
Austin Dillon sits just 15 points below the playoff cutline with three races remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season.
That should be enough to make a competitor sweat without turning a lap in the summer heat, but Dillon remains cool as the postseason heat ramps up.
“I’ve been pretty calm, really, about it,” Dillon said Tuesday morning. “I know the situation I’m in. It’s been unfortunate the amount of winners we’ve had this year. I feel like we’d be well in a safe place right now, but we’re not. It’s just the situation we’re in and we’re racing our teammate.”
There have been 13 different winners in 2021, but Dillon and his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Tyler Reddick, aren’t on that list. Reddick sits right above the No. 3 Chevrolet driver with a hold on the final playoff position, 15 markers above the cutline.
The final two races of the regular season at Michigan International Speedway and Daytona International Speedway bode well for Dillon to earn a pair of strong finishes to point his way into the postseason, or even sneak a victory. Dillon finished eighth in the second Michigan race last season and third in this year’s Daytona 500.
Sunday’s Cup Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course (1 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is a different story, though. While Dillon has improved his road racing prowess, a 17th-place average finish on the first five road courses this year could be a cause for concern in an effort to collect maximum points.
But Dillon is hoping to reap the fruits of his labor on the simulator.
“But I’m pretty confident after being on the sim at Indy,” Dillon said. “I usually don’t pick up the road courses on the sim very fast, but for some reason Indy came to me pretty quick, which is good I think for what we’re going into.”
While Sunday’s race hangs in the balance, there are two things on Dillon’s mind: a new season winner and starting position, given how much drivers will need to muscle their cars around Indy’s flat, 14-turn, 2.439-mile infield surface for position.
“Putting a lot of focus on the qualifying and making sure we start up front and give ourselves the best way to get points because we have a 15-point gap right now and if we can maintain or gain a little this weekend, I feel like the next two weeks are very good tracks for us,” Dillon said.“We’ll be in a pretty decent situation come Daytona if we’re in the same situation … if it is a points game. Obviously, I’d like to lock ourselves in with a win. Just don’t want any new winners, that would really put us out.”
Editor’s note: Ken Martin was associate producer, booth stats, and research for ESPN for more than two decades, starting in 1982. He contributed to hundreds of broadcasts of the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Camping World Truck series. Since 2008 he has held the role of Director, Historical Content, for NASCAR Productions in Charlotte.
How do you measure the impact of one man’s life that has touched so many?
There are thousands of race fans who were thrilled by his voice. Bob Jenkins was always a welcome friend to everyone who gathered around the radio or television to hear his race call.
If Bob were present, it had to be a big event — the Indy 500 or the USAC Midgets at Terre Haute. Bob always brought his A-game, exciting the fans with his infectious enthusiasm.
Although his heart was always in Indianapolis, he spent nearly two decades calling NASCAR races on ESPN. Bob’s voice is eternally etched in the ears with his calls of some of stock-car racing’s most historic moments. Alan Kulwicki’s championship in 1992 at Atlanta Motor Speedway was a race for the ages, with a call that painted the perfect image of the event. Bob’s call of Jeff Gordon’s win in the inaugural Brickyard 400 will always ring in the sport’s history.
Bob partnered with several ESPN broadcasters, including Larry Nuber in his early days with NASCAR. Still, the magical matching of Bob, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons will never be forgotten. Bob set a perfect stage for Ned and Benny to perform at their best. Their chemistry was as natural as it sounded to the fans. With a simple nod or look they knew what was wanted to be said. Pure race fans, broadcasting to all in the television audience precisely what needed to be said.
Bob Jenkins (l) and Ken Martin. | Ken Martin photo collection
A great deal of the growth NASCAR experienced from 1981-2000 can be directly tied to the broadcasts featuring Bob, Ned and Benny, along with pit reporters Dr. Jerry Punch, John Kernan, and Bill Weber.
While Bob loved television, his passion was radio. He loved to listen to music, and his rise to national prominence first came with his beloved Indy 500 radio network. When he was chosen to be the voice of the 500, there was never a prouder day for him. His call of the Goodyear-Unser finish in 1992 will never be erased. Bob rose to the occasion so many times.
He was one of the most humble men I ever met. The impact he had on my life was immense. My first broadcast for ESPN came in 1982 at Richmond Raceway. Terry Lingner saw something in me that I did not see myself. He put me in the broadcast booth with Bob and Larry to do their history and stats, and there was immediate chemistry that cannot be explained. I worked with Bob for more than 300 broadcasts and had the thrill of a lifetime. Bob made my research come alive. I would hand Bob an index card, and before I could release it, he was saying it on the air.
I loved to write scripts in “Bob’s voice.” We worked on countless documentaries and features together. Bob gave every project instant credibility with his delivery and professionalism.
For more than two decades, Bob was part of Sport of Indiana, then Lingner Group Productions that gave birth to ESPN SpeedWeek, Thursday Night Thunder and so many other memorable motorsports productions. It was a gathering of talent and race fans that changed the course of racing history.
Bob deeply loved his wife, Pam. She held his heart like no other, and they spent 44 years together before Pam’s passing in 2012. Bob had retired from broadcasting to spend time with Pam, but that time was unfortunately cut short.
Bob remained a welcoming voice on the Public Address System at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. One driver described his voice as giving a “welcoming hug to the speedway.”
The honors bestowed upon Bob were many, including Indiana’s highest honor, “Sagamore of the Wabash.” He was a member of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. He earned numerous awards for excellence in broadcasting and radio.
No matter the award or accolade, Bob remained humbled and somewhat amazed about his popularity and impact on his listeners.
Although his voice is now silenced, it will live on forever in the minds of everyone who had the privilege to hear him call a race.
After 23 NASCAR Cup Series races, there’s not a clear-cut front-runner for the 2021 Regular-Season Championship. There’s actually two. Kyle Larson won last Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen International, forging a tie with Denny Hamlin atop the points standings.
Hamlin has ridden remarkable consistency to stay atop the standings since Week 2 of the Cup Series season, but Larson has rallied back on the strength of a series-best five wins. Hamlin is still searching for his first win of 2021.
Three races remain in the regular season — Sunday’s series debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Aug. 22 at Michigan International Speedway and Aug. 28 at Daytona International Speedway. With time winding down and a 15-point playoff bonus going to the regular-season champ, NASCAR.com’s Zack Albert and Sean Montgomery debate which driver has the best shot to hold the points lead once the playoffs arrive.
ALBERT: Tough to go against the hot hand, so here’s a vote for Kyle Larson to keep his upward trend and come out on top of the regular-season heap. In the last 12 races, Larson has finished first or second eight times — a big reason why he has chopped Hamlin’s regular-season lead from a high-water mark of 144 points to nothing during that same stretch.
Variables remain among the three regular-season races, but Larson holds a favorable forecast for at least two of them. The Cup Series hasn’t competed on Indy’s grand-prix layout, but Larson has won two of the series’ last three road-course events, flexing the strength of Hendrick Motorsports’ road-racing program. Larson is also a three-time winner at Michigan. His Daytona stats stack up less favorably as Larson is still seeking his first win on a superspeedway, a strong suit for Hamlin’s No. 11 team. Playoff fortunes can turn quickly in the regular-season finale at Daytona, but if Larson pours it on in the next two races, it may be buffer enough.
The 2021 season has marked a breakout for Larson and his No. 5 group, but the seemingly insurmountable points cushion — and sense of invincibility — Hamlin amassed in the regular season’s first half has started to fizzle. Enter Larson, who may add another win to his total to nail down a regular-season coronation.
MONTGOMERY: Denny Hamlin is still the guy. The veteran has a mind-boggling goose egg in the win column this season and is still contending for the trophy. As tight as they’ve competed, it’s all about consistency — the buzzword for Hamlin’s 2021 title run.
Conceding that Larson moves oddsmakers at Indy and may be the outright favorite at Michigan, it’s worth noting his toughest competition this season has been within his own organization. Even after a mistake-induced stumble at Watkins Glen, Chase Elliott should still be the overall favorite to win at the Brickyard. But don’t forget, Hamlin is no slouch on road circuits either, tallying a 7.0 average finish at the first five left-and-right-turn tracks this season. Expect the two regular-season title contenders to remain relatively close on points.
Heading to Michigan, Hamlin has three consecutive top six finishes and four top 10s in his last five races at the track. Larson has dominated many of the intermediates this season and won at Michigan in the past, but he hasn’t turned laps there in more than two years. And the D-shaped two-mile oval often runs more like a superspeedway, settling right into Hamlin’s wheelhouse.
That sets up the “wild card” finale, and nobody does Daytona quite like Hamlin. Seemingly immune to “The Big One,” Hamlin has only crashed out of a Daytona race three times in 31 starts. Larson has five DNFs in 14 races. Crashing out would be catastrophic for the title battle, and odds are it won’t be Hamlin. If he needs a win to clinch, he has done that as well — winning two of the last five at The World Center of Racing.
Bob Jenkins, an esteemed motorsports broadcaster at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway who also anchored NASCAR coverage for ABC Sports and ESPN for nearly two decades, died Monday. He was 73.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway confirmed Jenkins’ passing. Jenkins had revealed in February that he was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for brain cancer. He had survived a bout with colon cancer in 1983.
“Bob Jenkins lent his iconic voice to so many memorable NASCAR moments, telling the story of our sport to millions of fans for years,” NASCAR said in an official statement. “Though known for his immense talent as a broadcaster, Bob’s passion for motorsports truly defined what it meant to be a racer. The motorsports industry lost a broadcasting legend and a friend with Bob’s passing. NASCAR extends its deepest condolences to Bob’s friends and family.”
Jenkins was a popular broadcaster in both television and radio at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Hoosier native served in multiple roles on the track’s airwaves — on the lead play-by-play call and as a turn reporter, guest analyst and later its public-address announcer. He was inducted into the IMS Hall of Fame in 2019.
“Bob Jenkins, over the years, he was just a figure that was always there and very much front and center in Indianapolis,” racing legend Mario Andretti told the Indianapolis Star, which first reported Jenkins’ passing. “His voice is just absolutely unique. I would always know who was talking. He was just one of those that developed his career alongside ours, you know. He was one of us in every way.”
RacingOne | Getty Images
It was with ESPN and later ABC Sports that Jenkins became a familiar voice in stock-car racing as NASCAR’s reach expanded to a national level through the 1980s and ’90s. Jenkins’ motorsports tenure with the network began in 1981, first paired with colleague Larry Nuber and later leading a formidable three-man booth with NASCAR Hall of Famers Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons.
“He certainly was very good at leading Benny and I where we needed to go and always making us look good,” Jarrett said in 2012, “and that’s something I’ve always appreciated.”
Jenkins was the lead on-air voice for many memorable races, from Al Unser Jr.’s victory in the closest Indy 500 finish in 1992, Alan Kulwicki’s stirring march to the NASCAR Cup Series championship at Atlanta that same year, to Jeff Gordon’s win in the inaugural Brickyard 400 at IMS in 1994.
Jenkins attended nearly every Indy 500 at the Speedway from 1960 on, missing with only rare exception. His early years in local radio news eventually led him to the IMS Radio Network in 1979, the same year that ESPN launched. Jenkins was later part of the cable network’s earliest motorsports broadcasts, which included NASCAR, IMSA, IndyCar, USAC and other racing series.
After ESPN/ABC’s first run as a NASCAR broadcast partner ended in 2000, Jenkins remained involved with IndyCar, later signing as the play-by-play voice for the Versus network, which would eventually become NBCSN. Jenkins retired from that full-time role in 2012 to care for his wife, Pam, who died of brain cancer later that year.
Jenkins shared his own diagnosis in an emotional interview with Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles in February, noting in the track’s “Behind The Bricks” video series that he would scale back his broadcasting duties at the track. He said had awoken Christmas night in 2020 with a severe headache; tests initially showed a stroke, but a later diagnosis revealed two malignant tumors.
Jenkins welled up during his recounting of his health challenges, saying that he felt the first people he should tell would be his family and the community of race fans, who he said he had leaned on for their prayers and support.
“You know what I tell people often when they ask me how this whole thing of my career came together? I tell them, you know, I don’t know, because I have only been a race fan who got lucky, and I think that’s what I will have on my tombstone because it’s true,” Jenkins said. “I was a race fan for many, many years before my career came about, but I have the same passion for auto racing and especially the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that I had when I was growing up. It’s always a thrill to come to this place, and to visit the Museum and especially see the activity on the race track.”
Team Penske announced Monday that Austin Cindric is scheduled to make his final NASCAR Cup Series start of the season this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
Cindric, the defending champion and current points leader in the Xfinity Series, will drive the No. 33 Ford in Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (1 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The race will mark his seventh Cup Series start this season as he wraps up his on-track preparation for a full-time jump to Cup competition in Penske’s No. 2 Ford next year.
Cindric had hinted last week that Indianapolis could be the site of his final 2021 start on the Cup Series side, calling it “the most logical place” for that to occur. He’ll be pulling double duty with Saturday’s Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard (4 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the 21st of 33 races for the Xfinity Series this season.
Cindric’s best Cup Series finish this season is 15th place, a result achieved in his series debut at the Daytona 500 in February. He’s led multiple laps in three of his six Cup Series starts.
Cindric is a 12-time winner in the Xfinity Series. His four victories this season rank first among Xfinity regulars.
Chase Elliott made a pair of major comebacks Sunday afternoon at Watkins Glen International but didn’t have quite enough oomph to unseat teammate Kyle Larson and continue his winning ways on NASCAR Cup Series road courses.
Elliott’s bid for a third consecutive Cup Series victory at the 2.45-mile layout ended in second place despite his charge up through the field as the laps clicked down in the Go Bowling at The Glen. The outcome marked his fourth straight road-course finish among the top two, but he failed to lead a lap on a road course for the first time since 2018 (at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval).
“Yeah, I made too many mistakes to get the win, unfortunately, and made it too late in the race,” Elliott said. “Super proud of our team. Been kind of an uphill battle all day, but everybody was just super prepared coming into the day, and our NAPA team just did a really good job of fighting it.”
The dejection was evident in his post-race exchange with his crew on the cool-down lap.
“Great drive, bud,” spotter Eddie D’Hondt told Elliott. “A long way to go there, but you did a great job.”
Said Elliott: “I’m so sorry, guys. (expletive). That was my bad. Y’all deserved that one.”
The uphill climb that Elliott referenced started even before the green flag. Elliott started at the rear of the field after officials discovered a technical infraction on his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in pre-race inspection. That also meant the ejection of crew chief Alan Gustafson, with Tom Gray — the team’s lead engineer — taking the helm as an 11th-hour sub.
Elliott rallied into the top 10 by the end of the first stage, but then a brake lock-up midway through Stage 2 forced him into an out-of-sequence pit stop, knocking him further down the running order.
Elliott closed the gap on the front-runners down the stretch, getting by Martin Truex Jr. for second place with nine laps to go and applying some pressure to Larson as the pair navigated lap-down traffic in the race to the checkers.
“If I hadn’t have let them down there, I think we would have had a shot at it, but congrats to Kyle, Cliff (Daniels, crew chief), all the guys on the 5 (team),” Elliott said. “Happy for everybody at HMS. Hendrick Motorsports has been working extremely hard, and not only do the people deserve to win, but Mr. Hendrick deserves to win. Really happy for him, and I’ll try to clean some things up and make less mistakes next time. Maybe it’ll work out.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR and the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) today announced the launch of a new science and STEM learning curriculum for K-8 science teachers across the United States. The racing-themed science lessons will be available free of charge to educators nationwide on NSTA.org.
