Debate: Who will win first, Denny Hamlin or Kevin Harvick?

Posted on July 28, 2021 by Terrin Waack

One of the biggest surprises of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season so far is that neither Kevin Harvick nor Denny Hamlin has won any of the 22 races. These two combined for 16 wins in 2021, with Harvick tallying a series-high nine and Hamlin contributing the other seven for the second-best mark. Eleven of those total victories were accomplished by this point last year, too.

RELATED: Playoff picture | Cup standings | 2021 schedule

OK then, what has been the problem with the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford and No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota drivers? There have been 13 different winners this season, so it’s not for a lack of variety.

NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola and Terrin Waack debate whether Harvick or Hamlin will take home a trophy first. Four races are left in the regular season, and then there are another 10 in the playoffs. Plenty of opportunities remain.

DeCOLA: It’s truly remarkable that both of these drivers remain winless after what we witnessed last year, especially considering neither of them is having a bad season and one of them has been leading the point standings since February. Alas, here we are — Gooseegg City. That said, I do think both of them will win before the season is up. The regular season, that is.

Since we just mentioned February, let’s go back there. Do you recall what the big, on-track story line was? Oh yeah — Hamlin was vying for his third straight Daytona 500 crown. While it didn’t come, he notched his fourth top five — he finished fifth — in the last five races at the notoriously mercurial Daytona. Few out there will argue against Hamlin being the undisputed superspeedway ace at the moment, and the notion of him going to Daytona winless with an unsecured playoff spot makes it feel like a sure thing he’ll be the one walking out of there holding the trophy.

And now for the bait-and-switch …

Harvick is going to win first.

One week before Daytona? Michigan. Winner of four of the last five Michigan races? Harvick.

It’s a bit concerning that No. 4 crew chief Rodney Childers said two weeks ago the team was struggling to find more horsepower and downforce, admitting the performance of the car “kind of is what it is at this point,” but there are some encouraging signs.

SHR is the most recent Cup team to win, with Aric Almirola’s New Hampshire victory highlighting five Fords in the top six after a season of domination from Chevrolet and Toyota. It gives the Blue Ovals the upper hand as the sport entered a multi-week break amidst a recent uptick in performance overall. Given that Harvick has perhaps been Ford’s most consistent — albeit, you know, winless — driver this year, logic stands to reason that if the manufacturer has found something and closed the gap on the others, the 2014 champ would be the primary benefactor.

And even if it hasn’t, Harvick and Childers clearly have Michigan figured out and it’s their race to lose.

WAACK: Truth be told, I really just want to say “I told you so!” at the end of the season.

In NASCAR.com’s bold 2021 preseason predictions, I said: “You know how Kyle Busch struggled after his 2019 championship run? A similar story line is going to unfold for Kevin Harvick after his nine-win 2020 season.”

And that is exactly what is happening.

Through 22 races, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver has yet to park his No. 4 Ford in Victory Lane. Harvick’s best finish yet — second — came at Kansas Speedway back in May, and he has had just two top-five runs since then (11 races).

Harvick is in danger of not making the NASCAR Playoffs, sitting in 15th and 82 points above the cutline, with four races left in the regular season. Hamlin is 14th with a 283-point buffer, for comparison. The two drivers are tied for most top-10 showings (15) in the series, but the difference is 11 of those double as top fives for Hamlin, while only six do for Harvick.

Neither has won, but Hamlin is performing better than Harvick, leading me to believe he will punch his winning ticket first.

Posted on July 27, 2021July 28, 2021 by Staff Report

Joey Logano and wife Brittany revealed that they are expecting their third child on social media via a YouTube video Tuesday. You can watch the video here for a unique gender reveal, courtesy of a replica No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford driven by son Hudson and with son Jameson riding shotgun.

The couple’s first child, Hudson, was born in January 2018. He made his debut in Victory Lane just three months later and got to see his dad win the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series championship. Their second child, Jameson, was born in 2020.

Congrats to the Loganos on their expanding family.

RELATED: Joey Logano through the years

Posted on July 27, 2021July 27, 2021 by Taarnold

Phil Horton likens the driver-pit crew relationship to the difference between NFL quarterbacks and special teams.

Drivers may have the celebrity status of a quarterback, but special teams are expected to do their job behind the scenes to perfection on football teams. When they don’t, they are the first ones criticized. But every part of the team is important.

Pit crews are the sometimes-overlooked part of professional racing. They not only take care of the car, but they also take care of the driver, ensure their safety and help to put them in a position to win the race.

A successful pit crew can change the pace of a race. Drivers and pit crews depend on each other. If a driver can take a team up to third place, maybe a fast pit stop can get the driver into second or first, Horton explains. That can be the difference between winning and losing.

The NASCAR Drive for Diversity Program was launched in 2004, establishing a driver and pit crew development and recruitment program. Those initiatives are part of the NASCAR Diversity, Equity & Inclusion platform. Max Siegel, the owner of Rev Racing and a former executive with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and USA Track and Field, has been instrumental in making significant Drive for Diversity advancements through the years.

Horton, who is the director of athletic performance at Rev Racing, serves as the pit crew coach for the Drive for Diversity Crew Member Development Program. His background in athletics is wide ranging. He was a former strength coach for the Milwaukee Bucks and former head trainer at the University of Memphis and Florida A&M University. After a long career in that area, Horton started a private athletic training practice in North Carolina and began his work in NASCAR. He was first a personal trainer for former driver Ernie Irvan but soon began working with other drivers, pit crew athletes and race teams.

“I have 15 Cup wins as a pit coach, 12 Xfinity wins, 12 Truck wins, and a Truck championship from 2010,” Horton said. “That’s what makes it fun. Those are the rewards of being a part of a racing organization and winning.”

Now, he focuses on training new pit crews and looking for new ways to make pit stops more effective as the sport progresses.

The pit crew development program has become a staple for teams in finding high-quality pit crew members. The program boasts more than 90 alumni on teams all around the NASCAR garage. A large number of pit crew members come from professional and college sports backgrounds, specifically former players in football, basketball and softball.

Pit crew members must be strong, fast, and focused to be able to do what needs to be done. It’s also the ability to perform on the big stage that is something Horton is keenly keeping an eye out for.

“We’re looking for someone who doesn’t mind getting dirty … and someone who can deal with the pressure of performing in front of big crowds while changing tires,” Horton said. “We look for individuals who not only understand the team concept but have the personality to make that happen.”

On average, a four-tire pit stop in NASCAR is about 14 to 15 seconds. The top pit crews in the Cup Series get four-tire stops down in under 14 seconds, per Racing Insights. Two-tire stops are done in half the time. In this time, the over-the-wall crew jacks up the car, changes the tires, fuels the car, makes any adjustments, and sometimes rips a tear-off from the front windshield. If a car has a minor crash, the crew is needed to repair damage before the car can get back on the track.

It takes years to build the necessary skills to work on NASCAR Cup Series teams, Horton said. Crew members start at the grassroots level or in the ARCA Menards Series, then climb the ladder into the NASCAR national series. The pit crew development program trains its participants for about six months before they try out for specific teams.

Horton travels to different schools and universities to recruit people and inform students about the ins and outs of NASCAR. If the resume fits, prospects will be invited to a NASCAR combine, much like the NFL Scouting Combine, but car-related and on a smaller scale. Candidates learn the workouts and routine of what pit crew members go through each week leading up to the race weekend. The combine serves as a test of their speed and their ability to quickly learn the concepts.

At every regional or national combine, about 10-15 people try out, but many are surprised at the number of physical capabilities it takes to be successful. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Rev Racing held a pit crew combine on the weekend of the Coca-Cola 600 for prospective pit crew candidates. The number of available spots depend on the season, but teams sometimes need backups in case of injury or illness.

“You only try out if you know about it, and you only know about it through your school or affiliated staff,” said Ricky Rozier, a fueler in Chip Ganassi Racing’s development system who gets his over-the-wall reps in all three national series for other teams on race weekends. “They really try to get those student-athletes out there to perform.”

Rozier is a former football player for Winston-Salem State University and already had an interest in NASCAR before trying out and looking into the Drive for Diversity pit crew program.

In the case of Jonathan Willard, a jackman for the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team in the Cup Series as well as the Jeremy Clements Racing team in the Xfinity Series and the Hattori Racing Enterprises team in Camping World Trucks, he played football at Clemson University. He then moved on to play for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans and in the CFL. Being a pit crew member has been a “great experience” for him, and this is his eighth season on board.

“I wanted to do something that was different from what everybody else was doing so by chance, I sent out a resume to the NASCAR Racing Experience and Andretti Racing School not thinking that they’d call me back,” he said. “Two or three days later, they called me in for an interview.”

This interview came at just the right time. He had just finished a brief stint in law enforcement and wanted to break away from his family’s drag racing business near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He trained twice a day with Horton one-on-one for about two months and got his first full-time gig a year later.

Traveling to races around the country is a part of the job, and the schedule can be intense. The pit crews travel nearly every weekend from February to November. For those with a family and roots at home, this takes some getting used to.

Marshall McFadden, a jackman in Chip Ganassi Racing’s development system who gets his over-the-wall reps in all three national series for other teams on race weekends and another alumnus of the program, compares pitting to being in the NFL. Though he played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders and the St. Louis Rams, his experience still couldn’t prepare him for NASCAR. The job requires you to stay in shape and constantly improve to keep your spot.

“By looking at it, you’re like ‘It ain’t too bad,’ ” McFadden said. “My first race of the season at Daytona in 2017 was very humbling. … I thought I could do it all, but it’s harder than you think. It takes a lot of practice, repetitions, and camaraderie with the team. I wasn’t as good as I thought I was.”

What was the biggest mistake he made at the beginning of his career? Not jacking up the car correctly during pit stops, which can cause the car to fall when the crews are changing tires and filling up the gas tank. It’s a common mistake among less-experienced pit crew members but a costly one, as all the actions of a pit stop are timing-based and well-choreographed. It took months of watching film for him to become comfortable moving at race-day speed with accuracy. With only five over-the-wall spots on each pit crew, each team member has to stay sharp.

Even though McFadden and Willard dreamed of playing professional football for most of their careers, they’ve both become accustomed to the NASCAR lifestyle and emphasize that everyone on a professional racing pit crew is an athlete.

The biggest difference? On a pit crew, you’re a special-teams athlete supporting the team’s quarterback, the driver.

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Staff Report

The 2021 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series All-Star Race will be held Tuesday, July 27 at virtual Nashville Superspeedway at 8 p.m. ET (eNASCAR.com), pitting the series’ top drivers against each other in a race for the $3,500 grand prize.

The event will be split into two segments: a 23-driver All-Star Open qualifier, followed by the main event. Past series champions and drivers who have won a race or started from the pole in either 2021 or 2020 are automatically locked into the main event. Others not meeting the criteria will compete in the Open for two transfer spots.

In the All-Star Open, drivers will compete in a 40-lap shootout on a single set of tires. There will be a scheduled competition caution on Lap 25, setting up the 15-lap dash to the finish. The top two finishers in the Open advance to the feature event.

The All-Star Race will be 60 laps and have competition cautions on Lap 20 and 45. For the length of the race, drivers are allowed two sets of tires (including the starting set).

Second place in the main event will win $1,000 and third place earns $500.

WATCH: All-Star Race on YouTube

All-Star Roster (locked in): Keegan Leahy, Logan Clampitt, Chris Shearburn, Michael Conti, Ryan Michael Luza, Bob Bryant, Vicente Salas, Mitchell deJong, Jimmy Mullis, Ray Alfalla, Bobby Zalenski, Nick Ottinger, Corey Vincent, Graham A. Bowlin, Casey Kirwan, Ashton Crowder, Kollin Keister, Brandon Heyse Kettelle, Zach Novak, Kenny Humpe and Richard Towler

Posted on July 26, 2021July 26, 2021 by Staff Report

Experienced IndyCar and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship driver Sage Karam will compete for Jordan Anderson Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.

Karam will drive the No. 31 Chevrolet at the 2.534-mile road course on Aug. 14 (4 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App), which will serve as his debut in the Xfinity Series.

“It has always been a dream of mine to be able to compete at this level with some of the world’s best stock car drivers,” said Karam in a team press release. “My goal is to learn as much as possible and soak in this experience. It’s a welcomed challenge for me, and I’m looking forward to building strong relationships with the talented people of Jordan Anderson Racing.”

RELATED: 2021 Xfinity Series schedule

Karam has two top-10 finishes in eight career starts in the Indianapolis 500. The 26-year-old driver started 31st in this year’s running of the Indy 500 and finished seventh. Karam also had three career starts on the Indianapolis road course with the IndyCar Series, all of which occurred during the 2020 season.

The Nazareth, Pennsylvania native also spent two seasons racing for factory Lexus during the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship seasons.

“Our entire team is incredibly proud to add Sage Karam to our list of talented drivers that have driven the 31 Chevrolet this year,” stated JAR President Jordan Anderson. “With Sage’s extensive experience in road racing and open-wheel racing, along with finishing 7th in this year’s Indianapolis 500, we knew that the road course at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway would be a special place for him to make his NASCAR debut with support from Montage Mountain Resorts and so many other great partners.

“To bridge the gap between two different fields of racing is a challenge that I’m confident Sage will be able to master. We’re blessed to have some amazing drivers and people that continue to help our organization grow, and this opportunity is another pivotal part of our long-term goal.”

Karam is one of five drivers who will have competed with Jordan Anderson Racing in 2021, which also include Cup Series regular Tyler Reddick, Kaz Grala, Josh Berry and owner-driver Anderson. The team has earned four top-10 finishes on the year.

Posted on July 25, 2021July 31, 2021 by Zach Sturniolo

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is set to tackle a new venue on July 31 with its inaugural trip to New York International Raceway Park in Lancaster, New York.

But just because the tour has never run an official race at the park’s Lancaster Speedway doesn’t mean there isn’t a long trail of modified history at this western New York track.

Drivers the likes of Richie Evans, Geoff Bodine, Tony Hirschman and others have raced modifieds around the half-mile oval just 30 minutes south of Niagara Falls.

The modern stars of the sport, though, are ready to storm into Lancaster and continue their fight for a championship. Justin Bonsignore leads the points standings for the first time in 2021 and holds a 10-point advantage over Patrick Emerling. New York marks the start of the second half of the 14-race season for the mods, so while drivers aren’t focused on points racing quite yet, they know every spot matters on the track. And with such limited experience around this particular track, the possibilities for something to go right — or wrong — are endless.

RACE INFO: Race Center | Entry List

Nu-Way Auto Parts 150

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

Bonsignore’s spot atop the standings is neither a mistake nor a surprise. In seven races this year, the two-time and defending tour champion has one win (Jennerstown, May 29) and six top-four finishes, his lone misstep coming at Stafford Motor Speedway where he finished 13th. Most recently, Bonsignore piloted his No. 51 car to a runner-up finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Emerling’s stats are nearly identical. Emerling, whose hometown of Orchard Park, New York, sits just 30 minutes south of Lancaster, notched his first victory of 2021 at Stafford on April 30 and has five top fives in seven starts this year. The difference between his numbers and Bonsignore’s? Emerling finished eighth in the season opener at Martinsville Speedway before an uncharacteristic 13th-place finish at Loudon.

This season’s lone multi-time winner remains Doug Coby, who took the checkered flags at Riverhead Raceway on May 15 and June 20. But Coby, a six-time modified champion, is in a massive points hole after not participating on June 12 at Oswego Speedway and suffering an early engine failure on July 17 at New Hampshire. The Connecticut native sits ninth in points 65 points behind Bonsignore.

Kyle Bonsignore, cousin of points leader Justin, has had quite the up-and-down season, posting two top fives but three finishes of 10th or worse. He enters off a ninth-place showing at New Hampshire and hopes to find some of the success he had earlier this season, when he finished fifth at Martinsville and fourth at the first of two Riverhead races.

RACING REFERENCE: 2021 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Points

RACE FACTS

Race	Nu-Way Auto Parts at New York International Raceway Park
Date	Saturday, July 31, 2021
Track	New York International Raceway Park
Layout	Half-mile oval
Location	Lancaster, New York
Start time	8 p.m. ET
Laps	150
Miles	75
Tickets	Click here
TV channel	NBCSN (Delayed: Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2 p.m. ET)
Live stream	TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold (Live)

RACEDAY SCHEDULE: Saturday, July 31 — Garage opens: 11:30 a.m. ET; Practice: 2-3:15 p.m.; Qualifying: 5 p.m.; Race: 8 p.m.

CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: The starting field for the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 is limited to 28 starters including provisionals. The field will be set by qualifying (1-22) and provisional process per the entry blank (23-28) for the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150. In the event that qualifying as stated on the entry blank does not take place for any unforeseen circumstance, the field will be set in accordance with the 2021 NASCAR Touring Series Rule Book.

QUALIFYING: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start-finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time.

The maximum tire allotment available for this event is as follows: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eleven (11) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and/or change tires during the event.

The tire change rule is four (4) tires, any position. To utilize the fourth (4th) change tire, the team will have to take a practice tire purchased at New York International Raceway at Lancaster and turn in by the conclusion of practice.

QUALIFYING AND SPECIAL AWARDS

$400 Phil Kurze Halfway Leader Award presented by Josten’s per event award to the race leader at the halfway point of the event, regardless if the race is running under green or yellow.

$600 Hoosier Tire “Lap Leader” per event award to the eligible car owner whose driver leads the most laps in each event. In the event of a tie, the award will go to the highest finishing car in the event.

$500 Hoosier Tire “Hard Charger” per event award to the highest finishing eligible driver who advances the most positions during the course of the race. In the case of a tie, the highest finishing driver will receive the award.

$500 Hoosier Tire “Most Improved” per event award to the eligible new team/organization whose driver improves the most positions during the course of the race. In the event of a tie, the award will go to the highest finishing car in the event. If money is not awarded during this event, funds will roll over to the next event and will continue to roll over until an eligible new team/organization claims the money.

$1,000 Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole per event award to the driver with the fastest qualifying time eligible to participate under the Manufacturers’ Prize Money Conditions.

$550 Sunoco Spec Fuel award divided: 1st-$300 5th-$150 10th-$100.

$3,500 Whelen Engineering “Winner of the Race” award to the winning driver.

Whelen Non-Starter award will be paid to the first 15 competitors throughout the season who pass inspection, practice, attempt to qualify but fail to make the feature event.

Posted on July 25, 2021 by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

Monday, July 26
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of 2021 Radioactive — Part 2, FS1 (re-air)
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Tuesday, July 27
4 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Legends Show, FS2 (re-air)
5 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Hometown Show, FS2 (re-air)
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Legends Show, FS1 (re-air)
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Wednesday, July 28
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Hometown Show, FS1 (re-air)
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
9:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of 2021 Radioactive — Part 1, FS2 (re-air)
10:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of 2021 Radioactive — Part 2, FS2 (re-air)
11:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Legends Show, FS2 (re-air)

Thursday, July 29
12:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Hometown Show, FS2 (re-air)
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Game Night — Part 1, FS1

Friday, July 30
8 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub Game Night — Part 1, FS2 (re-air)
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Game Night — Part 2, FS1
7 p.m., Renegades: The Bad Boys of NASCAR, FS1 (re-air)

Posted on July 24, 2021 by Zach Sturniolo

LOUDON, N.H. — Justin Bonsignore and Patrick Emerling are halfway through a title fight in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

Bonsignore, the tour’s defending champion in addition to his 2018 title, jumped into the points lead for the first time this season following a second-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last Saturday.

Emerling had led the standings since race No. 3 on May 15 with a runner-up finish at Riverhead Raceway on the heels of a win at Stafford Motor Speedway two weeks prior. But an uncharacteristically poor performance at Loudon saw Emerling finish 13th, the last car on the lead lap after being lapped by Bonsignore earlier in the contest.

So as New Hampshire marked the separation of the first half and the second half of 2021’s tour schedule, it also separated Bonsignore and Emerling from the rest of the field, as third-place driver Kyle Bonsignore now sits 48 points back of his cousin for the points lead and 38 back of Emerling.

Justin Bonsignore said prior to Saturday’s race he wasn’t thinking about points — that the only thing that mattered in New Hampshire was winning the tour’s version of the Daytona 500.

But with how solidly he ran, leading 63 of 105 laps en route to a runner-up finish, Bonsignore knew how productive New Hampshire was for him and his team as he hunts a third championship, which would be halfway to Doug Coby’s six pack.

“Any year you can have a shot at it is special,” Bonsignore said. “This series is really hard. Doug made it look easy for a long time and it’s not. It is a really tough series to be a part of and to win in and we’ve got a great team. We could have won maybe four or five races this year and we’ve got one. That’s just how this series is.

Coby began 2021 eyeing a run for a seventh modified title, but that plan took a step back on Saturday. Despite missing the race at Oswego, Coby came into New Hampshire tied for fourth in points just 41 points behind. But an engine issue ended Coby’s race at lap 44, relegating him to a 27th-place finish and now sitting ninth in the standings 68 points behind the leaders.

“It probably kills it,” Coby said of his championship hopes. “We’re really solid. The 51 (Bonsignore) and their mistakes turn into eighth-place finishes when they screw up, if that. Sometimes, their mistakes turn into fifth-place finishes. We didn’t need a day like this where certainly we almost gave them another race.

“We’ve finished 27th and they go out and finish second, lead the most laps and get all sorts of bonus points and stuff. The reality is in a 14-race season, you can’t give somebody two.”

Emerling said New Hampshire tends to be his best track, and with six top fives — the most he’s accumulated at any track — the numbers back that up. But a tight car and issues refueling on Saturday gave Emerling enough trouble to cost him the points lead.

“He (Bonsignore) always brings his A-game everywhere he goes,” Emerling said. “He had an amazing car today. We just have to just put our heads down and get a little bit more speed out of our cars.”

Now begins the second half of the season, kicking off at New York International Raceway Park in Lancaster, New York, on July 31, a new venue on the tour schedule.

RELATED: Whelen Modified Tour schedule

Bonsignore, who works as the general manager of a fiber optics company to pay his bills when he’s not behind the wheel, knows there’s a long way between now and Sept. 25 when the champion will be crowned at Stafford. But Loudon was a good measuring stick for where he and his team are functioning, he said.

“Before this weekend, I needed to see some speed,” said Bonsignore. “This car is a new car this year, and for the first time this year, this car really had a lot of speed all day long. It was really, really well balanced. Every track we’re gonna go to is a little different, but there’s a lot of flat tracks [with the] same similar setup we’re gonna run a lot of places. So hopefully this was a big step. Hopefully we learned some stuff, [have] some momentum on our side and just gonna keep our head down.

“Long way to go before we have to worry about the points, but you’re always conscious of it, I’ve learned throughout these battles.”

Emerling, meanwhile, is vying for his first championship on the tour. Just 10 points out, he knows he’s got a fighting chance but needs to keep giving Bonsignore strong fights if he wants to come out on top.

“We’re just gonna put our heads down and bring our A-game,” Emerling said. “We’re coming off of a win there (at Stafford), so now we think we’ll be pretty good there.”

The tour takes its next green flag on July 31 at New York International Raceway Park at 8 p.m. ET and can be streamed live via TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.

Posted on July 22, 2021July 22, 2021 by Staff Report

NASCAR officials issued L1-level penalties to two Hendrick Motorsports teams on Thursday for engine-allocation infractions at the Cup Series’ most recent race.

Hendrick’s No. 9 team for defending series champion Chase Elliott and the No. 48 team of teammate Alex Bowman were found in violation of Section 20.6.1.e in the NASCAR Rule Book, which covers engine assembly. The penalty report notes: “When the long block is sealed, the engine must be used in the same vehicle number the next time it is used.”

Competition officials deducted 25 points from each team’s total in each the driver and team owner standings, and crew chiefs Alan Gustafson (No. 9 team) and Greg Ives (No. 48) were each fined $50,000. NASCAR also issued one-race suspensions to Hendrick Motorsports executive vice president and general manager Jeff Andrews and the organization’s director of track engine support Scott Maxim for the next Cup Series event.

Hendrick Motorsports officials issued a statement Thursday explaining the organization’s role in the rules violation: “Due to an administrative error, one of our sealed engines assigned to the No. 9 car was unintentionally allocated to our No. 48 team at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Although the engine passed technical inspection and absolutely no competitive advantage was gained, we acknowledge NASCAR’s process was not followed correctly in this instance. The rules regarding the assignment of sealed engines are clear, and we understand and respect their decision to issue a penalty. We apologize for the mistake and have taken steps to ensure it will not be repeated.”

The penalty drops Elliott from fifth to sixth in the Cup Series standings. Bowman remains in 11th place in points after the series’ most recent event, held last Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Hendrick Motorsports has accounted for 10 wins in 22 races in the NASCAR Cup Series this year, and all four of its drivers are among the projected top 10 in the provisional playoff standings. Kyle Larson leads the group with four victories this season. Bowman has won three times, Elliott has won twice and teammate William Byron has one win.

Four races remain in the regular season, which resumes Aug. 8 at Watkins Glen International.

Posted on July 22, 2021 by Jerry Bonkowski

There is little doubt that from the day he was born, Ken Schrader was destined to be a race car driver.

As a baby, his parents would keep a watchful eye on him in his father Bill’s combination auto repair and race shop, or take him with them when Bill would compete in short track races in his native Missouri and around the Midwest.

Then, almost as soon as he learned to walk, the younger Schrader learned to drive. To keep track of her son, his mother used to tie Kenny’s go-kart to a tree, which he’d go round and round.

And Schrader has been going round and round ever since.

Having recently turned 66, Schrader is as busy as ever and has no intention of slowing down any time soon. He’s still racing, with plans to compete in 70 races across several different classes by the end of this year.

RELATED: Ken Schrader’s career stats

He also owns the 1/3-mile Federated Auto Parts Speedway at I-55 dirt track in Pevely, Missouri, is part-owner in Macon Speedway in Illinois with fellow racers Tony Stewart and Kenny Wallace, and is part-owner of a dormant track in Kentucky with Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

As if that wasn’t enough, Schrader has also spent the last six months as the lead test driver for the upstart Camping World Superstar Racing Experience, which concluded its inaugural season last weekend in Nashville.

So what about retirement? No way, Schrader chuckles. He’s still having too much fun to even consider it.

“Most guys retire from a job in normal life,” Schrader told NASCAR.com. “I never really had a job. I got to play my whole life. So why in the hell, when you’re doing something you want to do, would you want to quit and retire?”

Ever since he began racing competitively in the 1960s, Schrader has driven everything from stock cars to late models, trucks to midgets, sprint cars to modifieds and so much more.

He’s lost count of the number of races he’s taken part in during his career. Just in NASCAR and ARCA alone, he has over 1,060 starts. Add several thousand more starts in other series, most notably in the grassroots ranks.

While he only has 45 combined wins across NASCAR and ARCA competition, Schrader is only 10 wins away from earning the 375th overall triumph in his storied career.

And he has the paperwork to prove it, having compiled scrapbooks from every season he’s ever raced in, dating back to the late 1960s.

Be it on asphalt, clay, dirt and every other imaginable racing surface in-between, Schrader is one of the most competitive drivers to ever strap in behind the wheel.

But he also has a very philosophical look at his career.

“I’ve never added up the number of races, but whatever that number is, we should have won more than we did,” Schrader quipped, agreeing with one of Richard Petty’s most famous lines.

“I love Richard Petty, he won 200 races. But he also said, ‘Do you realize how many of those damn things I lost?’ ”

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From 1984 through 2013, Schrader spent nearly 30 years — 22 full-time — competing in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The most notable part of that tenure came between 1988 and 1996, when he drove for Hendrick Motorsports, including earning all four of his career Cup wins, and achieving a rare trifecta by winning the pole for the Daytona 500 three years in a row (1988 to 1990).

His best overall season came in 1994, when he finished fourth in the standings behind Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin and Schrader’s fellow Missourian, Rusty Wallace.

But even with all the success he enjoyed driving for Team Hendrick, Schrader said his career highlight was driving for team owner Junie Donlavey.

There’s a good reason for that. Donlavey gave Schrader his first full-time ride in the then-Winston Cup Series. Schrader spent three seasons driving for Donlavey before moving to HMS in 1988. But even to this day, more than seven years since Donlavey passed away, Schrader still shows the immense respect and gratitude he had for his former boss and friend, referring to him several times in conversation not as Junie, but rather as “Mr. Donlavey.”

“To really get nailed down on (the favorite moment of his career) was in 1987 when we won the Daytona 500 qualifying race for Mr. Donlavey,” Schrader said. “That day was the best, not because I pulled into a NASCAR Victory Lane for the first time, even though it wasn’t a points race, but because I was driving for Mr. Donlavey.

“All the competitors in the series had so much respect for Mr. Donlavey, knew what he worked with and just what a good man he was. Just to be part of that day was probably the neatest thing. It was pretty cool. We won the (qualifying) race the next year with Mr. Hendrick’s car and it was great, but it wasn’t like pulling into Victory Lane in Mr. Donlavey’s car. We were supposed to pull into Victory Lane with Rick’s car.”

Donlavey was among NASCAR’s first Cup-level owners, logging 863 starts from 1950 through 2002 with more than four dozen different drivers (many made just one- or two-race fill-in starts).

“(Donlavey) did a lot with a little but he did it with just the utmost class and just the way he carried himself,” Schrader said. “Even now talking about him, I still get goosebumps. He was just a tremendous man. Him, Bud Moore, Junior Johnson, along with the Frances, what they did to build that sport. It wouldn’t be there (without) them guys.”

Schrader’s final Cup season was a part-time effort in 2013, racing for Frank Stoddard’s Go Fas Racing.

“We still had the option to run a limited schedule again in 2014,” Schrader said. “But by the end of 2013, I was taking a walk around the garage area and I didn’t really see any other 58-year-old drivers. It was a lot of fun over the years, but it was time (to call it quits).”

But that didn’t mean it was an end to Schrader’s overall racing career, it just meant an end to his NASCAR career. There was — and continues to be — still a lot left in his personal gas tank, so to speak.

“There was just a bunch of other stuff I wanted to do, a bunch of other races I wanted to go do and (staying in NASCAR) was standing in my way,” Schrader said.

In a sense, a strong comparison can be made between Schrader and current Cup star Kyle Larson. Throughout both of their careers, they raced as often as they could not just in NASCAR, but also other series such as sprint cars and such.

Larson is known for oftentimes competing in 60 or more races in a season, both in Cup and other series, primarily sprint cars. Schrader was in a sense the Larson of his day. While Cup racing was his bread and butter, he added a lot of extra jam by oftentimes competing in well over 100 total races per year.

He’s somewhat tapered off, with 35 races already in the record books thus far this season, with another 35 or so still to go before the end of the year.

“When I go to Randolph County Speedway in Moberly, Missouri, this Sunday, that’ll be my 35th race so far this year,” Schrader said last week. “And if you add in all the testing and shaking down the cars we’ve done for SRX, we’ll have been in a car 100 days this year.”

Heck, Schrader’s just getting warmed up this season — and still getting a kick out of it all.

“I just got a ride for a couple of races in Springfield and Du Quoin (Illinois) this year in a kick-ass silver crown car, I mean a good one,” Schrader said.

He then added with a laugh, “I reminded them when they hired me for those two races just how old I was and maybe they might really want to think about this now.

“They said, ‘No, it’s OK, we want you, we know.’ So I said, ‘Man, if you decide to fire me after Springfield, you’re not going to piss me off. I’ll still come over to Du Quoin and drink a beer out of your cooler. We’re still having a lot of fun doing all these different races.”

While a never quenching thirst for competition has been what’s fueled Schrader’s racing career for more than five decades, it’s fans who have been the wheels that he’s ridden upon, so to speak.

He loves interacting with those who’ve watched him at all levels of his career, including some who are second- and even third-generation supporters.

“I don’t know if I 100 percent agree with you if we’re really a fan favorite,” Schrader said, before adding yet another zinger, “We might not have near as many fans as a lot of those guys, but we haven’t pissed near as many people off, either.”

And the zingers just keep on coming …

“It’s great, it makes it all worthwhile,” Schrader added. “But the part I am starting to struggle with more than a little bit is I’m getting 30-year-old or older guys or girls coming up and they want me to sign this photo of when they were sitting on my lap 30 years ago — and they want to duplicate (the original pose), which we do. We have fun with it.

“And then we get some middle-aged ladies who come up and smile and tell me ‘my grandmother loves you.’ ”

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When asked what has kept him racing for all these years, Schrader couldn’t help but good-naturedly make fun of himself.

“Probably being brain dead and not doing anything else,” he laughed, adding yet another zinger, “My wife (Ann) will tell you real quick, she says ‘he’s not that good of a driver, but it’s the best skills he’s got.’ ”

But there’s a serious side to Schrader, as well.

“I just love being around racing, I love driving the car,” he said. “And it’s not just driving the car. It’s being around, being in the shop, it’s everything. I just love all the different parts about it.

“To me, the next race is the most important one. When someone asks me what’s been my favorite race or something like that, my standard answer is ‘I hope it hasn’t happened yet.’

“Right now, I’m just worried about this weekend. I’ll get to that stuff (retirement) later. I was at a race earlier this year with (NASCAR Hall of Famer) Red Farmer (who is still racing at 88 years old) and, I tell you what, he made me feel pretty young.”

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The Ken Schrader file:

* Age: 66

* Hometown: Fenton, Mo.

* Notable: 1980 USAC Stock Car Rookie of the year, 1982 USAC Silver Crown champion, 1983 USAC Sprint Car champion, 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the year, 1989 and 1990 Busch Clash winner, 1988 through 1990 Daytona 500 pole winner, 2009 National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Sportsman Award 2009.

Career highlights:

* NASCAR Cup career: 763 starts, 4 wins, 64 top-five and 184 top-10 finishes. Also earned 23 poles. Best season finish: 4th (1994).

* NASCAR Xfinity Series career: 116 starts, 2 wins, 18 top-five and 39 top-10 finishes. Also five poles.

* NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career: 105 starts, 1 wins, 12 top-five and 37 top-10 finishes. Also two poles.

* ARCA Menards Series career: 84 starts, 18 wins, 52 top-five and 66 top-10 finishes. Also 22 poles.

* NASCAR K&N Pro Series West: 28 starts, 11 wins, 18 top-five and 23 top-10 finishes. Also six poles.

* NASCAR Southwest Series: 33 starts, 7 wins, 17 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes. Also four poles.

Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski is writing a number of Where Are They Now? stories this year for NASCAR.com. Check out stories he’s already done on Shawna Robinson, Sam Hornish Jr., Bobby Labonte, Greg Biffle, Ricky Rudd, Darrell Waltrip, Mark Martin, Marcos Ambrose and Juan Pablo Montoya. Also, follow Jerry on Twitter @JerryBonkowski and @TheRacingBeat, as well as The Racing Beat podcast, available on most podcast platforms.